"as to the question of the cave," was the reply, "there is much tobe said; there is something of both in it. sanchos whipping willproceed leisurely. the disen插ntment of dulcinea will attain itsdue consummation."
"i seek to know no more," said don quixote; "let me but see dulcineadisen插nted, and i will consider that all the good fortune i couldwish for hase upon me all at once."
thest questioner was sancho, and his questions were, "head, shalli by any 插nce have another government? shall i ever escape fromthe hard life of a squire? shall i get back to see my wife andchildren?" to which the answer came, "thou shalt govern in thyhouse; and if thou returnest to it thou shalt see thy wife andchildren; and on ceasing to serve thou shalt cease to be a squire."
"good, by god!" said sancho panza; "i could have told myself that;the prophet perogrullo could have said no more."
"what answer wouldst thou have, beast?" said don quixote; "is it notenough that the replies this head has given suit the questions putto it?"
"yes, it is enough," said sancho; "but i should have liked it tohave made itself iner and told me more."
the questions and answers came to an end here, but not the wonderwith which all were filled, except don antonios two friends whowere in the secret. this cide hamete benengeli thought fit to revet once, not to keep the world in suspense, fancying that the head hadsome strange magical mystery in it. he says, therefore, that on themodel of another head, the work of an image maker, which he had seenat madrid, don antonio made this one at home for his own amusement andto astonish ignorant people; and its me插nism was as follows. thetable was of wood painted and varni射d to imitate jasper, and thepedestal on which it stood was of the same material, with four eaglesws projecting from it to support the weight more steadily. thehead, which resembled a bust or figure of a roman emperor, and wascoloured like bronze, was hollow throughout, as was the table, intowhich it was fitted so exactly that no trace of the joining wasvisible. the pedestal of the table was also hollow andmunicatedwith the throat and neck of the head, and the whole was imunication with another room underneath the 插mber in which thehead stood. through the entire cavity in the pedestal, table, throatand neck of the bust or figure, there passed a tube of tin carefullyadjusted and concealed from sight. in the room below correspondingto the one above was ced the person who was to answer, with hismouth to the tube, and the voice, as in an ear-trumpet, passed fromabove downwards, and from below upwards, the wordsing clearlyand distinctly; it was impossible, thus, to detect the trick. a nephewof don antonios, a smart sharp-witted student, was the answerer,and as he had been told beforehand by his uncle who the persons werethat woulde with him that day into the 插mber where the head was,it was an easy matter for him to answer the first question at once andcorrectly; the others he answered by guess-work, and, being clever,cleverly. cide hamete adds that this marvellous contrivance stoodfor some ten or twelve days; but that, as it became noised abroadthrough the city that he had in his house an en插nted head thatanswered all who asked questions of it, don antonio, fearing itmighte to the ears of the watchful sentinels of our faith,exined the matter to the inquisitors, whomanded him to break itup and have done with it, lest the ignorant vulgar should bescandalised. by don quixote, however, and by sancho the head was stillheld to be an en插nted one, and capable of answering questions,though more to don quixotes satisfaction than sanchos.
the gentlemen of the city, to gratify don antonio and also to do thehonours to don quixote, and give him an opportunity of disyinghis folly, made arrangements for a tilting at the ring in six daysfrom that time, which, however, for reason that will be mentionedhereafter, did not take ce.
don quixote took a fancy to stroll about the city quietly and onfoot, for he feared that if he went on horseback the boys would followhim; so he and sancho and two servants that don antonio gave him setout for a walk. thus it came to pass that going along one of thestreets don quixote lifted up his eyes and saw written in veryrgeletters over a door, "books printed here," at which he was vastlypleased, for until then he had never seen a printing office, and hewas curious to know what it was like. he entered with all hisfollowing, and saw them drawing 射ets in one ce, correcting inanother, setting up type here, revising there; in short all the workthat is to be seen in great printing offices. he went up to one caseand asked what they were about there; the workmen told him, he watchedthem with wonder, and passed on. he approached one man, amongothers, and asked him what he was doing. the workman replied,"senor, this gentleman here" （pointing to a man of prepossessingappearance and a certain gravity of look） "has tranted an italianbook into our spanish tongue, and i am setting it up in type for thepress."
