Part 1 (1/2)
The Life of Lazarillo of Tormes.
by Lazarillo of Tormes.
INTRODUCTION
_Lazarillo of Tormes_ appeared in sixteenth-century Spain like a breath of fresh air among hundreds of insipidly sentimental novels of chivalry. With so many works full of knights who were manly and brave enough to fight any adversary, but p.r.o.ne to become weak in the knees when they saw their fair lady nearby, was it any wonder that Lazarillo, whose only goal was to fill a realistically hungry stomach, should go straight to the hearts of all Spain. The little novel sold enough copies for three different editions to be issued in 1554, and then was quickly translated into several languages. It initiated a new genre of writing called the ”picaresque.”
It seems certain that other editions, or at least other ma.n.u.scripts, of _Lazarillo_ were circulating previously, but the earliest we know of were the three published in 1554. One of these was printed at Burgos, another at Antwerp, and the third at Alcala de Henares. They all differ somewhat in language, but it is the one from Alcala de Henares that departs most radically from the other two. It adds some episodes, not in the other editions, which were probably written by a second author.
Because _Lazarillo_ was so critical of the clergy, it was put on the Index Purgatorius in 1559 and further editions were prohibited inside Spain. Then, in 1573, an abridged version was printed that omitted Chapters four and five, along with other items displeasing to a watchful Inquisition; later additional episodes were suppressed. This mutilated version was reprinted until the nineteenth century, when Spain finally allowed its people to read the complete work once again.
The ident.i.ty of the author of this novel has always been a mystery. A few names have been suggested over the years: Juan de Ortega, a Jeronymite monk; Sebastian de Horozco, a dramatist and collector of proverbs. But probably the most widely accepted theory was the attribution to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, a famous humanist. Many early editions of _Lazarillo_ carried his name as author, even though there has never been any real proof of his authors.h.i.+p. Some critics, following Americo Castro's lead, think the author was a Jewish convert to Christianity because of certain phrases which point in that direction. And some think he was a follower of Erasmus, despite the French critic Marcel Bataillon's emphatic statements to the contrary.
One of the first relations.h.i.+ps we become aware of as we read this novel is the link of the name Lazaro (Lazarillo: little Lazaro) with the biblical Lazarus: either the figure who died and was brought back to life (John 16) or the beggar (Luke 16:20-31).
This ”historical” relations.h.i.+p is further compounded by the fact that many episodes of the novel are versions of material traditional in European folklore. There is, for instance, a thirteenth century French theatrical farce, _Le garcon et l'aveugle_, in which a servant plays tricks on a blind man. And the British Museum ma.n.u.script of the _Decretals_ of Gregory IX contains an ill.u.s.tration of a boy drinking through a straw from a blind man's bowl. The episode in which Lazarillo thinks a corpse is being brought to his house appears in the _Liber facetiarum et similitudinum Ludovici de Pinedo, et amicorum_ and may be a folktale. And the story of the constable and the pardoner is to be found in the fourth novel of _Il novellino_ by Masuccio Salernitano, and may also be a folktale.
It has long been said that this novel is an accurate reflection of society in sixteenth-century Spain. And to some extent, this does seem to be true. The king of Spain, Charles I, became involved in several foreign wars, and had gone deeply into debt to German and Italian bankers in order to finance those wars.
Soon the quant.i.ties of gold and silver coming from Spain's mines in the New World were being sent directly to the foreign bankers.
The effects of inflation were to be seen everywhere, as were other social ills. Beggars and beggars' guilds were numerous.
Men of all cla.s.ses were affixing t.i.tles to their names, and refusing any work--especially any sort of manual labor--unless it suited their new ”rank.” The clergy was sadly in need of reform.
And pardoners were--often unscrupulously--selling indulgences that granted the forgiveness of sins in return for money to fight the infidel in North Africa and the Mediterranean. All these things are to be found in _Lazarillo of Tormes_.
But is the book really an accurate reflection of all of Spanish society? If there were avaricious priests, and priests who had mistresses, were there none with strong moral principles? If poverty was felt so keenly by Lazarillo and others, was there no one who enjoyed a good meal? As another writer has suggested, the Spanish conquerors did not come to the New World on empty stomachs, nor was the Spanish Armada ill supplied. It is obvious, then, that while _Lazarillo_ reflects Spanish society, it mirrors only one segment of that society. Its writer ignored uncorrupted men of generosity and high moral principles who surely existed alongside the others. So just as the chivalresque novels distorted reality upward, this novel distorts reality downward and almost invariably gives us only the negative traits of society.
An important point is the unity, or nonunity, of the book.
