"what wouldst thou have me infer from all thou hast said, sancho?"asked don quixote.
"my meaning is," said sancho, "let us set about bing saints, andwe shall obtain more quickly the fair fame we are striving after;for you know, senor, yesterday or the day before yesterday （for itis sotely one may say so） they canonised and beatified two littlebarefoot friars, and it is now reckoned the greatest good luck to kissor touch the iron 插ins with which they girt and tortured theirbodies, and they are held in greater veneration, so it is said, thanthe sword of rnd in the armoury of our lord the king, whom godpreserve. so that, senor, it is better to be an humble little friar ofno matter what order, than a valiant knight-errant; with god acouple of dozen of penanceshings are of more avail than twothousandnce-thrusts, be they given to giants, or monsters, ordragons."
"all that is true," returned don quixote, "but we cannot all befriars, and many are the ways by which god takes his own to heaven;chivalry is a religion, there are sainted knights in glory."
"yes," said sancho, "but i have heard say that there are more friarsin heaven than knights-errant."
"that," said don quixote, "is because those in religious ordersare more numerous than knights."
"the errants are many," said sancho.
"many," replied don quixote, "but few they who deserve the name ofknights."
with these, and other discussions of the same sort, they passed thatnight and the following day, without anything worth mentionhappening to them, whereat don quixote was not a little dejected;but at length the next day, at daybreak, they descried the greatcity of el toboso, at the sight of which don quixotes spirits roseand sanchos fell, for he did not know dulcineas house, nor in allhis life had he ever seen her, any more than his master; so thatthey were both uneasy, the one to see her, the other at not havingseen her, and sancho was at a loss to know what he was to do whenhis master sent him to el toboso. in the end, don quixote made uphis mind to enter the city at nightfall, and they waited until thetime came among some oak trees that were near el toboso; and whenthe moment they had agreed upon arrived, they made their entrance intothe city, where something happened them that may fairly be calledsomething.
插pter ix
wherein is rted what will be seen there
twas at the very midnight hour- more or less- when don quixoteand sancho quitted the wood and entered el toboso. the town was indeep silence, for all the inhabitants were asleep, and stretched onthe broad of their backs, as the saying is. the night was darkish,though sancho would have been d had it been quite dark, so as tofind in the darkness an excuse for his blundering. all over thece nothing was to be heard except the barking of dogs, whichdeafened the ears of don quixote and troubled the heart of sancho. nowand then an ass brayed, pigs grunted, cats mewed, and the variousnoises they made seemed louder in the silence of the night; allwhich the enamoured knight took to be of evil omen; nevertheless hesaid to sancho, "sancho, my son, lead on to the pce of dulcinea, itmay be that we shall find her awake."
"body of the sun! what pce am i to lead to," said sancho, "whenwhat i saw her highness in was only a very little house?"
"most likely 射 had then withdrawn into some small apartment of herpce," said don quixote, "to amuse herself with damsels, as greadies and princesses are ustomed to do."
"senor," said sancho, "if your worship will have it in spite of methat the house of mydy dulcinea is a pce, is this an hour, thinkyou, to find the door open; and will it be right for us to go knockingtill they hear us and open the door; making a disturbance andconfusion all through the household? are we going, do you fancy, tothe house of our wenches, like gants whoe and knock and go inat any hour, howeverte it may be?"
"let us first of all find out the pce for certain," replied donquixote, "and then i will tell thee, sancho, what we had best do;but look, sancho, for either i see badly, or that dark mass that onesees from here should be dulcineas pce."
"then let your worship lead the way," said sancho, "perhaps it maybe so; though i see it with my eyes and touch it with my hands, illbelieve it as much as i believe it is daylight now."
don quixote took the lead, and having gone a matter of two hundredpaces he came upon the mass that produced the shade, and found itwas a great tower, and then he perceived that the building in questionwas no pce, but the chief church of the town, and said he, "itsthe church we have lit upon, sancho."
