d finding upon inquiry that all were
proceeding to the place of burial, they continued their journey
together.

Proceeding on, they discerned through a cleft between two high mountains
about twenty shepherds coming down, all clad in jerkins of black wool,
and crowned with garlands, some of which were of yew, and some of
cypress. Six of them carried a bier covered with various flowers and
boughs. One of the goatherds said: "Those who come hither are bearing
the corpse of Chrysostom, and at the foot of yonder mountain is the
place where he desired to be interred." Four of them, with sharp
pickaxes, were making the grave by the side of a sharp rock. Upon the
bier lay a dead body, strewed with flowers, in the dress of a shepherd,
apparently about thirty years of age; and though dead, it was evident
that his countenance had been beautiful and his figure elegant. Several
books and a great number of papers, some open and some folded, lay round
him on the bier. All that were present, spectators as well as those who
were opening the grave, kept a marvellous silence, until one said to
another: "Observe carefully, Ambrosio, whether this be the place which
Chrysostom mentioned since you wish to be so exact in executing his
will."

"It is here," answered Ambrosio; "for in this very place my unhappy
friend often told me of his woe. Here it was, he told me, that he first
beheld that mortal enemy of the human race; here it was that he declared
to her his no less honorable than ardent passion; here it was that
Marcela finally undeceived and treated him with such disdain that she
put an end to the tragedy of his miserable life; and here, in memory of
so many misfortunes, he desired to be deposited in the bowels of eternal
oblivion."

Then, addressing himself to Don Quixote and the travellers, he thus
continued: "This body, sirs, which you are regarding with compassionate
eyes, was the receptacle of a soul upon which Heaven had bestowed an
infinite portion of its treasures; this is the body of Chrysostom, who
was a man of rare genius, matchless courtesy, and unbounded kindness; he
was a phoenix in friendship, magnificent without ostentation, grave
without arrogance, cheerful without meanness; in short, the first in all
that was good, and second to none in all that was unfortunate. He loved,
and was abhorred; he adored, and was scorned; he courted a savage; he
solicited a statue; he pursued the wind; he called aloud to the desert;
he w