那些无法抗拒的名篇06:Don Quixote 唐·吉诃德(节选)
06 唐·吉诃德
In a village of La Mancha，the name of which I have no desire to call to mind，there lived not long since one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance一rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing. An olla of rather more beef than mutton，a salad on most night, scraps on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays，and a pigeon or so extra on Sundays, made away with three—quarters of his income. The rest of it went in a doublet of fine cloth and velvet breeches and shoes to match for holidays, while on week-days he made a brave figure in his best homespun. He had in his house a housekeeper past forty，a niece under twenty，and a the field and market-place，who used to saddle the hack as well as handle the bill一hook. The age of this gentleman of ours was bordering of fifty, he was of a hardy habit, spare，gauntfeatured, a very early riser and a great sportsman. They will have it his surname was Quixada or Quesada (for here there is some difference of opinion among the authors who write on the subject)，although from reasonable conjectures it seems plain that he was called Quexana. This, however, is of but little importance to our tale; it will be enough not to stray a hair's breadth from the truth in the telling of it.
曼查有个地方，地名就不提了，不久前住着一位贵族。他那类贵族，矛架上有一支长矛，还有一面皮盾、一匹瘦马和一只猎兔狗。锅里牛肉比羊肉多，晚餐常吃凉拌肉丁，星期六吃脂油煎鸡蛋，星期五吃扁豆，星期日加一只野雏鸽，这就用去了他四分之三的收入，其余的钱买了节日穿的黑呢外套、长毛绒袜子和平底鞋，而平时，他总是得意洋洋地穿着上好的棕色粗呢衣。家里有一个40多岁的女管家，一个不到20岁的外甥女，还有一个能种地、能采购的小伙子，为他备马、修剪树枝。我们的这位贵族年近五旬，体格健壮，肌肉干瘪，脸庞清瘦，每天起得很早，喜欢打猎。据说他还有一个别名，叫基哈达或克萨达(各种记载略有不同)。推论起来，他应该叫吉哈纳。不过，这对我们的故事并不重要，只要我们谈起他来不失真就行。
You must know, then，that the above一named gentleman whenever he was at leisure (which was mostly all the year round) gave himself up to reading books of chivalry with such ardour and avidity that he almost entirely neglected the pursuit of his field—sports，and even the management of his property, and to such a pitch did his eagerness and infatuation go that he sold many an acre of tillageland to buy books of chivalry to read, and brought home as many of them as he could get. But of all there were none he liked so well as those of the famous Feliciano de Silva’s. composition，for their lucidity of style and complicated conceits were as pearls in his sight，particularly when in his reading he came upon courtships and cartels，where he often found passages like "the reason of the unreason with which my reason is afflicted so weakens my reason that with reason I murmur at your beauty;”or again，"the high heavens，that of your divinity divinely fortify you with the stars，render you deserving of the desert your greatness deserves." Over conceits of this sort the poor gentleman lost his wits，and used to lie awake striving to understand them and worm the meaning out of them;what Aristotle himself could not have made out or extracted had he come to life again for that special purpose. He was not at all easy about the wounds which Don Belianis gave and took，because it seemed to him that，great as were the surgeons who had cured him，he must have had his face and body covered all over with seams and scars. He commended，however, the author's way of ending his book with the promise of that interminable adventure，and many a time was he tempted to take up his pen and finish it properly as is there proposed，which no doubt he would have done，and made a successful piece of work of it too, had not greater and more absorbing thoughts prevented him.
人家说这位贵族一年到头闲的时候居多，闲时常读骑士小说，而且读得津津有味，几乎忘记了习武和理财。他痴心不已，简直走火入魔，居然卖掉了好多田地去买骑士小说。他把所有能弄到的骑士小说都搬回了家。不过，所有这些小说，他都觉得不如闻名遐迩的费利西亚诺·德席尔瓦写得好，此人的平铺直叙和繁冗陈述被他视为明珠，特别在读到那些殷勤话和挑逗信时更是如此。许多地方这样写道:“以你无理对我有理之道理，使我自觉理亏，因此我埋怨你漂亮也有道理。”还有:“高空以星星使你的神圣更加神圣，使你受之无愧地接受你受之无愧的伟大称号而受之无愧。”这些话使得这位可怜的贵族惶惑不已。他夜不能寐，要理解这些即使亚里士多德再世也理解不了的句子。他对唐贝利亚尼斯打伤了别人而自己也受了伤略感不快，可以想象，即使是病被高明的外科医生治好了，但是在脸上和身上也不免会留下累累伤疤。然而，他很欣赏书的末尾说故事还没有完结，很多次，他甚至提笔续写。如果不是其他更重要的想法不断打扰他，他肯定会续写，而且是会写完的。
Many an argument did he have with the curate of his village (a learned man，and a graduate of Siguenza) as to which had been the better knight, Palmerin of England or Amadis of Gaul. Master Nicholas，the village barber, however, used to say that neither of them came up to the Knight of Phoebus,and that if there was any that could compare with him it was Don Galaor, the brother of Amadis of Gaul，because he had a spirit that was equal to every occasion，and was no finikin knight, nor lachrymose like his brother, while in the matter of valour he was not a whit behind him. In short, he became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise, and his days from dawn to dark, poring over them;and what with little sleep and much reading his brains got so dry that he lost his wits.
