 Chapter 63 and 64 of Don Quixote, Vol. 2 This is a Librebox recording. All Librebox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librebox.org. Don Quixote, Vol. 2 by Miguel de Cervantes Savedra, translated by William Ormsby. Chapter 63 of the mishap that befell Sancho Pansa through the visit to the galleys and the strange adventure of the fair Marisco. Profound were Don Quixote's reflections on the reply of the enchanted head, not one of them, however, hitting on the secret of the trick, but all concentrated on the promise which he regarded as a certainty of Dúl Sanea's disenchantment. This he turned over in his mind again and again with great satisfaction, fully persuaded that he would shortly see its fulfillment. And as for Sancho, though as has been said, he hated being a governor, still he had a longing to be giving orders and finding himself obeyed once more. This is the misfortune that being in authority, even in jest, brings with it. To resume, that afternoon their host Don Antonio Moreno and his two friends, with Don Quixote and Sancho, went to the galleys. The commandant had been already made aware of his good fortune in seeing two such famous persons as Don Quixote and Sancho, and the instant they came to the shore all the galleys struck their awnings and the clarions rang out. A skiff covered with rich carpets and cushions of crimson velvet was immediately lowered into the water, and as Don Quixote stepped on board of it, the leading galleys fired her gangway gun, and the other galleys did the same. And as he mounted the starboard ladder, the whole crew saluted him, as is the custom when a personage of distinction comes on board a galley, by exclaiming, who, who, who, three times. The general, for so we shall call him, a Valencian gentleman of rank, gave him his hand, and embraced him, saying, I shall mark this day with a white stone as one of the happiest I can expect to enjoy in my lifetime, since I have seen, S. Don Quixote of La Mancha, a pattern and image wherein we see contained and condensed all that is worthy in night errantry. Don Quixote delighted beyond measure with such a lordly reception, replied to him in words no less courteous. All then proceeded to the poop, which was very handsomely decorated, and seated themselves on the bulwark benches. The bosan passed along the gangway and piped all hands to strip, which they did in an instant. Sancho, seeing such a number of men stripped to the skin, was taken aback, and still more when he saw them spread the awnings so briskly, that it seemed to him as if all the devils were at work at it. But all this was cakes and fancy bread to what I am going to tell now. Sancho was seated on the captain's stage, close to the aftermost rower on the right-hand side. He, previously instructed in what he was to do, laid hold of Sancho, hoisting him up in his arms, and the whole crew, who were standing ready, beginning on the right, proceeded to pass him on, whirling him along from hand to hand, and from bench to bench, with such rapidity that it took the sight out of poor Sancho's eyes, and he made quite sure that the devils themselves were flying away with him. Nor did they leave off with him until they had sent him back along the left side, and deposited him on the poop, and the poor fellow was left bruised and breathless and all in a sweat, and unable to comprehend what it was that had happened to him. Don Quixote, when he saw Sancho's flight without wings, asked the general if this was a usual ceremony with those who came on board the galleys for the first time. For, if so, as he had no intention of adopting them as a profession, he had no mind to perform such feats of agility, and if anyone offered to lay hold of him to whirl him about, he vowed to God he would kick his soul out, and, as he said this, he stood up and clapped his hand upon his sword. At this instant they struck the awning and lowered the yard with a prodigious rattle. Sancho thought heaven was coming off its hinges and going to fall on his head, and full of terror he ducked it and buried it between his knees. Nor were Don Quixote's knees altogether under control, for he too shook a little, squeezed his shoulders together, and lost color. The crew then hoisted the yard with the same rapidity and clatter as when they lowered it, all the while keeping silence as though they had neither voice nor breath. The boson gave the signal to weigh anchor, and, leaping upon the middle of the gangway, began to lay on to the shoulders of the crew with his core-brash or whip, and to haul out gradually to sea. When Sancho saw so many red feet, for such he took the oars to be, moving altogether, he said to himself, It's these that are the real chanted things, and not the ones my master talks of. What can those wretches have done to be so whipped, and how does that one man who goes along there whistling dare to whip so many? I declare this is hell, or at least purgatory. Don Quixote, observing how attentively Sancho regarded what was going on, said to him, Ah, Sancho, my friend, how quickly and cheaply might you finish off the disenchantment of Dulcinea if you would strip to the waist and take your place among those gentlemen. Amid the pain and sufferings of so many, you would not feel your own much, and moreover perhaps the sage Merlin would allow each of these lashes, being laid on with a good hand, to count for ten of those which you must give yourself at last. The general was about to ask what these lashes were, and what was Dulcinea's disenchantment, when a sailor exclaimed, Mojwis signals that there is an oared vessel off the coast to the west. On hearing this, the general sprang upon the gangway, crying, Now then, my sons, don't let her give us the slip. It must be some Algerine corsair brigantine that the watchtower signals to us. The three others immediately came alongside the chief galley to receive their orders. The general ordered two to be put out to sea, while he with the other kept in shore, so that in this way the vessel could not escape them. The crews plied the oars driving the galley so furiously that they seemed to fly. The two that had put out to sea after a couple of miles cited a vessel which, so far as they could make out, they judged to be one of fourteen or fifteen banks, and so she proved. As soon as the vessel discovered the galleys, she went about with the object and in the hope of making her escape by her speed. But the attempt failed, for the chief galley was one of the fastest vessels afloat, and overhauled her so rapidly that they onboard the brigantine saw clearly there was no possibility of escaping, and the Reese therefore would have had them drop their oars and give themselves up, so as not to provoke the captain in command of our galleys to anger. But Chance, directing things otherwise, so ordered it that just as the chief galley came close enough for those onboard the vessel to hear the shouts from her calling on them to surrender. Two Torakies, that is to say two Turks, both drunken, that with a dozen more were onboard the brigantine, discharged their muskets, killing two of the soldiers that lined the sides of our vessel. Seeing this, the general swore that he would not leave one of those he found onboard the vessel alive, but as he bored down furiously upon her she slipped away from him underneath the oars. The galley shot a good way ahead. Those onboard the vessel saw their case was desperate, and while the galley was coming about they made sail, and by sailing and rowing once more tried to shear off. But their activity did not do them as much good as their rashness did them harm, for the galley coming up with them in a little more than half a mile threw her oars over them and took the whole of them alive. The other two galleys now joined company, and all four returned with the prize to the beach where a vast multitude stood waiting for them eager to see what they brought back. The general anchored close in and perceived that the viceroy of the city was on the shore. He ordered the skiff to push off to fetch him, and the yard to be lowered for the purpose of hanging forthwith the wreaths and the rest of the men taken onboard the vessel, about six and thirty in number, all smart fellows and most of them Turkish musketeers. He asked which was the wreath of the brigantine, and was answered in Spanish by one of the prisoners, who afterwards proved to be a Spanish renegade. This young man, senor, that you see here is our wreath, and he pointed to one of the handsomest and most gallant-looking wreaths that could be imagined. He did not seem to be twenty years of age. Tell me, dog, said the general, what led thee to kill my soldiers when thou sawest it was impossible for thee to escape? Is that the way to behave to chief galleys? Knowest thou not that rashness is not valor? Faint prospects of success should make men bold, but not rash. The wreath was about to reply, but the general could not at that moment listen to him as he had to hasten to receive the viscroy, who was now coming on board the galley and with him certain of his attendants and some of the people. You have had a good chase, senor general, said the viscroy. Your excellency shall soon see how good, by the game strung up to this yard, replied the general. How so, returned the viscroy? Because, said the general, against all law, reason, and usages of war, they have killed on my hands two of my best soldiers on board these galleys, and I have sworn to hang every man that I have taken but above all this youth who is the wreath of the brigantine, and he pointed to him as he stood with his hands already bound in the rope around his neck, ready for death. The viscroy looked at him, and seeing him so well-favored, so graceful, and so submissive, he felt a desire to spare his life, the comeliness of the youth furnishing him at once with a letter of recommendation. He therefore questioned him, saying, Tell me, wreaths, art thou Turk more or renegade? To which the youth replied, also in Spanish, I am neither Turk nor more nor renegade. What art thou, then, said the viscroy? A Christian woman replied the youth. A woman and a Christian, in such dress and in such circumstances, it is more marvelous than credible, said the viscroy. Suspend the execution of the sentence, said the youth, your vengeance will not lose much by waiting while I tell you the story of my life. What heart could be so hard as not to be softened by these words at any rate so far as to listen to what the unhappy youth had to say? The general bade him say what he pleased, but not to expect pardon for his flagrant offence. With this permission the youth began in these words. Born of Marisco parents, I am of that nation more unhappy than wife upon which of late a sea of woes has poured down. In the course of our misfortune I was carried to Barbary by two uncles of mine, for it was in vain that I declared I was Christian, as in fact I am, and not a mere pretended one or outwardly but a true Catholic Christian. It availed me nothing with those charged with our sad expatriation to protest this, nor would my uncles believe it. On the contrary, they treated it as an untruth and a subterfuge set up to enable me to remain behind in the land of my birth. And so, more by force than of my own will, they took me with them. I had a Christian mother and a father who was a man of sound sense and a Christian too. I bribed the Catholic faith with my mother's milk. I was well brought up, and neither in word nor in deed did I, I think, show any sign of being a Marisco. To accompany these virtues, for such I hold them, my beauty, if I possess any, grew with my growth. And great as was the seclusion in which I lived, it was not so great but that a young gentleman, Don Gaspar Gregorio by name, the eldest son of a gentleman who is lord of a village near ours, contrived to find opportunities of seeing me. How he saw me, how we met, how his heart was lost to me, and mind not kept from him would take too long to tell, especially in a moment when I am in dread of the