{"id":286,"date":"2019-12-01T16:45:25","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T16:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/chapter\/second-part-chapter-l-2\/"},"modified":"2020-03-31T19:35:25","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T19:35:25","slug":"second-part-chapter-l","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/www.publiconsulting.com\/wordpress\/donquixoteoflamancha\/chapter\/second-part-chapter-l\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Part. Chapter L"},"content":{"raw":"CHAPTER L<\/a>\r\n
\r\n

Which declares the identities of the enchanters and tormentors who beat the duenna and pinched and scratched Don Quixote, and recounts what befell the page who carried the letter to Teresa Sancha,<\/span> 540<\/a><\/span><\/sup> the wife of Sancho Panza<\/span><\/h2>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

Cide Hamete, that most punctilious observer of the smallest details in this true history, says that at the same time Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez left her room to go to Don Quixote\u2019s chamber, another duenna who slept in the same room heard her, and since all duennas are fond of knowing, understanding, and inquiring, she followed her so silently that Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez did not know she was there; and as soon as the duenna saw her go into Don Quixote\u2019s chamber, and in order not to fail in the widespread custom of all duennas to be gossips, she went immediately to tell her mistress the duchess that Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez was in Don Quixote\u2019s room.<\/p>\r\n

The duchess told the duke and asked his leave to go with Altisidora to see what that duenna wanted with Don Quixote; the duke agreed, and the two women, with very cautious and silent steps, approached the door of his room, and stood so close they could hear everything that was said inside; and when the duchess heard Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez disclose the Aranjuez of her flowing issues,541<\/a><\/span><\/sup> she could not bear it, and neither could Altisidora; and so, filled with rage and longing for vengeance, they burst into the room, and riddled Don Quixote with wounds, and beat the duenna in the manner that has been recounted, because affronts directed against the beauty and vanity of women <\/a>awaken in them an immense anger and kindle their desire to take revenge.<\/p>\r\n

The duchess told the duke what had happened, which he enjoyed hearing very much, and the duchess, moving ahead with her intention of deceiving Don Quixote and deriving pleasure from that, dispatched the page who had played the part of Dulcinea in the performance concerning her disenchantment\u2014which Sancho Panza had forgotten in his preoccupation with governing\u2014to Teresa Panza, his wife, with the letter from her husband, and another from her, as well as a long string of fine corals as a present.<\/p>\r\n

The history tells us, then, that the page was very clever and witty, and, desiring to serve his master and mistress, he left very willingly for Sancho\u2019s village; before entering it, he saw a number of women washing clothes in a stream, and he asked them if they could tell him if a woman named Teresa Panza, the wife of a certain Sancho Panza, who was squire to a knight named Don Quixote of La Mancha, lived in that village; and when he had asked the question, a girl who was washing rose to her feet and said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTeresa Panza is my mother, and Sancho is my father, and that knight is our master.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThen come along, my girl,\u201d said the page, \u201cand take me to your mother, because I have a letter and a present for her from your father.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do that very gladly, Se\u00f1or,\u201d responded the girl, who looked about fourteen years old.<\/p>\r\n

And leaving the clothes she was washing with a friend, without covering her head or putting on shoes, though she was barefoot and disheveled, she jumped in front of the page\u2019s horse and said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cCome, your grace, for our house is at the entrance to the village, and my mother is in it, filled with grief because she hasn\u2019t heard anything from my father for so many days.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m bringing her news so good,\u201d said the page, \u201cthat she\u2019ll have to give thanks to God for it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Jumping, running, and leaping, the girl finally reached the village, and before entering her house, she called from the door:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cCome out, Teresa, come out, Mother, come out, come out, because here\u2019s a gentleman who\u2019s bringing letters and other things from my good father.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

At her call, Teresa Panza, her mother, came out, spinning a bunch of flax and wearing a dun-colored skirt so short it looked as if it had been <\/a>cut to shame her,542<\/a><\/span><\/sup> a bodice that was also dun colored, and a chemise. She was not very old, although she looked over forty, but she was strong, hard, vigorous, and as brown as a hazelnut; and seeing her daughter, and the page on horseback, she said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s this, girl? Who\u2019s this gentleman?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cA servant of my lady Do\u00f1a Teresa Panza,\u201d responded the page.<\/p>\r\n

