Cariharta, a girl of the same class and profession with those already in
presence, had meanwhile entered the court, her hair streaming in the
wind, her eyes swollen with tears, and her face covered with contusions
and bruises. She had no sooner got into the Patio, than she fell to the
ground in a fainting fit. Gananciosa and Escalanta[33] sprang to her
assistance, unfastened her dress, and found her breast and shoulders
blackened and covered with marks of violence. After they had thrown
water on her face, she soon came to herself, crying out as she did so,
"The justice of God and the king on that shameless thief, that cowardly
cut-purse, and dirty scoundrel, whom I have saved from the gibbet more
times than he has hairs in his beard. Alas! unhappy creature that I am!
see for what I have squandered my youth, and spent the flower of my
days! For an unnatural, worthless, and incorrigible villain!"

[33] The clamberer.

"Recover yourself, and be calm, Cariharta," said Monipodio; "I am here
to render justice to you and to all. Tell me your cause of complaint,
and you shall be longer in relating the story than I will be in taking
vengeance. Let me know if anything has happened between you and your
_respeto_;[34] and if you desire to be well and duly avenged. You have
but to open your mouth."

[34] Protector, or more exactly "bully,"--to defend and uphold in acts
of fraud and violence.

"Protector!" exclaimed the girl. "What kind of a protector is he? It
were better for me to be protected in hell than to remain any longer
with that lion among sheep, and sheep among men! Will I ever eat again
with him at the same table, or live under the same roof? Rather would I