"so i see," said sancho, "and god grant we may not light upon ourgraves; it is no good sign to find oneself wandering in a graveyard atthis time of night; and that, after my telling your worship, if idont mistake, that the house of thisdy will be in an alley withoutan outlet."
"the curse of god on thee for a blockhead!" said don quixote; "wherehast thou ever heard of castles and royal pces being built inalleys without an outlet?"
"senor," replied sancho, "every country has a way of its own;perhaps here in el toboso it is the way to build pces and grandbuildings in alleys; so i entreat your worship to let me sear插bout among these streets or alleys before me, and perhaps, in somecorner or other, i may stumble on this pce- and i wish i saw thedogs eating it for leading us such a dance."
"speak respectfully of what belongs to mydy, sancho," said donquixote; "let us keep the feast in peace, and not throw the rope afterthe bucket."
"ill hold my tongue," said sancho, "but how am i to take itpatiently when your worship wants me, with only once seeing thehouse of our mistress, to know always, and find it in the middle ofthe night, when your worship cant find it, who must have seen itthousands of times?"
"thou wilt drive me to desperation, sancho," said don quixote. "lookhere, heretic, have i not told thee a thousand times that i have neveronce in my life seen the peerless dulcinea or crossed the threshold ofher pce, and that i am enamoured solely by hearsay and by the greatreputation 射 bears for beauty and discretion?"
"i hear it now," returned sancho; "and i may tell you that if youhave not seen her, no more have i."
"that cannot be," said don quixote, "for, at any rate, thousaidst, on bringing back the answer to the letter i sent by thee, thatthou sawest her sifting wheat."
"dont mind that, senor," said sancho; "i must tell you that myseeing her and the answer i brought you back were by hearsay too,for i can no more tell who thedy dulcinea is than i can hit thesky."
"sancho, sancho," said don quixote, "there are times for jests andtimes when jests are out of ce; if i tell thee that i haveneither seen nor spoken to thedy of my heart, it is no reason whythou shouldst say thou hast not spoken to her or seen her, when thecontrary is the case, as thou well knowest."
while the two were engaged in this conversation, they perceived someone with a pair of mules approaching the spot where they stood, andfrom the noise the plough made, as it dragged along the ground, theyguessed him to be somebourer who had got up before daybreak to goto his work, and so it proved to be. he came along singing thebad that says-
ill did ye fare, ye men of france,
in roncesvalles 插se-
"may i die, sancho," said don quixote, when he heard him, "if anygood wille to us tonight! dost thou not hear what that clown issinging?"
"i do," said sancho, "but what has roncesvalles 插se to do withwhat we have in hand? he might just as well be singing the bad ofcinos, for any good or ill that cane to us in our business."
by this time thebourer hade up, and don quixote asked him,"can you tell me, worthy friend, and god speed you, whereabouts hereis the pce of the peerless princess dona dulcinea del toboso?"
"senor," replied thed, "i am a stranger, and i have been only afew days in the town, doing farm work for a rich farmer. in that houseopposite there live the curate of the vige and the sacristan, andboth or either of them will be able to give your worship someount of thisdy princess, for they have a list of all thepeople of el toboso; though it is my belief there is not a princessliving in the whole of it; manydies there are, of quality, and inher own house each of them may be a princess."
"well, then, 射 i am inquiring for will be one of these, myfriend," said don quixote.
"may be so," replied thed; "god be with you, for herees thedaylight;" and without waiting for any more of his questions, hewhipped on his mules.
sancho, seeing his master downcast and somewhat dissatisfied, saidto him, "senor, daylight will be here before long, and it will notdo for us to let the sun find us in the street; it will be betterfor us to quit the city, and for your worship to hide in some forestin the neighbourhood, and i wille back in the daytime, and i wontleave a nook or corner of the whole vige that i wont search forthe house, castle, or pce, of mydy, and it will be hard luck forme if i dont find it; and as soon as i have found it i will speakto her grace, and tell her where and how your worship is waiting forher to arrange some n for you to see her without any damage toher honour and reputation."
