_Of the ingenious method pursued to withdraw our enamoured Knight from
the rigorous penance which he had imposed on himself._
As soon as the priest had done speaking, Sancho said, "By my troth,
signor, it was my master who did that feat; not but that I gave him
fair warning, and advised him to mind what he was about, telling him
that it was a sin to set them at liberty; for they were all going to
the galleys for being most notorious villains." "Blockhead!" said Don
Quixote, "knights-errant are not bound to inquire whether the fettered
and oppressed are brought to that situation by their faults or their
misfortunes. It is their part to assist them under oppression, and to
regard their sufferings, not their crimes. I encountered a bead-roll
and string of miserable wretches, and acted towards them as my
profession required of me. As for the rest, I care not; and whoever
takes it amiss, saving the holy dignity of signor the licentiate, and
his reverend person, I say, he knows but little of the principles of
chivalry; and this I will maintain with the edge of my sword!"
Dorothea was possessed of too much humour and sprightly wit not to
join with the rest in their diversion at Don Quixote's expense; and
perceiving his wrath, she said, "Sir knight, be pleased to remember
the boon you have promised me, and that you are thereby bound not to
engage in any other adventure, however urgent; therefore assuage your
wrath; for had signor the licentiate known that the galley-slaves were
freed by that invincible arm, he would sooner have sewed up his mouth
with three stitches, and thrice have bitten his tongue, than he would
have said a word that might redound to the disparagement of your
worship." "Ay, verily I would," exclaimed the priest; "or even have
plucked off one of my mustachios." "I will say no more, madam," said
Don Quixote; "and I will repress that just indignation raised within
my breast, and quietly proceed, until I have accomplished the promised
boon. But, in requital, I beseech you to inform me of the particulars
of your grievance, as well as the number and quality of the persons on
whom I must take due, satisfactory, and complete revenge." "That I
will do most willingly," answered Dorothea; "but yet I fear a story
like mine, consisting wholly of afflictions and disasters, will prove
but a tedious entertainment." "Never fear that, madam," cried Don
Quixote. "Since, then, it must be so," said Dorothea, "be pleased to
lend me your attention." With that Cardenio and the barber gathered up
to her, to hear what kind of story she had provided so soon; Sancho
did the same, being no less deceived in her than his master; and the
lady having seated herself well on her mule, after coughing once or
twice, and other preparations, very gracefully began her story.
"First, gentlemen," said she, "you must know my name is"--here she
stopped short, and could not call to mind the name the curate had
given her; whereupon finding her at a nonplus, he made haste to help
her out. "It is not at all strange," said he, "madam, that you should
be so discomposed by your disasters as to stumble at the very
beginning of the account you are going to give of them; extreme
affliction often distracts the mind to that degree, and so deprives us
of memory, that sometimes we for a while can scarce think on our very
names: no wonder, then, that the Princess Micomicona, lawful heiress
to the vast kingdom of Micomicon, disordered with so many misfortunes,
and perplexed with so many various thoughts for the recovery of her
crown, should have her imagination and memory so encumbered; but I
hope you will now recollect yourself, and be able to proceed." "I hope
so too," said the lady, "and I will endeavour to relate my story
without further hesitation. Know, then, gentlemen, that the king my
father, who was called Tinacrio the Sage, having great skill in the
magic art, understood by his profound knowledge in that science, that
Queen Xaramilla, my mother, should die before him, that he himself
should not survive her long, and I should be left an orphan. But he
often said that this did not so much trouble him as the foresight he
had, by his speculations, of my being threatened with great
misfortunes, which would be occasioned by a certain giant, lord of a
great island near the confines of my kingdom; his name Pandafilando,
surnamed of the Gloomy Sight; because, though his eyeballs are seated
in their due place, yet he affects to squint and look askew on purpose
to fright those on whom he stares. My father, I say, knew that this
giant, hearing of his death, would one day invade my kingdom with a
powerful army, and drive me out of my territories, without leaving me
so much as a village for a retreat; though he knew withal that I might
avoid that extremity if I would but consent to marry him; but as he
found out by his art, he had reason to think I never would incline to
such a match. And indeed I never had any thoughts of marrying this
giant, nor any other giant in the world, how unmeasurably great and
mighty soever. My father therefore charged me patiently to bear my
misfortunes, and abandon my kingdom to Pandafilando for a time,
without offering to keep him out by force of arms, since this would be
the best means to prevent my own death and the ruin of my subjects,
considering the impossibility of withstanding the terrible force of
the giant. But withal he ordered me to direct my course towards Spain,
where I should be sure to meet with a powerful champion in the person
of a knight-errant, whose fame should at that time be spread over all
the kingdom; and his name, my father said, should be, if I forget not,
Don Azote, or Don Gigote"--"And it please you, forsooth," quoth
Sancho, "you would say Don Quixote, otherwise called the Knight of the
Sorrowful Figure." "You are right," answered Dorothea; "and doubtless
I do right in recommending myself to Don Quixote, who so well agrees
with my father's description, and whose renown is so far spread, not
only in Spain, but over all La Mancha, that I had no sooner landed at
Ossuna but the fame of his prowess reached my ears; so that I was
satisfied he was the very person in quest of whom I came."
