Didst thou the light mid Libya's sands
Or Jaca's rocks first see?
Did scaly serpents give thee suck?
Who nursed thee when a babe?
Wert cradled in the forest rude,
Or gloomy mountain cave?
O Dulcinea may be proud,
That plump and lusty maid;
For she alone hath had the power
A tiger fierce to tame.
And she for this shall famous be
From Tagus to Jarama,
From Manzanares to Genil,
From Duero to Arlanza.
Fain would I change with her, and give
A petticoat to boot,
The best and bravest that I have,
All trimmed with gold galloon.
O for to be the happy fair
Thy mighty arms enfold,
Or even sit beside thy bed
And scratch thy dusty poll!
I rave,- to favours such as these
Unworthy to aspire;
Thy feet to tickle were enough
For one so mean as I.
What caps, what slippers silver-laced,
Would I on thee bestow!
What damask breeches make for thee;
What fine long holland cloaks!
And I would give thee pearls that should
As big as oak-galls show;
So matchless big that each might well
Be called the great "Alone."
Manchegan Nero, look not down
From thy Tarpeian Rock
Upon this burning heart, nor add
The fuel of thy wrath.
A virgin soft and young am I,
Not yet fifteen years old;
（I'm only three months past fourteen,
I swear upon my soul）。
I hobble not nor do I limp,
All blemish I'm without,
And as I walk my lily locks
Are trailing on the ground.
And though my nose be rather flat,
And though my mouth be wide,
My teeth like topazes exalt
My beauty to the sky.
Thou knowest that my voice is sweet,
That is if thou dost hear;
And I am moulded in a form
Somewhat below the mean.
These charms, and many more, are thine,
Spoils to thy spear and bow all;
A damsel of this house am I,
By name Altisidora.
Here the lay of the heart-stricken Altisidora came to an end,while the warmly wooed Don Quixote began to feel alarm; and with adeep sigh he said to himself, "O that I should be such an unluckyknight that no damsel can set eyes on me but falls in love with me!O that the peerless Dulcinea should be so unfortunate that they cannotlet her enjoy my incomparable constancy in peace! What would ye withher, ye queens? Why do ye persecute her, ye empresses? Why ye pursueher, ye virgins of from fourteen to fifteen? Leave the unhappy beingto triumph, rejoice and glory in the lot love has been pleased tobestow upon her in surrendering my heart and yielding up my soul toher. Ye love-smitten host, know that to Dulcinea only I am dough andsugar-paste, flint to all others; for her I am honey, for you aloes.For me Dulcinea alone is beautiful, wise, virtuous, graceful, andhigh-bred, and all others are ill-favoured, foolish, light, andlow-born. Nature sent me into the world to be hers and no other's;Altisidora may weep or sing, the lady for whose sake they belabouredme in the castle of the enchanted Moor may give way to despair, butI must be Dulcinea's, boiled or roast, pure, courteous, and chaste, inspite of all the magic-working powers on earth." And with that he shutthe window with a bang, and, as much out of temper and out of sorts asif some great misfortune had befallen him, stretched himself on hisbed, where we will leave him for the present, as the great SanchoPanza, who is about to set up his famous government, now demands ourattention.
CHAPTER XLV
OF HOW THE GREAT SANCHO PANZA TOOK POSSESSION OF HIS ISLAND, ANDOF HOW HE MADE A BEGINNING IN GOVERNING
O PERPETUAL discoverer of the antipodes, torch of the world, eyeof heaven, sweet stimulator of the water-coolers! Thimbraeus here,Phoebus there, now archer, now physician, father of poetry, inventorof music; thou that always risest and, notwithstanding appearances,never settest! To thee, O Sun, by whose aid man begetteth man, to theeI appeal to help me and lighten the darkness of my wit that I may beable to proceed with scrupulous exactitude in giving an account of thegreat Sancho Panza's government; for without thee I feel myselfweak, feeble, and uncertain.
