{"id":203,"date":"2019-12-01T16:45:24","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T16:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/chapter\/first-part-part-three-chapter-xxii-2\/"},"modified":"2020-03-16T10:49:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T10:49:15","slug":"first-part-part-three-chapter-xxii","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/chapter\/first-part-part-three-chapter-xxii\/","title":{"rendered":"First Part. Part Three. Chapter XXII"},"content":{"raw":"CHAPTER XXII<\/a>\r\n
\r\n

Regarding the liberty that Don Quixote gave to many unfortunate men who, against their wills, were being taken where they did not wish to go<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

It is recounted by Cide Hamete Benengeli, the Arabic and Manchegan author, in this most serious, high-sounding, detailed, sweet, and inventive history, that following the conversation between the famous Don Quixote of La Mancha and Sancho Panza, his squire, which is referred to at the end of chapter XXI, Don Quixote looked up and saw coming toward him on the same road he was traveling approximately twelve men on foot, strung together by their necks, like beads on a great iron chain, and all of them wearing manacles. Accompanying them were two men on horseback and two on foot; the ones on horseback had flintlocks, and those on foot carried javelins and swords; as soon as Sancho Panza saw them, he said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis is a chain of galley slaves, people forced by the king to go to the galleys.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\u201cWhat do you mean, forced?\u201d asked Don Quixote. \u201cIs it possible that the king forces anyone?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cbut these are people who, because of their crimes, have been condemned to serve the king in the galleys, by force.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIn short,\u201d replied Don Quixote, \u201cfor whatever reason, these people are being taken by force and not of their own free will.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d said Sancho.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, in that case,\u201d said his master, \u201chere it is fitting to put into practice my profession: to right wrongs and come to the aid and assistance of the wretched.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYour grace shouldn\u2019t forget,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cthat justice, which is the <\/a>king himself, does not force or do wrong to such people, but sentences them as punishment for their crimes.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

By now the chain of galley slaves had reached them, and Don Quixote, with very courteous speech, asked those who were guarding them to be so kind as to inform him and tell him the reason or reasons those people were being taken away in that fashion.<\/p>\r\n

One of the mounted guards responded that they were galley slaves, His Majesty\u2019s prisoners who were condemned to the galleys, and there was nothing more to say and nothing else he had to know.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cEven so,\u201d replied Don Quixote, \u201cI should like to know the particular reason for each one\u2019s misfortune.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

To these words he added others so civil and discreet to persuade them to tell him what he wished to hear that the other mounted guard said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAlthough we have the record and certificate of sentence of each of these wretched men, this is not the proper time to stop and take them out and read them; your grace may approach and question the prisoners, and they will tell you themselves if they wish to, and they will, because these are people who take pleasure in doing and saying false and wicked things.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

With this authorization, which Don Quixote would have taken even if it had not been granted to him, he approached the chain and asked the first man what sins he had committed to be taken away in so unpleasant a manner. He responded that it was on account of his being a lover.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIs that all?\u201d replied Don Quixote. \u201cIf they throw men in the galleys for being lovers, I should have been rowing in one long ago.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t the kind of love your grace is thinking about,\u201d said the galley slave. \u201cMine was a great love for a laundry basket filled with linen, and I loved it so much and embraced it so tightly that if the law hadn\u2019t taken it from me by force, to this day I wouldn\u2019t have let go of it willingly. I was caught red-handed, there was no need for torture, the trial concluded, they kissed my back a hundred times, gave me three in the gurapas, and that was the end of that.\u201d160<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat are gurapas?\u201d asked Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cGurapas are galleys,\u201d responded the galley slave.<\/p>\r\n

He was a young man, about twenty-four years old, who said he was a native of Piedrah\u00edta. Don Quixote asked the same question of the sec-<\/a>ond man, who was so downcast and melancholy he did not say a word, but the first prisoner responded for him and said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis man, Se\u00f1or, is being taken away for being a canary, I mean a musician and singer.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Don Quixote repeated. \u201cMen also go to the galleys for being musicians and singers?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYes, Se\u00f1or,\u201d responded the galley slave, \u201cbecause there\u2019s nothing worse than singing when you\u2019re in difficulty.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut I have heard it said,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cthat troubles take wing for the man who can sing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHere just the opposite is true,\u201d said the galley slave. \u201cWarble once, and you weep the rest of your days.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI do not understand,\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

But one of the guards told him:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or, among these non sancta<\/span> people, singing when you\u2019re in difficulty means confessing under torture. They tortured this sinner and he confessed his crime, which was rustling, or stealing livestock, and because he confessed he was sentenced to six years in the galleys, plus two hundred lashes, which he already bears on his back; he\u2019s always very downhearted and sad because the rest of the thieves, the ones he left behind and the ones who are traveling with him, abuse and humiliate and insult him, and think very little of him, because he confessed and didn\u2019t have the courage to say his nos. Because they say no<\/span> has even fewer letters than yes,<\/span> and a criminal is very lucky when his life or death depends on his own words and not on those of witnesses, or on evidence, and in my opinion, they\u2019re not too far off the mark.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat is my understanding as well,\u201d responded Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

