Comedie de Lopès de Vega, is found on pp. 41-87 of the second part. The passages translated correspond approximately to the following verses: Act I, 158-211; 252-502; 750-815; S85-939. Act II, 1849 end of act. Act III, Estrella's letter (text of S); 2600-2634; 2738-2810; 3043 — end.

The translations are very free, at times nothing more than paraphrases. The author had the text of the suelta before him. In his Réflexions he remarks: Le mariage de Berrueco et de Marine est un épisode qui ne fournit aucun intérêt, et qui cependant occupe la moitié de la fièce. Un défaut de cette nature suffiroit chez nous pour la déshonorer; mais les Espagnols pensent autrement, leur grand objet est de faire. rire, et dans cette idée ils font taire les principaux personnages pour laisser parler les bouffons.

He censures Estrella for forcing the marriage and Enrique for breaking it, as he does not consider that a king has the right to dissolve the bonds of matrimony. He censures also the lightness of the punishment Lope Meléndez receives and feels that that character's licentiousness merited more exemplary chastisement. Estrella's character appears to him illogical and her sudden love for the king not in keeping with her character. Enrique's long address to Lope Meléndez seems to him the finest part of the play.

THE PRESENT EDITION

The present edition of Los Novios de Hornachuelos is based on Ms. 15429 for acts I and II, on Ms. 16652 for act III. Variant readings of Ms 16652, of the suelta, and of the Hartzenbusch text are given for acts I and II; of the suelta and of Hartzenbusch for act III. When such variants seem to offer a more acceptable reading than that provided by the text of our manuscripts they have been adopted and indication given in the list of variants.

However, since acts I and II of Ms. 16652 and of the Hartzenbusch text represent mere copies of the suelta, in order to avoid unnecessary and useless duplication, variants found in them are noted only when differing from those of the suelta. It is to be borne in mind that ALL VARIANTS FOUND IN THE SUELTA ARE FOUND ALSO IN ACTS I AND II OF MS. 16652 AND IN HZARTZENBUSCH, UNLESS INDICATION TO THE CONTRARY IS GIVEN. Mere variants in spelling of no particular interest are not included.

Except for the following reservations, the spelling of the manuscripts has been respected. In act I the copyist consistently wrote ç before e, i, and h. It has not been deemed necessary to preserve that peculiarity, especially since it is. found only occasionnally in the remaining acts. We therefore print ce, ci, and ch. Another peculiarity of the hand of act I is the use of i and y. The copyist had no fixed rule for the employment of these characters and interchanged them with the utmost frequency. His manner of writing them is by no means always clear and in many cases there is very legitimate doubt as to whether he intended to write i or y. We have followed his use where there seemed to be no doubt, but in doubtful cases we have preferred to follow the practice commonly employed in the printed works of the early seventeenth century. In acts II and III the copyist regularly employed R for rr. We have transcribed rr always, except initial in proper names and at the beginning of a sentence. In these same acts Berrueco is frequently written Verrueco. For the sake of uniformity we print always Berrueco 1. Preference is given to the manuscript spellings in noting variants found both in the mss. and in

1. Some further remarks on the handwriting and on special peculiarities of the mss. will be found in the notes at the end of our text.

Hartzenbusch, but not in the suelta. Abbreviations have been resolved, capitals and punctuation supplied.

The following abbreviations are employed:

A

=

Ms. 15429.

B = Ms. 16652.

S = Suelta.
H = Hartzenbusch.

In conclusion it is a pleasurable duty to record here the editor's very great indebtedness to M. R. Foulché-Delbosc, to Professor F. O. Reed, and to Mr. John Brooks. All have offered numerous valuable and helpful suggestions and have shown a painstaking with his manuscript that the editor can scarcely hope to repay. Needless to add, no one of them is any wise responsible for any errors that the work may contain.

John M. HILL.

COMEDIA DE LOS
LOS NOBIOS

DE ORNACHUELOS

CONPUESTA POR LUYS BELEZ

XORNADA PRIMERA

1627

f. I r.

S. Los Novios de Hornachvelos. / Comedia / Famosa, / De Lope de Vega Carpio. / Representola Tomas Fernandez. B. (in upper right-hand corner) de Medrano. / Comedia famosa. Los Nouios de Hornachuelos.

Hablan en ella las personas siguientes.

EL REY DON ENRRIQUE.

RUY LOPEZ DE ABALOS.

LOPE MELENDEZ, el Lobo de Estremadura.
MENDO, su criado

XIMENO, su criado.

REY DE ARMAS.

f. 2 r.

Folio 1 vuelto, blank.

Folio 2 vuelto, Los Nobios de Ornachellos (in different band).

ESTRELLA, señora de Ornachuelos.

YNES, criada.

BLANCA, criada.

BERRUECO, labrador gracioso.

ALCALDE, labrador.

MARINA, billana graciosa.

A. Los que ablan en esta jornada primera; S. Hablan en ella, etc. A. omits El Rey Don Enrrique and Ruy Lopez de Abalos, but places them at beginning of act II. A. writes Jimeno and has, y Blanca. S. writes Enrique, Auolas; has Vn Rey de Armas, Estrella Dama; omits el Lobo de Estremadura; omits su before criado; omits criada, but has criadas opposite Blanca; omits labrador gracioso, labrador, and billana graciosa, and reads El Alcalde. H. follows S. except that he has Marina, criada; omits criadas opposite Blanca and adds Criadas to the list.