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 Managing
Human Resources
SCOTT A. SNELL SHAD S. MORRIS GEORGE W. BOHLANDER
' Professor of Business Administration, Assistant Professor of Organizational Professor Emeritus ofManagement,
University of Virginia Leadership and Strategy, Brigham Young University
Arizona State University

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Managing Human Resources, © 2016, 2013 Cengage Learning
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 Brief Contents

Part 1 Human Resources Management in Perspective

1 The Rewards and Challenges of Human Resources Management 3
2 Strategy and Human Resources Planning 39

Part 2 Meeting Human Resources Requirements

3 Equal Employment Opportunity and Human Resources Management 89
4 Job Analysis and Job Design 131

Part 3 Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources

5 Expanding the Talent Pool: Recruitment and Careers 165
6 Employee Selection 223
7 Training and Development 261
8 Performance Management 299

Part 4 Implementing Compensation and Security

9 Managing Compensation 343
10 Pay-for-Performance: Incentive Rewards 383
11 Employee Benefits 419
12 Promoting Safety and Health 457

Part 5 Enhancing Employee-Management Relations

13. Employees Rights and Discipline 497
14 The Dynamics of Labor Relations 535

Part 6 Expanding Human Resources Management Horizons

15 International Human Resources Management 573
16 Implementing HR Strategy: High-Performance
Work Systems 621

Integrative Cases 652

Glossary 679
Name Index 691
Organization Index 693
Subject Index 696
 Contents

Part 1 Human Resources Management in Perspective

Chapter 1 The Rewards and Challenges of Human Resources
Management 3
1.1 Why Should You Study Human Resources Management? Will It Pay Off? 4
1.1a Human Capital and HRM 5
1.2 Strategic and Global Challenges 7
1.2a Responding Strategically to Changes
inthe Marketplace 7
1.2b Competing, Recruiting, and Staffing Globally 10
1.2¢ Setting and Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Goals 11
1.3 Technology Challenges 12
Highlights in HRM 1: Factors to Consider When Evaluating a Human Resources Information
System 15
1.4 Productivity and Cost Challenges 16
1.4a Maximizing Productivity 16
1.4b Managing the Size of the Workforce 16
1.4c Managing Pay and Benefits 17
1.5 Employee Challenges 19
1.5a Responding to the Demographic and Diversity Challenges
of the Workforce 19
1.5b Adapting to Educational Shifts Affecting the Workforce 23
1.5¢ Adapting to Cultural and Societal Changes
Affecting the Workforce 24
1.6 The Role HR Managers Play and Their Partnership with Other Managers 27
1.6a Responsibilities of Human Resources Managers 28
1.6b Competencies Human Resources Managers Require 28
Highlights in HRM 2: SHRM Code of Ethical and Professional Standards
in Human Resource Management 30
Summary 32
KeyTerms 33
Discussion Questions 33
Case Study 1: New HR Strategy Makes Lloyd’s a“Best Company” 34
Case Study 2: Shell’s Top Recruiter Takes His Cues from Marketing 34
Notes and References 35
 Contents

Chapter 2 Strategy and Human Resources Planning 39

2.1 Strategic Planning and Human Resources 40
2.1a Strategic Planning and HR Planning:
Linking the Processes 41
2.2 Step One: Mission, Vision, and Values 43
2.2a Developing a Mission Statement 43
2.2b HR's Role in Establishing and Reinforcing
a Firm's Mission, Vision, and Values 44
2.3 Step Two: External Analysis 44
2.3a The Business Environment 45
2.3b The Remote Environment 45
2.3c The Competitive Environment 46
2.3d HR's External Analysis 48
2.4 Step Three: Internal Analysis 49
2.4a Core Capabilities 49
2.4b Sustaining a Competitive Advantage Through People 51
2.4c Types of Talent and Their Composition
in the Workforce 51
2.4d Corporate Culture 53
2.4e Forecasting 55
Highlights in HRM 1: HR Planning and Strategy Questions to Ask Business
Managers 57
Highlights in HRM 2: Succession-Planning Checklist 61
2.4f Assessing a Firm’s Human Capital Readiness:
Gap Analysis 62
2.5 Step Four: Formulating a Strategy 63
2.5a Corporate Strategy 63
2.5b Business Strategy 65
2.5¢ Functional Strategy: Ensuring Alignment 67
2.6 Step Five: Implementing a Firm’s Strategy 67
2.6a Taking Action: Reconciling Supply and Demand 69
2.7 Step Six: Evaluation 70
2.7a Evaluation and Assessment Issues 70
Highlights in HRM 3: 72
2.7b Measuring a Firm's Strategic Alignment 72
2.7¢ Ensuring Strategic Flexibility for the Future 74
Summary 75
KeyTerms 76
Discussion Questions 76
HRM Experience: Customizing HR for Different Types of Human Capital 77
Case Study 1: Domino's Tries to Get Its Strategic Recipe Right 77
Case Study 2: Staffing, Down to a Science at CapitalOne 79
Notes and References 81
vi Contents

Appendix: Calculating Employee Turnover

and Absenteeism 83
A.1 Employee Turnover Rates 83
A.1a Computing the Turnover Rate 83
A.1b Determining the Costs of Turnover 84
A.2 Employee Absenteeism Rates 84
A.2a Computing Absenteeism Rates 84
Highlights in HRM 4: Costs Associated with the Turnover of
One Computer Programmer 85
A.2b Comparing Absenteeism Data 85
A.2c Costs of Absenteeism 86
A.2d Absenteeism and HR Planning 86
Notes and References 86

Part 2 Meeting Human Resources Requirements

Chapter 3 Equal Employment Opportunity and Human
Resources Management 89
3.1 Historical Perspective of EEO Legislation 91
3.1a Changing National Values 92
3.1b Early Legal Developments 92
3.2 Government Regulation of Equal Employment Opportunity 92
3.2a Major FederalLaws 93
Highlights in HRM 1:Test Your Knowledge of Equal Employment
Opportunity Law 94
3.2b Other Federal Laws and Executive Orders 103
3.2¢ Fair Employment Practice Laws 105
3.3 Other Equal Employment Opportunity Issues 105
3.3a Sexual Harassment 105
3.3b Sexual Orientation 107
3.3¢ Immigration Reform and Control 107
Highlights in HRM 2: Questions Used to Audit Sexual Harassment
inthe Workplace 108
3.3d Emerging Employment Discrimination Issues 109
3.4 Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures 110
3.5 Enforcing Equal Employment Opportunity Legislation 112
3.5a The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 113
3.5b Record-Keeping and Posting Requirements 113
3.5c Processing Discrimination Charges 113
Highlights in HRM 3: EEOC Poster 114
3.5d Preventing Discrimination Charges 115
3.6 Affirmative Action and Diversity Management 116
3.6a Court Decisions 117
 Contents vii :

