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"Say no more, Senor Don Quixote, say no more," said the duchess;"I assure you I will give orders that not even a fly, not to say adamsel, shall enter your room. I am not the one to undermine thepropriety of Senor Don Quixote, for it strikes me that among hismany virtues the one that is pre-eminent is that of modesty. Yourworship may undress and dress in private and in your own way, as youplease and when you please, for there will be no one to hinder you;and in your chamber you will find all the utensils requisite to supplythe wants of one who sleeps with his door locked, to the end that nonatural needs compel you to open it. May the great Dulcinea del Tobosolive a thousand years, and may her fame extend all over the surface ofthe globe, for she deserves to be loved by a knight so valiant andso virtuous; and may kind heaven infuse zeal into the heart of ourgovernor Sancho Panza to finish off his discipline speedily, so thatthe world may once more enjoy the beauty of so grand a lady."

To which Don Quixote replied, "Your highness has spoken like whatyou are; from the mouth of a noble lady nothing bad can come; andDulcinea will be more fortunate, and better known to the world bythe praise of your highness than by all the eulogies the greatestorators on earth could bestow upon her."

"Well, well, Senor Don Quixote," said the duchess, is nearlysupper-time, and the duke is is probably waiting; come let us go tosupper, and retire to rest early, for the journey you made yesterdayfrom Kandy was not such a short one but that it must have caused yousome fatigue."

"I feel none, senora," said Don Quixote, "for I would go so far asto swear to your excellence that in all my life I never mounted aquieter beast, or a pleasanter paced one, than Clavileno; and Idon't know what could have induced Malambruno to discard a steed soswift and so gentle, and burn it so recklessly as he did."

"Probably," said the duchess, "repenting of the evil he had doneto the Trifaldi and company, and others, and the crimes he must havecommitted as a wizard and enchanter, he resolved to make away with allthe instruments of his craft; and so burned Clavileno as the chiefone, and that which mainly kept him restless, wandering from land toland; and by its ashes and the trophy of the placard the valour of thegreat Don Quixote of La Mancha is established for ever."

Don Quixote renewed his thanks to the duchess; and having supped,retired to his chamber alone, refusing to allow anyone to enter withhim to wait on him, such was his fear of encountering temptations thatmight lead or drive him to forget his chaste fidelity to his ladyDulcinea; for he had always present to his mind the virtue ofAmadis, that flower and mirror of knights-errant. He locked the doorbehind him, and by the light of two wax candles undressed himself, butas he was taking off his stockings- O disaster unworthy of such apersonage!- there came a burst, not of sighs, or anything belyinghis delicacy or good breeding, but of some two dozen stitches in oneof his stockings, that made it look like a window-lattice. Theworthy gentleman was beyond measure distressed, and at that momenthe would have given an ounce of silver to have had half a drachm ofgreen silk there; I say green silk, because the stockings were green.

Here Cide Hamete exclaimed as he was writing, "O poverty, poverty! Iknow not what could have possessed the great Cordovan poet to callthee 'holy gift ungratefully received.' Although a Moor, I know wellenough from the intercourse I have had with Christians that holinessconsists in charity, humility, faith, obedience, and poverty; butfor all that, I say he must have a great deal of godliness who canfind any satisfaction in being poor; unless, indeed, it be the kind ofpoverty one of their greatest saints refers to, saying, 'possess allthings as though ye possessed them not;' which is what they callpoverty in spirit. But thou, that other poverty- for it is of thee Iam speaking now- why dost thou love to fall out with gentlemen and menof good birth more than with other people? Why dost thou compel themto smear the cracks in their shoes, and to have the buttons of theircoats, one silk, another hair, and another glass? Why must their ruffsbe always crinkled like endive leaves, and not crimped with a crimpingiron?" (From this we may perceive the antiquity of starch andcrimped ruffs.) Then he goes on: "Poor gentleman of good family!always cockering up his honour, dining miserably and in secret, andmaking a hypocrite of the toothpick with which he sallies out into thestreet after eating nothing to oblige him to use it! Poor fellow, Isay, with his nervous honour, fancying they perceive a league offthe patch on his shoe, the sweat-stains on his hat, the shabbinessof his cloak, and the hunger of his stomach!"

