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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/p8.htm b/old/orig5921-h/p8.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58ba71f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig5921-h/p8.htm @@ -0,0 +1,664 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE, By Cervantes, Vol. I., Part 8.</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="p7.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p9.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 8. +<br><br> +Chapter 23 +</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> + +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> +<center> +<h3>Ebook Editor's Note</h3> +</center> + +<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="#ch23">CHAPTER XXIII</a> +OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE IN THE SIERRA MORENA, +WHICH WAS ONE OF THE RAREST ADVENTURES RELATED +IN THIS VERACIOUS HISTORY + +</pre> + +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE IN THE SIERRA MORENA, WHICH WAS ONE OF +THE RAREST ADVENTURES RELATED IN THIS VERACIOUS HISTORY +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23a"></a><img alt="c23a.jpg (148K)" src="images/c23a.jpg" height="404" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Seeing himself served in this way, Don Quixote said to his squire, +"I have always heard it said, Sancho, that to do good to boors is to +throw water into the sea. If I had believed thy words, I should have +avoided this trouble; but it is done now, it is only to have +patience and take warning for the future."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23b"></a><img alt="c23b.jpg (318K)" src="images/c23b.jpg" height="512" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"Your worship will take warning as much as I am a Turk," returned +Sancho; "but, as you say this mischief might have been avoided if +you had believed me, believe me now, and a still greater one will be +avoided; for I tell you chivalry is of no account with the Holy +Brotherhood, and they don't care two maravedis for all the +knights-errant in the world; and I can tell you I fancy I hear their +arrows whistling past my ears this minute."</p> + +<p>"Thou art a coward by nature, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "but lest +thou shouldst say I am obstinate, and that I never do as thou dost +advise, this once I will take thy advice, and withdraw out of reach of +that fury thou so dreadest; but it must be on one condition, that +never, in life or in death, thou art to say to anyone that I retired +or withdrew from this danger out of fear, but only in compliance +with thy entreaties; for if thou sayest otherwise thou wilt lie +therein, and from this time to that, and from that to this, I give +thee lie, and say thou liest and wilt lie every time thou thinkest +or sayest it; and answer me not again; for at the mere thought that +I am withdrawing or retiring from any danger, above all from this, +which does seem to carry some little shadow of fear with it, I am +ready to take my stand here and await alone, not only that Holy +Brotherhood you talk of and dread, but the brothers of the twelve +tribes of Israel, and the Seven Maccabees, and Castor and Pollux, +and all the brothers and brotherhoods in the world."</p> + +<p>"Senor," replied Sancho, "to retire is not to flee, and there is +no wisdom in waiting when danger outweighs hope, and it is the part of +wise men to preserve themselves to-day for to-morrow, and not risk all +in one day; and let me tell you, though I am a clown and a boor, I +have got some notion of what they call safe conduct; so repent not +of having taken my advice, but mount Rocinante if you can, and if +not I will help you; and follow me, for my mother-wit tells me we have +more need of legs than hands just now."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote mounted without replying, and, Sancho leading the way on +his ass, they entered the side of the Sierra Morena, which was close +by, as it was Sancho's design to cross it entirely and come out +again at El Viso or Almodovar del Campo, and hide for some days +among its crags so as to escape the search of the Brotherhood should +they come to look for them. He was encouraged in this by perceiving +that the stock of provisions carried by the ass had come safe out of +the fray with the galley slaves, a circumstance that he regarded as +a miracle, seeing how they pillaged and ransacked.