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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:34 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:34 -0700 |
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diff --git a/old/orig5921-h/p12.htm b/old/orig5921-h/p12.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a75a750 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig5921-h/p12.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1262 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE, By Cervantes, Vol. I., Part 12.</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {background:#faebd7; margin:10%; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; text-align: center; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; } + .figleft {float: left;} + .figright {float: right;} + .toc { margin-left: 15%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + PRE { font-family: Times; font-size: 97%; margin-left: 15%;} + // --> +</style> + + +</head> +<body> + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p11.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p13.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +<center> +<h1>DON QUIXOTE</h1> +<br> +<h2>by Miguel de Cervantes</h2> +<br> +<h3>Translated by John Ormsby</h3> +</center> + +<br><br> + +<center><h3> +Volume I., Part 12. +<br><br> +Chapters 30-32 +</h3></center> + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="bookcover.jpg (230K)" src="images/bookcover.jpg" height="842" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/bookcover.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"> +</a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center> +<img alt="spine.jpg (152K)" src="images/spine.jpg" height="842" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/spine.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"> +</a> +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<h3>Ebook Editor's Note</h3> + +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> +<p>The book cover and spine above and the images which follow were not part of the original Ormsby +translation--they are taken from the 1880 edition of J. W. Clark, illustrated by +Gustave Dore. Clark in his edition states that, "The English text of 'Don Quixote' +adopted in this edition is that of Jarvis, with occasional corrections from Motteaux." +See in the introduction below John Ormsby's critique of +both the Jarvis and Motteaux translations. It has been elected in the present Project Gutenberg edition +to attach the famous engravings of Gustave Dore to the Ormsby translation instead +of the Jarvis/Motteaux. The detail of many of the Dore engravings can be fully appreciated only +by utilizing the "Enlarge" button to expand them to their original dimensions. Ormsby +in his Preface has criticized the fanciful nature of Dore's illustrations; others feel +these woodcuts and steel engravings well match Quixote's dreams. + + D.W.</p> +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center> +<img alt="p003.jpg (307K)" src="images/p003.jpg" height="813" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p003.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"> +</a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<center><h2>CONTENTS</h2></center> + +<pre> + +<a href="#ch30">CHAPTER XXX</a> +WHICH TREATS OF ADDRESS DISPLAYED BY THE FAIR DOROTHEA, +WITH OTHER MATTERS PLEASANT AND AMUSING + +<a href="#ch31">CHAPTER XXXI</a> +OF THE DELECTABLE DISCUSSION BETWEEN DON QUIXOTE AND +SANCHO PANZA, HIS SQUIRE, TOGETHER WITH OTHER INCIDENTS + +<a href="#ch32">CHAPTER XXXII</a> +WHICH TREATS OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE'S PARTY AT THE INN + + +</pre> + +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch30"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHICH TREATS OF ADDRESS DISPLAYED BY THE FAIR DOROTHEA, WITH OTHER +MATTERS PLEASANT AND AMUSING +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="c30a"></a><img alt="c30a.jpg (147K)" src="images/c30a.jpg" height="408" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c30a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>The curate had hardly ceased speaking, when Sancho said, "In +faith, then, senor licentiate, he who did that deed was my master; and +it was not for want of my telling him beforehand and warning him to +mind what he was about, and that it was a sin to set them at +liberty, as they were all on the march there because they were special +scoundrels."</p> + +<p>"Blockhead!" said Don Quixote at this, "it is no business or concern +of knights-errant to inquire whether any persons in affliction, in +chains, or oppressed that they may meet on the high roads go that +way and suffer as they do because of their faults or because of +their misfortunes. It only concerns them to aid them as persons in +need of help, having regard to their sufferings and not to their +rascalities. I encountered a chaplet or string of miserable and +unfortunate people, and did for them what my sense of duty demands +of me, and as for the rest be that as it may; and whoever takes +objection to it, saving the sacred dignity of the senor licentiate and +his honoured person, I say he knows little about chivalry and lies +like a whoreson villain, and this I will give him to know to the +fullest extent with my sword;" and so saying he settled himself in his +stirrups and pressed down his morion; for the barber's basin, which +according to him was Mambrino's helmet, he carried hanging at the +saddle-bow until he could repair the damage done to it by the galley +slaves.</p> + +<p>Dorothea, who was shrewd and sprightly, and by this time +thoroughly understood Don Quixote's crazy turn, and that all except +Sancho Panza were making game of him, not to be behind the rest said +to him, on observing his irritation, "Sir Knight, remember the boon +you have promised me, and that in accordance with it you must not +engage in any other adventure, be it ever so pressing; calm +yourself, for if the licentiate had known that the galley slaves had +been set free by that unconquered arm he would have stopped his +mouth thrice over, or even bitten his tongue three times before he +would have said a word that tended towards disrespect of your +worship."</p> + +<p>"That I swear heartily," said the curate, "and I would have even +plucked off a moustache."</p> + +<p>"I will hold my peace, senora," said Don Quixote, "and I will curb +the natural anger that had arisen in my breast, and will proceed in +peace and quietness until I have fulfilled my promise; but in return +for this consideration I entreat you to tell me, if you have no +objection to do so, what is the nature of your trouble, and how +many, who, and what are the persons of whom I am to require due +satisfaction, and on whom I am to take vengeance on your behalf?"</p> + +<p>"That I will do with all my heart," replied Dorothea, "if it will +not be wearisome to you to hear of miseries and misfortunes."</p> + +<p>"It will not be wearisome, senora," said Don Quixote; to which +Dorothea replied, "Well, if that be so, give me your attention." As +soon as she said this, Cardenio and the barber drew close to her side, +eager to hear what sort of story the quick-witted Dorothea would +invent for herself; and Sancho did the same, for he was as much +taken in by her as his master; and she having settled herself +comfortably in the saddle, and with the help of coughing and other +preliminaries taken time to think, began with great sprightliness of +manner in this fashion.</p> + +<p>"First of all, I would have you know, sirs, that my name is-" and +here she stopped for a moment, for she forgot the name the curate +had given her; but he came to her relief, seeing what her difficulty +was, and said, "It is no wonder, senora, that your highness should +be confused and embarrassed in telling the tale of your misfortunes; +for such afflictions often have the effect of depriving the +sufferers of memory, so that they do not even remember their own +names, as is the case now with your ladyship, who has forgotten that +she is called the Princess Micomicona, lawful heiress of the great +kingdom of Micomicon; and with this cue your highness may now recall +to your sorrowful recollection all you may wish to tell us."