Adolph Schrödter, Don Quixote reading in his armchair (1834), Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin · public domain
1.1.7
Don Quixote 1.1.7 · The reading begins1.1.7The reading begins
The gentleman fills his idle days with books of chivalry and lets everything else go.
· · ·
Es1
es
it is
, pues2
pues
thenwell
, de3
de
(to be)
saber4
sa·BER
knownto know
que5
que
that
este6
ES·te
this
sobredicho7
so·bre·DI·cho
aforesaidsaid above
hidalgo8
hi·DAL·go
gentleman
, los9
los
(in) the
ratos10
RA·tos
momentswhiles
que11
que
when
estaba12
es·TA·ba
was
ocioso13
o·CIO·so
idle
, que14
que
which
eran15
E·ran
were
los16
los
(the)
más17
más
most
del18
del
of the
año19
A·ño
year
, se20
se
himself
daba21
DA·ba
gave
a22
a
to
leer23
le·ER
readingto read
libros24
LI·bros
books
de25
de
of
caballerías26
ca·ba·lle·RÍ·as
chivalryknighthoods
, con27
con
with
tanta28
TAN·ta
such
afición29
a·fi·CIÓN
passionfondness
y30
y
and
gusto31
GUS·to
delighttaste
, que32
que
that
olvidó33
ol·vi·DÓ
forgot
casi34
CA·si
almost
de35
de
in
todo36
TO·do
every
punto37
PUN·to
waypoint
el38
el
the
ejercicio39
e·jer·CI·cio
practiceexercise
de40
de
of
la41
la
(the)
caza42
CA·za
hunting
, y43
y
and
aun44
A·un
even
la45
la
the
administración46
ad·mi·nis·tra·CIÓN
runningadministration
de47
de
of
su48
su
his
hacienda49
ha·CIEN·da
estateproperty
. You must know, then, that this aforesaid gentleman, in the moments when he was idle, which were most of the year, gave himself to reading books of chivalry, with such passion and delight that he forgot almost entirely the practice of hunting, and even the running of his estate.
You must know, then, that this aforesaid gentleman, in the moments when he was idle, which were most of the year, gave himself to reading books of chivalry, with such passion and delight that he forgot almost entirely the practice of hunting, and even the running of his estate.
Interpretation
You must know, then, that this gentleman, in his idle hours, which were most of the year, gave himself up to reading books of chivalry with such passion and delight that he almost entirely forgot the hunt and even the running of his estate.
Libros de caballerías were the bestsellers of sixteenth-century Spain: long prose romances of knights errant and enchanters, begun by the Amadís de Gaula of 1508 and carried on in sequel after sequel. Moralists attacked them as lies that wasted readers’ time. In the prologue to this book, a friend tells Cervantes that the whole work is an attack on them.
Ocioso, idle, cuts two ways. A hidalgo was not supposed to work with his hands, so leisure was a mark of his rank. It is also the empty time the books rush in to fill, and they take the hunt with them.
1.1.8
Don Quixote 1.1.8 · He sells land for books1.1.8He sells land for books
His reading turns to a passion he pays for with his own fields.
· · ·
And his eagerness and folly in this went so far that he sold many acres of farmland to buy books of chivalry to read, and so he brought home every one of them he could lay hands on