Winners of games long ago used to be crowned with a wreath made of olive leaves, and in time of war, messengers bringingpeace used to carry an olive branch. In certain parts of Spain you can ride all day long on a train and see olive-trees, olive-trees, olive-trees, from morning to night, till you wonder what the people can do with so many.They use a great many olives themselves, for olives are often bread and butter, meat and vegetables to Spaniards, but they send millions of bottles of olives and olive oil all over the World to other countries that have none.
One of those cities that says it is like Paris is the capital of Spain. It is near the center of the country. Itis called Madrid. Old Madrid had narrow streets and small houses. New Madrid has broad boulevards and big buildings, and if you did not hear the people speaking Spanish you might think you were in Paris or even in New York.In old Spain men used to say all the time “Manyana,” which means “to-morrow,” for they put off everything they could until to-morrow. New Spain says “Do it now.” When you are in Madrid and say you live in America,they think you mean South America, and that of course you speak Spanish, for to a Spaniard “America” means South America. A Spaniard who has made his fortune in South America comes “home to Madrid” to live on whathe has made, for a house in Madrid is his “Castle in Spain.”
Sometimes two brothers have families and live in the same house, but usually they get along better if they live inseparate houses. Portugal and Spain are like two brothers. They speak a language that is alike and the people are alike in other ways, but they have never been able to get along together, though they tried it once for a littlewhile. In both countries they like dancing and music. In both countries they raise cork and olives. In both countries they like bull-fights—though in Portugal they do not kill the bull, and they wrap the points of his hornsso that he can’t kill.