1.1.21
Don Quixote 1.1.21 · A good kicking for Galalón1.1.21A good kicking for Galalón
His hatred for the traitor of the romances is so strong that he would give away his own household for revenge.
· · ·
Diera1
DIE·ra
would have given
él2
él
he
, por3
por
for the chance
dar4
dar
to give
una5
U·na
a
mano6
MA·no
roundhand
de7
de
of
coces8
CO·ces
kicks
al9
al
thatto the
traidor10
trai·DOR
traitor
de11
de
(of)
Galalón12
ga·la·LÓN
Ganelon
, al13
al
theto the
ama14
A·ma
housekeeper
que15
que
that
tenía16
te·NÍ·a
had
, y17
y
and
aun18
A·un
even
a19
a
(personal a)
su20
su
his
sobrina21
so·BRI·na
niece
de22
de
intoof
añadidura23
a·ña·di·DU·ra
the bargainaddition
. He would have given, for the chance to give a good kicking to that traitor Galalón, the housekeeper he had, and even his niece into the bargain.
He would have given, for the chance to give a good kicking to that traitor Galalón, the housekeeper he had, and even his niece into the bargain.
Interpretation
For the chance to give that traitor Galalón a good kicking, he would have handed over his housekeeper, and his niece thrown in as well.
Galalón is Ganelon, the knight who betrays Roland and the rearguard to the enemy in the Chanson de Roland. In Spanish ballads his name became a byword for treachery. The gentleman hates him as if he were a neighbor.
The verb form diera, an imperfect subjunctive, here means "he would have given", a use common in older Spanish. The price he would pay is comic: the two women who keep his house, offered up like small change.
Gustave Doré, the knights and monsters of his books (1863) · public domain
1.1.22
Don Quixote 1.1.22 · The strangest thought1.1.22The strangest thought
His mind is now gone, and he is about to have an idea. The sentence runs on into the next passage.
· · ·
In short, his wits now gone for good, he came to hit upon the strangest idea that any madman ever hit upon in the world;