bee copied they would say the former is false and so I shall rest without my Colts The Warrant shall bee written and firmed with my hand in the Tablets which as soone as my Neece shall see shee shall make no difficulty to deliver thee them And as concerning the love-letter thou shalt put this subscription to it Yours untill death The Knight of the ill-favored face and it makes no matter though it bee written by any stranger for as much as I can remember Dulcinea can neyther write nor read nor hath shee seene any Letter no not so much as a Character of my writing all the dayes of her life For my love and hers have beene ever Platonicall never extending themselves farther then to an honest regard and view the one of the other and even this same so rarely as I dare boldly sweare that in these dozen yeeres which I love her more deerely then the light of these mine eyes which the earth shall one day devour I have not seen her four times and perhaps of those same four times shee hath scarce perceived once that I beheld her Such is the case and closenesse wherewithall her parents Lorenco Corcuelo and her Mother Aldonca Nogales have brought her up Ta ta quoth Sancho that the Lady Dulcinea of Toboso is Lorenco Corcuelo his Daughter called by another name Aldonca Loreno The same is shee quoth Don-Quixote and it is shee that merits to bee Empresse of the vast Universe I know her very well replyed Sancho and I dare say that she can throw an Iron barr as well as any the strongest Lad in our Parish I vow by the giver that 't is a Wench of the mark tall and stout and so sturdy withall that she will bring her chinn out of the mire in despite of any Knight Errant or that shall err that shall honour her as his Lady Out upon her what a strength and voyce shee hath I saw her on a day stand on the topp of the Church steeple to call certain servants of her Fathers that laboured in a fallow field and although they were half a league from thence they heard her as well as if they were at the foot of the Steeple And the best that is in her is that shee is nothing coy for shee hath a very great smack of Courtship and playes with every one and Jibes and Jests at them all And now I affirm Sir Knight of the Illâ— favoured face that not only you may and ought to commit raving follies for her sake but eke you may with just title also despair and hang your self For none shall hear thereof but will say you did very well although the Divell carried you away And fain would I bee gone if it were for nothing else but to see her for it is many a day since I saw her and I am sure shee is changed by this for womens beauty is much impaired by going alwaies to the field exposed to the Sunne and weather And I will now Sir Don-Quixote confesse a truth unto you that I have lived untill now in a marvellous errour thinking well and faithfully that the Lady Dulcinea was some great Princesse on whom you were enamoured or such a person as merited those rich presents which you bestowed on her as well of the Biscaines as of the Slaves and many others that ought to bee as I suppose correspondent to the many victories which you have gained both now and in the time that I was not your Squire But pondering well the matter I cannot conceive why the Lady Aldonea Lorenco I mean the Lady Dulcinea of Toboso of these should care whether these vanquished men which you send or shall send doe goe and kneel before her For it may befall that she at the very time of their arrivall bee combing of Flax or threshing in the Barn whereat they would be ashamed and shee likewise laugh and bee somewhat displeased at the present I have oft told thee Sancho many times that thou art too great a prattler quoth Don-Quixote and although thou hast but a grosse wit yet now and then thy frumps nipâ— But to the end thou mayest perceive the faultinesse of thy brain and my discretion I will tell thee a short History which is this There was once a widow fair young free rich and withall very pleasant and jocund that fell in Love with a certain round and well-set servent of a Colledge his Regent came to understand it and therefore said on a day to the Widow by the way of fraternall correction Mistriss I doe greatly marvell and not without occasion that a woman so principall so beautifull so rich and specially so wittie could make so ill a choise as to waxe enamoured on so foul so base and foolish a man as such a one we having in this house so many Masters of Art Graduates and Divines amongst whom you might have made choise as among Peers saying I will take this and I will not have that But shee answered him thus with a very pleasant and good grace You are Sir greatly deceived if you deem that I have made an ill choise in such a one let him seem never so great a fool for to the purpose that I mean to use him hee knows as much or rather more Philosophy then Aristotle And so Sancho is likewise Dulcinea of Toboso as much worth