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Page 50
"When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete.
It was one of those spacious farm-houses, with high-ridged, but
lowly-sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first
Dutch settlers; the low projecting eaves forming a piazza along the
front, capable of being closed up in bad weather. Under this were
hung flails, harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets for
fishing in the neighboring river. Benches were built along the
sides for summer use; and a great spinning-wheel at one end, and a
churn at the other, showed the various uses to which this important
porch might be devoted. From this piazza the wondering Ichabod
entered the hall, which formed the centre of the mansion and the
place of usual residence. Here, rows of resplendent pewter, ranged
on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In one corner stood a huge bag
of wool ready to be spun; in another a quantity of linsey-woolsey
just from the loom; ears of Indian corn, and strings of dried
apples and peaches, hung in gay festoons along the walls, mingled
with the gaud of red peppers; and a door left ajar gave him a peep
into the best parlor, where the claw-footed chairs and dark
mahogany tables shone like mirrors; and irons, with their
accompanying shovel and tongs, glistened from their covert of
asparagus tops; mock-oranges and conch-shells decorated the
mantelpiece; strings of various colored birds' eggs were suspended
above it; a great ostrich egg was hung from the centre of the room,
and a corner cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed immense
treasures of old silver and well-mended china."
It is an abrupt transition from these homely scenes, which humor
commends to our liking, to the chivalrous pageant unrolled for us in the
"Conquest of Granada." The former are more characteristic and the more
enduring of Irving's writings, but as a literary artist his genius lent
itself just as readily to Oriental and medi�val romance as to the
Knickerbocker legend; and there is no doubt that the delicate perception
he had of chivalric achievements gave a refined tone to his mock
heroics, which greatly heightened their effect. It may almost be claimed
that Irving did for Granada and the Alhambra what he did, in a totally
different way, for New York and its vicinity.
The first passage I take from the "Conquest" is the description of the
advent at Cordova of the Lord Scales, Earl of Rivers, who was brother of
the queen of Henry VII., a soldier who had fought at Bosworth field, and
now volunteered to aid Ferdinand and Isabella in the extermination of
the Saracens. The description is put into the mouth of Fray Antonio
Agapida, a fictitious chronicler invented by Irving, an unfortunate
intervention which gives to the whole book an air of unveracity:--
"'This cavalier [he observes] was from the far island of England,
and brought with him a train of his vassals; men who had been
hardened in certain civil wars which raged in their country. They
were a comely race of men, but too fair and fresh for warriors, not
having the sunburnt, warlike hue of our old Castilian soldiery.
They were huge feeders also, and deep carousers, and could not
accommodate themselves to the sober diet of our troops, but must
fain eat and drink after the manner of their own country. They were
often noisy and unruly, also, in their wassail; and their quarter
of the camp was prone to be a scene of loud revel and sudden brawl.
They were, withal, of great pride, yet it was not like our
inflammable Spanish pride: they stood not much upon the _pundonor_,
the high punctilio, and rarely drew the stiletto in their disputes;
but their pride was silent and contumelious. Though from a remote
and somewhat barbarous island, they believed themselves the most
perfect men upon earth, and magnified their chieftain, the Lord
Scales, beyond the greatest of their grandees. With all this, it
must be said of them that they were marvelous good men in the
field, dexterous archers, and powerful with the battle-axe. In
their great pride and self-will, they always sought to press in the
advance and take the post of danger, trying to outvie our Spanish
chivalry. They did not rush on fiercely to the fight, nor make a
brilliant onset like the Moorish and Spanish troops, but they went
into the fight deliberately, and persisted obstinately, and were
slow to find out when they were beaten. Withal they were much
esteemed yet little liked by our soldiery, who considered them
staunch companions in the field, yet coveted but little fellowship
with them in the camp.
"'Their commander, the Lord Scales, was an accomplished cavalier,
of gracious and noble presence and fair speech; it was a marvel to
see so much courtesy in a knight brought up so far from our
Castilian court. He was much honored by the king and queen, and
found great favor with the fair dames about the court, who indeed
are rather prone to be pleased with foreign cavaliers. He went
always in costly state, attended by pages and esquires, and
accompanied by noble young cavaliers of his country, who had
enrolled themselves under his banner, to learn the gentle exercise
of arms. In all pageants and festivals, the eyes of the populace
were attracted by the singular bearing and rich array of the
English earl and his train, who prided themselves in always
appearing in the garb and manner of their country--and were indeed
something very magnificent delectable, and strange to behold.'
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