. Highlights in HRM 4: Basic Steps in Developing an Effective

Affirmative Action Program 118
3.6b Beyond Affirmative Action: Leveraging Diversity 119
Highlights In HRM 5: Embracing Diversity and Leveraging Employee
Differences 121
Summary 122
KeyTerms 122
Discussion Questions 123
Case Study 1: Going tothe Dogs 123
HRM Experience: Sexual Harassment: A Frank Discussion 124
Case Study 2: Misplaced Affections: Discharge for Sexual Harassment 125
Notes and References 126

Appendix: Determining Adverse Impact 129

A.1 The Four-Fifths Rule 129

Chapter 4 Job Analysis and Job Design 131

4.1 What Is a Job Analysis and How Does
It Affect Human Resources Management? 132
4.1a Major Parts of the Job Analysis 132
4.2 Sources of Job Analysis Information 134
Highlights in HRM 1: The Job Analysis Interview 135
4.2a Controlling the Accuracy of the Job Data Collected 136
4.2b Other Sources of Job Analysis Information 137
4.2c Parts of aJob Description 139
Highlights in HRM 2: Job Identification 141
4.2d Writing Clear and Specific Job Descriptions 142
4.3 JobDesign 143
4.3a Ergonomics 144
4.3b Enrichment 145
Highlights in HRM 3: Empowered Employees Achieve Results 147
4.4 Employee Teams and Flexible Work Schedules 149
4.4a EmployeeTeams 149
4.4b Flexible Work Schedules 153
Summary 158
KeyTerms 158
HRM Experience: Establishing Ground Rules for a Team's Success 159
Discussion Questions 159
Case Study 1: Yahoo Cuts the Cord onTelecommuting 160
Case Study 2: Virtual Teams in Action: Building the F-35 Fighter 161
Notes and References 161
Viil Contents

Part 3 Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources

Chapter 5 Expanding the Talent Pool: Recruitment
and Careers 165
5.1 Business Strategies and Their Link to Strategic Recruiting 166
5.1a Elements of a Recruiting Strategy 166
5.2 External and Internal Recruiting Methods 172
5.2a External Recruiting Methods 172
Highlights in HRM 1: Marriott's Recruitment Principles: Living Up
to the Employment Brand 173
Highlights in HRM 2: Making Employee Referral Programs Work 177
Highlights in HRM 3: Making Your Internship Program a Success 180
Highlights in HRM 4: Is a Worker an Independent Contractor—or Not? 182
5.2b Internal Recruiting Methods 182
5.3 Improving the Effectiveness of Recruiting 185
5.3a Using Realistic Job Previews 185
5.3b Surveys 185
5.3¢ Recruiting Metrics 186
Highlights in HRM 5: How to Calculate Key Recruiting Metrics 187
5.4 Career Management: Developing Talent overTime 188
5.4a The Goal: Matching the Needs of the Organization
to the Needs of Employees 188
5.4b Identifying Career Opportunities and Requirements 190
Highlights in HRM 6: Career Path ofJeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com 193
5.4c Career Development Initiatives 195
Highlights in HRM 7: Myths about Mentors 197
Highlights in HRM 8: Establishing a Relationship with a Mentor 198
5.5 Developing a Diverse Talent Pool 199
5.5a Recruiting and DevelopingWomen 199
5.5b Recruiting and Developing Minorities 201
Highlights in HRM 9: Recruiting for Diversity 202
5.5¢ Recruiting the Disabled 203
5.5d Recruiting Veterans 204
Highlights in HRM 10: Hiring and Retaining Employees with Disabilities 205
5.5e Recruiting Older Employees 205
Summary 206
Key Terms 207
Discussion Questions 207
HRM Experience: Career Management 208
Case Study 1: Homegrown Talent: Mary Barra Rises to GM's Top Post 208
Case Study 2: Preparing a Career Development Plan 209
Notes and References 209
 Contents

Appendix: Personal Career Development 212

A.1 Developing Personal Skills and Cornpetencies 212
A.2 Choosing a Career 212
A.3 Consider the Boundaryless Career 212
Highlights in HRM 11: Seven “Must Have” Career Competencies 213
A.3a Career-Planning Resources 214
A.4 Self-Evaluation 215
A.4a I|nterestInventories 215
A.4b Informational Interviews, Job Shadowing,
and Internships 216
A.4c Evaluating Long-Term Employment Opportunities 216
A.5 Choosing anEmployer 217
A.6 Becoming an Entrepreneur 217
Highlights in HRM 12: Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Accept a Job 218
A.7 Keeping Your Career in Perspective 218
A.7a Developing Off-the-Job Interests 218
A.7b Balancing Marital and/or Family Life 219
A.7¢ Planning for Retirement 220
KeyTerms 220
Notes and References 220

Chapter 6 Employee Selection 223

6.1 Overview of the Selection Process 224
6.1a Begin with aJob Analysis 225
6.1b Stepsin the Selection Process 225
6.1¢ Obtaining Reliable and Valid Information 226
6.2 Initial Screening 226
6.2a Initial Screening Methods 227
Highlights in HRM 1: What to Include—and Not to Include—on a Job
Application Form 230
6.3 Employment Interviews 230
6.3a Types of Interviews 231
Highlights in HRM 2: Sample Situational Interview Question 233
6.3b Methods for Administering Interviews 233
Highlights in HRM 3: Hiring Managers Reveal Mistakes Candidates Make during
Job Interviews 235
6.3¢ Diversity Management: Could Your Questions
Get You into Legal Trouble? 235
Highlights in HRM 4: Appropriate and Inappropriate Interview Questions 236
6.4 Post-Interview Screening 236
6.4a Reference Checks 237
6.4b Background Checks 237
Highlights in HRM 5: Sample Reference-Checking Questions 238
Contents

