nning mad with joy; and take notice, brother, when
I heard thou wast a governor, I had liked to have dropped down dead with
pure pleasure; for thou knowest they say sudden joy kills as well as
deadly sorrow.

"Thy hunting-suit lay before me, the string of corals sent by lady
duchess was tied round my neck, the letters were in my hand, and the
messenger in my presence; and yet I imagined and believed that all I saw
and handled was a dream, for who could conceive that a goatherd should
come to be governor of islands? Thou knowest, my friend, that my mother
said, 'One must live long to see a great deal.' This I mention because I
hope to see more if I live longer, for I do not intend to stop until I
see thee a farmer or collector of the revenue,--offices which, though
they carry those who abuse them to the devil, are, in short, always
bringing in the penny.

"My lady duchess will tell thee how desirous I am of going to court.
Consider of it, and let me know thy pleasure, for I will endeavor to do
thee honor there by riding in my coach.

"The curate, barber, bachelor, and even the sexton, cannot believe thou
art a governor, and say the whole is a deception or matter of
enchantment, like all the affairs of thy master, Don Quixote. Sampson
vows he will go in quest of thee, and drive this government out of thy
head, as well as the madness out of Don Quixote's skull. I say nothing,
but laugh in my own sleeve, look at my beads, and contrive how to make
thy hunting-suit into a gown and petticoat for our daughter. I have sent
some acorns to my lady duchess, and I wish they were of gold. Send me
some strings of pearls, if they are in fashion in thy island.

"The news of our town are these: the widow of the hill has matched her
daughter with a bungling painter, who came here and undertook all sort
of work. The corporation employed him to paint the king's arms over the
gate of the town-house. He asked them two ducats for the job, which they
paid beforehand; so he fell to it and worked eight days, at the end of
which he had made nothing of it, and said he could not bring his hand to
paint such trumpery, and returned the money; yet, for all that, he
married in the name of a good workman. The truth is, he has left his
brushes and taken up the spade, and goes to the field like a gentleman.
Pedro de Lobo's son has taken orders and shaved his crown, meaning to be
a priest. Minguilla, Mingo Silvato's niece, hearing of it, is suing him
up