At this instant one or two of those squires who were posted assentinels on the roads, to watch who came along them and report whatpassed to their chief, came up and said, "Senor, there is a greattroop of people not far off coming along the road to Barcelona."
To which Roque replied, "Hast thou made out whether they are ofthe sort that are after us, or of the sort we are after?"
"The sort we are after," said the squire.
"Well then, away with you all," said Roque, "and bring them hereto me at once without letting one of them escape."
They obeyed, and Don Quixote, Sancho, and Roque, left by themselves,waited to see what the squires brought, and while they were waitingRoque said to Don Quixote, "It must seem a strange sort of life toSenor Don Quixote, this of ours, strange adventures, strangeincidents, and all full of danger; and I do not wonder that itshould seem so, for in truth I must own there is no mode of lifemore restless or anxious than ours. What led me into it was acertain thirst for vengeance, which is strong enough to disturb thequietest hearts. I am by nature tender-hearted and kindly, but, as Isaid, the desire to revenge myself for a wrong that was done me sooverturns all my better impulses that I keep on in this way of life inspite of what conscience tells me; and as one depth calls toanother, and one sin to another sin, revenges have linked themselvestogether, and I have taken upon myself not only my own but those ofothers: it pleases God, however, that, though I see myself in thismaze of entanglements, I do not lose all hope of escaping from itand reaching a safe port."
Don Quixote was amazed to hear Roque utter such excellent and justsentiments, for he did not think that among those who followed suchtrades as robbing, murdering, and waylaying, there could be anyonecapable of a virtuous thought, and he said in reply, "Senor Roque, thebeginning of health lies in knowing the disease and in the sickman's willingness to take the medicines which the physicianprescribes; you are sick, you know what ails you, and heaven, ormore properly speaking God, who is our physician, will administermedicines that will cure you, and cure gradually, and not of asudden or by a miracle; besides, sinners of discernment are neareramendment than those who are fools; and as your worship has shown goodsense in your remarks, all you have to do is to keep up a good heartand trust that the weakness of your conscience will be strengthened.And if you have any desire to shorten the journey and put yourselfeasily in the way of salvation, come with me, and I will show youhow to become a knight-errant, a calling wherein so many hardships andmishaps are encountered that if they be taken as penances they willlodge you in heaven in a trice."
Roque laughed at Don Quixote's exhortation, and changing theconversation he related the tragic affair of Claudia Jeronima, atwhich Sancho was extremely grieved; for he had not found the youngwoman's beauty, boldness, and spirit at all amiss.
And now the squires despatched to make the prize came up, bringingwith them two gentlemen on horseback, two pilgrims on foot, and acoach full of women with some six servants on foot and on horseback inattendance on them, and a couple of muleteers whom the gentlemen hadwith them. The squires made a ring round them, both victors andvanquished maintaining profound silence, waiting for the great RoqueGuinart to speak. He asked the gentlemen who they were, whither theywere going, and what money they carried with them; "Senor," repliedone of them, "we are two captains of Spanish infantry; our companiesare at Naples, and we are on our way to embark in four galleys whichthey say are at Barcelona under orders for Sicily; and we have abouttwo or three hundred crowns, with which we are, according to ournotions, rich and contented, for a soldier's poverty does not allowa more extensive hoard."
Roque asked the pilgrims the same questions he had put to thecaptains, and was answered that they were going to take ship for Rome,and that between them they might have about sixty reals. He asked alsowho was in the coach, whither they were bound and what money they had,and one of the men on horseback replied, "The persons in the coach aremy lady Dona Guiomar de Quinones, wife of the regent of the Vicaria atNaples, her little daughter, a handmaid and a duenna; we sixservants are in attendance upon her, and the money amounts to sixhundred crowns."
"So then," said Roque Guinart, "we have got here nine hundred crownsand sixty reals; my soldiers must number some sixty; see how muchthere falls to each, for I am a bad arithmetician." As soon as therobbers heard this they raised a shout of "Long life to Roque Guinart,in spite of the lladres that seek his ruin!"
