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diff --git a/old/orig5946-h/p27.htm b/old/orig5946-h/p27.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9de4619 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/orig5946-h/p27.htm @@ -0,0 +1,978 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>THE HISTORY OF DON QUIXOTE, By Cervantes, Vol. II., Part 27.</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="p26.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p28.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 27 +<br><br> +Chapters 26-28 +</h3></center> + + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="bookcover.jpg (230K)" src="images/bookcover.jpg" height="842" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/bookcover.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"> +</a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center> +<img alt="spine.jpg (152K)" src="images/spine.jpg" height="842" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/spine.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"> +</a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<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="#ch26b">CHAPTER XXVI</a> +WHEREIN IS CONTINUED THE DROLL ADVENTURE OF THE +PUPPET-SHOWMAN, TOGETHER WITH OTHER THINGS IN TRUTH +RIGHT GOOD + +<a href="#ch27b">CHAPTER XXVII</a> +WHEREIN IT IS SHOWN WHO MASTER PEDRO AND HIS APE WERE, +TOGETHER WITH THE MISHAP DON QUIXOTE HAD IN THE BRAYING +ADVENTURE, WHICH HE DID NOT CONCLUDE AS HE WOULD HAVE +LIKED OR AS HE HAD EXPECTED + +<a href="#ch28b">CHAPTER XXVIII</a> +OF MATTERS THAT BENENGELI SAYS HE WHO READS THEM WILL +KNOW, IF HE READS THEM WITH ATTENTION + +</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="ch26b"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN IS CONTINUED THE DROLL ADVENTURE OF THE PUPPET-SHOWMAN, +TOGETHER WITH OTHER THINGS IN TRUTH RIGHT GOOD +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p26a"></a><img alt="p26a.jpg (157K)" src="images/p26a.jpg" height="425" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p26a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>All were silent, Tyrians and Trojans; I mean all who were watching +the show were hanging on the lips of the interpreter of its wonders, +when drums and trumpets were heard to sound inside it and cannon to go +off. The noise was soon over, and then the boy lifted up his voice and +said, "This true story which is here represented to your worships is +taken word for word from the French chronicles and from the Spanish +ballads that are in everybody's mouth, and in the mouth of the boys +about the streets. Its subject is the release by Senor Don Gaiferos of +his wife Melisendra, when a captive in Spain at the hands of the Moors +in the city of Sansuena, for so they called then what is now called +Saragossa; and there you may see how Don Gaiferos is playing at the +tables, just as they sing it-</p> + + +<pre> +At tables playing Don Gaiferos sits, +For Melisendra is forgotten now. + +</pre> + +<p>And that personage who appears there with a crown on his head and a +sceptre in his hand is the Emperor Charlemagne, the supposed father of +Melisendra, who, angered to see his son-in-law's inaction and +unconcern, comes in to chide him; and observe with what vehemence +and energy he chides him, so that you would fancy he was going to give +him half a dozen raps with his sceptre; and indeed there are authors +who say he did give them, and sound ones too; and after having said +a great deal to him about imperilling his honour by not effecting +the release of his wife, he said, so the tale runs,</p> + +<p>Enough I've said, see to it now.</p> + +<p>Observe, too, how the emperor turns away, and leaves Don Gaiferos +fuming; and you see now how in a burst of anger, he flings the table +and the board far from him and calls in haste for his armour, and asks +his cousin Don Roland for the loan of his sword, Durindana, and how +Don Roland refuses to lend it, offering him his company in the +difficult enterprise he is undertaking; but he, in his valour and +anger, will not accept it, and says that he alone will suffice to +rescue his wife, even though she were imprisoned deep in the centre of +the earth, and with this he retires to arm himself and set out on +his journey at once. Now let your worships turn your eyes to that +tower that appears there, which is supposed to be one of the towers of +the alcazar of Saragossa, now called the Aljaferia; that lady who +appears on that balcony dressed in Moorish fashion is the peerless +Melisendra, for many a time she used to gaze from thence upon the road +to France, and seek consolation in her captivity by thinking of +Paris and her husband. Observe, too, a new incident which now +occurs, such as, perhaps, never was seen. Do you not see that Moor, +who silently and stealthily, with his finger on his lip, approaches +Melisendra from behind? Observe now how he prints a kiss upon her +lips, and what a hurry she is in to spit, and wipe them with the white +sleeve of her smock, and how she bewails herself, and tears her fair +hair as though it were to blame for the wrong. Observe, too, that +the stately Moor who is in that corridor is King Marsilio of Sansuena, +who, having seen the Moor's insolence, at once orders him (though +his kinsman and a great favourite of his) to be seized and given two +hundred lashes, while carried through the streets of the city +according to custom, with criers going before him and officers of +justice behind; and here you see them come out to execute the +sentence, although the offence has been scarcely committed; for +among the Moors there are no indictments nor remands as with us."</p> + +<p>Here Don Quixote called out, "Child, child, go straight on with your +story, and don't run into curves and slants, for to establish a fact +clearly there is need of a great deal of proof and confirmation;" +and said Master Pedro from within, "Boy, stick to your text and do +as the gentleman bids you; it's the best plan; keep to your plain +song, and don't attempt harmonies, for they are apt to break down from +being over fine."