the Filidas, and all the rest of them, that the books, the ballads, the barber’s shops, the theatres are full of, were really and truly ladies of flesh and blood, and mistresses of those that glorify and have glorified them? Nothing of the kind; they only invent them for the most part to furnish a subject for their verses, and that they may pass for lovers, or for men valiant enough to be so; and so it suffices me to think and believe that the good Aldonza Lorenzo is fair and virtuous; and as to her pedigree it is very little matter, for no one will examine into it for the purpose of conferring any order upon her, and I, for my part, reckon her the most exalted princess in the world. For thou shouldst know, Sancho, if thou dost not know, that two things alone beyond all others are incentives to love, and these are great beauty and a good name, and these two things are to be found in Dulcinea in the highest degree, for in beauty no one equals her and in good name few approach her; and to put the whole thing in a nutshell, I persuade myself that all I say is as I say, neither more nor less, and I picture her in my imagination as I would have her to be, as well in beauty as in condition; Helen approaches her not nor does Lucretia come up to her, nor any other of the famous women of times past, Greek, Barbarian, or Latin; and let each say what he will, for if in this I am taken to task by the ignorant, I shall not be censured by
—Digo que vuestra merced tiene toda la razón —dijo Sancho—, y que yo soy un asno. Pero no sé cómo se me cayó de la boca el nombre de asno, que no se ha de mentar la soga en casa del ahorcado; mas agora bien, venga la carta, y con Dios, que yo me voy.
Don Quijote sacó la libreta y, retirándose a un lado, muy pausadamente comenzó a escribir la carta; y, en acabándola, llamó a Sancho, diciendo que se la quería leer para que la tomase de memoria, por si acaso la perdiese por el camino, que con las malas nuevas que él tenía, todo se podía temer.