Good God, what was the indignation of Don Quixote when he heard the

audacious words of his squire! So great was it, that in a voice

inarticulate with rage, with a stammering tongue, and eyes that flashed

living fire, he exclaimed, "Rascally clown, boorish, insolent, and

ignorant, ill-spoken, foul-mouthed, impudent backbiter and slanderer!

Hast thou dared to utter such words in my presence and in that of these

illustrious ladies? Hast thou dared to harbour such gross and shameless

thoughts in thy muddled imagination? Begone from my presence, thou born

monster, storehouse of lies, hoard of untruths, garner of knaveries,

inventor of scandals, publisher of absurdities, enemy of the respect due

Advertisement..

to royal personages! Begone, show thyself no more before me under pain of

my wrath;" and so saying he knitted his brows, puffed out his cheeks,

gazed around him, and stamped on the ground violently with his right

foot, showing in every way the rage that was pent up in his heart; and at

his words and furious gestures Sancho was so scared and terrified that he

would have been glad if the earth had opened that instant and swallowed

him, and his only thought was to turn round and make his escape from the

angry presence of his master.

But the ready-witted Dorothea, who by this time so well understood Don

Quixote's humour, said, to mollify his wrath, "Be not irritated at the

absurdities your good squire has uttered, Sir Knight of the Rueful

Countenance, for perhaps he did not utter them without cause, and from

his good sense and Christian conscience it is not likely that he would

bear false witness against anyone. We may therefore believe, without any

hesitation, that since, as you say, sir knight, everything in this castle

goes and is brought about by means of enchantment, Sancho, I say, may

possibly have seen, through this diabolical medium, what he says he saw

so much to the detriment of my modesty."

"I swear by God Omnipotent," exclaimed Don Quixote at this, "your

highness has hit the point; and that some vile illusion must have come

before this sinner of a Sancho, that made him see what it would have been

impossible to see by any other means than enchantments; for I know well

enough, from the poor fellow's goodness and harmlessness, that he is

incapable of bearing false witness against anybody."

"True, no doubt," said Don Fernando, "for which reason, Senor Don

Quixote, you ought to forgive him and restore him to the bosom of your

favour, sicut erat in principio, before illusions of this sort had taken

away his senses."

Don Quixote said he was ready to pardon him, and the curate went for

Sancho, who came in very humbly, and falling on his knees begged for the

hand of his master, who having presented it to him and allowed him to

kiss it, gave him his blessing and said, "Now, Sancho my son, thou wilt

be convinced of the truth of what I have many a time told thee, that

everything in this castle is done by means of enchantment."




Most Popular