Note 26 — MÉRIMÉE'S HISTORY OF PETER THE CRUEL. [20]

The Castilian tongue is rich in words descriptive of grace in women. Spain is, certainly, the country where that quality is most common. I will cite only a few of those expressions, indicative of shades easier to appreciate than to translate. Garbo is grace combined with nobility; donayre, elegance of bearing, vivacity of wit; salero, voluptuous and provocative grace; zandunga, the kind of grace peculiar to the Andalusians—a happy mixture of readiness and nonchalance. People applaud the garbo or donayre of a duchess, the salero of an actress, the zandunga of a gipsy of Jerez.—Mérimée, p. 110.