Was not in the esquire trade.
TIQUITOC,
ACADEMICIAN OF ARGAMASILLA,
ON THE TOMB OF DULCINEA DEL TOBOSO
EPITAPH
Here Dulcinea lies.
Plump was she and robust:
Now she is ashes and dust:
The end of all flesh that dies.
A lady of high degree,
With the port of a lofty dame,
And the great Don Quixote's flame,
And the pride of her village was she.
These were all the verses that could be deciphered; the rest, thewriting being worm-eaten, were handed over to one of theAcademicians to make out their meaning conjecturally. We have beeninformed that at the cost of many sleepless nights and much toil hehas succeeded, and that he means to publish them in hopes of DonQuixote's third sally.
"Forse altro cantera con miglior plectro."
DEDICATION OF PART I
TO THE DUKE OF BEJAR, MARQUIS OF GIBRALEON, COUNT OF BENALCAZARAND BANARES, VICECOUNT OF THE PUEBLA DE ALCOCER, MASTER OF THE TOWNSOF CAPILLA, CURIEL AND BURGUILLOS
IN belief of the good reception and honours that Your Excellencybestows on all sort of books, as prince so inclined to favor goodarts, chiefly those who by their nobleness do not submit to theservice and bribery of the vulgar, I have determined bringing to lightThe Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of la Mancha, in shelter of YourExcellency's glamorous name, to whom, with the obeisance I owe to suchgrandeur, I pray to receive it agreeably under his protection, so thatin this shadow, though deprived of that precious ornament ofelegance and erudition that clothe the works composed in the houses ofthose who know, it dares appear with assurance in the judgment of somewho, trespassing the bounds of their own ignorance, use to condemnwith more rigour and less justice the writings of others. It is myearnest hope that Your Excellency's good counsel in regard to myhonourable purpose, will not disdain the littleness of so humble aservice.
Miguel de CervantesXFIR驗MZ
CHAPTER I
OF THE INTERVIEW THE CURATE AND THE BARBER HAD WITH DON QUIXOTEABOUT HIS MALADY
CIDE HAMETE BENENGELI, in the Second Part of this history, and thirdsally of Don Quixote, says that the curate and the barber remainednearly a month without seeing him, lest they should recall or bringback to his recollection what had taken place. They did not,however, omit to visit his niece and housekeeper, and charge them tobe careful to treat him with attention, and give him comforting thingsto eat, and such as were good for the heart and the brain, whence,it was plain to see, all his misfortune proceeded. The niece andhousekeeper replied that they did so, and meant to do so with allpossible care and assiduity, for they could perceive that their masterwas now and then beginning to show signs of being in his right mind.This gave great satisfaction to the curate and the barber, for theyconcluded they had taken the right course in carrying him offenchanted on the ox-cart, as has been described in the First Part ofthis great as well as accurate history, in the last chapter thereof.So they resolved to pay him a visit and test the improvement in hiscondition, although they thought it almost impossible that there couldbe any; and they agreed not to touch upon any point connected withknight-errantry so as not to run the risk of reopening wounds whichwere still so tender.
They came to see him consequently, and found him sitting up in bedin a green baize waistcoat and a red Toledo cap, and so withered anddried up that he looked as if he had been turned into a mummy. Theywere very cordially received by him; they asked him after hishealth, and he talked to them about himself very naturally and in verywell-chosen language. In the course of their conversation they fell todiscussing what they call State-craft and systems of government,correcting this abuse and condemning that, reforming one practiceand abolishing another, each of the three setting up for a newlegislator, a modern Lycurgus, or a brand-new Solon; and so completelydid they remodel the State, that they seemed to have thrust it intoa furnace and taken out something quite different from what they hadput in; and on all the subjects they dealt with, Don Quixote spokewith such good sense that the pair of examiners were fully convincedthat he was quite recovered and in his full senses.
