"Peace, I say again, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "for let me tell thee it

is not so much the desire of finding that madman that leads me into these

regions as that which I have of performing among them an achievement

wherewith I shall win eternal name and fame throughout the known world;

and it shall be such that I shall thereby set the seal on all that can

make a knight-errant perfect and famous."

"And is it very perilous, this achievement?"

"No," replied he of the Rueful Countenance; "though it may be in the dice

that we may throw deuce-ace instead of sixes; but all will depend on thy

diligence."

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"On my diligence!" said Sancho.

"Yes," said Don Quixote, "for if thou dost return soon from the place

where I mean to send thee, my penance will be soon over, and my glory

will soon begin. But as it is not right to keep thee any longer in

suspense, waiting to see what comes of my words, I would have thee know,

Sancho, that the famous Amadis of Gaul was one of the most perfect

knights-errant--I am wrong to say he was one; he stood alone, the first,

the only one, the lord of all that were in the world in his time. A fig

for Don Belianis, and for all who say he equalled him in any respect,

for, my oath upon it, they are deceiving themselves! I say, too, that

when a painter desires to become famous in his art he endeavours to copy

the originals of the rarest painters that he knows; and the same rule

holds good for all the most important crafts and callings that serve to

adorn a state; thus must he who would be esteemed prudent and patient

imitate Ulysses, in whose person and labours Homer presents to us a

lively picture of prudence and patience; as Virgil, too, shows us in the

person of AEneas the virtue of a pious son and the sagacity of a brave

and skilful captain; not representing or describing them as they were,

but as they ought to be, so as to leave the example of their virtues to

posterity. In the same way Amadis was the polestar, day-star, sun of

valiant and devoted knights, whom all we who fight under the banner of

love and chivalry are bound to imitate. This, then, being so, I consider,

friend Sancho, that the knight-errant who shall imitate him most closely

will come nearest to reaching the perfection of chivalry. Now one of the

instances in which this knight most conspicuously showed his prudence,

worth, valour, endurance, fortitude, and love, was when he withdrew,

rejected by the Lady Oriana, to do penance upon the Pena Pobre, changing

his name into that of Beltenebros, a name assuredly significant and

appropriate to the life which he had voluntarily adopted. So, as it is

easier for me to imitate him in this than in cleaving giants asunder,

cutting off serpents' heads, slaying dragons, routing armies, destroying

fleets, and breaking enchantments, and as this place is so well suited

for a similar purpose, I must not allow the opportunity to escape which

now so conveniently offers me its forelock."




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