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23c"></a><img alt="c23c.jpg (297K)" src="images/c23c.jpg" height="503" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>That night they reached the very heart of the Sierra Morena, where +it seemed prudent to Sancho to pass the night and even some days, at +least as many as the stores he carried might last, and so they +encamped between two rocks and among some cork trees; but fatal +destiny, which, according to the opinion of those who have not the +light of the true faith, directs, arranges, and settles everything +in its own way, so ordered it that Gines de Pasamonte, the famous +knave and thief who by the virtue and madness of Don Quixote had +been released from the chain, driven by fear of the Holy +Brotherhood, which he had good reason to dread, resolved to take +hiding in the mountains; and his fate and fear led him to the same +spot to which Don Quixote and Sancho Panza had been led by theirs, +just in time to recognise them and leave them to fall asleep: and as +the wicked are always ungrateful, and necessity leads to evildoing, +and immediate advantage overcomes all considerations of the future, +Gines, who was neither grateful nor well-principled, made up his +mind to steal Sancho Panza's ass, not troubling himself about +Rocinante, as being a prize that was no good either to pledge or sell. +While Sancho slept he stole his ass, and before day dawned he was +far out of reach.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23d"></a><img alt="c23d.jpg (256K)" src="images/c23d.jpg" height="858" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23d.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<p>Aurora made her appearance bringing gladness to the earth but +sadness to Sancho Panza, for he found that his Dapple was missing, and +seeing himself bereft of him he began the saddest and most doleful +lament in the world, so loud that Don Quixote awoke at his +exclamations and heard him saying, "O son of my bowels, born in my +very house, my children's plaything, my wife's joy, the envy of my +neighbours, relief of my burdens, and lastly, half supporter of +myself, for with the six-and-twenty maravedis thou didst earn me daily +I met half my charges."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote, when he heard the lament and learned the cause, +consoled Sancho with the best arguments he could, entreating him to be +patient, and promising to give him a letter of exchange ordering three +out of five ass-colts that he had at home to be given to him. Sancho +took comfort at this, dried his tears, suppressed his sobs, and +returned thanks for the kindness shown him by Don Quixote. He on his +part was rejoiced to the heart on entering the mountains, as they +seemed to him to be just the place for the adventures he was in +quest of. They brought back to his memory the marvellous adventures +that had befallen knights-errant in like solitudes and wilds, and he +went along reflecting on these things, so absorbed and carried away by +them that he had no thought for anything else.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23e"></a><img alt="c23e.jpg (280K)" src="images/c23e.jpg" height="825" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23e.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Nor had Sancho any +other care (now that he fancied he was travelling in a safe quarter) +than to satisfy his appetite with such remains as were left of the +clerical spoils, and so he marched behind his master laden with what +Dapple used to carry, emptying the sack and packing his paunch, and so +long as he could go that way, he would not have given a farthing to +meet with another adventure.</p> + +<p>While so engaged he raised his eyes and saw that his master had +halted, and was trying with the point of his pike to lift some bulky +object that lay upon the ground, on which he hastened to join him +and help him if it were needful, and reached him just as with the +point of the pike he was raising a saddle-pad with a valise attached +to it, half or rather wholly rotten and torn; but so heavy were they +that Sancho had to help to take them up, and his master directed him +to see what the valise contained. Sancho did so with great alacrity, +and though the valise was secured by a chain and padlock, from its +torn and rotten condition he was able to see its contents, which +were four shirts of fine holland, and other articles of linen no +less curious than clean; and in a handkerchief he found a good lot +of gold crowns, and as soon as he saw them he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Blessed be all Heaven for sending us an adventure that is good +for something!"</p> + +<p>Searching further he found a little memorandum book richly bound; +this Don Quixote asked of him, telling him to take the money and +keep it for himself. Sancho kissed his hands for the favour, and +cleared the valise of its linen, which he stowed away in the provision +sack. Considering the whole matter, Don Quixote observed:</p> + +<p>"It seems to me, Sancho—and it is impossible it can be +otherwise—that some strayed traveller must have crossed this sierra and been +attacked and slain by footpads, who brought him to this remote spot to +bury him."