"But pray, madam," cried Don Quixote, "how did you do to land at
Ossuna, since it is no seaport town?" "Doubtless, sir," said the
curate, before Dorothea could answer for herself, "the princess would
say, that after she landed at Malaga, the first place where she heard
of your feats of arms was Ossuna." "That is what I would have said,"
replied Dorothea; "and now I have nothing more to add, but that
fortune has so far favoured me as to make me find the noble knight by
whose valour I look upon myself as already restored to the throne of
my ancestors, since he has so courteously and magnanimously vouchsafed
to grant me the boon I begged. For all I have to do is to shew him
this Pandafilando of the Gloomy Sight, that he may slay him, and
restore that to me of which he has so unjustly deprived me. For all
this will certainly be done with the greatest ease in the world, since
it was foretold by Tinacrio the Sage, my good and royal father, who
has also left a prediction written either in Chaldean or Greek
characters (for I cannot read them) which denotes that after the
knight of the prophecy has cut off the giant's head and restored me to
the possession of my kingdom, if he should ask me to marry him, I
should by no means refuse him, but instantly put him in possession of
my person and kingdom." "Well, friend Sancho," said Don Quixote,
hearing this, and turning to the squire, "what thinkest thou now? Dost
thou not hear how matters go? Did not I tell thee as much before? See
now whether we have not a kingdom which we may command, and a queen
whom we may espouse!" "Ah, marry have you," replied Sancho; and with
that, to shew his joy, he cut a couple of capers in the air; and
turning to Dorothea, laid hold on her mule by the bridle, and flinging
himself down on his knees, begged she would be graciously pleased to
let him kiss her hand, in token of his owning her for his sovereign
lady.
There was none of the beholders but was ready to burst for laughter,
having a sight of the master's madness, and the servant's simplicity.
In short, Dorothea was obliged to comply with his entreaties, and
promised to make him a grandee, when fortune should favour her with
the recovery of her lost kingdom. Whereupon Sancho gave her his thanks
in such a manner as obliged the company to a fresh laughter. Then
going on with her relation, "Gentlemen," said she, "this is my
history; and among all my misfortunes, this only has escaped a
recital, that not one of the numerous attendants I brought from my
kingdom has survived the ruins of my fortune but this good squire with
the long beard: the rest ended their days in a great storm, which
dashed our ship to pieces in the very sight of the harbour; and he and
I had been sharers in their destiny had we not laid hold of two
planks, by which assistance we were driven to land, in a manner
altogether miraculous, and agreeable to the whole series of my life,
which seems, indeed, but one continued miracle. And if in any part of
my relation I have been tedious, and not so exact as I should have
been, you must impute it to what Master Curate observed to you in the
beginning of my story, that continual troubles oppress the senses, and
weaken the memory."
"Those pains and afflictions, be they ever so intense and difficult,"
said Don Quixote, "shall never deter me, most virtuous and high-born
lady, from adventuring for your service, and enduring whatever I shall
suffer in it: and therefore I again ratify the assurances I have given
you, and swear that I will bear you company, though to the end of the
world, in search of this implacable enemy of yours, till I shall find
him; whose insulting head, by the help of Heaven and my own invincible
arm, I am resolved to cut off with the edge of this (I will not say
good) sword;--(a plague on Gines de Passamonte, who took away my
own!)" This he spoke murmuring to himself; and then prosecuted his
discourse in this manner: "And after I have divided it from the body,
and left you quietly possessed of your throne, it shall be left at
your own choice to dispose of your person as you shall think
convenient; for as long as I shall have my memory full of her image,
my will captivated, and my understanding wholly subjected to her whom
I now forbear to name, it is impossible I should in the least deviate
from the affection I bear to her, or be induced to think of marrying,
though it were a Phoenix."
