Then clearly were heard the bells of the Holy Office, which tolled2 sadly to announce that the prisoners had started, and the first thing to appear in the square was the parochial cross of Salvador, with a black handle, and two acolytes4 with candlesticks. Then came two long rows of devout5 penitents6 with lighted torches, among whom were noble gentlemen and a few Grandees8. Between these two lines, and about thirty paces from the parochial cross, came the Attorney-General of the Holy Office, Jerónimo de Ramírez, carrying the standard of the Holy Inquisition, of crimson9 damask with the black and white shield of the Order of St. Dominic and the Royal Arms embroidered10 in gold; on its two extremities11 these inscriptions12 could be read: Exsurge Domine, et judica causam tuam—Ad deripiendos inimicos fidei.
Behind the standard followed the prisoners, about a dozen steps one from the other, and guarded each by two familiars of the Holy Office and four soldiers. The first was D. Augustin Cazalla, cleric, preacher and chaplain to His Majesty13; a man of about fifty, now weak and shrunken, and stooping forward as if overcome by the weight of his sorrow and shame. He was wearing the ignominious14 "sanbenito," a sort of chasuble made of yellow baize, with a vivid green cross on the chest; on his head the ignoble15 "coroza" painted with flames and devils, and a lighted taper16 of green wax in his hand.
Behind him came in the following order, his brother Francisco de Vibero, also a cleric, who did not repent17 until the last moment, and who was gagged to silence his dreadful blasphemies18; their sister Do?a Beatriz de Vibero, a devout woman of rare beauty; the master Alonso Pérez, cleric of Palencia, the silversmith Juan García, Cristóbal de Campo, the Bachelor of Arts Antonio Herrezuelo, also gagged, and impenitent19 to the last, and for this the only one to perish in the flames; Cristóbal de Padilla, a native of Zamora, Do?a Catalina de Ortega, widow of the captain Loaysa, the licentiate Calahorra, Alcalde Mayor in the employment of the Bishop20, Catalina Román, Isabel Estrada, Juan Velásquez, and Gonzalo Baez, a Portuguese21, and not a Lutheran heretic, but a Jew.
These were all condemned22 to be garrotted and their corpses23 burnt, and for this reason they had flames painted on their sanbenitos and corozas. Behind them two familiars of the Holy Office carried on a stretcher the shapeless figure of a woman, also dressed with a coroza and sanbenito, the bones of Do?a Leonor de Vibero, mother of the Cazallas, exhumed24 from the monastery25 of San Benito, to be burnt with her effigy26. Behind this first group came, guarded in the same manner, another sixteen prisoners, men and women, condemned to various punishments, but not to death, for which reason they did not wear the corozas or flames on their sanbenitos; the men went bareheaded, and the women with a piece of linen27 on their head to hide their shame. The most noteworthy among them were D. Pedro Sarmiento, Commander of the Order of Alcantara, and a relation of the Admiral, and his wife Do?a Mencia de Figueroa, who had been a lady of the Court; he was condemned to forfeit28 the robes of his Order and Commandery, to perpetual prison and the sanbenito, with the necessity of hearing mass and a sermon on Sunday, and to communicate on the three great feasts, and forbidden to use silk, gold, silver, horses, and jewels; she was only condemned to perpetual prison and the wearing of the sanbenito.
When Do?a Mencia mounted the platform the ladies of the Court burst into tears, and the Princess herself hurriedly left and went inside, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. The Marqués de Poza, D. Luis de Rojas, also inspired deep pity, a gay boy, exiled for ever from the Court, and deprived of all the honours of a gentleman; and even more Do?a Ana Enriquez, daughter of the Marqués de Alca?ices, a girl of great beauty, who was sentenced to leave the platform with sanbenito and taper, to fast for three days, to return with her dress to the prison, and then go free. Such was the repentance29 and confusion of this lady that, mounting the tribune to hear her sentence, her strength left her, and she would have fallen from the platform, had not a son of the Duque de Gandia, who was there as a devout penitent7, supported her.
The prisoners were placed on the steps in the order arranged, those condemned to death separated from the others, and the Auto30 was begun by a young Dominican brother, of ruddy complexion31, and rapid and violent in his marvellous eloquence32, mounting the centre pulpit. It was the celebrated33 Maestro Fr. Melchor Cano, one of the most learned men of his time, and he preached for more than an hour on the text of St. Matthew, "Flee from false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening34 wolves."
