diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:40 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:40 -0700 |
| commit | 29f0eb3753c18666a3601966adc05d605935a716 (patch) | |
| tree | 6a15409323812910ad8bbd18f2607f988b87983d /old/orig5946-h/p22.htm | |
Diffstat (limited to 'old/orig5946-h/p22.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/orig5946-h/p22.htm | 1417 |
1 files changed, 1417 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/orig5946-h/p22.htm b/old/orig5946-h/p22.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..537c38a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig5946-h/p22.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1417 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE, By Cervantes, Vol. II., Part 22.</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="p21.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p23.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 II., Part 22. +<br><br> +Chapters 15-18 +</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="#ch15b">CHAPTER XV</a> +WHEREIN IT IS TOLD AND KNOWN WHO THE KNIGHT OF THE +MIRRORS AND HIS SQUIRE WERE + +<a href="#ch16b">CHAPTER XVI</a> +OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE WITH A DISCREET +GENTLEMAN OF LA MANCHA + +<a href="#ch17b">CHAPTER XVII</a> +WHEREIN IS SHOWN THE FURTHEST AND HIGHEST POINT +WHICH THE UNEXAMPLEDCOURAGE OF DON QUIXOTE REACHED +OR COULD REACH; TOGETHER WITH THE HAPPILY ACHIEVED +ADVENTURE OF THE LIONS + +<a href="#ch18b">CHAPTER XVIII</a> +OF WHAT HAPPENED DON QUIXOTE IN THE CASTLE OR HOUSE +OF THE KNIGHT OF THE GREEN GABAN, TOGETHER WITH +OTHER MATTERS OUT OF THE COMMON + +</pre> + +<br><br><br><br> + + +<center><h1>DON QUIXOTE</h1></center> +<br><br> +<center><h2>VOLUME II.</h2></center> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch15b"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN IT IS TOLD AND KNOWN WHO THE KNIGHT OF THE MIRRORS AND HIS +SQUIRE WERE +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p15a"></a><img alt="p15a.jpg (122K)" src="images/p15a.jpg" height="493" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p15a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Don Quixote went off satisfied, elated, and vain-glorious in the +highest degree at having won a victory over such a valiant knight as +he fancied him of the Mirrors to be, and one from whose knightly +word he expected to learn whether the enchantment of his lady still +continued; inasmuch as the said vanquished knight was bound, under the +penalty of ceasing to be one, to return and render him an account of +what took place between him and her. But Don Quixote was of one +mind, he of the Mirrors of another, for he just then had no thought of +anything but finding some village where he could plaster himself, as +has been said already. The history goes on to say, then, that when the +bachelor Samson Carrasco recommended Don Quixote to resume his +knight-errantry which he had laid aside, it was in consequence of +having been previously in conclave with the curate and the barber on +the means to be adopted to induce Don Quixote to stay at home in peace +and quiet without worrying himself with his ill-starred adventures; at +which consultation it was decided by the unanimous vote of all, and on +the special advice of Carrasco, that Don Quixote should be allowed +to go, as it seemed impossible to restrain him, and that Samson should +sally forth to meet him as a knight-errant, and do battle with him, +for there would be no difficulty about a cause, and vanquish him, that +being looked upon as an easy matter; and that it should be agreed +and settled that the vanquished was to be at the mercy of the +victor. Then, Don Quixote being vanquished, the bachelor knight was to +command him to return to his village and his house, and not quit it +for two years, or until he received further orders from him; all which +it was clear Don Quixote would unhesitatingly obey, rather than +contravene or fail to observe the laws of chivalry; and during the +period of his seclusion he might perhaps forget his folly, or there +might be an opportunity of discovering some ready remedy for his +madness. Carrasco undertook the task, and Tom Cecial, a gossip and +neighbour of Sancho Panza's, a lively, feather-headed fellow, +offered himself as his squire. Carrasco armed himself in the fashion +described, and Tom Cecial, that he might not be known by his gossip +when they met, fitted on over his own natural nose the false +masquerade one that has been mentioned; and so they followed the +same route Don Quixote took, and almost came up with him in time to be +present at the adventure of the cart of Death and finally +encountered them in the grove, where all that the sagacious reader has +been reading about took place; and had it not been for the +extraordinary fancies of Don Quixote, and his conviction that the +bachelor was not the bachelor, senor bachelor would have been +incapacitated for ever from taking his degree of licentiate, all +through not finding nests where he thought to find birds.</p> + +<p>Tom Cecial, seeing how ill they had succeeded, and what a sorry +end their expedition had come to, said to the bachelor, "Sure +enough, Senor Samson Carrasco, we are served right; it is easy +enough to plan and set about an enterprise, but it is often a +difficult matter to come well out of it. Don Quixote a madman, and +we sane; he goes off laughing, safe, and sound, and you are left +sore and sorry! I'd like to know now which is the madder, he who is so +because he cannot help it, or he who is so of his own choice?"</p> + +<p>To which Samson replied, "The difference between the two sorts of +madmen is, that he who is so will he nil he, will be one always, while +he who is so of his own accord can leave off being one whenever he +likes."</p> + +<p>"In that case," said Tom Cecial, "I was a madman of my own accord +when I volunteered to become your squire, and, of my own accord, +I'll leave off being one and go home."</p> + +<p>"That's your affair," returned Samson, "but to suppose that I am +going home until I have given Don Quixote a thrashing is absurd; and +it is not any wish that he may recover his senses that will make me +hunt him out now, but a wish for the sore pain I am in with my ribs +won't let me entertain more charitable thoughts."</p> + +<p>Thus discoursing, the pair proceeded until they reached a town where +it was their good luck to find a bone-setter, with whose help the +unfortunate Samson was cured. Tom Cecial left him and went home, while +he stayed behind meditating vengeance; and the history will return +to him again at the proper time, so as not to omit making merry with +Don Quixote now.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p15e"></a><img alt="p15e.jpg (17K)" src="images/p15e.jpg" height="339" width="431"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch16b"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE WITH A DISCREET GENTLEMAN OF LA MANCHA +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p16a"></a><img alt="p16a.jpg (85K)" src="images/p16a.jpg" height="292" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p16a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Don Quixote pursued his journey in the high spirits, satisfaction, +and self-complacency already described, fancying himself the most +valorous knight-errant of the age in the world because of his late +victory. All the adventures that could befall him from that time forth +he regarded as already done and brought to a happy issue; he made +light of enchantments and enchanters; he thought no more of the +countless drubbings that had been administered to him in the course of +his knight-errantry, nor of the volley of stones that had levelled +half his teeth, nor of the ingratitude of the galley slaves, nor of +the audacity of the Yanguesans and the shower of stakes that fell upon +him; in short, he said to himself that could he discover any means, +mode, or way of disenchanting his lady Dulcinea, he would not envy the +highest fortune that the most fortunate knight-errant of yore ever +reached or could reach.</p> + +<p>He was going along entirely absorbed in these fancies, when Sancho +said to him, "Isn't it odd, senor, that I have still before my eyes +that monstrous enormous nose of my gossip, Tom Cecial?"</p> + +<p>"And dost thou, then, believe, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "that +the Knight of the Mirrors was the bachelor Carrasco, and his squire +Tom Cecial thy gossip?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what to say to that," replied Sancho; "all I know is +that the tokens he gave me about my own house, wife and children, +nobody else but himself could have given me; and the face, once the +nose was off, was the very face of Tom Cecial, as I have seen it +many a time in my town and next door to my own house; and the sound of +the voice was just the same."