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Part 26.</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="p25.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p27.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 26. +<br><br> +Chapters 23-25 +</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="#ch23b">CHAPTER XXIII</a> +OF THE WONDERFUL THINGS THE INCOMPARABLE DON QUIXOTE +SAID HE SAW IN THE PROFOUND CAVE OF MONTESINOS, THE +IMPOSSIBILITY AND MAGNITUDE OF WHICH CAUSE THIS +ADVENTURE TO BE DEEMED APOCRYPHAL + +<a href="#ch24b">CHAPTER XXIV</a> +WHEREIN ARE RELATED A THOUSAND TRIFLING MATTERS, AS +TRIVIAL AS THEY ARE NECESSARY TO THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING +OF THIS GREAT HISTORY + +<a href="#ch25b">CHAPTER XXV</a> +WHEREIN IS SET DOWN THE BRAYING ADVENTURE, AND THE DROLL +ONE OF THE PUPPET-SHOWMAN, TOGETHER WITH THE MEMORABLE +DIVINATIONS OF THE DIVINING APE + +</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="ch23b"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>OF THE WONDERFUL THINGS THE INCOMPARABLE DON QUIXOTE SAID HE SAW +IN THE PROFOUND CAVE OF MONTESINOS, THE IMPOSSIBILITY AND MAGNITUDE OF +WHICH CAUSE THIS ADVENTURE TO BE DEEMED APOCRYPHAL +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p23a"></a><img alt="p23a.jpg (148K)" src="images/p23a.jpg" height="353" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p23a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>It was about four in the afternoon when the sun, veiled in clouds, +with subdued light and tempered beams, enabled Don Quixote to +relate, without heat or inconvenience, what he had seen in the cave of +Montesinos to his two illustrious hearers, and he began as follows:</p> + +<p>"A matter of some twelve or fourteen times a man's height down in +this pit, on the right-hand side, there is a recess or space, roomy +enough to contain a large cart with its mules. A little light +reaches it through some chinks or crevices, communicating with it +and open to the surface of the earth. This recess or space I perceived +when I was already growing weary and disgusted at finding myself +hanging suspended by the rope, travelling downwards into that dark +region without any certainty or knowledge of where I was going, so I +resolved to enter it and rest myself for a while. I called out, +telling you not to let out more rope until I bade you, but you +cannot have heard me. I then gathered in the rope you were sending me, +and making a coil or pile of it I seated myself upon it, ruminating +and considering what I was to do to lower myself to the bottom, having +no one to hold me up; and as I was thus deep in thought and +perplexity, suddenly and without provocation a profound sleep fell +upon me, and when I least expected it, I know not how, I awoke and +found myself in the midst of the most beautiful, delightful meadow +that nature could produce or the most lively human imagination +conceive. I opened my eyes, I rubbed them, and found I was not +asleep but thoroughly awake. Nevertheless, I felt my head and breast +to satisfy myself whether it was I myself who was there or some +empty delusive phantom; but touch, feeling, the collected thoughts +that passed through my mind, all convinced me that I was the same then +and there that I am this moment. Next there presented itself to my +sight a stately royal palace or castle, with walls that seemed built +of clear transparent crystal; and through two great doors that +opened wide therein, I saw coming forth and advancing towards me a +venerable old man, clad in a long gown of mulberry-coloured serge that +trailed upon the ground. On his shoulders and breast he had a green +satin collegiate hood, and covering his head a black Milanese +bonnet, and his snow-white beard fell below his girdle. He carried +no arms whatever, nothing but a rosary of beads bigger than fair-sized +filberts, each tenth bead being like a moderate ostrich egg; his +bearing, his gait, his dignity and imposing presence held me +spellbound and wondering. He approached me, and the first thing he did +was to embrace me closely, and then he said to me, 'For a long time +now, O valiant knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, we who are here +enchanted in these solitudes have been hoping to see thee, that thou +mayest make known to the world what is shut up and concealed in this +deep cave, called the cave of Montesinos, which thou hast entered, +an achievement reserved for thy invincible heart and stupendous +courage alone to attempt. Come with me, illustrious sir, and I will +show thee the marvels hidden within this transparent castle, whereof I +am the alcaide and perpetual warden; for I am Montesinos himself, from +whom the cave takes its name.'</p> + +<p>"The instant he told me he was Montesinos, I asked him if the +story they told in the world above here was true, that he had taken +out the heart of his great friend Durandarte from his breast with a +little dagger, and carried it to the lady Belerma, as his friend +when at the point of death had commanded him. He said in reply that +they spoke the truth in every respect except as to the dagger, for +it was not a dagger, nor little, but a burnished poniard sharper +than an awl."</p> + +<p>"That poniard must have been made by Ramon de Hoces the +Sevillian," said Sancho.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," said Don Quixote; "it could not have been by that +poniard maker, however, because Ramon de Hoces was a man of yesterday, +and the affair of Roncesvalles, where this mishap occurred, was long +ago; but the question is of no great importance, nor does it affect or +make any alteration in the truth or substance of the story."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said the cousin; "continue, Senor Don Quixote, for I +am listening to you with the greatest pleasure in the world."</p> + +<p>"And with no less do I tell the tale," said Don Quixote; "and so, to +proceed—the venerable Montesinos led me into the palace of crystal, +where, in a lower chamber, strangely cool and entirely of alabaster, +was an elaborately wrought marble tomb, upon which I beheld, stretched +at full length, a knight, not of bronze, or marble, or jasper, as +are seen on other tombs, but of actual flesh and bone. His right +hand (which seemed to me somewhat hairy and sinewy, a sign of great +strength in its owner) lay on the side of his heart; but before I +could put any question to Montesinos, he, seeing me gazing at the tomb +in amazement, said to me, 'This is my friend Durandarte, flower and +mirror of the true lovers and valiant knights of his time. He is +held enchanted here, as I myself and many others are, by that French +enchanter Merlin, who, they say, was the devil's son; but my belief +is, not that he was the devil's son, but that he knew, as the saying +is, a point more than the devil. How or why he enchanted us, no one +knows, but time will tell, and I suspect that time is not far off. +What I marvel at is, that I know it to be as sure as that it is now +day, that Durandarte ended his life in my arms, and that, after his +death, I took out his heart with my own hands; and indeed it must have +weighed more than two pounds, for, according to naturalists, he who +has a large heart is more largely endowed with valour than he who +has a small one. Then, as this is the case, and as the knight did +really die, how comes it that he now moans and sighs from time to +time, as if he were still alive?'