The Ingenious Don Quixote of La Mancha

The most influential work of literature from the  Spanish Golden Age  and the entire Spanish literary canon translated by  John Ormsby  (1885) PART I GENT LEMAN BOOK I THE DETAILS OF THE ADVENTURE DISCOVERED IN THE ARCHIVES OF LA MANCHA An eccentric gentleman from an unnamed village in La Mancha is mentioned. The man has neglected his estate, squandered his fortune, and driven himself mad by reading too many books about chivalry. Now gaunt at 50, the gentleman decides to become a knight-errant and set off on a great adventure in pursuit of eternal glory. He polishes his old family armour and makes a new pasteboard visor for his helmet. He finds an old nag that he renames Rocinante and takes the new name Don Quixote de la Mancha. Deciding he needs a lady in whose name to perform great deeds, he renames a farm girl on whom he once had a crush, Dulcinea Del Toboso. Don Quixote sets off on his 1ST adventure, the details of which the author claims to have discovered in La Mancha’s archives. After a daylong ride, Don Quixote stops at an inn for supper and repose. He mistakes the scheming innkeeper for the keeper of a castle and mistakes 2 prostitutes he meets outside for princesses. He recites poetry to the 2 prostitutes who laugh at him but play along. They remove his armour and give him dinner. He refuses to remove his helmet that is stuck on his head but enjoys his meal because he believes he is in a great castle where princesses are entertaining him. In the middle of dinner, Don Quixote realises that he has not been properly knighted. He begs the innkeeper to do him the honour. The innkeeper notes Don Quixote’s madness but agrees to his request for the sake of sport, addressing him in flowery language. He tries to cheat Don Quixote but Don Quixote has no money. The innkeeper commands him always to carry some in the future. Trouble arises when guests at the inn try to use the inn’s well to water their animals where Don Quixote’s armour now rests. Don Quixote, riled and invoking Dulcinea’s name, knocks a guest unconscious and smashes the skull of another. Alarmed, the innkeeper quickly performs a bizarre knighting ceremony and sends Don Quixote on his way. Don Quixote begs the favour of the 2 prostitutes, thanks the innkeeper for knighting him, and leaves. On the way home to fetch money and fresh clothing, Don Quixote hears crying and finds a farmer whipping a young boy. The farmer explains that the boy has been failing in his duties. The boy complains that his master has not been paying him. Don Quixote, calling the farmer a knight, tells him to pay the boy. The boy tells Don Quixote that the farmer is not a knight but Don Quixote ignores him. The farmer swears by his knighthood that he will pay the boy. As Don Quixote rides away, satisfied, the farmer flogs the boy even more severely. Don Quixote then meets a group of merchants and orders them to proclaim the beauty of Dulcinea. The merchants inadvertently insult her and Don Quixote attacks them. But Rocinante stumbles in mid-charge and Don Quixote falls pitifully to the ground. One of the merchants’ mule-drivers beats Don Quixote and breaks his lance. The group departs, leaving Don Quixote face down near the road. A labourer finds Don Quixote lying near the road and leads him home on his mule. Don Quixote showers the labourer with chivalric verse, comparing his troubles to those of the great knights about whom he has read. The labourer waits for night before entering the town with Don Quixote in the hopes of preserving the wounded man’s dignity. But Don Quixote’s friends, the barber and the priest are at his house. They have just resolved to investigate his books when Don Quixote and the labourer arrive. The family receives, feeds, and sends Don Quixote to bed. The priest and the barber begin an inquisition into Don Quixote’s library to burn the books of chivalry. Though the housekeeper wants merely to exorcise any spirits with holy water, Don Quixote’s niece prefers to burn all the books. Over the niece’s and the housekeeper’s objections, the priest insists on reading each book’s title before condemning it. He knows many of the stories and saves several of the books due to their rarity or style. He suggests that all the poetry be saved but decides against it because the niece fears that Don Quixote will then become a poet – a vocation even worse than knight-errant. The priest soon discovers a book by the author who he claims is a friend of his. He says that the author’ work has clever ideas but that it never fulfils its potential. He decides to keep the novel, expecting that the sequel the author has promised will eventually be published. Don Quixote wakes, still delusional and interrupts the priest and the barber. Having walled up the entrance to the library, they decide to tell Don Quixote that an enchanter has carried off all his books and the library itself. That night, the housekeeper burns all the books. 2 days later