Don Quixote_ Translation by Edith Grossman (HarperCollins) - Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra [372]
“If Señor Don Quixote would pay me even in part for the figures he has destroyed, I would be happy, and his grace would satisfy his conscience, because there is no salvation for the man who holds another’s property against the will of the owner and does not return it.”
“That is true,” said Don Quixote, “but until now I did not know that I had anything of yours, Master Pedro.”
“What do you mean?” responded Master Pedro. “These relics lying on the hard and sterile ground, what scattered and annihilated them but the invincible strength of that mighty arm? And whose bodies were they but mine? And how did I earn my living except with them?”
“Now I believe,” said Don Quixote at this point, “what I have believed on many other occasions: the enchanters who pursue me simply place figures as they really are before my eyes, and then change and alter them into whatever they wish. I tell you really and truly, you gentlemen who can hear me: it seemed to me that everything that happened here was actually happening, that Melisendra was Melisendra, Don Gaiferos Don Gaiferos, Marsilio Marsilio, and Charlemagne Charlemagne; for that reason I was overcome by rage, and to fulfill the obligations of the knight errantry I profess, I wanted to give my help and favor to those who were fleeing, and to this worthy end I did what you have seen; if matters have turned out otherwise, the fault is not mine but lies with the wicked creatures who pursue me; even so, although my error was not the result of malice, I wish to sentence myself to pay the costs: let Master Pedro decide what he wants for the damaged puppets, for I offer to pay him immediately in good, standard Castilian coin.”
Master Pedro bowed, saying:
“I expected no less from the extraordinary Christianity of the valiant Don Quixote of La Mancha, a true shelter and protection for all needy and impoverished wanderers; in this the noble innkeeper and the great Sancho will be mediators between your grace and me, and assessors of what the demolished figures are worth, or might have been worth.”
The innkeeper and Sancho agreed, and then Master Pedro picked up from the floor King Marsilio of Zaragoza, who was missing his head, and said:
“You can see how impossible it is to return this king to his original state, and so, it seems to me, unless you think otherwise, that for his death, end, and termination I should be given four and a half reales.”
“Continue!” said Don Quixote.
“Well, for this slash that goes from top to bottom,” continued Master Pedro, picking up the two halves of Emperor Charlemagne, “it would not be too much if I asked five and a quarter reales.”
“That’s no small amount,” said Sancho.
“Not a large one, either,” replied the innkeeper. “Let’s settle at five reales.”
“Give him the entire five and a quarter,” said Don Quixote, “for a quarter more or less will not change this notable misfortune in any way; finish quickly, Master Pedro, because it is almost time for supper and I am feeling somewhat hungry.”
“For this figure,” said Master Pedro, “the beautiful Melisendra, who is missing a nose and one eye, I want, and I think it’s fair, two reales and twelve maravedís.”
“It would certainly be the devil’s work,” said Don Quixote, “if Melisendra and her husband were not already at the French border, at the very least, because the horse they were riding seemed to me to be flying rather than running; and so there is no reason to try to swindle me, showing me a Melisendra without a nose when the other one is at leisure and making merry in France with her husband. May God help each man with his own affairs, Señor Master Pedro, and let all of us proceed in a straightforward way and with honest intentions. Continue.”
Master Pedro, who saw that Don Quixote was slipping back into madness and returning to his earlier theme, did not want him to get away, and so he said:
“This can’t be Melisendra, it must be one of her maids, and so if you give