_P._ A n.o.bleman's, Devil take the same, Him and his suit of clothes and all.

_V._ Yes, 'tis a bundle large enough.

_P._ It takes the mule from head to tail.

_V._ One cannot say it's load is small.

410 _P._ Look you, now they will not graze And when through open moors we pa.s.s They nibble at the heather roots.

_V._ Leave them, Pero Vaz, to go their ways, For very parched is here the gra.s.s, And they won't touch the broom's green shoots.

What is to thee for carriage given?

_P._ I do not know, so help me Heaven.

_V._ What! didst thou not then fix a price?

Thou'st caught then in a pretty vice.

420 _P._ I left it to his good faith to pay Whate'er he saw was due to me.

_V._ Left it to his good faith, you say!

And what then if he hasn't any And has to go to look for it?

O thou hast done most foolishly: I'll wager thee an honest penny That thou'lt repent thy coming yet.

_P._ He put his hand--see here how-- Upon his beard and swore that I 430 Should be paid my money faithfully.

_V._ Was it a proper beard, look you now, On which this oath of his was heard, Or a mere straggling moustache?

_P._ Nay, as there is a G.o.d above, A judge who will the right approve, A n.o.bleman will keep his word.

_V._ Thou knowest right well, Pero Vaz, There are n.o.bles now who scarcely know Whether they're n.o.blemen or no.

440 How is thy wife now? Is she well?

And thy other property?

_P._ That's there all right.

_V._ Well, and she?

_P._ She ran away. _V._ Impossible!

How sad thou must be feeling, why Bad luck to it. _P._ In faith not I.

[_To his mule_] Come up there, must you ever go Just where the cork-trees come so low?-- What has it to do with me?

_V._ Thou must needs be hurt thereby 450 When the innkeepers laugh at thee.

_P._ No, that doesn't make me tremble.

Vasco Afonso, look to thy mule, It's going to lie down on the ground.

_V._ Thou feelest it but canst dissemble.

_P._ O no, I don't. Thou know'st as a rule What women are all the summer round: So much for any regret that I Might feel for her now she is gone.

460 And as for people's laughter, why As was her will so has she done: She went away to her own loss And leaves me not one tooth the worse.

I'm hale and hearty as I was, Vasco Afonso, no change there is: The son still of Afonso Vaz, Grandson of the mason Jan Diz And Branca Annes my grandmother Of Abrantes: nor one way nor the other 470 It touches me. And yet I grieve That she was partly in the right And was not utterly to blame, For I was ever wont to leave Her lonely there while every night To sleep at the inn with my mules I came.

I wished thus that she might remain As a refuge for my old age, Like a Medina counterpane, But she saw through me and alack 480 Must view the matter in a rage And go off on another track.

_V._ And what wilt thou do now, I pray?

_P._ I'll sleep at Cornaga's inn to-day And at Cucanha's to-morrow.

So get thee on upon thy way, And I'll on this errand to my sorrow And we'll see how it will pay.

_He goes singing:_

'Will you,' said I, 'lady, of my company?'

But 'Sir knight, pa.s.s on your way,' said she unto me.

490 _Page._ Sir, the carrier is here, He has brought the clothes for you, For the sound of the bells I hear.

_N._ Look to it all of you with care.

_Pero._ Hold up mule, you son of a Jew.

Where shall I put the clothes, say, where?

_P._ Good morrow to you, good Pero.

_Pe._ G.o.d keep your worship even so.

_P._ By the Folgosas did you go?

_Pe._ Yes, that way was my journey made 500 And to-day is just a week ago Since in your aunts' house there I stayed.

_P._ What was my father doing now?

_Pe._ Hoeing the vines in the sweat of his brow, In great heat and weariness.

_P._ And my mother?

_Pe._ She was up the dale Driving the herd--all in tatters her dress-- Out towards Cobelo's Vale.

[_To the mule_] Be quiet there. The greedy brute.

And yourself how do these times suit?

510 _P._ I'm flourishing like anything.

_Pe._ In faith you're growing fine and tall, And may G.o.d give you health withal.

_P._ I'm my lord's page and may advance To be the page who bears the lance.

_Pe._ What, is a n.o.bleman so great?

That's for an Emperor, and the King Of France, I see, must mind his state.

_P._ And more, I may go on to be A knight of the n.o.bility.