PART I - CHAPTER XI.

by Miguel de Cervantes

　　WHAT BEFELL DON QUIXOTE WITH CERTAIN GOATHERDSHe was cordially welcomed by the goatherds, and Sancho, having as best hecould put up Rocinante and the ass, drew towards the fragrance that camefrom some pieces of salted goat simmering in a pot on the fire; andthough he would have liked at once to try if they were ready to betransferred from the pot to the stomach, he refrained from doing so asthe goatherds removed them from the fire, and laying sheepskins on theground, quickly spread their rude table, and with signs of heartygood-will invited them both to share what they had. Round the skins sixof the men belonging to the fold seated themselves, having first withrough politeness pressed Don Quixote to take a seat upon a trough whichthey placed for him upside down. Don Quixote seated himself, and Sanchoremained standing to serve the cup, which was made of horn. Seeing himstanding, his master said to him:"That thou mayest see, Sancho, the good that knight-errantry contains initself, and how those who fill any office in it are on the high road tobe speedily honoured and esteemed by the world, I desire that thou seatthyself here at my side and in the company of these worthy people, andthat thou be one with me who am thy master and natural lord, and thatthou eat from my plate and drink from whatever I drink from; for the samemay be said of knight-errantry as of love, that it levels all.""Great thanks," said Sancho, "but I may tell your worship that provided Ihave enough to eat, I can eat it as well, or better, standing, and bymyself, than seated alongside of an emperor. And indeed, if the truth isto be told, what I eat in my corner without form or fuss has much morerelish for me, even though it be bread and onions, than the turkeys ofthose other tables where I am forced to chew slowly, drink little, wipemy mouth every minute, and cannot sneeze or cough if I want or do otherthings that are the privileges of liberty and solitude. So, senor, as forthese honours which your worship would put upon me as a servant andfollower of knight-errantry, exchange them for other things which may beof more use and advantage to me; for these, though I fully acknowledgethem as received, I renounce from this moment to the end of the world.""For all that," said Don Quixote, "thou must seat thyself, because himwho humbleth himself God exalteth;" and seizing him by the arm he forcedhim to sit down beside himself.The goatherds did not understand this jargon about squires andknights-errant, and all they did was to eat in silence and stare at theirguests, who with great elegance and appetite were stowing away pieces asbig as one's fist. The course of meat finished, they spread upon thesheepskins a great heap of parched acorns, and with them they put down ahalf cheese harder than if it had been made of mortar. All this while thehorn was not idle, for it went round so constantly, now full, now empty,like the bucket of a water-wheel, that it soon drained one of the twowine-skins that were in sight. When Don Quixote had quite appeased hisappetite he took up a handful of the acorns, and contemplating themattentively delivered himself somewhat in this fashion:"Happy the age, happy the time, to which the ancients gave the name ofgolden, not because in that fortunate age the gold so coveted in this ouriron one was gained without toil, but because they that lived in it knewnot the two words "mine" and "thine"! In that blessed age all things werein common; to win the daily food no labour was required of any save tostretch forth his hand and gather it from the sturdy oaks that stoodgenerously inviting him with their sweet ripe fruit. The clear streamsand running brooks yielded their savoury limpid waters in nobleabundance. The busy and sagacious bees fixed their republic in the cleftsof the rocks and hollows of the trees, offering without usance theplenteous produce of their fragrant toil to every hand. The mighty corktrees, unenforced save of their own courtesy, shed the broad light barkthat served at first to roof the houses supported by rude stakes, aprotection against the inclemency of heaven alone. Then all was peace,all friendship, all concord; as yet the dull share of the crooked ploughhad not dared to rend and pierce the tender bowels of our first motherthat without compulsion yielded from every portion of her broad fertilebosom all that could satisfy, sustain, and delight the children that thenpossessed her. Then was it that the innocent and fair young shepherdessroamed from vale to vale and hill to hill, with flowing locks, and nomore garments than were needful modestly to cover what modesty seeks andever sought to hide. Nor were their ornaments like those in use to-day,set off by Tyrian purple, and silk tortured in endless fashions, but thewreathed leaves of the green dock and ivy, wherewith they went as bravelyand becomingly decked as our Court dames with all the rare andfar-fetched artifices that idle curiosity has taught them. Then thelove-thoughts of the heart clothed themselves simply and naturally as theheart conceived them, nor sought to commend themselves by forced andrambling verbiage. Fraud, deceit, or malice had then not yet mingled withtruth and sincerity. Justice held her ground, undisturbed and unassailedby the efforts of favour and of interest, that now so much impair,pervert, and beset her. Arbitrary law had not yet established itself inthe mind of the judge, for then there was no cause to judge and no one tobe judged. Maidens and modesty, as I have said, wandered at will aloneand unattended, without fear of insult from lawlessness or libertineassault, and if they were undone it was of their own will and pleasure.But now in this hateful age of ours not one is safe, not though some newlabyrinth like that of Crete conceal and surround her; even there thepestilence of gallantry will make its way to them