6.5 Preemployment Tests 239

6.5a Types ofTests 240
6.5b Determining the Validity of Tests 246
6.6 Reaching a Selection Decision 248
6.6a Summarizing Information about Applicants 248
6.6b Decision-Making Strategy 248
6.6c Final Decision 252
Summary 253
KeyTerms 254
Discussion Questions 254
HRM Experience: Designing Selection Criteriaand Methods 255
Case Study 1: Job Candidate Assessment Tests Go Virtual 255
Case Study 2: Pros and Cons of Cleaning Up the “Resu-mess” 256
Notes and References 257

Chapter 7 Training and Development 261

7.1 The Scope of Training 262
7.1a A Strategic Approach toTraining 263
7.2 Phase 1: Conducting the Needs Assessment 263
7.2a Organization Analysis 265
7.2b Task Analysis 266
Highlights in HRM 1: A Competency Assessment for a Managerial Position 267
7.2¢ Person Analysis 267
7.3 Phase 2: Designing the Training Program 268
7.3a Developing Instructional Objectives 268
7.3b Assessing the Readiness and Motivation of Trainees 268
7.3¢ Incorporating the Principles of Learning 268
7.3d Characteristics of Instructors 272
7.4 Phase 3: Implementing the Training Program—training
Delivery Methods 272
7.5 Phase 4: Evaluating the Training Program 281
7.5a Criterion 1:Reactions 281
7.5b Criterion 2:Learning 281
7.5¢ Criterion 3: Behavior 282
7.5d Criterion 4: Results, or Return on Investment (ROI) 282
Highlights in HRM 2: Benchmarking HRTraining 284
7.6 Additional Training and Development Programs 284
7.6a Orientation and Onboarding 284
Highlights in HRM 3: Checklist for Orienting New Employees 286
7.6b Basic Skills Training 287
7.6c Team Training and Cross-Training 287
7.6d EthicsTraining 289
7.6e Diversity Training 290
 Contents

Summary 291
HRM Experience: Training and Learning Principles 292
KeyTerms 292
Discussion Questions 292

Case Study 1: Whirlpool Mixes Up Its Managerial Training: Closed-Looped

Methodology Brings Learning Full Circle 293
Case Study 2: Loews Hotels: Training for Four-Diamond Service and More 294
Notes and References 295

Chapter 8 Performance Management 299

8.1 Performance Management Systems 300
8.1a The Purposes of Performance Management 300
8.1b Why Performance Management Systems
Sometimes Fail 303
8.2 Developing an Effective Performance Management System 306
8.2a What Are the Performance Standards? 306
8.2b Do Your Evaluations Comply with the Law? 308
8.2c Who Should Appraise an Employee's Performance? 310
8.2d Putting It All Together: 360-Degree Evaluations 312
8.2e Training Appraisers 313
Highlights in HRM 1: Supervisor's Checklist for the Performance
Evaluation Meeting 317
8.3 Performance Evaluation Methods 317
8.3a Trait Methods 317
Highlights in HRM 2: Graphic Rating Scale with Provision
forComments 318
Highlights in HRM 3: Example of aMixed-Standard Scale 320
8.3b Behavioral Methods 320
Highlights in HRM 4: BARS and BOS Examples 322
8.3c Results Methods 322
Highlights in HRM 5: Personal Scorecard 325
8.3d Which Performance Evaluation Method Should You Use? 326
8.4 Performance Evaluation Meetings and Feedback Sessions 327
8.4a Types of Performance Evaluation Meetings
and Feedback Sessions 327
8.4b Conducting the Performance Evaluation
Meeting or Feedback Session 328
8.4c Improving Performance 331
Summary 333
KeyTerms 334
Discussion Questions 334
HRM Experience: Performance Diagnosis 335
xii Contents

Case Study 1:“Project Oxygen” Resuscitates Google’s Poor-Performing Bosses 335

Case Study 2: Performance Management System Helps Freeport-McMoRan Switch
Strategic Gears 336
Notes and References 337

Part 4 Implementing Compensation and Security

Chapter 9 Managing Compensation 343
9.1 Whatls Compensation? 344
9.2 StrategicCompensation 346
9.2a Linking Compensation to Organizational Objectives 347
9.2b The Pay-for-Performance Standard 348
9.2c The Bases for Compensation 352
9.3 Compensation Design—The Pay Mix 354
9.3a Internal Factors 354
Highlights in HRM 1: Comparison of Compensation Strategies 356
9.3b External Factors 357
9.4 Job Evaluation Systems 360
9.4a Job Ranking System 361
9.4b Job Classification System 361
9.4c Point System 361
9.4d WorkValuation 362
9.4e Job Evaluation for Management Positions 363
9.5 Compensation Implementation—Pay
Tools 363
9.5a Wage and Salary Surveys 363
Highlights in HRM 2: Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation
Survey 365
9.5b TheWage Curve 365
9.5c PayGrades 365
9.5d RateRanges 366
9.5e Competence-Based Pay 367
9.6 Government Regulation of Compensation 369
9.6a Davis—Bacon Act of 1931 369
Highlights in HRM 3: Minimum Wage Laws in the States 370
9.6b Walsh—Healy Act of 1936 370
9.6c Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (as amended) 370
Highlights in HRM 4: Worldwide Minimum Wages 371
Highlights in HRM 5: The Federal Wage Poster 373
9.7 Compensation Assessment 374
Summary 376
KeyTerms 376
HRM Experience: Why This Salary? 377
Discussion Questions 377
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Fortune
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
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eBook.

