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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/p13.htm b/old/orig5921-h/p13.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b24ce --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig5921-h/p13.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3654 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE, By Cervantes, Vol. I., Part 13.</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="p12.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p14.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 13. +<br><br> +Chapters 33-40 +</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="#ch33">CHAPTER XXXIII</a> +IN WHICH IS RELATED THE NOVEL OF "THE ILL-ADVISED +CURIOSITY" + +<a href="#ch34">CHAPTER XXXIV</a> +IN WHICH IS CONTINUED THE NOVEL OF "THE ILL-ADVISED +CURIOSITY" + +<a href="#ch35">CHAPTER XXXV</a> +WHICH TREATS OF THE HEROIC AND PRODIGIOUS BATTLE +DON QUIXOTE HAD WITH CERTAIN SKINS OF RED WINE, +AND BRINGS THE NOVEL OF "THE ILL-ADVISED CURIOSITY" +TO A CLOSE + +<a href="#ch36">CHAPTER XXXVI</a> +WHICH TREATS OF MORE CURIOUS INCIDENTS THAT +OCCURRED AT THE INN + +<a href="#ch37">CHAPTER XXXVII</a> +IN WHICH IS CONTINUED THE STORY OF THE FAMOUS +PRINCESS MICOMICONA, WITH OTHER DROLL ADVENTURES + +<a href="#ch38">CHAPTER XXXVIII</a> +WHICH TREATS OF THE CURIOUS DISCOURSE DON QUIXOTE +DELIVERED ON ARMS AND LETTERS + +<a href="#ch39">CHAPTER XXXIX</a> +WHEREIN THE CAPTIVE RELATES HIS LIFE AND ADVENTURES + +<a href="#ch40">CHAPTER XL</a> +IN WHICH THE STORY OF THE CAPTIVE IS CONTINUED. +</pre> +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch33"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>IN WHICH IS RELATED THE NOVEL OF "THE ILL-ADVISED CURIOSITY" +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<p>In Florence, a rich and famous city of Italy in the province +called Tuscany, there lived two gentlemen of wealth and quality, +Anselmo and Lothario, such great friends that by way of distinction +they were called by all that knew them "The Two Friends." They were +unmarried, young, of the same age and of the same tastes, which was +enough to account for the reciprocal friendship between them. Anselmo, +it is true, was somewhat more inclined to seek pleasure in love than +Lothario, for whom the pleasures of the chase had more attraction; but +on occasion Anselmo would forego his own tastes to yield to those of +Lothario, and Lothario would surrender his to fall in with those of +Anselmo, and in this way their inclinations kept pace one with the +other with a concord so perfect that the best regulated clock could +not surpass it.</p> + +<p>Anselmo was deep in love with a high-born and beautiful maiden of +the same city, the daughter of parents so estimable, and so +estimable herself, that he resolved, with the approval of his friend +Lothario, without whom he did nothing, to ask her of them in marriage, +and did so, Lothario being the bearer of the demand, and conducting +the negotiation so much to the satisfaction of his friend that in a +short time he was in possession of the object of his desires, and +Camilla so happy in having won Anselmo for her husband, that she +gave thanks unceasingly to heaven and to Lothario, by whose means such +good fortune had fallen to her. The first few days, those of a wedding +being usually days of merry-making, Lothario frequented his friend +Anselmo's house as he had been wont, striving to do honour to him +and to the occasion, and to gratify him in every way he could; but +when the wedding days were over and the succession of visits and +congratulations had slackened, he began purposely to leave off going +to the house of Anselmo, for it seemed to him, as it naturally would +to all men of sense, that friends' houses ought not to be visited +after marriage with the same frequency as in their masters' bachelor +days: because, though true and genuine friendship cannot and should +not be in any way suspicious, still a married man's honour is a +thing of such delicacy that it is held liable to injury from brothers, +much more from friends. Anselmo remarked the cessation of Lothario's +visits, and complained of it to him, saying that if he had known +that marriage was to keep him from enjoying his society as he used, he +would have never married; and that, if by the thorough harmony that +subsisted between them while he was a bachelor they had earned such +a sweet name as that of "The Two Friends," he should not allow a title +so rare and so delightful to be lost through a needless anxiety to act +circumspectly; and so he entreated him, if such a phrase was allowable +between them, to be once more master of his house and to come in and +go out as formerly, assuring him that his wife Camilla had no other +desire or inclination than that which he would wish her to have, and +that knowing how sincerely they loved one another she was grieved to +see such coldness in him.</p> + +<p>To all this and much more that Anselmo said to Lothario to +persuade him to come to his house as he had been in the habit of +doing, Lothario replied with so much prudence, sense, and judgment, +that Anselmo was satisfied of his friend's good intentions, and it was +agreed that on two days in the week, and on holidays, Lothario +should come to dine with him; but though this arrangement was made +between them Lothario resolved to observe it no further than he +considered to be in accordance with the honour of his friend, whose +good name was more to him than his own. He said, and justly, that a +married man upon whom heaven had bestowed a beautiful wife should +consider as carefully what friends he brought to his house as what +female friends his wife associated with, for what cannot be done or +arranged in the market-place, in church, at public festivals or at +stations (opportunities that husbands cannot always deny their wives), +may be easily managed in the house of the female friend or relative in +whom most confidence is reposed. Lothario said, too, that every +married man should have some friend who would point out to him any +negligence he might be guilty of in his conduct, for it will sometimes +happen that owing to the deep affection the husband bears his wife +either he does not caution her, or, not to vex her, refrains from +telling her to do or not to do certain things, doing or avoiding which +may be a matter of honour or reproach to him; and errors of this +kind he could easily correct if warned by a friend. But where is +such a friend to be found as Lothario would have, so judicious, so +loyal, and so true?</p> + +<p>Of a truth I know not; Lothario alone was such a one, for with the +utmost care and vigilance he watched over the honour of his friend, +and strove to diminish, cut down, and reduce the number of days for +going to his house according to their agreement, lest the visits of +a young man, wealthy, high-born, and with the attractions he was +conscious of possessing, at the house of a woman so beautiful as +Camilla, should be regarded with suspicion by the inquisitive and +malicious eyes of the idle public. For though his integrity and +reputation might bridle slanderous tongues, still he was unwilling +to hazard either his own good name or that of his friend; and for this +reason most of the days agreed upon he devoted to some other +business which he pretended was unavoidable; so that a great portion +of the day was taken up with complaints on one side and excuses on the +other. It happened, however, that on one occasion when the two were +strolling together outside the city, Anselmo addressed the following +words to Lothario.</p> + +<p>"Thou mayest suppose, Lothario my friend, that I am unable to give +sufficient thanks for the favours God has rendered me in making me the +son of such parents as mine were, and bestowing upon me with no +niggard hand what are called the gifts of nature as well as those of +fortune, and above all for what he has done in giving me thee for a +friend and Camilla for a wife—two treasures that I value, if not as +highly as I ought, at least as highly as I am able. And yet, with +all these good things, which are commonly all that men need to +enable them to live happily, I am the most discontented and +dissatisfied man in the whole world; for, I know not how long since, I +have been harassed and oppressed by a desire so strange and so +unusual, that I wonder at myself and blame and chide myself when I +am alone, and strive to stifle it and hide it from my own thoughts, +and with no better success than if I were endeavouring deliberately to +publish it to all the world; and as, in short, it must come out, I +would confide it to thy safe keeping, feeling sure that by this means, +and by thy readiness as a true friend to afford me relief, I shall +soon find myself freed from the distress it causes me, and that thy +care will give me happiness in the same degree as my own folly has +caused me misery."</p> + +<p>The words of Anselmo struck Lothario with astonishment, unable as he +was to conjecture the purport of such a lengthy preamble; and though +he strove to imagine what desire it could be that so troubled his +friend, his conjectures were all far from the truth, and to relieve +the anxiety which this perplexity was causing him, he told him he +was doing a flagrant injustice to their great friendship in seeking +circuitous methods of confiding to him his most hidden thoughts, for +he well knew he might reckon upon his counsel in diverting them, or +his help in carrying them into effect.</p> + +<p>"That is the truth," replied Anselmo, "and relying upon that I +will tell thee, friend Lothario, that the desire which harasses me +is that of knowing whether my wife Camilla is as good and as perfect +as I think her to be; and I cannot satisfy myself of the truth on this +point except by testing her in such a way that the trial may prove the +purity of her virtue as the fire proves that of gold; because I am +persuaded, my friend, that a woman is virtuous only in proportion as +she is or is not tempted; and that she alone is strong who does not +yield to the promises, gifts, tears, and importunities of earnest +lovers; for what thanks does a woman deserve for being good if no +one urges her to be bad, and what wonder is it that she is reserved +and circumspect to whom no opportunity is given of going wrong and who +knows she has a husband that will take her life the first time he +detects her in an impropriety? I do not therefore hold her who is +virtuous through fear or want of opportunity in the same estimation as +her who comes out of temptation and trial with a crown of victory; and +so, for these reasons and many others that I could give thee to +justify and support the opinion I hold, I am desirous that my wife +Camilla should pass this crisis, and be refined and tested by the fire +of finding herself wooed and by one worthy to set his affections +upon her; and if she comes out, as I know she will, victorious from +this struggle, I shall look upon my good fortune as unequalled, I +shall be able to say that the cup of my desire is full, and that the +virtuous woman of whom the sage says 'Who shall find her?' has +fallen to my lot. And if the result be the contrary of what I +expect, in the satisfaction of knowing that I have been right in my +opinion, I shall bear without complaint the pain which my so dearly +bought experience will naturally cause me. And, as nothing of all thou +wilt urge in opposition to my wish will avail to keep me from carrying +it into effect, it is my desire, friend Lothario, that thou shouldst +consent to become the instrument for effecting this purpose that I +am bent upon, for I will afford thee opportunities to that end, and +nothing shall be wanting that I may think necessary for the pursuit of +a virtuous, honourable, modest and high-minded woman. And among +other reasons, I am induced to entrust this arduous task to thee by +the consideration that if Camilla be conquered by thee the conquest +will not be pushed to extremes, but only far enough to account that +accomplished which from a sense of honour will be left undone; thus +I shall not be wronged in anything more than intention, and my wrong +will remain buried in the integrity of thy silence, which I know +well will be as lasting as that of death in what concerns me. If, +therefore, thou wouldst have me enjoy what can be called life, thou +wilt at once engage in this love struggle, not lukewarmly nor +slothfully, but with the energy and zeal that my desire demands, and +with the loyalty our friendship assures me of."</p> + +<p>Such were the words Anselmo addressed to Lothario, who listened to +them with such attention that, except to say what has been already +mentioned, he did not open his lips until the other had finished. Then +perceiving that he had no more to say, after regarding him for awhile, +as one would regard something never before seen that excited wonder +and amazement, he said to him, "I cannot persuade myself, Anselmo my +friend, that what thou hast said to me is not in jest; if I thought +that thou wert speaking seriously I would not have allowed thee to +go so far; so as to put a stop to thy long harangue by not listening +to thee I verily suspect that either thou dost not know me, or I do +not know thee; but no, I know well thou art Anselmo, and thou +knowest that I am Lothario; the misfortune is, it seems to me, that +thou art not the Anselmo thou wert, and must have thought that I am +not the Lothario I should be; for the things that thou hast said to me +are not those of that Anselmo who was my friend, nor are those that +thou demandest of me what should be asked of the Lothario thou +knowest. True friends will prove their friends and make use of them, +as a poet has said, usque ad aras; whereby he meant that they will not +make use of their friendship in things that are contrary to God's +will. If this, then, was a heathen's feeling about friendship, how +much more should it be a Christian's, who knows that the divine must +not be forfeited for the sake of any human friendship? And if a friend +should go so far as to put aside his duty to Heaven to fulfil his duty +to his friend, it should not be in matters that are trifling or of +little moment, but in such as affect the friend's life and honour. Now +tell me, Anselmo, in which of these two art thou imperilled, that I +should hazard myself to gratify thee, and do a thing so detestable +as that thou seekest of me? Neither forsooth; on the contrary, thou +dost ask of me, so far as I understand, to strive and labour to rob +thee of honour and life, and to rob myself of them at the same time; +for if I take away thy honour it is plain I take away thy life, as a +man without honour is worse than dead; and being the instrument, as +thou wilt have it so, of so much wrong to thee, shall not I, too, be +left without honour, and consequently without life? Listen to me, +Anselmo my friend, and be not impatient to answer me until I have said +what occurs to me touching the object of thy desire, for there will be +time enough left for thee to reply and for me to hear."</p> + +<p>"Be it so," said Anselmo, "say what thou wilt."</p> + +<p>Lothario then went on to say, "It seems to me, Anselmo, that thine +is just now the temper of mind which is always that of the Moors, +who can never be brought to see the error of their creed by quotations +from the Holy Scriptures, or by reasons which depend upon the +examination of the understanding or are founded upon the articles of +faith, but must have examples that are palpable, easy, intelligible, +capable of proof, not admitting of doubt, with mathematical +demonstrations that cannot be denied, like, 'If equals be taken from +equals, the remainders are equal:' and if they do not understand +this in words, and indeed they do not, it has to be shown to them with +the hands, and put before their eyes, and even with all this no one +succeeds in convincing them of the truth of our holy religion. This +same mode of proceeding I shall have to adopt with thee, for the +desire which has sprung up in thee is so absurd and remote from +everything that has a semblance of reason, that I feel it would be a +waste of time to employ it in reasoning with thy simplicity, for at +present I will call it by no other name; and I am even tempted to +leave thee in thy folly as a punishment for thy pernicious desire; but +the friendship I bear thee, which will not allow me to desert thee +in such manifest danger of destruction, keeps me from dealing so +harshly by thee. And that thou mayest clearly see this, say, +Anselmo, hast thou not told me that I must force my suit upon a modest +woman, decoy one that is virtuous, make overtures to one that is +pure-minded, pay court to one that is prudent? Yes, thou hast told +me so. Then, if thou knowest that thou hast a wife, modest, +virtuous, pure-minded and prudent, what is it that thou seekest? And +if thou believest that she will come forth victorious from all my +attacks—as doubtless she would—what higher titles than those she +possesses now dost thou think thou canst upon her then, or in what +will she be better then than she is now? Either thou dost not hold her +to be what thou sayest, or thou knowest not what thou dost demand. +If thou dost not hold her to be what thou why dost thou seek to +prove her instead of treating her as guilty in the way that may seem +best to thee? but if she be as virtuous as thou believest, it is an +uncalled-for proceeding to make trial of truth itself, for, after +trial, it will but be in the same estimation as before. Thus, then, it +is conclusive that to attempt things from which harm rather than +advantage may come to us is the part of unreasoning and reckless +minds, more especially when they are things which we are not forced or +compelled to attempt, and which show from afar that it is plainly +madness to attempt them.</p> + +<p>"Difficulties are attempted either for the sake of God or for the +sake of the world, or for both; those undertaken for God's sake are +those which the saints undertake when they attempt to live the lives +of angels in human bodies; those undertaken for the sake of the +world are those of the men who traverse such a vast expanse of +water, such a variety of climates, so many strange countries, to +acquire what are called the blessings of fortune; and those undertaken +for the sake of God and the world together are those of brave +soldiers, who no sooner do they see in the enemy's wall a breach as +wide as a cannon ball could make, than, casting aside all fear, +without hesitating, or heeding the manifest peril that threatens them, +borne onward by the desire of defending their faith, their country, +and their king, they fling themselves dauntlessly into the midst of +the thousand opposing deaths that await them. Such are the things that +men are wont to attempt, and there is honour, glory, gain, in +attempting them, however full of difficulty and peril they may be; but +that which thou sayest it is thy wish to attempt and carry out will +not win thee the glory of God nor the blessings of fortune nor fame +among men; for even if the issue he as thou wouldst have it, thou wilt +be no happier, richer, or more honoured than thou art this moment; and +if it be otherwise thou wilt be reduced to misery greater than can +be imagined, for then it will avail thee nothing to reflect that no +one is aware of the misfortune that has befallen thee; it will suffice +to torture and crush thee that thou knowest it thyself. And in +confirmation of the truth of what I say, let me repeat to thee a +stanza made by the famous poet Luigi Tansillo at the end of the +first part of his 'Tears of Saint Peter,' which says thus:</p> + +<p>The anguish and the shame but greater grew + In Peter's heart as morning slowly came; +No eye was there to see him, well he knew, + Yet he himself was to himself a shame; +Exposed to all men's gaze, or screened from view, + A noble heart will feel the pang the same; +A prey to shame the sinning soul will be, +Though none but heaven and earth its shame can see.</p> + +<p>Thus by keeping it secret thou wilt not escape thy sorrow, but +rather thou wilt shed tears unceasingly, if not tears of the eyes, +tears of blood from the heart, like those shed by that simple doctor +our poet tells us of, that tried the test of the cup, which the wise +Rinaldo, better advised, refused to do; for though this may be a +poetic fiction it contains a moral lesson worthy of attention and +study and imitation. Moreover by what I am about to say to thee thou +wilt be led to see the great error thou wouldst commit.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Anselmo, if Heaven or good fortune had made thee master +and lawful owner of a diamond of the finest quality, with the +excellence and purity of which all the lapidaries that had seen it had +been satisfied, saying with one voice and common consent that in +purity, quality, and fineness, it was all that a stone of the kind +could possibly be, thou thyself too being of the same belief, as +knowing nothing to the contrary, would it be reasonable in thee to +desire to take that diamond and place it between an anvil and a +hammer, and by mere force of blows and strength of arm try if it +were as hard and as fine as they said? And if thou didst, and if the +stone should resist so silly a test, that would add nothing to its +value or reputation; and if it were broken, as it might be, would +not all be lost? Undoubtedly it would, leaving its owner to be rated +as a fool in the opinion of all. Consider, then, Anselmo my friend, +that Camilla is a diamond of the finest quality as well in thy +estimation as in that of others, and that it is contrary to reason +to expose her to the risk of being broken; for if she remains intact +she cannot rise to a higher value than she now possesses; and if she +give way and be unable to resist, bethink thee now how thou wilt be +deprived of her, and with what good reason thou wilt complain of +thyself for having been the cause of her ruin and thine own. +Remember there is no jewel in the world so precious as a chaste and +virtuous woman, and that the whole honour of women consists in +reputation; and since thy wife's is of that high excellence that +thou knowest, wherefore shouldst thou seek to call that truth in +question? Remember, my friend, that woman is an imperfect animal, +and that impediments are not to be placed in her way to make her +trip and fall, but that they should be removed, and her path left +clear of all obstacles, so that without hindrance she may run her +course freely to attain the desired perfection, which consists in +being virtuous. Naturalists tell us that the ermine is a little animal +which has a fur of purest white, and that when the hunters wish to +take it, they make use of this artifice. Having ascertained the places +which it frequents and passes, they stop the way to them with mud, and +then rousing it, drive it towards the spot, and as soon as the +ermine comes to the mud it halts, and allows itself to be taken +captive rather than pass through the mire, and spoil and sully its +whiteness, which it values more than life and liberty. The virtuous +and chaste woman is an ermine, and whiter and purer than snow is the +virtue of modesty; and he who wishes her not to lose it, but to keep +and preserve it, must adopt a course different from that employed with +the ermine; he must not put before her the mire of the gifts and +attentions of persevering lovers, because perhaps—and even without +a perhaps—she may not have sufficient virtue and natural strength +in herself to pass through and tread under foot these impediments; +they must be removed, and the brightness of virtue and the beauty of a +fair fame must be put before her. A virtuous woman, too, is like a +mirror, of clear shining crystal, liable to be tarnished and dimmed by +every breath that touches it. She must be treated as relics are; +adored, not touched. She must be protected and prized as one +protects and prizes a fair garden full of roses and flowers, the owner +of which allows no one to trespass or pluck a blossom; enough for +others that from afar and through the iron grating they may enjoy +its fragrance and its beauty. Finally let me repeat to thee some +verses that come to my mind; I heard them in a modern comedy, and it +seems to me they bear upon the point we are discussing. A prudent +old man was giving advice to another, the father of a young girl, to +lock her up, watch over her and keep her in seclusion, and among other +arguments he used these:</p> + +<pre> + Woman is a thing of glass; + But her brittleness 'tis best + Not too curiously to test: + Who knows what may come to pass? + + Breaking is an easy matter, + And it's folly to expose + What you cannot mend to blows; + What you can't make whole to shatter. + + This, then, all may hold as true, + And the reason's plain to see; + For if Danaes there be, + There are golden showers too." +</pre> + +<p> +"All that I have said to thee so far, Anselmo, has had reference +to what concerns thee; now it is right that I should say something +of what regards myself; and if I be prolix, pardon me, for the +labyrinth into which thou hast entered and from which thou wouldst +have me extricate thee makes it necessary.</p> + +<p>"Thou dost reckon me thy friend, and thou wouldst rob me of +honour, a thing wholly inconsistent with friendship; and not only dost +thou aim at this, but thou wouldst have me rob thee of it also. That +thou wouldst rob me of it is clear, for when Camilla sees that I pay +court to her as thou requirest, she will certainly regard me as a +man without honour or right feeling, since I attempt and do a thing so +much opposed to what I owe to my own position and thy friendship. That +thou wouldst have me rob thee of it is beyond a doubt, for Camilla, +seeing that I press my suit upon her, will suppose that I have +perceived in her something light that has encouraged me to make +known to her my base desire; and if she holds herself dishonoured, her +dishonour touches thee as belonging to her; and hence arises what so +commonly takes place, that the husband of the adulterous woman, though +he may not be aware of or have given any cause for his wife's +failure in her duty, or (being careless or negligent) have had it in +his power to prevent his dishonour, nevertheless is stigmatised by a +vile and reproachful name, and in a manner regarded with eyes of +contempt instead of pity by all who know of his wife's guilt, though +they see that he is unfortunate not by his own fault, but by the +lust of a vicious consort. But I will tell thee why with good reason +dishonour attaches to the husband of the unchaste wife, though he know +not that she is so, nor be to blame, nor have done anything, or +given any provocation to make her so; and be not weary with +listening to me, for it will be for thy good.