cruel cord that threatens me interposing between tongue and throat. I will only say therefore that Don Gregorio chose to accompany me in our banishment. He joined company with the Mariscos who were going forth from other villages, for he knew their language very well, and on the voyage he struck up a friendship with my two uncles who were carrying me with them. For my father, like a wise and farsighted man, as soon as he heard the first edict for our expulsion, put in the village and departed in quest of some refuge for us abroad. He left hidden and buried at a spot of which I alone have knowledge, a large quantity of pearls and precious stones of great value, together with a sum of money in gold crusados and doubloons. He charged me on no account to touch the treasure if by any chance they expelled us before his return. I obeyed him, and with my uncles, as I have said, and others of our kindred and neighbors, passed over to Barbary, and the place where we took up our abode was Algiers much the same as if we had taken it up in hell itself. The king heard of my beauty and report told him of my wealth, which was in some degree fortunate for me. He summoned me before him and asked me what part of Spain I came from and what money and jewels I had. I mentioned the place and told him the jewels and the money were buried there, but that they might easily be recovered if I myself went back for them. All this I told him, in dread, lest my beauty and not his own covetousness should influence him. While he was engaged in conversation with me, they brought him word that, in company with me, was one of the handsomest and most graceful use that could be imagined. I knew at once that they were speaking of Don Gaspar Gregorio, whose comeliness surpasses the most highly-vaunted beauty. I was troubled when I thought of the danger he was in, for among those barbarous Turks, a fair youth is more esteemed than a woman, be she ever so beautiful. The king immediately ordered him to be brought before him that he might see him, and asked me if what they said about the youth was true. I then, almost as if inspired by heaven, told him it was, but that I would have him to know it was not a man, but a woman like myself, and I entreated him to allow me to go and dress her in the attire proper to her so that her beauty might be seen to perfection, and that she might present herself before him with less embarrassment. He bade me go by all means, and said that the next day we should discuss the plan to be adopted for my return to Spain to carry away the hidden treasure. I saw Don Gaspar, I told him the danger he was in if he let it be seen that he was a man, I dressed him as a Moorish woman, and that same afternoon I brought him before the king, who was charmed when he saw him, and resolved to keep the damsel and make a present of her to the grand signor, and to avoid the risk she might run among the women of his suraglio and distrustful of himself, he commanded her to be placed in the house of some Moorish ladies of rank who would protect and attend to her, and thither he was taken at once. What we both suffered, for I cannot deny that I love him, may be left to the imagination of those who are separated if they love one another dearly. The king then arranged that I should return to Spain in this brigantine, and that two Turks, those who killed your soldiers, should accompany me. There also came with me the Spanish renegade, and here she pointed to him who had first spoken, whom I know to be secretly a Christian, and to be more desirous of being left in Spain than of returning to Barbary. The rest of the crew of the brigantine are Moors and Turks who merely serve as rowers. The two Turks, greedy and insolent, instead of obeying the orders we had to land me and this renegade in Christian dress, with which we came provided, on the first Spanish ground we came to, chose to run along the coast and make some prize if they could, fearing that if they put us ashore first, we might, in case of some accident befalling us, make it known that the brigantine was at sea, and thus if there happened to be any galleys on the coast they might be taken. We sighted this shore last night and knowing nothing of these galleys we were discovered, and the result was what you had seen. To sum up, there is Don Gregorio in women's dress among women in imminent danger of his life, and here am I with hands bound in expectation or rather in dread of losing my life of which I am already weary. Here, sirs, ends my sad story as true as it is unhappy. All I ask of you is to allow me to die like a Christian, for, as I have already said, I am not to be charged with the offence of which those of my nation are guilty. And she stood silent, her eyes filled with moving tears, accompanied by plenty from the bystanders. The viceroy, touched with compassion, went up to her without speaking and untied the cord that bound the hands of the Moorish girl. But all the while the Moorish girl Christian was telling her strange story, an elderly pilgrim who had come on board of the galley at the same time as the viceroy kept his eyes fixed upon her, and the instant she ceased speaking he threw himself at her feet and embracing them said in a voice broken by sobs and sighs, Oh Anna Felix, my unhappy daughter, I am thy father, Ricote, come back to look for thee, unable to live without thee, my soul that thou art. At these words of his, Sancho opened his eyes and raised his head, which he had been holding down, brooding over his unlucky excursion. And looking at the pilgrim, he recognized in him that same Ricote he met the day he quitted his government, and felt satisfied that this was his daughter. She being now unbound embraced her father, mingling her tears with his, while he addressing the general and the viceroy said, This, sirs, is my daughter, more unhappy in her adventures than in her name. She is Anna Felix, sir named Ricote, celebrated as much for her own beauty as for my wealth. I quitted my native land in search of some shelter or refuge for us abroad, and having found one in Germany I returned in this pilgrim's dress, in the company of some other German pilgrims, to seek my daughter and take up a large quantity of treasure I had left buried. My daughter I did not find, the treasure I found and have with me, and now in this strange roundabout way you have seen, I find the treasure that more than all makes me rich, my beloved daughter. If our innocence and her tears and mine can with strict justice open the door to clemency, extend it to us, for we never had any intention of injuring you, nor do we sympathize with the aims of our people who have been justly banished. I know Ricote well, said Sancho, at this, and I know too that what he says about Anna Felix being his daughter is true, but as to those other particulars about going and coming and having good or bad intentions I say nothing. While all present stood amazed at this strange occurrence, the general said, At any rate your tears will not allow me to keep my oath, live, fair Anna Felix, all the years that heaven has allotted you, but these rash, insolent fellows must pay the penalty of the crime they have committed. And with that he gave orders to have the two Turks who had killed his two soldiers hanged at once at the yard arm. The viceroy, however, begged him earnestly not to hang them as their behavior savored rather of madness than of bravado. The general yielded to the viceroy's request for revenge was not easily taken in cold blood. They then tried to devise some scheme for rescuing Don Gaspar Gregorio from the danger in which he had been left. Ricote offered for that object more than two thousand dukats that he had in pearls and gems. They proposed several plans, but none so good as that suggested by the renegade already mentioned, who offered to return to Algiers in a small vessel of about six banks, manned by Christian rowers as he knew where, how, and when he could and should land, nor was he ignorant of the house in which Don Gaspar was staying. The general and the viceroy had some hesitation about placing confidence in the renegade and entrusting him with the Christians who were to row, but Anna Felix said she could answer for him, and her father offered to go and pay the ransom of the Christian if by any chance they should not be forthcoming. This then being agreed upon, the viceroy landed and Don Antonio Moreno took the fair Marisco and her father home with him, the viceroy charging him to give them the best reception and welcome in his power, while on his own part he offered all that house contained for their entertainment, so great was the goodwill and kindliness the beauty of Anna Felix had infused into his heart. Chapter 64 Treating of the adventure which gave Don Quixote more unhappiness than all that had hitherto befallen him The wife of Don Antonio Moreno, so the history says, was extremely happy to see Anna Felix in her house. She welcomed her with great kindness, charmed as well by her beauty as by her intelligence, for in both respects the fair Marisco was richly endowed and all the people of the city flocked to see her as though they had been summoned by the ringing of the bells. Don Quixote told Don Antonio that the plan adopted for releasing Don Gregorio was not a good one, for its risks were greater than its advantages and that it would be better to land himself with his arms and horse in Barbary, for he would carry him off in spite of the whole Moorish host as Don Guy Farros carried off his wife Melisandre. Remember your worship observed Sancho on hearing him say so. Senor Don Guy Farros carried off his wife from the mainland and took her to France by land, but in this case if by chance we carry off Don Gregorio we have no way of bringing him to Spain for there's the sea between. There's a remedy for everything except death, said Don Quixote. If they bring the vessel close to the shore we shall be able to get on board though all the world strives to prevent us. Your worship hits it off mighty well and mighty easy, said Sancho, but it's a long step from saying to doing and I hold to the renegade for he seems to be an honest good-hearted fellow. Don Antonio then said that if the renegade did not prove successful, the expedient of the great Don Quixote's expedition to Barbary should be adopted. Two days afterwards the renegade put to sea in a light vessel of six oars aside manned by a stout crew, and two days later the galleys made sail eastward, the general having begged the viceroy to let him know all about the release of Don Gregorio and about Anna Felix and the viceroy promised to do as he requested. One morning as Don Quixote went out for a stroll along the beach, arrayed in full armor, for, as he often said, that was his only gear, his only rest of fray, and he never was without it for a moment. He saw coming towards him a knight, also in full armor, with a shining moon painted on his shield, who, on approaching sufficiently near to be heard, said an allowed voice addressing himself to Don Quixote. An illustrious knight and never sufficiently extolled Don Quixote of La Mancha, I am the knight of the white moon, whose unheard of achievements will perhaps have recalled him to thy memory. I come to do battle with thee and prove the might of thy arm, to the end that I make thee acknowledge and confess that my lady, let her be who she may, is incomparably fairer than thy dulcinea del taboso. If thou dost acknowledge this fairly and openly, thou shalt escape death and save me the trouble of inflicting it upon thee. If thou fightest and I vanquish thee, I demand no other satisfaction than that, laying aside arms and abstaining from going in quest of adventures, thou withdraw and betake thyself to thine own village for the space of a year, and live there without putting hand to sword, in peace and quiet and beneficial repose, the same being needful for the increase of thy substance and the salvation of thy soul. And if thou dost vanquish me, my head shall be at thy disposal, my arms and horse thy