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the fourth Peaceful Ownership. At the head of all of them came a wooden castle, drawn by four savages dressed in ivy and green-dyed hemp and looking so natural they almost frightened Sancho. On the main facade of the castle, and on all four of its sides, was written The Castle of Caution. Their music was played on the timbrel and flute by four skilled musicians.

Cupid began the dance, and having completed two figures, he raised his eyes and shot an arrow at a maiden standing on the parapets of the castle, saying:

I am a god most powerful

in the air and on the land

and the wide, wind-driven sea,

and in the fiery pit

and the fearful hell it contains.

Fear’s something I’ve never known;

whatever I wish I can do,

though it may well be impossible;

in the realm of the possible I rule,

and give and take away at will.

He finished the strophe, shot an arrow over the castle, and returned to his place. Then Interest came forward and executed another two figures; the timbrels fell silent, and he said:

I am mightier than Love,

though it is Love who guides me;

I am of the finest stock,

the best known and the noblest,

that heaven breeds on earth.

I am Interest, and for my sake

few men do the deeds they should,

though deeds sans me are miracles;

I swear my devotion to you

forever, world without end, amen.

Interest stepped back, Poetry came forward, and after performing her figures as the others had, she turned her eyes toward the maiden of the castle and said:

In conceits most sweet and high,

noble, solemn, and discreet,

gentle Poetry, my lady,

sends her soul to you in lines

found in a thousand new sonnets.

If my pleas and constant prayers

do not weary you, your fortune,

envied by so many damsels,

will be raised on high by me,

to the Circle of the Moon.

Poetry moved away, and from the side where Interest stood, Liberality stepped forward, performed her figures, and said:

Liberality is the name

of giving that shuns th’ extremes

of either prodigality

or its opposite, th’ unwilling

hand of a miserly soul.

But, in order to praise you,

today I shall be prodigal,

and though a vice, it is honored

from a heart that is enamored,

and in giving shows its love.

In this fashion all the dancers in the two bands came forward and then withdrew, and each one performed her figures and said her verses, some of them elegant and some ridiculous, but Don Quixote could retain in his memory—which was very good—only those that have been cited; then all the dancers mingled, forming pairs and then separating with gentle grace and ease, and when Love passed in front of the castle, he shot his arrows into the air, but Interest broke gilded money boxes against it.

Finally, after having danced for some time, Interest took out a large bag made of the skin of a big Roman cat,3 which seemed to be full of coins, and threw it at the castle, and at the impact the boards fell apart and collapsed, leaving the maiden exposed and without any defenses. Interest approached with the dancers in his group, put a long gold chain around her neck, and pretended to seize and subdue her and make her his prisoner; when Love and his companions saw this, they moved to free her, and all these displays were made to the sound of the timbrels as they danced and twirled in harmony. The savages imposed peace when they quickly set up and put together again the boards of the castle, and the maiden went back inside, concluding the dance that had been watched with great pleasure by the spectators.

Don Quixote asked one of the nymphs who had composed and directed it. She responded that it was a cleric, a beneficiary from the village who had a great talent for these kinds of inventions.

“I would wager,” said Don Quixote, “that this beneficiary or bachelor must be more of a friend to Camacho than to Basilio, and that he is more inclined to writing satires than to saying his prayers at vespers. How well he has incorporated into the dance Basilio’s skills and Camacho’s wealth!”

Sancho Panza, who heard everything, said:

“My cock’s king;4 I’m on Camacho’s