Baza

“ They burned for adventure, and were ever ready for daring exploits, the more welcome the more dangerous they promised to be. One day during the siege of Baza, a strong city in El Zagal's dominions, two of these spirited young cavaliers, Francisco de Bazan and Antonio de Cueva, were seated on the ramparts of the siege works, bewailing the dull life to which they were confined. ”

“ There are remains of ramparts (15th and 16th centuries) and several old houses of the 16th century. The vineyards of the vicinity produce white wine. The town is capital of an arrondissement, and carries on tanning, &c., and trade in the well-known Bazadais cattle.
Bazas (Cossio) was capital of the ancient tribe of the Vasates, and under the Romans one of the twelve cities of Novempopuluna. In later times it was capital of the district of Bazadais. It was the scene of much bloodshed during the religious wars of the 16th century. ”

“ THE BAZAAR.
"My dear," said Mrs. Durnford to her husband on his return from a long walk, "I this morning received a letter from poor Susan Boscawen, full of the most lively expressions of her gratitude, for the kind assistance which you gave to her on the death of her father. She has established herself at the Bazaar, in Soho-square, which I understand is a most respectable institution, founded by a gentleman of considerable opulence residing in the place, and by this means, she is enabled to support her aged mother and her two helpless brothers. ”

“ But I think I have already been moving too long in a sphere which is not my own. Flying fishes can hold out for a time in the air; but soon they must splash back into the water; allow me, too, to paddle in my own element.'
Madame Odintsov looked at Bazarov. ”

“ 'Look,' said Arkady suddenly, 'a dry maple leaf has come off and is falling to the earth; its movement is exactly like a butterfly's flight. Isn't it strange? Gloom and decay—like brightness and life.'
'Oh, my friend, Arkady Nikolaitch!' cried Bazarov, 'one thing I entreat of you; ”

“ Kredra looked at him with humble respectfulness. The wretch of a lord who commanded a detachment of soldiers, maddened with wine and insolence, had made prisoner for a night a young Basque girl; she escaped, told her story, then leaped from a rock; and the young Basque to whom she was betrothed took the Oath of the Knife. The story was well known. Said Kredra:
"I have told my little one of you a hundred times, and blessed you as I told. As a child that lisped, she loved you. Your name is told to little boys when they are taught the noble deeds that Basques have done." ”

“ And the three brothers set out together. At eight o’clock in the evening they come to a grand castle, and they knock at the door, and the Basa-Andre (wild woman) comes to answer. She asks:
“Who is there?”
And they reply, “It is we who are here.”
“What do you want, young children? Where are you going to at this time of night?”
“We ask and beg of you to give us shelter for to-night; we will be satisfied with a corner of the floor, poor wretches as we are.”
“I have my husband, the Basa-Jaun, and if he catches you he will eat you; that’s certain.” ”

“ One day, as she was passing over a bridge,11 she sees Basa-Andre under, and says to her:
“If you do not make these three oxen men as they were before, I will put you into a red-hot oven.”
She answers her:
“No! go to such a dell, and take thence three hazel sticks,12 and strike each of them three blows on the back.”
And she did what she told her, and they were changed [53] into men the same as they were before; and all the brothers and the sister lived happily together in Basa-Jaun’s castle, and as they lived well they made a good end also. ”

“ The Iberians are represented to-day by the Basques.
The Basques are "of middle size, compactly built, robust and agile, of a darker complexion than the Spaniards, with gray eyes and black hair. They are simple but proud, impetuous, merry, and hospitable. The women are beautiful, skilful in performing men's work, and remarkable for their vivacity and grace. The Basques are much attached to dancing, and are very fond of the music of the bagpipe." ("New American Cyclopædia," art. Basques.) ”

“ The expression “of old” is common on the lips of both French and Spanish Basques; [69] they willingly praise the past, and are intensely conservative of all their customs, their immemorial language, their games, privileges, religion. The ox-carts, with wheels of solid wood, to be seen under the vine-trellises of Basque farms, seem as old as the withered trunk of the oak of Guernica, and similarly many ancient customs have been retained. In some parts, at funerals, the men wear long cloaks reaching to the feet, the women also wearing long, full cloaks with hoods, that completely hide the face. ”

