Chapter 1 || In which I learn my letters Juan de Pareja is a slave boy. He was born in Seville, Spain. His mother was a black woman and his father was a white Spaniard. His mother died when he was 5 and after that he was taken in by his future mistress. She often treated him like a pet. Her husband was a sickly man who she loved very dearly. She referred to Juan as "Juanico" .
She was not very good at writing so she taught him the alphabet and had him write the letters she sent to her family. Soon after he began writing her letters , his Master and her husband died. She had him write to her nephew in Madrid to inform him of the news. Her nephew is a painter. He also was the apprentice of a great painter nearby in Seville.
One morning he went out to get bread from the bakers and he hoped to get a glimpse of the painter, known as Pacheco, as he went along. As he passes the painters house, he sees that his daughter has died of the plague. He runs to the bakeshop and sees that the bakers doors are painted with a big white cross. ( This means that someone inside is dying of the plague).
The very next day he is painting a cross on his house, his Mistress is dying of the plague. She dies and he becomes ill, barely surviving until a friar, Brother Isidro, comes and nurses him back to health, he also informs him that he was inherited and is to become the slave of his Mistress's nephew, Don Diego. He will travel to Madrid soon.

	Created by Ashlynn Aguilar over 10 years ago

Plot points and chapter analysis for chapters 1-5.