</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p23b"></a><img alt="p23b.jpg (243K)" src="images/p23b.jpg" height="810" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p23b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"As he said this, the wretched Durandarte cried out in a loud voice:</p> + + +<pre>O cousin Montesinos! + 'T was my last request of thee, +When my soul hath left the body, + And that lying dead I be, +With thy poniard or thy dagger + Cut the heart from out my breast, +And bear it to Belerma. + This was my last request." + +</pre> + + +<p>"On hearing which, the venerable Montesinos fell on his knees before +the unhappy knight, and with tearful eyes exclaimed, 'Long since, +Senor Durandarte, my beloved cousin, long since have I done what you +bade me on that sad day when I lost you; I took out your heart as well +as I could, not leaving an atom of it in your breast, I wiped it +with a lace handkerchief, and I took the road to France with it, +having first laid you in the bosom of the earth with tears enough to +wash and cleanse my hands of the blood that covered them after +wandering among your bowels; and more by token, O cousin of my soul, +at the first village I came to after leaving Roncesvalles, I sprinkled +a little salt upon your heart to keep it sweet, and bring it, if not +fresh, at least pickled, into the presence of the lady Belerma, +whom, together with you, myself, Guadiana your squire, the duenna +Ruidera and her seven daughters and two nieces, and many more of +your friends and acquaintances, the sage Merlin has been keeping +enchanted here these many years; and although more than five hundred +have gone by, not one of us has died; Ruidera and her daughters and +nieces alone are missing, and these, because of the tears they shed, +Merlin, out of the compassion he seems to have felt for them, +changed into so many lakes, which to this day in the world of the +living, and in the province of La Mancha, are called the Lakes of +Ruidera. The seven daughters belong to the kings of Spain and the +two nieces to the knights of a very holy order called the Order of St. +John. Guadiana your squire, likewise bewailing your fate, was +changed into a river of his own name, but when he came to the +surface and beheld the sun of another heaven, so great was his grief +at finding he was leaving you, that he plunged into the bowels of +the earth; however, as he cannot help following his natural course, he +from time to time comes forth and shows himself to the sun and the +world. The lakes aforesaid send him their waters, and with these, +and others that come to him, he makes a grand and imposing entrance +into Portugal; but for all that, go where he may, he shows his +melancholy and sadness, and takes no pride in breeding dainty choice +fish, only coarse and tasteless sorts, very different from those of +the golden Tagus. All this that I tell you now, O cousin mine, I +have told you many times before, and as you make no answer, I fear +that either you believe me not, or do not hear me, whereat I feel +God knows what grief. I have now news to give you, which, if it serves +not to alleviate your sufferings, will not in any wise increase +them. Know that you have here before you (open your eyes and you +will see) that great knight of whom the sage Merlin has prophesied +such great things; that Don Quixote of La Mancha I mean, who has +again, and to better purpose than in past times, revived in these days +knight-errantry, long since forgotten, and by whose intervention and +aid it may be we shall be disenchanted; for great deeds are reserved +for great men.'</p> + +<p>"'And if that may not be,' said the wretched Durandarte in a low and +feeble voice, 'if that may not be, then, my cousin, I say "patience +and shuffle;"' and turning over on his side, he relapsed into his +former silence without uttering another word.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p23c"></a><img alt="p23c.jpg (331K)" src="images/p23c.jpg" height="815" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p23c.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>"And now there was heard a great outcry and lamentation, accompanied +by deep sighs and bitter sobs. I looked round, and through the crystal +wall I saw passing through another chamber a procession of two lines +of fair damsels all clad in mourning, and with white turbans of +Turkish fashion on their heads. Behind, in the rear of these, there +came a lady, for so from her dignity she seemed to be, also clad in +black, with a white veil so long and ample that it swept the ground. +Her turban was twice as large as the largest of any of the others; her +eyebrows met, her nose was rather flat, her mouth was large but with +ruddy lips, and her teeth, of which at times she allowed a glimpse, +were seen to be sparse and ill-set, though as white as peeled almonds. +She carried in her hands a fine cloth, and in it, as well as I could +make out, a heart that had been mummied, so parched and dried was +it. Montesinos told me that all those forming the procession were +the attendants of Durandarte and Belerma, who were enchanted there +with their master and mistress, and that the last, she who carried the +heart in the cloth, was the lady Belerma, who, with her damsels, +four days in the week went in procession singing, or rather weeping, +dirges over the body and miserable heart of his cousin; and that if +she appeared to me somewhat ill-favoured or not so beautiful as fame +reported her, it was because of the bad nights and worse days that she +passed in that enchantment, as I could see by the great dark circles +round her eyes, and her sickly complexion; 'her sallowness, and the +rings round her eyes,' said he, 'are not caused by the periodical +ailment usual with women, for it is many months and even years since +she has had any, but by the grief her own heart suffers because of +that which she holds in her hand perpetually, and which recalls and +brings back to her memory the sad fate of her lost lover; were it +not for this, hardly would the great Dulcinea del Toboso, so +celebrated in all these parts, and even in the world, come up to her +for beauty, grace, and gaiety.'</p> + +<p>"'Hold hard!' said I at this, 'tell your story as you ought, Senor +Don Montesinos, for you know very well that all comparisons are +odious, and there is no occasion to compare one person with another; +the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso is what she is, and the lady Dona +Belerma is what she is and has been, and that's enough.' To which he +made answer, 'Forgive me, Senor Don Quixote; I own I was wrong and +spoke unadvisedly in saying that the lady Dulcinea could scarcely come +up to the lady Belerma; for it were enough for me to have learned, +by what means I know not, that you are her knight, to make me bite my +tongue out before I compared her to anything save heaven itself.' +After this apology which the great Montesinos made me, my heart +recovered itself from the shock I had received in hearing my lady +compared with Belerma."</p> + +<p>"Still I wonder," said Sancho, "that your worship did not get upon +the old fellow and bruise every bone of him with kicks, and pluck +his beard until you didn't leave a hair in it."</p> + +<p>"Nay, Sancho, my friend," said Don Quixote, "it would not have +been right in me to do that, for we are all bound to pay respect to +the aged, even though they be not knights, but especially to those who +are, and who are enchanted; I only know I gave him as good as he +brought in the many other questions and answers we exchanged."