</p> + +<p>"I will," said the boy, and he went on to say, "This figure that you +see here on horseback, covered with a Gascon cloak, is Don Gaiferos +himself, whom his wife, now avenged of the insult of the amorous Moor, +and taking her stand on the balcony of the tower with a calmer and +more tranquil countenance, has perceived without recognising him; +and she addresses her husband, supposing him to be some traveller, and +holds with him all that conversation and colloquy in the ballad that runs—</p> + + +<pre> +If you, sir knight, to France are bound, +Oh! for Gaiferos ask— + +</pre> + + +<p>which I do not repeat here because prolixity begets disgust; suffice +it to observe how Don Gaiferos discovers himself, and that by her +joyful gestures Melisendra shows us she has recognised him; and what +is more, we now see she lowers herself from the balcony to place +herself on the haunches of her good husband's horse. But ah! unhappy +lady, the edge of her petticoat has caught on one of the bars of the +balcony and she is left hanging in the air, unable to reach the +ground. But you see how compassionate heaven sends aid in our sorest +need; Don Gaiferos advances, and without minding whether the rich +petticoat is torn or not, he seizes her and by force brings her to the +ground, and then with one jerk places her on the haunches of his +horse, astraddle like a man, and bids her hold on tight and clasp +her arms round his neck, crossing them on his breast so as not to +fall, for the lady Melisendra was not used to that style of riding. +You see, too, how the neighing of the horse shows his satisfaction +with the gallant and beautiful burden he bears in his lord and lady. +You see how they wheel round and quit the city, and in joy and +gladness take the road to Paris. Go in peace, O peerless pair of +true lovers! May you reach your longed-for fatherland in safety, and +may fortune interpose no impediment to your prosperous journey; may +the eyes of your friends and kinsmen behold you enjoying in peace +and tranquillity the remaining days of your life—and that they may be +as many as those of Nestor!"</p> + +<p>Here Master Pedro called out again and said, "Simplicity, boy! +None of your high flights; all affectation is bad."</p> + +<p>The interpreter made no answer, but went on to say, "There was no +want of idle eyes, that see everything, to see Melisendra come down +and mount, and word was brought to King Marsilio, who at once gave +orders to sound the alarm; and see what a stir there is, and how the +city is drowned with the sound of the bells pealing in the towers of +all the mosques."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," said Don Quixote at this; "on that point of the bells +Master Pedro is very inaccurate, for bells are not in use among the +Moors; only kettledrums, and a kind of small trumpet somewhat like our +clarion; to ring bells this way in Sansuena is unquestionably a +great absurdity."</p> + +<p>On hearing this, Master Pedro stopped ringing, and said, "Don't look +into trifles, Senor Don Quixote, or want to have things up to a +pitch of perfection that is out of reach. Are there not almost every +day a thousand comedies represented all round us full of thousands +of inaccuracies and absurdities, and, for all that, they have a +successful run, and are listened to not only with applause, but with +admiration and all the rest of it? Go on, boy, and don't mind; for +so long as I fill my pouch, no matter if I show as many inaccuracies +as there are motes in a sunbeam."</p> + +<p>"True enough," said Don Quixote; and the boy went on: "See what a +numerous and glittering crowd of horsemen issues from the city in +pursuit of the two faithful lovers, what a blowing of trumpets there +is, what sounding of horns, what beating of drums and tabors; I fear +me they will overtake them and bring them back tied to the tail of +their own horse, which would be a dreadful sight."</p> + + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p26b"></a><img alt="p26b.jpg (342K)" src="images/p26b.jpg" height="829" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p26b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Don Quixote, however, seeing such a swarm of Moors and hearing +such a din, thought it would be right to aid the fugitives, and +standing up he exclaimed in a loud voice, "Never, while I live, will I +permit foul play to be practised in my presence on such a famous +knight and fearless lover as Don Gaiferos. Halt! ill-born rabble, +follow him not nor pursue him, or ye will have to reckon with me in +battle!" and suiting the action to the word, he drew his sword, and +with one bound placed himself close to the show, and with unexampled +rapidity and fury began to shower down blows on the puppet troop of +Moors, knocking over some, decapitating others, maiming this one and +demolishing that; and among many more he delivered one down stroke +which, if Master Pedro had not ducked, made himself small, and got out +of the way, would have sliced off his head as easily as if it had been +made of almond-paste. Master Pedro kept shouting, "Hold hard! Senor +Don Quixote! can't you see they're not real Moors you're knocking down +and killing and destroying, but only little pasteboard figures! +Look—sinner that I am!—how you're wrecking and ruining all that +I'm worth!" But in spite of this, Don Quixote did not leave off +discharging a continuous rain of cuts, slashes, downstrokes, and +backstrokes, and at length, in less than the space of two credos, he +brought the whole show to the ground, with all its fittings and +figures shivered and knocked to pieces, King Marsilio badly wounded, +and the Emperor Charlemagne with his crown and head split in two. +The whole audience was thrown into confusion, the ape fled to the roof +of the inn, the cousin was frightened, and even Sancho Panza himself +was in mighty fear, for, as he swore after the storm was over, he +had never seen his master in such a furious passion.