Feeling faint and dying from hunger,I went up the street very slowly,and as I passed by the Plaza of Cebada I ran into an old devout woman with fangs longer than a wild boar.She came up to me and asked if I wanted to carry a trunk to the house of a friend of hers,saying that it wasn't far away and that she would give me forty coppers.When I heard that,I praised God to hear such sweet words coming from such a foul-smelling mouth as hers:she would give me forty coppers!I told her I would,with pleasure--but my real pleasure was being able to grab onto those forty coppers rather than to carry anything,since I was more in a condition to be carried than to carry.I loaded the trunk on my back,but it was so big and heavy I could barely lift it.The good old woman told me to handle it carefully because inside were some perfume bottles that she prized highly.I told her not to worry because I would walk very slowly.(And even if I had wanted to I couldn't have done anything else:I was so hungry I could barely waddle.)
We reached the house we were taking the chest to.They were very happy to get it,especially a young maiden,plump and dimpled (I was wishing that after I'd eaten a good meal and was in bed,the lice there looked like her):she smiled happily and said she wanted the trunk in her dressing room.I took it there:the old lady gave her the key and told her to keep it until she got back from Segovia.She said she was going there to visit a relative of hers,and she thought she would be back in four days.She gave the girl a hug before she left and whispered a few words in her ear that turned the maiden as red as a rose.And although I thought that was nice,I would have thought it was nicer if I had had plenty to eat.She said good-by to everyone in the house,and asked the girl's father and mother to forgive her for being so bold.They told her she was welcome there anytime.She gave me forty coppers and whispered in my ear to come back to her house the next morning and I would earn forty more.
I went away,happier than a bride in June.I spent thirty coppers on supper,and kept ten to pay for a room.I thought about the power of money.As soon as that old woman gave me the forty coppers I found myself lighter than the wind,more valiant than Roland,and stronger than Hercules.Oh,money,it is not without reason that most men consider you their God.You are the cause of all good,and the root of all evil.You are the inventor of the arts and the one who keeps them excellent.Because of you some maidens remain pure and other maidens give up their purity.Finally,there is no difficulty in the world difficult for you,no hidden place that you do not penetrate,no mountain you do not level,no humble hill you do not raise up.
The next morning I went to the old lady's house the way she asked me.She told me to go back with her and pick up the trunk she had left the day before.She told the people at the house that she had come back for it because when she was about a mile from Madrid,on the way to Segovia,she had met her relative who had had the same idea she did and was coming to visit her,and that she had to have it now because there were clean linens in it that she needed for her relative's room.The plumpish girl gave her back the key,kissing and hugging her more eagerly than the first time;and after she had whispered to her again,they helped me load the trunk on my back,and it seemed to me lighter than the day before because my belly was fuller.
As I went down the stairs I stumbled over something that the Devil must have put there.I tripped and fell with the baggage,and as I rolled down to the bottom of the stairs where the parents of the innocent girl were waiting,I broke both my nose and my ribs.With the knocks that damned chest got,it opened up,and inside there appeared a dashing young man with sword and dagger at his side.He was dressed in traveling clothes,without a cloak.His trousers and jacket were of green satin,and in his hat he wore a feather of the same color.He had on red garters with pearl-white stockings and white sandals.He stood up very elegantly,and making a deep bow he walked right out the door.Everyone stood there agape at the sudden vision,and they looked at each other like wooden puppets.
When they came out of their trance,they quickly called two of their sons and told them what had happened.With a great outcry the sons grabbed their swords,and shouted,"Kill him,kill him!"They ran out looking for that dandy,but since he had left in a hurry,they weren't able to catch up with him.
