Pablo de Segovia, the Spanish Sharper · Chapter
My journey from Alcalá to Segovia, and what happened by the way till I came to Rejas, where I lay that night. explained
Pablo leaves Alcalá, pursued by creditors, and travels toward Segovia.
What happens
Pablo leaves Alcalá, pursued by creditors, and travels toward Segovia. On the road, he meets a political projector obsessed with absurd schemes to recover the Holy Land and drain the sea with sponges, then a mad fencing master who reduces swordplay to mathematical angles. At an inn in Rejas, the fencing master's antics provoke a real fencing master, leading to a comical confrontation resolved by the landlord.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Hypocrisy
Quevedo mocks the pretensions of self-proclaimed experts—the political projector and the fencing master—whose grandiose schemes are absurd and impractical.
Survival and Trickery
Pablo uses his wits to escape Alcalá with stolen money, and later navigates the madmen's antics with amusement and caution.
Appearance vs. Reality
The fencing master appears learned but is delusional; the political projector seems visionary but is mad. Their outward confidence masks inner folly.
Characters to notice
- Pablo de Segovia
Narrator and protagonist, departing Alcalá after a life of trickery, amused by the madmen he encounters on the road.
- Don Cosme
The political projector who dreams of sucking the sea dry with sponges and recovering the Holy Land.
- Clement
The mad fencing master who speaks in mathematical terms and tries to fence with ladles.
Key passages
“I sold what little I had got underhand, to bear my charges on the way; and with some tricks and sleights of hand, made up about forty crowns, hired a mule, and left my lodging, where I had nothing to leave behind.”
Pablo secretly sold his belongings and used his cunning to gather about forty crowns, then rented a mule and left his lodgings with nothing left behind.
Highlights Pablo's trickery and resourcefulness as he departs Alcalá.
“My contrivance is to suck it dry with sponges, and so to remove that obstacle.”
The political projector claims he will drain the sea inlet using sponges to solve the military problem.
Illustrates the absurdity of the projector's schemes, a key satirical element.
“This sally gains me more ground, and puts by my adversary's sword; now I make my advantage of the remiss motion to kill in the natural way; this should be a cut, and this a thrust.”
The mad fencing master describes his movements in mathematical terms while fencing with a ladle, claiming to gain advantage over an imaginary opponent.
Shows the ridiculousness of the fencing master's pseudo-scientific approach.