they are just beginning their deliberations, Catilinón, I must act immediately, spread the word among the workmen, the Moorish captives and Jews liberated by the Idiot, hurry through the forges, tile sheds, workshops, and taverns, the hour has come, El Señor stands petrified before his altar holding a Gorgon’s head in his hand, the gates are open, the guards are nowhere to be seen, inside they believe the tempest has passed, outside, Cato, outside, my rascal, do your work, We know well, señores, that many will revile us with their tongues, and that later many will defame us with their quills in histories, accusing us of seditious insurrection. But between them and us we place God Our Lord as witness, and as judge, our intentions in this case. For our goal is not to supplant obedience to the King, our Señor, but to abolish the tyranny of his consorts, for they hold us as their slaves, not the King them as his subjects, I am one of you, I, Guzmán, chief huntsman, and you, overseers, architects and foremen, and which of you will be safe from the madness and caprice of El Señor? you have seen what happened only a few days ago to one of yours, he who left here with his tongue and hands amputated by order of El Señor so as to be unable to speak or write of one of the dark mysteries that occur inside there; yesterday it was he, today it will be someone else, tomorrow you or I; regard the courage of our estate companions, the burghers of Avila, Toledo, and Burgos, prepared to take up arms so that these kingdoms be governed by laws and not by caprice; the gates are open, I swear to that; it is the moment to act, Jerónimo, Martín, Nuño, injustice is added to injustice, resentment is mounting, yes, twenty years ago El Señor forced my young bride on the day of our wedding, he besmirched her, because of him she went mad, she was never mine, that is called his right, his right to rape virgins, I came here to this work, I bided my time, and my time has come, Martín, Nuño, right, justice, as a warning my brother was ordered to be killed by hunger, thirst, and cold, left naked and surrounded by troops in the wintertime on a hilltop in Navarre, after seven days my brother died there, by the order of a Lord inferior to this one who governs us, and if the lesser did so much, what will the greater not do? Nuño, in order to be half free and to leave our homeland, we had to deliver our inheritance to the noble Lord of the place where we were born, and here you find me, less injured than you, Jerónimo, Martín, Guzmán, but no less determined, Do not believe, señores, that we are alone in this tumult, for, speaking truthfully, many generous caballeros who are representative of all three estates have joined with us, how much did the burial of El Señor’s thirty ancestors cost, brought here by guards and halberdiers amid chants, canopies, and the prelates of all the orders? what would have been the cost of burial of the workman smothered beneath the earth slide and there mourned by his widow and left to rot? the oxen are more sure of food than we, for the beasts have up to two years’ provision of hay, straw, wheat, and rye, whereas there is no provision made for us once this job is completed and we have eaten up our wages, five ducats every three months, and thus in Segovia, as well as León, in Valladolid and Toledo, in Soria and Salamanca, in Avila and Guadalajara, in Cuenca and in Burgos, in Medina and Tordesillas, caballeros of the middle estate are speaking the same words as we, magistrates, jurors, mayors and recorders, canons, abbots, archdeacons, deans and precentors, learned scholars, captains and marshals, doctors, lawyers, and university bachelors, physicians and physickers, merchants and money-changers, notaries and apothecaries, you will be expelled, Jews, persecuted, Moors, there will be no place for you in this kingdom of purity-of-blood, pure Christians, clean of bloodline, who are you? how many are you? there was a time when the Mozarabic Christians lived in Mussulman territory and the Mohammedan mudejares in Christian lands, and each tolerated the other and also coexisted with the Jews, and they called themselves the Three Peoples of the Book, and San Fernando, King of Castile, proclaimed himself King of the three religions, and the Moors and Jews brought to Gothic barbarism architecture and music, industry and philosophy, medicine and poetry, and the Inquisition was held within bounds so as not to surpass the power of the monarchs, and thus the cities prospered, and institutions of local liberty were taking shape, but now, who will be safe from the new powers of the Inquisition? in what innocent act will they not see suspicion, read guilt, dictate extermination? how will you defend yourselves against torture, prison, death, and the loss of your lives, families, and possessions? to whom will you appeal? on what grounds will you appeal? read, all of you, this decree issued by El Señor: everyone is guilty unless he proves his innocence; will you prove yours on the rack, Moor? at the hour of the garrote, Hebrew? in the torture of the pillory, serf? and also all variety of offices of all and each of our cities, shopkeepers, masons, armorers, silversmiths, jewelers, jet vendors, cutlers, ironsmiths, foundrymen, bakers, oil sellers, butchers, spice sellers, salt sellers, waxchandlers, fellmongers, hat makers, shearers, linen drapers, rope sellers, hosiers, bonnet makers, harness makers, cobblers, tailors, barbers, chair makers, carpenters, stonecutters, napkin makers, it is not the hour to seek counsel, it is the hour to act, yes, Guzmán, to act, here we are in the very precinct of El Señor, the gates opened, the inhabitants of the palace sleeping or engaged in strange devotions, unaware of everything that is going on, without opposition we can attack the very heart of oppression, pierce it, cut off its head with one stroke, pikes, poles, chains, the steel forged in your forges, Jerónimo, the weapons of the poor, quickly, the gates are open, in such a manner, señores, that we are able to speak of the general will of this kingdom to undo the injustices that affect us all and thus, for what it is understood we do, it should be sufficient justification that we do not ask you, señores, for money to initiate war, but rather that we ask your good counsel in seeking peace, where is the rockrose where we used to shelter our flocks, eh? on this very spot there was a stream that never ran dry, and nearby a woods that was the sole refuge for the animals in winter and summer; today only roses of black crape grow in this devastated garden; and afterward, what? do you doubt, Jerónimo? it is merely that I remember, Martín, I remember, the gates open, so it was with the earlier slaughter, the gates open, be cautious, wait, that is no longer possible, Jerónimo, look at the mob, we are all going, down the stairway leading from the plain to El Señor’s chapel, that is the open gate that was never closed, the gate we all respected, imbeciles that we were, it was always open, do you realize the insult? have they feared us so little? thirty steps from the plain to the chapel, we have only to descend them to reach the sepulchers, everyone, armed, lances, javelins, pikes, chain, steel, hoes, hatchets, and torches, workers, Arabs, Jews, heretics, beggars, overseers, whores, eremites, Simón, Martín, Nuño, and Jerónimo, all drawn along by the mob and the whinnying of the horses and the bellowing of the bulls which break their fences and trample, terrified, nervous, and sweating, across the plain of Castile, whinnies, bellows, dust, the flight of the crows, everyone down the stairway, Many youths of these cities, rising up against the latest edicts of El Señor, seek immediate violence and it will take a great effort to persuade them that we must establish a democracy, omnia eo consulta tendebant ut democratia, and they answer that the conquest of liberty cannot be attained by following the paths of the law, de libertate nunc agitur quam qui procurant nullas adeunt leges, omni virtuti pietatique renunciant,