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Title

<i>Don Quixote</i> by <i>Miguel de Cervantes</i> (read in 2014--2015)

Description

<abstract>Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I've pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I've failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an interest in this book, then I'm happy for you.</abstract> <h>Citations</h> Cervantes starts off with a swipe at the <i>apologia</i>, a standard practice at the time in which the author excused himself for wasting the time of the reader with his drivel. It was generally an affair with two meanings, but seldom honest. Here is that for Don Quixote: <bq source="Page 47-48">For, how could you expect me not to feel uneasy about what that ancient lawgiver they call the Public will say when it sees me, after slumbering so many years in the silence of oblivion, coming out now with all my years upon my back, and with a book as dry as a rush, devoid of invention, meagre in style, poor in thoughts, wholly wanting in learning and wisdom, without quotations in the margin or annotations at the end, after the fashion of other books I see, which, though all fables and profanity, are so full of maxims from Aristotle, and Plato, and the whole herd of philosophers, that they fill the readers with amazement and convince them that the authors are men of learning, erudition, and eloquence. And then, when they quote the Holy Scriptures!—anyone would say they are St. Thomases or other doctors of the Church, observing as they do a decorum so ingenious that in one sentence they describe a distracted lover and in the next deliver a devout little sermon that it is a pleasure and a treat to hear and read. Of all this there will be nothing in my book, for “I have nothing to quote in the margin or to note at the end, and still less do I know what authors I follow in it, to place them at the beginning, as all do, under the letters A, B, C, beginning with Aristotle and ending with Xenophon, or Zoilus, or Zeuxis, though one was a slanderer and the other a painter. Also my book must do without sonnets at the beginning, at least sonnets whose authors are dukes, marquises, counts, bishops, ladies, or famous poets. Though if I were to ask two or three obliging friends, I know they would give me them, and such as the productions of those that have the highest reputation in our Spain could not equal. In short, my friend," I continued, "I am determined that Senor Don Quixote shall remain buried in the archives of his own La Mancha until Heaven provide some one to garnish him with all those things he stands in need of; because I find myself, through my shallowness and want of learning, unequal to supplying them, and because I am by nature shy and careless about hunting for authors to say what I myself can say without them. Hence the cogitation and abstraction you found me in, and reason enough, what you have heard from me.</bq> Soon after, Cervantes pokes at how the utterly mundane is transformed into the etherial by historians, <bq source="Page 58">Thus setting out, our new-fledged adventurer paced along, talking to himself and saying, "Who knows but that in time to come, when the veracious history of my famous deeds is made known, the sage who writes it, when he has to set forth my first sally in the early morning, will do it after this fashion? 'Scarce had the rubicund Apollo spread o'er the face of the broad spacious earth the golden threads of his bright hair, scarce had the little birds of painted plumage attuned their notes to hail with dulcet and mellifluous harmony the coming of the rosy Dawn, that, deserting the soft couch of her jealous spouse, was appearing to mortals at the gates and balconies of the Manchegan horizon, when the renowned knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, quitting the lazy down, mounted his celebrated steed Rocinante and began to traverse the ancient and famous Campo de Montiel;'" which in fact he was actually traversing. "Happy the age, happy the time," he continued, "in which shall be made known my deeds of fame, worthy to be moulded in brass, carved in marble, limned in pictures, for a memorial for ever. “And thou, O sage magician, whoever thou art, to whom it shall fall to be the chronicler of this wondrous history, forget not, I entreat thee, my good Rocinante, the constant companion of my ways and wanderings." Presently he broke out again, as if he were love-stricken in earnest, "O Princess Dulcinea, lady of this captive heart, a grievous wrong hast thou done me to drive me forth with scorn, and with inexorable obduracy banish me from the presence of thy beauty. O lady, deign to hold in remembrance this heart, thy vassal, that thus in anguish pines for love of thee.</bq> This next quote plumbs the depths of Quixote's derangement, with his quite honest belief that a potion that he learned how to mix from one of his books on chivalry will allow him to be pasted back together like a cartoon character. <bq source="Page 102">What vial and what balsam is that?" said Sancho Panza. "It is a balsam," answered Don Quixote, "the receipt of which I have in my memory, with which one need have no fear of death, or dread dying of any wound; and so when I make it and give it to thee thou hast nothing to do when in some battle thou seest they have cut me in half through the middle of the body—as is wont to happen frequently,—but neatly and with great nicety, ere the blood congeal, to place that portion of the body which shall have fallen to the ground upon the other half which remains in the saddle, taking care to fit it on evenly and exactly. Then thou shalt give me to drink but two drops of the balsam I have mentioned, and thou shalt see me become sounder than an apple. </bq> This next citation reminds me very much of Mark Twain, who had a very similarly sarcastic style. <bq source="Page 288--289">Don Quixote's [bed] consisted simply of four rough boards on two not very even trestles, a mattress, that for thinness might have passed for a quilt, full of pellets which, were they not seen through the rents to be wool, would to the touch have seemed pebbles in hardness, two sheets made of buckler leather, and a coverlet the threads of which anyone that chose might have counted without missing one in the reckoning.</bq> And here we have a description of a woman foiling an attack from one man while describing how she was unable to foil a similar attack at a later date. <bq>[...] my worthy servant, until then so faithful and trusty when he found me in this lonely spot, moved more by his own villainy than by my beauty, sought to take advantage of the opportunity which these solitudes seemed to present him, and with little shame and less fear of God and respect for me, began to make overtures to me; and finding that I replied to the effrontery of his proposals with justly severe language, he laid aside the entreaties which he had employed at first, and began to use violence. But just Heaven, that seldom fails to watch over and aid good intentions, so aided mine that with my slight strength and with little exertion I pushed him over a precipice, where I left him, whether dead or alive I know not [...] I met a herdsman who engaged me as his servant at a place in the heart of this Sierra, and all this time I have been serving him as herd, striving to keep always afield to hide these locks which have now unexpectedly betrayed me. But all my care and pains were unavailing, for my master made the discovery that I was not a man, and harboured the same base designs as my servant; and as fortune does not always supply a remedy in cases of difficulty, and I had no precipice or ravine at hand down which to fling the master and cure his passion, as I had in the servant's case, I thought it a lesser evil to leave him and again conceal myself among these crags, than make trial of my strength and argument with him.