"...they, [Don Q's niece and housekeeper] were worried sick that their unlce and master, as soon as he felt a bit better, would be up to his old tricks - and what they were worrying about was in fact what happened.

"...Juana Panza (which was Sancho's wife's name, although she wasn't related to him: it was just the custom in La Mancha for a wife to be known by her husband's name.")

1. Cervantes is angry, more than he is letting on, at whomever has published a "fake" Don Quixote. This anger motivates him to pick up his pen and return to the knight's story after ten years.

> "Did Cervantes really have a heart of forgiveness or did he pretend to forgive?"

"I see Don Quixote in Cervantes. Don Quixote... wished to be a hero. In the end, Cervantes' plays out his character's life in his "real" life by using the tool of forgiveness like any knight errant.

The madman took great delight on dropping a load of marble on dogs' heads to watch them run away howling in pain. One day a dog owner beat up the madman for doing this to his whippet, repeating "Whippet, whippet" with each whiplash. Now the madman learned his lesson, but about a month later, he was up to his old tricks again and took up an even heavier load. BUT every dog he approached became a "whippet" in his mind and he never again dropped a load of marble on any dog.

"The role of Cervantes’s Don Quixote in the overall literary development of Gustave Flaubert is one of the most important, and least studied, examples of influence and imitation in the history of the novel...

The presence of the Quixote in Flaubert’s imagination can be traced back to his childhood. When he was a young boy, his favorite pastime was to have Don Quixotte read to him aloud, in an abridged French edition edited by Florian. Once he had learned how to read for himself, he collected other editions of the novel, and the impact of these readings is made evident in a letter he wrote in 1832, when he was only ten years old, to his friend Ernest Chevalier:

'I know I had told you before that I wanted to be a playwright, but on second thought, I’ve decided against it . . . I have decided instead to become a novelist and I’ve already got some ideas for my first books. I’ll write about Cardenio, about Dorotea, and one about Ill-Advised Curiosity. (1)

For the first time, he began to plan every line meticulously and to lay out a blueprint for each part of his new project with enormous care. His new approach to writing reminds us of the example of the painter Orbaneja in Don Quixote—an example that must have been quite important to Cervantes as it is included not once but twice in the book. Orbaneja is a sloppy artist, and when he sets out to paint, he lets himself be guided by inspiration alone. Thus, when he paints a portrait of a rooster, the painting looks nothing at all like a rooster. In fact, it is an unrecognizable figure, to such an extent that the artist has to hang a sign on the picture saying “rooster,” or nobody would have any idea of what it’s supposed to be. Flaubert & Don Quixote

"The wisest characer in a play is a fool, because he who pretends to be a simpleton must never be one."

Cidi, Sidi= Sir - but how is it spelled in Spanish? We're wondering why different translations provide these two spellings. How would YOU spell it?

Then there's the instance of the university student referring to "My Lady Dona Dulcinea del Toboso." Sancho corrects him - "I've never heard My Lady Dulcinea called dona, only Lady Dulcinea... What are the two Spanish words and is there a difference in meaning? (The university graduate doesn't see any...)

the most complete collection of Dore's illustrations I've seen on the Internet. I've added this treasure - (the link) to our heading - under "Related Links" - do you all see it? Fun to go back and forth and check on Dore as we move through the chapters.

Cidi - let's assume we are all pronouncing the "c" correctly (who's to know if we're not? ) and use Cidi when referring to Sir Berengeli.

Dona - If only the rich and scholars use this title and Sancho knows it, why doesn't he question Don Quixote's title. Does he think of him as a scholar?

JoanK, JoanP, JoanR - please don't be concerned about mixing your Joans here! Even Cervantes is doing it...with Juana and Teresa!

If Manuel changed name to "Miguel"- you'd probably start calling him "Manuel!" If we forgive the Joans, you forgive my occasional "Pancho" for Sancho Panza - and Maryal's "Sanson" - (unless that's how Grossman has it?)

"Between the scenes of the play, words were projected on a marquee on the stage telling audience what was coming up sort of like the chapter descriptions in Don Quixote. One of them--and I wasn't the only one to laugh, thank heaven--was a description of the scene followed by, "probably the most important scene in the play."

"In seeking the Impossible, one is denied that which is possible. - "He who hunts the impossible may in perfect justice find himself denied that which is possible."

Some begin humbly, but grow and stretch until they reach nobility;

Others have magnificent beginnings, stay that way, and continue as they began.

Still others who start magnificently, like a pyramid end in a point, destroying their beginnings until it all turns into nothing.

Some, the majority, neither start well, nor make any progress, come to a nameless end.

"The Impossible Dream"
from MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972)
music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion
"The Impossible Dream" (a .MP3 file courtesy MGM).

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

"Let's have more about Don Quixote! Let him keep rushing around and Sancho Panza go on jabbering..."

"Grossman might be called the Glenn Gould of translators, because she, too, articulates every note. Reading her amazing mode of finding equivalents in English for Cervantes's darkening vision is an entrance into further understanding of why this great book contains within itself all the novels that have followed in its sublime wake."