</p> + +<p>The complete destruction of the show being thus accomplished, Don +Quixote became a little calmer, said, "I wish I had here before me now +all those who do not or will not believe how useful knights-errant are +in the world; just think, if I had not been here present, what would +have become of the brave Don Gaiferos and the fair Melisendra! +Depend upon it, by this time those dogs would have overtaken them +and inflicted some outrage upon them. So, then, long live +knight-errantry beyond everything living on earth this day!"</p> + +<p>"Let it live, and welcome," said Master Pedro at this in a feeble +voice, "and let me die, for I am so unfortunate that I can say with +King Don Rodrigo—</p> + +<pre> +Yesterday was I lord of Spain +To-day I've not a turret left +That I may call mine own. + +</pre> + +<p>Not half an hour, nay, barely a minute ago, I saw myself lord of kings +and emperors, with my stables filled with countless horses, and my +trunks and bags with gay dresses unnumbered; and now I find myself +ruined and laid low, destitute and a beggar, and above all without +my ape, for, by my faith, my teeth will have to sweat for it before +I have him caught; and all through the reckless fury of sir knight +here, who, they say, protects the fatherless, and rights wrongs, and +does other charitable deeds; but whose generous intentions have been +found wanting in my case only, blessed and praised be the highest +heavens! Verily, knight of the rueful figure he must be to have +disfigured mine."</p> + +<p>Sancho Panza was touched by Master Pedro's words, and said to him, +"Don't weep and lament, Master Pedro; you break my heart; let me +tell you my master, Don Quixote, is so catholic and scrupulous a +Christian that, if he can make out that he has done you any wrong, +he will own it, and be willing to pay for it and make it good, and +something over and above."</p> + +<p>"Only let Senor Don Quixote pay me for some part of the work he +has destroyed," said Master Pedro, "and I would be content, and his +worship would ease his conscience, for he cannot be saved who keeps +what is another's against the owner's will, and makes no restitution."</p> + +<p>"That is true," said Don Quixote; "but at present I am not aware +that I have got anything of yours, Master Pedro."</p> + +<p>"What!" returned Master Pedro; "and these relics lying here on the +bare hard ground—what scattered and shattered them but the invincible +strength of that mighty arm? And whose were the bodies they belonged +to but mine? And what did I get my living by but by them?"</p> + +<p>"Now am I fully convinced," said Don Quixote, "of what I had many +a time before believed; that the enchanters who persecute me do +nothing more than put figures like these before my eyes, and then +change and turn them into what they please. In truth and earnest, I +assure you gentlemen who now hear me, that to me everything that has +taken place here seemed to take place literally, that Melisendra was +Melisendra, Don Gaiferos Don Gaiferos, Marsilio Marsilio, and +Charlemagne Charlemagne. That was why my anger was roused; and to be +faithful to my calling as a knight-errant I sought to give aid and +protection to those who fled, and with this good intention I did +what you have seen. If the result has been the opposite of what I +intended, it is no fault of mine, but of those wicked beings that +persecute me; but, for all that, I am willing to condemn myself in +costs for this error of mine, though it did not proceed from malice; +let Master Pedro see what he wants for the spoiled figures, for I +agree to pay it at once in good and current money of Castile."</p> + +<p>Master Pedro made him a bow, saying, "I expected no less of the rare +Christianity of the valiant Don Quixote of La Mancha, true helper +and protector of all destitute and needy vagabonds; master landlord +here and the great Sancho Panza shall be the arbitrators and +appraisers between your worship and me of what these dilapidated +figures are worth or may be worth."</p> + +<p>The landlord and Sancho consented, and then Master Pedro picked up +from the ground King Marsilio of Saragossa with his head off, and +said, "Here you see how impossible it is to restore this king to his +former state, so I think, saving your better judgments, that for his +death, decease, and demise, four reals and a half may be given me."</p> + +<p>"Proceed," said Don Quixote.</p> + +<p>"Well then, for this cleavage from top to bottom," continued +Master Pedro, taking up the split Emperor Charlemagne, "it would not +be much if I were to ask five reals and a quarter."</p> + +<p>"It's not little," said Sancho.</p> + +<p>"Nor is it much," said the landlord; "make it even, and say five +reals."</p> + +<p>"Let him have the whole five and a quarter," said Don Quixote; +"for the sum total of this notable disaster does not stand on a +quarter more or less; and make an end of it quickly, Master Pedro, for +it's getting on to supper-time, and I have some hints of hunger."</p> + +<p>"For this figure," said Master Pedro, "that is without a nose, and +wants an eye, and is the fair Melisendra, I ask, and I am reasonable +in my charge, two reals and twelve maravedis."</p> + +<p>"The very devil must be in it," said Don Quixote, "if Melisendra and +her husband are not by this time at least on the French border, for +the horse they rode on seemed to me to fly rather than gallop; so +you needn't try to sell me the cat for the hare, showing me here a +noseless Melisendra when she is now, may be, enjoying herself at her +ease with her husband in France. God help every one to his own, Master +Pedro, and let us all proceed fairly and honestly; and now go on."