PART I - CHAPTER XV.

by Miguel de Cervantes

　　IN WHICH IS RELATED THE UNFORTUNATE ADVENTURE THAT DON QUIXOTE FELL INWITH WHEN HE FELL OUT WITH CERTAIN HEARTLESS YANGUESANSThe sage Cide Hamete Benengeli relates that as soon as Don Quixote tookleave of his hosts and all who had been present at the burial ofChrysostom, he and his squire passed into the same wood which they hadseen the shepherdess Marcela enter, and after having wandered for morethan two hours in all directions in search of her without finding her,they came to a halt in a glade covered with tender grass, beside whichran a pleasant cool stream that invited and compelled them to pass therethe hours of the noontide heat, which by this time was beginning to comeon oppressively. Don Quixote and Sancho dismounted, and turning Rocinanteand the ass loose to feed on the grass that was there in abundance, theyransacked the alforjas, and without any ceremony very peacefully andsociably master and man made their repast on what they found in them.Sancho had not thought it worth while to hobble Rocinante, feeling sure,from what he knew of his staidness and freedom from incontinence, thatall the mares in the Cordova pastures would not lead him into animpropriety. Chance, however, and the devil, who is not always asleep, soordained it that feeding in this valley there was a drove of Galicianponies belonging to certain Yanguesan carriers, whose way it is to taketheir midday rest with their teams in places and spots where grass andwater abound; and that where Don Quixote chanced to be suited theYanguesans' purpose very well. It so happened, then, that Rocinante tooka fancy to disport himself with their ladyships the ponies, andabandoning his usual gait and demeanour as he scented them, he, withoutasking leave of his master, got up a briskish little trot and hastened tomake known his wishes to them; they, however, it seemed, preferred theirpasture to him, and received him with their heels and teeth to sucheffect that they soon broke his girths and left him naked without asaddle to cover him; but what must have been worse to him was that thecarriers, seeing the violence he was offering to their mares, camerunning up armed with stakes, and so belaboured him that they brought himsorely battered to the ground.By this time Don Quixote and Sancho, who had witnessed the drubbing ofRocinante, came up panting, and said Don Quixote to Sancho:"So far as I can see, friend Sancho, these are not knights but base folkof low birth: I mention it because thou canst lawfully aid me in takingdue vengeance for the insult offered to Rocinante before our eyes.""What the devil vengeance can we take," answered Sancho, "if they aremore than twenty, and we no more than two, or, indeed, perhaps not morethan one and a half?""I count for a hundred," replied Don Quixote, and without more words hedrew his sword and attacked the Yanguesans and excited and impelled bythe example of his master, Sancho did the same; and to begin with, DonQuixote delivered a slash at one of them that laid open the leatherjerkin he wore, together with a great portion of his shoulder. TheYanguesans, seeing themselves assaulted by only two men while they wereso many, betook themselves to their stakes, and driving the two into themiddle they began to lay on with great zeal and energy; in fact, at thesecond blow they brought Sancho to the ground, and Don Quixote fared thesame way, all his skill and high mettle availing him nothing, and fatewilled it that he should fall at the feet of Rocinante, who had not yetrisen; whereby it may be seen how furiously stakes can pound in angryboorish hands.Then, seeing the mischief they had done, the Yanguesans with all thehaste they could loaded their team and pursued their journey, leaving thetwo adventurers a sorry sight and in sorrier mood.Sancho was the first to come to, and finding himself close to his masterhe called to him in a weak and doleful voice, "Senor Don Quixote, ah,Senor Don Quixote!""What wouldst thou, brother Sancho?" answered Don Quixote in the samefeeble suffering tone as Sancho."I would like, if it were possible," answered Sancho Panza, "your worshipto give me a couple of sups of that potion of the fiery Blas, if it bethat you have any to hand there; perhaps it will serve for broken bonesas well as for wounds.""If I only had it here, wretch that I am, what more should we want?" saidDon Quixote; "but I swear to thee, Sancho Panza, on the faith of aknight-errant, ere two days are over, unless fortune orders otherwise, Imean to have it in my possession, or my hand will have lost its cunning.""But in how many does your worship think we shall have the use of ourfeet?" answered Sancho Panza."For myself I must say I cannot guess how many," said the battered knightDon Quixote; "but I take all the blame upon myself, for I had no businessto put hand to sword against men who where not dubbed knights likemyself, and so I believe that in punishment for having transgressed thelaws of chivalry the God of battles has permitted this chastisement to beadministered to me; for which reason, brother Sancho, it is well thoushouldst receive a hint on the matter which I am now about to mention tothee, for it is of much importance