</p> + +<p>"That cannot be," answered Sancho, "because if they had been robbers +they would not have left this money."</p> + +<p>"Thou art right," said Don Quixote, "and I cannot guess or explain +what this may mean; but stay; let us see if in this memorandum book +there is anything written by which we may be able to trace out or +discover what we want to know."</p> + +<p>He opened it, and the first thing he found in it, written roughly +but in a very good hand, was a sonnet, and reading it aloud that +Sancho might hear it, he found that it ran as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><blockquote> +<pre> +SONNET + +Or Love is lacking in intelligence, + Or to the height of cruelty attains, + Or else it is my doom to suffer pains +Beyond the measure due to my offence. +But if Love be a God, it follows thence + That he knows all, and certain it remains + No God loves cruelty; then who ordains +This penance that enthrals while it torments? +It were a falsehood, Chloe, thee to name; + Such evil with such goodness cannot live; +And against Heaven I dare not charge the blame, + I only know it is my fate to die. + To him who knows not whence his malady + A miracle alone a cure can give.</pre> +</blockquote></blockquote> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23f"></a><img alt="c23f.jpg (344K)" src="images/c23f.jpg" height="816" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23f.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<p> +"There is nothing to be learned from that rhyme," said Sancho, +"unless by that clue there's in it, one may draw out the ball of the +whole matter."</p> + +<p>"What clue is there?" said Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"I thought your worship spoke of a clue in it," said Sancho.</p> + +<p>"I only said Chloe," replied Don Quixote; "and that no doubt, is the +name of the lady of whom the author of the sonnet complains; and, +faith, he must be a tolerable poet, or I know little of the craft."</p> + +<p>"Then your worship understands rhyming too?"</p> + +<p>"And better than thou thinkest," replied Don Quixote, "as thou shalt +see when thou carriest a letter written in verse from beginning to end +to my lady Dulcinea del Toboso, for I would have thee know, Sancho, +that all or most of the knights-errant in days of yore were great +troubadours and great musicians, for both of these accomplishments, or +more properly speaking gifts, are the peculiar property of +lovers-errant: true it is that the verses of the knights of old have +more spirit than neatness in them."</p> + +<p>"Read more, your worship," said Sancho, "and you will find something +that will enlighten us."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote turned the page and said, "This is prose and seems to be +a letter."</p> + +<p>"A correspondence letter, senor?"</p> + +<p>"From the beginning it seems to be a love letter," replied Don +Quixote.</p> + +<p>"Then let your worship read it aloud," said Sancho, "for I am very +fond of love matters."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart," said Don Quixote, and reading it aloud as +Sancho had requested him, he found it ran thus:</p> + +<p> +Thy false promise and my sure misfortune carry me to a place +whence the news of my death will reach thy ears before the words of my +complaint. Ungrateful one, thou hast rejected me for one more wealthy, +but not more worthy; but if virtue were esteemed wealth I should +neither envy the fortunes of others nor weep for misfortunes of my +own. What thy beauty raised up thy deeds have laid low; by it I +believed thee to be an angel, by them I know thou art a woman. Peace +be with thee who hast sent war to me, and Heaven grant that the deceit +of thy husband be ever hidden from thee, so that thou repent not of +what thou hast done, and I reap not a revenge I would not have.</p> + +<p>When he had finished the letter, Don Quixote said, "There is less to +be gathered from this than from the verses, except that he who wrote +it is some rejected lover;" and turning over nearly all the pages of +the book he found more verses and letters, some of which he could +read, while others he could not; but they were all made up of +complaints, laments, misgivings, desires and aversions, favours and +rejections, some rapturous, some doleful. While Don Quixote examined +the book, Sancho examined the valise, not leaving a corner in the +whole of it or in the pad that he did not search, peer into, and +explore, or seam that he did not rip, or tuft of wool that he did +not pick to pieces, lest anything should escape for want of care and +pains; so keen was the covetousness excited in him by the discovery of +the crowns, which amounted to near a hundred; and though he found no +more booty, he held the blanket flights, balsam vomits, stake +benedictions, carriers' fisticuffs, missing alforjas, stolen coat, and +all the hunger, thirst, and weariness he had endured in the service of +his good master, cheap at the price; as he considered himself more +than fully indemnified for all by the payment he received in the +gift of the treasure-trove.