whom he might ascribe some part of the honour he should acquire by the valour of his invincible arm. She answered with great humility, that her name was Tobosa, daughter of an honest butcher in Toledo, who lived in one of the stalls of Sancho Minaya: that she should always be at his service, and acknowledge him for her lord and master. The knight professed himself extremely obliged to her for her love; and begged she would, for the future, dignify her name by calling herself Donna Tobosa. This request she promised faithfully to comply with; and a dialogue of the same kind passed between him and the other lady who buckled on his spur: when he asked her name, she told him it was Mollinera, and that her father was an honourable miller of Antequera. Don Quixote entreated her also to ennoble her name with the same title of Donna, loaded her with thanks, and made a tender of his service. These hitherto unseen ceremonies being despatched, as it were with post-haste, Don Quixote, impatient to see himself on horseback, in quest of adventures, saddled and mounted Rozinante forthwith, and, embracing his host, uttered such a strange rhapsody of thanks for his having dubbed him knight, that it is impossible to rehearse the compliment. The landlord, in order to get rid of him the sooner, answered in terms no less eloquent, though something more laconic, and let him march off in happy hour, without demanding one farthing for his lodging.

CHAP. IV.

some creature in grievous distress. No sooner did our hero hear this lamentation, than he exclaimed, "Heaven be praised for the favour with which it now indulges me, in giving me an opportunity so soon of fulfilling the duties of my profession, and reaping the fruit of my laudable intention! These cries doubtless proceed from some miserable male, or female, who stands in need of my immediate aid and protection :" then turning Rozinante, he rode towards the place whence the complaint seemed to come, and, having entered the wood a few paces, he found a mare tied to one oak, and a lad about fifteen, naked from the waist upwards, made fast to another. This was he who screamed so piteously, and indeed not without reason; for a sturdy peasant was employed in making applications to his carcass with a leathern strap, accompanying each stripe with a word of reproof and advice; above all things, laying upon him strong injunctions to use his tongue less and his eyes more: the young fellow replied, with great fervency, "I will never do so again, master, so help me God! I won't do so any more, but, for the future, take more care, and use more despatch."

Don Quixote, observing what passed, pronounced aloud, with great indignation, "Discourteous knight, it ill becomes thee to attack one who cannot defend himself: mount thy steed, couch thy lance, (for there was actually a lance leaning against the tree to which the mare was tied), and I will make thee sensible of the cowardice of the action in which thou art now engaged." The peasant, seeing this strange figure, buckled in armour, and brandishing a

the inn.

It was early in the morning when Don Quixote sallied from the inn, so well satisfied, so sprightly, and so glad to see himself invested with the order of knighthood, that the very girths of his horse vibrated with joy: but, remembering his landlord's advice with regard to the necessaries he ought to carry along with him, in particular the money and clean shirts, he resolved to return to his own house, and furnish himself not only with these, but also with a 'squire. For this office he fixed, in his own mind, upon a poor ploughman who lived in his neighbourhood, maintaining a family of children by his labour; a person in all respects qualified for the lower services of chivalry.With this view he steered his course homeward; and Rozinante, as if he had guessed the knight's intention, began to move with such alacrity and nimbleness, that his hoofs scarce seemed to touch the ground.

He had not travelled far, when, from the thickest part of a wood that grew on his right hand, his ear was saluted with shrill repeated cries, which seemed to issue from the mouth of

with great humility replied, “ Sir knight, this lad, whom I am chastising, is my own servant, hired to keep a flock of sheep, which feed in these fields; but he is so negligent, that every day I lose one of the number; and because I punish him for his carelessness, or knavery, he says that I scourge him out of avarice, rather than pay him his wages; though, upon my conscience, and as I shall answer to God, he tells a lie." "How! a lie, before me, base caitiff, (cried Don Quixote); by the sun that enlightens this globe, I have a good mind to thrust this lance through thy body! Pay the young man his wages straight, without reply, or, by the power that rules us, I will finish and annihilate thee in an instant! unbind him therefore without hesitation."