as the highest Princesse of the World for the effect I mean to use her For all the Poets which celebrate certain Ladies at pleasure thinkest thou that they all had Mistrisses No Doest thou believe that the Amarillis the Files Silvias Dianas Galateas Alcidas and others such like wherewithall the Books Ditties Barbers Shops and Theaters are filled were truely Ladies of flesh and bones and their Mistrisses which have and doe celebrate them thus No certainly but were for the greater part â—eigned to serve as a subject of their Verses to the end the Authours might be accounted amorous and men of courage enough to bee such And thus it is also sufficient for me to believe and think that the good Aldonca Lorenco is fair and honest As for her Parentage it matters but little for none will send to take information thereof to give to her an habit and I make account of her as of the greatest Princesse in the World For thou oughtest to know Sancho if thou knowest it not already that two things alone incite men to love more then all things else and those be surpassing beauty and a good name And both these things are found in Dulcinea in their prime For none can equall her in fairnesse and few come neer her for a good report And for a finall conclusion I imagine that all that which I say is really so without adding or taking ought away And I doe imagine her in my fantasie to bee such as I could with her as well in beauty as principality And neither can Helen approach nor Lucrece come neer her no nor any of those other
entred but could finde no body therein but some certain sheets knit together and tied to the window as a certain signe how Leonela had made an escape by that way Wherefore hee returned very sad to tell to Camila the adventure but when hee could neither finde her at bed nor in the whole house hee remained astonied and demanded for her of his Servants but none of them could tell him any thing And as hee searched for her hee hapned to see her Coffers lye open and most of her Jewels wanting and herewithall fell into the true account of his disgrace and that Leonela was not the cause of his misfortune and so departed out of his house sad and pensive even as hee was half ready and unapparrelled to his friend Lothario to recount unto him his disaster but when hee found him to bee likewise absented and that the Servants told him how their Master was departed the very same night and had borne away with him all his Money hee was ready to runne out of his wits And to conclude hee returned to his own house again wherein he found no ceature man or woman for all his folk were departed and had left the house alone and desart Hee knew not what hee might think say or doe and then his judgement began to faile him There hee did contemplate and behold himself in an instant without a Wife a Friend and Servants abandoned to his seeming of Heaven that covered him and chiefly without honour for hee cleerly noted his own perdition in Camilaes crime In the end hee resolved after hee had bethought himself a great while to goe to his friends Village wherein hee had been all the while that hee afforded the leisure to contrive that disaster And so shutting up his house hee mounted a horseback and rode away in languishing and dolefull wise And scarce had hee ridden the half way when hee was so fiercely assaulted by his thoughts as hee was constrained to alight and tying his Horse to a Tree hee leaned himself to the trunck thereof and breathed out a thousand pittifull and dolorous sighs and there hee abode untill it was almost night about which hour espyed a man to come from the Citie a Horse-back by the same way and having saluted him hee demanded of him what news hee brought from Florence The Citizen replyed The strangest that had hapned there many a day For it is there reported publiquely That Lothario the great friend of the rich man hath carried away the said Anselmo's Wife Camila this night for shee is also missing all which a Waiting-maid of Camilaes hath confest whom the Governour apprehended yesternight as shee slipt down at a window by a pair of sheets out of the said Anselmo's house I know not particularly the truth of the Affair but well I wot that all the Citie is amazed at the accident for such a fact would not bee as much as surmized from the great and familiar amitie of them two which was so much as they were called The two friends Is it perhaps yet known replyed Anselmo which way Lothario and Camila have taken In no wise quoth the Citizen although the Governour hath used all possible diligence to finde them out Farewell then good Sir said Anselmo And with you Sir said the Traveller And so departed With these so unfortunate news poore Anselmo arived not only to termes of losing his wits but also well nigh of losing his life and therefore arising as well as hee might hee came to his friends house who had heard nothing yet of his disgrace but perceiving