C2 · Part Two, Chapter 72
Don Álvaro Tarfe: a character from the other book
At an inn near the end of the journey, don Quixote meets a gentleman who turns out to be a character from the forged Part Two. He has met another don Quixote and another Sancho, and they were nothing like these two. This unit is about address, identity and the word tal, and about a novel that makes a character from a rival book testify against it.
The passage, exactly as Cervantes wrote it
Miguel de Cervantes, Part Two, Chapter 72. Unadapted.
Mi nombre es don Álvaro Tarfe —respondió el huésped. A lo que replicó don Quijote: — Sin duda alguna pienso que vuestra merced debe de ser aquel don Álvaro Tarfe que anda impreso en la Segunda parte de la historia de don Quijote de la Mancha, recién impresa y dada a la luz del mundo por un autor moderno. — El mismo soy —respondió el caballero—, y el tal don Quijote, sujeto principal de la tal historia, fue grandísimo amigo mío, y yo fui el que le sacó de su tierra, o, a lo menos, le moví a que viniese a unas justas que se hacían en Zaragoza, adonde yo iba; y, en verdad en verdad que le hice muchas amistades, y que le quité de que no le palmease las espaldas el verdugo, por ser demasiadamente atrevido. — Y, dígame vuestra merced, señor don Álvaro, ¿parezco yo en algo a ese tal don Quijote que vuestra merced dice? — No, por cierto —respondió el huésped—: en ninguna manera. — Y ese don Quijote —dijo el nuestro—, ¿traía consigo a un escudero llamado Sancho Panza? — Sí traía —respondió don Álvaro—; y, aunque tenía fama de muy gracioso, nunca le oí decir gracia que la tuviese.
My name is don Álvaro Tarfe, answered the guest. To which don Quixote replied: I have no doubt that your worship must be that don Álvaro Tarfe who goes about in print in the Second Part of the history of don Quixote de la Mancha, lately printed and given to the light of the world by a modern author. The very same, answered the gentleman, and that don Quixote, the principal subject of that history, was a very great friend of mine, and I was the one who took him from his home, or at least moved him to come to some jousts being held in Zaragoza, where I was going. And truly, truly, I did him many kindnesses, and I saved him from having his back patted by the executioner for being far too bold. And tell me, your worship, don Álvaro, do I look anything like that don Quixote your worship speaks of? No, certainly not, answered the guest, in no way at all. And that don Quixote, said ours, did he bring with him a squire called Sancho Panza? He did, answered don Álvaro, and though he had a name for being very funny, I never heard him say anything funny that was.
The same thing in Spanish as it is written today
Read the two side by side. What has changed between them is the syllabus of this level.
Me llamo don Álvaro Tarfe, respondió el huésped. A lo que replicó don Quijote: Sin duda alguna creo que vuestra merced debe de ser aquel don Álvaro Tarfe que aparece impreso en la Segunda parte de la historia de don Quijote de la Mancha, recién publicada por un autor moderno. El mismo soy, respondió el caballero, y ese don Quijote, protagonista de esa historia, fue muy amigo mío, y yo fui el que lo sacó de su tierra, o al menos lo animé a que viniera a unas justas que se celebraban en Zaragoza, adonde yo iba. Y de verdad, de verdad que le hice muchos favores, y que le libré de que el verdugo le calentara las espaldas por atrevido. Y dígame vuestra merced, señor don Álvaro, ¿me parezco yo en algo a ese don Quijote que dice? No, desde luego, respondió el huésped, en nada. Y ese don Quijote, dijo el nuestro, ¿llevaba consigo a un escudero llamado Sancho Panza? Sí que lo llevaba, respondió don Álvaro, y aunque tenía fama de muy gracioso, nunca le oí decir una gracia que la tuviera.
What changed, form by form
| In the text | Today | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| anda impreso | aparece impreso | Andar with a participle, to be going about in a state. A character who walks around in print. |
| dada a la luz del mundo | publicada | Dar a luz, to publish, now used only for giving birth. |
| un autor moderno | un autor reciente | Moderno meaning recent, and here faintly contemptuous. |
| El mismo soy | soy el mismo | Predicate first, verb last, for emphasis. |
| el tal don Quijote | ese don Quijote | Tal with an article, that so called. It separates the two don Quixotes with one word. |
| en verdad en verdad | de verdad, de verdad | A doubled oath, with a biblical ring. |
| le quité de que no le palmease | le libré de que le azotara | An expletive no after a verb of preventing, where modern Spanish leaves it out. Palmear las espaldas, to pat the back, is a euphemism for a flogging. |
| ¿parezco yo en algo a | ¿me parezco yo en algo a | Parecer without se for looking like someone. Today parecerse. |
| el nuestro | nuestro don Quijote | The narrator calls him ours, to tell him apart from the other one. |
| Sí traía | sí que lo llevaba | Sí in front of the verb as an emphatic yes. Still normal. |
| gracia que la tuviese | una gracia que la tuviera | A pun on gracia, a joke and wit: never a joke with any wit in it. |
The syntax
The scene is a dialogue of identification, and it works through determiners. Don Quixote says aquel don Álvaro Tarfe, that one, the one in the book. Don Álvaro says el tal don Quijote, that so called one. The narrator says el nuestro, ours. Three small words sort the characters into two books. And the last answer turns on a pun with a pronoun, gracia que la tuviese, where la stands for gracia and the sentence denies what it names.
What a Spanish reader hears
Cervantes has taken a character from his rival's book and brought him over into his own, and in the next chapter he has him swear a statement before a magistrate that he has never seen this don Quixote before and that the other one is a fake. It is the strangest revenge in literature. The real don Quixote does not attack the forgery. He simply asks a witness from inside it whether he looks like his double, and the witness says no.
Where the course prepares you for this
- Suffixes: how Spanish manufactures new wordsLesson 88The plan to become shepherds