</p> + +<p>"I cannot understand, Senor Don Quixote," remarked the cousin +here, "how it is that your worship, in such a short space of time as +you have been below there, could have seen so many things, and said +and answered so much."</p> + +<p>"How long is it since I went down?" asked Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"Little better than an hour," replied Sancho.</p> + +<p>"That cannot be," returned Don Quixote, "because night overtook me +while I was there, and day came, and it was night again and day +again three times; so that, by my reckoning, I have been three days in +those remote regions beyond our ken."</p> + +<p>"My master must be right," replied Sancho; "for as everything that +has happened to him is by enchantment, maybe what seems to us an +hour would seem three days and nights there."</p> + +<p>"That's it," said Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"And did your worship eat anything all that time, senor?" asked +the cousin.</p> + +<p>"I never touched a morsel," answered Don Quixote, "nor did I feel +hunger, or think of it."</p> + +<p>"And do the enchanted eat?" said the cousin.</p> + +<p>"They neither eat," said Don Quixote; "nor are they subject to the +greater excrements, though it is thought that their nails, beards, and +hair grow."</p> + +<p>"And do the enchanted sleep, now, senor?" asked Sancho.</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," replied Don Quixote; "at least, during those +three days I was with them not one of them closed an eye, nor did I +either."</p> + +<p>"The proverb, 'Tell me what company thou keepest and I'll tell +thee what thou art,' is to the point here," said Sancho; "your worship +keeps company with enchanted people that are always fasting and +watching; what wonder is it, then, that you neither eat nor sleep +while you are with them? But forgive me, senor, if I say that of all +this you have told us now, may God take me—I was just going to say +the devil—if I believe a single particle."</p> + +<p>"What!" said the cousin, "has Senor Don Quixote, then, been lying? +Why, even if he wished it he has not had time to imagine and put +together such a host of lies."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe my master lies," said Sancho.</p> + +<p>"If not, what dost thou believe?" asked Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"I believe," replied Sancho, "that this Merlin, or those +enchanters who enchanted the whole crew your worship says you saw +and discoursed with down there, stuffed your imagination or your +mind with all this rigmarole you have been treating us to, and all +that is still to come."</p> + +<p>"All that might be, Sancho," replied Don Quixote; "but it is not so, +for everything that I have told you I saw with my own eyes, and +touched with my own hands. But what will you say when I tell you now +how, among the countless other marvellous things Montesinos showed +me (of which at leisure and at the proper time I will give thee an +account in the course of our journey, for they would not be all in +place here), he showed me three country girls who went skipping and +capering like goats over the pleasant fields there, and the instant +I beheld them I knew one to be the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, and +the other two those same country girls that were with her and that +we spoke to on the road from El Toboso! I asked Montesinos if he +knew them, and he told me he did not, but he thought they must be some +enchanted ladies of distinction, for it was only a few days before +that they had made their appearance in those meadows; but I was not to +be surprised at that, because there were a great many other ladies +there of times past and present, enchanted in various strange +shapes, and among them he had recognised Queen Guinevere and her +dame Quintanona, she who poured out the wine for Lancelot when he came +from Britain."</p> + +<p>When Sancho Panza heard his master say this he was ready to take +leave of his senses, or die with laughter; for, as he knew the real +truth about the pretended enchantment of Dulcinea, in which he himself +had been the enchanter and concocter of all the evidence, he made up +his mind at last that, beyond all doubt, his master was out of his +wits and stark mad, so he said to him, "It was an evil hour, a worse +season, and a sorrowful day, when your worship, dear master mine, went +down to the other world, and an unlucky moment when you met with Senor +Montesinos, who has sent you back to us like this. You were well +enough here above in your full senses, such as God had given you, +delivering maxims and giving advice at every turn, and not as you +are now, talking the greatest nonsense that can be imagined."</p> + +<p>"As I know thee, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "I heed not thy words."</p> + +<p>"Nor I your worship's," said Sancho, "whether you beat me or kill me +for those I have spoken, and will speak if you don't correct and +mend your own. But tell me, while we are still at peace, how or by +what did you recognise the lady our mistress; and if you spoke to her, +what did you say, and what did she answer?"</p> + +<p>"I recognised her," said Don Quixote, "by her wearing the same +garments she wore when thou didst point her out to me. I spoke to her, +but she did not utter a word in reply; on the contrary, she turned her +back on me and took to flight, at such a pace that crossbow bolt could +not have overtaken her. I wished to follow her, and would have done so +had not Montesinos recommended me not to take the trouble as it +would be useless, particularly as the time was drawing near when it +would be necessary for me to quit the cavern. He told me, moreover, +that in course of time he would let me know how he and Belerma, and +Durandarte, and all who were there, were to be disenchanted. But of +all I saw and observed down there, what gave me most pain was, that +while Montesinos was speaking to me, one of the two companions of +the hapless Dulcinea approached me on one without my having seen her +coming, and with tears in her eyes said to me, in a low, agitated +voice, 'My lady Dulcinea del Toboso kisses your worship's hands, and +entreats you to do her the favour of letting her know how you are; +and, being in great need, she also entreats your worship as +earnestly as she can to be so good as to lend her half a dozen +reals, or as much as you may have about you, on this new dimity +petticoat that I have here; and she promises to repay them very +speedily.' I was amazed and taken aback by such a message, and turning +to Senor Montesinos I asked him, 'Is it possible, Senor Montesinos, +that persons of distinction under enchantment can be in need?' To +which he replied, 'Believe me, Senor Don Quixote, that which is called +need is to be met with everywhere, and penetrates all quarters and +reaches everyone, and does not spare even the enchanted; and as the +lady Dulcinea del Toboso sends to beg those six reals, and the +pledge is to all appearance a good one, there is nothing for it but to +give them to her, for no doubt she must be in some great strait.' 