He it was who had given him at the baptismal font the name which had awakened so much admiration and ridicule among his school companions; with the patience of an old grand-sire narrating saintly stories to his descendants, he would tell Ulysses over and over the adventures of the navigating King of Ithaca for whom he had been named.
With no less devotion did the lad regard all the souvenirs of glory that adorned his house--wreaths of golden leaves, silver cups, nude marble statuettes, placques of different metals upon plush backgrounds on which glistened imperishably the name of the poet Labarta.

All this booty the tireless Knight of Letters had conquered by means of his verse.
When the Floral Games were announced, the competitors used to tremble lest it might occur to the great Don Carmelo to hanker after some of the premiums.

With astonishing facility he used to carry off the natural flower awarded for the heroic ode, the cup of gold for the amorous romance, the pair of statues dedicated to the most complete historical study, the marble bust for the best legend in prose, and even the "art bronze" reward of philological study.

The other aspirants might try for the left-overs.
Fortunately he had confined himself to local literature, and his inspiration would not admit any other drapery than that of Valencian verse.

Next to Valencia and its past glories, Greece claimed his admiration.