| Chapter I,II,III,IV. |
OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR
1843-1900
o manta diáphano da phantasia
EÇA DE QUEIROZ
OUR LADY
OF THE PILLAR
BY
EÇA DE QUEIROZ
DONE INTO ENGLISH BY
EDGAR PRESTAGE
OF THE LISBON ROYAL ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES, CHEVALIER OF THE
ORDER OF S. THIAGO
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE
AND COMPANY, LTD.
1906
Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
DEDICATED
BY PERMISSION, TO
HER MAJESTY D. AMELIA,
QUEEN OF PORTUGAL
TO THE READER
Being in Lisbon in October last, I sauntered one evening into theLivraria Bertrand, a recognised meeting-place of men of letters in theChiado, still the principal street of the Capital, and now knownofficially as the Rua Garrett, though, in practice, the greater poet hasnot displaced the lesser. There I found Senhor Francisco Ramos Paz,proprietor of the Gazeta de Noticias of Rio de Janeiro, and ourconversation turned on Eça de Queiroz. I happened to say that I hadrecently published an English version of{viii} the Suave Milagre and hadone of the Defunto ready for the press, whereupon Senhor Ramos Paztold me that the original MS. of the latter story belonged to him, ithaving been written for his paper, and that Queiroz had expressed theopinion to his publishers, MM. Lugan et Genelioux of Oporto, that it washis best short story. Finding my own opinion unexpectedly confirmed byso keen a self-critic as the Founder of the Realist School in Portugal,I have the less hesitation in submitting the Defunto (which I haveventured to re-name Our Lady of the Pillar) to your appreciation. Inthe Preface to The Sweet Miracle I referred to some of the leadingworks of Queiroz, and would only add that those who{ix} desire to know moreof him and of the romance in Portugal might read with advanta