第 63 页

"Just so," said the canon.

"Well then," returned Don Quixote, "to my mind it is you who are theone that is out of his wits and enchanted, as you have ventured toutter such blasphemies against a thing so universally acknowledged andaccepted as true that whoever denies it, as you do, deserves thesame punishment which you say you inflict on the books that irritateyou when you read them. For to try to persuade anybody that Amadis,and all the other knights-adventurers with whom the books arefilled, never existed, would be like trying to persuade him that thesun does not yield light, or ice cold, or earth nourishment. Whatwit in the world can persuade another that the story of the PrincessFloripes and Guy of Burgundy is not true, or that of Fierabras and thebridge of Mantible, which happened in the time of Charlemagne? Forby all that is good it is as true as that it is daylight now; and ifit be a lie, it must be a lie too that there was a Hector, orAchilles, or Trojan war, or Twelve Peers of France, or Arthur ofEngland, who still lives changed into a raven, and is unceasinglylooked for in his kingdom. One might just as well try to make out thatthe history of Guarino Mezquino, or of the quest of the Holy Grail, isfalse, or that the loves of Tristram and the Queen Yseult areapocryphal, as well as those of Guinevere and Lancelot, when there arepersons who can almost remember having seen the Dame Quintanona, whowas the best cupbearer in Great Britain. And so true is this, that Irecollect a grandmother of mine on the father's side, whenever she sawany dame in a venerable hood, used to say to me, 'Grandson, that oneis like Dame Quintanona,' from which I conclude that she must haveknown her, or at least had managed to see some portrait of her. Thenwho can deny that the story of Pierres and the fair Magalona istrue, when even to this day may be seen in the king's armoury thepin with which the valiant Pierres guided the wooden horse he rodethrough the air, and it is a trifle bigger than the pole of a cart?And alongside of the pin is Babieca's saddle, and at Roncesvallesthere is Roland's horn, as large as a large beam; whence we mayinfer that there were Twelve Peers, and a Pierres, and a Cid, andother knights like them, of the sort people commonly call adventurers.Or perhaps I shall be told, too, that there was no suchknight-errant as the valiant Lusitanian Juan de Merlo, who went toBurgundy and in the city of Arras fought with the famous lord ofCharny, Mosen Pierres by name, and afterwards in the city of Baslewith Mosen Enrique de Remesten, coming out of both encounterscovered with fame and honour; or adventures and challenges achievedand delivered, also in Burgundy, by the valiant Spaniards PedroBarba and Gutierre Quixada (of whose family I come in the directmale line), when they vanquished the sons of the Count of San Polo.I shall be told, too, that Don Fernando de Guevara did not go in questof adventures to Germany, where he engaged in combat with MicerGeorge, a knight of the house of the Duke of Austria. I shall betold that the jousts of Suero de Quinones, him of the 'Paso,' andthe emprise of Mosen Luis de Falces against the Castilian knight,Don Gonzalo de Guzman, were mere mockeries; as well as many otherachievements of Christian knights of these and foreign realms, whichare so authentic and true, that, I repeat, he who denies them mustbe totally wanting in reason and good sense."

The canon was amazed to hear the medley of truth and fiction DonQuixote uttered, and to see how well acquainted he was with everythingrelating or belonging to the achievements of his knight-errantry; sohe said in reply:

"I cannot deny, Senor Don Quixote, that there is some truth inwhat you say, especially as regards the Spanish knights-errant; andI am willing to grant too that the Twelve Peers of France existed, butI am not disposed to believe that they did all the things that theArchbishop Turpin relates of them. For the truth of the matter is theywere knights chosen by the kings of France, and called 'Peers' becausethey were all equal in worth, rank and prowess (at least if theywere not they ought to have been), and it was a kind of religiousorder like those of Santiago and Calatrava in the present day, inwhich it is assumed that those who take it are valiant knights ofdistinction and good birth; and just as we say now a Knight of St.John, or of Alcantara, they used to say then a Knight of the TwelvePeers, because twelve equals were chosen for that military order. Thatthere was a Cid, as well as a Bernardo del Carpio, there can be nodoubt; but that they did the deeds people say they did, I hold to bevery doubtful. In that other matter of the pin of Count Pierres thatyou speak of, and say is near Babieca's saddle in the Armoury, Iconfess my sin; for I am either so stupid or so short-sighted, that,though I have seen the saddle, I have never been able to see thepin, in spite of it being as big as your worship says it is."

"For all that it is there, without any manner of doubt," said DonQuixote; "and more by token they say it is inclosed in a sheath ofcowhide to keep it from rusting."

