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Often appears with: history and the writing of history · fate, destiny, and necessity · language, naming, and meaning · books, libraries, and learning · religious persecution and toleration · translation and the transmission of texts · poetry and the poets · justice as a virtue · custom and the manners of a people · reason and the intellect · geography and the description of places · education and the training of the young
Usually: curiosity (98) · detachment (88) · argument (65) · narrative (63) · skepticism (62) · reflection (43) · wonder (42) · commentary or gloss (39) · censure (33) · exhortation (23)
“Two such boys were quickly secured, in Henry and John, and from them the contagion spread.” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · vivid
“The *Liberator* was a paper after my own heart. It detested slavery exposed hypocrisy and wickedness in high places—made no truce with the traffickers in the bodies and souls of men; it preached human brotherhood, denounced oppression, and, with all the solemnity of God’s word, demanded the complete emancipation of my race.” Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom · insight
“Farewell, Australia! you are a rising child, and doubtless some day will reign a great princess in the South: but you are too great and ambitious for affection, yet not great enough for respect. I leave your shores without sorrow or regret.” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · vivid
“I cannot understand how that can be, for in truth to my mind there is no better reading in the world, and I have here two or three of them, with other writings that are the very life, not only of myself but of plenty more.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · observation
“Brother,” said the curate, “those two books are made up of lies, and are full of folly and nonsense; but this of the Great Captain is a true history, and contains the deeds of Gonzalo Hernandez of Cordova, who by his many and great achievements earned the title all over the world of the Great Captain, a famous and illustrious name, and deserved by him alone;” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · insight
“they are wont to say that he who gives quickly gives twice.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · precept
“Friend Sancho, know that I by Heaven’s will have been born in this our iron age to revive in it the age of gold, or the golden as it is called; I am he for whom perils, mighty achievements, and valiant deeds are reserved.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · insight
“Still,” said he, “I will strive to tell a story which, if I can manage to relate it, and nobody interferes with the telling, is the best of stories, and let your worship give me your attention, for here I begin.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · observation
“To me who recognise it, its transformation makes no difference, for I will set it to rights at the first village where there is a blacksmith, and in such style that that helmet the god of smithies forged for the god of battles shall not surpass it or even come up to it.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · insight
“For what greater nonsense can there be in connection with what we are now discussing than for an infant to appear in swaddling clothes in the first scene of the first act, and in the second a grown-up bearded man?” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · wit
“the harmless entertainment, not merely of the idle but of the very busiest; for the bow cannot be always bent, nor can weak human nature exist without some lawful amusement.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · precept
“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.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote · observation
Pepys notes poetry being printed, attends church and country leisure at Barnet and Hatfield, buys a book on witches, and criticizes recent comedies while waiting for news of the peace at Breda.
very late, till I could hardly get a coach or link willing to go through the ruines; but I do, but will not do it again, being indeed very dangerous. 10th. Sir John Denham's Poems are going to be all printed together; and, among others, some new things; and among them he showed me a copy of verses of his upon Sir John Minnes's going heretofore to Bullogne to eat a pig. Cowly, he tells me, is dead; who, it seems, w…
Pepys attends a court performance of the old comedy “Albumazar,” connected in rumor with Jonson’s “Alchymist,” and records general mirth at mimicked tricks during the King’s presence.
thing extraordinary in it, but was indeed wary of it before it was done. The King here; and indeed all of us pretty merry at the mimique tricks of Trinkilo. 23rd. I met with Sir W. Coventry, and he and I walked awhile together in the Matted Gallery; and there he told me all the proceedings yesterday: that the matter is found in general a miscarriage, but no persons named; and so there is no great matter to our pre…
Helen drugges the wine to dull tears and anger, explains the medicinal origin in Egypt, and then tells how Odysseus entered Troy in disguise, warned her, and returned having slain many Trojans.
So spake he, and Asphalion poured water over their hands, the ready squire of renowned Menelaus. And they put forth their hands upon the good cheer spread before them. Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new thoughts. Presently she cast a drug into the wine whereof they drank, a drug to lull all pain and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow. Whoso should drink a draught thereof, when it is mingled in t…
Odysseus invents a travel narrative: he claims he lived in Crete for a time, gave guest-gifts to the real Odysseus after a storm, and describes how long his party stayed before sailing on.
