PART I - CHAPTER XLII.

by Miguel de Cervantes

　　WHICH TREATS OF WHAT FURTHER TOOK PLACE IN THE INN, AND OF SEVERAL OTHERTHINGS WORTH KNOWINGWith these words the captive held his peace, and Don Fernando said tohim, "In truth, captain, the manner in which you have related thisremarkable adventure has been such as befitted the novelty andstrangeness of the matter. The whole story is curious and uncommon, andabounds with incidents that fill the hearers with wonder andastonishment; and so great is the pleasure we have found in listening toit that we should be glad if it were to begin again, even thoughto-morrow were to find us still occupied with the same tale." And whilehe said this Cardenio and the rest of them offered to be of service tohim in any way that lay in their power, and in words and language sokindly and sincere that the captain was much gratified by theirgood-will. In particular Don Fernando offered, if he would go back withhim, to get his brother the marquis to become godfather at the baptism ofZoraida, and on his own part to provide him with the means of making hisappearance in his own country with the credit and comfort he was entitledto. For all this the captive returned thanks very courteously, althoughhe would not accept any of their generous offers.By this time night closed in, and as it did, there came up to the inn acoach attended by some men on horseback, who demanded accommodation; towhich the landlady replied that there was not a hand's breadth of thewhole inn unoccupied."Still, for all that," said one of those who had entered on horseback,"room must be found for his lordship the Judge here."At this name the landlady was taken aback, and said, "Senor, the fact isI have no beds; but if his lordship the Judge carries one with him, as nodoubt he does, let him come in and welcome; for my husband and I willgive up our room to accommodate his worship.""Very good, so be it," said the squire; but in the meantime a man had gotout of the coach whose dress indicated at a glance the office and post heheld, for the long robe with ruffled sleeves that he wore showed that hewas, as his servant said, a Judge of appeal. He led by the hand a younggirl in a travelling dress, apparently about sixteen years of age, and ofsuch a high-bred air, so beautiful and so graceful, that all were filledwith admiration when she made her appearance, and but for having seenDorothea, Luscinda, and Zoraida, who were there in the inn, they wouldhave fancied that a beauty like that of this maiden's would have beenhard to find. Don Quixote was present at the entrance of the Judge withthe young lady, and as soon as he saw him he said, "Your worship may withconfidence enter and take your ease in this castle; for though theaccommodation be scanty and poor, there are no quarters so cramped orinconvenient that they cannot make room for arms and letters; above allif arms and letters have beauty for a guide and leader, as lettersrepresented by your worship have in this fair maiden, to whom not onlyought castles to throw themselves open and yield themselves up, but rocksshould rend themselves asunder and mountains divide and bow themselvesdown to give her a reception. Enter, your worship, I say, into thisparadise, for here you will find stars and suns to accompany the heavenyour worship brings with you, here you will find arms in their supremeexcellence, and beauty in its highest perfection."The Judge was struck with amazement at the language of Don Quixote, whomhe scrutinized very carefully, no less astonished by his figure than byhis talk; and before he could find words to answer him he had a freshsurprise, when he saw opposite to him Luscinda, Dorothea, and Zoraida,who, having heard of the new guests and of the beauty of the young lady,had come to see her and welcome her; Don Fernando, Cardenio, and thecurate, however, greeted him in a more intelligible and polished style.In short, the Judge made his entrance in a state of bewilderment, as wellwith what he saw as what he heard, and the fair ladies of the inn gavethe fair damsel a cordial welcome. On the whole he could perceive thatall who were there were people of quality; but with the figure,countenance, and bearing of Don Quixote he was at his wits' end; and allcivilities having been exchanged, and the accommodation of the inninquired into, it was settled, as it had been before settled, that allthe women should retire to the garret that has been already mentioned,and that the men should remain outside as if to guard them; the Judge,therefore, was very well pleased to allow his daughter, for such thedamsel was, to go with the ladies, which she did very willingly; and withpart of the host's narrow bed and half of what the Judge had brought withhim, they made a more comfortable arrangement for the night than they hadexpected.The captive, whose heart had leaped within him the instant he saw theJudge, telling him somehow that this was his brother, asked one of theservants who accompanied him what his name was, and whether he knew fromwhat part of the country he came. The servant replied that he was calledthe Licentiate Juan Perez de Viedma, and that he had heard it said hecame from a village in the mountains of Leon. From this statement, andwhat