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£x Libris C. K. OGDEN

THE

LIFE and EXPLOITS

Of the ingenious gentleman

DON (QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

Tranflated from the Original Spanish of

Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra.

Ky CHARLES J A R V I S, Efq; IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOLUME the FIRST.

rt

LONDON:

Printed for J. and R. T o n s o n in the Strand^ and R. Dodsley in Pall -Mall.

M DCC XLII.

THE

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

S much as I diflike the nfual practice of translators, who think to recommend their own by cenfuring the former tranflations o£ their author, I am obliged to aflure the reader, that, had I not thought thofe of Don Quixote very de- fective, I had never given myfelf or him the trouble of this un- dertaking.

There have been already three of Don Quixote in Rnglifh. The firft by Shelton has hitherto paffed as translated from the original, though many paffages in it manifeftly Shew it to have been taken from the Italian of Lorenzo Franciofmi. An In- stance or two will be fufficient.

In the ninth chapter of the third book of the firft part, San- cho\ afs is Stolen by Gines de P ajfamonte, while Sancho is afleep ; and prefently after, the author mounts him again in a very re- markable manner, fideways like a woman, a la mugeriega. This Sfcory being but imperfectly told, Franciofni took it for agrofs overfight: he therefore alters it, indeed a little unhappily; for, in defect of the afs, he is forced to put Sancho's wallets and provender upon Rozinante, though the wallets were Slopt before by the inn- keeper, in the third chapter of the third book. This blundering amendment of the translator is literally followed by Shelton.

Again, in purfuance of this, Franciofmi alters another paf- fage in the eleventh chapter of the fame book. Sancho fays to his maSter, who had enjoined him abfolute Silence ; If heafls could f peak as they, did in the days of Guifopcte (I fuppofe he means SEfop) ?ny cafe would not be quite fo bad\ for then I mmbt commune with my afs, and fay what I pleafed to him. Here the Italian makes him fay " Commune with Rozinante" ; and Shelton follows him, with this addition, u Since my niggardly for- " tune has deprived me of my afs."

A 2 But

Stack Annex

iv ^ TRANSLATORV PREFACE.

But what if Cervantes made this Teeming flip on purpofe for a bait to tempt the minor criticks ; in the fame manner as, in ano- ther place, he makes the princefs of Micomicon land at OJfima, which is no fea-port ? As by that he introduced a fine piece of fatire on an eminent Spanifi hiftorian of his time, who had de- fcribed it as fuch in his hiftory ; fo by this he might only take occaflon to reflect on a parallel incident in Arioflo, where Bru- neloj at the fiege of Albraca, fteals the horfe from between the legs of Sacripa?ite king of CircaJJia. It is the very defence he makes for it, in the fourth chapter of the fecond part, where, by the way, both the Italian and old Englijh translators have preferved the excufe, though by their altering the text they had taken away the occafion of it.

The edition by John Stevens is but a bare attempt to correct fome paflages of Shelton, and, though the grammar be a little mended by the connecting particles, the antique ftile of the old one is entirely broken. This is therefore fb much the worfe by altering the ridiculous of the old diction, without coming nearer to the fenfe or fpirit of the original. Stevens alfo has made the fame wife amendments with his predeceflbrs.

That of Motteux is done by feveral hands, and is a kind of loofe paraphrafe, rather than a tranflation ; and has quite ano- ther caft, being taken wholly from the French, which, by the way, was alfo from the Italian. It is full of what is called the Faux brillant, and openly carries throughout it a kind of low comic or burlefque vein. Motteux is fo injudicious as to value his verfion upon this very air of comedy, than which nothing -can be more foreign to the defign of the author, whofe principal and diftinguifhing character is, to preferve the face of gravity, generally confident through his whole work, fuited to the fo- lemnity of a Spaniard, and wherein without doubt is placed

the true fpirit of its ridicule.

For

Tie TRANSLATORS PREFACE.

For the three principal points, which a ftaunch Spaniard 'Jays down to his Ton, are ranked in the following order; Gravedad, lealdad, y el tamer de Dios, i. e. " In the firft. place gravity, in " the fecond loyalty, and in the third the fear of God.''' The iirft is to manifest itfelf in a punctilious zeal for the fervice of his miftrefs; the fecond in an unreferved fubmiffion to his prince; and the third in a blind obedience to the church. The firfl of thefe makes the chief fubject of the prefent fatire.

Upon the whole, I think it manifeft this author has not been translated into our language in fuch a manner as to give any tolerable fatisfaction ; though it is evident from the two attempts made by Motteux and Stevens, and the fuccels they met with upon the firft. publication, that there was an univerial demand for fuch a work. However, in a fliort time, all thofe, who had any tafte of the author, finding themfelves difappointed, chofe rather to have recourfe back again to the old one, which, as it was nearer the words, was fo much nearer the fenfe of the original.

There are three circum fiances, wherein the excellencies of this author appear in the ftrongeffc light. The firfl: is, that the geni- us of knight-errantry having been fo long expired all over Eu- rope, excepting in Spain, yet this book has been translated into moft languages, and every where read with univerfal applaufe ; though the humour was long ago fpent, and the fatire affected none but the Spaniards. Secondly, that, although it requires a good judgment to difcover all the nicer beauties in this writer, yet there remain enough fufficiently obvious to pleafe people of all capacities whatfoever. The third (which I confine wholly to England] is, that, though we have already had fo many transla- tions and editions, all abundantly defective, yet the wit and ge- nius of the author has been able to fhine through all difad van- tages, fo as to make every one of them as entertaining as any we have among us,

The. •

VI

The TRANSLATORS PREFACE.

The ironical fa the moft agreeable, and perhaps the ftrongeft ©f all kinds of fatire, but at the fame time the moft difficult to preferve in a work of length. Who is there but obferves our au- thor's admirable talent at it ? However it muft be conferled, he has now and then broke in upon this fcheme ; which lam per- fuaded he muft have been forced to in compliance with the hu- mour of the age and country he wrote in, and not from any error of judgment.

It is certain, that, upon the flrft appearance of this book in publick, great numbers of the Spanifh readers understood it as a true hiilory; nor perhaps is the opinion quite extinguished in that country : for an intimate friend of mine told me, that, meeting, not long ago, in London, with a Spaniard of feme figure, and wanting to learn of him fome particulars concerning Cerva?rtes and Don Quixote, the Spaniard very gravely aflured him, that Cervantes was a wag, the whole book fiction and meer invention; and that there never was fuch a peribn as

Don Quixote.

We daily fee people of a grofs and low tafte apt to be offend- ed at a ferious manner of jefting, either in writing or conver- fation ; and therefore it will not be improper here to take notice of the frequent oaths, the author puts into the mouths of Don Quixote and his fquire, and likewife of the pious refkaions and ejaculations made -by both upon very mean and ridiculous occa- fions. However unwarrantable this practice may be among ca- fuifts, it is certainly no fault that falls under the cognizance of a critic, neither can Cervantes in juftice be condemned, who ap- pears, in feveral parts of this very work, to be a man, not only of great morality, but true piety. We mould rather blame the difpofition and mode of his country, where the authors fre- quently take the liberty of mingling what we call profanenefs and religion together. But above all the old romances, which he fatirfzes, abound in this very practice. May I not add,

that

TZe TRANSLATOR j PREFACE. vii

that a good writer of humour proceeds like a mailer-painter, who is defigning pictures by invention? Firft, he is intent upon fixing the general idea of the characters, and, when he has car- ried thefe as far as he is able by the mere ftrength of his ge- nius, he then applies himfelf to minuter likeneffes from nature itfelf, to come nearer to the life, and defcribe the particulars more ftrongly. Thus the very interfperfing thofe oaths and eja- culations contributes much towards giving the work that air of nature and truth, fo neceiTary in a piece of this kind.

There are feveral broad hints of fatire upon the wealth, the power and fplendor of the clergy, as inconfiftent with the ori- ginal chriftian fcheme; and he has alfo made pretty free with .the voluntary penances, and heroic whippings, of his own coun- trymen. Such ftrokes would certainly never have paffed the jealous eyes of the Inquifition> had they not been fagacioufly ba- lanced by feveral humble and dutiful paffages in favour of pious donations, foundations, Purgatory, praying to faints, and other profitable doctrines of the church.

In ibme places you meet with fundry quaint turns, and now and then fome obfolete expreffions in bombaft fpeeches; both which vices he endeavours to expofe in thofe very paffages, by making his hero imitate the ftile and phrafe ufual in the ro- mances fo much in vogue : and one would wonder how raon- fieur and mademoifelle Scudery, and the reft of the Beaux efprits of the French academy, could be fo barren of invention, and fo unthinking, as to copy that very model of romance fet down by Cervantes, wherein their heroes and heroines are exact- ly defcribed, and the whole fyftem ridiculed; particularly in the difcourles of Don Quixote and the canon.

I thought here to have ended this preface : but confidering that this work was calculated to ridicule that falfe fyftem of ho- nour and gallantry, which prevailed even 'till our author's time ;

to

viit The TRANSLATORS PREFACE.

to which there are frequent allu lions through the whole of this work ; I have chofen to give fome account of the rife, progrefs, and continuance of it, in this place.

As far back as we have any records of the northern nations, it appears, that they decided controverfies and difputes by the fword. Lucian tells us, that whoever was vanquifhed there in fingle combat, had his right hand cut off. Ccefar, in his fixth book, fays, the Germa?is reckoned it gallant and brave to rob and plunder their neighbours ; and Tacitus obferves, they fel- dom terminated a difpute with words, but with wounds and death. But nothing can better fhew, how common this practice was among the people, than the fatal inftance of ^uintilius Va- rus in Velleius Paterculus. Varus commanded three Roman le- gions, with their allies, upon the Rhine ; where the enemy tak- ing notice, that he was more intent upon deciding caufes in a judicial way, than upon the -difcipline and care of his army, took occafion from thence of forming a defign to furprize and deftroy him and his army. And this they partly effected, by amufing him every day with fcuffles and quarrels, contrived among themfelves, to furnifh Varus with ftore of plaintiffs and defendants ; pretending to be extremely furprized and pleafed to fee the Romans end thofe difputes by the magistrate and civil deadings, which the Germans knew no other way of determin- ing but by the fword.

All over the north, fingle combat was allowed upon various grounds. Krantz, the DaniJJj hiftorian, tells us, how ufual it was to decide caufes this way; and that, not only between per- fons of equal circumftances; but fo Shameful a thing was it deemed to decline it, that even fovereigns have accepted a chal- lenge from their own rebellious Subjects. Aldanus, King of Sweden, fought with Sivaldus in the lifts; and Addingus, king of Denmark, with Tojfo, who had in vain endeavoured to raife an infurrection againfi; him. Schioldus (nephew to that Dane,

who

77j^ TRANSLATORS PREFACE. ix

who gave the name to Denmark, they fay, before Romulus) challenged his rival Scato, the German, to duel for a young la- dy. The famous pirate Ebbon demanded the daughter of Un- guinus, king of the Goths, in marriage, with half his kingdom for her dowry; and there was no avoiding a concellion or a combat; but, by good fortune, another bravo had challenged Ebbon, and killed him. In the reign of Fronto the third, king of Denmark, one Greppa was acculed by one Henrick of hav- ing violated the queen's majefty ; and though the thing was true, and publick enough, yet Greppa, to prove his innocence, chal- lenged the accufer : Henrick was {lain, and after him his father and brothers, who endeavoured to revenge his death.

By degrees their acute legiflators found out, that women, and old or infirm men, were under too great hardfhips, and there- fore, in equity, allowed them the ufe of a champion, to battle it in their ftead. Gejliblind, king of the Goths, challenged in his old age by the king of Sweden, fent his champion : and Elgo?t of Norway, having a mind to the daughter of Frid/evus, fent the famous Starcuter to fight his rivals ; who, notwithftand- ing his being fb redoubted in arms, flew Oh the Norwegian by treachery. It is recorded, that thefe champions were a fet of the vileft fellows in the world, who often yielded themfelves vanquifhed for a bribe; and then the unhappy principal was de- livered up into the power of the victor, who fometimes put him to death. But, when the treachery was too palpable, the vil- lain loft his right hand, and he and his patron were branded with a note of perpetual infamy. Saxo Grammaticus, who wrote about the year 1200, fays, that Fronto above-mentioned decreed, " That all controversies fhould be decided by arms, " deeming it more reputable to contend with blows, than with " words." Before this the Longobards, of German extraction, who had continued and multiplied feveral ages in Italy, be^an to copy after the Italians with a notable mixture of their ori- Vol. I. a ginal

The TRANSLATOR'; PREFACE.

ginal genius. App. Sigonius, 1. 2. fays, Rot art, with the con- fent of his nobles and army in Pavia, enacted, " That if any " five years poifeftbr of any thing, moveable or immoveable, be " taxed by any man as wrongfully poffefiing, he may juftify ii his title by Due/:" And whichfoever of the combatants gave ground fo far, as to let his foot beyond the line affigned them, loft his caufe as vanquished. In fome places the rigours were extreme: axes and halters, gallows and gibbets, were prepared without the lifts, and the poor caitiff was hanged or difmem- bered, who happened to be worfted.

By length of time the climate began to loften thele favage minds. At fiift, the goods and chattels of the vanquifhed be- longed to the conqueror : but this practice was laid afide ; for no wealthy gentleman could be fafe. The horfe and arms were a great while a perquifite : but, in procefs of time, this alio was retrenched to the ofTenfive weapons the unfortunate had made ufe of in the lifts. Thefe the conqueror hung up in fome church under his own; and, if he liked the enemy's device upon his fhield, he made an exchange. One of the Vifconti fa- mily defeated a Saracen of quality in the lifts, and that houfe, to this day, bears a viper with a bloody child in its mouth, the Saracens device.

In the Longobard Codex, rates were fet by law upon affronts, as well as affaults and batteries, of both which I will fet down a fample. When any perfon had beaten another, and made a li- vid fpot or wound, he was amerced three crowns for the firft, fix for the fecond, nine for the third, twelve for the fourth beating, and all beyond went into the bargain. You fee the pe- nalty for wounding a man : now behold how facred were his honour and his property, and hew guarded by the wifclom of the law. Item, fix crowns for pulling him by the beard; the fame for taking away a pole from his hops, or his vines ; the fame for plucking off the hair of his neighbour's horfe's tail ;

three

77^ TRANSLATOR; PREFACE. xi

three for beating a fervant-wench, and making her miicarry ; and juft the fame for making a mare caft her foal, or a cow her calf! Again, if you ftruck a man on the head, fo as to make a fracture, twelve crowns; twenty-four for the fecond blow; thirty-fix for the third: but if there happened to be any more fractures, the patient muft be quiet; for the ftatute is exprefs, and in very good Latin, Sit content its. A catalogue is drawn up of the members of the human body : fo much for a fimple tooth, and fo much for a grinder : the nofe was always a tick- lifh article, and twenty-four crowns was always the loweft penny: but, for airafTmating a baron or fquire by treachery, nine hundred crowns; and, to fhew their zeal for the church, the fame for murdering a bifhop. They allowed of duel in nineteen cafes; eighteen of which were to be fought at blunts, with a club and a fhield ; but the nineteenth was for high-treafon, and to be fought at fharps with the fword. I forgot to mention, that, in their books of rates, to call a man cuckold was fined at twelve crowns, and, to ofTer to prove it, admitted of a combat in form.

Not only fingle perfons, but whole towns have challenged other towns to battle, by firft engaging fome great families, then the friends and dependents of each, 'till numbers were embarked on both fides, and much blood was fpilt. When they came to an accommodation, the terms were fometimes pretty hard upon the vanquifhed party : " That they mould lower their tower, wall " up fome gate, clothe in black, with the lining black alfo, and " not fhave their beards in ten years." When it grew out of fafhion to hang or difmember, fall the poor vanquifhed was in a wretched cafe, given up to the difpofal of the vi&or. The he- rald proclaimed him, at the corners of the lifts, guilty, falfe and perjured; he was unarmed backwards; he ,was to walk back- wards out of the lifts ; his armour was thrown piece by piece over the barrier; and, thenceforward, no gentleman would keep

a 2 him

xii r^TRANSLATORV PREFACE.

Kim company. But the ufual way was for the conquerors to fend the conquered as tokens to their miftrefles, to be diipofed of as they thought proper. One cavalier, in a pious fit, pre- fented his prifoner to St. Peter 's, where the canons of that ca- thedral employed him to handle a broom inftead of a (pear, and he (wept their church feveral years with great applaufe.

This kind of practice favoured too much of infolence, and by degrees, and Italian refinements, the vanquishers became the pinks of courteiy. Out of pure gallantry, they did not require their adverfary to yield, though the fuperiority was apparent, but only to confefs and acknowledge his antagonift to be as much a gentleman as himlelf. Now they began to reduce the cuftom of {ingle combat to a Science, and thus it fpread all over Europe. The cavaliers entered the lifts for injurious words, as well as for injurious aSlions. Then frequent difputes arofe about the ex- preffion, or the tone with which it was uttered : here they gave one another the lye plentifully, one affirming, the other denying. By thefe military laws, the challenged was to have the choice of the weapons, of the field, and of the judge; which advantage was often fatal to the appellant, by fome foul play or other; whence every man that quarrelled ufed great addrefs to make himfelf defendant, to be inticled to the aforefaid privilege. As cafes were often dubious, the advocates applied to the ftudy of diftin&ions. They grew as numerous as the ftudents of the ci- vil law, and as many books were written upon the fubjecl:. So many exceptions were allowed, and fo many treatifes written on both fides the queftion, before the quarrel could be eftablijh- ed (as they called it) that there was no likelihood of any end. The lye was grown fo terrible, that no prudent perfon would venture to ufe a negative particle, left it mould be conftrued by the cafuifts an oblique way of giving the lye. A man could not fay; " Sir, you are mifinformed," without hazarding a duel. People found out qualifying mediums: " Excufe me, Sir; Par-

" don

-

Tie TRANSLATORS PREFACE. xiii

" don mc, Sir;" which in Italy and France remain the court modes of fpeech to this day.

Though all gentlemen were under thefe predicaments, yet thole, who were dubbed knights, were under a more immediate and precife obligation: they took an oath to be ready at all calls; their arms and armour were always furbifhing, and their horfes in the flable; and inftantly, upon the receipt of a letter, or gauntlet, by a trumpet, to horfe and away: for, mould any of thele cavaliers have made excufes, or feemed to decline a com- bat, their fpurs were hacked off, and they were degraded of courfe, as recreant knights, and perjured perfons, for behaving contrary to their oath at the girding on their fvvords. If a cava- lier was calumniated after his death, his next of kin was to take up the quarrel ; and if a gentleman happened to die after he was challenged, and before the combat, his neareft relation was bound to appear in the lifts, and maintain he did not die for fear. In thele bleffed ages, when people were obliged to combat by this divine right of fucceflion, a ftrong adroit fellow has ex- tinguifhed a whole generation, and the merits of the caufe point blank againft him all the while.

But, of all obligations, that of vindicating the honour of the ladies was the moft binding : their beauty and chaftity were the two topicks that made heroes fwarm like wafps in a hot fummer, each valuing himfelf upon the juftice of his caufe, and, in the very act of encountering that launce, which perhaps in a mo- ment was pufhed three yards through his body, mutterino- a re- commendatory prayer to heaven, and to his miftrefs; for they were bound in gallantry to believe their future blifs depended equally upon both. This was very grofs, and feemed to oe a high contempt of that abfolution in artkulo mortis^ upon which the church of Rome lays fo great a ftrefs. Wherefore the La- teran council anathematized all thefe bravos, to the great difcou- ragement of chivalry. Some princes grew fqueamim, and would c% not

xiv The TRANSLATOR'; PREFACE.

not allow of combats a tutto tranfito (as the Italians called it) that is, to kill downright, unlefs in extraordinary cafes. But fighting ftill was fo univerfally in vogue, that in every country in Europe a free field was fet out, and every petty prince, out of oftentation of his fovereignty, though he had hardly ten acres of territory, would have his Campo Franco^ with judges, and all the proper officers fixed, that juftice might not be retarded for want of fuch a judicature (as they called it) at hand. The bed of honour was ready made, and death flood waiting to put out the lights, and draw his fable curtain. Letters-pate?it were drawn up by the elaborate Secretary, recording all the circum- ftances at large, and always with ibme flourifhes in favour of the conqueror : thefe were witneffed by all the cavaliers and men of quality prefent. The very ecclefiaftics were not exempt : for in 1 1 76, Matthew Paris informs us, the pope's legate ob- tained a privilege, " That the clergy mould be no longer com- " pelled to fingle combat."

Philip the fair of F?~a?tce, in 1306, by his conftitutions, al- lowed of decifions by combat; and becaufe the ladies could not decently engage in cold blood, and cold iron, they were in- dulged, out of tendernefs to the loft lex, the Trial ordeal: burning plow-mares, with troughs of fcalding liquor, were placed at unequal diftances upon the ground : the accufed was blind- folded, and, if fhe chanced to tread clear of all thefe gins, her innocence was apparent, and heaven favoured her righteous caufe : but, if fhe was fcalded or burnt, god have mercy on her ! Edward the confejjors mother Emma underwent this trial, and came off fafe from nine plow-fhares. If the charge was for witchcraft, which ufually happened to women in old age, they were thrown into fome deep pond or river, and, if the operators pulled them out before they were quite fuffocated, it was well ; but if after they were actually drowned, there was ftill this mercy, they efcaped burning.

While

the TRANS LATORV PREFACE. xv

While thefe cuftoms were in vogue, fuperftition had a noble latitude. Saxo Grammaticus^ 1. I. & 4. tells us, it was gene- rally believed, that " fome men were invulnerable by magic; " fome armour, by necromantic art, of proof and impenctra- " ble, unlefs fome magician of fuperior skill forged a fword " of fuch temper, as nothing could refill." Some ballams were thought fo fovereign, as to heal all wounds, and, in confe- quence of thefe opinions, the combatants, at entering the lifts, were obliged to take an oath, that they had no fuch thing about them.

During the prevalency of thefe barbarous cuftoms, St. Peters fuccefTors took the opportunity of fifhing fome utility out of them, by inciting the princes of Chrijlendom to undertake to re- cover the holy fepulchre from the hands of the Saracens ; as well as to eftablifh certain military orders. Thefe were a kind of re- ligious edged- tools, who were fo zealous at their firft dubbing, that, not content to flay at home, and ferve their king and country, they armed, and mounted forthwith, and, accompa- nied by a trufty fquire, went about the world in quefr. of ad- ventures. Their oath at their installation obliged them " to re- " drefs wrongs, relieve widows and orphans, chaftife info- " lence , &c. " Thefe injunctions they pioufly took au pied de la lettre\ and thofe cavaliers, who were of a com- panionate character, fet up for immediate redrefs of grie- vances, and fteered their courfe towards whatever court or city was moft renowned for valiant knights. Thofe of an amorous complexion offered to maintain, that their miftreffes were fupe- rior in beauty to all the ladies of the faid court or city. At their arrival, they publifhcd a cartel or manifefto declaring their pretenfions. The companionate knights infifted, that fuch a damfel fhould have right done her upon an inconftant or faith- lefs lover; fuch a widow or orphan have redrefs of a certain grievance; fuch an old or infirm perfon have fatisfa&ion given

him.

xvi Me TRANSLATORS PREFACE.

him. If any of thefe or the like demands were reje&ed, a combat enfued of courfe, and the ftranger knight was to be treated with great diftinclion 'till the queftion was decided.

Some gay cavaliers carried the humour farther, and took a company of damfels upon pal fries about with them, to flake them againft their opponents women. Their letters of defiance were ufually in an extraordinary ftile. I will tranfcribe a few of the ancient and authentic precedents, in their own words, from their hiftorian and advocate, Faufio the Italian ; by which fpecimen you will find our cavaliers of Hockley were a fet of modeft gentlemen.

CHALLENGE.

" You may have heard I am one that make pretention to " beautiful damfels; and I am credibly informed you have one " called Perina, faid to be wonderous handfome : now, if you " do not fend her me forthwith, or acquaint me when I may " fend for her, prepare to fight me."

ANSWER. .-

" You are not fuch a man, that one of my rank mould re- " gard what you pretend to. Perina is mine, and handfome : I will meet you, and bring her with me into the lifts : you fhall flake a couple of yours againft her, becaufe they have lefs beauty and worth. When I have vanquifhed you, they fhall wait upon Peri?ia as long as fhe pleafes."

cc u

<c

Another CHALLENGE.

" If you do not fet the Brunette* at liberty, meet me, and " name the day; though this enterprize does not fo properly be- " long to me, as to fome other cavalier, who lives nearer, and " can be better informed of the violence."

Another

The TRANSLATOR'/ PREFACE. xvii

ANOTHER.

" Not out of envy at your glory, but out of a defire to be par- " taker thereof, do me the favour to fight me, and you will " oblige your humble fervant.

The A N S W E R.

" Pray, Sir, be fb kind to come and dine with me to-mor- ** row, and at two o' clock I will attend you to the lifts.

Another CHALLENGE.

" You fay your cap is red ; I fay it is blue, and will prove, " that the fword by your fide is lead, and your dagger a wood- " en one."

The feconds were to make exceptions and enter protefts, to exa- mine the arms and armour, and to fee there was no falfe work- manship ; for fmiths had been bribed, and made fome armour more weak, that their beft chapman might prevail. The fe- conds then never fought, but interpofed as they faw caufe, 'till by later refinements it grew to be the mode.

When combat became a fcience, the critics frequently dif- fered on which fide the lye was given validly. To the end all points might be fufficiently difcufled, ten days were allowed for accepting the challenge ; twenty to anfwer the adverfary's mani- fefto; and forty more to agree upon the lifts, the judge, ©V. So that, let a man of honour be in never fo much hafte, feventy days were good and fafe within the forms. In this interval fome new fcruple was often ftarted, each party endeavouring to put himfelf in the place of defendant ; and before thefe difficulties could be removed, one or both of the parties have died peace- ably in their beds. To gain time was a main arcifice, and fre- quently practifed; and in fome great emergencies, a kind of military 'writ of error was admitted, by which the heroes were

Vol. I. b to

xviii The TRANSLATOR'; PREFACE.

to begin again. It will not be improper to quote one example. Peter , king of Arragon, was challenged by Charles, king of Sici- ly, to fingle combat. The field appointed was near Bourdeaux. in Gafcony. Charles appeared with the lord of the field and the judge* He waited feveral hours; then fcoured the field (as their law- enjoined) and, upbraiding his adverfary with contumacy, went off with the judge. When Charles was gone, Peter appears ; flays fome time; fcours his field, and accufes his competitor as contumacious, for not flaying out the whole time allotted. The cafe was referred to counfel learned in chivalry : they de- clared Charles not guilty of contumacy, becaufe the judge went off with him ; and another day was appointed. Peter refufed to appear : but pope Martin, who was as infallible as any of hisfuccefTors, deprived him of the kingdom in difpute.

Sometimes the day and hour were agreed upon, but they differ- ed about the field. One named the Piazza Grandest Mi 'Ian ; the other the Carhonaro at Naples ; and each has appeared in mining armour, praunced over the lifts, and lcoured his field, a hundred leagues from his enemy, who was doing the like in his own country, with equal parade, and equal bravery.

But of all the examples of this fort, I rauft not omit a very fignal one, which is given us by Froi/fart the French hifto- rian, and an eye-witnefs, and which I fhall tranfcribe at large. It is of a famous decifion at Paris, in 1387, between two gen- tlemen, vaflals of the court D Ale?ifo?i, both in employment under him, and both favourites ; the chevalier yohn Caronge ap- pellant, and James le Gris refpondent. yohn, it feems, was married to a handfome young woman, and happened to travel beyond fea for fome advantage to his fortune. He left his wire among her fervants at his feat in the country, where fhe behaved very prudently. Now (fays our author) it fell out, that the devil entered the body of yai?ies le Gris by temptation perverfe and di.erfe, making him call: an eye upon the chevalier's lady, who

reiided

The TRANSLATORS PREFACE. xix

reflded then at Arge7iteil. It was fworn at the trial afterwards, that, upon a certain day of fuch a month in fuch a year, he took a horfe of the count's, and rode thither. She and her people made him very welcome, as being a companion of her husband's, and belonging to the fame matter. After fomc time, me mewed him the houfe and the furniture ; and fufpe&ing no harm, no fervant attended while me did fo. Then James defired to fee the dungeon, as the chief thing he wanted to fee. Now the dungeon is one of thofe ftrong (lone towers, of ancient ornament and defence, belonging to every caftle, with fmall fpike- holes hi^h in the walls, to keep prifbners of war in, in times of commotion. Madam Caronge led him the way. As foon as they were in, he clapped the door after him : me thought the wind had done it, 'till James fell to embracing her, and, being a ftrong man, had his will of her. At his taking leave of her, me faid to him weeping; " James, James, you have not done well; but " the blame mail not lie at my door, but at yours, if my hus- " band lives to come back." James mounted his flower of courfers (as the term was for a fine horfe) and returned to the count's, where, upon the ftroke of nine o'clock, he was among the reft at his lordfhip's levee, and at four the fame morning he had been feen at home. I mark this particular fo precifely, becaufe Co much depended upon it afterwards. Madam faid not a word of what had pafTed to man or maid, but retained in her memo- ry the day and hour '. When the husband returned from his ex- pedition, his wife received him with great demonftrations of joy. The day paffed; the night came; John went to bed ; but fhe lingered, which he wondered much at. She continued walking backwards and forwards in the chamber, crofling herfelf between whiles,'tiil the family was all in bed and afleep.Then (he advanced to

1 It is pity the hiflorian does not fay, what number or whether any of her domeftics fwore to James It Grit being at Jrgintcil, in that day or at that odd hour, nor which fervant brought him his horfe from the liable, nor whvfhedid not make her people flop him, fince one would think (lie had opportunity and power er.oughTo to do.

b 2 the

xx ^ TRANSLATOR'; PREFACE.

the bedfide, and kneeling, in the moft doleful accents, related the whole adventure. At flrft he could not believe what fhe told him ; but fhe perfifted fo vehemently, that it ftaggered him, and he faid, if it proved fo, he forgave her ; but if otherwife, he never would cohabit with her more. However he promifed to fummon the chief of her relations and his own, and demean himfelf upon the occafion as they fhould direct. Accordingly, next morning, he wrote feveral circular letters, and appointed them a day. When they were all met, and in a room together, he cal- led his wife to them, locked the door, and bid her tell her own flory from point to point. She did fo, and the remit of the con- futation was, to apprize the count their lord of it, and leave it to him. This the husband agreed to do : but James (lays the hiftorian) being prime favourite, the count faid, the tale founded like a fiction : however, to fhew his impartiality, he ordered the parties mould be confronted, and have a fair and formal hearing face to face. After long pleading, all the relations being prefent, the woman periifting, the chevalier accufing ftrongly, and the fquire as peremptorily denying, James was acquitted, and the count concluded the woman muft have dreamed: for it was not judged pofTible for any man to ride three and twenty leagues (about feventy miles) commit fuch a fact, and fpend fo much time as the feveral circumftances of her depofition required, in four hours and a half; for that was all the fpace, in which he could not prove himfelf at home. His lordfhip therefore ordered, that no more mould be faid of it. But the chevalier, who was a man of mettle, and confequently his honour very tender, now the thing was publick, would not be fo put off. He brought the cafe be- fore the parliament of Paris : It was depending for a year and half, and the parties gave in fecurities to ftand by the decifion. That wife fenate at laft determined, it mould be decided by combat to all extremity, on the Monday following the fentence. The king, happening to be then at Sluys in Flanders, immediately fent a

courier

^ TRANSLATORV PREFACE. xxi

courier with orders to adjourn the day ; for he was refolved to fee the iflue himfelf. The dukes of Berry, Burgundy, and Bourbon, the conftable of France, with the chief of the nobility, came to town on purpofe. The lifts were fet out on the place of St. Catharine, and fcaffolds were erected for the numerous fpec- tators. The combatants were armed at all points cap a pie, as the fafhion was, and had each their chair to fit down in, 'till they were to enter upon a&ion. The dame was feated upon a car, covered with black. The husband rofe from his feat, went to her, and faid: Madam, by your information, and in your quarrel, I am here to venture my life, and fight James le Gris : you know beft whether my caufe be good and true. Sir, replied fhe, you may depend upon it, and fight fecurely. Then he took her by the hand, and kified her: he croffed himfelf, and entered the lifts. She remained praying, and in great per- plexity, as well flie might; for, if her cavalier was worfied, he was to be hanged, and fhe to be burned without mercy ; for fuch was the fentence in exprefs terms. But the die was thrown, and they muft abide by the chance. The field and fun beino- divided, according to cuftom and equity, they performed then- careers, and their exercifes of the fpear on horfe-back, and, be- ing both very expert, without any hurt. Then they alight- ed, and fell to work with their fvvords. In a little time the chevalier John was wounded in the thigh, and all his friends in a mortal fright for him : but he fought on, and fo valiantly, that at length he brought his adverfary to the ground, run his fword into his body, and killed him upon the fpot. He looked round, and asked if he had done his duty well : It was anfwered yes, with a general voice ; and immediately James was deliver- ed to the hangman, who dragged him to a hill near Paris, and hanged him there. The bufinefs thus concluded, the cheva- lier came, and kneeled before the king, who made him rife, and ordered him a thoufand livres that day, and two hundred

more

xxii The TRANSLATOR'; PREFACE.

more yearly for his life, and made him a gentleman of his bed- chamber. Then, defcending to the fcaffold, he went to his wife, whom he faluted, and they walked together to the cathedral of Notre Dame, to make their offerings. So the charge was well proved, and the hiflorian durfl make no reflection ; for, in thofe days, no body could queftion but James was guilty, be- caufe he was flain.

I muft not neglect mentioning, that combat was no where more in fafhion, than here in England. Our hiftory abounds with inflances : Our heroes performed in Tothilfields, where the judges of the common-pleas prefided, and pronounced fen- tences. But, when a caufe was tried before the king, the lord high conflable, and the earl marfhal, fat as judges.

Infinite were the mifchiefs proceeding from thefe falfe and abfurd notions of honour. The firft inftitution, though bar- barous enough, was flill more perverted by mifapplication. Thefe cavaliers, from protecting widows and orphans from op- preflion, proceeded to protect their fervants and dependents from jufl profecution and punifhment. In fhort, throughout all Europe this frenzy prevailed, 'till it became both the honour and the law of nations, and drew to its fide not only the divines, but the legijlators themfelves.

We have feen all the ideas of heroifm formed upon this fyftem. Kings themfelves and bifhops were employed in writ- ing romances, of the Paladines of France, the Palmerins of England, and the knights of the round table. The fingle Sub- ject of Amadis de Gaul was extended to above twenty vo- lumes. The French, not fo contented, extracted from thence fpeeches and flowers enough to fill two more ; and their trans- lator de Herberay was efteemed fo great a matter of eloquence, as to be called the Cicero of France. There, and in Italy and Spain, it over-run all books, and debauched all tafte ; and

upon

The TRANSLATOR'; PREFACE.

upon this wife model the fine gentlemen of each nation form- ed both their manners and their language.

In the midft of all thefe prejudices, we fee our author un- dertake to combat this giant of falfe honour ', and all thefe monfters of falfe wit. No fooner did his work appear, but both were cut down at once, and for ever. The illufion of ages was diffipated, the magic difTolved, and all the enchant- ment vanifhed like fmoke. And fo great and total was the change it wrought, that, if fuch works are now ever read, it is only the better to comprehend the fatire, and give light to the beauties of his incomparable Don Quixote.

xxm

A d v E R-

\

A Supplement to the TRAN SLATOR's PREFACE*

TH E curious account here put together of the Principles of the ancient Chivalry, as it xvasinfacl, feems defective: For the ridicule of CER- VAN'TE S does not fo much turn upon that, as upon the ideal Chivalry, as it is to be found only in the old ROMANCES. And of thefe the Tranfktor is filent. A few words, therefore, concerning their Origin and Na- ture may not be unacceptable to the Reader : Efpecially as Monfieur Huet, the Bijhop of Avranches, who wrote a formal Treatiie of the Origin of Romancer, has faid little or nothing of them in that fuperficial Work. For having brought down the account of Romances to the later Greeks, and entered upon thofe compofed by the barbarous weilern Writers, which have now the name of Re- mances almoft appropriated to them, he puts the change upon his Reader, and, inftead of giving us an account of thefe Books of Chivalry, one of the mod: curious and interefting parts of the fubject he promifed to treat of, he contenis himfelf with a long account of the Poems of the Provincial Writers, called likewife Romances : and fo, under the equivoque of a common term, drops his proper fubject, and entertains us with another that had no relation to it more than in the name.

The Spaniards were of all others the fondeft of thefe fables, as fuiting befir their extravagant turn to galantry and bravery ; which in time grew fo exceffive, as to need all the efficacy of this incomparable Satire to bring them back to their fober fenfes.The French fuffered an eafier cure from their Doctor RABELAIS', who enough dilcredited the books of Chivalry, by only ufmg the extravagant Stories of its Giants, &c. as a cover for another kind of fatire againft the re- jined Politics of his Countrymen ; of which they were as much poilefTed as the Spaniards of their Romantic Bravery. A bravery our S HAKE SPEAR- makes their Characteristic, in this defcription of a Spa?iijh Gentleman:

A Man of compliments, whom right and wrong

Have chofe as Umpire of their mutiny :

'This Child of fancy, that Armado hight,

For interim to our ftudies, fiall relate,

In high-born words, the worth of many a Knight,

From tawny Spain, loft in the world's debate.

Love's Labour lofl, Act i. Sc. i,

Exceffive corrplaifance is here admirably expreffed in the Perfon of one, who was* willing to make even right and wrong, Friends; and to perfuade the one to re-- ceed fro . the a! ubbornnefs of her nature, and wink at the liberties of her

* Caamtauiatti ved writer, well known in the Littrary H'orleL

* b. oppofne.

A Supplement to the TranJJators Preface.

f.ppofite, meerly that he might not incur the imputation of rufticity and ill— breeding.for keeping up the quarrel. The fenfe of what follows is to this effect : this Gentleman, lays the fpeaker, flail relate to us the celebrated Stories recorded in the old Romances, and in their very file. Why he lays, from tawny Spain, is becaufe, thefe Romances being of Spanijh Original, the Heroes and the Scene were generally of that Country. He fays, loft in the worlds debate, becaufe the fubjeel of thofe Romances were the Crufades of the European Chriftians againfl the Saracens of A/ia and Africa.

Indeed, the Wars of the Chriftians again!* the Pagans were the general fubjeel of the Romances of Chivalry. They all leem to have had their ground-work in two fabulous monkilh Hiftorians: The One, who, under the name of Turpin Archbifhop of Rheims, wrote the Hiftory and Achievements of Charlemagne and his twelve Peers, who drove the Saracens out of France and the South parts of Spain : the other, our Geoffry of Monmouth.

Two of thofe Peers, whom the old Romances have rendered moft famous, were Oliver and Rowland. In the Spanijh Romance of Bernardo del Carpio, and in that of Roncefvalles, the feats of Roland are recorded under the name of Roldan el encantador; and in that of Palmerin de Oliva, or Amply Oliva, thofe of Oliver : for Oliva is the fame in Spanijh as Olivier is in French. The ac- count of their exploits is in the higheft degree monftrous and extravagant, as appears from the judgment paffed upon them by the Prieft: in Don Quixote, when he delivers the Knight's library to the fecular-arm of the Houfe-keeper. *« Exceptando a un Bernardo del Carpio que anda por ay, y a otro Uamado Ron- " cefvalles ; que eftos en llegando a mis manos, an de eftar en las de la ama, y " dellas en las del fuego fin remiffion alguna" *. And of Oliver he fays ; " effa " Oliva fe haga luego raxas,y fe queme, que aun no queden della las cenizas" +. The reafonablenefs of this fentence may be partly feen from one Story in the Bernardo del Carpio, which tells us, that the cleft called Roldan, to be feen on the fummit of an high Mountain in the Kingdom of Valencia, near the Town of Meant, was made with a fmgle back-ftroke of that Hero's broad Sword. Hence came the Proverbial expreffion of our plain and fenfible Anceftors, who were much cooler readers of thefe extravagances than die Spaniards, of giving one a Rowland for his Oliver, that is, of matching one impoffible lye with another : as, in French, f aire le Roland means, tofwagger. This driving the Sa- racens out of France and Spain, was, as we fay, the fubjeel: of the elder Ro- mances. And the firft that was printed in Spain was the famous Amadis de Gaula,. of which the Inquifitor Prieft fays ; " fegun he_oydo dezir, eite libra " fue el primerode Cavallerias que fe imprimio en Efpana, y todoslos demasan " tornado principio y origen defte -f- " and for which he humouroufly condemns it to the fire, como a Dogmatizador de unafeSta tan mala. When this fubjeel was well exhaufted, the affairs of Europe afforded them another of the fame na-

• B. i.e. 6. p, 25. J Ibid. fib. p. 23.

tUrCa

A Supplement to the Tranjlator's Preface.

tare. For after that the weftern parts had pretty well cleared themfelvcs of thefe inhofpitable Guefts ; by the excitements of the Popes, they carried their arms againft them into Greece and Afia, to fupport the Byzantine Empire, and recover the holy Sepulchre. This gave birth to a new tribe of Romances, which we may call of the fecond race or clafs. And as Amadis de Gaula was at the head of the firlt, fo, correfpondently to the fubjecT:, Amadis de Grecia was at the head of the latter. Hence it is, we find, that <Trebizo7ide is as celebrated in thefe Romances as Roncefvalles is in the other. It may be worth obferving, that the two famous Italian Epic Poets, ARIOSTO and TAS S O, have borrowed, from each of thefe Clafies of old Romances, the fcenes and fubjects of dieir feveral Stories : Ariofto choofing the firft, the Saracens in France and Spain ; and Tafo, the latter, the Crufade again/1 them in Afia : Ario/lo's hero being Orlando or the French Roland : for as die Spaniards, by one way of tranfpofing the letters, had made it Roldan, fo the Italians, by another, made it Or/and.

The main fubjecl: of thefe fooleries, as we have faid, had its original in Tur- in's famous hiftory of Charlemagne and his twelve peers. Nor were the mon- fbrous embellifliments of enchantments, &c. the invention of the Romancers, but formed upon eaftern tales, brought thence by travellers from their cru- fades and pilgrimages ; which indeed have a cad: peculiar to die wild ima°ina- tions of the eaftern people. We have a proof of this in the travels of Sir 7". Maundevile, whofe exceffive fuperftition and credulity, together with an impu- dent monkifh addition to his genuine work, have made his veracity thought much worfe of than it deferved. This voyager, fpeaking of the ifle of C<w,in the Archipelago, tells the following ftory of an enchanted dragon. " And alfo a " zonge Man, that wifte not of the Dragoun, went out of a Schipp, and went " thorghe the Ifle, till that he came to theCaftelle, and cam into the Cave ; and " went fo longe till that he fond a Chambre, and there he faughe a Damyfelle, " that kembed hire Hede, and lokede in a Myrour : and fche hadde meche ** Trefoure abouten hire : and he trowed that fche hadde ben a comoun Woman " that dwelled there to refceyveMen toFolye. And he abode, till the Damyfelle " faughe thefchadewe of him in the Myrour. Andfche turned hire toward him, 11 and asked hym what he wolde. And he feyde, he wolde ben hire Limman ** or Paramour. And fche asked him, if that he were a Knyghte. And he { %de, nay. And then fche feyde, that he myghte not ben hire Limman. " But fche bad him gon azen unto his Felowes, and nuke him Knighte, and ' come azen upon the Morwe, and fche fcholde come out of her Cave before

him ; and thanne come and kyffe hire on the Mowthe and hive no drede.

For I fchalle do the no maner harm, alle be it that thou fee me in lykcnefs " of a Dragoun. For thoughe thou fee me hideoufe and honible to loken onne, " I do the to wytene that it is made be Enchauntement, For withouten doute^

lam none other than thou feeft now, a Woman; and thereto! e drede the " nou^hte, And zif thou kyfTe me, thou fchalt have alle this Trefoure, and

* b 2 «« be

A Supplement to the Tranjlator's Preface.

" be my Lord, and Lord alfo of all that Ifle. And he departed, C$t" p. 29, 30. Ed. 1725. Here we fee the very fpirit of a Romance-adventure. This honeft Traveller believed it all, and fo, it feems, did the People of the Ifle. And fame Men feyn (fays he) that in the Ifle of Lango is zit the Do ugh t re of Ypocras informs and lykeneffe of a gret Dragoun, that is an hundred Fadme in lengthe, as Men feyn : For I have not feen hire. And thei of the IJIes c alien hire, Lady of the Land. We are not to think then, thefe kind of ftories, believed by Pilgrims and Travellers, would have lefs credit either with the writers or readers of Romances : which humour of the times therefore may well account for their birth and favourable reception in the world.

The other monkifh hiftorian, who fupplied the Romancers with materials, was our Gecffry of Monmouth. For it is not to be fuppofed, that thefe Children of Fancy (as Shakefpear in the place quoted above finely calls them, infinuating that Fancy hath its infancy as well as manhood) fhould flop in the midft of fo extraordinary a carrier, or confine themfelves within the lifts of the terra firma. From Him therefore the Spanifh Romancers took the ftory of the Britifh Ar- thur, and the Knights of his round-table, his Wife Gueniver, and his Conjurer Merlin. But ftill it was the fame fubjecl:, (efTential to books of Chivalry) the Wars of Chrifians againft Infidels. And whether it was by blunder or defign they changed the Saxons into Saracens. I fufpecT: by defign : For Chivalry without a Saracen was fo very lame and imperfect a thing, that even that wooden Image, which turned round on an axis, and ferved the Knights to try their fwords, and break their knees upon, was called, by the Italians and Spaniards, Saracino and Sarazino ; fo clofely were thefe two ideas connected.

In thefe old Romances there was much religious fuperftition mixed with their other extravagancies ; as appears even from their very names and titles. The firft Romance of Lancelot of the Lake and King Arthur and his Knights, is called the Hijiory of Saint Greaal. This St. Greaal was the famous relick of the holy blood pretended to be collected into a veffel by Jofeph of Arimathca. So an- other is called Kyrie Els'ifon of Montauban. For in thole days Deuteronomy and Paralipomenon were fuppofed to be the names of holy Men. And as they made Saints of their Knights-errant, fo they made Knights-errant of their tutelary Saints ; and each nation advanced its own into the order of Chivalry. Thus every thing in thofe times being either a Saint or a Devil, they never wanted for the marvellous. In the old Romance of Lancelot of the Lake, we have the doctrine and difcipline of the Church as formally delivered as in Bellarmine himfelf. cc La confeffion (fays the preacher) ne vaut rien fi le coeur n'eft repentant ; " & fi tu es moult Sc eloigne de l'amour de noftre Seigneur, tu ne pens 4C eftre raccorde fi non par trois chofes : premierement par la confeffion de " bouche ; fecondement par une contrition de coeur, tiercement par peine " de coeur, & par oeuvre d'aumone & charite. Telle eft la droite voye " d'aimer Dieu. Or va & fi te confefie en cette maniere & recois la difci-

" pline des mains de tes confefleurs, car e'eft le figne de merite. Or mande

le

A Supplement to the Travjlatcrs Preface.

" le roy fes evcfques, dont grandc panic avoit en Tort-, & vinrent tons en la " chapelle. Le roy vint devant eux tout nud en pleurant, & tenant fon plein " point de menue's verges, fi les jetta devant eux, & leur dit en foupirant,

" qu'il's priffent de luy vengeance, car je fuis le plus vil pecheur, &c. Apres

" prinft difcipline cc d'eux & moult doucement la receut." Hence wc find the divinity-lectures of Don Quixote and the penance of his Squire, are both of them in the ritual of Chivalry. Laflly, we find the Knight-errant, after much tur- moil to himfelf, and difturbance to die world, frequently ended his courfe, 1; Charles V. of Spain, in a Monaftery; or turn'd Hermit, and became a Saint in good earneft. And this again will let us into the fpirit of thofe Dialogues be- tween Sancbo and his mailer, where it is gravely debated whether he fliould not turn Saint or Arckhijlxp,

There were feveral caufes of this ftrange jumble of nonfenfe and religion. As firft, the nature of the fubjecT:, which was a religious War or Crufade : 2dly, The quality of the firft Writers, who were religious Men : And $dfy, The end in writing many of them, which was to carry on a religious purpofe. We learn, that Clement V. interdicted Jujls and Torneamcnts, becaufe he underilood they had much hindered the Crufade decreed in the Council of Vienna. " Tor- ** neamenta ipfa & Haftiludia five Juxtas in regnis Francise, Anglke, & Alman- " n\x, & aliis nonnullis provinces, in quibus ea confuevere frequentius exerceri, " fpecialiter interdixit." Extrav. de Tomeamentis C. nnic. temp. Ed. I. Reli- gious Men, I conceive, therefore, might think to forward the defign of the Crufades by turning the fondnefs for Tilts and Torneaments into that channel. Hence we fee the books of Knight-errantry fo full of folemn Jufts and Tornea- ments held at T'rebizonde, Bizance, Tripofy, &c. Which wife project, I ap- prehend, it was Cervantes's Intention to ridicule, where he makes his Knight propofe it as the bed means of fubduing the Turk, to afiemble all the Knights- errant together, by Proclamation*.

But the chief reafon, doubtlefs, of this mixture was the fuperftitious humour of the times, that made Religion enter into all their fports and amufements : But no where in fo monftrous a manner, as in thofe ancient dramatic Reprefentations of our Anceftors, called the MYSTERIES; things much more diftant from the true Drama, than thefe Romances were from the Epic, as having another brutal State to pafs thro', called the MORALITIES, before they could acquire a reafonable form. A fhort account of thefe things will leave nothing wanting to give us an entire view of the literary amufements of our barbarous Anceftors, and will mew us at the fame time the ufe and im- portance of this incomparable Satire, in which are interfperfed fo many artful precepts for the juft Competition both of the Epic and Dramatic Poem.

The firft form, in which the Drama appeared in the Weft of Europe, af- ter the deftrudtion of learned GREECE and ROME, and that a calm of Dulnefs had finifhed upon letters what the rage of barbariim had begun, was that

• Set Parti. 1. 5. c. 1.

of

A Supplement to the TranJlatoSs Preface.

of the MYSTERIES. Thefe were the fafhionable and favourite diverfions of all Ranks of people both in France, Spain, and E?igland. In which laffc place, as we learn by Stow, they were in ufe about the time of Richard the Second and Henry the Fourth. As to Italy, by what I can find, the firfr. rudiments of their Stage, with regard to the matter, were prophane fub- je<5ts, and, with regard to the form, a corruption of the ancient Mimes and Attellanes: By which means they got fooner into the right road than their Neighbours ; having had regular plays amongft them wrote as early as the Fifteenth Century.

As to thefe Myjleries, they were, as their name fpeaks them, a reprefentation of fome fcripture-flory, to the life: as may be feen from the following paflage in an old French hiftory, intitled La Chronique de Metz compofee par le cure de St. Euchaire ; which will give the reader no bad idea of the furprizing abfurdity of thefe monftruous reprefentations. " L'an 1437 le 3 Juillet (fays the honejl '• chronicler) fut fait le Jeu de la Paffion de N. S. en la plaine de Veximiel. " Et fut Dieu un fire appellee Seigneur Nicolle Dom Neufchaftel, lequcl etoit " Cure de St. Victour de Metz, lequel fut prefque mort en la Croix, s'il ne fut " ete fecourus ; & convient qu'un autre Pretre fut mis en la Croix pour parfaire "le Perfonnage du Crucifiment pour ce jour ; & le lendemain ledit Cure de " St. Viclour parfit la Refurreaion, et fit tres hautement fon perfonage; et dura

" le dit Jeu Et autre Pretre qui s' appelloit Mre. Jean de Nicey, qui

" eftoit Chapclain de Metrange, fut Judas ; lequel fut prefque mort en pendant,

" car le cuer li faillit, & fut bien hativement dependu, & porte en Voye.

«« Et etoit la bouche d' Enter tres-bien faite ; car elle ouvroit 6c clooit, quand

" les Diables y vouloient entrer et iffer ; et avoit deux grofs Culs d'Acier, &c."

Another paffage from one of our own countrymen will fupply what is wanting

for a thorough knowledge of the manner of thefe reprefentations. " The

" Guary Miracle (fays Carew in his Survey of Cornwall) in Englijh a Miracle-

" Play, is a kind of interlude compiled in Cornifo out of fome Scripture-

" hiftory. For reprefenting it they raife an earthen Amphitheatre in fome open

" Field, having the diameter of his inciofed Playne, fome 40 or 50 foot. The

" Country People flock from all fides many miles off, to hear and fee it. For

«' they have therein Devils and Devices, to delight as well the eye as the ear.

" The Players conne not their parts without book, but are prompted by one

" called the Ordinary, who folio weth at their back with the book in his hand,

" ficc. &c. * " There was always a Droll or Buffoon in thefe Myjleries, .0

make the People mirth with his fufferings or abfurdities : and they could think

of no better to fuftain this part than the D E V I L himfelf. Even in the My-

Jlery of the Pafion mentioned above, it was contrived to make him ridiculous.

Which circumftance is hinted at by Shakefpear (who has frequent allufions to

thefe things) in the Taming of the Shrew, where one of the Players asks for

a little

A Supplement to the Tranjlators Preface.

a. little Vinegar (as a property) to make their Devil roar. For after the fpunge with the Gall and Vinegar had been employed in the reprefentation, they ufed to clap it to the nofe of the Devil ; which making him roar, as if it had been holy-water, afforded infinite divcrfion to the People. So that Vinegar, in the old Farces, was always afterwards in ufe to torment their Devil. Wc have divers old EngUJh Proverbs, in which the Devil is reprefented as acting or fuf- fering ridiculoufly and abfurdly ; which all arofe from the part he bore in thefe

Myjleries, as in that, for inftance, of Great cry and little -wool, as the Devil

/aid ivhen he fieared his hogs. For the fhecp-fhearing of Nabal being repre- fented in the Myftery of David and Abigail, and the Devil always attending Nabal, was made to imitate it by /hearing a Hog. This kind of abfurdity, as it is the propereft to create laughter, was the fubjecl: of the ridiculous, in the an- cient Mimes, as we learn from thefe words of St. AUSTIN : Nefaciamus ut Mimifolent, et opt emus a Libero Aquam, a Lymphis Vinum *.

Thefe Myjleries, we fee, were given in France at firft, as well as in England, fub dio, and only in the Provinces. Afterwards we find them got into Paris, and a Company eftablifhed in the Hotel de Bourgogne to reprefent them. But good Letters and Religion beginning to make their way in the latter end of the reign of FRANCIS the firft,the ftupidityand prophanenefs of theMy/leries made theCour- tiers and Clergy join their intereft for their abolition. Accordingly, in the year 1 54 1, the Procureur-General,'m the name of the King.prefented a Requejl againft the Company to the Parliament. The three principal branches of his charge againft them were, that the reprefentation of the Old-Teftament-Stories inclined the People to Judaifm ; That the New-Teftament-Stories encouraged liberti- nifm and infidelity ; and that both of them leffened the Charities to the Poor : It feems that this profecution fucceeded ; for, in 1 548, the Parliament of Paris con- firmed the company in the poffeffion of the Hotel de Bourgogne, but interdicted the reprefentation of the Myjleries. But in Spain,we find by Cervantes, that they continued much longer ; and held their own, even after good Comedy came in amongft them : As appears from the excellentCritiqueof the Canon, in the fourth book, where he fhews how the Old Extravagant Romances might be made the foundation of a regular Epic (which, he fays, tambien puede efcrivirfe en pro/a como en verfo f; ) as the Myjlery-Plays, of artful Comedy. His words are Pues que fi venimos a las Comedias divinas, que de milagros falfos fingen en ellas, que de cefas apocrifas, y mal entendidas, attribueyendo a un Santo los milagros de otro t / which made them fo fond of Miracles that they introduced them into las Comedias humanas, as he calls them. To return ;

Upon this prohibition, the French poets turned themfelves from Religious to Moral Farces. And in this We foon followed them : The public taftenot fritter- ing any greater alteration at firft, tho' the Italians at this time afforded many jufl compofitions for better Models. Thefe Farces they called MORALITIES.

* Civ. D. L 4, t B. 4. c. 20. p. 325. j lb. 21. p. 327.

Pierre

A Supplement to the Tranjlator's Preface.

Pierre Gr'rgora, one of their old Poets, printed one of thefe Moralities, intitled La Moralite de F Homme Obftini. The Perfons of the Drama are V Homme Obftint — Pugnition Divine— Simonie—Hypocrifie — and Demerites-Communes. The Homme Ob/line is the Atheift, and comes in blafpheming, and determined to perfift in his courfes. Then Pugnition Divine appears, fitting on a throne in the Air, and menacing the Atheift with punifhment. After this Scene, Simonie, Hypocrite and Demerites-Commmunes appear, and play their parts. In conclu- fion, Pugnition Divine returns, preaches to them, upbraids them with their Crimes, and, infhort, draws them all to repentance, all but the Homme Ob/line',v/ho perfifts in his impiety, and is deftroyed for an example To this fad ferious fubjecl: they added, tho' in a feparate reprefentation, a merry kind of Farce called SOTTIE, in which there was im Pay fan [the CLOWN] under the name of Sot com- mun [or FOOL.] But we, who borrowed all thefe delicacies from the French, blended the Moralite and Softie' together : So that the Pay fan or Sot-commun, the CLjOWN or FO OL, got a place in our ferious Moralities; Whofe bufi- nefs we may underftand in the frequent allufions our Shake/pear makes to them: As in that fine fpeech in the beginning of the third Act of Meafurefor Meafure3 where we have this obfcure paffage,

■ meerly thou art Death'* Fool, For him thou labour 'ft by thy fight to fun, And yet runn'Jl tow'rd himjlill.

For, in thefe Moralities, the Fool of the piece, in order to fhew the inevita- ble approaches of Death, (another of the Dramatis Perfona) is made to em- ploy all his Stratagems to avoid him ; which, as the matter is ordered, bring the Fool, at every turn, into the very Jaws of his Enemy: So that a reprefentation of thefe Scenes would afford a great deal of good mirth and morals mixed together : And from fuch circumftances, in the genius of thefe our anceftors publick diverfions, might arife the old Proverb of being mer- ry and wife. The very fame thing is again alluded to in thefe lines of Love's-

Labour Lofl,

So Portent-/;£<? I would o'er-rule his State, That he ftould be my Fool, and I his Fate.

Acl: iv. Sc. 2.

But the French, as we fay, keeping thefe two forts of Farces diftincT:, they became, in time, the Parents of TRAGEDY and COMEDY; while we,, by jumbling them together, begot, in an evil hour, that mungrel Species, un- known to Nature and Antiquity, called TRAGI-CQMEDY

AdvER-

Advertisement concerning the Prints.

By JOHN 0 LD FT ELD, M. D.

THOUG H prints to books are generally confidered as mere embelli foments, and are, for the moft part, fo ordered as to appear of little more confe- rence than the other ornaments of binding and gilding, and toferve on- ly for the amufement of thofe, who are fatisfed with fuch kind of beauties of an author; they are however capable of anfwering a higher purpofe, by reprefenting and illujl rating many things, which cannot be fo perfectly exprejjed by words : And as there are a great many inflames, efpecially in writers of this hind, where the reader s fancy leads him to imagine how the pafjions and affections difcover them- fehes upon particular occafons to the eye, and to figure to himfelf the appearances of them in the features and gejlurcs of the perfons concerned; in thefe circum- Jlances the ajjiftance of an artifi, who knows how the countenance and outward deportment are infuenced by the inward movements of the mind, and is able to reprefent the various effects of this kind by the lively exprejjion of the pencil, will fupply the imperfection of the reader's imagination, and the deficiency of the de- fcription in the author, which mufi, in many cafes, be tedious and ineffectual. And the knowledge of the particulars of this kind may be communicated this way, as much more accurately, as well as agreeably, than by words, as that of a man's perfon would be by a good portrait, than by the moft laborious and circumfiantial verbal defcription. And perhaps the art of drawing cannot be more properly em- ployed than in fetting before the reader the perfons concerned at a time when his curiofity is moft excited and interefted about them, and when, by the introduction, as it were, of the actors in the treat ife, in their proper attitudes and geftures, a written narrative may, in fome meafure, receive the advantages of a dramatic k ?rprefentation.

As the principal end therefore of prints in this cafe, befides the mere gratifi- cation of the eye, is to afford a kind of entertainment, which the imperfcc~liorf%f language, or the nature of things, hinders from being conveyed fo well any other way; thefubject to be chofen rather with regard to their fitnefs for this

purpofe, than on account of their general importance in refpect to the matter of the treatije, or any other confidcration. And for this reafon, an incident that is in itfelf of no great confequence, and that makes no great figure in the book, by ng occafion for fome curious and entertaining exprejjion, may better dejerve to be taken notice of in this way, than many of the more material and formal oc- currences, which do not fo well admit of being drawn, or, if they do, yield little or no additional pie afure to that of the written account of them. But above all Vol. I, c thofe

xxvi Advertisement concerning the Prints.

thofe fubjeBs are to be avoided, iS/eh fa frequently occur in our author, as the deflgn of his undertaking required, where the bare imaging, or laying them be- fore the fight, is fo far from affording any new delight, or giving any illu- Jlration to the relation of them, that it impairs, and in fome meafure defroys, the agreeable effeB it would otherways have had. Two remarkable in/lances of this kind may befeen in the prints of Coypell, of the adventures of the wind- mills, and the flocks of fheep; which, though they are very entertaining in the author's defer iption of them, as they ferve to Jhew the bewitching influence of ro- mances on the imagination, yet, by being fet immediately before the eye, become too flocking for the belief \ as happens in other like injlances, and particularly in drama tick reprefenfations, where fever al of the fubjeBs of the highefl and per- feBefl kinds of narration will not bear to be fliewn to the naked fight, where the eye is the immediate judge : and, if Hercules is not to befeen on the fta.a-e encounter- ing with two at once, much lefs is the blight to be expofed to view infuch unequal and extravagant engagements, whilft either the reader or he are awake : though he may very properly and naturally be fhewn difplaying his courage in much the fame manner (as he does in the adventure of the wine-skins,) whil/l he is fa/} afleep. Nor is the ludicrous nature of his exploits, or the defign of the author to expofe the like abfurdities in the writers of romance by them, an excufe for in- fringing, and in a manner deflroying, all the credibility and veriflmilitude of them; which is, in a manner, deflroying the very being of them, and all the con- Jcquences and effects propofed from them. And the mere picturing of thefe kinds of tranfaBions, and making them thereby appear more grofs and unlikely, as it needs mujl, in/lead of illiiflrating, is, in effeB, givi?ig a ki?id of ocular demon- flration of the falflty of them, and has the fame effeB upon the knight's own per- formances, as they were intended by the author to have upon thofe of the former champions in romance, by heightening and aggravating the extravagance and im- probability of them. Befldes the injudicious choice of thefe two fubjeBs, the de- figner of the French prints, who fcems to have had fome difcernmsnt of the unfit- nefs of that of the wind-mills, has fallen, if poflible, into a greater abfurdity, in order to palliate it, by reprefenting them with the heads and hands of giants, the better to reconcile you to the extravagance of the knight's miflaking than for j'uch; as, for the fame ingenious reafon, he might have put the flock of Jhrep into armour, to countenance the like miftake in relation to them.

The chief inducement that led the engravers to make choice of theforemention-

ed fubjeBs, and others of the like kind, was the eafviefs of fet ting forth and di-

JlinguiJJ:ing them; fnce it is as much more eafy to determine and mark out a paf-

fage by a wind-mill or a flock of meep, a wooden ca^e, or a wooden horfe,

than

Advertisement concerning the Prints. xxvii

*&

than by an humorous or entertaining attitude or expreftion, as it is lefs pertinent and pleaftng; and though indeed it is abfolutcly nccejfary, that the fubjecls/lmild be fo ordered, as that they may be readily known and diftinguijloed, this is of- ten difficult to be done in the mojl deftreable and amuftng ones, notivithjlandirg all the advantage that can be taken of the fcene of aclion, and the airs, ha- bits, pofitions, pojlures, and refemblance of features in the fame perfons ; efpeci- ally in the reprefe?2tation of fpeeches, and converfations, where, though there is often femcthing as entertaining to be txprcft'ed, as in moft other cafes, there is fre- quently lefs to determine thefubjecJ. I will mention only one i?iftance of this kind, with the expedient we have made ufe of to explain and determine it ; which is, the account that is given of Dulcinea'j enchantment in Montefinos'5 cave by the knight, after he had been let down into it to explore the fecrets of it. The recital of this transformation is made to a certain curious fcholar, a collec- tor of wonders, and a great dealer in the marvellous and improbable, and to his own fquire, the original inventor of it, who had framed the ft cry, to ferve his own purpofe, upon the plan of his mafters romantic ideas ; who, in confor- mity to them, readily believed, and, by natural confequence, when he was proper- ly illuminated by the vapours and exhalations of the cavern, as dift'mSlly faw all the particulars of it.

Of his two auditors, to whom he makes a moft faithful and ferious relation of all that his chimerical imagination fuggefted to him upon this occafon, the one believes every tittle of it ; but the other, who knew that he himfelf had been the lady's only enchanter, could not help entertaining fame fcruple very preju- dicial to his mafter's veracity, of which however it imported him to conceal the reafons. This cannot fail to have a very agreeable ejfeel, if well executed. But if the fubjeB flmdd not be fujicicntly determined by the fcene of aclion, the knight's addrefs to the fcholar and his fquire, nor by the folemn ftupidity of the former, by which he exprefes his belief of the ftory, or by the half ft i fled arch leer of the latter, by which he at the fame time both difcovers, and en- deavours to conceal, his disbelief of it ; it will be fufjiciently diftinguified by the drawing of it, as we have ordered the 7natter in the print, in the hollow of the cave there reprefented, to be feen through the mouth of it. Examples of this kind are frequent enough with painters and engravers, of which one may be feen in a print of Rembrandt'*, where he has told the ftory, which a co?2Jurer or fortune-teller is fuppofed to be relating to his correfpondent , by a faint sketch of it on the wall of his cell: and the fame method is made ufe of by Raphael in a picture on the fubjeel of Pharaoh'* dream.

Another

xxviii Advertisement concerning the Print s.

Another thing we have attended to with the great eft care, as it was of much confeqitence where fuch a number of prints were to be fumifhed out • which was, to vary and diverjify them as much as poffible. And this indeed was left difficult on account of the author's extraordinary invention, which has fupplied fuch ample matter for this purpofc in the multitude of incidents and events, and the diverfty of perfons andfeenes of action, the work abounds with. To which we may add, that the ferious parts, in the novels infer ted and interfperfed, are admirably fitted to relieve the eye from too conftani an attt tii- on to the fame perfons, and the fame kind of humorous and ludicrous off ions. But the principal caution has been, as much as might be, to avoid the too frequent ufe of the fame expreffions in the countenances and geftures of the perfons reprefented. For fines the pafiions and affections are capable of being Jet forth with greater variety by language than delineation, and a thoufand different expreffions of fpeech will convey them to the ear, whereas there is only one in drawing, that properly denotes them in the fame perfon, what was not repetition in the author may juftly fall under that imputation in the de- figner ; and little differences in the pofiures, and other left material circumftances, will not help the matter, where the main and only things worth attending to are the fame, as will always be the cafe where the fame perfons are affected in the fame manner. For an inftance of this, out of a great number that occur in the prints that have been publijhcd on this or the like occafons, I will only mention the two fo recited ones, of the adventures of the wmd-milb, and the flocks of fheep, in both which the knight isjhewn making his attack with the fame eagernefs and refolution, and the /quire expoftulating with the fame earneftnefs and vehemence to diffuade him from his extravagant under- takings : though it muft be owned, that, if thefe ftibjects had been of them- felves proper, there was fuffcient foundation for varying the character of Sancho, fo as to accommodate them to this purpofe ; fince it is evident, that he muft be very differently affected in thefe different circumftances, though his mafter, who imaghied himfelf engaging with alike formidable foes in both of them, was not. For as he only faw things with a vulgar eye, and appre- hended them as they appeared to him at firft fight, without any of the knight's myfterious fecond-fightednefs, he could not but difcern a great deal of dif- ference between the danger that immediately threatned his mafter, his govern- ment, and all his future hopes, in the one cafe, and the harmlefs abfurdity in the other, which could only occafion vexation with a mixtu-e of contempt in him, whereas the former muft infpire him with equal terror and often f meat ; though in both of them, confidcring the perfon and the occafion, the ridiculous would be moft prevalent in the effect.

Advertisement concerning the Prints. xxix

I might add fomewhat here about the point of time to be taken in each fiery, in thefe kinds of representations 5 which, as it can be but one Jingle in- fant, ought to be chofen with the grcateji care, and to be that, in which the Jeveral perfons introduced, or at leaf the principal ones amongft them, are engaged in the moft interefting and entertaining manner that is capable of being exprejfed. And though moft fubjccls admit of a variety of circumftan es of time proper for the purpofe, of which however feme one is generally pre- ferable to the reft, I will onlv mention one, which contains no left than four different and dijlintl conjunctures, of any one of which the ariijl migi himfelf upon this occafon: and that is, the account of the Duenna'j night vijit to Don Quixote at the duke's palace. In order to point out theft intelligibly to the reader, who may not have the pajfage in memory, it is necejfary brief y to recite it, which is this.

During the refidence of the knight at the duke's palace, an old Duenna, or attendant, of the duchefs's took it into her head to make him a vijit, to re- late her daughter's misfortune to him, and to require his afiiftance towards her relief in the way of his prof if ion. By the command Jhe had of the keys of the apartments, and for fecrecy, f:e chofe the dead time of the night, when, to his great furprize, jhe opened the door and entered his chamber. Love, and the hurts and fcratches he had received in his late adventure of the cats,, had kept him waking, and his dijlempered imagination reprefented her to as feme forcerejs or necromancer come to praSlij'e her wicked arts upon him ; which her Jlrange appeara?ice and unfeafonable entry eafily confirmed him in. This fufficiently alarmed him, and the firfl fight of him in the plight he was in equally afionifed her. On the infant of her approach he ftarts up in his bed, and Jhe at the fame time recoils back with the greateft conjlernaiion at his meagre and ghajlly appearance. This feems to be the firjl proper incident in this ftory for reprefentation, in which the matron would be feen, as fee is de~ fcribed, advancing with a flow and file/if pace towards the knight, in a long white veil, with a huge pair of jpeclacles on her nofe, and a taper in her hand, 'till, upon firfi lifting up her eyes, Jhe difcovers him crojjing and blef- Jing himfelf at the fight of her, and thereupon, with greater confternation, fiarts back at the more woful and forlorn figure of her champion, as he ap- peared ereel in his bed, wrapped from head to foot in a quilt or blanket, with a woolen night-cap on his head, with his face and nofe plaifiered overy and bound up together with his muftachoes. Another proper juncture feems to be, when, after they had pretty well got over their former fright, and be- gan to confider one another as fiejlj and blood, while the old gentlewoman wa; Vol. I. d gone

xxx Advertisement concerning the Prints.

gone out to light her candle, that had been put out in the former furprize, the k light, by a new turn of his frenzy, fancies fie came to folicit unlawful love to I im ; and getting out of bed to fecure the door againjl her return, fie, upon her re-entry with a lighted candle, di [covers him advancing towards her in hisftsirt, and thereupon forms the fame dreadful apprehenfions of his defigns upon her: whereupon both of them at the fame time call to one another, to know whe- ther their rejpeclive honours were fafe. The infl ant of this mutual expoflulation feems to be the critical minute to Jhew them in : And the extretne coynefs and delicacy of thefe folemn per fans, with the woeful figure they make upon this occafion, could not fail, if well expreffed, of having a very pleafant and hu- morous ejfecl. The next proper circurnjlance, that offers itfelffor this purpofe, is, when, upon the fecurity of their mutual affurances and prof efiions of the chafli- ty and innocency of their intentions, they had got over their formidable apprehen- fions, and were come into a per feci: confidence in one atiother. They are repre- fented by the author 's pleafant defcription of them in the followifig manner. This faid, he kitted his own right hand, and with it took hold of hers, which me gave him with the like ceremony. This folemnity, or that of bis conduct- ing her towards the bed, to which this is the introduction, or part of the fame aclion, would perhaps afford a more entertaining piBure than any other par- ticular in the whole fiory, and accordingly it feems, in a manner, to be pomted out by the author for that purpofe, by what he fays in the next paragraph in the following humorous words. Here Cid Hamete, making a parenthefis, fwears by Mahomet, that he would have given the beft of two coats he had, only to have feen the knight and the matron walk thus, hand in hand, from the chamber ddbr to the bedfide. The only remaining circurnjlance in this va- riety, that is fufficiently different from the reft, is, when the old lady is feat ed in a chair by the bedfide, to relate the occafion of her vifit, and the knight is laid down&and compofed in his bed, to hear it. And though this appears the- leaft affccling one, has the leaft aclion, and admits of the leafl expreffion of any of them, the engraver of the French prints by his choice of it, feems to give it the preference to all thofe I have mentioned, and even to that a- tno'ng the reft, which the author appears fo intent to turn the reader's eye upon, as the mo ft amufing incident to the fight, and confequently the fitteft for this kind of reprefentation, and which for that reafon we have pitched upon.

The

Advertisement concerning the Prints. xxxi

The Import of the Frontispiece.

"INSTEAD of the portrait and lineaments of the author, of 'which all the traces have been long Jince deftroyed by time, we thought jit, byway of orna- ment, to perfix before this work the true and mojl durable monument of his me- mory, a figurative reprefentation of the general defign and intention of it, which we have accordingly attempted in the Print at the front of it.

The main f cope and endeavour of the author, in this performance, was, to ba- nifl) from the writings of imagination and fancy the chimerical, unnatural, end ab fur d conceits, that prevailed fo much in his time, and which, in confequence, had infected the world and common life with a tincture of them, and to reft ore the ancient, natural, and genuine way of treating the fubjects that fall within this province.

In order to reprefent this by delineation to the fight, Mount Parnaflus; the feat of the Mufes, here exprejfed and jhewn in the poffefjion of the monfters and chi- meras of the books of chivalry, will fuffciently ferve to intimate the prcpofte* rous and diforderly fate of the poetical world at that time, and the reform it flood in need of, and which our author has fo fuccefsfully effected in his inimitable performance, by erecting a fcheme of the like fabrick and texture with thofe of the writers of romance, whereby he has foiled and vanqniftjed all the brood of monfters of knight-errantry, with their patrons, and the whole band of necro- mancers to afiift them, at their own weapons.

The principal figure, the Hercules of the Mufes, to whom the ancient mytho- logy has ajjigned that appellation, as their patron and p?-otector, and who is often feen in company with them in ancient monuments, with a harp in his haffd, to ex- prefs his skill in the arts, over which they prefide, will here fitly denote the au- thor, who appears fo fignally devoted to them by the pains he has taken to cultivate their favourite arts, and the example he has given of j ft and naturalvwriting in the way of more fieri ous a mu feme/it, both in this and his other works, as well as by the ridicule, whereby he has fo effectually exfofed the chimerical and ' fialfe prcten- fions of their rivals, the patrons of extravagance and abfurdity.

The bufinefs of the hcroc, in which he is here engaged, in allufion to the author, and fuit ably to his own character, is, the driving away the monfters that had ufurped the feat of the Mufes, and reinftating them in their a 'lion of

it: and he is properly introduced on this occafion, not only as the patron Mufes, and a defiroyer of monfters in general, but as Spain, where he erected bis famous pillars, the trophies of his victories, was the fcene of fever al of his mo ft confiderable exploits; where hefiew Geryon, the king of the country, with a triple

body)

xxxii Advertisement concerning the Prints.

bodv, the dog with two heads, aud the fe-v en-headed dragon, and from whence he drove away a certain wonderful race of wild bulls; though fome of the breed of them, that fecm to have been left behind, committed great outrages, 'till our au- thors chivalry has, in a great meajure, put an end to the pernicious effecls of the confiSis with them ; though it mufl be owned, that they are not wholly extincJ to this day, .but that the inhabitants, when they are pricked on by honour to engage them, fuffer confiderable mifchiefs from them. The Satire, who is frequently feen in the fame company, and Jbme times in the fame aSlion, in which he is here repre- fented, in ancient monuments, ferves in this place to fet forth the humorous na- ture of our author's performance, by furniflnng the heroe, his reprefentative, with the proper implements for accomplijhing his end, viz. thofe of raillery and fat ire, exprepd by the Mask, which he prefents him with.

This isfujpcient to give a clue to the defign of the Print, to which it refers, as it was intended to illuflrate the general and extenfive aim and view of the author in this work, to which it may be confidered as a kind of Allegorical Title Page, under the ornaments of fculpture.

THE

THE

LI F E

O F

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra.

WRITTEN BY

DON GREGORIO MAYANS & SISCAR:

His Catholick Majesty's Library-Keeper.

Translated, from the Spanijh Manufcript, by Mr. 0 Z E L L.

LONDON: Printed for J. and R. T O N S O N.

M DCC XXXVIII.

To the Right Honourable

JOHN lord CARTERET,

&c. &c Sec.

Most Excellent Lord,

S famous a Writer as Michael de Cervantes Saavedra was, who perpetuated the Memory of fo many Spaniards, and had the Art to make immortal, Men that never liv'd at all ; yet hath he had no-body to write his own Life in all this Time. Your Lordship being defirous it friou'd be done, was pleas'd to honour me with your Commands to collect together what Particulars and Notices I cou'd

A 2 meet

t iv j

meet with pertaining to the Life and Writings of this great Man. Accordingly I fet about it with that Diligence which became One concern'd in the Execution of fo honourable a Task, and I have found that Cervantes' s Aclions afford fo very Little Matter, and his Writings fo very Much, that I was oblig'd, with the Leaves of the lat- ter, as with a rich Cloathing, to cover the Na- kednefs and Poverty of a Perfon moft highly worthy of better Times. For though the Age he liv'd in, is faid to be a Golden One, very cer- tain I am, that with refpect to Him and fome other well-deferving Perfons, it was an Age of Iron. The Enviers of his Wit and Eloquence did nothing but murmur at and fatyrize him. Scholafticks, incapable of equalling him either in Invention or Art, flighted him as a Writer not Book-learn'd. Many Noblemen, whofe Names but for him had been buried in Oblivion, la- viftYd and threw away upon Parafites, Flatterers, and Buffoons, their whole Power, Intereft, and Authority, without bellowing the leaft Favour on the Greateft Wit of his Time. As much as

That

That Age abounded with Writers, Few of them have made any Mention of Cervantes, at leaft in his Praife; and Thole who have prais'd him (which are fewer ftill) have done it in fo cold a manner, that as well the Silence of the Hiftoriam and the Praifes of the Poets-, (his Co-tempora- ries) are certain Tokens either of their little Knowledge of him, or great Envy towards him. Your Lordship has fo juft a Tafte of his Works, that You have manifefted Your felf the moft liberal Maintaincr and Propagator of his Memory; And it is by Your Lordship and through lour Means, that Cervantes and his In- genious Gentleman do Now acquire their due Ef- timation and their greateft Value. Once again therefore let the Great Don Quixote de la Man- cha fally forth to the Light, hitherto an unfor- tunate Adventurer, but Now and for ever a moft Happy One under Your Lordfliip's aufpicious Patronage. Long live the Memory of the in- comparable Writer Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. And may Your Lordship accept of the enfuing Sheets, as a fure and perpe- tual

[vi]

tual Token of that ready and glad Obedience which I profefs for Your Lordship's Com- mands, which tho' I may not have executed to the Height and Extent they deferve (for I am not fo conceited, or fo ambitious, as either to prefume I have done fo great a Thing, or hope to Do it) yet at leaft I fhall remain fatisfy'd with the Glory of approving my felf

Your Lordship's

Mcfl Obfequious Dutiful Servant,

D. Greg, Mayans & Sifdr.

CONTENTS

Of the following L I F E of Michael de Cervantes Saavedra.

THE Place of his Birth, Numb. 4. His particular Study, Numb. 9. His Employment, Numb. 10. His Prof ej/ion, Numb. 11. His Captivity, Numb. 1 2. His Redemption, Numb. 1 2.

His applying himfelf to Dramatic Writing, Numb. 12. His Wo?~ks, Numb. 1 3, &c. The Six Books of his Galatea, Numb. 13. Don Quixote de la Mancha, Numb. 15. Exemplary Novels, Numb. 147. Voyage to Parnaflus, Numb. 166. Eight Comedies and as many Interludes, Numb. 173. Other Plays of his, Numb. 177, &c. His Si chiefs, Numb. 177. His Death, Numb. 178. His Pourtrait, Numb. 1 S3.

THE

JiETllATO DE CeEVA2VTES EE SaAJEDBA JPOE EL MISAfO.

StXtn/ trtven- el dtltn;

r~tJ*

I "•/•.• V-'fAv V J-

6'6<r:7t'rft/s Zft/s&/it Sea&>1.

t .T

l %/ ->> " -. (§A - 1 i

THE

L

I

F

E

O F

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra.

WRITTEN BY

DON GREGORIO MAYANS & SISCAR.

Ichael de Cervantes Saavedra, who when living was a valiant Soldier, tho' Friend- lefs and Unfortunate j and a very eminent Writer, tho' without any Patron to favour him ; was never- thelefs, when dead, emuloufly adopted by feveral Countries, who laid Claim to his Birth. Efquivias calls him hers. Seville denies her that Honour, and afiumes it to her felf. Lucena makes the fame Pre- tention. Each alledges her Right, and none of ctem is allow'd it.

r. The Claim of Efquivias is efpous'd by Don Thomas Tamayo de Fargas, a moll learned Man : Probably, becaufe Cervantes beflow'd on that Place the Epithet Renown' d> but the fame Cervantes explains himfelf by faying : On a tboufand Accounts Renown'd: one for her zV- luftrious Families •, another for her mojl illujlrious Mrincs.

i. Famayo's great Rival, Don Nicholas Antonio, pleads for the City of Seville ; and to prove his Point, advances two Reafons or Conjectures. Pie fays that Cervantes, when very \ oung, faw Lope de Rtteda act Plays in Seville ; and adds, that the Sur- names of Cervantes and Saavedra are peculiarly Sevillian Names. The firft Conjecture proves but little. For when I my fdf was a Child, I faw a noted Play fand it is the only one I ever fawj acted at Falenc\a% and yet I was not born there, but at 0 Vol. I. a Befides

2 'The L I F E of

BsfHes, when Cervantes was faying, that (a) Lope de Rueda, a Man of an excellent Under/landing, as well as a celebrated Player , was a Native of Seville, it was natural likewife to have call'd it his own Country : but neither in that Place, nor in any other where he names Seville, does he once take any notice of his being born in that City. The fecond Conjecture proves yet lefs : For if Michael de Cervantes Saavedra had had his Extraction from the Cervantes and Saavedras of Seville, thofe being Noble Fa- milies, he wou'd have mention'd it fome where or other fpeaking fo often of himfelf as he does in his Works ; now the moil that he fays, is, that he was a Gentleman, without adding any Circumftance fpecifying his Family. Befides, had he been born at Seville, furely among the Cervantes and Saavedra Families there, fome among them had preferv'd the glorious Memorial of having giv'n to Spain fo illuftrious a Perfon. A Proof which wou'd have been alledg'd by Don Nicholas Antonio as he efpous'd that Opinion, and was himfelf a Native of Seville.

3. As for Lucena : the People there have a Tradition our Author was born among Them. When this Tradition is clearly made out, or the Parifh-Regifter is produced to confirm it, we fhall readily believe it.

4. Mean while I hold it for a Certainty, that Cervantes drew his firft Breath at Madrid, fince he himfelf in His Voyage to Parnajfus, (b) taking leave of that Great Town, (for it is no City) thus addrefTes himfelf to it:

Then, turning to my humble lowly Cell, Farewel, faid I ; and Thou, Madrid, Farewell Farewel ye Fountains, Prado, and ye Plains, Where Neclar flows, and where Ambrofia rains.

Adieu, AJfcmblies, Converfation fweet, Where the Forlorn awhile their Cares forget.

Adieu, delightful and Romantic Spot, Where, flruck with Lightning from the Thund,rer Jhof7 Attempting a Scalade on Heav'n's high Wall, Two Earth-imprifon'd Giants ci/rfe their- Fall.

Adieu the Publick Theatres, from whence, To take-in Farce, they've bav.ifht Common Senfe.

Adieu the blefl St. Philip' j fpacious Walk, Where States are weigh' 'd, and News is all the Talk : How crefl-faln or elate the Turkifh Hound, How the * wing'd Lion wins or lofes Ground. * Venice.

Adieu, pale Hunger ! • to avoid the Fate,

Jf here I flay, of Dying at thy Gate, This Day^ in order to prevent the Blow, Out of MT COUNT RT and my felf I go.

5. Having made this Obfervation, I turn'd to the Minutes which Don Nicholas An- tonio took in order to form his Bibliotheca, and in the margin thereof I found he had added this very Proof of Cervantes\ Country ; but being defirous to maintain his old Opinion, he concludes thus; By the Words MY COUNTRY may be underftood

d!

(a) In the Preface to bis Eight Comedies. (Jb) Chap. I,

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 3

all Spain. Whoever reads Cervantes's Verfes attentively and without partiality, will fee that this Interpretation of D. Nicholas Antonio is ftrain'd, and even contrary to Cer- •vantes's Meaning ; for the firft fixteen Lines are a defcriptivc Definition of Madrid; the three next Verfes an Apoftrophe or Speech, directed to his Hunger ; and the Lift Verfeof all, a Return to the Town of Madrid, where, he had before told us, he had an humble lowly Cell, out of which he was going on his Journey to Pamaffus; A Journey, the Defcription whereof carry'd him as it were out of himfclf, by way of Poetical Tranfport ;

Hoi de Ml P A T R I A, i de mi mifmo falgo.

Out of MX COUNTRY and my felf I go. Befides, in the Lines immediately following, he fays,

Then, to the Port, by flow degrees, I came,

Which to the Carthaginians owes its Name :

A Port which EolusV Rage defies,

Impervious to that Blufterer of the Skies :

A Port , to whofe clear Fame all Ports muft vail

The Sea e'er wafht, Sun J aw, or Alan cou'd fail.

6. If Cervantes by his Country had meant all Spain, (a thing very improper, and in- confiftent with his accurate way of writing) when he quitted Spain, then he fhou'd have call'd her his Country, and not when he directed his Speech to Madrid and quit- ted that Town, in order to go to Cartagena, efpecially going as he did, by flow de- grees, to that famous Sea-port, where he was to embark for his Voyage to Pamaffus in Company with Mercury.

7. Be it therefore taken for granted, that Madrid was the Place of Alichael de Cer- vantes Saavedra's Nativity, and likewife the Place of his Abode. Apollo himfelf gives Evidence of this in the Superfcription of a pleafant Letter of his, in thefe Terms, (c) To Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, in Or chard-fir eet, fronting the Palace formerly belonging to the Prince of Morocco, in Madrid. Poflage, half a Real, I mean feventeen Marave- dis. And his Habitation feems to have been none of the beft, fince he concludes the Account of his Voyage, thus,

Then full of Spleen I fought my old, dark Cell.

8. Cervantes was born in the Year 1549. as may be gather'd from thefe Words which he wrote on the 14th Day (d) of July, 161 3. // does not fuit one of my Tears to make a J eft of the other World: For I am now on the wrong fide of Sixty four. [Por la mano, aforehand in Spani/h,) which I take to mean an anticipation of fome few Days. So that I'm apt to think he was born in July ; and when he wrote thofe Words, he might be fixtyfour Years old, and fome Days.

9. From his moft tender Years he was very fond of Books : Infomuch that, fpeaking of himfelf, he fays, (<?) / am very apt to take up the leaft Piece of written or printed Papers that lies in my cevn', tW it were in lie middle of the Street. He was a great Lover of Polite Learning, and totally apply'd himfelf to Books of Entertainment, fuch as No- vels, and Poetry of all Kinds, efpecially Spani/h and Italian Authors. That he was very converfant in fuch fort of Writers, appears from the pleafant and curious Scrutiny

a 2 which

(<•) Voyage to ParnafTus, ch. 8. (J) In the Preface to the Novels. (e) Part I. ch. 9.

4 Tie L I F E of

which was made of Don guixptts Library, (f) his frequent Allufions to fabulous Hiflories ; his moft accurate Judgment of Jo many Poets (g) ; and bis Voyage to Par- ftdffuL

10. From Spain he went into Italy, either to ferve in Rome Cardinal Aquaviva, to whom he was Chamberlain } (h) or elfe to follow the Profeffion of a Soldier, as he did fome Years, under the victorious Banners of that great Commander, Marco Antonio Colotia. (i) '

ii. He was one of thofe who were engag'd in the famous Battle of Lepanto where he loft his Left-hand by the Shot of an Harquebus : (£) Or at leaft his Hand was fo maim'd thereby, that he loft the Ufe of it. (/) He fought as became a good Chrif- tian, and a gallant Soldier. Of his Share in this Action he was not a little proud, (and with good Reafon ; ) faying many Years after. (;».)

"The liquid Plain, then offering to my View,

Don John'.* Heroic Aclion did renew,

In whofe fam' d VitTry, if I may compare

My felf with Others, I too had a Share

* Mean as I was-

12. Afterwards, I know not how, nor when, he was taken by the Moors, and car- ry'd to Algiers. From hence fome infer that the Novel of the Captive (k) is a Relation of Adventures that befel Cervantes himfelf. And therefore they further fay, That he ferv'd the Duke of Alva in Flanders, that he got to be an Enfign under an old expe- rienced Captain of Guadalajara, whofe Name was Diego de Urbina ; that he was after- wards himfelf made a Captain of Foot, and was at the naval Battle of Lepanto, being embark'd with his Company in John Andrea Dorm's Galley, out of which he leap'd into the Galley of Ucbali the King of Algiers, who was then furrounded by the Spa- niards, but getting loofe from them, Cervantes's Soldiers were hinder'd from follow- in» him, fo that he remain'd alone among his Enemies much wounded, and without the leaft power to make any Refiftance ; and in fhort, among fo many victorious Chriftians, he was the only Captiye, tho' glorioufly fo. All this and much more is related by the Captive, who is the principal Subject of the Novel in queftion. This Captive, after the Death of the faid King Ucbali, fell into the Hands (by bequeft) of Azatiaga, another more cruel King of Algiers, who kept him fhut up in a Prifon or Houfe which the Turks call Bancs, where they keep their Chriftian Slaves, as well thofe of the King, as thofe who belong to private Perfons, and alfo thofe who are call'd de Al- macen, that is, who belong to the Publick, and are employ'd by the City in Works that belong to it. Thefe latter do very difficultly obtain their Liberty ; for having no particular Mafter, but belonging to the Publick, they can find no Body to treat with about their Ranfom. One of the Captives, who was then at Algiers, I judge to be Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, and in Proof of this I ffiall relate what the Cap- tive faid of Azanaga's Cruelties : He wou'd hang one of the Chriftian Slaves one Day, then impale another •, cut off the Ears of a third : and this upon fuch flight Occajions, that

often

(f) Parti, ch. 6. . (g) In the fame Chapter. r(b) See bis Dedication of Galatea. (i) Ibid. ,'k) Pref. to the Novels. (I) In his Voyage to Parnaflus, cb. i. (m) Ibid. * Alluding ta his being no more than a common Soldier. (n) Part I. ofD. Quixote, cb, 39.

!

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 5

often the Turks wou'd own, that be did it only for the Pleafure of doing it, and lecaufe he v> u naturally an Enemy to Mankind. Only one Spanifh Soldier htm hoiv to deal him ; his Name was Saavedra •, and becaufe he did fuch Things as will not eafily be forgot- ten by the Turks, and all to gain his Liberty, his Majler never gave him a Blow, nor ujed him ill either in Word or Deed ; and yet we were always afraid that the leaf of his Pranks wou'd make him be impaled ; nay, he himfelf was fometimes afraid of it too ; and if it were not for fear of taking up too much of our Time, I could tell fuch Paffages of this Soldier, as would divert the Company much better than the Relation of my Advent* , and caufe more Wonder in them. Thus far Cervantes, fpeaking of himfelf by the Mouth of another Captive ; by whofe Teftimony it fhou'd feem that he was but a common Soldier, and fo he calls himfelf on other Occafions ; (o) and not an Enfign, much lefs a Captain : Titles with which he wou'd have certainly honour'd himfelf, at leaft in the Frontifpiece of his Works, had he enjoy'd either of thofe Ports. Five Years and an half he was a Captive, and from thence had learnt to bear Afflictions patiently. He then return'd to Spain (p), and apply'd himfelf to the writing of Comedies, of which he compos'd feveral, all of them well receiv'd by the Publick, and acted with great Applaufe, both for the Newnefs of the Art and the Decorations of the Stage, which were wholly owing to the Wit and good Tafte of Cervantes. Thefe were The Cufioms or Humours of Algiers, Numantia, The Sea-fight, and many others ; Cervantes (q) hand- ling the Firft and Lad as an Eye-Witnefs. He likewife wrote feveral Tragedies, which were much extolled, (r) His good Friend Vincent Efpinel, the Inventor of a parti- cular Sort of Verfe, from him call'd Efpinelas, thought him worthy of a Place in his ingenious Temple of Memory, lamenting the Misfortune of his Captivity, and celebrat- ing the Beauty of his Poetical Genius, in this Octave : In vain wert Thou by unrelenting Fate

Caft on a moft inhofpitable Shore ; In vain thy adverfe Stars malicious Hate

Made Thee a Captive to the Mifcreant Moor ; Thy Mind fill free, Cervantes ; undepreji

Thy Wit too ; Both exert a Force Divine : Phcebus and Pallas fill infpire thy Breaft, And bid Thee with fuperior Luftrefhine. Louis Galvez de Montalvo had expreft himfelf in much the fame manner before Ef , in his Verfes prefixt to Galatea :

Whiljl Saracens beneath their galling Yoke

Thy captive Neck controll'd, And whiljl Thy Mind, impajjive to the Stroket

On Faith kept f after Hold, Heav'n did indeed rejoice ; but Earth for lor ne

In Tears her Lofs confeft ; The Mufts too, when Thou from Them wert torney A Widow's Grief expreft. . ,. _. But

(o) In bis Voyage to Parnaflus, ch. \. In Preface to Galatea. In the Approbation of the Second Part ef Don Quixote; and fame manufcript Pieces treating of Algiers. (p) Preface to bis Novels. (q) Part I. of Don Quixote, ch. 48. (r) Ibid. J

6 The L 1 F E of

But fi nee, releafl from that Barbarian Band,

O Thou our Souls Defire ! Thou vififjl once again thy native Land,

Inviolate and entire, Heav'n owns thy Worth : All Mankind does rejoice ; And Spain once more Jhall hear the Mufes Voice. The Clofe of this Sonnet proves that Cervantes, even before he was a Captive, was efteemed one of the moft Eminent Poets of his Time.

13. But as the Information which comes by Hear-fayt is wont to be none of the trued: ; Cervantes would fubject himfelf to the rigorous Examen of fuch as fhou'd be inclin'd to read his Performances. Accordingly in the Year 1584 he publifh'd his Six Books of Galatea, which he prefented, as the Firft-fruits of his Wit, to Afcanio Colonna, at that time Abbot of St. Sophia, and fince Cardinal-Prieft with the Title of the Holy Crofs of Jerufalem. Don Louis de Vargas Manrique celebrated this Work of Cervantes in a Commendatory Sonnet, which, becaufe it is much beyond what is ufually written on fuch Occafions, I fhall here fubjoin :

'The Sovereign Gods, when They on Thee beftow^d

Such various Gifts of Nature and of Art, Their Greatnefs, Great Cervantes, fully fhow'd In Thee, to whom thofe Gifts they did impart. Jove gave to Thee his Thunderbolt, the Pow'r

Of Words to fplit the hardeft Rocks in twain : Diana gave to Thee, by way of Dower,

In Chaftity of Style ? excel each Swain : Hermes the artful Tale with Plot improves,

And Mars contributes Nerves to make thee Strong ; Venus and Cupid gave Thee all their Loves,

And Phoebus aided the concerted Song :

TJoe Nine learn'd Sifters did enrich thy Mind, 7

And All his Shepherds Pan to Thee rcfigtid. j

14. This Sonnet is both a true and a beautiful Defcription of the Galatea, a

Novel wherein Cervantes has manifested the Penetration of his Wit in the Invention,

his Fertility of Fancy in the abundance of his beautiful Defcriptions and entertaining

Epifodes-, his rare Ability in unravelling many feemingly indiflbluble Knots; and his

Happinefs in choofing proper Words and Phrafes peculiarly adapted to the Perfons he

introduces, and to the Subject he treats of. But what is more to be commended, is,

his handling Love-Matters with Modefty, herein imitating Hcliodorus and Athenagoras,

the former of whom was of Phoenicia and wrote the Amours of Theagenes and Chari-

clea. As for the latter, 'tis uncertain whether ever fuch a Perfon exifted at all ; for if

the Conjectures of the learned Biftiop Huetius are true, it was William Philander that

wrote the Novel of Perfecl Love, and father'd it on Athenagoras. Let this be as it will,

our Cervantes wrote of Love fo judicioufly and philofophically, that we have no rea-

fon to regret the Lofs of Arijletle's Eroticks, or the Love-Books of his two Difciples

Clearchus and Theophraflus :, or of Ariflon of Ceos, another Peripatetic. But even this

Delicacy

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 7

Delicacy with which Crrj. ■-.:.■; treated the Subject of Love, he was afraid wou'd be imputed to him as a Fault, and therefore he endeavoured to clear himfelf beforehand : Well I know (fays he) that in Pafloral Matters there is a particular Style which ought to lie rejlrain'd -within due Bounds, fince even the Prince cf Latin Poefy has been found j> with for foaring much higher in Some of his Eclogues than in others : And therefore I J be the lefs concern' J, fhou'd any one condemn me for putting Philofophic Reafonings into tie Mouths offome Enamoured Shepherds and Shepherdsjj'cs, who Seldom aim at a high Style in their Difcourfe, or talk oS any thing but Country- Affairs. But when it is confix that many of my Shepherds are only fo in Dijguife, and wear a Pafloral Habit purely to carry on the Defign oS the Novel, this Objection will fall to the Ground. But Cei vantcs did not find it fo eafy a Matter to clear himfelf of another Objection, which was his interweaving into this Novel fo many Epifodes, that their Multiplicity confounds the Reader's Imagination, let it be ever fo attentive ; for they come fo thick, that though they are work'd in with great Art, yet this very Art gives no room to follow the Thread of the Narration, which is frequently interrupted with new Incidents. He was fenfible of this, and confeft as much when he introdue'd the Curate Perez (who was a Man of Learning, and a Graduate of Siguenza,) and Mr. Nicholas the Barber, faying: But xvhat is that Book (ask'd the Curate) which is next to the Song-Book? (mean- ing Maldonado's Cancionero.) It is (reply'd the Barber) The Galatea of Michael de Cervantes. That Cervantes has been my intimate Acquaintance thefe many Tears, cry'd the Curate -, and I know he has been more converfant with Misfortunes than with Pd His Book indeed has fomething in it that Jaews a happy Invention. It aims at Something, but concludes Nothing Therefore we mujl fry for the Second Part, which he has promised us. Perhaps he may make us amends, and obtain a full Pardon, which is deny'd him for theprefent; till that time keep him clofe Prifoner at your Houfe. The Second Part oi this Pafloral Novel was never publifh'd, tho' often promis'd by the Author. (.<) One Thing I obferv'd fome Years ago, and I here repeat it, fince it naturally falls in with the Subjecl:, and that is, the Style of The Galatea is not very orderly, but rathe, con- fus'd, and in fome Places abounding with affected Oddities. The Words are indeed very proper, but the constructive Fart violent', becaufe irregular, and contrary to the ufual way of Speaking. Herein the Author imitated the ancient Books of Knight- Errantry ; but in his Dedication and Preface he preferves a more natural Difpofition ot Style, and ftill more in the Pieces he publifh'd afterwards ; all which are a manifeft Retractation of his former Error. In The Galatea there are Songs and Verfes in both thofe kinds of Spanifh Poetry, call'd Arte Menor, and Arte Mayor (/). Thofe of the firft Sort, in The Galatea, are exquifitely judicious and equally delightful, replete with moil delicate Sentiments, and the I anguage inconceivably fweet. His Compofitions of the Arte Mayor, in that Piece, are much inferior ; however, there are fome Verfes in k which may vie with the beft of any Poet whatever.

15. But

(s) In an Oration in praife of Don Diego Saavedra FayardoV Works, prefxd to his Rcfpublici Li- terana, reprinted in Madrid Anno Domini 1736.

(t) Coplas de Arte Menor, or Verfes of the lcfler Art, ctherwife call'd Redondillas, are Jhort Vtrfet m which the firft and fourth, and the fecond and third rhyme. Thofe of the Art.- Mayor, or the Greater Art, is when each Verfe conftfls of twelve Syllables, or contains two Verfes oS the leffer Rcdon- dilla, each of which has fix Syllables. The Rhyme, in both, alike.

8 -The L I F E of

1 5. But this is not the Work from which we are to take an Eftimate of the Great- nefs of Cervantes's Wit, his Miraculous Invention, or the Purity, Sweetnefs, and Eafi- nefs of his Style. All which are moll admir'd in the Books he wrote of the ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha. This was his Principal Under- taking ; and an impartial Examen of this Work mail be the Principal Subject of my Pen in thefe my particular Specifications of his Life, which I write with great Pleafure, fince I do it in obedience to the Commands of a Great Honourer of the worthy Me- mory of Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, who, if he had not already attain'd, as he certainly has, an Univerfal Fame, he wou'd now have attained it by the Favour of fo Iiluftrious a Protector. («)

16. The reading of bad Books is one of the principal Things corruptive of good Morals, and deftructive of the Public Weal. Now if fo much Mifchief arifes from Books which only give a bare Relation of bad Examples, what Effect will not fuch Books have which are feign'd on purpofe to inftil into unwary Minds a Poifon condited and conferv'd with the Sugar of a Delicious Style ? Such are the Milefian Fables, fo call'd from the City of Miletus in Ionia (a Province addicted to all kinds of Debauchery) where thefe Fables were firft introdue'd ; as alfo the Sibarites in Italy, from whence the Sibartic Fables took their Name. The whole Bufinefs of thefe Fables (I am only fpeaking of the leud ones) was to deftroy Religion, to beaftialize Human Nature, emafculate the Mind, harden Men into Brutes, or foften them into Eunuchs, and in- ftruct them in every thing that was wicked and deteftable, bafe and unworthy. -

17. The Hebrews wrote their idle Stories of the Cabala, and the Talmud, purely to fupport the Madncfs of their Incredulity, by the credulous Perfuafion of Fictions the moil ridiculous, extravagant and defpifablc that can be imagin'd, and to avoid affent- ing to the Truth of the Chriftian Religion, more vifible to the World than the Light of the Sun itfelf* and fuch is their Affection and Fondnefs for legendary lying Sto- ries, that in Truth itfelf they wou'd not own they fiw the Truth, even to that degree as, without any other Reafon or Foundation but their Love of Legends, to deny the Book of Job to be any other than a mere Parable. To them the Anabaptifts join'd their Belief, and audacioufly aflerted the Hiflory of EJlher and Judith to be in like manner nothing but Parables invented to divert and amufe the People. Thus do they make ufe of their Fables to confirm their Sect, and turn their own Inventions to the Deffruction of the Trueft and moft Authentic Hiffories that the World contains, and as fuch have been preferv'd to us by the proper Depofitaries.

18. With this fame Intention of deftroy ing the True Religion, was likewife written Mahomet's Alcoran^ which, as hath been obferv'd by the very learned Alexius Vinegas, (x)

Ins a Quadripartite Seel, b the Firft and chief Part is the Swiniflo or Epicu-

rean Life. The Second, a Jumble of Jewifh Ceremonies, void of the Signification they bore before the Coming of Chrift. The Third, a Texture of the Arian and Neitorian Herejies. And the Fourth, the Letter cf the Gofpel diftorted and ill expounded, to anfwer their de- ■jravd and wild Pretenf.om. Of this Stamp are the Stories of the Cradle and Arrow, firft broach' 'd by the Moors in their Church cf Malignant*.

19. Another

(h) My Lord- Cvrteret. (x) In tit Expounding f/ Momu?, tranfatcd by Augultin de

Aim a \

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 9

19. Another Dcfign of the mifchievous Milcfian Books, is, to render the Readers of them Effeminate, by a lively Reprefentation of amorous Encounters, and exciting corrupt Ideas by lufciou's Imag'ry and Machinery. In this fort of Writings it were much better not to cite Examples, and if any be brought in, let it be Apuleiufs Afs, fo that the Example itfelf may put the Reader in mind that Indolence, and a fupine vile Difpofition, will transform Men into Beafts.

20. As on the one hand, Mens Minds are render'd effeminate by Books of Knight' Errantry, fo, on the other, fuch Books tend to make Savages of them, for therein are defcrib'd moft monflxous Performances of certain fictitious Knights, with each of them his Lady, for whom he commits a thoufand mad Pranks, even to that degree as to Pray to them, invoking them in their perilous Adventures with certain Forms of Words, as fo many Advocates and Mediatrixes in their Conflicts and Encounters ; and for their fakes they enter upon and atchieve Multitudes of extravagant and nonfenfical Matters. In fhort, the reading thefe Books ftirr'd up many to barbarous Actions thro* an imaginary Punctilio Of defending Women even for Caufcs abfolutely di (honourable. And things were come to that pafs, the very Laws cenfur'd fuch Doings as unfit to be countenanced, and accordingly declare it to be an Abufe : (y) In order to animate them- felves the mere, fays the old Collection of Spanijh Laws, they held it a noble thing to call upon the Name of their Mijlrejfes, that their Hearts might /well with an increafe of Cou- rage, and their Sha?ne be the greater if they fail'' d in their Attempts.

21. The laft Sort of pernicious Novels, is, fuch as, under the Pretence of warnino- People againft Roguery, do really teach it ; of which Compofuions we have in 5 fuch Multitudes of Examples, that it is needlefs to inftance any in particular.

22. Of all thefe Books, thofe that did moft harm to the Publick were fuch as had Knight-Errantry for their Subject. The Caufes of their Introduction were as follows."

23. The Northern Nations poffeffing themfelves of all Europe, the Inhabitants fiW away their Pens and laid hold of their Swords, of which they that had .the lootfefT and were confequently the ftrongeft, were moft efteemed. Barbarifm prov'd to be'the moft potent, and went out Conqueror ; Learning was beat down, the Knowledge of Antiquity loft, and the right Tafte annihilated. But, as there is no making fhift well without thefe Things, there fucceeded in their room a falfe Learning and a wrong Tafte. They wrote Hrftories which were fabulous, becaufe they had loft, or knew not how to find out the Memory of paft Occurrences. Some Men, who wou'd n<

of a fudden fet up for Teachers, cou'd but ill inftruct their Readers in what they had never learnt themfelves. Such were Thcleftnus Helitis, an Engli/b Writer, who, about the Year 640, when King Arthur reign'd in Britain, wrote the Life and Actions of that King in a fabulous romantick Way. Herein he was imitated by . ,, who,

in Kirg rcrtipers Reign, about the Year 650, wrote the Hiflory of Britain, inter- fpers'd with Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table. The Hiilory publifh'd by Gildas, furnam'd The Wife, a Welfh Monk, is of the fame Sortment: He relates the marvellous Exploits of King Arthur, Pereival and Lancelot. The Book written by French Hunibald, and abridg'd by the Abbot Trithem'w.s, is a heap of Lyes and i Childifh Stories. Another Book falfly afcrib'd to Archbifhop i . bein°- in truth

Vol. I. b °rni

(y) Set the izd Law. tit. 2 1 . Part. II.

io fhe L I F E of

mifdated by above 200 Years, treats of the Atchievements of Charlemagne, full of Fic- tions, and was indeed forg'd in France, not in Spain, as is by a certain Perfon averr'd only becaufe he was pleas'd to have it fo. With thefe Books we may couple the fabu- lous Hiftories falfly father'd on Hancon Forte?nan, Salcan Forteman, Sivard the Sage, John Abgil-lo Son of a King of Frizeland, and Adel Adeling a Defcendant from the Kings of the fame Nation ; all of whom are faid to have been Frizelanders, and to have liv'd in the Time of Charlemagne, whofe Story they wrote.

24. No lefs fabulous was the Hiftory of the Origine of the Frizelanders, afcrib'd to Occo Efcarlenfis, Grandfon (as fome feign) to a Sifter of Salcon Forteman's, and co- temporary with Otho the Great. Nor ought any more Credit to be given to the Hifto- ry compos'd by Geofry of Monmouth, a Briton, wherein are written The Life and Ad- ventures of King Arthur, and of the Wife Merlin, notwithftanding he is faid to have drawn them from ancient Memoirs.

25. Thefe were the Hiftories which were in fuch vogue among the Nations that were then lefs rude, and lefs ftupidly dull. There were Men that foolifhly bufy'd themfelves in coining and publifliing fuch extravagant Whims, becaufe there were Men ftill more foolifh, who read, applauded, and often believ'd them.

26. The Trobadores (a), I mean the Poets, who in the time of Louis the Pious began to cultivate the Gaya Ciencia (that is Poetry, as if one fhou'd fay The Gay, Pleafant Science) made it their Study to reduce to Metre thefe fame Figments ; and as they al- ways ufed to fing them, they became common.

27. In Spain the Ufe of Poetry is much more ancient. I am not treating of the moft remote Times, and therefore ftiall not quote Strabo : I'm fpeaking only of the common Poefy, which we call Rhythmical. There are no Traces of its ever being known in any Part of Europe before the Arabians came into Spain. They alone afford a creater Number of Poets and Poems than all the Europeans put together. 'Twas they that firft infpir'd this Poetical Itch, or perhaps confirm'd it in the Spaniards, who knew how to rhime to Perfection, as is related in a long, but not tedious Account thereof by Alvaro of Cordoves, (b) who lamented it as a Grievance a hundred and thirty Years after the Lofs of Spain. Whether many, or any, of thefe Arabian Poems mention'd by Alvaro, were a Species of Novels, I will not take upon me to fay ; but the Exploits of their Buhalul, fo much celebrated by them in Profe and Verfe, were, doubtlefs, of the Novel Kind. It is certain that Tradition, to this very Day, has pre- ferv'd in Spain what we call Cuentos de Viejas (Old Wives Tales) fill'd with Inchant- ments, which occafions fo many to believe them : And therefore Cervantes, with his ufual Propriety of Speech, calls his Novels, Cuentos (c). Yet Lope de Vega is for making a Diftin&ion between Cuentos and Novelas, (Tales and Novels), when, writ- ing to Senora Maria Leonarda, he thus expreffes himfelf : Tour Ladyjhip commands me to write a Novel. This is a Novelty to me; for, alt ho* it is true that in The Arcadia, and in The Pilgrim, there is fomcthing of this Kind and Style, more in ufe among the Italians and French, than the Spaniards, yet the Difference is great, and the Manner

more

(a) An old Name for Poets, from Trobar in old Snanifh, to find, (Trouver in French) i. e. to find Rhime for Verfcs. ' (b) See Aldrete Orig. de la Lengua Caftellana, Lib. I. cap. 22. (c) At the Clofe cf his Galatea, and the Dedication of his Novels.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 11

tnore humble. In an Age lefs judicious than ours., even the wifeft Men caWd Novels by the Name of Cuentos (Tales). Thefe latter were got by heart, and never committed to Writing, that I remember. I, for my part, am apt to think that if there's any Diffe- rence, (which I doubt,) it is, that the Cuento, or Tale, is the fhorter of the two. Be that as 'twill, the Cuentos (Tales) are ufually call'd Novelets (Novels,) and fo vice versa, and both of them Fables. Thofe who profefs Exactnefs and Propriety in Speech will tell you there is a farther Sort of Fables, and thefe they call Fables of Chivalry : For which realbn Lope de Vega, purfuing his Difcourfe of SpanifJo Cufloms in relation to their Fondnefs for Fiction, immediately adds : Becaufe their Fables were reduced to a kind of Books which bad the Appearance of Hijlories, and were call'd in the Caftillian Tongue Cavallerias, as much as to fay, The Atchievements of Valorous Knights. Herein the Spaniards were mojl ingenious, becaufe in the Matter of Invention no Nation in the World excells them, a's may be feen in fo many Efplandianes'/, Phebus'j, PalmerinV, LifuarteV, FloranbeloV, Pharamondo'j, and the celebrated and mofl re- nowned Amadis, Father of all this endlefs Multitude, which was written by a Portuguefe Lady. Reading thefe laft Words, I was fomewhat ftartled, becaufe at the time when the Romance of Amadis was firft publifh'd, there was not, at lead that ever I heard, a Lady in the Kingdom of Portugal capable of writing a Book of fo much Invention and Novelty.

28. The learned and judicious Author of The Dialogue of the Languages, who wrote in Charles the Vth's Time, and beflow'd much Pains and Time in examining Amadis de Gaule, never fpeaks of it as if he took it to be the Work of a Woman, but a Man. The learned and judicious Archbifhop of Tarragona, Don Antonio Aaguflin, fpeakin^. of Amadis de Gaule, has thefe Words : (d) A Piece which the Portuguefe fay was com- posed by (e) Vafco Lobera. And one of the Interlocutors prefently adds, This is ano- ther Secret which few are acquainted with. Manuel de Feria iSoufa, in his learned Pre- face to the Fuente de Aganippe, publifh'd a Sonnet, which fays that the Infante Don Pe- dro of Portugal, Son to King John the Firft, wrote in praife of Vafco de Lobera, for having written that feign'd Story of Amadis de Gaula. I have heretofore obferv'd, that Amadis de Gaula is exactly the Anagram of La Vida de Gama, (f) (The Life of Gama.) From whence my Friends the Portuguefe may infer many other very likely Con- jectures.

29. Let that Matter be as it may (for Things done fo long fince can't eafily be afcer- tain'd,) as our oldeft Book of Chivalry is about a hundred Years pofterior to thofe which treat of Triflran and Lancelot; this gave occafion to the moft learned Huetius,.a John Baptifl Giraldo, to fay, That the Spaniards receiv'd from the French the Art of compofing Novels (g). As for what concerns Chivalry, I fhall make no Difficulty in believing it. But the fame Art which the Spaniards receiv'd rough and diforderly, they polifiYd and beautify'd fo much, that there is the fame Difference between them as be- tween a Difhabille and a Set-Drefs. The Spaniards fell into this Romantick way of Writing by the fame Occafion as Foreigners did. Their Ignorance of true HiftV oblig'd them, when they were to write any fuch, to fluff" them full of Lies, efixcially

b 2 if

(d) Dialogue II. pag. 42. (,■) Vafco is the Chrijlian Name of a Man. (f)G»ma, cf a noble Family in Portugal. (g) In bis Origin of Romances.

12

7%e LIFE of

if they treated of things parted any confiderable time before, for they feldom had Af- furance enough to write any manifeft Untruths of things prefent. But as Time prefent foon becomes Time paft, the Liberty of devifing Fictions, fo confounded Truth with Falihood, that there was no diftinguifhing the One from the Other. And thus we fee that the fabulous Songs, or to fpeak more clearly, that Species of Spanifi Poefy call'd Romances (in my Opinion lb denominated from Roman, a French Word, fignifying. Novel,) we fee, I fay, that thefe Lying Songs or Romances, which at firft were only made for the Entertainment of the ignorant Rabble, got into fuch vogue afterwards by being learnt by Heart and repeated by others, that they eafily pafs'd for Authentic, and their Fictions interwoven with the General Chronicle of Spain, which was compiled by the Royal Authority. A moll pernicious Example, and fo much follow'd, that the Imitation thereof hath brought our Hiftories to fo unhappy a Pafs, that an Hiftorian of ours, and one that <was efteem'd among the molt judicious of his Time, has not fcrupled to fey, that, Excepting Holy Writ now and then quoted in them, there's no know- ing how to affirm or deny any thing after them. And who fhou'd this Man be that hath banifh'd Truth from Hiftory, which is the moft unexceptionable, and almoft only Wit- nefs of Times paft ? Let Him declare that directly rebuk'd him for it, I mean, the moft ingenious Batchelor Pedro Rhua, Profeflbr of Liberal Learning, who thus writes to him : (h) Tour Lordfhip, by Blood a Guevara (i), by Office an Hiftoriograpber, by Profeffion a Divine, in Dignity and Worth a Bifhop ; but of all thefe the greatefi Re- nown is to love 'truth, to write Truth, to preach Truth , to live in Truth, and to die for the Truth ; and therefore your Lordfhip will be delighted in hearing the Truth, and in being advifed by Her. He goes on : i" have written to your Lordfhip that among other Things in your Works which the Readers find fault with, the moft unbecoming, odious and intolera- ble Thing that a Writer of Authority, as your Lordfhip is, can be guilty of, is, your giv- ing us Fables for Hiflories, and Ficlions of your own for other Peoples Narrations ; and a- tin? Authors who fay no fuch thing, or do not fay it as you reprefent it, or are fuch as do not exijl but in the Clouds, as the Crotoniates and Sibarites us'd to fay : Wherein your Lordfhip lofes your Authority, and the Rtader, if he's unlearn 'd, is deceiv'd, and if he is diligent and Jludious, he lofes his Time in feeling where the Cocks of Nibas crow, as the Greek Proverb has it. This falfe Opinion which the Bifhop of Mondonedo held of the Liberty of feigning Hiftories, gave him occafion to think, that fince fo many others had written whatever they had a Fancy to, he might do the fame ; a Licenfe which he fo boldly gave into, as not only to forge Events and Authors, in whofe Names he confirm'd them, but even Laws and Ordinances likewife. And alluding to this, Rc- drigo Dofma, in the Catalogue of the Bifhops of this City (Ofma) which is at the end of his Difeurfos Patrios, fpeaking of King Alonfo XI. of Leon, fays : He flock' d the City with People, and gave them Laws call'd Fueros de Badajoz, which F hold for True and Real Laws, not Ficlitious ones, like Guevara'j. And indeed the moft learned Aldrete held the fame Opinion of Guevara's Laws, tho' his great Modefty re- ftrain'd him from fpeaking his whole Mind : Tloe fame it is (fays he) with refpeel (k)

to

(h) In bis Third Letter. (t) Frai Antonio de Guevara, Bijhop of Mondonedo; not Don An- tonio de Guevara, Prior of St. Michael de Efcalada. (k) Book II. of The Origin of the Cc- ftilian Tongue, cb. 6.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. i ^

to the Fueros de Badajoz, if they are real, which I will not take upon me to determine. As for the Author who has fet them down, his AJfertions are fomewhat do:. , caufe of the little Depend a nee we can have upon the Certainty of other Things which be By this he plainly points to the Bifliop of Mondonedo : Of whom Don Antonio iays much the fame thing, for which I refer to his Dialogues (/) rather than trani his Words here. I have no mind to bring a Slur upon the Memory of a fcrfon of lo tender a Conference, that having been Historiographer to the Emperor Charles Yih, and written his Life to the time of his Return from Tunis, order'd by his LaftWil] and Teftament that a Year's Salary he had recciv'd fhou'd be paid back to his Ma- jefty, becaufe during one whole Year he had wrote nothing, confidcring, very rightly, that this and the like Salaries, are not given for Services done, but to be done, 1)/ difcharging the Duty incumbent upon the Office •, a Duty indifpenfable, becaufe ow- ing to the Publick, the Members whereof, that is the Citizens, both prefent and to come, are in the nature of lawful Creditors to whom fuch Officers are Debtors. 1 have inftane'd this memorable Example only to fhew the mighty Force of Cuftom, if once it extends to lay down Fiction for Truth, becaufe even in good Men, naturally fober, difcrete and ftudious, as was Bifhop Guevara, it will pervert the Judgment, and did miferably pervert that of moil of the Spaniards purely by giving way to the pcrnici- us Pleafure and dangerous Delectation of Books of Chivalry.

30. Mens Minds being thus accuflomed to that Admiration which arifes from extra- vagant Relations intermixt in Hiftory, they boldly proceeded to write Books entirely fabulous : which indeed wou'd be much more tolerable, nay worthy even of Praife, if confining their Fictions to Probability, they wou'd prefent the Idea of fome great Heroes, in whom Virtue was ken rewarded ; and on the other hand Vice chaftis'd in vile and abandon'd Profligates. But Jet us hear how the judicious Author of the Dia- logue of the Languages delivers himfelf on this Occafidn : Thofe who write Lyes, ought to write themfo as to come as near the Truth aspoffible ; but our Author of Amadis, (who was the firft and beft Writer of Books of Chivalry) fometimes thro' Carele/nefs, and at other times throy I know not what, fays Things fo palpably falfe, fo grojly untrue, that it is impoffible for a Man to give the leaft Credit to than. To confirm which, he producer fundry Inftances. The fame Enormity is cenfur'd and exploded by the fage Ludovicus Fives (m) with fuch fubftantial and weighty Arguments as fhew'd him to be one of the jufteft as well as fevereft Criticks of his Time. Erudition ffays he) is not to be <::■ peeled from Men who have not fo much as feen the Shadow of Erudition. For when. they relate a Story, what Pleafure can there he in certain Things which they fo barefacedly and nonfenfically feign ? This Man, alone, kill'd twenty together ; that Man, thirty ; ano- ther, run thro' and thro' in threefcore places, and left for dead, prefently rifes up, and the next day, being perfectly cured and recover' d, Challenges a couple of Giants, kills them, and goes off loaded with Gold, Silver, Silks, and precious Stones, in fetch abundance as wou'd fink one Ship, if not two, to carry 'em. What a Madnofs is it to fiiffer ones f elf to be away by fuch Extravagancies ? Befides, there is nothing fpoke with Acutenefs or Wit, lefs we are lo reckon for Wit, words fetcht from the mofl fecrct Privacies and Hiding-:. 1

of

, 0)DJal°iue X. pag. 426. Dial. XL p. 447. (m) De Chrifliana Fxmina. Cap. Qui rum hgendi Scriptores, qui Ugcndi.

i4 The L I F E of

e/"Venus, which are fpoken very properly to [educe and unhinge the Modejiy of her they fay they love, if by Chance floe fhews any Refolution to with/land their Attacks. If it be for This, thefe Books are read ; it will be lefs hurtful to read fuch Books as treat of (par- don the Term) downright Bawdry. For, after all, what Difcreetnefs can proceed from the Pens of Writers defiitute of ail good Learning and Art ? I never heard any Man fay he found a Pleafure in fuch Books, except only thofe who never touch' d a good Book in their Lives: I confefs indeed, to my Shame, I have fometimes been guilty of reading them, but I never found any Footjleps in 'em either of a good Defign or true Wit. Perfons therefore who praife them, fome of whom I know, Jhall then find credit with vie, when they fay this after they have read Seneca, Cicero, St. Jerom, or the Holy Scripture, and whofe Mo- rals are as yet untainted. For mofi commonly the Reafon of approving fuch Books arifes from beholding in them our own Manners, prefented as in a Mirror, and fo we rejoice to fee them approv'd of. To conclude ; alt ho1 the Contents of them were ever fo witty ad delight- ful, I wou'd never defire a poifoning Pleafure, or that my Wife Jhou'd be ingenious to play me a treacherous Trick.

3 1. In this manner proceeds the judicious Fives, who in another place afligns (n) for one of the Caufes of the Corruption of the Arts, the readingof Books of Chivalry : People are fond (fays he) cf reading Becks evidently full of Lyes and Trifles, and this thro' a certain Titillation of Stile, as Amadis, and Florian, among the Spaniards ; Lancelot, and the Round Table, among the French ; Orlando Furiofo, among the Italians : Books devis'd by idle Men and fluffed with a fort of Falfities, which contribute nothing to the Knowledge or a right Judgment of Things, or to theUfes of Life ; but only ferve to tickle the Concupifcence, and therefore they are read by Men corrupted by Idlenefs and a vicious Self-complacency : jufl as feme fqueamifh Stomachs which are ufed to be pamper' d up, arefuflain,d by certain Ccmfitures of Sugar and Honey, utterly rejecting allfolid Food. Fives was not the only Man that complain'd of this Evil. Megia, Charles the Vth's Chronologer, and a difcreet Hiftorian of thofe Times, lamented it in very pathetic Terms, (o) infomuch that the Inca Garci-laffo, upon his fole Teftimony, wou'd never caft an Eye upon fuch ftrange and monftrous Books. Mafter Vinegas, with his ufual Judicioufnefs, fays : (p) In thefe cur Days, to the great Prejudice of modeft and retired Maidens, are written diforderly and licentious Books of Chivalry, which are no other than the Devil's Sermon-Books with which in Holes and Corners he weds the Minds cf young Women. Not to mention the Tefti- mony of other excellent Authors, a Spamfh Bifhop of great Learning, and one of the founded Divines in the Council of Trent, Melchior Cam, writes as follows : (q) Our Age hath feen a Prieft xvho cou'd not get it out cf his Head but that every Thing that was printed, muft needs be True. For^ find he, the Miniflers of the RepuUick wou'd not com- mit fo great a Wickednefs, as not only to fluff er Lyes to be publijh'd, but alflo to authorize them with the Santlion of Privilege, that they may the more fecurcly flpread themflelves into the Peoples Minds. Mov'd by this Argument, he came to believe, that Amadis and Cla- rian did really perform the Things that are related of them in their romantic fabulous Hifl- tories. What Weight this Man's Argument (tho' a fimple Prieft) may bear againfl the

Miniflers

(n) De Caufls corrupiarum Art'ium, Lib. II. in fine. (6) Imperial & Cxfarian Hiftory. In

C nftantine'j Life, cb. i. (p) In the Expojition of Momus, Conckifon z. (q) De Locis

is. Lib. II. cap. 6.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, t 5

Minifiers of a Republii is neither a proper Place nor Time to difputt. For

part, with great Grief / ft it is <* thing, detriment al and ruinous t

Church) that in the Publication of Books, the only Precaution is that they contain no Errors againft the Faith, without minding whether they have any thing in them hurtful to Morals. My principal Complaint is not about thofe Novels, which I jitft now named, tho' wr. without any Learning or Erudition; or fucb as !e not a I fay, to

our well and happy Being, no, nor fo much as to enable one to form a right '"Judgment cf Affairs in common Life. For what Benefit can accrue to any Body from Stuff and Nonfenfe invented by idle unemployed 11 'riiers, and fought for by vicious and corrupt Readers, &c. Y\ "ords worthy to be written in Letters of Gold, by which it plainly appears how great a Value Bifhop Cano fet upon the Opinion of Fives, whom he frequently copy'd, tho* fometimes he reproach'd him, unjuftly, for fecret Reafons againft which had / hies Hv'J, he wou'd have vindicated himfelf. (r) But Fives will live in the Memory oi Mankind, and fome time or other will have a Friend, who joining Authority with Learning, will redrefs the Injury which was done, and is ftill tolerated, againft fo pious a Man.

32. In the mean time let the above noticed Complaints fuffice to form a Judgment of the Mifchief done by Books of Knight-Errantry, which fo ftrongly poffefs'd the Minds of the generality of Readers, that the Complaints, Invectives and Sermons of the moft judicious, the moft prudent and moft zealous Men in the Nation, were unable to root them out. Nor did fo immortal an Atchievement take place till it pleas'd God that Michael de Cervantes Saavedra fhou'd write (as himfelf tells us (s) by the Mouth of a Friend of his) A Satyr on Books of Knight-Errantry, by publifhing the History of Don Quixote de la Mancha: The principal, if not the file End, where- of is to deftroy the Reputation of Booh of Knight-Errantry, which had fo greatly i tuated the major part of Mankind, efpecially thofe of the Spanifh Nation. Ce>v confider'd, that one Nail drives out another, and that moft of thofe who inclin'd to the reading fuch Books were an indolent, idle, thoughtlefs fort of People, confcquently not eafy to be difTuaded from reading them by the Force of Reafon, which only ope- rates upon confiderate Spirits, he judg'd the beft Remedy to this Evil wou'd be a Bock of a like Invention, and of an innocent Entertainment, which exceeding all the reft in Point of Mirth and Diverfion, might draw in to the reading of it People of all kinds, as well Men of a deep and fearching Thought, as the Ignorant and Plalf-witted. For the attaining of which End there was no need of a great ftock of Learning ; but on- ly to clothe a well-devis'd Story in fuch pleafmg Terms as to delight every Body. And therefore Cervantes in that moft ingenious Preface, in which he fo wittily fa- tirizes the Vanity of petty Writers; after a very pleafant Confabulation between himfelf and a Friend, makes his Friend propofe the Plan he ought to proceed upon, which is as follows : If I know any thing of the Matter, your Book has no occafion for any fort of learned Lumber, as Quotations in the Margin, &c. for your Subjecl, being . Satyr on Knight-Errantry, is fo abfilutely new, that neither Ariftotle, St. Bafil, nor Ci- cero, ever dreamW or heard of it, Theft fabulous Extravagancies (of Chivalry) have nothing to do with tie impartial Puncluality of true Hijlory, nor do J find any BuJ.

you

(r) Vives was fufpeiled by feme to be a Protejlant in his Hi art. (s) In the Preface to his Fuii Part,

16 tte L I F E of

you can have either with AJtrology, Geometry or Logick, nor to make Sermons or preach to People by mixing /acred Things with profane, a fort of Compound which every good Chriflian ivou'd avoid being guilty of. Nothing but pure Nature is your Buftnefs : Her yen mtiji confult, and the defer you can imitate her, the better will be your Piclure. You have no need, to hunt for Philojophical Sentences, Paffages out of Holy Writ, Poetical Fa- bles, Rhetorical Orations, or Miracles of Saints. Do but take care to exprefs your felf in a plain eafy manner, in well- cho fen, fig nif cant and decent Terms, and to give an harmo- nious and eafy Turn 'to your Periods. Study to explain your Thoughts, and fet them in the trueft Light, labouring, as much as poj/ible, not to leave 'em dark nor intricate, but clear and intelligible. Let your diverting Stories be exprefs' d in diverting Terms, to kindle Mirth in the Mclancholick, and heighten it in the Gay. Let Mirth and Humour be your fuper- ficial Defign, tbo' laid on a folid Foundation, to challenge Attention from the Ignorant, and Admiration from the Judicious ; to fecure your Work from the Contempt of the graver fort, and deferve the Praifes of Men of Senfe ; keeping your Eye fill fixt on the principal End of your Profpecl, the Fall and Deflruclion of that monflrous Heap of Romances, which, tho* abhorfd by many, have fo ftrangely infatuated the greater part of Mankind. Mind this, and your Buf.nefs is done.

33. Cervantes being fo well inftructed, let us now fee, without Favour or Affec- tion, whether he was capable of executing the Advice giv'n him.

34. In three Things confifts the Perfection of a Book : Good Invention, due Dif- pofition, and a Diction proper to the Subject.

35. The Invention of our Author is adapted to the Character of a Gentleman of no defpicable Parts, which he had improv'd by reading, but at laft by too much po- ring upon Books of Knight-Errantry, loft his Senfes : and giving into the Phrenzy of imitating thofe ftrange and unaccountable Exploits he had met with in his reading, chufes for his Squire a poor labouring Man, but withal a pleafant merry-conceited Fellow ; & that he may not be without a Lady, he frames one to himfelf in his Ima- gination with whom he is platonically in love. And with a view of meeting with Adventures, he, at firft Alone, on his Horfe, call'd by him Rocinante, and afterwards in his fecond and third Sally, with his Squire Sancho Panza on his Afs, call'd Dapple, goes forth a Knight- Erranting.

36. The Idea therefore, of Cervantes, and my Senfe of it, as far as I can judge, are as follows. Alonfo Quixada, a Gentleman of la Mancha, gave himfelf entirely up to the reading of Books of Knight-Errantry : A Vice very common to People addicted. to Eafe and brought up to nothing : Too intenfe an Application to Books of Chivalry dry'd up his Brain, and turn'd his Head, as it had done by another famous Rufticator, known by the Name of the Paladin. Which fignifies, that this vain ufelefs fort of Readin? unhing'd the Judgment, rendring the Readers rafh and fool-hardy, as if they had to deal with Men that were, after all, but Imaginary. Our unfortunate Manchegan believ'd all the Prodigies he had read were really true, and the Profeffion of Knights- Errant fcem'd to him to be abfolutely neceffary to Mankind, in order to redrefs Griev- ances, and, whatever was wrong in the World, to fet it right, as he ufed to lay himfelf. He therefore determin'd to enter into fo honourable a Fraternity, and to employ himfelf in Exercik'3 fo falutary to Mankind. A Difpofition natural enough to Men who pre-

fumc 1

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra.

. „..„e... by- -

felves extraordinary Perfons : they arc wont to change their Name and Stile, and i! to this any exterior Mark of Honour be added, they think that People read only the Su- perfcription, and that in the political World there are no Lynceus's to look into their Infide.

37. Don Quixote fliled himfelf of the Territory of la Mancha, and his ima- ginary Lady he fliled Dulcinea del, Toboso, a Town of La Mancha : The Inhabitants whereof having, 'tis faid, upon fome very flight occafion, thrown our Au- thor into Prifon, he, in Return, (not to fay Revenge, becaufe it has tended fo much to

a Prifon, he confeffes himfelf, faying : (t) What can my barren and unpolifh'd Under- standing produce, but what is dull, very impertinent, and extravagant beyond Imagination ? mayfuppoje it the Child of Dijlurbance, engender' d in feme difmal Prifon, in the very Seat cf IFrctchednefs, and amidjl all manner of Inconveniences.

38. Next let us fee what Don Quixote does; who was now fally'd forth from his Houfe upon a lean Horfe, a true Symbol of the Weaknefs of his Enterprize, follow'd in his fecond and third Sally by S a n c h o P a n z a on his Afs, an Hicro- glyphick of his Simplicity.

39. In D o n Q_u 1 x o t e we are prefented with an Heroick Madman, who fancying many Things of what he fees, to be like thofe he has read of, purfues the Deception of his Imagination, and engages himfelf in Encounters, to his thinking, glorious; bur, in others Opinion, mad and extravagant: Such as thofe which the old Books of Chi- valry relate of their imaginary Heroes : To imitate whom, we may cafily fee how great a fhare of Romance-learning was necefiary in an Author who at every Step was to allude to the Atchievements of the endlefs Herd of Knights-Errant. Cervantes's Reading in this fort of fabulous Hiftory was without an Equal, as he very frequently makes appear to a Demonftration.

40. Don Quixote, when he is out of his mad Fits, talks very fenfibly and rational- ly. What can exceed, what can be more worthy to be read and retained than the Difcourfes he makes on the golden or firft Age of the World poetically defcrib'd ? On the Condition of Soldiers and Students ; on Knights, Gentlemen, and different Pe- digrees ; on the Ufe of Poetry ; and, to conclude, the Political and Oeconomical In- structions he gave Sancho Panza, before he went to his Government of the If

* Earataria, are fuch as may be given to real Governors, who certainly ought to put them in Practice, and make them the Rule of their whole Conduct in the°Difchar"e of their Office.

41. In S a n c h o Panza is reprefented the Simplicity of the Vulgar, who tho* they know their Errors, yet blindly purfue them. But, left Sambo's Simplicity fh< :

Vo r.. I. l '

tire (0 Prrf. of the Sirjl P^t. * Barato means Cheap in Spanifh.

n-t

1 l^'^M

a

r. '.--.«• »

Mi-hael de Cervantes Saavedra. 19

45. Cervantes to give the greater Probability, and Plaufibility to his Invention, Feigns the Authc of it to have been (c) CidHametBen-Engeli, an Ara- bian Hiftoriograner, a Native of La Mancha. He makes him of La Mancha that he may be fuppos'dobe well acquainted with Don Quixote's Concerns. It is very diverting to fee how Cerontes celebrates Cid Harness fcrupulous Punctuality in relating even the moil inconfiderale and trifling Things, as when fpeaking of Sancbo Panza, baftinado'd by the Tange triers, he fays : (d) So breathing out thirty Lamentations, threefcore Sighs, and a hunred and twenty Plagues and Poxes on thofethat had decofdhm thither, he atlafl got upon h Legs. And when he fays of another Carrier, (e) He was one of the richeft Carriers i Arevalo, as the Moorifh Author of this Hiftory relates, who makes par- I ticular mentioi >:, as having been well acquainted with him, nay, fame don't flick to Cay he was fin .'-kin to him. However it be, it appears that Cid Mahamet Benengeli

was a very exafJliflorian, fince he takes care to give us an Account of "Things that feemfo nconflderable an trivial. A laudable Example which thofe Hiflorians fiou'd follcw, who fually relate Miters fo concifely, that they fear ce dip into them, or let their Readers have < much as a Wfte of 'em, and rather feem to have left the mofi ejfential Part of the >ory in the bottm of the Ink-horn, either thro' Neglecl, Malice, or Ignorance. Athou- nd Dleffings ten be given to the curious Author of Tablante de Ricamonte, and to 2t other indefinable Sage who recorded the Achievements of Count Torn il las, for they ve dcfcriVd em the mofl minute and trifling Circumflances with a fingular Precifenefs ! cian himfelf ks not fpoke more to the Purpofe in his two Books of True Hiftory. \6. In anoth- place, putting in practice this fame Punctuality in fpecifying every moft mini 'articular belonging to his Subject, Cervantes fays, by the Mouth of engeli, I <ote was brought into a fair Room, where Sancho took off his Ar-

r, a?:d tht the Knight appear'd in a Pair of Clofe Breeches, and Doublet of tnoy Leathc, all befmear'd with the Rufl of his Armour. About his Neck he wore a n Band, '</, after the manner of a Student ; about his Legs fad- colour' 'd Spat-

afhes, and t his Feet a Pair of Wax-leather Shoes : He hung his trufty Sword by I is in a Belt Sea-Wolf's Skin ; which makes many of Opinion he had been long trou- with a P^: in the Kidneys. Over all this he clapfd on a long Cloke of good Rujfet- : B all he wajh'd his Head and Face in five Kettle-fulls of Water, if not

: ; for . • c::act Number there is fome Dijpute. * Redundancy fimple and fa-

ns! Verifirilitude admirable and unprecedented! Well therefore might Cervantes 3 he does f) All Perfons that love to read Hiflories of the Nature of this, mufi nly be vex much obliged to Cid Hamet, the original Author, who has taken fuch every minute Particular, diflinclly, entire, without concealing the leaji mjli might, if omitted, have obfeur'd the Light and Truth of the Story. He

res of th:- ts, difcovers the Imaginations, fatisfies Curiofily in Se-

s, refolves Ar ments, and in fhort, makes manifefl the leafl Atoms of • Deflre ! O mofi famous Author ! O fortunate Don Quixote ! O re-

c z nowncd

■ ch. : (d\ ■ rr. (e) Ibid. ch. 16. (f)Part II ' lad is

>ofe be coin'd bimfelf wes

, Over-m

,8 ne L I F E of

tire the Reader, Cervantes makes it of the merry kind, and of a diverting Nature. No body has given a better Definition of Sancho Panza, than his Matter Don ghtixote has done, when fpeaking to the Dutchefs, he fays, («) Tour Grace muft know that no Knight- Errant ever had fuch an eternal Babbler, fuch a Bundle of Conceit for a Squire as I have. And on another Occafion. (.v) I 'affaire your Grace, /&«/ Sancho Panza is one of the mo fa pleafant Squires that ever waited on a Knight-Errant. Sometimes he comes out with fuch Jharp Simplicities that one is pleafantly puzzled, to judge whether he be more Knave or Fool. 'The Varlet, indeed, is full of Roguery enough to be thought a Knave : But then he commits fuch Blunders that he may better be thought a Fool. He doubts of every thing, yet believes every thing : And when one would think he had entangled himfelf in a piece of downright Folly, beyond recovery, he brings himfelf off of a fudden fo cleverly, that he is applauded to the Skies. In port, I would not change him for the befi Squire that wears a Head, tho1 I might have a City to boot. For a Proof of the Simplicity and Pleafantry of Sancho Panza, the Braying Adventure may fuffice. (y)

42. Such being the principal Perfonages of this Hiftory, it naturally follows (as Cervantes makes another fay) (2) That it is the Property of Don Quixote'i Adventures, to create always either Surprize or Merriment : And that Sancho is {a) one of the tnofa comi- cal Creatures that can be. And without fpeaking by the Mouth of other People, Cer- vantes himfelf fays at the end of his firft Preface : / will not urge the Service I have done you by introducing you into fo confiderable and noble a Knight's Acquaintance, but only be? the Favour of fame fmall Acknowledgment for recommending you to the Familiarity of the famous Sancho Panza his Squire, in whom, in my Opinion, you will find united and defcribed all the faatter'd Endowments which the voluminous Foppery of Books of Knight-Err antry can afford to one of his Character.

a~>. That the Hiftory of a Knight-Errant might not furfeit the Reader with a tirelbm Uniformity and a Return of fimilar Adventures, which wou'd have been the Cafe had it treated only of mad orfoolifh Occurrences, Cervantes introduces many Epi- fodes, the Incidents whereof are frequent, new, and probable; the Reafonings artful, perfpicuous, and efficacious ; the Plot deep and myfterious, but the I flue eafy, na- tural, and withal fo agreeable, that the Mind is left in a State of Complacency, and all thofe Paffions quieted and made calm again, which juft before, had, by a Angular Artifice, been put into a fort of Tumult and Anxiety. And that which is moft ad- mir'd by good Judges, is, that all thefe Epifodes, except two, that is to fay, The Novels of The Captive, and The Curious Impertinent, are wove into the main Defign of the Fable, and, together with it, like a beautiful Piece of Tapeftry, make one agreeable and moft delightful Work.

44. When an Artift is confummately skilful in his Profefnon, no body knows bet- ter than himfelf the Perfection of his own Works. This made Cervantes himfelf lay of his Hiftory : (a) The Stories and Epifodes, the various Tales and Novels with which it is intermix' d are, in fame refpecls as entertaining, as artful, and as authentic as the Hif- tory it falf.

45. Cer-

(„) Fan II. ch. 30; (x) Ibid. ch. 32. (y) Part II. ch. 27. (z) Part II. ch. 44,

(a) Ibid. cb. 58. (b) Part I. cb. 28.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 19

45. Cervantes, to give the greater Probability, and Plaufibility to his Invention, Feigns the Author of it to have been (c) CidHamet Ben-Lngeli, an Ara- bian Hiftoriographer, a Native of La Mancha. He makes him of La Man ch a that ^he may be fuppos'd to be well acquainted with Don Quixote's Concerns. It is very diverting to fee how Cervantes celebrates Cid Harness fcrupulous Punctuality in relating even the moft inconfiderable and trifling Things, as when fpeaking of Sancbo Panza, baftinado'd by the Yangefian Carriers, he fays : (d) So breathing out thirty Lamentations, three fore Sighs, and a hundred and twenty Plagues and Poxes on thofe that had decoy' d him thither, he at laft got upon his Legs. And when he fays of another Carrier, (e) He was one of the ricbefi Carriers of Arevalo, as the Moorifli Author of this Hijlory relates, who makes par- ticular mention of him, as having been well acquainted with him, nay, fame don't f.ick to fay he was fomewhat a-kin to him. However it be, it appears that Cid Mahamet Benengeli was a very exaR Hiflorian, fince he takes care to give us an Account of Things that feemfo inconfiderable and trivial. A laudable Example which thofe Hiftorians fijou'd folloi:, ufually relate Matters fo concifely, that they fear ce dip into them, or let their Readers have fo much as a Tafte of 'em, and rather feem to have left the mofl ejfential Part of the Story in the bottom of the Ink-horn, cither thro' Neglecl, Malice, or Ignorance. A thou- fand Blefiings then be given to the curious Author of Tablante de Ricamonte, and to that other indefatigable Sage who recorded the Atchievements of Count Torn il las, for they have defcrib'd even the moft minute and trifling Circumftances with a fingular Precifenefs I Lucian himfelf has not fpoke more to the Purpofe in his two Books of True III,

46. In another place, putting in practice this fame Punctuality in fpecifying every the moft minute Particular belonging to his Subject, Cervantes fays, by the Mouth of Benengeli, Don Quixote was brought into a fair Room, where Sancho took off his Ar- mour, and then the Knight appear'd in a Pair of Clofe Breeches, and Doublet of Shamoy Leather, all befmear'd with the Rufl of his Armour. About his Neck he wore a plain Band, unjlarch'd, after the manner of a Student ; about his Legs fad- colour' d Spat-. terdafixs, and on his Feet a Pair of Wax-leather Shoes : He hung his trufly Sword by Side in a Belt of Sea- Wolf's Skin ; which makes many of Opinion he had been long U bled with a Pain in the Kidneys. Over all this he clapp'd on a long Cloke of good Ruffet- Cloth: But firft of all he wajh'd his Head and Face in five Kettle-fulls of Water, if infix; for as to the exatl Number there is fome Difpute. * Redundancy fimple and fa- cetious! Verifimilitude admirable and unprecedented! Well therefore might Cervantes fay as he does, (/) All Perfcns that love to read Hiflories of the Nature of tl certainly be very much obligd to Cid Hamet, the original Author, who has taken fuch care in delivering every minute Particular, diftinclly, entire, without concealing the leaft Circumftanca that might, if omitted, have obfeur'd the Light and Truth of the Story. He draws livel Pit ■' ' d>ts, difcevers the Imaginations, fatisfics Curiofily in Se- crets, clears Doubts, refo, <nents, and in Jhort, makes manifef. the leaft Atoms of the moft inquifitive Defire! O moft famous Author! O fortunate Don Quixote! O re-

c z

(c)Ib;j.eb.g ' •-. (e) Ibid. ch. 16. { lis

be ccin'd him;

ch. 40.

2o The L I F E of

nowned Dulcinea! 0 facetious Sancho Panza! jointly and fever ally may you live and con- tinue to the latejl Pojlerity, for the general Delight and Recreation of Mankind !

47. Cervantes makes the Author of this Hiflory to be an Arabian, alluding thereby to what is believ'd by many, that the Arabians firft infected the Spaniards with the Itch of Romance-making It is certain Arijlotle, (h) Cornulus, and Prifcian (z) take notice of the Lybian Fables ; Lucian adds (k) that among the Arabians there were Men whofe Bufinefs it was to expound Fables. Locman who in Mahomet's Alcoran is fo highly prais'd, is generally, and with good reafon, believ'd to be Atfop the famous Fabulift. Thomas Erpenius was the firft that tranflated his Fables into Latin, Anno 1625. It is very certain, the Fables di-Mfop are adapted to the Genius of every Nation. And yet, thofe which are in Greek are not the fame which ASfop wrote. Phadrus, who tranflated them into Latin, confeffes his interpolating them. (I) I have them in Spanijh, printed at Seville by John Cronberger, Anno 1533, w'tn Interpolati- ons and flrange Additions. No wonder then the Arabians fitted them to their own Tafte. And what greater Fable can there be than Mahomet's Alcoran? It is written in the manner of a Novel, that it might be the eafier learn'd and the better remem- ber'd. The Lives of the Patriarchs, Prophets and Apoftles, which are handed about in Writing among the Mahometans are fluff' d with Fables. Some of their Philofophers who took upon 'em to unfold the myfterious Dreams of the Mahometan Doctrine, have made entire Books in the nature of Novels. Of this kind is the Hiflory of Hayo, the Son Tccdan, of whom fuch prodigious Fictions and monftrous Stories are related by Avicena. Leo Africanus and Louis del Marmol teftify, as Eye-witneffes, that the Ara- bians are fo fond of Novels, that they celebrate the Atchievements of their Buhalul both in Profe and Verfe, as our Europeans have done thofe of Rinalio of Montalban and Orlando Furiofo. And, without going out of Spain, thofe we call Cuentos de Fiejas (Old Wives Tales) are certain fhort Novels made up of Enchantments '-and horrible Apparitions to frighten Children, and are manifeftly of the Growth of Arabia.

48. In proof of this we may likewife add, that the firft Books of Chivalry or Knight-Errantry were wrote in Spain at the time when the Arabians dwelt there. And therefore I can't help thinking Lope de Vega forgot himfelf, when he faid : (m) They us*d to call Novels by the Name of Cuentos : He goes on: Thefe Cuentos, or Tales, were gotten by Heart, and repeated memoriter : And I don't remember they were ever com- mitted to Writing. But they were certainly committed to Writing, and Lope muft have met with them in thofe fame Books of Chivalry ; but did not well recoiled 'em, per- haps becaufe thofe he had heard repeated, might not be the fame. Tho' I don't deny that there are many fuch Tales at this day which are not written, but pafs from one idle Perfon to another by Tradition only.

A.Q. Well ; we have a Manchegan and Arabian for the Author of this Hiftory written in Arabick. Cervantes to this adds, following the thread of his Fiction, that he got it tranflated out of Arabick into Spani/h by a Moor that was Mafter of the Spanifi : In re- ference to which, he brings in the Bachelor Sampfon Carrafco, fpeaking thus to Bon Quixote : Bleft may the Sage Cid Hamet Benengeli be, for enriching the World with the

Hiflory

(b) In Rhetoricis. (/) In Prreexercitamenti?. (&) In Macrobiis. (/) Initio Lib. 2. (m) In lbs Dedication of his firft Novel.

Michael d e Cervantes S a a v f. d r a. 21

lliflory of your mighty Deeds (n) ; and more than blefl, that (o) curious Virtuofo, who took care to have it tranflated out of the Arabick into our vulgar 'Tongue, for the univt .' Entertainment of Mankind !

50. And in order to lee it be known that the Tranflator likewife made his Rem Cervantes, as a Voucher for him, adds in a fort of Parenthcfis [The Tranflal 1 Bijiory when be came to this fifth Chapter fays, that he holds the J "aid Chapter for Apo- cryphal, becaufe Sancho Panza talks in a different fort of Stile, and ufes another Mode of Locution than what might be expecled from one of his mean Parts ; and utters fitch , Reflexions and Apborijms, that he the faid Tranflator thinks it impoffible for bint to know any thing of fuch high Matters: But yet he won' d not omit them, as thinking it his Duty to give his whole Author, and net to leave any thing untranflated that he fund in the Original, (p) ] A good Leffon for Inch Tranflators as do not know that their Bufi- nefs is like that of Pourtrait- Painters, who deviate from their Duty, if they draw a Picture more perfect than the Original: I mean only as to the Subject-matter of the Piece: For as to the Stile, every one is to ufe his own Colours, and thofe ought to be fuited to the intended Reprefentation. This being fo, I know not how to excufe Cervantes, who, in another place, makes his Tranflator deficient in his wonted Exactnefs, by fay- ing : (a) Here ihe Author inferts a long Defcription of every Particular in Con Diego'.; Houfe, giving us an Inventory of all the Goods and Chattels, and every Circumflance pe- culiar to the Houfe of a rich Country Gentleman : But the Trar.flator prefum'd that it wou'd be better to omit thefe little Things, and fuch like inflgniflcant Matters, being foreign to the main Subjecl of this Hiflory, which ought to be more grounded on material 7?:-: , ti .. i cold and infipid Digreffcns. Suppofe we mould fay, that what is a Reprthenfion of tin: Tranflator, is a tacit Commendation of the Punctuality and Exactnefs of Cervantes? Or that he meant thereby to reprove the tedious Prolixity of many Writers, who di- grefs from their main Point and principal Subject, and dwell upon Defcriptions of Palaces and the like ? Both the one and the other is poffible. Certain it is, that 71.; Novel of true and perf eel Love, afcrib'd to Athenagoras, gives a Difgufl by the frequent Defcriptions of Palaces, built with fuch fuper-abundant Art, and that Vitruvian too, that it is apparent he who made thole Defcriptions cou'd not conceal his being an Ar- chitect, fince he draws the Palaces like an Artift, not a Novelift. From whence the very judicious Huetius inferr'd, that the Author of the above Novel was not Athana- goras, as was fuppos'd, but William Philander ; the noted Explainer and Illuftrator of Marcus Vitruvius ; and that his aim in that Work was to flatter the Genius of his great Patron Cardinal Gregorio Armagnac, who was paffionatcly fond of Architects, and a mighty Favourer of that Profefflon. Neither was it poffible for Athenagoras to paint fo to the Life, as he does, the Cuftoms of the Moderns. And it was no difficult thing to perfuade Fumeus, the Publifher of the Novel, that the original Greek which was fhew'd him, was genuine ; but he ought to have made a clofer Examination of k, that we might not look upon his Translation to be fuppofititious likewife. Fumeus acted a far different Part from thofe who when they publifh any Books, whicli they know to be falfe, make great Ado and exert themfelves to the utmoft to induce a Be- lief of their being genuine, averring that they drew them from very ancient Mar.u-

fcripts, (n) Part II. cb. 3. (0) Michael de Cervantes Saavcdra himfclf. (/>) Part II. cb. 5 . {q) i

22 He L I F E of

fcripts, written in a hand fcarcely legible and much defaced by Time and the Worms ; and that they were found in this or that Library (where no-body ever faw 'em) and that they acquir'd them by means of a certain Perfon not now living. Thefe, and the like Artifices are what deceive your ordinary Readers ; and fo too does Cervantes, when he would make us believe that the Author of this Work was an Arabian Histo- riographer, born in La Mancha ; and the Translator a Moorijh Rabbi, and the Con- tinuation of the Hiftory, by great Good-luck found and purchai'd of a young Lad that was offering to fell a Parcel of old written Papers to a Groom in a Shop on the * Alcana at Toledo. But at the time when Cervantes faid this, there was a ftrong Be- lief current among the credulous Populace that one in Toledo had an univerfal Hiftory, wherein every Body found whatever they fought for or defir'd. The Author of it was fuppos'd to be a very ferious grave Perfon. And accordingly that Hiftory which treated of all Things, and a great deal more •, that is, more than they defir'd who ask'd any thing of him whom they fuppos'd to be the Treafurer of the Ecclefiaftical Erudition, I fay, that Hiftory was a Fable pregnant with many Fables, which very properly might be call'cl in French a Romance, and in good Spanijh, Cuento de Cuentos, a Tale of Tales : Which were fo well receiv'd that there came out divers Continuations of them, no lefs applauded than thofe of Amadis de Gaul, and what is much worfe, more read, and more credited, and as yet not banifh'd, the Almighty referving the Glory of that for one on whom he fhou'd vouchfafe to beftow fuch Efficacy and Ingenuity, not only to attack but conquer both the Great-Vulgar and the Small of a whole Nation. But this is not a Subject proper to this Place : And therefore I ihall peftpone it till another Occafion offers.

51. Laftly, Cervantes, that he may not be guilty of what he reproves in other Wri- ters of Books of Chivalry, and remembring the End he had propos'd to himfelf, of rendring fuch Fictions ridiculous and contemptible, makes Den Quixote, who like a Mad-man was brought home in a Cart, fhut up as in a Cage, foon after reco- ver his Senfes, and frankly and Chriftian-like confefs that all his Actions had been thofe of a Mad-man, and the Effects of a diftemper'd Brain, and that he did them out of a Defire to imitate the Knights-Errant, a Species of Mortals purely imaginary.

52. By what has been faid, the Reader may fee how admirable the Invention of this <rreat Work is. The Bifpfttion of it is no lefs fo -, fince the Images of the Perfons treated of hold a due Proportion, and each fills the Place that belongs to him. The In- cidents are fo artfully knit together, that they call upon one another, and all of them fuf- pend the Attention in fo delightful a manner, that nothing remains to fatisfy the Mind but the Event, which is equally delightful.

53. As for the Stile ; wou'd to God the Stile now in ufe on more folemn Occa- fions, were as good as our Author's ! In it, we fee well diftinguifh'd and appropriated the different Kinds of fpeaking. Cervantes only makes ufe of old Words to reprefent old Things the better. He introduces very few foreign Words, and never without an ab- folute Necefilty. He has made it appear that the Spanifn Tongue has no need to go a beting to Strangers for Words to explain its meaning. In fine, Cervantes'^ Stile in this History o-f Don Qu ix o t e is pure, natural, well-placed, fvveet, and

fo

* The Exchange.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 23

fo correct, that there are very few SpamJIi Writers to compare with him in that re- fpect. Well fatisfy'd of this was Cervantes himfelf, fince in his Dedication of the Second Part of Don Quixote to the Condi de Lenws, with an inimitable Facetioufnefs, with which he knew how to cover his own Praifes, he lays thus to him : " When, a " few days ago, I fent to your Excellency my Plays, printed before they were acted, " if I don't forget, I laid, that Don Quixote had his Spurs on to go and kifs your " Excellency's Hands -, and now I can fay he is not only be-fpurr'd, but has actually *' begun his Journey to you, and if he reaches you, I fancy I mall have done your " Excellency lbme Service : For I am mightily prefs'd by divers and fundi y Perfons " to fend him to you, in order to remove that Naufeoufnefs and Loathing caus'd by *' another Don Quixote, who, under the Name of a Second Part, has difguis'd him- " felf, and rambles about in a ftrange manner. Now he that has fhewn himfell moft *' deiirous of feeing my Don Quixote, is the Great Emperor of China, for about a *' Month ago, he lent me a Letter in the Chincfe Tongue, by a fpecial Meffenger, de- '* firing me, or to fpeak better, fupplicating me, to fend Don Quixote to him •, be- " caufe he was upon building and endowing a College for the learning and teaching " of the Spatiijh Tongue, and that the Book us'd for that Purpofe, mould be the •' Hiftory of Don Quixote. Together with this he writ me Word that I mould be " the Head or Rector of the College. I ask'd the Bearer, if his Majcfty had fent " me any Thing towards defraying my Charges. He made Anfwer, He had no Thought " of it. Why then, Friend, faid I to him, you may e'en return to your China again the " fame way you came, or which way you pleafe and when you pleafe : For I am not in " a State of Health to undertake fuch a long Journey. Bcfides, I am not only very " weak in Body but more in Purfe ; and fa- I'm the Emperor's molt humble Ser- •« vant: In fnort, Emperor fo*. Emperor, and Monarch for Monarch, to take one with tC t'other, and fet the Flare's Head againM the Goofe-Giblets ; there is the noble " Conde de Lemos at Naples, who without any of your Head-fhips or Rector- fhips of " Colleges, fupports me, protects me, ajtfl mews me more Favour than I cou'd wifli " or defire. With this I difmift him, alro with this I take my Leave of, &c. Madrid, tilt. OcJcber, 1615.

54. Having thus examin'd the Perfection of this Work by Parts ; and likewife ksn the good Distribution, and Coherence of all the Parts one with another ; it may be eafily imagin'd how well fuch a complete Performance muft be receiv'd. But as it came abroad in two feparate Volumes, and at different times, 'tis fit we fee how they were receiv'd, what Cenfures they actually underwent, and what they really do deferve.

55. The firft Part was publifh'd at Madrid, printed by John de la Cuejla,Anno 1605. in Quarto, dedicated to the Duke of Bejar : Upon whole Protection Cervantes con- gratulates himfelf in certain Verfes written by Urganda the Unknown, prelix'd to the Book.

56. One of the belt Proofs of the Celebrity of any Book, is the quick Sale of it, and theCill that is for it, which was fuch that before Cervantes publifh'd the Second Part, he fays, by the Canal of Sampfon Carrafco: (r) I do not in the leaft doubt but at this Day there have already been publijh'd above Twelve Thou/and Copies of it. Portugal, Bar- celona,

(r) Part II. eh. 3.

24- The L I F E of

celona, and Valencia, where they have been printed, can witnefs this, if there were Occa~ /ton. 'Tis /aid, that it is alfo now in the Prefs at Antwerp. And I verily believe there's fcarce a Language into which it is not tranjlated, or will be tranjlated. It fell out accor- dingly; fo that an Account only of the feveral Tranfl tions of it wou'd make no fmall Book it felf. In another place he introduces Don Quixote, exaggerating the Number of the printed Books of his Hiftory, thus, (s) I have merited the Honour of the Prefs in almoft all the Nations of the World. Thirty Thoufand Volumes of ?ny Hiftory have been ; '•: nntei already, and Thirty Thoufand Millions more are like to be printed, if Heaven pre- vent not. In another place the Dutchefs (whofe Territories, as yet, no Man has been able to find out) fpeaking of the Hiftory of Don Quixote, fays, It was lately publijh'd with the umverfal Applaufe of all Mankind. Much better has the Bachelor Savnfon Carrafco deliver'd himfelf concerning this Hiftory, fpeaking of it to Don Quixote him- felf: (/) In it, fays he, every thing is fo plain, there's not the leaft Iota but what any one may underfland. Children handle it, Toungfiers read it, Men under/land it, and old People applaud it. In fiort, it is univerfally fo thumb' d, fo glean'd, fo ftudied, and fo known, that if the People do but fee a lean Horfc, they prefently cry, There goes Rozi- nante. But none apply themfelves to the reading of it ?nore than your Pages : There's ne'er a Nobleman's Anti-chamber where you (han't find a Don Quixote. No fooner has one laid it down, but another takes it up. One asks for it here, and there 'tis fnatch'd up by ancther. In a word, 'tis efleem'd the mofil pleafant and leaft dangerous Diver/ton that ever zvas feen, as being a Book that dees not betray the leaft indecent Expreffton, nor fo much as a -profane Ihought. Much reafon therefore had Sancho Panza to make this Prophecy : (u) I'll lay you a Wager, quoth Sancho, that before we be much older, there will not be an Inn, a Hed/e-Tavern, a blind JiTiuaUing-Hcufe, nor a Barber' s-Shop in the Country, but what will have the Story of Mr Lives and. Deeds pafted and painted along the Walls. Accordingly we have feen this come to pafs, and much more ; for not only in Taverns, and private Houfes are the Books of Don Quixote to be found, but in the choiceft Libraries, whofe Owners are proud of having the firft Editions of it. The moft eminent Painters, Tapeftry- makers, Engravers and Sculptors are employ'd in reprefenting his Hiftory, to adorn, with its Figures, the Houfes and Palaces of no- ble Lords and great Princes. Cervantes, even in his Life-time, obtain'd the Glory of having his Work receive the Royal Approbation. As King Philip HI. was ftanding in a Balcony of his Palace at Madrid, and viewing the Country, he obferv'd a Stu- dent on the Margin of the River Manzanares reading in a Book, and from time to time breaking off and knocking his Forehead with the Palms of his Hands, with ex- traordinary Tokens of Pleafure and Delight, upon which the King faid to thofe about him : That Scholar is either mad, or reading the Hiftory of Don Quixote. The King was prefently made acquainted by the Courtiers, that That was really the Book he was reading : For Courtiers are very forward to recommend themfelves to their Matter's Favour, by taking all Opportunities of flattering his Judgment in things of little^ Concern. But none of them all would folicite a moderate Penfion for Cervantes to keep him from ftarving ! And therefore I don't know well how to take that Parable of the Emperor of China. It is certain, Cervantes, while he liv'd, was very much ob-

lig'd (;) Ibid. ch. 16. (1) Part II. ch.. 3. (u) Part II. ch. 71.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 25

lig'd to Foreigners, and but very little to Spaniards. The former prais'd and honour- ed him without Meafure. The latter not only made no account of" him, butdefpis'd him, nay abus'd him with Satire and Invective both publick and private.

f7. That this Truth may not be left to the Reader's Courtefy to believe as much or as little of it as he pleafes, let us produce our Vouchers. The Uicencmc Mar^tiez Terns in the Approbation fign'd by him, and prefix'd to the Second Part oftheHiflxy of Don Quixote, after a mofl juft Cenfure of the bad Books of his Time, has thefe Words : " Very different Sentiments have been entertain'd of Michael de Cervantes's Writings, *' as well by our own Nation, as Strangers ; for the latter croud to fee, as they wou'd " a Miracle, the Author of Books which Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and Flan- " ders have receiv'd with general Applaufe, as well on account of their Decorum, " Propriety and Decency, as the Sweetnefs and Agreeablenefs of the Language. I " do, with truth, hereby certify, that on the Twenty-fifth Day of February of tin's " prefent Year 1615, the mofl: illuftrious Lord Bernardo de Sandoval cr? Roxas, Car- *' dinal, Archbifhop of Toledo, receiving a vifit paid him by the Embafiador of " France, feveral French Gentlemen who accompany'd the Embaffador, no lefs cour- " teous than learned and lovers of polite Literature, came to me and other Chaplains " of my Lord Cardinal, defiring to know what Books of Wit and Ingenuity were *' mod in vogue : And happening to touch upon that which I had before me to exa- " mine, they no fooner heard the Name of Michael de Cervantes, but they began to " ask a great many Queftions, magnifying the Efteem which not only France but " the neighbouring Kingdoms had for his Works, The Galatea, which fomc " of them had almoft by heart, The First Part of this Hiftory, and T 11 e " Novels. Their Exaggerations and Raptures were fo great that I offer'd to cany " them to fee the Author of thofe Pieces. They laid, If I wou'd give my felfthat " Trouble, they fhou'd be infinitely oblig'd to me. . Then they ask'd me very mi- " nutely concerning his Age, his Profefilon, Quality and Quantity. I found my felf " oblig'd to fay, that he was Old, a Soldier, a Gentleman, and Poor. To which " one of them anfwer'd in thefe very words, Why does not Spain heap Riches upon «« fuch a Man ? Why is he not maintain'd out of the publick Revenue ? Another of " the Gentlemen (truck in here, and faid with a great deal of Sharpnefs, if Neceffity " obliges him to write, I pray God he may never know what it is to be othenvife " than necefiitous, to the end that he, being poor, may make the World rich with " his Works. I fancy fomebody will cenfure this Cenfure, and fay 'tis not only a little " of the longeft, but likewife favours of Flattery, but the Truth of what I but briefly " relate, ought to remove the Critick's Suipicions, as it does my own Fears of being " thought guilty of Adulation. Befides, now-a-days no Body is flatter'd that wants " the Wherewithal to oil the Flatterer's Tongue, who expects to be rewarded in earn- " eft for the Falfities he utters in jeft.

The Reader will think that he who faid all this, was the Licenciate Francifco Mar- quez Torres; no fuch Matter: It was Michael Cervantes Saavedra's own felf: For that Licentiate's Scile is altogether Metaphorical, Affected, and Pedantic, witnefs the Confolatory Difcourfes he wrote to the Duke o/Uceda on the Death of his Son : Wher is the Scile of the above Approbation is pure, natural, and courtly 5 andfo wholly like Ccr-

V«u L d vantes%

26 He L I F E of

vantes, that there's not a word in it different from his way of writing. The Licen- tiate was one of the Cardinal's Chaplains and Mailer of the Pages ; and (x) Cervantes was greatly favour'd by his Eminence : So there's no doubt of their being intimate Friends and Acquaintance.

58. This Friendfhip being fuppos'd, it was not much for Cervantes to take finch a liberty. Let therefore the Licenciate Torres be fatisfy'd with Cervantes's making him a Sharer in the Glory of his Stile : And let us fee what reafon Cervantes had for fpeaking, as they fay, by the Mouth of a Goofe. He had no other Defign but to fet forth an Idea of his Work, the Efteem, It and its Author were held in Abroad, and the Neglect and Difregard he met with at Home.

59. Having given an Account of the Entertainment our Author and his Work met with both in Spain and in foreign Countries, we will now fee what End he tells us he propos'd to himfelf in writing it : And this he intimates to us two ways, pofitively and negatively, by, telling us, How it is written, and how it is not written : All which is contain'd in the above Approbation (or Cenfure) of this Second Part equal in every refpect to the Firft, confidering the Difficulty there is in carrying on a Fiction, al- ready fo perfect, as to be reckon'd happily finifh'd and completed. I do not find in it (lays the above Cenfor) any thing unbecoming a zealous Chriftian, or contrary to the Re- fpetl due to moral Virtues aud the Excellence of a good Example : Rather, much Erudition and itfeful Inftrutlion, for the extirpating the vain romantic Books of Chivalry, the Conta- gion whereof was fpread beyond all Bounds ; as likewife for the improving and polifhing the Spanifli Tongue, as not being adulterated with a fulfom fludied Affectation (fo juftly abhor- red by all Men of Senfe): Then, as for what concerns the Correilion of Vice in general, the Author is not f paring of Reproofs and very fharp ones too : But when he defends to Particulars, he isfo obfervant of the Laws of Chrijlian Reprehenfion that the very Patient himfelf who is to fuffer the Operation, or take the Phyfick which is to cure his Infirmities, will be delighted rather than difgufted, with the method our Author takes to bring him to a Delegation of the Vices and Dijlempers he labours under. There have been many, who not knozving how to temper and mix the Utile with the Dulce, the profitable with the plea- rant, have feen all their Labour loft and come to nothing ; for, not being able to imitate Diogenes as a Philofopher and Scholar, they boldly (not to fay impudently and blindly) pre- tend to imitate him as a Cynick, giving themfelves up to a Licenlioufnefs of flandering and being fcurrilous ; inventing Cafes which never happen' d, to /hew how capable they are by their litter Rebukes to cure Vice ; tho' perhaps at the fame time they point out Paths to follow it till then unknown ; and fo become, if not Correctors, at leafl Maflers, of it. They make themfelves odious to Men of Underftanding ; with the Populace they lofe their Credit (if they had any) neceffary for getting their Writings admitted among them ; and the Vices which they rafhly and indifcreetly go about to correal, remain in a far worfe Condition than they were in before : For not all Impoftbumes indifcriminately are at the fame time difpos'd for admitting Recipes and Cauteries : Some Conflitutions require mild and gentle Medicines,

by which a cautious and learned Phyfician will difcufs and refolve the Ailment, whit b is oftentimes better than to apply the Steel and Fire to it. A Cenfure, ceruinly worthy of a Man of Cervantes^ found Judgment and Moderation of Mind.