And Odysseus of many counsels answered her and said: “O wife revered of Odysseus, son of Laertes, wilt thou never have done asking me about mine own race? Nay, but I will tell thee: yet surely thou wilt give me over to sorrows yet more than those wherein I am holden, for so it ever is when a man has been afar from his own country, so long as now I am, wandering in sore pain to many cities of mortals. Yet even so I w…
Du Bois traces the slave songs through types and examples, describing development from African to Afro-American to blended forms, while also warning about debased imitations like minstrel songs and coon songs.
the song of this chapter—“Wrestlin’ Jacob, the day is a-breaking,”—a paean of hopeful strife. The last master song is the song of songs—“Steal away,”—sprung from “The Faith of the Fathers.” There are many others of the Negro folk-songs as striking and characteristic as these, as, for instance, the three strains in the third, eighth, and ninth chapters; and others I am sure could easily make a selection on more scien…
Jesus defines true family as those who do God’s will, then teaches in parables by the sea: the sower, tares among wheat, mustard seed, leaven, treasure, pearl, and the net; he interprets the tares and ends by returning to his own country where people question his origins.
man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the holy ghost, it shall not be forgiven him: no, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and his fruit good also, or else make the tree evil, and his fruit evil also. For the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye say well, when ye yourselves are evil? For of the abundance of the heart, the …
This passage gives the translator’s long table-of-contents for Sallust’s two works, then begins Conspiracy of Catiline with a moral argument for seeking glory through intellect rather than bodily appetite.
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. SALLUST'S CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE AND THE JUGURTHINE WAR LITERALLY TRANSLATED WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES BY THE REV. JOHN SELBY WATSON, M.A. CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE. THE ARGUMENT. The Introduction, I.-IV. The character of Catiline, V. Virtues of the ancient Romans, VI.-IX. Degeneracy of their posterity, X.-XIII. Catiline's associates and supporters, and the arts by which …
At Freeland’s Douglass forms a learning circle with Henry and John Harris, Handy Caldwell, and Sandy Jenkins, teaching reading using the Columbian Orator and spelling books in a secret Sabbath school.
I found myself in congenial society, at Mr. Freeland’s. There were Henry Harris, John Harris, Handy Caldwell, and Sandy Jenkins. 6 Henry and John were brothers, and belonged to Mr. Freeland. They were both remarkably bright and intelligent, though neither of them could read. Now for mischief! I had not been long at Freeland’s before I was up to my old tricks. I early began to address my companions on the subject of …
He recounts subscribing to William Lloyd Garrison’s anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator in New Bedford, saying it exposed slavery’s hypocrisy and demanded complete emancipation of Black people.
name to his list. From this time I was brought in contact with the mind of William Lloyd Garrison. His paper took its place with me next to the bible. The *Liberator* was a paper after my own heart. It detested slavery exposed hypocrisy and wickedness in high places—made no truce with the traffickers in the bodies and souls of men; it preached human brotherhood, denounced oppression, and, with all the solemnity of G…
Plutarch introduces a lesson about learning from good and bad examples and announces a shift to Demetrius Poliorcetes and Antony the Triumvir, then begins reflecting on art, senses, and judgment.
DEMETRIUS Ingenious men have long observed a resemblance between the arts and the bodily senses. And they were first led to do so, I think, by noticing the way in which, both in the arts and with our senses, we examine opposites. Judgment once obtained, the use to which we put it differs in the two cases. Our senses are not meant to pick out black rather than white, to prefer sweet to bitter, or soft and yielding…
The author argues that Don Quixote’s humour depends on the mismatch between romance conventions and the grim, ignoble reality of La Mancha, unlike other Spanish regions that suggest historical grandeur.
he invests Don Quixote’s worship of her virtues and charms with an additional extravagance, and gives still more point to the caricature of the sentiment and language of the romances. One of the great merits of “Don Quixote,” and one of the qualities that have secured its acceptance by all classes of readers and made it the most cosmopolitan of books, is its simplicity. There are, of course, points obvious enough to…
The passage claims many interpreters overlook the book’s underlying incongruity, including illustrators who misrepresent a venta as an elaborate fountain, thus dulling Cervantes’ intended comedy.
victims of oppression, and the rest of the incongruities between Don Quixote’s world and the world he lived in, between things as he saw them and things as they were. It is strange that this element of incongruity, underlying the whole humour and purpose of the book, should have been so little heeded by the majority of those who have undertaken to interpret “Don Quixote.” It has been completely overlooked, for examp…
A friend dismisses Cervantes’ worries by advising him to invent or attribute sonnets and Latin quotations falsely, and to use selective classical references and mock-annotations to simulate scholarship and authority.