Title: Fortune

Author: J. C. Snaith

Release date: April 16, 2024 [eBook #73402]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Moffat, Yard and Company,

1910

Credits: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online

Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from
images made available by the HathiTrust Digital
Library.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FORTUNE ***

FORTUNE
 FORTUNE
BY

J. C. SNAITH
Author of “Araminta,” “Broke of Covenden,” Etc.

NEW YORK
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
1910
 Copyright, 1910, by
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
New York

All rights reserved

Published April, 1910

THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS

RAHWAY, N. J.
 CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. OF MY JOURNEY TO THE PLAIN 3
II. OF AN INN. OF A MAN FROM FOREIGN PARTS 12
III. OF THE EATING OF MEAT 25
IV. OF FURTHER PASSAGES AT THE INN 33
V. I HEAR OF THE PRINCESS 41
VI. OF A PRIVATE BRAWL. I TAKE PROFIT AT THE
COST OF REPUTATION 54
VII. OF THE DISABILITIES THAT ATTEND ON GENTLE
BIRTH 64
VIII. OF A GREAT CALAMITY 78
IX. OF OUR ROAD TO THE SOUTH 92
X. OF OUR COMING TO THE DUKE OF MONTESINA
AND HIS HOUSE UPON THE HILL 101
XI. OF A GRIEVOUS HAP 116
XII. OF ADVERSITY. OF A CHANCE ACQUAINTANCE OF
A FAIR STRANGER 125
XIII. OF OUR ENTRANCE INTO A NEW SERVICE 136
XIV. OF THE JOURNEYING BACK TO THE HOUSE OF
MY REJECTION 144
XV. OF SOME FROWARD PASSAGES BEFORE THE
DUKE 159
XVI. OF THE GRIEVOUS MISHANDLING OF HIS
LORDSHIP’S GRACE 171
XVII. OF OUR ATTENDANCE IN COUNCIL UPON A
GREAT MATTER 187
 XVIII. OF THE AMBASSADOR OF THE RUDE CASTILIAN
PRINCE 194
XIX. OF MADAM’S EMBASSY TO HER NEPHEW FRANCE 204
XX. OF OUR ROAD TO PARIS 213
XXI. OF OUR FIRST PASSAGES WITH THE CASTILIAN 221
XXII. WE ARE HARD BESET 226
XXIII. OF THE COUNT OF NULLEPART’S EXTREMITY 232
XXIV. OF SIR RICHARD PENDRAGON’S PASSAGES WITH
THE GENTLEMEN OF THE KING’S GUARD 250
XXV. OF SIR RICHARD PENDRAGON’S DUELLO WITH
THE GALLANT FRENCHMAN 255
XXVI. OF OUR APPEARANCE AT THE LOUVRE BEFORE
KING LOUIS 263
XXVII. OF OUR AUDIENCE OF THE MOST CHRISTIAN
KING 275
XXVIII. OF FURTHER PASSAGES IN THE LOUVRE AT PARIS 281
XXIX. SIR RICHARD PENDRAGON’S STRATEGY 291
XXX. OF OUR ADVENTURES AMONG THE CASTILIAN
HOST 301
XXXI. OF AN ASTOUNDING EPISODE 307
XXXII. OF THE UNHAPPY SITUATION OF A GREAT
PRINCE 313
XXXIII. A SORTIE FROM THE CASTLE 326
XXXIV. OF MADAM’S RENCOUNTER WITH THE FROWARD
PRINCE 330
XXXV. OF SIR RICHARD PENDRAGON’S RETURN 338
XXXVI. OF SOLPESIUS MUS, THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF
THE JOGALONES 344
XXXVII. OF THE RIGOURS TO BE SUFFERED BY THE
INFAMOUS KING 349
XXXVIII. THE LAST 357
FORTUNE
FORTUNE
 CHAPTER I
OF MY JOURNEY TO THE PLAIN
As I left the place of my birth and long abiding and took the road to
that far country where I thought my fortune lay, the sun already had
a countenance. It was shining on the chestnut trees; on the tall
white walls of the house of justice at the corner of the square; on
the worthy priest who was sprinkling holy water on the steps of the
monastery of the Bleeding Heart to suppress the dust, to keep away
the flies, and to consecrate the building; and especially on the only
bailiff that our town could boast, whose salary fluctuated with the
thieves he captured. He, honest fellow, had driven so poor a trade of
late that he crept along in his winter coat, seeking the shade of trees
and houses.
Even at this time some portion of philosophy had gone to the
increase of my mind, a habit which sprang, I think, from my
mother’s family—her brother Nicolas was a clerk of Salamanca and
wore a purple gown. So when it fell to consider two such matters as
the dearth of rogues and the sun’s majestic clemency it found a
pleasant argument. I had yet to adventure half a league into the
world, but unless my eyes were false, the place I had vowed to win
was fair and full of virtue. Having such thoughts I rejoiced
exceedingly. Thus I checked my horse a moment and, lifting up my
eyes to heaven, was fain to salute the morning.
However, as I made to pursue my way, glowing with the generosity
of my youth, my gaze was diverted by a thing of pity. It was an old
poor woman sitting beside a door. She was thin and feeble. Her
cheeks were hollow, there was no lustre in her glance, her mouth
had not a tooth; but her face was such that I felt unable to pass her
by. My father had an adage pertinent to her case. “Be kind to the
poor,” said the first of mankind, “and if you are not the happiest man
in Spain, it is a conspiracy of Fortune’s.”
As I approached this aged creature I saw she had an eye which
seemed to ask an alms yet did disdain it; and this war of pride and
necessity in a poor beggar woman, halt and lean, led me to consider
that she was not of the common sort, but had had a birth perhaps,
and upon a day had known the cushions of prosperity. And this fancy
moved my heart indeed, for in my view there is no more pitiful sight
in nature than a blood Arab so broken in his wind and circumstances
as to be condemned to base employments. There were only ten
crowns in my purse, but its strings were untied before I could
consider of my private need. Bowing to her as solemnly as if she had
been the daughter of a marquis—and who shall say that she was
not?—I begged her to accept a tenth part of my inheritance.
She received this invitation with those shy eyes that so much
enhance her sex; while such confusion overcame the gentle soul
that a minute passed before her faltering hand could draw a coin
from the bag I held before her.
I went on my way with no more than nine crowns in my possession.
Now, it is no light thing, believe me, reader, for a youth of one-and-
twenty to adventure into an unknown country, upon a quest of
fortune on a mountain horse, in the company of a sword of an
ancient pattern, a leather jerkin laced with steel, a hat without a
feather, and the sum of nine crowns, neither more nor less, for the
whole of his estate.
I had set the nose of Babieca in the direction of the south. At first
my way was taken through a pleasant country of great hills, that had
cork trees on their slopes. Here and there little rivers ran in and out;
sparkling in the morning sun; shining on the side of some tall
mountain; circling round the foot of some grave precipice. But as the
morning passed, and as hour by hour I went farther from my native
hills, the nature of the land was changed. The cool woods and
streams, the rich green pastures, and the fine tall hills with their
garlands of dark forests yielded to a barren plain, to which, alas!
there appeared to be no end. It was bare and arid, and strewn in
many places with sharp rocks. There was not a tree, not a stream of
water; and such horrid quantities of sand consumed it that it
became at last a desert whose life was sterile. A few barren shrubs
were the only things that grew there; and, as I was soon to learn,
an infinite degree of misery.
All this time the sun was rising in the sky, and when about the hour
of noon it began to beat from a naked heaven whose face was
brass, upon the unsheltered plain, this wilderness grew so fierce and
garish as hardly to be borne. Mile upon mile I did assay and stoutly
overcame; but horizon succeeded to horizon, each so bright and
quivering with heat that the eye was afeared to meet it, each so
bare, so flat, and so like the one that was before, glaring sand on
every side and torrid fire everywhere, with never a prospect of
shelter or abode, and so small a hope of change, that at last I began
to shrink from the path I was determined on, and was even led to
think this must be the high road to eternity.
Even before noon my mouth was parched like a dust-pit. Thirst
shrivelled my tongue, but no spring was there to quench it; nor was
there a house to be seen. Indeed, the sun was become almost as
cruel as he was formerly gentle, sitting in heaven like a ball of fire,
and seeming to take pleasure from his pitiless descent on the coarse
suit of a sanguine colour of one Miguel Jesus Maria de Sarda y
Boegas. And to increase the evil of my case my person was now
taken with a pestilence of flies. These vindictive creatures bit my
face and neck so sharply that the vexation of my person spread into
my mind; whereon it rose to such a height against them as to
