OF HOW DON QUIXOTE FELL SICK, AND OF THE WILL HE MADE; AND
HOW HE DIED
The following day Don Quixote did not rise from his bed, and he was
taken with a fever which kept him in bed for six days. All this time
his faithful Sancho remained at his bedside; and his friends, the
curate, the barber and the bachelor, visited him frequently. They all
did what they could, for they seemed to sense that the sickness was
brought on by the sad thought of his having been forced to give up his
great hope of reviving knight-errantry.
When the doctor was sent for, he said frankly that it was time for Don
Quixote to turn his thoughts to his soul; and when the niece and the
devoted housekeeper heard this, they began to weep bitterly. The
physician was of the same opinion as the curate and Don Quixote's
other friends: that melancholy and unhappiness were the cause of the
present state of his health.
Soon Don Quixote asked to be left alone, and then he fell into a long
sleep, which lasted over six hours. It provoked the anxiety of the two
women, who were afraid he would never wake up again. At last he
awoke, and as he opened his eyes he exclaimed in a voice of exaltation
and joy: "Blessed be the Lord Almighty, who has shown me such
goodness! In truth his mercies are boundless, and the sins of men can
neither limit them nor keep them back!"
The niece was struck by the unusual saneness of these words. She asked
Don Quixote gently what he meant, and what sins of men he was speaking
of. He replied in a voice full of calmness and serenity that God had
just freed his reason, for he realized now how ignorance in believing
in the absurdities of the books of chivalry had distorted his mind and
vision so sadly. He regretted, he said, that he saw the light so late
in life that there was no time for him to show his repentance by
reading other books, which might have helped his soul. Then he begged
his niece to send for the curate, the bachelor Carrasco, and the
barber, as he wished to confess his sins and make his will before he
departed from this earth.
The moment the three friends stepped over the threshold to his
chamber, he called out happily: "Good news for you, good sirs, that I
am no longer Don Quixote of La Mancha, but Alonso Quixano, whose way
of life won for him the name of the Good." And he went on to say how
he now loathed all books of chivalry which had brought him to the
state he was in, and how happy he was in the thought that God had made
him see his folly. The three men could only think that this was some
new craze of their friend's and tried to persuade him not to talk
thus, now that they had just got news of his peerless Dulcinea and
were all of them about to become shepherds in order to keep him
company; and they begged him to be rational and talk no more nonsense.
But soon they realized that Don Quixote was not jesting, for he begged
them to send for a notary, and while the bachelor went to fetch him,
the barber went to soothe the women; and the curate alone remained
with Don Quixote to confess him.
When the good curate came out after the confession, the women gathered
about him and when he told them that Don Quixote was indeed dying,
they broke into sobs, for they loved him genuinely and dearly. The
notary then came, and Don Quixote made his will. The first person he
thought of was his faithful and beloved companion, Sancho Panza, whose
simplicity and affection he rewarded by leaving him all the money of
his own that was now in Sancho's possession. Had he had a kingdom to
give him, he said, it would scarcely have been sufficient reward for
all that Sancho had done for him. Then turning to Sancho, who stood at
his bedside with tears in his eyes, he said to him: "Forgive me, my
friend, that I led thee to seem as mad as myself, making thee fall
into the same error I myself fell into, that there were and still are
knights errant in the world."
"Ah," said Sancho, in a voice that was choked with tears, "do not die,
master, but take my advice and live many years; for the foolishest
thing a man can do in this life is to let himself die without rhyme or
reason, without anybody killing him, or any hands but melancholy's
making an end of him. Come, do not be lazy, but get up from your bed
and let us take to the fields in a shepherd's trim as we agreed!
Perhaps behind some bush we shall find the Lady Dulcinea disenchanted,
as fine as fine can be. If it be that you are dying of vexation at
having been vanquished, lay the blame on me, and say you were thrown
because I girthed Rocinante badly."
But although Samson Carrasco tried to persuade the dying knight that
Sancho had reasoned rightly, they at last came to the conclusion that
Don Quixote really was in his right senses, and that God had worked a
miracle.
