The Three Musketeers

At that moment D'Artagnan opened his eyes. He tore himself from the arms of Porthos and Aramis, and threw himself like a madman on the corpse of his mistress.
Athos rose, walked toward his friend with a slow and solemn step, embraced him tenderly, and as he burst into violent sobs, he said to him with his noble and persuasive voice, "Friend, be a man! Women weep for the dead; men avenge them!"
"Oh, yes," cried D'Artagnan, "yes! If it be to avenge her, I am ready to follow you."


This scene, from the end of The Three Musketeers, was both sad and funny. D'Artagnan had scarce found his "love" when she fell dead from being poisoned by his adversary, Milady. He was heartbroken, but Athos just tells him to get up, stop crying like a woman, and take his revenge. I thought it was just a little odd and inconsiderate of Athos, but still funny. They eventually take their revenge on Milady for having conspired against so many people. The Three Musketeers was a wonderful book.

PS: The words were the ones from this month's vocabulary.

The Three Musketeers

"Is the king accustomed to give you such reasons? No. He says to you jauntily, 'Gentlemen, there is fighting going on in Gascony or in Flanders; go and fight,' and you go there. Why? You need give yourselves no more uneasiness about this."
"D'Artagnan is right," said Athos; "here are our three leaves of absence which came from M. de Treville, and here are three hundred pistoles which came from I don't know where. So let us go and get killed where we are told to go. Is life worth the trouble of so many questions? D'Artagnan, I am ready to follow you."

I loved this quote. D'Artagnan was trying to get his 3 friends to follow him into an adventure, but he can not tell them where. I thought that it was very clever of him to use the king as an example. 'You don't question the king, so don't question me,' was basically what he meant. I also enjoyed Athos' response. 'Yeah! Let's all go on an adventure and get killed. I'm in!' I thought it was funny. Alexandre Dumas did a great job with the creation or recreation of D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. I love The Three Musketeers.

I am David

Their country was very beautiful. The sun shone upon the white snow-caps of the great mountain peaks and turned them to a glowing pink. In the valleys the grass was a startling green, and the houses were surrounded by trees covered in white and pink blossoms. The first time David saw them, he found himself smiling.
The delicate blossoms brought Maria to mind. A tree in full bloom was among the most beautiful of all things, and David's smile came unbidden. Yes, it was good to be alive.

This was a great passage from the incredible book, I am David, by Anne Holm. She uses amazing adjectives and adverbs to describe the setting of the countries, and feelings of the approximately 12 year old boy.
Now to discuss the adjectives and adverbs:
David describes the country as very beautiful because he had been in a concentration camp, where nothing is even nice, and he had been to Italy, where every thing was extremely nice, but he obviously thought that Switzerland(where he was) was even prettier than Italy.
Their were also a lot of huge mountains in Switzerland that always had snow on them, even in the summer.
As spring comes, and the sun finally shows itself, the rays of light makes the snow look pink.
In the valleys, the grass looks incredible, and the trees were blooming to celebrate spring's arrival.
David thought that the blossoms were as pretty and adorable as Maria, who was delicate too, just like the small flower petals.

Rebel's Keep

Something warm and living shone in his blue eyes and seemed to deepen the reddish hues in his hair and beard. It was a warm summer day--warm for Scotland. Woolly strands of cloud drifted lazily in the rich blue overhead, the sunlight almost dancing over the heathery backs of the high moors, and flashes of light sparkled on the trailing river far below in the valley. Sheep contentedly cropped moor grass nearby; a lamb bleated fir its mother, and the remaining horses gathered on recent patrols and tethered on the slope above the crofts ... munched on oats and swished their tails at midges.

This scene from Rebel's Keep had, what I thought, a very vivid description of what the setting was like for this particular day. I liked it so much that I am going to write an imitation scene, but on a different subject.

As it, angry and ugly, stood on its green scaly feet, it looked at me with hugs fiery red eyes. It flapped its unrealistically massive wings as it flew into the air--unrealistic for a dragon its size. The dark forest green tail of muscle swung destructively in every direction possible; the buildings completely crumbling to nothingness with one crushing blow. Sparks flew and fires became more numerous for every exhale of the dragon's burning breathe. Many people disorderly rushed out of the destruction zone to the nearest safest place. Others, wounded form the falling buildings, fires, or trampling of the scurrying of the people, lay bleeding, unconscious, or dead in the streets, helpless to do anything.

