[GetAmped Fansite - KICK ASS Inc.] Don Quixote (277 of 448)

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CHAPTER XX. (CONT'D)



Following these there came an artistic dance of the sort they call "speaking dances." It was composed of eight nymphs in two files, with the god Cupid leading one and Interest the other, the former furnished with wings, bow, quiver and arrows, the latter in a rich dress of gold and silk of divers colours. The nymphs that followed Love bore their names written on white parchment in large letters on their backs. "Poetry" was the name of the first, "Wit" of the second, "Birth" of the third, and "Valour" of the fourth. Those that followed Interest were distinguished in the same way; the badge of the first announced "Liberality," that of the second "Largess," the third "Treasure," and the fourth "Peaceful Possession." In front of them all came a wooden castle drawn by four wild men, all clad in ivy and hemp stained green, and looking so natural that they nearly terrified Sancho.

On the front of the castle and on each of the four sides of its frame it bore the inscription "Castle of Caution." Four skillful tabor and flute players accompanied them, and the dance having been opened, Cupid, after executing two figures, raised his eyes and bent his bow against a damsel who stood between the turrets of the castle, and thus addressed her:

I am the mighty God whose sway

Is potent over land and sea. The heavens above us own me; nay,

The shades below acknowledge me. I know not fear, I have my will,

Whate'er my whim or fancy be; For me there's no impossible,

I order, bind, forbid, set free.



Having concluded the stanza he discharged an arrow at the top of the castle, and went back to his place. Interest then came forward and went through two more figures, and as soon as the tabors ceased, he said:



But mightier than Love am I,

Though Love it be that leads me on, Than mine no lineage is more high,

Or older, underneath the sun. To use me rightly few know how,

To act without me fewer still, For I am Interest, and I vow

For evermore to do thy will.



Interest retired, and Poetry came forward, and when she had gone through her figures like the others, fixing her eyes on the damsel of the castle, she said:



With many a fanciful conceit,

Fair Lady, winsome Poesy Her soul, an offering at thy feet,

Presents in sonnets unto thee. If thou my homage wilt not scorn,

Thy fortune, watched by envious eyes, On wings of poesy upborne

Shall be exalted to the skies.



Poetry withdrew, and on the side of Interest Liberality advanced, and after having gone through her figures, said:



To give, while shunning each extreme,

The sparing hand, the over-free, Therein consists, so wise men deem,

The virtue Liberality. But thee, fair lady, to enrich,

Myself a prodigal I'll prove, A vice not wholly shameful, which

May find its fair excuse in love.



In the same manner all the characters of the two bands advanced and retired, and each executed its figures, and delivered its verses, some of them graceful, some burlesque, but Don Quixote's memory (though he had an excellent one) only carried away those that have been just quoted. All then mingled together, forming chains and breaking off again with graceful, unconstrained gaiety; and whenever Love passed in front of the castle he shot his arrows up at it, while Interest broke gilded pellets against it. At length, after they had danced a good while, Interest drew out a great purse, made of the skin of a large brindled cat and to all appearance full of money, and flung it at the castle, and with the force of the blow the boards fell asunder and tumbled down, leaving the damsel exposed and unprotected.

Interest and the characters of his band advanced, and throwing a great chain of gold over her neck pretended to take her and lead her away captive, on seeing which, Love and his supporters made as though they would release her, the whole action being to the accompaniment of the tabors and in the form of a regular dance. The wild men made peace between them, and with great dexterity readjusted and fixed the boards of the castle, and the damsel once more ensconced herself within; and with this the dance wound up, to the great enjoyment of the beholders.



Don Quixote asked one of the nymphs who it was that had composed and arranged it. She replied that it was a beneficiary of the town who had a nice taste in devising things of the sort. "I will lay a wager," said Don Quixote, "that the same bachelor or beneficiary is a greater friend of Camacho's than of Basilio's, and that he is better at satire than at vespers; he has introduced the accomplishments of Basilio and the riches of Camacho very neatly into the dance." Sancho Panza, who was listening to all this, exclaimed, "The king is my cock; I stick to Camacho." "It is easy to see thou art a clown, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "and one of that sort that cry 'Long life to the conqueror.'"







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Posted By Blogger to GetAmped Fansite - KICK ASS Inc. at 10/22/2012 10:26:00 PM