"All that may be," replied the canon; "but, by the orders I havereceived, I do not remember seeing it. However, granting it isthere, that is no reason why I am bound to believe the stories ofall those Amadises and of all that multitude of knights they tell usabout, nor is it reasonable that a man like your worship, so worthy,and with so many good qualities, and endowed with such a goodunderstanding, should allow himself to be persuaded that such wildcrazy things as are written in those absurd books of chivalry arereally true."

CHAPTER L

OF THE SHREWD CONTROVERSY WHICH DON QUIXOTE AND THE CANON HELD,TOGETHER WITH OTHER INCIDENTS

"A GOOD joke, that!" returned Don Quixote. "Books that have beenprinted with the king's licence, and with the approbation of thoseto whom they have been submitted, and read with universal delight, andextolled by great and small, rich and poor, learned and ignorant,gentle and simple, in a word by people of every sort, of whatever rankor condition they may be- that these should be lies! And above allwhen they carry such an appearance of truth with them; for they tellus the father, mother, country, kindred, age, place, and theachievements, step by step, and day by day, performed by such a knightor knights! Hush, sir; utter not such blasphemy; trust me I amadvising you now to act as a sensible man should; only read them,and you will see the pleasure you will derive from them. For, come,tell me, can there be anything more delightful than to see, as itwere, here now displayed before us a vast lake of bubbling pitchwith a host of snakes and serpents and lizards, and ferocious andterrible creatures of all sorts swimming about in it, while from themiddle of the lake there comes a plaintive voice saying: 'Knight,whosoever thou art who beholdest this dread lake, if thou wouldstwin the prize that lies hidden beneath these dusky waves, prove thevalour of thy stout heart and cast thyself into the midst of itsdark burning waters, else thou shalt not be worthy to see the mightywonders contained in the seven castles of the seven Fays that liebeneath this black expanse;' and then the knight, almost ere the awfulvoice has ceased, without stopping to consider, without pausing toreflect upon the danger to which he is exposing himself, withouteven relieving himself of the weight of his massive armour, commendinghimself to God and to his lady, plunges into the midst of theboiling lake, and when he little looks for it, or knows what hisfate is to be, he finds himself among flowery meadows, with whichthe Elysian fields are not to be compared. The sky seems moretransparent there, and the sun shines with a strange brilliancy, and adelightful grove of green leafy trees presents itself to the eyesand charms the sight with its verdure, while the ear is soothed by thesweet untutored melody of the countless birds of gay plumage that flitto and fro among the interlacing branches. Here he sees a brookwhose limpid waters, like liquid crystal, ripple over fine sands andwhite pebbles that look like sifted gold and purest pearls. There heperceives a cunningly wrought fountain of many-coloured jasper andpolished marble; here another of rustic fashion where the littlemussel-shells and the spiral white and yellow mansions of the snaildisposed in studious disorder, mingled with fragments of glitteringcrystal and mock emeralds, make up a work of varied aspect, where art,imitating nature, seems to have outdone it. Suddenly there ispresented to his sight a strong castle or gorgeous palace with wallsof massy gold, turrets of diamond and gates of jacinth; in short, somarvellous is its structure that though the materials of which it isbuilt are nothing less than diamonds, carbuncles, rubies, pearls,gold, and emeralds, the workmanship is still more rare. And afterhaving seen all this, what can be more charming than to see how a bevyof damsels comes forth from the gate of the castle in gay and gorgeousattire, such that, were I to set myself now to depict it as thehistories describe it to us, I should never have done; and then howshe who seems to be the first among them all takes the bold knight whoplunged into the boiling lake by the hand, and without addressing aword to him leads him into the rich palace or castle, and strips himas naked as when his mother bore him, and bathes him in lukewarmwater, and anoints him all over with sweet-smelling unguents, andclothes him in a shirt of the softest sendal, all scented andperfumed, while another damsel comes and throws over his shoulders amantle which is said to be worth at the very least a city, and evenmore? How charming it is, then, when they tell us how, after all this,they lead him to another chamber where he finds the tables set outin such style that he is filled with amazement and wonder; to seehow they pour out water for his hands distilled from amber andsweet-scented flowers; how they seat him on an ivory chair; to see howthe damsels wait on him all in profound silence; how they bring himsuch a variety of dainties so temptingly prepared that the appetite isat a loss which to select; to hear the music that resounds while he isat table, by whom or whence produced he knows not. And then when therepast is over and the tables removed, for the knight to recline inthe chair, picking his teeth perhaps as usual, and a damsel, muchlovelier than any of the others, to enter unexpectedly by thechamber door, and herself by his side, and begin to tell him whatthe castle is, and how she is held enchanted there, and other thingsthat amaze the knight and astonish the readers who are perusing hishistory. But I will not expatiate any further upon this, as it maybe gathered from it that whatever part of whatever history of aknight-errant one reads, it will fill the reader, whoever he be,with delight and wonder; and take my advice, sir, and, as I saidbefore, read these books and you will see how they will banish anymelancholy you may feel and raise your spirits should they bedepressed. For myself I can say that since I have been a knight-errantI have become valiant, polite, generous, well-bred, magnanimous,courteous, dauntless, gentle, patient, and have learned to bearhardships, imprisonments, and enchantments; and though it be such ashort time since I have seen myself shut up in a cage like a madman, Ihope by the might of my arm, if heaven aid me and fortune thwart menot, to see myself king of some kingdom where I may be able to showthe gratitude and generosity that dwell in my heart; for by myfaith, senor, the poor man is incapacitated from showing the virtue ofgenerosity to anyone, though he may possess it in the highestdegree; and gratitude that consists of disposition only is a deadthing, just as faith without works is dead. For this reason I shouldbe glad were fortune soon to offer me some opportunity of makingmyself an emperor, so as to show my heart in doing good to my friends,particularly to this poor Sancho Panza, my squire, who is the bestfellow in the world; and I would gladly give him a county I havepromised him this ever so long, only that I am afraid he has not thecapacity to govern his realm."

