They went in to dinner, and the repast was such as Don Diego said onthe road he was in the habit of giving to his guests, neat, plentiful,and tasty; but what pleased Don Quixote most was the marvelloussilence that reigned throughout the house, for it was like aCarthusian monastery.
When the cloth had been removed, grace said and their handswashed, Don Quixote earnestly pressed Don Lorenzo to repeat to him hisverses for the poetical tournament, to which he replied, "Not to belike those poets who, when they are asked to recite their verses,refuse, and when they are not asked for them vomit them up, I willrepeat my gloss, for which I do not expect any prize, havingcomposed it merely as an exercise of ingenuity."
"A discerning friend of mine," said Don Quixote, "was of opinionthat no one ought to waste labour in glossing verses; and the reasonhe gave was that the gloss can never come up to the text, and thatoften or most frequently it wanders away from the meaning andpurpose aimed at in the glossed lines; and besides, that the laws ofthe gloss were too strict, as they did not allow interrogations, nor'said he,' nor 'I say,' nor turning verbs into nouns, or alteringthe construction, not to speak of other restrictions and limitationsthat fetter gloss-writers, as you no doubt know."
"Verily, Senor Don Quixote," said Don Lorenzo, "I wish I could catchyour worship tripping at a stretch, but I cannot, for you slip throughmy fingers like an eel."
"I don't understand what you say, or mean by slipping," said DonQuixote.
"I will explain myself another time," said Don Lorenzo; "for thepresent pray attend to the glossed verses and the gloss, which runthus:
Could 'was' become an 'is' for me,
Then would I ask no more than this;
Or could, for me, the time that is
Become the time that is to be!-
GLOSS
Dame Fortune once upon a day
To me was bountiful and kind;
But all things change; she changed her mind,
And what she gave she took away.
O Fortune, long I've sued to thee;
The gifts thou gavest me restore,
For, trust me, I would ask no more,
Could 'was' become an 'is' for me.
No other prize I seek to gain,
No triumph, glory, or success,
Only the long-lost happiness,
The memory whereof is pain.
One taste, methinks, of bygone bliss
The heart-consuming fire might stay;
And, so it come without delay,
Then would I ask no more than this.
I ask what cannot be, alas!
That time should ever be, and then
Come back to us, and be again,
No power on earth can bring to pass;
For fleet of foot is he, I wis,
And idly, therefore, do we pray
That what for aye hath left us may
Become for us the time that is.
Perplexed, uncertain, to remain
'Twixt hope and fear, is death, not life;
'Twere better, sure, to end the strife,
And dying, seek release from pain.
And yet, thought were the best for me.
Anon the thought aside I fling,
And to the present fondly cling,
And dread the time that is to be."
When Don Lorenzo had finished reciting his gloss, Don Quixotestood up, and in a loud voice, almost a shout, exclaimed as he graspedDon Lorenzo's right hand in his, "By the highest heavens, noble youth,but you are the best poet on earth, and deserve to be crowned withlaurel, not by Cyprus or by Gaeta- as a certain poet, God forgive him,said- but by the Academies of Athens, if they still flourished, and bythose that flourish now, Paris, Bologna, Salamanca. Heaven grantthat the judges who rob you of the first prize- that Phoebus maypierce them with his arrows, and the Muses never cross thethresholds of their doors. Repeat me some of your long-measure verses,senor, if you will be so good, for I want thoroughly to feel the pulseof your rare genius."
Is there any need to say that Don Lorenzo enjoyed hearing himselfpraised by Don Quixote, albeit he looked upon him as a madman? powerof flattery, how far-reaching art thou, and how wide are the bounds ofthy pleasant jurisdiction! Don Lorenzo gave a proof of it, for hecomplied with Don Quixote's request and entreaty, and repeated tohim this sonnet on the fable or story of Pyramus and Thisbe.
SONNET
The lovely maid, she pierces now the wall;
Heart-pierced by her young Pyramus doth lie;
And Love spreads wing from Cyprus isle to fly,
A chink to view so wondrous great and small.
There silence speaketh, for no voice at all
Can pass so strait a strait; but love will ply
Where to all other power 'twere vain to try;
For love will find a way whate'er befall.
Impatient of delay, with reckless pace
The rash maid wins the fatal spot where she
Sinks not in lover's arms but death's embrace.
