"It is a science," replied Don Quixote, "which comprehends all, or most
of the other sciences; for he who professes it must be learned in the
law, and understand distributive and commutative justice, that he may
know not only how to assign to each man what is truly his own, but what
is proper for him to possess; he must be conversant in divinity, in
order to be able to explain, clearly and distinctly, the Christian faith
which he professes; he must be skilled in medicine, especially in
botany, that he may know both how to cure the diseases with which he may
be afflicted, and collect the various remedies which Providence has
scattered in the midst of the wilderness, nor be compelled on every
emergency to be running in quest of a physician to heal him; he must be
an astronomer, that he may if necessary ascertain by the stars the exact
hour of the night and what part or climate of the world he is in; he
must understand mathematics, because he will have occasion for them; and
taking it for granted that he must be adorned with all the cardinal and
theological virtues, I descend to other more minute particulars, and say
that he must know how to swim as well as it is reported of Fish
Nicholas;[9] he must know how to shoe a horse and repair his saddle and
bridle: and to return to higher concerns, he must preserve his faith
inviolable towards Heaven, and also to his mistress; he must be chaste
in his thoughts, modest in his words, liberal in good works, valiant in
exploits, patient in toils, charitable to the needy, and steadfastly
adhering to the truth, even at the hazard of his life. Of all these
great and small parts a good knight-errant is composed."