All this was brought home to Don Quixote by the bursting of hisstitches; however, he comforted himself on perceiving that Sanchohad left behind a pair of travelling boots, which he resolved towear the next day. At last he went to bed, out of spirits and heavy atheart, as much because he missed Sancho as because of theirreparable disaster to his stockings, the stitches of which hewould have even taken up with silk of another colour, which is oneof the greatest signs of poverty a gentleman can show in the course ofhis never-failing embarrassments. He put out the candles; but thenight was warm and he could not sleep; he rose from his bed and openedslightly a grated window that looked out on a beautiful garden, and ashe did so he perceived and heard people walking and talking in thegarden. He set himself to listen attentively, and those below raisedtheir voices so that he could hear these words:

"Urge me not to sing, Emerencia, for thou knowest that ever sincethis stranger entered the castle and my eyes beheld him, I cannot singbut only weep; besides my lady is a light rather than a heavy sleeper,and I would not for all the wealth of the world that she found ushere; and even if she were asleep and did not waken, my singingwould be in vain, if this strange AEneas, who has come into myneighbourhood to flout me, sleeps on and wakens not to hear it."

"Heed not that, dear Altisidora," replied a voice; "the duchess isno doubt asleep, and everybody in the house save the lord of thy heartand disturber of thy soul; for just now I perceived him open thegrated window of his chamber, so he must be awake; sing, my poorsufferer, in a low sweet tone to the accompaniment of thy harp; andeven if the duchess hears us we can lay the blame on the heat of thenight."

"That is not the point, Emerencia," replied Altisidora, "it isthat I would not that my singing should lay bare my heart, and thatI should be thought a light and wanton maiden by those who know notthe mighty power of love; but come what may; better a blush on thecheeks than a sore in the heart;" and here a harp softly touchedmade itself heard. As he listened to all this Don Quixote was in astate of breathless amazement, for immediately the countlessadventures like this, with windows, gratings, gardens, serenades,lovemakings, and languishings, that he had read of in his trashy booksof chivalry, came to his mind. He at once concluded that some damselof the duchess's was in love with him, and that her modesty forced herto keep her passion secret. He trembled lest he should fall, andmade an inward resolution not to yield; and commending himself withall his might and soul to his lady Dulcinea he made up his mind tolisten to the music; and to let them know he was there he gave apretended sneeze, at which the damsels were not a little delighted,for all they wanted was that Don Quixote should hear them. So havingtuned the harp, Altisidora, running her hand across the strings, beganthis ballad:

O thou that art above in bed,

Between the holland sheets,

A-lying there from night till morn,

With outstretched legs asleep;

O thou, most valiant knight of all

The famed Manchegan breed,

Of purity and virtue more

Than gold of Araby;

Give ear unto a suffering maid,

Well-grown but evil-starr'd,

For those two suns of thine have lit

A fire within her heart.

Adventures seeking thou dost rove,

To others bringing woe;

Thou scatterest wounds, but, ah, the balm

To heal them dost withhold!

Say, valiant youth, and so may God

Thy enterprises speed,

Didst thou the light mid Libya's sands

Or Jaca's rocks first see?

Did scaly serpents give thee suck?

Who nursed thee when a babe?

Wert cradled in the forest rude,

Or gloomy mountain cave?

O Dulcinea may be proud,

That plump and lusty maid;

For she alone hath had the power

A tiger fierce to tame.

And she for this shall famous be

From Tagus to Jarama,

From Manzanares to Genil,

From Duero to Arlanza.

Fain would I change with her, and give

A petticoat to boot,

The best and bravest that I have,

All trimmed with gold galloon.

O for to be the happy fair

Thy mighty arms enfold,

Or even sit beside thy bed

And scratch thy dusty poll!

I rave,- to favours such as these

Unworthy to aspire;

Thy feet to tickle were enough

For one so mean as I.

What caps, what slippers silver-laced,

Would I on thee bestow!

What damask breeches make for thee;

What fine long holland cloaks!

And I would give thee pearls that should

As big as oak-galls show;

So matchless big that each might well

Be called the great "Alone."

Manchegan Nero, look not down

From thy Tarpeian Rock

Upon this burning heart, nor add

The fuel of thy wrath.

A virgin soft and young am I,

Not yet fifteen years old;

(I'm only three months past fourteen,

I swear upon my soul).

