"Thou art a great philosopher, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "thouspeakest very sensibly; I know not who taught thee. But I can tellthee there is no such thing as Fortune in the world, nor does anythingwhich takes place there, be it good or bad, come about by chance,but by the special preordination of heaven; and hence the commonsaying that 'each of us is the maker of his own Fortune.' I havebeen that of mine; but not with the proper amount of prudence, andmy self-confidence has therefore made me pay dearly; for I ought tohave reflected that Rocinante's feeble strength could not resist themighty bulk of the Knight of the White Moon's horse. In a word, Iventured it, I did my best, I was overthrown, but though I lost myhonour I did not lose nor can I lose the virtue of keeping my word.When I was a knight-errant, daring and valiant, I supported myachievements by hand and deed, and now that I am a humble squire Iwill support my words by keeping the promise I have given. Forwardthen, Sancho my friend, let us go to keep the year of the novitiate inour own country, and in that seclusion we shall pick up fresh strengthto return to the by me never-forgotten calling of arms."
"Senor," returned Sancho, "travelling on foot is not such a pleasantthing that it makes me feel disposed or tempted to make longmarches. Let us leave this armour hung up on some tree, instead ofsome one that has been hanged; and then with me on Dapple's back andmy feet off the ground we will arrange the stages as your worshippleases to measure them out; but to suppose that I am going totravel on foot, and make long ones, is to suppose nonsense."
"Thou sayest well, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "let my armour be hungup for a trophy, and under it or round it we will carve on the treeswhat was inscribed on the trophy of Roland's armour-
These let none move
Who dareth not his might with Roland prove."
"That's the very thing," said Sancho; "and if it was not that weshould feel the want of Rocinante on the road, it would be as wellto leave him hung up too."
"And yet, I had rather not have either him or the armour hung up,"said Don Quixote, "that it may not be said, 'for good service a badreturn.'"
"Your worship is right," said Sancho; "for, as sensible people hold,'the fault of the ass must not be laid on the pack-saddle;' and, as inthis affair the fault is your worship's, punish yourself and don't letyour anger break out against the already battered and bloody armour,or the meekness of Rocinante, or the tenderness of my feet, tryingto make them travel more than is reasonable."
In converse of this sort the whole of that day went by, as did thefour succeeding ones, without anything occurring to interrupt theirjourney, but on the fifth as they entered a village they found a greatnumber of people at the door of an inn enjoying themselves, as itwas a holiday. Upon Don Quixote's approach a peasant called out,"One of these two gentlemen who come here, and who don't know theparties, will tell us what we ought to do about our wager."
"That I will, certainly," said Don Quixote, "and according to therights of the case, if I can manage to understand it."
"Well, here it is, worthy sir," said the peasant; "a man of thisvillage who is so fat that he weighs twenty stone challengedanother, a neighbour of his, who does not weigh more than nine, to runa race. The agreement was that they were to run a distance of ahundred paces with equal weights; and when the challenger was askedhow the weights were to be equalised he said that the other, as heweighed nine stone, should put eleven in iron on his back, and that inthis way the twenty stone of the thin man would equal the twenty stoneof the fat one."
"Not at all," exclaimed Sancho at once, before Don Quixote couldanswer; "it's for me, that only a few days ago left off being agovernor and a judge, as all the world knows, to settle these doubtfulquestions and give an opinion in disputes of all sorts."
"Answer in God's name, Sancho my friend," said Don Quixote, "for Iam not fit to give crumbs to a cat, my wits are so confused andupset."
With this permission Sancho said to the peasants who stood clusteredround him, waiting with open mouths for the decision to come from his,"Brothers, what the fat man requires is not in reason, nor has it ashadow of justice in it; because, if it be true, as they say, that thechallenged may choose the weapons, the other has no right to choosesuch as will prevent and keep him from winning. My decision,therefore, is that the fat challenger prune, peel, thin, trim andcorrect himself, and take eleven stone of his flesh off his body, hereor there, as he pleases, and as suits him best; and being in thisway reduced to nine stone weight, he will make himself equal andeven with nine stone of his opponent, and they will be able to runon equal terms."
