HOW A WORLD WAS WON; OR, A GAME OF CHESS IN 1492. Por Castilla y por Leon It may be said of the immortal work of Cervantes, and with much truth, that it is a complete compendium. Yes, reader, in Don Quixote you will find matter both grave and light, philosophic dissertations, and occasionally even a pun. In Part I. Chap. XXII., which treats "of the manner in which the great Hidalgo set at liberty several unfortunate persons who, much against their will, were being conveyed where they did not wish to go," known also as the "adventure of the galley slaves," we have the following passage :— "Señor Caballero si tiene algo que darnos, dénoslo ya, y vaya con Dios, que ya enfada con tanto querer saber vidas agenas; y si la mia quiere saber, sepa que yo soy Ginés de Pasamonte, cuya vida está escrita por estos pulgares.” 66 Signor cavalier, if you have any thing to give us," said one of the ga ley slaves, "let us have it now, and God be with you, for you tire us with inquiring so much after other men's lives. If you would know mine, I am Gines de Pasamonte, whose life is written by these thumbs (por estos pulgares)." There is here a play upon words that does not admit of translation, pulgar signifying the finger that directs the pen, and Pulgar being also the name of the celebrated historian, surnamed by his countrymen "the Spanish Plutarch.” That author, in his Chronicle of Ferdinand and Isabella, informs us that the conqueror of Granada and the extirpator of the Moslem raith from the Spanish realm, was passionately fond of Chess. "Era el rey Fernando muy afecto al deleitable juego del axedrez." He moreover tells us, that between this noble game and the excite ment of the chase, Ferdinand divided the few leisure moments he could snatch from the cares of government or the sterner duties of war. But Fernando del Pulgar limits himself to this simple indication, and upon this subject we should know nothing more, were the Chronicle the only work left by him. This, fortunately, is not the case. There exists in print a collection of his letters, all highly curious; and, independently of the published letters, there is preserved in the archives of Cordova a manuscript collection, to which it has been our good fortune to have had access. We have consulted the latter with great interest, authentic or not; for we are bound to say there is much disagreement among writers concerning the circumstances of this author's life. Some even confound im with another Hernando del Pulgar, who was Alcaid of Salar, and who distinguished himself by certain valorous feats in the vega of Granada. This Hernando, it would appear, having made a vow to enter the city and take possession of a mosque, actually made good his way into the capital of Boabdil, and sealed the daring deed by leaving, nailed with his dagger on the very door of the Moslem temple, a parchment upon which was transcribed a copy of the "Ave Maria." In order to distinguish the chronicler from the warrior, the latter is generally known by the cognomen of “El de las hazañas,” or, the Pulgar of high deeds. Thus the question arises, To whom are we to attribute these unpublished letters ?-to Hernando the historian, or to Hernando the soldier? Or, may they not be the production of some other contemporary writer, such as Anglerius Martyr of Bernaldez? This remains a mystery; but, as far as we can judge by te paper upon which they are written, and the style of the hand, we should certainly deem them traceable to the commencement of the sixteenth century. Having once fairly commenced diving into these ancient manuscripts, we were greatly interested, as we have already said. We must candidly confess, however, that we were not a little deterred at first by their illegible appearance, and the idea of their dubious authenticity; but the, for us, talismanic word "axedrez”* having caught our eye, a new incentive was added to our somewhat lagging curiosity, and recollecting a maxim of this very Pulgar, " Malo es no saber, peor The Spanish for "Chess." |