And having said this, he leaped down from the horse and went very humbly to kneel before Se\u00f1ora Teresa, saying:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYour grace, give me your hands, my lady Do\u00f1a Teresa, which you are as the sole legitimate wife of Se\u00f1or Don Sancho Panza, governor of the \u00ednsula of Barataria.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cOh, Se\u00f1or, get up, don\u2019t do that,\u201d responded Teresa. \u201cI have nothing to do with palaces, I\u2019m a poor peasant, the daughter of a farmer and the wife of a squire errant, not of any governor!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYour grace,\u201d responded the page, \u201cis most worthy of a most archworthy governor, and to prove this truth, here are a letter and a present for your grace.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

And he immediately took from his pocket a string of corals with gold beads and put it around her neck, saying:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis letter is from my lord the governor, and another letter and these corals are from my lady the duchess, who has sent me to your grace.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Teresa was stunned, and her daughter no less so, and the girl said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cOn my life, our lord and master, Don Quixote, has something to do with this, for he must have given my father the governorship or countship that he promised him so often.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d responded the page, \u201cand out of respect for Se\u00f1or Don Quixote, Se\u00f1or Sancho is now the governor of the \u00ednsula of Barataria, as can be seen in this letter.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYour grace must read it to me, Se\u00f1or,\u201d said Teresa, \u201cbecause I know how to spin but can\u2019t read a thing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cNeither can I,\u201d added Sanchica, \u201cbut wait for me here, and I\u2019ll go and find somebody to read it, whether it\u2019s the priest himself or Bachelor Sans\u00f3n Carrasco, and they\u2019ll be very happy to come hear news about my father.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to find anybody, because I don\u2019t know how to spin, but I do know how to read, and I\u2019ll read it to you.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

And so he read her Sancho\u2019s entire letter, and since it has already been cited, it is not set down here, and then he took out another letter, the one from the duchess, and it said:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

My friend Teresa: The qualities of goodness and wit in your husband, Sancho, moved and obliged me to ask my husband, the duke, to give him the governorship of one of the many \u00ednsulas which he possesses. I have been told that he governs in grand style, which makes me very happy, and of course, the duke my lord, too, for which I give many thanks to heaven that I was not deceived when I chose him for the governorship, because I want Se\u00f1ora Teresa to know that it is difficult to find a good governor in the world, and may God treat me in just the way that Sancho governs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am sending you, my dear, a string of corals with gold beads; I\u2019d be happy if they were Oriental pearls, but the person who gives you a bone doesn\u2019t want to see you dead;<\/span> 543<\/a><\/span><\/sup> one day we shall meet and communicate with each other, God knows when that will be. Remember me to your daughter, Sanchica, and tell her for me that she should get ready, because I plan to arrange an excellent marriage for her when she least expects it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am told that there are fat acorns in your village: send me about two dozen, and I shall esteem them greatly because they come from your hand; write me a long letter informing me of your health and well-being; if you happen to need anything, you only have to say the word, and your word will be heeded. May God keep you. From this place.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Your friend who loves you,<\/span>
THE<\/span> DUCHESS<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\u201cO,\u201d said Teresa when she heard the letter, \u201cwhat a good and straightforward and humble lady! Let them bury me with ladies like these and not the gentlewomen we have in this village who think that because they\u2019re wellborn the wind shouldn\u2019t touch them, and who go to church with all the airs of queens, and seem to think it\u2019s a dishonor to look at a peasant woman; and you can see here where this good lady, even though she\u2019s a duchess, calls me her friend and treats me like an equal, and may I see her equal to the highest belltower in all of La Mancha. And as for the acorns, Se\u00f1or, I\u2019ll send her ladyship a celem\u00edn<\/span> 544<\/a><\/span><\/sup> of ones so fat that people will come just to look at them. And for now, Sanchica, look after this <\/a>gentleman: take care of his horse, and get some eggs from the stable, and cut plenty of bacon, and let\u2019s feed him like a prince; he deserves it for the good news he\u2019s brought us and for that nice face of his; in the meantime, I\u2019ll go out and tell the news about our luck to my neighbors and to the reverend priest and Master Nicol\u00e1s, the barber, who are and have been such good friends of your father\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI will, Mother,\u201d responded Sanchica, \u201cbut look, you have to give me half of that necklace, because I don\u2019t think my lady the duchess is so foolish as to send the whole thing to you.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all for you, daughter,\u201d responded Teresa, \u201cbut let me wear it around my neck for a few days, because it really seems to bring joy to my heart.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll both feel joy,\u201d said the page, \u201cwhen you see the package that\u2019s in this portmanteau; it\u2019s a suit of very fine cloth that the governor wore to the hunt only once, and he\u2019s sent all of it for Se\u00f1ora Sanchica.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cMay he live a thousand years,\u201d responded Sanchica, \u201cand the man who brings it not a year less, even two thousand, if that\u2019s necessary.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Then Teresa left the house, carrying the letters and wearing the necklace around her neck, and she drummed on the letters with her fingers as if they were tambourines, and when she happened to meet the priest and Sans\u00f3n Carrasco, she began to dance, saying:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBy my faith, we\u2019re not poor relations anymore! We have a nice little governorship! And if the proudest of the gentlewomen tries to snub me now, I\u2019ll know how to put her in her place!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat is this, Teresa Panza? What madness is this, and what papers are those?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe only madness is that these are letters from duchesses and governors, and these things I\u2019m wearing around my neck are fine corals, and the Hail Marys and Our Fathers are of beaten gold, and I\u2019m a governor\u2019s wife.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAs God\u2019s in heaven we don\u2019t understand you, Teresa, and we don\u2019t know what you are talking about.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou can see it here,\u201d responded Teresa.<\/p>\r\n