</bq> <bq caption="Pos. 7340">"But what most of all made me hold my hand and even abandon all idea of finishing it was an argument I put to myself taken from the plays that are acted now-a-days, which was in this wise: if those that are now in vogue, as well those that are pure invention as those founded on history, are, all or most of them, downright nonsense and things that have neither head nor tail, and yet the public listens to them with delight, and regards and cries them up as perfection when they are so far from it; and if the authors who write them, and the players who act them, say that this is what they must be, for the public wants this and will have nothing else; and that those that go by rule and work out a plot according to the laws of art will only find some half-dozen intelligent people to understand them, while all the rest remain blind to the merit of their composition; and that for themselves it is better to get bread from the many than praise from the few; then my book will fare the same way [...]</bq> <bq caption="Pos. 7484">For myself, I can only say that when I read them, so long as I do not stop to think that they are all lies and frivolity, they give me a certain amount of pleasure; but when I come to consider what they are, I fling the very best of them at the wall, and would fling it into the fire if there were one at hand, as richly deserving such punishment as cheats and impostors out of the range of ordinary toleration, and as founders of new sects and modes of life, and teachers that lead the ignorant public to believe and accept as truth all the folly they contain.</bq> Here we see Cervantes's hatred for this kind of pap. Part II of the book starts with a discussion of the first part of the book, which in this second part has appeared as a publication already famous throughout Spain. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza discuss this book with a bachelor who is very familiar with it, questioning and probing to determine that it reflects the truth...but not too much of the truth. This part is really very nicely written and the self-referential part as well as the oblique chastisement of Cervantes's own detractors and critics is quite a master stroke.<fn> Cervantes packs this long book full of wonderful prose, never missing an opportunity for a small joke or pithy phrase (much as Sancho never misses an opportunity to utter a proverb). So many paragraphs are like exquisite sculptures, standing nearly on their own, and the careful reader is constantly rewarded, as in the emphasized part below. <bq source="Pos. 8383" author="Sancho Panza">[...] Let each look to himself and not try to make out white black, and black white; for each of us is as God made him, aye, <i>and often worse.</i> (Emphasis added.)</bq> Or in this next citation, again from Panza, about how those least in need of it have money thrown at them, <bq source="Pos. 8523-8524" author="Sancho Panza">As soon as I have the government," said Sancho, "I will send for him by post, and I will send thee money, of which I shall have no lack, for there is never any want of people to lend it to governors when they have not got it; [...]</bq> Or this one, again by Sancho, which appear to be a nicety but is a backhanded compliment if I've ever read one. The sting is in the tail. The books are positively filled with this type of sly backhandedness. <bq source="Pos. 11812" author="Sancho Panza">My lady the duchess kisses thy hands a thousand times; do thou make a return with two thousand, for as my master says, <i>nothing costs less or is cheaper than civility.</i> (Emphasis added.)</bq> <bq source="Pos. 8967--8971" author="Don Quixote">And thou, highest perfection of excellence that can be desired, utmost limit of grace in human shape, sole relief of this afflicted heart that adores thee, though the malign enchanter that persecutes me has brought clouds and cataracts on my eyes, and to them, and them only, transformed thy unparagoned beauty and changed thy features into those of a poor peasant girl, if so be he has not at the same time changed mine into those of some monster to render them loathsome in thy sight, refuse not to look upon me with tenderness and love; seeing in this submission that I make on my knees to thy transformed beauty the humility with which my soul adores thee.</bq> Sancho lied about Dulcinea, covering up his subterfuge by claiming that Quixote could only see an ugly peasant girl because of <i>enchantments</i>. And here Sancho Panza doubles down on his lie about Dulcinea, showing what a brilliant, confident and, above all, <i>unabashed</i> liar he is, <bq source="Pos. 9032--9034" author="Sancho Panza">[...] and <i>if it be that it is only from your worship she is hidden</i>, the misfortune will be more yours than hers; but so long as the lady Dulcinea is well and happy, we on our part will make the best of it, and get on as well as we can, seeking our adventures, and leaving Time to take his own course; for he is the best physician for these and greater ailments.</bq> And Dulcinea's non-existence in no way prevents Quixote from lamenting the loss of her fictitious honor through his own inability to resist the bought-and-paid-for wiles of a few young damsels hired by the duke and duchess to prolong their prank. Here Quixote is disconsolate because he will be unable to resist the temptations of virgins and will therefore sully the pure love he has for a woman he has never met nor knows. He weeps for her lost honor, the status of which is not only entirely fictitious but also would be well within his power to preserve. <bq source="Pos. 12536-12538" author="Don Quixote">O that I should be such an unlucky knight that no damsel can set eyes on me but falls in love with me! O that the peerless Dulcinea should be so unfortunate that they cannot let her enjoy my incomparable constancy in peace! What would ye with her, ye queens? Why do ye persecute her, ye empresses? Why ye pursue her, ye virgins of from fourteen to fifteen?