The close of Don Quixote's speech, which related to his not marrying,
touched Sancho so to the quick, that he could not forbear bawling out
his resentments: "Sir Don Quixote," cried he, "you are certainly out
of your wits; or how is it possible you should stick at striking a
bargain with so great a lady as this? Do you think fortune will put
such dainty bits in your way at every corner? Is my Lady Dulcinea
handsomer, do you think? No, marry, she is not half so handsome: I
could almost say she is not worthy to tie this lady's shoe-latchets. I
am likely, indeed, to get the earldom I have fed myself with the hopes
of, if you spend your time in fishing for mushrooms at the bottom of
the sea! Marry out of hand, I say, and lay hold of the kingdom which
is ready to leap into your hands; and as soon as you are a king, make
me a marquis, or a peer of the land, and afterwards, let things go at
sixes and sevens, it will be all one to Sancho." Don Quixote, quite
divested of all patience at the blasphemies which were spoken against
his Lady Dulcinea, could bear with him no longer; and therefore,
without so much as a word to give him notice of his displeasure, gave
him two such blows with his lance, that poor Sancho measured his
length on the ground, and had certainly there breathed his last, had
not the knight desisted through the persuasions of Dorothea. "Thinkest
thou," said he, after a considerable pause, "most infamous peasant,
that I shall always have leisure and disposition to put up with thy
affronts, and that thy whole business shall be to study new offences,
and mine to give thee new pardons? Dost thou not know, excommunicated
traitor, (for certainly excommunication is the least punishment can
fall upon thee after such profanations of the peerless Dulcinea's
name,) and art thou not assured, vile slave and ignominious vagabond,
that I should not have strength sufficient to kill a flea, did not she
give strength to my nerves and infuse vigour into my sinews? Speak,
thou villain with the viper's tongue; who dost thou imagine has
restored the queen to her kingdom, cut off the head of a giant, and
made thee a marquis, (for I count all this as done already,) but the
power of Dulcinea, who makes use of my arm as the instrument of her
act in me? She fights and overcomes in me, and I live and breathe in
her, holding life and being from her. Thou base-born wretch! art thou
not possessed of the utmost ingratitude, thou who seest thyself
exalted from the very dregs of the earth to nobility and honour, and
yet dost repay so great a benefit with obloquies against the person of
thy benefactress? But I pardon thee for this time," added the Don,
"and thou must excuse me for what I have done to thee; for the first
movements are not in our power." "I perceive that well enough," said
Sancho, "and that is the reason my first thoughts are always on my
tongue; and I cannot for my life help speaking what comes uppermost."
"However, friend Sancho," said Don Quixote, "thou hadst best think
before thou speakest; for the pitcher never goes so oft to the well."
"No more of this, Sancho," said Dorothea; "but run and kiss your
lord's hands, and beg his pardon; and, for the time to come, be more
advised and cautious how you run into the praise or dispraise of any
person; but especially take care you do not speak ill of that lady of
Toboso, whom I do not know, though I am ready to do her any service;
and trust me you shall have a lordship which shall enable you to live
like a prince." Sancho shrugged up his shoulders, and in a humble
posture went and asked his master for his hand, which he held out to
him with a grave countenance; and after the squire had kissed the back
of it, the knight gave him his blessing, and told him he had a word or
two with him, bidding him come nearer, that he might have the better
convenience of speaking to him. Sancho did as his master commanded,
and going a little from the company with him, they conversed a while
together. At the conclusion, Sancho said: "Good master, you shall not
want satisfaction; but, your worship, for the time to come, I beseech
you do not be too hasty." "What occasion hast thou, Sancho, to make
this request?" replied Don Quixote. "Reason good enough, truly," said
Sancho; "for the blows you gave me even now were rather given me on
account of that quarrel which was stirred up between your worship and
me the other night, than for your dislike of anything which was spoken
against my Lady Dulcinea." "Pr'ythee, Sancho," cried Don Quixote, "be
careful of falling again into such irreverent expressions; for they
provoke me to anger, and are highly offensive. I pardoned thee then
for being a delinquent; but thou art sensible that a new offence must
be attended with a new punishment."
