laws of perfect friendship which I have broken and violated at the instigation of that mischie vous and irresistible power.'

"Since thou art self-convicted so far (replied Camilla), thou mortal enemy to all that merits love! with what face darest thou appear before her who is the mirror that reflects him, and in which thou oughtest to have seen how little reason and encouragement thou hadst to wrong his honour: but, unfortunate that I am! I have found out the cause that induced thee to forget thyself so far: it must have been some lightness of carriage in me; immodesty I will not call it, because it could not be the effect of de liberate determination, but must have proceeded from a neglect of some of those forms which wo men often inadvertently omit before those whom they think they can entertain without ceremony. Otherwise, tell me, traitor, when did I ever an swer thy addresses with any word or sign that could awaken in thy breast the least glimpse of hope to accomplish thy infamous aim! Did I not always reject and reprove thy amorous protesta tions with rigour and severity? and when were thy promises and presents believed and accept ed? But, as I think no person could long persevere in such a flagitious intention, without be ing supported by some sort of hope, I am will ing to lay the blame of your impertinence at my own door; since, without doubt, some fail ure of care in me hath enabled you to exert yours so long; and, therefore, I will inflict upon myself the punishment that your crime deserves: but that you may see, in being thus inhuman to myself, it was impossible for me to deal mildly by you, I have invited you hither to be witness of the sacrifice I mean to offer to the injured honour of my noble husband, whom you have aggrieved to the utmost of your power, I myself being accessory to the wrong, because I have not industriously enough avoided all occasion, if I gave you any, of favouring and countenancing your wicked inclinations. I say, the suspicion I have, that some levity of mine engendered such frantic sentiments in your bosom, gives me the utmost pain, and prompts me to chastise my indiscretion with my own hands, rather than make my fault more public, by submitting to another executioner: but if I must perish, my fall shall be accompanied with the death of him whose blood will satisfy the vengeance which I already in some measure enjoy, when I consider that, wheresoever I go, I shall have before mine eyes the victim I offered to the most disinterested justice, in punishing the wretch who hath reduced me to this despair.' "So saying, she assaulted Lothario with incredible force and agility, manifesting such eager ness to plunge the poniard in his breast, that he himself doubted whether her endeavours were feigned or real, and was actually obliged to exert his whole strength in defending himself from Camilla, who acted this strange im

posture so much to the life, that, in order to give it the greater appearance of truth, she re solved to colour it with her own blood: for, seeing, or feigning, that she could not touch Lothario, she cried, Though fate denies me the full satisfaction of my just desire, it cannot rob me of one part of my revenge.' With these words, struggling to disengage her dagger hand, which was held by Lothario, she at last suc ceeded, and directing her poniard to a part of her body, which she thought she might slightly wound without danger, she sheathed it between her shoulder and left breast, and fell upon the floor as in a swoon.

"Leonela and Lothario were astonished and confounded at this event, and still dubious whe ther or not Camilla was in earnest, when they saw her stretched upon the ground, and bathed in her own blood. Lothario ran in the utmost fright and consternation, to draw forth the dagger; but perceiving what a superficial wound she had made, he recovered of the terror which had begun to seize him, and could not help admiring anew the uncommon sagacity, prudence, and discretion of the beautiful Camilla; that he might therefore proceed in the part he had to act, he began to make a long and sorrowful lamentation over the body, as if she had been really dead, imprecating a thousand curses, not only upon himself, but also upon him who was the original cause of this disaster: and as he knew that Anselmo was listening, said such melancholy things, that whosoever had heard him, would have pitied his case as much as that of Camilla, though they had believed her actually dead.

"Leonela lifted her up, and, laying her on the bed, earnestly entreated Lothario to find some person who would cure her privately; and begged he would advise her, with regard to what she should tell Anselmo, about her lady's wound, in case he should return before she was cured: he said she might tell him what she pleased, for he was then in no condition to give any profitable advice about the matter: he only desired her to fall upon some method of staunching the blood; and declared, that, for his own part, he would go where man should never see him. He accordingly departed, with the appearance of infinite grief and anxiety, and, when he found himself alone in a private place, crossed himself with amazement at the invention of Camilla, and the artful behaviour of her maid: he could easily conceive that Anselmo was, by this time, thoroughly convinced of his having a second Portia for his wife; and was impatient to see him, that they might together extol her behaviour, which, though imposture, had more appearance of truth than any thing of the same kind that had ever been practised.