provoke as round a fume of swearing as that of any rapscallion of
the towns. Perforce I had to check this froward disposition in myself;
for it is intolerable in one who boasts that his fortitude shall
overcome the world, to find himself put out of countenance by the
meanest insect in it.
It is no part of valour for a man to break and flee before an enemy,
but the sun was now so much against me that I was fain to seek a
refuge from him. Indeed, necessity was like to drive me to it all too
soon, for there was already a kind of sickness creeping in my brain.
So a little in the afternoon I saw through the fiery haze that
trembled above the plain, a piece of scrub that promised a retreat. I
turned my horse towards it with more alacrity than credit, though I
am sure that had Cæsar himself been mounted that afternoon on
my patient Babieca he must have acted even as did I, however the
stoutness of his heart had cried out on the weakness of his nature.
I led Babieca into as much shade as I could devise, tied him to a
bush, and crawled under it with my unlucky brains. While taking
refuge here I had a fall in fortune. You will conceive, O admirable
reader! that the sun, this false friend in whom I had reposed my
trust, having dealt with me in this false spirit, there was no longer
that poetry in my temper with which I had begun my journey. I was
beset with doubts. If a face so bright, so open, so intelligible could
hide such malice, where was the candour of the world? By this
pertinent reflection my thoughts were carried to the poor woman
who had also shared my trust. Perchance it was not the part of
wisdom to bestow the tenth portion of my inheritance upon a beggar
in the road. Sorely considering this aspect of the case I took forth
my pouch, and pouring my little means into my hand, not without a
pang that one palm could hold it all, behold! in lieu of nine crowns I
discovered that I had but eight.
Now, I was never afraid to believe that if a man hold a low opinion
of his kind, and looks upon them in a spirit of askance, such a one is
fit for no nice company, since he merits no more consideration than
he is willing to bestow. But to find that my trust had been abused so
wickedly gravelled me altogether. I could have wept for the petty
trick and cried out upon the world. Nor would I have you to consider
that it was a piece of lucre that led me to this mind. It was the
plausibility, the cold ingratitude that pricked me like a dagger. I had
hoped to carry upon my pilgrimage that good faith towards my
fellows that my noble father had bade me entertain. It was to be my
solace and my watchword. As I rode forth the zephyrs of the
morning were to breathe it in my ears; at night I was to lie down in
its security underneath the stars. “Man is a thing so excellent that
this peerless world was made for his demesne.” Thus Don Ygnacio,
and he was threescore years and seven when he perished of the
stone. Was the seed of that true caballero to renounce a wisdom so
mature because of a blow received by misadventure?
Some hours I lay in security, for I was in mortal fear of the ball of
fire above my head. By a good chance I had placed a luncheon of
rye bread and a piece of cheese made of goat’s milk in my wallet.
This I munched with discretion, for there was never a house to be
seen, and this uninhabited plain appeared to stretch many miles.
There was no spring at which to allay my thirst, and during long
hours I was tormented dreadfully. My tongue and throat were
blistered by the heat that arose from the burning sand. Bitterly did I
lament that I had not had the wisdom to strap a skin of water to my
saddle.
By the time the fury of the sun had grown somewhat less my head
had recovered of its stroke, and I got upon my road. Nor was it in
any bitterness of spirit that I went, for I had taken a solace from my
meditations which reconciled me to the rape of my patrimony. It
should call for more than a single mischance to break my faith in my
brothers of the mountains and my cousins of the plains. Many a
weary mile did I make ere the sun went down and a little pity for the
wayfarer entered the firmament. My eyes did ache with the glare of
the burning yellow ground; my body was sorely painful with the
fatigues of travel; and when at last the sun was gone and the night
and its stars appeared I gazed anxiously on every hand for the sign
of some habitation to which I might commit my distress. But there
was never a poor inn nor a swineherd’s hut to be seen in all this
wilderness.
The night found me greatly doubtful of my way. I kept Babieca’s
head as fair to the south as I could reckon, but in the faint light of
the stars a true course was difficult to point. Nor was it without its
dangers, for the road was of a wretched nature. It was strewn with
sharp-pointed boulders, sand, stunted grasses, and was full of holes.
Whither it led I did not know. But I had been told, or perhaps had
dreamt, that many famous cities lay before me buried in the mists of
night. They were marked in my imagination as the homes of every
splendid enterprise, of every fortunate endeavour; and beyond all
else, of the fairest peoples of the fairest countries of the world.
It was very dark, but soon I saw these cities stretching out before
me in the night. They were truly delectable to see; fair places all,
with the morning beams upon a crowd of palaces, castles of a noble
situation, large, white, and lofty churches built of stone, and a
company of ships. I saw the sea, which was only known to me by
rumour, that broad highway to the Indies and other foreign lands
where fame and riches wait on boldness and can be picked like
acorns from beneath the trees. I saw the waves, a dark yet radiant
azure, which were said to ride a thousand galleons, filled with men
of valour. I could see their friends upon the beach waving their
farewells. And I know not what emotion then swept over me, for no
sooner did I observe the people in this fantasy than I remembered I
had not a friend in all the world save Babieca, patient ambler and
poor mountain creature that he was, and he was dumb like the
stones upon the road. I felt the tears rising in my heart, and though
I fought against them they were stubborn rebels not easy to
suppress. For I cannot say with what intensity I longed at this dark
hour for one glance from the eyes of him who was alive but a week
ago.
My way was very lonely then, having strayed remote into a distant
country. And very lonely was my heart; yet to those who will
overpass my boldness I will confide it faltered not in resolution and
therefore was not cold. For through all the long season of his
adversity my father had maintained: “Courage is a living fire in a
winter’s night.” Thus when the evening winds arose and chilled my
body I pressed on, though I knew not whither, and had no thought
of return. Hours came and hours went, and I had a great despair of
sanctuary for myself and willing beast; and I had such a languor that
it was no virtue of my own that held the reins. My belly was as bare
as was this wilderness, yet my heart was fixed against complaint. I
pressed forward stubbornly until at last Babieca began to stumble at
every yard he took.
Upon that both of us came to one mind. We could go no farther. I
was seeking for a tree whose branches might afford some protection
from the shrewd airs of the night, and in such a desert a tree was
hard to find, when I thought I discerned a light a great way off. I
cannot tell you, reader, in what a tumult of hope I made towards this
beacon. It showed across the waste so faintly that at first it looked
no more than the ignis fatuus. Yet we had no other hope than this.
Cheerful words to the hapless Babieca and shaking of the reins
persuaded the good beast still to do his best. And presently these
doubts were settled, for as we pressed on towards our talisman we
found it to proceed from a sort of house. Thereupon I could have
cried aloud for joy, in such a manner had hunger, weariness, and
solitude wrought upon the hardihood of my resolves.
It was no easy task to find the place whence this light proceeded.
And when at last I was able to learn I uttered a cry of delight. For it
was an inn; a little inn and paltry, and yet the sweetest inn, I think,
to which a traveller ever brought his weariness.
 CHAPTER II
OF AN INN. OF A MAN FROM FOREIGN PARTS

