The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (3 page)

The beasts were at the rack in the stables and the travellers were at the other end in the kitchen, separated from the stable by two stone steps. At that time, this was the normal arrangement in nearly all Spanish inns. The whole building was but one long room of which the greater part was occupied by the mules and the lesser by the humans. But it was all the merrier for that. As the
zagal
(muleteer)
saw to the pack animals, he kept up a steady stream of repartee with the innkeeper's wife, who replied with all the liveliness of her sex and station until the more serious-minded innkeeper came between them and interrupted the exchanges. They soon started up again, however. The inn rang to the sound of the castanets played by the maids, who danced to the raucous singing of a goatherd. Travellers made each other's acquaintance and invited each other to supper. Everyone gathered round the stove, said who they were, where they were going and sometimes told stories. Those were the good old days; now our inns are more comfortable, but the boisterous social life which the travellers of those days led had a charm I cannot describe to you.

Not just here, but for much of the novel, we are vicariously transported into the atmosphere of an early-eighteenth-century Spanish hostelry (or, if we abandon the fictional framework, an inn in 1780, when Potocki visited Spain), listening to the stories of men and women, some rich, some poor, some law-abiding, some criminal, some naïve, some worldly-wise; how can such a cornucopia of narratives be brought to an end? Some critics have said that the resolution of this particular novel is disappointing, but it may be that no novel of this sort can resolve the problem of an ending which must be indefinitely deferred if the entertainment is to continue: for when the voices are stilled and the party breaks up, silence, solitude, absence, even a sort of death supervenes. But for as long as the book remains open, inviting the reader into the imaginary hostelry of its pages, it can prove itself to be the most lively and entertaining of companions.

Potocki's text poses a number of problems in respect of the titles of address and courtesy, which are rendered by Potocki from an original language (usually Spanish) into French (e.g. ‘Señor caballero' becomes ‘Seigneur cavalier'). I have thought it appropriate to revert to the original, rather than find an English equivalent for the French, and to leave foreign titles of nobility in the most usual form, depending on the context. In some cases, this leads to mixed usage (e.g. both ‘Duque' and ‘Duke'); in others the use of the lower case (in referring to characters by title). I have not translated the many terms for different currencies (pieces of eight, darics, piastres, piastres fortes, sequins, pistoles, reals, and others besides); their context makes their value clear enough. I have also left the various horse-driven modes of transport (carrosses, chaises, chaises roulantes, Utters, calèches, etc.) in their original form for the most part. I have provided footnotes for the foreign words and phrases which Potocki left in his text, and have also noted historical events where it seemed to me to be enlightening; but not all of Radrizzani's own notes have been reproduced, nor has his critical apparatus (variant readings, alternative versions of days, etc.) been included. The occasional textual inconsistencies or errors have also been recorded in footnotes.

It gives me great pleasure to place on record the debts I owe to Pauline, my wife, and to Paul Foote, for having read whole drafts of the translation, to Roger Pearson, for his astute advice about the Introduction, and to Peter Southwell, Ron Truman, John Rutherford, Peter Neumann, Peter Robbins, John Baines and Peter Miller for guidance on specific points of the text. Siegbert Prawer generously lent me invaluable books to which I was able to refer while undertaking this translation; but his advice and encouragement over many years has been more valuable still, and it gives me particular pleasure
to record it here. Jan Lewendon and Fleur Walsh put up with my presence in their office for long periods of time with more good humour than was my due, and generously provided me with liquid sustenance and technical advice. Pat Lloyd heroically typed a first draft from a scratchy dictaphone; without her help,
my
manuscript would perhaps never have seen the light of day.