</p> + +<p>"That is the truth," said the damsel; "but I think from this on I +shall have no need of any prompting, and I shall bring my true story +safe into port, and here it is. The king my father, who was called +Tinacrio the Sapient, was very learned in what they call magic arts, +and became aware by his craft that my mother, who was called Queen +Jaramilla, was to die before he did, and that soon after he too was to +depart this life, and I was to be left an orphan without father or +mother. But all this, he declared, did not so much grieve or +distress him as his certain knowledge that a prodigious giant, the +lord of a great island close to our kingdom, Pandafilando of the Scowl +by name--for it is averred that, though his eyes are properly placed +and straight, he always looks askew as if he squinted, and this he +does out of malignity, to strike fear and terror into those he looks +at--that he knew, I say, that this giant on becoming aware of my +orphan condition would overrun my kingdom with a mighty force and +strip me of all, not leaving me even a small village to shelter me; +but that I could avoid all this ruin and misfortune if I were +willing to marry him; however, as far as he could see, he never +expected that I would consent to a marriage so unequal; and he said no +more than the truth in this, for it has never entered my mind to marry +that giant, or any other, let him be ever so great or enormous. My +father said, too, that when he was dead, and I saw Pandafilando +about to invade my kingdom, I was not to wait and attempt to defend +myself, for that would be destructive to me, but that I should leave +the kingdom entirely open to him if I wished to avoid the death and +total destruction of my good and loyal vassals, for there would be +no possibility of defending myself against the giant's devilish power; +and that I should at once with some of my followers set out for Spain, +where I should obtain relief in my distress on finding a certain +knight-errant whose fame by that time would extend over the whole +kingdom, and who would be called, if I remember rightly, Don Azote +or Don Gigote."</p> + +<p>"'Don Quixote,' he must have said, senora," observed Sancho at this, +"otherwise called the Knight of the Rueful Countenance."</p> + +<p>"That is it," said Dorothea; "he said, moreover, that he would be +tall of stature and lank featured; and that on his right side under +the left shoulder, or thereabouts, he would have a grey mole with +hairs like bristles."</p> + +<p>On hearing this, Don Quixote said to his squire, "Here, Sancho my +son, bear a hand and help me to strip, for I want to see if I am the +knight that sage king foretold."</p> + +<p>"What does your worship want to strip for?" said Dorothea.</p> + +<p>"To see if I have that mole your father spoke of," answered Don +Quixote.</p> + +<p>"There is no occasion to strip," said Sancho; "for I know your +worship has just such a mole on the middle of your backbone, which +is the mark of a strong man."</p> + +<p>"That is enough," said Dorothea, "for with friends we must not +look too closely into trifles; and whether it be on the shoulder or on +the backbone matters little; it is enough if there is a mole, be it +where it may, for it is all the same flesh; no doubt my good father +hit the truth in every particular, and I have made a lucky hit in +commending myself to Don Quixote; for he is the one my father spoke +of, as the features of his countenance correspond with those +assigned to this knight by that wide fame he has acquired not only +in Spain but in all La Mancha; for I had scarcely landed at Osuna when +I heard such accounts of his achievements, that at once my heart +told me he was the very one I had come in search of."</p> + +<p>"But how did you land at Osuna, senora," asked Don Quixote, "when it +is not a seaport?"</p> + +<p>But before Dorothea could reply the curate anticipated her, +saying, "The princess meant to say that after she had landed at Malaga +the first place where she heard of your worship was Osuna."</p> + +<p>"That is what I meant to say," said Dorothea.</p> + +<p>"And that would be only natural," said the curate. "Will your +majesty please proceed?"</p> + +<p>"There is no more to add," said Dorothea, "save that in finding +Don Quixote I have had such good fortune, that I already reckon and +regard myself queen and mistress of my entire dominions, since of +his courtesy and magnanimity he has granted me the boon of +accompanying me whithersoever I may conduct him, which will be only to +bring him face to face with Pandafilando of the Scowl, that he may +slay him and restore to me what has been unjustly usurped by him: +for all this must come to pass satisfactorily since my good father +Tinacrio the Sapient foretold it, who likewise left it declared in +writing in Chaldee or Greek characters (for I cannot read them), +that if this predicted knight, after having cut the giant's throat, +should be disposed to marry me I was to offer myself at once without +demur as his lawful wife, and yield him possession of my kingdom +together with my person."</p> + +<p>"What thinkest thou now, friend Sancho?" said Don Quixote at this. +"Hearest thou that? Did I not tell thee so? See how we have already +got a kingdom to govern and a queen to marry!"</p> + +<p>"On my oath it is so," said Sancho; "and foul fortune to him who +won't marry after slitting Senor Pandahilado's windpipe! And then, how +illfavoured the queen is! I wish the fleas in my bed were that sort!"</p> + +<p>And so saying he cut a couple of capers in the air with every sign +of extreme satisfaction, and then ran to seize the bridle of +Dorothea's mule, and checking it fell on his knees before her, begging +her to give him her hand to kiss in token of his acknowledgment of her +as his queen and mistress. Which of the bystanders could have helped +laughing to see the madness of the master and the simplicity of the +servant? Dorothea therefore gave her hand, and promised to make him +a great lord in her kingdom, when Heaven should be so good as to +permit her to recover and enjoy it, for which Sancho returned thanks +in words that set them all laughing again.</p> + +<p>"This, sirs," continued Dorothea, "is my story; it only remains to +tell you that of all the attendants I took with me from my kingdom I +have none left except this well-bearded squire, for all were drowned +in a great tempest we encountered when in sight of port; and he and +I came to land on a couple of planks as if by a miracle; and indeed +the whole course of my life is a miracle and a mystery as you may have +observed; and if I have been over minute in any respect or not as +precise as I ought, let it be accounted for by what the licentiate +said at the beginning of my tale, that constant and excessive troubles +deprive the sufferers of their memory."</p> + +<p>"They shall not deprive me of mine, exalted and worthy princess," +said Don Quixote, "however great and unexampled those which I shall +endure in your service may be; and here I confirm anew the boon I have +promised you, and I swear to go with you to the end of the world until +I find myself in the presence of your fierce enemy, whose haughty head +I trust by the aid of my arm to cut off with the edge of this--I +will not say good sword, thanks to Gines de Pasamonte who carried away +mine"--(this he said between his teeth, and then continued), "and when +it has been cut off and you have been put in peaceful possession of +your realm it shall be left to your own decision to dispose of your +person as may be most pleasing to you; for so long as my memory is +occupied, my will enslaved, and my understanding enthralled by +her--I say no more--it is impossible for me for a moment to contemplate +marriage, even with a Phoenix."