Pablo de Segovia, the Spanish Sharper · Chapter
I explained
Pablo introduces his family background: his father Clemente Pablo, a barber and thief, and his mother Aldonza Saturno de Rebollo, a suspected witch and procuress.
What happens
Pablo introduces his family background: his father Clemente Pablo, a barber and thief, and his mother Aldonza Saturno de Rebollo, a suspected witch and procuress. He recounts their criminal exploits, his father's imprisonment, and his mother's sorcery. After a quarrel over his upbringing, Pablo resolves to pursue virtue and education, choosing school over his parents' trades.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Desperation
Pablo's parents resort to theft, sorcery, and prostitution to survive, reflecting the desperation of the lower classes.
Satire of Hypocrisy
Quevedo satirizes the hypocrisy of Pablo's parents, who justify their crimes while claiming respectability, and the society that persecutes them.
Characters to notice
- Pablo de Segovia
Narrator and protagonist; born in Segovia, decides to go to school rather than follow his parents' criminal trades.
- Aldonza Saturno de Rebollo
Pablo's mother; a beautiful woman suspected of witchcraft and prostitution, known for her 'taking behaviour' and skill in sorcery.
Key passages
“I sir, was born at Segovia, my father’s name was Clemente Pablo, a native of the same town; may God keep him in heaven.”
I was born in Segovia; my father was Clemente Pablo, also from there—may he rest in peace.
Pablo introduces his birthplace and father.
“My mother, good woman, had no share of troubles. An old woman that bred me, commending her one day, said, she was of such a taking behaviour, that she bewitched all she had to do with; but they say, she talked something concerning her intercourse with a great he-goat, which had like to have brought her to the stake, to try whether she had anything of the nature of the salamander, and could live in fire.”
My mother was said to be so charming that she enchanted everyone, but rumors of her dealings with a goat nearly got her burned at the stake as a witch.
Pablo describes his mother's reputation for witchcraft and the danger she faced.
“My father used to say to me: “My child, this trade of stealing is no mechanic trade, but a liberal art.””
My father told me that stealing is not a manual labor job but a refined skill.
Pablo's father rationalizes theft as a noble craft.
“I told them very resolutely I would apply myself to virtue, and go on in the good way I had proposed, and therefore desired them to put me to school, for nothing was to be done without reading and writing.”
I firmly declared I would pursue virtue and asked to be sent to school, since literacy is essential.
Pablo chooses education over his parents' criminal paths.