The History of Don Quixote, Vol. II., Part 21 - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
"Very good," said he of the Grove; "God will send the dawn and we shall
be all right."
And now gay-plumaged birds of all sorts began to warble in the trees, and
with their varied and gladsome notes seemed to welcome and salute the
fresh morn that was beginning to show the beauty of her countenance at
the gates and balconies of the east, shaking from her locks a profusion
of liquid pearls; in which dulcet moisture bathed, the plants, too,
seemed to shed and shower down a pearly spray, the willows distilled
sweet manna, the fountains laughed, the brooks babbled, the woods
rejoiced, and the meadows arrayed themselves in all their glory at her
coming. But hardly had the light of day made it possible to see and
distinguish things, when the first object that presented itself to the
eyes of Sancho Panza was the squire of the Grove's nose, which was so big
that it almost overshadowed his whole body. It is, in fact, stated, that
it was of enormous size, hooked in the middle, covered with warts, and of
a mulberry colour like an egg-plant; it hung down two fingers' length
below his mouth, and the size, the colour, the warts, and the bend of it,
made his face so hideous, that Sancho, as he looked at him, began to
tremble hand and foot like a child in convulsions, and he vowed in his
heart to let himself be given two hundred buffets, sooner than be
provoked to fight that monster. Don Quixote examined his adversary, and
found that he already had his helmet on and visor lowered, so that he
could not see his face; he observed, however, that he was a sturdily
built man, but not very tall in stature. Over his armour he wore a
surcoat or cassock of what seemed to be the finest cloth of gold, all
bespangled with glittering mirrors like little moons, which gave him an
extremely gallant and splendid appearance; above his helmet fluttered a
great quantity of plumes, green, yellow, and white, and his lance, which
was leaning against a tree, was very long and stout, and had a steel
point more than a palm in length.
Don Quixote observed all, and took note of all, and from what he saw and
observed he concluded that the said knight must be a man of great
strength, but he did not for all that give way to fear, like Sancho
Panza; on the contrary, with a composed and dauntless air, he said to the
Knight of the Mirrors, "If, sir knight, your great eagerness to fight has
not banished your courtesy, by it I would entreat you to raise your visor
a little, in order that I may see if the comeliness of your countenance
corresponds with that of your equipment."
"Whether you come victorious or vanquished out of this emprise, sir
knight," replied he of the Mirrors, "you will have more than enough time
and leisure to see me; and if now I do not comply with your request, it
is because it seems to me I should do a serious wrong to the fair
Casildea de Vandalia in wasting time while I stopped to raise my visor
before compelling you to confess what you are already aware I maintain."
"Well then," said Don Quixote, "while we are mounting you can at least
tell me if I am that Don Quixote whom you said you vanquished."
"To that we answer you," said he of the Mirrors, "that you are as like
the very knight I vanquished as one egg is like another, but as you say
enchanters persecute you, I will not venture to say positively whether
you are the said person or not."
"That," said Don Quixote, "is enough to convince me that you are under a
deception; however, entirely to relieve you of it, let our horses be
brought, and in less time than it would take you to raise your visor, if
God, my lady, and my arm stand me in good stead, I shall see your face,
and you shall see that I am not the vanquished Don Quixote you take me to
be."
With this, cutting short the colloquy, they mounted, and Don Quixote
wheeled Rocinante round in order to take a proper distance to charge back
upon his adversary, and he of the Mirrors did the same; but Don Quixote
had not moved away twenty paces when he heard himself called by the
other, and, each returning half-way, he of the Mirrors said to him,
"Remember, sir knight, that the terms of our combat are, that the
vanquished, as I said before, shall be at the victor's disposal."
"I am aware of it already," said Don Quixote; "provided what is commanded
and imposed upon the vanquished be things that do not transgress the
limits of chivalry."
"That is understood," replied he of the Mirrors.
At this moment the extraordinary nose of the squire presented itself to
Don Quixote's view, and he was no less amazed than Sancho at the sight;
insomuch that he set him down as a monster of some kind, or a human being
of some new species or unearthly breed. Sancho, seeing his master
retiring to run his course, did not like to be left alone with the nosy
man, fearing that with one flap of that nose on his own the battle would
be all over for him and he would be left stretched on the ground, either
by the blow or with fright; so he ran after his master, holding on to
Rocinante's stirrup-leather, and when it seemed to him time to turn
about, he said, "I implore of your worship, senor, before you turn to
charge, to help me up into this cork tree, from which I will be able to
witness the gallant encounter your worship is going to have with this
knight, more to my taste and better than from the ground."
"It seems to me rather, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "that thou wouldst
mount a scaffold in order to see the bulls without danger."
"To tell the truth," returned Sancho, "the monstrous nose of that squire
has filled me with fear and terror, and I dare not stay near him."
"It is," said Don Quixote, "such a one that were I not what I am it would
terrify me too; so, come, I will help thee up where thou wilt."