</p> + +<p>The last words of his master about not wanting to marry were so +disagreeable to Sancho that raising his voice he exclaimed with +great irritation:</p> + +<p>"By my oath, Senor Don Quixote, you are not in your right senses; +for how can your worship possibly object to marrying such an exalted +princess as this? Do you think Fortune will offer you behind every +stone such a piece of luck as is offered you now? Is my lady +Dulcinea fairer, perchance? Not she; nor half as fair; and I will even +go so far as to say she does not come up to the shoe of this one here. +A poor chance I have of getting that county I am waiting for if your +worship goes looking for dainties in the bottom of the sea. In the +devil's name, marry, marry, and take this kingdom that comes to hand +without any trouble, and when you are king make me a marquis or +governor of a province, and for the rest let the devil take it all."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote, when he heard such blasphemies uttered against his lady +Dulcinea, could not endure it, and lifting his pike, without saying +anything to Sancho or uttering a word, he gave him two such thwacks +that he brought him to the ground; and had it not been that Dorothea +cried out to him to spare him he would have no doubt taken his life on +the spot.</p> + +<p>"Do you think," he said to him after a pause, "you scurvy clown, +that you are to be always interfering with me, and that you are to +be always offending and I always pardoning? Don't fancy it, impious +scoundrel, for that beyond a doubt thou art, since thou hast set thy +tongue going against the peerless Dulcinea. Know you not, lout, +vagabond, beggar, that were it not for the might that she infuses into +my arm I should not have strength enough to kill a flea? Say, +scoffer with a viper's tongue, what think you has won this kingdom and +cut off this giant's head and made you a marquis (for all this I count +as already accomplished and decided), but the might of Dulcinea, +employing my arm as the instrument of her achievements? She fights +in me and conquers in me, and I live and breathe in her, and owe my +life and being to her. O whoreson scoundrel, how ungrateful you are, +you see yourself raised from the dust of the earth to be a titled +lord, and the return you make for so great a benefit is to speak +evil of her who has conferred it upon you!"</p> + +<p>Sancho was not so stunned but that he heard all his master said, and +rising with some degree of nimbleness he ran to place himself behind +Dorothea's palfrey, and from that position he said to his master:</p> + +<p>"Tell me, senor; if your worship is resolved not to marry this great +princess, it is plain the kingdom will not be yours; and not being so, +how can you bestow favours upon me? That is what I complain of. Let +your worship at any rate marry this queen, now that we have got her +here as if showered down from heaven, and afterwards you may go back +to my lady Dulcinea; for there must have been kings in the world who +kept mistresses. As to beauty, I have nothing to do with it; and if +the truth is to be told, I like them both; though I have never seen +the lady Dulcinea."</p> + +<p>"How! never seen her, blasphemous traitor!" exclaimed Don Quixote; +"hast thou not just now brought me a message from her?"</p> + +<p>"I mean," said Sancho, "that I did not see her so much at my leisure +that I could take particular notice of her beauty, or of her charms +piecemeal; but taken in the lump I like her."</p> + +<p>"Now I forgive thee," said Don Quixote; "and do thou forgive me +the injury I have done thee; for our first impulses are not in our +control."</p> + +<p>"That I see," replied Sancho, "and with me the wish to speak is +always the first impulse, and I cannot help saying, once at any +rate, what I have on the tip of my tongue."</p> + +<p>"For all that, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "take heed of what thou +sayest, for the pitcher goes so often to the well--I need say no +more to thee."</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said Sancho, "God is in heaven, and sees all tricks, +and will judge who does most harm, I in not speaking right, or your +worship in not doing it."</p> + +<p>"That is enough," said Dorothea; "run, Sancho, and kiss your +lord's hand and beg his pardon, and henceforward be more circumspect +with your praise and abuse; and say nothing in disparagement of that +lady Toboso, of whom I know nothing save that I am her servant; and +put your trust in God, for you will not fail to obtain some dignity so +as to live like a prince."</p> + +<p>Sancho advanced hanging his head and begged his master's hand, which +Don Quixote with dignity presented to him, giving him his blessing +as soon as he had kissed it; he then bade him go on ahead a little, as +he had questions to ask him and matters of great importance to discuss +with him. Sancho obeyed, and when the two had gone some distance in +advance Don Quixote said to him, "Since thy return I have had no +opportunity or time to ask thee many particulars touching thy +mission and the answer thou hast brought back, and now that chance has +granted us the time and opportunity, deny me not the happiness thou +canst give me by such good news."</p> + +<p>"Let your worship ask what you will," answered Sancho, "for I +shall find a way out of all as as I found a way in; but I implore you, +senor, not not to be so revengeful in future."</p> + +<p>"Why dost thou say that, Sancho?" said Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"I say it," he returned, "because those blows just now were more +because of the quarrel the devil stirred up between us both the +other night, than for what I said against my lady Dulcinea, whom I +love and reverence as I would a relic--though there is nothing of that +about her--merely as something belonging to your worship."</p> + +<p>"Say no more on that subject for thy life, Sancho," said Don +Quixote, "for it is displeasing to me; I have already pardoned thee +for that, and thou knowest the common saying, 'for a fresh sin a fresh +penance.'"</p> + +<p>While this was going on they saw coming along the road they were +following a man mounted on an ass, who when he came close seemed to be +a gipsy; but Sancho Panza, whose eyes and heart were there wherever he +saw asses, no sooner beheld the man than he knew him to be Gines de +Pasamonte; and by the thread of the gipsy he got at the ball, his ass, +for it was, in fact, Dapple that carried Pasamonte, who to escape +recognition and to sell the ass had disguised himself as a gipsy, +being able to speak the gipsy language, and many more, as well as if +they were his own. Sancho saw him and recognised him, and the +instant he did so he shouted to him, "Ginesillo, you thief, give up my +treasure, release my life, embarrass thyself not with my repose, +quit my ass, leave my delight, be off, rip, get thee gone, thief, +and give up what is not thine."</p> + +<p>There was no necessity for so many words or objurgations, for at the +first one Gines jumped down, and at a like racing speed made off and +got clear of them all. Sancho hastened to his Dapple, and embracing +him he said, "How hast thou fared, my blessing, Dapple of my eyes, +my comrade?" all the while kissing him and caressing him as if he were +a human being. The ass held his peace, and let himself be kissed and +caressed by Sancho without answering a single word. They all came up +and congratulated him on having found Dapple, Don Quixote +especially, who told him that notwithstanding this he would not cancel +the order for the three ass-colts, for which Sancho thanked him.</p> + +<p>While the two had been going along conversing in this fashion, the +curate observed to Dorothea that she had shown great cleverness, as +well in the story itself as in its conciseness, and the resemblance it +bore to those of the books of chivalry. She said that she had many +times amused herself reading them; but that she did not know the +situation of the provinces or seaports, and so she had said at +haphazard that she had landed at Osuna.