spoils, and the renown of my deeds transferred and added to thine. Consider which will be thy best course, and give me thy answer speedily, for this day is all the time I have for the dispatch of this business. Don Quixote was amazed and astonished, as well at the night of the white moon's arrogance, as at his reason for delivering the defiance, and with calm dignity he answered him, night of the white moon, of whose achievements I have never heard until now, I will venture to swear that you have never seen the illustrious dulcinea. For had you seen her, I know you would have taken care not to venture yourself upon this issue, because the sight would have removed all doubt from your mind that there ever has been, nor can be, a beauty to be compared with hers. And so, not saying you lie, but merely that you are not correct in what you state, I accept your challenge, with the conditions you have proposed, and at once that the day you have fixed may not expire. And from your conditions I accept only that of the renown of your achievements being transferred to me, for I know not of what sort they are, nor what they may amount to. I am satisfied with my own, such as they be. Take therefore the side of the field you choose, and I will do the same, and to whom God shall give it may St. Peter add his blessing. The night of the white moon had been seen from the city, and it was told the viceroy how he was in conversation with Don Quixote. The viceroy, fancying it must be some fresh adventure, got up by Don Antonio Moreno, or some other gentleman of the city, hurried out at once to the beach accompanied by Don Antonio and several other gentlemen, just as Don Quixote was wheeling Rocinante around in order to take up the necessary distance. The viceroy upon this, seeing that the pair of them were evidently preparing to come to the charge, put himself between them, asking them what it was that led them to engage in combat all of a sudden in this way. The night of the white moon replied that it was a question of precedence of beauty, and briefly told him what he had said to Don Quixote, and how the conditions of the defiance agreed upon on both sides had been accepted. The viceroy went over to Don Antonio and asked in a low voice, did he know who the night of the white moon was, or was it some joke they were playing on Don Quixote? Don Antonio replied that he neither knew who he was, nor whether the defiance was in joke or in earnest. This answer left the viceroy in a state of perplexity, not knowing whether he ought to let the combat go on or not. But unable to persuade himself that it was anything but a joke, he fell back, saying, if there be no other way out of it, Galant Knights, except to confess or die, and Don Quixote is inflexible and your worship of the white moon still more so, then God's hand be it and fall on. He of the white moon thanked the viceroy in courteous and well-chosen words for the permission he gave them, and so did Don Quixote, who then, commending himself without his heart to heaven into his dulcinea, as was his custom on the eve of any combat that awaited him, proceeded to take a little more distance as he saw his antagonist was doing the same. Then, without blast of trumpet or other war-like instrument to give them the signal to charge, both at the same instant wheeled their horses, and he of the white moon, being the swifter, set Don Quixote after having traversed two-thirds of the course, and there encountered him with such violence that, without touching him with his lance, for he held it high to all appearance purposely, he hurled Don Quixote and Rosinante to the earth a perilous fall. He sprang upon him at once, and placing the lance over his visor said to him, You are vanquished, Sir Knight, nay dead unless you admit the conditions of our defiance. Don Quixote bruised and stupefied, without raising his visor, said in a weak, feeble voice, as if he were speaking out of a tomb, dulcinea del saboso is the fairest woman in the world, and I the most unfortunate knight on earth. It is not fitting that this truth should suffer by my feebleness. Drive your lance home, Sir Knight, and take my life, since you have taken away my honor. That I will not, in sooth, said he of the white moon, live the fame of the Lady Dulcinea's beauty undimmed as ever. All I require is that the great Don Quixote retire to his own home for a year, or for so long a time as shall by me be enjoined upon him, as we agreed before engaging in this combat. The viceroy Don Antonio and several others who were present heard all this and heard too how Don Quixote replied that so long as nothing in prejudice of Dulcinea was demanded of him, he would observe all the rest like a true and loyal knight. The engagement given, he of the white moon wheeled about and making obeisance to the viceroy with the movement of the head, rode away into the city at a half-gallop. The viceroy bade Don Antonio hasten after him, and by some means or other find out who he was. They raised Don Quixote up and uncovered his face and found him pale and bathed with sweat. Rossinante from the mere hard measure he had received lay unable to stir for the present. Sancho, wholly dejected and woe-begone, knew not what to say or do. He fancied that all was a dream, that the whole business was a piece of enchantment. Here was his master defeated and bound not to take up arms for a year. He saw the light of the glory of his achievements obscured. The hopes of the promises lately made him swept away like smoke before the wind. Rossinante, he feared, was crippled for life and his master's bones out of joint. For if he were only shaken out of his madness it would be no small luck. In the end they carried him into the city in a ham-chair which the viceroy sent for, and thither the viceroy himself returned, eager to ascertain who this night of the white moon was who had left Don Quixote in such a sad plight. Chapter 65. Wherein is made known who the night of the white moon was, likewise Don Gregorio's release and other events. Don Antonio Moreno followed the night of the white moon and a number of boys followed him too, nay pursued him, until they had him fairly housed in a hostel in the heart of the city. Don Antonio, eager to make his acquaintance, entered also. A squire came out to meet him and remove his armor and he shut himself into a lower room still attended by Don Antonio whose bread would not bake until he had found out who he was. He of the white moon, again that the gentleman would not leave him, said, I know very well, senior, what you have come for. It is to find out who I am and as there is no reason why I should conceal it from you, while my servant here is taking off my armor, I will tell you the true state of the case without leaving out anything. You must know, senior, that I am called the bachelor Samson Carrasco. I am of the same village as Don Quixote of La Mancha whose craze and folly make all of us who know him feel pity for him, and I am one of those who have felt it most and persuaded that his chance of recovery lay in quiet and keeping at home and in his own house, I hid upon a device for keeping him there. Three months ago, therefore, I went out to meet him as a knight errant under the assumed name of the Knight of the Mirrors intending to engage him in combat and overcome him without hurting him, making it the condition of our combat that the vanquished should be at the disposal of the victor. What I meant to demand of him, for I regarded him as vanquished already, was that he should return to his own village and not leave it for a whole year by which time he might be cured. But fate ordered it otherwise, for he vanquished me and unharmed me, and so my plan failed. He went his way, and I came back conquered, covered with shame, and sorely bruised by my fall, which was a particularly dangerous one. But this did not quench my desire to meet him again and overcome him as you have seen today. And as he is so scrupulous in his observance of the laws of knight errantry, he will, no doubt, in order to keep his word, obey the injunction I have laid upon him. This, senor, is how the matter stands, and I have nothing more to tell you. I implore of you not to betray me or tell Don Quixote who I am, so that my honest endeavors may be successful, and that a man of excellent wits, where he only rid of the fulleries of chivalry, may get them back again. Oh, senor, said Don Antonio, may God forgive you the wrong you have done the whole world in trying to bring the most amusing madman in it back to his senses. Do you not see, senor, that the gain by Don Quixote's sanity can never equal the enjoyment his crazes give? But my belief is that all the senor bachelor's pains will be of no avail to bring a man so hopelessly cracked to his senses again. If I were to be charitable, I would say may Don Quixote never be cured, for by his recovery we lose not only his own droleries, but his squire Sancho Panza's, too, any one of which is enough to turn melancholy itself into merriment. However, I'll hold my peace and say nothing to him, and we'll see whether I am right in my suspicion that senor Carrasco's efforts will be fruitless. The bachelor replied that at all events the affair promised well a happy result from it, and putting his services at Don Antonio's commands he took his leave of him, and having had his armor packed at once upon a mule, he rode away from the city the same day on the horse he rode to battle and returned to his own country without meeting any adventure calling for record in this voracious history. Don Antonio reported to the viceroy what Carrasco told him, and the viceroy was not very well pleased to hear it, for with Don Quixote's retirement there was an end to the amusement of all who knew anything of his mad doings. Six days did Don Quixote keep his bed dejected melancholy, moody and out of sorts, brooding over the unhappy event of his defeat. Sancho strove to comfort him, and among other things he said to him, hold up your head, senor, and be of good cheer if you can, and give thanks to heaven that if you have had a tumble to the ground you have not come off with a broken rib, and as you know that where they give they take, and that there are not always fletches where there are pegs, a fig for the doctor, for there is no need of him to cure this ailment. Let us go home, and give over going about in search of adventures in strange lands and places. Rightly looked at, it is I that am the greater loser, though it is your worship that has had the worse usage. With the government I gave up all wish to be a governor again, but I did not give up all longing and that will never come to pass if your worship gives up becoming a king by renouncing the calling of chivalry, and so my hopes are going to turn into smoke. Peace, Sancho, said Don Quixote, thou seest my suspension in retirement is not to exceed a year. I shall soon return to my honored calling, and I shall not be at a loss for a kingdom to win and a county to bestow on thee. May God hear it and sin be deaf, said Sancho. I have always heard say that a good hope is better than a bad holding. As they were talking, Don Antonio came in looking extremely pleased and exclaiming, reward me for my good news, S. Don Quixote, Don Gregorio and the renegade who went for him have come ashore. Ashore, do I say? They are by this time in the viceroy's house, and will be here immediately. Don Quixote cheered up a little and said, of a truth I am almost ready to say I should have had it turned out just the other way, for it would have obliged me to cross over to Barbary, whereby the might of my arm I should have restored to liberty, not only Don Gregorio, but all the Christian captives there are in Barbary. But what am I saying, miserable being, that I am? Am I not he that has been conquered? Am I not he that has been overthrown? Am I not he who must not take up arms for a year? Then what am I making professions for? What am I bragging about, that it is fitter for me to handle the disc staff than the sword? No