On coming at last to the door I found this wayside inn to be of a

mean condition, but at least it had four walls to it, and therefore
might be called an inn. Such as it was it promised food and rest and
the society of man. Observing a stable to be near at hand I led
Babieca to it. A wretched hovel it was, yet it also had four walls of a
sort and therefore might be called a stable.
Although no one came out of the inn to receive me and a great air
of desolation was upon everything, I led Babieca within the hovel
and contrived to find him a place in which he might repose. After
much groping in the starlight—other light there was none—which
came through the holes in the mud walls I was able to scrape
enough straw together to form his bed. Also I was able to find him a
supper of rough fare. And in so doing I observed that this poor place
was in the occupation of a horse of a singular appearance. As well
as I could learn in the darkness this was a very tall, large-boned,
and handsome beast, sleek and highly fed. Near to it, hanging upon
a nail in the wall, was a saddle so massive of artifice and so rarely
bedizened as to indicate that both this piece of furniture and the
beast that bore it were in such a degree above the common sort as
doubtless to be the property of a lord. And this conclusion pleased
me very well; for I was glad to believe that one of his condition had
lent his presence to this mean place, because there is no need to tell
you, gentle reader, a man of birth needs one of a similar quality with
whom to beguile his leisure.
As I issued, however, from the stable and made to enter the inn I
was stayed at the door by a dismal rustic who proved to be the
landlord. His bearing was of such singular dejection and in his
countenance was such sore embarrassment as to make it clear that
either a grievous calamity had lately befallen him or that one was
about to do so.
“I give you good evening, honest fellow. Have you seen a ghost?”
The dismal wight placed a finger to his lip.
“Hush, sir! hush, I pray you!” he whispered hoarsely.
“Nay, my good fellow, I hush for no man—that is, unless you have a
corpse in the house.”
“I have worse than a corpse in the house,” said the innkeeper,
crossing himself.
“Worse than a corpse?”
“Yes, kind gentleman, a thousand times worse! How shall I speak it?
I have the Devil.”
The innkeeper made a piteous groan.
“I can hardly believe that,” said I. “He is not often seen in Spain
nowadays.”
“Yes, it’s the Devil right enough,” said the innkeeper, wiping his eyes
on the sleeve of his jerkin. “I am a ruined man.”
“How does he seem in appearance? Are there horns on his head and
does fire proceed out of his mouth?”
“He has an eye,” said the innkeeper.
In spite of my incredulity I could not help shivering a little.
“The evil eye, your worship, the mal d’ojo. And he is so enormous!
When he rises from his stool his head goes into the roof.”
“Peace, honest fellow,” I said stoutly. “The age of monsters is
overpast.”
“Ojala!” wailed the innkeeper, “your worship is in the wrong entirely.
You can form no conception of what a fiend is this.”
“There have been no monsters in Spain since the time of the Cid,”
said I, placing my hand on my sword.
“I tell you this is the fiend,” said the innkeeper vehemently. “He is
hugeous, gigantical; and when he cools his porridge he snorts like a
horse. Three weeks has he lain upon me like the pestilence. He has
picked my larder bare, and swears by his beard he’ll treat my bones
the same if I do not use him like an emperor. He has poured all the
choice red wine out of my skins into his thrice cursed one. He outs
his bilbo if a man so much as looks upon him twice. All my custom is
scattered to the wind. Me hace volver loco! His mouth is packed with
barbarous expressions. And he has an eye.”
In spite of my father’s sword and the natural resolution that goes
with my name and province the strange excitement of the landlord
made me thrill all over.
“It is the eye of the fiend,” he said. “It glows red like a coal; it is
hungry like a vulture’s, fierce like a wolf’s. And then his voice—it is
like an earthquake in the mountains. Oh, your worship, it is Lucifer
in person who has come to comb my hair!”
I reproved the poor rustic for this levity.
“Nay, your worship, I speak the truth,” he said miserably. “The good
God knows it is so. I am a ruined man. The Devil has lain three
weeks in my house, yet I have not received a cuarto for his
maintenance. A lion could not be so ravenous. He has devoured lean
meat, fat meat, not to mention goodly vegetable. He has drunk wine
enough to rot his soul. Ten men together could not use their fangs
like he and roar so loud, yet I assure your worship I have not
received so much as a cuarto.”
“This matter is certainly grievous,” said I. “Is there nothing you can
do to get this person out of your house?”
“Nothing, nothing,” said the innkeeper miserably. “Why, sir, I offered
him the whole of the profits I made last year—no less than the sum
of ten crowns—to go away from my inn before ruin had come upon
me. He took my money, and said he would bring his mind to bear
upon the subject.”
“Was your course a wise one?”
“It may have been wise, your worship, and yet it may not. For upon
bringing his mind to bear upon the subject, he said he had decided
to curtail his visit by ten days; but as he is lying upon me still, it
appears uncommonly like it that honest Pedro has had dealings with
a villain.”
“That is as may be,” said I; “but the good Don Ygnacio de Sarda y
Boegas, who died a week ago of the stone, would have no man
judged harshly until his conduct had been carefully weighed.”
“If Don Ygnacio was as good as you say, I expect he never had the
Devil in person cooling his porridge at the side of his chimney.”
“No, by my faith. But are you not calling this unlucky individual out
of his true character?”
“Well, your worship, it is like this, do you see,” said the innkeeper
humbly; “poor Pedro once had the misfortune to steal a horse.”
“You stole a horse, and yet you were not hanged!”
“No, your worship; they hanged my poor son in error. But
