1.1.34
Don Quixote 1.1.34 · Eight days to name himself1.1.34Eight days to name himself
With the horse named, the gentleman turns to his own name and takes the title don.
· · ·
Puesto1
PUES·to
givenput
nombre2
NOM·bre
the name
, y3
y
and
tan4
tan
so much
a5
a
to
su6
su
his
gusto7
GUS·to
likingtaste
, a8
a
to
su9
su
his
caballo10
ca·BA·llo
horse
, quiso11
QUI·so
wanted
ponérsele12
po·NÉR·se·le
to give one
a13
a
to
sí14
sí
him
mismo15
MIS·mo
self
, y16
y
and
en17
en
overin
este18
ES·te
this
pensamiento19
pen·sa·MIEN·to
thought
duró20
du·RÓ
spentlasted
otros21
O·tros
another
ocho22
O·cho
eight
días23
DÍ·as
days
, y24
y
and
al25
al
at the
cabo26
CA·bo
end
se28
se
himself
vino27
VI·no
came
a29
a
to
llamar30
lla·MAR
call
don31
don
Donsir
Quijote32
qui·JO·te
Quixotethigh-armor
; de33
de
from
donde34
DON·de
whichwhere
— como35
CO·mo
as
queda36
QUE·da
has beenremains
dicho37
DI·cho
said
— tomaron44
to·MA·ron
took
ocasión45
o·ca·SIÓN
groundsoccasion
los38
los
the
autores39
au·TO·res
authors
desta40
DES·ta
of this
tan41
tan
so
verdadera42
ver·da·DE·ra
true
historia43
his·TO·ria
historystory
que46
que
that
, sin47
sin
without
duda48
DU·da
doubt
, se49
se
himself
debía50
de·BÍ·a
must
de51
de
(of)
llamar52
lla·MAR
been called
Quijada53
qui·JA·da
Quijadajaw
, y54
y
and
no55
no
not
Quesada56
que·SA·da
Quesada
, como57
CO·mo
as
otros58
O·tros
others
quisieron59
qui·SIE·ron
chosewanted
decir60
de·CIR
say
. The name given, and so much to his liking, to his horse, he wanted to give one to himself, and over this thought he spent another eight days, and in the end he came to call himself Don Quixote; from which, as has been said, the authors of this so true history took it as grounds that, without doubt, he must have been called Quijada, and not Quesada, as others chose to say.
The name given, and so much to his liking, to his horse, he wanted to give one to himself, and over this thought he spent another eight days, and in the end he came to call himself Don Quixote; from which, as has been said, the authors of this so true history took it as grounds that, without doubt, he must have been called Quijada, and not Quesada, as others chose to say.
Interpretation
With a name given to his horse, and so much to his liking, he wanted to give one to himself, and he spent another eight days on the thought. In the end he called himself don Quijote, which is why, as has been said, the authors of this very true history concluded that his name must surely have been Quijada, and not Quesada as others have claimed.
He gives himself two new things at once. Don was a title of rank: in 1605 it belonged by right to the higher nobility, and a country hidalgo who claimed it was a figure of fun. Quijote is a real word, the piece of armor that covers the thigh. The ending -ote makes things bigger and a little ridiculous, as in grandote, a big lump of a man, and it rhymes with Lanzarote, the Spanish Lancelot, whose ballad he will bend to fit himself in the next chapter.
The narrator then plays the careful historian. The “authors of this so true history” reason backward from the new name to the old one, Quijada, which as a common noun means “jaw”. The romances liked to claim they were copied from old chronicles, and Cervantes gives his book a crowd of sources who cannot agree.
1.1.35
Don Quixote 1.1.35 · The example of Amadís1.1.35The example of Amadís
He remembers how his favorite hero, Amadís, added the name of his kingdom to his own.
· · ·
But, remembering that the valiant Amadis had not only been content with calling himself plain Amadis, but rather added the name of his kingdom and homeland, to make it famous, and called himself Amadis of Gaul,