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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:40 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:26:40 -0700 |
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diff --git a/old/orig5946-h/p35.htm b/old/orig5946-h/p35.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32e3b5c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig5946-h/p35.htm @@ -0,0 +1,960 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE, By Cervantes, Vol. II., Part 35.</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="p34.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p36.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 35 +<br><br> +Chapters 58-59 +</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> + + +<center> +<h3>Ebook Editor's Note</h3> +</center> +<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="#ch58b">CHAPTER LVIII</a> +WHICH TELLS HOW ADVENTURES CAME CROWDING ON DON +QUIXOTE IN SUCH NUMBERS THAT THEY GAVE ONE ANOTHER +NO BREATHING-TIME + +<a href="#ch59b">CHAPTER LIX</a> +WHEREIN IS RELATED THE STRANGE THING, WHICH MAY BE +REGARDED AS AN ADVENTURE, THAT HAPPENED DON QUIXOTE + +</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="ch58b"></a>CHAPTER LVIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHICH TELLS HOW ADVENTURES CAME CROWDING ON DON QUIXOTE IN SUCH +NUMBERS THAT THEY GAVE ONE ANOTHER NO BREATHING-TIME +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p58a"></a><img alt="p58a.jpg (105K)" src="images/p58a.jpg" height="436" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p58a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>When Don Quixote saw himself in open country, free, and relieved +from the attentions of Altisidora, he felt at his ease, and in fresh +spirits to take up the pursuit of chivalry once more; and turning to +Sancho he said, "Freedom, Sancho, is one of the most precious gifts +that heaven has bestowed upon men; no treasures that the earth holds +buried or the sea conceals can compare with it; for freedom, as for +honour, life may and should be ventured; and on the other hand, +captivity is the greatest evil that can fall to the lot of man. I +say this, Sancho, because thou hast seen the good cheer, the abundance +we have enjoyed in this castle we are leaving; well then, amid those +dainty banquets and snow-cooled beverages I felt as though I were +undergoing the straits of hunger, because I did not enjoy them with +the same freedom as if they had been mine own; for the sense of +being under an obligation to return benefits and favours received is a +restraint that checks the independence of the spirit. Happy he, to +whom heaven has given a piece of bread for which he is not bound to +give thanks to any but heaven itself!"</p> + +<p>"For all your worship says," said Sancho, "it is not becoming that +there should be no thanks on our part for two hundred gold crowns that +the duke's majordomo has given me in a little purse which I carry next +my heart, like a warming plaster or comforter, to meet any chance +calls; for we shan't always find castles where they'll entertain us; +now and then we may light upon roadside inns where they'll cudgel us."</p> + +<p>In conversation of this sort the knight and squire errant were +pursuing their journey, when, after they had gone a little more than +half a league, they perceived some dozen men dressed like labourers +stretched upon their cloaks on the grass of a green meadow eating +their dinner. They had beside them what seemed to be white sheets +concealing some objects under them, standing upright or lying flat, +and arranged at intervals. Don Quixote approached the diners, and, +saluting them courteously first, he asked them what it was those +cloths covered. "Senor," answered one of the party, "under these +cloths are some images carved in relief intended for a retablo we +are putting up in our village; we carry them covered up that they +may not be soiled, and on our shoulders that they may not be broken."</p> + +<p>"With your good leave," said Don Quixote, "I should like to see +them; for images that are carried so carefully no doubt must be fine +ones."</p> + +<p>"I should think they were!" said the other; "let the money they cost +speak for that; for as a matter of fact there is not one of them +that does not stand us in more than fifty ducats; and that your +worship may judge; wait a moment, and you shall see with your own +eyes;" and getting up from his dinner he went and uncovered the +first image, which proved to be one of Saint George on horseback +with a serpent writhing at his feet and the lance thrust down its +throat with all that fierceness that is usually depicted. The whole +group was one blaze of gold, as the saying is. On seeing it Don +Quixote said, "That knight was one of the best knights-errant the army +of heaven ever owned; he was called Don Saint George, and he was +moreover a defender of maidens. Let us see this next one."</p> + +<p>The man uncovered it, and it was seen to be that of Saint Martin +on his horse, dividing his cloak with the beggar. The instant Don +Quixote saw it he said, "This knight too was one of the Christian +adventurers, but I believe he was generous rather than valiant, as +thou mayest perceive, Sancho, by his dividing his cloak with the +beggar and giving him half of it; no doubt it was winter at the +time, for otherwise he would have given him the whole of it, so +charitable was he."</p> + +<p>"It was not that, most likely," said Sancho, "but that he held +with the proverb that says, 'For giving and keeping there's need of +brains.'"