OF THE SHREWD AND DROLL CONVERSATION THAT PASSED BETWEEN
SANCHO PANZA AND HIS WIFE, TERESA PANZA, AND OTHER MATTERS
WORTHY OF BEING DULY RECORDED
When Sancho came home that evening, his wife noticed at once by his
mood that something out of the ordinary had happened to him. After
much persuasion, he finally told her that he had made up his mind to
go out in the world again with his master, looking for strange
adventures, during which, he said, he hoped to come across another
hundred crowns that he would bring home to her. Then Sancho proceeded
to tell his wife of his great plans for the future, when he became
ruler of his island. Their daughter, Maria, he was going to marry
off to some great count; his wife would be Dona Teresa Panza, and he
pictured her already, dressed according to richest fashion, sitting in
her pew in church, surrounded by cushions and pillows, and walking on
a red plush carpet. And as to his son, he should, of course, as was
the custom, follow his father's trade; so what was he to do but be a
ruler?
But everything that her illustrious husband proposed, Teresa Panza
only sneered at; and this angered Sancho, who thought she might be
more appreciative. Certainly not every husband in their village
offered to do as much for his wife and family. And so they began to
quarrel with each other, Sancho using--as he invariably did with his
master--all the proverbs he had ever heard, to defeat the arguments
his wife put forward, enforced in the same manner. But when her good
Sancho finally lost his patience with her entirely, she gave in and
promised to go so far as to send their young son to him--that his
father might train him in the business of government--as soon as
Sancho, as the governor of the island, should send his wife the
necessary money. Sancho charged her particularly with the task of
seeing that the son on his departure should be dressed as a prince of
the blood.
And all the while poor Teresa Panza was receiving her husband's
instructions as to herself and her two children, she was bemoaning and
struggling against their fate in her heart; and at last she burst
into bitter tears. Seeing her in such agony because he had predestined
that their daughter Maria was to marry a mighty count instead of a
poor peasant boy, Sancho tried to soothe her feelings by telling her
that he would try to put off the day of the wedding as long as
possible; and this promise seemed to cheer Teresa Panza to some
extent, for she dried her tears.
Having accomplished so much, Sancho then went back to his master's
house to talk over some things of importance with him.