</bq> The exactness of his dialogue is a pleasure: <bq source="Pos. 9521--9526" author="Don Quixote">Thirty thousand volumes of my history have been printed, and it is on the high-road to be printed thirty thousand thousands of times, if heaven does not put a stop to it. In short, to sum up all in a few words, or in a single one, I may tell you I am Don Quixote of La Mancha, otherwise called 'The Knight of the Rueful Countenance;' for though self-praise is degrading, I must perforce sound my own sometimes, that is to say, when there is no one at hand to do it for me. So that, gentle sir, neither this horse, nor this lance, nor this shield, nor this squire, nor all these arms put together, nor the sallowness of my countenance, nor my gaunt leanness, will henceforth astonish you, now that you know who I am and what profession I follow.</bq> And here: <bq source="Pos. 14297--14302" author="Don Quixote">[...] there is no mode of life more restless or anxious than ours. What led me into it was a certain thirst for vengeance, which is strong enough to disturb the quietest hearts. I am by nature tender-hearted and kindly, but, as I said, the desire to revenge myself for a wrong that was done me so overturns all my better impulses that I keep on in this way of life in spite of what conscience tells me; and as one depth calls to another, and one sin to another sin, revenges have linked themselves together, and I have taken upon myself not only my own but those of others: it pleases God, however, that, though I see myself in this maze of entanglements, I do not lose all hope of escaping from it and reaching a safe port.</bq> Quixote holds forth on the validity of various scholastics and poetry: <bq source="Pos. 9586--9589" author="Don Quixote">But your son, senor, I suspect, is not prejudiced against Spanish poetry, but against those poets who are mere Spanish verse writers, without any knowledge of other languages or sciences to adorn and give life and vigour to their natural inspiration; and yet even in this he may be wrong; for, according to a true belief, a poet is born one;</bq> When Quixote confronts lions and demands to fight them, the gentleman in charge of them chides him with, <bq source="Pos. 9652">[...] valour that trenches upon temerity savours rather of madness than of courage;</bq> At another point, Quixote himself holds forth on discretion being the better part of valor (Douglas Adams took it further, writing that <iq>[...] cowardice is the better part of discretion, [and Zaphod] valiantly hid himself in a closet</iq>). <bq source="Pos. 10922--10925">He does not fly who retires," returned Don Quixote; "for I would have thee know, Sancho, that the valour which is not based upon a foundation of prudence is called rashness, and the exploits of the rash man are to be attributed rather to good fortune than to courage; and so I own that I retired, but not that I fled; and therein I have followed the example of many valiant men who have reserved themselves for better times;</bq> And here we have yet more evidence that part two of this book is a clever story of the telling of the translation of the telling of the story of Don Quixote. <bq source="Pos. 9690--9691">Here the author's outburst came to an end, and he proceeded to take up the thread of his story, saying that the keeper, seeing that Don Quixote had taken up his position, and that it was impossible for him to avoid letting out the male without incurring the enmity of the fiery and daring knight, flung open the doors of the first cage, containing, as has been said, the lion, which was now seen to be of enormous size, and grim and hideous mien.</bq> The reader is eased back in from the supposedly high-flung and needlessly hyperbolic prose of the original author to the at least somewhat more staid and descriptive and sensible prose of the current translator. <bq source="Pos. 9748--9752" author="Don Quixote">I, then, as it has fallen to my lot to be a member of knight-errantry, cannot avoid attempting all that to me seems to come within the sphere of my duties; thus it was my bounden duty to attack those lions that I just now attacked, although I knew it to be the height of rashness; for I know well what valour is, that it is a virtue that occupies a place between two vicious extremes, cowardice and temerity; but it will be a lesser evil for him who is valiant to rise till he reaches the point of rashness, than to sink until he reaches the point of cowardice; for, as it is easier for the prodigal than for the miser to become generous, so it is easier for a rash man to prove truly valiant than for a coward to rise to true valour; and believe me, Senor Don Diego, in attempting adventures it is better to lose by a card too many than by a card too few; for to hear it said, 'such a knight is rash and daring,' sounds better than 'such a knight is timid and cowardly.'</bq> And in this much longer passage, the author writes how the original Moorish author lamented at having to write such a boring story, a form of <i>apologia</i> but with ironic tongue firmly in cheek. <bq source="Pos. 12415--12423">It is stated, they say, in the true original of this history, that when Cide Hamete came to write this chapter, his interpreter did not translate it as he wrote it—that is, as a kind of complaint the Moor made against himself for having taken in hand a story so dry and of so little variety as this of Don Quixote, for he found himself forced to speak perpetually of him and Sancho, without venturing to indulge in digressions and episodes more serious and more interesting. He said, too, that to go on, mind, hand, pen always restricted to writing upon one single subject, and speaking through the mouths of a few characters, was intolerable drudgery, the result of which was never equal to the author's labour, and that to avoid this he had in the First Part availed himself of the device of novels, like "The Ill-advised Curiosity," and "The Captive Captain," which stand, as it were, apart from the story; the others are given there being incidents which occurred to Don Quixote himself and could not be omitted. He also thought, he says, that many, engrossed by the interest attaching to the exploits of Don Quixote, would take none in the novels, and pass them over hastily or impatiently without noticing the elegance and art of their composition, which would be very manifest were they published by themselves and not as mere adjuncts to the crazes of Don Quixote or the simplicities of Sancho.</bq> Again, much later in the book, we meet Roque, who is so polite and good-looking that people are almost pleased to be robbed by him, thanking him for whatever small courtesy he offers: <bq source="Pos. 14329--14333">Profuse and hearty were the expressions of gratitude with which the captains thanked Roque for his courtesy and generosity; for such they regarded his leaving them their own money. Senora Dona Guiomar de Quinones wanted to throw herself out of the coach to kiss the feet and hands of the great Roque, but he would not suffer it on any account; so far from that, he begged her pardon for the wrong he had done her under pressure of the inexorable necessities of his unfortunate calling.