The sermon ended, the Archbishop of Seville, Valdéz, the Inquisitor of Valladolid, Vaca, and his secretary mounted the throne to submit the oath to the Prince and Princess. The Archbishop carried a beautiful cross of gold and jewels, the Inquisitor a missal, and the secretary the form of the oath written on parchment. Standing35 up, the Prince and Princess, D. Carlos cap in hand, swore by the cross and missal in these words, which the secretary read: "That as Catholic Princes they would defend with all might and life the Catholic faith as held and believed by the Holy Mother Church Apostolic of Rome, and its conservation and increase; that they would give all the necessary favour and help to the Holy Office of the Inquisition and its ministers, that heretics, disturbers of the Christian36 religion which they professed37, should be punished according to the Apostolic decrees and sacred canons, without omission38 on their part or making any exception." "El Relator" Juan de Ortega then read this same formula to the people from one of the tribunes of the lower platform, crying first three times, "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!"
And the people, with the vehemence39 of conviction and the haste of those who have received a warning, answered with one voice, with one cry of fear and conviction, "Yes, we swear."
Then the same "Relator," Juan de Ortega, and the clerk of Toledo, Juan de Vergara, ascended40 the two tribunes on the platform, and began to read alternately, the trials and convictions of the prisoners beginning with Dr. Cazalla. From a high pulpit each heard his own sentence read, and remained all the time with a lighted taper of green wax in his hand, exposed to public shame. Then it was that Do?a Ana de Enriquez nearly fell out of the pulpit overwhelmed with confusion.
At four o'clock in the afternoon the reading was ended. Then the Archbishop of Seville put on his pontifical41 vestments, and solemnly absolved42 and restored to the bosom43 of the Church the sixteen reconciled prisoners, who were then taken back to their respective cells. The other fourteen, who were condemned to death, left at the same time, some walking, others riding on donkeys, to be garrotted, and afterwards burnt on the Parade Ground.
Such was then an Auto da Fe, certainly a sad and sorrowful sight, but still, perhaps not so emotional as the sight of certain trials to which in our day the public flock, not to sanction by their presence the judgment44 and justice nor as a warning lesson, but greedy to see the seamy side of sorrow and crime. As to the horrible scenes of the "Quemadero" (the burning), no one attended them but those obliged by their office, and a public low and ignorant, no doubt, and for this reason much more blameless than those who nowadays attend our executions, full of unhealthy curiosity or cold indifference45. There is no doubt, says the profound thinker Balmes, that, if the doctrine46 of those who wish to abolish the death penalty should ever become effective, when posterity47 reads of the executions of our days, they will be as horrified48 as we are over those of the past. The gallows49, garrotte and the guillotine will be placed on a par3 with the ancient "Quemaderos."
Tired by the long wait and the dull reading, Jeromín ended by falling asleep, his head leaning against Do?a Magdalena's knees, but he woke up in the midst of a strange tumult50, of which he was far from knowing that he was the cause. This is how Vander Hammen describes the scene: "At it (the Auto) the greater part of Old Castille was present, and a great number of Andalucians and those from New Castille, and as the news spread about everywhere of the new son of Charles V, a little more and there would have been a serious disaster, as everyone wanted to see him and the guards could not check them.
"The people threw themselves on each other without minding the halberds, javelins51 or arquebuses. It came to this, that the Conde de Osorno had to carry him in his arms to the Princess's carriage, because everyone liked him. In it the sister took him to the Palace (the house of the Conde de Benavente), followed by a crowd of people, and from there he went back with Do?a Magdalena to her Villagarcia."
All the same, Vander Hammen is wrong in what he says about the Princess and other things. The Conde de Osorno did, it is true, take Jeromín and lift him up to show him to the people, but he did not give him into the Princess's charge, nor did she commit the imprudence of taking him with her to the Palace. He gave him into Do?a Magdalena's care, from whom he had got separated in the confusion, and this lady took him back the same night to Villagarcia.
The child, frightened by the tumult, whose cause he did not suspect, asked with rather timid anxiety whether the heretics had escaped.
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1
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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tolled
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| 鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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acolytes
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| n.助手( acolyte的名词复数 )；随从；新手；（天主教）侍祭 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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penitents
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| n.后悔者( penitent的名词复数 )；忏悔者 | |
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penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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grandees
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| n.贵族，大公，显贵者( grandee的名词复数 ) | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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10
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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12
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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13
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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14
ignominious
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| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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18
blasphemies
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| n.对上帝的亵渎，亵渎的言词[行为]( blasphemy的名词复数 )；侮慢的言词（或行为） | |
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impenitent
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| adj.不悔悟的，顽固的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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exhumed
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| v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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effigy
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| n.肖像 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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28
forfeit
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| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
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repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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30
auto
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| n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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32
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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33
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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ravening
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| a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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40
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
pontifical
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| adj.自以为是的，武断的 | |
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42
absolved
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| 宣告…无罪，赦免…的罪行，宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 )； 不受责难，免除责任 [义务] ,开脱（罪责） | |
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43
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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44
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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45
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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46
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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47
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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48
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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49
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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50
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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51
javelins
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| n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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