OF THE TERRIBLE BELL AND CAT FRIGHT THAT DON QUIXOTE GOT IN
THE COURSE OF THE ENAMORED ALTISIDORA'S WOOING
The thought of Altisidora's love bothered Don Quixote so that he could
not go to sleep. He had torn his green stockings, while undressing, and
having neither needle nor thread he could not mend them, and this
increased his annoyance. Soon it was morning, and to put an end to his
agony, he rose and dressed himself. But on his way to the ante-chamber,
where the Duke and Duchess would receive him, he passed through a
gallery, where he was surprised to find the fair Altisidora and her
friend who had been with her outside his window the night before.
When Altisidora laid eyes on the knight errant, she fell in a dead
faint, but was caught in the arms of her friend, who began to unlace
her dress. Don Quixote remained cold and untouched, mumbling all the
while to himself that he knew perfectly well why she had fainted. Her
friend retorted with venom in her voice that she wished he would
disappear from the castle, for if he remained there much longer
Altisidora would be wasting away into nothingness--even if she were
the healthiest and most buxom maiden there at the moment--and die from
a broken heart. This seemed to touch Don Quixote, for he replied that
if she would see to it that a lute was put in his room that night, he
would sing to her and try to comfort her in the night while she stood
outside his window.
The damsels went at once to tell the Duchess what had happened, and
she was pleased beyond words; and together they hit upon a new joke
which would bring them fresh merriment.
Just before midnight Don Quixote came to his chamber and found there a
guitar; and, having tuned it as best he could, he began to let out his
rusty voice into the notes of a ballad that he himself had composed
that day. While he stood there on his balcony singing, there suddenly
broke out a tremendous din; and from above was let down a cord to
which hundreds of bells were attached, making the most deafening
sound. At the same time a bag of cats, each with a bell tied to its
tail, came shooting down upon the unfortunate knight, who was
frightened beyond words by the meowing and squalling and screaming of
the cats and by the jingling of the bells.
Don Quixote stood paralyzed, with the guitar clutched in his hand,
when suddenly it struck him that his room must have been invaded by
jumping devils--for the cats had knocked the candles down on the
floor, extinguishing them as they did so, and the room was now in
pitch darkness. He suddenly flung his guitar away and drew his sword,
charging the enchanters with all the fervor and energy that he
possessed.
All the cats flew toward the balcony, from where they escaped into the
garden--all except one, which Don Quixote had cornered, and was making
violent stabs at, without hitting anything but the air, the wall and
the floor. This little beast, fighting for its life, like one beset,
jumped at the knight, put its teeth and claws into his nose, and
remained there, holding on infuriated, while Don Quixote gave out the
most terrible screams and howls.
When the Duke and the Duchess heard what was going on, they became
afraid that some harm might be done the knight errant; so they ran to
his chamber with all haste. The Duke rushed to the rescue of Don
Quixote's nose; but in spite of the horrible pain he must have been
in, the knight was brave enough to decline all aid, shouting aloud
that he wished to fight the malignant enchanter alone. At last,
however, the Duke could see the poor fellow suffer no longer, and he
managed to separate the cat from Don Quixote's nose.
The fair Altisidora was given the task to cover the damaged parts of
the knight's face with ointment, and she did this with a loving and
caressing hand, although she could not resist telling him that he
would not have been in this predicament if he had listened to her the
night before. She jealously hoped, too, that his squire Sancho would
forget all about the whippings so that Dulcinea would remain enchanted
forever. But Don Quixote was insensible to anything she said; he only
sighed and sighed. And then he thanked the Duke and the Duchess for
all their kindness; and they really felt sorry in their hearts for the
end the joke had taken. They bade him good-night; he stretched himself
on his bed; and there he remained for five days.