</p> + +<p>Don Quixote laughed, and asked them to take off the next cloth, +underneath which was seen the image of the patron saint of the +Spains seated on horseback, his sword stained with blood, trampling on +Moors and treading heads underfoot; and on seeing it Don Quixote +exclaimed, "Ay, this is a knight, and of the squadrons of Christ! This +one is called Don Saint James the Moorslayer, one of the bravest +saints and knights the world ever had or heaven has now."</p> + +<p>They then raised another cloth which it appeared covered Saint +Paul falling from his horse, with all the details that are usually +given in representations of his conversion. When Don Quixote saw it, +rendered in such lifelike style that one would have said Christ was +speaking and Paul answering, "This," he said, "was in his time the +greatest enemy that the Church of God our Lord had, and the greatest +champion it will ever have; a knight-errant in life, a steadfast saint +in death, an untiring labourer in the Lord's vineyard, a teacher of +the Gentiles, whose school was heaven, and whose instructor and master +was Jesus Christ himself."</p> + +<p>There were no more images, so Don Quixote bade them cover them up +again, and said to those who had brought them, "I take it as a happy +omen, brothers, to have seen what I have; for these saints and knights +were of the same profession as myself, which is the calling of arms; +only there is this difference between them and me, that they were +saints, and fought with divine weapons, and I am a sinner and fight +with human ones. They won heaven by force of arms, for heaven +suffereth violence; and I, so far, know not what I have won by dint of +my sufferings; but if my Dulcinea del Toboso were to be released +from hers, perhaps with mended fortunes and a mind restored to +itself I might direct my steps in a better path than I am following at +present."</p> + +<p>"May God hear and sin be deaf," said Sancho to this.</p> + +<p>The men were filled with wonder, as well at the figure as at the +words of Don Quixote, though they did not understand one half of +what he meant by them. They finished their dinner, took their images +on their backs, and bidding farewell to Don Quixote resumed their +journey.</p> + +<p>Sancho was amazed afresh at the extent of his master's knowledge, as +much as if he had never known him, for it seemed to him that there was +no story or event in the world that he had not at his fingers' ends +and fixed in his memory, and he said to him, "In truth, master mine, +if this that has happened to us to-day is to be called an adventure, +it has been one of the sweetest and pleasantest that have befallen +us in the whole course of our travels; we have come out of it +unbelaboured and undismayed, neither have we drawn sword nor have we +smitten the earth with our bodies, nor have we been left famishing; +blessed be God that he has let me see such a thing with my own eyes!"</p> + +<p>"Thou sayest well, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "but remember all +times are not alike nor do they always run the same way; and these +things the vulgar commonly call omens, which are not based upon any +natural reason, will by him who is wise be esteemed and reckoned happy +accidents merely. One of these believers in omens will get up of a +morning, leave his house, and meet a friar of the order of the blessed +Saint Francis, and, as if he had met a griffin, he will turn about and +go home. With another Mendoza the salt is spilt on his table, and +gloom is spilt over his heart, as if nature was obliged to give +warning of coming misfortunes by means of such trivial things as +these. The wise man and the Christian should not trifle with what it +may please heaven to do. Scipio on coming to Africa stumbled as he +leaped on shore; his soldiers took it as a bad omen; but he, +clasping the soil with his arms, exclaimed, 'Thou canst not escape me, +Africa, for I hold thee tight between my arms.' Thus, Sancho, +meeting those images has been to me a most happy occurrence."</p> + +<p>"I can well believe it," said Sancho; "but I wish your worship would +tell me what is the reason that the Spaniards, when they are about +to give battle, in calling on that Saint James the Moorslayer, say +'Santiago and close Spain!' Is Spain, then, open, so that it is +needful to close it; or what is the meaning of this form?"</p> + +<p>"Thou art very simple, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "God, look you, +gave that great knight of the Red Cross to Spain as her patron saint +and protector, especially in those hard struggles the Spaniards had +with the Moors; and therefore they invoke and call upon him as their +defender in all their battles; and in these he has been many a time +seen beating down, trampling under foot, destroying and slaughtering +the Hagarene squadrons in the sight of all; of which fact I could give +thee many examples recorded in truthful Spanish histories."</p> + +<p>Sancho changed the subject, and said to his master, "I marvel, +senor, at the boldness of Altisidora, the duchess's handmaid; he +whom they call Love must have cruelly pierced and wounded her; they +say he is a little blind urchin who, though blear-eyed, or more +properly speaking sightless, if he aims at a heart, be it ever so +small, hits it and pierces it through and through with his arrows. I +have heard it said too that the arrows of Love are blunted and +robbed of their points by maidenly modesty and reserve; but with +this Altisidora it seems they are sharpened rather than blunted."</p> + +<p>"Bear in mind, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "that love is influenced +by no consideration, recognises no restraints of reason, and is of the +same nature as death, that assails alike the lofty palaces of kings +and the humble cabins of shepherds; and when it takes entire +possession of a heart, the first thing it does is to banish fear and +shame from it; and so without shame Altisidora declared her passion, +which excited in my mind embarrassment rather than commiseration."