</p> + +<p>"When God created our first parent in the earthly paradise, the Holy +Scripture says that he infused sleep into Adam and while he slept took +a rib from his left side of which he formed our mother Eve, and when +Adam awoke and beheld her he said, 'This is flesh of my flesh, and +bone of my bone.' And God said 'For this shall a man leave his +father and his mother, and they shall be two in one flesh; and then +was instituted the divine sacrament of marriage, with such ties that +death alone can loose them. And such is the force and virtue of this +miraculous sacrament that it makes two different persons one and the +same flesh; and even more than this when the virtuous are married; for +though they have two souls they have but one will. And hence it +follows that as the flesh of the wife is one and the same with that of +her husband the stains that may come upon it, or the injuries it +incurs fall upon the husband's flesh, though he, as has been said, may +have given no cause for them; for as the pain of the foot or any +member of the body is felt by the whole body, because all is one +flesh, as the head feels the hurt to the ankle without having caused +it, so the husband, being one with her, shares the dishonour of the +wife; and as all worldly honour or dishonour comes of flesh and blood, +and the erring wife's is of that kind, the husband must needs bear his +part of it and be held dishonoured without knowing it. See, then, +Anselmo, the peril thou art encountering in seeking to disturb the +peace of thy virtuous consort; see for what an empty and ill-advised +curiosity thou wouldst rouse up passions that now repose in quiet in +the breast of thy chaste wife; reflect that what thou art staking +all to win is little, and what thou wilt lose so much that I leave +it undescribed, not having the words to express it. But if all I +have said be not enough to turn thee from thy vile purpose, thou +must seek some other instrument for thy dishonour and misfortune; +for such I will not consent to be, though I lose thy friendship, the +greatest loss that I can conceive."</p> + +<p>Having said this, the wise and virtuous Lothario was silent, and +Anselmo, troubled in mind and deep in thought, was unable for a +while to utter a word in reply; but at length he said, "I have +listened, Lothario my friend, attentively, as thou hast seen, to +what thou hast chosen to say to me, and in thy arguments, examples, +and comparisons I have seen that high intelligence thou dost +possess, and the perfection of true friendship thou hast reached; +and likewise I see and confess that if I am not guided by thy opinion, +but follow my own, I am flying from the good and pursuing the evil. +This being so, thou must remember that I am now labouring under that +infirmity which women sometimes suffer from, when the craving seizes +them to eat clay, plaster, charcoal, and things even worse, disgusting +to look at, much more to eat; so that it will be necessary to have +recourse to some artifice to cure me; and this can be easily +effected if only thou wilt make a beginning, even though it be in a +lukewarm and make-believe fashion, to pay court to Camilla, who will +not be so yielding that her virtue will give way at the first +attack: with this mere attempt I shall rest satisfied, and thou wilt +have done what our friendship binds thee to do, not only in giving +me life, but in persuading me not to discard my honour. And this +thou art bound to do for one reason alone, that, being, as I am, +resolved to apply this test, it is not for thee to permit me to reveal +my weakness to another, and so imperil that honour thou art striving +to keep me from losing; and if thine may not stand as high as it ought +in the estimation of Camilla while thou art paying court to her, +that is of little or no importance, because ere long, on finding in +her that constancy which we expect, thou canst tell her the plain +truth as regards our stratagem, and so regain thy place in her esteem; +and as thou art venturing so little, and by the venture canst afford +me so much satisfaction, refuse not to undertake it, even if further +difficulties present themselves to thee; for, as I have said, if +thou wilt only make a beginning I will acknowledge the issue decided."</p> + +<p>Lothario seeing the fixed determination of Anselmo, and not +knowing what further examples to offer or arguments to urge in order +to dissuade him from it, and perceiving that he threatened to +confide his pernicious scheme to some one else, to avoid a greater +evil resolved to gratify him and do what he asked, intending to manage +the business so as to satisfy Anselmo without corrupting the mind of +Camilla; so in reply he told him not to communicate his purpose to any +other, for he would undertake the task himself, and would begin it +as soon as he pleased. Anselmo embraced him warmly and affectionately, +and thanked him for his offer as if he had bestowed some great +favour upon him; and it was agreed between them to set about it the +next day, Anselmo affording opportunity and time to Lothario to +converse alone with Camilla, and furnishing him with money and +jewels to offer and present to her. He suggested, too, that he +should treat her to music, and write verses in her praise, and if he +was unwilling to take the trouble of composing them, he offered to +do it himself. Lothario agreed to all with an intention very different +from what Anselmo supposed, and with this understanding they +returned to Anselmo's house, where they found Camilla awaiting her +husband anxiously and uneasily, for he was later than usual in +returning that day. Lothario repaired to his own house, and Anselmo +remained in his, as well satisfied as Lothario was troubled in mind; +for he could see no satisfactory way out of this ill-advised business. +That night, however, he thought of a plan by which he might deceive +Anselmo without any injury to Camilla. The next day he went to dine +with his friend, and was welcomed by Camilla, who received and treated +him with great cordiality, knowing the affection her husband felt +for him. When dinner was over and the cloth removed, Anselmo told +Lothario to stay there with Camilla while he attended to some pressing +business, as he would return in an hour and a half. Camilla begged him +not to go, and Lothario offered to accompany him, but nothing could +persuade Anselmo, who on the contrary pressed Lothario to remain +waiting for him as he had a matter of great importance to discuss with +him. At the same time he bade Camilla not to leave Lothario alone +until he came back. In short he contrived to put so good a face on the +reason, or the folly, of his absence that no one could have +suspected it was a pretence.</p> + +<p>Anselmo took his departure, and Camilla and Lothario were left alone +at the table, for the rest of the household had gone to dinner. +Lothario saw himself in the lists according to his friend's wish, +and facing an enemy that could by her beauty alone vanquish a squadron +of armed knights; judge whether he had good reason to fear; but what +he did was to lean his elbow on the arm of the chair, and his cheek +upon his hand, and, asking Camilla's pardon for his ill manners, he +said he wished to take a little sleep until Anselmo returned. +Camilla in reply said he could repose more at his ease in the +reception-room than in his chair, and begged of him to go in and sleep +there; but Lothario declined, and there he remained asleep until the +return of Anselmo, who finding Camilla in her own room, and Lothario +asleep, imagined that he had stayed away so long as to have afforded +them time enough for conversation and even for sleep, and was all +impatience until Lothario should wake up, that he might go out with +him and question him as to his success. Everything fell out as he +wished; Lothario awoke, and the two at once left the house, and +Anselmo asked what he was anxious to know, and Lothario in answer told +him that he had not thought it advisable to declare himself entirely +the first time, and therefore had only extolled the charms of Camilla, +telling her that all the city spoke of nothing else but her beauty and +wit, for this seemed to him an excellent way of beginning to gain +her good-will and render her disposed to listen to him with pleasure +the next time, thus availing himself of the device the devil has +recourse to when he would deceive one who is on the watch; for he +being the angel of darkness transforms himself into an angel of light, +and, under cover of a fair seeming, discloses himself at length, and +effects his purpose if at the beginning his wiles are not +discovered. All this gave great satisfaction to Anselmo, and he said +he would afford the same opportunity every day, but without leaving +the house, for he would find things to do at home so that Camilla +should not detect the plot.</p> + +<p>Thus, then, several days went by, and Lothario, without uttering a +word to Camilla, reported to Anselmo that he had talked with her and +that he had never been able to draw from her the slightest +indication of consent to anything dishonourable, nor even a sign or +shadow of hope; on the contrary, he said she would inform her +husband of it.</p> + +<p>"So far well," said Anselmo; "Camilla has thus far resisted words; +we must now see how she will resist deeds. I will give you to-morrow +two thousand crowns in gold for you to offer or even present, and as +many more to buy jewels to lure her, for women are fond of being +becomingly attired and going gaily dressed, and all the more so if +they are beautiful, however chaste they may be; and if she resists +this temptation, I will rest satisfied and will give you no more +trouble."</p> + +<p>Lothario replied that now he had begun he would carry on the +undertaking to the end, though he perceived he was to come out of it +wearied and vanquished. The next day he received the four thousand +crowns, and with them four thousand perplexities, for he knew not what +to say by way of a new falsehood; but in the end he made up his mind +to tell him that Camilla stood as firm against gifts and promises as +against words, and that there was no use in taking any further +trouble, for the time was all spent to no purpose.</p> + +<p>But chance, directing things in a different manner, so ordered it +that Anselmo, having left Lothario and Camilla alone as on other +occasions, shut himself into a chamber and posted himself to watch and +listen through the keyhole to what passed between them, and +perceived that for more than half an hour Lothario did not utter a +word to Camilla, nor would utter a word though he were to be there for +an age; and he came to the conclusion that what his friend had told +him about the replies of Camilla was all invention and falsehood, +and to ascertain if it were so, he came out, and calling Lothario +aside asked him what news he had and in what humour Camilla was. +Lothario replied that he was not disposed to go on with the +business, for she had answered him so angrily and harshly that he +had no heart to say anything more to her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Lothario, Lothario," said Anselmo, "how ill dost thou meet +thy obligations to me, and the great confidence I repose in thee! I +have been just now watching through this keyhole, and I have seen that +thou has not said a word to Camilla, whence I conclude that on the +former occasions thou hast not spoken to her either, and if this be +so, as no doubt it is, why dost thou deceive me, or wherefore +seekest thou by craft to deprive me of the means I might find of +attaining my desire?"</p> + +<p>Anselmo said no more, but he had said enough to cover Lothario +with shame and confusion, and he, feeling as it were his honour +touched by having been detected in a lie, swore to Anselmo that he +would from that moment devote himself to satisfying him without any +deception, as he would see if he had the curiosity to watch; though he +need not take the trouble, for the pains he would take to satisfy +him would remove all suspicions from his mind. Anselmo believed him, +and to afford him an opportunity more free and less liable to +surprise, he resolved to absent himself from his house for eight days, +betaking himself to that of a friend of his who lived in a village not +far from the city; and, the better to account for his departure to +Camilla, he so arranged it that the friend should send him a very +pressing invitation.</p> + +<p>Unhappy, shortsighted Anselmo, what art thou doing, what art thou +plotting, what art thou devising? Bethink thee thou art working +against thyself, plotting thine own dishonour, devising thine own +ruin. Thy wife Camilla is virtuous, thou dost possess her in peace and +quietness, no one assails thy happiness, her thoughts wander not +beyond the walls of thy house, thou art her heaven on earth, the +object of her wishes, the fulfilment of her desires, the measure +wherewith she measures her will, making it conform in all things to +thine and Heaven's. If, then, the mine of her honour, beauty, +virtue, and modesty yields thee without labour all the wealth it +contains and thou canst wish for, why wilt thou dig the earth in +search of fresh veins, of new unknown treasure, risking the collapse +of all, since it but rests on the feeble props of her weak nature? +Bethink thee that from him who seeks impossibilities that which is +possible may with justice be withheld, as was better expressed by a +poet who said: +<pre> +'Tis mine to seek for life in death, + Health in disease seek I, +I seek in prison freedom's breath, + In traitors loyalty. +So Fate that ever scorns to grant + Or grace or boon to me, +Since what can never be I want, + Denies me what might be. +</pre> + +<p> +The next day Anselmo took his departure for the village, leaving +instructions with Camilla that during his absence Lothario would +come to look after his house and to dine with her, and that she was to +treat him as she would himself. Camilla was distressed, as a +discreet and right-minded woman would be, at the orders her husband +left her, and bade him remember that it was not becoming that anyone +should occupy his seat at the table during his absence, and if he +acted thus from not feeling confidence that she would be able to +manage his house, let him try her this time, and he would find by +experience that she was equal to greater responsibilities. Anselmo +replied that it was his pleasure to have it so, and that she had +only to submit and obey. Camilla said she would do so, though +against her will.</p> + +<p>Anselmo went, and the next day Lothario came to his house, where +he was received by Camilla with a friendly and modest welcome; but she +never suffered Lothario to see her alone, for she was always +attended by her men and women servants, especially by a handmaid of +hers, Leonela by name, to whom she was much attached (for they had +been brought up together from childhood in her father's house), and +whom she had kept with her after her marriage with Anselmo. The +first three days Lothario did not speak to her, though he might have +done so when they removed the cloth and the servants retired to dine +hastily; for such were Camilla's orders; nay more, Leonela had +directions to dine earlier than Camilla and never to leave her side. +She, however, having her thoughts fixed upon other things more to +her taste, and wanting that time and opportunity for her own +pleasures, did not always obey her mistress's commands, but on the +contrary left them alone, as if they had ordered her to do so; but the +modest bearing of Camilla, the calmness of her countenance, the +composure of her aspect were enough to bridle the tongue of +Lothario. But the influence which the many virtues of Camilla +exerted in imposing silence on Lothario's tongue proved mischievous +for both of them, for if his tongue was silent his thoughts were busy, +and could dwell at leisure upon the perfections of Camilla's +goodness and beauty one by one, charms enough to warm with love a +marble statue, not to say a heart of flesh. Lothario gazed upon her +when he might have been speaking to her, and thought how worthy of +being loved she was; and thus reflection began little by little to +assail his allegiance to Anselmo, and a thousand times he thought of +withdrawing from the city and going where Anselmo should never see him +nor he see Camilla. But already the delight he found in gazing on +her interposed and held him fast. He put a constraint upon himself, +and struggled to repel and repress the pleasure he found in +contemplating Camilla; when alone he blamed himself for his +weakness, called himself a bad friend, nay a bad Christian; then he +argued the matter and compared himself with Anselmo; always coming +to the conclusion that the folly and rashness of Anselmo had been +worse than his faithlessness, and that if he could excuse his +intentions as easily before God as with man, he had no reason to +fear any punishment for his offence.</p> + +<p>In short the beauty and goodness of Camilla, joined with the +opportunity which the blind husband had placed in his hands, overthrew +the loyalty of Lothario; and giving heed to nothing save the object +towards which his inclinations led him, after Anselmo had been three +days absent, during which he had been carrying on a continual struggle +with his passion, he began to make love to Camilla with so much +vehemence and warmth of language that she was overwhelmed with +amazement, and could only rise from her place and retire to her room +without answering him a word. But the hope which always springs up +with love was not weakened in Lothario by this repelling demeanour; on +the contrary his passion for Camilla increased, and she discovering in +him what she had never expected, knew not what to do; and +considering it neither safe nor right to give him the chance or +opportunity of speaking to her again, she resolved to send, as she did +that very night, one of her servants with a letter to Anselmo, in +which she addressed the following words to him.</p> + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch34"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>IN WHICH IS CONTINUED THE NOVEL OF "THE ILL-ADVISED CURIOSITY" +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<p>"It is commonly said that an army looks ill without its general +and a castle without its castellan, and I say that a young married +woman looks still worse without her husband unless there are very good +reasons for it. I find myself so ill at ease without you, and so +incapable of enduring this separation, that unless you return +quickly I shall have to go for relief to my parents' house, even if +I leave yours without a protector; for the one you left me, if +indeed he deserved that title, has, I think, more regard to his own +pleasure than to what concerns you: as you are possessed of +discernment I need say no more to you, nor indeed is it fitting I +should say more."</p> + +<p>Anselmo received this letter, and from it he gathered that +Lothario had already begun his task and that Camilla must have replied +to him as he would have wished; and delighted beyond measure at such +intelligence he sent word to her not to leave his house on any +account, as he would very shortly return. Camilla was astonished at +Anselmo's reply, which placed her in greater perplexity than before, +for she neither dared to remain in her own house, nor yet to go to her +parents'; for in remaining her virtue was imperilled, and in going she +was opposing her husband's commands. Finally she decided upon what was +the worse course for her, to remain, resolving not to fly from the +presence of Lothario, that she might not give food for gossip to her +servants; and she now began to regret having written as she had to her +husband, fearing he might imagine that Lothario had perceived in her +some lightness which had impelled him to lay aside the respect he owed +her; but confident of her rectitude she put her trust in God and in +her own virtuous intentions, with which she hoped to resist in silence +all the solicitations of Lothario, without saying anything to her +husband so as not to involve him in any quarrel or trouble; and she +even began to consider how to excuse Lothario to Anselmo when he +should ask her what it was that induced her to write that letter. With +these resolutions, more honourable than judicious or effectual, she +remained the next day listening to Lothario, who pressed his suit so +strenuously that Camilla's firmness began to waver, and her virtue had +enough to do to come to the rescue of her eyes and keep them from +showing signs of a certain tender compassion which the tears and +appeals of Lothario had awakened in her bosom. Lothario observed all +this, and it inflamed him all the more. In short he felt that while +Anselmo's absence afforded time and opportunity he must press the +siege of the fortress, and so he assailed her self-esteem with praises +of her beauty, for there is nothing that more quickly reduces and +levels the castle towers of fair women's vanity than vanity itself +upon the tongue of flattery. In fact with the utmost assiduity he +undermined the rock of her purity with such engines that had Camilla +been of brass she must have fallen. He wept, he entreated, he +promised, he flattered, he importuned, he pretended with so much +feeling and apparent sincerity, that he overthrew the virtuous +resolves of Camilla and won the triumph he least expected and most +longed for. Camilla yielded, Camilla fell; but what wonder if the +friendship of Lothario could not stand firm? A clear proof to us +that the passion of love is to be conquered only by flying from it, +and that no one should engage in a struggle with an enemy so mighty; +for divine strength is needed to overcome his human power. Leonela +alone knew of her mistress's weakness, for the two false friends and +new lovers were unable to conceal it. Lothario did not care to tell +Camilla the object Anselmo had in view, nor that he had afforded him +the opportunity of attaining such a result, lest she should undervalue +his love and think that it was by chance and without intending it +and not of his own accord that he had made love to her.</p> + +<p>A few days later Anselmo returned to his house and did not +perceive what it had lost, that which he so lightly treated and so +highly prized. He went at once to see Lothario, and found him at home; +they embraced each other, and Anselmo asked for the tidings of his +life or his death.</p> + +<p>"The tidings I have to give thee, Anselmo my friend," said Lothario, +"are that thou dost possess a wife that is worthy to be the pattern +and crown of all good wives. The words that I have addressed to her +were borne away on the wind, my promises have been despised, my +presents have been refused, such feigned tears as I shed have been +turned into open ridicule. In short, as Camilla is the essence of +all beauty, so is she the treasure-house where purity dwells, and +gentleness and modesty abide with all the virtues that can confer +praise, honour, and happiness upon a woman. Take back thy money, my +friend; here it is, and I have had no need to touch it, for the +chastity of Camilla yields not to things so base as gifts or promises. +Be content, Anselmo, and refrain from making further proof; and as +thou hast passed dryshod through the sea of those doubts and +suspicions that are and may be entertained of women, seek not to +plunge again into the deep ocean of new embarrassments, or with +another pilot make trial of the goodness and strength of the bark that +Heaven has granted thee for thy passage across the sea of this +world; but reckon thyself now safe in port, moor thyself with the +anchor of sound reflection, and rest in peace until thou art called +upon to pay that debt which no nobility on earth can escape paying."</p> + +<p>Anselmo was completely satisfied by the words of Lothario, and +believed them as fully as if they had been spoken by an oracle; +nevertheless he begged of him not to relinquish the undertaking, +were it but for the sake of curiosity and amusement; though +thenceforward he need not make use of the same earnest endeavours as +before; all he wished him to do was to write some verses to her, +praising her under the name of Chloris, for he himself would give +her to understand that he was in love with a lady to whom he had given +that name to enable him to sing her praises with the decorum due to +her modesty; and if Lothario were unwilling to take the trouble of +writing the verses he would compose them himself.