Earliest critics of Lazarillo of Tormes saw it as a loosely formed novel of unconnected episodes whose only point of unity happened to be the little rogue who told his life story, in which he is seen as serving one master after another. Later criticism has changed that point of view, however, by pointing to such unifying factors as wine, which is used as a recurring theme throughout (Lazarillo steals it; it is used for was.h.i.+ng his wounds; he sells it). Then there is the ”initiation” in which Lazarillo's head is slammed against a stone statue of a bull.
Later the blind man smashes his own head against a stone post as poetic justice is meted out. Finally, Lazarillo's mother will ”lie at the side--or stay on the side of good people,” and as the novel ends Lazaro decides to do the same.
Claudio Guillen, a modern critic, has noted that time is also a unifying factor in this novel. Early incidents are told in detail, and at moments of pain specific amounts of time are measured (”I felt the pain from its horns for three days”). When Lazarillo is taken in by the squire his hunger pangs become so great that he begins to count the hours. But as conditions improve for Lazarillo's stomach, he gradually forgets about the slow pa.s.sage of time. In fact, time now begins to race past: four months with the pardoner, four years with the chaplain.
This slow, then swift, pa.s.sage of time is used by Guillen to explain the extreme brevity of some later chapters of the novel.
It is a mature Lazaro, he says, who is telling the story and reflecting on his childhood. And we are really seeing the memory process of this older Lazaro who glosses over less important parts of his life and dwells on the moments that matter.
Other critics have responded to the question of ”finality” in the work; that is, is Lazarillo an incomplete novel or not?
Francisco Rico believes the novel is complete, and that there is a ”circular” structure to it all. He notes that the novel is addressed to a certain fictional character (”You”: Vuestra merced), and that Lazarillo intends to tell this character ”all the details of the matter,” the ”matter” apparently being the questionable relations between the archpriest and Lazarillo's wife. So there is a continuity from the beginning of the work through the details of Lazarillo's life, until the last chapter (”right up to now”) where the ”matter” itself, alluded to previously in the Prologue, is finally given in some detail.
Another critic, Americo Castro, points out that _Lazarillo of Tormes_ is different from other types of sixteenth century prose fiction in at least one extremely important way that points toward the modern novel. The knights of chivalresque novels and the shepherds who sighed and lamented their way through pastoral novels were flat characters with no room to grow. Not so Lazarillo. Every action, every twist of fortune makes an impression on him, forms his way of looking at the world and shapes his nature. From an innocent little boy he becomes a mischievous, then vengeful, blind man's boy. He observes the hypocrisy, avarice, false pride, materialism of his masters, and when he marries the archpriest's mistress for what he can gain, he applies all the lessons he has learned on the ladder to success-- to the ”height of all good fortune.” Americo Castro also notes that _Lazarillo of Tormes_ is a step toward the masterpiece of Cervantes, _Don Quixote of La Mancha_. As this critic said: ”In addition to its intrinsic merits, the _Lazarillo de Tormes_ is supremely important viewed in its historic perspective. In many ways it made possible the _Quijote_. Among other things, it offered in the intimate opposition of the squire and his servant the first outline of the duality-unity of Don Quijote and Sancho.”
Style is another point of great importance to this novel, particularly in the use of conceits. Lazarillo's father, for example, ”suffered persecution for righteousness' sake,” a clear reference to the beat.i.tudes. But in this case ”righteousness” is the law who is punis.h.i.+ng him for being the thief that he is.
Throughout the novel we see similar plays on words: the master, who ”although he was _blind, enlightened_ me;” or the squire who tried to coax certain young ladies one morning, and whose stomach was _warm_, but when he discovered that his pocketbook was _cold_, he suffered _hot-chills_.
It is not surprising that sequels promptly appeared, but the writers of these unfortunately lacked the genius of the author of the original _Lazarillo_. An anonymous sequel appeared in 1555 with the t.i.tle, _The Second Part of Lazarillo of Tormes, His Fortunes and Misfortunes_. Its beginning words are the same as the final ones of the first _Lazarillo_, but there any similarity ends. In this novel Lazaro makes friends with some Germans and his wife gives birth to a daughter. Lazaro then enlists to go on an expedition to fight the Turks, his s.h.i.+p sinks, and he is miraculously changed into a fish. He has many adventures in the sea, and is finally caught up in the nets of some fishermen and changes back into a man. The novel is a fantasy, and may be allegorical. The beginning is its most realistic point, and the first chapter of this novel became tacked onto the end of the first _Lazarillo_.
No further sequels were printed until 1620 when Juan Cortes de Tolosa's book, _Lazarillo de Manzanares_, was published. This novel imitates the first _Lazarillo_ in its initial episodes, but is again far less successful than the original.