"There's no doubt of that," replied Sancho, "for I have known manyto take their name and title from the place where they were born andcall themselves Pedro of Alcala, Juan of Ubeda, and Diego ofValladolid; and it may be that over there in Guinea queens have thesame way of taking the names of their kingdoms."
"So it may," said the curate; "and as for your master's marrying,I will do all in my power towards it:" with which Sancho was as muchpleased as the curate was amazed at his simplicity and at seeingwhat a hold the absurdities of his master had taken of his fancy,for he had evidently persuaded himself that he was going to be anemperor.
By this time Dorothea had seated herself upon the curate's mule, andthe barber had fitted the ox-tail beard to his face, and they now toldSancho to conduct them to where Don Quixote was, warning him not tosay that he knew either the licentiate or the barber, as hismaster's becoming an emperor entirely depended on his notrecognising them; neither the curate nor Cardenio, however, thoughtfit to go with them; Cardenio lest he should remind Don Quixote of thequarrel he had with him, and the curate as there was no necessityfor his presence just yet, so they allowed the others to go onbefore them, while they themselves followed slowly on foot. The curatedid not forget to instruct Dorothea how to act, but she said theymight make their minds easy, as everything would be done exactly asthe books of chivalry required and described.
They had gone about three-quarters of a league when theydiscovered Don Quixote in a wilderness of rocks, by this time clothed,but without his armour; and as soon as Dorothea saw him and was toldby Sancho that that was Don Quixote, she whipped her palfrey, thewell-bearded barber following her, and on coming up to him hersquire sprang from his mule and came forward to receive her in hisarms, and she dismounting with great ease of manner advanced tokneel before the feet of Don Quixote; and though he strove to raiseher up, she without rising addressed him in this fashion:
"From this spot I will not rise, valiant and doughty knight, untilyour goodness and courtesy grant me a boon, which will redound tothe honour and renown of your person and render a service to themost disconsolate and afflicted damsel the sun has seen; and if themight of your strong arm corresponds to the repute of your immortalfame, you are bound to aid the helpless being who, led by the savourof your renowned name, hath come from far distant lands to seek youraid in her misfortunes."
"I will not answer a word, beauteous lady," replied Don Quixote,"nor will I listen to anything further concerning you, until yourise from the earth."
"I will not rise, senor," answered the afflicted damsel, "unlessof your courtesy the boon I ask is first granted me."
"I grant and accord it," said Don Quixote, "provided withoutdetriment or prejudice to my king, my country, or her who holds thekey of my heart and freedom, it may be complied with."
"It will not be to the detriment or prejudice of any of them, myworthy lord," said the afflicted damsel; and here Sancho Panza drewclose to his master's ear and said to him very softly, "Your worshipmay very safely grant the boon she asks; it's nothing at all; onlyto kill a big giant; and she who asks it is the exalted PrincessMicomicona, queen of the great kingdom of Micomicon of Ethiopia."
"Let her be who she may," replied Don Quixote, "I will do what is mybounden duty, and what my conscience bids me, in conformity withwhat I have professed;" and turning to the damsel he said, "Let yourgreat beauty rise, for I grant the boon which you would ask of me."
"Then what I ask," said the damsel, "is that your magnanimous personaccompany me at once whither I will conduct you, and that youpromise not to engage in any other adventure or quest until you haveavenged me of a traitor who against all human and divine law, hasusurped my kingdom."
"I repeat that I grant it," replied Don Quixote; "and so, lady,you may from this day forth lay aside the melancholy that distressesyou, and let your failing hopes gather new life and strength, for withthe help of God and of my arm you will soon see yourself restored toyour kingdom, and seated upon the throne of your ancient and mightyrealm, notwithstanding and despite of the felons who would gainsay it;and now hands to the work, for in delay there is apt to be danger."
The distressed damsel strove with much pertinacity to kiss hishands; but Don Quixote, who was in all things a polished and courteousknight, would by no means allow it, but made her rise and embraced herwith great courtesy and politeness, and ordered Sancho to look toRocinante's girths, and to arm him without a moment's delay. Sanchotook down the armour, which was hung up on a tree like a trophy, andhaving seen to the girths armed his master in a trice, who as soonas he found himself in his armour exclaimed:
"Let us be gone in the name of God to bring aid to this great lady."