</p> + +<p>Master Pedro, perceiving that Don Quixote was beginning to wander, +and return to his original fancy, was not disposed to let him +escape, so he said to him, "This cannot be Melisendra, but must be one +of the damsels that waited on her; so if I'm given sixty maravedis for +her, I'll be content and sufficiently paid."</p> + +<p>And so he went on, putting values on ever so many more smashed +figures, which, after the two arbitrators had adjusted them to the +satisfaction of both parties, came to forty reals and +three-quarters; and over and above this sum, which Sancho at once +disbursed, Master Pedro asked for two reals for his trouble in +catching the ape.</p> + +<p>"Let him have them, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "not to catch the +ape, but to get drunk; and two hundred would I give this minute for +the good news, to anyone who could tell me positively, that the lady +Dona Melisandra and Senor Don Gaiferos were now in France and with +their own people."</p> + +<p>"No one could tell us that better than my ape," said Master Pedro; +"but there's no devil that could catch him now; I suspect, however, +that affection and hunger will drive him to come looking for me +to-night; but to-morrow will soon be here and we shall see."</p> + +<p>In short, the puppet-show storm passed off, and all supped in +peace and good fellowship at Don Quixote's expense, for he was the +height of generosity. Before it was daylight the man with the lances +and halberds took his departure, and soon after daybreak the cousin +and the page came to bid Don Quixote farewell, the former returning +home, the latter resuming his journey, towards which, to help him, Don +Quixote gave him twelve reals. Master Pedro did not care to engage +in any more palaver with Don Quixote, whom he knew right well; so he +rose before the sun, and having got together the remains of his show +and caught his ape, he too went off to seek his adventures. The +landlord, who did not know Don Quixote, was as much astonished at +his mad freaks as at his generosity. To conclude, Sancho, by his +master's orders, paid him very liberally, and taking leave of him they +quitted the inn at about eight in the morning and took to the road, +where we will leave them to pursue their journey, for this is +necessary in order to allow certain other matters to be set forth, +which are required to clear up this famous history.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p26e"></a><img alt="p26e.jpg (34K)" src="images/p26e.jpg" height="521" width="457"> +</center> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch27b"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>WHEREIN IT IS SHOWN WHO MASTER PEDRO AND HIS APE WERE, TOGETHER WITH +THE MISHAP DON QUIXOTE HAD IN THE BRAYING ADVENTURE, WHICH HE DID +NOT CONCLUDE AS HE WOULD HAVE LIKED OR AS HE HAD EXPECTED +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p27a"></a><img alt="p27a.jpg (135K)" src="images/p27a.jpg" height="390" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p27a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>Cide Hamete, the chronicler of this great history, begins this +chapter with these words, "I swear as a Catholic Christian;" with +regard to which his translator says that Cide Hamete's swearing as a +Catholic Christian, he being—as no doubt he was—a Moor, only meant +that, just as a Catholic Christian taking an oath swears, or ought +to swear, what is true, and tell the truth in what he avers, so he was +telling the truth, as much as if he swore as a Catholic Christian, +in all he chose to write about Quixote, especially in declaring who +Master Pedro was and what was the divining ape that astonished all the +villages with his divinations. He says, then, that he who has read the +First Part of this history will remember well enough the Gines de +Pasamonte whom, with other galley slaves, Don Quixote set free in +the Sierra Morena: a kindness for which he afterwards got poor +thanks and worse payment from that evil-minded, ill-conditioned set. +This Gines de Pasamonte—Don Ginesillo de Parapilla, Don Quixote +called him—it was that stole Dapple from Sancho Panza; which, because +by the fault of the printers neither the how nor the when was stated +in the First Part, has been a puzzle to a good many people, who +attribute to the bad memory of the author what was the error of the +press. In fact, however, Gines stole him while Sancho Panza was asleep +on his back, adopting the plan and device that Brunello had recourse +to when he stole Sacripante's horse from between his legs at the siege +of Albracca; and, as has been told, Sancho afterwards recovered him. +This Gines, then, afraid of being caught by the officers of justice, +who were looking for him to punish him for his numberless +rascalities and offences (which were so many and so great that he +himself wrote a big book giving an account of them), resolved to shift +his quarters into the kingdom of Aragon, and cover up his left eye, +and take up the trade of a puppet-showman; for this, as well as +juggling, he knew how to practise to perfection. From some released +Christians returning from Barbary, it so happened, he bought the +ape, which he taught to mount upon his shoulder on his making a +certain sign, and to whisper, or seem to do so, in his ear. Thus +prepared, before entering any village whither he was bound with his +show and his ape, he used to inform himself at the nearest village, or +from the most likely person he could find, as to what particular +things had happened there, and to whom; and bearing them well in mind, +the first thing he did was to exhibit his show, sometimes one story, +sometimes another, but all lively, amusing, and familiar. As soon as +the exhibition was over he brought forward the accomplishments of +his ape, assuring the public that he divined all the past and the +present, but as to the future he had no skill. For each question +answered he asked two reals, and for some he made a reduction, just as +he happened to feel the pulse of the questioners; and