How fluent was Mark Twain in Spanish?

We know that he knew German, was familiar with French, and had an
acquaintance with Italian.  He visited Spain and touched Mexico and mentions
both in writings.  He also refers to Hispanic people, sometimes as
characters, the pretty woman who shoots the vicious Spaniard who killed her
husband in "The Judge's 'Spirited Woman'" for examples, and must have been
acquainted with others in Virginia City, where he bought a "genuine Mexican
Plug" and Buck Fanshaw could "lick four Greasers in eleven minutes."  A
Spanish cowboy appears in "A Horse's Tale," which ends in Spain.

Although Spain and Mexico do not occur often or figure prominently in his
writings, did he acquire any usable knowledge of their language?



-- 
John H. Davis, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Department of Language and Literature
Chowan University
Murfreesboro, North Carolina 27855