Anexo 4: Los gremios económicos y la política de paz

The grotesque approbations that preface this volume are in the spirit of modern Fascist or Soviet dictatorships and would have been approved by Plato, a fine artist-philosopher but a vicious sociologist.

A page from Nabokov’s notes and commentary revised for

“Victories and Defeats”

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Cervantes himself, an educated person, finds “droll” forms of cruelty that are absolutely impossible today in this country or in England and are, of course, censured by all civilized people in modern times. One suspects that now and then the author himself does not quite realize how disgustingly cruel the priests, barbers, innkeepers, etc. were in relation to Don Quixote.

Chapter 1.

When the barber and the curate come to visit Don Quixote,

“they found their host seated upon the bed, clad in a green baize waistcoat and a red Toledo cap, and looking as withered and dried up as an Egyptian mummy. He received them very well and, when they made inquiries regarding his health, discussed with them this and other matters of a personal nature most sensibly and in words that were very well chosen.” Even when they came to statecraft,

“all the while Don Quixote displayed such good sound sense in connection with whatever topic was broached as to lead the two examiners to feel that he must undoubtedly be fully recovered and in his right mind.” But to make the test complete, the curate remarks that the Turks are about to attack Christendom.

“‘Then, damn it, sir!’ exclaimed the knight, ‘what more need his Majesty do than command by public proclamation that all the knights-errant at present wandering over Spain shall assemble in the capital on a given day? Even if no more than half a dozen came, there well might be one among them who alone would be able to overthrow the Turk’s mighty power. Pay attention, your Worships, and listen closely to what I am about to say. Is it by any chance an unheard-of thing for a single knight-errant to rout an army of two hundred thousand men, as if they all had but one throat or were made of sugar paste? Tell me, how many stories do we have that are filled with such marvels? If only, alas for me (I do not care to speak for any other), the famous Don Belianis were alive today, or any of the countless other descendants of Amadis of Gaul! ...’

“‘Oh, dear,’ wailed the niece at this point, ‘may they slay me if my master doesn’t want to go back to being a knight-errant!’

“‘A knight-errant I shall live and die,’ said Don Quixote, ‘and let the Turk come or go as he will, with all the strength he can muster. Again I say to you, God understands.’

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The barber tells a tale of a mad licentiate in Seville, who appears to have been cured and is about to be discharged from the madhouse when another madman, jealous of his departure, calls himself Jupiter and threatens never to permit any rain to fall on Seville.

“The bystanders all listened attentively to the madman’s words and cries. Then our licentiate turned to the chaplain and seized his hands. ‘Do not be disturbed, your Grace,’ he pleaded, ‘and pay no attention to what this fellow says. If he is Jupiter and will not rain, then I who am Neptune, father and god of the waters, will do so at any time that I feel like it or whenever it may be necessary.’

“‘For all of that, Sir Neptune,’ the chaplain answered him, ’it would be as well not to annoy Sir Jupiter. Stay here, your Grace, and another day, when we have more time and it is more convenient, we will return for you.’”

Don Quixote sees but does not appreciate the point of the tale.

“I, Master Barber, am not Neptune, god of the waters, nor would I have anyone take me for a wise man when I am not wise. My sole endeavor is to bring the world to realize the mistake it is making in failing to revive that happiest of times when the order of knight-errantry was in the field. But this degenerate age of ours does not deserve to enjoy so great a blessing as that which former ages knew, when wandering men of arms took upon themselves the defense of realms, the protection of damsels, the succor of orphans, the punishment of the proud, and the rewarding of the humble.

“The knights of the present time, for the most part, are accompanied by the rustling of damasks, brocades, and other rich stuffs that they wear, rather than by the rattling of coats of mail.

There is none that sleeps in the field, exposed to the inclemency of the heavens and fully armed from head to foot. There is none who, as they say, snatches forty winks without taking foot from stirrup, merely by leaning on his lance. There is none who, sallying forth from a wood, will go up onto yonder mountain, and from there come down to tread the barren and deserted shore beside a sea that is almost always angry and tempest-tossed; or who, finding upon the beach a small craft, without oars, sail, mast, or rigging of any kind, will leap into it with intrepid heart and entrust himself to the implacable waves of the stormy deep, waves that now mount heavenward and now drag him down into the abyss. Such a one, breasting the irresistible tempest, may find himself more than three

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thousand miles from the place where he embarked; in which case, bounding ashore upon the soil of a remote and unknown land, he will meet with such adventures as are worthy of being recorded, not upon parchment but in bronze.”

This is a very fine chapter.

Chapter 2.

Despite the outcries of the housekeeper and niece, Sancho Panza makes his way in to Don Quixote. They discuss their former adventures and then Don Quixote asks, “Sancho, my friend, tell me, what are they saying about me here in the village? What opinion do the people have of me, and what do the gentry think, the hidalgos and the caballeros? What do they say of my valor, of my exploits, of my courtesy? What kind of talk is there about my having undertaken to restore to the world the forgotten order of chivalry?”

