{"id":206,"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-xxv-2\/"},"modified":"2021-07-12T14:37:35","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T14:37:35","slug":"first-part-part-three-chapter-xxv","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/chapter\/first-part-part-three-chapter-xxv\/","title":{"rendered":"First Part. Part Three. Chapter XXV"},"content":{"raw":"CHAPTER XXV (click to read it in Spanish)<\/em><\/a>\r\n
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Which tells of the strange events that befell the valiant knight of La Mancha in the Sierra Morena, and of his imitation of the penance of Beltenebros<\/span> 173<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

Don Quixote took his leave of the goatherd, and mounting Rocinante once again, he told Sancho to follow him, which he did, on his donkey, very unwillingly.[footnote]Cervantes forgot to correct this\u00a0sentence when he inserted in the second edition the story of the theft of Sancho's donkey in chapter XXIII<\/a>. It was only in\u00a0the edition printed by Roger Velpius in Brussels in 1607<\/a> that this textual inconsistency disappeared whereas the third edition printed in 1608<\/a> kept the misplaced allusion to Sancho's ass at the beginning of chapter XXV<\/a>.[\/footnote] Gradually they were entering the most rugged part of the mountains, and Sancho, longing to talk to his master but not wanting to disobey his orders, waited for him to begin the conversation; unable to endure so much silence, however, Sancho said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Don Quixote, your grace should give me your blessing and let me leave, because now I want to go back to my house and my wife and children, for with them, at least, I\u2019ll talk and speak all I want; your grace wanting me to go with you through these deserted places by day and by night without talking whenever I feel like it is like burying me alive. If animals could still talk the way they did in the days of Guisopete,174<\/a><\/span><\/sup> it wouldn\u2019t be so bad because I could talk to my donkey whenever I wanted to, and that would help me bear my misfortunes; it\u2019s a hard thing, and not something to be borne patiently, when a man searches his whole life and doesn\u2019t find anything but kicks and tossings in a blanket, stones and fists hitting him, and still he has to keep his mouth shut tight, not daring to say what\u2019s in his heart, like a mute.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI understand you very well, Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote. \u201cYou long to have the interdiction which I have placed on your tongue lifted. Consider it lifted and say whatever you wish, on the condition that this <\/a>license lasts no longer than the time we spend traveling through these mountains.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d said Sancho. \u201cLet me talk now, for only God knows what will happen later, and I\u2019ll begin to enjoy this freedom now and ask why was it that your grace defended so strongly that Queen Magimasa or whatever her name is? And what difference did it make if that abbot175<\/a><\/span><\/sup> was her lover or not? For if your grace had let it pass, since you weren\u2019t her judge, I think the madman would have gone on with his story, and we would have avoided stones, and kicks, and more than half a dozen punches.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBy my faith, Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cif you knew, as I do, what an honorable and distinguished lady Queen Mad\u00e1sima was, I know you would say that I showed a good deal of forbearance, for I did not smash the mouth that uttered such blasphemies. Because it is an exceedingly great blasphemy to say or think that a queen would take a surgeon as her lover. The truth of the matter is that Master Elisabat, mentioned by the madman, was a very prudent man and a wise counselor, and he served as tutor and physician to the queen, but to think that she was his mistress is an outrage deserving of the most severe punishment. And so that you may see that Cardenio did not know what he was saying, you should realize that when he said it, he was not in his right mind.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just what I\u2019m saying,\u201d said Sancho. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t any reason to pay attention to the words of a madman, because if luck hadn\u2019t been with your grace, and the stone had hit your head the way it hit your chest, then what kind of condition would we have been in to defend that lady, may God confound her! And, by my faith, Cardenio would\u2019ve been pardoned because he\u2019s crazy!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAgainst sane men and madmen, every knight errant is obliged to defend the honor of ladies, no matter who they may be, and especially queens of such high birth and distinction as Queen Mad\u00e1sima, for whom I have a particular regard because of her many virtues; in addition to being beauteous, she was also very prudent and long-suffering in her calamities, of which she had many, and the advice and companionship of Master Elisabat were of great benefit and comfort to her and helped her to endure her travail with prudence and patience. And the vulgar and low-born took advantage of this to say and think that she was his mistress; and I say that all those who say and think such a thing lie, and lie again, and will lie another two hundred times whenever they say or think it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI don\u2019t say it and I don\u2019t think it,\u201d responded Sancho. \u201cIt\u2019s their af<\/a>fair and let them eat it with their bread; whether or not they were lovers, they\u2019ve already made their accounting with God; I tend to my vines, it\u2019s their business, not mine; I don\u2019t stick my nose in; if you buy and lie, your purse wants to know why. Besides, naked I was born, and naked I\u2019ll die: I don\u2019t lose or gain a thing; whatever they were, it\u2019s all the same to me. And many folks think there\u2019s bacon when there\u2019s not even a hook to hang it on. But who can put doors on a field? Let them say what they please, I don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cLord save me!\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cWhat a lot of foolish things you put on the same thread, Sancho! What does the subject of our conversation have to do with the proverbs you string together like beads? If you value your life, Sancho, be quiet, and from now on tend to spurring your donkey and leave matters alone that do not concern you. And know with all five of your senses that everything I have done, am doing, and shall do follows the dictates of reason and the laws of chivalry, which I know better than all the knights in the world who have ever professed them.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cis it a law of chivalry that we should wander through these mountains with no path or direction, looking for a madman who, when he\u2019s found, may feel like finishing what he began, and I don\u2019t mean his story but your grace\u2019s head and my ribs, and break them completely?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI tell you again, Sancho, to be quiet,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cbecause you should know that it is not only my desire to find the madman that brings me to these parts, but also my desire to here perform a deed that will bring me perpetual fame and renown throughout the known world; and it will be so great a deed that with it I shall put the crowning touch on all that can make a knight errant perfect and worthy of fame.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd is this deed very dangerous?\u201d asked Sancho Panza.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cNo,\u201d responded the Knight of the Sorrowful Face, \u201calthough depending on luck and the throw of the dice, our fortunes may be either favorable or adverse, but everything will depend on your diligence.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cOn my diligence?\u201d said Sancho.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cbecause if you return quickly from the place where I intend to send you, then my suffering will end quickly and my glory will quickly commence. And since it is not right to keep you in suspense, waiting to hear where my words will lead, I want you, Sancho, to know that the famous Amad\u00eds of Gaul was one of the most perfect knights errant. I have misspoken: not one of,<\/span> but the sole, the first, the <\/a>only, the lord of all those in the world during his lifetime. Bad luck and worse fortune for Don Belian\u00eds and for anyone else who may claim to be his equal in anything, because, by my troth, they are deceived. I say, too, that when a painter wishes to win fame in his art, he attempts to copy the original works of the most talented painters he knows; this same rule applies to all the important occupations and professions that serve to embellish nations, and it must be, and is, followed when the man who wishes to be known as prudent and long-suffering imitates Ulysses, in whose person and hardships Homer painted a living portrait of prudence and forbearance; Virgil, too, in the person of Aeneas, portrayed for us the valor of a devoted son and the sagacity of a valiant and experienced captain; they were depicted and described not as they were, but as they should have been, to serve as examples of virtue to men who came after them. In the same manner, Amad\u00eds was the polestar, the morning star, the sun to valiant, enamored knights, the one who should be imitated by all of us who serve under the banner of love and chivalry. This being true, and it is, then I deduce, friend Sancho, that the knight errant who most closely imitates Amad\u00eds will be closest to attaining chivalric perfection. And one of the things in which this knight most clearly showed his prudence, valor, courage, patience, constancy, and love was when, scorned by the Lady Oriana, he withdrew to do penance on the Pe\u00f1a Pobre,176<\/a><\/span><\/sup> calling himself Beltenebros, a name truly significant and suited to the life he voluntarily had chosen. It is, therefore, easier for me to imitate him in this fashion than by cleaving giants in two, beheading serpents, slaying dragons, routing armies, thwarting armadas, and undoing enchantments. And since this terrain is so appropriate for achieving that end, there is no reason not to seize Opportunity by the forelock177<\/a><\/span><\/sup> when it is convenient to do so.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIn fact,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cwhat is it that your grace wants to do in this lonely place?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHave I not told you already,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cthat I wish to imitate Amad\u00eds, playing the part of one who is desperate, a fool, a madman, thereby imitating as well the valiant Don Roland when he discovered in a fountain the signs that Angelica the Fair had committed base acts with Medoro, and his grief drove him mad, and he uprooted <\/a>trees, befouled the waters of clear fountains, killed shepherds, destroyed livestock, burned huts, demolished houses, pulled down mares, and did a hundred thousand other unheard-of things worthy of eternal renown and record? And since I do not intend to imitate Roland, or Rold\u00e1n, or Orlando, or Rotolando (for he had all those names) in every detail of all the mad things he did, said, and thought, I shall, to the best of my ability, sketch an outline of those that seem most essential to me. And it well may be that I shall be content with the imitation solely of Amad\u00eds, who, with no harmful mad acts but only outbursts of weeping and grief, achieved as much fame as anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt seems to me,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cthat the knights who did these things were provoked and had a reason to do senseless things and penances; but what reason does your grace have for going crazy? What lady has scorned you, and what signs have you found to tell you that my lady Dulcinea of Toboso has done anything foolish with Moor or Christian?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTherein lies the virtue,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cand the excellence of my enterprise, for a knight errant deserves neither glory nor thanks if he goes mad for a reason. The great achievement is to lose one\u2019s reason for no reason, and to let my lady know that if I can do this without cause, what should I not do if there were cause? Moreover, I have more than enough reason because of my long absence from her who is forever my lady, Dulcinea of Toboso; as you heard the shepherd Ambrosio say, all ills are suffered and feared by one who is absent. And so, friend Sancho, do not waste time advising me to abandon so rare, so felicitous, so extraordinary an imitation. Mad I am and mad I shall remain until you return with the reply to a letter which I intend to send with you to my lady Dulcinea; if it is such as my fidelity warrants, my madness and my penance will come to an end; if it is not, I shall truly go mad and not feel anything. Therefore, no matter her reply, I shall emerge from the struggle and travail in which you leave me, taking pleasure as a sane man in the good news you bring, or, as a madman, not suffering on account of the bad news you bear. But tell me, Sancho, have you kept the helmet of Mambrino safe? For I saw you pick it up from the ground when that ingrate tried to shatter it. But he could not, and in this we can see how finely it is tempered.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

