1.

Don Quijote a fost nebun? -Octavian Paler-

1. Doamnelor si domnilor, Dati-mi voie sa incep conferinta mea cu o intrebare. V-ar mai interesa, oare, un Don Quijote care n-ar mai avea taria sa fie ridicol fara sa-i pese de ce crede lumea despre el? Eu sunt convins ca nu. I-ati intoarce spatele, cu siguranta, in clipa urmatoare. Ati zice: Batranul asta nu mai are niciun haz. Dar, atentie, am putea fi ispititi sa tragem de aici o concluzie pripita. Ca Don Quijote e interesant doar cata vreme el ne pare caraghios. Ca, devenit prea serios, el isi pierde si farmecul, si misterul. Poate si asta explica de ce nu e lamurita nici azi enigma care-i preocupa pe toti cei care tin sa aiba o parere despre eroul lui Cervantes. Este el nebun sau nu? Si, poate, din acelasi motiv nu ne mai intereseaza ce s-a intamplat dupa ce Don Quijote a renuntat la ispravile care l-au facut celebru. 2. Evit, deocamdata, sa va spun ce cred despre faptul ca tocmai un subtil ganditor spaniol, Ortega y Gasset, l-a socotit pe Don Quijote un nebun patentat. Prefer sa pun alta problema. Nu considerati ca, la fel de bine, l-am putea socoti un sfant? Dupa parerea mea, n-au exagerat deloc cei care au vorbit despre Don Quijote ca despre un Christos spaniol. E adevarat, Don Quijote n-a umblat, ca Iisus, inconjurat de apostoli. Cum stiti, el a fost insotit doar de Sancho Panza. Care nici nu si-a dat seama ca Invatatorul sau intemeia, si el, o religie. O religie bazata nu pe iubirea aproapelui, cum e cea intemeiata de Iisus, ci pe increderea in iluzii. Sancho Panza a ramas, de fapt, pana la capat, opusul cavalerului caruia i-a fost scutier. N-are rost sa vi-l descriu. E suficient sa va amintesc ca el, Sancho Panza, a crezut tot timpul ca stapanul sau isi va indeplini fagaduiala de a-l face guvernator peste o insula. Ceea ce ne arata limpede ca Sancho, cu aspectul lui de bufon, e in realitate un om din popor, istet si ambitios, si ca nu intamplator el debiteaza mereu proverbe care-l pun in contrast cu ridicolul solemn al lui Don Quijote. Sper sa fiti de acord si cu inca un fapt. La fel ca in cazul lui Iisus, drumul lui Don Quijote e fara intoarcere. Numai ca el va innebuni in loc sa moara pe cruce. Iar cand iese din scena nu mai are putere sa fie ridicol; mai bine zis, sa infrunte ridicolul cu acea adanca seriozitate care l-a determinat pe Unamuno sa vada in el un erou. 3. Cum stiti, doamnelor si domnilor, morile de vant au iesit din uz. Presupun ca nici in Spania nu mai exista decat ca o simpla curiozitate, pentru a le fi aratate turistilor. Si nici povestile cavaleresti nu mai sunt la moda. Ne despart nu doar patru secole de ziua in care Cervantes a dezvaluit aventurile lui Don Quijote, ci si un alt tip de sensibilitate, un alt mod de a gandi. Intr-o vreme ca a noastra, in care suntem preveniti continuu ca timpul costa bani, oare cati mai pot crede ca lupta cu morile de vant are vreun rost sau vreo scuza, alta decat o minte tulbure? Si ce mai inseamna dragostea cavalereasca intr-o vreme coplesita tot mai mult de pornografie? Atunci cand Don Quijote isi curata armura de rugina, hotarat sa nu-i mai pese decat de iluziile lui, lumea nu era atat de presata si nici atat de stresata ca azi. Intre timp, ea a devenit si mai practica, si mai grabita. Nu mai are rabdare nici sa rada firesc. Totul trebuie facut mai repede si respectand imperativuleficientei. La moda, azi, nu e cavalerismul, ci pragmatismul. Si ce inseamna a fi pragmatic? Orice dictionar ne lamureste ca pentru pragmatici nu e adevarat decat ceea ce e util si avantajos. Iluziile sunt o pierdere de vreme pentru ei. Iar unul ca Don Quijote e, in ochii lor, sau caraghios, sau nebun. Cei mai caritabili l-ar vari, probabil, intr-un azil, iar ceilalti, adica pragmaticii pursange, l-ar dispretui, zicandu-si, plictisiti, ca un asemenea individ nu are niciun haz intr-o lume cum e cea in care traim. Cat de actual mai poate fi, in aceste conditii, Don Quijote? Azi, oamenii lucizi nu-si pot permite prea multe iluzii. Ei stiu ca idealismul e anacronic, e ne-rentabil. Aduce numai necazuri si frustrari. Dar va intreb, doamnelor si domnilor, nu cumva ultima iluzie e sa crezi ca nu mai ai nicio iluzie? Iata de ce va voi vorbi in continuare despre Don Quijote. O fac cu un scop pe care nu vi-l ascund. As vrea sa va pot convinge ca nu putem intelege nimic din seriozitatea lui Don Quijote

cata vreme vom vedea in el un personaj amuzant. -va urma2.

03-06-2006, 08:23#2

Perseida

Senior Member Join Date Nov 2004 Location Montral Posts 263 Blog Entries 109 Rep Power 83

4. Poate n-ar strica sa va explic ce inteleg eu prin nebunie. Pentru psihiatri, nebunia e, cum stiti, o minte intunecata, dereglata. Un nebun nu mai gandeste logic. Gandeste dupa reguli misterioase sau tulburi, necunoscute oamenilor normali. Marturisesc ca nu la aceasta acceptiune, medicala, a nebuniei as fi vrut sa ma opresc, dar, fiind cea mai uzuala, incep cu ea. Si oricum n-as fi putut s-o evit. Fara indoiala, un Don Quijote care se lupta cu morile de vant fiindca are mintea tulbure ar cere - sper ca sunteti de acord nu atat intelegere, cat mila. Cavalerul n-ar fi decat un biet smintit care, in loc sa stea intr-un ospiciu, umbla prin lume in speranta ca-si va cuceri gloria. Si ce semnificatii sa cauti in elanurile unei minti ratacite? Practic, ar fi nevoie, in acest caz, doar de un diagnostic clar, care sa faca inutile discutiile despre eroism sau sfintenie. Asadar, sa nu ne grabim cu compasiunea, doamnelor si domnilor. Ea s-ar putea dovedi nu doar incorecta, ci si prea comoda. Mai bine sa ne intrebam daca se poate afirma, fara ezitari, ca Don Quijote nu gandeste logic. Nu va ascund faptul ca, multa vreme, nu am dat nicio importanta amanuntului ca spaniolii au redus numarul muzelor, de la noua, cate imaginasera grecii, la trei: Dragostea, Viata si Moartea. Si, recunosc, abia cand am pus acest amanunt in legatura cu Don Quijote i-am inteles, cu adevarat, talcul. Permiteti-mi sa va expun, in cateva vorbe, rationamentul meu. Amintiti-va, va rog, ca toata aventura lui Don Quijote depinde de sansa de a avea cui s-o inchine. Fara Dulcineea, lupta sa cu morile de vant nu mai are sens. Si iata-ne, doamnelor si domnilor, in fata unei surprize de

