Don Quixote was amazed and astonished, as well at the Knight ofthe White Moon's arrogance, as at his reason for delivering thedefiance, and with calm dignity he answered him, "Knight of theWhite Moon, of whose achievements I have never heard until now, I willventure to swear you have never seen the illustrious Dulcinea; for hadyou seen her I know you would have taken care not to ventureyourself upon this issue, because the sight would have removed alldoubt from your mind that there ever has been or can be a beauty to becompared with hers; and so, not saying you lie, but merely that youare not correct in what you state, I accept your challenge, with theconditions you have proposed, and at once, that the day you have fixedmay not expire; and from your conditions I except only that of therenown of your achievements being transferred to me, for I know not ofwhat sort they are nor what they may amount to; I am satisfied with myown, such as they be. Take, therefore, the side of the field youchoose, and I will do the same; and to whom God shall give it maySaint Peter add his blessing."

The Knight of the White Moon had been seen from the city, and it wastold the viceroy how he was in conversation with Don Quixote. Theviceroy, fancying it must be some fresh adventure got up by DonAntonio Moreno or some other gentleman of the city, hurried out atonce to the beach accompanied by Don Antonio and several othergentlemen, just as Don Quixote was wheeling Rocinante round in orderto take up the necessary distance. The viceroy upon this, seeingthat the pair of them were evidently preparing to come to thecharge, put himself between them, asking them what it was that ledthem to engage in combat all of a sudden in this way. The Knight ofthe White Moon replied that it was a question of precedence of beauty;and briefly told him what he had said to Don Quixote, and how theconditions of the defiance agreed upon on both sides had beenaccepted. The viceroy went over to Don Antonio, and asked in a lowvoice did he know who the Knight of the White Moon was, or was it somejoke they were playing on Don Quixote. Don Antonio replied that heneither knew who he was nor whether the defiance was in joke or inearnest. This answer left the viceroy in a state of perplexity, notknowing whether he ought to let the combat go on or not; but unable topersuade himself that it was anything but a joke he fell back, saying,"If there be no other way out of it, gallant knights, except toconfess or die, and Don Quixote is inflexible, and your worship of theWhite Moon still more so, in God's hand be it, and fall on."

He of the White Moon thanked the viceroy in courteous andwell-chosen words for the permission he gave them, and so did DonQuixote, who then, commending himself with all his heart to heaven andto his Dulcinea, as was his custom on the eve of any combat thatawaited him, proceeded to take a little more distance, as he saw hisantagonist was doing the same; then, without blast of trumpet or otherwarlike instrument to give them the signal to charge, both at the sameinstant wheeled their horses; and he of the White Moon, being theswifter, met Don Quixote after having traversed two-thirds of thecourse, and there encountered him with such violence that, withouttouching him with his lance (for he held it high, to all appearancepurposely), he hurled Don Quixote and Rocinante to the earth, aperilous fall. He sprang upon him at once, and placing the lanceover his visor said to him, "You are vanquished, sir knight, naydead unless you admit the conditions of our defiance."

Don Quixote, bruised and stupefied, without raising his visor saidin a weak feeble voice as if he were speaking out of a tomb, "Dulcineadel Toboso is the fairest woman in the world, and I the mostunfortunate knight on earth; it is not fitting that this truthshould suffer by my feebleness; drive your lance home, sir knight, andtake my life, since you have taken away my honour."

"That will I not, in sooth," said he of the White Moon; "live thefame of the lady Dulcinea's beauty undimmed as ever; all I requireis that the great Don Quixote retire to his own home for a year, orfor so long a time as shall by me be enjoined upon him, as we agreedbefore engaging in this combat."