more of that, senor, said Sancho. Let the hen live, even though it be with her pip. Today for thee and tomorrow for me. In these affairs of encounters and wax one must not mind them, for he that falls today may get up tomorrow. Unless indeed he chooses to lie in bed, I mean gives way to weakness and does not fuck up fresh spirit for fresh battles. Let your worship get up now to Gregorio, for the household seems to be in a bustle and no doubt he has come by this time. And so it proved, for as soon as Don Gregorio and the renegade had given the viceroy an account of the voyage out and home, Don Gregorio eager to see Anna Felix came with the renegade to Don Antonio's house. When they carried him away from Algiers he was in woman's dress, on board the vessel however he exchanged it for that of a captive who escaped with him, but however dress he might be he looked like one to be loved and served and esteemed, for he was surpassingly well-favored and to judge by appearances some seventeen or eighteen years of age. Ricote and his daughter came out to welcome him, the father with tears, the daughter with bashfulness. They did not embrace each other, for where there is deep love there will never be over much boldness. Seen side by side the comeliness of Don Gregorio and the beauty of all who were present. It was silence that spoke for the lovers at that moment and their eyes were the tongues that declared their pure and happy feelings. The renegade explained the measures and means he had adopted to rescue Don Gregorio and Don Gregorio at no great length but in a few words which he showed that his intelligence was in advance of his years described the peril and embarrassment he found himself in among the women with whom he had sojourned. To conclude, Ricote liberally recompensed and rewarded as well the renegade as the men who had rode, and the renegade affected his readmission into the body of the church and was reconciled with it and from a rotten limb became by penance and repentance a clean and sound one. Two days later the viceroy discussed with Don Antonio the steps they should take to enable Ana Felix and her father to stay in Spain, for it seemed to them there could be no objection to a daughter who was so good a Christian while appearance so well disposed remaining there. Don Antonio offered to arrange the matter at the capital whether he was compelled to go on some other business hinting that many a difficult affair was settled there with the help of favor and bribes. Ne said, Ricote, who was present during the conversation, it will not do to rely upon favor or bribes because with the great Don Bernardino de Velasco, con de de Salazar to whom his Majesty was ex-pulgen, neither in treaties nor promises bribes nor appeals to compassion are of any use. For though it is true he mingles mercy with justice, still seeing that the whole body of our nation is tainted and corrupt, he applies to it the cottery that burns rather than the self that soothes. And thus by prudence, sagacity, care and the fear he inspires, he has borne on his mighty shoulders the weight of this great policy and carried it into effect all things and plots, importunities and wiles, being ineffectual to blind his argous eyes, ever on the watch lest one of us should remain behind in concealment, and like a hidden root come in course of time to sprout and bear poisonous fruit in Spain, now cleansed and relieved of the fear in which our vast numbers kept it. Heroic resolve of the great Philip III and unparalleled wisdom to have entrusted it to the said Don Bernardino de Velasco. When I am there I will make all possible efforts and let heaven do as pleases at best. Don Gregorio will come with me to relieve the anxiety which his parents must be suffering on account of his absence. Ana Felix will remain in my house with my wife or in a monastery and I know the viceroy will be glad that the worthy Ricote should stay with him until we see what terms I can make. The viceroy agreed to all that was proposed but Don Gregorio on learning what passed declared that he could not and would not on any account leave Ana Felix. However, as it was his purpose to go and see his parents and devise some way of returning for her he fell in with the proposed arrangement. Ana Felix remained with Don Antonio's wife and Ricote in the viceroy's house. The day for Don Antonio's departure came, and two days later that for Don Quixotes and Sanchos for Don Quixotes fall did not suffer him to take the road sooner. There were tears in size swoonings and sobs at the parting between Don Gregorio and Ana Felix. Ricote offered Don Gregorio a thousand crowns if he would have them but he would not take any save five which Don Antonio lent him and he promised to repay at the capital. So the two of them took their departure and Don Quixote and Sancho afterwards as has been already said, Don Quixote without his armor and in traveling gear and Sancho on foot dapple being loaded with the armor. Chapter 66 which treats of what he who reads will see or what he who has read to him will hear. As he left Barcelona Don Quixote turned gaze upon the spot where he had fallen. Here Troy was said he here my ill luck not my cowardice robbed me of all the glory I had won. Here Fortune made me the victim of her caprices. Here the luster of my achievements was dimmed. Here in a word fell my happiness never to rise again. Senora said Sancho on hearing this it is the part of brave hearts to be patient in adversity just as much as to be glad in prosperity. I judge by myself for if when I was a governor I was glad now that I am a squire and on foot I am not sad and I have heard say that she whom commonly they call Fortune is a drunken whimsical jade and what is more blind and therefore neither sees what she does nor knows whom she casts down or whom she sets up. Thou art a great philosopher Sancho said Don Quixote Thou speakest very sensibly I know not who taught thee but I can tell thee there is no such thing as Fortune in the world nor does anything which takes place there be it good or bad come about by chance but by the special preordination of heaven and hence the common saying that each of us is the maker of our own Fortune I have been that of mine but not with the proper amount of prudence and my self-confidence has therefore made me pay dearly for I ought to have reflected that Rosinante's feeble strength could not resist the mighty bulk of the night of the white moon's force in a word I ventured it I did my best I was overthrown but though I lost my honor I did not lose nor can I lose the virtue of keeping my word when I was a knight errant I supported my achievements by hand and deed and now that I am a humble squire I will support my words by keeping the promise I have given forward then Sancho my friend let us go to keep the year of the Navitate in our own country and in that seclusion we shall pick up fresh strength to return to the by me never forgotten calling of arms Senor return Sancho traveling on foot is not such a pleasant thing that it makes me feel disposed or tempted to make long let us leave this armor hung up on some tree instead of someone that has been hanged and then with me on dapples back and my feet off the ground we will arrange the stages as your worship pleases to measure them out but to suppose that I am going to travel on foot and make long ones is to suppose nonsense thou sayest well Sancho said Don Quixote let my armor be hung up for a trophy and under it or round it we will carve on the trees what was inscribed on the trophy of Roland's armor 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 we should feel the want of Rossinante on the road it would be as well to leave him hung up too and yet I had rather not have either him or the armor hung up said Don Quixote that it may not be said for good service a bad return your worship is right said Sancho for a sensible people hold the fault of the ass must not be laid on the pack saddle and as in this affair the fault is your worships punish yourself and don't let your anger break out against the already battered and bloody armor or the meekness of Rossinante or the tenderness of my feet trying to make them travel more than as reasonable in converse of this sort the whole of that day went by as did the four succeeding ones without anything occurring to interrupt their journey but on the fifth as they found a village they found a great number of people at the door of an inn enjoying themselves as it was a holiday upon Don Quixote's approach a peasant called out one of these two gentlemen who come here and who don't know the parties will tell us what we ought to do about our wager that I will certainly said Don Quixote and according to the rights of the case if I can manage to understand it well here it is worthy sir said the peasant a man of this village who is so fat that he weighs twenty stone challenged another a neighbor of his who does not weigh more than nine to run a race the agreement was that they were to run a distance of a hundred paces with equal weights and when the challenger was asked how the weights were to be equalized he said that the other as he weighed nine stone should put eleven in iron on his back and that in this way the twenty stone of the thin man would equal the twenty stone of the fat one not at all exclaimed Sancho once before Don Quixote could answer it's for me that only a few days ago left off being a governor and a judge as all the world knows to settle these doubtful questions and give an opinion in disputes of all sorts answering God's name Sancho my friend said Don Quixote for I am not fit to give crumbs to a cat my wits are so confused and upset with this permission Sancho said to the peasants who stood clustered around 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 a shadow of justice in it because if it be true as they say that the challenge may choose the weapons the other has no right to choose such as will prevent and keep him from winning my decision therefore is that the fat challenger prune peel thin trim and correct himself and take eleven stone of his flesh off his body here or there as he pleases and as suits him best and being in this way reduced to nine stone weight you will make himself equal and even with nine stone of his opponent and they will be able to run on equal terms by all that's good said one of the peasants as he heard Sancho's decision but the gentleman has spoken like a saint and given judgment like a cannon but I'll be bound the fat man won't part with an ounce of his flesh not to say eleven stone the best plan will be for them not to run said another so that the thin man break down under the weight nor the fat one strip himself of his flesh let half the wager be spent in wine and let'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 an instant for sad thoughts and unhappy circumstances force me to seem discourteous and to travel apace and spurring Rocinante he pushed on leaving them wondering at what they had seen and heard at his own strange figure and at the shrewdness of his servant for such they took Sancho to be and another of them observed if the servant is so clever what must the master be I'll bet if they are going to Salamanca to study they'll come to the alcaldes of the court in a trice for it's a mere joke only to read and read and have interest and good luck and before a man knows where he is finds himself with a staff in his hand or a mitre on his head that night master and man passed out in the fields in the open air and the next day as they were pursuing their journey they sought coming towards them a man on foot with all forehus at the neck and a javelin 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 and half running came up to him and embracing his right thigh for he could reach no higher exclaimed with evident pleasure oh senor Don Quixote of La Mancha what happiness it will be to the heart of my lord 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 recognize you friend said Don Quixote nor do I know who you