_Wherein is given an account of the Knight of the White Moon; with
other matters._
Don Antonio Moreno followed the Knight of the White Moon to his inn,
whither he was attended by a rabble of boys. The knight being got to
his chamber, where his squire waited to take off his armour, Don
Antonio came in, declaring he would not be shaken off till he had
discovered who he was. The knight finding that the gentleman would not
leave him, "Sir," said he, "since I lie under no obligation of
concealing myself, if you please, while my man disarms me, you shall
hear the whole truth of the story.
"You must know, sir, I am called the Bachelor Carrasco: I live in the
same town with this Don Quixote, whose unaccountable phrenzy has moved
all his neighbours, and me among the rest, to endeavour by some means
to cure his madness; in order to which, believing that rest and ease
would prove the surest remedy, I bethought myself of this present
stratagem; and, about three months ago, in the equipage of a
knight-errant, under the title of the Knight of the Mirrors, I met him
on the road, fixed a quarrel upon him, and the conditions of our
combat were as you have heard already. But fortune then declared for
him, for he unhorsed and vanquished me; and so I was disappointed: he
prosecuted his adventures, and I returned home very much hurt with my
fall. But willing to retrieve my credit, I have made this second
attempt, and now have succeeded; for I know him to be so nicely
punctual in whatever his word and honour is engaged for, that he will
undoubtedly perform his promise. This, sir, is the sum of the whole
story; and I beg the favour of you to conceal me from Don Quixote,
that my project may not be ruined a second time, and that the honest
gentleman, who is naturally a man of good parts, may recover his
understanding." "Oh, sir," replied Don Antonio, "what have you to
answer for, in robbing the world of the most diverting folly that ever
was exposed among mankind! Consider, sir, that his cure can never
benefit the public half so much as his distemper. But I am apt to
believe, Sir Bachelor, that his madness is too firmly fixed for your
art to remove; and, indeed, I cannot forbear wishing it may be so; for
by Don Quixote's cure, we not only lose his good company, but the
drolleries and comical humours of Sancho Panza too, which are enough
to cure melancholy itself of the spleen. However, I promise to say
nothing of the matter; though I confidently believe, sir, your pains
will be to no purpose." Carrasco told him, that having succeeded so
far, he was obliged to cherish better hopes; and asking Don Antonio if
he had any farther service to command him, he took his leave; and
packing up his armour on a carriage-mule, presently mounted his
charging horse, and leaving the city that very day, posted homewards,
meeting no adventure on the road worthy a place in this faithful
history.
Don Antonio gave an account of the discourse he had had with Carrasco
to the viceroy, who was vexed to think that so much pleasant diversion
was like to be lost to all those that were acquainted with the Don's
exploits.
Six days did Don Quixote keep his bed, very dejected, and full of
severe and dismal reflections on his fatal overthrow. Sancho was his
comforter; and among his other crumbs of comfort, "My dear master,"
quoth he, "cheer up; come, pluck up a good heart, and be thankful for
coming off no worse. Why, a man has broken his neck with a less fall,
and you have not so much as a broken rib. Consider, sir, that they
that game must sometimes lose; we must not always look for bacon where
we see the hooks. Come, sir, cry a fig for the doctor, since you will
not need him this bout; let us jog home fair and softly, without
thinking any more of sauntering up and down, nobody knows whither, in
quest of adventures and bloody noses. Why, sir, I am the greatest
loser, if you go to that, though it is you that are in the worst
pickle. It is true, I was weary of being a governor, and gave over
all thoughts that way; but yet I never parted with my inclination of
being an earl; and now, if you miss being a king, by casting off your
knight-errantry, poor I may go whistle for my earldom." "No more of
that, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "I shall only retire for a year, and
then reassume my honourable profession, which will undoubtedly secure
me a kingdom, and thee an earldom." "Heaven grant it may," quoth
Sancho, "and no mischief betide us; hope well and have well, says the
proverb."
Two days after, Don Quixote, being somewhat recovered, took his leave
of Don Antonio, and having caused his armour to be laid on Dapple, he
set forwards on his journey home, Sancho thus being forced to trudge
after him on foot.
