ol. Instead of thinking thus, they now began to
admire him and to consider themselves lucky and blessed by having him
in their midst.

CHAPTER XLVI

OF THE TERRIBLE BELL AND CAT FRIGHT THAT DON QUIXOTE GOT IN
THE COURSE OF THE ENAMORED ALTISIDORA'S WOOING

The thought of Altisidora's love bothered Don Quixote so that he could
not go to sleep. He had torn his green stockings, while undressing, and
having neither needle nor thread he could not mend them, and this
increased his annoyance. Soon it was morning, and to put an end to his
agony, he rose and dressed himself. But on his way to the ante-chamber,
where the Duke and Duchess would receive him, he passed through a
gallery, where he was surprised to find the fair Altisidora and her
friend who had been with her outside his window the night before.

When Altisidora laid eyes on the knight errant, she fell in a dead
faint, but was caught in the arms of her friend, who began to unlace
her dress. Don Quixote remained cold and untouched, mumbling all the
while to himself that he knew perfectly well why she had fainted. Her
friend retorted with venom in her voice that she wished he would
disappear from the castle, for if he remained there much longer
Altisidora would be wasting away into nothingness--even if she were
the healthiest and most buxom maiden there at the moment--and die from
a broken heart. This seemed to touch Don Quixote, for he replied that
if she would see to it that a lute was put in his room that night, he
would sing to her and try to comfort her in the night while she stood
outside his window.

The damsels went at once to tell the Duchess what had happened, and
she was pleased beyond words; and together they hit upon a new joke
which would bring them fresh merriment.

Just before midnight Don Quixote came to his chamber and found there a
guitar; and, having tuned it as best he could, he began to let out his
rusty voice into the notes of a ballad that he himself had composed
that day. While he stood there on his balcony singing, there suddenly
broke out a tremendous din; and from above was let down a cord to
which hundreds of bells were attached, making the most deafening
sound. At the same time a bag of cats, each with a bell tied to its
tail, came shooting down upon the unfortunate knight, who was
frightened beyond words by the meowing and squalling and screaming of
the cats and by the jingling of the bells.

Don Quixote stood paralyzed, w