are unless you tell me I am Tosilos my lord the Duke's lackey senor Don Quixote replied the courier he who refused to fight your worship about marrying the daughter of Donia Rodriguez God bless me exclaimed Don Quixote is it possible that you are the one whom mine enemies the enchanters changed into the lackey you speak of in order to rob me of the honor of that battle nonsense good sir said the messenger there was no enchantment or transformation at all I entered the lists just as much lackey Tosilos as I came out of them lackey Tosilos I thought to marry without fighting for the girl had taken my fancy but my scheme had a very different result for as soon as your worship had left the castle my lord the Duke had a hundred strokes of the stick given me for having acted contrary to the orders he gave me before engaging in the combat and the end of the whole affair is that the girl has become a nun and Donia Rodriguez has gone back to Castile and I am now on my way to Barcelona with a packet of letters for the viceroy which my master is sending him if your worship would like a drop sound though warm I have a gourd here full of the best scraps of tranch and cheese that will serve as a provocative and wakener of your thirst if so be it is asleep I take the offer said Sancho no more compliments about it pour out good Tosilos in spite of all the enchanters in the Indies thou art indeed the greatest glutton in the world Sancho said Don Quixote and the greatest booby on earth not to be able to see that this courier is enchanted and this Tosilos a shaman stop with him and take thy fill I will go on slowly and wait for thee to come up with me the lackey laughed unsheathed his gourd unwolleted his scraps in taking out a small loaf of bread he and Sancho seated themselves on the green grass and in peace and good fellowship finished off the contents of the alforjas down to the bottom so resolutely that they licked the wrapper of the letters merely because it smelt of cheese said Tosilos to Sancho beyond a doubt Sancho my friend this master of thine ought to be a madman ought said Sancho he owes no man anything he pays for everything particularly when the coin is madness I see it plain enough and I tell him so plain enough but what's the use especially now that it is all over with him for here he is beaten by the night of the white moon Tosilos begged him to explain what had happened to him but Sancho replied that it would not be good manners to leave his master waiting for him and that some other day if they met there would be time enough for that and then getting up after shaking his doublet and brushing the crumbs out of his beard he drove Dappel on before him and bidding adieu to Tosilos left him and rejoined his master who was waiting for him under the shade of a tree CHAPTER 67 of the resolution Don Quixote formed to turn shepherd and take to a life in the fields while the year for which he had given his word was running its course with other events truly delectable and happy if a multitude of reflections used to harass Don Quixote before he had been overthrown a great many more harassed him since his fall he was under the shade of a tree as has been said and there like flies on honey thoughts came crowding upon him and stinging him some of them turned upon the disenchantment of Dalsenae others upon the life he was about to lead in his enforced retirement Sancho came up and spoke in high praise of the generous disposition of the lackey Tosilos is it possible, Sancho said Don Quixote that thou dost still think that he yonder is a real lackey apparently it has escaped thy memory that thou hast seen Dalsenae turned and transformed into a peasant winch and the night of the mirrors into the bachelor Carrasco the enchanters that persecute me but tell me now didst thou ask this Tosilos as thou callest him what has become of Altisidora did she weep over my absence or has she already consigned to oblivion the love thoughts that used to afflict her when I was present the thoughts that I had said Sancho were not such as to leave time for asking fools questions body and me, Señor is your worship in a condition now to inquire into other people's thoughts above all love thoughts Luckey Sancho said Don Quixote there is a great difference between what is done out of love and what is done out of gratitude a night may very possibly be proof against love but it is impossible strictly speaking for him to be ungrateful Altisidora to all appearance she loved me truly she gave me the three curches thou knowest of she wept at my departure she cursed me she abused me casting shame to the winds she bewailed herself in public all signs that she adored me for the wrath of lovers always ends in curses I had no hopes to give her nor treasures to offer her for mine are given to Dalsineia to the fairies illusory and deceptive all I can give her is the place in my memory I keep for her without prejudice however to that which I hold devoted to Dalsineia whom thou art wronging by thy remissness in whipping thyself and scourging that flesh wood that I saw it eaten by wolves which would rather keep itself for the worms than for the relief of that poor lady Señor if the truth is to be told I cannot persuade myself that the whipping of my backside has anything to do with the disenchantment of the enchanted it is like saying if your head aches rub ointment on your knees at any rate I'll make bold to swear that in all the histories dealing with night errantry that your worship has read you have never come across anybody disenchanted by whipping but whether or no I'll whip myself when I have a fancy for it and the opportunity serves for scourging myself comfortably God granted said Don Quixote and heaven give thee grace to take it to heart and own the obligation thou art under to help my lady who is thine also in as much as thou art mine as they pursued their journey talking in this way they came to the very same spot where they had been trampled on by the bulls Don Quixote recognized it and said he to Sancho this is the meadow where we came upon those gay shepherdesses and gallant shepherds who were trying to revive and imitate the pastoral Arcadia there an idea as novel as it was happy in emulation whereof if so be thou dost approve of it Sancho I would have ourselves turned shepherds at any rate for the time I have to live in retirement I will buy some muse and everything else requisite for the pastoral calling and I under the name of the shepherd Quixote and thou as the shepherd Pansino we will roam the woods and groves and meadows singing songs here lamenting in elegies there drinking of the crystal waters of the springs or limpid brooks or flowing rivers the oaks will yield us their sweet fruit with bountiful hand the trunks of the hard cork trees a seat the willows shade the roses perfume the widespread meadows carpets tinted with a thousand dyes the clear pure air will give us breath the moon and stars lighten the darkness of the night for us song shall be our delight lamenting our joy Apollo will supply us with verses and love with conceits whereby we shall make ourselves famed forever not only in this but in ages to come he gad said Sancho but that sort of life squares may corners with my notions and what is more the bachelor Samson Carrasco and master Nicholas the barber won't have well seen it before they'll want to follow it and turn shepherds along with us and God grant it may not come into the curate's head to join the sheepfold too he's so jovial and fond of enjoying himself thou art in the right of it thou said Don Quixote and the bachelor Samson Carrasco if he enters the pastoral fraternity as no doubt he will may call himself the shepherd Samsonino or perhaps the shepherd Carrascon Nicholas the barber may call himself Niculoso as old Boscon formerly was called Nimo Rosso as for the curate I don't know what name we can fit to him unless it be something derived from his title call him the shepherd Curiambro for the shepherdesses whose lovers we shall be we can pick names as we would payers and as my lady's name does just as well for a shepherdesses as for a princesses I need not trouble myself to look for one that will suit her better to thine Sancho thou canst give what name thou wilt I don't mean to give her any but Teresona said Sancho which will go well with her stoutness and with her own right name as she is called Teresa and then when I sing her praises in my verses I'll show how chaste my passion is for I'm not going to look for better bread than ever came from wheat in other men's houses it won't do for the curate to have a shepherdess for the sake of good example and if the bachelor chooses to have one that is his look out God bless me Sancho my friend said Don Quixote what a life we shall lead what oboys and Zamora bagpipes we shall hear what tabers, timbrels and rebecks and then if among all these different sorts of music that of the albogues is heard almost all the pastoral instruments will be there what are albogues? asked Sancho for I never in my life heard tell of them or saw them albogues said Don Quixote our brass plates like candlesticks that struck against one another on the hollow side make a noise which if not very pleasing or harmonious is not disagreeable and accords very well with the rude notes of the bagpipe and taboor the word albogues is morisco as are all those in our Spanish tongue that begin with al for example al mojaza, al mozar al hombra, al gozil al husema, al masen al cancia and others of the same sort of which there are not many more our language has only three that are morisco and end in I which are borsigui zakizami and marvedi al hali and alfiqui are seen to be Arabic as well by the L at the beginning as by the I they end with I mentioned this incidentally the chance illusion to albogues having reminded me of it and it will be of great assistance to us in the perfect practice of this calling that I am something of a poet as thou knowest and that besides the bachelor samson carasco is an accomplished one of the curate I say nothing but I will wager he has some spice of the poet in him and no doubt master nicolas too for all barbers or most of them are guitar players and stringers of verses I will bewail my separation and thou shalt glorify thyself as a constant lover the shepherd carascone will figure as a rejected one and the curate curiambro as whatever may please him best and so all will go as gaily as heart could wish to this sancho made answer I am so unlucky senior that I'm afraid the day will never come when I'll see myself at such a calling oh what neat spoons I'll make sauces, creams, garlands pastoral odds and ends and if they don't get me a name for wisdom they'll not fail to get me one for ingenuity my daughter sanchica will bring us our dinner to the pasture but stay she's good looking and shepherds there are with more mischief than simplicity in them I would not have her come for wool and go back shorn love making and lawless desires are just as common in the fields and in shepherd shanties as in royal palaces do away with the cause you do away with the sin if the eyes don't see hearts don't break and better a clear escape than good men's prayers a truce to thy proverbs sancho exclaimed don quixote any one of those thou hast uttered would suffice to explain thy meaning many a time have I recommended thee not to be so lavish with proverbs and to exercise some moderation in delivering them but it seems to me it is only preaching in the desert my mother beats me and I go on with my tricks it seems to me said sancho that your worship is like the common saying said the frying pan to the kettle get away black breach you chide me for uttering proverbs and you string them in couples yourself observe sancho replied don quixote I bring in proverbs to the purpose and when I quote them they fit like a ring to the finger thou bringest them in by the head and shoulders in such a way that thou dost drag them in rather than introduce them if I am not mistaken I have told thee already that proverbs