</p> + +<p>"That will not be necessary," said Lothario, "for the muses are +not such enemies of mine but that they visit me now and then in the +course of the year. Do thou tell Camilla what thou hast proposed about +a pretended amour of mine; as for the verses will make them, and if +not as good as the subject deserves, they shall be at least the best I +can produce." An agreement to this effect was made between the +friends, the ill-advised one and the treacherous, and Anselmo +returning to his house asked Camilla the question she already wondered +he had not asked before—what it was that had caused her to write +the letter she had sent him. Camilla replied that it had seemed to her +that Lothario looked at her somewhat more freely than when he had been +at home; but that now she was undeceived and believed it to have +been only her own imagination, for Lothario now avoided seeing her, or +being alone with her. Anselmo told her she might be quite easy on +the score of that suspicion, for he knew that Lothario was in love +with a damsel of rank in the city whom he celebrated under the name of +Chloris, and that even if he were not, his fidelity and their great +friendship left no room for fear. Had not Camilla, however, been +informed beforehand by Lothario that this love for Chloris was a +pretence, and that he himself had told Anselmo of it in order to be +able sometimes to give utterance to the praises of Camilla herself, no +doubt she would have fallen into the despairing toils of jealousy; but +being forewarned she received the startling news without uneasiness.</p> + +<p>The next day as the three were at table Anselmo asked Lothario to +recite something of what he had composed for his mistress Chloris; for +as Camilla did not know her, he might safely say what he liked.</p> + +<p>"Even did she know her," returned Lothario, "I would hide nothing, +for when a lover praises his lady's beauty, and charges her with +cruelty, he casts no imputation upon her fair name; at any rate, all I +can say is that yesterday I made a sonnet on the ingratitude of this +Chloris, which goes thus:</p> + + +<pre> +SONNET + +At midnight, in the silence, when the eyes + Of happier mortals balmy slumbers close, + The weary tale of my unnumbered woes +To Chloris and to Heaven is wont to rise. +And when the light of day returning dyes + The portals of the east with tints of rose, + With undiminished force my sorrow flows +In broken accents and in burning sighs. +And when the sun ascends his star-girt throne, + And on the earth pours down his midday beams, + Noon but renews my wailing and my tears; +And with the night again goes up my moan. + Yet ever in my agony it seems + To me that neither Heaven nor Chloris hears." +</pre> + + +<p> +The sonnet pleased Camilla, and still more Anselmo, for he praised +it and said the lady was excessively cruel who made no return for +sincerity so manifest. On which Camilla said, "Then all that +love-smitten poets say is true?"</p> + +<p>"As poets they do not tell the truth," replied Lothario; "but as +lovers they are not more defective in expression than they are +truthful."</p> + +<p>"There is no doubt of that," observed Anselmo, anxious to support +and uphold Lothario's ideas with Camilla, who was as regardless of his +design as she was deep in love with Lothario; and so taking delight in +anything that was his, and knowing that his thoughts and writings +had her for their object, and that she herself was the real Chloris, +she asked him to repeat some other sonnet or verses if he +recollected any.</p> + +<p>"I do," replied Lothario, "but I do not think it as good as the +first one, or, more correctly speaking, less bad; but you can easily +judge, for it is this.</p> + + +<pre> +SONNET + +I know that I am doomed; death is to me + As certain as that thou, ungrateful fair, + Dead at thy feet shouldst see me lying, ere +My heart repented of its love for thee. +If buried in oblivion I should be, + Bereft of life, fame, favour, even there + It would be found that I thy image bear +Deep graven in my breast for all to see. +This like some holy relic do I prize + To save me from the fate my truth entails, + Truth that to thy hard heart its vigour owes. +Alas for him that under lowering skies, + In peril o'er a trackless ocean sails, + Where neither friendly port nor pole-star shows." +</pre> + + +<p> +Anselmo praised this second sonnet too, as he had praised the first; +and so he went on adding link after link to the chain with which he +was binding himself and making his dishonour secure; for when Lothario +was doing most to dishonour him he told him he was most honoured; +and thus each step that Camilla descended towards the depths of her +abasement, she mounted, in his opinion, towards the summit of virtue +and fair fame.</p> + +<p>It so happened that finding herself on one occasion alone with her +maid, Camilla said to her, "I am ashamed to think, my dear Leonela, +how lightly I have valued myself that I did not compel Lothario to +purchase by at least some expenditure of time that full possession +of me that I so quickly yielded him of my own free will. I fear that +he will think ill of my pliancy or lightness, not considering the +irresistible influence he brought to bear upon me."</p> + +<p>"Let not that trouble you, my lady," said Leonela, "for it does +not take away the value of the thing given or make it the less +precious to give it quickly if it be really valuable and worthy of +being prized; nay, they are wont to say that he who gives quickly +gives twice."</p> + +<p>"They say also," said Camilla, "that what costs little is valued +less."</p> + +<p>"That saying does not hold good in your case," replied Leonela, "for +love, as I have heard say, sometimes flies and sometimes walks; with +this one it runs, with that it moves slowly; some it cools, others +it burns; some it wounds, others it slays; it begins the course of its +desires, and at the same moment completes and ends it; in the +morning it will lay siege to a fortress and by night will have taken +it, for there is no power that can resist it; so what are you in dread +of, what do you fear, when the same must have befallen Lothario, +love having chosen the absence of my lord as the instrument for +subduing you? and it was absolutely necessary to complete then what +love had resolved upon, without affording the time to let Anselmo +return and by his presence compel the work to be left unfinished; +for love has no better agent for carrying out his designs than +opportunity; and of opportunity he avails himself in all his feats, +especially at the outset. All this I know well myself, more by +experience than by hearsay, and some day, senora, I will enlighten you +on the subject, for I am of your flesh and blood too. Moreover, lady +Camilla, you did not surrender yourself or yield so quickly but that +first you saw Lothario's whole soul in his eyes, in his sighs, in +his words, his promises and his gifts, and by it and his good +qualities perceived how worthy he was of your love. This, then, +being the case, let not these scrupulous and prudish ideas trouble +your imagination, but be assured that Lothario prizes you as you do +him, and rest content and satisfied that as you are caught in the +noose of love it is one of worth and merit that has taken you, and one +that has not only the four S's that they say true lovers ought to +have, but a complete alphabet; only listen to me and you will see +how I can repeat it by rote. He is to my eyes and thinking, Amiable, +Brave, Courteous, Distinguished, Elegant, Fond, Gay, Honourable, +Illustrious, Loyal, Manly, Noble, Open, Polite, Quickwitted, Rich, and +the S's according to the saying, and then Tender, Veracious: X does +not suit him, for it is a rough letter; Y has been given already; +and Z Zealous for your honour."</p> + +<p>Camilla laughed at her maid's alphabet, and perceived her to be more +experienced in love affairs than she said, which she admitted, +confessing to Camilla that she had love passages with a young man of +good birth of the same city. Camilla was uneasy at this, dreading lest +it might prove the means of endangering her honour, and asked +whether her intrigue had gone beyond words, and she with little +shame and much effrontery said it had; for certain it is that +ladies' imprudences make servants shameless, who, when they see +their mistresses make a false step, think nothing of going astray +themselves, or of its being known. All that Camilla could do was to +entreat Leonela to say nothing about her doings to him whom she called +her lover, and to conduct her own affairs secretly lest they should +come to the knowledge of Anselmo or of Lothario. Leonela said she +would, but kept her word in such a way that she confirmed Camilla's +apprehension of losing her reputation through her means; for this +abandoned and bold Leonela, as soon as she perceived that her +mistress's demeanour was not what it was wont to be, had the +audacity to introduce her lover into the house, confident that even if +her mistress saw him she would not dare to expose him; for the sins of +mistresses entail this mischief among others; they make themselves the +slaves of their own servants, and are obliged to hide their laxities +and depravities; as was the case with Camilla, who though she +perceived, not once but many times, that Leonela was with her lover in +some room of the house, not only did not dare to chide her, but +afforded her opportunities for concealing him and removed all +difficulties, lest he should be seen by her husband. She was unable, +however, to prevent him from being seen on one occasion, as he sallied +forth at daybreak, by Lothario, who, not knowing who he was, at +first took him for a spectre; but, as soon as he saw him hasten +away, muffling his face with his cloak and concealing himself +carefully and cautiously, he rejected this foolish idea, and adopted +another, which would have been the ruin of all had not Camilla found a +remedy. It did not occur to Lothario that this man he had seen issuing +at such an untimely hour from Anselmo's house could have entered it on +Leonela's account, nor did he even remember there was such a person as +Leonela; all he thought was that as Camilla had been light and +yielding with him, so she had been with another; for this further +penalty the erring woman's sin brings with it, that her honour is +distrusted even by him to whose overtures and persuasions she has +yielded; and he believes her to have surrendered more easily to +others, and gives implicit credence to every suspicion that comes into +his mind. All Lothario's good sense seems to have failed him at this +juncture; all his prudent maxims escaped his memory; for without +once reflecting rationally, and without more ado, in his impatience +and in the blindness of the jealous rage that gnawed his heart, and +dying to revenge himself upon Camilla, who had done him no wrong, +before Anselmo had risen he hastened to him and said to him, "Know, +Anselmo, that for several days past I have been struggling with +myself, striving to withhold from thee what it is no longer possible +or right that I should conceal from thee. Know that Camilla's fortress +has surrendered and is ready to submit to my will; and if I have +been slow to reveal this fact to thee, it was in order to see if it +were some light caprice of hers, or if she sought to try me and +ascertain if the love I began to make to her with thy permission was +made with a serious intention. I thought, too, that she, if she were +what she ought to be, and what we both believed her, would have ere +this given thee information of my addresses; but seeing that she +delays, I believe the truth of the promise she has given me that the +next time thou art absent from the house she will grant me an +interview in the closet where thy jewels are kept (and it was true +that Camilla used to meet him there); but I do not wish thee to rush +precipitately to take vengeance, for the sin is as yet only +committed in intention, and Camilla's may change perhaps between +this and the appointed time, and repentance spring up in its place. As +hitherto thou hast always followed my advice wholly or in part, follow +and observe this that I will give thee now, so that, without +mistake, and with mature deliberation, thou mayest satisfy thyself +as to what may seem the best course; pretend to absent thyself for two +or three days as thou hast been wont to do on other occasions, and +contrive to hide thyself in the closet; for the tapestries and other +things there afford great facilities for thy concealment, and then +thou wilt see with thine own eyes and I with mine what Camilla's +purpose may be. And if it be a guilty one, which may be feared +rather than expected, with silence, prudence, and discretion thou +canst thyself become the instrument of punishment for the wrong done +thee."</p> + +<p>Anselmo was amazed, overwhelmed, and astounded at the words of +Lothario, which came upon him at a time when he least expected to hear +them, for he now looked upon Camilla as having triumphed over the +pretended attacks of Lothario, and was beginning to enjoy the glory of +her victory. He remained silent for a considerable time, looking on +the ground with fixed gaze, and at length said, "Thou hast behaved, +Lothario, as I expected of thy friendship: I will follow thy advice in +everything; do as thou wilt, and keep this secret as thou seest it +should be kept in circumstances so unlooked for."</p> + +<p>Lothario gave him his word, but after leaving him he repented +altogether of what he had said to him, perceiving how foolishly he had +acted, as he might have revenged himself upon Camilla in some less +cruel and degrading way. He cursed his want of sense, condemned his +hasty resolution, and knew not what course to take to undo the +mischief or find some ready escape from it. At last he decided upon +revealing all to Camilla, and, as there was no want of opportunity for +doing so, he found her alone the same day; but she, as soon as she had +the chance of speaking to him, said, "Lothario my friend, I must +tell thee I have a sorrow in my heart which fills it so that it +seems ready to burst; and it will be a wonder if it does not; for +the audacity of Leonela has now reached such a pitch that every +night she conceals a gallant of hers in this house and remains with +him till morning, at the expense of my reputation; inasmuch as it is +open to anyone to question it who may see him quitting my house at +such unseasonable hours; but what distresses me is that I cannot +punish or chide her, for her privity to our intrigue bridles my +mouth and keeps me silent about hers, while I am dreading that some +catastrophe will come of it."</p> + +<p>As Camilla said this Lothario at first imagined it was some device +to delude him into the idea that the man he had seen going out was +Leonela's lover and not hers; but when he saw how she wept and +suffered, and begged him to help her, he became convinced of the +truth, and the conviction completed his confusion and remorse; +however, he told Camilla not to distress herself, as he would take +measures to put a stop to the insolence of Leonela. At the same time +he told her what, driven by the fierce rage of jealousy, he had said +to Anselmo, and how he had arranged to hide himself in the closet that +he might there see plainly how little she preserved her fidelity to +him; and he entreated her pardon for this madness, and her advice as +to how to repair it, and escape safely from the intricate labyrinth in +which his imprudence had involved him. Camilla was struck with alarm +at hearing what Lothario said, and with much anger, and great good +sense, she reproved him and rebuked his base design and the foolish +and mischievous resolution he had made; but as woman has by nature a +nimbler wit than man for good and for evil, though it is apt to fail +when she sets herself deliberately to reason, Camilla on the spur of +the moment thought of a way to remedy what was to all appearance +irremediable, and told Lothario to contrive that the next day +Anselmo should conceal himself in the place he mentioned, for she +hoped from his concealment to obtain the means of their enjoying +themselves for the future without any apprehension; and without +revealing her purpose to him entirely she charged him to be careful, +as soon as Anselmo was concealed, to come to her when Leonela should +call him, and to all she said to him to answer as he would have +answered had he not known that Anselmo was listening. Lothario pressed +her to explain her intention fully, so that he might with more +certainty and precaution take care to do what he saw to be needful.</p> + +<p>"I tell you," said Camilla, "there is nothing to take care of except +to answer me what I shall ask you;" for she did not wish to explain to +him beforehand what she meant to do, fearing lest he should be +unwilling to follow out an idea which seemed to her such a good one, +and should try or devise some other less practicable plan.</p> + +<p>Lothario then retired, and the next day Anselmo, under pretence of +going to his friend's country house, took his departure, and then +returned to conceal himself, which he was able to do easily, as +Camilla and Leonela took care to give him the opportunity; and so he +placed himself in hiding in the state of agitation that it may be +imagined he would feel who expected to see the vitals of his honour +laid bare before his eyes, and found himself on the point of losing +the supreme blessing he thought he possessed in his beloved Camilla. +Having made sure of Anselmo's being in his hiding-place, Camilla and +Leonela entered the closet, and the instant she set foot within it +Camilla said, with a deep sigh, "Ah! dear Leonela, would it not be +better, before I do what I am unwilling you should know lest you +should seek to prevent it, that you should take Anselmo's dagger +that I have asked of you and with it pierce this vile heart of mine? +But no; there is no reason why I should suffer the punishment of +another's fault. I will first know what it is that the bold licentious +eyes of Lothario have seen in me that could have encouraged him to +reveal to me a design so base as that which he has disclosed +regardless of his friend and of my honour. Go to the window, +Leonela, and call him, for no doubt he is in the street waiting to +carry out his vile project; but mine, cruel it may be, but honourable, +shall be carried out first."</p> + +<p>"Ah, senora," said the crafty Leonela, who knew her part, "what is +it you want to do with this dagger? Can it be that you mean to take +your own life, or Lothario's? for whichever you mean to do, it will +lead to the loss of your reputation and good name. It is better to +dissemble your wrong and not give this wicked man the chance of +entering the house now and finding us alone; consider, senora, we +are weak women and he is a man, and determined, and as he comes with +such a base purpose, blind and urged by passion, perhaps before you +can put yours into execution he may do what will be worse for you than +taking your life. Ill betide my master, Anselmo, for giving such +authority in his house to this shameless fellow! And supposing you +kill him, senora, as I suspect you mean to do, what shall we do with +him when he is dead?"</p> + +<p>"What, my friend?" replied Camilla, "we shall leave him for +Anselmo to bury him; for in reason it will be to him a light labour to +hide his own infamy under ground. Summon him, make haste, for all +the time I delay in taking vengeance for my wrong seems to me an +offence against the loyalty I owe my husband."</p> + +<p>Anselmo was listening to all this, and every word that Camilla +uttered made him change his mind; but when he heard that it was +resolved to kill Lothario his first impulse was to come out and show +himself to avert such a disaster; but in his anxiety to see the +issue of a resolution so bold and virtuous he restrained himself, +intending to come forth in time to prevent the deed. At this moment +Camilla, throwing herself upon a bed that was close by, swooned +away, and Leonela began to weep bitterly, exclaiming, "Woe is me! that +I should be fated to have dying here in my arms the flower of virtue +upon earth, the crown of true wives, the pattern of chastity!" with +more to the same effect, so that anyone who heard her would have taken +her for the most tender-hearted and faithful handmaid in the world, +and her mistress for another persecuted Penelope.</p> + +<p>Camilla was not long in recovering from her fainting fit and on +coming to herself she said, "Why do you not go, Leonela, to call +hither that friend, the falsest to his friend the sun ever shone +upon or night concealed? Away, run, haste, speed! lest the fire of +my wrath burn itself out with delay, and the righteous vengeance +that I hope for melt away in menaces and maledictions."</p> + +<p>"I am just going to call him, senora," said Leonela; "but you must +first give me that dagger, lest while I am gone you should by means of +it give cause to all who love you to weep all their lives."</p> + +<p>"Go in peace, dear Leonela, I will not do so," said Camilla, "for +rash and foolish as I may be, to your mind, in defending my honour, +I am not going to be so much so as that Lucretia who they say killed +herself without having done anything wrong, and without having first +killed him on whom the guilt of her misfortune lay. I shall die, if +I am to die; but it must be after full vengeance upon him who has +brought me here to weep over audacity that no fault of mine gave birth +to."</p> + +<p>Leonela required much pressing before she would go to summon +Lothario, but at last she went, and while awaiting her return +Camilla continued, as if speaking to herself, "Good God! would it +not have been more prudent to have repulsed Lothario, as I have done +many a time before, than to allow him, as I am now doing, to think +me unchaste and vile, even for the short time I must wait until I +undeceive him? No doubt it would have been better; but I should not be +avenged, nor the honour of my husband vindicated, should he find so +clear and easy an escape from the strait into which his depravity +has led him. Let the traitor pay with his life for the temerity of his +wanton wishes, and let the world know (if haply it shall ever come +to know) that Camilla not only preserved her allegiance to her +husband, but avenged him of the man who dared to wrong him. Still, I +think it might be better to disclose this to Anselmo. But then I +have called his attention to it in the letter I wrote to him in the +country, and, if he did nothing to prevent the mischief I there +pointed out to him, I suppose it was that from pure goodness of +heart and trustfulness he would not and could not believe that any +thought against his honour could harbour in the breast of so stanch +a friend; nor indeed did I myself believe it for many days, nor should +I have ever believed it if his insolence had not gone so far as to +make it manifest by open presents, lavish promises, and ceaseless +tears. But why do I argue thus? Does a bold determination stand in +need of arguments? Surely not. Then traitors avaunt! Vengeance to my +aid! Let the false one come, approach, advance, die, yield up his +life, and then befall what may. Pure I came to him whom Heaven +bestowed upon me, pure I shall leave him; and at the worst bathed in +my own chaste blood and in the foul blood of the falsest friend that +friendship ever saw in the world;" and as she uttered these words +she paced the room holding the unsheathed dagger, with such +irregular and disordered steps, and such gestures that one would +have supposed her to have lost her senses, and taken her for some +violent desperado instead of a delicate woman.</p> + +<p>Anselmo, hidden behind some tapestries where he had concealed +himself, beheld and was amazed at all, and already felt that what he +had seen and heard was a sufficient answer to even greater suspicions; +and he would have been now well pleased if the proof afforded by +Lothario's coming were dispensed with, as he feared some sudden +mishap; but as he was on the point of showing himself and coming forth +to embrace and undeceive his wife he paused as he saw Leonela +returning, leading Lothario. Camilla when she saw him, drawing a +long line in front of her on the floor with the dagger, said to him, +"Lothario, pay attention to what I say to thee: if by any chance +thou darest to cross this line thou seest, or even approach it, the +instant I see thee attempt it that same instant will I pierce my bosom +with this dagger that I hold in my hand; and before thou answerest +me a word desire thee to listen to a few from me, and afterwards +thou shalt reply as may please thee. First, I desire thee to tell +me, Lothario, if thou knowest my husband Anselmo, and in what light +thou regardest him; and secondly I desire to know if thou knowest me +too. Answer me this, without embarrassment or reflecting deeply what +thou wilt answer, for they are no riddles I put to thee."</p> + +<p>Lothario was not so dull but that from the first moment when Camilla +directed him to make Anselmo hide himself he understood what she +intended to do, and therefore he fell in with her idea so readily +and promptly that between them they made the imposture look more +true than truth; so he answered her thus: "I did not think, fair +Camilla, that thou wert calling me to ask questions so remote from the +object with which I come; but if it is to defer the promised reward +thou art doing so, thou mightst have put it off still longer, for +the longing for happiness gives the more distress the nearer comes the +hope of gaining it; but lest thou shouldst say that I do not answer +thy questions, I say that I know thy husband Anselmo, and that we have +known each other from our earliest years; I will not speak of what +thou too knowest, of our friendship, that I may not compel myself to +testify against the wrong that love, the mighty excuse for greater +errors, makes me inflict upon him. Thee I know and hold in the same +estimation as he does, for were it not so I had not for a lesser prize +acted in opposition to what I owe to my station and the holy laws of +true friendship, now broken and violated by me through that powerful +enemy, love."