Tosilos begged him to explain what had happened him, but Sanchoreplied that it would not be good manners to leave his masterwaiting for him; and that some other day if they met there would betime enough for that; and then getting up, after shaking his doubletand brushing the crumbs out of his beard, he drove Dapple on beforehim, and bidding adieu to Tosilos left him and rejoined his master,who was waiting for him under the shade of a tree.CHAPTER LXVII
OF THE RESOLUTION DON QUIXOTE FORMED TO TURN SHEPHERD AND TAKE TOA LIFE IN THE FIELDS WHILE THE YEAR FOR WHICH HE HAD GIVEN HIS WORDWAS RUNNING ITS COURSE; WITH OTHER EVENTS TRULY DELECTABLE AND HAPPY
IF A multitude of reflections used to harass Don Quixote before hehad been overthrown, a great many more harassed him since his fall. Hewas under the shade of a tree, as has been said, and there, like flieson honey, thoughts came crowding upon him and stinging him. Some ofthem turned upon the disenchantment of Dulcinea, others upon thelife he was about to lead in his enforced retirement. Sancho came upand spoke in high praise of the generous disposition of the lacqueyTosilos.
"Is it possible, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "that thou dost stillthink that he yonder is a real lacquey? Apparently it has escapedthy memory that thou hast seen Dulcinea turned and transformed intoa peasant wench, and the Knight of the Mirrors into the bachelorCarrasco; all the work of the enchanters that persecute me. But tellme now, didst thou ask this Tosilos, as thou callest him, what hasbecome of Altisidora, did she weep over my absence, or has she alreadyconsigned to oblivion the love thoughts that used to afflict herwhen I was present?"
"The thoughts that I had," said Sancho, "were not such as to leavetime for asking fool's questions. Body o' me, senor! is your worshipin a condition now to inquire into other people's thoughts, aboveall love thoughts?"
"Look ye, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "there is a great differencebetween what is done out of love and what is done out of gratitude.A knight may very possibly he proof against love; but it isimpossible, strictly speaking, for him to be ungrateful. Altisidora,to all appearance, loved me truly; she gave me the three kerchiefsthou knowest of; she wept at my departure, she cursed me, she abusedme, casting shame to the winds she bewailed herself in public; allsigns that she adored me; for the wrath of lovers always ends incurses. I had no hopes to give her, nor treasures to offer her, formine are given to Dulcinea, and the treasures of knights-errant arelike those of the fairies,' illusory and deceptive; all I can give heris the place in my memory I keep for her, without prejudice,however, to that which I hold devoted to Dulcinea, whom thou artwronging by thy remissness in whipping thyself and scourging thatflesh- would that I saw it eaten by wolves- which would rather keepitself for the worms than for the relief of that poor lady."
"Senor," replied Sancho, "if the truth is to be told, I cannotpersuade myself that the whipping of my backside has anything to dowith the disenchantment of the enchanted; it is like saying, 'Ifyour head aches rub ointment on your knees;' at any rate I'll makebold to swear that in all the histories dealing with knight-errantrythat your worship has read you have never come across anybodydisenchanted by whipping; but whether or no I'll whip myself when Ihave a fancy for it, and the opportunity serves for scourging myselfcomfortably."
"God grant it," said Don Quixote; "and heaven give thee grace totake it to heart and own the obligation thou art under to help mylady, who is thine also, inasmuch as thou art mine."
As they pursued their journey talking in this way they came to thevery same spot where they had been trampled on by the bulls. DonQuixote recognised it, and said he to Sancho, "This is the meadowwhere we came upon those gay shepherdesses and gallant shepherds whowere trying to revive and imitate the pastoral Arcadia there, anidea as novel as it was happy, in emulation whereof, if so he thoudost approve of it, Sancho, I would have ourselves turn shepherds,at any rate for the time I have to live in retirement. I will buy someewes and everything else requisite for the pastoral calling; and, Iunder the name of the shepherd Quixotize and thou as the shepherdPanzino, we will roam the woods and groves and meadows singing songshere, lamenting in elegies there, drinking of the crystal waters ofthe springs or limpid brooks or flowing rivers. The oaks will yield ustheir sweet fruit with bountiful hand, the trunks of the hard corktrees a seat, the willows shade, the roses perfume, the widespreadmeadows carpets tinted with a thousand dyes; the clear pure air willgive us breath, the moon and stars lighten the darkness of the nightfor us, song shall be our delight, lamenting our joy, Apollo willsupply us with verses, and love with conceits whereby we shall makeourselves famed for ever, not only in this but in ages to come."
