CHAPTER LXXXIII.
The toilsome end and conclusion of Sancho Panza's government.
To think the affairs of this life are always to remain in the same state, is an erroneous fancy. The face of things rather seems continually to change and roll with circular motion; summer succeeds the spring, autumn the summer, winter the autumn, and then spring again. So time proceeds in this perpetual round; only the life of man is ever hastening to its end, swifter than time itself, without hopes to be renewed, unless in the next, that is unlimited and infinite. For even by the light of nature, and without that of faith, many have discovered the swiftness and instability of this present being, and the duration of the eternal life which is expected. But this moral reflection of our author is here chiefly intended to shew the uncertainty of Sancho's fortune, how soon it vanished like a dream, and how from his high preferment he returned to his former low station.
It was now but the seventh night, after so many days of his government, when the careful governor had betaken himself to his repose, sated not with bread and wine, but cloyed with hearing causes, pronouncing sentences, making statutes, and putting out orders and proclamations. Scarce was sleep beginning to close his eyes, when of a sudden he heard a great noise of bells, and most dreadful outcries, as if the whole island had been sinking. Presently he started, and sat up in bed, and listened with great attention, to try if he could learn how far this uproar might concern him. But, while he was thus hearkening in the dark, a great number of drums and trumpets were heard, and that sound being added to the noise of the bells and the cries, gave so dreadful an alarm, that his fear and terror increased, and he was in a sad consternation. Quitting his bed, he ran and opened his chamber-door, and saw about twenty men come running along the galleries with lighted torches in one hand, and drawn swords in the other, all crying out, "Arm! my lord governor, arm! a world of enemies are got into the island, and we are undone, unless your valour and conduct relieve us!" Thus bawling and running with great fury and disorder, they got to the door where Sancho stood, quite scared out of his senses. "What would you have me arm for?" cried Sancho; "do I know any thing of arms or fighting, think you? Why do you not rather send for Don Quixote, my master? he will despatch your enemies in a trice. Alas, I understand nothing of this hasty service." "For shame, my lord governor," said another; "what a faint-heartedness is this? See, we bring you here arms offensive and defensive; arm yourself and march to the market-place; be our leader and captain as you ought, and shew yourself a governor." "Why, then, arm me; and good luck attend me!" quoth Sancho. With that they brought him two large shields, which they had provided; and tied the one behind upon his back, and the other before upon his breast, having got his arms through some holes made on purpose. Now the shields being fastened to his body, as hard as cords could bind them, the poor governor was cased up and immured as straight as an arrow, without being able so much as to bend his knees, or stir a step. Then, having put a lance in his hand for him to lean upon and keep himself up, they desired him to march and lead them on, and put life into them all; telling him that they did not doubt of victory, since they had him for their commander. "March!" quoth Sancho, "how do you think I am able to do it, squeezed as I am? These boards stick so plaguy close to me, I cannot so much as bend the joints of my knees; you must even carry me in your arms, and lay me across or set me upright before some passage, and I will make good that spot of ground, either with this lance or my body." "Fie, my lord governor," said another; "it is more your fear than your armour that stiffens your legs, and hinders you from moving. March on; it is high time; the enemy grows stronger, and the danger presses." The poor governor, thus urged, endeavoured to go forward; but the first motion he made threw him to the ground at full length, so heavily that he gave over all his bones for broken: and there he lay like a huge tortoise in his shell, or a flitch of bacon between two boards, or like a boat overturned upon a flat with the keel upwards. Nor had those droll companions the least compassion upon him as he lay; but putting out the lights, they made a terrible noise, and clattered with their swords, and laid on so furiously upon his shields, that if he had not shrunk his head into them for shelter, he had been in a woful condition. Squeezed up in his narrow shell, he was in a grievous fright, praying from the bottom of his heart for deliverance from the unhappy trade of governing islands. At last, when he least expected it, he heard a cry—"Victory, victory! the enemy is routed! Now, my lord governor, rise; come and enjoy the fruits of conquest, and divide the spoils taken from the enemy by the valour of your