when now and +then he came to houses where things that he knew of had happened to +the people living there, even if they did not ask him a question, +not caring to pay for it, he would make the sign to the ape and then +declare that it had said so and so, which fitted the case exactly. +In this way he acquired a prodigious name and all ran after him; on +other occasions, being very crafty, he would answer in such a way that +the answers suited the questions; and as no one cross-questioned him +or pressed him to tell how his ape divined, he made fools of them +all and filled his pouch. The instant he entered the inn he knew Don +Quixote and Sancho, and with that knowledge it was easy for him to +astonish them and all who were there; but it would have cost him +dear had Don Quixote brought down his hand a little lower when he +cut off King Marsilio's head and destroyed all his horsemen, as +related in the preceeding chapter.</p> + +<p>So much for Master Pedro and his ape; and now to return to Don +Quixote of La Mancha. After he had left the inn he determined to +visit, first of all, the banks of the Ebro and that neighbourhood, +before entering the city of Saragossa, for the ample time there was +still to spare before the jousts left him enough for all. With this +object in view he followed the road and travelled along it for two +days, without meeting any adventure worth committing to writing +until on the third day, as he was ascending a hill, he heard a great +noise of drums, trumpets, and musket-shots. At first he imagined +some regiment of soldiers was passing that way, and to see them he +spurred Rocinante and mounted the hill. On reaching the top he saw +at the foot of it over two hundred men, as it seemed to him, armed +with weapons of various sorts, lances, crossbows, partisans, halberds, +and pikes, and a few muskets and a great many bucklers. He descended +the slope and approached the band near enough to see distinctly the +flags, make out the colours and distinguish the devices they bore, +especially one on a standard or ensign of white satin, on which +there was painted in a very life-like style an ass like a little sard, +with its head up, its mouth open and its tongue out, as if it were +in the act and attitude of braying; and round it were inscribed in +large characters these two lines—</p> + +<pre> +They did not bray in vain, +Our alcaldes twain. + +</pre> + +<p>From this device Don Quixote concluded that these people must be +from the braying town, and he said so to Sancho, explaining to him +what was written on the standard. At the same time be observed that +the man who had told them about the matter was wrong in saying that +the two who brayed were regidors, for according to the lines of the +standard they were alcaldes. To which Sancho replied, "Senor, +there's nothing to stick at in that, for maybe the regidors who brayed +then came to be alcaldes of their town afterwards, and so they may +go by both titles; moreover, it has nothing to do with the truth of +the story whether the brayers were alcaldes or regidors, provided at +any rate they did bray; for an alcalde is just as likely to bray as +a regidor." They perceived, in short, clearly that the town which +had been twitted had turned out to do battle with some other that +had jeered it more than was fair or neighbourly.</p> + +<p>Don Quixote proceeded to join them, not a little to Sancho's +uneasiness, for he never relished mixing himself up in expeditions +of that sort. The members of the troop received him into the midst +of them, taking him to be some one who was on their side. Don Quixote, +putting up his visor, advanced with an easy bearing and demeanour to +the standard with the ass, and all the chief men of the army +gathered round him to look at him, staring at him with the usual +amazement that everybody felt on seeing him for the first time. Don +Quixote, seeing them examining him so attentively, and that none of +them spoke to him or put any question to him, determined to take +advantage of their silence; so, breaking his own, he lifted up his +voice and said, "Worthy sirs, I entreat you as earnestly as I can +not to interrupt an argument I wish to address to you, until you +find it displeases or wearies you; and if that come to pass, on the +slightest hint you give me I will put a seal upon my lips and a gag +upon my tongue."</p> + +<p>They all bade him say what he liked, for they would listen to him +willingly.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p27b"></a><img alt="p27b.jpg (330K)" src="images/p27b.jpg" height="814" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p27b.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>With this permission Don Quixote went on to say, "I, sirs, am a +knight-errant whose calling is that of arms, and whose profession is +to protect those who require protection, and give help to such as +stand in need of it. Some days ago I became acquainted with your +misfortune and the cause which impels you to take up arms again and +again to revenge yourselves upon your enemies; and having many times +thought over your business in my mind, I find that, according to the +laws of combat, you are mistaken in holding yourselves insulted; for a +private individual cannot insult an entire community; unless it be +by defying it collectively as a traitor, because he cannot tell who in +particular is guilty of the treason for which he defies it. Of this we +have an example in Don Diego Ordonez de Lara, who defied the whole +town of Zamora, because he did not know that Vellido Dolfos alone +had committed the treachery of slaying his king; and therefore he +defied them all, and the vengeance and the reply concerned all; +though, to be sure, Senor Don Diego went rather too far, indeed very +much beyond the limits of a defiance; for he had no occasion to defy +the dead, or the waters, or the fishes, or those yet unborn, and all +the rest of it as set forth; but let that pass, for when