He passed on to the third prisoner and asked the question he had asked the others, and the man responded immediately, with great assurance, and said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to my ladies the gurapas for five years because I didn\u2019t have ten gold ducados<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI should gladly give twenty,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cto free you from this sorrowful burden.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat seems to me,\u201d responded the galley slave, \u201clike a man who has money in the middle of the ocean and is dying of hunger and doesn\u2019t have a place where he can buy what he needs. I say this because if I\u2019d had those twenty ducados<\/span> your grace is offering me now at the right time, I\u2019d have greased the quill of the clerk and sharpened the wits of my attorney, <\/a>and today I\u2019d be in the middle of the Plaza de Zocodover in Toledo and not on this road, chained up like a greyhound; but God is great: all you need is patience.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Don Quixote passed on to the fourth prisoner, a man of venerable countenance with a white beard that hung down to his chest; hearing himself asked the reason for his being there, he began to weep and did not say a word in reply; but the fifth prisoner served as his interpreter and said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis honest man is going to the galleys for four years, having been paraded through the usual streets in robes of state and on horseback.\u201d161<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat, it seems to me,\u201d said Sancho Panza, \u201cmeans he was shamed in public.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d replied the galley slave. \u201cAnd the crime he was punished for was trading in ears, and even in entire bodies. In other words, I mean that this gentleman is going to the galleys for being a go-between,162<\/a><\/span><\/sup> and for having a hint and a touch of the sorcerer about him.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIf you had not added that hint and touch,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cfor simply being an honest go-between, he does not deserve to be sent to the galleys to row, but to lead and command. Because the position of go-between is not for just anyone; it is an office for the discreet, one that is very necessary in a well-ordered nation and should not be practiced except by the wellborn; there should be supervisors and examiners of go-betweens, as there are for other professions, with a fixed number of known appointees, similar to brokers on the exchange, and in this way many evils would be avoided which are caused because this practice and profession is filled with idiotic and dim-witted people, such as foolish women, pages, and rascals with few years and little experience; when the occasion demands that they find a solution to an important problem, they allow the crumbs to freeze between their hand and their mouth and do not know their right hand from their left. I should like to continue and give reasons why it is appropriate to choose carefully those who fulfill so necessary a function in the nation, but this is not the proper place: one day I shall speak about it to someone who can remedy the situation. For now I shall say only that the sorrow caused in me at seeing this old white head and venerable face in so much distress for being a go-between is mitigated by his being a sorcerer, although I know very well there is no sorcery in the world that can move and compel our desires, as <\/a>some simpleminded folk believe; our will is free, and there is no herb or spell that can force it. What certain foolish women and lying scoundrels do is prepare concoctions and poisons with which they drive men mad, claiming they have the power to make one person love another, when, as I say, it is impossible to compel desire.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d said the old man, \u201cand in fact, Se\u00f1or, in the matter of sorcery I was innocent; in the matter of being a go-between, I could not deny it. But I never thought I was doing wrong: my entire intention was for everybody to be happy and to live in peace and harmony, without discord or distress; but this virtuous desire did not prevent me from being sent to a place from which I do not expect to return, given the burden of my years and a urinary problem that does not give me a moment\u2019s peace.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

And here he began to weep again, as he had earlier, and Sancho felt so much compassion for him that he took a four-real<\/span> coin from inside his shirt and gave it to him as alms.<\/p>\r\n

Don Quixote moved on and asked another prisoner his crime, and he responded with not less but much more spirit and wit than the previous man:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because I made too merry with two girls who were cousins of mine, and with two other sisters who weren\u2019t mine; in short, I made so merry with all of them, and the merriment complicated my family relations so much, that not even the devil can straighten it out. The case was proved, nobody showed me favor, I had no money, I almost had my gullet in a noose, they sentenced me to six years in the galleys, and I agreed: it\u2019s a punishment for my crime; I\u2019m young; just let me stay alive, because where there\u2019s life there\u2019s hope. If your grace, Se\u00f1or, has something to help these poor men, God will reward you in heaven, and here on earth we\u2019ll be sure to ask God in our devotions that the life and well-being of your grace be as long-lasting and as fine as your meritorious person deserves.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

He was dressed as a student, and one of the guards said he was a great talker and clever in Latin.<\/p>\r\n

Behind all of them came a man of about thirty who was very good-looking except that one eye tended to veer slightly toward the other. He was shackled differently from the rest, because around his foot was a chain so large it encircled his entire body, and there were two fetters around his neck, one attached to the chain and the other, the kind called a keeper or a brace,163<\/a><\/span><\/sup> from which there hung two irons that <\/a>reached to his waist, and on these were two manacles holding his hands and locked with a heavy padlock, so that he could not raise his hands to his mouth or lower his head to his hands. Don Quixote asked why that man wore so many more shackles than the others. The guard responded that it was because he alone had committed more crimes than all the rest combined, and was so daring and such a great villain that even though he was bound in this way, they still did not feel secure about him and were afraid he would escape.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat crimes can they be,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cif they have deserved no greater punishment than his being sent to the galleys?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going for ten years,\u201d replied the guard, \u201cwhich is like a civil death. All you need to know is that this is the famous Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte, also known as Ginesillo de Parapilla.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Commissary,\u201d the galley slave said, \u201cjust take it easy and let\u2019s not go around dropping all kinds of names and surnames. My name is Gin\u00e9s, not Ginesillo, and my family is from Pasamonte, not Parapilla, as you\u2019ve said; and if each man looks to his own affairs, he\u2019ll have plenty to tend to.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cKeep a civil tongue,\u201d replied the commissary, \u201cyou great thief, unless you want me to shut you up in a way you won\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt certainly seems,\u201d responded the galley slave, \u201cthat man proposes and God disposes, but one day somebody will know whether or not my name is Ginesillo de Parapilla.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t they call you that, you liar?\u201d said the guard.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThey do,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s, \u201cbut I\u2019ll make sure they don\u2019t, or I\u2019ll tear out their hair and they know where. Se\u00f1or, if you have anything to give us, give it and go with God; your wanting to know so much about other people\u2019s lives is becoming irritating, but if you want to know about mine, know that I\u2019m Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte, whose life has been written by these very fingers.\u201d164<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHe\u2019s telling the truth,\u201d said the commissary. \u201cHe wrote his own history himself, as fine as you please, and he pawned the book for two hundred reales<\/span> and left it in prison.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd I intend to redeem it,\u201d said Gin\u00e9s, \u201ceven for two hundred ducados.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIs it that good?\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so good,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s, \u201cthat it\u2019s too bad for Lazarillo de Tormes<\/span> and all the other books of that genre that have been or will be written. What I can tell your grace is that it deals with truths, and they are truths so appealing and entertaining that no lies can equal them.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd what is the title of the book?\u201d asked Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe Life of Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte,\u201d<\/span> Gin\u00e9s replied.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd is it finished?\u201d asked Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHow can it be finished,\u201d he responded, \u201cif my life isn\u2019t finished yet? What I\u2019ve written goes from my birth to the moment when they sentenced me to the galleys this last time.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThen you have been there before?\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTo serve God and the king, I\u2019ve already spent four years on the galleys, and I know the taste of the hardtack and the overseer\u2019s whip,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not too sorry to go there, because I\u2019ll have time to finish my book, for I still have lots of things to say, and on the galleys of Spain there\u2019s more leisure than I\u2019ll need, though I don\u2019t need much for what I have to write because I know it by heart.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou seem clever,\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd unfortunate,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s, \u201cbecause misfortunes always pursue the talented.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThey pursue villains,\u201d said the commissary.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019ve already told you, Se\u00f1or Commissary,\u201d responded Pasamonte, \u201cto take it easy; those gentlemen didn\u2019t give you that staff of office for you to abuse us poor wretches but to lead and guide us to wherever His Majesty commands. If not, by the life of\u2026Enough! One day those dark stains at the inn may come to light, so let\u2019s all hold our tongues, and live well, and speak better, and keep walking; the joke\u2019s gone on too long.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The commissary raised his staff to strike Pasamonte in response to his threats, but Don Quixote placed himself between them and asked that he not abuse the prisoner, for it was not surprising that a man whose hands were so tightly bound would have a rather loose tongue. And turning to all those on the chain, he said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFrom everything you have said to me, dear brothers, I deduce that although you are being punished for your faults, the penalties you are about to suffer are not to your liking, and you go to them unwillingly and involuntarily; it might be that the lack of courage this one showed under torture, that one\u2019s need of money, another\u2019s lack of favor, and finally, the twisted judgment of the judge, have been the reason for your ruination, and for not having justice on your side. All of which is pictured in my <\/a>mind, and is telling, persuading, and even compelling me to show to all of you the reason that heaven put me in the world and made me profess the order of chivalry, which I do profess, and take the vow I took to favor those in need and those oppressed by the powerful. But, because I know that one of the rules of prudence is that what can be done by good means should not be done by bad, I want to ask these gentlemen, the guards and the commissary, to be so good as to unchain you and let you go in peace; there will be no lack of other men to serve the king under better circumstances, for to me it seems harsh to make slaves of those whom God and nature made free. Furthermore, these poor wretches have done nothing against you gentlemen. Each man must bear his own sin; there is a God in heaven who does not fail to punish the wicked or reward the good, and it is not right for honorable men to persecute other men who have not harmed them. I ask this quietly and calmly because if you comply, I shall have reason to thank you, and if you do not comply willingly, this lance and this sword, and the valor of this my arm, will force you to comply against your will.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cA fine piece of nonsense!\u201d responded the commissary. \u201cHe\u2019s finally come out with it! He wants us to let the king\u2019s prisoners go, as if we had the authority to free them or he had the authority to order us to do so! Your grace, Se\u00f1or, be on your way, and straighten that basin you\u2019re wearing on your head, and don\u2019t go around looking for a three-legged cat.\u201d165<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou are the cat, the rat, and the scoundrel!\u201d responded Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

