Middle-Class Domestic Life in Spain [pp. 354-358]

MIDDLE-CLASS DOMESTIC LIFE IN SPAIN.
the women are devoted and religious-religious
in the true and natural sense of the word, ten der-hearted, loving, generous, timid, true as To ledo steel to a true and responding heart; and
both men and women love amusement, music,
social intercourse, bright jest and something be yond that, the theatre, the bull-ring, the lottery stakes, the guitar.
How often do they not laugh at the life and
lot of their English brothers and sisters, these
middle classes of Spain, and say: " Why, she is a
sufferer and he a toiler; life has no charms for
them! " " God bless me! no sunshine, no Vir gin; - chops, beefsteaks; beefsteaks, chops;
counting-house and office; husband dozing at
night, his sovereigns in his pocket, to be banked
to-morrow; never goes to any place of amuse ment with, and never fondles, his wife-why, life
at that rate is not worth having!" So they tem per amusement with toil, and toil with amuse ment, and, if much money be not amassed, at
least there is this to be said for their mode of
life, that it does not sour many, that they all
glide down the stream of life swiftly and bright ly, and that a more lasting coin than dollar or
sovereign passes current with us all-amiability,
or, as Aristotle defines it, easy pleasantry.
In describing the mode of life of the middle
classes in the Peninsula, our first consideration
must be the casa, or house, and its rent.
The average middle-class house, especially in
Andalucia, was formerly a long, low stone build ing, with large bow-windows caged in iron bars,
raised about eight or ten inches above the level
of the street: at this window, in the glbaming,
all the courting is done: the cloaked Spaniard
stands outside, and converses in hushed whispers
with the dark-eyed, tenderly passionate girl of
his choice within: a Spanish girl, when she
loves, loves to devotion, and her'warm blood and
natural trustfulness of disposition are restrained
and guarded by no moral culture, but by external precautions of bar and bolt.
Generally now, however, the houses are built
in one or two stories, and within are divided into
pisos, or flats, on each of which lives a separate
family. Within doors, the following is the regular arrangement of the house:
There is the sala, or drawing-room, the property of the ladies, and at each end, opening into
;t with folding-doors, is an alcoba, or recess-room,
very often dark, and windowless, to keep out the
sun; husband and wife each occupy an alcoba,
sleeping separately, with the length of the sala
between them.
There is, next, the comedor, or dining-room,
with an alcoba opening out of it; or, it may be,
with the deslSacho, or study of the master of the
house. There is, besides, the kitchen, with its
low range of brick shelf, in which are sunk three
small holes, the ornillas. These are filled with
charcoal, the blue flame of which seems for ever
flickering; the earthen pot, containing the fu chero, is ever thereon, sending forth through the
house its savory odors. Out of the kitchen, which
is, generally, a wretched room, opens the closet,
called vulgarly escusado, but, in mouths more re fined, jardin or retrete. A small dark room used
for lumber- or bath-room is called trasalcoba, or
second alcoba: and then there is the recibidor,
or anteroom, answering the same purpose as the
old-fashioned English hall or waiting-room.
If a married couple, without children, or a
bachelor, desire a lodging, they ask for a defiarta mento, which consists of bedroom, sitting-room,
bath-room, and gabinele, or writing-room.
As regards furniture and general appearance
of the interior, much need not be said. The
walls are whitewashed, not papered; the room floors are all of brick, and covered with estera, a
thin but tasteful matting made of straw, with
various colors and various patterns; plain paint ed wooden beams form the ceiling; the chairs
and sofas are much as in England and France,
but there is always the brasero or charcoal-pan
in each room in winter. This codia, or brasero,
often costs from two to three pounds, and is
highly valued; it is used in family conclave, and
in the afternoon tertulia, or ladies' meeting, a
sort of " kettle-drum," but without the kettle.
At these ladies' gatherings no refreshment of
any sort or kind is ever offered, nor, if offered,
would it be accepted; indeed, to offer a lady re freshment would be considered very badform bad ton, indeed.
"Oh, Dios eterno de mni vida: A4hi! Ah!"
said a Spanish lady to me a few days since, when
two Englishmen entered and asked for a glass of
sherry or a cup of coffee. " ios de mei alma!
que deinonios son los Ingleses / Los Espaiaoles
comen cada uno en su casa; los Ingleses caomen
ran, te, cerveza, d cada casa;" i. e., "0 eternal
God! God of my life and of my soul! what demon friends are these English! The Spaniards
eat, each one at hi's own house; the English
drink and eat at every house, rum, beer, tea," etc.
Such a thing as a dinner-fiarty, that curse of
English middle-class life, when the doctor's spread
must be honored by the parson and his wife, and
the parson must "return the squire's hospitality"
within a given time after having received it-entertainments where not a single person enjoys
the dinner; where there is no conversation;
where the poor cook is driven distracted; where
the mistress is on pins and needles lest Sally,
fresh caught from the workhouse, should upset
the soup —entertainments where all are equally
uncomfortable-such abominations do not exist
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