'I +will take no pledge of her,' I replied, 'nor yet can I give her what +she asks, for all I have is four reals; which I gave (they were +those which thou, Sancho, gavest me the other day to bestow in alms +upon the poor I met along the road), and I said, 'Tell your +mistress, my dear, that I am grieved to the heart because of her +distresses, and wish I was a Fucar to remedy them, and that I would +have her know that I cannot be, and ought not be, in health while +deprived of the happiness of seeing her and enjoying her discreet +conversation, and that I implore her as earnestly as I can, to allow +herself to be seen and addressed by this her captive servant and +forlorn knight. Tell her, too, that when she least expects it she will +hear it announced that I have made an oath and vow after the fashion +of that which the Marquis of Mantua made to avenge his nephew Baldwin, +when he found him at the point of death in the heart of the mountains, +which was, not to eat bread off a tablecloth, and other trifling +matters which he added, until he had avenged him; and I will make +the same to take no rest, and to roam the seven regions of the earth +more thoroughly than the Infante Don Pedro of Portugal ever roamed +them, until I have disenchanted her.' 'All that and more, you owe my +lady,' the damsel's answer to me, and taking the four reals, instead +of making me a curtsey she cut a caper, springing two full yards +into the air."</p> + +<p>"O blessed God!" exclaimed Sancho aloud at this, "is it possible +that such things can be in the world, and that enchanters and +enchantments can have such power in it as to have changed my +master's right senses into a craze so full of absurdity! O senor, +senor, for God's sake, consider yourself, have a care for your honour, +and give no credit to this silly stuff that has left you scant and +short of wits."</p> + +<p>"Thou talkest in this way because thou lovest me, Sancho," said +Don Quixote; "and not being experienced in the things of the world, +everything that has some difficulty about it seems to thee impossible; +but time will pass, as I said before, and I will tell thee some of the +things I saw down there which will make thee believe what I have +related now, the truth of which admits of neither reply nor question."</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p23e"></a><img alt="p23e.jpg (54K)" src="images/p23e.jpg" height="721" width="453"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch24b"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN ARE RELATED A THOUSAND TRIFLING MATTERS, AS TRIVIAL AS +THEY ARE NECESSARY TO THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF THIS GREAT HISTORY +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> +<center><a name="p24a"></a><img alt="p24a.jpg (137K)" src="images/p24a.jpg" height="400" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p24a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>He who translated this great history from the original written by +its first author, Cide Hamete Benengeli, says that on coming to the +chapter giving the adventures of the cave of Montesinos he found +written on the margin of it, in Hamete's own hand, these exact words:</p> + +<p>"I cannot convince or persuade myself that everything that is +written in the preceding chapter could have precisely happened to +the valiant Don Quixote; and for this reason, that all the +adventures that have occurred up to the present have been possible and +probable; but as for this one of the cave, I see no way of accepting +it as true, as it passes all reasonable bounds. For me to believe that +Don Quixote could lie, he being the most truthful gentleman and the +noblest knight of his time, is impossible; he would not have told a +lie though he were shot to death with arrows. On the other hand, I +reflect that he related and told the story with all the +circumstances detailed, and that he could not in so short a space have +fabricated such a vast complication of absurdities; if, then, this +adventure seems apocryphal, it is no fault of mine; and so, without +affirming its falsehood or its truth, I write it down. Decide for +thyself in thy wisdom, reader; for I am not bound, nor is it in my +power, to do more; though certain it is they say that at the time of +his death he retracted, and said he had invented it, thinking it +matched and tallied with the adventures he had read of in his +histories." And then he goes on to say:</p> + +<p>The cousin was amazed as well at Sancho's boldness as at the +patience of his master, and concluded that the good temper the +latter displayed arose from the happiness he felt at having seen his +lady Dulcinea, even enchanted as she was; because otherwise the +words and language Sancho had addressed to him deserved a thrashing; +for indeed he seemed to him to have been rather impudent to his +master, to whom he now observed, "I, Senor Don Quixote of La Mancha, +look upon the time I have spent in travelling with your worship as +very well employed, for I have gained four things in the course of it; +the first is that I have made your acquaintance, which I consider +great good fortune; the second, that I have learned what the cave of +Montesinos contains, together with the transformations of Guadiana and +of the lakes of Ruidera; which will be of use to me for the Spanish +Ovid that I have in hand; the third, to have discovered the +antiquity of cards, that they were in use at least in the time of +Charlemagne, as may be inferred from the words you say Durandarte +uttered when, at the end of that long spell while Montesinos was +talking to him, he woke up and said, 'Patience and shuffle.' This +phrase and expression he could not have learned while he was +enchanted, but only before he had become so, in France, and in the +time of the aforesaid emperor Charlemagne. And this demonstration is +just the thing for me for that other book I am writing, the +'Supplement to Polydore Vergil on the Invention of Antiquities;' for I +believe he never thought of inserting that of cards in his book, as +I mean to do in mine, and it will be a matter of great importance, +particularly when I can cite so grave and veracious an authority as +Senor Durandarte. And the fourth thing is, that I have ascertained the +source of the river Guadiana, heretofore unknown to mankind."</p> + +<p>"You are right," said Don Quixote; "but I should like to know, if by +God's favour they grant you a licence to print those books of +yours—which I doubt—to whom do you mean dedicate them?"</p> + +<p>"There are lords and grandees in Spain to whom they can be +dedicated," said the cousin.</p> + +<p>"Not many," said Don Quixote; "not that they are unworthy of it, but +because they do not care to accept books and incur the obligation of +making the return that seems due to the author's labour and +courtesy. One prince I know who makes up for all the rest, and +more—how much more, if I ventured to say, perhaps I should stir up envy +in many a noble breast; but let this stand over for some more +convenient time, and let us go and look for some place to shelter +ourselves in to-night."</p> + +<p>"Not far from this," said the cousin, "there is a hermitage, where +there lives a hermit, who they say was a soldier, and who has the +reputation of being a good Christian and a very intelligent and +charitable man. Close to the hermitage he has a small house which he +built at his own cost, but though small it is large enough for the +reception of guests."</p> + +<p>"Has this hermit any hens, do you think?" asked Sancho.</p> + +<p>"Few hermits are without them," said Don Quixote; "for those we +see now-a-days are not like the hermits of the Egyptian deserts who +were clad in palm-leaves, and lived on the roots of the earth. But +do not think that by praising these I am disparaging the others; all I +mean to say is that the penances of those of the present day do not +come up to the asceticism and austerity of former times; but it does +not follow from this that they are not all worthy; at least I think +them so; and at the worst the hypocrite who pretends to be good does +less harm than the open sinner."