Speaking and acting were all one, and he charged so quickly that he did not give the commissary time to defend himself and knocked him to the ground, wounding him with a thrust of his lance, and it was fortunate for Don Quixote that he did, for this was the man holding the flint-lock. The other guards were stunned, overwhelmed by this unexpected turn of events, but they came to their senses, and those on horseback put their hands on their swords, and those on foot grasped their javelins, and they charged Don Quixote, who very calmly waited for them; matters undoubtedly would have gone badly for him if the galley slaves, seeing the opportunity presented to them to obtain their freedom, had not attempted to achieve it by breaking the chain to which they were fettered. So great was the confusion that the guards, turning now to the galley slaves, who were breaking free, and now to Don Quixote, who was attacking them, did nothing of any use.<\/p>\r\n

Sancho, for his part, helped to free Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte, who was the first to leap into the battle free and unencumbered, and, rushing at the fallen commissary, he took his sword and flintlock, and by pointing it at one and aiming it at another, without ever firing he cleared the field of guards because they all fled from Pasamonte\u2019s flintlock and from the shower of stones that the galley slaves, who were free by now, were hurling at them.<\/p>\r\n

This made Sancho very sad, because it seemed to him that those who were fleeing would inform the Holy Brotherhood, who would then come looking for the lawbreakers, sounding the alarm, and he told this to his master and begged that they leave immediately and hide in the mountains, which were not far away.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat is all very well and good,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cbut I know what must be done now.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

And calling to all the galley slaves, who were in a state of frenzy and had stripped the commissary down to his skin, they gathered round to see what he wanted of them, and he said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt is customary for wellborn people to give thanks for the benefits they receive, and one of the sins that most offends God is ingratitude. I say this, Se\u00f1ores, because you have already seen and had manifest proof of what you have received from me, and in payment it is my wish and desire that, bearing the chain which I removed from your necks, you immediately set out for the city of Toboso, and there appear before the lady Dulcinea of Toboso, and say that her knight, he of the Sorrowful Face, commends himself to her, and you will tell her, point by point, every detail of this famous adventure, up to the moment when you achieved your desired freedom; having done this, you may go wherever you wish, and may good fortune go with you.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte responded for all of them, and he said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat your grace, our lord and liberator, orders us to do, is absolutely impossible for us to carry out, because we cannot travel the roads together but must go our separate ways, each man on his own, trying to burrow into the bowels of the earth so as not to be found by the Holy Brotherhood, who, beyond any doubt, will come looking for us. What your grace can do, and it is right and proper that you do so, is to change this service and tribute to the lady Dulcinea of Toboso into a certain number of Ave Mar\u00edas and Credos, which we will say on your grace\u2019s behalf, and this is something that can be done night or day, fleeing or at rest, at peace or at war; but to think that we will go back to our miseries in Egypt, I mean to say, that we will take up our chain and set out for <\/a>Toboso, is to think that night has fallen now when it is not yet ten in the morning; asking that of us is like asking pears of an elm tree.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, then, I do swear,\u201d said Don Quixote, his wrath rising, \u201cDon Whoreson, Don Ginesillo de Paropillo, or whatever your name is, that you will go alone, your tail between your legs, and the entire chain on your back!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Pasamonte was not a man of great forbearance; already aware that Don Quixote was not very sane, for he had done something so foolish as wanting to give them their freedom, and seeing himself spoken to in this way, he winked at his companions, and, moving a short distance away, they began to throw so many stones at Don Quixote that he could not even manage to protect himself with his shield, and poor Rocinante paid no more attention to his master\u2019s spurs than if he had been made of bronze. Sancho hid behind his donkey, protecting himself in this way from the hailstorm of rocks pouring down on them. Don Quixote could not shield himself as well as Sancho, for so many stones found their mark on his body, and with so much force, that they knocked him to the ground; as soon as he had fallen, the student attacked him and took the basin from his head and struck him three or four blows with it on his shoulders and smashed it an equal number of times on the ground until he had shattered it. They took a doublet he wore over his armor and would have taken his hose if the greaves of his leg armor had not prevented them from doing so. From Sancho they took his coat, leaving him in shirtsleeves; then, after dividing among themselves the other spoils of battle, each went his separate way, more concerned with escaping the Brotherhood, which they feared, than with picking up the chain and carrying it to the lady Dulcinea of Toboso.<\/p>\r\n