To which Sancho responded:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBy God, Se\u00f1or Knight of the Sorrowful Face, but I lose my patience and can\u2019t bear some of the things your grace says; because of them I even imagine that everything you tell me about chivalry, and winning kingdoms and empires, and giving me \u00ednsulas and granting me other favors <\/a>and honors, as is the custom of knights errant, must be nothing but empty talk and lies, and all a hamburg or a humbug or whatever you call it. Because if anyone heard your grace calling a barber\u2019s basin the helmet of Mambrino without realizing the error after more than four days, what could he think but that whoever says and claims such a thing must be out of his mind? I have the basin in the bag, all dented, and I\u2019m taking it along so I can fix it when I get home, and use it to trim my beard, if someday, by the grace of God, I ever find myself with my wife and children again.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, Sancho, by the same oath you swore before, I swear to you,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cthat you have the dimmest wits that any squire in the world has or ever had. Is it possible that in all the time you have traveled with me you have not yet noticed that all things having to do with knights errant appear to be chimerical, foolish, senseless, and turned inside out? And not because they really are, but because hordes of enchanters always walk among us and alter and change everything and turn things into whatever they please, according to whether they wish to favor us or destroy us; and so, what seems to you a barber\u2019s basin seems to me the helmet of Mambrino, and will seem another thing to someone else. It was rare foresight on the part of the wise man who favors me to make what is really and truly the helmet of Mambrino seem a basin to everyone else, because it is held in such high esteem that everyone would pursue me in order to take it from me; but since they see it as only a barber\u2019s basin, they do not attempt to obtain it, as was evident when that man tried to shatter it, then left it on the ground, not taking it away with him; by my faith, if he had recognized it for what it was he never would have left it behind. Keep it, my friend, since I have no need of it for the moment; rather, I must remove all this armor and be as naked as the day I was born, if I wish in my penance to follow Roland more than Amad\u00eds.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

As they were conversing, they came to the foot of a high mountain, which, almost like a peak carved out of the rock, stood alone among the many others that surrounded it. At its base there flowed a gentle stream, and all around it lay a meadow so green and luxuriant it brought joy to the eyes that gazed upon it. There were many woodland trees and plants and flowers, making it a peaceful spot. The Knight of the Sorrowful Face chose this place to carry out his penance, and so, as soon as he saw it, he began to say in a loud voice, as if he had lost his reason:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis is the place I designate and choose, O heavens, to weep for the misfortune to which you have condemned me. This is the place where the humor of my eyes will increase the waters of this small stream, and my continual deep sighs will constantly move the leaves of these un-<\/a>tamed trees in testimony to and as proof of the grief that afflicts my troubled heart. And O you rustic gods, whoever you may be, who dwell in this desolate place, hear the laments of this unfortunate lover, brought by long absence and imagined jealousy to this harsh terrain to complain and weep over the unyielding nature of that ungrateful beauty, the culmination and perfection of all human comeliness. O you nymphs and dryads, who are wont to dwell in thickets and forests, loved, although in vain, by wanton and lustful satyrs, may they ne\u2019er disturb your sweet tranquility and may you help me lament my misfortune, or at least not grow weary of hearing it! O Dulcinea of Toboso, day of my night, glory of my grief, guide of my travels, star of my good fortune, may heaven grant all that thou mayest request just as thou considereth the place and plight to which thy absence hath led me and respondeth with the favor merited by my faithfulness! O solitary trees that from this day forth will accompany my solitude, give a sign, with the gentle movement of your branches, that my presence doth not displease you! O thou, my squire, amiable companion of my favorable and adverse adventures, take note and fix in thy mind what thou wilt see me do here, so that thou mayest recount and relate it to the sole cause of all my actions!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

And having said this, he dismounted Rocinante and in an instant removed the bit and saddle, and slapping the horse on the rump, he said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cLiberty is given to thee by him who hath none, O steed as great in thy deeds as thou art unfortunate in thy destiny! Goest thou whither thou wilt, for on thy forehead it is written that the Hippogryph of Astolfo was not thy equal in speed, nor the renowned Frontino that cost Bradamante so dear.\u201d178<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\r\n