anger +breaks out there's no father, governor, or bridle to check the tongue. +The case being, then, that no one person can insult a kingdom, +province, city, state, or entire community, it is clear there is no +reason for going out to avenge the defiance of such an insult, +inasmuch as it is not one. A fine thing it would be if the people of +the clock town were to be at loggerheads every moment with everyone +who called them by that name,—or the Cazoleros, Berengeneros, +Ballenatos, Jaboneros, or the bearers of all the other names and +titles that are always in the mouth of the boys and common people! +It would be a nice business indeed if all these illustrious cities +were to take huff and revenge themselves and go about perpetually +making trombones of their swords in every petty quarrel! No, no; God +forbid! There are four things for which sensible men and +well-ordered States ought to take up arms, draw their swords, and risk +their persons, lives, and properties. The first is to defend the +Catholic faith; the second, to defend one's life, which is in +accordance with natural and divine law; the third, in defence of one's +honour, family, and property; the fourth, in the service of one's king +in a just war; and if to these we choose to add a fifth (which may +be included in the second), in defence of one's country. To these +five, as it were capital causes, there may be added some others that +may be just and reasonable, and make it a duty to take up arms; but to +take them up for trifles and things to laugh at and he amused by +rather than offended, looks as though he who did so was altogether +wanting in common sense. Moreover, to take an unjust revenge (and +there cannot be any just one) is directly opposed to the sacred law +that we acknowledge, wherein we are commanded to do good to our +enemies and to love them that hate us; a command which, though it +seems somewhat difficult to obey, is only so to those who have in them +less of God than of the world, and more of the flesh than of the +spirit; for Jesus Christ, God and true man, who never lied, and +could not and cannot lie, said, as our law-giver, that his yoke was +easy and his burden light; he would not, therefore, have laid any +command upon us that it was impossible to obey. Thus, sirs, you are +bound to keep quiet by human and divine law."</p> + +<p>"The devil take me," said Sancho to himself at this, "but this +master of mine is a tologian; or, if not, faith, he's as like one as +one egg is like another."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote stopped to take breath, and, observing that silence +was still preserved, had a mind to continue his discourse, and would +have done so had not Sancho interposed with his smartness; for he, +seeing his master pause, took the lead, saying, "My lord Don Quixote +of La Mancha, who once was called the Knight of the Rueful +Countenance, but now is called the Knight of the Lions, is a gentleman +of great discretion who knows Latin and his mother tongue like a +bachelor, and in everything that he deals with or advises proceeds +like a good soldier, and has all the laws and ordinances of what +they call combat at his fingers' ends; so you have nothing to do but +to let yourselves be guided by what he says, and on my head be it if +it is wrong. Besides which, you have been told that it is folly to +take offence at merely hearing a bray. I remember when I was a boy I +brayed as often as I had a fancy, without anyone hindering me, and +so elegantly and naturally that when I brayed all the asses in the +town would bray; but I was none the less for that the son of my +parents who were greatly respected; and though I was envied because of +the gift by more than one of the high and mighty ones of the town, I +did not care two farthings for it; and that you may see I am telling +the truth, wait a bit and listen, for this art, like swimming, once +learnt is never forgotten;" and then, taking hold of his nose, he +began to bray so vigorously that all the valleys around rang again.</p> + +<p>One of those, however, that stood near him, fancying he was +mocking them, lifted up a long staff he had in his hand and smote +him such a blow with it that Sancho dropped helpless to the ground. +Don Quixote, seeing him so roughly handled, attacked the man who had +struck him lance in hand, but so many thrust themselves between them +that he could not avenge him. Far from it, finding a shower of +stones rained upon him, and crossbows and muskets unnumbered +levelled at him, he wheeled Rocinante round and, as fast as his best +gallop could take him, fled from the midst of them, commending himself +to God with all his heart to deliver him out of this peril, in dread +every step of some ball coming in at his back and coming out at his +breast, and every minute drawing his breath to see whether it had gone +from him. The members of the band, however, were satisfied with seeing +him take to flight, and did not fire on him. They put up Sancho, +scarcely restored to his senses, on his ass, and let him go after +his master; not that he was sufficiently in his wits to guide the +beast, but Dapple followed the footsteps of Rocinante, from whom he +could not remain a moment separated. Don Quixote having got some way +off looked back, and seeing Sancho coming, waited for him, as he +perceived that no one followed him. The men of the troop stood their +ground till night, and as the enemy did not come out to battle, they +returned to their town exulting; and had they been aware of the +ancient custom of the Greeks, they would have erected a trophy on +the spot.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p27e"></a><img alt="p27e.jpg (47K)" src="images/p27e.jpg" height="441" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p27e.