• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 855 0

drink, and he was so disgusted by this that his stomach turned over and he vomited his innards all over his master, and the two of them were left as splendid as pearls. Sancho went to his donkey to find something in the saddlebags with which to clean himself and heal his master, and when he did not see the saddlebags he almost lost his mind. He cursed his fate again and resolved in his heart to leave his master and return home even if he lost his wages for the time he had worked, along with his hopes for the governorship of the promised ínsula.

Then Don Quixote rose to his feet, placed his left hand over his mouth so that no more teeth would fall out, and grasped Rocinante’s reins with the other, for the horse had not moved from his master’s side—that is how loyal and well-disposed he was—and walked to where his squire was standing, leaning against his donkey and resting his cheek in his hand, in the manner of a man deep in thought. And seeing him like this, showing signs of so much sadness, Don Quixote said:

“You should know, Sancho, that a man is not worth more than any other if he does not do more than any other. All these squalls to which we have been subjected are signs that the weather will soon improve and things will go well for us, because it is not possible for the bad or the good to endure forever; from this it follows that since the bad has lasted so long a time, the good is close at hand. Therefore you must not grieve for the misfortunes that befall me, for you have no part in them.”

“What do you mean, no part?” responded Sancho. “By some chance was the man tossed in a blanket yesterday anybody but my father’s son? And the saddlebags that are missing today, along with all my valuable goods, do they belong to anybody else but me?”

“Did you say that the saddlebags are missing, Sancho?” said Don Quixote.

“Yes, they’re missing,” responded Sancho.

“Then we have nothing to eat today,” replied Don Quixote.

“That would be true,” responded Sancho, “if these fields didn’t have the wild plants your grace says you know about, the ones that unfortunate knights errant such as your grace use to make up for shortages like this one.”

“Despite that,” Don Quixote responded, “now I would rather have a ration of bread or a large loaf and a couple of sardine heads than all the plants described by Dioscorides or commented on by Dr. Laguna.8 But be that as it may, mount your donkey, my good Sancho, and follow me, for God, who provides all things, will not fail us, especially since we are so much in His service, when He does not fail the gnats in the air, or the grubs in the earth, or the tadpoles in the water; He is so merciful that He makes His sun to shine on the good and the evil and His rain to fall on the unjust and the just.”

“Your grace would do better,” said Sancho, “as a preacher than as a knight errant.”

“Knights errant knew and must know about everything, Sancho,” said Don Quixote, “because there were knights errant in past times who would stop to give a sermon or a talk in the middle of the field of battle just as if they were graduates of the University of Paris, from which one can infer that the lance never blunted the pen, nor the pen the lance.”

“Fine, whatever your grace says,” responded Sancho, “but let’s leave now and find a place to spend the night, and, God willing, there won’t be any blankets, or people who toss blankets, or phantoms, or enchanted Moors, and if there are, I’ll send the whole pack of them to the devil.”

“God’s will be done, my son,” said Don Quixote, “and lead the way, for this time I want you to select the place where we shall sleep. But first give me your hand, and feel with your finger, and see how many teeth and molars I am missing here on the right side of my upper jaw, for that is where I feel the pain.”

Sancho put his fingers in his master’s mouth, and as he was feeling inside, he said:

“How many molars did your grace have on this side?”

“Four,” responded Don Quixote, “and except for the wisdom tooth, all of them sound and healthy.”

“Señor, your grace should think carefully