proportii. Acest, aparent, nebun patentat a rezolvat, practic, cea mai incalcita problema a filosofiei, si anume rostul vietii. Pentru noi, care-l privim ironic pe bunul cavaler, viata e un drum intre o nastere si o moarte, pe care, uneori, nu prea stim ce vrem. Avem vanitati, ambitii, alergam dupa bani, dupa succes, dupa glorie. Si, din cand in cand, in sufletele noastre se strecoara o indoiala, o teama de zadarnicie. Ne intrebam, descumpaniti si melancolici, daca viata nu e absurda, totusi. Ei bine, doamnelor si domnilor, pentru Don Quijote nu exista desertaciune! Nu exista absurd! El are un tel limpede spre care merge oricat ar rade ceilalti de el. Setea de glorie? Nu, gloria nu e pentru Don Quijote decat un trofeu pe care vrea sa-l depuna la picioarele Dulcineii. In centrul dorintelor lui nu vom gasi nici goana dupa succes, nici alte ambitii sau vanitati care, vai, ne fac sa uitam ca viata e un simplu episod, dar nimic nu se compara cu ea. In centrul nebuniei lui Don Quijote e o pasiune! Fara ea, Don Quijote s-ar intoarce acasa si si-ar arunca intr-o magazie armura. Acest batran care li se pare unora caraghios propune, deci, trei principii. Unu: nu se poate iubi, cu adevarat, decat o singura data. Doi: dragostea e un motiv suficient pentru a trai. Trei: important in viata e sa ne straduim pana la capat. Se poate spune, oare, mai simplu si mai logic, de ce muzele sunt, ca la spanioli, trei - Dragostea, Viata si Moartea? Si e aceasta o logica de om nebun? Nu cumva, daca Don Quijote e nebun, inseamna ca e ceva in neregula in normalitatea noastra?
Reply With Quote

3.

03-06-2006, 08:24#3

Perseida

Senior Member Join Date Nov 2004 Location Montral Posts 263 Blog Entries 109 Rep Power 83

5. Nu cred ca exagerez, doamnelor si domnilor, spunand ca noi ne folosim de iluzii ca de un drog. Cu ajutorul lor, incercam sa facem suportabila realitatea cand ea e prea dura sau greu de suportat. Altfel spus, ne asiguram prin ele un refugiu. Si acum, incercati sa priviti in jur cu ochii lui Don Quijote. Veti descoperi ca el isi ia iluziile in serios! Traieste in iluzii ca in realitate! Ca in unica sa realitate! Ceea ce, sa recunoastem, noua nu ne reuseste nici cand ne visam uneori viata, in loc s-o traim. In iluziile noastre exista mereu un sambure de lasitate, deoarece e mai usor sa te hranesti cu iluzii decat sa iei viata pieptis. Gresesc, oare, zicand ca, adeseori, ne servim de iluzii pentru a fugi de adevar? Or, Don Quijote e atat de sincer cand se minte, incat ceea ce pentru noi pare o minciuna pentru el e unicul adevar. In clipa in care cavalerul ridica sulita si pleaca la asalt, doar cei care nu-l inteleg vad in el un

caraghios. In ce-l priveste n-are dubii. E pe deplin convins de ceea ce face. Si nu-i pasa ce cred altii despre el. E convins ca Dulcineea e nobila si frumoasa, oricate barfe ar auzi despre ea. Asta il ajuta sa-si apere propria lume, propria realitate, cu o dorinta capabila sa transforme niste prostituate in domnite si un han saracacios in palat. Credinta lui ne aminteste de vorbele spuse de regina Isabela lui Columb: Daca pamanul pe care-l cauti nu exista, Dumnezeu il va crea pentru a-ti rasplati indrazneala. Acum putem intelege, doamnelor si domnilor, de ce Don Quijote daruieste fara sa ceara nimic in schimb. Si chiar fara sa primeasca. Dar am putea intelege si de ce afirmatia lui Gide ca toata viata s-a straduit sa gaseasca fericirea in afara iluziilor da de banuit. Ma intreb din nou: nu cumva ultima iluzie e sa crezi ca nu ai nicio iluzie? 6. Ar merita, poate, sa ne punem si o alta problema. De ce sanse dispunem, oare, in fata ridicolului? Putem gasi, oare, in noi, destula tarie pentru a nu ne pasa ca uneori putem parea caraghiosi? Rousseau zicea, foarte onest, in Confesiunile lui, ca putea marturisi usor orice vina, orice greseala, dar nu-i placea sa-si aduca aminte de momentele in care fusese ridicol. Si cati dintre noi l-ar putea vedea diminuat de asta? Nu joaca, oare, in viata noastra, a tuturor, un rol important, chiar excesiv uneori, oroarea de ridicol? Poate si ipocriziile sunt o explicatie a faptului ca, in loc sa intelegem cat de profund serios e Don Quijote, ne grabim sa-l luam in deradere sau sa-l compatimim, ceea ce, la urma urmei, e la fel de grav. Si tot ele se afla, probabil, si la originea ineptiilor care-l considera scrantit la minte, bantuit de vedenii sau care ne asigura ca, de fapt, Cervantes n-a vrut decat sa-si bata joc de cavalerii care rataceau prin Spania in vremea lui. De ce n-am admite, in fond, ca Don Quijote stie in ce lume se invarte? Ca si pentru el morile de vant sunt niste mori de vant? Dar ca mai stie ceva: ca intr-o lume in care morile de vant sunt doar mori de vant si nu pot fi transformate, prin iluzie, in altceva, viata devine terna.
Reply With Quote

4.

