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diff --git a/old/orig5921-h/p10.htm b/old/orig5921-h/p10.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d7c5f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig5921-h/p10.htm @@ -0,0 +1,704 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE, By Cervantes, Vol. I., Part 10.</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="p9.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p11.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 10. +<br><br> +Chapter 28 +</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="#ch28">CHAPTER XXVIII</a> +WHICH TREATS OF THE STRANGE AND DELIGHTFUL ADVENTURE +THAT BEFELL THE CURATE AND THE BARBER IN THE SAME SIERRA + +</pre> + +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch28"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHICH TREATS OF THE STRANGE AND DELIGHTFUL ADVENTURE THAT BEFELL THE +CURATE AND THE BARBER IN THE SAME SIERRA +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="c28a"></a><img alt="c28a.jpg (159K)" src="images/c28a.jpg" height="446" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c28a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Happy and fortunate were the times when that most daring knight +Don Quixote of La Mancha was sent into the world; for by reason of his +having formed a resolution so honourable as that of seeking to +revive and restore to the world the long-lost and almost defunct order +of knight-errantry, we now enjoy in this age of ours, so poor in light +entertainment, not only the charm of his veracious history, but also +of the tales and episodes contained in it which are, in a measure, +no less pleasing, ingenious, and truthful, than the history itself; +which, resuming its thread, carded, spun, and wound, relates that just +as the curate was going to offer consolation to Cardenio, he was +interrupted by a voice that fell upon his ear saying in plaintive +tones:</p> + +<p>"O God! is it possible I have found a place that may serve as a +secret grave for the weary load of this body that I support so +unwillingly? If the solitude these mountains promise deceives me +not, it is so; ah! woe is me! how much more grateful to my mind will +be the society of these rocks and brakes that permit me to complain of +my misfortune to Heaven, than that of any human being, for there is +none on earth to look to for counsel in doubt, comfort in sorrow, or +relief in distress!"</p> + +<p>All this was heard distinctly by the curate and those with him, +and as it seemed to them to be uttered close by, as indeed it was, +they got up to look for the speaker, and before they had gone twenty +paces they discovered behind a rock, seated at the foot of an ash +tree, a youth in the dress of a peasant, whose face they were unable +at the moment to see as he was leaning forward, bathing his feet in +the brook that flowed past. They approached so silently that he did +not perceive them, being fully occupied in bathing his feet, which +were so fair that they looked like two pieces of shining crystal +brought forth among the other stones of the brook. The whiteness and +beauty of these feet struck them with surprise, for they did not +seem to have been made to crush clods or to follow the plough and +the oxen as their owner's dress suggested; and so, finding they had +not been noticed, the curate, who was in front, made a sign to the +other two to conceal themselves behind some fragments of rock that lay +there; which they did, observing closely what the youth was about. +He had on a loose double-skirted dark brown jacket bound tight to +his body with a white cloth; he wore besides breeches and gaiters of +brown cloth, and on his head a brown montera; and he had the gaiters +turned up as far as the middle of the leg, which verily seemed to be +of pure alabaster.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c28b"></a><img alt="c28b.jpg (339K)" src="images/c28b.jpg" height="822" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c28b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>As soon as he had done bathing his beautiful feet, he wiped them +with a towel he took from under the montera, on taking off which he +raised his face, and those who were watching him had an opportunity of +seeing a beauty so exquisite that Cardenio said to the curate in a +whisper:</p> + +<p>"As this is not Luscinda, it is no human creature but a divine +being."