“Say on,” said I, listening to his talk; “how do you propose to make up for my diffidence, and reduce to order this chaos of perplexity I am in?” To which he made answer, “Your first difficulty about the sonnets, epigrams, or complimentary verses which you want for the beginning, and which ought to be by persons of importance and rank, can be removed if you yourself take a little trouble to make them; you can afterw…
Cervantes ends the Preface by adopting the friend’s advice, presenting Don Quixote as a famous Manchegan tale of chastity and bravery, and praising Sancho Panza as the condensed drolleries of chivalric novels.
of that ill-founded edifice of the books of chivalry, hated by some and praised by many more; for if you succeed in this you will have achieved no small success.” In profound silence I listened to what my friend said, and his observations made such an impression on me that, without attempting to question them, I admitted their soundness, and out of them I determined to make this Preface; wherein, gentle reader, thou…
Riding slowly across the Campo de Montiel, Don Quixote talks in elaborate bookish style, imagines his first-sally narration, and addresses Dulcinea in dramatic love-speeches.
it was whiter than an ermine; and so comforting himself he pursued his way, taking that which his horse chose, for in this he believed lay the essence of adventures. 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…
In a battlefield-like injury, Don Quixote—immobile—recalls a ballad about Baldwin and the Marquis of Mantua, rolls on the ground quoting its lines, and names the loves he imagines.
IN WHICH THE NARRATIVE OF OUR KNIGHT’S MISHAP IS CONTINUED p022.jpg (123K) Full Size Finding, then, that, in fact he could not move, he thought himself of having recourse to his usual remedy, which was to think of some passage in his books, and his craze brought to his mind that about Baldwin and the Marquis of Mantua, when Carloto left him wounded on the mountainside, a story known by heart by the children, not f…
Don Quixote tells Sancho that in the iron age he was born to restore the golden age by reviving knightly legends and to defeat rival fictive knights, then orders Sancho to wait three days.
Full Size But Don Quixote, supported by his intrepid heart, leaped on Rocinante, and bracing his buckler on his arm, brought his pike to the slope, and said, “Friend Sancho, know that I by Heaven’s will have been born in this our iron age to revive in it the age of gold, or the golden as it is called; I am he for whom perils, mighty achievements, and valiant deeds are reserved; I am, I say again, he who is to revive…
Sancho tricks Rocinante by tying its legs so it cannot move, Don Quixote reluctantly waits for dawn, and Sancho offers to distract him with a story while they keep close contact.
ordered it that Rocinante cannot stir; and if you will be obstinate, and spur and strike him, you will only provoke fortune, and kick, as they say, against the pricks.” Don Quixote at this grew desperate, but the more he drove his heels into the horse, the less he stirred him; and not having any suspicion of the tying, he was fain to resign himself and wait till daybreak or until Rocinante could move, firmly persuad…
Sancho begins a tale of Lope Ruiz and Torralva in Estremadura that turns jealousy into hatred, leading them across the plains toward Portugal and the river Guadiana with a small boat for many goats.
“Tell it as thou wilt,” replied Don Quixote; “and as fate will have it that I cannot help listening to thee, go on.” “And so, lord of my soul,” continued Sancho, as I have said, this shepherd was in love with Torralva the shepherdess, who was a wild buxom lass with something of the look of a man about her, for she had little moustaches; I fancy I see her now.” “Then you knew her?” said Don Quixote. “I did not know…
Sancho abruptly ends the story because he cannot remember the exact goat count, Don Quixote praises the tale’s rarity, then Rocinante remains stuck while Sancho struggles with relieving himself and fears being heard.
