DON QUIXOTE – THE CAPTIVE’S TALE – PART 5

(This post is a continuation of Don Quixote – The Captive’s Tale – Parts 1 through 4. If you haven’t done so already, it’s probably best to read those posts before continuing on here.)

Last week, the captive received money and a letter let down from a window by a mysterious lady who, it turned out, was smitten by Christianity and by the captive himself. In this week’s excerpt, we follow the development of the relationship between them.

Our surprise and joy at the words the renegade had read to us from the letter let down by the lady in the window were so great that he at once perceived that the paper had not been found by chance, but had been in reality addressed to someone of us. He begged us, if what he suspected were the truth, to trust him and tell him all, for he would risk his life for our freedom.

So saying, he took out from his breast a metal crucifix, and, with many tears, swore by the God the image represented, in whom, sinful and wicked as he was, he truly and faithfully believed, to be loyal to us and keep secret whatever we chose to reveal to him, for he thought and almost foresaw that by means of her who had written that paper, he and all of us would obtain our liberty and he himself obtain the object he so much desired, his restoration to the bosom of the Holy Mother Church, from which, by his own sin and ignorance, he was now severed like a corrupt limb.

The renegade said this with so many tears and such signs of repentance that with one consent we all agreed to tell him the whole truth of the matter, and so we gave him a full account of all, without hiding anything from him. We pointed out to him the window at which the reed appeared, and he by that means took note of the house and resolved to ascertain with particular care who lived in it. We agreed also that it would be advisable to answer the Moorish lady’s letter, and the renegade, without a moment’s delay, took down the words I dictated to him, which were exactly what I shall tell you, for nothing of importance that took place in this affair has escaped my memory, or ever will while life lasts.

This, then, was the answer we returned to the Moorish lady:

“The true Allah protect thee, Lady, and that blessed Marien who is the true mother of God, and who has put it into thy heart to go to the land of the Christians, because she loves thee. Entreat her that she be pleased to show thee how thou canst execute the command she gives thee, for she will, such is her goodness. On my own part, and on that of all these Christians who are with me, I promise to do all that we can for thee, even to death. Fail not to write to me and inform me what thou dost mean to do, and I will always answer thee, for the great Allah has given us a Christian captive who can speak and write thy language well, as thou mayest see by this paper. Without fear, therefore, thou canst inform us of all thou wouldst. As to what thou sayest, that if thou dost reach the land of the Christians thou wilt be my wife, I give thee my promise upon it as a good Christian, and know that the Christians keep their promises better than the Moors. Allah and Marien his mother watch over thee, my Lady.”

The paper being written and folded I waited two days until the baño was empty as before, and immediately repaired to the usual walk on the terrace to see if there were any sign of the reed, which was not long in making its appearance. As soon as I saw it, although I could not distinguish who put it out, I showed the paper as a sign to attach the thread, but it was already fixed to the reed, and to it I tied the paper; and shortly afterwards our star once more made its appearance with the white flag of peace, the little bundle.

It was dropped, and I picked it up, and found in the cloth, in gold and silver coins of all sorts, more than fifty crowns, which fifty times more strengthened our joy and doubled our hope of gaining our liberty.

That very night our renegade returned and said he had learned that the Moor we had been told of lived in that house, that his name was Hadji Morato, that he was enormously rich, that he had only one daughter, the heiress of all his wealth, and that it was the general opinion throughout the city that she was the most beautiful woman in Barbary, and that several of the viceroys who came there had sought her for a wife, but that she had been always unwilling to marry. He had also learned, moreover, that she had a Christian slave who was now dead, all which agreed with the contents of the paper.

We immediately took counsel with the renegade as to what means would have to be adopted in order to carry off the Moorish lady and bring us all to Christian territory. I in the end, it was agreed that for the present we should wait for a second communication from Zoraida (for that was the name of her who now desires to be called Maria), because we saw clearly that she and no one else could find a way out of all these difficulties. When we had decided upon this, the renegade told us not to be uneasy, for he would lose his life or restore us to liberty. For four days the baño was filled with people, for which reason the reed delayed its appearance for four days, but at the end of that time, when the baño was, as it generally was, empty, it appeared with the cloth so bulky that it promised a happy birth. Reed and cloth came down to me, and I found another paper and a hundred crowns in gold, without any other coin. The renegade was present, and in our cell we gave him the paper to read, which was to this effect:

“I cannot think of a plan, señor, for our going to Spain, nor has Lela Marien shown me one, though I have asked her. All that can be done is for me to give you plenty of money in gold from this window. With it, ransom yourself and your friends and let one of you go to the land of the Christians and there buy a vessel and come back for the others. He will find me in my father’s garden, which is at the Babazon gate near the seashore, where I shall be all this summer with my father and my servants. You can carry me away from there by night without any danger and bring me to the vessel.

And remember thou art to be my husband, else I will pray to Marien to punish thee. If thou canst not trust anyone to go for the vessel, ransom thyself and do thou go, for I know thou wilt return more surely than any other, as thou art a gentleman and a Christian. Endeavour to make thyself acquainted with the garden. When I see thee walking yonder, I shall know that the baño is empty and I will give thee abundance of money. Allah protect thee, señor.”

For a further installment of The Captive’s Tale, see the next post in this blog.