</p> + +<p>The Knight of the Rueful Countenance was still very anxious to +find out who the owner of the valise could be, conjecturing from the +sonnet and letter, from the money in gold, and from the fineness of +the shirts, that he must be some lover of distinction whom the scorn +and cruelty of his lady had driven to some desperate course; but as in +that uninhabited and rugged spot there was no one to be seen of whom +he could inquire, he saw nothing else for it but to push on, taking +whatever road Rocinante chose—which was where he could make his +way—firmly persuaded that among these wilds he could not fail to meet +some rare adventure. As he went along, then, occupied with these +thoughts, he perceived on the summit of a height that rose before +their eyes a man who went springing from rock to rock and from tussock +to tussock with marvellous agility. As well as he could make out he +was unclad, with a thick black beard, long tangled hair, and bare legs +and feet, his thighs were covered by breeches apparently of tawny +velvet but so ragged that they showed his skin in several places.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23g"></a><img alt="c23g.jpg (360K)" src="images/c23g.jpg" height="817" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23g.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>He was bareheaded, and notwithstanding the swiftness with which he passed +as has been described, the Knight of the Rueful Countenance observed +and noted all these trifles, and though he made the attempt, he was +unable to follow him, for it was not granted to the feebleness of +Rocinante to make way over such rough ground, he being, moreover, +slow-paced and sluggish by nature. Don Quixote at once came to the +conclusion that this was the owner of the saddle-pad and of the +valise, and made up his mind to go in search of him, even though he +should have to wander a year in those mountains before he found him, +and so he directed Sancho to take a short cut over one side of the +mountain, while he himself went by the other, and perhaps by this +means they might light upon this man who had passed so quickly out +of their sight.</p> + +<p>"I could not do that," said Sancho, "for when I separate from your +worship fear at once lays hold of me, and assails me with all sorts of +panics and fancies; and let what I now say be a notice that from +this time forth I am not going to stir a finger's width from your +presence."</p> + +<p>"It shall be so," said he of the Rueful Countenance, "and I am +very glad that thou art willing to rely on my courage, which will +never fail thee, even though the soul in thy body fail thee; so come +on now behind me slowly as well as thou canst, and make lanterns of +thine eyes; let us make the circuit of this ridge; perhaps we shall +light upon this man that we saw, who no doubt is no other than the +owner of what we found."</p> + +<p>To which Sancho made answer, "Far better would it be not to look for +him, for, if we find him, and he happens to be the owner of the money, +it is plain I must restore it; it would be better, therefore, that +without taking this needless trouble, I should keep possession of it +until in some other less meddlesome and officious way the real owner +may be discovered; and perhaps that will be when I shall have spent +it, and then the king will hold me harmless."</p> + +<p>"Thou art wrong there, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "for now that we +have a suspicion who the owner is, and have him almost before us, we +are bound to seek him and make restitution; and if we do not see +him, the strong suspicion we have as to his being the owner makes us +as guilty as if he were so; and so, friend Sancho, let not our +search for him give thee any uneasiness, for if we find him it will +relieve mine."</p> + +<p>And so saying he gave Rocinante the spur, and Sancho followed him on +foot and loaded, and after having partly made the circuit of the +mountain they found lying in a ravine, dead and half devoured by +dogs and pecked by jackdaws, a mule saddled and bridled, all which +still further strengthened their suspicion that he who had fled was +the owner of the mule and the saddle-pad.</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23h"></a><img alt="c23h.jpg (381K)" src="images/c23h.jpg" height="816" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23h.