fireside to sit by; where, though he be not thoroughly heated, yet he
may gather warmth, and at last sleep away the night under a roof. I will
not touch upon other less material circumstances, as the want of linen,
and scarcity of shoes, thinness and baldness of their clothes, and their
surfeiting when good fortune throws a feast in their way; this is the
difficult and uncouth path they tread, often stumbling and falling, yet
rising again and pushing on, till they attain the preferment they aim
at; whither being arrived, we have seen many of them, who, having been
carried by a fortunate gale through all these quick-sands, from a chair
govern the world; their hunger being changed into satiety, their cold
into comfortable warmth, their nakedness into magnificence of apparel,
and the mats they used to lie upon, into stately beds of costly silks
and softest linen, a reward due to their virtue. But yet their
sufferings, being compared to those the soldier endures, appear much
inferior, as I shall in the next place make out."
Don Quixote, after a short pause, continued his discourse thus:--"Since,
in speaking of the scholar, we began with his poverty and its several
branches, let us see whether the soldier be richer. We shall find that
poverty itself is not more poor: for he depends on his wretched pay,
which comes late, and sometimes never; or upon what he can pillage, at
the imminent risk of his life and conscience. Such often is his
nakedness that his slashed buff-doublet serves him both for finery and
shirt; and in the midst of winter, on the open plain, he has nothing to
warm him but the breath of his mouth, which, issuing from an empty
place, must needs be cold. But let us wait, and see whether night will
make amends for these inconveniences: if his bed be too narrow it is his
own fault, for he may measure out as many feet of earth as he pleases,
and roll himself thereon at pleasure without fear of rumpling the
sheets. Suppose the moment arrived of taking his degree--I mean,
suppose-the day of battle come: his doctoral cap may then be of lint, to
cover some gun-shot wound, which perhaps has gone through his temples,
or deprived him of an arm or leg.
"And even suppose that Heaven in its mercy should preserve him alive and
unhurt, he will probably remain as poor as ever; for he must be engaged
and victorious in many battles before he can expect high promotion; and
such good fortune happens only by a miracle: for you wil
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