Seeing this, Sancho said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cGood luck to whoever spared us the trouble of unsaddling the gray;179<\/a><\/span><\/sup> <\/a>by my faith, we would have plenty of little slaps to give that donkey, and plenty of things to say in his praise, but if he were here, I wouldn\u2019t agree to anybody unsaddling him, because there\u2019d be no reason to; he couldn\u2019t be described as a lover or desperate, since his master, who was me so long as God was willing, wasn\u2019t those things either. The truth is, Se\u00f1or Knight of the Sorrowful Face, that if my leaving and your grace\u2019s madness are serious, it would be a good idea to saddle Rocinante again and let him take the place of the gray, which would make my going and coming shorter; if I make the trip on foot, I don\u2019t know when I\u2019ll arrive or when I\u2019ll get back, because, to make a long story short, I\u2019m a very poor walker.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat I say, Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cis that it will be as you wish, for your plan does not seem to be a bad one, and I also say that three days hence you will leave here, because in that time I want you to see what I do and say for her sake, so that you can recount it to her.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut what else do I have to see,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cbesides what I\u2019ve seen already?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHow little you know!\u201d responded Don Quixote. \u201cNow I have to tear my clothes, toss aside my armor, and hit my head against these rocks, along with other things of that nature, all of which will astonish you.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFor the love of God,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cyour grace should be careful how you go around hitting your head, because you might come up against a boulder that\u2019s so hard that with the first blow you put an end to the whole plan for this penance; in my opinion, if your grace believes that hitting your head is necessary and you can\u2019t do this thing without it, you should be content, since it\u2019s all make-believe and fake and a joke, with knocking your head on water or something else that\u2019s soft, like cotton; leave the rest to me, and I\u2019ll tell my lady that your grace was hitting your head against the sharp edge of a boulder that was harder than a diamond.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI thank you for your good intentions, friend Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cbut I want you to realize that all the things I am doing are not jokes but very real; otherwise, I would be contravening the rules of chivalry that command us never to lie, or else suffer the punishment of those who relapse into sin, and doing one thing instead of another is the same as lying. And so, my head hittings have to be real, solid, and true, with no sophistry or fantasy about them. And it will be necessary for you <\/a>to leave me some lint bandages to heal my wounds, since it was our misfortune to lose the balm.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cLosing the donkey was more serious,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cbecause when we lost him we lost the bandages and everything else. And I beg your grace to say no more about that cursed potion; just hearing its name turns my soul, not to mention my stomach. And I beg something else: just assume that the three days you gave me to see the mad things you do have already passed, because as far as I\u2019m concerned, I\u2019ve seen them, and judged them, and will tell wonderful things about them to my lady; so write the letter now and send me on my way, because I have a great desire to come back and take your grace out of this purgatory where I\u2019m leaving you.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou call it purgatory, Sancho?\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cYou would do better to call it hell, and even worse, if anything can be worse.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhoever\u2019s in hell,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cnulla es retencio,<\/span> 180<\/a><\/span><\/sup> or so I\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

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

\u201cRetencio<\/span> means,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cthat whoever\u2019s in hell never gets out and can\u2019t get out. Which is just the opposite of your grace, unless my feet go the wrong way when I use the spurs to liven up Rocinante; just put me once and for all in Toboso, before my lady Dulcinea, and I\u2019ll tell her such wonders about the foolish things and the crazy things, because they amount to the same thing, that your grace has done and is still doing that she\u2019ll become softer than a glove even if I find her harder than a cork tree; with her sweet and honeyed reply I\u2019ll come flying back through the air, like a wizard, and I\u2019ll take your grace out of this purgatory that seems like hell but isn\u2019t, since there\u2019s a hope of getting out, which, as I said before, the people in hell don\u2019t have, and I don\u2019t think your grace will say otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat is true,\u201d said the Knight of the Sorrowful Face, \u201cbut what shall we use to write the letter?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd the order for the donkeys, too,\u201d181<\/a><\/span><\/sup> added Sancho.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cEverything will be included,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cand it would be a good idea, since we have no paper, to write it, as the ancients did, on the leaves of trees, or on some wax tablets, although they would be as diffi<\/a>cult to find now as paper. But it occurs to me that it would be good, and even better than good, to write it in the notebook that belonged to Cardenio, and you will take care to have it transcribed onto paper, in a fine hand, in the first town you come to where there is a schoolmaster, or else some sacristan can transcribe it for you, but do not give it to any notary, for their writing is so difficult to read that not even Satan can understand it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd what do we do about the signature?\u201d said Sancho.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe letters of Amad\u00eds were never signed,\u201d responded Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cbut the order must be signed, and if it\u2019s copied they\u2019ll say the signature is false, and I won\u2019t have my donkeys.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe order will be written in the same notebook, and it will be signed, and when my niece sees it, there will be no difficulty putting it into effect. As for the love letter, as a signature you will have them put: \u2018Thine until death, the Knight of the Sorrowful Face.\u2019 And it will not matter if it is written in another\u2019s hand, because, if I remember correctly, Dulcinea does not know how to read or write, and never in her life has she seen my writing or a letter of mine, because my love and her love have always been platonic, not going beyond a virtuous glance. And even this was so infrequent that I could truly swear that in the twelve years I have loved her more than the light of these eyes that will be consumed by the earth, I have not seen her more than four times; and it well may be that with regard to these four times, she might not have noticed the one time I looked at her; such is the retirement and seclusion in which her father, Lorenzo Corchuelo, and her mother, Aldonza Nogales, have reared her.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, well!\u201d said Sancho. \u201cAre you saying that Lorenzo Corchuelo\u2019s daughter, also known as Aldonza Lorenzo, is the lady Dulcinea of Toboso?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cShe is,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cand she is worthy of being lady and mistress of the entire universe.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI know her very well,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cand I can say that she can throw a metal bar just as well as the brawniest lad in the village. Praise our Maker, she\u2019s a fine girl in every way, sturdy as a horse, and just the one to pull any knight errant or about to be errant, who has her for his lady, right out of any mudhole he\u2019s fallen into! Damn, but she\u2019s strong! And what a voice she has! I can tell you that one day she stood on top of the village bell tower to call some shepherds who were in one of her fa<\/a>ther\u2019s fields, and even though they were more than half a league away, they heard her just as if they were standing at the foot of the tower. And the best thing about her is that she\u2019s not a prude. In fact, she\u2019s something of a trollop: she jokes with everybody and laughs and makes fun of everything. Now I say, Se\u00f1or Knight of the Sorrowful Face, that your grace not only can and should do crazy things for her, but with good cause you can be desperate and hang yourself; there won\u2019t be anybody who knows about it who won\u2019t say you did the right thing, even if the devil carries you off. And I\u2019d like to be on my way, just for the chance to see her; I haven\u2019t seen her for a long time, and she must be changed by now, because women\u2019s faces become very worn when they\u2019re always out in the fields, in the sun and wind. And I confess to your grace, Se\u00f1or Don Quixote, that till now I lived in great ignorance because I really and truly thought the lady Dulcinea must be a princess your grace was in love with, or the kind of person who deserved the rich presents your grace sent to her, like the Basque and the galley slaves and probably many others, just as many as the victories your grace won in the days before I was your squire. But, thinking it over carefully, what good does it do Aldonza Lorenzo, I mean, the lady Dulcinea of Toboso, if all those vanquished by your grace are sent and will be sent to kneel before her? Because it might be that when they arrive she\u2019s out raking flax, or on the threshing floor, and they\u2019ll run away when they see her, and she\u2019ll laugh and get angry at the present.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI have already told you many times before now, Sancho,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cthat you talk far too much, and although your wits are dull, your tongue often is sharp; however, so that you may see how foolish you are and how discerning I am, I wish to tell you a brief story. Once there was a widow who was beautiful, free, rich, and above all, easy in her ways, and she fell in love with a lay brother, a sturdy, good-looking boy; his superior learned of this, and one day he said to the good widow, in fraternal reprimand: \u2018I am amazed, Se\u00f1ora, and with reason, that a woman as distinguished, as beautiful, and as rich as your grace has fallen in love with a man as crude, as base, and as stupid as he, when there are in this house so many masters, so many scholars, so many theologians, among whom your grace could make a selection as if you were choosing pears, saying, I want this one but not the other.\u2019 But she responded with a good deal of wit and verve: \u2018Your grace, Se\u00f1or, is very much mistaken, and you are thinking in an old-fashioned way if you think I have chosen badly, no matter how stupid <\/a>he may seem to you; because considering the reason I love and want him, he knows as much philosophy as Aristotle, and even more.\u2019 In the same way, Sancho, because of my love for Dulcinea of Toboso, she is worth as much as the highest princess on earth. And yes, not every poet who praises a lady, calling her by another name, really has one. Do you think the Amaryllises, Phyllises, Sylvias, Dianas, Galateas, Alidas, and all the rest that fill books, ballads, barbershops, and theaters are really ladies of flesh and blood who belong to those who celebrate them? No, of course not, for most are imagined in order to provide a subject for their verses, and so that people will think of them as lovers and as men who have the capacity to be lovers. And therefore it is enough for me to think and believe that my good Aldonza Lorenzo is beautiful and virtuous; as for her lineage, it matters little, for no one is going to investigate it in order to give her a robe of office, and I can think she is the highest princess in the world. Because you should know, Sancho, if you do not know already, that two things inspire love more than any other; they are great beauty and a good name, and these two things reach their consummation in Dulcinea, for in beauty, no one is her equal, and as for a good name, few can approach her. And to conclude, I imagine that everything I say is true, no more and no less, and I depict her in my imagination as I wish her to be in beauty and in distinction, and Helen cannot approach her, Lucretia cannot match her, nor can any of the other famous women of past ages, Greek, barbarian, or Latin. Let each man say what he chooses; if because of this I am criticized by the ignorant, I shall not be chastised by the learned.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI say that your grace is correct in everything,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cand that I am an ass. But I don\u2019t know why my mouth says ass, when you shouldn\u2019t mention rope in the hanged man\u2019s house. But let\u2019s have the letter, and I\u2019ll say goodbye and be on my way.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Don Quixote took out the notebook, moved off to one side, and very calmly began to write the letter, and when he had finished, he called Sancho and said he wanted to read it to him so that Sancho could commit it to memory in the event he lost it along the way, for his own misfortune was such that it was reasonable to fear the worst. To which Sancho responded:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYour grace should write it two or three times in the book, and give it to me, and I\u2019ll take good care of it, because it\u2019s foolish to think I\u2019ll commit it to memory; mine is so bad I often forget my own name. But even <\/a>so, your grace should read it to me, and I\u2019ll be very happy to hear it, for it must be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cListen, then, for this is what it says,\u201d said Don Quixote:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

