inspired by the profits he had made out of the first book, he was
anxious to find a second part, he said.
"The author looks for money and profit, does he?" asked Sancho. "Well,
let Master Moor, or whoever he is, pay attention to what he is doing,
and I and my master will give him adventures and accidents of all
sorts, enough to make up not only a second part but a hundred. The
good man fancies, no doubt, we are asleep in the straw here, but let
him hold up our feet to be shod and he will see which foot it is we go
lame on. All I say is, that if my master would take my advice, we
would now be afield, redressing outrages and righting wrongs, as is
the use and custom of good knights errant."
Scarcely had Sancho spoken these words, when Rocinante commenced to
neigh; and how could this be interpreted to be anything else than a
good omen? In an instant Don Quixote had resolved to sally forth again
in a few days. The bachelor warned him this time to expose himself to
no such tremendous risks as on his previous sallies, and begged him to
remember always, his life was no longer his own, but was dedicated to
those in need and in despair.
"There is what I abominate, Senor Samson," Sancho sustained him. "My
master will attack a hundred men as a greedy boy would half a dozen
melons. Body of the world, Senor bachelor, there is a time to attack
and a time to retreat!"
And here it was that Sancho felt it a solemn duty to himself and his
wife and offspring to come to a definite understanding with his master
regarding his position in battle. He wanted it stipulated that his
master was to do all the fighting. He would willingly look after his
master's and Rocinante's comfort, and keep them clean, but when it
came to drawing sword, he would leave that honor to Don Quixote, he
declared. He would do his duty so well that it would be worth a
kingdom as well as an island, both of which he would gladly accept.
The bachelor, having recommended Saragossa and the kingdom of Aragon
as hotbeds of adventure, Don Quixote thanked him and asked him whether
he was a poet; to which the bachelor replied that he was not one of
the famous ones. Don Quixote explained that he wanted a most original
idea of his carried out in poetry. Could Samson write a poem of love
in such a manner as to have the first letters of each line, reading
downward, form the name of his beloved one, the peerless Dulcinea del
Toboso? Samson promised he would try, but Don Qu
|