Chap. XXII Giving an Account of Don Quixote’s Last Illness and Death
As nothing human is eternal, but every sublunary object, especially the life of man, is always declining from its origin to its decay; and Don Quixote had no particular privilege from Heaven, exempting him from the common fate, the end and period of his existence arrived, when he least expected its approach. Either in consequence of the melancholy produced by his overthrow, or by the particular dispensations of Heaven, he was seized with a calenture which detained him in bed for the space of six days, during which he was often visited by his friends; the curate, batchelor, and barber, and his good squire Sancho Panza never stirred from his bedside. These gentlemen, supposing his distemper proceeded from the chagrin inspired by his overthrow, and the disappointment of his hope, concerning the liberty and disenchantment of Dulcinea, endeavoured by all possible means to exhilarate his spirits. The batchelor exhorted him to chear up his heart, and forsake his couch, that they might begin their pastoral exercise, towards which he had already composed an eclogue which would disgrace all the pastorals that ever Sannazarius wrote. He likewise gave him to understand, that he had purchased with his own money from an herdsman of Quintanar, two famous dogs called Barcino and Butron, to defend their flock from the wolves. All these consolations, however, could not dispel the melancholy of Don Quixote; so that his friends called a physician, who having felt his pulse, made a very doubtful prognostick; saying, happen what would, they ought to provide for the health of his soul, as that of his body was in imminent danger; and he gave it as his opinion, that the poor gentleman was overwhelmed with melancholy and vexation. The knight heard this sentence with the most heroick composure; but that was not the case with his housekeeper, niece, and squire, who began to weep and wail most bitterly, as if they had already seen him deprived of life.
Don Quixote finding himself inclined to slumber, desired he might be left alone; and the company retiring, he is said to have slept six hours at a stretch; so that the housekeeper and niece began to fear he would never awake. Nevertheless, he awoke at the expiration of the aforesaid time, and exclaimed aloud, ‘Praised be the Almighty God, for the great benefit I have received from his bounty! His mercies know no bounds; nor are they abridged or impeded by the transgressions of man!’ The niece, who listened attentively, hearing this ejaculation, more sensible and connected than any thing he had uttered since the beginning of his illness; ‘Uncle,’ said she, ‘what do you mean? Has any thing new befallen us? What mercies and transgressions are these you mention?’—‘Mercies,’ replied the knight, ‘which Heaven hath this instant been pleased to vouchsafe unto me, notwithstanding the heinousness of my transgressions. I now enjoy my judgment undisturbed, and cleared from those dark shadows of ignorance, in which my understanding hath been involved, by the pernicious and incessant reading of those detestable books of chivalry. I am now sensible of the falsity and folly they contain; and nothing gives me concern, but that this conviction comes too late to give me time sufficient to make amends, by reading others, which would enlighten my soul. I feel myself, cousin, at the point of death; and I would not undergo that great change, in such a manner as to entail the imputation of madness on my memory; for, though I have acted as a madman, I should not wish to confirm the character, by my behaviour in the last moments of my life. Be so good, my dear child, as to send for my worthy friend the curate, the batchelor Sampson Carrasco, and master Nicholas the barber; for I want to confess, and make my will.’
The accidental arrival of these three, saved her the trouble of sending a message to each in particular; and Don Quixote seeing them enter, ‘Good gentlemen,’ said he, ‘congratulate and rejoice with me, upon my being no longer Don Quixote de La Mancha, but plain Alonzo Quixano, surnamed the Good, on account of the innocence of my life and conversation. I am now an enemy to Amadis de Gaul, and the whole infinite tribe of his descendants; now are all the profane histories of knight errantry odious to my reflection; now I am sensible of my own madness, and the danger into which I have been precipitated by reading such absurdities, which I, from dear-bought experience, abominate and abhor.’ The three friends, hearing this declaration, believed he was certainly seized with some new species of madness; and, on this supposition, Sampson replied, ‘Now, Signior Don Quixote, when we have received the news of my Lady Dulcinea’s being disenchanted, do you talk at this rate? When we are on the point of becoming shepherds, that we may pass away our time happily in singing, like so many princes, has your worship taken the resolution to turn hermit? No more of that, I beseech you; recollect your spirits, and leave off talking such idle stories!’—‘Those which I have hitherto believed, have, indeed, realized my misfortune,’ said the knight; ‘but, with the assistance of Heaven, I hope my death will turn them to my advantage.—Gentlemen, I feel myself hastening to the goal of life; and therefore, jesting apart, let me have the benefit of a ghostly confessor, and send for a notary to write my will; for in such extremities, a man must not trifle with his own soul: I entreat you, then, to call a notary; and, in the mean time, I will confess myself to Mr. Curate.’ They looked at one another, surprized at this discourse; and, though still dubious, resolved to comply with his desire: they considered this sudden and easy transition from madness to sanity, as a certain signal of his approaching death; for to those expressions already rehearsed, he added a great number so rational, so christian and well-connected, as to dispel the doubts of all present, who were now firmly persuaded, that he had retrieved the right use of his intellects. The curate having dismissed the company, confessed the penitent; while the batchelor went in quest of the notary, with whom he in a little time returned, accompanied also by Sancho, who having received an account of his master’s condition, and finding the niece and housekeeper in tears, began to pucker up his face, and open the flood-gates of his eyes.
Confession being ended, the curate came forth, saying, ‘The good Alonzo Quixano is really dying, and without all doubt restored to his senses; we may now go and see the will attested.’ These tidings gave a terrible stab to the overcharged hearts of the two ladies and his faithful squire, whose eyes overflowed with weeping, and whose bosoms had well-nigh burst with a thousand sighs and groans; for, indeed, it must be owned, as we have somewhere observed, that whether in the character of Alonzo Quixano the Good, or in the capacity of Don Quixote de La Mancha, the poor gentleman had always exhibited marks of a peaceable temper and agreeable demeanour, for which he was beloved, not only by his own family, but also by all those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.