</p> + +<p>The youth then took off the montera, and shaking his head from +side to side there broke loose and spread out a mass of hair that +the beams of the sun might have envied; by this they knew that what +had seemed a peasant was a lovely woman, nay the most beautiful the +eyes of two of them had ever beheld, or even Cardenio's if they had +not seen and known Luscinda, for he afterwards declared that only +the beauty of Luscinda could compare with this. The long auburn +tresses not only covered her shoulders, but such was their length +and abundance, concealed her all round beneath their masses, so that +except the feet nothing of her form was visible. She now used her +hands as a comb, and if her feet had seemed like bits of crystal in +the water, her hands looked like pieces of driven snow among her +locks; all which increased not only the admiration of the three +beholders, but their anxiety to learn who she was. With this object +they resolved to show themselves, and at the stir they made in getting +upon their feet the fair damsel raised her head, and parting her +hair from before her eyes with both hands, she looked to see who had +made the noise, and the instant she perceived them she started to +her feet, and without waiting to put on her shoes or gather up her +hair, hastily snatched up a bundle as though of clothes that she had +beside her, and, scared and alarmed, endeavoured to take flight; but +before she had gone six paces she fell to the ground, her delicate +feet being unable to bear the roughness of the stones; seeing which, +the three hastened towards her, and the curate addressing her first +said:</p> + +<p>"Stay, senora, whoever you may be, for those whom you see here +only desire to be of service to you; you have no need to attempt a +flight so heedless, for neither can your feet bear it, nor we allow +it."</p> + +<p>Taken by surprise and bewildered, she made no reply to these +words. They, however, came towards her, and the curate taking her hand +went on to say:</p> + +<p>"What your dress would hide, senora, is made known to us by your +hair; a clear proof that it can be no trifling cause that has +disguised your beauty in a garb so unworthy of it, and sent it into +solitudes like these where we have had the good fortune to find you, +if not to relieve your distress, at least to offer you comfort; for no +distress, so long as life lasts, can be so oppressive or reach such +a height as to make the sufferer refuse to listen to comfort offered +with good intention. And so, senora, or senor, or whatever you +prefer to be, dismiss the fears that our appearance has caused you and +make us acquainted with your good or evil fortunes, for from all of us +together, or from each one of us, you will receive sympathy in your +trouble."</p> + +<p>While the curate was speaking, the disguised damsel stood as if +spell-bound, looking at them without opening her lips or uttering a +word, just like a village rustic to whom something strange that he has +never seen before has been suddenly shown; but on the curate +addressing some further words to the same effect to her, sighing +deeply she broke silence and said:</p> + +<p>"Since the solitude of these mountains has been unable to conceal +me, and the escape of my dishevelled tresses will not allow my +tongue to deal in falsehoods, it would be idle for me now to make +any further pretence of what, if you were to believe me, you would +believe more out of courtesy than for any other reason. This being so, +I say I thank you, sirs, for the offer you have made me, which +places me under the obligation of complying with the request you +have made of me; though I fear the account I shall give you of my +misfortunes will excite in you as much concern as compassion, for +you will be unable to suggest anything to remedy them or any +consolation to alleviate them. However, that my honour may not be left +a matter of doubt in your minds, now that you have discovered me to be +a woman, and see that I am young, alone, and in this dress, things +that taken together or separately would be enough to destroy any +good name, I feel bound to tell what I would willingly keep secret +if I could."</p> + +<p>All this she who was now seen to be a lovely woman delivered without +any hesitation, with so much ease and in so sweet a voice that they +were not less charmed by her intelligence than by her beauty, and as +they again repeated their offers and entreaties to her to fulfil her +promise, she without further pressing, first modestly covering her +feet and gathering up her hair, seated herself on a stone with the +three placed around her, and, after an effort to restrain some tears +that came to her eyes, in a clear and steady voice began her story +thus:</p> + +<p>"In this Andalusia there is a town from which a duke takes a title +which makes him one of those that are called Grandees of Spain. This +nobleman has two sons, the elder heir to his dignity and apparently to +his good qualities; the younger heir to I know not what, unless it +be the treachery of Vellido and the falsehood of Ganelon. My parents +are this lord's vassals, lowly in origin, but so wealthy that if birth +had conferred as much on them as fortune, they would have had +nothing left to desire, nor should I have had reason to fear trouble +like that in which I find myself now; for it may be that my ill +fortune came of theirs in not having been nobly born. It is true +they are not so low that they have any reason to be ashamed of their +condition, but neither are they so high as to remove from my mind +the impression that my mishap comes of their humble birth. They are, +in short, peasants, plain homely people, without any taint of +disreputable blood, and, as the saying is, old rusty Christians, but +so rich that by their wealth and free-handed way of life they are +coming by degrees to be considered gentlefolk by birth, and even by +position; though the wealth and nobility they thought most of was +having me for their daughter; and as they have no other child to +make their heir, and are affectionate parents, I was one of the most +indulged daughters that ever parents indulged.