LETTER FROM DON QUIXOTE TO DULCINEA OF TOBOSO<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Supreme and most high lady:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He who is sore wounded by the sharp blade of absence, he whose heart-strings are broken, most gentle Dulcinea of Toboso, sendeth thee wishes for the well-being he doth not have. If thy beauty scorneth me, if thy great merit opposeth me, if thy disdain standeth firm against me e\u2019en though I possess a goodly portion of forbearance, I shall not be able to endure this affliction, which is both grievous and long-lasting. My good squire, Sancho, will recount the entire tale to thee, O ungrateful beauty! O my beloved enemy! regarding the state in which I findeth myself for thy sake: if it be thy desire to succor me, I am thine; if not, do as thou pleaseth, for by ending my life I shall have satisfied both thy cruelty and mine own desire.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thine until death,<\/span>
THE<\/span> KNIGHT OF THE<\/span> SORROWFUL<\/span> FACE<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\u201cBy my father\u2019s life,\u201d said Sancho when he heard the letter, \u201cthat\u2019s the highest thing I\u2019ve ever heard. Confound it, but how your grace says everything anyone could want, and how well The Knight of the Sorrowful Face<\/span> fits into the closing! I\u2019m telling the truth when I say your grace is the devil himself, and there\u2019s nothing your grace doesn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cEverything is necessary,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cfor the profession I follow.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, then,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cyour grace just has to make a note on the other page about the three donkeys, and sign it very clearly so that when they see it they\u2019ll know the signature.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt will be my pleasure,\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\r\n

And when he had written it, he read it to Sancho, and it said:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

Se\u00f1ora, my niece, your grace will arrange, by means of this order for donkeys, the presentation to Sancho Panza, my squire, of three of the five said animals which I left behind and which are in your grace\u2019s charge. These aforementioned three donkeys I hereby order immediately transferred as payment for others herewith received, which shall comprise, by this compensatory writ, full <\/a>and complete payment thereof. Duly executed in the heart of the Sierra Morena on the twenty-second day of August of the current year.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d said Sancho. \u201cNow your grace should sign it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt is not necessary to sign it,\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cAll I need do is add my mark and flourish, which is the same as a signature and enough for three donkeys, and even for three hundred.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI trust in your grace,\u201d responded Sancho. \u201cLet me go and saddle Rocinante, and let your grace get ready to give me your blessing, for I plan to leave right away without seeing the crazy things your grace is going to do, though I\u2019ll say I saw you do more than anyone could wish.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAt least, Sancho, I want, because it is necessary, I say I want you to see me naked and performing one or two dozen mad acts, which will take me less than half an hour, because if you have seen them with your own eyes, you can safely swear to any others you might wish to add, and I assure you that you will not recount as many as I intend to perform.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFor the love of God, Se\u00f1or, don\u2019t let me see your grace naked, for that will make me feel so bad I won\u2019t be able to stop crying, and my head\u2019s in such a state after the crying I did last night over my gray that I\u2019m in no mood for any more tears; if it\u2019s your grace\u2019s wish that I see some crazy actions, do them fully dressed, and let them be brief and to the point. Especially because none of this is necessary for me, and like I said before, I want to shorten the time it takes me to get back here with the news your grace desires and deserves. Otherwise, let the lady Dulcinea get ready, and if she doesn\u2019t answer the way she should, I make a solemn vow to God that I\u2019ll get a good answer out of her stomach if I have to kick her and slap her. Because how can anybody stand for a knight errant as famous as your grace to go crazy, without rhyme or reason, for the sake of a\u2026? And don\u2019t let her make me say it, because by God I\u2019ll tear everything apart and never look back. And I\u2019m the one who can do it! She doesn\u2019t know me! By my faith, if she knew me she\u2019d think twice!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, Sancho,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cit seems you are no saner than I.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m not as crazy,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cI just have a more choleric nature. But, leaving that aside, what will your grace eat until I get back? Will you go out to the road, like Cardenio, and take food from the shepherds?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cDo not concern yourself with that,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cbe-<\/a>cause even if I had food, I would eat nothing but the plants and fruits that this meadow and these trees might offer me; for the elegance of my plan lies in not eating and in suffering other comparable hardships. Goodbye, then.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut, does your grace know what I\u2019m afraid of? That I won\u2019t be able to find this place again, it\u2019s so out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTake careful note of the landmarks, and I shall try not to leave the vicinity,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cand I shall even be sure to climb up to the highest peaks to watch for your return. Better yet, so that you will not make a mistake and lose your way, you should cut some of the broom that grows in such abundance here, and place the stalks at intervals along the way until you reach level ground, and they will serve as markers and signs, as did the thread of Perseus182<\/a><\/span><\/sup> in the labyrinth, so that you can find me when you return.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do that,\u201d responded Sancho Panza.<\/p>\r\n

And after cutting some stalks of broom, he asked for his master\u2019s blessing, and, not without many tears on both their parts, he took his leave. He mounted Rocinante, whom Don Quixote commended to his care, saying he should attend to him as to his own person, and he set out for the plain, scattering stalks of broom at intervals, as his master had advised. And so he left, although Don Quixote was still urging him to watch at least two mad acts. But he had not gone a hundred paces when he turned and said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or, your grace is right: so that I can swear with a clear conscience that I saw you do crazy things, it would be a good idea for me to see at least one, even though I\u2019ve already seen a pretty big one in your grace\u2019s staying here.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cDid I not tell you so?\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cWait, Sancho, and I shall do them before you can say a Credo.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

And hastily he pulled off his breeches and was left wearing only his skin and shirttails, and then, without further ado, he kicked his heels twice, turned two cartwheels with his head down and his feet in the air, and revealed certain things; Sancho, in order not to see them again, pulled on Rocinante\u2019s reins and turned him around, satisfied and convinced that he could swear his master had lost his mind. And so we shall let him go on his way until his return, which did not take long.<\/p>\r\n","rendered":"