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center><h2><a name="ch28b"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2></center> +<br> +<center><h3>OF MATTERS THAT BENENGELI SAYS HE WHO READS THEM WILL KNOW, IF HE +READS THEM WITH ATTENTION +</h3></center> +<br> +<br> + +<center><a name="p28a"></a><img alt="p28a.jpg (111K)" src="images/p28a.jpg" height="391" width="650"> +</center> +<a href="images/p28a.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> +<br><br><br><br> + +<p>When the brave man flees, treachery is manifest and it is for wise +men to reserve themselves for better occasions. This proved to be +the case with Don Quixote, who, giving way before the fury of the +townsfolk and the hostile intentions of the angry troop, took to +flight and, without a thought of Sancho or the danger in which he +was leaving him, retreated to such a distance as he thought made him +safe. Sancho, lying across his ass, followed him, as has been said, +and at length came up, having by this time recovered his senses, and +on joining him let himself drop off Dapple at Rocinante's feet, +sore, bruised, and belaboured. Don Quixote dismounted to examine his +wounds, but finding him whole from head to foot, he said to him, +angrily enough, "In an evil hour didst thou take to braying, Sancho! +Where hast thou learned that it is well done to mention the rope in +the house of the man that has been hanged? To the music of brays +what harmonies couldst thou expect to get but cudgels? Give thanks +to God, Sancho, that they signed the cross on thee just now with a +stick, and did not mark thee per signum crucis with a cutlass."</p> + +<p>"I'm not equal to answering," said Sancho, "for I feel as if I was +speaking through my shoulders; let us mount and get away from this; +I'll keep from braying, but not from saying that knights-errant fly +and leave their good squires to be pounded like privet, or made meal +of at the hands of their enemies."</p> + +<p>"He does not fly who retires," returned Don Quixote; "for I would +have thee know, Sancho, that the valour which is not based upon a +foundation of prudence is called rashness, and the exploits of the +rash man are to be attributed rather to good fortune than to +courage; and so I own that I retired, but not that I fled; and therein +I have followed the example of many valiant men who have reserved +themselves for better times; the histories are full of instances of +this, but as it would not be any good to thee or pleasure to me, I +will not recount them to thee now."</p> + +<p>Sancho was by this time mounted with the help of Don Quixote, who +then himself mounted Rocinante, and at a leisurely pace they proceeded +to take shelter in a grove which was in sight about a quarter of a +league off. Every now and then Sancho gave vent to deep sighs and +dismal groans, and on Don Quixote asking him what caused such acute +suffering, he replied that, from the end of his back-bone up to the +nape of his neck, he was so sore that it nearly drove him out of his +senses.</p> + +<p>"The cause of that soreness," said Don Quixote, "will be, no +doubt, that the staff wherewith they smote thee being a very long one, +it caught thee all down the back, where all the parts that are sore +are situated, and had it reached any further thou wouldst be sorer +still."</p> + +<p>"By God," said Sancho, "your worship has relieved me of a great +doubt, and cleared up the point for me in elegant style! Body o' me! +is the cause of my soreness such a mystery that there's any need to +tell me I am sore everywhere the staff hit me? If it was my ankles +that pained me there might be something in going divining why they +did, but it is not much to divine that I'm sore where they thrashed +me. By my faith, master mine, the ills of others hang by a hair; every +day I am discovering more and more how little I have to hope for +from keeping company with your worship; for if this time you have +allowed me to be drubbed, the next time, or a hundred times more, +we'll have the blanketings of the other day over again, and all the +other pranks which, if they have fallen on my shoulders now, will be +thrown in my teeth by-and-by. I would do a great deal better (if I was +not an ignorant brute that will never do any good all my life), I +would do a great deal better, I say, to go home to my wife and +children and support them and bring them up on what God may please +to give me, instead of following your worship along roads that lead +nowhere and paths that are none at all, with little to drink and +less to eat. And then when it comes to sleeping! Measure out seven +feet on the earth, brother squire, and if that's not enough for you, +take as many more, for you may have it all your own way and stretch +yourself to your heart's content. Oh that I could see burnt and turned +to ashes the first man that meddled with knight-errantry or at any +rate the first who chose to be squire to such fools as all the +knights-errant of past times must have been! Of those of the present +day I say nothing, because, as your worship is one of them, I +respect them, and because I know your worship knows a point more +than the devil in all you say and think."</p> + +<p>"I would lay a good wager with you, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "that +now that you are talking on without anyone to stop you, you don't feel +a pain in your whole body. Talk away, my son, say whatever comes +into your head or mouth, for so long as you feel no pain, the +irritation your impertinences give me will be a pleasure to me; and if +you are so anxious to go home to your wife and children, God forbid +that I should prevent you; you have money of mine; see how long it +is since we left our village this third time, and how much you can and +ought to earn every month, and pay yourself out of your own hand."