Don Quixote de la Mancha

Not long ago in a village of La Mancha, there lived a nobleman by the name of Alonso Quijana. He was a tall, thin man; willowy(cimbreño) like a stalk(espiga) of wheat(trigo), and about fifty years of age. His great passion was for novels of chivalry, which he read incessantly.

So inspired was he by these kinds of books that he resolved to become a knight-errant himself. For this he needed weapons, a horse and a lady to love. At home he dug up(desenterró) his great-father’s arms, and his old nag(jaca, rocín), which he thereafter named “Rocinante”, would serve as his steed(corcel, montura).

“Don Quixote de la Mancha” would be the name he would boast(presumir) as a knight, and his lady would be “Dulcinea del Toboso” – a peasant woman named Aldonza Lorenzo for whom he had been carrying a torch for some time.

Clad in his suit of armor and with his lance at the ready, Don Quixote set off (parte) on Rocinante, yearning (anelhando) for adventure and the chance to right wrongs. He had not gotten far when he realized that something important was missing: he had not been dubbed(ordenado, apodado) a knight and, therefore, could not act as one.

In the distance he spotted a tavern, which he took for  a castle, and he steered(dirigió) his steed (caballo) towards it. When he arrived he informed the puzzled tavern keeper (perplejo tabernero) of his intentions; at dawn, as tradition dictated, he was to be ordained a knight.

The tavern keeper, also an avid(ansioso) reader of books of chivalry, finally agreed(entendió) to the nobleman’s request(solicitud), and there, in one of the rooms, began the ritual. Don Quixote kneeled before him. The tavern keeper touched the nobleman on the shoulders with his sword. Now he was a knight.

Don Quixote set off from the tavern as a newly armed knight. After riding and riding he came to road on which a group of merchants were traveling, along with their servants, to buy silk(seda). To shield(proteger) themselves from the sun they were carrying parasols, but Don Quixote took them for knights-errant like those in his books.

“Nobody shall take another step before recognizing that Dulcinea del Toboso is the most beautiful lady the world has ever seen,” he proudly announced.

The merchants, assuming that they were dealing with a madman, decided to play along(seguir la corriente), and even make fun of him. Offended, the nobleman prepared to attack.

But, as his ill fortune would have it, Rocinante tripped(tropezara), and horse and rider came crashing(se estrellaron) to the ground. At that point, a young man proceeded to give Don Quixote a beating, leaving him battered(maltrecho) and sore(dolorido).

Fortunately, shortly after a peasant passed by who, finding him in that sorry state, offered to help him to return to his village.

Back a home, the nobleman’s housekeeper and his niece decided to burn many of Don Quixote’s treasured books of chivalry, and even had the entrance to the room which he used as a library walled up (tapiada). To explain this to Don Quixote, they told him that a sorcerer(hechicero) had entered the house and made the books disappear.

Don Quixote, however, would not abandon his idea of traveling the world to undo (deshacer) wrongdoings. He even talked a peasant named Sancho Panza into becoming his squire (escudero, acompañante).

A few days later they set off, Don Quixote mounted on Rocinante and Sancho Panza on his donkey (asno).

They were advancing across a plain (llanura), when in the distance a series of windmills came into view.

“Do you see those giants, Sancho? As soon as they are within range of my lance I shall charge them (me arrojaré sobre ellos).”

Sancho sought(intenta, busca) to convince Quixote that they were not giants, but windmills, and that the arms he saw were, in fact, their blades. But Don Quixote, oblivious (inconsciente) to his explanations, lunged (arremetió) towards them. Such was his ill fortune that a gust of wind (una ráfaga de viento) lodged (alojó) his lance between the blades, lifting (levantando) him into the air before he fell to the ground.

“Didn’t I tell you they weren’t giants, my lord?”

“My faithful Sancho, this is some kind of sorcery(hechizo), probably the work of that treacherous(traicionero, traidor) wizard(mago) who, besides making my books disappear, now sets these traps for me, against which I can do nothing.”

They hadn’t made it far when, shortly before nightfall, they saw an inn (posada) which, once again, Don Quixote mistook for a castle.

That night the guests(invitados) got into a tremendous tussle (pelea), from which, unfortunately Don Quixote and Sancho both emerged in quite bad shape.

Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Don Quixote told his squire that to soothe(calmar) his pains he was going to prepare the Balm of Fierabrás, the brew with which knights-errant healed their wounds.

Don Quixote downed it and, after a few hours of sleep, said he felt much better. Encouraged by its effects on his master, Sancho took the concoction too, but it made him so painfully ill that the poor squire thought he was going to die.

“You are not a knight, that’s why it doesn’t work on you,” Don Quixote explained. “The Balm of Fierabrás is only for knights.”

Back on the road, they saw a great cloud of dust (polvo) approaching them.

“Sancho, do you see that cloud of dust? It is an army(ejército) marching that way.”

“Well, then there must be two of them, because there’s another coming in the opposite direction.”

Despite his master’s extensive explanations, Sancho was not convinced. He could only hear bleating(balidos) and, therefore, was sure that they were nothing more than flocks(rebaños) of sheep(ovejas).

Don Quixote, ever stubborn(testarudo) stuck his spurs into Rocinante, descended a slope, and assailed the supposed armies.

The shepherds(pastores) shouted for him to stop, and when he didn’t, they began to hurl(lanzar) rocks at him, with such impressive aim that one struck him in the side, while another broke several of his teeth. In the end, Don Quixote was knocked off (derribado) his horse.

The shepherds, leaving him for dead, quickly rounded up(reunieron) their sheep and rushed off(se apresuraron).

