Pablo de Segovia, the Spanish Sharper · Chapter
Chapter XI explained
Pablo visits his uncle Alonso Ramplón, a hangman living near the slaughterhouse, and is horrified by the low company of a beggar, a swineherd, and a mulatto.
What happens
Pablo visits his uncle Alonso Ramplón, a hangman living near the slaughterhouse, and is horrified by the low company of a beggar, a swineherd, and a mulatto. They feast and drink excessively, leading to a drunken brawl. Pablo recovers his inheritance of three hundred ducats, then secretly leaves a letter and departs for an inn, resolved to return to Madrid and never see his uncle again.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Desperation
The squalid lodging, broken utensils, and desperate company highlight the depths of poverty and the degradation it forces upon people.
Satire of Hypocrisy
The beggar who collects money for souls yet squanders it on drink, and the hangman who boasts of his 'friendly lashes,' satirize religious and moral hypocrisy.
Characters to notice
- Pablo de Segovia
Narrator and protagonist; disgusted by his uncle's company, recovers his inheritance, and secretly leaves for Madrid.
- Alonso Ramplón
Pablo's uncle, a hangman; hosts a drunken feast with low companions and gives Pablo part of his inheritance.
- Master Cabra
Mentioned as dead; Pablo passes by his house and notes he could only die of starvation.
Key passages
“My worthy uncle was lodged near the slaughterhouse, at a water-seller’s house. We went in, and he said to me, “My lodging is not a palace, but I assure you, nephew, it stands conveniently for my business.””
My uncle lived by the slaughterhouse in a water-seller's home, and he told me his lodging was humble but well-situated for his work.
Pablo describes his uncle's dwelling and his uncle's pragmatic view of it.
“I cannot express how much I was out of countenance at my uncle’s infamous profession, who told me it was lucky that I came at such a time, for I should have a good dinner, because he had invited some friends.”
I was deeply embarrassed by my uncle's shameful job, and he said I was fortunate to arrive when he had invited friends for a good meal.
Pablo's shame at his uncle's hangman profession and the invitation to dine with his associates.
“I was so much out of countenance to see what good company my uncle kept, that my blushes betrayed me, and the mulatto perceiving it, said, “Is this reverend gentleman the person that suffered the other day, and had a certain number of stripes given him?””
I blushed so much at the low company my uncle kept that the mulatto noticed and asked if I was the one who had recently been whipped.
Pablo's embarrassment is mistaken for that of a punished criminal.
“At length I prevailed with him to tell me of part or my inheritance, though not all; and so he told me of three hundred ducats my worthy father had got by sleight of hand, and left them in custody of a decent woman, that was the receiver of all that was stolen for ten leagues round the country.”
I finally got him to reveal part of my inheritance: three hundred ducats my father had stolen and left with a woman who received stolen goods for miles around.
Pablo learns the source of his inheritance from his father's thievery.
“When it was day, I got up before he was awake, and went away, without being perceived, to an inn, locking the door on the outside, and thrusting in the key at a cranny.”
At dawn, I rose before my uncle woke and slipped out to an inn, locking the door from outside and pushing the key back through a crack.
Pablo's secret departure from his uncle's house.