Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (electric book reader TXT) π

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Don Quixote is a novel that doesnβt need much introduction. Not only is it widely considered the greatest Spanish literary work of all time, one of the greatest literary works in history, and a cornerstone of the Western literary canon, itβs also considered one of the firstβif not the firstβmodern novels.
This Standard Ebooks edition is believed to be the first ebook edition of Don Quixote to feature a full transcription of translator John Ormsbyβs nearly 1,000 footnotes. Ormsby as an annotator deftly explains obscure passages, gives background on the life and times of 1600s Spain, references decisions from other contemporary translators, and doesnβt hold back from sharing his views on the geniusβand flawsβof Cervantesβ greatest work.
The story is of the eponymous Don Quixote, a country noble who, in his old age, reads too many chivalric romances and goes mad. After convincing his grubby servant, Sancho Panza, to join him as his squire, he embarks on an absurd and comic quest to do good and right wrongs.
Today Don Quixoteβs two volumes are published as a single work, but their publication came ten years apart. Cervantes saw great success with the publication of his first volume, and appeared to have little desire to write a second volume until a different author wrote a spurious, inferior sequel. This kicked Cervantes into gear and he wrote volume two, a more serious and philosophical volume than the largely comic first volume.
Despite being written in 1605 and translated in 1885, Don Quixote contains a surprising amount of slapstick laughsβeven for the modern readerβand narrative devices still seen in todayβs fiction, including meta-narratives, frame narratives, and metafiction. Many scenes (like Quixoteβs attack on the windmills) and characters (like Sancho Panza and Lothario) are so famous that theyβre ingrained in our collective culture.
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- Author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
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βOf the miserable,β answered Don Quixote.
βThen come to me,β said he of the Grove, βand rest assured that it is to woe itself and affliction itself you come.β
Don Quixote, finding himself answered in such a soft and courteous manner, went over to him, and so did Sancho.
The doleful knight took Don Quixote by the arm, saying, βSit down here, sir knight; for, that you are one, and of those that profess knight-errantry, it is to me a sufficient proof to have found you in this place, where solitude and night, the natural couch and proper retreat of knights-errant, keep you company.β To which Don made answer, βA knight I am of the profession you mention, and though sorrows, misfortunes, and calamities have made my heart their abode, the compassion I feel for the misfortunes of others has not been thereby banished from it. From what you have just now sung I gather that yours spring from love, I mean from the love you bear that fair ingrate you named in your lament.β
In the meantime, they had seated themselves together on the hard ground peaceably and sociably, just as if, as soon as day broke, they were not going to break one anotherβs heads.
βAre you, sir knight, in love perchance?β asked he of the Grove of Don Quixote.
βBy mischance I am,β replied Don Quixote; βthough the ills arising from well-bestowed affections should be esteemed favours rather than misfortunes.β
βThat is true,β returned he of the Grove, βif scorn did not unsettle our reason and understanding, for if it be excessive it looks like revenge.β
βI was never scorned by my lady,β said Don Quixote.
βCertainly not,β said Sancho, who stood close by, βfor my lady is as a lamb, and softer than a roll of butter.β
βIs this your squire?β asked he of the Grove.
βHe is,β said Don Quixote.
βI never yet saw a squire,β said he of the Grove, βwho ventured to speak when his master was speaking; at least, there is mine, who is as big as his father, and it cannot be proved that he has ever opened his lips when I am speaking.β
βBy my faith then,β said Sancho, βI have spoken, and am fit to speak, in the presence of one as much, or evenβ βbut never mindβ βit only makes it worse to stir it.β
The squire of the Grove took Sancho by the arm, saying to him, βLet us two go where we can talk in squire style as much as we please, and leave these gentlemen our masters to fight it out over the story of their loves; and, depend upon it, daybreak will find them at it without having made an end of it.β
βSo be it by all means,β said Sancho; βand I will tell your worship who I am, that you may see whether I am to be reckoned among the number of the most talkative squires.β
With this the two squires withdrew to one side, and between them there passed a conversation as droll as that which passed between their masters was serious.
XIIIIn which is continued the adventure of the Knight of the Grove, together with the sensible, original, and tranquil colloquy that passed between the two squires.
The knights and the squires made two parties, these telling the story of their lives, the others the story of their loves; but the history relates first of all the conversation of the servants, and afterwards takes up that of the masters; and it says that, withdrawing a little from the others, he of the Grove said to Sancho, βA hard life it is we lead and live, seΓ±or, we that are squires to knights-errant; verily, we eat our bread in the sweat of our faces, which is one of the curses God laid on our first parents.β
βIt may be said, too,β added Sancho, βthat we eat it in the chill of our bodies; for who gets more heat and cold than the miserable squires of knight-errantry? Even so it would not be so bad if we had something to eat, for woes are lighter if thereβs bread;549 but sometimes we go a day or two without breaking our fast, except with the wind that blows.β
βAll that,β said he of the Grove, βmay be endured and put up with when we have hopes of reward; for, unless the knight-errant he serves is excessively unlucky, after a few turns the squire will at least find himself rewarded with a fine government of some island or some fair county.β
βI,β said Sancho, βhave already told my master that I shall be content with the government of some island, and he is so noble and generous that he has promised it to me ever so many times.β
βI,β said he of the Grove, βshall be satisfied with a canonry for my services, and my master has already assigned me one.β
βYour master,β said Sancho, βno doubt is a knight in the Church line, and can bestow rewards of that sort on his good squire; but mine is only a layman; though I remember some clever, but, to my mind, designing people, strove to persuade him to try and become an archbishop. He, however, would not be anything but an emperor; but I was trembling all the time lest he should take a fancy to go into the Church, not finding myself fit to hold office in it; for I may tell you, though I seem a man, I am no better than a beast for the Church.β
βWell, then, you are wrong there,β said he of the Grove; βfor those island governments are not all satisfactory; some are awkward, some are poor, some are dull, and, in short, the highest and choicest brings with it a heavy burden of cares and troubles which the unhappy wight to whose lot it has fallen bears upon his shoulders. Far better would it be for us who
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