The countryman hung his head, and, without speaking a syllable, untied his man, who, being asked by the knight, how much money was due to him, said his master owed him for three quarters, at the rate of six rials a month. His deliverer having cast it up, found that the whole amounted to sixty-three rials, and ordered the peasant to disburse them instantly, unless he had a mind to perish under his hands. The

"In

affrighted farmer affirmed, by the grievous situation in which he was, and the oath he had already taken, though, by the bye, he had taken no oath at all, that the sum did not amount to so much; for that he was to discount and allow for three pair of shoes he had received, and a rial for two bleedings while he was sick. "Granting that to be true, (replied Don Quixote), the shoes and the bleeding shall stand for the stripes you have given him without cause; for, if he has wore out the leather of the shoes that you paid for, you have made as free with the leather of his carcass; and if the barber let out his blood when he was sick, you have blooded him when he was well; he therefore stands acquitted of these debts." "The misfortune, sir knight, (said the peasant), is this: I have not coin about me; but if Andrew will go home to my house, I will pay him honestly in ready money." "Go with you, (cried the lad), the devil fetch me if I do! No, no, master, I must not think of that; were I to go home with him alone, he would flay me like another St Bartholomew." "He won't do so, (replied the knight), but shew more regard to my commands; and if he will swear to me, by the laws of that order of knighthood which he has received, that he will pay you your wages, I will set him free, and warrant the payment." "Lord, how your wor ship talks! (said the boy); this master of mine is no gentleman, nor has he received any order of knighthood, but is known by the name of rich John Haldudo, and lives in the neighbourhood of Quintanar." "No matter, (replied Don Quixote), there may be knights among the Haldudos, especially as every one is the son of his own works." "True, (said Andrew); but what works is my master the son of, since he refuses to pay me for my labour and the sweat of my brow?" "I don't refuse, honest Andrew, (answered the peasant); thou wilt do me a pleasure in going home with me; and I swear, by all the honours of knighthood in the universe, that I will pay thee thy wages, as I said before, in ready money; nay, you shall have it perfumed into the bargain." "Thank you for your perfumes, (said the knight); pay him in lawful coin, and I shall be satisfied; and be sure you fulfil the oath you have taken; for, by the same obligation, I swear, that, in case you fail, I will return to chastise you, and ferret you out, even though you should be more concealed than a lizard. If you would understand who it is that lays such commands upon you, that you may find yourself under a necessity of performing them with reverence and awe, know, that I am the valiant Don Quixote de la Mancha, the redresser of wrongs and Scourge of injustice: so farewell; remember not to belie your promise and oath, on pain of the penalty prescribed." With these words, he clapped spurs to Rozinante, and was out of sight

in a moment.

"

In spite of this consolation, however, he departed blubbering with pain, while his master remained weeping with laughter. And thus was the grievance redressed by the valiant Don Quixote, who, transported with the success, and the happy and sublime beginning which he imagined his chivalry had been favoured with, jogged on towards his own village with infinite self-satisfaction, pronouncing with a low voice, "O Dulcinea del Toboso, fairest among the fair! well may'st thou be counted the most fortunate beauty upon earth, seeing it is thy fate to keep in subjection, and wholly resigned to thy will and pleasure, such a daring and renowned knight as Don Quixote de la Mancha now is and always will remain! he who, as all the world knows, but yesterday received the honour of knighthood, and has this day redressed the greatest wrong and grievance that ever injustice hatched and cruelty committed! To-day he wrested the lash from the hand of the merciless enemy, who so unjustly scourged the body of that tender infant!" Having uttered this exclamation, he found himself in a road that divided into four paths, and straight his imagination suggested those cross-ways that were wont to perplex knights-errant in their choice; in imitation of whom, he paused a little, and, after mature deliberation, threw the reins on Rozinante's neck, leaving the decision to him, who, following his first intention, took the path that led directly to his own stable.

Having travelled about two miles farther, Don Quixote descried a number of people, who, as was afterwards known, were six merchants of Toledo, going to buy silks at Murcia, and who travelled with umbrellas, attended by four ser vants on horseback, and three mule-drivers on foot. Don Quixote no sooner perceived them at a distance, than he imagined them to be some new adventure; and, in order to imitate, as much as in him lay, those scenes he had read in his books of chivalry, he thought this was an occasion expressly ordained for him to execute his purposed achievement.

