OF THE SHREWD DISCOURSE WHICH SANCHO HELD WITH HIS MASTER, AND OF THE

ADVENTURE THAT BEFELL HIM WITH A DEAD BODY, TOGETHER WITH OTHER NOTABLE

OCCURRENCES

"It seems to me, senor, that all these mishaps that have befallen us of

late have been without any doubt a punishment for the offence committed

by your worship against the order of chivalry in not keeping the oath you

made not to eat bread off a tablecloth or embrace the queen, and all the

rest of it that your worship swore to observe until you had taken that

helmet of Malandrino's, or whatever the Moor is called, for I do not very

well remember."

"Thou art very right, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "but to tell the truth,

it had escaped my memory; and likewise thou mayest rely upon it that the

affair of the blanket happened to thee because of thy fault in not

reminding me of it in time; but I will make amends, for there are ways of

compounding for everything in the order of chivalry."

"Why! have I taken an oath of some sort, then?" said Sancho.

"It makes no matter that thou hast not taken an oath," said Don Quixote;

"suffice it that I see thou art not quite clear of complicity; and

whether or no, it will not be ill done to provide ourselves with a

remedy."

"In that case," said Sancho, "mind that your worship does not forget this

as you did the oath; perhaps the phantoms may take it into their heads to

amuse themselves once more with me; or even with your worship if they see

you so obstinate."

While engaged in this and other talk, night overtook them on the road

before they had reached or discovered any place of shelter; and what made

it still worse was that they were dying of hunger, for with the loss of

the alforjas they had lost their entire larder and commissariat; and to

complete the misfortune they met with an adventure which without any

invention had really the appearance of one. It so happened that the night

closed in somewhat darkly, but for all that they pushed on, Sancho

feeling sure that as the road was the king's highway they might

reasonably expect to find some inn within a league or two. Going along,

then, in this way, the night dark, the squire hungry, the master

sharp-set, they saw coming towards them on the road they were travelling

a great number of lights which looked exactly like stars in motion.

Sancho was taken aback at the sight of them, nor did Don Quixote

altogether relish them: the one pulled up his ass by the halter, the

other his hack by the bridle, and they stood still, watching anxiously to

see what all this would turn out to be, and found that the lights were

approaching them, and the nearer they came the greater they seemed, at

which spectacle Sancho began to shake like a man dosed with mercury, and

Don Quixote's hair stood on end; he, however, plucking up spirit a

little, said:




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024