Don't call yourself poor because your dreams did not come true. Really poor are only those who never dreamed at all

12 These men turn night into day; in the face of darkness they say, 'Light is near.'

"Speak respectfully, Sancho, when you speak of my lady's property," said Don Quixote. "Let's not spoil the party; let's not throw out the baby with the bath water."

"We have come to the church*, Sancho."

Footnote: "This statement is one of the best known in the novel, for it has been interpreted as meaning that Don Quixote and Sancho have "run into" the church in the sense of coming into dangerous conflict with the institution.

Proverbs:
"que buen corazón quebranta mala aventura" - "a good heart breaks a bad deed"
"donde no hay tocinos, no hay estacas"
- "where there is no bacon, there is no stake"
"donde no piensan salta la liebre."
- "where no one thinks of jumps the hare."

"A good heart wins out over bad luck, and when there's no pig, there's no fence, and they also say that just when you don't expect it, you find a hare jumping out."

. " But one thing, senor, troubles me more than all the rest, and that is thinking what is to be done when your worship conquers some giant, or some other knight, and orders him to go and present himself before the beauty of the lady Dulcinea. Where is this poor giant, or this poor wretch of a vanquished knight, to find her? I think I can see them wandering all over El Toboso, looking like noddies, and asking for my lady Dulcinea."

"It seems to me I can see them wandering around Toboso like idiots, looking for my lady Dulcinea, and even if they find her in the middle of the street, they won't recognize her any more than they'd know my father."

The victorious DQ recognizes the Bachelor Carrasco and Sancho's neighbor, but he believes, wrongly, that wizards and magic have transferred their personalities on the valiant Knight of the Wood and his squire.

"who thought his enemy was already bearing down on him, swiftly dug his spurs into Rocinante's skinny flanks and goaded him so mercilessly that, the history tells us, this was the only time he was known to have galloped ..." (pg. 545, Grossman) and thereupon DQ "charged the Knight of the Mirrors with so much force that almost without intending to he knocked him to the ground ..." (pg. 546, Grossman)

"It's easy enough to think up and begin an enterprise, but most of the time it's hard to end it."

"...the sky of yesterday is gone like yesterday's song."

"This poem is both a tragic romance with the sad moral that perfection is beyond our grasp and an unromantic comedy with the happy point that if a man aims high enough he can come as near perfection as this world allows."

"Knitted socks discovered in Egyptian tombs have been dated between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD. In the medieval Europe hand knitting was an important industry and had developed into an advanced craft by 16th century." History of Knitting
************************************
"Currently it is believed that knitting was first invented by Arabian nomads who carried the craft into Egypt. From there the craft was carried through North Africa and into Spain where it was picked up by traveling members of the Catholic church and spread rapidly throughout Europe."Knitting history

Does Cervantes believe that birds of a feather should flock together, as Sancho says?

Or does he, Cervantes, believe that love should prevail, no matter what one's social standing?

Does he believe a maiden should have a say in selecting her future husband?

"Don Quixote was comforted by the prophecy...that he was to be united in holy, lawful wedlock with his beloved Dulcinea del Toboso, from whose happy womb there would come cubs - that is, his sons - who would lead to La Mancha's eternal glory, and believing this devoutly and contentedly, he sighed deeply..."

 
If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life 
Never make a pretty woman your wife 
So for my personal point of view 
Get an ugly girl to marry you 
If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life 
Never make a pretty woman your wife 
So for my personal point of view 
Get an ugly girl to marry you.

In The Middle Ages the Christian Church used puppets to spread church doctrine. Monks and priests were the puppeteers.

The Nativity, the story of the birth of Jesus, was a favorite play.

Generally, marionettes, small jointed figures operated with strings, were used to enact the story. The name Marionette , meaning "Little Mary" may have come from the figure of The Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, in the telling of the Nativity story. It may also have come from the word marotte meaning fool's scepter.

In the fourteenth or fifteenth century puppeteers began to explore themes other than religious ones. A comedic influence began to emerge. The Church decided puppets were no longer suitable for their teaching. However, puppet theater found a new home in the streets and fairs of the working class. By the sixteenth century, puppet theaters existed all over Europe. Marionette operas were popular.

Green was in fact a popular color at the time among the wealthy, not the poor. It was especially favored by travellers and hunters. Color was symbolic and much was read into the colors one wore. The Inquisition often made mistakes in judging a person by the color he was wearing. If one had come by certain garments which were Moorish in appearance, style or color, he usually got rid of them as quickly as possible.

So, it wouldn't have been unsual to meet the Man in the Green Coat on the road. One source said that Cervantes did not often describe attire in these volumes, but when he did, all action would halt and attention would be focussed on the garments- and on the wearer. There are said to be eighteen different colors mentioned in Don Q...most often green, tawny and gold.
Cervantes, being Cervantes often wrote of paradox when describing costume. Sort of like - "all that glitters is not gold." So some scholars see Cervantes dressing in green those who may not be what they seem. Much is made of Don Diego de Miranda and his green coat. Scholars see him as a man who is not what he protests to be. They point out that just as we never did get a chance to see the interior of his house, only the exterior, we really never did get to know the man himself. The scholars imply that Don Diego didn't see himself either. The green coat was a symbol of "self-deceit."