The notary entering the apartment with the rest of the company, wrote the preamble of the will, in which Don Quixote disposed of his soul in all the necessary Christian forms: then proceeding to the legacies, he said, ‘Item, Whereas Sancho Panza, whom, in my madness, I made my squire, has in his hands a certain sum of money for my use; and as divers accounts, disbursements, and pecuniary transactions have passed between us; it is my will, that he shall not be charged or brought to account for the said money; but, if there be any overplus, after he has deducted the payment of what I owe him, the said overplus, which must be a mere trifle, shall be his own, and much good may it do him! and as, during my disorder, I contributed to his being made governor of an island, I would now, while I enjoy my perfect senses, confer upon him, were it in my power, a whole kingdom; which he richly deserves for the innocency of his heart, and the fidelity of his service.’ Then turning to the disconsolate squire, ‘Forgive me, friend,’ said he, ‘for having been the cause of thy appearing in the eye of the world a madman, like myself; by drawing thee into my own erroneous notions, concerning the existence and adventures of knights-errant.’—‘Lack-a-day, dear Sir!’ cried Sancho, blubbering, ‘do not die; take my advice, and live many years upon the face of the earth; for the greatest madness a man can be guilty of in this life, is to let himself die outright, without being slain by any person whatever, or destroyed by any other weapon than the hands of melancholy. Hark ye, Signior! hang sloth! get up, and let us take the field in shepherds apparel, according to our agreement; who knows, but behind some bush we may find my Lady Dulcinea disenchanted, and a comely sight for to see? If you take your overthrow so much to heart, lay the blame at my door, and say you was vanquished by my carelessness, in girting Rozinante; besides, your worship must have read in your books of chivalry, that it was common for one knight to unhorse another, and for him who was vanquished to-day, to be victor to-morrow.’—‘Very true,’ said Sampson; ‘honest Sancho seems to be very well informed of these matters.’—‘Gentlemen,’ replied the knight, ‘let us proceed fair and softly, without looking for this year’s birds in last year’s nests. I was mad; but now am in my right senses. I was Don Quixote de La Mancha; but now, as I have already observed, I am Alonzo Quixano the Good: and I hope, I shall, by my veracity and repentance, recover that degree of your esteem, which I formerly enjoyed. So let Mr. Notary proceed.’
‘Item, I bequeath my whole estate, real and personal, to my niece Antonia Quixano here present, after deducting what shall be sufficient for the payment of my debts and legacies; and it is my will, that from the first of the money thence arising, the wages due to my housekeeper shall be paid, together with twenty ducats for a suit of mourning; and I appoint Mr. Curate, and Mr. Batchelor Sampson Carrasco, here present, my executors. Item, It is my will, that if my niece Antonia Quixano inclines to marriage, she shall not wed any man until she is fully satisfied, from previous information, that he is an utter stranger to books of chivalry; or, if she finds he is addicted to this kind of reading, and marries him nevertheless, she shall forfeit the whole legacy, which my executors may, in that case, dispose of in pious uses. Item, I beseech the said gentlemen, my executors, if perchance they should become acquainted with a certain author, who composed and published an history, entitled, “The Second Part of the Atchievements of Don Quixote de La Mancha;” that they will, in my name, most earnestly entreat him to forgive me for having been the innocent cause of his writing such a number of absurdities as that performance contains; for I quit this life with some scruples of conscience arising from that consideration.’ The will being thus concluded, he was seized with a fainting-fit, and stretched himself at full length in the bed; so that all the company were alarmed, and ran to his assistance. During three days which he lived after the will was signed and sealed, he frequently fainted, and the whole family was in confusion: nevertheless, the niece eat her victuals, the housekeeper drank to the repose of his soul, and even Sancho cherished his little carcase; for the prospect of succession either dispels or moderates that affliction which an heir ought to feel at the death of the testator.
At last Don Quixote expired; after having received all the sacraments, and in the strongest terms, pathetically enforced, expressed his abomination against all books of chivalry; and the notary observed, that in all the books of that kind which he had perused, he had never read of any knight-errant who died quietly in his bed, as a good Christian, like Don Quixote; who, amidst the tears and lamentations of all present, gave up the ghost, or in other words, departed this life. The curate was no sooner certified of his decease, than he desired the notary to make a testimonial, declaring, that Alonzo Quixano the Good, commonly called Don Quixote de La Mancha, had taken his departure from this life, and died of a natural death; that no other author, different from Cid Hamet Benengeli, should falsely pretend to raise him from the dead, and write endless histories of his atchievements.
This was the end of the sage Hidalgo de La Mancha, whose native place Cid Hamet would not punctually describe, because he wished that all the towns and villages of that province should contend for the honour of having given him birth, as the seven cities of Greece contended for Homer. We shall here omit the lamentations of the housekeeper, niece, and squire, together with all the epitaphs, except the following, by Sampson Carrasco.
Here lies a cavalier of fame,
Whose dauntless courage soar’d so high,
That death, which can the boldest tame,
He scorn’d to flatter or to fly.
A constant bugbear to the bad,
His might the world in arms defy’d;
And in his life though counted mad,
He in his perfect senses dy’d.
The sagacious Cid Hamet addressing himself to his pen, ‘And now, my slender quill,’ said he, ‘whether cunningly cut, or unskilfully formed, it boots not much; here, from this rack, suspended by a wire, shalt thou enjoy repose, and live to future ages, if no presumptuous and wicked hand shall take thee down, in order to profane thee in compiling idle histories. But ere such insolent fingers can touch thine hallowed plume, accost, and warn them, if thou canst, in words like these:
“Caitifs, forbear!—Illustrious prince, let none
”Attempt th’ emprize reserv’d for me alone213.”
