"You shall not do that," replied Don Luis, "unless you take me dead;though however you take me, it will be without life."
By this time most of those in the inn had been attracted by thedispute, but particularly Cardenio, Don Fernando, his companions,the Judge, the curate, the barber, and Don Quixote; for he nowconsidered there was no necessity for mounting guard over the castleany longer. Cardenio being already acquainted with the young man'sstory, asked the men who wanted to take him away, what object they hadin seeking to carry off this youth against his will.
"Our object," said one of the four, "is to save the life of hisfather, who is in danger of losing it through this gentleman'sdisappearance."
Upon this Don Luis exclaimed, "There is no need to make my affairspublic here; I am free, and I will return if I please; and if not,none of you shall compel me."
"Reason will compel your worship," said the man, "and if it has nopower over you, it has power over us, to make us do what we camefor, and what it is our duty to do."
"Let us hear what the whole affair is about," said the Judge atthis; but the man, who knew him as a neighbour of theirs, replied, "Doyou not know this gentleman, Senor Judge? He is the son of yourneighbour, who has run away from his father's house in a dress sounbecoming his rank, as your worship may perceive."
The judge on this looked at him more carefully and recognised him,and embracing him said, "What folly is this, Senor Don Luis, or whatcan have been the cause that could have induced you to come here inthis way, and in this dress, which so ill becomes your condition?"
Tears came into the eyes of the young man, and he was unable toutter a word in reply to the Judge, who told the four servants notto be uneasy, for all would be satisfactorily settled; and then takingDon Luis by the hand, he drew him aside and asked the reason of hishaving come there.
But while he was questioning him they heard a loud outcry at thegate of the inn, the cause of which was that two of the guests who hadpassed the night there, seeing everybody busy about finding out whatit was the four men wanted, had conceived the idea of going offwithout paying what they owed; but the landlord, who minded his ownaffairs more than other people's, caught them going out of the gateand demanded his reckoning, abusing them for their dishonesty withsuch language that he drove them to reply with their fists, and sothey began to lay on him in such a style that the poor man wasforced to cry out, and call for help. The landlady and her daughtercould see no one more free to give aid than Don Quixote, and to himthe daughter said, "Sir knight, by the virtue God has given you,help my poor father, for two wicked men are beating him to a mummy."
To which Don Quixote very deliberately and phlegmatically replied,"Fair damsel, at the present moment your request is inopportune, for Iam debarred from involving myself in any adventure until I havebrought to a happy conclusion one to which my word has pledged me; butthat which I can do for you is what I will now mention: run and tellyour father to stand his ground as well as he can in this battle,and on no account to allow himself to be vanquished, while I go andrequest permission of the Princess Micomicona to enable me tosuccour him in his distress; and if she grants it, rest assured I willrelieve him from it."
"Sinner that I am," exclaimed Maritornes, who stood by; "beforeyou have got your permission my master will be in the other world."
"Give me leave, senora, to obtain the permission I speak of,"returned Don Quixote; "and if I get it, it will matter very littleif he is in the other world; for I will rescue him thence in spiteof all the same world can do; or at any rate I will give you such arevenge over those who shall have sent him there that you will be morethan moderately satisfied;" and without saying anything more he wentand knelt before Dorothea, requesting her Highness in knightly anderrant phrase to be pleased to grant him permission to aid and succourthe castellan of that castle, who now stood in grievous jeopardy.The princess granted it graciously, and he at once, bracing hisbuckler on his arm and drawing his sword, hastened to the inn-gate,where the two guests were still handling the landlord roughly; butas soon as he reached the spot he stopped short and stood still,though Maritornes and the landlady asked him why he hesitated tohelp their master and husband.
"I hesitate," said Don Quixote, "because it is not lawful for meto draw sword against persons of squirely condition; but call mysquire Sancho to me; for this defence and vengeance are his affair andbusiness."
