Don Quixote

Fable by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian Period 18th century

Forced to renounce chivalry,
Don Quixote wished, to compensate himself,
to lead a gentler life,
and chose the state of shepherd.
So there he is, taking scrip and crook,
the little round hat trimmed with a green ribbon
making a rosette beneath his chin.
Judge the grace and the air
of this new Tircis! On his raucous bagpipe
he tries to charm the echo of those parts,
buys two sheep from the butcher,
takes a mangy mongrel, and, in that rig,
through the coldest winter seen in a long time,
scattering his flock along the banks of the Tagus,
in the midst of snow he sings of spring.
No harm so far: each in his own way
is free to have his pleasure.
But along came a big cowherd woman;
and the shepherd, pressed by amorous desire,
runs and falls at her feet: O beautiful Timarette,
he says, you whom one sees among your young sisters
like the lily among the flowers,
dear and cruel object of my secret flame,
abandon for a moment the care of your lambs;
come see a nest of turtle doves
that I have discovered on this oak.
I want to give them to you: alas! It is all my wealth.
They are white: their color, Timarette, is yours;
but, unhappily for me, their heart is not yours.
At this speech, Timarette,
whose real name was Fanchon,
opens a wide mouth, and, with a fixed and stupid eye,
gazes at the old Céladon,
when a farmhand, in love with the beauty,
appearing suddenly, falls upon with blows of a stick
on the tender and faithful shepherd,
and lays him out on the grass.
Don Quixote cried: stop,
ignorant and brutal shepherd;
do you not know our laws? The heart of Timarette
must become the prize of a pastoral combat:
sing, and do not strike. In vain he implores him;
the other kept striking, and would strike still,
if they had not come to rescue the shepherd
and tear him from his fury.
Thus to cure oneself of a folly,
very often is only to change it.

Florian

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/fable-don-quixote-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/