2 h 48 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What would you give up for love—your name, your rank, or the life you know?
Preciosa sings and dances in the streets of Madrid. Clever and proud, she draws admiration but guards her honor. In Miguel de Cervantes's La Gitanilla — The Little Gypsy Girl, the young nobleman Don Juan de Cárcamo falls for her and faces a challenge: love must prove itself.
Taking the name Andrés Caballero, Don Juan joins the gypsies to win Preciosa. Camp life brings rules he must learn, while the open road brings dangers to his hopes and honor. Through song, wit and irony, Cervantes asks what makes a person worthy: birth, a name, or the choices they make.
What you’ll discover
- A proud young heroine Meet Preciosa, whose wit and guarded honor make admiration alone far from enough.
- Love beyond a name Follow a nobleman as he leaves his familiar place to prove his devotion.
- Life within the camp Hear the chief describe freedom, shared possessions and the rules Andrés must follow.
- Honor on the road Travel with the band as new dangers put love and personal choices under pressure.
- Wit with a moral edge Explore how song and irony sharpen questions about identity, refinement and the way to live.
Who will love it
For readers who love a lively introduction to Cervantes outside Don Quixote, and anyone who enjoys a love story with wit and a moral edge, where identity and honor are tested on the open road.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A gypsy girl rules the streets of Madrid
- A nobleman gives up his name for love
- Life in the camp tests the lover
- Honor is tested on the open road
- The story asks who a person really is
- A tale told with song, wit and irony
Who’s who
- PreciosaA young gypsy dancer and singer, clever and proud, who guards her honor and tests the man who loves her.
- Andrés CaballeroThe name taken by Don Juan de Cárcamo, a young nobleman who joins the gypsies to win Preciosa.
- The old gypsy womanPreciosa's guardian, who trained her in song and dance and watches over her closely.
- The gypsy chiefThe elder who sets out the gypsy way of life and the rules Andrés must follow.
- Juana CarduchaA bold village girl who falls for Andrés and turns bitter when he refuses her.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 2 h 48 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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La Gitanilla — Das kleine Zigeunermädchen
by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra · 1613
A nobleman gives up his name to win Preciosa, a proud Madrid dancer who sets her own terms for love.
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In short
La Gitanilla, in English The Little Gypsy Girl, is a novella by Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote. It was printed in 1613 in his Exemplary Novels, a book of twelve tales.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A gypsy girl rules the streets of Madrid
The story opens with a sharp remark from the storyteller. He says that gypsies seem to be born into the world to be thieves, that they learn the trade from their parents, and that they practice it all their lives. It is a harsh view. Cervantes uses it as a starting point, because the girl he is about to show us does not fit it.
Preciosa is raised by an old gypsy woman who calls her granddaughter. The old woman trains her in the arts that bring in money: songs, dances, fortune telling and quick talk. By fifteen, Preciosa is the best dancer in her band and the best singer in the city. She is also sharper than the people around her, and she knows what her beauty is worth.
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What is La Gitanilla about?
It follows Preciosa, a gifted young gypsy dancer in Madrid, and a nobleman who falls in love with her. To win her he joins her band, and they face dangers on the road.
Who wrote La Gitanilla and when?
Miguel de Cervantes wrote it. It appeared in 1613 in his collection Exemplary Novels, a few years before his death in 1616, and eight years after the first part of Don Quixote.
What does La Gitanilla mean in English?
It means the little gypsy girl. Gitana is the Spanish word for a gypsy woman, and the ending illa makes it a small and affectionate form, pointing to the young heroine Preciosa.
The author
Miguel de Cervantes
1547–1616 · Spanish novelist, poet and playwright
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616) was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. He was born in Alcalá de Henares and died in Madrid. He published La Galatea in 1585 and Don Quixote in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda appeared after his death, in 1617.
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