perchance, if I unload my breast of this misfortune, it may please
the Virgin Mary to lessen my afflictions.”
“If you are a wise man you will also burn a candle or two. But,
innkeeper, I will enter this venta of yours and speak with your guest,
whoever he may be. For myself, I don’t put much faith in the black
arts.”
I confess that our discussion of these unnatural affairs had provoked
strange feelings. But I spoke as boldly as I could, and laid my hand
on the hilt of my sword with so much determination that the poor
wight of an innkeeper fell into a violent trembling.
“Oh no, your worship,” he cried; “I would have you go upon your
road. He is so prompt to violence that he will certainly slay you if
you so much as show him your eyes.”
“That is as may be,” said I, taking a tighter grip upon my sword.
“Oh, your worship,” said the innkeeper, “I pray you use him tenderly.
I beseech you be gentle of your discourse. He would pare the nails
of the Cid. He fills the world with woes as easily as a she-ass fills a
house with fleas.”
“You must obey me, innkeeper,” I said sternly, but without anger I
hope, for the state of the poor fellow’s mind had moved me to pity.
“You must remember that a caballero of my province is afeared only
of God.”
The unlucky wight, finding that I was not to be gainsaid, led the
way, with many misgivings, into his squalid house.
There was only one apartment for the service of guests. It was a
poor one enough, with hardly anything in it except the lice on the
walls and three candles which burned dismally. Such a hovel was
only fit for the entertainment of pigs, cows, and chickens; yet it was
not its quality that first awoke my attention. Neither was it the
extremely singular personage that was seated at the side of the fire.
It was the delicious smell of cookery that filled the whole place. This
proceeded out of a great seething pot that hung in the chimney. To
one who had travelled all day nothing could have been more
delectable. At its sight and odour my hunger began to protest
fiercely, for my last piece of victual had been eaten at noon.
Seated on a low stool, as near to the pot as he might venture
without being scorched in the legs, I found the author of these
grievances. His gaze was riveted upon this delicious kettle. His
enormous limbs were outstretched across the hearth, a rare cup of
liquor was beside his stool, and so earnestly was he gazing at the
meat as it tossed and hissed in the cauldron that upon my entrance
he did not stir, but, without so much as removing his chin from his
hands, continued in his occupation with an air of approval and
expectancy.
For myself, I honoured him with a long and grave look. Since that
distant evening in my youth I have met with many chances and
adventures in my travels. I have fallen in with persons of all kinds—
the virtuous, the wicked, and those who are neither one nor the
other. I have broken bread with princes, philosophers, rogues,
slaves, and men of the sword—men of all nations and of every
variety of fortune-yet I believe never one so remarkable as he who
now kept the chimney of this wretched venta upon a three-legged
stool. The length of his limbs was extraordinary; his shoulders were
those of a giant; and even in his present careless and recumbent
attitude he wore an uncommonly sinister and formidable look.
His dress at one time would scarcely have come amiss to a prince,
yet now it was barely redeemed from that of a beggar. The original
colour of his doublet, which hung in tatters, was an orange tawny,
but it was now so soiled and rent that it could have stood for any
hue one cared to name. His cloak, which hung upon the wall, was of
a bright blue camlet, and was but little superior to the condition of
his doublet. Purple silk had once formed the substance of his hose,
but now the better part of it was cloth, having suffered many
patchings with that material. Added to such conspicuous marks of
indigence, his long yellow riding boots were split in pieces, one even
revealed the toe of a worsted stocking; whilst his scabbard was in
such case as it sprawled on the ground beside his leg that the naked
point was visible.
When I came near and fell to regard him the better, he did me the
honour to lift his left eye off the cooking-pot. He proceeded to stare
at me in a manner of the most lazy indifference, and yet of the
greatest insolence imaginable. Then, without saying a word, he
yawned in my face and turned the whole of his attention again to
the kettle.
Such a piece of sauciness made me feel angry. Had I been a dog I
could not have been met with less civility. My hand went again to the
hilt of my sword as I took a closer view of his visage. It was as red
as borracho, shining with cunning and the love of the cup. But it was
the eye he had fixed upon me that gave me the most concern. The
poor innkeeper was right when he spoke of his eye. It was as rude
as a tiger’s, and animated with such a hungry look that it might have
belonged to a dragon who desired to know what sort of meal stood
before him.
Though I might be in doubt as to what was his station, whether it
was that of a lord or a mendicant, since his assemblance suggested
that he partook of both these conditions, I had no doubt at all that
he was not a Spanish gentleman—for where should you find a
caballero of our most courteous nation who would so soil his
manners as to treat a stranger with this degree of impudency? Yet
there was a great air of possession about him as he sat his stool, as
though every stick and rafter of the inn was his own private
furniture, so that I almost felt that I was intruding within his castle.
There was, again, that insolence in his looks as clearly implied that it
was his habit to command a deal of consideration from the world;
and as a lord is a lord in every land, whether he happen to be a
Spaniard or a German Goth, I opened, like a skirmisher, in the
lightest manner, not to provoke offence, for I trust that Miguel Jesus
Maria de Sarda y Boegas has ever too much respect for his forebears
to humiliate a man of birth.
