more books against me than there are letters in the
verses of Mingo Revulgo! These two princes, unsought
by any adulation or flattery of mine, of their own
goodness alone, have taken it upon them to show me
kindness and protect me, and in this I consider myself
happier and richer than if Fortune had raised me to
her greatest height in the ordinary way. The
poor man may retain honour, but not the vicious; poverty
may cast a cloud over nobility, but cannot hide it
altogether; and as virtue of itself sheds a certain
light, even though it be through the straits and chinks
of penury, it wins the esteem of lofty and noble spirits,
and in consequence their protection. Thou needst
say no more to him, nor will I say anything more to
thee, save to tell thee to bear in mind that this
Second Part of “Don Quixote” which I offer
thee is cut by the same craftsman and from the same
cloth as the First, and that in it I present thee
Don Quixote continued, and at length dead and buried,
so that no one may dare to bring forward any further
evidence against him, for that already produced is
sufficient; and suffice it, too, that some reputable
person should have given an account of all these shrewd
lunacies of his without going into the matter again;
for abundance, even of good things, prevents them
from being valued; and scarcity, even in the case
of what is bad, confers a certain value. I was
forgetting to tell thee that thou mayest expect the
“Persiles,” which I am now finishing,
and also the Second Part of “Galatea.”
Cide Hamete Benengeli, in the Second Part of this
history, and third sally of Don Quixote, says that
the curate and the barber remained nearly a month
without seeing him, lest they should recall or bring
back to his recollection what had taken place.
They did not, however, omit to visit his niece and
housekeeper, and charge them to be careful to treat
him with attention, and give him comforting things
to eat, and such as were good for the heart and the
brain, whence, it was plain to see, all his misfortune
proceeded. The niece and housekeeper replied that
they did so, and meant to do so with all possible
care and assiduity, for they could perceive that their
master was now and then beginning to show signs of
being in his right mind. This gave great satisfaction
to the curate and the barber, for they concluded they
had taken the right course in carrying him off enchanted
on the ox-cart, as has been described in the First
Part of this great as well as accurate history, in
the last chapter thereof. So they resolved to
pay him a visit and test the improvement in his condition,
although they thought it almost impossible that there
could be any; and they agreed not to touch upon any
point connected with knight-errantry so as not to
run the risk of reopening wounds which were still
so tender.