Sancho, “what I told you, that you must keep a good count; well then, by God, there is an end of the story, for there is no going any farther.” “How can that be?” said Don Quixote; “is it so essential to the story to know to a nicety the goats that have crossed over, that if there be a mistake of one in the reckoning, thou canst not go on with it?” “No, señor, not a bit,” replied Sancho; “for when I asked your wors…
Sancho apologizes for the joke, and Don Quixote defends his chivalric interpretation by arguing that he would defeat “giants” if the hammers were real, then debates respect between master and squire.
return in earnest for his jest, and fearing his master might carry it still further, said to him very humbly, “Calm yourself, sir, for by God I am only joking.” “Well, then, if you are joking I am not,” replied Don Quixote. “Look here, my lively gentleman, if these, instead of being fulling hammers, had been some perilous adventure, have I not, think you, shown the courage required for the attempt and achievement? A…
As it starts raining slightly, Don Quixote refuses to enter the fulling mills again, sees a gold-shining helmeted rider, and declares it is Mambrino’s helmet, sending Sancho aside to watch.
WHICH TREATS OF THE EXALTED ADVENTURE AND RICH PRIZE OF MAMBRINO’S HELMET, TOGETHER WITH OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO OUR INVINCIBLE KNIGHT c20a.jpg (73K) Full Size It now began to rain a little, and Sancho was for going into the fulling mills, but Don Quixote had taken such an abhorrence to them on account of the late joke that he would not enter them on any account; so turning aside to right they came upon anot…
Don Quixote mistakes a barber’s basin, rain-glittering on a barber’s ride, for a golden helmet and attacks the barber on Rocinante with a lance, then quarrels over the “helmet’s” missing half.
Sancho held his peace in dread lest his master should carry out the vow he had hurled like a bowl at him. The fact of the matter as regards the helmet, steed, and knight that Don Quixote saw, was this. In that neighbourhood there were two villages, one of them so small that it had neither apothecary’s shop nor barber, which the other that was close to it had, so the barber of the larger served the smaller, and in it…
Sancho laughs when Don Quixote calls the barber’s basin a helmet, and Don Quixote proposes having it repaired by a blacksmith while discussing past mockery, protection from stones, and what to do with the abandoned “dapple-grey steed.”
“I am laughing,” said he, “to think of the great head the pagan must have had who owned this helmet, for it looks exactly like a regular barber’s basin.” “Dost thou know what I suspect, Sancho?” said Don Quixote; “that this wonderful piece of this enchanted helmet must by some strange accident have come into the hands of someone who was unable to recognise or realise its value, and who, not knowing what he did, and …
Don Quixote answers that fame must be earned by roaming first, imagining a courtly plot: recognition, romantic entanglement with a princess, a dwarf’s challenge from an ancient sage, and winning a war to become king.
squirely limits, though I make bold to say that, if it be the practice in chivalry to write the achievements of squires, I think mine must not be left out.” “Thou speakest not amiss, Sancho,” answered Don Quixote, “but before that point is reached it is requisite to roam the world, as it were on probation, seeking adventures, in order that, by achieving some, name and fame may be acquired, such that when he betakes …
Continuing the imagined scenario, Don Quixote describes the knight’s departure, the princess’s distress, the hero’s victories that win cities and the princess’s hand, and finally the knight’s rise to kingship plus rewards to his squire and companions.
between two giants, who comes with a certain adventure, the work of an ancient sage; and he who shall achieve it shall be deemed the best knight in the world. “The king will then command all those present to essay it, and none will bring it to an end and conclusion save the stranger knight, to the great enhancement of his fame, whereat the princess will be overjoyed and will esteem herself happy and fortunate in hav…
After sleeping at an inn the party arrives the next day, Don Quixote’s disguise is managed with a “tail” hair-comb episode involving the barber and licentiate, and the inn crowd discusses chivalric books and how such reading stirs desire for heroic violence.
WHICH TREATS OF WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE’S PARTY AT THE INN c32a.jpg (132K) Full Size Their dainty repast being finished, they saddled at once, and without any adventure worth mentioning they reached next day the inn, the object of Sancho Panza’s fear and dread; but though he would have rather not entered it, there was no help for it. The landlady, the landlord, their daughter, and Maritornes, when they saw Don Qui…
At dinner, Dorothea, the landlord’s daughter, Maritornes, and others debate what they like in romances, with the curate retrieving and scrutinizing chivalry books titled Don Cirongilio and Don Felixmarte.
what furious and terrible blows the knights deliver, I am seized with the longing to do the same, and I would like to be hearing about them night and day.” “And I just as much,” said the landlady, “because I never have a quiet moment in my house except when you are listening to someone reading; for then you are so taken up that for the time being you forget to scold.” “That is true,” said Maritornes; “and, faith, I…
The curate orders only certain books burned, calling Cirongilio and Felixmarte fabricated lies, while defending the Great Captain Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova and Diego Garcia de Paredes as true history, prompting the landlord’s incredulous counter-claims.
to burn any, let it be that about the Great Captain and that Diego García; for I would rather have a child of mine burnt than either of the others.” “Brother,” said the curate, “those two books are made up of lies, and are full of folly and nonsense; but this of the Great Captain is a true history, and contains the deeds of Gonzalo Hernandez of Cordova, who by his many and great achievements earned the title all ove…
The landlord lets the curate and Cardenio copy and read a manuscript titled “Novel of the Ill-advised Curiosity,” while Dorothea and others ask the curate to begin reading aloud to pass the time.