</p> + +<p>"Notable cruelty!" exclaimed Sancho; "unheard-of ingratitude! I +can only say for myself that the very smallest loving word of hers +would have subdued me and made a slave of me. The devil! What a +heart of marble, what bowels of brass, what a soul of mortar! But I +can't imagine what it is that this damsel saw in your worship that +could have conquered and captivated her so. What gallant figure was +it, what bold bearing, what sprightly grace, what comeliness of +feature, which of these things by itself, or what all together, +could have made her fall in love with you? For indeed and in truth +many a time I stop to look at your worship from the sole of your +foot to the topmost hair of your head, and I see more to frighten +one than to make one fall in love; moreover I have heard say that +beauty is the first and main thing that excites love, and as your +worship has none at all, I don't know what the poor creature fell in +love with."</p> + +<p>"Recollect, Sancho," replied Don Quixote, "there are two sorts of +beauty, one of the mind, the other of the body; that of the mind +displays and exhibits itself in intelligence, in modesty, in +honourable conduct, in generosity, in good breeding; and all these +qualities are possible and may exist in an ugly man; and when it is +this sort of beauty and not that of the body that is the attraction, +love is apt to spring up suddenly and violently. I, Sancho, perceive +clearly enough that I am not beautiful, but at the same time I know +I am not hideous; and it is enough for an honest man not to be a +monster to be an object of love, if only he possesses the endowments +of mind I have mentioned."</p> + +<p>While engaged in this discourse they were making their way through a +wood that lay beyond the road, when suddenly, without expecting +anything of the kind, Don Quixote found himself caught in some nets of +green cord stretched from one tree to another; and unable to +conceive what it could be, he said to Sancho, "Sancho, it strikes me +this affair of these nets will prove one of the strangest adventures +imaginable. May I die if the enchanters that persecute me are not +trying to entangle me in them and delay my journey, by way of +revenge for my obduracy towards Altisidora. Well then let me tell them +that if these nets, instead of being green cord, were made of the +hardest diamonds, or stronger than that wherewith the jealous god of +blacksmiths enmeshed Venus and Mars, I would break them as easily as +if they were made of rushes or cotton threads." But just as he was +about to press forward and break through all, suddenly from among some +trees two shepherdesses of surpassing beauty presented themselves to +his sight—or at least damsels dressed like shepherdesses, save that +their jerkins and sayas were of fine brocade; that is to say, the +sayas were rich farthingales of gold embroidered tabby. Their hair, +that in its golden brightness vied with the beams of the sun itself, +fell loose upon their shoulders and was crowned with garlands twined +with green laurel and red everlasting; and their years to all +appearance were not under fifteen nor above eighteen.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p58b"></a><img alt="p58b.jpg (452K)" src="images/p58b.jpg" height="853" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p58b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<p>Such was the +spectacle that filled Sancho with amazement, fascinated Don Quixote, +made the sun halt in his course to behold them, and held all four in a +strange silence. One of the shepherdesses, at length, was the first to +speak and said to Don Quixote, "Hold, sir knight, and do not break +these nets; for they are not spread here to do you any harm, but +only for our amusement; and as I know you will ask why they have +been put up, and who we are, I will tell you in a few words. In a +village some two leagues from this, where there are many people of +quality and rich gentlefolk, it was agreed upon by a number of friends +and relations to come with their wives, sons and daughters, +neighbours, friends and kinsmen, and make holiday in this spot, +which is one of the pleasantest in the whole neighbourhood, setting up +a new pastoral Arcadia among ourselves, we maidens dressing +ourselves as shepherdesses and the youths as shepherds. We have +prepared two eclogues, one by the famous poet Garcilasso, the other by +the most excellent Camoens, in its own Portuguese tongue, but we +have not as yet acted them. Yesterday was the first day of our +coming here; we have a few of what they say are called field-tents +pitched among the trees on the bank of an ample brook that +fertilises all these meadows; last night we spread these nets in the +trees here to snare the silly little birds that startled by the +noise we make may fly into them. If you please to be our guest, senor, +you will be welcomed heartily and courteously, for here just now +neither care nor sorrow shall enter."</p> + +<p>She held her peace and said no more, and Don Quixote made answer, +"Of a truth, fairest lady, Actaeon when he unexpectedly beheld Diana +bathing in the stream could not have been more fascinated and +wonderstruck than I at the sight of your beauty. I commend your mode +of entertainment, and thank you for the kindness of your invitation; +and if I can serve you, you may command me with full confidence of +being obeyed, for my profession is none other than to show myself +grateful, and ready to serve persons of all conditions, but especially +persons of quality such as your appearance indicates; and if, +instead of taking up, as they probably do, but a small space, these +nets took up the whole surface of the globe, I would seek out new +worlds through which to pass, so as not to break them; and that ye may +give some degree of credence to this exaggerated language of mine, +know that it is no less than Don Quixote of La Mancha that makes +this declaration to you, if indeed it be that such a name has +reached your ears."