And now he perceived on one side of the pit a hole large enough toadmit a person if he stooped and squeezed himself into a smallcompass. Sancho made for it, and entered it by creeping, and foundit wide and spacious on the inside, which he was able to see as aray of sunlight that penetrated what might be called the roof showedit all plainly. He observed too that it opened and widened out intoanother spacious cavity; seeing which he made his way back to wherethe ass was, and with a stone began to pick away the clay from thehole until in a short time he had made room for the beast to passeasily, and this accomplished, taking him by the halter, heproceeded to traverse the cavern to see if there was any outlet at theother end. He advanced, sometimes in the dark, sometimes withoutlight, but never without fear; "God Almighty help me!" said he tohimself; "this that is a misadventure to me would make a goodadventure for my master Don Quixote. He would have been sure to takethese depths and dungeons for flowery gardens or the palaces ofGaliana, and would have counted upon issuing out of this darknessand imprisonment into some blooming meadow; but I, unlucky that Iam, hopeless and spiritless, expect at every step another pit deeperthan the first to open under my feet and swallow me up for good;'welcome evil, if thou comest alone.'"
In this way and with these reflections he seemed to himself tohave travelled rather more than half a league, when at last heperceived a dim light that looked like daylight and found its way inon one side, showing that this road, which appeared to him the road tothe other world, led to some opening.
Here Cide Hamete leaves him, and returns to Don Quixote, who in highspirits and satisfaction was looking forward to the day fixed forthe battle he was to fight with him who had robbed Dona Rodriguez'sdaughter of her honour, for whom he hoped to obtain satisfaction forthe wrong and injury shamefully done to her. It came to pass, then,that having sallied forth one morning to practise and exercise himselfin what he would have to do in the encounter he expected to findhimself engaged in the next day, as he was putting Rocinante throughhis paces or pressing him to the charge, he brought his feet soclose to a pit that but for reining him in tightly it would havebeen impossible for him to avoid falling into it. He pulled him up,however, without a fall, and coming a little closer examined thehole without dismounting; but as he was looking at it he heard loudcries proceeding from it, and by listening attentively was able tomake out that he who uttered them was saying, "Ho, above there! isthere any Christian that hears me, or any charitable gentleman thatwill take pity on a sinner buried alive, on an unfortunate disgovernedgovernor?"
It struck Don Quixote that it was the voice of Sancho Panza heheard, whereat he was taken aback and amazed, and raising his ownvoice as much as he could, he cried out, "Who is below there? Who isthat complaining?"
"Who should be here, or who should complain," was the answer, "butthe forlorn Sancho Panza, for his sins and for his ill-luck governorof the island of Barataria, squire that was to the famous knight DonQuixote of La Mancha?"
When Don Quixote heard this his amazement was redoubled and hisperturbation grew greater than ever, for it suggested itself to hismind that Sancho must be dead, and that his soul was in torment downthere; and carried away by this idea he exclaimed, "I conjure theeby everything that as a Catholic Christian I can conjure thee by, tellme who thou art; and if thou art a soul in torment, tell me whatthou wouldst have me do for thee; for as my profession is to giveaid and succour to those that need it in this world, it will alsoextend to aiding and succouring the distressed of the other, whocannot help themselves."
"In that case," answered the voice, "your worship who speaks to memust be my master Don Quixote of La Mancha; nay, from the tone ofthe voice it is plain it can be nobody else."
"Don Quixote I am," replied Don Quixote, "he whose profession itis to aid and succour the living and the dead in their necessities;wherefore tell me who thou art, for thou art keeping me in suspense;because, if thou art my squire Sancho Panza, and art dead, since thedevils have not carried thee off, and thou art by God's mercy inpurgatory, our holy mother the Roman Catholic Church hasintercessory means sufficient to release thee from the pains thouart in; and I for my part will plead with her to that end, so far asmy substance will go; without further delay, therefore, declarethyself, and tell me who thou art."
"By all that's good," was the answer, "and by the birth ofwhomsoever your worship chooses, I swear, Senor Don Quixote of LaMancha, that I am your squire Sancho Panza, and that I have never diedall my life; but that, having given up my government for reasonsthat would require more time to explain, I fell last night into thispit where I am now, and Dapple is witness and won't let me lie, formore by token he is here with me."
Nor was this all; one would have fancied the ass understood whatSancho said, because that moment he began to bray so loudly that thewhole cave rang again.
