Lazarillo of Tormes | Page 3

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Contents
Introduction
THE LIFE OF LAZARILLO OF TORMES
Prologue
I Lazaro Tells about His Life and His Parents
II How Lazaro Took up with a Priest and the Things That Happened to
Him with That Man
III How Lazaro Took up with a Squire and What Happened to Him
Then
IV How Lazaro Went to Work for a Friar of the Order of Mercy and
What Happened to Him
V How Lazaro Went to Work for a Pardoner and the Things That
Happened to Him Then
VI How Lazaro Went to Work for a Chaplain and What Happened to
Him Then
VII How Lazaro Went to Work for a Constable and Then What
Happened to Him
VIII In Which Lazaro Tells of the Friendship He Struck up in Toledo
with Some Germans and What Happened to Them
THE SECOND PART OF THE LIFE OF LAZARILLO OF TORMES
Letter of Dedication
To The Reader
I Where Lazaro Tells about How He Left Toledo to Go to the War of
Algiers
II How Lazaro Embarked at Cartagena
III How Lazaro Escaped from the Sea
IV How They Took Lazaro through Spain
V How They Took Lazaro to the Capital

VI How They Took Lazaro to Toledo
VII What Happened to Lazaro on the Way to the Tagus River
VIII How Lazaro Brought a Lawsuit against His Wife
IX How Lazaro Became a Baggage Carrier
X What Happened to Lazaro with an Old Bawd
XI How Lazaro Left for His Homeland and What Happened to Him on
the Way
XII What Happened to Lazaro in an Inn Three Miles outside of
Valladolid
XIII How Lazaro Was a Squire for Seven Women at One Time
XIV Where Lazaro Tells What Happened to Him at a Dinner
XV How Lazaro Became a Hermit
XVI How Lazaro Decided to Marry Again
Bibliography

INTRODUCTION
Lazarillo of Tormes appeared in sixteenth-century Spain like a breath
of fresh air among hundreds of insipidly sentimental novels of chivalry.
With so many works full of knights who were manly and brave enough
to fight any adversary, but prone to become weak in the knees when
they saw their fair lady nearby, was it any wonder that Lazarillo, whose
only goal was to fill a realistically hungry stomach, should go straight
to the hearts of all Spain. The little novel sold enough copies for three
different editions to be issued in 1554, and then was quickly translated
into several languages. It initiated a new genre of writing called the
"picaresque."
It seems certain that other editions, or at least other manuscripts, of
Lazarillo were circulating previously, but the earliest we know of were
the three published in 1554. One of these was printed at Burgos,
another at Antwerp, and the third at Alcala de Henares. They all differ
somewhat in language, but it is the one from Alcala de Henares that
departs most radically from the other two. It adds some episodes, not in
the other editions, which were probably written by a second author.
Because Lazarillo was so critical of the clergy, it was put on the Index
Purgatorius in 1559 and further editions were prohibited inside Spain.

Then, in 1573, an abridged version was printed that omitted
Chapters
four and five, along with other items displeasing to a watchful
Inquisition; later additional episodes were suppressed. This mutilated
version was reprinted until the nineteenth century, when Spain finally
allowed its people to read the complete work once again.
The identity of the author of this novel has always been a mystery. A
few names have been suggested over the years: Juan de Ortega, a
Jeronymite monk; Sebastian de Horozco, a dramatist and collector of
proverbs. But probably the most widely accepted theory was the
attribution to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, a famous humanist. Many
early editions of Lazarillo carried his name as author, even though
there has never been any real proof of his authorship. Some critics,
following Americo Castro's lead, think the author was a Jewish convert
to Christianity because of certain phrases which point in that direction.
And some think he was a follower of Erasmus, despite the French critic
Marcel Bataillon's emphatic statements to the contrary.
One of the first relationships we become aware of as we read this novel
is the link of the name Lazaro (Lazarillo: little Lazaro) with the biblical
Lazarus: either the figure who died and was brought back to life (John
16) or the beggar (Luke 16:20-31). This "historical" relationship is
further compounded by the fact that many episodes of the novel are
versions of material traditional in European folklore. There is, for
instance, a thirteenth century French theatrical farce, _Le garcon et
l'aveugle_, in which a servant plays tricks on a blind man. And the
British Museum manuscript of the Decretals