Living Reed

From the epilogue of the book, Living Reed concocted by Pearl S. Buck:

"It was high noon at Pusan, on a fine autumn day, two years ago. I had traveled the length and breadth of South Korea, by motorcar, so that I could stopped when I liked. The road was often narrow and rough, the bridges over the many brooks, bombed during the war, had not yet been rebuilt, and we rattled over dry stones or splashed through water made shallow by the dry season."

I relished the descriptions in this intro. It paints a picture in my mind. When a writer can make me imagine something so vivid, I know that they are really good. Pearl, in first person, has recounted for us in this epilogue her visit to Korea after the Korean War. The Korean War took place five years after World War II, in which we fought against Germany and Japan. However in the Korean War, America fought alongside Japan and South Korea against the Russian North Korea. Interesting. I thought that this was a very profound book, and recommend it highly.

PS: The green words are the vocabulary from September or October.

Rebel's Keep

"Aye, but those were both in defense of the weak," said Angus, feeling a growing sense of conviction at what he was trying to explain. "Father's not sure that standing with Hamilton now a-laying siege to the king's garrison in Glasgow is the same as being set upon by the king's dragoons and defending the innocent against them."
"But, word is, ye patrol these hills," said Mr. Welsh. Then he reached a hand up and deliberately stroked the fallen captain's horse, following behind Angus's lead. "And, word is, ye relieve the kings men of horses."
"Aye," admitted Angus, looking sideways at the minister. He detected a smile playing at the corner of the man's mouth.
"Ye've had a weary day of it, Mr. Welsh. Would ye care to ride?"

This passage was taken from Rebel's Keep by Douglas Bond, the third book in the Crown and Covenant series. I particularly enjoyed this passage, because, Angus, who was about a 17 year old Scottish Christian, had just saved the minister's, Mr. Welsh's, life from a pursuing mounted dragoon. The dragoon had wanted to kill Mr. Welsh for preaching from the Bible, which was against the law. Angus, who was also an archer, had killed the dragoon and taken his horse, which was really Scottish. Then, Mr. Welsh asked Angus why he had killed the dragoon and took the king's horses, for Angus had done this more than once. If I had been in Mr. Welsh's place, I would not really have cared if the evil man who had been wanting to kill was dead. I would have taken his horse and rode away, out of danger. I know that Mr. Welsh had been testing Angus, but I still would not have really cared about the now dead dragoon captain and his horse.

PS: the highlights are the participle phrases.

Don Quijote

In chapter 50 of Don Quijote, the crazy knight is being taken home by his friends. A cathedral priest, who was journeying down the same rode saw the Don and entered into a friendly conversation. The subject of the island, which Sancho was going to be given came up, and their was a question as to if Sancho could run it, and Sancho replied that he would give it to someone who could, and enjoy the money which came out of it.

"Ah, brother Sancho," replied the cathedral priest, "but that only takes care of enjoying the rent, and the lord of an estate has to be responsible for administering justice, and this requires ability and common sense, and especially a determination to do the right thing, and if you start without that, then everything will go wrong, and end wrong - which is why God helps carry out the simple man's wishes, just as He sets His face against the wise man's evil intentions."
"I don't know anything about those philosophies," replied Sancho. "All I know is that as soon as I get to be count, I'll know how to act like a count, because I've got just as much soul as the next man, and maybe even more body, and I'd be just as much the ruler of my estates as anyone else is of his, and when I'm in charge I'll do what I want to do, and doing what I want to do, I'll make myself happy, and making myself happy, I'll be satisfied, and when I'm satisfied, that's all I could ask for, and having all I could ask for, that'll be the end of it, so let the estate come and leave the rest to God and then, as one blind man said to the other, we'll see what we'll see."
"That philosophy makes a lot of sense, Sancho-- but just the same, there's a lot to be said about this business of governing estates."

