Sublimation, almigation, calcination, rubification,
albification, and fermentation; with as many termes unpossible to
be uttered as the arte to be compassed.
--LILLY'S _Gallathea_.
Once upon a time, in the ancient city of Granada, there sojourned a
young man of the name of Antonio de Castros. He wore the garb of a
student of Salamanca, and was pursuing a course of reading in the
library of the university; and, at intervals of leisure, indulging his
curiosity by examining those remains of Moorish magnificence for which
Granada is renowned.
Whilst occupied in his studies, he frequently noticed an old man of a
singular appearance, who was likewise a visitor to the library. He was
lean and withered, though apparently more from study than from age.
His eyes, though bright and visionary, were sunk in his head, and
thrown into shade by overhanging eyebrows. His dress was always the
same: a black doublet; a short black cloak, very rusty and threadbare;
a small ruff and a large overshadowing hat.
His appetite for knowledge seemed insatiable. He would pass whole days
in the library, absorbed in study, consulting a multiplicity of
authors, as though he were pursuing some interesting subject through
all its ramifications; so that, in general, when evening came, he was
almost buried among books and manuscripts.
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