‘For me alone was Don Quixote born, and I produced for him; he to act, and I to record: in a word, we were destined for each other, maugre and in despight of that fictitious Tordesilian author, who has presumed, or may presume, to write with his coarse, aukward ostrich quill, the atchievements of my valiant knight; a burden too heavy for his weak shoulders, and an undertaking too great for his frozen genius. Advise him, therefore, if ever thou shouldst chance to be in his company, to let the wearied and mouldering bones of Don Quixote rest in the grave, without seeking to carry him into Old Castile214, in opposition to all the prerogatives of death; or to drag him from his tomb, where he really and truly lies extended at full length, and utterly incapable of making a third sally: for all the exploits performed by the whole tribe of knights-errant are sufficiently ridiculed by the two expeditions he has already made, so much to the satisfaction and entertainment, not only of Spain, but also of every foreign nation to which the fame of his adventures hath been conveyed. In so doing, thou wilt conform to thy Christian profession of doing good to those who would do thee harm; and I shall rest satisfied and perfectly well pleased, in seeing myself the first author who fully enjoyed the fruit of his writings in the success of his design: for mine was no other than to inspire mankind with an abhorrence of the false and improbable stories recounted in books of chivalry; which are already shaken by the adventures of my true and genuine Don Quixote, and in a little time will certainly sink into oblivion. Farewel.’
FINIS
Footnotes
1. Thomas Tamayo De Vargas.
2. Don Nicholas Antonio.
3. He describes his departure from Madrid in these words: ‘Out of my country and myself I go!’
4. Nicholas Antonio, biblioth. Hisp.
5. His dedication of Galatea.
6. In the preface to his plays.
7. F. Diego Da Haedo.
8. To this adventure he doubtless alludes, in the story of the Captive; who says, that when he and his fellow-slaves were deliberating about ransoming one of their number, who should go to Valencia and Mayorca, and procure a vessel with which he might return and fetch off the rest, the renegado who was of their council opposed the scheme, observing, that those who are once delivered seldom think of performing the promises they have made in captivity: as a confirmation of the truth of what he alledged, he briefly recounted a case which had lately happened to some Christian gentlemen, attended with the strangest circumstances ever known, even in those parts, where the most uncommon and surprizing events occur almost every day.
9. Laurèl de Apollo Selva 8.
10. In his preface to his plays.
11. Preface to his novels. Dedication of the last part of Don Quixote.
12. The Loves of Theagenes and Chariclea.
13. This is a strong presumption that the first part of Don Quixote was actually written in a gaol.
14. Alluding to the loss of his hand in the battle of Lepanto.
15. Mutton in Spain is counted greatly preferable to beef.
16. Salpicon, which is the word in the original, is no other than cold beef sliced, and eaten with oil, vinegar, and pepper.
17. Gripes and grumblings, in Spanish duelos y quebrantos; the true meaning of which the former translators have been at great pains to investigate, as the importance of the subject (no doubt) required. But their labours have, unhappily, ended in nothing else but conjectures, which, for the entertainment and instruction of our readers, we beg leave to repeat. One interprets the phrase into collops and eggs; ‘Being,’ saith he, ‘a very sorry dish.’ In this decision, however, he is contradicted by another commentator, who affirms, ‘It is a mess too good to mortify withal:’ neither can this virtuoso agree with a late editor, who translates the passage in question into an amlet; but takes occasion to fall out with Boyer for his description of that dish, which he most sagaciously understands to be a ‘bacon froize,’ or ‘rather fryze, from its being fried, from frit in French;’ and concludes with this judicious query, ‘After all these learned disquisitions, who knows but the author means a dish of nichils?’ If this was his meaning, indeed, surely we may venture to conclude, that fasting was very expensive in La Mancha; for the author mentions the duelos y quebrantos among those articles that confirmed three-fourths of the knight’s income.
Having considered this momentous affair with all the deliberation it deserves, we in our turn present the reader with cucumbers, greens, or pease-porridge, as the fruit of our industrious researches; being thereunto determined by the literal signification of the text, which is not ‘grumblings and groanings,’ as the last-mentioned ingenious annotator seems to think, but rather pains and breakings; and evidently points at such eatables as generate and expel wind; qualities (as every body knows) eminently inherent in those vegetables we have mentioned as our hero’s Saturday’s repast.
18. Podadera, literally signifies a pruning-hook.
19. In the original, a lover of hunting.
20. Quixadas, signifies jaws, of which our knight had an extraordinary provision.
21. Siguenza, a town situated on the banks of the Henares, in New Castile, in which there is a small university.
22. Hidalgo has much the same application in Spain as squire in England; though it literally signifies the son of something, in contradistinction to those who are the sons of nothing.
23. Orlando, the supposed nephew of Charlemagne, and poetical hero of Boiardo and Ariosto, is said to have been invulnerable in all parts of his body, except the soles of his feet, which he therefore took care to secure with double plates of armour.
24. Galalon is said to have betrayed Charlemagne’s army at Roncevalles, where it was roughly handled by the Moors, in his retreat from Spain.
25. This is a joke upon the knight’s steed, which was so meagre, that his bones stuck out like the corners of a Spanish rial, a coin of very irregular shape, not unlike the figure in geometry called a trapezium.
26. Rozinante, implies that which was formerly an ordinary horse, though the ante seems to have been intended by the knight as a badge of distinction, by which he was ranked before all other horses.
27. According to the ancient rules of chivalry, no man was entitled to the rank and degree of knighthood, until he had been in actual battle, and taken a prisoner with his own hand.
28. It was common for one knight to dub another. Francis I. King of France, was knighted, at his own desire, by the Chevalier Bayard, who was looked upon as the flower of chivalry.
29. He might have imitated the young knight described in Perce Forest, who having been dubbed by King Alexander, rode into a wood, and attacked the trees with such fury and address, that the king and his whole court were convinced of his prowess and dexterity.
30. Sano de Castella, signifies a crafty knave.
31. This circumstance of the ladies disarming the knight, is exactly conformable to the practice of chivalry; though his refusing to lay aside his helmet is no great argument of his courtesy or attachment to the laws and customs of his profession; for, among knights, it was looked upon as an indispensible mark of respect, to appear without the helmet in church, and in presence of ladies, or respectable personages; and, indeed, in those iron times, this was considered as a necessary mark and proof of peaceable intention: hence we derive the custom of uncovering the head in salutation.
