h they procured him, he continued his studies until he
finally attained to the degree of doctor of laws.

Now it chanced that, about this time, there arrived in Salamanca one of
those ladies who belong to all the points of the compass; she was
besides well furnished with devices of every colour. To the whistle and
bird-call of this fowler there instantly came flocking all the birds of
the place; nor was there a _vade mecum_[53] who refrained from paying a
visit to that gay decoy. Among the rest our Thomas was informed that the
Senora said she had been in Italy and Flanders when he, to ascertain if
he were acquainted with the dame, likewise paid her a visit. She, on her
part, immediately fell in love with Rodaja, but he rejected her
advances, and never approached her house but when led thither by others,
and almost by force. Attending much more zealously to his studies than
his amusements, he did not in any manner return her affection, even when
she had made it known to him by the offer of her hand and all her
possessions.

[53] Student: they are so called from the name given to the portfolio in
which they carry their books and papers to the university, and which
they always have with them.

Seeing herself thus scorned, and perceiving that she could not bend the
will of Rodaja by ordinary means, the woman determined to seek others,
which in her opinion would be more efficacious, and must, as she
thought, ensure the desired effect. So, by the advice of a Morisca
woman, she took a Toledan quince, and in that fruit she gave him one of
those contrivances called charms, thinking that she was thereby forcing
him to love her; as if there were, in this world, herbs, enchantments,
or words of power, sufficient to enchain the free-will of any creature.
These things are called charms, but they are in fact poisons: and those
who administer them are actual poisoners, as has been proved by sundry
experiences.

In an unhappy moment Rodaja ate the quince, but had scarcely done so
when he began to tremble from head to foot as if struck by apoplexy,
remaining many hours before he could be brought to himself. At the end
of that time he partially recovered, but appeared to have become almost
an idiot. He complained, with a stammering tongue and feeble voice, that
a quince which he had eaten had poisoned him, and also found means to
intimate by whom it had been given, when justice at once began to move
in quest of the criminal; but she,