"WITH EACH LASH HE GAVE OUT THE MOST HEARTRENDING CRIES."—Page 333"WITH EACH LASH HE GAVE OUT THE MOST HEARTRENDING CRIES."—Page 333
When Don Quixote saw his old friends, he dismounted and embraced them; and all the little boys in town came running to see the sight of Dapple and the returning revivers of knight-errantry. They called out to their playmates: "Come here, fellows, and see how Sancho Panza's donkey is rigged out; and take a look at Don Quixote's horse: he is leaner than ever!"
As they walked through the village, it was a whole parade that followed them; and at Don Quixote's house they were received by the niece and the housekeeper, who had already heard of the return.
Teresa Panza, too, had been given the news, but she was sorely disappointed when she ran out with her two dirty children to welcome the returning Governor. She scolded him soundly for coming home dressed like a vagabond. But Sancho told her to put a clamp on her tongue, for he did bring her money, at any rate, he said. Then his daughter fell on his neck and kissed him, and in the next instant the whole family had dragged him inside their little cottage.
Don Quixote shut himself in with the curate and the bachelor, as soon as he had entered his house, and relatedto them the sad story of his defeat, and the promise he had made to the Knight of the White Moon; and then he broached his new idea, that of turning shepherd. He told his friends he had chosen new names for them, for he hoped that they would share his new life with him; and they at once praised his scheme and promised that as shepherds they would accompany him in his pursuit of happiness. Samson added that he would be an especially valuable member of the pastoral colony, for he knew how to write poetry, and would devote his time to singing the praises of their simple life. Of course, there must be shepherdesses, too, Don Quixote ruled, and they could be represented by such modest and virtuous women as Dulcinea and Teresa Panza.
When they had conversed in this pleasant manner for some time, the curate and the bachelor left, begging Don Quixote to take good care of himself and to eat plentifully. As soon as they had departed, the niece and the housekeeper, who had overheard the three men, entered the late knight's room and begged him not to turn shepherd saying that his health was not such as to allow him to dwell in the open in the damp night air; sooner or later he would succumb, they said, and take ill and die. They were both agreed that the foolishness of knight-errantry was much better than this craze. They entreated him to remain at home, to go to confession often, and to indulge in doing good deeds and being kind to the poor, instead. But Don Quixote would have none of their advice. He told them he knew where his duty lay. Then he implored them to put him to bed, saying that they ought to know he had alwaystheir interest at heart, no matter what happened.
The two women began to weep, and then they helped Don Quixote to bed, and there they did all they could to make him comfortable, and gave him something to eat.
THE following day Don Quixote did not rise from his bed, and he was taken with a fever which kept him in bed for six days. All this time his faithful Sancho remained at his bedside; and his friends, the curate, the barber and the bachelor, visited him frequently. They all did what they could, for they seemed to sense that the sickness was brought on by the sad thought of his having been forced to give up his great hope of reviving knight-errantry.
When the doctor was sent for, he said frankly that it was time for Don Quixote to turn his thoughts to his soul; and when the niece and the devoted housekeeper heard this, they began to weep bitterly. The physician was of the same opinion as the curate and Don Quixote's other friends: that melancholy and unhappiness were the cause of the present state of his health.
Soon Don Quixote asked to be left alone, and then he fell into a long sleep, which lasted over six hours. It provoked the anxiety of the two women, who were afraidhe would never wake up again. At last he awoke, and as he opened his eyes he exclaimed in a voice of exaltation and joy: "Blessed be the Lord Almighty, who has shown me such goodness! In truth his mercies are boundless, and the sins of men can neither limit them nor keep them back!"
The niece was struck by the unusual saneness of these words. She asked Don Quixote gently what he meant, and what sins of men he was speaking of. He replied in a voice full of calmness and serenity that God had just freed his reason, for he realized now how ignorance in believing in the absurdities of the books of chivalry had distorted his mind and vision so sadly. He regretted, he said, that he saw the light so late in life that there was no time for him to show his repentance by reading other books, which might have helped his soul. Then he begged his niece to send for the curate, the bachelor Carrasco, and the barber, as he wished to confess his sins and make his will before he departed from this earth.
