“With a bit of luck,” I sighed, “we can get something for those diamonds.”
The captain was studying them. Then he shook his head and put the hat on again.
“They’re fake,” he said.
EXTRACTS FROM
POETRY
WRITTEN BY VARIOUS WITS
OF THIS COURT
Published in the XVIIth century with no imprint
and preserved in “The Counts of Guadalmedina”
section in the Archive and Library of
the Duques de Nuevo Extremo (Seville).
BY DON FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO
TO THE LAWYER SATURNINO APOLO, FRIEND OF BAD POETRY
AND OF OTHER PEOPLE’S PURSES
O petty lawyer, plumping out your purse
With other people’s cash and gold doubloons,
The cream of rascals, no one could be worse,
Brother superior, sucking blood from other’s
wounds,
The pen that you wield—a wild and coarsening
quill—
Can only spit the vilest blots on earth.
“A professor of vile verses” fits the bill,
Arselicker extraordinary, malformed from birth,
A stinking heap, a dunghill of a man,
Of pride and lechery a steaming cesspit,
The greatest farter of lies since the world began
And miner of the muses’ dregs—no respite.
Never your lyre, always a purse you follow,
You offspring of Cacus, you bastard of Apollo!
BY DON LUIS DE GÓNGORA
ON THE FLEETING NATURE OF BEAUTY AND OF LIFE
Whilst gold—sun-burnished—tries to catch
The glitter and the brightness of thy hair;
Whilst the lily-of-the-field can never match
The whiteness of thy brow—beyond compare;
Whilst more eyes yearn to pluck thy ruby lips
Than gaze upon the first carnation of the year;
And whilst thy lovely, glowing neck outstrips
The shiniest crystal—for you have no peer—
Take now enjoyment in thy neck and brow,
Thy lips and hair, before this—thy prime
Of lily, gold, carnation, crystal—now
Is changed to silver or dead violas by time,
And you and they together soon be wrought
To earth, smoke, dust, and shadow—naught!
BY FÉLIX LOPE DE VEGA CARPIO
ON THE DELIGHTS AND CONTRADICTIONS OF LOVE
Fainting, daring, full of rages,
Tender, rough, expansive, shy,
Treacherous, loyal, cowardly, courageous,
Hoping, despairing to live or to die;
Away from one’s love—no center or repose,
Furious, brave, yet ready for flight,
Humble, haughty, all joy, then all woes,
Offended, wary, then dizzy with delight;
Averting one’s gaze from evident deceit,
When poison foul gives off a honey’d smell
And pain is loved and pleasures all retreat,
Then, one believes that heaven’s found in hell
And body and soul are at illusion’s behest,
Such is love—as he who tastes it can attest.
STATEMENT OF APPROVAL
I have read the book entitled The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet, the fifth volume of the so-called Adventures of Captain Alatriste, for which don Arturo Pérez-Reverte asks to be granted a license to publish. As with the previous volumes, I found in it nothing repugnant to our Holy Faith or to good customs; rather, as child of the wit and qualities of its author, it contains much salutary advice, which, in the guise of an amusing story or fable, embodies all that is most grave and serious in human philosophy. While it does not abound in Christian or pious reflections, I believe that it will prove edifying to the young reader, for the rhetorically minded will find much to admire in the language, the curious will be entertained by the events described, and, by the ideas, the learned will approve of its rigor, the prudent will take due warning from it, and there is much wholesome wisdom to be gleaned from its somewhat harsh examples and teachings. In short, it offers as much profit as delight.
For all these reasons, it is my view that the author should be granted license to publish.
Dated in Madrid, on the tenth day of the month of October, in the year 2003.
Luis Alberto de Prado y Cuenca,
Secretary of the Council of Castile
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Arturo Pérez-Reverte lives near Madrid. Originally a war journalist, he now writes fiction full-time. His novels The Flanders Panel, The Club Dumas, The Fencing Master, The Seville Communion, The Nautical Chart, and The Queen of the South have been translated into twenty-nine languages and published in more than fifty countries. In 2003, he was elected to the Spanish Royal Academy. Visit his website at: www.perez-reverte.com.