ent, but who did not fail to
return at the next opportunity.

One day, that a horde of these tormentors had pursued him with more than
their usual pertinacity, and had worn out his patience, he turned to
them, saying--"What do you want with me you varlets? more obstinate than
flies, more disgusting than _Chinches_,[54] and bolder than the boldest
fleas. Am I, perchance, the Monte Testacio[55] of Rome, that you cast
upon me so many potsherds and tiles?" But Rodaja was followed by many
who kept about him for the purpose of hearing him reply to the questions
asked, or reprove the questioner, as the case might be. And after a
time, even the boys found it more amusing to listen to his words than to
throw tiles at him; when they gave him, for the most part, somewhat less
annoyance.

[54] The reader will be pleased to guess the name of that insufferable
insect which the Spaniards denominate _Chinche_, and with the English
equivalent of which I am unwilling to offend his eyes. Happy, indeed, if
he cannot guess; but then he cannot have seen either Seville or Granada,
and one might almost encounter an acquaintance with the animal called
_Chinche_ rather than renounce _them_.

[55] Such of our readers as have visited Rome, will remember that
enormous mound which is seen rising on the right hand as you leave the
city, by the Porta Salaria, and is said to have been formed by the
numberless fragments of pottery cast on the spot from time immemorial.

The maniac Bodaja was one day passing through the Ropery at Salamanca,
when a woman who was working there accosted him, and said, "By my soul,
Senor Doctor, I am sorry for your misfortune, but what shall I do for
you, since, try as I may, I cannot weep?" To which Rodaja, fixedly
regarding her, gravely replied, "_Filiae Jerusalem, plorate super vos et
super filios vestros_." The husband of the ropeworker was standing by,
and comprehending the reply, he said to Rodaja, "Brother Glasscase, for
so they tell me you are to be called, you have more of the rogue than
the fool in you!" "You are not called on to give me an obolus," rejoined
Rodaja, "for I have not a grain of the fool about me!" One day that he
was passing near a house well known as the resort of thieves and other
disorderly persons, he saw several of the inhabitants assembled round
the door, and called out, "See, here you have baggage belonging to the
army of Satan, and it is lodged in the house of hell accordingly."

A man o