WHICH TELLS HOW ADVENTURES CAME CROWDING ON DON QUIXOTE
IN SUCH NUMBERS THAT THEY GAVE ONE ANOTHER NO BREATHING-TIME
Out on the open road Don Quixote was himself again, and he turned to
Sancho and began to discourse on freedom, telling his squire that it
was more precious than anything else in the world. And he ended by
saying: "Happy he to whom Heaven has given a piece of bread for which
he is not bound to give thanks to any but Heaven itself!"
Here Sancho broke his silence, for he felt that, in spite of what his
master had just said, a good deal of thanks was due to the majordomo
for the purse with the two hundred crowns, which he was carrying like
a plaster next to his heart.
While they were conversing thus, they suddenly came to a spot from
where they could see a great many men, dressed like laborers, lying on
the grass of a meadow, and partaking of their noonday meal. Here and
there on the grass were scattered some objects or figures covered with
white cloth, and as soon as Don Quixote observed them he could
constrain himself no longer but had to learn what they were. So he
politely approached the men and asked them what was hidden underneath
the white coverings, and was told that they were images of saints that
they were transporting to their village church; and in order not to
soil them, they had covered them thus.
The man took great pride in showing our knight the figures--there were
Saint George, Saint Martin, Saint James the Moorslayer, and Saint
Paul. Don Quixote spoke learnedly on each one of them. When he had
seen them all, he bade the men cover the images with the cloths again.
Then he declared that he considered it a happy omen to have come upon
the images; for, said he, they were knights like himself. There was
this difference, however, that while he fought with human weapons,
poor sinner that he was, they used divine ones. And he added that if
only his Dulcinea could be saved from her sufferings, perhaps his own
mind might be restored to its proper function, and a desire for a
milder and better life than he was leading now be the result. At this
Sancho reverently chirped: "May God hear and sin be deaf!"
The men, having finished their repast, took leave of Don Quixote and
Sancho and continued the journey to their village. They were not out
of sight before Sancho broke loose with praise for his master, who
knew everything under the sun, it seemed. Then he added: "In truth,
master, if what has happened to us to-day is to be called an
adventure, it has been one of the sweetest and pleasantest that has
befallen us in the whole course of our travels; we have come out of it
without having drawn sword, nor have we been left famishing. Blessed
be God that he has let me see such a thing with my own eyes!"
The conversation now turned to other things, and soon love became the
topic. Sancho could not understand why his master, as ugly as he was,
should have turned the head of the fair Altisidora; and why his master
had not fallen head over heels in love with her was entirely beyond
Sancho's comprehension. Had he himself had the same opportunity he
should not have foregone it, he could have promised his master. Here
Don Quixote tried to explain to Sancho that there were different kinds
of love: love of the mind, and of the body; but this explanation
seemed to remain a puzzle to the squire.
While they had been talking in this manner, they had come into a wood,
and suddenly Don Quixote rode into a green net which entangled him so
completely that he began to shout that he had been enchanted again. He
made ready to cut and slash with his sword, when two beautiful girls
dressed as shepherdesses came from amidst the trees and began to plead
with him not to tear the nets, which they had spread in the woods that
they might snare the little birds. There was a holiday in the
neighborhood, and they were to give a pageant and a play, they said,
and they wanted the birds to be actors in the play with them. Then
they courteously begged Don Quixote to be their guest and remain with
them; but Don Quixote in return told them that the urgency of his
calling made it necessary for him to refuse, whereupon he made them
aware of who he was. As soon as the girls heard that they had Don
Quixote of La Mancha in their midst, they became still more eager that
he should remain, for they had all read and heard of their illustrious
guest, they said, through the book that the whole of Spain and all the
world was devouring just then.
A gay youth, who was the brother of the young maidens, came up at this
moment and joined his sisters in their persuasions, and at last Don
Quixote gave in and consented to stay. The youth, who was attired as a
shepherd, brought Don Quixote to their tents, and after a morning of
gaiety a repast was served, at which the knight was given the place of
honor.
When the meal was over, Don Quixote rose and addressed the gathering
in his usual dignified manner. He chose for his topic gratitude, and
said that there was but one way in which he could show his full
appreciation of the hospitality he had enjoyed that day at their
hands: namely, to maintain in the middle of the highway leading to
Saragossa, for a period of two days, that these two damsels were--with
the exception of his lady Dulcinea--the most adorable and beautiful
maidens in the world.
Don Quixote had got so far in the course of his speech, when the
faithful Sancho could restrain his admiration for his master no
longer. Brimming over with enthusiasm, he burst out: "Is it possible
there is any one in the world who will dare to say and swear that this
master of mine is a madman? Tell me, gentlemen shepherds, is there a
village priest, be he ever so wise or learned, who could say what my
master has said; or is there a knight errant, whatever renown he may
have as a man of valor, who could offer what my master has offered
now?" This outburst of his squire's infuriated Don Quixote. He began
to foam at the mouth, and after having scolded the meek and meddlesome
Sancho, he told him abruptly to go at once and saddle Rocinante. His
hosts were astounded at his remarkable behavior and proposal, and did
all they could to stay him from carrying it out, but he was not to be
swayed. So they all followed at a distance to see what would happen to
the knight, who in his anger had not been slow to mount and disappear
with Sancho trailing behind on Dapple at his usual gait.
As soon as Don Quixote had posted himself in the middle of the road,
he shouted out his challenge. But no one who passed seemed to pay any
attention to what he said, much less were they inclined to take up the
challenge, if they heard it. Suddenly, however, the knight sighted a
troop of men on horseback, all armed with lances. They were coming
closer at a fast pace, and as soon as the shepherds and shepherdesses
saw them they withdrew in great haste. Sancho, overcome with some
innate foreboding of disaster, took refuge in the shade of Rocinante's
hindquarters; but Don Quixote stood resolute and held his ground.
Ahead of the oncoming troop rode a man, who, observing Don Quixote's
position, began to make violent signs to him to get away from the
road; and when he saw that he was not being understood or obeyed, he
yelled out with fierceness: "Get out of the way, you son of the devil,
or these bulls will knock you to pieces!"
But all Don Quixote was concerned about was his challenge, and
permitting no evasions, he retorted heroically: "Rabble! I care
nothing for bulls! Confess at once, scoundrels, that what I have
declared is true; else ye have to deal with me in combat."
Hardly had he spoken these words before the drove of bulls was on him
and Sancho, trampling them both to the ground as if they had been
figures of pasteboard; for they were no common bulls, they were fierce
animals that were being taken to a nearby village for a bull-fight on
the following day. Yet when they had passed, and the valiant knight
came to, he had lost none of his intrepidity, for as soon as he could
stand up he kept shouting at them to return and he would fight them
all alone.
The knight was so enraged and so humiliated to have been stepped on in
such an unromantic fashion, that he sat down and buried his head in
his hands; and Sancho could not persuade him to return to their hosts
to bid them farewell. And so he decided instead to be on his way to
Saragossa, and master and squire mounted again and continued their
journey dejectedly.