Postscript to Don Quijote: Hero or Fool? Remixed

9 Postscript to Don Quijote: Hero or Fool? Remixed _____________________________________________John Jay Allen For Ana Rueda I n one of her poems, Marianne Moore says that poetry presents us with “imaginary gardens with real toads in them” (135). Don Quixote invents an alternative reality that requires him to show his bravery by attacking evil. The descent into the Cave of Montesinos is one of a number of attempts to demonstrate the strength of his spirit. Deep into part two, he makes a pact with Sancho: “Sancho, pues vos queréis que se os crea lo que habéis visto en el cielo, yo quiero que vos me creáis a mí lo que vi en la cueva de Montesinos. Y no os digo más” (2.41:373). His performance throughout has given us a mock epic. Once, though, he is presented with what looks to him like a serious threat: the batanes. Dumbstruck by the discovery that the terrifying noise is made by fulling mills, he is stunned and embarrassed. When Sancho bursts out laughing, Don Quixote has to laugh himself. It is only when Sancho launches into an elaborate parody of Quixotic bombast, kicking the usual archaism up a notch, that his master strikes him with his lance and asks for a real test: “Haced vos que estos seis mazos se vuelvan en seis jayanes, y echádmelos a las barbas uno a uno, o todos juntos, y cuando yo no diere con todos patas arriba, haced de mí la burla que quisiéredes” (1.20:289). Much later, Sansón Carrasco, disguised as The Knight of the White Moon, attacks and defeats Don Quixote, threatening him with death 10 Cervantes John Jay Allen if he denies the supremacy of Casildea de Vandalia. Don Quixote has no idea who it is that has a sword at his throat. He has finally elicited a real toad for his imaginary garden, and his reaction is heroic: “Aprieta, caballero, la lanza, y quítame la vida, pues me has quitado la honra” (2.64:572). jjallen@kih.net University of Kentucky (Emeritus) Works Cited Cervantes, Miguel de. El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. Ed. John Jay Allen. 2 vols. Madrid: Cátedra, 2005. Moore, Marianne. The Poems of Marianne Moore. Ed. Grace Schulman. New York: Viking, 2003. ...