</bq> Here is an example of Don Quixote's frustration with Sancho's seemingly inadvertent but at-times seemingly deliberate misuse of words. <bq source="Pos. 9937--9941" author="Don Quixote">What art thou driving at, Sancho? curses on thee!" said Don Quixote; "for when thou takest to stringing proverbs and sayings together, no one can understand thee but Judas himself, and I wish he had thee. Tell me, thou animal, what dost thou know about nails or wheels, or anything else?" "Oh, if you don't understand me," replied Sancho, "it is no wonder my words are taken for nonsense; but no matter; I understand myself, and I know I have not said anything very foolish in what I have said; only your worship, senor, is always gravelling at everything I say, nay, everything I do." "Cavilling, not gravelling," said Don Quixote, "thou prevaricator of honest language, God confound thee!</bq> This misuse of words, especially those a bit off the beaten path, is common among people today as well. With an ear more attuned to it, I've recently heard someone use "diligent" when they meant "vigilant" or "colonoscopy bag" instead of "colostomy bag". Don Quixote has a bit of a love/hate relationship with Sancho, as evidenced by this next citation. Note the emphasis. <bq>God guide thee, Sancho, and govern thee in thy government, and deliver me from the misgiving I have that thou wilt turn the whole island upside down, a thing I might easily prevent by explaining to the duke what thou art and telling him that all that <i>fat little person of thine is nothing else but a sack full of proverbs and sauciness.</i> (Emphasis added.)</bq> And here Sancho expresses his doubt at the gravity of Basilio's condition, <bq source="Pos. 10171--10172" author="Sancho Panza">For one so badly wounded," observed Sancho at this point, "this young man has a great deal to say; they should make him leave off billing and cooing, and attend to his soul; for to my thinking he has it more on his tongue than at his teeth.</bq> And here is a typically long, though lovely formulation of a now-common proverb "all is fair in love and war". <bq source="Pos. 10185--10188">[...] right to take vengeance for wrongs that love may do to us: remember love and war are the same thing, and as in war it is allowable and common to make use of wiles and stratagems to overcome the enemy, so in the contests and rivalries of love the tricks and devices employed to attain the desired end are justifiable, provided they be not to the discredit or dishonour of the loved object.</bq> This next part is delivered by Don Quixote later, when Sancho is about to become a governor and is in dire need of guidance in his personal hygiene. It translates, roughly, to "long nails is nasty." <bq source="Pos. 12333---12336" author="Don Quixote">"With regard to the mode in which thou shouldst govern thy person and thy house, Sancho, the first charge I have to give thee is to be clean, and to cut thy nails, not letting them grow as some do, whose ignorance makes them fancy that long nails are an ornament to their hands, as if those excrescences they neglect to cut were nails, and not the talons of a lizard-catching kestrel—a filthy and unnatural abuse.</bq> Or this quote of Don Quixote, who in this case---and many others, throughout the book---epitomizes the know-it-all who has read much but experienced nothing. Here he is acknowledging this but plowing on nonetheless, as he is about to expound at length on marriage, because the world should not be deprived of wisdom such as his, <bq author="Don Quixote" source="Pos. 10222--10224">[...] myself am not married, nor, so far, has it ever entered my thoughts to be so; nevertheless I would venture to give advice to anyone who might ask it, as to the mode in which he should seek a wife such as he would be content to marry. [...] If you take a good woman into your house it will be an easy matter to keep her good, and even to make her still better; but if you take a bad one you will find it hard work to mend her, for it is no very easy matter to pass from one extreme to another. I do not say it is impossible, but I look upon it as difficult.</bq> And here we meet another man on the road, one who is arguably worse than Quixote or Panza in his locution: a man who shows all signs of being the precursor or sixteenth-century equivalent of the online, conspiracy-theorist know-it-all. <bq source="10255--10256">Another book I have which I call 'The Supplement to Polydore Vergil,' which treats of the invention of things, and is a work of great erudition and research, for I establish and elucidate elegantly some things of great importance which Polydore omitted to mention. He forgot to tell us who was the first man in the world that had a cold in his head, and who was the first to try salivation for the French disease, but I give it accurately set forth, and quote more than five-and-twenty authors in proof of it, so you may perceive I have laboured to good purpose and that the book will be of service to the whole world.</bq> The sarcasm of the author shines through thickly nearly everywhere, as evidenced in the emphasized bit in the following citation. <bq source="Pos. 10270--10272" author="Don Quixote">Thou hast said more than thou art aware of, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "for there are some who weary themselves out in learning and proving things that, after they are known and proved, are not worth a farthing to the understanding or memory." <i>In this and other pleasant conversation the day went by</i>, [...](Emphasis added.)</bq> Or in this (emphasized) comment by Sancho Panza, responding to the guide's request that Quixote be on the lookout for strangeness, even if it's hard to detect. <bq source="10280--10282">[...] said the guide, "I beg of you, Senor Don Quixote, to observe carefully and examine with a hundred eyes everything that is within there; perhaps there may be some things for me to put into my book of 'Transformations.'" <i>"The drum is in hands that will know how to beat it well enough,"</i> said Sancho Panza. (Emphasis added.)</bq> There's this brilliant bit wherein Quixote makes up a word, for once, then corrects Panza when he misquotes it, chiding him for not knowing Latin. <bq>As Sancho said this, he tied the beasts, leaving them to the care and protection of the enchanters with sorrow enough in his heart. Don Quixote bade him not be uneasy about deserting the animals, "for he who would carry themselves over such longinquous roads and regions would take care to feed them." "I don't understand that logiquous," said Sancho, "nor have I ever heard the word all the days of my life." "Longinquous," replied Don Quixote, "means far off; but it is no wonder thou dost not understand it, for thou art not bound to know Latin, like some who pretend to know it and don't.</bq> And here is Don Quixote, waxing once again very eloquently and loquaciously, in effect saying "step off, you don't know what you're talking about.". <bq source="Pos. 11271--11273" author="Don Quixote">The place I am in, the presence in which I stand, and the respect I have and always have had for the profession to which your worship belongs, hold and bind the hands of my just indignation; and as well for these reasons as because I know, as everyone knows, that a gownsman's weapon is the same as a woman's, the tongue, I will with mine engage in equal combat with your worship, from whom one might have expected good advice instead of foul abuse. Pious, well-meant reproof requires a different demeanour and arguments of another sort; at any rate, to have reproved me in public, and so roughly, exceeds the bounds of proper reproof, for that comes better with gentleness than with rudeness; and it is not seemly to call the sinner roundly blockhead and booby, without knowing anything of the sin that is reproved.