Caballero, there is not another such
range in Spain; they have their secrets, too--their mysteries. Strange
tales are told of those hills, and of what they contain in their deep
recesses, for they are a broad chain, and you may wander days and days
amongst them without coming to any termino. Many have lost themselves on
those hills, and have never again been heard of. Strange things are told
of them: it is said that in certain places there are deep pools and
lakes, in which dwell monsters, huge serpents as long as a pine tree, and
horses of the flood, which sometimes come out and commit mighty damage.
One thing is certain, that yonder, far away to the west, in the heart of
those hills, there is a wonderful valley, so narrow that only at mid-day
is the face of the sun to be descried from it. That valley lay
undiscovered and unknown for thousands of years; no person dreamed of its
existence. But at last, a long time ago, certain hunters entered it by
chance, and then what do you think they found, Caballero? They found a
small nation or tribe of unknown people, speaking an unknown language,
who, perhaps, had lived there since the creation of the world, without
intercourse with the rest of their fellow-creatures, and without knowing
that other beings besides themselves existed! Caballero, did you never
hear of the valley of the Batuecas? Many books have been written about
that valley and those people. Caballero, I am proud of yonder hills; and
were I independent, and without wife or children, I would purchase a
burra like that of your own--which I see is an excellent one, and far
superior to mine--and travel amongst them till I knew all their
mysteries, and had seen all the wondrous things which they contain.
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