After some urging, Sancho tells the truth. “Well, in the first place, the common people look upon your Grace as an utter madman and me as no less a fool. The hidalgos are saying that, not content with being a gentleman, you have had to put a ‘Don’ in front of your name and at a bound have made yourself into a caballero, with four vinestocks, a couple of acres of land, and one tatter in front and another behind.”

Don Quixote’s reply is dignified: “‘That,’ said the knight, ‘has nothing to do with me, since I always go well dressed and never in patches. Ragged I well may be, but rather from the wear and tear of armor than of time.” (Putnam has a note of the Spanish proverb

“An honored gentleman goes ragged rather than patched.”)

Sancho also brings the news that a student at Salamanca who has just been made a bachelor, the son of Bartolome Carrasco, has just come home with the news that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza have been put into a book. At the knight’s request, Sancho goes in search of the young man.

Chapter 3.

The bachelor “Sanson, or Samson, was not very big so far as bodily size went, but he was a great joker, with a sallow complexion and a ready wit. He was going on twenty-four and had a round face, a snub nose, and a large mouth, all of which showed

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him to be of a mischievous disposition and fond of jests and witticisms.” He confirms that such a book has indeed been published. Putnam has a note about this: “Only one month is supposed to have elapsed since Don Quixote’s return from his wanderings, yet the story of his adventures has already been written and printed and, as we are soon to be told, has been distributed to the extent of some twelve thousand copies.

Cervantes, however, is never concerned with discrepancies of this sort, and on the present occasion explains the matter by having resort to the magician’s art.” He is still the arch magician, the inventor of a Benengeli and his Arabian tale.

“‘But tell me, Senor Bachelor, what adventures of mine as set down in this book have made the deepest impression?

“ As to that,’ the bachelor answered, ‘opinions differ, for it is a matter of individual taste. There are some who are very fond of the adventure of the windmills—those windmills which to your Grace appeared to be so many Briareuses and giants. Others like the episode at the fulling mill. One relishes the story of the two armies which took on the appearance of droves of sheep, while another fancies the tale of the dead man whom they were taking to Segovia for burial. One will assert that the freeing of the galley slaves is the best of all, and yet another will maintain that nothing can come up to the Benedictine giants and the encounter with the valiant Biscayan.’” Carrasco mentions that some criticism has been made of the inserted novella and of the author’s forgetfulness about such matters as the theft of Sancho’s ass.

Chapter 4.

Sancho tries to straighten out the matter but fails and finally confesses, “I don’t know what answer to give you ... except that the one who wrote the story must have made a mistake, or else it must be due to carelessness on the part of the printer.”

Don Quixote inquires, “‘And does the author by any chance promise a second part?’

“‘Yes, he does,’ said Sanson, ‘but he states that he has not yet come upon it, nor does he know in whose possession it is, and accordingly there is a doubt as to whether it will appear or not.

Indeed, there is some question as to whether a second part is desirable. There are those who say, “Sequels are never good,”

while others assert, “Enough has been written already about Don 189/251

Quixote.” But certain ones who are more jovially inclined and not of so morose a disposition will tell you, “Let us have more of these Quixotic adventures; let Don Quixote lay on and Sancho talk, and, come what may, we shall be satisfied.’

‘And how does the author feel about it?’

“‘If he finds the history he is looking for so diligently,’ said Sanson, ‘he will send it to the printer at once, being more interested in the profit that may come to him from it than in any praise it may earn him.’

Sancho immediately puts in: “‘Let that Moorish gentleman, or whoever he is, pay attention, and my master and I will supply him with enough stuff, ready at hand, in the way of adventures and other happenings, to make not only one second part but a hundred of them. The good man thinks, no doubt, that we are asleep here in the straw, but let him hold up our hoofs to be shod and he will see which foot is the lame one. All I have to say is that if my master would take my advice, we would be in the field this minute, avenging outrages and righting wrongs as is the use and custom of good knights-errant.’

“No sooner had Sancho said this than they heard the whinnying of Rocinante, which Don Quixote took to be a very good omen;

and he resolved then and there that they would sally forth again within the next three or four days.”

Chapter 5.

This chapter consists entirely of the conversation between Sancho and his wife Teresa when she learns he is to accompany Don Quixote on further adventures. In what appears to be an afterthought, Cervantes opens the chapter thus: “As he comes to set down this fifth chapter of our history, the translator desires to make it plain that he looks upon it as apocryphal, since in it Sancho Panza speaks in a manner that does not appear to go with his limited intelligence and indulges in such subtle observations that it is quite impossible to conceive of his saying the things attributed to him. However, the translator in question did not wish to leave his task unfinished; and the narrative is accordingly herewith resumed.”