He therefore, with gallant and resolute deportment, seated himself firmly in his stirrups, grasped his lance, braced on his target, and, posting himself in the middle of the road, waited the arrival of those knights-errant, for such he judged them to be. When they were near enough to hear him, he pronounced in a loud and arrogant tone, "Let the whole universe cease to move, if the whole universe refuses to confess, that there is not in the whole universe a more beautiful damsel than the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, the high and mighty empress of La Mancha."

The merchants hearing this declaration, and seeing the strange figure from which it proceeded, were alarmed at both, and, halting immediately, at a distance reconnoitred the madness of the author. Curious, however, to know the meaning of that confession which he exacted, one of them, who was a sort of a wag, though at the same time a man of prudence and discretion, accosted him thus: "Sir knight, as we have not the honour to know who this worthy lady is, be so good as to produce her; and if we find her so beautiful as you proclaim her to be, we will gladly, and without any sort of reward, confess the truth, according to your desire." "If I produce her (replied Don Quixote) what is the mighty merit of your confessing such a notorious truth? The importance of my demand consists in your believing, acknowledging, affirming upon oath, and defending her beauty before you have seen it. And this ye shall do, ye insolent and uncivil race, or engage with me in battle forthwith. Come on, then, one by one, according to the laws of chivalry, or all together, as the treacherous custom is among such wretches as you; here I expect you, with full hope and confidence in the justice of my cause." "Sir knight (replied the merchant), I humbly beg, in the name of all these princes here present, that your worship will not oblige us to burden our consciences, by giving testimony to a thing that we have neither seen nor heard, especially as it tends to the prejudice of the queens and princesses of Alcarria and Estremadura: but, if your worship will be pleased to shew us any sort of a picture of this lady, though it be no bigger than a grain of wheat, so as we can judge the clue by the thread, we

will be satisfied with this sample, and you shall be obeyed to your heart's content: for I believe we are already so prepossessed in her favour, that though the portrait should represent her squinting with one eye, and distilling vermilion and brimstone with the other, we will, notwithstanding, in compliance to your worship, say what you desire in her favour." "Her eyes, infamous wretch! (replied Don Quixote in a rage), distil not such productions, but teem with amber and rich perfume: neither is there any defect in her sight, or in her body, which is more straight than a Guadarrama spindle: but you shall suffer for the licentious blasphemy you have uttered against the unparalleled beauty of my sovereign mistress." So saying he couched his lance, and attacked the spokesman with such rage and fury, that, had not Rozinante luckily stumbled and fallen in the midst of his career, the merchant would have had no cause to rejoice in his rashness; but when the unhappy steed fell to the ground, the rider was thrown over his head, and pitched at a good distance upon the field, where he found all his endea yours to get up again ineffectual, so much was he encumbered with his lance, target, helmet, and spurs, together with the weight of his ancient armour.

While he thus struggled, but in vain, to rise, he bellowed forth,Fly not, ye cowardly crew, tarry a little, ye base caitiffs: not through any fault of my own, but of my horse, am I thus discomfited." One of the mule-drivers, who seems not to have been of a very milky disposition, could not bear this arrogant language of the poor overthrown knight, without making a reply upon his ribs. Going up to him therefore, he laid hold on his lance, and breaking it, began to thresh him so severely, that, in spite of the resistance of his armour, he was almost beaten into mummy; and though the fellow's master called to him to forbear, he was so incensed, that he could not leave off the game, until he had exhausted the whole of his choler. Gathering the other pieces of the lance, he reduced them all to shivers, one after another, on the miserable carcass of the Don, who, notwithstanding this storm of blows, which descended on him, never closed his mouth, but continued threatening heaven and earth, and those banditti, for such he took the merchants to be.