</p> + +<p>At this point they saw approaching the spot where they stood a man +on foot, proceeding at a rapid pace, and beating a mule loaded with +lances and halberds. When he came up to them, he saluted them and +passed on without stopping. Don Quixote called to him, "Stay, good +fellow; you seem to be making more haste than suits that mule."</p> + +<p>"I cannot stop, senor," answered the man; "for the arms you see I +carry here are to be used tomorrow, so I must not delay; God be with +you. But if you want to know what I am carrying them for, I mean to +lodge to-night at the inn that is beyond the hermitage, and if you +be going the same road you will find me there, and I will tell you +some curious things; once more God be with you;" and he urged on his +mule at such a pace that Don Quixote had no time to ask him what these +curious things were that he meant to tell them; and as he was somewhat +inquisitive, and always tortured by his anxiety to learn something +new, he decided to set out at once, and go and pass the night at the +inn instead of stopping at the hermitage, where the cousin would +have had them halt. Accordingly they mounted and all three took the +direct road for the inn, which they reached a little before nightfall. +On the road the cousin proposed they should go up to the hermitage +to drink a sup. The instant Sancho heard this he steered his Dapple +towards it, and Don Quixote and the cousin did the same; but it +seems Sancho's bad luck so ordered it that the hermit was not at home, +for so a sub-hermit they found in the hermitage told them. They called +for some of the best. She replied that her master had none, but that +if they liked cheap water she would give it with great pleasure.</p> + +<p>"If I found any in water," said Sancho, "there are wells along the +road where I could have had enough of it. Ah, Camacho's wedding, and +plentiful house of Don Diego, how often do I miss you!"</p> + +<p>Leaving the hermitage, they pushed on towards the inn, and a +little farther they came upon a youth who was pacing along in front of +them at no great speed, so that they overtook him. He carried a +sword over his shoulder, and slung on it a budget or bundle of his +clothes apparently, probably his breeches or pantaloons, and his cloak +and a shirt or two; for he had on a short jacket of velvet with a +gloss like satin on it in places, and had his shirt out; his stockings +were of silk, and his shoes square-toed as they wear them at court. +His age might have been eighteen or nineteen; he was of a merry +countenance, and to all appearance of an active habit, and he went +along singing seguidillas to beguile the wearisomeness of the road. As +they came up with him he was just finishing one, which the cousin +got by heart and they say ran thus—</p> + +<pre>I'm off to the wars + For the want of pence, +Oh, had I but money + I'd show more sense.</pre> + +<p> +The first to address him was Don Quixote, who said, "You travel very +airily, sir gallant; whither bound, may we ask, if it is your pleasure +to tell us?"</p> + +<p>To which the youth replied, "The heat and my poverty are the +reason of my travelling so airily, and it is to the wars that I am +bound."</p> + +<p>"How poverty?" asked Don Quixote; "the heat one can understand."</p> + +<p>"Senor," replied the youth, "in this bundle I carry velvet +pantaloons to match this jacket; if I wear them out on the road, I +shall not be able to make a decent appearance in them in the city, and +I have not the wherewithal to buy others; and so for this reason, as +well as to keep myself cool, I am making my way in this fashion to +overtake some companies of infantry that are not twelve leagues off, +in which I shall enlist, and there will be no want of baggage trains +to travel with after that to the place of embarkation, which they +say will be Carthagena; I would rather have the King for a master, and +serve him in the wars, than serve a court pauper."</p> + +<p>"And did you get any bounty, now?" asked the cousin.</p> + +<p>"If I had been in the service of some grandee of Spain or +personage of distinction," replied the youth, "I should have been safe +to get it; for that is the advantage of serving good masters, that out +of the servants' hall men come to be ancients or captains, or get a +good pension. But I, to my misfortune, always served place-hunters and +adventurers, whose keep and wages were so miserable and scanty that +half went in paying for the starching of one's collars; it would be +a miracle indeed if a page volunteer ever got anything like a +reasonable bounty."</p> + +<p>"And tell me, for heaven's sake," asked Don Quixote, "is it +possible, my friend, that all the time you served you never got any +livery?"</p> + +<p>"They gave me two," replied the page; "but just as when one quits +a religious community before making profession, they strip him of +the dress of the order and give him back his own clothes, so did my +masters return me mine; for as soon as the business on which they came +to court was finished, they went home and took back the liveries +they had given merely for show."</p> + +<p>"What spilorceria!—as an Italian would say," said Don Quixote; "but +for all that, consider yourself happy in having left court with as +worthy an object as you have, for there is nothing on earth more +honourable or profitable than serving, first of all God, and then +one's king and natural lord, particularly in the profession of arms, +by which, if not more wealth, at least more honour is to be won than +by letters, as I have said many a time; for though letters may have +founded more great houses than arms, still those founded by arms +have I know not what superiority over those founded by letters, and +a certain splendour belonging to them that distinguishes them above +all. And bear in mind what I am now about to say to you, for it will +be of great use and comfort to you in time of trouble; it is, not to +let your mind dwell on the adverse chances that may befall you; for +the worst of all is death, and if it be a good death, the best of +all is to die. They asked Julius Caesar, the valiant Roman emperor, +what was the best death. He answered, that which is unexpected, +which comes suddenly and unforeseen; and though he answered like a +pagan, and one without the knowledge of the true God, yet, as far as +sparing our feelings is concerned, he was right; for suppose you are +killed in the first engagement or skirmish, whether by a cannon ball +or blown up by mine, what matters it? It is only dying, and all is +over; and according to Terence, a soldier shows better dead in battle, +than alive and safe in flight; and the good soldier wins fame in +proportion as he is obedient to his captains and those in command over +him. And remember, my son, that it is better for the soldier to +smell of gunpowder than of civet, and that if old age should come upon +you in this honourable calling, though you may be covered with +wounds and crippled and lame, it will not come upon you without +honour, and that such as poverty cannot lessen; especially now that +provisions are being made for supporting and relieving old and +disabled soldiers; for it is not right to deal with them after the +fashion of those who set free and get rid of their black slaves when +they are old and useless, and, turning them out of their houses +under the pretence of making them free, make them slaves to hunger, +from which they cannot expect to be released except by death. But +for the present I won't say more than get ye up behind me on my +horse as far as the inn, and sup with me there, and to-morrow you +shall pursue your journey, and God give you as good speed as your +intentions deserve."