PART II - CHAPTER XXII.

by Miguel de Cervantes

　　WHERIN IS RELATED THE GRAND ADVENTURE OF THE CAVE OF MONTESINOS IN THEHEART OF LA MANCHA, WHICH THE VALIANT DON QUIXOTE BROUGHT TO A HAPPYTERMINATIONMany and great were the attentions shown to Don Quixote by the newlymarried couple, who felt themselves under an obligation to him for comingforward in defence of their cause; and they exalted his wisdom to thesame level with his courage, rating him as a Cid in arms, and a Cicero ineloquence. Worthy Sancho enjoyed himself for three days at the expense ofthe pair, from whom they learned that the sham wound was not a schemearranged with the fair Quiteria, but a device of Basilio's, who countedon exactly the result they had seen; he confessed, it is true, that hehad confided his idea to some of his friends, so that at the proper timethey might aid him in his purpose and insure the success of thedeception."That," said Don Quixote, "is not and ought not to be called deceptionwhich aims at virtuous ends;" and the marriage of lovers he maintained tobe a most excellent end, reminding them, however, that love has nogreater enemy than hunger and constant want; for love is all gaiety,enjoyment, and happiness, especially when the lover is in the possessionof the object of his love, and poverty and want are the declared enemiesof all these; which he said to urge Senor Basilio to abandon the practiceof those accomplishments he was skilled in, for though they brought himfame, they brought him no money, and apply himself to the acquisition ofwealth by legitimate industry, which will never fail those who areprudent and persevering. The poor man who is a man of honour (if indeed apoor man can be a man of honour) has a jewel when he has a fair wife, andif she is taken from him, his honour is taken from him and slain. Thefair woman who is a woman of honour, and whose husband is poor, deservesto be crowned with the laurels and crowns of victory and triumph. Beautyby itself attracts the desires of all who behold it, and the royal eaglesand birds of towering flight stoop on it as on a dainty lure; but ifbeauty be accompanied by want and penury, then the ravens and the kitesand other birds of prey assail it, and she who stands firm against suchattacks well deserves to be called the crown of her husband. "Remember, Oprudent Basilio," added Don Quixote, "it was the opinion of a certainsage, I know not whom, that there was not more than one good woman in thewhole world; and his advice was that each one should think and believethat this one good woman was his own wife, and in this way he would livehappy. I myself am not married, nor, so far, has it ever entered mythoughts to be so; nevertheless I would venture to give advice to anyonewho might ask it, as to the mode in which he should seek a wife such ashe would be content to marry. The first thing I would recommend him,would be to look to good name rather than to wealth, for a good womandoes not win a good name merely by being good, but by letting it be seenthat she is so, and open looseness and freedom do much more damage to awoman's honour than secret depravity. If you take a good woman into yourhouse it will be an easy matter to keep her good, and even to make herstill better; but if you take a bad one you will find it hard work tomend her, for it is no very easy matter to pass from one extreme toanother. I do not say it is impossible, but I look upon it as difficult."Sancho, listening to all this, said to himself, "This master of mine,when I say anything that has weight and substance, says I might take apulpit in hand, and go about the world preaching fine sermons; but I sayof him that, when he begins stringing maxims together and giving advicenot only might he take a pulpit in hand, but two on each finger, and gointo the market-places to his heart's content. Devil take you for aknight-errant, what a lot of things you know! I used to think in my heartthat the only thing he knew was what belonged to his chivalry; but thereis nothing he won't have a finger in."Sancho muttered this somewhat aloud, and his master overheard him, andasked, "What art thou muttering there, Sancho?""I'm not saying anything or muttering anything," said Sancho; "I was onlysaying to myself that I wish I had heard what your worship has said justnow before I married; perhaps I'd say now, 'The ox that's loose lickshimself well.'""Is thy Teresa so bad then, Sancho?""She is not very bad," replied Sancho; "but she is not very good; atleast she is not as good as I could wish.""Thou dost wrong, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "to speak ill of thy wife;for after all she is the mother of thy children." "We are quits,"returned Sancho; "for she speaks ill of me whenever she takes it into herhead, especially when she is jealous; and Satan himself could not put upwith her then."In fine, they remained three days with the newly married couple, by whomthey were entertained and treated like kings. Don Quixote begged thefencing licentiate to find him a guide to show him the way to the cave ofMontesinos, as he had a great desire to enter it and see with his owneyes if the wonderful tales that were told of it all over the countrywere true. The licentiate said he would get him a cousin of his own, afamous scholar, and one very much given to reading books of chivalry, whowould have great pleasure in conducting him to the mouth of the verycave, and would show him the lakes of Ruidera, which were likewise