“With all my heart,” replied the host. While they were talking Cardenio had taken up the novel and begun to read it, and forming the same opinion of it as the curate, he begged him to read it so that they might all hear it. “I would read it,” said the curate, “if the time would not be better spent in sleeping.” “It will be rest enough for me,” said Dorothea, “to while away the time by listening to some tale, for m…
Lothario recites sonnets about Chloris’s cruelty and his own suffering, blending love-poetry with deception, while Camilla grows more satisfied and later privately regrets not extracting more cost or effort from him.
thoughts and writings had her for their object, and that she herself was the real Chloris, she asked him to repeat some other sonnet or verses if he recollected any. “I do,” replied Lothario, “but I do not think it as good as the first one, or, more correctly speaking, less bad; but you can easily judge, for it is this. SONNET I know that I am doomed; death is to me As certain as that thou, ungrateful fair, Dead a…
The canon’s actor anecdote is extended: the canon insists past Spanish tragedies like ‘Isabella,’ ‘Phyllis,’ and ‘Alexandra’ followed artistic principles and pleased both wise and ignorant.
“‘No doubt,’ replied the actor in question, ‘you mean the “Isabella,” the “Phyllis,” and the “Alexandra.”’ “‘Those are the ones I mean,’ said I; ‘and see if they did not observe the principles of art, and if, by observing them, they failed to show their superiority and please all the world; so that the fault does not lie with the public that insists upon nonsense, but with those who don’t know how to produce somethi…
The curate attacks contemporary drama, arguing it violates the drama’s purpose as a mirror of life through impossible timelines, cross-gender and role confusion, and gratuitous miracles.
some further remarks I added to these, with which, I think, I left him rather dumbfoundered, but not so satisfied or convinced that I could disabuse him of his error.” “You have touched upon a subject, señor canon,” observed the curate here, “that has awakened an old enmity I have against the plays in vogue at the present day, quite as strong as that which I bear to the books of chivalry; for while the drama, accord…
The canon, curate, and barber pause to rest in a fair valley while Sancho spots Don Quixote being carried in a cage and proposes the “enchantment” is really a plot by the curate and barber.
the harmless entertainment, not merely of the idle but of the very busiest; for the bow cannot be always bent, nor can weak human nature exist without some lawful amusement.” The canon and the curate had proceeded thus far with their conversation, when the barber, coming forward, joined them, and said to the curate, “This is the spot, señor licentiate, that I said was a good one for fresh and plentiful pasture for t…
The canon urges Don Quixote to abandon chivalric books as harmful nonsense, recommends reading the Book of Judges, and cites historical heroes of Spain as real alternatives to imaginary knights.
when the subject of chivalry was broached. And so, moved by compassion, he said to him, as they all sat on the green grass awaiting the arrival of the provisions: “Is it possible, gentle sir, that the nauseous and idle reading of books of chivalry can have had such an effect on your worship as to upset your reason so that you fancy yourself enchanted, and the like, all as far from the truth as falsehood itself is? H…
Don Quixote interprets the canon’s speech as denying the existence of knights-errant and concluding that chivalric books lied, harmed him, and led to his caging.
knight-errantry which they set forth; for you deny that there ever were Amadises of Gaul or of Greece, or any other of the knights of whom the books are full.” “It is all exactly as you state it,” said the canon; to which Don Quixote returned, “You also went on to say that books of this kind had done me much harm, inasmuch as they had upset my senses, and shut me up in a cage, and that it would be better for me to r…
Don Quixote defends the truth of chivalric narratives by equating disbelief with denying daylight, listing episodes and famous knights, and claiming relics and family memories prove them.