"what is the title of the book?" asked don quixote; to which theauthor replied, "senor, in italian the book is called le bagatelle."
"and what does le bagatelle import in our spanish?" asked donquixote.
"le bagatelle," said the author, "is as though we should say inspanish los juguetes; but though the book is humble in name it hasgood solid matter in it."
"i," said don quixote, "have some little smattering of italian,and i plume myself on singing some of ariostos stanzas; but tellme, senor- i do not say this to test your ability, but merely out ofcuriosity- have you ever met with the word pignatta in your book?"
"yes, often," said the author.
"and how do you render that in spanish?"
"how should i render it," returned the author, "but by o?"
"body o me," eximed don quixote, "what a proficient you are inthe italiannguage! i wouldy a good wager that where they sayin italian piace you say in spanish ce, and where they say piuyou say mas, and you trante su by arriba and giu by abajo."
"i trante them so of course," said the author, "for those aretheir proper equivalents."
"i would venture to swear," said don quixote, "that your worshipis not known in the world, which always begrudges their reward to rarewits and praiseworthybours. what talents lie wasted there! whatgenius thrust away into corners! what worth left neglected! still itseems to me that trantion from onenguage into another, if itbe not from the queens ofnguages, the greek and thetin, islike looking at flemish tapestries on the wrong side; for though thefigures are visible, they are full of threads that make themindistinct, and they do not show with the smoothness and brightness ofthe right side; and trantion from easynguages argues neitheringenuity normand of words, any more than transcribing orcopying out one document from another. but i do not mean by this todraw the inference that no credit is to be allowed for the work oftranting, for a man may employ himself in ways worse and lessprofitable to himself. this estimate does not include two famoustrantors, doctor cristobal de figueroa, in his pastor fido, and donjuan de jauregui, in his aminta, wherein by their felicity theyleave it in doubt which is the trantion and which the original. buttell me, are you printing this book at your own risk, or have you soldthe copyright to some bookseller?"
"i print at my own risk," said the author, "and i expect to make athousand ducats at least by this first edition, which is to be oftwo thousand copies that will go off in a twinkling at six realsapiece."
"a fine calction you are making!" said don quixote; "it isin you dont know the ins and outs of the printers, and how theyy into one anothers hands. i promise you when you find yourselfsaddled with two thousand copies you will feel so sore that it wistonish you, particrly if the book is a little out of themonand not in any way highly spiced."
"what!" said the author, "would your worship, then, have me giveit to a bookseller who will give three maravedis for the copyright andthink he is doing me a favour? i do not print my books to win famein the world, for i am known in it already by my works; i want to makemoney, without which reputation is not worth a rap."
"god send your worship good luck," said don quixote; and he moved onto another case, where he saw them correcting a 射et of a book withthe title of "light of the soul;" noticing it he observed, "books likethis, though there are many of the kind, are the ones that deserveto be printed, for many are the sinners in these days, and lightsunnumbered are needed for all that are in darkness."
he passed on, and saw they were also correcting another book, andwhen he asked its title they told him it was called, "the secondpart of the ingenious gentleman don quixote of man插," by one oftordesis.
"i have heard of this book already," said don quixote, "and verilyand on my conscience i thought it had been by this time burned toa射s as a meddlesome intruder; but its martinmas wille to it asit does to every pig; for fictions have the more merit and 插rm aboutthem the more nearly they approach the truth or what looks like it;and true stories, the truer they are the better they are;" and sosaying he walked out of the printing office with a certain amount ofdispleasure in his looks. that same day don antonio arranged to takehim to see the galleys thaty at the beach, whereat sancho was inhigh delight, as he had never seen any all his life. don antoniosent word to themandant of the galleys that he intended to bringhis guest, the famous don quixote of man插, of whom themandantand all the citizens had already heard, that afternoon to see them;and what happened on board of them will be told in the next 插pter.插pter lxiii
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"i seek to know no more," said don quixote; "let me but see dulcineadisen插nted, and i will consider that all the good fortune i couldwish for hase upon me all at once."
thest questioner was sancho, and his questions were, "head, shalli by any 插nce have another government? shall i ever escape fromthe hard life of a squire? shall i get back to see my wife andchildren?" to which the answer came, "thou shalt govern in thyhouse; and if thou returnest to it thou shalt see thy wife andchildren; and on ceasing to serve thou shalt cease to be a squire."