</bq> And poor Sancho has still not given up on his dreams. It's so hard to tell whether he really believes this, while at the same knowing of Quixote's utter madness. He would not be the first nor the last to harbor such cognitive dissonance. <bq source="11295">[...] neither will he be in any want of empires to rule, or I of islands to govern.</bq> And again, I cannot honestly tell how many layers of sarcasm there are here: is it the (purported) original translator, the author or Sancho who is here being sarcastic? Does Sancho really think this? Or is he thinking what a dolt Quixote is for not having noticed that the devil cannot be the devil he claims? <bq source="Pos. 11644--11648">If you were the devil, as you say and as your appearance indicates," said the duke, "you would have known the said knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, for you have him here before you. By God and upon my conscience," said the devil, "I never observed it, for my mind is occupied with so many different things that I was forgetting the main thing I came about. This demon must be an honest fellow and a good Christian," said Sancho; "for if he wasn't he wouldn't swear by God and his conscience; I feel sure now there must be good souls even in hell itself.</bq> And here we see effusive praise showered upon Quixote by the duke, despite the duke knowing that it's lies. Quixote may believe it, but he knows in part of his heart that it is not true. But his doubts are quickly washed away with this type of obsequy. It's as if saying it more makes it all the more true, that the praise calls forth the immanent prowess. This seems to be the whole point of this second part: starting as a joke, but these people are all contributing to making the utter fantasy of the first half become nearly real---at least for Quixote and Panza---and once it's real, their mockery will be hollow because of their own actions. It's quite complex and rich, actually. <bq source="11854--11855">I say so, because your excellence has been barely six days in this castle, and already the unhappy and the afflicted come in quest of you from lands far distant and remote, and not in coaches or on dromedaries, but on foot and fasting, confident that in that mighty arm they will find a cure for their sorrows and troubles; thanks to your great achievements, which are circulated all over the known earth.</bq> To this high praise, Quixote, whose doubts in his own prowess have been dispelled by such effusiveness, responds thusly, <bq source="Pos. 11857--11861">[...] those suffering any extraordinary affliction or sorrow, in extreme cases and unusual misfortunes do not go to look for a remedy to the houses of jurists or village sacristans, or to the knight who has never attempted to pass the bounds of his own town, or to the indolent courtier who only seeks for news to repeat and talk of, instead of striving to do deeds and exploits for others to relate and record. Relief in distress, help in need, protection for damsels, consolation for widows, are to be found in no sort of persons better than in knights-errant;</bq> Sancho is told the same, in no uncertain terms, by his majordomo, once he becomes governor. See emphasis. <bq source="Pos. 12977--12981" author="majordomo">There is so much in what your worship says, senor governor," said the majordomo, "that I am filled with wonder when I see a man like your worship, entirely without learning (for I believe you have none at all), say such things, and so full of sound maxims and sage remarks, very different from what was expected of your worship's intelligence by those who sent us or by us who came here. Every day we see something new in this world; <i>jokes become realities, and the jokers find the tables turned upon them.</i></bq> And almost every chapter ends with an enticement to read the next. This example is from the end of chapter XXXVII but is typical of the style and is likely an inside joke as well. <bq source="Pos. 11890--11893">[...] and here the author brought this short chapter to an end and began the next, following up the same adventure, which is one of the most notable in the history.</bq> Once again, it is difficult to know at this distance whether I am viewing the following passage as ironic simply because it passes through my more modern and liberal interpretive lens, or whether Cervantes really meant to poke fun at those who truly thought that a Moor would know only of <iq>charity, humility, faith, obedience, and poverty</iq> because <iq>Christians</iq> had told him of them. <bq source="Page 12486-12488"><i>Although a Moor</i>, I know well enough from the intercourse I have had with Christians that holiness consists in charity, humility, faith, obedience, and poverty; but for all that, I say he must have a great deal of godliness who can find any satisfaction in being poor; unless, indeed, it be the kind of poverty one of their greatest saints refers to, saying, 'possess all things as though ye possessed them not;'</bq> Or this passage about poor gentlemen who pretend to greater wealth than they have, just to protect their so-called honor. I can only imagine that he mocks them, <bq source="Pos. 12492" author="Cide Hamete">Poor gentleman of good family! always cockering up his honour, dining miserably and in secret, and making a hypocrite of the toothpick with which he sallies out into the street after eating nothing to oblige him to use it! Poor fellow, I say, with his nervous honour, fancying they perceive a league off the patch on his shoe, the sweat-stains on his hat, the shabbiness of his cloak, and the hunger of his stomach!</bq> Again, with the backhanded compliment: there are but two of these women and "seldom" means that one of them did it at least once. <bq source="Pos. 13647--13650">I always had a suspicion that gentleman had a passion for my daughter," said Ricote; "but as I felt sure of my Ricota's virtue it gave me no uneasiness to know that he loved her; for thou must have heard it said, Sancho, that <b>the Morisco women seldom or never engage in amours with the old Christians</b>; and my daughter, who I fancy thought more of being a Christian than of lovemaking, would not trouble herself about the attentions of this heir. (Emphasis added.)</bq> And again, from Sancho: <bq source="Pos. 13742--13743" author="Sancho Panza">Enemies attacked us by night and put us in a great quandary, but the people of the island say they came off safe and victorious by the might of my arm; and <b>may God give them as much health as there's truth in what they say.</b> (Emphasis added.)