ion of the
earth. See, Don Antonio, even the very boys of this city know me
without ever having seen me." Finally the crowds increased so that Don
Antonio was obliged to remove the parchment, and soon they had to take
refuge in his house.

In the evening Don Antonio's wife gave a dance, and it was amusing to
see the tall and lank hero move about on the ballroom floor; the men
gave him the opportunity to dance every dance, for they themselves
enjoyed watching him better than dancing. At last Don Quixote was so
exhausted both by the dancing and by the lovemaking that the ladies
had imposed on him--and how they delighted in hearing him avow his
great love for Dulcinea--that Sancho had to take him to his room and
put him to bed.

The next day Don Antonio took his wife, Don Quixote, and a few
intimate friends into the secret chamber, and after many mysterious
preliminaries, the questioning of the head began. All seemed
particularly interested in what Don Quixote would have to ask, and
felt rewarded when his turn came, for this is what he demanded: "Tell
me, thou that answerest, was that which happened to me in the cave of
Montesinos the truth or a dream? Will my squire Sancho's whipping be
accomplished without fail? Will the disenchantment of Dulcinea be
brought about?"

In a mysterious voice that seemed to come from a great distance, the
head returned these answers: "As to the question of the cave, there is
much to be said; there is something of both in it. Sancho's whipping
will proceed leisurely. The disenchantment of Dulcinea will attain its
due consummation."

Don Quixote heaved a sigh and declared that if only his peerless one
were disenchanted, it would be all the good fortune he could wish for.
Then Sancho tried his luck; but at the conclusion of Sancho's audience
with the head, he did not seem properly awed, and his master became
displeased with his pretentious expectations and reprimanded him
severely in the presence of the whole company.

All the while Sancho's incessant talking and his master's exalted
behavior kept every one in an uproarious humor. The joke that Don
Antonio had arranged consisted in having a student, a young nephew of
Don Antonio's, placed in a chamber underneath the one in which the
head was, to receive the questions and speak the replies through a
tube that led from the inside of the head to the room below. Soon
after this form of amusement had taken place, it was agreed upon by
the ge