invincible arms." "Help me up," cried poor Sancho, in a doleful tone; and when they had set him on his legs, "Let all the enemy I have routed," quoth he, "be nailed to my forehead; I will divide no spoils of enemies; but if I have one friend here, I only beg he would give me a draught of wine to comfort me." Thereupon they gave him wine, and took off his shields. After that, what with his fright and what with the toil he had endured, he fell into a swoon, insomuch that those who acted this scene began to repent they had carried it so far. But Sancho, recovering from his fit in a little time, they also recovered from their uneasiness. Being come to himself, he asked what it was o'clock. They answered, it was now break of day. He said nothing, but creeping along softly (for he was too much bruised to go along very fast), he got to the stable, followed by all the company; and coming to Dapple, he embraced the quiet animal, gave him a loving kiss on the forehead, and with tears in his eyes, "Come hither," said he, "my friend, thou faithful companion and fellow-sharer in my travels and miseries; when thee and I consorted together, and all my cares were but to mend thy furniture and feed thy carcase, then happy were my days, my months, and years. But since I forsook thee, and clambered up the towers of ambition and pride, a thousand woes, a thousand torments, have haunted and worried my soul."
While Sancho was talking thus, he fitted on his pack-saddle, nobody offering to say anything to him. This done, with a great deal of difficulty he mounted his ass; and then, addressing himself to the steward, the secretary, the gentleman-waiter, and Doctor Pedro Rezio, and many others that stood by: "Make way, gentlemen," said he, "and let me return to my former liberty. Let me go, that I may seek my old course of life, and rise again from that death which buries me here alive. I know better what belongs to ploughing, delving, pruning, and planting of vineyards, than how to make laws, and defend countries and kingdoms. St. Peter is very well at Rome; which is as much as to say, let every one stick to the calling he was born to. A spade does better in my hand than a governor's truncheon; and I had rather have a mess of plain porridge than lie at the mercy of an officious physic-monger, who starves me to death. I had rather solace myself under the shade of an oak in summer, and wrap myself up in a double sheep-skin in the winter, at my liberty, than lay me down, with the slavery of a government, in fine Holland sheets, and case my body in furs and sables. Heaven be with you, gentlefolks; and pray tell my lord duke from me, that poor I was born, and poor I am at present. I have neither won nor lost; which is as much as to say, without a penny I came to this government, and without a penny I leave it—quite contrary to what other governors of islands use to do when they leave them. Clear the way, then, I beseech you, and let me pass." "This must not be, my lord governor," said Dr. Rezio; "for I will give your honour a balsamic drink, that is a specific against falls, dislocations, contusions, and all manner of bruises, and that will presently restore you to your former health and strength. And then for your diet, I promise to take a new course with you, and to let you eat abundantly of whatsoever you please." "It is too late, Mr. Doctor," answered Sancho; "you should as soon make me turn Turk, as hinder me from going. No, no; these tricks shall not pass upon me again. Every sheep with its like. Let not the cobbler go beyond his last; and so let me go, for it is late." "My lord governor," said the steward, "though it grieves us to part with your honour, your sense and Christian behaviour engaging us to covet your company, yet we would not presume to stop you against your inclination; but you know that every governor, before he leaves the place he has governed, is bound to give an account of his administration. Be pleased, therefore, to do so for the time you have been among us, and then peace be with you." "No man has power to call me to an account," replied Sancho, "but my lord duke. To him it is that I am going, and to him I will give a fair and square account. And indeed, going away so bare as I do, there needs no greater proof that I have governed like an angel." "In truth," said Dr. Rezio, "the great Sancho is in the right; and I am of opinion we ought to let him go; for certainly the duke will be very glad to see him." Thereupon they all agreed to let him pass; offering first to attend him, and supply him with whatever he might want in his journey, either for entertainment or convenience. Sancho told them that all he desired was, a little corn for his ass, and half a cheese and half a loaf for himself, having occasion for no other provisions in so short a journey. With that, they all embraced him, and he embraced them all, not without tears in his eyes; leaving them in admiration of the good sense which he discovered, both in his discourse and unalterable resolution.