</bq> Even this late in the game, you still can't tell whether Sancho is kidding or not, although we know he is aware of his own deception in the case of Dulcinea. <bq source="Pos. 13822--13825">Oh, senor," said Sancho, "those scoundrels are well used to changing whatever concerns my master from one thing into another. A knight that he overcame some time back, called the Knight of the Mirrors, they turned into the shape of the bachelor Samson Carrasco of our town and a great friend of ours; and my lady Dulcinea del Toboso they have turned into a common country wench; so I suspect this lacquey will have to live and die a lacquey all the days of his life.</bq> Sancho lays down a scathing comment. <bq author="Sancho Panza" source="Pos. 13952--13955">But I can't imagine what it is that this damsel saw in your worship that could have conquered and captivated her so. What gallant figure was it, what bold bearing, what sprightly grace, what comeliness of feature, which of these things by itself, or what all together, could have made her fall in love with you? For indeed and in truth many a time I stop to look at your worship from the sole of your foot to the topmost hair of your head, and I see more to frighten one than to make one fall in love; moreover I have heard say that beauty is the first and main thing that excites love, and as your worship has none at all, I don't know what the poor creature fell in love with.</bq> And here we see how relentless and single-minded Don Quixote is. Despite his having achieved his goal of becoming a famous knight-errant---and this despite his utter ineptitude---he still needs more. He still needs to disenchant his precious Dulcinea, whom he has still never officially met. Sancho will come out ahead and he does manipulate Quixote, but he is eminently manipulable because his madness makes him so selfish. As so many, he thinks he acts in the interests of everyone else, but his action are far from altruistic. Dulcinea's enchantment, for example, must be lifted so that the beauty of the object of his love is restored, not for her sake, but for his. <bq source="Pos. 14068--14071">Sancho, if thou wilt do for me what I am going to tell thee my ease of mind would be more assured and my heaviness of heart not so great; and it is this; to go aside a little while I am sleeping in accordance with thy advice, and, making bare thy carcase to the air, to give thyself three or four hundred lashes with Rocinante's reins, on account of the three thousand and odd thou art to give thyself for the disenchantment of Dulcinea; for it is a great pity that the poor lady should be left enchanted through thy carelessness and negligence.</bq> Sancho would eventually concede to at least pretend to administer the lashes. Quixote would be convinced that the lashes had been delivered by Sancho upon himself; instead, the lashes served to flay the bark off of several trees over the course of a few nights. Sancho's back remained untouched, a condition that didn't raise any suspicion in Quixote. Not only that, but Sancho also convinced Quixote to <i>pay him</i>---quite handsomely---for the lashes that he never administered. And, in the end, Dulcinea's enchantment was, mysteriously, never lifted. The enchantment that Sancho had himself invented out of whole cloth, but which Quixote's madness made nearly inevitable. Near the end of the book, Cervantes writes what for all the world feels like the precursor to the "Cheese Shop" skit by Monty Python. <bq quote_style="none">To this the landlord replied that his mouth should be the measure; he had only to ask what he would; for that inn was provided with the birds of the air and the fowls of the earth and the fish of the sea. "There's no need of all that," said Sancho; "if they'll roast us a couple of chickens we'll be satisfied, for my master is delicate and eats little, and I'm not over and above gluttonous." The landlord replied he had no chickens, for the kites had stolen them. "Well then," said Sancho, "let senor landlord tell them to roast a pullet, so that it is a tender one." "Pullet! My father!" said the landlord; "indeed and in truth it's only yesterday I sent over fifty to the city to sell; but saving pullets ask what you will." "In that case," said Sancho, "you will not be without veal or kid." "Just now," said the landlord, "there's none in the house, for it's all finished; but next week there will be enough and to spare." "Much good that does us," said Sancho; "I'll lay a bet that all these short-comings are going to wind up in plenty of bacon and eggs." "By God," said the landlord, "my guest's wits must be precious dull; I tell him I have neither pullets nor hens, and he wants me to have eggs! Talk of other dainties, if you please, and don't ask for hens again." "Body o' me!" said Sancho, "let's settle the matter; say at once what you have got, and let us have no more words about it."</bq> <iq>The landlord replied he had no chickens, for the kites had stolen them.</iq> sounds a lot like <iq>The cat's eaten it.</iq>. Cervantes shows a mastery of description in some places, as here, near the end of the second part. It is hoped that Terry Gilliam will be able to make much of such passages, when he finally manages to put this story to film. <bq source="Pos. 14363--14367">The dawn made way for the sun that with a face broader than a buckler began to rise slowly above the low line of the horizon; Don Quixote and Sancho gazed all round them; they beheld the sea, a sight until then unseen by them; it struck them as exceedingly spacious and broad, much more so than the lakes of Ruidera which they had seen in La Mancha. They saw the galleys along the beach, which, lowering their awnings, displayed themselves decked with streamers and pennons that trembled in the breeze and kissed and swept the water, while on board the bugles, trumpets, and clarions were sounding and filling the air far and near with melodious warlike notes.</bq> In the end, the world preferred Quixote as a madman. <bq source="Pos. 14785--14787">O senor," said Don Antonio, "may God forgive you the wrong you have done the whole world in trying to bring the most amusing madman in it back to his senses. Do you not see, senor, that the gain by Don Quixote's sanity can never equal the enjoyment his crazes give?</bq> And here Sancho steers the conversation about to focus on relieving him of any burdens. <bq source="Pos. 14867--14870">Your worship is right," said Sancho; "for, as sensible people hold, 'the fault of the ass must not be laid on the pack-saddle;' and, as in this affair the fault is your worship's, punish yourself and don't let your anger break out against the already battered and bloody armour, or the meekness of Rocinante, <b>or the tenderness of my feet</b>, trying to make them travel more than is reasonable. (Emphasis added.)