“Just so,” said the canon. “Well then,” returned Don Quixote, “to my mind it is you who are the one that is out of his wits and enchanted, as you have ventured to utter such blasphemies against a thing so universally acknowledged and accepted as true that whoever denies it, as you do, deserves the same punishment which you say you inflict on the books that irritate you when you read them. For to try to persuade anyb…
Don Quixote mocks the canon for calling printed romances lies despite royal licensing, then gives a vivid example of a knight plunging into a lake of pitch and encountering a paradise-like realm and enchanted castle.
OF THE SHREWD CONTROVERSY WHICH DON QUIXOTE AND THE CANON HELD, TOGETHER WITH OTHER INCIDENTS c50a.jpg (160K) Full Size “A good joke, that!” returned Don Quixote. “Books that have been printed with the king’s licence, and with the approbation of those to whom they have been submitted, and read with universal delight, and extolled by great and small, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, gentle and simple, in a word…
Don Quixote continues the romance episode: the knight reaches a jewel-built palace, receives bathing and perfumed clothing by damsels, and is entertained with dainties, music, and an enchantment explanation from a lady.
Full Size “Suddenly there is presented to his sight a strong castle or gorgeous palace with walls of massy gold, turrets of diamond and gates of jacinth; in short, so marvellous is its structure that though the materials of which it is built are nothing less than diamonds, carbuncles, rubies, pearls, gold, and emeralds, the workmanship is still more rare. And after having seen all this, what can be more charming tha…
Don Quixote urges Sancho to read chivalric books as a remedy for melancholy, then boasts he has become virtuous through knighthood and hopes to win a kingdom to reward Sancho, who answers by requesting a county and joking about managing seigniories for profit.
Full Size “But I will not expatiate any further upon this, as it may be gathered from it that whatever part of whatever history of a knight-errant one reads, it will fill the reader, whoever he be, with delight and wonder; and take my advice, sir, and, as I said before, read these books and you will see how they will banish any melancholy you may feel and raise your spirits should they be depressed. For myself I can…
At the curate’s encouragement, the goatherd begins a framed tale for the listeners, while Sancho withdraws to eat according to chivalric squire custom and Don Quixote prepares himself to hear the story about experience from the woods.
“That I can well believe,” said the curate, “for I know already by experience that the woods breed men of learning, and shepherds’ huts harbour philosophers.” “At all events, señor,” returned the goatherd, “they shelter men of experience; and that you may see the truth of this and grasp it, though I may seem to put myself forward without being asked, I will, if it will not tire you, gentlemen, and you will give me y…
After Leandra is hidden in a convent, Eugenio and Anselmo mourn her and their grief drives other lovers to live as shepherds in the mountains like an Arcadia, endlessly arguing about her character while pledging devotion, contempt, or jealousy.
knew her shrewdness and intelligence did not attribute her misdemeanour to ignorance but to wantonness and the natural disposition of women, which is for the most part flighty and ill-regulated. Leandra withdrawn from sight, Anselmo’s eyes grew blind, or at any rate found nothing to look at that gave them any pleasure, and mine were in darkness without a ray of light to direct them to anything enjoyable while Leandr…
The listeners enjoy Eugenio’s tale, and Don Quixote offers to rescue Leandra from her convent through chivalry without violence; the goatherd doubts him, comparing him to empty knight-errant-book fantasy.
OF THE QUARREL THAT DON QUIXOTE HAD WITH THE GOATHERD, TOGETHER WITH THE RARE ADVENTURE OF THE PENITENTS, WHICH WITH AN EXPENDITURE OF SWEAT HE BROUGHT TO A HAPPY CONCLUSION c52a.jpg (40K) Full Size The goatherd’s tale gave great satisfaction to all the hearers, and the canon especially enjoyed it, for he had remarked with particular attention the manner in which it had been told, which was as unlike the manner of…
In the village, Teresa Panza asks Sancho what he has earned and he promises future governorships, while Don Quixote is undressed at home; his housekeeper and niece curse chivalric books and fear he will escape again.
of adventures, you will soon see me a count, or governor of an island, and that not one of those everyday ones, but the best that is to be had.” “Heaven grant it, husband,” said she, “for indeed we have need of it. But tell me, what’s this about islands, for I don’t understand it?” “Honey is not for the mouth of the ass,” returned Sancho; “all in good time thou shalt see, wife—nay, thou wilt be surprised to hear th…
The narrator claims he cannot find authentic documents for Don Quixote’s third sally to Saragossa, but reports tradition and a leaden box of Gothic manuscripts, whose deciphered verses are presented.
kept in anxiety and dread lest their uncle and master should give them the slip the moment he found himself somewhat better, and as they feared so it fell out. But the author of this history, though he has devoted research and industry to the discovery of the deeds achieved by Don Quixote in his third sally, has been unable to obtain any information respecting them, at any rate derived from authentic documents; trad…
A sequence of epitaphs and sonnets attributed to academicians of Argamasilla praises Dulcinea, Rocinante, Don Quixote, and Sancho Panza, while stating only worm-eaten writing remained for conjectural interpretation.