Don Quixote entrusted(encomendó) Sancho with an important mission: taking a letter to his beloved Dulcinea. The squire swiftly headed off for Toboso. Along the way he ran into (se encontró) the barber and priest from Don Quixote’s twon, who, troubled(preocupados) by his madness, had left in search of the nobleman with the aim of persuading him to return. In order for this to happen they hatched a plan: they decided to trick(engañar) Don Quixote by telling him that a spell(hechizo) had been cast upon him (echado sobre él).

While he was sleeping they bound his hands and feet. When Don Quixote awoke and realized that he could not move, he actually believed that he was under a spell. Thus convinced, they seized him and locked him up in a large cage (jaula) they had built.

And in this way did he arrive back at his village.

Just two months later Don Quixote returned to his adventures, accompanied by his faithful squire.

Riding along the roads they came across a carriage, festooned with royal flags and carrying two large lions, which the General of Oran had sent to the king. Upon seeing the lions, Don Quixote said to the driver:

“Lion whelps? What are your lion whelps, and at this time of day? Open the cages and release those beasts, my good man, for in the middle of this field I shall show them just who Don Quixote de la Mancha is.”

So the driver opened one of the cages. The lion poked(asomó) his head out and looked around, but didn’t move.

“As he does not emerge,” the driver proclaimed, “the animal refuses combat and, therefore, you can consider yourself the incontestable winner of this fight.”

That argument convinced Don Quixote, who considered the battle over.

Some time had passed without incident, when one day they ran across some dukes who, familiar with Don Quixote’s exploits(hazañas), decided to invite him to their castle.

The dukes, however, were contriving some adventures for their own amusement.

On one occasion a carriage appeared, carrying a man in disguise who claimed to be the wizard Merlin.

“If you wish to break the spell cast upon the beautiful Dulcinea who, according to Don Quixote, has been transformed into an ugly peasant woman, Sancho must receive a considerable number of lashes (latigazos)on his buttocks(nalgas),” Merlin informed them.

To raise the saddened(entristecido) squire’s sagging spirits(hundidos espiritus del escudero), the duke reminded Sancho that he had promised to make him the governor of one of his islands, and told him that it was time to exercise his position. But the life of a governor was not what Sancho had been hoping for. He couldn’t even eat all he wished, as fearful of being poisoned, he ate nothing more than bread and some grapes. Disappointed, he abandoned the post and went in search of his lord.

Don Quixote and Sancho left for Barcelona.

One right, resting amidst a few oak trees (encinas), they were surrounded(rodeados) by a group of bandits, who told them, in the Catalan language, not to move until their captain arrived. Unarmed, Don Quixote could do nothing. So all they had with them was stolen.

Before long their captain, Roque Guinart, arrived, having heard much of the knight- errant. So happy was he to have found Quixote that he ordered everything stolen to be returned to them, and he invited them to spend a few days with the group.

Shortly thereafter, he took them to the beach by Barcelona, taking them of shortcuts(atajos) and along hidden paths(caminos ocultos), before bidding them farewell (antes de despedirse de ellos). It was well after nightfall on St. John’s Eve (víspera).

At dawn the next day, Don Quixote and Sancho saw the sea for the first time.

In Barcelona they were received by a gentleman, a friend of Roque’s  named  Antonio Moreno, who was much amused by Don Quixote’s antics, and took the liberty of playing a joke or two on him.

One day, he went out for a walk around the city with the knight, but instead of armor he had hi wear a kind of tunic on the back of which he had sewn: “This is Don Quixote de la Mancha.”

Don Quixote was stunned(pasmado, estupefacto) to hear everyone constantly calling out his name. They all knew who he was!

A few days later, he went out to walk along the beach, this time fully armed, when he saw a horseman approaching, carrying a shield (escudo) which bore a shining moon.

“Illustrious knight, I am the Knight of the White Moon. I have come to fight you, to prove that my lady is more beautiful than Dulcinea del Toboso. If I emerge victorious, I only ask that you return to your village. And if you should prevail, my head and even the fame of my feats shall depend upon your mercy.”

Don Quixote quickly accepted the challenge. However, the Knight of the White Moon’s horse pushed Rocinante with such force that he tumbled to the ground, along with his rider.

Shaken, Don Quixote was immediately taken to Don Antonio’s home to recover. Meanwhile, Antonio managed to find out that the mysterious knight was actually someone from Don Quixote’s village who just wanted to get him back home and cure him of his madness.

Keeping his promise, after having rested for six days, Don Quixote set off back home, sad and pensive. Along the way he remembered that Sancho had yet to give himself the flogging which was to free Dulcinea from her spell, and he offered to pay Sancho whatever he wanted for each of them. Sancho added up how many whippings he had to carry out: three thousand three hundred lashes! So, he accepted without hesitation.

At dusk(al atardecer) they entered a small grove(arboleda) and at distance from Don Quixote, Sancho followed through with the flogging, but instead of smacking his behind, he struck a tree trunk, crying out in feigned pain after each hit. In this way he managed to break the spell under which Dulcinea had been placed, much to his lord’s satisfaction.

They then reached the village. Feeling unwell, Don Quixote asked to be taken to his chamber, and, whether, it was due to the angst of feeling defeated, or because his time was almost up, he spent several days bed-ridden.

One day he asked to be left alone, as he wanted to get some sleep. When he awoke, after sleeping for six hours straight, he had recovered his sanity.

As he felt that his death was near, he summoned all his friends and told them:

“My good sirs, I am no longer Don Quixote de la Mancha, but Alonso Quijano the Good.”