"Famous testimony!" exclaimed Don Quixote; "I know that bray as wellas if I was its mother, and thy voice too, my Sancho. Wait while Igo to the duke's castle, which is close by, and I will bring someone to take thee out of this pit into which thy sins no doubt havebrought thee."
"Go, your worship," said Sancho, "and come back quick for God'ssake; for I cannot bear being buried alive any longer, and I'm dyingof fear."
Don Quixote left him, and hastened to the castle to tell the dukeand duchess what had happened Sancho, and they were not a littleastonished at it; they could easily understand his having fallen, fromthe confirmatory circumstance of the cave which had been inexistence there from time immemorial; but they could not imagine howhe had quitted the government without their receiving any intimationof his coming. To be brief, they fetched ropes and tackle, as thesaying is, and by dint of many hands and much labour they drew upDapple and Sancho Panza out of the darkness into the light of day. Astudent who saw him remarked, "That's the way all bad governors shouldcome out of their governments, as this sinner comes out of thedepths of the pit, dead with hunger, pale, and I suppose without afarthing."
Sancho overheard him and said, "It is eight or ten days, brothergrowler, since I entered upon the government of the island they gaveme, and all that time I never had a bellyful of victuals, no not foran hour; doctors persecuted me and enemies crushed my bones; nor had Iany opportunity of taking bribes or levying taxes; and if that bethe case, as it is, I don't deserve, I think, to come out in thisfashion; but 'man proposes and God disposes;' and God knows what isbest, and what suits each one best; and 'as the occasion, so thebehaviour;' and 'let nobody say "I won't drink of this water;"' and'where one thinks there are flitches, there are no pegs;' God knows mymeaning and that's enough; I say no more, though I could."
"Be not angry or annoyed at what thou hearest, Sancho," said DonQuixote, "or there will never be an end of it; keep a safeconscience and let them say what they like; for trying to stopslanderers' tongues is like trying to put gates to the open plain.If a governor comes out of his government rich, they say he has been athief; and if he comes out poor, that he has been a noodle and ablockhead."
"They'll be pretty sure this time," said Sancho, "to set me down fora fool rather than a thief."
Thus talking, and surrounded by boys and a crowd of people, theyreached the castle, where in one of the corridors the duke and duchessstood waiting for them; but Sancho would not go up to see the dukeuntil he had first put up Dapple in the stable, for he said he hadpassed a very bad night in his last quarters; then he went upstairs tosee his lord and lady, and kneeling before them he said, "Because itwas your highnesses' pleasure, not because of any desert of my own,I went to govern your island of Barataria, which 'I entered naked, andnaked I find myself; I neither lose nor gain.' Whether I have governedwell or ill, I have had witnesses who will say what they think fit.I have answered questions, I have decided causes, and always dyingof hunger, for Doctor Pedro Recio of Tirteafuera, the island andgovernor doctor, would have it so. Enemies attacked us by night andput us in a great quandary, but the people of the island say they cameoff safe and victorious by the might of my arm; and may God givethem as much health as there's truth in what they say. In short,during that time I have weighed the cares and responsibilitiesgoverning brings with it, and by my reckoning I find my shoulderscan't bear them, nor are they a load for my loins or arrows for myquiver; and so, before the government threw me over I preferred tothrow the government over; and yesterday morning I left the islandas I found it, with the same streets, houses, and roofs it had whenI entered it. I asked no loan of anybody, nor did I try to fill mypocket; and though I meant to make some useful laws, I made hardlyany, as I was afraid they would not be kept; for in that case it comesto the same thing to make them or not to make them. I quitted theisland, as I said, without any escort except my ass; I fell into apit, I pushed on through it, until this morning by the light of thesun I saw an outlet, but not so easy a one but that, had not heavensent me my master Don Quixote, I'd have stayed there till the end ofthe world. So now my lord and lady duke and duchess, here is yourgovernor Sancho Panza, who in the bare ten days he has held thegovernment has come by the knowledge that he would not give anythingto be governor, not to say of an island, but of the whole world; andthat point being settled, kissing your worships' feet, and imitatingthe game of the boys when they say, 'leap thou, and give me one,' Itake a leap out of the government and pass into the service of mymaster Don Quixote; for after all, though in it I eat my bread in fearand trembling, at any rate I take my fill; and for my part, so long asI'm full, it's all alike to me whether it's with carrots or withpartridges."