_A continuation of the story of Marcella._
Scarce had day begun to appear from the balconies of the east, when
five of the goatherds got up, and having waked Don Quixote, asked him
if he held to his resolution of going to the funeral, whither they
were ready to bear him company. Thereupon the knight presently arose,
and ordered Sancho to get ready immediately; which he did with all
expedition, and then they set forwards. They had not gone a quarter of
a league before they saw advancing out of a cross path six shepherds
clad in black skins, their heads crowned with garlands of cypress and
bitter rose-bay-tree, with long holly-staves in their hands. Two
gentlemen on horseback, attended by three young lads on foot, followed
them: as they drew near, they saluted one another civilly, and after
the usual question,--"Which way do you travel?" they found they were
all going the same way, to see the funeral; and so they all joined
company. "I fancy, Senior Vivaldo," said one of the gentlemen,
addressing himself to the other, "we shall not think our time misspent
in going to see this famous funeral, for it must of necessity be very
extraordinary, according to the account which these men have given us
of the dead shepherd and his murdering shepherdess." "I am so far of
your opinion," answered Vivaldo, "that I would not stay one day, but a
whole week, rather than miss the sight." After this Vivaldo asked the
knight why he travelled so completely armed in so peaceable a country?
"My profession," answered the champion, "does not permit me to ride
otherwise. Luxurious feasts, sumptuous dresses, and downy ease, were
invented for effeminate courtiers; but labour, vigilance, and arms are
the portion of those whom the world calls knights-errant, of which
number I have the honour to be one, though the most unworthy." He
needed to say no more to satisfy them that his brains were out of
order; however, that they might the better understand the nature of
his folly, Vivaldo asked him what he meant by a knight-errant? "Have
you not read, then," cried Don Quixote, "the Annals and History of
Britain, where are recorded the famous deeds of King Arthur, who,
according to an ancient tradition in that kingdom, never died, but was
turned into a raven by enchantment, and shall one day resume his
former shape, and recover his kingdom again? For which reason, since
that time, the people of Great Britain dare not offer to kill a
raven."
After a great deal of conversation of this kind, the travellers were
sufficiently convinced of Don Quixote's frenzy. Nor were they less
surprised than were all those who had hitherto discovered so
unaccountable a distraction in one who seemed a rational creature.
However, Vivaldo, who was of a gay disposition, had no sooner made the
discovery than he resolved to make the best advantage of it that the
shortness of the way would allow him.
"Methinks, Sir Knight-errant," said he, "you have taken up one of the
strictest and most mortifying professions in the world. I do not think
but that even a Carthusian friar has a better time of it than you
have." "The profession of the Carthusian," answered Don Quixote, "may
be as austere, but ours is perhaps hardly less beneficial to the
world. We knights, like soldiers, execute what they pray for, and
procure those benefits to mankind, by the strength of our arms, and at
the hazard of our lives, for which they only intercede. Nor do we do
this sheltered from the injuries of the air, but under no other roof
than that of the wide heavens, exposed to summer's scorching heat, and
winter's pinching cold. However, gentlemen, do not imagine I would
insinuate as if the profession of a knight-errant was a state of
perfection equal to that of a holy recluse: I would only infer from
what I have said, and what I myself endure, that ours without question
is more laborious, more subject to the discipline of heavy blows, to
maceration, to the penance of hunger and thirst, and, in a word, to
rags, to want, and misery. For if you find that some knights-errant
have at last by their valour been raised to thrones and empires, you
may be sure it has been still at the expense of much sweat and blood.
And had even those happier knights been deprived of those assisting
sages and enchanters, who helped them in all emergencies, they would
have been strangely disappointed of their mighty expectations." "I am
of the same opinion," replied Vivaldo. "But one thing I would ask,
sir, since I understand it is so much the being of knight-errantry to
be in love, I presume you, who are of that profession, cannot be
without a mistress. And therefore, if you do not set up for secrecy,
give me leave to beg of you, in the name of all the company, that you
will be pleased so far to oblige us as to let us know the name and
quality of your lady, the place of her birth, and the charms of her
person. For, without doubt, she cannot but esteem herself fortunate in
being known to all the world to be the object of the wishes of a
knight so accomplished as yourself." With that Don Quixote, breathing
out a deep sigh, "I cannot tell," said he, "whether this lovely enemy
of my repose is the least affected with the world's being informed of
her power over my heart; all I dare say, in compliance with your
request is, that her name is Dulcinea, her country La Mancha, and
Toboso the happy place which she honours with her residence. As for
her quality, it cannot be less than princess, seeing she is my lady
and my queen. Her beauty transcends all the united charms of her whole
sex; even those chimerical perfections, which the hyperbolical
imaginations of poets in love have assigned to their mistresses, cease
to be incredible descriptions when applied to her, in whom all those
miraculous endowments are most divinely centred. The curling locks of
her bright flowing hair are purest gold; her smooth forehead the
Elysian plain; her brows are two celestial bows; her eyes two glorious
suns; her cheeks two beds of roses; her lips are coral; her teeth are
pearl; her neck is alabaster; her breasts marble; her hands ivory; and
snow would lose its whiteness near her bosom."
