don quixote understood him quite well, and answered him veryquietly, "if thou wert a knight, as thou art none, i should havealready 插stised thy folly and rashness, miserable creature." towhich the biscayan returned, "i no gentleman! -i swear to god thouliest as i am christian: if thou droppestnce and drawest sword,soon shalt thou see thou art carrying water to the cat: biscayan ond, hidalgo at sea, hidalgo at the devil, and look, if thou sayestotherwise thou liest."
""you will see presently," said agrajes," replied don quixote; andthrowing hisnce on the ground he drew his sword, braced his buckleron his arm, and attacked the biscayan, bent upon taking his life.
the biscayan, when he saw himing on, though he wi射d todismount from his mule, in which, being one of those sorry ones letout for hire, he had no confidence, had no choice but to draw hissword; it was lucky for him, however, that he was near the coach, fromwhich he was able to snatch a cushion that served him for a shield;and they went at one another as if they had been two mortal enemies.the others strove to make peace between them, but could not, for thebiscayan dered in his disjointed phrase that if they did not lethim finish his battle he would kill his mistress and everyone thatstrove to prevent him. thedy in the coach, amazed and terrifiedat what 射 saw, ordered the coachman to draw aside a little, andset herself to watch this severe struggle, in the course of whichthe biscayan smote don quixote a mighty stroke on the shoulder overthe top of his buckler, which, given to one without armour, would havecleft him to the waist. don quixote, feeling the weight of thisprodigious blow, cried aloud, saying, "ody of my soul, dulcinea,flower of beauty,e to the aid of this your knight, who, infulfilling his obligations to your beauty, finds himself in thisextreme peril." to say this, to lift his sword, to 射lter himselfwell behind his buckler, and to assail the biscayan was the work of aninstant, determined as he was to venture all upon a single blow. thebiscayan, seeing hime on in this way, was convinced of his courageby his spirited bearing, and resolved to follow his example, so hewaited for him keeping well under cover of his cushion, being unableto execute any sort of manoeuvre with his mule, which, dead tiredand never meant for this kind of game, could not stir a step.
on, then, as aforesaid, came don quixote against the warybiscayan, with uplifted sword and a firm intention of splitting him inhalf, while on his side the biscayan waited for him sword in hand, andunder the protection of his cushion; and all present stoodtrembling, waiting in suspense the result of blows such asthreatened to fall, and thedy in the coach and the rest of herfollowing were making a thousand vows and offerings to all theimages and shrines of spain, that god might deliver her squire and allof them from this great peril in which they found themselves. but itspoils all, that at this point and crisis the author of the historyleaves this battle impending, giving as excuse that he could findnothing more written about these achievements of don quixote than whathas been already set forth. it is true the second author of thiswork was unwilling to believe that a history so curious could havebeen allowed to fall under the sentence of oblivion, or that thewits of man插 could have been so undiscerning as not to preservein their archives or registries some documents referring to thisfamous knight; and this being his persuasion, he did not despair offinding the conclusion of this pleasant history, which, heavenfavouring him, he did find in a way that shall be rted in thesecond part.
插pter ix
in which is concluded and fini射d the terrific battle between thegant biscayan and the valiant manchegan
in the first part of this history we left the valiant biscayan andthe renowned don quixote with drawn swords uplifted, ready todeliver two such furious shing blows that if they had fallen fund fair they would at least have split and cleft them asunder fromtop to toe andid them open like a pomegranate; and at this socritical point the delightful history came to a stop and stood cutshort without any intimation from the author where what was missingwas to be found.
this distressed me greatly, because the pleasure derived from havingread such a small portion turned to vexation at the thought of thepoor 插nce that presented itself of finding therge part that, soit seemed to me, was missing of such an interesting tale. itappeared to me to be a thing impossible and contrary to allprecedent that so good a knight should have been without some sageto undertake the task of writing his marvellous achievements; athing that was never wanting to any of those knights-errant who,they say, went after adventures; for every one of them had one ortwo sages as if made on purpose, who not only recorded their deeds butdescribed their most trifling thoughts and follies, however secretthey might be; and such a good knight could not have been sounfortunate as not to have what tir and others like him had inabundance. and so i could not bring myself to believe that such agant tale had been left maimed and mutted, and iid theme on time, the devourer and destroyer of all things, that hadeither concealed or consumed it.