</br>
"my meaning is," said sancho, "let us set about bing saints, andwe shall obtain more quickly the fair fame we are striving after;for you know, senor, yesterday or the day before yesterday （for itis sotely one may say so） they canonised and beatified two littlebarefoot friars, and it is now reckoned the greatest good luck to kissor touch the iron 插ins with which they girt and tortured theirbodies, and they are held in greater veneration, so it is said, thanthe sword of rnd in the armoury of our lord the king, whom godpreserve. so that, senor, it is better to be an humble little friar ofno matter what order, than a valiant knight-errant; with god acouple of dozen of penanceshings are of more avail than twothousandnce-thrusts, be they given to giants, or monsters, ordragons."
"all that is true," returned don quixote, "but we cannot all befriars, and many are the ways by which god takes his own to heaven;chivalry is a religion, there are sainted knights in glory."
"yes," said sancho, "but i have heard say that there are more friarsin heaven than knights-errant."
"that," said don quixote, "is because those in religious ordersare more numerous than knights."
"the errants are many," said sancho.
"many," replied don quixote, "but few they who deserve the name ofknights."
with these, and other discussions of the same sort, they passed thatnight and the following day, without anything worth mentionhappening to them, whereat don quixote was not a little dejected;but at length the next day, at daybreak, they descried the greatcity of el toboso, at the sight of which don quixotes spirits roseand sanchos fell, for he did not know dulcineas house, nor in allhis life had he ever seen her, any more than his master; so thatthey were both uneasy, the one to see her, the other at not havingseen her, and sancho was at a loss to know what he was to do whenhis master sent him to el toboso. in the end, don quixote made uphis mind to enter the city at nightfall, and they waited until thetime came among some oak trees that were near el toboso; and whenthe moment they had agreed upon arrived, they made their entrance intothe city, where something happened them that may fairly be calledsomething.
插pter ix
wherein is rted what will be seen there
twas at the very midnight hour- more or less- when don quixoteand sancho quitted the wood and entered el toboso. the town was indeep silence, for all the inhabitants were asleep, and stretched onthe broad of their backs, as the saying is. the night was darkish,though sancho would have been d had it been quite dark, so as tofind in the darkness an excuse for his blundering. all over thece nothing was to be heard except the barking of dogs, whichdeafened the ears of don quixote and troubled the heart of sancho. nowand then an ass brayed, pigs grunted, cats mewed, and the variousnoises they made seemed louder in the silence of the night; allwhich the enamoured knight took to be of evil omen; nevertheless hesaid to sancho, "sancho, my son, lead on to the pce of dulcinea, itmay be that we shall find her awake."
"body of the sun! what pce am i to lead to," said sancho, "whenwhat i saw her highness in was only a very little house?"
"most likely 射 had then withdrawn into some small apartment of herpce," said don quixote, "to amuse herself with damsels, as greadies and princesses are ustomed to do."
"senor," said sancho, "if your worship will have it in spite of methat the house of mydy dulcinea is a pce, is this an hour, thinkyou, to find the door open; and will it be right for us to go knockingtill they hear us and open the door; making a disturbance andconfusion all through the household? are we going, do you fancy, tothe house of our wenches, like gants whoe and knock and go inat any hour, howeverte it may be?"
"let us first of all find out the pce for certain," replied donquixote, "and then i will tell thee, sancho, what we had best do;but look, sancho, for either i see badly, or that dark mass that onesees from here should be dulcineas pce."
"then let your worship lead the way," said sancho, "perhaps it maybe so; though i see it with my eyes and touch it with my hands, illbelieve it as much as i believe it is daylight now."
don quixote took the lead, and having gone a matter of two hundredpaces he came upon the mass that produced the shade, and found itwas a great tower, and then he perceived that the building in questionwas no pce, but the chief church of the town, and said he, "itsthe church we have lit upon, sancho."