he himself had seen, he felt convinced that this was his brother whohad adopted letters by his father's advice; and excited and rejoiced, hecalled Don Fernando and Cardenio and the curate aside, and told them howthe matter stood, assuring them that the judge was his brother. Theservant had further informed him that he was now going to the Indies withthe appointment of Judge of the Supreme Court of Mexico; and he hadlearned, likewise, that the young lady was his daughter, whose mother haddied in giving birth to her, and that he was very rich in consequence ofthe dowry left to him with the daughter. He asked their advice as to whatmeans he should adopt to make himself known, or to ascertain beforehandwhether, when he had made himself known, his brother, seeing him so poor,would be ashamed of him, or would receive him with a warm heart."Leave it to me to find out that," said the curate; "though there is noreason for supposing, senor captain, that you will not be kindlyreceived, because the worth and wisdom that your brother's bearing showshim to possess do not make it likely that he will prove haughty orinsensible, or that he will not know how to estimate the accidents offortune at their proper value.""Still," said the captain, "I would not make myself known abruptly, butin some indirect way.""I have told you already," said the curate, "that I will manage it in away to satisfy us all."By this time supper was ready, and they all took their seats at thetable, except the captive, and the ladies, who supped by themselves intheir own room. In the middle of supper the curate said:"I had a comrade of your worship's name, Senor Judge, in Constantinople,where I was a captive for several years, and that same comrade was one ofthe stoutest soldiers and captains in the whole Spanish infantry; but hehad as large a share of misfortune as he had of gallantry and courage.""And how was the captain called, senor?" asked the Judge."He was called Ruy Perez de Viedma," replied the curate, "and he was bornin a village in the mountains of Leon; and he mentioned a circumstanceconnected with his father and his brothers which, had it not been told meby so truthful a man as he was, I should have set down as one of thosefables the old women tell over the fire in winter; for he said his fatherhad divided his property among his three sons and had addressed words ofadvice to them sounder than any of Cato's. But I can say this much, thatthe choice he made of going to the wars was attended with such success,that by his gallant conduct and courage, and without any help save hisown merit, he rose in a few years to be captain of infantry, and to seehimself on the high-road and in position to be given the command of acorps before long; but Fortune was against him, for where he might haveexpected her favour he lost it, and with it his liberty, on that gloriousday when so many recovered theirs, at the battle of Lepanto. I lost mineat the Goletta, and after a variety of adventures we found ourselvescomrades at Constantinople. Thence he went to Algiers, where he met withone of the most extraordinary adventures that ever befell anyone in theworld."Here the curate went on to relate briefly his brother's adventure withZoraida; to all which the Judge gave such an attentive hearing that henever before had been so much of a hearer. The curate, however, only wentso far as to describe how the Frenchmen plundered those who were in theboat, and the poverty and distress in which his comrade and the fair Moorwere left, of whom he said he had not been able to learn what became ofthem, or whether they had reached Spain, or been carried to France by theFrenchmen.The captain, standing a little to one side, was listening to all thecurate said, and watching every movement of his brother, who, as soon ashe perceived the curate had made an end of his story, gave a deep sighand said with his eyes full of tears, "Oh, senor, if you only knew whatnews you have given me and how it comes home to me, making me show how Ifeel it with these tears that spring from my eyes in spite of all myworldly wisdom and self-restraint! That brave captain that you speak ofis my eldest brother, who, being of a bolder and loftier mind than myother brother or myself, chose the honourable and worthy calling of arms,which was one of the three careers our father proposed to us, as yourcomrade mentioned in that fable you thought he was telling you. Ifollowed that of letters, in which God and my own exertions have raisedme to the position in which you see me. My second brother is in Peru, sowealthy that with what he has sent to my father and to me he has fullyrepaid the portion he took with him, and has even furnished my father'shands with the means of gratifying his natural generosity, while I toohave been enabled to pursue my studies in a more becoming and creditablefashion, and so to attain my present standing. My father is still alive,though dying with anxiety to hear of his eldest son, and he prays Godunceasingly that death may not close his eyes until he has looked uponthose of his son; but with regard to him what surprises me is, thathaving so much common sense as he had, he should have neglected to giveany intelligence about himself, either in his troubles