03-06-2006, 08:25#4

Perseida

Senior Member Join Date Nov 2004 Location Montral Posts 263 Blog Entries 109 Rep Power 83

7. Cei care-l cred nebun pe Don Quijote mai invoca un argument. In definitiv, se intreaba ei, ce reuseste Don Quijote prin toata aventura lui? In vreme ce Don Juan nu iubeste cu adevarat nicio femeie, in schimb le seduce pe toate care ies in calea lui, Don Quijote, care iubeste o singura femeie, pe Dulcineea, nu izbuteste sa ajunga la inima ei. Izbuteste doar sa se faca de ras.

Nu admiteti insa ca exista esecuri mai convingatoare decat unele succese? Va dau un singur exemplu, al lui Icar. Apropiindu-se prea mult de soare, ceara care-i lipea de umeri aripile s-a topit. Tatal sau, Dedal, si-a continuat drumul linistit, spre Sicilia. Numai ca nu prin asta a ramas celebru, ci prin faptul ca a conceput labirintul. Si, apoi, de ce am vorbi de un esec al lui Don Quijote? El ramane pana la sfarsit cu credinta ca singura glorie care merita sa fie dorita intr-o viata de om este gloria de a iubi. Nu vi se pare ca o asemenea convingere este un argument puternic pentru a vedea, de fapt, in povestea lui Don Quijote adevaratul mit al dragostei? In plus, n-am putea trece indiferenti pe langa un alt adevar, deloc neglijabil. In aventura lui Don Quijote, dragostea nu depinde de nimic! Nici macar de reciprocitatea sentimentelor, ca in povestile obisnuite. Pentru Don Quijote - repet - nare importanta daca Dulcineea e sau nu e asa cum o viseaza el. Si nici ce simte ea. Ceea ce cauta el duce de fapt, cu sine, idealizand lumea pentru a-i da un inteles. De ce ne-am mira, asadar, ca-i trimite la plimbare pe cei care-i sugereaza sa verifice adevarul? El si-a fixat o misiune si a decis s-o duca pana la capat, oricat ar chicoti cei din jur. Spuneti, poate fi asa ceva o logica de nebun? 8. Inainte de a ajunge la alta acceptiune a nebuniei, pentru a gasi un raspuns complet sau macar cuviincios la intrebarea din titlul conferintei mele, as vrea sa va atrag atentia asupra pericolului care ne pandeste din ceea ce as numi presiunea celebritatii. Spun o banalitate, dar trebuie s-o spun. Tot ce e celebru impune respect. Daca nu vrea sa socheze cu orice pret, nimeni nu va indrazni, intr-un muzeu, sa declare ca nu-i place un tablou semnat de Rembrandt ori de Leonardo. Asa ca, oricat ar fi de anacronic, Don Quijote are nemurirea asigurata. Chiar si in randurile celor care n-au citit o fraza din Cervantes, el se va bucura de consideratia pe care o impune faima sa culturala. Ne amuzam cand il vedem pornind, eroic, contra morilor de vant, dar nu indraznim sa-l socotim neinteresant. Nu e aceasta o invitatie la a admira fara a intelege?
Reply With Quote

5.

03-06-2006, 08:26#5

Perseida

Senior Member Join Date Nov 2004 Location Montral Posts 263 Blog Entries 109 Rep Power 83

9. As mai vrea sa va spun ca, dupa parerea mea, lumea moderna nu mai e capabila sa gandeasca in mituri. Singurele mituri, oarecum moderne, care se pot pune alaturi de miturile anticilor au, toate, aceeasi caracteristica: sunt produse de o capodopera literara. Ma gandesc la

Faust, la Hamlet si la Don Quijote. Dintre aceste trei mituri, doua nu si-au castigat nici azi independenta. Depind, inca, de autorii lor. Hamlet depinde de Shakespeare. Faust depinde de Goethe. Don Juan e cel mai independent. Nu mai depinde de Tirso de Molina, ba chiar s-a pus problema daca este sau nu este spaniol, intrucat, cu mult inaintea lui, au existat seducatori la fel de celebri, ca Alcibiade, de exemplu, unul dintre discipolii lui Socrate, care ceruse sa-i fie sculptat pe scutul de aur un Eros cu sageata pregatita in arc, semn ca nicio femeie din Atena nu avea cum sa-i reziste. Don Quijote e intr-o situatie speciala. Poate fi imaginat batandu-se cu morile de vant fara sa fie asistat de Cervantes, insa depinde, in mod evident, de Spania. Nu-l putem alatura spiritului cartezian al francezilor, disciplinei germane, exuberantei galagioase a italienilor ori spleenului flegmatic al englezilor. Nu ni-l putem inchipui mergand printre ruinele Greciei, pe cararile batatorite de zei si de capre, si nici pe o sosea olandeza, in ciuda faptului ca in Olanda exista si azi, se pare, mori de vant. In Rusia ar fi nimerit, probabil, in Siberia, iar in tarile nordice ar fi esuat langa un foc, tremurand de frig. Pe scurt, doamnelor si domnilor, Don Quijote nu-si putea scoate armura decat dintr-o magazie spaniola si n-ar fi putut rataci decat pe drumuri cum sunt cele din Spania, unde lumina e atat de putin realista, incat iluziile joaca acelasi rol pe care-l joaca stafiile in Scotia.
Reply With Quote

6.

13-06-2006, 18:08#6

Rocsana

Junior Member Join Date Jun 2006 Location all around Posts 25 Rep Power 0

Despre dragoste
Poti da fara iubire, dar nu poti iubi fara daruire... Iubirea nu e doar un zambet, nu e doar o floare, iubirea e un suflet ranit si apoi vindecat de altul... Iubirea trebuie invatata, incercata si experimentata... prima atingere nu reprezinta niciodata expresia ei desavarsita... O iubire pe care esti nevoit s-o pazesti nu reprezinta nimic. Dar tocmai asta n-au sa inteleaga niciodata oamenii cu adevarat gelosi. Gelozia ia nastere odata cu dragostea, dar nu moare odata cu ea... Cine iubeste si este iubit nu va mai fi niciodata acelasi om ca inainte...