32. In the original, or kid to he-goat.
33. This request was a little premature, inasmuch as the practice of chivalry did not authorize the suppliant to ask a boon of his godfather, until he was dubbed, and then he had a right to demand it.
34. Literally, the colt of Cordova, because the water gushes out of a fountain resembling an horse’s mouth. These are places of resort frequented by thieves and sharpers.
35. Here the landlord was more selfish than observant of the customs of chivalry; for knights were actually exempted from all expence whatever; except when damages were awarded against them in a court of justice; and in that case they paid for their rank. This they looked upon as a mark of their pre-eminence; in consequence of which, at the siege of Dun le Roy, in the year 1411, each knight was ordered to carry eight fascines, while the squire was quit for half the number.
36. This custom of watching armour in church or chapel, was a religious duty imposed upon knights, who used to consume the whole night in prayer to some saint, whom they chose as their patron; and this exercise of devotion was performed on the night preceding the said saint’s day. The same ceremony was observed by those who were sentenced to the combat-proof.
37. The slap on the shoulders, and the box on the ear being bestowed, the godfather pronounced, ‘In the name of God, St. Michael, and St. George, I dub thee knight: be worthy, bold, and loyal.’
38. The author seems to have committed a small oversight in this paragraph; for the knight had not been gone above two days and one night, which he spent in watching his armour.
39. The name of a good-natured inchantress in Amadis de Gaul. During the age of knight-errantry, it was usual for ladies to study the art of surgery, in order to dress the wounds of those knights who were their servants. One of the heroines of Perce Forest says to Norgal, ‘Fair nephew, methinks your arm is not at ease.’—‘In faith, dear lady,’ answered Norgal, ‘you are in the right; and I beseech you to take it under your care.’ Then she called her daughter Helen, who entertained her cousin with good cheer, and afterwards reduced his arm which was dislocated.
40. In the original, Quirielyson, from the two Greek words κύριε ἐλέησον, signifying, Lord have mercy.
41. How comes Juana to be so suddenly metamorphosed into Mary?
42. Here Don Quixote seems to have been too scrupulous: for though no squire was permitted to engage with a knight on horseback, yet they were allowed, and even enjoined, to assist their masters when they were unhorsed or in danger, by mounting them on fresh steeds, supplying them with arms, and warding off the blows that were aimed at them; Davy Gam, at the battle of Agincourt, lost his life in defending Henry V. of England, and Saint Severin met with the same fate in warding off the blows that were aimed at Francis I. of France, in the battle of Pavia.
43. The literal meaning of the Spanish is, ‘Thou shalt soon see who is to carry the cat to the water:’ or rather, in the corrupted Biscayan phrase, ‘The water how soon thou wilt see, that thou carriest to the cat.’
44. The behaviour of Don Quixote was exactly conformable to the rules of chivalry; which, though they hindered a knight from fighting in armour with a squire, did not prevent him from giving satisfaction to an inferior, at sword and target; and every squire who was aggrieved had a right to demand it.
45. Panza, in Castilian, signifies Paunch; and Zancas, Spindle-shanks.
46. Santa Hermandad was a brotherhood or society instituted in Spain in times of confusion, to suppress robbery, and render travelling safe.
47. These ridiculous oaths or vows are not confined to romances. Philip, the good Duke of Burgundy, at a publick banquet, vowed to God, the holy virgin, the peacock, and the ladies, that he would declare war against the infidels; and a great number of persons who were present, listed themselves under the same vow, and incurred voluntary penance until it should be accomplished. Some swore they would never lie upon a bed, others renounced the use of a table-cloth, a third set obliged themselves to fast one particular day in the week, a fourth went without one particular piece of armour, a fifth wore his armour night and day, and many confined themselves to shirts of sackcloth and hair.
48. Geoffroi de Rançon, having been injured by the Count de La Marche, swore by the saints that he would wear his buskin like a woman, and never suffer himself to be shaved in the manner of chivalry, until he should be revenged. This oath he scrupulously observed, until he saw his adversary, with his wife and children, kneeling in distress before the king, and imploring his forgiveness; then he called for a stool, adjusted his buskin, and was shaved in presence of his majesty and the court.
The knight’s forehead was commonly shaved, that in case he should lose his helmet in combat, his antagonist should have no hold by which he might be pulled off his horse.
49. We read in Perce Forest, that there were flat stones placed at certain distances in uninhabited parts of the country, for the use of knights-errant; who, having killed a roe-buck, pressed the blood out of it upon one of these tables by the help of another smooth stone, and then eat it with some salt and spices, which they carried along with them for that purpose. This diet is called in the French romances, Chevraux de presse, nourreture des heraux.
50. Volatile, in the original, signifies any things that fly; and therefore Sancho may be supposed to mean, he would provide himself with game or poultry; but the blunder which we have made him commit seems to be more in character.
51. A sort of small fiddle of one piece, with three strings, used by shepherds.
52. The reader will perceive that I have endeavoured to adapt the versification to the plainness and rusticity of the sentiment, which are preserved through the whole of this ballad; though all the other translators seem to have been bent upon setting the poetry at variance with the pastoral simplicity of the thoughts. For example, who would ever dream of a goatherd’s addressing his mistress in these terms?
‘With rapture on each charm I dwell,
’And daily spread thy beauty’s fame;
’And still my tongue thy praise shall tell,
‘Though envy swell, or malice blame.’
The original sentiments which this courtly stanza is designed to translate, are literally these:
‘I do not mention the praises I have spoke of your beauty, which, though true in fact, are the occasion of my being hated by some other women.’
53. In the original Spanish, the goatherd, instead of saying as old as Sarah, says, as old as Sarna, which in that language signifies the itch; but as it is impossible to preserve these mistakes in the translation, I have substituted another in its room, which I apprehend is equally natural and expressive.