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>As they stood looking at it they heard a whistle like that of a +shepherd watching his flock, and suddenly on their left there appeared +a great number of goats and behind them on the summit of the +mountain the goatherd in charge of them, a man advanced in years. +Don Quixote called aloud to him and begged him to come down to where +they stood. He shouted in return, asking what had brought them to that +spot, seldom or never trodden except by the feet of goats, or of the +wolves and other wild beasts that roamed around. Sancho in return bade +him come down, and they would explain all to him.</p> + +<p>The goatherd descended, and reaching the place where Don Quixote +stood, he said, "I will wager you are looking at that hack mule that +lies dead in the hollow there, and, faith, it has been lying there now +these six months; tell me, have you come upon its master about here?"</p> + +<p>"We have come upon nobody," answered Don Quixote, "nor on anything +except a saddle-pad and a little valise that we found not far from +this."</p> + +<p>"I found it too," said the goatherd, "but I would not lift it nor go +near it for fear of some ill-luck or being charged with theft, for the +devil is crafty, and things rise up under one's feet to make one +fall without knowing why or wherefore."</p> + +<p>"That's exactly what I say," said Sancho; "I found it too, and I +would not go within a stone's throw of it; there I left it, and +there it lies just as it was, for I don't want a dog with a bell."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, good man," said Don Quixote, "do you know who is the owner +of this property?"</p> + +<p>"All I can tell you," said the goatherd, "is that about six months +ago, more or less, there arrived at a shepherd's hut three leagues, +perhaps, away from this, a youth of well-bred appearance and +manners, mounted on that same mule which lies dead here, and with +the same saddle-pad and valise which you say you found and did not +touch. He asked us what part of this sierra was the most rugged and +retired; we told him that it was where we now are; and so in truth +it is, for if you push on half a league farther, perhaps you will +not be able to find your way out; and I am wondering how you have +managed to come here, for there is no road or path that leads to +this spot. I say, then, that on hearing our answer the youth turned +about and made for the place we pointed out to him, leaving us all +charmed with his good looks, and wondering at his question and the +haste with which we saw him depart in the direction of the sierra; and +after that we saw him no more, until some days afterwards he crossed +the path of one of our shepherds, and without saying a word to him, +came up to him and gave him several cuffs and kicks, and then turned +to the ass with our provisions and took all the bread and cheese it +carried, and having done this made off back again into the sierra with +extraordinary swiftness. When some of us goatherds learned this we +went in search of him for about two days through the most remote +portion of this sierra, at the end of which we found him lodged in the +hollow of a large thick cork tree. He came out to meet us with great +gentleness, with his dress now torn and his face so disfigured and +burned by the sun, that we hardly recognised him but that his clothes, +though torn, convinced us, from the recollection we had of them, +that he was the person we were looking for. He saluted us courteously, +and in a few well-spoken words he told us not to wonder at seeing +him going about in this guise, as it was binding upon him in order +that he might work out a penance which for his many sins had been +imposed upon him. We asked him to tell us who he was, but we were +never able to find out from him: we begged of him too, when he was +in want of food, which he could not do without, to tell us where we +should find him, as we would bring it to him with all good-will and +readiness; or if this were not to his taste, at least to come and +ask it of us and not take it by force from the shepherds. He thanked +us for the offer, begged pardon for the late assault, and promised for +the future to ask it in God's name without offering violence to +anybody. As for fixed abode, he said he had no other than that which +chance offered wherever night might overtake him; and his words +ended in an outburst of weeping so bitter that we who listened to +him must have been very stones had we not joined him in it, +comparing what we saw of him the first time with what we saw now; for, +as I said, he was a graceful and gracious youth, and in his +courteous and polished language showed himself to be of good birth and +courtly breeding, and rustics as we were that listened to him, even to +our rusticity his gentle bearing sufficed to make it plain.