The Sun.
London, England, 1836-12-27 00:00:00

THE PREDICTION.

(From the Gazette des Tribunaux.)
Don Gonzalez Llondirien lived with his parents in the
city oti Cordova. He was at once their pride and hope, for
he was tall and handsome in his person, and skilful and in-
dustrious in his business. He bid fair to be the joy of their
old age, for he loved them ardently. His father and his
mouser were his sole thought, and he had completely con-
centrated all his affections in them. It perhaps might have
been said of him, that he was of a serious and melancholy
turn of mind, but that was easily overlooked, on account of
the excellence of his temper. About eight years since, at
the fete of the Virgin Mary-del-Pilan, Llondirien had been
to hear mass. It was only at nightfall that Gonzalez left
the church. In crossing the threshold of the door, whilst
lis tongue was still uttering the last words of the last
prayer which he addressed to heaven for the happiness of
his parents, and whilst his finger was still wet with the
holy water, with which he had made on his forehead the
sign of the cross, he was accosted by a mendicant, whose
copper complexion and strongly-marked features indicated
that accursed and vagabond race who live only by
fraud, robbery, and fortune-telling. He was a gipsy.
" Signor, said the latter, after having received from Gon-
zalez some small alms, " I have the gift of laying open the
future. Are you not curious to learn what will happen to
you during your life ?" Llondirien could not account for
the vague fears which agitated him. He accepted the offer,
in the hope of being able .to remedy all ills by ascertaining
the future. " Come with me," said the mendicant, and
Gonzalez followed him. For some time they passed
through narrow and deserted streets, which the gitano
seemed to prefer. Gonzalez and the mendicant quitted the
city, and after reaching a grove of olive trees, soon found
themselves in the midst of a band of gitanos. Llondirien
having paid the price agreed upon, the most abominable
conjuration commenced. In the first instance the young
man was told a number of indifferent things, and the whole
was concluded by the prediction that he would murder his
father and mother.
" Murder my parents," said Gonzales, " thou liest—thou
liest ! infamous sorcerer."
The latter coolly replied, " Do not put yourself in a pas-
sion, my young Signor, for the event must happen."
a What have I done to merit such a severe infliction ?"
• The good," replied the gitano, " suffer for the faults of
others. Your parents have sinned, and you must expiate
the sins of others. Heaven punishes, in your person, the
offspring of a nun defiled, and of a monk who has broken
his vows."
" Thou hest ! and you slander my whole family," Gon-
zalez said, while with his left hand he seized the gipsy by
the throat, and with his right hand he endeavoured to grasp
his stiletto, was seized by the arm and violently shaken off,
and weapons as long and as bright as his own flashed before
his eyes. The match was not equal ;he retreated, and en-
tered his father's house more sad than usual. He could
not erase from his restless and superstitious mind the im-
pression which the prediction of the gitano' had made
upon him, and for several days he was haunted by the most
dreadful thoughts. At length they became altogether un-
endurable, and he wished to find some means of testing the
truth of the prediction. Time only could show the whole
of what had been foretold as to the future, but it was easy
to ascertain what reliance could be placed as to the past.
Gonzalez threw himself at the feet of his father, and with
tears asked him if it were true that he had taken holy or-
ders, and whether his mother had really taken the veil ?
Gonzalez fondly hoped that the answer he was about to
hear would restore peace to his mind, and he awaited the
reply with anxiety.
" Alas !" said the father, " we wished to have concealed
this secret from you, as well as from all the world, but
sines some evil genius has told you the story, I must com-
municate to you the whole truth. I was about twenty
years old, in the year 1796, when I was placed in a convent
in Navarre, where I remained till 1808. At that desolat-
ing period, the convents were sacked by the troops of our
unpitying invaders, and it was absolutely necessary to take
refuge in flight. Your mother had also been compelled to
quit her monastery, and it was then that I saw her for the
first time. The similarity of our destinies naturally brought
us together, and gave rise to a mutual attachment. We
were married in order to strug,gle together against adversity
with more energy. In the eyes of some persons our con-
duct will appear blameable, but there is in:o-cy for all sin-
ners. We changed our abode in this city, where we were
unknown, and we owe our existence to honourable labour
and economy. God has favoured the business which I
took to, and it is a happiness for us to know that you will
enjoy without trouble, as we have done, the fruits of our
industry
This recital, although it shocked the religions sentiments
of Llondirien, (lid not in any degree lessen his attachment
to his parents, but it filled at the same time his breast with
grief, for he could not but believe that the gitano had bee:,
able to tell the truth. Absorbed by the remembrance of
the prediction, which left him bvt little repose, as his affec-
tion for his parents became stronger and more sincere, he
at length took the firm resolution to set at defiance the
gipsy, and to render the accomplishment of the prophecy
impossible. To effect this object he was determined to
quit Cordova for ever, and he raised the pretence of wish-
ing of wishing to see the world to induce his parents to
grant his pressing request for pet mission to travel.
