Don Quixote_ Translation by Edith Grossman (HarperCollins) - Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra [270]
needed when something blunter would be meet,
the arm whose mighty pow’r extends so far
that from Cathay to Italian Gaeta’s shore
came the most awesome muse, the most aware
who e’er graved verses on a plaque of bronze,
he who left each Amadís behind,
who turned his mighty back on Galaor
and vanquished all in valor and in love,
causing ev’ry Belianis to fall mute,
who mounted Rocinante and went erring,
lies here beneath this cold and marble stone.
BY THE FAWNER, ACADEMICIAN OF LA ARGAMASILLA
In Laudem Dulcineae of Toboso Sonnet
She with the homely face of a kitchen wench,
her bosom high, her gestures fierce and martial,
is Dulcinea, queen of all Toboso,
beloved of the mighty Don Quixote.
For her sake he climbed every rugged peak
of the great Sierra, and trod the countryside
from famed Montiel to the green and grassy plain
of Aranjuez, on foot, weary, in pain.
The fault was Rocinante’s. Oh, harsh the fate
of this Manchegan lady and her knight,
errant and unvanquished! In tender youth
she left her beauty behind her when she died,
and he, though his name’s inscribed in snowy marble,
could not escape the piercing toils of love.
BY CAPRICIOUS, THE MOST DISCERNING ACADEMICIAN
OF LA ARGAMASILLA, IN PRAISE OF ROCINANTE,
THE HORSE OF DON QUIXOTE OF
LA MANCHA
Sonnet
Upon the proud and gleaming diamond throne
where mighty Mars leaves footprints marked in blood,
the mad Manchegan plants his noble banner
that flutters still with strength so rare and strange,
and there he hangs his arms, the sharp-edged steel
that devastates and cleaves and cuts in twain.
New feats of arms! But art must now invent
a new style for this newest paladin.
And if Gaul boasts and brags of Amadís
whose brave descendants glory brought to Greece
and spread her fame and triumph far and wide,
today in the chamber where Bellona reigns
she crowns the brave Quixote, and for his sake
La Mancha’s honored more than Greece or Gaul.
Ne’er may these glories bear oblivion’s stain,
for even Rocinante, in gallantry,
surpasses Brilladoro and Bayardo.4
BY MOCKER, ARGAMASILLAN ACADEMIC,
TO SANCHO PANZA
Sonnet
This is Sancho Panza, in body small
but great in valor, a miracle most strange!
He was, I swear and certify to you
The simplest squire the world has ever seen.
A hair’s breadth away from being a count,
but insolence and insult, a miser’s world,
a greedy time, conspired all against him,
for a donkey ne’er is spared that injury.
He rode that ass, and pardon the expression,
a gentle squire behind an even gentler
horse named Rocinante, and his master.
Oh, how we mortals wait and hope in vain!
At first how sweet the promise, then bitterly
it vanishes in shadow, smoke, and dream.
BY DEVILKIN, ACADEMICIAN OF LA ARGAMASILLA,
AT THE TOMB OF DON QUIXOTE
Epitaph
Here lies the famous knight
errant and badly bruised
and borne by Rocinante
down many a primrose path.
Sancho Panza the simple
lies here, too, beside him,
the squire most loyal and true
who ever plied the trade.
BY TICKTOCK, ACADEMICIAN OF LA ARGAMASILLA,
AT THE TOMB OF DULCINEA OF TOBOSO
Epitaph
Here rests the fair Dulcinea;
once rosy-fleshed and plump,
now turned to dust and ashes
by fearful, hideous death.
She came of unsullied stock,
with a hint of nobility;
the pure passion of great Quixote,
and the glory of her home.
These were the verses that could be read; in the others, the writing was worm-eaten, and they were given to an academician to be deciphered. Our best information is that he has done so, after many long nights of laborious study, and intends to publish them, hoping for a third sally by Don Quixote.
Forsi altro canterà con miglior plectio. 5
Second Part of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha
By Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Author of the First Part
Dedicated to Don Pedro Fernández de Castro, Count of Lemos, Andrade, and Villalba, Marquis of Sarria, Gentleman-in-waiting to His Majesty, Commander of the jurisdiction of Peñafiel and La Zarza, member of the Order of Alc