Lazarillo de Tormes: A Picaresque Novel Summary
Lazarillo de Tormes is an anonymous Spanish picaresque novel, whose full title is “The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes, and His Fortunes and Adversities.” Published in 1554, it is the biography of a rogue who serves different masters, invariably taking advantage of them. It is a short novel divided into seven treaties.
Treaty One: The Blind Beggar
In the first treaty, we are introduced to Lazarus, a boy of low and shameful extraction. His father was a thief, and he lived with his mother in Salamanca. His mother married a black man and had a son. One day, when Lazarus was older, his mother put him in the service of a blind beggar, thus starting his first adventure. Like others, he has to find food to satisfy his hunger and survive. The blind man was very greedy, and Lazarus was hardly eating, so he resorted to all sorts of traps to eat and drink more than he was allowed. As Lazarus loved wine, he made a hole under the blind man’s pitcher, covered with wax. With the excuse of the cold, he put it between his legs, and when it melted in the heat of the fire, he drank the small stream that fell. But as the blind man realized, he was punished brutally. He recounted two anecdotes, one with a bunch of grapes and the other with a sausage. The relationship between the two ended one night when it rained heavily. Lázaro tricked the blind man into crossing a river, saying he had to jump with all his might. The blind man obeyed and crashed into a pillar. Before he could recover, Lazarus was gone.
Treaty Two: The Miserly Priest
After leaving the blind man, Lazarus began to beg and struck a priest who needed an assistant to give mass, so he stayed with him. But this priest was very miserly and treated him very badly, only letting him eat well when they went to a funeral. One day, he found the key to the cabinet where his master kept the bread. Lázaro ate it and made the excuse that mice came in through the holes. Soon, the clergyman set traps, but as the bread was disappearing, he became suspicious of a snake that had previously been hanging around there. Lázaro, fearing that he would be discovered, put the key in his mouth, but one night it pierced him and began to hiss like a snake. His master, frightened, hit him with a club where the whistle was, went for a light, and discovered he had hit Lazarus in the head and that he had the key. So when Lazarus recovered, he left the house.
Treaty Three: The Impoverished Squire
Lazarus came to Toledo and encountered a squire who gave him the charge of being his servant. At the sight of his robe, Lazarus agreed without objection. However, after reaching a dark, gloomy, and sad house, where he was staying, he realized that the squire was in total misery and sought to conceal his situation. Like his former masters, the squire starved him, so he had to get his own food. In addition, the squire, due to class prejudice, considered himself incapable of work and begging, so Lazarus had to ask for alms for the two of them. When he was tired of this routine, he left.
Treaty Four: The Friar
In this treaty, Lazarus serves a friar of Mercy. He was very strict and not too greedy, so Lazarus did not last long with him.
Treaty Five: The Pardoner
The fifth master of Lazarus was a pardoner, who was a mere swindler.
Treaty Six: The Water Seller
Lazarus worked as a water seller and began to approach the good life. After four years, he saved enough to keep and dress with some decency. That’s when he quit his job.
Treaty Seven: The Town Crier
In the seventh and final treaty, Lazarus gets the job of town crier of Toledo, a position that he hopes will allow him to rest and win something for his old age. The archpriest of San Salvador offers to marry him to his maid, which makes Lazarus happy, although gossips whisper of his wife’s relations with the archpriest. The novel ends when everything becomes clear, and the protagonist is seen in prosperity.