1.1.5
Don Quixote 1.1.5 · His age and looks1.1.5His age and looks
The narrator gives the gentleman’s age and describes his body and habits.
· · ·
Frisaba6
fri·SA·ba
borderedbrushed
la1
la
(the)
edad2
e·DAD
age
de3
de
of
nuestro4
NUES·tro
our
hidalgo5
hi·DAL·go
gentleman
con7
con
onwith
los8
los
(the)
cincuenta9
cin·CUEN·ta
fifty
años10
A·ños
years
; era11
E·ra
was
de12
de
of
complexión13
com·ple·XIÓN
build
recia14
RE·cia
strongsturdy
, seco15
SE·co
leandry
de16
de
of
carnes17
CAR·nes
bodyflesh
, enjuto18
en·JU·to
gauntdried up
de19
de
of
rostro20
ROS·tro
face
, gran21
gran
a great
madrugador22
ma·dru·ga·DOR
early riser
y23
y
and
amigo24
a·MI·go
fondfriend
de25
de
of
la26
la
(the)
caza27
CA·za
huntinghunt
. Our gentleman's age bordered on fifty years; he was of a strong build, lean of body, gaunt of face, a great early riser and fond of hunting.
Our gentleman's age bordered on fifty years; he was of a strong build, lean of body, gaunt of face, a great early riser and fond of hunting.
Interpretation
Our gentleman was getting on for fifty. He was sturdy in build, lean in body and thin in the face, an early riser and a keen hunter.
To a reader of 1605 this is a medical portrait. Physicians still sorted people by the four humors, and a man dry of flesh, thin in the face and up before dawn has the hot, dry temperament they called choleric. Juan Huarte de San Juan, whose Examen de ingenios (1575) Cervantes probably knew, tied that kind of temperament to a strong imagination. The novel’s title calls its hero ingenioso, from the same word family as Huarte’s ingenio.
Frisar is a rare verb now. Frisaba con los cincuenta means his age was brushing fifty; Spanish today would say rondaba los cincuenta.
1.1.6
Don Quixote 1.1.6 · Quijada, Quesada or Quejana1.1.6Quijada, Quesada or Quejana
The narrator turns historian and weighs what the gentleman’s family name was.
· · ·
Some say that he had the surname of Quijada, or Quesada, for on this there is some disagreement among the authors who write about this case; though, by likely guesses, it can be gathered that he was called Quejana. But this matters little to our story; it is enough that in telling it one does not stray one jot from the truth.