And she handed them the letters. The priest read them aloud so that Sans\u00f3n Carrasco could hear, and Sans\u00f3n and the priest looked at each other as if amazed at what they had read, and the bachelor asked who had brought the letters. Teresa responded that if they came home with her, they would see the messenger, a handsome, well-mannered boy who <\/a>had brought another present that was worth a good deal. The priest took the corals from around her neck and looked at them, and looked at them again, and being convinced of their value, he was amazed all over again and said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBy the habit I wear, I don\u2019t know what to say or think about these letters and these gifts: on the one hand, I can see and touch the fineness of these corals, and on the other, I read that a duchess sends a request for two dozen acorns.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ludicrous!\u201d said Carrasco. \u201cLet\u2019s go and see the messenger; he\u2019ll explain the things that perplex us.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

They did, and Teresa returned with them. They found the page sifting some barley for his horse, and Sanchica cutting slices of bacon that she would cover with eggs and give to the page, whose bearing and grace pleased both men very much; after they had exchanged courteous greetings, Sans\u00f3n asked him for news of Don Quixote as well as Sancho Panza, for although they had read the letters from Sancho and my lady the duchess, they were still confused and could not really grasp Sancho\u2019s governorship, especially of an \u00ednsula, since all or most of the islands in the Mediterranean belonged to His Majesty. To which the page responded:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Sancho Panza is a governor, of that there can be no doubt; whether what he governs is an \u00ednsula or not does not concern me, but it\u2019s enough to know that it\u2019s a place with more than a thousand residents; as for the acorns, I can say that my lady the duchess is so straightforward and humble,\u201d he said, \u201cthat she not only would send a request to a peasant for some acorns, but has on occasion asked to borrow a comb from a neighbor. Because I want your graces to know that the ladies of Arag\u00f3n are as highborn but not as punctilious and haughty as Castilian ladies; they are simpler in their dealings with people.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