famousall over La Mancha, and even all over Spain; and he assured him he wouldfind him entertaining, for he was a youth who could write books goodenough to be printed and dedicated to princes. The cousin arrived atlast, leading an ass in foal, with a pack-saddle covered with aparti-coloured carpet or sackcloth; Sancho saddled Rocinante, got Dappleready, and stocked his alforjas, along with which went those of thecousin, likewise well filled; and so, commending themselves to God andbidding farewell to all, they set out, taking the road for the famouscave of Montesinos.On the way Don Quixote asked the cousin of what sort and character hispursuits, avocations, and studies were, to which he replied that he wasby profession a humanist, and that his pursuits and studies were makingbooks for the press, all of great utility and no less entertainment tothe nation. One was called "The Book of Liveries," in which he describedseven hundred and three liveries, with their colours, mottoes, andciphers, from which gentlemen of the court might pick and choose any theyfancied for festivals and revels, without having to go a-begging for themfrom anyone, or puzzling their brains, as the saying is, to have themappropriate to their objects and purposes; "for," said he, "I give thejealous, the rejected, the forgotten, the absent, what will suit them,and fit them without fail. I have another book, too, which I shall call'Metamorphoses, or the Spanish Ovid,' one of rare and original invention,for imitating Ovid in burlesque style, I show in it who the Giralda ofSeville and the Angel of the Magdalena were, what the sewer ofVecinguerra at Cordova was, what the bulls of Guisando, the SierraMorena, the Leganitos and Lavapies fountains at Madrid, not forgettingthose of the Piojo, of the Cano Dorado, and of the Priora; and all withtheir allegories, metaphors, and changes, so that they are amusing,interesting, and instructive, all at once. Another book I have which Icall 'The Supplement to Polydore Vergil,' which treats of the inventionof things, and is a work of great erudition and research, for I establishand elucidate elegantly some things of great importance which Polydoreomitted to mention. He forgot to tell us who was the first man in theworld that had a cold in his head, and who was the first to trysalivation for the French disease, but I give it accurately set forth,and quote more than five-and-twenty authors in proof of it, so you mayperceive I have laboured to good purpose and that the book will be ofservice to the whole world."Sancho, who had been very attentive to the cousin's words, said to him,"Tell me, senor--and God give you luck in printing your books-can youtell me (for of course you know, as you know everything) who was thefirst man that scratched his head? For to my thinking it must have beenour father Adam.""So it must," replied the cousin; "for there is no doubt but Adam had ahead and hair; and being the first man in the world he would havescratched himself sometimes.""So I think," said Sancho; "but now tell me, who was the first tumbler inthe world?""Really, brother," answered the cousin, "I could not at this moment saypositively without having investigated it; I will look it up when I goback to where I have my books, and will satisfy you the next time wemeet, for this will not be the last time.""Look here, senor," said Sancho, "don't give yourself any trouble aboutit, for I have just this minute hit upon what I asked you. The firsttumbler in the world, you must know, was Lucifer, when they cast orpitched him out of heaven; for he came tumbling into the bottomless pit.""You are right, friend," said the cousin; and said Don Quixote, "Sancho,that question and answer are not thine own; thou hast heard them fromsome one else.""Hold your peace, senor," said Sancho; "faith, if I take to askingquestions and answering, I'll go on from this till to-morrow morning.Nay! to ask foolish things and answer nonsense I needn't go looking forhelp from my neighbours.""Thou hast said more than thou art aware of, Sancho," said Don Quixote;"for there are some who weary themselves out in learning and provingthings that, after they are known and proved, are not worth a farthing tothe understanding or memory."In this and other pleasant conversation the day went by, and that nightthey put up at a small hamlet whence it was not more than two leagues tothe cave of Montesinos, so the cousin told Don Quixote, adding, that ifhe was bent upon entering it, it would be requisite for him to providehimself with ropes, so that he might be tied and lowered into its depths.Don Quixote said that even if it reached to the bottomless pit he meantto see where it went to; so they bought about a hundred fathoms of rope,and next day at two in the afternoon they arrived at the cave, the mouthof which is spacious and wide, but full of thorn and wild-fig bushes andbrambles and briars, so thick and matted that they completely close it upand cover it over.On coming within sight of it the cousin, Sancho, and Don Quixotedismounted, and the first two immediately tied the latter very firmlywith the ropes, and as they were girding and swathing him Sancho said tohim, "Mind what you are about, master mine; don't go burying yourselfalive, or putting yourself where you'll be like a bottle put to cool in awell; it's no affair or business of your worship's to become the explorerof this, which must be worse than a Moorish dungeon.""Tie me and hold thy peace," said