The driver was tired at length of his exercise, and his masters pursued their journey, carrying with them sufficient food for conversation about this poor battered knight, who no sooner found himself alone, than he made another effort to rise but if he found this design impracticable when he was safe and sound, much less could he accomplish it now that he was disabled, and as it were wrought into a paste. He did not, however, look upon himself as unhappy, because this misfortune was, in his opinion, pe

culiar to knights-errant; and that he was not able to rise on account of the innumerable bruises he had received, he ascribed entirely to the fault of his horse.

CHAP. V.

knight-errant), " who has left your worship in such a woeful condition?" But he, without minding the question that was put to him, proceeded as before with his romance; which the honest man perceiving, went to work, and took off his back and breast-plates, to see if he had received any wound, but he could perceive neither blood nor scar upon his body. He then

continued.

FINDING it therefore impossible to move, he was fain to have recourse to his usual remedy, which was, to amuse his imagination with some passages of the books he had read; and his madness immediately recalled to his memory that of Valdovinos and the Marquis of Mantua, when Carloto left him wounded on the mountain, a piece of history that every boy knows, that every young man is acquainted with, and which is celebrated, nay more, believed, by old age itself, though it be as apocryphal as the miracles of Mahomet ; nevertheless, it occurred to him as an occasion expressly adapted to his present situation. Therefore, with marks of extreme affliction, he began to roll about upon the ground, and, with a languid voice, exclaim, in the words of the wounded knight of the wood,

Where art thou, lady of my heart,
Regardless of my misery?
Thou little know'st thy lover's smart,
Or faithless art, and false, pardie!

In this manner he went on repeating the ro mance until he came to these lines:

O, noble prince of Mantuan plains,
My carnal kinsman, and my lord!

Before he could repeat the whole couplet, a peasant, who was a neighbour of his own, and lived in the same village, chanced to pass, in his way from the mill where he had been with a load of wheat. This honest countryman see ing a man lying stretched upon the ground, came up, and asked him who he was, and the reason of his lamenting so piteously? Don Quixote doubtless believed that this was his uncle, the Marquis of Mantua, and made no other reply but the continuation of his romance, in which he gave an account of his own misfortune, occasioned by the amour betwixt his wife and the emperor's son, exactly as it is related in the book. The peasant, astonished at such a rhapsody, took off his beaver, which had been beaten to pieces by the mule-driver, and, wiping his face, which was covered with dust, immediately knew the unfortunate knight. "Signor Quixada,” said he, (for so he was called before he had lost his senses, and was transformed from a sober country gentleman into a

ficulty mounted him upon his own beast, which appeared to him a safer carriage than the knight's steed.

Having gathered up his armour, even to the splinters of the lance, he tied them upon Rozinante, and, taking hold of the reins, together with the halter of his own ass, jogged on towards the village, not a little concerned to hear the mad exclamations of Don Quixote, who did not find himself extremely easy; for he was so battered and bruised, that he could not sit upright upon the beast, but from time to time vented such dismal groans as obliged the peasant to ask again what was the matter with him? Indeed one would have thought that the devil had assisted his memory in supplying him with tales accommodated to the circumstances of his own situation; for at that instant, forgetting Valdovinos, he recollected the story of Abindarrez, the Moor, whom Rodrigo de Narvaez, governor of Antequera, took prisoner, and carried into captivity to the place of his residence: so that when the countryman repeated his desire of knowing where he had been, and what was the matter with him, he answered to the purpose; nay, indeed in the very words used by the captive Abencerraje to the said Rodrigo de Narvaez, as may be seen in the Diana of George Monte-major, which he had read; and so well adapted for his purpose, that the countryman hearing such a composition of folly, wished them both at the devil.

It was then he discovered that his neighbour was mad; and therefore made all the haste he could to the village, that he might be the sooner rid of his uneasiness at the unaccountable harangue of Don Quixote, who had no sooner finished this exclamation, than he accosted his conductor in these words: "Know then, valiant Don Rodrigo de Narvaez, that this same beautiful Xarifa, whom I have mentioned, is no other than the fair Dulcinea del Toboso, for whom I have performed, undertake, and will achieve the most renowned exploits that ever were, are, or will be seen on earth." To this address the countryman replied, with great simplicity, "How your worship talks! As I am a sinner, I am neither Don Rodrigo de Narvaez, nor the Marquis of Mantua, but Pedro Alonzo, your neighbour: nor is your worship either Valdovinos, or Abindarrez, but the worthy gentleman, Signor Quixada." "I know very well who I am (replied Don Quixote), and that it is possible for me to be not only those

whom I have mentioned, but also the whole twelve peers of France, and even the nine worthies, seeing that my achievements will excel, not only those of each of them singly, but even the exploits of them all joined together."