As they went on in this and like discourse, they saw, upon the hollow
road between the neighbouring mountains, about twenty shepherds more,
all accoutred in black skins, with garlands on their heads, which, as
they afterwards perceived, were all of yew or cyprus; six of them
carried a bier covered with several sorts of boughs and flowers: which
one of the goatherds espying, "Those are they," cried he, "that are
carrying poor Chrysostome to his grave; and it was in yonder hollow
that he gave charge they should bury his corpse." This made them all
double their pace, that they might get thither in time; and so they
arrived just as the bearers had set down the bier upon the ground, and
four of them had begun to open the ground with their spades at the
foot of a rock. They all saluted each other courteously, and condoled
their mutual loss; and then Don Quixote, with those who came with him,
went to view the bier; where they saw the dead body of a young man in
shepherd's weeds all strewed over with flowers. The deceased seemed to
be about thirty years old; and, dead as he was, it was easily
perceived that both his face and shape were extraordinarily handsome.
This doleful object so strangely filled all the company with sadness,
that not only the beholders, but also the grave-makers and the
mourning shepherds, remained a long time silent; till at last one of
the bearers, addressing himself to one of the rest, "Look, Ambrose,"
cried he, "whether this be the place which Chrysostome meant, since
you must needs have his will so punctually performed?" "This is the
very place," answered the other; "there it was that my unhappy friend
many times told me the sad story of his cruel fortune; and there it
was that he first saw that mortal enemy of mankind; there it was that
he made the first discovery of his passion, no less innocent than
violent; there it was that the relentless Marcella last denied,
shunned him, and drove him to that extremity of sorrow and despair
that hastened the sad catastrophe of his miserable life; and there it
was that, in token of so many misfortunes, he desired to be committed
to the bosom of the earth."
Then addressing himself to Don Quixote and the rest of the travellers,
"This body, gentlemen," said he, "which here you now behold, was once
enlivened by a soul which heaven had enriched with the greatest part
of its most valuable graces. This is the body of that Chrysostome who
was unrivalled in wit, matchless in courteousness, incomparable in
gracefulness, a phoenix in friendship, generous and magnificent
without ostentation, prudent and grave without pride, modest without
affectation, pleasant and complaisant without meanness; in a word, the
first in every thing good, though second to none in misfortune: he
loved well, and was hated; he adored, and was disdained; he begged
pity of cruelty itself; he strove to move obdurate marble; pursued the
wind; made his moans to solitary deserts; was constant to ingratitude;
and, for the recompense of his fidelity, became a prey to death in the
flower of his age, through the barbarity of a shepherdess, whom he
strove to immortalise by his verse; as these papers which are here
deposited might testify, had he not commanded me to sacrifice them to
the flames, at the same time that his body was committed to the
earth."
