lemen had selected for their siesta the porch or penthouse
commonly found before a Venta; and, finding themselves opposite each
other, he who appeared to be the elder said to the younger, "Of what
country is your worship, noble Sir, and by what road do you propose to
travel?" "What is my country, Senor Cavalier," returned the other, "I
know not; nor yet which way my road lies."

"Your worship, however, does not appear to have come from heaven,"
rejoined the elder, "and as this is not a place wherein a man can take
up his abode for good, you must, of necessity, be going further." "That
is true," replied the younger; "I have, nevertheless, told you only the
veritable fact; for as to my country, it is mine no more, since all that
belongs to me there is a father who does not consider me his child, and
a step-mother who treats me like a son-in-law. With regard to my road,
it is that which chance places before me, and it will end wherever I may
find some one who will give me the wherewithal to sustain this miserable
life of mine."

"Is your worship acquainted with any craft?" inquired the first speaker.
"With none," returned the other, "except that I can run like a hare,
leap like a goat, and handle a pair of scissors with great dexterity."

"These things are all very good, useful, and profitable," rejoined the
elder. "You will readily find the Sacristan of some church who will give
your worship the offering-bread of All Saints' Day, for cutting him his
paper flowers to decorate the Monument[8] on Holy Thursday."

[8] The Monument is a sort of temporary theatre, erected in the churches
during Passion Week, and on which the passion of the Saviour is
represented.

"But that is not my manner of cutting," replied the younger. "My father,
who, by God's mercy, is a tailor and hose maker, taught me to cut out
that kind of spatterdashes properly called Polainas, which, as your
worship knows, cover the fore part of the leg and come down over the
instep. These I can cut out in such style, that I could pass an
examination for the rank of master in the craft; but my ill luck keeps
my talents in obscurity."

"The common lot, Senor, of able men," replied the first speaker, "for I
have always heard that it is the way of the world to let the finest
talents go to waste; but your worship is still at an age when this evil
fortune may be remedied, and the rather since, if I mistake not, and my
eyes do not deceive me, you have other advanta