</bq> One last time, Quixote tries to dissuade Panza from his excessively proverbial manner of speech. <bq source="Pos. 14979--14985">A truce to thy proverbs, Sancho," exclaimed Don Quixote; "any one of those thou hast uttered would suffice to explain thy meaning; many a time have I recommended thee not to be so lavish with proverbs and to exercise some moderation in delivering them; but it seems to me it is only 'preaching in the desert;' 'my mother beats me and I go on with my tricks." "It seems to me," said Sancho, "that your worship is like the common saying, 'Said the frying-pan to the kettle, Get away, blackbreech.' You chide me for uttering proverbs, and you string them in couples yourself." "Observe, Sancho," replied Don Quixote, "I bring in proverbs to the purpose, and when I quote them they fit like a ring to the finger; thou bringest them in by the head and shoulders, in such a way that thou dost drag them in, rather than introduce them;</bq> Despite all evidence, despite all appearances, despite all that has happened, one thing remains fixed in Quixote's mind: he is a knight of unparalleled fighting strength and skill. <bq source="Pos. 15045--15046">Don Quixote turned to Sancho and said, "If I could make use of my weapons, and my promise had not tied my hands, I would count this host that comes against us but cakes and fancy bread;</bq> The expression <iq>as last year's clouds</iq> came up quite a few times and I quite like it. <bq source="Pos. 15410--15411" author="Sancho Panza">There, senor! there are the omens broken and destroyed, and they have no more to do with our affairs, to my thinking, fool as I am, than with last year's clouds; [...]</bq> In the end, Don Quixote must convince his friends that the madman of the past year is gone. But though they started off feeling sorry for him, then mocking him, they seemed to have genuinely liked him better as the mad knight-errant. <bq source="Pos. 15523-15526">Sirs, not so fast," said Don Quixote, "'in last year's nests there are no birds this year.' I was mad, now I am in my senses; I was Don Quixote of La Mancha, I am now, as I said, Alonso Quixano the Good; and may my repentance and sincerity restore me to the esteem you used to have for me; and now let Master Notary proceed.</bq> <h>Errata</h> When I read books that I downloaded from <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">Gutenberg Project</a>, I like to be helpful and provide corrections where I can. They have a very friendly and responsive errata-submission system. <pre> Title: Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Translated by John Ormsby January 27, 2004 [EBook #966] File: pg996.epub, pg996.mobi Page 148-149: that verily and truly be believed his last hour had come change “be” to “he”; and truly [he] believed his last hour Page 150-151: seeing that the ceiling was somewhat lower what they required for their work add “than” between “lower” and “what"; somewhat lower [than] what they Page 168-169: in this our iron age to revive revive in it the age of gold remove the duplicated “revive” Page 282: but I implore you, señor, not not to be so revengeful in the future remove the duplicated “not” Page 288-289: they shall give me a portion portion of the kingdom remove the duplicated “portion” Page 305: for even if the issue he as thou wouldst have it change “he” to “be”; if the issue [be] as thou Page 331-332: led home by the hand him who had been the utter add “of” between “hand” and “him”; by the hand [of] him Page 338: without missing Camilla from his side, rose cager to learn what Leonela change “cager" to “eager” Page 354: and approaching her who by her dress seemed to be a Moor he her down from saddle in his arms. this sentence is quite confused. I don't know the original, but a better structure in the original style would be: who by her dress seemed to be a Moor, he [took] her down from [the] saddle [into] his arms. Page 408--409: To enable her to vent over it the great passion passion which has brought her remove the duplicated “passion” Pos. 6934: which I won from him in air war, and made myself master of by legitimate and lawful possession. change “air” to “fair”; which I won from him in [f]air war Pos. 6977: but the one who above all was at his wits’ end, was the barber basin, there before his very eyes, had been turned add “whose” between “barber” and “basin”; was at his wits’ end, was the barber [whose] basin, there before his very eyes Pos. 7150: entered the room where he was asleep, taking his his rest after the past frays, and advancing to remove duplicated “his”; taking his rest after the past frays Pos. 7603: so let the country come, and God he with you, and let us change “he” to “be”; so let the country come, and God [b]e with you, Pos. 7761: Now, noble company, ye shall see how important it is that there should be knights in the world professing the of knight-errantry; word missing between “the” and “of”; world professing the […] of knight-errantry; Pos. 7783: cried out to his assailant not to strike him again, for he was poor enchanted knight, add “a” between “was” and “poor”; for he was [a] poor enchanted knight, Pos. 8233: it was whispered that he was over quarrelsome, and of his brother that he was lachrymose. add a hyphen between “over” and “quarrelsome”; it was whispered that he was over[-]quarrelsome Pos. 8471-8472: Let her he 'my lady,' and never mind what happens." change "he" to "be"; Let her [be] 'my lady,' and never mind what happens." Pos. 8586: and the whole herd (if I may such a word to them) add "apply" between "may" and "such"; (if I may [apply] such a word to them) Pos. 8651: to be paid monthly while I am in your service, and that the same he paid me out of your estate; change "he" to "be"; and that the same [be] paid me out of your estate Pos. 8996-8997: that side on which she has the one on her ace; change "ace" to "face"; on which she has the one on her [face] Pos. 9494: in whatever shape he may have been, I have victorious over my enemy." add "been" between "have" and "victorious"; I have [been] victorious over my enemy. Pos. 9538: and was waiting him to confirm it by something further; add "for" between "waiting" and "him"; and was waiting [for] him to confirm it Pos. 9882: and a couple of pairs of-ribbed stockings remove the hyphen between "of" and "ribbed"; and a couple of pairs of ribbed stockings Pos. 10492: to whom do you mean dedicate them? add "to" between "mean" and "dedicate"; to whom do you mean [to] dedicate them? Pos. 11128: but however I may be, allen or raised up change "allen" to "fallen"; but however I may be, [f]allen or raised up Pos. 11517: Let Sancho he of good cheer change "he" to "be"; Let Sancho [b]e of good cheer Pos. 11740: socks-not that wear any—to coax me? add "I" between "that" and "wear"; not that [I] wear any Pos. 12216: and then ran to embrace Don Quixote with-open arms remove the hyphen between "with" and "open"; embrace Don Quixote with open arms Pos. 12296: take care that the dignity of the office they hold he accompanied by change "he" to "be"; office they hold [be] accompanied by Pos. 12445: with a gaban of tawny watered camlet over all change "gaban" to "gabán"; with a gabán of tawny watered camlet Pos. 12471: "Well, well, Senor Don Quixote," said the duchess, is nearly supper-time, and the duke is is probably waiting change ", is" to ""it is" and remove the duplicate "is"; "Well, well, Senor Don Quixote," said the duchess, ["it ]is nearly supper-time, and the duke is probably waiting Pos. 12734: But what I am of opinion