</p> + +<p>"When I worked for Tom Carrasco, the father of the bachelor Samson +Carrasco that your worship knows," replied Sancho, "I used to earn two +ducats a month besides my food; I can't tell what I can earn with your +worship, though I know a knight-errant's squire has harder times of it +than he who works for a farmer; for after all, we who work for +farmers, however much we toil all day, at the worst, at night, we have +our olla supper and sleep in a bed, which I have not slept in since +I have been in your worship's service, if it wasn't the short time +we were in Don Diego de Miranda's house, and the feast I had with +the skimmings I took off Camacho's pots, and what I ate, drank, and +slept in Basilio's house; all the rest of the time I have been +sleeping on the hard ground under the open sky, exposed to what they +call the inclemencies of heaven, keeping life in me with scraps of +cheese and crusts of bread, and drinking water either from the +brooks or from the springs we come to on these by-paths we travel."</p> + +<p>"I own, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "that all thou sayest is true; +how much, thinkest thou, ought I to give thee over and above what +Tom Carrasco gave thee?"</p> + +<p>"I think," said Sancho, "that if your worship was to add on two +reals a month I'd consider myself well paid; that is, as far as the +wages of my labour go; but to make up to me for your worship's +pledge and promise to me to give me the government of an island, it +would be fair to add six reals more, making thirty in all."</p> + +<p>"Very good," said Don Quixote; "it is twenty-five days since we left +our village, so reckon up, Sancho, according to the wages you have +made out for yourself, and see how much I owe you in proportion, and +pay yourself, as I said before, out of your own hand."</p> + +<p>"O body o' me!" said Sancho, "but your worship is very much out in +that reckoning; for when it comes to the promise of the island we must +count from the day your worship promised it to me to this present hour +we are at now."</p> + +<p>"Well, how long is it, Sancho, since I promised it to you?" said Don +Quixote.</p> + +<p>"If I remember rightly," said Sancho, "it must be over twenty years, +three days more or less."</p> + +<p>Don Quixote gave himself a great slap on the forehead and began to +laugh heartily, and said he, "Why, I have not been wandering, either +in the Sierra Morena or in the whole course of our sallies, but barely +two months, and thou sayest, Sancho, that it is twenty years since I +promised thee the island. I believe now thou wouldst have all the +money thou hast of mine go in thy wages. If so, and if that be thy +pleasure, I give it to thee now, once and for all, and much good may +it do thee, for so long as I see myself rid of such a good-for-nothing +squire I'll be glad to be left a pauper without a rap. But tell me, +thou perverter of the squirely rules of knight-errantry, where hast +thou ever seen or read that any knight-errant's squire made terms with +his lord, 'you must give me so much a month for serving you'? +Plunge, scoundrel, rogue, monster—for such I take thee to be—plunge, +I say, into the mare magnum of their histories; and if thou shalt find +that any squire ever said or thought what thou hast said now, I will +let thee nail it on my forehead, and give me, over and above, four +sound slaps in the face. Turn the rein, or the halter, of thy +Dapple, and begone home; for one single step further thou shalt not +make in my company. O bread thanklessly received! O promises +ill-bestowed! O man more beast than human being! Now, when I was about +to raise thee to such a position, that, in spite of thy wife, they +would call thee 'my lord,' thou art leaving me? Thou art going now +when I had a firm and fixed intention of making thee lord of the +best island in the world? Well, as thou thyself hast said before +now, honey is not for the mouth of the ass. Ass thou art, ass thou +wilt be, and ass thou wilt end when the course of thy life is run; for +I know it will come to its close before thou dost perceive or +discern that thou art a beast."</p> + +<p>Sancho regarded Don Quixote earnestly while he was giving him this +rating, and was so touched by remorse that the tears came to his eyes, +and in a piteous and broken voice he said to him, "Master mine, I +confess that, to be a complete ass, all I want is a tail; if your +worship will only fix one on to me, I'll look on it as rightly placed, +and I'll serve you as an ass all the remaining days of my life. +Forgive me and have pity on my folly, and remember I know but +little, and, if I talk much, it's more from infirmity than malice; but +he who sins and mends commends himself to God."</p> + +<p>"I should have been surprised, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "if thou +hadst not introduced some bit of a proverb into thy speech. Well, +well, I forgive thee, provided thou dost mend and not show thyself +in future so fond of thine own interest, but try to be of good cheer +and take heart, and encourage thyself to look forward to the +fulfillment of my promises, which, by being delayed, does not become +impossible."</p> + +<p>Sancho said he would do so, and keep up his heart as best he +could. They then entered the grove, and Don Quixote settled himself at +the foot of an elm, and Sancho at that of a beech, for trees of this +kind and others like them always have feet but no hands. Sancho passed +the night in pain, for with the evening dews the blow of the staff +made itself felt all the more. Don Quixote passed it in his +never-failing meditations; but, for all that, they had some winks of +sleep, and with the appearance of daylight they pursued their +journey in quest of the banks of the famous Ebro, where that befell +them which will be told in the following chapter.</p> + +<br><br><br><br> +<center><a name="p28e"></a><img alt="p28e.jpg (36K)" src="images/p28e.jpg" height="671" width="465"> +</center> + + + + +<br> +<br> + + +<center> +<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> +<tr><td> + <a href="p26.htm">Previous Part</a> +</td><td> + <a href="5946-h.htm">Main Index</a> +</td><td> + <a href="p28.htm">Next Part</a> + </td></tr> +</table> +</center> +<br><br> + +</body> +</html> + + |