The barber was all this time on his knees at great pains to hide hislaughter and not let his beard fall, for had it fallen maybe theirfine scheme would have come to nothing; but now seeing the boongranted, and the promptitude with which Don Quixote prepared to setout in compliance with it, he rose and took his lady's hand, andbetween them they placed her upon the mule. Don Quixote then mountedRocinante, and the barber settled himself on his beast, Sancho beingleft to go on foot, which made him feel anew the loss of his Dapple,finding the want of him now. But he bore all with cheerfulness,being persuaded that his master had now fairly started and was just onthe point of becoming an emperor; for he felt no doubt at all thathe would marry this princess, and be king of Micomicon at least. Theonly thing that troubled him was the reflection that this kingdomwas in the land of the blacks, and that the people they would give himfor vassals would be all black; but for this he soon found a remedy inhis fancy, and said he to himself, "What is it to me if my vassals areblacks? What more have I to do than make a cargo of them and carrythem to Spain, where I can sell them and get ready money for them, andwith it buy some title or some office in which to live at ease all thedays of my life? Not unless you go to sleep and haven't the wit orskill to turn things to account and sell three, six, or ten thousandvassals while you would he talking about it! By God I will stir themup, big and little, or as best I can, and let them be ever so blackI'll turn them into white or yellow. Come, come, what a fool I am!"And so he jogged on, so occupied with his thoughts and easy in hismind that he forgot all about the hardship of travelling on foot.
Cardenio and the curate were watching all this from among somebushes, not knowing how to join company with the others; but thecurate, who was very fertile in devices, soon hit upon a way ofeffecting their purpose, and with a pair of scissors he had in acase he quickly cut off Cardenio's beard, and putting on him a greyjerkin of his own he gave him a black cloak, leaving himself in hisbreeches and doublet, while Cardenio's appearance was so differentfrom what it had been that he would not have known himself had he seenhimself in a mirror. Having effected this, although the others hadgone on ahead while they were disguising themselves, they easilycame out on the high road before them, for the brambles and awkwardplaces they encountered did not allow those on horseback to go as fastas those on foot. They then posted themselves on the level ground atthe outlet of the Sierra, and as soon as Don Quixote and hiscompanions emerged from it the curate began to examine him verydeliberately, as though he were striving to recognise him, and afterhaving stared at him for some time he hastened towards him with openarms exclaiming, "A happy meeting with the mirror of chivalry, myworthy compatriot Don Quixote of La Mancha, the flower and cream ofhigh breeding, the protection and relief of the distressed, thequintessence of knights-errant!" And so saying he clasped in hisarms the knee of Don Quixote's left leg. He, astonished at thestranger's words and behaviour, looked at him attentively, and atlength recognised him, very much surprised to see him there, andmade great efforts to dismount. This, however, the curate would notallow, on which Don Quixote said, "Permit me, senor licentiate, for itis not fitting that I should be on horseback and so reverend aperson as your worship on foot."
"On no account will I allow it," said the curate; "your mightinessmust remain on horseback, for it is on horseback you achieve thegreatest deeds and adventures that have been beheld in our age; as forme, an unworthy priest, it will serve me well enough to mount on thehaunches of one of the mules of these gentlefolk who accompany yourworship, if they have no objection, and I will fancy I am mounted onthe steed Pegasus, or on the zebra or charger that bore the famousMoor, Muzaraque, who to this day lies enchanted in the great hill ofZulema, a little distance from the great Complutum."
"Nor even that will I consent to, senor licentiate," answered DonQuixote, "and I know it will be the good pleasure of my lady theprincess, out of love for me, to order her squire to give up thesaddle of his mule to your worship, and he can sit behind if the beastwill bear it."
"It will, I am sure," said the princess, "and I am sure, too, that Ineed not order my squire, for he is too courteous and considerate toallow a Churchman to go on foot when he might be mounted."