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.
· · ·
Y1
y
And
fue2
fue
it was
, a3
a
asto
lo4
lo
(that)
que5
que
iswhich
se6
se
(it)
cree7
CRE·e
believed
, que8
que
that
en9
en
in
un10
un
a
lugar11
lu·GAR
villageplace
cerca12
CER·ca
near
del13
del
(to)of the
suyo14
SU·yo
his own
había15
ha·BÍ·a
there was
una16
U·na
a
moza17
MO·za
girlyoung woman
labradora18
la·bra·DO·ra
farmfarmer
de19
de
(of)
muy20
muy
very
buen21
buen
good
parecer22
pa·re·CER
-lookingappearing
, de23
de
with
quien24
quien
whom
él25
él
he
un28
un
for aone
tiempo29
TIEM·po
time
anduvo26
an·DU·vo
waswent about
enamorado27
e·na·mo·RA·do
in loveenamored
, aunque30
AUN·que
although
, según31
se·GÚN
asaccording to
se32
se
(it)
entiende33
en·TIEN·de
is understood
, ella34
E·lla
she
jamás35
ja·MÁS
never
lo36
lo
it
supo37
SU·po
knewfound out
, ni38
ni
nor
le39
le
(to it)
dio40
dio
gave
cata41
CA·ta
noticea taste
dello42
DE·llo
of it
. 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.
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.
Interpretation
And so it was, people believe, that in a village near his own there lived a very good-looking farm girl with whom he had once been in love, though, as the story goes, she never knew it or gave it a thought.
The narrator hedges twice in one sentence: a lo que se cree, "as people believe", and según se entiende, "as is understood". He writes like a historian piecing a life together from what others say, the pose of the whole book. In chapter 9 Cervantes will claim the story comes from an Arabic manuscript by the historian Cide Hamete Benengeli.
The love story is told and taken back in the same breath. He was in love with her for a while, at a distance, and she never found out, or noticed him at all.
1.1.43
Don Quixote 1.1.43 · Aldonza Lorenzo1.1.43Aldonza Lorenzo
We learn the farm girl’s real name, and the title he decides to give her.
· · ·
She was called Aldonza Lorenzo, and it seemed to him it would be right to give this one the title of lady of his thoughts;