to the welfare of both of us. It is atwhen thou shalt see rabble of this sort offering us insult thou art notto wait till I draw sword against them, for I shall not do so at all; butdo thou draw sword and chastise them to thy heart's content, and if anyknights come to their aid and defence I will take care to defend thee andassail them with all my might; and thou hast already seen by a thousandsigns and proofs what the might of this strong arm of mine is equalto"--so uplifted had the poor gentleman become through the victory overthe stout Biscayan.But Sancho did not so fully approve of his master's admonition as to letit pass without saying in reply, "Senor, I am a man of peace, meek andquiet, and I can put up with any affront because I have a wife andchildren to support and bring up; so let it be likewise a hint to yourworship, as it cannot be a mandate, that on no account will I draw swordeither against clown or against knight, and that here before God Iforgive the insults that have been offered me, whether they have been,are, or shall be offered me by high or low, rich or poor, noble orcommoner, not excepting any rank or condition whatsoever."To all which his master said in reply, "I wish I had breath enough tospeak somewhat easily, and that the pain I feel on this side would abateso as to let me explain to thee, Panza, the mistake thou makest. Comenow, sinner, suppose the wind of fortune, hitherto so adverse, shouldturn in our favour, filling the sails of our desires so that safely andwithout impediment we put into port in some one of those islands I havepromised thee, how would it be with thee if on winning it I made theelord of it? Why, thou wilt make it well-nigh impossible through not beinga knight nor having any desire to be one, nor possessing the courage northe will to avenge insults or defend thy lordship; for thou must knowthat in newly conquered kingdoms and provinces the minds of theinhabitants are never so quiet nor so well disposed to the new lord thatthere is no fear of their making some move to change matters once more,and try, as they say, what chance may do for them; so it is essentialthat the new possessor should have good sense to enable him to govern,and valour to attack and defend himself, whatever may befall him.""In what has now befallen us," answered Sancho, "I'd have been wellpleased to have that good sense and that valour your worship speaks of,but I swear on the faith of a poor man I am more fit for plasters thanfor arguments. See if your worship can get up, and let us help Rocinante,though he does not deserve it, for he was the main cause of all thisthrashing. I never thought it of Rocinante, for I took him to be avirtuous person and as quiet as myself. After all, they say right that ittakes a long time to come to know people, and that there is nothing surein this life. Who would have said that, after such mighty slashes as yourworship gave that unlucky knight-errant, there was coming, travellingpost and at the very heels of them, such a great storm of sticks as hasfallen upon our shoulders?""And yet thine, Sancho," replied Don Quixote, "ought to be used to suchsqualls; but mine, reared in soft cloth and fine linen, it is plain theymust feel more keenly the pain of this mishap, and if it were not that Iimagine--why do I say imagine?--know of a certainty that all theseannoyances are very necessary accompaniments of the calling of arms, Iwould lay me down here to die of pure vexation."To this the squire replied, "Senor, as these mishaps are what one reapsof chivalry, tell me if they happen very often, or if they have their ownfixed times for coming to pass; because it seems to me that after twoharvests we shall be no good for the third, unless God in his infinitemercy helps us.""Know, friend Sancho," answered Don Quixote, "that the life ofknights-errant is subject to a thousand dangers and reverses, and neithermore nor less is it within immediate possibility for knights-errant tobecome kings and emperors, as experience has shown in the case of manydifferent knights with whose histories I am thoroughly acquainted; and Icould tell thee now, if the pain would let me, of some who simply bymight of arm have risen to the high stations I have mentioned; and thosesame, both before and after, experienced divers misfortunes and miseries;for the valiant Amadis of Gaul found himself in the power of his mortalenemy Arcalaus the magician, who, it is positively asserted, holding himcaptive, gave him more than two hundred lashes with the reins of hishorse while tied to one of the pillars of a court; and moreover there isa certain recondite author of no small authority who says that the Knightof Phoebus, being caught in a certain pitfall, which opened under hisfeet in a certain castle, on falling found himself bound hand and foot ina deep pit underground, where they administered to him one of thosethings they call clysters, of sand and snow-water, that well-nighfinished him; and if he had not been succoured in that sore extremity bya sage, a great friend of his, it would have gone very hard with the poorknight; so I may well suffer in company with such worthy folk, forgreater were the indignities which they had to suffer than those