was not to be persuaded, and the general of the fortress,
who was eager to know why Sancho was urged to lash himself, could not
wait for a reply to his question, for there loomed up on the horizon a
ship which attracted his attention, and he immediately gave orders to
the captain to steer down upon it.

After an adventure on the seas, the first they had ever experienced,
Don Quixote and Sancho came back to Barcelona that afternoon, and
returned to the house of their host, escorted by the Viceroy, the
General and the other high dignitaries.

CHAPTER LXIV

TREATING OF THE ADVENTURE WHICH GAVE DON QUIXOTE MORE
UNHAPPINESS THAN ALL THAT HAD HITHERTO BEFALLEN HIM

A few days after Don Quixote had visited the galley, he was riding along
the beach one morning on Rocinante dressed in his armor, when suddenly he
observed coming toward him a knight, also in full regalia, with a shining
moon painted on his shield. As he came close to Don Quixote, he held in
his horse, and spoke to our knight thus: "Illustrious knight, and never
sufficiently extolled Don Quixote of La Mancha, I am the Knight of the
White Moon, whose unheard-of achievements will perhaps recall him to thy
memory. I come to do battle with thee and prove the might of thy arm, to
the end that I make thee acknowledge and confess that my lady, let her be
who she may, is incomparably fairer than thy Dulcinea del Toboso."

And then the Knight of the White Moon went on to say that should he
conquer Don Quixote, the Knight of the Lions must retire to his native
village for a period of one year, and live there in peace and quiet,
away from all knightly endeavors and deeds. Should, however, Don
Quixote turn out to be the victor, he, the challenger, would gladly
forfeit his head, as well as the renown of his many deeds and
conquests, his arms and horse to him. He bade Don Quixote consider
the challenge and give a speedy answer, for he had but that day at his
disposal for the combat.

Don Quixote was taken aback at the audacity and arrogance with which
the knight had stated his demands, particularly when he took into
consideration that he had never in his whole life heard him even
spoken of, much less had he heard of the deeds and victorious combats
he had named. But he accepted the challenge with calm pride on the
conditions the Knight of the White Moon had given, barring the one
which involved transferring his renown to Don Quixote's shoulders in
case of his bein