54. When a knight challenged the whole world, he wore an emprize, consisting of a gold chain, or some other badge of love and chivalry; and sometimes this emprize was fixed in a publick place, to attract the attention of strangers. When any person accepted the challenge for a trial of chivalry, called the combat of courtesy, he touched this emprize; but, if he tore it away, it was considered as a resolution to fight the owner to extremity or outrance. The combat of courtesy is still practised by our prize-fighters and boxers, who shake hands before the engagement, in token of love.
But no defiance of this kind could be either published or accepted without the permission of the prince at whose court the combatants chanced to be. Accordingly, we are told by Oliver de La Marche, that the lord of Ternant having published a defiance at the court of Burgundy, in the year 1445, Galiot asked the duke’s permission to touch the challenger’s emprize; which being granted, he advanced and touched it, saying to the bearer, while he bowed very low, ‘Noble knight, I touch your emprize; and, with God’s permission, will do my utmost to fulfil your desire, either on horseback or on foot.’ The lord of Ternant humbly thanked him for his condescension, said he was extremely welcome, and promised to send him that same day a cartel, mentioning the arms they should use.
55. Cachopines is the name given to the Europeans by the Indians of Mexico.
56. Tizona, which is the word in the original, is a romantick name given to the sword that belonged to Roderick Dias de Bivar, the famous Spanish general against the Moors.
57. Literally, what is left in the bottom of his inkhorn.
58. Don Quixote seems in this place to have forgot one adventure of his great pattern, Orlando, who, while he accompanied Angelica in her flight from Albracca, happened to intrude upon the king of the Lestrigons as he sat at dinner in a valley; and being in great want of victuals, accosted his most savage majesty in these words, recorded by Boyardo, or rather Berni, in his poem intitled Orlando Innamorato.
Poichè fortuna a quest’ora ne mena
Da voi, vi prego, che non vi despiaccia,
O pe nostri danari o in cortesia,
Che noi cenium con voi di compagnia.
Thus humbly requesting, that he would either for love or money give them a bone to pick.
59. In the original, from Ceca to Mecca; a phrase derived from the customs of the Moors, who used to go in pilgrimage to these two places. Ceca was in the city of Cordova.
60. Zebra is a beautiful creature, native of Arabia, vulgarly called the wild ass.
61. I have endeavoured to preserve an alliteration in tooth and treasure, after the example of Cervantes, who seems to have intended it, in the words diente and diamante.
62. Knights engaged themselves, by oath, to protect the widow and the orphan, to redress all injuries; and, in a special manner, to defend the characters of ladies by force of arms.
63. In Castilian, bocina signifies a cornet, or hunting-horn, to which the Spaniards suppose the constellation of Ursa Minor bears some resemblance.
64. Oregano, in the original, signifies sweet marjoram; as if Sancho had wished his master might find a nosegay, rather than a bloody nose.
65. The Spaniards of old paid a tribute of five hundred sueldos, or pieces of coin, to the Moors, until they were delivered from this imposition by the gallantry of the gentlemen or people of rank, from which exploit a Castilian of family used to express the nobility and worth of his extraction, by saying he was of the revenge of the Sueldos.
66. Literally, ‘Never beg when you can take.’
67. In the original, ‘A snatch from behind a bush is better than the prayer of good men.’
68. This seems to have been intended as a stroke of satire against those princes who sell nobility to the highest bidder, without any regard to the merit of the purchaser.
69. A crime that is punished by the pillory in England, is in Spain expiated by the convict’s being mounted upon an ass, in a particular dress, and led through the streets by a crier, who proclaims the transgression.
70. This is a good hint for a reforming legislature.
71. It was the custom of knights to wear a coat of arms made of some rich stuff figured in a particular manner. The Duke of Brabant being called in a hurry to the battle of Agincourt, took a trumpeter’s banner, and making a hole through the middle, put it over his head, and wore it as his coat of arms.
72. This is an oversight of the author, who seems to have forgot that Sancho lost his wallet at the inn, and was robbed by the galley-slaves of the great coat or cloak, in which he carried the remains of that provision he had taken from those who attended the dead body towards Segovia.
73. A chain of dusky mountains that divide Castile from Andalusia.
74. Here Cervantes hath been caught napping by the criticks; who observe, that Sancho could not be mounted on the ass, which was but just now stolen by Gines de Passamonte.
75. As it is impossible to preserve the original blunders of Sancho, who mistakes Fili or Phillis, for Hilo, that signifies a thread, we are obliged to substitute another, by changing Phillis into Chloe, which Sancho, in English, might have as naturally mistaken for a clue; and by this expedient the sense of the passage is not hurt, and but very little altered.
76. Methinks it is inconsistent with the character of the knight, to allow Sancho to tell such a fraudulent untruth in his hearing; nor is Panza’s behaviour on this occasion much for the honour of his simplicity.
77. Queen Madasima, a lady in Amadis de Gaul, attended by one Elisabat, a surgeon with whom she travels, and lies in woods and desarts.
78. The Beautiful Obscure.
79. Lo! Sancho’s ass hath disappeared again.
80. Probably alluding to the epitaph of Phaeton.
Hic situs est Phaeton, currus auriga paterni,
Quem si non tenuit, magnis tamen excidit ausis.
81. Bamba, or Wamba, king of the Visigoths in Spain, mounted the throne in the year 672, and was famous for his success against the Arabians, as well as for his attachment to the Christian religion, as a proof of which he retired into a monastery, and resigned the kingdom to Ervige.
82. There is no such letter mentioned in his conversation with Don Quixote.
83. Who murdered Sancho I. king of Castile, while he was engaged in the siege of Zamora.
84. The original pues presente pocas vezes lo bazía, signifies, ‘Since while I was present she did it very seldom.’ This at first sight appears a solecism, and the petulant critick will exclaim, ‘What occasion had she to write to her lover who was present, unless she had lost the faculty of speech!’ But the seeming absurdity will vanish, when we reflect that by present, he means, in the same city with his mistress; to whom, however, according to the custom of Spain, he had little or no access but by a literary correspondence.