"Should you do so," cried Vivaldo, "you would appear more cruel to
them than their unhappy author. Consider, sir, 'tis not consistent
with discretion, nor even with justice, so nicely to perform the
request of the dead, when it is repugnant to reason. Augustus Caesar
himself would have forfeited his title to wisdom, had he permitted
that to have been effected which the divine Virgil had ordered by his
will. Therefore, sir, now that you resign your friend's body to the
grave, do not hurry thus the noble and only remains of that dear
unhappy man to a worse fate, the death of oblivion. What though he has
doomed them to perish in the height of his resentment, you ought not
indiscreetly to be their executioner; but rather reprieve and redeem
them from eternal silence, that they may live, and, flying through the
world, transmit to all ages the dismal story of your friend's virtue
and Marcella's ingratitude, as a warning to others, that they may
avoid such tempting snares and enchanting destructions; for not only
to me, but to all here present, is well known the history of your
enamoured and desperate friend: we are no strangers to the friendship
that was between you, as also to Marcella's cruelty which occasioned
his death. Last night being informed that he was to be buried here
to-day, moved not so much by curiosity as pity, we are come to behold
with our eyes that which gave us so much trouble to hear. Therefore,
in the name of all the company,--deeply affected like me, with a sense
of Chrysostome's extraordinary merit, and his unhappy fate, and
desirous to prevent such deplorable disasters for the future,--I beg
that you will permit me to save some of these papers, whatever you
resolve to do with the rest." And so, without waiting for an answer,
he stretched out his arm, and took out those papers which lay next to
his hand. "Well, sir," said Ambrose, "you have found a way to make me
submit, and you may keep those papers; but for the rest, nothing shall
make me alter my resolution of burning them." Vivaldo said no more;
but being impatient to see what those papers were which he had rescued
from the flames, he opened one of them immediately, and read the title
of it, which was, 'The despairing Lover.' "That," said Ambrose, "was
the last piece my dear friend ever wrote; and therefore, that you may
all hear to what a sad condition his unhappy passion had reduced him,
read it aloud, I beseech you, sir, while the grave is making." "With
all my heart," replied Vivaldo; and so the company, having the same
desire, presently gathered round about him while he read the lines.
The verses were well approved by all the company; and Vivaldo was
about to read another paper, when they were unexpectedly prevented by
a kind of apparition that offered itself to their view. It was
Marcella herself, who appeared at the top of the rock, at the foot of
which they were digging the grave; but so beautiful, that fame seemed
rather to have lessened than to have magnified her charms: those who
had never seen her before gazed on her with silent wonder and delight;
nay, those who used to see her every day seemed no less lost in
admiration than the rest. But scarce had Ambrose spied her, when, with
anger and indignation in his heart, he cried out, "What dost thou
there, thou cruel basilisk of these mountains? comest thou to see
whether the wounds of thy unhappy victim will bleed afresh at thy
presence? or comest thou to glory in the fatal effects of thy
inhumanity, like another Nero at the sight of flaming Rome?" "I come
not here to any of those ungrateful ends, Ambrose," replied Marcella;
"but only to clear my innocence, and shew the injustice of all those
who lay their misfortunes and Chrysostome's death to my charge:
therefore, I entreat you all who are here at this time to hear me a
little, for I shall not need to use many words to convince people of
sense of an evident truth. Heaven, you are pleased to say, has made me
beautiful, and that to such a degree that you are forced, nay, as it
were, compelled to love me, in spite of your endeavours to the
contrary; and for the sake of that love, you say I ought to love you
again. Now, though I am sensible that whatever is beautiful is lovely,
I cannot conceive that what is loved for being handsome should be
bound to love that by which it is loved merely because it is loved. He
that loves a beautiful object may happen to be ugly; and as what is
ugly deserves not to be loved, it would be ridiculous to say, I love
you because you are handsome, and therefore you must love me again
though I am ugly. But suppose two persons of different sexes are
equally handsome, it does not follow that their desires should be
alike and reciprocal; for all beauties do not kindle love; some only
recreate the sight, and never reach nor captivate the heart. Alas,
should whatever is beautiful produce love, and enslave the mind,
mankind's desires would ever run confused and wandering, without being
able to fix their determinate choice; for as there is an infinite
number of beautiful objects, the desires would consequently be also
infinite; whereas, on the contrary, I have heard that true love is
still confined to one, and is voluntary and unforced. This being
granted, why would you have me force my inclinations for no other
reason but that you say you love me? Tell me, I beseech you, had
Heaven formed me as ugly as it has made me beautiful, could I justly
complain of you for not loving me? Pray consider also, that I do not
possess those charms by choice; such as they are, they were freely
bestowed on me by Heaven: and as the viper is not to be blamed for the
poison with which she kills, seeing it was assigned her by nature, so
I ought not to be censured for that beauty which I derive from the
same cause; for beauty in a virtuous woman is but like a distant
flame, or a sharp-edged sword, and only burns and wounds those who
approach too near it. Honour and virtue are the ornaments of the soul,
and that body that is destitute of them cannot be esteemed beautiful,
though it be naturally so. If, then, honour be one of those endowments
which most adorn the body, why should she that is beloved for her
beauty expose herself to the loss of it, merely to gratify the
inclinations of one who, for his own selfish ends, uses all the means
imaginable to make her lose it? I was born free, and, that I might
continue so, I retired to these solitary hills and plains, where trees
are my companions, and clear fountains my looking-glasses. With the
trees and with the waters I communicate my thoughts and my beauty. I
am a distant flame, and a sword far off: those whom I have attracted
with my sight I have undeceived with my words; and if hope be the food
of desire, as I never gave any encouragement to Chrysostome, nor to
any other, it may well be said, it was rather his own obstinacy than
my cruelty that shortened his life. If you tell me that his intentions
were honest, and therefore ought to have been complied with, I answer,
that when, at the very place where his grave is making, he discovered
his passion, I told him I was resolved to live and die single, and
that the earth alone should reap the fruit of my reservedness and
enjoy the spoils of my beauty; and if, after all the admonitions I
gave him, he would persist in his obstinate pursuit, and sail against
the wind, what wonder is it he should perish in the waves of his
indiscretion? Had I ever encouraged him, or amused him with ambiguous
words, then I had been false; and had I gratified his wishes, I had
acted contrary to my better resolves: he persisted, though I had given
him a due caution, and he despaired without being hated. Now I leave
you to judge whether I ought to be blamed for his sufferings. If I
have deceived any one, let him complain; if I have broke my promise to
any one, let him despair; if I encourage any one, let him presume; if
I entertain any one, let him boast: but let no man call me cruel nor
murderer until I either deceive, break my promise, encourage, or
entertain him. Let him that calls me a tigress and a basilisk avoid me
as a dangerous thing; and let him that calls me ungrateful give over
serving me: I assure them I will never seek nor pursue them. Therefore
let none hereafter make it their business to disturb my ease, nor
strive to make me hazard among men the peace I now enjoy, which I am
persuaded is not to be found with them. I have wealth enough; I
neither love nor hate any one; the innocent conversation of the
neighbouring shepherdesses, with the care of my flocks, help me to
pass away my time, without either coquetting with this man, or
practising arts to ensnare that other. My thoughts are limited by
these mountains; and if they wander further, it is only to admire the
beauty of heaven, and thus by steps to raise my soul towards her
original dwelling."
As soon as she had said this, without waiting for any answer, she left
the place, and ran into the thickest of the adjoining wood, leaving
all that heard her charmed with her discretion, as well as her beauty.
However, so prevalent were the charms of the latter that some of the
company, who were desperately struck, could not forbear offering to
follow her, without being in the least deterred by the solemn
protestations which they had heard her make that very moment. But Don
Quixote perceiving their design, and believing he had now a fit
opportunity to exert his knight-errantry; "Let no man," cried he, "of
what quality or condition soever, presume to follow the fair Marcella,
under the penalty of incurring my displeasure. She has made it appear,
by undeniable reasons, that she was not guilty of Chrysostome's death;
and has positively declared her firm resolution never to condescend to
the desires of any of her admirers: for which reason, instead of being
importuned and persecuted, she ought to be esteemed and honoured by
all good men, as being one of the few women in the world who have
lived with such a virtuous reservedness."
Now, whether it were that Don Quixote's threats terrified them, or
that Ambrose's persuasion prevailed with them to stay and see their
friend interred, none of the shepherds left the place, till the grave
being made, and the papers burnt, the body was deposited in the bosom
of the earth, not without many tears from all the assistants. They
covered the grave with a great stone, and strewed upon it many flowers
and boughs; and every one having condoled a while with his friend
Ambrose, they took their leave of him, and departed. Vivaldo and his
companion did the like; as did also Don Quixote, who was not a person
to forget himself on such occasions; he likewise bid adieu to the kind
goatherds that had entertained him, and to the two travellers, who
desired him to go with them to Seville, assuring him there was no
place in the world more fertile in adventures, every street and every
corner there producing some. Don Quixote returned them thanks for
their kind information, but told them, "he neither would nor ought to
go to Seville till he had cleared all those mountains of the thieves
and robbers which he heard very much infested all those parts."
Thereupon the travellers, being unwilling to divert him from so good a
design, took their leaves of him once more, and pursued their journey,
sufficiently supplied with matter to discourse on from the story of
Marcella and Chrysostome, and the follies of Don Quixote.
The knight and his squire continued their journey, and on quitting an
inn, which, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Sancho, the Don, as
usual, insisted was a castle, all the people in the yard, above twenty
in number, stood gazing at him; and, among the rest, the host's
daughter, while he on his part removed not his eyes from her, and ever
and anon sent forth a sigh, which seemed to proceed from the bottom of
his heart.