"Leonela, as she was desired, stopt her lady's blood, of which there was just enough to give credit to her artifice; and washing the wound with a little wine, bound it up as well as she

could, uttering such sorrowful expressions all the time as would have been sufficient, with out any previous lamentation, to persuade Anselmo that his wife was the mirror of chastity. Leonela's complaints were joined by those of her mistress, who taxed herself with cowardice and pusillanimity, in having lost the best oppor tunity she should ever have of parting with that life which she abhorred. She consulted her maid about disclosing the whole affair to her beloved spouse; but this scheme Leonela op posed, observing that it would lay her master under an obligation of taking vengeance on Lo thario, a satisfaction he could not enjoy with out exposing himself to great danger: and that a virtuous woman, far from seeking to involve her husband in quarrels, was in duty bound to keep him free of all such disputes, by every me thod in her power. Camilla seemed to approve of her maid's prudence, and promised to follow her advice; but said it would be necessary, at all events, to invent some excuse to Anselmo, about the wound, which he could not fail of ob serving. Leonela assuring her that she could never tell a lie even in jest, the mistress replied, 'What shall I do then, child? for I would not attempt to frame and maintain a falsehood, even though my life depended upon it: since, therefore, we know not how to extricate our selves otherwise, we must e'en discover the naked truth, rather than run the risk of being detected in a lie.'- Don't give yourself any further uneasiness, madam (said Leonela), by to-morrow morning I shall have found some expedient: perhaps the wound being where it is, may be concealed from his view, and Heaven vouchsafe to favour our upright and honourable intention. Compose yourself, dear madam; endeavour to calm the perturbation of your spirits, that my master may not perceive your disorder; and leave the consequence to my care, and that of Heaven, which never fails to favour the righteous design.'

"Anselmo listened with the utmost attention to this tragedy of the death of his honour, which was represented with such exquisite and surprising address, that the actors seemed really transformed into the very characters they feign ed: he longed impatiently for night, and an opportunity of escaping unseen, that he might fly to his worthy friend Lothario, and receive his congratulations upon the precious jewel he had found in this vindication of his wife's virtue; they took care to furnish him with the occasion he wanted; and he, without letting it slip, ran immediately in quest of Lothario: it would be difficult to describe the eagerness of his em braces at meeting, or to recount the expressions he used in the overflowings of his satisfaction, and the extravagant praises he bestowed on Camilla. All these Lothario heard, without being able to manifest the least signs of joy; his reflection taxed him with the deceit he had

practised, and the injury he had done his unsuspecting friend. Anselmo took notice that he did not seem to participate in his pleasure, but believed his concern proceeded from the thoughts of having been the occasion of Camilla's wound : he therefore, among other things, told him to make himself easy on that score, for the hurt must certainly have been very slight, as they had agreed to conceal it from his knowledge; and since there was no bad consequence to be apprehended, he hoped, for the future, to enjoy, in mirth and good humour, the friendship of his dear Lothario, by whose industry and mediation he now saw himself raised to the most sublime pitch of human felicity; at the same time he signified, that his desire and design was to pursue no other amusement than that of composing verses in praise of Camilla, that should transmit to latest posterity the re membrance of her worth.

"Lothario commended his laudable determi➡ nation, and promised to contribute all that lay in his power towards the rearing of such an illus trious edifice: so that Anselmo, being the most agreeably deceived of any man that ever lived, led by the hand, to his own house, the very man who, though in his opinion the instru ment of his glory, was the total perdition of his fame. Camilla received him with a countenance expressing resentment, but a soul brimful of joy; and their secret correspondence continued uninterrupted for a few months, at the end of which, the wheel of fortune having performed a full circle, the intrigue, which had been hitherto so artfully concealed, was discovered, and Anselmo's Impertinent Curiosity cost him his life."

CHAP. VIII.

The conclusion of the Impertinent Curiosity.

A LITTLE more of this novel remained to be read, when Sancho came running, in great confusion, from the garret where his master, Don Quixote, lay, bawling aloud, "Come hither, gentlemen! make haste to the assistance of my master, who is this precious minute engaged and grappled in the toughest battle that ever my eyes beheld! Egad! he has given that same giant, the enemy of my lady the princess of Micomicona, such a back-stroke, as hath sliced off his head as smooth and clean as the skin of a turnip."-" What do you mean, brother? (said the curate, closing the book), are you in your right wits, Sancho? how the devil can your master be fighting with a giant who is two thousand leagues from hence ?"