</p> + +<p>"Let us reason the matter, Sancho," said Don Quixote. "Come now, +by what process of thinking can it be supposed that the bachelor +Samson Carrasco would come as a knight-errant, in arms offensive and +defensive, to fight with me? Have I ever been by any chance his enemy? +Have I ever given him any occasion to owe me a grudge? Am I his rival, +or does he profess arms, that he should envy the fame I have +acquired in them?"</p> + +<p>"Well, but what are we to say, senor," returned Sancho, "about +that knight, whoever he is, being so like the bachelor Carrasco, and +his squire so like my gossip, Tom Cecial? And if that be +enchantment, as your worship says, was there no other pair in the +world for them to take the likeness of?"</p> + +<p>"It is all," said Don Quixote, "a scheme and plot of the malignant +magicians that persecute me, who, foreseeing that I was to be +victorious in the conflict, arranged that the vanquished knight should +display the countenance of my friend the bachelor, in order that the +friendship I bear him should interpose to stay the edge of my sword +and might of my arm, and temper the just wrath of my heart; so that he +who sought to take my life by fraud and falsehood should save his own. +And to prove it, thou knowest already, Sancho, by experience which +cannot lie or deceive, how easy it is for enchanters to change one +countenance into another, turning fair into foul, and foul into +fair; for it is not two days since thou sawest with thine own eyes the +beauty and elegance of the peerless Dulcinea in all its perfection and +natural harmony, while I saw her in the repulsive and mean form of a +coarse country wench, with cataracts in her eyes and a foul smell in +her mouth; and when the perverse enchanter ventured to effect so +wicked a transformation, it is no wonder if he effected that of Samson +Carrasco and thy gossip in order to snatch the glory of victory out of +my grasp. For all that, however, I console myself, because, after all, +in whatever shape he may have been, I have victorious over my enemy."</p> + +<p>"God knows what's the truth of it all," said Sancho; and knowing +as he did that the transformation of Dulcinea had been a device and +imposition of his own, his master's illusions were not satisfactory to +him; but he did not like to reply lest he should say something that +might disclose his trickery.</p> + +<p>As they were engaged in this conversation they were overtaken by a +man who was following the same road behind them, mounted on a very +handsome flea-bitten mare, and dressed in a gaban of fine green cloth, +with tawny velvet facings, and a montera of the same velvet. The +trappings of the mare were of the field and jineta fashion, and of +mulberry colour and green. He carried a Moorish cutlass hanging from a +broad green and gold baldric; the buskins were of the same make as the +baldric; the spurs were not gilt, but lacquered green, and so brightly +polished that, matching as they did the rest of his apparel, they +looked better than if they had been of pure gold.</p> + +<p>When the traveller came up with them he saluted them courteously, +and spurring his mare was passing them without stopping, but Don +Quixote called out to him, "Gallant sir, if so be your worship is +going our road, and has no occasion for speed, it would be a +pleasure to me if we were to join company."</p> + +<p>"In truth," replied he on the mare, "I would not pass you so hastily +but for fear that horse might turn restive in the company of my mare."</p> + +<p>"You may safely hold in your mare, senor," said Sancho in reply to +this, "for our horse is the most virtuous and well-behaved horse in +the world; he never does anything wrong on such occasions, and the +only time he misbehaved, my master and I suffered for it sevenfold; +I say again your worship may pull up if you like; for if she was +offered to him between two plates the horse would not hanker after +her."</p> + +<p>The traveller drew rein, amazed at the trim and features of Don +Quixote, who rode without his helmet, which Sancho carried like a +valise in front of Dapple's pack-saddle; and if the man in green +examined Don Quixote closely, still more closely did Don Quixote +examine the man in green, who struck him as being a man of +intelligence. In appearance he was about fifty years of age, with +but few grey hairs, an aquiline cast of features, and an expression +between grave and gay; and his dress and accoutrements showed him to +be a man of good condition. What he in green thought of Don Quixote of +La Mancha was that a man of that sort and shape he had never yet seen; +he marvelled at the length of his hair, his lofty stature, the +lankness and sallowness of his countenance, his armour, his bearing +and his gravity—a figure and picture such as had not been seen in +those regions for many a long day.</p> + +<p>Don Quixote saw very plainly the attention with which the +traveller was regarding him, and read his curiosity in his +astonishment; and courteous as he was and ready to please everybody, +before the other could ask him any question he anticipated him by +saying, "The appearance I present to your worship being so strange and +so out of the common, I should not be surprised if it filled you +with wonder; but you will cease to wonder when I tell you, as I do, +that I am one of those knights who, as people say, go seeking +adventures. I have left my home, I have mortgaged my estate, I have +given up my comforts, and committed myself to the arms of Fortune, +to bear me whithersoever she may please. My desire was to bring to +life again knight-errantry, now dead, and for some time past, +stumbling here, falling there, now coming down headlong, now raising +myself up again, I have carried out a great portion of my design, +succouring widows, protecting maidens, and giving aid to wives, +orphans, and minors, the proper and natural duty of knights-errant; +and, therefore, because of my many valiant and Christian achievements, +I have been already found worthy to make my way in print to +well-nigh all, or most, of the nations of the earth. Thirty thousand +volumes of my history have been printed, and it is on the high-road to +be printed thirty thousand thousands of times, if heaven does not +put a stop to it. In short, to sum up all in a few words, or in a +single one, I may tell you I am Don Quixote of La Mancha, otherwise +called 'The Knight of the Rueful Countenance;' for though +self-praise is degrading, I must perforce sound my own sometimes, that +is to say, when there is no one at hand to do it for me. So that, +gentle sir, neither this horse, nor this lance, nor this shield, nor +this squire, nor all these arms put together, nor the sallowness of my +countenance, nor my gaunt leanness, will henceforth astonish you, +now that you know who I am and what profession I follow."</p> + +<p>With these words Don Quixote held his peace, and, from the time he +took to answer, the man in green seemed to be at a loss for a reply; +after a long pause, however, he said to him, "You were right when +you saw curiosity in my amazement, sir knight; but you have not +succeeded in removing the astonishment I feel at seeing you; for +although you say, senor, that knowing who you are ought to remove +it, it has not done so; on the contrary, now that I know, I am left +more amazed and astonished than before. What! is it possible that +there are knights-errant in the world in these days, and histories +of real chivalry printed? I cannot realise the fact that there can +be anyone on earth now-a-days who aids widows, or protects maidens, or +defends wives, or succours orphans; nor should I believe it had I +not seen it in your worship with my own eyes. Blessed be heaven! for +by means of this history of your noble and genuine chivalrous deeds, +which you say has been printed, the countless stories of fictitious +knights-errant with which the world is filled, so much to the injury +of morality and the prejudice and discredit of good histories, will +have been driven into oblivion."</p> + +<p>"There is a good deal to be said on that point," said Don Quixote, +"as to whether the histories of the knights-errant are fiction or +not."</p> + +<p>"Why, is there anyone who doubts that those histories are false?" +said the man in green.</p> + +<p>"I doubt it," said Don Quixote, "but never mind that just now; if +our journey lasts long enough, I trust in God I shall show your +worship that you do wrong in going with the stream of those who regard +it as a matter of certainty that they are not true."