are short maxims drawn from the experience and observation of our wise men of old but the proverb that is not to the purpose is a piece of nonsense and not a maxim but enough of this as nightfall is drawing on let us retire some little distance from the high road to pass the night what is in store for us tomorrow God knoweth they turned aside and sucked late and poorly very much against sancho's will who turned over in his mind the hardships attended upon night in woods and forests even though at times plenty presented itself in castles and houses as at Don Diego de Miranda's at the wedding of Camacho de Rich and at Don Antonio Moreno's he reflected however that it could not be always day nor always night and so that night he passed in sleeping and his master in waking chapter 68 of the bristly adventure that befell Don Quixote the night was somewhat dark for though there was a moon in the sky it was not in a quarter where she could be seen for sometimes the lady Diana goes on a stroll to the antipodes and leaves the mountains all black and the valleys in darkness Don Quixote obeyed nature so far as to sleep his first sleep but did not give way to the second very different from sancho who never had any second because with him sleep lasted from night till morning wherein he showed what a sound constitution and few cares he had Don Quixote's cares kept him restless so much so that he awoke sancho and said to him I am amazed sancho at the unconcern of thy temperament I believe thou art made of marble or hard brass incapable of any emotion or feeling whatever I lie awake while thou sleepest I weep while thou singest I am faint with fasting while thou art sluggish and torpid from pure repletion it is the duty of good servants to share the sufferings and feel the sorrows of their masters if it be only for the sake of appearances see the calmness of the night the solitude of the spot inviting us to break our slumbers by a vigil of some sort rise as thou livest and retire a little distance and with a good heart and cheerful courage give thyself three or four hundred lashes on account of Dalsenae's disenchantment score and this I entreat of thee making it a request for I have no desire to come to grips with thee a second time as I know thou hast a heavy hand as soon as thou hast laid them on we will pass the rest of the night I singing my separation thou by constancy making a beginning at once with the pastoral life we are to follow senor replied Sancho I am no monk to get up out of the middle of my sleep and scourge myself nor does it seem to me that one can pass from one extreme of the pain of whipping to the other of music for your worship let me sleep and not worry me about whipping myself or you'll make me swear never to touch a hair of my doublet not to say my flesh oh hard heart said Don Quixote oh pitiless squire oh bread ill-bestowed and favors ill-acknowledged both those I have done thee and those I mean to do thee through me hast thou seen thyself a governor and through me thou seeest thyself in immediate expectation of being a count or obtaining some other equivalent title for I post Tenebra Sparrow Loosam I don't know what that is said Sancho all I know is that so long as I am asleep I have neither fear nor hope trouble nor glory and good luck betide him that invented sleep the cloak that covers overall a man's thoughts the food that removes hunger the drink that drives away thirst the fire that warms the cold the cold that tempers the heat and to wind up with the universal coin where with everything is bought the weight and balance that makes the shepherd equal with the king and the full with the wise man sleep I have heard say has only one fault that it is like death for between a sleeping man and a dead man there is very little difference never have I heard thee speak so elegantly as now Sancho said Don Quixote and here I begin to see the truth of the proverb thou dost sometimes quote not with whom thou art bread but with whom thou art fed ha by my life master mine said Sancho it's not I that am stringing proverbs now for they drop in pairs from your worship's mouth faster than from mine only there is this difference between mine and yours that yours are well timed and mine are untimely but anyhow they are all proverbs at this point they became aware of a harsh indistinct noise that seemed to spread through all the valleys around Don Quixote stood up and laid his hand upon his sword and Sancho ensconced himself under dapple and put the bundle of armor on one side of him and the asses pack-saddle on the other in fear and trembling as great is Don Quixote's perturbation each instant the noise increased and came nearer to the two terrified men or at least to one for as to the other his courage is known to all the fact of the matter was that some men were taking above six hundred pigs to sell at a fair and were on their way with them at that hour and so great was the noise they made in their grunting and blowing that they deafened the ears of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza and they could not make out what it was the widespread grunting drove came on in a surging mass and without showing any respect for Don Quixote's dignity or Sancho's passed right over the pair of them demolishing Sancho's entrenchments and not only upsetting Don Quixote but sweeping Rosinante off his feet into the bargain and what with the trampling and the grunting and the pace at which the unclean beasts went pack-saddle, armor dapple and Rosinante were left scattered on the ground and Sancho and Don Quixote at their wits end Sancho got up as well as he could and begged his master to give him his sword saying he wanted to kill half a dozen of those dirty, unmanorly pigs for he had by this time found out that that was what they were let them be my friend said Don Quixote this insult is the penalty of my sin and it is the righteous chastisement of heaven that jackals should devour a vanquished knight and wasps sting him and pigs trample him underfoot I suppose it is the chastisement of heaven too said Sancho that flies should prick the squires of vanquished knights and lies eat them and hunger assail them if we squires were the sons of the knights we serve or their very near relations it would be no wonder if the penalty of their misdeeds overtook us even to the fourth generation but what have the panses to do with the Quixotes well well let's lie down again and sleep out what little of the knight there's left I will send us dawn and we shall be all right sleep thou Sancho return Don Quixote for thou was born to sleep as I was born to watch and during the time it now wants of dawn I will give a loose reign to my thoughts and seek a vent for them in a little madrigal which unknown to thee I composed in my head last night I should think said Sancho that the thoughts that allow one to make the verses cannot be of great consequence let your worship string verses as much as you like and I'll sleep as much as I can and forthwith taking the space of ground he required he muffled himself up and fell into a sound sleep undisturbed by bond debt or trouble of any sort Don Quixote propped up against the trunk of a beach or a cork tree for Siremete does not specify what kind of tree it was to gain to the accompaniment of his own size When in my mind I muse O love upon thy cruelty to death I flee and hope therein the end of all to find but drawing near that welcome haven in my sea of woe such joy I know that life revives and still I linger here thus life doth slay and death again to life restoreth me to each destiny that deals with life and death as with a play He accompanied each first with many sighs and not a few tears just like one whose heart was pierced with grief at his defeat and his separation from Dalsenaea and now daylight came and the sun smote Sancho on the eyes with his beams He awoke, roused himself up shook himself and stretched his lazy limbs The havoc the pigs had made with his stores He cursed the drove and more besides Then the pair resumed their journey and as evening closed in they saw coming towards them some ten men on horseback and four or five on foot Don Quixote's heart beat quick and Sancho's quailed with fear for the persons approaching them carried lances and bucklers and were in very warlike guise Don Quixote turned to Sancho If I could make use of my weapons and my promise had not tied my hands I would count this host that comes against us but cakes and fancy bread but perhaps it may prove something different from what we apprehend The men on horseback now came up and raising their lances surrounded Don Quixote in silence and pointed them at his back and breast menacing him with death One of those on foot with his lips as a sign to him to be silent seized Rosinante's bridle and drew him out of the road and the others driving Sancho in dapple before them and all maintaining a strange silence followed in the steps of the one who led Don Quixote The latter two or three times attempted to ask where they were taking him to and what they wanted but the instant he began to open his lips they threatened to close them with the points of their lances in some way for the moment he seemed about to speak one of those on foot punched him with a goad and dapple likewise as if he too wanted to talk Night set in they quickened their pace and the fears of the two prisoners grew greater especially as they heard themselves assailed with Get on ye troglodytes silence ye barbarians march ye cannibals no murmuring ye sythians Don't open your eyes for us polyfamies ye bloodthirsty lions and such like names with which their captors harassed the ears of the wretched master and man Sancho went along saying to himself we tortolites, barbers, animals I don't like those names at all it's in a bad wind our corn is being winnowed misfortune comes upon us all at once like sticks on a dog and God grant it may be no worse than them that this unlucky creature has in store for us Don Quixote rode completely dazed unable with the aid of all his wits to make out what could be the meaning of these abusive names they called them and the only conclusion he could arrive at was that there was no good to be hoped for and much evil to be feared and now about an hour after midnight they reached a castle which Don Quixote saw at once was the dukes where they had been but a short time before God bless me said he as he recognized the mansion what does this mean it is all courtesy and politeness in this house but with the vanquished good turns into evil and evil into worse they entered the chief court of the castle and found it prepared and fitted up in a style that added to their amazement and doubled their fears as will be seen in the following chapter end of chapter 68 start of reading chapter 69 chapter 69 of Don Quixote volume 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Don Quixote volume 2 by Miguel de Cervantes translated by John Ormsby chapter 69 of the strangest and most extraordinary adventure that befell Don Quixote in the whole course of this great history the horsemen dismounted and together with the men on foot without a moments delay taking up Sancho and Don Quixote bodily they carried them into the court all round which near a hundred torches fixed and sockets were burning besides above 500 lamps in the corridors so that in spite of the night which was somewhat dark the want of daylight could not be perceived in the middle of the court was a catafalque raised about two yards above the ground and covered completely by an immense canopy of black velvet and on the steps all rounded white wax tapers lined in more than a hundred silver candlesticks upon the catafalque was seen the dead body of a damsel so lovely that by her beauty she made death itself look beautiful she lay with her head resting upon a cushion a brocade and crowned with a garland of sweet smelling flowers of diverse sorts her hands crossed upon her bosom to show Paul the victory on one side of the court was erected a stage where upon two chairs receded