1.1.12
Don Quixote 1.1.12 · The wounds of don Belianís1.1.12The wounds of don Belianís
The gentleman reads his romances closely, and one hero’s wounds trouble him.
· · ·
No1
no
Not
estaba2
es·TA·ba
was
muy3
muy
very
bien4
bien
happywell
con5
con
with
las6
las
the
heridas7
he·RI·das
wounds
que8
que
that
don9
don
donsir
Belianís10
be·lia·NÍS
Belianís
daba11
DA·ba
gave
y12
y
and
recebía13
re·ce·BÍ·a
received
, porque14
POR·que
because
se15
se
(to himself)
imaginaba16
i·ma·gi·NA·ba
imagined
que17
que
that
, por18
por
howeverfor
grandes19
GRAN·des
great
maestros20
ma·ES·tros
the doctorsmasters
que21
que
who
le22
le
him
hubiesen23
hu·BIE·sen
had
curado24
cu·RA·do
treatedcured
, no25
no
not
dejaría26
de·ja·RÍ·a
would failwould leave off
de27
de
toof
tener28
te·NER
have
el29
el
histhe
rostro30
ROS·tro
face
y31
y
and
todo32
TO·do
wholeall
el33
el
histhe
cuerpo34
CUER·po
body
lleno35
LLE·no
full
de36
de
of
cicatrices37
ci·ca·TRI·ces
scars
y38
y
and
señales39
se·ÑA·les
markssigns
. He was not very happy with the wounds that don Belianís gave and received, because he imagined that however great the doctors who had treated him, he would not fail to have his face and his whole body full of scars and marks.
He was not very happy with the wounds that don Belianís gave and received, because he imagined that however great the doctors who had treated him, he would not fail to have his face and his whole body full of scars and marks.
Interpretation
He was not so happy with the wounds that don Belianís gave and took, because he imagined that, however skilled the surgeons who treated him, his face and his whole body must have been covered in scars and marks.
Don Belianís de Grecia was a romance by Jerónimo Fernández, first printed in 1547, and its hero is wounded again and again. The joke is in the gentleman’s worry. He is a careful reader, and he applies common sense to the one place where it does not belong: if a knight is cut to pieces in every chapter, his face must look like a map.
This is the shape of his madness from the start. He never doubts that Belianís existed. He doubts only the medicine: no surgeon, however good, could have stitched up so many cuts without leaving a mark.
1.1.13
Don Quixote 1.1.13 · The unfinished adventure1.1.13The unfinished adventure
For all the wounds, he admires how the book of don Belianís ends, and is tempted to finish it himself.
· · ·
But even so, he praised in its author that ending of his book with the promise of that endless adventure, and many times a desire came to him to take up the pen and give it an ending at the foot of the letter, as is promised there; and without any doubt he would have done it, and even pulled it off, if other greater and constant thoughts had not prevented him.