I think that this conversation is really hilarious. Sancho proved as sane as are crazy hero. He thinks that he is going to get to be the governor of an island, and that he'll even be good at it, but he can't even take care of his family. He i s selfish and fat. Anyways, the above paragraph was really long and complicated, so without further adieu, I am going to recreate them.

"Ah, friend Sancho," replied the cathedral priest, "but that only takes care of relishing the money, and the master of an estate has to be responsible for doing justice. This requires ability and common sense, and especially a boldness to do the right thing. If you start without that, then everything will go wrong and end a disaster. This is why God helps accomplish simple man's wishes, just as He confronts the wise man's evil objectives."
"I don't understand those doctrines," replied Sancho. "All I believe is that as soon as I get to be a count, I'll know how to act like a count. I've got just as much courage as the next man, and maybe even more bulk. I'd be just as much a ruler of my property as anyone else is of his, and when I'm in command, I'll do what I want to do. Doing what I want to do, will make me happy. Being happy will make me satisfied. When I'm satisfied, I'll have all I could ask for. Having all I could ask for will be the end of it. So let the estate come to me and let God worry about the rest. Then, as one blind man said to the other, we'll see what we'll see."
"That conviction makes a lot of sense, Sancho-- but just the same, there's a lot to be said about this business of ruling acreage."

Don Quijote

In Chapter 37, Dorotea, Cardenio, Luscinda, and Don Fernando had just gotten their relationships worked out and everything was going as each one had once dreamed.

Dorotea herself could not be sure her good fortune was nothing more than a dream; Cardenio felt exactly the same way, and so too did Luscinda. Don Fernando thanked Heaven for its grace in rescuing him from that convoluted labyrinth in which he'd come so close to losing both his reputation and his immortal soul; and, in a word, everyone in the inn was well satisfied, rejoicing at the happy resolution of such a troublesome, hopeless business.

I really enjoyed this passage, because of the descriptive words that painted pictures in my mind. This is one of those passages that dreams come true. Three of the people could not believe what was happening, because they did not believe that their dreams would come to be real. Fernando had made a mess of things, and was stuck, because of his deception and lies. He was imprisoned in a convoluted labyrinth, a twisted and complicated maze that was impossible to figure out because of his mistakes. But, because the God of Heaven and Earth had interfered, everything was better. Fernando had been freed from his labyrinth, and everyone was happy and joyful because of the great ending, to what had been thought as a disaster. I really enjoy reading the colorful language of a wonderful writer.

Don Quijote

In Chapter 31 of Don Quijote, Sancho Panza, the squire of Don Quijote, had just gotten back from delivering a letter to Don Quijote's lady. But Sancho had not even delivered the message, because after a day and a half of traveling, Sancho had discovered that he did not have the letter. He had forgotten it with his insane master. Sancho, not wanting his hero to think badly of him, came up with a story that he could tell the madman instead. So, when Don Quijote asked:

"And tell me: what was that queen of beauty doing, when you got there? Surely you found her threading pearls , or embroidering with golden thread some mysterious motto for this enslaved knight of hers."
"That wasn't how I found her," replied Sancho, "but out in the yard, at her house, sifting two or three bushels of wheat."
"Then count on it my friend," said Don Quijote, "those grains of wheat were grains of pearl, when she touched them with her hands. But was it fine white wheat or the heavy brown kind?"
"It was just plain ordinary red," answered Sancho.
"Then let me tell you," said Don Quijote, "sifted by her hands, it surely became the whitest of white flour. But go on: when you gave her my letter, what did she do?"
"When I walked over to give it to her," replied Sancho, "she was working the sieve back and forth, with a lot of wheat in it, so she said to me: 'Just put your letter on that sach over there, my friend, because I can't read it until I'm done with all this sieving.' "
"Ah, what a sensible lady!" said Don Quijote. "She did that so she could read it slowly and carefully, all by herself..."