While they were engaged in this conversation, Sanchica interrupted, her skirt filled with eggs, and asked the page:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTell me, Se\u00f1or: does my father happen to wear full-length breeches since he\u2019s been governor?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t noticed,\u201d responded the page, \u201cbut he probably does.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cO, God!\u201d replied Sanchica. \u201cHow I\u2019d like to see my father wearing them! Can you believe that since I was born I\u2019ve wanted to see my father in those full-length breeches?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, your grace will see him wearing those things if you live,\u201d responded the page. \u201cBy God, if his governorship lasts two months, he\u2019ll even be wearing a cap for cold weather.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The priest and the bachelor saw clearly enough that the page was speaking sarcastically, but the fine quality of the corals and the hunting outfit that Sancho sent had the opposite effect, for Teresa had already shown them the clothing. And they could not help laughing at Sanchica\u2019s desire, especially when Teresa said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Priest, keep your eyes open and see if anybody\u2019s going to Madrid or Toledo who can buy me a hooped skirt, nice and round and just the way it should be, right in fashion and the best quality, because the real truth is I have to honor my husband\u2019s governorship as much as I can, and even if it\u2019s a bother I have to go to that court and get a carriage like all the other ladies, because a woman who has a governor for a husband can easily buy and keep one.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right, Mother!\u201d said Sanchica. \u201cPlease God, it\u2019ll be today and not tomorrow, even though people who see me sitting next to my lady mother in that carriage will say: \u2018Just look at her, daughter of a garlic eater, sitting and leaning back in the carriage as if she were the pope!\u2019 But they can walk in the mud, and I\u2019ll go in my carriage with my feet off the ground. A bad year and a bad month to all the gossips in the world, and as long as I\u2019m warm, people can laugh all they want! Am I right, Mother?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cO daughter, you certainly are right!\u201d responded Teresa. \u201cAnd all of this good fortune, and some even greater than this, my good Sancho predicted for me, and you\u2019ll see, daughter, how he doesn\u2019t stop until he makes me a countess; it\u2019s all a matter of starting to be lucky; and I\u2019ve heard your good father say very often\u2014and he loves proverbs as much as he loves you\u2014that when they give you the calf, run over with the rope; when they give you a governorship, take it; when they give you a countship, hold on to it tight, and when they call you over with a nice present, pack it away. Or else just sleep and don\u2019t answer when fortune and good luck come knocking at your door!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd what difference does it make to me,\u201d added Sanchica, \u201cif they say when they see me so proud and haughty: \u2018The dog in linen breeches\u2026\u2019545<\/a><\/span><\/sup> and all the rest?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Hearing this, the priest said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI can\u2019t help thinking that everyone in the Panza family was born with a sack of proverbs inside; I\u2019ve never seen one of them who isn\u2019t always scattering proverbs around in every conversation they have.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d said the page, \u201cfor Se\u00f1or Governor Sancho says them all the time, and even though many are not to the point, they still give pleasure, and my lady the duchess and my lord the duke praise them a good deal.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThen, Se\u00f1or, does your grace still affirm that Sancho\u2019s governorship is true, and that there is a duchess in the world who sends his wife presents and writes to her? Because we, although we touched the presents and read the letters, don\u2019t believe it, and we think this is one of those things that concern our compatriot Don Quixote, who thinks they are all done by enchantment; and so, I\u2019m ready to say that I want to touch and feel your grace to see if you are an imagined emissary or a man of flesh and blood.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1ores, all I know,\u201d responded the page, \u201cis that I am a true emissary, and Se\u00f1or Sancho Panza is a real governor, and my master and mistress the duke and duchess can give, and have given him, the governorship, and I\u2019ve heard that in it Sancho Panza is performing valiantly; whether or not there\u2019s enchantment in this is something your graces can argue among yourselves, because I don\u2019t know any more than this, and I swear to that on the lives of my parents, who are still living and whom I love and cherish very much.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThat may well be true,\u201d replied the bachelor, \u201cbut dubitat Augustinus.\u201d<\/span> 546<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\r\n

\u201cNo matter who doubts it,\u201d responded the page, \u201cthe truth is what I have said, and truth will always rise above a lie, as oil rises above water; and if not, operibus credite, et non verbis:<\/span> 547<\/a><\/span><\/sup> one of your graces should come with me, and you\u2019ll see with your own eyes what your ears don\u2019t believe.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI should be the one to go,\u201d said Sanchica. \u201cSe\u00f1or, your grace can let me ride on the horse\u2019s hindquarters, because I\u2019d be very happy to see my father.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe daughters of governors should not travel the roads unescorted but should be accompanied by coaches and litters and a large number of servants.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBy God,\u201d responded Sancha, \u201cI can ride a donkey as well as a coach. You must think I\u2019m very hard to please!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cBe quiet, girl,\u201d said Teresa. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re saying, and this gentleman is right; time changes the rhyme: when it\u2019s Sancho, it\u2019s <\/a>Sancha, and when it\u2019s governor, it\u2019s Se\u00f1ora, and I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m saying something or not.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSe\u00f1ora Teresa is saying more than she thinks,\u201d said the page. \u201cGive me something to eat and then send me away, because I plan to go back this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

To which the priest said:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYour grace will come and do penance with me,548<\/a><\/span><\/sup> for Se\u00f1ora Teresa has more desire than provisions for serving so worthy a guest.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The page refused, but then he had to concede, to his own advantage, and the priest took him home very gladly, for it meant he would have the opportunity to ask at his leisure about Don Quixote and his exploits.<\/p>\r\n