The moment the three friends stepped over the threshold to his chamber, he called out happily: "Good news for you, good sirs, that I am no longer Don Quixote of La Mancha, but Alonso Quixano, whose way of life won for him the name of the Good." And he went on to say how he now loathed all books of chivalry which had brought him to the state he was in, and how happy he was in the thought that God had made him see his folly. The three men could only think that this was some new craze of their friend's and tried to persuade him not to talk thus, nowthat they had just got news of his peerless Dulcinea and were all of them about to become shepherds in order to keep him company; and they begged him to be rational and talk no more nonsense. But soon they realized that Don Quixote was not jesting, for he begged them to send for a notary, and while the bachelor went to fetch him, the barber went to soothe the women; and the curate alone remained with Don Quixote to confess him.
When the good curate came out after the confession, the women gathered about him and when he told them that Don Quixote was indeed dying, they broke into sobs, for they loved him genuinely and dearly. The notary then came, and Don Quixote made his will. The first person he thought of was his faithful and beloved companion, Sancho Panza, whose simplicity and affection he rewarded by leaving him all the money of his own that was now in Sancho's possession. Had he had a kingdom to give him, he said, it would scarcely have been sufficient reward for all that Sancho had done for him. Then turning to Sancho, who stood at his bedside with tears in his eyes, he said to him: "Forgive me, my friend, that I led thee to seem as mad as myself, making thee fall into the same error I myself fell into, that there were and still are knights errant in the world."
"Ah," said Sancho, in a voice that was choked with tears, "do not die, master, but take my advice and live many years; for the foolishest thing a man can do in this life is to let himself die without rhyme or reason, without anybody killing him, or any hands but melancholy's makingan end of him. Come, do not be lazy, but get up from your bed and let us take to the fields in a shepherd's trim as we agreed! Perhaps behind some bush we shall find the Lady Dulcinea disenchanted, as fine as fine can be. If it be that you are dying of vexation at having been vanquished, lay the blame on me, and say you were thrown because I girthed Rocinante badly."
But although Samson Carrasco tried to persuade the dying knight that Sancho had reasoned rightly, they at last came to the conclusion that Don Quixote really was in his right senses, and that God had worked a miracle.
They now let the notary proceed and one of the stipulations in the will was that if his niece, Antonia Quixana, ever married a man who had read books of chivalry, she should by so doing forfeit all that he had left to her, and instead it would go to charity. Another clause contained a request to the executors to offer his humble apologies to the author of the Second Part of "The Achievements of Don Quixote of La Mancha" for his having committed so many absurdities that had been a provocation to the author to write this book.
When he had dictated the last words of his will, a sudden faintness came over Don Quixote, and for three days after that he was in a state between life and death. At last the end came, and he passed away so calmly that the notary felt compelled to confess that he never had read of any knight errant in the whole wide world who had breathed his last breath so peacefully.
The bachelor, Samson Carrasco, wrote an epitaph for his tomb; and there is written on a tombstone in a littlevillage of La Mancha the praise that those who knew and loved the valiant and doughty, yet gentle Don Quixote of La Mancha felt in their hearts for him, whose last wish was that he might die as Alonso Quixano the Good.