The captains showed plainly the concern they felt, the regent's ladywas downcast, and the pilgrims did not at all enjoy seeing theirproperty confiscated. Roque kept them in suspense in this way for awhile; but he had no desire to prolong their distress, which mightbe seen a bowshot off, and turning to the captains he said, "Sirs,will your worships be pleased of your courtesy to lend me sixtycrowns, and her ladyship the regent's wife eighty, to satisfy thisband that follows me, for 'it is by his singing the abbot gets hisdinner;' and then you may at once proceed on your journey, free andunhindered, with a safe-conduct which I shall give you, so that if youcome across any other bands of mine that I have scattered in theseparts, they may do you no harm; for I have no intention of doinginjury to soldiers, or to any woman, especially one of quality."
Profuse and hearty were the expressions of gratitude with whichthe captains thanked Roque for his courtesy and generosity; for suchthey regarded his leaving them their own money. Senora Dona Guiomar deQuinones wanted to throw herself out of the coach to kiss the feet andhands of the great Roque, but he would not suffer it on any account;so far from that, he begged her pardon for the wrong he had done herunder pressure of the inexorable necessities of his unfortunatecalling. The regent's lady ordered one of her servants to give theeighty crowns that had been assessed as her share at once, for thecaptains had already paid down their sixty. The pilgrims were about togive up the whole of their little hoard, but Roque bade them keepquiet, and turning to his men he said, "Of these crowns two fall toeach man and twenty remain over; let ten be given to these pilgrims,and the other ten to this worthy squire that he may be able to speakfavourably of this adventure;" and then having writing materials, withwhich he always went provided, brought to him, he gave them in writinga safe-conduct to the leaders of his bands; and bidding themfarewell let them go free and filled with admiration at hismagnanimity, his generous disposition, and his unusual conduct, andinclined to regard him as an Alexander the Great rather than anotorious robber.
One of the squires observed in his mixture of Gascon and Catalan,"This captain of ours would make a better friar than highwayman; if hewants to be so generous another time, let it be with his ownproperty and not ours."
The unlucky wight did not speak so low but that Roque overheard him,and drawing his sword almost split his head in two, saying, "That isthe way I punish impudent saucy fellows." They were all taken aback,and not one of them dared to utter a word, such deference did they payhim. Roque then withdrew to one side and wrote a letter to a friend ofhis at Barcelona, telling him that the famous Don Quixote of LaMancha, the knight-errant of whom there was so much talk, was withhim, and was, he assured him, the drollest and wisest man in theworld; and that in four days from that date, that is to say, onSaint John the Baptist's Day, he was going to deposit him in fullarmour mounted on his horse Rocinante, together with his squire Sanchoon an ass, in the middle of the strand of the city; and bidding himgive notice of this to his friends the Niarros, that they might divertthemselves with him. He wished, he said, his enemies the Cadells couldbe deprived of this pleasure; but that was impossible, because thecrazes and shrewd sayings of Don Quixote and the humours of his squireSancho Panza could not help giving general pleasure to all theworld. He despatched the letter by one of his squires, who, exchangingthe costume of a highwayman for that of a peasant, made his way intoBarcelona and gave it to the person to whom it was directed.
CHAPTER LXI
OF WHAT HAPPENED DON QUIXOTE ON ENTERING BARCELONA, TOGETHER WITHOTHER MATTERS THAT PARTAKE OF THE TRUE RATHER THAN OF THE INGENIOUS
DON QUIXOTE passed three days and three nights with Roque, and hadhe passed three hundred years he would have found enough to observeand wonder at in his mode of life. At daybreak they were in onespot, at dinner-time in another; sometimes they fled without knowingfrom whom, at other times they lay in wait, not knowing for what. Theyslept standing, breaking their slumbers to shift from place toplace. There was nothing but sending out spies and scouts, postingsentinels and blowing the matches of harquebusses, though they carriedbut few, for almost all used flintlocks. Roque passed his nights insome place or other apart from his men, that they might not know wherehe was, for the many proclamations the viceroy of Barcelona had issuedagainst his life kept him in fear and uneasiness, and he did notventure to trust anyone, afraid that even his own men would kill himor deliver him up to the authorities; of a truth, a weary miserablelife! At length, by unfrequented roads, short cuts, and secretpaths, Roque, Don Quixote, and Sancho, together with six squires,set out for Barcelona. They reached the strand on Saint John's Eveduring the night; and Roque, after embracing Don Quixote and Sancho（to whom he presented the ten crowns he had promised but had not untilthen given）， left them with many expressions of good-will on bothsides.