The bachelor offered to write replies to her letters, but Teresa did not want the bachelor involved in her affairs because she thought he was something of a trickster, and so she gave a roll and two eggs to an altar boy who knew how to write, and he wrote two letters, one for her husband and the other for the duchess, which she herself dictated, and they are not the worst letters that appear in this great history, as we shall see further on.<\/p>\r\n","rendered":"

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

\n

Which declares the identities of the enchanters and tormentors who beat the duenna and pinched and scratched Don Quixote, and recounts what befell the page who carried the letter to Teresa Sancha,<\/span> 540<\/a><\/span><\/sup> the wife of Sancho Panza<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

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

Cide Hamete, that most punctilious observer of the smallest details in this true history, says that at the same time Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez left her room to go to Don Quixote\u2019s chamber, another duenna who slept in the same room heard her, and since all duennas are fond of knowing, understanding, and inquiring, she followed her so silently that Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez did not know she was there; and as soon as the duenna saw her go into Don Quixote\u2019s chamber, and in order not to fail in the widespread custom of all duennas to be gossips, she went immediately to tell her mistress the duchess that Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez was in Don Quixote\u2019s room.<\/p>\n

The duchess told the duke and asked his leave to go with Altisidora to see what that duenna wanted with Don Quixote; the duke agreed, and the two women, with very cautious and silent steps, approached the door of his room, and stood so close they could hear everything that was said inside; and when the duchess heard Do\u00f1a Rodr\u00edguez disclose the Aranjuez of her flowing issues,541<\/a><\/span><\/sup> she could not bear it, and neither could Altisidora; and so, filled with rage and longing for vengeance, they burst into the room, and riddled Don Quixote with wounds, and beat the duenna in the manner that has been recounted, because affronts directed against the beauty and vanity of women <\/a>awaken in them an immense anger and kindle their desire to take revenge.<\/p>\n

The duchess told the duke what had happened, which he enjoyed hearing very much, and the duchess, moving ahead with her intention of deceiving Don Quixote and deriving pleasure from that, dispatched the page who had played the part of Dulcinea in the performance concerning her disenchantment\u2014which Sancho Panza had forgotten in his preoccupation with governing\u2014to Teresa Panza, his wife, with the letter from her husband, and another from her, as well as a long string of fine corals as a present.<\/p>\n

The history tells us, then, that the page was very clever and witty, and, desiring to serve his master and mistress, he left very willingly for Sancho\u2019s village; before entering it, he saw a number of women washing clothes in a stream, and he asked them if they could tell him if a woman named Teresa Panza, the wife of a certain Sancho Panza, who was squire to a knight named Don Quixote of La Mancha, lived in that village; and when he had asked the question, a girl who was washing rose to her feet and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cTeresa Panza is my mother, and Sancho is my father, and that knight is our master.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen come along, my girl,\u201d said the page, \u201cand take me to your mother, because I have a letter and a present for her from your father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do that very gladly, Se\u00f1or,\u201d responded the girl, who looked about fourteen years old.<\/p>\n

And leaving the clothes she was washing with a friend, without covering her head or putting on shoes, though she was barefoot and disheveled, she jumped in front of the page\u2019s horse and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cCome, your grace, for our house is at the entrance to the village, and my mother is in it, filled with grief because she hasn\u2019t heard anything from my father for so many days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m bringing her news so good,\u201d said the page, \u201cthat she\u2019ll have to give thanks to God for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jumping, running, and leaping, the girl finally reached the village, and before entering her house, she called from the door:<\/p>\n

\u201cCome out, Teresa, come out, Mother, come out, come out, because here\u2019s a gentleman who\u2019s bringing letters and other things from my good father.\u201d<\/p>\n

At her call, Teresa Panza, her mother, came out, spinning a bunch of flax and wearing a dun-colored skirt so short it looked as if it had been <\/a>cut to shame her,542<\/a><\/span><\/sup> a bodice that was also dun colored, and a chemise. She was not very old, although she looked over forty, but she was strong, hard, vigorous, and as brown as a hazelnut; and seeing her daughter, and the page on horseback, she said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s this, girl? Who\u2019s this gentleman?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA servant of my lady Do\u00f1a Teresa Panza,\u201d responded the page.<\/p>\n