</p> + +<p>"If thou dost confess that," returned Camilla, "mortal enemy of +all that rightly deserves to be loved, with what face dost thou dare +to come before one whom thou knowest to be the mirror wherein he is +reflected on whom thou shouldst look to see how unworthily thou him? +But, woe is me, I now comprehend what has made thee give so little +heed to what thou owest to thyself; it must have been some freedom +of mine, for I will not call it immodesty, as it did not proceed +from any deliberate intention, but from some heedlessness such as +women are guilty of through inadvertence when they think they have +no occasion for reserve. But tell me, traitor, when did I by word or +sign give a reply to thy prayers that could awaken in thee a shadow of +hope of attaining thy base wishes? When were not thy professions of +love sternly and scornfully rejected and rebuked? When were thy +frequent pledges and still more frequent gifts believed or accepted? +But as I am persuaded that no one can long persevere in the attempt to +win love unsustained by some hope, I am willing to attribute to myself +the blame of thy assurance, for no doubt some thoughtlessness of +mine has all this time fostered thy hopes; and therefore will I punish +myself and inflict upon myself the penalty thy guilt deserves. And +that thou mayest see that being so relentless to myself I cannot +possibly be otherwise to thee, I have summoned thee to be a witness of +the sacrifice I mean to offer to the injured honour of my honoured +husband, wronged by thee with all the assiduity thou wert capable +of, and by me too through want of caution in avoiding every +occasion, if I have given any, of encouraging and sanctioning thy base +designs. Once more I say the suspicion in my mind that some imprudence +of mine has engendered these lawless thoughts in thee, is what +causes me most distress and what I desire most to punish with my own +hands, for were any other instrument of punishment employed my error +might become perhaps more widely known; but before I do so, in my +death I mean to inflict death, and take with me one that will fully +satisfy my longing for the revenge I hope for and have; for I shall +see, wheresoever it may be that I go, the penalty awarded by +inflexible, unswerving justice on him who has placed me in a +position so desperate."</p> + +<p>As she uttered these words, with incredible energy and swiftness she +flew upon Lothario with the naked dagger, so manifestly bent on +burying it in his breast that he was almost uncertain whether these +demonstrations were real or feigned, for he was obliged to have +recourse to all his skill and strength to prevent her from striking +him; and with such reality did she act this strange farce and +mystification that, to give it a colour of truth, she determined to +stain it with her own blood; for perceiving, or pretending, that she +could not wound Lothario, she said, "Fate, it seems, will not grant my +just desire complete satisfaction, but it will not be able to keep +me from satisfying it partially at least;" and making an effort to +free the hand with the dagger which Lothario held in his grasp, she +released it, and directing the point to a place where it could not +inflict a deep wound, she plunged it into her left side high up +close to the shoulder, and then allowed herself to fall to the +ground as if in a faint.</p> + +<p>Leonela and Lothario stood amazed and astounded at the +catastrophe, and seeing Camilla stretched on the ground and bathed +in her blood they were still uncertain as to the true nature of the +act. Lothario, terrified and breathless, ran in haste to pluck out the +dagger; but when he saw how slight the wound was he was relieved of +his fears and once more admired the subtlety, coolness, and ready +wit of the fair Camilla; and the better to support the part he had +to play he began to utter profuse and doleful lamentations over her +body as if she were dead, invoking maledictions not only on himself +but also on him who had been the means of placing him in such a +position: and knowing that his friend Anselmo heard him he spoke in +such a way as to make a listener feel much more pity for him than +for Camilla, even though he supposed her dead. Leonela took her up +in her arms and laid her on the bed, entreating Lothario to go in +quest of some one to attend to her wound in secret, and at the same +time asking his advice and opinion as to what they should say to +Anselmo about his lady's wound if he should chance to return before it +was healed. He replied they might say what they liked, for he was +not in a state to give advice that would be of any use; all he could +tell her was to try and stanch the blood, as he was going where he +should never more be seen; and with every appearance of deep grief and +sorrow he left the house; but when he found himself alone, and where +there was nobody to see him, he crossed himself unceasingly, lost in +wonder at the adroitness of Camilla and the consistent acting of +Leonela. He reflected how convinced Anselmo would be that he had a +second Portia for a wife, and he looked forward anxiously to meeting +him in order to rejoice together over falsehood and truth the most +craftily veiled that could be imagined.</p> + +<p>Leonela, as he told her, stanched her lady's blood, which was no +more than sufficed to support her deception; and washing the wound +with a little wine she bound it up to the best of her skill, talking +all the time she was tending her in a strain that, even if nothing +else had been said before, would have been enough to assure Anselmo +that he had in Camilla a model of purity. To Leonela's words Camilla +added her own, calling herself cowardly and wanting in spirit, since +she had not enough at the time she had most need of it to rid +herself of the life she so much loathed. She asked her attendant's +advice as to whether or not she ought to inform her beloved husband of +all that had happened, but the other bade her say nothing about it, as +she would lay upon him the obligation of taking vengeance on Lothario, +which he could not do but at great risk to himself; and it was the +duty of a true wife not to give her husband provocation to quarrel, +but, on the contrary, to remove it as far as possible from him.</p> + +<p>Camilla replied that she believed she was right and that she would +follow her advice, but at any rate it would be well to consider how +she was to explain the wound to Anselmo, for he could not help +seeing it; to which Leonela answered that she did not know how to tell +a lie even in jest.</p> + +<p>"How then can I know, my dear?" said Camilla, "for I should not dare +to forge or keep up a falsehood if my life depended on it. If we can +think of no escape from this difficulty, it will be better to tell him +the plain truth than that he should find us out in an untrue story."</p> + +<p>"Be not uneasy, senora," said Leonela; "between this and to-morrow I +will think of what we must say to him, and perhaps the wound being +where it is it can be hidden from his sight, and Heaven will be +pleased to aid us in a purpose so good and honourable. Compose +yourself, senora, and endeavour to calm your excitement lest my lord +find you agitated; and leave the rest to my care and God's, who always +supports good intentions."</p> + +<p>Anselmo had with the deepest attention listened to and seen played +out the tragedy of the death of his honour, which the performers acted +with such wonderfully effective truth that it seemed as if they had +become the realities of the parts they played. He longed for night and +an opportunity of escaping from the house to go and see his good +friend Lothario, and with him give vent to his joy over the precious +pearl he had gained in having established his wife's purity. Both +mistress and maid took care to give him time and opportunity to get +away, and taking advantage of it he made his escape, and at once +went in quest of Lothario, and it would be impossible to describe +how he embraced him when he found him, and the things he said to him +in the joy of his heart, and the praises he bestowed upon Camilla; all +which Lothario listened to without being able to show any pleasure, +for he could not forget how deceived his friend was, and how +dishonourably he had wronged him; and though Anselmo could see that +Lothario was not glad, still he imagined it was only because he had +left Camilla wounded and had been himself the cause of it; and so +among other things he told him not to be distressed about Camilla's +accident, for, as they had agreed to hide it from him, the wound was +evidently trifling; and that being so, he had no cause for fear, but +should henceforward be of good cheer and rejoice with him, seeing that +by his means and adroitness he found himself raised to the greatest +height of happiness that he could have ventured to hope for, and +desired no better pastime than making verses in praise of Camilla that +would preserve her name for all time to come. Lothario commended his +purpose, and promised on his own part to aid him in raising a monument +so glorious.</p> + +<p>And so Anselmo was left the most charmingly hoodwinked man there +could be in the world. He himself, persuaded he was conducting the +instrument of his glory, led home by the hand him who had been the +utter destruction of his good name; whom Camilla received with averted +countenance, though with smiles in her heart. The deception was +carried on for some time, until at the end of a few months Fortune +turned her wheel and the guilt which had been until then so +skilfully concealed was published abroad, and Anselmo paid with his +life the penalty of his ill-advised curiosity.</p> + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch35"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHICH TREATS OF THE HEROIC AND PRODIGIOUS BATTLE DON QUIXOTE HAD +WITH CERTAIN SKINS OF RED WINE, AND BRINGS THE NOVEL OF "THE +ILL-ADVISED CURIOSITY" TO A CLOSE +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + + +<p>There remained but little more of the novel to be read, when +Sancho Panza burst forth in wild excitement from the garret where +Don Quixote was lying, shouting, "Run, sirs! quick; and help my +master, who is in the thick of the toughest and stiffest battle I ever +laid eyes on. By the living God he has given the giant, the enemy of +my lady the Princess Micomicona, such a slash that he has sliced his +head clean off as if it were a turnip."</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about, brother?" said the curate, pausing as +he was about to read the remainder of the novel. "Are you in your +senses, Sancho? How the devil can it be as you say, when the giant +is two thousand leagues away?"</p> + +<p>Here they heard a loud noise in the chamber, and Don Quixote +shouting out, "Stand, thief, brigand, villain; now I have got thee, +and thy scimitar shall not avail thee!" And then it seemed as though +he were slashing vigorously at the wall.</p> + +<p>"Don't stop to listen," said Sancho, "but go in and part them or +help my master: though there is no need of that now, for no doubt +the giant is dead by this time and giving account to God of his past +wicked life; for I saw the blood flowing on the ground, and the head +cut off and fallen on one side, and it is as big as a large +wine-skin."</p> + +<p>"May I die," said the landlord at this, "if Don Quixote or Don Devil +has not been slashing some of the skins of red wine that stand full at +his bed's head, and the spilt wine must be what this good fellow takes +for blood;" and so saying he went into the room and the rest after +him, and there they found Don Quixote in the strangest costume in +the world. He was in his shirt, which was not long enough in front +to cover his thighs completely and was six fingers shorter behind; his +legs were very long and lean, covered with hair, and anything but +clean; on his head he had a little greasy red cap that belonged to the +host, round his left arm he had rolled the blanket of the bed, to +which Sancho, for reasons best known to himself, owed a grudge, and in +his right hand he held his unsheathed sword, with which he was +slashing about on all sides, uttering exclamations as if he were +actually fighting some giant: and the best of it was his eyes were not +open, for he was fast asleep, and dreaming that he was doing battle +with the giant. For his imagination was so wrought upon by the +adventure he was going to accomplish, that it made him dream he had +already reached the kingdom of Micomicon, and was engaged in combat +with his enemy; and believing he was laying on the giant, he had given +so many sword cuts to the skins that the whole room was full of +wine. On seeing this the landlord was so enraged that he fell on Don +Quixote, and with his clenched fist began to pummel him in such a way, +that if Cardenio and the curate had not dragged him off, he would have +brought the war of the giant to an end. But in spite of all the poor +gentleman never woke until the barber brought a great pot of cold +water from the well and flung it with one dash all over his body, on +which Don Quixote woke up, but not so completely as to understand what +was the matter. Dorothea, seeing how short and slight his attire +was, would not go in to witness the battle between her champion and +her opponent. As for Sancho, he went searching all over the floor +for the head of the giant, and not finding it he said, "I see now that +it's all enchantment in this house; for the last time, on this very +spot where I am now, I got ever so many thumps without knowing who +gave them to me, or being able to see anybody; and now this head is +not to be seen anywhere about, though I saw it cut off with my own +eyes and the blood running from the body as if from a fountain."</p> + +<p>"What blood and fountains are you talking about, enemy of God and +his saints?" said the landlord. "Don't you see, you thief, that the +blood and the fountain are only these skins here that have been +stabbed and the red wine swimming all over the room?—and I wish I saw +the soul of him that stabbed them swimming in hell."</p> + +<p>"I know nothing about that," said Sancho; "all I know is it will +be my bad luck that through not finding this head my county will +melt away like salt in water;"—for Sancho awake was worse than his +master asleep, so much had his master's promises addled his wits.</p> + +<p>The landlord was beside himself at the coolness of the squire and +the mischievous doings of the master, and swore it should not be +like the last time when they went without paying; and that their +privileges of chivalry should not hold good this time to let one or +other of them off without paying, even to the cost of the plugs that +would have to be put to the damaged wine-skins. The curate was holding +Don Quixote's hands, who, fancying he had now ended the adventure +and was in the presence of the Princess Micomicona, knelt before the +curate and said, "Exalted and beauteous lady, your highness may live +from this day forth fearless of any harm this base being could do you; +and I too from this day forth am released from the promise I gave you, +since by the help of God on high and by the favour of her by whom I +live and breathe, I have fulfilled it so successfully."</p> + +<p>"Did not I say so?" said Sancho on hearing this. "You see I wasn't +drunk; there you see my master has already salted the giant; there's +no doubt about the bulls; my county is all right!"</p> + +<p>Who could have helped laughing at the absurdities of the pair, +master and man? And laugh they did, all except the landlord, who +cursed himself; but at length the barber, Cardenio, and the curate +contrived with no small trouble to get Don Quixote on the bed, and +he fell asleep with every appearance of excessive weariness. They left +him to sleep, and came out to the gate of the inn to console Sancho +Panza on not having found the head of the giant; but much more work +had they to appease the landlord, who was furious at the sudden +death of his wine-skins; and said the landlady half scolding, half +crying, "At an evil moment and in an unlucky hour he came into my +house, this knight-errant—would that I had never set eyes on him, for +dear he has cost me; the last time he went off with the overnight +score against him for supper, bed, straw, and barley, for himself +and his squire and a hack and an ass, saying he was a knight +adventurer—God send unlucky adventures to him and all the adventurers +in the world—and therefore not bound to pay anything, for it was so +settled by the knight-errantry tariff: and then, all because of him, +came the other gentleman and carried off my tail, and gives it back +more than two cuartillos the worse, all stripped of its hair, so +that it is no use for my husband's purpose; and then, for a +finishing touch to all, to burst my wine-skins and spill my wine! I +wish I saw his own blood spilt! But let him not deceive himself, +for, by the bones of my father and the shade of my mother, they +shall pay me down every quarts; or my name is not what it is, and I am +not my father's daughter." All this and more to the same effect the +landlady delivered with great irritation, and her good maid Maritornes +backed her up, while the daughter held her peace and smiled from +time to time. The curate smoothed matters by promising to make good +all losses to the best of his power, not only as regarded the +wine-skins but also the wine, and above all the depreciation of the +tail which they set such store by. Dorothea comforted Sancho, +telling him that she pledged herself, as soon as it should appear +certain that his master had decapitated the giant, and she found +herself peacefully established in her kingdom, to bestow upon him +the best county there was in it. With this Sancho consoled himself, +and assured the princess she might rely upon it that he had seen the +head of the giant, and more by token it had a beard that reached to +the girdle, and that if it was not to be seen now it was because +everything that happened in that house went by enchantment, as he +himself had proved the last time he had lodged there. Dorothea said +she fully believed it, and that he need not be uneasy, for all would +go well and turn out as he wished. All therefore being appeased, the +curate was anxious to go on with the novel, as he saw there was but +little more left to read. Dorothea and the others begged him to finish +it, and he, as he was willing to please them, and enjoyed reading it +himself, continued the tale in these words:</p> + +<p> +The result was, that from the confidence Anselmo felt in Camilla's +virtue, he lived happy and free from anxiety, and Camilla purposely +looked coldly on Lothario, that Anselmo might suppose her feelings +towards him to be the opposite of what they were; and the better to +support the position, Lothario begged to be excused from coming to the +house, as the displeasure with which Camilla regarded his presence was +plain to be seen. But the befooled Anselmo said he would on no account +allow such a thing, and so in a thousand ways he became the author +of his own dishonour, while he believed he was insuring his happiness. +Meanwhile the satisfaction with which Leonela saw herself empowered to +carry on her amour reached such a height that, regardless of +everything else, she followed her inclinations unrestrainedly, feeling +confident that her mistress would screen her, and even show her how to +manage it safely. At last one night Anselmo heard footsteps in +Leonela's room, and on trying to enter to see who it was, he found +that the door was held against him, which made him all the more +determined to open it; and exerting his strength he forced it open, +and entered the room in time to see a man leaping through the window +into the street. He ran quickly to seize him or discover who he was, +but he was unable to effect either purpose, for Leonela flung her arms +round him crying, "Be calm, senor; do not give way to passion or +follow him who has escaped from this; he belongs to me, and in fact he +is my husband."</p> + +<p>Anselmo would not believe it, but blind with rage drew a dagger +and threatened to stab Leonela, bidding her tell the truth or he would +kill her. She, in her fear, not knowing what she was saying, +exclaimed, "Do not kill me, senor, for I can tell you things more +important than any you can imagine."</p> + +<p>"Tell me then at once or thou diest," said Anselmo.</p> + +<p>"It would be impossible for me now," said Leonela, "I am so +agitated: leave me till to-morrow, and then you shall hear from me +what will fill you with astonishment; but rest assured that he who +leaped through the window is a young man of this city, who has given +me his promise to become my husband."</p> + +<p>Anselmo was appeased with this, and was content to wait the time she +asked of him, for he never expected to hear anything against +Camilla, so satisfied and sure of her virtue was he; and so he quitted +the room, and left Leonela locked in, telling her she should not +come out until she had told him all she had to make known to him. He +went at once to see Camilla, and tell her, as he did, all that had +passed between him and her handmaid, and the promise she had given him +to inform him matters of serious importance.</p> + +<p>There is no need of saying whether Camilla was agitated or not, +for so great was her fear and dismay, that, making sure, as she had +good reason to do, that Leonela would tell Anselmo all she knew of her +faithlessness, she had not the courage to wait and see if her +suspicions were confirmed; and that same night, as soon as she thought +that Anselmo was asleep, she packed up the most valuable jewels she +had and some money, and without being observed by anybody escaped from +the house and betook herself to Lothario's, to whom she related what +had occurred, imploring him to convey her to some place of safety or +fly with her where they might be safe from Anselmo. The state of +perplexity to which Camilla reduced Lothario was such that he was +unable to utter a word in reply, still less to decide upon what he +should do. At length he resolved to conduct her to a convent of +which a sister of his was prioress; Camilla agreed to this, and with +the speed which the circumstances demanded, Lothario took her to the +convent and left her there, and then himself quitted the city +without letting anyone know of his departure.</p> + +<p>As soon as daylight came Anselmo, without missing Camilla from his +side, rose cager to learn what Leonela had to tell him, and hastened +to the room where he had locked her in. He opened the door, entered, +but found no Leonela; all he found was some sheets knotted to the +window, a plain proof that she had let herself down from it and +escaped. He returned, uneasy, to tell Camilla, but not finding her +in bed or anywhere in the house he was lost in amazement. He asked the +servants of the house about her, but none of them could give him any +explanation. As he was going in search of Camilla it happened by +chance that he observed her boxes were lying open, and that the +greater part of her jewels were gone; and now he became fully aware of +his disgrace, and that Leonela was not the cause of his misfortune; +and, just as he was, without delaying to dress himself completely, +he repaired, sad at heart and dejected, to his friend Lothario to make +known his sorrow to him; but when he failed to find him and the +servants reported that he had been absent from his house all night and +had taken with him all the money he had, he felt as though he were +losing his senses; and to make all complete on returning to his own +house he found it deserted and empty, not one of all his servants, +male or female, remaining in it. He knew not what to think, or say, or +do, and his reason seemed to be deserting him little by little. He +reviewed his position, and saw himself in a moment left without +wife, friend, or servants, abandoned, he felt, by the heaven above +him, and more than all robbed of his honour, for in Camilla's +disappearance he saw his own ruin. After long reflection he resolved +at last to go to his friend's village, where he had been staying +when he afforded opportunities for the contrivance of this +complication of misfortune. He locked the doors of his house, +mounted his horse, and with a broken spirit set out on his journey; +but he had hardly gone half-way when, harassed by his reflections, +he had to dismount and tie his horse to a tree, at the foot of which +he threw himself, giving vent to piteous heartrending sighs; and there +he remained till nearly nightfall, when he observed a man +approaching on horseback from the city, of whom, after saluting him, +he asked what was the news in Florence.</p> + +<p>The citizen replied, "The strangest that have been heard for many +a day; for it is reported abroad that Lothario, the great friend of +the wealthy Anselmo, who lived at San Giovanni, carried off last night +Camilla, the wife of Anselmo, who also has disappeared. All this has +been told by a maid-servant of Camilla's, whom the governor found last +night lowering herself by a sheet from the windows of Anselmo's house. +I know not indeed, precisely, how the affair came to pass; all I +know is that the whole city is wondering at the occurrence, for no one +could have expected a thing of the kind, seeing the great and intimate +friendship that existed between them, so great, they say, that they +were called 'The Two Friends.'"</p> + +<p>"Is it known at all," said Anselmo, "what road Lothario and +Camilla took?"</p> + +<p>"Not in the least," said the citizen, "though the governor has +been very active in searching for them."</p> + +<p>"God speed you, senor," said Anselmo.</p> + +<p>"God be with you," said the citizen and went his way.