That instant they heard a great noise in the apartment, and Don Quixote pronounced aloud, "Stay, villain, robber, caitiff, here I have thee, and thy scimetar shall not avail." Then he be

gan to strike furiously at the walls; and Sancho exclaimed, "Don't stand here listening, but go in and part the fray, or lend your assistance to my master; though I believe that will be needless by this time; for the giant is certainly dead, and giving an account to God of his wicked and misspent life: nay, I saw with my own eyes his blood running about the floor, and his head cut off, lying on one side as a large wine-bag.""May I be hanged (cried the innkeeper, at these words), if this Don Quixote, or Don Devil, has not cut open one of the skins filled with red wine, that stood at his bed's head, and the wine that ran out is mistaken by this simple fellow for blood!"

So saying, he rushed into the apartment, with the whole company at his heels, and found the knight in a very ludicrous situation: he appeared in his shirt, which was too scanty before to cover his thighs, and still shorter be hind, by six inches at least, and displayed a pair of long lank legs, embrowned with hair, and not extremely clean; his head was covered with a little red, greasy nightcap, belonging to the landlord; round his left arm he had wrapt the blanket of his bed, to which Sancho, for good reasons known to himself, bore an inveterate grudge; and, in his right, he wielded his drawn sword, with which he laid about him at a furious rate, talking as if he was actually at blows with the giant: but what was very surprising, his eyes were shut all the time, and he was fast asleep, dreaming of this encounter; for his imagination was so much engrossed by the adventure he had undertaken to achieve, as to make him dream that he was already arrived in the kingdom of Micomicon, and engaged in single combat with his gigantic adversary, instead of whom he hacked the wine-bags so furiously, that the whole room was afloat with their contents.

The innkeeper no sooner perceived this havock, than, incensed to the last degree, he assaulted Don Quixote with his clenched fists, and began to pummel him so severely, that if the curate and Cardenio had not interposed, he would soon have put an end to the adventure of the giant: yet, for all that, the poor knight did not awake, until the barber, fetching a kettle of cold water from the well, soused him all over; even then, though sleep forsook him, he did not recollect the situation he was in; and Dorothea seeing him so slight and airily equipt, did not choose to be a spectator of the combat between her adversary and protector. Meanwhile, Sancho went about the room, prying into every corner, and searching for the giant's head, which, when he could not find, "I knew (said he), that every thing goes by enchantment in this house: the last time I was in this very spot, I received a great many thwacks and thumps, without seeing a soul, or being able to guess from whence they came; and now this

head is vanished, though I saw it cut off with mine own eyes, and the blood spout out of the body, like water from a fountain."-" What dost thou talk of blood and fountains, thou enemy of God and his saints! (cried the innkeeper); don't you see, rascal, that there is no blood or fountain, but the skins that are pierced, and the red wine that swims about the room? I hope the soul of him who pierced them will swim in hell!"-"I know nothing of the matter (replied Sancho); but that, on account of my not finding the head, I shall see my earldom dissolve like salt in water."

Thus the 'squire, though awake, was more extravagant than Don Qxixote in his dream: such an impression had his master's promises made upon his imagination. The phlegmatic temper of the 'squire, together with the mischievous disposition of the knight, well nigh distracted the landlord, who swore, that they should not now, as formerly, go away without paying; and that all the privilege of their errantry should not exempt them from paying both reckonings to the last farthing, for the damage they had done, even to the bits of leather for botching the wine-skins that were cut. The curate, by this time, had got hold of the hands of Don Quixote, who, believing he had now finished the adventure, and was in presence of the princess Micomicona, fell upon his knees before the priest, saying, "Renowned princess, your highness may henceforth live secure of what that misbegotten wretch can do ; and I, from this day forward, am acquitted of my promise, which is now, by the assistance of Heaven above, and the favour of her for whom I live and breathe, happily and fully performed."-" Did not I tell you so? (cried Sancho, hearing these words). You see I am not drunk, and may take notice that my master hath put the giant in pickle-the holidays will certainly come round, and the earldom fit me to a hair.”

Who could refrain from laughing at the follies of the master and man? they occasioned abundance of mirth to every one present, except the landlord, who cursed himself to the devil. At length the barber, curate, and Cardenio, with no small difficulty, put the knight to bed again, where he fell asleep in an instant, like one who had been excessively fatigued: they left him to his repose, and went out to console Sancho for his disappointment in losing the giant's head; but they found it a harder task to pacify the innkeeper, who was driven almost to despair by the sudden death of his wine-bags: besides, the landlady began to cry, in a whimpering tone, "In an unlucky minute and evil hour did this knight-errant enter my doors; for I am sure I never beheld him, without paying dearly for the sight! The last time he was here, he refused to defray a whole night's expense of supper, lodging, straw, and barley, for himself and his 'squire, his horse and his