And having said this, he leaped down from the horse and went very humbly to kneel before Se\u00f1ora Teresa, saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour grace, give me your hands, my lady Do\u00f1a Teresa, which you are as the sole legitimate wife of Se\u00f1or Don Sancho Panza, governor of the \u00ednsula of Barataria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Se\u00f1or, get up, don\u2019t do that,\u201d responded Teresa. \u201cI have nothing to do with palaces, I\u2019m a poor peasant, the daughter of a farmer and the wife of a squire errant, not of any governor!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour grace,\u201d responded the page, \u201cis most worthy of a most archworthy governor, and to prove this truth, here are a letter and a present for your grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he immediately took from his pocket a string of corals with gold beads and put it around her neck, saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis letter is from my lord the governor, and another letter and these corals are from my lady the duchess, who has sent me to your grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teresa was stunned, and her daughter no less so, and the girl said:<\/p>\n

\u201cOn my life, our lord and master, Don Quixote, has something to do with this, for he must have given my father the governorship or countship that he promised him so often.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d responded the page, \u201cand out of respect for Se\u00f1or Don Quixote, Se\u00f1or Sancho is now the governor of the \u00ednsula of Barataria, as can be seen in this letter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour grace must read it to me, Se\u00f1or,\u201d said Teresa, \u201cbecause I know how to spin but can\u2019t read a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither can I,\u201d added Sanchica, \u201cbut wait for me here, and I\u2019ll go and find somebody to read it, whether it\u2019s the priest himself or Bachelor Sans\u00f3n Carrasco, and they\u2019ll be very happy to come hear news about my father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to find anybody, because I don\u2019t know how to spin, but I do know how to read, and I\u2019ll read it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so he read her Sancho\u2019s entire letter, and since it has already been cited, it is not set down here, and then he took out another letter, the one from the duchess, and it said:<\/p>\n

\n

My friend Teresa: The qualities of goodness and wit in your husband, Sancho, moved and obliged me to ask my husband, the duke, to give him the governorship of one of the many \u00ednsulas which he possesses. I have been told that he governs in grand style, which makes me very happy, and of course, the duke my lord, too, for which I give many thanks to heaven that I was not deceived when I chose him for the governorship, because I want Se\u00f1ora Teresa to know that it is difficult to find a good governor in the world, and may God treat me in just the way that Sancho governs.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am sending you, my dear, a string of corals with gold beads; I\u2019d be happy if they were Oriental pearls, but the person who gives you a bone doesn\u2019t want to see you dead;<\/span> 543<\/a><\/span><\/sup> one day we shall meet and communicate with each other, God knows when that will be. Remember me to your daughter, Sanchica, and tell her for me that she should get ready, because I plan to arrange an excellent marriage for her when she least expects it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am told that there are fat acorns in your village: send me about two dozen, and I shall esteem them greatly because they come from your hand; write me a long letter informing me of your health and well-being; if you happen to need anything, you only have to say the word, and your word will be heeded. May God keep you. From this place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your friend who loves you,<\/span>
THE<\/span> DUCHESS<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cO,\u201d said Teresa when she heard the letter, \u201cwhat a good and straightforward and humble lady! Let them bury me with ladies like these and not the gentlewomen we have in this village who think that because they\u2019re wellborn the wind shouldn\u2019t touch them, and who go to church with all the airs of queens, and seem to think it\u2019s a dishonor to look at a peasant woman; and you can see here where this good lady, even though she\u2019s a duchess, calls me her friend and treats me like an equal, and may I see her equal to the highest belltower in all of La Mancha. And as for the acorns, Se\u00f1or, I\u2019ll send her ladyship a celem\u00edn<\/span> 544<\/a><\/span><\/sup> of ones so fat that people will come just to look at them. And for now, Sanchica, look after this <\/a>gentleman: take care of his horse, and get some eggs from the stable, and cut plenty of bacon, and let\u2019s feed him like a prince; he deserves it for the good news he\u2019s brought us and for that nice face of his; in the meantime, I\u2019ll go out and tell the news about our luck to my neighbors and to the reverend priest and Master Nicol\u00e1s, the barber, who are and have been such good friends of your father\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will, Mother,\u201d responded Sanchica, \u201cbut look, you have to give me half of that necklace, because I don\u2019t think my lady the duchess is so foolish as to send the whole thing to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all for you, daughter,\u201d responded Teresa, \u201cbut let me wear it around my neck for a few days, because it really seems to bring joy to my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll both feel joy,\u201d said the page, \u201cwhen you see the package that\u2019s in this portmanteau; it\u2019s a suit of very fine cloth that the governor wore to the hunt only once, and he\u2019s sent all of it for Se\u00f1ora Sanchica.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMay he live a thousand years,\u201d responded Sanchica, \u201cand the man who brings it not a year less, even two thousand, if that\u2019s necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Teresa left the house, carrying the letters and wearing the necklace around her neck, and she drummed on the letters with her fingers as if they were tambourines, and when she happened to meet the priest and Sans\u00f3n Carrasco, she began to dance, saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cBy my faith, we\u2019re not poor relations anymore! We have a nice little governorship! And if the proudest of the gentlewomen tries to snub me now, I\u2019ll know how to put her in her place!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is this, Teresa Panza? What madness is this, and what papers are those?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only madness is that these are letters from duchesses and governors, and these things I\u2019m wearing around my neck are fine corals, and the Hail Marys and Our Fathers are of beaten gold, and I\u2019m a governor\u2019s wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs God\u2019s in heaven we don\u2019t understand you, Teresa, and we don\u2019t know what you are talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see it here,\u201d responded Teresa.<\/p>\n

