"A curse on thee, Sancho," said Don Quixote; "what wouldst thou be at? When once thy stringing of proverbs begins, Judas alone--I wish he had thee!--can have patience to the end. Tell me, animal! what knowest thou of nails and wheels, or of anything else?"
"Oh, if I am not understood," replied Sancho, "no wonder that what I say passes for nonsense. But no matter for that,--I understand myself. Neither have I said many foolish things, only your worship is such a cricket."
"Critic, not cricket, fool! thou corrupter of good language!" said the knight.
"Pray, sir, do not be so sharp upon me," answered Sancho, "for I was not bred at court nor studied in Salamanca, to know whether my words have a letter short or one too many. As Heaven shall save me, it is unreasonable to expect that beggarly Sayagnes should talk like Toledans; nay, even some of them are not over-nicely spoken."
Purity, propriety, and elegance of style will always be found among polite, well-bred, and sensible men.
I have heard it said of your fencers that they can thrust you the point of a sword through the eye of a needle.
O happy thou above all that live on the face of the earth, who, neither envying nor envied, canst take thy needful rest with tranquillity of soul, neither persecuted by enchanters nor affrighted by their machinations! Sleep on! a hundred times I say, sleep on! No jealousies on thy lady's account keep thee in perpetual watchings, nor do anxious thoughts of debts unpaid awake thee; nor care how on the morrow thou and thy little straitened family shall be provided for. Ambition disquiets thee not, nor does the vain pomp of the world disturb thee; for thy chief concern is the care of thy ass, since to me is committed the comfort and protection of thine own person,--a burden imposed on the master by nature and custom. The servant sleeps, and the master lies awake considering how he is to maintain, assist, and do him kindness. The pain of seeing the heavens obdurate in withholding the moisture necessary to refresh the earth touches only the master, who is bound to provide in times of sterility and famine for those who served him in the season of fertility and abundance.
So much thou art worth as thou hast, and so much thou hast as thou art worth.