WHEREIN IS SHOWN THE FARTHEST AND HIGHEST POINT WHICH THE
UNEXAMPLED COURAGE OF DON QUIXOTE REACHED OR COULD REACH;
TOGETHER WITH THE HAPPILY ACHIEVED ADVENTURE OF THE LIONS
When Sancho was summoned by his master, he had just bought some curds
from the goatherd, and not knowing what to do with them at such a
moment, he hastily deposited them in his master's helmet. The first
thing Don Quixote did when Sancho had caught up with him, was to
snatch the helmet from him, exclaiming that he had to make ready for
what promised to be an exciting adventure; while all Sancho could see
was the cart with the royal flags, probably carrying some treasure of
the kings. As Sancho stood watching the cart, Don Quixote resolutely
put on the helmet, which he proceeded to press down on his head in
order to make it sit fast; but as he did so, the curds were squeezed,
and the whey began to run down over his face, so that Don Quixote
imagined that he had been taken with softening of the brain.
Sancho said nothing but gave his master something to wipe his face
with, and Don Quixote muttered that if this was sweat he was certain
it was going to be a horrible adventure. As he was drying his face, he
took off his helmet, and when he smelled the curds he turned to Sancho
in great perturbation and accused him of having put them there,
calling him a traitor and a scoundrel, and threatening to thrash him.
But Sancho eyed his master innocently, and blamed it all on the devil
or some enchanter, saying that his master might know that if he had
had curds, he would have put them in his stomach and not in his
master's helmet.
This was a convincing argument to the knight, who now busied himself
with the cart, which had nearly reached them. He called out to the
driver and a man on mule-back, who were the only attendants: "Whither
are you going, brothers? What cart is this? What have you got in it?
What flags are those?"
The man on the mule answered that the cart was his, that he was
transporting a pair of enormous lions as a present from the Governor
of Oran to His Majesty the King; that the flags were those of the
King, and that therefore the property was royal property. He added
that the lions were hungry, since they had not eaten anything that
day, and that he was in great haste to reach a place where he could
feed them.
Here Don Quixote smiled a scornful, superior smile, and calmly told
the keeper of the lions to open the cages and let out the beasts that
they might learn who the courageous Don Quixote of La Mancha might be.
When Sancho heard how mad his master was, he turned in sickly fear to
the traveling gentleman and begged him for God's sake to keep his
master from having a combat with the lions. The gentleman asked Sancho
whether he thought his master would really be so foolish as to do such
a thing; and Sancho's firm and emphatic reply made the gentleman
hasten to the knight's side in an attempt to reason with him. He was
promptly reprimanded by Don Quixote, however, who told him sharply to
mind his own business, and then threatened to pin the keeper to the
cart with his lance if he did not open the cages and chase out the
lions at once.
There was an indescribable consternation and confusion. The driver
pleaded with Don Quixote on his knees, and when they all saw that he
was determined to meet with the lions in combat, they began to pick up
their belongings and run away into safety. Sancho and the gentleman
made still another attempt to bring him to his senses, but all their
pleas were in vain. Sancho left his master with the tears falling down
his cheeks, and Don Quixote ordered the gentleman to speed away on his
flea-bitten mare as fast as he could, if he was afraid to be bitten by
the lions.
Then Don Quixote decided it might be better to fight on foot, as he
was afraid that his Rocinante might be frightened on seeing the
beasts; so, sword in hand, he bravely advanced towards the cage. The
keeper timidly opened the doors of the first cage, and a male lion of
tremendous size, stretching himself leisurely, put his claws through
the opening; then he yawned sleepily, and after some deliberation
began to lick his eyes and face with his long, fierce tongue. Having
thus washed his dirty face, he put his head out of the cage and stood
gazing into space with a ferocious look in his eyes, which resembled
glowing coals. Not even seeming surprised at the sight of the valiant
knight, he then had the audacity to turn his back on our hero, and
calmly and proudly lay down, with his hindquarters under Don Quixote's
very nose.
Such unheard-of scorn angered the knight, who commanded the keeper to
take a stick and poke the beast out of the cage; but here he met with
unyielding obstinacy, for this the man refused to do under any
circumstances, saying that the first one to be chewed to pieces, if he
did that, would be himself. Then he began to praise and flatter Don
Quixote's courage which, he said, by this feat had been unequaled in
the world. His adversary the lion, he said, had proven by his very
action that he considered Don Quixote a superior foe; and when the
keeper promised to give Don Quixote a certificate to the effect that
the lion had been challenged in true knight errant fashion and refused
to give battle, Don Quixote was soothed, and bade the keeper shut the
doors to the cage and recall the fugitives that they might hear from
the keeper's lips the true account of his remarkable achievement.
The first thing Don Quixote did when Sancho had joined him was to
order him to give two gold crowns to the driver and the keeper for
lost time; but before Sancho carried out his master's command he was
anxious to know whether the lions were dead or alive. Whereupon the
keeper related how the valiant knight had single handed dared the
lions to come out of their cage, and how they meekly and cowardly had
refused at the sight of so bold a warrior; and he embellished his
story with numerous little details--in anticipation of the gold
crown--and added that when he returned to Madrid he would not fail to
inform the King of his marvelous exploit.
When Don Quixote heard this, his heart beat faster, and he told the
keeper that if the King should happen to ask who performed this great
deed, to say it was the Knight of the Lions, since he had decided to
adopt this name hereafter.
So the cart proceeded toward the capital, and Don Quixote, Sancho, and
the traveling gentleman went their way. Don Diego bade them make haste
that they might reach his village before nightfall, and he asked Don
Quixote to spend the night at his house and rest after his exertions--an
invitation that the knight accepted with profuse thanks.