PART II - CHAPTER LXVI.

by Miguel de Cervantes

　　WHICH TREATS OF WHAT HE WHO READS WILL SEE, OR WHAT HE WHO HAS IT READ TOHIM WILL HEARAs he left Barcelona, Don Quixote turned gaze upon the spot where he hadfallen. "Here Troy was," said he; "here my ill-luck, not my cowardice,robbed me of all the glory I had won; here Fortune made me the victim ofher caprices; here the lustre of my achievements was dimmed; here, in aword, fell my happiness never to rise again.""Senor," said Sancho on hearing this, "it is the part of brave hearts tobe patient in adversity just as much as to be glad in prosperity; I judgeby myself, for, if when I was a governor I was glad, now that I am asquire and on foot I am not sad; and I have heard say that she whomcommonly they call Fortune is a drunken whimsical jade, and, what ismore, blind, and therefore neither sees what she does, nor knows whom shecasts down or whom she sets up.""Thou art a great philosopher, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "thou speakestvery sensibly; I know not who taught thee. But I can tell thee there isno such thing as Fortune in the world, nor does anything which takesplace there, be it good or bad, come about by chance, but by the specialpreordination of heaven; and hence the common saying that 'each of us isthe maker of his own Fortune.' I have been that of mine; but not with theproper amount of prudence, and my self-confidence has therefore made mepay dearly; for I ought to have reflected that Rocinante's feeblestrength could not resist the mighty bulk of the Knight of the WhiteMoon's horse. In a word, I ventured it, I did my best, I was overthrown,but though I lost my honour I did not lose nor can I lose the virtue ofkeeping my word. When I was a knight-errant, daring and valiant, Isupported my achievements by hand and deed, and now that I am a humblesquire I will support my words by keeping the promise I have given.Forward then, Sancho my friend, let us go to keep the year of thenovitiate in our own country, and in that seclusion we shall pick upfresh strength to return to the by me never-forgotten calling of arms.""Senor," returned Sancho, "travelling on foot is not such a pleasantthing that it makes me feel disposed or tempted to make long marches. Letus leave this armour hung up on some tree, instead of some one that hasbeen hanged; and then with me on Dapple's back and my feet off the groundwe will arrange the stages as your worship pleases to measure them out;but to suppose that I am going to travel on foot, and make long ones, isto suppose nonsense.""Thou sayest well, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "let my armour be hung upfor a trophy, and under it or round it we will carve on the trees whatwas inscribed on the trophy of Roland's armour--These let none moveWho dareth not his might with Roland prove.""That's the very thing," said Sancho; "and if it was not that we shouldfeel the want of Rocinante on the road, it would be as well to leave himhung up too.""And yet, I had rather not have either him or the armour hung up," saidDon Quixote, "that it may not be said, 'for good service a bad return.'""Your worship is right," said Sancho; "for, as sensible people hold, 'thefault of the ass must not be laid on the pack-saddle;' and, as in thisaffair the fault is your worship's, punish yourself and don't let youranger break out against the already battered and bloody armour, or themeekness of Rocinante, or the tenderness of my feet, trying to make themtravel more than is reasonable."In converse of this sort the whole of that day went by, as did the foursucceeding ones, without anything occurring to interrupt their journey,but on the fifth as they entered a village they found a great number ofpeople at the door of an inn enjoying themselves, as it was a holiday.Upon Don Quixote's approach a peasant called out, "One of these twogentlemen who come here, and who don't know the parties, will tell uswhat we ought to do about our wager.""That I will, certainly," said Don Quixote, "and according to the rightsof the case, if I can manage to understand it.""Well, here it is, worthy sir," said the peasant; "a man of this villagewho is so fat that he weighs twenty stone challenged another, a neighbourof his, who does not weigh more than nine, to run a race. The agreementwas that they were to run a distance of a hundred paces with equalweights; and when the challenger was asked how the weights were to beequalised he said that the other, as he weighed nine stone, should puteleven in iron on his back, and that in this way the twenty stone of thethin man would equal the twenty stone of the fat one.""Not at all," exclaimed Sancho at once, before Don Quixote could answer;"it's for me, that only a few days ago left off being a governor and ajudge, as all the world knows, to settle these doubtful questions andgive an opinion in disputes of all sorts.""Answer in God's name, Sancho my friend," said Don Quixote, "for I am notfit to give crumbs to a cat, my wits are so confused and upset."With this permission Sancho said to the peasants who stood clusteredround him, waiting with open mouths for the decision to come from his,"Brothers, what the fat man requires is not in reason, nor has it ashadow of justice in it; because, if it be true, as they say, that thechallenged