</p> + +<p>From this last observation of Don Quixote's, the traveller began +to have a suspicion that he was some crazy being, and was waiting +him to confirm it by something further; but before they could turn +to any new subject Don Quixote begged him to tell him who he was, +since he himself had rendered account of his station and life. To +this, he in the green gaban replied "I, Sir Knight of the Rueful +Countenance, am a gentleman by birth, native of the village where, +please God, we are going to dine today; I am more than fairly well +off, and my name is Don Diego de Miranda. I pass my life with my wife, +children, and friends; my pursuits are hunting and fishing, but I keep +neither hawks nor greyhounds, nothing but a tame partridge or a bold +ferret or two; I have six dozen or so of books, some in our mother +tongue, some Latin, some of them history, others devotional; those +of chivalry have not as yet crossed the threshold of my door; I am +more given to turning over the profane than the devotional, so long as +they are books of honest entertainment that charm by their style and +attract and interest by the invention they display, though of these +there are very few in Spain. Sometimes I dine with my neighbours and +friends, and often invite them; my entertainments are neat and well +served without stint of anything. I have no taste for tattle, nor do I +allow tattling in my presence; I pry not into my neighbours' lives, +nor have I lynx-eyes for what others do. I hear mass every day; I +share my substance with the poor, making no display of good works, +lest I let hypocrisy and vainglory, those enemies that subtly take +possession of the most watchful heart, find an entrance into mine. I +strive to make peace between those whom I know to be at variance; I am +the devoted servant of Our Lady, and my trust is ever in the +infinite mercy of God our Lord."</p> + +<p>Sancho listened with the greatest attention to the account of the +gentleman's life and occupation; and thinking it a good and a holy +life, and that he who led it ought to work miracles, he threw +himself off Dapple, and running in haste seized his right stirrup +and kissed his foot again and again with a devout heart and almost +with tears.</p> + +<p>Seeing this the gentleman asked him, "What are you about, brother? +What are these kisses for?"</p> + +<p>"Let me kiss," said Sancho, "for I think your worship is the first +saint in the saddle I ever saw all the days of my life."</p> + +<p>"I am no saint," replied the gentleman, "but a great sinner; but you +are, brother, for you must be a good fellow, as your simplicity +shows."</p> + +<p>Sancho went back and regained his pack-saddle, having extracted a +laugh from his master's profound melancholy, and excited fresh +amazement in Don Diego. Don Quixote then asked him how many children +he had, and observed that one of the things wherein the ancient +philosophers, who were without the true knowledge of God, placed the +summum bonum was in the gifts of nature, in those of fortune, in +having many friends, and many and good children.</p> + +<p>"I, Senor Don Quixote," answered the gentleman, "have one son, +without whom, perhaps, I should count myself happier than I am, not +because he is a bad son, but because he is not so good as I could +wish. He is eighteen years of age; he has been for six at Salamanca +studying Latin and Greek, and when I wished him to turn to the study +of other sciences I found him so wrapped up in that of poetry (if that +can be called a science) that there is no getting him to take kindly +to the law, which I wished him to study, or to theology, the queen +of them all. I would like him to be an honour to his family, as we +live in days when our kings liberally reward learning that is virtuous +and worthy; for learning without virtue is a pearl on a dunghill. He +spends the whole day in settling whether Homer expressed himself +correctly or not in such and such a line of the Iliad, whether Martial +was indecent or not in such and such an epigram, whether such and such +lines of Virgil are to be understood in this way or in that; in short, +all his talk is of the works of these poets, and those of Horace, +Perseus, Juvenal, and Tibullus; for of the moderns in our own language +he makes no great account; but with all his seeming indifference to +Spanish poetry, just now his thoughts are absorbed in making a gloss +on four lines that have been sent him from Salamanca, which I +suspect are for some poetical tournament."</p> + +<p>To all this Don Quixote said in reply, "Children, senor, are +portions of their parents' bowels, and therefore, be they good or bad, +are to be loved as we love the souls that give us life; it is for +the parents to guide them from infancy in the ways of virtue, +propriety, and worthy Christian conduct, so that when grown up they +may be the staff of their parents' old age, and the glory of their +posterity; and to force them to study this or that science I do not +think wise, though it may be no harm to persuade them; and when +there is no need to study for the sake of pane lucrando, and it is the +student's good fortune that heaven has given him parents who provide +him with it, it would be my advice to them to let him pursue +whatever science they may see him most inclined to; and though that of +poetry is less useful than pleasurable, it is not one of those that +bring discredit upon the possessor. Poetry, gentle sir, is, as I +take it, like a tender young maiden of supreme beauty, to array, +bedeck, and adorn whom is the task of several other maidens, who are +all the rest of the sciences; and she must avail herself of the help +of all, and all derive their lustre from her. But this maiden will not +bear to be handled, nor dragged through the streets, nor exposed +either at the corners of the market-places, or in the closets of +palaces. She is the product of an Alchemy of such virtue that he who +is able to practise it, will turn her into pure gold of inestimable +worth. He that possesses her must keep her within bounds, not +permitting her to break out in ribald satires or soulless sonnets. She +must on no account be offered for sale, unless, indeed, it be in +heroic poems, moving tragedies, or sprightly and ingenious comedies. +She must not be touched by the buffoons, nor by the ignorant vulgar, +incapable of comprehending or appreciating her hidden treasures. And +do not suppose, senor, that I apply the term vulgar here merely to +plebeians and the lower orders; for everyone who is ignorant, be he +lord or prince, may and should be included among the vulgar. He, then, +who shall embrace and cultivate poetry under the conditions I have +named, shall become famous, and his name honoured throughout all the +civilised nations of the earth. And with regard to what you say, +senor, of your son having no great opinion of Spanish poetry, I am +inclined to think that he is not quite right there, and for this +reason: the great poet Homer did not write in Latin, because he was +a Greek, nor did Virgil write in Greek, because he was a Latin; in +short, all the ancient poets wrote in the language they imbibed with +their mother's milk, and never went in quest of foreign ones to +express their sublime conceptions; and that being so, the usage should +in justice extend to all nations, and the German poet should not be +undervalued because he writes in his own language, nor the +Castilian, nor even the Biscayan, for writing in his. But your son, +senor, I suspect, is not prejudiced against Spanish poetry, but +against those poets who are mere Spanish verse writers, without any +knowledge of other languages or sciences to adorn and give life and +vigour to their natural inspiration; and yet even in this he may be +wrong; for, according to a true belief, a poet is born one; that is to +say, the poet by nature comes forth a poet from his mother's womb; and +following the bent that heaven has bestowed upon him, without the +aid of study or art, he produces things that show how truly he spoke +who said, 'Est Deus in nobis,' etc. At the same time, I say that the +poet by nature who calls in art to his aid will be a far better +poet, and will surpass him who tries to be one relying upon his +knowledge of art alone. The reason is, that art does not surpass +nature, but only brings it to perfection; and thus, nature combined +with art, and art with nature, will produce a perfect poet. To bring +my argument to a close, I would say then, gentle sir, let your son +go on as his star leads him, for being so studious as he seems to +be, and having already successfully surmounted the first step of the +sciences, which is that of the languages, with their help he will by +his own exertions reach the summit of polite literature, which so well +becomes an independent gentleman, and adorns, honours, and +distinguishes him, as much as the mitre does the bishop, or the gown +the learned counsellor. If your son write satires reflecting on the +honour of others, chide and correct him, and tear them up; but if he +compose discourses in which he rebukes vice in general, in the style +of Horace, and with elegance like his, commend him; for it is +legitimate for a poet to write against envy and lash the envious in +his verse, and the other vices too, provided he does not single out +individuals; there are, however, poets who, for the sake of saying +something spiteful, would run the risk of being banished to the +coast of Pontus. If the poet be pure in his morals, he will be pure in +his verses too; the pen is the tongue of the mind, and as the thought +engendered there, so will be the things that it writes down. And when +kings and princes observe this marvellous science of poetry in wise, +virtuous, and thoughtful subjects, they honour, value, exalt them, and +even crown them with the leaves of that tree which the thunderbolt +strikes not, as if to show that they whose brows are honoured and +adorned with such a crown are not to be assailed by anyone."</p> + +<p>He of the green gaban was filled with astonishment at Don Quixote's +argument, so much so that he began to abandon the notion he had taken +up about his being crazy. But in the middle of the discourse, it being +not very much to his taste, Sancho had turned aside out of the road to +beg a little milk from some shepherds, who were milking their ewes +hard by; and just as the gentleman, highly pleased, was about to renew +the conversation, Don Quixote, raising his head, perceived a cart +covered with royal flags coming along the road they were travelling; +and persuaded that this must be some new adventure, he called aloud to +Sancho to come and bring him his helmet. Sancho, hearing himself +called, quitted the shepherds, and, prodding Dapple vigorously, came +up to his master, to whom there fell a terrific and desperate +adventure.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p16e"></a><img alt="p16e.jpg (49K)" src="images/p16e.jpg" height="429" width="650"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch17b"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN IS SHOWN THE FURTHEST AND HIGHEST POINT WHICH THE UNEXAMPLED +COURAGE OF DON QUIXOTE REACHED OR COULD REACH; TOGETHER WITH THE +HAPPILY ACHIEVED ADVENTURE OF THE LIONS +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p17a"></a><img alt="p17a.jpg (137K)" src="images/p17a.jpg" height="406" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p17a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>The history tells that when Don Quixote called out to Sancho to +bring him his helmet, Sancho was buying some curds the shepherds +agreed to sell him, and flurried by the great haste his master was +in did not know what to do with them or what to carry them in; so, not +to lose them, for he had already paid for them, he thought it best +to throw them into his master's helmet, and acting on this bright idea +he went to see what his master wanted with him. He, as he +approached, exclaimed to him:</p> + +<p>"Give me that helmet, my friend, for either I know little of +adventures, or what I observe yonder is one that will, and does, +call upon me to arm myself."</p> + +<p>He of the green gaban, on hearing this, looked in all directions, +but could perceive nothing, except a cart coming towards them with two +or three small flags, which led him to conclude it must be carrying +treasure of the King's, and he said so to Don Quixote. He, however, +would not believe him, being always persuaded and convinced that all +that happened to him must be adventures and still more adventures; +so he replied to the gentleman, "He who is prepared has his battle +half fought; nothing is lost by my preparing myself, for I know by +experience that I have enemies, visible and invisible, and I know +not when, or where, or at what moment, or in what shapes they will +attack me;" and turning to Sancho he called for his helmet; and +Sancho, as he had no time to take out the curds, had to give it just +as it was. Don Quixote took it, and without perceiving what was in +it thrust it down in hot haste upon his head; but as the curds were +pressed and squeezed the whey began to run all over his face and +beard, whereat he was so startled that he cried out to Sancho:</p> + +<p>"Sancho, what's this? I think my head is softening, or my brains are +melting, or I am sweating from head to foot! If I am sweating it is +not indeed from fear. I am convinced beyond a doubt that the adventure +which is about to befall me is a terrible one. Give me something to +wipe myself with, if thou hast it, for this profuse sweat is +blinding me."</p> + +<p>Sancho held his tongue, and gave him a cloth, and gave thanks to God +at the same time that his master had not found out what was the +matter. Don Quixote then wiped himself, and took off his helmet to see +what it was that made his head feel so cool, and seeing all that white +mash inside his helmet he put it to his nose, and as soon as he had +smelt it he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"By the life of my lady Dulcinea del Toboso, but it is curds thou +hast put here, thou treacherous, impudent, ill-mannered squire!"</p> + +<p>To which, with great composure and pretended innocence, Sancho +replied, "If they are curds let me have them, your worship, and I'll +eat them; but let the devil eat them, for it must have been he who put +them there. I dare to dirty your helmet! You have guessed the offender +finely! Faith, sir, by the light God gives me, it seems I must have +enchanters too, that persecute me as a creature and limb of your +worship, and they must have put that nastiness there in order to +provoke your patience to anger, and make you baste my ribs as you +are wont to do. Well, this time, indeed, they have missed their aim, +for I trust to my master's good sense to see that I have got no +curds or milk, or anything of the sort; and that if I had it is in +my stomach I would put it and not in the helmet."</p> + +<p>"May be so," said Don Quixote. All this the gentleman was observing, +and with astonishment, more especially when, after having wiped +himself clean, his head, face, beard, and helmet, Don Quixote put it +on, and settling himself firmly in his stirrups, easing his sword in +the scabbard, and grasping his lance, he cried, "Now, come who will, +here am I, ready to try conclusions with Satan himself in person!"</p> + +<p>By this time the cart with the flags had come up, unattended by +anyone except the carter on a mule, and a man sitting in front. Don +Quixote planted himself before it and said, "Whither are you going, +brothers? What cart is this? What have you got in it? What flags are +those?"</p> + +<p>To this the carter replied, "The cart is mine; what is in it is a +pair of wild caged lions, which the governor of Oran is sending to +court as a present to his Majesty; and the flags are our lord the +King's, to show that what is here is his property."</p> + +<p>"And are the lions large?" asked Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"So large," replied the man who sat at the door of the cart, "that +larger, or as large, have never crossed from Africa to Spain; I am the +keeper, and I have brought over others, but never any like these. They +are male and female; the male is in that first cage and the female +in the one behind, and they are hungry now, for they have eaten +nothing to-day, so let your worship stand aside, for we must make +haste to the place where we are to feed them."</p> + +<p>Hereupon, smiling slightly, Don Quixote exclaimed, "Lion-whelps to +me! to me whelps of lions, and at such a time! Then, by God! those +gentlemen who send them here shall see if I am a man to be +frightened by lions. Get down, my good fellow, and as you are the +keeper open the cages, and turn me out those beasts, and in the +midst of this plain I will let them know who Don Quixote of La +Mancha is, in spite and in the teeth of the enchanters who send them +to me."</p> + +<p>"So, so," said the gentleman to himself at this; "our worthy +knight has shown of what sort he is; the curds, no doubt, have +softened his skull and brought his brains to a head."</p> + +<p>At this instant Sancho came up to him, saying, "Senor, for God's +sake do something to keep my master, Don Quixote, from tackling +these lions; for if he does they'll tear us all to pieces here."</p> + +<p>"Is your master then so mad," asked the gentleman, "that you believe +and are afraid he will engage such fierce animals?"</p> + +<p>"He is not mad," said Sancho, "but he is venturesome."