The niece and housekeeper were present at the conversation and couldnot find words enough to express their thanks to God at seeing theirmaster so clear in his mind; the curate, however, changing hisoriginal plan, which was to avoid touching upon matters of chivalry,resolved to test Don Quixote's recovery thoroughly, and see whether itwere genuine or not; and so, from one subject to another, he came atlast to talk of the news that had come from the capital, and, amongother things, he said it was considered certain that the Turk wascoming down with a powerful fleet, and that no one knew what hispurpose was, or when the great storm would burst; and that allChristendom was in apprehension of this, which almost every year callsus to arms, and that his Majesty had made provision for the securityof the coasts of Naples and Sicily and the island of Malta.
To this Don Quixote replied, "His Majesty has acted like a prudentwarrior in providing for the safety of his realms in time, so that theenemy may not find him unprepared; but if my advice were taken I wouldrecommend him to adopt a measure which at present, no doubt, hisMajesty is very far from thinking of."
The moment the curate heard this he said to himself, "God keepthee in his hand, poor Don Quixote, for it seems to me thou artprecipitating thyself from the height of thy madness into the profoundabyss of thy simplicity."
But the barber, who had the same suspicion as the curate, askedDon Quixote what would be his advice as to the measures that he saidought to be adopted; for perhaps it might prove to be one that wouldhave to be added to the list of the many impertinent suggestionsthat people were in the habit of offering to princes.
"Mine, master shaver," said Don Quixote, "will not be impertinent,but, on the contrary, pertinent."
"I don't mean that," said the barber, "but that experience has shownthat all or most of the expedients which are proposed to his Majestyare either impossible, or absurd, or injurious to the King and tothe kingdom."
"Mine, however," replied Don Quixote, "is neither impossible norabsurd, but the easiest, the most reasonable, the readiest and mostexpeditious that could suggest itself to any projector's mind."
"You take a long time to tell it, Senor Don Quixote," said thecurate.
"I don't choose to tell it here, now," said Don Quixote, "and haveit reach the ears of the lords of the council to-morrow morning, andsome other carry off the thanks and rewards of my trouble."
"For my part," said the barber, "I give my word here and beforeGod that I will not repeat what your worship says, to King, Rook orearthly man- an oath I learned from the ballad of the curate, who,in the prelude, told the king of the thief who had robbed him of thehundred gold crowns and his pacing mule."
"I am not versed in stories," said Don Quixote; "but I know the oathis a good one, because I know the barber to be an honest fellow."
"Even if he were not," said the curate, "I will go bail and answerfor him that in this matter he will be as silent as a dummy, underpain of paying any penalty that may be pronounced."
"And who will be security for you, senor curate?" said Don Quixote.
"My profession," replied the curate, "which is to keep secrets."
"Ods body!" said Don Quixote at this, "what more has his Majestyto do but to command, by public proclamation, all the knights-errantthat are scattered over Spain to assemble on a fixed day in thecapital, for even if no more than half a dozen come, there may beone among them who alone will suffice to destroy the entire might ofthe Turk. Give me your attention and follow me. Is it, pray, any newthing for a single knight-errant to demolish an army of two hundredthousand men, as if they all had but one throat or were made ofsugar paste? Nay, tell me, how many histories are there filled withthese marvels? If only （in an evil hour for me: I don't speak foranyone else） the famous Don Belianis were alive now, or any one of theinnumerable progeny of Amadis of Gaul! If any these were alivetoday, and were to come face to face with the Turk, by my faith, Iwould not give much for the Turk's chance. But God will have regardfor his people, and will provide some one, who, if not so valiant asthe knights-errant of yore, at least will not be inferior to them inspirit; but God knows what I mean, and I say no more."
"Alas!" exclaimed the niece at this, "may I die if my master doesnot want to turn knight-errant again;" to which Don Quixote replied,"A knight-errant I shall die, and let the Turk come down or go up whenhe likes, and in as strong force as he can, once more I say, God knowswhat I mean." But here the barber said, "I ask your worships to giveme leave to tell a short story of something that happened inSeville, which comes so pat to the purpose just now that I should likegreatly to tell it." Don Quixote gave him leave, and the rest preparedto listen, and he began thus: