Doña Rodríguez and the Duel

What you will learn

• Use dar por and darse por with a participle to close a matter.
• Recognise the fixed formulas of a challenge and of a surrender.
• Talk about honour, injury and a promise given.

Before you read

The story in easy Spanish

Una noche, en el castillo de los duques, don Quijote oyó abrirse la puerta de su cuarto.

One night, in the duke and duchess’s castle, Don Quixote heard the door of his room open.

Se levantó en la cama con la espada en la mano, temiendo algún encantamiento.

He sat up in bed with his sword in his hand, fearing some enchantment.

Lo que entró fue una dueña de luto con una vela encendida, temblando tanto como él.

What came in was a duenna in mourning with a lighted candle, trembling quite as much as he was.

Era doña Rodríguez, la dueña más antigua de la casa, y venía a hablarle en secreto.

It was Doña Rodríguez, the oldest duenna in the house, and she had come to speak to him in private.

Se sentó a los pies de la cama, y lo que traía no era un encantamiento sino un agravio.

She sat down at the foot of the bed, and what she brought was not an enchantment but a wrong.

Tenía una hija, y un hijo de labrador rico, vecino del duque, le había dado palabra de casamiento y luego se había negado a cumplirla.

She had a daughter, and a rich farmer’s son, a neighbour of the duke’s, had promised to marry her and then refused to keep his word.

Ella había pedido justicia al duque muchas veces, y el duque se hacía el sordo.

She had asked the duke for justice many times, and the duke turned a deaf ear.

El padre del muchacho le prestaba dinero y le salía fiador de sus deudas.

The boy’s father lent him money and stood guarantor for his debts.

De modo que venía a pedirle a don Quijote lo único que le quedaba por pedir.

So she had come to ask Don Quixote for the one thing she had left to ask for.

Que deshiciera el agravio por las armas, ya que por la ley no se podía.

That he should undo the wrong by force of arms, since by law it could not be done.

Don Quijote se lo prometió allí mismo, con la vela todavía encendida entre los dos.

Don Quixote promised her on the spot, with the candle still burning between them.

Su promesa era la de su oficio, amparar a las doncellas y defender a las viudas.

His promise was the one his profession required, to protect maidens and defend widows.

Al día siguiente lo dijo en público, delante del duque y de toda la casa.

The next day he said so in public, in front of the duke and the whole household.

Echó el guante al suelo y desafió al burlador a combate singular, a caballo y con lanza.

He threw his glove on the ground and challenged the deceiver to single combat, on horseback and with lance.

Pelearían hasta que el otro confesara la verdad o hasta que uno de los dos muriera.

They would fight until the other confessed the truth or until one of the two was dead.

El duque aceptó ser juez del campo y señaló plazo y lugar para el desafío.

The duke agreed to be judge of the field and set a term and a place for the challenge.

Se levantó una estacada en una plaza del castillo y se colgaron banderas de los balcones.

Lists were built in one of the castle squares and banners were hung from the balconies.

Doña Rodríguez y su hija tomaron asiento, cubiertas con velos hasta los ojos.

Doña Rodríguez and her daughter took their seats, veiled up to the eyes.

El maestro de ceremonias paseó el campo entero para que no hubiese engaño ni tropiezo.

The master of ceremonies walked the whole ground so that there should be no trick or stumble.

El agraviador no apareció, porque estaba en Flandes y no pensaba volver.

The offender did not appear, because he was in Flanders and had no intention of returning.

En su lugar salió armado un lacayo del duque que se llamaba Tosilos.

In his place a footman of the duke’s called Tosilos came out in armour.

Le habían mandado presentarse en el campo, vencer sin matar y acabar todo con una risa.

He had been told to present himself in the lists, win without killing, and end the whole thing in laughter.

Venía sobre un caballo grandísimo, con la visera calada y unas armas relucientes.

He came on an enormous horse, his visor down and his armour gleaming.

Antes de tomar su puesto se paró un momento a mirar a la que le pedían por esposa.

Before taking his position he stopped a moment to look at the girl he was being asked to marry.

El maestro de ceremonias les partió el sol y los puso a cada uno en su sitio.

The master of ceremonies divided the sun between them and set each in his place.

Sonó la trompeta, y don Quijote arrancó a todo el correr que permitía Rocinante.

The trumpet sounded, and Don Quixote charged at all the speed Rocinante allowed.

Tosilos, en cambio, no se movió un paso de su puesto ni bajó la lanza.

Tosilos, however, did not move a step from his place nor lower his lance.

Llamó a voces al juez del campo y le preguntó si aquella batalla era por casarse o no casarse.

He shouted for the judge of the field and asked whether that battle was about marrying or not marrying.

Le dijeron que sí, y él contestó que se daba por vencido y que se casaba con la muchacha.

They told him it was, and he answered that he gave himself up for beaten and would marry the girl.

Don Quijote se detuvo en mitad de su carrera y dijo que quedaba libre de su promesa.

Don Quixote stopped in the middle of his charge and said he was released from his promise.

El duque bajó a la plaza, colérico, y le preguntó si de verdad se daba por rendido.