The conversation between the two companions goes on for a while longer, but I thought that this specific scene was very interesting. I had two reasons.
The first: Sancho lied to his master. I was amazed when he did this, because Sancho is usually very truthful and humble. He also knew that if his master found out that Sancho had not delivered the letter, that Sancho would get a nice beating, but the same thing would happen if Do Quijote found out that Sancho was deceiving him about his honored lady.
The second: Sancho told his crazy master what Sancho would have really seen had he truly delivered the message. I thought that this was very intelligent, but what I thought was even more fascinating was the way that Don Quijote responded. No-matter what Sancho said, the insane knight twisted it to sound extremely elegant. Having been trapped in his own world, the madman would not here anything bad about his lady, and always tried to make it sound as wonderful a possible.
I really enjoy reading Don Quijote, because he is so crazy he's funny, and because his character is so original.

Don Quijote

In chapter 22, of Don Quijote, our mad knight found a band of criminals that were chained together and being led by a group of the kings guards. The guilty criminals were being taken to the galleys to serve their time, which was prescribed by their judges. The knight of La Mancha, thinking that the criminals were being unjustly punished, took it into his mind to free the poor "gentlemen." After freeing the wicked men, he called them together and the following ensued:

"What I should like you to do in return is to take these chains, which I have struck from around your necks, and proceed at once to the city of Toboso, there to present yourselves before Lady Dulcinea del Toboso and inform her that her knight, the Knight of the Sad Face, sent you there with his greetings, in order that you might tell her, blow by blow, everything which took place during this famous adventure, up to the point where you recovered your longed for freedom..." said Don Quijote.
The newly released criminals would not comply with the their crazy liberator, but instead, they began to throw such a storm of rocks at Don Quijote that he didn't have enough hands to cover himself with his shield... Don Quijote could not readily take shelter, and God alone knows how many stones struck against his body, thudding down so overwhelmingly that they swept him to the ground...

I think that Don Quijote was an idiot. He wanted to please his king, country, and lady. So, he freed criminals, which maked his country more dangerous, and got him in trouble with the king. Then, he wanted the convicted culprits to pay homage to his lady, and tell her about how he, alone, had freed the evildoers. That was a lie. Pancho helped free some of the convicts, and then the criminals did most of the work of freeing themselves. Why in the world would Don Quijote want to show his lady how he broke the law and rescued a band of outlaws? I understand that he thought the chained men were being wrongly treated, but the imperial guards told him that the chained men were convicted by His Majesty, the king. If Don Quuijote really wanted to please his king, that should have been enough for him. He was seriously wrong in the head. I think he deserved to get stoned by the outlaws. He was being stupid, thinking that he was going to get the convicts to listen to him.

Don Quijote

In Cervantes' Don Quijote, Don is in an argument, saying that all knights errant should have a lady, to whom they are in love with.

"I hereby affirm that there cannot be a knight errant who has no lady, because it is as fitting and natural for them to be in love as it is for the sky to have stars, and I know perfectly well I have never seen the history of a knight errant which shows him without love affairs, which is exactly the reason, too, that were they in fact without a lady, no one would believe they were legitimate knights, but just bastard ones, who hadn't gotten into the stronghold of knighthood through the doorway but by climbing over the wall like a highwayman or a thief."

I, for one, do not agree with Don Quijote at all. I believe that some knights, may be so caught up with activities of knighthood, carrying out quests, and the like, that they do not have time to fall in love. Although, in most fiction novels of chivalrous knights, the knight eventually falls in love and lives happily-ever-after with his lady, that did not, and does not always happen in reality. In fact, many men, whether they are knights errant, or just good honest men, go through life, working hard, and never even think about girls or love.

PS: The green highlight is the series.

Captain from Castile

The proceeding paragraph is from "Captain From Castile," by Samuel Shellabarger, chapter19, as Pedro's sister has been strapped to the garrucha or strappado:

Every nerve in Pedro's body writhed. He was vaguely conscious of his mother's weeping, of de Silva's smile, of his father's haggard face, of the judges leaning forward, of the clerk sitting with his poised quill. He looked here and there in spite of himself, his eyes trying to escape.
Came a thin, sharp scream.


If I had to sit, chained to a chair and watch my beloved little sister, get tortured on a rack, I would be writhing and trying not to watch too, because my heart would be broken and I could not watch my most loved friend be tortured and not be able to do anything. I would also be praying that the horrible torturers would get punished, and that my sister would be delivered quickly from her pain.