CHAPTER XXV (click to read it in Spanish)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Which tells of the strange events that befell the valiant knight of La Mancha in the Sierra Morena, and of his imitation of the penance of Beltenebros<\/span> 173<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

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

Don Quixote took his leave of the goatherd, and mounting Rocinante once again, he told Sancho to follow him, which he did, on his donkey, very unwillingly.[1]<\/sup><\/a> Gradually they were entering the most rugged part of the mountains, and Sancho, longing to talk to his master but not wanting to disobey his orders, waited for him to begin the conversation; unable to endure so much silence, however, Sancho said:<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Don Quixote, your grace should give me your blessing and let me leave, because now I want to go back to my house and my wife and children, for with them, at least, I\u2019ll talk and speak all I want; your grace wanting me to go with you through these deserted places by day and by night without talking whenever I feel like it is like burying me alive. If animals could still talk the way they did in the days of Guisopete,174<\/a><\/span><\/sup> it wouldn\u2019t be so bad because I could talk to my donkey whenever I wanted to, and that would help me bear my misfortunes; it\u2019s a hard thing, and not something to be borne patiently, when a man searches his whole life and doesn\u2019t find anything but kicks and tossings in a blanket, stones and fists hitting him, and still he has to keep his mouth shut tight, not daring to say what\u2019s in his heart, like a mute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand you very well, Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote. \u201cYou long to have the interdiction which I have placed on your tongue lifted. Consider it lifted and say whatever you wish, on the condition that this <\/a>license lasts no longer than the time we spend traveling through these mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d said Sancho. \u201cLet me talk now, for only God knows what will happen later, and I\u2019ll begin to enjoy this freedom now and ask why was it that your grace defended so strongly that Queen Magimasa or whatever her name is? And what difference did it make if that abbot175<\/a><\/span><\/sup> was her lover or not? For if your grace had let it pass, since you weren\u2019t her judge, I think the madman would have gone on with his story, and we would have avoided stones, and kicks, and more than half a dozen punches.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy my faith, Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cif you knew, as I do, what an honorable and distinguished lady Queen Mad\u00e1sima was, I know you would say that I showed a good deal of forbearance, for I did not smash the mouth that uttered such blasphemies. Because it is an exceedingly great blasphemy to say or think that a queen would take a surgeon as her lover. The truth of the matter is that Master Elisabat, mentioned by the madman, was a very prudent man and a wise counselor, and he served as tutor and physician to the queen, but to think that she was his mistress is an outrage deserving of the most severe punishment. And so that you may see that Cardenio did not know what he was saying, you should realize that when he said it, he was not in his right mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just what I\u2019m saying,\u201d said Sancho. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t any reason to pay attention to the words of a madman, because if luck hadn\u2019t been with your grace, and the stone had hit your head the way it hit your chest, then what kind of condition would we have been in to defend that lady, may God confound her! And, by my faith, Cardenio would\u2019ve been pardoned because he\u2019s crazy!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst sane men and madmen, every knight errant is obliged to defend the honor of ladies, no matter who they may be, and especially queens of such high birth and distinction as Queen Mad\u00e1sima, for whom I have a particular regard because of her many virtues; in addition to being beauteous, she was also very prudent and long-suffering in her calamities, of which she had many, and the advice and companionship of Master Elisabat were of great benefit and comfort to her and helped her to endure her travail with prudence and patience. And the vulgar and low-born took advantage of this to say and think that she was his mistress; and I say that all those who say and think such a thing lie, and lie again, and will lie another two hundred times whenever they say or think it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t say it and I don\u2019t think it,\u201d responded Sancho. \u201cIt\u2019s their af<\/a>fair and let them eat it with their bread; whether or not they were lovers, they\u2019ve already made their accounting with God; I tend to my vines, it\u2019s their business, not mine; I don\u2019t stick my nose in; if you buy and lie, your purse wants to know why. Besides, naked I was born, and naked I\u2019ll die: I don\u2019t lose or gain a thing; whatever they were, it\u2019s all the same to me. And many folks think there\u2019s bacon when there\u2019s not even a hook to hang it on. But who can put doors on a field? Let them say what they please, I don\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLord save me!\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cWhat a lot of foolish things you put on the same thread, Sancho! What does the subject of our conversation have to do with the proverbs you string together like beads? If you value your life, Sancho, be quiet, and from now on tend to spurring your donkey and leave matters alone that do not concern you. And know with all five of your senses that everything I have done, am doing, and shall do follows the dictates of reason and the laws of chivalry, which I know better than all the knights in the world who have ever professed them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cis it a law of chivalry that we should wander through these mountains with no path or direction, looking for a madman who, when he\u2019s found, may feel like finishing what he began, and I don\u2019t mean his story but your grace\u2019s head and my ribs, and break them completely?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell you again, Sancho, to be quiet,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cbecause you should know that it is not only my desire to find the madman that brings me to these parts, but also my desire to here perform a deed that will bring me perpetual fame and renown throughout the known world; and it will be so great a deed that with it I shall put the crowning touch on all that can make a knight errant perfect and worthy of fame.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd is this deed very dangerous?\u201d asked Sancho Panza.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d responded the Knight of the Sorrowful Face, \u201calthough depending on luck and the throw of the dice, our fortunes may be either favorable or adverse, but everything will depend on your diligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn my diligence?\u201d said Sancho.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cbecause if you return quickly from the place where I intend to send you, then my suffering will end quickly and my glory will quickly commence. And since it is not right to keep you in suspense, waiting to hear where my words will lead, I want you, Sancho, to know that the famous Amad\u00eds of Gaul was one of the most perfect knights errant. I have misspoken: not one of,<\/span> but the sole, the first, the <\/a>only, the lord of all those in the world during his lifetime. Bad luck and worse fortune for Don Belian\u00eds and for anyone else who may claim to be his equal in anything, because, by my troth, they are deceived. I say, too, that when a painter wishes to win fame in his art, he attempts to copy the original works of the most talented painters he knows; this same rule applies to all the important occupations and professions that serve to embellish nations, and it must be, and is, followed when the man who wishes to be known as prudent and long-suffering imitates Ulysses, in whose person and hardships Homer painted a living portrait of prudence and forbearance; Virgil, too, in the person of Aeneas, portrayed for us the valor of a devoted son and the sagacity of a valiant and experienced captain; they were depicted and described not as they were, but as they should have been, to serve as examples of virtue to men who came after them. In the same manner, Amad\u00eds was the polestar, the morning star, the sun to valiant, enamored knights, the one who should be imitated by all of us who serve under the banner of love and chivalry. This being true, and it is, then I deduce, friend Sancho, that the knight errant who most closely imitates Amad\u00eds will be closest to attaining chivalric perfection. And one of the things in which this knight most clearly showed his prudence, valor, courage, patience, constancy, and love was when, scorned by the Lady Oriana, he withdrew to do penance on the Pe\u00f1a Pobre,176<\/a><\/span><\/sup> calling himself Beltenebros, a name truly significant and suited to the life he voluntarily had chosen. It is, therefore, easier for me to imitate him in this fashion than by cleaving giants in two, beheading serpents, slaying dragons, routing armies, thwarting armadas, and undoing enchantments. And since this terrain is so appropriate for achieving that end, there is no reason not to seize Opportunity by the forelock177<\/a><\/span><\/sup> when it is convenient to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cwhat is it that your grace wants to do in this lonely place?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave I not told you already,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cthat I wish to imitate Amad\u00eds, playing the part of one who is desperate, a fool, a madman, thereby imitating as well the valiant Don Roland when he discovered in a fountain the signs that Angelica the Fair had committed base acts with Medoro, and his grief drove him mad, and he uprooted <\/a>trees, befouled the waters of clear fountains, killed shepherds, destroyed livestock, burned huts, demolished houses, pulled down mares, and did a hundred thousand other unheard-of things worthy of eternal renown and record? And since I do not intend to imitate Roland, or Rold\u00e1n, or Orlando, or Rotolando (for he had all those names) in every detail of all the mad things he did, said, and thought, I shall, to the best of my ability, sketch an outline of those that seem most essential to me. And it well may be that I shall be content with the imitation solely of Amad\u00eds, who, with no harmful mad acts but only outbursts of weeping and grief, achieved as much fame as anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cthat the knights who did these things were provoked and had a reason to do senseless things and penances; but what reason does your grace have for going crazy? What lady has scorned you, and what signs have you found to tell you that my lady Dulcinea of Toboso has done anything foolish with Moor or Christian?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTherein lies the virtue,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cand the excellence of my enterprise, for a knight errant deserves neither glory nor thanks if he goes mad for a reason. The great achievement is to lose one\u2019s reason for no reason, and to let my lady know that if I can do this without cause, what should I not do if there were cause? Moreover, I have more than enough reason because of my long absence from her who is forever my lady, Dulcinea of Toboso; as you heard the shepherd Ambrosio say, all ills are suffered and feared by one who is absent. And so, friend Sancho, do not waste time advising me to abandon so rare, so felicitous, so extraordinary an imitation. Mad I am and mad I shall remain until you return with the reply to a letter which I intend to send with you to my lady Dulcinea; if it is such as my fidelity warrants, my madness and my penance will come to an end; if it is not, I shall truly go mad and not feel anything. Therefore, no matter her reply, I shall emerge from the struggle and travail in which you leave me, taking pleasure as a sane man in the good news you bring, or, as a madman, not suffering on account of the bad news you bear. But tell me, Sancho, have you kept the helmet of Mambrino safe? For I saw you pick it up from the ground when that ingrate tried to shatter it. But he could not, and in this we can see how finely it is tempered.\u201d<\/p>\n