</p> + +<p>"I was the mirror in which they beheld themselves, the staff of +their old age, and the object in which, with submission to Heaven, all +their wishes centred, and mine were in accordance with theirs, for I +knew their worth; and as I was mistress of their hearts, so was I also +of their possessions. Through me they engaged or dismissed their +servants; through my hands passed the accounts and returns of what was +sown and reaped; the oil-mills, the wine-presses, the count of the +flocks and herds, the beehives, all in short that a rich farmer like +my father has or can have, I had under my care, and I acted as steward +and mistress with an assiduity on my part and satisfaction on theirs +that I cannot well describe to you. The leisure hours left to me after +I had given the requisite orders to the head-shepherds, overseers, and +other labourers, I passed in such employments as are not only +allowable but necessary for young girls, those that the needle, +embroidery cushion, and spinning wheel usually afford, and if to +refresh my mind I quitted them for a while, I found recreation in +reading some devotional book or playing the harp, for experience +taught me that music soothes the troubled mind and relieves +weariness of spirit. Such was the life I led in my parents' house +and if I have depicted it thus minutely, it is not out of ostentation, +or to let you know that I am rich, but that you may see how, without +any fault of mine, I have fallen from the happy condition I have +described, to the misery I am in at present. The truth is, that +while I was leading this busy life, in a retirement that might compare +with that of a monastery, and unseen as I thought by any except the +servants of the house (for when I went to Mass it was so early in +the morning, and I was so closely attended by my mother and the +women of the household, and so thickly veiled and so shy, that my eyes +scarcely saw more ground than I trod on), in spite of all this, the +eyes of love, or idleness, more properly speaking, that the lynx's +cannot rival, discovered me, with the help of the assiduity of Don +Fernando; for that is the name of the younger son of the duke I told +of."</p> + +<p>The moment the speaker mentioned the name of Don Fernando, +Cardenio changed colour and broke into a sweat, with such signs of +emotion that the curate and the barber, who observed it, feared that +one of the mad fits which they heard attacked him sometimes was coming +upon him; but Cardenio showed no further agitation and remained quiet, +regarding the peasant girl with fixed attention, for he began to +suspect who she was. She, however, without noticing the excitement +of Cardenio, continuing her story, went on to say:</p> + +<p>"And they had hardly discovered me, when, as he owned afterwards, he +was smitten with a violent love for me, as the manner in which it +displayed itself plainly showed. But to shorten the long recital of my +woes, I will pass over in silence all the artifices employed by Don +Fernando for declaring his passion for me. He bribed all the +household, he gave and offered gifts and presents to my parents; every +day was like a holiday or a merry-making in our street; by night no +one could sleep for the music; the love letters that used to come to +my hand, no one knew how, were innumerable, full of tender pleadings +and pledges, containing more promises and oaths than there were +letters in them; all which not only did not soften me, but hardened my +heart against him, as if he had been my mortal enemy, and as if +everything he did to make me yield were done with the opposite +intention. Not that the high-bred bearing of Don Fernando was +disagreeable to me, or that I found his importunities wearisome; for +it gave me a certain sort of satisfaction to find myself so sought and +prized by a gentleman of such distinction, and I was not displeased at +seeing my praises in his letters (for however ugly we women may be, it +seems to me it always pleases us to hear ourselves called beautiful) +but that my own sense of right was opposed to all this, as well as the +repeated advice of my parents, who now very plainly perceived Don +Fernando's purpose, for he cared very little if all the world knew it. +They told me they trusted and confided their honour and good name to +my virtue and rectitude alone, and bade me consider the disparity +between Don Fernando and myself, from which I might conclude that +his intentions, whatever he might say to the contrary, had for their +aim his own pleasure rather than my advantage; and if I were at all +desirous of opposing an obstacle to his unreasonable suit, they were +ready, they said, to marry me at once to anyone I preferred, either +among the leading people of our own town, or of any of those in the +neighbourhood; for with their wealth and my good name, a match might +be looked for in any quarter. This offer, and their sound advice +strengthened my resolution, and I never gave Don Fernando a word in +reply that could hold out to him any hope of success, however remote.