</p> + +<p>"So I saw," said the curate, "and for that reason I made haste to +say what I did, by which it was all set right. But is it not a strange +thing to see how readily this unhappy gentleman believes all these +figments and lies, simply because they are in the style and manner +of the absurdities of his books?"</p> + +<p>"So it is," said Cardenio; "and so uncommon and unexampled, that +were one to attempt to invent and concoct it in fiction, I doubt if +there be any wit keen enough to imagine it."</p> + +<p>"But another strange thing about it," said the curate, "is that, +apart from the silly things which this worthy gentleman says in +connection with his craze, when other subjects are dealt with, he +can discuss them in a perfectly rational manner, showing that his mind +is quite clear and composed; so that, provided his chivalry is not +touched upon, no one would take him to be anything but a man of +thoroughly sound understanding."</p> + +<p>While they were holding this conversation Don Quixote continued +his with Sancho, saying:</p> + +<p>"Friend Panza, let us forgive and forget as to our quarrels, and +tell me now, dismissing anger and irritation, where, how, and when +didst thou find Dulcinea? What was she doing? What didst thou say to +her? What did she answer? How did she look when she was reading my +letter? Who copied it out for thee? and everything in the matter +that seems to thee worth knowing, asking, and learning; neither adding +nor falsifying to give me pleasure, nor yet curtailing lest you should +deprive me of it."</p> + +<p>"Senor," replied Sancho, "if the truth is to be told, nobody +copied out the letter for me, for I carried no letter at all."</p> + +<p>"It is as thou sayest," said Don Quixote, "for the note-book in +which I wrote it I found in my own possession two days after thy +departure, which gave me very great vexation, as I knew not what +thou wouldst do on finding thyself without any letter; and I made sure +thou wouldst return from the place where thou didst first miss it."</p> + +<p>"So I should have done," said Sancho, "if I had not got it by +heart when your worship read it to me, so that I repeated it to a +sacristan, who copied it out for me from hearing it, so exactly that +he said in all the days of his life, though he had read many a +letter of excommunication, he had never seen or read so pretty a +letter as that."</p> + +<p>"And hast thou got it still in thy memory, Sancho?" said Don +Quixote.</p> + +<p>"No, senor," replied Sancho, "for as soon as I had repeated it, +seeing there was no further use for it, I set about forgetting it; and +if I recollect any of it, it is that about 'Scrubbing,'I mean to say +'Sovereign Lady,' and the end 'Yours till death, the Knight of the +Rueful Countenance;' and between these two I put into it more than +three hundred 'my souls' and 'my life's' and 'my eyes."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c30e"></a><img alt="c30e.jpg (13K)" src="images/c30e.jpg" height="297" width="325"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch31"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>OF THE DELECTABLE DISCUSSION BETWEEN DON QUIXOTE AND SANCHO PANZA, +HIS SQUIRE, TOGETHER WITH OTHER INCIDENTS +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="c31a"></a><img alt="c31a.jpg (151K)" src="images/c31a.jpg" height="441" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c31a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"All that is not unsatisfactory to me," said Don Quixote. "Go on; +thou didst reach her; and what was that queen of beauty doing? +Surely thou didst find her stringing pearls, or embroidering some +device in gold thread for this her enslaved knight."</p> + +<p>"I did not," said Sancho, "but I found her winnowing two bushels +of wheat in the yard of her house."</p> + +<p>"Then depend upon it," said Don Quixote, "the grains of that wheat +were pearls when touched by her hands; and didst thou look, friend? +was it white wheat or brown?"</p> + +<p>"It was neither, but red," said Sancho.</p> + +<p>"Then I promise thee," said Don Quixote, "that, winnowed by her +hands, beyond a doubt the bread it made was of the whitest; but go on; +when thou gavest her my letter, did she kiss it? Did she place it on +her head? Did she perform any ceremony befitting it, or what did she +do?"</p> + +<p>"When I went to give it to her," replied Sancho, "she was hard at it +swaying from side to side with a lot of wheat she had in the sieve, +and she said to me, 'Lay the letter, friend, on the top of that +sack, for I cannot read it until I have done sifting all this."</p> + +<p>"Discreet lady!" said Don Quixote; "that was in order to read it +at her leisure and enjoy it; proceed, Sancho; while she was engaged in +her occupation what converse did she hold with thee? What did she +ask about me, and what answer didst thou give? Make haste; tell me +all, and let not an atom be left behind in the ink-bottle."</p> + +<p>"She asked me nothing," said Sancho; "but I told her how your +worship was left doing penance in her service, naked from the waist +up, in among these mountains like a savage, sleeping on the ground, +not eating bread off a tablecloth nor combing your beard, weeping +and cursing your fortune."</p> + +<p>"In saying I cursed my fortune thou saidst wrong," said Don Quixote; +"for rather do I bless it and shall bless it all the days of my life +for having made me worthy of aspiring to love so lofty a lady as +Dulcinea del Toboso."</p> + +<p>"And so lofty she is," said Sancho, "that she overtops me by more +than a hand's-breadth."</p> + +<p>"What! Sancho," said Don Quixote, "didst thou measure with her?"</p> + +<p>"I measured in this way," said Sancho; "going to help her to put a +sack of wheat on the back of an ass, we came so close together that +I could see she stood more than a good palm over me."</p> + +<p>"Well!" said Don Quixote, "and doth she not of a truth accompany and +adorn this greatness with a thousand million charms of mind! But one +thing thou wilt not deny, Sancho; when thou camest close to her +didst thou not perceive a Sabaean odour, an aromatic fragrance, a, I +know not what, delicious, that I cannot find a name for; I mean a +redolence, an exhalation, as if thou wert in the shop of some dainty +glover?"</p> + +<p>"All I can say is," said Sancho, "that I did perceive a little +odour, something goaty; it must have been that she was all in a +sweat with hard work."</p> + +<p>"It could not be that," said Don Quixote, "but thou must have been +suffering from cold in the head, or must have smelt thyself; for I +know well what would be the scent of that rose among thorns, that lily +of the field, that dissolved amber."</p> + +<p>"Maybe so," replied Sancho; "there often comes from myself that same +odour which then seemed to me to come from her grace the lady +Dulcinea; but that's no wonder, for one devil is like another."</p> + +<p>"Well then," continued Don Quixote, "now she has done sifting the +corn and sent it to the mill; what did she do when she read the +letter?"</p> + +<p>"As for the letter," said Sancho, "she did not read it, for she said +she could neither read nor write; instead of that she tore it up +into small pieces, saying that she did not want to let anyone read +it lest her secrets should become known in the village, and that +what I had told her by word of mouth about the love your worship +bore her, and the extraordinary penance you were doing for her sake, +was enough; and, to make an end of it, she told me to tell your +worship that she kissed your hands, and that she had a greater +desire to see you than to write to you; and that therefore she +entreated and commanded you, on sight of this present, to come out +of these thickets, and to have done with carrying on absurdities, +and to set out at once for El Toboso, unless something else of greater +importance should happen, for she had a great desire to see your +worship. She laughed greatly when I told her how your worship was +called The Knight of the Rueful Countenance; I asked her if that +Biscayan the other day had been there; and she told me he had, and +that he was an honest fellow; I asked her too about the galley slaves, +but she said she had not seen any as yet."