“Nor would it be well that you should understand him,” said the curate, “and on that score we might have excused the Captain 87 if he had not brought him into Spain and turned him into Castilian. He robbed him of a great deal of his natural force, and so do all those who try to turn books written in verse into another language, for, with all the pains they take and all the cleverness they show, they never can reach the level of the originals as they were first produced. In short, I say that this book, and all that may be found treating of those French affairs, should be thrown into or deposited in some dry well, until after more consideration it is settled what is to be done with them; excepting always one Bernardo del Carpio that is going about, and another called Roncesvalles ; for these, if they come into my hands, shall pass at once into those of the housekeeper, and from hers into the fire without any reprieve.” 88