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Don Quichot became famous being the main character in the novel written by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the ingenious nobleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. In 1597, while imprisoned in Seville for unpaid debts, he began writing the book Don Quixote. The book was a great success immediately after its publication, being the first novel to make fun of the classic epic.
It is one of the first novels written in a modern European language and it tells the comic travel adventures of an old nobleman who thinks he is an errant knight. This protagonist, Don Quixote, is the stereotype of the idealist, a foolish hero whose good intentions but impractical actions make him more or less ridiculous.
More than 500 million copies of the book have been sold, in over 140 translations, and it is and remains the third best-selling book in the world, after the Bible and the Quran.
The story of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Don Quixote tried to snare his neighbor Sancho Panza, a neat peasant, but with very little brains under his hair. He told him such wonderful stories, talked so much to him and promised so much, that the poor villager decided to go out with him and serve him as a squire.
Don Quixote told him, among other things, that he should be glad to go with him, because sooner or later an adventure awaited him that would give him an island of which he would make him governor in no time. In consequence of these and more such promises, Sancho Panza abandoned his wife and children and entered the service of his neighbor as a squire.
When all preparations had been made and everything had been arranged and done, without Sancho Panza saying hello to his wife and children or Don Quixote to his housekeeper and niece, they left the village one evening, noticed by no one. And that night they rode such a distance, that at daybreak they were confident of not being found, even though they were looking for them.
Sancho Panza sat like an patriarch on his donkey, with his saddlebags and his leather wine sack, and was very eager to be already governor of the island his master had promised him.
At that moment they discovered thirty or forty windmills standing in those causeways, and as soon as Don Quixote saw them, he said to his squire, "Fortune directs our affairs better than we could have dreamed; for you see, friend Sancho Panza, how there appear thirty or even more colossal giants which I intend to fight and deprive all of them of life, and with the booty we shall make a start on our wealth. This is a fair war and it is a great service to God to wipe such evil spawn from the face of the earth."
"What giants ?" said Sancho Panza. "Those over there," replied his master, "with those long arms, some of which are nearly two miles long."
"Watch what you're doing, sir," Sancho replied. "Those things in the distance are not giants but windmills, and what appear to be arms are the sails, turned around by the wind and they turn the millstone."
"It is clear," replied Don Quixote, "that you have no experience of adventures : those are giants, and if you are afraid, you must make away and say a prayer while I engage in a fierce, unequal battle with them."
And following these words, he spurred his horse Rocinant, heedless of the cries of his squire Sancho, who warned that they were, without a doubt, windmills and not giants, what he intended to attack. Don Quixote had so set in his mind that they were giants that he did not hear the shouts of his squire Sancho, and even now that he was near them it did not dawn on him what they were. Instead, he shouted loudly, "Cast off, cowardly, vile creatures, for it is only one knight who attacks you."
At that moment the wind picked up a little and the great blades began to move, and when Don Quixote saw this, he cried, "Even if you swing more arms around than the giant Briareus had, I will make you pay." Following these words, he wholeheartedly commended himself to his mistress Dulcinea, whom he begged to assist him in that perilous moment, slid his shield to cover his breast, felled his lance, gave Rocinant the full spur and plunged into the first mill he found in his path. But the sail into which he thrust his lance, was turned so violently by the wind that the lance broke to pieces and horse and rider were swept away.
Sancho Panza rushed to his aid as fast as his donkey could carry him, but once he reached him, he found that his master could not move : so hard was the smack he and Rocinant had made.
"God save me !" said Sancho. "I told you to watch what you were doing and that they were just windmills, surely anyone could see that, if he wasn't grinding himself ?"
"Hush, friend Sancho" replied Don Quixote. "Martial matters, more than others, are subject to constant change."
"Besides, I believe, I am quite sure, that the wise sorcerer Frestoen has turned these giants into windmills to deprive me of the glory of this victory. So hostile is he to me, but in time his evil practices will outweigh the soundness of my sword."
"God's will be done" Sancho Panza replied. And he helped Don Quixote up and then on top of Rocinant, who stood there with half-dislocated withers. And talking about their adventure just lived, they continued on their way to Puerto Lápice, for it could not be otherwise, Don Quixote said, or there they would encounter many, varying adventures ....
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A "few" years later, in 2018, and at only my fourth day of cycling, I passed this windmill on my YesTrip from Mons la Trivalle to Bize-Minervois in France 🖱️. I was convinced this was a secret location of Don Quichot, a place where he could rest a while before starting battling windmills again.
It was extremely windy here at the ridge of this valley, so it was clear why the windmill was located here. The wind was so strong that I did not really succeed in filming decently since I was shaken back and forth heavily. I really wondered if Don Quichot would have a fair chance fighting here at such high windspeeds. But I am sure he would have a great time.
I knocked at the door, called his name several times and waited a while. But he obviously was not in today, and I would not have his signature. To bad, maybe next time, and then maybe in Spain ? So I continued my own fight, namely to conquer a lot of vertical meters.
Tip : The Semana Cervantina in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid (october) is a time machine that takes you back to the Golden Age. This local festival attracts 200,000 visitors annually and pays tribute to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the author of the world-famous book Don Quixote. The festive week is a succession of cultural events in the fields of literature, music and theatre. Every day 'Don Quixote' and 'Sancho Panza' lead the parade, accompanied by musicians, the falconer and a snake tamer. But the main attraction of Semana Cervantina is the medieval Mercado Cervantino, the largest craft market in Europe. Take your time, as there are around 500 stalls in the historic streets of Alcalá de Henares.
Unfortunately 2.989 billion persons (per april 2023) have More or less deleted there fantasy by having a facebook-account. And 2.037 billion of them have no fantasy anymore every day, they obviously have to "be there " to be "something". To be or Not to be, that's Not the question. They don't even come close to Don Quichot, and they never will ...
"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies ?"
(Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Don Quichot))