While Don Quixote waited for Sancho to mount into the cork tree he of the
Mirrors took as much ground as he considered requisite, and, supposing
Don Quixote to have done the same, without waiting for any sound of
trumpet or other signal to direct them, he wheeled his horse, which was
not more agile or better-looking than Rocinante, and at his top speed,
which was an easy trot, he proceeded to charge his enemy; seeing him,
however, engaged in putting Sancho up, he drew rein, and halted in mid
career, for which his horse was very grateful, as he was already unable
to go. Don Quixote, fancying that his foe was coming down upon him
flying, drove his spurs vigorously into Rocinante's lean flanks and made
him scud along in such style that the history tells us that on this
occasion only was he known to make something like running, for on all
others it was a simple trot with him; and with this unparalleled fury he
bore down where he of the Mirrors stood digging his spurs into his horse
up to buttons, without being able to make him stir a finger's length from
the spot where he had come to a standstill in his course. At this lucky
moment and crisis, Don Quixote came upon his adversary, in trouble with
his horse, and embarrassed with his lance, which he either could not
manage, or had no time to lay in rest. Don Quixote, however, paid no
attention to these difficulties, and in perfect safety to himself and
without any risk encountered him of the Mirrors with such force that he
brought him to the ground in spite of himself over the haunches of his
horse, and with so heavy a fall that he lay to all appearance dead, not
stirring hand or foot. The instant Sancho saw him fall he slid down from
the cork tree, and made all haste to where his master was, who,
dismounting from Rocinante, went and stood over him of the Mirrors, and
unlacing his helmet to see if he was dead, and to give him air if he
should happen to be alive, he saw--who can say what he saw, without
filling all who hear it with astonishment, wonder, and awe? He saw, the
history says, the very countenance, the very face, the very look, the
very physiognomy, the very effigy, the very image of the bachelor Samson
Carrasco! As soon as he saw it he called out in a loud voice, "Make haste
here, Sancho, and behold what thou art to see but not to believe; quick,
my son, and learn what magic can do, and wizards and enchanters are
capable of."
Sancho came up, and when he saw the countenance of the bachelor Carrasco,
he fell to crossing himself a thousand times, and blessing himself as
many more. All this time the prostrate knight showed no signs of life,
and Sancho said to Don Quixote, "It is my opinion, senor, that in any
case your worship should take and thrust your sword into the mouth of
this one here that looks like the bachelor Samson Carrasco; perhaps in
him you will kill one of your enemies, the enchanters."
"Thy advice is not bad," said Don Quixote, "for of enemies the fewer the
better;" and he was drawing his sword to carry into effect Sancho's
counsel and suggestion, when the squire of the Mirrors came up, now
without the nose which had made him so hideous, and cried out in a loud
voice, "Mind what you are about, Senor Don Quixote; that is your friend,
the bachelor Samson Carrasco, you have at your feet, and I am his
squire."
"And the nose?" said Sancho, seeing him without the hideous feature he
had before; to which he replied, "I have it here in my pocket," and
putting his hand into his right pocket, he pulled out a masquerade nose
of varnished pasteboard of the make already described; and Sancho,
examining him more and more closely, exclaimed aloud in a voice of
amazement, "Holy Mary be good to me! Isn't it Tom Cecial, my neighbour
and gossip?"
"Why, to be sure I am!" returned the now unnosed squire; "Tom Cecial I
am, gossip and friend Sancho Panza; and I'll tell you presently the means
and tricks and falsehoods by which I have been brought here; but in the
meantime, beg and entreat of your master not to touch, maltreat, wound,
or slay the Knight of the Mirrors whom he has at his feet; because,
beyond all dispute, it is the rash and ill-advised bachelor Samson
Carrasco, our fellow townsman."
At this moment he of the Mirrors came to himself, and Don Quixote
perceiving it, held the naked point of his sword over his face, and said
to him, "You are a dead man, knight, unless you confess that the peerless
Dulcinea del Toboso excels your Casildea de Vandalia in beauty; and in
addition to this you must promise, if you should survive this encounter
and fall, to go to the city of El Toboso and present yourself before her
on my behalf, that she deal with you according to her good pleasure; and
if she leaves you free to do yours, you are in like manner to return and
seek me out (for the trail of my mighty deeds will serve you as a guide
to lead you to where I may be), and tell me what may have passed between
you and her-conditions which, in accordance with what we stipulated
before our combat, do not transgress the just limits of knight-errantry."
"I confess," said the fallen knight, "that the dirty tattered shoe of the
lady Dulcinea del Toboso is better than the ill-combed though clean beard
of Casildea; and I promise to go and to return from her presence to
yours, and to give you a full and particular account of all you demand of
me."
"You must also confess and believe," added Don Quixote, "that the knight
you vanquished was not and could not be Don Quixote of La Mancha, but
some one else in his likeness, just as I confess and believe that you,
though you seem to be the bachelor Samson Carrasco, are not so, but some
other resembling him, whom my enemies have here put before me in his
shape, in order that I may restrain and moderate the vehemence of my
wrath, and make a gentle use of the glory of my victory."
"I confess, hold, and think everything to be as you believe, hold, and
think it," the crippled knight; "let me rise, I entreat you; if, indeed,
the shock of my fall will allow me, for it has left me in a sorry plight
enough."
Don Quixote helped him to rise, with the assistance of his squire Tom
Cecial; from whom Sancho never took his eyes, and to whom he put
questions, the replies to which furnished clear proof that he was really
and truly the Tom Cecial he said; but the impression made on Sancho's
mind by what his master said about the enchanters having changed the face
of the Knight of the Mirrors into that of the bachelor Samson Carrasco,
would not permit him to believe what he saw with his eyes. In fine, both
master and man remained under the delusion; and, down in the mouth, and
out of luck, he of the Mirrors and his squire parted from Don Quixote and
Sancho, he meaning to go look for some village where he could plaster and
strap his ribs. Don Quixote and Sancho resumed their journey to
Saragossa, and on it the history leaves them in order that it may tell
who the Knight of the Mirrors and his long-nosed squire were.