60. Very (x) Sa Pref. to Fart II. of Don Quixote.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 27

60. Very different were thofe made againft him by his Adverfaries, fufierihg them- felves to be hurry'd away by the Perverfenefs of a bad Mind, and an Itch of Slander and Abufe: but yet of fuch a Sort, that he himfelf, againft whom they were level I'd, took a Pride in relating them. For thus he tells us in Hii foyage to Parnaffus. When I was at Valladolid, a Letter was brought to my Houfe, charged a Real {Sixpence) Carriage : A Niece of mine took it in and paid the Carriage, which fl:e fljould net I. done ; but Jhe gave for an Excufe, That Jhe had often heard me fay, In three Things one's Money is well laid out : In beftowing Alms, in paying a good Phyfician, and in Carriage cf Letters, whether they come from Friends or Enemies; for Letters cf Friends advife us

for our Good, and thofe of Enemies may ferve to put us upon oar Guard againft Evil. She gave me the Letter, in which was inclcfed a wretched Sonnet, without a>MpSpinti or the leajl Tinllure cf Wit, but full of Abufe againft Don Quixote, but that gfcue mjpno Concern -, what vext me was the Sixpence, and from that Day forward I refch Let-

ters, without Carriage paid.

61. More nettled was Cervantes at another Enemy of his Don Quixote; for he de- fcribed him fo to the Life, that one may eafily perceive how highly he was provoked. All that's known of this Perfon is, that he was a Monk ; but not what Monk, or of what Order ; and {o we may e'en give a Copy of his Picture here : (y ) The Duke and Dutchefs came as far as the Door of the Hall to receive him (Don Quixote) and . them a grave Clergyman, one of thofe that affume to govern Great Mens Houfes, and who, not being * nobly born themfelves, don't know how to inftrucl thofe that arc uld have the Liberality of the Great meafured by the Narrownefs of their own Souls, making t whom they govern ftingy, when they pretend to teach "cm ] J.l likelihood was this grave Ecclefiaftick, who came with the Duke to receive Don Qui;:' The Reception of Don Quixote by the Monk, and his fnappifh fhocking Carriage to- wards him, will be feen at full in the Book it felf. And fo leaving the Cenfures which are occult and fecret, we will now fpeak of thofe which were open and barefaced.

62. The firft Part of the Hiftory of Don Quixote being publifh'd, as we (aid, and fo well receiv'd, and fo often printed and reprinted, there was not wanting in Spain, a Perfon that out of Envy to Cervantes\ Reputation, and Covetounefs to make a Gain of his Books, prefumptuoufly took upon him to write and publifii a Continuation of this inimitable Hiftory, even in the Author's Life-time, and while he was preparing his Second Part for the Prefs. The Title he gave his Book was this :

63. The Second Volume of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha, con- taining his Third Sally: compos1 d by the Licentiate Alonzo Fernandez de AvelLmeda a Native o/Tordefdlas. InfcriVd to the Alcalde (Bay lift) Regidores (Aldermen) and Gentlemen of the noble Town of Argamefdla, the happy Country cf Don Quixote d Mancha Knight and Gentleman. With Licenfe ; in Tarragona at the Prixtixg-(

cf Philip Roberto, Am 1614. In Svo.

64. Alonzo Fernandez de Avellaneda was neither the true Name of the Author of this Work, nor was he a Native of Tordefdlas, a noted Town of Old Caftile ; but an gonian; fince Cervantes, whom we muft fuppofe to be well inform'd, calls him fo on various Occafions. In one he calls this Continuation (2) The Hiftory . • r.>

d 2 gonian

(y) Part II. ch. 31. * Gentlemen are calUd Noble in Spain. (?) Part. II. cb. 61.

28 7%e L I F E of

gonian lately piblij&d. In another, he fays of it (a) It is the Second Part of the Hiflory of Don Quixote ; not that which was compos1 d by Cid Hamet, the Author 'of the Firfi, but by a certain Arragonian, who profeffes himfelf a Native of Tordefillas. And tho' Cervantes in another Place calls him Alitor Tordillefco ; it was only in Compliance with the Fiction of his fuppos'd Country, and perhaps to ridicule him by a witty equivo- cating Allufion to the Words Rocin Tordillo, (which is Spanifh for a Flea-bitten Jade of a Horfe): as if he had faid, Autor Arrocinado. Upon the Suppofition therefore that the Work was written in Tordefillas, and printed in Tarragona, as is declar'd by the Approbation to the Book, and the Licenfe for printing it : we fhall eafily under- ftand Cervantes's Words in the Beginning of his very ingenious Preface to his Second Part, alluding to the Fiction of the Country, and the Reality of its being printed in Tarragona. He fays: Blefsme! Reader, gentle or fimple, whoever you be, how impa- tiently by this time mufi you expecl this Preface, fuppofing it to be nothing but revengeful Inveclives againft the Author of the Second Don Quixote : But Imuft beg your Pardon ; for I fhall fay no more of him than every body fays, That Tordefillas is the Place where be was Begotten, and Tarragona the Place where he was Born ; and though it be univer- fally faid, that even a Worm when trod upon will turn again, yet Pm refolv'd for once to crofs the Proverb. You perhaps now would have me call him Coxcomb, Fool and Madman j but Pm of another Mind ; and fo let his Folly be its ovon Punifhment. And a little farther : Methinh, Reader, I hear you blame me for flawing fo little Refentment, and ufing him fa gently ; but pray confider, 'tis not good to bear too hard upon a Man that is fo over modejl and fo much in Affliclion: For certainly this Noble Perfon's Affliction mufi be very Grand, fince he dare not appear in the open Field and in the Face of the Sun, but conceals his Name, and counterfeits his Country, as if he had been guilty of High-Treafon. Thefe Words Noble Perfon and Grand, are to me myfterious, I confefs : but, waving that, I am per- fuaded, that Cervantes'* Enemy was very powerful, fince an Author and a Soldier, bold and dextrous both at his Pen and Sword, did not dare to name him. Unlefs upon fecond Thoughts he was fo vile and defpicable a Fellow, that Cervantes did nct care the World Ihould know his Name, and the Wretch thereby become famous tho1

for Infamy. .

65. Don Nicolas Antonio was of Opinion this Author had not a Genius for conti- nuing fuch a Work. That's but a fmall matter. He had neither a Genius nor Inge- nuity* for fo difficult an Undertaking. He had no Genius, for that fuppofes Inge- nuity or Wit •, fince as was faid by the Dutchefs who honour'd Bon Quixote fo highly, (b) Merry Conceits are not the Offspring of a dull Brain: And fuch was that ohheArragonia.t Author whofe Legend is unworthy of any Reader that values either his Reputation or his Time. For to write with Beauty, requires bright Parts, and a found Judgment, which our Arragonian was an utter Stranger to. He could not fo much as invent with any Ap- pearance of Verifimilitude. Having ventur'd upon continuing the Hiftory of Don Quixote, he ought to have imitated the Characters of the Perfons whom Cervantes has feio-ned,' and preferv'd Decorum, which is the greateft Perfection of Art. Laftly, his Learning is Pedantick, and his Stile full of Improprieties, Solecifms, and Barbarifms, harfh uncouth and unpleafant : and in fine, every way deferving the Contempt it has ' met

(a) Part II. cL 70. (b) Part II. cb. 30.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 29

met with; For it has been put to the vilefl Ufes, and nothing but its being fc cou'd make it of any Estimation. Infomuch that having been reprinted at in 1614, now (viz. in 1732) 118 Years ago, no Man of Scnfc or Taftc has \. it any other than as wafte Paper. In 1704 was printed at Paris a Book call'd a Tranjlation of this Work in the French Tongue : But the Difpofition and I a al-

ter'd, many things left out, and many more added •, and thefc have indeed brought fome little fliare of Credit to its firft Author.

66. He cou'd conceal his Name, but not his Malice, nor his Avarice ; having had the Infolence, in his Preface, to exprefs himfelf in thefe Terms : Here is A tlJe Hijlory of Don Quixote de la Mancha with the fame Authority with which Cervantes Saavedra began it, together with a Copy of authentic Relations, •which came to his Hand (I. fay Hand, not Hands, fince he himfelf owns he has hit one, and feci,, fpeaks fo much of all other People, we have this to fay of him, that as a Soldier am eld Man for Age, but a Boy for Brisknefs, he has more Tongue than Hands) : L leave him to his Complaints of my taking the Bread out of his Mouth by this Second Part. Not to infift upon the Ungrammaticalnefs ("in Spanifh) of this whole Period, for which a School- boy wou'd be foundly whip'd : Let us hear another of his Reprehen- fions, and that is, concerning the inculpable Old-age of Cervantes, his Condition, Po- verty and Perfecutions ; and I mud beg the Reader's Patience in fuSo-in^ the fenfclefs impertinent Bibble-babble of a ridiculous Pedant, for he cou'd be no other to fty as he does : Michael de Cervantes is already as old as the Cafile of San Cervantes, and fo peevifh with Age that he is offended at every Thing and with every Body, and thereby be come fo deftitute of Friends, that when he wou'd adorn his Books with Commendatory : nets, he was forced (as he fays) to write 'em himfelf and father 'em on Prefter John of the Indies, or on the Emperor of Trapifond, becaufe, mayhap, he cou'd not find a Man of any Note in Spain, but wou'd be affronted at bis taking his Name in his Mouth. Cod grant that he may find an Afylum in the Church. Let him reft fatisfy'd with his Ga- latea and his Comedies in Profe, and not trouble us with any more of his Novels. * St. Thomas teaches that Envy is an Uneafinefs at another's Man's Hap- pinefs. A Dotlrine which he took from St. John Damafcenus. The Offspring of this Vue^ St. Gregory tells us, are Surmifings, Whifperings, Detraclion of ones Neighbour, Re-

joycings at his Misfortunes, Sorrowings for his Good-fortune : Well therefore is this Sin called Invidia a non videndo, quia Invidus non poteft videre bona aliorum : All « Effeils are as Infernal as their Caufe, and diretlly contrary to thofe of Chri , of which St. Paul fays, i Corinth, xiii. Charitas patiens eft, benigna eft, non semula- tur, non agit perperam : non inflatur, non eft ambitiofa, congaudet Veritati, &c. But the Difmalnefs of his Firfl Part is imputed to its being writ within the Walls of a Prifon : And therefore it cou'd not but be Unpleafant, Cholerick, Impatient,. Harjh Querulous, as People in a Prifon are apt to be.

67. If we ftiou'd ask this Man what cou'd move him to ufe fuch infulting fliam Expreffions •, we fhall find throughout his whole Preface no other Caufe but that he and Lope de Vega were cenfur'd in the Hiftory oi Don Quixote. His Words are th. He will at leaft allow we have both of us one and the fame End in view, which is to

tiijb * Aquinas Ifuppofe he meant,

3o the L I F E of

nifh and dejlroy the pernicious Books of Knight-Errantry, fo much fought for by the Igno- rant and the Idle. We differ indeed in the Means ; for the Courfe he has taken is by affront- ing not me alone, but another Perfon who is fo jujlly celebrated by the moft diftant Nations, (This is .Lope de Vega) and to whom our own is fo highly obliged fer having fo many fears in the moft laudable and abundant manner kept up the Spanifh Stage with fur- prifing and numberlefs Plays, with all the Stritlnefs of Art that the People wifhfor or de- fire, and with that Innocence and Decency as became a Minifer of the Holy Office, (c) Lope de Fega was a * Familiar of the Holy Office.

68. It is very natural for ignorant People, when they are reprov'd, to ground the Wrong they imagine they fuffer by being criticis'd, in the Cenfure pafs'd on other great Men, to the end that fuch as are paffionately fond of thefe latter may be exaf- perated againft the Cenfurer. Lope de Vega was in his Time, and even at this Time, the Prince of the Spanifh Drama. To Cenfure a Writer of his Reputation, is, as it were, a laying Hands on a facred Perfon.

69. But Lope who knew himfelftobe but Flefli and Blood any more than other Writers, like a wife Man took in good Part the Cenfures pafs'd upon him with Truth and a good Intention, and endeavour'd to make Advantage of, and improve by, the Knowledge of his Errors. In proof of this, let it fuffice to relate the very Thing which gave Occafion to this ill-judging Arragonian Author to complain fo mat- a-propos, and to rail fo much as he does.

yo. Lope de Fega was found fault with by many for compofing Plays not adjufted to the Rules of Art. I hold it for Certain that Cervantes was one of his ftrongeft Cen- furers. Lope made it his Bufinefs to excufe himfelf the bell he cou'd, which was, by imputing many of his Faults and Negligences to his being forc'd to humour the Peo- ple ; and feeing himfelf hard preft, he ftuck not to affirm, That the new Circum- ftances of the Times requir'd a new fort of Comedies : As if the Nature of Things were mutable by any Accident whatfoever. The Controverfy rofe fo high that the Poetic Academy of Madrid order'd Lope de Fega to write down and kt forth what he had to fay for himfelf. Upon which he wrote a Difcourfe Cin Verfe) intituled, A new Art ef writing Plays for the prefent Time. Being a frank open-hearted ingenuous Man he con- fcfs'd his Faults, but gilded 'em over in the bed manner he cou'd, as follows:

Choice Wits of Spain, you charge me to writedown

The Art of making Plays to please the Town.

A Task not hard to me, much lefs to you

Who that and all things e!fe know hew to do.

But what fm chiefly charged with on My Part,

Is that I write 'em without any Art. // is not that I'm ignorant of the Rules ;

For tbofe, thank God, I learn' d 'em in the Schools

Before I had, twice five times, feen the Sun

His Courfe from Aries unto Pifces run.

But

(c) D. Nic. Antonius i 1 El lioth. Hifp. * ferfins oftbeptateft Qtali.y m Sp-in te.it '■■ IL-uw to be admitted 1 . itle of Familiars to the Inqjiifitim.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 31

But, to /peak Truth, I found that Spanifli Playt

Upon the foot they're manag'd now-a-days,

Are vaftly diff' rent from the ancient Plan

Laid down by thofe who firfl the Art began :

For now a Set of barb'rous unlearn' d Elves

Have fo ingroft the Publick to themfelves And vitiated their Tafte, that 'tis in vain

For one to write in any other Strain,

Or think to ft em the Torrent of the many,

Unlefs he means to live without a Penny.

Ihe Town's fo fond of fenfelefs ftupid Farce,

So blind to Art, to Reafonfo averfe,

That they're refolv'd to give nor Bread nor Bays

To him that fhall exhibit reg'lar Plays. Some Pieces for the Stage Pve writ, 'tis true, -\

Wloerein, undeviating, I did purfue C

The Rules of Art, known to the judging few : 5

But when I fee, without or Head or Tail

A well-drefs'd Inconfiftency prevail,

And how both Men and Women run in Crouds

To admire a Monfter wrapt in finning Clouds,

1 follow Cujlom, barb'rous as it is,

And when I am to write a Comic Piece,

I lock the Precepts up with fix flrong Keys.

Terence and Plautus too Iftrait transfer

Elfewhere, and never let 'em once come near

My Study, left they fhou'd in Judgment rife

And perfecute me with their Critic Cries ;

For Truth is apt in Books to make a Noife.

And thus the Rules I write by were found out

By thofe who make their Court to th' Rabble- Rout £

For as the Vulgar for their Pleafure pay,

It is but juft to pleafe them their own way. A little further he fays :

Believe me, Sirs, I was not much inclin'd

So7ne of th' aforefaid Things to bring to mind ; But you yourfelves had order' d me t' explain 27? Art of making Comedies in SPAIN9. Where, if my Thoughts I freely may impart, All that are writ are contrary to Art, The fame thirig he owns a little afterwards : But fince fo far from Art we Spaniards flray, Let learned Men fay Mum, and go their way.

An J

} }

32 72* L I F E of

And this very Man, who by the mod learned and judicious part of Mankind is efteem'd the Prince of the Spanifh Drama (for as for D. Pedro Calderon de la Barca he is not to compare with him either for Invention or Stile) concludes his Ar t thus :

Not one of all thefe Writers can I call

More barb'rous than my felf, who firft of all

Prefum'd to atl a moft advenfrous Part,

Daring to lay down Precepts agabifl Art ;

Humouring the Mob fo far beyond all Rule,

As to be call'd by Foreigners a Fool.

But what can fcribbling Devils do ? Or hoz»

Can poor Pilgarlick Jhun his Fate, I trow?

So many Plays were hardly ever writ

By one Man as by me, take Wit for Wit :

So large the number that but one Play more,

Jujl finifid, makes four Hundred Eighty Four.

From which dedutling fix, the other part

Have grievoufly offended againfi Art.

Hcwe'er, I muft maintain the Plays I've writ

Becaufe they Me maintain' d, Wit or no Wit.

They might have been made better, I confefs,

But then Tm fare they wou'd have pleas' 'd much lefs :

Since oftentimes what's mere Bombaft and Rant

Delights, becaufe it is Extravagant. 71. Here we have Lope de Vega owning the Charge before the Year^i6o2, for in that Year he printed his New Art, if an Academical Difcourfe fo contrary to it, may de- ferve that Nam:. Let us now fee how juft, and how moderate Cervantes was in the Cenfure he pafs'd on the bad Comic Writers of his Time, not on Lope de Vega, for whom he had a due Refpect, contenting himfelf with only reprehending (without naming him) the very Thing he publickly confeft himfelf Guilty of. This Difcourfe of Cervantes is in my Opinion the happieft he ever writ ; and therefore I am confi- dent the Reader will not be difpleas'd if I (repeat it here. I take it for granted, Cervantes means no body but himfelf by the Canon of Toledo, whofe Perfon he af- fumes and in whofe Name he Addreffes himfelf to the celebrated Curate Pero Perez, in the following Terms. * (d) " I muft confefs, I was once tempted to write a Book of " Knight-Errantry my felf, obferving all thofe Rules : and, to fpeak the truth, I writ " above an hundred Pages, which, for a better trial, whether they anfwer'd my Expecla- *< tion I communicated to learned and judicious Men fond of thofe Subjecls, as well as to " fom'e of thofe ignorant Perfons who only are delighted with Extravagancies : And " they all gave me a fatisfactory Approbation. And yet I made no further Progrefs, « as well in regard I look'd upon it to be a thing no way agreeable with my Pro- s' feffion as becaufe I am fenfible the illiterate are much more numerous than the

learn'd :'

* Tht Tranflator of this Life has taken due care to mate all thefe 'Quotations conformable it Cer- ante 's true Senfe, by rectifying feme confiderable Mifiakes and Overftg&ts which have hitherto efcap'd the mice not only of himfelf but of atl the Tranflatrrs as well as the generality of Readers, (d) Part L ch. 21.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 33

" learned : And fince it is better to be commended by the fmall number of the Wile, " than to make Sport for the ignorant Mukicude, I will not cxpofc my felf to the " confus'd Judgment of the giddy Vulgar, whofc principal Bufinefs it is to read fuch Books. " But the greateft motive I had to lay afide and think no more of finifhing it, was " the Argument that I form'd to my felf, dedue'd from the Plays now ufually acted : " For, thought I, if Plays now in ufe, as well thofe which are altogether of the " Poets Invention, as thofe which are grounded upon Hiftory, be all of them, or at *' lead, the greateft Part, made up of moft abfurd Extravagancies and Incoherences: " And yet the multitude fees them with Satisfaction, approves them and eflecms them " for Good, tho' they are far from being fo : And if the Poets who write, and (e) the " PJayers who aft them, fay they muft be fo contriv'd and no otherwife, becaufc " they pleafe the generality of the Audience : And if thofe which are regular and ac- " cording to Art, ferve only to pleafe half a Score judicious Perfons who underftand " them, while the reft of the Company cannot reach the Contrivance, nor know any " thing of the Matter: And therefore the Poets and Actors fay, they had rather get " their Bread by the greater number, than the Applaufe of the lefs: Then may I ** conclude the fame will be the Succefs of this Book: So that when I have rack'd my " Brains to obferve the Rules, I fliall reap no other Advantage, than to be laugh'd at V for my Pains. I have fometimes endeavour'd to convince the Actors that they are " deceiv'd in their Opinion, and they will draw more Company, and get better Cre- " dit by regular Plays than by thofe prepofterous Reprefentations now in ufe : But " they are fo pofuive in their Humour, that no Strength of Reafon, nor ev'n Dc- " monftration, can divert them from their Conceit. I remember I once was talking " to one of thofe obftinate Fellows : Do you not remember, laid I, that within thefe " few Years three Tragedies were acted in Spain, written by a famous Poet of ours, " which were fo excellent, that they furpriz'd, delighted, and rais'd the Admiration " of all that faw them, as well the Ignorant arid Ordinary People, as the Criticks " and Men of Quality : And the Actors got more by thofe Three, than by Thirty of " the beft that have been writ fince? Doubtlefs, Sir, faid the Actor, you mean the " Tragedies of Isabella, Phyllis, and Ax, exandra. The very fame, " I reply'd, and do you judge whether they obferved the Rules of the Drama, and " whether by doing fo they loft any thing of their Efteem, or fail'd of pleafing all " forts of People. So that the Fault lies not in the Audiences, defiring Abfurditics, " but in thofe who know not how to give them any thing elfe. Nor was there any " thing prepofterous in feveral other Plays, as for Example, Ingratitude " Reveng'd, Numantia, The Amorous Merchant, and Th e " Favourable Enemy, nor in fome others, compos'd by judicious Poets " to their Honour and Credit, and to the Advantage of thofe that acted them. " Much more I added, which, in my Opinion, fomewhat confounded, but no way " fatisfy'd or convine'd him, fo as to change his erroneous Opinion. You have " touch'd upon a Subject, Sir, faid the Curate, which has awaken'd in me an old " Averfion. I have for the Plays now in ufe, which is not inferior to that I bear to " Books of Knight-Errantry. For whereas Plays, according to the Opinion of Cicero, Vo l. I. e ought

(ej See tvhat Lop<5 de Vega fa) s before.

34 The L J F E of

" ought to be Mirrors of human Life, Patterns of good Manners, and the very Re- *-' prefentatjve of Truth: Thofe now acted are Mirrors of Abfurdities, Patterns of *' Follies, and Images of Leudnefs. For inftance, what can be more abfurd, than for " the fame Perfon to be brought on the Stage a Child in Swadling-Bands, in the firft " Scene of the firft Act, and to appear in the Second grown a Man ? What can be " more ridiculous than to reprefent to us a fighting old Fellow, a cowardly Youth, «' a rhetorical Footman, a politick Page, a churlifh King, and an unpolifiVd Prin- " cefs? What fliall I fay of their regard to the || Time in which thofe Actions they " reprefent, either might or ought to have happen'd, having feen a Play, in " which the firft Act began in Europe, the fecond in Afia, and the third ended in " Jj'rick ? Probably, if there had been * another Act, they would have carry'd it into " America: And thus it would have been acted in the four .Quarters of the World. " But if Imitation is to be a principal Part of the Drama, how can any tolerable " Judgment be pleas'd, when reprefenting an Action that happen'd in the Time of *' King Pepin or Cbarlemain, they fhall attribute it to the Emperor Heraclius, and V bring him in carrying the Crofs into Jerufale?n, and recovering the Holy Sepul- «' chre, like Godfry of Bouloigne, there being a vaft diftance of Time betwixt thofe ♦' Actions. Thus they will clap together Pieces of true Hiftory in a Play of their " own framing and grounded upon Fiction, mixing in it Relations of things that have " happen'd to different People and in feveral Ages. This they do without any " Contrivance that might make it the more probable, and with fuch vifible Miftakes as " are altogether inexcufable : But.the worft of it is, that there are Ideots who look upon «' this as Perfection, and think every thing elfe to be mere Pedantry. But if we look into " the pious Plays, what a multitude of falfe Miracles fliall we find in them, how many " Errors and Contradictions, how often the Miracles wrought by one Saint attributed " to another ? Nay, ev'n in the prophane Plays, they prefume to work Miracles up- *' on the bare Imagination and Conceit that fuch a fupernatural Work, or a Machine, *« as they call it, will be ornamental, and draw the common Sort to fee the Play. " Thefe things are a Reflection upon Truth it felf, a depreciating and lefs'ning of « Hiftory, and a Reproach to all Spanijh Wits : Becaufe Strangers, who are very ex- " act in obferving the Rules of the Drama, look upon us as an ignorant and a bar- " barous People, when they fee the Abfurdities and Extravagancies of our Plays. Nor " would it be any Excufe to alledge, that the principal Defign of all good Govern- " mcnts, in permitting Plays to be publickly acted, is to amufe the Commonalty with " fome 1 awful Recreation, and fo to divert thofe ill Humours which Idlenefs is apt *•« to breed ; and that fince this End is attain'd by any fort of Plays, whether good «•« or bad, it is needlefs to prefcribe Laws to them, or oblige the Poets or Actors to " compofe and reprefent fuch as are ftrictly conformable to the Rules. I anfwer, that " this End propos'd would be far better and fooner attain'd by good Plays than by " bad ones. He who fees a Play that's regular and anfwerable to the Rules of Poe- " try, is delighted with the Comic-part, inform'd by the Serious, furpriz'd at the «' variety of Accidents, improv'd by the Language, warn'd by the Frauds, inftructed

" by

\ I fuppofe the Author means Place, not Time. * 'Tis to be cbferv'd that the Spaniih Plays

have only three Jornadas or Jcls.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 35

" by Examples, incens'd againft Vice, and enamour'd with Virtue •, for a good Play " muft caufe all thofe Emotions in the Soul of him that fees it, tho' he were never fo «'c infenfible and unpolifh'd. And it is abfolutely impofTiblc that a Play which has " all thefe Qualifications, mould not infinitely divert, fatisfy and pkafc beyond ano- " ther that wants them, as moft of them do which are now ufually acted. Neither " are the Poets who write them in Fault, for fome of them are very fcnfible ol their " Errors, (f) and extremely capable of performing their Duty. But Plays being now " altogether become venal and a fort of Merchandize, they fay and with reaforr, " (g) that the Actors wou'd not purchafe them unlefs they were of that Stamp ; and " therefore the Poet endeavours to fuit the Humour of the Actors, who arc to pay " him for his Labour. For proof of this, let any Man obfervc that infinite number " of Plays compos'd by an exuberant Spanifb Wit (b) fo full of Gaiety and Humour, " in fuch elegant Verfe and choice Language, fo fententious ; and to conclude, in « fuch a majeftick Stile, that his Fame is fpread thro' the Univerfe : Yet becaufe he " fuited himfelf to the Fancy of the Actors, many of his Pieces have fal'n fhort of " their due Perfection (z), tho' fome have reach'd it. Others write Plays fo incon- " fiderately, that after they have appear'd on the Stage, the Actors have been fore'd " to fly and abfeond, for fear of being puniuYd, as it has often happen 'd, for having " affronted Kings, and difhonour'd whole Families. Thefe, and many other ill Con- " fequences which I omit, would ceafe by appointing an intelligent and judicious Per- " fon at Court to examine all Plays, before they were acted, that is, not only thofe " which are reprefented at Court, but throughout all Spain : So that, without his " Licence, no Magiftrate fhould fuffer any Play to appear in Public k. Thus Players " would be careful to fend their Piays to Court, and then might act them with Safe- " ty, and thofe who write them be more circumfpect, in flanding in awe of an Exa- " miner that could judge of their Works. By thefe Means we fhould be furnifh'd " with good Plays, and the End they are defign'd for would be attain'd, the People " diverted, the Spanijh Wits efteem'd, the Actors fecur'd, and the Government fav'd " the trouble of punifhing them. And if the fame Perfon, or another, were intruded " to examine all new Books of Knight-Errantry, there is no doubt but fome might «' be publifh'd with all that Perfection You, Sir, have mention'd, to the increafe of " Eloquence in our Language, to the utter Extirpation of the old Books, which " would be borne down by the new ; and for the innocent Paftime, not only of idle " Perfons, but of thofe who have moft Employment, for the Bow cannot always " ftand bent, nor can human Frailty fubfift without fome lawful Recreation.

72. Can Plato's Dialogues be more folid, more prudential, or more fatisfactory ? Were that Philofopher's Defires more laudable ; his Intentions better calculated for the general Good ? Was it poffible for Cervantes' s Cenfure to be more rational, more equitable, more modeft ? It is couch'd in fuch Terms, that Lope de Vega was not in the leaft offended at it -, on the contrary, whenever he had occafion to fay any thing of Cervantes, he wrote with great Eftimation of his Parts and Perfon.

e 2 73. But

( 7) Such was Lope de Vega, for one. (g) Lope" himfelf, in his New Art, fays fo. (h) The fame Lope de Vega, zuko wrote a Thoufand and Fourfcore Flays, as we are told by John Perez dc M (i) Six «/~LopKde Vega'; Plays tvite regular and written as tb'ey Jbbud be, according.

'nft'!f> l>ui doss not name 'em, fir fear, perhaps, of a frefh and more rigorous Cenfyrt.

36 the L I F E of

73. But the impertinent Continuator of Don Quixote, as a Redrefler of literary Grievances, wou'd needs take upon him to right the Wrongs, and revenge the Injuries he fancy'd had been offer'd to Lope de Vega ; and fo covering himfelf with the Shield of Lore's Reputation, he thought therewith to ward off the Blows Cervantes had given to himfelf, perhaps in fome of the particular Cenfures in the above Difcourfe, or in the (k) Novel of. the Dogs, which may very well be calPd Satira Lucilio-Horatiana, for, in imitation of Lu cilia s and Horace, it lames very feverely, tho' occultly, a great number of People : Among whom, peradventure, our Arragonian being one, he made ufe of Slander and Invective inftead of any found or even fuperficial Argument to con- fute Cerva/ites's Cenfure. But Cervantes did not let this vile Treatment of him go unchaftiz'd : And as for his upbraiding Cervantes with old Age, Maimnefs and (/) an envious Difpofuion, he made this Anfwer:

Bat there is fome thing which I cannot fo filently pafs over : He is pleas' d to upbraid me with my Age ; indeed had it been in the Power of Man to flop the career of Time, I would not have fuffer'd the old Gentleman to have laid his Fingers on me. Then he reflecTingly tells me of the Lofs of one of my Hands : As if that Maim had been got in afcandalous or drunken Shiarrel in fome Tavern, and not upon the tnofl memorable (m) Occafion, that either pajl or prefeut Ages have beheld, and which perhaps futurity will never parallel. If my Wounds do not redound to my Honour in the Thoughts of Come of tbofe that look upon 'cm, they will at leaf fecure me the EJleem of tbofe that know how they were gotten. A Soldier makes a nobler Figure as he lies bleeding in the Bed of Honour, than fafe in an inglori- ous Flight ; and I am fo far from being afiam'd of the Lofs of my Hand, that were it poffible to recal the fame Opportunity, I Jhould think my Wounds but a fmall Price for the Glory of paring in that prodigious ASlion. The Scars in a Soldier's Face and Breaft, are the Stars that bv a laudable Imitation guide ethers to the Port of Honour and Glory. Befides, it is not the Hand, but the Under/landing of a Man^ that may be faid to write ; and thofe Tears that he is pleas d to quarrel with, always improve the latter. He likewife charges me with being Envious, and as if I was an Ignoramus he gives me a definition of Envy ; but) take Heaven to witnefs, I never was acquainted with any Branch of Envy, beyond a facred renerous and ingenuous Emulation, which could never engage me to abufe a Clergy- man specially if made the more Reverend by a Pofl in the Inauifttion : And if any other Per (on (meaning Lope" de Vegaj thinks himfelf affronted, as that Tordefillian Author feems to hint, he is mightily mi(laken ; for I have a Veneration for his Parts, admire his Works, and have an awful Refpecl for the continual and laudable Employment in which be

exercifes his Talents. .

7/ That Michael de Cervantes Saavedra did not envy Lope de Vega, is vilible in the Fraifes he beftow'd on him before and after the Difcourfe he made concerning Plays, wherein by the Mouth of the Canon of Toledo he cenfured him fo moderately. In the fix&H Book of his Galatea he makes Calliope herfelf fay, Estaicnceficws, that Learning loves as well With downy Toath, as bearded Age to dwell :

No

IV\ Novcb de los Perro?, a Dialogue Ictivctn two Dogs, Scipio and Braganza, tranfated feme rears ago by the Tranflator of this Life. (I) Prefi to Part II. (m) Buttle c/Leranto.

Michael d e Cervantes S a a v e d r a. 37

No Mortal will conteft a Truth fo clear,

The moment that be V eg a.*s name /ball bear.

Afterwards, in his Voyage to Parnajfus, he mentions him with greater Efteem :

Lo ! Vega from another Cloud di mounts ;

Vega, whom Spain her befl of Writers cot

It 'nether in Profe or Verfe ; be 1 fo well,

No one can equal him, much lefs excel. And even after the Ceniure of the Arragonian, in the Continuation of the fame Hoftory of Don Quixote, fpeaking of Angelica, he lays, (») A famous And , : (Louis

Barahona de Soto) wept for her, and celebrated her Tears in Vcrfe; and another emi and choice Poet of Caftile (Lope de Vega) made her Beauty bis Theme. And in another Place (0) he makes an honourable Allufion to Lope de Vega" 's Arcadia. TheCen- fure therefore which Cervantes made of him, did not fpring from Envy, iince he praifcd him as much as could be, nay, without any meafurc, but that of his Great and Extenfive Knowledge, fince his Cenfure was perfectly juft and right: Whereas that which the Tordcf.llian Continuator made of Cervantes, was the Offspring of downright Detraction.

75. In a different Manner from Fernandez, de Avellaneda, did Lope de Vega fpeak ot Michael de Cervaittes Saavedra, when, after his being cenfured, and even after his Ccn- furer's Death, (/>) he celebrated his Glorious Maim, thus:

* When the renowned Eagle's matchlefs Son,

That Thunderbolt of War, O'er Afia'j- King immortal Laurels won,

In Neptune' .y Watry Carr, Cervantes' Hand was wounded, but his Head,

Efcaping Fortune's Spite, By his rich Verfe turn'd every Ball of Lead

Into a Diamond bright : A Wit like His gives each refulgent Line A Brilliancy that will for ever flzine.

76. Cervantes likewife chaftifed the Covetoufnefs of his Detractor, by delpifing and defying his Menaces, and recommending the Reader to tell him, (q) that as for his Tbreatning to take the Bread out of my Month, I fhall only Anfwer him with a Piece of an old Song, God profper long our noble King, our Lives and Safeties all andfo I

be with you. Long ' be Great Conde de Lemos, wbofe Humanity, and celebrated Li-

berality fuflain me under the mo [I fever e BIcws of Fortune ! And may the eminent Charity of the Cardinal of 'Toledo, make an eternal Monument to his Fame. (I fancy ( having met with fome Confolation in the Humanity of that Prelate, made his Detractor fay, as I have related before, That be had taken Refuge in the Church) But Cervt goes on: Had I never publiflfd a Word, and were as many Books publiffd again/? me, as there are Letters ibMingo Re v u l g o's Poems ; yet the Bounty oftbefe two Prin- ces that have taken charge vf me without any Soliciting Adulation, were fujficient in my favour; and I think my felf richer and greater in their Efteem' than I would of any Profi-

■ (n) Part II. ch. i. fo) Part II. ch. 58. fp) Laurel de Apollo Selva 8. » Don John efA\. the Emperor Chailes Vth's Natural Sen, General of the Hit) .- Turk, (q) Pref.

to id. Part of D. Quixote1

38 The L I F E of

table Honour that can be purchased at the ordinary Rate of Advancement. Tie indigent Man may attain their Favour, but the Vicious cannot. Poverty may partly eclipfe a Gentleman, but cannot totally obfcure him ; and thofe glimmerings of Ingenuity that peep thro' the Chinks of a narrow Fortune, have already gain 'd the EJleem of the truly noble and generous Spirits. And now I have done with him.

77. Poffibly fome will mifs Cervantes's Anfwer to what his foul-mouth'd Satyrift advanc'd, of his being fo deftitute of Friends, that if he had a mind to adorn his Books with commendatory Verfes, he wou'd not be able to find one Perfon of Note in all Spain* that would not be offended at making ufe of his Name. To which, 'tis true, Cervantes made no Anfwer, becaufe he had as yet nothing to add to what he had faid by the Mouth of that Friend of his, introduc'd in his Preface, as Cervantes's Counfellor, fatyrifing the Cuftom of the Writers ofLtha* Time, with fo much Wit in the following Manner: (r) Thefirfi Thing you object, is your want of 'commendatory Copies from Perfons of Figure and Quality ; there is nothing fooner help't ; 'tis but taking a little Pains in writing them vourfelf, and clapping whofe Name you pleafe to them, you may Father them upon Prefter John of the Indies, or on the Emperor of Trapifonde, whom I know to be moft celebrated Poets : But fuppofe they were not, and that fome prefmning Pedantic Criticks might (had, and deny this notorious Truth ; why let them, 'tis no matter ; and tho' they Jhould convicl you of Forgery, you are in no danger of lofing the Hand with which you wrote them. There was at that time a ridiculous Cuftom in Spain to pre-ingage the Reader's Mind by a Heap of Commendatory Verfes, moft of them ccin'd by the Authors them- felves, as it now-adays happens in many of your Literary Clubs and Affemblies, who profef's Criticifm with little Serioufnefs of application, trufting too much to the Judg- ment of other People who are fometimes Ignorant, and oftentimes Prejudiced. Lope de Vtsa condemns this Practice, when he fays, (j) Apollo, by an Edicl, ordered among

other Things,

That no Encomiums of an Afs Beneath pretended Censures pafs In hopes that under fuch Difguife The World may credit give to Lies, Which yet none read without a Laugh But thofe that don't know Corn from Chaff. *8. Cervantes, by way of fatyrizing fuch People, and at the fame time to gratify his defire of Praife, prefixes to his Bon Quixote fome Poetical Compositions under the Names, not of Great Lords, (for in the Commonwealth of Learning there are no Greater Lords, than thofe that have Learning) but of Urganda the Unknown, addrefs'd to Don Quixote de la Mancha's Book : of Amadis de Gaul; Don Beliani, of Greece; Or- lando Furiofo; the Knight of the Sun ; and of Soli/dan to Don Quixcte himfelf : of the Lady Oriana to Dukinea del Tobofo : of Gandalin Amadis de Gaul's Squire, to Sancho Panza, Don Quixote's Squire ; of the Pleafant Poet Entreverado to Sancho Panza, and Rozinante; and laftly a Dialogue between Babieca, and Rozir.ar.ie; intimating by this, that his Book of Don Quixote de la]Mancha was better than all the Books of Knight-Erran- try put together •, fince Don Quixote de la Mancba furpafs'd the celebrated Amadis de Gaul*

a- (r) Pref. to \Ji. Part ofD. Q_tixote. (s) Laurel de Apollo Selva 9.

Michael d e C e r v a n t p. b Saavf.dra. 39

a Book, which by common Report, and by •what (. fass, (t) was the 1

Book of Knight- Errantry that ever was printed in Spain, and the Model of all tl ■

. thefirjl 'Teacher and Anther of fo ■pernicious a Sect ; rather, f.iys the other,

/ have been told 'tis the left Book that has been written in that Kind.

yg. Don Quixote, in like Manner, excelled the renowned Don Bclianis of Greece, ftnee He, (cry'd the Curate, fpeaking of Don Beliani; as he was fcrutini2ir)g our Ki.iglu's Library) with his Second, Third, and Fourth Parts, had need of a Dofe of Rhubarb to , his exceffive Choler: Befides, his Cajlle of Fame fijould be demolijl id, and a Heap of ■ Rubbifi removed.

80. Nor are the Outrages of Orlando Furiofo to compare with the agreeable Madnef- fes of Don Quixote de la Mancha, tho' the Style and Exprefllon of A;irjio, Author of that Romance, is indeed pure, grand and fublime, which makes the Curate fay, 1 Ie did not like any of the Tranflations of him, nay, he wou'd burn 'em ; but if, adds he, 1 find him in his own native Tongue, I'll treat him with all the Refpcct imaginable.

81. As for the Knight of the Sun, in whofj name likewife Cervantes made a Commen- datory Copy of Verfes, the Barber, Mr. Nicholas, wou'd often fay, he out-did all the other Knights, except perhaps Amadis de Gaul. The ftid Romance was intitlcd : The Mirror of Princes and Knights, in three Books, containing the Immortal Deeds of the K

of the Sun, and his Brother Roficler, the Sons of the Great Emperor Trebacio, wit h the high Adventures and mofl fiitpendeus Amours of the extremely excellent and fuperalv.r.dantly beautiful Princefs Claridiana, and other High Princes and Knights: By Diego Ortunez Calahorra, of the City of Nagera. This Mirror came out in two Volumes in Folio, con- taining the firft and fecond Part, at Zaragoza, Anno 15S1. Its true Author was Pedro la Sierra. Afterwards Marco Martinez of Alcala continu'd thofe Fables with this Tit!e : The Third Part of the Mirror of Princes and Knights, the Atcbievements and great Anions of the Children and Grand-children of the Emperor Trebacio. Printed at Alcala Anno 1589. And Feliciana de Silva, afterwards, writ the Fourth Part of the Knight of the Sun. Thefc Titles being known, the Reader will better underftand the Verfes of the Knight of the Sun to Don Quixote de la Mancha ; and will likewife be enabled to apply the Criticifm which the Curate made when the Barber, taking down another Book, cry'd : Here's the Mirror of Knighthood. Oh ! I have the honour to know him, repiyed the Curate, 1 you will find the Lord Rinaldo cf Montalban, with his Friends and Companions, all of them greater Tlneves than Cacus •, together with the Twelve Peers of France, and that Faithful Hiflorian Turpin. Truly I mufl needs fay, Lam only for condemning them to per- petual Banifhment, at leaft becaufe their Story contains fomething cf the Famous Boiardo's Invention; out of which the Chriflian Poet Ariofto alfo borrow' d his Subjeli. Cervantes in (u) another Place makes a great jeft of Feliciano de Suva's Style.

82. As Don Quixote bore away the Bell from all other Knights-Errant, lb likewife did Dulcinea del Tcbofo do the fame by the Ladies. And this is fignify'd by the broken Verfes of Urganda the Unknown, and the Sonnet of Lady Oriana to Dulcinea del To- bofo, both which Ladies take up a great deal of Paper in the Hiftory of Amadis de Gaul. Befides, this likewife alludes to the ridiculous Madnefs of writing Verfes as fiom Wo- men, with intent that they might be thought PoetefTes, and that the Authors were voured by them. 83. Gandalt

(t) Part I. ch. 6. (u) Part I. ch. 1 ,

4o The L I F E of

83. Gandalin's Verfes to Sancho Panza, declare that never was a Squire born into the World, equal to Sancho Panza. And the fame Compliment is pafs'd on Rozinante by the Poet Entreverado's Verfes, and the Dialogue between Babieca and Rozinante,

fjnce (x) tbo' his Horfe's Bones ftuck out like the Corners of a Spanifh Real, and was a worfe Jade than GonelaV, qui tantum pellis et offa fait, his Majler yet thought that neither Alexander's Bucephalus, nor the Cid'i Babieca could be compar'd with him.

84. As for the Arragonian's reflecting upon Cervantes'* want of Friends to grace the beginning of his Book with Commendatory Verfes, Cervantes had nooccafion to anfwer that Objection •, fince, of the very Thing which the other faid he wanted, Cervantes had before, as I faid, made fo great a Jeft, not only in his Preface to Don Quixote, but in that to his Novels likewife. For, fpeaking of that cuftomary Abufe, and of the Friend into whofe Head he had put that moil difcrece Advice which was practifed fo dextroufly and hap- pily by him, after he had defcrib'd himfelf, both inwardly and outwardly, i. e, both Body and Mind, he added : And if this Friend cou'd recolletl -nothing more to fay of me, Iwou'd tnyfelf have coin' d two dozen of Teftimonials, and whifpered 'em to him, in order to fpread my Name and raife the Reputation of my Wit ; for, to think fetch Elogiums fpeak real "Truth, is downright Folly, for there" 's no depending upon fetch Characlerijlicks either pro or con. In fhcrt, fence that Opportunity is pafl, and I am left in bianco, and without any Cutt or Ejfigie, I muft e'en make the beft ufe I can of my Tongue, which tbo' naturally flow, /ball not be fo in fpeaking Truth, which may be underftocd ev'n by making Signs only. And then he goes on and gives his own Sentiments of his Novels, without speak- ing by the Mouth of a Goose, as the Proverb before quoted has it.

85. As for this Scandalous Fellow's faying that Cervantes wrote his Firfl Part of Don Quixote, in a Prifon, and that That might make it fo dull, and incorrect : Cervantes did not think fit to give any Anfwer concerning his being imprrfon'd : Perhaps to avoid giving offence to the Minifters of Juftice ; for certainly his Imprifonment muft not have been fCTnominious, fince Cervantes himfelf voluntarily mentions it in his Preface to the Firft Part of Don Quixote. As for his Negligence and Incorrectnefles, I don't deny but Cervantes had fome, which I have obferv'd ; but fince thcArragonian did not fpecify 'em, there was no reafon Cervantes, by fatisfying Him, lhould let him run away with the Glory of a juft and rational Cenfure. And therefore the Confeffion of his own Overfights, or the Defence of thofe the Criticks of that Age charg'd as fuch, is referv'd for a fitter Oppor- tunity: and the Cenfure of other Things, which might have been eafily alter'd, is for- born out of the Refpect that is due to the Memory of fo great a Man.

86. The Thing which Cervantes bore hardeft upon in his Aggrefibr, was his Impu- dence, for fuch it was, and a very great one too, the continuing a Work of pure In- vention, of another Man's, and while the Author was livingtoo, which makes him % to his Reader, If ever you fhould happen to fall into his Company, pray tell him from me that I have not the leal Quarrel in the World with him : For I am not ignorant of the Tempta- tions of Satan ; and of all his Imps, the fribbling Devil is the moft Irrefeflable. When that Demon is got into a Man's Head, befalls to Writing and Publifhing, which gets him as much Fame as Money, and as much Money as Fame. But if he won't believe what you fay and you be difpefd to be Merry, pray tell him this Story. Then Cervantes proceeds •> -y' and

(x) Part I. cb. 1.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 41

and tells a Tale, and then] another, with that fatyrical Grace, that nothing can be more beautiful.

87. Cervantes being of Opinion that the Arragouian's Impudence deferv'd greater Chaftifement ; in order to render him more ridiculous in various Parts of the Body of the Work he has a Fling at him, and intermingles divers Reproofs of that unpardonable Continuation, which it is fit fhou'd be here read together that others may not fall into the like Temptation.

88. In the LIXth Chapter of the Second Part, fuppofing fome Travellers to be reading in an Inn the Arragonian's Continuation, or Second Part of Don Quixote, he introduces one Signer Don John, faying : Dear Don Jeronimo, I befeech you, till Super's brought in3 let us read another Chapter of the Second Part of Don Qjixote. No j had Don Quixote Jieard himfelf named (he being in the next Room, which was di- vided from that wherein the Travellers were by a {lender Partition) but up the Cham- pion flarted, and liflen'd with attentive Ears to what was faid of him, and then heard that Don Jeronimo anfwer : Why would you have us read Nonfenfe, Signor Don John ? Methinks any one that has read the Firji Part of Don Quixote, fccuid take but little Delight in reading the Second. That may be, reply' d Don John ■, however, it mayn't be amifs to read it ; for there's no Book fo bad, as not to have fomething that is good in it. What difpleafes me viofi in this Part, is, that it reprefents Don Quixote no longer in love with Dulcinea del Tobofo. Upon thefe Words, Don Quixote, burning with Anger and Indignation, cry'd out : Whoever fays that Don Quixote de la Mancha has forgot, or can forget Dulcinea del Tobofo, I will make him know with equal Arms, that he deviates wholly from the Truth ; for the Peerlefs Dulcinea del Tobofo, cannot be forgotten, nor can Don Quixote be guilty of Forgetfulnefs. Confiancy is his Motto ; and to preferv: bis Fidelity with Pleafure, and without the leaf, Conftraint, is his Profefjion. Who's that afvers us ? cries one of thofe in the next Room. Who Jhould it be, quoth Sancho, but Don Quixote de la Mancha his nown felf, the fame that will make good all he has faid, and all that he has to fay, take my Word for it ; for a good Paymafter ne'er grudges to give Security. Sancho had no fc oner made that Anfwer, but in came the two Gentlemen {for they appeared to be no lefs) and one of them throwing his Arms about Don Quixote'* Neck, your Prefence, Sir Knight, faid he, does not belye your Reputation, nor can your Reputa- tion fail to raife a Refpetl for your Prefence. Tou are certainly the true Don Quixote de la Mancha, the North-Star, and Luminary of Chivalry-errant in defpite of him that b.:s attempted to ufurp your Name, and annihilate your Atckievements, as the Author of this Book, which 1 here deliver into your Hand, has prefum'd to do. With that he took the Book from his Friend, and gave it to Don Quixote. The Knight took it, and with faying a Word, began to turn over the Leaves ; and then returning it a while after ;

little I havefeen, faid be, I have found three Thhigs in this An:!, r, that deferve Repre- henfion. Firfl, I find fault with feme Words in his Preface. In tie fecond PI Language is Arragonian, for fometimes he writes without Articles : And the third Thing I have obferu'd, which betrays moft his Ignorance, is, he is cut of the way in one of tl cipal Parts of the Hiftory : For (y) here he fays, that the Wife of my Squire Sand o 1 za, is cali'd Mary Gutierrez, which is not true; for her Name is Terefa I anza ; Vol. I. f and

()■) In ch. 8. and many more.

42 The LIFE of

and he that errs info confderable a Paffo.ge, may well be fufpecled to have committed many grofs Errors through the whole Hijlory. A pretty impudent Fellow, is this fame Hiftory- writer; cry'd Sancho / Sure He knows much what belongs to our Concern, to call my Wife Terefa Panza, Mary Gutierrez! Pray take the Book again, an't like your Worfbip, and fee whether he fays any Thing of me, and fee if he has not changed my Name too. Sure by what you havefaid, honeft Man, faid Don Jeronimo, you Jhould be Sancho Panza, Squire to Signer Don Quixote? Jam, quoth Sancho, and I am proud of the Office. Well, faid the Gentleman, to tell you Truth, the laft Author does not treat you fo Civilly asyoufeemto deferve. He reprefents you as a Glutton, and a Fool, without the leaf grain of Wit or Hu- mour, and very different from the Sancho we have in the firft Part of your Mafter' s Hijlo- ry. Heav'n forgive him, quoth Sancho ; he might have left me where I was, without of- fering to meddle with me. Every Man's Nofe won't make a Shoeing-Hom. Let's leave the World as it is. St. Peter is very well at Rome. Prefently the two Gentlemen invited Don Quixote tofup with them in their Chamber ; for they knew there was nothing to be got in the Inn ft for his Entertainment. Don Quixote who was always very complaifant, (z) could not deny their Requejl, and went with them. So Sancho remain'd Lord and Maf- ter, with his Flefh-pot before him, and placed himfelf at the upper End of the Table, with the Inn-keeper for his Mefs-mate; for he was no lefs a Lover of Cow-heel than the Squire. While Don Quixote was at Supper with the Gentlemen, Don John ask'd him, when he beard of the Lady Dulcinea del Tobofo? Whether /he were married ? Whether fie had any Children, or were with Child or no ? Or whether, continuing fill in her Maiden flate, and preferving her Honour and Reputation unftain'd, foe had a grateful Senfe of the Love and Conftancy of Signer Don Quixote ? Dulcinea is fill a Virgin, anfwered Don Quixote, ar.d my Amorous Tlmtghts more fix' d than ever ; Our Correfpondence after the old Rate not frequent, but her Beauty transformed into the homely appearance of a Female Ruflick. And with tliat he told the Gentlemen the whole Story of her being inchanted, what had befal'n him in the Cave of Montefinos, and the Means that the Sage Merlin had prefcrib'd to free her from her Inchantment, which was Sancho' j Penance of three thoufand three hundred Lafhes. The Gentlemen were extremely pleas'd to hear from Don Quixote'j own Mouth the firange Pajfages of his Hijlory, equally wondring at the nature of his Extravagancies, and bis Eloquent manner of relating them. One Minute they lookt upon him to be in his Senfes, and the next they thought he had loft them all ; fo that they could not refolve what degree to affign him between Madnefs and found Judgment. By this time Sancho having eat his Sup- per, and left his Landlord, mov'd to the Room where his Mafter was with the two Stran- gers, and as he bolted in, Hang me, quoth he, Gentlemen, if He that made the Book your Worffjips have feen, could have a mind that He and I Jhould ever take a loving Cup toge- ther : Iwijh, as he calls me Greedy-Gut, he does not Jet me out for a Drunkard too. Nay, faid Don Jeronimo, he does not ufe you better as to that Point ; tho' I cannot well remember his Exprejfions. Only this I know, they are fcandalous andfalfe, as I perceive by the Phy- fwgnomy offober Sancho here prefent. Take my Wordfor't, Gentlemen, quoth the Squire, the Sancho and the Don Quixote in your Book, I don't know who they be, but they are not the fame Men as thofe in Cid Hamet Benengeli'j Hijlory, for we two are they, juft fuch as Benengeli makes us ; my Mafter Valiant, Difcrete, and in love ; and I a plain, merry- conceited (z) The Arragonian does not defcribe him ft.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 4.3

conceited Fellow, but neither a Glutton, nor a Drunkard. I believe you, faid Don John, and I could wijh, were fitch a Thing poffible, that all other 1} 'tilers vibatfoever were for- bidden to record the Deeds of the great Don Quixote, except Cid Hamct, his frfl An: (a) as Alexander did forbid all other Painters to draw his Pitlure, except Apellcs. Let any one draw mine, ifhepleafes, faid Don Quixote; but let Urn net alufe the Original; for when Patience is loaded with Injuries, many Times it finks under its Burden (b). No Injury, reply' d Don John, can be offered to Signor Don Quixote but . is able to

revenge, or at leafi ward off with the Shield of his Patience, which, in my opinion, is Great and Strong. In fitch Difcourfe they fpent a good part of the Night ; and thtf Don John endeavoured to perfuade Don Quixote to read more of the Book, to fee how the Author had handled his Subjecl, he could by no Means prevail with bimx the Knight giving him to un- der/land, he had enough of it, and as much as if he had read it throughout, concluding it to be all of a Piece, and nonfenfe all over ; and that he would not encourage the Scribbler's Vanity fo far as to let him think that he had read it, floould it ever come to his Ears that the Book had fal'n into his Hands ; well knowing we ought to avoid defiling our Imagination, and with the nicefi Care, our Eyes with vile andobfeene Matters (c). 1 hey askt him, « Way he was travelling? He told them he was going for Saragofa, to make one at the Tur- naments held in that City once a Tear, for the Prize of Armour. Don John acquainted him, that the pretended Second Part of his Hiftory gave an Account (d) how Don Quixote, whoever he was, had been at Saragofa at a publick Running at the Ring, the Defcription of which was wretched, and defective in the Contrivance, mean and low in the Style and Exprcfj'wn, miferably poor in Devices, poorefl of all in Learning, but rich in Folly and Nonfenfe. For that Reafon, faid Don Quixote, / will not fit a Feet in Saragofa, and fo the World fio all fee what a notorious Lye this new Hijlorian is guilty of, and all Mankind Jhall perceive I am not the Don Quixote he fipeaks of. Toil will do very well, faid Don Jeronimo ; befides, there is another Turnament at Barcelona, where you may fignalize your Valour. I defign to do fo, reply 'd Don Quixote ; and fo Gentlemen, give me leave to bid you good Night, and permit me to go to Bed, (for 'tis Time ;) and pray place me in the num- ber of your left Friends, and moft Faithful Servants : and Me too, quoth Sancho, for may- hap you may find me good for fomething. Having taken leave of one another, Don Quix- ote and Sancho retired to their Chamber, leaving the two Strangers in admiration, to think what a Medly the Knight had made of good Senfe and Extravagance ; but fully fatisf.cd however, that thefie two Pcrfons were the true Don Quixote and Sancho, and net thofe obtruded upon the Publick by the Arragonian Author. Admirable Criticifm! One of the Precepts of Fable is to follow common Fame, or to devife Things fo as to hang toge- ther. Cervantes had figur'd Don Quixote, as a Knight-Errant, Valiant, Difcrete, and Amorous ; and this was his well-known Character when the fo call'd Fernandez de Avel- laneda took upon him to carry on his Hiftory •, whereas He defcribes Don Quixote, as a Coward, an Ideot, and not Enamour'd. Don Quixote's Lady, as the Dutchcfs faid, was a fancy' d Perfcn(e), a Lady merely Notional, (in fhert a Madman's Lady) whem Don Quixote had engender' d and brought forth by the Strength and Heat of his Fancy, awl

f 2 there

(a) See Part I. ch. g. of Don Quixote. [b) A tacit tbrcatninp againjl thi Arrajronhn writ (c) Such as the ArragonianV Book abounds within many of the Chapters. (d) In the nth cb. (e) Part II. ch. 3 z.

44- tte L I F E cf

there endow1 d with all the Charms and good Qualifications, which be was pleas' d to afcribe

to her; beautiful without Blemijh, referv'd without Pride, amorous with Madefy,

agreeable for her courteous Temper, and courteous, as an Effecl cf her generous Education; and, in port, of an illuftrious Parentage. Fernandez de Avellaneda paints her in a quite different Manner. Cervantes reprefented Sancho Panza as a plain, fimple, merry-con- ceited Fellow, but neither a Gormandizer nor a Drunkard : Fernandez de Avellaneda, fimple indeed, but a Fellow of no humour, rather a mere Greedy-gut and an arrant Sot: and therein, neither follows common report, nor invents his Tale with Uniformity. Well therefore might Altifidora fay, fpeaking of a Vifion fhe had (for Women are apt to have Vifions,) (/) That fhe faw certain Devils playing at Tennis with flaming Rac- kets, inftead of Tennis-balls making ufe of Books ftuff'd with Wind and Flocks, and fo nightly made that the Ball wou'd not bear a fecond Blow, but at every Stroke they were oblig'd to change Books, fome of 'em New, fome Old, which fhe thought very Strange: They tojf'd up a new Book fairly bound, and gave it fitch a fmart Stroke, that the very Guts flew out of it, and all the Leaves were fcatter'd about. Then cry'd one of the Devils to another, look, look, what Book is that ? 'Tis the fecond Part of the hiflory of Don Quixote, faid the other, net that which was compos' d by Cid Hamet, the Author cf the Firjl, but by a certain Arragonian, who profeffes himfelf a Native of Tordefillas. Away with it, cry'd the firjl Devil, drjon with it, plunge it to the lowefl Pit of Hell, where I may never fee it more. Why is it fuch Stuff faid the other? Such intolerable fluff, cry'd the firjl Devil, that if I and all the Devils in Hell fhou'dfet our Heads together to make it •worfe, it were pajl our Skill. To which a little afterwards Don Quixote reply'd : That very Hifiory is tofs'd about juft at the fame Rate, never rejling in a Place, for every Body has a Kick at it. From which Words we may infer, that as foon as it was publifh'd, it began to be defpis'd. And as Cervantes feigns that the Devils play'd at Tennis with flaming Rackets ; fome, from thence have taken occafion, and juftly as they thought, to advance an affer- tion,'(°0 that the Friends of Cervantes burn'd the Books of the paultry Continuator: which fs a gratis Diclum ; for Cervantes had no Friends that wou'd favour him, fo much at their own Expence.

09 Whatever may have been the Cafe in that refpecl:, 'twill not be amifs to hear Sancho and Don Qirixote's Thoughts of that Book : (h) I'll lay you a Wager, quoth Sancho, that before we be much older, there will not bean Inn, a Hedge-Tavern, a Mind ihclualling-Houfe, nor a Barber's-Shop in the Country, but what will have the Story cf our Lives and Deeds pajled and painted along the Walls. But I eou'd wifh with all my Heart though, that they may be done by a better Hand than the bungling Son of a Whore that drew thefe. Thou art in the Right, Sancho, faid Don Quixote ; for the Fellow that did thefe, puts me in mind o/Orbaneja, a Painter of Uveda, who, as he fat at Work, being ask'd what he was about ? Made anfwer, any thing that comes uppermeft : And if he chane'd to draw a Cock, he underwrit, This is a Cock, left People fhould take it for a Fox. Juft fuch a one was he that painted, or that wrote {for they are much the fame) the Hiftory of this new Don Quixote, that has lately peep' d out, and ventur'd to go a fir oiling ; for his Painting or Writing is all at random, and any thing that comes uppermofl. I fancy

he's

( n Part II. ch. 70. (g) Set the Prifact ofthi rt-impreffam of the felf-call'd Fernandez d< AveL- laneda. {h) Part II. ch. 71..

Michael de Cervantf. s Saavedra. 45

he's alfo not much unlike err Mauleon, a certain Poet, wh -was at Court fome Tears 1 ! pretended to give atfaer extempore to any manner of Que/iions. Some B ■ aitfd'bim what was the meaning cf Dcum de D.o? Wi. tie Gentleman atifwer'd

very pertly in Spanifh, De donde de diere, /' it is, Hab nab at a Venture,

90. The fame Don Quixote, difcourfing on another Occafion with D n Alvaro Tarfe (who in the Arragonian's Hiftory fills a great many Pages) holds this Dialogue with him : (i) " Pray, Sir, /aid Don Quixote to Scfior Don Alvaro, bo pleas'd to tell me " one Thing; Am I any thing like that Don Quixote of yours? The fartheft from it " in the World, Sir, reply'd the other. And had he, faid our Knight, one Sanch? " Panza for his Squire? Yes, faid Don Alvaro, but I was the m ft deceiv'd in him " that cou'd be ; for by common Report that fame Squire was a comical, witty Fel- " low, but I found him a very great Blockhead. I thought no lefs, quoth Sancbc, " for every Man is not capable of faying comical Things ; and that Sancho you talk '« of muft be fome paultry Raggamuffin, fome guttling Mumper, or pilfering Crack- " rope, I warrant him. For 'tis I am the true Sancho Panza ; 'tis I am the merry- " conceited Squire, that have always a Tinker's Budget full of Wit and Waggery, " that will make Gravity grin in fpite of its Teeth. If you won't believe m.^ do «c but try me ; keep my Company but for a Twelvemonth, or fo, you'll find what " a fhower of Jokes and notable] things drop from] me every Foot. Adad ! I fet " every Body a laughing, many times, and yet I wilh I may be hang'd, if I defign'd " it in the leaft. And then for the true Don Quixote de la Mancha, here you have " him before you. The ftanch, the famous, the valiant, the wife, the loving Don " Quixote de la Mancha, the Righter of Wrongs, the Punimer of Wickednefs, the " Father to the Fatherlefs, the Bully-rock of Widows, the Maintainer of Damfcls and " Maidens ; he whofe only Dear and Sweet-heart is the Peerlefs Dulcinea del Tobofo ; " here he is, and here am I his Squire. AJ1 other Don Quixote's and all Sat " Panza's befides us two, are but Shams, and Tales of a Tub. Now by the Sword " of St. Jago, honeft Friend, faid Don Alvaro, I believe as much ; for the little thou " haft utter'd now, has more of Humour than all I ever heard come from the other. " The Blockhead feem'd to carry all his Brains in his Guts, there's nothing a Jeft with " him but filling his Belly, and the Rogue's too heavy to be diverting. For my «« parr, I believe the Inchanters that perfecute the good Don Quixote, have fent the " bad one to perfecute me too. I can't tell what to make of this Matter, for, though " I can take my Oath, I left one Don Quixote under the Surgeon's Hand's at the Nun- " cio's in Toledo, (k) yet here ftarts up another Don Quixote quite different from mine. " For my part, faid our Knight, I dare not avow my felf the Good, but I may venl " ture to fay, I am not the Bad one ; and as a Proof of it, Sir, be affur'd, that in " the whole Courfe of my Life, I never faw the City of Saragofa •, and fo far from it " that hearing this Ufurper of my Name had appear'd there at the Turnament I " declin'd coming near it, being refolv'd to convince the World that he was an hn~- " poftoV. I directed my Courfe to Barcelona, the Seat of Urbanity, the Sanctuary of " Strangers, the Refuge of the diftrefled, the Mother of Men of Valour, the Redrcf- " fer of the injur'd, the Refidence of true Friendfhip, and the firft City of the World

" for

(/) Part II. cb. 7 j, {k) See AvellanedaV Continuation, cb, 36.

46 7%e L I F E of

for Beauty and Situation. And though fome Accidents that befel me there, are fo far from being grateful to my Thoughts, that they area fenfib!e Mortification to me j yet in my Reflection, of having {ten that City, I find Pleafure enough to alleviate my Misfortune : In lhort, Don Alvaro, I am that Don Quixote de la Mancha^ whom Fame has celebrated, and not the pitiful Wretch who has ufurp'd my Name, and wou'd arrogate to himfelf the Honour of my Defign. Sir, you are a Gentleman, and I hope will not deny me the Favour to depofe before the Magiftrate of this Place, that you never faw me in all your Life till this Day, and that I am not the Don Quixote mention'd in the (/) Second Part -, nor was this Sambo Panza my Squire, the Perfon you knew formerly. With all my Heart, faid Don Alvaro, tho* 1 muft own my felf not a little confounded to find at the fame time, two Don Quixotes, and two Sancbo Panza's, as different in Behaviour as they are alike in Appellation : For my part, I don't know what to think of it > and fo I again fay and affirm, that I havefeen what I have not feen, and that That has befal'n me which has

notbefal'n me Here the Mayor, or Bailiff of the Town happening to come

into the Inn, with a Publick Notary, Don Quixote defir'd him to take the Depofi- tion which Don Alvaro Tarfe was ready to give, where he certify'd and declar'd, That the faid Deponent had not any Knowledge of the DonQuixote there prefent, and that the faid Don Quixote was not the fame Perfon that he this Deponent had feen mentio- ned in acertain printed Hiftory, intituled, or called, The Second Part of Don Quixote de la Mancha, written by Avellaneda, a Native of "fordefillas. In fliort, the Magiftrate drew up and ingrofs'd the Affidavit in due Form, and the Teftimonial wanted nothing to make it aniwer all the Intentions of Don Quixote and Sancbo, who were as much pleas'd as if it had been a Matter of the laft Con- fequence, and that their Words and Behaviour had not been enough to make the Diftinflon between the two Don Quixote"1* and the two Sambo's. The Compliments and Offers of Service that pafs'd after, between Don Alvaro and Don Quixote, were many, and our Knight of La Mancha behav'd himfelf with fo much Dilcretion, that Don Alvaro was convinc'd he was miftaken ; tho' he thought there was fome In- chantment in the Cafe, fince he had thus met with two Knights and two Squires of the fame Name and Profeffion, and yet fo very different. qi. Laftly, the fame Don Quixote de la Mancha, or rather, Alonso Quixano the Good', being now reftor'd to his right Senfes and perfed Judgment, in one of the Claufes of hTs Will, directs as follows : (m) Item, / entreat my faid Executors (the Curate Pen Perez, and Mr. Sampfon Carrafco the Bachelor, who were prefent) that if at any time they have the Good-fortune to meet with the fuppos'd Author of the Second Part of the Achievements of Don Quixote de la Mancha, they wou'd from me ?noft heartily beg his Parian for my being undefignedly the Occafion of his writing fucb a Parcel of Impertinences as is contain" d in that Book, for it is the greateft Burden to my departing Soul, that ever I ■was the Caufe of making fucb a Thing publick.

02. Very much in the right, therefore, was Cervantes, and great reafon had he, when he faid that the Glory of continuing with Felicity the Hiftory of Don Quixote de la Mambay was referv'd for his Pen alone. And left this fhou'd found like Boafting,

he

(I) He means Avellanedifr Continuation. (m) Part II. at the End.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 47

he put the following judicious Speech in the Mouth of Cid Hamct Benengeli, addi fing himfclf to his Pen. Here fays Cervantes, (>;) " The fagacious Cid Hamet fpofce " to his Pen : O Thou my (lender Pen, thou, of whofe Knib, whether well or ill *« cut, I dare not fpeak my Thoughts! fufpended by this Wire, remain upon : •« Rack, where I depofite thee. There may'ft thou claim a Being many Ages, un- " lef> prefumptuous Scribblers take thee down to profane thee. But e'er they Jay " their heavy Hands on thee, bid them beware, and, as well as thou canft, in their «' own Stile, tell 'em,

(0) " Avaunl, ye Scoundrels, all and feme!

" I'm kept for no fetch thing. ** Defile not me ; but hang yourfelves ;

" And feo God fetve the King. " For me alone was the great Don Quixote born, and I alone for him. Deeds were *« his Task ; and to record 'em, mine: We two, like Tallies for each other (truck " are nothing when apart. In vain the fpurious Scribe of "Tordeftllas dar'd with his *' blunt and bungling Oftridge- Quill invade the Deeds of my mod: valorous Knight: " The great Attempt derides his feeble Skill, while he betrays a Senfe benumm'd " and frozen. And thou, Reader, (p) if ever thou canft find him out in his Obfcu- " rity, I befeech thee advife him likewife to let the wearied, mouldring Bones of " Don Quixote, reft quiet in the Earth that covers them. Let him not expofe 'em ** in (q) Old Caftile, againft the Sanctions of Death, impioufly raking him out of " the Grave where he really lies ftretch'd out beyond a Poffibility of making a third - " Act and taking a new Ramble round the World. The two Sallies that he has " made already (r) (which are the Subject of thefe two Volumes, and have met with u fuch universal Applaufe in this and other Kingdoms) are fuffkient to ridicule the " pretended Adventures of other Knights-Errant. Thus advifing him for the beft " thou (halt difcharge the Duty of a Chriftian, and do good to him that wilhes thee " evil. As for me, (s) I mult efteem myfelf happy and gain my End in rendring " thofe fabulous, nonfenfical -Stories of Knight-Errantry, the Object of the publick " Averfion. They are already going down, and I do not doubt but they will drop u and fall together in good earneft, never to rife again : Adieu.

And indeed, affoon as the Firft Part oi Don Quixote came out, this Knight-Errant began to put down all the reft, and made them hide their Heads -, and after the Se- cond Part was publifh'd, Anno 1615, the Applaufe which this Work gain'd was fo great and extenfive that very few Works have obtain'd in the World fo great, fo uni- verfal and fo lafting an Approbation. For there are Books which are efteem'd for no other reafon but becaufe their Stile is a Text for the dead I anguages ; others which are become famous thro' fome Circumftances of the Time they were writ in, which being paft and gone their Applaufe is ceas'd too; others will always be valu'd on ac- count (n) Part II. at ^ e End. (0) Tate, tate, foFIoncicos, &c. Thefe Words *re in an eld Romance which I have forgot the r.ame cf. (p) Aftgn how obfeure the Tordeiillian Author was. ( r) The fi/h Continuatcr in his la ft Chapter hints as if he dfegn'd to write feme of Don Quixote'* Randies in ( )Jd Caftile. (r) Had that of the Second Part been reckon'd in, there wou'd be three SolIUs ofl\>n

Quixote, but Cervantes fpcaks upon a Suppofetion that only the Firji Part was publifr/d. (s) This is Michael de Cervantes Saavedra.

48 the L I F E of

count of the Weight and Importance of the Subject they treat of. Whereas thofe of Cervantes, tho' written on a ridiculous Subject, and tho* the Spanifh Dominion is not fo extenfive as it was then, and tho' written in a Jiving Language which is confin'd to certain Bounds ; yet they live, and triumph in fpite of Oblivion : And are at this Day as neceffary in the World, as when they firft came out ; for after France had, thro' the happy Protection of Louis XIV. arriv'd to the height of Learning, it be- gan to decline, and for want of a Sirmond, a Boffuet, a Huet, and fuch like learned Men of immortal Memory, who foon after went off the Stage, a Spirit of Novellizing began to prevail * and a Fondnefs for Fables has taken fuch root that their Literary Journals are ftuff'd with 'em, and hardly any other fort of Books come to us from France. The Mifchief, formerly caus'd by fuch Fables, was fo great, that it might be faid to be univerfal. Which made that moft intelligent Cenfor of the Republick of Letters Ludovicus Fives, fo grievoufly deplore the corrupt Manners of the Times he liv'd in : (/) What a way of living is this, faid he, What Times are we faVn into, that nothing hut Ribaldry will pafs for gccd Poetry, and cbfcene Ballads for fine Sonnets ? It is high time the Magifi 'rates took cognizance of this Evil, and that fame Provifionwere made againjlit by Law, as alfo againft fuch pejlilential Books in Spain, as Amadis, Efplandian, Florifando, Tirante, Triftran : Whofe Extravagancies know no Bounds: Each Day produces more and more of 'em ; fuch as Celeftina the Bawd, the Mother of all Wickednefs, and Sink of all Leudnefs. In France, Lancelot of the Lake, Paris and Vienna, Puntho and Sidonia, Peter of Provence and Magalona, Melifendra, the inexorable Matron. Here in Flanders (Vives wrote this at Bruges, where he liv'd Anno 1523.) Florian and Blanca-Flor, Leonela and Canamor, Curias and Floreta, Pyramus and Thisbe. Some there are tranf- lated out of Latin into the vulgar Tongues, as Poggius'* Book of Stories which fails both in point of Mcdejly and Religion, (u) Euryalus and Lucretia, Boca^'j hundred Novels. All which Books were written by Men that liv'd an idle Life, or were ill employ 'd, of no Ex- perience, or Abilities, given up to Vice, and all manner of Filthinefs. In winch I am amaz'd People fhciCd find any thing to delight 'em. But we are naturally perverfe and prone to Evil. A powerful and moft effectual Remedy therefore was that which the moft ingenious Cervantes apply'd, fince it purg'd the Minds of all Europe, and cur'd them of that inveterate radicated Fondnefs they had for thofe contagious Books. Again therefore let Don Quixote de la Mancha appear, and let one Madman undeceive many voluntary Madmen : Let one Man of Senfe, like Cervantes, divert and reclaim fo many idle and melancholick Perfons, with the pleafing and entertaining Products of his artful and ingenious Pen, I mean his Books of Don Quixote, of which there has been a long difpute which of the two Parts is beft : That which contains the firft and fecond Sally of our Champion; or the third?

9?. Far from taking upon me to decide fo nice a Queftion, I fhall let Cervantes do it himfelf, who having heard the Judgment which fome had anticipately made, intro- duced the following Converfation between Don Quixote, the Bachelor Samtfon Car- r co, and SanchoPanza. Perhaps, (x) faid Don Quixote, the Author ('that is, Cid Harriet

Benengeli)

(t) De ChriWanl Foemina, Lib. I. cap. Qui non legendi Scriptores, q :i Icrer.di. (u) J N0- vel by ,/Eneas Sylvius, before he was Pope, endwhtn he was but a finqle Priefi : afterwards retrat- ted in bis Efift. 395- (*). Part U- ch- 4-

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 49

Benengelij promifes A Second Part ? He does fo, faid Carrafco : But he fir.? s, (?) he cannot find it, neither can he difcover who has it : So that we doubt whether it will come cut or no ; as well for this reafon, as becaufe fome People fay that Second Parts are never worth any thing ; others cry, there's enough of Don Quixote already : However, many cf thofe that love Mirth better than Melancholy^ cry out, Give us more Quixotery ; let but Don Quixote appear, and Sancho talk, be it what it will, we are fatisfy'd. And how ftands the Author affected ? Said the Knight. Truly ^ anfwer'd Carrafco, as foot: as ever he can find out the Hiftory, which he is now looking for with all imaginable Indujlry, be is refolv'd to fend it immediately to the Prefix tho' more for his own Profit than thro' any Ambition of applaufe. What, quoth Sancho, does he defign to do it to get a Penny by it ? Nay, then we are like to have a rare Hiftory indeed ; we ffoall have him botch and whip it up, like your Taylors on Eafler-Eve, and give us a huddle of Flim-fla?ns that will never hang together ; for your hafly Work can never be done as it Jhould be. Let Mr. Moor take care how he goes to Work ; for, my Life for his, I and my Mafier will flock him with fitch a heap of Stuff in matter of Adventures and odd Chances, that he will have enough not only to write <z Second Part, but an Hundred. The poor Fellow, be- like, thinks we do nothing but Jleep on a Hay-Mow ; but let us once put Foot into the Stir- rop, and he' I fee what we are about : This at leajl Pll be bold to fay, that if my Mafier would be rul'd by me, we had been in the Field by this Time, undoing of Mifdeeds, and righting of Wrongs, as good Knights- Errant us'd to do. In which Colloquy Cervantes gives us to underftand that he had pregnancy "of Fancy enough to furnifh out not only one, but a hundred Don Quixote's. The invention of the Second Part is nolefs agreeable than that of the firft -, and the Inftruction is much greater. Befides, in the principal Narration he has not intermixt any Novel totally foreign to his Subject •, (a. thing very much againft the Art of Fable-writing ;) but he dextroufly grafts in many Epifodes very co- herent with the main Defign of the Story, which requires great Ingenuity and a fingular Ability. Let us once more hear Cervantes himfelf. (z) We have it from the traditional Account of this Hiftory, that there is a manifefl Difference between the Tranflation and the Arabick in the beginning of this Chapter ; Cid Hamet having taken an Occafion of c cifing on himfelf for undertaking fo dry and limited a Subject, which muft confine him to the bare Hiftory of Don Qiiixote and Sancho, and debar him the Liberty of lanching into Epifodes and Digrefifions that might be of more Weight and Entertainment. To have Fancy, his Hand and Pen bound up to a fingle Defign, and his Sentiments confin'd to /■■ e Mouths of fa few Perfons, he urg'd as an infupportable Toil, and of fmall Credit to Undertaker, fo thai, to avoid this Inconveniency, he has introduc'd into The First Part, fome Novels, as The Curious Impertinent, and that of the Captive, which were in a manner diftincl from the Defign, tho' the reft of the Stories which he brought in there, fall naturally enough in with Don Quixote's Affairs, and feem of Necejfity to claim a Place in the Work. It was his Opinion likewife, as he has told us, that the Adventures cf Don Quixote, requiring fo great a fijare of the Rea- der's Attention, his Novels muft expeB but an indifferent Reception, or, at moft, but a curfory Fiew, not fufficient to difcover their artificial Contexture, which muft have been very obvious had Ihey been publififd by themfelves, without the Interludes cf Don QmxoreV Vol. I. g Madncft,

(y) See Part I. at the end. (z) Part II. ch. 44.

So tte L I F E of

Madnefs, or Sancho's Impertinence. He has therefore in The Second Part avoided all diftincl and Independent Novels, introducing only fame Epifodes which may have the appearance of (a) being fo, yet flew naturally from the Deflgn of the Story, and thefe bat feldom, and with as much Brevity as they can be exprefs'd. Therefore fir.ee he has tfd bimfelf up to fuch narrow Bounds, and cov.f.ti'd his Underftar.ding and Parts, otherwife ca- pable of the meft copious Subjecl, to the pure Matter of this prefent Undertaking, he begs it add a value to his Work ; and that he may be commended^ net fo much for what he has writ, as for what he has forborn to write. Such therefore as lay that Cervantes in his Second Part has not equall'd himfelf, wou'd do well to confider whether their Opi- nion does not arife either from the Tradition of thofe who are fo enamour'd of the Firfl Part, as to think it incapable of a Second ; or elfe from their want of Sagacity which makes 'em regret in this latter the mils of thofe very things which Cervantes himfelf confeft were, in the former, either Defects of Art or Liberties of the Artift in order to give his own Fancy an Airing and divert that of the Reader.

04. Amidft fo many and fuch juft Commendations both on account of Cervantes' 's admirable Invention, prudent Difpcfition and angular Eloquence ; as a Writer is but one, and his Readers many, and an Author's Thoughts being taken up in inventing, he fometimes is carry'd away by the Vivacity of his Fancy : And this being over- fruitful, the very multitude of Circumftances does it felf often occafion them to difa- gree with each other, and not co-incide exactly with the Time and Place wherein they are feign'd to be tranfacted j it is not much to be wonder'd at if Michael de Cervantes is fometimes found tardy in point of Probability and Chronology : In which he is not alone, but has Companions enow, ev'n as many as have hitherto publifh'd any Works of a diffufive Invention -, for in all fuch there are the like Overfights to be met with. Of this Cervantes himfelf was very fenfible, for having been cenfur'd for fome things he had written in his F 1 rs t Part, he own'd his Negligences in the Third and Fourth Chapters of his Second Part, where he retracted many of his Errors with the fame Franknefs with which he confeft them, and endeavcur'd to varnifh over others with fuch ingenious Excufes as make his very Apology a new and glorious fort of Confefiion. In fhort, his Genius was of fo noble and generous a" kind, that Were he now alive, and new Cenfures were paft upon him, had they been juft and well grounded, he would certainly have thought himfelf beholden to the Authors of

them.

o/j. Notwithstanding I am one of Cervantes'?, greatcft Admirers, nay the rather be- cause I am fo, I will be bold to fay that in fome Inftances he has exceeded the limits of Probability, and even touch'd the Borders of a manifeft Falfity. For in the fa- mous Combat between him and the Bifcayan, fuppofing that Bon Quixote fet upon bim with a full Refolution to kill him, it is by no means likely that the Bifcayan who muft have his Left hand ingag'd in the Reins of the Mule, fhou'd have time not only to draw his Sword with his Right, but to fnatch a Cufhion out of the Coach to ferve him inftead of a Shield, fince thofe who were in the Coach muft naturally be fup- pos'd to be fitting upon it, and if they were not, ftill 'tis difficult to conceive how the Bifcayan cou'd take the Cufhion fo expeditioufiy, confidering with what Fury Don Quixote rufht upon him. $6. Nei-

(a) That is, which may lick like Novels, as in truth they are.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. •- 1

q6. Neither does it fee m to me a whit more likely that C . in the 7\

the Curious Impertinent, fhou'd talk to her fell' fo much and fo loud as to by

Anfelmo, who was conceal'd in the "Wardrobe during that long Soliloquy. For tho' Dra- matic Writers introduce Soliloquies into their Plays, it is done with an intent that the Speflators may be made acquainted with the fecret Thoughts of the Pcrfons reprcfent- ed in the Play, and not that the Actors or Perfons introdue'd on the Stage fhou'd hear fuch Speeches, efpecially fuch prolix ones.

97. The Difcourfe of Sancho Panza to his Mailer Don Qjjixctc, related in Chap. VI1X. of the Second Part, certainly exceeds the Capacity of fo fimple and illiterate a I'd!

I will not charge Cervantes with the unlikelinefs of the following Affertion of his: (b) This Gines de PafTamonte, whom Don Quixote call'd Ginefillo de Parapiila, was the •very Man that fide Sancho'j Afs ; the manner of which Robbery, and the time when it was committed, being not inferted in the Firft Part, has been the reafon that feme People have laid that, which was cans' d by the Printer's negletl, to the Inadvertency of the Au- thor. But Wis beyond all Qneflion, that Gines ftole the Afs while Sancho fiept on bis Back, making ufe of the fame Trick and Artifice which Brunello praclis'd when he ca; ■ off Sacripante'i Horfe from under his Legs, at the Siege of Albraca ; but afterwards San- cho recovered his Afs again, as hath been related. I fay I will not lay it at Cervantes's door that this Invention feems rather poGible than probable > becaufe it is obvious Cer- vantes's aim in this was only to reprove fuch Authors who are wont to charge their own Errors on the Negligence of the Printers, without confidering that the Errors of the Prefs for the mod part confift only in a few Literals or Verbals and fometimes perhaps in omitting fome fmall Period. As for the manner how and the time when Ginefillo ftole the Afs ; it feems to me, if I don't very much miftake in my judgment of Cervantes's way of Thinking, his fole End was to ridicule the Fancy of dealing Sacripante's Horfe in that manner.

98. But I am at a lofs to excufe the fuppofing it poflible, that in a Town of Ar- ragon, of above a thoufand Inhabitants, a Mock-Government, as Sancho's was, fhou'd continue fo long as eight or ten Days. Whether this is likely, let the Arragonians fay. What I am certain of, is this, that there being in Arragon no Cavern half a League long, it is contrary to all Truth to fay Sancho Panza went thro' it fo far, till he ftopt at a Place where Don Qv.ix'Ae from above heard his Lamentations.

99. As little do I know how to excufe Cervantes's Saying (c) Fame and Tr

on had preferv'd in the Memoirs of La Mancha that Don Quixote after his third S.;!!y went to Saragofa, where he was prefent at certain famous Turnamcnts and met there with Occafions worthy the Exercife of his Valour and good Senfe ; and ai the fame Cervantes comes and fays in his Second Part that Don Quixote declared lie wou'd not fet his Foot in Saragofa, in order to make the modern Hiftorian (. . laneda) a Lyar, fince had he made him go to the Turnaments of Saragofa, he had only follow'd common Fame.

n 00. Another Overfight of Cervantes is his calling Sancho's Wife by the Name of Joan Gutierrez or Joan Panza, which is the fame thing, for in La Mancha, tho' not ' in other Parts of Spain, the Wives go by their Hucbands Surnames, and yet he

g 2 (b) Part II. cb. z~. (c) At tbeend of Part I.

52 The L I F E of

fault with the Arragoman Continuator for calling her by the Name of Gutierrez, tho' he himfelf likewife thro' his whole Second Part calls her Terefa Panza.

101. Befides, whoever wou'd take the pains to form a Diary of Don Qj/ixote's Sal- lies, will find Cervantes's Account pretty erroneous, and not conformable to the Ac- cidents and Adventures related.

101. In one thing Cervantes ought to be treated with fome Rigour, and that is in the Anachronifms or Retroceflions of time ; for having himfelf fo juftly reflected upon his Cotemporary Play-wrights in this particular, fuch Defects ought to be cenfured in him. I fhall point out fome of them.

103. But for the better Underftanding what I'm going to fay, it is neceffary to pre- mife, that it hath been the Cuftom of many who have publifh'd Books of Knight-Erran- try, in order to gain them Credit to fay that they were found in fuch a certain place, written in very ancient Characters difficult to read. Thus Garci-Ordonez de Montaho, Regidor of Medina del Campo, after he had faid, he had corrected the three Books of Amadh which thro' the Fault of bad Writers or Compofers were very much corrupt- ed and full of Errors, immediately added, that he had publifh'd thofe Books, tranf- lating and improving the Fourth Book with the Exploits of Efplandian AmadisV Son, which till then no Alan remembers ever to have feen or met with in any Memoirs ; that by great Good-luck it was difcover'd in a Stone-tomb, which, deep in the Earth, in a Her- mitage hard by Conftantinople, was found, and brvught by an Hungarian Merchant into Spain, wrote upon Parchment in a Letter fo old that it was fcarce legible by thofe who un- derflood the Language. Cervantes herein imitating Garci-Ordonez de Montalvo, fays : (d) By Good-fortune he had met with an ancient Phyfician, who had. a Leaden Box in his Piffeffion, which, as he ajfur'd me, was found in the Ruins of an old Hermitage, as it was rebuilding. In this Box were certain Scrolls of Parchment written in Gothick Cha- racters, but containing Verfes in //^Spanifh Tongue, in which many of his (Don Quixote'j) 'noble Ails were fung, and Dulcinea del Tobofo'j Beauty celebrated, Rozinante'j Figure defcrib'd, and Sancho Panza'j Fidelity applauded. They likewife gave an account of Don Quixote's Place of Burial, with feveral Epitaphs and Elogiums on his Life and Man- ners. Cervantes wrote this in the Year 1604, and printed it in the Year following. I leave it to the judicious Reader to determine the Age in which according to the afore- faid Circumftances Don Quixote muft be fuppos'd to have liv'd. An ancient Phyfici- an giving an account of the finding certain Parchments containing Epitaphs on Don Quixote •, that they were firft difcover'd under the Foundation of an old Hermitage, and written in Gothick Letters, the Ufe whereof was prohibited in Spain in the time of King Alonfo the Sixth ; are all (e) Circumftances which infer a diftance of fome Ages pa ft. And this very thing is fuppos'd in a Difcourfe of Don Quixote's, no lefs occultly Learned than agreeably Romantic : (/) Have you not read, cry'd Don Quixote, the Annals and Hiflory of Britain, where are regijler'd the famous Deeds of King Arthur, (King Artus in Spanifh Romances) who, according to an ancient Tradition in that Kingdom, ne- ver dfd, but was turn,d into a Crow by Inchantment, and foall one Day refume his former Shape, and recover his Kingdom again ? For. which reafon fince that time, the Peo- tle of Great Britain dare not offer to kill a Crow. In this good King's Time, the mod

Noble (d) Part J. ch. nit. (e) Rodoric. Toletanus, Lib. VI. c. 30. (/) Part I. ch. 15.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 53

Noble Order of the Knights of the Round Table was firfl inflitutcd, and then alfo the Amours between Sir Lancelot of the Lake and Queen Guinever were really tranfailcd, as that In - tcry relates ; they being managed and carry 'd on by the Mediation of that Honourable Ma- tron the Lady Quintafiona, which produced that Excellent Hiftory in Verfe fofung and ce- lebrated here in Spain :

There never was on Earth a Knight So waited on by Ladies fair,

As once was He Sir Lancelot hight, When firfl he left his Country dear : And the Reft, which gives fo delightful an Account both of his Loves and Feats cf Arms. From that Time the Order of Knighthood was delivered down from Hand to Hand, and has by degrees dilated and extended itfelf into mofl Parts of the World. Then -did the Great Amadis de Gaule fignaiize himfelfby Heroick Exploits, andfo did his Offspring to the fifth Generation. The Valorous Felix-Marte of Hyrcania then got immortal Fame, and undaunted Knight Tirante the White, (g) who never can be applauded to his Worth. Nay, had we but liv'd a little sooner, we might have been bleji with the Converfation of that invincible Knight, the Valorous Don Bel i an is of Greece. And this, Gentlemen, is that Order of Chivalry, which, as much a Sinner as I am, I profefs, with a due Obfervance of the Laws which thofe brave Knights obferv'd^Lcf ore me. If there- fore Don Quixote was fo near the Time in which Don Belianis of Greece and the other numerous Knights-Errant are feign'd to have liv'J, having referr'd them to the Ages immediately fucceeding the Origin of Chriftianity, as has been obferv'd and cenfur'd by the learned Author of the Dialogue of the Languages beforemention'd (h), it follows that Don Quixote de la Mancha muft be fuppos'd to have liv'd many Centuries 2go. How then comes Cervantes to talk of Coaches (i) being in Ufe in Den Quixote's time ? Sinci we are told by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo in the Second Part of the Officers of the Roy- al Houjhold that the Princefs Margaret when fhe came to be efpous'd to the Prince Don John, brought in the Ufe of Chariots or Coaches with four Wheels-, and when me return- ed again to Flanders a Widow, fuch fort of Carriages ceas'd, and Litters came again into play. And even in France itfelf, from whence we had this Fafbion, as almoft all others, the Ufe of Coaches is of no ancient date -, for John de Laval Boifdauphin of the Houfe of Memorancy, was the firfl Perfon who, towards the clofe of Francis the ill's Reign, made ufe of a Coach becaufe of his Corpulency which was fo exceflive he could not ride on Horfeback. In the Reign of Henry lid there were in the Court of Prance but two Coaches in all, one for the Queen his Confort, and another for his natural Daughter the Lady Diana. In the City of Paris, Chriftopher de Thou (Thuanus) being nominated Firft Prefident, was the Firft that had a Coach ; but he never went in it to the Royal Palace. Thefe Examples which either Grandeur or Neceflity firft introduced, were foon fo pernicioufly prevalent, that nothing could come up to the Vanity of them. As for Spain, Don Lorenzo Vander Hamin &f Leon writing upon this Subject in the Firfl Book of Don John of Auftria'j Life, has the following warm Expreffions : There came

Charles

(g) Cervantes himfelfby the Month of the Curate very much commends this Book as a Treafure of Delight, and a Mine ofPaflime. But Ludovicus Vives condemns it, and all others of the fame Stamp. (7 j Page 161. (/; Part I. ch. 8, 9, and Part II. ch. 36, &c. &c.

54- 7& LIFE of

Charles Pubeft a Servant cf Charles the Vth. King and Emperor, in a Coach cr Chariot, fitch as are ufed in tbcfe Province: : A i ling very rarely feen in thefe Kingdoms. Whole Cities ran out tojlare at it, fo little known was this fort of Pleafure at that Time. For then oily made ufe cf Carts drawn by Oxen, and in than were often feen riding themcfl colifi- derable Pcrfons even of the (.curt. Don John (for example) went feveral Times to vifit the Church of our Lady dc Reg'.a (the Loretto of Andaluzia) in one of theje Wains or Carts in Company with the Dutchefs of Medina. This was the Prailice cf that Time. But with- in a few Tears (tbrcefcore and ten or thereabouts) it was found necejfary to prohibit Coaches by a Royal Proclamation. To fitch a Height was this infernal Vice got, which has done fo much Mifchief to Caftile. In order to paint forth this Abufe, Cervantes brings in Terefa Panza, Wife to a poor labouring Man, expreffing mighty hopes of riding in a Coach, purely upon the conceit of her Husband's being Governor of the Ifland Barataria. In like manner, to ridicule fome Doctors Degrees which were conferred in his Time, and which ought to have been beftowed on fuch as were Men of Learning but were far from being fo, he mentions fome Licentiates who were Graduated in the Univerfities of Siguenza and Offuna in Bon Quixote's Time, whereas the Univerfity of Siguenza was (by advice of Cardinal Ximenez) erected by John Lopez de Medina, Privy Counfellor to Henry IVth and his Envoy at Rome about the Year 1500. Later yet, in 1548, the Univerfity of Offuna was founded, with Charles Vth's and Pope Paul Illd's Approba- tion, by Don John Tellez de Circn, Condi de Urena. Had Cervantes liv'd in thefe our Days ; he would have faid much more upon this Article of Degrees. But let Don Di- ego de Saavedra in his Republica Literaria be his Commentator.

104. It is likewife an Inadvertency to allude, (as he does) in the fuppos'd Time of Don Quixote, to the Council of Trent which began to fit in 1544, under the Pontificate cf Paul I lid. and broke up in Pope Piu> i Vth's Time.

105. Cervantes likewife makes the Curate fpeak of America before Americus Vefpufius, the Florentine, (in 1497) had fet his Foot in it, and call'd it by his Name, being in that re- fpect more happy than Chriftopher Columbus the Genoefe, who firfr. difcover'd it in 1492.

106. Neither ought he to have mention'd Fernand Cortes, ortalk'tof the Nimblenefs of the Mexican Jockeys in mounting a Horfeback, before ever Cortes, who conquer'd Mexi- co, breathed Vital Air, and before there were any Horfes in that Country. He like- wife names the famous Hill of Potcfi before its pro' igious Veins of Silver were difcover'd by that barbarous mighty Hunter. Neither ought the Word Cacique (fignifying a petty King) which carm: from Hifpanioia have been put into the Mouth of fuch an ignoramus as Sancho Panza.

107. Again, the Art of Printing being fo recent an Invention, it fhou'd not have been fuppofed to be known in Don Quixote's Time, nor ought mention to have been made of fo many Modern Authors, both Foreigners and Spaniards. Foreigners, Ari- cllo, * Merino, Sannazario, Lofrafo, a Sardinian Poet, Pclidore Virgil and others.

Among

* Cervantes fays, Verino died Florentibus Annis. He died otij, rather than take his Phyftciam 'ice, which was a J'/ifi. Poiitian made ihefolhwing Epitaph on this very learned Youth and excel- lot al Poet of Florence:

Sola Venus pcterat lento fuccurrere morbo, 7 J Venus alone his few Difeafe cou'd cure:

Ne fe pollueret, maluit ille* Mori. J \ But He choft Death, rather than Life not Pure.

Michael d e Cervantes Saavedra. 55

Among the Spaniards Garci-laffo de la Vega, whom he fomctimcs comments E at other times quotes his Verics (k) without naming him, and at other timfs clearly to him. (/) Of John Bo/can, a Poet Co-temporary with, and much a Friend of Garci-laffo, Don Quixote fays, (m) Old Bofcan call'.: . . 1 he

mifbkes, many ways, by calling him the Old or Am , and by alluding to

Garci-lajfo 'de la Vega's Firft Eclogue.

108. Don Qiiixote himfelf, fpeaking very juftly of the common misfortune attending Tranflations, highly commends that of Paftor Fido done by Doctor Chriftophcr I

and alfo that of Amintas done by Don John de Jauregui. Now the Reader mud k that Doctor Suarez de Figueroa publifh'd Cuariui's Pa/lor Fido, in Valencia, Anno 1609, printed by Pedro Patricio Mey ; and Don John de Jauregui, Taffs Aminlas, in Seville, printed by Francifco Lira, Anno 161 8. in 4/0.

109. Again, a Shepherdefs, in difcourfe with Don Quixote, anticipately in point of time, names Camoens, and extolls him as a moft excellent Poet even in his own P' guefe Tongue. («) Pier Words are thefe : We and fome other Shepherdeffes have gel Eclogues by heart ; one of* the famous Garci-laffo, and the other of the moft excellent Ca- moens in his own Language the Portugueze. Which is the fame thing as condemning the Spanijh Tranflations by Louis Gomez de Tapia, and others : whereas it is not pcflibk for two fuch refembling Dialects of one and the fame Language to be equal in Diction and' Harmony.

110. In the celebrated Sixth Chapter of the Firft Part, fuppofing the Scrutiny to be in Don Quixote's time, there are Criticifms made on the Works of George de Montem

Gil Polo, Lopez Maldonado, Don Alonfo de Ercilla, John Rufo, Chriftcpher de i and ev'n on the Galatea of Cervantes himfelf.

in. He likewife mentions (0) the Works of the famous Bifliop of Avila, Don Alonfo Toftado {Toftatus,) a native of Madrigal, from whence he chofe to be flyled. He was born about the Year 1400, and dy'd in Bonilla de la Sierra the 3d of September 1 (p) He cites Diofccrides illuftrated by Doctor Laguna, printed at Salamanca, Anno 1586 ; and the Proverbs of the Commendary Greigo, publifh'd in the fame City, Anno 1 • He quotes in like manner Villalpandd' s Summv.lae, (q) whereas Doctor Gafpar, Cardinal de Villalpando printed them at Alcala Anno 1599.

112. The Books which Cervantes cenfur'd without naming the Authors, aimed all of 'cm his Co-a?taneans, are very numerous. I fhall only point out a few.

113. Speaking of the Tranflation of Arlof.o, done by Geronimo de U>

printed at Lyons in 4TO. by William Roville, Anno 1556. Cervav.tes makes the C fay, I cou'd willingly have excused the good Captain who tranftated it that Trouble < tempting to make himfpeak Spanifh, for he has deprived him of a great deal of his primitive Graces ; a Misfortune incident to all thqfe who prefume to tranflate Verfes, Jince their v.t- moft Wit and Induflry can never enable 'em to preferve the native Beauties and Genius ■ Jhine in the Original. From whence may be inferr'd how much more infipid were the

two

(k) Part II. eh. 6, £cc. (1) Ibid. ch. S. and 18. (m) Ibkl. eh. 67. Cervantes here puns upon likenefs beiivixt Bofcan and Bofque, which is Spanifh or rather Gothick for a Grove of Ti whence perhaps our Word Bufh.) Nemus in Lar'n (from . s Nemorofo above) means the fame.

(n) Part II. eh. c8. (0) Part II. eh. 3. (p) Toftatus writ 1 nd fo well, that it is ad/. .

how the Life of Man cou'd reach to it. Stevens'* Did. (q) Part I. ch. 47.

56 lie L I F E of

two Tranflations done in Prole, and publifh'd by two Toledians ; one, nam'd Fernando de Alcocer, Anno 1510. the other Diego Vafquez de Contreras, Anno 1585. Both of 'em as Wretched as Faithful Interpreters of Ariofto, to a Letter. Farther on, the Curate fpeaking of the three Diana's, viz. that of George de Montemayor, which contains the Firfi and the Secon d Part, publifh'd at Madrid by Louis Sanchez, Anno 1545. in 1 2ves. That done by Alphonfo Perez, Doctor of Phyfick, known by the Name of Salmantino {the Salamancan) publifh'd at Alcala, Anno 1564. in 8vo. and Laftly, that of Gafpar Gil Polo, printed at Valencia, Anno 1564. The Curate, I fay, fpeaking of the three Diana1 % fays thus : Since we began with the Diana of Montemayor, I am of opinion we ought not entirely to burn it, but only take cut that Part of it which treats of the Magician Felicia and the inchanted Water, as alfo all the longer Poems ; and let the Work efcape with its Profe, and the Honour of being the Firfi of that Kind. Here's another Diana, quoth the Barber, The Second of that Name, by Salmantino; nay, and a Third too, by Gil Polo. Pray, faid the Curate, let Salmantino increafe the Number of the Criminals in the Yard ; but as for that of Gil Polo, preferve it as charily, as //"Apollo himfelf had wrote it. A little farther the Barber fays again : Thefe that fellow are the Shepherd of Iberia, the Nymphs of Henares, and the Cure of Jealoufy. Then there's no more to do, faid the Curate, but to deliver them up to the fecular Arm of the Houfe-Keeper, and do not ask Wherefore, for then we fhou'd never have done. As for the Author of the Cure of Jealoufy, 1 know not who he was. The Shepherd of Iberia was written by Bernardo de la Vega, a native of Madrid, Canon of Tucuman in South America ; it was printed Anno i$gi in Svo. The Author of the Nymphs and Shepherds of Henares was Bernard Perez de Bobadilla, it was publifh'd Anno 1587 in Svo. Cervantes alluding to thefe two Cenfures, and defiring the World fhould know that in The Voyage to Parnajfus (in which he brings in almofl all the Poets in Spain) he had beflowed Praifes on feveral according to popular report ; he introdue'd a Poet that was diffatisfy'd, upbraiding him with omitting thefe two Poets and for Cenfuring them as he has done above. The faid Poet falls upon Cervantes in this manner : (r)

'Tis true, Barbarian, Thou haft juflly prai/d

Some few ; and ethers as unjuftly rais'd

High as the Heav'ns, who in Oblivion lay

Nor faw the Moon by Night, or Sun by Day.

The Great Bernard thou haft of Fame beguiN,

Iberia'i Shepherd, from la Vega flyl'd.

The Nymphs and Shepherds of Henares Banks

For thy ill Ufage owe thee little Thanks. Cervantes in the latter part of his Poem has brought upon the Stage the beforemen- tioned Bernardo de la Vega ; but he has put him among the bad Poets, in thefe terms :

Late came Iberia'j Shepherd to the Mufter,

And with his Wit and Strength made heavy Blufter. 114. In profecuting the Scrutiny of Don Quixote's Books, the Barber fays : The next is the Shepherd of Filida. He's no Shepherd, return' d the Curate, but a very Difcrete Courtier (meaning Louis Galvez de Montalvo, who publifh'd his Shepherd of Filida at

Madrid,

(>•) Inch. IF. of thiVojage ^.PamafTus.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 57

Madrid, Anno 1582.) Keep him as a precious Jewel. Here's a much bigger Volume cry'd the Barber^ call'd, The Treafure of divers Poems. Had there been fewer of them, faid the Curate, they would have been more Efteem'd. 'Tis ft the Book fhou'd be pruned and clear'd offeveral Trifles that difgrace the reft. Keep it however, becaufe the Author is my very good Friend, and for the Sake of his other mere Hcroick and Sublime Produtlions- This is Fr. Pedro Padilla, a Native of Linares, a Carmelite Monk, and once, as is re- ported, a Knight of the Order of St. James. Among other Poetical Works, he pub- lifh'd a Song- Book, in which are contain'd fome martial Events of the Spanifh Arms in Flanders. It was printed at Madrid by Francifco Sanchez, Anno 1583. in 8vo. And Michael de Cervantes wrote (ome Laudatory Verfes on the Author of it.

115. In the clofe of the Scrutiny, Cervantes fays: At loft the Curate grewfo tired with prying into fo many Volumes, that he ordered all the reft to be burnt at a Venture. But the Barber fhew'd him one which he had open'd by chance e'er the dreadful Sentence was pafs'd. Truly, faid the Curate, who faw by the Title 'twas the Tears of Angelica, / /hould have wept my felf, had I cans' d fuch a Book to fliare the Condemnation of the reft ; for the Author was not only one of the beft Poets in Spain, but in the whole World, and tranftated fome ofOvid'j Fables with extraordinary Succefs. I take it, this refers to Cap- tain Francifco de Aldana, Alcaide (t. c. Governor) of San Sebaftian, who bravely died in Africa, fighting againft the Moors, whofe glorious Death was celebrated in Octave Rhimes by his Brother Cofmo de Aldana, Gentleman-Umer to Philip II. in the begin- ning of his Sonnets and Octaves, which were printed at Milan, Anno 1587. in 8vo. This Cofmo de Aldana printed all the Works he could find of his Brother Francifco, at Madrid, at the Printing-houfe of Louis Sanchez, Anno 1590, in 8vo. and having af- terwards pickt up many more, he publifh'd a Second Part at Madrid, printed by P. Madrigal, in 1591, in 8vo. Of this Francifco de Aldana his Brother Cofmo fays, he tranflated into blank Verfe Ovid's Epiftles, and compos'd a Work intituled Angelica, and Medoro, in innumerable Octaves : which were never printed, as not being to be found •, by means of thefe two Works we come to know that Cervantes intended Fran- cifco de Aldana, and not Louis Barahona de Soto, of whofe compofing we have twelve Canto's of the Angelica, in purfuance of Ariofto's Invention. Of this Poem Don Diego de Saavedra Fajardo fpeaks, in his admirable Repv.blica Literaria. And now with grea- ter Luftre appear' d Louis de Barahona, a learned Man, and of a lofty Spirit ; but he Jhared the Fortune of Aufonius : he had no Body to advife with. And fo he gave Reins to his Fancy, without dny Moderation or Art. A Character which argues likewife that this was not the Poet on whom Cervantes beftow'd fuch unbounded Praifes. Our Author in the next Chapter proceeds thus : Upon Don Quixote'* loud Outcry they left further Search into the Books, and therefore 'tis thought the Carolea, and Leo of Spair, with the Famous Deeds of the Emperor, written by Don Louis de Avila, which doubt- lefs zvere there, were committed to the Flames, unfeen and unheard ; for if the Curate had found them, they would perhaps have received a more favourable Sentence. The Carolea, Cervantes here fpeaks of may be that which Hieronimo Sempere printed at Valencia Anno 1560. in 8vo. But I'm more inclin'd to believe it to be that publifht zX.Lt. Anno 1585, by John Ochoa de Lafalde, in regard Cervantes, in his Voyage to Pa; fus, fpeakingofthe Lift of the Poets giv'n him by Mercury, lays thus:

Vol. L h 7

58 The LIFE of

I took the Lift of Names, and, at the head, That of my Friend John de Ochoa, read: As true a Pest as a Chriflian, He ■

1 1 6. The Author of Leo of Spain was Pedro de la Vecilla Caftellanos, a Native of Leon, who publifh'd his Poem and other Works, in Salamanca, Anno 1586. in 8vo. The Commentaries of Charles the Vth's Wars in Germany, had for its Author Don Louis de Avila i Zuniga, chief Commendary of Alcantara, a Perfon in great Efteem with the Emperor, and highly celebrated by the Prime Wits and ableft Penmen of that Age.

1 1 7. Thefe Anachronifms or Tnconfiftencies in refpect of Chronology relating to Men of Learning are more than fufficient : Thofe committed by Cervantes in relation to Men of the Swcrd were likewife not a few; for he fuppofes that there was already written in Den Quixote's Age, the (f) Hiftory of the great Captain Hernandez de Cor- dova, together with the Lite of Diego Garcia de Paredes ; whereas the former dy'd in Granada the 2d of December, 151 5. of a Quartan Ague (/) (to him fatal) in the 62d year of his Age; and the latter dy'd aged 64, in the Year 1533. and the Chronicles of 'em both were printed in Alcala de Henares, by Herman Ramirez, Anno 1584. in Folio.

118. He likewife introduces the Captive talking of the Famous Duke of Aha, Don Ferdinand de Toledo, going over to Flanders.

119. The fame Captive adds that he went along with him, and ferv'd under him in all his Enterprizes : that he was prefent at the Executions of the Counts Egmont and Horn and came to be an Enfign to a famous Captain of Guadalaxara, nam'd Diego de Urbina : He fpeaks of the Ifland of Cyprus being taken from the Venetians by the Turks in 1571 •, as likewife of the League between the Holy Pontiff Pius V. and Spain againft the Common Enemy of Chrijlendom, and that Don John of Aujlria, natural Brother to Philip the lid was General of that Holy League. He fays he was in the famous Sea-fight of Lepanto in quality of a Captain of Foot, which Battle was fought and won by the Chrifiians the 7th of Oclober, 1 572. He fays that Uchali King of Al- giers, a brave and bold Pirate, having boarded and taken the Admiral Galley of Malta, there' being only three Knights left alive in it, and they much wounded, John Andrea Doria\ Ship in which he (the Captive) was with his Company, bearing up to fuccour the faid Admiral, he (the Captive) leap'd into the Enemy's Galley, which /hearing off from the other that had layd her on Board, prevented his Men from following him, and fo he was left alone amidft his Enemies, who were too numerous to be withflood, and confequently taken Prifoner very much wounded. A little farther, he celebrates Don Alvaro de Bazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz. He gives a very particular Account how two Years afterwards the Turks re-took the Goleta and a little Fort or Tower Don John had built near Tunis, in the Middle of a Lake where Don John de Zamguera, a Gentleman of Valencia and notable Soldier Commanded, who furrender'd upon Ar- ticles. He fays Don Pedro Puertocarrero General of Goleta was taken and dy'd for

Grief

fp Part I. cb. 32, kc. (t) By this Parenthefis, the Author feims to have an Eye to the Spanifli Prwerb, Por Quartana, nunca fe tafid Campana. A Bell was never rung for a Quartan Ague, that is, People do not die of it.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 59

Grief in his way to Conftantinople : That many Perfons of Note were kiil'd, and among them Pagan Doria the generous Brother of the renown'd John Andrea Dor'u ; and that among thofe who were made Prifoners was Don Pedro de Aguilar, a Gentleman of Audaluzia, who was an Enfign, and likewife a very brave and ingenious Man, and one who had a rare Talent in Poetry.

120. In another Place he highly commends the Slillellos as fharp as an Awl, of Ramon de Hozes the Sevillian Cutler's making who liv'd in Cervanta's own Time. I Ie likewife mentions the Story of the Scholar Toralvas being hoifted into the Air a Morfe- back on a Reed by the Devil, with his Eyes fhut, and fo carry'd in twelve Hours to Rome, and fct down at the Tower of Nona, which is in one of the Streets of that City > and that he faw there the dreadful Tumult, the Afftult and Death of the Conftable of Bourbon, and next Morning found himfelf at Madrid, where he related the whole Story. He likewife names that arrant Chea. * Andradilla. And after the fame a ner our Author brings in many others whofe Memory was very recent in his own Time. Was there ever fuch a firing of Anachronifms !

121. But they don't end here. Cervantes fays (*) that Don Quixote met with a Com- pany offtrolling Players, who had on Corpus Chrijii Day, in the Morning, been acting a Play call'd the Parliament cr Cortes of Death, and were going forward to another Town to play it over again in the Afternoon ; and herein he is worthy of Cenfure for fuppofing the Reprefentation of Devout- Plays in Don Quixote's Time •, fince 'tis certain, in thofe Days there was no fuch thing as Farce-playing, efpecially in folemn Ftflivak, neither indeed was it at all conformable to the Gravity of the Ancient Manners.

121. He likewife fuppofes the practice of cooling Liquors with Snow, (x) whereas 'tis certain Paulo Jarquies, (who liv'd in Philip the II Id's Time) was the firfl Author or Inventor of the Tax upon Wells where Snow was kept ; the manner of keeping it and ufing it having been, before that, introdue'd into Spain by Don Louis de Cafelvi, Gentleman-Taller to the Emperor Charles Vth, of whom (jy) Gafpar Efcolano, ex- prefling himfelf his ufual way, writes thus': (2) To this Gentleman is Spain indebted for the Knowledge of keeping Snow in Houfes (by Houfes he means Wells) in the M -where it falls, as likewife the practice of cooling Water with Snow. For no ether Means for doing this, but by Salt-petre, being generally known, he was the 'firft that brought .' into Ufe, in the City of Valencia -, which, befides being very delicious, is of a v0od

EffebJ in Lethargies, Spotted- Fevers, Peflilential Calentures, and other moft Dis-

orders, cccafion'd by exceffive Heat in Summer time, and as fuch the ufe of it fpred itfelf by degrees all over Spain : And ever fince that Time, we of Valencia have always call'd that Gentleman by the name of Don Luis de la Nieve ; that is, Mr. Snow.

123. San Diego de Alcala and San Salvador de Orta were beatified in Philip the 1 1 Id's Time, and in allufion to this fays Sancho to Don Quixote : (a) And let me te.'l you, Sir, 2~efterday or t'other Day, for fo I may fay, it being not long fince, there were two i footed Friars Canoniz'd or Sainted; and you can' t think how many poor Creatures th

h 2

6o The L I F E of

tbemfelves happy but to kifs or touch the Chains with which they girt and tormented their Bodies, and I dare fay they are more reverenced, than is Orlando'; Sword in the Armory of our Sovereign Lord the King.

1 24. In the Reign of Philip II Id the General of the Gallics of the Indies was Don Pedro rich, a Valcncian Gentleman, whom Cervantes highly extolled in his Novel of the two Ladies, and pointing to this Perfonage, on occafion of relating Don Quixote's, entring one of the Gallics, he fays : (b) The General, forfo we mufi call him, by Birth a Valencian, and a Man of Quality, gave him his Hand, and embracing him, faid, this Day will I mark as one of the happiejl I expeil to fee in all my Life, fince I have the Honour now to fee Signor Don Quixote de la Mancha.

125. The laft Edict for the Expulfion of the Morifcd's out of Spain, was publifh'd in the Year 1611, and yet Cervantes introduces a Morifco nam'd Ricote, making (c) the Encomium of Don Bernardino de Felafco, Count of Salazar, to whom Philip the Hid had committed the Care of feeing thofe Morifco's expell'd.

126. But why do I ftand heaping up Anachronifms, when Don Quixote's whole Hif- tory is full of 'em? I mail conclude with faying that Sancho Panza dated his Letter to his Wile Terefa Panza on 20th June 1614, the very Day perhaps on which Cervantes

wrote it.

127. But notwithftanding all this I am far from faying that Michael de Cervantes de Saavedra is abfolutely inexcufable : For, as in the very beginning of his Hiftory he fays that Don Quixote liv'd not long fince in a Village of La Mancha, fo he afterwards follow'd the Thread of this firft Fiction, and having forgot it at the End of his Hiftory, he propos'd to imitate Garci Ordonez de Montalvo in the forecited Place, and lb antici- pated the Time Don Qv.ixote liv'd in. And then this will be the only Inadvertency he is guilty of-, or to fay better, Don Quixote is a Man of all Times, and a true Image and Reprefentative of Ages paft, prefent and to come ; and accordingly is adaptable to all Times and Places. And tho' perhaps the fevereft Criticks will not allow of this Ex- cufe, they will not at leaft deny that thefe'Negligences, and others, which it were eafy to add, of wrong allufions and equivocations, which are apt to abound in a Mind fome- what abftnifted °nd drawn off by an over-attentivenefs to the Grand Defign, I fay, it will not be deny'd that they are aton'd for and recompene'd by a thoufand Perfecti- ons •, fince it may with Truth be averr'd that the whole Work is the Happieft and Fine'ft Satir that has hitherto been written againft all Sorts of People.

128. For, if we attend to the Scope and Defign of the Work, Who cou'd have thought that by the means of one Book of Chivalry, all the reft fliould be banifh'd out of the World ? But fo it was, for, writing as Cervantes did from his own Invention, and in all the agreeable Varieties of Stile, he was entirely fingle without a Rival in this kind of Writing as one who thoroughly knew wherein the reft of the Writers had err'd, and perfectly fenfible how thofe Failings of theirs might be avoided, fully fatisfying at the fame time the Tafte of every Reader, and he never better manifefted the Great- nefs of his Notions, than when, by the Mouth of the Canon of Toledo, he fpoke in the following manner : (d) " Believe me, Mr. Curate, I am fully convine'd, that " thefe they call Books of Chivalry, are very prejudicial to the Publick, And tho' I

" have

(b) Part II. ch. 63. (c) Part II. cb. 65. {d) Part I. ch. 47.

.Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 6i

" have been led away by an idle and falfe Pleafure, to read the Beginnings of almoft •' as many of them as have been printed, I could never yet perfuade myfelf to go through " with any one to the End ; for to me they all fcem'd to contain one and the fame " thing ; and there is as much in one of them as in all the rtft. The whole Compofiti- «* on and Stile of 'em, in my Opinion, very much refemblcs that of the M! ties,

" and are a fort of (<?) idle Stories, defign'd only for Diverfion, and not for ln- «' ftruftion ; it is not fo with thofe Fables which are call'd Apologues, that at once " delight and inftruct. But tho' the main Defign of fuch Books is to pleafe ; yet I " cannot conceive how it is pofTible they fhould perform it, being fill'd with fuel i " multitude of unaccountable Extravagancies. For the Pleafure which ftrikes «' Soul, muft be deriv'd from the Beauty and Congruity it fees or conceives in I *' things the Sight or Imagination lays before it, and nothing in it felf deform'd or " incongruous can give us any real Satisfaction. Now what Beauty can there be, or " what Proportion of the Parts to the whole, or of the whole to the feveral Parts, in " a Book, or Fable, where a Stripling at fixteen Years of Age at one Cut of a Sword " cleaves a Giant, as tall as a Steeple, thro' the middle, as eafy as if he were made *' of Pafte-board ? Or when they give us a Relation of a Battle, having fai 1 the Ene- " my's Power confifted of a Million of Combatants, yet, provided the Mcro of the " Book be againft them, we muft of neceffity, tho' never fo much againft our Incli- " nation, conceive that the faid Knight obtain'd the Victory only by his own Va- " lour, and the Strength of his powerful Arm? And what fhall we fay of the great " Eafe and Facility with which an abfolute Queen or Emprefs cads herfelf into the " Arms of an Errant and Unknown Knight? What Mortal, not altogether barbarous ** and unpolifh'd, can be pleas'd to read, that a great Tower full of arm'd Knighrs, " cuts thro' the Sea like a Ship before the Wind ; and fets out in the Evening from " the Coaft of Italy, lands by Break-of-day in Prejlor John's Country, or in fome " other, never known to Ptolemy or difcover'd by .(/) Columbus ? If it fhou'd be an- " fwer'd, that thofe Perfons who compos'd thefe Books writ them as confelVd Lyes ; " and therefore are not oblig'd to obferve Niceties, or have regard to Truth, 1 fhaH " make this reply, That Falfhood is fo much the more commendable, by how much " it more refembles Truth, and is. the more'pleafing the more it is doubtful and pcf- "• fible. Fabulous Tales ought to be fuited to the Reader's Underftanding, being fo " contriv'd, that all Impoffibilities ceafing, all great Accidents appearing eafy, and *' the Mind wholly hanging in fufpence, they may at once furprize, aftonifh, pleafe " and divert ; fo that Pleafure and Admiration may go hand in hand. This cannot " be perform'd by him that flies from Probability and Imitation, which is the Perfection, " of what is written. I have not yet feen any Book of Knight-Errantry, that com- " pofes an entire Body of a Fable with all its Parts, fo that the Middle is anfwerable *' to the Beginning, and the End to the Beginning and Middle ; but on the contrary, " they form them of fo many Limbs, that they rather fecm to defign a Chimera or

" Monfter,

(e) As they had been mavafd before Cervantes. (f) Cervantes has it Marcus P.

Chriftopher Columbus. Marcus Pauhw was a Venetian, and a very great Traveller. He I'rSd in tht i-,th Century, 1272. He had travell'd over Syria Perfia, and the Indies. An Account of his vcls has betn printed, and one of his Books is intituled, De Regionibus Orientis.

62 the L I F E of

" Monfter, than a well-proportion'd Figure. Befides all this, their Stile is uncouth, " their Exploits incredible, their Love immodeft, their Civility impertinent, their " Battles tedious, their Language abfurd, their Voyages and Journey ings prepoflerous ; " and in fhort, they are altogether void of folid Ingenuity, and therefore fit to be banifh'd " a Chriftian Commonwealth, as ufelefs and prejudicial. " Cou'd there poflibly be a ftronger, or more judicious Satire againft Writers of Knight-Errantry ?

129. And then the particular Criticifms made by him on their refpective Works were no lefs accurate than pleafant, as may be feen in the Sixth Chapter of his Firji Part, and in many more, (g) With how much Artifice or Banter, if I may ufe that Word, does he explode the Stile of thofe who preceded him in this kind of Compo- fition, by making Don Quixote fay, that when the Hiftory of his famous Achieve- ments fhall be given to the World, the learned Author will begin it thus : " (h) Scarce *' had the ruddy-colour'd Phosbus begun to fpread the golden TrefTes of his lovely " Hair over the vaft Surface of the earthly Globe, and fcarce had thofe feather'd " Poets of the Grove, the pretty painted Birds, tuned their little Pipes, to fing their " early Welcomes in foft melodious Strains, to the beautiful Aurora, who having left " her jealous Husband's Bed, difplay'd her rofy Graces to mortal Eyes from the " Gates and Balconies of the Horizon of La Mancha, when the renowned Knight " Don Quixote de la Mancha, difdaining foft Repofe, forfook the voluptuous Down, " and mounting his famous Steed Rozinante, enter 'd the ancient and celebrated Plains " of Montiel.

130*" Cervantes exhibits fo lively a Picture of the Vices of the Mind of other Wri- ters, as well as of their Works, that nothing can be added to it. In the Preface to his Firft Part, *which tho' never fo often read, has always the Charms of Novelty ; with what a fmile in his Countenance does he lafh thofe who wanting Learning affecT: Eru- dition in the Margins of their Books, burfting themfelves to appear learned : As if a variety of Quotations argu'd any thing more than a tumultuary confus'd reading, or the thumbing over a Common-place-book. Others as impertinently thruft their Cita- tions into the Work it felf, imagining that if they quote Plato or Arif.otle, the Readers will be fo foolifh as to think they have read them. Others having fcarce faluted the Latin Tongue, value themfelves much upon their coming out now and then with their fine Latin Phrafes. Thefe Don Quixote had a fling at, when upon an occafion of fpeaking to Sancho Panza, he bid him (i) net be concerned at leaving Rozinante and Dapple there, for the Sage that was to carry them thro' remote Ways and Regions of fitch Longitude, would be fare to trke care they Jbould want nothing. I under/land not your Rations, quoth Sancho ; nor have I ever heard fuch a Word as Lowndfy-chewd in all my life. Regions, faid Don Quixote, is the fame with Countries: and Longitude means Length: [don't wonder thou dofi not under/land thofe Words, fnce thou art not obliged to ind Latin, tho' there are ti pretend to knew much of it, whereas

know no more of the m ban thou doft. For this reafon, Cervantes, who piqu'd

himfelf on his being perfect Mafter of the Spanifli Tongue, tho' not of the Latin, (which requires an Application and Exercife of many Years) brings in Urganda the

unknown,

(g) Cb. 32. and 47. • [h) Part I. cb. 2. (/) Part II. e. z9.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, C3

unknown, fpeaking to his Book, as if the Author, tho' thoroughly vers'd in the ■] refus'd to fpeak Latin, becaufc he cou'd not do it fo well as John Latino.

131. This John Latino was an Ethiopian, at firft a SKu • hoof Fellow at the Grammar- School, with Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, Duke oiW n of the Great Captain •, and afterwards his Freed-man, and Matter oi

Church oi Granada.

132. In like manner Cervantes ridicul'd the impertinent Remarks of Tranflators, when he wrote the fubfequent Words : (/j Cid Hamet, Compiler cf this fan: >y, begins this Chapter ivith this Affeveralion, L fwcar like a true C i

lator explains thus, That Cid' 's /wearing like a true Catholick, tho' he was a Moor, is r.o ctherwife to be underflocd, than that as the Catholicks, when tbey Jwear, do or ought to (wear the Truth, fo did he, when he fwore like a true Catholick) to be faithful in t he intended to write of Don Quixote.

133. In another place, fpeaking of Don Quixote, he fays: (m) Some fay his Surname was Quixada or Quefada, for Authors differ a little in this Par - we may reafonably conjeclure he was called Quixada. By which, I fancy, Cervantes means to reflect on the Impertinence of many who are fondly folicitous to heap up various Readings, only to fliew how ingenious they are at frivolous Conjectures.

134. Thefe Writers therefore, and fuch like, are thofe whom Cervantes reflects up- on, when he fays in his Preface they are very anxious to procure Approbations from their Friends, or to make them themfelves, the better to fatisfy their own Ambition of Applaufe. Tho' fome grave, fober Writers, who know how great an Effect an ex- trinfic Authority will work upon half-witted People, do fometimes fufFer .theml^lves to be carry'd away either by a Thirft after Glory, or in Compliance with the Intreaties and Courtefy of their Friends, and are themfelves the Coiners of the Encomiums that are made on their own Performances : As I fufpect to have been the Cafe of Father John de Mariana in almoft all his Works, and of Cervantes himfelf in his Second Part of Don Quixote de la Mancha.

135. Befides Writers, not ev'n Readers have been exempted from our Author's Cen- fure. Among others I am not a little pleas'd with that he made on thofe who write down ridiculous Notes in the Margins of their Books, fuch as that marginal Note writ- ten in the Arabian Hiftory, which when expounded in Spanifa ran thus: (;;) This Dul- cinea del Tobofo, fo many limes fpoken of in this Hiftory, had the befl Hand at pi Pork, of any Woman in all La Mancha.

136. Not only thofe who write and read amifs, met with his juft Reprimands, butli'.c- wife thofe who fpeak amifs. And this I think he had an Eye to in thofe words of the Bifcaynet : (o) Get gone thou Knight, and Devil go with thai ; or by he who me

create, if thou do not leave Coach, I will kill thou, asfure as lis a Bifcayner. Don

Quixote who made fhift to ur.derftand him well enough, very, calmly made him this Anfwer. Wert thou (p) a Knight or Gentleman, as thou art net, e'er this I would have tis'd thy Folly and Temerity, thai inconftderable Mortal. What ! me no Gentle/.

ply'd the BUcayner ; Lfwearyou be a Liar, as I be a Chriflian. If thou the Lance threw

away,

(I) Part II. ck 27. (m) Part I. ch. r. {n) Part I. ch. 9. (0) Part I. ch. 8. M Ca-

vallero in bpamlh figmftes a (jcntleman as well as a Knight,

64 lie LIFE of

away, and thy Sword draw, thou Jhalt foon who and who fee is together : I will of thee no more make than of Moufe does a Cat : * the Water we will foon fee who will to the Cat carry : Bifcayner by Land, Gentleman by Sea, Gentleman in fpight of Devil, and thou lyeft if thou Other fayeft Thing. Here we plainly fee how much a Language is disfi- gured, and the Senfe confounded, by a tranfpos'd and difturb'd placing of the Words: a Fault common to all old Books written in Spanifi, as more immediately fucceeding to the Latin Origin : a Fault likewife which Cervantes himfelf is not free from in his Galatea ; which yet may be avoided by following the Cuftom of fpeaking: But as this Cuftom is not founded on a perfect Analogy, but has for Rules many Irregularities, hence it proceeds that there's no fpeaking or writing with an exact Propriety, without hav- ing thoroughly ftudy'd the Grammar of our Mother Tongue, as was the practice of the Greeks and Romans, Nations which fpoke the beft and moft accurately of any in the whole World. But fince this is not the Ufage in Spain, there have been but very few that have written with Purity and Correctnefs.

137. I omit that Cervantes would likewife teach us by the Mouth of Don Quixote, that a Country or Province may have its Privileges and Immunities, without Diftinc- tion of Perfons ; and that true Nobility, in the Opinion of all Mankind, confifts in Virtue, and that thofe will always be moft "glorious who make themfelves illuftrious by Worthy, Generous and Heroick Actions. Upon which Subject in another place, (q) he makes an excellent Difcourfe, (hewing the difference between fome Knights and Gentlemen, and other Knights and Gentlemen * as likewife upon Families, Defcents and Lineages. And Cid Hamet laughs at the (pretended) Gentility of Maritornes, a common Servant-wench at an Inn, (r) And 'tis faid of this good-natured Creature, that Jhe never made fuch a Promife (as fhe had done to the Carrier of coming to Bed to him) but fie perform' d it, tho' fie had made the Promife in the midji of a Wood and without any wit- Kefs at all. For fie food much upon her Gentility and being well-born, and tho' it was her Fortune toferve in an Inn, fi>e thought it no Difgrace, fince nothing but Croffes and Necef- ftty had brought her to it.

13 8. Neither did Cervantes fpare the Great Dons of his Time, tho' he rally'd them Covertly for their Neglect of, and Difregard they ftiew'd to, Men of Wit and Ingenuity. This Satire is very fevere, and requires a particular attention. Cervantes admirably well fets out a falfe Humanift (one whom we commonly call a Pedant) and makes him draw two (f) very pleafant Pictures of himfelf, in which he exhibits a moft ridiculous Idea of his own Works : This occafions Don Quixote to fay •, But, under favour, Sir, pray tell me, fhoilld yen happen to get a Licenfe to publifi your Books, which I fomewhat _ doubt, Whom will you pitch upon for your Patrons ? Oh, Sir, anfwer'd the Author, there are Lords av.d Grandees enow in Spain, fure, that I may Dedicate to. Truly, not many, faid Don Quixote ; there are, indeed, fever al whefe Merits deferve the Praife of a Dedication, but very few whefe Purfes will reward the Pains and Civility of the Author. J muft con- fefs, I know a Prince (a Compliment to Don Pedro Fernandez de Cajlro, Count of Lcmos) ivhofe Generofity may make amends for what is wanting intherefl; and that to fuch a degree

that

* He 'Mould fay, We fliall foon fee who will carry the Cat to the Water, ( i. e. who will have the bed on't.) Span. Pi

(q) Pari II. cb. 6. (r) Part I. ch. 16. (f) One in cb. 22. the other in ch. 24. of Part II.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 65

that JhouU I make bold to come to Particulars, and /peak of his Great Merits, it would be enough to fiir up Envy in many a noble Breajl. Of long ftanding therefore, and as it were hereditary, in Spain, is the little Notice taken of, or rather the Contempt fliewn to great Writers. For which reafon one has fought for a Meca.-nas out ol it : And ano- ther being askt, why he repented of having done honour to the Memory of fo many Perfons, madeAnfwer: (/) Becaufe they think, that the Celebrating their Praifes is a Debt due to them, and that there's no Merit in doing one's Duty. 7hey claim it as a Right, whereas, it is certainly rather a Favour, and no/mall one neither. And therefore a ca Author, took a prudent and a pleafant Courfe, when in the Second Edition of his Work:, ■put his Dedication among the Errata, and wrote, dele The Dedication.

i-q No lefs prudent has Cervantes fhewn himfett in Things ot cemmon Life. In Sancbohe charafterizes very naturally, all Talkative, Prating People, making him tell a Story exceedingly well adapted for reprinting the Idea ol a troublefome Talker like thofe we meet with every Day. (a) And becaufe in Company and Converfe of Mankind, there is no greater Impertinence than that of a Ceremonious Perfon, who pretends to be more mannerly and well-bred than ordinary, the Aim of that Story is levell'd at the Error of thofe who fondly imagine the very Effence of good Manners, to conliit in a Uriel Obfervance of fuch Fooleries.

140. Neither did Cervantes approve of Clergymens lording it as they do in Nob mens Families : and againft this he made (x) a ftrenuous Sermon. _

141. Cerdantes was greatly offended at the Infolence of the Players of his Time, efpecially the King's Players, who were in fuch high Favour at Court, and had 1 fuch Intereft in Great Mens Families, that they wou'd fometimes commit Murder, and yet go unpunifht, infomuch that they were become a publick Nuifance. (y) He acc< ingly fets 'em forth in their proper Colours.

142. Neither did the Diftribution of Governments and Offices of Judicature go un- cenfur'd by our Author. And therefore he makes Don Quixote fay, (for none but a Madman or an Ideotdare to fay fuch Things) We (z) are convinced by a variety of In- flames that neither Learning nor any other Abilities are very material to a Governor. Have we not a Hundred of them that can fcarce read a Letter, and yet they Govern as fharp as fo many Hawks. Their main Bufinefs is only to mean well, and to refolve to do tibeir beft ; for they can't want able Counfellcrs to inflrucl them, thus thofe Governors who are Men of the Sword, and no Scholars, have their Afefors on the Bench to diretl them. My Counfel to Sancho fhall be, that he neither take Bribes, nor lofe his Privileges, with form other little lnftrutlions, which J have in my Head for him, and which at a proper

I will communicate, both to his private Advantage, and the Publick Gcod of the IJland he is to Govern. In this Don Quixote alludes to the two Inftruclions which he intended to give, and did afterwards give Sancho Panza, one of a Political or Publick Nature lor the well Governing his Ifland •, (a) and the other Oeconomical for Governing his own Perfon and Family ; both of 'em highly worthy to be read and practis'd by every good Governor and Father of a Family. And now I'm fpeaking of Governors, I can't but take notice of what Sancho faid when {b) they were talking with the Dutchefs, what

Vol. I. i

(t) Gracian hi El Critic&n. Parte III. Crif. 6. (u) Part II. ch. 3 1 . (*) Ibid. (;) P ' ' •

(sj Part II. ch. 32. {a) Ibid. ch. 42, and 43. ' (b) Ibid. ch. 33.

66 The L I F E of

they fhou'd do with Dapple, whether he fhou'd be left behind or go along with his Mafter Sancko to his Government, Adad, Madam, /aid Sancho, I have known more yfj/es (ban one go to Governments he/ore now, there/ore 'twill be no new Thing /or me to carry mine. The fame Sancho (c) argues very fhrewdly in the Matter of Hunt- ing which he denys to be fit- for any but idle Companions, and not at all for Gover- nors who Ihould be better employ'd, confirming his Opinion by natural reafon, the fame which mov'd the wife King Alphon/o to fay, <d) That he ought not (fpeaking of a King) to be at fiuh Expences in Hunting as to make him le/s able to do the Good he ought, nor to indulge him/elf /o much in that Pa/lime, as to hinder his minding National Affairs.

143. It wou'd fwell to a large Volume, were we to difplay at full the true Reafon and Ground of this Fictitious Hiftory ; and yet more, if we were to fpeak of fome Perfons who believe themfelves characteriz'd in the Myfterious part thereof. But fince Cervantes was fo cautious as to fhroud his Ideas under the Veil of Fiction •, let iis leave thofe Conftructions to the Curious Obfervations of the Readers : and let us fol- low the advice ofUrganda the Unknown, Not to fry into other Peoples Lives, but to pa/s by without Stopping when we come to a Place we can't fee or make our way through.

144. Only as for what concerns Don Quixote, I can't pafs over in filence that they are very much miftaken who take Don Quixote de la Mancha to be a Reprefentation of Charles the Vth, without any other Foundation than their fancying it to be fo, or their defiring it fhould be fo. Cervantes revered, as he ought, the Memory of a Prince of fo many and fuch Heroick Virtues •, and he oftentimes mentions him with the greatefl: Refpect. No lefs miftaken are fuch as imagine our Author, to have drawn, in Don Quixote, the Picture of Don Franci/co Gomez de Sandoval i Roxas, then Duke of Lerma, afterwards Cardinal-Priefb, with the Title of San Sixto, by election of Paul V. the 26th of March, 1 61 8. This Thought I fay is by no means to be credited ; for the Duke of Lerma being then Prime Minifter, Cervantes wou'd not have dared to have made fo flagrant a Mockery of him, which might have coft him fo dear •, nor wou'd he have de- dicated the Second Part of it to the Condi: de Lento s, an intimate Friend of the Duke's.

145. To go about to fpeak of the Tranflations which have been made of the Hif- tory of Don Quixote, would be enlarging too much on this Subject. I fhall only fay, in order to fatisfy in fome meafure the Curiofity of the Readers, that Lorenzo Franci- ofini, a Florentine, a Man that greatly lov'd and well deferv'd of the Spani/h Tongue, tranflated it into Italia;;, and publifhed it at Venice, Anno 1622, omitting the Verfes, which being afterwards done by Alexandro Adimaro, a Florentine likewife, he a fecond Time pubfifh'd the fame Tranflation, at Venice, Anno 1625, in 8vo. printed for Andres Baba. I owe this Knowledge to Don Nicholas Antonio, and read it in his Apnnta- mientos Manu/critos (his Manufcript Notes) where he fays he had received his Informa- tion from Florence, from his Friend Antonio Magliabequi. The fame Hiftory was tranflated into French, and publifh'd at Paris in 167S, in 2 Vol. in i2ves. afterwards in Ewli/lj and other Languages. But there's as much Difference between the Original and the Tranflations, as between real Life and a Picture. Don Quixote faid, nor did he fay amifs : (<?) That Tran/laling out 0/ one Language into another, unle/s it be out 0/ the learned Tongues, the Greek and Latin, is juft like looking on the wrong fide 0/ a Flemi/h

Tapeflry} (c) Part II. cb-. 34. (d) Law 2. Tit. 5. Part II. (/) Part II. ch. 62.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 67

Tapeftry, where tho* the Figures may be feen, yet are thy full of 1'hreafc and Ends i hide their Beauty, that appears with Plaimefs and Smoothnefs on . He . i

That tranjlating out of eafy Languages argues neither Wit nor I , • . ' (.

out of one Paper into another : As for the latter Part of this Period relating to Transla- ting out of Eafy Languages, this muft be underftood of thofe Books whofe chief perfec- tion confifts not in Stile, for when the Beauty of Diction runs thro' a whole Work fo confpicuoufly and advantageoufly as in this of Don Quixote, it is impoflible for a Tran- sition to keep up to the Original. It may not be amifs, upon this occafion, to r a true Story. It is well known in England how ingenious and celebrated a 1 Row was. He went one Day to pay his Court to the Earl of Oxford, Lord i Treafurer of England, who askt him if he underftood Spanifo well ? He anfwer'd, N< did not •, but, thinking that his Lordfhip might intend to fend him into Spain on fome Honourable Commiffion, he prefently added, that in a fliort Time he did not doubt he ftiou'd be able both to underftand it and fpeak it : The Earl approving of what he faid, Mr. Row took his leave, and immediately retired out of Town to a private Country-Farm. As he was a Perfon of quick Parts, within a few Months he learn'c the Spani/h Tongue, and then waited again on the Earl, to give him an account of his Diligence. My Lord asking him if he was fure he underftood it thoroughly, and Mr. Row anfwering in the Affirmative, the Earl burft into an Exclamation : How 1 are Ton, Mr. R o w, that can enjoy the pleafure of Reading and Undemanding the Hiftory of 'Don Quixote in the Original! The Poet remained no lefs confounded at thefe Words, than the Memory of Cervantes was honoured by them. *

146. While Cervantes was preparing the Continuation of the Hiftory of Don Quixote, he diverted himfelf in writing fome Novels, which he publifti'd under this Title) Exemplary Novels of Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, printed at Madrid, by John de la Cuefta, Anno 161 3. in 4I0.

147- There are twelve of thefe Novels: and their Titles are: * The little Gipsey. The liberal Lover. Rinconete and Cortadillo. The Spanish-English Lady. The Glass Doctor. The Force of Blood. * The Jealous Estremaduran. The Illustrious Servant-mud The Two Maiden Ladies. The Lady Cornelia. * The Deceitful Mar- riage. * The Dialogue of the Dogs.

148. Cervantes was fo juftly'fatisfy'd with thefe Novels, (fomeof which, fuch as Rin- conete and Cortadillo, and others, he had written fome Years before) ( f) that in his Dedication of them to the Count de Lemos, he goes fo far as to fay • Tour Excel lency will pleafe to be informed that Ifendycu, (iho' I don't love Tale-bearing) twelve Talf< which if they had not been coin'd in the Mint of my Brain, might prefume to place i ' upon & i level with the Beft But it is very proper to relate here what Cervantes propos'd by thefe Novels, in order to judge the better of the Cenfure palled on them by the Arragoman writer. '

12 149. After

\f)fantktch!tj. a * """ tranJlaUd "nd P>Wnf«" r«" "S° b the Tranfator of this I

68 We L I F E of

149. After Cervantes had faid, that if in the Hiftory of Don Quixote, he had foli- cked Pompous Commendatory Verfes, it had fared better with him, lie goes on thus: And therefore I tell thee {once more amiable Reader) that of thefe Novels which I now offer thee, then canfl in no wife make a Ragoo of Gibblets ; . becaufe they have neither Feet, nor Heady nor Inwards, nor any 'Thing like 'em. I mean, that the Amorous Exprcfftons which thou wilt find in feme of 'em, are fo chafe, fo innocent, fo temper 'd with Rational and Chriftian-like Difcourfe, that they cannot raife either in the unwary or wary Reader, the leaf corrupt Ideas. I call 'em Exemplary, and, if thou mindefi it, there is not any one of them from whence there may not be drawn fame Ufeful Example. And were it not

for fear of being Prolix, I wou'd fheiv thee the Savoury and Wholfome Fruit that may be gathered, either from each of them feparately, or from all of 'em together. My Intention has been to fet before the Publick a Truck-Table whereon every one may Play, without dan- ger of the Bars ; I mean without danger either to the Sold or Body ; for lawful and agree- able Exercifes rather do Good than Hurt. They certainly do ; for People are not always at Church. They are not always in their Oratories ; always upon their Knees. Neither are they always engag'd in Bufinefs, however great their Abilities may be. There are Times of Recreation wherein the tired Mind muft reft itfelf, and the exhaufted Spirits be recruited. For this purpofe are Groves planted, Fountains fet a running, Hills levell'd, and Gar- dens curioufily cultivated. One thing I may fafely affirm, that if I thought that the reading thefe Novels wou'd excite any evil Dcfre or Thought in the Breaft of the Reader, I wou'd fooner have had my Hand cut off than have publijh'd them. It does not fuit one of my Tears to make a J eft of the other World ; being now on the wrong Side of Sixty-four. To this Work as I was prompted by Inclination, fo I fet every Engine of my Fancy at work to make it pleafe; and I'm not a little proud to fay I am the firfi that ever writ Novels in the Spanifh Tongue ; for, of all the innumerable Novels which are printed in Spanifh, there's not one but what's tranfaled out of other Languages ; whereas thefe are entirely my own Invention, not borrow' d, imitated, or ftoln from Foreigners or Natives. My Fancy begot 'em ; my Pen brought 'em forth, and in the Arms of the Prefs they are now to recede their

Qrowth Only take this along with thee, gentle Reader, that as I have taken the

liberty to dedicate thefe Novels to the Great Conde de Lemos, they contain a certain hidden Myftery, which enhances their Value. This Myftery is a Myftery to me, 'tis a Secret I cannot arrive at: Let thofe decypher it who can. As for all the reft we clearly un- derftand the Motive Cervantes had to call his Novels by the name of Exemplary. Not- withftanding all this, the Slanderous Arragonian began his Prologue or Preface in this Manner : The whole Hiftory of Don Quixote being as it were a Comedy, it neither can nor ov.zht to go without a Prologue: And therefore this Second Part of his Achievements is ufhered in by One not fo Cackling, nor Affronting to the Reader, as that which Michael de Cervantes Saavedra prcf.xt to his firft Part, and of a much more humble Nature than that with which hefeconded it in his Novels, which are rather Satyrical than Exemplary.

150. Let us not mind his beftowing on a Preface fo juftly admir'd the Epithet of Cackling, thereby comparing his Impertinence with Cervantes's excellent Performance. Neither let us heed his talking of Cervantes's affronting his Readers in a Prologue, where- in there's not the leaft Word faid againft 'em. What vext this Envious Man was Cer- vantes's faying he was the firft that invented and writ Novels in the Spanifh Tongue.

Michael de Cervantes Saavf.dra. 69

Let's hear what Louis Gaitan de Vozmediano fays : In the Preface to His Tranfl.nion rf the Firjl Part of the hundred Novels of M. John Baptift Giraldd Cinthio, printed at Toledo by Pedro Rodriguez, Anno 1590. in 4to. {peaking of Novels ilrialy fuch, that is to fay, if I take him right, certain Fitlions of Love-adventures, written in Profe artfully contriv'd to divert and infirutl the Readers, according to the learned h definition ; he proceeds thus : Altho' hitherto this fort of Books have been but little h. in Spain for want of tranflating thofe of Italy and France ; yet it may not be long e'er fame- body will take a fancy to Tranflate 'em for their Diverfion, nay, perhaps ft nee they fee 'em fo much admir'd Abroad, they may do what no Spaniard ever yet attempted -, that irt compofe Novels of their own. Which if once they bend their Minds to, they will perform letter than either the French or Italians, efpecially hi fo fortunate an Age as the prefent. And it fell out accordingly ; for Cervantes wrote fome Novels with that Ingenuity, "Wit, Judgment and Elegance as may vie with the Belt, not confining the name of Novel to Amorous Fables, but taking for his Subject, any Thing that is capable of di- verting his Readers Minds without endangering their Morals. Lope de Vega was fo far from contradicting this, that he before had commended the Invention, Graces and Style of Cervantes, when in his Dedication to his Firft Novel he faid : Here (in Spain) are Books of Novels •, fome tranflated from the Italians, and others o/Spanifh Growth; in which Michael Cervantes has not been deficient either in matter of Style or Beautiful Sen- timents. But becaufe this very fame thing fpoke by Cervantes in the Simplicity of his Heart, rais'd the Envy of the Detractor, he tax'd his Preface as arrogant and affuming ; and his Novels as more Satyrical than Exemplary, alluding, doubtlefs, to thofe two Novels The Glafs Dctlor (Licenciado Vidriera) and the two Dogs (Los Perros, Scipio 1 BRAGANZAJof which the latter merited the Approbation of Peter Daniel Huetius, (g) than whom France never produe'd a more learned Man -, and the former, if I judge aright, is the very Text from whence Quevedo took the Hints of his Satyri- cal Lectures againft all forts of Men.

151. Laftly, as for intituling the Novels, Exemplary, to fpeak my Mind freely, I fhou'd not have call'd them by that Name ; and in this I have the Concurrence of Lope de Vega, who in concluding his Commendation of Cervantes'' 's Novels, adds: (h) I con* fefs they are Books of excellent Entertainment, and might have been Exemplary, asfc?ne of ValdeloV Hijfories : but then they fhould have been over-look' d by fome learned Men, or at leajl old Courtiers, experienced in Affairs, and converfant in Aphcrifms and notable Senten- ces. But in order to pafs a Cenfure on the Title which Cervantes gave his Novels it was necefTary to prove that it was not fuitable thereto. But this was not an Undertaking For our Arragonian Cenfurer, who ought to have obferv'd Cervantes's Explanation, and have taken this fhort Lefion of Matter Alexio Venegas : (i) Recapitulating ''fays he) thefe three Species of Fables, I fay that the Mythologic Fable is a Difcourfe, which with pom- poufnefs of Language fcts forth fome Secret of Nature or Piece of Hiffory. The Apoloeic is an Exemplary Figure of Difcourfe, wherein the Intention of the Fabulifl mufl appear to be the Inflitv.ting of Good Morals. The Milefian Fable is a vain and idle Ravin* without any Edification either of Virtue or Learning, and contriv'd purely to amufe and

befct (g) Letter of the Origin of Romances. (h) Dedication of his Firjl Novel to Senora Maria Lco- narda. (i) In his Expofinon of Momus, Concluf. 2.

7o tte L I F E of

befit thofe of a /hallow Judgment or lewd Inclinations. Now Cervantes^ leaving the My~ thologic Fable to the ancient Poets ; and the Milefian to fhamelefs abandon'd Writers, Ancient and Modern ; he pitch'd upon the Apologic or Exemplary. And that this may be fully underftood, let us again hear this half-witted Reprover,' who may perhaps give us Occafion to defend Cervantes with fomething new. Let him, (fays he, fpeak- ing of Cervantes) content bimfelf with his (k) Galatea, and his Comedies in Profe ; for thefe are the utmoft of his Novels : and let him ceafe to tire our Patience any longer. That Comedies fhould be written in Profe, is no Wonder; for the Greek and Latin ones are almoft all of 'em written in Iambic Verfe, fo much refembling Profe, as often- times to be fcarce difhinguiihable from it. And the belt. Comedies we have in Spain, namely The Celestina, and Euphrosina are both written in Profe. Of the Celestina the learned Author of the Dialogue of the Languages fays, that excepting fome Words improperly ufed, and fome other Latin ones, it is his Opinion, There's no Book written in the Spanifh Tongue, wherein the Language is more natural, more pro- per, or more elegant. And fince him, Cervantes has faid, (/) that it was a Book in his Opinion Divine, had it fpoke more covertly of Things Humane: Both of 'em Judgments, which according to mine, totally quadrate likewife with The Euphrosina. How- ever, I can't but own that amidft the Purity of Stile in this latter, there are Abun- dance of Pedantic Allufions which greatly cloy the Tafte of the Readers.

151. That Novels Ihou'd be Comedies, is not much ; fince a Novel being a Fable, it is neceffary it fliou'd be fome one of the Species of Fable, and in my Judgment it may be any of 'em, as may be obferv'd in the fubfequent Induction ; wherein I fliall make ufe of the Examples of Cervantes fo far as they reach the Cafe, to the intent that it may be feen that he was a perfect Matter in almoft all the Species or Kinds of Fabulous Compofition.

153. All Fab le is Fiction, and all Fiction is Narration, either of Things which have not happen'd, but were pofiible and might have happen'd ; or of Things which never happen'd, nor were pofiible to happen. If the Narration is of Things merely pofiible, and due Re- gard be had to the Likenefs and Proportion between the Thing feigned and the Thing defign'd to be inculcated, it is call'd a Parab le, of which the Holy Writings are full, as likewife the Book compos'd by the Infante Don John Manuel in his incomparable Conde Lucanor. And if we regard the Invention, it is call'd a Novel: a Name which in this Signification is not very ancient in Spain. But if the Narration is of impofiible Things, it is call'd an Apologue, fuch as the Fables of iEsop and of Ph^edrus. In which fort of Compofition we are to take notice, that tho' tlje Hypothefis be impof- fible, when once its Agents or Parties are fuppos'd to exift, the Propriety and Cuftoms of the Perfons feigned muft be obferved with Verifimilitude, keeping clofe to the Na- ture of Things throughout the whole. This Invention is of fo great Ufe and Benefit, that we find Tt praclis'd in the Holy Scripture : for in the (m) Book of Judges we read that the Trees held a Confultation to t'hufe a King over them. Some of whom refus'd to accept of the Royalty : The Olive-Tree, becaufe he would not leave his Fatnefs ; the Fi°--Tree, becaufe he would not forfake the Sweetnefs of his Fruit; the Vine, becaufe

he

(k) In bis Preface before cited. (I) In the Vcrfes of the Poet Entreverado pr.fxt to Don Quixote. /m) Chap. IX.ver. 8.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 71

he would not leave his Wine, which was fo cheering: But when the Tf the Bramble and made the fame Offer, the Bramble not only . | of it,

thrcaten'd, in cafe they did not make him King, he wou'd fet fire to the Cedars or" Lebanon. We likewife read in the Fourth Bed: of Kings, («) 1 5 of

Ifrael knt to Amaziab King of Judah, that he fliould content himfelf with the Victo- ries he had obtained and tarry at home and not meddle any further to his hurt, for fear That fhould befal him which had befaln the Thiftle which fent to the was in Lebanon, demanding his Daughter in Marriage for his (the Thiflle's) Son ; at the time that he was making this Propofal, palTed by a wild B:.ift that was in Lebanon, and trod down the Thiftle, whilft with fo much Arrogance he was to be joint Father-in-law with the Cedar. This being fuppos'd, we may hold for an Apologue The Novel of the Dogs, wherein Cervantes introduces an agreeable Di- alogue between Scipio and Braganza, two Dogs belonging to the RefurretTton-Hoj[ . at Valladolid.

•154. As for Novels, fpecially fo called ; they are compos'd either of Things merely pofiible, as almoft all of 'em are ; or of real Accidents, as the Novel of the Captive does in a great Meafure, and fo Cervantes fays himfelf. (0) But then the Plot and Unravelling is not true, for therein confifts the Novel or Fable.

155. The Feigning of Things pofiible, either propofes the Imitation of a pe'rfecl: Idea, the beft that can be conceiv'd according to the illuftrious Actions which are to be heighten'd and made grand ; or an Idea of Civil Life, that may more eafily be re- duced to Practice •, or elfe of the Defects of Nature or of the Mind, whether to repre- hend them, or to ridicule them, or to recommend them to Imitation ; for the Malig- nity of human Wit and the Profligacy of fome Mens Principles will not flick even to go that Length.

156. If the Fable propofes a very perfect Idea, it is call'd Epopeya, which re- prefents in a florid, majeftick and fublime Manner the glorious Actions of Pcrfons emi- nent in the Arts of Peace or War, with a View to excite Admiration in the Readers Minds, and to prompt them to imitate fuch Heroick Virtues. Homer's Iliad ■ Odysse'e are of this nature.

iSy.A/ttomus Diogenes, who, zsPbotius (p) the Patriarch of Conflantinople. ct lived not long after Alexander the Great, wrote a Novel cf the Travels and Loves of Dinias and Dercilis, which is a vifible Imitation of Ulyffes'i Travels and Ante Calypfo. The Novel of the Mthiopicks, Written by Heliodorus Bifhop of Tricca in Thejfaly, was likewife an Imitation of Homer's Odyjjie; as well as the Amours of Clitophon and Leucippe lefs chafte than the other : Its Author was Achilles Tatius, who, according to Saidas was alfo a Bifhop. And that our Age might not be without a Novellift in Homer's manner, M. Fenelon, Archbifhop of Cambray, wrote with won- derful Ingenuity in a Poetic Stile, The Adventures of Telemachus. Laftly, (not to de- part from Cervantes) The Troubles of Persiles' and Sigismunda are clearly aa Imitation of Horner's Odysse'e and Heliodorus's ^Ethiopics, which C intended to vie with ; and as he made it the Object of his Competition, fo in my Opinion he had excelled it, if he had not, out of the overflowing of his Wit, inter- mingled (») Chap. XIV. v. 8. . (0) Part I. ch. tf.at the End. (p) In B'dUotheca.

72 The , L I F E of

mingled fo many Epifodes which disfigure and drown the Conftitution and Propor- tion of the Members of the principal Fable. But then this very Fault has a fingular Prerogative and Advantage, which is, that many of thefe Epifodes are fo many Tragedies, where the Action is One, and the Perfon Uluftrious, and the Stile fuit- able to the Grandeur of the Action, and nothing wanting to the Compofition of a complete Tragedy, but a Dramatick Difpofuion, the Chorus and the Apparatus of the Scenery.

158. The Fable of Don Quixote de la Mancha imitates the Iliad : Thatis to fay, if Anger be a Species of Madnefs, in which Cafe I make no difference between Achilles Angry and Don Quixote Mad. As the Iliad is an Heroick Fable writ in Verfe, fo the Novel of Don Qu ixote is one in Profe, for Epicks may be as well writ in Profe as in Verfe, as (q) Cervantes fays himfelf.

159. If a Novel propofesan Idea of Civil-Life with its artificial Plot and ingenious Solution, it is a Play, and fuch I take to be almoft all Cervantes's Novels ; and many of them have been turned into Plays and really acted upon the Stage, after being put into a Theatrical Form.

160. If th eLife which a Novel reprefents is Paftoral, it will be called Eclocue with all the propriety of Speech that can be: And fo Cervantes called his Galatea, Let us

now fee how well the ignorant Arragonian's Words will fquare. Let him (fays he fpeak- ing of Cervantes,) be content with his Galatea, and his Plays in Profe, for thefe are the tttmofl of his Novels. I am very certain his Oracle Lope de Vega would not have faid this, fince in his Dedication of the Novel Defdichado Por La Honra (Unfortunate for be- ing Honourable) He has declared it to be his Opinion, that Novels- have the fame Pre- cepts as Plays.

161. If Manners arechaftized with an open Acrimony and a great feverity of Tem- per, the Novel will be a Satire, as La Git an ill a (The little Gypfie jJRinconete and Cortadillo, (Two Scoundrels, focall'd;) The Glass-Doctor, and The Dogs Scipio and Braganza, which are four moft ingenious Satires, refembling, as one may well guefs, thofe compofed by Varro, intituled Menippean, in reference to Menippus a Cynick Philofopher handling very folemn Matters in a merry waggifh Stile. The Little Gypsie is a difclofure and reprehenfion of the Ways and Manners ofGyp- fies, no better than Thieves and Robbers, (r) always profecuted but never deftroyed. Rinconete and Cortadillo, is aSatyrical Reprefentation of the Thievifh Life, es- pecially that of Cut-purfes •, which we (Spaniards^ call Gatuna (Cattifh.) The Licen- ciadoVidriera, (Glafs-DoSlor) is a Cenfure, in general, of all Vices whatever. The Novel of the Dogs is an Invective againft the abufes which are in the Profefiion of various Trades, BufinefTes, and Employments.

162. If the Manners, Cuiloms or Actions are exhibited in a ridiculous Light, the Novel becomes then an Ent remes, fan Interlude, or Entertainment as we now call 'em)

of

(q) Part II. ch. 47. at th: End. (r) Salteador, is the Spanijly IVcrd, and means a. Highwayman, from Saltare to Le:;p, Stcvensfays, becaufe they come untxpeSied as if they leap'd on a Man. 1 aminclin'd to think the Word comes from Saltus, as that IVordfigmfiss a Foreft or Thick Wood, where fuch Peo- ple harbour. I hope the Reader ivill excufe this' Piece of 'Pedantry as fome may think it. The reafon of my inferting thisfuppos'd derivation of mine will appear prcfently.

Michael de Cervantes Saavf. dra. 73

of which kind of Compofition, as I will fhew in its due Place and lime, Cervantes has left us eight Pieces, and in die Four Novels juft now named, there's a good deal of this ; and even in Don Quixote likewife.

163. Of the lewd Models or Patterns of the Vices, rcprcfcntfng them as agreeable and pleafing, as is faid to have been done by the ancient and well loft Si b a r , t i ok Novels, and is ftill feen in the Milesian, Cervantes would not leave us any Example, becaufc it cou'd have been no good one.

164. Butthat we may not want any Idea of the Fa Bur a^Saltica ,'. if we may call by that Name, that which is faid to have been invented or a

by our(/)Countryman Lucan ; Cervantes has left it us in his Little Gypsy, &c. alfodone of the Fabula Psaltica, (v) which we may call Canticles, or, (if you will) Sing-fong Fables ; of which kind, our Author had compofed (as he tells us himfelf in his Voyage to Parnaffus) an infinite Number ; among which many muft certainly have been anfwerable to the greatnefs of his Wit and Genius ; and I could my felf point out feme incomparable good ones : particularly that which begins En la Corte efta Cortes, is in my Mind vaftly pretty.

165. A skillful Inventor, like Cervantes, knows how to make an agreeable mixtureof all thefe Species of Fables, as well with Regard to the Characters of the PcrJons, and the Manners, as in refpedt of the Stile, by appropriating it to the Subject treated of. And hereto alluded the Canon of Toledo, that is, Cervantes himfelf, when he faid:

' (x) Notwithstanding all the harm he had fpokenof thofe Books (Romances orNovels) yet he found one good Thing in them, which was, the Subject they furnifht a Man of Undemanding with to exercife his Parts, becaufe they allow a large fcope for die Pen to dilate without any Check, defcribing Ship-wrecks, Storms, Skirmifhesand Battles; reprefentmg to us a Brave Commander, with all the Qualifications requifite in inch a one, mewing his Prudence in difappointing the Defigns of the Enemy, his <£ Eloquence in perfuadmg or diffiiading his Soldiers, his judgment in Council, his

" m SI**™"? nd/sy^7n Afrai'ing' °"^lfi"g^AfTault; laying before « LtTmre T a ^elancrh°]y Acc'dent, fometimes adelightfbl and Jnexpefted

„ ^.dve"^Vn°ncPlaCe'abeaut,fu,'modeft'difcr^ in another a

< Ruffian" rh f Vn ^IT ^^^ > hcre' a »erOUS' inhuma , b ft 'ng Ruffian ; there an affable, warlike and wife Prince , lively cxpreffing the Fidelity and Loyalty of Subjects, Generofity and Bounty of Sovereigns H? may no lefs at Times make known his Skill in Aftrology, Cofmography, Mufic a^d PoHcy Ind if he pleafes, he cannot want an Opportunity of appearing knowing even n Ne

ST/?/7" f r^6^1^ ?C fubtiky °mM' > the P^ of *™ 1 ne Valour" otJcbdles-, the Misfortunes of HeZJcr; the Treachery ofSL; the Fiendffiinof Euryalus; the Liberality oi Alexander jtheBcavery ofcefar; the Clemency and Sin

cen ty

means lat of th

and thefe ore vhat this Span* , SST5 nZaYttS^T^' frcmSzLre.i,) Lucan the Author oftheitlkCLZrnatC^t • c'"' -r rather GreVk Pfallo to fa, orflfycn SJrZm. {,) '/£? I; Yh" j

74 77:e L I F E of

" cerity of Trajan ; the Fidelity of Zopyrus ; the Prudence of Cato ; and in fine, all thofe " Actions which make up a complete Hero, fometimes attributing them all to one Per- " fon, and other Times dividing them among many. This being fo perform'd in " a grateful Style, and with ingenious Invention, approaching as much as poffible to «' Truth, will doubtlefs compofe fo beautiful and various a Work, that, when finifht, " its Excellency and Perfection muft attain the bed End of Writing, which is at once «• to Delight and Infcrucl, as I have faid before •, for the loofe Method practis'd in thefe " Books, gives the Author Liberty to play the Epic, the Lyrick, and the Dramatick <f Poet, and to run thro' all the other Parts of Poetry and Rhetorick ; forEpicks may " be as well writ in Profe as in Verfe. ' You are much in the right, Sir, reply'd the «' Curate; and therefore thofe who have hitherto publifh'd Books of that kind, are the " more to be blam'd, for having had no Regard to good Senfe, Art, or Rules; by " the obfervation of which, they might have made themfelvesas famous in Profe, as the *' Two Princes of Greek and Latin Poetry are in Verfe. I muft confefs faid the Ca- " non, {who by the way is Cervantes him/elf as I have already faid) I was once tempted " to write a Book of Knightly Adventures myfelf, obferving all thofe Rules; and to " fpeak the Truth, I writ above a hundred Pages, which for a better Tryal, whe- tc ther they anfwered my Expectation, I communicated to fome Learned and Ju- " dicious Men fond of thofe Subjects, as well as to fome of thofe ignorant Perfons, «' who only are delighted with Extravagancies j and they all gave me a fatisfactory «« Approbation."

Among thefe ignorant Perfons he mull not have confulted the Arragonian Cenfurer, who would have confidered that he who knew fo well the Precepts of the Art of No- vel-writing, when once he took Pen in Hand, wou'd not fail to comport himfelf ac- cordingly. In my Judgment, Cervantes's Novels are the beft that ever were written in Spain; as well in Regard to the. fharpnefs and livelinefs of Invention, and the ChafHty of Manners, as for the Art wherewith they are difpos'd, and the propriety and fweetnefs of Stile with which they are written.

166. A Year after his Novels, he publifh'd a fmall Book with this Title, A Voy- age to Parnassus. Written by Michael de Cervantes Saavedra : Dedicated to Don Rod-* rigo de tapia, Knight of Santiago, &c. &c. Printed at Madrid by the Widow of Alorfo Martin. Anno 1614. in 8vo.

1 67. Cervantes was not a little proud of this Performance. For my Part, I think it rather Witty than Agreeable ; not that I'll prefume to call the Author a bad Po- et, as Don Stephen Manuel de Villegas does, in an Epiftle to Doctor Bartholomeo de

Argtnfola: (y)

Thou, in the Conqueft of Mount-Helicon,

Shalt, better than Cervantes far, make One:

Nor fhall that Poetafter, for his Vein

Of Qirixotry, the Laurel'd Honours gain : In which he alludes to Cervantes's faying, (z) that the Two Brothers Leonardoes, Luper- do and Bartbolameo, did not go to Parnaffus to give Battle to the bad Poets, becaufe they were taken up at Naples in attending upon the Coade de Lemos. Villegas therefore

v/refted

(y) In the Eroticks, Elegla. 7. (z) Voyagi to Parnaffus cb. 3±

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 75

wrefted Cervantes's meaning to a wrong Senfe, by converting into Satire the Circumflance of thofe Great Wits not appearing at Parnaffus ; whereas They themfelvcs were no doubt well pleas'd that this turn'd out to the Honour of the Nobleman their Protector : efpeci- ally knowing how Cervantes had fet a juft value on their Merit before ; having, when they were yet but Young, greatly commended them in his (a) Galatea, and afterward* in the fame Voyage to Parnaffus, fo far as to fay that in the very Crifij of the Battle, Apollo, now being put upon the Fret, Determined his Laft Stake of Pow'r to fet% And quell, with one important final Blow, The cbftinate Contention of the Foe.

A Poem, of a moft Refined Strain The Crucible of Barthlmeo's Brain Had late produced: Religion was its Theme: .This did not, an Effectlefs Weapon, feem To Phoebus. There, where the Grand Struggle lay. Sent by the God, the Miffive cut its Way: All Oppofition fails before it fir ait, Soon as thefe Words the Warriors contemplate, (b) Turn thy Eyes inward for a-while, my Soul, 6?c 1 68. And that which is moll to be admir'd (in proof of the Rectitude of Cervantes's Judgment) is, his having fpoke fo much to the Advantage of the two Leonardocs, at a Time when he had Caufe of Complaint againft them, for not doing him the good Offices they had promis'd him, with the Condi de Lemos. (c) Don Stephen Manuel de Vil~ legas knew all this, and yet, in Flattery to Bartholomeo Leonardo, wrencht Cervantes's Thought awry ; and making a Companion of one and t'other, gave Bartholomeo the Preference. Of which Cenfure 'tis impofiible to make a right Judgment, unlefs we fpeak with Diftinclion, according to the feveral Species of Poefy. For inftance, in the Ver- fification of the Arte Menbr, the Judgment and Weight of Hernan Perez de Guzman, and D. George Manrique is Marvellous j as well as the Wit, Good-fenfe, and Graces of Don John Manuel t Hernan Megia, Gomez Manrique, Louis Bivero, Suarez, the Commendary Avila, Don Diego de Mendoza, and a great many more, whofe Thoughts were extremely bright, and their Language and Expreffions no lefs delightful than noble. The Feftivity of Caflellejo is admirable ; fo is the Urbanity of Luis Gah/ez de Montalvo ; the Diction of all thefe, is chafte, intelligible, and in all refpects Agreeable. Garci-laffo de la Vega, is the fole Mafter of Eclogue. Comedy and Tragedy, I fpeak of Elfewhere. Of Lyric Poetry, the Prince was, he that was fo (i. e. the Titular Prince) of Efquilacho, Don Francifco de Borgia, who yet, in point of Erudition, came fhort of Don Luis de Gongora ; buttho' he verfify'd finely and indeed inimitably, yet cou'd not equal him in the Obfervation of Art and Purity of Style. Satire and Heroic Poefy began late in Spain. Doctor Bartholmeo Leonardo de Argenfola in the former (i. e. Satire) was a ftrict Obferver of the niceties of Art, as being exceeding well vers'd in the three Latin Satirifts, Horace, Juvenal and Perf::>s, whom he rather cdpy'd than imitated.

k 2 Don

(a) Lib. 6. (b) The f.rji Line of a Divine Poem, written by Differ Bartholome Leonardo de Argenfola. (c) Voyage to Parnaffus, eh, 3.

