"That is what I say," said Sancho; "there was no occasion for minding the

words of a madman; for if good luck had not helped your worship, and he

had sent that stone at your head instead of at your breast, a fine way we

should have been in for standing up for my lady yonder, God confound her!

And then, would not Cardenio have gone free as a madman?"

"Against men in their senses or against madmen," said Don Quixote, "every

knight-errant is bound to stand up for the honour of women, whoever they

may be, much more for queens of such high degree and dignity as Queen

Madasima, for whom I have a particular regard on account of her amiable

qualities; for, besides being extremely beautiful, she was very wise, and

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very patient under her misfortunes, of which she had many; and the

counsel and society of the Master Elisabad were a great help and support

to her in enduring her afflictions with wisdom and resignation; hence the

ignorant and ill-disposed vulgar took occasion to say and think that she

was his mistress; and they lie, I say it once more, and will lie two

hundred times more, all who think and say so."

"I neither say nor think so," said Sancho; "let them look to it; with

their bread let them eat it; they have rendered account to God whether

they misbehaved or not; I come from my vineyard, I know nothing; I am not

fond of prying into other men's lives; he who buys and lies feels it in

his purse; moreover, naked was I born, naked I find myself, I neither

lose nor gain; but if they did, what is that to me? many think there are

flitches where there are no hooks; but who can put gates to the open

plain? moreover they said of God-"

"God bless me," said Don Quixote, "what a set of absurdities thou art

stringing together! What has what we are talking about got to do with the

proverbs thou art threading one after the other? for God's sake hold thy

tongue, Sancho, and henceforward keep to prodding thy ass and don't

meddle in what does not concern thee; and understand with all thy five

senses that everything I have done, am doing, or shall do, is well

founded on reason and in conformity with the rules of chivalry, for I

understand them better than all the world that profess them."

"Senor," replied Sancho, "is it a good rule of chivalry that we should go

astray through these mountains without path or road, looking for a madman

who when he is found will perhaps take a fancy to finish what he began,

not his story, but your worship's head and my ribs, and end by breaking

them altogether for us?"




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