s instant and upon this
spot, the business must be settled: or Dulcinea must return to
Montesinos' cave, and to her former condition of a country wench; or
else in her present form be carried to the Elysian fields, where she
must wait till the number of lashes be fulfilled."

"Come, honest Sancho," quoth the duchess, "be of good cheer, and show
gratitude for the bread you have eaten of your master Don Quixote, whom
we are all bound to serve for his good qualities and his high
chivalries. Say, yes, son, to this whipping bout, and the devil take the
devil, and let the wretched fear; for a good heart breaks bad fortune,
as you well know."

"Hark you, Signor Merlin," quoth Sancho, addressing himself to the sage;
"pray will you tell me one thing--how comes it about that the
devil-courier just now brought a message to my master from Signor
Montesinos, saying that he would be here anon, to give directions about
this disenchantment; and yet we have seen nothing of them all this
while?"

"Pshaw!" replied Merlin, "the devil is an ass and a lying rascal; he was
sent from me and not from Montesinos, who is still in his cave
contriving, or rather awaiting, the end of his enchantment, for the tail
is yet unflayed. If he owes you money, or you have any other business
with him, he shall be forthcoming in a trice, when and where you think
fit; and therefore come to a decision, and consent to this small
penance, from which both your soul and body will receive marvellous
benefit; your soul by an act of charity, and your body by a wholesome
and timely bloodletting."

"How the world swarms with doctors," quoth Sancho, "the very enchanters
seem to be of a trade! Well, since everybody tells me so, though the
thing is out of all reason, I promise to give myself the three thousand
three hundred lashes, upon condition that I may lay them on whenever I
please, without being tied to days or times; and I will endeavor to get
out of debt as soon as I possibly can, that the beauty of my lady
Dulcinea del Toboso may shine forth to all the world; as it seems she is
really beautiful, which I much doubted. Another condition is, that I
will not be bound to draw blood, and if some lashes happen only to
fly-flap, they shall all go into the account. Moreover if I should
mistake in the reckoning, Signor Merlin here, who knows everything,
shall give me notice how many I want or have exceeded."

"As for exceedings, there is no need of keeping account of t