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2 These are some appellations of Apollo, god of the sun.

3 A phrase from Aristotle’s Physics, II, 2.

4 The name of the ínsula and the village, and the fact that Sancho did nothing to merit the governorship, are based on the root word barato, “cheap.”

5 In other words, he has been admitted to the tailors guild. He asks to be excused because, at the time, tailors were held in exceptionally bad repute.

6 The judge’s staff of office was used to take sworn testimony.

8 This story appears in Norte de los Estados, by Fr. Francisco de Osuna (Burgos, 1550).

1 A medicinal preparation for treating wounds devised in the sixteenth century by Aparicio de Zubia.

1 The physician’s medical theorizing is based on the idea of the four cardinal humors.

2 A parody of the aphorism Omnis saturatio mala, panis autem pessima (i.e., “bread” instead of “partridges”).

3 A traditional Spanish stew that includes chickpeas, ham, and chicken in addition to the usual meats and vegetables ordinarily found in a stew.

4 “By no means!” in Latin.

5 Recio can mean “vigorous,” “violent,” or “difficult”; agüerois “omen” tirteafuera is roughly equivalent to “get the hell out.”

6 “Evil omen.”

7 Basques were frequently appointed as secretaries because of their reputation for loyalty.

8 The root perl-is related to “pearl”; the term Cervantes uses for “palsied” or “paralyzed” is perlático, allowing for the wordplay in these lines.

2 People from the northern mountains were considered to be noble because, compared to other Spaniards, they had relatively few Jewish or Moorish forebears in their family backgrounds.

3 If one came across a distinguished person in the street, it was a sign of respect (though it more often indicated self-interested flattery) to leave one’s own route and accompany him.

4 Since there was no earlier indication of the lady’s rank, Martín de Riquer believes that the printer confused this noblewoman with Doña Rodríguez’s current employer.

5 An incision cut into the body to allow the discharge of harmful substances.

1 A dish of chopped meat flavored with salt, pepper, vinegar, onion, and sometimes oil and anchovies.

2 As indicated earlier, this is a traditional Spanish stew; podridaliterally means “rotten” or “putrid.”

3 The identity of Andradilla is not known. A note in Shelton’s translation identifies him as “Some famous cheater in Spain,” but, as Martín de Riquer says, this clarifies nothing.

4 A battle game played on horseback with canes instead of lances.

5 It was a commonplace, when people suffered a misfortune, to say that it helped reduce the number of sins they would have to atone for.

1 Frequently, among the lower classes, a wife was called by the feminine form of her husband’s given name.

3 This was a way of publicly insulting a woman.

4 A saying that seems to mean “A person cannot do more than give you what he has.”

5 A Castilian dry measure, approximately 4.6 liters and roughly equivalent to a peck.

6 “…says how crude, how crude,” a proverb aimed at the poor who prosper and then scorn their old friends.

7 “St. Augustine places that in doubt,” a phrase used by students in doctrinal controversies.

8 A phrase quoted in chapter XXV; it is based on John 10:38: “…though ye believe not me, believe the works.”

9 A courteous formula for inviting someone to eat with you.

1 “Be a friend to Plato, but a better friend to the truth.”

2 A dry measure roughly equivalent to 1.6 bushels in Spain.

2 A phrase that alludes to the Final Judgment, suggesting punishment for sin; in English we would say, figuratively, that something we disapprove of is a “sin” or a “crime.”

3 A village in the present-day province of Teruel.

1 Currently a literary term for “summer” (verano); when the year was divided into three seasons, estío was the season that began at the vernal equinox