Nu uita: langa cel mai inalt punct al fericirii se afla cea mai adanca prapastie a durerii... Pentru dragostea care se mai gaseste in lumea aceasta si pentru toti cei care stiu sa o aprecieze, pentru toti indragostitii... LA MULTI ANI! Fericirea nu inseamna sa ai ceea ce doresti, ci sa doresti ceea ce ai. Nu rupe firul unei prietenii, caci chiar daca il legi din nou, nodul ramane... Sa nu crezi ca poti stabili cursul iubirii, caci ea, daca te considera vrednic, iti va indrepta ea cursul!... Dragostea nu este numai flori, zambete, iubire, ci inseamna si lacrimi, dorinta, pasiune si de aceea putini au privilegiul de a-i descoperi puterea. Cine are capacitatea de a se indragosti, poate avea mereu incredere in iubire si in valoarea omului de care s-a indragostit! Dragostea e la fel ca o boala pe care daca nu o tratezi se agraveaza... si ca orice floare pe care daca nu o uzi se ofileste... Nu iubesti o femeie pentru ca este frumoasa, ci este frumoasa pentru ca o iubesti tu! Iubirea e tot ce dorim, iar in final e tot ce-am avut. Daca exista un sens al vietii... atunci EA este sensul, daca nu... EA ar trebui sa fie... Fara dragoste suntem orfani de toate, fara pasiune suntem ca o moara de vant spanzurata in vid! In iubire se simte mai mult decat e nevoie, se sufera mai mult decat se cugeta, se viseaza mai mult decat se traieste... Fericirea noastra rezida in ceea ce-l determina pe om sa-si dea seama ca este om si sa ramana asa. Numai o mare nenorocire ne poate arata cat de marunte sunt nemultumirile "insuportabile" Parfumul reprezinta sentimentele florilor. Adevarata prietenie este asemenea unui trandafir: nu-i realizezi frumusetea pana cand nu se ofileste... Atinge steaua de neatins si nu-i uita pe cei ce au crezut in tine Iubirea e un sarut furat, un zambet inocent, o imbratisare patimasa... si un suflet smuls din piept... O dragoste generoasa isi are intotdeauna testamentul pregatit din timp. Iubirea impartasita de oameni este forta cea mai mare care exista in lume si izvorul cel mai important pentru poezie... Despartirile au ceva din melancolia asfintitului, o blanda stralucire care ascunde in ea avertismentul intunericului... Prietenia este asemenea unei iubiri fara aripi... Daca nu ai iubi, cum ai putea pretui orbitoarea lumina a soarelui si mangaietoarea lumina a lunii?

Masurarea vietii omului nu este in functie de timp, ci de buna ei folosire. Doar o viata traita pentru altii este o viata care merita traita. Dreptatea poate sa ne avertizeze asupra ceea ce este bine sa evitam; insa doar inima ne spune ceea ce este mai potrivit sa facem... Nu exista indatorire pe care s-o subestimam mai mult, decat aceea de a fi fericiti... Iubirea de tara, iubirea de parinti, de prieteni si de tot ceea ce ne inconjoara este pretutindeni si ne copleseste in fiecare minut pe care-l traim. Am o banala intrebare pentru voi...: "Dragostea s-a nascut prin femeie sau Femeia s-a nascut din Dragoste...?" Invatati sa lasati pe chipul vostru sa infloreasca un zambet. Este darul pe care-l oferiti aproapelui, este darul pe care-l oferiti intregului Univers! Fiecare are propria sa filozofie a iubirii..., unii si-au faurit-o din lemn, altii din piatra... Dragostea este intelepciunea nebunului si nebunia inteleptului Dragostea consta in dorinta de a da ceea ce este al tau altuia si de a simti fericirea acestuia ca si cum ar fi a ta... "Cand dragostea vorbeste, vocile tuturor zeilor par a fi adormite in armonia raiului." - William Shakespeare Nu putem merge departe in prietenie, daca nu suntem dispusi sa ne iertam unii altora micile defecte... Nu incerca sa gasesti iubirea absoluta, pentru ca nu exista. Totul este relativ pe lumea asta, pana si iubirea... O viata fara dragoste este asemenea unui an fara primavara. pierduta lucire din raza de luna, frumoasa mea umbra, ce umbra nebuna, frumoasa lumina, scapata din stele, cazuta-i din noapte in visele mele... Adevarul care ii face pe oameni liberi este in cea mai mare parte adevarul pe care oamenii n-ar vrea sa-l auda. Cand iubirea, acel puf de papadie, ce vine mereu si pleaca cu primul fir de vant, va trece si pe la poarta ta, atunci vei sti ca m-ai intalnit... Sa visezi un inger?... dar am deja un vis... si am si un inger... iar ingerul e visul meu... Cand iubesti esti cel mai fericit om din lume; cel mai trist lucru este sa suferi din iubire... Fara IUBIRE nu exista viata! IUBITI-VA! Si alungati bezna aceasta ce ne sugruma in fiecare clipa! Dragostea sau Iubirea este un giuvaer de mare pret, dat in dar fiecarei fiinte umane. Daca l-ai pierdut, viata ta nu mai are nici un sens... Dorul e focul in care ard sperantele, dorintele, durerile, iar cenusa

ce ramane reprezinta amintirile... In iubire, chiar si tacerea e plina de lumina, avand un anume farmec. Iubirea sincera si profunda nu are nevoie de vorbe multe. Nu dispretui lucrurile mici; o lumanare poate face oricand ceea ce nu poate face niciodata soarele: sa lumineze ... noaptea! Loviturile vietii nu sunt numai distructive, ci si constructive; ca loviturile ciocanului in dalta unui sculptor priceput... Iubirea nu constientizeaza, nu ascunde si nici macar nu ignora defectele, ci pur si simplu le arde. Oamenii ne dau uneori vise dar viata le spulbera Iubesti pe cineva atunci cand ai ajuns sa vrei sa-i dai ceea ce ai mai bun si hotarasti sa i te dai pe tine insuti... Unii oameni vin si pleaca repede din viata noastra, altii stau o vreme, punandu-si amprenta pe inima noastra. Dupa plecarea lor,nu vom mai fi niciodata aceiasi. Dragostea e speranta si fara speranta lumea nu ar exista... Sa ai curaj sa risti pentru adevarul din inima ta, dar sa nu te minti cand il asculti. Viata este frumoasa si e pacat sa trecem prin ea, fara sa iubim, macar o singura data, cu adevarat... Poti da fara iubire, dar nu poti iubi fara daruire. Iubirea este singura pasiune care se plateste cu o moneda fabricata de ea insasi... "jertfa". Sigur ca exista si dragoste la prima vedere, dar este intotdeauna bine sa mai aruncam si o a doua privire. Dragostea este un joc ciudat: sau amandoi castiga sau amandoi pierd... Iubirea este singurul lucru care poate fi impartit la infinit fara sa se micsoreze... Femeia... este cea careia ii datoram fericirea, tristetea, bucuria, viata... Sa fiti iubite, stimate doamne si domnisoare! Sa astepti mereu dragostea ca pe un fel de jertfa pe care nu ai cum s-o oferi, pentru ca de fapt asteptai o jertfa pe care sa o poti oferi ca pe o dragoste... Putem numara stele de pe cer din nebunie ori din plictiseala. Uneori din ambele motive. Insa de cele mai multe ori uitam sa ne numaram si pe noi, singura stea singura planeta, singurul soare care conteaza ! Privim Universul cu o ciudata neincredere, de parca nu am putea concepe ca mai exista si alte lumi, si alte realitati, si alte locuri in care alte forme de oameni iubesc, urasc, ucid, traiesc. Astfel ca, realitatea ne izbeste necontenit cu partea ei ascunsa in umbra: Ceea ce nu vedem ne vede. Ceea ce nu simtim ne simte. Ceea ce nu ne lipseste ne apartine. Treptat, insa, lucruri pe care nu le vedem devin vizibile iar lucrurilor pe care suntem obisnuiti sa le avem incepem sa le simtim lipsa. Natura noastra ne spune ca omul este un sistem dinamic in care o infinitate de lucruri pe care le avem face schimb de materie si spirit cu o infintate de lucruri pe care nu le avem. Atat timp cat va exista un echilibru in acest sistem va exista si armonie. Insa omul este o fiinta haotica ce va tinde sa-si asume rolul cunoasterii si va claca in fata noilor infinituri de necunoastere pe care le va intrezari. Omul nu a fost creat pentru a fi fericit ci pentru a oscila intre nebunia descoperirii si plictisela de armonie. Fericirea este doar momeala ce-l va tine in cursa, pana la sfarsit.