The donkey and Rocinante, Sancho and Don Quixote, were left alone; the donkey, pensive, with bowed head, twitching his ears from time to time, thinking that the tempest of stones had not yet ended and was still falling around his ears; Rocinante, lying beside his master, for he too had fallen to the ground in the shower of stones; Sancho, in his shirtsleeves and afraid of the Holy Brotherhood; Don Quixote, grief-stricken at seeing himself so injured by the very people for whom he had done so much good.<\/p>\r\n","rendered":"

CHAPTER XXII<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Regarding the liberty that Don Quixote gave to many unfortunate men who, against their wills, were being taken where they did not wish to go<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

It is recounted by Cide Hamete Benengeli, the Arabic and Manchegan author, in this most serious, high-sounding, detailed, sweet, and inventive history, that following the conversation between the famous Don Quixote of La Mancha and Sancho Panza, his squire, which is referred to at the end of chapter XXI, Don Quixote looked up and saw coming toward him on the same road he was traveling approximately twelve men on foot, strung together by their necks, like beads on a great iron chain, and all of them wearing manacles. Accompanying them were two men on horseback and two on foot; the ones on horseback had flintlocks, and those on foot carried javelins and swords; as soon as Sancho Panza saw them, he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a chain of galley slaves, people forced by the king to go to the galleys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean, forced?\u201d asked Don Quixote. \u201cIs it possible that the king forces anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cbut these are people who, because of their crimes, have been condemned to serve the king in the galleys, by force.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn short,\u201d replied Don Quixote, \u201cfor whatever reason, these people are being taken by force and not of their own free will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d said Sancho.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, in that case,\u201d said his master, \u201chere it is fitting to put into practice my profession: to right wrongs and come to the aid and assistance of the wretched.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour grace shouldn\u2019t forget,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cthat justice, which is the <\/a>king himself, does not force or do wrong to such people, but sentences them as punishment for their crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

By now the chain of galley slaves had reached them, and Don Quixote, with very courteous speech, asked those who were guarding them to be so kind as to inform him and tell him the reason or reasons those people were being taken away in that fashion.<\/p>\n

One of the mounted guards responded that they were galley slaves, His Majesty\u2019s prisoners who were condemned to the galleys, and there was nothing more to say and nothing else he had to know.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven so,\u201d replied Don Quixote, \u201cI should like to know the particular reason for each one\u2019s misfortune.\u201d<\/p>\n

To these words he added others so civil and discreet to persuade them to tell him what he wished to hear that the other mounted guard said:<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we have the record and certificate of sentence of each of these wretched men, this is not the proper time to stop and take them out and read them; your grace may approach and question the prisoners, and they will tell you themselves if they wish to, and they will, because these are people who take pleasure in doing and saying false and wicked things.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this authorization, which Don Quixote would have taken even if it had not been granted to him, he approached the chain and asked the first man what sins he had committed to be taken away in so unpleasant a manner. He responded that it was on account of his being a lover.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that all?\u201d replied Don Quixote. \u201cIf they throw men in the galleys for being lovers, I should have been rowing in one long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t the kind of love your grace is thinking about,\u201d said the galley slave. \u201cMine was a great love for a laundry basket filled with linen, and I loved it so much and embraced it so tightly that if the law hadn\u2019t taken it from me by force, to this day I wouldn\u2019t have let go of it willingly. I was caught red-handed, there was no need for torture, the trial concluded, they kissed my back a hundred times, gave me three in the gurapas, and that was the end of that.\u201d160<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are gurapas?\u201d asked Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

\u201cGurapas are galleys,\u201d responded the galley slave.<\/p>\n

He was a young man, about twenty-four years old, who said he was a native of Piedrah\u00edta. Don Quixote asked the same question of the sec-<\/a>ond man, who was so downcast and melancholy he did not say a word, but the first prisoner responded for him and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis man, Se\u00f1or, is being taken away for being a canary, I mean a musician and singer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Don Quixote repeated. \u201cMen also go to the galleys for being musicians and singers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Se\u00f1or,\u201d responded the galley slave, \u201cbecause there\u2019s nothing worse than singing when you\u2019re in difficulty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have heard it said,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cthat troubles take wing for the man who can sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere just the opposite is true,\u201d said the galley slave. \u201cWarble once, and you weep the rest of your days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not understand,\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

But one of the guards told him:<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or, among these non sancta<\/span> people, singing when you\u2019re in difficulty means confessing under torture. They tortured this sinner and he confessed his crime, which was rustling, or stealing livestock, and because he confessed he was sentenced to six years in the galleys, plus two hundred lashes, which he already bears on his back; he\u2019s always very downhearted and sad because the rest of the thieves, the ones he left behind and the ones who are traveling with him, abuse and humiliate and insult him, and think very little of him, because he confessed and didn\u2019t have the courage to say his nos. Because they say no<\/span> has even fewer letters than yes,<\/span> and a criminal is very lucky when his life or death depends on his own words and not on those of witnesses, or on evidence, and in my opinion, they\u2019re not too far off the mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is my understanding as well,\u201d responded Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