And she handed them the letters. The priest read them aloud so that Sans\u00f3n Carrasco could hear, and Sans\u00f3n and the priest looked at each other as if amazed at what they had read, and the bachelor asked who had brought the letters. Teresa responded that if they came home with her, they would see the messenger, a handsome, well-mannered boy who <\/a>had brought another present that was worth a good deal. The priest took the corals from around her neck and looked at them, and looked at them again, and being convinced of their value, he was amazed all over again and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the habit I wear, I don\u2019t know what to say or think about these letters and these gifts: on the one hand, I can see and touch the fineness of these corals, and on the other, I read that a duchess sends a request for two dozen acorns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ludicrous!\u201d said Carrasco. \u201cLet\u2019s go and see the messenger; he\u2019ll explain the things that perplex us.\u201d<\/p>\n

They did, and Teresa returned with them. They found the page sifting some barley for his horse, and Sanchica cutting slices of bacon that she would cover with eggs and give to the page, whose bearing and grace pleased both men very much; after they had exchanged courteous greetings, Sans\u00f3n asked him for news of Don Quixote as well as Sancho Panza, for although they had read the letters from Sancho and my lady the duchess, they were still confused and could not really grasp Sancho\u2019s governorship, especially of an \u00ednsula, since all or most of the islands in the Mediterranean belonged to His Majesty. To which the page responded:<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Sancho Panza is a governor, of that there can be no doubt; whether what he governs is an \u00ednsula or not does not concern me, but it\u2019s enough to know that it\u2019s a place with more than a thousand residents; as for the acorns, I can say that my lady the duchess is so straightforward and humble,\u201d he said, \u201cthat she not only would send a request to a peasant for some acorns, but has on occasion asked to borrow a comb from a neighbor. Because I want your graces to know that the ladies of Arag\u00f3n are as highborn but not as punctilious and haughty as Castilian ladies; they are simpler in their dealings with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

While they were engaged in this conversation, Sanchica interrupted, her skirt filled with eggs, and asked the page:<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me, Se\u00f1or: does my father happen to wear full-length breeches since he\u2019s been governor?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t noticed,\u201d responded the page, \u201cbut he probably does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cO, God!\u201d replied Sanchica. \u201cHow I\u2019d like to see my father wearing them! Can you believe that since I was born I\u2019ve wanted to see my father in those full-length breeches?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, your grace will see him wearing those things if you live,\u201d responded the page. \u201cBy God, if his governorship lasts two months, he\u2019ll even be wearing a cap for cold weather.\u201d<\/p>\n

