OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE WITH A DISCREET GENTLEMAN OF LA MANCHA
While Don Quixote was contemplating his own greatness as a reviver of
knight-errantry, the monstrous nose of the squire kept coming before
Sancho in his fancies. When he told his master, Don Quixote asked him
whether he ever for a moment doubted that the knight of the Mirrors
and his squire were anything but enchanted and made to appear like the
two village friends of theirs. The idea that Samson, who was such a
devoted friend of his, should be envious of his deeds in battle and
have wanted to steal away honors from him as a knight, was too absurd;
and with this he dismissed the subject.
While they were discussing these matters and the enchantment of the
Lady Dulcinea, they were passed by a gentleman on horseback, and Don
Quixote called to him and asked him politely whether he would not join
company with them. The traveler accepted the knight's invitation, and
both were soon scrutinizing each other. The gentleman, a man about
fifty years of age, with handsome features, wondered at the strange
appearance of Don Quixote; and when our knight saw his wonder, he told
him why he was so attired and what he had set out to accomplish in the
world. This confession drew forth still more astonishment on the
gentleman's countenance, but he finally found words to ask whether he
could really believe his own ears, for he had thought knight-errantry
extinct. It was not long, however, before he realized that he was
talking to a madman; and then Sancho Panza came under his observation,
and he was deemed a simpleton.
Don Quixote had asked the newcomer's name, and learned it was Don Diego
de Miranda; and then the knight was curious to know what he did with his
life. Whereupon Don Diego proceeded to tell his fellow-travelers of his
tame and godly life in the country with his wife and children; and he
pronounced in the course of his description some very beautiful thoughts
and principles, which so took Sancho's fancy that he jumped off Dapple,
embraced the gentleman's leg, and began to kiss his feet in the most
passionate and ardent way.
Astonished, the good gentleman inquired what all this display meant;
and Sancho begged of him between his transports: "Let me kiss, for I
think your Worship is the first saint in the saddle I ever saw!"
Of course, the gentleman confessed his sinfulness to Sancho, who refused
to change his opinion, in spite of his master's honest laughter. Then the
gentleman told Don Quixote about his great pride, his son, who was
eighteen years old, had been a student at Salamanca, and wrote divine
poems. This immediately inspired Don Quixote to a discourse on poetry, in
which he dwelt on the dishonor of commercializing this great gift of the
gods. He finished his speech with the advice to Don Diego that he bring
up his son to write discourses in which all vice was flayed and all sin
chided and rebuked. Above all, he said, a poet must never let envy or
personal grudge and hatred guide his pen. When the traveler heard Don
Quixote speak in so wise and discerning manner, he was aghast; and he was
entirely at a loss to know how to judge him. He was inclined to think
that what he had taken for madness in him was nothing but eccentricity.
But while Don Quixote was discoursing on poetry, Sancho, on seeing
some shepherds, had fled to beg some ewe milk of them. When his master
had finished his discourse, and the gentleman was silently considering
his madness, Sancho suddenly heard himself called to battle. Having
in his possession his master's helmet, he spurred his donkey to
further increase his efforts toward speed, and when he reached the
valiant knight, he discovered the reason for the call: a cart bedecked
with royal flags approaching on the road.