To which Sancho responded:<\/p>\n

\u201cBy God, Se\u00f1or Knight of the Sorrowful Face, but I lose my patience and can\u2019t bear some of the things your grace says; because of them I even imagine that everything you tell me about chivalry, and winning kingdoms and empires, and giving me \u00ednsulas and granting me other favors <\/a>and honors, as is the custom of knights errant, must be nothing but empty talk and lies, and all a hamburg or a humbug or whatever you call it. Because if anyone heard your grace calling a barber\u2019s basin the helmet of Mambrino without realizing the error after more than four days, what could he think but that whoever says and claims such a thing must be out of his mind? I have the basin in the bag, all dented, and I\u2019m taking it along so I can fix it when I get home, and use it to trim my beard, if someday, by the grace of God, I ever find myself with my wife and children again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Sancho, by the same oath you swore before, I swear to you,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cthat you have the dimmest wits that any squire in the world has or ever had. Is it possible that in all the time you have traveled with me you have not yet noticed that all things having to do with knights errant appear to be chimerical, foolish, senseless, and turned inside out? And not because they really are, but because hordes of enchanters always walk among us and alter and change everything and turn things into whatever they please, according to whether they wish to favor us or destroy us; and so, what seems to you a barber\u2019s basin seems to me the helmet of Mambrino, and will seem another thing to someone else. It was rare foresight on the part of the wise man who favors me to make what is really and truly the helmet of Mambrino seem a basin to everyone else, because it is held in such high esteem that everyone would pursue me in order to take it from me; but since they see it as only a barber\u2019s basin, they do not attempt to obtain it, as was evident when that man tried to shatter it, then left it on the ground, not taking it away with him; by my faith, if he had recognized it for what it was he never would have left it behind. Keep it, my friend, since I have no need of it for the moment; rather, I must remove all this armor and be as naked as the day I was born, if I wish in my penance to follow Roland more than Amad\u00eds.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they were conversing, they came to the foot of a high mountain, which, almost like a peak carved out of the rock, stood alone among the many others that surrounded it. At its base there flowed a gentle stream, and all around it lay a meadow so green and luxuriant it brought joy to the eyes that gazed upon it. There were many woodland trees and plants and flowers, making it a peaceful spot. The Knight of the Sorrowful Face chose this place to carry out his penance, and so, as soon as he saw it, he began to say in a loud voice, as if he had lost his reason:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the place I designate and choose, O heavens, to weep for the misfortune to which you have condemned me. This is the place where the humor of my eyes will increase the waters of this small stream, and my continual deep sighs will constantly move the leaves of these un-<\/a>tamed trees in testimony to and as proof of the grief that afflicts my troubled heart. And O you rustic gods, whoever you may be, who dwell in this desolate place, hear the laments of this unfortunate lover, brought by long absence and imagined jealousy to this harsh terrain to complain and weep over the unyielding nature of that ungrateful beauty, the culmination and perfection of all human comeliness. O you nymphs and dryads, who are wont to dwell in thickets and forests, loved, although in vain, by wanton and lustful satyrs, may they ne\u2019er disturb your sweet tranquility and may you help me lament my misfortune, or at least not grow weary of hearing it! O Dulcinea of Toboso, day of my night, glory of my grief, guide of my travels, star of my good fortune, may heaven grant all that thou mayest request just as thou considereth the place and plight to which thy absence hath led me and respondeth with the favor merited by my faithfulness! O solitary trees that from this day forth will accompany my solitude, give a sign, with the gentle movement of your branches, that my presence doth not displease you! O thou, my squire, amiable companion of my favorable and adverse adventures, take note and fix in thy mind what thou wilt see me do here, so that thou mayest recount and relate it to the sole cause of all my actions!\u201d<\/p>\n

And having said this, he dismounted Rocinante and in an instant removed the bit and saddle, and slapping the horse on the rump, he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cLiberty is given to thee by him who hath none, O steed as great in thy deeds as thou art unfortunate in thy destiny! Goest thou whither thou wilt, for on thy forehead it is written that the Hippogryph of Astolfo was not thy equal in speed, nor the renowned Frontino that cost Bradamante so dear.\u201d178<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