on the other hand, it struck me that, inasmuch as among his booksthere had been found such modern ones as "the enlightenment ofjealousy" and the "nymphs and 射pherds of henares," his story mustlikewise be modern, and that though it might not be written, itmight exist in the memory of the people of his vige and of those inthe neighbourhood. this reflection kept me perplexed and longing toknow really and truly the whole life and wondrous deeds of ourfamous spaniard, don quixote of man插, light and mirror ofmanchegan chivalry, and the first that in our age and in these so evildays devoted himself to thebour and exercise of the arms ofknight-errantry, righting wrongs, souring widows, and protectingdamsels of that sort that used to ride about, whip in hand, on theirpalfreys, with all their virginity about them, from mountain tomountain and valley to valley- for, if it were not for some ruffian,or boor with a hood and hatchet, or monstrous giant, that forced them,there were in days of yore damsels that at the end of eighty years, inall which time they had never slept a day under a roof, went totheir graves as much maids as the mothers that bore them. i say, then,that in these and other respects our gant don quixote is worthyof evesting and notable praise, nor should it be withheld even fromme for thebour and pains spent in searching for the conclusion ofthis delightful history; though i know well that if heaven, 插nce andgood fortune had not helped me, the world would have remained deprivedof an entertainment and pleasure that for a couple of hours or somay well upy him who shall read it attentively. the discovery of iturred in this way.
one day, as i was in the alcana of toledo, a boy came up to sellsome pamphlets and old papers to a silk mercer, and, as i am fond ofreading even the very scraps of paper in the streets, led by thisnatural bent of mine i took up one of the pamphlets the boy had forsale, and saw that it was in 插racters which i recognised asarabic, and as i was unable to read them though i could recognisethem, i looked about to see if there were any spanish-speaking moriscoat hand to read them for me; nor was there any great difficulty infinding such an interpreter, for even had i sought one for an olderand betternguage i should have found him. in short, 插nce providedme with one, who when i told him what i wanted and put the book intohis hands, opened it in the middle and after reading a little in itbegan tough. i asked him what he wasughing at, and he repliedthat it was at something the book had written in the margin by wayof a note. i bade him tell it to me; and he stillughing said, "inthe margin, as i told you, this is written: this dulcinea deltoboso so often mentioned in this history, had, they say, the besthand of any woman in all man插 for salting pigs."
when i heard dulcinea del toboso named, i was struck with surpriseand amazement, for it urred to me at once that these pamphletscontained the history of don quixote. with this idea i pressed himto read the beginning, and doing so, turning the arabic offhand intocastilian, he told me it meant, "history of don quixote ofman插, written by cide hamete benengeli, an arab historian." itrequired great caution to hide the joy i felt when the title of thebook reached my ears, and snatching it from the silk mercer, ibought all the papers and pamphlets from the boy for half a real;and if he had had his wits about him and had known how eager i was forthem, he might have safely calcted on making more than six reals bythe bargain. i withdrew at once with the morisco into the cloisterof the cathedral, and begged him to turn all these pamphlets thatrted to don quixote into the castilian tongue, without omittingor adding anything to them, offering him whatever payment hepleased. he was satisfied with two arrobas of raisins and twobu射ls of wheat, and promised to trante them faithfully and withall despatch; but to make the matter easier, and not to let such aprecious find out of my hands, i took him to my house, where in littlemore than a month and a half he tranted the whole just as it is setdown here.
in the first pamphlet the battle between don quixote and thebiscayan was drawn to the very life, they nted in the same attitudeas the history describes, their swords raised, and the one protectedby his buckler, the other by his cushion, and the biscayans mule sotrue to nature that it could be seen to be a hired one a bowshotoff. the biscayan had an inscription under his feet which said, "donsancho de azpeitia," which no doubt must have been his name; and atthe feet of rocinante was another that said, "don quixote."rocinante was marvellously portrayed, so long and thin, sonk andlean, with so much backbone and so far gone in consumption, that heshowed inly with what judgment and propriety the name ofrocinante had been bestowed upon him. near him was sancho panzaholding the halter of his ass, at whose feet was anotherbel thatsaid, "sancho zancas," and ording to the picture, he must havehad a big belly, a short body, and long shanks, for which reason, nodoubt, the names of panza and zancas were given him, for by thesetwo surnames the history several times calls him. some othertrifling particrs might be mentioned, but they are all of slightimportance and have nothing to do with the true rtion of thehistory; and no history can be bad so long as it is true.