</p> + +<p>The page did not accept the invitation to mount, though he did +that to supper at the inn; and here they say Sancho said to himself, +"God be with you for a master; is it possible that a man who can say +things so many and so good as he has said just now, can say that he +saw the impossible absurdities he reports about the cave of +Montesinos? Well, well, we shall see."</p> + +<p>And now, just as night was falling, they reached the inn, and it was +not without satisfaction that Sancho perceived his master took it +for a real inn, and not for a castle as usual. The instant they +entered Don Quixote asked the landlord after the man with the lances +and halberds, and was told that he was in the stable seeing to his +mule; which was what Sancho and the cousin proceeded to do for their +beasts, giving the best manger and the best place in the stable to +Rocinante.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p24e"></a><img alt="p24e.jpg (61K)" src="images/p24e.jpg" height="442" width="650"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch25b"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN IS SET DOWN THE BRAYING ADVENTURE, AND THE DROLL ONE OF +THE PUPPET-SHOWMAN, TOGETHER WITH THE MEMORABLE DIVINATIONS OF THE +DIVINING APE +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p25a"></a><img alt="p25a.jpg (154K)" src="images/p25a.jpg" height="419" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p25a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Don Quixote's bread would not bake, as the common saying is, until +he had heard and learned the curious things promised by the man who +carried the arms. He went to seek him where the innkeeper said he +was and having found him, bade him say now at any rate what he had +to say in answer to the question he had asked him on the road. "The +tale of my wonders must be taken more leisurely and not standing," +said the man; "let me finish foddering my beast, good sir; and then +I'll tell you things that will astonish you."</p> + +<p>"Don't wait for that," said Don Quixote; "I'll help you in +everything," and so he did, sifting the barley for him and cleaning +out the manger; a degree of humility which made the other feel bound +to tell him with a good grace what he had asked; so seating himself on +a bench, with Don Quixote beside him, and the cousin, the page, Sancho +Panza, and the landlord, for a senate and an audience, he began his +story in this way:</p> + +<p>"You must know that in a village four leagues and a half from this +inn, it so happened that one of the regidors, by the tricks and +roguery of a servant girl of his (it's too long a tale to tell), +lost an ass; and though he did all he possibly could to find it, it +was all to no purpose. A fortnight might have gone by, so the story +goes, since the ass had been missing, when, as the regidor who had +lost it was standing in the plaza, another regidor of the same town +said to him, 'Pay me for good news, gossip; your ass has turned up.' +'That I will, and well, gossip,' said the other; 'but tell us, where +has he turned up?' 'In the forest,' said the finder; 'I saw him this +morning without pack-saddle or harness of any sort, and so lean that +it went to one's heart to see him. I tried to drive him before me +and bring him to you, but he is already so wild and shy that when I +went near him he made off into the thickest part of the forest. If you +have a mind that we two should go back and look for him, let me put up +this she-ass at my house and I'll be back at once.' 'You will be doing +me a great kindness,' said the owner of the ass, 'and I'll try to +pay it back in the same coin.' It is with all these circumstances, and +in the very same way I am telling it now, that those who know all +about the matter tell the story. Well then, the two regidors set off +on foot, arm in arm, for the forest, and coming to the place where +they hoped to find the ass they could not find him, nor was he to be +seen anywhere about, search as they might. Seeing, then, that there +was no sign of him, the regidor who had seen him said to the other, +'Look here, gossip; a plan has occurred to me, by which, beyond a +doubt, we shall manage to discover the animal, even if he is stowed +away in the bowels of the earth, not to say the forest. Here it is. +I can bray to perfection, and if you can ever so little, the thing's +as good as done.' 'Ever so little did you say, gossip?' said the +other; 'by God, I'll not give in to anybody, not even to the asses +themselves.' 'We'll soon see,' said the second regidor, 'for my plan +is that you should go one side of the forest, and I the other, so as +to go all round about it; and every now and then you will bray and I +will bray; and it cannot be but that the ass will hear us, and +answer us if he is in the forest.' To which the owner of the ass +replied, 'It's an excellent plan, I declare, gossip, and worthy of +your great genius;' and the two separating as agreed, it so fell out +that they brayed almost at the same moment, and each, deceived by +the braying of the other, ran to look, fancying the ass had turned +up at last. When they came in sight of one another, said the loser, +'Is it possible, gossip, that it was not my ass that brayed?' 'No, +it was I,' said the other. 'Well then, I can tell you, gossip,' said +the ass's owner, 'that between you and an ass there is not an atom +of difference as far as braying goes, for I never in all my life saw +or heard anything more natural.' 'Those praises and compliments belong +to you more justly than to me, gossip,' said the inventor of the plan; +'for, by the God that made me, you might give a couple of brays odds +to the best and most finished brayer in the world; the tone you have +got is deep, your voice is well kept up as to time and pitch, and your +finishing notes come thick and fast; in fact, I own myself beaten, and +yield the palm to you, and give in to you in this rare +accomplishment.' 'Well then,' said the owner, 'I'll set a higher value +on myself for the future, and consider that I know something, as I +have an excellence of some sort; for though I always thought I +brayed well, I never supposed I came up to the pitch of perfection you +say.' 'And I say too,' said the second, 'that there are rare gifts +going to loss in the world, and that they are ill bestowed upon +those who don't know how to make use of them.' 'Ours,' said the +owner of the ass, 'unless it is in cases like this we have now in +hand, cannot be of any service to us, and even in this God grant +they may be of some use.' So saying they separated, and took to +their braying once more, but every instant they were deceiving one +another, and coming to meet one another again, until they arranged +by way of countersign, so as to know that it was they and not the ass, +to give two brays, one after the other. In this way, doubling the +brays at every step, they made the complete circuit of the forest, but +the lost ass never gave them an answer or even the sign of one. How +could the poor ill-starred brute have answered, when, in the +thickest part of the forest, they found him devoured by wolves? As +soon as he saw him his owner said, 'I was wondering he did not answer, +for if he wasn't dead he'd have brayed when he heard us, or he'd +have been no ass; but for the sake of having heard you bray to such +perfection, gossip, I count the trouble I have taken to look for him +well bestowed, even though I have found him dead.' 