As they were going on in such discourse as this, they saw at a
distance a person riding up to them on an ass, who, as he came near
enough to be distinguished, seemed to be a gipsy by his habit. But
Sancho Panza, who, whenever he got sight of any asses, followed them
with his eyes and his heart, as one whose thoughts were ever fixed on
his own, had scarce given him half an eye but he knew him to be Gines
de Passamonte, and by the looks of the gipsy found out the visage of
his ass; for indeed it was the very same which Gines had got under
him, who, to conceal himself from the knowledge of the public, and
have the better opportunity of making a good market of his beast, had
clothed himself like a gipsy; the cant of that sort of people, as well
as the languages of other countries, being as natural and familiar to
them as their own. Sancho saw him and knew him; and scarce had he seen
and taken notice of him, when he cried out as loud as his tongue would
permit him, "Ah, thou thief Genesillo! leave my goods and chattels
behind thee; get off from the back of my own dear life; thou hast
nothing to do with my poor beast, without whom I cannot enjoy a
moment's ease; away from my Dapple, away from my comfort! take to thy
heels thou villain! hence, thou hedge-bird, leave what is none of
thine!" He had no occasion to use so many words, for Gines dismounted
as soon as he heard him speak, and taking to his heels, got from them,
and was out of sight in an instant. Sancho ran immediately to his ass,
and embraced him: "How hast thou done," cried he, "since I saw thee,
my darling and treasure, my dear Dapple, the delight of my eyes, and
my dearest companion?" And then he stroked and slabbered him with
kisses, as if the beast had been a rational creature. The ass, for his
part, was as silent as could be, and gave Sancho the liberty of as
many kisses as he pleased, without the return of so much as one word
to the many questions he had put to him. At sight of this the rest of
the company came up with him, and paid their compliments of
congratulation to Sancho for the recovery of his ass, especially Don
Quixote, who told him that though he had found his ass again, yet
would not he revoke the warrant he had given him for three asses, for
which favour Sancho returned him a multitude of thanks.
While they were travelling together, and discoursing after this
manner, the curate addressed himself to Dorothea, and gave her to
understand that she had excellently discharged herself of what she had
undertaken, as well in the management of the history itself, as in her
brevity, and adapting her style to the particular terms made use of in
books of knight-errantry. She returned for answer that she had
frequently conversed with such romances, but that she was ignorant of
the situation of the provinces and the sea-ports, which occasioned the
blunder she had made by saying that she landed at Ossuna. "I perceived
it," replied the curate, "and therefore I put in what you heard, which
brought matters to rights again. But is it not an amazing thing to see
how ready this unfortunate gentleman is to give credit to these
fictitious reports, only because they have the air of the extravagant
stories in books of knight-errantry?" Cardenio said that he thought
this so strange a madness that he did not believe the wit of man, with
all the liberty of invention and fiction, capable of hitting so
extraordinary a character. "The gentleman," replied the curate, "has
some qualities in him, even as surprising in a madman as his
unparalleled frenzy; for take him but off his romantic humour,
discourse with him of any other subject, you will find him to handle
it with a great deal of reason, and shew himself, by his conversation,
to have very clear and entertaining conceptions; insomuch that if
knight-errantry bears no relation to his discourse, there is no man
but will esteem him for his vivacity of wit and strength of judgment."
While they were thus discoursing, Don Quixote, prosecuting his
converse with his squire, "Sancho," said he, "let us lay aside all
manner of animosity; let us forget and forgive injuries; and answer me
as speedily as thou canst, without any remains of thy last
displeasure, how, when, and where didst thou find my Lady Dulcinea?
What was she doing when thou first paidst thy respects to her? How
didst thou express thyself to her? What answer was she pleased to make
thee? What countenance did she put on at the perusal of my letter? Who
transcribed it fairly for thee? And every thing else which has any
relation to this affair, without addition, lies, or flattery. On the
other side, take care thou losest not a tittle of the whole matter, by
abbreviating it, lest thou rob me of part of that delight which I
propose to myself from it." "Sir," answered Sancho, "if I must speak
the truth, and nothing but the truth, nobody copied out that letter
for me; for I carried none at all." "That's right," cried Don Quixote;
"for I found the pocket-book in which it was written two days after
thy departure, which occasioned exceeding grief in me, because I knew
not what thou couldst do when thou foundst thyself without the letter;
and I could not but be induced to believe that thou wouldst have
returned, in order to take it with thee." "I had certainly done so,"
replied Sancho, "were it not for this head of mine, which kept it in
remembrance ever since your worship read it to me, and helped me to
say it over to a parish-clerk, who wrote it out to me word for word so
purely, that he vowed, though he had written out many a letter of
excommunication in his time, he never in all the days of his life had
read or seen any thing so well spoken as it was." "And dost thou still
retain the memory of it, my dear Sancho?" cried Don Quixote. "Not I,"
quoth Sancho; "for as soon as I had given it her, and your turn was
served, I was very willing to forget it. But if I remember any thing,
it is what was on the top; and it was thus, 'High and subterrene'--I
would say sovereign, lady; and at the bottom, 'yours until death, the
Knight of the Sorrowful Figure;' and I put between these two things
three hundred souls and lives."