1.1.14
Don Quixote 1.1.14 · Arguments with the priest1.1.14Arguments with the priest
The gentleman’s reading spills into village life, in debates with the parish priest.
· · ·
Tuvo1
TU·vo
had
muchas2
MU·chas
many
veces3
VE·ces
times
competencia4
com·pe·TEN·cia
argumentsrivalry
con5
con
with
el6
el
the
cura7
CU·ra
priest
de8
de
of
su9
su
his
lugar10
lu·GAR
villageplace
— que11
que
who
era12
E·ra
was
hombre13
HOM·bre
a man
docto14
DOC·to
learned
, graduado15
gra·DUA·do
a graduategraduated
en16
en
ofin
Sigüenza17
si·GÜEN·za
Sigüenza
—, sobre18
SO·bre
about
cuál19
cuál
which
había20
ha·BÍ·a
had
sido21
SI·do
been
mejor22
me·JOR
the better
caballero23
ca·ba·LLE·ro
knight
: Palmerín24
pal·me·RÍN
Palmerín
de25
de
of
Ingalaterra26
in·ga·la·TE·rra
England
o27
o
or
Amadís28
a·ma·DÍS
Amadís
de29
de
of
Gaula30
GAU·la
Gaul
; He often had arguments with the priest of his village, who was a learned man, a graduate of Sigüenza, about which had been the better knight: Palmerín of England or Amadís of Gaul;
He often had arguments with the priest of his village, who was a learned man, a graduate of Sigüenza, about which had been the better knight: Palmerín of England or Amadís of Gaul;
Interpretation
He often argued with the priest of his village, a learned man with a degree from Sigüenza, over which had been the better knight, Palmerín of England or Amadís of Gaul;
The compliment to the priest has a sting in it. Sigüenza had a small university whose degrees were a standing joke in the literature of the time. So hombre docto, a learned man, arrives with a footnote that takes some of the learning back.
Both books in the argument are real. Amadís de Gaula, in Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s version of 1508, was the model for all the rest. Palmerín de Inglaterra was written in Portuguese by Francisco de Moraes and came out in Spanish in 1547. Five chapters on, when this same priest goes through the library and throws most of it on the fire, these two are among the few he spares.
1.1.15
Don Quixote 1.1.15 · The barber’s verdict1.1.15The barber’s verdict
The village barber joins the argument and backs a knight of his own.
· · ·
but Master Nicolás, the barber of the same village, said that none came near to the Knight of the Sun, and that if anyone could be compared with him, it was don Galaor, brother of Amadís of Gaul, because he had a very adaptable nature for everything; for he was not a fussy knight, nor so weepy as his brother, and that in matters of courage he was not behind him.