Let not your high mightiness forget to write to me; and I willtake care to answer, and let you know how I am, and whatever newsthere may be in this place, where I remain, praying our Lord to haveyour highness in his keeping and not to forget me.

Sancha my daughter, and my son, kiss your worship's hands.

She who would rather see your ladyship than write to you,

Your servant,TERESA PANZA.

All were greatly amused by Teresa Panza's letter, but particularlythe duke and duchess; and the duchess asked Don Quixote's opinionwhether they might open the letter that had come for the governor,which she suspected must be very good. Don Quixote said that togratify them he would open it, and did so, and found that it ran asfollows.

TERESA PANZA'S LETTER TO HER HUSBAND SANCHO PANZA.

I got thy letter, Sancho of my soul, and I promise thee and swear asa Catholic Christian that I was within two fingers' breadth of goingmad I was so happy. I can tell thee, brother, when I came to hear thatthou wert a governor I thought I should have dropped dead with purejoy; and thou knowest they say sudden joy kills as well as greatsorrow; and as for Sanchica thy daughter, she leaked from sheerhappiness. I had before me the suit thou didst send me, and thecoral beads my lady the duchess sent me round my neck, and the lettersin my hands, and there was the bearer of them standing by, and inspite of all this I verily believed and thought that what I saw andhandled was all a dream; for who could have thought that a goatherdwould come to be a governor of islands? Thou knowest, my friend,what my mother used to say, that one must live long to see much; I sayit because I expect to see more if I live longer; for I don't expectto stop until I see thee a farmer of taxes or a collector ofrevenue, which are offices where, though the devil carries off thosewho make a bad use of them, still they make and handle money. Mylady the duchess will tell thee the desire I have to go to theCourt; consider the matter and let me know thy pleasure; I will try todo honour to thee by going in a coach.

Neither the curate, nor the barber, nor the bachelor, nor even thesacristan, can believe that thou art a governor, and they say thewhole thing is a delusion or an enchantment affair, like everythingbelonging to thy master Don Quixote; and Samson says he must go insearch of thee and drive the government out of thy head and themadness out of Don Quixote's skull; I only laugh, and look at mystring of beads, and plan out the dress I am going to make for ourdaughter out of thy suit. I sent some acorns to my lady the duchess; Iwish they had been gold. Send me some strings of pearls if they are infashion in that island. Here is the news of the village; La Berruecahas married her daughter to a good-for-nothing painter, who camehere to paint anything that might turn up. The council gave him anorder to paint his Majesty's arms over the door of the town-hall; heasked two ducats, which they paid him in advance; he worked foreight days, and at the end of them had nothing painted, and thensaid he had no turn for painting such trifling things; he returned themoney, and for all that has married on the pretence of being a goodworkman; to be sure he has now laid aside his paint-brush and takena spade in hand, and goes to the field like a gentleman. PedroLobo's son has received the first orders and tonsure, with theintention of becoming a priest. Minguilla, Mingo Silvato'sgranddaughter, found it out, and has gone to law with him on the scoreof having given her promise of marriage. Evil tongues say she iswith child by him, but he denies it stoutly. There are no olivesthis year, and there is not a drop of vinegar to be had in the wholevillage. A company of soldiers passed through here; when they leftthey took away with them three of the girls of the village; I will nottell thee who they are; perhaps they will come back, and they willbe sure to find those who will take them for wives with all theirblemishes, good or bad. Sanchica is making bonelace; she earns eightmaravedis a day clear, which she puts into a moneybox as a helptowards house furnishing; but now that she is a governor's daughterthou wilt give her a portion without her working for it. Thefountain in the plaza has run dry. A flash of lightning struck thegibbet, and I wish they all lit there. I look for an answer to this,and to know thy mind about my going to the Court; and so, God keepthee longer than me, or as long, for I would not leave thee in thisworld without me.

Thy wife,TERESA PANZA.

The letters were applauded, laughed over, relished, and admired; andthen, as if to put the seal to the business, the courier arrived,bringing the one Sancho sent to Don Quixote, and this, too, was readout, and it raised some doubts as to the governor's simplicity. Theduchess withdrew to hear from the page about his adventures inSancho's village, which he narrated at full length without leaving asingle circumstance unmentioned. He gave her the acorns, and also acheese which Teresa had given him as being particularly good andsuperior to those of Tronchon. The duchess received it with greatestdelight, in which we will leave her, to describe the end of thegovernment of the great Sancho Panza, flower and mirror of allgovernors of islands.