The priest and the bachelor saw clearly enough that the page was speaking sarcastically, but the fine quality of the corals and the hunting outfit that Sancho sent had the opposite effect, for Teresa had already shown them the clothing. And they could not help laughing at Sanchica\u2019s desire, especially when Teresa said:<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1or Priest, keep your eyes open and see if anybody\u2019s going to Madrid or Toledo who can buy me a hooped skirt, nice and round and just the way it should be, right in fashion and the best quality, because the real truth is I have to honor my husband\u2019s governorship as much as I can, and even if it\u2019s a bother I have to go to that court and get a carriage like all the other ladies, because a woman who has a governor for a husband can easily buy and keep one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right, Mother!\u201d said Sanchica. \u201cPlease God, it\u2019ll be today and not tomorrow, even though people who see me sitting next to my lady mother in that carriage will say: \u2018Just look at her, daughter of a garlic eater, sitting and leaning back in the carriage as if she were the pope!\u2019 But they can walk in the mud, and I\u2019ll go in my carriage with my feet off the ground. A bad year and a bad month to all the gossips in the world, and as long as I\u2019m warm, people can laugh all they want! Am I right, Mother?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cO daughter, you certainly are right!\u201d responded Teresa. \u201cAnd all of this good fortune, and some even greater than this, my good Sancho predicted for me, and you\u2019ll see, daughter, how he doesn\u2019t stop until he makes me a countess; it\u2019s all a matter of starting to be lucky; and I\u2019ve heard your good father say very often\u2014and he loves proverbs as much as he loves you\u2014that when they give you the calf, run over with the rope; when they give you a governorship, take it; when they give you a countship, hold on to it tight, and when they call you over with a nice present, pack it away. Or else just sleep and don\u2019t answer when fortune and good luck come knocking at your door!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what difference does it make to me,\u201d added Sanchica, \u201cif they say when they see me so proud and haughty: \u2018The dog in linen breeches\u2026\u2019545<\/a><\/span><\/sup> and all the rest?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearing this, the priest said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t help thinking that everyone in the Panza family was born with a sack of proverbs inside; I\u2019ve never seen one of them who isn\u2019t always scattering proverbs around in every conversation they have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d said the page, \u201cfor Se\u00f1or Governor Sancho says them all the time, and even though many are not to the point, they still give pleasure, and my lady the duchess and my lord the duke praise them a good deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, Se\u00f1or, does your grace still affirm that Sancho\u2019s governorship is true, and that there is a duchess in the world who sends his wife presents and writes to her? Because we, although we touched the presents and read the letters, don\u2019t believe it, and we think this is one of those things that concern our compatriot Don Quixote, who thinks they are all done by enchantment; and so, I\u2019m ready to say that I want to touch and feel your grace to see if you are an imagined emissary or a man of flesh and blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1ores, all I know,\u201d responded the page, \u201cis that I am a true emissary, and Se\u00f1or Sancho Panza is a real governor, and my master and mistress the duke and duchess can give, and have given him, the governorship, and I\u2019ve heard that in it Sancho Panza is performing valiantly; whether or not there\u2019s enchantment in this is something your graces can argue among yourselves, because I don\u2019t know any more than this, and I swear to that on the lives of my parents, who are still living and whom I love and cherish very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat may well be true,\u201d replied the bachelor, \u201cbut dubitat Augustinus.\u201d<\/span> 546<\/a><\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter who doubts it,\u201d responded the page, \u201cthe truth is what I have said, and truth will always rise above a lie, as oil rises above water; and if not, operibus credite, et non verbis:<\/span> 547<\/a><\/span><\/sup> one of your graces should come with me, and you\u2019ll see with your own eyes what your ears don\u2019t believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI should be the one to go,\u201d said Sanchica. \u201cSe\u00f1or, your grace can let me ride on the horse\u2019s hindquarters, because I\u2019d be very happy to see my father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe daughters of governors should not travel the roads unescorted but should be accompanied by coaches and litters and a large number of servants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy God,\u201d responded Sancha, \u201cI can ride a donkey as well as a coach. You must think I\u2019m very hard to please!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBe quiet, girl,\u201d said Teresa. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re saying, and this gentleman is right; time changes the rhyme: when it\u2019s Sancho, it\u2019s <\/a>Sancha, and when it\u2019s governor, it\u2019s Se\u00f1ora, and I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m saying something or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00f1ora Teresa is saying more than she thinks,\u201d said the page. \u201cGive me something to eat and then send me away, because I plan to go back this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

To which the priest said:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour grace will come and do penance with me,548<\/a><\/span><\/sup> for Se\u00f1ora Teresa has more desire than provisions for serving so worthy a guest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The page refused, but then he had to concede, to his own advantage, and the priest took him home very gladly, for it meant he would have the opportunity to ask at his leisure about Don Quixote and his exploits.<\/p>\n

The bachelor offered to write replies to her letters, but Teresa did not want the bachelor involved in her affairs because she thought he was something of a trickster, and so she gave a roll and two eggs to an altar boy who knew how to write, and he wrote two letters, one for her husband and the other for the duchess, which she herself dictated, and they are not the worst letters that appear in this great history, as we shall see further on.<\/p>\n

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