Being now both mounted, and at the door of the inn, he called to the
host, and, in a grave and solemn tone of voice, said to him: "Many and
great are the favours, signor governor, which in this your castle I
have received, and I am bound to be grateful to you all the days of my
life. If I can make you some compensation by taking vengeance on any
proud miscreant who hath insulted you, know that the duty of my
profession is no other than to strengthen the weak, to revenge the
injured, and to chastise the perfidious. Consider, and if your memory
recall anything of this nature to recommend to me, you need only
declare it; for I promise you, by the order of knighthood I have
received, to procure you satisfaction and amends to your heart's
desire!" The host answered with the same gravity: "Sir knight, I have
no need of your worship's avenging any wrong for me; I know how to
take the proper revenge when any injury is done me: all I desire of
your worship is, to pay me for what you have had in the inn, as well
for the straw and barley for your two beasts as for your supper and
lodging." "What! is this an inn?" exclaimed Don Quixote. "Ay, and a
very creditable one," answered the host. "Hitherto, then, I have been
in an error," answered Don Quixote; "for in truth I took it for a
castle; but since it is indeed no castle, but an inn, all that you
have now to do is to excuse the payment; for I cannot act contrary to
the law of knights-errant, of whom I certainly know (having hitherto
read nothing to the contrary) that they never paid for lodging or
anything else in the inns where they reposed; because every
accommodation is legally and justly due to them, in return for the
insufferable hardships they endure while in quest of adventures, by
night and by day, in winter and in summer, on foot and on horseback,
with thirst and with hunger, with heat and with cold; subject to all
the inclemencies of heaven, and to all the inconveniences of earth."
"I see little to my purpose in all this," answered the host; "pay me
what is my due, and let us have none of your stories and
knight-errantries; all I want is to get my own." "Thou art a
blockhead, and a pitiful innkeeper," answered Don Quixote: so clapping
spurs to Rozinante, and brandishing his lance, he sallied out of the
inn without opposition, and, never turning to see whether his squire
followed him, was soon a good way off.
The host, seeing him go without paying, ran to seize on Sancho Panza,
who said that, since his master would not pay, neither would he pay;
for being squire to a knight-errant, the same rule and reason held as
good for him as for his master. The innkeeper, irritated on hearing
this, threatened, that if he did not pay him, he should repent his
obstinacy.
Poor Sancho's ill-luck would have it that, among the people in the
inn, there were four clothworkers of Segovia, three needle-makers from
the fountain of Cordova, and two neighbours from the market-place of
Seville,--frolicksome fellows, who, instigated and moved by the
self-same spirit, came up to Sancho, and, having dismounted him, one
of them produced a blanket from the landlord's bed, into which he was
immediately thrown; but, perceiving that the ceiling was too low, they
determined to execute their purpose in the yard, which was bounded
above only by the sky. Thither Sancho was carried; and, being placed
in the middle of the blanket, they began to toss him aloft, and divert
themselves with him as with a dog at Shrovetide. The cries which the
poor blanketed squire sent forth were so many and so loud that they
reached his master's ears; who, stopping to listen attentively,
believed that some new adventure was at hand, until he plainly
recognised the voice of his squire; then turning the reins, he
perceived the wicked sport they were making with his squire. He saw
him ascend and descend through the air with so much grace and agility,
that, if his indignation would have suffered him, he certainly would
have laughed outright. But they suspended neither their laughter nor
their labour; nor did the flying Sancho cease to pour forth
lamentations, mingled now with threats, now with entreaties; yet all
were of no avail, and they desisted at last only from pure fatigue.
They then brought him his ass, and, wrapping him in his cloak, mounted
him thereon. The compassionate maid of the inn, seeing him so
exhausted, bethought of helping him to a jug of water, and that it
might be the cooler, she fetched it from the well. Sancho took it, and
instantly began to drink; but at the first sip, finding it was water,
he would proceed no further, and besought Maritornes to bring him some
wine, which she did willingly, and paid for it with her own money; for
it is indeed said of her that, although in that station, she had some
faint traces of a Christian. When Sancho had ceased drinking, he
clapped heels to his ass; and, the inn-gate being thrown wide open,
out he went, satisfied that he had paid nothing, and had carried his
point, though at the expense of his usual pledge, namely, his back.
