IN selecting these Spanish Tales for Beginners, three objects have been kept in view:

(1) that they be good literature,
(2) that they portray modern Spanish life, and
(3) that they be interesting and not too difficult in language and thought. Some of the stories do not conform to all three rules,—the first two, for instance, do not portray modern Spanish life; but I hope that most of them will be found to conform fully. A