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.
· · ·
En1
en
In
efeto2
e·FE·to
shorteffect
, rematado5
re·ma·TA·do
gone for goodfinished off
ya6
ya
nowalready
su3
su
his
juicio4
JUI·cio
witsjudgment
, vino7
VI·no
came
a8
a
to
dar9
dar
hitto give
en10
en
uponon
el11
el
the
más12
más
most
estraño13
es·TRA·ño
strange
pensamiento14
pen·sa·MIEN·to
ideathought
que15
que
that
jamás17
ja·MÁS
evernever
dio18
dio
hit upon
loco16
LO·co
madmancrazy
en19
en
in
el20
el
the
mundo21
MUN·do
world
; 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;
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;
Interpretation
In short, with his wits now gone for good, he came up with the strangest idea that any madman in the world ever had:
The phrase dar en, "to hit upon", is used twice, once for the gentleman and once for every madman in the world. Rematado is a strong word: it is what one does to a wounded animal, finishing it off. Here it is his judgment that has been finished off.
Cervantes ends the passage on a semicolon. The strange idea itself, the plan that sets the whole novel moving, arrives in the next sentence.
1.1.23
Don Quixote 1.1.23 · He decides to become a knight errant1.1.23He decides to become a knight errant
His mind gone, the gentleman lands on the strangest idea a madman ever had. Here it is.
· · ·
and it was that it seemed to him fitting and necessary, both for the increase of his honor and for the service of his commonwealth, to become a knight errant, and to go off through all the world with his arms and horse to seek adventures