CHAPTER LIIIOF THE TROUBLOUS END AND TERMINATION SANCHO PANZA'S GOVERNMENT CAME TO

To fancy that in this life anything belonging to it will remainfor ever in the same state is an idle fancy; on the contrary, in iteverything seems to go in a circle, I mean round and round. The springsucceeds the summer, the summer the fall, the fall the autumn, theautumn the winter, and the winter the spring, and so time rolls withnever-ceasing wheel. Man's life alone, swifter than time, speedsonward to its end without any hope of renewal, save it be in thatother life which is endless and boundless. Thus saith Cide Hametethe Mahometan philosopher; for there are many that by the light ofnature alone, without the light of faith, have a comprehension ofthe fleeting nature and instability of this present life and theendless duration of that eternal life we hope for; but our author ishere speaking of the rapidity with which Sancho's government came toan end, melted away, disappeared, vanished as it were in smoke andshadow. For as he lay in bed on the night of the seventh day of hisgovernment, sated, not with bread and wine, but with deliveringjudgments and giving opinions and making laws and proclamations,just as sleep, in spite of hunger, was beginning to close his eyelids,he heard such a noise of bell-ringing and shouting that one would havefancied the whole island was going to the bottom. He sat up in bed andremained listening intently to try if he could make out what couldbe the cause of so great an uproar; not only, however, was he unableto discover what it was, but as countless drums and trumpets nowhelped to swell the din of the bells and shouts, he was more puzzledthan ever, and filled with fear and terror; and getting up he put on apair of slippers because of the dampness of the floor, and withoutthrowing a dressing gown or anything of the kind over him he rushedout of the door of his room, just in time to see approaching along acorridor a band of more than twenty persons with lighted torches andnaked swords in their hands, all shouting out, "To arms, to arms,senor governor, to arms! The enemy is in the island in countlessnumbers, and we are lost unless your skill and valour come to oursupport."

Keeping up this noise, tumult, and uproar, they came to where Sanchostood dazed and bewildered by what he saw and heard, and as theyapproached one of them called out to him, "Arm at once, your lordship,if you would not have yourself destroyed and the whole island lost."

"What have I to do with arming?" said Sancho. "What do I knowabout arms or supports? Better leave all that to my master DonQuixote, who will settle it and make all safe in a trice; for I,sinner that I am, God help me, don't understand these scuffles."

"Ah, senor governor," said another, "what slackness of mettle thisis! Arm yourself; here are arms for you, offensive and defensive; comeout to the plaza and be our leader and captain; it falls upon you byright, for you are our governor."

"Arm me then, in God's name," said Sancho, and they at once producedtwo large shields they had come provided with, and placed them uponhim over his shirt, without letting him put on anything else, oneshield in front and the other behind, and passing his arms throughopenings they had made, they bound him tight with ropes, so that therehe was walled and boarded up as straight as a spindle and unable tobend his knees or stir a single step. In his hand they placed a lance,on which he leant to keep himself from falling, and as soon as theyhad him thus fixed they bade him march forward and lead them on andgive them all courage; for with him for their guide and lamp andmorning star, they were sure to bring their business to a successfulissue.

"How am I to march, unlucky being that I am?" said Sancho, "when Ican't stir my knee-caps, for these boards I have bound so tight tomy body won't let me. What you must do is carry me in your arms, andlay me across or set me upright in some postern, and I'll hold iteither with this lance or with my body."

"On, senor governor!" cried another, "it is fear more than theboards that keeps you from moving; make haste, stir yourself, forthere is no time to lose; the enemy is increasing in numbers, theshouts grow louder, and the danger is pressing."