他常常和当地的神父(一位知识渊博的人，毕业于锡古恩萨)争论，谁是最优秀的骑士，是英格兰的帕尔梅林，还是高卢的阿马迪斯?可是同村的理发师尼古拉斯师傅却说，谁都比不上太阳神骑士。如果有人能够与之相比，那么，只能是高卢的阿马迪斯的兄弟加劳尔。他符合各方面的条件，不是矫揉造作的骑士，而且不像他兄弟那样爱哭，论勇敢也不比他兄弟差。
His fancy grew full of what he used to read about in his books, enchantments，quarrels, battles, challenges，wounds,wooings, loves, agonies, and all sorts of impossible nonsense;and it so possessed his mind That the whole fabric of invention and fancy he read of was true，that to him no history in the world had more reality in it. He used to say the Cid Ruy Diaz was a very good knight, but that he was not to be compared with the Knight of the Burning Sword who with one backstroke cut in half two fierce and monstrous giants. He thought more of Bernardo del Carpio because at Roncesvalles he slew Roland in spite of enchantments, availing himself of the artifice of Hercules when he strangled Antaeus the son of Terra in his arms. He approved highly of the giant Morgante, because, although of the giant breed which is always arrogant and ill-conditioned, he alone was affable and well-bred. But above all he admired Reinaldos of Montalban，especially when he saw him sallying forth from his castle and robbing everyone he met,and when beyond the seas he stole that image of Mahomet which，as his history says, was entirely of gold. To have a bout of kicking at that traitor of a Ganelon he would have given his housekeeper, and his niece into the bargain.
总之，他沉湎于书，每天晚上通宵达旦，白天也读得天昏地转。这样，睡得少，读得多，终于思维枯竭，精神失常，满脑袋都是书上虚构的那些东西，都是想入非非的魔术、打斗、战争、挑战、负伤、献殷勤、爱情、暴风雨、胡言乱语等。他确信他在书上读到的都是真的。对他来说，世界上只有那些故事才是实事。他说熙德· 鲁伊·迪亚斯是一位杰出的骑士，可是无法与火剑骑士比。火剑骑士反手一击，就把两个巨大的恶魔劈成了两半。他最推崇卡皮奥的贝尔纳多。在龙塞斯瓦列斯，贝尔纳多借助赫拉克勒斯把地神之子安泰举起扼死的方法，杀死了会魔法的罗尔丹。他十分称赞巨人摩根达。其他巨人都傲慢无礼，唯有他文质彬彬。不过，他最赞赏的是蒙塔尔万的雷纳尔多斯，特别是看到故事中说，他走出城堡，逢物便偷，而且还到海外偷了穆罕默德渡金像的时候，更是赞叹不止。为了能狠狠地踢一顿叛徒加拉隆，他情愿献出他的女管家，甚至可以再加上他的外甥女。
作者介绍:
米盖儿·塞万提斯(1547-1616)是文艺复兴时期西班牙小说家、剧作家、诗人。他被誉为是西班牙最伟大的作家。评论家们称他的小说《唐·吉诃德》是文学史上的第一部现代小说，同时也是世界文学的瑰宝之一。
《唐·吉诃德》是一部讽刺骑士小说。主人公唐·吉诃德因沉迷于骑士小说，决定外出历险，做一名行侠仗义的骑士。他找来同村的农民桑丘·潘沙作他的侍从，把邻村的一位农家女儿杜尔希尼亚作为他的意中人。他三次外出历险，做了好多可笑的事。最后他被化装成白月骑士的朋友打败，放弃行侠游历，回家不久后病倒。临死前，他终于醒悟了。