may choose the weapons, the other has no right to choose suchas will prevent and keep him from winning. My decision, therefore, isthat the fat challenger prune, peel, thin, trim and correct himself, andtake eleven stone of his flesh off his body, here or there, as hepleases, and as suits him best; and being in this way reduced to ninestone weight, he will make himself equal and even with nine stone of hisopponent, and they will be able to run on equal terms.""By all that's good," said one of the peasants as he heard Sancho'sdecision, "but the gentleman has spoken like a saint, and given judgmentlike a canon! But I'll be bound the fat man won't part with an ounce ofhis flesh, not to say eleven stone.""The best plan will be for them not to run," said another, "so thatneither the thin man break down under the weight, nor the fat one striphimself of his flesh; let half the wager be spent in wine, and let's takethese gentlemen to the tavern where there's the best, and 'over me be thecloak when it rains.""I thank you, sirs," said Don Quixote; "but I cannot stop for an instant,for sad thoughts and unhappy circumstances force me to seem discourteousand to travel apace;" and spurring Rocinante he pushed on, leaving themwondering at what they had seen and heard, at his own strange figure andat the shrewdness of his servant, for such they took Sancho to be; andanother of them observed, "If the servant is so clever, what must themaster be? I'll bet, if they are going to Salamanca to study, they'llcome to be alcaldes of the Court in a trice; for it's a mere joke--onlyto read and read, and have interest and good luck; and before a man knowswhere he is he finds himself with a staff in his hand or a mitre on hishead."That night master and man passed out in the fields in the open air, andthe next day as they were pursuing their journey they saw coming towardsthem a man on foot with alforjas at the neck and a javelin or spikedstaff in his hand, the very cut of a foot courier; who, as soon as hecame close to Don Quixote, increased his pace and half running came up tohim, and embracing his right thigh, for he could reach no higher,exclaimed with evident pleasure, "O Senor Don Quixote of La Mancha, whathappiness it will be to the heart of my lord the duke when he knows yourworship is coming back to his castle, for he is still there with my ladythe duchess!""I do not recognise you, friend," said Don Quixote, "nor do I know whoyou are, unless you tell me.""I am Tosilos, my lord the duke's lacquey, Senor Don Quixote," repliedthe courier; "he who refused to fight your worship about marrying thedaughter of Dona Rodriguez.""God bless me!" exclaimed Don Quixote; "is it possible that you are theone whom mine enemies the enchanters changed into the lacquey you speakof in order to rob me of the honour of that battle?""Nonsense, good sir!" said the messenger; "there was no enchantment ortransformation at all; I entered the lists just as much lacquey Tosilosas I came out of them lacquey Tosilos. I thought to marry withoutfighting, for the girl had taken my fancy; but my scheme had a verydifferent result, for as soon as your worship had left the castle my lordthe duke had a hundred strokes of the stick given me for having actedcontrary to the orders he gave me before engaging in the combat; and theend of the whole affair is that the girl has become a nun, and DonaRodriguez has gone back to Castile, and I am now on my way to Barcelonawith a packet of letters for the viceroy which my master is sending him.If your worship would like a drop, sound though warm, I have a gourd herefull of the best, and some scraps of Tronchon cheese that will serve as aprovocative and wakener of your thirst if so be it is asleep.""I take the offer," said Sancho; "no more compliments about it; pour out,good Tosilos, in spite of all the enchanters in the Indies.""Thou art indeed the greatest glutton in the world, Sancho," said DonQuixote, "and the greatest booby on earth, not to be able to see thatthis courier is enchanted and this Tosilos a sham one; stop with him andtake thy fill; I will go on slowly and wait for thee to come up with me."The lacquey laughed, unsheathed his gourd, unwalletted his scraps, andtaking out a small loaf of bread he and Sancho seated themselves on thegreen grass, and in peace and good fellowship finished off the contentsof the alforjas down to the bottom, so resolutely that they licked thewrapper of the letters, merely because it smelt of cheese.Said Tosilos to Sancho, "Beyond a doubt, Sancho my friend, this master ofthine ought to be a madman.""Ought!" said Sancho; "he owes no man anything; he pays for everything,particularly when the coin is madness. I see it plain enough, and I tellhim so plain enough; but what's the use? especially now that it is allover with him, for here he is beaten by the Knight of the White Moon."Tosilos begged him to explain what had happened him, but Sancho repliedthat it would not be good manners to leave his master waiting for him;and that some other day if they met there would be time enough for that;and then getting up, after shaking his doublet and brushing the crumbsout of his beard, he drove Dapple on before him, and bidding adieu toTosilos left him and rejoined his master, who was waiting for him underthe shade of a tree.