him to arive so wan pined and dried up hee presently conjectured that some grievous evill afflicted him Anselmo requested him presently that hee might bee caried to his Chamber and provided of paper and inke to write withall all was done and hee left in bed and alone for so hee desired them and also that the dore should bee fast locked And being alone the imagination of his misfortune gave him such a terrible charge as hee cleerely perceived that his life would shortly faile him and therefore resolved to leave notice of the cause of his suddaine and unexpected death and therefore hee began to write it but before hee could set an end to his discourse his breath fayled and hee yeelded up his life into the hands of sorrow which his impertinent curiositie had stirred up in him The Gentleman of the house seeing that it grew late and that Anselmo had not called determined to enter and know whether his indisposition passed forward and hee found him lying on his face with halfe of his body in the bed and the other half leaning on the table whereon he lay with a written paper unfolded and held the pen also yet in his hand His Oast drew neere unto him and first of all having called him he took him by the hand and seeing that he answered not and that it was cold he knew that he was dead and greatly perplexed and grieved thereat he called in his people that they might also be witnesses of the disastrous successe of Anselmo and after all he took the paper and read it which he knew to be written with his own hand the substance whereof was this A Foolish and Impertinent Desire hath dispoyled me of Life If the newes of my Death shall arrive to Camila let her also know that I doe pardon her for shee was not bound to worke Miracles nor had I any neede to desire that she should worke them And seeing I was the builder and contriver of mine owne dishonour there is no reason Hitherto did Anselmo write by which it appeared that his life ended in that point ere he could set an end to the Reason he was to give The next day ensuing the Gentleman his friend acquainted Anselmoes kinsfolke with his death the which had already knowledge of his misfortune and also of the Monastery wherein Camila had retyred her self being almost in terms to accompany her husband in that forcible voyage not for the newes of his death but for grief of others which she had received of her absent friend It is said that although she was a widow yet would she neither depart out of the Monastery nor become a Religious woman untill she had received within a few daies after news how Lothario was slaine in a battell given by Monsieur de Lauâ—reâ— to the great Captain Goncalo Fernandez of Cordova in the kingdom of Naples and that was the end of the late repentant friend the which being known to Camila she made a profession and shortly after deceased between the rigorous hands of sorrow and Melanchollie and this was the end of them all sprung from a rash and inconsiderate beginning This Novell quoth the Curate having read it is a pretty one but yet I cannot perswade my self that it is true and if it be a fiction the Author erred therein for it cannot be imagined that any husband would be so foolish as to make
Brother if thou beest a Christian as thou appearest to bee one I pray thee for Gods sake that thou doe forthwith addresse this Letter to the place and person that the superscription assigneth for they bee well known and therein thou shalt doe our Lord great service And because thou mayest not want means to doe it take what thou shalt finde wraped in that handcerchif And saying so shee threw out of the window a handcerchif wherein were laped up a hundred Rialls this Ring of gold which I carry here and that Letter which I delivered unto you and presently without expecting mine answer shee departed but first saw me take up the handkerchif and Letter and then I made her signes that I would accomplish herein her command and after perceiving the pains I might take in bringing you it so well considered and seeing by the indorsement that you were the man to whom it was addrest for Sir I know you very well and also oblieged to doe it by the tears of that beautifull Lady I determined not to trust any other with it but to come and bring it you my self in person and in sixteen hours since it was given unto me I have travelled the journey you know which is at least eighteen leagues long Whilest the thankfull new Messenger spake thus unto me I remained in a manner hanging on his words and my thighs did tremble in such manner as I could very hardly sustein my self on foot yet taking courage at last I opened the Letter whereof these were the Contents THe word that Don Ferdinando hath past unto you to speak to your father that hee might speak to mine hee hath accomplished more to his own pleasure then to your profit For Sir you shall understand that hee hath demanded me for his wife and my father