Transcribers' Note:The Title Page of this book credits Arvid Paulson and Clayton Edwards as being the authors of this work. The original Don Quixote of The Mancha was written, in Spanish, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra around 1605. It has been translated into many languages and editions. This book is based on Cervantes' story. The catalogue of the Library of Congress lists Cervantes as the author of this book, and Paulson and Edwards are included as "related names."Variations in spelling, such as grey/gray or pretence/pretense have been left as they appear in the original book.Some Items That Appear To Be Typographic Errors Have Been Changed As Follows.Page 28Corrected Neverthelesss to remove extra "s".Page 63Corrected imcomparable to incomparable.Page 130Corrected hilarously to hilariously.Page 231Corrected sacrilegeous to sacrilegious in the passage that read "When the confessor heard the sacrilegeous conversation".Page 237Corrected Doño to Doña in the passage that read "and told her of the incident with Doño Rodriguez".Page 246Corrected expresseed to expressed.Page 257Deleted superfluous "to" in the passage that read "he confided to to his master the resemblance in voice and appearance".Page 277"and lifted him up from his vertical position." has been left as it appears in the book, although the intent would appear to be "horizontal" rather than "vertical".Page 306In the passage that reads "After having acted in the most mysterious manner, and having carefully ascertained that all the doors to the room were shut and no one listening, Don Quixote swore the knight to secrecy." Don Quixote has been changed to Antonio as this appears to be a typographic error as Don Quixote is the knight in question.Page 309Changed lead to led in the passage that reads "through a tube that lead from the inside of the head".Page 317Corrected Stubborness to Stubbornness in the passage that read "but Sancho was unflinching in his stubborness and insisted".Page 328Corrected to affliction in the passage that reads "in time be cured of his strange affiction".Changes Have Been Made to Table of Contents As Follows.Volume ICHAPTER XXXII-XXXIVWhich Treats of What Befell All Don Quixote's Party at the InnThe table of contents read "at the End". It has been amended to "at the Inn" to match the chapter heading.Volume IICHAPTER XIIOf the Strange Adventure Which Befell the Valiant Don Quixote with the Bold Knight of the GroveThe table of contents read "of the Mirrors" It has been amended to "of the Grove" to match this and the next chapter heading and sense of the story line.CHAPTER XLIVHow Sancho Panza Was Conducted to His Government; and of the Strange Adventure That Befell Don Quixote in the Castle"Ad" in adventure was missing from the table of contents which read "Strange Venture". It has been amended to match the chapter heading.CHAPTER LWherein Is Set Forth How Governor Sancho Panza's Wife Received a Message and a Gift from the Duchess; and also What Befell the Page Who Carried the Letter to Teresa PanzaThe table of contents went on to add "Sancho Panza's Wife" to the end of the above listing. This has been removed to agree with the chapter heading.CHAPTERS LVI-LVIIWhich Treats of How Don Quixote Again Felt the Calling of Knight-errantry and How He Took Leave of the Duke, and of What Followed with the Witty and Impudent Altisidora, One of the Duchess' DamselsDeleted "s" from "callings" in contents listing.Capitalisation of the Table of Contents has been modified to agree with each applicable chapter heading.
Transcribers' Note:
The Title Page of this book credits Arvid Paulson and Clayton Edwards as being the authors of this work. The original Don Quixote of The Mancha was written, in Spanish, by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra around 1605. It has been translated into many languages and editions. This book is based on Cervantes' story. The catalogue of the Library of Congress lists Cervantes as the author of this book, and Paulson and Edwards are included as "related names."
Variations in spelling, such as grey/gray or pretence/pretense have been left as they appear in the original book.
CHAPTER XXXII-XXXIV
Which Treats of What Befell All Don Quixote's Party at the Inn
The table of contents read "at the End". It has been amended to "at the Inn" to match the chapter heading.
CHAPTER XII
Of the Strange Adventure Which Befell the Valiant Don Quixote with the Bold Knight of the Grove
The table of contents read "of the Mirrors" It has been amended to "of the Grove" to match this and the next chapter heading and sense of the story line.
CHAPTER XLIV
How Sancho Panza Was Conducted to His Government; and of the Strange Adventure That Befell Don Quixote in the Castle
"Ad" in adventure was missing from the table of contents which read "Strange Venture". It has been amended to match the chapter heading.
CHAPTER L
Wherein Is Set Forth How Governor Sancho Panza's Wife Received a Message and a Gift from the Duchess; and also What Befell the Page Who Carried the Letter to Teresa Panza
The table of contents went on to add "Sancho Panza's Wife" to the end of the above listing. This has been removed to agree with the chapter heading.
CHAPTERS LVI-LVII
Which Treats of How Don Quixote Again Felt the Calling of Knight-errantry and How He Took Leave of the Duke, and of What Followed with the Witty and Impudent Altisidora, One of the Duchess' Damsels
Deleted "s" from "callings" in contents listing.
Capitalisation of the Table of Contents has been modified to agree with each applicable chapter heading.