So runs the strange tale, how the lovers twain
One sword, one sepulchre, one memory,
Slays, and entombs, and brings to life again.
"Blessed be God," said Don Quixote when he had heard Don Lorenzo'ssonnet, "that among the hosts there are of irritable poets I havefound one consummate one, which, senor, the art of this sonnetproves to me that you are!"
For four days was Don Quixote most sumptuously entertained in DonDiego's house, at the end of which time he asked his permission todepart, telling him he thanked him for the kindness and hospitality hehad received in his house, but that, as it did not becomeknights-errant to give themselves up for long to idleness andluxury, he was anxious to fulfill the duties of his calling in seekingadventures, of which he was informed there was an abundance in thatneighbourhood, where he hoped to employ his time until the day cameround for the jousts at Saragossa, for that was his properdestination; and that, first of all, he meant to enter the cave ofMontesinos, of which so many marvellous things were reported allthrough the country, and at the same time to investigate and explorethe origin and true source of the seven lakes commonly called thelakes of Ruidera.
Don Diego and his son commended his laudable resolution, and badehim furnish himself with all he wanted from their house andbelongings, as they would most gladly be of service to him; which,indeed, his personal worth and his honourable profession madeincumbent upon them.
The day of his departure came at length, as welcome to Don Quixoteas it was sad and sorrowful to Sancho Panza, who was very wellsatisfied with the abundance of Don Diego's house, and objected toreturn to the starvation of the woods and wilds and theshort-commons of his ill-stocked alforjas; these, however, he filledand packed with what he considered needful. On taking leave, DonQuixote said to Don Lorenzo, "I know not whether I have told youalready, but if I have I tell you once more, that if you wish to spareyourself fatigue and toil in reaching the inaccessible summit of thetemple of fame, you have nothing to do but to turn aside out of thesomewhat narrow path of poetry and take the still narrower one ofknight-errantry, wide enough, however, to make you an emperor in thetwinkling of an eye."
In this speech Don Quixote wound up the evidence of his madness, butstill better in what he added when he said, "God knows, I would gladlytake Don Lorenzo with me to teach him how to spare the humble, andtrample the proud under foot, virtues that are part and parcel ofthe profession I belong to; but since his tender age does not allow ofit, nor his praiseworthy pursuits permit it, I will simply contentmyself with impressing it upon your worship that you will becomefamous as a poet if you are guided by the opinion of others ratherthan by your own; because no fathers or mothers ever think their ownchildren ill-favoured, and this sort of deception prevails stillmore strongly in the case of the children of the brain."
Both father and son were amazed afresh at the strange medley DonQuixote talked, at one moment sense, at another nonsense, and at thepertinacity and persistence he displayed in going through thick andthin in quest of his unlucky adventures, which he made the end and aimof his desires. There was a renewal of offers of service andcivilities, and then, with the gracious permission of the lady ofthe castle, they took their departure, Don Quixote on Rocinante, andSancho on Dapple.CHAPTER XIX
IN WHICH IS RELATED THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENAMOURED SHEPHERD,TOGETHER WITH OTHER TRULY DROLL INCIDENTS
DON QUIXOTE had gone but a short distance beyond Don Diego'svillage, when he fell in with a couple of either priests orstudents, and a couple of peasants, mounted on four beasts of theass kind. One of the students carried, wrapped up in a piece ofgreen buckram by way of a portmanteau, what seemed to be a littlelinen and a couple of pairs of-ribbed stockings; the other carriednothing but a pair of new fencing-foils with buttons. The peasantscarried divers articles that showed they were on their way from somelarge town where they had bought them, and were taking them home totheir village; and both students and peasants were struck with thesame amazement that everybody felt who saw Don Quixote for the firsttime, and were dying to know who this man, so different fromordinary men, could be. Don Quixote saluted them, and afterascertaining that their road was the same as his, made them an offerof his company, and begged them to slacken their pace, as theiryoung asses travelled faster than his horse; and then, to gratifythem, he told them in a few words who he was and the calling andprofession he followed, which was that of a knight-errant seekingadventures in all parts of the world. He informed them that his ownname was Don Quixote of La Mancha, and that he was called, by way ofsurname, the Knight of the Lions.