</p> + +<p>"I will prevent it," said the gentleman; and going over to Don +Quixote, who was insisting upon the keeper's opening the cages, he +said to him, "Sir knight, knights-errant should attempt adventures +which encourage the hope of a successful issue, not those which +entirely withhold it; for valour that trenches upon temerity savours +rather of madness than of courage; moreover, these lions do not come +to oppose you, nor do they dream of such a thing; they are going as +presents to his Majesty, and it will not be right to stop them or +delay their journey."</p> + +<p>"Gentle sir," replied Don Quixote, "you go and mind your tame +partridge and your bold ferret, and leave everyone to manage his own +business; this is mine, and I know whether these gentlemen the lions +come to me or not;" and then turning to the keeper he exclaimed, "By +all that's good, sir scoundrel, if you don't open the cages this +very instant, I'll pin you to the cart with this lance."</p> + +<p>The carter, seeing the determination of this apparition in armour, +said to him, "Please your worship, for charity's sake, senor, let me +unyoke the mules and place myself in safety along with them before the +lions are turned out; for if they kill them on me I am ruined for +life, for all I possess is this cart and mules."</p> + +<p>"O man of little faith," replied Don Quixote, "get down and +unyoke; you will soon see that you are exerting yourself for +nothing, and that you might have spared yourself the trouble."</p> + +<p>The carter got down and with all speed unyoked the mules, and the +keeper called out at the top of his voice, "I call all here to witness +that against my will and under compulsion I open the cages and let the +lions loose, and that I warn this gentleman that he will be +accountable for all the harm and mischief which these beasts may do, +and for my salary and dues as well. You, gentlemen, place yourselves +in safety before I open, for I know they will do me no harm."</p> + +<p>Once more the gentleman strove to persuade Don Quixote not to do +such a mad thing, as it was tempting God to engage in such a piece +of folly. To this, Don Quixote replied that he knew what he was about. +The gentleman in return entreated him to reflect, for he knew he was +under a delusion.</p> + +<p>"Well, senor," answered Don Quixote, "if you do not like to be a +spectator of this tragedy, as in your opinion it will be, spur your +flea-bitten mare, and place yourself in safety."</p> + +<p>Hearing this, Sancho with tears in his eyes entreated him to give up +an enterprise compared with which the one of the windmills, and the +awful one of the fulling mills, and, in fact, all the feats he had +attempted in the whole course of his life, were cakes and fancy bread. +"Look ye, senor," said Sancho, "there's no enchantment here, nor +anything of the sort, for between the bars and chinks of the cage I +have seen the paw of a real lion, and judging by that I reckon the +lion such a paw could belong to must be bigger than a mountain."</p> + +<p>"Fear at any rate," replied Don Quixote, "will make him look +bigger to thee than half the world. Retire, Sancho, and leave me; +and if I die here thou knowest our old compact; thou wilt repair to +Dulcinea—I say no more." To these he added some further words that +banished all hope of his giving up his insane project. He of the green +gaban would have offered resistance, but he found himself +ill-matched as to arms, and did not think it prudent to come to +blows with a madman, for such Don Quixote now showed himself to be +in every respect; and the latter, renewing his commands to the +keeper and repeating his threats, gave warning to the gentleman to +spur his mare, Sancho his Dapple, and the carter his mules, all +striving to get away from the cart as far as they could before the +lions broke loose. Sancho was weeping over his master's death, for +this time he firmly believed it was in store for him from the claws of +the lions; and he cursed his fate and called it an unlucky hour when +he thought of taking service with him again; but with all his tears +and lamentations he did not forget to thrash Dapple so as to put a +good space between himself and the cart. The keeper, seeing that the +fugitives were now some distance off, once more entreated and warned +him as before; but he replied that he heard him, and that he need +not trouble himself with any further warnings or entreaties, as they +would be fruitless, and bade him make haste.</p> + +<p>During the delay that occurred while the keeper was opening the +first cage, Don Quixote was considering whether it would not be well +to do battle on foot, instead of on horseback, and finally resolved to +fight on foot, fearing that Rocinante might take fright at the sight +of the lions; he therefore sprang off his horse, flung his lance +aside, braced his buckler on his arm, and drawing his sword, +advanced slowly with marvellous intrepidity and resolute courage, to +plant himself in front of the cart, commending himself with all his +heart to God and to his lady Dulcinea.</p> + +<p>It is to be observed, that on coming to this passage, the author +of this veracious history breaks out into exclamations. "O doughty Don +Quixote! high-mettled past extolling! Mirror, wherein all the heroes +of the world may see themselves! Second modern Don Manuel de Leon, +once the glory and honour of Spanish knighthood! In what words shall I +describe this dread exploit, by what language shall I make it credible +to ages to come, what eulogies are there unmeet for thee, though +they be hyperboles piled on hyperboles! On foot, alone, undaunted, +high-souled, with but a simple sword, and that no trenchant blade of +the Perrillo brand, a shield, but no bright polished steel one, +there stoodst thou, biding and awaiting the two fiercest lions that +Africa's forests ever bred! Thy own deeds be thy praise, valiant +Manchegan, and here I leave them as they stand, wanting the words +wherewith to glorify them!"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p17b"></a><img alt="p17b.jpg (352K)" src="images/p17b.jpg" height="816" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p17b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Here the author's outburst came to an end, and he proceeded to +take up the thread of his story, saying that the keeper, seeing that +Don Quixote had taken up his position, and that it was impossible +for him to avoid letting out the male without incurring the enmity +of the fiery and daring knight, flung open the doors of the first +cage, containing, as has been said, the lion, which was now seen to be +of enormous size, and grim and hideous mien. The first thing he did +was to turn round in the cage in which he lay, and protrude his claws, +and stretch himself thoroughly; he next opened his mouth, and yawned +very leisurely, and with near two palms' length of tongue that he +had thrust forth, he licked the dust out of his eyes and washed his +face; having done this, he put his head out of the cage and looked all +round with eyes like glowing coals, a spectacle and demeanour to +strike terror into temerity itself. Don Quixote merely observed him +steadily, longing for him to leap from the cart and come to close +quarters with him, when he hoped to hew him in pieces.</p> + +<p>So far did his unparalleled madness go; but the noble lion, more +courteous than arrogant, not troubling himself about silly bravado, +after having looked all round, as has been said, turned about and +presented his hind-quarters to Don Quixote, and very coolly and +tranquilly lay down again in the cage. Seeing this, Don Quixote +ordered the keeper to take a stick to him and provoke him to make +him come out.</p> + +<p>"That I won't," said the keeper; "for if I anger him, the first +he'll tear in pieces will be myself. Be satisfied, sir knight, with +what you have done, which leaves nothing more to be said on the +score of courage, and do not seek to tempt fortune a second time. +The lion has the door open; he is free to come out or not to come out; +but as he has not come out so far, he will not come out to-day. Your +worship's great courage has been fully manifested already; no brave +champion, so it strikes me, is bound to do more than challenge his +enemy and wait for him on the field; if his adversary does not come, +on him lies the disgrace, and he who waits for him carries off the +crown of victory."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Don Quixote; "close the door, my friend, and +let me have, in the best form thou canst, what thou hast seen me do, +by way of certificate; to wit, that thou didst open for the lion, that +I waited for him, that he did not come out, that I still waited for +him, and that still he did not come out, and lay down again. I am +not bound to do more; enchantments avaunt, and God uphold the right, +the truth, and true chivalry! Close the door as I bade thee, while I +make signals to the fugitives that have left us, that they may learn +this exploit from thy lips."