the governor should cat now in order to preserve and fortify his health replace "cat" with "eat"; the governor should [e]at now in order to Pos. 12939: Nor was the apprehension an idle one; one; for leaving the duenna remove duplicate "one;"; an idle one; for leaving the duenna Pos. 13325-13326: and I have chosen youth for a son-in-law add "the" between "chosen" and "youth"; and I have chosen [the] youth Pos. 13516-13517: than be subject to the misery of a meddling doctor who me with hunger add a verb between "who" and "me"; doctor who [tortures?] me with hunger Pos. 13564: who bas frenchified thee replace "bas" with "has"; who [h]as frenchified thee Pos. 13771: The first person to enter the-field and the lists remove the hyphen between "the" and "field"; to enter the field Pos. 14001: And now the gave was started replace "gave" with "game"; And now the ga[m]e was started Pos. 14104: heard his own name be started to his feet and replace "be" with "he"; heard his own name [h]e started to his feet Pos. 14457: somewhat free in playing tricks for harmless diversion sake add "'s" after "diversion"; for harmless diversion['s] sake Pos. 14767: thither the viceroy himself returned, cager to ascertain who this Knight replace "cager" with "eager"; [e]ager to ascertain who this Knight Pos. 14969: Alheli and alfaqui are seen to be Arabic, as well by the al at the beginning as by the they end with add "i" between "the" and "they"; as by the [i] they end with Pos. 15081--15082: and seeing painted with devils he put it add "it" between "seeing" and "painted"; and seeing [it] painted with devils Pos. 15325--15327: "I don't know what bad luck it is of mine," argument to my mind; however, I mean to mend said Sancho, "but I can't utter a word without a proverb that is not as good as an argument to my mind; however, I mean to mend if I can;" remove "argument to my mind; however, I mean to mend " between "mine" and "said"; "I don't know what bad luck it is of mine," said Sancho, "but I can't utter a word without a proverb that is not as good as an argument to my mind; however, I mean to mend if I can;" Pos. 15336: "In what direction your worship bound, gentle sir?" add "is" between "direction" and "your"; "In what direction [is] your worship bound Pos. 15469: For-whether it was of the dejection remove the hyphen between "For" and "whether"; For whether it was of Pos. 15510: as soon as the preamble of the had been set add "will" or "testament" between "the" and "had"; preamble of the [will] had been set </pre> <h>Style issues</h> Since I couldn't find the source text, I couldn't determine whether the occasional omission of the preposition "to" between the verb "happen" and the following word was a stylistic one. I suspected it might be, so I collected those errata (and related ones) into this separate pile. <pre> Pos. 8819-8820 where something happened them that may fairly be called something. add "to" between "happened" and "them"; where something happened [to] them Pos. 9758-9759: OF WHAT HAPPENED DON QUIXOTE add "to" between "HAPPENED" and "DON"; WHAT HAPPENED [TO] DON QUIXOTE Pos. 9936-9937: spectacles that make copper seem gold, poverty wealth, and blear eyes pearls." change "blear" to "bleary" or "bleared"; and blear[y] eyes pearls. Pos. 10099: she is no way squeamish, add "in" between "is" and "no"; she is [in] no way squeamish Pos. 10652: I would ask senor ape what will happen me in the peregrination add "to" between "happen" and "me"; what will happen [to] me in the Pos. 10675: ask his ape whether what happened your worship in the cave add "to" between "happened" and "your"; what happened [to] your worship Pos. 10890: but this master of mine is a tologian replace "tologian" with "theologian"; but this master of mine is a [theologian] Pos. 11109: could happen me that could add "to" between "happen" and "me"; could happen [to] me that could Pos. 11125-11126: has happened me in meeting add "to" between "happened" and "me"; has happened [to] me in meeting Pos. 11178: more for authority and custom sake than add "'s" after "custom"; more for authority and custom['s] sake than Pos. 11400: almost everything that happens me transcends the ordinary add "to" between "happens" and "me"; everything that happens [to] me Pos. 11583: to sell it the first opportunity. add "at" between "it" and "the"; to sell it [at] the first opportunity. Pos. 11805: and I am no way behind him. add "in" between "am" and "no"; and I am [in] no way behind him. Pos. 12556: who were not in the secret, and add "on" between "in" and "the"; who were not in [on] the secret Pos. 12945: HAPPENED SANCHO IN MAKING THE Add "TO" between "HAPPENED" and "SANCHO"; HAPPENED [TO] SANCHO Pos. 12991: speaking him fairly and civilly asked add "to" between "speaking" and "him"; speaking [to] him fairly and civilly Pos. 13040: those who were in the secret of the jokes add "on" between "in" and "the"; who were in [on] the secret Pos. 13215-13216: and that I have heard the said Sancho Panza bears himself change "the said" to "it said that"; I have heard it said that Sancho </pre> <hr> <ft>For a deeper analysis of this, see the interesting post <a href="http://www.jehsmith.com/1/2015/05/making-shit-up.html" author="J.E.H. Smith">Making Shit Up</a>. <bq>To which genre of writing [poetry or history] is Don Quixote supposed to belong, now? The answer seems inseparable from the question of the work's authorship, and of its actual subject. The possibility is briefly considered, more than once, that Sancho Panza is the real hero of the novel, a possibility that is of course mocked and dismissed by Don Quixote himself, who claims that it would violate the most basic rules governing the knights-errant literature to place the squire at the center of the tale, rather than to have him subordinate to his knight. But there is of course very little in the novel that does respect these rules, and in this respect the suggestion and the refutation go together as a sort of affirmation. [...] Cervantes's invention of the Cide, and his characters' coming to self-consciousness as the inventions of Cide, is a particularly complex variation on the sort of meditation on truth and falsehood, and on poetry and history, that seems to have served as a metafictional accompaniment to many important prose works from the ancient to the early modern periods. [...] One genre that appears to preserve, and to be sustained by, the same problematic charge that makes Don Quixote a masterpiece is the genre that is sometimes called 'parafiction', the genre of pseudocumentary, of the fake encyclopedia entry, perfected by Borges and evoked in the literary work of Calvino, Bolaño, of Luigi Serafini with his separatist universe encyclopedized in the Codex Seraphinianum, of all the tongue-in-cheek footnotes and pseudo-critical apparatus of the various postmoderns, who seem, in their way, to in fact be returning to a premodern preoccupation with the moral and metaphysical problem of presenting as true what is in fact false, a concern that was only temporarily hidden by the canonization and nationalization of the novel as recently as the 19th century.</bq></ft>