15 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What makes someone worthy of love: their place in society, or the character beneath it?
In The Spanish Gypsy Girl, Jacob Cats places a young woman at the center of a verse romance where social standing shapes personal choices. The Spanish setting holds a difficult question: can affection cross the boundaries that separate people? Courtship means more than attraction. It brings reputation, character, and the claims of social position into the same uneasy space.
Cats brings the concerns of a seventeenth-century Dutch poet to this Spanish world. His poetry links human situations with practical moral reflection, asking you to weigh outward status against inner worth. The title’s word “Gypsy” reflects the work’s historical language for people associated with Romani life. Beneath that label lies the romance’s central pressure: the pull between belonging and affection.
What you’ll discover
- Love across social boundaries Explore a romance that asks whether affection can reach beyond the limits of social standing.
- Character beneath outward status Consider what makes a person worthy of love when reputation carries such weight.
- A Spanish setting Enter a Spanish world where courtship brings personal feeling up against social expectations.
- Verse with moral purpose Discover how Cats joins romantic adventure with practical questions about human choices.
- The pull of belonging Follow the tension between affection and the social place a person is given.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like old romances with disguises and secrets, lovers from different worlds, and a poet who turns a tale into a lively debate about love.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Character grows beyond the company
- Attention reveals what medicine misses
- Pretiose refuses to trust flattery
- Love must survive a costly test
- Desire wins without silencing duty
- Faithfulness brings a new danger
- Actions reveal more than rank
- The romance opens into debate
- Love is tried rather than declared
Who’s who
- PretioseA young singer and dancer raised by wanderers, quick of mind and strict about her honor, who asks any suitor to prove his love.
- Don IanA young Spanish knight who loses himself in a forest, hears her sing, and gives up his rank to join her company.
- MaiombeThe cunning leader of the wanderers who took Pretiose as a small child and raised her to sing, dance and read palms.
- GiraldeA wealthy young woman sick with secret love whom Pretiose cures by speaking to her kindly and plainly.
- GohannaA rich young woman of Murcia who falls in love with Andreas, is refused, and begins to plot revenge.
- SophroniscusThe older, wise talker who discusses the tale with a young friend and gives cautious advice on love and marriage.
- PhilogamusThe eager young bachelor who asks about pulses, palms and mixed marriages and learns from his older friend.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Spanish Gypsy Girl in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Spanish Gypsy Girl
by Jacob Cats · 1637
A Spanish knight exchanges his fine clothes for a wanderer's dress to win a young singer raised by a roaming band.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What would you give up for the person you love? A nobleman gives up his name, his fine clothes and his family house, and joins a wandering band.
The Spanish Gypsy Girl at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 10 min1 h 45 min fast, 2 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 31,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1637by Jacob Cats
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A wanderer steals a child in Madrid
The poem opens not with the lovers but with a people. Cats describes a roaming folk whom the Spanish call heathens. They move from place to place and keep firm laws of their own. They boast that they can read a stranger's fortune in the palm of the hand.
Their leader is Maiombe, a sharp and cunning woman. One day in Madrid she sees a small child left alone in the street. The nursemaid has wandered off to gossip, and the child is dressed in rich clothes. Maiombe takes her at once. She cares less for the girl than for the jewels on her little body. The parents search everywhere, but nobody learns where the child has gone.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1637
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Cats, Jacob. The Spanish Gypsy Girl. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spanish-gypsy-girl.
Cats, J. (2026). The Spanish Gypsy girl. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spanish-gypsy-girl (Original work published 1637)
Cats, Jacob. The Spanish Gypsy Girl. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spanish-gypsy-girl.
@book{cats2026spanish,
author = {Cats, Jacob},
title = {The Spanish Gypsy Girl},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-spanish-gypsy-girl},
note = {First published 1637}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Spanish Gypsy Girl
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Spanish Gypsy Girl about?
It is a verse tale of a young Spanish knight who falls in love with a gifted singer raised by wanderers. To win her he joins her band, and their love is tested by hardship and by a jealous rival.
Who wrote The Spanish Gypsy Girl and when?
Jacob Cats, the Dutch poet who died in 1660, wrote it for his marriage book, the Trouringh, published in 1637. The story is told in rhyming couplets, followed by a talk between two friends.
Is The Spanish Gypsy Girl based on a true story?
Cats presents it as a Spanish tale and says he does not know whether it is true or invented. Scholars later traced it to a story by Cervantes, which Cats seems to have read in translation.
The author
Jacob Cats
1577–1660 · Dutch poet and humorist
Jacob Cats (1577–1660) was a Dutch poet, jurist and politician. He was born in Brouwershaven and died near The Hague. He wrote poetry and emblem books, including Sinne- en minnebeelden (1618) and Houwelick (1625). He served as grand pensionary of Holland from 1636 to 1651.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
