"That must have been it," said Sancho, "for indeed Rocinante went like a

gipsy's ass with quicksilver in his ears."

"Quicksilver!" said Don Quixote, "aye and what is more, a legion of

devils, folk that can travel and make others travel without being weary,

exactly as the whim seizes them. But putting this aside, what thinkest

thou I ought to do about my lady's command to go and see her? For though

I feel that I am bound to obey her mandate, I feel too that I am debarred

by the boon I have accorded to the princess that accompanies us, and the

law of chivalry compels me to have regard for my word in preference to my

inclination; on the one hand the desire to see my lady pursues and

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harasses me, on the other my solemn promise and the glory I shall win in

this enterprise urge and call me; but what I think I shall do is to

travel with all speed and reach quickly the place where this giant is,

and on my arrival I shall cut off his head, and establish the princess

peacefully in her realm, and forthwith I shall return to behold the light

that lightens my senses, to whom I shall make such excuses that she will

be led to approve of my delay, for she will see that it entirely tends to

increase her glory and fame; for all that I have won, am winning, or

shall win by arms in this life, comes to me of the favour she extends to

me, and because I am hers."

"Ah! what a sad state your worship's brains are in!" said Sancho. "Tell

me, senor, do you mean to travel all that way for nothing, and to let

slip and lose so rich and great a match as this where they give as a

portion a kingdom that in sober truth I have heard say is more than

twenty thousand leagues round about, and abounds with all things

necessary to support human life, and is bigger than Portugal and Castile

put together? Peace, for the love of God! Blush for what you have said,

and take my advice, and forgive me, and marry at once in the first

village where there is a curate; if not, here is our licentiate who will

do the business beautifully; remember, I am old enough to give advice,

and this I am giving comes pat to the purpose; for a sparrow in the hand

is better than a vulture on the wing, and he who has the good to his hand

and chooses the bad, that the good he complains of may not come to him."




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