"That is unnecessary, senor governor," said Doctor Recio, "for Iwill give your worship a draught against falls and bruises that willsoon make you as sound and strong as ever; and as for your diet Ipromise your worship to behave better, and let you eat plentifullyof whatever you like."

"You spoke late," said Sancho. "I'd as soon turn Turk as stay anylonger. Those jokes won't pass a second time. By God I'd as soonremain in this government, or take another, even if it was offeredme between two plates, as fly to heaven without wings. I am of thebreed of the Panzas, and they are every one of them obstinate, andif they once say 'odds,' odds it must be, no matter if it is evens, inspite of all the world. Here in this stable I leave the ant's wingsthat lifted me up into the air for the swifts and other birds to eatme, and let's take to level ground and our feet once more; and ifthey're not shod in pinked shoes of cordovan, they won't want forrough sandals of hemp; 'every ewe to her like,' 'and let no onestretch his leg beyond the length of the sheet;' and now let mepass, for it's growing late with me."

To this the majordomo said, "Senor governor, we would let yourworship go with all our hearts, though it sorely grieves us to loseyou, for your wit and Christian conduct naturally make us regretyou; but it is well known that every governor, before he leaves theplace where he has been governing, is bound first of all to renderan account. Let your worship do so for the ten days you have heldthe government, and then you may go and the peace of God go with you."

"No one can demand it of me," said Sancho, "but he whom my lordthe duke shall appoint; I am going to meet him, and to him I willrender an exact one; besides, when I go forth naked as I do, thereis no other proof needed to show that I have governed like an angel."

"By God the great Sancho is right," said Doctor Recio, "and weshould let him go, for the duke will be beyond measure glad to seehim."

They all agreed to this, and allowed him to go, first offering tobear him company and furnish him with all he wanted for his owncomfort or for the journey. Sancho said he did not want anything morethan a little barley for Dapple, and half a cheese and half a loaffor himself; for the distance being so short there was no occasion forany better or bulkier provant. They all embraced him, and he withtears embraced all of them, and left them filled with admiration notonly at his remarks but at his firm and sensible resolution.

CHAPTER XLIV

WHICH DEALS WITH MATTERS RELATING TO THIS HISTORY AND NO OTHER

The duke and duchess resolved that the challenge Don Quixote had,for the reason already mentioned, given their vassal, should beproceeded with; and as the young man was in Flanders, whither he hadfled to escape having Dona Rodriguez for a mother-in-law, theyarranged to substitute for him a Gascon lacquey, named Tosilos,first of all carefully instructing him in all he had to do. Two dayslater the duke told Don Quixote that in four days from that time hisopponent would present himself on the field of battle armed as aknight, and would maintain that the damsel lied by half a beard, nay awhole beard, if she affirmed that he had given her a promise ofmarriage. Don Quixote was greatly pleased at the news, and promisedhimself to do wonders in the lists, and reckoned it rare goodfortune that an opportunity should have offered for letting hisnoble hosts see what the might of his strong arm was capable of; andso in high spirits and satisfaction he awaited the expiration of thefour days, which measured by his impatience seemed spinning themselvesout into four hundred ages. Let us leave them to pass as we do otherthings, and go and bear Sancho company, as mounted on Dapple, halfglad, half sad, he paced along on his road to join his master, inwhose society he was happier than in being governor of all the islandsin the world. Well then, it so happened that before he had gone agreat way from the island of his government (and whether it wasisland, city, town, or village that he governed he never troubledhimself to inquire) he saw coming along the road he was travelling sixpilgrims with staves, foreigners of that sort that beg for almssinging; who as they drew near arranged themselves in a line andlifting up their voices all together began to sing in their ownlanguage something that Sancho could not with the exception of oneword which sounded plainly "alms," from which he gathered that itwas alms they asked for in their song; and being, as Cide Hamete says,remarkably charitable, he took out of his alforias the half loaf andhalf cheese he had been provided with, and gave them to them,explaining to them by signs that he had nothing else to give them.They received them very gladly, but exclaimed, "Geld! Geld!"

"I don't understand what you want of me, good people," said Sancho.