</p> + +<p>The keeper obeyed, and Don Quixote, fixing on the point of his lance +the cloth he had wiped his face with after the deluge of curds, +proceeded to recall the others, who still continued to fly, looking +back at every step, all in a body, the gentleman bringing up the rear. +Sancho, however, happening to observe the signal of the white cloth, +exclaimed, "May I die, if my master has not overcome the wild +beasts, for he is calling to us."</p> + +<p>They all stopped, and perceived that it was Don Quixote who was +making signals, and shaking off their fears to some extent, they +approached slowly until they were near enough to hear distinctly Don +Quixote's voice calling to them. They returned at length to the +cart, and as they came up, Don Quixote said to the carter, "Put your +mules to once more, brother, and continue your journey; and do thou, +Sancho, give him two gold crowns for himself and the keeper, to +compensate for the delay they have incurred through me."</p> + +<p>"That will I give with all my heart," said Sancho; "but what has +become of the lions? Are they dead or alive?"</p> + +<p>The keeper, then, in full detail, and bit by bit, described the +end of the contest, exalting to the best of his power and ability +the valour of Don Quixote, at the sight of whom the lion quailed, +and would not and dared not come out of the cage, although he had held +the door open ever so long; and showing how, in consequence of his +having represented to the knight that it was tempting God to provoke +the lion in order to force him out, which he wished to have done, he +very reluctantly, and altogether against his will, had allowed the +door to be closed.</p> + +<p>"What dost thou think of this, Sancho?" said Don Quixote. "Are there +any enchantments that can prevail against true valour? The +enchanters may be able to rob me of good fortune, but of fortitude and +courage they cannot."</p> + +<p>Sancho paid the crowns, the carter put to, the keeper kissed Don +Quixote's hands for the bounty bestowed upon him, and promised to give +an account of the valiant exploit to the King himself, as soon as he +saw him at court.</p> + +<p>"Then," said Don Quixote, "if his Majesty should happen to ask who +performed it, you must say THE KNIGHT OF THE LIONS; for it is my +desire that into this the name I have hitherto borne of Knight of +the Rueful Countenance be from this time forward changed, altered, +transformed, and turned; and in this I follow the ancient usage of +knights-errant, who changed their names when they pleased, or when +it suited their purpose."</p> + +<p>The cart went its way, and Don Quixote, Sancho, and he of the +green gaban went theirs. All this time, Don Diego de Miranda had not +spoken a word, being entirely taken up with observing and noting all +that Don Quixote did and said, and the opinion he formed was that he +was a man of brains gone mad, and a madman on the verge of +rationality. The first part of his history had not yet reached him, +for, had he read it, the amazement with which his words and deeds +filled him would have vanished, as he would then have understood the +nature of his madness; but knowing nothing of it, he took him to be +rational one moment, and crazy the next, for what he said was +sensible, elegant, and well expressed, and what he did, absurd, +rash, and foolish; and said he to himself, "What could be madder +than putting on a helmet full of curds, and then persuading oneself +that enchanters are softening one's skull; or what could be greater +rashness and folly than wanting to fight lions tooth and nail?"</p> + +<p>Don Quixote roused him from these reflections and this soliloquy +by saying, "No doubt, Senor Don Diego de Miranda, you set me down in +your mind as a fool and a madman, and it would be no wonder if you +did, for my deeds do not argue anything else. But for all that, I +would have you take notice that I am neither so mad nor so foolish +as I must have seemed to you. A gallant knight shows to advantage +bringing his lance to bear adroitly upon a fierce bull under the +eyes of his sovereign, in the midst of a spacious plaza; a knight +shows to advantage arrayed in glittering armour, pacing the lists +before the ladies in some joyous tournament, and all those knights +show to advantage that entertain, divert, and, if we may say so, +honour the courts of their princes by warlike exercises, or what +resemble them; but to greater advantage than all these does a +knight-errant show when he traverses deserts, solitudes, +cross-roads, forests, and mountains, in quest of perilous +adventures, bent on bringing them to a happy and successful issue, all +to win a glorious and lasting renown. To greater advantage, I +maintain, does the knight-errant show bringing aid to some widow in +some lonely waste, than the court knight dallying with some city +damsel. All knights have their own special parts to play; let the +courtier devote himself to the ladies, let him add lustre to his +sovereign's court by his liveries, let him entertain poor gentlemen +with the sumptuous fare of his table, let him arrange joustings, +marshal tournaments, and prove himself noble, generous, and +magnificent, and above all a good Christian, and so doing he will +fulfil the duties that are especially his; but let the knight-errant +explore the corners of the earth and penetrate the most intricate +labyrinths, at each step let him attempt impossibilities, on +desolate heaths let him endure the burning rays of the midsummer +sun, and the bitter inclemency of the winter winds and frosts; let +no lions daunt him, no monsters terrify him, no dragons make him +quail; for to seek these, to attack those, and to vanquish all, are in +truth his main duties. I, then, as it has fallen to my lot to be a +member of knight-errantry, cannot avoid attempting all that to me +seems to come within the sphere of my duties; thus it was my bounden +duty to attack those lions that I just now attacked, although I knew +it to be the height of rashness; for I know well what valour is, +that it is a virtue that occupies a place between two vicious +extremes, cowardice and temerity; but it will be a lesser evil for him +who is valiant to rise till he reaches the point of rashness, than +to sink until he reaches the point of cowardice; for, as it is +easier for the prodigal than for the miser to become generous, so it +is easier for a rash man to prove truly valiant than for a coward to +rise to true valour; and believe me, Senor Don Diego, in attempting +adventures it is better to lose by a card too many than by a card +too few; for to hear it said, 'such a knight is rash and daring,' +sounds better than 'such a knight is timid and cowardly.'"</p> + +<p>"I protest, Senor Don Quixote," said Don Diego, "everything you have +said and done is proved correct by the test of reason itself; and I +believe, if the laws and ordinances of knight-errantry should be lost, +they might be found in your worship's breast as in their own proper +depository and muniment-house; but let us make haste, and reach my +village, where you shall take rest after your late exertions; for if +they have not been of the body they have been of the spirit, and these +sometimes tend to produce bodily fatigue."</p> + +<p>"I take the invitation as a great favour and honour, Senor Don +Diego," replied Don Quixote; and pressing forward at a better pace +than before, at about two in the afternoon they reached the village +and house of Don Diego, or, as Don Quixote called him, "The Knight +of the Green Gaban."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p17e"></a><img alt="p17e.jpg (76K)" src="images/p17e.jpg" height="741" width="509"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch18b"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>OF WHAT HAPPENED DON QUIXOTE IN THE CASTLE OR HOUSE OF THE KNIGHT OF +THE GREEN GABAN, TOGETHER WITH OTHER MATTERS OUT OF THE COMMON +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p18a"></a><img alt="p18a.jpg (133K)" src="images/p18a.jpg" height="392" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p18a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Don Quixote found Don Diego de Miranda's house built in village +style, with his arms in rough stone over the street door; in the patio +was the store-room, and at the entrance the cellar, with plenty of +wine-jars standing round, which, coming from El Toboso, brought back +to his memory his enchanted and transformed Dulcinea; and with a sigh, +and not thinking of what he was saying, or in whose presence he was, +he exclaimed-</p> + + +<pre> "O ye sweet treasures, to my sorrow found! + Once sweet and welcome when 'twas heaven's good-will. + +"O ye Tobosan jars, how ye bring back to my memory the +sweet object of my bitter regrets!"