“I give the greeting of God to your excellency,” I began, uncloaking
myself and bowing low, as became a hidalgo of my nation.
The occupant of the stool made no sign that I had addressed him,
except that he spat in the fire.
“May it please you, sir—a thousand pardons,” said I; “but I have
heard a tale of you from the keeper of this inn that never did consist
with gallantry. And may I pray you to have it rectified, for the poor
fellow is sorely afflicted in his understanding.”
At this address the occupant of the stool took his left eye off the
cooking-pot for the second time, and fixed it upon me slowly and
mockingly, and said in a rude, foreign accent that was an offence to
my ears,
“Yes, my son, pray me by all means; or shrive me, or baptize me, or
do with me just as you please. I have grown old in the service of
virtue, yet perhaps I ought to mention that I have not so much as
the price of a pot of small ale in my poke.”
“By your leave, sir, you are upon some misapprehension,” said I. “It
is not your money that I crave, but your civility.”
“Civility, my son. Well, I dare say I can arrange for as much of that
as you require.”
“It is pleasing to know that, sir. But this innkeeper—unhappy man—
does not appear to have partaken of it.”
The occupant of the stool took my remonstrance in fairer part than
there was reason to expect. Indeed he even abated his manners into
some appearance of politeness.
“You appear to judge shrewdly for one of your years, my young
companion,” he said, in a voice that fell quite soft. “But if I must
speak the truth, this innkeeper is a notorious villain; and if I am ever
civil to a notorious villain, I hope Heaven will correct me.”
“Even upon such a matter as that, sir,” I said gravely, “there may be
two sorts of opinion. Even if this poor innkeeper is not so virtuous as
he might be, it will not help him on the true path to be mulcted in
his substance.”
“By cock!” said the occupant of the stool, “it is an old head you wear
on your shoulders, my young companion. You speak to a point. I can
tell you have been to college.”
“Sir, you are mistaken in this, although I come of a good family upon
the side of both my parents. My uncle Nicolas is magister in the
university of Salamanca; and as for my father, lately deceased, he
was one of the wisest men that ever lived.”
“Yes, I can see that,” said the occupant of the stool, whose voice
had fallen softer than ever. “It is as plain as my hand.”
Somewhat curiously, and perhaps with a little of the vanity of youth,
I sought a reason for this estimate.
“It is as plain as the gown of a woman of virtue,” he said, with a
stealthy down-looking glance. “I have a wonderful eye for merit. You
can never disguise birth and condition from one like myself. I am a
former clerk of Oxford, and my lineage is such that modesty forbids
me to name it before supper.”
“Oxford,” said I, taking this quaint, barbarous name upon my tongue
with pain. “Saving your presence, sir, what part of our great
peninsula is that? It sounds not unlike the province of Galicia, where
I know the dialect and the people are allowed to be a little uncivil.”
“Not too quickly, my son. The university of Oxford is about a day’s
journey from the centre of the world.”
“Then, sir, it must be somewhere in Castile.”
“Why Castile, my son?”
“Madrid is in the province of Castile, and that, I believe, is generally
reckoned to be the centre of the world.”
“My young companion, I sit corrected,” said the occupant of the
stool, with a humble air that went not at all well with his
countenance. “When I was young I was always taught that the
centre of the world was London; but I dare say the world has moved
on a little since those days.”
“London, sir!” said I; for here was another barbarous word I had
never heard before. “I pray you tell me in what part of our peninsula
is London.”
Instead of replying to this question, the occupant of the stool began
to purse his lips in an odd manner, and to rub his chin with his
forefinger.
“By my soul,” he said, “that is a plaguy odd question to address to
an English gentleman!”
“Doubtless it may be,” said I, “to one who has travelled much, and
knows our great peninsula from one end to the other; but I confess
I never left my native province before this morning.”
“Never left your province before this morning!” said this strange
person, laughing softly. “Is it conceivable? If you had kept it close it
would have required great wisdom to suspect it. Your mind has been
finely-trained, my young companion, and your air is so finished that
I should like to see it at the court of Sophy.”
I was fain to bow at so much civility. Yet he was laughing softly all
the while, and there was a covert look in his eye that I mistrusted.
“Would you say that I had been drinking,” said he, “if I declare to
you upon my honour that London never was in Spain at all?”
“I take it nowise amiss, sir; yet if London is no part of Spain I fail to
see how it can be the centre of the world.”
For the moment I feared this extraordinary man would fall from his
stool, so forcibly did his laughter ascend to the roof. I felt some
discomposure, for surely such an action was no part of courtesy.
Judging, however, that it is the first business of the polite to refrain
from outfacing the rude with their own manners, I gathered all my
patience and said, not without haughtiness, I fear: “Sir, are you not
from foreign parts?”
“Nay, my young son of the Spains, I am come to foreign parts, if
that is your question. I was born and bred in England; I am the
natural son of an English king; I have dwelt in England half my
years; and when I die my bones shall lie in England, for since the
time of Uthyr Pendragon, the respected progenitor of an English
sovereign, no scion of my name has left his bones to rot in a foreign
climate.”
“England,” said I; “the land is as strange to me as far Cathay.”
It was in vain that I strove to recall what I had heard of this remote
island country. Yet, as I could recollect nothing whatever about it, I
was fain to believe that I had never heard of it at all.