ratcheting mechanism on Spanish Navajas

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Chris Evans

Rick:

That painting is titled `El Enano De La Venta’ (The Dwarf Of Sale) by Antonio Medina and is located in the Museo Taurino De Madrid.

`The Dwarf Of Sale’ is a quaint popular expression that is based on a fictional personality and which is used to describe a person who makes bombastic threats but cannot carry them out...

Just a little note, if i may, Chris; in this context, the term 'Venta' refers to a 'Inn' (sort of boarding house). In fact, the legend poem says:

"Parece que antes había
En la venta del Candil
Un enano que tenía
Voz equivalente a mil".

As if the bragging dwarf freqüented a determined Inn, that of Candil.

I accidently see that the term appears often in Cervantes work where, for one, Dom Quixote envisions all Ventas as Castles.