PART II - CHAPTER XIX.

by Miguel de Cervantes

　　IN WHICH IS RELATED THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENAMOURED SHEPHERD, TOGETHERWITH OTHER TRULY DROLL INCIDENTSDon Quixote had gone but a short distance beyond Don Diego's village,when he fell in with a couple of either priests or students, and a coupleof peasants, mounted on four beasts of the ass kind. One of the studentscarried, wrapped up in a piece of green buckram by way of a portmanteau,what seemed to be a little linen and a couple of pairs of-ribbedstockings; the other carried nothing but a pair of new fencing-foils withbuttons. The peasants carried divers articles that showed they were ontheir way from some large town where they had bought them, and weretaking them home to their village; and both students and peasants werestruck with the same amazement that everybody felt who saw Don Quixotefor the first time, and were dying to know who this man, so differentfrom ordinary men, could be. Don Quixote saluted them, and afterascertaining that their road was the same as his, made them an offer ofhis company, and begged them to slacken their pace, as their young assestravelled faster than his horse; and then, to gratify them, he told themin a few words who he was and the calling and profession he followed,which was that of a knight-errant seeking adventures in all parts of theworld. He informed them that his own name was Don Quixote of La Mancha,and that he was called, by way of surname, the Knight of the Lions.All this was Greek or gibberish to the peasants, but not so to thestudents, who very soon perceived the crack in Don Quixote's pate; forall that, however, they regarded him with admiration and respect, and oneof them said to him, "If you, sir knight, have no fixed road, as it isthe way with those who seek adventures not to have any, let your worshipcome with us; you will see one of the finest and richest weddings that upto this day have ever been celebrated in La Mancha, or for many a leagueround."Don Quixote asked him if it was some prince's, that he spoke of it inthis way. "Not at all," said the student; "it is the wedding of a farmerand a farmer's daughter, he the richest in all this country, and she thefairest mortal ever set eyes on. The display with which it is to beattended will be something rare and out of the common, for it will becelebrated in a meadow adjoining the town of the bride, who is called,par excellence, Quiteria the fair, as the bridegroom is called Camachothe rich. She is eighteen, and he twenty-two, and they are fairlymatched, though some knowing ones, who have all the pedigrees in theworld by heart, will have it that the family of the fair Quiteria isbetter than Camacho's; but no one minds that now-a-days, for wealth cansolder a great many flaws. At any rate, Camacho is free-handed, and it ishis fancy to screen the whole meadow with boughs and cover it inoverhead, so that the sun will have hard work if he tries to get in toreach the grass that covers the soil. He has provided dancers too, notonly sword but also bell-dancers, for in his own town there are those whoring the changes and jingle the bells to perfection; of shoe-dancers Isay nothing, for of them he has engaged a host. But none of these things,nor of the many others I have omitted to mention, will do more to makethis a memorable wedding than the part which I suspect the despairingBasilio will play in it. This Basilio is a youth of the same village asQuiteria, and he lived in the house next door to that of her parents, ofwhich circumstance Love took advantage to reproduce to the word thelong-forgotten loves of Pyramus and Thisbe; for Basilio loved Quiteriafrom his earliest years, and she responded to his passion with countlessmodest proofs of affection, so that the loves of the two children,Basilio and Quiteria, were the talk and the amusement of the town. Asthey grew up, the father of Quiteria made up his mind to refuse Basiliohis wonted freedom of access to the house, and to relieve himself ofconstant doubts and suspicions, he arranged a match for his daughter withthe rich Camacho, as he did not approve of marrying her to Basilio, whohad not so large a share of the gifts of fortune as of nature; for if thetruth be told ungrudgingly, he is the most agile youth we know, a mightythrower of the bar, a first-rate wrestler, and a great ball-player; heruns like a deer, and leaps better than a goat, bowls over the nine-pinsas if by magic, sings like a lark, plays the guitar so as to make itspeak, and, above all, handles a sword as well as the best.""For that excellence alone," said Don Quixote at this, "the youthdeserves to marry, not merely the fair Quiteria, but Queen Guinevereherself, were she alive now, in spite of Launcelot and all who would tryto prevent it.""Say that to my wife," said Sancho, who had until now listened insilence, "for she won't hear of anything but each one marrying his equal,holding with the proverb 'each ewe to her like.' What I would like isthat this good Basilio (for I am beginning to take a fancy to himalready) should marry this lady Quiteria; and a blessing and good luck--Imeant to say the opposite--on people who would prevent those who love oneanother from marrying.""If all those who love one