borne away by the advantage of worths which hee supposes to bee in Don Ferdinando more then in you hath agreed to his demand in so good earnest as the espousals shall bee celebrated within these two dayes and that so secretly and alone as only the Heavens and some folk of the house shall bee witnesses How I remain imagine and whether it bee convenient you should return you may consider And the successe of this affair shall let you to perceive whether I love you well or no. I beseech Almightie God that this may arrive unto your hands before mine shall be in danger to joyn it self with his which keepeth his promised faith so ill These were in summe the contents of the Letter and the motives that perswaded me presently to depart without attending any other answer or other monies for then I conceived cleerly that it was not the buy-all of the horses but that of his delights which had moved Don Ferdinando to send me to his brother The rage which I conceived against him joyned with the fear to lose the Jewell which I had gained by so many yeers service and desires did set wings on me for I arrived as I had flyen next day at mine owne City in the houre and moment fit to goe speake to Luscinda I entred secretly and left my Mule whereon I rode in the honest mans House that had brought mee the Letter and my fortune purposing then to bee favourable to mee disposed so mine affaires that I found Luscinda siting at that yron-grate which was the sole witnesse of our Loves Luscinda knew mee streight and I her but not as wee ought to know one another But who is hee in the world that can truely vaunt that hee hath penetrated and throughly exhausted the confused thoughts and mutable nature of women Truly none I say then to proceed with my tale that as soon as Luscinda perceived me shee said Cardenio I am attyred with my wedding Garments and in the Hall doth wait for me the Traitor Don Ferdinando and my covetous father with other witnesses which shall rather bee such of my death then of mine espousals bee not troubled deer friend but procure to bee present at this sacrifice the which if I cannot hinder by my perswasions and reasons I carry hidden about me a Ponyard secretly which may hinder more resolute forces by giving end to my life and a beginning to thee to know certain the affection which I have ever borne and doe bear unto thee I answered her troubled and hastily fearing I should not have the leisure to reply unto her saying Sweet Ladie let thy works verifie thy words for if thou carriest a Ponyard to defend thy credit I doe here likewise bear a Sword wherewithall I will defend thee or kill my self if fortune proove adverse and contrary I believe that she could not hear all my words by reason shee was called hastily away as I perceived for that the Bridegroom expected her comming By this the night of my forrows did throughly fall and the Sunne of my gladnesse was set and I remained without light in mine eyes or discourse in my understanding I could not finde the way into her house nor could I moove my self to any part yet considering at last how important my presence was for that which might befall in that adventure I animated my self the best I could and entred into the house and as one that knew very well all the entries and passages thereof and specially by reason of the trouble and businesse that was then in hand I went in unperceived of any And thus without beeing seen I had the oportunity to place my self in the hollow room of a window of the same Hall which was covered by the ends of two encountring pieces of Tapestry from whence I could see all that was done in the Hall remaining my self unviewed of any Who could now describe the assaults and surprizals of my heart while I there abode the thoughts which incountred my minde the considerations which I had which were so many and such as they can neither bee said nor is it reason they should Let it suffice you to know that the Bridegroom entred into the Hall without any ornament wearing the ordinary array hee was wont and was accompanied by a Cousin Germane of Luscinda's and in all the Hall there was no stranger present nor any other then the houshold Servants Within a while after Luscinda came out of the Parlour accompanied by her mother and two waiting maids of her own as richly attired and deckt as her calling and beauty deserved and the perfection of Courtly pomp and bravery could afford my distraction and trouble of minde lent me no time to note particularly the apparrell shee wore and therefore did only marke the colours which were Carnation and White and the splendour which the precious Stones and Jewels of her Tires and all the rest of her Garments yeelded yet did the singular beauty of her fair and golden tresses surpasse them so much as being in competencie with the precious Stones and flame of four Links that lighted in the Hall yet did the splendour thereof seem farr more bright