The Sun Shines for Us All
Poem
Don Quixote de la Mancha, Capítulo VIII
En esto, descubrieron treinta o cuarenta molinos de viento que hay en aquel campo, y así como don Quixote los vio, dijo a su escudero:
—La ventura va guiando nuestras cosas mejor de lo que acertáramos a desear; porque ves allí, amigo Sancho Panza, donde se descubren treinta o pocos más desaforados gigantes, con quien pienso hacer batalla y quitarles a todos las vidas, con cuyos despojos comenzaremos a enriquecer, que esta es buena guerra, y es gran servicio de Dios quitar tan mala simiente de sobre la faz de la tierra.
—¿Qué gigantes? —dijo Sancho Panza.
—Aquellos que allí ves —respondió su amo—, de los brazos largos, que los suelen tener algunos de casi dos leguas.
—Mire vuestra merced —respondió Sancho— que aquellos que allí se parecen no son gigantes, sino molinos de viento, y lo que en ellos parecen brazos son las aspas, que, volteadas del viento, hacen andar la piedra del molino.
—Bien parece —respondió don Quixote— que no estás cursado en esto de las aventuras: ellos son gigantes; y si tienes miedo quítate de ahí, y ponte en oración en el espacio que yo voy a entrar con ellos en fiera y desigual batalla.
Miguel de Cervantes
Don Quixote de la Mancha, Chapter VIII
As they were talking, they came across thirty or forty windmills found in that countryside, and as soon as Don Quixote saw them, he said to his squire:
“Good fortune is guiding us better than we could have wished, for there you see, friend Sancho Panza, thirty or more immense giants with whom I intend to do battle and whose lives I intend to take, and with the spoils we will become rich, for this is a righteous war, and it is a great service to God to remove such an evil breed from the face of the earth.”
“What giants?”, said Sancho Panza.
“The ones you see over there”, replied his master, “with the long arms; sometimes they are almost two leagues long.”
“Look, your grace”, replied Sancho, “these things that appear over there are not giants but windmills, and what looks like their arms are the sails that are turned by the wind and make the grindstone move.”
“It is clear to me”, replied Don Quixote, “that you are not well-versed in the matter of adventures: they are giants; if you are fearful, move aside and start to pray while I enter with them into fierce and unequal combat.”
Miguel de Cervantes (translated by François Holmey)
Read by Maite Jáuregui
Music
Symphony No. 9 in C major, "The Great": 2. Andante con moto, Schubert
Mozart Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Image
Don Quijote and Sancho Panza, Honoré Daumier
Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art