Discoursing in this manner, they arrived at the village about twilight; but the peasant staid till it was quite dark, that the poor rib-roasted knight might not be seen in such a woeful condition. Then he conducted Don Quixote to his own house, which was all in confusion. When he arrived, the curate, and the barber of the village, two of his best friends and companions, were present, and his housekeeper was just say ing with a woeful countenance, "Mr licentiate Pero Perez (that was the curate's name), some misfortune must certainly have happened to my master; for six days, both he and his horse, together with the target, lance, and armour, have been missing; as I am a sinner, it is just come into my head, and it is certainly as true as that every one is born to die, those hellish books of knight-errantry, which he used to read with so much pleasure, have turned his brain; for now I remember to have heard him say to himself more than once, that he longed to be a knight-errant, and stroll about in quest of adventures. May the devil and Barrabas lay hold of such legends, which have perverted one of the soundest understandings in all La Mancha."

To this remark the niece assented, saying, "Moreover, you must know, Mr Nicholas (this was the name of the barber), my uncle would frequently, after having been reading in these profane books of misadventures, for two whole days and nights together, start up, throw the book upon the ground, and, drawing his sword, fence with the walls, till he was quite fatigued, then affirm that he had killed four giants as big as steeples, and swear that the sweat of his brow, occasioned by this violent exercise, was the blood of the wounds he had received in battle: then he would drink off a large pitcher of cold water, and remain quiet and refreshed, saying, that the water was a most precious beverage, with which he was supplied by the sage Isquife, a mighty enchanter and friend of his: but I take the whole blame to myself, for not having informed your worship of my dear uncle's extravagancies, that some remedy might have been applied before they had proceeded to such excess; and that you might have burnt all those excommunicated

books, which deserve the fire as much as if they were crammed with heresy."

"I am of the same opinion (said the curate), and assure you, before another day shall pass, they shall undergo a severe trial, and be condemned to the flames, that they may not induce other readers to follow the same path which I am afraid my good friend has taken." Every syllable of this conversation was overheard by Don Quixote and his guide, which last had now no longer any doubt about his neighbour's infirmity, and therefore pronounced with a loud voice," Open your gates to the valiant Valdovinos, and the great Marquis of Mantua, who comes home wounded from the field, together with the Moor Abindarrez, who drags in cap tivity the valiant Rodrigo de Narvaez, governor of Antaquera."

Alarmed at these words, they came all to the door, and, perceiving who it was, the barber and curate went to receive their friend, and the women ran to embrace their master and kinsman, who, though he had not as yet alighted, for indeed it was not in his power, proclaimed aloud, "Let the whole world take notice, that the wounds I have received were owing to the fault of my horse alone; carry me therefore to bed, and send, if possible, for the sage Urganda,† so search and cure them." "See now, in an evil hour (cried the housekeeper, hearing these words), if I did not truly foretel of what leg my master was lame? Your worship shall understand, in good time, that, without the assistance of that same Urganda, we know how to cure the hurts you have received; and cursed, I say, nay, a hundred and a hundred times cursed be those books of chivalry which have so disordered your honour's brain!" Having carried him to his bed, they began to search for his wounds, but could find none: and he told them that his whole body was one continued bruise, occasioned by the fall of his horse Rozinante, during his engagement with ten of the most insolent and outrageous giants that ever appeared upon the face of the earth. “Ah, hah! (cried the curate) have we got giants too in the dance! Now by the faith of my function, I will reduce them all to ashes before to-morrow night.”

A thousand questions did they ask of the knight, who made no other answer, but desired them to bring him some food, and leave him to his repose, which indeed was what he had more occasion for. They complied with his request, and the curate informed himself at large, of the