</p> + +<p>"Ah! friend of my soul," instantly exclaimed the other +shepherdess, "what great good fortune has befallen us! Seest thou this +gentleman we have before us? Well then let me tell thee he is the most +valiant and the most devoted and the most courteous gentleman in all +the world, unless a history of his achievements that has been +printed and I have read is telling lies and deceiving us. I will lay a +wager that this good fellow who is with him is one Sancho Panza his +squire, whose drolleries none can equal."</p> + +<p>"That's true," said Sancho; "I am that same droll and squire you +speak of, and this gentleman is my master Don Quixote of La Mancha, +the same that's in the history and that they talk about."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my friend," said the other, "let us entreat him to stay; for it +will give our fathers and brothers infinite pleasure; I too have heard +just what thou hast told me of the valour of the one and the +drolleries of the other; and what is more, of him they say that he +is the most constant and loyal lover that was ever heard of, and +that his lady is one Dulcinea del Toboso, to whom all over Spain the +palm of beauty is awarded."</p> + +<p>"And justly awarded," said Don Quixote, "unless, indeed, your +unequalled beauty makes it a matter of doubt. But spare yourselves the +trouble, ladies, of pressing me to stay, for the urgent calls of my +profession do not allow me to take rest under any circumstances."</p> + +<p>At this instant there came up to the spot where the four stood a +brother of one of the two shepherdesses, like them in shepherd +costume, and as richly and gaily dressed as they were. They told him +that their companion was the valiant Don Quixote of La Mancha, and the +other Sancho his squire, of whom he knew already from having read +their history. The gay shepherd offered him his services and begged +that he would accompany him to their tents, and Don Quixote had to +give way and comply. And now the gave was started, and the nets were +filled with a variety of birds that deceived by the colour fell into +the danger they were flying from. Upwards of thirty persons, all gaily +attired as shepherds and shepherdesses, assembled on the spot, and +were at once informed who Don Quixote and his squire were, whereat +they were not a little delighted, as they knew of him already +through his history. They repaired to the tents, where they found +tables laid out, and choicely, plentifully, and neatly furnished. They +treated Don Quixote as a person of distinction, giving him the place +of honour, and all observed him, and were full of astonishment at +the spectacle. At last the cloth being removed, Don Quixote with great +composure lifted up his voice and said:</p> + +<p>"One of the greatest sins that men are guilty of is—some will say +pride—but I say ingratitude, going by the common saying that hell +is full of ingrates. This sin, so far as it has lain in my power, I +have endeavoured to avoid ever since I have enjoyed the faculty of +reason; and if I am unable to requite good deeds that have been done +me by other deeds, I substitute the desire to do so; and if that be +not enough I make them known publicly; for he who declares and makes +known the good deeds done to him would repay them by others if it were +in his power, and for the most part those who receive are the +inferiors of those who give. Thus, God is superior to all because he +is the supreme giver, and the offerings of man fall short by an +infinite distance of being a full return for the gifts of God; but +gratitude in some degree makes up for this deficiency and shortcoming. +I therefore, grateful for the favour that has been extended to me +here, and unable to make a return in the same measure, restricted as I +am by the narrow limits of my power, offer what I can and what I +have to offer in my own way; and so I declare that for two full days I +will maintain in the middle of this highway leading to Saragossa, that +these ladies disguised as shepherdesses, who are here present, are the +fairest and most courteous maidens in the world, excepting only the +peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, sole mistress of my thoughts, be it said +without offence to those who hear me, ladies and gentlemen."</p> + +<p>On hearing this Sancho, who had been listening with great attention, +cried out in a loud voice, "Is it possible there is anyone in the +world who will dare to say and swear that this master of mine is a +madman? Say, gentlemen shepherds, is there a village priest, be he +ever so wise or learned, who could say what my master has said; or +is there knight-errant, whatever renown he may have as a man of +valour, that could offer what my master has offered now?"