" Why quit us ?" said his parents. " Remain with us,
we beg. Be content with the bread you eat, and recollect
that the rolling stone does not gather moss." They added
several other reasons, supported by so many proverbs, so
characteristic of the Spanish language ; but Gonzalez re-
mained unmoved. They were at length obliged to yield
to his wishes ; and, after having received their blessing,
and a considerable sum of money, he took his departure
ostensibly for Madrid, with the avowed intention of
going to France ; but he had scarcely got half across
the Venta del Corpio, when he turned off to the
right, gained Castro Rio in the direction of Grenada, then
went to Baena, Las Ventas, and afterwards to Alcala la
Real. At the latter city he again quitted the high road,
and penetrated the most unfrequented localities of the
Sierra of Grenada. He bought, in the midst of the Moun-
tains, a hut, to which was attached a small garden, sur-
rounded by a thick hedge. At this spot he resolved to
live as a hermit, and to do penance, in order to avert the
misfortune with which he felt himself threatened. He sub-
sisted by hunting and by the produce of his garden. The
time that was not given to the chase, or to the cultiva-
tion of his land, he passed in praying in a small chapel
which he had himself erected, dedicated to the Virgin, at
the end of the garden. In this manner he passed six
years in utter solitude, only going on Sundays to hear
mass at Campillo de Arenas, or at Carcheligo. He went
also once or twice a year to Benelva to buy gunpowder,
lead, some clothes which were absolutely necessary, and
to sell at the same time the skins of animals which he had
killed. Such was the life of Llondirien ; and, notwith-
standing the most strict inquiries by the Court of Justice,
there was not room for the least reproach.
It was in one of his excursions to Campillo de Arenas
that Gonzalez became acquainted with Catalina Aza-
bache, a very handsome brunette, with black hair, good
figure, and a modest demeanour. She was the daughter
of poor but honest parents, and Gonzalez asked their con-
sent :for his union with her, and Catalina soon became
his wife. For some time true happiness reigned in the
hermitage, but it was of a short duration. At the end of
the year he was- jealous, and said to himself that so fair
and good a wife could not love only him, and this notwith-
standing Catalina gave him not the least cause of complaint.
He was continually on the watch to discover whether there
was any ground for his suspicions, but be found Catalina
always faithful and ready to receive him with a smile when
he returned unawares.
At the beginning of October last Gonzalez had gone
hunting at an early hour. Night had come on—he had not
returned. The wine blew with force from the west, and
and the rain fell in torrents. Catalina was not alarmed at
the absence of her husband, for he was often in the habit of
spending the night in grottos, or in the huts of some goat-
herds. She suffered no uneasiness, but she listened with
pain to the rain which beat against the windows. She was
about to sit down to the solitary evening repast, when she
heard a knocking at the door. An old man and woman,
worn out with fatigue, asked for shelter. " Gomez has pil-
laged Cordova," said they, " and for two days we have wan-
dered about, without knowing where to find a refuge. What-
ever may be your opinions, whether you be Carlist, or that
you wear the cachuca,* for pity's sake do not send us away."
Catalina had learnt from Gonzales to practice this maxim—
" Do good when you can, and then forget it." She did not
hesitate about admitting them, and hastened to change their
wet dresses by giving them her own and those of her hus-
band. Here," said she to the old wan, on presenting him
with a cloak made of skins, " you are much about the same
figure as my Gonalez. His pellico will fit you (come de
wwide) as if it were made from the same model." "Alas,"
said the old people, " we have a son named Gonzalez,
but he has left us, and we have not heard from him for
eight years. " Ah," replied the young wife, "it is cer-
tainly not my Gonzalez, for a day does not pass without his
praying for Don Vincente Llondirien, his father, and for his
mother, Dona Dolores de Azurzun." At the mention of these
names an exclamation of joy and surprise escaped at the same
time from the lips of the two corners. " Our son! our son!"
they exclaimed together. They soon convinced the young
wife that they were really the parents of her husband, and
with tears in her eyes, and mad with joy, she kissed both
their hands. As the night was now far advanced, she in-
sisted that her guests should sleep upon her bed, as it was
the only one in the hut. "As for me," said she, "joy would
hinder me from sleeping, and I shall pass the night in prayer.
I will go and thank the Virgin for the present happiness."
• The name of " Cachuca" was given to a kind of helmet
!worn in 1824 by the national volunteers, and by zealous par-
ssans of the Constitution.