The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-01-19
AN ARCHITECTS WIFE.
A Spanish Tale.

ing: Blessed are they that marry
a sen.ible woman, for theirs shall be
domestic felicity" And if it were
lawful to illustrate the Beatitudes
with historical notes, Iwould append
to the aforesaid ninth the following
explanation:
In the middle of the fourteenth
century the Bastard, Don Enrique
de Trastamara, was besieging
Toledo, which offered a brave and
tenacious defense, being loyal to
that king called by some ''The just"
and by others "The Cruel" Many a
time and oft had the faithful and
courageous Toledanos crossed the
magnificent bridge of San Martin,
one of the handsomest and most
useful architectural treasures of
that monumental city, and hurl-
ing themselves upon the
camp of Don Enrique, es-
tablished in the Cigarrales, they
had wrought bloody havoc amid the
besieging host. To prevent the re-
petition of such sallies Don Enrique
determined to destroy the bridge of
San Martin, which, as has already
been said, was the noblest of the
many that from the girdle of the city
OF martyrs, of councils, and of cava-
liers. But what value have artistic
or historic monuments in the eyes OF
the ambitious politicians whose
dream is to bury a dagger in the
breast of a brother, that they may
seat themselves in the throne he &C.
cupies? Well known it is that the
Cigarrales of Toledo, to whose fame
80 much has been contributed by
Tirso and other great Spanish poets,
consist of multitudes of villas and
country-houses, with their lovely
gardens and fruitful orchards, all
shut in by hedges.
One night the leafy branches OF
these trees were Topped off by the
soldiers of Don Enrique, and piled
upon the bridge of San Martin. The
dawn was beginning to open, when a
glow of wondrous brilliance litup the
devastated gardens, the waves of the
Tajo, the ruins of the palace of Don
Rodrigo, and the little Arabian tower
reflected in the waters of the river
at whose foot, so history hath it, the
daughter of Don Julian was bathing
when the Inflated king set eyes upon
her fateful beauty. An immense fire
blazed on the bridge on San Martin,
and the cracking of the massive car
ven beams, wrought with all theskill
of the chisel which created the mar
wells of the Alhambra, seemed the
pitifui plant of art crushed by brute
force. Toledanos, awakened by the
sinister glow, ran to save their be-
loved bridge from the imminent ruin
which menaced it, but they
ran futilely, for a frightful
crash that resounded lugubri-
ously through the hollows of the
Tajo told them that the bridge stood
no longer. When the rising sun
gilded the domes of the imperial city
the girls who went to fill their jars
with the cool and CRYSTALLINE water
of the river turned homeward again
with the vessels empty and their
hearts full of sorrow and indigna-
ton, for the current of the Tajo ran
turbid and boiling, carrying on it's
whirling waves the ruins of the bridge
of San Martin, which still were smok-
This act of vandalism reused to
fury the Indignation of the Tole-
danos, who saw thus cut off their
only direct passage to the paradise
like Cigarrales, which they had in
herited from the Moors, together
with the Moorish passion for groves
and gardens. The valor of the citi-
zens, which had grown feeble, gained
unexpected vigor, and ere many days
they had blotted out the camp of
Trastamara, the blood of whose
soldiery ran in torrents over the
Ggarrales.
Many years had passed since the
fratricfde of Montiel destroyed the
bridge of San Martin. Kings and
archbishops had exerted all their
powers to have it replaced by an
other which should be it's equal in
strength aud beauty. But the gent
us and endeavor ofthe best architects
Christian and Moorish, had not been
able to crafty the ardent wishes Of
the Toledanos, for the rapid current
of the river always swept away foun-
dations, piles, and stagings before
the placing of the gigantic arches.
Don Pedro Tenorio, one of the great
archbishops to whom Toledo owes
almost as much as to her kings, sent
proclamations to almost every city
and village of Spain, calling for archi-
tects to rebuild the bridge of San
Martin.
One day a man and woman, en-
tirely unknown, entered Toledo by
the Cambron gate, and, after inspect
ing the ruins of the bridge, they hired
a house'close by, and shortly there
after the man betook himself to the
archiepiscopal palace. The arch
bishop, surrounded at the moment
by cavaliers and prelates, was over
joyed at the arrival of an architect.
Immediately gave him audience, and
welcomed the stranger kindly.
"My lord" said the new arrival,
"my name, no doubt unknown to
you, is Juan de Arevalo. am an
architect, and / am brought here by
your proclamation summoning
SUCH"
"Do you understand the difficulties
comprised in rebuilding the bridge of
San Martin, friend?"
81 do, but l believe myself capable
ofovercoming them"
"Where have you studied architec-
ture?"