"good, by god!" said sancho panza; "i could have told myself that;the prophet perogrullo could have said no more."
"what answer wouldst thou have, beast?" said don quixote; "is it notenough that the replies this head has given suit the questions putto it?"
"yes, it is enough," said sancho; "but i should have liked it tohave made itself iner and told me more."
the questions and answers came to an end here, but not the wonderwith which all were filled, except don antonios two friends whowere in the secret. this cide hamete benengeli thought fit to revet once, not to keep the world in suspense, fancying that the head hadsome strange magical mystery in it. he says, therefore, that on themodel of another head, the work of an image maker, which he had seenat madrid, don antonio made this one at home for his own amusement andto astonish ignorant people; and its me插nism was as follows. thetable was of wood painted and varni射d to imitate jasper, and thepedestal on which it stood was of the same material, with four eaglesws projecting from it to support the weight more steadily. thehead, which resembled a bust or figure of a roman emperor, and wascoloured like bronze, was hollow throughout, as was the table, intowhich it was fitted so exactly that no trace of the joining wasvisible. the pedestal of the table was also hollow andmunicatedwith the throat and neck of the head, and the whole was imunication with another room underneath the 插mber in which thehead stood. through the entire cavity in the pedestal, table, throatand neck of the bust or figure, there passed a tube of tin carefullyadjusted and concealed from sight. in the room below correspondingto the one above was ced the person who was to answer, with hismouth to the tube, and the voice, as in an ear-trumpet, passed fromabove downwards, and from below upwards, the wordsing clearlyand distinctly; it was impossible, thus, to detect the trick. a nephewof don antonios, a smart sharp-witted student, was the answerer,and as he had been told beforehand by his uncle who the persons werethat woulde with him that day into the 插mber where the head was,it was an easy matter for him to answer the first question at once andcorrectly; the others he answered by guess-work, and, being clever,cleverly. cide hamete adds that this marvellous contrivance stoodfor some ten or twelve days; but that, as it became noised abroadthrough the city that he had in his house an en插nted head thatanswered all who asked questions of it, don antonio, fearing itmighte to the ears of the watchful sentinels of our faith,exined the matter to the inquisitors, whomanded him to break itup and have done with it, lest the ignorant vulgar should bescandalised. by don quixote, however, and by sancho the head was stillheld to be an en插nted one, and capable of answering questions,though more to don quixotes satisfaction than sanchos.
the gentlemen of the city, to gratify don antonio and also to do thehonours to don quixote, and give him an opportunity of disyinghis folly, made arrangements for a tilting at the ring in six daysfrom that time, which, however, for reason that will be mentionedhereafter, did not take ce.
don quixote took a fancy to stroll about the city quietly and onfoot, for he feared that if he went on horseback the boys would followhim; so he and sancho and two servants that don antonio gave him setout for a walk. thus it came to pass that going along one of thestreets don quixote lifted up his eyes and saw written in veryrgeletters over a door, "books printed here," at which he was vastlypleased, for until then he had never seen a printing office, and hewas curious to know what it was like. he entered with all hisfollowing, and saw them drawing 射ets in one ce, correcting inanother, setting up type here, revising there; in short all the workthat is to be seen in great printing offices. he went up to one caseand asked what they were about there; the workmen told him, he watchedthem with wonder, and passed on. he approached one man, amongothers, and asked him what he was doing. the workman replied,"senor, this gentleman here" （pointing to a man of prepossessingappearance and a certain gravity of look） "has tranted an italianbook into our spanish tongue, and i am setting it up in type for thepress."