“ Basque opened the door, and beheld M. Fauchelevent. He introduced him into the drawing-room, still encumbered and topsy-turvy, and which bore the air of a field of battle after the joys of the preceding evening.
“Dame, sir,” remarked Basque, “we all woke up late.”
“Is your master up?” asked Jean Valjean.
“How is Monsieur’s arm?” replied Basque.
“Better. Is your master up?”
“Which one? the old one or the new one?”
“Monsieur Pontmercy.”
“Monsieur le Baron,” said Basque, drawing himself up.
A man is a Baron most of all to his servants. ”

“ Leaving out of sight the differences existing between the Basques of Spain and those of French Navarra, the Basques may be described as having broad foreheads, straight noses, finely shaped mouths and chins, and well-proportioned figures. Their features are exceedingly mobile, and every sentiment is reflected upon them by a lighting up of the eyes, a movement of the eyebrows, or a trembling of the lips. The women especially are distinguished by the purity of their features; their large eyes, smiling lips, and small waists are universally admired. ”

“ Basque Roads, an anchorage between the Isle of Oléron and the mainland; famous for a naval victory gained in 1809 over a French fleet under Vice-Admiral Allemand.
Basques, a people of the Western Pyrenees, partly in France and partly in Spain; distinguished from their neighbours only by their speech, which is non-Aryan; a superstitious people, conservative, irascible, ardent, proud, serious in their religious convictions, and pure in their moral conduct. ”

“ An author of far more learning than we can lay claim to—Señor Erro, a Spanish Basque—gravely asserts that all the inhabitants of Europe and Asia, if not of America also, sprang from the Basques. In short, they—that is, we—are the primitive race. And this fearless writer, with a due sense of national superiority, goes boldly on to prove that Adam and Eve spoke the Basque language in the terrestrial Paradise, of which he gives a detailed description according to the Biscayan interpretation of the Biblical account. ”

“ The Dey of Algiers was at this time one Mahomet Bassa, a very Bold, Fierce, Fighting Man, but of the meanest Extraction, and one, indeed, that had been no more than a common Soldier, from which he had sprung to be, by turns, Oda-Bashee or Lieutenant, Bullock-Bashee or Captain, Tiah-Bashee or Colonel, and Aga or General. For among these strange [236] people every valiant and aspiring Soldier,—I wish 'twas so in England,—though taken yesterday from the Plough, may be considered as Heir-Apparent to the Throne. Nor are they ashamed of the obscurity of their birth. ”

“ Towards the end of supper a slight contre-temps occurs, for Basan, being ordered in a voice of thunder to ring the bell, starts up, poor willing youth, with extraordinary celerity and not spying a large silver dish-cover lying near him, plants a well-directed kick in the centre of its hollow body, which sends it flying across the room into the fire-place, where it lodges amid a crash of falling irons. ”

“ From the time we crossed the Ebro, a wonderful change took place in the appearance of the natives; and I believe the same description of people extend considerably into France, although under another government; they, I understand, still retain their ancient customs, dress, and language; they are denominated Basques, from the name of the province, I apprehend, which is called Biscay. They speak a different language from either the Spaniards, who border them on one side, or the French, on the other ”

“ Later, but still in the far distant past, the whole of the Iberian peninsula came to be inhabited by the race of men of whom the Basques are the present representatives, but whether they succeeded immediately to the palæolithic savages, or whether some other people came between them, is as yet{5} unknown. The Basques in Europe correspond to the early Egyptians and the light coloured men of the North African coast, so that in speaking of them we are speaking of a race that led the van of civilisation at a very remote period in the history of the world. ”

“ One peculiarity of the Basque, and especially of the Tartaro legends, is that the hero of them is so often a madman, an idiot, or a fool. If we can trust our memory, the case is the same in the Slavonic representatives of Odysseus.3 But the Basques seem to dwell upon and to repeat the idea in a peculiar way; they ring the changes on all states, from the wild madman, like the Scandinavian Berserker, through the idiot and fool, to the mere blockhead and ninny. ”

