The canon was astonished at the methodical nonsense (if nonsense be

capable of method) that Don Quixote uttered, at the way in which he had

described the adventure of the knight of the lake, at the impression that

the deliberate lies of the books he read had made upon him, and lastly he

marvelled at the simplicity of Sancho, who desired so eagerly to obtain

the county his master had promised him.

By this time the canon's servants, who had gone to the inn to fetch the

sumpter mule, had returned, and making a carpet and the green grass of

the meadow serve as a table, they seated themselves in the shade of some

trees and made their repast there, that the carter might not be deprived

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of the advantage of the spot, as has been already said. As they were

eating they suddenly heard a loud noise and the sound of a bell that

seemed to come from among some brambles and thick bushes that were close

by, and the same instant they observed a beautiful goat, spotted all over

black, white, and brown, spring out of the thicket with a goatherd after

it, calling to it and uttering the usual cries to make it stop or turn

back to the fold. The fugitive goat, scared and frightened, ran towards

the company as if seeking their protection and then stood still, and the

goatherd coming up seized it by the horns and began to talk to it as if

it were possessed of reason and understanding: "Ah wanderer, wanderer,

Spotty, Spotty; how have you gone limping all this time? What wolves have

frightened you, my daughter? Won't you tell me what is the matter, my

beauty? But what else can it be except that you are a she, and cannot

keep quiet? A plague on your humours and the humours of those you take

after! Come back, come back, my darling; and if you will not be so happy,

at any rate you will be safe in the fold or with your companions; for if

you who ought to keep and lead them, go wandering astray, what will

become of them?"

The goatherd's talk amused all who heard it, but especially the canon,

who said to him, "As you live, brother, take it easy, and be not in such

a hurry to drive this goat back to the fold; for, being a female, as you

say, she will follow her natural instinct in spite of all you can do to

prevent it. Take this morsel and drink a sup, and that will soothe your

irritation, and in the meantime the goat will rest herself," and so

saying, he handed him the loins of a cold rabbit on a fork.




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