</p> + +<p>Don Quixote turned upon Sancho, and with a countenance glowing +with anger said to him, "Is it possible, Sancho, there is anyone in +the whole world who will say thou art not a fool, with a lining to +match, and I know not what trimmings of impertinence and roguery? +Who asked thee to meddle in my affairs, or to inquire whether I am a +wise man or a blockhead? Hold thy peace; answer me not a word; +saddle Rocinante if he be unsaddled; and let us go to put my offer +into execution; for with the right that I have on my side thou +mayest reckon as vanquished all who shall venture to question it;" and +in a great rage, and showing his anger plainly, he rose from his seat, +leaving the company lost in wonder, and making them feel doubtful +whether they ought to regard him as a madman or a rational being. In +the end, though they sought to dissuade him from involving himself +in such a challenge, assuring him they admitted his gratitude as fully +established, and needed no fresh proofs to be convinced of his valiant +spirit, as those related in the history of his exploits were +sufficient, still Don Quixote persisted in his resolve; and mounted on +Rocinante, bracing his buckler on his arm and grasping his lance, he +posted himself in the middle of a high road that was not far from +the green meadow. Sancho followed on Dapple, together with all the +members of the pastoral gathering, eager to see what would be the +upshot of his vainglorious and extraordinary proposal.</p> + +<p>Don Quixote, then, having, as has been said, planted himself in +the middle of the road, made the welkin ring with words to this +effect: "Ho ye travellers and wayfarers, knights, squires, folk on +foot or on horseback, who pass this way or shall pass in the course of +the next two days! Know that Don Quixote of La Mancha, +knight-errant, is posted here to maintain by arms that the beauty +and courtesy enshrined in the nymphs that dwell in these meadows and +groves surpass all upon earth, putting aside the lady of my heart, +Dulcinea del Toboso. Wherefore, let him who is of the opposite opinion +come on, for here I await him."</p> + +<p>Twice he repeated the same words, and twice they fell unheard by any +adventurer; but fate, that was guiding affairs for him from better +to better, so ordered it that shortly afterwards there appeared on the +road a crowd of men on horseback, many of them with lances in their +hands, all riding in a compact body and in great haste. No sooner +had those who were with Don Quixote seen them than they turned about +and withdrew to some distance from the road, for they knew that if +they stayed some harm might come to them; but Don Quixote with +intrepid heart stood his ground, and Sancho Panza shielded himself +with Rocinante's hind-quarters. The troop of lancers came up, and +one of them who was in advance began shouting to Don Quixote, "Get out +of the way, you son of the devil, or these bulls will knock you to +pieces!"</p> + +<p>"Rabble!" returned Don Quixote, "I care nothing for bulls, be they +the fiercest Jarama breeds on its banks. Confess at once, +scoundrels, that what I have declared is true; else ye have to deal +with me in combat."</p> + +<p>The herdsman had no time to reply, nor Don Quixote to get out of the +way even if he wished; and so the drove of fierce bulls and tame +bullocks, together with the crowd of herdsmen and others who were +taking them to be penned up in a village where they were to be run the +next day, passed over Don Quixote and over Sancho, Rocinante and +Dapple, hurling them all to the earth and rolling them over on the +ground. Sancho was left crushed, Don Quixote scared, Dapple belaboured +and Rocinante in no very sound condition.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p58c"></a><img alt="p58c.jpg (399K)" src="images/p58c.jpg" height="826" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p58c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>They all got up, however, at +length, and Don Quixote in great haste, stumbling here and falling +there, started off running after the drove, shouting out, "Hold! stay! +ye rascally rabble, a single knight awaits you, and he is not of the +temper or opinion of those who say, 'For a flying enemy make a +bridge of silver.'" The retreating party in their haste, however, +did not stop for that, or heed his menaces any more than last year's +clouds. Weariness brought Don Quixote to a halt, and more enraged than +avenged he sat down on the road to wait until Sancho, Rocinante and +Dapple came up. When they reached him master and man mounted once +more, and without going back to bid farewell to the mock or +imitation Arcadia, and more in humiliation than contentment, they +continued their journey.</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p58e"></a><img alt="p58e.jpg (68K)" src="images/p58e.jpg" height="407" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p58e.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch59b"></a>CHAPTER LIX.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN IS RELATED THE STRANGE THING, WHICH MAY BE REGARDED AS AN +ADVENTURE, THAT HAPPENED DON QUIXOTE +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p59a"></a><img alt="p59a.jpg (126K)" src="images/p59a.jpg" height="410" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p59a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>A clear limpid spring which they discovered in a cool grove relieved +Don Quixote and Sancho of the dust and fatigue due to the unpolite +behaviour of the bulls, and by the side of this, having turned +Dapple and Rocinante loose without headstall or bridle, the forlorn +pair, master and man, seated themselves. Sancho had recourse to the +larder of his alforjas and took out of them what he called the prog; +Don Quixote rinsed his mouth and bathed his face, by which cooling +process his flagging energies were revived. Out of pure vexation he +remained without eating, and out of pure politeness Sancho did not +venture to touch a morsel of what was before him, but waited for his +master to act as taster. Seeing, however, that, absorbed in thought, +he was forgetting to carry the bread to his mouth, he said never a +word, and trampling every sort of good breeding under foot, began to +stow away in his paunch the bread and cheese that came to his hand.