He passed on to the third prisoner and asked the question he had asked the others, and the man responded immediately, with great assurance, and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to my ladies the gurapas for five years because I didn\u2019t have ten gold ducados<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI should gladly give twenty,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cto free you from this sorrowful burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat seems to me,\u201d responded the galley slave, \u201clike a man who has money in the middle of the ocean and is dying of hunger and doesn\u2019t have a place where he can buy what he needs. I say this because if I\u2019d had those twenty ducados<\/span> your grace is offering me now at the right time, I\u2019d have greased the quill of the clerk and sharpened the wits of my attorney, <\/a>and today I\u2019d be in the middle of the Plaza de Zocodover in Toledo and not on this road, chained up like a greyhound; but God is great: all you need is patience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don Quixote passed on to the fourth prisoner, a man of venerable countenance with a white beard that hung down to his chest; hearing himself asked the reason for his being there, he began to weep and did not say a word in reply; but the fifth prisoner served as his interpreter and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis honest man is going to the galleys for four years, having been paraded through the usual streets in robes of state and on horseback.\u201d161<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

\u201cThat, it seems to me,\u201d said Sancho Panza, \u201cmeans he was shamed in public.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d replied the galley slave. \u201cAnd the crime he was punished for was trading in ears, and even in entire bodies. In other words, I mean that this gentleman is going to the galleys for being a go-between,162<\/a><\/span><\/sup> and for having a hint and a touch of the sorcerer about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had not added that hint and touch,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cfor simply being an honest go-between, he does not deserve to be sent to the galleys to row, but to lead and command. Because the position of go-between is not for just anyone; it is an office for the discreet, one that is very necessary in a well-ordered nation and should not be practiced except by the wellborn; there should be supervisors and examiners of go-betweens, as there are for other professions, with a fixed number of known appointees, similar to brokers on the exchange, and in this way many evils would be avoided which are caused because this practice and profession is filled with idiotic and dim-witted people, such as foolish women, pages, and rascals with few years and little experience; when the occasion demands that they find a solution to an important problem, they allow the crumbs to freeze between their hand and their mouth and do not know their right hand from their left. I should like to continue and give reasons why it is appropriate to choose carefully those who fulfill so necessary a function in the nation, but this is not the proper place: one day I shall speak about it to someone who can remedy the situation. For now I shall say only that the sorrow caused in me at seeing this old white head and venerable face in so much distress for being a go-between is mitigated by his being a sorcerer, although I know very well there is no sorcery in the world that can move and compel our desires, as <\/a>some simpleminded folk believe; our will is free, and there is no herb or spell that can force it. What certain foolish women and lying scoundrels do is prepare concoctions and poisons with which they drive men mad, claiming they have the power to make one person love another, when, as I say, it is impossible to compel desire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d said the old man, \u201cand in fact, Se\u00f1or, in the matter of sorcery I was innocent; in the matter of being a go-between, I could not deny it. But I never thought I was doing wrong: my entire intention was for everybody to be happy and to live in peace and harmony, without discord or distress; but this virtuous desire did not prevent me from being sent to a place from which I do not expect to return, given the burden of my years and a urinary problem that does not give me a moment\u2019s peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

And here he began to weep again, as he had earlier, and Sancho felt so much compassion for him that he took a four-real<\/span> coin from inside his shirt and gave it to him as alms.<\/p>\n

Don Quixote moved on and asked another prisoner his crime, and he responded with not less but much more spirit and wit than the previous man:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here because I made too merry with two girls who were cousins of mine, and with two other sisters who weren\u2019t mine; in short, I made so merry with all of them, and the merriment complicated my family relations so much, that not even the devil can straighten it out. The case was proved, nobody showed me favor, I had no money, I almost had my gullet in a noose, they sentenced me to six years in the galleys, and I agreed: it\u2019s a punishment for my crime; I\u2019m young; just let me stay alive, because where there\u2019s life there\u2019s hope. If your grace, Se\u00f1or, has something to help these poor men, God will reward you in heaven, and here on earth we\u2019ll be sure to ask God in our devotions that the life and well-being of your grace be as long-lasting and as fine as your meritorious person deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was dressed as a student, and one of the guards said he was a great talker and clever in Latin.<\/p>\n