</pre> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p18b"></a><img alt="p18b.jpg (300K)" src="images/p18b.jpg" height="817" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p18b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>The student poet, Don Diego's son, who had come out with his +mother to receive him, heard this exclamation, and both mother and son +were filled with amazement at the extraordinary figure he presented; +he, however, dismounting from Rocinante, advanced with great +politeness to ask permission to kiss the lady's hand, while Don +Diego said, "Senora, pray receive with your wonted kindness Senor +Don Quixote of La Mancha, whom you see before you, a knight-errant, +and the bravest and wisest in the world."</p> + +<p>The lady, whose name was Dona Christina, received him with every +sign of good-will and great courtesy, and Don Quixote placed himself +at her service with an abundance of well-chosen and polished +phrases. Almost the same civilities were exchanged between him and the +student, who listening to Don Quixote, took him to be a sensible, +clear-headed person.</p> + +<p>Here the author describes minutely everything belonging to Don +Diego's mansion, putting before us in his picture the whole contents +of a rich gentleman-farmer's house; but the translator of the +history thought it best to pass over these and other details of the +same sort in silence, as they are not in harmony with the main purpose +of the story, the strong point of which is truth rather than dull +digressions.</p> + +<p>They led Don Quixote into a room, and Sancho removed his armour, +leaving him in loose Walloon breeches and chamois-leather doublet, all +stained with the rust of his armour; his collar was a falling one of +scholastic cut, without starch or lace, his buskins buff-coloured, and +his shoes polished. He wore his good sword, which hung in a baldric of +sea-wolf's skin, for he had suffered for many years, they say, from an +ailment of the kidneys; and over all he threw a long cloak of good +grey cloth. But first of all, with five or six buckets of water (for +as regard the number of buckets there is some dispute), he washed +his head and face, and still the water remained whey-coloured, +thanks to Sancho's greediness and purchase of those unlucky curds that +turned his master so white. Thus arrayed, and with an easy, sprightly, +and gallant air, Don Quixote passed out into another room, where the +student was waiting to entertain him while the table was being laid; +for on the arrival of so distinguished a guest, Dona Christina was +anxious to show that she knew how and was able to give a becoming +reception to those who came to her house.</p> + +<p>While Don Quixote was taking off his armour, Don Lorenzo (for so Don +Diego's son was called) took the opportunity to say to his father, +"What are we to make of this gentleman you have brought home to us, +sir? For his name, his appearance, and your describing him as a +knight-errant have completely puzzled my mother and me."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what to say, my son," replied. Don Diego; "all I can +tell thee is that I have seen him act the acts of the greatest +madman in the world, and heard him make observations so sensible +that they efface and undo all he does; do thou talk to him and feel +the pulse of his wits, and as thou art shrewd, form the most +reasonable conclusion thou canst as to his wisdom or folly; though, to +tell the truth, I am more inclined to take him to be mad than sane."</p> + +<p>With this Don Lorenzo went away to entertain Don Quixote as has been +said, and in the course of the conversation that passed between them +Don Quixote said to Don Lorenzo, "Your father, Senor Don Diego de +Miranda, has told me of the rare abilities and subtle intellect you +possess, and, above all, that you are a great poet."</p> + +<p>"A poet, it may be," replied Don Lorenzo, "but a great one, by no +means. It is true that I am somewhat given to poetry and to reading +good poets, but not so much so as to justify the title of 'great' +which my father gives me."</p> + +<p>"I do not dislike that modesty," said Don Quixote; "for there is +no poet who is not conceited and does not think he is the best poet in +the world."</p> + +<p>"There is no rule without an exception," said Don Lorenzo; "there +may be some who are poets and yet do not think they are."</p> + +<p>"Very few," said Don Quixote; "but tell me, what verses are those +which you have now in hand, and which your father tells me keep you +somewhat restless and absorbed? If it be some gloss, I know +something about glosses, and I should like to hear them; and if they +are for a poetical tournament, contrive to carry off the second prize; +for the first always goes by favour or personal standing, the second +by simple justice; and so the third comes to be the second, and the +first, reckoning in this way, will be third, in the same way as +licentiate degrees are conferred at the universities; but, for all +that, the title of first is a great distinction."</p> + +<p>"So far," said Don Lorenzo to himself, "I should not take you to +be a madman; but let us go on." So he said to him, "Your worship has +apparently attended the schools; what sciences have you studied?"</p> + +<p>"That of knight-errantry," said Don Quixote, "which is as good as +that of poetry, and even a finger or two above it."</p> + +<p>"I do not know what science that is," said Don Lorenzo, "and until +now I have never heard of it."</p> + +<p>"It is a science," said Don Quixote, "that comprehends in itself all +or most of the sciences in the world, for he who professes it must +be a jurist, and must know the rules of justice, distributive and +equitable, so as to give to each one what belongs to him and is due to +him. He must be a theologian, so as to be able to give a clear and +distinctive reason for the Christian faith he professes, wherever it +may be asked of him. He must be a physician, and above all a +herbalist, so as in wastes and solitudes to know the herbs that have +the property of healing wounds, for a knight-errant must not go +looking for some one to cure him at every step. He must be an +astronomer, so as to know by the stars how many hours of the night +have passed, and what clime and quarter of the world he is in. He must +know mathematics, for at every turn some occasion for them will +present itself to him; and, putting it aside that he must be adorned +with all the virtues, cardinal and theological, to come down to +minor particulars, he must, I say, be able to swim as well as Nicholas +or Nicolao the Fish could, as the story goes; he must know how to shoe +a horse, and repair his saddle and bridle; and, to return to higher +matters, he must be faithful to God and to his lady; he must be pure +in thought, decorous in words, generous in works, valiant in deeds, +patient in suffering, compassionate towards the needy, and, lastly, an +upholder of the truth though its defence should cost him his life. +Of all these qualities, great and small, is a true knight-errant +made up; judge then, Senor Don Lorenzo, whether it be a contemptible +science which the knight who studies and professes it has to learn, +and whether it may not compare with the very loftiest that are +taught in the schools."</p> + +<p>"If that be so," replied Don Lorenzo, "this science, I protest, +surpasses all."</p> + +<p>"How, if that be so?" said Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"What I mean to say," said Don Lorenzo, "is, that I doubt whether +there are now, or ever were, any knights-errant, and adorned with such +virtues."</p> + +<p>"Many a time," replied Don Quixote, "have I said what I now say once +more, that the majority of the world are of opinion that there never +were any knights-errant in it; and as it is my opinion that, unless +heaven by some miracle brings home to them the truth that there were +and are, all the pains one takes will be in vain (as experience has +often proved to me), I will not now stop to disabuse you of the +error you share with the multitude. All I shall do is to pray to +heaven to deliver you from it, and show you how beneficial and +necessary knights-errant were in days of yore, and how useful they +would be in these days were they but in vogue; but now, for the sins +of the people, sloth and indolence, gluttony and luxury are +triumphant."</p> + +<p>"Our guest has broken out on our hands," said Don Lorenzo to himself +at this point; "but, for all that, he is a glorious madman, and I +should be a dull blockhead to doubt it."</p> + +<p>Here, being summoned to dinner, they brought their colloquy to a +close. Don Diego asked his son what he had been able to make out as to +the wits of their guest. To which he replied, "All the doctors and +clever scribes in the world will not make sense of the scrawl of his +madness; he is a madman full of streaks, full of lucid intervals."