</p> + +<p>"But in the midst of his conversation he stopped and became +silent, keeping his eyes fixed upon the ground for some time, during +which we stood still waiting anxiously to see what would come of +this abstraction; and with no little pity, for from his behaviour, now +staring at the ground with fixed gaze and eyes wide open without +moving an eyelid, again closing them, compressing his lips and raising +his eyebrows, we could perceive plainly that a fit of madness of +some kind had come upon him; and before long he showed that what we +imagined was the truth, for he arose in a fury from the ground where +he had thrown himself, and attacked the first he found near him with +such rage and fierceness that if we had not dragged him off him, he +would have beaten or bitten him to death, all the while exclaiming, +'Oh faithless Fernando, here, here shalt thou pay the penalty of the +wrong thou hast done me; these hands shall tear out that heart of +thine, abode and dwelling of all iniquity, but of deceit and fraud +above all; and to these he added other words all in effect +upbraiding this Fernando and charging him with treachery and +faithlessness.</p> + +<p>"We forced him to release his hold with no little difficulty, and +without another word he left us, and rushing off plunged in among +these brakes and brambles, so as to make it impossible for us to +follow him; from this we suppose that madness comes upon him from time +to time, and that some one called Fernando must have done him a +wrong of a grievous nature such as the condition to which it had +brought him seemed to show. All this has been since then confirmed +on those occasions, and they have been many, on which he has crossed +our path, at one time to beg the shepherds to give him some of the +food they carry, at another to take it from them by force; for when +there is a fit of madness upon him, even though the shepherds offer it +freely, he will not accept it but snatches it from them by dint of +blows; but when he is in his senses he begs it for the love of God, +courteously and civilly, and receives it with many thanks and not a +few tears. And to tell you the truth, sirs," continued the goatherd, +"it was yesterday that we resolved, I and four of the lads, two of +them our servants, and the other two friends of mine, to go in +search of him until we find him, and when we do to take him, whether +by force or of his own consent, to the town of Almodovar, which is +eight leagues from this, and there strive to cure him (if indeed his +malady admits of a cure), or learn when he is in his senses who he is, +and if he has relatives to whom we may give notice of his +misfortune. This, sirs, is all I can say in answer to what you have +asked me; and be sure that the owner of the articles you found is he +whom you saw pass by with such nimbleness and so naked."</p> + +<p>For Don Quixote had already described how he had seen the man go +bounding along the mountain side, and he was now filled with amazement +at what he heard from the goatherd, and more eager than ever to +discover who the unhappy madman was; and in his heart he resolved, +as he had done before, to search for him all over the mountain, not +leaving a corner or cave unexamined until he had found him. But chance +arranged matters better than he expected or hoped, for at that very +moment, in a gorge on the mountain that opened where they stood, the +youth he wished to find made his appearance, coming along talking to +himself in a way that would have been unintelligible near at hand, +much more at a distance. His garb was what has been described, save +that as he drew near, Don Quixote perceived that a tattered doublet +which he wore was amber-tanned, from which he concluded that one who +wore such garments could not be of very low rank.</p> + +<p>Approaching them, the youth greeted them in a harsh and hoarse voice +but with great courtesy. Don Quixote returned his salutation with +equal politeness, and dismounting from Rocinante advanced with +well-bred bearing and grace to embrace him, and held him for some time +close in his arms as if he had known him for a long time. The other, +whom we may call the Ragged One of the Sorry Countenance, as Don +Quixote was of the Rueful, after submitting to the embrace pushed +him back a little and, placing his hands on Don Quixote's shoulders, +stood gazing at him as if seeking to see whether he knew him, not less +amazed, perhaps, at the sight of the face, figure, and armour of Don +Quixote than Don Quixote was at the sight of him. To be brief, the +first to speak after embracing was the Ragged One, and he said what +will be told farther on.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c23i"></a><img alt="c23i.jpg (53K)" src="images/c23i.jpg" height="443" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c23i.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> + + +<br> +<br> + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p7.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p9.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + + +</body> +</html> + |