The viceroy, Don Antonio, and several others who were presentheard all this, and heard too how Don Quixote replied that so longas nothing in prejudice of Dulcinea was demanded of him, he wouldobserve all the rest like a true and loyal knight. The engagementgiven, he of the White Moon wheeled about, and making obeisance to theviceroy with a movement of the head, rode away into the city at a halfgallop. The viceroy bade Don Antonio hasten after him, and by somemeans or other find out who he was. They raised Don Quixote up anduncovered his face, and found him pale and bathed with sweat.Rocinante from the mere hard measure he had received lay unable tostir for the present. Sancho, wholly dejected and woebegone, knewnot what to say or do. He fancied that all was a dream, that the wholebusiness was a piece of enchantment. Here was his master defeated, andbound not to take up arms for a year. He saw the light of the glory ofhis achievements obscured; the hopes of the promises lately made himswept away like smoke before the wind; Rocinante, he feared, wascrippled for life, and his master's bones out of joint; for if he wereonly shaken out of his madness it would be no small luck. In the endthey carried him into the city in a hand-chair which the viceroysent for, and thither the viceroy himself returned, cager to ascertainwho this Knight of the White Moon was who had left Don Quixote in sucha sad plight.

CHAPTER LXV

WHEREIN IS MADE KNOWN WHO THE KNIGHT OF THE WHITE MOON WAS; LIKEWISEDON GREGORIO'S RELEASE, AND OTHER EVENTS

Don Antonia Moreno followed the Knight of the White Moon, and anumber of boys followed him too, nay pursued him, until they had himfairly housed in a hostel in the heart of the city. Don Antonio, eagerto make his acquaintance, entered also; a squire came out to meethim and remove his armour, and he shut himself into a lower room,still attended by Don Antonio, whose bread would not bake until he hadfound out who he was. He of the White Moon, seeing then that thegentleman would not leave him, said, "I know very well, senor, whatyou have come for; it is to find out who I am; and as there is noreason why I should conceal it from you, while my servant here istaking off my armour I will tell you the true state of the case,without leaving out anything. You must know, senor, that I am calledthe bachelor Samson Carrasco. I am of the same village as DonQuixote of La Mancha, whose craze and folly make all of us who knowhim feel pity for him, and I am one of those who have felt it most;and persuaded that his chance of recovery lay in quiet and keepingat home and in his own house, I hit upon a device for keeping himthere. Three months ago, therefore, I went out to meet him as aknight-errant, under the assumed name of the Knight of the Mirrors,intending to engage him in combat and overcome him without hurtinghim, making it the condition of our combat that the vanquishedshould be at the disposal of the victor. What I meant to demand of him(for I regarded him as vanquished already) was that he should returnto his own village, and not leave it for a whole year, by which timehe might he cured. But fate ordered it otherwise, for he vanquished meand unhorsed me, and so my plan failed. He went his way, and I cameback conquered, covered with shame, and sorely bruised by my fall,which was a particularly dangerous one. But this did not quench mydesire to meet him again and overcome him, as you have seen to-day.And as he is so scrupulous in his observance of the laws ofknight-errantry, he will, no doubt, in order to keep his word, obeythe injunction I have laid upon him. This, senor, is how the matterstands, and I have nothing more to tell you. I implore of you not tobetray me, or tell Don Quixote who I am; so that my honestendeavours may be successful, and that a man of excellent wits- werehe only rid of the fooleries of chivalry- may get them back again."

"O senor," said Don Antonio, "may God forgive you the wrong you havedone the whole world in trying to bring the most amusing madman init back to his senses. Do you not see, senor, that the gain by DonQuixote's sanity can never equal the enjoyment his crazes give? But mybelief is that all the senor bachelor's pains will be of no avail tobring a man so hopelessly cracked to his senses again; and if itwere not uncharitable, I would say may Don Quixote never be cured, forby his recovery we lose not only his own drolleries, but his squireSancho Panza's too, any one of which is enough to turn melancholyitself into merriment. However, I'll hold my peace and say nothingto him, and we'll see whether I am right in my suspicion that SenorCarrasco's efforts will be fruitless."

The bachelor replied that at all events the affair promised well,and he hoped for a happy result from it; and putting his services atDon Antonio's commands he took his leave of him; and having had hisarmour packed at once upon a mule, he rode away from the city the sameday on the horse he rode to battle, and returned to his own countrywithout meeting any adventure calling for record in this veracioushistory.

Don Antonio reported to the viceroy what Carrasco told him, andthe viceroy was not very well pleased to hear it, for with DonQuixote's retirement there was an end to the amusement of all who knewanything of his mad doings.