another were to marry," said Don Quixote, "itwould deprive parents of the right to choose, and marry their children tothe proper person and at the proper time; and if it was left to daughtersto choose husbands as they pleased, one would be for choosing herfather's servant, and another, some one she has seen passing in thestreet and fancies gallant and dashing, though he may be a drunken bully;for love and fancy easily blind the eyes of the judgment, so much wantedin choosing one's way of life; and the matrimonial choice is very liableto error, and it needs great caution and the special favour of heaven tomake it a good one. He who has to make a long journey, will, if he iswise, look out for some trusty and pleasant companion to accompany himbefore he sets out. Why, then, should not he do the same who has to makethe whole journey of life down to the final halting-place of death, moreespecially when the companion has to be his companion in bed, at board,and everywhere, as the wife is to her husband? The companionship of one'swife is no article of merchandise, that, after it has been bought, may bereturned, or bartered, or changed; for it is an inseparable accident thatlasts as long as life lasts; it is a noose that, once you put it roundyour neck, turns into a Gordian knot, which, if the scythe of Death doesnot cut it, there is no untying. I could say a great deal more on thissubject, were I not prevented by the anxiety I feel to know if the senorlicentiate has anything more to tell about the story of Basilio."To this the student, bachelor, or, as Don Quixote called him, licentiate,replied, "I have nothing whatever to say further, but that from themoment Basilio learned that the fair Quiteria was to be married toCamacho the rich, he has never been seen to smile, or heard to utterrational word, and he always goes about moody and dejected, talking tohimself in a way that shows plainly he is out of his senses. He eatslittle and sleeps little, and all he eats is fruit, and when he sleeps,if he sleeps at all, it is in the field on the hard earth like a brutebeast. Sometimes he gazes at the sky, at other times he fixes his eyes onthe earth in such an abstracted way that he might be taken for a clothedstatue, with its drapery stirred by the wind. In short, he shows suchsigns of a heart crushed by suffering, that all we who know him believethat when to-morrow the fair Quiteria says 'yes,' it will be his sentenceof death.""God will guide it better," said Sancho, "for God who gives the woundgives the salve; nobody knows what will happen; there are a good manyhours between this and to-morrow, and any one of them, or any moment, thehouse may fall; I have seen the rain coming down and the sun shining allat one time; many a one goes to bed in good health who can't stir thenext day. And tell me, is there anyone who can boast of having driven anail into the wheel of fortune? No, faith; and between a woman's 'yes'and 'no' I wouldn't venture to put the point of a pin, for there wouldnot be room for it; if you tell me Quiteria loves Basilio heart and soul,then I'll give him a bag of good luck; for love, I have heard say, looksthrough spectacles that make copper seem gold, poverty wealth, and bleareyes pearls.""What art thou driving at, Sancho? curses on thee!" said Don Quixote;"for when thou takest to stringing proverbs and sayings together, no onecan understand thee but Judas himself, and I wish he had thee. Tell me,thou animal, what dost thou know about nails or wheels, or anythingelse?""Oh, if you don't understand me," replied Sancho, "it is no wonder mywords are taken for nonsense; but no matter; I understand myself, and Iknow I have not said anything very foolish in what I have said; only yourworship, senor, is always gravelling at everything I say, nay, everythingI do.""Cavilling, not gravelling," said Don Quixote, "thou prevaricator ofhonest language, God confound thee!""Don't find fault with me, your worship," returned Sancho, "for you knowI have not been bred up at court or trained at Salamanca, to know whetherI am adding or dropping a letter or so in my words. Why! God bless me,it's not fair to force a Sayago-man to speak like a Toledan; maybe thereare Toledans who do not hit it off when it comes to polished talk.""That is true," said the licentiate, "for those who have been bred up inthe Tanneries and the Zocodover cannot talk like those who are almost allday pacing the cathedral cloisters, and yet they are all Toledans. Pure,correct, elegant and lucid language will be met with in men of courtlybreeding and discrimination, though they may have been born inMajalahonda; I say of discrimination, because there are many who are notso, and discrimination is the grammar of good language, if it beaccompanied by practice. I, sirs, for my sins have studied canon law atSalamanca, and I rather pique myself on expressing my meaning in clear,plain, and intelligible language.""If you did not pique yourself more on your dexterity with those foilsyou carry than on dexterity of tongue," said the other student, "youwould have been head of the degrees, where you are now tail.""Look here, bachelor Corchuelo," returned the licentiate, "you have themost mistaken idea in the world about skill with the sword, if you