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c28c"></a><img alt="c28c.jpg (279K)" src="images/c28c.jpg" height="814" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c28c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"All this caution of mine, which he must have taken for coyness, had +apparently the effect of increasing his wanton appetite—for that is +the name I give to his passion for me; had it been what he declared it +to be, you would not know of it now, because there would have been +no occasion to tell you of it. At length he learned that my parents +were contemplating marriage for me in order to put an end to his hopes +of obtaining possession of me, or at least to secure additional +protectors to watch over me, and this intelligence or suspicion made +him act as you shall hear. One night, as I was in my chamber with no +other companion than a damsel who waited on me, with the doors +carefully locked lest my honour should be imperilled through any +carelessness, I know not nor can conceive how it happened, but, with +all this seclusion and these precautions, and in the solitude and +silence of my retirement, I found him standing before me, a vision +that so astounded me that it deprived my eyes of sight, and my +tongue of speech. I had no power to utter a cry, nor, I think, did +he give me time to utter one, as he immediately approached me, and +taking me in his arms (for, overwhelmed as I was, I was powerless, I +say, to help myself), he began to make such professions to me that I +know not how falsehood could have had the power of dressing them up to +seem so like truth; and the traitor contrived that his tears should +vouch for his words, and his sighs for his sincerity.</p> + +<p>"I, a poor young creature alone, ill versed among my people in cases +such as this, began, I know not how, to think all these lying +protestations true, though without being moved by his sighs and +tears to anything more than pure compassion; and so, as the first +feeling of bewilderment passed away, and I began in some degree to +recover myself, I said to him with more courage than I thought I could +have possessed, 'If, as I am now in your arms, senor, I were in the +claws of a fierce lion, and my deliverance could be procured by +doing or saying anything to the prejudice of my honour, it would no +more be in my power to do it or say it, than it would be possible that +what was should not have been; so then, if you hold my body clasped in +your arms, I hold my soul secured by virtuous intentions, very +different from yours, as you will see if you attempt to carry them +into effect by force. I am your vassal, but I am not your slave; +your nobility neither has nor should have any right to dishonour or +degrade my humble birth; and low-born peasant as I am, I have my +self-respect as much as you, a lord and gentleman: with me your +violence will be to no purpose, your wealth will have no weight, +your words will have no power to deceive me, nor your sighs or tears +to soften me: were I to see any of the things I speak of in him whom +my parents gave me as a husband, his will should be mine, and mine +should be bounded by his; and my honour being preserved even though my +inclinations were not would willingly yield him what you, senor, would +now obtain by force; and this I say lest you should suppose that any +but my lawful husband shall ever win anything of me.' 'If that,' +said this disloyal gentleman, 'be the only scruple you feel, fairest +Dorothea' (for that is the name of this unhappy being), 'see here I +give you my hand to be yours, and let Heaven, from which nothing is +hid, and this image of Our Lady you have here, be witnesses of this +pledge.'"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c28d"></a><img alt="c28d.jpg (289K)" src="images/c28d.jpg" height="830" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c28d.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>When Cardenio heard her say she was called Dorothea, he showed fresh +agitation and felt convinced of the truth of his former suspicion, but +he was unwilling to interrupt the story, and wished to hear the end of +what he already all but knew, so he merely said:</p> + +<p>"What! is Dorothea your name, senora? I have heard of another of the +same name who can perhaps match your misfortunes. But proceed; +by-and-by I may tell you something that will astonish you as much as +it will excite your compassion."