Urged by these exhortations and reproaches the poor governor made anattempt to advance, but fell to the ground with such a crash that hefancied he had broken himself all to pieces. There he lay like atortoise enclosed in its shell, or a side of bacon between twokneading-troughs, or a boat bottom up on the beach; nor did the gangof jokers feel any compassion for him when they saw him down; so farfrom that, extinguishing their torches they began to shout afreshand to renew the calls to arms with such energy, trampling on poorSancho, and slashing at him over the shield with their swords insuch a way that, if he had not gathered himself together and madehimself small and drawn in his head between the shields, it would havefared badly with the poor governor, as, squeezed into that narrowcompass, he lay, sweating and sweating again, and commending himselfwith all his heart to God to deliver him from his present peril.Some stumbled over him, others fell upon him, and one there was whotook up a position on top of him for some time, and from thence asif from a watchtower issued orders to the troops, shouting out, "Here,our side! Here the enemy is thickest! Hold the breach there! Shut thatgate! Barricade those ladders! Here with your stink-pots of pitchand resin, and kettles of boiling oil! Block the streets withfeather beds!" In short, in his ardour he mentioned every littlething, and every implement and engine of war by means of which anassault upon a city is warded off, while the bruised and batteredSancho, who heard and suffered all, was saying to himself, "O if itwould only please the Lord to let the island be lost at once, and Icould see myself either dead or out of this torture!" Heaven heard hisprayer, and when he least expected it he heard voices exclaiming,"Victory, victory! The enemy retreats beaten! Come, senor governor,get up, and come and enjoy the victory, and divide the spoils thathave been won from the foe by the might of that invincible arm."

"Lift me up," said the wretched Sancho in a woebegone voice. Theyhelped him to rise, and as soon as he was on his feet said, "The enemyI have beaten you may nail to my forehead; I don't want to dividethe spoils of the foe, I only beg and entreat some friend, if I haveone, to give me a sup of wine, for I'm parched with thirst, and wipeme dry, for I'm turning to water."

They rubbed him down, fetched him wine and unbound the shields,and he seated himself upon his bed, and with fear, agitation, andfatigue he fainted away. Those who had been concerned in the joke werenow sorry they had pushed it so far; however, the anxiety his faintingaway had caused them was relieved by his returning to himself. Heasked what o'clock it was; they told him it was just daybreak. He saidno more, and in silence began to dress himself, while all watched him,waiting to see what the haste with which he was putting on his clothesmeant.

He got himself dressed at last, and then, slowly, for he wassorely bruised and could not go fast, he proceeded to the stable,followed by all who were present, and going up to Dapple embracedhim and gave him a loving kiss on the forehead, and said to him, notwithout tears in his eyes, "Come along, comrade and friend and partnerof my toils and sorrows; when I was with you and had no cares totrouble me except mending your harness and feeding your littlecarcass, happy were my hours, my days, and my years; but since Ileft you, and mounted the towers of ambition and pride, a thousandmiseries, a thousand troubles, and four thousand anxieties haveentered into my soul;" and all the while he was speaking in thisstrain he was fixing the pack-saddle on the ass, without a word fromanyone. Then having Dapple saddled, he, with great pain anddifficulty, got up on him, and addressing himself to the majordomo,the secretary, the head-carver, and Pedro Recio the doctor and severalothers who stood by, he said, "Make way, gentlemen, and let me go backto my old freedom; let me go look for my past life, and raise myselfup from this present death. I was not born to be a governor or protectislands or cities from the enemies that choose to attack them.Ploughing and digging, vinedressing and pruning, are more in my waythan defending provinces or kingdoms. 'Saint Peter is very well atRome; I mean each of us is best following the trade he was born to.A reaping-hook fits my hand better than a governor's sceptre; I'drather have my fill of gazpacho' than be subject to the misery of ameddling doctor who me with hunger, and I'd rather lie in summer underthe shade of an oak, and in winter wrap myself in a double sheepskinjacket in freedom, than go to bed between holland sheets and dressin sables under the restraint of a government. God be with yourworships, and tell my lord the duke that 'naked I was born, naked Ifind myself, I neither lose nor gain;' I mean that without afarthing I came into this government, and without a farthing I goout of it, very different from the way governors commonly leaveother islands. Stand aside and let me go; I have to plaster myself,for I believe every one of my ribs is crushed, thanks to the enemiesthat have been trampling over me to-night."

Title: Don Quixote
Author: Miqeul de Cervantes
Viewed 440106 times

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