. The land of the Dons. s life is not a happyone. These intolerable and intolerant viragoesseem to regard it as an outrage that anyone shouldbuy or ask a price of them, and upon the slightestpretext pursue their once-intending customer withvolleys of gibes and maledictions, till the victim,smarting under their insolent contumely but cowedby sheer numbers, slinks painfully round the nearestcorner and out of tongue-shot. After escaping from these termagants our ladiesmust needs repair to haunts that lie outside themarket ; perhaps the tahona or bakery (by theway, a great proportion of the Madrid
. The land of the Dons. s life is not a happyone. These intolerable and intolerant viragoesseem to regard it as an outrage that anyone shouldbuy or ask a price of them, and upon the slightestpretext pursue their once-intending customer withvolleys of gibes and maledictions, till the victim,smarting under their insolent contumely but cowedby sheer numbers, slinks painfully round the nearestcorner and out of tongue-shot. After escaping from these termagants our ladiesmust needs repair to haunts that lie outside themarket ; perhaps the tahona or bakery (by theway, a great proportion of the Madrid bakers areFrenchmen), or perhaps the grocers, fishmongers, orbutchers. In any case, and whatever the directionin which they turn, they bandy an animated con-versation, for business in Spain is always spicedwith relaxation. This is as it should be. How* weary, .flat, stale and unprofitable seem Londonusages by comparison! The grocers wife was de boda yesterday; that is,at a wedding party. Indeed, she looks a trifle pale. A BOURGEOIS FAMILY. 39 and heavy-eyed, as though the memory of good cheerstill clung to her. The butchers fourteenth childhas cut a second tooth, and the carneceria resoundswith congratulation. But the fishmonger is down inthe mouth ; his nephew and assistant must go for asoldier, and he lacks, or says he lacks, the money tobuy him off. Amid such small talk as this, the basket is filledand the homeward voyage begun. Once indoors, thechica bends over the barreho in the kitchen, to washthe linen ; the sehovitas tidy and dust, and then bringout their embroidery; and the goodwife, mindfulof a famishing husband and son, attends to thepot already simmering on the fire. Here is inpreparation the usual Spanish comida or one oclockbreakfast — eggs, cocido, and salad ; the eggs friedin oil, pasados por agua (heated in boiling waterand swallowed almost raw), rcviteltos con tomate(mashed with tomato), or en salsa (hard-boiled inparsley sauce). But these may wait. It is t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1902