Seeing this, Sancho said:<\/p>\n

\u201cGood luck to whoever spared us the trouble of unsaddling the gray;179<\/a><\/span><\/sup> <\/a>by my faith, we would have plenty of little slaps to give that donkey, and plenty of things to say in his praise, but if he were here, I wouldn\u2019t agree to anybody unsaddling him, because there\u2019d be no reason to; he couldn\u2019t be described as a lover or desperate, since his master, who was me so long as God was willing, wasn\u2019t those things either. The truth is, Se\u00f1or Knight of the Sorrowful Face, that if my leaving and your grace\u2019s madness are serious, it would be a good idea to saddle Rocinante again and let him take the place of the gray, which would make my going and coming shorter; if I make the trip on foot, I don\u2019t know when I\u2019ll arrive or when I\u2019ll get back, because, to make a long story short, I\u2019m a very poor walker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I say, Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cis that it will be as you wish, for your plan does not seem to be a bad one, and I also say that three days hence you will leave here, because in that time I want you to see what I do and say for her sake, so that you can recount it to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what else do I have to see,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cbesides what I\u2019ve seen already?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow little you know!\u201d responded Don Quixote. \u201cNow I have to tear my clothes, toss aside my armor, and hit my head against these rocks, along with other things of that nature, all of which will astonish you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the love of God,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cyour grace should be careful how you go around hitting your head, because you might come up against a boulder that\u2019s so hard that with the first blow you put an end to the whole plan for this penance; in my opinion, if your grace believes that hitting your head is necessary and you can\u2019t do this thing without it, you should be content, since it\u2019s all make-believe and fake and a joke, with knocking your head on water or something else that\u2019s soft, like cotton; leave the rest to me, and I\u2019ll tell my lady that your grace was hitting your head against the sharp edge of a boulder that was harder than a diamond.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank you for your good intentions, friend Sancho,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cbut I want you to realize that all the things I am doing are not jokes but very real; otherwise, I would be contravening the rules of chivalry that command us never to lie, or else suffer the punishment of those who relapse into sin, and doing one thing instead of another is the same as lying. And so, my head hittings have to be real, solid, and true, with no sophistry or fantasy about them. And it will be necessary for you <\/a>to leave me some lint bandages to heal my wounds, since it was our misfortune to lose the balm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLosing the donkey was more serious,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cbecause when we lost him we lost the bandages and everything else. And I beg your grace to say no more about that cursed potion; just hearing its name turns my soul, not to mention my stomach. And I beg something else: just assume that the three days you gave me to see the mad things you do have already passed, because as far as I\u2019m concerned, I\u2019ve seen them, and judged them, and will tell wonderful things about them to my lady; so write the letter now and send me on my way, because I have a great desire to come back and take your grace out of this purgatory where I\u2019m leaving you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou call it purgatory, Sancho?\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cYou would do better to call it hell, and even worse, if anything can be worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever\u2019s in hell,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cnulla es retencio,<\/span> 180<\/a><\/span><\/sup> or so I\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cRetencio<\/span> means,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cthat whoever\u2019s in hell never gets out and can\u2019t get out. Which is just the opposite of your grace, unless my feet go the wrong way when I use the spurs to liven up Rocinante; just put me once and for all in Toboso, before my lady Dulcinea, and I\u2019ll tell her such wonders about the foolish things and the crazy things, because they amount to the same thing, that your grace has done and is still doing that she\u2019ll become softer than a glove even if I find her harder than a cork tree; with her sweet and honeyed reply I\u2019ll come flying back through the air, like a wizard, and I\u2019ll take your grace out of this purgatory that seems like hell but isn\u2019t, since there\u2019s a hope of getting out, which, as I said before, the people in hell don\u2019t have, and I don\u2019t think your grace will say otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is true,\u201d said the Knight of the Sorrowful Face, \u201cbut what shall we use to write the letter?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the order for the donkeys, too,\u201d181<\/a><\/span><\/sup> added Sancho.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything will be included,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cand it would be a good idea, since we have no paper, to write it, as the ancients did, on the leaves of trees, or on some wax tablets, although they would be as diffi<\/a>cult to find now as paper. But it occurs to me that it would be good, and even better than good, to write it in the notebook that belonged to Cardenio, and you will take care to have it transcribed onto paper, in a fine hand, in the first town you come to where there is a schoolmaster, or else some sacristan can transcribe it for you, but do not give it to any notary, for their writing is so difficult to read that not even Satan can understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what do we do about the signature?\u201d said Sancho.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe letters of Amad\u00eds were never signed,\u201d responded Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cbut the order must be signed, and if it\u2019s copied they\u2019ll say the signature is false, and I won\u2019t have my donkeys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe order will be written in the same notebook, and it will be signed, and when my niece sees it, there will be no difficulty putting it into effect. As for the love letter, as a signature you will have them put: \u2018Thine until death, the Knight of the Sorrowful Face.\u2019 And it will not matter if it is written in another\u2019s hand, because, if I remember correctly, Dulcinea does not know how to read or write, and never in her life has she seen my writing or a letter of mine, because my love and her love have always been platonic, not going beyond a virtuous glance. And even this was so infrequent that I could truly swear that in the twelve years I have loved her more than the light of these eyes that will be consumed by the earth, I have not seen her more than four times; and it well may be that with regard to these four times, she might not have noticed the one time I looked at her; such is the retirement and seclusion in which her father, Lorenzo Corchuelo, and her mother, Aldonza Nogales, have reared her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, well!\u201d said Sancho. \u201cAre you saying that Lorenzo Corchuelo\u2019s daughter, also known as Aldonza Lorenzo, is the lady Dulcinea of Toboso?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cand she is worthy of being lady and mistress of the entire universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know her very well,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cand I can say that she can throw a metal bar just as well as the brawniest lad in the village. Praise our Maker, she\u2019s a fine girl in every way, sturdy as a horse, and just the one to pull any knight errant or about to be errant, who has her for his lady, right out of any mudhole he\u2019s fallen into! Damn, but she\u2019s strong! And what a voice she has! I can tell you that one day she stood on top of the village bell tower to call some shepherds who were in one of her fa<\/a>ther\u2019s fields, and even though they were more than half a league away, they heard her just as if they were standing at the foot of the tower. And the best thing about her is that she\u2019s not a prude. In fact, she\u2019s something of a trollop: she jokes with everybody and laughs and makes fun of everything. Now I say, Se\u00f1or Knight of the Sorrowful Face, that your grace not only can and should do crazy things for her, but with good cause you can be desperate and hang yourself; there won\u2019t be anybody who knows about it who won\u2019t say you did the right thing, even if the devil carries you off. And I\u2019d like to be on my way, just for the chance to see her; I haven\u2019t seen her for a long time, and she must be changed by now, because women\u2019s faces become very worn when they\u2019re always out in the fields, in the sun and wind. And I confess to your grace, Se\u00f1or Don Quixote, that till now I lived in great ignorance because I really and truly thought the lady Dulcinea must be a princess your grace was in love with, or the kind of person who deserved the rich presents your grace sent to her, like the Basque and the galley slaves and probably many others, just as many as the victories your grace won in the days before I was your squire. But, thinking it over carefully, what good does it do Aldonza Lorenzo, I mean, the lady Dulcinea of Toboso, if all those vanquished by your grace are sent and will be sent to kneel before her? Because it might be that when they arrive she\u2019s out raking flax, or on the threshing floor, and they\u2019ll run away when they see her, and she\u2019ll laugh and get angry at the present.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have already told you many times before now, Sancho,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cthat you talk far too much, and although your wits are dull, your tongue often is sharp; however, so that you may see how foolish you are and how discerning I am, I wish to tell you a brief story. Once there was a widow who was beautiful, free, rich, and above all, easy in her ways, and she fell in love with a lay brother, a sturdy, good-looking boy; his superior learned of this, and one day he said to the good widow, in fraternal reprimand: \u2018I am amazed, Se\u00f1ora, and with reason, that a woman as distinguished, as beautiful, and as rich as your grace has fallen in love with a man as crude, as base, and as stupid as he, when there are in this house so many masters, so many scholars, so many theologians, among whom your grace could make a selection as if you were choosing pears, saying, I want this one but not the other.\u2019 But she responded with a good deal of wit and verve: \u2018Your grace, Se\u00f1or, is very much mistaken, and you are thinking in an old-fashioned way if you think I have chosen badly, no matter how stupid <\/a>he may seem to you; because considering the reason I love and want him, he knows as much philosophy as Aristotle, and even more.\u2019 In the same way, Sancho, because of my love for Dulcinea of Toboso, she is worth as much as the highest princess on earth. And yes, not every poet who praises a lady, calling her by another name, really has one. Do you think the Amaryllises, Phyllises, Sylvias, Dianas, Galateas, Alidas, and all the rest that fill books, ballads, barbershops, and theaters are really ladies of flesh and blood who belong to those who celebrate them? No, of course not, for most are imagined in order to provide a subject for their verses, and so that people will think of them as lovers and as men who have the capacity to be lovers. And therefore it is enough for me to think and believe that my good Aldonza Lorenzo is beautiful and virtuous; as for her lineage, it matters little, for no one is going to investigate it in order to give her a robe of office, and I can think she is the highest princess in the world. Because you should know, Sancho, if you do not know already, that two things inspire love more than any other; they are great beauty and a good name, and these two things reach their consummation in Dulcinea, for in beauty, no one is her equal, and as for a good name, few can approach her. And to conclude, I imagine that everything I say is true, no more and no less, and I depict her in my imagination as I wish her to be in beauty and in distinction, and Helen cannot approach her, Lucretia cannot match her, nor can any of the other famous women of past ages, Greek, barbarian, or Latin. Let each man say what he chooses; if because of this I am criticized by the ignorant, I shall not be chastised by the learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI say that your grace is correct in everything,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cand that I am an ass. But I don\u2019t know why my mouth says ass, when you shouldn\u2019t mention rope in the hanged man\u2019s house. But let\u2019s have the letter, and I\u2019ll say goodbye and be on my way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don Quixote took out the notebook, moved off to one side, and very calmly began to write the letter, and when he had finished, he called Sancho and said he wanted to read it to him so that Sancho could commit it to memory in the event he lost it along the way, for his own misfortune was such that it was reasonable to fear the worst. To which Sancho responded:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour grace should write it two or three times in the book, and give it to me, and I\u2019ll take good care of it, because it\u2019s foolish to think I\u2019ll commit it to memory; mine is so bad I often forget my own name. But even <\/a>so, your grace should read it to me, and I\u2019ll be very happy to hear it, for it must be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, then, for this is what it says,\u201d said Don Quixote:<\/p>\n

