Note 3 — Chapter VIII

It is curious, that in the original of the latest Paris edition, as also in the third edition, of 1707, the earliest I have been able to consult, and which was published under the superintendence of Le Sage, this passage stands, "un honnête capareto de Viejo et de Mediana." There is a note to the word "capareto" giving its translation into French as savetier. Being puzzled by the double name of the village,—"de Viejo et de Mediana," I sought the assistance of a talented Spaniard, Signor Lazeu, and was surprised to find the Spanish for cobbler is "zapatero de viejo," or, "shoemaker of old (things)," and that it should consequently have stood in the original "zapatero de viejo de Mediana." It has been doubted by many, among others the late H. D. Inglis, whether Le Sage were really the author of Le Diable Boiteux and Gil Blas; and it has been asserted that he merely translated these works from the unpublished manuscripts of some Spanish author. If the error in question were really that of Le Sage, it would certainly go far to confirm this assertion.—Trans.