1.1.44
Don Quixote 1.1.44 · Dulcinea del Toboso1.1.44Dulcinea del Toboso
The last sentence of the chapter. He finds his lady a name worthy of a princess.
· · ·
y1
y
and
, buscándole2
bus·CÁN·do·le
looking for her
nombre3
NOM·bre
a name
que4
que
that
no5
no
not
desdijese6
des·di·JE·se
would clashwould contradict
mucho7
MU·cho
much
del8
del
withof the
suyo9
SU·yo
his own
, y10
y
and
que11
que
that
tirase12
ti·RA·se
would leanwould pull
y13
y
and
se14
se
(itself)
encaminase15
en·ca·mi·NA·se
headwould set out
al16
al
toward the oneto the
de17
de
of
princesa18
prin·CE·sa
a princess
y19
y
and
gran20
gran
great
señora21
se·ÑO·ra
lady
, vino22
VI·no
ended upcame
a23
a
(to)
llamarla24
lla·MAR·la
calling herto call her
Dulcinea25
dul·ci·NE·a
Dulcinea
del26
del
ofof the
Toboso27
to·BO·so
El Toboso
, porque28
POR·que
because
era29
E·ra
was
natural30
na·tu·RAL
a nativenatural
del31
del
ofof the
Toboso32
to·BO·so
El Toboso
; nombre33
NOM·bre
a name
, a34
a
in
su35
su
his
parecer36
pa·re·CER
opinionseeming
, músico37
MÚ·si·co
musical
y38
y
and
peregrino39
pe·re·GRI·no
rarewandering
y40
y
and
significativo41
sig·ni·fi·ca·TI·vo
meaningful
, como42
CO·mo
like
todos43
TO·dos
all
los44
los
the
demás45
de·MÁS
others
que46
que
that
a49
a
to
él50
él
himselfhim
y51
y
and
a52
a
to
sus53
sus
his
cosas54
CO·sas
things
había47
ha·BÍ·a
had
puesto48
PUES·to
givenput
. and, looking for her a name that would not clash much with his own, and that would lean and head toward that of a princess and great lady, he ended up calling her Dulcinea of El Toboso, because she was a native of El Toboso; a name, in his opinion, musical and rare and meaningful, like all the others that he had given to himself and to his things.
and, looking for her a name that would not clash much with his own, and that would lean and head toward that of a princess and great lady, he ended up calling her Dulcinea of El Toboso, because she was a native of El Toboso; a name, in his opinion, musical and rare and meaningful, like all the others that he had given to himself and to his things.
Interpretation
and, looking for a name that would not stray far from his own and would lean toward the name of a princess and great lady, he settled on Dulcinea del Toboso, because she came from El Toboso: a name that was, to his mind, musical, rare and full of meaning, like all the others he had given to himself and his belongings.
Dulcinea is dulce, "sweet", stretched out with a long, lilting ending until it sounds like a lady of the romances. The method is the one he used for himself and his horse: a plain thing (a farm girl, a nag, a country gentleman) dressed up with a grander sound, and a place of La Mancha attached like a noble domain, the way Amadís carried Gaul in his name.
The place is real. El Toboso is a farming village of La Mancha, so the name pairs the sound of a princess with an address among wheat fields. The narrator’s three adjectives, músico y peregrino y significativo, report the knight’s own opinion, and peregrino here means "rare, exotic". English later took the name as a common noun: a dulcinea is an idealized sweetheart.