and sufferings, orin his prosperity, for if his father or any of us had known of hiscondition he need not have waited for that miracle of the reed to obtainhis ransom; but what now disquiets me is the uncertainty whether thoseFrenchmen may have restored him to liberty, or murdered him to hide therobbery. All this will make me continue my journey, not with thesatisfaction in which I began it, but in the deepest melancholy andsadness. Oh dear brother! that I only knew where thou art now, and Iwould hasten to seek thee out and deliver thee from thy sufferings,though it were to cost me suffering myself! Oh that I could bring news toour old father that thou art alive, even wert thou the deepest dungeon ofBarbary; for his wealth and my brother's and mine would rescue theethence! Oh beautiful and generous Zoraida, that I could repay thy goodgoodness to a brother! That I could be present at the new birth of thysoul, and at thy bridal that would give us all such happiness!"All this and more the Judge uttered with such deep emotion at the news hehad received of his brother that all who heard him shared in it, showingtheir sympathy with his sorrow. The curate, seeing, then, how well he hadsucceeded in carrying out his purpose and the captain's wishes, had nodesire to keep them unhappy any longer, so he rose from the table andgoing into the room where Zoraida was he took her by the hand, Luscinda,Dorothea, and the Judge's daughter following her. The captain was waitingto see what the curate would do, when the latter, taking him with theother hand, advanced with both of them to where the Judge and the othergentlemen were and said, "Let your tears cease to flow, Senor Judge, andthe wish of your heart be gratified as fully as you could desire, for youhave before you your worthy brother and your good sister-in-law. He whomyou see here is the Captain Viedma, and this is the fair Moor who hasbeen so good to him. The Frenchmen I told you of have reduced them to thestate of poverty you see that you may show the generosity of your kindheart."The captain ran to embrace his brother, who placed both hands on hisbreast so as to have a good look at him, holding him a little way off butas soon as he had fully recognised him he clasped him in his arms soclosely, shedding such tears of heartfelt joy, that most of those presentcould not but join in them. The words the brothers exchanged, the emotionthey showed can scarcely be imagined, I fancy, much less put down inwriting. They told each other in a few words the events of their lives;they showed the true affection of brothers in all its strength; then thejudge embraced Zoraida, putting all he possessed at her disposal; then hemade his daughter embrace her, and the fair Christian and the lovely Moordrew fresh tears from every eye. And there was Don Quixote observing allthese strange proceedings attentively without uttering a word, andattributing the whole to chimeras of knight-errantry. Then they agreedthat the captain and Zoraida should return with his brother to Seville,and send news to his father of his having been delivered and found, so asto enable him to come and be present at the marriage and baptism ofZoraida, for it was impossible for the Judge to put off his journey, ashe was informed that in a month from that time the fleet was to sail fromSeville for New Spain, and to miss the passage would have been a greatinconvenience to him. In short, everybody was well pleased and glad atthe captive's good fortune; and as now almost two-thirds of the nightwere past, they resolved to retire to rest for the remainder of it. DonQuixote offered to mount guard over the castle lest they should beattacked by some giant or other malevolent scoundrel, covetous of thegreat treasure of beauty the castle contained. Those who understood himreturned him thanks for this service, and they gave the Judge an accountof his extraordinary humour, with which he was not a little amused.Sancho Panza alone was fuming at the lateness of the hour for retiring torest; and he of all was the one that made himself most comfortable, as hestretched himself on the trappings of his ass, which, as will be toldfarther on, cost him so dear.The ladies, then, having retired to their chamber, and the others havingdisposed themselves with as little discomfort as they could, Don Quixotesallied out of the inn to act as sentinel of the castle as he hadpromised. It happened, however, that a little before the approach of dawna voice so musical and sweet reached the ears of the ladies that itforced them all to listen attentively, but especially Dorothea, who hadbeen awake, and by whose side Dona Clara de Viedma, for so the Judge'sdaughter was called, lay sleeping. No one could imagine who it was thatsang so sweetly, and the voice was unaccompanied by any instrument. Atone moment it seemed to them as if the singer were in the courtyard, atanother in the stable; and as they were all attention, wondering,Cardenio came to the door and said, "Listen, whoever is not asleep, andyou will hear a muleteer's voice that enchants as it chants.""We are listening to it already, senor," said Dorothea; on which Cardeniowent away; and Dorothea, giving all her attention to it, made out thewords of the song to be these: