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

Description
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
Read book online Β«Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (electric book reader TXT) πΒ». Author - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
It has come to my knowledge, SeΓ±or Don Sancho Panza, that certain enemies of mine and of the island are about to make a furious attack upon it some night, I know not when. It behoves you to be on the alert and keep watch, that they surprise you not. I also know by trustworthy spies that four persons have entered the town in disguise in order to take your life, because they stand in dread of your great capacity; keep your eyes open and take heed who approaches you to address you, and eat nothing that is presented to you. I will take care to send you aid if you find yourself in difficulty, but in all things you will act as may be expected of your judgment. From this place, the Sixteenth of August, at four in the morning.
Your friend,
The Duke
Sancho was astonished, and those who stood by made believe to be so too, and turning to the majordomo he said to him, βWhat we have got to do first, and it must be done at once, is to put Doctor Recio in the lockup; for if anyone wants to kill me it is he, and by a slow death and the worst of all, which is hunger.β
βLikewise,β said the carver, βit is my opinion your worship should not eat anything that is on this table, for the whole was a present from some nuns; and as they say, βbehind the cross thereβs the devil.βββ830
βI donβt deny it,β said Sancho; βso for the present give me a piece of bread and four pounds or so of grapes; no poison can come in them; for the fact is I canβt go on without eating; and if we are to be prepared for these battles that are threatening us we must be well provisioned; for it is the tripes that carry the heart and not the heart the tripes.831 And you, secretary, answer my lord the duke and tell him that all his commands shall be obeyed to the letter, as he directs; and say from me to my lady the duchess that I kiss her hands, and that I beg of her not to forget to send my letter and bundle to my wife Teresa Panza by a messenger; and I will take it as a great favour and will not fail to serve her in all that may lie within my power; and as you are about it you may enclose a kiss of the hand to my master Don Quixote that he may see I am grateful bread; and as a good secretary and a good Biscayan you may add whatever you like and whatever will come in best; and now take away this cloth and give me something to eat, and Iβll be ready to meet all the spies and assassins and enchanters that may come against me or my island.β
At this instant a page entered saying, βHere is a farmer on business, who wants to speak to your lordship on a matter of great importance, he says.β
βItβs very odd,β said Sancho, βthe ways of these men on business; is it possible they can be such fools as not to see that an hour like this is no hour for coming on business? We who govern and we who are judgesβ βare we not men of flesh and blood, and are we not to be allowed the time required for taking rest, unless theyβd have us made of marble? By God and on my conscience, if the government remains in my hands (which I have a notion it wonβt), Iβll bring more than one man on business to order. However, tell this good man to come in; but take care first of all that he is not some spy or one of my assassins.β
βNo, my lord,β said the page, βfor he looks like a simple fellow, and either I know very little or he is as good as good bread.β
βThere is nothing to be afraid of,β said the majordomo, βfor we are all here.β
βWould it be possible, carver,β said Sancho, βnow that Doctor Pedro Recio is not here, to let me eat something solid and substantial, if it were even a piece of bread and an onion?β
βTonight at supper,β said the carver, βthe shortcomings of the dinner shall be made good, and your lordship shall be fully contented.β
βGod grant it,β said Sancho.
The farmer now came in, a well-favoured man that one might see a thousand leagues off was an honest fellow and a good soul. The first thing he said was, βWhich is the lord governor here?β
βWhich should it be,β said the secretary, βbut he who is seated in the chair?β
βThen I humble myself before him,β said the farmer; and going on his knees he asked for his hand, to kiss it. Sancho refused it, and bade him stand up and say what he wanted. The farmer obeyed, and then said, βI am a farmer, seΓ±or, a native of Miguelturra, a village two leagues from Ciudad Real.β
βAnother Tirteafuera!β said Sancho; βsay on, brother; I know Miguelturra very well I can tell you, for itβs not very far from my own town.β
βThe case is this, seΓ±or,β continued the farmer, βthat by Godβs mercy I am married with the leave and licence of the holy Roman Catholic Church; I have two sons, students, and the younger is studying to become bachelor, and the elder to be licentiate; I am a widower, for my wife died, or more properly speaking, a bad doctor killed her on my hands, giving her a purge when she was with child; and if it had pleased God that the child had been born, and
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