Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1921-01-07

TWO mufeteeerS OF tne CralQ OVERSEE
him, tore out his beard by handfuls,
mauled him and left him senseless.
Don Quixote engaged in terrific COM
bat with one of the lady's guard who
sliced off half of his helmet and one
of his ears. Undaunted the knight
pressed the combat to victory, but
just as he was about to give the finish
ing stroke, the frightened lady begged
him to desist and he complied on con-
ditiOn that the defeated opponent
should go and present himself before
the peerless Dulcinea, who was in
reality a buxom woman known
through all la Mancha for her skill IN
sailing pork and who had never deign-
ed to look at her a{8brous neighbor.
A few days later, bruised and bat
tered in untoward adventures, they
came upon flock Of sheep which Don
Quixote conceived to be a prodigious
army composed Of an infinite number
of nations led by mighty kings. He
spurred like a thunderbolt from the
top of a hillOck, shouting his battle
challenge, putting the hapless sheep
to flight and trampling both the living
and the slain. Impatient to meet the
commander of the enemy he shouted:
"Where. where art thou, naughty
AlifanfarOn?"
At that moment the shepherds raj
lied In defense of their f1ocks and
overwhelmed the unlucky knight first
with stones and then with cudgels,
leaving him in a desperate case, with
nearly all Of his teeth knocked out
or lOOsened, and his ribs half broken.
Did this adventure discourage him?
Not at all. 1t was all part of chival-
ry. He and Sancho rode on In dolor-
Gus discourse. They were Overtaken
by night and had no shelter or food.
Suddenly appeared a band of about
twenty horsemen, alls in white robes,
with torches In their hands and fol-
lowed by a hearse draped in black.
1t was the funeral of a gentleman of
Segovia; Don Quixote took it to be
the train of some knight either killed
or desperately wounded, and, assured
that 1t was his duty to avenge the
misfOrtunes of brOther-in-arms,
halted the cortege and demanded an
explanation. The replies of the clergy
men failed to satisfy him and he flew
at them in high dudgeon. Encountered
by their robes they became easy vic
tins and all took to flight.
They possessed themselves Of the
edibles deserted by the clergymen, but,
unfortunately, had nothing to drink,
nor did they dare stir from the forest
because Of the awful clamor made by
a fulling-mill which Don Quixote sup
posed to be enchantment.
The next morning they met a Bar
Der riding on an ass and wearing his
brass basin on his head to save his
hat from the rain. Don Quixote rec
ognized this as the golden helmet Of
MambrinO and flew at the enemy as
If he would grind him to powder. The
barber fed leaving his helmet which
Sancho appropriated, though it SEEM
ed to him merely a common dish.
They came to another inn. In the
night Don Quixote, while sound asleep
and dreaming, enjoyed the most IA
nous battle of his career. Dressed
In a short shirt which exposed his
lean, long, hairy shanks. and wearing
a greasy red nightcap. with a blanket
wrapped around his left arm for a
shield, he was repeatedly plunging his
sword into the plump bodies Of sew
eral giants. Their blood flowed across
the floor in wide, crimson streams.
Imagine the wrath Of the worthy
at discovering that his
famous guest had disemboweled all
his wine-sacks, which were made of
goat-skins with the heads left on.
After this Don Quixote was got
home by the curate and the barber;
but he broke loose again. First he
visited his Dulcinea, but came away
that through more enchant-
ment she had been changed into a
blubber-cheeked, flat-nosed country
wench, the pearls of her eyes into gall
nuts, her long golden locks into q
cows tail and her palace into a hut.
He had adventures with strolling
actors and lions; he attended the
rich Camacho's wedding; he explored
the deep cave of Montesinos; he rode
on magic bark and visited the name
less duke and duchess, through whose
Sancho was> granted his
ambition to rule over an island and
did 1t with wisdom worthy of Solo
mon. Many more adventures follow
ed. but at last Don Quixote returned
to his home and recovered his senses
on his death-bed. dying as a lovable,
high-minded, noble-heafted gentleman.
Cervantes' masterpiece is not all
satire. Don Quixote has lucid mo-
ments; Sancho's simplicity wells COM
mon sense, often expressed in witty
proverbs. There is occasional coarse
ness, but not so much as in Shake
speare. The chief fault is its treatment
Of insanity, In its authors fondness
for cruel and brutal, practical jokes,
which may perhaps explain the main
tenance Of bull-fighting as the national
Of Spain.
1919. by the Post Publishing
Co. (The Boston POST. Copyright In the
United Kingdom, the Dominions. its Col
onies and dependencies. under the copy
fDA ne No. h. n ~