through chinks or onthe air by the zeal of its accursed importunity, and, despite of allseclusion, lead them to ruin. In defence of these, as time advanced andwickedness increased, the order of knights-errant was instituted, todefend maidens, to protect widows and to succour the orphans and theneedy. To this order I belong, brother goatherds, to whom I return thanksfor the hospitality and kindly welcome ye offer me and my squire; forthough by natural law all living are bound to show favour toknights-errant, yet, seeing that without knowing this obligation ye havewelcomed and feasted me, it is right that with all the good-will in mypower I should thank you for yours."All this long harangue (which might very well have been spared) ourknight delivered because the acorns they gave him reminded him of thegolden age; and the whim seized him to address all this unnecessaryargument to the goatherds, who listened to him gaping in amazementwithout saying a word in reply. Sancho likewise held his peace and ateacorns, and paid repeated visits to the second wine-skin, which they hadhung up on a cork tree to keep the wine cool.Don Quixote was longer in talking than the supper in finishing, at theend of which one of the goatherds said, "That your worship, senorknight-errant, may say with more truth that we show you hospitality withready good-will, we will give you amusement and pleasure by making one ofour comrades sing: he will be here before long, and he is a veryintelligent youth and deep in love, and what is more he can read andwrite and play on the rebeck to perfection."The goatherd had hardly done speaking, when the notes of the rebeckreached their ears; and shortly after, the player came up, a verygood-looking young man of about two-and-twenty. His comrades asked him ifhe had supped, and on his replying that he had, he who had already madethe offer said to him:"In that case, Antonio, thou mayest as well do us the pleasure of singinga little, that the gentleman, our guest, may see that even in themountains and woods there are musicians: we have told him of thyaccomplishments, and we want thee to show them and prove that we saytrue; so, as thou livest, pray sit down and sing that ballad about thylove that thy uncle the prebendary made thee, and that was so much likedin the town.""With all my heart," said the young man, and without waiting for morepressing he seated himself on the trunk of a felled oak, and tuning hisrebeck, presently began to sing to these words.ANTONIO'S BALLAD Thou dost love me well, Olalla; Well I know it, even though Love's mute tongues, thine eyes, have never By their glances told me so. For I know my love thou knowest, Therefore thine to claim I dare: Once it ceases to be secret, Love need never feel despair. True it is, Olalla, sometimes Thou hast all too plainly shown That thy heart is brass in hardness, And thy snowy bosom stone. Yet for all that, in thy coyness, And thy fickle fits between, Hope is there--at least the border Of her garment may be seen. Lures to faith are they, those glimpses, And to faith in thee I hold; Kindness cannot make it stronger, Coldness cannot make it cold. If it be that love is gentle, In thy gentleness I see Something holding out assurance To the hope of winning thee. If it be that in devotion Lies a power hearts to move, That which every day I show thee, Helpful to my suit should prove. Many a time thou must have noticed-- If to notice thou dost care-- How I go about on Monday Dressed in all my Sunday wear. Love's eyes love to look on brightness; Love loves what is gaily drest; Sunday, Monday, all I care is Thou shouldst see me in my best. No account I make of dances, Or of strains that pleased thee so, Keeping thee awake from midnight Till the cocks began to crow; Or of how I roundly swore it That there's none so fair as thou; True it is, but as I said it, By the girls I'm hated now. For Teresa of the hillside At my praise of thee was sore; Said, "You think you love an angel; It's a monkey you adore; "Caught by all her glittering trinkets, And her borrowed braids of hair, And a host of made-up beauties That would Love himself ensnare." 'T was a lie, and so I told her, And her cousin at the word Gave me his defiance for it; And what followed thou hast heard. Mine is no high-flown affection, Mine no passion par amours-- As they call it--what I offer Is an honest love, and pure. Cunning cords the holy Church has, Cords of softest silk they be; Put thy neck beneath the yoke, dear; Mine will follow, thou wilt see. Else--and once for all I swear it By the saint of most renown-- If I ever quit the mountains, 'T will be in a friar's gown. Here the goatherd brought his song to an end, and though Don Quixoteentreated him to sing more, Sancho had no mind that way, being moreinclined for sleep than for listening to songs; so said he to his master,"Your worship will do well to settle at once where you mean to pass thenight, for the labour these good men are at all day does not allow themto spend the night in singing.""I understand thee, Sancho," replied Don Quixote; "I perceive clearlythat those visits to the wine-skin demand compensation in sleep ratherthan in music.""It's sweet to us all, blessed be God," said Sancho."I do not deny it," replied Don Quixote; "but settle thyself where thouwilt; those of my calling are more becomingly employed in watching thanin sleeping; still it would be as well if thou wert to dress this ear forme again, for it is giving me more pain than it need."Sancho did as he bade him, but one of the goatherds, seeing the wound,told him not to be uneasy, as he would apply a remedy with which it wouldbe soon healed; and gathering some leaves of rosemary, of which there wasa great quantity there, he chewed them and mixed them with a little salt,and applying them to the ear he secured them firmly with a bandage,assuring him that no other treatment would be required, and so it proved.