thinkit useless.""It is no idea on my part, but an established truth," replied Corchuelo;"and if you wish me to prove it to you by experiment, you have swordsthere, and it is a good opportunity; I have a steady hand and a strongarm, and these joined with my resolution, which is not small, will makeyou confess that I am not mistaken. Dismount and put in practice yourpositions and circles and angles and science, for I hope to make you seestars at noonday with my rude raw swordsmanship, in which, next to God, Iplace my trust that the man is yet to be born who will make me turn myback, and that there is not one in the world I will not compel to giveground.""As to whether you turn your back or not, I do not concern myself,"replied the master of fence; "though it might be that your grave would bedug on the spot where you planted your foot the first time; I mean thatyou would be stretched dead there for despising skill with the sword.""We shall soon see," replied Corchuelo, and getting off his ass briskly,he drew out furiously one of the swords the licentiate carried on hisbeast."It must not be that way," said Don Quixote at this point; "I will be thedirector of this fencing match, and judge of this often disputedquestion;" and dismounting from Rocinante and grasping his lance, heplanted himself in the middle of the road, just as the licentiate, withan easy, graceful bearing and step, advanced towards Corchuelo, who cameon against him, darting fire from his eyes, as the saying is. The othertwo of the company, the peasants, without dismounting from their asses,served as spectators of the mortal tragedy. The cuts, thrusts, downstrokes, back strokes and doubles, that Corchuelo delivered were pastcounting, and came thicker than hops or hail. He attacked like an angrylion, but he was met by a tap on the mouth from the button of thelicentiate's sword that checked him in the midst of his furious onset,and made him kiss it as if it were a relic, though not as devoutly asrelics are and ought to be kissed. The end of it was that the licentiatereckoned up for him by thrusts every one of the buttons of the shortcassock he wore, tore the skirts into strips, like the tails of acuttlefish, knocked off his hat twice, and so completely tired him out,that in vexation, anger, and rage, he took the sword by the hilt andflung it away with such force, that one of the peasants that were there,who was a notary, and who went for it, made an affidavit afterwards thathe sent it nearly three-quarters of a league, which testimony will serve,and has served, to show and establish with all certainty that strength isovercome by skill.Corchuelo sat down wearied, and Sancho approaching him said, "By myfaith, senor bachelor, if your worship takes my advice, you will neverchallenge anyone to fence again, only to wrestle and throw the bar, foryou have the youth and strength for that; but as for these fencers asthey call them, I have heard say they can put the point of a swordthrough the eye of a needle.""I am satisfied with having tumbled off my donkey," said Corchuelo, "andwith having had the truth I was so ignorant of proved to me byexperience;" and getting up he embraced the licentiate, and they werebetter friends than ever; and not caring to wait for the notary who hadgone for the sword, as they saw he would be a long time about it, theyresolved to push on so as to reach the village of Quiteria, to which theyall belonged, in good time.During the remainder of the journey the licentiate held forth to them onthe excellences of the sword, with such conclusive arguments, and suchfigures and mathematical proofs, that all were convinced of the value ofthe science, and Corchuelo cured of his dogmatism.It grew dark; but before they reached the town it seemed to them all asif there was a heaven full of countless glittering stars in front of it.They heard, too, the pleasant mingled notes of a variety of instruments,flutes, drums, psalteries, pipes, tabors, and timbrels, and as they drewnear they perceived that the trees of a leafy arcade that had beenconstructed at the entrance of the town were filled with lightsunaffected by the wind, for the breeze at the time was so gentle that ithad not power to stir the leaves on the trees. The musicians were thelife of the wedding, wandering through the pleasant grounds in separatebands, some dancing, others singing, others playing the variousinstruments already mentioned. In short, it seemed as though mirth andgaiety were frisking and gambolling all over the meadow. Several otherpersons were engaged in erecting raised benches from which people mightconveniently see the plays and dances that were to be performed the nextday on the spot dedicated to the celebration of the marriage of Camachothe rich and the obsequies of Basilio. Don Quixote would not enter thevillage, although the peasant as well as the bachelor pressed him; heexcused himself, however, on the grounds, amply sufficient in hisopinion, that it was the custom of knights-errant to sleep in the fieldsand woods in preference to towns, even were it under gilded ceilings; andso turned aside a little out of the road, very much against Sancho'swill, as the good quarters he had enjoyed in the castle or house of DonDiego came back to his mind.