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.
· · ·
y1
y
and
fue2
fue
was
que3
que
that
le5
le
himto him
pareció4
pa·re·CIÓ
seemed
convenible6
con·ve·NI·ble
fittingsuitable
y7
y
and
necesario8
ne·ce·SA·rio
necessary
, así9
a·SÍ
bothso
para10
PA·ra
for
el11
el
the
aumento12
au·MEN·to
increase
de13
de
of
su14
su
his
honra15
HON·ra
honor
como16
CO·mo
andas
para17
PA·ra
for
el18
el
the
servicio19
ser·VI·cio
service
de20
de
of
su21
su
his
república22
re·PÚ·bli·ca
commonwealth
, hacerse23
ha·CER·se
to becometo make himself
caballero24
ca·ba·LLE·ro
a knighthorseman
andante25
an·DAN·te
errantwalking
, y26
y
and
irse27
IR·se
to go off
por28
por
through
todo29
TO·do
all
el30
el
the
mundo31
MUN·do
world
con32
con
with
sus33
sus
his
armas34
AR·mas
armsweapons
y35
y
and
caballo36
ca·BA·llo
horse
a37
a
to
buscar38
bus·CAR
to seekto look for
las39
las
the
aventuras40
a·ven·TU·ras
adventures
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
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
Interpretation
And it was this: it seemed to him fitting and necessary, both for the increase of his honor and for the service of his country, to make himself a knight errant and go off through the whole world with his arms and his horse in search of adventures
The phrase that names the whole book arrives here: caballero andante, a knight who wanders. Andante comes from andar, “to walk, to go about”; English “errant” comes from an old French verb for travelling. In the romances it was a title of honor. By 1605 nobody in Spain rode out like that.
He dresses the idea in serious civic language. República here keeps its Latin sense, res publica, “the public thing”: the commonwealth and the common good of a kingdom ruled by Philip III. A man of fifty decides to go out and fight giants, and he gives the reason a magistrate might give for building a bridge.
1.1.24
Don Quixote 1.1.24 · Righting every wrong1.1.24Righting every wrong
The sentence goes on: what a knight errant does, and what he hopes to gain.
· · ·
and to train himself in all that which he had read that knights errant trained themselves in, righting every kind of wrong, and putting himself in hazards and dangers where, by seeing them through, he might win an eternal name and fame.