SONNET On that proud throne of diamantine sheen, Which the blood-reeking feet of Mars degrade, The mad Manchegan’s banner now hath been By him in all its bravery displayed. There hath he hung his arms and trenchant blade Wherewith, achieving deeds till now unseen, He slays, lays low, cleaves, hews; but art hath made A novel style for our new paladin. If Amadis be the proud boast of Gaul, If by his progeny the fame o…
In the author’s preface, Cervantes refuses to insult the writer of the unauthorized “Second Part,” defends his own wounds and judgment, and responds with madman-and-dog parables about the difficulty of making books effectively.
Full Size God bless me, gentle (or it may be plebeian) reader, how eagerly must thou be looking forward to this preface, expecting to find there retaliation, scolding, and abuse against the author of the second Don Quixote—I mean him who was, they say, begotten at Tordesillas and born at Tarragona! Well then, the truth is, I am not going to give thee that satisfaction; for, though injuries stir up anger in humbler b…
Cervantes adds a second dog-and-stone parable from Cordova, implying the hostile historian will not dare to launch further bad writing, and closes by affirming that Second Part will be by the same “craftsman.”
much fame as money, and as much money as fame; and to prove it I will beg of you, in your own sprightly, pleasant way, to tell him this story. There was a madman in Seville who took to one of the drollest absurdities and vagaries that ever madman in the world gave way to. It was this: he made a tube of reed sharp at one end, and catching a dog in the street, or wherever it might be, he with his foot held one of its …
Don Quixote discusses giants, citing Goliath and large Sicilian bones, then describes Reinaldos of Montalban and Orlando/Roland, and the talk shifts to Angelica, Medoro, and Ariosto.
asked him what was his notion of the features of Reinaldos of Montalban, and Don Roland and the rest of the Twelve Peers of France, for they were all knights-errant. “As for Reinaldos,” replied Don Quixote, “I venture to say that he was broad-faced, of ruddy complexion, with roguish and somewhat prominent eyes, excessively punctilious and touchy, and given to the society of thieves and scapegraces. With regard to Ro…
Sancho explains local criticism of Don Quixote’s status and behavior, recalls how others categorize him as “mad but droll,” and notes that his story is already circulating in books.
golden of these latter days. Profit by this advice, Sancho, and report to me clearly and faithfully the truth of what thou knowest touching what I have demanded of thee.” “That I will do with all my heart, master,” replied Sancho, “provided your worship will not be vexed at what I say, as you wish me to say it out in all its nakedness, without putting any more clothes on it than it came to my knowledge in.” “I will…
Sancho says a recently returned bachelor, Samson Carrasco, taught him that the author of the book is Cide Hamete Berengena; Don Quixote promises the author must be a sage enchanter and sends for him.
“Is there more, then?” asked Don Quixote. “There’s the tail to be skinned yet,” said Sancho; “all so far is cakes and fancy bread; but if your worship wants to know all about the calumnies they bring against you, I will fetch you one this instant who can tell you the whole of them without missing an atom; for last night the son of Bartholomew Carrasco, who has been studying at Salamanca, came home after having been …
The bachelor and Don Quixote discuss errors and omissions in the published account, including whether a second part will appear, whether the author is writing for profit, and Carrasco advises Don Quixote toward cautious new adventures in Aragon.
“Miracles or no miracles,” said Sancho, “let everyone mind how he speaks or writes about people, and not set down at random the first thing that comes into his head.” “One of the faults they find with this history,” said the bachelor, “is that its author inserted in it a novel called ‘The Ill-advised Curiosity;’ not that it is bad or ill-told, but that it is out of place and has nothing to do with the history of his…
Don Quixote helps Master Pedro’s man carry out chores at the inn, creating an “audience” so Pedro can begin telling promised wonders and answer Don Quixote’s earlier questions.