85. As if he had said Ape-land, mico signifying an ape.
86. When a knight had once granted a boon in this manner, it was impossible for him to retract, let the request be never so extravagant. We are told by Joinville, that the queen of St. Lewis, being big with child, and in the utmost terror of falling alive into the hands of the infidels at Damietta in Egypt, fell upon her knees before an old knight turned of fourscore, and conjured him to grant her boon: the old man having promised to comply, on the faith of his knighthood, she told him the favour she so pressingly solicited, was, that he would cut off her head before she should fall into the hands of the enemy, provided the Saracens should become masters of the town. The senior answered without hesitation, that she might depend upon his sword; and owned he had taken that resolution even before she signified her request.
87. This is a diverting example of the Bathos, not unlike that anticlimax repeated in the art of sinking.
Nor Alps, nor Apennines could keep us out,
Nor fortified redoubt!
88. If the knight was robbed of his own sword by Gines, where did he find that which he wore on this occasion?
89. Literally, Sleeves are good even after Easter; i. e. Though a good thing comes late, it is never unseasonable.
90. Literally, “Took the road in his hands.”
91. It will appear in the sequel, that the landlord could not read at all; nevertheless, he might boast of what he could not do.
92. The original, which is curioso impertinente, signifies one who is impertinently curious, not a curious impertinent.
93. Ludovico Ariosto, author of Orlando Furioso, to which poem Cervantes frequently alludes. Here, however, he seems to have forgot the passage he meant to cite; for the person who proffered the cup to Rinaldo, was no doctor. In Canto 43, of the Orlando Furioso, mention is made, indeed, of one Anselmo, who was a Doctor of Law, but not at all concerned in the inchanted cup: yet it must be owned, that Dr. Anselmo had recourse to an astrologer, in order to know whether his wife preserved her chastity in his absence.
94. Sensato, secreto, sobrepusado, senzero; Sensible, secret, surpassing, and sincere.
95. But it appears in the preceding page, that he was already known both to Fernando and Lucinda. Aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus.
96. In the original, ‘As will put salt in the skull.’
97. Literally, ‘You shall see when the eggs are fried.’ A phrase alluding to the story of a thief, who having stole a frying-pan, and being asked by the owner what he carried under his cloak, replied, ‘You will see when the eggs are fried.’ Metaphorically, ‘Time will discover.’
98. Alluding to the charity given at the gates of monasteries.
99. I. e. Do not amount to 1000, which is a number expressed by four figures.
100. The literal translation is, ‘For, from the skirts—for I would not mention the ‘sleeves.’ The Spaniards, instead of the English phrase, ‘By Hook or by Crook,’ use this of ‘From the sleeves, or the skirts;’ derived from the practice of taylors, who are supposed to cabbage from those parts of the habit in which there is the greatest quantity of cloth; but the knight’s exception of sleeves, on this occasion, seems to have proceeded from a supposition that poor scholars are generally provided for in the church, and consequently wear cassocks, which descend to the heels.
101. Cavalier is an artificial mount raised in a fortress for the convenience of scouring a field, or opposing a commanding work of the enemy.
102. The strentrel, or estanterol, is a post that supports the awning of the poop.
103. A Dalmatian trooper.
104. Zala, or Sala, is the Moorish salutation.
105. Cava, or Caba, daughter of Count Julian, Count of Ceuta, was violated by Roderick king of Spain; and, in order to revenge this injury, the father called the Saracens into that kingdom, in the year 712.
106. This is the second time they have sat down to supper in one night. Vide p. 216.
107. A judge in Spanish is called Oyder, i. e. Hearer; and the original, literally translated, is, ‘The hearer was never so much an hearer before.’
108. Cervantes seems to have forgot that the judge was the youngest of the three brothers, the second having gone to the Indies.
109. In the original demi-donzellas, equivalent to the modern term demi-reps.
110. Alluding to the delinquents, who were branded and marked with these figures.
111. Literally, ‘Lady of a crown.’
112. The original would be more literally translated, by saying, ‘The law’s measure is the king’s pleasure.’
113. A bridal benediction.
114. It were to be wished, for the honour of Spanish innkeepers, that Cervantes had caused mine host to restore Sancho’s wallet, which he had detained on the day of the blanketting; as such restitution would have increased the general satisfaction.
115. A word of equal signification with mentironiana, from mentereso, a lyar.
116. In the original, mi padre! my father! which I have changed for an exclamation more frequently used in our language.
117. In the text, the knight is guilty of a palpable solecism, in desiring Sancho to touch and feel that which he himself expressly observes was subject neither to touch or feeling.
118. Written by Cervantes himself.
119. Equivalent to our saying, ‘Every Jack is not a good fellow.’
120. A Spanish proverb, applicable to a great many modern projectors and reformers.
121. Buscar gullirias, signifies to seek dainties.
122. Lopez de Vega Carpio.
123. Literally, ‘Never lost the stirrup.’
124. Toca, which is the original word, signifies a woman’s coif, veil, or handkerchief.
125. Persons hired to whip themselves on such occasions.
126. The horse of Orlando Furioso was called Brigliadoro; as Bayardo was the name of the steed belonging to Ruggiero, the second, if not the first hero in Ariosto’s incomparable poem.
127. The battle of Lepanto.
128. Novales Exemplares.
129. Ridiculous as this scheme may seem to be, such an expedient has actually succeeded in practice. During the captivity of John King of France, his dominions were ravaged by above one hundred thousand peasants, who, under the name of Jacquieers, assembled in arms to exterminate the noblesse; and among other horrid outrages, murdered every gentleman that fell in their way. The Duchess of Normandy and Orleans, together with three hundred ladies of rank, retired for protection to Meaux, where they were surrounded, and would have actually perished by the swords of these banditti, had they not been rescued by the Count de Foix, and the captal of Buch; who, hearing of their distress, hastened to their relief with no more than sixty knights; and, without hesitation, attacked that furious multitude with such bravery and vigour, that they were soon routed and dispersed.