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p59b"></a><img alt="p59b.jpg (370K)" src="images/p59b.jpg" height="828" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p59b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"Eat, Sancho my friend," said Don Quixote; "support life, which is +of more consequence to thee than to me, and leave me to die under +the pain of my thoughts and pressure of my misfortunes. I was born, +Sancho, to live dying, and thou to die eating; and to prove the +truth of what I say, look at me, printed in histories, famed in +arms, courteous in behaviour, honoured by princes, courted by maidens; +and after all, when I looked forward to palms, triumphs, and crowns, +won and earned by my valiant deeds, I have this morning seen myself +trampled on, kicked, and crushed by the feet of unclean and filthy +animals. This thought blunts my teeth, paralyses my jaws, cramps my +hands, and robs me of all appetite for food; so much so that I have +a mind to let myself die of hunger, the cruelest death of all deaths."</p> + +<p>"So then," said Sancho, munching hard all the time, "your worship +does not agree with the proverb that says, 'Let Martha die, but let +her die with a full belly.' I, at any rate, have no mind to kill +myself; so far from that, I mean to do as the cobbler does, who +stretches the leather with his teeth until he makes it reach as far as +he wants. I'll stretch out my life by eating until it reaches the +end heaven has fixed for it; and let me tell you, senor, there's no +greater folly than to think of dying of despair as your worship +does; take my advice, and after eating lie down and sleep a bit on +this green grass-mattress, and you will see that when you awake you'll +feel something better."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote did as he recommended, for it struck him that Sancho's +reasoning was more like a philosopher's than a blockhead's, and said +he, "Sancho, if thou wilt do for me what I am going to tell thee my +ease of mind would be more assured and my heaviness of heart not so +great; and it is this; to go aside a little while I am sleeping in +accordance with thy advice, and, making bare thy carcase to the air, +to give thyself three or four hundred lashes with Rocinante's reins, +on account of the three thousand and odd thou art to give thyself +for the disenchantment of Dulcinea; for it is a great pity that the +poor lady should be left enchanted through thy carelessness and +negligence."</p> + +<p>"There is a good deal to be said on that point," said Sancho; "let +us both go to sleep now, and after that, God has decreed what will +happen. Let me tell your worship that for a man to whip himself in +cold blood is a hard thing, especially if the stripes fall upon an +ill-nourished and worse-fed body. Let my lady Dulcinea have +patience, and when she is least expecting it, she will see me made a +riddle of with whipping, and 'until death it's all life;' I mean +that I have still life in me, and the desire to make good what I +have promised."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote thanked him, and ate a little, and Sancho a good deal, +and then they both lay down to sleep, leaving those two inseparable +friends and comrades, Rocinante and Dapple, to their own devices and +to feed unrestrained upon the abundant grass with which the meadow was +furnished. They woke up rather late, mounted once more and resumed +their journey, pushing on to reach an inn which was in sight, +apparently a league off. I say an inn, because Don Quixote called it +so, contrary to his usual practice of calling all inns castles. They +reached it, and asked the landlord if they could put up there. He said +yes, with as much comfort and as good fare as they could find in +Saragossa. They dismounted, and Sancho stowed away his larder in a +room of which the landlord gave him the key. He took the beasts to the +stable, fed them, and came back to see what orders Don Quixote, who +was seated on a bench at the door, had for him, giving special +thanks to heaven that this inn had not been taken for a castle by +his master. Supper-time came, and they repaired to their room, and +Sancho asked the landlord what he had to give them for supper. To this +the landlord replied that his mouth should be the measure; he had only +to ask what he would; for that inn was provided with the birds of +the air and the fowls of the earth and the fish of the sea.</p> + +<p>"There's no need of all that," said Sancho; "if they'll roast us a +couple of chickens we'll be satisfied, for my master is delicate and +eats little, and I'm not over and above gluttonous."</p> + +<p>The landlord replied he had no chickens, for the kites had stolen +them.</p> + +<p>"Well then," said Sancho, "let senor landlord tell them to roast a +pullet, so that it is a tender one."</p> + +<p>"Pullet! My father!" said the landlord; "indeed and in truth it's +only yesterday I sent over fifty to the city to sell; but saving +pullets ask what you will."</p> + +<p>"In that case," said Sancho, "you will not be without veal or kid."</p> + +<p>"Just now," said the landlord, "there's none in the house, for +it's all finished; but next week there will be enough and to spare."</p> + +<p>"Much good that does us," said Sancho; "I'll lay a bet that all +these short-comings are going to wind up in plenty of bacon and eggs."</p> + +<p>"By God," said the landlord, "my guest's wits must be precious dull; +I tell him I have neither pullets nor hens, and he wants me to have +eggs! Talk of other dainties, if you please, and don't ask for hens +again."</p> + +<p>"Body o' me!" said Sancho, "let's settle the matter; say at once +what you have got, and let us have no more words about it."