The landlord, it is true, retained his wallets in payment of what was
due to him; but Sancho never missed them in the hurry of his
departure. The innkeeper would have fastened the door well after him,
as soon as he saw him out; but the blanketeers would not let him,
being persons of that sort that, though Don Quixote had really been
one of the knights of the round table, they would not have cared two
farthings for him.
Sancho came up to his master so faint and dispirited that he was not
able to urge his ass forward. Don Quixote, perceiving him in that
condition, said: "Honest Sancho, that castle, or inn, I am now
convinced, is enchanted; for they who so cruelly sported with thee,
what could they be but phantoms and inhabitants of another world? And
I am confirmed in this from having found that, when I stood at the
pales of the yard, beholding the acts of your sad tragedy, I could not
possibly get over them, nor even alight from Rozinante; so that they
must certainly have held me enchanted. If I could have got over, or
alighted, I would have avenged thee in such a manner as would have
made those poltroons and assassins remember the jest as long as they
lived, even though I should have thereby transgressed the laws of
chivalry; for, as I have often told thee, they do not allow a knight
to lay hand on his sword against any one who is not so, unless it be
in defence of his own life and person, and in cases of urgent and
extreme necessity." "And I too," quoth Sancho, "would have revenged
myself if I had been able, knight or no knight, but I could not;
though, in my opinion, they who diverted themselves at my expense were
no hobgoblins, but men of flesh and bones, as we are; and each of
them, as I heard while they were tossing me, had his proper name; so
that, sir, as to your not being able to leap over the pales, nor to
alight from your horse, the fault lay not in enchantment, but in
something else. And what I gather clearly from all this is, that these
adventures we are in quest of will in the long-run bring us into so
many misadventures that we shall not know which is our right foot. So
that, in my poor opinion, the better and surer way would be to return
to our village, now that it is reaping-time, and look after our
business, nor go rambling thus out of the frying-pan into the fire."
"How little dost thou know, Sancho," answered Don Quixote, "of what
appertains to chivalry! Peace, and have patience; for the day will
come when thine eyes shall witness how honourable a thing it is to
follow this profession. For tell me what greater satisfaction can the
world afford, or what pleasure can be compared with that of winning a
battle, and triumphing over an adversary? Undoubtedly none." "It may
be so," answered Sancho, "though I do not know it. I only know that
since we have been knights-errant, or since you have been one, sir
(for I have no right to reckon myself of that honourable number), we
have never won any battle; we have had nothing but drubbings upon
drubbings, cuffs upon cuffs, with my blanket-tossing into the bargain,
and that by persons enchanted, on whom I cannot revenge myself, and
thereby know what that pleasure of overcoming an enemy is which your
worship talks of." "That is what troubles me, and ought to trouble
thee also, Sancho," answered Don Quixote; "but henceforward I will
endeavour to have ready at hand a sword made with such art that no
kind of enchantment can touch him that wears it; and perhaps fortune
may put me in possession of that of Amadis, when he called himself
'Knight of the Burning Sword,' which was one of the best weapons that
ever was worn by knight; for, beside the virtue aforesaid, it cut like
a razor; and no armour, however strong or enchanted, could withstand
it." "Such is my luck," quoth Sancho, "that though this were so, and
your worship should find such a sword, it would be of service only to
those who are dubbed knights; as for the poor squires, they may sing
sorrow." "Fear not, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "Heaven will deal more
kindly by thee."