</p> + +<p>This disastrous intelligence almost robbed Anselmo not only of his +senses but of his life. He got up as well as he was able and reached +the house of his friend, who as yet knew nothing of his misfortune, +but seeing him come pale, worn, and haggard, perceived that he was +suffering some heavy affliction. Anselmo at once begged to be +allowed to retire to rest, and to be given writing materials. His wish +was complied with and he was left lying down and alone, for he desired +this, and even that the door should be locked. Finding himself alone +he so took to heart the thought of his misfortune that by the signs of +death he felt within him he knew well his life was drawing to a close, +and therefore he resolved to leave behind him a declaration of the +cause of his strange end. He began to write, but before he had put +down all he meant to say, his breath failed him and he yielded up +his life, a victim to the suffering which his ill-advised curiosity +had entailed upon him. The master of the house observing that it was +now late and that Anselmo did not call, determined to go in and +ascertain if his indisposition was increasing, and found him lying +on his face, his body partly in the bed, partly on the +writing-table, on which he lay with the written paper open and the pen +still in his hand. Having first called to him without receiving any +answer, his host approached him, and taking him by the hand, found +that it was cold, and saw that he was dead. Greatly surprised and +distressed he summoned the household to witness the sad fate which had +befallen Anselmo; and then he read the paper, the handwriting of which +he recognised as his, and which contained these words:</p> + +<p>"A foolish and ill-advised desire has robbed me of life. If the news +of my death should reach the ears of Camilla, let her know that I +forgive her, for she was not bound to perform miracles, nor ought I to +have required her to perform them; and since I have been the author of +my own dishonour, there is no reason why-"</p> + +<p>So far Anselmo had written, and thus it was plain that at this +point, before he could finish what he had to say, his life came to +an end. The next day his friend sent intelligence of his death to +his relatives, who had already ascertained his misfortune, as well +as the convent where Camilla lay almost on the point of accompanying +her husband on that inevitable journey, not on account of the +tidings of his death, but because of those she received of her lover's +departure. Although she saw herself a widow, it is said she refused +either to quit the convent or take the veil, until, not long +afterwards, intelligence reached her that Lothario had been killed +in a battle in which M. de Lautrec had been recently engaged with +the Great Captain Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova in the kingdom of +Naples, whither her too late repentant lover had repaired. On learning +this Camilla took the veil, and shortly afterwards died, worn out by +grief and melancholy. This was the end of all three, an end that +came of a thoughtless beginning.</p> + +<p> +"I like this novel," said the curate; "but I cannot persuade +myself of its truth; and if it has been invented, the author's +invention is faulty, for it is impossible to imagine any husband so +foolish as to try such a costly experiment as Anselmo's. If it had +been represented as occurring between a gallant and his mistress it +might pass; but between husband and wife there is something of an +impossibility about it. As to the way in which the story is told, +however, I have no fault to find."</p> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch36"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHICH TREATS OF MORE CURIOUS INCIDENTS THAT OCCURRED AT THE INN +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> +<center><a name="c36a"></a><img alt="c36a.jpg (124K)" src="images/c36a.jpg" height="393" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c36a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Just at that instant the landlord, who was standing at the gate of +the inn, exclaimed, "Here comes a fine troop of guests; if they stop +here we may say gaudeamus."</p> + +<p>"What are they?" said Cardenio.</p> + +<p>"Four men," said the landlord, "riding a la jineta, with lances +and bucklers, and all with black veils, and with them there is a woman +in white on a side-saddle, whose face is also veiled, and two +attendants on foot."</p> + +<p>"Are they very near?" said the curate.</p> + +<p>"So near," answered the landlord, "that here they come."</p> + +<p>Hearing this Dorothea covered her face, and Cardenio retreated +into Don Quixote's room, and they hardly had time to do so before +the whole party the host had described entered the inn, and the four +that were on horseback, who were of highbred appearance and bearing, +dismounted, and came forward to take down the woman who rode on the +side-saddle, and one of them taking her in his arms placed her in a +chair that stood at the entrance of the room where Cardenio had hidden +himself. All this time neither she nor they had removed their veils or +spoken a word, only on sitting down on the chair the woman gave a deep +sigh and let her arms fall like one that was ill and weak. The +attendants on foot then led the horses away to the stable. Observing +this the curate, curious to know who these people in such a dress +and preserving such silence were, went to where the servants were +standing and put the question to one of them, who answered him.</p> + +<p>"Faith, sir, I cannot tell you who they are, I only know they seem +to be people of distinction, particularly he who advanced to take +the lady you saw in his arms; and I say so because all the rest show +him respect, and nothing is done except what he directs and orders."</p> + +<p>"And the lady, who is she?" asked the curate.</p> + +<p>"That I cannot tell you either," said the servant, "for I have not +seen her face all the way: I have indeed heard her sigh many times and +utter such groans that she seems to be giving up the ghost every time; +but it is no wonder if we do not know more than we have told you, as +my comrade and I have only been in their company two days, for +having met us on the road they begged and persuaded us to accompany +them to Andalusia, promising to pay us well."</p> + +<p>"And have you heard any of them called by his name?" asked the +curate.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," replied the servant; "they all preserve a marvellous +silence on the road, for not a sound is to be heard among them +except the poor lady's sighs and sobs, which make us pity her; and +we feel sure that wherever it is she is going, it is against her will, +and as far as one can judge from her dress she is a nun or, what is +more likely, about to become one; and perhaps it is because taking the +vows is not of her own free will, that she is so unhappy as she +seems to be."</p> + +<p>"That may well be," said the curate, and leaving them he returned to +where Dorothea was, who, hearing the veiled lady sigh, moved by +natural compassion drew near to her and said, "What are you +suffering from, senora? If it be anything that women are accustomed +and know how to relieve, I offer you my services with all my heart."</p> + +<p>To this the unhappy lady made no reply; and though Dorothea repeated +her offers more earnestly she still kept silence, until the +gentleman with the veil, who, the servant said, was obeyed by the +rest, approached and said to Dorothea, "Do not give yourself the +trouble, senora, of making any offers to that woman, for it is her way +to give no thanks for anything that is done for her; and do not try to +make her answer unless you want to hear some lie from her lips."</p> + +<p>"I have never told a lie," was the immediate reply of her who had +been silent until now; "on the contrary, it is because I am so +truthful and so ignorant of lying devices that I am now in this +miserable condition; and this I call you yourself to witness, for it +is my unstained truth that has made you false and a liar."</p> + +<p>Cardenio heard these words clearly and distinctly, being quite close +to the speaker, for there was only the door of Don Quixote's room +between them, and the instant he did so, uttering a loud exclamation +he cried, "Good God! what is this I hear? What voice is this that +has reached my ears?" Startled at the voice the lady turned her +head; and not seeing the speaker she stood up and attempted to enter +the room; observing which the gentleman held her back, preventing +her from moving a step. In her agitation and sudden movement the +silk with which she had covered her face fell off and disclosed a +countenance of incomparable and marvellous beauty, but pale and +terrified; for she kept turning her eyes, everywhere she could +direct her gaze, with an eagerness that made her look as if she had +lost her senses, and so marked that it excited the pity of Dorothea +and all who beheld her, though they knew not what caused it. The +gentleman grasped her firmly by the shoulders, and being so fully +occupied with holding her back, he was unable to put a hand to his +veil which was falling off, as it did at length entirely, and +Dorothea, who was holding the lady in her arms, raising her eyes saw +that he who likewise held her was her husband, Don Fernando. The +instant she recognised him, with a prolonged plaintive cry drawn +from the depths of her heart, she fell backwards fainting, and but for +the barber being close by to catch her in his arms, she would have +fallen completely to the ground. The curate at once hastened to +uncover her face and throw water on it, and as he did so Don Fernando, +for he it was who held the other in his arms, recognised her and stood +as if death-stricken by the sight; not, however, relaxing his grasp of +Luscinda, for it was she that was struggling to release herself from +his hold, having recognised Cardenio by his voice, as he had +recognised her. Cardenio also heard Dorothea's cry as she fell +fainting, and imagining that it came from his Luscinda burst forth +in terror from the room, and the first thing he saw was Don Fernando +with Luscinda in his arms. Don Fernando, too, knew Cardenio at once; +and all three, Luscinda, Cardenio, and Dorothea, stood in silent +amazement scarcely knowing what had happened to them.</p> + +<p>They gazed at one another without speaking, Dorothea at Don +Fernando, Don Fernando at Cardenio, Cardenio at Luscinda, and Luscinda +at Cardenio. The first to break silence was Luscinda, who thus +addressed Don Fernando: "Leave me, Senor Don Fernando, for the sake of +what you owe to yourself; if no other reason will induce you, leave me +to cling to the wall of which I am the ivy, to the support from +which neither your importunities, nor your threats, nor your promises, +nor your gifts have been able to detach me. See how Heaven, by ways +strange and hidden from our sight, has brought me face to face with my +true husband; and well you know by dear-bought experience that death +alone will be able to efface him from my memory. May this plain +declaration, then, lead you, as you can do nothing else, to turn +your love into rage, your affection into resentment, and so to take my +life; for if I yield it up in the presence of my beloved husband I +count it well bestowed; it may be by my death he will be convinced +that I kept my faith to him to the last moment of life."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Dorothea had come to herself, and had heard Luscinda's +words, by means of which she divined who she was; but seeing that +Don Fernando did not yet release her or reply to her, summoning up her +resolution as well as she could she rose and knelt at his feet, and +with a flood of bright and touching tears addressed him thus:</p> + +<p>"If, my lord, the beams of that sun that thou holdest eclipsed in +thine arms did not dazzle and rob thine eyes of sight thou wouldst +have seen by this time that she who kneels at thy feet is, so long +as thou wilt have it so, the unhappy and unfortunate Dorothea. I am +that lowly peasant girl whom thou in thy goodness or for thy +pleasure wouldst raise high enough to call herself thine; I am she who +in the seclusion of innocence led a contented life until at the +voice of thy importunity, and thy true and tender passion, as it +seemed, she opened the gates of her modesty and surrendered to thee +the keys of her liberty; a gift received by thee but thanklessly, as +is clearly shown by my forced retreat to the place where thou dost +find me, and by thy appearance under the circumstances in which I +see thee. Nevertheless, I would not have thee suppose that I have come +here driven by my shame; it is only grief and sorrow at seeing +myself forgotten by thee that have led me. It was thy will to make +me thine, and thou didst so follow thy will, that now, even though +thou repentest, thou canst not help being mine. Bethink thee, my lord, +the unsurpassable affection I bear thee may compensate for the +beauty and noble birth for which thou wouldst desert me. Thou canst +not be the fair Luscinda's because thou art mine, nor can she be thine +because she is Cardenio's; and it will be easier, remember, to bend +thy will to love one who adores thee, than to lead one to love thee +who abhors thee now. Thou didst address thyself to my simplicity, thou +didst lay siege to my virtue, thou wert not ignorant of my station, +well dost thou know how I yielded wholly to thy will; there is no +ground or reason for thee to plead deception, and if it be so, as it +is, and if thou art a Christian as thou art a gentleman, why dost thou +by such subterfuges put off making me as happy at last as thou didst +at first? And if thou wilt not have me for what I am, thy true and +lawful wife, at least take and accept me as thy slave, for so long +as I am thine I will count myself happy and fortunate. Do not by +deserting me let my shame become the talk of the gossips in the +streets; make not the old age of my parents miserable; for the loyal +services they as faithful vassals have ever rendered thine are not +deserving of such a return; and if thou thinkest it will debase thy +blood to mingle it with mine, reflect that there is little or no +nobility in the world that has not travelled the same road, and that +in illustrious lineages it is not the woman's blood that is of +account; and, moreover, that true nobility consists in virtue, and +if thou art wanting in that, refusing me what in justice thou owest +me, then even I have higher claims to nobility than thine. To make +an end, senor, these are my last words to thee: whether thou wilt, +or wilt not, I am thy wife; witness thy words, which must not and +ought not to be false, if thou dost pride thyself on that for want +of which thou scornest me; witness the pledge which thou didst give +me, and witness Heaven, which thou thyself didst call to witness the +promise thou hadst made me; and if all this fail, thy own conscience +will not fail to lift up its silent voice in the midst of all thy +gaiety, and vindicate the truth of what I say and mar thy highest +pleasure and enjoyment."</p> + +<p>All this and more the injured Dorothea delivered with such earnest +feeling and such tears that all present, even those who came with +Don Fernando, were constrained to join her in them. Don Fernando +listened to her without replying, until, ceasing to speak, she gave +way to such sobs and sighs that it must have been a heart of brass +that was not softened by the sight of so great sorrow. Luscinda +stood regarding her with no less compassion for her sufferings than +admiration for her intelligence and beauty, and would have gone to her +to say some words of comfort to her, but was prevented by Don +Fernando's grasp which held her fast. He, overwhelmed with confusion +and astonishment, after regarding Dorothea for some moments with a +fixed gaze, opened his arms, and, releasing Luscinda, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Thou hast conquered, fair Dorothea, thou hast conquered, for it +is impossible to have the heart to deny the united force of so many +truths."</p> + +<p>Luscinda in her feebleness was on the point of falling to the ground +when Don Fernando released her, but Cardenio, who stood near, having +retreated behind Don Fernando to escape recognition, casting fear +aside and regardless of what might happen, ran forward to support her, +and said as he clasped her in his arms, "If Heaven in its compassion +is willing to let thee rest at last, mistress of my heart, true, +constant, and fair, nowhere canst thou rest more safely than in +these arms that now receive thee, and received thee before when +fortune permitted me to call thee mine."</p> + +<p>At these words Luscinda looked up at Cardenio, at first beginning to +recognise him by his voice and then satisfying herself by her eyes +that it was he, and hardly knowing what she did, and heedless of all +considerations of decorum, she flung her arms around his neck and +pressing her face close to his, said, "Yes, my dear lord, you are +the true master of this your slave, even though adverse fate interpose +again, and fresh dangers threaten this life that hangs on yours."</p> + +<p>A strange sight was this for Don Fernando and those that stood +around, filled with surprise at an incident so unlooked for. +Dorothea fancied that Don Fernando changed colour and looked as though +he meant to take vengeance on Cardenio, for she observed him put his +hand to his sword; and the instant the idea struck her, with wonderful +quickness she clasped him round the knees, and kissing them and +holding him so as to prevent his moving, she said, while her tears +continued to flow, "What is it thou wouldst do, my only refuge, in +this unforeseen event? Thou hast thy wife at thy feet, and she whom +thou wouldst have for thy wife is in the arms of her husband: +reflect whether it will be right for thee, whether it will be possible +for thee to undo what Heaven has done, or whether it will be +becoming in thee to seek to raise her to be thy mate who in spite of +every obstacle, and strong in her truth and constancy, is before thine +eyes, bathing with the tears of love the face and bosom of her +lawful husband. For God's sake I entreat of thee, for thine own I +implore thee, let not this open manifestation rouse thy anger; but +rather so calm it as to allow these two lovers to live in peace and +quiet without any interference from thee so long as Heaven permits +them; and in so doing thou wilt prove the generosity of thy lofty +noble spirit, and the world shall see that with thee reason has more +influence than passion."</p> + +<p>All the time Dorothea was speaking, Cardenio, though he held +Luscinda in his arms, never took his eyes off Don Fernando, +determined, if he saw him make any hostile movement, to try and defend +himself and resist as best he could all who might assail him, though +it should cost him his life. But now Don Fernando's friends, as well +as the curate and the barber, who had been present all the while, +not forgetting the worthy Sancho Panza, ran forward and gathered round +Don Fernando, entreating him to have regard for the tears of Dorothea, +and not suffer her reasonable hopes to be disappointed, since, as they +firmly believed, what she said was but the truth; and bidding him +observe that it was not, as it might seem, by accident, but by a +special disposition of Providence that they had all met in a place +where no one could have expected a meeting. And the curate bade him +remember that only death could part Luscinda from Cardenio; that +even if some sword were to separate them they would think their +death most happy; and that in a case that admitted of no remedy his +wisest course was, by conquering and putting a constraint upon +himself, to show a generous mind, and of his own accord suffer these +two to enjoy the happiness Heaven had granted them. He bade him, +too, turn his eyes upon the beauty of Dorothea and he would see that +few if any could equal much less excel her; while to that beauty +should be added her modesty and the surpassing love she bore him. +But besides all this, he reminded him that if he prided himself on +being a gentleman and a Christian, he could not do otherwise than keep +his plighted word; and that in doing so he would obey God and meet the +approval of all sensible people, who know and recognised it to be +the privilege of beauty, even in one of humble birth, provided +virtue accompany it, to be able to raise itself to the level of any +rank, without any slur upon him who places it upon an equality with +himself; and furthermore that when the potent sway of passion +asserts itself, so long as there be no mixture of sin in it, he is not +to be blamed who gives way to it.</p> + +<p>To be brief, they added to these such other forcible arguments +that Don Fernando's manly heart, being after all nourished by noble +blood, was touched, and yielded to the truth which, even had he wished +it, he could not gainsay; and he showed his submission, and acceptance +of the good advice that had been offered to him, by stooping down +and embracing Dorothea, saying to her, "Rise, dear lady, it is not +right that what I hold in my heart should be kneeling at my feet; +and if until now I have shown no sign of what I own, it may have +been by Heaven's decree in order that, seeing the constancy with which +you love me, I may learn to value you as you deserve. What I entreat +of you is that you reproach me not with my transgression and +grievous wrong-doing; for the same cause and force that drove me to +make you mine impelled me to struggle against being yours; and to +prove this, turn and look at the eyes of the now happy Luscinda, and +you will see in them an excuse for all my errors: and as she has found +and gained the object of her desires, and I have found in you what +satisfies all my wishes, may she live in peace and contentment as many +happy years with her Cardenio, as on my knees I pray Heaven to allow +me to live with my Dorothea;" and with these words he once more +embraced her and pressed his face to hers with so much tenderness that +he had to take great heed to keep his tears from completing the +proof of his love and repentance in the sight of all. Not so Luscinda, +and Cardenio, and almost all the others, for they shed so many +tears, some in their own happiness, some at that of the others, that +one would have supposed a heavy calamity had fallen upon them all. +Even Sancho Panza was weeping; though afterwards he said he only +wept because he saw that Dorothea was not as he fancied the queen +Micomicona, of whom he expected such great favours. Their wonder as +well as their weeping lasted some time, and then Cardenio and Luscinda +went and fell on their knees before Don Fernando, returning him thanks +for the favour he had rendered them in language so grateful that he +knew not how to answer them, and raising them up embraced them with +every mark of affection and courtesy.</p> + +<p>He then asked Dorothea how she had managed to reach a place so far +removed from her own home, and she in a few fitting words told all +that she had previously related to Cardenio, with which Don Fernando +and his companions were so delighted that they wished the story had +been longer; so charmingly did Dorothea describe her misadventures. +When she had finished Don Fernando recounted what had befallen him +in the city after he had found in Luscinda's bosom the paper in +which she declared that she was Cardenio's wife, and never could be +his. He said he meant to kill her, and would have done so had he not +been prevented by her parents, and that he quitted the house full of +rage and shame, and resolved to avenge himself when a more +convenient opportunity should offer. The next day he learned that +Luscinda had disappeared from her father's house, and that no one +could tell whither she had gone. Finally, at the end of some months he +ascertained that she was in a convent and meant to remain there all +the rest of her life, if she were not to share it with Cardenio; and +as soon as he had learned this, taking these three gentlemen as his +companions, he arrived at the place where she was, but avoided +speaking to her, fearing that if it were known he was there stricter +precautions would be taken in the convent; and watching a time when +the porter's lodge was open he left two to guard the gate, and he +and the other entered the convent in quest of Luscinda, whom they +found in the cloisters in conversation with one of the nuns, and +carrying her off without giving her time to resist, they reached a +place with her where they provided themselves with what they +required for taking her away; all which they were able to do in +complete safety, as the convent was in the country at a considerable +distance from the city. He added that when Luscinda found herself in +his power she lost all consciousness, and after returning to herself +did nothing but weep and sigh without speaking a word; and thus in +silence and tears they reached that inn, which for him was reaching +heaven where all the mischances of earth are over and at an end.</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c36b"></a><img alt="c36b.jpg (319K)" src="images/c36b.jpg" height="835" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c36b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<center><a name="c36e"></a><img alt="c36e.jpg (36K)" src="images/c36e.jpg" height="467" width="650"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch37"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>IN WHICH IS CONTINUED THE STORY OF THE FAMOUS PRINCESS MICOMICONA, +WITH OTHER DROLL ADVENTURES +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="c37a"></a><img alt="c37a.jpg (159K)" src="images/c37a.jpg" height="434" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c37a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>To all this Sancho listened with no little sorrow at heart to see +how his hopes of dignity were fading away and vanishing in smoke, +and how the fair Princess Micomicona had turned into Dorothea, and the +giant into Don Fernando, while his master was sleeping tranquilly, +totally unconscious of all that had come to pass. Dorothea was +unable to persuade herself that her present happiness was not all a +dream; Cardenio was in a similar state of mind, and Luscinda's +thoughts ran in the same direction. Don Fernando gave thanks to Heaven +for the favour shown to him and for having been rescued from the +intricate labyrinth in which he had been brought so near the +destruction of his good name and of his soul; and in short everybody +in the inn was full of contentment and satisfaction at the happy issue +of such a complicated and hopeless business. The curate as a +sensible man made sound reflections upon the whole affair, and +congratulated each upon his good fortune; but the one that was in +the highest spirits and good humour was the landlady, because of the +promise Cardenio and the curate had given her to pay for all the +losses and damage she had sustained through Don Quixote's means. +Sancho, as has been already said, was the only one who was distressed, +unhappy, and dejected; and so with a long face he went in to his +master, who had just awoke, and said to him:</p> + +<p>"Sir Rueful Countenance, your worship may as well sleep on as much +as you like, without troubling yourself about killing any giant or +restoring her kingdom to the princess; for that is all over and +settled now."