two persons who from having crowns on their heads and sceptres in their hands appeared to be kings of some sort whether real or mock ones by the side of this stage which was reached by steps were two other chairs on which the men carrying the prisoners seated Don Quixote and Sancho all in silence and by signs giving them to understand that they too were to be silent which however they would have been without any signs for their amazement of all they saw held them tongue tied and now two persons of distinction who were at once recognized by Don Quixote as his hosts the Duke and Duchess ascended the stage attended by a numerous suite and seated themselves on two gorgeous chairs close to the two kings as they seemed to be who would not have been amazed at this nor was this all for Don Quixote had perceived that the dead body on the catafalc was that of the fair Altissadora as the Duke and Duchess mounted the stage Don Quixote and Sancho rose and made them a profound obeisance which they returned by bowing their heads slightly at this moment an official crossed over and approaching Sancho threw over him a robe of black buckram painted all over with flames of fire and taking off his cap put upon his head a mitre such as those undergoing the sentence of the Holy Office wear and whispered in his ear that he must not open his lips or they would put a gag upon him or take his life Sancho surveyed himself from head to foot and saw himself all ablaze with flames but as they did not burn him he did not care too farthings for them he took off the mitre and seeing painted with devils he put it on again saying to himself so far those don't burn me nor do these carry me off Don Quixote surveyed him too and though fear had got the better of his faculties he could not help smiling to see the figure Sancho presented and now from underneath the catafalque so it seemed there rose a low sweet sound of flutes which coming unbroken by human voice for there silence itself kept silence had a soft and languishing effect then beside the pillow of what seemed to be the dead body suddenly appeared a fair youth in a Roman habit who to the accompaniment of a harp which he himself played sang in a sweet and clear voice these two stanzas while fair Altissadora who the sport of cold Don Quixote's cruelty hath been returns to life and in this magic court the dames and sables come to grace the scene and while her matrons all in seemly sort my lady robes in bays and bombazine her beauty and her sorrows will I sing with defter quill then touch the thration string but not in life alone me thinks to me belongs the office lady when my tongue is cold in death believe me unto thee my voice shall raise its tributary song my soul from this straight prison house set free as o'er the Stygian lake it floats along thy praises singing still shall hold its way and make the waters of oblivion stay at this point one of the two that looked like kings exclaimed enough enough divine singer it would be an endless task to put before us now the death and the charms of the peerless Altissadora not dead as the ignorant world imagines but living in the voice of fame and in the penance which Sancho Ponza here present has to undergo to restore her to the long lost light do thou therefore O ratamanthus whose citizen judgment with me in the murky caverns of dis as thou knowest all that the inscrutable fates have decreed touching the resuscitation of this damsel announce and declare it at once that the happiness we look forward to from her restoration be no longer deferred no sooner had Minos the fellow judge of ratamanthus said this then ratamanthus rising up said oh, officials of this house high and low, great and small make haste hither one and all and print on Sancho's face four and twenty smacks and give him twelve pinches and six pin thrusts in the back and arms for upon this ceremony depends the restoration of Altissadora on hearing this Sancho broke silence and cried out by all that's good I'll as soon let my face be smacked or handled as turn more body of me what is handling my face got to do with the resurrection of this damsel the old woman took kindly to the blitz they enchanted Elcenea and whipped me in order to disenchant her Altissadora dies of ailments God was pleased to send her and to bring her to life again they must give me four and twenty smacks and prick holes in my body with pins and raise wheels on my arms with pinches try those jokes on a brother-in-law I'm an old dog and tss tss is no use with me thou shalt die said ratamanthus in a loud voice relent thou tiger humble thyself proud nimrod suffer and be silent for no impossibilities are asked of thee it is not for thee to inquire into the difficulties in this matter smacked thou must be pricked thou shalt see thyself and with pinches thou must be made to howl oh I say officials obey my orders or by the word of an honest man ye shall see what ye were born for at this some six duenas advancing across the court made their appearance in procession one after the other four of them with spectacles and all with their right hands uplifted showing four fingers of wrist to make their hands look longer as is the fashion nowadays no sooner had Sancho caught sight of them than bellowing like a bull he exclaimed I might let myself be handled by all the world but allow duenas to touch me not a bit of it scratch my face as my master was served in this very castle run me through the body with burnished daggers pinch my arms with red hot pincers I'll bear all impatience to serve these gentle folk but I won't let duenas touch me though the devil should carry me off here Don Quixote too broke silence saying to Sancho have patience my son and gratify these noble persons and give all thanks to heaven that it has infused such virtue into thy person that by its sufferings thou canst disenchant the enchanted and restore to life the dead the duenas were now close to Sancho and he, having become more tractable and reasonable settling himself well in his chair presented his face and beard to the first who delivered him a smack very stoutly laid on and then made him a low curtsy less politeness and less paint Senora Duena, said Sancho by God your hand smell of vinegar wash in fine all the duenas smacked him and several others of the household pinched him but what he could not stand was being pricked by the pens and so apparently out of patience he started up out of his chair and seizing a lighted torch that stood near him fell upon the duenas and the whole set of his tormentors exclaiming, be gone ye ministers of hell I'm not made of brass not to feel such out of the way tortures at this instant, Altissadora who probably was tired of having been so long lying on her back turned on her side seeing which the bystanders cried out almost with one voice Altissadora is alive Altissadora lives Radamanthas, Bade Sancho put away his wrath as the object they had in view was now attained when Don Quioti saw Altissadora move he went on his knees to Sancho saying to him now is the time son of my bowels not to call thee my squire for thee to give thyself some of those lashes thou art bound to lay on for the disenchantment of Dulcinea now I say is the time when the virtue that is in thee is ripe and endowed with efficacy to work the good that is looked for from thee to which Sancho made answer that's trick upon trick I think and not honey upon pancakes a nice thing it would be for a whipping to come now on the top of pinches, smacks, and pinprottings you had better take a big stone and tie it round my neck and pitch me into a well I should not mind it much if I'm to be always made the cow of the wedding for the cure of other people's ailments leave me alone or else by God I'll fling the whole thing to the dogs let come what may Altissadora had by this time set up on the catafalque and as she did so the Clarion sounded accompanied by the flutes and the voices of all present exclaiming long life to Altissadora long life to Altissadora the Duke and Duchess and the King's Minos and Radamanthas stood up and all together with Don Quixote and Sancho advanced to receive her and take her down from the catafalque and she making as though she were recovering from a swoon bowed her head to the Duke and Duchess and to the King's and looking sideways at Don Quixote said to him God forgive thee insensible knight for through thy cruelty I have been to me it seems more than a thousand years in the other world and to thee the most compassionate upon earth I render thanks for the life I am now in possession of from this day forth friend Sancho count his thine six smocks of mine which I bestow upon thee to make as many shirts for thyself and if they are not all quite whole at any rate they are all clean Sancho kissed her hands in gratitude kneeling and with the miter in his hand the Duke bade them take it from him and give him back his cap and doublet and remove the flaming road Sancho begged the Duke to let them leave him the robe and miter as he wanted to take them home for a token and memento of that unexampled adventure the Duchess said they must leave them with him for he knew already what a great friend of his she was the Duke then gave orders that the court should be cleared and that all should retire to their chambers and that Don Quixote and Sancho should be conducted to their old quarters End of Chapter 69 Recording by Kelly Doherty of Plano, Texas January 6th, 2008 Chapter 70 which follows 69 and deals with matters indispensable for the clear comprehension of this history Sancho slept that night in a cot in the same chamber with Don Quixote a thing he would have gladly excused if he could for he knew very well that with questions and answers his master would not let him sleep and he was in no humor for talking much still felt the pain of his late martyrdom which interfered with his freedom of speech and it would have been more to his taste to sleep in a hovel alone than in that luxurious chamber in company and so well founded in his apprehension prove and so correct was his anticipation that scarcely had his master got into bed when he said what does thou think of tonight's adventure Sancho fate and mighty is the power of cold hearted scorn for thou with thine own eyes has seen altisitor slain not by arrows nor by the sword nor by any war like weapon nor by deadly poisons but by the thought of the sternness and scorn with which I have always treated her she might have died and welcome said Sancho when she pleased and how she pleased she might have left me alone for I never made her fall in love or scorned her I don't know nor can I imagine how the recovery of altisidora a damsel more fanciful than wise can have as I have said before anything to do with the sufferings of Sancho Panza now I begin to see plainly and clearly that there are enchanters and enchanted people in the world and may God deliver me from them since I can't deliver myself and so I beg of your worship to let me sleep and not ask me any more questions unless you want me to throw myself out of the window sleep Sancho my friend said Danchiote if the pen prodding and pinches thou hast received and the smacks administered to thee will let thee be an insult of the smacks for the simple reason that it was duenas confound them that gave them to me but once more I entreat your worship to let me sleep for sleep is relief from misery to those who are miserable when awake be it so and God be with thee they fell asleep both of them and Sidi Himete took this opportunity to record and relate what it was that induced the Duke and Duchess to get up the elaborate plot that has been described the bachelor Samson Carrasco he says not forgetting how he is the night of the mirrors had been vanquished and overthrown by Danchiote which defeat and overthrow upset all his plans resolved to try his hand again hoping for better luck than he had before and so having learned where Danchiote was from the page who brought the letter and present to Sancho's wife Teresa Panza he got himself new armor and another