The knight and his squire went on conferring thus together, when Don
Quixote perceived, in the road on which they were travelling, a great
and thick cloud of dust coming towards them; upon which he turned to
Sancho, and said, "This is the day, O Sancho, that shall manifest the
good that fortune hath in store for me. This is the day, I say, on
which shall be proved, as at all times, the valour of my arm; and on
which I shall perform exploits that will be recorded and written in
the book of fame, there to remain to all succeeding ages. Seest thou
that cloud of dust, Sancho? It is raised by a prodigious army of
divers nations, who are on the march this way." "If so, there must be
two armies," said Sancho; "for here, on this side, arises just another
cloud of dust." Don Quixote turned, and seeing that it really was so,
he rejoiced exceedingly, taking it for granted they were two armies
coming to engage in the midst of that spacious plain; for at all hours
and moments his imagination was full of the battles, enchantments,
adventures, extravagances, combats, and challenges detailed in his
favourite books; and in every thought, word, and action he reverted to
them. Now the cloud of dust he saw was raised by two great flocks of
sheep going the same road from different parts, and as the dust
concealed them until they came near, and Don Quixote affirmed so
positively that they were armies, Sancho began to believe it, and
said, "Sir, what then must we do?" "What," replied Don Quixote, "but
favour and assist the weaker side? Thou must know, Sancho, that the
army which marches towards us in front is led and commanded by the
great Emperor Alifanfaron, lord of the great island of Taprobana: this
other, which marches behind us, is that of his enemy, the king of the
Garamantes, Pentapolin of the Naked Arm--for he always enters into
battle with his right arm bare." "But why do these two princes bear
one another so much ill-will?" demanded Sancho. "They hate one
another," answered Don Quixote, "because this Alifanfaron is a furious
pagan, in love with the daughter of Pentapolin, who is most beautiful,
and also a Christian; but her father will not give her in marriage to
the pagan king unless he will first renounce the religion of his false
prophet Mahomet, and turn Christian." "By my beard," said Sancho,
"Pentapolin is in the right; and I am resolved to assist him to the
utmost of my power." "Therein wilt thou do thy duty, Sancho," said Don
Quixote; "but listen with attention whilst I give thee an account of
the principal knights in the two approaching armies; and, that thou
mayest observe them the better, let us retire to that rising ground,
whence both armies may be distinctly seen." Seeing, however, in his
imagination, what did not exist, he began, with a loud voice, to say:
"The knight thou seest yonder with the gilded armour, who bears on his
shield a lion crowned, couchant at a damsel's feet, is the valorous
Laurcalco, Lord of the Silver Bridge. The other, with the armour
flowered with gold, who bears three crowns argent, in a field azure,
is the formidable Micocolembo, Grand Duke of Quiracia. The third, with
gigantic limbs, who marches on his right, is the undaunted
Brandabarbaran of Boliche, Lord of the three Arabias. He is armed with
a serpent's skin, and bears, instead of a shield, a gate, which fame
says is one of those belonging to the temple which Samson pulled down
when with his death he avenged himself upon his enemies."
In this manner he went on naming sundry knights of each squadron, as
his fancy dictated, and giving to each their arms, colours, devices,
and mottos, extempore; and, without pausing, he continued thus: "That
squadron in the front is formed and composed of people of different
nations. Here stand those who drink the sweet waters of the famous
Xanthus; the mountaineers who tread the Massilian fields; those who
sift the pure and fine gold-dust of Arabia Felix; those who dwell
along the famous and refreshing banks of the clear Thermodon; those
who drain, by divers and sundry ways, the golden veins of Pactolus;
the Numidians, unfaithful in their promises; the Persians, famous for
bows and arrows; the Parthians and Medes, who fight flying; the
Arabians, perpetually changing their habitations; the Scythians, as
cruel as fair; the broad-lipped Ethiopians; and an infinity of other
nations, whose countenances I see and know, although I cannot
recollect their names."
How many provinces did he name! how many nations did he enumerate,
giving to each, with wonderful readiness, its peculiar attributes!
Sancho Panza stood confounded at his discourse, without speaking a
word; and now and then he turned his head about, to see whether he
could discover the knights and giants his master named. But seeing
none, he said, "Sir, not a man, or giant, or knight, of all you have
named, can I see any where." "How sayest thou, Sancho?" answered Don
Quixote; "hearest thou not the neighing of the steeds, the sound of
the trumpets, and the rattling of the drums?" "I hear nothing,"
answered Sancho, "but the bleating of sheep and lambs:" and so it was;
for now the two flocks were come very near them. "Thy fears, Sancho,"
said Don Quixote, "prevent thee from hearing or seeing aright; for one
effect of fear is to disturb the senses and make things not to appear
what they really are: and if thou art so much afraid, retire and leave
me alone; for with my single arm I shall ensure victory to that side
which I favour with my assistance:" then, clapping spurs to Rozinante,
and setting his lance in his rest, he darted down the hillock like