</p> + +<p>"So far all goes well," said Don Quixote; "but tell me what jewel +was it that she gave thee on taking thy leave, in return for thy +tidings of me? For it is a usual and ancient custom with knights and +ladies errant to give the squires, damsels, or dwarfs who bring +tidings of their ladies to the knights, or of their knights to the +ladies, some rich jewel as a guerdon for good news,' and +acknowledgment of the message."</p> + +<p>"That is very likely," said Sancho, "and a good custom it was, to my +mind; but that must have been in days gone by, for now it would seem +to be the custom only to give a piece of bread and cheese; because +that was what my lady Dulcinea gave me over the top of the yard-wall +when I took leave of her; and more by token it was sheep's-milk +cheese."</p> + +<p>"She is generous in the extreme," said Don Quixote, "and if she +did not give thee a jewel of gold, no doubt it must have been +because she had not one to hand there to give thee; but sleeves are +good after Easter; I shall see her and all shall be made right. But +knowest thou what amazes me, Sancho? It seems to me thou must have +gone and come through the air, for thou hast taken but little more +than three days to go to El Toboso and return, though it is more +than thirty leagues from here to there. From which I am inclined to +think that the sage magician who is my friend, and watches over my +interests (for of necessity there is and must be one, or else I should +not be a right knight-errant), that this same, I say, must have helped +thee to travel without thy knowledge; for some of these sages will +catch up a knight-errant sleeping in his bed, and without his +knowing how or in what way it happened, he wakes up the next day +more than a thousand leagues away from the place where he went to +sleep. And if it were not for this, knights-errant would not be able +to give aid to one another in peril, as they do at every turn. For a +knight, maybe, is fighting in the mountains of Armenia with some +dragon, or fierce serpent, or another knight, and gets the worst of +the battle, and is at the point of death; but when he least looks +for it, there appears over against him on a cloud, or chariot of fire, +another knight, a friend of his, who just before had been in +England, and who takes his part, and delivers him from death; and at +night he finds himself in his own quarters supping very much to his +satisfaction; and yet from one place to the other will have been two +or three thousand leagues. And all this is done by the craft and skill +of the sage enchanters who take care of those valiant knights; so +that, friend Sancho, I find no difficulty in believing that thou +mayest have gone from this place to El Toboso and returned in such a +short time, since, as I have said, some friendly sage must have +carried thee through the air without thee perceiving it."</p> + +<p>"That must have been it," said Sancho, "for indeed Rocinante went +like a gipsy's ass with quicksilver in his ears."</p> + +<p>"Quicksilver!" said Don Quixote, "aye and what is more, a legion +of devils, folk that can travel and make others travel without being +weary, exactly as the whim seizes them. But putting this aside, what +thinkest thou I ought to do about my lady's command to go and see her? +For though I feel that I am bound to obey her mandate, I feel too that +I am debarred by the boon I have accorded to the princess that +accompanies us, and the law of chivalry compels me to have regard +for my word in preference to my inclination; on the one hand the +desire to see my lady pursues and harasses me, on the other my +solemn promise and the glory I shall win in this enterprise urge and +call me; but what I think I shall do is to travel with all speed and +reach quickly the place where this giant is, and on my arrival I shall +cut off his head, and establish the princess peacefully in her +realm, and forthwith I shall return to behold the light that +lightens my senses, to whom I shall make such excuses that she will be +led to approve of my delay, for she will see that it entirely tends to +increase her glory and fame; for all that I have won, am winning, or +shall win by arms in this life, comes to me of the favour she +extends to me, and because I am hers."</p> + +<p>"Ah! what a sad state your worship's brains are in!" said Sancho. +"Tell me, senor, do you mean to travel all that way for nothing, and +to let slip and lose so rich and great a match as this where they give +as a portion a kingdom that in sober truth I have heard say is more +than twenty thousand leagues round about, and abounds with all +things necessary to support human life, and is bigger than Portugal +and Castile put together? Peace, for the love of God! Blush for what +you have said, and take my advice, and forgive me, and marry at once +in the first village where there is a curate; if not, here is our +licentiate who will do the business beautifully; remember, I am old +enough to give advice, and this I am giving comes pat to the +purpose; for a sparrow in the hand is better than a vulture on the +wing, and he who has the good to his hand and chooses the bad, that +the good he complains of may not come to him."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Sancho," said Don Quixote. "If thou art advising me to +marry, in order that immediately on slaying the giant I may become +king, and be able to confer favours on thee, and give thee what I have +promised, let me tell thee I shall be able very easily to satisfy +thy desires without marrying; for before going into battle I will make +it a stipulation that, if I come out of it victorious, even I do not +marry, they shall give me a portion portion of the kingdom, that I may +bestow it upon whomsoever I choose, and when they give it to me upon +whom wouldst thou have me bestow it but upon thee?"</p> + +<p>"That is plain speaking," said Sancho; "but let your worship take +care to choose it on the seacoast, so that if I don't like the life, I +may be able to ship off my black vassals and deal with them as I +have said; don't mind going to see my lady Dulcinea now, but go and +kill this giant and let us finish off this business; for by God it +strikes me it will be one of great honour and great profit."</p> + +<p>"I hold thou art in the right of it, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "and +I will take thy advice as to accompanying the princess before going to +see Dulcinea; but I counsel thee not to say anything to any one, or to +those who are with us, about what we have considered and discussed, +for as Dulcinea is so decorous that she does not wish her thoughts +to be known it is not right that I or anyone for me should disclose +them."</p> + +<p>"Well then, if that be so," said Sancho, "how is it that your +worship makes all those you overcome by your arm go to present +themselves before my lady Dulcinea, this being the same thing as +signing your name to it that you love her and are her lover? And as +those who go must perforce kneel before her and say they come from +your worship to submit themselves to her, how can the thoughts of both +of you be hid?"</p> + +<p>"O, how silly and simple thou art!" said Don Quixote; "seest thou +not, Sancho, that this tends to her greater exaltation? For thou +must know that according to our way of thinking in chivalry, it is a +high honour to a lady to have many knights-errant in her service, +whose thoughts never go beyond serving her for her own sake, and who +look for no other reward for their great and true devotion than that +she should be willing to accept them as her knights."</p> + +<p>"It is with that kind of love," said Sancho, "I have heard preachers +say we ought to love our Lord, for himself alone, without being +moved by the hope of glory or the fear of punishment; though for my +part, I would rather love and serve him for what he could do."