1.1.9
Don Quixote 1.1.9 · Feliciano de Silva’s prose1.1.9Feliciano de Silva’s prose
Of all the romances on his shelves, the gentleman has a favorite author, and the narrator tells us why.
· · ·
y1
y
and
de2
de
of
todos3
TO·dos
them all
, ningunos4
nin·GU·nos
none
le5
le
himto him
parecían6
pa·re·CÍ·an
seemed
tan7
tan
asso
bien8
bien
goodwell
como9
CO·mo
as
los10
los
thosethe
que11
que
that
compuso14
com·PU·so
wrotecomposed
el12
el
the
famoso13
fa·MO·so
famous
Feliciano15
fe·li·CIA·no
Feliciano
de16
de
de
Silva17
SIL·va
Silva
, porque18
POR·que
because
la19
la
the
claridad20
cla·ri·DAD
clearnessclarity
de21
de
of
su22
su
his
prosa23
PRO·sa
prose
y24
y
and
aquellas25
a·QUE·llas
those
entricadas26
en·tri·CA·das
tangledintricate
razones27
ra·ZO·nes
phrasesreasonings
suyas28
SU·yas
of his
le29
le
himto him
parecían30
pa·re·CÍ·an
seemed
de31
de
justof
perlas32
PER·las
rightpearls
, y33
y
and
más34
más
all the more
cuando35
CUAN·do
when
llegaba36
lle·GA·ba
camearrived
a37
a
to
leer38
le·ER
read
aquellos39
a·QUE·llos
those
requiebros40
re·QUIE·bros
compliments
y41
y
and
cartas42
CAR·tas
letters
de43
de
of
desafíos44
de·sa·FÍ·os
challengechallenges
, donde45
DON·de
where
en46
en
in
muchas47
MU·chas
many
partes48
PAR·tes
placesparts
hallaba49
ha·LLA·ba
found
escrito50
es·CRI·to
written
: and of them all, none seemed to him as good as those that the famous Feliciano de Silva wrote, because the clearness of his prose and those tangled phrases of his seemed to him just right, and all the more when he came to read those compliments and letters of challenge, where in many places he found written:
and of them all, none seemed to him as good as those that the famous Feliciano de Silva wrote, because the clearness of his prose and those tangled phrases of his seemed to him just right, and all the more when he came to read those compliments and letters of challenge, where in many places he found written:
Interpretation
And of them all, none pleased him as much as the books of the famous Feliciano de Silva, because the clearness of his prose and those tangled sentences of his seemed pure gold to him, most of all when he came to the lovers’ compliments and the letters of challenge, where in many places he found written:
Feliciano de Silva (about 1491 to 1554) was a real and very successful author. He carried on the Amadís series with several books of his own, among them Amadís de Grecia and the Florisel de Niquea volumes, and he wrote a sequel to La Celestina. Cervantes picks him as the gentleman’s favorite because his style was famous for its curls and knots.
So the praise is a trap. The narrator says the gentleman loved the claridad of this prose, its clearness, and in the same breath calls the sentences entricadas, tangled. A Spanish reader hears the contradiction at once. The colon at the end opens the door to a sample, and the sample is the next passage.
1.1.10
Don Quixote 1.1.10 · The reason of the unreason1.1.10The reason of the unreason
The narrator quotes two samples of the love-letter prose the gentleman admired in Feliciano de Silva.
· · ·
The reason of the unreason that is done to my reason in such a way my reason weakens, that with reason I complain of your beauty. And also when he read: the high heavens that divinely fortify you in your divinity with the stars, and make you deserving of the merit that your greatness deserves.