Behind all of them came a man of about thirty who was very good-looking except that one eye tended to veer slightly toward the other. He was shackled differently from the rest, because around his foot was a chain so large it encircled his entire body, and there were two fetters around his neck, one attached to the chain and the other, the kind called a keeper or a brace,163<\/a><\/span><\/sup> from which there hung two irons that <\/a>reached to his waist, and on these were two manacles holding his hands and locked with a heavy padlock, so that he could not raise his hands to his mouth or lower his head to his hands. Don Quixote asked why that man wore so many more shackles than the others. The guard responded that it was because he alone had committed more crimes than all the rest combined, and was so daring and such a great villain that even though he was bound in this way, they still did not feel secure about him and were afraid he would escape.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat crimes can they be,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cif they have deserved no greater punishment than his being sent to the galleys?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going for ten years,\u201d replied the guard, \u201cwhich is like a civil death. All you need to know is that this is the famous Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte, also known as Ginesillo de Parapilla.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Commissary,\u201d the galley slave said, \u201cjust take it easy and let\u2019s not go around dropping all kinds of names and surnames. My name is Gin\u00e9s, not Ginesillo, and my family is from Pasamonte, not Parapilla, as you\u2019ve said; and if each man looks to his own affairs, he\u2019ll have plenty to tend to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep a civil tongue,\u201d replied the commissary, \u201cyou great thief, unless you want me to shut you up in a way you won\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly seems,\u201d responded the galley slave, \u201cthat man proposes and God disposes, but one day somebody will know whether or not my name is Ginesillo de Parapilla.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t they call you that, you liar?\u201d said the guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s, \u201cbut I\u2019ll make sure they don\u2019t, or I\u2019ll tear out their hair and they know where. Se\u00f1or, if you have anything to give us, give it and go with God; your wanting to know so much about other people\u2019s lives is becoming irritating, but if you want to know about mine, know that I\u2019m Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte, whose life has been written by these very fingers.\u201d164<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s telling the truth,\u201d said the commissary. \u201cHe wrote his own history himself, as fine as you please, and he pawned the book for two hundred reales<\/span> and left it in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I intend to redeem it,\u201d said Gin\u00e9s, \u201ceven for two hundred ducados.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it that good?\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so good,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s, \u201cthat it\u2019s too bad for Lazarillo de Tormes<\/span> and all the other books of that genre that have been or will be written. What I can tell your grace is that it deals with truths, and they are truths so appealing and entertaining that no lies can equal them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what is the title of the book?\u201d asked Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Life of Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte,\u201d<\/span> Gin\u00e9s replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd is it finished?\u201d asked Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can it be finished,\u201d he responded, \u201cif my life isn\u2019t finished yet? What I\u2019ve written goes from my birth to the moment when they sentenced me to the galleys this last time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you have been there before?\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo serve God and the king, I\u2019ve already spent four years on the galleys, and I know the taste of the hardtack and the overseer\u2019s whip,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not too sorry to go there, because I\u2019ll have time to finish my book, for I still have lots of things to say, and on the galleys of Spain there\u2019s more leisure than I\u2019ll need, though I don\u2019t need much for what I have to write because I know it by heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou seem clever,\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd unfortunate,\u201d responded Gin\u00e9s, \u201cbecause misfortunes always pursue the talented.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pursue villains,\u201d said the commissary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve already told you, Se\u00f1or Commissary,\u201d responded Pasamonte, \u201cto take it easy; those gentlemen didn\u2019t give you that staff of office for you to abuse us poor wretches but to lead and guide us to wherever His Majesty commands. If not, by the life of\u2026Enough! One day those dark stains at the inn may come to light, so let\u2019s all hold our tongues, and live well, and speak better, and keep walking; the joke\u2019s gone on too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commissary raised his staff to strike Pasamonte in response to his threats, but Don Quixote placed himself between them and asked that he not abuse the prisoner, for it was not surprising that a man whose hands were so tightly bound would have a rather loose tongue. And turning to all those on the chain, he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom everything you have said to me, dear brothers, I deduce that although you are being punished for your faults, the penalties you are about to suffer are not to your liking, and you go to them unwillingly and involuntarily; it might be that the lack of courage this one showed under torture, that one\u2019s need of money, another\u2019s lack of favor, and finally, the twisted judgment of the judge, have been the reason for your ruination, and for not having justice on your side. All of which is pictured in my <\/a>mind, and is telling, persuading, and even compelling me to show to all of you the reason that heaven put me in the world and made me profess the order of chivalry, which I do profess, and take the vow I took to favor those in need and those oppressed by the powerful. But, because I know that one of the rules of prudence is that what can be done by good means should not be done by bad, I want to ask these gentlemen, the guards and the commissary, to be so good as to unchain you and let you go in peace; there will be no lack of other men to serve the king under better circumstances, for to me it seems harsh to make slaves of those whom God and nature made free. Furthermore, these poor wretches have done nothing against you gentlemen. Each man must bear his own sin; there is a God in heaven who does not fail to punish the wicked or reward the good, and it is not right for honorable men to persecute other men who have not harmed them. I ask this quietly and calmly because if you comply, I shall have reason to thank you, and if you do not comply willingly, this lance and this sword, and the valor of this my arm, will force you to comply against your will.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA fine piece of nonsense!\u201d responded the commissary. \u201cHe\u2019s finally come out with it! He wants us to let the king\u2019s prisoners go, as if we had the authority to free them or he had the authority to order us to do so! Your grace, Se\u00f1or, be on your way, and straighten that basin you\u2019re wearing on your head, and don\u2019t go around looking for a three-legged cat.\u201d165<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are the cat, the rat, and the scoundrel!\u201d responded Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