</p> + +<p>"The devil take thee for a clown!" said Don Quixote, "and what +shrewd things thou sayest at times! One would think thou hadst +studied."</p> + +<p>"In faith, then, I cannot even read."</p> + +<p>Master Nicholas here called out to them to wait a while, as they +wanted to halt and drink at a little spring there was there. Don +Quixote drew up, not a little to the satisfaction of Sancho, for he +was by this time weary of telling so many lies, and in dread of his +master catching him tripping, for though he knew that Dulcinea was a +peasant girl of El Toboso, he had never seen her in all his life. +Cardenio had now put on the clothes which Dorothea was wearing when +they found her, and though they were not very good, they were far +better than those he put off. They dismounted together by the side +of the spring, and with what the curate had provided himself with at +the inn they appeased, though not very well, the keen appetite they +all of them brought with them.</p> + +<p>While they were so employed there happened to come by a youth +passing on his way, who stopping to examine the party at the spring, +the next moment ran to Don Quixote and clasping him round the legs, +began to weep freely, saying, "O, senor, do you not know me? Look at +me well; I am that lad Andres that your worship released from the +oak-tree where I was tied."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote recognised him, and taking his hand he turned to those +present and said: "That your worships may see how important it is to +have knights-errant to redress the wrongs and injuries done by +tyrannical and wicked men in this world, I may tell you that some days +ago passing through a wood, I heard cries and piteous complaints as of +a person in pain and distress; I immediately hastened, impelled by +my bounden duty, to the quarter whence the plaintive accents seemed to +me to proceed, and I found tied to an oak this lad who now stands +before you, which in my heart I rejoice at, for his testimony will not +permit me to depart from the truth in any particular. He was, I say, +tied to an oak, naked from the waist up, and a clown, whom I +afterwards found to be his master, was scarifying him by lashes with +the reins of his mare. As soon as I saw him I asked the reason of so +cruel a flagellation. The boor replied that he was flogging him +because he was his servant and because of carelessness that +proceeded rather from dishonesty than stupidity; on which this boy +said, 'Senor, he flogs me only because I ask for my wages.' The master +made I know not what speeches and explanations, which, though I +listened to them, I did not accept. In short, I compelled the clown to +unbind him, and to swear he would take him with him, and pay him +real by real, and perfumed into the bargain. Is not all this true, +Andres my son? Didst thou not mark with what authority I commanded +him, and with what humility he promised to do all I enjoined, +specified, and required of him? Answer without hesitation; tell +these gentlemen what took place, that they may see that it is as great +an advantage as I say to have knights-errant abroad."</p> + +<p>"All that your worship has said is quite true," answered the lad; +"but the end of the business turned out just the opposite of what your +worship supposes."</p> + +<p>"How! the opposite?" said Don Quixote; "did not the clown pay thee +then?"</p> + +<p>"Not only did he not pay me," replied the lad, "but as soon as +your worship had passed out of the wood and we were alone, he tied +me up again to the same oak and gave me a fresh flogging, that left me +like a flayed Saint Bartholomew; and every stroke he gave me he +followed up with some jest or gibe about having made a fool of your +worship, and but for the pain I was suffering I should have laughed at +the things he said. In short he left me in such a condition that I +have been until now in a hospital getting cured of the injuries +which that rascally clown inflicted on me then; for all which your +worship is to blame; for if you had gone your own way and not come +where there was no call for you, nor meddled in other people's +affairs, my master would have been content with giving me one or two +dozen lashes, and would have then loosed me and paid me what he owed +me; but when your worship abused him so out of measure, and gave him +so many hard words, his anger was kindled; and as he could not revenge +himself on you, as soon as he saw you had left him the storm burst +upon me in such a way, that I feel as if I should never be a man +again."</p> + +<p>"The mischief," said Don Quixote, "lay in my going away; for I +should not have gone until I had seen thee paid; because I ought to +have known well by long experience that there is no clown who will +keep his word if he finds it will not suit him to keep it; but thou +rememberest, Andres, that I swore if he did not pay thee I would go +and seek him, and find him though he were to hide himself in the +whale's belly."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Andres; "but it was of no use."</p> + +<p>"Thou shalt see now whether it is of use or not," said Don +Quixote; and so saying, he got up hastily and bade Sancho bridle +Rocinante, who was browsing while they were eating. Dorothea asked him +what he meant to do. He replied that he meant to go in search of +this clown and chastise him for such iniquitous conduct, and see +Andres paid to the last maravedi, despite and in the teeth of all +the clowns in the world. To which she replied that he must remember +that in accordance with his promise he could not engage in any +enterprise until he had concluded hers; and that as he knew this +better than anyone, he should restrain his ardour until his return +from her kingdom.</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Don Quixote, "and Andres must have patience +until my return as you say, senora; but I once more swear and +promise not to stop until I have seen him avenged and paid."</p> + +<p>"I have no faith in those oaths," said Andres; "I would rather +have now something to help me to get to Seville than all the +revenges in the world; if you have here anything to eat that I can +take with me, give it me, and God be with your worship and all +knights-errant; and may their errands turn out as well for +themselves as they have for me."</p> + +<p>Sancho took out from his store a piece of bread and another of +cheese, and giving them to the lad he said, "Here, take this, +brother Andres, for we have all of us a share in your misfortune."</p> + +<p>"Why, what share have you got?"</p> + +<p>"This share of bread and cheese I am giving you," answered Sancho; +"and God knows whether I shall feel the want of it myself or not; +for I would have you know, friend, that we squires to knights-errant +have to bear a great deal of hunger and hard fortune, and even other +things more easily felt than told."</p> + +<p>Andres seized his bread and cheese, and seeing that nobody gave +him anything more, bent his head, and took hold of the road, as the +saying is. However, before leaving he said, "For the love of God, +sir knight-errant, if you ever meet me again, though you may see +them cutting me to pieces, give me no aid or succour, but leave me +to my misfortune, which will not be so great but that a greater will +come to me by being helped by your worship, on whom and all the +knights-errant that have ever been born God send his curse."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote was getting up to chastise him, but he took to his heels +at such a pace that no one attempted to follow him; and mightily +chapfallen was Don Quixote at Andres' story, and the others had to +take great care to restrain their laughter so as not to put him +entirely out of countenance.