Thus matters stood at the inn-gate, where there was a very livelyexchange of fisticuffs and punches, to the sore damage of the landlordand to the wrath of Maritornes, the landlady, and her daughter, whowere furious when they saw the pusillanimity of Don Quixote, and thehard treatment their master, husband and father was undergoing. Butlet us leave him there; for he will surely find some one to helphim, and if not, let him suffer and hold his tongue who attemptsmore than his strength allows him to do; and let us go back fiftypaces to see what Don Luis said in reply to the Judge whom we leftquestioning him privately as to his reasons for coming on foot andso meanly dressed.
To which the youth, pressing his hand in a way that showed his heartwas troubled by some great sorrow, and shedding a flood of tears, madeanswer:
"Senor, I have no more to tell you than that from the moment when,through heaven's will and our being near neighbours, I first sawDona Clara, your daughter and my lady, from that instant I made herthe mistress of my will, and if yours, my true lord and father, offersno impediment, this very day she shall become my wife. For her Ileft my father's house, and for her I assumed this disguise, to followher whithersoever she may go, as the arrow seeks its mark or thesailor the pole-star. She knows nothing more of my passion than whatshe may have learned from having sometimes seen from a distance thatmy eyes were filled with tears. You know already, senor, the wealthand noble birth of my parents, and that I am their sole heir; ifthis be a sufficient inducement for you to venture to make mecompletely happy, accept me at once as your son; for if my father,influenced by other objects of his own, should disapprove of thishappiness I have sought for myself, time has more power to alter andchange things, than human will."
With this the love-smitten youth was silent, while the Judge,after hearing him, was astonished, perplexed, and surprised, as wellat the manner and intelligence with which Don Luis had confessed thesecret of his heart, as at the position in which he found himself, notknowing what course to take in a matter so sudden and unexpected.All the answer, therefore, he gave him was to bid him to make his mindeasy for the present, and arrange with his servants not to take himback that day, so that there might be time to consider what was bestfor all parties. Don Luis kissed his hands by force, nay, bathedthem with his tears, in a way that would have touched a heart ofmarble, not to say that of the Judge, who, as a shrewd man, hadalready perceived how advantageous the marriage would be to hisdaughter; though, were it possible, he would have preferred that itshould be brought about with the consent of the father of Don Luis,who he knew looked for a title for his son.
The guests had by this time made peace with the landlord, for, bypersuasion and Don Quixote's fair words more than by threats, they hadpaid him what he demanded, and the servants of Don Luis were waitingfor the end of the conversation with the Judge and their master'sdecision, when the devil, who never sleeps, contrived that the barber,from whom Don Quixote had taken Mambrino's helmet, and Sancho Panzathe trappings of his ass in exchange for those of his own, should atthis instant enter the inn; which said barber, as he led his ass tothe stable, observed Sancho Panza engaged in repairing something orother belonging to the pack-saddle; and the moment he saw it he knewit, and made bold to attack Sancho, exclaiming, "Ho, sir thief, I havecaught you! hand over my basin and my pack-saddle, and all mytrappings that you robbed me of."
Sancho, finding himself so unexpectedly assailed, and hearing theabuse poured upon him, seized the pack-saddle with one hand, andwith the other gave the barber a cuff that bathed his teeth inblood. The barber, however, was not so ready to relinquish the prizehe had made in the pack-saddle; on the contrary, he raised such anoutcry that everyone in the inn came running to know what the noiseand quarrel meant. "Here, in the name of the king and justice!" hecried, "this thief and highwayman wants to kill me for trying torecover my property."
"You lie," said Sancho, "I am no highwayman; it was in fair war mymaster Don Quixote won these spoils."
Don Quixote was standing by at the time, highly pleased to see hissquire's stoutness, both offensive and defensive, and from that timeforth he reckoned him a man of mettle, and in his heart resolved todub him a knight on the first opportunity that presented itself,feeling sure that the order of chivalry would be fittingly bestowedupon him.
In the course of the altercation, among other things the barbersaid, "Gentlemen, this pack-saddle is mine as surely as I owe God adeath, and I know it as well as if I had given birth to it, and hereis my ass in the stable who will not let me lie; only try it, and ifit does not fit him like a glove, call me a rascal; and what ismore, the same day I was robbed of this, they robbed me likewise ofa new brass basin, never yet handselled, that would fetch a crownany day."