130. A certain number of churches through which they made circuits, uttering an appointed prayer at each.
131. Pedir cotufas en el golfo, signifies to look for tartuffles in the sea; a proverb applicable to those who are too sanguine in their expectations, and unreasonable in their desires.
132. Aun ay sol en las bardas. There is still sun-shine on the wall, i. e. It is not yet too late.
133. Finding it impossible to translate the original pun or blunder, I have substituted another in its room, on the word Grammatical, which I think has at least an equally good effect.
134. The original is, ‘De paja, y di beno, el jergonelleno;’ i. e. ‘The bed is filled, though it be with hay and straw.’
135. Alphonsus Tostatus, bishop of Avila, was said to have known every thing that could be known. He made a figure at the council of Basil; wrote twenty-seven volumes; and dying in the fortieth year of his age, was interred in the church of Avila, with this epitaph:——Hic stupor est mundi, qui scibile discutit omne.
136. In Spanish, Me pondra en la espina de Santa Lucia; i. e. ‘Will put me on St. Lucia’s thorn:’ applicable to any uneasy situation.
137. As related in the famous poem of Orlando Inamorato, composed by Boyardo, of which the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto is the continuation.
138. In the original, ‘Black for white.’
139. Literally, badeas, a kind of water melon.
140. This is the cry uttered by the Spaniards when they charge in battle.
141. Baylar el agua delante, is a phrase applicable to those who do their duty with alacrity, taken from the practice of watering the courts in Spain, an office which the maids perform with a motion that resembles dancing.
142. Alonzo de Ercilla, author of the Auraucana; Juan Rufo de Cordova, author of the Austriada; Christopher Verves de Valentia, author of the Monserratte; and as for the half, Cervantes in all probability meant himself.
143. Sancho’s wife has already been mentioned under the names of Juana and Mary, and now she is called Teresa.
144. Almohada signifies a cushion.
145. Alluding to the bough that is adorned and carried in procession on Palm Sunday.
146. A dress put upon convicted hereticks.
147. The original, ventura, signifies good luck as well as adventures.
148. I have substituted this play upon the word proportion, in lieu of Sancho’s blundering on rata.
149. Like our Chevy Chase.
150. As the original quotation is a fragment that will not complete the sense, I have taken the liberty to make the allusion altogether English.
151. Literally, ‘a squire of wool and water,’ an allusion to a custom among the Spaniards, who sometimes have domesticks to attend them to mass, and sprinkle them with holy water: these are generally shabby fellows, who have very poor appointments.
152. A brass statue on a steeple at Seville, serving for a weather-cock.
153. These are stone statues of bulls, erected by the Romans at Guisando, a town in Castile; all the inscriptions are effaced, except the name of A. Quintus Cæcilius, Consul II.
154. Poor people that live about Zamora.
155. Zocodover, a square in Toledo, like Smithfield, where cattle are sold.
156. In the original there is a play upon the words Descarnado, Cordero, and Carnero, which I have endeavoured to imitate, by substituting goose in the room of mutton, which is the literal meaning of the text.
157. The patina was a small consecrated plate which the Spanish women, especially those of an inferior rank, wore upon their breasts.
158. Fouckar was a very rich merchant of Augsburg, and a great favourite of Charles V. who owed him a very considerable sum. It is reported of him, that when the emperor lodged at his house, in his return from Tunis, the fire in his chamber was of cinnamon, and his landlord lighted it with his imperial majesty’s own obligation, thereby cancelling an immense debt. The wealth of these traders, for there were two brothers, became proverbial, and it was usual to say of any very opulent person, ‘He is as rich as a Fouckar.’
159. This was the great patron of the Portuguese discoveries along the coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope.
160. A knavish trick.
161. In the original there is a miserable pun upon the words Mono and Mona, the first of which signifies an ape, and the other drunkenness.
162. Literally, ‘When choler quits the mother, the tongue has then no father.’
163. I have ventured to deviate a little from the precise meaning of the original, which the reader will own to be very insipid when he reads the literal translation: ‘For it would be good, if the inhabitants of the town of Reloxa,’ (signifying a watch, or clock) ‘should, at every turn, slay those that call them so.’
164. As it is altogether impossible, in a translation, literally to preserve the low humour arising from blunders upon words or sounds, I have been obliged to substitute an equivalent jingle, in the room of puto, gafo and meon, which are Spanish words, signifying, a a whore, a catamite, and a piss-a-bed: so that Sancho, deceived by the affinity of these sounds to computo, cosmographa, and Ptolemeo, thought he had reason to say his master had produced a fair set of evidences.
165. In allusion to the speech that Virgil puts in the mouth of Panthus Othryades, who says to Æneas,
——fuit Ilium, et ingens
Gloria Teucrorum!
166. Sayago is a district in the kingdom of Leon, the inhabitants of which were extremely poor, and very meanly cloathed.
167. In Spain and Italy there is, upon every Holy Thursday, a procession of disciplinants, or people who do penance in sackcloth, carrying a flambeau in one hand, and in the other a scourge, with which they belabour their own shoulders, in such a manner, that the very street is sometimes coloured with their blood: some of these disciplinants, however, are mere hypocrites, who under their sackcloth wear women’s stay’s, buff jackets, and even plates of tin; so that they are often detected from the sound of the stroke: and at Rome nothing is more common than to hear the people who accompany these devotees, call out, according to the report of the application, ‘Guipponi di Buffalo!—Busti di Donna! and Corrazini di Latta!’
168. ‘Su alma en su palma.’ The original expression literally signifies, ‘His soul is in his hand,’ i. e. ‘He is at his own discretion.’
169. In Spain the people always retire after dinner, and sleep till six o’clock, whence the afternoon’s nap is called siesta.
170. This is an expression proverbially applied to any story that is vague, inconsistent, or of dubious authority; for the hills of Ubeda make an extensive chain, the different parts of which are differently denominated, from the different countries or districts through which it extends; so that the whole is not easily ascertained.
171. In the original, ’And thoroughly understand “Tus, tus”’; which is an expression in Spain, to wheedle a cur.
172. A young Florentine, of great genius, who died in the seventeenth year of his age, and was lamented by all the poets of his time.
