When Juan had finished telling the stories about the four paintings, Pilar asked, "Will you buy them from me, Señor Juan?"
Juan answered, "Yes, if you really must sell them, Pilar. But I wish that you might keep them, for they are very fine."
"Then why not let me sell those ugly castanets?" inquired Juan. "The dancing master will willingly pay for them."
"No, no!" cried Pilar. "They shall be the last to go."
So Juan took the four paintings and gave Pilar money for them. And now there remained in the wooden chest only three souvenirs. One was a bottle of old wine, one a small dagger, and one the magic castanets.
Fiestas (fy[)e]s´täs) (festivals) and fairs are the joy of the Spanish people. Some are held upon saints' days. In Spain one celebrates the birthday of the saint for whom one is named.
Tonight there was a fiesta in Triana, which is across the bridge from Seville. It is where the gypsies live.
Pilar was on her way to Triana with a group of her friends. She was dressed in her dancing costume. She wanted to dance and use her magic castanets. This would be the last time she could do so. For of all her mother's souvenirs, only the castanets were now left. And tomorrow--
But Pilar did not like to think about that tomorrow. Juan had sold everything else out of the wooden chest. Everything else had gone, even the wooden chest itself--gone to pay for food and medicines.
He had sold the very old bottle of sherry wine, which had come from a well-known cellar of Jerez (h[+a]-r[=a]th´), once called Scheriz.
In this cellar there is a cluster of huge barrels, upon which are written noted names, such as the Prince of Wales' and our own President's. They contain wines made in the year of each person's birth.
A family of well-trained mice lives in this cellar. When the attendant rings a bell and scatters bread upon the floor, these tiny creatures run out from behind the barrels.
Juan had also sold the small dagger of Moorish design. It had come from the town of Cordoba (kôr´d[+o]-vä), once an important center. The famous Mosque of Cordoba, with its striped arches, was built by the Moors. But it has since been made into a Christian church.
King Charles V is supposed to have said to the Christian builders, "You have built what can be found anywhere, but you have spoiled what cannot be found anywhere else.