'It's in a good +hand, gossip,' said the other; 'if the abbot sings well, the acolyte +is not much behind him.' So they returned disconsolate and hoarse to +their village, where they told their friends, neighbours, and +acquaintances what had befallen them in their search for the ass, each +crying up the other's perfection in braying. The whole story came to +be known and spread abroad through the villages of the +neighbourhood; and the devil, who never sleeps, with his love for +sowing dissensions and scattering discord everywhere, blowing mischief +about and making quarrels out of nothing, contrived to make the people +of the other towns fall to braying whenever they saw anyone from our +village, as if to throw the braying of our regidors in our teeth. Then +the boys took to it, which was the same thing for it as getting into +the hands and mouths of all the devils of hell; and braying spread +from one town to another in such a way that the men of the braying +town are as easy to be known as blacks are to be known from whites, +and the unlucky joke has gone so far that several times the scoffed +have come out in arms and in a body to do battle with the scoffers, +and neither king nor rook, fear nor shame, can mend matters. To-morrow +or the day after, I believe, the men of my town, that is, of the +braying town, are going to take the field against another village +two leagues away from ours, one of those that persecute us most; and +that we may turn out well prepared I have bought these lances and +halberds you have seen. These are the curious things I told you I +had to tell, and if you don't think them so, I have got no others;" +and with this the worthy fellow brought his story to a close.</p> + +<p>Just at this moment there came in at the gate of the inn a man +entirely clad in chamois leather, hose, breeches, and doublet, who +said in a loud voice, "Senor host, have you room? Here's the +divining ape and the show of the Release of Melisendra just coming."</p> + +<p>"Ods body!" said the landlord, "why, it's Master Pedro! We're in for +a grand night!" I forgot to mention that the said Master Pedro had his +left eye and nearly half his cheek covered with a patch of green +taffety, showing that something ailed all that side. "Your worship +is welcome, Master Pedro," continued the landlord; "but where are +the ape and the show, for I don't see them?" "They are close at hand," +said he in the chamois leather, "but I came on first to know if +there was any room." "I'd make the Duke of Alva himself clear out to +make room for Master Pedro," said the landlord; "bring in the ape +and the show; there's company in the inn to-night that will pay to see +that and the cleverness of the ape." "So be it by all means," said the +man with the patch; "I'll lower the price, and be well satisfied if +I only pay my expenses; and now I'll go back and hurry on the cart +with the ape and the show;" and with this he went out of the inn.</p> + +<p>Don Quixote at once asked the landlord what this Master Pedro was, +and what was the show and what was the ape he had with him; which +the landlord replied, "This is a famous puppet-showman, who for some +time past has been going about this Mancha de Aragon, exhibiting a +show of the release of Melisendra by the famous Don Gaiferos, one of +the best and best-represented stories that have been seen in this part +of the kingdom for many a year; he has also with him an ape with the +most extraordinary gift ever seen in an ape or imagined in a human +being; for if you ask him anything, he listens attentively to the +question, and then jumps on his master's shoulder, and pressing +close to his ear tells him the answer which Master Pedro then +delivers. He says a great deal more about things past than about +things to come; and though he does not always hit the truth in every +case, most times he is not far wrong, so that he makes us fancy he has +got the devil in him. He gets two reals for every question if the +ape answers; I mean if his master answers for him after he has +whispered into his ear; and so it is believed that this same Master +Pedro is very rich. He is a 'gallant man' as they say in Italy, and +good company, and leads the finest life in the world; talks more +than six, drinks more than a dozen, and all by his tongue, and his +ape, and his show."</p> + +<p>Master Pedro now came back, and in a cart followed the show and +the ape—a big one, without a tail and with buttocks as bare as +felt, but not vicious-looking. As soon as Don Quixote saw him, he +asked him, "Can you tell me, sir fortune-teller, what fish do we +catch, and how will it be with us? See, here are my two reals," and he +bade Sancho give them to Master Pedro; but he answered for the ape and +said, "Senor, this animal does not give any answer or information +touching things that are to come; of things past he knows something, +and more or less of things present."</p> + +<p>"Gad," said Sancho, "I would not give a farthing to be told what's +past with me, for who knows that better than I do myself? And to pay +for being told what I know would be mighty foolish. But as you know +things present, here are my two reals, and tell me, most excellent sir +ape, what is my wife Teresa Panza doing now, and what is she diverting +herself with?"</p> + +<p>Master Pedro refused to take the money, saying, "I will not +receive payment in advance or until the service has been first +rendered;" and then with his right hand he gave a couple of slaps on +his left shoulder, and with one spring the ape perched himself upon +it, and putting his mouth to his master's ear began chattering his +teeth rapidly; and having kept this up as long as one would be +saying a credo, with another spring he brought himself to the +ground, and the same instant Master Pedro ran in great haste and +fell upon his knees before Don Quixote, and embracing his legs +exclaimed, "These legs do I embrace as I would embrace the two pillars +of Hercules, O illustrious reviver of knight-errantry, so long +consigned to oblivion! O never yet duly extolled knight, Don Quixote +of La Mancha, courage of the faint-hearted, prop of the tottering, arm +of the fallen, staff and counsel of all who are unfortunate!"</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p25b"></a><img alt="p25b.jpg (373K)" src="images/p25b.jpg" height="831" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p25b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Don Quixote was thunderstruck, Sancho astounded, the cousin +staggered, the page astonished, the man from the braying town agape, +the landlord in perplexity, and, in short, everyone amazed at the +words of the puppet-showman, who went on to say, "And thou, worthy +Sancho Panza, the best squire and squire to the best knight in the +world! Be of good cheer, for thy good wife Teresa is well, and she +is at this moment hackling a pound of flax; and more by token she +has at her left hand a jug with a broken spout that holds a good +drop of wine, with which she solaces herself at her work."</p> + +<p>"That I can well believe," said Sancho. "She is a lucky one, and +if it was not for her jealousy I would not change her for the giantess +Andandona, who by my master's account was a very clever and worthy +woman; my Teresa is one of those that won't let themselves want for +anything, though their heirs may have to pay for it."