"what is the title of the book?" asked don quixote; to which theauthor replied, "senor, in italian the book is called le bagatelle."
"and what does le bagatelle import in our spanish?" asked donquixote.
"le bagatelle," said the author, "is as though we should say inspanish los juguetes; but though the book is humble in name it hasgood solid matter in it."
"i," said don quixote, "have some little smattering of italian,and i plume myself on singing some of ariostos stanzas; but tellme, senor- i do not say this to test your ability, but merely out ofcuriosity- have you ever met with the word pignatta in your book?"
"yes, often," said the author.
"and how do you render that in spanish?"
"how should i render it," returned the author, "but by o?"
"body o me," eximed don quixote, "what a proficient you are inthe italiannguage! i wouldy a good wager that where they sayin italian piace you say in spanish ce, and where they say piuyou say mas, and you trante su by arriba and giu by abajo."
"i trante them so of course," said the author, "for those aretheir proper equivalents."
"i would venture to swear," said don quixote, "that your worshipis not known in the world, which always begrudges their reward to rarewits and praiseworthybours. what talents lie wasted there! whatgenius thrust away into corners! what worth left neglected! still itseems to me that trantion from onenguage into another, if itbe not from the queens ofnguages, the greek and thetin, islike looking at flemish tapestries on the wrong side; for though thefigures are visible, they are full of threads that make themindistinct, and they do not show with the smoothness and brightness ofthe right side; and trantion from easynguages argues neitheringenuity normand of words, any more than transcribing orcopying out one document from another. but i do not mean by this todraw the inference that no credit is to be allowed for the work oftranting, for a man may employ himself in ways worse and lessprofitable to himself. this estimate does not include two famoustrantors, doctor cristobal de figueroa, in his pastor fido, and donjuan de jauregui, in his aminta, wherein by their felicity theyleave it in doubt which is the trantion and which the original. buttell me, are you printing this book at your own risk, or have you soldthe copyright to some bookseller?"
"i print at my own risk," said the author, "and i expect to make athousand ducats at least by this first edition, which is to be oftwo thousand copies that will go off in a twinkling at six realsapiece."
"a fine calction you are making!" said don quixote; "it isin you dont know the ins and outs of the printers, and how theyy into one anothers hands. i promise you when you find yourselfsaddled with two thousand copies you will feel so sore that it wistonish you, particrly if the book is a little out of themonand not in any way highly spiced."
"what!" said the author, "would your worship, then, have me giveit to a bookseller who will give three maravedis for the copyright andthink he is doing me a favour? i do not print my books to win famein the world, for i am known in it already by my works; i want to makemoney, without which reputation is not worth a rap."
"god send your worship good luck," said don quixote; and he moved onto another case, where he saw them correcting a 射et of a book withthe title of "light of the soul;" noticing it he observed, "books likethis, though there are many of the kind, are the ones that deserveto be printed, for many are the sinners in these days, and lightsunnumbered are needed for all that are in darkness."
he passed on, and saw they were also correcting another book, andwhen he asked its title they told him it was called, "the secondpart of the ingenious gentleman don quixote of man插," by one oftordesis.
"i have heard of this book already," said don quixote, "and verilyand on my conscience i thought it had been by this time burned toa射s as a meddlesome intruder; but its martinmas wille to it asit does to every pig; for fictions have the more merit and 插rm aboutthem the more nearly they approach the truth or what looks like it;and true stories, the truer they are the better they are;" and sosaying he walked out of the printing office with a certain amount ofdispleasure in his looks. that same day don antonio arranged to takehim to see the galleys thaty at the beach, whereat sancho was inhigh delight, as he had never seen any all his life. don antoniosent word to themandant of the galleys that he intended to bringhis guest, the famous don quixote of man插, of whom themandantand all the citizens had already heard, that afternoon to see them;and what happened on board of them will be told in the next 插pter.插pter lxiii
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