“Look here, señor,” said Sancho, “don’t give yourself any trouble about it, for I have just this minute hit upon what I asked you. The first tumbler in the world, you must know, was Lucifer, when they cast or pitched him out of heaven; for he came tumbling into the bottomless pit.”

“You are right, friend,” said the cousin; and said Don Quixote, “Sancho, that question and answer are not thine own; thou hast heard them from someone else.”

“Hold your peace, señor,” said Sancho; “faith, if I take to asking questions and answering, I’ll go on from this till tomorrow morning. Nay! to ask foolish things and answer nonsense I needn’t go looking for help from my neighbours.”

“Thou hast said more than thou art aware of, Sancho,” said Don Quixote; “for there are some who weary themselves out in learning and proving things that, after they are known and proved, are not worth a farthing to the understanding or memory.”