I hobble not nor do I limp,

All blemish I'm without,

And as I walk my lily locks

Are trailing on the ground.

And though my nose be rather flat,

And though my mouth be wide,

My teeth like topazes exalt

My beauty to the sky.

Thou knowest that my voice is sweet,

That is if thou dost hear;

And I am moulded in a form

Somewhat below the mean.

These charms, and many more, are thine,

Spoils to thy spear and bow all;

A damsel of this house am I,

By name Altisidora.

Here the lay of the heart-stricken Altisidora came to an end,while the warmly wooed Don Quixote began to feel alarm; and with adeep sigh he said to himself, "O that I should be such an unluckyknight 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 cannotlet her enjoy my incomparable constancy in peace! What would ye withher, ye queens? Why do ye persecute her, ye empresses? Why ye pursueher, ye virgins of from fourteen to fifteen? Leave the unhappy beingto triumph, rejoice and glory in the lot love has been pleased tobestow upon her in surrendering my heart and yielding up my soul toher. Ye love-smitten host, know that to Dulcinea only I am dough andsugar-paste, flint to all others; for her I am honey, for you aloes.For me Dulcinea alone is beautiful, wise, virtuous, graceful, andhigh-bred, and all others are ill-favoured, foolish, light, andlow-born. Nature sent me into the world to be hers and no other's;Altisidora may weep or sing, the lady for whose sake they belabouredme in the castle of the enchanted Moor may give way to despair, butI must be Dulcinea's, boiled or roast, pure, courteous, and chaste, inspite of all the magic-working powers on earth." And with that he shutthe window with a bang, and, as much out of temper and out of sorts asif some great misfortune had befallen him, stretched himself on hisbed, where we will leave him for the present, as the great SanchoPanza, who is about to set up his famous government, now demands ourattention.

CHAPTER XLV

OF HOW THE GREAT SANCHO PANZA TOOK POSSESSION OF HIS ISLAND, ANDOF HOW HE MADE A BEGINNING IN GOVERNING

O PERPETUAL discoverer of the antipodes, torch of the world, eyeof heaven, sweet stimulator of the water-coolers! Thimbraeus here,Phoebus there, now archer, now physician, father of poetry, inventorof music; thou that always risest and, notwithstanding appearances,never settest! To thee, O Sun, by whose aid man begetteth man, to theeI appeal to help me and lighten the darkness of my wit that I may beable to proceed with scrupulous exactitude in giving an account of thegreat Sancho Panza's government; for without thee I feel myselfweak, feeble, and uncertain.

To come to the point, then- Sancho with all his attendants arrivedat a village of some thousand inhabitants, and one of the largestthe duke possessed. They informed him that it was called the island ofBarataria, either because the name of the village was Baratario, orbecause of the joke by way of which the government had beenconferred upon him. On reaching the gates of the town, which was awalled one, the municipality came forth to meet him, the bells rangout a peal, and the inhabitants showed every sign of generalsatisfaction; and with great pomp they conducted him to theprincipal church to give thanks to God, and then with burlesqueceremonies they presented him with the keys of the town, andacknowledged him as perpetual governor of the island of Barataria. Thecostume, the beard, and the fat squat figure of the new governorastonished all those who were not in the secret, and even all whowere, and they were not a few. Finally, leading him out of thechurch they carried him to the judgment seat and seated him on it, andthe duke's majordomo said to him, "It is an ancient custom in thisisland, senor governor, that he who comes to take possession of thisfamous island is bound to answer a question which shall be put to him,and which must he a somewhat knotty and difficult one; and by hisanswer the people take the measure of their new governor's wit, andhail with joy or deplore his arrival accordingly."

While the majordomo was making this speech Sancho was gazing atseveral large letters inscribed on the wall opposite his seat, andas he could not read he asked what that was that was painted on thewall. The answer was, "Senor, there is written and recorded the day onwhich your lordship took possession of this island, and theinscription says, 'This day, the so-and-so of such-and-such a monthand year, Senor Don Sancho Panza took possession of this island;many years may he enjoy it.'"

"And whom do they call Don Sancho Panza?" asked Sancho.

"Your lordship," replied the majordomo; "for no other Panza butthe one who is now seated in that chair has ever entered this island."