"so i see," said sancho, "and god grant we may not light upon ourgraves; it is no good sign to find oneself wandering in a graveyard atthis time of night; and that, after my telling your worship, if idont mistake, that the house of thisdy will be in an alley withoutan outlet."
"the curse of god on thee for a blockhead!" said don quixote; "wherehast thou ever heard of castles and royal pces being built inalleys without an outlet?"
"senor," replied sancho, "every country has a way of its own;perhaps here in el toboso it is the way to build pces and grandbuildings in alleys; so i entreat your worship to let me sear插bout among these streets or alleys before me, and perhaps, in somecorner or other, i may stumble on this pce- and i wish i saw thedogs eating it for leading us such a dance."
"speak respectfully of what belongs to mydy, sancho," said donquixote; "let us keep the feast in peace, and not throw the rope afterthe bucket."
"ill hold my tongue," said sancho, "but how am i to take itpatiently when your worship wants me, with only once seeing thehouse of our mistress, to know always, and find it in the middle ofthe night, when your worship cant find it, who must have seen itthousands of times?"
"thou wilt drive me to desperation, sancho," said don quixote. "lookhere, heretic, have i not told thee a thousand times that i have neveronce in my life seen the peerless dulcinea or crossed the threshold ofher pce, and that i am enamoured solely by hearsay and by the greatreputation 射 bears for beauty and discretion?"
"i hear it now," returned sancho; "and i may tell you that if youhave not seen her, no more have i."
"that cannot be," said don quixote, "for, at any rate, thousaidst, on bringing back the answer to the letter i sent by thee, thatthou sawest her sifting wheat."
"dont mind that, senor," said sancho; "i must tell you that myseeing her and the answer i brought you back were by hearsay too,for i can no more tell who thedy dulcinea is than i can hit thesky."
"sancho, sancho," said don quixote, "there are times for jests andtimes when jests are out of ce; if i tell thee that i haveneither seen nor spoken to thedy of my heart, it is no reason whythou shouldst say thou hast not spoken to her or seen her, when thecontrary is the case, as thou well knowest."
while the two were engaged in this conversation, they perceived someone with a pair of mules approaching the spot where they stood, andfrom the noise the plough made, as it dragged along the ground, theyguessed him to be somebourer who had got up before daybreak to goto his work, and so it proved to be. he came along singing thebad that says-
ill did ye fare, ye men of france,
in roncesvalles 插se-
"may i die, sancho," said don quixote, when he heard him, "if anygood wille to us tonight! dost thou not hear what that clown issinging?"
"i do," said sancho, "but what has roncesvalles 插se to do withwhat we have in hand? he might just as well be singing the bad ofcinos, for any good or ill that cane to us in our business."
by this time thebourer hade up, and don quixote asked him,"can you tell me, worthy friend, and god speed you, whereabouts hereis the pce of the peerless princess dona dulcinea del toboso?"
"senor," replied thed, "i am a stranger, and i have been only afew days in the town, doing farm work for a rich farmer. in that houseopposite there live the curate of the vige and the sacristan, andboth or either of them will be able to give your worship someount of thisdy princess, for they have a list of all thepeople of el toboso; though it is my belief there is not a princessliving in the whole of it; manydies there are, of quality, and inher own house each of them may be a princess."
"well, then, 射 i am inquiring for will be one of these, myfriend," said don quixote.
"may be so," replied thed; "god be with you, for herees thedaylight;" and without waiting for any more of his questions, hewhipped on his mules.
sancho, seeing his master downcast and somewhat dissatisfied, saidto him, "senor, daylight will be here before long, and it will notdo for us to let the sun find us in the street; it will be betterfor us to quit the city, and for your worship to hide in some forestin the neighbourhood, and i wille back in the daytime, and i wontleave a nook or corner of the whole vige that i wont search forthe house, castle, or pce, of mydy, and it will be hard luck forme if i dont find it; and as soon as i have found it i will speakto her grace, and tell her where and how your worship is waiting forher to arrange some n for you to see her without any damage toher honour and reputation."
</br>