Don Quixote (

/dn kihoti/; Spanish: [do kixote] (

listen)),

fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (Spanish: El

ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha), is a novel written by Miguel de Cervantes. The novel follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, who reads too many chivalric novels, and sets out to revive chivalry under the name of Don Quixote. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza as his squire, who frequently deals with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood with a unique Earthy wit. He is met by the world as it is, initiating themes likeIntertextuality, Realism, Metatheatre and Literary Representation. Published in two volumes a decade apart, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature, and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published. In one such list, Don Quixote was cited as the "best literary work ever written".
Contents
[hide]

1 Plot

o o

1.1 Part 1 1.2 Part 2

2 Themes 3 Background

o o o

3.1 Sources 3.2 Spurious Second Part by Avellaneda 3.3 Other stories

4 Style

o o o

4.1 Spelling and pronunciation 4.2 Setting 4.3 Language

5 Publication

5.1 English editions in translation

6 See also 7 References and sources 8 Further reading

9 External links

[edit]Plot [edit]Part

The First Sally Alonso Quijano, the protagonist of the novel, is a retired country gentleman nearing fifty years of age, living in an unnamed section of La Mancha with his niece and housekeeper. While mostly a rational man of sound reason, his reading of books of chivalry in excess has had a profound effect on him, leading to the distortion of his perception and the wavering of his mental faculties. In essence, he believes every word of these books of chivalry to be true though, for the most part, the content of these books is clearly fiction. Otherwise, his wits, in regards to everything other than chivalry, are intact. He decides to go out as a knighterrant in search of adventure. He dons an old suit of armour, renames himself "Don Quixote de la Mancha," and names his skinny horse "Rocinante". He designates a neighboring farm girl, as his lady love, renaming her Dulcinea del Toboso, while she knows nothing about this. He sets out in the early morning and ends up at an inn, which he believes to be a castle. He asks the innkeeper, whom he thinks to be the lord of the castle, to dub him a knight. He spends the night holding vigil over his armor, where he becomes involved in a fight with muleteers who try to remove his armor from the horse trough so that they can water their mules. The innkeeper then dubs him a knight to be rid of him, and sends him on his way. Don Quixote next "frees" a young boy who is tied to a tree and beaten by his master by making his master swear on the chivalric code treat the boy fairly. The boy's beating is continued as soon as Quixote leaves. Don Quixote has a run-in with traders from Toledo, who "insult" the imaginary Dulcinea, one of whom severely beats Don Quixote and leaves him on the side of the road. Don Quixote is found and returned to his home by a neighboring peasant.

"Don Quixote" by Pablo Picasso (1955)

The Second Sally

While Don Quixote is unconscious in his bed, his niece, the housekeeper, the parish curate, and the local barber secretly burn most of the books of chivalry, and seal up his library pretending that a magician has carried it off. After a short period of feigning health, Don Quixote approaches his neighbor, Sancho Panza, and asks him to be his squire, promising him governorship of an island. The uneducated Sancho agrees, and the pair sneak off in the early dawn. It is here that their series of famous adventures begin, starting with Don Quixote's attack on windmills that he believes to be ferocious giants. The two next encounter a group of friars accompanying a lady in a carriage. They are heavily cloaked, as is the lady, to protect themselves from the hot climate and dust on the road. Don Quixote takes the friars to be enchanters who hold the lady captive. He knocks a friar from his horse, and is immediately challenged by an armed Basque travelling with the company. As he has no shield, the Basque uses a pillow to protect himself, which saves him when Don Quixote strikes him. The combat ends with the lady leaving her carriage and demanding those travel with her to "surrender". The Pastoral Wanderings Sancho and Don Quixote go on, and fall in with a group of goatherds. Don Quixote tells Sancho and the goatherds about the "Golden Age" of man, reminiscent of bothOvid and the later Rousseau in which property does not exist, and men live in peace. The goatherds invite the Knight and Sancho to the funeral of Grisstomo, once a student who left his studies to become a shepherd after reading Pastoral novels, seeking the shepherdess Marcela. At the funeral Marcela appears, delivering a long speech vindicating herself from the bitter verses written about her by Grisstomo, claiming her own autonomy and freedom from expectations put on her by Pastoral clichs. She disappears into the woods, and Don Quixote and Sancho follow. Ultimately giving up, the two stop and dismount by a pond to rest. Some Galicians arrive to water their ponies, and Rocinante attempts to mate with them. The Galicians hit Rocinante with clubs to dissuade him, which Don Quixote takes as a threat and runs to defend Rocinante. The Galicians beat Don Quixote and Sancho leaving them in great pain. The Adventures with Cardenio and Dorotea After leaving the prisoners, The Knight and Sancho wander into the Sierra Morena, and there encounter the dejected Cardenio. Cardenio relates the first part of his story, in which he falls deeply in love with his childhood friend Luscinda, and is hired as the companion to the Duke's son, putting leading to his friendship with the Duke's younger son, Don Fernando. Cardenio confides in Don Fernando his love for Luscinda and the delays in their engagement, caused by Cardenio's desire to keep with tradition. After reading Cardenio's poems praising Luscinda, Don Fernando falls in love with her. Don Quixote interrupts when Cardenio suggests that his beloved may have become unfaithful after the formulaic stories of spurned lovers in Chivalric novels.