</p> + +<p>"I should think it was," replied Don Quixote, "for I have had the +most prodigious and stupendous battle with the giant that I ever +remember having had all the days of my life; and with +one back-stroke—swish!—I brought his head tumbling to the ground, and so much blood +gushed forth from him that it ran in rivulets over the earth like +water."</p> + +<p> "Like red wine, your worship had better say," replied Sancho; +"for I would have you know, if you don't know it, that the dead +giant is a hacked wine-skin, and the blood four-and-twenty gallons +of red wine that it had in its belly, and the cut-off head is the +bitch that bore me; and the devil take it all."</p> + +<p>"What art thou talking about, fool?" said Don Quixote; "art thou +in thy senses?"</p> + +<p>"Let your worship get up," said Sancho, "and you will see the nice +business you have made of it, and what we have to pay; and you will +see the queen turned into a private lady called Dorothea, and other +things that will astonish you, if you understand them."</p> + +<p>"I shall not be surprised at anything of the kind," returned Don +Quixote; "for if thou dost remember the last time we were here I +told thee that everything that happened here was a matter of +enchantment, and it would be no wonder if it were the same now."</p> + +<p>"I could believe all that," replied Sancho, "if my blanketing was +the same sort of thing also; only it wasn't, but real and genuine; for +I saw the landlord, Who is here to-day, holding one end of the blanket +and jerking me up to the skies very neatly and smartly, and with as +much laughter as strength; and when it comes to be a case of knowing +people, I hold for my part, simple and sinner as I am, that there is +no enchantment about it at all, but a great deal of bruising and bad +luck."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, God will give a remedy," said Don Quixote; "hand me +my clothes and let me go out, for I want to see these +transformations and things thou speakest of."</p> + +<p>Sancho fetched him his clothes; and while he was dressing, the +curate gave Don Fernando and the others present an account of Don +Quixote's madness and of the stratagem they had made use of to +withdraw him from that Pena Pobre where he fancied himself stationed +because of his lady's scorn. He described to them also nearly all +the adventures that Sancho had mentioned, at which they marvelled +and laughed not a little, thinking it, as all did, the strangest +form of madness a crazy intellect could be capable of. But now, the +curate said, that the lady Dorothea's good fortune prevented her +from proceeding with their purpose, it would be necessary to devise or +discover some other way of getting him home.</p> + +<p>Cardenio proposed to carry out the scheme they had begun, and +suggested that Luscinda would act and support Dorothea's part +sufficiently well.</p> + +<p>"No," said Don Fernando, "that must not be, for I want Dorothea to +follow out this idea of hers; and if the worthy gentleman's village is +not very far off, I shall be happy if I can do anything for his +relief."</p> + +<p>"It is not more than two days' journey from this," said the curate.</p> + +<p>"Even if it were more," said Don Fernando, "I would gladly travel so +far for the sake of doing so good a work.</p> + +<p>"At this moment Don Quixote came out in full panoply, with +Mambrino's helmet, all dinted as it was, on his head, his buckler on +his arm, and leaning on his staff or pike. The strange figure he +presented filled Don Fernando and the rest with amazement as they +contemplated his lean yellow face half a league long, his armour of +all sorts, and the solemnity of his deportment. They stood silent +waiting to see what he would say, and he, fixing his eyes on the air +Dorothea, addressed her with great gravity and composure:</p> + +<p>"I am informed, fair lady, by my squire here that your greatness has +been annihilated and your being abolished, since, from a queen and +lady of high degree as you used to be, you have been turned into a +private maiden. If this has been done by the command of the magician +king your father, through fear that I should not afford you the aid +you need and are entitled to, I may tell you he did not know and +does not know half the mass, and was little versed in the annals of +chivalry; for, if he had read and gone through them as attentively and +deliberately as I have, he would have found at every turn that knights +of less renown than mine have accomplished things more difficult: it +is no great matter to kill a whelp of a giant, however arrogant he may +be; for it is not many hours since I myself was engaged with one, +and—I will not speak of it, that they may not say I am lying; time, +however, that reveals all, will tell the tale when we least expect +it."</p> + +<p>"You were engaged with a couple of wine-skins, and not a giant," +said the landlord at this; but Don Fernando told him to hold his +tongue and on no account interrupt Don Quixote, who continued, "I +say in conclusion, high and disinherited lady, that if your father has +brought about this metamorphosis in your person for the reason I +have mentioned, you ought not to attach any importance to it; for +there is no peril on earth through which my sword will not force a +way, and with it, before many days are over, I will bring your enemy's +head to the ground and place on yours the crown of your kingdom."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote said no more, and waited for the reply of the +princess, who aware of Don Fernando's determination to carry on the +deception until Don Quixote had been conveyed to his home, with +great ease of manner and gravity made answer, "Whoever told you, +valiant Knight of the Rueful Countenance, that I had undergone any +change or transformation did not tell you the truth, for I am the same +as I was yesterday. It is true that certain strokes of good fortune, +that have given me more than I could have hoped for, have made some +alteration in me; but I have not therefore ceased to be what I was +before, or to entertain the same desire I have had all through of +availing myself of the might of your valiant and invincible arm. And +so, senor, let your goodness reinstate the father that begot me in +your good opinion, and be assured that he was a wise and prudent +man, since by his craft he found out such a sure and easy way of +remedying my misfortune; for I believe, senor, that had it not been +for you I should never have lit upon the good fortune I now possess; +and in this I am saying what is perfectly true; as most of these +gentlemen who are present can fully testify. All that remains is to +set out on our journey to-morrow, for to-day we could not make much +way; and for the rest of the happy result I am looking forward to, I +trust to God and the valour of your heart."</p> + +<p>So said the sprightly Dorothea, and on hearing her Don Quixote +turned to Sancho, and said to him, with an angry air, "I declare +now, little Sancho, thou art the greatest little villain in Spain. +Say, thief and vagabond, hast thou not just now told me that this +princess had been turned into a maiden called Dorothea, and that the +head which I am persuaded I cut off from a giant was the bitch that +bore thee, and other nonsense that put me in the greatest perplexity I +have ever been in all my life? I vow" (and here he looked to heaven +and ground his teeth) "I have a mind to play the mischief with thee, +in a way that will teach sense for the future to all lying squires +of knights-errant in the world."</p> + +<p>"Let your worship be calm, senor," returned Sancho, "for it may well +be that I have been mistaken as to the change of the lady princess +Micomicona; but as to the giant's head, or at least as to the piercing +of the wine-skins, and the blood being red wine, I make no mistake, as +sure as there is a God; because the wounded skins are there at the +head of your worship's bed, and the wine has made a lake of the +room; if not you will see when the eggs come to be fried; I mean +when his worship the landlord calls for all the damages: for the rest, +I am heartily glad that her ladyship the queen is as she was, for it +concerns me as much as anyone."</p> + +<p>"I tell thee again, Sancho, thou art a fool," said Don Quixote; +"forgive me, and that will do."</p> + +<p>"That will do," said Don Fernando; "let us say no more about it; and +as her ladyship the princess proposes to set out to-morrow because +it is too late to-day, so be it, and we will pass the night in +pleasant conversation, and to-morrow we will all accompany Senor Don +Quixote; for we wish to witness the valiant and unparalleled +achievements he is about to perform in the course of this mighty +enterprise which he has undertaken."</p> + +<p>"It is I who shall wait upon and accompany you," said Don Quixote; +"and I am much gratified by the favour that is bestowed upon me, and +the good opinion entertained of me, which I shall strive to justify or +it shall cost me my life, or even more, if it can possibly cost me +more."</p> + +<p>Many were the compliments and expressions of politeness that +passed between Don Quixote and Don Fernando; but they were brought +to an end by a traveller who at this moment entered the inn, and who +seemed from his attire to be a Christian lately come from the +country of the Moors, for he was dressed in a short-skirted coat of +blue cloth with half-sleeves and without a collar; his breeches were +also of blue cloth, and his cap of the same colour, and he wore yellow +buskins and had a Moorish cutlass slung from a baldric across his +breast. Behind him, mounted upon an ass, there came a woman dressed in +Moorish fashion, with her face veiled and a scarf on her head, and +wearing a little brocaded cap, and a mantle that covered her from +her shoulders to her feet. The man was of a robust and +well-proportioned frame, in age a little over forty, rather swarthy in +complexion, with long moustaches and a full beard, and, in short, +his appearance was such that if he had been well dressed he would have +been taken for a person of quality and good birth. On entering he +asked for a room, and when they told him there was none in the inn +he seemed distressed, and approaching her who by her dress seemed to +be a Moor he her down from saddle in his arms. Luscinda, Dorothea, the +landlady, her daughter and Maritornes, attracted by the strange, and +to them entirely new costume, gathered round her; and Dorothea, who +was always kindly, courteous, and quick-witted, perceiving that both +she and the man who had brought her were annoyed at not finding a +room, said to her, "Do not be put out, senora, by the discomfort and +want of luxuries here, for it is the way of road-side inns to be +without them; still, if you will be pleased to share our lodging +with us (pointing to Luscinda) perhaps you will have found worse +accommodation in the course of your journey."</p> + +<p>To this the veiled lady made no reply; all she did was to rise +from her seat, crossing her hands upon her bosom, bowing her head +and bending her body as a sign that she returned thanks. From her +silence they concluded that she must be a Moor and unable to speak a +Christian tongue.</p> + +<p>At this moment the captive came up, having been until now +otherwise engaged, and seeing that they all stood round his +companion and that she made no reply to what they addressed to her, he +said, "Ladies, this damsel hardly understands my language and can +speak none but that of her own country, for which reason she does +not and cannot answer what has been asked of her."</p> + +<p>"Nothing has been asked of her," returned Luscinda; "she has only +been offered our company for this evening and a share of the +quarters we occupy, where she shall be made as comfortable as the +circumstances allow, with the good-will we are bound to show all +strangers that stand in need of it, especially if it be a woman to +whom the service is rendered."</p> + +<p>"On her part and my own, senora," replied the captive, "I kiss +your hands, and I esteem highly, as I ought, the favour you have +offered, which, on such an occasion and coming from persons of your +appearance, is, it is plain to see, a very great one."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, senor," said Dorothea, "is this lady a Christian or a +Moor? for her dress and her silence lead us to imagine that she is +what we could wish she was not."</p> + +<p>"In dress and outwardly," said he, "she is a Moor, but at heart +she is a thoroughly good Christian, for she has the greatest desire to +become one."</p> + +<p>"Then she has not been baptised?" returned Luscinda.</p> + +<p>"There has been no opportunity for that," replied the captive, +"since she left Algiers, her native country and home; and up to the +present she has not found herself in any such imminent danger of death +as to make it necessary to baptise her before she has been +instructed in all the ceremonies our holy mother Church ordains; +but, please God, ere long she shall be baptised with the solemnity +befitting her which is higher than her dress or mine indicates."</p> + +<p>By these words he excited a desire in all who heard him, to know who +the Moorish lady and the captive were, but no one liked to ask just +then, seeing that it was a fitter moment for helping them to rest +themselves than for questioning them about their lives. Dorothea +took the Moorish lady by the hand and leading her to a seat beside +herself, requested her to remove her veil. She looked at the captive +as if to ask him what they meant and what she was to do. He said to +her in Arabic that they asked her to take off her veil, and +thereupon she removed it and disclosed a countenance so lovely, that +to Dorothea she seemed more beautiful than Luscinda, and to Luscinda +more beautiful than Dorothea, and all the bystanders felt that if +any beauty could compare with theirs it was the Moorish lady's, and +there were even those who were inclined to give it somewhat the +preference. And as it is the privilege and charm of beauty to win +the heart and secure good-will, all forthwith became eager to show +kindness and attention to the lovely Moor.</p> + +<p>Don Fernando asked the captive what her name was, and he replied +that it was Lela Zoraida; but the instant she heard him, she guessed +what the Christian had asked, and said hastily, with some +displeasure and energy, "No, not Zoraida; Maria, Maria!" giving them +to understand that she was called "Maria" and not "Zoraida." These +words, and the touching earnestness with which she uttered them, +drew more than one tear from some of the listeners, particularly the +women, who are by nature tender-hearted and compassionate. Luscinda +embraced her affectionately, saying, "Yes, yes, Maria, Maria," to +which the Moor replied, "Yes, yes, Maria; Zoraida macange," which +means "not Zoraida."</p> + +<p>Night was now approaching, and by the orders of those who +accompanied Don Fernando the landlord had taken care and pains to +prepare for them the best supper that was in his power. The hour +therefore having arrived they all took their seats at a long table +like a refectory one, for round or square table there was none in +the inn, and the seat of honour at the head of it, though he was for +refusing it, they assigned to Don Quixote, who desired the lady +Micomicona to place herself by his side, as he was her protector. +Luscinda and Zoraida took their places next her, opposite to them were +Don Fernando and Cardenio, and next the captive and the other +gentlemen, and by the side of the ladies, the curate and the barber. +And so they supped in high enjoyment, which was increased when they +observed Don Quixote leave off eating, and, moved by an impulse like +that which made him deliver himself at such length when he supped with +the goatherds, begin to address them:</p> + +<p>"Verily, gentlemen, if we reflect upon it, great and marvellous +are the things they see, who make profession of the order of +knight-errantry. Say, what being is there in this world, who +entering the gate of this castle at this moment, and seeing us as we +are here, would suppose or imagine us to be what we are? Who would say +that this lady who is beside me was the great queen that we all know +her to be, or that I am that Knight of the Rueful Countenance, +trumpeted far and wide by the mouth of Fame? Now, there can be no +doubt that this art and calling surpasses all those that mankind has +invented, and is the more deserving of being held in honour in +proportion as it is the more exposed to peril. Away with those who +assert that letters have the preeminence over arms; I will tell +them, whosoever they may be, that they know not what they say. For the +reason which such persons commonly assign, and upon which they chiefly +rest, is, that the labours of the mind are greater than those of the +body, and that arms give employment to the body alone; as if the +calling were a porter's trade, for which nothing more is required than +sturdy strength; or as if, in what we who profess them call arms, +there were not included acts of vigour for the execution of which high +intelligence is requisite; or as if the soul of the warrior, when he +has an army, or the defence of a city under his care, did not exert +itself as much by mind as by body. Nay; see whether by bodily strength +it be possible to learn or divine the intentions of the enemy, his +plans, stratagems, or obstacles, or to ward off impending mischief; +for all these are the work of the mind, and in them the body has no +share whatever. Since, therefore, arms have need of the mind, as +much as letters, let us see now which of the two minds, that of the +man of letters or that of the warrior, has most to do; and this will +be seen by the end and goal that each seeks to attain; for that +purpose is the more estimable which has for its aim the nobler object. +The end and goal of letters—I am not speaking now of divine +letters, the aim of which is to raise and direct the soul to Heaven; +for with an end so infinite no other can be compared—I speak of human +letters, the end of which is to establish distributive justice, give +to every man that which is his, and see and take care that good laws +are observed: an end undoubtedly noble, lofty, and deserving of high +praise, but not such as should be given to that sought by arms, +which have for their end and object peace, the greatest boon that +men can desire in this life. The first good news the world and mankind +received was that which the angels announced on the night that was our +day, when they sang in the air, 'Glory to God in the highest, and +peace on earth to men of good-will;' and the salutation which the +great Master of heaven and earth taught his disciples and chosen +followers when they entered any house, was to say, 'Peace be on this +house;' and many other times he said to them, 'My peace I give unto +you, my peace I leave you, peace be with you;' a jewel and a +precious gift given and left by such a hand: a jewel without which +there can be no happiness either on earth or in heaven. This peace +is the true end of war; and war is only another name for arms. This, +then, being admitted, that the end of war is peace, and that so far it +has the advantage of the end of letters, let us turn to the bodily +labours of the man of letters, and those of him who follows the +profession of arms, and see which are the greater."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote delivered his discourse in such a manner and in such +correct language, that for the time being he made it impossible for +any of his hearers to consider him a madman; on the contrary, as +they were mostly gentlemen, to whom arms are an appurtenance by birth, +they listened to him with great pleasure as he continued: "Here, then, +I say is what the student has to undergo; first of all poverty: not +that all are poor, but to put the case as strongly as possible: and +when I have said that he endures poverty, I think nothing more need be +said about his hard fortune, for he who is poor has no share of the +good things of life. This poverty he suffers from in various ways, +hunger, or cold, or nakedness, or all together; but for all that it is +not so extreme but that he gets something to eat, though it may be +at somewhat unseasonable hours and from the leavings of the rich; +for the greatest misery of the student is what they themselves call +'going out for soup,' and there is always some neighbour's brazier +or hearth for them, which, if it does not warm, at least tempers the +cold to them, and lastly, they sleep comfortably at night under a +roof. I will not go into other particulars, as for example want of +shirts, and no superabundance of shoes, thin and threadbare +garments, and gorging themselves to surfeit in their voracity when +good luck has treated them to a banquet of some sort. By this road +that I have described, rough and hard, stumbling here, falling +there, getting up again to fall again, they reach the rank they +desire, and that once attained, we have seen many who have passed +these Syrtes and Scyllas and Charybdises, as if borne flying on the +wings of favouring fortune; we have seen them, I say, ruling and +governing the world from a chair, their hunger turned into satiety, +their cold into comfort, their nakedness into fine raiment, their +sleep on a mat into repose in holland and damask, the justly earned +reward of their virtue; but, contrasted and compared with what the +warrior undergoes, all they have undergone falls far short of it, as I +am now about to show."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c37e"></a><img alt="c37e.jpg (13K)" src="images/c37e.jpg" height="371" width="303"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch38"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHICH TREATS OF THE CURIOUS DISCOURSE DON QUIXOTE DELIVERED ON +ARMS AND LETTERS +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="c38a"></a><img alt="c38a.jpg (180K)" src="images/c38a.jpg" height="417" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c38a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Continuing his discourse Don Quixote said: "As we began in the +student's case with poverty and its accompaniments, let us see now +if the soldier is richer, and we shall find that in poverty itself +there is no one poorer; for he is dependent on his miserable pay, +which comes late or never, or else on what he can plunder, seriously +imperilling his life and conscience; and sometimes his nakedness +will be so great that a slashed doublet serves him for uniform and +shirt, and in the depth of winter he has to defend himself against the +inclemency of the weather in the open field with nothing better than +the breath of his mouth, which I need not say, coming from an empty +place, must come out cold, contrary to the laws of nature. To be +sure he looks forward to the approach of night to make up for all +these discomforts on the bed that awaits him, which, unless by some +fault of his, never sins by being over narrow, for he can easily +measure out on the ground as he likes, and roll himself about in it to +his heart's content without any fear of the sheets slipping away +from him. Then, after all this, suppose the day and hour for taking +his degree in his calling to have come; suppose the day of battle to +have arrived, when they invest him with the doctor's cap made of lint, +to mend some bullet-hole, perhaps, that has gone through his +temples, or left him with a crippled arm or leg. Or if this does not +happen, and merciful Heaven watches over him and keeps him safe and +sound, it may be he will be in the same poverty he was in before, +and he must go through more engagements and more battles, and come +victorious out of all before he betters himself; but miracles of +that sort are seldom seen. For tell me, sirs, if you have ever +reflected upon it, by how much do those who have gained by war fall +short of the number of those who have perished in it? No doubt you +will reply that there can be no comparison, that the dead cannot be +numbered, while the living who have been rewarded may be summed up +with three figures. All which is the reverse in the case of men of +letters; for by skirts, to say nothing of sleeves, they all find means +of support; so that though the soldier has more to endure, his +reward is much less. But against all this it may be urged that it is +easier to reward two thousand soldiers, for the former may be +remunerated by giving them places, which must perforce be conferred +upon men of their calling, while the latter can only be recompensed +out of the very property of the master they serve; but this +impossibility only strengthens my argument.