Speaking and acting were all one, and he charged so quickly that he did not give the commissary time to defend himself and knocked him to the ground, wounding him with a thrust of his lance, and it was fortunate for Don Quixote that he did, for this was the man holding the flint-lock. The other guards were stunned, overwhelmed by this unexpected turn of events, but they came to their senses, and those on horseback put their hands on their swords, and those on foot grasped their javelins, and they charged Don Quixote, who very calmly waited for them; matters undoubtedly would have gone badly for him if the galley slaves, seeing the opportunity presented to them to obtain their freedom, had not attempted to achieve it by breaking the chain to which they were fettered. So great was the confusion that the guards, turning now to the galley slaves, who were breaking free, and now to Don Quixote, who was attacking them, did nothing of any use.<\/p>\n

Sancho, for his part, helped to free Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte, who was the first to leap into the battle free and unencumbered, and, rushing at the fallen commissary, he took his sword and flintlock, and by pointing it at one and aiming it at another, without ever firing he cleared the field of guards because they all fled from Pasamonte\u2019s flintlock and from the shower of stones that the galley slaves, who were free by now, were hurling at them.<\/p>\n

This made Sancho very sad, because it seemed to him that those who were fleeing would inform the Holy Brotherhood, who would then come looking for the lawbreakers, sounding the alarm, and he told this to his master and begged that they leave immediately and hide in the mountains, which were not far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is all very well and good,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cbut I know what must be done now.\u201d<\/p>\n

And calling to all the galley slaves, who were in a state of frenzy and had stripped the commissary down to his skin, they gathered round to see what he wanted of them, and he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is customary for wellborn people to give thanks for the benefits they receive, and one of the sins that most offends God is ingratitude. I say this, Se\u00f1ores, because you have already seen and had manifest proof of what you have received from me, and in payment it is my wish and desire that, bearing the chain which I removed from your necks, you immediately set out for the city of Toboso, and there appear before the lady Dulcinea of Toboso, and say that her knight, he of the Sorrowful Face, commends himself to her, and you will tell her, point by point, every detail of this famous adventure, up to the moment when you achieved your desired freedom; having done this, you may go wherever you wish, and may good fortune go with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gin\u00e9s de Pasamonte responded for all of them, and he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat your grace, our lord and liberator, orders us to do, is absolutely impossible for us to carry out, because we cannot travel the roads together but must go our separate ways, each man on his own, trying to burrow into the bowels of the earth so as not to be found by the Holy Brotherhood, who, beyond any doubt, will come looking for us. What your grace can do, and it is right and proper that you do so, is to change this service and tribute to the lady Dulcinea of Toboso into a certain number of Ave Mar\u00edas and Credos, which we will say on your grace\u2019s behalf, and this is something that can be done night or day, fleeing or at rest, at peace or at war; but to think that we will go back to our miseries in Egypt, I mean to say, that we will take up our chain and set out for <\/a>Toboso, is to think that night has fallen now when it is not yet ten in the morning; asking that of us is like asking pears of an elm tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then, I do swear,\u201d said Don Quixote, his wrath rising, \u201cDon Whoreson, Don Ginesillo de Paropillo, or whatever your name is, that you will go alone, your tail between your legs, and the entire chain on your back!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pasamonte was not a man of great forbearance; already aware that Don Quixote was not very sane, for he had done something so foolish as wanting to give them their freedom, and seeing himself spoken to in this way, he winked at his companions, and, moving a short distance away, they began to throw so many stones at Don Quixote that he could not even manage to protect himself with his shield, and poor Rocinante paid no more attention to his master\u2019s spurs than if he had been made of bronze. Sancho hid behind his donkey, protecting himself in this way from the hailstorm of rocks pouring down on them. Don Quixote could not shield himself as well as Sancho, for so many stones found their mark on his body, and with so much force, that they knocked him to the ground; as soon as he had fallen, the student attacked him and took the basin from his head and struck him three or four blows with it on his shoulders and smashed it an equal number of times on the ground until he had shattered it. They took a doublet he wore over his armor and would have taken his hose if the greaves of his leg armor had not prevented them from doing so. From Sancho they took his coat, leaving him in shirtsleeves; then, after dividing among themselves the other spoils of battle, each went his separate way, more concerned with escaping the Brotherhood, which they feared, than with picking up the chain and carrying it to the lady Dulcinea of Toboso.<\/p>\n

The donkey and Rocinante, Sancho and Don Quixote, were left alone; the donkey, pensive, with bowed head, twitching his ears from time to time, thinking that the tempest of stones had not yet ended and was still falling around his ears; Rocinante, lying beside his master, for he too had fallen to the ground in the shower of stones; Sancho, in his shirtsleeves and afraid of the Holy Brotherhood; Don Quixote, grief-stricken at seeing himself so injured by the very people for whom he had done so much good.<\/p>\n

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