LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| FULL PAGES | ||
| TITLE-PAGE. | ||
| DON QUIXOTE TESTING HIS VISOR, | [Frontispiece] | |
| DON QUIXOTE KNIGHTED BY THE INNKEEPER, | facing page | [14] |
| THE WINDMILLS, | " | [38] |
| THE GOATHERDS, | " | [48] |
| THE TOSSING OF SANCHO, | " | [68] |
| THE HELMET OF MAMBRINO, | " | [92] |
| MEETING CARDENIO, | " | [108] |
| DON QUIXOTE'S PENANCE, | " | [126] |
| MEETING DOROTHEA, | " | [160] |
| THE WINE-SKINS, | " | [191] |
| DON QUIXOTE'S ENCHANTMENT, | " | [212] |
| HALF PAGES | ||
| PAGE | ||
| DON QUIXOTE WATCHING HIS ARMOUR, | [7] | |
| DON QUIXOTE TO THE RESCUE OF ANDREW, | [21] | |
| THE DESTRUCTION OF DON QUIXOTE'S LIBRARY, | [30] | |
| THE MANNER OF DON QUIXOTE'S TRAVEL TO THE INN, | [58] | |
| OF THE ADVENTURE OF THE TWO ARMIES, | [75] | |
| OF A WONDERFUL ADVENTURE, | [83] | |
| DON QUIXOTE FREES THE GALLEY SLAVES, | [98] | |
| THE STORY OF CARDENIO, | [118] | |
| THE CURATE AND THE BARBER IN DISGUISE, | [136] | |
| THE STORY OF CARDENIO CONTINUED, | [143] | |
| THE DISCOVERY OF DOROTHEA, | [152] | |
| SANCHO PANZA RECOVERS HIS DAPPLE, | [168] | |
| SANCHO'S STORY OF HIS VISIT TO THE LADYDULCINEA, | [177] | |
| ANDREW SALUTES DON QUIXOTE, | [184] | |
| OF THE RARE ADVENTURES AT THE INN, | [198] | |
| DON QUIXOTE ADDRESSING DOROTHEA, | [205] | |
| THE DISPUTED POMMEL, | [220] | |
| DON QUIXOTE ARRESTED, | [227] | |
| THE MANNER OF DON QUIXOTE'S RETURN HOME, | [236] | |
CHAPTER I
An Introduction to that famous gentleman, Don Quixote of the Mancha
This is the story that Miguel de Cervantes, Spaniard, published in 1605, which the world has been reading again and again ever since.
Once upon a time there lived in a certain village in a province of Spain called the Mancha, a gentleman named Quixada or Queseda—for indeed historians differ about this—whose house was full of old lances, halberds, and such other armours and weapons. He was, besides, the owner of an ancient target or shield, a raw-boned steed, and a swift greyhound. His pot consisted daily of common meats, some lentils on Fridays, and perhaps a roast pigeon for Sunday's dinner. His dress was a black suit with velvet breeches, and slippers of the same colour, which he kept for holidays, and a suit of homespun which he wore on week-days.
On the purchase of these few things he spent the small rents that came to him every year. He had in his house a woman-servant of about some forty years old, a Niece not yet twenty, and a lad that served him both in field and at home, and could saddle his horse or manage a pruning-hook.
The master himself was about fifty years old, a strong, hard-featured man with a withered face. He was an early riser, and had once been very fond of hunting. But now for a great portion of the year he applied himself wholly to reading the old books of Knighthood, and this with such keen delight that he forgot all about the pleasures of the chase, and neglected all household matters. His mania and folly grew to such a pitch that he sold many acres of his lands to buy books of the exploits and adventures of the Knights of old. These he took for true and correct histories, and when his friends the Curate of the village, or Mr. Nicholas the worthy Barber of the town, came to see him, he would dispute with them as to which of the Knights of romance had done the greatest deeds.
So eagerly did he plunge into the reading of these books that he many times spent whole days and nights poring over them; and in the end, through little sleep and much reading, his brain became tired, and he fairly lost his wits. His fancy was filled with those things that he read, of enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, tempests, and other impossible follies, and those romantic tales so firmly took hold of him that he believed no history to be so certain and sincere as they were.