76 He LIFE of

Don Francifco de Quevedo was lefs obfervant of Art, and was freer and indeed more licenti- ous in his Reprehenfions. In every Thing he difcover'd a Mafterly Wit : But in his Satyrical and Cenforious Epifile againjl the prefent Manners of the Spaniards -written to Don Gafpar de Guzman, Conde de Olivarez, he lets us know that had he given a Loofc to his natural Genius, he had out-gone the greateft Satyrifts that the World had ever produced. As for Heroick Poetry, I chufe rather to give Cervantes'*, Judgment than my own. He introduces the Batchelor S amp/on Carufco fpeaking of the Famous Poets of Spain, and makes him fay, (d) That there were but Three and a Half in all. And who thefe Three and a Half were, Cervantes himfelf ihall tell us. As the Curate and Barber were making a Search into Don Quixote's Library, Here comes Three more for ye, (quoth the Barber) (e) The Araucana of Don Alonfo de Ercilla ; The Auftriada of John Rufo, one of the Magiftrates of Cordova ; and the Monferrate of Chriftopher de Virves a Valentian Poet. Thefe, cry'd the Curate, are the beft Heroick Poems we have in Spa- nifh, and may vie with the mofi celebrated of Italy. Referve 'em as the mqfl valuable Per- formances which Spain has to boaft of in Poetry. By the Half-Poet, I take Cervantes to mean Himfelf; for, in the Perfon of Don Quixote, he faid of himfelf: (f) The Author of this Sonnet, to [peak Truth, feems to be a tolerable good- Poet, or Pve but little Judgment. And he had good Reafon to fay fo ; for according to the Teftimony of Mercury himfelf he was an (g) excellent Inventor, and Invention is the Soul of Poetry. In every Thing which he invented, he keeps ftrictly to the Rules of Propriety and Decorum, (h) But as he had not that profound Learning which is requifite for Heroick Poetry ; and as the Facetioufnefs of his Genius could not confine itfelf to the rigid Precepts of fo ferr- ous an Art, he modeftly and wifely declines calling himfelf a whole Poet. Nor indeed has he giv'n us any Tokens of his being fo, either in his Canto of Calliope', (i) or in his Voyage to Parnassus.

169. This laft Book (written in imitation of Cafar Caporali) feems at firft View to be an Encomium on the Spanifh Poets of his Time, but it is really a Satire on them, as Caporah's Poem, under the fame Title, is on the Italian Poets. ThetAuthor*s In- tention difcovers itfelf in feveral Places. In one he fays (k)

And now true Eloquence began to Vanifh :

This Man fpolce Arabick, and that bad Spanifh,

Another Latin, &c. In another Place he brings in (/) a mal-content Poet, reflecting upon oun, for cele- brating fo many who had no Merit to recommend 'em. The Words of this Poetafter are quoted before in page 56.

1 70. To which Charge our Author makes no other Anfwer but that Mercury had given him that Lift, and that it belong'd to Apollo, as the God of Poetry, to affign each Poet the Place which their Wit and Capacity qualify'd 'em for.

171. This fame Voyage is likewife a fort of Memorial or Petition of Michael de Cervantes Saavedra : And as Men that have no Friends, are oblig'd, tho' naturally Mpdcft, to relate their Merits themfelves, fince they have nobody to do it for 'em, he introduces two Dialogues of his, one with Mercury, who according to ancient Mytho- logy is the Meffenger of the Gods, and another with Apollo, the Supreme Protestor of

the U) Part II ch. 4. (0 Port I. cb. 6. (/) Part I. ch. 21. (g) Tyage to Parnafllis ch. 1. (h) Ibid. cb.6. (/) See Bod VL of bis Galatea'. [6) Fyage to Parnaffus, cb. 3. (/J Ibid. cb. \.

Michael r> e Cervantes Saavf.dra. 77

the Sciences ; and in each of them Cervantes fpeaks what was fit fhouM bo known to, and rewarded by, the King of Spain by means of his Favourite : For ihofe who arc fu are oblig'd to let their Matters know Who arc defcrving of Reward or Punifhment, under the Penalty of being themfelves condemn'd to perpetual Infamy. His Firft Dif- courfc with Mercury runs thus :

'The Nuncio-God, commanding me to rife, Addrejl me thus., in Complimental guife : " Thou Protoplaft of Poets, O my Friend Cervantes, tell me quickly to what end

This Wallet and this Garb?" " I'm going, Sir,

A Journey to Parnafliis : Being Poor, I travel as you fee." — He ftrait rejoin'd, " O Thou to whom the Gods have giv'n a Mind ** Rais'd above Man, above Cyllenius too, " Plenty and Honour, as they are thy Due, " Be they thy Lot ! for well Thou dojl deferve ** On all Accounts. A brave old Soldier flarve ! " Forbid it Heav'n ! I faw thee in the Fight " Lofe thy Left Hand, to immortalize thy Right, " Such rare Invention andfo high a Strain " I know Apollo gave thee not in vain. " Thy Works, on RozinanteV Crupper laidt " Are to all corners of the Earth convey' d. ** Go on, thou bright Inventor, Genius rare, " Purfue thy Pajfage to Apollo'j Chair, " He wants thy Aid: Proceed without delay, " Left crowds of Pcetajlers flop the Way: " Already they begin the Hill t' invade, " Alt bo* unworthy of its very Shade. " Arm thy felf with thy Verfes, and prepare " Thy Foyage to purfue beneath my Care. " Thou fhalt fecurely pafs, along with me, " Without what's call'd Provifion for the Sea." 172. The Speech which Cervantes made to Apollo, was on the Occafion "of fceino- himielf in Pamajfus, the only Perfon that had not a Chair, nor fo much as a Stool to fit on; alluding to the Difregard of his Wit and Parts, whereas he had been the Firft Man of his Time that had begun to raife Poetry from its groveling low Condition. As in this Difcourfe Cervantes mentions a great many Particulars concerning himfelf ; it is abfolu'ely necefiary I fhould Copy it. He fays thus : (m) Verfes, from Indignation flow fometimes, But if the Maker's dull, dull are his Rhimes. However, I was net in the leaft afraid To fay what exil'd Ovid never faid:

And

{m) Chap^ 4;

78 lb* L I F E of

And thus to Phcebus>&. " Your Godjhip know*

How much your Votaries do themfelves expofe

To the Great Vulgar and the Small: hew mean

Andjlender their fupport who only lean

Againft the facred Laurel tree: Cerborne

By Ignorance and Envy, or Forlorne

And Over-lookt, they run their wretched Race't

Nor e'er attain the Good they have in Chace.

I form'd Fair Galatea, to appear #

In lofting Charms on the World's Theatre :

My Brain created her. 'Tis by my Lines !

The Confus'd Fair-One fo dijlinguijht Jhipes.

Plays I compos' d,' fome Comic, others Grave:

Both fuited to the Rules which Reafon gave.

The fretful, peevifh, melancholy Mind

In my Don Quixote prefent Eafi may find.

My Novels Jhew'd a Way to reconcile

Exceffive Flights with Purity of Style.

None, that I want Invention, can complain.

{And he that wants Invention, wants the Main.')

Early the Love of Verfe my Soul inflam'd,

Andtopleafe Thee my whole Endeavour aim'd.

My Pen ne'er flew in Saiir's Region yet: I never took Scurrility for Wit. (It frets me tho\ and I lament my Fate That Imuft fiand, while others fit in Stale.)

Old as I am, I've finijht for the Prefs

The Tale of Great Persiles in Diftrefs.

Three Servile Low-life Subjecls I have wrought

With all the Chaftity of Style and Thought.

Equal to Phyllis, my Philena/>ot<?

For Mafir'y with the Warblers of the Grove,

In many a pleafing Song of happy Love.

As in the fleeting Wind my Hopes were flown,'

So with the fleeting Wind my Hopes are flown.

Flatt'ry, the Vice of Beggars, I detefi :

And Fraud ne'er found admittance to my Breajl.

I curfe not my floort Commons •, but to keep \

Standing, infuch a Place, cuts very deep.'*

Phcebus reply' d to this complaining Speech,

" The Ways of Heav'n are far beyond Man's Reach.

«' To Some, Good Fortune comes by flow Agrees ;

" To Others, all at once. And Jo it is

}

Michael de Cervantes Saavedp. \. 79

** IViih Evil Fortune. An acquir'd Eft ate

" Is full as bard to Keep as ''twas to Get.

" Tour Fortune once was made, and by your felf :

" But 2'ou, forfooth ! abominated Pelf,

" And made it fly, Imprudent as you was !

" Tou can't forget that this was Once your Cafe.

" Howe'er, to comfort Thee, fince Thou'rt a Wit,

" Fold up thy Cloak, and Sit thee down oh It. " My Lord, faid I, perhaps Tou a'n't aware

I have no Cloak ■ " That's true, quoth He, howe'er

«' I'm glad to fee Thee. Virtue is a Cloak,

" A good one too. " ■ I didn't like the Joke:

I bow'd my Head, yet fill on foot remained :

For there's no Place, unlefs — by Money gain'd,

Or elfe by Favour. Some one of the Crowd

Utter' d the following Words, hut not aloud,

Strange! that a Manfhou'd be denfd a Seat, So full of Phoebus, Virtue, and of Wit! 173. Michael de Cervantes Saavedra fays in this Memorial, that his Pen never flew in the Region of Satire, meaning, He never wrote defamatory Libels. But this is a very piercing Satire, and capable of exciting in any (not inhumane) Bread: a companionate Concern to fee thus abandon'd and deftitute of Friends a Man, who in the Opinion of that judicious Critic («) Huetius, ought to be reckon'd among the bed Wits Spain ever produced : and at the fame it ftirs up one's Indignation againft thole who tho' they faw his Merit before their Eyes, yet neglected to reward it as they ought. I do not wonder at it ; for Father John de Mariana, an immortal Honour to the Soci- ety ofjefus, writing to Michael John Vimbodi{o), a Native of the Town of Onliniente in the Kingdom of Valencia, who was then at the Court of Rome in the quality of Secretary to Cardinal D. Anguftin de Efpinola, Archbifhop of San-Tiago ; he fays to him : i (in Spain) the Culture of humane Learning declines every Day more and more. As Lite- rature and the Sciences 'meet with no manner of Reward, nor indeed Refpecl, they ar< ferably dejecled and in a manner funk to nothing. Such Arts indeed as are Lucrative and fill the Coffers, are efteem'd and valu'd. This is our Cafe at prefent. For almofl every Body makes the Worth of the Arts to be fo much Money as they'll bring: andfucb as . turn to a Pecuniary Account, are held to be ufelefs and unnecejfary. Father il none of thofe Flatterers in all Times fo frequent, who are to the lafl: degree Myitcrious and upon the Referve in every Thing ; they are fo tender-mouth'd they never (peak cut, and are afraid to follow Truth too clofe at the Heels, left fie JJiould kick their Teeth down their Throat. But Mariana did not ufe to mince the matter or to fpeak Things by halves or as it were by Health : Not He : He could tell Philip III to his Face, and in the Face of the whole World : (p) There is none that doeth gocd to Men of Learning, no not ( There's no Reward in the whole Kingdom for Scholarjhip. No manner of Refpcot

Good

(n) Letter of the Origin of Romances. (o) Apud Leonem Allatium in Jji!:is Urbanis,pag. 156, (p) In his Dedicatim of his Hijiory of Spain.

8o He L I F E of

Good Literature, not the leajt Honour paid it, Honour I fay, which is the Mother of the Arts. • Such as cultivate the Sciences, are out of the way of all Preferment: They muft take another Courfe if they would keep from ft arving. "Some vile fordid Souls that torment themfelves with Envy at other People's fuperior Parts, and are mad at feeing them publifh their Qualifications to the World in order to be rewarded ; Thefe will call by the Name of Arrogance the moft juft Complaints into which Cervantes broke out, as hath before been fhewn. But he might fay as another did on a like Occafion, and that was the no lefs unbefriended than learned Don Jcfeph Pelicer, (q) and not without good Reafon. For why fhould not a Scholar have the fame Liberty as a Soldier? Why [hould a Penman be de- barred what's allowed to a Swordfman. Every Soldier is permitted to enumerate and fet forth with Truth the Services, Ingagement's and Perils he has been in ; and this was look'd upon by the old Romans as a commendable Virtue not Pride, and accordingly they beftow'd on the Deferving, Military Rings, Garlands, Mural and Civic Crowns, Trophies and publick Triumphs. And therefore I ought not to be thought a Boafter in particularizing my feveral Performances and the Praifes (tho' empty ones) which they have met with, efpe- cially fince Ignorance and Slander provoke me to it by Injuries and Calumnies which are likewifc made publick. If indeed I fwerv'dfrom Truth, it were a Crime. But as I do not^ why floou'd I, while I'm alive, leave the Relation of thefe Things to another Pen? The fame thing has been practis'd by the greateft Men in Spain, Don Antonio Auguftin, Geronimo de Zurita, Doctor Arias Montanus, Mafter Luis de Leon, Father John de Mariana, Don Nicholas Antonio, Don John Lucas Cortes. And in fhort, what great Man has not done the fame in his Cafe and Place ? (r) St. Paul calls his Glorying, Folly: but "fuch a Folly as. other People's Injuftice compel a Man to, very often. (s) In Cervantes, the Commendation of himfelf was an eafing and giving Vent to a juft Senfe of his ill Ufage ; and his Self-praifcs were very allowable, confidering hi* Genius : for he faid very truly, (/)

/ ne'er on Trifles fought my Fame to raife,

Nor ever catch' d at Undeferved Praife : But not meeting with it from others, thro' the Envy they bore him, he gave them Occafion of ftill envying him more, not with any Defign to augment their Envy to him, but purely to make manifeft the Satisfaction of his own Confcience, by reviving a Remembrance of what he had done for the publick Service. And therefore in his pleafant Dialogue with Pancratio of Roncevalles, which may ferve for a Comment to Cervantes'?, Speech to Apollo, he introduces the faid Pancratio asking him certain Queftions : («_) Was you never Theatrically inclin'd, Scnor Cervantes ? Did you never write a Play ? Yes, faid I, a great many. And were they not mine, I fhould not fcruple to pronounce them worthy of Praife, fuch were, The Humours of Algiers: (.v) Nu- mantia: The Grand Sultana : The Sea-Figkt : Jerusalem: The Ama- r \nt, or Flower-Gentle of May : The Grove of Lovi : The None-Such : and-TuB Gay Arsinda, and feveral others which I forget. But that which I fet the- greateft Value upon, was and is, The Confused Fair-One, which, (without Offence

to

(q) In the Since'lo, § z. of the Introdufiion. (r) i Corinth, xii. II. (s) The Apofth himfelf

f.r) as much. (t) Voyage to Pamaffusy. ch. 4 : (u)Ad.. , re ts Parnaflus. (x) I have

, .; ibis flay in Manufcript,fays the Author. It is writtenivitb . tude than the printed ones.

MrcHAEL de Cervantes Saavedra. 8r

to any poor Brother of the Cloak and Sword that has hitherto written for the Stage) may I a principal Place among the Bejl. Pancratio. But, pray, have yen any by you newt Michael. I have Six, with as ;;m«_)i Interludes. Pancratio. But why are tlcy not atled? Michael. Becaufe neither the Atlors feek after me, nor 1 after them. Pancr. fbey may not know you have any. Michael. They know it well enough : but as they have in Pay their Bread-and-Water Poets, and they make Shift with them, they don't want better Bread than is made of Wheat. But I think to fend them to the Prefs, that That may be read at Jeifure in the Clofet, which upon the Stage vanifhes away, unheeded or unheard. And Plays have their Times and Seafons as well as Songs. Thus far (.. ., whole Col-

loquy was as it were a Scout or Forerunner which preceded the Bcok he publiflud the Year after, with this Title : Eight Plays, as likewife Eight new Interludes, composed by Michael Cervantes de Saavedra. Madrid : Printed by the Widow of Alonfo Martin. Anno 1 615, in 40.

174. And now Cervantes was become fo miferably poor, that not having Money enough to put this Book to Prefs, he fold, it to John Villaroely at whofe Charge it was printed.

The Names of the P L A Y S are thefe :

El Gallardo Espanol. The Spanifh Gallant.

La Casa de losCelos. The Hcufe of Jealoufy.

Los Banos de Argel. The Bagnios of Algiers.

El Rufian Dichoso. The Fortunate Bully.

La gran Sultana. The Grand Sultana.

El Laberinto de Amor. The Labyrinth of Love.

La Entretenida. The kept Miflrefs.

Pedro de Urdemalas. Peter the Mif chief Merger.

INTERLUDES, or ENTERTAINMENTS.

El Juez de los Divorcios. The Judge of the Divorces.

El RufianViudo. The Ruffianly Widower. Eleccion de los Alcaldes de Daganzo. The Election of Mayor u/Daganzo.

La Guard a Cuidadosa. The careful Guardian.

El Vizca ino Fingido. TJje Counterfeit Bifcayner.

El Retablo de las Maravillas. The Raree-Jhow of Wonders.

Li Cueva de Salamanca. The Cave of Salamanca.

El Viejo Celoso. The Jealous Old-Man.

The Second and Third Entertainments are in Verfe •, the others in Profe. This fort of Compofition being a lively Reprefentation of any Action whatever, that is capable of being made ridiculous by Imitation and Mockery, of Confcqucnce thefe Entertain- ments muft be better to fee than to read. And therefore Lope de Rueda, who, when living, perfectly charmed the Spectators by his Acting, gives but very little Pleafure to the Readers of thofe Interludes published by John de Timoneda, a noted Valen~ tian Gentleman, and a plaufible Writer in his Time. "

Vol. I. 1 175.

82 The L I F E of

175. The Plays of Cervantes, compared with others more ancient, are much the beft, excepting always that of Calisto and Melibea, known by the Name of Celestina, the Bawd, infamoufly famous on more Accounts than one: among others, its being never known who firft conceiv'd the Plan of it, and alfo drew the Out- lines in black and white, and began to colour it ; and as for him that finifh'd it, the B:\tchdor Fernando de Roxas, he could not equal the firft Inventor. Since Cervantes, there have been Plays written of a grander Invention than the Greek ones (for the Latin Comic- Writers, Plautus and Terence, were no more than Imitators) but in point of Art much inferior. Whoever doubts this, let him firft inform himfelf of the exceeding great Difficulty there is in writing a regular Play, by reading AriJlotle,s Poeticks, and if he does not underftand it in the Original Greek, let him read The tnoft learned Illujlration thereof written by Don Jofeph Antonio Gonzalez de Salas. But that the Reader may re- main better inform'd how much the Spanijh Stage owes to Cervantes, let us hear the Ac- count which he (the fole Chronologer thereof) gives of the Rife and Progrefs of the Spanijh Drama to his own Time. In the Preface to his Plays, he thus delivers himfelf: " I can by no means avoid entreating the kind Reader to grant me his Pardon and In- " dulgence, if, in this Preface, he fees me a little tranfgreffing the Bounds of my ufual *' Refervednefs. Some few Days ago, I happened to be in a Company of Friends, «' where the whole Converfation fell upon Plays and Matters relating to the Stage ; " which were fo thoroughly canvafTed, and every thing Theatrical fifted in fo fubtil a «' a manner, that the Subject feem'd to me impofiible to be extended to a greater " Length, or the Argument capable of being fpun to a finer Thread. Among other " Topicks of our Difcourfe, we iriquir'd who it was that in thefe Kingdoms firft took " the Drama out of its Cradle, ftript the Spanijh Plays of their Swaddling-cloaths, fet "■ 'em under a Canopy of State, and dreft them with all that Gaynefs of Apparel and " Sprightlinefs of Behaviour we now fee 'em in. Myfelf being the oldeft Man in Com- «' pany, I told them I remembred to have feen Plays acted by the Great Lope de Rue da,. " who was in high Efteem not only as a Player but as a Writer of Plays. He was a " Native of Seville, and a Gold-beater by Trade. He had fuch a Talent for Paftoral " Poefy, that he was excell'd by none, either then, or at any time fince ; and altho' " being then but a Lad I could not make fo found a Judgment of the Goodnefs of " his Verfes, yet as I retain fome of 'em in my Memory even to this Day, I am fully «« fatisfy'd that I advance nothing but the Truth. And were it not foreign to the Bu- " finefs of a Preface, I cou'd quote fuch Pafiages out of his Works as would confirm «■' what I have faid of him. In the Time of this celebrated Spaniard all the Furniture «' and Utenfils of the Actors were contain'd in one Sack or large Bag, and wholly con- " fifted of Four Shepherds- Jerkins, made of Sheeps-Skins with the Wooll on, and «' adorn'd with Gilt-leather-trimming ; Four Beards and Periwigs, and four Paftoral " Crooks little more or lefs. The Plays were certain Difcourfes like Eclogues between « two or three Shepherds, and fome Shepherdefs. Thefe Plays, fuch as they were, " they wou*d now and then improve and lengthen out with two or three Interludes, of «« a Neere, i.e. Black-man orWoman,aRuifian,aFool,anda(j) Eifcayncr; and Lope.

* " acted.

( v) The Caftilians make a "J eft of the Bifcayncrs, as we do of fome other People, and with as iit.'/s Rtajln, for they are an inger.ious People, only they don't fpeak the Spaniih properly*.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. B$

«' acted all thefe four Parts and many more, with all the Propriety and Advantage that " could poffibly be imagin'd. There were not in thofe Days any Machines for Show «' to bring down Angels in Clouds, or the like ; nor any Challengings or Combatings '« between Moors and Chriftians either on Foot or on Horfeback. There were no Open- " ingsor Trap-doors under the Stage for Ghofts or Devils to arife from the Centre of " the Earth. The Stage it fclf was compos'd of four long Benches or Forms placed in " a Square; and upon thefe they laid four or fix Planks or Boards, and fo it was about " three Foot high from the Ground. The Furniture of the Stage was an old Blanket " or Horfe-cloth drawn with two Ropes from one Side to the other, which made what «c they call'd the Attiring-Room •, behind which were the Muficians fingiiig without a *« Guitarr fome old Ballads. Lope de Rueda died, and as he was an excellent Man and «' of high Renown, they buried him in the great Church at Cordova (where he died) *« between the two Choirs, where likewife is interr'd that famous Madman Luis Lopez. ** Nabarro a Native of Toledo fucceeded Lope de Rueda. This Naharro was noted for " acting the Part of a Bully, or cowardly Ruffian. He made fome Addition to theFur- " niture of the Theatre, and chang'd the Sack before-mention'd into Chefts and Trunks. " He made the Mufick (which ufed to fing behind the Blanket) come forwards towards " the Audience : He took away the Actors counterfeit Beards, without which till then *' no one ufed to act in any Play whatever ; and made every one act barefaced, un- *« lefs it was the Part of an old Man or any other that requir'd the difguifing of his " Face. He invented Machines, Clouds, Thunder and Lightning, Challenges, Battles ; " but things were not arrived to the Pitch we now fee them at. And now 1 hope I '* fhall not be thought vain in affirming for a Truth what can't be contradicted, namely, " that in all the Playhoufes at Madrid were acted fome Pieces of My compofing, fuch *' as (z) The Humours of Algiers, The Deftruction of Numantia, and The " Naval Batttle, or Sea-Fight^ wherein I took the Liberty to reduce Plays to Three " Acts, which before confifted of Five. I ihew'd, or, to fpeak better, I was the firfl " that reprefented the Imaginations and fecret Thoughts of the Soul, exhibiting moral " Characters to publick View, to the entire Satisfaction of the Audience. I compos'd " at that time no fewer Plays than thirty at leaft, all which were acted without any body's " interrupting the Players by flinging Cucumbers or any other Tram at them. They " run their Race without any Hiding, Cat-calling or any other Diforder. But happening " to be taken up with other things, I laid afide Play-writing, and then came on that " Prodigy of Nature, that marvellous Man, the Great Lope de Fcga^ who rais'd him- " felf to be fupreme Monarch of the Stage: He fubdued all the Players, and made them " truckle to his Power: He filled the World with Theatrical Pieces, all of his own *' compofing, finely and happily devis'd, and full of good Senfe ; and fo numerous, " that they take up above ten thoufand Sheets of Paper, all of his own writing; and " which is a moft wonderful thing to relate, he faw 'em all acted, or at leaft had the ci Satisfaction to hear they were all acted. And if there are fome Writers (as there are

1 2 " many

(z) I take that to be the meaning of Los Tratos de Argel : / can't be furs of it, zvithsut read- ing the Play itfelf, which I own I never did, vc?- ccu'd 1 ever get a Sight of it or of any ether of our Jut bar's Plays. / have imjl of his other Works, and JlicWd be glad to pur chafe 'em all.

S4 The L I F E of

" many) who wou'd be thought worthy of fome Share of Honour with Lope de Fega, " yet if all they have written jointly and fcparately were brought together, they would " not amount to one Half of what has been written by him alone. And yet, " notwithstanding what I have faid, (fince the Almighty does not grant all Things to " all Men) the Publick is not a little oblig'd to Doctor Ramon, whofe Performances " are to be valued for their intrinfic Merit, as well as for being the moil numerous of " any Author next to the Great Lope. Juftice likewife calls upon us to pay Refpeft " to the Licentiate Michael Sanchez on Account of his artificial Contrivances : Neither " ought we to omit taking notice of Doctor Mir a de Mefcua, a fingular Honour to ** our Nation, for his Sententioufnefs and Gravity ; as is alfo the Canon Tarraga for *' his innumerable bright Thoughts •, Don Guillen de Caflro for his Harmony and delightful «' Sweetnefsi DeAguilar for the Shrewdnefs of his Wit. The Plays likewife of Luis 11 Velez de Guevara make a great Noife in the World. The Plays of the ingenious Bon " Antonio de Galarza, tho* not quite finifht ; and the Cheats of Love promis'd by Gafpar " de Avila ; all thefe and many more have contributed fomething towards making us take " our Eyes off Lope de Vegas's Great and Noble Structure. Some Years ago I return'd »' again to my wonted Amufement, and thinking the fame Times continued as when " my Name was up, I fell to writing again for the Stage, and had writ fome Pieces ; but « I found (a) no Birds in laft Year's Nefts. I mean I could light of no Actor that " wou'd ask me for them, tho' they knew ofthem. So I e'en threw "em by, and con- " demn'd 'em to perpetual Silence. At this very Time a Bookfellertold me, he wou'd " buy 'em of me, had not a topping Flayer told him, That, from my Profe, Much " might be expected, but from my Verfe, Nothing. If I miift own the Truth, it " gave me no fmall Concern, the hearing of this; and thus I faid to myfelf: Either I " am quite changed into another Man, or the Times are grown much better, tho' that's « contrary to common Obfervation ; for Times paft are always mod commended. I again " lookt over my Comedies and fome Interludes I had thrown by among 'em in a Corner, " and I did not think any of 'em fo very bad but that they might appeal from the muddi- " nefs of this Player's Brain to the brightnefs of other Actors lefs Scrupulous and more «■ Judicious. I was quite out of Humour, and fo parted with the Copy to a Bookfeller, « who put 'em to Preis, juft as you fee 'em. He offered me tolerably well for 'em, " and I took his Money without having any thing to do with the Actors. I cou'd wifh " they were the befl: in the World, or at leaft, reafonably Good. Thou wilt foon fee « how they are, (my dear Reader,) and if thou findeft they have any Thing good in 'em, " and fhouldft happen to light on my Back-biting Actor, defire him from me to take " Care and mend himfelf, for I offend no Man ; and as for the Plays, let him take this " alono-with him, they contain no bare-faced, open Follies; no obvious Nonfenfe ; " their Faults are Latent not Patent ; the Verfe too is the very fame that's requifite in " Comic Pieces which ought to be, of all the Three Stiles, the loweft: Again, the Lan- ♦ < oua^e of the Interludes is the proper Language of the Characters there reprefented ; & '° " and

fa) There are no Birds this Year in laft Year's Nefts. i. e. Things are charted; the Cafe is alter* d fince laft Year. This Spanijh Proverb runs in Rhime, asjlmojl all of 'em do ;which makes 'em tnexfreffu bly pretty: En los nidos de antano, no ay paxaros ogano.

Michael d e Cervantes S a a v e d r ,

•' and if all this won't do, I'll recommend a Play to him which I'm now upon, " " Title, The Deceit of dealinc by the Eye, ■ iv'd myl

*' will not fail of pleafing. And fo God grant L: :.ce.

176. And thus you have the HifLory of the Rife and Progrefs ol Dram i ; to the advancement of which Cervantes was the Perfon that had mofl contributed ; and in order to bring it to a yet greater Perfection, he was fo kind as to give us a Pattern of a Grand Tragicomedy, written in Profe. He was many Years ftudying and pn. ring for the Prefs, the Troubles of Persiles and Sigismunda. He had men- tion'd it on various Occafions. In his Preface to his Novels, he lays thus o! it : 4, tbefe (the Novels) if Life fail me not, I Jhall prefent thee with The Tkoubles of Peu- siles and Sigismunda, A Book which daresvie with Heliodorus, unlcfsfor its

fawcinefs it fhoiCd chance to come off with a broken Pate. But firji thou fhalt fee, and that fJoortly, the Achievements of Don Quixote, and the merry conceits c/Sancho Panza •, andin a little 'Time afterTHE Weeks of the Gard en. Ipromife much, for one that has fo little Strength. But who can lay a reflraint upon his Defires ? The fecond Part of Tn e History of Don Quixote came out as we have feen, in 1616. In his Dedication to the Condi de Lemos, dated at Madrid the laft of October, i6if, Cervantes wcr.tfofaras to conclude with the following Words : And now I take my Leave with offering to your Excel- lency The Troubles of Persiles and Sigismunda: A Book which, Gcd willing, J Jhall finifh in Four Months, and which will be either the worfl or the befi Bock that 1 ever written in our Language : I fpeak of Books of Entertainment : and I'm al y I

/aid the worfl ; for in the Opinion of my Friends, it will be the beft that pofjibly can be. your Excellency return in Safety, (b) as is heartily wifht and deftred;for Persiles will be ready to kifs your Hands, and I your Feet, being your Excellency's mofl Humble, l£c. A 1 indeed Cervantes had put his laft Hand to The Troubles of Persiles and Sigis- munda •, but before it cou'd be publifh'd, Death put an End to Him.

177. His Sicknefs was fuch, that himfelf was able to be, and actually was, his own Hiftorian. And fince we have no other, and that he relates every Thing in fo agr* - able a Way, let us fee what he has left us at the End of the Preface, which he was either about finiming, or had finifht, tho' begun a little ex abntpto. He fays thus : (c)" And fo «' it fell out, mod loving Reader, that as Two of my Friends and myfelf were coming " from the Famous Town of Efquivias, famous I fay on a thoufand Accounts •, firft for «« its illuftrious Families, and fecondly for its more illuftrious Wines, and fo on •, I " heard fome-body galloping after us f I thought.) as if he wanted to overtake us, and " the Perfon foon gave us to Underftand as much, for he called out to us not to ride fo fait ; " fo we waited for him, and there came up to us upon a fhe-Afs a Grey Student, for he '« wasdreft all in Grey ; he had Buskins on, fuch as are worn by Harveft-men that the " Corn may not prick their Legs •, round-toed Shoes, a Sword, not without a Chape to it, «'« as it happen'd ; a burnifh'd Band, and an equal Number of three Thread Breeds ; the 41 Truth is, he had but Two ; and every now and then his Band wou'd get o'one-,"

«« and he took a wonderful deal of Pains to fet it to Rights again. Your worfhips, f.u"d " he to us, are going, belike, to folicite fome Office or Prebend at Court ? His Eminence

of

(i) He was Prefident of the fupreme Council in Italy, (c) This Quotation, as well as if: I and fuc c ending cms, and mojl of the others, and all the Verfcs in general throughout this Critical HiJ, were never Tranjlated till rnnv into any Language that I know of.

86 7%e L I F E of

" of Toledo muft be there to be fure, or the King at leaft by your making fo much " Hafte : Good Faith I cou'd hardly come up with you,tho'my Afs hath been more than " once applauded for a tolerable good Runner. To which one of my Companions made " Anfwer : Senor Michael de Cervantes's Nag has been the Caufe of it, he has fuch a " lhare of Heels. Scarce had the Student heard Cervantes^ Name, when leaping from " his Bean:, his Cufhion falling one Way and Portmantua another (for with a!l this State " was he Travelling) he comes up to Me and taking hold of my Left-Hand, Yes, yes, " faid he, This is the found Cripple •, the all-Famous; the merry Writer ; and finally " the Joy of the Mufes ! Seeing myfelfinfo fhort a fpace fo highly complimented, £ " thought it wou'd look difcourteous in me not to make fome Return to his Encomiums, " fo throwing my Arms about his Neck, whereby I occafion'd the Lofs of his Band, *( I told him it was an Error which many of my wcll-wifhers, thro' Ignorance, had fain in- " to. I am indeed Cervantes, but not the Joy of the Mufes, nor the other fine Things *' you are pleas'd to call me. Be pleas'd therefore, good Sir, added I, to remount your " Beaft, and let us Travel on and be good Company the reft of the Way. The well- " bred Student did as I defired. We flacken'd our Pace, and fo we jogg'd on very fo- " berly together, and happening to talk of my Ulnefs, the Student foon let me know my " Doom, by faying it was a Dropfy I had got, which all the Water of the Ocean, even " tho' it were not Salt, would never fuffice to quench. Therefore, Senor Cervantes, you " muft Drink nothing at all, but don't forget to Eat : for this alone will recover you with- " out any other Phyfick. I have been told the fame by others, anfwered I, but I can as " well Not Tipple as if I were born to do nothing elfe but Tipple, all one and the fame. My " Life is drawing to an End, and by the daily- Journal of my Pulfe, which I find (by next " Sunday at fartheft will havefinifht its Courfe, Ifhall have finilht my Courfe too. You " came in the very nick of Time to be acquainted with me ; but I fhall have no Oppor- " tunity of fiiewing you how much Pm oblig'd to you for your Good-will. By this we " .were got to the Toledo Bridge, which was the Way I went in, ( c) as he did by that of " the Segovia Bridge. What will be faid of my Adventure, Fame will take care of *' that, my Friends may have a Mind to tell it, and I a greater Mind to hear it. I «* turn'd back again to embrace my Student once more, and he return'd too, and offer'd " to do the like by me. With this he fpurr'd his Beaft, and left me as ill difpos'don my " Horfe, as he was ill mounted on his Afs, on which my Pen itcht to be writing fome " pleafant Things. — But, Adieu, my merry Friends all ; for Pm going to Die ; and I " hope to fee you e'er't be long in t'other World, as happy as Heart can wifh."

And now, alas! we behold Cervantes on the Confines of Death and juft upon the point of expiring. The Dropfy increaft, and, in the End, bore him quite down. But the weaker he grew in Body, the more he endeavour'd to ftrengthen his Mind ; and having received Extreme Un5lion (in order to go offViclorious, like a Chriftian Wrejller, in the laft (d) Luclation) he waited for Death with a Serenity of Mind which fhew'd he did not fear that King of Terrors : and what is moft to be wonder'd at, he could not

even

anointing their IVreJIL knnvs.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. 87

even then forbear both fpeaking and writing fome merry Conceit or other, as they came into his Head, infomuch that having recciv'd the Lift Sacrament on the 1 8th of April 1616, he, the very next Day, wrote, or dictated, the Dedication of The Troubus of Persilis and Sigismunba, (Los Trabajos de Persiles iSicis- munda) quotingVerfes to his Patron the Condi de Lemps^ for whom he left in writing the following Dedication :

" There's an old Ballad which, in its Day, was much in vogue, and it began thus: «' And now with one Foot in the Stirrup. Now I could wifli this did not fall io pat to my Epiftle ; for I can almoft fay in the fame Words :

And now with one Foot in the Stirrup

Setting out for the Regions of Death; To write this Epiftle I cheer up,

Andfalute my Lord, With my lafl Breath.

" Yefterday they gave me the Extreme Unction, and to Day I write this. Time is " ftiort, Pains increafe, Hopes diminifh, and yet for all this I wou'd live a little longer, " methir.ks, nofffor the fake of Living, but I wou'd eke out Life, a Handful or fo, •* till I could kifs your Excellency's Feet ; and it is not impoflible but the Pleafurc ** of feeing your Excellency fafe and well in Spain, might make Me well too ; but if " I am decreed to dye, Heavn's Will be done •, but your Excellency will at leaft give u me leave to inform You of this my Defire, and likewife that you had, in me, fo zea- " lous and well-affected a Servant, as to be willing to go even beyond Death to ferve " you, if it were pofllble for his Ability to equal his Sincerity. However, I prophe- «' tically rejoyce at your Excellency's Re-arrival in Spain : My Fleart bounds within me " to fancy you fhewn to one another by the People : There gees the Conde de Lemos ! and " it revives my Spirits to fee the accompli fhment of thofe Hopes which 1 had fo much " dilated upon in praife of your Excellency's moft promifing Perfections. There are " ft ill remaining in my Soul certain Remains and Glimmerings of the Weeks of the n Garden, (e) and of the Famous Bernardo : If by good-luck, or rather by a Mi- " racle, Heav'n fpares me Life, your Excellency fhall fee them both, and with them " the Second Part of the Galatea, which I know your Excellency would not be ill " pleas'd to fee. And fo I conclude with my ardent Wifhes that the Almighty will " preferve your Excellency, &c. Madrid 19 April, 161 7.

Tour Excellency** Servant Michael de Cervantes.

178. According to this Letter or Epiftle Dedicatory, it is highly probable he dy'd foon after. The particular Day is not known, nor even the Month. Certain it is, he did notlivelong enough to fee the Trabajos abovemention'd printed-, for on the 24th of September, 161 6. at San Lorenzo el Real a Licenfe was granted to Dona (f) Catalina de Salazar, Widow of Michael de Cervantes Saavedra, to print that Book, and according- ly it was printed with this Title, Los Trabajos, &c. i. e. The Troubles of Perfiles and

Sigifmunda, (1) Two Books which ht had not pcrfecllj fnijh'd. (f) Catalina is the Spanifh name for Catharine,

88- 2%e L I F E of

Sigifmunda, a Northern Hiflory ; by Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. Madrid ; printed by John de la Cuefta, in the Tear i6iy. in 4to. A few Years after, it was translated, into Italian, by Francifco Elio, a Milaneze ; and it was printed at Venice, by and for Bartboloms Fontana, Anno 1616. in 8vo.

179. In the firft ImprefHon there are two Epitaphs, fuch, that for their duration de- ferve to be engrav'd in the lighten* Cork that can be got for Love or Money. The one is (/) a Sonnet of Luis Francifco Calderbn, which contains nothing particular. The other is a (g) Decima, which for the Brightnefs of the Thought, and to fhew how Ex- quifite a Conception the Author of it muft needs have, fhall be here tranfiated Literally :

180. FerfesofDon Francifco de Urbina, on Michael de Cervantes, an extraordinary famous Chriflian IVtt of our Times, who was carrfd to his Grave, with his Face unco- vered, by the Devout Men of the Third Order of St. Francis, he having been one of thofe Devout Men himfelf:

EPITAPH. traveller !

This Grave, Cervantes' Afhes, does confine, But not his Fame. That, deathlefs and divine,

Still lives. His Works, tho' He has run his Race, -y

Survive ; fo full of Beauty and of Grace C

He went from Earth to Heav 'n with a bare Face. j>

181. This Epitaph gave cccafion to the Author of theBiBMOTHECAFRANciscANA to put Cervantes into it, as one of the Writers that were Brothers of the Confraternity of the Third Order : A Biblictheque, (or Library) which if it were to take in all thofe Brothers, wou'd furely be the molt Copious of all Libraries.

182. Cervantes fays that his Persiles and Sigismunda dared to vie with Helio- dorus. The greateft Encomium we can beftow on it is, that, What he fays, is matter of fa<5t. The Loves therein recounted are moft Chaft ; the fecundity of Invention mar- vellous, infomuch that he is even wafteful of his Wit, and exceflive in the Multitude of Epifodes. The Incidents are Numerous, and vaftly Various. In fome we fee an imi- tation of Heliodorus, and in others, Heliodorus greatly improv'd ; and in the reft a perfect Newnefs of Fancy mines forth in the moft confpicuous Manner. All of them are dif- pos'd artfully, and well unfolded, with Circumftances almoft always Probable. The far- ther the Reader proceeds in this Work, the greater is his Delight in reading it, the Third and Fourth Book being much better than the Firft and Second. A Series of Troubles borne with Patience, End at Lift in Peace and Eafe, without any Machine ; for in fuch a Man as Cervantes, it had been a Miracle itfelf if he had made ufe of a Miracle to bring about What indeed wou'd have puzzled a Wit Ids happy than his. In the Defcriptions he ex- cels

(f) Son6to in Spnnifh, is net what we in England mean by a Sonnet, but a particular kind of Spa- nish Poetry, conffling of 1 4 Vtrfes, the common fort ; tho" thene be others which thofe who defire to undcr- fiand may read ?A<;Spanilh Arte Pee'tica. (g) Another fort of Spanifh Poetry of ten Jhort Lines. I ' have given a Literal tranflation of them in thofe five Lines above. The writer of this Life has inferttd the abovi Epitaph only to ridicule the Perfon that compos 'd it.

Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. Sg

eels Heliodorus. Thofe of the latter are a great deal too frequent, as well as too pompous. Thofe of Cervantes well-timed, and perfeftly natural. He likewife was fupeiior to the other in Style ; for altho* diat of Heliodorus is very elegant, it is fomewhat alleged and fingular; it is too figurative, and more Poetical than is allow'd of in Profe. A Fault into which even the difcrete Fenelon himfelf is likewife fallen. But Cervantes's Style is proper, regularly fublime, modeftly figured, and temperately Poetical when he offers at a Defcription. Briefly, this Work is of a better Invention, more artificial Contrivance, and of a more fublime Style than that of Don Quixote de la Mancha. But it did not meet with an equal Reception, becaufe the Invention of the Hiftory of Don Quixot e is more popular, and contains Chara&ers that are more pleafant and agreeable- and as they are fewer in number, the Reader better retains in his memory the Cuftoms Aftions and Characters of each refpective Perfon . Befides, the Style is more natural' and by fo much the more eafy, by how much lefs fublime it is. And here let me inform fuch Writers as don't know it, that to put bounds to the inventive Faculty, and to de- fift from a Work when it is come to its due Time and proper Period, is an argument of •a Mafterly Genius. And this very Thing puts me in mind that it is high time I had done troubling my Reader with any more of my Impertinencies, and I beg he'll forgive what's paft, in regard all the View I have had in it was to pay obedience to the great Perfonage who honour'd me with his Commands, in Minuting down what I cou'cTcol- IecTt relating to Michael de Cervantes's Life and Writings, in order to their bein^ digefted and written by fome other Hand with that Felicity of Style which the Subjeft deferves. Meanwhile I fhall here give a moft faithful Copy of the Original itfelf ; Concluding with thofe very Words with which Michael de Cervantes Saavedra Began his Preface to his Novels.

183. " I fhou'd be very glad, moft loving Reader, (were it poffible) to be excus'd *' writing this Preface ; That which I prefix'd to my Den Quixote, not having the "ood " Fortune to pleafe fo very much as to make me over-fond to fecond it with another. *' That I trouble thee with this, is owing to one of thofe (h) many Friends whom my " Circumftances, more than my Wit, have gain'd me ; whom I cou'd have wifht to have *' got me ingrav'd, as the Cuftom is, and to have prefix'd me to the Frontifpiece of «« this Book ; for the famous Don John de Jauregui wou'd have giv'n him my Picture " to have done it from ; and thus wou'd my Ambition have been fatisfy'd, and likewife " the Curiofity of thofe Readers that had a Mind to know what kind ofa Man I was, that «' durft to fend abroad into the World fo many Inventions, and he might have w'ritten « under my Effigy thefe Words: He whom thou feeft here with a fharp aquiline Vi- « fage, brown cheftnut-colour'd Hair •, his Forehead fmooth and free from Wrinkles; his « Eyes brisk and chearful ; his Nofe fomewhat Hookifh or rather Hawkifb, but withal « well-proportion'd -, his Beard filver-colour'd, which twenty Years ago was gold ; his « Muftachio's large •, his Mouth little ; his Teeth neither fmall norbigt and of them he «' has but Six, and thofe in bad condition and worfe ranged, for they have no correfpon- " dence with one another •, his Body between two Extreams, neitiier large nor little ;

V O L. I. m a Jjjj

(h) He alludes to the unknown Friend, who he fays was Ms Counfclhr in the Firft Preface to lis Do 1 Quixote.

g0 The L I F E of, &c.

" his Complexion lively, rather fair than fwarthy ; fomewhat thick in the Shoulders and " not very light of Foot : This I fay is the Effigy of the Author of Galatea, and of " Don Quixote de la Mancha: He likewife made the Voyage to Parnassus* " in imitation of Cafar Caporal the Perugian, and other Works which wander about " the World, here and there and every where, and perhaps too without the Maker's *' Name. He was commonly called Michael de Cervantes Saavedra. He " was many Years a Soldier ; five and a half a Captive, and from thence learnt to bear " Afflictions patiently. At the naval Battle of Lepanto he loft his left Hand by the fhot " of a Harquebus •, a Maim which how unfightly foever it might appear to others, yet *' was look'don by him as the greateft Grace and Ornament, fince got in the nobleftand *' moft memorable Action that ever paft Ages had feen, or future e'er cou'd hope to 4t fee •, fighting under the victorious Banners of the Son of that Thunderbolt of War « Charles Vth of Happy Memory.

THE

THE

HISTORY

O F

T> 0 N QUIXOTE

DE LA M A N C H A:

T H E

A U T H O R's PREFACE.

YO U may believe me without an oath, gentle reader, that I ivifo t book, as the child of my brain, were the moft beautiful, the mojl fprightly, and the moft ingenious, that can be imagined. But I could not controul the order of nature, whereby each thing engenders its like : and there- fore what could my fteril and uncultivated genius produce, but the hijlory of a child, meagre, aduft, and whimfcal, full of various wild imaginations never thought of before; like one you may fuppofe born in a prifon *, where every in- convenience keeps its refidence, and every difmal found its habitation ? Whereas repofe of body, a deftreable filiation, unclouded skies, and, above all, a mind at eafe, can make the moft barren Mufes fruitful, and produce fuch offsprings to the world, as fill it with wonder and content. It often falls out, that a parent has an ugly child, without any good quality ; and yet fatherly fondnefs clnps fuch a bandage over his eyes, that he cannot fee its defetts : on the contrary, he takes them for wit and pleafantry, and recounts them to his friends for fmartnefs and humour. But I, though Ifeem to be the father, being really but the ftep-father of Don Quixote, will not go down with the ftream of cuftom, nor bfecch you, almoft as it were with tears in my eyes, as others do, dear eft reader, to par- don or diffemble the faults you ftoall difcover in this my child. Ton are neither lis kinfman nor friend; you have your foul in your body, and your will as free as the braveft of them all, and are as much lord and mafter of your own houfe, as the king of his fubf dies, and know the common faying, Under my cloke a fig for the king. All which exempts and frees you from every regard and obligation: and therefore you may fay of this hijlory whatever you think fit, without fear of being calumniated for the evil, or rewarded for the good you ft: all fay of it.

Only I would give it you neat and naked, without the ornament of a preface, or the rabble and catalogue of the accuftomed fonnets, epigrams, and enco- miums that are wont to be placed at the beginnings of books. For, let me tell you, though it coft me fome pa'ms to write it, I reckoned none greater than the writing of this preface you are now reading. I often took pen m hand, and as often laid it down, ?iot knowing what to fay : and once up- $n a time, being in deep fufpence, with the paper before me, the pen behind

* It is faid the Author wrote this Book in that unhappy Situation.

Vol. I. n my

The A U T H O R's PREFACE.

my ear, my elbow on the table, and my cheek on my hand, thinking what I Jhoidd fay, unexpectedly in came a friend of mine, a pie af ant gentleman, and of a very good undemanding; who, feeing me fo penfive, asked me the caufe of my mufing. Not willing to conceal it from him, I anfwered, that I was mufing on what preface I Jhould make to Don Quixote, and that I was fo much at a Jland about it, that I intended to make none at all, nor pub- lifh the atchievements of that noble knight. For would you have me not be concerned at what that ancient lawgiver, the vulgar, will fay, when they fee me, at the end of fo many years, flept away in the filence of oblivion, ap- pear, with all my years upon my back, with a legend as dry as a kex, empty of hrcention, the file fat, the conceits poor, and void of all learning and erudition-, without quotations in the margin, or annotations at the end of the book ; feeing that other books, though fabulous and profane, are fo full of fentences of Ariftotle, of Plato, and of all the tribe of philofophers, that the readers are in admiration, and take the authors of them for men of great read- ing, learning and eloquence? For, when they cite the holy fcriptures, they pafs for fo many St. Thomas'*, and doctors of the church; obfrving herein a deco- rum fo ingenious, that, in one line, they defer i be a raving lover, and in another give you a little fcrap of a chriftian homily, that it is a delight, and a perfect treat, to hear or read it. All this my book is likely to want ; for I have nothing to quote in the margin, nor to make notes on at the end; nor do I know what authors I have followed in it, to put them at the beginning, as all others do, by the letters A, B, C, beginning with Ariftotle, and ending at Xenophon, Zoi- l'JS, or Zeuxis; though the one was a railer, and the other a painter. My book will alfo want fonnets at the beginning, at leaf fuch fonnets, whofe authors are dukes, marquifes, carls, bifhops, ladies, or celebrated poets: though, fjould I defire them of two or three obliging friends, I know they would furnifh me, and with fuch, as thofe of greater reputation in our Spain could not equal. Infhort, my dear friend, continued I, it is refolved, that Signor Don Quixote re- main buried in the records of La Mancha, 'till heaven fends fomebody to fupply him with fuch ornaments as he wants; for I find myfelf incapable of helping him, through my own infufifciency and want of learning ; and becaufe I am naturally too idle and lazy to hunt after authors, to fay what I can fay as well without them. Hence proceeds the fufpence and thoughtfulnefs you found me in, fiiffi- ciently occafoned by what I have told you. My friend, at hearing this, ftriking his forehead with the palm of his hand, and fitting up a loud laugh, faid : Before god, brother, I am now perfectly undeceived of a mif- take I have been in everfince I knew you, fill taking you for a difcrete and

prudent

The A U T H O R's PREFACE.

prudent perfin in all your actions : but now I fee you are as far from being Jo, as heaven is from earth. For how is it pofible, that things of fuch little mo- ment, and fo eafy to be remedied, can have the power to puzzle and conjoin J a genius fo ripe as yours, and fo made to break through and trample upon greater difficulties? In faith, this does not fpring from want of ability, but from an exceffive lazinefs, and penury of right reafoning. Will you fee whe- ther what I fay be true? 'Then lift en attentively, and you fall percei . that, in the twinkling of an eye, I will confound all your difficulties, and remedy all the defects that, you fay, fufpend and deter you from introducing into the world the hiftory of this your famous Don Quixote, the light and mirrour of all knight-errantry.

Say on, replied I, after I heard what he hinted at ; after what manner do you think to fill up the vacuity made by my fear, and reduce the chaos of my confufion to clearnefs ? To which he anfwered: Thefirft thing you feem to Jlick at, concerning the fonnets, epigrams, and clogies, that are wanting for the be- ginning, and fijould be the work of grave perfonages, and people of quality, may be remedied by taking fome pains your felf to make them, and then baptizing them, giving them what names you pleafe, fathering them on Prefter John of the Indies, or on the emperor of Trapifonda; of whom I have certain intelligence, that they are both famous poets : and though they were not fuch, and though fome pedants or prating fellows Jhould backbite you, and murmur at this truth, value them not two farthings ; for, though they Jhould convict you of a lye, they cannot cut off the hand * that wrote it.

As to citing in the margin the books and authors, from whom you collected the fentences andfayings you have interfperfed in your hifiory, there is no more to do but to contrive it fo, that fome fentences and pbrafes may fall in pat, which you have by heart, or at leaf which will coft you very little trouble to find. As for example ; treating of liberty and flavery, Non .bene pro toto libertas venditur auro. And then in the margin cite Horace, or whoever faid it. If you are treating of the power of death, prefently you have, Pal- lida mors asquo pulfat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres. -f- If of friendfirip and loving our enemies, as god enjoins, go to the holy fcrip- ture, if you have never fo little curiofty, and Jet down god's own words, Ego autem dico vobis, diligite inimicos veftros. If you are fpeaking of evil thoughts, bring in the gofpel again, De corde exeunt cogitationes malae.

* He loft one hand in the fea-fight at Lepanto againft the Turks. t This and the following period are omitted in Sbeltori's tranflation.

n 2 On

The A U T H O R's PREFACE.

On the injlability of friends, Cato will lend you his dijlich, Donee erls fe-

lix, multos numerabis amicosj Tempora fi fuerint nubila, folus eris. And

fo, with thefe fcraps of Latin and the like, it is odds but people will take you

for a great grammarian, which is a matter of no fmall honour and advantage

in thefe days. As to clapping annotations at the end of the book, you may do it

fafely in this manner. If you name any giant in your book, fee that it be

the giant Goliah ; and with this alone (which will coft almojl nothing) you

have a grand annotation ; for you may put : The giant Golias or Goliat, was

a Philiftin, whom thejhepherd David flew with a great blow of a Jlone from

a Jlir.g, in the valley of Terebinthus, as it is related in the book of Kings,-

iri the chapter wherein you fall find it.

Then, to few yourfelf a great humanifi, and skilful in cofinography, let the river Tagus be introduced into the hi/lory, and you will gain another notable annotation, thus: The river Tagus was fo called from a certain king of Spain : it has its fource in fuch a place, and is fwallowed up in the ocean; firft kiffing the walls of the famous city of Lisbon- : and fome are of opi- nion, its fands are of gold, &c. If you have occafion to treat of robbers, I will tell you the ftory of Cacus, for I have it by heart. If you write of courtezans, there is the bifiop of Mondonedo will lend you a Lamia, Lais, and Flora; and this annotation muft needs be very much to your credit. If you would tell of cruel women, Ovid will bring you- acquainted with Medea. If enchanters and witches are your fubjecl; Homer has a Calypfb, and Vir- gil a Circe. If you would give us a hi/lory of valiant commanders; Julius Caviar gives you himfelf in his commentaries, and Plutarch will furnijh you with a tboufand Alexanders. If you treat of love, and have but two drams of tie Tufcan Tongue, you will light on Leon Hebreo, who will give yoa enough of it. And if you care not to vifit foreign parts, you have at home. Fonfeca, Of the love of god, where he defcribes all that you, or the mojl ingenious perfons, can imagine upon that fruitful fubjeSi. In fine, there is no more to be done but naming thefe names, or hinting thejejlories in your b:ok, and let me alone to fettle the annotations and quotations ; for I will warrant to fill the margins for you, and enrich the end of your book with half a dozen leaves into the bargain.

We come now to the catalogue of authors, Jet down in other books, that is wan ti tig in yours. The remedy whereof is very cafy ; for you have no- thing to do, but to find a book that has them all, from A down to Z, as you fay, at d then tranferibe that very alphabet into your work ; andjuppofe the falftood be ever fo apparent from the little need you have to make ufe

of

The AUTHORs PREFACE.

of them, itfignifiei nothing; and perhaps fome will be Jb foottjh as to believe you had occajicn for them all in your ftriple and fincere hi/lory. But, though it ferved for nothing elfe, that long catalogue of authors will however, at the frft blu/h, give fome authority to the book. And who will go about to difprove, whether you followed them or no, feeing they can get nothing by it?

After all, if I take the thing right, this book of yours has no need of thefe ornaments, you fay it wants ; for it is only an invecJive againfl the books of chivalry, which Jort of books Ariftotle never dreamed of, Saint Bafil never mentioned, nor Cicero once heard of. Nor does the relation of its fa- bulous extravagancies fall under the pimcluality and precij'cnefs of truth ± nor do the obfervations of aftronomy come within its jphere : nor have the dimenfons of geometry, or the rhetorical arguments of logic, any thing to do with it ; nor has it any concern with preaching, mixing the human with the divine, a kind of mixture, which no chri/lian judgment jhould meddle with. All it has to do, is, to copy Nature : Imitation is the bufmefs, and how much the more perjetl that is, fo much the better what is written will be. And fince this writing of yours aims at no more than to dejlroy the authority and acceptance the books of chivalry have had in the world, and among the vulgar, you have ?w bufmefs to go begging fentences of philo- fophers, pa f ages of holy writ, poetical fables, rhetorical orations, or miracles of faints ; but only to endeavour, with plainnefs, and in fgnificant, decent, and well ordered words, to give your periods a pleafing and harmonious turn, exprejfng the defgn in all you advance, and as much as poffible making your conceptions clearly underftood, without being intricate or obfeure. Endeavour alfo, that, by reading your hi/lory, the melancholy may be provoked to laugh, the gay humour be heightned, and the fimple not tired; that the judicious may admire the invention, the grave not undervalue it, nor the wife forbear com- mending it. In conclufon, carry your aim fleady to overthrow that ill com- piled machine of books of chivalry, abhorred by many, but applauded by more : and, if you carry this point, you gain a confiderable one.

I lifened with great fdence to what my friend faid to me, and his words made Jb firong an imprcfion upon me, that I approved them without difputing, and out of them choje to compofe this preface, wherein, fweet reader, you will difcern the judgment of my friend, my own good hap in finding fuch a coimfellor at fuch a pinch, and your own eafe in receiving, in fo fncere and unoflen- - tatious a manner, the hijiory of the famous Don Quixote de la Mancha; of whom it is clearly the opinion of all the inhabitants of the dijlrieJ of the field o/7vlontiel, that he was the chajlejl lover, and the moji valiant blight, that has beenjeen

in :

The A U T H O R's PREFACE.

tn thofe parts for many years. I will not enhance thefervice I do you in bringing you acquainted with fo notable and fo worthy a knight ; but I beg the fa- vour of feme fmall acknowledgment for the acquaintance of the famous Sancho Pan$a, his fquire, in whom I think I have decyphered all the fquire-like graces, that are fcattered up and down in the whole rabble of books of chivalry. Andfo, god give you health t not forgetting me. Farewel.

TABLE

TABLE

OF THE

CHAPTERS.

BOOK the FIRST.

CHAP. I.

Which treats of the quality and manner of life of the renowned gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha. Page I

CHAP. II.

Which treats of the firjl fally the ingenious Don Quixote made from bis 'village.

P- 5 CHAP. III.

In which is related the pie of ant method Don Quixote took to be dubbed a knight.

p. 10 CHAP. IV. Of what befel our knight after he had /allied out from the inn. p. 15

CHAP. V.

Wherein is continued the narration of our knight's misfortune. p. 20

CHAP. VI.

Of the pie af ant and grand fcrutiny made by the priejl and the barber in our in- genious gentleman's library, p. 23

CHAP. VII.

Of the fecond fally of our good knight Don Quixote de la Mancha, p. 28

CHAP. VIII.

Of the goodfuccefs, which the valorous Don Quixote had, in the dreadful and never-imagined adventure of the wind-mills , with other events worthy ta be recorded. p. 32

CHAP,

TABLE of the CHAPTERS.

BOOK the SECOND.

CHAP. I.

Wherein is concluded, and an end put to, the jlupendous battle between the vigo- rous Bifcainer and the valiant Manchegan. P. 38

CHAP. II.

Of the difcourfe Don Quixote had with his good /quire Sancho Panca. p. 42

chap. m.

Of what happened to Don Quixote with certain goatherds. . p. 46

CHAP. IV.

What a certain goatherd related to thofe that were with Don Quixote. p. 5 1

CHAP. V.

The conclufion of the Jlory of the jhepherdefs Marcela, with other accidents.

P- 55 CHAP. VI.

Wherein are rehearfed the defpairing verfes of the deceafed Jloepkerd, with other unexpected events. p. 62

BOOK the THIRD.

CHAP. I.

Wherein is related the unfortunate adventure, which befel Don Quixote in meeting with certain bloody-minded Yanguefes. p. 69

CHAP. II.

Of what happened to the ingenious gentleman in the inn, which he imagined to be a cajlle. p. 74

CHAP. III.

Wherein are continued the numberlefs hardfiips, which the brave Don Quixote and his good J quire Sancho Pan 9a underwent in the inn, which he unhappily took for a cajlle. p. 80

CH A P.

TABLE of the CHAPTERS. CHAP. IV.

/// which is rehearfed the difcourfe, -which Sancho Panca held "with his majlcr Don Quixote, with other adventures worth relating. p. 86

CHAP. V.

Of the/age difcourfe that pajj'ed between Sancho and his majler, and the fuc- ceeding adventure of the dead body; with other famous occurrences, p. 93

CHAP. VI.

Of the adventure (the like never before feen or heard of) atchieved by the renown- ed Don Quixote de la Mancha, with lefs hazard, than ever any was atchieved by the moji famous knight in the world. p. 98

CHAP. VII.

Which treats of the high adventure and rich prize of Mambrino'j helmet, with other things which befel our invincible knight. p. 1 07

CHAP. VIII.

How Don Quixote fet at liberty fever al unfortunate perfons, who were carrying, much againfl their wills, to a place they did not like. p. 116

CHAP. IX.

Of what befel the renowned Don Quixote in the fable mountain, being one of the moji curious and uncommon adventures of any- related in this faithful hi/lory. p. 123

CHAP. X.

A continuation of the adventure of the fable mountain. p. 132

CHAP. XI.

Which treats of the Jl range things that befel the valiant blight of la Mancha in the fable mountain, and how he imitated the penance of Beltenebros. p. 138

CHAP. XII.

A continuation of the refinements praclifed by Don Quixote, as a lover, in the fable mountain. p. j -0

CHAP. XIII.

How the priejl and the barber put their defign in execution, with other matters worthy to be recited in this hi/lory. p, 1 rg

Vol.L o BOOK.

TABLE of the CHAPTERS. BOOK the FOURTH.

CHAP. L

Which treats of the new and agreeable adventure that-befel the priejl and the barber in the fame fable mountain. p. 1 69

CHAP. II.

Which treats of the beautiful Dorothea'* difcretion, with other very ingenious and entertaining particulars. p. 180

CHAP. III.

Which treats of the pleafant and ingenious method of ' drawing our enamoured 'knight from the very rigorous penance he had impofed on himfelf. p. 1 8 8

CHAP. IV.

Of the relijhing converfation, which pajfed between Don Quixote and his f quire Sancho Panca, with other accidents. p. 196

CHAP. V.

Which treats of what bef el Don Quixote'* whole company in the inn, p. 202

CHAP. VI.

In which is recited The Novel of the Curious Impertinent. p. 207

CHAP. VII.

In which is continued The Novel of the Curious Impertinent. p. 222

CHAP. VIII.

The conclufton of The Novel of the Curious Impertinent, with the dreadful battle betwixt Don Quixote and certain wine-skins. P- 236

CHAP, IX.

Which treats of other uncommon accidents that happened in the inn. p. 242

CHAP. X.

Wherein is continued the hifory of the famous Infanta Micomicona, with other pleafant adventures. P" ~^9

CHAP. XL

The continuation of Don Quixote'* curious difcourfe upon arms and letters.

P- 25° CHAP-

TABLE of the CHAPTERS.

CHAP. XII.

Wherein the captive relates his life and adventures. p. 260

CHAP. XIII.

In which is continued the hijlory of the captive. p# 26G

CHAP. XIV.

Wherein the captive fill continues the flory of his adventures. P- 27 c

CHAP. XV.

Which treats of what farther happened in the inn, and of many other things worthy to be known. ~. 289

CHAP. XVI.

Which treats of the agreeable hijlory of the young muleteer ; with other f range accidents that happened in the inn. p_ 2g .

CHAP. XVII.

A continuation of the un-heard-of adventures of the inn. p. -301

CHAP. XVIII.

In which the difpute concerning MambrinoV helmet, and the pannel, is decided; with other adventures that really and truly happened. p. ->oj

CHAP. XIX.

In which is fnified the notable adventure of the troopers of the holy brother- hood, with the great ferocity of our good knight Don Quixote. p. 3 12

CHAP. XX.

Of the f range and wonderful manner in which Don Quixote de la Mahcha was enchanted, with other remarkable occurrences. p. ^18

CHAP. XXI.

In which the canon profecutes the fubjeel of the books of chivalry, with other matters worthy of his genius.

CHAP. XXII.

Of the ingenious conference between Sancho Panca and his mafler Don Quixote.

P-331

CHAP.

TABLE of the CHAPTERS. CHAP. XXIII.

Of the ingenious contejl between Don Quixote and the canon, 'with ether accidents. p. 336

CHAP. XXIV.

Which treats of what the goatherd related to all thofe who accompanied Don Quixote. p. 341

CHAP. XXV.

Of the quarrel between Don Quixote and the goatherd, with the rare ad- venture of the difciplinants, which he happily accomplijhed with thefweat of his brows. p. 345

>

T H E

Vol.L ■ fi.I

r

V1*£

THE

LIFE and EXPLOITS

Of the ingenious gentleman

DON (QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

PART the FIRST.

BOO

K

I.

CHAPTER I.

Which treats of the quality and ?nanner of life of the renown d gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha.

N a village of La Mancha ', the name of which I purpofely omit, there lived not long ago one of thofe gentlemen, who are ufually poflefs'd of a launce upon a rack, an old target, a lean horfe, and a greyhound for couriing. A difh of boiled meat conhYting of fomewhat more beef than mut- ton 2, die fragments ferved up cold on moil nights, an amlet 3 on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and a fmall pigeon by way of addition on Sundays, confumed three fourths of his income. The reft was laid out in a fourtout of fine black cloth, a pair of velvet breeches for holidays, with flippers of the fame ; and on week-

1 A fmall territory, partly in the kingdom of Arragon, and partly in Cajiile.

x Beef being cheaper in Spain than mutton.

3 The original is dueloiy quebrantos, literally griefs and groans. It is a cant-phrafe for fome fafting-day- difh in ufe in La Mancha. Some fay, it fignifies brains fry d ivilb eggs, which the church allows in poor countries in defeft of fifli. Others have guefs'd it to mean fome windy kind of diet, as peas, herbs, isfc . which are apt to orcafion cholicks ; as if one fhou'd fay, greens and gripes on Saturdays. As it is not eafy to fettle its true meaning, the tranflator has fubftituted an equivalent diih better known to the Englijb reader.

V o l. I. B days

The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

days he prided himfelf in the very beft of his own homefpun cloth. His family confifted of an houfe-keeper l fomewhat above forty, a neice not quite twenty, and a lad for the field and the market, who both faddled the horfe and handled the pruning-hook. The age of our gentleman border 'd upon fifty years. He was of a robuft conftitution, fpare-bodied, of a meagre vifage ; a very early rifer, and a keen fportfman. It is faid his firname was ^uixada, or §>uefada (for in this there is fome difference among the authors who have written upon this fubjecT:) tho' by probable conjectures it may be gather'd that he was called Quixana 2. But this is of little importance to our ftory : let it furfice that in relating it we do not fwerve a jot from the truth. You muft know then, that this gentleman aforefaid, at times when he was idle, which was moft part of the year, gave himfelf up to the reading of books of chivalry, with fo much at- tachment and relifh, that he almoft forgot all the fports of the field, and even the management of his domeftic affairs ; and his curiofity and extravagant fond- nefs herein arrived to that pitch, that he fold many acres of arable land to pur- chafe books of knight-errantry, and carried home all he could lay hands on of that kind. But among them all, none pleafed him fo much as thofe compofed by the famous Feliciano de Silva : for the glaringnefs of his profe, and thofe in- tricate phrafes of his, feem'd to him fo many pearls of eloquence; and espe- cially when he came to perufe thofe love-fpeeches, and letters of challenge, wherein in feveral places he found written : The reafon of the unreafonable treat- ment of my reafon enfeebles my reafon infuch wife, that with reafon I complain of your beauty: and alfo when he read; The high heavens that with your divinity divinely fortify you with thejlars, making you meritorious of the merit merited by your greatnefs. With this kind of language the poor gentleman loft his wits, and diftracled himfelf to comprehend and unravel their meaning ; which was more than Ariftotle himfelf could do, were he to rife again from the dead for that purpofe alone. He had fome doubts as to the dreadful wounds which Don Belianis gave and received ; for he imagined, that, notwithstanding the moft ex- pert furgeons had cured him, his face and whole body muft ftill be full of feams and fears. Neverthelefs he commended in his author the concluding his book with a promife of that unfinifhable adventure: and he often had it in his thoughts to take pen in hand, and finifli it himfelf precifely as it is there promis'd : which he had certainly performed, and fuccefsfully too, if other greater and continual cogitations had not diverted him." He had frequent difputes with the prieft 3 of his village (who was a learned perfon, and had taken his degrees in Ciguenza)

' The old tranflators will have the Dons houfe keeper to be an old woman, tho' it is plain (he is but little more than forty ; and the original word Ama fignines only an upper woman fervan;, or one who is mijimfs over the" reft.

* A derivation from the Sfani/h word £>uixas, which fignifies lanthornjav.;,

3 Elcura. The reftor or parilh-prieft.

which

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

which of the two had been the better knight, Vahnerin of England » , or Amadis de Gaul. But mailer Nicholas, barber- furgeon of the fame town, af- firm'd, that none ever came up to the knight of the fun, and that if any one could be compared to him, it was Don Galaor brother of Ainadh de Gaul; for he was of a difpofition fit for every thing, no finical gentleman, nor fuch a whimperer as his brother j and as to courage, he was by no means inferior to him. In fhort he fo bewilder'd himfelf in this kind of ftudy, that he pafs'd the nights in reading from fun-fet to fun-rife, and the days from fun-rife to fun-fet : and thus, what with little deep and much reading, his brain was dried up in fuch a manner, that he came at lafl to lofe his wits. He crowded his fancy with all that he read in his books, to wit, enchantments, battles, fingle combats, challenges, wounds, courtfhips, amours, tempefls, and impoffible abfurdiues. And fo firmly was he perfuaded that the whole fyftem of chimeras he read of was true, that he thought no hiftory in the world was more to be depended upon. The Cid Ruydiaz 2 , he was wont to fay, was a very good knight, but not com- parable to the knight of the burning-fword, who with a fingle back-ftroke cleft afunder two fierce and monftrons giants. He was better pleafed with Bernardo del Carpio for putting Orlando the enchanted to death in Roncefvalles, by means of the fame ftratagem which Hercules ufed, when he fuffocated Anteus, Son of the earth, by fqueezing him between his arms. He alfo fpoke mighty well of the giant Morgante ; for tho' he was of that monftrous brood who are always proud and infolent, he alone was affable and well-bred. But above all he was charm 'd with Reynaldo de Montalvan, efpecially when he faw him fallying out of his caftle and plundering all he met 3; and when abroad he feized that image of Ma- homet, which was all of maflive gold, as his hiftory records. He wou'd have given his houfe-keeper, and neice to boot, for a fair opportunity of handfomly kicking the traitor Galalon 4. In fine, having quite loft his wits, he fell into one of the ftrangeft conceits that ever enter'd into the head of any madman; which was, that he thought it expedient and necefTary, as well for the advancement of his own fame, as for the public good, that he fhou'd commence knight-errant, and wander thro' the world, with his horfe and arms, in queft of adventures ; and to put in practice whatever he had read to have been pradtifed by knights-errant ; re- dreftingall kind of grievances, and expofing himfelf to danger on all occafions; that by accomplishing fuch enterprizes he might acquire eternal fame and renown. The poor gentleman already imagined himfelf at leaft crown'd emperor of Trapifonda

> England kerns to have been often made the fcene of chivalry: for befides this Palmerln, we find D;n F.'orando ot England, and fome others, not to mention Jrnadish millrefs the princefs Oriana of England.

: A famous Spanijh commander, concerning whom many fables pafs among the vulgar.

3 Here Don Shiixote, in the hurry of his imaginations, confounds right and wrong, making his heroe a common robber ; whereas upon cooler thoughts he fhou'd have long'd to have been upon his bones, as he does upon Galalon in the fame breath : but perhaps Reynaldo'i catholic zeal againft Mahomet attoncd for fuch un- kr i^htly pradtice.

■» Who betray'd the French army at Ronctfvalles.

B 2 by

He LIFE and EXPLOITS of

by the valour of his arm: And thus wrapt up in thefe agreeable delufions, and hurried on by the ftrange pleafure he took in them, he haften'd to put in execution what he fo much defired. And the firft thing he did, was, to fcour up a fuit of armour which had been his great-great-grandfather's, and, being mouldy and ruft- eaten, had lain by, many long years, forgotten in a corner. Thefe he clean'd and furbifh'd up the beft he could, but perceived they had one grand defect, which was, that inftead of a helmet they had only a fimple morrion or fteel-cap: but he dextroufly fupplied this want by contriving a fort of vizor of pafte-board, which being ftx'd to the headpiece gave it the appearance of a complete hel- met. It is true indeed, that, to try its ftrength, and whether it was proof againft a cut, he drew his fword, and giving it two ftrokes, undid in an inftant what he had been a week in doing. But not altogether approving of his having broken it to pieces with fo much eafe, to fecure himfelf from the like danger for the future, he made it over again, fencing it with fmall bars of iron within in fiich a manner, that he refted fatisfied of its ftrength; and without caring to make a frefh experiment on it, he approv'd and look'd upon it as a moft excel- lent helmet.

The next thing he did, was, to vifit his fteed; and tho' his bones ftuck out like the corners of a Rial « , and he had more faults than Gonela's horfe, which tantum pellis & ojfa fuit, he fancied that neither Alexander's Bucephalus, nor Cyd's Babieca, was equal to him. Four days was he con- fidering what name to give him : for, faid he to himfelf, it is not fit that a horfe fo good, and of a knight fo famous, fhould be without fome name of eminence ; and therefore he ftudied to accommodate him with one, which fhou'd exprefs what he had been, before he belong'd to a knight-errant, and what he actually now was: for it feem'd highly reafonable, if his mafter changed his ftate, he likewife fhould change his name, and acquire one famous and high founding, as became the new order, and the new way of life he now profefTed. And fo, after fundry names deviled and rejected, liked and difliked again, he concluded at laft to call him Rozinante 2 ; a name, in his opinion, lofty and fonorous, and at the fame time expreiTive of what he had been when he was but a common nag, and before he had acquired his prefent fuperiority over all the fteeds in the world.

Having given his horfe a name fo much to his fatisfaction, he refolved to give himfelf one. This confideration took him up eight days more, and at length he thought fit to call himfelf Don Quixote : from whence, as is faid, the Au- thors of this moft true Hiftory conclude that his name was certainly ^uixada, and not Quefada, as others would have it. But recollecting that the valorous Ama-

1 A ludicrous Image drawn from the irregular figure of the Sfanijb money, to exprefs the jutting bones of a lean beaft.

1 From Roz.in, a common drudge-horfe, and ante, before: as Alexander's Bucephalus from his bull-heao*, and the knight of the fun's Comerino from a horn in his forehead.

dis,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

dis, not content with the fimple appellation of Amadis} added thereto the name of his kingdom and native country, in order to render it famous, and ftylcd himfelf Amadis de Gaul ; fo he, like a good knight, did in like manner call himfelf Don Quixote de la Mancha ; whereby, in his opinion, he fet forth in a very lively manner his lineage and country, and did it due honour by taking his iirname from thence. And now, his armour being furbiih'd up, die morrion converted into a perfect helmet, and bodi his fteed and himfelf new-named, he perfwaded himfelf that he wanted nothing but to pitch upon fome lady to be in love with : for a knight-errant without a miftrefs was a tree without leaves or fruit, and a body widiout a foul. If, faid he, for the punifhment of my fins, or diro' my good-fortune, I fhould chance to meet fome giant abroad, as is ufual with knights-errant, and fhou'd overthrow him at the nrft encounter, or cleave him afunder, or in fine vanquiih and force him to yield, will it not be proper to have fome lady to fend him to as a token ? that, when he comes into her prefence, he may kneel before her fweet ladyfhip, and with humble and fubmilTive tone accoft her thus : ' Madam, I am the Giant Caraculiambro, lord of ' the ifland Malindrama, whom the never-enough renowned knight Don Quixote ( de la Mancha has overcome in fingle combat, and has commanded to prefent * myfelf before your ladyfhip, that your grandeur may difpofe of me as you think ' proper.' Oh ! how did our good gentleman exult, when he had made this ha- rangue, and efpecially when he had found out a perfon on whom to confer die title of his miftrefs ; which, it is believed, happened thus. Near the place where he lived there dwelt a very comely country lafs, with whom he had for- merly been in love, tho', as it is fuppofed, die never knew it, nor troubled her- felf about it. Her name was Aldonza Lorenzo; and her he pitch'd upon to be the lady of his thoughts: then cafting about for a name, which diou'd have fome affinity with her own, and yet incline towards diat of a great lady or prin- cefs, he proceeded to call her Dulcihea del Tobofo (for fhe was born at that place) a name, to his thinking, harmonious, uncommon and figniiicant, like the reft he had deviled for himfelf, and for all diat belonu'd to him.

CHAP. II.

Which treats of the firft /ally the ingenious Don Quixote made from

his Village.

XT O W thefe difpofitions being made, he would no longer defer putting his x^ defign in execution j being the more ftrongly excited thereto by the°mif- chief he thought his delay occafioned in die world : fuch and fo many were the grievances he propofed to redrefs, the wrongs he intended to reclify, die exorbi- tances to corred, the abufes to reform, and the debts to difcharge. And there- fore, without making any one privy to his defign, and widiout being feen by any body, one morning before day (which was one of the hotteft of die month of

July)

6 The LIFE and EX P LO IfS of

July) he arm'd himfelf cap-a-pee, mounted Rozinante, adjufted his ill-compofed beaver, braced on his target ', grafp'd his launce, and iffued forth into the fields at a private door of his back-yard, with the greateft fatkikdrion and joy, to find with how much eafe he had given a beginning to his honourable enterprize. But fcarce was he got into the plain, when a terrible thought affaulted him, and fuch a thought as had well-nigh made him abandon his new undertaking ; for it came into his remembrance, that he was not dubb'd a knight, and that, according to the laws of chivalry, he neidier could, nor ought, to enter the lifts againft any knight : and tho' he had been dubb'd, ftill he muft wear white armour, as a new knight, without any device in his fhield, till he had acquir'd one by his prowefs. Thefe reflexions ftagger'd his refolution; but his frenzy prevailing above any reafon whatever, he purpofed to get himfelf knighted by the flrft per- fon he fhou'd meet, in imitation of many others who had done the like, as he had read in the books which had occafion'd his madnefs. As to the white ar- mour, he propofed to fcour his own, the firft opportunity, in fuch fort that it mould be whiter than ermin : and herewith quieting his mind, he went on his way, following no other road than what his horfe pleafed to take 5 believing that therein conlifted the life and fpirit of adventures.

Thus our flaming adventurer jogg'd on, talking to himfelf, and faying : Who doubts, but diat, in future times, when the faithful hiftory of my famous ex- ploits mail come to light, the fage, who writes them, when he gives a relation of this my firft filly, fo early in the morning, will do it in words like thefe : Scarce had ruddy Phoebus fpread the golden treffes of his beauteous hair over the face of the wide andfpacious earth; and fcarce had the painted birds with the. fweet and mellifluous harmony of their forked tongues fainted the approach of rofy Aurora, when, quitting the foft couch of her jealous husband, Jhe difclofed herfclf to mortals thro' the gates and balconies of the Manchegan honjon; when the renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha, abandoning the lazy down, mounted his famous courfer Rozinante, and began to travel thro' the ancient and noted field of Montiel * ; and true it is, that was the very field; and palling along it, he continued faying; Happy times, and happy age, in which my famous ex- ploits (hall come to light, worthy to be engraved in brafs, carved in marble, and drawn in pifture, for a monument to all pofterity ! O thou fage enchanter! whoever thou art, to whofe lot it fhall fall to be the chronicler of this wonder- ful hiftory, I befeech thee not to forget my good Rozinante, the mfeparable companion of all my travels and carreers. Then on a fudden, as one really ena- mour'd, he went on, faying; O princefs Dulcinea! miftrefs of this captive heart great injury haft thou done me in difcarding and difgracing me by your ri-orous decree, forbidding me to appear in the prefence of your beauty.

• Tlc tare" or buckler wai flung about the neck with a buckle and thong. __

. A prope fe!d to infpire courage, b.ing the ground upon which Henry the baftard flew h.s legitimate brother DonPcdi,, whom our brave Black Prince Edward had let upon the U.rone of Spam.

Vouch-

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA,

Vouchfafe, lady, to remember this thine inthralled heart, that endures fo many afflictions for love of thee.

Thus he went on, ftringing one extravagance upon another, in the flyle his books had taught him, and imitating as near as he could their very phrafe. He travelled on fo leifurely, and the fun advanced fo faff, and with fuch intenfe heat, that it was fufficient to have melted his brains if he had had any. He tra- vell'd almoft that whole day without meeting with any thing worth relating, which diihearten'd him much} for he wanted immediately to have encounter 'd fomebody, to make trial of the force of his valiant arm.

Some authors fay, his firft adventure was that of the ftraits of Lapice; others pretend, it was that of the Windmills. But what I have been able to difcover of this matter, and what I have found written in the annals of La Mancha, is, that he travelled all that day, and toward the fall of night his horfe and he found themfelves tired, and almoft dead with hunger ; and looking round about to fee if he could difcover fome caftle, or fhepherd's cottage, to which he might retire and relieve his extreme neceffity, he perceived not far from the road an inn ; which was as if he had feen a ftar directing him to die porticos or palaces of his redemption '. He made all the hafte he could, and came up to it juft as the day fhut in. There chanced to ftand at the door two young wo- men, ladies of pkafure as they are called, who were going to Sevil with certain carriers, who happen'd to take up their lodging at the inn that night. And as whatever our adventurer thought, faw, or imagined, feem'd to him to be done and tranfacled in the manner he had read of, immediately, at fight of the inn, he fancied it to be a caftle with four turrets and battlements of refulgent fil- ver, together with its draw-bridge, deep moat, and all the appurtenances with which fuch caftles are ufually defcribed. As he was making up to the inn, which he took for a caftle, at fome little diftance from it, he check'd Rozinante by the bridle, expecting fome dwarf to appear on the battlements, and give no- tice by found of trumpet of the arrival of a knight at the caftle. But finding they delay'-d, and that Rozhiatite prefs'd to get to the ftable, he drew near to the inn door, and faw there the two ftrolling wenches, who feem'd to him to be two beautiful danuels, or graceful ladies, who were difporting themfelves before the caftle-gate. Now it happen'd that a fwineherd, getting together his hogs (for, without begging pardon, fo they are call'd 2) from the ftubble field, wind- ed his horn, at which fignal they are wont to aflemble,; and at that inftant Don Quixote's imagination reprefented to him what he wifh'd, namely, that fome

1 This comparKon of Don Quixote"*, joy. at the fight of the inn, to that of the wife men, conduced to the like place by a ftir, ii in allufion to thole pictures in popifh churches, wherein the wife men, the ftar, and the child Jefus in the manger, are reprefented under fome magnificent piece of architecture, with grand porti- cos, pillars, isfc. and the good company, together with the ox and the afs, for dignity's fake, molt fumptu- oufly lodg'd.

» Our author here ridku'c* the afFerted delicacy of the Spaniards and Italians, who look upon it as 11 manners to name the word hog or/wine, as too grofs an image.

dwarf

8 tte LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

dwarf was giving the fignal of his arrival ; and therefore with wond'rous con- tent he came up to the inn, and to the ladies, who perceiving a man armed in that manner, with launce and buckler, ran frighted into the houfe. But Don Quixote, guefling at their fear by their flight, lifted up his pafte-board vizor, and difcovering his wither'd and dully vifage, with courteous demeanour and grave voice, thus accofted them : Fly not, ladies, nor fear any difcourtefy; for the order of knighthood, which I profefs, permits me not to offer injuiy to any one, much lefs to virgins of fuch high rank as your prefence denotes. The wenches flared at him, and with all the eyes they had were looking to find his face, which the fcurvy beaver almoft covered. But when they heard themfelves ftyled virgins, a thing fo out of the way of their profeffion, they could not con- tain their laughter, and that in fo violent a manner, that Don Quixote began to grow angry, and faid to them : Modefty well becomes the fair, and nothing is fo foolifh as exceffive laughter proceeding from a flight occafion : but I do not fay this to difoblige you, or to caufe you to difcover any ill difpofition towards me j for mine is no other than to do you fervice. This language, which they did not underftand, and the uncouth mien of our knight, increafed their laugh- ter, and his wrath ; and things would have gone much farther, had not the inn- keeper come out at that inftant (a man, who, by being veiy bulky, was inclined to be very peaceable) who beholding fuch an odd figure all in armour, the pieces of which were fo ill forted, as were die bridle, launce, buckler and corfelet, cou'd fcarce forbear keeping the damfels company in the demonftrations of their mirth. But being in fome fear of a pageant equipp'd in fo warlike a manner, he refolv'd to fpeak him fur, and therefore accofted him thus : If your worfhip, Signor Cavalier, feeks a lodging, bating a bed (for in this inn there is none to be had) every thing elfe this houfe affords in great abundance. Don Quixote, per- ceiving the humility of the governor of the fortrefs (for fuch to him appeared the innkeeper and the inn) anfwered ; Any thing will ferve me, Signor Cajirflano, for arms are my ornaments, and fighting my repofe. The hoft thought he called him Caftellano becaufe he took him for an honeft Caftilian », whereas he was an jindalufian, and of the coaft of Saint JLucar, as arrant a thief as Cacus, and as lharp and unlucky as a collegian or a court-page ; and therefore he re- ply'd: If it be fo, your worship's beds are hard rocks, and your fleep to be al- ways awake ; and fince it is fo, fir, you may venture to alight, being fure of finding in this poor hut fufficient caufe for not lleeping a whole twelvemonth, much more one fingle night. And fo fining, he went and held Don Quixote's llirrup, who alighted with much difficulty and pains ; for he had not broke his fiift all that day. He prefently requefted of the hoft to take efpecial care of his fteed, for he was the beft piece of horfe-fleih that ever eat bread in the world. The innkeeper view'd him, but did not think him fo good as Don Quixote reprefented him to be, no, hot by halfj and having fet him up in the ftabie, he

' Qaftellano in Zpanijh fignifies both a govern: ur of a cafi'.e, ana a native of Caftile.

return'd

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

return'd to fee what his gueft would be pleas'd to order, whom the damfels were difarming (for they were already reconciled to him) and tho' they had taken off the back and bread-pieces, they could not find out how to unlace his gor- get, or take off the counterfeit beaver, which he had fattened in iuch a man- ner with green ribbons, that, there being no poffibility of untying them, they muft of neceffity be cut; which he would by no means confent to, and fo he remain'd all that night with his helmet on, and was the flrangeft and moll; ri- diculous figure imaginable. Whilft the girls were taking off his armour, ima- gining them to be perfons of the firft quality and ladies of that caftle, he laid to them with great gaiety : Never fare was knight fo nobly ferved by ladies, as was Don Quixote, after his departure from his village : damfels waited on his perfon, and princeffes on his feed '. O Rozinante ! for that, dear ladies, is my horfe's name, and Don Quixote de la Mancha is my own ; for tho' I was not willing to difcover myfelf, 'till the exploits done for your fervice and benefit fhou'd difcover me, the neceffity of accommodating the old romance of Sir Lancelot to our prefent purpofe has been the occalion of your knowing my name before the proper feafon ; but the time will come, when your ladyfhips may command, and I obey, and the valour of my arm fhall manifeft die defirc I have to ferve you. The laffes, who were not accuftom'd to fuch rhetorical flourifhes, anfwered not a word, but only asked him, whether he would be pleafed to eat any thing. With all my heart, anfwered Don Quixote ; any thing eatable would, I apprehend, come very feafonably. That day happen'd to be Friday, and there was nothing to be had in the inn, excepting a parcel of dried fifh, which in Cajlile they call Abadcxo, in Andalufia Bacallao, in fome parts Curadilh, and in others Truchuela2. They asked him whether his worfhip would be pleafed to eat fome Truchuelas, for they had no other fifh to offer him. So there be many troutlings, anfwered Don Quixote they may ferve me inftead of one trout ; for I would as willingly be paid eight fingle reals, as one real of eight : and the rather, becaufe perhaps thefe troutlings are like veal, which is preferable to beef, or like kid, which is better than the goat. But be that as it will, let it come quickly ; for the toil and weight of arms cannot be fupported without fupplying the belly well. They laid the cloth at the door of the inn, for the fake of the frefh breeze, and die landlord brought him fome of the ill-water'd and worfe-boil'd Bacallao, and a loaf of bread as black and mouldy as his armour : but indeed one muft have laugh'd to fee him eat ; for having his helmet on, and the beaver up, he could not put any thing into his mouth with his hands, if fome body elfe did not help him ; and fo one of the aforefaid la- dies performed this office : but to give him to drink was utterly impoffible, if the hoft had not bored a reed, and putting one end into his moudi, poured in the wine leifurely at the odier : and all this he fuffer'd patiently, rather than cut the lacings of his helmet

1 In imitation of an old ballad, mention'd in book 2. ch. 5. z The fame which we call Poor John, or little Trouts.

Vol. I. C In

io The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

In the mean time there happen'd to come a fow-gelder to the inn, who, as foon as he arrived, founded his whittle of reeds four or five times ; which en- tirely confirmed Don Quixote in the thought, that he was in fome famous caftle, that they ferv'd him with mufic, and that the poor jack was trouts, the coarfe loaf the fineft white bread, the wenches ladies, and the hoft governor of the caflle j and fo he concluded his refolution and fally to be fuccefsfully employ 'd. But what gave him the moft disturbance was, that he was not yet dubb'd a knight j thinking he could not lawfully undertake any adventure, 'till he had firft receiv'd the order of knighthood.

CHAP. HI.

In which is related the pleafant method 'Don Quixote took to be dubb'd a knight.

AND now, being disturbed with this thought, he made an abrupt end of •*- •*• his fhort fupper ; which done, he call'd the landlord, and {hutting him- felf up with him in the liable, he fell upon his knees before him, and faid : I will never rife from this place, valorous knight, 'till your courtefy vouchfafes me a boon I mean to beg of you ; which will redound to your own honour and to the benefit of human kind. The hoft, who faw his gueft at his feet, and heard fuch expreflions, ftood confounded, and gazing at him, not knowing what to do or fay : he then ftrove to raife him from the ground, but in vain,, 'fill he had promifed to grant him the boon he requefted H I expedted no lefs, Sir, from your great magnificence, anfwer'd Don Quixote, and therefore know, that the boon I wou'd requeft, and has been vouchfafed me by your liberality, is, that you fhall to-morrow morning dub me a knight ; and this night in the chapel of your caftle I will watch my armour 2 : and to-morrow, as I have faid, what I fo earneftly defire fhall be accomplifhed ; that I may be duly qualified to wander thro' the four quarters of the world in queft of adven- tures, for the relief of the diftreffed, as is the duty of chivalry, and of knights- errant, whofe hearts, like mine, are ftrongly bent on fuch atchievements. The hoft (as we have faid) was an arch fellow, and having already entertained fome fufpicions of the folly of his gueft, was now, at hearing fuch expreflions, tho- roughly convinced of it : and, that he might have fomething to make fport with that night, he refolved to keep up the humour, and faid to him, that he. was certainly very much in the right in what he defired and requefted ; and that fuch atchievements were peculiar and natural to cavaliers of fuch prime quality as he feemed to be of, and as his gallant deportment did demonftrate : and that he himfelf, in the days of his youth, had betaken himfelf to that honourable

' In the old romances, it is ufual for fome cavalier or damfel upon her palfry to come to a knight, and beg fome boon at his hands, which the knight is obliged by his rules to grant, unleis it be difhoneft or difhonourable.

■ On the eve of a holiday the Romanijis perform certain ceremonies of devotion, ci?c. and wake over the bcdy of a deceafed perfon. Hence our country wakes, tsfV.

employ,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. n

employ, wandering thro' divers parts of the world in fearch of adventures, not omitting to vilit ' the liiburbs of Malaga, die illes of Riiiran, the comp.ifs of Sevil, the aqueduct-market of Segovia, the olive-yard of Valencia, the Ro?i- dilla of Granada, the Coajl of Saint Lucar, the fountain of Cordoua % the hedge-taverns of Toledo, and fundry odier parts, where he had eicrcked the agility of his feet and dexterity of his hands ; doing fundry wrongs, follieiting fundry widows, undoing fome damfels, and bubbling feveral young heirs "> , in fine, making himfelf known to moft of the tribunals and courts of judicature in Spain: and that at lafl he had retired to this caftle, where he had lived upon his own means and other peoples, entertaining all knights-errant, of whatever quality or condition diey were, merely for the great love he bore them, and that they might mare their gettings with him in requital for his good-will. He further told him, there was no chapel in his caftle in which to watch his armour, (for it had been pull'd down in order to be rebuilt) however, in cafes of neceflity, he knew it might be watched wherever he pleafed, and that he might do it that night in a court of the caftle; and the next day, if it pleafed God, die requifite cere- monies fliould be performed, in fuch manner that he ihould be dubb'd a knight, and {o effectually knighted, that no one in the world cou'd be more lb. He asked him alfo, whether he had any money about him ? Don Quixote replied, he had not a farthing, having never read in the hiftories of knights-errant, that they car- ried any. To this the hoft replied, he was under a miftake ; that, fuppofing it was not mention'd in the ftory, the authors thinking it fuperfluous to fpecify a thing fb plain, and fo indifpenfably neceftary to be carried, as money and clean fhirts, it was not therefore to be infer'd, that they had none : and therefore he might be allured, that all the knights-errant (of whofe actions there are fuch authentic hiftories) did carry their purfes well lined for whatever might befall them, and that they carried alfo fhirts, and a little box of ointment to heal the wounds they might receive, becaufe there was not always one at hand to cure them in the fields and deferts where they fought, unlefs they had fome fage en- chanter for their friend, to affift them immediately, bringing fome damfel or dwarf in a cloud thro' the air, with a viol of water of fuch virtue, that, in tailing a drop of it, they fliou'd inftantly become as found and whole of their

1 Names of certain infamous places in Spain.

1 Near which was the whipping-poit.

3 Thefe expreffions feeming a little too ftrong and open in the original, the tranfiator was inclined to have qualified them in the verfion ; but upon reading Don Belianis of Greece (part 2. ch. 3.) he found Don Brianel, who was travelling to Antioch on the princefs Auroras errand, and lodged in a houfe of good re- pute ; the landlord of which Palinee had been trained up to chivalry. This holt offers his fervice to wait upon Don Brianel, and wanting a cloak, frightens a page, who flies and leaves his cloak behind him. Don Brianel approves the thing, and tells him, he performed it fo cleverly, he believed it was not his firft ex- ploit of the kind ; and he frankly owns, he had often put in practice fuch pieces of dexterity. In allufion to this approved ftroke of knight-errantry, Dor: £>uixote''s hoft brags of divers wonders he had performed this way ; and this was a ftrong precedent, nor cou'd our knight objeft to any example fetch'd from his favourite Don Belianis's approved hiftory. So that this paflage in Cervantes, which has been thought very faulty, appears from hence to be not only excufable, but very judicious, and direftly to his purpofe of ex- pofing thofe authors and their numberlefs abfurdities.

C 2 bruifes

12 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

bruifes and wounds, as if they had never been hurt : but 'till they had fuch a friend, the knights-errant of times part never failed to have their {quires pro- vided with money and other neceffary things, fuch as lint and falves, to cure themfelves with ; and when it happened, that the faid knights had no fquires (which fell out very rarely) they carried all thefe things behind them upon their horfes in a very fmall wallet hardly vifible, as if it were fomethin°- of greater importance j for were it not upon fuch an account, this carrying of wallets was not currently admitted among knights-errant : therefore he advifed him, tho' he might command him as his godibn (which he was to be very foon) that from thenceforward he mould not travel without money and without the aforefaid precautions ; and he would find how ufeful they would be to him, when he leafl expected it. Don Quixote promifed to follow his advice with all punctuali- ty ; and now order was prefently given for performing the watch of the ar- mour in a large yard adjoining to the inn ; and Don Quixote, gathering all the pieces of it together, laid them upon a ciflern that flood clofe to a well : and bracing on his buckler, and grafping his launce, with a folemn pace he began to walk backward and forward before the ciflern, beginning his parade jufl as the day fhut in.

The holt acquainted all that were in the inn with the phrenzy of his guefl, the watching of his armour, and the knighting he expected. They all wondered at fo odd a kind of madnefs, and went out to obferve him at a diflance ; and they perceiv'd, that, with a compofed air, he fometimes continued his walk ; at other times, leaning upon his launce, he looked wiflfully at his armour, without taking off his eyes for a long time together. It was now quite night ; but the moon fhone with fuch a luflre as might almoft vie with his who lent it ; fo that whatever our new knight did was diflinctly feen by all the fpectators.

While he was thus employed, one of the carriers, who inn'd there, had a mind to water his mules, and it was neceffary firfl to remove Don Quixote's armour from off the ciftern ; who feeing him approach, call'd to him with a loud voice : Ho there, whoever thou art, rain knight, that approachefl to touch the arms of the mofl valorous adventurer that ever girded fword, take heed what thou doefl, and touch them not, unlets thou wou'dfl leave thy life a forfeit for thy temerity. The carrier troubled not his head with thefe fpeeches (but it had been better for him if he had, for he might have faved his carcafe) but inflead of that, taking hold of the flraps, he toffed the armour a good di- flance from him ; which Don Quixote perceiving, lifted up his eyes to heaven, and fixing his thoughts (as it feem'd) on his miflrefs Dukineay he faid : Aflifl me, dear lady, in this firfl affront offer'd to this breafl enthrall'd to thee ; let not thy favour and protection fail me in this firfl moment of danger : and ut- tering thefe and the like ejaculations, he let flip his target, and lifting up his launce with both hands, gave the carrier fuch a blow on the head, that he laid him flat on the ground, in fuch piteous plight, that had he feconded his

blow.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 13

blow, there would have been no need of a furgeon. This done, he gathered up his armour, and walked backward and forward with the fame gravity as at firft. Soon after, another carrier, not knowing what had happened (for ftill the firft lay ftunn'd) came out with the fame intention of watering his mules 5 and as he was going to clear the ciftern by removing the armour, Don Quixote, widaout fpeaking a word, or imploring any body's protection, again let flip his target and lifting up his launce broke the fecond carrier's head in three or four places. All the people of the inn ran together at the noife, and the inn-keeper among the reft ; which Don Quixote perceiving, braced on his target, and lay- ing his hand on his fword, he faid : O queen of beauty, the ftrength and vigour of my enfeebled heart, now is the time to turn the eyes of thy grcatnefs to- ward this thy captived knight, whom fo prodigious an adventure at this inftant awaits. Hereby in his opinion he recovered lb much courage, that if all the carriers in the world had attack'd him, he would not have retreated an inch. The comrades of thofe that were wounded (for they perceived them in that condition) began to let fly a fhower of ftones at Don Quixote, who ftieltered himfelf the beft he could under his fhield, and durft not ftir from the ciftern, left he fhould feem to abandon his armour. The hoft cried out to them to let him alone, for he had already told them he was mad, and that he would be acquitted as a madman tho' he mould kill them all. Don Quixote alio cried out louder, calling them cowards and traitors, and die lord of the caftle a pol- troon and a bafe-born knight, for fuffering knights-errant to be treated in that manner ; and that if he had received the order of knighthood, he would make him fmart for his treachery : but for you, rafcally and bafe fcoundrels (faid he) I do not value you a ftraw : draw near, come on, and do your worft ; you mall quickly fee the reward you are like to receive of your folly and infolence. This he uttered with fo much vehemence and refolution, that he ftruck a ter- rible dread into the hearts of the aftailants ; and for this reafon, together with the landlord's perfuafions, they forbore throwing any more ftones ; and he per- mitted the wounded to be carried off, and returned to the watch of his armour with the fame tranquillity and fedatenefs as before. The hoft did not relifh thefe pranks of his gueft, and therefore determined to put an end to them by giving him the unlucky order of knighthood out of hand, before any farther mifchief fhou'd enfue; and fo coming up to him, he begg'd pardon for the rudenefs thofe vulgar people had been guilty of, without his knowing any thing of the matter ; however, he faid, they had been fufticiently chaftifed for their rafhnefs. He repeated to him, that there was no chapel in that caftle, neither was it neceflary for what remained to be donfc : for the whole ftrefs of being dubb'd a knight lay in the blows on the neck and (boulders, as he had learn 'd from the ceremonial of the order ; and that it might be effectually performed in the middle of a field : that he had already difcharged all that belonged to the watching of the armour, which was furficiently performed in two hours ; and

the

i4 the LIFE and EXP LOITS of

the rather, fmce he had been above four about it. All which Don Quixote believ'd, and faid, he was there ready to obey him ; and defired him to fhifh the bufinefs with the utmoft difpatch, becaufe if he fhou'd be affaulted again, and found himfelf dubb'd a knight, he was refolv'd not to leave a foul alive in the caftle, except thofe he fhou'd command him to fpare for his fake. The con- ftable, thus warned, and apprehenfive of what might be the event of this refo- lution, prefently brought the book, in which he enter'd the accounts of the ftraw and barley he furnilh'd to the carriers, and with the two abovefaid damfels (a boy carrying an end of candle before them) came where Don Quixote was, whom he commanded to kneel ; and reading in his manual (as if he had been faying fome devout prayer) in the midft of the reading he lifted up his hand, and gave him a good blow on the nape of the neck, and after that with his own (word a handfome thwack on the fhoulder, frill muttering between his teeth as if he was praying. This done, he order'd one of the ladies to gird on his fword, which fhe did with the moft obliging freedom, and difcretion too, of which not a little was needful to keep them from burfting with laughter at every period of the ceremonies > but indeed the exploits they had already feen our new knight perform kept their mirth within bounds. At girding on the fword, the good lady faid : God make you a fortunate knight, and give you fuccefs in battle. Don Quixote ask'd her name, that he might know from thenceforward to whom he was indebted for the favour received; for he intended her a fhare of the ho- nour he mould acquire by the valour of his arm, She reply'd with much humi- lity, that fhe was called La Tolofa, and was a cobler's daughter of Toledo, who lived at the little (hops of Sancho Men aya ; and wherever fhe was, fhe would ferve and honour him as her lord. Don Quixote then defir'd her, for his fake, thenceforward to add to her name the Don, and to call herfelf Donna Tolofa which fhe promifed to do. The other buckled on his fpursj with whom he held almoft the fame kind of dialogue as he had done with her companion : he asked her name alfo, and fhe faid (he was called La Mohnera, and was daugh- ter of an honeft miller of Antequera. Don Quixote intreated her alfo to add the Don, and call herfelf Donna Molinera, making her frefh offers of fervice and

t n a n k *%

Thus the never-till-then-feen Ceremonies being haftily difpatch'd, Don Quixote, who was impatient to fee himfelf on horfeback, and {allying out in queft of adventures, immediately faddled Rozinante, and embracing his hoft, mounted, and at parting faid fuch flrange things to him, acknowledging the favour of dub- bin- him a knight, that it is impoffible to exprefs them. The hoft, to get him the&fooner out of the inn, return'd his compliments with no lefs flounfhes tho in fewer words, and, without demanding any thing for his lodging, wifh d him a good journey.

CHAP.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. ij

C M A P. IV.

Of 'what befcl our knight after he had f allied out from the inn.

IT was about break of day when Don Quixote ifTued forth from the inn, fo fa- tisfied, fo gay, fo blithe, to fee himfelf knighted, that the joy thereof almoft burfr. his horfe's girdis. But recollecting the advice of his hoft concerning the neceffary provifions for his undertaking, efpecially the articles of money and clean fhirts, he refolved to return home, and furnim himfelf accordingly, and alfo provide himfelf with a Squire; purpofing to take into his fervice a certain country fellow of the neighbourhood, who was poor and had children, yet was very fit for die fquirely office of chivalry. With this thought, he turn'd Rozi- nante towards his village, who, as it were knowing what his matter would be at, , began to put on with fo much alacrity, that he hardly feem'd to fet his feet to the ground. He had not gone far, when, on his right hand, from a thicket hard by, he fancied he heard a weak voice, as of a perfon complaining. And fcarcely had he heard it, when he faid ; I thank heaven for the favour it does me, in laying before me fo early an opportunity of complying with the duty of my profeffion, and of reaping the fruit of my honourable defires. Thefe are doubtlefs the cries of fome diftrelTed perfon, who ftands in need of my Protec- tion and affiftance. And turning the reins, he put Rozinante forward toward the place, from whence he thought the voice proceeded. And he had enter 'd but a few paces into the wood, when he faw a mare tied to an oak, and a lad to another, naked from the wafte upwards, about fifteen years of age ; who was the perfon that cried out ; and not without caufe, for a lurry country fellow was laying him on very feverely with a belt, and accompanied every lafh with a re- primand and a word of advice ; for faid he, The tongue flow and the eyes quick. And the boy anfwer'd, I will do fo no more, dear Sir, by the paffion of Jefus Chrift, I will never do fo again, and I promife for the future to take more care of the flock. Now Don Quixote, feeing what pafs'd, faid in an angry tone : Dif- courteous knight, it ill becomes thee to meddle with one who is not able to de- fend himfelf; get upon thy horfe, and take thy launce (for he alfo had a launce leaning againft the oak, to which the mare was faften'd) for I'll make thee to know that 'tis cowardly to do what thou art doing. The country-man, who faw fuch a figure coming towards him, cafed in iron, and brandifhing his launce at his face, gave himfelf up for a dead man, and with good words anfwered • Signor Cavalier, this lad, whom I am chaftizmg, is my own fervant j I employ him to tend a flock of fheep which I have hereabouts, and he is fo carelefs, that I lofe one every day ; and becaufe I correct him for his negligence, or roguery, he fays I do it out of covetoufnefs, and for an excufe not to pay him his wages ; but before God, and on my confeience, he lyes. Lyes, in my prefence ! pi- tiful rafcal, faid Don Quixote ; by the fun that mines upon us, I have a good

mind

x6 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

mind to run thee thro' and thro' with this launce : pay him immediately with- out farther reply; if not, by that God that rules us, I will difpatch and annihilate thee in a moment ; untie him prefently. The farmer bowed his head, and without replying a word untied his boy. Don Quixote ask'd the lad how much his mafler qw'd him; who anfwer'd, nine months wages at feven ' reals a month. Don Quixote computed it, and found that it amounted to fixty-three reals ; and he bade the country-man inflantly disburfe them, otherwife he mufl expect to die for it. The fellow in a fright anfwer'd, that, on the word of a dying man, and upon the oath he had taken (tho' by the way* he had taken no oath) it was not fo much ; for he mufl deduct the price of three pair of pumps he had given him upon account, and a real for two blood-lettings when he was not well. All this is very right, faid Don Quixote; but fet the pumps and the blood-lettings againfl the flripes you have given him undefervedly; for if he tore the leather of the pumps that you paid for, you have torn his skin ; and if the barber-furgeon drew blood from him when he was lick, you have drawn blood from him when he is well ; fo that upon thefe accounts he owes you nothing. The mifchief is, Signor Cavalier, quoth the country-man., that I have no money about me ; but let Andres go home with me, and I will pay him all, real by real. I go with him? faid the lad; the devil a bit; no Sir, I defign no fuch thing; for when he has me alone, he will flay me like any faint Bartholomew z. He will not do fo, reply'd Don Quixote ; it is lufficient, to keep him in awe, that I lay my commands upon him ; and upon condition he fwears to me, by the order of knighthood which he has receiv'd, I will let him go free, and will be bound for the payment. Take heed, good Sir, what you fay, quoth the boy ; for my matter is no knight, nor ever receiv'd any order of knighthood : he is John Aldudo the rich, of the neighbourhood of Quintanar. That is little to the purpofe, anfwer'd Don Quixote ; there may have been knights of the family of the Aldudos 3, and the rather fince every man is the fon of his own works. That's true, quoth Andres; but what works is my mafler the fon of, who re- fhfes me the wages of my fweat and labour ? I do not refufe thee, friend An- dres, reply'd the farmer ; and be fo kind to go with me ; and I fwear by all the orders of knighthood that are in the world, to pay thee, as I have faid, every penny down, and "• perfum'd into the bargain. As to the perfuming, I thank you for that, faid Don Quixote; give it him in reals and I mall be fatisfied : and fee that you perform what you have fworn; elfe I fwear to you by the fame oath, to return, to find you out, and.chaflife you; for I fhall find you out, tho'

• A Real is about fixpence Englijb. , ,.,.„.

1 In the popith churches there is frequently an image or ftatue of a man without his skin, which is called A Saint Bartholomew. ,,,,,. „

3 This looks like a piece of Satire upon fome family of that name, who probably had given Cervantis fome provocation.

4 A Spanijb phrafe for paying or returning any thing with advantage, and ufed here as a latire on tne effeminate cuftom of wearing every thing perfumed, infomuch that the very money in their pockets was fcented.

you

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

you fhould hide yourfelf clofer than a little lizard. And if you wou'd know who it is that commands you this, that you may be the more ftridly obliged to perform your promife, know that I am the valorous Don Quixote de la Mancha, the redreffer of wrongs and abufes ; and fo farewel, and do not forget what you have promifed and fworn, on pain of the penalties aforefaid. And fo faying, lie clap'd fpurs to Rozinante, and was foon got a good way off. The country-man followed him with all the eyes he had, and when he found he was quite pafl the wood, and out of fight, he turn'd to his man Andres, and faid ; Come hi- ther, child, I am refolved to pay you what I owe you, as that redreffer of wrongs commanded me. And I fwear fo you (hall, quoth Andres, and to be fure, Sir, you will do well to perform what that honefl: gentleman has com- manded, whom god grant to live a thoufand years, and who is fo brave a man, a; id lb juft a judge, that, adad, if you don't pay me, he will come back and exe- c ite what he has threatned. And I fwear fo too, quoth the peafant; but to fliew thee how much I love thee, I am refolv'd to augment the debt, to increafe the payment: and taking hirh by the arm, he tied him again to the tree, where he gave him fo many (tripes, that he left him for dead. Now, mailer Andres , call upon that redreffer of wrongs; thou wilt find he will hardlv redrefs this, tho' I believe I have not half done yet ; for I have a good mind to flea thee alive as thou fearedfl but now. But at length he untied him, and gave him leave to go in queft of his judge, to execute the fentence he had pronounced. Andres went away in dudgeon, fwearing he would rind out the valorous Don Quixote de la Mancha, and tell him all that had paffed, and that he fhould pay for it fevenfold. Notwithftanding all this away he went weeping, and his mafter ftaid behind laughing.

In this manner the valorous Don Quixote redreffed this wrong; and overjoyed at his fuccefs, as thinking he had given a moil: fortunate and glorious beginning to his knight-errantry, lie went on toward his village, intirely fatisfied with him- felf, and faying in a low accent; Well may/I thou deem thy felf happy above all women living on the earth, O Dulcinea del fobofo, beauteous above the moft beautiful, fmce it has been thy lot to have fubjecT: and obedient to thy whole will and pleafure fo valLnt and renowned a knight as is, and ever {hall be, Don Quixote de la Mancha, who (as all the world knows) received but yefterday the order of knighthood, and to-day has redreffed the greateft injury and grievance, that injuflice could invent and cruelty commit : for to-day hath he wrefted the fcourge out of the hand of that pitilefs enemy, who fo undefervedly lafh'd that tender (tripling.

Juft as he had done (peaking, he came to the center of four roads, and pre- fently it came into Lis imagination, that the knights-errant, when they came to thefe crofs-way;, (fc themfelves to confide^ which'of the roads they fhould take; and to imitate them, he flood dill awhile, and at laft, after mature confidera- tion, he let go the reins, fubmitting his own will to be guided by that of his

Vol. I. D horfc

*8 7le LIFE and EXP LOITS of

horfe, who, following his firfl motion, took the dired road toward his own ftable. And having gone about two miles, Don Quixote difcovered a great crowd of people, who, as it afterwards appear'd, were certain merchants of Toledo, who were going to buy filks in Murcia. There were fix of them, and they came with their umbrellas, and four fervants on horfe-back, and three Muleteers on foot. Scarce had Don Quixote efpied them, when he imagined it mufl be fome new adventure: and to imitate, as near as poflibly he could, the pafTages he had read m his books, he fancied this to be cut out on purpofe for him to atchieve. And (o with a graceful deportment and intrepidity he fettled himfelf firm in his flirrups, grafped his launce, covered his breafl with his target, and polling him- felf in the midft of the high-way, he Hood waiting the coming up of thofe knights-errant; for fuch he already judged them to be: and when they were come fo near as to be feen and heard, Don Quixote raifed his voice, and with an arrogant air cried out: Let the whole world ftand, if the whole world does not confefs, that there is not in the whole world a damfel more beautiful than the emprefs of la Mancha the peerlefs Dulcinea del Tobofo. The merchants flop'd at the found of thefe words, and to behold the flrange figure of him who pro- nounced them ; and by one and the other they foon perceived the madnefs of the fpeaker : but they had a mind to flay and fee what that confeffion meant, which he required of them ; and one of them, who was fomewhat of a wag, but withal very difcreet, faid to him; Signor cavalier, we do not know who this good lady you mention may be : let us but fee her, and if fhe is of fo great beauty as you intimate, we will, with all our hearts, and without any conftraint, confefs that truth you exact from us. Should I fhew her to you, replied Don Quixote, where would be the merit in confeffing a truth fo notorious? the bufi- nefs is, that, without feeing her, you believe, confefs, affirm, fwear, and main- tain it; and if not, I challenge you all to battle, proud and monflrous as you are : and, whether you come on one by one (as the laws of chivalry require) or all together, as is the cuflom and wicked practice of thofe of your flamp, here I wait for you, confiding in the juflice of my caufe. Sir knight ', replied the merchant, I befeech your worfhip, in the name of all the princes here prefent, that we may not lay a burden upon our confciences, by confeffing a thing we never faw nor heard, and efpecially what is fo much to the prejudice of the era- preffes and queens of Alcarria and EJlremadura ; that your worfhip would be pleafed to fhew us fome portraiture z of this lady, though no bigger than a barley-

■ When the merchant anfwer'd before, he was fuppofed not to know the perfon he fpoke to ; and there- fore he calls him Signer cavalier : but now that Don Quixote puts it pad all doubt that he fets up for a knigbt- errant, he calls him Sir knigbt, and goes on in the llyle of romance.

x Jn a multitude of romances we meet with the cuftbm of painting the lady's face upon the knight's fhield, who maintains from country to country, and from court to court, that his miftrefs exceeds all otners in beauty and all other perfections. Na-y farther, they fometimes carried a lady or ladies with them, and, at their arrivs! in any country or city, publifhed a cartel or challenge, defying all the kn:ghts of thofe parts to match thofe vagrant beauties, flaking lady againlt lady, or three or four againft one, according as they could fettle it in refpeft to beauty or quality, and the conqueror to carry off the prize or prizes: fometimes they refufed to ihew the lady, and only produced her picture in her Head,

corn,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCIIA. 19

corn ; for we (hall guefs at the clue by the thread, and herewith we (hall reft fatisfied and fafe, and your worihip remain contented and appealed : nay I ve- rily believe we are already fo far inclined to your fide, that, tho' her picture ihould reprefent her fquinting with one eye, and diftilling vermillion and brimftone from the other, notwithstanding all this, to oblige you, we will fay whatever you pleafo in her favour. There dilHls not, bale fcoundrels, anfwered Doji Htyixole, burn- ing with rage, there dill ils not from her what you fay, but rather ambcrgieafe and civet among cotton ' ; neither is (he crooked, nor hump-back'd, but as ftreight as a fpindle of Guadarrama z : but you (hall all pay for die horrid blaf- phemy you have uttered againft fo tranfeendent a beauty as my miflrcfs. And fo fiying, with his launce couch'd, he ran at him who had fpoken, with fo much fury and rage, that, if good-fortune had not order'd it that Rozhuinte ftumbled and fell in the midft of his career, it had gone hard with the daring merchant. Rozinante fell, and his mailer lay rolling about the field a good while, and endeavouring to rife, but in vain, fo encumber'd was he with his launce, target, fpurs and helmet, and with the weight of his antique armour. And while he .was thus draggling to get up, and could not, he continued calling out ; Fly not, ye daftardly rabble ; ftay, ye race of flaves j for 'tis through my horfe's fault, and not my own, that I lye here extended. A muleteer of the •company, who it feems was not over good-natured, hearing the poor fallen gen- tleman vent fuch arrogancies, cou'd not bear it without returning him an anfvver on his ribs ; and coming to him, he took the launce, and after he had broken it to pieces, with one of the fplinters he fo belaboured Don Quixote, that, in fpite of his armour, he threfh'd him to chaff. His matters cried out not to beat him fo much, and to leave him : but the muleteer was piqu'd, and wou'd not quit the game, 'till he had quite fpent the remainder of his choler : and running for the other pieces of the launce, he finiihed the breaking them upon the poor fallen knight, who, notwithftanding the tempeft of blows that fell upon him, •never fhut his mouth, but threateri'd heaven and earth, and thofe affaffins, for fuch they feemed to him. At length the fellow was tired, and the merchants went on their way, fufficiently fiirnifhed with matter of difcourfe concernino- the poor belaboured knight ; who, when he found himfelf alone, tried again to r life himfelf; but if he could not do it when whole and vvell, how mould he when bruifed, and almoft battered to pieces ? yet flill he thought himfelf a happy man, looking upon this as a misfortune peculiar to knights-errant, and imputing the whole to his horfe's fault; nor was it poffible for him to raife himielf up his whole body was fo horribly bruifed.

' In Spain and Italy, perfumes and effences are ufual prefents made to perfons of the fiVft diftindHon and pit up in fmall vials or ivory boxes, in nefts of cotton deckM with raw (ilk of various dye< aid ranged in beautiful order, m caskets of filagree, or other coftiy work. '

» The rocks of this hill are fo ftreight and perpendicular, that they were called The Spindle,. At the f^ot of it iiands the Efcurial.

® 2 CHAP.

20 rhe LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. V.

Wherein is continued the narration of our blight's misfortune.

TOUT finding that he was really not able to ftir, he bethought himfelf of having recourfe to his ufual remedy, wliich was to recollect fome paffage of his books ; and his frenzy inftantly prefented to his remembrance that of Valdovinos and the marquis of Mantua, when Carloto left him wounded on the mountain ; a ftory known to children, not unknown to youth, commended and credited by old men, and for all that no truer than the miracles of Mahomet. Now this example feemed to him as if it had been caft in a mold to fit the diftrefs he was in : and fo, with fymptoms of great bodily pain, he began to roll himfelf on the ground, and faid with a faint tone> what was faid by the wounded knight of the wood :

Where ar't thou, miflrefs of my heart, Unconfcious of thy lover's fmart ? Ah me ! thou know'Jl not my dijirefs ; Or thou ar't falfe and pitilefs.

And in this manner he went on with the romance till he came to thofe veries, where it is faid ; O noble marquis of Mantua, my uncle and lord by blood. And it fo fortuned, that juft as he came to that verfe, there chanced to pafs by a countryman of his own village, and his near neighbour, who had been carrying a load of wheat to the mill : who, feeing a man lying ftretched on the earth, came up, and asked him who he was, and what ailed him, that he made fuch a doleful lamentation ? Don Quixote believed he mufl certainly be the mar- quis of Mantua his uncle, and fo returned him no anfwer, but went on with his romance, giving an account of his misfortune, and of the amours of the emperor's fon with his fpoufe, juft in the fame manner as it is there recounted. The peafant ftood confounded at hearing fuch fenfelefs extravagancies, and ta- king off his vifor, which was beaten all to-pieces, he wiped his face, which was covered with duft ; and the moment he had done wiping it, he knew him, and faid, Ah Signor §>uixada (for fo he was called before he had loft his fenfes, and was transformed from a fober gentleman to a knight-errant) how came your worfhip in this condition ? but he anfwered out of his romance to whatever queftion he asked him : which the good man perceiving, made a fhift to take off his back and breaft-piece, to fee if he had received any wound : but he faw no blood, nor fign of any hurt. Then he endeavoured to raife him from the ground, and with much ado fet him upon his afs, as being the beaft of eafieft carriage. He gathered together all the arms, not excepting the broken pieces of the lairnce, and tied them " upon Rozinante ; and fo taking him by the bridle, and his afs by the halter, he went on toward his village, full of reflexion at hear- ing

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 21

ing the extravagancies which Don Quixote uttered ; and nolefs thoughtful was the knio-ht, who through the mere force of bruifes and bangs could fcarce keep himfelf upon the afs, and ever and anon lent forth fuch groans as fecmed to pierce the skies • infomuch that the peafant was again forced to ask him what ailed him : and fure nothing but the devil himfelf cou'd furnilh his memory with ftories fo fuited to what had befallen him ; for at that inltant, forgetting Valdovinos, he be- thought himfelf of the Moor Abindarraez, at the time when the governor of Antequera Roderigo of Narvaez had taken him prifoner, and convey'd him to his caftle. So that when the peafant asked him again how he did, he anfwered him in the very fame words and expreflions, in which the prifoner Abindarraez anfwered Roderigo of Narvaez, according as he had read the ftory in the Diana of George of Montemayor, applying it fo patly to his own cafe, that the peafant went on curfing himfelf to the devil, to hear fuch a monftrous heap of nonfenfe : from whence he collected that his neighbour was run mad, and therefore made what hafte he cou'd to reach the village, to free himfelf from the vexation of Don Quixote's tirefome and impertinent fpeeches. In the mean time Don Quixote went on faying : Be it known to your worship, Signor Don Roderigo de Nar- vaez, that this beauteous Xarifa, whom I mentioned, is now the fair Dulcinea del Tobofo, for whom I have done, do, and will do, the moil famous exploits of chivalry, that have been, are, or mail be feen in the world. To this the pea- fant anfwered ; Look you, Sir, as I am a finner,. I am not Don Roderigo de Nar- vaez, nor the marquis of Mantua, but Pedro AJonfo your neighbour : neither is your worfhip Valdovinos, nor Abindarraez, but the worthy gentleman Signer Quixada. I know who I am, anfwered Don Quixote } and I know too that I am not only capable of being thole I have mentioned, but all the twelve peers of France, yea and the nine worthies, fince my exploits will far exceed all that they have atchieved, jointly or feparately taken.

With thefe and the like difcourfes they reached the village : but the peafint flaid till the night was a little advanced, that die people might not fee the poor battered gentleman fo fcurvily mounted. When the hour he thought convenient was come, he entered the village, and arrived at Don Quixote's houfe, which he found all in an uproar. The pried and the barber ' of the place, who were Don Quixote's great friends, happened to be there; and the houfe-keepev was faying to them aloud ; what is your opinion, Signor Licenciate Pero Perez, (for that was the prieft's name) of my mailer's misfortune ? for neither he, nor his horfe, nor the target, nor the launce, nor the armour, have been feen thefe fix days paft. Woe is me ! I am verily perfuaded, and 'tis as certainly true as I was born to die, that thefe curfed books of knight-errantry, which he keeps^ and is fo often reading, have turned his brain ; and now I think of it, I have

1 The barber is always a furgeon, and conftquently a country do&or ; and a pcrfon of no fmall impor- tance, fi ce he hr.s the ordering and adjufting of the M«ftachios, ihofe snfigns of the Spatiijh dignity and gravity.

often

22 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

often heard him fay, talking to himfelf, that he would turn knight-errant, and go about the world in queit of adventures. The devil and Barabbas take all fuch books, that have thus fpoiled the fineft underftanding in all la Mancha. The niece joined with her, and laid moreover : know, mafter Nicholas (for that was the barber's name) that it has often happened, that my honoured uncle has con- tinued poring on thefe confounded books of difventures two whole days and nights; and then throwing the book out of his hands, he would draw his fword, and fence, back-ftroke and fore-ftroke, wkh the walls ; and when he was hear- tily tired, would fay, he had killed four giants as tall as fo many fteeples, and that the fweat, which ran from him, when weaiy, was the blood of the wounds he had received in the fight ; and then he would prefendy drink off a large jug of cold water, and be as quiet and well as ever, telling us, that water was a moff pre- cious liquor, brought him by the fage Efquife ', a great enchanter and his friend. But I take the blame of all this to myfelf, that I did not advertife you, gende- men, of my dear uncle's extravagancies, before they were come to the height they now are, that you might have prevented them, by burning all thofe curfed books, of which he has fo great ftore, and which as juftly defeive to be com- mitted to the flames, as if they were heretical. I fay the fame, quoth the prieft, and in faith to-morrow fhall not pafs, without holding a publick inquifidon againft them, and condemning them to the fire, that they may no more miniiter occafion to thofe, who read them, to do what I fear my good friend has done. All this the peafant and Don Quixote over-heard, and it confirmed the country- man in the belief of his neighbour's infirmity ; and fo he began to cry aloud ; Open the doors, gentlemen, to Signor Valdovinos and the marquis of Mantua, who comes dangerouily wounded, and to Signor Abindarracz the Moor, whom the valorous Rodcrigo de Narvaez, governor of Anteqaera, brings as his prifoner. At hearing this, they all came out, and as feme knew their friend, others their mafter and uncle, all ran to embrace him, who was not yet alighted from the afs, for indeed he could not. Forbear all of you, he cried, for I am forely wounded thro' my horfe's fault : cany me to my bed, and, if it be poflible, fend for the fage Urganda 2 to fearch and heal my wounds. Look ye, in the de- vil's name, faid the houfe-keeper immediately, if my heart did not tell me right, on which leg my mafter halted. Get up ftairs, in god's name; for, without the help of that fame Urganda, we fhall find a way to cure you ourfelves. Curfed, fay I again, and a hundred times curled he thofe books of knight-errantry, that have brought your worihip to diis pafs. They carried him prefendy to his chamber, and fearching for his wounds, they- found none at all : and he told them, he was only bruifed by a great fall he got with his horfe Rozinante, as he was fighting with ten of the moil prodigious and audacious giants that were to be found on the earth. Ho, ho, fays the prieft, what ! there are giants too in

1 Miftaken by tie girl for Alquife, a famous enchanter in Amadis de Gcul and Djr. Belianis of Greece. 1 A moil i otible enchantrefs in Amadis de Gaul, even beyond the fa^e Alquife.

the

<fn,f f2mfa*6&n£ in0*£6 Jt/in.

■ p . 2 J

^r^s- ■'7<T//fU'sY/ttt-Af .',-///?>

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 23

the dance « : by the holy fign of the crofs I fhall fet fire to them all before to-mor- row night. They asked Don Quixote a thoufand qucflions, and he wou'd anfwer nothing, but only defired fomething to eat, and that they would let him deep, whicli was what he Hood moil in need of. They did lb, and the pried enquired particularly of the countryman in what condition he had found Don Quixote ; who gave him an account of the whole, with the extravagancies he had uttered bodi at the time of finding him and all the way home ; which increafed the Li- centiate's defire to do what he did die next day ; which was, to call on his friend mailer Nicholas the barber, with whom he came to Don Quixote's houfe.

CHAP. VI.

Of the pleafant and grand fcrutiny made by the priejl and the barber in our

ingenious gentleman's library.

\T7 HILST Don Quixote Hill flept on, the pried asked the niece for the keys " * of the chamber where the books were, thofe authors of the mifchief j and fhe delivered them with a very good will. They all went in, and the houfe- keeper with them. They found above a hundred volumes in folio very well bound, befides a great many fmall ones. And no fooner did the houfe-keeper fee them, than fhe ran out of the room in great hade, and immediately returned with a pot of holy water, and fome fprigs of hyflbp, and faid ; Signor Licen- tiate, take this and fprinkle the room, left fome enchanter, of the many thefe books abound widi, fhou'd enchant us in revenge for what we intend to do, in banifhing them out of the world. The prieft fmiled at the houfe-keeper 's fim- plicity, and ordered the barber to reach him the books, one by one, that they might fee what they treated of; for, perhaps, faid he, we may find fome, diat may not deferve to be chaflifed by fire. No, faid the niece, there is no reafon why any of them fhou'd be fpared ; for they have all been mifchief-makers : it will be bed to fling them out of the window into the court-yard, and make a pile of them and fet fire to it, or elfe carry them into the back-yard, and diere make a bonfire of them, and the fmoak will offend no body. The houfe-keeper faid the fame ; fo eagerly did they both thirfl for the death of thofe innocents. But the priefl wou'd not agree to that, without firfl reading the titles at lead. And the fird that mailer Nicholas put into his hands was Amadis de Gaul in four parts 2 ; and the pried faid : there feems to be fome mydery in this ; for, as I have heard fay, this was the fird book of chivalry printed in Spain, and all the red have had their foundation and rife from it ; and therefore I think, as head of fo pernicious a feci, we ought to condemn him to the fire without mercy. Not fo, Sir, faid the barber j for I have heard alio, that 'tis die bed of all the books

m

1 Alluding- to a paffage in Amadis, where feveral giants are mix'd with ladies and knights, at ConftantU

nopkj in a dance.

1 Hence it appeal , that only the firfl four books of Amadis wore thought genuine by CY The

fubfecruent volumes, to the number of twenty-one, are condemn' d hereby as fparious.

of

24 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

of this kind; and therefore, as ;'b;ing Angular in his art, he ought to be fpared. I: is true, faid the prieft, and for that reafon his life is granted him for the pre- -fent. Let us fee that other that ftands next him. It is," faid the barber, the Ad- ve tures of Efplandian, the legitimate fon of Amadis de Gaul. Verily, faid the ■prieft, the goodnefs of the father fball avail the fon nothing : take him, miftrefs houfe-keeper; open yon cafement and throw him into the yard, and let him give a beginning to the pile for the intended bonfire. The houfe-keeper did fo with much fatisfaction, and honeft Efplandian was fent flying into the yard, there to wait with patience for the fire with which he was threatned- Proceed, faid the prieft. The next, faid the baiber, is Amadis of Greece : yea, and all thefe on this fide, I believe, are of the lineage of Amadis. Then into the yard with them all, quoth the prieft ; for rather than not burn queen Pintiquinieflra \ and the fhepherd Darinel 2 with his eclogues, and the damn'd intricate difcourfes of its author, I would burn the father who begot me, did I meet him in the garb of a knight-errant. Of the fame opinion am I, faid the barber; and I too, added the niece. Since it is fo, {aid the houfe-keeper, away with them all into the yard. They handed them to her, and there being great num- bers of them, to fave herfelf the trouble of the flairs, me threw them all, the fborteft way, out of the window. What tun of an author is that? faid the prieft. This is, anfwered the baiber, Don Olivanfe de Laura. The author of that book, faid the prieft, was the fame who compofed the garden of flowers-, and in good truth I know not which of the two books is the trueft, or rather the leaft lying ; I can only fay, that this goes to the yard for its arrogance and abfurdity. This that follows is Florifmarte of Hyrcania, faid the barber. What ! is Signor Florifmarte there, replied the prieft ; now in good faith he fhall foon make his appearance in the yard, notwithstanding his ftrange birth and chimerical adventures; for the harfhnefs and drinefs of his ftile will ad- mit of no excufe. To die yard with him, and with this other, miftrefs houfe- keeper. With all my heart, dear Sir, anfwered fhe, and with much joy execu- ted what fhe was commanded. This is the knight Platir, faid the barber. That, faid the prieft, is an ancient book, and I find nothing in him deferving pardon: let him keep the reft company without more words; which was ac- cordingly done. They opened another book, and found it intitled The knight of the crofs. So religious a title, quoth the prieft, might, one would think, atone for the ignorance of the author; but it is a common faying, The devil lurks be- hind the crofs: fo to the fire with him. The barber, taking down another book, faid, this is the Mirrour of chivalry. O ! I know liis worfhip very well, quoth the prieft. Here comes Signor Reynaldos de. Montalvan, with his friends and companions, greater thieves than Cac. us ; and the twelve peers, with the faidiful hiftoriographer Turpin. However, I am only for condemning them to perpe-

• A terrible fighting giantefs, in Amadis de Gaul, and one of the mod ridiculous characters imaginable. ' A ridiculous buff.on, in love with an emprefs. ibid.

tual

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 25

toal banishment, becaufe they contain fome tilings of the famous Mateo Boxar- do's ' invention; from whom alio the chriftian poet Ludovico Ariojlo fpun his web: but if I find even him here, and fpeaking any other language than his own, I will fhew him no refpect; but, if he fpeaks in his own tongue, I will put him upon my head -. I have him in Italian, faid the barber, but I do not underftand him. Neither is it any great matter, whether you underftand him or not 3, anfwered the prieft; and we wou'd willingly have excufed the good cap- tain from bringing him into Spain, and making him a Caftiliatt; for he has de- prived him of a great deal of his native value : and this is the misfortune of all thofe, who undertake to tranflate books of verfe into other languages; for, with all their care and skill, they can never raife them to the pitch they were at in their firft production. I pronounce, in fhort, that this, and all other books that fhall be found treating of French matters +, be thrown afide, and depofited in fome dry vault, 'till we can determine with more deliberation what is to be done with them ; excepting Bernardo del Carpio, and another called Roncefvalles, who, if they fall into my hands, fhall pafs into the houfe-keeper's, and thence into the fire, without any remiffion. The barber confirmed the fentence, and held it for good, and a matter well determined, knowing that the prieft was fo good a chriftian, and fo much a friend to truth, that he would not utter a falf- hood for all the world 5. And fo opening another book, he faw it was Palmerin de Oliva, and next it another called Palmerin of England; which the Licentiate efpying, faid; Let this Olha be torn to pieces and burnt, that not fo much as the allies may remain : but let Palmerin of England be preferved, and kept, as a Angular piece; and let fuch another cafe be made for it, as that which Alexan- der found among the fpoils of Darius, and appropriated to preferve the works of the poet Homer. This book, goffip, is considerable upon two accounts; the one, that it is very good in itfelf; and the other, becaufe there is a tradition that it was written by an ingenious king of Portugal. All the adventures of the Caftle of Miraguarda arc excellent, and very artificial; the dialogue courtly and clear; and the decorum preferved in all the characters, with great judgment and propriety. Therefore, mafter Nicholas, faving your better judgment, let this, and Amadis de Gaul, be exempted from the fire, and let all the reft perifh with- out more ado. Notfo, goffip, replied the barber; for this that I have here is the renowned Don Belianis. The prieft replied; This, with the fecond, third, and fourth parts, wants a little rhubarb to purge away its exceffive choler : be- fides we mult remove all that relates to the caftle of Fame, and other imperti-

1 A famous Italian poet, author of feveral cantos of Orlando Inamorato ; from whom Ariollo borrowed a great part of his Orlando Furiofo. 1 A mark of honour and refpeft.

3 It is plain from hence, that Cervantes did not relifh Ariojtts extravagancies.

4 Meaning the common fubjeft of romances, the fcene of which lay in France, under Charlemagne, and the Paladins.

s There are feveral fatirical ftrokes upon the clergy in this book, and the author is forced now and then to balance them with fuch open flattery as this here.

vol.1. E nencies

26 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

nencies of greater confequence; wherefore let them have the benefit of trans- portation, and, as they fhew figns of amendment, they ihall be treated with mercy or juftice: in the mean time, neighbour, give them room in your houfe; but let no body read them. With all my heart, quoth the barber, and, with- out tiring himfelf any farther in turning over books of chivalry, he bid the houle-keeper take all the great ones and throw them into the yard. This was not fpoken to one ftupid or deaf, but to one who had a greater mind to be burning them, than weaving the fineft and largefl ' web. And therefore laying hold of feven or eight at once, fhe toil them out at the window. By her taking fo many together, there fell one at the barber's feet, who had a mind to fee what it was, and found it to be, The bijlory of the renowned knight Tirant the white. God fave me! quoth the prieft, louder than ordinary, is Tirant the white there? Give me him here, neighbour} for I make account I have found a trealure of delight, and a mine of entertainment. Here is Don Kyrie-eleifon of Mont ah an, a valo- rous knight, and his brother Thomas of Montahan, and the knight Fonfeca, and the combat which the valiant Detriante fought with Alano, and the fmart con- ceits of the damfel Plazcrdemhida % with the amours and artifices of the wi- dow Repofada - ; and madam the emprefs in love with her fquire Hypolito. Ve- rily, goffip, in its way, it is the beft book in the world : here the knights eat, and fleep, and die in their beds, and make their wills before their deaths ; with feveral things, which are wanting in all other books of this kind. Notwith- ftanding all this, I tell you, the author deferved, for writing fo many fooliih things ferioufly, to be fent to die gallies for all the days of his life: carry it home, and read it, and you will find all I fay of him to be true. I will do fo, anfwered the barber: but what ihall we do with thefe little books that remain? Thefe, fa id the prieft, are, probably, not books of chivalry, but of poetry: and open- ing one, he found it was the Diana of George of Montemayor, and faid (believ- ing all the reft to be of the fame kind) thefe do not deferve to be burnt like the reft; for they cannot do the mifchief, that thofe of chivalry have done : they are works of genius and fancy, and do no body any hurt. O Sir, faid the niece,, pray order thefe to be burnt with the reft; for, ihou'd my uncle be cured of this diftemper of chivalry, he may poffibly, by reading thefe books, take it into his head to become a ihepherd \ and wander thro' the woods and fields, finging and playing on a pipe; and, what would be ftill worfe, to turn poet, which, they lay, is an incurable and contagious difeafe. The damfel fays true, quoth the prieft, and it will not be amifs to remove tills ftumbling-block and occafion out of our friend's way. And fince we begin with the Diana of Montemayor, I am of opinion not to burn it, but to take away all that treats of the fiage Feli-

» A concealed piece of fatire on the lazinefs and want of good houfewifry of the Spanijb women. 1 Qualities perfonified, or made into fubilantive names. Pfazerdimivida fignifies flcafure of my life : Re- pfada, quiet or fidate.

s He did fo, at the end of the fecond part.

cia.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MA NC HA. 27

da, and of the enchanted fountain, and almoft all the longer poems ; and leave him the profe in god's name, and the honour of being the lirft in that kind of writing. This that follows, faid the barber, is the Diana called the fecond, by Salmantino; and another of the fame name, whole author is Gil Polo. The Sahnantinian, anfwered the prieft, may accompany and encreafe the number of the condemned; to the yard with him : but let that of Gil Polo be preferred, - if it were written by Apollo himfelf. Proceed, goffip, and let us difpatch ; for it grows late. This, faid the barber, opening another, is the Ten books of the fortune of love, compofed by Antonio de Loj'rnfo, a Sardinian poet. By the holy orders I have received, laid the prieft, fince Apollo was Apollo, the nv. mufes, and the poets poets, fo humorous and fo whimfical a bock as this was never written ; it is the beft, and moft lingular of the kind, that ever appeared in the world; and he, who has not read it, may reckon that he never read any thing of tafte : give it me here, goiiip ; for I value the rinding it more man if I had been prefented with a caflbek of Florence fattin. He laid it alide with ex- ceeding pleafure, and the barber proceeded, laying; The fe that follow are the Shepherd of Iberia, the Nymphs of Enares, and the Cures of jealoufy. There is no more to be done, faid the prieft, but to deliver them up to the fecular arm * of the houfe-keeper ; and ask me not why, for then we lliou'd never have done. This that comes next is the Shepherd of Filida. He is no fhepherd, faid the prieft, but an ingenious courtier; let him be preferved, and laid up as a pre- cious jewel. This bulky volume here, laid the barber, is intkled The treafure of divers poems. Had they been fewer, replied the prieft, they would have been more efteemed : it is neceflary this book fhould be weeded and cleared of all the low things interfperfed amongft its fublimities : let it be preferved, both I te author is my friend, and out of regard to other more heroic and exalted pieces of his writing. This, purfued the barber, is a book of Songs by Lopez •do. The author of this book alio, replied the prieft, is a great friend of mine: his verfes, fung by himfelf, raife admiration in the hearers; and fuch is the fweetnefs of his voice in finging them, that they perfectly enchant. He is a little too prolix in his eclogues ; but there can never be too much of what h really good : let it be kept with the felect. But what book is that next to it ? The Galatea of Michael de Cervantes % faid the barber. That Cervantes has been a great friend of mine thefe many years, and I know that he is better ac- quainted with misfortunes than with poetry. His book has fomewhat of good invention in it; he propofes fomething, but concludes nothing : we muft wait for the -fecond part, which he promifes = ; perhaps, on his amendment, he may

' The clergy of the Inquifition pretend to be fo companionate and averfe to bloodfhcd, that when they have condemned an heretic to the flames, they only deliver him up to the fecular arm, that is, into the hands of the civil magiftrate, who is obliged to put their chriftian fentence in execution.

1 An ingenious advertifement to help the fale of his book. This, and fame other paflages, fliew that our author lived by his writings.

3 Ctrvantet never performed this promife.

E 2 obtain

28

tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

obtain that entire pardon, which is now denied him; in the mean time, goffip, keep him a reclufe in your chamber. With all my heart, anfwered the barber; and here come three together : The Araucana of Don Alonfo de Ercilla, the Auftriada of John Rufo, jurat of Cordova, and the Monferrato of Chri/loval de Virves, a poet of Valencia. Thefe three books, faid the prieft, are the beft that are written in heroic verfe in the Caftilian tongue, and may come in compe- tition with the mofl famous of Italy : let them be preferved as the beft per- formances in poetry Spain can boaft of. The prieft grew tired of looking over fo many books, and fo, infide and contents unknown ', he would have all the reft burnt. But the barber had already opened one called The tears of Angelica. I mould have fried tears myfelf (faid the prieft, hearing the name) had I or- dered that book to be burnt ; for its author was one of the moft famous poets, not of Spain only, but of the whole world, and tranflated fome fables of Quid with great fuccefs.

CHAP. vir.

Of the fecond fally of our good blight Don Quixote de la Mancha.

V¥ .7HILE they were thus employ'd, Don Quixote began to call out aloud, * * flying : Here, here, valorous knights, here ye muft exert the force of your valiant arms ; for the courtiers begin to get the better of the tournament. This noife and outcry, to which they all ran, put a ftop to all farther fcrutiny of the books that remained ; and therefore it is believed, that to the fire, without being feen or heard, went the Carolca, and Leon of Spain, with the ABs of the Emperor compofed by Don Louis de Avila, which without doubt muft have been among thofe that were left : and perhaps had the prieft feen them, they had not undergone fo rigorous a fentence. When they came to Don Quixote, he was already got out of bed, and continued his outcries and ravings, widi his drawn fword laying furioufly about him, back-ftroke and fore-ftroke, being as broad awake as if he had never been afleep. They clofed in with him, and laid him upon his bed by main force, and after he was a little compofed, turning himfelf to talk to the prieft, he faid; Certainly, my lord archbiihop Turpi??, it is a great difgrace to us, who call ourfelves the twelve peers, to let the knights- courtiers 2 carry off the victory without more opposition, after we the adventu- rers had gained the prize in the three preceding days. Say no more, good gof- fip, faid the prieft; it may be god's will to change our fortune, and what is loft to-day may be won to-morrow : mind your health for the prefent; for I think you muft needs be extremely fatigued, if not forely wounded. Wounded ! no,

1 A cargo, cerrada. A mercantile phrafe ufed in their bills of lading.

* The Ivigbts-courtitr, were thofe who maintained the fuperiority of their miftreffes beauty againft all op- pofers : the knigbts-advtnlurers were thofe who entered the lifts with them, without its being known who they were, or from whence they came. Don Quixote in his dream fancies himfelf one of the latter, and wakes un- der the concern of his party being in danger of being worfted.

faid

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 29

faid Don Quixote 5 but bruifcd and battered lam for certain; for that baftard,

Don Roldan, has pounded me to mafh with the trunk of an oak, and all out of mere envy, becaufe he fees that I am the fole rival of his prowefi. But let me never more be called Rinaldo of Montauban, if, as foon as I am able to rife from this bed, I do not make him pay dear for it, in fpite of all his enchantments ; but at prefent bring me fome breakfaft, for I know nothing will do me fo much gobd, and let me alone to revenge myfelf. They did fo ; they gave him fome victuals, and he fell faft afleep again, and left them in frefh admiration at his madnefs. That night the houfe-keeper fet fire to, and burnt all the books that were in the yard, and in the houfe too ; and fome mull have perifhed that de- fended to be treafured up in perpetual archives ; but their fate, and the lazinefs of the fcrutineer, would not permit it ; and in tlijm was fulfilled the faying, that the juft Jbmetimes fuffer for the unjujt. One of die remedies, which the prieft and barber pre (bribed at that time for their frfc id's malady, was, to alter his apartment, and wall up the room where the books had been, that when he got up he might not find them; in hopes that, the caufe being removed, the effect might ceafe ; and that they mould pretend, that an enchanter had carried them away, room and all ; which was prefently done accordingly. Within two days after, Don Quixote got up, and the firfl thing he did was to vifit his books ; and not finding the room where he left it, he went up and down looking for it : he came to the place where the door ufed to be ; and he felt with his hands, and flared about everyway without fpeaking a word : but after fome time he asked the houfe-keeper whereabouts ftood the room, where his books were. She, who was already well-tutored what to anfwer, faid to him : What room, or what nodiing, does your worfhip look for ? there is neither room, nor books, in this houfe ; for the devil himfelf has carried all away. It was not the devil, faid the niece, but an enchanter, who came one night upon a cloud, after the day of your de- parture hence, and alighting from a ferpent, on which he rode % entered into the room; and I know not what he did there, but after fome little time out he came, flying thro' die roof, and left the houfe full of fmoke ; and when we went to fee what he had been doing, we faw neither books nor room ; only we very well re- member, both I and miftrefs houfe-keeper here, that when the old thief went away, he faid with a loud voice, that, for a fecret enmity he bore to the owner of thofe books and of the room, he had done a mifchief in this houfe, which mould foon be manifeft: he told us alfo, that he was called die fage Munniaton \ Frellon 3, he

1 The enchantrefs Urganda, in Amadis de Gaul, carries her knights, or her prifoners, thro' the air, or over the fea, in a machine figured like a ferpent, and vvrap'd in fire and fmoke. And in the fame romance, Frijlicn the enchanter, viceroy of Sicily, introduces a vapour mixed with a (linking fmoke, and accompanied with a dreadful clap of thunder, and carries off the emperor and his daughters. So that the niece tells her uncle nothing but what was common in books of knight-errantry, and eafily to be believed by him.

- The niece, by this fiftion, thinks to frighten Don Quixote from his knight-errantry; for what mifchief might not fuch an enchanter do him in time, when he begins by carrying away part of his houfe, and his choiceft furniture ? But, contrary to her intention, it rather confirms him in his phrenzy, by convincing him there are enchanters.

' An enchanter in Don EtUanit of Crecci,

meant

3o 7%e LIFE and EXPLOIT^/

meant to fay, quoth Don Quixote. I know not, anfwer'd the houfg-keeper, whe- ther his name be Frefton, or Friton ; all I know is, that it ended in ton. It doth fo, replied Don Quixote : he is a wile enchanter, a great enemy of mine, and bears me a grudge, becaufe by his skill and learning he knows, that, in procefs of time, I ihall engage in fingle combat with a knight, whom he favours, and lhall vanquilh him, without his being able to prevent it; and for this cauie he endea- vours to do me all the diskindnefs he can ; but let him know from me, it will be difficult for him to withfland or avoid what is decreed by heaven. Who doubts of that ? faid the niece ; but, dear uncle, who puts you upon thefe fquab- bles? Would it not be better to flay quietly at home, and not ramble about the • world, looking for better bread than wheaten, and not conlidering that many so to feek wool and return fhorn themfelves. O dear niece, anfwered Don Quixote, how little do you know of the matter? before they ihall fhear me, I will pluck and tear off the beards of all thole who dare think of touching the tip of a fingle hair of mine. Neither of them would make any firther reply; for they faw his choler begin to take fire. He flaid after this fifteen days at home, very quiet, without difcovering any fymptom of an inclination to repeat his late frolicks ; in which time there paffed very pleafant ' difcourfes between him and his two gofiips, the pried: and the barber ; he affirming, that the world flood in need of nothing fo much as knights-errant, and the revival of chivalry. The prieft fometimes contradicted him, and at other times acquiefced ; for had he not made ufe of this artifice, there would have been no means left to bring him to

reafon.

In the mean time Don Quixote tampered with a labourer, a neighbour of his, and an honeft man (if* fuch an epithet may be given to one that is poor) but very ihallow-brained. vIn fhort he faid fo much, ulld fo many arguments, and promifed him fuch great matters, that the poor fellow rcfblved to fully out with him,- and ferve him as his fquire. Among other things, Don Quixote told him, he mould difpofe himfelf to go with him willingly; for fome time or other fuch an adventure might prefent, that an island might be won, in the turn of a hand, and he be left governor thereof. With thefe and the like promifes, Sancho Panca (for that was the labourer's name) left his wife and children, and hired himfelf for a fquire to his neighbour. Don Quixote prefently cafe about how to raife money, and by felling one thing, and pawning another, and lofing by all, he fcraped together a tolerable fum. He fitted himfelf likevife with a buckler, which he borrowed of a friend, and patching up his broken helmet the befc he could, he acquainted his fquire Sancho of the day and hour he in- tended to fet out, that he might provide himfelf with what he fhould find to be moft needful. Above all, he charged him not to forget a wallet ; and Sain'o faid, he would be lure to cany one, and that he intended alio to take with him an afs he had, being a very' good one, becaufe he was not uied to travel much on foot. As to the afs, Don Qyi,xote paufed a little, endeavouring to recollect

whether

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DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 31

whether any knight-errant had ever carried a fquire mounted afs-wife : but no instance of the kind occurred to his memory. However, he confented that he fhould take his aSs with him, purpofing to accommodate him more honourably, the SirSt opportunity, by dismounting the firft difcourtcous knight he Should meet. He provided himfelf with fliirts, and what otlier things he could, con- formably to the advice given him by the inn-keeper. All which being done and accomplished, Pauca, without taking leave of his wife and children, or Don Quixote of his houfe-keeper and niece, one night {allied out of the village with- out being perceived by any one ; and they travelled fo hard, that, by break of day, they believed themfelves Secure of not being found, tho' Search were made for them. Sancho Pan$a went ambling upon his afs like any patriarch, with his wallet and leathern bottle, and with a vehement deSire to find himfelf go- vernor of the itland, which his matter had promifed him. It So fell out, that Don Quixote took the Same route. he had done in his firft expedition, thro' the plain of MonticI, which he paSTed over with lefs uneafinefs than the time before ; for it was early in the morning, and the rays of the fun darting on them aflaunt gave them no disturbance. Now Sancho Panca find to his mafterj I befeech your worfhip, good fir knight-errant, that you forget not your promife con- cerning that Same ifland ; for I Shall know how to govern it, be it never fo big. To which Don Quixote anfwered ; You mult know, friend Sancho Panca, that it was a cuStom much in ufe among the ancient knights-errant, to make their Squires governors of the iflands or kingdoms they conquered ; and I am deter- mined that {o laudable a cuStom Shall not be loft for me : on the contrary, I re- folve to outdo them in it : for they fometimes, and perhaps moSt times, Staid till their fquires were grown old; and when they were worn out in their fer- ■, and had undergone many bad days, and worfe nights, they gave them Some title, as that of Count, or at leaSt Marquis, of fome valley or province, be it greater or lefs : but if you live, and I live, before fix days are ended, I may probably win fach a kingdom as may have others depending on it, as Sit as if they were caft in a mold, for thee to be crowned king of one of them. And do not think this any extraordinary matter; for things fall out to iuch knights- adventurers as we are, by fuch unforeSeen and unexpected ways, that I may eafily give thee even more than I promife. So then, anfwered Sancho Pa if I were a king by fome of thofe miracles you are pleafed to mention, Mary Gutierrez, my crooked rib, would at leaft come to be a queen, and my children infantas. Who doubts it ? anfwered Don Quixote. I doubt it, re- plied Sancho Panca; for I am verily perfsvaded that, if God were to rain down kingdoms upon the earth, none of them would fit well upon the head of Maria Gutierrez; for you muft know, fir, She is not worth two far- things for a queen. The title of countefs would fit better upon her, and that too with the help of god, and good friends. Recommend her to god, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote, and he will do what is beSt for her : but do thou have a

care

32 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

care not to debafe thy mind fo low, as to content thyfelf with beino- lefs than an Adelantado '. Sir, I will not, anfwered Sancho, efpecially having fo great a man for my mafter as your worfhip, who will know how to give me whatever is moil fitting for me, and what you find me beft able to bear.

CHAP. VIII.

Of the good fuccefs, which the valorous Don Quixote had, in the dreadful and never-imagined adventure of the wind-mills, with other events worthy to be recorded.

A S they were dius difcourfing, they perceived fome thirty or forty windmills -*~ -*■ that are in that plain j and as foon as Don Quixote efpied them, he faid to his fquire : Fortune difpofes our affairs better than we ourfelves could have de- fired : look yonder, friend Sancho Panca, where you may difcover fomewhat more than thirty monftrous giants, wit1" whom I intend to fight, and take away all their lives ; with whofe fpoils we will begin to enrich ourfelves ; for it is law- ful prize, and doing god good fervice, to take away fo wicked a generation from off the face of the earth. What giants ? faid Sancho Panca. Thofe you fee yon- der, anfwered his mafter, with thofe long arms ; for fome of them are wont to have them almoft of the length of two leagues. Confider, Sir, anfwered Sancho, that thofe, which appear yonder, are not giants, but windmills : and what feem to be arms, are the fails, which, whirled about by the wind, make the millftone go. One may eafily fee, anfwered Don Quixote, that you are not verfed in the bufinefs of adventures : they are giants, and if you are afraid, get afide, and pray, whilfh I engage with them in a cruel and unequal combat. And fo faying, he clap'd fpurs to Rozinante, without minding the cries his fquire fent after him, advertifing him, that thofe he went to affault were without all doubt windmills, and not giants. But he was fo fully pofleffed that they were giants, that he neither heard the outcries of his fquire Sancho, nor yet difcerned what they were, tho' he was very near them, brt went on crying out aloud ; fly not, ye cowards and vile catifs; for it is a fingle knight who affaults you. Now the wind rofe a little, and the great fails began to move ; which Don Quixote perceiving, faid ; Well, tho' ye ihou'd move more arms than the giant Briareus, ye fhall pay for it. And fo faying, and recommending himfelf de- voutly to his lady Du/cinea, befeeching her to fuccour him in the prefent dan- ger, being well covered with his buckler, and fetting his launce in the reft, he rufhed on as faft as Rozinante could galop, and attacked the firft mill before him ; and running his launce into the fail, the wind whirled it about with fo much violence, that it broke the launce to fhivers, dragging horfe and rider after it, and tumbling them over and over on the plain, in very evil plight. Sancho

1 There are twenty-four families in Spain fo called, that diftinguifhed thcmfelves againft the Moors ; of which Sevil h.zxh. fourteen. Adelantado fignifics alfo a lord-lieutenant of a province.

Panca

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 33

Panca haftened to his afTiftance as fift as his afs cou'd carry him : and when he came up to him, he found him not able to ftir ; lb violent was the blow he and Rozinante had received in falling. God fave me, quoth Sancho, did not I warn you to have a care of what you did, for that they were nothing but windmills ; and no body cou'd miftake them, but one that had the like in his head. Peace, friend Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote ; for matters of war are, of all others moil lubject to continual mutations. Now I verily believe, and it is moft cer- tainly fo, that the fage Frefton, who ftole away my chamber and books, has metamorphofed thefe giants into wind-mills, on purpofe to deprive me of the glory of vanquishing them, fo great is the enmity he bears me : but when he has done his worft, his wicked arts will avail but little againft the goodnefs of my fword. God grant it, as he can, anfwered Sancho Pan^a ; and helping him to rife, he mounted him again upon Rozinante, who was half fhoulder-llip'd : and difcourfing of the late adventure, they followed the road that led to the pals of Lapice ' ; for there, Don Quixote faid, they could not fail to meet with many and various adventures, it being a great thoroughfare : and yet he went on very melancholy for want of his launce ; and fpeaking of it to his fquire, he faid : I remember very well to have read, that a certain Spanijh knight, called Diego Perez de Vargas, having broken his fword in fight, tore off a huo-e branch or limb from an oak, and performed fuch wonders with it that day, and daihed out the brains -of fo many Moors, that he was firnamed Machnca 2 ; and from that day forward, he and his defcendants bore the names of Vargas and Machuca. I tell you this, becaufe from the firfr. oak or crabtree we meet I mean to tear fuch another limb at leaft as good as that, and I purpofe and intend to do fuch feats with it, that you (hall deem yourfelf moft fortunate, in merit- ing to behold them, and to be an eye-witnefs of things which can fcarcely be believed. God's will be done, quoth Sancho ; I believe all juft as you fay, Sir ; but, pray, fet yourfelf upright in your faddle ; for you feem to me to ride* fideling, and it mult be occafioned by your being fo forely bruifed by the fall. It is certainly fo, anfwered Don Quixote-, and if I do not complain of pain, it is becaufe knights-errant are not allowed to complain of any wound whatever tho' their entrails came out at it. If it be fo, I have nothing to reply, an- fwered Sancho ; but god knows I Ihould be glad to hear your worfhip complain, when any thing ails you. As for myfelf, I muft complain of the leaft pain I feel, unlefs this bufinefs of not complaining be underftood to extend to the fquires of knights-errant. Don Quixote could not forbear fmiling at the fifn- plicity of his fquire, and told him he might complain whenever, and as much as, he pleafed, with or without caufe, having never yet read any thing to the contrary in the laws of chivalry. Sancho put him in mind, that it was time to

« A pafs in the mountains, fuch as they call puerto feco, a dry fort, where the king's officers levy the tolls and cuftoms upon paiiengers and goods.

1 From machar, to pound or bruife in a mortar.

Vol. I.

dine,'

34 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

dine. His mafter anfwered, that at prefent he had no need ; but that he might eat whenever he thought fit. With this licence, Sancho adjufted himfelf the beft he cou'd upon his beaft, and taking out what he had put in his wallet, he jogged on eating, behind his mafter, very leifurely, and now and then lifted the bottle to his mouth with fo much relifh, that the beft fed victualler of 2 Malaga might have envied him. And whilft he went on in this manner, repeating his draughts, he thought no more of the promifes his mafter had made him ; nor did he think it any toil, but rather a recreation, to go in queft of adventures, tho' never fo perilous. In fine, they pafted that night among fome trees, and from one of them Don Quixote tore a withered branch, that might ferve him in fome fort for a launce, and fixed to it the iron head or fpear of that which was broken. All that night Don Quixote flept not a wink, ruminating on his lady Dulcinea, in conformity to what he had read in his books, where the knights are wont to pafs many nights together, without clofing their eyes, in forefts and deferts, entertaining themfelves with the remembrance of their miftrefles. Not fo did Sancho pafs the night ; whofe ftomach being full (and not of dandelion- water) he made but one fleep of it : and, if his mafter had not rouze him, neither the beams of the fun that darted full in his face, nor the melody of the birds, which in great numbers moft cheerfully faluted the approach of the new day, cou'd have awaked him. At his uprifing he took a fwig at his leathern bottle, and found it much lighter than the evening before j which grieved his very heart, for he did not think they were in the way to remedy that defect: ve- ry foon. Don Quixote would not break his faft ; for, as it is faid, he refolved to fubfift upon favoury remembrances.

They returned to the way they had entered upon the day before, toward the pafs of Lapice, which they difcovered about three in the afternoon. Here (faid Don Quixote efpying it) brodier Sancho Panga, we may thruft our hands up to the elbows in what they call adventures. But take this caution with you, that, tho' you fhould fee me in the greateft peril in the world, you muft not lay your hand to your fword to defend me, unlefs you fee that they who affault me are vile mob and mean fcoundrels ; in that cafe you may affift me : but if they fhould be knights, it is in no wife lawful, nor allowed by the laws of chi- valry, that you fhould intermeddle, 'till you are dubbed a knight. I affure you, Sir, anfwer'd Sancho, your worfhip fhall be obeyed moft punctually here- in, and the rather, becaufe I am naturally very peaceable, and an enemy to thrufting myfelf into brangles and fquabbles : but for all that, as to what re- gards the defence of my own perfon, I fhall make no great account of thofe fame laws, fince both divine and human allow every one to defend himfelf againft whoever would annoy him. I fay no lefs, anfwered Don Quixote ; but in the bufinefs of aflifting me againft knights, you muft reftrain and keep in your na-

1 The wines of Malaga were formerly moft efteemed in Spain, as were afterwards thofe of the Canaries, and at prefent the Cafe wines.

tural

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 35

tural impetuofity. I fay, I will do fo, anfwercd Sancho ; and I will obferve this precept as religioufly as the Lord's-day.

As they were thus difcourfing in die way, there appeared two monks of the order of St. Benedict, mounted upon two dromedaries ; for die mules whereon they rode were not much lefs. They wore travelling masks widi fpeclacle- glaifes, and carried umbrellas. Behind them came a coach, and four or five men on horfeback, who accompanied it, with two muleteers on foot. There was in the coach, as was afterwards known, a certain Bifcaine lady going to Sevil to her husband, who was there ready to embark for the Indies in a very honourable poll. The monks came not in her company, tho' they were tra- velling the fame road. But fcarcely had Don Quixote cfpied them, when he faid to his fquire : Either I am deceived, or this is like to prove the moil fa- mous adventure that ever was feen ; for thofe black bulks that appear yonder mufl be, and without doubt are, enchanters, who are carrying away fome prin- cefs, whom they have flolen, in that coach ; and I am obliged to redrefs this wrong to the utmoft of my power. This may prove a worfe job than the windmills, faid Sancho : pray, Sir, obferve, that thofe are Benedictine monks, and the coach mull belong to fome travellers. Pray hearken to my advice, and have a care what you do, and let not the devil deceive you. I have already told you, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote, that you know little of the bufinefs of adventures : what I fay is true, and you will fee it prefently ; and fo faying he advanced forward, and planted himfelf in the midfl of the high- way by which the monks were to pais ; and when they were fo near, that he fuppofed they could hear what he faid, he cried out with a loud voice ; Diabolical and mon- ilrous race, either inilantly releafe the high-born princeifes, whom you are carrying away in that coach againil their wills, or prepare for inilant death, as the juil chailifement of your wicked deeds '. The monks checked their mules, and flood admiring, as well at the figure of Don Quixote, as at his expreffions ; to which they anfwered : Signor cavalier, we are neither diabolical nor monflrous, but a couple of religious of the Benedicline order, who are travelling on our own bufinefs, and are entirely ignorant whether any princeifes are carried away by force in that coach, or not. Soft words do nothing with me ; for I know ye, treacherous fcoundrels, faid Don Quixote; and, widiout flaying for any other reply, he clapped fpurs to Rozinante, and with his launce couched ran at the foremoil monk widi fuch fury and undauntednefs, that, if he had not flid down from his mule, he wou'd have brought him to the ground in fpite of his teeth, and wounded him to boot, if not killed him outright. Tiie fecond religious, feeing his comrade treated in this manner, clapped fpurs to his mule's fides, and began to fcour along the plain, lighter than the wind itfelf. Sancho Panca, feeing the monk on the ground, leaped nimbly from his afs, and run- ning to him began to take off his habit. In the mean while die monks two

« The ufual fiyle of defiance in the old romances.

F 2 lacqueys

36 the LIFE and EXP LOITS of

lacqueys coming up asked him why he was ftripping their mailer of his domes ? Sancho aniwered, that they were his lawful perquifites, as being the fpoils of the battle, which his lord Don Quixote had juft won. The lacqueys, who did not underftand raillery, nor what was meant by fpoils or battles, feeing Don Quixote at a diftance, talking with the lady in the coach, fell upon Sancho, and threw him down, and leaving him not a hair in his beard, gave him a hearty kicking, and left him ftretched on the ground, breathlefs and fenfelefs. And, without lofing a minute, the monk got upon his mule again, trembling, and terribly frighted, and as pale as death ; and no fooner was he mounted, but he fpurred after his companion, who flood waiting at a good diftance, to fee what would be the ifiiie of that ftrange encounter : but being unwilling to wait the ' event, they went on their way, croffing themfelves oftener than if the devil had been clofe at their heels. Don Quixote, as was faid, flood talking to the lady in the coach, faying ; Your beauty, dear lady, may difpofe of your perfon as pleafeth you belt ; for your haughty ravifhers lye proflrate on the ground, over- thrown by my invincible arm : and that you may not be at any pains to learn the name of your deliverer, know that I am called Don Quixote de la Mancha, knight-errant and adventurer, and captive to the peerlefs and beauteous Dulcinea del Tobofo ; and in requital of the benefit you have received at my hands, I de- lire nothing more, than that you would return to Tobofo, and in my name pre- fent yourfelves before that lady, and tell her what I have done to obtain your liberty.

All that Don Quixote faid was over-heard by a certain fquire, who accompa- nied the coach, a Bifcainer ; who finding he would not let the coach go for- ward, but infilled upon its immediately returning to Tobofo, flew at Don Quixote, and taking hold of his launce, addreffed him, in bad Caftilian and worfe Bifcaine, after this manner. Be gone, cavalier, and the devil go with thee : I fwear by the god that made me, if thou doeft not quit the coach, thou fbifeiteil thy life, as I am a Bifcainer. Don Quixote underftood him very well, and with great calmnefs aniwered ; Wert thou a gentleman, as thou art not, I would before now have chaftifed thy folly and prefumption, thou pitiful Have. To which the Bifcainer replied : I no gentleman ! I fwear by the great god thou lyefl, as I am a chriitian ; if thou wilt throw away thy launce, .and draw thy fword, thou fhalt fee I will make no more of thee than a cat does of a moufe : Bifcainer by land, gentleman by fea, gentleman for the devil, and thou lyeft : look then if thou haft any thing elfe to fay. Thou fhalt fee that prefently, as faid Agrages, anfwered Don Quixote ; and throwing down his launce, he drew his fword, and grafping his buckler fet upon the Bifcainer, with a refolution to kill him. The Bifcainer, who faw him come on in that manner, though he would fain have alighted from his mule, which being of the worft kind of hackneys was not to be depended upon, had yet only time to draw his fword : but it happened well for him that he was clofe to the coach- fide,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 37

fide, out of which he (hatched a cuihion, which ferved him for a (lucid ; and immediately to it they went, as if they had been mortal enemies. The reft of the company would have made peace between them : but they could not ; for the Bifcainer fwore in his gibberifh, that, if they would not let him finiih the combat, he would kill his miftrefs, and every body that offered to hinder him. The lady of the coach, amazed and affrighted at what me faw, bid the coach- man put a little out of the way, and fo fat at a diftance, beholding the vigorous conflict : In the progrefs of which the Bifcainer gave Don Quixote fuch an huge ftrokeon one of his moulders, and above his buckler, that, had it not been for his coat of mail, he had cleft him down to the girdle. Don Quixote, who felt the weight of that unmeafurable blow, cried out aloud, faying : O Lady of my foul, Dulcitiea, flower of all beauty, fuccour this thy knight, who, to fatisfy thy great goodjiefs, expofes himfelf to this rigorous extremity. The faying this, the drawing his fword, the covering himfelf well with his buckler, and falling furiouily on the Bifcainer, was all done in one moment, he refolving to venture all on the fortune of one (Ingle blow. The Bifcainer, who faw him coming thus upon him, and perceived his bravery by his refolution, refolved to do the fame thing that Don Quixote had done ; and fo he waited for him, covering him- felf well with his cuihion, but was not able to turn his mule about to the right or the left, (lie being already fo jaded, and fo little ufed to fuch fport, that me would not ftir a ftep. Now Don Quixote, as has been faid, advanced againft the wary Bifcainer, with his lifted fword, fully determined to cleave him in funder ; and the Bifcainer expefted him, with his fword alfo lifted up, and guarded by his cuihion. All the by-ftanders were trembling, and in fufpence what might be the event of thofe prodigious blows, wi:h which they threatened each other ; and the lady of the coach and her maidens were making a thoufand vows, and promifes of offerings, to all the images and places of devo- tion in Spain, that god would deliver them and their fquire from the great peril they were in. But the misfortune is, that the author of this hiftory, in this very crifis, leaves the combat doubtful ', excufing himfelf, that he could find no more written of thefe exploits of Don Quixote than what he has already related. 'Tis true indeed, that the fecond undertaker of this work could not believe that fo curious an hiftory could be loft in oblivion, or that the wits of la Mancha (hould have fo little curiofity, as not to preferve in their archives, or their cabinets, fome papers that treated of this famous knight ; and upon that prefumption he did not defpair to find the conclufion of this delectable hiftory ; which, heaven favouring him, he has at laft done, in the manner as mall be recounted in the fecond part.

* The breaking off the combat in this place is very beautiful and artificial, as it keeps the reader in s moft agreeable fulpence.

THE

THE

LIFE and EXPLOITS

Of the ingenious gentleman

DON (QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

BOOK

II.

CHAPTER I.

IVherein is concluded, and an end put to, the ftupendous battle between the vigorous Bifcainer and the valiant Manchegan.

