C2 · Part Two, dedication
The emperor of China: the dedication of 1615
Cervantes dedicates Part Two to his patron, the count of Lemos, and tells him that the emperor of China has written asking for the book. It is a joke about fame, about patronage and about money, told in the most formal register there is. This unit is about the language of dedications, and about how to ask for money without asking.
The passage, exactly as Cervantes wrote it
Miguel de Cervantes, Part Two, dedication. Unadapted.
el que más ha mostrado desearle ha sido el grande emperador de la China, pues en lengua chinesca habrá un mes que me escribió una carta con un propio, pidiéndome, o, por mejor decir, suplicándome se le enviase, porque quería fundar un colegio donde se leyese la lengua castellana, y quería que el libro que se leyese fuese el de la historia de don Quijote. Juntamente con esto, me decía que fuese yo a ser el rector del tal colegio. Preguntéle al portador si Su Majestad le había dado para mí alguna ayuda de costa. Respondióme que ni por pensamiento. ''Pues, hermano —le respondí yo—, vos os podéis volver a vuestra China a las diez, o a las veinte, o a las que venís despachado, porque yo no estoy con salud para ponerme en tan largo viaje; además que, sobre estar enfermo, estoy muy sin dineros, y emperador por emperador, y monarca por monarca, en Nápoles tengo al grande conde de Lemos, que, sin tantos titulillos de colegios ni rectorías, me sustenta, me ampara y hace más merced que la que yo acierto a desear
the one who has shown most desire for it has been the great emperor of China, for about a month ago he wrote me a letter in the Chinese language, by a courier of his own, asking me, or rather begging me, to send it to him, because he wanted to found a college where the Castilian language would be taught, and he wanted the book they read to be the history of don Quixote. Along with this he told me that I should go and be the rector of that college. I asked the bearer whether His Majesty had given him any allowance for my expenses. He answered that it had never crossed his mind. Then, brother, I answered, you can go back to your China at ten leagues a day, or at twenty, or at whatever pace you were sent, because I am not in health to set out on so long a journey. Besides, as well as being ill, I am very short of money, and emperor for emperor and monarch for monarch, I have in Naples the great count of Lemos, who, without so many little titles of colleges and rectorships, supports me, protects me and does me more favour than I could wish for
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.
el que más ha mostrado desearlo ha sido el gran emperador de la China, que hará un mes me escribió una carta en chino, por medio de un mensajero, pidiéndome, o mejor dicho, suplicándome que se lo enviara, porque quería fundar un colegio donde se enseñara la lengua castellana, y quería que el libro que se leyera fuera la historia de don Quijote. Además, me decía que fuera yo a ser el rector de ese colegio. Le pregunté al mensajero si Su Majestad le había dado para mí alguna ayuda para los gastos. Me respondió que ni se le había ocurrido. Pues, hermano, le respondí, ya puede volverse a su China a diez leguas por día, o a veinte, o a las que le hayan mandado, porque yo no estoy bien de salud para hacer un viaje tan largo. Además, aparte de estar enfermo, estoy sin dinero, y puestos a elegir emperador y monarca, en Nápoles tengo al gran conde de Lemos, que, sin tantos titulitos de colegios ni rectorados, me mantiene, me protege y me hace más favores de los que yo sabría desear
What changed, form by form
| In the text | Today | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| desearle | desearlo | Le for a thing, the book. |
| habrá un mes que | hará un mes que | The future of haber for an approximate time in the past. Today the verb is hacer. |
| con un propio | por medio de un mensajero | A propio was a courier sent specially, not the ordinary post. |
| suplicándome se le enviase | suplicándome que se lo enviara | Que left out before the subjunctive, normal in formal writing then and in business letters until quite recently. |
| donde se leyese | donde se enseñara | Leer in the sense of teaching a subject at a university. A professor still lee su lección. |
| ayuda de costa | ayuda para los gastos | An allowance for expenses. The phrase is the hinge of the joke. |
| ni por pensamiento | ni se le había ocurrido | Not even in thought. Ni por asomo is the modern equivalent. |
| a las diez, o a las veinte | a diez leguas por día, o a veinte | Leagues per day, the measure of a courier's pace. |
| emperador por emperador | puestos a elegir emperador | Noun por noun, meaning if it comes to a choice. Still heard: puestos a elegir. |
| titulillos | titulitos | A diminutive of contempt for grand titles. |
The syntax
The dedication is a letter, and it runs on the formal third person: Vuestra Excelencia, Su Majestad. Inside it Cervantes quotes himself speaking to the Chinese courier as vos, with os podéis volver and venís despachado, which is how a gentleman addressed a servant. The long final sentence builds up a list, me sustenta, me ampara y hace más merced, which is the language of patronage, and it lands exactly where the dedication needs it to, on the patron.
What a Spanish reader hears
The joke works on two levels. On the surface it is a boast about fame: the book is so famous that the emperor of China wants it as a textbook. Underneath it is a pointed remark about money. Cervantes turns the emperor down for one reason only, that he sent no travel expenses, and then praises Lemos for paying without asking anything in return. It is a thank you note and a reminder at the same time, written by a man who was old, ill and poor, and who died the following spring.
Where the course prepares you for this
- Saying what a word means and what a book is calledLesson 85The visit to the printing house