Don Quixote de la Mancha and Sancho Panza, 1863, by Gustave Dor

In the course of their travels, the protagonists meet innkeepers, prostitutes, goatherds, soldiers, priests, escaped convicts, and scorned lovers. These encounters are magnified by Don Quixotes imagination into chivalrous quests. Don Quixotes tendency to intervene violently in matters which do not concern him, and his habit of not paying his debts, result in many privations, injuries, and humiliations (with Sancho often getting the worst of it). Finally, Don Quixote is persuaded to return to his home village. The author hints that there was a third quest, but says that records of it have been lost. [edit]Part

The Third Sally Although the two parts are now normally published as a single work, Don Quixote, Part Two was a sequel published ten years after the original novel. While Part One was mostly farcical, the second half is more serious and philosophical about the theme of deception. As Part Two begins, it is assumed that the literate classes of Spain have all read the first part of the history of Don Quixote and his squire. When they encounter the duo in person, a Duke and Duchess, and others, deceive Don Quixote for entertainment, setting forth a string of imagined adventures resulting in a series of practical jokes that put Don Quixote's sense of chivalry and his devotion to Dulcinea through many tests. Even Sancho deceives him at one point. Pressured into finding Dulcinea, Sancho brings back three dirty and ragged peasant girls, and tells Don Quixote that they are Dulcinea and her ladies-in-waiting. When Don Quixote only sees the peasant girls, Sancho pretends that their derelict appearance results from an enchantment. Sancho later gets his comeuppance for this when, as part of one of the duke and duchess's pranks, the two are led to believe that the only method to release Dulcinea from her spell is for Sancho to give himself a surplus of three thousand lashes. Sancho naturally resists this course of action, leading to friction

with his master. Under the duke's patronage, Sancho eventually gets a governorship, though it be false, and proves to be a wise and practical ruler; though this, too, ends in humiliation. Near the end, Don Quixote reluctantly sways towards sanity: an inn is just an inn, not a castle. The lengthy untold "history" of Don Quixote's adventures in knight-errantry comes to a close after his battle with the Knight of the White Moon, in which we the readers find him conquered. Bound by the rules of chivalry, Don Quixote submits to prearranged terms that the vanquished is to obey the will of the conqueror, which in this case, is that Don Quixote is to lay down his arms and cease his acts of chivalry for the period of one year (a duration in which he may be cured of his madness). Defeated and dejected, he and Sancho start their journey home. Part Two of Don Quixote is often regarded as the birth of modern literature, as it explores the concept of a character understanding that he is being written about. This is a theme much explored in writings of the 20th Century. Upon returning to his village, Don Quixote announces his plan to retire to the countryside and live the pastoral existence of shepherd, although his housekeeper, who has a more realistic view of the hard life of a shepherd, urges him to stay home and tend to his own affairs. Soon after, he retires to his bed with a deathly illness, possibly brought on by melancholy over his defeats and humiliations. One day, he awakes from a dream having fully recovered his sanity. Sancho tries to restore his faith, but Alonso Quixano, for that is his true name, can only renounce his previous existence and apologize for the harm he has caused. He dictates his will, which includes a provision that his niece will be disinherited if she marries a man who reads books of chivalry. After Alonso Quixano dies, the author emphasizes that there are no more adventures to relate, and that any further books about Don Quixote would be spurious. [edit]Themes See also: List of works influenced by Don Quixote

Don Quixote by Honor Daumier(1868)

The novel's structure is in episodic form. It is written in the picaresco style of the late sixteenth century, and features reference other picaresque novels includingLazarillo de Tormes and The Golden Ass. The full title is indicative of the tale's object, as ingenioso (Spanish) means "quick with [1] inventiveness". marking the transition of modern literature from Dramatic to thematic unity. The novel takes place over a long period of time, including many adventures all united by common themes of the nature of reality, reading, and dialogue in general. Although the novel is farcical on the surface, the novel, especially in its second half, is more serious and philosophical about the theme of deception. Quixote has served as an important thematic source not only in literature but in much of art and music, inspiring works by Pablo Picasso and Richard Strauss. The contrasts between the tall, thin, fancy-struck, and idealistic Quixote and the fat, squat, world-weary Panza is a motif echoed ever since the books publication, and Don Quixote's imaginings are the butt of outrageous and cruel practical jokes in the novel. Even faithful and simple Sancho is unintentionally forced to deceive him at certain points. The novel is considered a satire of orthodoxy, veracity, and even nationalism. In going beyond mere storytelling to exploring the individualism of his characters, Cervantes helped move beyond the narrow literary conventions of the chivalric romance literature that he spoofed, which consists of straightforward retelling of a series of acts that redound to the knightly virtues of the hero. From shepherds to tavern-owners and inn-keepers, the characterization in Don Quixote, was groundbreaking. The character of Don Quixote became so well known in its time that the word quixotic was quickly adopted by many languages. Characters such as Sancho Panza and Don Quixotes steed, Rocinante, are emblems of Western literary culture. The phrase "tilting at windmills" to describe an act of attacking imaginary enemies derives from an iconic scene in the book. It stands in a unique position between medieval chivalric romance and the modern novel. The former consist of disconnected stories featuring the same characters and settings with little exploration of the inner life of even the main character. The latter are usually focused on the psychological evolution of their characters. In Part I, Quixote imposes himself on his environment. By Part II, people know about him through "having read his adventures," and so, he needs to do less to maintain his image. By his deathbed, he has regained his sanity, and is once more "Alonso Quixano the Good". When it was first published, Don Quixote was usually interpreted as a comic novel. After the French Revolution it was popular in part due to its central ethic that individuals can be right while society is quite wrong and seen as disenchantingnot comic at all. In the 19th century it was seen as a social commentary, but no one could easily tell "whose side Cervantes was on." Many critics came to view the work as a tragedy in which Don Quixote's innate idealism and nobility are viewed by the world as insane, and are defeated and rendered useless by common reality. By the 20th century the novel had come to occupy a canonical space as one of the foundations of modern literature. [edit]Background [edit]Sources Sources for Don Quixote include the Castillian novel Amadis de Gaula, which had enjoyed great popularity throughout the 16th century. Another prominent source, which Cervantes evidently admires more, is Tirant lo Blanch which the priest describes in Chapter VI of Quixote as "the best book in the world." The scene of the book burning gives us an excellent list of Cervantes's likes and dislikes about literature. Cervantes makes a number of references to the Italian poem Orlando furioso. In chapter 10 of the first part of the novel, Don Quixote says he must take the [2] magical helmet of Mambrino, an episode from Canto I of Orlando, and itself a reference to Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando innamorato. The interpolated story in [3] chapter 33 of Part four of the First Part is a retelling of a tale from Canto 43 ofOrlando, regarding a man who tests the fidelity of his wife.