Don Quixote, "for an emprise like this,friend Sancho, was reserved for me;" and said the guide, "I beg of you,Senor Don Quixote, to observe carefully and examine with a hundred eyeseverything that is within there; perhaps there may be some things for meto put into my book of 'Transformations.'""The drum is in hands that will know how to beat it well enough," saidSancho Panza.When he had said this and finished the tying (which was not over thearmour but only over the doublet) Don Quixote observed, "It was carelessof us not to have provided ourselves with a small cattle-bell to be tiedon the rope close to me, the sound of which would show that I was stilldescending and alive; but as that is out of the question now, in God'shand be it to guide me;" and forthwith he fell on his knees and in a lowvoice offered up a prayer to heaven, imploring God to aid him and granthim success in this to all appearance perilous and untried adventure, andthen exclaimed aloud, "O mistress of my actions and movements,illustrious and peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, if so be the prayers andsupplications of this fortunate lover can reach thy ears, by thyincomparable beauty I entreat thee to listen to them, for they but askthee not to refuse me thy favour and protection now that I stand in suchneed of them. I am about to precipitate, to sink, to plunge myself intothe abyss that is here before me, only to let the world know that whilethou dost favour me there is no impossibility I will not attempt andaccomplish." With these words he approached the cavern, and perceivedthat it was impossible to let himself down or effect an entrance exceptby sheer force or cleaving a passage; so drawing his sword he began todemolish and cut away the brambles at the mouth of the cave, at the noiseof which a vast multitude of crows and choughs flew out of it so thickand so fast that they knocked Don Quixote down; and if he had been asmuch of a believer in augury as he was a Catholic Christian he would havetaken it as a bad omen and declined to bury himself in such a place. Hegot up, however, and as there came no more crows, or night-birds like thebats that flew out at the same time with the crows, the cousin and Sanchogiving him rope, he lowered himself into the depths of the dread cavern;and as he entered it Sancho sent his blessing after him, making athousand crosses over him and saying, "God, and the Pena de Francia, andthe Trinity of Gaeta guide thee, flower and cream of knights-errant.There thou goest, thou dare-devil of the earth, heart of steel, arm ofbrass; once more, God guide thee and send thee back safe, sound, andunhurt to the light of this world thou art leaving to bury thyself in thedarkness thou art seeking there;" and the cousin offered up almost thesame prayers and supplications.Don Quixote kept calling to them to give him rope and more rope, and theygave it out little by little, and by the time the calls, which came outof the cave as out of a pipe, ceased to be heard they had let down thehundred fathoms of rope. They were inclined to pull Don Quixote up again,as they could give him no more rope; however, they waited about half anhour, at the end of which time they began to gather in the rope againwith great ease and without feeling any weight, which made them fancy DonQuixote was remaining below; and persuaded that it was so, Sancho weptbitterly, and hauled away in great haste in order to settle the question.When, however, they had come to, as it seemed, rather more than eightyfathoms they felt a weight, at which they were greatly delighted; and atlast, at ten fathoms more, they saw Don Quixote distinctly, and Sanchocalled out to him, saying, "Welcome back, senor, for we had begun tothink you were going to stop there to found a family." But Don Quixoteanswered not a word, and drawing him out entirely they perceived he hadhis eyes shut and every appearance of being fast asleep.They stretched him on the ground and untied him, but still he did notawake; however, they rolled him back and forwards and shook and pulledhim about, so that after some time he came to himself, stretching himselfjust as if he were waking up from a deep and sound sleep, and lookingabout him he said, "God forgive you, friends; ye have taken me away fromthe sweetest and most delightful existence and spectacle that ever humanbeing enjoyed or beheld. Now indeed do I know that all the pleasures ofthis life pass away like a shadow and a dream, or fade like the flower ofthe field. O ill-fated Montesinos! O sore-wounded Durandarte! O unhappyBelerma! O tearful Guadiana, and ye O hapless daughters of Ruidera whoshow in your waves the tears that flowed from your beauteous eyes!"The cousin and Sancho Panza listened with deep attention to the words ofDon Quixote, who uttered them as though with immense pain he drew them upfrom his very bowels. They begged of him to explain himself, and tellthem what he had seen in that hell down there."Hell do you call it?" said Don Quixote; "call it by no such name, for itdoes not deserve it, as ye shall soon see."He then begged them to give him something to eat, as he was very hungry.They spread the cousin's sackcloth on the grass, and put the stores ofthe alforjas into requisition, and all three sitting down lovingly andsociably, they made a luncheon and a supper of it all in one; and whenthe sackcloth was removed, Don Quixote of La Mancha said, "Let no onerise, and attend to me, my sons, both of you."