Page:The History of the Valorous and Wity Knight-Errant, Don-Quixote of the Mancha. Volume three.djvu/38

10 Majesty would be well served, and might save a great deal of expense, and the Turk might go shake his ears; and therefore let me tell you, I scorn to keep my house, since the chaplain delivers me not, and his Jupiter, as goodman barber talks, rains not; here am I that will rain when I list: this I speak that goodman Bason may know I understand him."

"Truly, Master Don Quixote," said the barber, "I spoke it not to that end; and so help me God as I meant well, and you ought not to resent anything." "I know well enough whether I ought or no, sir," replied Don Quixote. Then quoth the vicar, "Well, go to; I have not spoken a word hitherto; I would not willingly remain with one scruple which doth grate and gnaw upon my conscience, sprung from what Master Don Quixote hath here told us." "For this and much more you have full liberty, good master vicar," said Don Quixote, "and therefore tell your scruple, for sure it is no pleasure to continue with a scrupulous conscience." "Under correction," quoth the vicar, "this it is: I can by no means be persuaded that all that troop of knights-errant which you named were ever true and really persons of flesh and bone in this world; I rather imagine all is fiction, tales and lies, or dreams set down by men waking, or, to say trulier, by men half-asleep." "There's another error," quoth Don Quixote, "into which many have fallen, who believe not that there have been such knights in the world; and I myself, many times, in diversdiverse [sic] companies, and upon several occasions, have laboured to show this common mistake, but sometimes have failed in my purpose, at others not,—supporting it upon the shoulders of Truth, which is so infallible that I may say that with these very eyes I have beheld Amadis de Gaul, who was a goodly tall man, well-complexioned,