1.1.41
Don Quixote 1.1.41 · Oh, how glad he was1.1.41Oh, how glad he was
The narrator steps in to share the knight’s delight, first at his speech, then at finding a lady.
· · ·
¡
Oh1
oh
Oh
, cómo2
CÓ·mo
how
se6
se
(himself)
holgó7
hol·GÓ
rejoicedrested
nuestro3
NUES·tro
our
buen4
buen
good
caballero5
ca·ba·LLE·ro
knight
cuando8
CUAN·do
when
hubo9
HU·bo
had
hecho10
HE·cho
made
este11
ES·te
this
discurso12
dis·CUR·so
speechdiscourse
, y13
y
and
más14
más
even more
cuando15
CUAN·do
when
halló16
ha·LLÓ
found
a17
a
(someone)to
quien18
quien
whom
dar19
dar
to give
nombre20
NOM·bre
the name
de21
de
of
su22
su
his
dama23
DA·ma
lady
! Oh, how our good knight rejoiced when he had made this speech, and even more when he found someone to whom to give the name of his lady!
Oh, how our good knight rejoiced when he had made this speech, and even more when he found someone to whom to give the name of his lady!
Interpretation
Oh, how glad our good knight was when he had made this speech, and gladder still when he found someone to whom he could give the name of his lady!
The narrator breaks in with an exclamation and calls him nuestro buen caballero, "our good knight", the fond tone of a storyteller in the romances. The joy comes in two steps, and the steps are in a strange order: first he is pleased with the speech, then with finding someone to address it to. The giant’s words existed before the lady did.
Discurso here is the speech he has just composed in his head, a train of thought rather than a public address. Holgarse, "to be glad", was an everyday verb in 1605; Spanish has since let it go, and holgar now means "to rest".
1.1.42
Don Quixote 1.1.42 · The girl in the next village1.1.42The girl in the next village
The narrator reports, with some caution, where the lady came from.
· · ·
And it was, as is believed, that in a village near his own there was a farm girl, very good-looking, with whom he was in love for a time, although, as is understood, she never knew it, nor noticed it.