To come to the point, then- Sancho with all his attendants arrivedat a village of some thousand inhabitants, and one of the largestthe duke possessed. They informed him that it was called the island ofBarataria, either because the name of the village was Baratario, orbecause of the joke by way of which the government had beenconferred upon him. On reaching the gates of the town, which was awalled one, the municipality came forth to meet him, the bells rangout a peal, and the inhabitants showed every sign of generalsatisfaction; and with great pomp they conducted him to theprincipal church to give thanks to God, and then with burlesqueceremonies they presented him with the keys of the town, andacknowledged him as perpetual governor of the island of Barataria. Thecostume, the beard, and the fat squat figure of the new governorastonished all those who were not in the secret, and even all whowere, and they were not a few. Finally, leading him out of thechurch they carried him to the judgment seat and seated him on it, andthe duke's majordomo said to him, "It is an ancient custom in thisisland, senor governor, that he who comes to take possession of thisfamous island is bound to answer a question which shall be put to him,and which must he a somewhat knotty and difficult one; and by hisanswer the people take the measure of their new governor's wit, andhail with joy or deplore his arrival accordingly."
While the majordomo was making this speech Sancho was gazing atseveral large letters inscribed on the wall opposite his seat, andas he could not read he asked what that was that was painted on thewall. The answer was, "Senor, there is written and recorded the day onwhich your lordship took possession of this island, and theinscription says, 'This day, the so-and-so of such-and-such a monthand year, Senor Don Sancho Panza took possession of this island;many years may he enjoy it.'"
"And whom do they call Don Sancho Panza?" asked Sancho.
"Your lordship," replied the majordomo; "for no other Panza butthe one who is now seated in that chair has ever entered this island."
"Well then, let me tell you, brother," said Sancho, "I haven't gotthe 'Don,' nor has any one of my family ever had it; my name isplain Sancho Panza, and Sancho was my father's name, and Sancho was mygrandfather's and they were all Panzas, without any Dons or Donastacked on; I suspect that in this island there are more Dons thanstones; but never mind; God knows what I mean, and maybe if mygovernment lasts four days I'll weed out these Dons that no doubtare as great a nuisance as the midges, they're so plenty. Let themajordomo go on with his question, and I'll give the best answer Ican, whether the people deplore or not."
At this instant there came into court two old men, one carrying acane by way of a walking-stick, and the one who had no stick said,"Senor, some time ago I lent this good man ten gold-crowns in goldto gratify him and do him a service, on the condition that he was toreturn them to me whenever I should ask for them. A long time passedbefore I asked for them, for I would not put him to any greaterstraits to return them than he was in when I lent them to him; butthinking he was growing careless about payment I asked for them onceand several times; and not only will he not give them back, but hedenies that he owes them, and says I never lent him any such crowns;or if I did, that he repaid them; and I have no witnesses either ofthe loan, or the payment, for he never paid me; I want your worship toput him to his oath, and if he swears he returned them to me I forgivehim the debt here and before God."
"What say you to this, good old man, you with the stick?" saidSancho.
To which the old man replied, "I admit, senor, that he lent themto me; but let your worship lower your staff, and as he leaves it tomy oath, I'll swear that I gave them back, and paid him really andtruly."
The governor lowered the staff, and as he did so the old man who hadthe stick handed it to the other old man to hold for him while heswore, as if he found it in his way; and then laid his hand on thecross of the staff, saying that it was true the ten crowns that weredemanded of him had been lent him; but that he had with his own handgiven them back into the hand of the other, and that he, notrecollecting it, was always asking for them.
Seeing this the great governor asked the creditor what answer he hadto make to what his opponent said. He said that no doubt his debtorhad told the truth, for he believed him to be an honest man and a goodChristian, and he himself must have forgotten when and how he hadgiven him back the crowns; and that from that time forth he would makeno further demand upon him.
The debtor took his stick again, and bowing his head left the court.Observing this, and how, without another word, he made off, andobserving too the resignation of the plaintiff, Sancho buried his headin his bosom and remained for a short space in deep thought, withthe forefinger of his right hand on his brow and nose; then heraised his head and bade them call back the old man with the stick,for he had already taken his departure. They brought him back, andas soon as Sancho saw him he said, "Honest man, give me that stick,for I want it."