Andres  could  not  fail  to  experience  a  most  grievous  sen-
sation on  finding  himself  in  this  place.  Some  of  the  horses,
with  drooping  heads,  creatures  all  skin  and  bone,  their
manes  rough  and  dirty,  were  standing  motionless,  awaiting
their  turn,  as  if  they  had  a  foreboding  of  the  dreadful
death  which  would  put  an  end,  within   a  few  hours,  to  that


230  ROMANTIC  LEGENDS  OF  SPAIN

miserable  life  of  theirs  ;  others,  half  blind,  were  sniffing
about  for  the  rack  and  eating,  or,  tearing  the  ground  with
the  hoof  and  snorting  wildly,  were  struggling  to  pull  them-
selves loose  and  flee  from  the  peril  which  they  scented  with
horror.  And  all  those  animals  had  been  young  and  beautiful.
What  aristocratic  hands  had  patted  their  necks  I  What
affectionate  voices  had  urged  on  their  speed  !  And  now  all
was  blows  from  one  side,  oaths  from  the  other,  and  death  at
last,  death  in  terrible  agony  accompanied  by  jests  and  hisses  !

"If  they  think  at  all,"  said  Andres,  "what  will  these
animals  think  at  the  core  of  their  dim  intelligence,  when  in
the  middle  of  the  ring  they  bite  their  tongues  and  expire
with  a  frightful  spasm?  Truly  the  ingratitude  of  man  is
sometimes  inconceivable."

He  was  startled  out  of  those  reflections  by  the  rough  voice
of  one  of  \\\Q  picadores^  who  was  swearing  and  cursing  while
he  tested  the  legs  of  one  of  the  horses,  striking  the  butt-end  of
his  lance  against  the  wall.  The  horse  did  not  seem  entirely
contemptible ;  apparently  it  was  crazy  or  had  some  mortal
disease.
