Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 1.djvu/77

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CARMEN




Πᾶσα γυνὴ χόλος ἐστίν, ἔχει δ᾽ ἀγαθάς δύο ὥρας·
Τήν μίαν ἐν θαλάμῳ, τήν μίαν ἐν θάνατῳ.[1]

Palladas.


I


I HAVE always suspected the geographical authorities did not know what they were talking about when they located the battlefield of Munda in the county of the Bastuli-Poeni, close to the modern Monda, some two leagues north of Marbella.

According to my own surmise, founded on the text of the anonymous author of the Bellum Hispaniense, and on certain information culled from the excellent library owned by the Duke of Ossuna, I believed the site of the memorable struggle in which Cæsar played double or quits, once and for all, with the champions of the Republic, should be sought in the neighbourhood of Montilla.

Happening to be in Andalusia during the

  1. Every woman is mere bitterness, but she has two good moments: one is when on her couch, the other when in her grave.—Palladas.

3