"By all that's good," said one of the peasants as he heardSancho's decision, "but the gentleman has spoken like a saint, andgiven judgment like a canon! But I'll be bound the fat man won'tpart with an ounce of his flesh, not to say eleven stone."
"The best plan will be for them not to run," said another, "sothat neither the thin man break down under the weight, nor the fat onestrip himself of his flesh; let half the wager be spent in wine, andlet's take these gentlemen to the tavern where there's the best, and'over me be the cloak when it rains."
"I thank you, sirs," said Don Quixote; "but I cannot stop for aninstant, for sad thoughts and unhappy circumstances force me to seemdiscourteous and to travel apace;" and spurring Rocinante he pushedon, leaving them wondering at what they had seen and heard, at his ownstrange figure and at the shrewdness of his servant, for such theytook Sancho to be; and another of them observed, "If the servant is soclever, what must the master be? I'll bet, if they are going toSalamanca to study, they'll come to be alcaldes of the Court in atrice; for it's a mere joke- only to read and read, and haveinterest and good luck; and before a man knows where he is he findshimself with a staff in his hand or a mitre on his head."
That night master and man passed out in the fields in the openair, and the next day as they were pursuing their journey they sawcoming towards them a man on foot with alforjas at the neck and ajavelin or spiked staff in his hand, the very cut of a foot courier;who, as soon as he came close to Don Quixote, increased his pace andhalf running came up to him, and embracing his right thigh, for hecould reach no higher, exclaimed with evident pleasure, "O Senor DonQuixote of La Mancha, what happiness it will be to the heart of mylord the duke when he knows your worship is coming back to his castle,for he is still there with my lady the duchess!"
"I do not recognise you, friend," said Don Quixote, "nor do I knowwho you are, unless you tell me."
"I am Tosilos, my lord the duke's lacquey, Senor Don Quixote,"replied the courier; "he who refused to fight your worship aboutmarrying the daughter of Dona Rodriguez."
"God bless me!" exclaimed Don Quixote; "is it possible that youare the one whom mine enemies the enchanters changed into thelacquey you speak of in order to rob me of the honour of that battle?"
"Nonsense, good sir!" said the messenger; "there was noenchantment or transformation at all; I entered the lists just as muchlacquey Tosilos as I came out of them lacquey Tosilos. I thought tomarry without fighting, for the girl had taken my fancy; but my schemehad a very different result, for as soon as your worship had leftthe castle my lord the duke had a hundred strokes of the stick givenme for having acted contrary to the orders he gave me beforeengaging in the combat; and the end of the whole affair is that thegirl has become a nun, and Dona Rodriguez has gone back to Castile,and I am now on my way to Barcelona with a packet of letters for theviceroy which my master is sending him. If your worship would like adrop, sound though warm, I have a gourd here full of the best, andsome scraps of Tronchon cheese that will serve as a provocative andwakener of your thirst if so be it is asleep."
"I take the offer," said Sancho; "no more compliments about it; pourout, good Tosilos, in spite of all the enchanters in the Indies."
"Thou art indeed the greatest glutton in the world, Sancho," saidDon Quixote, "and the greatest booby on earth, not to be able to seethat this courier is enchanted and this Tosilos a sham one; stopwith him and take thy fill; I will go on slowly and wait for thee tocome up with me."
The lacquey laughed, unsheathed his gourd, unwalletted his scraps,and taking out a small loaf of bread he and Sancho seated themselveson the green grass, and in peace and good fellowship finished offthe contents of the alforjas down to the bottom, so resolutely thatthey licked the wrapper of the letters, merely because it smelt ofcheese.
Said Tosilos to Sancho, "Beyond a doubt, Sancho my friend, thismaster of thine ought to be a madman."
"Ought!" said Sancho; "he owes no man anything; he pays foreverything, particularly when the coin is madness. I see it plainenough, and I tell him so plain enough; but what's the use? especiallynow that it is all over with him, for here he is beaten by theKnight of the White Moon."