</p> + +<p>"Now I declare," said Don Quixote, "he who reads much and travels +much sees and knows a great deal. I say so because what amount of +persuasion could have persuaded me that there are apes in the world +that can divine as I have seen now with my own eyes? For I am that +very Don Quixote of La Mancha this worthy animal refers to, though +he has gone rather too far in my praise; but whatever I may be, I +thank heaven that it has endowed me with a tender and compassionate +heart, always disposed to do good to all and harm to none."</p> + +<p>"If I had money," said the page, "I would ask senor ape what will +happen me in the peregrination I am making."</p> + +<p>To this Master Pedro, who had by this time risen from Don +Quixote's feet, replied, "I have already said that this little beast +gives no answer as to the future; but if he did, not having money +would be of no consequence, for to oblige Senor Don Quixote, here +present, I would give up all the profits in the world. And now, +because I have promised it, and to afford him pleasure, I will set +up my show and offer entertainment to all who are in the inn, +without any charge whatever." As soon as he heard this, the +landlord, delighted beyond measure, pointed out a place where the show +might be fixed, which was done at once.</p> + +<p>Don Quixote was not very well satisfied with the divinations of +the ape, as he did not think it proper that an ape should divine +anything, either past or future; so while Master Pedro was arranging +the show, he retired with Sancho into a corner of the stable, where, +without being overheard by anyone, he said to him, "Look here, Sancho, +I have been seriously thinking over this ape's extraordinary gift, and +have come to the conclusion that beyond doubt this Master Pedro, his +master, has a pact, tacit or express, with the devil."</p> + +<p>"If the packet is express from the devil," said Sancho, "it must +be a very dirty packet no doubt; but what good can it do Master +Pedro to have such packets?"</p> + +<p>"Thou dost not understand me, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "I only +mean he must have made some compact with the devil to infuse this +power into the ape, that he may get his living, and after he has grown +rich he will give him his soul, which is what the enemy of mankind +wants; this I am led to believe by observing that the ape only answers +about things past or present, and the devil's knowledge extends no +further; for the future he knows only by guesswork, and that not +always; for it is reserved for God alone to know the times and the +seasons, and for him there is neither past nor future; all is present. +This being as it is, it is clear that this ape speaks by the spirit of +the devil; and I am astonished they have not denounced him to the Holy +Office, and put him to the question, and forced it out of him by whose +virtue it is that he divines; because it is certain this ape is not an +astrologer; neither his master nor he sets up, or knows how to set up, +those figures they call judiciary, which are now so common in Spain +that there is not a jade, or page, or old cobbler, that will not +undertake to set up a figure as readily as pick up a knave of cards +from the ground, bringing to nought the marvellous truth of the +science by their lies and ignorance. I know of a lady who asked one of +these figure schemers whether her little lap-dog would be in pup and +would breed, and how many and of what colour the little pups would be. +To which senor astrologer, after having set up his figure, made answer +that the bitch would be in pup, and would drop three pups, one +green, another bright red, and the third parti-coloured, provided +she conceived between eleven and twelve either of the day or night, +and on a Monday or Saturday; but as things turned out, two days +after this the bitch died of a surfeit, and senor planet-ruler had the +credit all over the place of being a most profound astrologer, as most +of these planet-rulers have."</p> + +<p>"Still," said Sancho, "I would be glad if your worship would make +Master Pedro ask his ape whether what happened your worship in the +cave of Montesinos is true; for, begging your worship's pardon, I, for +my part, take it to have been all flam and lies, or at any rate +something you dreamt."</p> + +<p>"That may be," replied Don Quixote; "however, I will do what you +suggest; though I have my own scruples about it."</p> + +<p>At this point Master Pedro came up in quest of Don Quixote, to +tell him the show was now ready and to come and see it, for it was +worth seeing. Don Quixote explained his wish, and begged him to ask +his ape at once to tell him whether certain things which had +happened to him in the cave of Montesinos were dreams or realities, +for to him they appeared to partake of both. Upon this Master Pedro, +without answering, went back to fetch the ape, and, having placed it +in front of Don Quixote and Sancho, said: "See here, senor ape, this +gentleman wishes to know whether certain things which happened to +him in the cave called the cave of Montesinos were false or true." +On his making the usual sign the ape mounted on his left shoulder +and seemed to whisper in his ear, and Master Pedro said at once, +"The ape says that the things you saw or that happened to you in +that cave are, part of them false, part true; and that he only knows +this and no more as regards this question; but if your worship +wishes to know more, on Friday next he will answer all that may be +asked him, for his virtue is at present exhausted, and will not return +to him till Friday, as he has said."</p> + +<p>"Did I not say, senor," said Sancho, "that I could not bring +myself to believe that all your worship said about the adventures in +the cave was true, or even the half of it?"</p> + +<p>"The course of events will tell, Sancho," replied Don Quixote; +"time, that discloses all things, leaves nothing that it does not drag +into the light of day, though it be buried in the bosom of the +earth. But enough of that for the present; let us go and see Master +Pedro's show, for I am sure there must be something novel in it."</p> + +<p>"Something!" said Master Pedro; "this show of mine has sixty +thousand novel things in it; let me tell you, Senor Don Quixote, it is +one of the best-worth-seeing things in the world this day; but +operibus credite et non verbis, and now let's get to work, for it is +growing late, and we have a great deal to do and to say and show."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote and Sancho obeyed him and went to where the show was +already put up and uncovered, set all around with lighted wax tapers +which made it look splendid and bright. When they came to it Master +Pedro ensconced himself inside it, for it was he who had to work the +puppets, and a boy, a servant of his, posted himself outside to act as +showman and explain the mysteries of the exhibition, having a wand +in his hand to point to the figures as they came out. And so, all +who were in the inn being arranged in front of the show, some of +them standing, and Don Quixote, Sancho, the page, and cousin, +accommodated with the best places, the interpreter began to say what +he will hear or see who reads or hears the next chapter.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p25e"></a><img alt="p25e.jpg (28K)" src="images/p25e.jpg" height="309" width="499"> +</center> + + + + +<br> +<br> + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p25.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p27.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +</body> +</html> + |