N the firft part of this hiftory, we left the valiant Bifcainer and the renowned Don Quixote, with their fwords lifted up and naked, ready to dis- charge two fuch furious and cleaving ftrokes, as muft, if they had lighted full, at leaft have di- vided the combatants from head to heel, and fplit them afunder like a pomgranate : but in that cri- tical inftant this relifhing hiitory flopped fhort, and was left imperfect, without die author's giving us any notice where what remained of it might be found. This grieved me extremely, and the pleafure of having read lb little was turned into difguft, to think what fmall probability there was of finding die much that, in my opinion, was wanting of fo favoury a ftory. It feemed to me impofiible, and quite befide all lau- dable cuftom, that fo accomplished a knight mould want a fage, to undertake the penning his unparallelled exploits j a circumftance that never before failed any of thofe knights-errant, who travelled in queft of adventures ; every one of whom had one' or two fages, made as it were on purpofe, who not only re- corded their a&ions, but defcribed likevvife their moft minute and trifling thoughts, though never fo fecret. Surely then fo worthy a knight could not be

fo

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

fo unfortunate, as to want what Platir \ and others like liim, abounded with. For this reafon I could not be induced to believe, that fo gallant a bi- ftory could be left maimed and imperfect ; and I laid the blame upon the ma- lignity of time, the devourer and confumer of all things, which either kept it concealed, or had deftroyed it. On the other fide, I considered, that, fince among his books there were found fome fo modern as the Cure of jealoufv, and the Nymphs and Jhepherds of Henares 2, his biftory alfo muft be modern ; and if it was not as yet written, might, at leaft, ftill remain in the memories of the people of his village, and thofe of the neighbouring places. This thought held me in fufpence, and made me defirous to learn, really and truly, the whole life and wonderful actions of our renowned Spaniard, Don Quixote de la Mancha, the light and mirrour of Manchegan chivalry, and the firft who, in our age, and in thefe calamitous times, took upon him the toil and exercife of arms-errant ; to re- drefs wrongs, fuccour widows, and relieve that fort of damfcls, who with whip and palfrey, and with all their virginity about them, rambled up and down from mountain to mountain, and from valley to valley: for unlefs fome mifcreant or fome leud clown, with hatchet and fteel cap, or fome prodigious giant, ra- vifhed them, damfels there were, in days of yore, who, at the expiration of fourfcore years, and never fleeping in all that time under a roof, went as fpot- lefs virgins to the grave, as the mothers that bore them. Now, I fay, upon thefe, and many other accounts, our gallant Don Quixote is worthy of immor- tal memory and praife : nor ought fome fhare to be denied even to me, for the labour and pains I have taken to difcover the end of this delegable biftory ; though I am very fenfible, that, if heaven and fortune had not befriended me', the world would have ftill been without that paftime and pleafure, which an attentive reader of it may enjoy for near two hours. Now the manner of find- ing it was this.

Walking one day on the exchange of Toledo, a boy came to fell fome bundles of old papers to a mercer; and, as I am fond of reading, though it be torn pa- pers, thrown about the ftreets, carried by this my natural inclination I took a quire of thofe the boy was felling, and few it had characters, which I knew to be Arabic And whereas, though I knew the letters, I could not read them I looked about for fome Moorijh rabbi, to read them for me : and it was not very difficult to find fuch an interpreter; for, had I fought one for fome better and more ancient language \ I fhould have found him there. In fine my good fortune prefented one to me; and- acquainting him with my defire, and putting the book into his hands, he opened it towards the middle, and reading a little in it began to laugh. I asked him, what he fmiled at? and he anfwered me at fomething which he found written in the margin, by way of annotation. I de-

• A fecond-rate knight in Pahnerin of England.

1 The river that runs through Madrid.

3 Meaning fome Jew, to interpret the Hebrew or Chaldte.

fired

39

40 'The LIFE and EXP L 0 ITS of

fired him to tell me what it was; and he, laughing on, faid ; there is written on the margin as follows : This Dulcinea del Tobofo, fo often mentioned in this hiftory, had, they fay, the beft hand at pickling pork, of any woman in all La Mancha. When I heard the name of Dulcinea del Tobofo, I flood amazed and confounded ; for I prefently fancied to myfelf, that thofe bundles of wafle-paper contained the hiflory of Don Quixote.

With this thought, I haftened him to read the beginning; which he did, and, rendering extetnpore the Arabic into Caftilian, faid that it began thus : The hi/lory of Don Quixote de la Mancha, written by Cide Hamete Beneno-eli, Arabian hijloriographer. Much difcretion was neceffary to diffemble the joy I felt at hearing the title of the book; and, matching it out of the mercer's hands, I bought the whole bundle of papers from the boy for half a real ; who, if he had been cunning, and had perceived how eager I was to have them, might very well have promifed himfelf, and have really had, more than fix for the bargain. I went off immediately with the Morifco, through the cloifler of the great church, and defired him to tranflate for me thole papers (all thofe that treated of Don Quixote) into the Cajlilian tongue, without taking away or add- ing any thing to them, offering to pay him whatever he mould demand. He was fatisfied with fifty pounds of raifins, and two bufhels of wheat ; and pro- mifed to tranflate them faithfully and expeditioufly. But I, to make the bufi- nefs more fure, and not to let fo valuable a prize flip thro' my fingers, took him home to my own houfe, where, in little more than fix weeks time, he tranfla- ted the whole, in the manner you have it here related.

In the firfl fheet was drawn, in a molt lively manner, Don Quixote's combat with the Bifcainer, in the fame attitude in which the hiftory fets it forth ; the fwords lifted up ; the one covered with his buckler, the other with his cuihion ; and the Bifcainer's mule fo to the life, that you might difcover it to be a hackney- jade a bow-fhot off. The Bifcainer had a label at his feet, on which was written, Don Sancho de Azpetia; which, without doubt, mull have been his name : and at the feet of Rozinante was another, on which was written, Don Quixote. Rozinante was wonderfully well delineated; lb long and lank, fo lean and feeble, with fo fharp a back-bone, and fo like one in a galoping confump- tion, that you might fee plainly with what exactnefs and propriety the name of Rozinante had been given him. Clofe by him flood Sancho Panga, holding his afs by the halter; at whofe feet was another fcroll, whereon was written, Sancho Zancas : and not without reafon, if he was, as the painting expreffed, paunch-bellied, fhort of flature, and fpindle-fhanked : which, dot bdeis, gave him the names of Panga and Zancas ; for the hiftory fometimes calls him by the one, and fometimes by the other of thefe firnames. There were fome other minuter particulars obfervable; but they are all of little importance, and contri- bute nothing to the faithful narration of the hiftory; though none are to be de- fpifed, if true. But, if any objection lies againfl the truth of this hiflory, it

can

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 41

can only be, that the author was an A\ib, thofe of that nation being not a lit- tle addicted to lying : though, they being fo much our enemies, one mould ra- ther think he fell lhort of, than exceeded, the bounds of truth. And lb, in truth, he feems to have done ; for when he might, and ought to have launched out, in celebrating the praifes of lb excellent a knight, it looks as if he indultri- oully palled them over in lilence : a thing ill done, and worfe defigned ; for hi- ftoriographers ought to be preeife, faithful, and unprejudiced; and neither inte- reft nor fear, hatred nor affection, mould make them fwerve from the way of truth, whole modier is hiitory, the rival of time, the depolitory of great ac- tions, die-witnefs of what is paft, the example and inltruction to the prefent, and monitor to the future. In this you will certainly find whatever you can de- fire in the molt agreeable ; and if any perfection is wanting to it, it muff, widi- out all queftion, be die fault of die infidel its author, and not owing to any de- fect in the lubject. In lhort, its fecond part, according to the tranflation, began in this manner.

The trenchant blades of the two valorous and enraged combatants, being bran- dilhed aloft, feemed to ftand threatening heaven and earth, and die deep abyfs ; fiich was the courage and gallantry of dieir deportment. And the tint, who dis- charged his blow, was the choleric Bifcainer ; which fell with fuch force and fury, that, if the edge of the fword had not turned aflant by the way, that fingle blow had been enough to have put an end to this cruel conflict, and to all the adventures of our knight : but good fortune, that preferved him for greater diings, fo twilled his adverlary's fword, that, though it lighted on the left moulder, it did him no other hurt, than to difarm that fide, carrying off by the way a great part of his helmet, with half an ear; all which, with hideous ruin, fell to the ground, leaving him in a piteous plight.

Good god ! who is he that can worthily recount the rage that entered into the breafc of our Manchcgan, at feeing himlelf fo roughly handled ? Let it fuffice that it was fuch, that he raifed himfelf afrefh in his ltirrups, and graining his fword fafter in both hands, difcharged it with fuch fury upon die Bifcainer, ta- king him full upon the cufliion, and upon the head (that excellent defence ftand- ing him in little ifead) that, as if a mountain had fallen upon him, the blood began to gufh out at his noftrils, his mouth, and his ears ; and he feemed as if he was juft falling down from his mule, which doubtlefs he muft have done, if he had not laid fait hold of her neck: but notwithstanding diat, he lolt his ltir- rups, and let go his hold; and the mule, frighted by the terrible ftroke, began to run about die field, and at two or three plunges laid her matter flat upon the ground. Don Quixote flood looking on with great calmnefs, and, when he faw him fall, leaped from his horfe, and with much agility ran up to him, and clapping the point of his fword to his eyes, he bid him yield, or he would cut off his head. The Bifcainer was fo ltunned, diat he could not anfwer a word, and it had gone hard widi him (fo blinded with rage was Don Quixote) if the

Vol. I. G ladies

42 Tlie LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

ladies of the coach, who hitherto in great difmay beheld the conflict, had not approached him, and earneftly befought him, that he would do them the great kindnefs and favour to fpare the life of their fquire. Don Quixote anfwered with much folemnity and gravity : AfTuredly, fair ladies, I am very willing to grant your requeft, but it is upon a certain condition and compact ; which is, that this knight fhall promife me to repair to the town of Tobofo, and prefent himfelf, on my behalf, before the peerlefs Didcinea, that me may difpofe of him as me mail think fit. The terrified and difconfolate lady, without confider- mg what Don Quixote required, and without enquiring who Didcinea was, pro- mifed him her fquire fhould perform whatever he enjoined him. In reliance upon this promife, faid Don Quixote, I will do him no farther hurt, though he has well deferved it at my hands.

CHAP. II.

Of the difcourfe Don Quixote had ivith his good fquire Sancho Panca.

T> Y this time Sancho Panca had gotten up, fomewhat roughly handled by the •*-* monks lacqueys, and flood beholding very attentively the combat of his mafter Don Quixote, and befought god in his heart, that he would be pleafed to give him the victory, and that he might thereby win fome ifland, of which to make him governour, as he had promifed him. Now feeing the conflict at an end, and that his mafter was ready to mount again upon Rozinante, he came and held his ftirrup ; and before he got up, he fell upon his knees before him, and taking hold of his hand, kifTed it, and faid to him : Be pleafed, my lord Don Quixote, to beftow upon me the government of that ifland, which you have won in this rigorous combat ; for, be it never fo big, I find in myfelf ability fufficient to govern it, as well as the beft he that ever governed ifland in the world. To which Don Quixote anfwered ; Confider, brother Sancho, that this adventure, and others of this nature, are not adventures of iflands, but of crofs-ways, in which nodiing is to be gotten but a broken head, or the lofs of an ear. Have patience; for adventures will offer, whereby I may not only make thee a governor, but fomething better. Sancho returned him abundance of thanks, and kifling his hand again, and the skirt of his coat of mail, he helped him to get upon Rozinante, and himfelf mounting his afs began to fol- low his mafter; who going off at a round rate, without taking his leave or fpeaking to thofe of the coach, entered into a wood that was hard by. Sancho followed him as faft as his beaft could trqt; but Rozinante made fuch way, that, feeing himfelf like to be left behind, he was forced to call aloud to his mafter to ftay for him. Don Quixote did fo, checking Rozinante by the bridle, 'till his weary fquire overtook him ; who, as foon as he came near, faid to him : Me- thinks, fir, it would not be amifs to retire to fome church; for confidering in what condition you have left your adverfary, it is not improbable they may give

notice

(frr-'hh/./t'/Orts/// Jiui

7

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 43

notice of the facl: to the holy brotherhood ', and they may apprehend us : and in faith, if they do, before we get out of their clutches, we may chance to i'weat for it. .Peace, quoth Don Quixote ; for where have you ever iecn or read of a knight-errant's being brought before a court of jufticc, let him have committed never fo many homicides. I know nothing of your Omecills, anfwered Sancho, nor in my life have I ever concerned myfelf about them : only this I know, that the holy brotherhood have fomething to fay to thofe who right in the fields ; and as to this other matter, I intermeddle not in it. Then fet your heart at reft, friend, anfwered Don Quixote; for I fhould deliver you out of the hands of the Chaldeans ; how much more then out of thofe of the holy brotherhood ? But tell me, on your life, have you ever fern a more valorous knight than I, upon the whole face of the known earth ? Have you read in ftory of any other, who has, or ever had, more bravery in aflailing, more breath in holding out *, more dexterity in wounding, or more addrefs in giving a fall ? The truth is, an- fwered Sancho, that I never read any hiftory at all • for I can neither read, nor write : but what I dare affirm is, that I never ferved a bolder mafter than your worihip, in all the days of my life ; and pray god we be not called to an account for thefe darings, where I juft now hinted. What I beg of your worihip, is, that you would let your wound be dreffed ; for there comes a great deal of blood from that ear ; and I have here fome lint, and a little white ointment, in my wallet. All this would have been needlefs, anfwered Don Quixote, if I had bediought myfelf of making a vial of the balfam of Fierabras; for, with one fmgle drop of that, we might have faved both time and medicines. What vial, and what balfam is that ? faid Sancho Panga. It is a balfam, anfwered Don Quixote, of which I have the receipt by heart;- and he that has it need not fear death, nor fo much as think of dying by any wound. And therefore, when I Avail have made it, and given it you, all you will have to do, is, when you fee me in fome battle cleft afunder (as it frequently happens) to take up fair and foftly that part of my body, which fhall fall to the ground, and, with the greateft nicety, befor • the blood is congealed, place it upon the other half that fhall remain in the faddle, taking efpecial care to make them tally exactly. Then muft you immediately give me to drink only two draughts of the bal- fam aforefaid, and then will you fee me become founder than any apple. If this be fo, faid Sancho, I renounce from henceforward the government of the pro- mifed ifland, and defire no other thing, in payment of my many and good fer- vices, but only that your worihip will give me the receipt of this extraordinary liquor • for I dare fay it will any where fetch more than two reals an ounce, and I want no more to pafs this life creditably and comfortably. But I fhould be glad

' An inftitution in Spain for the apprehending of robbers, and making the roads fafe for travellers.

■ When fingle combat was in ufe, nothing was more frequent, than for the parties engaged to retreat by confer t, in order to take breath. If either of the combatants perceived the other to breathe ftiorter or thicker than himfelf, he was at liberty to take this advantage, and to prefs him clofe j though even in this cafe it was ufual, out of a high point of generoii.y, to agree to the adverfary's propofal of taking breath.

G 2 to

44- The LIFE and EXPLO ITS of

to know whether it will coft much the making ? For lefs than three reals one may make nine pints, anfwered Don Quixote. Sinner that I am, replied Sancho why then does your worihip delay to make it, and to teach it me ? Peace friend, anfwered Don Quixote-, for I intend to teach thee greater fecrets, and to do thee greater kindnefies : and, for the prefent, let us fet about the cure; for my ear pains me more than I could wifh. Accordingly, Sancho took fome lint and oint- ment out of his wallet : but when Don Quixote perceived that his helmet was broken, he was ready to run ftark mad ; and, laying his hand on his fword, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he faid : I fwear, by the creator of all things, and by all that is contained in the four holy evangelifts, to lead the life that the great marquis of Mantua led, when he vowed to revenge the death of his ne- phew Valdovinos; which was, not to eat bread on a table-cloth, nor folace him- felf with his wife, and other things, which, though I do not now remember, I allow here for exprefied; till I am fully revenged on him who hath done me this outrage. Sancho, hearing this, faid to him j Pray, confider, Signor Don Quixote, that, if the knight has performed what was enjoined him, namely, to go and prefent himfelf before my lady Dulcinea del Tohofo, he will then have done his duty, and deferves no new punifhment, unlefs he commit a new crime. You have fpoken and remarked very juftly, anfwered Don Quixote, and I an- nul the oath, fo far as concerns the taking a frefh revenge : but I make it, and confirm it anew, as to leading the life I have mentioned, till I mall take by force fuch another helmet, or one as good, from fome other knight. And think not, Sancho, I undertake this lightly, or make a fmoke of ftraw; for I have a folid foundation for what I do, the fame thing having happened exactly with regard to Mambrino's helmet \ which coft Sacripante fo dear '. Good fir, replied Sancho, give fuch oaths to the devil ; for they are very detrimental to health, and preju- dicial to the confcience. Befides, pray tell me now, if perchance in many days we fhould not light upon a man armed with a helmet, what muft we do then ? muft the oath be kept, in fpite of fo many difficulties and inconveniencies, fuch as fleeping in your clothes, and not fleeping in any inhabited place, and a thou- fand other penances, which that old mad fellow the marquis of Mantua's oath required, and which you, fir, would now revive ? Confider well, that none of thefe roads are frequented by armed men, and that here are only carriers and carters, who are fo far from wearing helmets, that, perhaps, they never heard them fo much as named, in all the days of their lives. You are miftaken in this, faid Don Quixote; for we fhall not be two hours in thefe crofs-ways, be- fore we fliall fee more armed men than came to the fiege of Albraca ~, to carry off Angelica the fair. Well then, be it fo, quodi Sancho ; and god grant us good fuccefs, and that we may fpeedily win this ifland, which cofts me fo dear ; and then no matter how foon I die. I have already told you, Sancho, to be in

1 The ftory is in Arloflos Orlando Furlofa.

1 Meaning king Marfilio, and the thirty-two kings his tributaries, with all their forces. Ariojlo,

no

DONf QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 45

no pain upon that account ; for, if an ifland cannot be had, there is the Icings dom of Denmark, or that of Sobradifa ', which will fit you like a ring to your finger ; and moreover, being upon Terra Finna % you fhould rejoice the more. But let us leave this to its own time, and fee if you have any diing for us to eat in your wallet ; and we will go prefently in quell of fomc caflle, where we may lodge this night, and make the balfam that I told you of; for I vow to god, my ear pains me very much. I have here an onion, and a piece of cheefe, and I know not how many crafts of bread, faid Sancho ; but they are not eatables fit for fo valiant a knight as your worfhip. How ill you under- ftand this matter ! anfwered Don Quixote : you muft know, Sancho, that it is an honour to knights-errant not to eat in a month ; and, if they do eat, it muft be of what comes next to hand: and, if you had read as many hifto- rics as I have done, you would have known this : for, though I have peru- fed a great many, I never yet found any account given in them, that ever kni lus-crrant did eat, unlefs it were by chance, and at certain fumptuous ban- quets made on purpofe for them ; and the reft of their days they lived, as it were, upon their fmelling. And though it is to be prefumed, they could not fib'ift without eating, and without fatisfying all other natural wants, it muft likewifc be fuppofed, that, as they paffed moft part of their lives in wandering through forefts and defeits, and without a cook, their moft ufual diet muft con- fift of ruftic viands, fuch as thofe you now offer me. So that, friend Sancho, let not that trouble you, which gives me pleafure ; nor endeavour to make a new world, or to throw the conftitution of knight-errantry off the hinges. Pardon me, fir, faid Sancho ; for, as I can neither read nor write, as I told you before, I am entirely unacquainted with the rules of the knightly profefiion ; and therefore from henceforward I will furnifh my wallet with all forts of dried fruits for your worfhip, who are a knight ; and for myfelf, who am none, I will fupply it with poultry, and other things of more fubftance. I do not fay, Sancho, replied Don Quixote, that knights-errant are obliged to eat nothing but dried fruit, as you fay ; but that their moft ufual fuftcnance was of that kind, and of certain herbs they found up and down in the fields, which they very well knew; and fo do I. It is a happinefs to know thefe fame herbs, anfwered Sancho ; for I am inclined to think, we fhall one day have occafion to make ufe of that knowledge. And fo faying he took out what he had provided, and .they eat together in a very peaceable and friendly manner. But being defirous to feek out fome place to lodge in that night, they foon finifhed their poor and diy commons. They prefently mounted, and made what halte they could t< get to fome inhabited place before night : but both the fun, and their ho. e failed them near the huts of certain goatherds ; and fo they determined to ta

' A fi&ittous kingdom in Amadis de Gaul.

» In allufion to die famous Firm ijland, 'w. Amadis de Caul, the land of promife to the faithful fquires of ' knights- errant.

up

46 the LIFE and EXP LOITS of

up their lodging there : but, if Sancho was grieved that they were not able to reach fome habitation, his mafter was as much rejoiced to lie in the open air, ' making account that, every time this befel him, he was doing an aft pojejive, or fuch an a£t as gave a freih evidence of his title to chivalry.

CHAP. III.

Of what happened to Don Quixote with certain goatherds.

HE was kindly received by the goatherds; and Sancho, having accommoda- ted Rozinante and his ais the belt he could, followed the fcent of certain pieces of goat's-flefh that were boiling in a kettle on the fire ; and though he would willingly, at that inflant, have tried whether they were fit to be tranflated from the kettle to the ftomach, he forbore doing it ; for the goatherds them- felves took them off the fire, and fpreading fome fheep-skins on the ground, very fpeedily ferved up their rural mefs, and invited them both, with fhew of much good-will, to take fhare of what they had. Six of them, that belonged to the fold, fat down round about the skins, having firft, with ruftic compliments, defired Don Quixote that he would feat himfelf upon a trough, with the bottom upwards, placed on purpofe for him. Don Quixote fat down, and Sancho re- mained ftanding, to ferve the cup, which was made of horn. His mafter, fee- ing him ftanding, faid to him; That you may fee, Sancho, the intrinfic worth of knight-errantry, and how fair a profpecT: its meaneft retainers have of fpeedily gaining the refpedt and efteem of the world^ I will, that you fit here by my fide, and in company with thefe good folks, and that you be one and the fame thing with me, who am your matter and natural lord ; that you eat from off my plate, and drink of the fame cup in which I drink : for the fame may be faid of knight-errantry, which is laid of love, that it makes all things equal. I give you a great many thanks, fir, faid Sancho ; but let me tell your worfhip, that, provided I have victuals enough, I can eat as well, or better, ftanding, and alone by myfelf, than if I were feated clofe by an emperor. And farther, to tell you tiie truth, what I eat in my corner, without compliments or ceremo- nies, though it were nothing but bread and an onion, relifhes better than turkeys at other folks tables, where I am forced to chew leifurely, drink little, wipe my mouth often ; neither fneeze nor cough when I have a mind ; nor do other things, which follow the being alone and at liberty. So that, good fir, as to thefe honours your worfhip is pleafed to confer upon me, as a menial fervant, and hanger-on of knight-errantry (being fquire to your worfhip) be pleafed to convert them into fomething of more ufe and profit to me ; for, though I place them to account, as received in full, I renounce them from this time forward to the end of the world. All this notwithflanding, you fhall fit down ; for whofo- ever humbleth himfelf, god doth exalt ; and, pulling him by the arm, he forced him to fit down next him. The goatherds did not underftand this jargon of

{quires

t/sr 'fSndsruuint Jcacff

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 47

fquires and knights-errant, and did nothing but eat, and liilen, and flare at their euefls, who, with much cheerfulnefs and appetite, fwallowed down pieces as bio- as one's fift. The fervice of fkfh being finifhed, they fpread upon the skins a great quantity of acorns, together with half a cheefe, harder than if it had been made of plaifler of Paris. The horn flood not idle all this while ; for it went round fo often, now full, now empty, like the bucket of a well, diat they prc- fently emptied one of the two wine-bags that hung in view. After Don Quixote had fatisfied his hunger, he took up an handful of acorns, and, looking on them attentively, gave utterance to expreflions like thefe.

Happy times, and happy ages ! thofe, to which the ancients gave the name of golden, not becaufe gold (which, in this our iron age, is fo much efleemed) was to be had, in that fortunate period, without toil and labour; but becaufe they, who then lived, were ignorant of thefe two words, Meum and Tuum. In that age of innocence, all things were in common : no one needed to take any other pains for his ordinary fuftenance, than to lift up his hand and take it from the fturdy oaks, which flood inviting him liberally to tafle of their fweet and re- lifhing fruit. The limpid fountains, and running flreams, offered them, in magnificent abundance, their delicious and tranfparent waters. In the clefts of rocks, and in the hollow of trees, did the induflrious and provident bees form their commonwealths, offering to every hand, without ufury, the fertil produce of their mofl delicious toil. The flout cork-trees, without any other induce- ment than that of their own courtefy, diverted themfelves of their light and ex- panded bark ; with which men began to cover their houfes, fupported by rough poles, only for a defence againfl the inclemency of the feafons. All then was peace, all amity, all concord. As yet the heavy coulter of the crooked plow had not dared to force open, and fearch into, the tender bowels of our firfl mo- ther, who, unconftrained, offered from every part of her fertil and fpacious bo- fom whatever might feed fuflain and delight thofe her children, who then had her in poffeffion. Then did the fimple and beauteous young fhepherdeffes trip it from dale to dale, and from hill to hill, their treffes fometimes plaited, fome- times loofely flowing, with no more cloathing than was neceffary modeflly to cover what modefly has always required to be concealed : nor were their orna- ments like thofe now-a-days in fafhion, to which the Tynan purple and the fo- many-ways martyred filk give a value ; but compofed of green dock-leaves and ivy interwoven; with which, perhaps, they went as fplendidly and elegantly decked, as our court-ladies do now, with all thofe rare and foreign inventions, which idle curiofity hath taught them. Then were the amorous conceptions of the foul cloathed in fimple and fincere expreflions, in the fame way and manner they were conceived, without feeking artificial phrafes to fet them off. Nor as yet were fraud, deceit, and malice, intermixt with truth and plain-dealing. Ju- flice kept within her proper bounds ; favour and interefl, which now fo much depreciate, confound, and perfecute her, not daring then to diflurb or offend

her,

48 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

her. As yet the judge did not make his own will the meafare of juflice; for then there was neidier caufe, nor perfon, to be judged. Maidens and modefly, as I faid before, went about, alone and miflrefs of themfelves, without fear of any danger from the unbridled freedom and leud defigns of others; and, if they were undone, it was entirely owing to their own natural inclination and will. But now, in thefe deteflable ages of ours, no damfel is fecure, though fhe were hidden and locked up in another labyrinth like that of Crete ; for even there, through fome cranny, or through die air, by the zeal of curled importunity, the amorous peflilence finds entrance, and diey mifcarry in fpite of their clofefl retreat. For the fecurity of whom, as times grew worfe, and wickednefs en- creafed, the order of knight-errantry was inflituted, to defend maidens, to pro- tect widows, and to relieve orphans and perfons diflreffed. Of this order am I, brother goatherds, from whom I take kindly the good cheer and civil recep- tion you have given me and my fquire : for though, by the law of nature, every one living is obliged to favour knights-errant, yet knowing, that, widiout your being acquainted with this obligation, you have entertained and regaled me, it is but reafon that, with all poffible good-will towards you, I fhould acknowledge yours to me.

Our knight made this tedious difcourfe ' (which might very well have been fpared) becaufe the acorns they had given him put him in mind of the golden- age, and infpired him with an eager defire to make that impertinent harangue to the goatherds ; who flood in amaze, gaping and liflening, without anfwering him a word. Sancho himfelf was filent, fluffing himfelf with the acorns, and often vifiting die fecond wine-bag, which, that the wine might be cool, was kept hung upon a cork-tree.

Don Quixote fpent more time in talking than in eating ; but, Tapper being over, one of the goacherds faid ; that your worfiiip, Signor knight-errant, may the more truly fay, that we entertain you with a ready good-will, we will give yon fome diverfion and amufement, by making one of our comrades fing, who will fcon be here : he is a very intelligent fwain, and deeply enamoured ; and, above all, can read and write, and plays upon the rebeck to heart's content. The goatherd had fcarce faid this, when the found of the rebeck 2 reached their ears, and, prefently after, came he that plaid on it, who was a youth of about two and twenty, and of a very good mien. His comrades asked him, if he hadfupped; and he anfwering, yes, then, Antonio, faid he who had made the offer, you may afford us the pleafure of hearing you fing a little, that this gen- tleman, our guefl, may fee, we have here, among the mountains and woods, fome that underftand muiic. We have told him your good qualities, and would have you fhew them, and make good what we have faid; and therefore I in-

1 Cervantes <eems to fatinze the pedantic, declamatory, manner of the writ:rs of thofe timer, efpecially the fchool-divines; with which Spain fwarmed.

1 A kind oi instrument with three firings, ufed by Ihepherds.

treat

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 49

treat you to fit down, and fing the ditty of your loves, which your uncle the prebendary compofed for you, and which was fo well liked in our village. With all my heart, replied the youth ; and, without farther intreaty, he fat down up- on the trunk of an old oak, and tuning his rebeck, after a while, with a angu- lar good grace, he began to fing as follows.

ANTONIO.

Yes, lovely nymph, thou art my prize ;

I boajl the conquejl of thy heart, Though nor thy tongue, nor fpeaking eyes,

Have yet revealed the latent /mart.

Thy wit and fenfe affure my fate,

In them my love's fuccefs I fee; Nor can he be unfortunate,

Who dares avow his fame for thee.

Tet fometimes haft thou frowned, alas !

And given my hopes a cruel pock; Then did thy foul Jeem formed of brafs,

Thy fnowy bofom of the rock.

But in the midft of thy difdain,

Thy JJjarp reproaches, cold delays, Hope from behind, to eafe my pain,

The border of her robe difplays.

Ah! lovely maid! in equal fc ale

Weigh well thy Jhepberd's truth and love, Which ne'er, but with his breath, can fail,

Which neither frowns nor fmiles can move.

If love, as ftepherds wont to fay,

Be gentlenefs and courtejy, So courteous is Olalia,

My paj/ion will rewarded be:

And if obfequious duty paid

The grateful heart can ever move, Mine fure, my fair, may well perfuade

A due return, and claim thy love.

Tor, to feem plea/ing in thy fight,

I drefs myfelf with Jludious care, And, in my b'eft apparel dight,

My Sunday clothes on Monday wear. Vol. I. H And

So The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

And Jhepherds fay, Ttn not to blame \ For cleanly drefs and Jpruce attire

Preferve alive love's wanton flame, And gently fan the dying fire.

To pleafe my fair, in mazy ring I join the dance, and fportive play,

And oft boieath thy window fing,

When firfl the cock proclaims the day.

With rapture on each charm I dwell, And daily fpread thy beauty's fame •

And fill my tongue thy praife fiiall tell, Though envy fwell, or malice blame.

Terefa of the Berrocal,

When once I praifed you, faid in fpight; Your miflrefs you an angel call,

But a mere ape is your delight:

Thanks to the bugle's artful glare,

And all the graces counterfeit; Thanks to the falfe and curled hair,

Which wary love himfelf might cheat.

I fwore, 'twas falfe; and faid, fhe ly'd;

At that, her anger fiercely rofe : I box'd the clown that took her fide,

And how I box'd my fairefi knows,

I court thee not, Olalia,

To gratify a loofe defire; My Love is chafie, without allay

Of wanton wifh, or lufiful fire.

The church hath filken cords that tye Confenting hearts in mutual bands:

If thou, my fair, it's yoke wilt try, Thy fwain its ready captive fiands.

If not, by all the faints I fwear,

On thefe bleak mountains fill to dwell.

Nor ever quit my toilfome care, But for the cloifier and the cell.

He

re

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 51

Here ended die goatherd's fong, and though Don Quixote defired him to fing fomething elfe, Sancbo Panca was of another mind, heing more difpofed to fleep, than to hear ballads : and therefore he faid to his matter j Sir, you had better confider where you are to lie to-night ; for the pains thefe honeft men take all day will not fuffer them to pafs the nights in finging. I understand you, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote ; for I fee plainly, diat die vifits to the wine-bag require to be paid rather widi fleep than mufic. It reliflied well with us all, blefled be god, anfwered Sancho. I do not deny it, replied Don Quixote ; but lay yourfelf down where you will, for it better becomes thofe of my profeflion to watch than to fleep. However, it would not be amifs, Sancho, if you would drefs dlis ear again ; for it pains me more dian it fliould. Sancho did what he was commanded ; and one of the goadierds, fee- ing the hurt, bid him not be uneafy, for he would apply fuch a remedy as fliould quickly heal it. And taking fome rofemary-leaves, of which there was plenty thereabouts, he chewed them, and mixed them with a little fait, and, laying them to the ear, bound them on very fait, afluring him, he would want no other ialve, as it proved in effect.

CHAP. IV.

What a certain goatherd related to thofe that were with Don Quixote.

\\ 7HILE this pafied, there came another of thofe young lads, who brought * * them their provifions from the village, and faid : Comrades, do you know what paffes in the village ? How fliould we know ? anfwered one of them. Knew then, continued the youth, that this morning died that famous fliepherd and fcholar called Cbryfojiom ; and it is whifpered, that he died for love of that devilifli untoward lafs Marcela, daughter of William the rich ; flie, who rambles about thefe woods and fields, in the drefs of a fhepherdefs. For Marce/a ! fay you ? quoth one. For her, I fay, anfwered the goatherd. And the belt of it is, he has ordered by his will, that they fliould bury him in the fields as if he had been a Moor, and that it fliould be at the foot of the rock by the cork-tree-fountain : for, according to report, and what, they fay, he himfelf declared, that was the very place where lie firft law her. He ordered alfo .other things fo extravagant, that the clergy flay, they rauft not be performed ; nor is it fit they fliould, for they feem to be heathenifli. To all which that great friend of his Ambrofw the fludent, who accompanied him likewile in the drefs of a fliepherd, anfwers, that the whole muft be fulfilled, without omitting any thing, as Cbryfojiom enjoined ; and upon this the village is all in an uproar : but, by what I can learn, they will at laft do what Ambrofw, and all the fliep- herd's friends, require ; and to-morrow they come to inter him, with great fo- lemnity, in the place I have already told you of. And I am of opinion, it will be very well worth feeing ; at leaft, I will not tail to go, though I knew I

H 2 fliould

53 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

mould not return to-morrow to the village. We will do fo too, anfwered the goatherds, and let us caft lots who fhall ftay behind, to look after all our goats. You fay well, Pedro, quoth another : but it will be needlefs to make ufe of this expedient ; for I will ftay for you all : and do not attribute this to virtue, or want of curiofity in me, but to the thorn which ftruck into my foot the other day, and hinders me from walking. We are obliged to you, however, an- fwered Pedro. Don Quixote defired Pedro to tell him, who the deceafed was, and who that fliepherdefs. To which Pedro anfwered, that all he knew was, that .the deceafed was a wealthy gentleman, of a neighbouring village, among yon rocky mountains, who had ftudied many years in Salamanca ; at the end of which time he returned home, with the character of a very knowing well-read man : particularly, it was faid, he understood the fcience of the ftars, and what the fun and moon are doing in the sky : for he told us punctually the clipfe of the fun and moon. Friend, quoth Don Quixote, the obfcuration of thofe two greater luminaries is called an eclipfe, and not a clipfe. But Pedro, not regarding niceties, went on with his ftory, faying : he alfo foretold when the year would be plentiful, or eftril. Steril, you would fay, friend, quoth Don Quixote. Steril or eftril, anfwered Pedro, comes all to the fame thing. And as I was faying, his father and friends, who gave credit to his words, became very rich thereby ; for they followed his advice in every thing. This year, he would fay, fow barley, not wheat : in this you may fow vetches, and not barley : the next year, there will be plenty of linfeed oil : the three following, there will not be a drop. This fcience they call aftrology, faid Don Quixote. I know not how it is called, replied Pedro ; but I know that he knew all this, and more too. In fliort, not many months after he came from Salamanca, on a certain day he appeared dreffed like a fliepherd, with his crook and flieep-skin jacket, having thrown afide his fcholar's gown 5 and with him another, a great friend of his, called Ambrofw, who had been his fellow-ftudent, and now put himfelf into the fame drefs of a fliepherd. I forgot to tell you, how the deceafed Chry- fofiom was a great man at making verfes ; infomuch that he made the carols for Chrijlmas-eve, and the pious plays for Corpus Chrifti, which the boys of our vil- lage reprefented ; and every body faid they were moft excellent. When the people of the village faw the two fcholars fo fuddenly habited like fliepherds, they were amazed, and could not guefs at the caufe that induced them to make that ftrange alteration in their drefs. About this time the father of Chryfojlom died, and he inherited a large eftate, in lands and goods, flocks, herds, and money ; of all which the youth remained diffolute mafter ; and indeed he de- lerved it all, for he was a very good companion, a charitable man, and a friend to thofe that were good, and had a face like any bletfing. Afterwards it came to be known that he changed his habit, for no other purpofe, but that he might wander about thefe defert places after that fliepherdefs Marcela, whom our lad told you of before, and with whom the poor deceafed Chryfoftom was in love.

I will

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 53

I will now tell you (for it is fit you fhould know) who this young Hut is ; for perhaps, and even without a perhaps, you may never have heard the like in all the days of your life, though you were as old as the itch. Say, as old as Sarah, replied Don Quixote, not being able to endure the goatherd's mistaking words. The itch is old enough, anfwered Pedro ; and, Sir, if you mud at every turn be correcting my words, we mall not have done this twelvemonth. Pardon me, friend, faid Don ghiixote, I told you of it, becaufe there is a wide difference between the itch and Sarah ' : and fo go on with your ftory ; for I will in- terrupt you no more. I fay then, dear Sir of my foul, quoth the^goatherd, that in our village there was a firmer richer than the father of Chryfojlom, called William ; on whom god bellowed, befides much and great wealth, a daughter, of whom her mother died in childbed, and fhe was the moil: refpected wqpaan of all our country. I cannot help thinking I fee her now, with that prefence, looking as if fhe had the fun on one fide of her, and the moon on the other 2 : and, above all, fhe was a notable houfewife, and a friend to the poor ; for which I believe her foul is at this very moment enjoying god in the other world. Her husband William died for grief at the death of fo good a woman, leaving his daughter Marcela, young and rich, under the care of an uncle, a priert, and beneficed in our village. The girl grew up with fo much beauty, tnat it put us in mind of her mother's, who had a great fhare ; and for all that it was judged that her daughter's would furpafs her's. And fo it fell out ; for when fhe came to be fourteen or fifteen years of age, no body beheld her without bleffing god for making her fo handfome, and moft men were in love with, and undone for her. Her uncle kept her veiy carefully and very clofe : not with (landing which, the fame of her extraordinary beauty fpread itfelf fo, diat, partly for her perfon, partly for her great riches, her uncle was applied to, follicited, and im- portuned, not only by thofe of our own village, but by many odiers, and thofe the better fort too, for feveral leagues round, to difpofe of her in marriage. But he (who, to do him jufiice, is a good chriftian) though he was defnous to dif- pofe of her as foon as fhe was marriageable, yet would not do it without her confent, having no eye to the benefit and advantage he might hive made of the girl's eftate by deferring her marriage. And, in good truth, this has been told in praife of the good prieff in more companies than one in our vilLge. For I would have you to know, fir-errant, that, in dieie little places, . every thing is talked of, and every thing cenfured. And, my life for yours, that clergyman muft. be over and above good, who obliges his parifhioners to fpeak well of him,

' This wants explanation, it being impoffible to give the force of it in an Fng/ifh tranflation. Vieja tomola Sarna is .a Spa>.ifh proverb, fignifying as old as the itch, which is of great antiquity ; though it is agreed that this is only a corruption of ignorant people faying Sarna for Sana: which lait is ufually ta] en to fignify Sarah, Abraham's wife, either in regard (he lived no years, or becaufe of the long time it is fince fhe lived ; though fome fay that Sa, ra, in the Bi/caine language, fignifies old age, and fo the proveib will be, As old as old age itfelf.

* This feems to be a ridicule on the extravagant metaphors ufed by the Spanifh poets, in praife of the beauty of their miftrefies.

efpecially

54 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

efpecially in country-towns. It is true, faid Don Quixote, and proceed : for the ftory is excellent, and, honeft Pedro, you tell it with a very good orace. May the grace of the lord never fail me, which is moft to the purpofe. And farther know, quoth Pedro, that, though the uncle propofed to his niece, and acquainted her with the qualities of every one in particular, of the many who fought her in marriage, advifmg her to marry, and choofe to her liking, me ne- ver returned any odier anfwer, but that fhe was not difpofed to marry at pre- fent, and diat, being fo young, fhe did not find herfelf able to bear the burden of matrimony. Her uncle, fatisfied widi thefe feemingly juft excufes, ceafed to importune her, and waited till die was grown a little older, and knew how to choofe a companion to her tafte. For, faid he, and he faid very well, parents ought not to fettle their children againft their will. But, behold ! when we lead imagined it, on a certain day the coy Marcela appears a fhepherdefs, and without the confent of her uncle, and againft the perfuafions of all the neighbours, would needs go into the fields, with the other country-lafTes, and tend her own flock. And now that fhe appeared in publick, and her beauty was expofed to all be- holders, it is impoffible to tell you, how many wealthy youths, gentlemen, and farmers have taken Chryfojlotn's drefs, and go up and down thefe plains, making their fuit to her ; one of whom, as is faid already, was the deceafed, of whom it is faid, that he left off loving her to adore her. But think not, that becaufe Marcela has given herfelf up to this free and unconfined way of life, and that with fo little, or rather no referve, die has given any the leaft colour of fufpi- cion to the prejudice of her modefty and difcretion : no, rather fo great and ftricl is the watch fhe keeps over her honour, that of all thofe, who ferve and follicit her, no one has boafted, or can boaft with truth, that fhe has given him the leaft hope of obtaining his defire. For though die does not fly nor fluin the company and converfation of the fhepherds, but treats them with courtefy and in a friendly manner, yet upon any one's beginning to difcover his intention, though it be as juft and holy as that of marriage, die cafts him from her as out of a ftone-bow. And by this fort of behaviour, fhe does more mifchief in this country, than if ihe carried the plague about with her ; for her affability and beauty attract the hearts of thofe, who converfe with her, to ferve and love her j but her difdain and frank dealing drive them to terms of defpair : and fo they know not what to fay to her, and can only exclaim againft her, calling her cruel and ungrateful, with fuch other titles, as plainly denote her character. And were you to abide here, Sir, a while, you would hear diefe mountains and valleys refound with die complaints of thofe undeceived wretches that yet fol- low her. There is a place not far from hence, where diere are about two dozen of tall beeches, and not one of them but has die name of Marcela written and engraved on its fmooth bark, and over fome of them is a crown carved in the lame tree, ' as if the lover would more clearly exprefs, that

Marcela

DON (QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 55

Marcela bears away the crown, and deferves it above all human beauty. Here fighs one fliepherd ; there complains another : here are heard amorous fonnets, there despairing ditties. You {hall have one pais all the hours of the night, feared at the foot of fome oak or rock ; and there, without clofing his weeping eyes, wrapped up and tranfported in his thoughts, the fun finds him in the morning. You mail have another, without cefiation or truce to his fighs, in the midft of the moft irkfome noon-day heat of the fummer, extended on the burning find, and fending up his complaints to all-pitying heaven. In the mean time, the beautiful Marcela, free and unconcerned, triumphs over them all. We, who know her, wait with impatience to fee what her haughtinefs will come to, and who is to be the happy man that (hall fubdue fo intractable a difpoiition, aud enjoy fo incomparable a beauty. All that I have recounted being fo affured a truth, I the more eafily believe what our companion told us concerning the caufe of Chryfojlom's death. And therefore I advife you, Sir, that you do not fail to-morrow to be at his funeral, which will be very wejl worth feeing : for Chryfojiom has a great many friends ; and it is not half a league from this place to that where he ordered himfelf to be buried. I will certainly be there iaid Don Quixote, and I thank you for the pleafure you have given me by the recital of Co entertaining a ftory. O, replied the goatherd, I do not yet know half the adventures that have happened to Marcela's lovers ; but to-morrow perhaps, we mall meet by the way with fome fhepherd, who may tell us more : at prefent it will not be amifs, that you get you to fleep under a roof; for the cold dew of the night may do your wound harm, though the filve I have put to it is fuch, that you need not fear any crofs accident. Sancho Panca, who gave this long-winded tale of the goatherd's to the devil, for his part, folicited his mafter to lay himfelf down to fleep in Pedro's hut. He did fo, and paffed the reft of the night in remembrances of his lady Dulcinea, in imitation of Marcela' s lovers. Sancho Panca took up his lodging between Rozinante and his afs, and flept it out, not like a difcarded lover, but like a perfon well rib-roafted.

CHAP. V.

The conclufwn of the pry of the fiepherdefs Marcela, with other accidents.

T> U T fcarce had the day began to difcover itfelf through the balconies of the eaft, when five of the fix goatherds got up, and went to awake Don Quixote, and asked him, whether he continued in his refolution of going to fee the famous funeral of Chryfojiom, for they would bear him company. Don Quixote, who defired nothing more, got up, and bid Sancho faddle and pannel immediately ; which he did with great expedition : and with the fame diipatch they all prefentiy fet out on their way. They had not gone a quarter of a league, " when, upon crofling a path-way, they faw about fix fhepherds making towards

them,

56 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

them, clad in black fheep-skin jerkins, and their heads crowned with garlands of cyprefs and bitter rofemary. Each of them had a thick holly-club in his hand. There came alfo with them two cavaliers on horfeback, in very hand- fom riding-habits, attended by three lacqueys on foot. When they had joined companies, they faluted each other courteoufly ; and asking one another whither they were going, they found they were all going to the place of burial ; and (6 they began to travel in company.

One of thofe on horfeback, fpeaking to his companion, faid ; I fancy, Signor Vivaldo, we fhall not think the time mifpent in flaying to fee this famous fu- neral ; for it cannot choofe but be extraordinary, confidering the ftrange things thefe fhepherds have recounted, as well of the deceafed fhepherd, as of the mur- thering fhepherdefs. I think fo too, anfwered Fivaldo; and I do not only not think much of fpending one day, but I would even flay four to fee it. Don Quixote asked them, what it was they had heard of Marcela and Chryfojlom ? The traveller faid, they had met thofe fhepherds early that morning, and that, feeing them in that mournful drefs, they had asked the occafion of their going clad in that manner ; and that one of them had related the ftory, telling them of the beauty, and unaccountable humour, of a certain fhepherdefs called Mar- cela, and the loves of many that woed her ; with the death of Chryfoftom, to whofe burial they were going. In fine, he related all that Pedro had told to Don Quixote.

This difcourfe ceafed, and anodier began; he, who was called Fiva/do, asking Don Quixote, what might be the reafon that induced him to go armed in that manner, through a country fo peaceable? To which Don Quixote anfwered : The exercife of my profeffion will not permit or fuffer me to go in any other manner. The dance, the banquet, and the bed of down, were invented for foft and effeminate courtiers; but toil, difquietude, and arms, were invented and defigned for thofe, whom the world calls knights-errant, of which number am I, though unworthy, and the leaft of them all. Scarcely had they heard this, when they all concluded he was a, madman. And for the more certainty, and to try what kind of madnefs his was, Vivaldo asked him, what he meant by knights-errant ? Have you not read, Sir, anfwered Don Quixote, the annals and hiftories of England, wherein are recorded the £ :mous exploits of king Arthur, whom, in our Cajlilian tongue, we perpetually call king Artus ; of whom there goes an old tradition, and a common one all over that kingdom of Great Bri- tain, that this king did not die, but that, by magic art, he was turned into a raven; and that, in procefs of time, he fhall reign again, and recover his king- dom and fcepter : for which reafon it cannot be proved, that, from that time to this, any Englijlman hath killed a raven. Now, in this good king's time, was inftituted that famous order of the knights of the round-table ; and the amours therein related, of Don Lancelot du Lake with the queen Ginebra, paffed exact- ly fo, that honourable Duenna Quintaniona b;ing their go-between and confi- dante :

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 57

dante : which gave birth to that well-known ballad, To cried up here in Spain, of Never was knight by ladies jb wellferved, as was Sir Lancelot when he crime from Britain : with the reft of that fweet and charming recital of his amours and exploits. Now, from that time, the order of chivalry has been extending and fpreading itfelf through many and divers parts of the world : and in this pro- feflion many have been diftinguiihed and renowned for their heroic deeds ; as, the valiant Amadis de Gait/, with all his fons and nephews, to the fifth genera- tion; the valorous Felixmarte of Hircania; and the-never-enough to be praifed cTira?it the white : and we, in our days, have in a manner feen, heard, and converfed with, the invincible and valorous knight Don Belianis of Greece. This, gentlemen, it is to be a knight-errant, and what I have told you of is the order of chivalry : of which, as I laid before, I, though a finner, have made profeflion ; and the very fame thing that the aforelaid knights profeffed, I profefs : and fo I travel through thefe folitudes and deferts, feeking adventures, with a determined refolution to oppofe my arm, and my perfon, to the raoft perilous that for- tune fhall prefent, in aid of the weak and the needy.

By thefe difcourfes the travellers were fully convinced, that Don Quixote was out of his wits, and what kind of madnefs it was that influenced him ; which ftruck them with the fame admiration, that it did all others at the firft hearing. And Viva Ida, who was a very difcerning perfon, and withal of a mirthful dif- pofition, that they might pafs without irkfomnefs the little of the way that re- mained, before they came to the funeral-mountain, refolved to give him an op- portunity of going on in his extravagancies. And therefore he faid to him ; Me- thinks, Sir knight-errant, you have undertaken one of the ftricteft profeffions upon earth : and I verily believe, the rule of the Carthufian monks themfelves is not fo rigid. It may be as ftridt, for ought I know, anfwered our Don Q/a'xote ; but that it is fo neceflary to the world, I am within two fingers breadth of doubling : for, to fpeak the truth, the foldier, who executes his captain's or- ders, does no lefs than the captain himfelf, who gives him the orders. I would fay, that the religious, with all peace and quietnefs, implore heaven for the good of the world ; but we foldiers, and knights, really execute what they pray for, defending it with the ftrengdi of our arms, and the edge of our fwords : and that, not under covert, but in open field ; expofed as butts to the unfufferable beams of fummer's fun, and winter's horrid ice. So that we are god's mini- sters upon earth, and the arms by which he executes his juftice in it. And con- fidering that matters of war, and thofe relating thereto, cannot be put in execu- tion without fweat, toil, and labour, it follows, that they, who profefs it, do unqueftionably take more pains than they, who, in perfect peace and repofe, are employed in praying to heaven to aflift thofe, who can do but little for them- felves \ I mean not to fay, nor do I fo much as imagine, that the ftate of the knight -errant is as good as that of the reclufe religious: I would only infer from

1 A fly fatire on the ufelefnefs of reclufe rjligious focieties.

Vol. I. I what

58 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

what I fuffer, that it is doubtlefs more laborious, more baftinadoed, more hun- gry and thirfty, more wretched, more ragged, and more loufy ; for there is no doubt, but that the knights-errant of old underwent many misfortunes in the courfe of their lives. And if fome of them rofe to be emperors, by the valour of their arm, in good truth they paid dearly for it in blood and fweat : and if thofe, who arrived to fuch honour, had wanted enchanters and fages to affift them, they would have been mightily deceived in their hopes, and much difap- pointed in their expectations. I am of the fame opinion, replied the traveller : but there is one tiling, in particular, among many others, which I diflike in knights-errant, and it is this : when they are prepared to engage in fome great and perilous adventure, in which they are in manifeft danger of lofing their lives, in the very inftant of the encounter, they never once remember to commend themfelves to god ', as every chriftian is bound to do in the like perils ; but ra- ther commend themfelves to their miftrefies, and that with as much fervor and devotion, as if they were their god ; a thing which, to me, favours ftrongly of paganifm. Signor, anfwered Don Quixote, this can by no means be other wife, and the knight-errant, who mould act in any other manner, would digrefs much from his duty ; for it is a received maxim and cuftom in chivalry, that the knight- errant, who is about to attempt fome great feat of arms, muft have his lady before him, muft turn his eyes fondly and amoroufly toward her, as if by them he im- plored her favour and protection, in the doubtful moment of diftrefs he is juft entering upon. And though no body hears him, he is obliged to mutter fome words between his teeth, by which he recommends himfelf to her with his whole heart : and of this we have innumerable examples in the hiftories. And you muft not fuppofe by this, that they are to neglect recommending themfelves to god; for there is time and leifure enough to do it in the progrefs of the work. But for all that, replied the traveller, I have one fcruple ftill remaining ; which is, that I have often read, that, words arifing between two knights-errant, and choler beginning to kindle in them both, they turn their horfes round, and, fetching a large compafs about the field, immediately, without more ado, en- counter at full fpeed; and in the midft of their career they commend them- felves to their miftreiTes: and what commonly happens in the encounter, is, that one of them tumbles back over his horfe's crupper, pierced through and thro' by his adverfary's launce : and if the other had not laid hold of his horfe's mane, he could not have avoided coming to the ground. Now, I cannot imagine what leifure the deceafed had to commend himfelf to god, in the courfe of this fo hafty a work. Better it had been, if the words he fpent in recommending him- felf to his lady, in the midft of the career, had been employed about that, to which, as a chriftian, he was obliged. And belides, it is certain all knights-

» Here it is remarkable, that Cervantes fpeaks only of recommending ourfelves to god, without taking notice of the doing it to any faint, though that be the known practice In the Romijh church, and is what the proteftants charge, in the very words of this author, with favouring ftrongly of paganifm.

errant

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 59

errant have not ladies to commend themfelves to ; becaufe they are not all in love. That cannot be, anfwered Don Quixote : I fay, there cannot be a knight- errant without a miftrefs ; for it is as proper and as natural to them to be in love, as to the sky to be full of ftars. And I affirm, you can fhew me no hi- flory, in which a knight-errant is to be found without an amour : and for the very reafon of his being without one, he would not be reckoned a legitimate knight, but a baflard, and one that got into the fortrefs of chivalry, not by the door, but over the pales, like a thief and a robber '. Yet, for all that, find the traveller, I think (if I am not much miftaken) I have read, that Don Galaor, brother to the valorous Amadis de Gaul, never had a particular miftrefs, to whom he might recommend himfelf; notwithstanding which, he was not the lefs efleemed, and was a very valiant and famous knight. To which our Don Quixote anfwered ; Signor, one fwallow makes no fummer. Befides, I very well know, that this knight was in fecret very deeply enamoured : He was a general lover, and could not refift his natural inclination towards all ladies whom he thought handfome. But, in fhort, it is very well attefted, that he had one, whom he had made miftrefs of his will, and to whom he often commended himfelf, but very fecretly ; for it was upon this quality of fecrecy that he efpe- cially valued himfelf. If it be effential that every knight-errant muft be a lover, faid the traveller, it is to be prefumed that your worfhip is one, as you are of the profeffion : and, if you do not pique yourfelf upon the fame fecrecy as Don Ga- laor, I earneftly intreat you, in the name of all this good company, and in my own, to tell us the name, country, quality, and beauty, of your miftrefs, who cannot but account herfelf happy if all the world knew, that fhe is loved and ferved by fo worthy a knight as your worfhip appears to be. Here Don Quixote fetched a deep figh, and faid : I cannot pofitively affirm whether this fweet ene- my of mine is pleafed, or not, that the world fhould know I am her fervant : I can only fay, in anfwer to what you fo very courteoufly enquire of me, that her name is Dulcinea ; her country Tobofo, a town of la Mancha; her quality at leaft that of a princefs, fince fhe is my queen and fovereign lady j her beauty more 'than human, fince in her all the impoflible and chimerical attributes of beauty, which the poets afcribe to their miftreffes, are realized : for her hairs are of gold, her forehead the Ely/ian fields, her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes funs, her cheeks rofes, her lips coral, pearls her teeth, alabafter her neck, her bofom marble, her hands ivory, her whitenefs fnow ; and the parts, which mo- defty veils from human fight, fuch as (to my thinking) the moft exalted imagi- nation can only conceive, but not find a companion for. We would know, re- plied Vivaldo, her lineage, race, and family. To which Don Qiiixotc anfwered ; She is not of the antient Roman Curtii, Caii, and Scipios, nor of the mo- dern Colonnas and Urjinis ; nor of the Moncadas and Requcfenes of Catalonia ; neither is fhe of the Rcbellas and Villanovas of Valentin-, the Palafoxes, Nu$as, Rocabertis, Corellas, Lunas, Alagones, Urreas, Foccs, and Gurrcas of Arra-

* This is one inftance of Cervantes % frequent ufe of foiptural cxpreflions.

I 2 gon ;

60 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

gon; the Cerdas, Manriques, Mendocas and Gufnans of Caftile ; the Alencajlros, Pallas and Menejes of Portugal: but fhe is of thofe of Tobofo de la Mancha-y a houfe, though modem, yet fuch as may give a noble beginning to the moft il- luftrious families of the ages to come : and in this let no one contradict rne, un- lefs it be on the conditions that Cerbino fixed under Orlando'% arms, where it was faid : Let no one remove tbefe, who cannot Jl and a trial with Orlando. Al- though mine be of the Cachopmes of Laredo, replied the traveller, I dare not compare it with that of Tobofo de la Mancha; though, to fay the truth, no fuch appellation hath ever reached my ears 'till now. Is it pofhble you fhould never have heard of it ? replied Don Quixote '.

All the reft went on liftening with great attention to the dialogue between thefe two: and even the goatherds and fhepherds perceived the notorious diffraction of our Don Quixote. Sancho Panga alone believed all that his mafter faid to be true, knowing who he was, and having been acquainted with him from his birth. But what he fomewhat doubted of, was, what concerned the fair Didcinea del Tobofo ; for no fuch a name, or princefs, had ever come to his hearing, though he lived fo near Tobofo.

In thefe difcourfes they went on, when they difcovered, through an open- ing made by two high mountains, about twenty fhepherds coming down, all in jerkins of black wool, and crowned with garlands, which (as appeared after- ward) were fome of yew, and fome of cyprefs. Six of them carried a bier, covered with great variety of flowers and boughs : which one of the goatherds efpying, faid ; They, who come yonder, are thofe who bring the corpfe of Chry- I'ojlom ; and the foot of yonder mountain is the place where he ordered them to bury him. They made hafte therefore to arrive ; which they did, and it was juft as the bier was fet down on the ground : four of them, with fharp pickaxes, were making the grave by the fide of a hard rock. They faluted one another courteoufly : and prefently Don Quixote and his company went to take a view of the bier; upon which they faw a dead body, ftrewed with flowers % in the drefs of a fhepherd, feemingly about thirty years of age : you might fee, thro' death itfelf, that he had been of a beautiful countenance, and hale conftitution. Several books, and a great number of papers, fome open and others folded up,, lay round about him on the bier. All that were prefent, as well thofe who looked on, as thofe who were opening the grave, kept a marvellous filence; 'till one of thofe, who brought the deceafed, faid to another; Obferve carefully, Ambrofio, whether this be the place which Chryfoflom mentioned, iince you are fo punctual in performing what he commanded in his will. This is it,, anfwer- ed Ambrofio ; for in this very place he often recounted to me the ftory of his misfortune. Here it was, he told me, that he firft faw that mortal enemy of

1 All the time they are going to the burial, how artfully does the author entertain the reader, by way of digreffion, with this dialogue between Don Quixote and Vi<valdo .'

2 It is the cuftom in Spain and Italy to ftrew flowers on the dead bodies, when laid upon their biers.

human

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 61

human race; here it was that he declared to her his no lefs honourable than ar- dent pafTion; here it was that Marcela finally undeceived and caft him ofF, in fuch fort that fhe put an end to the tragedy of his miferable life ; and here, in memory of fo many misfortunes, he defired to be depofited in the bowels of eternal oblivion.

Then, turning himfelf to Don Quixote and the travellers, he went on, faying: This body, Sirs, which you are beholding with companionate eyes, was the re- ceptacle of a foul, in which heaven had placed a great part of its treafure : this is the body of Chryfojlom, who was Angular for wit, matchlefs in courtefy, per- fect in politenefs, a phoenix in friendship, magnificent without orientation, grave without arrogance, cheerful without meannefs; in fine, the firft in everything that was good, and fecond to none in every thing that was unfortunate. He loved, he was abhorred : he adored, he wasfcorned: he courted a favage; he folicited marble; he pur fued the wind; he called aloud to folitude; he ferved ingratitude; and the recompence he obtained, was, to become a prey to death, in the midft of the career of his life, to which an end was put by a certain fhepherdefs, whom he endeavoured to render immortal in the memories of men ; as thefe papers you are looking at would fufficiently demonftrate, had he not or- dered them to be committed to the flames, at the fame time that his body was depofited in die earth. You would then be more rigorous and cruel to them, faid Vivaldo, than their mafter himfelf; for it is neither juft nor right to fulfil the will of him, who commands fomething utterly unreasonable. And Augujlus Cafar would not confent to the execution of what the divine Mantuan had commanded in his will. So that, Signor Ambrofw, tho' you commit your friend's body to the earth, do not therefore commit his writings to oblivion; and if he ordered it as a perfon injured, do not you fulfil it as one indifcreet ; rather act fo, that, by giving life to thefe papers, the cruelty of Marcela may never be forgotten, but may ferve for an example to thofe, who (hall live in times to come, that they may avoid falling down the like precipices ; for I, and all here prefent, already know the ftory of this your enamoured and defpairing friend : we know alfo your friendikip, and the occafion of his death, and what he ordered on his death-bed : from which lamentable hiftory may be gathered, how great has been the cruelty of Marcela, the love of Chryfoftow, and the fincerity of your friend- ship ; as alfo the end of thofe, who run headlong in the path that inconfiderate and ungoverned love fets before them. Lair, night we heard of Cbryfo/lom's death, and that he was to be interred in this place; and fo, out of curiofity and companion, we turned out of our way, and agreed to come and behold with our eyes, what had moved us fo much in the recital : and, in return for our pity, and our defire to remedy it, if we could, we befeech you, O difcreet Ambrof.o, at leaft I befeech you in my own behalf, that you will not burn the papers, but let me carry away fome of them. And without flaying for the Shepherd's re- ply, he ftretched out his hand, and took fome of thofe that were neareft; which

Ambrofio

62 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

Ambrofio perceiving, faid : Out of civility, Signor, I will confent to your keep- ing thofe you have taken ; but to imagine that I (hall forbear burning thofe that remain, is a vain thought. Vivaldo, who defired to fee what the papers con- tained, prefently opened one of them, which had for its title : The fong of de- Jpair. Ambrofio, hearing it, faid : This is the laft paper the unhappy man wrote j and that you may fee, Signor, to what ftate he was reduced by his mif- fortunes, read it fo as to be heard ; for you will have leifure enough, while they are digging the grave. That I will with all my heart, faid Vivaldo : and as all the by-ftanders had the fame defire, they drew round about him, and he read in a clear voice, as follows.

CHAP. VI.

Wherein are rehear Jed the defp airing verfes of the deceafed Jloepherd, with

other unexpected events.

CHRTSOSTOM's SONG.

I.

QINCE, cruel maid, you force me to proclaim ^ From clime to clime the triumphs of your fcorn, Let hell itfelf infpire my tortur'd brea/l With mournful numbers, and untune my voice ; Whiljl the fad pieces of my broken heart Mix with the doleful accents of my tongue, At once to tell my griefs and thy exploits. Hear then, and UJlen with attentive ear, Not to harmonious founds, but ecchoing groans, Fetch' d from the bottom of my lab' ring brea/l, To eafe, in thy defpite, my raging fmart.

II. The lion's roar, the howl of midnight wolves, The fcaly ferpenfs hifs, the raven's croak, The burjl of fighting winds that vex the main, The widow' d owl and turtle's plaintive moan, With all the din of hell's infernal crew, From my griev'd foul forth ijfue in one found, Leaving my fenfes all confus'd and lojl. For ah ! no common language can exprefs The cruel pains that torture my fad heart.

III.

Yet let not eccho bear the mournful founds

To where old Tagus rowls his yellow fands,

Or

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 63

Or Betis, croivn'd with olives, pours his food. But here, midft rocks and precipices deep, Or to obfcure and Jilent vales remov'd, On pores by human footjleps never trod, Where the gay fun ne'er lifts his radiant orb, Or with th' invenom'd race of favage beajls That range the howling wildernefs for foodit Will I proclaim the Jlory of my woes, Poor privilege of grief ! whiljl ecchoes hoarfe Catch the fad tale, and fpread it round the world.

IV. Difdain gives death ; fufpiaons, true or falfe, Overturn tti impatient mind ; with furer Jlroke Fell jealoufy deftroys ; the pangs of abfence No lover can fupport ; nor firmefi hope Can diffipate the dread of cold neglett : Tet I, Jlrange fate ! though jealous, though difdairid, Abfent, and fure of cold neglecJ, fill live, And midjl the various torments I endure, No ray of hope e'er darted on my foul : Nor would I hope ; rather in deep defpair Will I ft down, and brooding o'er my griefs Vow everlafting abfence from her fight.

V. '

Can hope and fear at once the foul poffefs, Or hope fubfjl with furer caufe of fear ? Shall I, to flout out frightful jealoufy, Clofe my fad eyes, when ev'ry pang I feel Prefents the hideous phantom to my view ? What wretch fo credulous, but muf embrace Difrujl with open arms, when he beholds Difdain avow'd, fufpicions realized, And truth itfelf converted to a lye? O cruel tyrant of the realm of love, Fierce jealoufy, arm with a fword this hand, Or thou, difdain, a twijled cord beflow.

VI. Let me not blame my fate, but dying think The man mofl blejl who loves, the foul moft free That love has moft enthrall 'd : ftill to my thoughts Let fancy paint the tyrant of my heart Beauteous in mind as face, and in myfelf

Still

64 He LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

Still let me find the fource of her difdain ;

Content to fuffer, fince imperial love

By lovers woes maintains his fovereign Jlate.

With this perfuafion, and the fatal noofe,

I hafien to the doom her from demands,

And dying offer up my breathlefs corfe,

Uncrown' d with garlands, to the whiftling winds,

VII. O thou, whofe unrelenting rigor's force Firjl drove me to defpair, and now to death, When the fad tale of my untimely fall Shall reach thy ear, tho' it defrrve a figh, Veil not the heav'n of thofe bright eyes in grief, Nor drop one pitying tear, to tell the world, At length my death has triumph' d o'er thy from. But drefs thy face in fmiles, and celebrate, With laughter and each circumjlance of joy y The fejlival of my difajlrous end. Ah ! 7ieed 1 bid thee fmile ? too well I know My death's thy utmojl glory and thy pride.

VIII. Come, all ye phantoms of the dark abyfs ; Bring, Tantalus, thy unextinguijh' d thirfi, And, Sifyphus, thy Jlill-returning Jlone ; Come, Tityus, with the vultur at thy heart, And thou, Ixion, bring thy giddy wheels Nor let the toiling fijlers jlay behind. Pour your united griefs into this breaft, And in low murmurs fing fad obfequies (If a defpairing wretch fuch rites may claim) O'er my cold limbs, deny'd a winding-freet . And let the triple porter of the Jhades, The Jijler furies, and chimeras dire, With notes of woe the mournful chorus join. Such funeral pomp alone befits the wretch By beauty frnt untimely to the grave.

IX. And thou, my fong, fad child of my defpair, Complain no tnore ; but fince my wretched fate Improves her happier lot, who gave thee birth. Be all thy forrows buried in my tomb.

Chryfofioms

To/ / P.O?

fa&tanderfeeefo -'^('-'^

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 65

Cbryfopm's fong was very well approved by thofe who heard It : but he, who read it, "laid, it did not feem to agree with the account he had heard of the re- ferve and goodnefs of Marcela; for Chryfijlom complains in it of jealoufies, ful- picions, and abfence, all in prejudice of the credit and good name of Marcela. To which Ambrcfio anfwered, as one well acquainted with the moil ludden thoughts of his friend : To fatisfy you, Signor, as to this doubt, you mull know, that, when this unhappy perlbn wrote this fong, he was abfent from Marcela, from whom he had voluntarily baniihed himfelf, to try whether ab- fence would have its ordinary effed upon him. And as an abfent lover is di- ftuibed by every thing, and feized by every fear, fo was Chryfijlom perplexed with imaginary jealoufies, and fufpicious apprehenfions, as much as if they had been real. And thus the truth, which fame proclaims of Marcela's goodnefs, remains unimpeached ; and, excepting that Ihe is cruel, fomewhat arrogant, and very difdainful, envy itfelf neidier ought, nor can, lay any defecl to her charge. It is true, anfwered Vivaldo ; and going to read another paper of thofe he had faved from the fire, he was interrupted by a wonderful vifion (for fuch it feemed to be) which on a fudden prefented itfelf to their fight : for on the top of the rock, under which they were digging the grave, appeared the fhep- herdefs Marcela, fo beautiful, that her beauty furpafied the very fame of it. Thofe, who had never feen her till that time, beheld her with filence and admi- ration ; and thofe, who had been ufed to the fight of her, were no lefs furprized than thofe who had never feen her before. But Ambrofio had fcarcely efpied her, when, with figns of indignation, he faid to her : Cornell thou, O fierce bafilisk of thefe mountains, to fee whether the wounds of this wretch, whom thy cruelty has deprived of life, will bleed afrefh at thy appearance ? or Cornell thou to triumph in the cruel exploits of thy inhuman difpofition ? or to behold, from that eminence, like another pitilefs Nero, the flames of burning Rome '? or infolently to trample on this unhappy corfe, as did the impious daughter on that of her farther Tarqiun ? tell us quickly, what you come for, or what is it you would have : for fince I know, that Chryfijlom, while living, never difobeyed you, lb much as in thought, I will take care that all thofe, who called them- felves his friends, lhall obey you, tho' he be dead.

I come not, O A/nbrofw, for any of thofe purpofes you have mentioned, an- fwered Marcela ; but I come to vindicate myfelf, and to let the world know, how unreafonable thofe are, who blame me for their own fufFerings, or for the death of Chryfoftom : and therefore I beg of all here prefent, that they would hear me with attention ; for I need not fpend much time, nor ufe many words, to convince perfons of fenfe of the truth. Heaven, as yourfelves fay, made me handfome, and to fuch a degree, that my beauty influences you to love me, whether you will or no. • And, in return for the love you bear me, you pre- tend and infill, that I am bound to love you. I know, by the natural fenfe god has given me, that whatever is beautiful is amiable : but I do not comprehend

Vol. I. K that,

66 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

that, merely for being loved, the perfon that is loved for being handfome is obliged to return love for love. Befides, it may chance that the lover of the beautiful perfon may be ugly ; and, what is ugly deferving to be loathed, it would found oddly to fay ; I love you for being handfome ; you muft love me though I am ugly. But fuppofing the beauty on both fides to be equal, it does not therefore follow, that the inclinations fhould be fo too : for all beauty does not infpire love ; and there is a kind of it, which only pleafes the fight, but does not captivate the affections. If all beauties were to enamour and captivate, the wills of men would be eternally confounded and perplexed, without know- ing where to fix : for the beautiful objects being infinite, the defires muft be infinite too. And, as I have heard fay, true love cannot be divided, and muft be voluntary and unforced. This being fo, as I believe it is, why would you have me fubjecl: my will by force, being no otherwi'fe obliged thereto, than only becaufe you fay you love me ? For, pray, tell me, if, as heaven has made me handfome, it had made me ugly, would it have been juft that I fhould have complained of you, becaufe you did not love me ? Befides, you muft confider that my beauty is not my own choice ; but fuch as it is, heaven beftowed it on me freely, without my asking or defiring it. And as the viper does not deferve blame for her fling, though fhe kills with it, becaufe it is given her by nature, as little do I deferve reprehenfion for being handfome. Beauty in a modeft wo- man is like fire at a diftance, or like a fharp fword : neither doth the one burn, nor the other wound, thofe that come not too near them. Honour and virtue are ornaments of the foul, without which the body, though it be really beau- tiful, ought not to be thought fo. Now if modefty be one of the virtues which moft adorns and beautifies both body and mind, why fhould fhe, who is loved for being beautiful, part with it, to gratify the defires of him, who, merely for his own pleafure, ufes his utmoft endeavours to deftroy it ? I was born free, and, that I might live free, I chofe the folitude of thefe fields : the trees on thefe mountains are my companions j the tranfparent waters of thefe brooks my look- ing-glafs : to the trees and the waters I communicate my thoughts and beauty. I am fire at a diftance, and a fword afar off. Thofe, whom the fight of me has enamoured, my words have undeceived. . And if defires are kept alive by hopes, as I gave none to Chryfoflom, nor to any one elfe, all hope being at an end, fure it may well be faid, that his own obftinacy, rather than my cruelty, killed him. And if it be objeded to me, that his intentions were honourable, and that therefore I ought to have complied with them ; I anfwer, that when in this very place, where they are now digging his grave, he difcovered to me the goodnefs of his intention, I told him, that mine was to live in perpetual fo- litude, and that the earth alone lhould enjoy the fruit of my refervednefs, and the fpoils of my beauty : and if he, notwithstanding all this plain dealing, would obftinately perfevere againft hope, and fail againft the wind, what wonder if he drowned himfelf in the midft of the gulph of his own indifcretion ? If I had

held

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 67

held him in fufpence, I had been felfe : if I had complied with him, I had acted contrary to my better intention and refolution. He perfifted, though un- deceived ; he defpaired without being hated : confider now whether it be rea- fonable to lay the blame of his fufferings upon me. Let him, who is deceive;!, complain ; let him, to whom I have broken my promife, defpair ; let him, whom I fhall encourage, p relume ; and let him pride himfelf, whom I dial I admit : but let not him call me cruel, or murtherefs, whom I neither promife, deceive, encourage, nor admit. Heaven has not yet ordained, that I fhould love by deftiny ; and from loving by choice, I deiire to be excufed. Let every one. of thofe, who folicit me, make their own particular ufe of this declara- tion ; and be it underftood from henceforward, that, if any one dies for me, he does not die through jealoufy or difdain ; for fhe, who loves nobody, fhould make nobody jealous ; and plain dealing ought not to pafs for difdain. Let him, who calls me a favage and a bafilisk, fluin me as a milchievous and evil thing : let him, who calls me ungrateful, not ferve me ; him, who thinks me fhy, not know me ; who cruel, not follow me : for this lavage, this bafilisk, this ungrateful, this cruel, this Ihy thing, will in no wife either feek, ferve, know, or follow them. If Chryfoftom'% impatience and precipitate delires killed him, why fhould he blame my modeft procedure and referve ? If I preferve my purity unfpotted among thefe trees, why fhould he defire me to lofe it among men ? You ;.ll know, that I have riches enough of my own, and do not covet other people's. My condition is free, and I have no mind to fubjec~t myf elf : I neither love, nor hate any body ; I neither deceive this man, nor lay fnares for that ; I neither toy with one, nor divert myfelf with another. The modeft converfation of the fhepherdeffes of thefe villages, and the care of my goats, are my entertain- ment. My defires are bounded within thefe mountains, and if they venture out hence, it is to contemplate the beauty of heaven, thofe fteps by which the foul advances to its original dwelling. And in faying this, without ftaying for an anfwer, fhe turned her back, and entered into the moft inacceffible part of the neighbouring mountain, leaving all thofe prefent in admiration as well of her fenfe as of her beauty.

Some of thofe, who had been wounded by the powerful darts of her bright eyes, difcovered an inclination to follow her, without profiting by fo exprefs a declaration as they had heard her make ; which Don Quixote perceiving, and thinking this a proper occafion to employ his chivalry in the relief of diilreffed damfels, he laid his hand on the hilt of his fword, and with a loud and intelli- gible voice faid : Let no perfon, of what ftate or condition foever he be, pre- lume to follow the beautiful Marcela, on pain of incurring my furious indigna- tion. She has demonftrated, by clear and fufficient reafons, the little or no fault fhe ought to be charged with on account of Chryfoflom\ death, and how far fhe is from countenancing the defires of any of her lovers : for which rea- fon, inftead of being followed and perfecuted, fhe ought to be honoured and

K 2 eftcemed

68 Tie LIFE and E X P L 0 IT S, &c.

efteemed by all good men in the world, for being the only woman in it whofe intentions are fo virtuous. Now, whether it were through Don Quixote's me- naces, or becaufe Ambrojio delired them to finiih that laft office to his friend, none of the fhepherds flirred from thence, 'till, the grave being made and Chry- fojlom's papers burnt, they laid his body in it, not without many tears of the by-ftanders. They clofed the fepulchre with a large fragment of a rock, 'till a tomb-ftone could be finifhed, which, Ambrofio faid, he intended to have made, with an epitaph after this manner.

Here lyes a gentle Jhepherd fwain, 'Through cold neglect untimely Jlain. By rigor's cruel hand he died, A victim to the /corn and pride Of a coy, beautiful, ingrate, Whofe eyes enlarge love's tyrant fate.

They then ftrewed abundance of flowers and boughs on the grave, and con- doling with his friend Ambrofio, took leave, and departed. Vivaldo and his companion did the fame ; and Don Quixote bid adieu to his hofts and the tra- vellers, who prayed him to go with them to Sevil, that being a place the moft likely to furnifh him with adventures, fince, in every ftreet, and at every turn- ing, more were to be met with there, than in any other place whatever. Don Quixote thanked them for the notice they gave him, and the difpofition they fhewed to do him a courtefy, and faid, that for the prefent he could not, and ought not, to go to Sevil, 'till he had cleared all thofe mountains of robbers and afFaffins, of which, it was reported, they were full. The travellers, feeing his good intention, would not importune him farther ; but taking leave again, left him, and purfued their journey : in which they wanted not a fubjecT: for difcourfe, as well of the ftory of Marcela and Chryfojlom, as of the whimfical madnefs of Don Quixote, who refolved to go in queft of the fhepherdefs Mar- cela, and offer her all that was in his power for her fervice. But it fell not out as he intended, as is related in the progrefs of this true hiftory, the fecond part ending here.

CHAP.

THE

LIFE and EXPLOITS

Of the ingenious gentleman

DON CLUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

BOOK

III.

CHAPTER I.

Wherein is related the unfortunate adventure, which befel Don Quixote in. meeting with certain bloody-minded Yanguefes .

H E fage Cid Hamet Benengeli relates, that when Don Quixote had taken leave of his hoft, and of all thofe who were prefent at Cbryfojtom's fu- neral, he and his fquire entered the fame wood, into which they had feen the fhepherdefs Mar- cela enter before. And having ranged through it for above two hours, looking for her every where, without being able to find her, they flopped in a mead full of frefh grafs, near which ran a pleafant and refreihing brook; infomuch that it invited and compelled them to pafs there the fultry hours of the noon-day heat, which al- ready began to come on with great violence. Don Quixote and Sancho alighted, and leaving the afs and Rozinante at large, to feed upon the abundance of grafs that fprung in the place, they ranfacked the wallet ; and without any ceremony, friendlv and focial wife, matter and man eat what they found in it. Sancho was ( fo fecure of Rozinante, that he had taken no care to fetter him, knowing him to be fo tame and fo little gamefome, that all the mares of the paftures of Cor- dova would not provoke him to any unlucky pranks.— But fortune, or the devil,

» Carriers of Galieia, commonly fo called. /. n ,

,.,,,, -,„■.„„..„,,. ■ ■ ■• »h0

i - . , \#Le.p0\ c> ■■ icuh , -' ■ 1, Jet com Jo A - - -•■ '

70 73* £JJFi2 W EXP UO ITS * If /

who is not always afleep, fo ordered it, that there were grazing in that valley a parcel of Galician mares belonging to certain Yanguefe carriers, whofe cuftom it is to pafs the mid-day, with their drove, in places where there is grafs and wa- ter : and that, where Don Quixote chanced to be, was very fit for the purpofe of the Yanguefes. Now it fell out, that RozifiantehadrtHKHRA-to folaee-himfelf W4th4fee-£lli£s^_ai^-4ia^iflg-4h€m4a4he-wiftd7 broke out of his natural and ac- cuftomed pace, and, without asking his matter's leave, betook himfelf to a / fmart trot, and went to GOtnmunicate-liis need to them. But they, as it feemed,

>y;'A;"1";'/Tiad mWb inclinationlio-feed-than any thing-elfe, and received him with their heels and their teeth, in fuch a manner, that in a little time his girts broke, and v..',, t ^'//^he loft his faddle. But-what mutt have more fenfibly attested him, was, that ;'t,v, the carriers, feeing the violence-ottered to their mares, ran to him with their

pack-ftaves, and fo belaboured him//that tliey laid him along on the ground in wretched plight. fa **/""■ 7*u ***»**i>i •*• <* *****

By this time Don Quixote and Sancho, who had feen the drubbing of Rozi- nante, came up out of breath : and Don Quixote faid to Sancho ; By what I fee, friend Sancho, thefe are no knights, but rafcally people, of a fcoundrel race : I tell you this, becau'fe you may very well help me to take ample revenge for the outrage they have done to Rozinante before our eyes. What the devil of revenge can we take, anfwered Sancho, if they are above twenty, and we no more than two, and perhaps but one and a half? I am as good as a hundred, replied Don Quixote ; and, without faying more, he laid his hand on his fword, and flew at the Yanguefes ; and Sancho did the fame, incited and moved thereto by the example of his mailer. At the firft blow Don Quixote gave one of them a terrible wound, through a leathern doublet which he wore, on the moulder. The Yanguefes, feeing themfelves affaulted in this manner by two men only, they being fo many, betook themfelves to their clubs, and, hemming them in, began to belabour them with great vehemence and animofity. It is true, that at the fecond peal they brought Sancho to the ground, and the fame befel Don Quixote, neither his dexterity nor courage ftanding him in any ftead : And, as fate would have it, he fell juft at Rozinante's feet, who had not yet got up : whence we may learn how unmercifully pack-ftaves will bruife, when put into ruftic and wrathful hands. Now the Yanguefes, perceiving the mifchifcf they had done, loaded their beafts with all fpeed, and purfued their journey, leaving the two adventurers in evil plight.

The firft who came to himfelf was Sancho Pan fa; who, finding he lay clofe to his mafter, with a feeble and plaintive voice; cried, Signor Don Quixote/ ah, Signor Don Quixote ! What would you have, brother Sancho f anfwered Don ... Quixote, in the fame feeble and lamentable tone. I would fain, if it were pof- fible, anfwered Sancho Panca, that your worfhip would give me two draughts of that drink of the Feo Bias, if fo be you have it here at hand ; perhaps it may do as well for broken bones, as it does for wounds. O that I had

it!

0.M< it, ^

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 71

it here ! unhappy I, that wc have it not ! anfwered Don Quixote. But I fwear to you, Sancho Pan$a, on the faith of a knight-errant, that, before two days pafs (if fortune does not order it otherwife) I will have it in my power, or my hand fhall be very much out. But in how many days do you think, Sir, we fhall recover the ufe of our feet, replied Sancho Panca ? For my part, faid the bat- tered knight Don Qtfixote, I cannot limit the number : but it is all my own fault; for I ought not to have laid hand on my fword againfl men, who were not dubbed knights like myfelf. And therefore, I believe heaven has permitted this chaftifement to fall upon me, as a punifhment for having tranfgreffed the laws of chivalry. Wherefore, brother Sancho, it is requifite you be fore- warned of what I mall now tell you ; for it highly concerns the good of us both : and it is this ; that when you fee we are intuited by fuch rafcally rabble, do not flay 'till I lay hand on my fword againft them ; for I will in no wife do it ; but do you draw your fword, and chaftife them to your own heart's con- tent : but if any knights fhall come up to their aid and defence, I fhall then know how to interpofe, to defend you, and offend them with all my might : for you have already feen, by a thoufand tokens and experiments, how far the valour of this ftrong arm of mine extends : fo arrogant was the poor gentleman become by his victory over the valiant Bifcainer. But Sancho Panca did not fo thoroughly like his matter's inftructions, as to forbear anfwering, and faying ; Sir, I am a peaceable, tame, quiet man, and can diffemble any injury whatfo- ever ; for I have a wife and children to maintain and bring up -: fo that give me leave, Sir, to tell you by way of hint, fince it is not my part to command, that I will upon no account draw my fword, neither againft peafant, nor againft knight; and that from this time forward, in the prefence of god, I forgive all injuries any one has done, or fhall do me, or that any perfon is now doing, or -may hereafter do me, whether he be high or low, rich or poor, gentle or Am- ple, without excepting any ftate or condition whatever. Which his mafter hearing, anfwered : I wifh I had breath to talk a little at my eafe, and that the pain I feel in this rib would ceafe ever fo fhort a while, that I might convince you, Panca, of the error you are in. Harkye, finner, mould the gale of for- tune, hitherto fo contrary, come about in our favour, filling the fails of our de- fires, fo that we may fafely, and without any hindrance, make the port of fome one of thofe iflands I have promifed you, what would become of you, if, when I had gained it, and made you lord thereof, you fhould render all inef- fectual by not being' a knight, nor defiring to be one, and by having neither va- lour nor intention to revenge the injuries done you, or to defend your domi- nions? For you muft know, that, in kingdoms and provinces newly conquer- ed, the minds of the natives are never fo quiet, nor fo much in the intereft of their new mafter, but there is ftill ground to fear that they will endeavour to bring about a change of things, and once more, as they call it, to try their for- tune: and therefore the new poffefTor ought to have underftanding to know how

to

the LIFE and % X P LOITS of

i

to conduit himfelf, and courage to act ofFenfively and defenfively, whatever fhall happen. In this that hath now befallen us, anfwered Sancho, I wifh I had been furnifhed with that underftanding and valour your worfhip fpeaks of j but I fwear, on the faith of a poor man, I am at this time fitter for plaifters than difcourfes. Try, Sir, whether you are able to rife, and we will help up Ro- zinante, though he does not deferve it; for he was the principal caufe of all this mauling. 1 1 never believed the like of Rozinante, whom I took to be as chafte and as peaceable as myfelf. But it is a true faying, that much time is necefj'ary to come to a thorough knowledge of perfons ; and that ive are Jure of nothing in this life! Who could have thought, that, after fuch fwinging flames as you gave that unfortunate adventurer-errant, there mould come poft, as it were, in pur- fuit of you, this vaft temper): of pack-ftaves, which has difcharged itfelf upon our moulders ? Thine, Sancho, replied Don Quixote, mould, one would think, be ufed to fuch ftorms ; but mine, that were brought up between muflins and cambricks, mud needs be more fenfible of the grief of this mifhap. And were it not that I imagine (do I fay, imagine?) did I not know for certain, that all thefe inconveniencies are infeparably annexed to the profeffion of arms, I would fuffer myfelf to die here out of pure vexation. To this replied the fquire : Sir, fince thefe miihaps are the genuine fruits and harvefts of chivalry, pray tell me whether they fall out often, or whether they have their fet times in which they happen ; for, to my thinking, two more fuch harvefts will difable us from ever reaping a third, if god of his infinite mercy does not fuccour us. Learn, friend Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote, that the life of knights-errant is fubject to a thoufand perils and mifhaps : but then they are every whit as near becoming kings and emperors ; and this experience hath fhewn us in many and divers knights, whofe hiftories I am perfectly acquainted with. I could tell you now, if the pain would give me leave, of fome, who by the ftrength of their arm alone have mounted to the high degrees I have mentioned : and thefe very men were, before and after, involved in fundry calamities and misfortunes. For the valorous Amadis de Gau/fzw himfelf in the power of his mortal enemy, Arche- laus the magician, of whom it is pofitively affirmed, that, when he had him prifoner, he gave him above two hundred lames with his horfe's bridle, after he had tied him to a pillar in his court-yard. And moreover there is a private au- thor, of no fmall credit, who tells us, that the knight of the fun, being caught by a trap-door, which funk under his feet, in a certain caftle, found himfelf, at the bottom, in a deep dungeon under ground, bound hand and foot; where they adminiftred to him one of thofe things they call a clyfter, of fnow-water and /and, that almoft did his bufinefs ; and if he had not been fuccoured in that great diftrefs by a certain fage, his fpecial friend, it had gone very hard with the poor knight. So that I may very well fuffer among fo many worthy perfons, who underwent much greater affronts than thofe we now undergo : for I would have you know, Sancho, that the wounds, which are given with inftruments that are

accidentally

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 73

accidentally in ones hand, are no difgrace or affront. And thus it is exprefly written in the law of combat, that if the fhoemakcr ftrikes a perfon with the laft he has in his hand, though it be really of wood, it will not therefore be faid, that the perfon thus beaten with it was cudgelled. I fay dus, that you may not think, though we are mauled in this fcuffle, that we are difgraced : for the arms thofe men carried, wherewith they mafhed us, were no other than their pack-ftaves ; and none of them, as I remember, had either tuck, fword, or dagger. They gave me no leifure, anfwered Sancbo, to obierve lb narrowly ; for fcarcely had I laid hand on my whyniard ', when they crofled my moulders with their faplins, in fuch a manner, that they deprived my eyes of fight, and my feet of ftrength, laying me where I now lie, and where I am not lo much concerned to think whether the bufinefs of the threfhing be an affront or no,^ as I am troubled at the pain of the blows, which will leave as deep an impreilion in my memory, as on my fhoulders. All this notwithstanding, I tell you, bro- ther Panfa, replied Don Quixote, there is no remembrance, which times does not obliterate, nor pain, which death does not put an end to. What greater mis- fortune can there be, replied Panca, than that, which remains 'till time effaces it, and 'till death puts an end to it ? If this mifchance of ours were of that fort, which people cure with a couple of plaifters, it would not be altogether fo bad : but, for ought I fee, all the plaifters of an hofpital will not be fufticient to fet us to rights again. Have done with this, and gather ftrength out of weaknefs, Sancbo, anfwered Don Qiiixote ; for fo I purpofe to do : and let us fee how Ro- zinante does ; for, by what I perceive, not the leaft part of this misfortune has fallen to the poor beaft's fhare. We muft not wonder at diat, anfwered Sancbo, fince he alfo appertains to a knight-errant. But what I wonder at, is, that my afs fhould come off fcot-free, where we have paid fo dear. Fortune always leaves fome door open in difafters whereby to come at a remedy, faid Don Quixote. I fay this, becaufe this poor beaft may now fupply the want of Rozi- na?ite, by carrying me hence to fome caftle, where I may be cured of my wounds. Nor do I take the being mounted in this fafhion to be disho- nourable ; for I remember to have read, diat the good old Silenus, governor and tutor of the merry god of laughter, when he made his entry into the city of the hundred gates, went delightfully mounted on a moft beautiful afs. It is like he went mounted as your worfhip fays, anfwered Sancho : but there is a main dif- ference between riding and lying athwart, like a fack of rubbifh. To which Don Quixote anfwered : The wounds received in battle rather give honour than take it away ; fo that, friend Pan$a, anfwer me no more, but, as I have alrea- dy faid to you, raife me up as well as you can, and place me in whatever man- ner you pleafe upon your afs, that we may get hence, before night comes on and overtakes us in this uninhabited place. Yet I have heard your worlhip fay,

' Tizina : a romantic name given to the fword of Roderick Diaz dt Bi-var, the famous Spani/b General againil the Moors.

Vol. I. L quoth

74 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

quoth Panca, that it is ufual for knights-errant to fleep on heaths and defarts moll part of the year, and that they look upon it to be very fortunate. That was, faid Don Quixote, when they could not help it, or were in love : and this is fo true, that there have been knights, who, unknown to their miftreffes, have expofed themfelves, for two years together, upon rocks, to the fun and the' fhade, and to the inclemencies of heaven. One of thefe was Amadis, when, calling himfelf Beltenebros \ he pofled himfelf on the poor rock, whether for eight years or eight months I know not, for I am not perfect in his hiftory. It is fufficient, that there he was, doing penance for I know not what diftafle fhewn him by the lady Oriana. But let us have done wich this, Sancho, and difpatch, before fuch another misfortune happens to the afs as hath befallen Ro- zinante. That would be the devil indeed, quoth Sancho ; and fending forth thirty alas's, and fixty fighs, and a hundred and twenty curfes on whofoever had brought him thither, he raifed himfelf up, but ftaid bent by the way like a Turkijh bow, entirely unable to fland upright : and with all this fatigue he made a fhift to faddle his afs, who had alfo taken advantage of that day's exceffive liberty, to go a lit- tle affray. He then heaved up Rozinante, who, had he had a tongue to com- plain with, it is moft certain would not have been outdone either by Sancho or his mailer. In line, Sancho fettled Don Quixote upon the afs, and tying Rozi- ?iante by the head to his tail, led them both by the halter, proceeding now falter now flower toward the place where he thought the road might lye. And he had fcarce gone a fhort league, when fortune (which was conducting his affairs from good to better) difcovered to him the road, where he efpied an inn, which, to his forrow and Don Quixote's joy, muffc needs be a caftle. Sancho pofitively maintained it was an inn, and his mafter that it was a caftle ; and the obftinate difpute lafted fo long, that they had time to arrive there before it ended y and without more ado Sancho entered into it widi his firing of cattle.

CHAP. II.

Of what happened to the ingenious gentleman in the bin, which he

imagined to be a cajlle.

THE inn -keeper, feeing Don Quixote laid acrofs the afs, enquired of Sancho, what ailed him ? Sancho anfwered him, that it was nothing but a fall from a rock, whereby his ribs were fomewhat bruifed. The inn-keeper had to wife one of a different difpofition from thofe of the like occupation j for fhe was naturally charitable, and touched with the misfortunes of her neigh- bours : fo that llie prefently fet herfelf to cure Don Quixote, and made her daughter, a very comely young maiden, affifl her in the cure of her guefl. There was alfo a fervant in the inn, an Afiurian wench, broad- ficed, flat- headed, and faddle-nofed, with one eye fquinting, and the other not much bet-

1 The lovely obfeure. .

ter.

?n? rapids. -rvitri A tnir* et CDe/t-n :

^er: rf'and&ri/tuAf Jet/ /v.

.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 75

ter. It is true, the activity of her body made amends for her other defects. She was not feven hands high from her feet to her head ; and her moulders which burthened her a little too much, made her look down to the ground more than fhe cared to do. Now this agreeable lals helped the maiden ; and they two made Don Quixote a very forry bed in a garret, which gave evident tokens of having formerly ierved many years as a horfe-loft. In which room lodged alfo a carder, whole bed lay a little beyond that of our Don Qtiixote. And though it was compoicd of pannels, and other trappings of his mules, it had much the advantage of Don Quixote's, which confuted of four not very fmooth boards, upon two not very equal trcffcls, and a flock-bed no thicker than a quilt, and full of knobs, which, if one had not feen through the breaches that they were wool, by the hardnefs might have beerf taken for pebble- ftones ; with two (beets like the leather of an old target, and a rugg, the threads of which, if you had a mind, you might number without lofing a finglc one of the account. In this wretched bed was Don Quixote laid ; and imme- diately the hoftefs and her daughter plaiftcred him from head to foot, Man- tomes (for fo the Afturian was called) holding the light. And as the hoftefs ftuck on the planters, perceiving Don Quixote to be fo full of bruifes in all parts, fhe faid, that they feemed to be rather marks of blows than of a fall. They were not blows, faid Sancho -, but the rock had many fharp points and knobs, and every one has left its mark : he faid alfo ; pray, forfooth, order it fo, that fome towe may be left ; fomebody elfe may have occafion for it, for my fides alfo ake a little. So then; faid the hoftefs, you too have had a fell. No fall, faid Sancho Panca ; but the fright I took at feeing my mafter fall has made my body fo fore, that methinks I have received a thoufand drubs. That may very well be, faid the girl ; for I have often dreamed that I was falling down from fome high tower, and could never come to the ground ; and when I have awaked, I have found myfelf as bruifed and battered, as if I had really fallen. But here is the point, miftrefs, anfwered Sancho Panca, that I, without dream- ing at all, and more awake than I am now, find myfelf with almoft as many bruifes as my mafter Don Quixote. How is this cavalier called, quoth the Aftu- rian Maritornes ? Don Quixote de la Mancha, anfwered Sancho Panca : he is a knight-errant, and one of the beft and moil valiant that has been feen this long time in the world. What is a knight-errant, replied the wench ? Are you fo lately come into the world, that you do not know, anfwered Sancho Panca ? Then learn, After of mine, that a knight-errrant is a thing that, in two words, is feen cudgelled and an emperor ; to-day is the moft unfortunate creature in the world, and the moft neceffitous ; and to-morrow will have two or three crowns of kingdoms to give to his fquire. How comes it then to pafs, that you being fquire to this fo worthy a gentleman, faid the hoftefs, have not yet, as it fecms, got fo much as an earldom ? It is early days yet, anfwered Sancho ; for it is but a month fince we fet out in queft of adventures, and hi-

L 2 thcrto

76 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

therto we have met with none that deferve the name. And now and then one looks for one thing, and finds another. True it is, if my matter Don Quixote recovers of this wound or fall, and I am not difabled thereby, I would not truck my hopes for the beft title in Spain.

All this difcourfe Don Quixote liftened to very attentively ; and fetting himfelf up in his bed as well as he could, and taking the hoftefs by the hand, he faid to her : Believe me, beauteous lady, you may reckon yourfelf happy in having lodged my perfon in this your caftle, and fuch a perfon, that, if I do not praife myfelf, it is becaufe, as is commonly faid, felf-praife depreciates : but my fquire will inform you who I am. I only fay, that I fhall retain the fervice you have done me eternally engraved in my memory, and be grateful to you whilft my life fhall remain. And had it pleafed the high heavens, that love had not held me fo enthralled, and fubjedted to his laws, and to the eyes of that beautiful ingrate, whofe name I mutter between my teeth, the eyes of this lovely virgin had been miftreffes of my liberty.

The hoftefs, her daughter, and the good Maritornes, flood confounded at hearing this our knight-errant's difcourfe ; which they underftood juft as much as if he had fpoken Greek : though they guefTed that it all tended to compli- ments and offers of fervice. And not being accuftomed to fuch kind of lan- guage, they ftared at him with admiration, and thought him another fort of man than thofe now in fafhion ; fo, thanking him with inn-like phrafe for his offers, they left him. The Afturian Maritornes doftored Sancbo, who ftood in no lefs need of it than his mafter. / The carrier and fhe had agreed to folace themfelves together that night ; and fhe had given him her word, that, when the guefts were a-bed, and her mafter and miftrefs afleep, fhe would repair to him, and fatisfy his defire as much as he pleafed. And it is faid of this honeft wench, that fhe never made the like promife, but fhe performed it, though fhe had given it on a mountain, and without any witnefs : for fhe ftood much upon her gentility, and yet thought it no difgrace to be employed in that call- ing of ferving in an inn ; often faying, that misfortunes and unhappy accidents had brought her to that ftate.

Don Quixote's hard, fcanty, beggarly, feeble bed, ftood firft in the middle

of that illuftrious cock-loft ; and clofe by it ftood Sancho's, which con-

fifted only of a flag-matt, and a rug that feemed to be rather of beaten hemp

than of wool. Next-thef%TWo4n--eottffe ftood the carrier's, made up, as has

/^ n, c( — been faid, of pannels, and the whole furniture of two of the beft mules he

had ; which were twelve in number, fleek, fat and ftately : for he was

one of the richeft carriers of Arevalo, as the author of this hiftory relates, who

makes particular mention of this carrier, whom he knew very well ; nay, fome

went fo far as to fay, he was fomewhat of kin to him. Befides, Cid Hamet

Benengeli was a very curious, and veiy pundlual hiftoriographer in all things :

and this appears plainly from the circumftances already related, which, however

feemingly

*J*jcftiT<n'

Fot.r- p-77

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 77

feemingly minute and trivial, lie would not pals over in filence. Which may ferve as an example to the grave hiftorians, who relate facts fo very briefly and fuccinclly, that we have (carcely a lmack of them, leaving the raoft fubftantial part of the work, either through neglect, malice, or ignorance, at the bottom of the inkhorn. The bleiTing of god a thoufand times on the author of Tab/ante, of Ricamonte, and on him who wrote the exploits of the Count de Tomillas '< with what punctuality do they defcribe every thing !

I fay then, that, after the carrier had vifited his mules, and given them their fecond courfe, he laid himfelf down upon his pannels, in expectation of his mofl punctual Maritomcs. So.ncho was already plaiftered, and laid down ; and though he endeavoured to fleep, the pain of his ribs would not confent ; and Don Quixote, through the anguifh of his, kept his eyes as wide open as a hare. The whole inn was in profound filence, and no other light in it than what pro- ceeded from a lamp, which hung burning in the middle of the entry. This marvellous ftillnefs, and the thoughts which our knight always drew from the accidents recounted in every page of the books, the authors of his misfortune, brought to his imagination one of the ftrangeft whimfies that can .well be con- ceived : which was, that he fancied he was arrived at a certain famous caftlc (for, as has been faid, all the inns where he lodged were, in his opinion, ca- rries) and that the inn-keeper's daughter was daughter to the lord of the cattle ; who, captivated by his fine appearance, was fallen in love with him, and had promifed him, that night, unknown to her parents, to fteal privately to him,1-) a«d-^s-ar-g^od-^ar^^f-4t-w4th4i4m. And taking all this chimera (which he had formed to himfelf) for real and true, he began to be uneafy, and to reflect on the dangerous crifis, to which his fidelity was going to be expofed ; and he refolved in his heart not to commit difloyalty againft his lady Dukinea del To- bofo, though queen Ginebra herfelf, with the lady Quintaniona, mould prefent themfelves before him.

Whilft his thoughts were taken up with thefe extravagancies, the time and the hour (which to him proved an unlucky one) of the Afturian'% Gerftjng drew near ; who in^ier-imedc-r-afld-tja^^ . /L^tr^/P^y^hn /

lodged, to -find her carrier. But fcarce was me cometo- the doo^-#rieVg5? -%fcW- perceived her, and fitting up in his bed, in fpite of his plaifters andthe pain of his ribs, ftretched out his arms to receive his beauteous damfel the Afiuria\ whocrouching, and holding her breath, went with hands extended feeling former lovers "Thds fhe encountered Don Quixote's arms, who caught fad hold of her by the wrift, and pulling her toward him, {he not daring to fpeak a word, made her fit down on the bed by him. Prefently he felTto feeling her fmock, which, though it was of canvas, feemed to him to be of the fined and fofteft lawn. She had on her wrift a firing of glafs-beads ; but to his fancy they were precious oriental pearls. Her hairs, not \inlike thole of

a horfe's

78 lie LIFE and EXP LOITS of

a horfe's mane, he took for threads of the brightefl gold of Arabia, whofe fplendour obfcures that of the fun itfelf. And though her breath doubtlefs fmelled of ftale laft-night's falt-fifh, he fancied himfelf fucking from her lips a delicious and aromatic odour. In fhort he painted her in his imagination in the very form and manner, he had read defcribed in his books, of fome princefs who comes, adorned in the manner here mentioned, to yjfit the daneerouilv wounded knight, with whom me is injove. /And~fo great "^ the poorgcn- tleman's infatuation, that/^eMi€f=^teuch7-ftOf the brcathr-nt>iMath€^{hings--the good wench had flhoH£4^ef^-eQal4^4^fif»rT^ t0 ma;-c t||

, oaiejDu*-a^e^mer-v©mk4 — ¥et-fe^imagin& he held the goddefs of beauty Ise-^ //*» f*/ I tweejiitk-aans -s and frlafping her-&ftr with an amorous and low voice, he be- gan to fay to her : O ! that I were in a condition, beautiful and high lady, to be able to return fo vafl a favour, as this you have done me by the prefence of your great beauty ; but fortune, who is never weary of perfecuting the good is pleafed to lay me on this bed, where I lye^^bruifed and difabledj -that,' though I— were— ever fo much inclined- to gratify— your dciircs,— it-would be -im- paffihle. And to this is added another feti-g^^ateximpoflibilkyT-vvhich is ihe ^'V ' u ^' ** C>' m*c Antral, ^.plighted faith I have given to the peerlefs Dulcinea del Tobofo, the fole miftrefs iU /jcc^ 0f my mofl- hidden thoughts. Had4^-mMj^een--fef-thefe obftacles, I monkrTiot

/ have been ib-du]l-aJ4ftight, as to let flip the happy opportunity youf great good- v n<° fs hns pnl into my haRds< Mar i 'tomes was in the utmoft pain, and in a vio- lent fweat, to find herfelf held fo faft by Don Quixote j and not hearing or minding what he faid to her, fhe ftruggled, without /peaking ,a word, to get loofe from him. The honefr. carrier, whofe 16i2e-a€ttFes kept him awake, heard his fweetheart from the firfr. moment fhe entered the door, and liflened attentively to all that Don Quixote faid ; and iealous^tl?at4he^Z#f:^rm4rid--broken her-word-with him for another, he drew nearer and nearer to Don Quixote's bed, and flood ftilL_to fee what would come of thofe fpeeches which he did not underftand. Udtti feeing that the wench flrove to get from him, and that Don Quixote laboured to hold her, not liking the jeft, he lifted up his arm, and difcharged fo terrible a blow on the lanthorn jaws of the enamoured knight, that he bathed his mouth in blood : and not content with this, he mounted upon his ribs, and paced them over, fomewhat above a trot, from end to end. The bed, which was a little crazy, and its foundations none of the ftrongeft, being unable to bear the additional weight of the carrier, came down with them to the ground : at which great noife the hoft awaked, and prefently imagined it muft be fome prank of Maritornes's ; for having called to her aloud, fhe made no anfwer. With this fufpicion he got up, and lighting a candle went toward the place where he had heard the buftle. The wench, perceiving her matter coming, and knowing him to be terribly paffionate, all trembling and confounded, be- took herfelf to Sancho Panda's bed, who was now afleep ; and creeping in, flie lay clofe to him, and as round as an egg. The inn-keeper entering faid ;

Where

do'n,qluixote de la MANCHA. 79

Where are you, ftrumpet ? thefe are mod certainly fonie of your doings. Now Sancho awaked, and perceiving that bulk, lying as it were a-top of him, fancied he had got the night-mare, and began to lay about him on every fide : and not a few of his fifty-cuffs reached Man 'tomes, who, provoked by the fmart, and laying all modefty afide, made Sancho fuch a return in kind, that flic quite rouzed him from fleep, in defpite of his drowzinefs : who finding himfelf handled in that manner, without knowing by whom, raifed himfelf up as well as he could, and grappled with Maritonics ; and there began between them two the toughed and pleafanteft skirmifli in the world. Now the carrier perceiving, by the light of the hoft's candle, how it fared with his miftrefs, quitted Don Quixote, and ran to give her the neceflary affiftance. The landlord did the fame, but with a different intention ; for his was to chaftize the wench, concluding without doubt, that flie was the fole occafion of all this harmony. And fo, as the pro- verb goes, the cat to the rat, the rat to the rope, and the rope to the flick : the carrier belaboured Sancho, Sancho the wench, the wench him, the in-keeper the wench; and all laid about them fo thick, that they gave thcmfelves not a minute's reft : and the beft of it was, that the landlord's candle went out ; and they, being left in the dark, threfhed one another fo unmercifully, that let the hand light where it would, it left nothing found.

There lodged by chance that night in the inn an officer, of thofe they call the old holy brotherhood of Toledo ' ; who, likewife hearing the ftrange noife of the fcuffle, catched up his wand, and the tin-box which held his commifllon, and entered the room in the dark, crying out ; Forbear, in the name of juftice ; forbear, in the name of the holy brotherhood. And the firft he lighted on was the battered Don Quixote, who lay on his demolifhed bed, ftretched upon his back, and quite fenfelefs ; and laying hold of his beard, as he was gropr n T about, he cried out inceffantly, I charge you to aid and affift me : but, finding that the perfon he had laid hold of neither ftirred nor moved, he concluded that he muft be dead, and that the people within the room were his murderers : and with this fufpicion he raifed his voice ftill louder, crying ; Shut the inn-door, fee that nobody gets out ; for they have killed a man here. This voice afto- nifhed them all, and each of them left the conflidl the very moment the voice reached them. The landlord withdrew to his chamber, the carrier to his pan- nels, and the wench to her ftraw : only the unfortunate Don Quixote and Sancho could not ftir from the place they were in. Now the officer let go Don Quixote's beard, and went out to get a light, to fearch after and apprehend the delin- quents : but he found none ; for the inn-keeper had purpofely extinguifhed the lamp, when he retired to his Chamber ; and the officer was forced to have re- courfe to the chimney, where, after much pains and time, he lighted another lamp.

« They patrouil in fquadrons, to apprehend robbers and diforderly perfons.

CHAP.

go The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. III.

Wherein are continued the numberlefs hard/hips, which the brave Don Quixote and his good /quire Sancho Par^a underwent in the inn, which he unhappily took for a caftle.

BY this time Don Quixote was come to himfelf, and with the very fame tone of voice, with which, the day before, he had called to his fquire, when he lay ftretched along in the valley of pack-ftaves, he began to call to him, faying ; Sancho, friend, fleepeft thou ? fleepeft thou, friend Sancho f How mould I fleep ? woe it me ! anfwered Sancho, full of trouble and vexation ; I cannot but t1 link all the devils in hell have been in my company to-night. You may very well believe fo, anfwered Don Quixote ; and either I know little, or this caftle is enchanted. For you muft know — but what I am now going to tell you, you muft fwear to keep fecret till after my death. Yes, I fwear, anfwered Sancho. I fay it, replied Don Quixote, becaufe I am an enemy to the taking away any body's reputation. I do fwear, faid Sancho again, I will keep it fecret till after your deceafe, and god grant I may difcover it to-morrow. Have I done you fo many ill turns, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote, that you would willingly fee me dead fo very foon ? It is not for that, anfwered Sancho ; but I am an enemy to keeping things long, and I would not have them rot with keeping. Be it for what it will, faid Don Quixote ; I truft for greater matters than that to your love and your kindnefs : and therefore you muft know, that this night there has befallen me one of the ftrangeft adventures imaginable ; and, to tell it you in few words, know, that a little while ago there came to me the daughter of the lord of this caftle, who is the moft accomplifhed and beautiful damfel that is to be found in a great part of the habitable earth. What could I not tell you of the gracefulnefs of her perfon ? what of the fprightlinefs of her wit ? what of other hidden charms, which, to preferve the fidelity I owe to my lady Dulcinea del Tobofo, I will pafs over untouched and in filence ? only I would tell you, that heaven, envying fo great happinefs as fortune had put into my hands ; or perhaps (which is more probable) this caftle, as I faid before, being enchanted ; at the time that fhe and I were engaged in the fweeteft aTitbmeft=affiW©»s"con- verfation, without my feeing it, or knowing whence it came, comes a hand, faftened to the arm of fome monftrous giant, and gave me fuch a doufe on the chops, that I was all bathed in blood, , and it afterwards pounded me in fuch fort, that I am in a worfe cafe than yefterday, when the carriers, for Rozi- ?iante'& frolic, did us the mifchief you know. Whence I conjecture, that the treafUre of this damfel's beauty is guarded by fome enchanted Moor, and is not referved for me. Nor for me neither, anfwered Sancho ; for more than four hundred Moors have cudgelled me in fuch a manner, that the bafting of the pack-ftaves was tirts and cheefe-cakes to it. But tell me, pray, Sir, how can

you

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. Si

you call this an excellent ami rare adventure, which has left us in fiich a pickle r though it was not quite ib bad with your worfhip, who had hffrwbtM ffififrnVms that incomparable beauty a I've laid. But I, what had I, befides the heavieft blows that, I hope, I fhall ever feel as long as I live ? Woe is me, and the mother that bore mc ! for I am no knight-errant, nor ever mean to be one ; and yet, of all the mifadventures, the greater part frill falls to my fliare. What ! have you been pounded too? anfwered Don Quixote. Have I not told you, ye ? Evil befall my lineage ! quoth Sancbo. Be in no pain, friend, faid Don Quixote-, for I will now make the precious balfam, with which we will cure ourfelves in the twinkling of an eye. By this time the officer had lighted lamp, and entered to fee the perfon he thought was killed ; and Sancho feeing him come in, and perceiving him to be in his lhirt, with a night-cap on his head, a lamp in his hand, and a very ill-favoured countenance, he demanded of his mailer ; Pray, Sir, is this the enchanted Moor coming to chaflife us again, if any thing be left at the bottom of the ink-horn ' ? It cannot be the Moor, anfwered Don Quixote ; for the enchanted fuffer not themfelves to be feen by any body. If they will not be feen, they will be felt, faid Sancbo ; witnefs my moulders. Mine might fpeak too, anfwered Don Qjtixote : but this is not fuffi- cient evidence to convince us, that what we fee is the enchanted Moor.

The officer came, and, finding them communing in fo calm a manner, flood in fufpence. It is true indeed, Don Quixote ftill lay flat on his back, without being able to Air, through mere pounding- and plaiftering. The officer approached him, and faid : How fares it, honefl friend ? I would fpeak more refpedtfully, anfwered Don Quixote, were I in your place. Is it the fafhion of this country to talk in this manner to knights-errant, blockhead ? The officer, feeing him- felf fo ill-treated by one of fo fcurvy an appearance, could not bear it, and lift- ing up the brafs-lamp, with all its oil, gave it Don Quixote over the pate, in fuch fort, that he broke his head ; and, all being in the dark, he ran inflantly out of the room. Doubtlefs, Sir, quoth Sancbo Panga, this is the enchanted Moor ; and he referves the treafure for others, and for us only blows and lamp- knocks \ It is even fo, anfwered Don Quixote ; and it is to no purpofe to re- gard this bufinefs of enchantments, or to be out of humour or angry with them ; for as they are invifible and phantaftical only, we fhall find nothing to be re- venged on, though we endeavour it never fo much. Get you up, Sancbo, if you can, and call the governour of this fortrefs ; and take care to get me fome oil, wine, fait, and rofemary, to make the healing balfam ; for, in truth, I be- lieve I want it very much at this time ; for the wound this phantom has given me bleeds very faft.

S: fe dtxo abo en el tintero. The meaning of which phrafe is clear from the like expreflion in the preceding chapter, where Cervantes praifes the punctuality of Cid Hamcte Benengeli in re- counting the minuteit circumftances of the hiftory ; whereas other hillorians relate facts too fucincUy, Ig the moft fubitantial part of the work at the bottom of the ink-horn {dexandefe at el tintero, &C.) that is, having the work imperfect.

1 Candi/azes. A new-coined word in the original*

Vol. I. M Sancbo

C2 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

Sancho got up, with pain eno,ugh of his bones, and went in the dark towards the landlord's chamber, and meeting with the officer, who was liftening to dis- cover what his enemy would be at, faid to him ; Sir^ whoever you are, do us, the favour and kindnefs to help us to a little rofemary, oil, fait and wine ; for they are wanted to cure one of the beft knights-errant that are in die world, who lies in yon bed, forely wounded by the hands of the enchanted Moor that is in this inn. The officer, hearing him talk at this rate, took him for one out of Ills fenfes. And the day beginning to dawn, he opened "the inn-door, and calling the hoft, told him what that honeft man wanted. The inn-keeper fur- nifhed him with what he defired, and Sancho carried them to Don Quixote, who lay with his hands on his head, complaining of the pain of the lamp-knock, which had done him no other hurt than the railing a couple of bumps pretty much fwelled : and what he took for blood was nothing but fweat, occafioned by the anguifh of the laft night's hurricane. In fine, he took his fimples, and made a compound of them, mixing them together, and boiling them a good while, 'till he thought they were enough. Then he asked for a viol to put it in; and there being no fuch thing in die inn, he refolved to put it in a cruze, or oil-ilask of tin, which the hoft made him a prefent of. And immediately he faid over the cruze above fourfcore Pater-nojiers and as many Ave-maries, Sal- ves and Credos, and every word was accompanied with a crofs by way of bene- diction : at all which were prefent Sancho, the inn-keeper, and the officer : as for the carrier, he was gone foberly about the bufinefs of tending his mules.

Now the dofe being ready, he refolved immediately to make trial of the virtue of that precious ballam, as he imagined it to be ; and fo he drank about a pint and a half of what the cruze could not contain, and which remained in the pot it was infufed and boiled in ; and fcarcely had he done drinking, when he began to vomit fo violently, that nothing was left in his ftomach : and thro* the convulfive Teachings and agitation of the vomit, he fell into a raoft copious fweat : wherefore he ordered them to cover him up warm, and to leave him alone. They did fo, and he continued faft afleep above three hours, when he awoke, and found himfelf greatly relieved in his body, and fo much recovered of his bruifing, that he thought himfelf as good as cured. And he was tho- roughly perfuaded that he had hit on the true balfam of Fierabras, and, that with this remedy he might thenceforward encounter without fear any dan- gers, battles, and conflicts whatever, though never fo perilous.

Sancho Panca, who likewife took his mailer's amendment for a miracle, de- fired he would give him what remained in the pipkin, which was no fmall quantity. Don Quixote granting his requett, he took it in both hands, and with a good faith and better will, totted it down into his ftomach, fwilling very little lefs than his matter had done. Now the cafe was, that poor Sancho' s ftomach was not fo nice and fqueamifh as his matter's ; and therefore, before he could throw it up, it gave him fuch pangs and loathings, with fo many cold fvveats

and

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 83

and faintings, that he verily thought his Lift hour was come : and finding him- felf fo afflicted and tormented, he curfed the balfam, and the thief that had given it him. Don Quixote, feeing him in that condition, faid to him : I be- lieve, Sancho, that all this mifchief has befallen you becaufe you are not dubbed a knight : for I am of opinion, this liquor can do no good to thofe who are not. If your worfhip knew that, replied Sancho (evil betide me and all my genera- tion!) why did you fuffcr me to drink it ? By this time the drench operated effectually, amHKe-pooF-Jquirc began to4eiLiiy^r4jotrrxrnrrmg& with fo much precipitation, that the flag-mat upon which he lay, and the blanket in which he wrapped himfclf, were never after fit for ufe. He fweated and fvveated again, with fuch faintings and fits, that not only himfclf, but every body elfe thought he was expiring. This hurricane and evacuation-errant lafted him near two hours; at the end of which he did not remain as his mafter did, but fo {battered and broken, that he was not able to ftand. But Don Quixote, who, as is faid, found himfelf at eafe and whole, would needs depart immediately in queft of adventures, believing, that all the time he loitered away there was depriving the world, and the diftrefted in it, of his aid and protection ; and the rather through the fecurity and confidence he placed in the balfem : and thus, hurried away by this ftrong defire, he faddlcd Rozkmttte with his own hands, and pannelled his fquire's beaft, whom he alio helped to drefs, and to mount him upon the als. He prefently got on horfeback, and, coming to a corner of the inn, he laid hold of a pike that ftood there, to ferve him for a launce. All the folks in the inn flood gazing at him, being fomewhat above twenty perfons : among the reft the hoft's daughter flared at him, and he on his part removed not his eyes from her, and now and then fent forth a figh, which he feemed to tear up from the bot- tom of his bowels ; all imagining it to proceed from the pain he felt in his ribs, at leaft thofe, who the night before had feen how he was plaiftered.

They being now both mounted, and {landing at the door of the inn, he called to the hoft, and, with a very folemn and grave voice, faid to him ; Many and great are the favours, Signor governor, which in this your caftle I have received, and *I remain under infinite obligations to acknowledge them all the days of my life. If I could make you a return by revenging- you on any infolent, who has done you outrage, know that the duty of my profeflion is no other than to ftrengthen the weak, to revenge the injured, and to chaftife the perfidious. Run over your memory, and if you find any thing of this nature to recommend to me, you need only declare it ; for I promife you, by the order of knighthood I have received, to procure you fatisf iclion and amends to your heart's defire. Tiie hoft anfwered with the fame gravity : Sir knight, I have no need of your worfhip's avenging any wrong for me ; I know how to take the proper revenge, when any injury is done me : I only defire your worfhip to pay me for what you have h id in the inn, as well for the ftraw and barley for your two beafts, as for your fuppcr and lodging. What, then, is this an inn ? replied Don Quixote t And a very credita-

M 2 ble

84 the LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

ble one, anfwered the hofl. Hitherto then I have been in an error, anfwered Don Quixote-, for in truth I took it for a caftle, and no bad one neither: but iince it is fo, that it is no caftle, but an inn, all that can now be done, is, that you excufe the payment ; for I cannot aft contrary to the law of knights-errant, of whom I certainly know (having hitherto read nothing to the contrary) that they never paid for lodging, or any thing elfe, in any inn where they have lain ; and that becaufe, of right and good reafon, all poifible good accommodation is due to them, in recompence of the infufferable hardfhips they endure in queft of adventures, by night and by day, in winter and in fummer, on foot and on horfeback, with thirft and With hunger, with heat and with cold, fubjetf: to all the inclemencies of heaven, and to all the inconveniencies upon earth. I fee little to my purpofe in all this, anfwered the hofl: : pay me what is my due, and let us have none of your ftories and knight-errantries ; for I make no account of any thing, but how to come by my own. Thou art a blockhead, and a pitiful inn-keeper, anfwered Don Quixote : fo clapping fpurs to Rozinante, and bran- difhing his launce, he fallied out of the inn, without any body's oppofing him, and, without looking to fee whether his fquire followed him or not, got a good way off.

The hoft, feeing him go off, without paying him, ran to feize on Sancho Pan fa, who faid, that fince his mafter would not pay, he would not pay nei- ther ; for being fquire to a knight-errant, as he was, the fame rule and reafon held as good for him as for his mafter, not to pay any thing in publick-houfes and inns. The inn-keeper grew very tefty at this, and threatned him, if he did not pay him, he would get it in a way he fhould be forry for. Sancho fwore by the order of chivalry, which his mafter had received, that he would not pay a fingle farthing, though it fhould coft him his life ; for the laudable and an- cient ufage of knights-errant fhould not be loft for him, nor fhould the fquires of future knights have reafon to complain of, or reproach him for the breach of fo juft a right.

Poor Sancho's ill luck would have it, that, among thofe who were in the inn, there were four cloth-workers of Segovia, three needle-makers of the horfe- fountain of Cordova \ and two butchers of Sevil, all arch, merry, unlucky, and frolickfome fellows; who, as it were, inftigated and moved by the felf-fame fpirit, came up to Sancho, and difmounting him from the afs, one of them went in for the landlord's bed-blanket : and putting him therein, they looked up and faw that the cieling was fomewhat too low for their work, and deter- mined to go out into the yard, which was bounded only by the sky. There, Sancho being placed in the midft of the blanket, they began to tofs him aloft, and to divert themfelves with him, as with a dog at Shrovetide. The cries, which the poor blanketted fquire fent forth, were fo many, and fo loud, that

' El potro de Cordova. A fquare in the city of Cordova, where a fountain gufhes out from a horfe's mouth; near which is alfo a wh:pping-pofh

they

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 85

they reached his matter's ears; who, (lopping to liften attentively, believed that fomc new adventure was at hand, 'till he found plainly that he who cried was his fquire ; and turning the reins, with a conftrained gallop, he came up to the inn; and finding it (hut, he rode round it to difcovcr, if he could, an entrance. But he was fcarcc got to the wall of the yard, which was not very high, when he perceived the wicked fport they were making with his fquire. He faw him afcend and defcend through the air with fo much grace and agility, that, if his eholer would have furfered him, I am of opinion he would have laughed. He tried to get from his horfe upon die pales ; but he was fo bruifed and battered, 'that he could not fo much as alight, and fo from on horfeback he began to call thofe, who were toiling Sancho, fo many ftrange and abufive names, diat it is impoffible to put them down in writing : but they did not therefore defift from their laughter, nor their labour; nor did the flying Saticho forbear his com- plaints, mixed fometimes widi menaces, fometimes with intreaties : yet all availed little, nor would have availed; but at laft they left off for pure weari- nefs. They then brought him his afs, and, wrapping him in his ioofe coat, mounted him thereon. The companionate Maritornes, feeing him fo haraffed, thought good to help him to a jug of water, which flie brought from the well,, becaufe it was cooleft. Sancho took it, and, as he was lifting it to his mouth, flopped at his mafter's calling to him aloud, faying; Son Sancho, drink not water; child, do not drink it; it will kill thee: fee here, I hold the moft holy balfam (fhew- ing him the cruze of the potion) by drinking but two drops of which, you will doubtlefs be whole and found again. At thefe words Sancho turned his eyes as it were askew, and faid with a louder voice; Perhaps you have forgot,. Sir, that I am no knight, or you would have me vomit up what remains of my entrails, after laft night's work. Keep your liquor, in the devil's name, and let me alone. His ceafing to fpeak, and beginning to drink, was all in a mo- ment : but at die firft fip finding it was water, he would proceed no further,, and prayed Maritornes to bring him fome wine : which die did with a very good will, and paid for it widi her own money; for they fay of her, that, though fhe was in that ftation, fhe had fome fhadows and faint out-lines of a chriftian. As foon as Sancho had done drinking, he fell a kicking his afs; and the inn-gate being dirown wide open, out he went, mightily fatisried that he had paid no- thing, and had carried his point, though at the expence of his accuftomed furety, his carkafs. The landlord, indeed, was in poffefiion of his wallets for payment of what was due to him; but Sancho never miffed them, fo confufed was he at going off. The inn-keeper wrould have faftened the door well after him, as foon as he faw him out ; but the blanketteers would not confent, being perfons of that fort, that, though Don Quixote had really been one of the knights of die round table, they would not have cared two farthings for him.

CHAP,

86

Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. IV.

In which is rehearfed the difcourfe, which Sancho Panga held with his majler Don Quixote, with other adventures worth relating.

OANCHO came up to his mailer, pale, and difpirited to that degree, that he *-* was not able to fpur on his afs. Don Quixote, perceiving him in that con- dition, faid ; Now am I convinced, honeil Sancho, that that caftle or inn is doubtlefs enchanted} for they who fo cruelly fported themfelves with you, what could they be but hobgoblins, and people of the other world ? And I am con- firmed in this by having found, that, when I flood at the pales of the yard, be- holding the acts of your fad tragedy, I could not poffibly get upon them, nor fo much as alight from Rozinante ; fo that they muil certainly have held me en- chanted: for I fwear to you, by the faith of what I am, that, if I could have got over, or alighted, I would have avenged you in fuch a manner, as would have made thofe poltroons and aifaflins remember the jeil as long as they lived, though I knew I had tranfgreffed the laws of chivalry thereby : for, as I have often told you, they do not allow a knight to lay hand on his fword againil any one who is not fo, unlefs it be in defence of his own life and perfon, and in cafe o£ urgent and extreme neceffity. And I too, quoth Sancho, would have avenged myfelf if I could, dubbed or not dubbed ; but I could not : though I am of opinion, that diey, who diverted themfelves at my expence, were no hob- goblins, but men of flefli and bones, as we are; and each of them, as I heard while they were toiling me, had his proper name : one was called Pedro Mar- tinez, another Tenor io Hernandez ; and the landlord's name is John Palomeque the left-handed: fo that, Sir, as to your not being able to leap over the pales, nor to alight from your horfe, the fault lay in fomething elfe, and not in enchant- ment. And what I gather clearly from all this, is, that thefe adventures we are in queil of will at the long run bring us into fo many difventures, that we fhall not know which is our right foot. So that, in my poor opinion, the bet- ter and furer way would be to return to our village, now that it is reaping-time, and look after our buiinefs, and not run rambling from Ceca to Mecca \ leap- ing out of the frying-pan into die fire. How little do you know, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote, what belongs to chivalry ! peace, and have patience ; the day will come, when you will fee with your eyes how honourable a thing it is to follow this profeffion : for tell me, what greater fatisfuction can tliere be in the world, or what pleafure can be compared with that of winning a batde, and triumphing over one's enemy? none without doubt. It may be fo, an- fwered Sancho, though Ido not know it. I only know, that fmce we have

» Ceca was a place of devotion among the Moors in the city of Cordova, to which they ufed to go in pil- grimage from other places; as Mecca is among the Turks: whence the proverb comes to fignify Jauntring about to no furpoje, — A banter upcn pcpifti pilgrimages.

been

DON QJLJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 87

been knights-errant, or you have been, Sir, (for there is no reafon I fliould reckon myfelf in that honourable number) we have never won any battle, ex- cept that of the Bifcainer -, and even there you came off with the lols of half an ear, and half a helmet ; and, from that day to this, we have had nothing but drubbings upon drubbings, cuffs upon cuffs, belide the blanket-tolling into the bargain, and that by perlbns enchanted, on whom I cannot revenge myfelf, to know how fir the plea fu re reaches of overcoming an enemy, as your wor- lhip is pleafed to fay. That is what troubles me, and ought to trouble you, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote : but henceforward I will endeavour to have ready at hand a fword made by fuch art, that no kind of enchantment can touch him that wears it. And perhaps fortune may procure me that of Atnadis, when he called himfelf knight of the burning fivord, which was one of the belt weapons that ever knight had in the world : for, befide the virtue afore- laid, it cut like a razor, and no armour, though ever fo ftrong, or ever fo much enchanted, could ftand againft it. I am fo fortunate, quoth Sancho, that though this were fo, and you fliould find fuch a fword, it would be of fervice and ufe only to thofe who are dubbed knights, like the ballam : as for the poor fquires, they may ring forrow. Fear not that, Sancho, faid Don Quixote; hea- ven will deal more kindly by tliee.

Don Quixote and his fquire went on thus conferring together, when Don Quixote perceived on the road they were in a great and thick cloud of duft coming towards them ; and feeing it, he turned to Sancho, and laid : This is the day, O Sancho, wherein will be feen the good that fortune has in ftore for me. This is the day, I fay, wherein will appear, as much as in anv the ft rength of my arm ; and in which I fhall perform fuch exploits, as mall remain written in the book of fame, to all fucceeding ages. See you yon cloud of duft Sancho ? it is raifed by a prodigious army of divers and innumerable nation*' who are on the march this way. By this account there muft be two armies' faid Sancho ; for on this oppofite fide there rifes fuch another cloud of duft' Don Quixote turned to view it, and, feeing it was fo, rejoiced exceedingly ta- king it tor granted, they were two armies coming to engage in the midft of that fpacious plain: for at all hours and moments his imagination was full of the battles, enchantments, adventures, extravagancies, amours, and challenges which he found in the books of chivalry; and whatever he faid, thought &or did, had a tendency that way. Now the cloud of duft he faw was raifed by two great flocks of flieep going the fame road from different parts, and the duft hindered them from being feen, 'till they came near. But Don Quixote amrmed with fo much pofitivenefs, that they were armies, that Sancho be to believe it, and faid ; Sir, what then muft we do ? What, replied Don Quixote, but favour and aflift the weaker fide? Now then you muft know, Sancho that the army, which marches towards us in front, is led and com- manded by the great emperor Alifanfaron, lord of die great ifland of T pro-

b.ma :

88

the LIVE and EXPLOITS of

bana : this other, which marches behind us, is that of his enemy, the king of the Garamantes, Pentapolin of the naked arm ; for he always enters into the battle with his right arm bare '. But why do thefe two princes hate one another fo, demanded Sancho ? They hate one another, anfwered Don Quixote, becaufe this Alifanjaron is a furious pagan, and is in love with the daughter of Penta- polin, who is a moft beautiful and fuperlatively graceful lady, and a chriftian ; and her father will not give her in marriage to the pagan king, unlefs he will firft renounce the religion of his falfe prophet Mahomet, and turn chriftian. By my beard, faid Sancho, Pentapolin is in the right, and I am refolved to affift him to the utmoft of my power. In fo doing, you will do your duty, Sancho, laid Don Quixote ; for, in order to engage in fuch fights, it is not neceffary to be dubbed a knight. I eafily comprehend that, anfwered Sancho ; but where fhall we difpofe of this afs, that we may be fure to find him when the fray is over ? for I believe it was never yet the fafhion to go to battle upon fuch a kind of beaft. You are in the right, faid Don Quixote ; and what you may do with him is, to let him take his chance, whether he be loft or not : for we fhall have fuch choice of horfes after the victory, that Pozinante himfelf will run a rifque of being trucked for another. But liften with attention, whilft I give you an account of the principal knights of both the armies. And that you may fee and obferve them the better, let us retire to yon rifing ground, from whence both the armies may be diftinctly feen. They did fo, and got upon a hillock, from whence the two flocks, which Don Quixote took for two armies, might eafily have been difcerned, had not the clouds of duft they raifed ob- ftrudled and blinded the fight : but our knight, feeing in his imagination what lie did not fee, nor was to be feen in nature, began with a loud voice to fay :

The knight you fee yonder with the gilded armour, who bears in his fhield a lion crowned coachant at a damfel's feet, is the valorous Laurcalco, lord of the filver bridge : the other with the armour flowered with gold, who bears three crowns argent, in a field azure, is the formidable Micocolembo, grand duke of Quiracia : the third, with gigantic limbs, who marches on his right, is the undaunted Brandabarbaran of Bclichc, lord of the three Arabias ; he is armed with a ferpent's skin, and bears inftead of a fhield a gate, which, fame fays, is one of thofe belonging to the temple, which Sampfon pulled down, when with his death he avenged himfelf upon his enemies. But turn your eyes to this other fide, and you will fee, in the front of this other army, the ever victorious and never vanquifhed Timonel de Carcajona, prince of the New Bif- cay, who comes armed with armour quartered, azure, vert, argent, and or, bearing in his fhield a cat or in a field gules, with a fcroll infcribed MIAXJ, being the beginning of his miftrefs's name, who, it is reported, is the peerlefs Miaulina, daughter to Alphvmiqucn duke of Algaroe. The other, who bur- thens and oppreffes the back of yon fpirited fteed, whofe armour is as white as

1 Alluding to the ftory of Scemderbee king of Etirus.

fnow,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 89

fnow, and his fhield white, without any device, is a new knight, by birth | Frenchman, called Peter Papin, lord of the baronies of Utrique. The other, whom you fee, with his armed heels, pricking the flanks of that pyed fleet courfer, and his armour of pure azure, is the powerful duke of Nerbia, Efpartafiiardo ot the wood, whofe device is an afparagus-bd ', with this motto, in Caflihav, Raftrca mi fuerte, Thus drags tny fortune. In this manner he went on, naming fundry knights of each fquadron, as his fancy dictated, and diflributing to each their arms, colours, devices, and mottoes, ex tempore, carried on by the (her of his imagination and unaccountable madnefs : and fife, witnout hehtaiion, he went on thus. That body fronting us is formed and compofed of people ot different nations : * here ffand thofe, who drink the fweet waters of the famous Xanthus ; the mountaineers, who tread the Mqfftlian fields ; thofe, who lift the pure and fine gold-duff of Arabia Falix • thofe, who dwell along the famous and refrefhing bonks of the clear Thermodon ; thofe, who drein, by fundry and divers ways, the golden veins of PaBolus ; the Numidians, unfaithful in their promifes ; the Perjians, famous for bows and arrows ; the Parthians and Medes, who fight flying ; the Arabians, perpetually ihifting their habitations ; the Scy- thians^ *& cruel as fair; the broad-lipped Ethiopians ; and an infinity of other nations, whofe countenances I fee and know, though I cannot recoiled: then- names. In that other fquadron come thofe, who drink the chryfltal ftreams of olive-bearing Betis ; thofe, who brighten and poliih their faces with the liquor of the ever-rich and golden Tagus ; thofe, who enjoy the profitable waters of the divine Genii ; thofe, who tread the Tartefian fields, abounding in paflure ; thofe, who recreate themfelves in the Elyfian meads of Xereza ; the rich Man- chegans, crowned with yellow ears of corn ; thofe, clad in iron, the antique remains of the Gothic race ; thofe, who bathe themfelves in Pifuerga, famous for the gentlenefs of its current ; thofe, who feed their flocks on the fpacious paftures of the winding Guadiana, celebrated for its hidden fource 5 thofe, who ihiver on the cold brow of fhady Pyrenens, and the fnowy tops of lofty Apen- ninus; in a word, all that Europe contains and includes.

Good god ! how many provinces did he name ! how many nations did he enumerate ! giving to each, with wonderful readinefs, its peculiar attributes, wholly abforped and wrapped up in what he had read in his lying books. Sancho Panca flood confounded at his difcourfe, without fpeaking a word ; and now and then he turned his head about, to fee whether he could difcover the knights and giants his mafter named : But feeing none, he faid ; Sir, the devil a man, or giant, or knight, of all you have named, appears any where ; at leaf! I do not fee them : perhaps all may be enchantment, like laft night's

' This paflage has been utterly mifhken by all tr.-mfiatcrs in all languages. The original word Efparaguera is a mock alluiion to Effartafilardt, and the gingle between the words is a ridicule upo.i the fbolifh quibbles fo frequent in heraldry ; and probably this whole catalogue is a fatire upon feveral creac names and founding titles in Spain, whofe owners were arrant beggars. 1 An imitation of Homer % catalogue of (hips.

Vol I. N goblins.

9° Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

goblins. How fay you, Sancho f anfwered Don Quixote. Do you not hear the neighing of the fteeds, the found of the trumpets, and ratding of the drums ? I hear nothing, anfwered Sancho, befides the bleating of fheep and lambs : and fo it was ; for now the two flocks were come very near them. The fear you are in, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, makes you, that you can neither fee nor hear aright ; for one effect of fear is to difturb the fenfes, and make things not to appear what they are : and if you are fo much afraid, get you afide, and leave me alone ; for I am able, with my Angle arm, to give the victory to that fide I mall favour with my affiftance. And faying this, he clapped fpurs to Rozi- nante, fetting his launce in its reft, and darted down the hillock like lightening. Sancho cried out to him ; Hold, Signor Don Quixote , comeback; as god fhallfave me, they are lambs and fheep you are going to encounter : pray come back ; woe to the father that begot me! what madnefs is this ? Look; there is neither giant, nor knight, nor cats, nor arms, nor fhields quartered nor entire, nor true azures nor be-devilled : finner that I am ! what is it you do ? For all this, Don Quixote turned not again, but ftill went on, crying aloud ; Ho ! knights, you that follow and fight under the banner of the valiant emperor Pentapolin of the naked arm, follow me all, and you fhall fee with how much eafe I revenge him on his enemy Alifanfaron of Taprobana. And faying thus, he rufhed into the midft of the fquadron of the fheep, and began to attack them with his launce, as courageoufly and intrepidly, as if in good earneft he was engaging his mortal enemies. The fhepherds and herdfmen, who came with the flocks, called out to him to defift ; but feeing it was to no purpofe, they unbuckled their flings, and began to let drive about his ears with ftones as big one's fift. Don Quixote did not mind the Hones, but, running about on all fides, cried out ; Where are you, proud Alifanfaron ? prefent yourfelf before me ; for I am a fingle knight, defirous to try your force hand to hand, and to puniih you with the lofs of life, for the wrong you do to the valiant Pentapolin Garatnanta. At that in- flant came a large pebble-ftone, and ftraek him fuch a blow on the fide, that it buried a couple of his ribs in his body. Finding himfelf thus ill-treated, he believed for certain he was flain, or forely wounded ; and remembering his li- quor, he pulled out his craze, and fet it to his mouth, and began to let fome go down : but, before he could fwallow what he thought fufficient, comes an- other of thofe almonds, and hit him fo fall on the hand and on the craze, that it dafhed it to-pieces, carrying off three or four of his teeth by the way, and grievoufly bruifing two of his fingers. Such was the firft. blow and fuch the fe- cond, that the poor knight tumbled from his horfe to the ground. The fhep- herds ran to him, and verily believed they had killed him ; whereupon in all hafte they got their flock together, took up their dead, which were above fe- ven, and marched off without farther enquiiy.

All this while Sancho flood upon the hillock, beholding his mafter's extrava- gancies, tearing his beard, and curfing the unfortunate hour and moment that

ever

///!'. ■'■'-/,7iu/i'/-/:i'riA i/ir' r/ <J}?//n. 11/ r P _9f

, ■

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA, 91

ever he knew him. But feeing him fallen to the ground, and the fhepherds already gone off, he dcfcended from the hillock, and running to him found him in a very ill plight, though he had not quite loft the ufe of his fenfes. Did I not defire you, laid he, Signor Don Quixote, to come back ? Did I not tell you, that thofe you went to attack were a flock of fhecp, and not an army of men? How eafily, replied Don Quixote, can that thief of an enchanter, my enemy, make things appear or difappear ! You muft know, Sancho, that it is a very eafy matter for fuch to make us feem what they pleafe ; and tliis ma- lignant, who perfecutes me, envious of the glory he faw I was like to acquire in this battle, has transformed the hoftile fquadrons into flocks of fheep. How- ever, do one thing, Sancho, for my fake, to undeceive yourfelf, and fee the trudi of what I tell you : get upon your afs, and follow them fair and foftly, and you will find, that, when they are got a little farther off, they will return to their firft form, and, ceafing to be muttons, will become men, proper and tall, as I defcribed them at firft. But do not go now ; for I want your help and afiiftance : come hither to me, and fee how many grinders I want ; for it feems to me that I have not one left in my head. Sancho came fo clofe to him, that he almoft thrull his eyes into his mouth ; and it being precifely at the time the balfam began to work in Don Quixote's ftomach, at the initant Sancho was looking into his mouth, he difcharged the contents, with as much violence as if it had been fhot out of a demi-culverin, directly in the face and beard of the compaffionate fquire. Blefied virgin ! quoth Sancho, what is tliis has befallen me ? without doubt this poor finner is mortally wounded, fince he vomits blood at the mouth. But reflecting a little, he found by the colour, fa- vour, and fmell, that it was not blood, but the balfam of the cruze he faw him drink ; and fo great was the loathing he felt thereat, that his ftomach turned, and he vomited up his veiy guts upon his mafter ; fo that they both remained exactly in the fame pickle. Sancho ran to his afs, to take fomething out of his wallets, to cleanfe himfelf, and cure his mafter ; but not finding them he was very near running diffracted. He curfed himfelf afrefh, and purpofed in his mind to leave his mafter, and return home, though he fhould lofe his wages for the time pad, and his hopes of the government of the promifed ifland,

Hereupon Don Quixote got up, and laying his left hand on his mouth, to prevent the remainder of his teeth from falling out, with the other he laid hold on Rozinante's bridle, who never had ftirred from his mafter's fide (Jo trufty was he and good-conditioned) and went where his fquire ftood leaning his breaft on his afs, and his cheek on his hand, in the pofture of a man overwhelmed with thought. Don Quixote feeing him in that guile, with the appearance of fo much fadnefs, faid : Know, Sancho, that one man is no more dun another, unlcfs he does more than another. All thefe ftorms that fill upon us are figns that die weather will clear up, and things will go fmoothly : for it is impoffible that either evil or good fhould be durable ; and hence it follows, that, the evil

N 2 having

92 The LIFE and EXP LOITS of

having Med long, the good cannot be far off. So that you ought not to afflict yourfelf for the mifchances that befal me, fince you have no fhare in them. How, no fhare in them ! anfwered Sancho : peradventure he they tolled in a blanket yefterday was not my father's fon ; and the wallets I mifs to-day, with all my moveables, are ibme body's elfe ? What ! are the wallets miffing, Sancho, quoth Don Quixote"! Yes they are, anfwered Sancho. Then we have nothing to eat to-day, replied Don Quixote. It would be fo,- anfwered Sancho, if thefe fields did not produce thofe herbs, you fay you know, with which fuch unlucky knights-errant as your worfhip are wont to fupply the like neceffities. For all that, anfwered Don Quixote, at this time I had rather have a dice of bread, and a couple of heads of fait pilchards, than all the herb? defcribed by Diofcorides, though commented upon by Dr. Laguna himfelf. But, good Sancho, get upon your afs, and follow me ; for god, who is the provider of all things, will not fail us, and the rather feeing we are fo employed in his fervice as we are, fince he does not fail the gnats of the air, the wormlings of the earth, nor the froglings of the water ; and fo merciful is he, that he makes his fun to fhinef upon the good and the bad, and caufes rain to fall upon the juft and unjuft. Your worfhip, faid Sancho, would make a better preacher than a knight-errant. Sancho, faid Don Quixote, the knights-errant ever did and muft know fome- thing of every thing ; and there have been knights-errant in times paft, who would make fermons or harangues on the king's high-way, with as good a grace as if they had taken their degrees in the univerfity of Paris : whence we may infer, that the launce never blunted the pen, nor the pen the launce. Well ! let it be as your worfhip fays, anfwered Sancho ; but let us be gone hence, and endeavour to get a lodging to-night ; and pray god it be where there are neither blankets, nor blanket-heavers, nor hobgoblins, nor enchanted Moors : for if there be, the devil take both the flock and the fold. Child, faid Don Quixote, do you befeech god, and lead me whither you will : for this time I leave it to' your choice where to lodge us : but reach hither your hand, and feel with your finger how many grinders I want on the right fide of my upper jaw ; for there I feel the pain. Sancho put in his fingers, and feeling about faid ; how many did your worfhip ufe to have on this fide ? Four, anfwered Don Quixote, beiide the eye-tooth, all whole and very found. Take care what you fay, Sir, an- fwered Sancho. I fay four, if not five, replied Don Quixote ; for in my whole life I never drew tooth nor grinder, nor have I loft one by rheum or decay. Well then, faid Sancho, on this lower fide your worfhip has but two grinders and a half; and in the upper neither half nor whole : all is as fmooth and even as the palm of my hand. Unfortunate that I am ! faid Don Quixote, hearing the fad news his fquire told him : I had rather they had tore off an arm, pro- vided it were not the fword-arm ; for, Sancho, you muft know, that the mouth without grinders is like a mill without a ftone ; and, in good footh, a diamond is not fo precious as a tooth. But all this we are fubject to who profefs

the

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 93

the fti$ order of chivalry. Mount, friend Sancho, and lead on, for I will follow vou whit pace you will. ' Sancho did fo, atui Went toward the place where he thought to find a lodging without going out of the high road, which wS* thereabouts very much frequented. As they thus went on fair and fofily (for the pain of Don Qiuxote's jaWs gave him no eafe, nor inclination to make hafte) Sancho had a mind to amufe and divert him by talking to him, and faid, among other things, what you will find Written in the following chapter.

CHAP. V.

Of the fke 0**fi that P^cd bctrVi'ccn Sancho and hh waJicr> and thc -f"CCCcd' ' ihg adventure of the deaf body, with other famous occurrences.

T T is my opinion, dear mafter, that all the dilventures, which have befallen A us of late are doubtlefs in punimment of the fin committed by your wor- ffifc acrainft your own order of knighthood, in not performing the oath you took not to eat bread on a table-cloth, nor folace yourklf #itft the queen, with all the reft that you lwore to accomplifh, until your taking away that hel- met of Malandrino, or how do you call the Moor? for I do not well remem- ber. Sancho, you are in the right, faid Don Quixote : but to tell you the truth, it was quite flipped out of my memory ; and you may depend upon it, the s£- fair of the blanket happened to you for your fault in not putting me in mind of it in time : but I will make amends ; for in the order of chivalry there are ways of compounding for every thing. Why, did I fwear any thing? anfwered Sancho. It matters not that you have not fworn, faid Don Quixote: it is enough that I know you are not free from the guilt of an accefiary ; and, at all adventures, it will not be amifs to provide ourfelves a remedy. If it be fo, laid Sancho, fee, Sir, you do not forget this too, as you did the oath : perhaps the goblins' may take a fancy to divert themfelves with me, and perhaps with your worfhip, if they find you perfift.

While they were thus difcourfing, night overtook them in the middle of the hio-h-way, without their lighting on or difcovering any place of reception ; and the worft of it was, they were perifhing with hunger : for with the lofs of their wallets they had loft their whole larder of provifions. And, as an additional misfortune, there befel them an adventure, which, without any forced con- ftrudtion, had really the face of one. It happened thus. The night fell pretty dark; ' notwithstanding which they went on, Sancho believing that, fince it was the king's high-way, Vney might very probably find an inn within a league or

two. •

Thus travelling on, the night dark, the fquire hungry, and the mafter with a <rood appetite, they faw advancing towards them on the fame road a great num- ber of lights, refcmbling fo many moving ftars. Sancho ftood aghaft at the fight of them, and Don Quixote could not well tell what to make of them. The

one

94 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

one checked his afs by the halter, and the other his fleed by the bridle and flood Ml, viewing attentively what it might be. They perceived the lights were drawing toward them, and the nearer they came the bigger they ap- peared. Sancbo trembled at the fight as if he had been quick-filver, and Don Quixote's hair briflled upon his head : who, recovering a little "courage cried out; Sancbo, this mufl be a moft prodigious and moll perilous adventure' wherein it will be neceffary for me to exert my whole might and valour. Wo is me ! anfwered Sancbo ; mould this prove to be an adventure of goblins, vvhere fhall I find ribs to endure it? Let them be never fuch goblins, faid' Don Quixote, I will not fuffer them to touch a thread of your garment : for if they fported with you lafl time, it was becaufe -I could not get over the pales : but now we are upon even ground, where I can brandifh my fword at pleafure. But if they mould enchant and benumb you, as they did the other time, quoth Sancbo, what matters it whether we are in the open field or no? For all that, replied Don Quixote, I befeech you, Sancbo, be of good courage; for experience will mew you how much of it I am mailer of. I will, an't pleafe god, anfwered Sancbo ; and leaving the high-way a litde on one fide, they looked again attentively to difcover what thofe walking lights might be : and foon after they perceived a great many perfons in white ' ; which dreadful apparition entirely funk Sancbo Panca's courage, whofe teedi began to chatter, as if he were in a quartan ague ; and his trembling and chattering increafed, when he few diflindtly what it was : for now they difcovered about twenty perfons in white fhirts, all on horfeback, with lighted torches in their hands : behind 'whom came a litter covered with black, which was followed by fix perfons in deep mourning ; and die mules they rode on were covered likewife with black down to their heels ; and it was eafily feen they were not horfes by the flownefs of their pace. Thofe in fhirts came muttering to themfelves in a low and plaintive tone.

This flrange vifion at fuch an hour, and in a place fo uninhabited, might very well fuffice to flrike terror into Sancbo's heart, and even into that of his ma- tter; and fo it would have done, had he been any other than Don Quixote. As for Sancbo, his whole ftock of courage was already exhaufted. But it was quite other wife with his mailer, whofe lively imagination at that inftant repre- fented to him, that this mufl be one of the adventures of his books. He figured to himfelf, that the litter was a bier, whereon was carried fome knight forely wounded or flain, whofe revenge was referved for him : and without more ado he couched his fpear, fettled himfelf firm in his faddle, and with a fprightly vigour and mien pofted himfelf in the middle of the road, by which the men in white mufl of necefiity pais ; and when he faw them come near, he railed

1 The original is encamifados , which fignifies perfons who have put on a fhirt over their clothes. It was ufual for foldiers, when they attacked an enemy by night, to wear fhirts over their armour or clothes, to diilinguifh their own party : whence fuch nightly attacks were called e/icami/adas.

his

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 95

his voice, and faid : Hold, knights, whoever you are, give me an account to whom you belong-, from whence you come; whither you are going; and what it is you carry upon that bier : for, in all appearance, either you have done fome injury to others, or others to you ; and it is expedient and neceffary that I be in- formed of it, either to chaftife you for the evil you have done, or to revenge you of the wrong done you. We are going in hafte, anfwered one of thofe in white : the inn is a great way off, and we cannot flay to give fo long an account as you require; and fo fpurring his mule he patted forward. Don Quixote, high- ly refenting this anfwer, laid hold of his bridle, and faid: Stand, and be more civil and give me an account of what I have asked you ; otherwife I challenge you all to battle. The mule was skittifh, and ftarted at his laying his hand on the bridle ; fo that, rifing upright on her hind-legs, (he fell backward to the ground with her rider under her. A lacquey that came on foot, feeing him in white fall, began to revile Don Quixote; whofe choler being already ftirred, he cqjihed°h^ fpear, and without ftaying longer affaulted one of the mourners, and laieW^m on the ground grievoufly wounded; and turning him about tothe reft, it was worth feeing with what agility he attacked and defeated them, infomuch that you would have thought Rozinante had wings grown on him in that in- ftant, fo nimbly and proudly did he beftir himfelf. All thofe in white were ti- morous and unarmed people, and of courfe prefently quitted the skirmifti, and ran away over the field, with the lighted torches in their hands, looking like fo many mafqueraders on a carnival, or a fertival night. The mourners likewife were fo wrapped up and muffled in their long robes, that they could not ftir : fo that Don Quixote, with entire fafety to himfelf, demolifhed them all, and obliged them to quit the field forely againft their wills : for they thought him no man, but the devil from hell broke loofe upon them, to carry away the dead body they bore in the litter '.

All this Sancho beheld, with admiration at his mafter's intrepidity, and faid to himfelf: without doubt this mafter of mine is as valiant and magnanimous as he pretends to be. There lay a burning torch on the ground, juft by the firft whom the mule had overthrown ; by the light of which Don Quixote efpied him, and coming to him fet the point of his fpear to his throat, commanding him to furrender, or threatning to kill him. To which the fallen man anfwer- ed: I am more than enough furrendered already; for I cannot ftir, having one of my legs broken. I befeech you, Sir, if you are a chriftian gentleman, do not kill me: you would commit a great facrilege: for I am a licentiate, and have taken the leffer orders. Who the devil then, laid Don Quixote, brought you hither, being an ecclefiaftic? Who, Sir? replied he that was overthrown. My misfortune. A greater yet threatens you, faid Don Quixote, if you do not fatisfy me in all I firft asked of you. Your worfliip mail ibon be fatisfied, an-

1 The fuccefs of this adventure was proper to encourage our knight to attempt any enterprize. — The au- thor feems here to have intended a ridicule on thefe funeral folemniues.

fwcred

9& the LIFE and EX P LO ITS of

fwered the licentiate; and therefore you muft know, Sir, that, though I told you before I was a licentiate, I am indeed only a batchelor of arts, and my name is Abnzo Lopez. I am a native of Alcovendas • I come from the city of Baefa with eleven more ecclefiaftics, the fame who fled with the torches: we are accompanying a corps in that litter to the city of Segovia : it is that of a gentleman who died in Baega, where he was deposited ; and now, as I fay, we are carrying his bones to his burying-place, which is in Segovia where he 'was born. And who killed him? demanded Don Quixote. God, replied the batchelor, by means of a peftilential fever he fent him. Then, faid Don Quixote, our lord has faved me the labour of revenging his death, in cafe any body elfe had flain him : but fince he fell by the hand of heaven, there's no more to be done but to be filent and fhrug up our moulders ; for juft the fame muft I have done, had it been pleafed to have flain me. And I would have your reverence know, that I am a knight of la Mancha, Don Quixote by name, and that it is my office and exercife to go through the world, righting wrongs and redreffing grievances. I do not understand your way of righting wrongs, faid the batchelor ; for from right you have fet me wrong, having broken my leg, which will never be right again whilft I live ; and the grievance you have redrefled in me is, to leave me fo aggrieved, that I mail never be otherwife ; and it was a very unlucky adventure to me, to meet with you who are feeking- ad ventures \ All things, anfwered Don Quixote, do not fall out die fame way: die mifchief, mafter batchelor Alonzo Lopez, was occafioned by your coming, as you did, by night, arrayed in thofe furplices, with lighted torches, chaunt- ing, and clad in doleful weeds, that you really refembled fomething wicked, and of the other world; fo that I was under a neceflity of complying with my duty and of attacking you, and would have attacked you though I had certainly known you to be fo many devils of hell; for 'till now I took you to be no lefs. Since my fate would have it fo, faid the batchelor," I befeech you, Signor knight-errant, who have done me fuch errant mifchief, help me to get from under this mule ; for my leg is held fait between the itirrop and the faddle. I might have talked on 'till to-morrow morning, faid Don Quixote: why did you delay acquainting me with your uneaflnefs? Then he called out to Sancho Panca to come to him : but he did not care to Air, being employed in ran- facking a fumpter-mule, which thofe good men had brought with them, well flored with eatables. Sancho made a bag of his cloke, and cramming into it as much as it would hold, he loaded his bead: ; and then running to his mailer's call, he helped to difengage the batchelor from under the opprefiion of his mule, and fetting him thereon gave him the torch; and Don Quixote bid him follow the track of his comrades, and beg their pardon in his name for the

1 The author's making the batchelor quibble fo much, under fuch improper circumftanccs, was probably defigned as a ridicule upon the younger fludents of the univerfities, who are fo apt to run into an affedtation that way, and to millake it for wit ; as alfo upon the dramatic writers, who frequently make their heroes, in their greatelt diftreffes, guilty of the like ablurdity.

injury

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 97

iniury, which he could not avoid doing them. Sancbo faid likewifej if per- chance thofe gentlemen would know, who the champion is that routed them, tell them, it is the famous Don Quixote de la Mancha, othcrwife called the knight of the forro^ fid if ..

Tie batchelor being gone, Don Quixote asked Sancbo, what induced him to call him the knight of the forronvful figure at that time more than at any other? I will tell you, anfwered Sancbo j it is becaufe I have been taking notice of you by the light of the torch, which that unfortunate man carried ; and in truth your worfhip makes at pre lent very near the moft woful figure I have c feen ; which muft be occafioned either by the fatigue of this combat, or by the want of your teeth. It is owing to neither, replied Don Quixote; but the 1; who has the charge of writing the hiftory of my atchievements, has diought fit I mould affume a firname, as all the knights of old were wont to do : one called himfelf the knight of the burning fioord; another be of the unicorn; tliis of the damfeh; that of the Pb.vnix; another the knight of the Griffin; and another he of death; and were known^by thefe names and eniigns over the whole globe of the earth. And therefore I fay, that the aforefaid fage has now put it into your head, and into your mouth, to call me the knight of the for rorfful figure, as I purpole to call myfelf from this day forward: and that this name may fit me the better, I determine, when there is an opportunity, to have a moil fbrrowful figure painted on my fhield. You need not fpend time and money in getting this fi- gure made, faid Sancho ; your worfhip need only fhew your own, and ftand fair to be looked at; and without other image or fhield they will immediately call you him of the forrowful figure; and be afTured I tell you the truth; for I pro- mife you, Sir (and let this be faid in jeft) that hunger, and the lofs of your grin- ders, makes you look fo ruefully, that, as I have faid, the fbrrowful piece of painting may very well be fpared.

Don Quixote fmiled at Sancho 's conceit, yet refolved to call himfelf by that name, and to paint his fhield or buckler as he had imagined, and faid ; I con- ceive, Sancho, that I am liable to excommunication for having laid violent hands on holy things, Juxta illud, Siquis fuadente diabolo, &c. * though I know I did not lay my hands, but my fpcar, upon them : befides, I did not think I had to do with prieffs, or things belonging to the church, which I refpecT: and revere like a good catholic and faithful chriflian as I am, but with ghofls and goblins of the other world. And though it were fo, I perfectly remember what befel the Cyd Ruy Diaz, when he broke the chair of that king's embaflador in the pre- e of his holineis the pope, for which he was excommunicated ; and yet honeft Roderigo de Vivar palled that day for an honourable and couragious knight.

The batchelor being gone off, as has been faid, without replying a Word, Don Quixote had a mind to fee whether the corps in the hearfe were only bones

1 i. e. According to that, If any one at the inftigation of the devil, &c. Cancn ~z. Dijlintl. 134.

Vol. I. O or

98 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

or not; but Sancho would not confent, faying; Sir, your worfhip has finifhed this perillous adventure at the lead expence of any I have feen ; and though thefe folks are conquered and defeated, they may chance to reflect diat they were beaten by one man, and, being confounded and afhamed thereat, may re- cover themfelves, and return in qued of us, and then we may have enough to do. The afs is properly furnifhed; the mountain is near; hunger prefles- and we have no more to do but decently to march off; and, as the faying is, To the grave with the dead, and the living to the bread: and driving on his afs before him, he defired his mader to follow ; who, thinking Sancho in the right, followed without replying. They had not gone far between two little hills, when they found themfelves in a fpacious and retired valley, where they alighted. Sancho disburthened the afs ; and lying along on the green grafs, with hunger for fauce, they difpatched their breakfad, dinner, after-noon's luncheon, and fupper all at once, regaling their palates with more than one cold mefs, which the eccle- fiaftics that attended the deceafed (fuch gentlemen feldom failing to make much of themfelves) had brought with them on the fumpter-mule. But another mif- hap befel them, which Sancho took for the word of all ; which was, that they had no wine, nor fo much as water to drink ; and they being very thirdy, Sancho, who perceived the meadow they were in covered with green and fine grafs, faid what will be related in the following chapter.

CHAP. VI.

Of the adventure (the like ?iever before feen or heard of) atchieved by the renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha, with lefs hazard, than ever any was atchieved by the mojl famous knight in the world.

IT is impoflible, dear Sir, but there rauft be fome fountain or brook here- abouts to water and moiden thefe herbs, as their frefhnefs plainly proves, and therefore we fhould go a little farther on : for we fhall meet with fomething to quench this terrible third that afflicts us, and is doubtlefs more painful than hun- ger itfelf. Don Quixote approved the advice, and taking Rozinante by the bridle, and Sancho his afs by the halter, after he had placed upon him the relicks of the fupper, they began to march forward through the meadow, feeling their way ; for the night was fo dark they could fee nothing : but they had not gone two hundred paces, when a great noife of water reached their ears, like that of fome mighty cafcade pouring down from a vad and deep rock. The found' re- joiced them exceedingly, and, dopping to liden from whence it came, they heard on a fudden another dreadful noife, which abated their pleafure occafioned by that of the water, efpecially Sancho's, who was naturally fearful and pufillani- mous. I fay, they heard a dreadful din of irons and chains rattling acrofs one another, and giving mighty drokes in time and meafure ; which, together with the furious noife of the water3 would have druck terror into any other heart but

that

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

that of Don Quixote. The night, as is laid, was dark; and they chanced to enter among certain tall trees, whole leaves, agitated by a gentle breeze, caufed a kind of fearful and frill noife : fo that the folitude, the fituation, the darknefs, and die noife of the water, widi the whifpering of the leaves, all occafioned horror and aftonifhment 5 specially when they found that neither the blows cea- fed, nor the wind flept, nor the morning approached.; and, as an addition to all this, a total ignorance where they were. But Don Quixote, accompanied by his intrepid heart, leaped upon Rozinante, and bracing on his buckler bran- difhed his fpear, and faid : Friend Sancho, you muft know, that by the will of heaven I was born in this age of iron, to revive in it that of gold, or, as people ufually exprefs it, the golden age : I am he, for whom are referved dangers, great exploits, and valorous atchievements. I am he, I fay again, who am deftined to revive the order of the round table, that of the twelve peers of France, and the nine worthies, and to obliterate the memory of the Platirs, the Tablantcs, Olivantes, and Tirantes, the blights of the fun, and the Belianifes, with the whole tribe of the famous knights-errant of times paft, performing in this age, in which I live, fuch ftupendous deeds and feats of arms, as are fufficient to ob- fcure the brighteft'they ever atchieved. Trufty and loyal {quire, you obferve the darknefs of this night, its ftrange filence, the confufed and deaf found of thefe trees, the fearful noife of that water we come to feek, which, one would think, precipitated itfelf headlong from the high mountains of the moon; that inceffant (Inking and claming that wounds our ears : all which together, and each by itfelf, are fufficient to infufe terror, fear, and amazement into the breafl of Mars himfelf ; how much more into that which is not accuflomed to the like adventures and accidents. Now all I have defcribed to you ferves to rouze and awaken my courage, and my heart already beats in my breafr. with eager defire of encountering this adventure, however difficult it may appear. Where- fore ftraiten Rozinante's girths a little, and god be with you ; and flay for me here three days, and no more : if I do not return in that time, you may go back to our town ; and thence, to do me a favour and good fervice, you fhall go to Tobofo, where you fhall fay to my incomparable lady Dulcinea, that her inthralled knight died in the attempting things that might have made him worthy to be flyled her's.

When Sancho heard thefe words of his matter, he began to weep with the greateft tendernefs in the world, and to fay : Sir, I do not underftond why your worfhip fhould encounter this fo fearful an adventure : It is now night, and no body fees us ; we may eafily turn afide, and get out of harm's way, though we fhould not drink thefe three days : and as no body fees us, much lefs will there be any body to tax us with cowardice. Beiides, I have heard the prieft of our village, whom your worfhip knows very well, preach, that he whofeeketh dan- ger, perijheth therein : fo that it is not good to tempt god, by undertaking fo ex- travagant an exploit, whence there is no efcaping but by a miracle. Let it fuf-

O 2 fice

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ioo The LIFE and EXP L 0 ITS of

flee that heaven has delivered you from being toned in a blanket, as I was, and brought you off victorious, fafe, and found, from among fo many enemies as accompanied the dead man. And though all this be not fu'ficient to move you nor foften your ftony heart, let this thought and. belief move you, that fcarcely mall your worfhip be departed hence, when I, for very fear, fhall give up my foul to whomsoever it fhall pleafe to take it. I left my country, and forfook my wife and children, to follow and ferve your worfhip, believing I fhoukLbe the better, and not the worfe, for it : but, as covetoufnefs burns the bag, fo hath it rent from me my hopes : for when they were moft lively, and I juft expecting to obtain that curfed and unlucky ifland, which you have fo often promifed me, I find myfelf, in exchange thereof, ready to be abandoned by your worfliip in a place remote from all human fociety. For god's fake, dear Sir, do me not fuch a diskind- nefs ; and fince your worfliip will not wholly defift from this enterprise, at leaft adjourn it 'till day-break, to which, according to the little skill I learned when a fhepherd, it cannot be above three hours ; for the muzzle of the north-bear l is at top of the head, and makes midnight in the line of the left arm. How can you, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, fee where this line is made, or where this muzzle or top of the head you talk of, is, fince the night is fo dark that not a flar appears in the whole sky ? True, faid Sancho ; but fear has many eyes, and fees things beneath the earth, how much more above in the sky : belides, it is reafonable to think it does not now want much of day break. Want what it will, anfwered Don Quixote, it fhall never be faid of me, neither now nor at any other time, that tears or intreaties could diffuade me from doing the duty of a knight : there- fore pr'ythee, Sancho, hold thy tongue ; for god, who has put it in my heart to attempt this unparallelled and fearful adventure, will take care to watch over my fafety, and to comfort thee in thy fadnefs. What you have to do is, to let Ro- zinante be well girted, and ftay you here ; for I will quickly return alive or dead. Sancho then feeing his matter's final refolution, and how little his tears, prayers, and counfels prevailed with him, determined to have recourfe to flrata- gem, and oblige him to wait 'till day, if he could : and fo, while he was buckling the hcrfe's girths fixaiter, foftly, rand without being perceived, he tied Rozinante's two hinder feet together with his ais's halter; fo that when Don Quixote would have departed, he was not able ; for the horfe could not move but by jumps. Sancho, feeing the good fuccefs of his contrivance, faid; Ah Sir! behold how heaven, moved by my tears and prayers, has ordained that Ro zinante cannot go ; and if you will obftinately perfift to beat and fpur him, you will but provoke fortune, and, as they fay, but kick againjl the pricks. This made Don Quixote quite defperate, and the more he fpurrcd his horfe, the lefs he could move him : and, without fufpecting the ligature, he thought it beft to be quiet, and either fray 'till day appeared, or 'till Rozinante could fur, believing certainly

' Literally the mouth of the hunting-horn or cornet: fo they call the urfa minor, from a fancied configura- tion of the liars of that contlcllacion

that

aer '.'■ ra /u/cr<////, At Ji •;///.->.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

that it proceeded from fome other eaufe, and not from Sancho's cunning, to whom he thus fpoke : Since it is fo, Sancho, that Rozinante cannot ftir, I am contented to ftay 'till the dawning fmiles, though I weep all the time fhe delays her coming. You need not weep, anfwered Sancho ; for I will entertain you till day with telling you ftories, if you had not rather alight, and compofe your felf to fleep a little upon the green grafs, as knights-errant are wont to do, and fo be the lefs weary when the day and hour comes for attempting that unparal- lelled adventure you wait for. What call you alighting or fleeping? faid Don Quixote. Am I one of thofe knights, who take repofe in time of danger? Sleep you, who were born to fleep, or do what you will : I will do what I fee bed be- fits my profeflion. Pray, good Sir, be not angry, anfwered Sancho ; I do not fay it with that defign : and, coming clofe to him, he put one hand on the pommel of the fiddle before, and the other on the pique behind, and there he flood embracing his matter's left thigh, without daring to ftir from him a finger's breadth, fo much was he afraid of the blows, which flill founded alter- nately in his ears. Don Quixote bade him tell fome ftory to entertain him, as he had promifed : to which Sancho replied, he would, if the dread of what he heard would permit him : notwithstanding, faid he, I will force mylclf to tell a ftory, which, if I can hit upon it, and it flips not through my fingers, is the beft of all ftories ; and pray, be attentive, for now I begin.

What hath been, hath been; the good that fhall befal be for us all, and evil to him that evil feeks. And pray, Sir, take notice, that the beginning, which the antients gave to their tales, was not juft what they pleafed, but rather fome fentence of Cato Zonzorinus « the Roman, who fays, And evil to him that evil feeks ; which is as apt to the prefent purpofe as a ring' to your finder figmfying, that your woribip mould be quiet, and not go about Searching after evil, but rather that we turn afide into fome other road; for we are under no obligation to continue in this, wherein fo many fears overwhelm us. Go on with your ftory, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, and leave me to take care of the road we are to follow. I fay then, continued Sancho, that in a place of E madura there was a fhepherd, I mean a goatherd; which fhepherd or goatherd as my ftory fays, was called Lope Ruiz; and this Lope Ruiz was in love with a ihepherdefs called Torralva; which fhepherdefs called Torraha was daughter

to a rich herdfman, and this rich herdfman If you tell your ftory after

this fafhion, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, repeating every tiling you fay twice, you will not have done thefe two days. Tell it concifely, and like a man of lenie or elfe fay no more. In the very fame manner that I tell it, anfwered Sancho, they tell all ftories in my country; and I can tell it no othcrwife, nor is it fit your worfhip mould require me to make new cuftoms. Tell it as you will then, anfwered Don Quixote-, fince fate will have it that I muft hear thee, go on.