Sancho partly heard these last words of his master, and said to him,"Strive hard you, Senor Don Quixote, to give me that county so oftenpromised by you and so long looked for by me, for I promise youthere will be no want of capacity in me to govern it; and even ifthere is, I have heard say there are men in the world who farmseigniories, paying so much a year, and they themselves takingcharge of the government, while the lord, with his legs stretched out,enjoys the revenue they pay him, without troubling himself aboutanything else. That's what I'll do, and not stand haggling overtrifles, but wash my hands at once of the whole business, and enjoy myrents like a duke, and let things go their own way."

"That, brother Sancho," said the canon, "only holds good as far asthe enjoyment of the revenue goes; but the lord of the seigniorymust attend to the administration of justice, and here capacity andsound judgment come in, and above all a firm determination to find outthe truth; for if this be wanting in the beginning, the middle and theend will always go wrong; and God as commonly aids the honestintentions of the simple as he frustrates the evil designs of thecrafty."

"I don't understand those philosophies," returned Sancho Panza; "allI know is I would I had the county as soon as I shall know how togovern it; for I have as much soul as another, and as much body asanyone, and I shall be as much king of my realm as any other of his;and being so I should do as I liked, and doing as I liked I shouldplease myself, and pleasing myself I should be content, and when oneis content he has nothing more to desire, and when one has nothingmore to desire there is an end of it; so let the county come, andGod he with you, and let us see one another, as one blind man saidto the other."

"That is not bad philosophy thou art talking, Sancho," said thecanon; "but for all that there is a good deal to be said on thismatter of counties."

To which Don Quixote returned, "I know not what more there is tobe said; I only guide myself by the example set me by the great Amadisof Gaul, when he made his squire count of the Insula Firme; and so,without any scruples of conscience, I can make a count of SanchoPanza, for he is one of the best squires that ever knight-errant had."

The canon was astonished at the methodical nonsense (if nonsensebe capable of method) that Don Quixote uttered, at the way in which hehad described the adventure of the knight of the lake, at theimpression that the deliberate lies of the books he read had made uponhim, and lastly he marvelled at the simplicity of Sancho, whodesired so eagerly to obtain the county his master had promised him.

By this time the canon's servants, who had gone to the inn tofetch the sumpter mule, had returned, and making a carpet and thegreen grass of the meadow serve as a table, they seated themselvesin the shade of some trees and made their repast there, that thecarter might not be deprived of the advantage of the spot, as has beenalready said. As they were eating they suddenly heard a loud noise andthe sound of a bell that seemed to come from among some brambles andthick bushes that were close by, and the same instant they observeda beautiful goat, spotted all over black, white, and brown, spring outof the thicket with a goatherd after it, calling to it and utteringthe usual cries to make it stop or turn back to the fold. The fugitivegoat, scared and frightened, ran towards the company as if seekingtheir protection and then stood still, and the goatherd coming upseized it by the horns and began to talk to it as if it were possessedof reason and understanding: "Ah wanderer, wanderer, Spotty, Spotty;how have you gone limping all this time? What wolves have frightenedyou, my daughter? Won't you tell me what is the matter, my beauty? Butwhat else can it be except that you are a she, and cannot keepquiet? A plague on your humours and the humours of those you takeafter! Come back, come back, my darling; and if you will not be sohappy, at any rate you will be safe in the fold or with yourcompanions; for if you who ought to keep and lead them, go wanderingastray, what will become of them?"