I wonder if we will meet Don Diego again and learn more. So Hats - keep your eyes open for green in the future. Especially eye-patches that cover most of one's face!

Coffee! Hot coffee!

After both Don Q and Sancho have been saved by the formidable mill workers - or was it the fishermen who saved them? - DonQ concludes that the mill workers are monsters, as Hats points out - but so are the fishermen! There are now two evil magicians at work in the world. "The whole world is nothing but tricks and schemes.

"Very shortly after the completion of Henry IV, Part II, Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor (1599), featuring the errant knight in the starring role. What prompted Shakespeare to resurrect Falstaff so soon? Two independent sources confirm that Shakespeare revived Falstaff at the insistence of Queen Elizabeth I, who had been delighted by Falstaff's presence in the Henry IV plays. John Dennis, a literary critic who adapted The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1702, asserted, “I know very well that it hath pleased one of the greatest queens that ever was in the world ... This comedy was written at her command, and by her direction, and she was so eager to see it acted that she commanded it to be finished in fourteen days; and was afterwards, as tradition tells us, very well pleased at the representation." Moreover, Nicholas Rowe, in his Life of Shakespeare (1709), reports that the Queen "was so well pleased with that admirable character of Falstaff in the two parts of Henry IV that she commanded him to continue it for one play more, and to show him in love."

There is evidence in the play itself to corroborate the story documented by Rowe and Dennis. Unlike any of his other dramas, Shakespeare deals exclusively with English society in The Merry Wives, localizing the play at Windsor, and making overt complementary references to Windsor Castle. And Falstaff is the romantic lead, determined to woo the wives of Ford and Page, two gentlemen of Windsor. Falstaff

"Green was a popular color at the time among the wealthy, not the poor. It was especially favored by travellers and hunters. Color was symbolic and much was read into the colors one wore. The Inquisition often made mistakes in judging a person by the color he was wearing. If one had come by certain garments which were Moorish in appearance, style or color, he usually got rid of them as quickly as possible.

So, it wouldn't have been unsual to meet the Man in the Green Coat on the road. One source said that Cervantes did not often describe attire in these volumes, but when he did, all action would halt and attention would be focussed on the garments- and on the wearer. There are said to be eighteen different colors mentioned in Don Q...most often green, tawny and gold. Cervantes, being Cervantes often wrote of paradox when describing costume. Sort of like - "all that glitters is not gold." Some scholars see Cervantes dressing in green those who may not be what they seem. Much is made of Don Diego de Miranda and his green coat. Scholars see him as a man who is not what he protests to be. They point out that just as we never did get a chance to see the interior of his house, only the exterior, we really never did get to know the man himself. The scholars imply that Don Diego didn't see himself either. The green coat was a symbol of "self-deceit."

"Nature is like a potter making clay bowls, and he who makes a handsome bowl can also make two of them, or three, or one hundred..."

"Men of few words are the best men"

The Duchess seems to be commenting on Shakespeare's observation when she says "you really can't be amusing and be a man of very few words."

"Can't you understand, you miserable wretch, that if they take you for a vulgar peasant, or a laughable fool, they're going to take me for a fraud, a make-believe knight?"

" Our poor Don seems farther away from reality than ever. He was downcast a few chapters ago but the blatantly false flattery of the Duke and Duchess reinforces everything he believed and has asserted all along.

The Duke and Duchess tell him they read the first volume, so they know how in chapter I DQ decided to become a knight errant, then thought up an appropriate name, and thereafter created a lady, Dulcinea, in whose service he would perform great deeds. They already know the answers to their detailed questions. They have huge fun at his expense and use him like a court jester. Their (and the staff's) treatment of the Don and his squire borders on cruelty.

It seems to me that the Duke and Duchess are just two more people who try to disabuse the Don of his notions on knight errantry - beginning with his friends at home, the barber and the priest, and countless others. Except that they feign to believe him and treat him with highest honors. It is an incredible charade.

"... he had thought of some one to call his Lady! There was, so the story goes, in a village near his own a very good-looking farm-girl with whom he had been at one time in love, though, so far as is known, she never knew it nor gave a thought to the matter. Her name was Aldonza Lorenzo, and upon her he thought fit to confer the title of Lady of his Thoughts; and after some search for a name which should not be out of harmony with her own, and should suggest and indicate that of a princess and great lady, he decided upon calling her Dulcinea del Toboso -she being of El Toboso- a name, to his mind, musical, uncommon, and significant, like all those he had already bestowed upon himself and the things belonging to him."

"keep your stupid jokes where they belong and where they'll gladly pay for you performing them, because all you're going to get from me is a fig."

"It is likely that this poem is a satire of a scandal during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. The cat is Elizabeth I and the dog is Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, whom she once referred to as her 'lap dog'. Hey Diddle Diddle