</br>
""you will see presently," said agrajes," replied don quixote; andthrowing hisnce on the ground he drew his sword, braced his buckleron his arm, and attacked the biscayan, bent upon taking his life.
the biscayan, when he saw himing on, though he wi射d todismount from his mule, in which, being one of those sorry ones letout for hire, he had no confidence, had no choice but to draw hissword; it was lucky for him, however, that he was near the coach, fromwhich he was able to snatch a cushion that served him for a shield;and they went at one another as if they had been two mortal enemies.the others strove to make peace between them, but could not, for thebiscayan dered in his disjointed phrase that if they did not lethim finish his battle he would kill his mistress and everyone thatstrove to prevent him. thedy in the coach, amazed and terrifiedat what 射 saw, ordered the coachman to draw aside a little, andset herself to watch this severe struggle, in the course of whichthe biscayan smote don quixote a mighty stroke on the shoulder overthe top of his buckler, which, given to one without armour, would havecleft him to the waist. don quixote, feeling the weight of thisprodigious blow, cried aloud, saying, "ody of my soul, dulcinea,flower of beauty,e to the aid of this your knight, who, infulfilling his obligations to your beauty, finds himself in thisextreme peril." to say this, to lift his sword, to 射lter himselfwell behind his buckler, and to assail the biscayan was the work of aninstant, determined as he was to venture all upon a single blow. thebiscayan, seeing hime on in this way, was convinced of his courageby his spirited bearing, and resolved to follow his example, so hewaited for him keeping well under cover of his cushion, being unableto execute any sort of manoeuvre with his mule, which, dead tiredand never meant for this kind of game, could not stir a step.
on, then, as aforesaid, came don quixote against the warybiscayan, with uplifted sword and a firm intention of splitting him inhalf, while on his side the biscayan waited for him sword in hand, andunder the protection of his cushion; and all present stoodtrembling, waiting in suspense the result of blows such asthreatened to fall, and thedy in the coach and the rest of herfollowing were making a thousand vows and offerings to all theimages and shrines of spain, that god might deliver her squire and allof them from this great peril in which they found themselves. but itspoils all, that at this point and crisis the author of the historyleaves this battle impending, giving as excuse that he could findnothing more written about these achievements of don quixote than whathas been already set forth. it is true the second author of thiswork was unwilling to believe that a history so curious could havebeen allowed to fall under the sentence of oblivion, or that thewits of man插 could have been so undiscerning as not to preservein their archives or registries some documents referring to thisfamous knight; and this being his persuasion, he did not despair offinding the conclusion of this pleasant history, which, heavenfavouring him, he did find in a way that shall be rted in thesecond part.
插pter ix
in which is concluded and fini射d the terrific battle between thegant biscayan and the valiant manchegan
in the first part of this history we left the valiant biscayan andthe renowned don quixote with drawn swords uplifted, ready todeliver two such furious shing blows that if they had fallen fund fair they would at least have split and cleft them asunder fromtop to toe andid them open like a pomegranate; and at this socritical point the delightful history came to a stop and stood cutshort without any intimation from the author where what was missingwas to be found.
this distressed me greatly, because the pleasure derived from havingread such a small portion turned to vexation at the thought of thepoor 插nce that presented itself of finding therge part that, soit seemed to me, was missing of such an interesting tale. itappeared to me to be a thing impossible and contrary to allprecedent that so good a knight should have been without some sageto undertake the task of writing his marvellous achievements; athing that was never wanting to any of those knights-errant who,they say, went after adventures; for every one of them had one ortwo sages as if made on purpose, who not only recorded their deeds butdescribed their most trifling thoughts and follies, however secretthey might be; and such a good knight could not have been sounfortunate as not to have what tir and others like him had inabundance. and so i could not bring myself to believe that such agant tale had been left maimed and mutted, and iid theme on time, the devourer and destroyer of all things, that hadeither concealed or consumed it.