1 A miftake for Cam tbt Cenj,,:

A. I

102 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

And fo, dear fir of my foul, continued Sancho, as I faid before, this fhep- herd was in love with the fhepherdefs Torralva, who was a jolly {trapping wench, a little fcornful, and fomewhat mafculine : for fhe had certain fmall whiskers; and methinks I fee her juft now. What, did you know her? faid Don Quixote. I did not know her, anfwered Sancho; but he, who told me this itory, faid it was fo certain and true, that I might, when. I told it to another, af- firm and fwear I had feen it all. And fo, in procefs of time, the devil, who lleeps not, and -troubles all things, brought it about, that the love, which the fhepherd bore to the fhepherdefs, was converted into mortal hatred; and the caufe, according to evil tongues, was a certain quantity of little jealoufies fhe gave him above meafure, and within the prohibited degrees 1 : and fo much did he abhor her from thenceforward, that, to avoid die fight of her, he chofe to abfent himfelf from that country, and go where his eyes fhould never behold her more. Torralva, who found herfelf difdained by Lope, prefently began to love him better than ever fhe had loved him before. It is a natural quality of wo- men, faid Don Quixote, to flight thofe who love them, and love thofe who flight diem : go on, Sancho.

It fell out, proceeded Sancho, that the ihepherd put his defign in execution, and, collecting together his goats, went on towards the plains of EJlremadura, in order to pafs over into the kingdom of Portugal. 'Torralva knowing it went after him, following him on foot and bare-legged, at a diftance, with a pilgrim's ftafF in her hand, and a wallet about her neck, in which fhe carried, as is re- ported, a piece of a looking-glafs, a piece of a comb; and a fort of a fmall gal- lypot of pomatum for the face. But, whatever fhe carried (for I fhall not now fet myfelf to vouch what it was) I only tell you, that, as they fay, the fhepherd came with his flock to pafs the river Guadiana, which at that time was fwollen, and had almofr. overflowed its banks : and, on the fide he came to, there was neither boat nor any body to ferry him or his flock over to the other fide : which grieved him mightily ; for he faw that Torralva was at his heels, and would give him much difturbance by her entreaties and tears. He therefore looked about 'till he efpied a fiflierman widi a boat near him, but fo fmall, that it could hold only one perfon and one goat : however he fpoke to him, and agreed with him to carry over him, and his three hundred goats. The fiflierman got into the boat and carried over a goat : he returned and carried over another : he came back again, and again carried over another. Pray, Sir, keep an account of the goats that the fiflierman is carrying over ; for if one flips out of your me- mory, the ftory will be at an end, and it will be impoflible to tell a word more of it. I go on then, and fay, that the landing-place on the oppofite fide was co- vered widi mud, and flippery, and the fiflierman was a great while in coming and going. However he returned for another goat, and for others, and for ano-

' Alluding to certain meafures not to be exceeded on pain of forfeiture and corporal puniftiment, as ftvords above fuch a ftandard~ &c. ,

ther.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 103

ther Make account he carried them all over, faid Don Quixote, and do not be going and coming in this manner; for, at this rate, you will not have done car- Ln. them over in a twelvemonth. How many are parted already ? laid Sambo How the devil fhould I know? anfwered Don Quixote. See there now; did I not tell you to keep an exaft account? Before god, there is an end of die ftory; I can go no farther. How can this be? anfwered Don Quixote Is it fo effential to the ftory, to know the exadl number of goats that paffed over, that, if one be miftaken, the ftory can proceed no farther? No, Sir in no wife anfwered Sancbo : for when I defired your worfliip to tell me how many goats had paffed, and you anfwered, you did not know, in that very in- ftant aS that I had left to fay fled out of my memory; and in faith it was very edifying and fatisfaftory. So then, faid Don Quixote, the ftoiy-is at an end. As fiire as my mother is, quoth Sancbo. Verily, anfwered Don Quixote, you have told one of the rareft tales, fables, or hiftories, imaginable; and your way of telling and concluding it is fuch as never was, nor will be, fan in ones whole life ; though I expend nothing lefs from your good ^fenfe: but I do not wonder at it; for perhaps this inceffant din may have difturbed your undemand- ing All that may be, anfwered Sancbo: but, as to my ftory, I know there s no more to be faid ; for it ends juft where the error in the account of carrying over the goats begins. Let it end where it will, in god's name, faid Don Quixote, and let us fee whether Rozinante can ftir himfelf. Again he clapt fpurs to him, and again he jumped, and then ftood ftock ftill, fo effectually was he fettered. Now, whether the cold of the morning, which was at hand, or whether fome lenitive'diet on which he had fupped, or whether the motion was purely natural (which is rather to be believed) it fo befel, that Sancbo had a defire to do what no body could do for him. But fo great was the fear that had pofftffed his heart, that he durft not ftir the breadth of a finger from his mafter ; and, to think to leave that bufinefs undone, was alfo impoffible : and fo what he did for peace fake, was, to let go his right hand, which held the hinder part of the faddle, with which, foftly, and without any noife, he loofed the running-point, that kept up his breeches; whereupon down they fell, and hung about his legs like fhackles : then he lifted up his ihirt the beft he could, and expofed to the open air thofe buttocks which were none of the fmalleft : this being done, which he thought the beft expedient towards getting out of that terrible anguifti and di- ftrefs, another and a greater difficulty attended him, which was, that he thought he could not eafe himfelf without making fome noife : fo he fet his teeth clofe, and fqueezed up his moulders, and held in his breath as much as poffibly he could. But notwithftanding all thefe precautions, he was fo unlucky after all, as to make a little noife, very different from that which had put him into fo great a fright. Don Quixote heard it, and faid : What noife is this ? Sancbo. I do not know, Sir, anfwered he : it muft be fome new bufinefs ; for adventures and mifadventures never begin with a little matter. He tried his fortune a fecond

• time.

io4 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

time, and it fucceeded fo well with him, that, without the leaft noife or rumbling more, he found himfelf difcharged of the burden that had given him fo much uneafinefs. But as Don Quixote had the fenfe of fmelling no lefs perfect than that of healing, and Sancho ftood fo clofe, and as it were fewed to him, fome of the vapours, afcending in a direft line, could not fail to reach his noftrils : which they had no fooner done, but he relieved his nofe by taking it between his fingers, and with a tone fomewhat muffling faid : Methinks, Sancho, you are in great bodily fear. I am fo, faid Sancho ; but wherein does your worihip perceive it now more than ever ? In that you fmell ftronger than ever, and not of ambergreafe, anfwered Don Quixote. That may very well be, laid Sancho ; but your worihip alone is in fault for carrying me about at thefe unfeafonable hours, and into thefe unfrequented places. Get you three or four fteps off, friend, faid Don Quixote (all this without taking his fingers from his noftrils) and henceforward have more care of your own perfon, and more regard to what you owe to mine ; my over-much familiarity with you has bred this contempt. I will lay a wager, replied Sancho, you think I have been doing fomething with my perfon that I ought not. The more you ftir it, friend Sancho, the worfe it will favour, anfwered Don Quixote.

In thefe and the like dialogues the mafter and man paffed the night. But Sancho, perceiving that at length the morning was coming on, with much, cau- tion untied Rozinante, and tied up his breeches. Rozinante finding himfelf at liberty, though naturally he was not over-mettlefome, feemed to feel himfelf alive, and began to paw the ground ; but as for curvetting (begging his pardon) he knew not what it was. Don Quixote, perceiving that Rozinante began to beftir himfelf, took it for a good omen, and believed it figniiied, he mould forthwith attempt that fearful adventure. By this time the dawn appeared, and every thing being diftinctly feen, Don Quixote perceived he was got among fome tall chefnut-trees, which afforded a gloomy made : he perceived alfo that the ftriking did not ceafe ; but he could not fee what caufed it. So without farther delay he made Rozinante feel the fpur, and, turning again to take leave of Sancho, commanded him to wait there for him three days at the far theft, as he had faid before, and that, if he did not return by that time, he might conclude for certain, it was god's will he fhould end his days in that perilous adventure. He again repeated the embafly and meffage he was to carry to his lady Dulci- nea ; and as to what concerned the reward of his fervice, he need be in no pain, for he had made his will before he fallied from his village, wherein would find himfelf gratified as to his wages, in proportion to the time he had ferved ; but if god fhould bring him off fafe and found from that danger, he might reckon himfelf infallibly fecure of the promifed ifland. Sancho wept afrefh at hearing again the moving exprefflons of his good mafter, and refolved not to leave him to the laft moment and end of this bufinefs. The author of this hiftory gathers from the tears, and this fo honourable a refolution of Sancho

Panca's,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. l05

Tango's, that he mufl have been well born, and at leaf! an old chriftian *. Whofe tender concern fomewhat foftened his mafter, but not fo much as to make him difcover any weaknefs : on the contrary, diflembling the beft he could, he began to put on toward, the placefipmwhence the noife of the water and of the ftrokes feemed to proceed. Sancho fonowed him on foot, leading, as ufual, his afs, that conftant companion of his proiperous and adverfe fortunes, by the halte^ And having gone a good way ampjag^hofe fhady chefnut-trees, they came una$wres>-to a little green fpot/ at the foot of*1ome fteep rocks, from which a mighty gufh of water p AjfwIateAkfelf. ' At the foot of the rocks were certain miferable hutts, wfech^pfced njfffergfte ruins of buildings than houfes ; from whence proceeded, as tli&y perceived, the found and din, of the ftrokes, which did not yet ceafe. Rozinante ftarted at the noife of the water and of the ftrokes, and Don Quixote, gently ftriking him, went on fair and lbftly toward the hutts, recommending himfelf devoutly to his lady, and befeeching her to favour him in that fearful expedition and enterprize j and, by the by, befought god alio not to forget him. Sancho ftirred not 'from his fide, ftretching out his neck, and looking between Rozinanfe's legs, to fee if he could perceive what held him in fuch dread and fufpence. They had gone about a hundred yards far- ther, when, at doubling a point, the very caufe (for it could be no other) of that horrible and dreadful noife, which had held them all night in fuch fufpence and fear, appeared plain and expofed to view.

It was (kind reader, take it not in dudgeon) fix fulling-mill-hammers, whofe alternate ftrokes formed that hideous%und. Don Quixote , feeing what it was, was "ftruck dumb, and in the utmoft confufion. Sancho flared at him, and faw he hung down his head ripon his breaft, with manifeft indications of being quite abafhed. Don Quixote ftared alfo at Sa?icho, and faw his cheeks fwollen, and his mouth full of laughter, with evident figns of being ready to burft ; and not- withstanding his vexation, he could not forbear laughing himfelf at fight of Sancho ; who, feeing his mafter had led the way, burft out in fo violent a manner, that he was forced to hold his fides with his hands to five himfelf from {Sitting with laughter. Four times he ceafed^nd four' times he returned to hi? laughter with the fame impetuofity as at flrft. Whereat Don Quixote gave himfelf to the devil, efpecially when he heard him fvv, by way of irony-; ' You ' mufl: know, friend Sancho, that I was born by the will of heaven in this our age * of iron, to revive in it the golden, or that of gold. I am he, for whom are 1 referved dangers, great exploits, and valorous atchievements.' And fo he went on, repeating moil or all of the exprefiions, which Don Quixote had ufed at the firft hearing thofe dreadful ftrokes. Don Quixote, perceiving that Sancho played upon him, grew fo afhamed, and enraged to that degree, that he lifted up his lau/ice, and difcharged two fuch blows on him, that, had he received them on 1 head, as he did on his moulders, the knight had acquitted himfelf of die

» In -jyidii'inciion to the Jeivi/b or Mmrijh families, of which there were many in Sfain.

Vol. I. P payment

V

106 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

payment of his wages, unlefs it were to his heirs. Sancho, finding he paid fo dearly for his jokes, and fearing left his mafter fhould proceed farther, cried out with much humility : Pray, Sir, be pacified : by the living god, I did but ieft. Though you jeft, I do not, anfwered Don Quixote. Come hither, merry Sir ; what think you ? fuppofe thefe mill-hammers had been fome perilous adventure, have I not (hewed the courage requifite to undertake and atchieve it ? Am I, do you think, obliged, being a knight as I am, to diftinguifh founds, and know which are, or are not, of a fulling-mill ? befides, it may be, (as it really is) that I never faw any fulling-mills in my life, as you have, like a pitiful ruftic as you are, having been born and bred arrfongft them. But let thefe fix fulling- hammers be transformed into fix giants, and let them beard me one by one, or all together, and if I do not fet them all on their heads, then make what jeft you will of me. It is enough, good Sir, replied Sancho ; I confefs I have been a little too jocofe : but, pray, tell me, Sir, now that it is peace between us, as god fhall bring you out of all the adventures that fhall happen to you, fafe and found, as he has brought you out of this, was it not a thing to be laughed at, and worth telling, what great fear we were in, at leaft what I was in ; for, as to your worfhip, I know you are unacquainted with it, nor do you know what fear or terror are. I do not deny, anfwered Don Quixote, but that what has befallen us is fit to be laughed at, but not fit to be told ; for all perfons are not difcreet enough to know how to take things by the right handle. But, anfwered Sancho, your worfhip knew how to handle your launce aright, when you pointed it at my head, and hit me on the fhoulders ; thanks be to god, and to my own agility in flipping afide. But let that pafs ; it will go out in the bucking : for I have heard fay ; he loves thee well, who makes thee weep : and befides, your people of condition, when they have given a fervant a hard word, prefently give him fome old hofe and breeches ; though what is ufually given after a beating, I cannot tell, unlefs it be that your knights-errant, after baftinados, beftow iflands or kingdoms on the continent. The die may run fo, quoth Don Quixote, that all you have faid may come to pafs ; and forgive what is paft, fince you are confiderate ; and know that the firft motions are not in a man's power : and henceforward be apprized of one thing (that you may abftain and forbear talking too much with me) that in all the books of chivalry I ever read, infinite as they are, I never found, that any fquire converfed fo.much with his mafter, as you do with yours. And really I account it a great fault both in you and in me : in you, becaufe you refpedt me fo little ; in me, that I do not make my felf be refpedled more. Was not Gandalin, fquire to Amadis de Gaul, earl of the firm ifland ? and we read of him, that he always fpoke to his rnafter cap in hand, his head inclined, and his body bent after the Turk ion. What

fhall we fay oiGafabal, fquire to Don Galaor, who was fo filent, that, to illuftrate the excellency of his marvellous taciturnity, his name is mentioned but once in all that great and faithful hiilory. From what I have laid, you may infer,

Sancho.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 107

Sancho, that there ought to be a difference between mafter and man, between lord and lacquey, and between knight and (quire. So that from this day i - ward, we mult be treated with more refpecl ; for which way foevcr I am angry with 'you, it will go ill with the pitcher. The favours and benefits I promifed you, will come in due time ; and if they do not come, the wage?, at lcafi , I ha've told you, will not be loft. Your wormip fays very well, quoth Saricho : but I would fain know (if perchance the time of the favours fliould not come, and it fliould be expedient to have recourfe to the article of the wages) how much might the fquire of a knight-errant get in thofe times ? and whether diey agreed by* the month, or by die day, like labourers ? I dp not believe, anfwered Don Quixote, that thofe fquires were at ftated wages, but relied on courtefy. And if I have appointed you any in the will I left fealed at home, it was for fear of what might happen ; for I cannot yet tell how chivalry may fucceed in thei'e calamitous times of ours, and I would not have my foul fuffer in die other world for a trifle : for I would have you to know, Sancboy that diere is no ftate more perilous than that of adventurers. It is fo in truth, faid Sancho, lince die noife of the hammers of a fulling-mill were fufScient to difturb and diicompofe the heart of fo valorous a knight as your worihip. But you may depend upon it, that from henceforward I ihall not open my lips to make merry with your worfliip's matters, but fliall honour you as my mafter and natural lord. By fo doing, replied Don Quixote, your days fliall be long in die land ; for, next to our parents, we are bound to refpedt our mafters, as if they were our fadiers.

CHAP. VII.

Which treats of the high adventure and rich prize of Mambrino'i helmet, with other things which befell our invincible knight.

ABOUT this time it began to rain a little, and Sancho had a mind they •*■ ■*■ fliould betake themselves to the fulling-mills. But Don Quixote had con- ceived fuch an abhorrer.ee of them for the late jeft, that he would by no means go in : and fo turning to die right hand, diey ftruck into another road like that they had lighted upon the day before. Soon after Don Quixote difcovered a on horfeback, who had on his head fomething which glittered, as if it had been of gold ; and fcarce had he feen it, but, turning to Sancho, he laid : I am of opinion, Sancho, there is no proverb but wha& is true ; becaufe they are all fentences drawn from experience itfelf, the mother of all die fciences ; efpecially that which fays ; Where one door is Jhut, another is opened. I fay this, be- caufe, if laft night fortune fliut the door againft what we looked for, deceiving us with the fulling-mills, it now fets another wide open for a better and more certain adventure, which if I fail to enter right into, die fault will be mine, without imputing it to my little knowledge of fulling-mills, or to the darknel's

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io8 7k LIFE and EXPLOITS of

of the night. This, I fay, becaufe, if I miflake not, there comes one toward us, who carries on his head Mambrino's helmet x, about which I fwore the oath you know. Take care, Sir, what you fay, and more what you do, faid Sancho • for I would not wiih for other fulling-mills, to finim the milling and mafhing our fenfes. The devil take you ! replied Don Quixote : what has a helmet to do with fulling-mills ? I know not, anfwered Sancho ; but in faith If I might talk as much as I ufed to do, perhaps I could give fuch reafons that your worfhip would fee you are miflaken in what you fay. How can I be miflaken in what I fay, fcrupulous traitor? faid Don Quixote. Tell me fee you not yon knight coming toward us on a dapple-grey fleed, with a helmet of gold on his head ? What I fee and perceive, anfwered Sancho, is only a man on a grey afs like mine, with fomething on his head that glitters. Why that is Mam&rino's helmet, faid Don Quixote : get you afide, and leave me alone to deal with him ; you fhall fee me conclude this adventure (to lave time) with- out fpeaking a word ; and the helmet, I have fo much longed for, fhall be my own. I fhall take care to get out of the way, replied Sancho : but, I pray god, I fay again, it may not prove another fulling-mill adventure. I have al- ready told you, brother, not to mention thofe fulling-mills, nor fo much as to think of them, any more, faid Don Quixote : if you do, I fay no more, but I vow to mill your foul for you. Sancho held his peace, fearing left his mafler mould perform his vow, which had flruck him all of a heap.

Now the truth of the matter, concerning the helmet, the fteed, and the. knight, which Don Quixote faw, was this. There were two villages in that neighbourhood, one of them fo fmall, that it had neither fhop nor barber, but the other adjoining to it had one ; and the barber of the bigger ferved alfo the leffer ; in which a perfon indifpofed wanted to be let blood, and another to be. trimmed ; and for this pupofe was the barber coming, and brought with him his brafs bafon. And fortune fo ordered it, that, as he was upon the road, it be- gan to rain, and, that his hat might not be fpoiled (for belike it was a new one) he clapt the bafon on his head, and being new fcowered it glittered half a league off. He rode on a grey afs, as Sancho faid ; and this was the reafon why Don Quixote took the barber for a knight, his afs for a dapple-grey fteed, and his bafon for a golden helmet : for he very readily adapted whatever he faw to his knightly extravagancies and wild conceits. And when he faw the poor cavalier approach, without flaying to reafon the cafe widi him, he advanced at Rozi- nante's belt, fpeed, and couched his launce low, defigning to run him through and through. But when he came up to him, without flopping the fury of his career, he cried out : Defend yourfelf, caitif, or furrender willingly what is fo juflly my due. The barber, who, not fufpecling or apprehending any fuch thing, faw this phantom coming upon him, had no other way to avoid the

1 Almonte and Mamlrino, two Saracens of great valour, had each a golden helmet. Orlando Furiofo took away Almtmteht and his friend Rinaldo that of Mambrino. Ariojlo, Canto L

thruft

rt4

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA, 109

thruft of the launce, but to let himfelf fall down from the afs : and no fooner had he touched the ground, when, leaping up nimbler than a roe-buck, he be- gan to fcower over the plain, widi fuch fpeed, that the wind could not overtake him. He left the bafon on the ground, with which Don Quixote was fatisfied, and faid ; The mifcreant had acted difcreetly in imitating the beaver, who, finding itfelf clofely purfued by the hunters, tears off, widi its teeth, that for which it knows, by natural inflinct, it is hunted. He ordered Sancho to take up the helmet, who, holding it in his hand, faid ; Before god, the bafon is a fpecial one, and is as well worth a piece of eight as a farthing. Then he gave it to his matter, who immediately clapped it on hi&Jhead, twirling it about, to find the vizor ; and not finding it he faid ; Doubtlefs the pagan, for whom this famous helmet was firft forged, muft have had a prodigious large head ; and the worft of it is, that one half is wanting. When Sancho heard the bafon called a helmet, he could not forbear laughter ; but, recolle&ing his mailer's late cho- ler, he checked it in the middle. What do you laugh at ? Sancho, faid Don Quixote. He anfwered ; I laugh to think what a huge head the pagan had, who owned this helmet, which is, for all the world, juffc like a barber's bafon. Do you know, Sancho, what I take to be the cafe ? this famous piece, this en- chanted helmet, by fome ftrange accident, muft have fallen into the hands of fome one, who, being ignorant of its true value, and not confidering what he did, feeing it to be of the pureft gold, has melted down the one half for lucre's fake, and of the other half made this, which, as you fay, does look like a barber's bafon : but be it what it will, to me, who know it, its transforma- tion fignifies nothing ; for I will get it put to rights in the firft town where there is a fmith, and in fuch fort, that even that, which the god of fmiths made and forged for the god of battles, fhall not furpafs, nor equal it : in the mean time, I will wear it as I can, for fomething is better than nothing j and the rather, fince it will be more than fufficient to defend me from ftones. It will fo, faid Sancho, if they do not throw them with flings, as. they did in the battle of the two armies, when they croffed your worfhip's chops, and broke the cruze, in which was contained that mod bleffed drench, which made me vomit up my guts. I am in no great pain for having loft it j for you know, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, I have the receipt by heart. So have I too, anfwered Sancho ; but if ever I make or try it again while I live, may I never ftir from this place! Bcfides, I do not intend to expofe myfelf to the hazard of {landing in need of it ; for I intend to keep myfelf, with all my five fenfes, from being wounded, or from wounding- any body. As to being toffed again in a blanket, I fay no- thing ; for it is difficult to prevent fuch mifhaps : and if they do come, there is nothing to be done, but to fhrug up one's fhoulders, hold one's breath, flmt one's eyes, and let one's felf go whither fortune and the blanket plcafe to tofs us. You are no good chriftian, Sancho, find Don Quixote, at hearing this ; for you never forget an injury once done you : but know, it is inherent in generous

\:.d.

no the LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

and noble breafts to lay no ftrefs upon trifles. What leg have you lamed, what rib or what head have you broken, that you cannot yet forget that jell ? for, to take the thing right, it was mere jeft and pailime ; and had I not underflood it fo, I had long ago returned thither, and done more mifchief in revenging your quarrel, than the Greeks did for the rape of Helen ; who, if fhe had lived in thefe times, or my Dulcinea in thofe, would never, you may be fure, have been fo famous for beauty as fhe is : and here he uttered a figh, and fent it to the clouds. Let it then pafs for a jeft, faid Sancho> fince it is not likely to be revenged in earneft : but I know of what kinds the jefts and the earnefts were, and I know alfo, they will no more flip out of my memory than off my fhoul- ders. But fetting this afide, tell me, Sir, what we fhall do with this dapple grey fteed, which looks fo like a grey afs, and which that caitif, whom your worfhip overthrew, has left behind here to fhift for itfelf ; for, to judge by his fcowering off fo haftily, and flying for it, he does not think of ever returning for him ; and, by my beard, dapple is a fpecial one. It is not my cuflom, faid Don Quixote, to plunder thofe I overcome, nor is it the ufage of chivalry to take from them their horfes, and leave them on foot, unlefs the victor hath loft his own in the conflict ; for, in fuch a cafe, it is lawful to take that of the van- quifhed, as fairly won in battle. Therefore, Sancko, leave this horfe or afs, or what you will have it to be j for when his owner fees us gone a pretty way off, he will come again for him. God knows whether it were beft for me to take him, replied Sanckoy or at leaft to truck mine for him, which methinks is not fo good : verily the laws of chivalry are very ftricl, fince they do not ex- tend to the fwapping one afs for another ; and I would fain know whether I might exchange furniture, if I had a mind. I am not very clear as to that point, anfvvered Don Quixote ; and in cafe of doubt, 'till better information can be had, I fay you may truck, if ycu are in extreme want of them. So extreme, replied Sancho, that I could not want them more, if they were for my own proper perfon : and fo faying, he proceeded with that licenfe to a change of capa- rifons, and made his own beaft three parts in four the better ' for his new furni- ture. This done, they breakfafted on the remains of the plunder of the fumpter- mule, and drank of the water of the fulling-mills, without turning their faces to look at them, fuch was their abhorrence of them for the fright they had put them in. Their choler and hunger being thus allayed, they mounted, and, without taking any determinate route (for knights-errant are peculiarly in their element, when out of their road) they put on whitherfoever Rozinante's will led him, which drew after it that of his mafter, and alfo that of the afs, which followed in love and good fellowship, where-ever he led the way. Notwith- ftanding which, they foon came back again into the great road, which they fol- lowed at a venture, without any defign at all.

1 Literally, !:ai>ing him better hy a tierce and a quint. A figurative expreffion borrowed from the game of piquet, in which a tierce or a quint may be gained by p utiing out bad cards, and taking in better.

As

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. m

As they thus fauntered on, Sancbo faid to his matter : Sir, will your worfhip he pleafed to indulge me the liberty of a word or two; for fince you impofed on me that harfh command of filence, fundry things have rotted in my breaft, and I have one juft now at my tongue's end, that I would not for any thing mould mifcarry. Out with it, faid Don Quixote, and be brief in thy difcourfe ; for none that is long can be pleafing. I fay then, Sir, anfwered Sancho, that, for fome days pad, I have been confidering how little is gained by wandering up and down in queft of thofe adventures your worfhip is feeking through thefe de- farts and crofs-ways, where, though you overcome and atchieve the moft peri- lous things, there is no body to fee or know any thing of them; fo that they mud: remain in perpetual oblivion, to the prejudice of your worfhip's inten- tion, and their deferts. And therefore I think it would be more advifeable, with fubmiffion to your better judgment, that we went to ferve fome emperor or other great prince, who is engaged in war; in whofe fervice your worfhip may difplay the worth of your perfon, your great courage, and greater understand- ing : which being perceived by the lord we ferve, he muft of neceffity reward each of us according to his merits ; nor can you there fail of meeting with fome body to put your worfhip's exploits in writing, for a perpetual remembrance of them. I fay nothing of my own, becaufe they muft not exceed the fquirely li- mits; though I dare fay, if it be the cuftom in chivalry to pen the deeds of fquires, mine will not be forgotten between the lines. ' You are not much out, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote : but before it comes to that, it is neceffary for a knight-errant to wander about the world, feeking adventures, by way of proba- tion ; that, by atchieving fome, he may acquire fuch fame and renown, that, when he comes to the court of fome great monarch, he mail be known by his works beforehand ; and fcarcely mail the boys fee him enter the gates of the city, but they fhall all follow and furround him, crying aloud ; this is the knight of the fun, or of the fei-pent, or of any other device, under which he may have atchieved great exploits. This is he, will they fay, who overthrew the huge giant Brocabruno of the mighty force, in fingle combat ; he who difenchanted the great Mameluco of Perfia from the long enchantment, which held him confined al- moft nine hundred years. Thus, from hand to hand, they fhall go on blazon- ing his deeds; and prefently, at the buttle of the boys, and of the reft of the people, the king of that country fhall appear at the windows of his royal pa- lace; and, as foon as he efpies the knight, knowing him by his armour, or by the device on his fhield, he muft neceflarily fay; ho, up, Sirs, go forth, my knights, all that are at court, to receive the flower of chivalry, who is coming yonder : at whofe command they all fhall go forth, and the king himfelf, de- fending half way down the flairs, mall receive him with a clofe embrace,

1 In the following fpeech of Don Quixote we have a perfect fyftem of chivalry, which was defigncd by the author as a ridicule upon romances in general : notwithstanding which the Beaux E/frits of France, who iaye written romances fince, have copied this very plan.

fainting

H2 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

faluting andkiffing him; and then, taking him by the hand, fhall conduct him to the apartment of the queen, where the knight mail find her accompanied by her daughter the infanta, who is fo beautiful and accomplished a damfel, that her equal cannot eafily be found in any part of the known world. After this it muft immediately fall out, that flie fixes her eyes on the knight, and he his eyes upon, hers, and each fhall appear to the other fomething rather divine than human ; and, without knowing how, or which way, they fhall be taken and entangled in the inextricable net of love, and be in great perplexity of mind through not knowing how to converfe, and difcover their amorous anguifh to each other. From thence, without doubt, they will conduct him to fome quarter of the palace richly furnifhed, where, having taken off his armour, they will bring him a rich fcarlet mantle to put on ; and, if he looked well in armour, he mull needs make a much more graceful figure in ermins. The night being come, he mall fup with the king, queen, and infanta, where he fhall never take his eyes off the princefs, viewing her by flealth, and fhe doing 'the fame by him with the fame warinefs : for, as I have faid, fhe is a very difcreet damfel. The ta- bles being removed, there mall enter, unexpectedly, at the hall-door, a little ill- favoured dwarf, followed by a beautiful matron between two giants, with the offer of a certain adventure, fo contrived by a mofl antient fage, that he, who fhall accomplifh it, fhall be efteemed the befl knight in the world. The king fhall immediately command all who are prefent to try it, and none fhall be able to finifh it, but the Arranger knight, to the great advantage of his fame ; at which the infanta will be highly delighted, and reckon herfelf overpaid for having placed her thoughts on fo exalted an object. And the befl of it is, that this king, or prince, or whatever he be, is carrying on a bloody war with another monarch as powerful as himfelf; and the ftranger knight, after having been a few days at his court, asks leave to ferve his majefly in the aforefaid war. The king mail readily grant his requeft, and the knight fhall moft courteoufly kifs his royal hands for the favour he does him. And diat night he mall take his leave of his lady the infanta at the iron rails of a garden, adjoining to her apartment, through which he had already converfed with her feveral times, by the mediation of a certain female confidante, in whom the infanta greatly trufred. He fighs, fhe fwoons ; the damfel runs for cold water : he is very uneafy at the approach of the morning-light, and would by no means they mould be difcover- ed, for the fake of his lady's honour. The infanta at length comes to herfelf, and gives her fnowy hands to the knight to kifs through the rails, who kifTes them a thoufand and a thoufand times over, and bedews them with his tears. They agree how to let one another know their good or ill fortune ; and the prin- cefs defires him to be abfent as little a while as poffible ; which he promifes with many oaths: he kifTes her hands^ again, and takes leave with fo much concern, that it almoft puts an end to his life. From thence he repairs to his chamber, throws himfelf on his bed, and cannot fleep for grief at die parting: he rifes

early

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 113

early in die morning, and goes to take leave of the king, the queen, and the infanta: having taken his leave of the two former, he is told that the princefs is indifpofed, and cannot admit of a vifit: the knight thinks it is for grief at his departure ; his heart is pierced, and he is very near giving manifeft indications of his paffion : the damfel confidante is all this while prefent, and obferves what pafles ; fhe goes and tells it her lady, who receives the account with tears, and tells her that her chief concern is, that fhe does not know who her knight is, and whether he be of royal defcent, or not : the damfel aflures her he is, fince fo much courtefy, politenefs, and valour, as her knight is endowed with, can- not exift but in a royal and grave fubjedt. The afflidted princefs is comforted hereby, and endeavours to compofe herfelf, that fhe may not give her parents caufe to iufpect any thing amifs, and two days after fhe appears in public. The knight is now gone to the war ; he fights, and overcomes the king's enemy ; takes many towns j wins feveral battles ; returns to court; fees his lady at the ufual place of interview; it is agreed he fhall demand her in marriage of her fa- ther, in recompence for his fervices : the king does not confent to give her to him, not knowing who he is. Notwithftanding which, either by carrying her ofF, or by whatever other means it is, the infanta becomes his fpoufe *, and her father comes to take it for a piece of the greatefl good-fortune, being afTured that the knight is fon to a valorous king, of I know not what kingdom, for I believe it is not in the map. The father dies; the infanta inherits; and, in two words, the knight becomes a king. Here prefently comes in the rewarding his fquire, and all thofe who aflifted him in mounting to fo exalted a flate. He marries his fquire to one of the infanta's maids of honour, who is doubtlefs the very confidante of this amour, and daughter to one of the chief dukes.

This is what I would be at, and a clear ftage, quoth Sancho: this I flick to; for every tittle of this muft happen precifely to your worfhip, being called the knight of the forrowful figure. Doubt it not, Sancho, replied Don Quixote ; for by thofe very means, and thofe very fteps I have recounted, the knights- errant do rife, and have rifen, to be kings and emperors. All that remains now to be done, is, to look out and find what king of the chriftians, or of the pa- gans, is at war, and has a beautiful daughter 2 : but there is time enough to think of this; for, as I have told you, we mufr. procure renown elfewhere, before we repair to court. Befides, there is frill another thing wanting ; for fuppofing a king were found, who is at war, and has a handfome daughter, and that I have gotten incredible fame throughout the whole univerfe, I do not fee how it can be made appear that I am of the lineage of kings, or even fecond

' In the former circumftances of this extraft moll romances agree, and therefore the author exhaufts the' whole fubjett; which in this he cannot do, becaufe in thofe itories there are feveral ways of obtaining the lady : and therefore he leaves that point at large.

- The ridicule is admirably heightened by the incapacity both knight and fquire are under cf putting this fcheme in practice, the former by his loyalty to Dulcinea, and Sancho by having a wife and children already : neverthelefs the idea is fo pleafing, that it quite carries them away, and they refolve upon it.

Vol. I. Q__ coufin

H4 Tie LIFE and EX P LO ITS of

coufin to an emperor : for the king will not give me his daughter to wife, 'till he is firffc veiy well affured that I am fuch, though my renowned actions mould deferve it ever fo well. So that, through this defect, I am afraid I mall lofe that which my arm has richly deferved. It is true, indeed, I am a gentleman of an antient family, poffeffed of a real eftate of one hundred and twenty crowns a year1;, and perhaps the fage, who writes my hiftory, may fo brighten up my kindred and genealogy, that I may be found the fifth or fixth in defcent from a king. For you muff know, Sancho, that there are two kinds of lineages in the world. Some there are, who derive their pedigree from princes and monarchs whom time has reduced, by little and little, 'till they have ended in a point like a pyramid reverfed : others have had poor and low beginnings, and have rifen by degrees, 'till at lafl they have become great lords. So that the diffe- rence lies in this, that fome have been what now they are not, and others are now what they were not before ; and who knows but I may be one of the for- mer, and that, upon examination, my origin may be found to have been great and glorious ; with which the king my father-in-law, that is to be, ought to be fatisfied : and though he mould not be fatisfied, the infanta is to be fo in love with me, that, in fpight of her father, fhe is to receive me for her lord and hus- band, though fhe certainly knew I was the fon of a water-carrier ; and in cafe fhe fhould not, then is the time to take her away by force, and convey her whither I pleafe ; and time or death will put a period to the difpleafure of her parents. Here, faid Sancho, comes in properly what fome naughty people fay, Never ft and begging for that which you may take by force : though this other is nearer to the purpofe ; A leap from a hedge is better than the prayer of a good man %. I fay this, becaufe if my lord the king, your worfhip's father-in-law, mould not vouchfafe to yield unto you my lady the infanta, there is no more to be done, as your worfhip fays, but to ileal and carry her off. But the mifchief is, that, while peace is making, and before you can enjoy the kingdom quietly, the poor fquire may whiffle for his reward; unlefs the damfel go-between, who is to be his wife, goes off with the infanta, and he fhare his misfortune with her, 'till it fhall pleafe heaven to ordain otherwife ; for I believe his mafter may immediately give her to him for his lawful fpoufe. That you may depend upon, faid Don Quixote. Since it is fo, anfwered Sancho, there is no more to be done but to commend ourfelves to god, and let things take their courfe. God grant it, anfwered Don Quixote, as I defire and you need, and let him be wretched who thinks himfelf fo. Let him, in god's name, faid Sancho ; for I am an old

1 The original is y de dewngar quinhnlos fueldos, literally, to revenge five hundred fueldo's. Tt is a pro- verbial expreffion to iignify a perfon's being a gentleman, and took it- rife from the following occafion. The Spaniards of Old Caflilc being obliged to pay a yearly tribute of five hundred virgins to the Moors, after fe- ver'al battles, in which the Spaniards fucceeded, the tribate « .'. to five hundred fiaW% or pieces of

ijh coin. But in procefs of time the Spam, force of arms, delivered thcmfeives from that grofs

impofition; and that heroical action being performed by men of figure and fortune, they characterize by this expreffion a man of bravery and honour, and a true lover of his country.

* That is, it is better to rob than to ask charity.

chrifHan,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 115

chrillian, and that is enough to qualify me to be an carl. Ay, and more than enough, faid Don Quixote: but ;it matters not whether you are cr no; for I, being a king, can eaiily bellow nobility on you, without your buying it, or doing me the leafl fervice ; and, in creating you an earl, I make you a gentleman of courfe ; and, fay what they will, in good faith, they mull llyle you your lord- JJnp, though it grieve them never fo much. Do you think, quoth Sancho, I mould not know how to give authority to the indignity? Dignity, you fhould fay, and not indignity, faid his mailer. So let it be, anfwered Sancho Panga : I fay, I fliould do well enough with it ; for I affure you I was once beadle of a company, and the beadle's gown became me fo well, that every body faid I had a prefence fit to be warden of the faid company. Then what will it be when I am arrayed in a duke's robe, all fhining. with gold and pearls, like a foreign count ? I am of opinion folks will come a hundred leagues to fee me. You will make a goodly appearance indeed, faid Don Quixote : but it will be necef- fary to trim your beard a little oftener ; for it is fo rough and frowzy, that, if you do not Ihave with a razor every other day at leaft, you will difcover what you are a musket-mot off. Why, laid Sancho, it is but taking a barber into the houfe, and giving him wages ; and, if there be occalion, I will make him follow me like a gentleman of the horfe to a grandee. How came you to know, demanded Don Quixote, that grandees have their gentlemen of the horfe to follow them? I will tell you, faid Sancho : fome years ago I was about the court for a month, and there I law a veiy little gentleman riding backward and forward, who, they laid, was a very great lord : a man followed him on horfe- back, turning about as he turned, that one would have thought he had been his tail. I asked, why that man did not come up even with the other, but went always behind him ? they anfwered me, that it was his gentleman of the horfe, and that noblemen commonly have fuch to follow them ; and from that day to this I have never forgotten it. You are in the right, faid Don Quixote, and in the fame manner you may carry about your barber j for all culloms do not arife together, nor were they invented at once; and you may be the firfl earl, who carried about his barber after him: and indeed it is a greater trull to lhave the beard, than to fiddle a horfe. Leave the bufinefs of the barber to my care, faid Sancho ; and let it be your worlhip's to procure yourfelf to be a king, and to make me an earl. So it lhall be, anfwered Don Quixote, and, lifting up his eyes, he faw, what will be told in the fol- lowing chapter.

C^ 2 CHAP.

xi6 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. VIII.

How Don Quixote fet at liberty fever al unfortunate perfons, who were carrying, much againfi their wills, to a place they did not like.

CID Hamet Benengeli, the Arabian and Manchegan author, relates in this moll grave, lofty, accurate, delightful, and ingenious hiftory, that, du- ring thofe difcourfes, which patted between the famous Don Quixote de la Man- cha and Sancho Panca his fquire, as they are related at the end of the forego- ing chapter, Don Quixote lifted up his eyes, and faw coming on, in the fame road, about a dozen men on foot, ftrung like beads in a row, by the necks, in a sreat iron chain, and all hand-cuffed. There came alfo with them two men on horfeback, and two on foot ; thofe on horfeback armed with firelocks, and thofe on foot with pikes and fwords. And Sancho Panca, efpying them, faid; This is a chain of galley -flaves, perfons forced by the king to the galleys. Howl perfons forced ! quoth Don Quixote : is it poffible the king mould force any body ? I fay not fo, anfwered Sancho, but that they are perfons condemned by the law for their crimes to ferve the king in the gallies/xr force. In fhort, re- plied Don Quixote, however it be, fince they are going, it is ttill by force, and not with their own liking. It is fo, faid Sancho. Then, faid his matter, here the execution of my office takes place, to defeat violence, and to fuccour and relieve the miferable. Confider, Sir, quoth Sancho, that juftice, that is the kinof himfelf, does no violence nor injury to fuch perfons, but only punifhes them for their crimes. By this the chain of galley-ilaves were come up, and Don Quixote, in moll courteous terms, defired of the guard, that they would be pleafed to inform and tell him the caufe or caufes why they conducted thofe perfons in that manner. One of the guards on horfeback anfwered, that they were flaves belonging to his majefly, and going to the galleys, which was all he could fay, or the other need know, of the matter. For all that, replied Don Quixote, I fhould be glad to know from each of them in particular the caufe of his misfortune. To thefe he added fuch other courteous expreffions, to induce them to tell him what he defired, that the other horfeman faid : Though we have here the record and certificate of the fentence of each of thefe wretches, this is no time to produce and read them : draw near, Sir, and ask it of themfelves : they may inform you, if they pleafe ; and inform you they will, for they are fuch as take a pleafure both in acting and relating rogueries. With this leave, which Don Quixote would have taken though they had not given it, he drew near to the chain, and demanded of the firit, for what of- fence he marched in fuch evil plight. He anfwered, that he went in that man- ner for being in love. For that alone ? replied Don Quixote : if they fend folks to the galleys for being in love, I might long fince have been rowing in them. It was not fuch love as your worfhip imagines, faid the galley-flave :

mine

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 117

mine was the being fo deeply enamoured of a flasket of fine linnen, and em- bracing it fo clofe, that, if juftice had not taken it from me by force, I mould not have parted with it by my good-will to this very day. I was taken in the feci, fo there was no place for the torture ; the procefs was fhort ; they ac- commodated my fhoulders with a hundred lafhes, and have fent me, by way of fupplement, for three years to the Gurapas \ and there is an end of it. What are the Gurapas ? quoth Don Quixote. The Gurapas are galleys, an- fwered the flave, who was a young man about twenty-four years of age, and laid he was born at Piedrahita. Don Quixote put the lame queftion to the fe- cond, who returned no anfwer, he was fo melancholy and dejecled : but the firft anfwered for him, and faid ; This gentleman goes for being a canary-bird, I mean, for being a mufician and a finger. How fo ? replied Don Quixote ; are men fent to the galleys for being muficians and fingers ? Yes, Sir, replied the flave ; for there is nothing worfe than to fing in an agony. Nay, faid Don Quixote, I have heard lay, Sing aivay forrow. This is the very reverfe, faid the flave ; for here, he who fings once weeps all his life after. I do not un- derftand that, faid Don Quixote : but one of the guards faid to him ; Signor cavalier, to fing in an agony, means, in the cant of thefe rogues, to confefs upon the rack. This offender was put to the torture, and confefled his crime, which was that of being a Quatrero, that is, a ftealer of cattle ; and, becaufe he confefled, he is fentenced for fix years to the galleys, befides two hundred lafhes he has already received on the fhoulders. And he is always penfive and fad becaufe the red of the rogues, both thofe behind and thofe before, abufc, vilify, flout, and defpife him for conferring, and not having the courage to fay no : for, fay they, no contains the fame number of letters as ay ; and it is lucky for a delinquent, when his life or death depends upon his own tongue, and not upon proofs and witneffes ; and, for my part, I think they are in the right of it. And I think fo too, anfwered Don Quixote ; who, pafling on to the third, interrogated him as he had done the others : who anfwered very readily, and with very little concern ; I am going to Mefdames the Gurapas for five years, for wanting ten ducats. I will give twenty with all my heart, faid Don Quixote, to redeem you from this mifery. That, faid the flave, is like having money at fea, and dying for hunger, where there is nothing to be bought with it. I fay this, becaufe, if I had been pofTefTed in time of thofe twenty ducats you now offer me, I would have fo greafed the clerk's pen, and fharpened my advocate's wit, that I fhould have been this day upon the market-place of Zocodover in Toledo, and not upon this road, coupled and dragged like a hound ; but god is great ; patience ; I fay no more. Don Quixote paffed on to the fourth, who was a man of a venerable afpecl, with a white beard reaching below his brcafl j who, hearing himfelf asked the caufe of his coming thither, began to weep, and anfwered not a word : but the fifth lent him a tongue, and faid ; This

' A cant word.

honefi:

ii8 Tie LIFE and EXP L 0 I T S of

honefl gentleman goes for four years to the galleys, after having gone In the ufual procefTion pompoufly apparalled and mounted '. That is, I fuppofe, faid Sancho, put to public fhame. Right, replied the (lave ; ?,rA the offence, for which he underwent this punifhment, was his having been a broker of the ear, yea, and of the whole body : in effect, I would fay, that this cavalier goes for pimping, and exercifing the trade of a conjurer. Had it been meerly for pimp- ing, faid Don Quixote, he had not deferved to row in, but to command, and be general of the galleys : for the office of a pimp is not a flight bufinefs, but an employment fit only for difcreet perfons, and a moft neceflary one in a well- regulated common- wealth ; and none but perfons well born ought to exercife it : and in truth there mould be infpectors and comptrollers of it, as there are of other offices, with a certain number of them deputed, like exchange-bro- kers ; by which means many mifchiefs would be prevented, which now hap- pen, becaufe this office and profeffion is in the hands of foolifh and ignorant perfons, fuch as filly waiting-women, pages, and buffoons, of a few years ftanding, and of fmall experience, who, in the greatefl exigency, and when there is occafion for the moft dexterous management and addrefs, fuffer the morfel to freeze between the fingers and the mouth, and fcarce know which is their right hand. I could go on, and affign the reafons why it would be ex- pedient to make choice of proper perfons, to exercife an office fo neceffary in the commonwealth : but this is no proper place for it ; and I may one day or other lay this matter before thofe, who can provide a remedy. At prefent I only fay, that the concern I felt at feeing thofe grey hairs, and that venerable countenance, in fo much diftrefs for pimping, is entirely removed by the addi- tional character of his being a wizzard : though I very well know, there are no forceries in the world, which can affect and force the will, as fome foolifh peo- ple imagine ; for our will is free, and no herb nor charm can compel it. What fome filly women and crafty knaves are wont to do, is, with certain mixtures and poifons, to turn peoples brains, under pretence that they have power to make one fall in love ; it being, as I fay, a thing impoffible to force the will. It is ' fo, faid the honeft old fellow : and truly, Sir, as to being a wizzard, I am not guilty ; but as for being a pimp, I cannot deny it ; but I never thought there was any harm in it ; for the whole of my intention was, that all the world fhould divert themfelves, and live in peace and quiet, without quarrels or trou- bles : but this good defign could not fave me from going where I fhall have no hope of returning, confidering I am fo loaden with years, and fo troubled with the ftrangury, which leaves me not a moment's repofe : and here he began to weep, as at firfl ; and Sa?icko was fo moved with companion, that he drew out from his bofom a real, and gave it him as an alms.

Don Quixote went on, and demanded of another what his offence was ; who

1 Such malefactors as in England are fet in the pillory, in Spain are carried about in a particular ha- bit, mounted on aa air, with their face to the tail ; the cr)cr going before and proclaiming their crime.

anfwered,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA M A N C H A. 119

anfwered, not with lefs, but much more alacrity than the former : I am going for making a little too free with two fhe-coufin-germans of mine, and with two other coufin-germans not mine : in fliort, I carried the jeft fo far with them all, that the refult of it was the encreaiing of kindred lb intricately, that no cafuift can make it out. The whole was proved upon me ; I had neither friends, nor money ; my windpipe was in the utmofl danger ; I ntenced to the

galleys for fix years ; I fubmit ; it is the punimme'nt of my fault ; I am young; life may Lift, and time brings every -thing about : if your worfhip, Signor cava- lier, has any thing about you to relieve us poor wretches, god will repay you in heaven, and we will make it the bulinefs of our prayers to befeech him, that your worship's life and health may be as long and profperous, as your goodly pretence deferves. This Have was in the habit of a ftudent ; and one of the guards laid, he was a great talker, and a very pretty Latinijl.

Behind all thefe came a man fome thirty years of age, of a goodly afpect ; only to look at he feemed to thruft one eye into the other : he was bound fomewhat differently from the reft > for he had a chain to his leg, fo long, that it was faftened round his middle, and two collars about his neck, one of which was faftened to the chain, and the other, called a keep-friend, or friend' s- foot, had two ftreight irons, which came down from it to his wafte, at the ends of which were fixed two manacles ', wherein his hands were fecured with a huge padlock ; infomuch that he could neither lift his hands to his mouth, nor bend down his head to his hands. Don Quixote asked, why this man went fettered and fhackled fo much more than the reft. The guard anfwered, be- caufe he alone had committed more .villanies than all the reft put together ; and that he was fo bold and defperate a villain, that, though they carried him in that manner, they were not fecure of him, but were ftill afraid he would make his efcape. What kind of villanies has he committed, faid Don Quixote, that they have deferved no greater puniftiment than being fent to the galleys ? He goes for ten years, faid the guard, which is a kind of civil death : you need only be told, that this honeft gentleman is the famous Gines de PajJ'amonte, alias Ginefillo de Parapilla. Fair and foftly, Signor cornmiflary, faid then the Have ; let us not be now lengthening out names and firnames. Gines is my name, and not Ginefillo ; and Paffamonte is the name of my family, and not Parapilla, as you fay ; and let every one turn himfelf round, and look at home, and he will find enough to do. Speak with more refpect, Sir thief above ftandard, replied the commhTary, unlefs you will o"blige me to filence you to your forrow. You may fee, anfwered the flave, that man goeth as god pleafeth ; but fome body may learn one day, whether my name is Ginefillo de Parapilla or no. Are you not called fo, lying rafcal, faid the guard ? They do call me fo, anfwered Gi, but I will make them that they {hall not call me fo, or I will flea them where I care not at prefent to fay. Signor cavalier, continued he, if you have any

■ The original is efiojas (fpoufes) fo called becaufe they joined the hands together like man and wife.

tiling

120 77j* LIFE and EX P L 0 ITS of

tiling to give us, give it us now, and god be with you ; for you tire us with en- quiring fo much after other mens lives : if you would know mine, know that I am Gines de PaJJamonte, whofe life is written by thefevery ringers. He fays true, faid the commiffary ; for he himfelf has written his own hiftory, as well as heart could wifh, and has left the book in prifon in pawn for two hundred reals. Ay, and I intend to redeem it, faid Gines, if it lay for two hundred ducats. What ! is it fo good, faid Don Quixote ? So good it is, anfwered Gines, that woe be to Lazarillo de Tonnes, and to all that have written or mail write in that way. What I can affirm to, your worfhip is, that it relates truths, and truths fo inge- nious and entertaining, that no fictions can come up to them. How is the book intituled ? demanded Don Quixote. The life of Gines de PafTamonte, replied Gines himfelf. And is it finifhed ? quoth Don Quixote. How can it be finifh- ed ? anfwered he, fince my life is not yet finifhed ? what is written, is from my cradle to the moment of my being fent this laft time to the galleys. Then belike you have been there before, faid Don Quixote. Only four years, the other time, replied Gines, to ferve god and the king ; and I know already the relifh of the bifcuit and bull's-pizzle : nor does it grieve me much to go to them again, fince I fhall there have the opportunity of finifhing my book : for I have a great many things to fay, and in the galleys of Spain there is leifure more than enough, though I fhall not want much for what I have to write, becaufe I have it by heart. You feem to be a witty fellow, faid Don Quixote. And an unfortunate one, anfwered Gines ; but misfortunes always purfue the ingenious. Purfue the villainous, faid the commiffary. I have already defired you, Signor commiffary, anfwered Pajfamonte, to go on fair and foftly ; for your fuperiors did not give you that fiaff to mifufe us poor wretches here, but

to conduct and carry us whither his majefty commands : now by the life of-

I fay no more ; but the foots, which were contracted in the inn, may perhaps one day come out in the buck-wafhing ; and let every one hold his tongue, and live well, and fpeak better ; and let us march on, for this has held us long enough. The commiffary lifted up his fiaff, to flrike Pajfamonte, in return for his threats : but Don Quixote interpofed, and defired he would not abufe him, fince it was but fair, that he, who had his hands fo tied up, fhould have his tongue a little at liberty. Then, turning about to the whole firing, he faid : From all you have told me, deareft brethren, I clearly gather, that, though it be only to punifh you for your crimes, you do not much relifh the pains you are going to fuffer, and that you go to them much againft the grain and againft your good-liking : and perhaps the pufillanimity of him who was put to the torture, this man's want of money, and the other's want of friends, and in fliort the judge's wrefting of the law, may have been the caufe of your ruin, and that you did not come off, as in juftice you ought to have done. And I have fo ftrong a perfuafion that this is the truth of the cafe, that my mind prompts, and even forces me-, to fhew in you the effect for which heaven threw

me

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 121

me into the world, and ordained me to profefs the order of chivalry, which I do profefs, and the vow I made in it to fuccour die needy, and tkofe opprefTed by the mighty. But knowing that it is one part of prudence, not to do that by foul means, which may be done by fair, I will entreat thefe gentlemen your guard, and the commiffary, that they will be pleafed to loofe you, and let you go in peace, there being people enough to ferve the king for better reafons : for it feems to me a hard cafe to make flaves of thofe, whom god and nature made free. Befides, gentlemen guards, added Don Quixote, thefe poor men have committed no offence againft you : let every one anfwer for his fins in the other world ; there is a god in heaven, who does not neglect to chaftife the wicked, nor to reward the good ; neither is it fitting that honeft men mould be the execu- tioners of others, they having no interefl in the matter. I requeft this of you in diis calm and gentle manner, that I may have fome ground to thank you for your compliance : but if you do it not willingly, this launce and this fword, with the vigour of my arm, fhall compel you to do it. This is pleafant fool- ing, anfwered the counmiffary ; an admirable conceit he has broke out with at the long run : he would have us let the king's prifoners go, as if we had au- thority to fet them free, or he to command us to do it. Go on your way, Signor, and adjuft that bafon on your noddle, and do not go feeling for three legs in a cat. You are a cat, and a rat, and a rafcal to boot, anfwered Don Quixote ; and fo, with a word and a blow, he attacked him fo fuddenly, that, be- fore he could ftand upon his defence, he threw him to the ground, much wounded with a thruft of the launce. And it happened luckily for Don Quixote, that this was one of the two who carried firelocks. The reft of the guards were aftonifhed and confounded at the unexpected encounter ; but recovering themfelves, thofe on horfeback drew their fwords, and thofe on foot laid hold on their javelins, and fell upon Don Quixote, who waited for them with 'much calmnefs ; and doubtlefs it had gone ill with him, if the galley-flaves, perceiv- ing the opportunity, which offered itfelf to them, of recovering their liberty, had not procured it, by breaking the chain, with which they were linked together. The hurry was fuch, that the guards, now endeavouring to prevent the flaves from getting loofe, and now engaging with Don Quixote, who attacked them, did nothing to any purpofe. Sancho, for his part, aflifted in loofing of Gincs de Pajfamonte, who was the firft that leaped free and diiembarraffed upon the plain ; and fetting upon the fallen commiflary, he took away his fword and his ■ gun, with which, levelling it, firft at one, and then at another, without dis- charging it, he cleared the field of all the guard, who fled no lefs from Pojfa- jnonte's gun, than from the fhower of ftones, which the flaves, now at liberty, poured upon them.

Sancho was much grieved at what had happened ; for he imagined that the fugitives would give notice of the fact to the holy brotherhood, which, upon ringing a bell, would fally out in queft of the delinquents ; and fo he told his

Vol, I. • R matter,

122 Tbe LIFE and EXPLOITS of

matter, and begged of him to he gone from thence immediately, and take fhelter among the trees and rocks of the neighbouring mountain. It 'is well, faid Don Quixote ; but I know what is now expedient to be done. Then having called all the flaves together, who were in a fright, and had ftripped the com- mifiury to his buff, they gathered in a ring about him, to know his pleafure • when he thus addreffed them. To be thankful for benefits received, is the pro- perty of perfons well born , and one of the fins, at which god is moft offended, is ingratitude. This I fay, gentlemen, becaufe you have already found, by ma- nifeft experience, the benefit you have received at my hands ; in recompence whereof my will and pleafure is, that, loaden with this chain, which I have taken off from youf necks, you immediately fet out, and go to the city of To- bojo, and there prefent yourfelves before the lady Dulcinea del Tobofo, and tell her, that her knight of the firrowful figure fends you to prefent his fervice to her ; and recount to her every tittle and circumftance of this memorable adven- ture to die point of fetting you at your wifhed-for liberty : this done, you may go, in god's name, whither you lift. Gines de Paffamonte anfwered for them all, and laid ; What your worihip commands us, noble Sir, and our deliverer, is of all impoffibilities the moft impofllble to be complied with : for we dare not be feen together on the road, but muft go feparate and alone, each man by himielf, and endeavour to hide ourfelves in the very bowels of the earth from the holy brotherhood, who, doubtlefs, will be out in queft of us. What your worfhip may, and ought to do, is, to change this fervice and duty ' to the lady Dulcinea del Tobofo into a certain number of Ave Maries and Credos, which we will fay fw the fuccefs of your defign ; and this is what we may do by day or by night, flying or repofing, in peace or in war : but to think that, we will now return to the brick-kilns of Egypt, I fay, to take our chains, and put ourfelves on to the way to Tobofo, is to think it is now night already, whereas it is not yet ten a-clock in the morning • and to expect this from us, is to expect pears from an elm-tree. I vow then, quoth Den Quixote, already enraged, Don ion of a whore, Don Gineflh dePa'rapilla, or however you call yourfelf, you alone {hall go with your tail between your legs, and the whole chain upon your back. Pafa- monte, who was not over-paiiive, and had already perceived that Don Quixpte was not wifer than lie lhould be, fince he committed fuch an extravagance as the fetting them at liberty, feeing himfelf treated in this manner, winked upon his comrades ; and they all, ftepping afide, began to rain fuch a mower of ftones ■ upon Don Quixote, that he could not contrive to cover himfelf with his buckler; and poor Rozinante made no more of the fpur than if he had been made of brafs. Sancho got behind his afs, and thereby flickered himfelf from the ftorm and hail that poured upon them both. Don Quixote could not fcreen himfelf fe well, but that he received I know not how many thumps on the body with fuch force, that they brought him to the. ground 3 and fcarce was he fallen,

1 Montzago, a duty to the king upon cattle.

■■-

J7 Uanderbanl- /

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCIIA. 123

when the fludent let upon him, and, taking the bafan Irom off his head, gave him three or four blows with it on the moulders, and then itruck it :. againfl the ground, whereby he almofl: broke it to pieces. They ftripped him of a jacket he wore over his armour, and would have Gripped him of Ins trow- zers too, if the greaves had not hindered them. They took from Sancho his cloak, leaving him in his doublet ' ; and fharing among themfelvQS the fpoils of the battle, they made die beff. of their way off, each a fevered \ '\ more

care how to efcape tlie holy brotherhood they were in fear of, than to load themfctves with the chain, and to go and prefent themfelves before the lady Dukinea del Tobofo. The afs and Rozinante, Sancko and D: :te, re-

mained by Jiemfelves ; the afs hanging his head and pennVe, and now anil f] Ihaking his ears, diinking that the ftorm of ftones was not yet over, but ilill whizzing about his head ; Rozinante ftretched along clofe by his matter, he alio being knocked down with another ftone ; Sancho in his doublet, and afraid of the holy brotherhood ; and Don Quixote very much out of humour, to find himfelf lb ill treated by thofe very perfons to whom he had done fo much good.

CHAP. IX.

Of ivhat befell the renowned Don Quixote in the fable mountain, being one of themojl curious and unconimon adventures of any related in this faithful hi/lory.

TPVOiV Quixote, finding himfelf fo ill treated, faid to his fquire ; Sancho, I -*-/ have always heard it faid, that to do good to low fellows, is to throw wa- ter into the fea. Had I believed what you faid to me, I might have prevented this trouble ; but it is done, I mud have patience, and take warning from hence- forward. Your worfhip will as much take warning, anfwered Sancho, as I am a Turk ; but fince you fay, that, if you had believed me, you had avoided this mifchief, believe me now, and you will avoid a greater ; for, let me tell you, there is no putting off.the holy brotherhood with chivalries : they do not care two farthings for all the knights-errant in the world ; and know, that I fancy I already hear their arrows * whizzing about my cars. You are naturally a cow- ard, Sancho, faid Don Quixote : but that you may not fay I am obftinate, and that I never do what you advife, I will for once take your counfel, and get out of the reach of that fury you fear fo much ; but upon this one condition, that, nei- ther living nor dying, you ihall ever tell any body, that I retired, and withdrew myfelf from this peril, out of fear, but that I did it out of mere compliance With your intreaties : for if you fay otherwife, you will lye in fo doino- • and from this time to that, and from that time to this, I tell you, you lye, and will

W n^fi^J^fk Cr''R%" lt,M naked- Pehta h Iikewife a g^ment formerly ufed in Stai*. fcnfes ^ NV1" eafl'y fee' that h ouS]lt n°< » be iiix&ftood here in the firft of fhcfc

* The troopers of the holy brotherhood carry bows and arrows

R z lye,

I24. tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

lye, every time you fay or think it : and reply no more j for the bare thought of withdrawing and retreating from any danger, and efpecially from this, which feems to cany fome or no appearance of fear with it, makes me, that I now ftand prepared to abide here, and expect alone, not only that holy brotherhood you talk of and fear, but the brothers of the twelve tribes of Ifrael, and the feven Maccabees, and Cajior and Pollux, and even all the brothers and brother- hoods that are in the world. Sir, anfwered Sancho, retreating is not running away, nor is ftaying wifdom, when the danger over-balances the hope : and it is the part of wife men to fecure themfelves to-day for to-morrow, and not to venture all upon one throw. And know, though I am but a clown and a pea- fant, I have yet fome fmattering of what is called good conduct : therefore re- pent not of having taken my advice, but get upon Rozhiante if you can, and if not, I will affift you ; and follow me ; for my noddle tells me, that for the prefent we have more need of heels than hands. Don Quixote mounted, with- out replying a word more ; and, Sancho leading the way upon his afs, they en- tered on one fide of the fable mountain ', which was hard by, it being Sancho'* intention to pafs quite crofs it, and to get out at Vifo, or at Almodovar del Cam- po, and to hide themfelves, for fome days, among thofe craggy rocks, that they might not be found, if the holy brotherhood mould come in queft of them. He was encouraged to this by feeing that the provifions carried by his afs 2 had efcaped fafe from the skirmifh with the galley-flaves, which he looked upon as a miracle, confidering what the flaves took away, and how narrowly they fearched.

That night they got into the heart of the fable mountain, where Sancho thought it convenient to pafs that night, and alfo fome days, at leaft as long as the provifions he had with him lafled: fo they took up their lodging between two great rocks, and amidft abundance of cork-trees. But deftiny, which, ac- cording to the opinion of thofe who have not the light of the true faith, guides, faihions, and difpofes all things its own way, fo ordered it, that Gines de Pqffa- monte, the famous cheat and robber, whom the valour and madnefs of Don Quixote had delivered from the chain, being juftly afraid of the holy brother- hood, took it into his head to hide himfelf in thofe very mountains ; and his fortune and his fear carried him to the fame place where Don Quixote's and Sancho Panca's had carried them, juft at the time he could diftinguiih who they were, and at the inflant they were fallen afleep. And as the wicked are always ungrateful, and neceffity puts people upon applying to fhifts, and the prefent conveniency overcomes the confideration of the future, Gines, who had neither gratitude nor good-nature, bethought himfelf of dealing Sancho Panca's

■ Sierra morena. A great mountain (or rather chain of mountains, for fo Sierra fignifics) which divides the kingdom of Cajlile from the province of Andaluxia, and remarkable for being (morena) of a Moorijb or fwarthy colour. .

1 The provifions were eaten before, and the wallet left in the inn for the reckoning ; befides, the looie coat, or cloak, which the galley-flaves had taken away from Sancho, had been made ufe of as a bag for the provifions when they were firft taken. %u<tre, how came Saucbo by a frefh wallet of provifions ?

afSj

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 125

afs, making no account of Rozinante, as a thing neither pawnable nor faleablc. Sancbo Panca fleptj the varlet Hole his afs ; and, before it was day, he was too

far off to be found.

Aurora iflued forth rejoicing the earth, and faddening Sancho Pattpa, who miffed his Dapple, and, finding himfelf deprived of him, began the dolefulled lamentation in the world} and fo loud it was, that Don Quixote awakened at his cries, and heard him fay; O dear child of my bowels, born in my own houfe, the joy of my children, the entertainment of my wife, the envy of my neighbours, the relief of my burdens, and, laftly, the half of my maintenance ! for, with fix and twenty Maravedis he earned every day, I half fupportcd my family. Don Quixote, hearing the lamentation, and learning the caufe, com- forted Sancho with the bell reafons he could, and deiired him to have patience, promiiing to give him a bill of exchange for three young affes out of five he had left at home. Sancbo was comforted herewith, wiped away his tears, mo- derated his fighs, and thanked his mailer for the kindnefs he (hewed him. Don Quixote's heart leaped for joy at entring into the mountains, fuch kind of places feeming to him the moil likely to furnifh him with thofe adventures lie was in quefl of. They recalled to his memory the marvellous events, which had be- fallen knights-errant in fuch folitudes and defarts. He went on meditating on thefe things, and fo wrapped and tranfported in them, that he remembered no- thing elfe. Nor had Sancbo any other concern (now that he thought he was out of danger) than to appeafe his hunger with Avhat remained of the clerical fpoils : and thus, fitting fideling, as women do, upon his bead ', he jogged af- ter his mailer, emptying the bag, and (luffing his paunch : and, while he was thus employed, he would not have given a farthing to have met with any new adventure whatever. Being thus bufied, he lifted up his eyes, and faw his ma- iler had (lopped, and was endeavouring, with the point of his launce, to raife up fome heavy bundle that lay upon the ground : wherefore he made hade to affiil him, if need were, and came up to him juft as he had turned over with his launce a faddle-cuihion, and a portmanteau failened to it, half, or rather quite, rotten and forn ; but fo heavy, that Sancbo was forced to alight and help to take it up ; and his mailer ordered him to fee what was in it. Sancbo very readily obeyed ; and, though the portmanteau was fecured with its chain and pad- lock, you might fee through the breaches what it contained ; which was, four fine holland fhirts, and other linnen, no lefs curious than clean; and, in an handkerchief, he found a good heap of gold crowns ; and, as foon as he efpied them, he cried ; Bleffed be heaven, which has prefented us with one beneficial adventure \ And, fearching further, he found a little pocket-book, richly

» It is fcarce twenty lines fince Saiuho loft his afs, and here he is upon his back again. The belt excufe for this evident blunder is Horaces aliquartdo bonus dormitat Homerus.

* The remembrance of this profitable adventurrf, and the hopes of meeting with fuch another, carry Sancht through many doubts and difficulties in the enfuinghiftory.

bound.

J26 the L IF E and EXPLOITS of

bound. Don Quixote defired to have it, and bid him take die money and keep it for himfelf. Sancho kitted his hands for the favour; and, emptying; the port- manteau of the linnen, he put it in the provender-bag. All which Don Quixote perceiving, faid; I am of opinion, Sancho (nor can it poffibly be otherwife) that fome traveller muft have loft his way in thefe mountains, and have fallen into the hands of robbers, who have killed him, and brought him to this re- mote and fecret part to bury him. It cannot be fo, anfwered Sancho ; for, had they been robbers, they would not have left this money here. You fay right, faid Don Quixote, and I cannot guefs, nor think, what it mould be : but ftay, let us fee whether this pocket-book has any thing written in it, whereby we may trace and difcover what we want to know. He opened it, and the firft thing he found was a kind of rough draught, but very legible, of a fonneL which he read aloud, that Sancho might hear it, to this purpofe.

Or love doth nothing know, or cruel is, Or my affliSlion equals ?iot the caufe 'That doth co?idemn me to fever eft pains. But if love be a god, we mufl fuppofe His Knowledge boundlefs, nor can cruelty With reafon be imputed to a god. Whence then the grief, the cruel pains, I feel'? Chloe, art thou the caufe ? impofjible ! Such ill can ne'er fubfifl with fo much good; Nor does high heaven ' s behefi ordain my fall. Jfoon Jhall die ; my fate's inevitable : For where we know not the difeafe's caufe, A miracle alone can hit the cure.

From this parcel of verfes, quoth Sancho, nothing can be collected, unlefs by the clue here given you can come at the whole bottom. What clue is here? faid Don Quixote. I thought, faid Sancho, your worfhip named a clue. No, I faid Chloe, anfwered Don Quixote; and doubtlefs that is the name of the lady, whom the author of this fonnet complains of; and, in faith, either he ' is a to- lerable poet, or I know but little of the art. Why then, faid Sancho, your worfhip, belike, underftands rhyming. Yes, and better than you think, an- fwered Don Qtiixote; and you fhall fee I do, when you carry a letter to my lady Dulcinea del Tobofo, written in verfe from top to bottom: for know, Sancho, that all, or moft of the knights-errant of times paft were great poets, and great muficians, thefe two accomplishments, or rather graces, being annexed to Lovers-errant. True it is, that the couplets of former knights have more of paffion than elegance in them. Pray, Sir, read on farther, faid Sancho : perhaps you may find fomething to fatisfy us. Don Quixote turned

' Cervantes himfelf.

over

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 127

over the leaf, and faid; This is in protc, and fcems to be a letter. A letter of bulinefs Sir? demanded S^cbo. By the beginning, it fcems rather one of love *kvnze&l)on Quixote. Then pray, Sir, read it aloml, faid Sancbd; for I mteMly relifh thefe love-matter*. WiA all my heart, laid Don ^ixote, and reading aloud, as Sancko defined, he found it to this crll.l.

Tour promifc, and my certain hard fate, hurry me to a place, from whence you will boner hear the news of . ■ f death, than the cauje of my complaint. 1 ou have undone me, ungrateful maid, for the fake of one, who has larger potions, but not more merit, than I. II 'ere virtue a trcafure now in cjlccm, I fiould have had no reafon to envy any man's good-fortune, nor to bewail my own wretchednejs: what

ledge, 'to make you repent of what you have done, and afford me tout revenge -. ich I do not defirc.

The letter being read, faid Don Quixote ; We can gather little more from this, than from the verfes; only that he who wrote it is fome flighted Lover. And turning over moft of the book, he found other verfes and letters, fome of which were legible, and fome not : but the purport of them all was, com- plaints, lamentations, fufpicions, deiires, diflikings, favours, and flights, fome extolled with rapture, and others as mournfully deplored. While Don Quixote was examining the book, Sancho examined the portmanteau, without leaving a corner in it, or in the faddle-cufhion, which he did not fearch, fcrutinize, and look into ; nor feam, which he did not rip ; nor lock of wool, which he did not carefully pick, that nothing might be loft for want of diligence, or through carelefnefs ; fuch a greedinefs the finding the gold crowns, which were more than a hundred, had excited in him. And though he found no more of them, he thought himfclf not ill paid for the toffjngs in the blanket, the vomitings of the baliam, the benedictions of the pack-flavcs, the cuffs of the carrier, the forgetting the wallet, and the lofs of his cloak ; together with all the hunger, thirft, and wearinefs he had undergone in his good mafter's fervice.

The knight of the forrowful 'figure was extremely defirous to know who was the owner of the portmanteau, conjecturing, by the fonnet and the letter, by the money in gold % and by the finenefs of the fhirts, that it muft doubtlefs be- long to fome lover of condition, whom the flights and ill treatment of his mi- ftrefs had reduced to terms of defpair. But, there being no one in that unin- hal | y place to give him any information, he thought of nothing

but °oing forward, whii h w. y foever Rcz deafed, and that was wherever

he found the way eafieft; ftill pofieffed with the imagination that he could not fail of meeting with fome ftrange adventure among thofe briars and rocks.

* GoM was not current in thofe days among the common people of Sfain.

As

128 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

As he thus went on mufing, he efpied on the top of a fmall rifing, jufl be- fore him, a man skipping from crag to crag, and from tuft to tuft, with extra- ordinary agility* He feemed to be naked, his beard black and bufhy, his hair long and tangled, his legs and feet bare : on his thighs he wore a pair of breeches of fad-coloured velvet, but fo ragged, that his skin appeared through feveral parts. His head was likewife bare ; and, though he paffed with the fwiftnefs already mentioned, the knight of the forrowful figure faw and obferved all thefe particulars : but, though he endeavoured to follow him, he could not ; for Rozinante's feeblenefs had not the gift of making way through thofe craggy places ; and befides he was naturally flow-footed and flegmatic. Don Quixote immediately fancied this muft be the owner of the faddle-cufhion and portman- teau, and refolved to go in fearch of him, though he were fure to wander a whole year among thofe mountains, before he mould find him : wherefore he commanded Sancho to cut fhort over one fide of the mountain, while he coafl- ed on the other, in hopes, that by this diligence they might light on the man, who had fo fuddenly vanifhed out of their fight. I cannot do it, anfwered Sancho ; for the moment I offer to flir from your worfhip, fear is upon me, afTaulting me with a thoufand kinds of terrors and apparitions : and let this ferve to advertife you, that, from henceforward, I have not the power to flir a finger's breadth from your prefence. Be it fo, faid he of the forrowful figure -, and I am very well pleafed that you rely upon my courage, which fhall never be wanting to you, though your very foul in your body mould fail you : and now follow me flep by ftep, or as you can, and make fpying-glafTes of your eyes ; we will go round this craggy hill, and perhaps we may meet with the man we faw, who doubtlefs is the owner of our portmanteau. To which Sancho re- plied ; It would be much more prudent not to look after him; for, if we fhould find him, and he perchance proves to be the owner of the money, it is plain I muft. refund it : and therefore it would be better, without this unneceffary dili- gence, to keep poffeffion of it, bona fide, 'till, by fome way lefs curious and of- ficious, its true owner fhall be found ; and perhaps that may be at a time when I fhall have fpent it all, and then I am free by law. You deceive yourfelf in this, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote ; for, fince we have a fufpicion who is the right owner, we are obliged to feek him, and return it: and if we fhould not look for him, the vehement fufpicion we have, that this may be he, makes us already as uilty as if he really were. So that, friend Sancho, you fhould be in no pain at fearching after him, confidering the uneafinefs I fhall be freed from in finding him. Then he pricked Rozinante on, and Sancho followed at the ufual rate : and having gone round part of the mountain, they found a dead mule ly- ing in a brook, faddled and bridled, and half devoured by dogs and crows. All which confirmed them the more in the fufpicion that he, who fled from them, was owner of the mule and of the bundle.

While

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 129

While they ftood looking at the mule, they heard a whittle, like that of a fliepherd tending his flock ; and prefently, on their left hand, appeared a good number of goats, and behind them, on the top of the mountain, the goatherd that kept them, who was an old man. Don Quixote called aloud to him, and defired him to come down to them. He anfwered as loudly, and demanded, who had brought them to that defolate place, feldom or never trodden, unlefs by the feet of goats, wolves, or other wild hearts, which frequented thofe mountains? Sancho replied, if he would come down, they would fatisfy his curiolity in every thing. The goatherd defcended, and, coming to the place where Don Quixote was, he f.id: I will lay a wager you are viewing the hack- ney-mule, which lies dead in this bottom: in good faith, it has lain there thefe fix months already. Pray, tell me, have you lighted on his marter hereabouts? We have lighted on nothing, anfwered Don Quixote, but a faddle-cufhion and a {mall port-manteau, which we found not far from hence. I found it too, an- fwered die goatherd, but would by no means take it up, nor come near it, for fear of fome mifchief, and left I ftiould be charged with having ftolen it; for the devil is fubtle, and lays ftumbling-blocks and occafions of falling in our way, without our knowing how or how not. I fay fo too, anfwered Sancho : for I alio found it, and would not go within a ftone's-throw of it : there I left it, and there it lies as it was, for me; for I will not have a dog with a bell. Tell me, honeft man, faid Don Quixote, do you know who is the owner of thefe goods ? What I know, faid the goatherd, is, that fix months ago, more or lefs, there an ived at the huts of certain fhepherds, about three leagues from this place, a genteel and comely youth, mounted on this very mule, which lies dead here, and with the fame faddle-cufhion and portmanteau, you fay you found and touched not. He enquired of us, which part of this hill was the moft craggy, and leaft accefiible. We told him, it was this where we now are : and fo it is, truly ; for if you were to go on about half a league farther, perhaps you would not eafily find the way out : and I admire how you could get even hither, fince there is no road nor path that leads to this place. The youth then, I fay, hearing our anfwer, turned about his mule, and made toward the place we fhewed him, leaving us all pleafed with his goodly appearance, and in admira- tion at his queftion, and the hafte he made to reach the mountain: and, from that time, we law him not again, 'till fome days after he ifiued out upon one of our fhepherds, and, without faying a word, came up to him, and gave him feveral cuffs and kicks, and immediately went to our fumptcr-afs, which he plundered of all the bread and eheefe fhe carried ; and, this done, he fled again to the rocks with wonderful fwiftnefs. Some of us goatherds, knowing tins, went almoft two days in queft of him, through the moft intricate pait of this craggy hill ; and at laft we found him lying in the hollow of a large cork-tree. He came out to us with much gentleneis, his garment torn, and his face fo dis- figured and fcorched by the fun, that we fliould fcarcely have known him, but

Vol. I. S that

1 3o The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

that his cloaths, ragged as they were, with the defcription given us of them, af- fured us he was the perfon we were in fearch after. He faluted us courteoufly, and, in few, but complaifant terms, bid us not wonder to fee him in that con- dition, to which he was neceffitated in order to perform a certain penance en- joined him for his manifold fins. We entreated him to tell us who he was, but we could get no more out of him. We defired him likewife, that, when he flood in need of food, without which he could not fubfift, he would let us know where we might find him, and we would very freely and willingly bring him fome ; and, if this was not to his liking, that, at leaft, he would come out and ask for it, and not take it away from the fhepherds by force. He thanked us for our offers, begged pardon for the violences paffed, and promifed from thenceforth to ask it for god's fake, without giving disturbance to any body. As to the place of his abode, he faid, he had no other than what chance pre- fented him, wherever the night overtook him ; and he ended his difcourfe with fuch melting tears, that we, who heard him, mu(t have been very flones not to have born him company in them, confidering what he was the firft time we faw him, and what we faw him now to be : for, as I before faid, he was a very comely and graceful youth, and, by his courteous behaviour and civil difcourfe, fhewed himfelf to be well-born, and a court-like perfon : for, though we, who heard him, were country-people, his genteel carriage was fufficient to difcover itfelf even to rufticity. In the height of his difcourfe he flopped fhort, and flood filent, nailing his eyes to the ground for a considerable time, whilil we all flood flill in fufpence, waiting to fee what that fit of diffraction would end in, with no fmall companion at the fight : for by his demeanour, his flaring, and fixing his eyes unmoved for a long while on the ground, and then fhutting them again; by his biting his lips, and arching his brows; we eafily judged, that fome fit of madnefs was come upon him : and he quickly confirmed us in our fufpicions; for he flarted up, with great fury, from the ground, on which he had jufl before thrown himfelf, and fell upon the firfl that flood next him with fuch refolution and rage, that, if we had not taken him off, he would have bit and cuffed him to death. And all this while he cried out ; Ah traitor Fernando ! here, here you fhall pay for the wrong you have done me ; thefe hands fhall tear out that heart, in which all kinds of wickednefs, and efpecially deceit and treachery, do lurk and are harboured : and to thefe he added other expreflions, all tending to revile the faid Fernando, and charging him with falfhood and treachery. We difengaged him from our companion at lafl, with no fmall dif- ficulty; and he, without faying a word, left us, and running away plunged amidfl the thickefl of the bullies and briars ; fo that we could not pofiibly fol- low him. By this we guefs, that his madnefs returns by fits, and that fome perfon, whofe name is Fernando, mufl have done him fome injury of as grie- vous a nature, as the condition, to which it has reduced him, fufficiently declares. And this has been often confirmed to us, fince that time, by his iffuing out

one

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 131

one "while to beg of the fhepherds part of what they had to eat, and at other times to take it from them by force : for, when the mad fit is upon him, tho' the fhepherds freely offer it him, he will not take it without coming to blows for itj but, when he is in his fenfes, he asks it for god's fake, with courtefy and civility, and is very thankful for it, not without (bedding tears. And truly, gentlemen, I muft tell you, purfued the goatherd, that yefterday I, and four young fwains, two of them my fervants, and two my friends, refolved to go in fearch of him, and, having found him, either by. force, or by fair means, to carry him to the town of Almodovar, which is eight leagues off, and there to get hini cured, if his diftemper be curable ; or at leaft inform ourfelves who he is when he is in his fenfes, and whether he has any relations, to whom we may give notice of his misfortune. This, gentlemen, is all I can tell you in anfwer to your enquiry, by which you may underftand, that the owner of the goods you found is the fame, whom you faw pafs by you fo fwiftly and fo nakedly : for Don Quixote had already told him, how he had feen that man pafs skipping over the craggy rocks. Don Quixote was in admiration at what he heard from the goatherd} and, having now a greater defire to learn who the unfortunate madman was, he refolved, as he had before purpofed, to feek him all over the mountain, without leaving a corner or cave in it unfearched, 'till he fhould find him. But fortune managed better for him than he thought or expected : for in that very inftant the youth they fought appeared from between fome clefts of a rock, coming toward the place where they flood, and muttering to himfelf fomething, which could not be underftood, though one were near him, much lefs at a diftance. His drefs was fuch as has been defcribed : but, as he drew near, Don Quixote perceived, that a buff doublet he had on, though torn to pieces, ftill retained the perfume of ambergreece} whence he pofitively conclu- ded, that the perfon, who wore fuch apparel, could not be of the loweft qua- lity. When the youth came up to them, he faluted them with an harih unmufi- cal accent, but with much civility. Don Quixote returned him the falute with no lefs complaifance, and al ghting from Rozinante, with a genteel air and ad- drefs, advanced to embr-.ee him, and held him a good fpace very clofe between his arms, as if he had been acquainted with him a long time. The other, whom we may call the ragged knight of the firry figure (as Don Quixote of the forrouful) after he had fuffered himfelf to be embraced, drew back a little, and, laying both his hands on Don Quixote's fhoulders, flood beholding him, as if to fee whether he knew him } in no lefs admiration, perhaps, at the figure, mien, and armour of Don Quixote, than Don Quixote was at the fight of him. In fhort, the firfr, who fpoke after the embracing, was the ragged knight, and he faid what fhall be told in the next chapter.

S 2 CHAP.

i3a tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. X.

A continuation of the adventure of the fable mountain.

np H E hiftory relates, that great was the attention wherewith Don Quixote -*■ liftened to the ragged knight of the mountain, who began his difcourfe thus : AfTuredly, Signor, whoever you are (for I do not know you) I am ob- liged to you for your expreffions of civility to me ; and I wifb. it were in my power to ferve you with more than my bare good-will, for the kind reception you have given me : but my fortune allows me nothing but good wifhes to re- turn you, for your kind intentions towards me. Mine, anfwered Don Quixote, are to ferve you, infomuch that I determined not to quit thefe mountains 'till I had found you, and learned from your own mouth, whether the affliction, which, by your leading this ftrange life, feems to poifefs you, may admit of any remedy, and, if need were, to ufe all poffible diligence to compafs fuch a reme- dy j and though your misfortune were of that fort, which keep the door locked againfr. all kind of comfort, I intended to affift you in bewailing and bemoaning it the beft I could ; for it is fome relief in misfortunes to find thofe who pity them. And, if you think my intention deferves to be taken kindly, and with any degree of acknowledgment, I befeech you, Sir, by the abundance of civi- lity I fee you are pofleffed of, I conjure you alfo by whatever in this life you have loved or do love moft, to tell me who you are, and what has brought you hither to live and die, like a brute beaft, amidfl thefe folitudes ; as you feem to intend, by frequenting them in a manner fo unbecoming of yourfelf, if I may judge by your perfon, and what remains of your attire. And I fwear, added Don Quixote, by the order 'of knighthood I have received, though unworthy and a finner, and by the profeffion of a knight-errant, if you gratify me in this, to ferve you to the utmoft of what my profeffion obliges me to, either in reme- dying your misfortune, if a remedy may be found, or in affifting you to bewail it, as I have already promifed. The knight of the wood, hearing him of the forrotvful figure talk in this manner, did nothing but view him and review him, and view him again from head to foot; and when he had furveyed him tho- roughly, he faid to him ; If you have any thing to give me to eat, give it me, for god's fake, and, when I have eaten, I will do all you command me, in re- quital for the good wifhes you have exprelled toward me. Sancko immediately drew out of his wallet, and the goatherd out of his ferip, fome meat, where- with the ragged knight fatisfied his hunger, eating what they gave him, like a diftradted perfon, fo faft, that he took no time between one mouthful and ano- ther ; for he rather devouredthan eat : and, while he was eating, neither he nor the by-ftanders fpoke a word. When he had done, he made figns to them to fo' low him, which they did ; and he led them to a little green meadow not far off, at the turning of a rock, a little out of the way. Where being arrived, he

ftretchcd

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 133

fh-etched himfelf along upon the graft, and the reft did the fame : and .H this v hout a word fpoken/ 'till the r^ *** having fettkd rumfelf n 1 , Ice laid; If you defire, gentlemen, that 1 foould tell you » few words the Enm nfity of my misfortunes, you muft promife me not to mterrupt by ashng Iftions! or otherwife, the thread of my doleful hiftory ; for in the inftant you do fo, I mall break off, and tell no more 1 hefe words brought to Don &£* memory the tale his fquire had told him, which, by hWfe king he number of the goats that had paffed the nver, remained nil unfuufhed. But, numDerui h i •_/.,. ke went on faying: I Rive this caution, k-

to return to our ragged kmgbt \ Jic veni on, , w/«»b > b ' .

caufe I would pafs briefly oyer the account oi my misfortunes, for the bringing them back to my remembrance ferves only to add new ones : and though the fewer queftions I am asked, the iooner I (hall have nnifhed my ftory, yet will I not omit any material circumftance, deligning entirely to fatisfy your deiire. Don Zuixote prornifed, in the name of all the reft, it mould be fo , and, upon this affurance, he began in the following manner. fA uv^«f,ll

My name is Cardenio ; the place of my birth one of die beft cities of all Jndaluzia % my family noble ; my parents rich , my wretchedness fo great, that my parents muft have lamented it, and my relations felt it, without being able to remedy it by all their wealth; for the goods of fortune feldom avail any thing towards the relief of misfortunes fent from heaven. In this country there lived° a heaven, wherein love had placed all the glory I could with for. Such is the beauty of Lucinda, a damfel of as good a family and as rich as myfelt, but of more good fortune, and.lefs conftancy, than were due to my honourable in- tentions This Luanda I loved, courted, and adored from my childhood and tender years; and fhe, on her part, loved me with that innocent affedhon, pro- per to her age. Our parents were not unacquainted with our inclinations, and were not difpleafed at them ; forefeeing; that, if they went on, they could end in nothing but our marriage : a thing pointed out, as it were, by the equality of our birth and circumftances. Our love encreafed with our years, infomuch that Luanda's father thought proper, for reafons of decency, to deny me accefs to his houfe ; imitating, as it were, the parents of that tfnsbe, fo celebrated by the poets. This reftraint was only adding flame to flame, and defire to defire : for, though it was in their power to impofe filence on our tongues, they could not on our pens, which difcover to the perfon beloved the moft hidden fecrets of the foul, and that with more freedom than the tongue ; for oftentimes the pre- fence of the beloved object difturbs and ftrikes mute the moft determined in- tention, and the moft refolute tongue. O heavens ! how many billets-doux did I write to her ! what charming, what modeft anfwers did I receive ! how many fonnets did I pen ! how many love-verfes indite ! in which my foul un- folded all its paffion, defcribed its enfkmed defires, chcrkhed its remembrances, and gave a loofe to its wifhes. In fhort, finding myfelf at my wit's end, and my foul languishing with defire of feeing her, I refolvcd at once to put in execu-

tion

134 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

tion what feemed to me the moft likely means to obtain my defired and deferved reward : and that was, to demand her of her father for my lawful wife; which I accordingly did. He anfwered me, that he thanked me for the inclination I fhewed to do him honour in my propofed alliance with his family ; but that my father being alive, it belonged more properly to him to make this demand : for, without his full confent and approbation, Luanda was not a woman to be taken or given by ftealth. I returned him thanks for his kind intention, think- ing there was reafon in what he faid, and that my father would come into it, as foon as I iliould break it to him. In that very inftant I went to acquaint my father with my defires ; and, upon entering the room where he was, I found him with a letter open in his hand, which he gave me before I fpoke a word, faying to me ; By this letter you will fee, Cardenio, the inclination duke Ricardo has to do you fervice. This duke Ricardo, gentlemen, as you cannot but know, is a grandee of Spain, whofe eftate lies in the beft part of Andalu- zia. I took and read the letter, which was fo extremely kind, that I myfelf judged, it would be wrong in my father not to comply with what he requefted in it ; which was, that he would fend me prefently to him, for he was defirous to place me (not as a fervant, but) as a companion to his eldeft fon j and that he engaged to put me into a port anfwerable to the opinion he had of me. I was confounded at reading the letter, and efpecially when I heard my father fay : Two days hence, Cardenio, you mail depart, to fulfill the duke's pleafure ; and give thanks to god, who is opening you a way to that preferment I know you deferve. To thefe he added feveral other expreffions, by way of fatherly ad- monition. The time fixed for my departure came ; I talked the night before to Lucinda, and told her all that had paned ; and I did the fame to her father, begging of him to wait a few days, and not to difpofe of her, 'till I knew what duke Ricardo's pleafure was with me. He promiied me all I defired, and me, on her part, confirmed it with a thoufand vows and a thou land faintings. I ar- rived at length where duke Ricardo refided, who received and treated me with fo much kindnefs, that envy prefently began to do her office, by pofiefiing his old fervants with an opinion, that every favour the duke conferred upon me was prejudicial to their intereft. But the perfon the moft pleafed with my being there was a fecond fon of the duke's, called Fernando, a fprightly young gentle- man, of a genteel, generous, and amorous difpofition, who, in a fhort time, contracted fo intimate a friendfhip with me, that it became the fubjecf of every body's difcourfe ; and though I had a great fhare likewife in the favour and af- • fection of the elder brother, yet they did not come up to that diflinguifhing manner in which Don Fernando loved and treated me. Now, as there is no fe- cret, which is not communicated between fiends, and as the intimacy I held with Don Fernando ceafed to be barely fuch by being converted into an abfb- lute friendmip, he revealed to me all his thoughts, and efpecially one relating to his being in love, which gave him no fmall dilquiet. He loved a country girl,

a vaflal

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. i35

a valftl of his father's : her parents were very rich, and Ihe herfclf was fo beautiful, referved, difcreet, and modeit, that no one who knew her could de- termine in which of thefe qualifications ihe moll excelled, or was mo; t accom- plished. Thefe perfections of the country-maid railed Don Fernando' $ defires to fuch a pitch, that he refolved, in order to carry his point, and fubduc the cha- flity of the maiden, to give lier his promife to many her; for, otherwifc, it would have been to attempt an impofiibility. The obligation I was under to his friend/hip put me upon uling the bell reafons, and the moil lively exam- ples, I could think of, to divert and dilfuade him from fuch a purpofe. But finding it was all in vain, I refolved to acquaint his fadier, duke Ricardo, widi the affair. But Don Fernando, being iharp-fighted and artful, fufpe&ed and feared no lefs, knowing that I was obliged, as a faithful fervant, not to conceal from my lord and mailer the duke a matter fo prejudicial to his honour ; and therefore, to amufe and deceive me, he laid, that he knew no better remedy for effacing the remembrance of the beauty that had fo captivated him, than to abfent himfelf for fome months ; and this abfence, he laid, Ihould be effected by our going together to my father's houfe, under pretence, as he would tell the duke, of feeing and cheapening fome very fine horfes in our town, which produces the bell in the world. Scarcely had I heard him fay this, when, prompted by my own love, I approved of his propofal, as one of the bell con- certed imaginable, and Ihould have done fo, had it not been fo plaufible a one, fince it afforded me fo good an opportunity of returning to fee my dear Lueinda. Upon this motive, I came into his opinion, and feconded his defign, defiring him to put it in execution as foon as poffible j fince, probably, abfence might have its effect, in fpight of the ftrongeft inclinations. At the very time he made this propofal to me, he had already, as appeared afterwards, enjoyed the mai- den under the title of a husband, and only waited for a convenient feafon to divulge it with fafety to himfelf, being afraid of what the duke his father might do, when he Ihould hear of his folly. Now, as love in young men is, for the moll part, nothing but appetite, and aspleafure is its ultimate end, it is terminated by enjoyment ; and what feemed to be love vanilhes, becaufe it cannot pafs the bounds afiigned by nature ; whereas true love admits of no limits. I would fay that, when Don Fernando had enjoyed the country girl, his defires grew faint' and his fondnefs abated; fo that, in reality, that abfence, which he propofed as a remedy for his paffion, he only chofe, in order to avoid what was now no longer agreeable to him. The duke gave him his leave, and ordered me to bear him company We came to our town , my father received him according to his quality , I immediately vifited Lueinda ; my paffion revived, though! in truth, it had been neither dead nor afleep: unfortunately for me, I revealed it to Don Fernando, thinking that, by the laws of friendihip-, I ought to conceal -

nothing from him I expatiated to him, in fo lively a manner, on the beauty, good humour, and difcretion of Lueinda 3 that my praifes excited in him a defire

of

136 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

of feeing a damfel adorned with fuch fine accomplifhments. I complied with it, to my misfortune, and (hewed her to him one night by the light of a taper at a window, where we two ufed to convcrfe together. He faw her, and fuch fhe proved to him, as blotted out of his memory all the beauties he had ever feen before. He was ftruck dumb ; he loft all fenfe ; he was tranfported ; in fhort, he fell in love to fuch a degree, as will appear by the fequel 01 the ftory of my misfortunes. And the more to inflame his defire, which he concealed from me, and difclofed to heaven alone, fortune fo ordered it, that he one day found a letter of hers to me, defiring me to demand her of her father in mar- riage, fo ingenious, fo modeft, and fo full of tendernefs, that, when he had read it, he declared to me, that he thought in Luci?ida alone were united all the graces of beauty and good fenfe, which are difperfed and divided among the reft of her fex. True it is (I confefs it now) that, diough I knew what juft grounds Don Fernando had to commend Luanda, I was grieved to hear thofe commen- dations from his mouth : I began to fear and fufpect him ; for he was every moment putting me upon talking of Luanda, and would begin the difcourfe himfelf, though he brought it in never fo abruptly : which awakened in me I know not what jealoufy ; and though I did not fear any change in the goodnefs and fidelity of Luanda, yet ftill my fate made me dread the very thing the efteem I had for her fecured me from. Don Fernando conftantly procured a fight of the letters I wrote to Luanda, and her aniwers, under pretence that he was mightily pleafed with the wit of both. Now it fell out, that Luanda, who was very fond of books of chivalry, defired me to lend her that of Amadis de Gaul.

Scarce had Don Quixote heard him mention books of chivalry, when he faid; Had you told me, Sir, at the beginning of your ftory, that the lady Lucinda was fond of reading books of chivalry, there would have needed no other exaggera- tion to convince me of the fublimky of her underftanding ; for it could never have been fo excellent as you have defcribed it, had fhe wanted a relifh for fuch favoury reading : fo that, with refpect to me, it is needlefs to wafte more words in difplaying her beauty, worth, and underftanding ; for, from only knowing her tafte, I pronounce her to be the moft beautiful and the moll ingenious wo- man in the world. And I with, Sir, that, together with Amadis de Gaul, you had fent her the good Don Rugel of Greece ; for I know that the lady Luanda will be highly delighted with Daraida and Garaya, and the witty conceits of the fhepherd Darine/; alio with thofe admirable verfes of his Bucolics, which he fung and repeated with fo much good humour, wit, and freedom : but the time may come when this fault may be amended, and the reparation may be made, as foon as ever you will be pleafed, Sir, to come with me to our town ; where I c:.n furnifh'you with more than three hundred books, that are the de- light of my foul, and the entertainment of my life : though, upon fecond thought?, I have not one of them left, thanks to the malice of wicked and en- vious

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 137

vious enchanters. Pardon me, Sir, the having given you this interruption, con- trary to what I promifed ; but, when I hear of matters of chivalry and knights- errant, I can as well forbear talking of them, as the fun-beams can ceafe to give heat, or the moon to moiftcn. So that, pray excufe me, and go on ; for that is of moil importance to us at prefent.

While Don Quixote was faying all dds, Cardenio hung down his head upon his bread:, with all the figns of a man profoundly thoughtful ; and though Don Quixote twice defired him to continue his ftory, he neither lifted up his head, nor anfwered a word. But, after fome time, he raifed it, and fuid ; I cannot get it out of my mind, nor can any one perfuade me to the contrary, and he mull be a blockhead who underftands or believes otherwife, but that that great villain mailer Elifabat lay with queen Madafima \ It is falfe, I fwear, anfwered Don Quixote, in great wrath ; it is extreme malice, or rather villainy, to fay fo : queen Madafima was a very noble lady, and it is not to be prefumed, that fo high a princefs mould lie with a quack ; and whoever pretends (he did, lies like a very great rafcal : and I will make him know it on foot or on horfeback, armed or unarmed, by night or by day, or how he pleafes. Cardenio fat looking at him very attentively, and, the mad fit being already come upon him, he was in no condition to profecute his ftory ; neither would Don Quixote have heard him, fo difgufted was he at what he had heard of Madafima : and ftrange it was to fee him take her part with as much earneftnefs, as if die had really been his true and natural princefs ; fo far had his curfed books turned his head.

I fay then, that Cardenio, being now mad, and hearing himfelf called Ivar and villain, with other fuch opprobrious words, did not like the jeft ; and catching up a ftone that lay clofe by him, he gave Don Quixote fuch a thump with it on the breaft, that it tumbled him down backward. Sancko Panca feeing hismafter handled in this manner, attacked the madman with his clenched fift ; and the ragged knight received him in fuch fort, that with one blow he laid him along at his feet ; and prefently getting upon him, he pounded his ribs much to his own heart's content. The goatherd, who endeavoured to defend him, fared little better and when he had beaten and threfhed them all, he left them, and very quietly marched off to his haunts amidft the rocks. Sancho got up, and in a rage to find himfelf fo roughly handled, and fo undefervedly withal was for taking his revenge on the goatherd, telling him, he was in fault for not having given them warning, that this man had his mad fits ; for had they known as much, they fhould have been aware, and upon their guard. The goatherd anfwered, that he had already given them notice of it, and that, if heliad not heard it, the fault was none of his. Sancho Patina replied, and the goatherd rejoined ; and the replies and rejoinders ended in taking one another by the beard,

1 aac ■ u a great fiSure ,n the aforcfaid romance. They travel and lye toscther in

woods and delerts, without any imputation on her honour. * Y wgitner in

VoL'L T and

138 The LIVE and EXPLOITS of

and cuffing one another fo, that, if Don Quixote had not made peace between them, they would have beat one another to pieces. Sancho, jftill keeping faff, hold of the goatherd, faid; Let me alone, Sir knight of the forrowful figure ; for this fellow being a bumpkin, like myfelf, and not dubbed a knight, I may very fafely revenge myfelf on him for the injury he has done me, by fightinp- with him hand to hand, like a man of honour. True, faid Don Quixote ; but I know that he is not to blame for what has happened. Herewith he pacified them; and Don Quixote enquired again of the goatherd, whether it were poffi- ble to find out Cardenio ; for he had a mighty defire to learn the end of his ffory. The goatherd told him, as at firft, that he did not certainly know his haunts; but that, if he walked thereabouts pretty much, he would not fail to meet with him, either in or out of his fenfes.

CHAP. XI.

Which treats of the Jirange things that befel the valiant knight of la Mancha in the fable mountain ; and how he imitated the penance of Beltenebros.

"P\ O N QUIXO TE took his leave of the goatherd, and, mounting again ■*-^ on Rozinante, commanded Sancho to follow him ; which he did with a very ill will. They jogged on foftly, entering into the moft craggy part of the mountain; and Sancho was ready to burft for want of fome talk with his mafter, but would fain have had him begin the difcourfe, that he might not break thro' what he had enjoined him : but, not being able to endure fo long a filence, he faid to him : Signor Don Quixote, will your worfhip be pleafed to give me your bleffing, and my difmiffion ; for I will get me home to my wife and children, with whom I mall, at leaf!:, have the privilege of talking, and fpeaking my mind; for, to defire me to bear your worfhip company through thefe folitudes, night and day, without fuffering me to talk when I lift, is to bury me alive. If fate had ordered it that beaits fhould talk now, as they did in the days of Gui- fopete ', it had not been quite fo bad; fince I might then have communed with my afs as I pleafed, and thus have forgotten my ill-fortune : for it is very hard, and not to be born with patience, for a man to ramble about all his life in quefl of adventures, and to meet with nothing but kicks and cuffs, toffings in a blanket, and brick-bat bangs, and, with all this, to few up his mouth, and not dare to utter what he has in his heart, as if he were dumb. I underftand you, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote; you are impatient 'till I take off the em- bargo I have laid on your tongue : fuppofe it taken off, and fay what you will, upon condition that this revocation is to laft no longer than whilft. we are wan- dering among thefe craggy rocks. Be it fo, find Sancho : Let me talk now, for god knows what will be hereafter. And fo beginning to enjoy the benefit of this licenfe, I fay; What had your worfhip to do to Hand up fo warmly for that

1 Meaning JEfip, I fuppofe.

lame

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 139

fame queen Magimafa, or what's her name ? or, what was it to the purpofe whether that abbot ' was her galant, or no ? for, had you let that pais, feeing you were not his judge, I verily believe die madman would have gone on with his ftory, and you would have efcaped the thump with the ffone, the kicks, and above half a dozen buffets. In faith, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote, if you did but know, as I do, how honourable and how excellent a lady queen Ma- dafima was, I am certain you would own I had a great deal of patience, that I did not dafh to pieces that mouth, out of which fuch blafphemics iflucd. For it is very great blafphemy to fay, or even to think, that a queen fhould be punk to a barber-furgcon. The truth of the ftory is, that that mafter Elifabat, whom the madman mentioned, was a very prudent man, and of a very found judg- ment, and ferved as tutor and phyfician to the queen : but, to think fhe was his paramour, is an impertinence that deferves to be feverely chaftifed. And, to fhew you that Cardenio did not know what he faid, you may remember, that, when lie fliid it, he was out of his wits. So fay I, quodi Sancho ; and therefore no account fhould have been made of his words; for, if good-fortune had not been your friend, and the flint-flone had been directed at your head, as it was at your breaft, we had been in a fine condition for ftanding up in defence of that dear lady, whom god confound. Befides, do you think, Cardenio, if he had killed you, would not have come off, as being a madman ? Any knight- errant, anfwered Don Quixote, is obliged to defend the honour of women, be they what they will, as well againft men in their fenfes, as againft thofe out of them; how much more then ought they to ftand up for queens of fuch high degree and worth, as was queen Madafima, for whom I have a particular affec- tion, on account of her good parts : for, befides her being extremely beautiful, fhe was very prudent, and very patient in her afflictions, of which fhe had many. And the counfels and company of mafter Elifabat were of great ufe and comfort to her, in helping her to bear her fufferings with prudence and pa- tience. Hence the ignorant and evil-minded vulgar took occafion to think and talk, that fhe was his paramour : and I fay again, they lye, and will lye two hundred times more, all who fay or think her fo. I neither fiy, nor think Co, anfwered Sancho ; let thofe who fay it eat the lye, and fwallow it with their bread : whether they were guilty, or no, they have given an account to god ' before now : I come from my vineyard; I know nothing; I am no friend to enquiring into other men's lives; for he that buys and lyes, fhall find the lye left in his purfe behind : befides, naked was I born, naked I remain ; I neither win, nor lofe ; if they were guilty, what is that to me ? Many think to find bacon, where there is not fo much as a pin to hang it on : but who can hedge in the cuckow ? Efpecially, do they fpare god himfelf ? Blefs me ! quoth Don Quixote, what a parcel of impertinencies are you ftringing ! how wide is the fubject we

1 Abad. Sancho, remembring only the latter part of mafter Llifabai'% name, pleafantly calls him an * Abbot.

T 2 are

i4o The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

are handling from the proverbs you are threading like beads ! Pr'ythee, Sancho, hold your tongue, and henceforward mind fpurring your afs, and forbear med- ling with what does not concern you. And understand, with all your five fenfes, that whatever I have done, do, or fhall do, is highly reafonable, and exa&ly conformable to the rules of chivalry, which I am better acquainted with than all the knights, who have profeffed that fcience in the world. Sir, replied Sancho, is it a good rule of chivalry, that we go wandering through thefe moun- tains, without path or road, in quefl of a madman, who perhaps, when he is found, will have a mind to finifh what he begun, not his ftory, but the break- ing of your head, and my ribs. Peace, I fay, Sancho, once again, faid Don Quixote: for you muft: know, that it is not barely the delire of finding the madman that brings me to thefe parts, but the intention I have to perform an exploit in them, whereby I fhall acquire a perpetual name and renown over the face of the whole earth : and it fhall be fuch an one as fhall fet the feal to all that can render a knight-errant complete and famous. And is this fame ex- ploit a very dangerous one? quoth Sancho Pane a. No, anfwered he of the for- ronsoful figure ; though the dye may chance to run fo, that we may have an un- lucky throw, inftead of a lucky one : but the whole will depend upon your diligence. Upon my diligence ? quoth Sancho. Yes, faid Don Quixote ; for if you return fpeedily from the place whither I intend to fend you, my pain will foon be over, and my glory will foon commence : and becaufe it is not expe- dient to keep you any longer in fufpence, waiting to know what my difcourfe drives at, underfland, Sancho, that the famous Amadis de Gaul was one of the moft complete knights-errant : I fhould not have faid one of; he was the fole, the principal, the only one, in fhort the prince of all that were in his time in the world. A fig for Don Belianis, and for all thofe, who fay he equalled him in any thing ! for, I fwear, they are miftaken. I alfo tell you, that, if a painter would be famous in his art, he muft endeavour to copy after the originals of the moft excellent matters he knows. And the fame rule holds good for all other arts and fciences that ferve as ornaments of the commonwealth. In like man- ner, whoever afpires to die character of prudent and patient, muft imitate Ulyjfes, in whofe perfon and toils Homer draws a lively piclure of prudence and patience; as Virgil alfo does of a pious fon, and a valiant and expert captain, in the perfon of M?ieas; not delineating nor defcribing them as they really were, but as they ought to be, in order to ferve as patterns of virtue to fucceeding genera- tions. In this very manner was Amadis the polar, the morning ftar, and the fun of all valiant and enamoured knights, and he, whom all we, who militate under the banners of love and chivdry, ought to follow. This being fo, friend Sancho, the knight-errant, who imitates him the moft. nearly, will, I take it, ftand the faireft to arrive at the perfection of chivalry. And one circumftance, in which this knight moft eminently difcovered his prudence, worth, courage, patience, conftancy and lovex was, his retiring, when difdained by the lady Oriana, to

do

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 141

do penance in the poor rock, changing his name to that of Beltenebros T ; a name mod certainly Ggnificant, and proper for the life lie had voluntarily cho- fen. Now, it is eafier for me to copy after him in this, than in cleaving giants, beheading ferpents, flaying dragons, routing armies, fluttering fleets, and dif- folvino- enchantments. And fince this place is fo well adapted for that purpofe, there Ts no reafon why I fhould let flip the opportunity, which now fo commo- dioufly offers me its forelock. In effect:, quoih Sancho, what is it your worfliip intends to do in fo remote a place as this ? Have I not told you, anfwered Don Quixote, that I defign to imitate Amadis, ading here the defperado, the fenfe- kfs, and the madman; at the fame time copying the valiant Don Orlando, when he found, by the fide of a fountain, fome indications that Angelica the fain had dishonoured herfelf with Medoro: at grief whereof he ran mad, tore up trees by the roots, disturbed the waters of the cryflal fprings, flew fhepherds, de- fl'royed flocks, fired cottages, d<.molifhed houfts, dragged mares on the ground, and did an hundred thoufand other extravagancies worthy to be recorded, and had in eternal remembrance. And fuppofe that I do not intend to imitate Rol- dan, or Orlando, or Rotolando (for he had all thefe three names) in every point, and in all the mad things he acted, faid, and thought, I will make a sketch of them the be A I can, in what I judge the moft eflential. And perhaps I may fatisfy myfelf with only copying Amadis, who, without playing any mif- chievous pranks, by weepings and tenderneffes, arrived to as great iame as the beff. of them all. It fecms to me, quoth Sancho, that die knights, who acted in fuch manner, were provoked to it, and had a reafon for doing thefe follies and penances: but, pray, what caufe has your worfliip to run mad? What la- dy has* difdained you ? or what tokens have you difcovered to convince you, that the lady Dulcinea del Tobofo has committed folly either with Moor * or chriftian ? There lies the point, anfwered Don Quixote, and in this confifts the Jinejje of my affair: to run mad upon a jufl: occafion, deferves no thanks; but to do fo without reafon is the bufinefs ; giving my lady to underfland what I fhould perform wet, if I do fo much dry 3. How much rather, fince I have caufe enough given me, by being fo long abfent from my ever honoured lady Dulcinea del Tobofo; for, as you may have heard from that whileome fhepherd, Anbrofio, The abfent feel and fear every ill. So that, friend Sancho, do not wafle time in counfelling me to quit fo rare, fo happy, and fo unheard-of an imitation. Mad I am, and mad I muft be, 'till your return with an anfwer to a letter I intend to fend by you to my lady Dulcinea-, and, if it proves fuch as my fidelity de- ferves, my madnefs and my penance will be at an end : but if it proves the con-

* The Lovely obfeure.

- Sancho feeras here to miftake Medoro, the name of Angelicas fuppofed galant, for Moro, which fi uni- fies a Moor.

5 A kind of profane allufion to a well-known text of fcripture, which had not efcaped the inquifitor?, hut that they are ignorant of the bible: fuch another we have before, where Don Qtixote promifes long life on earth to Sancho, if he was obedient to his malter.

trary, .

i42 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

trary, I fhall be mad in earneft, and, being fo, fhall feel nothing : fo that what anfwer foever (he returns, I fhall get out of the conflict and pain where- in you leave me, either enjoying die good you mall bring, if in my fenfes ; or not feeling the ill you bring, if out of them. But tell me, Sancho, have you taken care of Mambrino's helmet, which I faw you take off the ground, when that gracelefs fellow would have broken it to pieces, but could not? whence you may perceive the excellence of its temper. To which Sancho anfwered ; As god liveth, Sir knight of the forrowf id figure, I cannot endure nor bear with patience fome things your worfhip fays : they are enough to make me think that all you tell me of chivalry, and of winning kingdoms and empires, of beftow- ing iflands, and doing other favours and mighty tilings, according to the cuftom of knights - errant, muft be mere vapour, and a lye, and all fridlion, or fidlion, or how do you call it ? for, to hear you fay that a barber's bafon is Mambrino's helmet, and that you cannot be beaten out of this error in feveral days, what can one think, but that he, who fays and affirms fuch a thing, muft be addle-brained ? I have the bafon in my wallet, all battered, and I cany it to get it mended at home, for the ufe of my beard, if god be fo gracious to me, as to reftore me one time or other to my wife and children. Behold, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, I fwear likewife, that you have the fhalloweft brain that any fquire has, or ever had, in the world. Is it poffible, that, in all the time you have gone about with me, you do not perceive, that all matters rela- ting to knights-errant appear chimera's, follies, and extravagancies, and feem all done by the rule of contraries ? not that they are in reality fo, but becaufe there is a crew of enchanters always bufy among us, who alter and difguife all our matters, and turn them according to their own pleafure, and as they are in- clined to favour or diftrefs us : hence it is that this, which appears to you a bar- ber's bafon, appears to me Mambrino's helmet, and to anodier will perhaps ap- pear fomething elfe : And it was a Angular forefight of the fage my friend, to make that appear to every body to be a bafon, which, really and truly, is Mam- brino's helmet : becaufe, being of fo great value, all the world would perfecute me, in order to take it from me; but now, that they take it for nothing but a barber's bafon, they do not trouble themfelves to get it ; as was evident in him who endeavoured to break it, and left it on the ground without carrying it off: for, in faith, had he known what it was, he would never have left it. Take you care of it, friend; for I have no need of it at prefent: I rather think of putting off my armour, and being naked as I was born, in cafe I fhould have more mind to copy Orlando in my penance, than Amadis.

While they were thus difcourfing, they arrived at the foot of a fteep rock, which flood alone among feveral others that furrounded it, as if it had been hewn out from the reft. By its skirts ran a gentle ftream, and it was encircled by a meadow fo verdant and fertile, that it delighted die eyes of all who be- held it. There grew about it feveral foreft-trees, and fome plants and flowers,

which

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 143

which added greatly to the pleafantnefs of the place. This was the fcene, in which the knight of the forrowful figure chofe to perform his penance, and, upon viewing it, he thus broke out in a loud voice, as if he had been beiide himfclf. This is the place, O ye heavens, which I felect and appoint for bewailing the misfortune in which yourfelves have involved me. This is the fpot, where my flowing tears fhall increafe the waters of this cryftal rivulet, and my continual and pro- found fighs fhall incefiantly move the leaves of thefe lofty trees, in teftimony and token of the pain my pcrfecuted heart endures. O ye rural deities, who- ever ye be that inhabit thefe remote deferts, give ear to the complaints of an unhappy lover, whom long abfence, and fome pangs of jealoufy, have driven to bewail himfelf among thefe craggy rocks, and to complain of the cruelty of that ungrateful lair, the utmoft extent and ultimate perfection of all human beauty. O ye wood-nymphs and dryads, who are accuftomed to inhabit the clofeft receffes of the mountains (fo may the nimble and lafcivious iatyrs, by whom you are beloved in vain, never difturb your fweet repofe) aflift me to la- ment my hard fate, or at lead: be not weary of hearing my moan. O Dulcinea del Tobofo, light of my darknefs, glory of my pain, the north-ftar of my tra- vels, and over-ruling planet of my fortune (fo may heaven profper you in whatever you pray for) conlider, I befeech you, the place and Hate, to which your abfence has reduced me, and how well you return what is due to my fidelity. O ye folitary trees, who from henceforth are to be the compa- nions of my retirement, wave gently your branches, in token of your kind ac- ceptance of my perfon. And, O you my fquire, agreeable companion in my mod: profperous and adverfe fortune, carefully imprint in your memory what you fhall fee me here perform, that you may recount and recite it to her, who is the fole caufe of it all. And, faying this, he alighted from Rozinante, and, in an inftant, took off his bridle and faddle, and giving him a flap on the but- tocks, faidtohim; O fteed, as excellent for thy performances, as unfortunate by thy fate, he gives thee liberty who wants it himfelf. Go whither thou wilt; for thou haft it written in thy forehead, that neither Aflolpho's Hippogriff, nor the famous Frontino, which coft Bradamante fo dear, could match diee jft fpeed.

Sancho, obferving all this, faid : God's peace be with him, who faved us the trouble of unpannelling Dapple ' j for, in faith, he fliould not have wanted a flap on the buttocks, nor a fpeech in his praife : but, if he were here, I would not confent to his being unpannelled, there being no occa!:on for it ; for he had nothing to do with love or defpair, any more than I, who was once his mafter when it fo pleafed god. And truly, Sir knight of the forrowful figure, if it be fo, that my departure and your madnefs go on in earned, it will be needful to faddle Rozinante again, that he may fupply the lofs of my Dapple, and fuve me

» Here Dapple is loft again, though he has been with Sancho ever iince the very morning lha. Ginit ftole lum, 'till the minute that the bill fur die cults was to be given.

time

i4+ The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

time in going and coming ; for, if I go on foot, I know not when I fhall get thither, nor when return, being, in truth, a forty footman. Be it as you will, anfwered Don Quixote; for I do not difapprove your projec"t; and I fay, you fliall depart within three days, for I intend in that time to fhew you what I do and fay for her, that you may tell it her. What have I more to fee, quoth Sancbo, than what I have already feen ? You are very far from being perfect in the ftory, anfwered Don Quixote; for I have not yet torn my garments, fcat- tered my arms about, and dafhed my head againft thefe rocks ; with other tilings of the like fort, that will ftrike you with admiration. For the love of god, faid Sancbo, have a care how you give yourfelf thofe knocks; for you may chance to light upon fuch an unlucky point of a rock, that, at the firft dafti, you may difiolve the whole machine of this penance : and, I fliould think, fince your worfhip is of opinion that knocks on the head are necefiary, and that this work cannot be done without them, you might content yourfelf (fince all is a fiction, a counterfeit, and a fham) I fay, you might content yourfelf with run- ning your head againft water, or fome foft thing, fuch as cotton ; and leave it to me to tell my lady, that you dafhed your head againft the point of a rock harder than that of a diamond. I thank you for your good-will, friend Sancbo, anfwered Don Quixote; but I would have you to know, that all thefe things that I do are not in jeft, but very good earneft : for, otherwife, it would be to tranfgrefs the rules of chivalry, which enjoin us to tell no lye at all, on pain of being cafliiered as apoftates ; and the doing one thing for another is the fame as lying. And therefore my knocks on the head mult be real, fubftantial, and found ones, .without equivocation or mental refervation. And it will be necef- fary to leave me fome lint to heal me, fince fortune will have it that we have loft the balfam. It was worfe to lofe the afs, anfwered Sancbo ; for, in lofing him, we loft lint and every thing elfe ; and I befeech your worfhip not to put me in mind of that curfed drench; for, in barely hearing it mentioned, my very foul is turned upfide-down, not to fay my ftomach. As for die three days allowed me for feeing the mad pranks you are to perform, make account, I be- feech you, that they are already pafTedj for I take them all for granted, and will tell wonders to my lady : and write you the letter, and difpatch me quickly ; for I long to come back and releafe your worfhip from this purgatory wherein I leave you. Purgatory, do you call it, Sancbo ? faid Don Quixote. Call it ra- ther Hell, or worfe, if any thing can be worfe. I have heard fay, quoth Sancbo, that out of hell there is no retention \ I know not, faid Don Quixote, what re- tention means. Retention is, anfwered Sancbo, that he who is once in hell ne- ver gets, nor never can get out. But it will be quite the reverfe in your worfhip's cafe, or it fliall go hard with my heels, if I have but fpurs to enliven Rozinante: and 'let me but once get to Tobofo, and into the prefence of my lady Dulcinea, and I warrant you I will tell her fuch a ftory of the foolifh and mad things (for they

« No redemption, he means.

are

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 145

are all no better) which your worfhip has done, and is doing, that I fhall bring her to be as nipple as a glove, though I find her harder than a cork-tree : with whole fweet and honeyed anfwer I will return through the air like a witch, and fetch your worfhip out of this purgatory, which fcems a hell, and is not, be- caufe there is hope to gj out of it; which, as I have (aid, none can have that are in hell ; nor do I believe you will fay otherwife. That is true, anfwered he of the forrowful figure ; but how fhall we contrive to write the letter ? An 1 the afs-colt-bill ? added Sancho. Nothing (hall be omitted, faid Don Quixote ; and, fince we have no paper, we fhould do well to write it, as the ancients did, on the leaves of trees, or on tablets of wax, though it will be as difficult to meet with thefe at prefent, as with paper. But, now I recollect, it may be as well, or rather better, to write it in Cardenio's pocket-book, and you fhall take care to get it fairly tranferibed upon paper, in the firfl town you come to, where there is a fchoolmafler ; or, if there be none, any parifh-clerk will tranferibe it for you : but be fure you give it to no hackney-wnter of the law ; for the devil himfelf will never be able to read their confounded court-hand. But what mufl we do about the figning it with your own hand ? laid Sancho. Billets-doux are never fubferibed, anfwered Don Quixote. Very well, replied Sancho ; but the warrant for the colts mufl of neceffity be figned by yourfelf ; for if that be co- pied, people will fay the figning is counterfeited, and I fhall be forced to go without the colts. The warrant fhall be figned in the fame pocket-book ; and, at fight of it, my niece will make no difficulty to comply with it. As to what concerns the love-letter, let it be fubferibed thus ; Tours, 'till death, the knight of the forrowful figure. And it is no great matter, if it be in another hand; for, by what I remember, Dulcinca can neither write nor read, nor has fhe ever feen a letter, or fingle character, of mine in her whole life ; for our loves have always been of the Platonic kind, extending no farther than to modefl looks at one another ; and even thofe fo very rarely, that I dare truly fwear, in twelve years that I have loved her more than the fight of thefe eyes, which 'the earth mufl one day devour, I have not feen her four times ; and, perhaps, of thefe four times fhe may not have once perceived that I looked at her. Such is the referve and flridlnefs, with which her father Lorenzo Corchuelo, and her mother Aldonza Nogales, have brought her up. Hey day ! quoth Sancho, what, the daughter of Lorenzo Corchuelo I is fhe the lady Dulcinca del Tobofo, alias Aldonza Lorenzo? It is even fhe, faid Don Quixote; and fhe, who defer'ves to be miftrefs of the univerfe. I know her well, quoth Sancho ; and I can aflbre you, fhe will pitch the bar with the lufliefl fwain in the parifli : Long live the giver ; why, fhe is a mettled lafs, tall, flreight, and vigorous, and can make her part good with any knight-errant that fhall have her for a miflrefs : odds my hie, what a pair of lungs and a voice fhe has ! I remember die got one day upon the church-fleeple, to call fome young ploughmen, who were in a field of her fadier's ; and, though they were half a league off, they heard her as VoL'1- U plainly

i46 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

plainly as if they had flood at the foot of the tower : and the beft of her is, that fhe is not at all coy ; for {he has much of the courtier in her, and makes a jefl and a may-game of every body. I fay then, Sir knight of the forrowftil figure, that you not only may, and ought to run mad for her, but alio you may juftly defpair and hang yourfelf, and no body that hears it but will fay you did extremely well, though the devil mould carry you away. I would fain be gone, if it were only to fee her ; for I have not feen her this many a day, and by this time fhe muff, needs be altered ; for it mightily fpoils womens faces to be al- ways abroad in the field, expofed to the fun and weather. And I confefs to your worfhip, Signor Don Quixote, that hitherto I have been in a great error ; for I thought for certain, that the lady Dulcinea was fome great princefs, with whom you was in love, or at leaff. fome perfon of fuch great quality, as to de- ferve the rich prefents you have fent her, as well that of the Bifcainer, as that of the galley-flaves ; and many others there mufr. have been, confidering the many victories you mufr. have gained and won, before I came to be your fquire. But, all things confidered, what good can it do the lady Aldonza Lorenzo (I mean the lady Dulcinea del Tobofo) to have the vanquifhed, whom your wor- fhip fends or may fend, fell upon their knees before her ? and who knows but, at the time they arrive, fhe may be carding flax, or threfhing in the barn, and they may be afhamed to fee her, and fhe may laugh, or be difgufled at the pre- fent ? I have often told you, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, that you are an eternal babler ; and, though void of wit, your bluntnefs often occafions fmarting : but, to convince you at once of your folly, and my difcretion, I will tell you a fhort flory.

Know then, that a certain widow, handfome, young, gay and rich, and

withal no prude, fell in love with a young, flrapping, well-fet lay-brother. His

fuperior heard of it, and one day took occafion to fay to the good widow, by

way of brotherly reprehenfion : I wonder, Madam, and not without great rea-

fon, that a woman of fuch quality, fo beautiful, and fo rich, fhould fall in love

with fuch a defpicable, mean, filly fellow, when there are in this houfe fo many

graduates, dignitaries, and divines, among whom you might pick and choofe,

as you would among pears, and fay, this I like, that I do not like. But fhe

anfwered him with great franknefs and good humour ; you are much miftaken,

worthy Sir, and think altogether in the old-fafhioned way, if you imagine that

I have made an ill choice in that fellow, how filly foever he may appear, fince,

for the purpofe I intend him, he knows as much or more philofophy than Ari-

Jiotle himfelf. In like manner, Sancho, Dulcinea del Tobofo, for the purpofe I

intend her, deferves as highly as the greatefr. princefs on earth. The poets,

who have celebrated the praifes of ladies under fictitious names, impofed at

pleafure, had not all of them real miftrefTes. Do you think that the Amaryllis's,

the Plyllis's, the Sylvia's, the Diana's, the Galatea's, the Alida's, and the

like, of whom books, ballads, barbers fhops, and ftage-plays are full, were

really

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 147

really miftreffes of rlelh and blood, and to thofe who do, and have celebrated them ? No certainly, but they are for the moll part feigned, on purpofc to be the (ubjedts of their verle, and to make the authors pais for men of gallant and amorous difpofitions. And therefore it is fuf !;cLnt that I think and believe, that the good Aldonza Lorenzo is beautiful and chaile ; and as to her lineage, it matters not ; for there needs no enquiry about it, as if ihe were to receive fome order of knighdiood « ; and, for my part, I make account that (he is the greateft princefs in the world. For you mull know, Sancho, if you do not know it al- ready, that two things, above all others, incite to love, namely, great beauty and a good name : now both thefe are to be found in perfection in Dulcinca -y for, in beauty, none can be compared to her, and, for a good name, few can come near her. To conclude, I imagine that every thing is exa&ly as I fay, without addition or diminution ; and I reprefent her to my thoughts juft as I wim her to be, both in beaury and quality. Helen is not comparable to her, nor is me excelled by Lucretia, or any other of the famous women of anti- quity, whether Grecian, Latin, or Barbarian. And let every one (ay what l.e pleafes ; for if, upon this account, I am blamed by the ignorant, I (hall not be cenfured by the moil fevere judges. Your worlhip, replied Sancho, is always in the right, and I am an afs : but why do I mention an afs, when one ought not to talk of an halter in his houfe who was hanged ? but give me the letter, and god be with you ; for I am upon the wing.

Don Quixote pulled out the pocket-book, and ftepping afide began very gravely to write the letter ; and when he had done, he called Sancho, and faid he would read it to him, that he might have it by heart, if he mould chance to lofe it by the way ; for every thing was to be feared from his ill fortune. To which Sancho anfwered : write it, Sir, two or three times diere in the book, and give it me, and I will carry it carefully : but to think that I can carry it in my memory, is a folly ; for mine is fo bad, that I often forget my own name. Nevertheless, read it to me ; I lhall be glad to hear it, for it mull needs be a clever one. Liilen then, faid Don Quixote, for it runs thus.

Don Quixote's letter to Dulcinea del Tobojb.

Sovereign and high lady,

The jlabbed by the point of abfence, and the pierced to the heart, O fiveetej}

Dulcinea del Tobofo, fends that health to you, which he wants himfelf \ If

your beauty defpifes me, if your worth profits me nothing, and if your difdain /fill

purfucs me, though I am enured to fujf'ering, I Jhall ill fupport an ajjli£lion,

1 Knights of Malta muft be nob'e by father and mother for five generations, fcfr, For other honours, it is required that they be old catholics, without any mixture of Moorijb or Jciuijb blood. * This is very like the beginning of fome of 0<W\ epiftles ;

Sua, nifi tu dedtris, caritma iji ipfa. falulem

Mttlit Amazonia Creffa fudla <viio. Pl.a:dra Hippolito, ip. 4.

U 2 which

i48 'The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

which is not only -violent, but the more durable for being fo. My good fquire Sancho will give you a full account, O ungrateful fair, and my beloved enemy, of the condition I am in for your fake. If it pleafes you to relieve me, I am yours ; and, if not, do what feems good to you : for, by my death, I JImII at once fatisfy your cruelty and my own pafjion.

Yours, until death,

The knight of the forrowflil figure.

By the life of my father, quoth Sancho, hearing the letter, it is the top- pingeft thing I ever heard. Ods my life, how curioufly your worfhip expreffes in it whatever you pleafe ! and how excellently do you clofe all with the knight of the forrowful figure ! Verily, your worfhip is the devil himfelf; for there is nothing but what you know. The profeffion I am of, anfwered Don Quixote, requires me to underfhind every thing. Well then, faid Sancho, pray clap on the other fide the leaf the bill for the three afs-colts, and fign it very plain, that people may know your hand at firfl fight. With all my heart, faid Don Quixote, and having written it, he read as follows.

Dear niece, at fight of this my fir [I bill of afs-colts, give order that three of the five I left at home in your cujlody be delivered to Sancho Panca my fquire : which three colts I order to be delivered and paid for the like number received of him here in tale ; and this, with his acquittance, pall be your dif charge. 2 Done in the heart of the fable mountain, the twenty-fecond of Augufi, this prefent year

It is mighty well, faid Sancho ; pray fign it. It wants no figning, faid Don Quixote ; I need only put my cypher to it, which is the fame thing, and is fuf- ficient, not only for three affes, but for three hundred. I rely upon your wor- fhip, anfwered Sancho : let me go and faddle Rozinante, and prepare to give me your blefling ; for I intend to depart immediately, without flaying to fee the follies you are about to commit ; and I will relate that I faw you act fo many, that fhe can defire no more. At leaft, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, I would have you fee (nay, it is neceffary you fhould fee) I fay, I will have you fee me na- ked, and do a dozen or two of mad pranks ; for I fhall difpatch them in lefs than half an hour : and having feen thefe with your own eyes, you may f ifely fvvear to thofe you intend to add ; for, afilire yourfelf, you will not relate fo many as I intend to perform. For the love of god, dear Sir, quoLh Sancho, let me not fee your worfhip naked ; for it will move my compafiion much, and I fball not be able to forbear weeping : and my head is fo difordered with laft night's grief for the lofs of poor dapple, that I am in no condition, at prefent, to be- gin new lamentations. If your worfhip has a mind I fhould be an eye-witnefs of fome mad pranks, pray do them cloathed, and with brevity, and let them be

' The kine of Spain wiles, Done a! oar court &c. as the king of England does, Given, &c.

6 fuch

. DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 149

fuch as will ftand you in moft ftead : and the rather, becaufc for me there needed nothing of all this ; and, as I faid before, it is but delaying my return with the news your worfhip fo much dcfires and deferves. If otherwife, let the lady Dulcinea prepare herfelf ; for if fhe dots not anfwer as me fhould do, I proteft folemnly, I will fetch it out of her ftomach by dint of kicks and buf- fets ; for it is not to bz endured, that fo famous a knight-errant, as your wor- fhip, mould run mad, without why or wherefore, for a Let not

madam provoke me to fpeak out j before god, I fhall blab, and out with all by wholefale, though it fpoil the market \ I am pretty good at this fport : fhe does not know me : if fhe did, i' faith flic would agree with me. In troth, Sancko, faid Don Quixote, to all appearance you are as mad as myfclf. Not quite fo mad, anfwered Sancho, but a little more choleric. But, fetting afide all this, what is it your worfhip is to eat 'till my return ? Are you to go upon the highway, to rob the fhepherds, like Cardenio ? Trouble not yourfclf about that, anfwered Don Quixote : though I were provided, I would eat nothing but herbs and fruits, which this meadow and thefe trees will afford me ; for the finejje of my affair confifts in not eating, and other aufterities. Then Sancko Lid : Do you know, Sir, that I am afraid I fliall not be able to find the way again to this place, where I leave you, it is fo intricate and obfeure. Obferve well the marks ; for I will endeavour to be hereabouts, Cud Don Quixote, and will, moreover, take care to get to the top of fome of the higheft cliffs, to fee if I can difcover you when you return. But the fureft way not to mifs me, nor lofe yourfelf, will be to cut down fome boughs off the many trees that are here, and ftrew them, as you go on, from fpace to fpace, till you are got down into the plain ; and they will ferve as land-marks and tokens to find me by, at your return, in imitation of T&e/eus's clue to the labyrinth. I will do fo, anfwered Sancho Panca ; and, having cut down feveral, he begged his matter's bleffing, and, not without many tears on both fides, took his leave of him. And mount- ing upon Rozinante, of whom Don Quixote gave him an efpecial charge, de- firing him to be as careful of him as of his own proper perfon, he rode towards the plain, flrewing broom-boughs here and there, as his mafler had directed him : and fo away he went, though Don Quixote flill importuned him to flay and fee him perform, though it were but a couple of mad pranks. But he had not gone above a hundred paces, when he turned back, and faid ; Your worfhip, Sir, faid very well, that, in order to my being able to fwear with a fafc con- fidence, that I have feen you do mad tricks, it would be proper I fhould, at leaft, fee you do one ; though, in truth, I have feen a veiy great one already in your flaying here. Did I not tell you fo ? quoth Don Quixote : fray but a

> Sancho here, by threatening to blurt out fomething, gives a kind of fly prophecy of the Dulcinea he intended to palm upon his mailer's i folly, and prepare, the reader for that grofs impofition of enchanting the three princefles and their palfreys, into three country wenches upon afies. No translation has n.ade feale of this artful paflage ; and even Stephens, with ail his pretences to Stanijh, was fo accurate, as to have it entirely out, as he has done loine others preceding in the fame page.

momentj

150 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

moment, Sancho; I will difpatch them in the repeating of a Credo \ Then, ftripping off his breeches in all hafte, he remained naked from the waift down- wards, and covered only with the tail of his fhirt : and prefently, without more ado, he cut a couple of capers z in the air,, and a brace of tumbles, head down and heels up, exposing things that made Sancho turn Rozinante about, that he might not fee them a fecond time ; and fully fatisfied him, that he might fafely fwear his mailer was flark mad : and fo we will leave him going on his way 'till his return, which was fpeedy.

CHAP. XII.

A continuation of the refinements praSlifed by Don Quixote, as a lover, in the

fable mountain.

*HP H E Hiflory, turning to recount what the knight of the forrowful figure ■*■ did when he found himfelf alone, informs us, that Don Quixote, having finifhed his tumbles and gambols, naked from the middle downward, and cloathed from the middle upward, and perceiving that Sancho was gone without caring to fee any more of his foolifh pranks, got upon the top an high rock, and there began to think again of what he had often thought before, with- out ever coming to any refolution : and that was, which of the two was befr, and would fland him in mofl ftead, to imitate Orlando in his extravagant mad- nefs, or Amadis in his melancholic moods : and, talking to himfelf, he faid ; If Orlando was fo good and valiant a knight, as every body allows he was, what wonder is it, fince, in fhort, he was- enchanted, and no body could kill him, but by thrufting a needle into the fole of his foot ; and therefore he always wore fhoes with {even foles of iron. Thefe contrivances, however, flood him in no ftead again Bernardo del Carpi o, who knew the fecret, and prefTed him to death, between his arms, in Roncejvalles. Bat, fetting afide his valour, let us come to his lofing his wits, which it is certain he did, occafioned by fome tokens he found in the foreft, and by the news brought him by die fhepherd, that Angelica had flept more than two afternoons with Medoro, a little Moor with curled locks, and page to Agramante. And if he knew this to be true, and that his lady had played him falfe, he did no great matter in running mad. But how can I imitate him in his madneffes, if I cannot imitate him in the occa- fion of them ? for, I dare fwear, my Dulcinea del Tobofo never faw a Moor, in his own drefs \ in all her life, and that fhe is this day as the mother that bore her : and I fliould do her a manifeft wrong, if, fufpe&ing her, I fhould run mad of the fame kind of madnefs with that of Orlando Furiofo. On the other

■ The creed is fo foon run over in catholic countries, that the repeating it is the ufual proverb for brevity.

2 Zapatetas. A kind of capering, Unking, at the fame time, the fole of the Ihoe, or foot, with the hand.

3 Many perfons in Sfain, to all outward appearance Spaniards, aie fufpected of being privately Moors.

fide,

w

wm

m

*^PpB

Vol/ p.ffo

DOtt QUIXOT& DE LA MANCHA.

tide, I fee that Amadis de Gaul, without lofing his wits, and without acting the madman, acquired the reputation of a lover, as much as the beft of them. For, as the hidory has it, finding himfelf difdained by his lady Oriana, who commanded him not to appear in her prefence, 'till it was her pleafure, he only retired to the poor rock, accompanied by an hermit, and there wept his belly full, 'till heaven came to his relief, in the midft of his trouble and greateft an- guifli. And if this be true, as it really is, why fhould I take the pains to drip myfelf dark-naked, or grieve thefe trees, that never did me any harm ? neither have I any reafon to did urb the water of thefe cryflal dreams, which are to furnidi me with drink when I want it. Let the memory of Amadis live, and let him be imitated, as fir as may be, by Don Quixote de la Mancha, of whom mall be faid, what was faid of the other, that, if he did not atchieve great things, he died in attempting them '. And, if I am not rejected nor difdained by my Dulcinea, it is fufficient, as I have already faid, that I am abfent from her. Well then ; hands, to your work : come to my memory, ye deeds of Amadis, and teach me where I am to begin to imitate you : but I know, that the mod: he did was to pray ; and fo will I do. Whereupon he fining fome large galls of a cork-tree, which ferved him for a rofiuy. But what troubled him very much, was, his not having an hermit to hear his confeflion, and to comfort him ; and fo he pafTed the time in walking up and down the meadow, writing and graving on the barks of trees, and in the fine find, a great many verfes, all accommodated to his melancholy, and fome in praife of Dulcinea. But thofe that were found entire and legible, after he was found in that place, were only thefe following.

i I.

Ye trees, ye plants, ye herbs that grow

So tall, fo green, around this place, If ye rejoice not at my woe,

Hear me lament my piteous cafe. Nor let my loud-refounding grief

Tour tender trembling leaves difmay, Whilfl from my tears I feek relief,

In abfence from Dulcinea

Del Tobofo.

II.

Here the fad lover fnins the light,

By for row to this defer t led ; Here, exiled from his lady's fght,

He fecks to hide his wretched head.

' This is plainly an allufion to that epitaph of Phaeton, in Ovid; Ific Jilus eft Phaethon, currus auriga palerni, Shiem finon tcnuit, magnis tamtn excidit auf.s. Metam. 1. 2. v. 327.

Here,

i53 7U LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

Here, bandied betwixt hopes and fears

By cruel love in wanton play, He weeps a pipkin full of tears,

hi abfence from Dulcinea __

Del Tobofo.

III. O'er craggy rocks he roves forlorn,

And fecks mifliaps from place to place, Curfing the proud relentlefs fcorn

That baniflfd him from human race. To wound his tender bleeding heart,

Love's hands the cruel la/lj difplay ; He weeps, and feels the ragi?ig /mart,

In abfence from Dulcinea

Del Tobofo.

The addition of Tobofo to the name of Dulcinea occafioned no fmall laughter in thofe, who found the above-recited verfes : for they concluded, that Don Quixote imagined, that if, in naming Dulcinea, he did not add Tobofo, the couplet could not be underftood ; and it was really fb, as he afterwards con- feffed. He wrote many others ; but, as is faid, they could tranferibe no more than thofe three ftanzas fair and entire. In this amufement, and in fighing, and invoking the fauns and fylvan deities of thofe woods, the nymphs of the brooks, and the mournful and humid echo, to anfwer, to confole, and liften to his moan, he patted the time, and in gathering herbs to fuflain himfelf 'till Sancho's return ; who, if he had tarried three weeks, as he did three days, the knight of the forrowful figure would have been fo disfigured, that the very mother, who bore him, could not have known him. And here it will be proper to leave him, wrapped up in his fighs and verfes, to relate what befel Sancho in his embaily.

Which was, that, when he got into the high road, he fleered towards Tobofo, and the next day he came within fight of the inn.where the milhap of the blanket had befallen him : and fcarce had he difcovered it at a diftance, when he fan- cied himfelf again flying in the air ; and therefore would not go in, though it was the hour that he might and ought to have flopped, that is, about noon : befides, he had a mind to eat fomething warm, all having been cold-treat with him for many days paft. This neceflity forced him to draw nigh to the inn, flill doubting whether he fhould go in or not. And, while he was in fufpence, there came out of the inn two perfons, who prefently knew him ; and one faid to the other ; Pray, Signor licentiate, is not that Sancho Panca yonder on horfe- back, who, as our adventurer's houfekeeper told us, was gone with her mailer as his fquire ? Yes it is, faid the licentiate, and that is our Don Quixote's horfe. And no wonder they knew him fo well, they being the prieft and the barber

of

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 153

of his village, and the perfons, who had fcrutinixcd, and pall a kind of inquiii- toi ial-fentence ' on the books : and being now certain it was Sancbo Panca and Rozinante, and being dcfirous Withal to learn fome tidings of Don Quixote, they went up to him, and the prieft, calling him by his name, (aid ; Friend Sancbo Panca, where have you left your mailer? Scincho Panca immediately knew them, and refolved to conceal the place, and circumllances, in which he had left his mailer : lb he anfwered, that his mailer was very bufy in a certain place, and about a certain affair of the greatefl importance to him, which he durft not difcover for the eyes he had in his head. No, no, quoth the barber, Sancbo Panca, if you do not tell us where he is, we (hall conclude, as we do already, that you have murdered and robbed him, fince you come thus upon his horie ; and fee that you produce the horfe's owner, or woe be to you. There is no reafon why you fhould threaten me, quoth Sancbo ; for I am not a man to rob or murder any body: let every man's fite kill him, or god that made him. My mailer is doing a certain penance, much to his liking, in the midft of yon mountain. And thereupon, very glibly, and without hefitation, he related to them in what manner he had left him, the adventures that had befallen him, and how he was carrying a letter to the lady Dulcinea del Tobofo, who was the daughter of Lorenzo Corcbuelo, with whom his mailer was up to the ears in love.

They both Hood in admiration at what Sancbo told them; and though they already knew Don Quixote's madnefs, and of what kind it was, they were al- ways ftruck with frelh wonder at hearing it. They defired Sancbo Panca to fliew them the letter he was carrying to the lady Dulcinea del Tobofo. He faid, it was written in a pocket-book, and that it was his mailer's order he mould get it copied out upon paper, at the firft town he came at. The prieft faid, if he would Ihew it him, he would tranferibe it in a very fair character. Sancbo Panca put his hand into his bofom, to take out the book; but he found it not, nor could he have found it, had he fearched for it 'till now; for it remained with Don Quixote, who had forgotten to give it him, and he to ask for it. When Sancbo perceived he ha i rot the book, he turned as pale as deadi; and feeling again all over his body, in a great hurry, and feeing it was not to be found, without more ado, he laid hold of his beard with both hands, and tore away half of it; and prefently after he gave himfelf half a dozen cuffs on the nofe and mouth, and bathed them all in blood. Which the prieft and barber feeing;, asked him what had happened to him, that he handled himfelf fo roughly ? What Ihould happen to me, anfwered Sancbo, but that I have loll, and let Hip through my fingers, three afs-colts, and each of them as ftately as a caille? How fo ? replied the barber. I have loll the pocket-book, anfwered Sancbo, in which was the letter to Dulcinea, and a bill figned by my mailer, by which he

1 Jluto general. A kind of goal-delivery of the lnyuijition, when the convifts are burnt, and the reft fet at liberty.

Vol. I. X ordered

154 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

ordered his niece to deliver to me three colts out of four or five he had at home. And at the fame time he told them how he had loft his Dapple. The prieft bid him be of good cheer, telling him, that, when he faw his mafter, he would engage him to renew the order, and draw the bill over again upon paper, according to ufage and cuftom, fin,ce thofe that were written in pocket-books were never accepted, nor complied with. Sancho was comforted by this, and faid, that, fince it was fo, he was in no great pain for the lofs of the letter to Dulcinea, for he could almoft fay it by heart ; fo that they might write it down from his mouth where and when they pleafed. Repeat it then, Sancho, quoth the barber, and we will write 'it down afterwards. Then Sancho began to fcratch his head, to bring the letter to his remembrance; and now flood upon one foot, and then upon the other: one while he looked down upon the ground, another up to the sky : and after he had bit off half a nail of one of his ringers, keeping them in fufpence, and expectation of hearing him repeat it, he faid, after a very long paufe; Before god, mafter licentiate, let the devil take all I remember of the letter; though at the beginning it faid: High and fubt er- ratic lady. No, faid the barber, not fubterrane, but fuper-humane, or fovereign lady. It was fo, faid Sancho. Then, if I do not miftake, it went on : the wounded, and the waking, and the fmitten, kiJJ'es yoar honour's hands, ungrateful and regardlefs fair ; and then it faid I know not what of health andficknefs that hefent ; and here he went on roving, 'till at laft he ended with Thine 'till death, the blight of the forrouful figure.

They were both not a little pleafed, to fee how good a memory Sancho had, and commended it much, and defired him to repeat the letter twice more, that they alfo might get it by heart, in order to write it down in due time. Thrice Sancho repeated it again, and thrice he added three thoufand other extravagan- cies. After this, he recounted alfo many other things concerning his mafter, but find not a word of the tofling in the blanket, which had happened to him- felf in that inn, into which he refufed to enter. He faid likewife, how his lord, upon his carrying him back a kind difpatch from his lady Dulcinea del Tobofo, was to fet forward to endeavour to become an emperor, or at leaft a king ; for fo it was concerted between them two; and it would be a very eafy matter to bring it about, fuch was the worth of his perfon, and the ftrength of his arm x and, when this was accomplifhed, his mafter was to marry him (for by that time he fhould, without doubt, be a widower ') and to give him to wife one of the emprefs's maids of honour, heirefs to a large and rich territory on the main land; for, as to iflands, he was quite out of conceit with them. Sancho faid all this with fo much gravity, and fo little fenfe, ever and anon blowing his nofe, that they were ftruck with frefli admiration at the powerful influence of Don Quixote's madnefs, which had carried away with it this pcor fellow's un-

> Here Sancbo recollefts that he has a wife, and that he cannot marry the damfel go-between 'till Uert/a is dead.

derftandine

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA, 155

derftanding alfo. They would not give themfelves the trouble to convince him of his error, thinking it better, fince it did not at all hurt his confcicnce, to let ldm continue in it; befides that it would afford them the more plcafure in hear- ing Ids follies : and therefore they told him, he fhould pray to god for his lord's health, fince it was very polhblc, and very feaiible, for him, in procefs of time, to become an emperor, as he laid, or at lead an archbiihop % or fomcthing elfe of equal dignity. To which Sancho anfwered: Gentlemen, if fortune fhould fo order it, that my mailer ihould take it into his head not to be an emperor, but an archbiihop, I would fain know what archbiihops-errant ufually give to their fquires? They ufually give them, anfwered the pried, fome benefice, or cure, or vergerfhip, which brings them in a good penny-rent, befides the pcrquifites of the altar, ufually valued at as much more. Ay, but then it will be neceiTary, replied Saticho, that the fquire be not married, and that he knows, at lead, the refponfes to the mafs; and, if fo, woe is me; for I am married, and do not know the firfl letter of A, B, C. What will become of mc, if my mafter mould have a mind to be an archbiihop, and not an emperor, as is the faddon and cuflom of knights-errant ? Be not uneafy, friend Sancho, faid the barber; for we will intreat your mafter, and advife him, and even make it a cafe of confeience, that he be an emperor, and not an archbiihop ; for it will be better for himfelf alio, by reafon he is more a foldier than a fcholar. I have thought the fame, anfwered Saticho, though I can affirm that he has abili.y for every thing. What I intend to do, on my part, is, to pray to our lord, that he wid direct him to that, which is beft for him, and will enable him to beftow moft favours upon me. You talk like a wife man, faid die pried, and will act therein like a good chriftian. But the next thing now to be done, is, to con- trive how we may bring your mafter off from the performance of diat unprofi- table penance ; and that we may concert the proper meafures, and get ibme- thing to eat likewife (for it is high time) let us go into the inn. Sane ho defircd them to go in, and faid, he would flay there without, and afterwards he would tell them the reafon, why he did not, nor was it convenient for him to go in : but he prayed them to bring him out fomething to eat that was warm, and alfo fome barley for Rozinante: They went in, and left 1dm, and foon after die bar- ber brought him out fome meat.

Then they two having laid their heads together, how to bring about their de- fign, the prieft bethought him of a device exactly fitted to Don Quixote's hu- mour, and likely to erf eel: what they delired. Which was, as he told the bar- ber, that he defigned to put himfelf into the habit of a damfel-crrair, and would have him to equip himfelf, the beft he could, fo as to pais for his fq lirej and that in diis difguife they fliould go to the place where Don Quixote ... ,; and himfelf, pretending to be an afflicted damicl, and in diftrefs, wo 1 < beg a

1 The archbifhops of ToitJo and Stvil make as great figure as moll king*, huvhig an annual revenue of little Lefa than an hundred Lhoufand piitoles.

X 2 boon

156 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

boon of him, which he, as a valorous knight-errant, could not choofe but vouchfafe : and that the boon he intended to beg, was, that he would go with her whither fhe mould carry him, to redrefs an injury done her by a difcourte- ous knight, intreating him, at the fame time, that he would not defire her to take off her mask, nor enquire any thing farther concerning her, 'till he had done her juftice on that wicked knight : and he made no doubt, but that Don Quixote would, by thefe means, be brought to do whatever they defired of him, and fo they mould bring him away from that place, and carry him to his vil- lage, where they would endeavour to find fome remedy for his unaccountable madnefs.

CHAP. XIII.

How the priejl and the barber put their defign in execution , with other matters

worthy to be recited in this hijtory.

TH E barber did not diflike the prieft's contrivance j on the contrary, he ap- proved fo well of it, that it was immediately put in execution. They borrowed of the landlady a petticoat and head-drefs, leaving a new caffock of the prieft's in pawn for them. The barber made himfelf an huge beard of the forrel tail of a pyed ox, in which the inn-keeper ufed to hang his comb. The hoftefs asked them, why they defired thofe things ? The prieft gave them a brief account of Don Quixote's madnefs, and how neceflary that difguife was in order to get him from the mountain where he then was. The hoft and hoftefs pre- fently conjectured, that this madman was he, who had been their gueft, the maker of the balfam, and mafter of the blanketted fquire; and they related to the prieft what had parted between him and them, without concealing what Sancho fo induftrioufly concealed. In fine, the landlady equipped the prieft fo nicely, that nothing could be better. She put him on a cloth petticoat, laid thick with ftripes of black velvet, each the breadth of a fpan, all pinked and flamed ; and a tight waiftcoat of green velvet, trimmed with a border of white fattin ; which, together with the petticoat, muft have been made in the days of king Bamba \ The prieft would not confent to wear a woman's head-drefs, but put on a little white quilted cap, which he wore a nights, and bound one- of his garters of black taffeta about his forehead, and with the other garter made a kind of vizard muffler, which covered his face and beard very neatly. Then he funk his head into his bever, which was fo broad-brimmed, that it might ferve him for an umbrella; and, lapping himfelf up in his cloak, he got upon his mule fide- ways, like a woman : the barber got alfo upon his, with his beard, that reached to his girdle, between forrel and white, being, as has been faid, made of the tail of a pyed-ox. They took leave of all, and of good Ma-' ritom'es, who promifed, though a finner, to pray ov,r an entire rofary, that

1 As we fay, in the days of queen Befs. Bamba was an old Gothic king of Spain.

god

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCH'A. i57

god might give them good fuccefs in fo arduous and chriftian a bafinefs as that they had undertaken.

But fcarcely had they got out of the inn, when the prieft began to think he had done amifs in equipping himfelf after that manner, it being an indecent tiling for a prieft to be fo accoutred, though much depended upon it: and ac- quainting the barber with his fcruple, he defired they might change dreflcs, it being fitter that he fhould perfoliate the diftreffed damfel, ami himfelf act the fquire, as being a lefs profanation of his dignity : and, if he would not con fen t to do fo, he was determined to proceed no further, though the devil iliould run away with Don Quixote. Upon this, Sancbo came up to them, and, feeing them boil tricked up in that manner, could not forbear laughing. The barber, irrfhort, contented to what the prieft defired; and, the fcheme being thus al- tered, the prieft began to inftrudt the barber how to act his part, and what ex- i ins to trie to Don Quixote, to prevail upon him to go with them, and to- rn Ae hirri out of conceit with the place he had chofen for his fruitlefs penance. The b iber anfwered, that, without his inftructions, he would undertake to manage tlur point to a tittle. He would not put on the drefs, 'till they came near to the place wheie Don §>ui xote was ; and fo he folded up his habit; and the prieft udjufted his beard, and on' they went, Sancbo Panca being their guide : who, on the way, recounted to them what had happened in relation to the madman they met in the mountain; but fud not a word of finding the portmanteau, and what was in it; for, with all his folly and fimplicity, the fpark was fomewhat covetous.

The next day they arrived at the place, where Sancbo had ftrewed the broom- boughs, as tokens to afcertain the place where he had left his mafter ; and knowing it again, he told them, that was the entrance into it, and therefore they would do well to put on their difguife, if that was of any fignificancy to- ward delivering his mafter: for they had before told him, that their going dreffed in that manner was of the utmoft importance towards diiengaging iiis mafter from that evil life he had chofen ; and that he muft by no means I t his mafter know who they were, nor that he knew them: and if he mould ask him, as no doubt he would, whether he had delivered the letter to Dul- cinea, he mould fay he had, and that fhe, not being able to read, had an- fwered by word of mouth, that fhe commanded him, on pain of her diiblea- fure, to repair to her immediately, about an affair in which he was greatly con- cerned: for, with this, and what diey intended to lay to him themfelves, they made fure account of reducing him to a better life, and managing him fo', that he fhould prefently fet out, in order to become an emperor or a king; for, as to his being an archbiftiop, there was no need to fear that. Sancbo liftened at- tentively to all this, and imprinted it well in his memory, and thanked diem mightily for their defign of advifmg his lord to be an emperor, and not an archbifhop; for he was entirely of .opinion, that, as to rewarding their fquires,

emperors

158 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

emperors could do more than archbifhops-errant. He told them alfo, it would be proper he fhould go before, to find him,, and deliver him liis lady's anfwer; for,, perhaps, that alone would be fufficient 10 bring him out of that place, without their putting themfelves to fo much trouble. They approved of what Sancho faid, and fo they refolved to wait for his return with the news of finding his mafter. Sancho entered the openings of the mountain, leaving them in a place, through which there ran a little fmooth ftream, cool, and pleafandy (haded by fome rocks and neighbouring trees. It was in the month of Augufl, when the heats in thofe parts are very violent : the hour was three in the afternoon : all which made the fituation the more agreeable, and invited them to wait there for Sancho'?, return, which accordingly they did. While they repofed themfelves in the fhade, a voice reached their ears, which, though unaccompanied by any In- strument, founded fweetly and delightfully : at which they were not a little fur- prized, that being no place where they might expecl: to find a perfon whdic ould fing fo well. For, though it is ufually faid, there are in the woods and fields ihepherds with excellent voices, it is rather an exaggeration of the poets, than what is really true : and efpecially when they obferved, that the verfes, they heard- fung, were not like the compofitions of ruftic fhepherds, but like thofe of witty and courtlike perfons. And the verfes, which confirmed them in their opinion, were thefe following.

I. What caufcs all my grief and pain %

Cruel Difdain. What aggravates my mifery?

Accurfed jealoicfy. How has my foul its patience lo/l?

By tedious abfence crojl. Alas! no balfam can be found To heal the grief of fuch a -wound, When abfence, jealoufy, and J corn Have left me hopelefs and forlorn.

II. What in- my breajl this grief could move?

NegleSted love. IVloat doth my fond def res withjland?

Fate's cruel hand. And what corf mis my mifery?

Heavn'sfx'd decree. Ah me J my boding- fears portend This fir ange difeafe my life will end: For, die I miif, when three fuch fo~s, ^ Heav'n. fate, and love, my blifs oppofe.

III. My

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. j$9

ill.

Mi peace of mind what can reforc?

Death's welcome hour. What gains love's joys mojl readily ?

Fickle inconjlancy. Its pains what med'eine can affwage?

Wild ' phrenzf 's rage. 'Tis therefore little wijdom, fire, Forfuch a grief to feck a cure, As knows no better remedy, Than phrenzy, death, inconjlancy.

The hour, the feafon, the folitude, the voice, and the skill of the perfon who fang, railed both wonder and delight in the two hearers, who lay ftill, expect- ing if perchance they might hear fomething more : but, perceiving the filence continue a good while, they refolved to iflue forth in fearch of the mufician, who had fung fo agreeably. And juft as they were about to do fo, the fame voice hindered them from ftirring, and again reached their ears with this Sonnet.

SONNET.

Friend/hip, that hajl with nimble fight Exulting gained th' empyreal height, In heav'n to dwell, whilft here below Thy femblance reigns in mimic fiow ! From thence to earth, at thy behejl, Defends fair peace, cceleftial guefi ; Beneath whofe veil of fining hue Deceit off lurks, conceal' d from view. Leave, friendfip, leave thy heav' nly feat ; Or f rip thy livery off the cheat. Iff ill he wears thy borrowed fmiles, And fill unwary truth beguiles, Soon inujl this dark terrc/lrial ball Into itsfrjl confufon fall.

The fong ended with a deep figh, and they again liftened very attentively in hopes of more; but, finding that the mufic was changed into groans and la- ments, they agreed to go and find out the unhappy perfon, whofe voice was as excellent, as his complaints were mournful. They had not gone far, when, at doubling the point of a rock, they perceived a man of the fame ftature and fi- gure that Sancho had defcribed to them, when he told them the ftory of Car-

denio.

i6o 77js LIFE and EXPLOITS of

denio. The man expreffed no furprize at the fight of them, but flood ftill, in- clining his head upon his breaft, in a penfive pofture, without lifting up his eyes to look at them, 'till juft at the inftant when they came, unexpectedly, upon him. The prieit, who was a well-fpoken man, being already acquainted with his misfortune, and knowing him by the defcription, went up to him, and, in few but very fignificant words, intreated and preffed him to forfake that miferable kind of life, left he mould lofe it in that place ; which, of all misfor- tunes, would be the greater!:. Cardenio was then in his perfect fenfes, free from thofe outrageous fits that fo often drove him befide himfelf : and, feeing them both in a drefs not worn by any that frequented thofe folitudes, he could net forbear wondering at them for fome time ; and especially when he heard them fpeak of his affair as a thing known to them ; for, by what the priefr. had faid to him, he underftood as much : wherefore he anfwered in this manner. I am fenfible, gentlemen, whoever you be, that heaven, which takes care to relieve the good, and very often even the bad, fometimes, without any defert of mine, fends into thefe places, fo remote and diftant from the commerce of human kind, perfons, who, fetting before my eyes, with variety of lively arguments, how far the life I lead is from being reafonable, have endeavoured to draw me from hence to fome better place : but, not knowing, as I do, that I fhall no fooner get out of this mifchief, but I fhall fall into a greater, they, doubtlefs, take me for a very weak man, and perhaps, what is worfe, a fool or a madman. And no wonder ; for I have fome apprehenfion, that the fenfe of my misfortune: is fo forcible and intenfe, and fo prevalent to my detraction, that, without my being able to prevent it, I fometimes become like a ftone, void of ail knowledge and fenfation : and I find this to be true, by people's tel- ling and fhewing me the marks of what I have done, while the terrible fit has had the mattery of me : And all I can do, is to bewail myfelf in vain, to load my fortune with unavailing curfes, and to excufe my follies, by telling the oc- cafion of them to as many as will hear me ; for men of fenfe, feeing the caufe, will not wonie: at the effects : and, if they adminifler no remedy, at leaft they will not throw the blame upon me, but convert their difpleafure at my behaviour into companion for my misfortune. And, gentlemen, if you come with the fane indention that others have done, before you proceed any farther in you/ prudent perfuttfions, I befeech you to hear the account of my number- Ids mi fiomnes : for, perhap-, when you have heard it, you may fave your- filves the trouble of endeavouring to cure a malady that admits of no confola- tion. The two, who defired nothing more than to learn, from his own mouth, ■the caufe of bis mifery, intreated him to relate it, affuring him they would do not but what he defired, either by way of remedy or advice : and, upon

gentleman began his melancholy ftory, almoft in the fame words an e had uicd in relating it to Don Quixote and the goatherd, fome

:, when, on the mention of matter Elifdbat, and Don Quixote's

punctuality,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 161

punctuality in obferving the decorum of knight-errantry, the tale was cut ihort, as the hiftory left it above. But now, as good-fortune would have it, Cardenio's mad fit was fufpended, and afforded him leifure to rehearfe it to the end : and fo, coming to the paffage of the love-letter, which Don Fernando found between the leaves of the book of Amadis de Gaul, he laid, he remem- bered it perfectly well, and that it was as follows.

LUC IN DA to CARDENIO.

I every day difcover fuch worth in you, as obliges and forces me to ejleem you more and more ; and therefore, if you would put it in my power to difebarge my obligations to you, without prejudice to my honour, you may eafily do it. I have a father, who knows you, and has an affection for me ; who will never force my inclinations, and will comply with whatever you can jujlly defre, if you really have that value for me, which you profefs, and I believe you have.

This letter made me refolve to demand Lucinda in marriage, as I have al- ready related, and was one of thofe, which gave Don Fernando fuch an opinion of Lucinda, that he looked upon her as one of the mod fenfible and prudent women of her time. And it was this letter, which put him upon the defign of undoing me, before mine could be effected. I told Don Fernando what Lu- anda's father expected ; which was, that my father fhould propofe the match ; but that I durft not mention it to him, left he fhould not come into it ; not be- caufe he was unacquainted with the circumftances, goodnefs, virtue, and beauty of Lucinda, and that fhe had qualities fufficient to adorn any other family of Spain whatever ; but becaufe I underftood by him, that he was defirous I fhould not marry foon, but wait 'till we fhould fee what duke Ricardo would do for me. In a word, I told him, that I durft not venture to fpeak to my father about it, as well for that reafon, as for many others, which difheartened me, I knew not why ; only I prefaged, that my defires were never to take effect. To all this Don Fernando anfwered, that he took it upon himfelf to fpeak to my father, and to prevail upon him to fpeak to Luanda's. O ambitious Marius ! O cruel Catiline ! O wicked Sylla ! O crafty Galalon ! O perfidious Vellido ! O vindictive Julian ! O covetous Judas ' / Traitor ! cruel, vindictive, and crafty ! what diiTervicc had this poor wretch done you, who fo frankly difcovered to you the fecrets and the joys of- his heart ? wherein had I offended you ? what word did I ever utter, or advice did I ever give, that were not all directed to the encreafe of your honour and your intereft ? But why do I complain ? miferable wretch that I am ! fince it is certain, that, when the ftrong influences of the ftars pour down misfortunes upon us, they fall from on high with fuch violence and fury, that

' Every body knows Marius, Catiline, Sylla, and Judas. Galalon betrayed the army that came hto Spain under Cbarlemaine ; Vil iiio murdered king Sancho ; and count Julian Lrojght in the Moors, be- caufe king RoJcrigo had raviflied his daughter.

Vol. I. Y no

162 tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

bo human force can ftop them, nor human addrefs prevent them. Who could have thought that Don Fernando, an illuftrious cavalier, of good fenfe, obliged by my fervices, and fecure of fuccefs wherever his amorous inclinations led him, mould be fo peftilentially inflamed, as to deprive me of my fingle ewe- lamb, which yet I had not pofTeffed ? But, fetting afide thefe reflexions as vain and unprofitable, let us refume the broken thread of my unhappy ftory.

I lay then, that Don Fernando, thinking my prefence an obftacle to the put- ting his treacherous and wicked defign in execution, refolved to fend me to his elder brother for money to pay for fix horfes, which, meerly for the purpofe of getting me out of the way, that he might the better fucceed in his helliih intent, he had bought that very day, on which he offered to fpeak to my father, and on which he difpatched me for the money. Could I prevent this treachery ? could I fo much as fufpecl it ? No certainly ; on the contrary, with great pleafure I offered to depart inftantly, well fatisfied with the good bargain he had made. That night I fpoke with Luanda, and told her all that had paffed between Don Fernando and me, bidding her not doubt the fuccefs of our juft and honourable defires. She, as little fufpecling Don Fernanda's treachery, as I did, defired me to make hafte back, fince me believed die completion of our wiihes would be no longer deferred than 'till my father had fpoken to her's. I know not whence it was, but fhe had no fooner faid this, than her eyes flood full of tears, and fome fudden obftrudtion in her throat would not fuffer her to utter one word of a great many fhe feemed endeavouring to fay to me. I was aftonifhed at this ftrange accident, having never feen the like in her before ; for whenever good fortune, or my affiduity, gave us an opportunity, we always converfed with the greateft pleafure and fatisfaction, nor ever intermixed with our difcourfe tears, fighs, jealoufies, fufpicions, or fears. I did nothing but applaud my good for- tune in having her given me by heaven for a mifbrefs. I magnified her beauty, and admired her merit and underftanding. She returned the compliment, by commending in me what, as a lover, fhe thought worthy of commendation. We told one another an hundred thoufand little childifh flories concerning our neighbours and acquaintance : and the greateft length my prefumption ever ran, was to feize, as it were by force, one of her fair and fhowy hands, and prefs it to my lips, as well as the narrownefs of the iron-grate, which was betv/een us, would permit. But, the night that preceded the doleful day of my depar- ture, fhe wept and fighed, and withdrew abruptly, leaving me full of confu- fion and trepidation, and aftonifhed at feeing fuch new and fad tokens of grief and tender concern in Luanda. But, not to deftroy my hopes, I afcribed it all to the violence of the love fhe bore me, and to the forrow, which parting occa- fions in thofe, who love one another tenderly. In fhort, I went away fad and penfive, my foul filled with imaginations and fufpicions, without knowing what I imagined or fufpected ; all manifeft prefages of the difmal event referved in ftore for me. I arrived at the place whither I was fent : I gave die letters to

Don

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 163

Don Fernanda's brother : I was well received ; but my bufinefs was not foon difpatched ; for he ordered me to wait (much to my forrow) eight days, and to keep out of his father's fight ; for his brother, he faid, had written to him to fend him a certain fum of money, without the duke's knowledge. All this was a contrivance of the falfe Don Fernando-, for his brother did not want money to have difpatched me immediately. This injunction put me into fut h a condition, that I could not prefently think of obeying it, it feeming to me impoflible to fupport life under an abfence of fo many days from Luanda, eipecially confidering I had left her in fo much forrow, as I have already told you. Neverthclcfs, I did obey, like a good fervant, though I found it was likely to be at the expence of my health. But, four days after my arrival, there came a man to look for me with a letter, which he gave me, and which, by the fuper- fcription I knew to be Luanda's ; for it was her own hand. I opened it with fear and trembling, believing it mufl be fome veiy extraordinary matter that put her upon writing to me at a diftance, a thing fhe very fcldom did when I was near her. Before I read it, I enquired of the meilenger, who gave it him, and how long he had been coming. He told me, that, palling accidentally through a ftreet of the town about noon, a very beautiful lady, with tears in her eyes, called to him from a window, and faid to him in a great hurry ; friend, if you are a chriftian, as you feem to be, I beg of you, for the love of god, to carry this letter, with all expedition, to the place and perfon it is directed to ; for both are well known ; and in fo doing you will do a charity acceptable to our lord. And that you may not want wherewidial to do it, take what is tied up in this handkerchief; and fo faying fhe threw the handkerchief out at the window ; in which were tied up a hundred reals, and this gold ring I have here, with the letter I have given you : and prefently, without flaying for my anfwer, flie quitted the window ; but firft fhe faw me take up the letter and the hand- kerchief; and I affured her, by figns, that I would do what fhe commanded. And now, feeing myfelf fo well paid for the pains I was to take in bringing the letter, and knowing, by the fuperfcription, it was for you (for, Sir, I know you very well) and obliged belides by the tears of that beautiful lady, I re- folved not to trull any other perfon, but to deliver it to you with my own hands. And, in fixteen hours (for fo long it is fmce I had it) I have performed the journey, which you know is eighteen leagues. While the kind mefTen°-er was lpeaking thus to me, I hung upon his words, my legs trembling fo, that I could fcarce fland. At length I opened the letter, and faw it contained thefe words.

The promife Don Fernando gave you, that he ivou/d defire your father to /peak to mine, he has fulfilled more for his own gratification than your intereft. Know, Sir, he has demanded me to wife ; and my father, allured by the advan- tage he thinks Don Fernando has over you, has accepted this propofal with fo much earnejlnefs, that the marriage is to be folemnized two days hence, and that

Y 2 with

1 64 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

•with fo much fecrecy and privacy, that the heavens alone, and a few of our own family, are to be witnefes of it. Imagine what a condition I am in, and confider whether it be convenient for you to return home. Wloether I love you or not, the event of this bufmefs will Jhew you. God grant this may come to your hand, before mine be reduced to the extremity of being joined with his, who keeps his promifed faith fo ill.