WHEREIN IS SET DOWN THE BRAYING ADVENTURE, AND THE DROLL ONE OF THE PUPPET-SHOWMAN, TOGETHER WITH THE MEMORABLE DIVINATIONS OF THE DIVINING APE p25a.jpg (154K) Full Size Don Quixote’s bread would not bake, as the common saying is, until he had heard and learned the curious things promised by the man who carried the arms. He went to seek him where the innkeeper said he was and having found him, bade him say now at …
The interpreter announces the puppet show’s story as taken from French chronicles and Spanish ballads, depicting Charlemagne chiding Don Gaiferos to rescue Melisendra from the Moorish city of Sansueña/Saragossa.
WHEREIN IS CONTINUED THE DROLL ADVENTURE OF THE PUPPET-SHOWMAN, TOGETHER WITH OTHER THINGS IN TRUTH RIGHT GOOD p26a.jpg (157K) Full Size All were silent, Tyrians and Trojans; I mean all who were watching the show were hanging on the lips of the interpreter of its wonders, when drums and trumpets were heard to sound inside it and cannon to go off. The noise was soon over, and then the boy lifted up his voice and sa…
During the show Don Quixote corrects details about Moorish bells, and the interpreter continues the tale of Melisendra’s balcony escape attempt and the chase, while the show’s narrative is repeatedly “corrected” onstage.
here you see them come out to execute the sentence, although the offence has been scarcely committed; for among the Moors there are no indictments nor remands as with us.” Here Don Quixote called out, “Child, child, go straight on with your story, and don’t run into curves and slants, for to establish a fact clearly there is need of a great deal of proof and confirmation;” and said Master Pedro from within, “Boy, st…
At night in midsummer haze, the duke and duchess stage a mock battle with drums, trumpets, and a devilish courier announcing six troops of enchanters bringing a triumphal car for Dulcinea under enchantment.
my duty honestly, no doubt I’ll govern better than a gerfalcon. Nay, let them only put a finger in my mouth, and they’ll see whether I can bite or not.” “The curse of God and all his saints upon thee, thou accursed Sancho!” exclaimed Don Quixote; “when will the day come—as I have often said to thee—when I shall hear thee make one single coherent, rational remark without proverbs? Pray, your highnesses, leave this fo…
While the duke and duchess dine and read Sancho’s lively conversation, mournful martial music heralds new performers in black, followed by a huge veiled figure who kneels to the duke before speaking.
“No, no,” said the duchess, “this one will do, and I wish the duke to see it.” With this they betook themselves to a garden where they were to dine, and the duchess showed Sancho’s letter to the duke, who was highly delighted with it. They dined, and after the cloth had been removed and they had amused themselves for a while with Sancho’s rich conversation, the melancholy sound of a fife and harsh discordant drum ma…
The conversation ends with the group laughing at the adventure, and Don Quixote reminds Sancho to believe him about what he saw in the cave of Montesinos rather than arguing about heaven.
“No, señor,” said Sancho; “but I have heard say that none ever passed the horns of the moon.” They did not care to ask him anything more about his journey, for they saw he was in the vein to go rambling all over the heavens giving an account of everything that went on there, without having ever stirred from the garden. Such, in short, was the end of the adventure of the Distressed Duenna, which gave the duke and duc…
Don Quixote visits a printing office, learns a translator’s Italian-to-Spanish work is being set in type, debates translation quality and money versus fame, and then leaves displeased about a “Second Part” of his own story.
displaying his folly, made arrangements for a tilting at the ring in six days from that time, which, however, for reason that will be mentioned hereafter, did not take place. Don Quixote took a fancy to stroll about the city quietly and on foot, for he feared that if he went on horseback the boys would follow him; so he and Sancho and two servants that Don Antonio gave him set out for a walk. Thus it came to pass th…
Continuing in the printing office, Don Quixote learns the author prints for profit, praises religious books like “Light of the Soul,” and complains about the unauthorized continuation by Tordesillas.
doubt which is the translation and which the original. But tell me, are you printing this book at your own risk, or have you sold the copyright to some bookseller?” “I print at my own risk,” said the author, “and I expect to make a thousand ducats at least by this first edition, which is to be of two thousand copies that will go off in a twinkling at six reals apiece.” “A fine calculation you are making!” said Don …