lightning. Sancho cried out to him: "Hold, Signor Don Quixote, come
back! they are only lambs and sheep you are going to encounter; pray
come back; what madness is this! there is neither giant, nor knight,
nor horses, nor arms, nor shields quartered or entire, nor true
azures, nor devices: what are you doing, sir?" Notwithstanding all
this, Don Quixote turned not again, but still went on, crying aloud,
"Ho, knights, you that follow and fight under the banner of the
valiant Emperor Pentapolin of the Naked Arm, follow me all, and you
shall see with how much ease I revenge him on his enemy Alifanfaron of
Taprobana." With these words he rushed into the midst of the squadron
of sheep, as courageously and intrepidly as if in good earnest he was
engaging his mortal enemies. The shepherds and herdsmen who came with
the flocks called out to him to desist; but seeing it was to no
purpose, they unbuckled their slings, and began to salute his ears
with a shower of stones. Don Quixote cared not for the stones, but,
galloping about on all sides, cried out: "Where art thou, proud
Alifanfaron? Present thyself before me; I am a single knight, desirous
to prove thy valour hand to hand, and to punish thee with the loss of
life for the wrong thou dost to the valiant Pentapolin Garamanta." At
that instant a large stone struck him with such violence that he
believed himself either slain or sorely wounded; and remembering some
balsam which he had, he pulled out the cruse, and applying it to his
mouth, began to swallow some of the liquor; but before he could take
what he thought sufficient, another hit him full on the hand, and
dashed the cruse to pieces: carrying off three or four of his teeth by
the way, and grievously bruising two of his fingers. Such was the
first blow, and such the second, that the poor knight fell from his
horse to the ground. The shepherds ran to him, and verily believed
they had killed him; whereupon in all haste they collected their
flock, took up their dead, which were about seven, and marched off
without farther inquiry.
All this while Sancho stood upon the hillock, beholding his master's
actions--tearing his beard, and cursing the unfortunate hour and
moment that ever he knew him. But seeing him fallen to the ground and
the shepherds gone off, he descended from the hillock, and, running to
him, found him in a very ill plight, though not quite bereaved of
sense; and said to him, "Did I not beg you, Signor Don Quixote, to
come back; for those you went to attack were a flock of sheep, and not
an army of men?" "How easily," replied Don Quixote, "can that thief of
an enchanter, my enemy, transform things or make them invisible!
However, do one thing, Sancho, for my sake, to undeceive thyself, and
see the truth of what I tell thee; mount thy ass, and follow them fair
and softly, and thou wilt find that, when they are got a little
farther off, they will return to their first form, and, ceasing to be
sheep, will become men, proper and tall, as I described them at first.
But do not go now; for I want thy assistance; come hither to me, and
see how many of my teeth are deficient; for it seems to me that I have
not one left in my head."
He now raised himself up, and placing his left hand on his mouth, to
prevent the remainder of his teeth from falling out, with the other he
laid hold on Rozinante's bridle, who had not stirred from his master's
side, such was his fidelity, and went towards his squire, who stood
leaning with his breast upon the ass, and his cheek reclining upon his
hand, in the posture of a man overwhelmed with thought. Don Quixote,
seeing him thus, and to all appearance so melancholy, said to him,
"Know, Sancho, that one man is no more than another, only inasmuch as
he does more than another. So do not afflict thyself for the
mischances that befall me, since thou hast no share in them." "How? no
share in them!" answered Sancho; "peradventure he they tossed in a
blanket yesterday was not my father's son, and the wallets I have lost
to-day, with all my movables, belong to somebody else?" "What! are the
wallets lost?" quoth Don Quixote. "Yes, they are," answered Sancho.
"Then we have nothing to eat to-day?" replied Don Quixote. "It would
be so," answered Sancho, "if these fields did not produce those herbs
which your worship says you know, and with which unlucky
knights-errant like your worship are used to supply such wants."
"Nevertheless," said Don Quixote, "at this time I would rather have a
slice of bread and a couple of heads of salt pilchards than all the
herbs described by Dioscorides, though commented upon by Doctor Laguna
himself. But, good Sancho, get upon thy ass, and follow me; for God,
who provides for all, will not desert us, since he neglects neither
the birds of the air, the beasts of the earth, nor the fish of the
waters; more especially being engaged, as we are, in his service."
"Your worship," said Sancho, "would make a better preacher than a
knight-errant." "Sancho," said Don Quixote, "the knowledge of
knights-errant must be universal; there have been knights-errant, in
times past, who would make sermons or harangues on the king's highway
as successfully as if they had taken their degrees in the university
of Paris; whence it may be inferred that the lance never blunted the
pen, nor the pen the lance." "Well, be it as your worship says,"
answered Sancho; "but let us begone hence, and endeavour to get a
lodging to-night; and pray God it be where there are neither blankets
or blanket-heavers, hobgoblins or enchanted Moors."