Thefe, in fine, were the contents of the letter, and fuch as made me fet out immediately, without waiting for any other anfwer, or the money : for now I plainly faw, it was not the buying of the horfes, but the indulging his own pleafure, that had moved Don Fernando to fend me to his brother. The rage I conceived againft. Don Fernando, joined with the fear of lofing the prize I had acquired by the fervices and wiihes of fo many years, added wings to my fpeed ; fo that the next day I reached our town, at die hour and moment mofl conve- nient for me to go and talk with Lucinda. I went privately, having left the mule I rode on at the houfe of the honeft man who brought me the letter. And fortune, which I then found propitious, fo ordered it, that Lucinda was Handing at the grate ', the witnefs of our loves. She prefently knew me, and I her ; but not as fhe ought to have known me, and I her. But who is there in the world that can boaft of having fathomed and thoroughly feen into the in- tricate and variable nature of a woman ? No body, certainly. I fay then, that, as foon as Lucinda faw me, fhe faid : Cardenio, I am in my bridal habit : there are now flaying for me in the hall the treacherous Don Fernando and my co- vetous father, with fome others, who fhall fooner be witneffes of my death than of my nuptials. Be not troubled, my friend ; but procure the means to be prefent at this facrifice, which if my arguments cannot prevent, I carry a dagger about me, which can prevent a more determined force, by putting an end to my life, and giving you a convincing proof of the affection I have borne, and ftill do bear you. I replied to her, with confufion and precipitation, fearing I mould want time to anfwer her : Let your actions, Madam, make good your words ; if you carry a dagger to fecure your honour, I carry a fword to defend you, or kill myfelf, if fortune proves adverfe to us. I do not believe fhe heard all thefe words, being, as I perceived, called away haftily ; for the bridegroom waited for her. Herewith the night of my forrow was fallen ; the fun of my joy was fet : I remained without light in my eyes, and without judgment in my intellects. I was irrefolute as to going into her houfe, nor did I know which way to turn me : but when I reflected on the confequence of my being prefent at what might happen in that cafe, I animated myfelf the beft. I could, and at laft got into her houfe. And as I was perfectly acquainted with all the avenues, and the whole family was buried about the fecret affair then tranfacting, I efcaped being perceived by any body. And fo, without being

1 In Spain, lovers carry on their courtfliip at a low window with, a grate before it, being feldom ad- mitted into the houfe 'till the parents on both fides are agreed.

feen,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 165

feen, I had leifure to place myfelf in the hollow of a bow-window of the hall, behind the hangings where two pieces of tapiflry met ; whence, without being feen myfelf, I could fee all that was done in the hall. Who can defcribc the emotions and beatings of heart I felt while I ftood there ? the thoughts that oc- curred to me ? the reflexions I made ? Such, and fo many, were they, that they neither can, nor ought to be told. Let it fuffice to tell you, that the bride- groom came into the hall without other ornament than the cloaths he ufually wore. He had with him for brideman a coufin-gcrman of Luanda's, and there was no other perfon in the room, but the fervants of the houfe. Soon after, from a withdrawing room, came out Lucinda, accompanied by her mou- ther, and two of her own maids, as richly dreffed and adorned as her quality and beauty deferved, and as befitted the height and perfection of all that was gallant and court-like. The agony and diffraction I was in gave me no leifure to view and obferve the particulars of her drefs ; I could only take notice of the colours, which were carnation and white, and of the fplendour of the precious ftones and jewels of her head-attire, and of the reft of her habit ; which yet were exceeded in luftre by the Angular beauty of her fair and golden treffes, which, vying with the precious ftones, and the light of four flambeaux that were in the hall, ftruck the eyes with fuperior brightnefs. O memory, thou mortal enemy of my repofe ! why do you reprefent to me now the incomparable beauty of that my adored enemy ? Were it not better, cruel memory, to put me in mind of, and reprefent to my imagination, what fhe then did; that, moved by fo flagrant an injury, I may fb ive, fince I do not revenge it, at leaft to put an end to my life. Be not weary, gentlemen, of hearing thefe digreflions I make ; for my misfortune is not of that kind, that can or ought to be related fuccindtly and methodically, fince each circumftance feems to me to deferve a long dif- courfe. To this the prieft replied ; that they were fo far from being tired with hearing it, that they took great pleafure in the minuteft particulars he recount- ed, being fuch as deferved not to be paft over in filence, and merited no lefs atten- tion than the principal parts of the ftory.

I fay then, continued Cardcnio, that, they being all affembled in the hall, the parifh-prieft entered, and having taken them both by the hand, in order to per- form what is neccflary on fuch occafions, when he came to thefe words, ' Will ' you, Madam Lucinda, take Signor Don Fernando, who is here prefent, for 1 your lawful husband, as our holy mother the church commands ?' I thruft out my head and neck through the partings of the tapiftry, and, with the utmoft attention and diffraction of foul, fet myfelf to liften to what Lucinda anfwered ; expecting, from her anfwer, the fentence of my death, or the confirmation of my life. O that I had dared to venture out then, and to have cried aloud ; Ah, Lucinda, Lucinda! fee what you do ; confider what you owe me: behold, you are mine, and cannot be another's. Take notice, that your faying Tes, and the putting an end to my life, will both happen in the fame moment. Ah,

traitor

166 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

traitor Don Fernando ! ravifher of my glory, death of my life ! what is it you would have ? what is it you pretend to? confider, you cannot, as a chriflLin, arrive at the end of your defires ; for Lucinda is my wife, and I am her husband. Ah, fool that I am ! now, that I am abfent, and at a diftance from the danger, I am faying I ought to have done what I did not do. Now that I have fuffered myfelf to be robbed of my foul's treafure, I am curfing the thief, on whom I might have revenged myfelf, if I had had as much heart to do it, as I have now to complain. In fhort, fince I was then a coward and a fool, no wonder if I die now afhamed, repentant, and mad. The prieft flood expecting Luanda's anfwer, who gave it not for a long time; and, when I thought me was pulling out the dagger in defence of her honour, or letting looie her tongue to avow fome truth, which might undeceive them, and redound to my advantage, I heard her fay, with a low and faint voice, / will. The fame fud Don Fer- nando, and, the ring being put on, they remained tied in an indiffoluble band. The bridegroom came to embrace his bride; and flie, laying her hand on her heart, fwooned away between her mother's arms. It remains now to tell you what condition I was in, when I faw, in the confenting Tes, my hopes fruftra- ted, Luanda's vows and promifes broken, and no pofhbility left of my ever recovering the happinefs I in that moment loft. I was totally confounded, and thought myfelf abandoned of heaven, and made an enemy to the earth that fuftained me, the air denying me breath for my fighs, and the water moifture for my tears : the fire alone was fo increafed in me, that I was all inflamed with rage and jealoufy. They were all affrighted at Luanda's fwooning ; and her mother unlacing her bofom to give her air, fhe difcovered in it a paper folded up, which Don Fernando prefently feized, and read it by the light of one of the flambeaux : and, having done reading it, he fat himfelf down in a chair, leaning his cheek on his hand, with all the figns of a man full of thought, and without attending to the means that were ufing to recover his bride from her fainting fit. Perceiving the whole houfe in a confternation, I ventured out, not caring whether I was feen, or not; and with a determined refolution, if feen, to act fo defperate a part, that all the world fhould have known the juft indigna- tion of my breaft, by the chaftifement of the falfe Don Fernando, and of the fickle, though fwooning, traitrefs. But my fate, which has doubtlefs referved me for greater evils, if greater can poflibly be, ordained, that, at that juncture, I had the ufe of my underftanding, which has ever fince failed me ; and fo, without thinking to take revenge on my greateft enemies (which might very eafily have been done when they thought fo little of me) I refolved to take it on myfelf, and to execute on my own perfon that punifhment, which they deferved; and perhaps with greater rigour than I fhould have done on them, even in taking away their lives : for a fudden death foon puts one out of pain; but that, which is prolonged by tortures, is always killing, without putting an end to life. In a word, I got out of the houfe, and went to the place where I

had

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 167

had left the mule: I got it fuddled, and, without taking any leave, I mounted, and rode out of the town, not daring, like another Lot, to look bc!i;nd me; and, when I found myfelf in the field alone, and covered by the darknefs of the night, and the filence thereof inviting me to complain, without regard or fear of being heard or known, I gave a loofe to my voice, and untied my tongue, in a thoufand exclamations on Lucinda and Don Fernando, as if tbat had been fatisfadtion for the wrong they had done me. I called her cruel, falfe, and un- grateful ; but above all covetous, fince the wealth of my enemy had fhut the eyes of her affection, and withdrawn it from me, to engage it to another, to whom fortune had fhewn herfelf more bountiful and liberal : but, in the height of thefe curfes and reproaches, I excufed her, faying; it was no wonder that a maiden, kept up clofe in her father's houfe, and always accuftomed to obey her parents, mould comply with their inclination, efpecially fince they gave her for a husband fo confiderable, fo rich, and fo accomplished a cavalier; and that, to have refufed him, would have made people think (he had no judgment, or that her affections were engaged elfewhere; either of which would have redounded to the prejudice of her honour and good name. But, on the other hand, fup- pofing fhe had owned her engagement to me, it would have appeared that fhe had not made fo ill a choice, but fhe might have been excufed, fince, before Don Fernando offered himfelf, they themfelves could not, confidently with rea- fon, have defired a better match for their daughter: and how eafily might fhe, before fhe came to the laft extremity of giving her hand, have faid, that I had already given her mine : for I would have appeared, and have confirmed what- ever fhe had invented on this occafion. In fine; I concluded, that little love, little judgment, much ambition, and a defire of greatnefs, had made her forget thofe words, by which fhe had deluded, kept up, and nourished my firm hopes and honeft defires. With thefe foliloquies, and with this difquietude, I jour- neyed on the reft of the night, and at day-break arrived at an opening into thefe mountainous parts, through which I went on three days more, without any road or path, 'till at laft I came to a certain meadow, that lies fomewhere hereabouts ; and there I enquired of fome fhepherds, which was the moft foli- tary part of thefe craggy rocks. They directed me towards this place. I pre- fently came hither, with defign to end my life here; and, at the entring among thefe brakes, my mule fell down dead through wearinefs and hunger, or, as I rather believe, to be rid of fo ufelefs a burden. Thus I was left on foot, quite fpent and famifhed, without having or defiring any relief In this manner I continued, I know not how long, extended on the ground : at length I got up, fomewhat refiefhed, and found near me fome goatherds, who mull needs be the perfons that relieved my neceifity : for they told me in what condition they found me, and thai I faid fo many fenfelefs and extravagant things, that they wanted no farther proof of my having loft my undemanding : and I am fenfi- ble I have not been perfectly right ever fince, but fo mattered and crazy, that I

commit

168 7%e LIFE and EXP LOITS, &c.

commit a thoufand extravagancies, tearing my garments, howling aloud through thefe folitudes, curfing my fortune, and in vain repeating the beloved name of my enemy, without any other defign or intent, at the time, than to end my life with outcries and exclamations. And when I come to myfelf, I find I am fo weary, and fo fore, that I can hardly ftir. My ufual abode is in the hol- low of a cork-tree, large enough to be an habitation for this miferable carkafs. The goatherds, who feed their cattle hereabouts, provide me fuftenance out of charity, laying victuals on the rocks, and in places where they think I may chance to pafs and find it : and though, at fuch times, I happen to be out of my fenfes, natural neceffity makes me know my nourifhment, and awakes in me an appetite to defire it, and the will to take it. At other times, as they tell me when they meet me in my fenfes, I come into the road, and, though the fhep- herds, who are bringing food from the village to their huts, willingly offer me a part of it, I rather choofe to take it from them by force. Thus I pafs my fad and miferable life, waiting 'till it fhall pleafe heaven to bring it to a final period, or, by fixing the thoughts of that day in my mind, to erafe out of it all me- mory of the beauty and treachery of Luanda, and the wrongs done me by Don Fernando : for, if it vouchfafes me this mercy before I die, my thoughts will take a more rational turn; if not, it remains only to befeech god to have mercy on my foul; for I feel no ability nor fixength in myfelf to raife my body out of this ftrait, into which I have voluntarily brought it.

This, gentlemen, is the bitter ftory of my misfortune : tell me now, could it be borne with lefs concern than what you have perceived in me ? And, pray, give yourfelves no trouble to perfuade or advife me to follow what you may think reafonable and proper for my cure : for it will do roe juft as much good, as a medicine prefcribed by a skilful phyfician will do a fick man, who refufes to take it. I will have no health without Lucinda: and fince fhe was plea fed to give herfelf to another, when fhe was, or ought to have been, mine, let me have the pleafure of indulging myfelf in unhappinefs, fince I might have been happy if I had pleafed. She, by her mutability, would have me irretrievably undone : I, by endeavouring to deftroy myfelf, would fatisfy her will : and I fhall fiand as an example to pofterity of having been the only unfortunate perfon, whom the impoffibility of receiving confolation could not comfort, but plunged in ftill greater afflictions and misfortunes; for I verily believe they will not have an end even in death itfelf.

Here Cardenio ended his long difcourfe, and his flory, no lefs full of misfor- tunes than of love ; and, juft as the prieft was preparing to fay fomething to him, by way of confolation, he was prevented by a voice, which, in mournful ac- cents, faid, what will be related in the fourth book of this hiftory: for, at this point, the wife and judicious hiflorian Cid Hamei Bencngeli put an end to

the third.

THE

THE

LIFE and EXPLOITS

Of the ingenious gentleman

DON (QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

B

O O

K

IV.

CHAPTER I.

TVhich treats of the new a?id agreeable adventure that bejel the priejl and the barber in the fame fable mountain.

O S T happy and fortunate were the times, in which the moft daring knight Don Quixote de la Mancha was ufhered into the world ; fince, through the glorious refolution he took of re- viving and reftoring to the world the long fince loft, and as it were buried, order of knight- errantry, we, in thefe our times, barren and unfruitful as they are of amufing entertain- ments, enjoy not only the fweets of his true hiftory, but alio the ftories and epifodes of it, which are, in fome fort, no lefs pleafing, arti- ficial, and true, than the hiftory itfelf : which, refuming the broken thread of the narration, relates, that, as the prieft was pre- paring himfelf to comfort Cardcnio, he was hindered by a voice, which, with mournful accents, fpoke in this manner.

O heavens ! is it poffible I have at laft found a place that can afford a fecret grave for the irkfome burthen of this body, which I bear about fo much again ft my will ? Yes, it is, if the folitude, which thefe rocks promife, do not deceive me. Ah, woe is me ! how much more agreeable fociety fhall I find in th fe crags and brakes, which will at leaft afford me leifure to communicate my n:i- Vol. I. Z feries

170 Ttbe LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

feries to heaven by complaints, than in the converfation of men, iince there is no one living, from whom I can expect counfel in doubts, eafe in complaints, or remedy in misfortunes.

The priefl, and they that were with him, heard all this very difbinctly ; and perceiving, as they eafily might, that the voice was near them, they rofe up in queft of it ; and they had not gone twenty paces, when, behind a rock, they efpied a youth, dreffed like a peafant, fitting at the foot of an alh-tree ; whole face they could not then difcern, becaufe he hung down his head, on account that he was wafhing his feet in a rivulet which ran by. They drew near fo fi- lently, that he did not hear them ; nor was he intent upon any thing but warn- ing his feet, which were fuch, that they feemed to be two pieces of pure gry- ftal, growing among the other pebbles of the brook. They Hood in adiriigto/ tion at the whitenefs and beauty of the feet, which did not feem to them to** made for breaking of clods, or following the plough, as their owner's drefs might have perfuaded them they were : and finding they were not perceive^ the prielt, who went foremolt, made ligns to the other two, to crouch low, or hide themfelves behind fome of die rocks thereabouts : which they accordingly did, and flood obferving attentively what the youth was doing : he had on a grey double-skirted jerkin, girt tight about his body with a linnen towel. He wore alfo a pair of breeches and gamalhes of grey cloth, and a grey huntfman's cap on his head. His gamafhes were now pulled up to the middle of his leg, which really feemed to be of fnowy alabafter. Having made an end of warn- ing his beauteous feet, he immediately wiped them with an handkerchief,, which he pulled out from under his cap; and, at the taking it from thence, he lifted up his face, and the lookers-on had an opportunity of beholding an incom- parable beauty, and fuch a beauty, that Cardenio faid to the prielf, with a low voice; Since this is not Luanda, it can be no human, but mull be a divine crea- ture. The youth took off his cap, and making his head, there began to flow down, and fpread over his moulders, a quantity of lovely hair, that Apollo him- felf might envy. By this they found, that the perlbn, who feemed to be a pea- fant, was, in reality, a woman, and a delicate one, nay, die handfomelr. that two of the three had ever beheld with their eyes, or even Cardenio himfelf, if he had never feen and known Luanda; for, as he afterwards affirmed, the beauty of Luanda alone could come in competition with her's. Her golden trelTes not only fell on her moulders, but covered her whole body, excepting her feet. Her fingers ferved inft ead of a comb ; and if her feet in the water feemed to be of cryital, her hands in her hair were like driven fnow. All which excited a Hill greater admiration and defire in the three fpectators to learn who Hie was. For this purpofe they jlpRved /to fhew themfelves; and, at the ruffling they made in getting upon their feet, the beautiful maiden raifed her head, and, with both her hands, parting her hair from before her eyes, faw thofe who had made the noife; and fcarcely had {he feen thenij when me rofe

■ * UP>

ya"/ah/&r/-/7*tA /w? sS ®6&rt .

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 171

up, and, without flaying to put on her (hoes, or re-place her hair, flic haftily ihatched up fomething like a bundle of clothe?, which lay dole by her, and be- took herfelf to flight, all in confufion and fin-prize: but (he had not gone fix fteps, when, her tender feet not being able to endure the ftiarpnefc of the ftones, (lie fell down : which the three perceiving, went up to her, and the pried was the firft who f aid; Stay, madam, whoever you are; for thole you fee here have no other intention but that of ferving you : there is no reafon why you fhould endeavour to make lb ncedlcfs an efcape, which neither your feet can bear, nor we permit. To all this (he anfwered not a word, being aftonifh- ed and confounded. Then the priefr, taking hold of her hand, went on fay- ing : What your drefs, madam, would conceal from us, your hair difcovers ; a manifeft indication that no flight caufe has diiguiied your beauty in fo unworthy a habit, and brought you to fuch a folitude as this, in which it has been our good luck to find you, if not to adminifter a remedy to your misfortunes, at leafl to affift you with our advice/ fince no evil, which does not deftroy life it- f if, can afflidt fo much, or arrive to that extremity, as to make the fuffercr re- fufe to hearken to advice, when given with a iincere intention : and therefore, dear madam, or dear fir, or whatever you pleafe to be, fhake off the furprize, which the fight of us has occafioned, and relate to us your good or ill fortune; for you will find us jointly, or feverally, diipofed to fympathize with you in your misfortunes. <

While the priefr. was faying this, the difguifed maiden flood like one ftupi- fied, her eyes fixed on them all, without moving her lips, or fpeaking a word : juft like a country clown, when he is fhewn of a fudden fomething curious, or never feen before. But the priefr. adding more to the fame purpofe, fhe fetched a deep figh, and, breaking filence, faid : Since neither the folitude of thefe rocks has been fufricient to conceal me, nor the difcompofure of my hair has fuffered my tongue to bely my fex, it would be in vain for me now to drefs up a fiction, which, if you feemed to give credit to, it would be rather out of complaifance, than for any other reafon. This being the cafe, I fay, gende- men, that I take kindly the offers you have made me, which have laid me un- der an obligation to fatisfy you in whatever you have defired of me ; though I fear the relation I fhall make of my misfortunes will raife in you a concern equal to your companion ; fince it will not be in your power, either to remedy, or alleviate them. Neverthelefs, that my honour may not fuffer in your opi- nions, from your having already difcovered me to be a woman, and your feeing me young, and alone, in this garb, any one of which circumftances is fufficient to bring difcredit on the beft reputation, I mufl tell you what I would gladly have concealed, if it was in my power. All this (he, who appeared fo beauti- ful a woman, fpoke without hefitating, fo readily, and with fo much eafe, and fweetnefs both of tongue and voice, that her good fenfe furprif'ed them no lefs than her beauty. And they again repeating their kind offers, and entreaties to

Z 2 her,

172 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

her, that (he would perform her promife; (he, without more asking, having firft modeftly put on her (hoes and (lockings, and gathered up her hair, feated herfelf upon a flat (lone; and the three being placed round her, after (lie had done fome violence to herfelf in reflraining the tears that came into her eyes, (lie began the hiflory of her life, with a clear and fedate voice, in this manner.

There is a place in this country of Andaluzia, from which a duke takes a ti- tle, which makes him one of thofe they call grandees of Spain. This duke has two fonsj the elder, heir to his eftate, and, in appearance, to his virtues; and the younger, heir to, I know not what, unlefs it be to the treachery of Vellido ', and the deceitfulnefs of Galalon \ My parents are vaffals to this nobleman : it is true, they are of low extraction, but fo rich, that, if the advantages of their birth had equalled thofe of their fortune, neither would they have had any thing more to widi for, nor (hould I have had any reafon to fear being expofed to the misfortunes I am now involved in; for, it is probable, my misfortunes arife from their not being nobly born. It is true, indeed, they are not fo low, that they need to be afhamed of their condition, nor fo high, as to hinder me from think- ing, that their meannefs is the caufe of my unhappinefs. In a word, they are farmers, plain people, without mixture of bad blood, and, as they ufually fay, old rufty chriftians 3 ; but fo rufty, that their wealth, and handfom way of liv- ing, is, by degrees, acquiring them the name of gentlemen, and even of cava- liers ; though the riches and nobility they .valued themfelves mod upon, was, their having me for their daughter : and, as they had no other child to inherit what they poffeffed, and were befides very affectionate parents, I was one of the mod indulged girls that ever father or mother fondled. I was the mirrour, in which they beheld themfelves, the (laff of their old age, and (he whofe happinefs was the fole object of all their wi(hes, under the guidance of hea- ven ; to which, being fo good, mine were always entirely conformable. And, as I was miftrefs of their affections, fo was I of all they porTeffed. As I plea- fed, fervants were hired and difcharged; through my hands paffed the account and management of what was fowed and reaped. The oil-mills, the wine- preffes, the number of herds, flocks, and be-hives ; in a word, all that fo rich a farmer as my father has, or can be fuppofed to have, was entrufted to my care : I was both (leward and miftrefs, with fo much diligence on my part, and fatisfaction on theirs, that I cannot eafily enhance it to you. The hours of the day that remained, after giving directions, and affigning proper tasks to the head-fervants, overfeers, and day-labourers, I employed in fuch exercifes as are not only allowable, but neceffary to young maidens, to wit, in handling the

1 Who murdered Sancho king of Caflile, as he was eafing himfelf, at the f:ege of Catnora. 1 Who betrayed the Trench army at Roncefvalles.

3 That i?, original Spaniards, without mixture of Moor or Jew, for feveral generation?, fuch only being qualified for titles gf honour.

needle

>

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 173

needle, making lace, and fometimes (pinning : and if now and then, to re- create my mind, I quitted thefe exercii'es, I entertained myfelf with reading fome book of devotion, or touching the harp ; for experience (hewed me, that mulic compofes the mind when it is dilbrdcred, and relieves the fpirits after la- bour. Such was the life I led in my father's houfe ; and if I have been fo parti- cular in recounting it, it was not out of oftentation, nor to give you to undcr- ftand that I am rich, but that you may be apprized how little I deferved to fall from that ftate into the unhappy one I am now in. While I paffed my time in (o many occupations, and in a kind of voluntary confinement, that might be compared to that of a nunnery, without being feen, as I imagined, by any one befides our own fervants,. becaufe, when I went to mafs, it was very early in the morning, and always in company with my mother, and fome of the maid- fervants, and I was fo clofely veiled and referved, that my eyes fcarce faw more ground than the fpace I fet my foot upon; it fell out, I fay, notwithstanding all this, that the eyes of love, or rather of idlenefs, to which thofe of a lynx are not to be compared, difcovered me by the induftrious curiofity of Don Fernanda, for that is the name of the duke's younger fon, whom I told you of.

She had no fooner named Don Fernando, than Cardenio's colour changed, and he began to fwcat with fuch violent perturbation, that the pried and the barber, who perceived it, were afraid he was falling into one of the mad fits, to which they had heard he was now and then fubjedt. But Cardenio did nothing but fweat, and fat ftill, fixing his eyes moft attentively on the country-maid, imagining who fhe muft be ; who, taking no notice of the emotions of Cardenio , conti- nued her ftory, faying ;

Scarcely had he feen me, when (as he afterwards declared) he fell defperately in love with me, as the proofs he then gave of it fufficiently evinced. But, to fhorten the account of my misfortunes, which are endlefs, I pafs over in filence the diligence Don Fernando ufed in getting an opportunity to declare his paffion to me. He bribed our whole family 5 he gave and offered prefents, and did fa- vours to feveral of my relations . Every day was a feftival and day of rejoicing in our flreet : no body could deep o' nights for ferenades. Infinite were the billet-douxes that came, I knew not how, to my hands, filled with amorous ex- preffions, and offers of kindnefs, with more promifes and oaths in them, than letters. All which was fo far from fofi.ening me, that I grew the more obdu- rate,_as if he had been my mortal enemy, and all the meafures he took to bring me to his lure had been defigned for a quite contrary purpofe ; not that I dif- liked the galantry of Don Fernando, or thought him too importunate : for it gave me I know not what fecret fatisfa&ion to fee myfelf thus courted and refpected by fo confiderable a cavalier, and it was not difagreeable to me to find my own praifes in his letters: for, let us women be never fo ill-favoured, I take it, we are always pleafed to hear ourfelves called handfome. But all this was oppofed by my own virtue, together with the repeated good advice of my parents, who

plainly

174 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

plainly faw through Don Fernanda's dcfign ; for, indeed, he took no pains to hide it from the world. My parents told me, that they repofed their credit and reputation in my virtue and integrity alone: they bid me confider the difpropor- tion between me and Don Fernando, from whence I ought to conclude, that his thoughts, whatever he might fay to the contrary, were more intent upon his own pleafure, than upon my good: and if I had a mind to throw an obilacle in the way of his defigns, in order to make him defift from his unjuft pretentions, they would marry me, they faid, out of hand, to whomsoever I pleafed, either of the chief of our town, or of the whole neighbourhood around us 5 fince their considerable wealth, and my good character, put it in their power eafily to provide a fuitable match for me. With this promife, and the truth of what they faid, I fortified my virtue, and would never anfwer Don Fernando the leafl word, that might afford him the moil diftant hope of fucceeding in his de- fign. All this refervednefs of mine, which he ought to have taken for difdain, ferved rather to quicken his lafcivious appetite; for I can give no better name to the paflion he (hewed for me, which, had it been fuch as it ought, you would not now have known it, fince tHre would have been no occafion for my giving you this account of it. At length Don Fernando difcovered, that my parents were looking out for a match for me, 1 Jer .0 deprive him of all hope of gaining me, or at leafl were refolved to ha z more narrowly watched. And this news, or fufpicion, put him upon d< ng what you fhall prefently hear : which was, that, one night, as I was in my chamber, attended only by a maid that waited upon me, the doors being fafl locked, left by any neglect my virtue might be endangered, without my knowing or imagining how, in the midfl of all this care and precaution, and the folitude of this filence and reclufenefs, he flood before me; at whofe fight I was flruck blind and dumb, and had not power to cry out; nor do I believe he would have fuffered me to have done it : for he inflantly ran to me, and, taking me in his arms (for, as I faid, I had no power to flruggle, being in fuch confufion) he began to fay fuch things, that ~ne would think it impoffible falfhood fhould be able to frame them with fuch appearance of tru'.1 . The traitor made his tears gain credit to his wordc, niiJ his fighs to his defign. I, an innocent girl, bred always at home, and not r ed in affairs of this nature, began, I know not how, to deem for true

ny -nd fo great falfities : not that his tears or fighs could move me to any C .iminal compafiion. And fo, my firfl furprife being over, I began a little to recover my loft fpirits; and, with more courage than I thought I could have had, faid : If, Sir, as I am between'your arms, I were between the paws of a fierce lion, and my deliverance depended upon my doing or faying any thing to the prejudice of my virtue, it would be as impoffible for me to do or fay it, as it is impoffible for that, which has been, not to have been: fo that, though you hold my body confined between your arms, I hold my mind reftrained within the bounds of virtuous inclinations, veiy different from yours, as you will fee,

if

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 175

If you proceed to ufe violence. I am your vafial, but not your flavc: the no- bility of your blood neither has, nor ought to have, the privilege to difhonour and infult the meannefs of mine ; anil though a country-girl, and a farmer's daughter, my reputation is as dear to me, as yours can be to you, who arc a no- ble cavalier. Your employing force will do little with me ; I fet no value upon your riches j your words cannot deceive me, not can your fighs and tears mollify me. Any of thefe things would move me in a perfon, whom my parents fhould " affign me for a husband, nor fhould my inclinations tranfgrefs the bounds which theirs prefcribed it. And therefore, Sir, with the fafety of my honour, though I Sacrificed my private fatisfaclion, I might freely beftow on you what you are now endeavouring to obtain by force. I have faid all this, becaufe I would not have you think, that any one, who is not my lawful husband, fhall ever prevail on me. ,

If that be all you ftick at, moft beautiful Dorothea (for that is the name of this unhappy woman) faid the treacherous cavalier, lo! here I give you my hand to be yours, and let the heavens, frfftrt, which nothing is hid, and this image of our lady you have here, be witnefTes to this truth. When Cardemo heard her call herftlf Dorothea, he ' fell agtan into his diforder, and was tho- roughly confirmed in his firft opinion : br ' . he would not interrupt the ftory, being defirous to hear the event of what he partly knew already ; only he faid : What! Madam, is your name Dorothea? I have heard of one of the fame name, whofe misfortunes very much refemble yours. But proceed ; for fome time or other I may tell you things, that will equally move your wonder and compafTion. Dorothea took notice of Cardetiio's words, and of his ftrange tat- tered drefs, and defired him, if he knew any thing of her affairs, to tell it pre- fently; for, if fortune had left her any thing that was good, it was the courage me had to bear any difafter whatever that might befal her, fecure in this, that none could noffibly happen, that could in the leaft add to thofe fhe already en- dured. Madam, replied Cardenio, I would not be the means of deftroying tha; courage in you, by telling you what I think, if what I imagine fhould be true ; and hiherto there is no opportunity loft, nor is it of any importance that you fhould know it as yet. Be that as it will, anfwered Dorothea; I go on wit'. n*7 ftory. Don Ferna?ido, taking the image that flood in the room, and placir. for a witnefs of our efpoufals, with all the folemnity of vows and oaths, gave me his word to be my husband; although I warned him, before he had done, to confider well what he was about, and the uneafinefs it muft needs give his father to fee him married to a farmer's daughter, and his own vafial ; and there- fore he ought to beware left my beauty, fuchas it was, fhould blind him, fince that would not be a fufheient excufe for his fault; and, if he intended me any good, I conjured him, by the love he bore me, that he would fuffer my lot to fall equal to what my rank could pretend to; for fuch difproportionate matches are feldom happy, or continue long in that ftate of pleafure, with which they fet out. All

176 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

All thefe reafons here recited, and many more which I do not remember, I then urged to him; but they availed nothing towards making him defift from prpfecuting his defign; juft as he, who never intends to pay, flicks at nothing in making a bargain. Upon that occafion I reafoned thus with myfelf. Well! I ill. 11 not b_ the firft, who, by the way of marriage, has rifen from a low to » an high condition, nor will Don Fernando be the firft, whom beauty, or rather blind affeclipn, has induced to take a wife beneath his quality. Since then I neither mcke a new world, nor a new cuftom, fufely I may be allowed to ac- cept this honour, which fortune throws in my way, even though the inclination he mews for me mould laft no longer than the accompli fhment of his will; for, in fhort, in the light of god, I fhall be his wife. Beiides, mould I rejeel him with difdain, I fee him prepared to fet afide all fenfe of duty, and to have re- courfe to violence ; and fo I mall remain difhonoured, and without excufe, when I am cenfured by thofe who do not know how innocently I came into this ftrait. For what reafons can be fufficient to perfuade my parents, and others, that this cavalier got into my apartment without my confent ? All thefe queftions and anfwers I revolved in my imagination in an inftant. But what principally inclined and drew me, thoughtlefs as I was, to my ruin, was, Don Fernando's oaths, the witneffes by which he fwore, the tears he fhed, and, in fine, his gen- teel carriage and addrefs, which, together with the many tokens he gave me of unfeigned love, might have captivated any heart, though before as much difen- gaged, and as referved, as mine was. I called in my waiting-maid, to be a joint witnefs on earth with thofe in heaven. Don Fernando repeated and con- firmed his oaths. He attefted new faints, and imprecated a thoufand curfes on himfelf, if he failed in the performance of his promife. The tears came again into his eyes ; he redoubled his fighs, and preffed me clofer between his arms, from which he had never once loofed me. And with this, and my maid's go- ing again out of the room, I ceafed to be one, and he became a finifhed traitor. The day, that fucceeded the night of my misfortune, came on, but not fo faft as, I believe, Don Fernando wifhed. For, after the accomplishment of our defires, the greateft pleafure is to get away from the place of enjoyment. I fay this, becaufe Don Fernando made hafte to leave me ; and, by the diligence of the fame maid, who had betrayed me, was got into the ftreet before break of day. And, at parting, he faid, though not with the fame warmth and ve- hemency as at his conning, I might entirely depend upon his honour, and the truth and fincerity of his oaths: and, as a confirmation of his promife, he drew a ring of great value from his finger, and put it on mine. In fhort, he went away, and I remained I know not whether fad or joyful : this I can truly fay, that I remained confufed and thoughtful, and almoft diftradted at what had paffed ; and either I had no heart, or I forgot, to chide my maid for the trea- chery fhe had been guilty of in conveying Don Fernando into my chamber : for, indeed, I had not yet determined with myfelf whether, what had befallen me

was

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 177

was to my good or harm. I told Don Fernando, at parting, he might, if he pleafed, fince I was now his own, fee me on other nights by the fame method he had now taken, 'till he ihould be pleafed to publiih what was done to the world. But he came no more after the following night, nor could I get a fight of him in the ftreet, or at church, in above a month, though I tired myfelf with looking after him in vain ; and though I knew he was in the town, and that he went alrnoft every day to hunt, an exercife he was very fond of. Thofe days, and thofe hours, I too well remember, were fad and difmal ones to me ; for in them I began to doubt, and at laft to disbelieve, the fidelity of Don Fer- nando. I remember too, that I then made my damfel hear thofe reproofs for her prefumption, which me had efcaped before. I was forced to fet a watch over my tears, and the air of my countenance, that I might avoid giving my parents occafion to enquire into the caufe of my difcontent, and laying myfelf under the neceffity of inventing lyes to deceive them. But all this was foon put an end to by an accident, which bore down all refpecT: and regard to my repu- tation, which deprived me of all patience, and expofed my mofr. fecret thoughts on the public flage of the world : which was this. Some few days after, a report was fpread in the town, that Don Fernando was married, in a neighbour- ing citv, to a young lady of furpafling beauty, and whofe parents were of con- fiderable quality, but not fo rich, that her dowry might make her afpire to fo noble an alliance. Her name, it was faid, was Luanda, and many ftrange tilings were reported to have happened at their wedding.

Cardenio heard the name of Luanda, but did nothing more than fhrug up his fhoulders, bite his lips, arch his brows, and foon after let fall two firreams of tears from his eyes. Dorothea did not, however, difcontinue her ftory, but went on, faying : This fad news foon reached my ears ; and my heart, inftead of being chilled at hearing it, was fo incenfed and inflamed with rage and an- ger, that I could fcarce forbear running out into the ftreets, crying out and pub- lishing aloud, how bafely and treacheroufly I had been ufed. But this fury was moderated, for the prefent, by a refolution I took, and executed that very night ; which was, to put my.'et into this garb, which was given me by one of thofe, who, in farmer's houfes, are called fwains ', to whom I difcovered my whole misfortune, and begged of him to accompany me to the city, where I was in- formed my enemy dwelt. He, finding me bent upon my defign, after he had condemned the rafnnefs of my undertaking, and blamed my refolution, offered himfelf to bear me company, as he expreffed it, to the end of the world. ' I immediately put up, in a pillow-cafe, a woman's drefs, with fome jewels and money, to provide againft. whatever might happen : and, in the dead of that very night, without letting my treacherous maid into the fecret, I left our houfe, accompanied only by my fervant and a thouiand anxious thoughts, and took the way that led to the town on foot, the defire of getting thither adding

' A kind of apprentice or journeyman farmer.

Vol. I. A a- ■ winga

173 tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

wings to my flight, that, if I could not prevent what I concluded was already done, I might, at leaft, demand of Don Fernando, with what confcience he had done it. In two days and a half I arrived at the place, and, going into the town, I enquired where Luanda's father lived ; and the firft perfon I addrefTed myfelf to anfwered me more than I defired to hear. He told me where I might find the houfe, and related to me the whole ftory of what had happened at the young lady's wedding ; all which was fo public in the town, that the peo- ple affembled in every ftreet to talk of it. He told me that, on the night Don Fernando was married to Luanda, after fhe had pronounced the Tes, by which fhe became his wedded wife, fhe fell into a fwoon ; and the bridegroom, in unclafping her bofom to give her air, found a paper written with Luanda's own hand, in which fhe affirmed and declared, that fhe could not be wife to Don Fernando, becaufe fhe was already Cardenio's (who, as the man told me, was a very confiderable cavalier of the fame town) and that fhe had given her con- tent to Don Fernando, merely in obedience to her parents. In fhort, the paper gave them to underftand, that fhe defigned killing herfelf as foon as the cere- mony was over, and contained likewife her reafons for fo doing : all which, they fay, was confirmed by a ponyard they found about her, in fbme part of her cloaths. Don Fernando, feeing all this, and concluding himfelf deluded, mocked, and defpifed by Luanda, made at her, before fhe recovered from her fainting fit, and, with the fame ponyard that was found, endeavoured to flab her ; and had certainly done it, if her parents, and the reft of the company, had not prevented him. They faid farther; that Don Fernando immediately abfented himfelf, and that Luanda did not come to herfelf 'till the next day, when fhe confefled to her parents, that fhe was really wife to the cavalier afore- faid. I learned moreover, it was rumoured that Cardenio was prefent at the ceremony, and that, feeing her married, which he could never have thought, he went out of the town in defpair, leaving behind him a written paper, in which he fet forth at large the wrong Luanda had done him, and his refolu- tion of going where human eyes fhould never more behold him. All this was public and notorious over the town, and in every body's mouth ; but the talk encreafed, when it was known that Luanda alio was miffing from her father's houfe ; at which her parents were almoft diftracted, not knowing what means to ufe, in order to find her. This news rallied my fcattered hopes, and I was better pleafed not to find Don Fernando, than to have found him married, flat- tering myfelf, that the door to my relief was not quite fhut ; and hoping that, poffibly, heaven might have laid this impediment in the way of his fecond mar- riage, to reduce him to a fenfe of what he owed to the firft, and to make him reflect, that he was a chriftian, and obliged to have more regard to his foul, than to any worldly confiderations. All thefe things I revolved in my imagination, and, having no real confolation, comforted myfelf with framing fome faint and

diftant hopes, in order to fupport a life I now abhor.

Being

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 179

Being, then, in the town, without knowing what to do with myfclf, fincc I did not find Don Fernando, I heard a public cryer promifing a great reward to any one who fhould find me, telling my age, and defcribing the very garb I wore. And, as I heard, it was reported, that I was run away from my father's houfe with the young fellow that attended mc : a thing, which (truck me to the. very foul, to fee how low my credit was funk j as if it was not enough to faydiat I was gone off, but it mult be added with whom, and he too a perfon fo much below me, and fo unworthy of my better inclinations. At the inftant I heard the cryer, I went out of the town with my fervant, who already began to dif- cover fome figns of ftaggering in his promifed fidelity ; and that night we got into the thickeft of this mountain, for fear of being found. But, as it is com- monly laid, that one evil calls upon anodier, and that the end of one difafter is the beginning of a greater, fo it befel me ; for my good fervant, 'till then faithful and trufty, feeing me in this defert place, and incited by his own bafenefs ra- ther than by any beauty of mine, refolved to lay hold of the opportunity this folitude feemed to afford him ; and, with little fhame, and lefs fear of God, or refpect to his miftrefs, began to make love to me ; but, finding that I an- fwered him with fuch language as the impudence of his attempt deferved, he laid afide intreaties, by which, at firft, he hoped to fucceed, and began to ufe force. But juft heaven, that feldom or never fails to regard and favour our righteous intentions, favoured mine in fuch a manner, that, with the little itrength I had, and without much difficulty, I pufhed him down a precipice, where I left him, I know not whether alive or dead. And then, with more nimblenefs than could be expected from my furprize and.wearinefs, I entered into this defert mountain, without any other thought or defign, than to hide myf.lf here from my father and others, who, by his order, were in fearch after me. It is I know not how many months, fince, with this defign, I came hither, where I met with a fhepherd, who took me for his fervant to a place in die very midft of thefe rocks. I ferved him, all this time, as a fhepherd's boy, endeavouring to be always abroad in the field, the better to conceal my hair, which has now fo unexpectedly difcovered me. But all my care and fol- licitude were to no purpofe ; for my matter came to difcover I was not a man, and the fame wicked thoughts fprung up in his breaft, that had pofleffed my fervant. But, as fortune does not always with the difficulty prefent the reme- dy, and as I had now no rock nor precipice to rid me of the matter, as before of the fervant, I thought it more advifeable to leave him, and hide myfelf once more among thefe brakes and cliffs, than to venture a trial of my ftrcngth or difTuafions with him. I fay then, I again betook myfelf to thefe deferts, where, without moleftation, I might befeech heaven, with fighs and tears, to have pity on my difconfolate ftate, and either to afliit me with ability to ftruggle through it, or to put an end to my life among thefe folitudes, where no me- mory might remain of this wretched creature, who, without any fault of

A a 2 her's,

z8o the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

her's, has miniftred matter to be talked of, and cenfured, in her own and in other countries.

CHAP. II.

Which treats of the beautiful Dorothea'* dlfcretlon, with other very Ingenious and.

entertaining particulars.

THIS, gentlemen, is the true hiftory of my tragedy : fee now, and judge, whether you might not reafonably have expected more fighs than thofe you have liftened to, more words than thofe you have heard, and more tears than have yet flowed from my eyes : and, the quality of my misfortune con- fidered, you will perceive that all counfel is in vain, fince a remedy is no where to be found. All I defire of you is (what with eafe you can and ought to do) that you would advife me where I may pafs my life, without the continual dread and apprehenfion of being difcovered by thofe, who are fearching after me ; for, though I know I may depend upon the great love of my parents toward me for a kind reception, yet fo great is the fhame that overwhelms me at the bare thought of appearing before them not fuch as they expected, that I choofe ra- ther to banilh myfelf for ever from their fight, than to behold their face under the thought, that they fee mine eftranged from diat integrity, they had good reafon to promife themfelves from me.

Here fhe held her peace, and her face was overfpread with fuch a colour, as plainly difcovered the concern and fhame of her foul. The hearers felt in theirs no lefs pity than admiration at her misfortune. The prieff. was juft going to adminifler to her fome prefent comfort and counfel : but Cardenlo prevented him, faying : It feems then, Madam, you are the beautiful Dorothea, only daugh- ter of the rich Cleonardo. Dorothea was furprized at hearing her father's name, and to fee what a forry figure he made who named him ; for we have already taken notice how poorly Cardenlo was apparelled : and fhe faid to him ; Pray, good Sir, who are you that are fo well acquainted with my father's name ? for, to this minute, if I remember right, I have not mentioned his name in the whole feries of the account of my misfortune. I am, anfwered Cardenlo, that unfortunate perfon, whom, according to your relation, Liccinda owned to be her husband. I am the unhappy Cardenlo, whom the bafe actions of him, who has reduced you to the fiate you are in, have brought to the pal's you fee, to be thus ragged, naked, deftitute of all human comfort, and, what is worft of all, deprived of reafon ; for I enjoy it only when heaven is pleafed to be- flow it on me for fome fliort interval. I, Dorothea, am he, who was an eye- witnefs of the wrong Don Fernando did me ; he, who waited to hear the f ital Yes, by which Luanda confirmed herfelf his wife. I am he, who had not the courage to flay, and fee what would be the confequence of her fwooning, nor what followed the difcovery of the paper in her bofom : for my foul could

not

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 1S1

not bear fuch accumulated misfortunes ; and therefore I abandoned the houfe and my patience together ; and, leaving a letter with my hofl, whom I en- treated to deliver it into Luanda's own hands, I betook myielf to thefe foli- tudes, with a refolution of ending here my life, which, from that moment, I abhorred as my mortal enemy. But fate would not deprive me of it, content- ing itfelf with depriving me of my fenfes, perhaps to preferve me for the good fortune I have had in meeting with you; and, as I have no reafon to doubt of the truth of what you have related, heaven, peradventure, may have refcrved us both for a better iffue out of our misfortunes than we think. For, fince Lucinda cannot marry Don Fernando, becaufe me is mine, as (lie has pu- blickly declared, nor Don Fernando Lucinda, becaufe he is yours, there is itill room for us to hope, that heaven will rcftore to each of us our own, fince it is not yet alienated, nor part recovery. And, fince we have this confolation, not arifing from very diftant hopes, nor founded in extravagant conceits, I intreat you, °madam, to entertain other refolutions in "your honourable thoughts, as I intend to do in mine, preparing yourfelf to expe& better fortune. For I fwcar to you, upon the faith of a cavalier and a chriftian, not to forfake you, 'till I fee you in poffeflion of Don Fernando, and, if I cannot, by fair means, per- fuade him to acknowledge what he owes to you, then to take the liberty, al- lowed me as a gentleman, of calling him to an account with my fvvord for the wrong he has done you, without reflecting on the injuries done to myfelf, the revenge of which I leave to heaven, that I may the fooner redrefs yours on earth.

Dorothea was quite amazed at what Cardenio faid ; and, not knowing what thanks to return him for fuch great and generous offers, (he would have thrown herfelf at his feet, to have kifled them ; but Cardenio would by no means fuffer her. The licenciate anfwered for them both, and approved of Cardenio's ge- nerous refolution, and, above all things, befought and advifed them to go with him to his village, where they might furnifh themfelves with whatever they wanted, and there confult how to find Don Fernando, or to carry back Doro- thea to her parents, or do whatever they thought moft expedient. Cardenio and Dorothea thanked him, and accepted of the favour he offered them. The bar- ber, who all this time had flood filent and in fufpenfe, paid alfo his compliment, and, with no lefs good-will than the prieft, made them an offer of whatever was in his power for their fervice. He told them alfo, briefly, the caufe that brought them thither, with the flrange madnefs of Don Quixote, and that they were then waiting for his fquire, who was gone to feek him. Cardenio here- upon remembered, as if it had been a dream, the quarrel he had with Don Quixote, which he rekted to the company, but could not recoiled! whence it arofe.

At this inflant they heard a voice, and, knowing it to be Sancho Panca's, who, not finding them where lie had left them, was calling as loud as he could to

them,

i8j fhe LIFE and EXPLOITS of

them, they went forward to meet him ; and asking him after Don Quixote, he told them, that he had found him naked to his fhirt, feeble, wan, and half dead with hunger, and fighing for his lady Dulcinea; and though he had told him, that fhe laid her commands on him to come out from that place, and re- pair to Tobofo, where fhe expected him, his anfwer was, that he was deter- mined not to appear before her beauty, 'till he had performed exploits that might render him worthy of her favour : and, if his mafter perfifted in that humour, he would run a rifque of never becoming an emperor, as he was in honour bound to be, nor even an archbifhop, which was the leaft he coul be : therefore they fhould confider what was to be done to get him from that place. The licenciate bid him be in no pain about that matter ; for they would get him away, whether he would or no.

He then recounted to Cardenio and Dorothea what they had contrived for Don Quixote's cure, or at leaft for decoying him to his own houfe. Upon which Dorothea faid, fhe would undertake to act die diftrefTed damfel better than the barber, efpecially fince fhe had there a woman's apparel, with which me could do it to the life; and they might leave it to her to perform what was neceffary for carrying on their defign, fhe having read many books of chivalry, and being well acquainted with the fbyle the diftrefTed damlels were wont toufe, when they begged their boons of the knights-errant. Then there needs no more, quoth the prieft, to put the defign immediately in execution; for, doubtlefs, fortune declares in our favour, fince fhe has begun fo unexpectedly to open a door for your relief, and furnifhed us fo eafily with what we flood in need of. Dorothea prefently took out of her bundle a petticoat of very rich fluff, and a mantle of fine green filk; and, out of a casket, a necklace, and other jewels, with which, in an inftant, fhe adorned herfelf in fuch a manner, that fhe had all the appear- ance of a rich and great lady. All thefe, and more, fhe faid,. fhe had brought from home, to provide againft what might happen ; but 'till then fhe had had no occafion to make ufe of them. They were all highly delighted with the gracefulnefs of her perfon, the gaiety of her difpofition, and her beauty; and they agreed, that Don Fernando muft be a man of little judgment or tafle, who could flight fo much excellence. But he, who admired moft, was Sancho Panca, who thought (and it was really fo) that, in all the days of his life, he had never feen fo beautiful a creature; and therefore he earneflly defire i the prieft to tell him, who that extraordinary beautiful lady was, and what fhe was looking for in thofe parts ? This beautiful lady, friend Sancho, anfwered the prieft, is, to fay the leaft of her, heirefs in the direct male line of the great kingdom of Micomicon ; and fhe comes in queft of your mafter, to beg a boon of him, which is, to redrefs her a wrong or injury done her by a wicked giant : for it is the fame of your matter's prowefs, which is fpread over all Guinea, that has brought this princefs to feek him. Now, a happy feeking, and a happy finding, quoth Sancho Panca, and efpecially if my mafter prove fo fortunate as to redrefs

that

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 183

that injurV, and right that wrong, by killing that whorefon giant you mention j and kill him he certainly will, if he encounters him, unlefs he be a goblin; for my mafter has no power at all over goblins. But one thing, among others, I would beg of your worfhip, Signor licenciate, which is, that you would not let my mafter take it into his head to be an archbiihop, which is what I fear, but that you would advife him to marry this princefs out of hand, and then he will be difqualified to receive archiepifcopal orders ; and fo he will come with eafe to his kingdom, and I to die end of my wifhes : for I have confidered the matter well, and find, by my account, it will not be convenient for me, that my mafter mould be an archbiihop ; for I am unfit for the church, as being a married man; and for me to be now going about to procure difpenfations for holding church- livings, having, as I have, a wife and children, would be an endlefs piece of work. So that, Sir, the whole bufmefs refts upon my mafter's marrying this lady out of hand. I do not yet know her grace, and therefore do not call her by her name. She is called, replied the prieft, the princefs Micomicona; for her kingdom being called Micomicon, it is clear fhe muft be called fo. There is no doubt of that, anfwered Sancho ; for I have known many take their title and firname from the place of their birth, as, Pedro de Jllcala, John de Ubeda, Diego de Valladolid; and, belike, it may be the cuftom, yonder in Guinea, for queens to take the names of their kingdoms. It is certainly fo, faid the prieft; and, as to your mafter's marrying, I will promote it to the utmoft of my power. With which affurance Sancho refted as well fatisfied, as the prieft was amazed at his fimplicity, and to fee how ftrongly the fame abfurdities were riveted in his fancy as in his mafter's, fince he could fo firmly perfwade himfelf, that Don Quixote would, one time or other, come to be an emperor.

By this time Dorothea had got upon the prieft's mule, and the barber had fit- ted on the ox-tail beard ; and they bid Sancho fhew them where Don Quixote was, cautioning him not to fay he knew the licenciate or the barber, for that the whole ftrefs of his mafter's coming to be an emperor depended upon his not feeming to know them. Neither the prieft, nor Cardenio, would go with them ; the latter, that he might not put Don Quixote in mind of the quarrel he had with him ; and the prieft, becaufe his prefence was not then neceftary : and therefore they let the others go on before, and followed them fair and foftly on foot. The prieft would have inftrutted Dorothea in her part ; who faid, they need give themfelves no trouble about that, for fhe would perform all to a tittle, according to the rules and precepts of the books of chivalry.

They had gone about three quarters of a league, when, among fome intricate rocks, they difcovered Don Quixote, by this time cloathed, but not armed : and as foon as Dorothea efpied him, and was informed by Sancho, that was his ma- fter, fhe whipped on her palfrey, being attended by the well-bearded barber ; and, when fhe was come up to Don Quixote, the fquire threw himfelf off his mule, and went to take down Dorothea in his arms, who, alighting briskly, went

and

i84 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

and kneeled at Don Quixote's feet : and, though he ftrove to raife her up" fhe, without getting up, addreffed him in this m: nner.

I will never arife from this place, O valorous and redoubted knight, 'till your goodnefs and courtefy vouchfafe me a boon, wliich will redound to the honour and glory of your perfon, and to the weal of the moft difconfolate and aggrieved damfel the fun has ever beheld. And if it be fo, that the va- lour of your puiffant arm be correfpondent to die voice of your immortal fame, you are obliged to protect an unhappy wight, who is come from regions fo remote, led by the odour of your renowed name, to feek at your hands a remedy for her misfortunes. I will not anfwer you a word, fair lady, replied Don Quixote, nor will I hear a jot more of your bufinefs, 'till you arife from the ground. I will not arife, Signor, anfwered the afflicted damfel, if, by your courtefy, the boon I beg be not firfl vouchfafed me. I do vouch- fafe, and grant it you, anfwered Don Quixote, provided my compliance there- with be of no detriment or differvice to my king, my country, or her, who keeps the keys of my heart and liberty. It will not be to the prejudice or dif- fervice of any of thefe, dear Sir, replied the doleful damfel. And, as fhe was faying this, Sancho Panca approached his mailer's ear, and faid to him foftly : Your worfhip, Sir, may very fafely grant the boon fhe asks ; for it is a mere trifle ; only to kill a great lubberly giant : and fhe, who begs it, is the mighty princefs Micomicona, queen of the great kingdom of Micomicon in JEthiopia. Let her be who fhe will, anfwered Don Quixote, I fhall do what is my duty, and what my confcience dictates, in conformity to the rules of my profeffion : and, turning himfelf to the damfel, he faid: Fairefl lady, arife; for I vouch- fafe you whatever boon you ask. Then, what I ask, faid the damfel, is, that your magnanimous perfon will go with me, whither I will conduft you; and that you will promife me not to engage in any other adventure or demand what- ever, 'till you have avenged me on a traitor, who, againlt all right, human and divine, has ufurped my kingdom. I repeat it, that I grant your requeft, an- fwered Don Quixote; and therefore, lady, from this day forward you mayfhake off the melancholy that diflurbs you, and let your fainting hopes recover frefh force and fpirits : for, by the help of god, and of my arm, you fhall foon fee yourfelf reftored to your kingdom, and feated on the throne of your ancient and high eftate, in defpite of all the mifcreants that fhall oppofe it: and there- fore all hands to the work; for the danger, they fay, lies in the delay. The di- ftreffed damfel would fain have killed his hands ; but Don Quixote, who was in every thing a moft galant and courteous knight, would by no means confent to it, but, making her arife, embraced her with much polifenefs and refpedr, and ordered Sancho to get Rozinante ready, and to help him on with his armour in- ftantly. Sancho took down the arms, which were hung like a trophy on a tree, and, having got Rozinante ready, helped his mailer on with his armour in an inflant: who, fnding himfelf armed, faid: Let us go hence, in god's name, to

fuc-

'J?

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 185

fuccour this great lady. The barber was flill kneeling, and had enough to do to forbear laughing, and to keep his beard from falling, which, had it happen- ed, would probably h ivc occafioned the mifcarriage of their ingenious device : and feeing that the boon was already granted, and with what alacrity Don Quixote prepared himfelf to accompliih it, he got up, and took his lady by the other hand ; and thus, between them both, they fet her upon the mule. Im- mediately Don Quixote mounted Rozinante, and the barber fettled himfelf upon his beaft, Sancho remaining on foot; which renewed his grief for the lofs of his Dapple : but he bore it chcarfully, with the thought that his mailer was now in the ready road, and juft upon the point of being an emperor: for he made no doubt that he was to many that princefs, and be at leafl king of Micomicon-, only he was troubled to think, that that kingdom was in the land of the Ne- groes, and that the people, who were to be his fubjects, were all blacks : but he prefently bethought himfelf of a fpecial remedy, and fai 1 to lumfelf; What care I, if my fubjects be blacks? What have I to do, but to fhip them off, and bring them over to Spain, where I may fell them for ready money; with which money I may buy fome title or employment, on which I may live at my eafe all the days of my life? No! deep on, and have neither fenfe r.or capacity to manage matters, nor to fell thirty or ten thoufand flaves in the turn of a hand '. Before god, I will make them fly, little and big, or as I can : and, let them be never fo black, I will transform them into white and yellow ; let me alone to lick my own fingers. With thefe conceits he went on, fo bu- fied, and fo fatisfied, that he forgot the pain of travelling on foot.

All this Cardenio and the prieft beheld from behind the bullies, and did not know how to contrive to join companies : but the prieft, who was a grand fchemift foon hit upon an expedient ; which was, that, with a pair of fciifars, which he carried in a cafe, he whipped off Cardenio' % beard in an inftant; then put him on a grey capouch, and gave him his own black cloak, himfelf remaining in his breeches and doublet : and now Cardenio made fo different a figure from what he did before, that he would not have known himfelf, though he had looked in a glafs. This being done, though the others were got a good way before them while they were thus difguifing themfelves, they eafily got firft into the high road ; for the rockinefs and narrownefs of the way ' would not permit thofe on horfeback to go on fo faft as thofe on foot. In fhort, they got into the plain at the foot of the mountain ; and, when Don Quixote and his company came out the prieft fet himfelf to gaze at him very earneftly for fome time, giving figns as if he began to know him : and, after he had flood a pretty while viewing him, he ran to him with open arms, crying aloud : In an happy hour are you met, mirrour of chivalry, my noble country-man Don Quixote de la mancha the flower and cream of gentility, the fhelter and relief of the needy, the quinteflence of knights-errant ! and, in faying this, he embraced Don Quixote

' Literally, while one may fay, gi-je me tbofe Jlraiuu

Vol. I. Bb by

i86

tte LIFE and EXPLOITS df

by the knee of his left leg ; who, being amazed at what he faw and heard, fet himfelf to confider him attentively: at length he knew him, and was furprized to fee him, and made no fmall effort to alight ; but the prieft would not fuffer it: whereupon Don Quixote faid; Permit me, Signor licenciate, to alight ; for it is not fit I mould be on horfeback, and fo reverend a perfon as your worfhip on foot. I will by no means confent to it, faid the prieft: let your greatnefs continue on horfeback; for on horfeback you atchieve the greateft exploits and adventures, that our age hath beheld: as for me, who am a prieft, though an* worthy, it will iiiffice me to get up behind forae one of thefe gentlemen who travel with you, if it be not too troublefome to them; and I fhall fancy myfelf mounted on Pegafus, or on a Cebra \ or the fprightly courfer beftrid by the famous Moor Muzaraque, who lies to this day enchanted in the great mountain Zulema, not far diftant from the grand Compluto \ I did not think of that, dear Signor licenciate, faid Don Quixote-, and I know my lady the princefs will, for my fake, order her fquirc to accommodate you with the faddle of his mule; and he may ride behind, if the beaft will carry double. I believe {he will, an- fwered the princefs ; and I know it will be needlefs to lay my commands upon my fquire; for he is fo courteous and well-bred, that he will not fuffer an ec- clefiaftic to go on foot, when he may ride. Very true, anfwered the barber; and, alighting in an inftant, he complimented the prieft with the faddle, which he accepted of without much entreaty. But it unluckily happened, that, as the barber was getting up behind, the mule, which was no other than an hackney, and confequently a vicious jade, flung up her hind-legs twice or thrice into the air, and, had they met with mafter Nicholas's breaft or head, he would have given his coming for Don Quixote to the devil. However, he was fo frighted, that he tumbled to the ground, with fo little heed of his beard, that it fell off: and, perceiving himfelf without it, he had no other fhift but to cover his face with both hands, and to cry out that his jaw-bone was broke. Don Quixote, fee- ing that bundle of a beard, without jaws, and without blood, lying at a diftance from the face of the fallen fquire, faid: As god {hall fave me, this is very wonderful ! no barber could have fhaved off his beard more clean and fmooth. The prieft, who faw the danger their project was in of being difcovered, im- mediately picked up the beard, and ran with it to mafter Nicholas, who ftill lay bemoaning himfelf; and, holding his head clofe to his breaft, at one jerk he fixed it on again, muttering over him fome words, which he faid were a fpecific charm for faftening on beards, as they fhould foon fee : and, when all was ad- jufted, he left him, and the fquire remained as well-bearded, and as whole, as before : at which Don Quixote marvelled greatly, and defired the prieft, when he hadleifure, to teach him that charm; for he was of opinion, that it's vir- tue muft extend farther than to the fafieniig-on of beards, fince it was clear,

1 A fwift beaft of Africa, like a mule.

1 An univeifity of Spain, now Akala de Hsnans.

that,

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 187

that, where the beard was torn off, the flefli muft be left wounded and bloody, and, fince it wrought a perfect cure, it muft be good for other tilings befides beards. It is fa, laid the pricft, and promifed to teach it him the very nrft op- portunity. They now agreed, that the prieft Ihould get up firft, and that they mould all three ride by turns, 'till they came to the inn, which was about two leagues off.

The three being mounted, that is to fay, Don Quixote, the princefs, and the prieft; and the odier three on foot, to wit, Cardenio, the barber, and Sancho Pane a; Don Quixote laid to the damfel : Your grandeur, madam, will be pleafed to lead on which way you like beft. And, before ftie could reply, the licenciate faid; Towards what kingdom would your ladyfliip go? toward that of Micomicon, I prefume : for it muft be thidier, or I know little of kingdoms. She, being perfect in her leffon, knew very well flie was to anfwer Tes, and therefore faid j Yes, Signor, my way lies toward that kingdom. If it be fo, faid the prieft, we muft pafs through our village, and from thence you muft go ftraight to Cartagena, where you may take Ihipping in god's name; and, if you have a fair wind, a fmooth fea, and no ftorms, in little lefs than nine years you may get fight of the great lake Meona, I mean Meotis, which is little more than an hundred days journey on this fide of your highnefs's kingdom. You are miftaken, good Sir, faid fhe; for it is not two years fince I left it ; and though, in truth, I had very bad weather during the whole paffage, I am already got hi- ther, and beliold with my eyes, what I fo much longed for, namely, Signor Don Quixote de la Mancha, the fame of whofe valour reached my ears the mo- ment I fet foot in Spain, and put me upon finding him out, that I might re- commend myfelf to his courtefy, and commit the juftice of my caufe to the valour of his invincible arm. No more; ceafe your compliments, faid Don Quixote, for I am an enemy to all fort of flattery ; and though this be not fuch, ftill my chafte ears are offended at this kind of difcourfe. What I can fay, dear madam, is, that, whether I have valour, or not, what I have, or have not, lhall be employed in your fervice, even to the lots of my life : and fo, leaving thefe things to a proper time, I defire, that Signor the licenciate would tell me, what has brought him into thefe parts, fo alone, fo unattended, and fo lightly clad, that I am furprized at it. To this I (hall anfwer briefly, replied the prieft. Your worfhip, then, is to know, Signor Don Quixote, that I, and mafter M- cholas, our friend and barber, were going to Sevil, to recover fome monies, which a relation of mine, who went many years ago to the Indies, had fent me : and it was no inconfiderable fum ; for it was above fixty thoufand pieces of eight, all of due weight, which is no trivial matter : and, palling yefterday thro' thefe parts, we were fet upon by four highway robbers, who ftripped us of all we had, to our very beards, and in fuch a manner, that the barber thought it expe- dient to put on a counterfeit one 3 and, as for this youth here (pointing to Cardenio)

B b 2 you

i88 ttt LIFE and EXPLOITS of

you fee how they have transformed his \ And the beft of the ftory is, that it is publickly reported hereabouts, that the perfons, who robbed us, were certain Galley-flaves, who, they fay, were fet at liberty, near this very place, by a man fo valiant, that, in fpite of the commiflary and all his guards, he let them ail loofe : and, without all doubt, he muft needs have been out of his fenfes, or as great a rogue as they, or one void of all confcience and humanity, that could let loofe the wolf among the fheep, the fox among the hens, and the wafps among the honey. He has defrauded juflice of her due, and has fet himfelf up againfl his king and natural lord, by a&ing againft his lawful authority : he has, I fay, difabled the gallics of their hands, and difturbed the many years repofe of the holy brotherhood : in a word, he has done a deed, whereby he may lofe his foul and his body, and get nothing by the bargain. Sancho had related to the prieft and the barber the adventure of the galley-flaves, atchieved with fo much glory by his mafte^ and therefore the prieft laid it on thick in the relation, to fee what Don Quixote would do, or fay ; whofe colour changed at every word, and yet he durfl not own, that he had been the deliverer of thofe worthy gentle- men. Thefe, faid the prieft, were the perfons that robbed us ; and god of his mercy pardon him, who prevented their being carried to the punifhment they fo richly deferved.

CHAP. III.

Which treats of the pleafant and ingenious method of drawing our enamoured blight from the very rigorous penance he had impofed on himfelf.

SCARCE had the prieft done fpeaking, when Sancho faid: By my troth, Signor licenciate, it was my mafter who did this feat ; not but that I gave him fair warning, and advifed him to beware what he did, and that it was a fin to fet them at liberty, for that they were all going to the gallies for being moft notorious villains. Blockhead, laid Don Quixote, knights-errant have no- thing to do, nor does it concern them, to enquire, whether the afflicted, en- chained, and opprefled, whom they meet upon the road, are reduced to thofe circumftances, or that diftrefs, by their faults, or their misfortunes : they are bound to affift them merely as being in diftrefs, and to regard their fufferings alone, and not their crimes. I lighted on a bead-roll and ftring of miferable wretches, and did by them what my profeffion requires of me j and for the reft I care not : and whoever takes it amifs, faving the holy dignity of Signor the licenciate, and his honourable perfon, I fay, he knows little of the principles of chivalry, and lyes like a bafe-born fon of a whore v and this I will make good with my fword in the moft ample manner. This he faid, fettling himfelf in his ftirrups, and clappbg down the vizor of his helmet j for the barber's bafon, which, in

1 The prieft had clipped cff Cardenas beard in hafte.

his

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 1S9

his account, was Mambrino'i helmet, hung at his (addle-bow, 'till it could be re- paired of the damages it had received from the galley-flaves.

Dorothea, who was witty, and of a pleafint difpofition, already perceiving Don Quixote's frenzy, and that every body, except Sancho Panca, turned him into ridicule, refolved not to be behind hand with the reft ; and, feeing him in fuch a heat, faid to him : Sir knight, be pleafed to remember die boon you have promifed me, and that you are thereby engaged not to intermeddle in any other adventure, be it ever fo urgent : therefore aflliage your wrath ; for if Signor the licenciate had known, that the galley-flaves were freed by that invin- cible arm, he would fooner have fewed up his mouth with three flitches, and thrice have bit his tongue, than he would have faid a word that might redound to the diiparagement of your worftiip. I would fo, I fwear, quoth die priefl, and even fooner have pulled off a muftachio. I will fay no more, madam, faid Don Quixote ; and I will reprefs that juft indignation raifed in my breaft, and will go on peaceably and quietly, 'till I have accompliflied for you the promifed boon. But, in requital of this good intention, I befeech you to tell me, if it be not too much trouble, what is your grievance, and who, how many, and of what fort, are the perfons, on whom I muft take due, fatisfactory, and complete revenge. That I will do, with all my heart, anfwered Dorothea, if it will not prove te- dious and irkfome to you to hear nothing but afflictions and misfortunes. Not at all, dear madam, anfwered Don Quixote. To which Dorothea replied j fince it is fo, pray favour me with your attention. She had no fooner faid this, but Cardenio and the barber placed themfelves on each fide of her, to hear what kind of (lory the ingenious Dorothea would invent. The fame did Sancho who was as much deceived about her as his mafter. And (he, after fettling her felf well in her faddle, with a hem or two, and the like preparatory airs, be- gan, with much good humour, in the manner following.

In the (irft place, you muft know, gentlemen, that my name is Here

(lie (topped (hort, having forgot the name the pried had given her : but he pre- fently helped her out ; for he knew what (he (topped at, and faid j It is no wonder, madam, that your grandeur (hould be diflurbed, and in fome confu- fion, at recounting your misfortunes ; for they are often of fuch a nature, as to deprive us of our memory, and make us forget our very names ; as they have now done by your high ladyfhip, who have forgotten that you are called the princefs Micomkona, rightful heirefs of the great kingdom of Micomicon : and with this intimation your grandeur may eafily bring back to your doleful re- membrance whatever you have a mind to relate. You are in the right an- fwered the damfel, and henceforward I believe it will be needlefs to give me any more hints ; for I (hall be able to conduct my true hiftory to a conclufion without them.

My father, who was called Tinacrio the wife, was very learned in what they call art magic, and knew, by his fcience, that my mother, who was called

queen

1 9o The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

queen Xaramilla, mould die before him, and that he himfelf muft, fbon after» depart this life, and I be left an orphan, deprived both of father and mother. But this, he ufed to fay, did not trouble him fo much, as die certain fore- knowledge he had, that a monftrous giant, lord of a great ifland, almoft bordering upon our kingdom, called Pandafilando of the gloomy fight (for it is averred, that, though his eyes ftand right, and in their proper place, he always looks- askew as if he fquinted ; and this he does out of pure malignity, to fcare and frighten thofe he looks at :) I fay, he knew that this giant would take the ad- vantage of my being an orphan, and invade my kingdom with a mighty force, and take it all from me, without leaving me the fmalleft village to hide my head in : but that it was in my power to avoid all this ruin and misfortune, by mar- rying him ; "though, as far as he could underftand, he never believed I would hearken to fo unequal a match : and in this he told the truth ; for it never en- tered into my head to marry this giant, nor any other, though never fo huge and unmeafurable. My father faid alfo, that, after his death, when I fhould find Pandafilando begin to invade my kingdom, he advifed me not to flay to make any defence, for that would be my ruin ; but, if I would avoid death, and prevent the total deftruclion of my faithful and loyal fubjedls, my beft way was, freely to quit the kingdom to him without opposition, fince it would not be poffible for me to defend myfelf againft the hellifh power of the giant, and immediately to fet out, with a few attendants, for Spain, where I mould find a remedy for my diftrefs, by meeting with a knight-errant, whofe fame, about that time, fhould extend itfelf all over this kingdom, and whofe name, if I remember right, was to be Don Acote, or Don Gigote. Don Quixote, you would fay, madam, quoth Sancho Pan$a, or, as others call him, the blight of the forroivful figure. You are in the right, faid Dorothea. He faid far- ther, that he was to be tall and thin-vifaged, and that, on his right fide, under the left lhoulder, or thereabouts, he was to have a grey mole with hairs like briftles.

Don Quixote, hearing this, faid to his fquire : Here, fon Sancho, help me to ftrip : I would know whether I am the knight prophefied of by that wife king. Why would you pull off your clothes, Sir ? faid Dorothea. To fee whether I have the mole your fuller fpoke of, anfwered Don Quixote. You need not ftrip, faid Sancho ; I know you have a mole with thofe fame marks on the ridge of your back, which is a fign of being a ftrong man. It is enough, faid Doro- thea ; for, among friends, we muft not ftand upon trifles ; and whether it be on the lhoulder, or the back-bone, imports little : it is fufficient that there is a mole, let it be where it will, fince it is all die fame fleih : and doubtlefs my good father hit right in every thing, and I have not aimed amifs in recom- mending myfelf to Signor Don Quixote ; for he muft be the knight, of whom my father fpoke, fince the features of his face correfpond exactly with the great

f.me

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 191

fame he has acquired, not only in Spain, but in all La Mancha ' : for I was hardly landed in Ofj'una, before I heard fo many exploits of his recounted, that my mind immediately gave me, that he muft be the very pcrfon I came to feck. But, dear madam, how came you to land at Qffkna ? anfwered Don $nixotcy finee it is no fea-port town. But, before Dvrvthe* could reply, the pjlefl inter- ftofing f iid ; Doribtfefs the princefs meant to fay, that, after (he had landed at Malaga, the firft place, where fhe heard news of your worflup, was Offur.r. That was my meaning, faid Dorothea. It is very likely, quoth the pried ; pleaie your majefly to proceed. I have little more to add, replied Dorothea, but that, having, at Lift, had the good fortune to meet with SignorDo?/ Quixote, I al- ready look upon myfelf as queen and miftrefs of my whole kingdom, fince he, out of his courtefy and generofity, has promifed, in compliance with my re- queft, to go with me wherever I pleafe to carry lum ; which fliall be only where he may have a fight of Pandaflando of the gloomy fight, that he may flay him, and reftore to me what is fo unjuflly ufurped from me : for all this is to come about with the greatcfl eafe, according to the prophecy of the -wife Tinacrio my good father; who, moreover, left it written in Chaldean or Greek (for I cannot read them) that, if this knight of the prophecy, after he has cut off the giant's head, fhould have a mind to marry me, I mould im- mediately fubmit to be his lawful wife, without any reply, and give him poflef- lion of my kingdom, together with my perfon.

What think you now ? friend Sancho, quoth Don Quixote : do you not hear what paffes ? did not I tell you fo ? fee whether we have not now a kingdom to command, and a queen to marry ? I fwear it is fo, quoth Sancho, and pox take him for a fon of a whore, who will not marry as foon as Signor P andafilando' % weafon is cut. About it then : her majefty's a dainty bit ; I with all the fleas in my bed were no worfe. And fo faying he cut a couple of capers in the air, with figns of very great joy ; and prefently, laying hold of the reins of Dorothea's mule, and making her flop, he fell down upon his knees before he--, befeeching her to give him her hand to kifs, in token that he acknowledged her for his queen and miflrefs. Which of the by-ftanders could forbear laughing to fee the madnefs of the mafter and the fimplicity of the man ? In fhort, Doro- thea held out her hand to him, and promifed to make him a great lord in her kingdom, when heaven fhould be fo propitious, as to put her again in pofleflion of it. Sancho returned her thanks in fuch expreflions, as fet the company again a^laughing.

This, gentlemen, continued Dorothea, is my hiflory : it remains only to tell you, that, of all the attendants I brought with me out of my kingdom, I have

1 This whimfical Anti-climax puts one in mind of the inftances of that figure in the Art of Jinking in poetry, efpecially this :

Under the trop'uks is our language fpoke.

And fart of Flanders bath received our yoke.

Pope and Swift's mifcellanie?, vol. III. p. 57. She/tort, taking it (I fuppofe) for an error of the prefs, has put Ethiopia for La Mancha.

none

193 The LIFE and EXPLOIT'S of

none left but this honeft fquire with the long beard ; for the refl were all drowned in a violent ftorm, which overtook us in fight of the port. He and I got afhore on a couple of planks, us it were by miracle j fo that the whole progrefs of my life is all miracle and myftery, as you may have obferved. And if I have exceeded in any thing, or not been fo exact as I ought to have been, let it be imputed to what Signor the licenciate faid, at the beginning of my ftory, that continual and extraordinary troubles deprive the fufferers of their very memory. I will preferve mine, O high and worthy lady, faid Don Quixote, under the greater!: that can befal me in your fervice ; and fo I again confirm the promife I have made you, and I fwear to bear you company to the end of the world, 'till I come to grapple with that fierce enemy of yours, whofe proud head I intend, by the help of god, and of this my arm, to cut off, with the edge of this (I will not fay good) fword ; thanks to Gines de PaJJ'a- monte, who carried off my own \ This he muttered between his teeth, and went on faying ; And, after having cut it off, and put you into peaceable poffef- fion of your dominions, it fhall be left to your own will to difpofe of your perfon as you fhall think proper ; fince, while my memory is taken up, my will enthralled, and my understanding fubjecled, to her — I fay no more, it is im- pofTihle I fhould prevail upon myfelf fo much as to think of marrying, though it were a phoenix.

What Don Quixote faid laft, about not marrying, was fo difpleafing to Sancho, that, in a great fury, he faid, raifing his voice j I vow and fwear, Signor Don Quixote, your worfhip cannot be in your right fenfes : how elfe is it poffible you fhould fcruple to marry fo high a princefs as this lady is ? Think you for- tune is to offer you, at every turn, fuch good luck as fhe now offers ? Is my lady Dulcinea, think you, more beautiful ? No, indeed, not by half; nay, I could almoft fay, fhe is not worthy to tye this lady's fhoe-ftring. I am like, indeed, to get the earldom I expect, if your worfhip ftands fifhing for mufh- rooms in the bottom of the fea. Marry, marry out of hand, in the devil's name, and take this kingdom that is ready to drop into your mouth ; and, when you are a king, make me a marquis or a lord-lieutenant, and then the devil take all the reft if he will. Don Quixote, hearing fuch blafphemies againft his lady Dulcinea, could not bear it, and lifting up his launce, without fpeaking a word to Sancho, or giving him die leaft warning % gave him two fuch blows, that he laid him flat on the ground ; and, had not Dorothea called out to him to hold his hand, doubtlefs he had killed him there upon the fpot. Think you, faid he to him, after fome paufe, pitiful fcoundrel, that I am always to ftand with my hands in my pockets, and that there is nothing to be done but tranfgrefling on your fide, and pardoning on mine ? Never think it, you ex-

' It does not appear by the ftory, either that Cities took away Don Quixote 's fworc*, or that the knight had any way exchanged his own for another. 1 Literally, without faying, this mouth is mine.

communicated

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 193

communicated varlet ; for fo you arc without doubt, iince you have dared to fpeak ill of the peerlefs Dukinca. And do you not know, ruitic, Have, beggar, that, were it not for the force fhe infufes into my arm, I fhould not have enough to kill a flea? Tell me, envenomed icoffer, who, think you, has gained this kingdom, and cut off the head of this giant, and made you a marquis (for all this I look upon as already done) but the valour of Dulcinea, employing my arm as the instrument of her exploits ? fhe fights in me, and overcomes in me ; and in her I live and breathe, and of her I hold my life and being. O whorc- fon villain ! what ingratitude, when you fee yourfclf exalted from the dull of the earth to the title of a lord, to make fo bafe a return for fo great a benefit, as to fpeak contemptuoully of the hand that railed you ! Sancbo was not fo much hurt, but he heard all his matter laid to him j and, getting up pretty nimbly, he ran beliind Dorothea's palfrey, and from thence faid to his mailer : Pray, Sir, tell me, if you are refolved not to marry this princefs, it is plain the kingdom will not be yours, and then what favours will you be able to bellow on me ? This is what I complain of. Many her, Sir, once for all, now we have her, as it were, rained down upon us from heaven, and afterwards you converfe with my lady Dulcinea ; for, I think, it is no new thing for kings to keep mifles. As to the matter of beauty, I have nothing to fay to that ; for, if I mull fpeak the truth, I really think them both very well to pafs, though I never faw the lady Dulcinea. How ! never few her, blafphemous traitor ! iaid Don Quixote : have you not jufl brought me a meffage from her ? I fay, I did not fee her fo leifurely, faid Sancbo, as to take particular notice of her beauty, and her features, piece by piece ; but fhe looks well enough at a blufh. Now I excufe you, faid Don Quixote, and pardon me the difpleafure I have given you ; for the firil motions are not in our own power. I have found it fo, anfwered Sancbo ; and fo, in me, the defire of talking is always a firfl motion, and I cannot forbear uttering, for once at leail, whatever comes to my tongue's end. For all that, quoth Don Quixote, take heed, Sa?icho, what it is you utter ; for

the pitcher goes fo often to the well 1 fay no more. Well then, anfwered

Sancbo, god is in heaven, who fees all guiles, and fhall be judge who does mod harm, I, in not fpeaking well, or your worfhip in not doing fo. Let there be no more of this, faid Dorothea ; run, Sancbo, and kifs your mailer's hand,, and ask him forgivenefs ; and henceforward go more warily to work with your praifes and diipraifes ; and fpeak no ill of that lady Tobofo, whom I do not know any otherwife than as I am her humble fervant ; and put your truft in god, for there will not be wanting an eftate for you to live upon like a prince. Sand':') went hanging his head, and begged his mailer's hand, which he gave him with t gravity; and, when he had killed it, Don Quixote gave Sancbo his bleffing, and told him he would have him get on a little before, for he had fome queftions to put to him, and wanted to talk with him about fome matters of great con fre- quence. Sancbo did fo ; and, when they two were got a little before the reir, Vol. I. C c Don

*9+ 'Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

Don Quixote faid : Since your return, I have had neither opportunity nor leifure to enquire after many particulars concerning the menage you carried, and the anfwer you brought back ; and now, that fortune affords us time and leifure, do not deny me the fatisfaclion you may give me by fuch good news. Ask me what queftions you pleafe, Sir, anfwered Sancko : I warrant I fhall get out as well as I got in. But I befeech your worfhip, dear Sir, not to be fo very re- vengeful for the future. Why do you prefs that, Sancko f quoth Don Qiiixote. Becaufe, replied Sancko, the blows you were pleafed to beflow on me, even now, were rather on account of the quarrel the devil railed between us the other night, than for what I laid againft my lady Dulcinca, whom I love and reverence, like any relic (though (he be not one) only as fhe belongs to your worfhip. No more of thefe difcourfes, Sancko, on your life, faid Don Qiiixote ; for they offend me : I forgave you before, and you know the common faying, For a new Jin a new penance.

While they were thus talking, they faw coming along the fame road, in which they were going, a man riding upon an afs ; and, when he came near, he feemed to be a gypfy : but Sancko Pan fa, who, wherever he faw an afs, had his eyes and his foul fixed there, had fcarce feen the man, when lie knew him to be Gines de Paffamonte, and, by the clue of the gypfy, found the bot- tom of his afs : for it was really Dapple, upon which Paflamonte rode ; who, that he might not be known, and that he might fell the afs the better, had put himfelf into the garb of a gypfy, whofe language, as well as feveral others, he could fpeak as readily as if they were his own native tongues. Sancko faw and knew him, and fcarce had he feen and known him, when he cried out to him aloud ; Ah, rogue Ginefillo, leave my darling, let go my life, rob me not of my repofe, quit my afs, leave my delight ; fly, whorefon ; get you gone, thief, and relinquish what is not your own. There needed not fo many words, nor fo much railing : for, at the firfl: word, Gines nimbly difmounted, and, taking to his heels, as if it had been a race, he was gone in an inftant, and out of reach of them all. Sancko ran to his Dapple, and, embracing him, faid ; How have you done, my deareft Dapple, delight of my eyes, my fweet companion ? and then he kiffed and careffed him, as if he had been a human creature. The afs held his peace, and fuffered himfelf to be kiffed and ca- reffed by Sancko, without anfwering him one word. They all came up, and wifhed him joy of the finding his Dapple ; efpecially Don Quixote, who af- fured him, that he did not, for all this, revoke the order for the three colts. Sancko thanked him heartily.

While this paffed, the priefr. faid to Dorothea, that me had performed her part very ingenioufly, as well in the contrivance of the ftory, as in its brevi- ty, and the refemblance it bore to the narrations in bocks of chivalry.- She faid, me had often amufed herfelf with reading fuch kind of books, but that flie did not know the fituation of provinces or of fea-ports, and therefore had

faid

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. j95

laid at a venture, that fhe landed at Of una . I found it was fo, laid the prkft, and therefore I immediately {aid what you heard, which let all to rights. But is it not flrange to fee how readily this unhappy gentleman lielieves all thefe inventions and lyes, only becaufc ihey arc dr-efled up in the flile and manner ol the follies of his books ? It is, indeed, Grid Cardenio, and fomcdiing fo rare, and unfeen before, that I much quefcion whether there be any genius, with all the liberty of invention and fiction, capable of hitting fo extraordinary a d racier '. There is another thing remarkable in it, faid the pricft, which is, that, fetting afide die follies this honefl gentleman utters in every thing relating to his madnefs, he can difcourfe very fenfibly upon odier points, and feems to have a clear and fettled judgment in all things ; infomuch that, if you do not touch him upon the fubjecl of chivalries, you would never fufpedt but that he had a found understanding.

While the reft went on in this converfation, Don Quixote proceeded in hi;, and faid to Sancho ; Friend Panca, let us forget what is pad: ; and tell me now, all rancour and animofity apart, where, how, and when did you find Dulci- nea ? what was fhe doing ? what did you fay to her ? what anfwer did flic re- turn ? how did flie look, when fhe read my letter ? who tranferibed it for you ? and whatever elfe, in this cafe, is worth knowing, enquiring after, or being latisfied in, inform me of all, without adding or diminifhing to give me plca- fure, or curtailing aught to deprive me of any fatisfaclion. Sir, anfwered Sancho, if I mufl tell the truth, no body tranferibed the letter for me ; for I carried no letter at all. It is as you fay, quoth Don Quixote ; for I found the pocket-book, I had written it in, two days after your departure j which troubled me exceedingly, not knowing what you would do, when you fliould find you had no letter ; and I ftill believed you would come back, as foon as you fliould mifs it. So I fliould have done, anfwered Sancho, had I not got it by heart when your worfhip read it to me, and fo perfectly, that I repeated it to a parifli- clerk, who wrote it down, as I dictated it, fo exadUy, that he faid, though he had read many letters of excommunication, he had never feen or read fo pretty a letter as that in all the days of his life. And have you it flill by heart, Sancho? faid Don Quixote. No, Sir, anfwered Sancho : for, after I had delivered it, feeing it was to be of no farther ufe, I forgot it on purpofe ; and if I remem- ber aught of it, it is that of the high and fubterrane (I mean fovereign) lady, and the conclufion, thine, 'till death, the knight of the forrowful figure : and' between thefe two things, I put above three hundred fouls and lives, and dear ryes.

fay Strt!TSSe^f D S^f **>*'* ^-^ ?^' and rCndcr k as if Carit™ mc3nt t0 lay, mat trie character or D,» $ulxot, was fo extraordinary a one, that, in his opinion, the moil ingenious

writer could not draw fuch another. But this is low and flat, in companion of CervLuF, tZ

meaning , which, by exaggerating the difficulty of drawing the „„y character (not ore Uh it) of />„

$m*,U, does, pi the molt mgen.ous and aufol manner, inunuate his own skill and dexterity in hitting it.

C c 2 . CHAP.

19$ *he LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. IV.

Of the relifiing converfation, which pajfed between Don Quixote and his fqttire

Sancho Pang a, with other accidents.

ALL this does not difpleafe me ; go on, faid Don Quixote. You arrived ; **• ■*■ and what was that queen of beauty doing ? Without doubt, you found her bringing pearls, or embroidering fome device with threads of gold for this her captive knight. No, I did not, anfwered Sancho ; but I found her winnowino- two bufliels of wheat in a back-yard of her houfe. Then make account, faid Don Quixote, that the grains of that wheat were fo many grains of pearl, when touched by her hands. And did you take notice, friend, whether the wheat was fine, or the ordinary fort ? It was neither, anfwered Sancho, but of the red- difh kind. Be allured however, quoth Don Quixote, that, when winnowed by her hands, it certainly made the fineft manchet bread : but go on. When you gave her my letter, did (he kifs it? Did fhe put it upon her head ■ ? Did me ufe any ceremony worthy of fuch a letter ? or what did (lie do ? When I was going to give it her, anfwered Sancho, (he was very bufy in winnowing a good fieve-full of the wheat ; and (lie faid to me: Lay the letter, friend, upon that fack; for I cannot read it 'till I have done winnowing all that is here. Difcreet lady ! faid Don Quixote-, this was, to be fure, that (lie might read it, and en- tertain herfelf with it, at leifure. Proceed, Sancho: while (he was thus em- ployed, what difcourfe had (lie with you ? what did (lie enquire of you concern- ing me? and what did you anfwer? Make an end; tell it me all; leave not a tittle at the bottom of the ink-horn. She asked me nothing, faid Sancho ; but I told her how your worfliip was doing penance, for her fervice, among thefe rocks, naked from the waifte upwards 2, as if you were a favage, deeping on the ground, not eating bread on a napkin, not combing your beard, weeping, and curfing your fortune. In faying that I curfed my fortune, you faid amifs, quoth Don Quixote : I rather blefs it, and (hall blefs it all the days of my life, for having made me worthy to love fo high a lady as Dulcinea del Tobojb. So high indeed, anfwered Sancho, that, in good faith, (lie is a handful taller than I am. Why, how, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, have you meafured with her ? I meafured thus, anfwered Sancho : as I was helping her to put a fack of wheat upon an afs, we flood fo clofe, that I perceived (he was taller than I by more than a full (pan. If it be fo, replied Don Quixote, does (lie not accompany and fet off this ftature of body with a thoufand millions of graces of the mind ? But, Saitcho,. conceal not one thing from me : when you flood fo near

1 A mark of the profoundeft refpeft.

1 The author feems here to have forgot himfelf a little; for in the defcription of Don Quixote's penance (bock 3. ch. 1 1 J we find him naked from the wailte downwards; which occ^iioned Sambo's feeing what he fticuld not have feen.

her,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 197

her, did you not perceive a Sabean odour, an aromatic frag'rancy, and fomc- thing (o fwect, that I know not what name to give it? I fay, a fcent, a fmell, as if you were in fome curious glover's fhop - ? All I can fay, is, quoth Sam that I perceived fomewhat of a mannifh fmell, which muft have proceeded from her being in a dripping fweat with over-much pains-taking. It could not be lb anfwered Don Quixote: you muft either have had a cold in your head, or have fmelt your own felf; for I very well know the fcent of that rofe among thorns, that lilly of the valley, that liquid amber. All that may be, anfwered Sancho- for the lame fmell often comes from me, as, methought, then came from my lady Dukinea j but where's the wonder, that one devil lhould be like another? Well then, contiraied Don Quixote, (lie has now done winnowing, and the corn is fent to the mill. What did lhe do, when fhe had read the let- ter? The letter, quoth Sancho, me did not read; for fhe told me fhe could neither read nor write: on the contrary, fhe tore it to pieces, faying, fhe would not give it to any body to read, that her fecrets might not be known in the vil- lage- and that what I had told her by word of mouth, concerning the love your worfliip bore her, and the extraordinary penance you were doing for her fake was enough: laftly, lhe bid me tell your worfliip, that fhe killed your hands and that fhe remained there with greater deiire to fee you, than to write 'to you; and therefore fhe humbly intreated, and commanded you, at fight hereof, to quit thofe brakes and bullies, and leave off thofe foolifh extra- vagancies, and fet out immediately for Tobofo, if fome other bufmefs of greater importance did not intervene; for fhe had a mighty mind to fee your worlhip. She laughed heartily, when I told her how you called yourfelf the knight of the forrowful figure. I asked her whether the Bifcainer of t' other day had been there with her : fhe told me, he had, and that he was a very honefl fel- low1 : I asked her alfo after the galley-flaves; but fhe told me lhe had not yet feen any of them. All goes well, as yet, laid Don Quixote. But tell me, what jewel did fhe give you at your departure, for the news you had brought her of me ? For it is an ufual and ancient euftom among knights, and ladies-errant, to beftow fome rich jewels on the fquires, damfels, or dwarfs, who bring them news of thejr miftreffes or fervants, as a reward or acknowledgment for their welcome news. Very likely, quoth Sancho, and a very good euftom it was ; but it muft have been in days of yore ; for, now-a-days, the euftom, I fup- pofe, is, to give only a piece of bread and cheefe : for that was what my lady Dukinea gave me, over the pales of the yard, when lhe difmiffed me; by the fame token that the cheefe ' . le of fheep's-milk. She is extremely gene-

rous, faid Don Quixote; and if fhe did not give you a jewel of gold, it muft be b caufe lhe had not one about her: but fleeves are good after Eaftcr ">. I fhall

1 Tn Italy and Spain, gloves are ufually perfumed.

» Here the author foftens the fatire upon the Bifcaineru

' A proverbial cxpreffion, figmfying that a good thing is ulvjars feafonable. The Spanifitjs, for the fake

198 The LIFE a?id EXPLOITS of

, fee her, and all fhall be fet to rights. But do you know, Saticho, what I am furprized at? it is, that you muft have gone and come dirough the air; for you have been little more than three days in going and coming, between this and Tobofo, though it is more than thirty leagues from hence thither : from whence I conclude, that the fage enchanter, who has the fuperintendance of my af- fairs, and is my friend (for fuch a one there is, and muft of neceffity be, other- wife I fhould be no true knight-errant) I fay, this fame enchanter, muft have affifted you in travelling, widiout your perceiving it : for there are fages, who will take you up a knight-errant fleeping in his bed ; and, widiout his knowing how, or in what manner, he awakes the next day above a thoufand leagues from the place where he fell afleep. And, were it not for this, the knights-errant could not fuccour one another in their refpedtive dangers, as they now do at every turn. For a knight happens to be fighting, in the mountains of Armenia, with fome dreadful monfter, or fierce fpeclre, or fome other knight, and has the worft of the combat, and is juft upon the point of being killed; and, when he leaft expe&s it, there appears upon a cloud, or in a cha- riot of fire, another knight his friend, who juft before was in England; who fuccours him, and delivers him from death; and that night he finds himfelf in his own chamber, flipping with a very good appetite, though there be the di- ftance of two or three thoufand leagues between die two countries. And all this is brought about by the induftry and skill of thofe fage enchanters, who un- dertake the care of thofe valorous knights. So diat, friend Sancho, I make no difficulty in believing, that you went and came, in fo fliort time, between this place and Tobofo, fince, as I have already faid, fome fage our friend muft have expedited your journey, without your being fenfible of it. It may be fo, quoth Sancho ; 'for, in good faith, Rozinante went like any gypfy's afs with quickfilver _ • in his ears. With quickfilver! faid Don Quixote, ay, and with a legion of de-' vils to-boot; a fort of cattle that travel, and make others travel, as faft as they pleafe, without being tired. But, fetting this afide, what would you advife me to do now, as to what my lady commands me, about going to fee her? for, though I know I am bound to obey her commands, I find myfelf, at prefent, under an impoffibility of doing it, on account of the boon I have promifed to grant the princefs, who is now with us; and the laws of chivalry oblige me to comply with my word, rather than indulge my pleafurc. On the one hand^ the delire of feeing my lady perfecutes and perplexes me : on the odier, I am incited and called by my promifed faith, and the glory I fhall acquire in this enterprize. But what I propofe to do, is, to travel faft, and get quickly to the place where this giant is, and, prefently after my arrival, to cut off his head, and fettle the princefs peaceably in her kingdom, and that inftant to return and fee that fun that enlightens my fenfes; to whom I will make fuch an excufe, that flie fliall

of warmth, wear fleeves in winter, 'till about Eo/Iir: but, if the weather continues cold, fleeves may be proper after Eafter. ..

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 199

allow my delay was neccffary ; for fhe will perceive that all redounds to the in- creafe of her glorv and fame, fmce what I have won, do win, or (hall win, by force of arms,' in this life, proceeds wholly from the fuccour flic affords me, and from my being her's. Ah! quoth Semcho, how is your worfhip concerned about trifles ' ! Pray, tell me, Sir, do you intend to take this journey for no- thing? and will you let ilip lb conliderable a match as this, when the dowry i kingdom, which', as I haw heard fey, is above twenty thoufand leagues in cir- cumference, and abounding in all things neceffary for the fu pport of human life, and bigger than Portugal and Cajiile together. For the love of god, lav no more, and take fhame to yourfelf for what you have feid already; and follow my advice, and pardon me, and be married out of hand at the firft place where there is a prieit; and, if there be none, here is our licenciate, who will do it richly. And, pray take notice, I am of age to give advice, and what I now give is as fit as if it were caft in a mould for you : for a fparrow in the hand is worth more than a buftard flying ; and, he that may have good if he will, it is his own fault if he choofes ill. Look you, Sancho, replied Don Quixote, if you advife me to marry, that, by killing the giant, I may immediately become a king, and have it in my power to reward you by giving you what I promifed you", I would have you to know, that, without marrying, I can cafily gratify your defire : for I will covenant, before I enter into the battle, that, upon my coming; off victorious, without marrying the princefs, I fhall be intitled to a part of the kingdom, to beftow it on whom I pleafe; and, when I have it, to whom do you think I fhould give it, but to yourfelf? That is clear, anfwered Sancho : but pray, Sir, take care to choofe it toward the fea, that, if I fhould not like living there, I may fhip off my black fubjects, and difpofe of them as I faid before -. And trouble not yourfelf now to go and fee my lady Dukinea, but go and kill the giant, and let us make an end of this bufinefs; for, before god, I verily believe it will bring us much honour and profit. You are in the right, Sancho, faid Don Quixote, and I take your advice as to going firfl with the princefs, before I go to fee Dukinea. And be fure you fay nothing to any body, no, not to thofe, who are in our company, of what we have been dif- courfing and conferring upon: for fince Dukinea is fo referved, that flie would not have her thoughts known, it is not fit that I, or any one elfe for me, fhould difcover them. If it be fo, quoth Sancho, why does your worfhip fend all

' The original is, como <vuejlra mined laflimado de effos eafcos; in which there is fome ambiguity: for, cafco fignifying both a bit of a broken pot and a [cull, it may be rendered, either hoxv is your ivor/hip troubled about thefe bits of a broken pot, that is, thefe trifles ! or, hew is your <vjorJhip difordered in your bead! Our translators have cholen the lalt of thefe fenfes. But one would hardly expeft Sancho fhould be fo free with his mafter, after fo late a drubbing for fucli fort of liberties; and therefore I have chofen the iirit, which igrecs very well with what follows, as the reader will eafiiy perceive.

* Sancho had not told his mafler in what manner he intended to difpofe of his Negroes, but had only re- folvcd upon it in foliloquy. But this is no negligence in our author, but rather a fine llrokc of humour, as it fuppofes Sancho fo ftrongly poffeffed with the thought, that he does not dillinguiih whether he had faid it to his mailer, or to himfelf only.

thofe

-oo The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

thofe you conquer by the might of your arm, to prefent themfelves before my lady Dulcinea, this being to give it under your hand that you are in love with hei ? If thefe perfons muft fill upon their knees before her, and declare they come from you to pay their obeyfance to her, how can your mutual inclinations be a fecret? How dull and foolifh you are ! faid Don Quixote. You perceive not, Sancho, that all this redounds the more to her exaltation. For you mutt know, that, in this our ttyle of chivalry, it is a great honour for a lady to have many knights-errant, who ferve her mea^ty for her own fake, without expec- tation of any other reward of their manifold and good defires, than the honour of being admitted into the number of her knights. I have heard it preached, quoth Sancho, that god is to be loved with this kind of love, for himfelf alone, without our being moved to it by the hope of reward, or the fear of punifh- ment: though, for my part, I am inclined to love and ferve him for what he is able to do for me. The devil take you, for a bumpkin, faid Don Quixote ; you are ever and anon faying fuch fmart things, that one would almott think you have ttudied. And yet, by my faith, quoth Sancho, I cannot fo much as read.

While they were thus talking, matter Nicholas called aloud to them to halt a little ; for they had a mind to ttop and drink at a fmall fpring hard by. Den Quixote flopped, much to the fatisfadtion of Sancho, who began to be tired of telling fo many lyes, and was afraid his matter fhould at laft catch him trip- ping: for, though he knew Dukinea was a farmer's daughter of Tobofo, he had never feen her in ail his life. In the mean while Cardenio had put on the deaths, which Dorothea wore when they found her ; and, though they were none of the beft, they were far beyond thofe he had put off '. They all alighted near the fountain, and, with what the prieft had furnifhed himfelf with at the inn, they fomewhat appeafed the violence of their hunger.

While they were thus employed, a young ttripling happened to pais by, tra- velling along the road ; who, looking very earneftly at thofe who were at the fountain, presently ran to Den 'Quixote, and, embracing his legs, fell a weeping in good earnett, and faid; Ah! dear Sir, does not your worfhip know me? Con* fider me well : I am Andrei, the lad, whom you delivered from the oak, to which I was tied . Don Quixote knew him again, and, taking him by the hand, he turned to the company, and laid : To convince you of what jmpor> tance it is, that there fhould be knights-errant in the world, to redrefs the wrongs and injuries committed in i: by jnfolent and wicked men; you mutt know, good people, that, a few days ago, as I was patting by a wood, I heard certain out- cries, and a very lamentable voice, as of feme peffon in affii&ion and dittrefs. • I hatted immediately, prompted by my duty, toward the place, from which the voice feemed to come; and I found, tied to an oak, this lad, whom you fee

' Thefe mull be the tugged apparel Cttrdenio wore before he was dreffed in tl.e prie/Ts fiiort cafiuck and cloak.

here

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 201

here (I am glad, in my foul, he is prefent; for he will atteft the truth of what I fay.) I fay, he was tied to the oak, naked from the waifte upward; and a country-fellow, whom I afterward found to be his mafter, was cruelly lathing him with the reins of a bridle : and, as foon as I faw it, I asked him the rea- fon of fo fevere a whipping. The clown anfwered, that he was his fervant, and that he whipped him for fome inftances of neglecl:, which proceeded rather from knavery than fimplicity. On which this boy (aid; Sir, he whips me only becaufe I ask him for my wages. The mafter replied, with I know not what fpeeches and excufes, which I heard indeed, but did not admit. In (hort, I made him unUe the boy, and fwear to take him home, and pay him every real down upon the nail, and perfumed into the bargain. Is not all this true, fon Andres? and did you not obferve with what authority I commanded, and how fiibmimVely he promifed to do whatever I enjoined, notified, and required of him ? Anfwei ; be under no concern, but tell thefe gentlefolks what pafTed, that they may fee and confider how ufeful it is, as I faid, that there fhould be knights-errant upon the road. All that your worfhip has faid is very true, an- fwered the lad; but the bufinefs ended quite otherwife, Sir, than you imagine. How ocherwife ? replied Don.Qgixote ; did not the ruftic iaftantly pay you? He not only did not pay me, anfwered the boy, but, as foon as your worfhip was got out of the wood, and we were left alone, he tied me again to the fame tree, and gave me fo many frefh mokes, that I was flayed like any faint Bartho- lomew ; and, at every lafh he gave me, he faid fomething by way of feoff or jeft upon your worfliip; at which, if I had not felt fo much pain, I could not have forborne laughing. In fhort, he laid me on in fuch manner, that I have been ever fince in an hofpital, under cure of the bruifes the barbarous country- man then gave me. And your worfliip is in the fault of all this; for had you gone on your way*, and not come whither you was not called, nor intermeddled with ^ other folks bufinefs, my mafter would have been fatisfied widi giving me a do- : zftn or two of lafhes, and then would have loofed me, and paid me what he owed me. But, by your worfhip's abuting him fo unmercifully, and calling hihvfb many hard names, his wrath was kindled; and, not having it in his power to be revenged on your worfliip, no fooner had you left him, but he dis- charged the tempeft upon me, in fuch fort, that I fhall never be a man again £|g^liie 1 live. The mifchief, faid Don Quixote, was in my going away: I mould not have ftirred 'till I had feen you paid; for I might have known, by long experience, that no ruftic will keep his word, if he finds it inconvenient for him fo to do. But you may remember, Andres, that I fwore, if he did not pay you, I would feek him out, and find him, though he hid himfelf in the whale's belly. That is true, quoth Andres ; but it fignified nothing. You fhall fee now whether it fignifies, faid Don Quixote: and fo frying, he arofc up very haftily, and- ordered Sancho to bridle Rozinante, who was grazing while they were eating. Dorothea asked him what it was he meant to do ? He anfwered, Vol. I. Dd that

202 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

that he would go and find out the ruftic, and chaftife him for jfo bafe a pro- ceeding, and make him pay Andres to the laft farthing, in fpite and defiance of all the ruftics in the world. She defired he would confider what he did, fince, according to the ftipulation of the promifed boon, he could not engage in any other adventure, 'till he had accomplifhed her'sj and, fince he could not but know tins better than any body elfe, fhe entreated him to moderate his refent- ment 'till his return from her kingdom. You are in the right, anfwered Don Quixote, and Andres muft, perforce, have patience 'till my return, as you fay, madam; and I again fwear and promife not to reft 'till he is revenged and paid. I do not depend upon thefe oaths, faid Andres : I would rather have wherewithal to carry me to Sevil, than all the revenges in the world. If you have any thing to give me to eat, and to carry with me, let me have it ; and god be with your worfhip, and with all knights-errant, and may they prove as luckily errant to themfelves, as they have been to me. Sancho pulled a piece of bread, and anqfcher of cheefe, out of his knapfack, and, giving it to the lad, faid to him; Here, brother Andres, we all have a fhare in your misfor-* tune. Why, what fhare have you in it? faid Andres. This piece of bread and cheefe, which I give you, anfwered Sancho : god knows whether I may not want it myfelf; for I would have you to know, friend, that we fquires to knights- errant are fubjedt to much hunger, and to ill luck, and to other things too, which are more eafily conceived than told. Andres laid hold on the bread and cheefe, and, feeing that no body elfe gave him any thing, he made his bow, and marched off. It is true, he faid, at parting, to Don Quixote : For the love of god, Signor knight-errant, if ever you meet me again, though you fee they are beating me to pieces, do not fuccour nor aflift me, but leave me to my misfor- tune, which, cannot be fo great, but a greater will refult from your worfhip's aid, whom may the curfe of god light upon, and upon all the knights-errant that ever were born in the world. Don Quixote was getting up to chaftife him; but he fell a running fo faft, that no body offered to purfue him. Don Quixote was mightily abafhed at Andres's ftory : and the reft were forced to re- frain, though with fome difficulty, from laughing, that they might not put him quite out of countenance.

CHAP. V.

Which treats of what befel Don Quixote'* whole company in the inn.

TH E notable repaft being ended, they faddled immediately, and, without any thing happening to them worthy to be related, they arrived the next day at the inn, that dread and terrour of Sancho Panca, who, though he would fain have declined going in, could not avoid it. The hoftefs, the hoft, their daughter, and Maritornes, feeing Don Quixote and Sancho coming, went out to meet them, with figns of much joy; and he received them with a grave

dc-

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

deportment, and a nod of approbation, bidding them prepare him a better bed than they had done the time before: to which the hoftefs anfwcrcd, that, pro- vided he would pay better than the time before, (he would get him a bed for a prince. Don Quixote faid, he would; and fo they made him a tolerable one in the fame large room where he had lain before : and he immediately threw himfelf down upon it ; for he arrived veiy much mattered both in body and brains. He was no fooncr (hut into his chamber, but the hoftefs fell upon the barber, and, taking him by the beard, faid; By my faith, you (hall ufe my tail no longer for a beard: give me my tail again; for my husband's thing is tolled up and down, that it is a (hame; I mean the comb I ufed to (lick in my good tail. The barber would not part with it, for all her tugging, 'till the licenciate bid him give it her; for there was no farther need of that artifice, but he might now difcover himfelf, and appear in his own (hape, and tell Don Quixote, that, being robbed by thofe thieves the galley-flaves, he had fled to this inn; and, if he mould ask for the princefs's fquire, they mould tell him, (he had difpatched him before with advice to her fubjects, that (lie was coming, and bringing with her their common deliverer. With this the barber willingly furrendered to the hoftefs the tail, together with all the other appurtenances (lie had lent them, in order to Don Quixote's enlargement. All the folks of the inn were furprized, both at the beauty of Dorothea, and the comely perfonage of the (hepherd Car- denio. The prieft ordered them to get ready what the houfe afforded, and the hoft, in hopes of being better paid, foon ferved up a tolerable (upper. All this while Don Quixote was afleep, and they agreed not to awake him; for at that time he had more occafion for deep than victuals.

The difcourfe at fupper, at which were prefent the inn-keeper, his wife, his daughter, and Maritornes, and all the paffengers, turned upon the ftrange mad- nefs of Don Quixote, and the condition in which they had found him. The hoftefs related to them what befell him with the carrier; and looking about to fee whether Sancho was by, and not feeing him, (lie gave diem a full account of his being tofled in a blanket, at which they were not a little diverted. And the prieft happening to fay, that the books of chivalry, which Don Quixote had read, had turned his brain, the inn-keeper (aid : I cannot conceive how that can be ; for really, as far as I can underftand, there is no choicer reading in the world, and I have by me three or four of them, with fome manufcripts, which, in good truth, have kept me alive, and not me only, but many odiers befide. For, in harveft-time, many of the reapers come hither every day for flicker, during the noon-day heat; and there is always one or other among them that can read, who takes one of thefe books in hand, and above thirty of us place ourfelves round him, and liften to him with fo much pleafure, that it pre- vents a thoufand hoary hairs : at leaft, I can fay for myfelf, diat, when I hear of thofe furious and terrible blows, which the knights-errant lay on, I have a month's mind to be doing as much, and could fit and hear them day and night.

D d 2 I wifli

204 the LIFE and EXP L0 ITS' of

I wifh you did, quoth the hoftefs ; for I never have a quiet moment in my houfe but when you are liftening to the reading; for then you are fo befotted, that you forget to fcold for that time. It is true, faid Maritornes, and, in good faith, I too am very much delighted at hearing thofe things ; for they are very fine, efpecially when they tell us how fuch a lady, and her knight, lie embracing each other under an orange-tree, and how a Duenna ftands upon the watch, dying with envy, and her heart going pit-a-pat. I fay, all this is pure honey. And pray, mifs, what is your opinion of thefe matters ? faid the prieft,. addre'f- ling himfelf to the inn-keeper's daughter. I do not know indeed, Sir, anfwer- ed the girl: I liften too; and truly, though I do not underftand it, I take fome pleafure in hearing it : but I have no relifh for thofe blows and dailies, . which pleafe my father fo much; what I chiefly like, is, the complaints the knights make when they are abfent from their miftreffes ; and really, fometimes, they make, me weep, out of the pity I have for them. You would foon afford them relief, young gentlewoman, faid Dorothea, if they wept for you. I do not know what I mould do, anfwered the girl; only I know, that feveral of thofe ladies are fo cruel, that their knights call them tigers, and lions, and a thou- fand other ugly names. And, Jefu ! I cannot imagine what kind of folks they be, who are fo hard-hearted and unconfcionable, that, rather than beftow a kind look on an honeft gentleman, they will let him die, or inn mad. And, for my part, I cannot fee why all this coynefs : if it is out of honefty, let them many them; for that is what the gentlemen would be at. Hold your tongue, huffey, faid the hoftefs : methinks, you know a great deal of thefe matters ; and it does not become young maidens to know, or talk, fo much. When this gentleman asked me a civil queftion, replied the girl, I could do no lefs, fure, than anfwer him.

It is mighty well, faid the prieft; pray, landlord, bring me thofe books, for I have a mind to fee them. With all my heart, anfwered the hoft, and, going into his chamber, he brought out a little old cloak-bag, with a padlock and chain to it, and opening it he took out three large volumes, and fome manu- fcript papers written "in a very fair character. The firft book he opened he found 'to be Don Cirongilio of Tbrace, the next Felixmarte of Hyrcania, and the third the hiftory of the grand captain Goncalo Hernandez of Cordoua, with the life of Diego Garcia de Paredes, When the prieft had read the titles of the two firft, he turned about to the barber, and faid : We want here our friend's houfe-keeper and niece. Not at all, anfwered the barber ; for I myfelf can carry them to the yard, or to the chimney, where there is indeed a very good fire. What, Sir, would you burn my books? faid the inn-keeper. Only thefe two, faid the prieft, that of Don Cirongilio, and that of Felixmarte. What then, are my books heretical, or flegmatical, that you have a mind to burn them? Schifmatical, you would fay, friend, faid die barber, and not fleg- matical. It is true, replied the inn-keeper; but if you intend to burn any, let

it

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

it be this of the Grand Captain, and this of Diego de Garcia ; for I will fooncr let you burn one of my children, than either of the others. Dear brother, fa id the prieft, thefe two books are great lyars, and full of extravagant and foolifh conceits ; and this of the Grand Captain is a true hiftory, and contains the ex- ploits of Goncalo Hernandez of Cordoua, who, for his many and brave aifliOns, deferved to be called by all the world the Grand Captain ; a name renowned and illuftrious, and merited by him alone. As for Diego Garcia de Pared es, he was a gentleman of note, born in the town of Truxillo in EJiremadnra, a very brave foldier, and of fuch great natural ftrength, that he could flop a mill- wheel, in its greateft rapidity, with a fingle finger ; and, being once ported with a two-handed fword at the entrance upon a bridge, he repelled a prodi- gious army, and prevented their paffage over it. And he performed other fuch things, that if, inflead of being related by himfelf, with the modefty of a cava- lier who is his own hiftorian, they had been written by fome other difpaffionate and unprejudiced author, they would have eclipfed the actions of the Hectors, Achillcfes, and Orlandos. Perfuade my grandmother to that, quoth the inn- keeper ; do but fee what it is he wonders at, the flopping of a mill-wheel ! before god your worfhip fhould have read, what I have read, concerning Felix- marte of Hyrcania, who, with one back-flroke, cut afunder five giants in the middle, as if they had been fo many bean-cods, of which the children make little puppet-friars '. At another time he encountered a very great and powerful army, confifting of above a million and fix hundred thoufand foldiers, all armed from head to foot, and defeated them all, as if they had been a flock of fheep. But what will you fay of the good Don Cirongiiio of Thrace, who was fo flout and valiant, as you may fee in the book, wherein is related, that, as he was failing on a river, a fiery ferpent appeared above water ; and he,- as foon as he faw it, threw himfelf upon it, and, getting aftride upon its fcaly fhoulders, fqueezed its throat with bo'h his hands, with fo much force, that the ferpent, finding itfelf in danger of being choaked, had no other remedy, but to let it felf fink to the bottom of the river, carrying along with him the knight, who would not quit his hold : and, when they were got to the bottom, he found himfelf in a fine palace, and in fo pretty a garden, that it was wonderful; and prefently the ferpent turned to a venerable old man, who faid fo many things to him, that the like was never heard. Therefore, pray, fay no more, Sir ; for, if you were but to hear all this, you would run mad with pleafure. A fig for the Grand Captain, and for that Diego Garcia you fpeak of.

Dorothea, hearing this, faid foftly to Cardenio ; Our landlord wants but little to make the fecond part of Don Quixote. I think fo too, anfwered Cardenio ; for, according to the indications he gives', he takes all that is related in thefe boolo for gofpel, and neither more nor lefs than matters of facl: ; and the bare-

1 Cnildren in Spain, we are told, make puppets relijjnl ing friars out of bean cods by breaking as much of the uppi r end as difcovers part of the full bean, which is to reprefent the bald head, and letting the broken coJ hang back like a cowl.

footed

206 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

footed friars themfelvcs could not make him believe other wife. Look you, brother, faid the prieft ; there never was in the world fuch a man as Felix- marte of Hyrcania, nor Don Cirongilio of Thrace, nor any other knights, fuch as the books of chivalry mention : for all is but the contrivance and invention of idle wits, who compofed them for the purpofe of whileing away time, as. you fee your reapers do in reading them ; for I vow and fwear to you, there never were any fuch knights in the world, nor did fuch feats, or extravagant things, ever happen in it. To another dog with this bone, anfwered the hoft ; as- if I did not know how many make five, nor where my own fhoe pinches : do not think, Sir, to feed me with pap ; for, before god, I am no fuckling. A good jeft indeed, that your worfhip mould endeavour to make me believe, that all the contents of thefe good books are lyes and extravagancies, being printed with the licence of the king's privy-council ; as if they were people that would allow the impreflion of fuch a pack of lyes, battles, and enchantments, as are enough to make one diftracted. I have already told you, friend, replied the priefl:, that it is done for the amufement of our idle thoughts : and as, in all well-infti- tuted commonwealths, the games of chefs, tennis, and billiards, are permitted for the entertainment of thofe who have nothing to do, and who ought not, or cannot work ; for the fame reafon they permit fuch books to be written and printed, prefuming, as they well may, that no body can be fo ignorant as to take them for true hiftories. And, if it were proper at this time, and my hearers required it, I could lay down fuch rules for the compofing books of chivalry, as lhould, perhaps, make them agreeable, and even ufeful to many perfons : but I hope the time will come that I may communicate this defign to thofe who can remedy it ; and, in the mean while, Signor inn-keeper, be- lieve what I have told you, and here take your books, and fettle the point, whedier they contain truths or lyes, as you pleafe ; and much good may do you with them, and god grant you do not halt on the fame foot your gueft Don Quixote does. Not fo, anfwered the inn-keeper, I mail not be fo mad as to turn knight-errant ; for I know very well that times are altered fince thofe famous knights-errant wandered about the world.

Sancho came in about the middle of this converfation, and was much con- founded, and very penfive, at what he heard faid, that knights-errant were not now in fafhion, and that all books of chivalry were meer lyes and fooleries ; and he refolved with himfelf to wait the event of this expedition of his matter's > and, if it did not fucceed as happily as he expected, he determined to leave him, and return home to his wife and children, and to his accuftomed labour.

The inn-keeper was carrying away the cloak-bag and the books ; but the prieft faid to him : Pray ftay, for I would fee what papers thofe are that are written in fo fair a character. The hoft took them out, and having given them to him to read, he found about eight meets in manufcript, and at

the

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 207

the be<nnning a large title, which was, The Novel of the Curious Impertinent. The prieft read three or four lines to himfelf, and faid : In truth I do not diflike the title of this novel, and I have a mind to read it all. To which the inn-keeper anfwered : Your reverence may well venture to read it ; for I allure you that fome of my gucfts, who have read it, liked it mightily, and begged it of me with great carneftnefs : but I would not give it them, defigning to re- ft ore it to the perfon, who forgot and left behind him this cloak-bag with thefe books and papers ; for perhaps their owner may come this way again fome time or other ; and though I know I (hall have a great want of the books, in faith I will reftore them ; for, though I am an inn-keeper, thank god I am a chriftian. You are much in the right, friend, laid the prieft ; neverthelefs, if the novel pleafes me, you mull give me leave to take a copy of it. With all my heart, anfwered the inn-keeper. While they two were thus talking, Cardenio had taken up the novel, and began to read it ; and, being likewile pleafed with it, he defired the prieft to read it fo as that they might all hear it. I will, faid the prieft, if it be not better to fpend our time in fleeping than in reading. It will be as well for me, faid Dorothea, to pafs the time in liftening to fome ftory ; for my fpirits are not yet fo compofed as to give me leave to fleep, though it were needful. Well then, faid the prieft, I will read it, if it were but for curiolity ; perhaps it may contain fomething diat is entertaining. Mafter Nicholas and Sancho joined in the fame requeft : on which the prieft, perceiving that he fliould gave them all pleafure, and receive fome himfelf, faid ; Be all attentive then, for the novel begins in the following manner.

CHAP. VI.

In which is recited The Novel of the Curious Impertinent T.

T N Florence, a rich and famous city ofltaly, in the province called Tifcany, lived -*- Anfelmo and Lothario^ two gentlemen of fortune and quality, and fuch great friends, that all who knew them ftiled them, by way of eminence and dift.indt.ion, the two friends. They were both batchelors, young, of the fame age, and of the fame manners : all which was a fufficient foundation for their reciprocal friend- fhip. It is true indeed, that Anfelmo was fomewhat more inclined to amorous dalliance than Lothario, who was fonder of country fports ; but, upon occa- fion, Anfelmo negledled his own pleafures, to purfue thofe of Lothario ; and Lothario quitted his, to follow thofe of Anfelmo: and thus their inclinations went hand in hand with fuch harmony, that no pendulum clock kept fuch exadt time. Anfelmo fell defperately in love with a beautiful young lady of condition in die fame city, called Camilla, daughter of fuch good parents, and herlclf fo

1 Curio/a lmpertinente. T have rendered this title (as all our tranflators have done) I'trbatim ; though, in ftrift propriety of fpeech, I think the novel ought to be intitled, The impertintntli Curious, fince it is certain the fubje& of it is, not Jn/e/mo's Curious impertinence, but his Impertinent curioft/j.

good,

208 the LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

good, that he refolved (with the approbation of his friend Lothario, without whom he did nothing) to demand her of her father in marriage ; which he ac- cordingly did. It was Lothario, who carried the meffage ; and it was he, who concluded the match, fo much to the good liking of his friend, that, in a little time, he found himfelf in the poffemon of what he defiied, and Camilla fo fa- tisfied with having obtained Anfelmo for her husband, that me ceafed riot to give thanks to heaven, and to Lothario, by whofe means fuch great good for- tune had befallen her. For fome days after the wedding, days ufually dedi- cated to mirth, Lothario frequented his friend Anfelmo' s houfe as he was wont to do, ftriving to honour, pleafe, and entertain him to the utmoft of his power : but the nuptial feafon being over, and compliments of congratulation at an end, Lothario began to remit the frequency of his vines to Anfelmo, think- ing, as all difcreet men mould, that one ought not to vilit and frequent the houfes of one's friends, when married, in the fame manner as when they were batchelors. For, though true and real friendihip neither can nor ought to be fufpicious in any thing, yet fo nice is the honour of a married man, that it is thought it may naffer even by a brother, and much more by a friend ' ? Anfelmo took notice of Lothario's remiflhefs, and complained greatly of it, telling him, that, had he fufpected, that his being married would have been the occafion of their not converfing together as formerly, he would never have done it ; and fince, by the entire harmony between them, while both batche- lors, they had acquired fo fweet a name as that of the two friends, he deiired he would not fuffer fo honourable and fo pleafing a title to be loft, by over- acting the cautious part ; and therefore he befeeched him (if fuch a term might be ufed between them) to return, and be mafter of his houfe, and come and go as heretofore ; affuring him, that his wife Camilla had no other pleafure, or will, than what he defired fhe fhould have ; and that, knowing how fincerely and ardently they loved each other, fhe was much fiirprized to find him fo fhy. To all thefe, and many other reafons, which Anfelmo urged to Lothario, to perfuade him to ufe his houfe as before, Lothario replied with fo much pru- dence, difcretion, and judgment, that Anfelmo refted fatisfied with the good in- tention of his friend ; and they agreed, that, two days in a week, befides holy- days, Lothario fhould come and dine with him : and, though this was con- certed between them two, Lothario refolved to do what he fhould think moft for the honour of his friend, whofe reputation was dearer to him than his own. He faid, and he faid right, that the married man, on whom heaven has beftowed a beautiful wife, fhould be as careful what men he brings home to his houfe, as what female friends the converfes with abroad; for that, which cannot be done, nor concerted, in the markets, at churches, at public fliows, or affemblies (things, which husbands muft not always deny their wives) may be concerted and brought about at the houfe of a fhe-friend

« The Sxani/b and Italian husbands are more inclined to jealoufy than th.ife cf any other nation.

' or

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 209

or relation, of whom we are molt fecure. Lothario ' faid alfo, that a married man flood in need of fome friend to advertife him of any mtfhkes in his con- duct ; for it often happens, that die fondnefs a man has at firft for his wife makes him either not take notice, or not tell her, for fear of offending her, that fhe ought to do, or avoid doing, fome tilings, the doing, or not doinjj, whereof may reflect honour or difgrace ; all which might eaiily be remedied by the timely admonition of a friend. But where fhall we find a friend fo difcreet, fo faithful, and fincere, as Lothario here feems to require ? indeed I cannot tell, uniefs in Lothario himfelf, who, with the utmoft diligence and attention, watched over the honour of his friend, and contrived to retrench 2, cut fhort, and abridge the number of vifiting-days agreed upon, led: the idle vulgar, and prying malicious eyes, fhould cenfure the free accefs of a young and lich cava- lier, lb well born, and of fuch accomplishments, as he co.ild not but be con- fcious to himfelf he was matter of, to the houfe of a lady fo beautiful as Ca- milla ; and though his integrity and worth might b idle the tongues of the cen- forious, yet he had no mind that his own honour, or that of his friend, fhould be in die leaft fufpedted ; and therefore, on moft of the days agreed upon, he bufied and employed himfelf about fuch things as he pretended were indiipen- fible. And thus the time paffed on in complaints on the one hand, and ex- cufes on the other.

Now it fell out one day, as they two were walking in a meadow without the city, Anfrfmo addrefied Lothario in words to this effect. I know very well, friend Lothario, I can never be thankful enough to god for the bleffings he has beftowed upon me, firft in making me the fon of fuch parents as mine were, and giving me with fo liberal a hand what men call the goods of nature and fortune ; and efpecially in having given me fuch a friend as yourfelf, and fuch a wife as Camilla ; two jewels, which, if I value not as high as I ought, I value, at leaft, as high as lam able. Yet, notwithftanding all thefe advantages, which ufually are fafficient to make men live contented, I live the molt uneafy and diflatisfied man in the whole world ; having been for fome time paft harrafled and oppreffed with a defire, fo ftrange, and fo much out of the common track of odier men, that I wonder at myfelf, and blame and rebuke myfelf for it when I am alone, endeavouring to ftifle and conceal it even from my own thoughts : and yet I have fucceeded no better in my endeavours to ftifle and conceal it, than if I had made it my bufinefs to publifh it to all the world. And fince, in fhort, it muft one day break out, I would fain have it lodged in the archives of your breaft ; not doubting but that, through your fecrecy, and friendly application to relieve me, I mail foon be freed from the vexation it gives me, and that, by your diligence, my joy will rife to as high a pkch, as my difcontent has done by my own folly. Lothario was in great fufpence at

' Both Sbelton and Motteux have put this fentiment in Anfdmdi mouth. 1 The original is dezmar, to decimate.

VoL-L Ee jhfeho's

2io the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

Anfelmtfs difcourfe, and unable to guefs at what he aimed by fo tedious a pre- paration and preamble ; and though he revolved in his imagination what defire it could be that gave his friend fo much difturbance, he ftill fhot wide of the truth j and, to be quickly rid of the perplexity into which this fufpence threw him, he faid to him, that it was doing a notorious injury to their great friend- fhip to feek for round-about ways to acquaint him with his mod hidden thoughts, fince he might depend upon him, either for advice or affiftance in what concerned them. It is very true, anfwered Anfelmo ; and in this confidence I give you to underftand, friend Lothario, that the thing which difquiets me is a delire to know, whether my wife Camilla be as good and as perfect as I imagine her to be ; and I cannot be thoroughly informed of this truth, but by trying her in fuch a manner, that the proof may manifeft the perfection of her goodnefs, as fire does that of gold. For it is my opinion, my friend, that a woman is ho- neft only fo far as fhe is, or is not, courted and folicited ' : and that fhe alone is really chafte, who has not yielded to the force of promifes, prefents, and tears, nor to the continual felicitations of importunate lovers. For, what thanks, faid he, to a woman for being virtuous, when no body perfuades her to be otherwife ? what mighty matter if fhe be referved and cautious, who has no opportunity given her of going affray, and knows fhe has a husband, who, the firft time he catches her tranfgrefhng, will be fure to take away her life ? The woman, therefore, who is honeft out of fear, or for want of opportunity, I fhall not hold in the fame degree of efteem with her, who, after felicitation and importunity, comes off with the crown of victory. So that for thefe rea- fons, and for many more I could affign in fupport of my opinion, my defire is, that my wife Camilla may pafs through thefe tryals, and be purified and re- fined in the fire of courtfhip and folicitation, and that by fome perfon worthy of placing his defires on her : and if fhe comes off from this conflict, as I be- lieve fhe will, with the palm of victory, I fhall applaud my matchlefs fortune : I fhall then have it to fay, that I have attained the utmoffc of my wifhes, and may fafely boaft, that the virtuous woman is fallen to my lot, of whom the wife man fays, Who can find her ? And if the reverfe of all this fhould happen, the fatisfaction of being confirmed in my opinion will enable me to bear, without regret, the trouble fo coftly an experiment may reafonably give me. And, as nothing you can urge againft my defign can be of any avail towards hindering me from putting it in execution, I would have you, my friend Lo- thario, difpofe yourfelf to be the inftrument of performing this work of my fancy ; and I will give you opportunity to do it, and you fhall want for no means that I can think neceffary towards gaining upon a modeft, virtuous, re- ferved, and difinterefted woman. And, among other reafons, which induce me to truft this nice affair to your management, one is, my being certain, that, if Camilla fhould be overcome, you will not pufli the victory to the lafl extremity,

1 Cajla ejf, quam nemo rogavif. Ovid.

but

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 211

but only account that for done, which, for good reafons, ought not to be done j and thus I (hull be wronged only in the intention, and the injury will remain hid in the virtue of your filence, which, in what concerns me, will, I am allured, be eternal as that of death. Therefore, if you would have me enjoy a life that deferves to be called fuch, you mufl immediately enter upon this amorous com- bat, not languidly and lazily, but with all the fervour and diligence my deiign re- quires, and with the confidence our friendship allures me of.

This was what Anfelmo faid to Lothario ; to all which he was fo attentive, that, excepting what he is already mentioned to have faid, he opened not his lips 'till his friend had done : but now, perceiving that he was filent, after he had gazed at him earneftly for fome time, as if he had been looking at fome- thing he had never fcen before, and which occafioned in him wonder and amazement, he faid to him : I cannot perfuade myfelf, friend Anfelmo, but that what you have been faying to me is all in jeft ; for, had I thought you in ear- neft, I would not have fuffered you to proceed fo far ; and, by not liftening to you, I fhould have prevented your tedious harangue. I cannot but think, either that you do not know me, or that I do not know you. But no: I well know that you are Anfelmo, and you know that I am Lothario : the mifchief is, that I think you are not the Anfelmo you ufed to be, and you muft imagine I am not that Lothario I ought to be : for neither is what you have faid to me becoming that friend of mine, Anfelmo ; nor is what you require of me to be asked of that Lothario whom you know. For true friends ought to prove and ufe their friends, as the poet expreffes it, ufque ad aras-, as much as to fay, they ought not to employ their friendfhip in matters againft the law of god. If an heathen had this notion of friendfhip, how much more ought a chriftian to have it, who knows that the divine friendfhip ought not to be forfeited for any human friendfhip whatever. And when a friend goes fo far, as to fet afide his duty to heaven, in compliance with the interefts of his friend, it muft not be for light and trivial matters, but only when the honour and life of his friend are at ftake. Tell me then, Anfelmo, which of thefe two are in danger, that I fhould venture to com- pliment you with doing a thing in itfelf fo deteftable, as that you require of me? Neither, affuredly : on the contrary, if I underftand you right, you would have me Like pains to deprive you of honour and life, and, at the fame time, myfelf too of both. For, if I muft do that which will deprive you of your honour, it is plain I take away your life, fince a man, without honour, is worfe than if he were dead : and I being the inftrument, as you would have me to be, of do- ing you fo much harm, fhali I not bring difhonour upon myfelf, and, by confe- quence, rob myfelf of life? Hear me, friend Anfelmo, and have patience, and forbear anfwering 'till I have done urging what I have to fay, as to what your defire exacts of me ; for there will be time enough for you to reply, and for me to hear you. With all my heart, faid Anfelmo ; iay what you pleafe.

E e 2 Then

2i2 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

Then Lothario went on, faying: Methinks, O Anfelmo, you are at this time in the fame difpofition that the Moors are always in, whom you cannot convince of the error of their feci:, by citations from holy fcripture, nor by arguments drawn from reafon, or founded upon articles of faith; but you muft produce examples that are plain, eafy, intelligible, demonftrative, and undeniable, with fuch ma- thematical demonftrations as cannot be denied; as when it is faid : if from equal parts we take equal parts, thofe that remain are alfo equal. And, when they do not comprehend this in words, as in reality they do not, you muft (hew it to them with your hands, and fet it before their very eyes ; and, after all, nothing can convince them of the truths of our holy religion. In this very way and method muft I deal with you; for this defire, which poffeffes you, is fo extra- vagant and wide of all that has the leaft fhadow of reafon, that I look upon it as mifpending time to endeavour to convince you of your folly; for at prefent I can give it no better name : and I am even tempted to leave you to your indif- cretion, as a punishment of your prepofterous defire : but the friendflfip I have for you will not let me deal fo rigoroufly with you, nor will it confent that I fhould defert you in fuch manifeft danger of undoing yourfelf. And that you may clearly fee that it is fo, fay, Anfelmo, have you not told me, that I muft folicit her that is referved, perfuade her that is virtuous, bribe her that is difinte- refted, and court her that is prudent ? yes, you have told me fo. If then you know that you have a referved, virtuous, difinterefted, and prudent wife, what is it you would have ? And, if you are of opinion fhe will come off victorious from all my attacks, as doubtlefs fhe will, what better titles do you think to be- ftow on her afterwards, than thofe fhe has already? or what will fhe be more then, than fhe is now ? Either you do not take her for what you pretend, or you do not know what it is you ask. If you do not take her for what you fay you do, to 'what purpofe would you try her, and not rather fuppofe her guilty, and treat her as fuch ? But, if fhe be as good as you believe fhe is, it is im- pertinent to try experiments upon truth itfelf, fince, when that is done, it will remain but in the fame degree of efteem it had before. And therefore we muft conclude, that to attempt things, from whence mifchief is more likely to en- fue, than any advantage to us, is the part of rafh and inconfiderate men ; and efpecially when they are fuch as we are no way forced nor obliged to attempt, and when it may be eafily feen at a diftance, that the enterprize itfelf is down- right madnefs. Difficult things are undertaken for the fake of god, of the world, or of both together : thofe, which are done for god's fake, are fuch as are enterprized by the faints, while they endeavour to live a life of angels in hu- man bodies : thofe, which are taken in hand for love- of the world, are done by thofe, who pafs infinite oceans of water, various climates, and many foreign nations, to acquire what are ufually called the goods of fortune : and thofe, which are undertaken for the fake of god and the world together, are the actions of brave foldiers, who no fooner efpy in the enemy's wall fo much breach as may be

made

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. zi 3

m ade by a fingle cannon-ball, but, laying afide all fear, without de'iberating, or regarding the manifeft danger that threatens them, and borne upon the wi of defire to act in defence of their faith, their country, and their king* they throw themfelves intrepidly into the midft of a thoufand oppofing deaths that await them. Thefe are the difficulties, which are commonly attempted; audit is honour, glory, and advantage, to attempt them, though io fall of dangers and inconveniencies. But that, which you fay you would have attempted and put in execution, will neidier procure you glory from god, the goods of for- tune, nor reputation among men. For, fuppoling the event to anfwer your defiies, you will be neither happier, richer, nor more honoured, than you are at prefent : and, if you fhould mifcarry, you will find yourfelf in the moft mi- ferable condition that can be imagined ; for then it will avail you nothing to think, that no body elfe knows the misfortune that has befdlen you : it will fuf- ficiently afflict and undo you, to know it yourfelf. And, as a farther confirma- tion of this truth, I will repeat the following ftanza of the famous poet Louis Tanfilo, at the end of his firft part of the Tears of faint Peter '.

When confeious Peter Jaw the blufiing eaf, He felt redoubled anguijh in his breajl, Andy though by privacy fecured from blame, Saw his own guilt, and feeing dyed with Jbame. For generous minds, betrayed into a fault, No witnefs want, but felf-condemnin&tjmight : To fitch the confeious earth alone and skies Supply the place of thoufand prying eyes.

And therefore its being a fecret will not prevent your forrow, but rather make it perpetual, and be a continual fubjecT: for weeping, if not tears from your eyes, tears of blood from your heart, fuch as that fimple doctor wept, who, as die poet 2 relates of him, made trial of the cup, which the prudent Reinaldo more wifely declined doing. And, though this be a poetical fiction, there is a concealed moral in it, worthy to be obferved, underflood, and imitated. But I have ftill fomething more to fay upon this fubject; which, I hope, will bring you to a full conviction of the great errour you are going to commit.

Tell me, Anfelmo ; if heaven, or good-fortune, had made you matter and lawful poffefifor of a fuperlatively fine diamond, of whofe goodnefs and beauty- all the jewellers, who had feen it, were fully fatisfied, and fhould unanimoully declare, that, in weight, goodnefs, and beauty, it came up to whatever the nature of fuch a (tone is capable of, and you yourfelf fnould believe as much, as

bywlltr"1' Wm:en °r S'nalIy ^ haha"> WaS tranfl"ted bt0 *"*• ^ 7«** *<*'*>> ^ *** *r*d » Arioilo in Orlando Furiofo.

knowing

214 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

knowing nothing to the contrary; would it be right that you fhould take a fancy to lay this diamond between the anvil and the hammer, and, by mere dint of blows, try whether it was fo hard, and fo fine, as it was thought to be? And further, fuppofing this put in execution, and that the ftone refills fo foolifh a trial, would it acquire thereby any additional value or reputation ? and, if it fhould break, as it might, would not all be loft? Yes certainly, and make its owner to pafs for a fimple fellow in every body's opinion. Make account then, friend Anfelmo, that Camilla is this exquifitely fine diamond, both in your own opinion, and in that of other people, and that it is unreafonable to put her to the hazard of being broken, fince, though fhe fhould remain entire, fhe cannot rife in her value; and, fhould fhe fail, and not refift, confider in time what a condition you would be in without her, and how juftly you might blame your felf for having been the caufe both of her ruin and your own. There is no jewel in the world fo valuable as a chafte and virtuous woman ; and all the ho- nour of women confifts in the good opinion the world has of them: and fince that of your wife is unqueftionably good, why will you bring this truth into doubt ? Confider, friend, that woman is an imperfeel: creature, and that one fhould not lay ftumbling-blocks in her way, to make her trip and fall, but ra- ther remove them, and clear the way before her, that fhe may, without hin- drance, advance towards her proper perfection, which confifts in being virtu- ous. Naturalifts inform us, that the ermin is a little white creature with a fine fur, and that, when the hunters have a mind to catch it, they make ufe of this artifice : knowing the way it ufually takes, or the places it haunts, they lay all the paffes with dirt, and then frighten the creature with noife, and drive it to- ward thofe places : end when the ermin comes to the dirt, it ftands ftill, fuf- fering itfelf rather to be taken, than, by pafftng through the mire, deftroy and fully its whitenefs, which it values more than liberty or life. The virtuous and modeft woman is an ermin, and the vitue of chaftity is whiter and cleaner than fnow ; and he who would not have her lofe, but rather guard and preferve it, muft take a quite different method from that which is ufed with the ermin : for he muft not lay in her way the mire of the courtfbip and afli- duity of importunate lovers, fince perhaps, and without a perhaps, fhe may not have virtue and natural ftrength enough to enable her, of herfelf, to tram- ple down and get clear over thofe impediments : it is neceffary, therefore, to re- move fuch things out of her way, and fct before her pure and unfpotted virtue, and the charms of an unblemif'ied reputation. A good woman may alfo be compared to a mirrour of cryital, mining and bright, but liable to be fullied and dimmed by every breath that comes near it. The virtuous woman is to be treated in the fame manner as relicks are, to be adored, but not handled. The good woman is to be looked after and prized, like a fine garden full of rofes and other flowers, the owner of which fuffers no body to walk among them, or touch any thing, but only at a diflance, and through iron-rails, to enjoy its fragrancy

and

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 215

and beauty. Laftly, I will repeat to you fome verfes which I remember to have heard in a modern comedy, and which feem very applicable to our prefent pur- pole. A prudent old man advifes another, who is father of a young maiden,' to look well after her, and lock her up ; and, among other reafons, gives thefe following:

I.

If woman's glafs, why fould we fry

Whether Jhe can be broke ; or not Great hazards in the trial lie,

Becanfe perchance floe may be for

II.

Who that is wife fuch brittle ivare

Would carelefs dap upon the floor, Which broken, nothing can repair.

Nor folder to its form reflore?

III.

In this opinion all are found,

And rcafon "vouches what I fay, Wherever Danae's abound,

There golden f.owers will make their way.

All that I have hitherto faid, O Anfelmo, relates only to you : it is now fit I fhouid fay fomething concerning myfelf; and pardon me if I 'am prolix ; for the labyrinth, into which you have run yourfelf, and out of which you would have me extricate you, requires no lefs. You look upon me as your friend, and yet, againft all rules of friendfhip, would deprive me of my honour : nor is this all ; you would have me take away yours. That you would rob me of mine, is plain : for, when Camilla finds that I make love to her, as you defire I mould, it is certain fhe will look upon me as a man void of honour, and bafe, fince I attempt, and do, a thing fo contrary to what I owe to myfelf, and to your friendfhip. That you would have me deprive you of yours, there is no doubt : for Camilla, perceiving that I make addrefTes to her, mull think I have dilcovered fome mark of lightnefs in her, which has emboldened me to declare to her my guilty paffion; and her looking upon herfelf as difhonoured affects you as being her husband. And hence arifes what we fo commonly find, that the husband of the adulterous wife, though he does not know it, nor has given his wife any reafon for tranfgrefling her duty, and though his misfortune be not owing to his own negledl, or want of care, is neverthelefs called by a vilifying and op- probrious name, andthofe, who are not unacquainted with his wife's incontinence, are apt to look upon him with an eye, rather of contempt, than of pity. But I will tell you the rea'bn, why the husband of a vicious wife is juftly difhonoured, though he does not know that he is, nor has been at all in fault, or connived at,

or

216 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

or given her occafion to become fuch : and be not weary of hearing me, fincc the whole will redound to your own advantage.

When god created our firft parent in the terreftrial paradife (as the holy fcrip- " ture informs us) he infirfed.a fleep into Adam-, and, whi!^ h llcpt, he took a rib out of his left fide, of which he formed our mother Eve: and, when Adam awaked, and beheld her, he faid; This is fieft of my fe/h, and bone of my bone. And god faid; For this caufe fiall a man leave father and mother, and they two fall be one flejh. And at that time the holy facrament of marriage was inftitu- ted, with fuch ties, as death only can loofe. And this miraculous facra- ment is of fuch force and virtue, that it makes two different perfons to be but one flefh : nay, it doth more in the properly married ; for though they have two fouls, they have but one will. And hence it is, that, as the flefh of the wife is the very fame with that of the husband, the blemifhes or defects there- of are participated by the flefh of the husband, though, as is already faid, he was not the occafion of them. For, as the whole body feels the' pain of the foot, or of any other member, becaufe they are all one flefh ; and the head feels the fmart of the ancle, though it was not the caufe of it: fo the husband par- takes of the wife's diihonour by being the felf-fame thing with her. And as the honours and dishonours of the world all proceed from flefh and blood, and thofe of the naughty wife being of this kind, tire husband muft of neccffity bear his part in them, and be reckoned difhonoured without his knowing it. Behold then, O Anjelmo, the danger, to which you expofe yourfelf, in feeking to difturb the quiet your virtuous confort enjoys. Confider, through how vain and impertinent a curiofity, you would flir up the humours that now lie dor- mant in the breaft of your chafte fpoufe. Reflect, that what you adventure to gain is little, and what you may lofe will be fo great, that I will pafs over in filence what I want words to exprefs. But, if all I have faid be not fufficient to diffuade you from your prepoflerous defign, pray look out for fome other Inftru- ment of your difgrace and misfortune : for I refolve not to act this part, though I fhould thereby lofe your friendfhip, which is the grcatcft lofs I am able to conceive.

Here the virtuous and difcreet Lothario ceafed, and Anfelmo was fo confound- ed and penfive, that, for fome time, he could not anfwer him a word; but at laft he faid: I have liftened, friend Lothario, to all you have been faying to me, with the attention you may have obfervedj and in your arguments, examples, and comparifons, I plainly difcover your great difcretion, and the perfection of that friendfhip you have attained to : I fee alio, and acknowledge, that, in re- jecting your opinion, and adhering to my own, I fly the good, and purfue the evil. Yet, this fuppofed, you mult confider, that I labour under the infirmity, to which fome women are fubject, who have a longing to eat dirt, chalk, coals, anJ other things ftill worfe, even fuch as are loathfome to the f ght, and much more fo to the tafle. And therefore fome art muft be made ufe of to cure me;

and

DON QUIXOTE DE LA M A N C H A. 217

and it may be done with eafe, only by your beginning to court Camilla, though but coldly and feignedly, who cannot be fo yielding and pliant, that her modefty fhould fall to the ground at the firft onfet; and With this faint beginning I ihall reft fatisfied, and you will have complied with what you owe to our friend- ship, not only in reftoring me to life, but by perfuading me not to be the cauic of my own difhonour. And there is one reafon efpecially, which obliges you to undertake this bufmefs, which is, that, whereas I am determined, as I am, to put this experiment in practice, it behoves you not to let me difclofe my frenzy to another perfon, and fo hazard that honour you are endeavouring to pre- ferve : and though your own mould lofe ground in Camilla'?, opinion, while you are making love to her, it is of little or no confequence ; fince, in a fhort time, when we have experienced in her the integrity we expect, you may then difco- ver to her the pure truth of our contrivance; whereupon you will regain your former credit with her. And, fince you hazard fo little, and may give me fo much pleafure by the rifque, do not decline the task, whatever inconveniencies may appear to you in it, fince, as I have already faid, if you will but fet about it, I fhall give up the caufe for determined.

Lothario, perceiving Anfelmo's fixed refolution, and not knowing what other examples to produce, nor what farther reafons to offer, to diffuade him from his purpofe, and finding he threatned to impart his extravagant deiire to fome other perfon, refolved, in order to avoid a greater evil, to gratify him, and un- dertake what he defiredj but with a full purpofe and intention fo to order the matter, that, without giving Camilla any difturbance, Anjelmo fhould reft fatis- fied: and therefore he returned for anfwer, that he defired he would not com- municate his defign to any other perfon whatever, for he would take the bufmefs upon himfelf, and would begin it whenever he pleafed. Anfehno embraced him with great tendernefs and affection, thanking him for this offer, as if he had done him fome great favour; and it was agreed between them, that he fhould fet about the work the very next day, when he would give him opportunity and leifure to talk with Camilla alone, and would alfo furnifh him with money and jewels to prefent her with. He advifed him to give her the mulic, and write verfes in her praife, and, if he did not care to be at the pains, he would make them for him. Lothario confented to every thing, but with an intention very different from what Anfehno imagined. Things thus fettled, they returned to Anfelmo's houfe, where they found Camilla waiting with great uneafinefs and anxiety for her fpoufe, who had ftaid abroad longer that day than ufual. Lotha- rio, after fome time, retired to his own houfe, and Anfehno remained in his, as contented as Lothario was penfive, who was at a lofs what ftratagem to invent to extricate himfelf handfomcly out of this impertinent bufmefs. But that night he bethought himfelf of a way how to deceive Anfehno, without offending < milk : and the next day he came to dine with his friend, an \ was kindly receiv- ed by Camilla, who always entertained and treatei him with much g< d- /ill Vol. I. Ff -kl,,

218 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

knowing the affection her fpoufe had for him. Dinner being ended, and the cloth taken away, Anfelmo defired Lothario to flay with Camilla while he went upon an urgent affair, which he would difpatch, and be back in about an hour and half. Camilla prayed him not to go, and Lothario offered to bear him company : but it fignified nothing with Anfelmo ; on the contrary, he importu- ned Lothario to flay and wait for him ; for he had a matter of great importance to talk to him about. He alfo defired Camilla to bear Lothario company 'till his return. In fhort, he knew fo well how to counterfeit a neceffity for his ab- fence, though that neceffity proceeded only from his own folly ', that no one could perceive it was feigned.

Anfelmo went away, and Camilla and Lothario remained by themfelves at ta- ble, the reft of the family being all gone to dinner. Thus Lothario found him- felf entered the lifts, as his friend had defired, with an enemy before him, able to conquer, by her beauty alone, a fquadron of armed cavaliers : think then, whether Lothario had not caufe to fear. But the firft thing he did, was, to lay his «lbow on the arm of the chair, and his cheek on his hand 5 and begging Ca- milla to pardon his ill-manners, he faid he would willingly repofe himfelf a lit- tle 'till Anfelmo' % return. Camilla anfwered, that he might repofe himfelf more at eafe on the couch * than in the chair, and therefore defired him to walk in, and lie down there. Lothario excufed himfelf, and flept where he was 'till Anfelmo' % return j who, finding Camilla retired to her chamber, and Lothario afleep, believed, that, as he had flaid fo long, they had had time enough both to talk and to fleep; and he thought it long 'till Lothario awaked, that he might go out with him, and enquire after his fuccefs. All fell out as he wifhed. Lo- thario awaked, and prefently they went out together, and Anfelmo asked him concerning what he wanted to be informed of. Lothario anfwered, that he did not think it proper to open too far the firft time, and therefore all he had done was, to tell her fhe was very handfome, and that the whole town rung of her wit and beauty ; and this he thought a good introduction, as it might infinuate him into her good will, and difpofe her to liften to him the next time with pleafure : in which he employed the fame artifice, which the devil ufes to de- ceive a perfon who is on his guard ; who, being in reality an angel of darknefs, transforms himfelf into one of light, and, fetting plaufible appearances before him, at length difcovers himfelf, and carries his point, if his deceit be not found out at the beginning. Anfelmo was mightily pleafed with all this, and faid he would give him the like opportunity every day, without going abroad ; for he

■ The original hfupo tanbien fingir lanecejjidad, o necedad de fu aufencia. Sec. that is, be knew fi well bono to feign the neceffity, or rather folly of his abfence, &c. but it being impoffible to retain the gingle of neceji- dad and necedad in the tranflation, it was thought proper to give the fentence fomewhat a different turn. Note, Shelton, Motteux, Sec. have quite omitted it.

* Eflrado. A fpaceof the vifiting- rooms of ladies, raifed a foot above the floor of the reft of the room, covered with carpets or mats, on which the ladies lit on cufhions laid along by the wall, or low llools.

would

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 219

would fo employ himfelf at home, that Camilla fhould never fufpect his

ftratagem.

Now many days patted, and Lothario , though he fpoke not a word to Ca- ' milla on the fubiect, told Anfelmo that he had, and that he could never perceive in her the leaft fign of any thing that was amifs, or even difcover the lcaft glimpfe or fhadow of hope for himfelf; on the contrary, that fhe threatned to tell her husband, if he did not quit his bafe dellgn. It is very well, feid An- felmo, hitherto Camilla has refitted words ; we mutt next fee how (lie will re- fill works : to-morrow I will give you two thoufand crowns in gold to prefent her with, and as many more to buy jewels by way of lure; for women, efpecully if they are liandfome, though never fo chafte, are fond of being well dreffed and going fine: and, if fhe refifts this temptation, I will be fatisfied, and give you no farther trouble. Lothario anfwered, that, fince he had begun, he would go through Widi this affair, though he was fure he fhould come off" wearied and repulfed. The next day he received the four thoufand crowns, and with them four thoufand confufions, not knowing what new lye to invent : but, in fine, he refolved to tell him, that Camilla was as inflexible to prefents and promiies, as to words, fo that he need not weary himfelf any farther, fince all the time was (pent in vain.

But fortune, which directed matters otherwife, Co ordered it, that Anfelmo, having left Lothario and Camilla alone as ufual, fhut himfelf up in an adjoining chamber, and flood looking and liflening through the key-hole, how they be- haved themfelves, and faw, that, in above half an hour, Lothario faid not a word to Camilla ; nor would he have faid a word, had he flood there an age. On which he concluded, that all his friend had told him of Camilla's anfwers were mere fiction and lyes. And, to try whether they were fo or not, he came out of the chamber, and, calling Lothario afide, asked him, what news he had for him, and what difpofition he had found Camilla in? Lothario re- plied, that he was refolved not to mention that bufinefs any more to her, for fhe had anfwered him fo ll.arply and angrily, that he had not the courage to open his lips again to her. Ah ! faid Anfelmo, Lothario, Lothario ! how ill do you anfwer your engagement to me, and the great confidence I repofe in you ! I am juft come from looking through the key-hole of that door, and have found that you have not fpoken a word to Camilla; whence I conclude, that you have never yet fpoken to her at all. If it be fo, as doubtlefs it is, why do you de- ceive me ? Or why would you induftrioufly deprive me of thofe means I might otherwife find to compafs my defire? Anfelmo faid no more; but what he had feid was fufficient to leave Lothario abaflied and confounded : who, thinking his honour touched by being caught in a lye, fwore to* Anfelmo, that from that moment he took upon him to fatisfy him, and would tell him no more lyes, as he ihould find, if he had the curiofity to watch him; which however he might five himfelf the trouble of doing; for he would endeavour fo earneflly to prb-

F f 2 cure

220 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

cure him fatisfa&ion, that there fhould be no room left for fufpicion. Anfelmo believed him; and, to give him an opportunity, more fecure and lefs liable to furprize, he refolved to abfent himfelf from home for eight days, and to vifit a friend of his, who lived in a village not far from the city. And, to excufe his departure to Camilla, he contrived that this friend mould prefs earneftly for his company. Rafh and unhappy Anjehno ! what is it you are doing ? what is it you intend ? what is it you are contriving ? Confider, you are acting againft yourfelf, defigning your own difhonour, and contriving your own ruin. Your fpoufe Camilla is virtuous ; you poffefs her peaceably and quietly; no body di- fturbs your enjoyment of her ; her thoughts do not ftxay beyond the walls of her houfe; you are her heaven upon earth, the aim of her defires, the accom- plifhment of her wifhes, and the ride by which fhe meafures her will, adjuft- ing it wholly according to yours, and that of heaven. If then the mine of her honour, beauty, virtue, and modeity, yield you, without any toil, all the wealth they contain, or you can defire, why will you ranfack thofe mines for other veins of new and unheard-of treafures, and thereby put the whole in danger of ruin, lince, in truth, it is fupported only by the feeble props of woman's weak nature. Confider, that he, who feeks after what is impoffible, ought in juftice to be denied what is poffible; as a certain poet has better expreffed it in thefe verfes }

In death I life defire to fee,

Health in difeafe, in tortures ref, In chains and prifons liberty,

And truth in a difoyal breafi.

But adverfefate and heav'n's decree

In this, to baffle me, are joined, That, fnce I ask what cannot be,

What can be I fall never find.

The next day Anfelmo went to his friend's houfe in the country, telling Ca- milla, that, during his abfence, Lothario would come to take care of his houfe, and dine with her, and defiling her to treat him as (he would do his own per- fon. Camilla, as a difcreet and virtuous woman mould, was troubled at the or- _der her husband gave her, and reprefented to him, how improper it was, that any bodyTm his-abfence, fliould take his place at his table; and if he did it, as doubting her ability to manage his family, me defired he would try her for this time, and he fhould fee, by experience, that fhe was equal to trufts of greater confequence. Anfelmo replied, it was his pleafure it fliould be fo, and that fhe had nothing to do but to acquiefce and be obedient. Camilla faid, fhe would, though much againft her inclination. Anfelmo went away, and the next day Lothario came to his houfe, where he was received by Camilla with a kind and

modefr.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 221

modeft welcome. But She never expofed herfelf to be left alone with Lothario^ being conltantly attended by her men and maid-fervants, especially by her own maid called Leoncla, whom, as they had been brought up together from their infancy in her father's houfe, flie loved very much, and, upon her marriage with Anfelmo, had brought with her. Lothario laid nothing to her the three firft days, though he had opportunities when the cloth was taken away, and the fervants were gone to make a haity dinner : for fo Camilla had directed ; and farther Lconela had orders to dine before her miStrefs, and never to flir from her fide : but ihe, having her thoughts intent upon other matters, of her own pleafure, and wanting to employ thofe hours, and that opportunity, to her own purpofes, did not always obferve her miftrefs's orders, but often left them alone, as if She had been exprefsly commanded fo to do. Neverthelefs the modeit prefence of Camilla, the gravity of her countenance, and her compofed beha- viour, were fuch, that they awed and bridled Lothario's tongue. But the in- fluence of her virtues in filencing Lothario's tongue redounded to the greater prejudice of them both. For, if his tongue lay Still, his thoughts were in mo- tion ; and he had lcifure to contemplate, one by one, all thofe perfections of goodnefs and beauty, of which Camilla was miftrefs, and which were fufficient to infpire love into a Sta tueof marble, and how much more into a heart of flefh. Lothario gazed at her all the while he might have talked to her, and considered how worthy (lie was to be beloved: and this consideration began, by little and little, to undermine the regards he had for Anfelmo ; and, a thoufand times, he thought of withdrawing from the city, and going where Anfelmo mould never fee him, nor he Camilla, more : but the pleafure he took in be- holding her had already thrown an obstacle in the way of his intention. He did violence to himfelf, and had frequent Struggles within him, to get the better of the pleafure he received in gazing on Camilla. He blamed himfelf, when alone, for his folly; he called himfelf a falfe friend, and a bad christian. He reafoned upon, and made companions between, his own conduct, and that of Anfelmo > and Still concluded, that Anfclmo's folly and prefumption were greater than his own infidelity : and, if what he had in his thoughts were but as ex- cufable before god, as it was before men, he Should fear no puniihment for his fault. In fine, the beauty and goodnefs of Camilla, together with the opportu- nity, which the thoughtlefs husband had put into his hands, quite overturned Lothario's integrity. And, without regarding any thing but what tended to the gratification of his paffion, at the end of three days from the time of Atifflmo's abfence, during which he had been in perpetual Struggle with his defires, he began to folicit Camilla, with fuch earneftnefs and diforder, and with fuch amo- rous exprefiions, that Camilla was aftoniShed, and could only rife from her feat, and retire to her chamber, without anfwermg a word. But, notwithstanding this fudden blaSt, Lothario's hope was not withered : for hope, being born with love, always lives with it. On the contrary, he was the more eager in the pur-

fuit

'22 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

fuit of Camilla ; who, having difcovered in Lothario what fhe could never have imagined, was at a lofs how to behave. But thinking it neither fafe, nor right, to give him opportunity or leifure of talking to her any more, me refolved, as fhe accordingly did, to fend that very night one of her fervants to Anfelmo with a letter, wherein fhe wrote as follows.

CHAP. VII.

In which is continued The Novel of the Curious Impertinent.

CAMILLA'S letter to ANSELMO.

A N army, it is commonly faid, makes but an ill appearance without its ge- J- •* neral, and a caftle without its governour ; but a young married woman, I fay, makes a worfe without' her husband, when there is no jujl caufe for his ab- fence. I am fo imeafy without you, and fo entirely unable to fupport this ab- fence, that, if you do not return fpeedily, I maft go and pafs my time at my father's houfe, though I leave yours without a guard : for the guard you left ,?2e> if you hft him with that title, is, I believe, more intent upon his own plea- fur e, than upon any thing which concerns you : and, fince you are wife, I pall fay no more, nor is it proper I fiould.

Anfelmo received this letter, and underftood by it that Lothario had begun the attack, and that Camilla muft have received it according to his wiih : and, overjoyed at this good news, he fent Camilla a verbal meffage, not to ftir from her houfe upon any account, for he would return very fpeedily. Camilla was furprized at Anfelmo's anfwer, which encreafed the perplexity fhe was under : for now fhe durft neither flay in her own houfe, nor retire to that of her pa- rents; fince in fraying fhe hazarded her virtue, and in going fhe fhould act contrary to her husband's pofitive command. At length, fhe refolved upon that, which proved the worft for her ; which was, to flay, and not to fhun Lothario's com- pany, left it might give her fervants occafion to talk ; and fhe already began to be forry fhe had written what fhe did to her fpoufe, fearing left he fhould think, Lothario mufl have obferved fome figns of lightnefs in her, which had emboldened him to lay afide the refpect he owed her. But, confcious of her own integrity, fhe trufted in god, and her own virtuous difpofition, refolving to reiifl, by her filence, whatever Lothario fhould fay to her, without giving her husband any farther account, left it fhould involve him in any quarrel or trou- ble. She even began to confider how fhe might excufe Lothario to Anfelmo, When he mould ask her the caufe of her writing that letter.

With theie thoughts, more honourable than proper or beneficial, the next day

fhe fate flill, and heard what Lothario had to fay to her ; who plyed her fo

warmly, that Camilla's firmnefs began to totter ; and her virtue had much ado

- to get into her eyes, and prevent fome indications of an amorous compafTicn,

which

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 223

which the tears and arguments of Lothario had awakened in her breaft. All this Lothario obferved, and all contributed to inflame him the more. In Short, he thought it neceffiry, whilft he had the time and opportunity which An- film's abfence afforded him, to fhorten the fiege of the fortreSs. And there- fore he attacked her pride with the praifes of her beauty ; for there is nodiing, which fooner reduces and levels the towering caftles of the vanity of the fair fex, than vanity itfelf, when polled upon die tongue of flattery. In effect, he undermined the rock of her integrity with fuch engines, that, though fhe had been made of brafs, fhe mull have fallen to the ground. Lothario wept, en- treated, flattered, and folicited with fuch earneftnefs and demonstrations of fin- cerity, that he quite overthrew all Camilla's referve, and at Lift triumphed over what he leait expected, and molt defired. She Surrendered, even Camilla furrendered ; and what wonder, when even Lothario's friendfhip could not ftand its ground? A plain example, {hewing us, that the 'paffion of love is to be vanquifhed only by flying, and that we mult not pretend to grapple with fo powerful an enemy, lince divine fuccours are neceffary to fubdue fuch force, though human. Leonela alone was privy to her lady's frailty ; for the two faithlefs friends, and new lovers, could not hide it from her. Lothario would not acquaint Camilla with Anfelmo's project, nor with his having defignedly given him the opportunity of arriving at that point, left fhe fliould efteem his paffion the lefs, or fliould think he had made love to her by chance, rather than out of choice.

A few days after, Anfelmo returned home, and did not mifs what he had loft, which was what he took leaft care of, and yet valued moit. He prefently went to make a vifit to Lothario, and found him at home. They embraced each other, and the one enquired what news concerning his life or death. The news I have for you, O friend Anfelmo, faid Lothario, is, that you have a wife worthy to be the pattern and crown of all good women. The words I have faid to her are given to the wind ; my offers have been defpifed, my prefents refuSed ; and, when I fhed fome few feigned tears, fhe made a meer jeft of them. In fhort, as Camilla is the fum of all beauty, fhe is alio the repofitory, in which modefty, good-nature, and referve, with all the virtues which can make a good woman praife-worthy and happy, are treafured up. Therefore, friend, take back your money : here it is ; I had no occafion to make ufe of it ; for Camilla's integrity is not to be fhaken by things fo mean as prefents and pro- mifes. Be fatisfied, Anfelmo, and make no farther trials ; and fince you have fafely paffed the gulf of thofe doubts and fufpicions we are apt to entertain of women, do not again expofe yourfelf on the deep, fea of new difquiets, nor make a frefh trial, with another pilot, of the-goodnefs and Strength of the vef- fel, which heaven has allotted you for your paffage through the ocean of this world : but make account, that you are arrived fafe in port ; and Secure your- felf

224 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

felf with the anchor of ferious confideration, and lie by, 'till you are required to pay that duty, from which no human rank is exempted.

Anfelmo was entirely fatisfied with Lothario's words, and believed them as if they had been delivered by fome oracle. Nevertheless he defired him not to give over the undertaking, though he carried it on meerly out of curiofity and amufement ; however he need not, for the future, ply her fo clofe as he had done : all that he now defired of him, was, that he would write fome verfes in her praife under the name of Chloris, and he would feem to Camilla to think that he was in love with a lady, to whom he had given that name, that he might celebrate her with the regard due to her modefiy : and, if Lothario did not care to be at the trouble of writing the verfes himfelf, he would do it for him. There will be no need of that, faid Lothario ; for the Mufes are not fo unpropitious to me, but that, now and then, they make me a vifit. Tell you Camilla your thoughts of my counterfeit paflion, and leave me to make the verfes ; which, if not fo good as the fubjecl: deferves, fhall, at leafi, be the heft I can make. Thus agreed the impertinent and the treacherous friend. And Anfelmo, being returned to his houfe, enquired of Camilla, what me wondered he had not already enquired, namely, the occafion of her writing the letter fne had fent him. Camilla anfwered, that me then fancied Lothario looked at her. a little more licentioufly than when he was at home ; but that now (lie was undeceived, and believed it to be but a mere imagination of her own j for Lothario had, of late, avoided feeing, and being alone with her. Anfelmo re- plied, that fhe might be very fecure from that fufpicion ; for, to his know- ledge, Lothario was in love with a young lady of condition in the city, whom he celebrated under the name of Chloris ; and, though it were not fo, fhe had nothing to fear, confidering Lothario's virtue, and the great friendship that fub- fifted between them. Had not Camilla been beforehand advertifed by Lotha- rio, that this ftory of his love for Chloris was all a fiction, and that he had told it Anfelmo, that he might have an opportunity, now and then, of employing himfelf in the very praifes of Camilla, fhe had doubtlefs fallen into the deipe- rate fnare of jealoufy : but, being prepared for it, it gave her no difturbance.

The next day, they three being together at table, Anfelmo defired Lothario to recite fome of the verfes he had compofed on his beloved Chloris ; for, fince Camilla did not know her, he might fafely repeat what he pleafed. Though •fhe did know her, anfwered Lothario, I fhould have no reafon to conceal what I have written ; for when a lover praifes his miftreis's beauty, and, at the fame time, taxes her with cruelty, he cafls no reproach upon her good name. But, be that as it will, I muft tell you, that yeflerday I made a fonnet on the ingra- titude of Chloris ; and it is this.

SONNET.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. £25

SONNET.

In the dead filence of the peaceful night,

When others cares are hufl/d in foft repofe,

The fad account of my neglected woes,

To confcious heaven arid Chloris / recite. Aid when the fun, with his returning light,

Forth from the eajl his radiant journey goes,

With accents, fuch as forrow only knows,

My griefs to tell, is all my poor delight. Aid when bright Phoebus, from his farry throne.

Sends rays direct upon the parched foil,

Still in the mournful tale I perfevere.

Returning night renews my forrow 's toil ;

And though, from morn to night, I weep and moan,

Nor heaven nor Chloris my complainings hear.

Camilla was very well pleafed with the fonnet, but Anfelmo more : he com- mended it, and faid, the lady was extremely cruel, who made no return to fo much truth. What then ! replied Camilla, are we to take all that the enamour- ed poets tell us for truth ? Not all they tell us as poets, anfwered Lothario, but as lovers ; for though, as poets, they may exceed, as lovers they always fall fhort of the truth. There is no doubt of that, replied Anfelmo, refolved to fe- cond and fupport the credit of every thing Lothario faid with Camilla, who was now become as indifferent to Anfelmo'?, artifice, as (he was in love with Lothario. Being therefore pleafed with every thing that was his, and befides taking it for granted, that all his defires and verfes were addreffed to her, and that ilie was the true Chloris, (he defired him, if he could recoiled! any 'other fonnet or verfes, to repeat them. I remember one, anfwered Lothario ; but I believe it is not fo good as the former, or, to fpeak properly, lefs bad ; 'as you {hall judge ; for it is this.

SONNET.

I dye, if not believed, 'tis fure I dye,

For e'er I ceafe to love and to adore,

Or fly, ungrateful fair, your beauty's pow'r,

Dead at your, feet you fall behold me lye. When to the regions of obfeurity

I hence. am banijh'd, to enjoy no more

Glory and life, you, in that lucklefs hour,

Tour image graven in my heart fall fee. Vol. I. Gg rbat

226 725* LIFE and EXP LOITS of

That relique, with a lover's generous pride, I treafure in my breaft, the only fource Of comfort, whil/l thy rigour lets me live. Unhappy he, who fleers his dangerous courfe Through unfrequented feas, no far to guide. Nor port his fiatter'd vejfel to receive.

Anfelmo commended this fecond fonnet as much as he had done the firft ; and thus he went on, adding link after link to the chain, wherewith he bound himfelf, and fecured his own difhonour ; for when Lothario difhonoured him moll, he then afiured him his honour was fafeft. So that every ftep of the ladder Camilla delcended toward the center of contempt, fhe afcended, in her husband's opinion, toward the uppermost round of virtue and reputation.