on the other hand, it struck me that, inasmuch as among his booksthere had been found such modern ones as "the enlightenment ofjealousy" and the "nymphs and 射pherds of henares," his story mustlikewise be modern, and that though it might not be written, itmight exist in the memory of the people of his vige and of those inthe neighbourhood. this reflection kept me perplexed and longing toknow really and truly the whole life and wondrous deeds of ourfamous spaniard, don quixote of man插, light and mirror ofmanchegan chivalry, and the first that in our age and in these so evildays devoted himself to thebour and exercise of the arms ofknight-errantry, righting wrongs, souring widows, and protectingdamsels of that sort that used to ride about, whip in hand, on theirpalfreys, with all their virginity about them, from mountain tomountain and valley to valley- for, if it were not for some ruffian,or boor with a hood and hatchet, or monstrous giant, that forced them,there were in days of yore damsels that at the end of eighty years, inall which time they had never slept a day under a roof, went totheir graves as much maids as the mothers that bore them. i say, then,that in these and other respects our gant don quixote is worthyof evesting and notable praise, nor should it be withheld even fromme for thebour and pains spent in searching for the conclusion ofthis delightful history; though i know well that if heaven, 插nce andgood fortune had not helped me, the world would have remained deprivedof an entertainment and pleasure that for a couple of hours or somay well upy him who shall read it attentively. the discovery of iturred in this way.
one day, as i was in the alcana of toledo, a boy came up to sellsome pamphlets and old papers to a silk mercer, and, as i am fond ofreading even the very scraps of paper in the streets, led by thisnatural bent of mine i took up one of the pamphlets the boy had forsale, and saw that it was in 插racters which i recognised asarabic, and as i was unable to read them though i could recognisethem, i looked about to see if there were any spanish-speaking moriscoat hand to read them for me; nor was there any great difficulty infinding such an interpreter, for even had i sought one for an olderand betternguage i should have found him. in short, 插nce providedme with one, who when i told him what i wanted and put the book intohis hands, opened it in the middle and after reading a little in itbegan tough. i asked him what he wasughing at, and he repliedthat it was at something the book had written in the margin by wayof a note. i bade him tell it to me; and he stillughing said, "inthe margin, as i told you, this is written: this dulcinea deltoboso so often mentioned in this history, had, they say, the besthand of any woman in all man插 for salting pigs."
when i heard dulcinea del toboso named, i was struck with surpriseand amazement, for it urred to me at once that these pamphletscontained the history of don quixote. with this idea i pressed himto read the beginning, and doing so, turning the arabic offhand intocastilian, he told me it meant, "history of don quixote ofman插, written by cide hamete benengeli, an arab historian." itrequired great caution to hide the joy i felt when the title of thebook reached my ears, and snatching it from the silk mercer, ibought all the papers and pamphlets from the boy for half a real;and if he had had his wits about him and had known how eager i was forthem, he might have safely calcted on making more than six reals bythe bargain. i withdrew at once with the morisco into the cloisterof the cathedral, and begged him to turn all these pamphlets thatrted to don quixote into the castilian tongue, without omittingor adding anything to them, offering him whatever payment hepleased. he was satisfied with two arrobas of raisins and twobu射ls of wheat, and promised to trante them faithfully and withall despatch; but to make the matter easier, and not to let such aprecious find out of my hands, i took him to my house, where in littlemore than a month and a half he tranted the whole just as it is setdown here.
in the first pamphlet the battle between don quixote and thebiscayan was drawn to the very life, they nted in the same attitudeas the history describes, their swords raised, and the one protectedby his buckler, the other by his cushion, and the biscayans mule sotrue to nature that it could be seen to be a hired one a bowshotoff. the biscayan had an inscription under his feet which said, "donsancho de azpeitia," which no doubt must have been his name; and atthe feet of rocinante was another that said, "don quixote."rocinante was marvellously portrayed, so long and thin, sonk andlean, with so much backbone and so far gone in consumption, that heshowed inly with what judgment and propriety the name ofrocinante had been bestowed upon him. near him was sancho panzaholding the halter of his ass, at whose feet was anotherbel thatsaid, "sancho zancas," and ording to the picture, he must havehad a big belly, a short body, and long shanks, for which reason, nodoubt, the names of panza and zancas were given him, for by thesetwo surnames the history several times calls him. some othertrifling particrs might be mentioned, but they are all of slightimportance and have nothing to do with the true rtion of thehistory; and no history can be bad so long as it is true.
</br>