</p> + +<p>"In truth and earnest, senor guest," said the landlord, "all I +have is a couple of cow-heels like calves' feet, or a couple of +calves' feet like cowheels; they are boiled with chick-peas, onions, +and bacon, and at this moment they are crying 'Come eat me, come eat +me."</p> + +<p>"I mark them for mine on the spot," said Sancho; "let nobody touch +them; I'll pay better for them than anyone else, for I could not +wish for anything more to my taste; and I don't care a pin whether +they are feet or heels."</p> + +<p>"Nobody shall touch them," said the landlord; "for the other +guests I have, being persons of high quality, bring their own cook and +caterer and larder with them."</p> + +<p>"If you come to people of quality," said Sancho, "there's nobody +more so than my master; but the calling he follows does not allow of +larders or store-rooms; we lay ourselves down in the middle of a +meadow, and fill ourselves with acorns or medlars."</p> + +<p>Here ended Sancho's conversation with the landlord, Sancho not +caring to carry it any farther by answering him; for he had already +asked him what calling or what profession it was his master was of.</p> + +<p>Supper-time having come, then, Don Quixote betook himself to his +room, the landlord brought in the stew-pan just as it was, and he +sat himself down to sup very resolutely. It seems that in another +room, which was next to Don Quixote's, with nothing but a thin +partition to separate it, he overheard these words, "As you live, +Senor Don Jeronimo, while they are bringing supper, let us read +another chapter of the Second Part of 'Don Quixote of La Mancha.'"</p> + +<p>The instant Don Quixote heard his own name be started to his feet +and listened with open ears to catch what they said about him, and +heard the Don Jeronimo who had been addressed say in reply, "Why would +you have us read that absurd stuff, Don Juan, when it is impossible +for anyone who has read the First Part of the history of 'Don +Quixote of La Mancha' to take any pleasure in reading this Second +Part?"</p> + +<p>"For all that," said he who was addressed as Don Juan, "we shall +do well to read it, for there is no book so bad but it has something +good in it. What displeases me most in it is that it represents Don +Quixote as now cured of his love for Dulcinea del Toboso."</p> + +<p>On hearing this Don Quixote, full of wrath and indignation, lifted +up his voice and said, "Whoever he may be who says that Don Quixote of +La Mancha has forgotten or can forget Dulcinea del Toboso, I will +teach him with equal arms that what he says is very far from the +truth; for neither can the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso be +forgotten, nor can forgetfulness have a place in Don Quixote; his +motto is constancy, and his profession to maintain the same with his +life and never wrong it."</p> + +<p>"Who is this that answers us?" said they in the next room.</p> + +<p>"Who should it be," said Sancho, "but Don Quixote of La Mancha +himself, who will make good all he has said and all he will say; for +pledges don't trouble a good payer."</p> + +<p>Sancho had hardly uttered these words when two gentlemen, for such +they seemed to be, entered the room, and one of them, throwing his +arms round Don Quixote's neck, said to him, "Your appearance cannot +leave any question as to your name, nor can your name fail to identify +your appearance; unquestionably, senor, you are the real Don Quixote +of La Mancha, cynosure and morning star of knight-errantry, despite +and in defiance of him who has sought to usurp your name and bring +to naught your achievements, as the author of this book which I here +present to you has done;" and with this he put a book which his +companion carried into the hands of Don Quixote, who took it, and +without replying began to run his eye over it; but he presently +returned it saying, "In the little I have seen I have discovered three +things in this author that deserve to be censured. The first is some +words that I have read in the preface; the next that the language is +Aragonese, for sometimes he writes without articles; and the third, +which above all stamps him as ignorant, is that he goes wrong and +departs from the truth in the most important part of the history, +for here he says that my squire Sancho Panza's wife is called Mari +Gutierrez, when she is called nothing of the sort, but Teresa Panza; +and when a man errs on such an important point as this there is good +reason to fear that he is in error on every other point in the +history."</p> + +<p>"A nice sort of historian, indeed!" exclaimed Sancho at this; "he +must know a deal about our affairs when he calls my wife Teresa Panza, +Mari Gutierrez; take the book again, senor, and see if I am in it +and if he has changed my name."</p> + +<p>"From your talk, friend," said Don Jeronimo, "no doubt you are +Sancho Panza, Senor Don Quixote's squire."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," said Sancho; "and I'm proud of it."</p> + +<p>"Faith, then," said the gentleman, "this new author does not +handle you with the decency that displays itself in your person; he +makes you out a heavy feeder and a fool, and not in the least droll, +and a very different being from the Sancho described in the First Part +of your master's history."</p> + +<p>"God forgive him," said Sancho; "he might have left me in my +corner without troubling his head about me; 'let him who knows how +ring the bells; 'Saint Peter is very well in Rome.'"</p> + +<p>The two gentlemen pressed Don Quixote to come into their room and +have supper with them, as they knew very well there was nothing in +that inn fit for one of his sort. Don Quixote, who was always +polite, yielded to their request and supped with them. Sancho stayed +behind with the stew. and invested with plenary delegated authority +seated himself at the head of the table, and the landlord sat down +with him, for he was no less fond of cow-heel and calves' feet than +Sancho was.