Now it happened one day, that Camilla, being alone with her maid, faid to her ; I am aihamed, dear Leonela, to think how little value I fet upon myfelf, in not making it coil Lothario more time to gain the entire pofiefnon of my in- clinations, which I gave up fo foon : I fear he will look upon my eafinefs in furrendering as levity, without reflecting on the violence he ufed, which put it out of my power to refift him. Dear madam, anfwered Leonela, let not this trouble you ; for there is nothing in it : the value of a gift, if it be good in It felf, and worthy of efteem, is not leffened by being foon given ; and therefore it is faid, he who gives quickly gives twice. It is faid alfo, quoth Camilla, that which cofts little is lefs valued. This does not aftecl: your cafe, anfwered Leonela ; for love, as I have heard fay, fometimes flies and fometimes walks ; runs with one perfon, and goes leifurely with another : fome he warms, and fome he burns ; fome he wounds, and others he kills : in one and the fame in- fant he begins and concludes the career of his defires. He often in ^ the morning lays fiege to a fortrefs, and in the evening has it furrendered to him ; for no force is able to refift him. And, this being fo, what are you afraid of, if this be the very cafe of Lothario, love having made my mafter's abfence the inftrument to oblige us to furrender to him, and it being abfolutely necefiary for us to finifh, in that interval, what love has decreed, without giving Time him- felf any time to bring back Anfelmo, and, by his prefence, render the work imperfea ? for love has no furer minifter to execute his defigns than opportu- nity : it is that he makes ufe of in all his exploits, efpecially in the beginnings. All this I am well acquainted with, and from experience rather than hearfay ; and, one day or other, madam, I may let you fee, -that I alfo am a girl of rlefh. and blood. Befides, madam, you did not declare your paffion, nor engage your felf fo foon, but you had firft Veen in his eyes, in his fighs, in his expreffions, in his promifes, and his prefents, Lothario's whole foul • and in that, and all his accomplishments, how worthy Lothario was of your love. Then, fince it is fo, let not thefe fcrupulous and childiih thoughts difturb you, but reft affured,

that

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 227

that Lothario efteems you no lefs than you do him ; and live contented and fa- tisfied, that, fince you are fallen into the fnare of love, it is with a perfon of worth and character, and one who poffefl'es not only the four SS ', which, they fay, all true lovers ought to have, but the whole alphabet. Do but hear me, and you fhall fee how I have it by heart. He is, if I judge right, * amiable, bountiful, conftant, daring, enamoured, faithful, gallant, honourable, illuftrious, kind, loyal, mild, noble, obliging, prudent, quiet, rich, and die SS, as they fay ; laftly, true, valiant, and wife : the X fuits him not, becaufe it is a harm letter ; the Y, he is young ; the Z, zealous of your honour 3. Camilla fmiled at her maid's alphabet, and took her to be more converfant in love-matters, than fhe had hi- therto owned ; and indeed fhe now confefled to Camilla, that me had a love- affair with a young gentleman of the fame city. At which Camilla was much difturbed, fearing left, from that quarter, her own honour might be in danger. And therefore fhe fifted her, to know whether her amour had gone farther than words. She, with little fhame, and much boldnefs, owned it had. For it is certain, that the flips of the miftrefs take off all fhame from the maid- fervants, who, when they fee their miftreffes trip, make nothing of downright halting, nor of its being known. Camilla could do no more but beg of Leonela to fay nothing of her affair to the perfon fhe faid was her lover, and to manage her own with fuch fecrecy, that it might not come to the knowledge of Atifelmo or of Lothario. Leonela anfwered, fhe would do fo : but fhe kept her word in fuch a manner, as juftified Ca?nilla's fears, that fhe might lofe her reputation by her means. For the lewd and bold Leonela, when fhe found, that her miftrefs's conduct was not the fame it ufed to be, had the affurance to introduce and con- ceal her lover in the houfe, prefuming that her lady durft not fpeak of it, though fhe knew it. For this inconvenience, among others, attends the failings of miftreffes, that they become flaves to their very fervants, and are neceffitated to conceal their difhonefty and lewdnefs ; as was the cafe with Camilla. For, though fhe faw, not once only, but feveral times, that Leonela was with her gallant in a room of her houfe, fhe was fo far from daring to chide her, that fhe gave her opportunities of locking him in, and did all fhe could to prevent his being feen by her husband. But all could not hinder Lothario from feeing him once go out of the houfe at break of day ; who, not knowing who he was, thought, at firft, it muft be fome apparition. But when he faw him fteal off, muffling himfelf up, and concealing himfelf with care and caution, he changed one foolifli opinion for another, which muft have been the ruin of them all, if Camilla had not remedied it. Lothario was fo far from thinking, that the man, whom he had feen coming out of Anfelmo's houfe, at fo unfea- fonable an hour, came thither upon Lconela's account, that he did not fo much

' As if we mould fay, fightly, fprightly, fmcert, and ftcrtt.

* It was impoffible here to trandate the original exaftly, it being neceffary to ufe words whofe initial letters follow in an alphabetical order.

3 This is fomething like that play in ufe among us ; I love mykvtwth an A, becaufe he is amorous, Sec.

Gg 2 as

223 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

as remember there was fuch a perfon as Leonela in the world. What he thought, was, that Camilla, as fhe had been eafy and complying to him, was fo to another alfo : for the wickednefs of a bad woman carries this additional mifchief along with it, that it weakens her credit even with the man, to whofe intreaties and perfuafions me furrendered her honour ; and he is ready to be- lieve, upon the flightefl grounds, that fhe yields to others even with greater fa- cility.

All Lothario's good fenfe, and prudent reafonings, feem to have failed him upon this occafion : for, without making one proper, or even rational reflexion, without more ado, grown impatient, and blinded with a jealous rage, that gnawed his bowels, and dying to be revenged on Camilla, who had offended him in nothing, he went to Anfelmo before he was up, and faid to him : Know, Anfelmo, that, for feveral days paft, I have ftruggled with myfelf, to keep from you what it is no longer pofhble nor juft to conceal. Know, that Camilla's. fort is furrendered, and fubmitted to my will and pleafure ; and if I have de- layed difcovering to you this truth, it was, to fatisfy myfelf whether it was only fome tranfient fancy of her's, or whether fhe had a mind to try me, and to fee whether the love I made to her, with your connivance, was in earnefh And I ftill believed, if fhe was what fhe ought to be, and what we both thought her, fhe would, before now, have given you an account of my felici- tations. But, fince I find fhe has not, I conclude fhe intends to keep the pro- mife fhe has made me of giving me a meeting, the next time you are abfent from home, in the wardrobe (and, indeed, that was the place where Camilla. ufed to entertain him.) And, fince the fault is not yet committed, excepting ia thought only, I would not have you run precipitately to take revenge ; fory perhaps, between this and the time of putting it in execution, Camilla may change her mind, and repent. And therefore, as you have hitherto always followed my advice, in whole or in part, follow and obferve this I fhall now give you, that, without poffibility of being miftaken, and upon matured deli- beration, you may fatisfy yourfelf as to what is moft fitting for you to do. Pre- tend an abfence of three or four days, as you ufed to do at other times, and contrive to hide yourfelf in the wardrobe, where the tapeflry, and other moveables, may fcrve to conceal you ; and then you will fee with your own eyes, and I with mine, what Camilla intends ; and if it be wickednefs, as is rather to be feared than expeded, you may then, with fecrecy and caution, be. the avenger of your own injury.

Jnfelmo was amazed, confounded, and aftonifhed at Lothario's words, which came upon him at a time when he leaft expefted to hear them ; for he already looked upon Camilla as victorious over Lothario's feigned affaults, and began to en- joy the glory of the conqueft. He ftooda good while with his eyes fixed motionlefs on the ground, and at lengdi faid : Lothario, you have done what I expected from your friendfhip : I rauft follow your advice in every tiling : do what you

will,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 229

will, and be as fecret as fo unlooked for an event requires. Lothario promifcl him he would ; and fcarce had he left him, when he began to repent of all he had faid, and was convinced he had acted foolifhly, fince he might have re- venged himfelf on Camilla by a lefs cruel and lefs dishonourable method. He curfed his want of fenfe, condemned his heedlefs refolution, and was at a lofs how to undo what was done, or to get tolerably well out of the fcrape. At laft he refolved to difcover all to Camilla ; and, as he could not long want an opportunity of doing it, that very day he found her alone ; and immediately, on his coming in, me faid : Know, dear Lothario, that I have an uneafinefs at heart, which tortures me in fuch a manner, that methinks it is ready to burft it, and, indeed, it is a wonder it does not ; for Lconcla\ impudence is arrived to that pitch, that fhe, every night, entertains a gallant in the houfe, who flays with her 'till day-light, fo much to the prejudice of my reputation, that it will leave room for cenfure to whoever (hall fee him go out at fuch unfeafonable hours : and what gives me the moff. concern is, that I cannot chaftife, or fo much as reprimand her : for her being in the fecret of our correfpondence puts a bridle into my mouth, and obliges me to conceal her's ; and I am afraid of fome unlucky event from this corner. At firft, when Camilla faid this, Lo- thario believed it a piece of cunning to miflead him, by perfuading him that the man, he faw go out, was Leonela's galant, and not Camilla's : but, per- ceiving that flie wept, and afflicted herfelf, and begged his atfiffance in finding a remedy, he foon came into the belief of what fhe faid ; and fo was filled with confufion and repentance for what he had done. He defired Camilla to make herfelf eafy, for he would take an effectual courfe to reftrain Leonela's infolence. He alfo told her what the furious rage of jealoufy had inffigated him to tell Anfelmo, and how it was agreed that Anfelmo lhould hide himfelf in the wardrobe, to be an eye-wknefs, from thence, of her difloyalty to him. He begged her to pardon this madnefs, and defired her advice how to remedy what was done, and extricate them out of fo perplexed a labyrinth, as his rafhnefs had involved them in. Camilla was aftonifhed at hearing what Lothario faid, and, with much refentment, reproached Iiim for the ill thoughts he had entertained of her ; and, with many and difcreet reafons, fet before him the folly and inconfideratcnefs of the refolution he had taken. But, as women have naturally a more ready turn of wit, either for good or bad purpofes, than men, though it often fails them, when they fet themfelves purpofely to deliberate ; Camilla inftantly hit upon a way to remedy an affair feemingly incapable of all remedy. She bid Lothario fee that Anfelmo hid himfelf the next day where he had propofed ; for by this very hiding fhe propofed to fecure, for the future, their mutual enjoyment, with- out fear of furprize : and, without letting him into the whole of her defign, fhe only defired him, after Anfelmo was ported, to be ready at Leoncla's call, and that he fhould take care to anfwer to whatever fhe fhould fay to him, juft as he would do, if he did not know that Afelmo was listening. Lothario

infilled

23o 7Ze LIFE and EXPLOITS of

infifted on her explaining to him her whole defign, that he might, with the more fafety and caution, be upon his guard in all that he thought necenary. No other guard, faid Camilla, is neceflary, but only to anfwer me directly to what I fhall ask you. For me was not willing to let him into the fecret of what me intended to do, left he mould not come into that defign, which me thought fo good, and mould look out for fome other, not likely to prove fo fuc- cefsful.

Lothario then left her, and the next day Anfelmo, under pretence of going to his friend's villa, went prefently from home, but turned back to hide himfelf ; which he might conveniently enough do : for Camilla and Leonela were out of the way on purpofe. Anfelmo being now hid, with all that palpitation of heart, which may be imagined in one, who expected to fee with his own eyes the bowels of his honour ripped up, and was upon the point of lofing that fu- preme blifs he thought himfelf pollened of in his beloved Camilla ; fhe and Leonela, being fecure and certain that Anfelmo was behind the hangings, came together into the wardrobe ; and Camilla had fcarce fet her foot in it, when, fetching a deep figh, fhe faid ; Ah, dear Leonela, would it not be better, before I put that in execution , which I would keep fecret from you, left you fhould endeavour to prevent it, that you mould take Anfelmo' & dagger, and plunge it into this infamous breaft? But do it not; for it is not reafonable I mould bear the punifhment of another's fault. I will firft know, what the bold and wan- ton eyes of Lothario faw in me, that could give him the afturance to difcover fo wicked a defign, as that he has difcovered to me, in contempt of his friend, and of my honour. Step to the window, Leonela, and call him; for, doubtlefs, he is waiting in the ftreet, in hopes of putting his wicked defign in execution. But firft my cruel, but honourable, purpofe fhall be executed. Ah, dear ma- dam! anfwered the cunning and well-inftructed Leonela, what is it you intend to do with this dagger? is it to take away your own life, or Lothario's} Which- ever of the two you do, will redound to the ruin of your credit and fame. It is better you fhould diffemble your wrong, than to let this wicked man now in- to the houfe, while we are alone. Confider, madam, we are weak women, and he a man, and refolute; and, as he comes blinded and big with his wicked purpofe, he may, perhaps, before you can execute yours, do what would be worfe for you, than taking away your life. A mifchief take my ma- iler Anfelmo, for giving this impudent fellow fuch an afcendant in his houfe. But, pray, madam, if you kill him, as I imagine you intend, what fhall we do with him after he is dead? What, child? anfwered Camilla; why, leave him here for Anfelmo to bury him: for it is but juft he fhould have the agree- able trouble of burying his own infamy. Call him, without more ado; for all the time I lofe in delaying to take due revenge for my wrong, methinks I of- fend againft that loyalty I owe to my husband.

All

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 231

All tliis Jnfelmo liftened to, and his thoughts were continually changing at every word Camilla fpoke. But when he undcrftood, that flie intended to kill Lothario, he was inclined to prevent it by coming out and difcovering himfelf, but was withheld by the ftrong delire lie had to fee what would be the end of fo brave and virtuous a refolution; purpofing however to come out time enough to prevent mifchief. And now Camilla was taken with a fainting fit, and, throwing herfelf upon a bed that was there, Leonela began to weep bit- terly, and to lay: Ah, wo is me! diat I fhould be fo unhappy as to fee die here, between my arms, die flower of the world's virtue, the crown of good women, the pattern of chaftity; with other fuch expreflions, that no body, who had heard her, but would have taken her for the moft companionate and faithful damfel in the univerfe, and her lady for another perfecuted Penelope. Camilla foon recovered from her fwoon, and, when fhe was come to herfelf, die laid; Why do you not go, Leonela, and call the moft faithlefs friend of all friends that the fun has feen, or the night covered ? Be quick, run, fly; let not the fire of my rage evaporate and be fpent by delay, and the juft vengeance I expect pafs off in empty threatnings and curfes. I am going to call him, laid Leonela ; but, dear madam, you muft firft give me that dagger, left, when I am gone, you fhould do a thing which might give thofe who love you caufe to weep all their lives long. Go, dear Leonela, and fear not, faid Camilla ; I will not do it: for though I am refolute, and, in your opinion, fimple in defending my honour, I fhall not be fo to the degree that Lucretia was, of whom it is faid, that fhe killed herfelf without having committed any fault, and without firft killing him, who was the caufe of her misfortune. Yes, I will die, if die I muft; but it (hall be after I have fatiated my revenge on him, who is the oc- casion of my being now here to bewail his infolence, which proceeded from no fault of mine.

Leonela wanted a great deal of entreaty, before fhe would go and call Lo- thario ; but at laft flie went, and, while fhe was away, Camilla, as if fhe was talking to herfelf, faid : Good god ! would it not have been more advifeable to have difmifled Lothario, as I have done many other times, than to give him room, as I have now done, to think me difhoneft and naught, though it be only for the fhort time I defer the undeceiving him? Without doubt it would have been better; but I fhall not be revenged, nor my husband's honour fatis- fied, if he gets off fo clean, and fo fmoothly, from an attempt, to which his wicked thoughts have led him. No! let the traitor pay with his life 'for what he entcrprizes with fo lafcivious a defire. Let the world know (if perchance it comes to know it) that Camilla not only preferved her loyalty to her husband, but revenged him on the perfon, who dared to wrong him. But, a! , it

would perhaps be better to give an account of the whole matter to retmo : but I have already hinted it to him in the letter I wrote him into the country* and I fancy his neglecting to remedy the mifchief I pointed out to him, muft

be

232 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

be owing to pure good-nature, and a confidence in Lothario, which would not let him believe, that the leaft thought, to the prejudice of his honour, could be lodged in the breaft of fo faithful a friend: nor did I myfelf believe it for many days, nor mould ever have given credit to it, if his infolence had not rifen fo high, and his avowed prefents, large promifes, and continual tears, put it paft all difpute. But why do I talk thus ? Does a brave refolution ftand in need of counfel? No certainly. Traitor avaunt! Come, vengeance! Let the falfe one come, let him enter, let him die, and then befal what will. Unfpotted I en- tered into the power of him, whom heaven allotted me for my husband, and unfpotted I will leave him, though bathed all over in my own chafte blood, and the impure gore of the falfefl friend that friendfhip ever faw. And faying this, fhe walked up and down the room, with the drawn dagger in her hand, taking fuch irregular and huge ftrides, and with fuch geftures, that one would have thought her befide herfelf, and have taken her, not for a foft and delicate woman, but for fome defperate ruffian.

Anfelmo obferved all from behind the arras where he had hid himfelf, and was amazed at all, and already thought what he had feen and heard fufficient to balance null greater fufpicions, and began to wifh that Lothario might not come, for fear of fome fudden difafter. And being now upon the point of difcover- ing himfelf, and coming out to embrace and undeceive his wife, he was pre- vented by feeing Leonela return with Lothario by the hand} and, aflbon as Gz- milla faw him, (lie drew with the dagger a long line between her and him, and faid : Take notice, Lothario, of what I fay to you : if you mail dare to pafs this line you fee here, or but come up to it, the moment I fee you attempt it, I will pierce my breaft with this dagger I hold in my hand : but, before you an- fwer me a word to this, hear a few more I have to fay to you, and then an- fwer me as you pleafe. In the firft place, Lothario, I defire you to tell me, whether you know Anfehno my husband, and in what eftimation you hold him? And, in the next place, I would be informed whether you know me ? Anfwer me to this, and be under no concern, nor ftudy for an anfwer j for they are no difficult queftions I ask you. Lothario was not fo ignorant, but that, from the intrant Camilla bid him hide Anfehno, he guelfed what fhe intended to do, and accordingly humoured her defign fo well, that they were able, between them, to make the counterfeit pafs for fomething more than truth; and therefore he anfwered Camilla in this manner. I did not imagine, fair Camilla, that you called me to anfwer to things fo wide of the purpofe, for which I came hitherv If you do it to delay me the promifed favour, why did you not adjourn it to a ftill farther day ? for the nearer the profpecT: of poffeffion is, the more eager we are to enjoy the'deiired good. But, that you may not fay, I do not* anfwer to your queftions, I reply, that I know your husband Anfehno, and that we have known each other from our tender years : of our friendfhip I will fay nothing, that I may not be a witnefs againft myfelf of the wrong which love, that powerful ex-

cufe

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 233

cufe for greater faults, has made me do him : you too I know, and prize you as highly as he does : for were it not fo, I fhould not, for lefs excellence, have a&ed fo contrary to my duty as a gentleman, and fo much againft the holy laws of true friendfhip, which I have now broken and violated through the tyranny of that enemy, love. If you acknowledge fo much, replied Camilla, mortal enemy of all that iuftly deferves to be loved, with what face dare you appear before her, whom you know to be the mirrour, in which Anfelmo looks, and in which you might have feen upon what flight grounds you injure him ? But all ! unhappy me ! I now begin to find what it was that made you forget yourfclf ; it was doubtlefs fome indifcretion of mine : for I will not call it immodefby, fince it proceeded not from defign, but from fome one of thofe inadvertencie:, which women frequently fall into unawares, when there is no body prefent, be- fore whom, they think, they need be upon the referve. But tell me, O trai- tor, when did I ever anfwer your addreffes with any word or fign that could give you the leaft fhadow of hope, that you fhould ever accomplish your infa- mous defires ? When were not your amorous expreflions repulfed and rebuked with rigour and feverity ? When were your many promifes, and greater pre- fents, believed or accepted ? But knowing, that no one can perfevere long in an affair of love, unlefs it be kept alive by fome hope, I take upon myfelf the blame of your impertinence ; fince, without doubt, fome inadvertency of mine has nourifhed your hope fo long: and therefore I will chafiife, and inflict that punifhment 'on myfelf, which your offence deferves. And to convince you, that, being fo fevere to myfelf, I could not poflibly be otherwife to you, I had a mind you fhould come hither to be a witnefs to the facrifice I intend to make to die offended honour of my worthy husband, injured by you with the greatest deliberation imaginable, and by me too through my carelefnefs in not fhunning the occafion (if I gave you any) of countenancing and authorizing your wicked intentions. I fay again, that the fufpicion I have, that fome inadvertency of mine has occafioned fuch licentious thoughts in you, is what disturbs me the moft, and what I moft defire to punifli with my own hands : for fhould fome other Executioner do it, my crime, perhaps, would be more public. Yes, I will die, but I will die killing, and carry with me one, who mall entirely fa- tisfy the thirfl of that revenge I expect, and partly enjoy already, as I fhall have before my eyes,' to what place foever I go, the vengeance of impartial iuftice ftrictly executed on him, who has reduced me to this defperate con- dition.

At thefe words fhe flew upon Lothario, with the drawn dagger, fo Swiftly, and with fuch incredible violence, and with fuch feeming earneStnefs to flab him to the heart, that he was almofl in doubt himfelf whether thofe efforts were feigned or real ; and he was forced to make ufe of all his dexterity and Strength to prevent his being wounded by Camilla, who played the counterfeit fo to the life, that, to give this Strange impoflure a colour of truth, fhe refolved to Stain Vol. I. H h it

234 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

it with her own blood. For perceiving, or pretending, that fhe could not wound Lothario, fhe faid : Since fortune denies a complete fatisfa&ion to my juft defires, it fhall not however be in its power to defeat that fatisfa&ion en- tirely: and fo flruggling to free her dagger-hand, held by Lothario, fhe got it loofe, and, directing the point to a part, where it might give but a flight wound, fhe ftabbed herfelf above the breafr, near the left fhoulder, and pre- fently fell to the ground as in a fwoon. Leone/a and Lothario were in fufpence, and aftonifhed at fuch an accident, and were in doubt what to think of it, eipe- cially when they faw Camilla lying on the floor, and bathed in her own blood. Lothario ran haflily, frighted, and breathlefs, to draw out the dagger; but per- ceiving the flightnefs of the wound, the fear he had been in vanifhed, and he admired afrefh at the fagacity, prudence, and great ingenuity of the fair Ca- milla. And now, to act his part, he began to make a long and forrowful lamen- tation over the body of Camilla, as if fhe were dead, imprecating heavy curies, not only on himfelf, but on him who had been the caufe of bringing him to that pals : and, knowing that his friend Anfelmo liftened, he faid fuch things, that whoever had heard them would have pitied him more than they would have done Camilla herfelf, though they had judged her to be really dead. Leonela took her in her arms, and laid her on the bed, befeeching Lothario to procure fomebody to drefs Camilla's wound fecretly. She alfo defired his advice and opinion what they fhould fay to Anfelmo about it, if he fhould chance to come home before it was healed. He anfwered, that they might fay what they pleafedj that he was not in a condition of giving any advice worth following: he bid her endeavour to ftaunch the blood; and, as for himfelf, he would go where he fhould never be feen more. And fo, with a fhew of much forrow and concern, he left the houfe; and when he found himfelf alone, and in a place where no body fliw him, he ceafed not to crofs himfelf in admiration at the cunning of Camilla, and the fuitable behaviour of Leinela. He confidered what a thorough affurance Anfelmo mufl have of his wife's being a fecond Porcia, and wanted to be with him, that they might rejoice together at the impofture and the truth, the mofl artfully difguifed that can be imagined. Leonela, as fhe was bidden, flaunched her miftrefs's blood, which was juft as much as might ferve to colour her fcratagem; and warning the wound with a little wine, fhe bound it up the beft fhe could, faying fuch things, while me was drefling it, as were alone fufficient to make Anfelmo believe, that he had in Camilla an image of chaftity. To the words Leonela faid Camilla added others, calling herfelf coward and poor-fpirited, in that fhe wanted the refolution, at a time when fhe i^ood mofl: in need, to deprive herfelf of that life (lie fo much ab- horred. She asked her maid's advice, whether fhe fhould give an account of what had happened to her beloved fpoufe, or no. Leonela perfuaded her to fay nothing about it, fmce it would lay him under a neceffity of revenging him- felf on Lothario, which he could not do without great danger to himfelf; and

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20

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 135

a good woman was obliged to avoid all occafion of involving her husband in a quarrel, and fhould rather prevent all fuch as much as fbe poflibly could. Ca- milla replied, me approved of her opinion, and would follow it; but that by all means they muft contrive what to fay to Anfclmo about the wound, which he muft needs fee. To which Leonela anfwered, that, for her part, fhe knew not how to tell a lye, though but in jeft. Then, pr'ythce, replied Camilla, how fhould I know how, who dare not invent, or ftand in one, though my life were at ftake? If we cannot contrive to come well oft", it will be better to tell him the naked truth, than that he fhould catch us in a falfe ftory. Be in no pain, madam, anfwered Leonela; for, between this and to-morrow morning, I will ftudy what we ihall tell himj and perhaps, the wound being where it is, you may conceal it from his fight, and heaven may be pleafed to favour our juft and honourable intentions. Compofe yourfelf, good madam ; endeavour to quiet your fpirits, that my mafter may not find you in fo violent a diforder : and leave the reft to my care, and to that of heaven, which always favours honeft deiigns.

Anfclmo flood, with the utmoft attention, liftening to, and beholding repre- fented, the tragedy of the death of his honour ; which the actors performed with fuch ftrange and moving paflions, that it feemed as if they were tranf- formed into the very characters they perfonated. He longed for the night, and for an opportunity of flipping out of his houfe, that he might fee his dear friend Lothario, and rejoice with him on the finding fo precious a jewel, by the perfectly clearing upof his wife's virtue. They both took care to give him a con- venient opportunity of going out; which he made ufe of, and immediately went to feek Lothario ; and, having found him, it is impoflible to recount the embraces he gave him, the fatisfaction he exprefTed, and the praifes he beftow- ed on Camilla. All which Lothario hearkened to, without being able to fhew any figns of joy; for he could not but reflect how much his friend was de- ceived, and how ungeneroufly he treated him. And though Anfclmo perceived that Lothario did not exprefs any joy, he believed it was becaufe Camilla was wounded, and he had been the occafion of it. And therefore, among other tilings, he defired him to be in no pain about Camilla; for, without doubt, the wound muft be very flight, fince her maid and fhe had agreed to hide it from him : and, as he might depend upon it there was nothing to be feared, he de- fired that thenceforward he would rejoice and be merry with him, fince, through his diligence, and by his means, he found himfelf raifed to the -higheft pitch of happinefs he could wifh to arrive at; and, for himfelf, he faid, he would make it his paftime and amufement to write verfes in praife of Camilla, to perpetuate her memory to all future ages. Lothario applauded .his good refolution, and faid, that he too would lend a helping hand towards raifing fo illuftrious an edifice.

H h 2 Anfelmo

236 Tie LIFE and EXPLO ITS of

Anfelmo now remained the man of the world the mod agreeably deceived. He led home by the hand the inftrument, as he thought, of his glory, but if! reality the ruin of his fame. Camilla received Lothario with a countenance feemingly my, but with inward gladnefs of heart. This impofture lafted fome time, 'till, a few months after, fortune turned her wheel, and the iniquity, 'till then fo artfully concealed, came to light, and his impertinent curiofity coft poor Anfelmo his life.

CHAP. VIII.

The conchjion of The Novel of the Curious Impertinent, with the dreadful battle betwixt Don Quixote and certain wine-skins.

•TT HERE remained but little more of the Novel to be read, when from the A room, where Don Quixote lay, Sancho Pan fa came running out all in a fright, crying aloud : Run, firs, quickly, and fuccour my mailer, who is over head and ears in the tougheft and clofefl battle my eyes have ever beheld. As god fhall fave me, he has given the giant, that enemy of the princefs Micomi- cona, fuch a ftroke, that he has cut off his head clofe to his moulders, as if it had been a turnip. What l'ay you, brother ? quoth the prieft, leaving off read- ing the remainder of the Novel, are you in your fenfes, Sancho? How the de- vil can this be, feeing the giant is two thoufand leagues off? At that inftant they heard a great noife in the room, and Don Quixote calling aloud, Stay, cowardly thief, robber, rogue j for here I have you, and your fcymitar mall avail you nothing. And it feemed as if he gave feveral hacks and flames againfr. the walls. There is no need of your ftanding to lifien, quoth Sancho ; go in and part the fray, or aid my matter: though by this time there will be no occafion ; for doubtlefs the giant is already dead, and giving an account to god of his part wicked life ; for I faw the blood run about the floor, and the head cut off, and fallen on one fide, and as big as a great wine-skin ". I will be handed, quoth the inn-keeper at this juncture, if Don Quixote, or Don Devil, has not given a gafh to fome of the wine-skins that fiand at his bed's-head, and the wine he has let out mufl be what this honeft fellow takes for blood : and fo faying he went into the room, and the whole company after him; and they found Don Quixote in the ftrangeft fituation in the world. He was in his fhirt, which was not quite long enough before to cover his thighs, and was fix inches fhorter be- hind : his legs were very long and lean, full of hair, and not over clean : he had on his head a little red cap, fomewhat greafy, which belonged to the inn- keeper. About his left arm he had twifted the bed-blanket (to which Sancho owed a grudge, and he very well knew why) and in his right hand he held his drawn fword, with which he was laying about him on all fides, and uttering words, as if he had really been fighting with fome gi;:nt r and the beffc of it

* In Spain they keep their wines in the skin of a hog, goat, Iheep, or other beaft.

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DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 237

was, his eyes were Shut ; for he was afleep, and dreaming that he was engaged in battle with the giant : for his imagination was fo taken up with the adven- ture he had undertaken, that it made him dream he was already arrived at the kingdom of Micomicon, and already engaged in fight with his enemy ; and, fancying he was cleaving the giant down, he had given the skins fo many cuts, that the whole room was afloat with wine. The inn-keeper, perceiving it, fell into fuch a rage, that he fet upon Don Quixote, and, with his clenched fifts, began to give him fo many cuffs, that, if Cardenio and the pried had not taken him off, he would have put an end to the war of the giant ; and yet, notwith- standing all this, the poor gentleman did not awake, 'till the barber brought a large bucket of cold water from the well, and foufed it all over his body at a daSh ; whereat Don Quixote awaked, but not fo thoroughly as to be fenfible of the pickle he was in. Dorothea, perceiving how fcantily and airily he was arrayed, would not go in to fee the fight between her champion and her adver- fary. Sancho was Searching all about the floor for the head of the giant, and not finding it faid : Well, I fee plainly, that every thing about this houfe is no- thing but enchantment : for, the time before, in this very fame place where I now am, I had feveral punches and thumps given me, without knowing from whence they came, or feeing any body : and now the head is vanished, which I faw cut off with my own eyes, and the blood fpouting from the body like any foun- tain. What blood, and what fountain ? thou enemy to god and his faints ! faid the inn-keeper. Do you not fee, thief, that the blood and the fountain are no- thing but thefe skins pierced and ripped open, and the red wine floating about the room ? I wish I may fee his foul floating in hell that pierced them ! I know nothing, faid Sancho ; only that I (hall be fo unfortunate, that, for want of finding this head, my earldom will melt away like fait in water. Now Sancho's folly, though awake, was greater than his mafter's, afleep, fo be- fotted was he with the promifes he had made him. The inn-keeper loft all patience, to fee the (quire's flegm, and the knight's wicked handy- work, and fwore they Should not efcape, as they did the time before, with- out paying ; and that, this bout, the privileges of his chivalry Should not ex- empt him from difcharging both reckonings, even to the patches of the pierced skins.

The prieft held Don Quixote by the hands, who, imagining he had finished the adventure, and that he was in the prefence of the princefs Micomicona, kneeled down before the prieft, and faid : High and renowned lady, well may your grandeur from this day forward live more fecure, now that this ill-born creature can do you no hurt ; and I alfo, from this day forward, am freed from the promife I gave you, fince, by the affiStance of the moft high god, and through the favour of her by whom I live and breathe, I have fo happily accomplished it. Did not I tell you io ? quoth Sancho, hearing this ; (o that I was not drunk : fee, if my maSter has not already put the giant in pickle : here are the

bulls j

238 tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

bulls T; my earldom is cock-fure. Who could forbear laughing at the absurdi- ties of both matter and man ? They all laughed, except the inn-keeper, who curfed himfelf to the devil. But, at length, the barber, Cardenio, and the prieft, with much ado, threw Don Quixote on the bed ; who fell fa ft afleep, with figns of very great fatigue. They left him to fleep on, and went out to the inn-door, to comfort Sancho for not finding the giant's head : though they had moft to do to pacify the inn-keeper, who was out of his wits for the mur- der of his wine-skins. The hoftefs muttered, and faid : In an unlucky minute, and in an evil hour, came this knight-errant into my houfe : O that my eyes had never feen him ! he has been a dear gueft to me. The laft time, he went away with a night's reckoning, for fupper, bed, ftraw, and barley, for himfelf, and for his fquire, for a horfe and an afs, telling us, forfooth, that he was a knight-adventurer (may evil adventures befal him, and all the adventurers in the world !) and that therefore he was not obliged to pay any tiling, for fo it was written in the regifters of knight-errantry : and now again, on his account too, comes this other gentleman, and carries off my tail, and returns it me with two penny worth of damage, all the hair off, fo that it can ferve no more for my husband's purpofe. And, after all, to rip open my skins, and let out my wine ! would I could fee his blood fo let out. But let him not think to efcape ; for, by the bones of my father, and the foul of my mother, they fhall pay me down upon the nail every farthing, or may I never be called by my own name, nor be my own father's daughter. The hoftefs faid all this and more, in great wrath, and honeft Maritornes, her maid, feconded her. The daughter held her peace, but now and then fmiled. The prieft quieted all, promifing to make them the beft reparation he could for their lofs, as well in the wine- skins as the wine, and efpecially for the damage done to the tail, which they valued fo much. Dorothea comforted Sancbo Pan$a, telling him, that when- ever it fhould really appear, that his mafter had cut off the giant's head, fhe promifed, when fhe was peaceably feated on her throne, to beftow on him the beft earldom in her dominions. Herewith Sancbo was comforted, and affured the princefs fhe might depend upon it, that he had feen the giant's head, by the fame token that it had a beard which reached down to the girdle ; and if it was not to be found, it was, becaufe every thing paffed in that houfe by way of enchantment, as he had experienced the laft time he lodged there. Dorothea faid fhe believed fo, and bid him be in no pain ; for all would be well, and fucceed to his heart's defire. All being now pacified,, the prieft had a mind to read the remainder of the novel ; for he faw it wanted but little. Cardenio, Dorothea, and the reft intreated him fo to do ; and he, willing to pleafe all the company, and himfelf among the reft, went on with the ftory as follows.

Now fo it was, that Anjclmo, through the fatisfaftion he took in the fup- pofed virtue of Camilla, lived with all the content and fecurity in the world ;

' In allufion to the joy of the mob in Spain, when they fee the bulls coming.

and

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 239

and Camilla purpofcly looked fhy on Lothario, that Anfelmo might think fhe ra- ther hated than loved him : and Lothario, for farther fecurity in his affair, begged Anfelmo to excufe his coming any more to his houfe, fince it was plain, the fight of him gave Camilla great uneafmefs. But the deceived Anfelmo would by no means comply with his requeft : and thus, by a thoufand different ways, he became the contriver of his own difhonour, while he thought he was fo of his pleafure. As for Leonela, fhe was fo pleafed to find herlelf thus at liberty to follow her amour, that, without minding any thing elfe, fhe let loofe the reins, and took her fwing, being confident that her lady would conceal it, and even put her in the moft commodious way of carrying it on.

In fhort, one ni<mt Anfelmo perceived fome body walking in Leonela' & cham- ber, and, being delirous to go in to know who it was, he found the door was held a°-ainfr. him ; which encreafed his defire of getting in ; and he made fuch an effort, that he burft open the door, and, juft as he entered, he faw a man leap down from the window into the ftreet : and running haftily to flop him, or to fee who he was, he could do neither ; for Leonela clung about him, crying, Dear Sir, becalm, and be not fo greatly difturbed, nor purfue the man who leaped out : he belongs to me ; in fhort, he is my husband. An- felmo would not believe Leonela, but, blind with rage, drew his ponyard, and offered to ftab her, affuring her, that, if fhe did not tell him the whole truth, he would kill her. She, with the fright, not knowing what fhe was faying, faid : Do not kill me, Sir, and I will tell you things of greater importance than any you can imagine. Tell me then quickly, faid Anfelmo, or you are a dead woman. At prefent, it is impoffible, faid Leonela, I am in fuch con- fufion : let me alone 'till to-morrow morning, and then you fhall know from me what will amaze you : in the mean time be affured, that the perfon, who jumped out at the window, is a young man of this city, who has given me a promife of marriage. With this Anfelmo was fomewhat pacified, and was content to wait the time fhe defired, not dreaming he fhould hear any thing asainft Camilla, of whofe virtue he was fo fatisfied and fecure ; and fo leaving the room, he locked Leonela in, telling her fhe fhould not ftir from thence, 'till fhe had told him what fhe had to fay to him. He went immediately to Camilla, and related to her all that had paffed with her waiting-woman, and the promife fhe had given him to acquaint him with things of the utmoft impor- tance. It is needlefs to fay whether Camilla was difturbed or not : fo great was the confirmation fhe was in, that verily believing (as indeed it was very likely) that Leonela would tell Anfelmo all fhe knew of her difloyalty, fhe had not the courage to wait 'till fhe faw whether her fufpicion was well or ill grounded : and that very night, when fhe found Anfelmo was afleep, taking with her all her beft jewels, and fome money, without being perceived by any body, flie left her houfe, and went to Lothario's, to whom fhe recounted what had paffed, defiring him to .conduct her to fome place of fafety, or to go off with

her,.

240 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

her, where they might live fecure from Anfelmo. Camilla put Lothario into fuch confufion, that he knew not how to anfwer her a word, much lefs to re» folve what was to be done. At length, he bethought himfelf of carrying Ca- milla to a convent, the priorefs of which was a fifter of his. Camilla confented, and Lothario conveyed her thither with all the hafte the cafe required, and left her in the monaftery ; and he too prefently left the city, without acquainting any body with his abfence.

When it was day- break, Anfelmo, without miffing Camilla from his fide, fo impatient was he to know what Leonela had to tell him, got up, and went to the chamber, where he had left her locked in. He opened the door, and went in, but found no Leonela there : he only found the meets tied to the window, an evident fign that by them me had Aid down, and was gone off. He prefently returned, full of concern, to acquaint Camilla with it ; and, not rinding her in bed, nor any where in the houfe, he flood aftonifhed. He enquired of the fervants for her, but no one could give him any tidings. It accidentally hap- pened, as he was fearching for Camilla, that he found her cabinet open, and molt of her jewels gone ; and this gave him the firft fufpicion of his difgrace, and that Leonela was not the caufe of his misfortune. And fo, juft as he then was, but half drefTed, he went fad and penfive, to give an account of his di- fafter to his friend Lothario : but not finding him, and his fervants telling him, that their matter went away that night, and took all the money he had with him, he was ready to run mad. And, to complete all, when he came back to his houfe, he found not one of all his fervants, man nor maid, but the houfe left alone and deferted. He knew not what to think, fay, or do, and, by little and little, his wits began to fail him. He confidered, and faw himfelf, in an inftant, deprived of wife, friend, and fervants j abandoned, as he thought, by the heaven that covered him, but, above all, robbed of his honour, fince, in miffing Camilla, he faw his own ruin. After fome thought, he refolved to go to his friend's country-houfe, where he had been, when he gave the oppor- tunity for plotting this unhappy bufinefs. He locked the doors of his houfe, got on horfeback, and fet forward widi great oppreflion of fpirits : and fcarcely had he gone half way, when, overwhelmed by his melancholy thoughts, he was forced to alight, and tie his horfe to a tree, at the foot whereof he dropped down, breathing out bitter and mournful fighs, and flayed there 'till alrnofl night ; about which time, he faw a man coming on horfeback from the city ; and, having faluted him, he enquired what news there was in Florence ? The ftrangeft, replied the citizen, that has been heard thefe many days : for it is publickly talked, that laft night Lothario, that great friend of Anfelmo the rich, who lived at faint John's, carried off Camilla, wife to Anfelmo, and that he alfo is miffing. All this was told by a maid-fervant of Camilla's, .whom the go- vernour caught in the night letting herfelf down by a meet from a window of Anfelmo's houfe. In fliort, I do not know the particulars ; all I know is,

that

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA, 241

that the whole town is in admiration at this accident ; for no one could have ex- peded any fuch thing, confidering the great and entire friendfhip between them, which, it is faid, was fo remarkable, that they were llilel The two Jn ends. Pray, 'is it known, faid Anfclmo, which way Lothario and Camilla have taken ? It is not, replied the citizen, though the governour has ordered diligent fearch to be made after them. God be with you, faid Anjelmo : And with you alio, faid the citizen, and went his way.

This difmal news reduced Anjelmo almoft to the lofing not only his wits, but .his life. He got up as well as he could, and arrived at his friend's houfe, who had not yet heard of his misfortune ; but feeing him come in pale, fpiritlefs, and faint, he concluded he was oppreffed by fome heavy affliction. Anfelm begged him to lead him immediately to a chamber, and to let him have pen, ink, and paper. They did fo, and left him alone on the bed, locking the door, as he defired. And now, finding himfelf alone, he fo overcharged his imagi- nation with his misfortunes, that he plainly perceived he was drawing near his end ; and therefore rcfolved to leave behind him fome account of the caufe of his ft range death : and, beginning to write, before he had fet down all he had intended, his breath failed him, and he yielded up his life into the hands of that forrow, which was occasioned by his impertinent curiofity. The mafter of the houfe, finding it grow late, and that Anjelmo did not call, determined to go in to him, to know whether his indifpofition increafed, and found him with his face downward, half of his body in bed, and half leaning on the table, with the paper he had written open, and his hand ftill holding the pen. His friend, having firft called to him, went and took him by the hand ; and finding he did not anfwer him, and that he was cold, he perceived that he was dead. He was very much furprized and troubled, and called the family to be witneffes of the fad mifhap that had befallen Anjelmo : afterwards he read the paper, which he knew to be written with Atijelmo's own hand, wherein were thefe words.

A N S E L M O's Paper.

Afoolifi and impertinent defire has deprived me of life. If the news of my death reaches Camilla'.* ears, let her know, I forgive her ; for Jhe was not obliged to do miracles, nor was I under a ncceffity of defring Jlx Jlmdd: and, fince Iwat the contriver of my own dijhonour, there is no reafon why

Thus far Anjelmo wrote, by which it appeared, that, at this point, without being able to finifh the fentence, he gave up the ghoft. The next day his friend fent his relations an account of his death; who had already heard of his misfor- tune, and of Camilla's retiring to the convent, where me was almoft in a con- dition of bearing her husband company in that inevitable journey ; not through the news of his death, but of her lover's abfenting himfelf. It is faid, that, though (lie was now a widow, flie would neither quit the convent, nor take the

■Vol. I. Ii veil,

H2 The LIFE and EXP LOITS of

Veil, 'till, not many days after, news being come of Lothario's being kill'd in a battle, fought about that time between Monfieur de Lautrec, and the great cap- tain Gonzalo Fernandez of Cordoua, in the kingdom of Naples, whither the too- late repenting friend had made his retreat, me then took the religious habit, and foon after gave up her life into the rigorous hands of grief and melancholy. This was the end of them all, fprung from indifcretion at the beginning.

I like diis novel very well, faid the prieft ; but I cannot perfuade myfelf it is a true ftory ; and if it be a fiction, the author has erred againft probability : for it cannot be imagined, there can be any husband fo fenfelefs, as to defire to make fo dangerous an experiment, as Anfelmo did : had this cafe been fuppofed between a gallant and his miftrefs, it might pafs ; but, between husband and wife, there is fomething impoffible in it : however, I am not difpleafed with the manner of telling it.

C H A P. IX.

Wloich treats of other uncommon accidents that happened in the inn.

VT7HILE thefe things paffed, the hoft, who flood at the inn-door, faid: * * Here comes a goodly company of guefts : if they flop here, we mail fing Gaudcamns \ What folks are they ? faid Cardenio. Four men, anfwered the hoft, on horfeback a la Gineta % with launces and targets, and black masks on their faces 3 ; and with them a woman on a fide-faddle, dreffed in white, and her face likewife covered ; and two lads befides on foot. Are they near at hand ? demanded the prieft. So near, replied the inn-keeper, that they are al- ready at the door. "Dorothea, hearing this, veiled her face, and Cardenio went into Don Quixote's chamber > and fcarcely had they done fo, when the perfons the hoft mentioned entered the yard, and the four horfemen, who, by their ap- pearances, feemed to be perfons of diflindtion, having alighted, went to help down the lady, who came on the fide-faddle : and one of them, taking her in his arms, fet her down in a chair, which flood at the door of the room, into which Cardenio had withdrawn. In all this time, neither me, nor they, had taken off their masks, or fpoken one word : only the lady, at fitting down in the chair, fetched a deep figh, and let fall her arms, like one fick, and ready to faint away. The feryante on foot took the horfes to the ftable. The prieft, feeing all this, and defirous to know who they were in that odd guife, and that

' i. e. O be jmful.

' A kind of riding with fliort ftirrops, which the Spaniards took from the Arabians, and is ftill ufed by all the African and eaftern nations, with part of the northern, fuch as the Hungarians, and is advanta- geous in fight : for, being ready to ftrike with their fabres, they rife on their ftirrops, and, following as it weie the blow, give more force to it.

3 The original is Antifaccs. Anli/ax is a piece of thin black filk, which the Spaniards wear before their faces in travelling, not for difguife, but to keep off the dult and the fun. We have nothing equi- valent to it in our language, and therefore are obliged to fubftitute the term masks, though it does cot con- vey the ilric\ and proper idea.

kept

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 243

kept fuch filence, went where the lads were, and enquired of one of them; who anfwercd him : In truth, Signor, I cannot inform you who thefe gentle- folks are ; I can only tell you, they mud be people of confiderable quality, ef- peciaUy he who took the lady down in his arms : I fay this, becaufe all the reft pay him fuch refpccl, and do nothing but what he orders and directs. And the lady, pray who is me ? demanded the prieft. Neither can I tell that, replied the lacquey ; for I have not once fcen her face during the whole journey : I have indeed often heard her figh, and utter fuch groans, that one would think any one of them enough to break her heart : and it is no wonder we know no more than what we have told you ; for it is not above two days iince my com- rade and I came to ferve them : for, having met us upon the road, they asked and periuaded us to go with them as far as shidaluzia, promifing to pay us very well. And have you heard any of them called by their name ? faid the prieft. No, indeed, anfwered the lad ; for they all travel with fo much filence, that you would wonder ; and you hear nothing among them but die fighs and fobs ot the poor lady, winch move us to pity her : and, whitherfoever it is that die is going, we believe it muft be againft her will ; and, by what we can gather from her habit, die muft be a nun, or going to be one, which feems moil pro-. b..ble : and, perhaps, becaufe the being one does not proceed from her choice, {he goes thus heavily. Very likely, quoth the prieft, and, leaving them, he re- turned to the room where he had left Dorothea ; who, hearing the lady in die mask figh, moved by a natural companion, went to her, and faid : What is the matter ? dear madam ; if it be any thing that we women can aiiift you in, fpeak ; for, on my part, I am ready to ferve you with great good- will. To all this the amicled lady returned no anfwer ; and, though Dorothea urged her dill more, me perfifted in her filence, 'till the cavalier in the mask, who, the fer- vant faid, was fuperior to the reft, came up, and faid to Dorothea : Trouble not yourfelf, madam, to offer any thing to this woman ; for it is her way not to be thankful for any fervice done her ; nor endeavour to get an anfwer from her, unlefs you would hear fome lye from her mouth. No, faid die, who hi- therto had held her peace ; on the contrary, it is for being fo fincere, and fo averfe to lying and deceit, that I am now reduced to fuch hard fortune : and of this you may be a witnefs yourfelf, fince it is my trudi alone which makes you act fo falfe and treacherous a part.

Cardenio heard thefe words plainly and diftinctly, being very near to her who fpoke them; for Don £>uIxote's chamber-door only was between; and as foon as he heard them, he cried out aloud : Good god ! what is this I hear ? What voice is this, which has reached my ears ? The lady, all in furprize, turned her head at thefe exclamations; and, not feeing who uttered them, die got up, and was going into the room: which the cavalier perceiving, flopped her, and would not fuffer her to ftir a ftep. With this perturbation, and her fudden riling, her mask fell off, and die discovered a beauty incomparable, and a countenance mi-

I i 2 raculous,

244 Tb* LIFE and EXPLOITS of

raculous, though pale and full of horror : for fhe rolled her eyes round as far as fhe could fee, examining every place with fo much eagernefs, that fhe feemed' diftradted; at which Dorothea, and the reft, without knowing why fhe did fo, were moved to great compaffion. The cavalier held her faft by the fhoulders, and, his hands being thus employed, he could not keep on his mask, which was falling off, as indeed at laft it did; and Dorothea, who had clafped the lady in her arms, lifting up her eyes, difcovered that the perfon, who alio held her, was her own husband, Don Fernando: and fcarcely had fhe perceived it- was he, when, fetching from the bottom of her heart a deep and difmal Oh !■ fhe fell backward in a fwoon ; and, had not the barber, who flood clofe by, caught her in his arms, fhe would have fallen to the ground. The prieft ran immediately, and took off her veil, to throw water in her face ; and no fooner had he uncovered it, but Don Fernando (for it was he who held the other in his arms) knew her, and flood like one dead at the fight of her : neverthelefs, he did not let go Lucinda, who was the lady that was ftruggling fo hard to get from him; for fhe knew Cardenio's voice in his exclamations, and he knew hers. Cardenio heard alfo the Oh, which Dorothea gave when fhe fainted away ; and believing it came from his Lucinda, he ran out of the room in a fright, and the firft he faw was Don Fernando holding Lucinda clofe in his arms. Don Fernan- do prefently knew Cardenio ; and all three, Lucinda, Cardenio, and Dorothea, were {truck dumb, hardly knowing what pafTed. They alL flood filent, and, gazing on one another, Dorothea on Don Fernando, Don Fernanda on Cardenio, Cardenio on Lucinda, and Lucinda on Cardenio. But the firfl who broke fi- lence was Lucinda, who addreffed herfelf to Don Fernando in this manner : Suffer me, Signor Don Fernando, as you are a gentleman, fince you will not do it upon any other account, fuffer me to cleave to that wall, of which I am the ivy; to that prop, from which neither your importunities, your threats, your promifes, nor your prefents, were able to feparate me. Obferve how heaven, by unufual, and to us hidden, ways, has brought me into the prefence of my true husband ; and well you know, by a thoufand dear-bought experiences, that death alone can efface him out of my memory. Then (fince all farther attempts are vain) let this open declaration convert your love into rage, your good- will into dcfpite, and thereby put an end to my life; for if I lofe it in the prefence of my dear husband, I mall reckon it well difpofed of, and perhaps my death may convince him of the fidelity I have preferved for him to my laft moment.

By this time Dorothea was come to herfelf, and was liftening to all that Lu- cinda faid, whereby fhe came to find out who fhe was : but, feeing that Don Fernando did not yet let her go from between his arms, nor make any anfwer to what fhe faid, fhe got up as well as fhe could, and went and kneeled down at his feet, and, pouring forth an abundance of lovely and piteous tears, fhe began to fay thus.

• If-

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 245

If, my dear lord, the rays of that fun, you hold ■^^fi£~ vour arms had not dazzled and obfcured your eyes, you muft have feen, that L who li s proftrate at your feet, is the unhappy (fo long as you are pleafed tc Ll it fo) and unfortunate Dorothea. I am that humble C^gA wh^ you through goodnefs or love, did deign to raife to the honour of calling her felf vours Im, (he, who, confined within the bounds of modcfty, lived a contented life, 'till toVhe vo'ice of your importunities, and feeing* fin^c and

btoAe^cuaSc^LWtoyoufindrne, and forced to fee you » the po-

Zc £o « now in. NotwithLding all this, I would not have J™ ^ that I am brought hither by any difhoneft motives, but only by thofe of guet and concern to fee myfel/ne/ected and forfaken by you You would £»» to be yours, and would have it in fuch a manner, that, J^ now ^J0^ *ot have it to be fo, it is not poff.ble you fhoild cede to be mine B.hoU my lord, the matchleis affedtion I have for you may balance the beauty and nobihty of her for whom I am abandoned. You cannot be the fair L««»^s, becaufe you S mine , nor can (he be yours, becaufe (he is Crtrtft. And it is eafier, ffyou take it right, to reduce your inclination to love her, who adores you, ian ,0 bring her to love, who abhors you. You importuned my indifference, you folicited my integrity, you were not ignorant of my condition ; you know very well in what manner I gave myfelf up entirely to your will ; you have no room to pretend any deceit: and if this be fo, as it really is, and if you are as much a chriftian as a gentleman, why do you, by fo many evafions, delay ma- king me as happy at kit, as you did at firfl ? And if you will not acknowledge me for what I am, your true .nd lawful wife, at lead admit me for your vaflaL; for fo I be under your power, I (hall account myfelf happy and very fortu- nate Do not, by forfaking and abandoning me, give the woild occafion to cenfure and difgrace me. Do not fo forely afBift my aged parents, whofe con- ftant and faithful fervices, as good vaffals to yours, do not deferve it. And rf you fancy your blood is debafed by mixing it with mine confider, there is little or no nobility in the world but what has run in the fame channel, and that what is derived from women is not ellcntial in illufirious defcents: befides true nobility confifts in virtue, and if you forfeit that by ^«TO.^" £ iuftly mydue, IfliaU then remain with greater advantages of nobility than you. In fhort, Sir, I (hall only add, that, whether you will or no, I am your wife: witnefs your words, which, if you value yourfelf on that account, on which you un- dervalue me, ought not to be falfe, witnefs your hand-writing; and witnefs heaven, which you invoked to bear teftimony to what you promiled me. _ Ad though ,11 this ihould foil, your confeience will not fill to whiiper you in the nudft of your joys, juftifying this truth I have told you, and dulurbing your moft grateful pleafures and fatisfaftions, fc

246 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

Thefe, and other reafons, did the afflicted Dorothea urge fo feelingly, and with fo many tears, that all, who accompanied Don Fernando, and all who were prefent befides, fympathized with her. Don Fernando liftened to her without anfwering a word, 'till fhe had put an end to what me had to fay, and a beginning to fo many fighs and fobs, that it muft have been a heart of brafs, which the ligns of fo much forrow could not foften. Lucinda was gazing at her with no lefs pity for her affliction, thjin admiration at her wit and beauty : and though (he had a mind to go to her, and endeavour to comfort her, fhe was prevented by Don Fernando'% ftill holding her faft in his arms : who, full of confufion and aftonifhment, after he had attentively beheld Dorothea for a good while, opened his arms, and, leaving Lucinda free, faid : You have con- quered, fair Dorothea, you have conquered; for there is no withftanding fo many united truths.

Lucinda was fo faint, when Don Fernando let her go, that fhe was juft fal- ling to the ground; but Cardenio, who was near her, and had placed himfeif behind Don Fernando, that he might not know him, now laying afide all fear, and at all adventures, ran to fupport Lucinda; and, catching her between his arms, he faid : If it pleafes pitying heaven, that now at laft you fhould have fome reft, my dear, faithful, and conftant miftrefs, I believe you can find it no where more fecure than in thefe arms, which now receive you, and did re- ceive you heretofore, when fortune was pleafed to allow me to call you mine. At thefe exprefilons Lucinda fixed her eyes on Cardenio ; and having begun firfl to know him by his voice, and being now affured that it was he by fight, al- moft befide herfelf, and without any regard to the forms of decency, fhe threw her arms about his neck, and joining her face to his, fhe faid to him : You, my dear Cardenio, you are the true owner of diis your flave, though fortune were yet more adverfe, and though my life, which depends upon yours, were threatned yet more than it is.

A ftrange fight this was to Don Fernando, and all the by-ftanders, who were aftonifhed at fo unexpected an event. Dorothea fancied, that Don Fernando changed colour, and looked as if he had a mind to revenge himfeif on Car- denio ; for fhe faw him put his hand toward his fword ; and no fooner did fhe perceive it, but fhe ran immediately, and, embracing his knees, and kiffing them, fhe held him fo faft that he could not ftir; and, her tears trickling down without intermiOion, fhe faid to him : What is it you intend to do, my only re- fuge in this unexpected criils? You have your wife at your feet, and fhe, whom you would have to be yours, is in the arms of her own husband : confi- der then, whether it be fit or poffible for you to undo what heaven has done, or whether it will become you to raife her to an equality with yourfelf, who, regardlefs of all obftacles, and confirmed in her truth and conftancy, is bathing the bofom of her true husband, before your face, with the tears of love Mow- ing from her eyes. For god's fake, and your own character's fake, I befeecb

you,

2 2

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 247

you, that this publick declaration may be fo far from encreafing your wrath, that it may appcafc it in fuch fort, that thefe two lovers may be permitted, with- out any impediment from you, to live together in peace all the time heaven fhall be pleafed to allot them : and by this you will ihew the generality of your noble and illuftrious bread, and die world will fee, that rcafon fways more with you than appetite.

While Dorothea was faying this, Cardenio, though he held Lncinda between his arms, kept his eyes fixed on Don Fernando, with a refolution, if he faw him make any motion towards aflaulting him, to endeavour to defend himfelf, and alfo to act offenfively, as well as he could, againft all who mould take part againft him, though it fliould cofl him his life. But now Don Fernando' % friends, together with die prieft and the barber, who were prefent all the while, not omitting honeft Bancho Panca, ran, and furrounded Don Fernando, intreating him to have regard to Dorothea's tears; and, as they verily believed die had faid notliing but what was true, they begged of him, that he would not furrer her to be difappointed in her juft expectations : they delired he would confider, diat, not by chance, as it feemed, but by the particular providence of heaven, they had all met in a place, where one would lead: have imagined they fliould; and the pried: put him in mind, that. nothing but death could part Lu- anda from Car demo, and that, though they fliould be fevered by the edge of the fword, they would account their deaths mod happy : and that in a cafe, which could not be remedied, the higheft wifdom would be, by forcing and overcoming himfelf, to fliew a greatnefs of mind, in fuffering that couple, by his mere good-will, to enjoy diat happinefs, which heaven had already granted them : he defired him alfo to turn his eyes on the beauty of Dorothea, and fee how few, if any, could equal, much leis exceed her ; and that to her beauty he would add her humility, and the extreme love die had for him : but efpecially that he would remember, that, if he valued himfelf on being a gentleman, and a chriftian, he could do no lefs than perform the promife he had given her, and that, in fo doing, he would pleafe god, and do wliat was right in the eyes of all wife men, who know and underftand, that it is die prerogative of beauty, though in a mean fubject, if it be accompanied with modefly, to be able to raife and equal itfelf to any height, without any difparagement to him, who raifes and equals it to himfelf: and that, when the lhong dictates of appetite are complied with, provided there be no fin in the action, he ought not to be blamed, who yields to them. In fhort, to thefe they all added fuch and fo many powerful arguments, that the generous heart of Don Fernando, being nou- ridied with noble blood, was foftened, and fuffered itfelf to be overcome by that truth, which, if he had had a mind, he could not have refilled : and the proof he gave of furrendering himfelf, and fubmitting to what was propofed, was, to {loop down, and embrace Dorothea, faying to her : Rife, dear madam ; for it is not fit die fliould kneel at my feet, who is miftrefs of my foul ; and if hi- therto

24-8 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

therto I have given no proof of what I fay, perhaps it has been fo ordered by heaven, that, by finding in you the conftancy of your affection to me, I may know how to efteem you as you deferve. What I beg of you, is, not to re- proach me with my paft unkind behaviour and great neglect of you : for the very lame caufe and motive, that induced me to take you for mine, influenced me to endeavour not to be yours : and, to fhew you the truth of what I fay, turn, and behold the eyes of the now fatisfied Luanda, and in them you will fee an excufe for all my errors : and fince fhe has found and attained to what fhe de- fired, and I have found in you all I want, let her live fecure and contented many happy years with her Cardenio ; and I will befeech heaven, that I may do the like with my dear Dorothea. And faying this, he embraced her again, and joined his face to her's, with fuch tendernefs of paffion, that he had much ado to prevent his tears from giving undoubted figns of his love and repentance. It was not fo with Luanda and Cardenio, and almoft all the reft of the company pre- ient ; for they began to fhed fo many tears, fome for joy on their own account and fome on the account of others, that one would have thought fome heavy and difmal difafter had befallen them all. Even Sancho Pan$a wept, though he owned afterwards, that, for his part, he wept only to fee that Dorothea was not, as he imagined, the queen Micomicona, from whom he expected fo many favours.

Their joint wonder and weeping lafted for fome time ; and then Cardenio and Lucinda went, and kneeled before Don Fernando, thanking him for the favour he had done them, in fuch terms of refpect, that Don Fernando knew not what to anfwer ; and fo he raifed them up, and embraced them with much courtefy and many demonftrations of affection. Then he defired Dorothea to tell him how fhe came to that place fo far from home ? She related, in few and difcreet words, all fhe had before related to Cardenio ; with which Don Fernando and his company were fo pleafed, that they wifhed the ftory had lafted much longer, fuch was the grace with which Dorothea recounted her misfortunes. And when fhe had made an end, Don Fernando related what had befallen him in the city, after his finding the paper in Luanda's bofom, wherein fhe declared that fhe was wife to Cardenio, and could not be his. He faid, that he had a mind to have killed her, and fhould have done it, if her parents had not hindered him ; upon which he left the houfe, enraged and afhamed, with a refolution of re- venging himfelf at a more convenient time ; that, the following day, he heard that Lucinda was miffing from her father's houfe, without any body's knowing whither fhe was gone ; in fine, that, at the end of fome months, he came to know, that fhe was in a convent, purpofing to remain there all lier days, unlefs fhe could fpend them with Cardenio ; and that, as foon as he knew it, choofing thofe three gentlemen for his companions, he went to the place where fhe was, but did not fpeak to her, fearing, if fhe knew he was there, the monaftery would be better guarded $ and fo waiting for a day, when the porter's lodge was

open,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 249

open, he left two to fecure the door, and he with the other entered into the convent, in fearch of Luanda, whom they found in the cloyftcrs talking to a nun ; and matching her away, without giving her time for any tiling, they came with her to a place where they accommodated themfelves with whatever was needful for the carrying her off: all which they could very fafely do, the mo- nastery being in the fields, a good way out of the town. He (aid, that, when Luanda faw herfelf in his power, me fwooned away, and that, when flie came to herfelf, {he did nothing but weep, and. figh, without fpeaking one word: and that in this manner, accompanied with filence and tears, they arrived at that inn, which to him was arriving at heaven, where all earthly misfortunes have an end.

C H A P. X.

Wherein is continued the Hijiory of the famous Infanta Micomicona, with other

pleafant adventures.

SANCHO heard all this with no fmall grief of mind, feeing that the hope of his preferment was difappearing and vanishing into fmoke ; and that the fair pfincefs Micomicona was turned into Dorothea, and the giant into Don Fer- nando, while his mailer lay in a found ileep without troubling his head about what palled. Dorothea could not be fure, whether the happinefs me enjoyed was not a dream. Cardcnio was in the lame doubt; and Luanda knew not what to think. Don Fernando gave thanks to heaven for the bleffing beftowed on him in bringing him out of that perplexed labyrinth, in which he was upon the brink of loling his honour and his foul. In fhort, all that were in the inn were pleafed at the happy conclufion of fuch intricate and hopclefs affairs* The prieft, like a man of fenfe, placed every thing in its true light, and congratula- ted every one upon their mare of the good that had befallen them. But flie who rejoiced moll, and was moft delighted, was the hoftefs, Cardcnio and the prieft having promifed to pay her with intereft for all the damages fufhu'ned upon Don Quixote's' account. Sancho, as has been faid, was the only articled, unhappy, and forrowfi .1 perfon : and fo with difmal looks he went in to his mailer, who was then awaked, to whom he faid : Your worfhip may very well flcep your fill, Signor Sorrowful Figure, without troubling yourfelf about kil- ling any giant, or reftoring the princefs to her kingdom ; for all is done and over already. I verily believe it is fo, anfwered Don Quixote-, for I have had the moft monftrous and dreadful battle with the giant that ever I believe I (hall have in all the days of my life ; and with one back-ftroke I tumbled his head to the ground, and fo great was the quantity of blood that guflied from it, that the (beams ran along the ground, as if it had been water. As if it ha 1 been red wine, your worlhip might better fay, anfwered Sancho: for I would have you to know, if you do not know it already, that the dead giant is a Vol. I. K k pierced

250 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

pierced skinj and the blood, eighteen gallons of red wine contained in its belly : and the head cut off is — the whore that bore me, and the devil take all for me. What is it you fay, fool ? replied Don Quixote ; are you in your fenfes ? Pray, get up, Sir, quoth Sancho, and you will fee what a fine fpot of work you have made, and what a reckoning we have to pay; and you will fee the queen converted into a private lady called Dorothea, with other accidents, which, if you take them right, will aftonifh you. I fhall wonder at nothing of all tins, replied Don Quixote; for, if you remember well, the laft time we were here, I told you, that all things in this place went by enchantment, and it would be no wonder if it mould be fo now. I mould believe fo too, anfwered Sancho, if my being tofied in the blanket had been a matter of this nature : but it was not, but downright real and true ; and I faw that the innkeeper, who was here to-day alive, held a corner of the blanket, and canted me toward heaven with notable alacrity and vigour, and with as much laughter as force ; and where it happens that we know perfons, in my poor opinion, though fimple and a finner, it is no enchantment at all, but much mifufage and much mifhap. Well, god will remedy it, quoth Don Quixote ; give me my cloaths, that I may go and fee the accidents and transformations you talk of.

Sancho reached him his apparel, and, while he was drefiing, the prieft gave Don Fernando and the reft an account of Don Quixote's madnefs, and of the artifice they had made ufe of to get him from the poor rock, to which he ima- gined himfelf bqniibtd, through his lady's difdain. He related alfo to them almoft all the adventures, which Sancho had recounted ; at which they did not a little wonder and laugh, thinking, as eveiy body did, that it was the ftrangeft kind of madnefs that ever entered into an extravagant imagination. The prieft faid farther, that, fince madam Dorothea's good-fortune would not permit her to go on with their defign, it was neceflary to invent and find out fome other way of getting him home to his village. Cardenio offered to affift in carrying, on the project, and propofed that Luanda mould perfonate Dorothea. No, faid Don Fernando, it muff not be fo; for I would have Dorothea herfelf go on with her plot : and as it is not far from hence to this good gentleman's village, I fliall be glad to contribute to his cure. It is not above two days journey, faid the prieft. Though it were farther, faid Don Fernando, I would undertake it with pleafure, to accomplifh fo good a work.

By this time Don Quixote fallied forth, compleatly armed with his whole fur- niture ; Mambrino's helmet, though bruifed and battered, on his head, his tar- get braced on, and refting on his faplin or launce. The ffrange appearance he made greatly furprized Don Fernando and his company, efpecially when they perceived his tawny and withered landiorn-jaws ', his ill-matched armour,

1 The expreflion is very bold in the original : Sit rojlra dt media legita dt andadura. i. e. his face of half m league's travelling.

and

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 251

and the ftiffnefs of his meafured pace; and they flood filent to hear what he would fay -when, with much gravity and folemnity, fixing his eyes on the fair Dorothea he faid : I am informed, fair lady, by this my fqutre, that your grandeur is annihilated, and your very being demoliihed, and that from a queen and ereat lady, which you were wont to be, you are metamorphofed into a nrivate maiden If this has been done by order of the necromantic king your fadier out of fear left I fhould not afford you the neceffary and due aid, I fay, he neither knows, nor ever did know, one half of his trade ■ and that he is but little verfed in hiftories of knight-errantry : for had he read and confidered them as attentively, and as much at his leifure, as I have read and confidered them he would have found at every turn, how other knights, of a great deal lefs fame than myfelf, have atchieved matters much more difficult, it being no fuch mighty bufmefs to kill a pitiful giant, be he never fo arrogant: for not many hours are paft fince I had a bout with one myfelf, and ---- I fay no more, left I mould be thought to lye ; but time, the revealer of all things, will tell it, when we leaft think of it. It was with a couple of wine-skins, and not a aiant quoth the inn-keeper: but Don Fernando commanded him to hold his peace' and in no wife to interrupt Don jtyftttf* difcourfe, who went on, fay- in- • Ifay in fine, high and difinherited lady, that, if for the caufe aforefaid your father has made this metamorphofis in your perfon, I would have you give no heed to it at all : for there is no danger upon earth, through which my fword (hall not force a way, and, by bringing down the head of your enemy to the ground, place the crown of your kingdom upon your own in a few

* Z>«i Quixote faid no more, but awaited the princefs's anfwer, who, knowing Don Fernanda's inclination, that (he mould carry on the deceit, 'till Don Quixote was brought home to his houfe, with much grace and gravity, anlwered him- Whoever told you, valorous knight of the forrowful figure, that I was changed and altered from what I was, did not tell you the truth : for I am the fame to-day that I was yefterday : it is true indeed, fome fortunate accidents that have befallen me, to my heart's defire, have made fome alteration in me for the better • yet, for all that, I do not ceafe to be what I was before, and to have the fame thoughts I always had of employing the prowefs of your redoubled and invincible arm. So that, dear Sir, of your accuftomed bounty, reftore to the father who begot me his honour, and efteem him to be a wife and prudent man, fince by his skill he found out fo eafy and certain a way to remedy my misfortune: for I verily believe, had it not been for you, Sir, I mould never have lighted on the happinefs I now enjoy • and in this I fpeak the very truth, as moil of thefe gentlemen here prefent can teftify : what remains is, that to- morrow morning we fet forward on our journey; for to-day we could no. go tai :

• Literally, one half of the mafi, the faying cf which is or.e great part of the prieflly office.

K k 2 ' and

252 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

and for the reft of the good fuccefs I expect, I refer it to god, and to the valour of your breaft.

Thus fpoke the difcreet Dorothea, and Don Quixote, having heard her, turn- ed to Sancho, and, with an air of much indignation, laid to him : I tell you now, little Sancho, that you are the greateft little rafcal in all Spain : tell me thief, vagabond; did you not tell me juft now, that this princefs was transform- ed into a damfel called Dorothea ; and that the head, which, as I take it I lopped off from a giant, was the whore that bore thee; with other absurdities which put me into the greateft confufion I ever was in all the days of my life ? I vow (and here he looked up to heaven, and gnafhed his teeth) I have a great mind to make fuch a maffacre of thee, as mall put wit into the noddles of all the lying fquires of knights-errant that fhall be from henceforward in the world. Pray, dear Sir, be pacified, anfwered Sancho ; for I may eafily be miftaken as to the transformation of madam the princefs Micomiccna ; but as to the giant's head, or at leaft the piercing of the skins, and the blood's being but red wine, I am not deceived as god liveth : for the skins yonder at your worship's bed's-head are cut and flafhed, and the red wine has turned the room into a pond ; and if not, it will be feen in the frying of the eggs ', I mean, you will find it when his worfhip Signor inn-keeper here demands damages. As for the reft, I rejoice in my heart that madam the queen is as fhe was ; for I have my (hare in it, as every neighbour's child has. I tell you now, Sancho, you are afuckling; forgive me, that's enough. It is enough, faid Don Fernando, and let no more be faid of this; and fince madam the princefs fays we muft fet for- ward in the morning, it being too late to-day, let us do fo, and let us pafs this night in agreeable converfation, 'till to-morrow, when we will all bear Signor Don 'Quixote company : for we defire to be eye-witnefies of the valorous and unheard-of deeds, which he is to perform in the progrefs of this grand enter- prize, which he has undertaken. It is I that am to wait upon you, and bear you company, anfwered Don Quixote ; and I am much obliged to you for the favour you do me, and the good opinion you have of me ; which it mall be my endeavour not to difappoint, or it lhall coft me my life, and even more, if more it could coft me.

Many compliments, and many offers of fervice, pafied between Don Quixote and Don Fernando : but all was put a ftop to by a traveller, who juft then en- tered the inn ; who by his garb feemed to be a chriftian newly come from among the Moors-, for he had on a blue cloth loofe coat, with fhort skirts, half fleeves,. and no collar : his breeches alfo were of blue cloth, and he wore a cap of the fame colour : he had on a pair of date-coloured ftockings, and a Moorijh fcymitar hang in a lhoulder-belt that came crofs his breaft. There came in immediately af-

' When eggs are to be fried, there is no knowing their goodnefs 'till they are broken. Royal DlB. Or, A thief ftole a frying pan, and the woman, who owned it, meeting him, a:ked him what he was carrying away : he anfwered, you will know wiien your eggs are to be fried. Pviida.

ter

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCIIA.

ter him a woman mounted on an afs in a Moorijh drefs, her face veiled, a cade turban on her head, and covered with a mantle from her moulders to her feet. The man was of a robuft and agreeable make, a lit le above for old,

of a brownifh complexion, large w'hi skers, and a wclt-fet beard : in lhort, his mien, if he had been well drefled, would have denoted him a perfon of quality, and well born. At coming in, he asked for a room, and, being told there was none to_fpare in the inn, he feemed to be troubled, and going to the woman, who by her habit feemed to be a Moor, he took her down in his arm?. Lu- anda, 'Dorothea, the landlady, her daughter, and Maritomcs, gathered about the Moorijh lady, on account of the novelty of her drefs, the like of which they had never i'een before : and Dorothea, who was always obliging, complai- fant, and difcreet, imagining that both {he and her conductor were uneafy for want of a room, laid to her : Be not much concerned, madam, about proper accommodations ; it is what one mutt not expect to meet with in inns. And fince it is fo, if you pleafe to take fhare with us (pointing to Lucinda) perhaps,. in the courfe of your journey, you may have met with worfe entertainment. The unknown lady returned her no anfwer, but only, rifing from her feat, and laying her hands acrofs on her breaft, fhe bowed her head and body, in token that fhe thanked her. By her filence they concluded fhe mufl be a Moor, and could not fpeak the christian language.

By this time her companion, who had hitherto been employed about fome- thing clfe, came in, and, feeing that they were all {landing about the womaa that came with him, and that, whatever they faid to her, fhe continued filent, he faid : Ladies, this young woman underftands fcarce any tiling of our lan- guage, nor can me fpeak any other than that of her own country j and there- fore it is, that fhe has not anfwered to any thing you may have asked her. No- thing has been asked her, anfwered Luci?ida, but only whether fhe would ac- cept of our company for this night, and take part of our lodging, where fhe mall be accommodated, and entertained, as well as the place will afford, and with that good will, which is due to all flrangers that are in need of it, and efpecially from us to her, as fhe is of our own fex. Dear madam, anfwered the ftranger, I kifs your hands for her and for myfelf, and highly prize, as I. ought, the favour offered us, which, at fuch a time, and from fuch perfons as you appear to be, muft. be owned to be very great. Pray tell me, Signor, faid Dorothea, is this lady a chriftian or a Moor? for her habit and her filence make us think fhe is what we wifh fhe were not. She is a Moor, anfwered the flran- ger, in her attire and in her body ; but, in her foul, fhe is already very much a chrillian, having a very ftrong defire to become one. She is not yet baptized then ? anfwered Lucinda. There has been no time for that yet, anfwered the flranger, fince (he left Algiers,, her native country and place of abode, and fhe has not hitherto been in any danger of death fo imminent, as to make it neccf- fary to have her baptized, -before the be inflructed in all the ceremonies our holy

mother

"o3

254 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

mother the church enjoins ; but I hope, if it pleafe god, fhe (hall foon be baptized with the decency becoming her quality, which is above what either her habit or mine feem to denote.

This difcourfe gave all who heard him a defire to know who the Moor and the ftranger were : but no body would ask them juft then, feeing it was more proper, at that time, to let them take fome reft, than to be enquiring into their lives. Dorothea took her by the hand, and led her to fit down by her, defiring her to uncover her face. She looked at the ftranger, as if fhe asked him what they faid, and what fhe fhould do. He told her in Arabic, that they defired fhe would uncover her face, and that he would have her do fo : accordingly fhe did, and difcovered a face fo beautiful, that Dorothea thought her handfomer than Lucinda, and Lucinda than Dorothea ; and all the by-ftanders faw, that, if any beauty could be compared with theirs, it muft be that of the Moor ; nay, fome of them thought fhe furpaffed them in fome things. And as beauty has the prerogative and power to reconcile minds, and attract inclinations, they all pre- fently fell to carefling and making much of the beautiful Moor. Don Fernando asked of the ftranger the Moor's name, who anfwered, Lela Zoraida ; and as foon as me heard this, underftanding what they had enquired of the chriftian, fhe faid haftily, with a fprightly but concerned air, No, not Zoraida ; Maria, Maria, letting them know her name was Maria, and not Zoraida. Thefe words, and the great earneftnefs with which fhe pronounced them, extorted more than one tear from thofe who heard her, efpecially from the women, who are naturally tender-hearted and compaffionate. Lucinda embraced her very affectionately, faying to her : Yes, yes, Maria, Maria ; to whom the Moor anfwered : Yes, yes, Maria, Zoraida macange ; as much as to fay, not Zoraida.

By this time it was four in the afternoon, and, by order of Don Fernando and his company, the inn-keeper had taken care to provide a collation for them, the beft it was poflible for him to get ; which being now ready, they all fat down at a long table, like thofe in halls, there being neither a round, nor a fquare one, in the houfe. They gave the upper-end and principal feat (though he would have declined it) to Don Htyixote, who would needs have the lady Micomicona fit next him, as being her champion. Then fat down Lucinda and Zoraida, and oppofite to them Don Fernando and Cardenio, and then the ftran- ger and the reft of the gentlemen ; and next to the ladies fat the prieft and the barber : and thus they banqueted much to their fatisfaclion ; and it gave them an additional pleafure to hear Don Quixote, who, moved by fuch another fpirit, as that which had moved him to talk fo much, when he. fupped with the goat- herds, inftead of eating, fpoke as follows. In truth, gentlemen, if it be well confidered, great and unheard-of things do they fee, who profefs the order of knight-errantry. If any one thinks otherwife, let me ask him, what man liv- ing, that fhould now enter at this caftle-gate, and fee us fitting in this manner, could judge or believe us to be the perfons we really are ? Who could fay,

that

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 255

that this lady, fitting here by my fide, is that great queen that we all know her to be, and that I am that knight of the forro^ful figure, fo blazoned abroad by the mouth of fame ? There is no doubt, but that this art and profeffion exceeds all that have been ever invented by men, and fo much the more honourable is it, by how much it is expofed to more dangers. Away with thofe, who fay, that letters have the advantage over arms : I will tell them, be they who they will, that they know not what they fay. For the reafon they ufually give, and which they lay the greateft ftrefs upon, is, that the labours of the brain exceed thofe of the body, and that arms are exercifed by the body alone ; as if the ufe of them were the bufinefs of porters, for which nothing is neceffary but downright ftrength ; or as if in this, which we, who profefs it, call chivalry, were not included the acts of fortitude, which require a very good underftanding to exe- cute them ; or as if the mind of the warriour, who has an army, or the de- fence of a befieged city, committed to his charge, does not labour with his un- derftanding as well as his body. If not, let us fee how, by mere bodily ftrength, he will be able to penetrate into the deligns of the enemy, to form ftratagems, overcome difficulties, and prevent dangers which threaten : for all thefe things are acts of die underftanding, in which the body has no fhare at all. It being fo then, that arms employ the mind as well as letters, let us next fee whofe mind labours moft, the fcholar's, or that of the warriour. And this may be determined by the fcope and ultimate end of each : for that intention is to be the moft efteemed, which has the nobleft end for its object. Now the end and defign of letters (I do not now fpeak of divinity, which has for its aim the raifing and conducting fouls to heaven ; for to an end fo without end as this no other can be compared) I fpeak of human learning, whofe end, I fay, is to regulate diftributive juftice, and give to every man his due ; to know good laws, and caufe them to be ftrictly obferved ; an end moft certainly generous and exalted, and worthy of high commendation ; but not equal to that, which is annexed to the profeffion of arms, whofe object and end is peace, the greateft bleffing men can wifh for in this life. Accordingly, the firft good news, the world and men received, was what the Angels brought, on that night which was our day, when they fung in the clouds ; Glory be to god on high, and on earth peace and good-will towards men : and the falutation, which the beft mafter of earth or heaven taught his followers and difciples, was, that, when they entered into any houfe, they fhculd fay, Peace be to this houfe : and many other times he faid ; My peace I give unto you, my peace I leave with you, peace be amongfl you. A jewel and legacy, worthy of coming from fuch a hand ! a jewel, without which there can be no happinefs either in earth or in heaven ! This peace is the true end of war ; for to fry arms or war, is the fame thing. Granting therefore this truth, that the end of war is peace, and that in this it has the advantage of die end propofed by letters, let us come now

to

256 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

to the bodily labours of the fcholar, and to thofe of the profeffor of arms ; and let us fee which are the greaterr.

Don Quixote went on with his difcourfe in fuch a manner, and in fuch proper expreflions, that none of thofe who heard him at that time could take him for a madman. On the contrary, mofi of his hearers being gentlemen, to whom the ufe of arms properly belongs, they liftened to him with pleafure, and he continued faying.

I fay then, that the hardships of the fcholar are thefc : in the firfl place, po- verty; not that they are all poor, but I would put the cafe in the ftrongeft man-,, her poffible : and when I have faid, that he endures poverty, methinks no more need be faid to {hew his mifery 1 ; for he, who is poor, is deftitute of every good thing : he endures poverty in all its parts, fometimes in hunger and cold, and fometimes in nakednefs, and fometimes in all thefe together. But notwith- ftanding all this, it is not fo great, but that ftill lie eats, though fomewhat later than ufual, or of the rich man's fcraps and leavings, or, which is the fcholar's greatefl mifery, by what is called among them going a fopping 2. Neither do they always want a fire-fide or chimney-corner of fome charitable perfon, which, if it does not quite warm them, at leaft abates their extreme cold : and laftly, they fleep fomewhere under cover. I will not mention other trifles, fuch as want of fhirts, and no plenty of fhoes, the thinnefs and thread-barenefs of their cloaths, nor that laying about them with fo much eagernefs and pleafure, when good-fortune fets a plentiful table in their way. By this way that I have defcri- bed, rough and difficult, here ftumbling, there falling, now rifing, then falling a wain, they arrive to the degree they defire; which being attained, we have feen many, who, having paffed thefe Syrtes, thefe Scyllas and Cbarybdis's, buoyed-up as it were by favourable fortune, I lay, we have feen them from a chair com- mand and govern the world j their hunger converted into fatiety, their pinching cold into refre filing coolnefs, their nakednefs into embroidery, and their fleep- in°- on a mat to repofing in holland and damask : a reward juflly merited by their virtue. But their hardfhips, oppofed to and compared with thofe of the war- riour, fall far fhort of them, as I ihall prefently fliew.

CHAP. XI.

The continuation of Don QuixoteV curious difcourfe upon arms and letters.

ON QUIXOTE, continuing his difcourfe, faid: Since, in fpeaking of

the fcholar, we began with his poverty, and its feveral branches, let us fee

whether the foldier be richer. And we ihall find that poverty itfe'lf is not

poorer : for he depends on his wretched pay, which comes late, or perhaps ne-

D

1 h is very ebfervable, how feelingly Cervantes here fjjeaks of poverty.

1 The author means the fops in porridge, given at the doors of the mori-IUries.

ver;

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 257

ver; or die on what he can pilfer, with great peril of his life and confeience. And fometimes his nakednefs is fuch, that his ilafhed buff-doublet ferves him both for finery and fhirt ; and in the midft of winter, being in the open field, he has nothing to warm him but die breath of his mouth, which, iffuing from an empty place, muft needs come out cold, againft all the rules of nature. But let us wait 'till night, and fee whether his bed will make amends for thefe in- conveniences : and that, if it be not his own fault, will never offend in point of narrownefs ; for he may meafure out as many foot of earth as he pleafes, and roll himfelf thereon at pleafurc, without fear of rumpling the fheets. Suppofe now the day and hour come of taking the degree of his profeflion ; I fay, fup- pofe the day of battle come ; and then his doctoral cap will be of lint, to cure fome wound made by a musket-fhot, which, perhaps, has gone through his temples, or laimed him a leg or an arm. And though this fliould not happen, but merciful heaven fliould keep and preferve him alive and unhurt, he fliall remain, perhaps, in the fame poverty as before ; and there muft happen a fecond and a third engagement, and battle after battle, and he muft come off viclor from them all, to get any thing confiderable by it. But thefe miracles are feldom feen. And tell me, gentlemen, if you have obferved it, how much fewer are they, who are rewarded for their fervices in war, than thofe, who have pe- riflied in it ? Doubtlefs, you muft anfwer, that there is no companion between the numbers ; that the dead cannot be reckoned up, whereas thofe, who live and are rewarded, may be numbered with three figures '. All this is quite otherwife with fcholars, who from the gown (I am loth to fay the fleeves) * are all handfomely provided for. Thus, though the hardfliips of the foidier are greater, his reward is lefs. But to this it may be anfwered, that it is eafier to reward two thoufand fcholars, than thirty thoufand foldiers : for the former are rewarded by giving them employments, which muft of courfe be given to men of their profeflion ; whereas the latter cannot be rewarded but with the very property of the mafter whom they ferve : and this impoflibility ferves to ftrengthen my aflerticn.

But, fetting afide this, which is a very intricate point, let us turn to the pre- eminence of arms over letters ; a controverfy hitherto undecided, fo ftrong are the reafons, which each party alledges on its own fide : for, befides thofe I have already mentioned, letters fay, that, without them, arms could not fubiifl . for war alfo has its laws, to which it is fubjefr, and laws are the province of let- ters, and learned men. To this arms anfwer, that laws cannot be fupported without them : for by arms republics are defended, kingdoms are preserved, cities are guarded, highways are fecured, and the feas are cleared from corfairs

1 /'. e. Do not exceed hundreds.

* The original is, forque de flildas (que no quiero dezir de mangas) He. which I liave rendered lite- rally, beou.e the author's meaning is not very obvious. Perhaps it might be tranflatcd, to the tsfte of aa Snglj/b reader, thus : who from the lawyer's (or judge's) gown (to fay nothing of latum flteves) &c.

Vol. I. Li and

258 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

and pyrates ; in fhort, were it not for them, republics, kingdoms, monarchies, cities, journies by land and voyages by fea, would be fubject to the cruelties and confuiion, which war carries along with it, while it lafts, and is at liberty to make ufe of its privileges and its power. Befides, it is pari: difpute, that what cofts moft the attaining, is, and ought to be, moft efteemed. Now, in order to arrive at a degree of eminence in learning, it cofts time, watching, hunger, nakednefs, dizzinefs in the head, weaknefs of the ftomach, and other fuch like inconveniences, as I have already mentioned in part. But for a man to rife gradually to be a good foldier, cofts him all it can coft the fcholar, and that in fo much a greater degree, that there is no comparifon, fince at every ftep he is in imminent danger of his life. And what dread of neceflity and poverty can aftecT: or diftrefs a fcholar, equal to that which a foldier feels, who, being befieged in fome fortrefs,and placed as acentinel in fome ravelin or cavalier', perceives that the enemy is mining toward the place where he ftands, and yet muft on no account ftir from his poft, or fhun the danger that fo nearly threatens him : all that he can do, in fuch a cafe, is, to give notice to his officer of what pafles, that he may remedy it by fome countermine, and, in the mean time, he muft ftand his ground, fearing and expecting when of a fudden he is to mount to the clouds without wings, and then defcend headlong to the deep againft his will. And if this be thought but a trifling danger, let us fee whether it be equalled or exceeded by the encounter of two gallies, prow to prow, in the midft of the wide fea ; which being locked and grappled together, there is no more room left for the foldier than the two-foot plank at the beakhead : and though he fees as many threatning minifters of death before him, as there are pieces of artillery and fmall arms pointed at him from the oppofite fide, net the length of a launce from his body j and though he knows, that the firft flip of his foot will fend him to vifit the profound depths of Neptune's bofom ; not- withstanding all this, with an undaunted heart, carried on by honour that in- fpires him, he expofes himfelf as a mark to all their fire, and endeavours, by that narrow pafs, to force his way into the enemy's veflel : and what is moft to be admired, is, that fcarce is one fallen, whence he cannot arife 'till the end of the world, when another takes his place ; and if he alfo fall into the fea, which lies In wait for him like an enemy, another and another fucceeds with- out any intermiflion between their deaths ; an inftance of bravery and intre- pidity the greateft that is to be met with in all the extremities of war. A blef- fing on thofe happy ages, ftrangers to the dreadful fury of thofe deviliib inftru- ments of artillery, whofe inventor, I verily believe, is now in hell receiving the reward of his diabolical invention ; by means of which it is in the power of a cowardly and bale hand to take away the life of the braveft cavalier, and to

' A mount raifed on fome work of a fortification, to command or overlook feme rifing ground, which the enemy might ufe to oveilook that part of the fortification, where the cavalier is raifed to pre- vent their ufing it.

which

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 259

which is owing, that, without knowing how, or from whence, in the midft of that refolution and bravery, which enflames and animates gallant fpirits, comes a chance ball, fhot off" by one, who, perhaps, fled and was frighted at the very flafh in the pan, and in an inftant cuts fhort, and puts an end to the thoughts and life of him, who deferved to have lived for many ages. And therefore, when I confider this, I could almoft fay, I repent of having under- taken this profeffion of knight-errantry, in fo detcftable an age, as this is in which we live ; for though no danger can daunt me, ftill it gives me fome con- cern, to think that powder and lead may chance to deprive me of the opportu- nity of becoming famous and renowned, by the valour of my arm and edge of my fword, over the face of the whole earth. But heaven's will be done : I have this fatisfadion, that I mall acquire fo much the greater fame, if I fucceed, by how much the perils, to which I expofe myfelf, are greater than thofe, to which me knights-errant of part ages were expofed.

Don Quixote made this long harangue, while the reft were eating, forgetting to reach a bit to his mouth, though Sancho Pane a ever and anon defired him to mind his victuals, telling him, he would have time enough afterwards to talk as much as he pleafed. Thofe who heard him were moved with frefh com- panion, to fee a man, who, to every body's thinking, had fo good an under- standing, and could talk fo well upon every other fubject, fo egregioufly want it, whenever the difcourfe happened to turn upon his unlucky and curfed chivalry. The prieft told him, there was great reafon in all he had faid in fa- vour of arms, and that he_, though a fcholar and a graduate, was of his- opinion.

The collation being over, and the cloth taken away, while the hoftefs, her daughter and Maritomes, were preparing the chamber where Don Quixote de la Mancha lay, in which it was ordered that the ladies mould be lodged by themfelves that night, Don Fernando defired the ftranger to relate to them the hiftory of his life, fince it could not but be extraordinary and entertaining, if they might judge by his coming in company with Zoraida. To which the ftranger anfwered, that he would very willingly do what they defired, and that he only feared the ftory would not prove fuch as might afford them the pleafure he wilhed ; however, rather than not comply with their requeft, he would re- late it. The prieft and all the reft thanked him, and entreated him to begin. And he, finding himfelf courted by fo many, faid } there is no need of en- treaties, gentlemen, where you may command : and therefore, pray, be atten- tive, and you will hear a true ftory, not to be equalled, perhaps, by any feigned ones, though ufually compofed with the moft curious and ftudied art. What he faid made all the company feat themfelves in order, and obferve a ftrict filence ; and he, finding they held their peace, expecting what he would fay, with an agreeable and compofed voice, began as follows.

L 1 2 CHAP.

26o The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. XII.

Wherein the Captive relates his life and adventures.

IN a certain town in the mountains of Leon my lineage had its beginning, to which nature was more kind and liberal than fortune : though amidft the penury of thofe parts my father pafled for a rich man, and really would have been fuch, had he had the knack of faving, as he had of fquandering liis effete. This difpofition of his to prodigality and profufion proceeded from his having been a foldier in his younger days: for the army is a fchool, in which the nig- gardly become generous, and the generous prodigal ; and if there are fome fol- diers mifers, they are a kind of monfters, but very rarely feen. My father ex- ceeded the bounds of liberality, and bordered near upon being prodigal : a thing very inconvenient to married men, who have children to inherit their name and quality. My father had three fons, all of age fufficient to choofe our way of life : and feeing, as he himfelf faid, that he could not bridle his natural pro- penfity, he refolved to deprive himfelf of the means that made him a prodigal and a fpendthrift, which was, to rid himfelf of his riches, without which '^Alex- ander himfelf could not be generous. Accordingly, one day calling us all three into a room by our felves, he fpoke to us in this or the like manner.

My fons, to tell you that I love you, it is fufficient that I fay, you are my children; and to make you think that I do not love you, it is fufficient that I am not mailer enough of my felf to forbear diffipating your inheritance. But, that from henceforth you nuy fee, that I love you like a father, and have no mind to ruin you like a ftep-iather, I defign to do a thing by you, which I have had in my thoughts this good while, and weighed with mature deliberation. You are all now of an age to choofe for your felves a fettlement in the world, or at leaf! to pitch upon fome way of life, which may be for your honour and profit, when you are grown up. Now, what I have refolved upon, is, to divide what I poffefs into four parts : three I will give to you, fhare and mare alike, without making any difference ; and the fourth I will referve, to fubiifl: upon for the remaining days of my life. But when each has the fhare that belongs to him in his own power, I would have him follow one of thefe ways I fhall propofe. We have a proverb here in Spain, in my opinion a very true one, as moil: pro- verbs are, being fhort fentences, drawn from long and wife experience ; and it is this : The church, thefea, or the court : as if one fhould fay more plainly ; whoever would thrive and be rich, let him either get into the church, or go to fca and exercife the art of merchandizing, or ferve the king in his court : for it is a faying, that the king's bit is better than the lord's bounty. I fay this, becaufe it is my will, that one of you follow letters, another merchandife, and the third ferve the king in his wars ; for it is difficult to get admiffion into his houfhold ; and though the wars do not procure a man much wealth, they ufually procure

him

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 261

him much eflcem and reputation. Within eight days I will give you each your fhare in money, without wronging you of a farthing, as you will fee in effect. Tell me now, whether you will follow my opinion and advice in what I have propofedj and then he bade me, being the eldeft, to anfwcr. After I had de- fired him not to part with what he had, but to fpend whatever he pleafed, we being young enough to ihift for ourfelves, I concluded with alluring him I would do as he defired and take to the army, there to ferve god and the king. My fecond brother complied likewife, and chofe to go to the Indies, turning his portion into mcrchandife. The youngeft, and I believe the wifeft, faid, he would take to the church, and purfue his ftudies at Salamanca.

As foon as we had agreed, and chofe our feveral profeffions, my father em- braced us all, and, with the difpatch he had promifed, put his deiign in execu- tion, giving to each his fhare, which, as I remember, was three thoufand du- cats j for an uncle of ours bought the whole eftate, and paid for it in ready- money, that it might not be alienated from the main branch of the family. In one and the felf-fame day we all took leave of our good father, and it then feeming to me inhuman to leave my father fo old, and with fo little to fubfifl on, I prevailed upon him to take back two thoufand ducats out of my three, the remainder being fufficient to equip me with what was neceffary for a foldier. My two brothers, incited by my example, returned him each a thoufand du- cats ; fo that my father now had four thoaland in ready-money, and three thou- fand more, which was the value of the land that fell to his (hare, and which he would not fell. To be fhort, we took our leaves of him, and of our aforefaid uncle, not without much concern and tears on all rides, they charging us to ac- quaint them with our fuccefs, whether profperous or adverfe, as often as we had opportunity. We promifed fo to do ; and they having embraced us, and given us their blefhng, one of us took the road to Salamanca, the other to. Sevil, and c I to Alicant, where I heard of a Genoefe {hip that loaded wool there for Genoa". It is now two-and-twenty years fince I nrft left my father's houfe, and in all that time, though I have written fevenl letters, I have had no news, either of him, or of my brothers. As to what has befallen me in the courfe of that time, I will briefly relate it.

I emba ked at Alicant, and had a good paflage to Genoa : from thence I went to Milan, wl : : I furnifhed myfelf with arms, and fome military finery ; and from thence de r mined to go into the fervice in Piedmont: and being upon the toad to Alex, udria de la Paglla, I was informed that trie great duke D'Aha was pafT into Flanders with an army. Hereupon I changed my mind, went with irn, and ferved undo him in all his engagements. I was p;cfent at the dea i of the counts D'Egmont and Horn. I got an enfign's com- r : lion in the company of a famous captain of Guadalajara, called Diego de XJrbina. And, foon after my arrival in Flanders, news came of the league con- cluded between pope Pius V of happy memory, and Spain, againit the com- mon

262 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

mo.n enemy, the Tu k; who, about the fame time, had taken with his fleet the famous ifland of Cyprus, which wcs before fnbjecl to the Venetians; a fad and unfortunate lcfs indeed to Chrifiendom ! It was known for certain, that the moft ferene Don John of Aujlria, natural brother of our good king Philip, was appointed generaliflimo of this league, and great preparations for war were every where, talked of. All which incited a vehement defire in me to be pre- fent in the battle that was expected; and though I had reafon to believe, and had fome promifes, and almoft affurances, that, on the firft occafion that offer- ed, I mould be promoted to the rank of a captain, I refolved to quit all, and go, as I did, into Italy. And my good-fortune would have it, that Don John of Aujlria was juft then come to Genoa, and was going to Naples to join the Venetian fleet, as he afterwards did at Mejfina. In fhort, I was prefent at that glorious action, being already made a captain of foot, to which honourable poft I was advanced, rather by my good-fortune, than by my deferts. But that day, which was fo fortunate to Chrijlendom ; for all nations were then undeceived of their error in believing that the Turks were invincible by fea : on that day, I fay, in which the Ottoman pride and haughtinefs were broken; among fo many happy perfons as were there (for fure the chriftians, who died there, had better fortune than the furvivors and conquerors) I alone remained unfortunate, fince, inftead of, what I might have expected, had it been in the times of the Ro- mans, fome naval crown, I found myfelf, the night following that famous day, with chains on my feet, and manacles on my hands. Which happened thus : TJchali king of Algiers, a bold and fuccefsful corfair, having boarded and taken the captain-galley I of Malta, three knights only being left alive in her, and thofe defperately wounded ; the captain-galley of John Andrea D'Oria came up to her relief, on board of which I was with my company ; and, doing my du- ty upon this occafion, I leaped into the enemy's galley, which getting off fud- denly from ours, my foldiers could not follow me ; and fo I was left alone among my enemies, whom I could not refift, being fo many : in fliort, I was carried off prifoner, and forely wounded. And, as you muft have heard, gen- tlemen, that Uchali efcaped with his whole fquadron, by that means I remained a captive in his power, being the only fad perfon, when fo many were joyful; and a Have, when fo many wrere freed : for fifteen thoufand chriftians, who were at the oar in the Turkijh gallies, did that day recover their long-wifhed-for liberty. They carried me to Confiantinople, where the Grand Signor Selim made my mailer general of the fea, for having done his duty in the fight, and having brought off as a proof of his valour the flag of the order of Malta. The year following, which was feventy-two, I was at Navarino, rowing in the captain-galley of the Three Ian thorns; and there I faw and obferved the oppor- tunity that was then loft of taking the whole Turkijlj navy in port. For all the

• The Galleys are always commanded by a general, and r.ot an admiral.

Levantines

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 263

Levantines and janizaries on board took it for granted they fhould be attacked in the very harbour, and had their baggage and their paflamaques (or fhocs) in readinefs for running away immediately by land, without flaying for an engage- ment: fuch terror had our navy muck into them. But heaven ordered it other- wife, not through any fault or neglect of the general, who commanded our men, but for the fins of Chrijlendom, and becaufe god permits and ordains, that there fliould always be fome fcourges to chaftife us. In fliort, Uchali got into Modon, an Ifland near Navarino, and, putting his men on more, he fortified the entrance of the port, and lay ftill till the feafon of the year forced Don John to return home. In this campain, the galley, called the Prize, whofe captain was a fon of the famous corfair BarbaroJJ'a, was taken by the captain-galley of Naples, called the She-ivolf, commanded by that thunderbolt of war, that Ei- ther of the foldiers, that fortunate and invincible captain, Don Alvaro de Bafan, marquis of Santa Cruz. And I cannot forbear relating what happened at the taking of the Prize.

The fon of BarbaroJJ'a was fo cruel, and treated his flaves fo ill, that, as foon as they, who were at the -oar, faw, that the Skc-ivolf was ready to board and take them, they all at once let fall their oars, and, laying hold on their captain, who flood near the poop *, calling out to them to row hard ; and pafling him along from bank to bank, and from the poop to the prow, they gave him fiich bites, that he had pafTed but little beyond the mart, before his foul was paffed to hell : fuch was the cruelty wherewith he treated them, and the hatred they bore to him.

We returned to Conftantinople, and the year following, which was feventy- three, it was known there that Don John had taken Tunis, and that kingdom from the Turks, and put Muley Ha/net in pofTetfion thereof, cutting off the hopes that Muley Hatnida had of reigning again there, who was one of the cru- elleft, and yet braveft Moors, that ever was in the world. The grand Turk felt this lofs very fenfibly, and putting in practice that fagacity, which is inhe- rent in the Ottoman family, he clapped up a peace with the Venetians, who de- fired it more than he : and the year following, being that of f?vent\'-four, he attacked the fortrefs of Goleta, and the fort, which Don John had left half B~ nifhed near Tunis. During all thefe tranfactions, I was ftill at the oar, without any hops of redemption : at leaft I did not expect to be ranfomedj for I was determined not to write an account of my misfortune to my father. In fhort, the Goleta was loft, and the fort alfo ; before which places the Turks had fe- venty-five thoufimd men in pay, befides above four hundred thoufand Moors and Arabs from all parts of Africa : and this vaft multitude was furnifhed with fuch quantities of ammunition, and fuch large warlike ftores, together with fo

« Literally, en the Eflantcrol. The EJianterol'n the pillar near the poop, on which is propt the awning of the poop, and it is at the end of the path of communication betwixt it and the prow, whi.h runs ciaclly along the middle of the galley, and is called in Spanijb the Cruxia.

many

264 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

many pioneers, that, each man bringing only a handful of earth, they might therewith have covered both the Goleta and the fort. The Goleta, 'till then thought impregnable, was firft taken, not through default of the believed, who did all that men could do, but becaufe experience had now (hewn, huw eafily trenches might be raifed in that defert fand ; for though the water ufed to be within two fpans of the furface, the Turks now met with none within two yards; and fo, by the help of a great number of facks of fand, they raifed their works fo high, as to overlook and command the fortifications : and fo levelling from a cavalier ', they put it out of the power of the befieged to make any de- fence. It was the general opinion, that our troops ought not to have fhut themfelves up in the Goleta, but have met the enemy in the open field, at the place of debarkment: but they, who talk thus, fpeak at random, and like men little experienced in affairs of this kind. For if there were fcarce {even thou- fand foldiers in the Goleta and in the fort, how could fo fmall a number, though ever fo refolute, both take the field, and garrifon the forts, againft fuch a multi- tude as that of the enemy ? And how can a place be maintained, which is not relieved, and efpecially when befieged by an army that is both numerous and obftinate, and befides in their own country? But many were of opinion, and I was of die number, that heaven did a particular grace and favour to Spain, in fuffering the deitruclion of that forge and refuge of all iniquity, that devourer, that fpunge, and that moth of infinite fums of money, idly fpent there, to no other purpofe, than to preferve the memory of its having been a conquefl: of the invincible emperor Charles the fifth ; as if it were neceifary to the making that memory eternal, as it will be, that -thofe ftones mould keep it up. The fort alfo was taken at lad ; but the Turks were forced to purchafe it inch by inch ; for the foldiers, who defended it, fought with fuch bravery and reiblution, that they killed above twenty-five thoufand of the enemy in two-and-twenty general afTauks. And of three hundred that were left alive, not one was taken pri- foner unwounded j an evident proof of their courage and bravery, and of the vigorous defence they had made. A little fort alfo or tower, in the middle of the lake, commanded by Don "John Zanoguera, a cavalier of Valencia, and a famous foldier, fur rendered upon terms. They took prifoner Don Pedro Por- tocarrero, general of Goleta, who did all that was poffible for the defence of his fortrefs, and took the lofs of it fo much to heart, that he died for grief on the way to Conflantinople, whither they were carrying him prifoner. They took alio the commander of the fort, called G a brio Cerbcllon, a Milanefe gen- tleman, a great engineer, and a moft valiant foldier. Several perfons of di- ftinftion loll their lives in thefe two garriions; among whom was Pagan D'Oria, knight of Malta, a gentleman of great generofity, as appeared by his exceed- ing liberality to his brother the famous John Andrea D'Oria: and what made

■ Sec tiie note in pige 25$.

his

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

his death the more lamented was, his dying by the hands of fome African Arabs, who, upon feeing that the fort was loir, offered to convey him, difgui- fed as a Moor, to Tabarca, a fmall haven, or fettlement, which the Gcnoefe have on that coafl: for the coral-filhing. Thefe Arabs cut off his head, and carried it to the general of the Turkijh fleet, who made good upon them our Cajlilla?i proverb, that, though we love the treafon, ice hate the traitor: for it is faid, the general ordered that thofe, who brought him the prefent, mould be inftantly hanged, becaufe they had not brought him alive. Among the chriffians, who were taken in the fort, was one Don Pedro d? Aguilar, a native of fome town in Andaluzia, who had been an enfign in the garrifon, a good foldier, and a man of excellent parts : in particular he had a happy talent in poetry. I men- tion this, becaufe his fortune brought him to be flave to the fame matter with me, and we ferved in the fame galley, and at the fame oar : and before we parted from that port, this cavalier made two fonnets, by way of epitaphs, one upon Go/eta, and the other upon the fort. And indeed I have a mind to repeat them ; for I have them by heart, and I believe they will rather be entertaining than difagreeable to you.

At the inltant the captive named Don Pedro d' Aguilar, Don Fernando looked at his companions, and all three fmiled : and when he mentioned the fonnets, one of them faid: pray, Sir, before you go any further, I befeech you to tell me what became of that Don Pedro d' Aguilar you talk of? All I know, anfwered the captive, is, that, after he had been two years at Conjlan- tinople, he went off in the habit of an Arnaut ', with a Greek fpy : and I cannot tell whether he recovered his liberty} though I believe he did : for, about a year after, I faw the Greek in Conjlantinople, but had not an opportu- nity of asking him the fuccefs of that journey. Then I can tell you, faid the gentleman ; for that Don Pedro is my brother, and is now in our town in health, and rich, is married, and has three children. Thanks be to god, faid the captive, for the bleffings beftowed on him ; for, in my opinion, there is not on earth a fatisfaclion equal to that of recovering one's liberty. Befides, replied the gentleman, I have by heart the fonnets my brother made. Then pray, Sir, repeat them, faid the captive } for you will be able to do it better than I can. With all my heart, anfwered the gentleman : that upon Goleta was thus.

J A trooper of Efirus, Dalmatia, or fome of the adjacent countries.

v°i-. I. Mm CHAP.

266 jfc LIFE and EXPLOITS of

CHAP. XIII.

In which is continued the hiflory of the captive*

SONNET.

/~\ Happy fouls, by death at length fet free ^-^ From the dark prifon of mortality. By glorious deeds, whofe memory never dies. From earth's dim fpot exalted to the skies! What fury food in every eye confefs'd! What generous ardor fired each manly breajl! Whiift f aught er' d heaps difain'd the fandy Jhore, .. And the ting'd ocean blujVd with hofiile gore. O'erpower'd by numbers glorioufy ye fell: Death only could fuch matchlefs courage quell. Whiljl dying thus ye triumph o'er your foes, Its fame the world, its glory heaven be/lows.

SONNET.

■

From 'mid/l thefe walls, whofe ruins fpread around*

And fcatter 'd clods that heap tb' enfanguin'd ground \

Three thoufand fouls of warriours, dead in fight \

To better regions took their happy flight.

Long with unconquer 'd force they bravely flood,

And fearlefs foed their unavailing blood;

Till, to fuperior force compell'd to yield,

Their lives they quitted in the well fought field.

This fatal foil has ever been the tomb

Of jlaughter'd heroes, buried in its womb :

Tet braver bodies did it ne 'er fuflain,

Nor fend more glorious fouls the skies to gain.

The fonnets were not difliked, and the captive, pleafed with the news they told him of his comrade, went on with his ftory, faying.

Goleta and the fort being delivered up, the Turks gave orders to difmantle Goleta: as for the fort, it was in fuch a condition, that there was nothing left to be demolished. And to do the work more fpeedily, and with lefs labour, they undermined it in three places : it is true, they could not blow up what feemed to be leaft ftrong, the old walls; but whatever remained of the new fortification, made by the engineer Fratin ', came very eafily down. In fhort3 the fleet returned to Conflantinople victorious and triumphant ; and within a few

■ Fratin Signifies a little lay-brother. Probably the engineer was one, and therefore fo called.

months

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

months died my matter the famous Uchali, whom people called Uchali Fartax, that is to lay, in the Turkijh language, The /cabby rcnegado : for he was fo ; and it is cuflomary among the Turks to nick-name people from fome pcrfonal defect, or give them a name from fome good quality belonging to them. And the reafon is, becaufe there are but four lirnames of families, which contend for nobility with the Ottoman ; and the reft, as I have faid, take names and fir- names either from the blemifhes of the body, or the virtues of the mind. This leper had been at the oar fourteen years, being a flave of the grand Signor's ; and, at about thirty-four years of age, being enraged at a blow given him by a Turk while he was at the oar, to qualify himfelf to be revenged on him, he re- nounced his religion. And fo great was his valour, that, without riling by thofe bafe methods, by which the minions of the grand Signor ufually rife, he came to be king of Algiers, and afterwards general of the fea, which is the third command in that empire. He was born in Calabria, and was a good moral man, and treated his Haves with great humanity. He had three thoufand of them, and they were divided after his death, as he had ordered by his laft will, one half to the grand Signor, who is every man's heir in part, fharing equally with the children of the deceafed ', and the other among his renega- does. I fell to the lot of a Venetian renegado, who, having been cabin-boy in a fhip, was taken by Uchali, and was fo beloved by him, that he became one of his moft favourite boys. He was one of the cruellefl renegadoes that ever was feen : his name was Azan-aga. He grew very rich, and became king of Algiers ; and with him I came from Conjlantinople, a little comforted by being fo near Spain : not that I intended to write an account to any body of my un- fortunate circumftances, but in hopes fortune would be more favourable to me in Algiers, than it had been in Conjlantinople, where I had tried a thoufand ways of making my efcape, but none rightly timed nor fuccefsful : and in Algiers I purpofed to try other means of compaffing what I defired : for the hope of re- covering my liberty never entirely abandoned me ; and whenever what I devi- fed, contrived, and put in execution, did not anfwer my defign, I prefently, without defponding, fearched out and formed to my felf frefli hopes to fuftain me, though they were flight and inconfiderable. Thus I made a fhift to fup- port life, fhut up in a prifon, or houfe, which the Turks call a bath, where they keep their chriftian captives locked up, as well thofe who belong to the king, as fome of thofe belonging to private perfons, and thofe alio whom they call of the Ahnazen, that is to fay, captives of the council, who ferve the city in its public works, and in other offices. This kind of captives find it very difficult to recover their liberty j for as they belong to the public, and have no particular

1 This is a miftalce: for at that time the Grand Signor was univerfal heir, and feized all, the children fhifting for theinfelves the belt they could, and the fons often becoming common foldiers; b t they have fince begun to preferve families. That of Kuprogli, which began fome years after our author's dca h, and wliofe founder was a common Arnaut, has produced many great men for fcveral fucceeding generations.

M m 2 mafler,

268

tte LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

mafter, there is no body for them to treat with about their ranfom, though they Should have it ready. To thefe baths, as I have faid, private perfons fometimes cany their Haves, efpecially when their ranfom is agreed upon ; for there they keep them without work, and in fafety, 'till their ranfom comes. The king's flaves al fo, who are to be ranfomed, do not go out to work with the reft of the crew, unlefs it be when their ranfom is long in coming : for then, to make them write for it with greater importunity, they are made to work, and go for wood with the reft; which is no fmall toil and pains. As they knew I had been a captain, I was one upon ranfom ; and though I aflured them I wanted both in- tereft and money, it did not hinder me from being put among the gentlemen, and thofe who were to be ranfomed. They put a chain on me, rather as a fign of ranfom, than to fecure me ; and fo I paffed my life in that bath with many other gentlemen and perfons of condition, diftinguifhed and accounted as ran- fomable. And though hunger and nakednefs often, and indeed generally, af- flicted us, nodiing troubled us fo much as to fee at every turn the unparalleled and exceflive cruelties, with which our mafter ufed the chriftians. Each day he hanged one, impaled anoiher, and cut off the ears of a third ; and that upon the leaft provocation, and fometimes none at all, infomuch that the very Turks were feniible he did it for the mere pleafure of doing it, and to gratify his murtherous and inhuman difpofition. One Spanijh foldier only, called fuch an one de Saavedra *, happened to be in his good graces ; and though he did things, which will remain in the memory of thofe people for many years, and all towards obtaining his liberty, yet he never gave him a blow, nor ordered one to be given him, nor ever gave him fo much as a hard word : and for the leaft of many thing9 he did, we all feared he would be impaled alive, and he feared it himfelf more than once : and, were it not that the time will not allow me, I would now tell you of fome things done by this foldier, which would be more entertaining, and more furprizing, than the relation of my ftory.

But to return. The court-yard of our prifon was overlooked by the win- dows of a houfe, belonging to a rich Moor of diftinction, which, as is ufual there, were rather peep-holes than windows ; and even thefe had their thick and clofe lattices. It fell out then, that one day, as I was upon a terras of our prifon, with three of my companions, trying, by way of paft-time, who could leap fartheft with his chains on, being by ourfelves (for all the reft of the chri- ftians were gone out to work) by chance I looked up, and faw from out of one of thofe little windows, I have mentioned, a cane appear, widi a handkerchief tied at the end of it : the cane moved up and down, as if it made figns for us to come and take it. We looked earneftly up at it, and one of my companions went and placed himfelf under the cane, to fee whether they who held it would

• It is generally thought, that Cervantes means himfelf in this paflage, it being certain that he was taken prifoner by the Moors, though, as to the particulars of his captivity, hiibry is filent. See the life of Cervantes, &c. by Don Cregorio, &c. $. 12.

let

DON (QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 269

let it drop, or what they would do : but, as lie came near, they advanced the cane, and moved it from fide to fide, as if they had faid, No, with the head. The chriftian came back, and the cane was let down with the fame motions as before. Another of my companions went, and the fame happened to him as to tine former : then the third went, and he had the fame fuccefs with the firft and fecond : which I perceiving would not omit to try my fortune ; and, as foon as I had placed myfelf under the cane, it was let drop, and fell juft at my feet. I immediately untied the handkerchief, and in a knot at a corner of it I found ten Zianiys, a fort of bale gold coin ufed by the Moors, each piece worth about ten reals ■ of our money. I need not tell you whether I rejoiced at the prize ; and indeed I was no lefs pleafed, than furprized to think from whence this good fortune could come to us, efpecially to me ; for the letting fall the cane to me alone, plainly (hewed that the favour was intended to me alone. I took my welcome money ; I broke the cane to-pieces ; I returned to the terras ; I looked back at the window, and perceived a very white hand go out and in, to open and ihut it haftily. Hereby we underftood, or fancied, that it muft be fome woman, who lived in that houfe, who had been thus charitable to us ; and, ta exprefs our thanks, we made our reverences after the MooriJJj falhion, inclining the head, bending the body, and laying the hands on the breaft. Soon after there was put out of the fame window a little crofs made of cane, which was prefently drawn in again. On this fignal we concluded, that fome chriftian wo- man was a captive in that houfe, and that it was fhe who had done us the kind- nefs : but the whitenefs of the hand, and the bracelets we had a glimpfe of, foon deftroyed that fancy. Then again we imagined it muft be fome chriftian renegade, whom their mafters often marry, reckoning it happy to get one of them; for they value them more than the women of their own nation. All our reafonings and conjectures were very wide of the truth ; and now all our entertainment was to gaze at and obferve the window, as our north-pole, from whence that ftar, the cane, had appeared. But full fifteen days palTed, in which we faw neither hand, nor any other fignal whatever. And though in this interval we endeavoured all we could to inform ourfelves who lived in that houfe, and whether there was any chriftian renegade there, we never could learn any thing more, than that the houfe was that of a considerable and rich Moor, named Jlgimorato, who had been Alcaide of Pata, an office among them of great authority. But, when we leaft dreamed of its raining any more Zianiys from thence, we perceived, unexpectedly, another cane appear, and another handkerchief tied to it, with another knot larger than the former j and this was at a time when the bath, as before, was empty, .and without people. We made the fame tryal as before, each of my three companions going before me ; but the cane was not let down to either of them 3 but when I went up to it, it was let fall. I untied the knot, and found in it forty Spanijh crowns in

' About an Englijh crown,

gold,

27o lit LIFE and EXPLOITS of

gold, and a paper written in Arabic, and at the top of the writing was a'lar^e crofs. I kifled the crofs, took the crowns, and returned to the terras : we all made our reverences ; the hand appeared again j I made figns that I would read the paper ; the hand fhut the window, and we all remained amazed, yet over- joyed at what had happened : and as none of us underflood Arabic, great was our defire to know what the paper contained, and greater the difficulty to find one to read it. In fhort I refolved to confide in a renegade, a native of Murcia, who profefied himfelf very much my friend, and we had exchanged fuch pledges of our mutual confidence, as obliged him to keep whatever fecret I mould commit to him. For it is ufual with renegadoes, when they have a mind to re- turn to Chrijlendom, to carry with them certificates from the mod confiderable captives, attending, in the mofl ample manner, and bell form they can get, that fuch a renegado is an honeft man, and has always been kind and obliging to the chriilians, and that he had a defire to make his efcape the firfl opportunity that offered. Some procure thefe certificates with a good intention : others make ufe of them occafionally, and out of cunning only ; for going to rob and plun- der on the chriftian coalls, if they happen to be fhipwrecked or taken, they produce their certificates, and pretend that thofe papers will fhew the defign they came upon, namely, to get into fome chriftian country, which was the reafon of their going a pirating with the Turks. By this means they efcape the firfl fury, and reconcile themielves to the church, and live unmolefled ; and, when an opportunity offers, they return to Barbary, and to their former courfe of fife. Others there are, who procure, and make ufe of thefe papers with a good defign, and remain in the chriftian countries. Now this friend of mine was a renegado of this fort, and had gotten certificates from all of us, wherein we recommended him as much as poffible; and if the Moors had found thefe papers about him, they would certainly have burnt him alive. I knew he un- derflood Arabic very well, and could not only fpeak, but write it. But, be- fore I would let him into the whole affair, I defired him to read that paper, which I found by chance in a hole of my cell. He opened it, and flood a good while looking at it, and tranflating it to himfelf. I asked him, if he un- derflood it. He faid, he did very well, and, if I defired to know its contents word for word, I mufl give him pen and ink, that he might tranflate it with more exaclnefs. We gave him prefently what he required, and he went on fcraftflattng it in order, and having done he faid : What is here fet down in Spanijh, is precifely what is contained in this Moorijh paper ; and you mufl take notice, that where it fays, Lela Marien, it means .our lady the virgin Mary. We read the paper, which was as follows,.

When I was a child, my father had a woman flave, who inftrucled ?ne in the chrijlian religion, and told me many things o/"Le!a Marien. This chrijlian died, and I know Jhe did not go to the fire ', but to Ala ; for I fop her twice after- wards,

DON QJL7IXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 271

wards, and fie bid me go to a chrijiian country to J& Lela Marien, icbo loved

me very much. I know not bow it is : I have Jeen many cbrijiians from this

•window, and none has looked like a gentleman but yourj'elf. J am very beautiful,

and young, a fid have a great deal of money to carry away ninth me. Try, if

you can find out how we may get away, and you Jhall be my husband there, if

you pleafe ; and if not, I Jhall not care ; for Lela Marien will provide me a huf-

hand. I write this myfelf: be careful to whom, you give it to read : trujl not to

any Moor ; for they are all treacherous : therefore I am very much perplexed ;

for I would not have you difcover it to any body : for if my father comes to know

it, he will immediately throw me into a well, and cover me with Jlones. I will

en a thread to the cane ; tie your anfwer to it : and if you have no body that

can write Arabic, tell me by figns ; for Lela Marien will make me undeijland

you. SI e and Ala keep you, and this crofs, which I very often kifs ; for Jo the

captive directed me to do.

Think, gentlemen, whether we had not reafon to be overjoyed and furprized at the contents of this paper : and both our joy and furprize were fo great, that the renegado perceived, that the paper was not found by accident, but was written to one of us ; and therefore he entreated us, if what he fufpected was true, to confide in him, and tell him all ; for he would venture his life for our liberty : and, faying this, he pulled a brafs crucifix out of his bofom, and, with many tears, fwore by the God that image reprefented, in whom he, though a great finner, truly and firmly believed, that he would faithfully keep fecret whatever we fhould difcover to him : for he imagined, and almoft divined, that, by means of her, who had written that letter, himfelf and all of us mould re- gain our liberty, and he, in particular, attain what he fo earneftly defired, which was, to be reftored to the bofom of holy church his mother, from which like a rotten member, he had been feparated and cut off through his fin and ignorance. The renegado faid this with fo many tears, and figns of fo much repentance, that we unanimoufly agreed to tell him the truth of the cafe ; and fo we gave him an account of the whole, without concealing any thing from him. We (hewed him the little window, out of which the cane had appeared, and by that he marked the houfe, and refolved to take efpecial care to inform himfelf who lived in it. We alfo agreed, it would be right to anfwer the Moor's billet ; and, as we now had one who knew how to do it, the renegado that in- ftant wrote what I (Mated to him, which was exa&ly what I fhall repeat to you ; for of all the material circumftances, which befel me in this adventure, not one has yet tfcaped my memory, nor fhall I ever forget them whilft I have breath. In fliort, the anfwer to the Moor was this.

The true Ala preferve you, dear lady, and that bleffed Marien, who it the true nibther of god, and is flic who has put into your heart the defire of going into a

chrijiian

272 the LIFE and EXP LOITS of

chriftian country ; for floe loves you. Do you pray to her, that jhe will be pleafcd to injlrucl you how to bring about what Jhe commands you to do ; for foe is fo good, Jhe will ajfuredly do it. On my part, and that of all the chriftians with me, I offer to do for you all we are able, at the hazard of our lives. Do not fail writing to me, and acquainting ?ne with whatever refolutions you take, and I will conjlantly anfwer you ; for the great Ala has given us a chriftian captive^ who [peaks and writes your language well, as you may perceive by this paper. So that you may without fear give us notice of your intentions. As to what you fay of becoming my wife, when you get into a chriftian country, I promife you, on the word of a good chriftian, it ftjall be fo ; and know, that the chriftians keep their words better than the Moors. Ala and Marien his mother have you in their keeping, dear lady.

This letter being written and folded up, I waited two days 'till the bath was empty, as before, and then prefently I took my accuftomed port: upon the terras, to fee if the cane appeared, and it was not long before it appeared. As foon as I faw it, though I could not difcern who held it out, I fhewed the paper, as giving them notice to put the thread to it ; but it was already faftened to the cane, to which I tied the letter, and, in a fhort time after, our ftar appeared again with the white flag of peace, the handkerchief. It was let drop, and I took it up, and found in it, in all kinds of coin, both filver and gold, above fifty crowns ; which multiplied our joy fifty times, confirming the hopes we had con- ceived of regaining our liberty. That fame evening, our renegado returned, and told us he had learned, that the fame Moor, we were before informed of, dwelt in that houfe, and that his name was Agimorato ; that he was extremely rich, and had one only daughter, heirefs to all he had ; that it was the general opinion of the whole city, that fhe was the beautifulleft woman in all Barbary j and that feveral of the viceroys, who had been fent thither, had fought her to wife, but that fhe never would confent to marry : and he alfo learned, that fhe had a chriftian woman flave, who died fome time before : all which agreed perfectly with what was in the paper. We prefently confulted with the rene- gado, what method we fhould take to carry off the Moori/h lady, and make our efcape into Chriftendom : and in fine it was agreed for that time, that we fhould wait for a fecond letter from Zoraida-, for that was the name of her, who now defires to be called Maria : for it was eafy to fee, that fhe, and no other, could find the means of furmounting the difficulties, that lay in our way. After we were come to this refolution, the renegado bid us not be uneafy ; for he would fet us at liberty, or lofe his life. The bath, after this, was four days full of people, which occafioned the cane's not appearing in all that time ; at the end of winch, the badi being empty, as ufual, it appeared with the handker- chief fo pregnant, that it promifed a happy birth. The cane and the linnen

inclined

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 273

inclined toward me : I found in it another paper, and an hundred crowns in gold only, without any other coin. The renegade- being prefent, we gave him the paper to read in our cell, and he told us it laid thus.

I do not know, dear Sir, bow to contrive a method for our going to Spain, nor has Lela Marien informed me, though I have asked it of her. What may be done, is; I will convey to you through this window a large fum of money in gold: redeem your felf and your friends therewith, and let one of you go to Chriftendom, and buy a bark, and return for the reft ; and he will find me in my father's villa, at the B.bazon-gtf/V clofe to thefea-Jide, where I am to be all thisfummer with my father and niy fervants. Thence you may carry me off by night without fear, and put me on board the bark. 'And remember you are to be my husband; for, if not, I will pray to Marien to punijhyou. If you can truft no body to g* for the bark, ranfom yourfelf and go ; for I Jhall be more fecure of your return than another* st as you are a gentleman and a chrifiian. Take care not to mijlake the villa ; and when I fee you walking where you now are, I ftjall conclude the bath is empty, and will furnifi} you with money enough. Ala preferve thee, dear Sir !

Thefe were the contents of the fecond letter : which being heard by them all, every one offered himfelf, and would fun be the ranfomed perfon, promis- ing to go and return very punctually. I alfo offered myfelf ; but the renegado oppofed thefe offers, faying, he would in no wife confent, that any one of us. mould get his liberty before the reft, experience having taught him, how ill men, when free, kept the promifes they had made while in flavery ; for fcveral confiderable captives, he (aid, had tried this expedient, ranfoming fome one to go to Valencia or Majorca with money, to buy and arm a veffel, and return for thofe who ranfomed him, but have never come back: for liberty once regained, and the fear of loiing it again, effaces out of the memory all obligations in the world. And, in confirmation of this truth, he told us briefly a cafe, which had happened very lately to certain chriftian gentlemen, the ftrangeft that had ever fallen out even in thofe parts, where every day the moft furprizing and wonderful things come to pafs. He concluded with faying, that the beft way would be, to give him the money defigned for the ranfom of a chriftian, to buy a veflel there in Algiers, upon pretence of turning merchant, and trading to Tetuan and on that coaft, and that, being mafter of the veffel, he could ea- fily contrive how to get them all out of the bath and put them on board. But if the Moor, as fhe promifed, mould furnifti money enough to redeem them all, it would be a very eafy matter for them, being free, to go on board even at noon-day : the greateft difficulty, he faid, was, that the Moors do not allow any renegado to buy or keep a veflel, uulefs it be a large one to go a pirating; for they fufpeft, that he, who buys a fmall veflel, efpecially if he be a > niard, defigns only to get into Chriflendom therewith: but this inconvenience,

Vol. I. N n he

274 M* LIFE and EXPLOITS of

he faid, he would obviate, by taking in a Tagarin l Moor for partner of the veffel, and in the profits of the merchandize: and under this colour he mould become mafter of the veffel, and then he reckoned the reft as good as done. Now though to me and my companions it feemed better to fend for the veffel to Majorca, as the Moorifi lady faid, yet we did not dare to contradict him ; fearing, left, if we did not do as he would have us, he mould betray our de- fign, and put us in danger of lofing our lives, in cafe he difcovered Zoraida's correfpondence, for whofe life we would all have laid down our own : and therefore we refolved to commit ourfelves into the hands of god, and thofe of the renegado. And in that inftant we anfwered Zoraida, that we would do all that fhe had advifed j for me had directed as well as if Lela Marien herfelf had infpired herj and that it depended entirely upon her, either that the bufinefs fhould be delayed, or fet about immediately. I again promifed to be her hus- band : and fo the next day, the bath happening to be clear, (he at feveral times, with the help of the cane and handkerchief, gave us two thoufand crowns in gold, and a paper, wherein fhe faid, that the firft "Junta, that is Friday, fhe was to go to her father's villa, and that, before fhe went, fhe would give us more money: and if that was not furficient, fhe bid us let her know, and fhe would give us as much as we defired ; for her father had fo much, that he would never mifs it j and befides fhe kept the keys of all. We immediately gave five hundred crowns to the renegado, to buy the veffel. With eight hun- dred I ranfomed my felf, depofiting the money with a merchant of Valencia, then at Algiers, who redeemed me from the king, pafling his word for me, that, the firft Hup that came from Valencia, my ranfom fhould be paid. For if he had paid the money down, it would have made the king fufpect, that the money had been a great while in his hands, and that he had employed it to his own ufe. In fhort, my mafter was fo jealous, that I did not dare upon, any ac- count to pay the money immediately. The Thurfday preceding the Friday, on which the fair Zoraida was to go to the villa, fhe gave us a thoufand crowns more, and advertifed us of her going thither, and entreated me, if I ranfomed myfelf firft, immediately to find out her father's villa, and by all means get an opportunity of going thither and feeing her. I anfwered her in few words, that I would not fail, and defired that fhe would take care to recommend us to Lela Marien, ufing all thofe prayers the captive had taught her. When this was done, means were concerted for redeeming our three companions, and get- ting them out of the bath, left, feebg me ranfomed, and themfelves not, know- ing there was money fufficient, they fhould be uneafy, and the devil fhould tempt them to do fomething to the prejudice of Zoraida : for, though their be- ing men of honour might have freed me from fuch an apprehenfion, I had no mind to run the hazard, and fo got them ranfomed by the fame means I had

1 See the beginning of the next chaptes.

been

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 275

been ranfomed myfelf, dcpofiting the whole money with the merchant, that he might fafely and fecurely pafs his word for us : to whom neverthelefs we did not difcover our management and fecret, becaufc of the danger it would have expofed us to.

CHAP. XIV.

Wherein the captive JIM continues thejlory of his adventures.

IN lefs than fifteen days our renegado had bought a very good bark, capable of holding above thirty perfons ; and to make fure work, and give the buii- nefs a colour, he made a fhort voyage to a place called Sargel, thirty leagues from Algiers towards Oran, to which there is a great trade for dried figs. Two or three times he made this trip, in company of the Tagarin aforefaid. The Moors of Aragon are called in Barbary Tagarins, and thofe of Granada Muda- jarcs; and in the kingdom of Fez the Mudajares are called Elches, who are the people the king makes mofl ufe of in his wars. You mufl know, that, each time he pafTed with his bark, he call: anchor in a little creek, not two bow-mot diftant from the garden, where Zoraida expected us: and there the renegado defignedly fet himfelf, together with the Moors that rowed, either to act the cala ', or to practife by way of jefl what he intended to execute in earneft; and with this view he would go to Zoraida's garden, and beg fome fruit, which her father would give him, without knowing who he was. His defign was, as he afterwards told me, to fpeak to Zoraida, and to tell her that he was the perfon, who, by my direction, was to carry her to Chrijiendom, and that fhe might be eafy and fecure : but it was impoflible for him to do it, the McoriJJj women ne- ver ^jjjaering themfelves to be feen either by Moor or Turk, unlefs when com- manded by their husbands or fathers : chriftian flaves indeed are allowed to keep company and converfe with them, with more freedom perhaps than is proper. But I mould have been forry if he had talked to her, becaufe it might have frighted her, to fee that the bufinefs was entrufted with a renegado. But god, who ordered it otherwife, gave the renegado no opportunity of effecting his good defign : who finding how fecurely he went to and from Sargel, and that he lay at anchor, when, how, . and where he pleafed, and that the Tagarin his partner had no will of his own, but approved whatever he directed ; that I was ranfomed, and that there wanted nothing but to find fome chrifHans to help to row ; he bid me confider who I would bring with me, befides thofe already ranfomed, and befpeak them for the firfi Friday-, for that was the time he fixed for our departure. Hereupon I fpoke to twelve Spaniards, all able men at the oar, and fuch as could mofl eafily get out of the city unfufpected : and it was no eafy matter to find fo many at that juncture ; for there were twenty corfairs

1 Some religious ceremony of the Moon.

N n 2 out

276 tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

out a pirating, and they had taken almofl all the rowers with them ; and thefe had not been found, but that their mafter did not go out that fummer, having a galleot to finifh that was then upon the flocks. I faid nothing more to them, but that they mould ileal out of the town one by one, the next Friday in the dusk of the evening, and wait for me fomewhere about Agimorato's garden. I gave this direction to each of them feparately, with this caution, that, if they mould fee any other chriflians there, they mould only fay, I ordered them to flay for me in that place. This point being taken care of, one thing was yet wanting, and that the mofl neceffary of all; which was, to advertife Zoraida how matters flood, that fhe might be in readinefs, and on the watch, fo as not to be affrighted if we rufhed upon her on a fudden, before the time fhe could think that the veffel from Chrijlendom could be arrived. And therefore I re- folved to go to the garden, and try if I could fpeak to her : and under pretence of gathering fome herbs, one day before our departure, I went thither, and the firfl perfon I met was her father, who fpoke to me in a language, which, all over Barbary, and even at Conjlantinople, is fpoken among captives and Moors, and is neither Morifco nor Caflilian, nor of any other nation, but a medley of all languages, and generally underflood. He, I fay, in that jargon, asked me, what I came to look for in that garden, and to whom I belonged ? I anfwered him, I was a Have of Arnaute Mami, who, I knew, was a very great friend of his, and that I came for a few herbs of feveral forts to make a fallad. He then asked me, if I was upon ranfom or not, and how much my mafler de- manded for me ? While we were thus talking, the fair Zoraida, who had efpied me fome time before, came out of the houfe : and as the Moorijh wo- men make no fcruple of appearing before the chriflians, nor are at all fhy to- wards them, as I have already obferved, fhe made no difficulty of coming where I flood with her father, who, feeing her walking flowly towards us, called to her, and bid her come on. It would be too hard a task for me to exprefs now the great beauty, the genteel air, the finery and richnefs of attire, with which my beloved Zoraida appeared then before my eyes. More pearls, if I may fo fay, hung about her beauteous neck, and more jewels were in her ears and hair, than fhe had hairs on her head. About her ankles, which were bare, according to cuflom, flie had two Care axes (fo they call the enamelled foot-bracelets in Morifco) of the purefl gold, fet with fo many diamonds, that, as fhe told me fince, her father valued them at ten thoufand pifloles ; and thofe fhe wore on her wrifls were of equal value. The pearls were in abundance, and very good ; for the greatefl finery and magnificence of the Moorijh women confifes in adorn- ing themfelves with the fineft feed-pearls : and therefore there are more of that fort among the Moors, than among all other nations ; and Zoraida's father had the reputation of having a great many, and thofe the very beft in Algiers, and to be worth befides above two hundred thoufand Spanifo crowns ; of all which, fhe, who is now mine, was once miftrefs. Whether, with all thefe ornaments,

flie

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 277

{he then appeared beautiful or not, and what (lie muft have been in the days of her profperity, may be conjectured by what remains after fo many fatigues. For it is well known, that the beauty of fome women has days and feafons, and de- pends upon accidents, which diminifh or incrcafc it : nay the very paffions of the mind naturally improve or impair it, and very often utterly deftroy it. In fiiort, fhe came, extremely adorned, and extremely beautiful ; to me at leaft flic leemed the moft fo of any thing I had ever beheld: which, together with my obligations to her, made me think her an angel from heaven, defcended for my pleafure and relief. When fhe was come up to us, her father told her, in his own tongue, that I was a captive belonging to his friend Arnante Mami, and that I came to look for a fallad. She took up the difcourfe, and, in the afore- faid medley of languages, asked me, whether I was a gentleman, and why I did not ranfom myfelf. I told her, I was already ranfomed, and by the price fhe might guefs what my maftcr thought of me, fmce he had got fifteen hun- dred pieces of eight for me. To which fhe anfwered : Truly had you belong- ed to my father, he fhould not have parted with you for twice that fum : for you chriftians always faliify in your accounts of yourfelves, pretending to be poor, in order to cheat the Moors. It may very well be fo, madam, anfwered I ; but, in truth, I dealt fincerely widi my mafter, and ever did, and fhall do the fame by every body in the world. And when go you away? faid Zoraida. To-mor- row, I believe, faid I : for there is a French veffel which fails to-morrow, and I intend to go in her. Would it not be better, replied Zoraida,, to ftay 'till fome fhips come from Spain, and go with them, and not with thofe of France , who are not your friends? No, madam, anfwered I; but mould the news we have of a Spanifi fhip's coming fuddenly prove true, I would perhaps ftay a lit- tle for it, though it is more likely I fhall depart to-morrow : for the defire I have to be in my own country, and with the perfons I love, is fo great, that it will not fuffer me to wait for any other conveniency, though ever fo much bet- ter. You are married, doubtlefs, in your own country, faid Zoraida, and therefore you are fo defirous to be gone and be at home with your wife ? No, replied I, I am not married ; but I have given my word to marry, as foon as I get thither. And is the lady, whom you have promifed, beautiful ? faid Zo- raida. So beautiful, anfwered I, that, to compliment her, and tell you the truth, fhe is very like yourfclf. Her father laughed heartily at this, and faid : Really, chriftian, fhe muft be beautiful indeed, if fhe refembles my daughter, who is accounted the handfomeft woman in all this kingdom : obferve her well, and you will fee I fpeak the truth. Zoraida's father ferved us as an interpreter to moft of this converfation, being beft skilled in the Lingua Franca ; for though fhe fpoke that baftard language, in ufe there, as I told you, yet fhe ex- prefted her meaning more by figns than by words.

While we were thus engaged in difcourfe, a Moor came running to us, fay- ing aloud, that four Turks had leaped over the pales or wall of the garden, and

were

278 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

were gathering the fruit, though it was not yet ripe. The old man was put in- to a fright, and fo was Zoraida : for the Moors are naturally afraid of the 'Turks, efpecially of their foldiers, who are fo infolent and imperious over the Moors, who are fubject to them, that they treat them worfe than if they were their flaves. Therefore Zoraida's father faid to her : Daughter, retire into the houfe, and lock yourfelf in, while I go and talk to thefe dogs ; and you, chri- ftian, gather your herbs, and be gone in peace, and A/a fend you fafe to your own country. I bowed myfelf, and he went his way to find the Turks, leaving me alone with Zoraida, who alfo made as if fhe was going whither her father bid her. But fcarcely was he got out of fight among the trees of the garden, when fhe turned back to me, with her eyes full of tears, and faid: Amexi, Chri- Jiiano, Amexi? that is, Are you going away, chriftian? are you going away? I anfwered; Yes, madam, but not without you: expect me the next Jumat and be not frighted, when you fee us j for we mall certainly get to Cbrijiendom. I faid this in fuch a manner, that fhe underflood me very well ; and, throwing her arm about my neck, fhe began to walk foftly and trembling toward the houfe : and fortune would have it (which might have proved fatal, if heaven had not ordained otherwife) that while we were going in that pofture and man- ner I told you, her arm being about my neck, her father, returning from driv- ing away the Turks, faw us in that pofture, and we were fenfible that he difco- vered us. But Zoraida had the difcretion and prefence of mind not to take her arm from about my neck, but rather held me clofer; and leaning her head againft my breaft, and bending her knees a little, gave plain figns of faint- ing away : and I alfo made as if I held her up only to keep her from falling. Her father came running to us, and, feeing his daughter in that pofture, asked what ailed her. But fhe not anfwering, he faid : Without doubt thefe dogs have frighted her into a fwoon : and, taking her from me, he inclined her gent- ly to his bofom. And fhe, fetching a deep figh, and her eyes frill full of tears, faid again ; Amexi, Chrijliaiio, Amexi ; Be gone, chrijiian, be gone. To which her father anfwered: It is no matter, child ; why fhould he go away? he has done you no harm, and the Turks are gone off: let nothing fright you j there is no danger ; for, as I have already told you, the Turks, at my requefr, are re- turned by the way they came. Sir, faid I to her father, they have frighted her, as you fay j but, fince fhe bid me be gone, I will not difturb her: god be with you, and, with your leave, I will come again, if we have occafion, for herbs to this garden ; for my mafter fays there are no better for a fallad any where than here. You may come whenever you will, anfwered Agimorato ; for my daughter does not fay this, as having been offended by you or any other chri- frian j but, inftead of bidding the Turks be gone, fhe bid you be gone, or be- caufe fhe thought it time for you to go and gather your herbs. I now took my leave of them both, and fhe, feeming as if her foul had been rent from her, went away with- her father. And I, under pretence of gathering herbs, walked

over

Pof. I . <p.2J8

(/<> f/,i>;/<r(/tu-/i/ .'(// /f

? 3

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 279

over and took a view of the whole garden at my leifurc, obferving carefully all the inlets and outlets, and the ftrength of the houfe, and every conveniency, which might tend to facilitate our bufineis.

When I had fo done, I went and gave an account to the renegado and my companions of all that had pafled, longing eagerly for the hour, when, without fear of furprize, I might enjoy the happinefs, which fortune prefented me in the beautiful Zoraida. In a word, time paifed on, and the day appointed, and by us fo much wifhed for, came ; and we all obferving the order and me- thod, which, after mature deliberation and long debate, we had agreed on, we had the delired fuccefs. For, the Friday following the day when I talked widi Zoraida in the garden, Morrenago (for that was the renegado's name) at the clofe of die evening, cart anchor with the bark almoft oppofite to where Zo- raida dwelt. The chriftians, who were to be employed at the oar, were rea- dy, and hid in feveral places thereabouts. They were all in fufpence, their hearts beating, and in expectation of my coming, being eager to furprize the bark, which lay before dieir eyes : for they knew nothing of what was concerted with the renegado, but thought they were to regain their liberty by meer force, and by killing the Moors, who were on board the veflel. As foon therefore as I and my friends appeared, all they that were hid came out, and joined us one after another. It was now the time that the city-gates were fhut, and no body ap- peared abroad in all that quarter. Being met together, we were in fome doubt whether it would be better to go firft for Zoraida, or fecure the Moors, who rowed the veflel. While we were in this uncertainty, our renegado came to us asking us, what we (laid for; for now was the time, all his Moors being thoughtlefs of danger, and moft of them afleep. We told him what we de- murred about, and he faid, that the thing of the moft importance was, firft to feize the veflel, which might be done with all imaginable eafe, and without any manner of danger, and then we might prefently go and fetch Zoraida. We all approved of what he faid, and fo, without farther delay, he being our guide, we came to the veflel ; and he, leaping in firft, drew a cutlafs, and faid in Morifco : Let not one man of you flir, unlefs he has a mind it Jhould coji him his life. By this time all the chriftians were got on board, and the Moors, who were timorous fellows, hearing the mafter fpeak thus, were in a great fright ; and, without making any refiftance (for indeed they had few or no arms) filently fuffered themfelves to be bound ; which was done very expeditioufly, the chri- ftians threatening the Moors, that if they raifed any manner of cry,' or made the leaft noife, they would in that inftant put them all to the fword. This be- ing done, and half our number remaining on board to guard them, the reft of us, the renegado being ftill our leader, went to Aghnorato\ garden, and, as good luck would have it, the door opened as eafily to us, as if it had not been locked ; and we came up to the houfe with great ftillnefs and filencc, and without being perceived by any one. The lovely Zoraida was expecting us at a

window,

28o The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

window, and, when fhe heard people coming, me asked in a low voice, whe- ther we were Nazarani, that is, chriftians ? I anfwered, we were, and defired her to come down. When me knew it was I, me ftaid not a moment, but, without anfwering me a word, came down in an inftant, and opening the door, appeared to us all fo beautiful, and richly attired, that I cannot eafily exprefs it. As foon as I faw her, 1 took her hand and kiffed it : the renegado did the fame, and my two comrades alfo ; and the reft, who knew not the meaning of it, followed our example, thinking we only meant to exprefs our thanks and ac- knowledgments to her as the inftrument of our deliverance. The rene°-ado asked her in Morifco, whether her father was in the houfe : fhe anfwered, he was, and afleep. Then we muft awake him, replied the renegado, and carry him with us, and all that he has of value in this beautiful villa. No, faid fhe, my father muft by no means be touched, and there is nothing considerable here but what I have with me, which is fufHcient to make you all rich and content : ftay a little, and you fhall fee. And, fo faying, me went in again, and bid us be quiet, and make no noife, for fhe would come back immediately. I asked the renegado what fhe faid : he told me, and I bid him be fure to do juft as Zoraida would have him, who was now returned with a little trunk fo full of gold crowns, that fhe could hardly life it. Ill fortune would have it, that her father in the mean time happened to awake, and, hearing a noife in the garden, looked out at the window, and prefently found there were chriftians in it. Immediately he cried out as loud as he could in Arabic, Chriftians, chriftians, thieves, thieves; which outcry put us all into the utmoft terror and confufion. But the renegado, feeing the danger we were in, and confidering how much it imported him to go through with the enterprize, before it was difcovered, ran up widi the greateft fpeed to the room where Agimorato was ; and with him ran up feveral others of us : but I did not dare to quit Zoraida, who had funk into my arms almoft in a fvvoon. In fnort they that went up acquitted them- ielves fo well, that in a moment they came down with Agimorato, having tied his hands, and ftopped his mouth with a handkerchief, fo that he could not fpeak a word, and threatening him, if he made the leaft noife, it fhould coft him his life. When his daughter faw him, fhe covered her eyes, that fhe might not fee him, and her father was aftonifhed at feeing her, not knowing how willingly fhe had put herfelf into our hands. But at that time it being of the utmoft confequence to us to rly, we got as fpeedily as we could to the bark, where our comrades already expected us with impatience, fearing we had met with fome crofs accident. Scarce two hours of the night were paffed, when we were now all got on board, and then we untied the hands of Zoraida'?, fa- ther, and took the handkerchief out of his mouth : but the renegado warned him again not to fpeak a word, for, if he did, they would take away his life. When he faw his daughter there, he began to weep moft tenderly, and efpe- cully when he perceived that IJield her clofely embraced, and that me, with- out

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

out making any fhew of oppofition, or complaint, or coynefs, lay fo ftill and quiet : neverthelefs he held his peace, left we fhould put the renegado's threats in execution. Zoraida now finding herfelf in the bark, and that we began to handle our oars, and feeing her father there, and the reft of the Moors, who were bound, fpoke to the renegado, to defire me to do her the favour to loofe thofe Moors, and fet her father at liberty; for (lie. would fooner throw herfelf into the fea, than fee a father, who loved her fo tenderly, carried away captive before her eyes, and upon her account. The renegado told me what flic de- fired, and I anfwercd that I was entirely fatisfied it fhould be fo : but he replied, it was not convenient ; for, fhould they be fet on fhore there, they would pre- fently raife the country, and alarm the city, and caufe fome light frigates to be fent out in queft of us, and fo we fhould be befet both by fea and land, and it would be impoflible for us to efcape : but what might be done, was, to give them their liberty at the firft chriftian country we fhould touch at. We all came in to this opinion, and Zoraida alfo was fatisfied, when we told her what we had determined, and the reafons why we could not at prefent comply with her requeft. And then immediately, with joyful filence, and cheerful diligence, each of our brave rowers handled his oar, and, recommending our felves to god with all our hearts, we began to make toward the ifland of Majorca, which is the neareft chriftian land. But, the north wind beginning to blow frefh, and the fea being fomewhat rough, it was not poflible for us to fteer the courfe of Majorca, and we were forced to keep along fhore towards Or an, not without great apprehenfions of being difcovered from the town of Sargcl, which lies on that coaft, about fixty miles from Algiers. We were afraid likewife of meeting in our paftage with fome of thofe galeots, which come ufually with merchan- dife from Tetuan ; though, each relying on his own courage, and that of his comrades in general, we prefumed, that, if we fhould meet a galeot, provided it were not a cruizer, we fhould be fo far from being ruined, that we fhould probably take a vefTel, wherein we might more fecurely purfue our voyage. While we proceeded in our voyage, Zoraida kept her head between my hands, that flie might not look on her father ; and I could perceive me was continually calling upon Lela Marien to aflift us.

We had rowed about thirty miles, when day-break came upon us, and we found ourfelves not above three musket-fhot diftant from the fhore, which feemed to be quite a defart, and without any creature to difcover us : however, by mere dint of rowing, we made a little out to fea, which was by this time be- come more calm ; and when we had advanced about two leagues, it was or- dered that they fhould row by turns ', whilft we took a little rehefhment; the bark being well provided : but the rowers faid, that it was not a time to take iiny reft, and that they would by no means quit their oars, but would eat and

1 The original is bogaffe a quart elti, i, e. every fourth man fhould row, whilft the refl took their cafe, or Were reircihing themfelves.

Vol. I, O o row.

282 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

row, if thofe, who were unemployed, would bring the victuals to them. They did fo ; and now the wind began to blow a brisk gale, which forced us to fet up our fails, and lay down our oars, and fteer directly to Oran, it being impof- fible to hold any other courfe. All this was done with great expedition j and fo we failed above eight miles an hour, without any other fear than that of meeting fome cruizer. We gave the MooriJJj prifoners fomething to eat,, and the rene- gado comforted them, telling them they were not flaves, and that they fhould have their liberty given them the firft opportunity : and he faid the fame to Zo- raida'?, father, who anfwered : I might, perhaps, expect or hope for any other favour from your liberality and generous ufage, O chriftians ; but as to giving me my liberty, think me not fo fimple as to imagine it j. for you would never have expofed yourfelves to the hazard of taking it from me, to reflore it me fo freely, efpecially fince you know who I am, and the advantage that may accrue to you by my ranfom ; which do but name, and from this moment I promife you whatever you demand, for myfelf, and for this my unhappy daughter, or elfe for her alone, who is the greater and better part of my foul. In faying this, he began to weep fo bitterly, that it moved us all to companion, and forced Zoraida to look up at him ; who, feeing him weep in that manner, was fo melted, that fhe got up from me, and ran to embrace her father, and laying her face to his, they two began fo tender a lamentation, that many of us could not forbear keeping them company. But when her father obferved, that fhe was adorned with her beft attire, and had fo many jewels about her, he faid to her in his language : How comes it, daughter, that yefterday evening, be- fore this terrible misfortune befell us, I faw you in your ordinary and houfhold undrefs, and now, without having had time to drefs yourfelf, and without hav- ing received any joyful news, to be folemnized by adorning and dreffing your feif out, I fee you fet off with the beft cloaths that I could pombly find to give you, when fortune was more favourable to us ? Anfwer me to this ; for it holds me in greater fufpence and admiration, than the misfortune itfelf, in which I am involved ? The renegado interpreted to us all that the Moor faid to his daughter, who anfwered him not a word : but when he faw in a corner of the boat the little trunk, in which fhe ufed to keep her jewels, which he knew very well he had left in the town of Algiers, and had not brought with him to the villa, he was ftill more confounded, and asked her, how that trunk had come to our hands, and what was in it ? To which the renegado, without flaying till Zoraida fpoke, anfwered ; Trouble not yourfelf, Signor, about asking your daughter fo many queftions ; for with one word I can fatisfy them all : and therefore be it known to you, that fhe is a chriftian, and has been the inftru- ment to file off our chains, and give us the liberty we enjoy : fhe is here, with her own confent, and well pleafed, I believe, to find herfelf in this condition, like one who goes out of darknefs into light, from death to life, and from fuf- fering to glory. Is this true, daughter ? faid the Moor. It is, anfwered Zo- raida,

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 283

raida. In effect then, replied the old man, you are become a chriftian, and are (he, who has put her father into the power of his enemies ? To which Zoraida anfwered : I am indeed a chriftian ; but not fhe, who has reduced you to this condition : for my inclination never was to foifake you, nor do you harm : my defign was only to do myfelf good. And what good have you done yourfelf, my daughter ? Ask that, anfwered flic, of Lcla Marion, who can tell you better than I can.

The Moor had fcarcc heard this, when with incredible precipitation he threw himfelf headlong into the fea, and without doubt had been drowned, had not the wide and cumberfome garments he wore kept him a little while above water. Zoraida cried out, to fave him, and we all prefently ran, and, laying hold of his garment, dragged him out, half drowned and fenfclcfs; at which light Zoraida was fo affected, that fhe fet up a tender and fonowful lamentation over him, as if he had been really dead. We turned him with his moudi downward, and he voided a great deal of water, and in about two hours came to himfelf. In the mean time, the wind being changed, we were obliged to ply our oars, to avoid running upon the more : but by good fortune we came to a creek by the fide of a fmall promontory, or head, which by the Moors is called the cape of Cava Rumia, that is to fay, in our language, The wicked chrijiian woman -, for the Moors have a tradition, that Cava \ who occasioned the lofs of Spain , lyes buried there ; Cava fignifying in their language a wicked woman, and Ru- mia, a chrijiian ; and farther, they reckon it an ill omen to be forced to anchor there } and otherwife they never do fo ; though to us it proved, not the fhelter of a wicked woman, but a fafe harbour and retreat, confidering how high the fea ran. We placed fcouts on more, and never dropped our oars : we eat of what the renegado had provided, and prayed to god and to our lady very de- voutly for afliftance and protection, that we might give a happy ending to fo fortunate a beginning. Order was given, at Zoraida 's entreaty, to fet her fa- ther on more with the reft of the Moors, who 'till now had been faft bound ; for (lie had not the heart, nor could her tender bowels brook, to fee her father, and her countrymen, carried off prifoners before her face. We promifed her it mould be done at our going off, fince there was no danger in leaving them in fo defolate a place. Our prayers were not in vain : heaven heard them ; for the wind prefently changed in our favour, and the fea was calm, inviting us to re- turn and profecute our intended voyage. Seeing this, we unbound the Moors, and fet them one by one on fhore ; at which they were greatly furprized : but, when we went to difembark Zoraida's father, who was now perfectly in his fenfes, he faid ; Why, chriftians, think you, is this wicked woman delirous of my being fet at liberty ? think you it is out of any filial piety flic has towards me? No, certainly: but it is, becaufe of the difturbance my prefence would give her, when fhe has a mind to put her evil inclinations in practice. And tliink not

1 Count Julian's daughter, the caufe of bringing the Mem into Spain.

O o 2 that

284 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

that fhe is moved to change her religion becaufe fhe thinks yours is preferable to ours : no, but becaufe fhe knows, that libertinifm is more allowed in your country than in ours. And, turning to Zoraida (I and another chriftian holding him faft by both arms, left he fhould commit fome outrage) he faid : O infamous girl, and ill-advifed maiden ! whither goeft thou blindfold and precipitate, in the power of thefe dogs our natural enemies ? Curfed be the hour, wherein I begat thee, and curfed be the indulgence and luxury in which I brought thee up ! But per- ceiving he was not likely to give over in hafte, I hurried him afhore, and from thence he continued his execrations and wailings, praying to Mahomet that he would befeech god to deftroy, confound, and make an end of us : and when, being under fail, we could no longer hear his words, we faw his actions ; which were, tearing his beard, plucking off his hair, and rolling himfelf on the ground : and once he raifed his voice fo high, that we could hear him fay : Comeback, beloved daughter, come back to fhore ; for I forgive thee all: let thofe men keep the money they already have, and do thou come back, and comfort thy difconfolate father, who muft lofe his life in this defart land, if thou forfakeft him. All this Zoraida heard 3 all this fhe felt, and bewailed, but could not fpeak, nor anfwer him a word, only : May it pleafe Ala, my dear fa- ther, that Lela Marten, who has been the caufe of my turning chriftian, may coinf rt you in your affliction. Ala well knows, that I could do no otherwise than I have done, and that thefe chriftians are not indebted to me for any parti- cular good- will to them, fince, though I had had no mind to have gone with them, but rather to have flayed at home, it had been impoffible for me; for my mind would not let me be at reft, 'till I performed this work, which to me feems as good, as you, my deareft father, think it bad. This fhe faid, when we were got fo far off, that her father could not hear her, nor we fee him any more. So I comforted Zoraida, and we all minded our voyage, which was now made fo eafy to us by a favourable wind, that we made no doubt of being next morning upon the coaft of Spain.

But, as good feldom or never comes pure and unmixed, without being ac- companied or followed by fome ill to alarm and difturb it, our fortune would have it, or perhaps the curfes the Moor beftowed on his daughter (for fuch are always to be dreaded, let the father be what he will) I fay, it happened, that, being now got fir out to fea,. and the third hour of the night well-nigh paft, and under full fail, the oars being lafhed, for the fair wind eafed us of the la- bour of making ufe of them; by the light of the moon, which fhon very bright, we difcovered a round veffeL with all her fails out, a little a-head of us, but fo very near to us, that we were forced to ftrike fail, to avoid running foul of her ; and they alfo fteered, and,, as they call it, put the helm hard up, to give us room to go by. The men had ported themfelves on the quarter- deck, to ask, who we were, whither we were going, and from whence we came; but asking us in French, our renegado fud; Let no one anfwer; for

thefe

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 285

thefe without doubt are French corfairs, to whom all is fiih that comes to net. Upon this caution no body fpoke a word : and having failed a little on, their vehel being under the wind, on a Hidden they let fly two pieces of artillery, and both, as it appeared, with chain-fhot; for one cut our roaft through the mid- dle, • both that and the fail filling into the fea, and the other at the fame infbnt came through the middle of our bark, fo as to lay it quite open, without wound- ing any of us. But, finding ourfelves finking, we all began to cry aloud for help, and to beg of thofe in the (hip to take us in, for we were drowning. They then fti uck their fails, and hoifting out the boat or pinnace, with about twelve Frenchmen in her, well armed with muskets, and their matches lighted, they came up clofe to us, and, feeing how few we were, and that the veflcl was (inking, they took us in, telling us, that all this had befallen us becaufe of our incivility in returning them no anfwer. Our renegado took the trunk, in which was Zoraida's treafbre, and, without being perceived by any one, threw it overboard into the fea. In ihort we all paffed into the French fhip, where, after they had informed themfelves of whatever they had a mind to know con- cerning us, immediately, as if they had. been our capital enemies, they {hipped us of every thing, and Zoraitta they ftripped even of the bracelets me wore on her ankles : but the uneafinefs they gave her gave me lefs than the appreherv- fion I was in, left they fhould proceed, from plundering her of her rich and pre- cious jewels, to the depriving her of the jewel of moft worth, and that which (he valued moft. But the defires of this fort of men feldom extend farther than to money, with which their avarice is never fatisfied, as was evident at that time ; for they would have taken away the very cloaths we wore as flaves, if they had thought they could have made any thing of them. Some of them were of opinion, it would be beft to throw us all overboard, wrapped up in a fail : for their defign was to trade in fome of the Spanijh ports, pretending to be of Brit any; and, fhould they carry us with them thither, they would be feized on and punifhed, upon difcovery of the robbery. But the captain, who had rifled my dear Zoraida, faid, he was contented with the prize he had al- ready got, and that he would not touch at any port of Spain, but pafs the Streights of Gibraltar by night, or as he could, and make the beft of his way for Rochcl, from whence he came ; and therefore in conclufion they agreed to give us their fhip-boat, and what was neceffary for fo fhort a voyage as we had to make: which they did the next day in view of the Spanifi coaft; at which fight ail our troubles and miJeries were forgotten as entirely as if they had never happened to us; fo great is the pleafure of regaining one's loft liberty. It was about noon, when they put us into the boat, giving us two barrels of water, and fome bifcuit ; and the captain, moved by I know not what companion, gave the beautiful Zoraida, at her going off, about forty crowns in gold, and would not permit his foldiers to ftrip her of thefe very cloaths flic has now on.

We

286 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

We went on board, giving them thanks for the favour they did us, and /hew- ing ourfelves rather pleafed than diuatisfied. They flood out to fea, fleering toward the Streights, and we, without minding any other north-flar than the land before us, rowed fo hard, that we were, at fun-fet, fo near it, that we might eafily, we thought, get thither before the night fhould be far fpent : but the moon not fhining, and the sky being cloudy, as we did not know the coafr. we were upon, we did not think it fafe to land, as feveral among us would have had us, though it were among the rocks, and far from any town ; for by that means, they faid, we fhould avoid the danger we ought to fear from the cor- fairs of Tetuan, who are over-night in Barbary, and the next morning on the coafl of Spain, where they commonly pick up ibme prize, and return to deep at their own homes. However it was agreed at laft, that we mould row gently towards the fhore, and, if the fea proved calm, we fhould land wherever we could. We did fo; and, a little before midnight, we arrived at the foot of a very large and high mountain, not fo clofe to the fhore, but there was room enough for our landing commodioufly. We ran our boat into the fand; we all got on fhore, and kiffed the ground, and with tears of joy and fatisfadtion gave thanks to god for our late providential deliverance. We took our provifions out of the boat, which we dragged on fhore, and then afcended a good way up the mountain ; and, though it was really fo, we could not fatisfy our minds, nor thoroughly believe, that the ground we were upon was chriftian ground. We thought the day would never come : at laft we got to the top of the mountain, to fee if we could difcover any houfes, or huts of fhepherds ; but as far as ever we could fee, neither habitation, nor perfon, nor path, nor road, could we dif- cover at all. However we determined to go farther into the country, thinking it impoflible but we muft foon fee fome body, to inform us where we were. But what troubled me mod, was, to fee Zoraida travel on foot through thofe craggy places ; for, though I fometimes took her on my fhoulders, my weari- nefs wearied her more, than her own refting relieved her : and therefore fhe would not fuffer me to take that pains any more; and fo went on with very great patience, and figns of joy, I ftill leading her by the hand.

We had gone in this manner little lefs than a quarter of a league, when the found of a little bell reached our ears, a certain fignal that fome flocks were near us; and all of us looking out attentively to fee whether any appeared, we dif- covered a young fhepherd at the foot of a cork-tree, in great tranquillity and repofe, fhaping a flick with his knife. We called out to him, and he, lifting up his head, got up nimbly on his feet; and, as we came to underfland after- wards, the firfl, who prefented themfelves to his fight, being the renegado and Zoraida, he, feeing them in Moorijh habits, thought all the Moors in Barbary were upon him; and, making toward the wood before him with incredible ipeed, he cried out as loud as ever he could ; Moors ! the Moors are landed : Moors ! Moors ! arm, arm ! We, hearing this outcry, were confounded, and

knew

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 287

knew not what to do: but, considering that the fhepherd's outcries muft needs alarm the country, and that the militia of the coaft would prefently come to fee what was the matter, we agreed, that the renegado fhould drip off his Turkijh habit, and put on a jerkin or Have's caffock, which one of us immediately gave him, though he who lent it remained only in his fhirt and breeches ; and fo, recommending our- felves to god, we went on, the fame way we faw the fhephcrd take, expecting every moment when the coaft-guard would be upon us : nor were we deceived in our appreheniion ; for, in Ids than two hours, as we came down the hill into the plain, we difcovered about fifty horfemen coming towards us on a half-gallop ; and, as foon as we faw them, we flood frill, to wait their coming up. But as they drew near, and found, inftead of the Moors they looked for, a company of poor cliriftian captives, they were furprized, and one of them asked us, whether we were the occafion of the fhepherd's alarming the country? I anfwered, we were ; and being about to acquaint him whence we came, and who we were, one of the chriftians, who came with us, knew the horfeman, who had asked us the qucflion, and, without giving me time to fay any thing more, he cried : God be praifed, gentlemen, for bringing us to fo good a part of the country ; for, if I am not miftaken, the ground we ftand upon is the territory of Velez Malaga, and, if me length of my captivity has not impaired my memory, you, Sir, who are asking us thefe queflions, are Pedro de Buftawante, my uncle. Scarce had the chriflian captive faid this, when the horfeman threw himfelf from his horfe, and ran to embrace the young man, faying to him : Dear ne- phew of my foul and of my life, I know you ; and we have often bewailed your death, I, and my fifter your mother, and all your kindred, who are ftill alive; and god has been pleafed to prolong their lives, that they may have the pleafure of feeing you again. We knew you were in Algiers, and by the ap- pearance of your drefs, and that of your companions, I guefs you mull have recovered your liberty in fome miraculous manner. It is fo, anfwered the young man, and we fhall have time enough hereafter to tell you the whole flory. As foon as the horfemen underftood that we were chriflian captives, they alighted from their ho.fes, and each of them invited us to accept of his horfe to carry us to the city of Velez Malaga, which was a league and half off. Some of them went back to carry the boat to the town, being told by us where we had left it. Others of them took us up behind them, and Zoraida rode behind our captive's uncle. All the people came out to receive us, having heard the news of our coming from fome who went before. They did not come to fee captives freed, or Moors made flaves ; for the people of that coaft are accuftomed to fee both the one and the other ; but they came to gaze at the beauty of Zoraida, which was at that time in its -full perfection ; and what with walking, and the joy of being in Chrijlendom, without the fear of being loft, fuch colours came into her face, that I dare fay, if my affedion did not then deceive me, there never was in the world a more beautiful creature; at leaft none that I had ever feen.

We

288 7fo LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

We went directly to the church, to give god thanks for the mercy we had received, and Zoraida, at firft entering, faid, there were faces there very like that of Lela Marien. We told her they were pictures of her, and the renega- do explained to her the beft he could what they fignified, that fhe might adore them, juft as if every one of them were really that very Lela Marien, who had ipoke to her. She, who has good fenie, and a clear and ready apprehen- fion, prefently understood what was told her concerning the images. After this they carried us, and lodged us in different houfes of the town : but the chri- stian, who came with us, took the renegado, Zoraida, and me, to the houfe of his parents, who were in pretty good circumflances, and treated us with as much kindnefs, as they did their own fon. We ftaid in Velez fix days, at the end of which the renegado, having informed himfelf of what was proper for him to do, repaired to the city of Granada, there to be re-admitted, by means of the holy inquifition, into the bofom of our holy mother the church. The reft of the freed captives went every one which way he pleafed : as for Zoraida and myfelf, we remained behind, with thofe crowns only, which the courtefy of the Frenchman had beftowed on Zoraida; with part of which I bought this beaft fhe rides on ; and hitherto I have ferved her as a father and gentleman- ufher, and not as an husband. We are going with defign to fee if my father be living, or whether either of my brothers have had better fortune than myfelf: though, confidering that heaven has given me Zoraida, no other fortune could have befallen me, which I fhould have valued at fo high a rate. The patience, with which Zoraida bears the inconveniences poverty brings along with it, and the defire fhe feems to exprefs of becoming a chriftian, is fuch and fo great, that I am in admiration, and look upon myfelf as bound to ferve her all the days of my life. But the delight I take in feeing myfelf hers, and her mine, is fome- times interrupted and almofl deftroyed by my not knowing whether I fhall find any corner in my own country, wherein to fhelter her, and whether time and death have not made fuch alterations, as to the affairs and lives of my father and brothers, that, if they are no more, I fhall hardly find any body that knows me.

This, gentlemen, is my hiftory : whether it be an entertaining and uncom- mon one, you are to judge. For my own part I can fay, I would willingly have related it ftill more fuccinctly, though the fear of tiring you has made me omit feveral circumflances, which were at my tongue's end.

CHAP.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 289

CHAP. XV.

Which treats of what farther happened in the inn, and of many other things

worthy to be known.

H

ERE the captive ended his ftory; to whom Don Fernando faid : Truly, captain, the manner of your relating this ftrange adventure has been fuch as equals the novelty and furprizingnefs of the event itfelf. The whole is ex- traordinary, uncommon, and full of accidents, which aflonifh and furprize thofe who hear them. And fo great is the pleafure we have received in liflening to it, that, though the flory fhould have held 'till to-morrow, we mould have wifhed it were to begin again. And, upon faying this, Cardenio and the reft of the company offered him all the fervice in their power, with fuch expreffions of kindnefs and fincerity, that the captain was extremely well fattened of their good-will. Don Fernando in particular offered him, that, if he would return with him, he would prevail with the marquis his brother to ftand god-father at Zoraida's baptifm, and that for his own part he would accommodate him in fuch a manner, that he might appear in his own country with the dignity and diflinclion due to his perfon. The captive thanked him moft courteoufly, but would not accept of any of his generous offers.

By this time night was come on, and about the dusk a coach arrived at the inn, with fome men on horfeback. They asked for a lodging. The hoflefs an- fwered, there was not an inch of room in the whole inn but what was taken up. Though it be fo, faid one of the men on horfeback, there mufl be room made for my lord judge here in the coach. At this name the hoflefs was troubled, and faid j Sir, the truth is, I have no bed: but if his worfhip my lord judge brings one with him, as I believe he mufl, let him enter in god's name; for I and my husband will quit our own chamber to accommodate his honour. Then let it be fo, quoth the fquire : but by this time there had already alighted out of the coach a man, who by his garb prefently difcovered the office and dignity he bore : for the long gown and tucked-up fleeves he had on fhewed him to be a judge, as his fervant had faid. He led by the hand a young lady feemingly about fixteen years of age, in a riding-drefs, fo genteel, fo beautiful, and fo gay, that her prefence flruck them all with admiration, infomuch that, had they not feen Do- rothea, Lucinda, and Zoraida, who were in the inn, they would have believed that fuch another beautiful damfel could hardly have been found. Don Quixote was prefent at the coming-in of the judge and the young lady; and fo, as foon as he faw him, he faid : Your worfhip may fecurely enter here, and walk about in this caflle; for though it be narrow and ill-accommodated, there is no narrow- cefs nor incommodioufnefs in the world, which does not make room for arms and letters, efpecLlly if arms and letters bring beauty for their guide and con- ductor, as your worfhip's letters do in this fair maiden, to whom not only caftles

Vol. I. P p o.ght

29o 7U LIFE and EXPLOITS of

ought to throw open and offer themfelves, but rocks to feparate and divide, and mountains to bow their lofty heads, to give her entrance and reception. Enter, Sir, I fay, into this paradife ; for here you will find ftars and funs to accompany that heaven you bring with you. Here you will find arms in their zenith, and beauty in perfection. The judge marvelled greatly at this fpeech of Don Quixote's, whom he fet himfelf to look at very earneftly, admiring no lefs at his figure than at his words : and not knowing what to anfwer, he began to gaze at him again when he faw appear Lucinda, Dorothea, and Zoraida, whom the re- port of thefe new guefts, and the account the hoftefs had given them of the beauty of the young lady, had brought to fee and receive her. But Don Fer- nando, Cardenio, and the prieft complimented him in a more intelligible and polite manner. In fine, my lord judge entered, no lefs confounded at what he faw than at what he heard; and the beauties of the inn welcomed the fair ftranger. In fhort, the judge eafily perceived, that all there were perfons of diftinction ; but the mien, vifage, and behaviour of Don Quixote diffracted him. After the ufual civilities pafled on all fides, and enquiry made into what conveniences the inn afforded, it was again ordered, as it had been before, that all the women fliould lodge in the great room aforefaid, and the men remain without as their guard. The judge was contented that his daughter, who was the young lady, fhould accompany thofe Ladies; which fhe did with all her heart. And with part of the inn-keeper's narrow bed, together with what the judge had brought with him, they accommodated themfelves that night better than they expected.

