Part 2 Chapter 15

Don Quixote went off satisfied, elated, and vain-glorious in the highest degree at having won a victory over such a valiant¹ knight² as he fancied him of the Mirrors to be, and one from whose knightly³ word he expected to learn whether the enchantment⁴ of his lady still continued; inasmuch as the said vanquished⁶ knight was bound, under the penalty of ceasing to be one, to return and render him an account of what took place between him and her. But Don Quixote was of one mind, he of the Mirrors of another, for he just then had no thought of anything but finding some village where he could plaster himself, as has been said already. The history goes on to say, then, that when the bachelor Samson Carrasco recommended Don Quixote to resume his knight-errantry which he had laid aside, it was in consequence of having been previously⁷ in conclave⁸ with the curate and the barber on the means to be adopted to induce Don Quixote to stay at home in peace and quiet without worrying himself with his ill-starred adventures; at which consultation⁹ it was decided¹⁰ by the unanimous vote of all, and on the special advice of Carrasco, that Don Quixote should be allowed to go, as it seemed impossible to restrain him, and that Samson should sally forth¹¹ to meet him as a knight-errant, and do battle with him, for there would be no difficulty about a cause, and vanquish⁵ him, that being looked upon as an easy matter; and that it should be agreed and settled that the vanquished was to be at the mercy of the victor. Then, Don Quixote being vanquished, the bachelor knight was to command him to return to his village and his house, and not quit it for two years, or until he received further orders from him; all which it was clear Don Quixote would unhesitatingly obey, rather than contravene¹² or fail to observe the laws of chivalry¹³; and during the period of his seclusion¹⁴ he might perhaps forget his folly¹⁵, or there might be an opportunity of discovering some ready remedy for his madness. Carrasco undertook the task, and Tom Cecial, a gossip and neighbour of Sancho Panza’s , a lively, feather-headed fellow, offered himself as his squire¹⁶. Carrasco armed himself in the fashion described, and Tom Cecial, that he might not be known by his gossip when they met, fitted on over his own natural nose the false masquerade one that has been mentioned; and so they followed the same route Don Quixote took, and almost came up with him in time to be present at the adventure of the cart of Death and finally encountered them in the grove¹⁷, where all that the sagacious reader has been reading about took place; and had it not been for the extraordinary fancies of Don Quixote, and his conviction that the bachelor was not the bachelor, senor bachelor would have been incapacitated for ever from taking his degree of licentiate, all through not finding nests where he thought to find birds.

Tom Cecial, seeing how ill they had succeeded, and what a sorry end their expedition had come to, said to the bachelor, “Sure enough, Senor Samson Carrasco, we are served right; it is easy enough to plan and set about an enterprise, but it is often a difficult matter to come well out of it. Don Quixote a madman, and we sane¹⁸; he goes off laughing, safe, and sound, and you are left sore and sorry! I’d like to know now which is the madder, he who is so because he cannot help it, or he who is so of his own choice?”

To which Samson replied, “The difference between the two sorts of madmen is, that he who is so will he nil¹⁹ he, will be one always, while he who is so of his own accord can leave off being one whenever he likes.”

“In that case,” said Tom Cecial, “I was a madman of my own accord when I volunteered to become your squire, and, of my own accord, I’ll leave off being one and go home.”

“That’s your affair,” returned Samson, “but to suppose that I am going home until I have given Don Quixote a thrashing is absurd; and it is not any wish that he may recover his senses that will make me hunt him out now, but a wish for the sore pain I am in with my ribs²⁰ won’t let me entertain more charitable thoughts.”

Thus discoursing²¹, the pair proceeded until they reached a town where it was their good luck to find a bone-setter, with whose help the unfortunate Samson was cured. Tom Cecial left him and went home, while he stayed behind meditating²² vengeance²³; and the history will return to him again at the proper time, so as not to omit making merry with Don Quixote now.

 

唐吉诃德由于战胜了如此勇敢的镜子骑士而傲慢自负，得意极了。他现在只等着从那个骑士嘴里得知他的夫人是否仍然受到魔法的控制。如果那个战败的骑士还算是骑士，就得回来告诉他有关杜尔西内亚的情况。不过，唐吉诃德的想法是这样，而镜子骑士的想法却如刚才说的那样，想先找个地方上点药膏。