\n

LETTER FROM DON QUIXOTE TO DULCINEA OF TOBOSO<\/span><\/p>\n

Supreme and most high lady:<\/span><\/p>\n

He who is sore wounded by the sharp blade of absence, he whose heart-strings are broken, most gentle Dulcinea of Toboso, sendeth thee wishes for the well-being he doth not have. If thy beauty scorneth me, if thy great merit opposeth me, if thy disdain standeth firm against me e\u2019en though I possess a goodly portion of forbearance, I shall not be able to endure this affliction, which is both grievous and long-lasting. My good squire, Sancho, will recount the entire tale to thee, O ungrateful beauty! O my beloved enemy! regarding the state in which I findeth myself for thy sake: if it be thy desire to succor me, I am thine; if not, do as thou pleaseth, for by ending my life I shall have satisfied both thy cruelty and mine own desire.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thine until death,<\/span>
THE<\/span> KNIGHT OF THE<\/span> SORROWFUL<\/span> FACE<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBy my father\u2019s life,\u201d said Sancho when he heard the letter, \u201cthat\u2019s the highest thing I\u2019ve ever heard. Confound it, but how your grace says everything anyone could want, and how well The Knight of the Sorrowful Face<\/span> fits into the closing! I\u2019m telling the truth when I say your grace is the devil himself, and there\u2019s nothing your grace doesn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is necessary,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cfor the profession I follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then,\u201d said Sancho, \u201cyour grace just has to make a note on the other page about the three donkeys, and sign it very clearly so that when they see it they\u2019ll know the signature.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be my pleasure,\u201d said Don Quixote.<\/p>\n

And when he had written it, he read it to Sancho, and it said:<\/p>\n

\n

Se\u00f1ora, my niece, your grace will arrange, by means of this order for donkeys, the presentation to Sancho Panza, my squire, of three of the five said animals which I left behind and which are in your grace\u2019s charge. These aforementioned three donkeys I hereby order immediately transferred as payment for others herewith received, which shall comprise, by this compensatory writ, full <\/a>and complete payment thereof. Duly executed in the heart of the Sierra Morena on the twenty-second day of August of the current year.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d said Sancho. \u201cNow your grace should sign it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not necessary to sign it,\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cAll I need do is add my mark and flourish, which is the same as a signature and enough for three donkeys, and even for three hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust in your grace,\u201d responded Sancho. \u201cLet me go and saddle Rocinante, and let your grace get ready to give me your blessing, for I plan to leave right away without seeing the crazy things your grace is going to do, though I\u2019ll say I saw you do more than anyone could wish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least, Sancho, I want, because it is necessary, I say I want you to see me naked and performing one or two dozen mad acts, which will take me less than half an hour, because if you have seen them with your own eyes, you can safely swear to any others you might wish to add, and I assure you that you will not recount as many as I intend to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the love of God, Se\u00f1or, don\u2019t let me see your grace naked, for that will make me feel so bad I won\u2019t be able to stop crying, and my head\u2019s in such a state after the crying I did last night over my gray that I\u2019m in no mood for any more tears; if it\u2019s your grace\u2019s wish that I see some crazy actions, do them fully dressed, and let them be brief and to the point. Especially because none of this is necessary for me, and like I said before, I want to shorten the time it takes me to get back here with the news your grace desires and deserves. Otherwise, let the lady Dulcinea get ready, and if she doesn\u2019t answer the way she should, I make a solemn vow to God that I\u2019ll get a good answer out of her stomach if I have to kick her and slap her. Because how can anybody stand for a knight errant as famous as your grace to go crazy, without rhyme or reason, for the sake of a\u2026? And don\u2019t let her make me say it, because by God I\u2019ll tear everything apart and never look back. And I\u2019m the one who can do it! She doesn\u2019t know me! By my faith, if she knew me she\u2019d think twice!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Sancho,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cit seems you are no saner than I.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not as crazy,\u201d responded Sancho, \u201cI just have a more choleric nature. But, leaving that aside, what will your grace eat until I get back? Will you go out to the road, like Cardenio, and take food from the shepherds?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not concern yourself with that,\u201d responded Don Quixote, \u201cbe-<\/a>cause even if I had food, I would eat nothing but the plants and fruits that this meadow and these trees might offer me; for the elegance of my plan lies in not eating and in suffering other comparable hardships. Goodbye, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, does your grace know what I\u2019m afraid of? That I won\u2019t be able to find this place again, it\u2019s so out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTake careful note of the landmarks, and I shall try not to leave the vicinity,\u201d said Don Quixote, \u201cand I shall even be sure to climb up to the highest peaks to watch for your return. Better yet, so that you will not make a mistake and lose your way, you should cut some of the broom that grows in such abundance here, and place the stalks at intervals along the way until you reach level ground, and they will serve as markers and signs, as did the thread of Perseus182<\/a><\/span><\/sup> in the labyrinth, so that you can find me when you return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do that,\u201d responded Sancho Panza.<\/p>\n

And after cutting some stalks of broom, he asked for his master\u2019s blessing, and, not without many tears on both their parts, he took his leave. He mounted Rocinante, whom Don Quixote commended to his care, saying he should attend to him as to his own person, and he set out for the plain, scattering stalks of broom at intervals, as his master had advised. And so he left, although Don Quixote was still urging him to watch at least two mad acts. But he had not gone a hundred paces when he turned and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or, your grace is right: so that I can swear with a clear conscience that I saw you do crazy things, it would be a good idea for me to see at least one, even though I\u2019ve already seen a pretty big one in your grace\u2019s staying here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I not tell you so?\u201d said Don Quixote. \u201cWait, Sancho, and I shall do them before you can say a Credo.\u201d<\/p>\n

And hastily he pulled off his breeches and was left wearing only his skin and shirttails, and then, without further ado, he kicked his heels twice, turned two cartwheels with his head down and his feet in the air, and revealed certain things; Sancho, in order not to see them again, pulled on Rocinante\u2019s reins and turned him around, satisfied and convinced that he could swear his master had lost his mind. And so we shall let him go on his way until his return, which did not take long.<\/p>\n

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

  1. Cervantes forgot to correct this\u00a0sentence when he inserted in the second edition the story of the theft of Sancho's donkey in chapter XXIII<\/a>. It was only in\u00a0the edition printed by Roger Velpius in Brussels in 1607<\/a> that this textual inconsistency disappeared whereas the third edition printed in 1608<\/a> kept the misplaced allusion to Sancho's ass at the beginning of chapter XXV<\/a>. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"menu_order":32,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-206","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":173,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1214,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/206\/revisions\/1214"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/173"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/206\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=206"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=206"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}