The captive, who, from the very moment he faw the judge, felt his heart beat, and had a fufpicion that this gentleman was his brother, asked one of the fer- vants that came with him, what his name might be, and if he knew what coun- try he was of? The fervant anfwered, that he was called the licentiate John Perez de Viedma, and that he had heard fay, he was born in a town in the mountains of Leon. With this account, and with what he had feen, he was entirely confirmed in the opinion that this was that brother of his, who, by ad- vice of his father, had applied himfelf to learning : and overjoyed and pleafed herewith, he called afide Don Fernando, Cardenio, and the prieft, and told them what had paffed, affuring them that the judge was his brother. The fer- vant had alfo told him, that he was going to the Indies in quality of judge of the courts of Mexico. He underftood alfo, that the young lady was his daugh- ter, and that her mother died in childbed of her, and that the judge was be- come very rich by her dowry, which came to him by his having tins child by her. He asked their advice\vhat way he mould take to difcover himfelf, or how he mould firft know, whether, after the difcovery, his brother, feeing him fo poor, would be afhamed to own him, or would receive him with bowels of affection. Leave it to me to make the experiment, faid the prieft, and the rather becaufe there is no reafon to doubt, Signor captain, but that you

will

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 291

will be very well received : for the worth and prudence, which appear in your brother's looks, give no figns of his being arrogant or wilfully forgetful, or of his not knowing hew to make due allowances for the accidents of fortune. Ne- vertheless, faid the captain, I would fain make myfelf known to him by fome round-about way, and not fuddenly and at unawares. I tell you, anfwered the prieft, I will manage it after fuch a manner, diat all parties mall be fatis-

fied.

By this time fupper was ready, and they all fat down at table, excepting the captive, and the ladies, who fupped by fhemfelves in their chamber. In the midft of fupper, the prieft faid : my lord judge, I had a comrade of your name in Conjlantinople, where I was a Have fome years ; which comrade was one of the braveft foldiers and captains in all the Spanijli infantry; but as unfortunate, as he was refolute and brave. And pray, Sir, what was this captain's name ? faid the judge. He was called, anfwered the prieft, Ruy Perez de Viedma, and he was born in a village in the mountains of Leon. He related to me a circum- ftance, which happened between his father, himfelf, and his two brethren, which, had it come from a perfon of lefs veracity than himfelf, I fhould have taken for a tale, fuch as old women tell by a fire-fide in winter. For he told me, his father had divided his eftate equally between himfelf and his three fons, and had given them certain precepts better than thofe of Cato. And I can allure you, that the choice he made to follow the wars fucceeded fo well, that, in a few years, by his valour and bravery, without other help than that of his great virtue, he rofe to be a captain of foot, and faw himfelf in the road of becom- ing a colonel very foon. But fortune proved adverfe ; for where he might have expected to have her favour, he loft it, together with his liberty, in that glo- rious action, whereby fo many recovered theirs ; I mean, in the battle of Le- panto. Mine I loft in Go/eta ; and afterwards, by different adventures, we be- came comrades in Conjlantinople. From thence I came to Algiers, where, to my knowledge, one of the ftrangeft adventures in the world befell him. The prieft then went on, and recounted to him very briefly what had paffed between his brother and Zoraida. To all which the judge was fo attentive, that never any judge was more fo. The prieft went no farther than that point, where the French ftripped the chriftians that came in the bark, and the poverty and necef- fity wherein his comrade and the beautiful Moor were left : pretending that he knew not what became of them afterwards, whether they arrived in Spain, or were carried by the Frenchmen to France.

The captain flood at fome diftance, liftening to all the prieft faid, and ob- ferved all the emotions of his brother ; who, perceiving the prieft had ended his ftory, fetching a deep figh, and his eyes ftanding with water, faid: O Sir, you know not how nearly I am affected by the news you tell me; fo near- ly, that I am conftrained to fhew it by thefe tears, which flow from my eyes, in fpite of all my difcretion and referve. That gallant captain you mention is my

P n 2 elder

292 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

elder brother, who, being of a flronger conflitution, and of more elevated thoughts, than I, or my younger brother, chofe the honourable and worthy profeffion of arms ; which was one of the three ways propofed to us by our father, as your comrade told you, when you thought he was telling you a fable. I applied myfelf to learning, which, by god's bleffing on my induftry, has raifed me to the flation you fee me in. My younger brother is in Peru, fo rich, that, with what he has fent to my father and me, he has made large amends for what he took away with him, and befides has enabled my father to indulge his natural difpofition to liberality. I alfo have been enabled to profecute my flu- dies with more decorum and authority, 'till I arrived at the rank, to which I am now advanced. My father is flill alive, but dying with defire to hear of his el- deft, fon, and begging of god with incefTant prayers, that death may not clofe his eyes, until he has once again beheld his fon alive. And I wonder extremely, confidcring his difcretion, how, in -fo many troubles and afflictions, or in his profperous fuccefTes, he could neglect giving his father fome account of himfelf; for had he, or any of us, known his cafe, he needed not to have waited for the miracle of the cane to have obtained his ranfom. But what at prefent gives me the moft concern is, to think, whether thofe Frenchmen have fet him at liberty, or killed him, to conceal their robbery. This thought will make me continue my voyage, not with that fatisfaclion I began it, but rather with melancholy and fadnefs. O my dear brother ! did I but know where you now are, I would go and find you, to deliver you from your troubles, though at the expence of my own repofe. O ! who fhall carry the news to our aged father that you are alive ? though you were in the deepefl dungeon of Barbary, his wealth, my brother's, and mine, would fetch you thence. O beautiful and bountiful Zo- raida! who can repay the kindnefs you have done my brother? Who fhall be fo happy as to be prefent at your regeneration by baptifm, and at your nuptials, which would give us all fo much delight ? Thefe and the like expreffions the judge uttered, fo full of compaffion at the news he had received of his brother, that all, who heard him, bore him company in demonflrations of a tender con- cern for his forrow.

The priefl then, finding he had gained his point according to the captain's wifh, would not hold them any longer in fufpence, and fo rifing from table, and going in where Zoraida was, he took her by the hand, and behind her cime Luanda, Dorothea, and the judge's daughter. The captain flood ex- pecting what the priefl would do; who, taking him alfo by the other hand, with both of them together went into the room where the judge and the refl of the company were, and faid : My lord judge, ceafe your tears, and let your wifh be crowned with all the happinefs you can defire, fince you have before your eyes your good brother, and your fifler-in-law. He, whom you behold, is captain Viedma, and this the beautiful Moor, who did him fo much good. The Frenchmen I told you of reduced them to the poverty you fee, to give you

an

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 593

an opportunity of {hewing the liberality of your generous breaft. The captain ran to embrace his brother, who fet both his hands againft the captain's breair, to look at him a little more afunder: but when he thoroughly knew him, , he embraced him fo clolely, fhedding fuch melting tears of joy, that moft of thole prefent bore him company in weeping. The words both the brothers uttered to each other,- and the concern they (hewed, can, I believe, hardly be conceived, and much lefs written. Now they gave each other a brief account of their ad- ventures- now they dcmonflrated the height of brotherly affedhon: now the iudcre embraced Zoraida, offering her all he had: now he made his daughter embrace her: now the beautiful chriftian and moft beautiful Moor renewed the tears of all the company. Now Don Quixote flood attentive, without fpeaking a word, pondering upon thefe Grange events, and afcribing them all to chimeras of knight-errantry. Now it was agreed, that the captain and Zoraida fkould re- turn with their brother to Sevil, and acquaint their father with his being found and at liberty, that the old man might contrive to be prefent at the baptizing and nuptials of Zoraida, it being impoffible for the judge to difcontinue his jour- ney, having received news of the flora's departure from Seuil for New Spain in a month's time, and as it would be a great inconvenience to him to lofe his paf- fege. In fine, they were all fatisfied and rejoiced at the captive's fuccefs ; and, two parts of the night being well-nigh fpent, they agreed to retire, and repofe themfelves during the remainder. Don Quixote offered his fervice to guard the caftle, left fome giant or other mifcreant-errant, for lucre of the treafure of beauty inclofed there, fhould make fome attempt and attack them. They who knew him returned him thanks, and gave the judge an account of his ftrange frenzy, with which he was not a little diverted. Sancho Panga alone was out of all patience at the company's fitting up fo late; and after all he was better ac- commodated than any of them, throwing himfelf upon the accoutrements of his afs, which will coft him fo dear, as you fhall be told by and by. The ladies being now retired to their chamber, and the reft accommodated as well as they could, Don Quixote {allied out of the inn, to ftand centinel at the caftle-gate, as . he had promifed.

It fell out then, that, a little before day, there reached the ladies ears a voice fo tuneable and fweet, that it forced them all to liften attentively; efpecially Do- rothea who lay awake, by whofe fide flept Donna Clara de Viedma, for fo the judge's daughter was called. No body could imagine who the perfon was that fung fo well, and it was a fingle voice without any inftrument to accompany it. Sometimes they fancied the finging was in the yard, and other times that it was in the ftable. While they were thus in fufpence, Cardenio came to the chamber door, and faid: You that are not afleep, pray liften, and you will hear the voice of one of the lads that take care of the mules, who fings enchantingly. We hear him already, Sir, anfwered Dorothea. Cardenio then went away,' and Dorothea, liftenins with the utmoft attention, heard, that this was what he fung.

CHAP,

294 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

CHAP. XVI.

Which treats of the agreeable hiflory of the young muleteer, with other Jlrange

accidents that happened in the inn.

SONG.

A Mariner I am of love, And in his feas profound, Tofs'd betwixt doubts and fears, I rove, And fpy no port around.

At dijlance I behold a far,

Whofe beams my fenfes draw, Brighter and more refplendent far

Than Palinure e'er faw.

Yet fill, uncertain of my way,

I fern a dangerous tide, No compafs but that doubtful ray

My wearied bark to guide.

For when its light I mo ft would fee,

Benighted moft I fail : Like clouds, referve and mode/ly

Its fhrouded lufre* veil.

O lovely far, by whofe bright ray

My love and faith I try, If thou withdraw 'f thy chearing day,

In night of death I lye.

When the finger came to this point, Dorothea thought it would be wrong to let Donna Clara lofe the opportunity of hearing Co good a voice ; and fo, jog- ging her gently to and fro, fhe awaked her, faying ; Pardon me, child, that I wake you ; for I do it, that you may have the pleafure of hearing the belt voice, perhaps, you have ever heard in all your life. Clara awaked, quite fleepy, and at nrft did not understand what Dorothea had faid to her j and having asked her, fhe repeated it ; whereupon Clara was attentive. But fcarce had fhe heard two verfes, which the finger was going on with, when fhe fell into fo ftrange a trembling, as if fome violent fit of a quartan ague had feized her ; and, clafping Dorothea clofe in her arms, fhe faid to her : Ah ! dear lady of my foul and life, why did you awake me ? for the greateft good that for- tune could do me at this time, would be to keep my eyes and ears clofed, that I might neither fee nor hear this unhappy mufician. What is it you fay, child ?

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. *95

pray take notice, we are told, he that fings is but a muleteer. Oh no, he is no fuch thing* replied Clara ; he is a young gentleman of large poffemons, and fo much mafter of my heart, that, if he has no mind to part with it, it fhali be his eternally. Dorothea was in admiration at the paflionate exprcflions of the girl, thinking them fir beyond what her tender years might promife. And therefore fhe faid to her : You fpeak in fuch a manner, mifs Clara, that I can- not underfland you : explain yourfelf farther, and tell me, what it is you fay of heart, and poueffions, and of this mufician, whofe voice difturbs you fo much. But fay no more now ; for I will not lofe the pleafure of hearing him fing, to mind your trembling ; for methinks he is beginning to ling again, a new long and a new tune. With all my heart, aniwered Clara, and flopped both her ears with her hands, that me might not hear him ; at which Doro- thea could not choofe but admire very much ; and being attentive to what was fung, fhe found it was to this purpofe.

SONG.

Sweet hope, thee difficulties fly,'

To thee difljeartning fears give way : Not ev'n thy death impending nigh

Thy dawitlcfs courage can difmay.

"No conquefls blefs, no lawrels crown

The lazy general's feeble arm. Who finks repofed in bedjsf down,

Whilft eafe a?id Jloth his fenfes charm.

Love fells his pretious glories dear,

And vaft the pvrchaje of his joys ; Nor ought he fet fuch treafures rare

At the low price of vulgar toys.

Since perfeverance gains the prize,

And cowards fill fuccefslefs prove, Born on the wings of hope Til rife,

Nor fear to reach the heav'n of love.

Here the voice ceafed, and Donna Clara began to figh afrefh : all which fired Dorothea's curiofity to know the caufe of fo fweet a fong, and fo fad a plaint. And therefore fhe again asked her, what it was fhe would have faid a while ago". Then Clara, left Lucinda fhould hear her, embracing Dorothea, put her mouth fo clofe to Dorothea's ear, that fhe might fpeak fecurely, without being over- heard, and faid to her : The finger, dear madam, is fon of a gentleman of the kingdom of Arragon, lord of two towns, who lived oppofite to my father's houfe at court. And though my father kept his windows with canvas in the

winter,

296 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

winter, and lattices in fummer, I know not how it happened, that this young gentleman, who then went to fchool, faw me ; nor can I tell whether it was at church, or elfewhere : but, in fhort, he fell in love with me, and gave me to underftand his paftion, from the windows of his houfe, by fo many figns, and fo many tears, that I was forced to believe, and even to love him, without knowing what I defired. Among other figns, which he ufed to make, one was, to join one hand with the other, fignifying his defire to marry me ; and though I mould have been very glad it might have been fo, yet, being alone and without a mother, I knew not whom to communicate the affair to ; and therefore I let it reft, without granting him any other favour, than, when his father and mine were both abroad, to lift up the canvas or lattice window *, and give him a full view of me ; at which he would be fo tranfported, that one would think he would run ftark mad. Now the time of my father's departure drew near, which he heard, but not from me ; for I never had an opportunity to tell it him. He fell fick, as far as I could learn, of grief, fo that, on the day we came away, I could not fee him, to bid him farewel, though it were but with my eyes. But after we had travelled two days, at going into an inn in a village a day's journey from hence, I faw him at the door, in the habit of a muleteer, fo naturally dreffed, that, had I not earned his image fo deeply im- printed in my foul, it had been impoffible for me to know him. I knew him, and was both furprized and overjoyed. He ftole looks at me unobferved by my father, whom he carefully avoids, when he crofles the way before me, either on the road, or at our inn. And knowing what he is, and confidering that he comes on foot, and takes fuch pains for love of me, I die with concern, and continually fet my eyes where he fets his feet. I cannot imagine what he propofes to himfelf, nor how he could efcape from his father, who loves him paffionately, having no other heir, and he being fo very deferring, as you will perceive, when you fee him. I can affure you befides, that all he fmgs, is of his own invention ; for I have heard fay he is a very great fcholar and a poet. And now, every time I fee him, or hear him fmg, I tremble all over, and am in a fright, left my father mould come to know him, and fo difcover our incli- nations. In my life I never fpoke a word to him, and yet I love him fo vio- lently, that I mail never be able to live without him. This, dear madam, is all I can tell you of this mufician, whofe voice has pleafed you fo much : by that alone you may eafily perceive he is no muleteer, but mafter of hearts and towns, as I have already told you.

Say no more, my dear Clara, faid Dorothea, kiffing her a thoufand times ; pray, fay no more, and ftay 'till to-morrow ; for I hope in god fo to manage your affair, that the conclufion fhall be as happy as fo innocent a beginning de-

■ The cafements nre made of canvas in winter, and of lattice in fummer, like trap-door;, that, when they are fet open, they may {hade the room ;rom the fun, or from the coo glaring light of the day ; for in thofe countries, though you turn your back to the fun, your eves cannot look up at the azure sky itfelf, without pain.

ferves.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 297

ferves. Ah ! madam, faid Donna Clara, what conclufion can be hoped for, lince his father is of fuch quality, and fo wealthy, that he will not think me worthy to be fo much as his fon's fervant, and how much lefs his wife ? and as to mar- rying without my father's confent or knowledge, I would not do it for all the world. I would only have this young man go back, and leave me : perhaps, by not feeing him, and by the great diftance of place and time, the pains I now endure may be abated ; though, I dare fay, this remedy is like to do me little good. I know not what forcery this is, nor which way this love polTefTed me, he and I being both fo young ; for I verily believe we are of the fame age, and I am not yet full ilxteen, nor fliall be, as my father fays, 'till next Michaelmas. Dorothea could not forbear fmiling, to hear how childiihly Donna Clara talked, to whom fhe faid ; Let us try, madam, to relt the fhort remainder of the night ; to-morrow is a new day, and we fliall fpeed, or my hand will be mightily out.

Then they fet themfelves to reft, and there was a profound filence all over the inn : only die inn-keeper's daughter and her maid Mari tomes did not fleep; who very well knowing Don Quixote's peccant humour, and that he was ftand- ing without doors, armed, and on horfeback, keeping guard, agreed to put fome trick upon him, or at leaft to have a little paftime, by over-hearing fome of his extravagant fpeeches.

Now you muft know, that the inn had no window towards the field, only a kind of fpike-hole to the ftraw-loft, by which they took in or threw out their flraw. At this hole then this pair of demi-lalTes planted themfelves, and perceived that Don Quixote was on horfeback, leaning forward on his launce, and uttering every now and then fuch mournful and profound figh?, that one would think each of them fufficient to tear away his very foul. They heard him alfo fay, in a foft, foothing, and amorous tone : O my dear lady Dulcinea del Tobofo, perfe&ion of all beauty, fum total of difcrction, treafury of wit and good-humour, and pledge of modefty ; laftly, the idea and ex- emplar of all that is profitable, decent, or delightful in the world ! and what may your ladyfhip be now doing ? Are you, perad venture, thinking of your captive knight, who voluntarily cxpofes himfelf to fo many perils, merely for your fake ? O thou triformed luminary, bring me tidings of her : perhaps you are now gazing at her, envious of her beauty, as fhe is walking through fome gallery of her fumptuous palace, or leaning over fome balcony, confidering how, without offence to her modefty and grandeur, fhe may affuage the tor- ment this poor afflicted heart of mine endures for her fake ; or perhaps confi- dering, what glory to beftow on my fufferings, what reft on my cares, and laftly, what life on my death, and what reward on my fervices. And thou, fun, who by this time muft be haftening to harnefs your fteeds, to come abroad early, and vifit my miftrefs, I entreat you, as foon as you fee her, falute her in my name : but beware, when you fee and falute her, that you do not kifs her

Vol. I. Q_q face .

298 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

face ; for I fhall be more jealous of you, than you were of that fwift ingrate, who made you fweat, and run fo faft over the plains of Thejfaly, or along the banks of Peneus (for I do not well remember over which of them you ran at that time) fo jealous, and fo enamoured.

Thus far Don Quixote had proceeded in his piteous lamentation, when the inn-keeper's daughter began to call foftly to him, and to fay ; Dear Sir, pray, come a little this way, if you pleafe. At which fignal and voice, Don Quixote turned about his head, and perceived, by the light of the moon, which then fhone very bright, that fome body called him from the fpike-hole, which to him feemed a window with gilded bars, fit for rich caftles, fuch as he fancied the inn to be : and inftantly it came again into his mad imagination, as it had done before, that the fair damfel, daughter of the lord of the cattle, being ir- refiftibly in love with him, was returned to court him again : and with this thought, that he might not appear difcourteous and ungrateful, he wheeled Ro- zinante about, and came up to the hole ; and, as foon as he faw the two wenches, he faid : I pity you, fair lady, for having placed your amorous incli- nations, where it is impomble for you to meet with a fuitable return, fuch as your great worth and gentlenefs deferve : yet ought you not to blame this unfor- tunate enamoured knight, whom love has made incapable of engaging his af- fections to any other than to her, whom, the moment he laid his eyes on her, he made abfolute miftrefs of his foul. Pardon me, good lady, and retire to your chamber, and do not, by a farther difcovery of your defires, force me to feem ftill more ungrateful : and if, dirough the paffion you have for me, you can find any thing elfe in me to fatisfy you, provided it be not downright love, pray, command it j for I fwear to you, by that abfent fweet enemy of mine, to . beflow it upon you immediately, though you mould ask me for a lock of Me- dufa's hair, which was all fnakes, or even the fun-beams enclofed in a viol. Sir, quoth Maritornes, my lady wants nothing of all this. What is it then your lady wants, difcreet Duenna ? anfwered Don Quixote. Only one of your beautiful hands, quoth Maritornes, whereby partly to fatisfy that longing, which brought her to this window, fo much to the peril of her honour, that, if her lord and father mould come to know it, the leaft (lice he would whip off would be one of her ears. I would fun fee that, anfwered Don Quixote : he had beft have a care what he does, unlefs he has a mind to come to the moft difaftrous end that ever Either did in the world, for having laid violent hands on the delicate members of his beloved daughter. Maritornes made no doubt but Don Quixote would give his hand, as they had defired, and fo, refolving with herfelf what me would do, me went down into the liable, from whence fhe took the halter of Sancho Panda's afs, and returned very fpeedily to her ipike- hole, juft as Don Quixote had got upon Rozinante's faddle, to reach the gilded window, where he imagined the enamoured damfel flood, and faid, at giving her Ins hand ; Take, madam, this hand, or rather this chaflizer of the evil- doers

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DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 299

doers of the world : take, I fay, this hand, which no woman's hand ever touched before, not even her's, who has the entire right to my whole body. I do not give it you to kits, but only that you may behold the contexture of its nerves, the firm knitting of its mufcles, the largenefs and fpaciou fuels of its veins, whence you may gather what mull: be the ftrength of that arm, which has fuch a hand. We (hall foon fee that, quoth Maritomes ; and making a running knot on the halter, flie clapped it on his wrift, and, defcending from the hole, me tied the other end of it very faft to the ftapla of the door of the hay- loft. Don Quixote, feeling the harfhnefs of the rope about his wrift, faid ; You feem rather to rafp than grafp my hand : pray, do not treat it fo roughly, fince that is not to blame for the injury my inclination does you ; nor is it right to difcharge the whole of your difpleafure on fo fmall a part : confider, that lo- vers do not take revenge at this cruel rate. But no body heard a word of all this difcourfe ; for, as foon as Maritomes had tied Don Quixote up, they both went away, ready to die with laughing, and left him faftened in fuch a man- ner, that it was impoftible for him to get loofe.

He flood, as has been faid, upright on Rozinante, his arm within the hole, and tied by the wrift to the bolt of the door, in the utmoft fear and dread, that, if Rozinante ftirred ever fo little one way or other, he muft remain hang- ing by the arm : and therefore he durft not make the leaft motion; though he might well expect from the fobriety and patience of Rozinante, that he would ftand ftock-ftill an entire century. In fhort, Don Quixote, finding himfelf tied, and that the ladies were gone, began prefently to imagine, that all this was done in the way of enchantment, as the time before, when, in that very fame caftle, the enchanted Moor of a carrier fo mauled him. Then, within himfelf, he curfed his own inconfideratenefs and indjferetion, fince, having come off fo ill be- fore, he had ventured to enter in a fecond time ; it being a ride with knights- errant, that, when they have once tried an adventure, and could not accomplifh it, it is a fign of its not being referved for them, but for fome body elfe, and therefore there is no neceflity for them to try it a fecond time. However, he pulled his arm, to fee if he could loofe himfelf: but he was fo faft tied, that all his efforts were in vain. It is true indeed, he pulled gently, left Rozinante fhould ftir ; and though he would fain have got into the laddie, and have fat down, he could not, but muft ftand up, or pull off his hand. Now he wifhed for Anadis'% fword, againft which no enchantment had any power ; and now he curfed his fortune. Then he exaggerated the lofs the world would have of his prefence, all the while he fhould ftand there enchanted, as, without doubt, he believed he was. Then he bethought himfelf afrefh of his beloved Dulci- nea del Tobofo. Then he called upon his good fquire Sancho Pan$a, who, -buried in fleep, and ftretched upon his afs's pannel, did not, at that inftant, fo much as dream of the mother that bore him. Then he invoked the fages Lirgandeo and Jlquife, to help him : then he called upon his fpecial friend Urganda, to

Q_q 2 atfift

oo TJje LIFE and EXPLOITS of

afllft him : laflly, there the morning overtook him, fo defpairing and confound- ed, that he bellowed like a bull j for he did not expect, that the day would bring him any relief; for, accounting himfelf enchanted, he concluded it would be eternal : and he was the more induced to believe it, feeing Rozinante budged not at all ; and he verily thought, that himfelf and his horfe mufl remain in that poflure, without eating, drinking, or fleeping, 'till that evil influence of die flars was overpaid, or 'till fome more fage necromancer mould difenchant him. But he was much miflaken in his belief: for fcarcely did the day begin to dawn, when four men on horfeback arrived at the inn, very well appointed and accoutered, with carabines hanging at the pummels of their faddles. They called at the inn-door, which was not yet opened, knocking very hard : which Don Quixote perceiving, from the place where he flill flood centinel, he cried . out, with an arrogant and loud voice : Knights, or fquires, or whoever you are, you have no bulinefs to knock at the gate of this caflle ; for it is very plain, that, at fuch hours, they, who are within, are either afleep, or do not ufe to open the gates of their fortrefs, 'till the fun has fpread his beams over the whole horizon : get you farther off, and flay 'till clear day-light, and then we fhall fee whether it is fit to open to you or no. What the devil of a fortrefs or caflle is this, quoth one of them, to oblige us to obferve all this ceremony ? if you are the inn-keeper, make fome body open the door ; for we are tra- vellers, and only want to bait our horfes, and go on, for we are in hafle. Do you think, gentlemen, that I look like an inn-keeper ? anfwered Don Quixote. I know not what you look like, anfwered the other ; but I am fure you talk prepofleroufly, to call this inn a caflle. It is a caflle, replied Don Quixote, and one of the befl in this whole province ; and it has in it perfons, who have had fccpters in their hands, and crowns on their heads. You had better have faid the very reverfe, quoth the traveller ; the fcepter on the head, and the crown in the hand : but, perhaps, fome company of flrolling players is within, who frequently wear thofe crowns and fcepters you talk of : otherwile, I do not be- lieve, that, in fo fmall and paultry an inn, and where all is fo filent, there can be lodged perfons worthy to wear crowns, and wield fcepters. You know little of the world, replied Don Quixote, if you are ignorant of the accidents, which ufaally happen in knight-errantry. The querifl's comrades were tired with the dialogue between him and Don Quixote, and fo they knocked again with greater violence, and in fuch a manner, that the inn-keeper awaked, and all the refl of the people that were in the inn ; and the hofl got up to ask who knocked.

Now it fell out, that one of the four flrangers horfes came to fmell at Rozi- nante, who, melancholy and fad, his ears hanging down, bore up his diflended mafler without flirring ; but, being in fhort of flefh, though he feemed to be of wood, he could not but be fenfible of it, and fmell him again that came fo kindly to carefs him : and fcarce had he flirred a flep, when Don Quixote's feet Hipped, and, tumbling from the faddle, he had fallen to the ground, had

he

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

he not hung by die arm: which put him to fo much torture, that he fancied his wrift was cutting oft, or his arm tearing from his body: yet he hung fo near the ground, that he could juft reach it with the tips of his toes, which turned 10 his prejudice: for, feeling how little he wanted to fet his feet to the ground, he /trove and ftretched as much as he could to reach it quite : like thofe, who are tortured by the ftrappado, who, being placed at touch or not touch, are themfelves the caufe of encreaiing their own pain, by their eagernefs to extend themfelves, deceived by the hope, that, if they ftretch never fo little further, they fliall reach the ground.

CHAP. XVII.

A continuation of the un-heard-of adventures of the inn.

T N fhort, Don Quixote roared out fo terribly, that the hoft in a fright opened the -*• inn-door haftily, to fee who it was that made thofe outcries ; nor were the ftran- gers lefs furprized. Mari tomes, who was alfo waked by the fame noife, imagining what it was, went to the flraw-loft, and, without any body's feeing her, untied die halter, which held up Don Quixote, who f traight fell to the ground in fight of the inn-keeper and the travellers; who, coming up to him, asked him what ailed him, that he fo cried out ? He, without anfwering a word, flipped the rope from off his wrift, and, raifing himfelf up on his feet, mounted Rozinante, braced his target, couched his launce, and, taking a good compafs about the field, came up at a half-gallop, faying : Whoever (hall dare to affirm, that I was fairly enchanted, provided my fovereign lady the princefs Micomicona gives me leave, I fay, he lies, and I challenge him to fingle combat. The new-comers were amazed at Don Qi/ixote's words; but the inn-keeper removed their wonder by telling them who Don Quixote was; and that they fhould not mind him, for he was befide himfelf. They then enquired of the hoft, whether there was not in the houfc a youth about fifteen years old, habited like a muleteer, with fuch and fuch marks, delcnbing the fame cloaths that Donna Clara's lover had on. The hoft anfwered, there were fo many people in the inn, that he had not taken particu- lar notice of any fuch. But one of them, efpying the coach the judge came in, faid: Without doubt he mufl be here; for this is the coach it is laid he follows : let one of us flay at the door, and the reft go in to look for him ; and it would not be c^mifs for one of us to ride round about the inn, that he may not efcape over the pales of the yard. It fliall be fo done, anfwered one of them ; and accordingly two went in, leaving the third at the door, while the fourth walked the rounds : all which the inn-keeper law, and could not judge certainly why they made this fearch, though he believed they fought the young iad they had been defcribing to him. By this time it was clear day, which, together with the noife Don Quixote had made, had raifed the whole houfe, efpecially Donna Clara and Dorothea, who had flept but indifferently, the one through concern

at

302 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

at being fo near her lover, and the other through the defire of feeing him. Don Quixote, perceiving that none of the four travellers minded him, nor anfwered to his challenge, was dying and running mad with rage and defpite ; and could he have found a precedent in the flatutes and ordinances of chivalry, that a knight-errant might lawfully undertake or begin any other adventure, after having given his word and faith not to engage in any new enterprize, 'till he had fi- nifhed what he had promifed, he would have attacked them all, and made them anfwer whether they would or no. But thinking it not convenient, nor decent, to fet about a new adventure, 'till he had reinftated Micomicona in her kingdom, he thought it beft to fay nothing and be quiet, 'till he faw what would be the iffue of the enquiry and fearch thofe travellers were making : one of whom found the youth, he was in quell of, fleeping by the fide of a mule- teer, little dreaming of any body's fearching for him, or finding him. The man, pulling him by the arm, faid ; Upon my word, Signor Don Lota's, the drefs you are in is very becoming fuch a gentleman as you; and the bed you lie on is very fuitable to the tendernefs with which your mother brought you up. The youth rubbed his drow2y eyes, and, looking wiftfully at him who held him, prefently knew him to be one of his father's fervants : which fo furprized him, that he knew not how, or could not fpeak a word for a good while ; and the fervant went on, faying : There is no more to be done, Signor Don Louis, but for you to have patience, and return home, unlefs you have a mind my mafter your father mould depart to the other world ; for nothing lefs can be ex- peeled from the pain he is in at your abfence. Why, how did my father know, faid Don Louis, that I was come this road, and in this drefs ? A fludent, anfwered the fervant, to whom you gave an account of your defign, difcovered it, being moved to pity by the lamentations your father made the inftant he miffed you : and fo he difpatched four of his fervants in queft of you ; and we are all here at your fervice, overjoyed beyond imagination at the good difpatch we have made, and that we fhall return with you fo foon, and reftore you to thofe eyes that love you fo dearly. That will be as I mall pleafe, or as heaven fhall ordain, anfwered Don Louis. What fhould you pleafe, or heaven or- dain, other wife than that you mould return home ? quoth the fervant; for there is no poflibility of avoiding it.

The muleteer, who lay with Don Louis, hearing this conteft between them, got up, and went to acquaint Don Fernando and Cardenio, and the reft of the company, who were all by this time up and dreffed, with what had paffed : he related to them, how the man had ftiled the young lad Don, and repeated the difcourfe which paffed between them, and how the man would have him return to his father's houfe, and how the youth refufed to go. Hearing this, and con- fidering befides how fine a voice heaven had bellowed upon him, they had all a great longing to know who he was, and to affift him, if any violence fhould be offered him: and fo they went towards the place where he was talking and con- tending

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

tending with his fervant. Now Dorothea came out of her chamber, and be- hind her Donna Clara in great diforder : and Dorothea, calling Cardenio afide, related to him in few words the hillory of the mufician and Donna Clara-, and he on his part told her what had palled in relation to the fervants comin^ in fearch after him; and he did not fpeak fo low, but Donna Clara over- heard him j at which flie was in fuch an agony, that, had not Dorothea catched hold of her, flie had funk down to the ground. Cardenio defired Dorothea to go back with Donna Clara to their chamber, while he would endeavour to ft matters to rights. Now all the four, who came in queft of Don Louis, were in the inn, and had furrounded him, preffing him to return immediately to comfort his poor father, without delaying a moment. He anfwered, that he could in no wife do fo, 'till he had accompli/bed a bufinefs, wherein his life, his honour, and his foul, were concerned. The fervants urged him, faying they would by no means go back without him, and that they were refolved to carry him whether he would or no. That you fhall not do, replied Don Louis, except you kill me ; and which ever way you carry me, it lhall be without life. Mofl of the people that were in the inn were got together to hear the contention, particularly Cardenio, Don Fernando and his companions, the judge, the prieft, the barber, and Don Quixote, who now thought there was no farther need of continuing upon the caflle-guard. Cardenio, already know- ing the young man's iTory, asked the men, who were for carrying him away, why they would take away the youth againfr. his will ? Becaufe, replied one of the four, we would fave the life of his father, who is in danger of lofing it by this gentleman's abfence. Then Don Louis faid : There is no need of giving an account of my affairs here; I am free, and will go back, if I pleafe; and if not, none of you fhall force me. But reafon will force you, anfwered the fervant ; and thdugh it fhould not prevail upon you, it mufl upon us, to do what we came about, and what we are obliged to. Hold, faid the judge, let us know what this bufinefs is to the bottom. The man, who knew him, as being his matter's near neighbour, anfwered : Pray, my lord judge, does not your ho- nour know this gentleman ? he is your neighbour's fon, and has abfented him- felf Lfrom his father's houfe in an indecent garb, as your honour may fee. Then the judge obferved him more attentively, and, knowing and embracing him, faid: What childifli frolic is diis, Signor Don Louis f or what powerful caufe has moved you to come in this manner, and this drefs, fo little becoming your quality ? The tears came into the young gentleman's eyes, and he could not anfwer a word. The judge bid the fervants be quiet, for all would be ( well ; and taking Don Louis by the hand, he went afide with him, and asked him, why he came in that manner ?

While the judge was asking this and fome other queftions, they heard a great outcry at the door of the inn, and the occafion was, that two guefls, who had lodged there that night, feeing all the folks bufy about knowing what the four

men

;o4 tte LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

men fearched for, had attempted to go off without paying their reckoning. But the hoft, who minded his own bufinefs more than other people's, laid hold of them as they were going out of the door, and demanded his money, giving them fuch hard words for their evil intention, that he provoked them to return him an anfwer with their fifts ; which they did fo roundly, that the poor inn- keeper was forced to call out for help. The hoftefs and her daughter, feeing no body fo difengaged, and fo proper to fuccour him, as Don Quixote, the daugh- ter faid to him ; Sir knight, I befeech you, by the valour god has given you, come and help my poor father, whom a couple of wicked fellows , are beating to mummy. To whom Don Quixote anfwered, very leifurely and with much flegm : Fair maiden, your petition cannot be granted at prefent, becaufe I am incapacitated from intermeddling in any other adventure, 'till I have accomplifh- ed one I have already engaged my word for : but what I can do for your fer- vice, is, what I will now tell you: run, and bid your father maintain the fight the bell he can, and in no wife fuffer himfelf to be vanquifhed, while I go and ask permiffion of the princefs Micomicona to relieve him in his diftrefsj which if flie grants me, reft affured I will bring him out of it. As I am a fin- ner, quoth Maritornes, who was then by, before your worfhip can obtain the i licence you talk of, my mafter may be gone into the other world. Permit me, madam, to obtain the licence I fpeak of, anfwered Don Quixote: for if fo be I have it, no matter though he be in the other world; for from thence would I fetch him back in fpite of the other world itfelf, fhould it dare to contradict or oppofe me ; or at leaft I will take fuch ample revenge on thofe, who fhall have fent him thither, that you fhall be more than moderately fatisfied. And, with- out faying a word more, he went and kneeled down before Dorothea, befeech- ing her in knightly and errant-like expreffions, that her grandeur would vouch- fafe to give him leave to go and fuccour the governor of that caftle, who was in grievous diftrefs. The princefs gave it him very gracioufly; and he prefent- ly, bracing on his target, and drawing his fword, ran to the inn-door, where the two guefts were ftill lugging and worrying die poor hoft : but when he came, he flopped fhort and flood irrefolute, though Maritornes and the hoftefs asked him why he delayed fuccouring their mafter and husband. I delay, quoth Don Quixote, becaufe it is not lawful for me to draw my fword againft fquire-like folks : but call hither my fquire Sancbo ; for to him this defence and revenge does moil properly belong. This paffed at the door of the inn, where the box- ing and cuffing went about briskly, to the inn-keeper's coft, and the rage of Maritornes, the hoftefs, and her daughter, who were ready to run diftradled to behold the cowardice of Don Quixote, and the injury then doing to dieir mafter, husband, and father.

B- : let us leave him there awhile; for he will not want fome body or other to

limj or, if not, let him fuffer and be filcnt, who is" fo fool-hardy as to

,-iigage in what is above his flrength; and let us turn fifty paces back, to fee

what

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 305

what Don Louis replied to the judge, whom we left apart asking the caufe of his coming on foot, and fo meanly apparelled. To whom the yoiuh, fqueez- ing him hard by boih hands, as if fome great affliction was wringing his heart, and pouring down tears in great abundance, (aid : All I can fay, dear Sir, is, that, from the moment heaven was pleafed, by means of our neighbourhood, to give me a fight of Donna Clara, your daughter, from that very inftant I made her fovereign miftrefs of my affections ; and if you, my true lord and fa- ther, do not oppofe it, this very day (lie (hall be my wife. For her I left my father's houfe, and for her I put my felf into this drefs, to follow her whither- foever ihe went, as the arrow to the mark, or the mariner to the north-ftar. As yet fhe knows no more of my paffion than what fhe may have perceived from now and then feeing at a diftance my eyes full of tears. You know, my lord, the wealthinefs and nobility of my family, and that I am fole heir : if you think thefe are motives fufficient for you to venture the making me entirely happy, receive me immediately for your fon ; for though my father, biaffed by other views of his own, mould not approve of this happinefs I have found for myfelf, time may work fome favourable change, and alter his mind. Here the enamoured youth was filent, and the judge remained in fufpence, no lefs furprized at the manner and ingenuity of Don Louis in discover- ing his paflion, than confounded and at a lofs what meafures to take in fo fudden and unexpected an affair : and therefore he returned no other anfwer, but only bid him be eafy for the prefent, and not let his fervants go back that day, that there might be time to confider what was mofl expedient to be done. Don Louis luffed his hands by force, and even bathed them with tears, enough to foften a heart of marble, and much more that of the judge, who, beino- a man of fenfe, foon faw how advantageous and honourable this match would be for his daughter; though, if poffible, he would have effected it with the con- fent of Don Louis's father, who, he knew, had pretenfions to a title for his fon.

By this time the inn-keeper and his guefts had made peace, more through the perfuafion and argument of Don Quixote than his threats, and had paid him all he demanded ; and the fervants of Don Louis were waiting 'till the judge mould have ended his difcourfe, and their mafter determined what he would do ; when the devil, who fleeps not, fo ordered it, that, at that very inftant, came into the inn the barber, from whom Don Quixote had taken Mambrwo's helmet, and Sancho Pan fa the afs-furniture, which he trucked for his own : which barber, leading his beaff to the if able, efpied Sancho Patina, who was mending fomething about the pannel; and as foon as he faw him, he knew • him, and made bold to attack him, faying; Ah ! mifter thief, have I got you! give me my bafon and my pannel, with all the furniture you robbed&mc of. Sancko, finding himfelf attacked fo unexpectedly, and hearing the opprobrious language given him, with one hand held faff the pannel, and with the other Vol. I. Rr gave

3o6 T/je LIFE and EXPLOITS of

gave the barber fuch a dowfe, that he bathed his mouth in blood. But for all that the barber did not let go his hold : on the contrary, he raifed his voice in fuch a manner, that all the folks of the inn ran together at the noife and fcuffle ; and he cried out; Help, in the king's name, and in the name of juflice; for this rogue and highway-robber would murder me for endeavouring to recover my own goods. You lye, anfwered Sancho, I am no highway-robber : my mailer Don Quixote won thefe fpoils in fair war. Don Quixote was now pre- fent, and not a little pleafed to fee how well his fquire performed both on the defenfive and offenfive, and from thenceforward took him for a man of mettle, and refolved in his mind to dub him a knight the firft opportunity that offered, thinking the order of chivalry would be very well bellowed upon him. Now, among other things, which the barber faid during the skirmim, Gentlemen, quoth he, this pannel is as certainly mine as the death I owe to god, and I know it as well as if it were the child of my own body, and yonder Hands my afs in the flable, who will not fuffer me to lye : pray do but try it, and, if it does not fit him to a hair, let me be infamous : and moreover by the fame to- ken, the very day they took this from me, they robbed me likewife of a new brafs bafon, never hanfelled, that would have fetched above a crown *. Here Don Quixote could not forbear aniwering; and thruiting himielf between the two combatants, and parting them, and making them lay down the pannel on the ground in public view, 'till the truth fhpuld be decided, he faid : Sirs, you mail prefently fee clearly and manifeflly the error this honefl fquire is in, in cal- ling that a bafon, which was, is, and ever fhall be, Mambrino's helmet : I won it in fair war, fo am its right and lawful pofTefTor. As to the pannel, I in- termeddle not : what I can fay of that matter is, that my fquire Sancho asked my leave to take the trappings of this conquered coward's horfe, to adorn his own withal : I gave him leave ; he took them, and, if from horfe-trapping's they are metamorphofed into an afs's pannel, I can give no other reafon for it, but that common one, that thefe kind of transformations are frequent in adventures of chivalry : for confirmation of which, run, fon Sancho, and fetch hither the helmet, which this honefl man will needs have to be a bafon. In faith, Sir, quoth Sancho, if we have no other proof of our caufe but what your worfhip mentions, Mambrino's helmet will prove as errant a bafon, as this honefl man's trappings are a pack-faddle. Do what I bid you, replied Don Quixote; for fure all things in this caftle cannot be governed by enchantment. Sancho went for the bafon, and brought it; and as foon as Don Quixote faw it, he took it in his hands, and faid : Behold, gendemen, with what face can this fquire pre- tend this to be a bafon, and not the helmet I have mentioned ? I fwear by the order of knighthood, which I profefs, this helmet is the very fame I took from him, without addition or diminution. There is no doubt of that, quoth

1 Senora de un efcudo. Literally, Mijirefs of a crown-piece.

Sancho ;

(/<•/:■ Van- /'<•/ / v.v /// . ', ///r

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 307

Sancho; for, from the time my mailer won it 'till now, he has fought but one battle in it, which was when he freed thofe unlucky galley-flaves ; and had it not been for this bafon-helmet, he had not then got off over-well ; for he had a power of ftones hurled at him in that skirmifli.

CHAP. XVIII.

In 'which the difpute concerning MambrinoV helmet, and the pannel, is decided; •with other adventures that really and truly happened.

P

RAY, gentlemen, quoth the barber, what is your opinion of what thefe gentlefolks affirm; for they perfift in it, that this is no bafon, but a helmet? And'whoever {hall affirm the contrary, faid Don Quixote, I will make him know, if he be a knight, that he lyes, and, if a fquire, that he lyes and lyes again a thoufand times. Our barber, who was prefent all die while, and well acquainted with Don Quixote's humour, had a mind to work up his madnefs, and carry on the jeft, to make the company laugh; and fo, addrefling himfelf to the other barber, he laid : Signor barber, or whoever you are, know, that I alfo am of your profeffion, and have had my certificate of examination above thefe twenty years, and am very well acquainted with all the inftruments of barber- furgery, without miffing one. I have likewife been a foldier in my youthful days, and therefore know what is a helmet, and what a morion or fteel-cap, and what a cafque with its bever, as well as other matters relating to foldiery, I mean to all kinds of arms commonly ufed by foldiers. And I fay (with fub- miffion always to better judgments) that this piece here before us, which this hoheft gentleman holds in his hands, not only is not a barber's bafon, but is as far from being fo, as white is from black, and truth from falfhood. I fay alfo, that, though it be an helmet, it is not a compleat one. No certainly, faid Don Quixote; for the bever that mould make half of it is wanting. It is fot quoth the prieft, who perceived his friend the barber's defign ; and Cardenio, Don Fernando, and his companions, confirmed the fame : and even the judge, had not his thoughts been fo taken up about the bufinefs of Don Louis, would have helped on the jeft ; but the concern he was in fo employed his thoughts, that he attended but little, or not at all, to thefe pleafantries. Lord have mercy upon me ! quoth the bantered barber, how is it poffible fo many honeft gentle- men ftiould maintain, that this is not a bafon, but an helmet ! a tiling enough to aftonifti a whole univerfity, though never fo wife : well, if diis bafon be an helmet, then this pannel muft needs be a horfe's furniture, as this gentleman has faid. To me it feems indeed to be a pannel, quoth Don Quixote; but I have already told you, I will not intermeddle with the difpute, whether it be an afs's pannel, or a horfe's furniture. All that remains, faid the prieft, is, that Signor Don Quixote declare his opinion ; for in matters of chivalry all thefe gen-

R r 2 tlemen,

3o3 He LIFE and EXPLOITS of

tlemen, and myfelf, yield him abfolutely the preference. By the living god, gentlemen, faid Don Quixote, fo many and fuch unaccountable things have be- fallen me twice that I have lodged in this caflle, that I dare not venture to vouch pofitively for any thing that may be asked me about it : for I am of opi- nion, that every thing pafTes in it by the way of enchantment. The firft time I was very much harrafTed by an enchanted Moor that was in it, and Sancho fared little better among fome of his followers ; and to-night I hung almoft two hours by this arm, without being able to guefs how I came to fall into that mil- chance. And therefore, for me to meddle now in fo confufed a bufinefs, and to be giving my opinion, would be to fpend my judgment rafhly. As to the queftion, whether this be a bafon, or an helmet, I have already anfwered : but as to declaring, whether this be a pannel or a caparifon, I dare not pronounce a definitive fentence, but remit it, gentlemen, to your difcretion : perhaps, not being dubbed knights as I am, the enchantments of this place may have no power over you, and you may have your underftandings free, and fo may judge of the things of this caftle as they really and truly are, and not as they appear to me. There is no doubt, anfwered Don Fernando, but that Signor Don Quixote has faid very right, that the decifion of this cafe belongs to us : and that we may proceed in it upon better and more folid grounds, 1 will take the votes of thefe gentlemen in fecret, and then give you a clear and full account of the refult.

To thofe acquainted with Don Quixote, all this was matter of moft excellent fport ; but to thofe, who knew not his humour, it feemed to be the greateff. ab- furdity in the world, efpecially to Don Louis's four fervants, and to Don Louis himfelf as much as the reft, befides three other paflengers, who were by chance juff. then arrived at the inn, and feemed to be troopers of the holy brotherhood, as in reality they proved to be. As for the barber, he was quite at his wit's end, to fee his bafon converted into Mambrind'% helmet before his eyes, and made no doubt but his pannel would be turned into a rich caparifon for a horfe. Every body laughed to fee Don Fernando walking the round, and taking the opinion of each perfon at his ear, that he might fecretly declare whether that precious piece, about which there had been fuch a buttle, was a pannel or a caparifon : and, after he had taken the votes of thofe who knew Don Quixote, he faid aloud : The truth is, honeft friend, I am quite weary of collecting fo many votes ; for I ask no body that does not tell me, it is ridiculous to fay, this is an afs's pannel, and not a horfe's caparifon, and even that of a well-bred horfe : fo that you muft have patience ; for, in fpite of you and your afs too, this is a caparifon, and no pannel, and the proofs you have alledged on your part are very trivial and invalid. Let me never enjoy a place in heaven, quoth the bantered barber, if your worfhips are not all miftaken; and fo may my foul appear before god, as this appears to me a pannel, and not a caparifon : but, fo

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 309

go the laws ' I lay no more j and verily I am not drunk, for I am failing from

every thing but fin.

The barber's fimplicities caufed no lefs laughter than the whimfics of Don Quixote, who, at this juncture, faid : there is now no more to be done, but for every one to take what is his own ; and to whom god has given it, may St. Peter give his bleffing \ One of Don Louis's four fervants faid : If this be not a premeditated joke, I cannot perfuade myfelf, that men of fo good under- flanding, as all here arc, or feem to be, fhould venture to fay, and affirm, that this is not a bafon, nor that a pannel : but feeing they do actually fay, and af- firm it, I fufped: there mull be fome myftery in obflinately maintaining a thing

fo contrary to truth and experience : for, by (and out he rapped a

round oath) all the men in the world (hall never perfuade me, that this is not a barber's bafon, and that a jack-afs's pannel. May it not be a fhe-afs's? quoth the prieft. That is all one, faid the fervant ; for the queftion is only whether it be, or be not, a pannel, as your worfhips fay. One of the officers of the holy brotherhood, who came in, and had over-heard the diipute, full of choler and indignation, faid : it is as much a pannel as my father is my fadier ; and whoever fays, or fhall fay to the contrary, muft be drunk. You lye like a pitiful fcoundrel, anfwered Don Quixote ; and lifting up his launce, which he never had let go out of his hand, he went to give him fuch a blow over the head, that, had not the officer Hipped afide, he had been laid flat on the fpot. The launce was broke to fplinters on the ground ; and the other officers, feeing their comrade abufed, cried out, Help, help the holy brotherhood. The inn-keeper, who was one of the troop, ran in that inftant for his wand and his fword, and prepared himfelf to ftand by his comrades. Don Louis's fervants got about him, left he fhould efcape during that hurly-burly. The barber, perceiving the houfe turned topfy-turvey, laid hold again of his pannel, and Sancho did the fame. Don Quixote drew his fword, and fell upon the troopers. Don Louis called out to his fervants, to leave him, and affift Don Quixote, Car- denio, and Don Fernando, who all took part with Don Quixote. The prieft cried out, the hoftefs fhrieked, her daughter roared, Maritornes wept, Doro- thea was confounded, Lucinda flood amazed, and Donna Clara fainted awav. The barber cuffed Sancho, and Sancho pummeled the barber. Don Louis "\-ive one of his fervants, who laid hold of him by the arm left he fhould efcape, fuch a dafh on the chops, that he bathed his mouth in blood. The judge in- terpofed in his defence. Don Fernando got one of the troopers down, and kicked him to his heart's content. The inn-keeper reinforced his voice, de- manding aid for the holy brotherhood. Thus the whole inn was nothing but weepings, cries, fhrieks, confufions, fears, frights, mifchances, cuffs, cudgel-

1 He flops in the middle of the proverb, Alia van Ayes donde quieren rcys, meaning that the powerful carry whr.t they pleafe ; or, as we fay, might overcomes right. * The form of benediction at a wedding.

lings;

3I0 fhe LIFE and EXPLOITS of

lings, kicks, and effufion of blood. And, in the midfl of this chaos, this mafs, and labyrinth of things, it came into Don Quixote's fancy, that he was plunged over head and ears in the difcord of king Agramante's camp ' ; and therefore faid, with a voice which made the inn fhake : Hold all of you ; all put up your fwords ; be pacified all, and hearken to me, if you would all con- tinue alive. At which tremendous voice they all defifled, and he went on, fay- ing : Did I not tell you, Sirs, that this caftle was enchanted, and that fome le- gion of devils mull certainly inhabit it? in confirmation whereof I would have you fee with your own eyes how the difcord of Agramante's camp is pafTed over and transferred hither among us : behold how there they fight for the fword, here for the horfe, yonder for the eagle, here again for the helmet ; and we all fight, and no one understands another. Come therefore, my lord judge, and you miller priefl, and let one of you Hand for king Agramante, the other for king Sobrino *, and make peace among us; for, by the eternal god, it is a thou- fand pities, fo many gentlemen of quality as are here of us, fhould kill one ano- ther for fuch trivial matters. The troopers, who did not underfland Don Quixote's language, and found themfelves roughly handled by Don Fernando, Cardenio, and their companions, would not be pacified : but the barber Submit- ted ; for both his beard and his pannel were demolished in the fcuffle. Sancho, as became a dutiful fervant, obeyed the leafl voice of his mailer. Don Louis's four fervants were alfo quiet, feeing how little they got by being otherwife. The inn- keeper alone was refraclory, and infilled that the infolencies of that madman ou<mt to be chaflized, who at every foot turned the houfe upfide down. At lafl the buflle ceafed for that time: the pannel was to remain a caparifon, the hifon a helmet, and the inn a caflle, in Don Quixote's imagination, 'till the day of

judgment.

Now all being quieted, and all made friends by the perfuafion of the judge and the priefl, Don Louis's fervants began again to prefs him to go with them that moment; and while they were debating, and fettling the point, the judge confulted Don Fernando, Cardenio, and the priefl, what he fhould do in this emergency, telling them all that >Don Louis had faid. At lafl it was agreed, that Don Fernando fhould tell Don Louis's fervants who he was, and that it was his defire Don Louis fhould go along with him to Andaluzia, where he fhould be treated by the marquis his brother according to his quality and worth; for he well knew his intention and refolution not to return jufl at that time into his fa- ther's prefence, though they fhould tear him to pieces. Now Don Fernandas quality, and Don Louis's refolution, being known to the four fervants, they de- termined among themfelves, that three of them fhould return to give his father an account of what had pafTed, and the other fhould flay to wait upon Don

« Atramantt, in Arhfio, is king of the infidels at the fiege of Paris. This is a burlefque upon that paf- fage, where difcord is fern by an angel into the pagan camp in favour of the chnittans.

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DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 3n

Louis, and not leave him 'till the reft fhould come back for him, or 'till they knew what his father would order. Thus this mafs of contentions was appealed by the authority of Agramante, and the prudence of king Sobrino. But the enemy of peace and concord, finding himfelf illuded and dilappointed, and how thin a crop he had gathered from that large field of confufion, refolved to try his hand once more by contriving frefti brangles and difturbances.

Now the cafe was this : the troopers, upon notice of the quality of thofe that had attacked them, had defifted and retreated from the fray, as thinking that, let matters go how they would, they were likely to come off by the worft. But one of them, namely, he who had been kicked and mauled by Don Fernando, bethought himfelf, that, among fome warrants he had about him for appre- hending certain delinquents, he had one againft Don Quixote, whom the holy brotherhood had ordered to be taken into cuftody for fetting at liberty the galley- Haves, as Sancho had very juftly feared. Having this in his head, he had a mind to be fatisfied whether the perfon of Don Quixote anfwered to the defcription ; and, pulling a parchment out of his bofom, he prefently found what he looked for; and fetting himfelf to read it leifurely (for he was no great clerc) at every word he read, he fixed his eyes on Don Quixote, and then went on, comparing the marks in his warrant with the lines of Don Quixote's phyfiognomy, and found that without all doubt he muft be the perfon therein defcribed : then, as foon as he had fatisfied himfelf, rolling up the parchment, and holding the warrant in his left hand, with his right he laid fo faft hold on Don Quixote by the collar, that he did not fuffer him to draw breath, crying out aloud : Help the holy brotherhood ! and, that every body may fee I require it in earneft, read this warrant, wherein it is exprefsly commanded to apprehend this highway- robber. The prieft took the warrant, and found it all true that the trooper had faid, the marks agreeing exadtly with Don Quixote; who, finding himfelf fo roughly handled by this fcoundrel, his choler being mounted to the utmoft pitch, and all his joints trembling with rage, caught the trooper by the throat, as well as he could, with both hands; and, had not the fellow been refcued by his comrades, he had loft his life fooner than Don Quixote had loofed his hold. The inn-keeper, who was indifpenfably bound to aid and affift his brethren in office, ran immediately to his afliftance. The hoftefs, feeing her husband again engaged in battle, raifed her voice anew. Her daughter and Man tomes joined in the fame tune, praying aid from heaven, and from the ftanders-by. Sancho, feeing what paffed, faid; As god fliall fave me, my mafter fays true, concerning the enchantments of this caftle; for it is impoffible to live an hour in quiet in it. At length Don Fernando parted the officer and Don Quixote, and, to both their contents, unlocked their hands, from the doublet-collar of the one, and frofn the wind-pipe of the other. Neverthelefs the troopers did not defift from demanding their prifoner, and to have him bound and delivered up to them ; for fo the king's fervice, and that of the holy brotherhood, required, in whole

name

3i2 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

name they again demanded help and affiftance in apprehending that common robber, padder, and highwayman. Don Quixote fmiled to hear thefe expref- fions, and with great calmnefs faid : Come hither, bafe and ill-born crew ; call ye it robbing on the highway, to loofe the chains of the captived, to fet the im- prifoned free, to fuccour the miferuble, to raife the fallen and caft down, and to relieve the needy and diftreffed ? Ah fcoundrel race ! undeferving, by the mean- nefs and bafenefs of your understandings, that heaven fhould reveal to you the worth inherent in knight-errantry, or make you fenfible of your own fin and ig- norance in not reverencing the very fhadow, and much more the prefence, of any knight-errant whatever ! Come hither, ye rogues in a troop, and not troop- ers, highwaymen with the licence of the holy brotherhood, tell me, who was the blockhead that figned the warrant for apprehending fuch a knight-errant as I am ? Who is he that can be ignorant, that knights-errant are exempt from all judicial authority, that their fword is their law, their bravery their privileges, and their will their edicts? Who was the madman, I fay again, that is ignorant, that no preamble to a nobleman's patent contains fo many privileges and exemp- tions, as are acquired by the knight-errant, the day he is dubbed, and fet apart for the rigorous exercife of chivalry? What knight-errant ever paid cuftom, poll-tax, fubfidy, quit-rent, porteridge, or ferry-boat ? What tailor ever brought in a bill for making his cloaths ? What governor, that lodged him in his caftle, ever made him pay a reckoning? What king did not feat him at his table ? What damfel was not in love with him, and did not yield herfelf up to his whole pleafure and will ? and laftly, what knight-errant has there ever been, is, or {hall be in the world, who has not courage fingly to beftow four hundred baftinados on four hundred troopers of the holy brotherhood, that fhall dare to prefent themfelves before him ?

CHAP. XIX.

In which is finifoed the notable adventure of the troopers of the holy brotherhood, •with the great ferocity of our good knight Don Quixote.

WHILE Don Quixote was talking at this rate, the prieft was endeavouring to perfuade the troopers, that Don Quixote was out of his wits, as they might eafily perceive by what he did, and faid, and that they need not give themfelves any farther trouble upon that fubjedt ; for though they fhould appre- hend and cany him away, they muft foon releafe him as being a madman. To which the officer that had produced the warrant anfwered; that it was no bufi- ' nefs of his to judge of Don Quixote's madnefs, but to obey the orders of his fupe- rior, and that, when he had once fecured him, they might fet him free three hundred times if they pleafed. For all that, faid the prieft, for this once you muft not take him, nor do I think he will fuffer himfelf to be taken. In effect,

the prieft faid fo much, and Don Quixote did fuch extravagancies, that the offi- cers

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 313

cers muft have been more mad than he, had they not difcovercd hh infirmity : and dierefore they judged it bell: to be quiet, and moreover to be mediators for making peace between the barber and Sancbo Pan fa, who ftill continued their fcurHe^with great rancour. At laft they, as officers of juftice, compounded the matter, and arbitrated it in fuch a manner, that both parties refted, if not en- tirely contented, at leaft fomewhat fatisfied; for they exchanged panncls, but not girths nor halters. As for Mambrino's helmet, the prieft, underhand and unknown to Don Quixote, gave eight reals » for the bafon, and the barber gave him a difcharge in full, acquitting him of all fraud from thencefordi and forever- more, amen.

Thefe two quarrels, as being the chief and of the greateft weight, being thus made up, it remained, that three of Don Louis's fervants mould be contented to return home, and leave one of their fellows behind to wait upon him, whi- therfoever Don Fernando pleafed to carry him. And as now good luck and bet- ter fortune had begun to pave the way, and fmooth the difficulties, in favour of the lovers and heroes of the inn, fo fortune would carry it quite through, and crown all with profperous fuccefs : for the fervants were contented to do as Don Louis commanded, whereat Donna Clara was fo highly pleafed, that no body could look in her face without difcovering the joy of her heart. Zoraida, though (he did not underftand all me faw, yet grew fad or chearful in conformity to what (he obferved in their feveral countenances, efpeci.lly that of her Spaniard, on whom her eyes were fixed, and her foul depended. The inn-keeper, ob- ferving what recompence the prieft had made the barber, demanded Don Quixote's reckoning, with ample fatisfaction for the damage done to his skins, and the lofs of his wine, fwearing, that neither Rozinante nor the afs fhould ftir out of the inn, 'till he had paid the uttermoft farthing. The prieft pacified, and Don Fernando paid him all ; though the judge very generoufly offered payment : and thus they all remained in peace and quietnefs, and the inn appeared no longer the difcord of Agramante's camp, as Don Quixote had called it, but peace it felf, and the very tranquillity of Oclavius Gefar's days *: and it was the general opinion, that all this was owing to the good intention and great eloquence of the prieft, and the incomparable liberality of Don Fernando.

Don Quixote, now, finding himfelf freed, and clear of fo many brangles, both of his fquire's and his own, thought it was high time to purfue his voyage, and put an end to that grand adventure, whereunto he had been called and elected i and therefore, being thus refolutely determined, he went and kneeled before Dorothea, who would not fuffer him to fpeak a word 'till he ftood up ; which he did in obedience to her, and faid : It is a common faying, fair lady, that diligence is the mother of good fuccefs, and experience lias fhewn in many

1 ». e. Four (hillings.

' Beciufe he (hut the temple of Janus, the fignal of univerfal peace.

Vol. I. S f and

314 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

and weighty matters, that the care of the folicitor brings the doubtful fuit to a happy iffue : but this truth is in nothing more evident than in matters of war, in which expedition and difpatch prevent the dcfigns of the enemy, and carry the vidtory, before the adverfary is in a pofture to defend himfelf. All this I fay, high and deferving lady, becaufe our abode in this caftle feems to me to be now no longer necefiary, and may be fo far prejudicial, that we may repent it one day : for who knows but your enemy the giant may, by fecret and diligent fpies, get intelligence of my coming to deflroy him? and, time giving him op- portunity, he may fortify himfelf in fome impregnable caftle or fortrefs, againft which my induftry and the force of my unwearied arm may little avail. And therefore, fovereign lady, let us prevent, as I have faid, his defigns by our dili- gence, and let us depart quickly in the name of good-fortune, which you can want no longer than I delay to encounter your enemy. Here Don Quixote was filent, and faid no more, expecting with great fedatenefs the anfwer of the beautiful Infanta, who, with an air of grandeur, and in a ftyle accommodated to that of Don Quixote, anfwered in this manner : I am obliged to you, Sir knight, for the inclination you fhew to favour me in my great need, like a true knight, whofe office and employment it is to fuccour the orphans and diftreffed : and heaven grant that your defire and mine be foon accomplifhed, that you may fee there are fome grateful women in the world. As to my departure, let it be inftantly ; for I have no other will but yours : and pray difpofe of me 'entirely at your own pleafure ; for flie, who has once committed the defence of her per- fon, and the reftoration of her dominions, into your hands, muft not contra- dict whatever your wifdom fhall direct. In the name of god, quoth Don Quixote; fince it is fo, that a lady humbles herfelf, I will not lofe the opportu- nity of exalting her, and fetting her on the throne of her anceftors. Let us depart inftantly; for I am fpurred on by the eagernefs of my defire and the length of the journey ; and they fay, delays are dangerous. And fince heaven has not created, nor hell feen, any danger that can daunt or affright me, Sancho, faddle Rozinante, and get ready your afs, and her majefty's palfrey; and let us take our leaves of the governor of the caftle, and of thefe nobles, and let us depart hence this inftant. Sancho, who was prefent all the while, faid, fha- king his head from fide to fide : Ah ! mafter, mafter, there are more tricks in a town than are dreamt of, with refpect to the honourable coifs be it fpoken. What tricks can there be to my difcredit in any town, or in all the towns in the world, thou bumpkin ? faid Don Quixote. If your worfhip puts yourfelf into a paffion, anfwered Sancho, I will hold my tongue, and forbear to fay what I am bound to tell, as a faithful fquire and a dutiful fervant ought to his mafter. Say what you will, replied Don Quixote, fo your words tend not to making me afraid : if you are afraid, you do but like yourfelf; and if I am not afraid, I do likemyfelf. Nothing of all this, as I am a firmer to god, anfwered Sancho ; only that I am fure and pofitively certain, that this lady, who calls herfelf queen

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 31S

of the great kingdom of Micomicon, is no more a queen than my mother : for were fhc what ihe pretends to be, Hie would not be nuzzling, at every turn, and in every corner, with ibmebody that is in the company. Dorothea's colour came at what Sancho faid, it being true indeed that her fpoufe Don Fernando, now and dien, by ftealth, bid fnatched with his lips an earned: of that reward his affections deferved : which Sancho _ having efpied, he thought this freedom more becoming a lady of pleafure, than a queen of fo van: a kingdom. Doro- thea neither could, nor would anfwer Sancho a word, but let him go on with his difcourfe, which he did, faying : I fay this, Sir, becaufe, fuppofing that, af- ter we have travelled through thick and thin, and paffed many bad nights and worfe days, one, who is now folacing himfelf in this inn, fhould chance to reap the fruit of our labours, I need be in no hafte to faddle Rozinantc, nor to get the afs and the palfrey ready; for we had better be quiet; and let every drab mind her fpinning, and let us go to dinner. Good god ! how great was the indignation of Don Quixote at hearing his fquire fpeak thus difrefpecTfully ! I fay, it was fo great, that, with fpeech ftammering, tongue faultering, and living fire darting from his eyes, he faid : Scoundrel ! defigning, unmannerly, ignorant, ill-fpoken, foul-mouthed, impudent, murmuring, and backbiting vil- lain ! dare you utter fuch words in my prefence, and in the prefence of thefe il- luftrious ladies ? and have you dared to entertain fuch rude and infolent thoughts in your confufed imagination? Avoid my prefence, monfter of nature, trea- fury of lies, magazine of deceits, ftorehoufe of rogueries, inventor of mif- chiefs, publifher of abfurdities, and enemy of the refpedt due to royal perfo- nages ! Be gone; appear not before me, on pain of my indignation. And in faying this, he arched his brows, puffed his cheeks, ftared round about him, and gave a violent ftamp with his right foot on the floor; all manifeff. tokens of the rage locked up in his breaft. At whofe words and furious geftures Sancho was fo frighted, that he would have been glad the earth had opened that in- ftant, and fwallowed him up. And he knew not what to do, but to turn his back, and get out of the enraged prefence of his matter. But the difcreet Doro- thea, who fo perfectly underftood Don Quixote's humour, to pacify his wrath, faid : Be not offended, good Sir knight of the forr awful figure, at the follies your good fquire has uttered : for, perhaps, he has not faid them without fome ground ; nor can it be fufpecled, considering his good understanding and chri- ltian confeience, that he would flander, or bear falfe witnefs againft any body : and therefore we mud: believe, without all doubt, as you yourfelf fay, Sir knight, that, fince all things in this caftle fall out in the way of enchantment, perhaps, I fay, Sancho, by means of the fame diabolical illufion, may have (ecu what he fays he faw, fo much to the prejudice of my honour. By the omni- potent god I fwear, quoth Don Qnixote, your grandeur has hit the mark, and fome wicked apparition muft have appeared to this finner, and have made him fee what it was impoilible for him to fee by any odier way but that of enchant-

S f 2 ment;

3i6 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

ment ; for I am perfectly affured of the Simplicity and innocence of this un- happy wretch, and that he knows not how to invent a flander on any body. So it is, and lb it fhall be, faid Don Fernando : wherefore, Signor Don Quixote, you ought to -ardon him, and reftore him to the bofom of your favour, Jicut erat in principio, before thefe illufions turned his brain. Don Quixote anfwered, that he pardoned him; and the prieft went for Sancho, who came in very hum- ble, and, falling down on his knees, begged his matter's hand, who gave it him j and, after he had let him kifs it, he gave him his bleffing, faying: Now you will be thoroughly convinced, fon Sancho, of what I have often told you before, that all things in this caftle are done by way of enchantment. I believe fo too, quoth Sancho, excepting the bufinefs of the blanket, which really fell out in the ordinary way. Do not believe it, anfwered Don Quixote; for, were it fo, I would have revenged you at that time, and even now. But neither could I then, nor can I now, find on whom to revenge the injury. They all defired to know what that bufinefs of the blanket was, and the inn-keeper gave them a very circumftantial account of Sancho Panda's tolling; at which they were not a little diverted. And Sancho would have been no lefs afhamed, if his mailer had not affured him afrefh that it was all enchantment. And yet Sancho\ folly never rofe fo high, as to believe, that it was not downright truth, without any mixture of illufion or deceit, being convinced he had been tolled in the blanket by perfons of flefh and blood, and not by imaginary or vifionary phan- toms, as his mafter fuppofed and affirmed.

Two days had already paffed fince all this illuflrious company had been in the inn ; and thinking it now time to depart, they contrived how, without giving Dorothea and Don Fernando the trouble of going back with Don Quixote to his village, under pretence of refloring the queen of Micomicon, the prieft and the barber might carry him as they defired, and endeavour to get him cured of his madnefs at home. Don Quixote was now laid down upon a bed, to repofe himfelf after his late fatigues; and in the mean time they agreed with a wag- goner, who cltanced to pafs by with his team of oxen, to carry him in this man- ner. They made a kind of cage with poles grate-wife, large enough to con- tain Don Quixote at his eafe : and immediately Don Fernando and his compa- nions, with Don Louis's fervants, and the officers of the holy brotherhood, to- gether with the inn-keeper, all, by the contrivance and direction of the prieft, covered their faces, and difguifed themfelves, fome one way, fome another, fo as to appear to Don Quixote to be quite other creatures than thofe he had feen in that caftle. This being done, with the greateft filence they entered the room where Don Quixote lay faft afleep, and not dreaming of any fuch accident ; and laying faft hold of him, they bound him hand and foot, fo that, when he awaked with a ftart, he could not ftir, nor do any thing but louk round him,, and wonder to fee fuch ftrange vifages about him. And prefendy he fell into the ufual conceit, that his difordered imagination was perpetually prefenting to

him,

DON (QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 317

him, believing that all thefe Shapes were goblins of that enchanted caftle, and that without all doubt he muft be enchanted, lince he could not flir, nor de- fend himfelf: all precifely as the pried, the projector of this Stratagem, fancied it would fill out. Sancho alone, of all that were prefent, was in his perfedt fenfes, and in his own figure; and though he wanted but little of being infedted with his mafter's difeafe, yet he was not at a lofs to know who all thefe coun- terfeit goblins were, but durft not open his lips, 'till he law what this furprizal and imprifonment of his mailer meant. Neither did the knight utter a word, waiting to fee the ilfue of his difgrace : which was, that, bringing the cage thi- ther, they fhut him up in it, and nailed the bars fo faft, that there was no breaking them open, though you pulled never fo hard. They then hoifted him on their moulders, and, at going out of the room, a voice was heard, as dread- ful as the barber could form (not he of the pannel, but the other) faying; O knight of the forrowjul figure ! let not the confinement you are under afflict you; for it is expedient it mould be fo, for the more fpeedy accomplishment of the adventure, in which your great valour has engaged you : which fhall be fi- nished when the furious Manchegan lion fhall be coupled with the white Tobofian dove,, after having Submitted their Stately necks to the Soft matrimonial yoke ; from which unheard-of conjunction fhall Spring into the light of the world- brave whelps, who Shall imitate the tearing claws of their valorous fire. And this Shall come to pafs before the purfuer of the fugitive nymph fhall have made two rounds, to vifit the bright constellations, in his rapid and natural courfe. And thou, O the moft noble and obedient fquire that ever had fword in belt, beard on face, and Smell in noftrils, be not difmayed nor afflicted to fee the flower of knight-errantry carried thus away before your eyes. For ere long, if it fo pleafe the fabricator of the world, you fhall fee yourfelf fo exalt- ed and fublimated, that you Shall not know yourfelf, and Shall not be de- frauded of the promifes made you by your noble lord. And I afTure you, in the name of the fage Fibberoniana ', that your wages fhall be punctually paid you, as you will fee in effect : follow therefore the footfteps of the valorous and enchanted knight; for it is expedient for you to go where ye may both reft : and becaufe I am permitted to fay no more, god be with you ; for I re- turn I well know whidier. And, at finishing the prophecy, he raifed his voice very high, and then funk it by degrees with fo foft an accent, that even the)', who were in the fecret of the jefl, were almoft ready to believe, that what diey heard was true.

Don Quixote remained much comforted by the prophecy he had heard ; for he prefently apprehended the whole Signification thereof, and Saw that it pro- mised he fhould be joined in holy and lawful wedlock with his beloved Dulcinea del Tobofo, from whofe happy womb fhould iffue the whelps, his fons, to the

■ An equivalent word to the original Mentironiana, which needs no explanation.

ever-

3i* the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

everlafting honour of La Mancha. And, with this firm perfuafion, he raifed his voice, and, fetching a deep figh, he faid : O thou, whoever thou art, who haft prognofticated me fo much good, I befeech thee to entreat, on my behalf, the fage enchanter, who has the charge of my affairs, that he fuffer me not to perifh in this prifon, wherein I am now carried, 'till I fee accomplifhed thole joyous and incomparable promifes now made me : for, fo they come to pafs, I mall account the pains of my imprifonment glory, the chains, with which I am bound, refreshment, and this couch, whereon I am laid, not a hard field of bat- tle, but a foft bridal bed of downe. And, as touching the confolation of San- cho Panca my fquire, I truft in his goodnefs and integrity, that he will not for- fake me, either in good or evil fortune. And though it mould fall out, through his or my hard hap, that I fhould not be able to give liim the ifland, or fome- thing elfe equivalent, that I have promifed him, at leaft he cannot lofe his wages ; for in my will, which is already made, I have declared what fhall be given him, not indeed proportionable to his many and good fervices, but according to my own poor ability. Sancho Panca bowed with great refpecl, and luffed both his mafter's hands ; for one alone he could no*, they being both tied toge- ther. Then the goblins took the cage on their fhoulders, and placed it on the waggon.

CHAP. XX.

Of the Jl range and wonderful manner in which Don Quixote de la Mancha was enchanted, with other remarkable occurrences.

T~\ON QUIXOTE, finding himfelf cooped up in this manner, and placed "*-^ upon a cart, faid : Many and raoft grave hiftories have I read of knights- errant j but I never read, faw, or heard of enchanted knights being car- ried away after this manner, and lb flowly as thefc lazy, heavy, animals feem to promife. For they always ufed to be carried through the air with wonderful fpeed, wrapped up in fome thick and dark cloud, or in fome chariot of fire, or mounted upon a hippogrif, or fome fuch beaft. But to be carried upon a team drawn by oxen, by the living god it puts me into confufion. But, perhaps, the chivalry and enchantments of thefe our times may have taken a different turn from thofe of the antients; and perhaps alfo, as I am a new knight in the world, and the firft who have revived the long-forgotten exercife of knight- errantry, there may have been lately invented other kinds of enchantments, and other methods of carrying away thofe that are enchanted. What think you of this, fon Sancho? I do not know what I think, anfwered Sancho, not being fo well read as your worihip in fci iptures-errant. Yet I dare affirm and fwear, that thefe hobgob'ins here about us are not altogether catholic. Catholic! my fither! anfwered Don Quixote-, how can they be catholic, being devils, who have affumed fantailick fliapes on purpofe to come and put me into this ftate?

and

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 319

and if you would be convinced of this, touch them and feel them, and you will find they have no bodies but of air, confiding in nothing but appearance only. Before god, Sir, replied Sancho, I have already touched them, and this devil, who is fo very buly here about us, is as plump as a partridge, and has a- nother property very different from what people fay your devils are wont to have : for it is faid, they all fmell of brimftone, and other worfe fcents; but this fpark fmells of amber at half a league's diftance. Sancho meant this of Don Fernando, who, being a cavalier of fuch quality, mull have wore perfumes, as Sancho hinted. Wonder not at it, friend Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote; fo? you mufl know that the devils are a knowing fort of people ; and, fuppofing they do carry perfumes about them, they have no fcents in themfelves, becaufc they are fpirits ; or, if they do fmell, it can be of nothing that is good, but of fomething bad and ftinking : and the reafon is, becaufe, let them be where they will, they carry their hell about them, and can receive no kind of eafe from their torments : now, a perfume being a thing delightful and pleafing, it is not poflible they fhould fmell of fo good a thing : and if you think that this devil fmells of amber, either you deceive yourfelf, or he would deceive you, that you may not take him for a devil. All this difcourfe paffed between the mafter and the mm; and Don Fernando and Cardenio, fearing left Sancho fhould fmell out their plot, he being already in the purfuit, and pretty far advanced towards it, they refolved to haften their departure, and, calling the inn-keeper afide, they ordered him to faddle Rozinante and pannel the afs, which he did with great expedition.

In the mean while the prieft had agreed, for fo much a day, with the troopers of the holy brotherhood, that they fhould accompany Don Quixote home to his village. Cardenio took care to hang the buckler on one fide, and the bafon on the other, of the pummel of Rozinante's faddle, and made figns to Sancho to mount his afs, and take Rozinante by the bridle, and placed two troopers with their carabines on each fide of the waggon. But before the car moved for- ward, the hoftefs, her daughter, and Maritornes, came out to take their leaves of Don Quixote, pretending to fhed tears for grief at his misfortune ; to whom Don Quixote faid : Weep not, my good ladies ; for thefe kind of mifhaps are incident to thofe, who profefs what I profefs ; and if fuch calamities did not befal me, I fhould not take myfelf for a knight-errant of any considerable fame : for fuch accidents as thefe never happen to knights of little name and reputation, fince no body in the world thinks of them at all : but to the valorous indeed they often fall out ; for many princes, and other knights, envious of their ex- traordinary virtue and courage, are conftantly endeavouring by indirect ways to deftioy them. Notwithstanding all which, fo powerful is virtue, that of her- felf alone, in fpite of all the necromancy that its firft inventor Zoroajler ever knew, fhe will come off victorious from every encounter, and fpread her luftre round the world, as the fun dees over the heavens. Pardon me, fair ladies, if

I have,, £

320 1U LIFE and EXP LOITS of

I have, through inadvertency, done you any difpleafure; for willingly and knowingly I never offended any body : and pray to god, that he would deliver, me from thefe bonds, into which fome evil-minded enchanter has thrown me; for, if ever I find myfelf at liberty, I (hall not forget the favours you have done me in this caftle, but fhall acknowledge and requite them as they deferve.

While the ladies of the caftle were thus entertained by Don Quixote, the prieft and the barber took their leave of Don Fernando and his companions, and of the captain and his brother the judge, and of all the now happy ladies, efpe- cially of Dorothea and Luanda. They all embraced, promiiing to give each other an account of their future fortunes. Don Fernando gave the prieft direc- tions where to write to him, and acquaint him with what became of Don Quixote, alluring him that nothing would afford him a greater pleafure, than to know it; and that, on his part, he would inform him of whatever might amufe or pleafe him, either in relation to his own marriage, or the baptizing of Zo- raida, as alfo concerning Don Louis's fuccefs, and Luanda's return to her pa- rents. The prieft promifed to perform all that was defired of him with the ut- moft punctuality. They again embraced, and renewed their mutual offers of fervice. The inn-keeper came to the prieft, and gave him fome papers, telling him, he had found them in the lining of the wallet, in which the novel of the Curious impertinent was found, and, fince the owner had never come back that way, he might take them all with him ; for, as he could not read, he had no defire to keep them. The prieft thanked him, and, opening the papers *, found at the head of them this title, The ?iovel of Rinconete and Cortadillo ; from whence he -concluded it muft be fome tale, and imagined, becaufe that of the Curious impertinent was a good one, this muft be fo too, it being probable they were both written by the fame author : and therefore he kept it with a defign to read it when he had an opportunity. Then he and his friend the barber mounted on horfeback, with their masks on, that Don Quixote might not know them, and placed themfelves behind the waggon; and the order of the caval- cade was this. Firft marched the car, guided by the owner ; on each fide went the troopers with their firelocks, as has been already faid ; then followed Sancho upon his afs, leading Rozinante by the bridle : the prieft and the baiber b ( ght up the rear on their puiffant mules, and their faces masked, with a grave and folemn air, marching no fafter than the flow pace of the oxen allowed. Don Quixote fat in his cage, with his hands tied and his legs ftretched out, leaning againft the bars, with as much patience and filence, as if he had not been a man of fleih and blood, but a ftatue of ftone. And thus, with the fame flow- nefs and filence, they travelled about two leagues, when they came to a valley, which the waggoner thought a convenient place for refting and baiting his cat- tle; and acquainting the prieft with his purpofe, die baiber was of opinion, they mould travel a little further, telling them, that, behind a rifing ground not far off, there was a vale that afforded more and much better grafs, than that

> Written by Cervantes himfelf, a id txtant in the collection of his Novell. in

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCIIA.

in which they had a mind to flop. They took the barber's advice, and fo went on.

Now the priefl, happening to turn his head about, perceived behind them about fix or feven horfemen, well mounted and accoutered, who foon came up with them j for they travelled, not with the flegm and flownefs of the oxen, but as perfons mounted on ecclefiaflic mules, and in haflc to arrive quickly, and pafs the heat of the day in the inn, which appeared to be not a league off. The fpeedy overtook the flow, and the companies faluted each other courteouflyj and one of the travellers, who, in fhort, was a canon of Toledo, and mailer of the reft, obferving the orderly proceffion of the waggon, the troopers, Sancho, Kozinante, die pricft, and the barber, and efpecially Don Quixote caged-up and imprifoned, could not forbear enquiring what was the meaning of carrying that man in diat manner j though he already gueffed, by feeing the badges of the holy brotherhood, that he mufl be fome notorious robber, or other criminal, the punifhment of whom belonged to that fraternity. One of the troopers, to whom the queflion was put, anfwered thus : Sir, if you would know the meaning of this gentleman's going in this manner, let him tell you himfelf ; for we know nodiing of the matter. Don Quixote overheard the difcourfe, and faid : If, perchance, gentlemen, you are verfed and skilled in matters of chi- valry, I will acquaint you with my misfortunes ; but if not, I need not trouble myfelf to recount them. By this time the priefl and the barber, perceiving the travellers were " in difcourfe with Don Quixote de la Mancha, were come clofe up, to be ready to give fuch an anfwer, as might prevent the difcovery of their plot. The canon, in anfwer to what Don Quixote faid, replied : In truth, brother, I am more converfant in books of chivalry, than in Villalpando's Sum- maries; fo that, if that be all, you may fafely communicate to me whatever you pleafe. With heaven's permiflion, replied Don Quixote, fince it is fo, you mufl underfland, Signor cavalier, that I am enchanted in this cage, through the envy and fraud of wicked necromancers ; for virtue is more perfecuted by the wicked, than beloved by the good. A knight-errant I am, not one of thofe, whofe names fame has forgot to eternize, but one of thofe, who, maugre and in defpite of envy itfelf, and of all the magicians Perfia ever bred, the Bracmans of India, and the gymnofophifls of Ethiopia, fhall enroll his name in the temple of immortality, to ferve as an example and mirrour to future ages, in which knights-errant may fee the track they are to follow, if they are ambi- tious of reaching the honourable fummit and pinnacle of arms. Signor Don Quixote de la Mancha fays the truth, quoth the priefl at this time; for he goes enchanted in this waggon, not through his own fault or demerit, but through the malice of thofe, to whom virtue is odious, and courage offenfive. This Sir, is the knight of the forrowf id figure, if ever you have heard him fpoken of, whofe valorous exploits and heroic deeds fhall be written on folid brafs and ever- lalling marble, though envy take never fo much pains to oblcure them, and VoL- L Tt malice

322 m LIFE and EXPLOITS of

9

malice to conceal them. When the canon heard him that was imprifoned, and him at liberty, both talk in fuch a ftyle, he was ready to crofs himfelf with a- mazement, not being able to imagine what had befallen him ; and all his fol- lowers were in equal admiration.

Now Sancha, being come up to them, and overhearing their dilcourfe, to fet all ,to rights, /aid : Look ye, gentlemen, let it be well or ill taken, I will out :.with it : the truth of .the cafe .is, my matter Don Quixote is juft as much ea- chanted as my mother; he is in his perfect fenfes, he eats, and drinks, and does his occalions like other-men, and as he did yefterday before they cooped him up. This being fo, will you perfuade me he is enchanted ? have I not heard many people fay, that perfons enchanted neither eat, fleep, nor fpeak ? and my mafter, if no body thwarts him, will talk ye more than thirty barrifters. And turning his eyes on the prieft, he went on faying ; Ah mafter prieft, mafter prieft, do you think I do not know you? and think you I do not perceive and guefs what thefe new enchantments drive at? let me tell you, I know you, though you difguife your face never fo much; and I would have you to know, I under- ftand you, though you manage your contrivances never fo flily. In fhort, virtue cannot live where envy reigns, nor liberality fubfift with niggardlinefs. Evil be- fal the devil ! had it not been for your reverence, my mafter had been married by this time to the Infanta Micomicona, and I had been an earl at leaft ; for I could expect no lefs, as well from the generofity of my mafter the blight of the for towJ "id figure ; as from the greatnefs of my fervices. But I find the proverb true, that the wheel of fortune turns fwifter than a mill-wheel, and they, who were yefterday at the top, are to-day on the ground. I am grieved for my poor wife and children ; for, when they might reafonably expect to fee their father come home a governor or viceroy of fome ifland or kingdom, they will now fee him return a mere groom. All this that I have faid, mafter prieft, is only in- tended to put your paternity in mind to make a confeience of the evil treatment of my mafter; and take heed that god does not call you to an account in the next life for this imprifonment of my lord, and require at your hands all thoie fuccours, and all the good he might have done, during this time of his confine- ment. Snuff me thefe candles, quoth the barber at this jun&ure; what! Sancho, are you alfo of your mafter's confraternity? as god fhall five me, I be- <nn to think you are likely to keep him company in the cage, and to be as much enchanted as he, for your fhare of his humour and his chivalry. In an evil hour were you with child by his promifes, and in an evil hour the ifland you fo long for entered into your pate. I am not with child by any body, anfwered Sat/cho, nor am I a man to fuffer myfelf to be got with child by the beft king that may be; and though I am a poor man, I am an old chriftian, and owe no body any thing; and if I covet iflands, there are others who covet worfe things; and every one is the fon of his own works ; and, being a man, I may come to be pope, and much more ealily governor of an ifland, efpecially fince my mafter

may

DON QJUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 323

may win fo many, that he may be at a lofs on whom to bellow them. Pray, mafter barber, take heed what you fay; for (having of beards is not all, and there is fome difference between Pedro and Pedro. 1 f iy this, becaufe we know one another, and there is no putting falfe dice upon me : as for my mailer's en- chantment, god knows the truth, and let that reft ; for it is the worfe for ftir- ring. The barber would not anfwer Sancho, left, by his fimplicity, he fhould difcover what he and the prieft took fo much pains to conceal : and for the fame reafon the prieft defired the canon to iget on a little before, and he would let him into the fecret of the encaged gentleman, with other particulars that would divert him. The canon did fo, and rode on before with his fervants, liftening to all the prieft had to tell him of the quality, manner of life, and cu- ftoms of Don Quixote; recounting to him briefly the beginning and caufe of his detraction, with the whole progrefs of his adventures, to the putting him into that cage, and the defign they had to carry him home, and try if by any means they might find a cure for his madnefs. The fervants admired afrefh, and the canon alfo, to hear the ftrange hiftory of Don Quixote ; and when he had heard it all, he faid to the prieft : Truly, Sir, I am convinced, that thofe they call books of chivalry are prejudicial to the common-weal; and though, led away by an idle and falfe tafte, I have read the beginning of almoft all that are printed, I could never prevail with myfelf to read any of them from the be- ginning to the endj becaufe to me they appear to be all of the fime ftamp, and this to have no more in it than that, nor that than the other. And, in my opinion, this kind of writing and compofition falls under the denomination of the fables they call Milefian, which are extravagant ftories, tending only to pleafe, and not to inftrudtj quite contrary to the moral fables, which at the fame time both delight and iuftrudt. And though the principal end of fuch books is to pleafe, I know not how they can attain it, being ftuffed with lb many and fuch monftrous abfurdities. For the pleafure, which is conceived in the mind, muft proceed from the beauty and harmony it fees or contemplates in the things, which the fight or the imagination fets before it, and nothing, in itfelf ugly or deformed, can afford any real fatisfaction. For what beauty can there be, or what proportion of the parts to the whole, and of the whole to the parts, in a book or fable, in which a youth of fixteen years hews down with his fword a giant as big as a fteeple, and fplits him in two, as if he were made of pafte ? And when they would give us a defcription of a battle, after having faid, that, on the enemies fide, there are a million of combatants, let but the hero of the book be againft them, we muft, of neceffity and in defpite of our teeth, believe, that fuch or fuch a knight carried the victory, by the fingle valour of his ftrong arm. Then, what fhall we fay to that facility, with which a queen or an emprefs throws herfelf into the arms of this errant and un- known knight? What genius, not wholly barbarous and uncultivated, can be fatisfied with reading, that a vaft tower, full of knights, feuds through the lea,

< T t 2 like

324. He LIFE and EXPLOITS of

like a fhip before the wind, and this night is in Lombardy, and the next morning in the country of Prefier John in the Indies, or in fome other, that Ptolomy never difcovered, nor Marcus Polus * ever faw ? And if it fhould be anfwered, that the authors of fuch books write them profeffedly as lyes, and therefore are not obliged to ftand upon niceties, or truth ; I anfwer, that fiction is fo much the better, by how much the nearer it refembles truth ; and pleafes fo much the more, by how much the more it has of the doubtful and poflible. Fables fhould be fuited to the reader's underftanding, and fo contrived, that, by facilitating the impoflible, lowering the van:, and keeping the mind in fuf- pence, they may, at once, furprize, delight, amufe, and entertain in fuch fort, that admiration and pleafure may be united, and go hand in hand : all which cannot be performed by him, who pays no regard to probability and imita- tion, in which the perfection of writing confifts : and I have never yet {ken any book of chivalry, which makes a compleat body of fable with all its mem- bers, fo that the middle correfponds to the beginning, and the end to the be- ginning and middle : on the contrary, they are compofed of fo many members, that the authors feem rather to defign a chimaera or monfter, than to intend a well-proportioned figure. Befides all this, their ftyle is harm, their exploits incredible, their amours lafcivious, their civility impertinent, their battles te- dious, their reafonings foolifh, and their voyages extravagant j and laftly, they are devoid of all ingenious artifice, and therefore deferve to be baniihed the chriftian common- wealth, as an unprofitable race of people.

The prieft liflened to him with great attention, and took him to be a man of good underftanding, and in the right in all he faid; and therefore he told him, that, being of the fame opinion, and bearing an old grudge to books of chi- valry, he had burnt all thofe belonging to Don Quixote, which were not a few. Then he gave him an account of the fcrutiny he had made, telling him, which of them he had condemned to the fire, and which he had reprieved : at which the canon laughed heartily, and faid, notwithftanding all the ill he had fpoken of fuch books, he found one thing good in them, which was, the fubjecT: they prefented for a good genius to difplay itfelf, affording a large and ample field, in which the pen may expatiate without any let or incumbrance, defcribing fhip- wrecks, tempefts, encounters, and battles ; delineating a valiant captain with all the qualifications requifite to make him fuch, fhewing his prudence in preventing the ftratagems of his enemy, his eloquence in perfuading or difluading his fol- diersj mature in council, prompt in execution, equally brave in expecting, as in attacking the enemy : fometimes painting a fad and tragical accident, then a joyful and unexpected event ; here a moil beautiful lady, modeft, difcrete, and refervedj there a chriftian knight, valiant and courteous; now an unruly and barbarous braggadocio ; then an affable, valiant, and good-natured prince :

» Who, in the twelfth century, travelled, or pretended fo, from Ferfia, through lartary, into China i and gives an account of all the continent, and iflands, to the fouth and eaft of Jfta. %

6 defcribing

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 325

defcribing the goodnefs and loyalty of fubjeds, the greatnefs and generality of nobles : then again he may lhew himfclf an excellent aftronomer or geographer, a muficlan, or a ftatefman ; and, fome time or other, he may have an opportu- nity, if he pleafes, of (hewing himlelf a necromancer. He may fct forth the iubtilty of TJlyJfes, the piety of /Eneas, the bravery of Achilles, the misfortunes of Heffor, the treachery of Sinon, the friendfhip of Euryalus, the liberality of Alexander, the valour of Cafar, the clemency and probity of Trajan, the fide- ' lity of Zopyrus, the wifdom of Cato, and finally all thofe actions, which may ferve to make an illuitrious perfon perfect ; fometimes placing them in one perfon alone, then dividing them among many: and this being done in a fmooth and agreeable ftyle, and with ingenious invention, approaching as near as pof- fible to truth, will, doubtlefs, weave a web of fuch various and beautiful con- texture, that, when it is finiihed, the perfection and excellency thereof may attain to the ultimate end of writing, that is, both to inftrud and delight, as I have already faid : becaufe the unconfined way of writing thefe books gives an author room to (hew his skill in the epic or lyric, in tragedy or comedy, with all the parts included in the fweet and charming fciences of poetry and ora- tory : for the epic may be written as well in prole as in verfe '.

CHAP. XXL

In which the canon profecutes the fubjefl of books of chivalry ', with other

matters worthy of his genius.

IT is juft as you fay, Sir, quoth the prieft to the canon ; and for this reafon thofe, who have hitherto compofed fuch books, are the more to blame, pro- ceeding, as they do, without any regard to good fenfe, or art, or to thofe rules, by the obfervation of which they might become as famous in profe, as the two princes of the Greek and Latin poetry are in verfe. I myfelf, replied the canon, was once tempted to write a book of knight-errantry, in which I pur- pofed to obferve all the reftridions I have mentioned ; and, to confefs the truth,' I had gone through above a hundred meets of it ; and, to try whether they an- fwered my own opinion of them, I communicated them to fome learned and judicious perfons, who were very fond of this kind of reading, and to other perfons, who were ignorant, and regarded only the pleafure of reading extra- vagancies ; and I met with a kind approbation from all of them : neverthelefs I would proceed no farther, as well in regard that I looked upon it as a thing fo- reign to my profeffion, as becaufe the number of the unwife is greater than that of the prudent : and though it is better to be praifed by the few wife men, than mocked by a multitude of fools, yet I am unwilling to cxpofe my- felf to the confufed judgment of the giddy vulgar, to whofe lot the reading

x The archbifliop of Cambray might, probably, write his TeUmachus upon this hint : at lcaft it is an example of this aflemon,

fuch

326 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

fuch books for the moft part falls. But that which chiefly moved me to lay it afide, and to think no more of finiihing it, was, an argument I formed to myfelf, deduced from the modern comedies that are daily reprefented, fayino- : If thofe now-a-days in fafhion, whether fictitious or historical, all, or moft of them, are known abfurdities, and things without head or tail, and yet the vul- gar take a pleafure in liftening to them, and maintain and approve them for good ; and the authors who compofe, and the actors who reprefent them, fay, fuch they muft be, becaufe the people will have them fo, and no otherwife ; and thofe, which are regular, and carry on the plot according to the rules of art, ferve only for half a fcore men of fenfe, who underftand them, while all the reft are at a lofs, and can make nothing of the contrivance ; and, for their part, it is better for them to get bread by the many, than reputation by the few : thus, probably, it would have fared with my book, after I had burnt my eye-brows with poring to follow the aforefaid precepts, and I mould have got nothing but my labour for my pains \ And though I have often endea- voured to convince the actors of their miftake, and that they would draw more company, and gain more credit, by acting plays written according to ait, than by fuch ridiculous pieces, they are fo attached and wedded to their own opi- nion, that no reafon, nor even demonftration, can wreft it from them. I re- member that, talking one day to one of thefe headftrong fellows, Tell me, faid I, do you not remember, that, a few years ago, there were three tragedies acted in Spain, compofed by a famous poet of this kingdom, which were fuch, that they furprized, delighted, and raifed the admiration of all who faw them, as well the ignorant as the judicious, as well the vulgar as better fort ; and that thefe alone got the players more money than any thirty of the beft that have been written fince ? Doubtlefs, anfwered the actor I fpeak Of, your worfhip means the Ifabella, Phyllis, and Alexandra. The fame, replied I ; and pray fee, whether they did not carefully obferve the rules of art, and whether that hindered them from appearing what they really were, and from pleafing all the world. So that the fault is not in the people's coveting abfurdities, but in thofe, who know not how to exhibit any thing better. For there is nothing ab- furd in the play of Ingratitude revenged, nor in the Numantia ; nor can you find any in the Merchant-lover, much lefs in the Favourable foe-enemy, and in fome others, compofed by ingenious and judicious poets, to their own fame and renown, and to the advantage of thofe who acted them. And to thefe I added other reaibns, at which I fancied he was fomewhat confounded, but not con- vinced nor fatisfied, fo as to make him retract his erroneous opinion.

Signor canon, faid then the prieft, you have touched upon a fubject, which has awakened in me an old grudge I bear to the comedies now in vogue, equal

' Liiera'ly, I J7:ou?d ka<ve been like the taylor at the ftreet-corner. The proverb entire is, Ser ccmo cl /afire de la encrucixqda, que ccjia de <valde, y ponia el hi to de ju ca/a. That is, To be like the taylor cf the croffivay, whs Jewed for nothing, and found thread himfelf.

to

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 327

to that I have againft books of chivalry : for, whereas comedy, according to the opinion of Cicero, ought to be a mirrour of human life, an exemplar of manners, and an image of truth, thofe that are rcprefentcd now-a-days are mirrours of inconfiftency, patterns of folly, and images of wantonnefs. For what greater abfurdity can there be in the fubject we are treating of, than for a child to appear, in the firfl: fcene of the firfl act, in fwadling-clothcs, and in the fecond enter a grown man with a beard ? and what can be more ridiculous, than to draw the character of an old man valiant, a young man a coward, a footman a rhetorician, a page a privy-counfellor, a king a water-carrier, and a princefs a fcullion ? Then what mail we fay to their obfervance of the time and place, in which the actions they reprefent are fuppofed to have happened ? I have feen a comedy, the firfl: act of which was laid in Europe, the fecond in Afia, and the third in Africa ; and, had there been four acts ', the fourth would doubtlefs have concluded in America ; and fo the play would have taken in all the four parts of the world. If imitation be the principal thing required in comedy, how is it poflible any tolerable underftanding can endure to fee an action, which pafied in the time of king Pepin or Charlemain, afcribed to the emperor Heraclius, who is introduced carrying the crofs into Jerufalcm, or re- covering the holy fepulchre, like Godfrey of Bouillon ; numberlefs years having paiTed between thefe actions ; and befides, the comedy being grounded upon a fiction, to fee truths applied out of hiftory, with a mixture of facts relating to different perfons and times ; and all this with no appearance of probability, but, on the contrary, full of manifefl: and altogether inexcufable errors ? But the worft of it is, that fome are fo befotted, as to call this perfection, and to fay, that all befides is meer pedantry. If we come to the comedies upon divine fub- jedts, what a pack of falfe miracles do they invent, how many apocryphal and ill-underftood, afcribing to. one faint the miracles of another ? And even in the plays upon profane fubjects, the authors take upon them to work miracles, for no other reafon in the world, but becaufe they think fuch a miracle will do well, and make a figure in fuch a place, that ignorant people may admire, and be induced to fee the comedy. Now all this is to the prejudice of truth, and difcredit of hiflory, and even to the reproach of our Spanijh wits : for fo- reigners, who obferve the laws of comedy with great punctuality, take us for barbarous and ignorant, feeing the abfurdities and extravagancies of thofe we write. It would not be a fufficient excufe to fay, that the principal intent of well- governed commonwealths, in permitting flage-plays to be acted, is, that the po- pulace may be entertained with fome innocent recreation, to divert, at times, the ill humours, which idlenefs is wont to produce ; and, fince this end may be attained by any play, whether good or bad, there is no need of prefcrjbing laws, or confining thofe, who write or act them, to the Ariel rules of compo-

1 Note, the Spanijh plays confift of but three adls. Cervantes himfelf, as Don Gregorio tells us in his Lift, reduced them from five to three, and, inftead of ails, called them days, jornadas.

fition.

328 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

fition, fince, as I have faid, any of them ferve to compafs the end propofed by them. To this I would anfwer, that this end is, beyond all companion, much better attained by thofe that are good, than by thofe that are not fo : for the hearer, after attending to an artful and well-contrived play, would go away diverted by what is witty, inftxucted by what is ferious, in admiration at the incidents, improved by the reafoning, forewarned by the frauds, made wife by the examples, incenfed againir. vice, and in love with virtue : for a good co- medy will awaken all thefe paffions in the mind of the hearer, let him be never fo grofs or ftupid. And, of all impoffibilities, it is the moil impoffible not to be pleafed, entertained, and fatisfied much more with that comedy, which has all thefe requifites, than by one, which is defective in them, as moil of our comedies now-a-days are. Nor is this abufe to be charged chiefly on the poets themfelves : for there are fome among them, who know very well wherein they err, and are perfectly acquainted with what they ought to do : but, as plays are made a faleable commodity, they fay, and they fay right, that the actors would not buy them, if they were not of that ftamp ; and there- fore the poet endeavours to accommodate himfelf to what is required by the player, who is to pay him for his work. And that this is the truth, may be evinced by the infinite number of Plays compofed by a moil happy genius of thefe kingdoms x, with fo much fprightlinefs, fuch elegant verfe, expreffions fo good, and fuch excellent fentiments, and laftly with fuch richnefs of elocution, and loftinefs of flyle, that the world refounds with his fame. Yet, by his fometimes adapting himfelf to the tafte of the aftors, they have not all reached that point of perfection that fome of them 2 have done. Others, in writing plays, fo little confider what they are doing, that the a&ors are often under a neceffity of abfconding for fear of being puniihed, as has frequently happened, for having acted things to the prejudice of the crown, or the diihonour of fami- lies. But all thefe inconveniences, and many more I have not mentioned, would ceafe, if fome intelligent and judicious perfon of the court were appointed to examine all plays before they are acted s, not only thofe made about the court, but all that fhould be acted throughout all Spain ; without whofe approbation under hand and feal, the civil officers fhould fuffer no play to be acled : and thus the comedians would be obliged to fend all their plays to the court, and mi^ht then act them with entire fafety; and the writers of them would take more care and pains about what they did, knowing their performances mufl pafs the rigorous examination of fomebody that underilands them. By this me- thod good plays would be written, and the defign of them happily attained,

» Lopex de Vega Carpio.

* Lopex himfelf, in his New art of making comedies, Sec. tells us of but/*- plays, to which he had given the requifite perfection; a very fmall number in comparifon of 483, which he himfelf tells us he had then written.

3 This is the period of licenfmg plays in Spain, occafioned, it is faid, by this Reflexion of our au- thor's. .

namely.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 329

namely, the entertainment of the people, the reputation of the wits of Spain, the intereft and fecurity of the players, and the laving the magiftrate the trouble of chaftizing them. And if fome other, or the fame perfon, were commif- fioned to examine the books of chivalry that fhall be written for the future, without doubt fome might be published with all the perfection you fpeak of, en- riching our language with the pleafing and precious treafure of eloquence, and might caufe the old books to be laid afide, being obfeured by the luftrc of the new ones, which would come out, for the innocent amuiement not only of the idle, but alfo of thofe who have moft bufinefs ; for the bow cannot poflibly ftand always bent, nor can human nature or human frailty fublift widiout fome lawful recreation.

Thus far had die canon and the prieft proceeded in their dialogue, when the barber, coming up to them, faid to the prieft : Here, Signor licentiate, is die place, I told you was proper for us to pafs the heat of die day in, and where the cattle would have frefli grafs in abundance. I think fo too, anfwered the prieft j and acquainting the canon with his intention, he alfo would ftay with them, invited by the beauty of a pleafant valley, which prefented itfelf to their view : and therefore, that he might enjoy the pleafure of the place and the con- verfation of the prieft, of whom he began to be fond, and be informed like- wife more particularly of Don Quixote's exploits, he ordered fome of his fer- vants to go to the inn, which was not far off, and bring from thence what they could find to eat for the whole company ; for he refolved to ftay there that af- ternoon. To whom one of the fervants anfwered, that the fumpter-mule, which by that time muft have reached the inn, carried proviiions enough for them all, and that they need take nothing at the inn but barley. Since it is fo, faid the canon, take thither the other mules, and bring back the fumpter hither.

While this paffed, Sancho, perceiving he might talk to his mafter without the continual prefence of the prieft and the barber, whom he looked upon as fufpicious perfons, came up to his mafter's cage, and faid to him : Sir, to dis- burthen my confeience, I muft tell you fomething about this enchantment of yours ; and it is this, that they, who are riding along with us, and with their faces covered, are the prieft and the barber of our town j and I fancy they have played you this trick, and are carrying you in this manner, out of the pure envy they bear you for furpafling them in famous atchievements : and fuppofing this to be true, it follows that you are not enchanted, but gulled and befotted; for proof whereof I would ask you one thing, and if you anfwer me, as I believe you muft, you fhall lay your ringer upon this palpable cheat, and find, that you are not enchanted but diffracted. Ask whatever you will, fon Sancho, anfwer- ed Don Quixote ; for I will fatisfy you, and anfwer to your whole will. But as to what you tell me, that thofe yonder, who come with us, are the prieft and

Vol. I. U u the

2$o The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

the barber, our townfmen and acquaintance, it may very eafily be, they may feem to be lb; but that they are fo really and in effect, do not believe it in any wife. What you ought to underftand and believe, is, that, if they feem to be thofe you fay, it muft be, that they, who have enchanted me, have affumed that appearance and likenefs : for enchanters can eafily take what form they pleafe, and may have taken that of our two friends, in order to make you think as you do, and to involve you in fuch a labyrinth of imaginations, that you fhall not be able to find your way out though you had Thefeus's clue. Befides, they may have done it, to make me alfo waver in my judgment, and not be able to guefs from what quarter this injury comes. For if, on the one fide, you tell me, that the prieffc and the barber of our village bear us company, and, on the other fide, I find myfelf locked up in a cage, and know of myfelf, that no force but that which is fupernatural could be fuffkient to imprifon me ; what can I fay or think, but that the manner of my enchantment exceeds all I have ever read of in the hiftories of knights-errant that have been enchanted ? So that you may fet your heart at reft as to their being what you fay; for they are juft as much fo, as I am a Turk. As to what concerns your asking me queftions, ask them; for I will anfwer you, though you fhould continue asking from this time 'till to-morrow morning. Bleffed virgin ! anfwered Sancho, raifing his voice, and is it then poffible your worfhip can be fo thick-skulled and devoid of brains, that you cannot perceive what I tell you to be the very truth, and that there is more roguery than enchantment in this confinement and difgrace of yours ? and feeing it is fo, I will prove molt evidently that you are really not enchanted. Now tell me, as god fhall fave you from this ftorm, and as you hope to find yourfelf in my lady Dulcinea's arms, when you leaft think of it Ceafe con- juring me, faid Don ghtixote, and ask what queftions you will ; for I have al- ready told you, I will anfwer them with the utmoft punctuality. That is what I would have you do, replied Sancho, and what I have a mind to know is, that you tell me, without adding or diminifhing a tittle, and with all truth and can- dour, as is expected from, and practifed by, all who profefs the exercife of

arms, as your worfhip does, under the title of knights-errant I tell you I

will lye in nothing, anfwered Don Quixote : therefore make either a beginning or an end of asking ; for, in truth, you tire me out with fo many falvo's, poftu- latums, and preparatives, Sancho. I fay, replied Sancho, that I am fully fatis- fied of the goodnefs and veracity of my mafter, and, that being to the purpofe in our affair, I ask, with refpedt be it fpoken, whether, fince your being cooped up, or, as you fay, enchanted, in this cage, your worfhip has not had an incli- nation to open the greater or the lefler flukes, as people are wont to fay? I do not underftand, Sancho, faid Don giaxote, what you mean by opening flukes : explain yourfelf, if you would have me give you a direct anfwer. Is it poffible, quoth Sancho, your worfhip fhould not underftand that phrafe, when the very

chil-

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 331

children at fchool are weaned with it ? Know then, it mcanc, whether you have not had a mind to do what nobody can do for you ? Ay, now I comprehend vou, Sancho, faid Don Quixote ; and, in truth, I have often had fuch a mind, and have at this very inftant : help me out of this {freight ; for I doubt all is not fo clean as it mould be.

CHAP. XXII.

Of the ingenious conference between Sancho Panca and his majlcr Don Quixote.

HA ! quoth Sancho, now I have caught you : this is what I longed to know with all my heart and foul. Come on, Sir, can you deny what is com- monly faid every where, when a perfon is in the dumps ; I know not what fuch or fuch a one ails; he neither eats, nor drinks, nor fleeps, nor anfwers to the purpofe when he is asked a queftion ; he looks for all the world as if he were en- chanted. From whence it is concluded, that they, who do not eat, nor drink, nor fleep, nor perform the natural a&ions I fpeak of, fuch only are enchanted, and not they, who have fuch calls as your worfhip has, and who eat and drink when they can get it, and anfwer to all that is asked them. You fay right, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote : but I have already told you, that there are fun- dry forts of enchantments, and it may have fo fallen out, that, in procefs of time, they may have been changed from one to another, and that now it may be the fafhion for thofe, who are enchanted, to do as I do, though formerly they did not : fo that there is no arguing, nor drawing coniequences, againft the cu- ftom of the times. I know, and am verily perfuaded, that I am enchanted; and that is fufficient for the difcharge of my confeience, which would be heavi- ly burthened, if I thought I was not enchanted, and mould, fuffer myfelf to lie idle in this cage like a coward, defrauding the nccefTitous and oppreffed of that fuccour I might have afforded them, when, perhaps, at this very moment, they may be in extreme want of my aid and protection. But for all that, re- plied Sancho, I fay, for your greater and more abundant fatisfadtion, your wor- Ihip would do well to enJeavour to get out of this prifon j which I will under- take to facilitate with all my might, and to effect it too ; and then you may once more mount your trufty Rozinante, who feems as if he were enchanted too, fo melancholy and dejected is he. And, when this is done, we may again try our fortune in fearch of adventures : and mould it not fucceed well, we fhall have time enough to return to the cage, in which I promife, on the faith of a trufty and loyal fquire, to fhut myfelf up with your worfhip, if perchance you prove fo unhappy, or I fo fimple, as to fail in the performance of what I fay. I am content to do what you advife, brother Sancho, replied Don Quixote; and when you fee a proper opportunity for working my deliverance, I will be ruled by you in every thing; but, Sancho, depend upon it, you will find how miltaken you are in your notion of my difgrace.

U u 2 In

332 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

With thefe difcourfes the knight-errant and the evil-errant fquire beguiled the time, 'till they came where the prieft, the canon, and the barber, who were already alighted, waited for them. The waggoner prefently unyoked the oxen from his team, and turned them loofe in that green and delicious place, whofe frefhnefs invited tQ the enjoyment of it, not only perfons as much enchanted as Don Quixote, but as confiderate and difcreet as his fquire, who befought the prieft to permit his mafter to come out of the cage for a while ; otherwife that prifon would not be quite fo clean as the decorum of fuch a knight as his mafter required. The prieft underftood him, and faid, that he would, with all his heart, confent to what he defired, were it not that he feared, left his mafter, finding himfelf at liberty, fhould play one of his old pranks, and be gone where no body fhould let eyes on him more. I will be fecurity for his not running away, replied Sancho ; and I alfo, faid the canon, efpecially if he will pafs his word as a knight that he will not leave us without our confent. I do pafs it, anfwered Don Quixote, who was liftening to all they faid, and the rather, be- caufe whoever is enchanted, as I am, • is not at liberty to difpofe of himfelf as he pleafes; for he, who has enchanted him, can make him that he'fhall not be able to ftir in three centuries, and, if he ihould attempt an efcape, will fetch him back on the wing : and, fince this was the cafe, they might, he faid, fafe- ly let him loofe, efpecially it being fo much for the advantage of them all; for fhould they not loofe him, he protefted, if they did not get farther off, he muft needs offend their nofes. The canon took him by the hand, though he was ftill manacled, and, upon his faith and word, they uncaged him ; at which he was infinitely and above meafure rejoiced to fee himfelf out of the cage. And the firft thing he did, was, to ftretch his whole body and limbs : then he went where Rozinante ftood ; and, giving him a couple of flaps on the buttocks with the palm of his hand, he faid : I have ftill hope in god, and in his bleffed mo- ther, O flower and mirrour of fteeds, that we two fhall foon fee ourfelves in that ftate our hearts defire, thou with thy lord on thy back, and I moulded on thee, exercifing the function for wliich heaven fent me into the world. And fo faying, Don Quixote, with his fquire Sancho, retired to fome little diftancej from whence he came back more lightfome, and more defirous to put in execution what his fquire had projected. The canon gazed earneftly at him, and ftood in admiration at his ftrange and unaccountable madnefs, perceiving, that, in all his difcourfe and anfwers, he difcovered a very good underftanding, and only loft his ftirrups \ as has been already faid, when the converfation happened to turn upon the fubject of chivalry. And fo, after they were all fat down on the green grafs, in expectation of die fumpter-mule, the canon, being moved with com- panion, faid to him.

1 A metaphor taken from tilting at tournament", where the knight that lofes his ftirrups is in danger of being difmounted.

Is

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 333

Is it poflible, worthy Sir, that the crude and idle ftudy of books of chivalry fliould have had that influence upon you, as to turn your brain, in fuch manner as to make you believe you are now enchanted, with other things of the fame ftamp, as for from being true, as falfhood itfelf is from truth ? How is it pof- fible, any human undemanding can perfuade itfelf, there ever was in the world that 'infinity of A/nadis's, that rabble of famous knights, fo many emperors of Trapifonda, fo many Felixmartes of Hyrcania, fo many palfreys, fo many dam* fels-errant, fo many ferpents, fo many dragons, fo many giants, fo many un- heard-of adventures, io many kinds of enchantments, fo many battles, fo many furious encounters, fo much bravery of attire, fo many princeflcs in love, (o many fquires become earls, fo many witty dwarfs, fo many billets-doux, fo many courtfhips, fo many valiant women, and laftly fo many and fuch abfurd accidents, as your books of knight-errantry contain ? For my own part, when I read them, without reflecting that they are all falfhood and folly, they give me fome pleafure : but, when I confider what they are, I throw the very beft of them againft the wall, and mould into the fire, had I one near me, as well de- fending fuch a puniihment, for being falfe and inveigling, and out of the road of common knCe, as broachers of new feels and new ways of life, and as giv- ing occafion to the ignorant vulgar to believe, and look upon as truths, the mul- titude of abfurdities they contain. Nay, they have the prcfumption to dare to difturb the underftandings of ingenious and well-born gentlemen, as is but too notorious in the effe<ft they have had upon your worfhip, having reduced you to fuch a pafs, that you are forced to be fhut up in a cage, and carried on a team from place to place, like fome lion or tyger, to be fhewn for money. Ah Signor Don Quixote, have pity on yourfelf, and return into the bofom of difcre- tion, and learn to make ufe of thofe great abilities heaven has been pleafed to beflow upon you, by employing that happy talent you are bleffed with in fome other kind of reading, which may redound to the benefit of your confeience, and to the encreafe of your honour. But if a flrong natural impulfe muft itill lead you to books of exploits and chivalries, read, in the holy fcripturc, the book of Judges, where you will meet with wonderful truths, and atchieve- ments no lefs true than heroic. Portugal had a Viriatus, Rome a Cafar, Car- thage an Hanibal, Greece an Alexander, Cajlile a count Fernando Gonzales, Va- lencia a Cid, Andaluzia a Gonzalo Fernandez, EJlremadura a Diego Garcia de Paredes, Xerez a Garci Perez de Vargas, Toledo a Garcilajfo, and Sevil a Don Manuel de Leon ; the reading of whofe valorous exploits may entertain, inrtrucl, delight, and rails admiration in the moll elevated genius. This, indeed, would be a ftudy worthy of your good underftanding, my dear friend, whereby you. will become learned in hiftory, enamoured of virtue, inftrudted in goodnefs, bettered in manners, valiant without raihnefs, and cautious without cowardife : and all this will redound to the glory of god, to your own profit, and the fame of ha Mancha. from whence, as I undcrftand, you derive your birth and origin.

Don

334 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

Don Quixote liftened with great attention to the canon's difcourfej and when he found he had done, after having flared at him a pretty while, he faid : I find, Sir, the whole of what you have been faying tends to perfuade me, there never were any knights-errant in the world, and that all the books of chivalry are falfe, lying, mifchievous, and unprofitable to the commonwealth ; and that I have done ill in reading, worfe in believing, and worfl of all in imitating them, by taking upon me the rigorous profeffion of knight-errantry, which they teach : and you deny, that ever there were any Amadis's, either of Caul or of Greece, or any other knights, fuch as thofe books are full of. It is all precifely as you fay, quoth the canon. To which Don Quixote anfwered: You alfo were pleafed to add, that thofe books had done mc much prejudice, having turned my brain, and reduced me to the being carried about in a cage j and that it would be better for me to amend and change my courfe of ftudy, by reading other books more true, more pleafant, and more inflrudtive. True, quoth the canon. Why then, faid Don Quixote, in my opinion, you are the madman and the enchanted perfon, fince you have fet yourfelf to utter fo many blaf- phemies againft a thing fo univerfally received in the world, and held for fuch truth, that he, who fhould deny it, as you do, deferves the fame punifhment, you are pleafed to fay you beftow on thofe books, when you read them, and they vex you. For to endeavour to make people believe, that there never was an Amadis in the world, nor any other of the knights-adventurers, of which hiftories are full, would be to endeavour to perfuade them, that the fun does not enlighten, the froft give cold, nor the earth yield fuftenance. What genius can there be in the world able to perfuade another, that the affair of the Infanta Floripes and Guy of Burgundy was not true ; and that of Fierabras at the bridge of Mantible, which fell out m the time of Charlemagne; which, I vow to god, is as true, as that it is now day-light ? and, if thefe be lyes, fo mufl it alfo be, that there ever was a Heflor or an Achilles, or a Trojan war, or the twelve peers of France, or king Arthur of England, who is flill wandering about transformed into a raven, and is every minute expected in his kingdom. And will any one prefume to fay, that the hiftory of Guarino Mezquino, and that of the law-fuit cf faint Grial ', are lyes; or diat the amours of Sir Trijlram and the queen Ifeo \ and thofe of Ginebra and Lancelot, are alfo apocryphal; whereas there are peribns, who almoft remember to have feen the Duenna Quintannona, who was the beft skinker of wine that ever Great Britain could boaft of? And this is fo certain, that I remember, my grandmother by my father's fide, when

• It lhould be Graal and 1/otta. But this is the author's fault, not the tranflator's. Either the Spamlb tranflators of thole books maae thefe millakes, or Cervantes was not fo well verfed in them as he pretends : or, perhaps, having read them in his youth, he had partly forgotten them. That he had read them, is highly piobable, as alio that l.e had hiinitlf written an hundred (heets of one, as he makes the canon fay abow. for whoever reads his Per files and Sigifmunda will eafily perceive, that the firft part, written in his youth, is very different hem the latter, which was the laft work he published. It may be proper to obferve lure, that his Don Shiixote has not quite cured the romantic folly of his countrymen, fince they prefer his Pti ■jiles and Siiijmunda to it

ihe

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 335

(he faw any Duenna reverendly coifed, would fey to me; Look, grand fon, that old woman is very like the Duenna Quintannona. From whence I Infer, that fhe muft either have known her, . or at teaft have feen fome portrait of her. Then, who can deny the truth of the hi dory of Peter of Provence and the fair Magabna, fince, to this very day, is to be fcen, in the king's armory, the peg, wherewith he fleered the wooden horfe, upon which he rode through the air ; which peg is fomewhat bigger than the pole of a coach : and clofe by the peg ftands Baiieca's faddle. And in Roncejvalles is to be feen Orlando's horn, as big as a great beam. From all which I conclude, that there were the twelve Peers, the Peters, the Cids, and fuch other knights as thofe the world calls adventurers. If not, let them alfo tell me, that the valiant Portuguefe John de Merlo was no knight-errant; he, who went to Burgundy, and, in the city of Pas, fought the famous lord of Charni, Monfeigneur ' Pierre, and af- terwards, in the city of Bajil with Monfeigneur Enrique of Rcmeflan, corning off from both engagements conqueror, and loaded with honourable fame : be- fides the adventures and challenges, accomplished in Burgundy, of the valiant Spaniards Pedro Barba, and Gutierre Quixada (from whom I am lineally de- fended) who vanquished the fons of the count Saint Paul. Let them deny likewife that Don Fernando de Guevara travelled into Germany in queft of ad- ventures, where he fought with MeJJire 2 George, a knight of the duke of Au- Jlria's court. Let them fay, that the jufts of Suero de Quinnones of the Pafs * were all mockery : with the enterprizes of Monfeigneur Louis de Falfes againft Don Gonzalo de Guzman a Caflilian knight; with many more exploits, per- formed by chriftian knights of thefe and of foreign kingdoms; all fo authentic and true, that, I fay again, whoever denies them mud be void of all fenfe and reafon.

The canon flood in admiration to hear the medley Don Quixote made of truths and lyes, and to fee how skilled he was in all matters any way relating to knight-errantry ; and therefore anfwered him : I cannot deny, Signor Don Quixote, but there is fome truth in what you fay, efpecially in relation to the Spanijh knights-errant ; and I am alio ready to allow, that there were the twelve peers of France : but I can never believe, they did all thole things afcribed to them by archbifhop Turpin : for the truth is, they were knights chofen by the kings of France, and called peers, as being all equal in quality and

1 In Spanifh Mo/en, abbreviated from Monfeigneur.

2 In P^anith Mi-er. Tl •.; Kobhffe in France, who are below the quality of Monfeigneur s, and above that of Me ifuurs, are P.yled Mejfires.

» [t was at certain Pajjh that the knights-errant obliged all that went that way to break a launce with them ir honour of their rmftjelTes. This cuitom was either invented by the real nobility in the days of igno- rance, and taken from them by the romance-writers, or, more probab'v, borrowed from the Jue^o de Canat of the Moors, which wa performed hy them with the greatcil magnificence, and is ltill continue by the Spaniards. It was called in England a tilt and tournament, but has been long out of ufe. The French prsftifed it about fourfcore years ago, with great expence, under the name of a Carroufcl. The ceremonies, challenges, ts'c. uied therein arc preferved in fome hiitorians, as Froijfard, Monf relet, Sec.

prowefs ;

336 the LIFE and EXPLOITS of

prowefs * : at leaft, if they were not, it was fit they fhould be fo : and in this refpec~t they were not unlike our religious-military orders of Saint Jago or Calatrava, which prefuppofe, that the profeffors are, or ought to be, cavaliers of worth, valour, and family : and, as now-a-days we fay, a knight of St. John, or of Alcantara, in thofe times they faid, a knight of the twelve peers, thofe of that military order being twelve in number, and all equal. That there was a Cid, is beyond all doubt, as like wife a Bernardo del Carpio ; but that they performed the exploits told of them, I believe there is great reafon to fufpedl. As to Peter of Provence's, peg, and its ftanding clofe by Bah'eca's faddle, in the king's armory, I confefs my fin, in being fo ignorant, or fhort- fighted, that, though I have feen the faddle, I never could difcover the peg ; which is fomewhat ftrange, confidering how big you fay it is. Yet, without all queftion, there it is, replied Don Quixote, by the fame token that they fay it is kept in a leathern cafe, that it may not take ruft. It may be fo, anfwered the canon ; but, by the holy orders I have received, I do not remember to have feen it. But fuppofing I fhould grant you it is there, I do not therefore think my felf bound to believe the ftories of fo many Amadis's, nor thofe of fuch a rabble rout of knights as we hear of: nor is it reafonable, that a gentleman, fo honourable, of fuch excellent parts, and endued with fo good an underftanding as your felf, fhould be perfuaded that fuch flrange follies, as are written in the abfurd books of chivajry, are true.

CHAP. XXIII.

-Of the ingenious contejl between Don Quixote and the Canon, with other

accidents.

AGoodjeft, indeed! anfwered Don Quixote ; that books, printed with the licence of kings, and the approbation of the examiners, read with general pleafure, and applauded by great and fmall, poor and 'rich, learned and ignorant, gentry and commonalty, in fhort, by all forts of people, of what ftate or con- dition foever they be, fhould be all lyes, and efpecially carrying fuch an ap- pearance of truth ! for do they not tell us the father, the mother, the country, the kindred, the age, the place, with a particular detail of every action, per- formed daily by fuch a knight or knights ? Good Sir, be filent, and do not utter fuch blafphemies ; and believe me, I advife you to acT: in this affair like a difcrete perfon : do but perufe them, and you will find what pleafure attends this kind of reading. For, pray, tell me ; Can there be a greater fatisfaction than to fee, placed as it were before our eyes, a vaft lake of boiling pitch, and in it a prodigious number of ferpents, fnakes, crocodiles, and divers other

1 This is as great a fable as any in the book : for they were great lords, chofen by the king to aflift him in the trial of great lords equal to themfelves, and therefore called {parts) peers, they having no equrls among the relk of the people.

kinds

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 337

kinds of fierce and dreadful creatures fwimming up and down ; and from the midft of the lake to hear a mod dreadful voice, faying : ' O knight, whoever « thou art, that ftanddl beholding this tremendous lake, if thou art defirous £ to enjoy the happinefs that lies concealed beneath thei'e fable waters, (hew « the valour of thy undaunted breaft, and plunge thy felf headlong into the 1 midft of this black and burning liquor ; for, if thou doeft not, thou wilt be un- c worthy to fee the mighty wonders, inclofed therein, and contained in the

* {even caftles of the {even enchanted nymphs, who dwell beneath this horrid

* blacknefs'. And fcarcely has the knight heard the fearful voice, when, with- out farther confidcration, or reflecting upon the danger, to which he expofes himfelf, and even without putting off his cumberfome and weighty armour, recommending himfelf to god and to his miftrefs, he plunges into the middle of the boiling pool ; and, when he neither heeds nor confiders what may be- come of him, he finds himfelf in the midft of flowery fields, with which thofe of Eh/him can in no wife compare. There the sky feems more tranfparent, and the fun mines with a freftier brightnefs. Beyond it appears a pleafing foreft, fo green and fhady, that its verdure rejoices the fight, whilft the ears are en- tertained with the fweet and artlefs notes of an infinite number of little painted birds, hopping to and fro' among the intricate branches. Here he difcovers a warbling brook, whofe cool waters, refembling liquid cryftal, run murmuring over the fine fands and fnowy pebbles, out-glittering fifted gold and pureft pearl. There he efpies an artificial fountain of variegated jafper and poliftied marble. Here he beholds another of ruftic work, in which the minute lliells of the mufcle, with the white and yellow wreathed houfes of the fnail, placed in or- derly confufion, interfperfed with pieces of glittering cryftal, and pellucid eme- ralds, compofe a work of fuch variety, that art imitating nature feems here to furpafs her. Then on a fudden he defcries a ftrong caftle, or ftately palace, whofe walls are of mafiive gold, the battlements of diamonds, and the gates of hyacinths : in fhort, the ftructure is fo admirable, that, though the mate- rials, whereof it is framed, are no lefs than diamonds, carbuncles, rubies, pearls, gold, and emeralds, yet the workmanfhip is ftill more pretious ' . And, after having feen all this, can any thing be more charming, than to behold, {allying forth at the caftle gate, a goodly troop of damfels, whofe bravery and gorgeous attire fliould I pretend to defcribe, as the hiftories do at large, 1 fliould never have done ; and then (he, who appears to be the chief of them all,, prefently takes by the hand the daring knight, who threw himfelf into the burning lake, and, without fpeaking a word, carries him into the rich palace, or caftle, and, {tripping him as naked as his mother bore him, bathes him in milk-warm \va-

' Ctrfantcs certainly had in view Ovid's defcription of the palace of the Su» : Regiafolis crat fublimibus alia columnis, Clara micante auro, &c. Materiam fuftrabat efus. Metam. 1 . 2. init

Vol. I. X x ter,

338 The LIFE and EXP L 0 ITS of

ter, and then anoints him all over with odoriferous effences, and puts on him a fhirt of the fineft lawn, all fweet-fcented and perfumed. Then comes ano- ther damfel, and throws over his moulders a mantle, reckoned worth, at the veiy leaft, a city or more. What a fight is it then, when after this he is car- ried to another hall, to behold the tables fpread in fuch order, that he is ftruck with fufpence and wonder ! then to fee him wafh his hands in water diftilled from amber and fweet - fcented flowers ! to fee him feated in a chair of ivory ! to behold the damfels waiting upon him in marvellous filence ! then to fee fuch variety of delicious viands, fo favourily drefTed, that the appetite is at a lofs to direct the hand 1 To hear foft mufick while he is eating, without know- \n<* who it is that fings, or from whence the founds proceed ! And when din- - ner is ended, and the cloth taken away, the knight lolling in his chair, and per- haps picking his teeth, according to cuftom, enters unexpectedly at the hall door a damfel much more beautiful than any of the former, and, feating herfelf by the knight's fide, begins to give him an account what caftle that is, and how fhe is enchanted in it, with fundry other matters, which furprife the knight, and raife the admiration of thofe who read his hiftory. I will enlarge no fur- ther hereupon ; for from hence you may conclude, that whatever part one reads of whatever hiftory of knights-errant, muft needs caufe delight and won- der in the reader. Believe me then, Sir, and, as I have already hinted, read thefe books, and you will find, that they will banifh all your melancholy, and meliorate your difpofition, if it happens to be a bad one. This I can fay for my felf, that, fince I have been a knight-errant, I am become valiant, civil, li- beral, well-bred, generous, courteous, daring, affable, patient, a fufferer of toils, imprifonments, and enchantments : and though it be fo little a while fince I faw my felf locked up in a cage like a mad-man, yet I expect, by the valour of my arm, heaven favouring, and fortune not oppugning, in a few days to fee my felf king of fome kingdom, wherein I may difplay the gratitude and liberality enclofed in this breaft of mine : for, upon my faith, Sir, the poor man is difabled from practifing the virtue of liberality, though he pofiefs it in never fo eminent a degree ; and the gratitude, which confifts only in inclina- tion is a dead thing, even as faith without works is dead. For which reafon I fhould be glad that fortune would offer me fpeedily fome opportunity of be- comins; an emperor, that I may fhew my heart, by doing good to my friends, efoecially to poor Sancho Pan$a here my Squire, who is the hone ft eft man iu the world j and I would fain beftow on him an earldom, as I have long fince promifed him, but that I fear, he will not have ability fufficient to govern his

eftate.

Sancho overheard his matter's laft words, to whom he faid : Take you the pains, Signor Don Quixote, to procure me this fame earldom, fo often pro- mifed by you, and fo long expected by me j for I affure you I fhali not want for ability fufficient to govern it. But fuppofing I had not, I have heard fay,

there

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 339

there arc people in the world, who take lordihips to farm, paying the owners fo much a year, and taking upon thcmfclvcs the whole management thereof, whilll the lord himfelf, with out-ftretched legs lies along at his cafe, enjo the rent they give him, without concerning himfelf any further ahout it. Jult fo will I do, and give my felf no more trouble than needs rauft, but immediately furrender all up, and live upon my rents like any duke, and let the world rub. This, brother Sancho, quoth the canon, is to be underftood only as to the enjoyment of the revenue : but as to the adminiftration of juftice, the lord himfelf muft look to that ; and for this ability, found judgment, and efpecially an upright intention, are required ; for if thefe be wanting in the beginnings, .the means and ends will always be erroneous ; and therefore god uliially prof- pers the good intentions of the fimple, and difappoints the evil deligns of the cunning. I do not underftand thefe philofophies, anfwered Sanc&O; I only know, I with I may as fpeedily have the earldom, as I fhould know how to go- vern it ; for I have as large a foul as another, and as large a body as the beft of them ; and I fhould be as much king of my own dominion, as any one is of his : a'nd being fo, 1 would do what I pleafed ; and doing what I pleafed, I mould have my will ; and having my will, I fhould be contented ; and when one is contented, there is no more to be defired; and when there is no more to be defired, there's an end of it; and let the eftate come, and god be with ye; and let us fee it, as one blind man faid to another. Thefe are no bad phi- lofophies, as you fay, Sancbo, quoth the canon ; neverthelefs there is a great deal more to be faid upon the fubjedr. of earldoms. To which Don Quixote replied : I know not what more may be faid ; only I govern my felf by the example fet me by the great Amadis deGaul, who made his fquire knight of the Firm-IJhnd; and therefore I may, without fcruple of confeience, make an earl of Sancho Panfa, who is one of the beft fquires that ever knight-errant had. The canon was amazed at Don Quixote's methodical and orderly madnefs,the manner of his defcribing the adventure of the knight of the lake, the imprefiion made upon him by thofe pre- meditated lyes he had read in his books : and laftly, he admired at the iimpli- city of Sancho, who fo vehemently defired to obtain the earldom his matter had promifed him.

By this time the canon's fervants, who went to the inn for the fumpter- mule, were come back ; and fpreading a carpet on the green grafs, they fat down under the made of fome trees, and dined there, that the waggoner might not bli- the conveniency of that frefh pafture, as we have fiid before. And while they were eating, they heard on a fudden a loud noife, and the found of a little bell in a thicket of briars and thorns that was hard by ; and at the lame inflant they few a very beautiful fhe-goat, fpeckled with black, white, and gray, run out of the thicket. After her came a goatherd, calling to her aloud, in his wonted language, to flop and come back to the fold. The fugitive goat, trembling and affrighted, betook herfelf to the company, as it were for their protection, and there

X x 2 A"-*

340 The LIFE and EXP LO ITS of

fhe flopped. The goatherd came up, and taking her by the horns, as if lhe were capable of difcourfe and reaibning, he faid to her : Ah ! wanton, fpotted, fool ! what caprice hath made thee halt thus of late days ? what wolves wait for thee child ? wilt thou tell me, pretty one, what this means ? but what elfe can it mean, but that thou art a female, and therefore canfl not be quiet ? a curie on thy humours, and on all theirs, whom thou refemblefl fo much ! turn back, my love, turn back ; for though, perhaps, you will not be fo contented, at leaf!:, you will be more fafe in your own fold, and among your own companions : and if you, who are to look after, and guide them, go your felf fo much aflray what muft become of them ? The goatherd's words delighted all the hearers extremely, efpecially the canon, who faid to him : I intreat you, broriier, be not in fuch a hurry to force back this goat fo foon to her fold ; for fince, as you fay, fhe is a female, fhe will follow her own natural inflincl, though you take never fo much pains to hinder her. Come, take this morfel, and then drink ; whereby you will temper your choler, and in the mean while the goat will reil herfelf. And in faying this he gave him the hinder quarter of a cold rabbet on the point of a fork. The goatherd took it and thanked him ; then drank, and fat down quietly, and faid : I would not have you, gentlemen, take me for a foolifh fellow, for having talked fenfe to this animal j for in truth the words I fpoke to her are not without a myflery. I am a country fellow, 'tis true, yet not fo much a ruflic but I know the difference between converging with men and beafls. I verily believe you, faid the prieft ; for I have found by experience, that the mountains breed learned men, and the cottages of fhepherds contain philofophers. Atleafl, Sir, replied the goatherd, they afford men, who have fome knowledge from experience ; and, to convince you of this truth, though I feem to invite my felf without being asked, if it be not tirefome to you, and if you pleafe, gentlemen, to lend me your attention, I will tell you a true ftory, which will confirm what I and this fame gentleman (pointing to the prieft) have faid. To this Don Quixote anfwered : Seeing this bufinefs has fomewhat of the face of an adventure, I for my part will liften to you, brother, with all my heart, and fb will all thefe gentlemen, being difcreet and ingenious perfons, and fuch as love to hear curious novelties, that furprife, gladden, and entertain the fenfes, as I do not doubt but your ftory will do. Begin then, friend, for we will all hearken. I draw my flake, quoth Sancho, and hye me with this party to yonder brook, where I intend to fluff my felf for three days ; for I have heard my mafler Don Quixote fay, that the fquire of a knight-errant mufl eat, when he has it, till he can eat no longer, becaufe it often happens that they get into fome wood fo intricate, that there is no hitting the way out in fix days, and then, if a man has not his belly well lined, or his wallet well provided, there he may remain, and often does remain, till he is turned into mummy. You are in the right, Scuicho, laid Don Qyixote : go whither you will, and eat what you can ; for I am already fated, and want only to give my mind its repafl, which I am going

to

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 341

to do by liflening to this honefl man's ftory. Wc all do the fame, quoth the canon, and then denied the goatherd to begin the tale lie had promiled. The goatherd gave the goat, which he held by the horns, two flaps on the back with the palm of his hand, faying: lie thee down by me, (peckled fool; for we have time and to (pare for returning to our fold. The goat feemed to under- ftand him; for, as loon as her mailer was feated, Ihe laid herfelf tlofe by him very quietly, and, looking up in his face, feemed to fignify fhe was at- tentive to what the goatherd was going to relate, who began his ftory in this manner.

CHAP. XXIV.

Which treats of what the goatherd related to all thofe who accompanied

Don Quixote.

*TPH RE E leagues from this valley there is a town, which, though but fmaU, -*■ is one of the richeft in all thefe parts : and therein dwelt a farmer of fo good a character, that, though efteem is ufually annexed to riches, yet he was more refpected for his virtue, than for the wealth he pofTefled. But that, which completed his happinefs, as he ufed to fay himfelf, was his having a daughter of fuch extraordinary beauty, rare difcretion, graccfulnefs, and virtue, that whoever knew and beheld her was in admiration to fee the furpaffing endow- ments, wherewith heaven and nature had enriched her. When a child, fhe was pretty, and, as fhe grew up, became ftill more and more beautiful, 'till, at the age of fixteen, fhe was beauty itfelf. And now the fame of her beauty be- gan to extend itfelf through all the neighbouring villages round : do I fay, through the neighbouring villages only ? it fpread itfelf to the remof eft cities, and even made its way into the palaces of kings, and reached the ears of all forts of people, who came to fee her from all parts, as if flic had been fome relic, or wonder-working image. Her father guarded her, and fhe guarded herfelf; for there are no padlocks, bolts, nor bars, that fecure a maiden better than her own referve. The wealth of the father, and the beauty of the daugh- ter, induced many, both of the town, and ftrangers, to demand her to wife. But he, whofe right it was to difpofe of fo pretious a jewel, was perplexed, not knowing, aniidft the great number of importunate fuitors, on which to beftow her. Among the many, who were thus difpofed, I was one, and flattered my- felf with many and great hopes of fuccefs, as being known to her father, born in the fame village, untainted in blood, in the flower of my age, tolerably rich, and of no defpicable understanding. With the very lame advantages another perfon of our village demanded her alfo in marriage ; which occalioned a fuf- pence and balancing of her father's will, who thought his daughter would be very well matched with either of us : and, to get out of this perplexity, he de- termined to acquaint Leandra with it (for that is die rich maiden's name, who

has

342 tte LIFE and EXPLOITS of

has reduced me to this wretched ftate) confidering, that, fince our pretentions were equal, it was beft to leave the choice to his beloved daughter : an example worthy the imitation of all parents, who would many their children. I do not fay, they mould give them their choice in things prejudicial ; but they mould propofe to them good ones, and out of them let them chufe to their minds. For my part, I know not what was Leandra's liking : I only know, that her father put us both off by pleading the too tender age of his daughter, and with fuch general exprefilons, as neither laid any obligation upon him, nor difobliged either of us. My rival's name is Anfelmo, and mine Ettgenio-, for it is fit you (hould know the names of the perfons concerned in this tragedy, the ca- taftrophe of which is ftill depending, though one may eafily forefee it will be difaftrous.

About that time, there came to our town one Vificent de la Rofa, fon of a poor farmer of the fame village : which Vincent was come out of Italy, and other countries, where he had ferved in the wars. A captain, who happened to march that way with his company, had carried him away from our town at twelve years of age, and the young man returned at the end of twelve vears more, in the garb of a foldier, fet off with a thoufand colours, and hung with a thoufand cryftal trinkets, and fine fteel-chains. To-day he put on one finery, to-morrow another; but all flight and counterfeit, of little weight and lefs va- lue. The country-folks, who are naturally malicious, and, if they have ever fo little leifure, are malice itfelf, obferved, and reckoned up all his trappings and gewgaws, and found that he had three fuits of apparel, of different co- lours, with hofe and garters to them : but he cooked them up fo many diffe- rent ways, and had fo many inventions about them, that, if one had not counted them, one would have fworn he had had above ten fuits, and above twenty plumes of feathers. And let not what I have been faying of his drefs be looked upon as impertinent or fuperfluous ; for it makes a considerable part of this ftory. He ufed to feat himfelf on a ftone-bench, under a great poplar- tree in our market-place, and there he would hold us all gaping, and liflening to the exploits he would be telling us. There was no country on the whole "lobe he had not feen, nor battle he had not been in. He had flain more Moors than are in Morocco and Tunis, and fought more duels, as he faid, than Gante, Luna, Diego Garcia de Paredes, and a thoufand others, and always came off victorious, without having loft a drop of blood. Then again he would be (hewing us marks of wounds, which, though they were not to be difcerned, he would perfuade us were fo many musket-(hots received in feveral actions and fights. In a word, with an unheard-of arrogance, he would thou his equals and acquaintance, laying, his arm was his fither, his deeds his pedi- gree, and that, under the tide of foldier, he owed the king himfelf nothing. " rsvadoes was added, his being fomewhat of a mufician, and fcratch- a little upon the guitar, which fome faid he would make fpeafc. But his

graces

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

graces and accomplilhmcnts did not end here; for he was alio a bit of a poet, and would compoie a ballad, a league and a half in length, on every childifh ac- cident that paffed in the village.

Now this foldier, whom I have here defcribed, this Vincent dc h Roja, this heroe, this galant, this mulician, this poet, was often eyed and beheld by Le- andra, from a window of her houfe which faced the market-place. She was itruck with the tinfel of his gaudy apparel : his ballads enchanted her; anil he gave at leaft twenty copies about of all he compofed : the exploits he related of himfelf reached her ears : laflly (for Co, it fcems, the devil had ordained) Ihc fell downright in love with him, before he had entertained the prefumption of courting her. And, as, in affairs of love, none arc lb eafily accomplished as thofe, which are favoured by the inclination of the lady, LcanJra and / incent eafily came to an agreement, and, before any of the multitude of her fuitors had the leaft fufpicion of her defign, flie had already accomplished it : for fhe left the houfe of her dear and beloved father (for mother fhe had none) and absent- ed herfelf from the town with the foldier, who came off from this attempt more triumphantly than from any of thofe others he had fo arrogantly boafted of. This event amazed the whole town, and all that heard any thing of it. 1, for my part, was confounded, Anfelmo aftonifhed, her father fad, her kindred afhamed, juftice alarmed, and the troopers of the holy brotherhood in readinefs. They befet the highways, and fearched the woods, leaving no place unexa- mined; and, at the end of three days, they found the poor fond Leandra in a cave of a mountain, naked to her fhift, and flopped of a large fum of money, and feveral valuable jewels, fhe had carried away from home. They brought her back into the prefence of her difconfolate father; they asked her how this misfortune had befallen her : fhe readily confeffed that Vincent de la Rofa had deceived her, and, upon promife of marriage, had perfuaded her to leave her father's houfe, telling her he would carry her to Naples, the richefr. and moll delicious city of the whole world ; that fhe, through too much credulity and inadvertency, had believed him, and, robbing her father, had put all into his hands, the night fhe was firft miffing; and that lie conveyed her to a craggy mountain, and fliut her up in that cave, in which they had found her. She fo related to them how the foldier plundered her of every tiling, but her ho- nour, and left her there, and fled : a circumftance which made us all wonder afrefh; for it was no eafy matter to perfuade us of the young man's conti- nency : but fhe affirmed it with fo much earnefhiefs, that her father was in fomc fort comforted, making no great account of the other riches the foldier had taken from his daughter, fince he had left her that jewel, which, once loft, can never be recovered.

The very fame day that Leandra returned, fhe disappeared again from our eyes, her father fending and fhutting her up in a nunnery belonging to a town not far diftant, in hopes that time may wear off a good part of the reproach

his

344 The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

his daughter has brought upon herfelf. Her tender years were fome excufe for her fault, efpecially with thofe who had no intereft in her being good or bad : but they, who are acquainted with her good fenfe and understanding, could not afcribe her fault to her ignorance, but to her levity, and to the natural propen- sity of the fex, which is generally unthinking and diforderly. Leandra being Shut up, Anfelmo's eyes were blinded ; at leaft they faw nothing that could afford them any Satisfaction : and mine were in darknefs, without light to direct them to any pleafurable object. The abfence of Leandra encreafed our fadnefs, and diminifhed our patience: we curfed the foldier's finery, and detefted her father's want of precaution. At laSt, Anfelmo and I agreed to quit the town, and be- take ourfelves to this valley, where, he feeding a great number of fheep of his own, and I a numerous herd of goats of mine, we pafs our lives among dieSc trees, giving vent to our paSfions, or ringing together the praifes, or reproaches, of the fair Leandra, or iighing alone, and each apart communicating our plaints to heaven. Several others of Leandra's fuitors, in imitation of us, are come to thefe rocky mountains, pradfifing the fame employments j and they are fo nume- rous, that this place feems to be converted into the paftoral Arcadia, it is fo full of Shepherds and folds ; nor is there any part of it where the name of the beau- tiful Leandra is not heard. One utters execrations againSt her, calling her fond, fickle, and immodeft : another condemns her forwardnefs and levity : fome ex- cufe and pardon her ; others arraign and condemn her : one celebrates her beau- ty ; another rails at her ill qualities : in Short, all blame, and all adore her ; and the madnefs of all rifes to that pitch, that fome complain of her difdain, who never fpoke to her : yea fome there are, who bemoan themfelves, and feel the raging difeafe of iealoufy, though She never gave any occafion for it ; for, as I have Said, her guilt was known before her inclination. There is no hollow of a rock, nor brink of a rivulet, nor Shade of a tree, that is not occupied by fome Shepherd, who is recounting his misfortunes to the air : the echo, wherever it can be formed, repeats the name of Leandra: the mountains refound Leandra; the brooks murmur Leandra : in Short, Leandra holds us all in fuSpence and enchanted, hoping without hope, and fearing without knowing what we fear. Among thefe extravagant madmen, he, who Shews the leaft and the moSt fenfe, is my rival Anfelmo, who, having fo many other caufes of complaint, complains only of abfence, and to the found of a rebeck, which he touches to admiration, pours forth his complaints in verfes, which diicover an excellent genius. I follow an eafier, and, in my opinion, a better way, which is, to inveigh againft the le- vity of women, their inconstancy, and double-dealing, their lifelefs promifes, and broken faith; and, in Short, the little difcretion they Shew in placing their affections, or making their choice.

This, gentlemen, was the occafion of the odd expreffions and language I ufed to this goat, when I came hither; for, being a female, I defpile her, though She be die belt of all my flock. This is the Story I promiied to tell you : if I have

been

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 345

been tedious in the relation, I will endeavour to make you amends by my fer-

vtce my cottage is hard by, where I have new milk and very favour?

cheefe, with variety of fruits of the feafon, not lets agreeable to the light than

to the tafte.

CHAP. XXV.

Of the Quarrel between Don Quixote and the Goatherd, with the rare ad- venture of the Difciplinants, which be happily accomplijhed with the fweat of his brows.

-THE goatherd's tale gave a general pleafure to all that heard it, efpecially to 1 the canon, who, with an unufual curioiity, I :ce of his manner ot

telling it, in which he dilcovered more of the polite courtier, than ot the rude goatherd; and therefore he faid, that the prieft was very muda in the right in affirming, that the mountains pro. men ot letters. They all

offered their fervice to Eugenia: but the moft prodigal of his offers upon this occafion was Don Quixote, who faid to him; In truth, brother goat- herd were I in a capacity of undertaking any new adventure I would immediately fet forward to do you a good turn, by fetching Leandra out of the nunnery, in which, doubtlefs, fhe is detained agamft her wdl, m lpite of the abbefs and all oppofers, and putting her into your hands to be dil- pofed of at your pleafure, fo far as is confident with the laws of chivalry which enjoin that no kind of violence be offered to damfels : though I hope in god our lord, that the power of one malicious enchanter mall not be fo prevalent, but that the power of another and a better-intentioned one mav prevail over it; and then I promife you my aid, and protection, as I am obliged by my profeffion, which is no other than to favour the weak and neceffitous. The goatherd flared at Don Quixote- and obfemng his bad plight and fcurvy appearance, he whifpered the barber, who fat next him- Pray Sir, who is this man, who makes fuch a mange figure, an* talks fo extravagantly? Who ffiould it be, anfvvered the barber, but the famous Don Quixote de la Mancha, the redreffcr of injuries, the rightcr ot wrongs the relief of maidens, the dread of giants, and the conqueror of battles? This, faid the goatherd, is like what we read of m the books of knights-errant, who did all that you .tell me of this man; though, as 1 take it either your worihip is in jeft, or the apartments in this gentleman s fcull are notably unfurnimed. You are a very great rafcal, laid Don %&xote at this inftant, and you are the empty-fculled and the mallow-bramed , for I am fuller dian ever was the whorefon drab that bore thee : and, lo faying, and muttering on, he fnatched up a loaf that was near him, and with it Vol. I. Yy ^^

346 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

ftruck the goatherd full in the face, with fo much fury, that he laid his nofe flat. The goatherd, who did not underftand raillery, perceiving how much in earneft he was treated, without any refpedt to the carpet or ta- ble-cloth, or to the company that fat about it, leaped upon Don Quixote, and, griping him by the throat with both hands, would doubtlefs have ftrangled him, had not Sancho Panca come up in that inflant, and, taking him by the fhoulders, thrown him back on the table, breaking the dimes and platters, and fpilling and overturning all that was upon it. Don Quixote, finding himfelf loofe, fan again at the goatherd, who, being kicked and trampled upon by Sancho, and his face all over bloody, was feeling about, upon all four, for fome knife or other, to take a bloody revenge withal: but the canon and the prieft prevented him; and the barber contrived it fo, that the goatherd got Don Quixote under him, on whom he poured fuch a fhower of buffets, that there rained as much blood from the vi- fage of the poor knight, as there did from his own. The canon and the prieft were ready to burft with laughter; the troopers of the holy brother- hood danced and capered for joy; and they flood hallooing them on, as people do dogs when they are fighting: only Sancho was at his wits end, not being able to get loofe from one of the canon's fervants, who held him from going to afTift his mafter. In fhort, while all were in high joy and merriment, excepting the two combatants, who were ftill worrying one another, on a fudden they heard the found of a trumpet, fo difmal, that it made them turn their faces towards the way from whence they fancied the found came: but he, who was moft furprized at hearing it, was Don Quixote, who, though he was under the goatherd, forely againfr. his will, and more than indifferently mauled, faid to him: Brother devil (for it is impoflible you mould be any thing elfe, fince you have had the valour and ftrength to fubdue mine) truce, I befeech you, for one hour; for the dolorous found of that trumpet, which reaches our ears, feems to fummon me to fome new adventure. The goatherd, who by this time was pretty well weary of mauling, and being mauled, immediately let him go, and Don Quixote, getting upon his legs, turned his face toward the place whence the found came, and prefently faw feveral people defcending from a ri- fing ground, arrayed in white, after the manner of difciplinants '.

The cafe was, that the clouds, that year, had failed to refrefh the earth with feafonable mowers, and throughout all the villages of that diftricl they made proceffions, difciplines, and public prayers, befeeching god to open the hands of his mercy, and fend them rain : and for this purpofe the people

1 Perfons, either voluntiers or hirelings, who march in proceilion, whipping themfelves byway of public penance.

of

/a^VS//,/,'///^ •/// . <<-<//&

DON QJJIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 347

of a towa hard by were coming in proceflion to a devout hermitage, built upon the fide of a hill bordering upon that valley. Don Quixote, peeceiv- iflg the ftrange attire of the dilciplinants, without recollecting how ol he mult have feen the like before, imagined it was fome kind of advert* ture, and that it belonged to him alone, as a knight-errant, to undertake it : and he was the more confirmed in this fancy by thinking, that an intake they had with them, covered with black ', was fome lady of note, whom thofe mifcreants and difcourteous ruffians were forcing away. And no fooner had he taken this into his head, than he ran with great agility to Rozinante, who was grazing about} and, taking the bridle and the; buck- ler from the pummel of the faddle, he bridled him in a trice, anJ, de- manding from Sancho his fword, he mounted Rozinante, and braced his target, and with a loud voice faid to all that were prefent : Now, m, worthy companions, you mall fee of what confequence it is that there are in the world fuch as profefs the order of cldvalry : now, I fay, you fhall fee, by my reftcring liberty to that good lady, who is carried captive yon- der, whether knights-errant are to be valued, or not. And fo laying, he laid legs to Rozinatite (for fpurs he had none) and on a hand-gallop (for we no where read, in all this faithful hiftory, that ever Rozinante went full-fpeed) he ran to encounter the difciplinants. The prieft, die ca- non, and the barber, in vain endeavoured to ftop him; and in vain did Sancho cry out, faying, Whither go you, Signor Don Quixote? What devils are in you, that inftigate you to aflault the catholic faith? Confider, a curfe on me ! that this is a proceflion of difciplinants, and that the lady, carried upon the bier, is an image of the bleffed and immaculate virgin : have a care what you do; for this once I am fure you do not know. Sancho wearied himfelf to no purpofe; for Ids mafter was fo bent upon encountring the men in white, and delivering the mourning lady, that he heard not a word, and, if he had, would not have come back, though the king himfelf had commanded him. Being now come up to. the pro- ceflion, he checked Rozina?ite, who already had a defire to reft a little, and, with a difordered and hoarfe voice, Hud: You there, who cover your faces, for no good I fuppofe, ftop, and give ear to what I /hall fay. The fir ft who flopped were they who carried the image; and one of the four ccclefiaftics, who fung the litanies, obferving the ftrange fi- gure of Don Quixote, the leannefs of Rozinante, and other ridiculous cir- cumftances attending the knight, anfwered him, faying : Good brother, if

' Thefe images are ufually of wood, and as big as the life, and by the fmokc of tapers, and length of time, become very black. This whole paffage, as well as many others, is a fly fatire on the fuperllicuu of the Romijh church ; and it is a wonder the inquifition fuffered it to pafs, though thus covertly.

Y y 2 VOU

348 n* LIFE and EXPLOITS of

you have any thing to fay to us, fay it quickly ; for thefe our brethren are tearing their flefh to pieces, and we cannot, nor is it reafonable we fhould, flop to hear any thing, unlefs it be fo fhort, that it may be faid in two words. I will fay it in one, replied Don Quixote, and it is this; that you immediately fet at liberty that fair lady, whofe tears and for- rowful countenance are evident tokens of her being carried away againfl her will, and that you have done her fome notorious injury; and I, who was born into the world on purpofe to redrefs fuch wrongs, will not fuf- fer you to proceed one flrep farther, 'till you have given her the liber- ty fhe defires and deferves. By thefe expreflions., all that heard them ga- thered that Don Quixote muffc be fome madman; whereupon they fell a laughing very heartily ; which was adding fuel to the fire of Don Quixote's choler: for, without faying a word more, he drew his fword, and at- tacked the bearers; one of whom, leaving the burthen to his comrades, ftept forward to encounter Don Quixote, brandifhing a pole whereon he refted the bier when they made a ftand, and receiving on it a huge ftroke, which the knight let fly at him, and which broke it in two, with what remained of it he gave Don Quixote fuch a blow on the fhoulder of his fword-arm, that, his target not being able to ward off fo furious an affault, poor Don Quixote fell to the ground in evil plight. Sancho Panga, who came puffing clofe after him, perceiving him fallen, called out to his adverfary not to ftrike him again, for he was a poor enchanted knight, who never had done any body harm in all the days of his life. But that, which made the ruftic forbear, was not Sancho's cry- ing out, but his feeing that Don Quixote ftirred neither hand nor foot; and fo, believing he had killed him, in all hafte he tucked up his frock under his girdle, and began to fly away over the field as nimble as a buck. By this time all Don Quixote's company was come up, and the procefiioners, feeing them running toward them, and with them the troop- ers of the holy brotherhood with their crofs-bows, began to fear fome ill accident , and drew up in a circle round the image ; and, lifting up their hoods ', and grafping their whips, as the ecclefiaftics did their ta- pers, they flood expecting the affault, determined to defend themfelves, and, if they could, to offend their aggreflbrs. But fortune ordered it better than they imagined : for all that Sancho did, was, to throw him- felf upon the body of his mafter, and to pour forth the mofh dolorous and ridiculous lamentation in the world, believing verily that he was dead. The prieffc was known by another prieft, who came in the proceflion, and their being acquainted diffipated the fear of the two fquadrons. The

» The Difciptinants wear hoods with holes to fee through, that they may not be known.

firfr.

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 34.9

firft prieft gave the fecond an account in two words who Don Quixote was j whereupon he and the whole rout of difciplinants went to lee whether the poor knight was dead, or not, and they over-heard Sancho Panca fay, with tears in his eyes; O flower of chivalry, who by one fingle thwack hail finiihed the carreer of thy wcll-fpent life! O glory of thy race, credit and renown of La Mancha, yea of the whole world, which, by wanting thee, will be over-run with evil-doers, who will no longer fear the being chaftized for their iniquities ! O liberal above all Alexanders, feeing that, for eight months fervice only, you have given me the beft ifland the fea doth compafs or furround! O thou that weit hum- ble with the haughty, and arrogant with the humble, undertaker of dan- gers, fufferer of affronts, in love without caufe, imitator of the good, fcourge of the wicked, enemy of the bafe; in a word, knight-errant, which is all that can be faid ! At Sancho's cries and lamentations Don Quixote re- vived, and the firfl word he faid was : He, who lives abfented from thee, fweeteft Dulcinea, is fubjecl to greater miferies than thefe. Help, friend Sancho, to lay me upon the enchanted car ; for I am no longer in a condition to prefs the faddle of Rozinante, all this fhoulder being mafhed to pieces. That I will do with all my heart, dear Sir, anfwered Sancho ; and let us return home in company of thefe gentlemen, who wifh you well, and there we will give order about another fally, that may prove of more profit and renown. You fay well, Sancho, anfwered Don Quixote, and it will be great prudence in us to wait 'till the evil influence of the liars, which now reigns, is paffed over. The canon, the prieft, and the barber, told him they approved his re- folution ; and fo, having received a great deal of pleafure from the fimplicities of Sancho Panca, they placed Don Quixote in the waggon, as before. The proceffion relumed its former order, and went on its way. The goatherd bid them all farewel. The troopers would go no farther, and the prieft paid them what they had agreed for. The canon defired the prieft to give him advice of what befel Don Quixote, and whether his madnefs was cured or continued, and fo took leave, and purfued his journey. In fine, they all parted, and took their feveral ways, leaving the prieft, the barber, Don Quixote, and Sancho, with good Rozinante, who bore all accidents as patiently as his mafter. The wag- goner yoked his oxen, and accommodated Don Quixote, on a trufs of hay, and with his accuftomed pace jogged on the way the prieft di reeled. On the fixth day they arrived at Don Quixote's village, and entered it about noon ; and it be- ing Sunday, all the people were ftanding in the market-place, through the midll of which Don Qj/ixote's car muft of neceffity pais. Every body ran to fee who was in the waggon, and, when they found it was their townfman, they were greatly furprized, and a boy ran full fpeed to acquaint die houle-keeper and niece, that their uncle and mafter was coming home weak and pale, and

ftretched

35° The LIFE and EXPLOITS of

ftretched upon a trufs of hay, in a waggon drawn by oxen. It was piteous to hear the outcries the two good women raifed, to fee the buffets they gave themfelves, and how they curfed afrefh the damned books of chivalry ; and all this was renewed by feeing Don Quixote coming in at the gate.

Upon the news of Don Quixote's arrival, Sancho Panfa's wife, who knew her husband was gone with him to ferve him as his fquire, repaired thi- ther j and as foon as me faw Sancho, die firft thing flie asked him was, whether the afs was come home well. Sancho anfwered he was, and in a better condition than his mafter. The lord be praifed, replied flie, for fo great a mercy to me : but tell me, friend, what good have you got by your fquirefhip ? what petticoat do you bring home to me, and what fhoes to your children ? I bring nothing of all this, dear wife, quoth Sancho ; but I bring other things of greater moment and confequence. I am very glad of that, anfwered the wife : pray, fhew me thefe tilings of greater moment and confequence, my friend ; for I would fain fee them, to rejoice this heart of mine, which has been fo fad and difcontented all the long time of your abfence. You fhall fee them at home, wife, quoth Sancho, and be fatis- fied at prefent ; for if it pleafe god, that we make another fally in queft of adventures, you will foon fee me an earl or governor of an iiland, and not an ordinary one neither, but one of the beft that is to be had. Grant heaven it may be fo, husband, quoth the wife, for we have need enough of it. But pray tell me what you mean by iflands ; for I do not underftand you. Honey is not made for the mouth of an afs, anfwered Sancho : in good time you fhall fee, wife, yea, and admire to hear your felf ftiled ladyfhip by all your vaffals. What do you mean, Sancho, by ladyfhip, iflands, and vaflals ? anfwered Terefa Panca ; for that was Sancho's wife's name, though they were not of kin, but becaufe it is the cuftom in La Mancha for the wife to take the husband's name. Ee not in fo much hade, 'Terefa, to know all this, faid Sancho ; let it fuflice that I tell you the truth, and {qw up your mouth. But for the prefent know, that there is nothing in the world fo pleafant to ?.n honefl man, as to be fquire to a knight-errant, and feeker of adventures. It is true, indeed, moft of them are not fo much to a man's mind as he could wifh ; for ninety nine of a hundred one meets widi fall out crofs and unlucky. This I know by experience ; for I have fometimes come off toffed in a blanket, and fometimes well cudgelled. Yet for all that it is a fine thing to be in expectation of accidents, traverfmg mountains, fearching woods, marching over rocks, vifidng caflles, lodging in inns, all at difcretion, and the devil a farthing to . p y.

All this difcourfe pafled between Sancho Panca, and his wife Terefa Panca, while die houfe-keeper and the niece received Don Quixote, and,

having

DOiNf QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. 351

having pulled off his cloaths, laid him in his old Bed. He looked at them with eyes askew, not knowing perfectly where he was. The prieft charged the niece to take great care, and make much of her uncle, and to keep a watchful eve over him, kit he fhould once more give them the flip, telling her what difficulty they had to get him home to his houfc. Here the two women exclaimed afrefh, and renewed their execrations againft all books of chivalry, begging of heaven to confound to tin; center of the abyfs the authors of fo many, lyes and abfurditics. Laftly, thc-y remained full of trouble and fear, left they fhould lofe their uncle and ma- iler as foon as ever he found himfelf a little better : and it fell out as they imagined. But the author of this hiftory, though he applied himfelf, with the utmoft curiofity and diligence, to trace the exploits Don Quixote^ performed in his third fally, could get no account of them, at leaft from any authentic writings. Only fame has preferved in the memoirs of La Mancha, that Don Quixote, the third time he fallied from home, went to Saragojfa ' , where he was prefent at a famous tournament in that city, and that there befel him things worthy of his valour and good under- ftanding. Nor fhould he have learned any thing at all concerning his death, if a lucky accident had not brought him acquainted with an aged Phyfician, who had in his cuftody a leaden box, found, as he faid, under the ruins of an ancient hermitage then rebuilding : in which box was found a manufcript of parchment written in Gothic characters *, but in Cajlilian verfe, containing many of his exploits, and giving an account of the beauty of Dulcinea del Tobofo, the figure of Rozinante, the fidelity of Sancho Panca, and the burial of Don Quixote himfelf, with feveral epitaphs, and elogies on his life and manners. All that could be read, and perfectly made out, were thofe inferted here by the faithful author of this ftrange and never before feen hiftory : which author defires no other reward from thofe, who fhall read it, in recompence of the vaft pains it has coft him to enquire into and fearch all the archives of La Mancha to bring it to light, but that they would afford him the fame credit that ingenious people give to books of knight-errantry, which are fo well received in the world ; and herewith he will reckon himfelf well paid, and will reft fatisfied ; and will more- over be encouraged to feek and find out others, if not as true, at leaft of as much invention and entertainment. The htft words, written in the parchment which was found in the leaden box, were thefe.

1 Hence the falfe fecond part, by Avcllantda, took the hint to fend the Don to Saragojfa. - The ufe of which was prohibited in Spain in the time of Alphonfm the fixth.

The

352 Tie LIFE and EXPLOITS of

The Academicians of Argamafilta^ a town of La Mancha> on the life and death of the valorous Don Quixote de La Mancha> hoc fcripferunt,

Monicongo, Academician of Argamafilla, on the fepultur-e of Don Quixote.

EPITAPH.

»

La Mancha'j thunderbolt of war,

The Jharpeji wit and hftieji mufe, The arm, which from Gaetefar

To Catai did its force diffufe :

He, who, through love and valour's f re,

Outflript great Amadis'j fame, Bid warlike Galaor retire,

Andfilenc'd Belianis' name :

He, who with helmet, fword and field,

On Rozinante, feed well known, Adventures fought in many afield,

Lies underneath this frozen Jtone. -

Paniaguado, Academician of Argamafilla, in laudem Dulcinca del Tobofo.

S O N N E T.

She, whom you fee, the plump and lufly dame,

With high erecJed chef and vigorous mien, Was erf th' enamour' d knight Don Quixote'; fame,

The fair Dulcinea, of Tobofo queen.

For

DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA.

For her, amid cap-a-pce iviih /word and Jliield,

He trod the /able mount an o'er and o'er ; For her he traversed MontH'j well-known JkUt

Aid in her /ervice toils umumber'd bore. Hard Fate ! that death fimld crop fi fine a fiow'r, Aid love o'er fuch a knighi exert his tyrant pow'r !

Caprido/o, a noft ingenious Aademician of Agamafilla, in praife of

Don %uixct('s horfe Rozinante.

SONNET.

On the a/firing adamantin trunk Of an huge tree, whofiroot w .aught., drunk Sends forth a /cent of wa- U Mancha', knight, Frantic with rjfom'i and returned from fight, bloody fiandard trembling in the air, 'it> his glittering armour, beaming far,

tne-temper'd feel, who/e edge o'erthrows, \nds, and routs oppofng foes. / and unheard of ver/e ! invents new glories to rehearfe.

If Amadis to Grecia gives renown, Much more her chief kes fierce Bellona crown, Prizing La Mancha man than Gaul or Greece, A Quixote triumphs oxer Amadis. Oblivion ne'er /hall jlroui his glorious name, Whr/e very hor/e /lands ip to challenge fame, Illufirious Rozinante, wond'rousfteed! Not with ncre generous pride, or mettled find, His rider er? RinaldoV Bayard bore, Vr his mad lord Orlando' s Brilladore.

T0L'1 ■ * Zz

3 \

3 :- TU LIFE and EXPLOITS of

Burlador, the little Academician cf Argamafilla, on Sancfio Pan$a,

S O N ST E T.

See Sancho Panea, view fim well,

And let this verfe his praijn til.

Mis body was but fmally 'ti. true,

Yet had afoul as large as tito.

No guile he knew, likefome 'nefbre him,

Butjimple as his mother bore him.

This gentle fquire on gentle afi

Went gentle Rozinante'-f^wv?,

Following his lord from place to place.

To be an tat i ,

And reafon good for fuch a

But worth, in thefe ungrateful tunes, '"> }■■*

To envied honour feUom climbs.

Vain mortals, give your wijhes o'er,

And trufl the flatterer, hope, no w

Whofe promifes, whatever they feet

End iq ajhadow or a dream,

Cachidiablo, Academician of Argamafilla^

Don Quixote.

E P I. TAP

Here lies an evil-errant knight, Well-bruifed in many a fray,

Whofe courfer Rozinante hight Long bore him many a way.

Clofe by his loving majler'sfde Lies booby Sancho Panca,

A trujly fquire, of courage tried, And true as ever manfaw.

H.

Tiiptitcc,

D 000 001 715

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