Don Quixote, as he went out of Barcelona, cast his eyes on the spot of
ground where he was overthrown. "Here once Troy stood," said he; "here
my unhappy fate, and not my cowardice, deprived me of all the glories
I had purchased. Here fortune, by an unexpected reverse, made me
sensible of her inconstancy and fickleness. Here my exploits suffered
a total eclipse; and in short, here fell my happiness, never to rise
again." Sancho, hearing his master thus dolefully paraphrasing on his
misfortunes, "Good sir," quoth he, "it is as much the part of great
spirits to have patience when the world frowns upon them, as to be
joyful when all goes well; and I judge of it by myself; for if when I
was a governor I was merry, now I am but a poor squire a-foot I am not
sad. And indeed I have heard say, that this same lady they call
Fortune is a whimsical, freakish quean, and blind into the bargain; so
that she neither sees what she does, nor knows whom she raises nor
whom she casts down." "Thou art very much a philosopher, Sancho," said
Don Quixote; "thou talkest very sensibly. I wonder how thou camest by
all this; but I must tell thee there is no such thing as fortune in
the world, nor does any thing that happens here below of good or ill
come by chance, but by the appointment of Providence; and this makes
good the proverb, that every man may thank himself for his own
fortune. For my part, I have been the maker of mine; but for want of
using the discretion I ought to have used, all my presumptuous edifice
sunk, and tumbled down at once. I might well have considered that
Rozinante was too weak and feeble to withstand the Knight of the White
Moon's huge and strong-built horse. However, I would needs adventure:
I did the best I could, and was overcome. Yet though it has cost me my
honour, I have not lost, nor can I lose, my integrity to perform my
promise. Trudge on then, friend Sancho, and let us get home, to pass
the year of our probation. In that retirement we shall recover new
vigour, to return again to the never-to-be-forgotten profession of
arms."
That night master and man took up their lodging in a field, under the
roof of the open sky; and the next day, as they were on their journey,
they saw coming towards them a man on foot, with a wallet about his
neck, and a javelin or dart in his hand, just like a foot-post. The
man mended his pace when he came near Don Quixote, and, almost
running, came with a great deal of joy in his looks, and embraced Don
Quixote's right thigh, for he could reach no higher. "My Lord Don
Quixote de la Mancha," cried he, "oh, how heartily glad my lord duke
will be when he understands you are coming again to his castle, for
there he is still with my lady duchess." "I do not know you, friend,"
answered Don Quixote; "nor can I imagine who you should be, unless you
tell me yourself." "My name is Tosilos, if it please your honour; I am
my lord duke's footman, the same who would not fight with you about
Donna Rodriguez's daughter." "Bless me!" cried Don Quixote, "is it
possible you should be the man whom those enemies of mine, the
magicians, transformed into a lackey, to deprive me of the honour of
that combat?" "Softly, good sir," replied the footman; "there was
neither enchantment nor transformation in the case. I was as much a
footman when I entered the lists as when I came out; and it was
because I had a mind to marry the young gentlewoman that I refused to
fight. But I was sadly disappointed; for, when you were gone, my lord
duke had me soundly banged for not doing as he ordered me in that
matter; and the upshot was this, Donna Rodriguez is packed away to
seek her fortune, and the daughter is shut up in a nunnery. As for me,
I am going to Barcelona with a parcel of letters from my lord to the
viceroy. However, sir, if you please to take a sip, I have here a
calabash full of the best, with some excellent cheese, that will make
it go down, I warrant you." "I take you at your word," quoth Sancho;
"I am no proud man; and so let us drink, honest Tosilos, in spite of
all the enchanters in the Indies." "Well, Sancho," said Don Quixote,
"thou art certainly the veriest glutton that ever was, and the
silliest blockhead in the world, else thou wouldst consider that this
man thou seest here is enchanted, and a sham lackey. Stay with him, if
thou thinkest fit, and gratify thy voracious appetite; for my part, I
will ride softly on before." Tosilos smiled, and, laying his bottle
and his cheese upon the grass, he and Sancho sat down there, and, like
sociable messmates, never stirred till they had quite cleared the
wallet.
While they were thus employed, "Friend Sancho," quoth Tosilos, "I know
not what to make of this master of yours; doubtless he ought to be
reckoned a madman." "Why ought?" replied Sancho; "he owes nothing to
any body, for he pays for every thing, especially where madness is
current; there he might be the richest man in the kingdom, he has such
a stock of it. I see it full well, and full well I tell him of it; but
what boots it, especially now that he is all in the dumps, for having
been worsted by the Knight of the White Moon?" Tosilos begged of
Sancho to tell him that story; but Sancho said it would not be
handsome to let his master stay for him, but that next time they met
he would tell him the whole matter. With that they got up; and, after
the squire had brushed his clothes and put himself to rights, he drove
Dapple along, and with a good-by-to-ye, left Tosilos, in order to
overtake his master, who stayed for him under the cover of a tree.