</p> + +<p>"Putting this, however, aside, for it is a puzzling question for +which it is difficult to find a solution, let us return to the +superiority of arms over letters, a matter still undecided, so many +are the arguments put forward on each side; for besides those I have +mentioned, letters say that without them arms cannot maintain +themselves, for war, too, has its laws and is governed by them, and +laws belong to the domain of letters and men of letters. To this +arms make answer that without them laws cannot be maintained, for by +arms states are defended, kingdoms preserved, cities protected, +roads made safe, seas cleared of pirates; and, in short, if it were +not for them, states, kingdoms, monarchies, cities, ways by sea and +land would be exposed to the violence and confusion which war brings +with it, so long as it lasts and is free to make use of its privileges +and powers. And then it is plain that whatever costs most is valued +and deserves to be valued most. To attain to eminence in letters costs +a man time, watching, hunger, nakedness, headaches, indigestions, +and other things of the sort, some of which I have already referred +to. But for a man to come in the ordinary course of things to be a +good soldier costs him all the student suffers, and in an incomparably +higher degree, for at every step he runs the risk of losing his +life. For what dread of want or poverty that can reach or harass the +student can compare with what the soldier feels, who finds himself +beleaguered in some stronghold mounting guard in some ravelin or +cavalier, knows that the enemy is pushing a mine towards the post +where he is stationed, and cannot under any circumstances retire or +fly from the imminent danger that threatens him? All he can do is to +inform his captain of what is going on so that he may try to remedy it +by a counter-mine, and then stand his ground in fear and expectation +of the moment when he will fly up to the clouds without wings and +descend into the deep against his will. And if this seems a trifling +risk, let us see whether it is equalled or surpassed by the +encounter of two galleys stem to stem, in the midst of the open sea, +locked and entangled one with the other, when the soldier has no +more standing room than two feet of the plank of the spur; and yet, +though he sees before him threatening him as many ministers of death +as there are cannon of the foe pointed at him, not a lance length from +his body, and sees too that with the first heedless step he will go +down to visit the profundities of Neptune's bosom, still with +dauntless heart, urged on by honour that nerves him, he makes +himself a target for all that musketry, and struggles to cross that +narrow path to the enemy's ship. And what is still more marvellous, no +sooner has one gone down into the depths he will never rise from +till the end of the world, than another takes his place; and if he too +falls into the sea that waits for him like an enemy, another and +another will succeed him without a moment's pause between their +deaths: courage and daring the greatest that all the chances of war +can show. Happy the blest ages that knew not the dread fury of those +devilish engines of artillery, whose inventor I am persuaded is in +hell receiving the reward of his diabolical invention, by which he +made it easy for a base and cowardly arm to take the life of a gallant +gentleman; and that, when he knows not how or whence, in the height of +the ardour and enthusiasm that fire and animate brave hearts, there +should come some random bullet, discharged perhaps by one who fled +in terror at the flash when he fired off his accursed machine, which +in an instant puts an end to the projects and cuts off the life of one +who deserved to live for ages to come. And thus when I reflect on +this, I am almost tempted to say that in my heart I repent of having +adopted this profession of knight-errant in so detestable an age as we +live in now; for though no peril can make me fear, still it gives me +some uneasiness to think that powder and lead may rob me of the +opportunity of making myself famous and renowned throughout the +known earth by the might of my arm and the edge of my sword. But +Heaven's will be done; if I succeed in my attempt I shall be all the +more honoured, as I have faced greater dangers than the knights-errant +of yore exposed themselves to."</p> + +<p>All this lengthy discourse Don Quixote delivered while the others +supped, forgetting to raise a morsel to his lips, though Sancho more +than once told him to eat his supper, as he would have time enough +afterwards to say all he wanted. It excited fresh pity in those who +had heard him to see a man of apparently sound sense, and with +rational views on every subject he discussed, so hopelessly wanting in +all, when his wretched unlucky chivalry was in question. The curate +told him he was quite right in all he had said in favour of arms, +and that he himself, though a man of letters and a graduate, was of +the same opinion.</p> + +<p>They finished their supper, the cloth was removed, and while the +hostess, her daughter, and Maritornes were getting Don Quixote of La +Mancha's garret ready, in which it was arranged that the women were to +be quartered by themselves for the night, Don Fernando begged the +captive to tell them the story of his life, for it could not fail to +be strange and interesting, to judge by the hints he had let fall on +his arrival in company with Zoraida. To this the captive replied +that he would very willingly yield to his request, only he feared +his tale would not give them as much pleasure as he wished; +nevertheless, not to be wanting in compliance, he would tell it. The +curate and the others thanked him and added their entreaties, and he +finding himself so pressed said there was no occasion ask, where a +command had such weight, and added, "If your worships will give me +your attention you will hear a true story which, perhaps, fictitious +ones constructed with ingenious and studied art cannot come up to." +These words made them settle themselves in their places and preserve a +deep silence, and he seeing them waiting on his words in mute +expectation, began thus in a pleasant quiet voice.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c38e"></a><img alt="c38e.jpg (18K)" src="images/c38e.jpg" height="365" width="389"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch39"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN THE CAPTIVE RELATES HIS LIFE AND ADVENTURES +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="c39a"></a><img alt="c39a.jpg (137K)" src="images/c39a.jpg" height="442" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c39a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>My family had its origin in a village in the mountains of Leon, +and nature had been kinder and more generous to it than fortune; +though in the general poverty of those communities my father passed +for being even a rich man; and he would have been so in reality had he +been as clever in preserving his property as he was in spending it. +This tendency of his to be liberal and profuse he had acquired from +having been a soldier in his youth, for the soldier's life is a school +in which the niggard becomes free-handed and the free-handed prodigal; +and if any soldiers are to be found who are misers, they are +monsters of rare occurrence. My father went beyond liberality and +bordered on prodigality, a disposition by no means advantageous to a +married man who has children to succeed to his name and position. My +father had three, all sons, and all of sufficient age to make choice +of a profession. Finding, then, that he was unable to resist his +propensity, he resolved to divest himself of the instrument and +cause of his prodigality and lavishness, to divest himself of +wealth, without which Alexander himself would have seemed +parsimonious; and so calling us all three aside one day into a room, +he addressed us in words somewhat to the following effect:</p> + +<p>"My sons, to assure you that I love you, no more need be known or +said than that you are my sons; and to encourage a suspicion that I do +not love you, no more is needed than the knowledge that I have no +self-control as far as preservation of your patrimony is concerned; +therefore, that you may for the future feel sure that I love you +like a father, and have no wish to ruin you like a stepfather, I +propose to do with you what I have for some time back meditated, and +after mature deliberation decided upon. You are now of an age to +choose your line of life or at least make choice of a calling that +will bring you honour and profit when you are older; and what I have +resolved to do is to divide my property into four parts; three I +will give to you, to each his portion without making any difference, +and the other I will retain to live upon and support myself for +whatever remainder of life Heaven may be pleased to grant me. But I +wish each of you on taking possession of the share that falls to him +to follow one of the paths I shall indicate. In this Spain of ours +there is a proverb, to my mind very true—as they all are, being short +aphorisms drawn from long practical experience—and the one I refer to +says, 'The church, or the sea, or the king's house;' as much as to +say, in plainer language, whoever wants to flourish and become rich, +let him follow the church, or go to sea, adopting commerce as his +calling, or go into the king's service in his household, for they say, +'Better a king's crumb than a lord's favour.' I say so because it is +my will and pleasure that one of you should follow letters, another +trade, and the third serve the king in the wars, for it is a difficult +matter to gain admission to his service in his household, and if war +does not bring much wealth it confers great distinction and fame. +Eight days hence I will give you your full shares in money, without +defrauding you of a farthing, as you will see in the end. Now tell +me if you are willing to follow out my idea and advice as I have +laid it before you."</p> + +<p>Having called upon me as the eldest to answer, I, after urging him +not to strip himself of his property but to spend it all as he +pleased, for we were young men able to gain our living, consented to +comply with his wishes, and said that mine were to follow the +profession of arms and thereby serve God and my king. My second +brother having made the same proposal, decided upon going to the +Indies, embarking the portion that fell to him in trade. The youngest, +and in my opinion the wisest, said he would rather follow the +church, or go to complete his studies at Salamanca. As soon as we +had come to an understanding, and made choice of our professions, my +father embraced us all, and in the short time he mentioned carried +into effect all he had promised; and when he had given to each his +share, which as well as I remember was three thousand ducats apiece in +cash (for an uncle of ours bought the estate and paid for it down, not +to let it go out of the family), we all three on the same day took +leave of our good father; and at the same time, as it seemed to me +inhuman to leave my father with such scanty means in his old age, I +induced him to take two of my three thousand ducats, as the +remainder would be enough to provide me with all a soldier needed. +My two brothers, moved by my example, gave him each a thousand ducats, +so that there was left for my father four thousand ducats in money, +besides three thousand, the value of the portion that fell to him +which he preferred to retain in land instead of selling it. Finally, +as I said, we took leave of him, and of our uncle whom I have +mentioned, not without sorrow and tears on both sides, they charging +us to let them know whenever an opportunity offered how we fared, +whether well or ill. We promised to do so, and when he had embraced us +and given us his blessing, one set out for Salamanca, the other for +Seville, and I for Alicante, where I had heard there was a Genoese +vessel taking in a cargo of wool for Genoa.</p> + +<p>It is now some twenty-two years since I left my father's house, +and all that time, though I have written several letters, I have had +no news whatever of him or of my brothers; my own adventures during +that period I will now relate briefly. I embarked at Alicante, reached +Genoa after a prosperous voyage, and proceeded thence to Milan, +where I provided myself with arms and a few soldier's accoutrements; +thence it was my intention to go and take service in Piedmont, but +as I was already on the road to Alessandria della Paglia, I learned +that the great Duke of Alva was on his way to Flanders. I changed my +plans, joined him, served under him in the campaigns he made, was +present at the deaths of the Counts Egmont and Horn, and was +promoted to be ensign under a famous captain of Guadalajara, Diego +de Urbina by name. Some time after my arrival in Flanders news came of +the league that his Holiness Pope Pius V of happy memory, had made +with Venice and Spain against the common enemy, the Turk, who had just +then with his fleet taken the famous island of Cyprus, which +belonged to the Venetians, a loss deplorable and disastrous. It was +known as a fact that the Most Serene Don John of Austria, natural +brother of our good king Don Philip, was coming as +commander-in-chief of the allied forces, and rumours were abroad of +the vast warlike preparations which were being made, all which stirred +my heart and filled me with a longing to take part in the campaign +which was expected; and though I had reason to believe, and almost +certain promises, that on the first opportunity that presented +itself I should be promoted to be captain, I preferred to leave all +and betake myself, as I did, to Italy; and it was my good fortune that +Don John had just arrived at Genoa, and was going on to Naples to join +the Venetian fleet, as he afterwards did at Messina. I may say, in +short, that I took part in that glorious expedition, promoted by +this time to be a captain of infantry, to which honourable charge my +good luck rather than my merits raised me; and that day—so +fortunate for Christendom, because then all the nations of the earth +were disabused of the error under which they lay in imagining the +Turks to be invincible on sea-on that day, I say, on which the Ottoman +pride and arrogance were broken, among all that were there made +happy (for the Christians who died that day were happier than those +who remained alive and victorious) I alone was miserable; for, instead +of some naval crown that I might have expected had it been in Roman +times, on the night that followed that famous day I found myself +with fetters on my feet and manacles on my hands.</p> + +<p>It happened in this way: El Uchali, the king of Algiers, a daring +and successful corsair, having attacked and taken the leading +Maltese galley (only three knights being left alive in it, and they +badly wounded), the chief galley of John Andrea, on board of which I +and my company were placed, came to its relief, and doing as was bound +to do in such a case, I leaped on board the enemy's galley, which, +sheering off from that which had attacked it, prevented my men from +following me, and so I found myself alone in the midst of my +enemies, who were in such numbers that I was unable to resist; in +short I was taken, covered with wounds; El Uchali, as you know, +sirs, made his escape with his entire squadron, and I was left a +prisoner in his power, the only sad being among so many filled with +joy, and the only captive among so many free; for there were fifteen +thousand Christians, all at the oar in the Turkish fleet, that +regained their longed-for liberty that day.</p> + +<p>They carried me to Constantinople, where the Grand Turk, Selim, made +my master general at sea for having done his duty in the battle and +carried off as evidence of his bravery the standard of the Order of +Malta. The following year, which was the year seventy-two, I found +myself at Navarino rowing in the leading galley with the three +lanterns. There I saw and observed how the opportunity of capturing +the whole Turkish fleet in harbour was lost; for all the marines and +janizzaries that belonged to it made sure that they were about to be +attacked inside the very harbour, and had their kits and pasamaques, +or shoes, ready to flee at once on shore without waiting to be +assailed, in so great fear did they stand of our fleet. But Heaven +ordered it otherwise, not for any fault or neglect of the general +who commanded on our side, but for the sins of Christendom, and +because it was God's will and pleasure that we should always have +instruments of punishment to chastise us. As it was, El Uchali took +refuge at Modon, which is an island near Navarino, and landing +forces fortified the mouth of the harbour and waited quietly until Don +John retired. On this expedition was taken the galley called the +Prize, whose captain was a son of the famous corsair Barbarossa. It +was taken by the chief Neapolitan galley called the She-wolf, +commanded by that thunderbolt of war, that father of his men, that +successful and unconquered captain Don Alvaro de Bazan, Marquis of +Santa Cruz; and I cannot help telling you what took place at the +capture of the Prize.</p> + +<p>The son of Barbarossa was so cruel, and treated his slaves so badly, +that, when those who were at the oars saw that the She-wolf galley was +bearing down upon them and gaining upon them, they all at once dropped +their oars and seized their captain who stood on the stage at the +end of the gangway shouting to them to row lustily; and passing him on +from bench to bench, from the poop to the prow, they so bit him that +before he had got much past the mast his soul had already got to hell; +so great, as I said, was the cruelty with which he treated them, and +the hatred with which they hated him.</p> + +<p>We returned to Constantinople, and the following year, +seventy-three, it became known that Don John had seized Tunis and +taken the kingdom from the Turks, and placed Muley Hamet in +possession, putting an end to the hopes which Muley Hamida, the +cruelest and bravest Moor in the world, entertained of returning to +reign there. The Grand Turk took the loss greatly to heart, and with +the cunning which all his race possess, he made peace with the +Venetians (who were much more eager for it than he was), and the +following year, seventy-four, he attacked the Goletta and the fort +which Don John had left half built near Tunis. While all these +events were occurring, I was labouring at the oar without any hope +of freedom; at least I had no hope of obtaining it by ransom, for I +was firmly resolved not to write to my father telling him of my +misfortunes. At length the Goletta fell, and the fort fell, before +which places there were seventy-five thousand regular Turkish +soldiers, and more than four hundred thousand Moors and Arabs from all +parts of Africa, and in the train of all this great host such +munitions and engines of war, and so many pioneers that with their +hands they might have covered the Goletta and the fort with handfuls +of earth. The first to fall was the Goletta, until then reckoned +impregnable, and it fell, not by any fault of its defenders, who did +all that they could and should have done, but because experiment +proved how easily entrenchments could be made in the desert sand +there; for water used to be found at two palms depth, while the +Turks found none at two yards; and so by means of a quantity of +sandbags they raised their works so high that they commanded the walls +of the fort, sweeping them as if from a cavalier, so that no one was +able to make a stand or maintain the defence.</p> + +<p>It was a common opinion that our men should not have shut themselves +up in the Goletta, but should have waited in the open at the +landing-place; but those who say so talk at random and with little +knowledge of such matters; for if in the Goletta and in the fort there +were barely seven thousand soldiers, how could such a small number, +however resolute, sally out and hold their own against numbers like +those of the enemy? And how is it possible to help losing a stronghold +that is not relieved, above all when surrounded by a host of +determined enemies in their own country? But many thought, and I +thought so too, that it was special favour and mercy which Heaven +showed to Spain in permitting the destruction of that source and +hiding place of mischief, that devourer, sponge, and moth of countless +money, fruitlessly wasted there to no other purpose save preserving +the memory of its capture by the invincible Charles V; as if to make +that eternal, as it is and will be, these stones were needed to +support it. The fort also fell; but the Turks had to win it inch by +inch, for the soldiers who defended it fought so gallantly and stoutly +that the number of the enemy killed in twenty-two general assaults +exceeded twenty-five thousand. Of three hundred that remained alive +not one was taken unwounded, a clear and manifest proof of their +gallantry and resolution, and how sturdily they had defended +themselves and held their post. A small fort or tower which was in the +middle of the lagoon under the command of Don Juan Zanoguera, a +Valencian gentleman and a famous soldier, capitulated upon terms. They +took prisoner Don Pedro Puertocarrero, commandant of the Goletta, +who had done all in his power to defend his fortress, and took the +loss of it so much to heart that he died of grief on the way to +Constantinople, where they were carrying him a prisoner. They also +took the commandant of the fort, Gabrio Cerbellon by name, a +Milanese gentleman, a great engineer and a very brave soldier. In +these two fortresses perished many persons of note, among whom was +Pagano Doria, knight of the Order of St. John, a man of generous +disposition, as was shown by his extreme liberality to his brother, +the famous John Andrea Doria; and what made his death the more sad was +that he was slain by some Arabs to whom, seeing that the fort was +now lost, he entrusted himself, and who offered to conduct him in +the disguise of a Moor to Tabarca, a small fort or station on the +coast held by the Genoese employed in the coral fishery. These Arabs +cut off his head and carried it to the commander of the Turkish fleet, +who proved on them the truth of our Castilian proverb, that "though +the treason may please, the traitor is hated;" for they say he ordered +those who brought him the present to be hanged for not having +brought him alive.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c39b"></a><img alt="c39b.jpg (371K)" src="images/c39b.jpg" height="824" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c39b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Among the Christians who were taken in the fort was one named Don +Pedro de Aguilar, a native of some place, I know not what, in +Andalusia, who had been ensign in the fort, a soldier of great +repute and rare intelligence, who had in particular a special gift for +what they call poetry. I say so because his fate brought him to my +galley and to my bench, and made him a slave to the same master; and +before we left the port this gentleman composed two sonnets by way +of epitaphs, one on the Goletta and the other on the fort; indeed, I +may as well repeat them, for I have them by heart, and I think they +will be liked rather than disliked.</p> + +<p> +The instant the captive mentioned the name of Don Pedro de +Aguilar, Don Fernando looked at his companions and they all three +smiled; and when he came to speak of the sonnets one of them said, +"Before your worship proceeds any further I entreat you to tell me +what became of that Don Pedro de Aguilar you have spoken of."</p> + +<p>"All I know is," replied the captive, "that after having been in +Constantinople two years, he escaped in the disguise of an Arnaut, +in company with a Greek spy; but whether he regained his liberty or +not I cannot tell, though I fancy he did, because a year afterwards +I saw the Greek at Constantinople, though I was unable to ask him what +the result of the journey was."</p> + +<p>"Well then, you are right," returned the gentleman, "for that Don +Pedro is my brother, and he is now in our village in good health, +rich, married, and with three children."</p> + +<p>"Thanks be to God for all the mercies he has shown him," said the +captive; "for to my mind there is no happiness on earth to compare +with recovering lost liberty."</p> + +<p>"And what is more," said the gentleman, "I know the sonnets my +brother made."</p> + +<p>"Then let your worship repeat them," said the captive, "for you will +recite them better than I can."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," said the gentleman; "that on the Goletta runs +thus."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c39e"></a><img alt="c39e.jpg (38K)" src="images/c39e.jpg" height="332" width="650"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch40"></a>CHAPTER XL.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>IN WHICH THE STORY OF THE CAPTIVE IS CONTINUED. +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c40a"></a><img alt="c40a.jpg (131K)" src="images/c40a.jpg" height="790" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c40a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<pre> +SONNET + +"Blest souls, that, from this mortal husk set free, + In guerdon of brave deeds beatified, + Above this lowly orb of ours abide +Made heirs of heaven and immortality, +With noble rage and ardour glowing ye + Your strength, while strength was yours, in battle plied, + And with your own blood and the foeman's dyed +The sandy soil and the encircling sea. +It was the ebbing life-blood first that failed +The weary arms; the stout hearts never quailed. + Though vanquished, yet ye earned the victor's crown: +Though mourned, yet still triumphant was your fall +For there ye won, between the sword and wall, + In Heaven glory and on earth renown." +</pre> + + +<p> +"That is it exactly, according to my recollection," said the +captive.