"Egad," said Sancho, "but that sort of life squares, nay corners,with my notions; and what is more the bachelor Samson Carrasco andMaster Nicholas the barber won't have well seen it before they'll wantto follow it and turn shepherds along with us; and God grant it maynot come into the curate's head to join the sheepfold too, he's sojovial and fond of enjoying himself."
"Thou art in the right of it, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "and thebachelor Samson Carrasco, if he enters the pastoral fraternity, asno doubt he will, may call himself the shepherd Samsonino, orperhaps the shepherd Carrascon; Nicholas the barber may call himselfNiculoso, as old Boscan formerly was called Nemoroso; as for thecurate I don't know what name we can fit to him unless it be somethingderived from his title, and we call him the shepherd Curiambro. Forthe shepherdesses whose lovers we shall be, we can pick names as wewould pears; and as my lady's name does just as well for ashepherdess's as for a princess's, I need not trouble myself to lookfor one that will suit her better; to thine, Sancho, thou canst givewhat name thou wilt."
"I don't mean to give her any but Teresona," said Sancho, "whichwill go well with her stoutness and with her own right name, as she iscalled Teresa; and then when I sing her praises in my verses I'll showhow chaste my passion is, for I'm not going to look 'for betterbread than ever came from wheat' in other men's houses. It won't dofor the curate to have a shepherdess, for the sake of good example;and if the bachelor chooses to have one, that is his look-out."
"God bless me, Sancho my friend!" said Don Quixote, "what a lifewe shall lead! What hautboys and Zamora bagpipes we shall hear, whattabors, timbrels, and rebecks! And then if among all these differentsorts of music that of the albogues is heard, almost all thepastoral instruments will be there."
"What are albogues?" asked Sancho, "for I never in my life heardtell of them or saw them."
"Albogues," said Don Quixote, "are brass plates like candlesticksthat struck against one another on the hollow side make a noise which,if not very pleasing or harmonious, is not disagreeable and accordsvery well with the rude notes of the bagpipe and tabor. The wordalbogue is Morisco, as are all those in our Spanish tongue thatbegin with al; for example, almohaza, almorzar, alhombra, alguacil,alhucema, almacen, alcancia, and others of the same sort, of whichthere are not many more; our language has only three that areMorisco and end in i, which are borcegui, zaquizami, and maravedi.Alheli and alfaqui are seen to be Arabic, as well by the al at thebeginning as by the they end with. I mention this incidentally, thechance allusion to albogues having reminded me of it; and it will beof great assistance to us in the perfect practice of this calling thatI am something of a poet, as thou knowest, and that besides thebachelor Samson Carrasco is an accomplished one. Of the curate I saynothing; but I will wager he has some spice of the poet in him, and nodoubt Master Nicholas too, for all barbers, or most of them, areguitar players and stringers of verses. I will bewail my separation;thou shalt glorify thyself as a constant lover; the shepherd Carrasconwill figure as a rejected one, and the curate Curiambro as whatevermay please him best; and so all will go as gaily as heart could wish."
To this Sancho made answer, "I am so unlucky, senor, that I'm afraidthe day will never come when I'll see myself at such a calling. O whatneat spoons I'll make when I'm a shepherd! What messes, creams,garlands, pastoral odds and ends! And if they don't get me a namefor wisdom, they'll not fail to get me one for ingenuity. Mydaughter Sanchica will bring us our dinner to the pasture. But stay-she's good-looking, and shepherds there are with more mischief thansimplicity in them; I would not have her 'come for wool and go backshorn;' love-making and lawless desires are just as common in thefields as in the cities, and in shepherds' shanties as in royalpalaces; 'do away with the cause, you do away with the sin;' 'ifeyes don't see hearts don't break' and 'better a clear escape thangood men's prayers.'"
"A truce to thy proverbs, Sancho," exclaimed Don Quixote; "any oneof those thou hast uttered would suffice to explain thy meaning;many a time have I recommended thee not to be so lavish withproverbs and to exercise some moderation in delivering them; but itseems to me it is only 'preaching in the desert;' 'my mother beatsme and I go on with my tricks."
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