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.
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Have you perceived yet that Don Quijote is living in a different world than everyone else? So the "king" he serves is not the same as the king who governs the country. To DQ, things are what he thinks they are, and he is not capable of stepping outside his own mind to take an objective view. One more thing: past tense of "make" is "made," not "maked...." Thanks for a thoughtful post. I particularly liked the way you embedded the second part of your quote in your own analytical language.
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