Six days did Don Quixote keep his bed, dejected, melancholy, moodyand out of sorts, brooding over the unhappy event of his defeat.Sancho strove to comfort him, and among other things he said to him,"Hold up your head, senor, and be of good cheer if you can, and givethanks to heaven that if you have had a tumble to the ground youhave not come off with a broken rib; and, as you know that 'where theygive they take,' and that 'there are not always fletches where thereare pegs,' a fig for the doctor, for there's no need of him to curethis ailment. Let us go home, and give over going about in search ofadventures in strange lands and places; rightly looked at, it is Ithat am the greater loser, though it is your worship that has hadthe worse usage. With the government I gave up all wish to be agovernor again, but I did not give up all longing to be a count; andthat will never come to pass if your worship gives up becoming aking by renouncing the calling of chivalry; and so my hopes aregoing to turn into smoke."

"Peace, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "thou seest my suspension andretirement is not to exceed a year; I shall soon return to my honouredcalling, and I shall not be at a loss for a kingdom to win and acounty to bestow on thee."

"May God hear it and sin be deaf," said Sancho; "I have always heardsay that 'a good hope is better than a bad holding."

As they were talking Don Antonio came in looking extremely pleasedand exclaiming, "Reward me for my good news, Senor Don Quixote! DonGregorio and the renegade who went for him have come ashore- ashore doI say? They are by this time in the viceroy's house, and will behere immediately."

Don Quixote cheered up a little and said, "Of a truth I am almostready to say I should have been glad had it turned out just theother way, for it would have obliged me to cross over to Barbary,where by the might of my arm I should have restored to liberty, notonly Don Gregorio, but all the Christian captives there are inBarbary. But what am I saying, miserable being that I am? Am I nothe that has been conquered? Am I not he that has been overthrown? Am Inot he who must not take up arms for a year? Then what am I makingprofessions for; what am I bragging about; when it is fitter for me tohandle the distaff than the sword?"

"No more of that, senor," said Sancho; "'let the hen live, eventhough it be with her pip; 'today for thee and to-morrow for me;' inthese affairs of encounters and whacks one must not mind them, forhe that falls to-day may get up to-morrow; unless indeed he chooses tolie in bed, I mean gives way to weakness and does not pluck up freshspirit for fresh battles; let your worship get up now to receive DonGregorio; for the household seems to be in a bustle, and no doubt hehas come by this time;" and so it proved, for as soon as DonGregorio and the renegade had given the viceroy an account of thevoyage out and home, Don Gregorio, eager to see Ana Felix, came withthe renegade to Don Antonio's house. When they carried him away fromAlgiers he was in woman's dress; on board the vessel, however, heexchanged it for that of a captive who escaped with him; but inwhatever dress he might be he looked like one to be loved and servedand esteemed, for he was surpassingly well-favoured, and to judge byappearances some seventeen or eighteen years of age. Ricote and hisdaughter came out to welcome him, the father with tears, thedaughter with bashfulness. They did not embrace each other, forwhere there is deep love there will never be overmuch boldness. Seenside by side, the comeliness of Don Gregorio and the beauty of AnaFelix were the admiration of all who were present. It was silence thatspoke for the lovers at that moment, and their eyes were the tonguesthat declared their pure and happy feelings. The renegade explainedthe measures and means he had adopted to rescue Don Gregorio, andDon Gregorio at no great length, but in a few words, in which heshowed that his intelligence was in advance of his years, describedthe peril and embarrassment he found himself in among the women withwhom he had sojourned. To conclude, Ricote liberally recompensed andrewarded as well the renegade as the men who had rowed; and therenegade effected his readmission into the body of the Church andwas reconciled with it, and from a rotten limb became by penance andrepentance a clean and sound one.

Two days later the viceroy discussed with Don Antonio the steps theyshould take to enable Ana Felix and her father to stay in Spain, forit seemed to them there could be no objection to a daughter who was sogood a Christian and a father to all appearance so well disposedremaining there. Don Antonio offered to arrange the matter at thecapital, whither he was compelled to go on some other business,hinting that many a difficult affair was settled there with the helpof favour and bribes.

Title: Don Quixote
Author: Miqeul de Cervantes
Viewed 406959 times

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