</p> + +<p>Dorothea was struck by Cardenio's words as well as by his strange +and miserable attire, and begged him if he knew anything concerning +her to tell it to her at once, for if fortune had left her any +blessing it was courage to bear whatever calamity might fall upon her, +as she felt sure that none could reach her capable of increasing in +any degree what she endured already.</p> + +<p>"I would not let the occasion pass, senora," replied Cardenio, "of +telling you what I think, if what I suspect were the truth, but so far +there has been no opportunity, nor is it of any importance to you to +know it."</p> + +<p>"Be it as it may," replied Dorothea, "what happened in my story +was that Don Fernando, taking an image that stood in the chamber, +placed it as a witness of our betrothal, and with the most binding +words and extravagant oaths gave me his promise to become my +husband; though before he had made an end of pledging himself I bade +him consider well what he was doing, and think of the anger his father +would feel at seeing him married to a peasant girl and one of his +vassals; I told him not to let my beauty, such as it was, blind him, +for that was not enough to furnish an excuse for his transgression; +and if in the love he bore me he wished to do me any kindness, it +would be to leave my lot to follow its course at the level my +condition required; for marriages so unequal never brought +happiness, nor did they continue long to afford the enjoyment they +began with.</p> + +<p>"All this that I have now repeated I said to him, and much more +which I cannot recollect; but it had no effect in inducing him to +forego his purpose; he who has no intention of paying does not trouble +himself about difficulties when he is striking the bargain. At the +same time I argued the matter briefly in my own mind, saying to +myself, 'I shall not be the first who has risen through marriage +from a lowly to a lofty station, nor will Don Fernando be the first +whom beauty or, as is more likely, a blind attachment, has led to mate +himself below his rank. Then, since I am introducing no new usage or +practice, I may as well avail myself of the honour that chance +offers me, for even though his inclination for me should not outlast +the attainment of his wishes, I shall be, after all, his wife before +God. And if I strive to repel him by scorn, I can see that, fair means +failing, he is in a mood to use force, and I shall be left dishonoured +and without any means of proving my innocence to those who cannot know +how innocently I have come to be in this position; for what +arguments would persuade my parents that this gentleman entered my +chamber without my consent?'</p> + +<p>"All these questions and answers passed through my mind in a moment; +but the oaths of Don Fernando, the witnesses he appealed to, the tears +he shed, and lastly the charms of his person and his high-bred +grace, which, accompanied by such signs of genuine love, might well +have conquered a heart even more free and coy than mine—these were +the things that more than all began to influence me and lead me +unawares to my ruin. I called my waiting-maid to me, that there +might be a witness on earth besides those in Heaven, and again Don +Fernando renewed and repeated his oaths, invoked as witnesses fresh +saints in addition to the former ones, called down upon himself a +thousand curses hereafter should he fail to keep his promise, shed +more tears, redoubled his sighs and pressed me closer in his arms, +from which he had never allowed me to escape; and so I was left by +my maid, and ceased to be one, and he became a traitor and a +perjured man.</p> + +<p>"The day which followed the night of my misfortune did not come so +quickly, I imagine, as Don Fernando wished, for when desire has +attained its object, the greatest pleasure is to fly from the scene of +pleasure. I say so because Don Fernando made all haste to leave me, +and by the adroitness of my maid, who was indeed the one who had +admitted him, gained the street before daybreak; but on taking leave +of me he told me, though not with as much earnestness and fervour as +when he came, that I might rest assured of his faith and of the +sanctity and sincerity of his oaths; and to confirm his words he +drew a rich ring off his finger and placed it upon mine. He then +took his departure and I was left, I know not whether sorrowful or +happy; all I can say is, I was left agitated and troubled in mind +and almost bewildered by what had taken place, and I had not the +spirit, or else it did not occur to me, to chide my maid for the +treachery she had been guilty of in concealing Don Fernando in my +chamber; for as yet I was unable to make up my mind whether what had +befallen me was for good or evil. I told Don Fernando at parting, that +as I was now his, he might see me on other nights in the same way, +until it should be his pleasure to let the matter become known; but, +except the following night, he came no more, nor for more than a month +could I catch a glimpse of him in the street or in church, while I +wearied myself with watching for one; although I knew he was in the +town, and almost every day went out hunting, a pastime he was very +fond of. I remember well how sad and dreary those days and hours +were to me; I remember well how I began to doubt as they went by, +and even to lose confidence in the faith of Don Fernando; and I +remember, too, how my maid heard those words in reproof of her +audacity that she had not heard before, and how I was forced to put +a constraint on my tears and on the expression of my countenance, +not to give my parents cause to ask me why I was so melancholy, and +drive me to invent falsehoods in reply. But all this was suddenly +brought to an end, for the time came when all such considerations were +disregarded, and there was no further question of honour, when my +patience gave way and the secret of my heart became known abroad. +The reason was, that a few days later it was reported in the town that +Don Fernando had been married in a neighbouring city to a maiden of +rare beauty, the daughter of parents of distinguished position, though +not so rich that her portion would entitle her to look for so +brilliant a match; it was said, too, that her name was Luscinda, and +that at the betrothal some strange things had happened."</p> + +<p>Cardenio heard the name of Luscinda, but he only shrugged his +shoulders, bit his lips, bent his brows, and before long two streams +of tears escaped from his eyes. Dorothea, however, did not interrupt +her story, but went on in these words:</p> + +<p>"This sad intelligence reached my ears, and, instead of being struck +with a chill, with such wrath and fury did my heart burn that I +scarcely restrained myself from rushing out into the streets, crying +aloud and proclaiming openly the perfidy and treachery of which I +was the victim; but this transport of rage was for the time checked by +a resolution I formed, to be carried out the same night, and that +was to assume this dress, which I got from a servant of my father's, +one of the zagals, as they are called in farmhouses, to whom I +confided the whole of my misfortune, and whom I entreated to accompany +me to the city where I heard my enemy was. He, though he +remonstrated with me for my boldness, and condemned my resolution, +when he saw me bent upon my purpose, offered to bear me company, as he +said, to the end of the world. I at once packed up in a linen +pillow-case a woman's dress, and some jewels and money to provide +for emergencies, and in the silence of the night, without letting my +treacherous maid know, I sallied forth from the house, accompanied +by my servant and abundant anxieties, and on foot set out for the +city, but borne as it were on wings by my eagerness to reach it, if +not to prevent what I presumed to be already done, at least to call +upon Don Fernando to tell me with what conscience he had done it. I +reached my destination in two days and a half, and on entering the +city inquired for the house of Luscinda's parents. The first person +I asked gave me more in reply than I sought to know; he showed me +the house, and told me all that had occurred at the betrothal of the +daughter of the family, an affair of such notoriety in the city that +it was the talk of every knot of idlers in the street. He said that on +the night of Don Fernando's betrothal with Luscinda, as soon as she +had consented to be his bride by saying 'Yes,' she was taken with a +sudden fainting fit, and that on the bridegroom approaching to +unlace the bosom of her dress to give her air, he found a paper in her +own handwriting, in which she said and declared that she could not +be Don Fernando's bride, because she was already Cardenio's, who, +according to the man's account, was a gentleman of distinction of +the same city; and that if she had accepted Don Fernando, it was +only in obedience to her parents. In short, he said, the words of +the paper made it clear she meant to kill herself on the completion of +the betrothal, and gave her reasons for putting an end to herself +all which was confirmed, it was said, by a dagger they found somewhere +in her clothes. On seeing this, Don Fernando, persuaded that +Luscinda had befooled, slighted, and trifled with him, assailed her +before she had recovered from her swoon, and tried to stab her with +the dagger that had been found, and would have succeeded had not her +parents and those who were present prevented him. It was said, +moreover, that Don Fernando went away at once, and that Luscinda did +not recover from her prostration until the next day, when she told her +parents how she was really the bride of that Cardenio I have +mentioned. I learned besides that Cardenio, according to report, had +been present at the betrothal; and that upon seeing her betrothed +contrary to his expectation, he had quitted the city in despair, +leaving behind him a letter declaring the wrong Luscinda had done him, +and his intention of going where no one should ever see him again. All +this was a matter of notoriety in the city, and everyone spoke of +it; especially when it became known that Luscinda was missing from her +father's house and from the city, for she was not to be found +anywhere, to the distraction of her parents, who knew not what steps +to take to recover her. What I learned revived my hopes, and I was +better pleased not to have found Don Fernando than to find him +married, for it seemed to me that the door was not yet entirely shut +upon relief in my case, and I thought that perhaps Heaven had put this +impediment in the way of the second marriage, to lead him to recognise +his obligations under the former one, and reflect that as a +Christian he was bound to consider his soul above all human objects. +All this passed through my mind, and I strove to comfort myself +without comfort, indulging in faint and distant hopes of cherishing +that life that I now abhor.</p> + +<p>"But while I was in the city, uncertain what to do, as I could not +find Don Fernando, I heard notice given by the public crier offering a +great reward to anyone who should find me, and giving the +particulars of my age and of the very dress I wore; and I heard it +said that the lad who came with me had taken me away from my +father's house; a thing that cut me to the heart, showing how low my +good name had fallen, since it was not enough that I should lose it by +my flight, but they must add with whom I had fled, and that one so +much beneath me and so unworthy of my consideration. The instant I +heard the notice I quitted the city with my servant, who now began +to show signs of wavering in his fidelity to me, and the same night, +for fear of discovery, we entered the most thickly wooded part of +these mountains. But, as is commonly said, one evil calls up another +and the end of one misfortune is apt to be the beginning of one +still greater, and so it proved in my case; for my worthy servant, +until then so faithful and trusty when he found me in this lonely +spot, moved more by his own villainy than by my beauty, sought to take +advantage of the opportunity which these solitudes seemed to present +him, and with little shame and less fear of God and respect for me, +began to make overtures to me; and finding that I replied to the +effrontery of his proposals with justly severe language, he laid aside +the entreaties which he had employed at first, and began to use +violence.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c28e"></a><img alt="c28e.jpg (324K)" src="images/c28e.jpg" height="810" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/c28e.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"But just Heaven, that seldom fails to watch over and aid +good intentions, so aided mine that with my slight strength and with +little exertion I pushed him over a precipice, where I left him, +whether dead or alive I know not; and then, with greater speed than +seemed possible in my terror and fatigue, I made my way into the +mountains, without any other thought or purpose save that of hiding +myself among them, and escaping my father and those despatched in +search of me by his orders. It is now I know not how many months since +with this object I came here, where I met a herdsman who engaged me as +his servant at a place in the heart of this Sierra, and all this +time I have been serving him as herd, striving to keep always afield +to hide these locks which have now unexpectedly betrayed me. But all +my care and pains were unavailing, for my master made the discovery +that I was not a man, and harboured the same base designs as my +servant; and as fortune does not always supply a remedy in cases of +difficulty, and I had no precipice or ravine at hand down which to +fling the master and cure his passion, as I had in the servant's case, +I thought it a lesser evil to leave him and again conceal myself among +these crags, than make trial of my strength and argument with him. So, +as I say, once more I went into hiding to seek for some place where +I might with sighs and tears implore Heaven to have pity on my misery, +and grant me help and strength to escape from it, or let me die +among the solitudes, leaving no trace of an unhappy being who, by no +fault of hers, has furnished matter for talk and scandal at home and +abroad."</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="c28f"></a><img alt="c28f.jpg (42K)" src="images/c28f.jpg" height="621" width="509"> +</center> + + +<br> +<br> + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p9.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5921-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p11.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +</body> +</html> + |