Potocki refers to a number of places and geographical features in Andalusia in the course of his story: a brief glance at a map will reveal that he has deliberately mixed up his locations. The Venta de Cárdenas is indeed the most northerly inn in the Sierra Morena on the road to Madrid; but the Venta Quemada is a fiction, perhaps suggested by the village of Aldeaquemada, which is west of the Venta de Cárdenas. The settlement called La Carlota is not north of Andújar, but more than sixty miles to the south-west, on the other side of Córdoba; the river Guadalquivir does indeed rush down from the mountains in the way described by Potocki, but only in the spring, and not in the Sierra Morena, but the Sierra de Cazorla, far to the east of the place where he situates it. Although in the book there is a lake of volcanic origin called La Frita, there does not seem to be one at all in the region; but Potocki's description of the countryside north of Andújar corresponds quite well to what is to be found there today. In the spring there is a profusion of wild flowers, aromatic herbs and flowering shrubs in a landscape of bizarrely shaped and weathered rocks and some caves; certainly attractive enough to engender the feelings of Rousseauistic enthusiasm for natural beauty which are attributed to Alphonse van Worden. Further south, however, in the putative site of the Baetican gold mine, the scrubby uplands are less appealing; for the most part they have been reclaimed for use as extensive olive plantations, a feature of the whole region today.

Only those words which recur in the text have been included in this list: in other cases, a footnote gives the meaning.

agour!
, good day! (an invention of Potocki's)

alcalde
, mayor

alguazil
, policeman

barigel
, gaoler

contador
, comptroller of accounts

corregidor
, senior official of the crown, with legal and administrative functions

fray
, brother

gonilla
, Spanish ruff

hidalgo
, gentleman

oidor
, judge

olla
, pot

olla podrida
, stew

pelota
, outdoor ball game

presepe
, crib

quinta
, farm

sbiro
, policeman appointed by the community or government

seguidilla
, a Spanish song form

tirana
, ancient Spanish song form

venta
, inn

virreina
, wife of viceroy

zagal
, muleteer

For those who may wish to follow particular stories without having to engage with the full complexity of Potocki's interwoven narrations, the following index is a guide to the principal stories, with page references:

Ahasuerus,
see
the
Wandering Jew

Athenagoras the philosopher
125–7

Avadoro, Juan,
see
the Gypsy Chief

Busqueros, Don Roque
387–91

Cabbalist, the,
see
Uzeda, Pedro de

Cassar Gomelez
18–21

Cerella, Laura (
see also
Paduli, Marchesa
)
441–7

Cornádez, Señor (
see also
Salero, Frasqueta
)
484–6
,
534

Emina (
see also
Zubeida
)
15–18

Fair Maiden of the castle of Sombre, the
115–21

Gomelez, Great Sheikh of the
600–625

Gypsy Chief, the
131–40
,
171–3
,
194–7
,
201–2
,
231–7
,
294–7
,
330–34
,
345–51
,
355–7
,
476–81
,
483–4
,
536–96

Hermosito
297–303
,
323–6

Hervas, Blas
499–525
,
534

Hervas, Diego
481–505

La Jacquière, Thibaud de
112–21

Landulpho of Ferrara
46–8

Medina Sidonia, Duquesa de
297–326

Menippus of Lycia
123–4

Monte Salerno, Principessa di
150–54

Pacheco the demoniac
27–33
,
94–6

Paduli, Marchesa,
see
Laura Cerella

Pandesowna,
see
the
Gypsy Chief

Peña Vélez, Conde de
202–11

Rebecca,
see
Uzeda, Rebecca de

Reprobate pilgrim, the,
see
Blas Hervas

Ricardi, Monsignor
441–7

Salero, Frasqueta (
see also
Cornádez
)
391–9

Soarez, house of
359–62

Soarez, Lope
357–9
,
366–70
,
375–8
,
384–7
,
400

Toralva, Commander
525–33

Torres, Maria de
173–9
,
181–90
,
192–3

Torres Rovellas, Marqués de
435–41
,
448–67

Trivulzio of Ravenna
42–4

Uzeda, family of
618–23

Uzeda, Pedro de
106–160

Uzeda, Rebecca de
157–68

Val Florida, Marqués de
307–15

van Worden, Alphonse
35–49

Velásquez, Pedro de
216–29
,
253–8
,
259–67
,
269–76

Wandering Jew, the
238–43
,
244–9
,
341–4
,
352–5
,
363–5
,
372–4
,
381–3
,
401–3
,
414–16
,
420–22
,
472–5