故事说参孙·卡拉斯科学士曾劝唐吉诃德继续进行其未竟的骑士事业，其实，他事先已同神甫和理发师商量了既能让唐吉诃德安安静静地待在家里，又不影响他那倒霉的征险想法。卡拉斯科提出一个建议，大家一致赞同，那就是干脆先把唐吉诃德放出去，因为让唐吉诃德留在家里几乎是不可能的；然后，参孙扮成游侠骑士的模样，在半路上与唐吉诃德交战。参孙肯定会打败唐吉诃德，这样事情就好办多了。在唐吉诃德战败后，学士骑士可以命令他返回自己的家乡，在家里待两年，不许再出来，除非是学士骑士另有吩咐。唐吉诃德战败后肯定会履行诺言，从而不违犯骑士界的规定。在家里的这段时间里，也许唐吉诃德会忘记自己的狂妄之念，或者找到治疗他的疯病的合适办法。

卡拉斯科愿意充当骑士，而桑乔的一位老弟和邻居托梅·塞西亚尔，一位生性快活、头脑正常的人，则自告奋勇扮成侍从。参孙就像前面谈到的那样披挂了盔甲，而托梅·塞西亚尔则在自己的鼻子上安了个假鼻子，以免与他的老朋友碰面时被认出来。他们沿着唐吉诃德走过的路线行进。唐吉诃德路遇死神之车的时候，他们已几乎赶上唐吉诃德了。最后，他们在森林里追上了唐吉诃德，才发生了细心的读者前面已经看到的事情。要不是唐吉诃德突发奇想，认为学士并不是那个学士，这位打错了算盘的学士恐怕就永远也当不上教士了。托梅·塞西亚尔见他们的如意计划半路搁浅，对学士说道：

“参孙·卡拉斯科大人，咱们真是罪有应得。人们常常想得容易，匆忙动手，结果却很难实现。唐吉诃德疯疯癫癫，咱们神志正常，结果他倒安然无恙地笑着走了，您却浑身是伤，满心忧愁。咱们现在得搞清楚，到底谁更算是疯子，是身不由己疯了的人，还是自愿充当疯子的人？”

参孙回答说：

“两种疯子之间的区别在于，身不由己疯了的人永远是疯子，而自愿充当疯子的人想不疯时就可以不疯。”

“既然这样，”托梅·塞西亚尔说，“我自己想当您的侍从，属于自愿充当疯子的人。现在我不想再当疯子了，我要回家去。”

“随你的便，”参孙说，“但不把唐吉诃德痛打一顿，就休想让我回家。我现在找他不是想让他恢复神志了，而是要找他报仇。我的肋骨还疼着呢，我不会饶了他。”

两人说着话，来到一个正巧有正骨医生的村镇上。参孙在医生那儿治了自己的伤。托梅·塞西亚尔离开他回家了。参孙仍在考虑报仇的事。此时故事及时转向，让读者先拿唐吉诃德开开心再说吧。

1 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

2 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

3 knightly   

adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地

参考例句：

• He composed heroic songs and began to write many a tale of enchantment and knightly adventure. 他谱写英雄短歌并着手编写不少记叙巫术和骑士历险的故事。
• If you wear knight costumes, you will certainly have a knightly manner. 身着骑士装，令您具有骑士风度。

4 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

5 vanquish   

v.征服，战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• He tried to vanquish his fears.他努力克服恐惧心理。
• It is impossible to vanquish so strong an enemy without making an extensive and long-term effort.现在要战胜这样一个强敌，非有长期的广大的努力是不可能的。

6 vanquished   

v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 conclave   

n.秘密会议，红衣主教团

参考例句：

• Signore,I ask and I prey,that you break this conclave.各位阁下，我请求，并祈祷，你们能停止这次秘密会议。
• I met my partner at that conclave and my life moved into a huge shift.我就是在那次大会上遇到了我的伴侣的，而我的生活就转向了一个巨大的改变。

9 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 contravene   

v.违反，违背，反驳，反对

参考例句：

• The moves contravene the peace plan agreed by both sides.这些举措违反了双方同意的和平方案。
• He said the article did not contravene the industry's code of conduct.他说这一条款并未违反行业的行为准则。

13 chivalry   

n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤

参考例句：

• The Middle Ages were also the great age of chivalry.中世纪也是骑士制度盛行的时代。
• He looked up at them with great chivalry.他非常有礼貌地抬头瞧她们。

14 seclusion   

n.隐遁，隔离

参考例句：

• She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.她喜欢在自己僻静的花园里晒日光浴。
• I live very much in seclusion these days.这些天我过着几乎与世隔绝的生活。

15 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

16 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

17 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

18 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

19 nil   

n.无，全无，零

参考例句：

• My knowledge of the subject is practically nil.我在这方面的知识几乎等于零。
• Their legal rights are virtually nil.他们实际上毫无法律权利。

20 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

21 discoursing   

演说（discourse的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• He was discoursing to us on Keats. 他正给我们讲济慈。
• He found the time better employed in searching than in discussing, in discovering than in discoursing. 他认为与其把时间花费在你争我辩和高谈阔论上，不如用在研究和发现上。

22 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

23 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。