Another important source appears to have been Apuleius's The Golden Ass, one of the earliest known novels, a picaresque from late classical antiquity. The wineskins episode near the end of the interpolated tale "The Curious Impertinent" in chapter 35 of the first part of Don Quixote is a clear reference to Apuleius, and [4] recent scholarship suggests that the moral philosophy and the basic trajectory of Apuleius's novel are fundamental to Cervantes's program. Similarly, many of both Sancho's adventures in Part II and proverbs throughout are taken from popular Spanish and Italian folklore. [edit]Spurious

Second Part by Avellaneda

It is not certain when Cervantes began writing Part Two of Don Quixote, but he had probably not gotten much further than Chapter LIX by late July 1614. About September, however, a spurious Part Two, entitled Second Volume of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha: by the Licenciado (doctorate) Alonso Fernndez de Avellaneda, of Tordesillas, was published in Tarragona by an unidentified Aragonese who was an admirer of Lope de Vega, rival of [5] Cervantes. Avellaneda's identity has been the subject of many theories, but there is no consensus as to who he was. In its prologue, the author gratuitously insulted Cervantes, who not surprisingly took offense and responded; the last half of Chapter LIX and most of the following chapters of Cervantes' Segunda Parte lend some insight into the effects upon him; Cervantes manages to work in some subtle digs at Avellaneda's own work, and in his preface to Part II, comes very near to criticizing Avellaneda directly. In his introduction to The Portable Cervantes, Samuel Putnam, a noted translator of Cervantes' novel, calls Avellaneda's version "one of the most disgraceful [6] performances in history". The second part of Cervantes' Don Quixote, finished as a direct result of the Avellaneda book, has come to be regarded by some literary critics as superior to the first part, because of its greater depth of characterization, its discussions, mostly between Quixote and Sancho, on diverse subjects, and its philosophical insights. [edit]Other
[7]

stories

Don Quixote, his horse Rocinante and his squire Sancho Panza after an unsuccessful attack on a windmill. ByGustave Dor

Don Quixote, Part One contains a number of stories which do not directly involve the two main characters, but which are narrated by some of the picaresquefigures encountered by the Don and Sancho during their travels. The longest and best known of these is "El Curioso Impertinente" (the impertinently curious man), found in Part One, Book Four. This story, read to a group of travelers at an inn, tells of a Florentine nobleman, Anselmo, who becomes obsessed with testing his wife's fidelity, and talks his close friend Lothario into attempting to seduce her, with disastrous results for all. In Part Two, the author acknowledges the criticism of his digressions in Part One and promises to concentrate the narrative on the central characters (although at one point he laments that his narrative muse has been constrained in this manner). Nevertheless, "Part Two" contains several back narratives related by peripheral characters. Several abridged editions have been published which delete some or all of the extra tales in order to concentrate on the central narrative. [edit]Style [edit]Spelling
[8]

and pronunciation

Cervantes wrote his work in a form of Old Castilian, the medieval form of the Spanish language, that was quickly evolving into more modern Spanish. The language of Don Quixote, although still containing archaisms, is far more understandable to modern Spanish readers than is, for instance, the completely medieval Spanish of the Poema de mio Cid, a kind of Spanish that is as different from Cervantes's language as Middle English is from Modern English. The Old Castilian language was also used to show the higher class that came with being a knight errant. In Old Castilian the letter x represented the sound written with sh in modern English, so the name was originally pronounced "ki-SHOT-eh "[kiote]. However as Old Castilian became modern Spanish, the pronunciation of the sh sound changed, and came to be pronounced with a voiceless velar fricative sound like the Scottish or German ch and today the Spanish pronunciation of "Quixote" is ki-HO-teh [kixote]. The original pronunciation is reflected in languages such as Astur-Leonese, Galician, Catalan, French, Italian and Portuguese that pronounce it with a "sh" or "ch" sound. Today English speakers generally attempt something close to the modern Spanish pronunciation when saying Quixote (Quijote), as [d kihote], although the traditional English spelling pronunciation pronouncing the name with the value of the letter x in modern English is still sometimes used, resulting in /kwkst/ or /kwksot/. The traditional English rendering is preserved in the pronunciation of the adjectival form quixotic, i.e., /kwksotk/ or /kwkstk/, the foolishly impractical pursuit of ideals, typically marked with rash and lofty romantic ideals. [edit]Setting Cervantes' story takes place on the plains of La Mancha, specifically the comarca of Campo de Montiel. In a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire to call to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing. Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Volume I, Chapter I The location of the village to which Cervantes alludes in the opening sentence of Don Quixote has been the subject of debate since its publication over four centuries ago. Indeed, Cervantes deliberately omits the name of the village, giving an explanation in the final chapter: Such was the end of the Ingenious Gentlemen of La Mancha, whose village Cide Hamete would not indicate precisely, in order to leave all the towns and villages of La Mancha to contend among themselves for the right to adopt him and claim him as a son, as the seven cities of Greece contended for Homer.
[9]

Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Volume II, Chapter 74 In 2004, a multidisciplinary team of academics from Complutense University, led by Francisco Parra Luna, Manuel Fernndez Nieto and Santiago Petschen [10] Verdaguer, deduced that the village was that of Villanueva de los Infantes. Their findings were published in a paper titled "'El Quijote' como un sistema de distancias/tiempos: hacia la localizacin del lugar de la Mancha", which was later published as a book: El enigma resuelto del Quijote. The result was replicated in two subsequent investigations: "La determinacin del lugar de la Mancha como problema estadstico" and "The Kinematics of the Quixote and the Identity of the [11][12] 'Place in La Mancha'". [edit]Language Because of its widespread influence, Don Quixote also helped cement the modern Spanish language. The opening sentence of the book created a classic Spanish clich with the phrase "de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme" ("whose name I do not wish to recall"): "En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no hace mucho tiempo que viva un hidalgo de los de lanza en astillero, adarga antigua, rocn flaco y galgo corredor." ("In a village of La Mancha, whose name I do not wish to recall, there lived, not very long ago, one of those gentlemen with a lance in the lance-rack, an ancient shield, a skinny old horse, and a fast greyhound.") The novel's farcical elements make use of punning and similar verbal playfulness. Character-naming in Don Quixote makes ample figural use of contradiction, [13] inversion, and irony, such as the namesRocinante (a reversal) and Dulcinea (an allusion to illusion), and the word quixote itself, possibly a pun on quijada (jaw) [14] but certainly cuixot (Catalan: thighs), a reference to a horse's rump. As a military term, the word quijote refers to cuisses, part of a full suit of plate armour protecting the thighs. The Spanish suffix -ote denotes the augmentativefor example, grande means large, but grandotemeans extra large. Following this example, Quixote would suggest 'The Great Quijano', a play on words that makes much sense in light of the character's delusions of grandeur. La Mancha is a region of Spain, but mancha (Spanish word) means spot, mark, stain, region and word are not etymologically related (from Arab origin the former, from Latin macula the latter), so "de La Mancha" (lit. both Stained Quixote and Quixote from La Mancha) is an hilarious name for a spotless knight. [edit]Publication

Bronze statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, at the Plaza de Espaain Madrid

In July 1604, Cervantes sold the rights of El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha (known as Don Quixote, Part I) to the publisher-bookseller Francisco de Robles for an unknown sum. License to publish was granted in September, the printing was finished in December, and the book came out on January 16, [15][16] 1605. The novel was an immediate success. The majority of the 400 copies of the first edition were sent to the New World, with the publisher hoping to get a [17] better price in the Americas. Although most of them disappeared in a shipwreck near La Havana, approximately 70 copies reached Lima, from where they were [17] sent to Cuzco in the heart of the defunct Inca Empire. No sooner was it in the hands of the public than preparations were made to issue derivative (pirated) editions. "Don Quixote" had been growing in favour, and its author's name was now known beyond the Pyrenees. By August 1605 there were two Madrid editions, two published in Lisbon, and one in Valencia. A second [18] edition was produced with additional copyrights for Aragon and Portugal, which publisher Francisco de Robles secured. Sale of these publishing rights deprived Cervantes of further financial profit on Part One. In 1607, an edition was printed in Brussels. Robles, the Madrid publisher, found it necessary to meet demand with a third edition, a seventh publication in all, in 1608. Popularity of the book in Italy was such that a Milan bookseller issued an Italian edition in 1610. Yet another [16] Brussels edition was called for in 1611.

In 1613, Cervantes published the Novelas Ejemplares, dedicated to the Maecenas of the day, the Conde de Lemos. Eight and a half years after Part One had appeared, we get the first hint of a forthcoming Segunda Parte (Part Two). "You shall see shortly," Cervantes says, "the further exploits of Don Quixote and [19] humours of Sancho Panza." Don Quixote, Part Two, published by the same press as its predecessor, appeared late in 1615, and quickly reprinted in Brussels and Valencia (1616) and Lisbon (1617). Part two capitalizes on the potential of the first while developing and diversifying the material without sacrificing familiarity. Many people agree that it is richer and more profound. Parts One and Two were published as one edition in Barcelona in 1617. Historically, Cervantes's work has [20] been said to have smiled Spains chivalry away, suggesting that Don Quixote as a chivalric satire contributed to the demise of Spanish Chivalry. [edit]English

editions in translation

Don Quixote goes mad from his reading of books of chivalry. Engraving by Gustave Dor.

There are many translations of the book, and it has been adapted many times in shortened versions. Many derivative editions were also being written at the time, as was the custom of envious or unscrupulous writers. Seven years after the Parte Primera appeared, Don Quixote had been translated into French, German, Italian, and English, with the first French translation of 'Part II' appearing in 1618, and the first English translation in 1620. One abridged adaptation is authored by [21][dead link] Agustn Snchez, which runs slightly over 150 pages, cutting away about 750 pages. Thomas Shelton's English translation of the First Part appeared in 1612. Shelton is a somewhat elusive figure: some claim Shelton was actually a friend of Cervantes, although there is no credible evidence to support this claim. Although Shelton's version is cherished by some, according to John Ormsby and Samuel [18] Putnam, it was far from satisfactory as a carrying over of Cervantes's text. Shelton's translation of the novel's Second Part appeared in 1620. Near the end of the 17th century, John Phillips, a nephew of poet John Milton, published what is considered by Putnam the worst English translated version. The translation, as literary critics claim, was not based on Cervantes' text but mostly upon a French work by Filleau de Saint-Martin and upon notes which Thomas Shelton had written previously. Around 1700, a version by Pierre Antoine Motteux appeared. Ormsby considered this version "worse than worthless". What future translator Samuel Putnam called "the prevailing slapstick quality of this work, especially where Sancho Panza is involved, the obtrusion of the obscene where it is found in the original, and the slurring of difficulties through omissions or expanding upon the text" all made the Motteux version irresponsible. In 1742, the Charles Jervas translation appeared, posthumously. Through a printer's error, it came to be known, and is still known, as "the Jarvis translation". The most scholarly and accurate English translation of the novel up to that time, it has been criticized by some as being too stiff. Nevertheless, it became the most frequently reprinted translation of the novel until about 1885. Another 18th century translation into English was that of Tobias Smollett, himself a novelist. Like the Jarvis translation, it continues to be reprinted today. Most modern translators take as their model the 1885 translation by John Ormsby. It is said that his translation was the most honest of all translations, without expansions upon the text or changing of the proverbs. In 1922, Arvid Paulson and Clayton Edwards published a now-forgotten expurgated children's version printed under the title The Story of Don Quixote which has nevertheless recently been published on Project Gutenberg. It retains as much of the text as it could while leaving out the risque sections as well as those chapters that young readers might consider dull, and embellishes a great deal on Cervantes's original text (the title page actually gives credit to the two translators [22] as if they were the authors, and leaves out any mention of Cervantes). The most widely read English-language translations of the mid-20th century are by Samuel Putnam (1949), J. M. Cohen (1950; Penguin Classics), and Walter Starkie (1957). The last English translation of the novel in the 20th century was by Burton Raffel, published in 1996. The 21st century has already seen three new

translations of the novel into English. The first is by John D. Rutherford and the second by Edith Grossman. One New York Times reviewer called Grossman's [23] translation a "major literary achievement" and another called it the "most transparent and least impeded among more than a dozen English translations going [24] back to the 17th century." In 2005, the year of the novel's 400th anniversary, Tom Lathrop published a new English translation of the novel, based on a lifetime of specialized study of the novel and its history