They now let the notary proceed and one of the stipulations in the
will was that if his niece, Antonia Quixana, ever married a man who
had read books of chivalry, she should by so doing forfeit all that he
had left to her, and instead it would go to charity. Another clause
contained a request to the executors to offer his humble apologies to
the author of the Second Part of "The Achievements of Don Quixote of
La Mancha" for his having committed so many absurdities that had been
a provocation to the author to write this book.
When he had dictated the last words of his will, a sudden faintness
came over Don Quixote, and for three days after that he was in a state
between life and death. At last the end came, and he passed away so
calmly that the notary felt compelled to confess that he never had
read of any knight errant in the whole wide world who had breathed his
last breath so peacefully.
The bachelor, Samson Carrasco, wrote an epitaph for his tomb; and
there is written on a tombstone in a little village of La Mancha the
praise that those who knew and loved the valiant and doughty, yet
gentle Don Quixote of La Mancha felt in their hearts for him, whose
last wish was that he might die as Alonso Quixano the Good.
THE END
* * * * *
Transcribers' note:
The Title Page of this book credits Arvid Paulson and Clayton Edwards
as being the authors of this work. The original Don Quixote of The
Mancha was written, in Spanish, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra around
1605. It has been translated into many languages and editions. This
book is based on Cervantes' story. The catalogue of the Library of
Congress lists Cervantes as the author of this book, and Paulson and
Edwards are included as "related names."
Variations in spelling, such as grey/gray or pretence/pretense have
been left as they appear in the original book.
Some items that appear to be typographic errors have been changed
as follows.
Page 28 Corrected Neverthelesss to remove extra "s".
Page 63 Corrected imcomparable to incomparable.
Page 130 Corrected hilarously to hilariously.
Page 231 Corrected sacrilegeous to sacrilegious in the passage that
read "When the confessor heard the sacrilegeous conversation".
Page 237 Corrected Dono to Dona in the passage that read "and told
her of the incident with Dono Rodriguez".
Page 246 Corrected expresseed to expressed.
Page 257 Deleted superfluous "to" in the passage that read "he
confided to to his master the resemblance in voice and appearance".
Chapter LIII Page 277 "and lifted him up from his vertical position."
has been left as it appears in the book, although the intent would
appear to be "horizontal" rather than "vertical".
Chapter LXII Page 306 In the passage that reads "After having acted in
the most mysterious manner, and having carefully ascertained that all
the doors to the room were shut and no one listening, Don Quixote
swore the knight to secrecy." Don Quixote has been changed to Antonio
as this appears to be a typographic error as Don Quixote is the knight
in question.
Page 309 Changed lead to led in the passage that reads "through a tube
that lead from the inside of the head".
Page 317 Corrected Stubborness to Stubbornness in the passage that
read "but Sancho was unflinching in his stubborness and insisted".
Page 328 Corrected to affliction in the passage that reads "in time be
cured of his strange affiction".
Changes Have Been Made to Table of Contents As Follows.
Volume I
CHAPTER XXXII-XXXIV
Which Treats of What Befell All Don Quixote's Party at the Inn
The table of contents read "at the End". It has been amended to "... at
the Inn" to match the chapter heading
Volume II
CHAPTER XII
Of the Strange Adventure Which Befell the
Valiant Don Quixote with the Bold Knight of the Grove
The table of contents read "of the Mirrors" It has been amended to
"of the Grove" to match this and the next chapter heading and sense
of the story line.
CHAPTER XLIV
How Sancho Panza Was Conducted to His Government; and of
the Strange Adventure That Befell Don Quixote in the Castle
"Ad" in adventure was missing from the table of contents which read
"Strange Venture". It has been amended to match the chapter heading.
CHAPTER L
Wherein Is Set Forth How Governor Sancho Panza's Wife Received a
Message and a Gift from the Duchess; and also What Befell the Page Who
Carried the Letter to Teresa Panza
The table of contents went on to add "Sancho Panza's Wife" to the end
of the above listing. This has been removed to agree with the chapter
heading.
CHAPTERS LVI-LVII
Which Treats of How Don Quixote Again Felt the Calling of
Knight-errantry and How He Took Leave of the Duke, and of What
Followed with the Witty and Impudent Altisidora, One of the Duchess'
Damsels
Deleted "s" from "callings" in contents listing
In the html version, capitalisation of the Table of Contents has been
modified to agree with each applicable chapter heading.