Page:The History of the Valorous and Wity Knight-Errant, Don-Quixote of the Mancha.djvu/158

114 of his Life; and were it not that he was sucour'd in that great Distress by a wise Man his very great Friend, it had gone ill with the poor Knight So that. I may very well pass among so many worthy Persons; the Dangers and Disgraces they suffer'd were greater than those which we now endure. For, Sancho, I would have thee to understand, that these Wounds which are given to one, with those Instruments that are in one's Hand by chance, do not disgrace a Man; and it is written in the Laws of single Combat in express Terms, That if the Shoe-maker strike another with the Last which he hath in his Hand, aitho' it be certainly of Wood, yet cannot it be find that he who was stricken had the Bastinado. I say this to the end that thou may'st not think, altho' we remain bruised in this last Conflict, that therefore we be disgraced; for the Arms which those Men bore, and wherewithal they belabour'd us, were none other than their Pack-staves; and, as far as I can remember, never a one of 'em had a Tuck, Sword, or Dagger. They gave me Leisure, answer'd Sancho, to look to then so nearly; for scarce had I laid Hand on my Truncheon when they bless'd my Shoulders with their Pines, in such sort, as they wholly depriv'd me of my Sight, and the Force of my Feet together striking me down on the Place where I yet lie streightstraight [sic], and where the Pain of the Disgrace receiv'd by our Cudgelling doth not so much pinch me as the Grief of the Blows, which shall remain as deeply imprinted in my Memory as they do in my Back. For all this thou shalt understand. Brother Pancha reply'd Don Quixote that there is no Remembrance which Time will not end, nor Grief which Death will not consume. What greater Misfortune, quoth Sancho, can there be, than that which only expecteth Time and Death to end and consume it? If this our Disgrace were of that kind, which might be cured by a pair or two of Plaisters, it would not be so evil; but I begin to perceive that all the Salves of ana [sic] Hospital will not suffice to bring, them to any good Terms. Leave off, Sancho, and gather Strength out of Weakness, said Don Quixote, for so