</p> + +<p>They went in to dinner, and the repast was such as Don Diego said on +the road he was in the habit of giving to his guests, neat, plentiful, +and tasty; but what pleased Don Quixote most was the marvellous +silence that reigned throughout the house, for it was like a +Carthusian monastery.</p> + +<p>When the cloth had been removed, grace said and their hands +washed, Don Quixote earnestly pressed Don Lorenzo to repeat to him his +verses for the poetical tournament, to which he replied, "Not to be +like those poets who, when they are asked to recite their verses, +refuse, and when they are not asked for them vomit them up, I will +repeat my gloss, for which I do not expect any prize, having +composed it merely as an exercise of ingenuity."</p> + +<p>"A discerning friend of mine," said Don Quixote, "was of opinion +that no one ought to waste labour in glossing verses; and the reason +he gave was that the gloss can never come up to the text, and that +often or most frequently it wanders away from the meaning and +purpose aimed at in the glossed lines; and besides, that the laws of +the gloss were too strict, as they did not allow interrogations, nor +'said he,' nor 'I say,' nor turning verbs into nouns, or altering +the construction, not to speak of other restrictions and limitations +that fetter gloss-writers, as you no doubt know."</p> + +<p>"Verily, Senor Don Quixote," said Don Lorenzo, "I wish I could catch +your worship tripping at a stretch, but I cannot, for you slip through +my fingers like an eel."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand what you say, or mean by slipping," said Don +Quixote.</p> + +<p>"I will explain myself another time," said Don Lorenzo; "for the +present pray attend to the glossed verses and the gloss, which run +thus:</p> + +<pre> + Could 'was' become an 'is' for me, + Then would I ask no more than this; + Or could, for me, the time that is + Become the time that is to be!— + + + + GLOSS + +Dame Fortune once upon a day + To me was bountiful and kind; + But all things change; she changed her mind, +And what she gave she took away. +O Fortune, long I've sued to thee; + The gifts thou gavest me restore, + For, trust me, I would ask no more, +Could 'was' become an 'is' for me. + +No other prize I seek to gain, + No triumph, glory, or success, + Only the long-lost happiness, +The memory whereof is pain. +One taste, methinks, of bygone bliss + The heart-consuming fire might stay; + And, so it come without delay, +Then would I ask no more than this. + +I ask what cannot be, alas! + That time should ever be, and then + Come back to us, and be again, +No power on earth can bring to pass; +For fleet of foot is he, I wis, + And idly, therefore, do we pray + That what for aye hath left us may +Become for us the time that is. + +Perplexed, uncertain, to remain + 'Twixt hope and fear, is death, not life; + 'Twere better, sure, to end the strife, +And dying, seek release from pain. +And yet, thought were the best for me. + Anon the thought aside I fling, + And to the present fondly cling, +And dread the time that is to be." +</pre> + + +<p> +When Don Lorenzo had finished reciting his gloss, Don Quixote +stood up, and in a loud voice, almost a shout, exclaimed as he grasped +Don Lorenzo's right hand in his, "By the highest heavens, noble youth, +but you are the best poet on earth, and deserve to be crowned with +laurel, not by Cyprus or by Gaeta—as a certain poet, God forgive him, +said—but by the Academies of Athens, if they still flourished, and by +those that flourish now, Paris, Bologna, Salamanca. Heaven grant +that the judges who rob you of the first prize—that Phoebus may +pierce them with his arrows, and the Muses never cross the +thresholds of their doors. Repeat me some of your long-measure verses, +senor, if you will be so good, for I want thoroughly to feel the pulse +of your rare genius."</p> + +<p>Is there any need to say that Don Lorenzo enjoyed hearing himself +praised by Don Quixote, albeit he looked upon him as a madman? power +of flattery, how far-reaching art thou, and how wide are the bounds of +thy pleasant jurisdiction! Don Lorenzo gave a proof of it, for he +complied with Don Quixote's request and entreaty, and repeated to +him this sonnet on the fable or story of Pyramus and Thisbe.</p> + + +<pre> + + SONNET + +The lovely maid, she pierces now the wall; + Heart-pierced by her young Pyramus doth lie; + And Love spreads wing from Cyprus isle to fly, +A chink to view so wondrous great and small. +There silence speaketh, for no voice at all + Can pass so strait a strait; but love will ply + Where to all other power 'twere vain to try; +For love will find a way whate'er befall. +Impatient of delay, with reckless pace + The rash maid wins the fatal spot where she +Sinks not in lover's arms but death's embrace. + So runs the strange tale, how the lovers twain +One sword, one sepulchre, one memory, + Slays, and entombs, and brings to life again. + +</pre> + + +<p>"Blessed be God," said Don Quixote when he had heard Don Lorenzo's +sonnet, "that among the hosts there are of irritable poets I have +found one consummate one, which, senor, the art of this sonnet +proves to me that you are!"</p> + +<p>For four days was Don Quixote most sumptuously entertained in Don +Diego's house, at the end of which time he asked his permission to +depart, telling him he thanked him for the kindness and hospitality he +had received in his house, but that, as it did not become +knights-errant to give themselves up for long to idleness and +luxury, he was anxious to fulfill the duties of his calling in seeking +adventures, of which he was informed there was an abundance in that +neighbourhood, where he hoped to employ his time until the day came +round for the jousts at Saragossa, for that was his proper +destination; and that, first of all, he meant to enter the cave of +Montesinos, of which so many marvellous things were reported all +through the country, and at the same time to investigate and explore +the origin and true source of the seven lakes commonly called the +lakes of Ruidera.</p> + +<p>Don Diego and his son commended his laudable resolution, and bade +him furnish himself with all he wanted from their house and +belongings, as they would most gladly be of service to him; which, +indeed, his personal worth and his honourable profession made +incumbent upon them.</p> + +<p>The day of his departure came at length, as welcome to Don Quixote +as it was sad and sorrowful to Sancho Panza, who was very well +satisfied with the abundance of Don Diego's house, and objected to +return to the starvation of the woods and wilds and the +short-commons of his ill-stocked alforjas; these, however, he filled +and packed with what he considered needful. On taking leave, Don +Quixote said to Don Lorenzo, "I know not whether I have told you +already, but if I have I tell you once more, that if you wish to spare +yourself fatigue and toil in reaching the inaccessible summit of the +temple of fame, you have nothing to do but to turn aside out of the +somewhat narrow path of poetry and take the still narrower one of +knight-errantry, wide enough, however, to make you an emperor in the +twinkling of an eye."</p> + +<p>In this speech Don Quixote wound up the evidence of his madness, but +still better in what he added when he said, "God knows, I would gladly +take Don Lorenzo with me to teach him how to spare the humble, and +trample the proud under foot, virtues that are part and parcel of +the profession I belong to; but since his tender age does not allow of +it, nor his praiseworthy pursuits permit it, I will simply content +myself with impressing it upon your worship that you will become +famous as a poet if you are guided by the opinion of others rather +than by your own; because no fathers or mothers ever think their own +children ill-favoured, and this sort of deception prevails still +more strongly in the case of the children of the brain."</p> + +<p>Both father and son were amazed afresh at the strange medley Don +Quixote talked, at one moment sense, at another nonsense, and at the +pertinacity and persistence he displayed in going through thick and +thin in quest of his unlucky adventures, which he made the end and aim +of his desires. There was a renewal of offers of service and +civilities, and then, with the gracious permission of the lady of +the castle, they took their departure, Don Quixote on Rocinante, and +Sancho on Dapple.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p18e"></a><img alt="p18e.jpg (18K)" src="images/p18e.jpg" height="359" width="335"> +</center> + + + +<br> +<br> + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p21.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p23.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +</body> +</html> + |