play meant;
and Sancho begged of him between his transports: "Let me kiss, for I
think your Worship is the first saint in the saddle I ever saw!"

Of course, the gentleman confessed his sinfulness to Sancho, who refused
to change his opinion, in spite of his master's honest laughter. Then the
gentleman told Don Quixote about his great pride, his son, who was
eighteen years old, had been a student at Salamanca, and wrote divine
poems. This immediately inspired Don Quixote to a discourse on poetry, in
which he dwelt on the dishonor of commercializing this great gift of the
gods. He finished his speech with the advice to Don Diego that he bring
up his son to write discourses in which all vice was flayed and all sin
chided and rebuked. Above all, he said, a poet must never let envy or
personal grudge and hatred guide his pen. When the traveler heard Don
Quixote speak in so wise and discerning manner, he was aghast; and he was
entirely at a loss to know how to judge him. He was inclined to think
that what he had taken for madness in him was nothing but eccentricity.

But while Don Quixote was discoursing on poetry, Sancho, on seeing
some shepherds, had fled to beg some ewe milk of them. When his master
had finished his discourse, and the gentleman was silently considering
his madness, Sancho suddenly heard himself called to battle. Having
in his possession his master's helmet, he spurred his donkey to
further increase his efforts toward speed, and when he reached the
valiant knight, he discovered the reason for the call: a cart bedecked
with royal flags approaching on the road.

CHAPTER XVII

WHEREIN IS SHOWN THE FARTHEST AND HIGHEST POINT WHICH THE
UNEXAMPLED COURAGE OF DON QUIXOTE REACHED OR COULD REACH;
TOGETHER WITH THE HAPPILY ACHIEVED ADVENTURE OF THE LIONS

When Sancho was summoned by his master, he had just bought some curds
from the goatherd, and not knowing what to do with them at such a
moment, he hastily deposited them in his master's helmet. The first
thing Don Quixote did when Sancho had caught up with him, was to
snatch the helmet from him, exclaiming that he had to make ready for
what promised to be an exciting adventure; while all Sancho could see
was the cart with the royal flags, probably carrying some treasure of
the kings. As Sancho stood watching the cart, Don Quixote resolutely
put on the helmet, which he proceeded to press down on his head in
order to make it sit fast; but as he did so, t