</p> + +<p>While at supper Don Juan asked Don Quixote what news he had of the +lady Dulcinea del Toboso, was she married, had she been brought to +bed, or was she with child, or did she in maidenhood, still preserving +her modesty and delicacy, cherish the remembrance of the tender +passion of Senor Don Quixote?</p> + +<p>To this he replied, "Dulcinea is a maiden still, and my passion more +firmly rooted than ever, our intercourse unsatisfactory as before, and +her beauty transformed into that of a foul country wench;" and then he +proceeded to give them a full and particular account of the +enchantment of Dulcinea, and of what had happened him in the cave of +Montesinos, together with what the sage Merlin had prescribed for +her disenchantment, namely the scourging of Sancho.</p> + +<p>Exceedingly great was the amusement the two gentlemen derived from +hearing Don Quixote recount the strange incidents of his history; +and if they were amazed by his absurdities they were equally amazed by +the elegant style in which he delivered them. On the one hand they +regarded him as a man of wit and sense, and on the other he seemed +to them a maundering blockhead, and they could not make up their minds +whereabouts between wisdom and folly they ought to place him.</p> + +<p>Sancho having finished his supper, and left the landlord in the X +condition, repaired to the room where his master was, and as he came +in said, "May I die, sirs, if the author of this book your worships +have got has any mind that we should agree; as he calls me glutton +(according to what your worships say) I wish he may not call me +drunkard too."</p> + +<p>"But he does," said Don Jeronimo; "I cannot remember, however, in +what way, though I know his words are offensive, and what is more, +lying, as I can see plainly by the physiognomy of the worthy Sancho +before me."</p> + +<p>"Believe me," said Sancho, "the Sancho and the Don Quixote of this +history must be different persons from those that appear in the one +Cide Hamete Benengeli wrote, who are ourselves; my master valiant, +wise, and true in love, and I simple, droll, and neither glutton nor +drunkard."</p> + +<p>"I believe it," said Don Juan; "and were it possible, an order +should be issued that no one should have the presumption to deal +with anything relating to Don Quixote, save his original author Cide +Hamete; just as Alexander commanded that no one should presume to +paint his portrait save Apelles."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p60b"></a><img alt="p60b.jpg (336K)" src="images/p60b.jpg" height="832" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p60b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"Let him who will paint me," said Don Quixote; "but let him not +abuse me; for patience will often break down when they heap insults +upon it."</p> + +<p>"None can be offered to Senor Don Quixote," said Don Juan, "that +he himself will not be able to avenge, if he does not ward it off with +the shield of his patience, which, I take it, is great and strong."</p> + +<p>A considerable portion of the night passed in conversation of this +sort, and though Don Juan wished Don Quixote to read more of the +book to see what it was all about, he was not to be prevailed upon, +saying that he treated it as read and pronounced it utterly silly; +and, if by any chance it should come to its author's ears that he +had it in his hand, he did not want him to flatter himself with the +idea that he had read it; for our thoughts, and still more our eyes, +should keep themselves aloof from what is obscene and filthy.</p> + +<p>They asked him whither he meant to direct his steps. He replied, +to Saragossa, to take part in the harness jousts which were held in +that city every year. Don Juan told him that the new history described +how Don Quixote, let him be who he might, took part there in a tilting +at the ring, utterly devoid of invention, poor in mottoes, very poor +in costume, though rich in sillinesses.</p> + +<p>"For that very reason," said Don Quixote, "I will not set foot in +Saragossa; and by that means I shall expose to the world the lie of +this new history writer, and people will see that I am not the Don +Quixote he speaks of."</p> + +<p>"You will do quite right," said Don Jeronimo; "and there are other +jousts at Barcelona in which Senor Don Quixote may display his +prowess."</p> + +<p>"That is what I mean to do," said Don Quixote; "and as it is now +time, I pray your worships to give me leave to retire to bed, and to +place and retain me among the number of your greatest friends and +servants."</p> + +<p>"And me too," said Sancho; "maybe I'll be good for something."</p> + +<p>With this they exchanged farewells, and Don Quixote and Sancho +retired to their room, leaving Don Juan and Don Jeronimo amazed to see +the medley he made of his good sense and his craziness; and they +felt thoroughly convinced that these, and not those their Aragonese +author described, were the genuine Don Quixote and Sancho. Don Quixote +rose betimes, and bade adieu to his hosts by knocking at the partition +of the other room. Sancho paid the landlord magnificently, and +recommended him either to say less about the providing of his inn or +to keep it better provided.</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p59e"></a><img alt="p59e.jpg (48K)" src="images/p59e.jpg" height="709" width="537"> +</center> + + + + +<br> +<br> + + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p34.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p36.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +</body> +</html> + + |