“ Quoth the Shaykh, “O my son, come up into the shop, lest thou perish.” So Badr Basim went up into the shop and sat down; whereupon the old man set before him somewhat of food, saying, “O my son, enter the inner shop; glory be to Him who hath preserved thee from yonder she-Sathanas!” King Badr Basim was sore affrighted at the grocer’s words; but he ate his fill and washed his hands; then glanced at his host and said to him, “O my lord, what is the meaning of these words? Verily thou hast made me fearful of this city and its folk.” ”

“ So the act of the 3rd of June 1876, which assimilated the Basque Provinces to the rest of Spain, acknowledged the true self-government which they had enjoyed for centuries.
The circumstances and methods which enabled the Basques to preserve this independence were, first, the isolation caused by their peculiar language; next, the mountainous and easily-defended nature of the country, its comparative poverty and the possession of a sea-board. Then there were the rights and the safeguards which the fueros themselves gave against encroachments. ”

“ This angelic Creature had spent the first Years of her Youth in a Mosque of holy Women, who, to make themselves amends for the Vow they have taken to renounce the World, employ themselves in breeding up young Ladies according to its current Maxims, and most fashionable Practices. There was no beholding her youthful Charms, tho' not yet arrived at their full Perfection, without Admiration. A Bassa of the first Rank, thought her entirely deserving of his Homage. ”

“ The Basques are a people of great interest to the ethnologist, as the last shrunken remains of that Iberian race that once occupied all Western Europe from Scotland to Portugal and Spain, and, indeed, overleaped the Straits and spread as Kabyles and Berbers in Northern Africa. Although overlapped by other races this Basque element forms the main constituent of the French race in the south-west.
Every cook knows what "stock" is. ”

“ They do not mend their rags, but they embroider them. The Basques are like the Greeks, children of the sun; while the Valencian wraps himself, bare and sad, in his mantle of russet wool, with a hole to pass his head through, the natives of Galicia and Biscay delight in fine linen shirts, bleached in the dew. ”

“ Some of the types on the water-side are of the sort that arrest a sketcher, - figures of stalwart, brown-faced Basques, such as I had seen of old in great numbers at Biarritz, with their loose circular caps, their white sandals, their air of walking for a wager. Never was a tougher, a harder race. They are not mariners, nor watermen, but, putting questions of temper aside, they are the best possible dock-porters. ”

“ After so many centuries of close contact and interpenetration with other peoples, we can hardly expect to find a pure physical type among the present Basques. All that we can expect is to be able to differentiate them from their neighbours. The earliest notice we have of the Basques, by Einhard (778) , speaks of their wonderful agility. The next, the pilgrim of the Codex Calixtinus (12th century) , says the Basques are fairer in face (facie candiliores) than the Navarrese.
Anthropologists no longer rely solely on craniology, and the measurement of the skull, to distinguish race. ”

“ This Mahomet Bassa, in a dispute he once had with the Spanish Consul, said: "My mother sold Sheep's Trotters, and my father Neat's Tongues; but they would have been ashamed to expose for sale on their stalls a Tongue so worthless as thine." Mahomet Bassa was, like most of the Turks, a man of Pleasure, and his Harem was furnished with an extraordinary number of choice Beauties. ”

“ The province Bascia, or Vash, on a river of that name which falls into the Gihon, is ten days journey to the south of Balaxiam, and the country is very hot, on which account the people are of a brown colour. They have a language of their own, and wear gold and silver ear-rings, artificially ornamented with pearls and other precious stones; they eat flesh and rice, and are crafty and cruel idolaters. ”

“ That a people not settled on a remote island or in a far oasis, but in the midst of us—in the country which has ever been the battle-field of Europe—should preserve a tradition which belongs to times anterior to history, is a fact calculated to instruct as well as to astonish. The Basques have lived through the mythology of Greece, the wars of Carthage, the dominion of Rome, the devastations of the Vandals, the sway of the Goths, the arms of the Moors, the usurpations of Madrid, and the opinions of Europe, keeping themselves all the while distinct, and recollecting themselves alone. ”