Sancho hearing his master's firm resolution, it was cloudy weather with him in an instant; he was struck dumb with disappointment, and down sunk at once his heart to his girdle; for he verily thought he could have brought him to any terms, through a vain opinion, that the knight would not for the world go without him. While he was thus dole

fully buried in thought, in came Samson Carrasco, and the niece, very eager to hear the bachelor's arguments to dissuade Don Quixote from his intended sally. But Samson, who was a rare comedian, presently embracing the knight, and beginning in a high strain, soon disappointed her. "O flower of chivalry," cried he "refulgent glory of arms, living honor and mirror of our Spanish nation, may all those who prevent the third expedition which thy heroic spirit meditates, be lost in the labyrinth of their perverse desires, and find no thread to lead them to their wishes!" Then turning to the housekeeper, "You have no need now to say the prayer of St. Apollonia," said he, "for I find it written in the stars, that the illustrious champion must no longer delay the prosecution of glory; and I should injure my conscience, should I presume to dissuade him from the benefits that shall redound to mankind, by exerting the strength of his formidable arm, and the innate virtues of his heroic soul. Alas! his stay deprives the oppressed orphans of a protector, damsels of a deliverer, champions of their honor, widows of an obliging patron, and married women of a vigorous comforter; nay, also delays a thousand other important exploits and achievements, which are the duty and necessary conse

quences of the honorable order of knight-errantry. Go on then, my graceful, my valorous Don Quixote, rather this very day than the next; let your greatness be upon the wing, and if any thing be wanting towards the completing of your equipage, I stand forth to supply you with my life and fortune, and ready, if it be thought expedient, to attend your excellence as a squire, an honor which I am ambitious to attain." "Well, Sancho," said Don Quixote, hearing this, and turning to his squire, "did I not tell thee I should not want squires? behold who offers me his service! the most excellent bachelor of arts, Samson Carrasco, the perpetual darling of the muses, and glory of the Salamanca schools, sound and active of body, patient of labor, inured to abstinence, silent in misfortune, and, in short, endowed with all the accomplishments that constitute a squire. But forbid it heaven, that to indulge my private inclinations I should presume to weaken the whole body of learning, by removing from it so substantial a pillar, so vast a repository of sciences, and so eminent a branch of the liberal arts. No, my friend, remain thou another Samson, in thy country, be the honor of Spain, and the delight of thy ancient parents; I shall content myself with any squire, since Sancho does not vouchsafe to go with me." "I do, I do," cried Sancho, relenting with tears in his eyes, "I do vouchsafe; it shall never be said of Sancho Panza, no longer pipe no longer dance. Nor have I heart of flint, sir; for all the world knows, and especially our town, what the whole generation of the Panzas has ever been: Besides, I well know, and have already found by

many good turns, and more good words, that your worship has had a good will towards me all along; and if I had done otherwise than I should, in standing upon wages, or so, it were merely to humor my wife, who, when once she is set upon a thing, stands digging and hammering at a man like a cooper at a tub, till she clinches the point. But hang it, I am the husband, and will be her husband, and she is but a wife, and shall be a wife. None can deny but I am a man every inch of me, wherever I am, and I will be a man at home in spite of any body; so that you have no more to do, but to make your will and testament; but be sure you make the conveyance so firm, that it cannot be rebuked, and then let us be gone as soon as you please, that Master Samson's soul may be at rest; for he says his conscience wont let him be quiet, till he has set you upon another journey through the world; and I here again offer myself to follow your worship, and promise to be faithful and loyal, as well, nay, and better, than all the squires that ever waited on knights-errant." The bachelor was amazed to hear Sancho Panza express himself after that manner; and though he had read much of him in the first part of his history, he could not believe him to be so pleasant a fellow as he is there represented. But hearing him now talk of rebuking instead of revoking testaments and conveyances, he was induced to credit all that was said of him, and to conclude him one of the oddest compounds of the age; nor could he imagine that the world ever saw before so extravagant a couple as the master and man.

Don Quixote and Sancho embraced, becoming as good friends as ever; and so, with the approbation of the grand Carrasco, who was then the knight's oracle, it was decreed, that they should set out at the expiration of three days; in which time all necessaries should be provided, especially a whole helmet, which Don Quixote said he was resolved by all means to purchase. Samson offered him one which he knew he could easily get of a friend, and which looked more dull with the mould and rust, than bright with the lustre of the steel. The niece and the housekeeper made a woful outcry; they tore their hair, scratched their faces, and howled like common mourners at funerals, lamenting the knight's departure, as it had been his real death; and cursing Carrasco most unmercifully, though his behavior was the result of a contrivance plotted between the curate, the barber, and himself. In short, Don Quixote and his squire having got all things in a readiness, the one having pacified his wife, and the other his niece and housekeeper; towards the evening, without being seen by any body but the bachelor, who would needs accompany them about half a league from the village, they set forward for Toboso. The knight mounted his Rozinante, and Sancho his trusty Dapple, his wallet well stuffed with provisions, and his purse with money, which Don Quixote gave him to defray expenses. At last Samson took his leave, desiring the champion to give him, from time to time, an account of his success, that according to the laws of friendship, he might sympathize in his good or evil fortune. Don Quixote made him a promise,

and then they parted; Samson went home, and the knight and squire continued their journey for the great city of Toboso.

CHAPTER VIII.

DON QUIXOTE'S SUCCESS IN HIS JOURNEY

LADY DULCINEA DEL TOBOSO.

TO VISIT THE

BLESSED be the mighty Alla,* says Hamet Benengeli, at the beginning of his eighth chapter; blessed be Alla! which ejaculation he thrice repeated, in consideration of the blessing that Don Quixote and Sancho had once more taken the field again; and that from this period, the readers of their delightful history may date the knight's achievements, and the squire's pleasantries; and he entreats them to forget the former heroical transactions of the wonderful knight, and fix their eyes upon his future exploits, which take birth from his setting out for Toboso, as the former began in the fields of Montiel. Nor can so small a request he thought unreasonable, considering what he promises, which begins in this manner.

Don Quixote and his squire were no sooner parted from the bachelor, but Rozinante began to neigh, and Dapple to bray; which both the knight and the squire interpreted as good omens, and most fortunate presages of their success; though the truth of the story is, that as Dapple's braying ex

*The Moors call God Alla.