On this one of them took a purse out of his bosom and showed it toSancho, by which he comprehended they were asking for money, andputting his thumb to his throat and spreading his hand upwards he gavethem to understand that he had not the sign of a coin about him, andurging Dapple forward he broke through them. But as he was passing,one of them who had been examining him very closely rushed towardshim, and flinging his arms round him exclaimed in a loud voice andgood Spanish, "God bless me! What's this I see? Is it possible thatI hold in my arms my dear friend, my good neighbour Sancho Panza?But there's no doubt about it, for I'm not asleep, nor am I drunk justnow."

Sancho was surprised to hear himself called by his name and findhimself embraced by a foreign pilgrim, and after regarding himsteadily without speaking he was still unable to recognise him; butthe pilgrim perceiving his perplexity cried, "What! and is itpossible, Sancho Panza, that thou dost not know thy neighbourRicote, the Morisco shopkeeper of thy village?"

Sancho upon this looking at him more carefully began to recall hisfeatures, and at last recognised him perfectly, and without gettingoff the ass threw his arms round his neck saying, "Who the devil couldhave known thee, Ricote, in this mummer's dress thou art in? Tellme, who bas frenchified thee, and how dost thou dare to return toSpain, where if they catch thee and recognise thee it will go hardenough with thee?"

"If thou dost not betray me, Sancho," said the pilgrim, "I amsafe; for in this dress no one will recognise me; but let us turnaside out of the road into that grove there where my comrades aregoing to eat and rest, and thou shalt eat with them there, for theyare very good fellows; I'll have time enough to tell thee then allthat has happened me since I left our village in obedience to hisMajesty's edict that threatened such severities against theunfortunate people of my nation, as thou hast heard."

Sancho complied, and Ricote having spoken to the other pilgrims theywithdrew to the grove they saw, turning a considerable distance out ofthe road. They threw down their staves, took off their pilgrim'scloaks and remained in their under-clothing; they were allgood-looking young fellows, except Ricote, who was a man somewhatadvanced in years. They carried alforjas all of them, and allapparently well filled, at least with things provocative of thirst,such as would summon it from two leagues off. They stretchedthemselves on the ground, and making a tablecloth of the grass theyspread upon it bread, salt, knives, walnut, scraps of cheese, andwell-picked ham-bones which if they were past gnawing were not pastsucking. They also put down a black dainty called, they say, caviar,and made of the eggs of fish, a great thirst-wakener. Nor was thereany lack of olives, dry, it is true, and without any seasoning, butfor all that toothsome and pleasant. But what made the best show inthe field of the banquet was half a dozen botas of wine, for each ofthem produced his own from his alforjas; even the good Ricote, whofrom a Morisco had transformed himself into a German or Dutchman, tookout his, which in size might have vied with the five others. They thenbegan to eat with very great relish and very leisurely, making themost of each morsel- very small ones of everything- they took up onthe point of the knife; and then all at the same moment raised theirarms and botas aloft, the mouths placed in their mouths, and alleyes fixed on heaven just as if they were taking aim at it; and inthis attitude they remained ever so long, wagging their heads fromside to side as if in acknowledgment of the pleasure they wereenjoying while they decanted the bowels of the bottles into theirown stomachs.

Sancho beheld all, "and nothing gave him pain;" so far from that,acting on the proverb he knew so well, "when thou art at Rome do asthou seest," he asked Ricote for his bota and took aim like the restof them, and with not less enjoyment. Four times did the botas bearbeing uplifted, but the fifth it was all in vain, for they weredrier and more sapless than a rush by that time, which made thejollity that had been kept up so far begin to flag.