Sancho’s wife, by preface, tells him: “Listen to me, Sancho___Ever since you joined up with a knight-errant, you’ve

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been talking in such a roundabout way that there’s no understanding you.”

After Sancho becomes a governor, he plans to marry his daughter to a count. “‘And now that luck is knocking at our door, we don’t want to shut it out. Let us go with the favoring breeze that fills our sail.’ (It was this way of speaking, and what Sancho has to say a little further on, that led the translator of the history to remark that he looked upon this chapter as apocryphal.)” Later, “‘If I remember rightly, [the padre] said that all present things which our eyes behold make much more of an impression on us and remain better fixed in our memories than things that are past.’ (These remarks of Sancho’s are another reason for the translator’s saying what he did about the apocryphal nature of the chapter, since they are beyond the mental capacity of the squire.)’... And—these were the padre’s very words—if the one that fortune has thus raised up out of the depths to the height of prosperity is well bred, generous, and courteous toward all and does not seek to vie with those that come of an old and noble line, then you may depend upon it, Teresa, there will be no one to remember what he was, but instead they will respect him for what he is, unless it be the envious, for no good fortune is safe against them.’

But the special topic is Sancho’s prospects. “‘It’s not to a wedding that we’re bound; we’re out to roam the world and play give and take with giants, dragons, and other monsters. We’ll be hearing hissings and roarings and bellowings and howlings. But all that would be lavender if we didn’t have to count upon meeting with Yanguesans and enchanted Moors.’

“‘I know well, my husband,’ said Teresa, ‘that the squires of knights-errant have to earn the bread they eat, and so I will keep on praying to Our Lord to get you out of all this hard luck.’

“‘I can tell you one thing, wife,’ said Sancho, ‘that if I did not expect to see myself governor of an island before long, I would die right here and now.’

‘No, not that, my husband,’ Teresa protested. ‘Let the hen live even though she may have the pip, and in the same way you should go on living and to the devil with all the governorships in the world. Without a governorship you came out of your mother’s belly, without a governorship you’ve lived up to now, and without a governorship you will go, or they will carry you, to your grave when God so wills. There are plenty of folk in this world who

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manage to get along without being governors, yet they do not for that reason give up but are still numbered among the living. The best sauce in the world is hunger, and since this is something they never lack, the poor always have an appetite. But look, Sancho, if by any chance you do fall in with a governorship, don’t forget me and your children. Remember that little Sancho is already turned fifteen, and it is only right that he should go to school, if his uncle, the abbot, means to have him trained for the Church. Remember, too, that your daughter, Mari-Sancha, would not drop dead if we married her off; for I have my suspicions that she is as anxious for a husband as you are to be a governor, and, when all is said and done, a daughter badly married is better than one well kept outside of marriage.’” But Sancho’s plan to make his daughter a countess and to marry her to a nobleman does not suit Teresa, who begins to weep in earnest. “Sancho consoled her by assuring her that, while he might have to make his daughter a countess, he would put off doing so as long as he could. Thus ended the conversation, and Sancho went back to see Don Quixote to make arrangements for their departure.”

Chapter 6.

Don Quixote has a parallel conversation with his niece, who says, “your Grace must remember that all this you are saying about knights-errant is a fable and a lie. And as for those history books, if they are not to be burned, they ought all to wear the sambenito⁶⁹ or some other sign to show how infamous they are and how they corrupt good manners.” The Don’s reaction is predictable:

“‘By the God who sustains me!’ exclaimed Don Quixote, ‘if you were not my flesh-and-blood niece, being the daughter of my own sister, I would so punish you for the blasphemy you have uttered that all the world would hear about it. How comes it that a lass who barely knows how to handle a dozen lace bobbins should set her tongue to wagging and presume to criticize these knightly histories? What would my lord Amadis say if he could hear such a thing? To be sure, he would pardon you, since he was the most

69 * VN quotes Putnam’s note: “The sambenito was the garment worn by those who, having been tried by the Inquisition, had confessed and repented. It was a yellow linen garment painted over with devils and flames and was worn

by the condemned as they went to the stake.” 192/251

humble and courteous knight of his age, and was, moreover, a great protector of damsels.’

He points out that all the people in this world can be divided into four classes: (1) those who from humble beginning have attained greatness; (2)

those who were and remain great; (3) those who have from original greatness tapered to a pyramidal point; and (4) those who were and remain ordinary. Then he addresses his niece and housekeeper: “What brings happiness to the possessor of wealth is

those who were and remain great; (3) those who have from original greatness tapered to a pyramidal point; and (4) those who were and remain ordinary. Then he addresses his niece and housekeeper: “What brings happiness to the possessor of wealth is