</p> + +<p> +"Well then, that on the fort," said the gentleman, "if my memory +serves me, goes thus:</p> + + +<pre> +SONNET + +"Up from this wasted soil, this shattered shell, + Whose walls and towers here in ruin lie, + Three thousand soldier souls took wing on high, +In the bright mansions of the blest to dwell. +The onslaught of the foeman to repel + By might of arm all vainly did they try, + And when at length 'twas left them but to die, +Wearied and few the last defenders fell. +And this same arid soil hath ever been +A haunt of countless mournful memories, + As well in our day as in days of yore. +But never yet to Heaven it sent, I ween, +From its hard bosom purer souls than these, + Or braver bodies on its surface bore." +</pre> + + +<p> + The sonnets were not disliked, and the captive was rejoiced at +the tidings they gave him of his comrade, and continuing his tale, +he went on to say:</p> + +<p> +The Goletta and the fort being thus in their hands, the Turks gave +orders to dismantle the Goletta—for the fort was reduced to such a +state that there was nothing left to level—and to do the work more +quickly and easily they mined it in three places; but nowhere were +they able to blow up the part which seemed to be the least strong, +that is to say, the old walls, while all that remained standing of the +new fortifications that the Fratin had made came to the ground with +the greatest ease. Finally the fleet returned victorious and +triumphant to Constantinople, and a few months later died my master, +El Uchali, otherwise Uchali Fartax, which means in Turkish "the scabby +renegade;" for that he was; it is the practice with the Turks to +name people from some defect or virtue they may possess; the reason +being that there are among them only four surnames belonging to +families tracing their descent from the Ottoman house, and the others, +as I have said, take their names and surnames either from bodily +blemishes or moral qualities. This "scabby one" rowed at the oar as +a slave of the Grand Signor's for fourteen years, and when over +thirty-four years of age, in resentment at having been struck by a +Turk while at the oar, turned renegade and renounced his faith in +order to be able to revenge himself; and such was his valour that, +without owing his advancement to the base ways and means by which most +favourites of the Grand Signor rise to power, he came to be king of +Algiers, and afterwards general-on-sea, which is the third place of +trust in the realm. He was a Calabrian by birth, and a worthy man +morally, and he treated his slaves with great humanity. He had three +thousand of them, and after his death they were divided, as he +directed by his will, between the Grand Signor (who is heir of all who +die and shares with the children of the deceased) and his renegades. I +fell to the lot of a Venetian renegade who, when a cabin boy on +board a ship, had been taken by Uchali and was so much beloved by +him that he became one of his most favoured youths. He came to be +the most cruel renegade I ever saw: his name was Hassan Aga, and he +grew very rich and became king of Algiers. With him I went there +from Constantinople, rather glad to be so near Spain, not that I +intended to write to anyone about my unhappy lot, but to try if +fortune would be kinder to me in Algiers than in Constantinople, where +I had attempted in a thousand ways to escape without ever finding a +favourable time or chance; but in Algiers I resolved to seek for other +means of effecting the purpose I cherished so dearly; for the hope +of obtaining my liberty never deserted me; and when in my plots and +schemes and attempts the result did not answer my expectations, +without giving way to despair I immediately began to look out for or +conjure up some new hope to support me, however faint or feeble it +might be.</p> + +<p>In this way I lived on immured in a building or prison called by the +Turks a bano in which they confine the Christian captives, as well +those that are the king's as those belonging to private individuals, +and also what they call those of the Almacen, which is as much as to +say the slaves of the municipality, who serve the city in the public +works and other employments; but captives of this kind recover their +liberty with great difficulty, for, as they are public property and +have no particular master, there is no one with whom to treat for +their ransom, even though they may have the means. To these banos, +as I have said, some private individuals of the town are in the +habit of bringing their captives, especially when they are to be +ransomed; because there they can keep them in safety and comfort until +their ransom arrives. The king's captives also, that are on ransom, do +not go out to work with the rest of the crew, unless when their ransom +is delayed; for then, to make them write for it more pressingly, +they compel them to work and go for wood, which is no light labour.</p> + +<p>I, however, was one of those on ransom, for when it was discovered +that I was a captain, although I declared my scanty means and want +of fortune, nothing could dissuade them from including me among the +gentlemen and those waiting to be ransomed. They put a chain on me, +more as a mark of this than to keep me safe, and so I passed my life +in that bano with several other gentlemen and persons of quality +marked out as held to ransom; but though at times, or rather almost +always, we suffered from hunger and scanty clothing, nothing +distressed us so much as hearing and seeing at every turn the +unexampled and unheard-of cruelties my master inflicted upon the +Christians. Every day he hanged a man, impaled one, cut off the ears +of another; and all with so little provocation, or so entirely without +any, that the Turks acknowledged he did it merely for the sake of +doing it, and because he was by nature murderously disposed towards +the whole human race. The only one that fared at all well with him was +a Spanish soldier, something de Saavedra by name, to whom he never +gave a blow himself, or ordered a blow to be given, or addressed a +hard word, although he had done things that will dwell in the memory +of the people there for many a year, and all to recover his liberty; +and for the least of the many things he did we all dreaded that he +would be impaled, and he himself was in fear of it more than once; and +only that time does not allow, I could tell you now something of +what that soldier did, that would interest and astonish you much +more than the narration of my own tale.</p> + +<p>To go on with my story; the courtyard of our prison was overlooked +by the windows of the house belonging to a wealthy Moor of high +position; and these, as is usual in Moorish houses, were rather +loopholes than windows, and besides were covered with thick and +close lattice-work. It so happened, then, that as I was one day on the +terrace of our prison with three other comrades, trying, to pass +away the time, how far we could leap with our chains, we being +alone, for all the other Christians had gone out to work, I chanced to +raise my eyes, and from one of these little closed windows I saw a +reed appear with a cloth attached to the end of it, and it kept waving +to and fro, and moving as if making signs to us to come and take it. +We watched it, and one of those who were with me went and stood +under the reed to see whether they would let it drop, or what they +would do, but as he did so the reed was raised and moved from side +to side, as if they meant to say "no" by a shake of the head. The +Christian came back, and it was again lowered, making the same +movements as before. Another of my comrades went, and with him the +same happened as with the first, and then the third went forward, +but with the same result as the first and second. Seeing this I did +not like not to try my luck, and as soon as I came under the reed it +was dropped and fell inside the bano at my feet. I hastened to untie +the cloth, in which I perceived a knot, and in this were ten cianis, +which are coins of base gold, current among the Moors, and each +worth ten reals of our money.</p> + +<p>It is needless to say I rejoiced over this godsend, and my joy was +not less than my wonder as I strove to imagine how this good fortune +could have come to us, but to me specially; for the evident +unwillingness to drop the reed for any but me showed that it was for +me the favour was intended. I took my welcome money, broke the reed, +and returned to the terrace, and looking up at the window, I saw a +very white hand put out that opened and shut very quickly. From this +we gathered or fancied that it must be some woman living in that house +that had done us this kindness, and to show that we were grateful +for it, we made salaams after the fashion of the Moors, bowing the +head, bending the body, and crossing the arms on the breast. Shortly +afterwards at the same window a small cross made of reeds was put +out and immediately withdrawn. This sign led us to believe that some +Christian woman was a captive in the house, and that it was she who +had been so good to us; but the whiteness of the hand and the +bracelets we had perceived made us dismiss that idea, though we +thought it might be one of the Christian renegades whom their +masters very often take as lawful wives, and gladly, for they prefer +them to the women of their own nation. In all our conjectures we +were wide of the truth; so from that time forward our sole +occupation was watching and gazing at the window where the cross had +appeared to us, as if it were our pole-star; but at least fifteen days +passed without our seeing either it or the hand, or any other sign and +though meanwhile we endeavoured with the utmost pains to ascertain who +it was that lived in the house, and whether there were any Christian +renegade in it, nobody could ever tell us anything more than that he +who lived there was a rich Moor of high position, Hadji Morato by +name, formerly alcaide of La Pata, an office of high dignity among +them. But when we least thought it was going to rain any more cianis +from that quarter, we saw the reed suddenly appear with another +cloth tied in a larger knot attached to it, and this at a time when, +as on the former occasion, the bano was deserted and unoccupied.</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c40b"></a><img alt="c40b.jpg (288K)" src="images/c40b.jpg" height="833" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c40b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>We made trial as before, each of the same three going forward before +I did; but the reed was delivered to none but me, and on my approach +it was let drop. I untied the knot and I found forty Spanish gold +crowns with a paper written in Arabic, and at the end of the writing +there was a large cross drawn. I kissed the cross, took the crowns and +returned to the terrace, and we all made our salaams; again the hand +appeared, I made signs that I would read the paper, and then the +window was closed. We were all puzzled, though filled with joy at what +had taken place; and as none of us understood Arabic, great was our +curiosity to know what the paper contained, and still greater the +difficulty of finding some one to read it. At last I resolved to +confide in a renegade, a native of Murcia, who professed a very +great friendship for me, and had given pledges that bound him to +keep any secret I might entrust to him; for it is the custom with some +renegades, when they intend to return to Christian territory, to carry +about them certificates from captives of mark testifying, in +whatever form they can, that such and such a renegade is a worthy +man who has always shown kindness to Christians, and is anxious to +escape on the first opportunity that may present itself. Some obtain +these testimonials with good intentions, others put them to a +cunning use; for when they go to pillage on Christian territory, if +they chance to be cast away, or taken prisoners, they produce their +certificates and say that from these papers may be seen the object +they came for, which was to remain on Christian ground, and that it +was to this end they joined the Turks in their foray. In this way they +escape the consequences of the first outburst and make their peace +with the Church before it does them any harm, and then when they +have the chance they return to Barbary to become what they were +before. Others, however, there are who procure these papers and make +use of them honestly, and remain on Christian soil. This friend of +mine, then, was one of these renegades that I have described; he had +certificates from all our comrades, in which we testified in his +favour as strongly as we could; and if the Moors had found the +papers they would have burned him alive.</p> + +<p>I knew that he understood Arabic very well, and could not only speak +but also write it; but before I disclosed the whole matter to him, I +asked him to read for me this paper which I had found by accident in a +hole in my cell. He opened it and remained some time examining it +and muttering to himself as he translated it. I asked him if he +understood it, and he told me he did perfectly well, and that if I +wished him to tell me its meaning word for word, I must give him pen +and ink that he might do it more satisfactorily. We at once gave him +what he required, and he set about translating it bit by bit, and when +he had done he said:</p> + +<p>"All that is here in Spanish is what the Moorish paper contains, and +you must bear in mind that when it says 'Lela +Marien' it means 'Our Lady the Virgin Mary.'"</p> + +<p>We read the paper and it ran thus:</p> + +<p>"When I was a child my father had a slave who taught me to pray +the Christian prayer in my own language, and told me many things about +Lela Marien. The Christian died, and I know that she did not go to the +fire, but to Allah, because since then I have seen her twice, and +she told me to go to the land of the Christians to see Lela Marien, +who had great love for me. I know not how to go. I have seen many +Christians, but except thyself none has seemed to me to be a +gentleman. I am young and beautiful, and have plenty of money to +take with me. See if thou canst contrive how we may go, and if thou +wilt thou shalt be my husband there, and if thou wilt not it will +not distress me, for Lela Marien will find me some one to marry me. +I myself have written this: have a care to whom thou givest it to +read: trust no Moor, for they are all perfidious. I am greatly +troubled on this account, for I would not have thee confide in anyone, +because if my father knew it he would at once fling me down a well and +cover me with stones. I will put a thread to the reed; tie the +answer to it, and if thou hast no one to write for thee in Arabic, +tell it to me by signs, for Lela Marien will make me understand +thee. She and Allah and this cross, which I often kiss as the +captive bade me, protect thee."</p> + +<p>Judge, sirs, whether we had reason for surprise and joy at the words +of this paper; and both one and the other were so great, that the +renegade perceived that the paper had not been found by chance, but +had been in reality addressed to some one of us, and he begged us, +if what he suspected were the truth, to trust him and tell him all, +for he would risk his life for our freedom; and so saying he took +out from his breast a metal crucifix, and with many tears swore by the +God the image represented, in whom, sinful and wicked as he was, he +truly and faithfully believed, to be loyal to us and keep secret +whatever we chose to reveal to him; for he thought and almost +foresaw that by means of her who had written that paper, he and all of +us would obtain our liberty, and he himself obtain the object he so +much desired, his restoration to the bosom of the Holy Mother +Church, from which by his own sin and ignorance he was now severed +like a corrupt limb. The renegade said this with so many tears and +such signs of repentance, that with one consent we all agreed to +tell him the whole truth of the matter, and so we gave him a full +account of all, without hiding anything from him. We pointed out to +him the window at which the reed appeared, and he by that means took +note of the house, and resolved to ascertain with particular care +who lived in it. We agreed also that it would be advisable to answer +the Moorish lady's letter, and the renegade without a moment's delay +took down the words I dictated to him, which were exactly what I shall +tell you, for nothing of importance that took place in this affair has +escaped my memory, or ever will while life lasts. This, then, was +the answer returned to the Moorish lady:</p> + +<p>"The true Allah protect thee, Lady, and that blessed Marien who is +the true mother of God, and who has put it into thy heart to go to the +land of the Christians, because she loves thee. Entreat her that she +be pleased to show thee how thou canst execute the command she gives +thee, for she will, such is her goodness. On my own part, and on +that of all these Christians who are with me, I promise to do all that +we can for thee, even to death. Fail not to write to me and inform +me what thou dost mean to do, and I will always answer thee; for the +great Allah has given us a Christian captive who can speak and write +thy language well, as thou mayest see by this paper; without fear, +therefore, thou canst inform us of all thou wouldst. As to what thou +sayest, that if thou dost reach the land of the Christians thou wilt +be my wife, I give thee my promise upon it as a good Christian; and +know that the Christians keep their promises better than the Moors. +Allah and Marien his mother watch over thee, my Lady."</p> + +<p>The paper being written and folded I waited two days until the +bano was empty as before, and immediately repaired to the usual walk +on the terrace to see if there were any sign of the reed, which was +not long in making its appearance. As soon as I saw it, although I +could not distinguish who put it out, I showed the paper as a sign +to attach the thread, but it was already fixed to the reed, and to +it I tied the paper; and shortly afterwards our star once more made +its appearance with the white flag of peace, the little bundle. It was +dropped, and I picked it up, and found in the cloth, in gold and +silver coins of all sorts, more than fifty crowns, which fifty times +more strengthened our joy and doubled our hope of gaining our liberty. +That very night our renegade returned and said he had learned that the +Moor we had been told of lived in that house, that his name was +Hadji Morato, that he was enormously rich, that he had one only +daughter the heiress of all his wealth, and that it was the general +opinion throughout the city that she was the most beautiful woman in +Barbary, and that several of the viceroys who came there had sought +her for a wife, but that she had been always unwilling to marry; and +he had learned, moreover, that she had a Christian slave who was now +dead; all which agreed with the contents of the paper. We +immediately took counsel with the renegade as to what means would have +to be adopted in order to carry off the Moorish lady and bring us +all to Christian territory; and in the end it was agreed that for +the present we should wait for a second communication from Zoraida +(for that was the name of her who now desires to be called Maria), +because we saw clearly that she and no one else could find a way out +of all these difficulties. When we had decided upon this the +renegade told us not to be uneasy, for he would lose his life or +restore us to liberty. For four days the bano was filled with +people, for which reason the reed delayed its appearance for four +days, but at the end of that time, when the bano was, as it +generally was, empty, it appeared with the cloth so bulky that it +promised a happy birth. Reed and cloth came down to me, and I found +another paper and a hundred crowns in gold, without any other coin. +The renegade was present, and in our cell we gave him the paper to +read, which was to this effect:</p> + +<p>"I cannot think of a plan, senor, for our going to Spain, nor has +Lela Marien shown me one, though I have asked her. All that can be +done is for me to give you plenty of money in gold from this window. +With it ransom yourself and your friends, and let one of you go to the +land of the Christians, and there buy a vessel and come back for the +others; and he will find me in my father's garden, which is at the +Babazon gate near the seashore, where I shall be all this summer +with my father and my servants. You can carry me away from there by +night without any danger, and bring me to the vessel. And remember +thou art to be my husband, else I will pray to Marien to punish +thee. If thou canst not trust anyone to go for the vessel, ransom +thyself and do thou go, for I know thou wilt return more surely than +any other, as thou art a gentleman and a Christian. Endeavour to +make thyself acquainted with the garden; and when I see thee walking +yonder I shall know that the bano is empty and I will give thee +abundance of money. Allah protect thee, senor."</p> + +<p>These were the words and contents of the second paper, and on +hearing them, each declared himself willing to be the ransomed one, +and promised to go and return with scrupulous good faith; and I too +made the same offer; but to all this the renegade objected, saying +that he would not on any account consent to one being set free +before all went together, as experience had taught him how ill those +who have been set free keep promises which they made in captivity; for +captives of distinction frequently had recourse to this plan, paying +the ransom of one who was to go to Valencia or Majorca with money to +enable him to arm a bark and return for the others who had ransomed +him, but who never came back; for recovered liberty and the dread of +losing it again efface from the memory all the obligations in the +world. And to prove the truth of what he said, he told us briefly what +had happened to a certain Christian gentleman almost at that very +time, the strangest case that had ever occurred even there, where +astonishing and marvellous things are happening every instant. In +short, he ended by saying that what could and ought to be done was +to give the money intended for the ransom of one of us Christians to +him, so that he might with it buy a vessel there in Algiers under +the pretence of becoming a merchant and trader at Tetuan and along the +coast; and when master of the vessel, it would be easy for him to +hit on some way of getting us all out of the bano and putting us on +board; especially if the Moorish lady gave, as she said, money +enough to ransom all, because once free it would be the easiest +thing in the world for us to embark even in open day; but the greatest +difficulty was that the Moors do not allow any renegade to buy or +own any craft, unless it be a large vessel for going on roving +expeditions, because they are afraid that anyone who buys a small +vessel, especially if he be a Spaniard, only wants it for the +purpose of escaping to Christian territory. This however he could +get over by arranging with a Tagarin Moor to go shares with him in the +purchase of the vessel, and in the profit on the cargo; and under +cover of this he could become master of the vessel, in which case he +looked upon all the rest as accomplished. But though to me and my +comrades it had seemed a better plan to send to Majorca for the +vessel, as the Moorish lady suggested, we did not dare to oppose +him, fearing that if we did not do as he said he would denounce us, +and place us in danger of losing all our lives if he were to +disclose our dealings with Zoraida, for whose life we would have all +given our own. We therefore resolved to put ourselves in the hands +of God and in the renegade's; and at the same time an answer was given +to Zoraida, telling her that we would do all she recommended, for +she had given as good advice as if Lela Marien had delivered it, and +that it depended on her alone whether we were to defer the business or +put it in execution at once. I renewed my promise to be her husband; +and thus the next day that the bano chanced to be empty she at +different times gave us by means of the reed and cloth two thousand +gold crowns and a paper in which she said that the next Juma, that +is to say Friday, she was going to her father's garden, but that +before she went she would give us more money; and if it were not +enough we were to let her know, as she would give us as much as we +asked, for her father had so much he would not miss it, and besides +she kept all the keys.</p> + +<p>We at once gave the renegade five hundred crowns to buy the +vessel, and with eight hundred I ransomed myself, giving the money +to a Valencian merchant who happened to be in Algiers at the time, and +who had me released on his word, pledging it that on the arrival of +the first ship from Valencia he would pay my ransom; for if he had +given the money at once it would have made the king suspect that my +ransom money had been for a long time in Algiers, and that the +merchant had for his own advantage kept it secret. In fact my master +was so difficult to deal with that I dared not on any account pay down +the money at once. The Thursday before the Friday on which the fair +Zoraida was to go to the garden she gave us a thousand crowns more, +and warned us of her departure, begging me, if I were ransomed, to +find out her father's garden at once, and by all means to seek an +opportunity of going there to see her. I answered in a few words +that I would do so, and that she must remember to commend us to Lela +Marien with all the prayers the captive had taught her. This having +been done, steps were taken to ransom our three comrades, so as to +enable them to quit the bano, and lest, seeing me ransomed and +themselves not, though the money was forthcoming, they should make a +disturbance about it and the devil should prompt them to do +something that might injure Zoraida; for though their position might +be sufficient to relieve me from this apprehension, nevertheless I was +unwilling to run any risk in the matter; and so I had them ransomed in +the same way as I was, handing over all the money to the merchant so +that he might with safety and confidence give security; without, +however, confiding our arrangement and secret to him, which might have +been dangerous.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c40e"></a><img alt="c40e.jpg (34K)" src="images/c40e.jpg" height="667" width="425"> +</center> + + +<br> +<br> + + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p12.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p14.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +</body> +</html> + |