horse and put a white moon upon his shield and to carry his arms he had a mule led by a peasant not by Tom Ceciel his former squire for fear he should be recognized by Sancho or Danchiote he came to the Duke's castle and the Duke informed him on the route Danchiote had taken with the intention of being present at the Jauset Zaragoza he told him too of the jokes he had practiced upon him and of the device for the disenchantment of Dulcinea at the expense of Sancho's backside and finally he gave him an account of the trick Sancho had played upon his master making him believe that Dulcinea was enchanted and turned into a country winch and of how the Duchess, his wife had persuaded Sancho it was he himself who was deceived and as much as Dulcinea was really enchanted at which the bachelor laughed not a little and marveled as well at the sharpness and simplicity of Sancho as at the link to which Danchiote's madness went the Duke begged of him if he found him whether he overcame him or not to return that way and let him know the result this the bachelor did he sat out in quest of Danchiote and not finding him at Saragosa he went on and how he fared has already been told he returned to the Duke's castle and told him all what the conditions of the combat were and how Danchiote was now like a loyal knight errant returning to keep his promise of retiring to his village for a year by which time said the bachelor he might perhaps be cured of his madness for that was the object that had led him to adopt these disguises as it was a sad thing for gentlemen of such good parts as Danchiote to be a madman and so he took his leave of the Duke and went home to his village to wait there for Danchiote who was coming after him there upon the Duke seized the opportunity of practicing this mystification upon him so much did he enjoy everything connected with Sancho and Danchiote he had the roads about the castle far and near everywhere he thought Danchiote was likely to pass on his return occupied by large numbers of his servants on foot and on horseback who were to bring him to the castle by fair means or fowl if they met him they did meet him and sent word to the Duke who having already settled what was to be done as soon as he heard of his arrival ordered the torches and lamps in the court to be lit and Altesa Dora to be placed on the catafalque with all the pomp and ceremony that has been described the whole affair being so well arranged and acted that it differed but little from reality and Sidi Himete says moreover that for his part he considers the concocters of the joke as crazy as the victims of it and that the Duke and Duchess were not two fingers breath removed from being something like fools themselves when they took such pains to make game of a pair of fools as for the latter one was sleeping soundly and the other lying awake occupied with his desultory thoughts when daylight came to them bringing with it the desire to rise for the lazy down was never a delight to Don Quixote victor or vanquished Altesa Dora come back from death's life as Don Quixote fancied following up the freak of her lord and lady entered the chamber crowned with a garland she had worn on the catafalque and in a robe of white taffeta embroidered with gold flowers her hair flowing loose over her shoulders and leaning upon a staff of fine black ebony Don Quixote disconcerted and in confusion at her appearance huddled himself up and well-nigh covered himself altogether with the sheets and counterpain of the bed tongue tied and unable to offer her any civility Altesa Dora seated herself on a chair at the head of the bed and after a deep sigh said to him in a feeble soft voice when women of rank and modest maidens trample on her underfoot and give a loose to the tongue that breaks through every impediment publishing abroad the inmost secrets of their hearts they are reduced to sore extremities such a one am I, Senor Don Quixote of La Mancha crushed, conquered, love smitten and yet patient under suffering and virtuous and so much so that my heart broke with grief and I'd lost my life for the last two days I have been dead slain by the thought of the cruelty with which thou has treated me obdurate night oh harder thou than marble to my plank or at least believed to be dead by all who saw me and had it not been that love taking pity on me let my recovery rest upon the sufferings of this good squire there I should have remained in the other world love might very well have let it rest upon the sufferings of my ass I've obliged to him since Ancho but tell me Senora and may heaven send you a tenderer lover than my master what did you see in the other world what goes on in hell for of course that's where one who dies in despair is bound for to tell you the truth said Altesadora I cannot have died out right for I did not go into hell had I gone in it is very certain I should come out again do what I might the truth is I came to the gate where some dozen or so devils were playing tennis all in breeches and doublets with falling collars trimmed with flimish bone lace and ruffles of the same that served them for wrist bands with four fingers breadth of the arms exposed to make their hands look longer in their hands they held rackets of fire but what amazed me still more was that books apparently full of wind and rubbish served them for tennis balls a strange and marvelous thing this however did not astonish me so much is to observe that although with players it is usual for the winners to be glad and the losers sorry there in that game all were growling all were snarling and all were cursing one another that's no wonder since on show for devils whether playing or not can never be content win or lose very likely said altisadora but there is another thing that surprises me too I mean surprised me then and that was that no ball at last of the first throw or was in any of any use a second time and it was wonderful the constant succession there was of books new and old to one of them a brand new well-bound one they gave such a stroke that they knocked the guts out of it and scattered the leaves about look what book that is said one devil to another and the other replied it is the second part of the history of Don Quixote of La Mancha not by CD Himeté the original author but by an Aragonese who by his own account is of Tordesillas out of this with it said the first and into the depths of hell with it out of my sight is it so bad said the other so bad is it said the first that if I had set myself deliberately to make it worse I could not have done it they then went on with their game knocking other books about and I having heard them mention the name of Don Quixote whom I love and adore so took care to retain this vision in my memory a vision it must have been no doubt said Don Quixote for there is no other eye in the world this history has been going about here for some time from hand to hand but it does not stay long in any for everybody gives it a taste of his foot I am not disturbed by hearing that I am wandering in a fantastic shape in the darkness of the pit or in the daylight above for I am not the one that history treats of if it should be good faithful and true it will have ages of life but if it should be bad from its birth to its burial will not be a very long journey Altissadora was about to proceed with her complaint against Don Quixote when he said to her I have several times told you senora that it grieves me you should have set your affections upon me as from mine they can only receive gratitude but no return I was born to belong to Dulcinea Deltobosa and the fates if there are any dedicated me to her and to suppose that any other beauty can take the place she occupies in my heart is to suppose an impossibility this frank declaration should suffice to make you retire within the bounds of your modesty for no one can bind himself to do impossibilities hearing this Altissadora with a show of anger and exclaimed God's life Don Stockfish soul of a mortar stone of a date more obstinate and obdurate than a clown asked a favor when he has his mind made up if I fall upon you I'll tear your eyes out do you fancy Don vanquished Don cuddled that I died for your sake all that you have seen tonight has been make-believe I'm not the woman to let the black of my nails suffer for such a camel much less die that I can well believe for all that about lovers pining to death is absurd they may talk of it but as for doing it Judas may believe that while they were talking the musician, singer and poet who had sung the two stanzas above came in and making a profound obeisance to Don Quixote said will your worship, Sir Knight reckon and retain me in the number of your most faithful servants for I have long been a great admirer of yours as well because of your fame as because of your achievements will your worship tell me who you are, replied Don Quixote so that my courtesy may be answerable to your desserts the young man replied that he was the musician and songster of the night before of a truth said Don Quixote your worship has a most excellent voice but what you sang did not seem to me very much to the purpose for what have Garcilaso's stanzas to do with the death of this lady don't be surprised at that return the musician for with the callow poets of our day the way is for everyone to write as he pleases and pilfer where he chooses whether it be germane to the matter or not and nowadays there is no piece of silliness they can sing or write that is not set down to poetic license Don Quixote was about to reply but was prevented by the Duke and Duchess who came in to see him and with them there followed a long and delightful conversation in the course of which Sanchez and the Duke and the Duchess and the Duke and the Duchess were wondering not only in his simplicity but in his sharpness Don Quixote begged their permission to take his departure that same day and as much as for a vanquished night like himself it was fitter he should live in a pigsty than in a royal palace they gave it very readily and the Duchess asked him if Altissidora was in his good graces he replied Let me tell your ladyship that this damsel's ailment comes entirely of idleness and the cure for it is honest and constant employment She herself has told me that lace is worn in hell and as she must know how to make it let it never be out of her hands for when she is occupied in shifting the bottom bobbins to and fro the images or image of what she loves will not shift to and fro in her thoughts this is my opinion and this is my advice and mine added Sancho for I never in all my life saw a lace maker that died for love when damsels are at work their minds are more set on finishing their tasks than on thinking of their loves I speak from my own experience for when I'm digging I never think of my old woman I mean my Teresa Panza whom I love better than my own eyelids as well as Sancho said the Duchess and I will take care that my Altisadora employs herself henceforward and need a work of some sort for she is extremely expert at it there is no occasion to have recourse to that remedy senora said Altisadora for the mere thought of the cruelty with which this vagabond villain has treated me will suffice to blot him out of my memory without any other device with your highnesses leave I will retire not to have before my eyes I won't say his rueful countenance but it's abominable ugly looks that reminds me of the common saying that he that rails is ready to forgive said the Duke Altisadora then pretending to wipe away her tears with a handkerchief made an obeisance to her master in mistress and quit at the room ill luck betide thee poor damsel said Sancho ill luck betide thee thou hast fallen in with a soul as dry as a rush and a heart as hard as oak had it been me in faith another cock would have crowed to thee so the conversation came to an end and Don Quixote dressed himself and dined with the Duke and Duchess and set out the same evening end of chapter 70 recording by Kelly Doherty of Plano, Texas January 6th, 2008