His history was
remarkable; in his early youth a manuscript copy of the compilation
of Luis Lobo had fallen into his hands. This book had so taken
hold of his imagination, that he studied it night and day until he
had planted it in his memory from beginning to end; but in so
doing, his brain, like that of the hero of Cervantes, had become
dry and heated, so that he was unfitted for any serious or useful
occupation. After the death of his parents he wandered about the
streets in great distress, until at last he fell into the hands of
certain toreros, or bull-fighters, who kept him about them, in
order that he might repeat to them the songs of the AFICION. They
subsequently carried him to Madrid, where, however, they soon
deserted him after he had experienced much brutality from their
hands. He returned to Seville, and soon became the inmate of a
madhouse, where he continued several years. Having partially
recovered from his malady, he was liberated, and wandered about as
before. During the cholera at Seville, when nearly twenty thousand
human beings perished, he was appointed conductor of one of the
death-carts, which went through the streets for the purpose of
picking up the dead bodies.
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