Languages & literature > Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane > Volume 3

84 The ADVENTURES of :
caufe to be dififaii&fied,?”. “ No, Sir; (I repfied]
you are the beft of matters ; and I am penetrated-
with your generofity. But, you know, one muft
follow his deftiny I find I am born to eternize'
my name by works of genius. ’ “ What folly-
pofiettes thee ! (refumed the good citizen) thou halt
.already taken root in the hofpital, and art of that:
kind of wood of which Rewards and even direftors|
ar* made ” Thou art going to leave what is folid,:
in order to employ thyfelf in trifles ; and thou wilt
foon repent of thy imprudence, my child.
The direflor feeing that he oppofed my defigni
to no purpofe, paid my .wages, and over and a-
bpve, made me a prefent of fifty ducats, as a re-;
compence for my faithful fervices: fo, that with j
this, and what I found means to glean in the little :
commiffions that were intruded to my integrity, I
was in a condition, cn my arrival at Madrid, to
appear in a very handfome manner. This I failed ?
not to do ; though the writers of our nation dont
much pique themfelves on their neat appearance. .
J foon became acquainted with Lope de Vega *, Mi- ,
guel Cervantes de Saavedra f, and other famous au¬
thors ; but in preference to thofe great men, I
chofe for my preceptor, a young batchelor of Cor- !
dova, the incomparable Don Lewis de Gongora, 3
the fineil genius that ever Spa n produced. H*
will not allow his works to be printed in his life- :
time, but contents bimfelf with reading them to 1
* LopeFelix deVegaCarpio, a renowned dramatic poet, ;
as much admired by the Spaniards, asShakefpear, (with
whom he was cotemporary) is by the Engliih. He com-
pofed igoo pieces for the ftage, in verfe, befides many
other works that proclaim the fruitfulnefs of his genius,
f Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra, the celebrated au¬
thor of Don (Quixote.