173. Literally, ‘And you shall see it will be worth a loaf that will serve a hundred.’
174. Disciplinante de lux, is a cant phrase, applied to those who are exposed to publick shame.
175. Literally, cacique, which was the appellation given to Indian princes.
176. The other translators have interpreted mosqueo into a fly-flap, which is undoubtedly one of his meanings; but as it likewise signifies flagellation at the cart’s tail, I have taken it in this last acceptation, which, I think, heightens the humour of the passage.
177. Faldis, in Spain, signifies skirts.
178. A kind of pea that grows at Martos, a town in the province of Andalusia.
179. This blunder is much more natural in the Spanish criado for criada; but, as in the English language, the gender is not distinguished by the termination, I have been obliged to substitute the words varlet and handmaid. Varlets were the servants of yeomen, though formerly squires were known by that appellation.
180. Or, in English, ‘Wooden Peg the Winged.’
181. Equivalent to Abington law; in consequence of which, a criminal is first executed, and then tried. Peralvillo is a village near Ciuidad Real, in Castile, where the officers of the holy brotherhood execute robbers taken in flagrante, who require no trial. Hence the phrase, ‘La justicia de Peralvillo, que aborcado el hombre, le baze la Pesquisa.’ i. e. ‘Peralvillo law, which begins the process after the man is hanged.’
182. In Spain, the Pleiades are vulgarly called cabrillas, i. e. nanny-goats.
183. There is a kind of pleasantry in this question of the duke, which cannot be translated; for the Spanish word, cabron, signifies a cuckold, as well as an he-goat.
184. The phrase, No quiero de tu capilla, alludes to the practice of friars, who, when charity is offered, hold out their hoods to receive it, while they pronounce a refusal with their tongues.
185. Instead of saintly.
186. Cervantes has been frequently caught napping, and here in particular: How could this be any proof of the antiquity of ruffs, when the adventure happened after the first part of Don Quixote was published? But, perhaps, this is no other than an ironical animadversion upon the trifling discoveries of antiquarians.
187. Barato, signifies cheap.
188. The Spanish name is Pedro Rezio de Aguero; which, together with Tirte Afuera, the place of his nativity, I have translated into English, that the humour may be better understood.
189. The original Ponga en pretina, signifies, I will put in my girdle.
190. She is in the original called Perlerina, which I have changed into Paralina, in order to preserve the subsequent play on the words.
191. Podrida, signifies rotten or mortified; hence the olla podrida is in French stiled pot-pourri.
192. Literally, The devil’s in Cantiliana, which is a town of Andalusia, near Seville.
193. Literally, the Aranjuez of the fountains. Fuentes signifies, either fountains or issues; and Aranjeuz is the name of a delightful palace, about seven leagues from Madrid, famous for gardens and fountains.
194. This was a Moorish princess, for whom her father built a stately palace near the Tagus, the ruins of which remain to this day.
195. A critick inclined to enumerate the inadvertencies of Cervantes, might observe that Sancho pulled a piece of bread out of his wallet and gave it to Dapple, after he had given the contents of the said wallet to the pilgrims; that he tells the duke and duchess he had governed ten days, whereas he had continued but seven days in office; and, lastly, that Tosilos contemplated the beauties of the damsel, though we are previously told that she was veiled down to the bosom.
196. In the romance of Gerard de Nevers we read, that a certain young lady, perceiving the eagerness with which that knight undertook her defence, pulled the glove from her left-hand, and presented it to him, saying, ‘Sir Knight, my body, life, lands, and honour, I commit to the protection of God and you, to whom I pray he may grant grace to obtain the victory, and deliver us from the danger in which we are now involved.’
197. Moor-killer.
198. The original word is Mendoza, the name of a great family in Spain, one of whom was remarkably superstitious.
199. The Moors are said to be descended from Hagar.
200. Sancho must have been very simple indeed, to be satisfied with this explanation, which does not even hint at the main point of his question; namely, Why do the Spanish soldiers, when they charge their enemy, cry, ‘Close, Spain?’ A phrase of encouragement, by which the soldiers exhort one another to do their duty, and close with the foe.
201. Why might not this innkeeper have had eggs in his house, as he had sent no less than fifty pullets to market the very day before?
202. I am apt to believe that this remark was intended as an ironical sarcasm on the trivial observations of hypercriticks: for we cannot suppose Cervantes did not know, by this time, that he himself had more than once, in the first part of this history, actually called Sancho’s wife by the name of Mary Gutierrez; an oversight which I have taken notice of in the proper place.
203. The proverb in the original, alludes to a kind of tabor: as if one should say, ‘He alone should attempt to play, who knows how to beat the tabor.’
204. This rhime is substituted in lieu of Sancho’s playing on the word fuera, in the original.
205. Literally, ‘Use the times as I find them.’
206. This was Michael Scot, who lived in the thirteenth century, and was such an adept in medicine, mathematicks, chymistry, alchymy, and other branches of natural knowledge, that the vulgar looked upon him as a wizard or magician. But as this philosopher died in 1291, and this conversation between Don Antonio and our knight must have happened after the year 1605, when the first part of Don Quixote was licensed, how could the disciple of Scot be in the house of Don Antonio? Yet this anachronism might easily pass upon Don Quixote, as it related to matters of inchantment.
207. But in this very chapter he has already told Don Quixote, that he knew the virtue of the head from experience.
208. Antonio’s wife must have been here before the others entered: for she is not in the list of those who went in with her husband.
209. Trifles.
210. About Martinmas they killed the hogs designed for bacon.
211. ‘Wherever it may hit:’ an answer that has no affinity with the question, but the faint resemblance of sound.
212. In the original, ‘as fine as Mingo,’ who was a bad poet, and tawdry beau, contemporary with Cervantes.
213. Lines probably taken from some old ballad or romance.
214. The author of the Second Part hinted, in his preface, a design of bringing his hero into the field again, in Old Castile.