which wesuffer. For I would have thee know, Sancho, that wounds caused by anyinstruments which happen by chance to be in hand inflict no indignity,and this is laid down in the law of the duel in express words: if, forinstance, the cobbler strikes another with the last which he has in hishand, though it be in fact a piece of wood, it cannot be said for thatreason that he whom he struck with it has been cudgelled. I say this lestthou shouldst imagine that because we have been drubbed in this affray wehave therefore suffered any indignity; for the arms those men carried,with which they pounded us, were nothing more than their stakes, and notone of them, so far as I remember, carried rapier, sword, or dagger.""They gave me no time to see that much," answered Sancho, "for hardly hadI laid hand on my tizona when they signed the cross on my shoulders withtheir sticks in such style that they took the sight out of my eyes andthe strength out of my feet, stretching me where I now lie, and wherethinking of whether all those stake-strokes were an indignity or notgives me no uneasiness, which the pain of the blows does, for they willremain as deeply impressed on my memory as on my shoulders.""For all that let me tell thee, brother Panza," said Don Quixote, "thatthere is no recollection which time does not put an end to, and no painwhich death does not remove.""And what greater misfortune can there be," replied Panza, "than the onethat waits for time to put an end to it and death to remove it? If ourmishap were one of those that are cured with a couple of plasters, itwould not be so bad; but I am beginning to think that all the plasters ina hospital almost won't be enough to put us right.""No more of that: pluck strength out of weakness, Sancho, as I mean todo," returned Don Quixote, "and let us see how Rocinante is, for it seemsto me that not the least share of this mishap has fallen to the lot ofthe poor beast.""There is nothing wonderful in that," replied Sancho, "since he is aknight-errant too; what I wonder at is that my beast should have come offscot-free where we come out scotched.""Fortune always leaves a door open in adversity in order to bring reliefto it," said Don Quixote; "I say so because this little beast may nowsupply the want of Rocinante, carrying me hence to some castle where Imay be cured of my wounds. And moreover I shall not hold it any dishonourto be so mounted, for I remember having read how the good old Silenus,the tutor and instructor of the gay god of laughter, when he entered thecity of the hundred gates, went very contentedly mounted on a handsomeass.""It may be true that he went mounted as your worship says," answeredSancho, "but there is a great difference between going mounted and goingslung like a sack of manure."To which Don Quixote replied, "Wounds received in battle confer honourinstead of taking it away; and so, friend Panza, say no more, but, as Itold thee before, get up as well as thou canst and put me on top of thybeast in whatever fashion pleases thee best, and let us go hence erenight come on and surprise us in these wilds.""And yet I have heard your worship say," observed Panza, "that it is verymeet for knights-errant to sleep in wastes and deserts, and that theyesteem it very good fortune.""That is," said Don Quixote, "when they cannot help it, or when they arein love; and so true is this that there have been knights who haveremained two years on rocks, in sunshine and shade and all theinclemencies of heaven, without their ladies knowing anything of it; andone of these was Amadis, when, under the name of Beltenebros, he took uphis abode on the Pena Pobre for--I know not if it was eight years oreight months, for I am not very sure of the reckoning; at any rate hestayed there doing penance for I know not what pique the Princess Orianahad against him; but no more of this now, Sancho, and make haste before amishap like Rocinante's befalls the ass.""The very devil would be in it in that case," said Sancho; and lettingoff thirty "ohs," and sixty sighs, and a hundred and twenty maledictionsand execrations on whomsoever it was that had brought him there, heraised himself, stopping half-way bent like a Turkish bow without powerto bring himself upright, but with all his pains he saddled his ass, whotoo had gone astray somewhat, yielding to the excessive licence of theday; he next raised up Rocinante, and as for him, had he possessed atongue to complain with, most assuredly neither Sancho nor his masterwould have been behind him.To be brief, Sancho fixed Don Quixote on the ass and secured Rocinantewith a leading rein, and taking the ass by the halter, he proceeded moreor less in the direction in which it seemed to him the high road mightbe; and, as chance was conducting their affairs for them from good tobetter, he had not gone a short league when the road came in sight, andon it he perceived an inn, which to his annoyance and to the delight ofDon Quixote must needs be a castle. Sancho insisted that it was an inn,and his master that it was not one, but a castle, and the dispute lastedso long that before the point was settled they had time to reach it, andinto it Sancho entered with all his team without any further controversy.