The duke came down to the square, furious, and asked him whether he really surrendered.

A Tosilos le faltaba el aire y pidió que le quitasen la celada deprisa.

Tosilos was short of breath and asked for his helmet to be taken off quickly.

Se la quitaron, y quedó a la vista de todos su cara de lacayo del duque.

They took it off, and his footman’s face was there in front of everybody.

La dueña y su hija gritaron que aquello era engaño y pidieron justicia del rey.

The duenna and her daughter shouted that this was a trick and demanded the king’s justice.

Don Quijote dijo que no era engaño sino obra de los encantadores que lo perseguían.

Don Quixote said it was no trick but the work of the enchanters who pursued him.

El duque mandó encerrar a Tosilos quince días, por ver si volvía a su figura primera.

The duke had Tosilos shut up for a fortnight, to see whether he returned to his first shape.

Y la hija dijo que prefería ser mujer legítima de un lacayo a burlada de un caballero.

And the daughter said she would rather be a footman’s lawful wife than a gentleman’s cast-off.

Vocabulary

Honour and injury

el agravio

the wrong

deshacer un agravio

to right a wrong

la palabra de casamiento

a promise of marriage

el burlador

the deceiver

amparar

to protect

hacerse el sordo

to turn a deaf ear

el fiador

the guarantor

burlada

cast off after being deceived

The rules of the duel

el desafío

the challenge

echar el guante

to throw down the gauntlet

el plazo

the set term

la estacada

the lists

el juez del campo

the judge of the field

el maestro de ceremonias

the master of ceremonies

partir el sol

to divide the sun between the fighters

el combate singular

single combat

The end of the fight

el lacayo

the footman

la visera

the visor

la celada

the helmet

rendirse

to surrender

darse por vencido

to give oneself up for beaten

quedar libre de

to be released from

a la vista de todos

in full view of everyone

la mujer legítima

the lawful wife

Dar por and darse por

Me doy por vencido y me caso con esa señora.

Todo lo que hiciera lo daban por bien hecho.

Malambruno se da por contento con solo intentarlo.

Dar por plus a participle means to treat something as settled, whether or not it has been proved. It is short, it is everywhere in spoken Spanish, and there is no single English verb that matches it.

The reflexive one, which is the duel formula

Add se and the subject is now declaring something about himself. This is how a fight ends, how an argument ends, and how a Spaniard tells you he has stopped trying.

Two of those are worth learning whole. Darse por aludido is what you say when a remark that named nobody clearly meant you. No darse por enterado is the polite art of ignoring something on purpose, and the duke does it to Doña Rodríguez for the whole first half of this chapter.

Agreement

The participle agrees with whatever is being declared, so it changes for gender and number. Se dio por vencido, se dio por vencida, se dieron por vencidos. This is not the participle of haber, which never moves. It is an adjective, and it behaves like one.

The other formulas of the challenge

The rules of the duel, kept for nothing

Cervantes gets every step of the ritual right, and he does it on purpose. A judge of the field, a term of days, a fenced ground, a herald walking the surface for hidden holes, banners, veiled plaintiffs, the sun divided so that neither fighter is blinded, and a trumpet. This is the procedure of a judicial duel as the chivalric handbooks describe it. The duke even removes the lance points and cites the Council of Trent, which really had prohibited duels in 1563, so the scene is legally as well as ceremonially accurate. Then the whole apparatus is demolished by a footman who looks at a girl and decides he would rather be married.

The case underneath is not funny at all. A promise of marriage was close to binding in Spanish law, and a girl left after one was ruined in a way that had no remedy except money or a wedding. Doña Rodríguez has asked the man who holds justice in that territory, and he has refused her, not out of cruelty but because the offender’s father is his creditor. That is the sentence to keep from this chapter: justice is not being denied by a villain, it is being quietly not-noticed by a man in debt.

The last word goes to the daughter, and Cervantes gives it to her plainly. Told that her champion is a servant in borrowed armour, she says she would rather be a footman’s lawful wife than the deceived mistress of a gentleman. Nobody argues with her. The duke shuts Tosilos up for a fortnight hoping the joke can still be recovered, and Don Quixote, who has understood none of it, explains the whole thing by enchanters.

Cervantes in the original

Quitáronsela apriesa, y quedó descubierto y patente su rostro de lacayo.

They took it off him quickly, and his footman’s face was left uncovered and plain to see.

Eleven words dismantle two chapters of ceremony. Notice the shape of the sentence: quitáronsela puts the pronouns on the end of the verb, which is the old order and still normal in narrative prose of this period, and it packs three ideas into one word, they took it off him. Then quedó, the verb Spanish uses for a state left behind by an action, followed by two participles doing the work of adjectives, descubierto y patente. The doubling is deliberate and legalistic, the way a notary writes, which makes the deflation worse. Everything in this episode has been correct: the judge, the term, the lists, the divided sun, the trumpet. What is under the helmet is a servant who has been told what to do, and the moment the air reaches his face the whole machinery is revealed as somebody’s afternoon entertainment.