Every now and then some one of them would grasp Sancho's righthand in his own saying, "Espanoli y Tudesqui tuto uno: bon compano;"and Sancho would answer, "Bon compano, jur a Di!" and then go off intoa fit of laughter that lasted an hour, without a thought for themoment of anything that had befallen him in his government; forcares have very little sway over us while we are eating anddrinking. At length, the wine having come to an end with them,drowsiness began to come over them, and they dropped asleep on theirvery table and tablecloth. Ricote and Sancho alone remained awake, forthey had eaten more and drunk less, and Ricote drawing Sancho aside,they seated themselves at the foot of a beech, leaving the pilgrimsburied in sweet sleep; and without once falling into his own Moriscotongue Ricote spoke as follows in pure Castilian:

"Thou knowest well, neighbour and friend Sancho Panza, how theproclamation or edict his Majesty commanded to be issued against thoseof my nation filled us all with terror and dismay; me at least it did,insomuch that I think before the time granted us for quitting Spainwas out, the full force of the penalty had already fallen upon meand upon my children. I decided, then, and I think wisely (just likeone who knows that at a certain date the house he lives in will betaken from him, and looks out beforehand for another to changeinto), I decided, I say, to leave the town myself, alone and withoutmy family, and go to seek out some place to remove them to comfortablyand not in the hurried way in which the others took their departure;for I saw very plainly, and so did all the older men among us, thatthe proclamations were not mere threats, as some said, but positiveenactments which would be enforced at the appointed time; and whatmade me believe this was what I knew of the base and extravagantdesigns which our people harboured, designs of such a nature that Ithink it was a divine inspiration that moved his Majesty to carryout a resolution so spirited; not that we were all guilty, for somethere were true and steadfast Christians; but they were so few thatthey could make no head against those who were not; and it was notprudent to cherish a viper in the bosom by having enemies in thehouse. In short it was with just cause that we were visited with thepenalty of banishment, a mild and lenient one in the eyes of some, butto us the most terrible that could be inflicted upon us. Wherever weare we weep for Spain; for after all we were born there and it isour natural fatherland. Nowhere do we find the reception our unhappycondition needs; and in Barbary and all the parts of Africa where wecounted upon being received, succoured, and welcomed, it is there theyinsult and ill-treat us most. We knew not our good fortune until welost it; and such is the longing we almost all of us have to return toSpain, that most of those who like myself know the language, and thereare many who do, come back to it and leave their wives and childrenforsaken yonder, so great is their love for it; and now I know byexperience the meaning of the saying, sweet is the love of one'scountry.

"I left our village, as I said, and went to France, but thoughthey gave us a kind reception there I was anxious to see all Icould. I crossed into Italy, and reached Germany, and there itseemed to me we might live with more freedom, as the inhabitants donot pay any attention to trifling points; everyone lives as helikes, for in most parts they enjoy liberty of conscience. I took ahouse in a town near Augsburg, and then joined these pilgrims, who arein the habit of coming to Spain in great numbers every year to visitthe shrines there, which they look upon as their Indies and a sure andcertain source of gain. They travel nearly all over it, and there isno town out of which they do not go full up of meat and drink, asthe saying is, and with a real, at least, in money, and they comeoff at the end of their travels with more than a hundred crowns saved,which, changed into gold, they smuggle out of the kingdom either inthe hollow of their staves or in the patches of their pilgrim's cloaksor by some device of their own, and carry to their own country inspite of the guards at the posts and passes where they are searched.Now my purpose is, Sancho, to carry away the treasure that I leftburied, which, as it is outside the town, I shall be able to dowithout risk, and to write, or cross over from Valencia, to mydaughter and wife, who I know are at Algiers, and find some means ofbringing them to some French port and thence to Germany, there toawait what it may be God's will to do with us; for, after all, Sancho,I know well that Ricota my daughter and Francisca Ricota my wife areCatholic Christians, and though I am not so much so, still I am moreof a Christian than a Moor, and it is always my prayer to God thathe will open the eyes of my understanding and show me how I am toserve him; but what amazes me and I cannot understand is why my wifeand daughter should have gone to Barbary rather than to France,where they could live as Christians."

To this Sancho replied, "Remember, Ricote, that may not have beenopen to them, for Juan Tiopieyo thy wife's brother took them, andbeing a true Moor he went where he could go most easily; and anotherthing I can tell thee, it is my belief thou art going in vain tolook for what thou hast left buried, for we heard they took from thybrother-in-law and thy wife a great quantity of pearls and money ingold which they brought to be passed."

Title: Don Quixote
Author: Miqeul de Cervantes
Viewed 440103 times

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