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
What happened to Sancho by the way; with other matters which you will have no more to do than to see.
Sancho pursued his way until the night overtook him within half a league of the duke's castle. However, as it was summer-time, he was not much uneasy, and chose to go out of the road, with a design to stay there till the morning. But, while he sought some place where he might rest himself, he and Dapple tumbled of a sudden into a very deep hole, among the ruins of an old building. As he was falling, he fancied himself sinking down into some bottomless abyss; but he was in no such danger, for by the time he had descended somewhat lower than eighteen feet, Dapple made a full stop at the bottom, and his rider found himself still on his back, without the least hurt in the world. Presently Sancho began to consider the condition of his bones, held his breath, and felt all about him; and finding himself sound and in a whole skin, he thought he could never give Heaven sufficient thanks for his wondrous preservation; for at first he gave himself over for lost and broken into a thousand pieces. He groped with both hands about the walls of the pit to try if it were possible to get out without help; but he found them all so steep, that there was not the least hold or footing to get up. This grieved him to the soul; and to increase his sorrow, Dapple began to raise his voice in a very piteous and doleful manner, which pierced his master's very heart: nor did the poor beast make such moan without reason, for to say the truth, he was but in a woful condition. "Woe's me," cried Sancho, "what sudden and unthought of mischances every foot befall us poor wretches in this miserable world! Who would have thought that he who but yesterday saw himself seated on the throne of an island-governor, and had servants and vassals at his beck, should to-day find himself buried in a pit, without the least soul to help him or come to his relief? Here we are likely to perish with hunger, I and my ass, if we do not die before, he of his bruises, and I of grief and anguish. At least, I shall not be so lucky as was my master Don Quixote, when he went down into the cave of the enchanter Montesinos. He found better fare there than he could have at his own house; the cloth was laid, and his bed made, and he saw nothing but pleasant visions; but I am like to see nothing here but toads and snakes. Unhappy creature that I am! What have my foolish designs and whimsies brought me to?"
At length, after a whole night's lamenting and complaining at a miserable rate, the day came on; and its light having confirmed Sancho in his doubts of the possibility of getting out of that place without help, he again made a vigorous outcry, to try whether any body might not hear him. But alas, all his calling was in vain; for all around there was nobody within hearing; and at first he gave himself over for dead and buried. He cast his eyes on Dapple, and seeing him extended on the ground, and sadly dejected, he went to him, and tried to get him on his legs, which, with much ado, by means of his assistance, the poor beast did at last, being hardly able to stand. Then he took a luncheon of bread out of his wallet, that had run the same fortune with them, and giving it to the ass, who took it not at all amiss, and made no bones of it, "Here," said Sancho, as if the beast had understood him, "a fat sorrow is better than a lean." At length, he perceived on one side of the pit a great hole, wide enough for a man to creep through stooping. He drew to it, and having crawled through on all fours, found that it led into a vault, that enlarged itself the further it extended, which he could easily perceive, the sun shining in towards the top of the concavity. Having made this discovery, he went back to his ass, and like one that knew what belonged to digging, with a stone he began to remove the earth that was about the hole, and laboured so effectually, that he soon made a passage for his companion. Then taking him by the halter, he led him along through the cave, to try if he could not find a way to get out on the other side. "Alas!" said he to himself, "what a heart of a chicken have I! This, which to me is a sad disaster, to my master Don Quixote would be a rare adventure. He would look upon these caves and dungeons as lovely gardens and glorious palaces, and hope to be led out of these dark narrow cells into some fine meadow; while I, luckless, heartless wretch that I am, every step I take, expect to sink into some deeper pit than this, and go down I do not know whither." Thus he went on, lamenting and despairing, and thought he had gone somewhat more than half a league, when at last he perceived a kind of confused light, like that of day, break in at some open place, but which, to poor Sancho, seemed a prospect of a passage into another world.