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c31e"></a><img alt="c31e.jpg (32K)" src="images/c31e.jpg" height="431" width="411"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch32"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHICH TREATS OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE'S PARTY AT THE INN +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="c32a"></a><img alt="c32a.jpg (132K)" src="images/c32a.jpg" height="418" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c32a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Their dainty repast being finished, they saddled at once, and +without any adventure worth mentioning they reached next day the +inn, the object of Sancho Panza's fear and dread; but though he +would have rather not entered it, there was no help for it. The +landlady, the landlord, their daughter, and Maritornes, when they +saw Don Quixote and Sancho coming, went out to welcome them with signs +of hearty satisfaction, which Don Quixote received with dignity and +gravity, and bade them make up a better bed for him than the last +time: to which the landlady replied that if he paid better than he did +the last time she would give him one fit for a prince. Don Quixote +said he would, so they made up a tolerable one for him in the same +garret as before; and he lay down at once, being sorely shaken and +in want of sleep.</p> + +<p>No sooner was the door shut upon him than the landlady made at the +barber, and seizing him by the beard, said:</p> + +<p>"By my faith you are not going to make a beard of my tail any +longer; you must give me back tail, for it is a shame the way that +thing of my husband's goes tossing about on the floor; I mean the comb +that I used to stick in my good tail."</p> + +<p>But for all she tugged at it the barber would not give it up until +the licentiate told him to let her have it, as there was now no +further occasion for that stratagem, because he might declare +himself and appear in his own character, and tell Don Quixote that +he had fled to this inn when those thieves the galley slaves robbed +him; and should he ask for the princess's squire, they could tell +him that she had sent him on before her to give notice to the people +of her kingdom that she was coming, and bringing with her the +deliverer of them all. On this the barber cheerfully restored the tail +to the landlady, and at the same time they returned all the +accessories they had borrowed to effect Don Quixote's deliverance. All +the people of the inn were struck with astonishment at the beauty of +Dorothea, and even at the comely figure of the shepherd Cardenio. +The curate made them get ready such fare as there was in the inn, +and the landlord, in hope of better payment, served them up a +tolerably good dinner. All this time Don Quixote was asleep, and +they thought it best not to waken him, as sleeping would now do him +more good than eating.</p> + +<p>While at dinner, the company consisting of the landlord, his wife, +their daughter, Maritornes, and all the travellers, they discussed the +strange craze of Don Quixote and the manner in which he had been +found; and the landlady told them what had taken place between him and +the carrier; and then, looking round to see if Sancho was there, +when she saw he was not, she gave them the whole story of his +blanketing, which they received with no little amusement. But on the +curate observing that it was the books of chivalry which Don Quixote +had read that had turned his brain, the landlord said:</p> + +<p>"I cannot understand how that can be, for in truth to my mind +there is no better reading in the world, and I have here two or +three of them, with other writings that are the very life, not only of +myself but of plenty more; for when it is harvest-time, the reapers +flock here on holidays, and there is always one among them who can +read and who takes up one of these books, and we gather round him, +thirty or more of us, and stay listening to him with a delight that +makes our grey hairs grow young again. At least I can say for myself +that when I hear of what furious and terrible blows the knights +deliver, I am seized with the longing to do the same, and I would like +to be hearing about them night and day."</p> + +<p>"And I just as much," said the landlady, "because I never have a +quiet moment in my house except when you are listening to some one +reading; for then you are so taken up that for the time being you +forget to scold."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Maritornes; "and, faith, I relish hearing these +things greatly too, for they are very pretty; especially when they +describe some lady or another in the arms of her knight under the +orange trees, and the duenna who is keeping watch for them half dead +with envy and fright; all this I say is as good as honey."</p> + +<p>"And you, what do you think, young lady?" said the curate turning to +the landlord's daughter.</p> + +<p>"I don't know indeed, senor," said she; "I listen too, and to tell +the truth, though I do not understand it, I like hearing it; but it is +not the blows that my father likes that I like, but the laments the +knights utter when they are separated from their ladies; and indeed +they sometimes make me weep with the pity I feel for them."</p> + +<p>"Then you would console them if it was for you they wept, young +lady?" said Dorothea.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what I should do," said the girl; "I only know that +there are some of those ladies so cruel that they call their knights +tigers and lions and a thousand other foul names: and Jesus! I don't +know what sort of folk they can be, so unfeeling and heartless, that +rather than bestow a glance upon a worthy man they leave him to die or +go mad. I don't know what is the good of such prudery; if it is for +honour's sake, why not marry them? That's all they want."</p> + +<p>"Hush, child," said the landlady; "it seems to me thou knowest a +great deal about these things, and it is not fit for girls to know +or talk so much."</p> + +<p>"As the gentleman asked me, I could not help answering him," said +the girl.</p> + +<p>"Well then," said the curate, "bring me these books, senor landlord, +for I should like to see them."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," said he, and going into his own room he brought +out an old valise secured with a little chain, on opening which the +curate found in it three large books and some manuscripts written in a +very good hand. The first that he opened he found to be "Don +Cirongilio of Thrace," and the second "Don Felixmarte of Hircania," +and the other the "History of the Great Captain Gonzalo Hernandez de +Cordova, with the Life of Diego Garcia de Paredes."</p> + +<p>When the curate read the two first titles he looked over at the +barber and said, "We want my friend's housekeeper and niece here now."</p> + +<p>"Nay," said the barber, "I can do just as well to carry them to +the yard or to the hearth, and there is a very good fire there."</p> + +<p>"What! your worship would burn my books!" said the landlord.</p> + +<p>"Only these two," said the curate, "Don Cirongilio, and Felixmarte."</p> + +<p>"Are my books, then, heretics or phlegmaties that you want to burn +them?" said the landlord.</p> + +<p>"Schismatics you mean, friend," said the barber, "not phlegmatics."</p> + +<p>"That's it," said the landlord; "but if you want to burn any, let it +be that about the Great Captain and that Diego Garcia; for I would +rather have a child of mine burnt than either of the others."</p> + +<p>"Brother," said the curate, "those two books are made up of lies, +and are full of folly and nonsense; but this of the Great Captain is a +true history, and contains the deeds of Gonzalo Hernandez of +Cordova, who by his many and great achievements earned the title all +over the world of the Great Captain, a famous and illustrious name, +and deserved by him alone; and this Diego Garcia de Paredes was a +distinguished knight of the city of Trujillo in Estremadura, a most +gallant soldier, and of such bodily strength that with one finger he +stopped a mill-wheel in full motion; and posted with a two-handed +sword at the foot of a bridge he kept the whole of an immense army +from passing over it, and achieved such other exploits that if, +instead of his relating them himself with the modesty of a knight +and of one writing his own history, some free and unbiassed writer had +recorded them, they would have thrown into the shade all the deeds +of the Hectors, Achilleses, and Rolands."