hey saw who it was, they gathered round him with eager questions
and cries of welcome; but he checked them with a gesture and said:
"Control yourselves, all of you! I am grievously hurt, and if it be
possible let some one go and fetch Urganda the wise woman, that she may
examine and heal my wounds."

"Alack-a-day!" cried the housekeeper, lifting up her hands. "Did I not
tell you, gentlemen, that I knew on which foot my master halted? Come,
dear sir, and we will cure you, without the help of Urganda or anyone
else." And with many maledictions against the books of chivalry which
had done the kind gentleman so ill a turn, she assisted him to dismount,
and amongst them they carried him to his room, took off his armor, and
laid him on his bed. Then they inquired where he was hurt, and Don
Quixote exclaimed that he was bruised from head to foot, having been
thrown from his horse in an encounter with ten giants, the most
outrageous and ferocious in the world.

VII. THE BATTLE WITH THE WINDMILLS

For two weeks Don Quixote remained peacefully at home, and many were the
pleasant discussions which passed between him and his old friends, the
priest and barber, on his favorite theme--the pressing need of reviving
the profession of knight-errantry, and his own peculiar fitness for
rendering this great service to the world. All this time he was secretly
negotiating with a certain peasant, a neighbor of his, whose name was
Sancho Panza, an honest, poor man, not much better furnished with wits
than the knight himself. This simple fellow lent a ready ear to his
grand tales of glory and conquest, and at last consented to follow him
as his squire, being especially tempted by certain mysterious hints
which Don Quixote let fall concerning an "Isle," of which his new master
promised to make him governor at the first opportunity.

This matter being arranged Don Quixote patched up his armor, obtained a
new lance, and having provided himself with a sum of money, gave notice
to his squire of the day on which he proposed to start. Sancho, who was
short and fat and little used to traveling on foot, asked leave to bring
his ass, remarking that it was a very good one. This proposal gave the
knight pause, for, try as he would, he could remember no authority for a
squire on a long-eared charger; but finally he gave the required
permission, resolving to furnish him with a worthier steed as soon as
possible, by taking the horse of the first discourt