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c32b"></a><img alt="c32b.jpg (395K)" src="images/c32b.jpg" height="823" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c32b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"Tell that to my father," said the landlord. "There's a thing to +be astonished at! Stopping a mill-wheel! By God your worship should +read what I have read of Felixmarte of Hircania, how with one single +backstroke he cleft five giants asunder through the middle as if +they had been made of bean-pods like the little friars the children +make; and another time he attacked a very great and powerful army, +in which there were more than a million six hundred thousand soldiers, +all armed from head to foot, and he routed them all as if they had +been flocks of sheep."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c32c"></a><img alt="c32c.jpg (341K)" src="images/c32c.jpg" height="825" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c32c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"And then, what do you say to the good Cirongilio +of Thrace, that was so stout and bold; as may be seen in the book, +where it is related that as he was sailing along a river there came up +out of the midst of the water against him a fiery serpent, and he, +as soon as he saw it, flung himself upon it and got astride of its +scaly shoulders, and squeezed its throat with both hands with such +force that the serpent, finding he was throttling it, had nothing +for it but to let itself sink to the bottom of the river, carrying +with it the knight who would not let go his hold; and when they got +down there he found himself among palaces and gardens so pretty that +it was a wonder to see; and then the serpent changed itself into an +old ancient man, who told him such things as were never heard. Hold +your peace, senor; for if you were to hear this you would go mad +with delight. A couple of figs for your Great Captain and your Diego +Garcia!"</p> + +<p>Hearing this Dorothea said in a whisper to Cardenio, "Our landlord +is almost fit to play a second part to Don Quixote."</p> + +<p>"I think so," said Cardenio, "for, as he shows, he accepts it as a +certainty that everything those books relate took place exactly as +it is written down; and the barefooted friars themselves would not +persuade him to the contrary."</p> + +<p>"But consider, brother," said the curate once more, "there never +was any Felixmarte of Hircania in the world, nor any Cirongilio of +Thrace, or any of the other knights of the same sort, that the books +of chivalry talk of; the whole thing is the fabrication and +invention of idle wits, devised by them for the purpose you describe +of beguiling the time, as your reapers do when they read; for I +swear to you in all seriousness there never were any such knights in +the world, and no such exploits or nonsense ever happened anywhere."</p> + +<p>"Try that bone on another dog," said the landlord; "as if I did +not know how many make five, and where my shoe pinches me; don't think +to feed me with pap, for by God I am no fool. It is a good joke for +your worship to try and persuade me that everything these good books +say is nonsense and lies, and they printed by the license of the Lords +of the Royal Council, as if they were people who would allow such a +lot of lies to be printed all together, and so many battles and +enchantments that they take away one's senses."</p> + +<p>"I have told you, friend," said the curate, "that this is done to +divert our idle thoughts; and as in well-ordered states games of +chess, fives, and billiards are allowed for the diversion of those who +do not care, or are not obliged, or are unable to work, so books of +this kind are allowed to be printed, on the supposition that, what +indeed is the truth, there can be nobody so ignorant as to take any of +them for true stories; and if it were permitted me now, and the +present company desired it, I could say something about the +qualities books of chivalry should possess to be good ones, that would +be to the advantage and even to the taste of some; but I hope the time +will come when I can communicate my ideas to some one who may be +able to mend matters; and in the meantime, senor landlord, believe +what I have said, and take your books, and make up your mind about +their truth or falsehood, and much good may they do you; and God grant +you may not fall lame of the same foot your guest Don Quixote halts +on."</p> + +<p>"No fear of that," returned the landlord; "I shall not be so mad +as to make a knight-errant of myself; for I see well enough that +things are not now as they used to be in those days, when they say +those famous knights roamed about the world."</p> + +<p>Sancho had made his appearance in the middle of this conversation, +and he was very much troubled and cast down by what he heard said +about knights-errant being now no longer in vogue, and all books of +chivalry being folly and lies; and he resolved in his heart to wait +and see what came of this journey of his master's, and if it did not +turn out as happily as his master expected, he determined to leave him +and go back to his wife and children and his ordinary labour.</p> + +<p>The landlord was carrying away the valise and the books, but the +curate said to him, "Wait; I want to see what those papers are that +are written in such a good hand." The landlord taking them out +handed them to him to read, and he perceived they were a work of about +eight sheets of manuscript, with, in large letters at the beginning, +the title of "Novel of the Ill-advised Curiosity." The curate read +three or four lines to himself, and said, "I must say the title of +this novel does not seem to me a bad one, and I feel an inclination to +read it all." To which the landlord replied, "Then your reverence will +do well to read it, for I can tell you that some guests who have +read it here have been much pleased with it, and have begged it of +me very earnestly; but I would not give it, meaning to return it to +the person who forgot the valise, books, and papers here, for maybe he +will return here some time or other; and though I know I shall miss +the books, faith I mean to return them; for though I am an +innkeeper, still I am a Christian."</p> + +<p>"You are very right, friend," said the curate; "but for all that, if +the novel pleases me you must let me copy it."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," replied the host.</p> + +<p>While they were talking Cardenio had taken up the novel and begun to +read it, and forming the same opinion of it as the curate, he begged +him to read it so that they might all hear it.</p> + +<p>"I would read it," said the curate, "if the time would not be better +spent in sleeping."</p> + +<p>"It will be rest enough for me," said Dorothea, "to while away the +time by listening to some tale, for my spirits are not yet tranquil +enough to let me sleep when it would be seasonable."</p> + +<p>"Well then, in that case," said the curate, "I will read it, if it +were only out of curiosity; perhaps it may contain something +pleasant."</p> + +<p>Master Nicholas added his entreaties to the same effect, and +Sancho too; seeing which, and considering that he would give +pleasure to all, and receive it himself, the curate said, "Well +then, attend to me everyone, for the novel begins thus."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c32e"></a><img alt="c32e.jpg (11K)" src="images/c32e.jpg" height="313" width="253"> +</center> +<br> +<br> + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p11.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p13.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +</body> +</html> + |