Funny Stories in Don Quixote Part One

By Ashton Lackey

Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish author who wrote a novel, called “Don Quixote de la Mancha” (Part One) in 1605. It is about the popular adventures of a man, Alonso Quijano who reads so many books about chivalry and knights that he loses his mind and becomes a knight. He names himself, “Don Quixote de la Mancha”. Cervantes wrote about the much beloved famous knight in two parts. This book only summarizes the first part as an introduction to Don Quixote’s maligned, outdated tales.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ashton Lackey
• Release date: Feb 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215373460

Ashton Lackey

Ashton Lackey (Harrington A. Lackey) has been a Spanish instructor, translator, tutor and writer for the past 30 years. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and Anthropology from Eckerd College, a Master of Arts degree in Hispanic Literature from Auburn University, PhD candidate in Hispanic Literature at the University of Kentucky, and an Associate of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Nashville State Technical Institute. Ashton has taught Spanish classes at Auburn University, Louisiana State University, University of Kentucky, Columbia State Community College, and Belmont University. He started a successful tutoring business- "Learning Strategies," but is now retired.Ashton has completed 10 years of studying French from grammar school to high school. Also, he completed a semester of advanced French in Angers, France at the l’Université Catholique de l’Ouest.He has written three novels, based on historical fiction: "Rare Gold," "Disciple's Curse," and "The Admiral's Signature." He has also published over 150 articles on various subjects and short stories. Ashton is now retired and currently lives in Bluffton, SC with his wife, Diana, and one furry daughter.Ashton has translated over 10 novels from Spanish to English, ("La Celestina", "Lazarillo de Tormes") and from English to Spanish: ("The Healing Of Gala"). I have recently been translating into English: "La Primera Catedral", "Surreal (Y otros relatos), and "MainCastle: La leyenda del caballero blanco".His hobbies are: collecting coins, comic books, books and metal detecting.

Book preview

Overview

Don Quixote de la Mancha is a two-part novel written and published by Miguel de Cervantes in 1605 (1st part) and 1615 (2nd part). Alonso Quijano is a low-level nobleman who becomes crazy after reading too many books of chivalry. He thinks that he is a knight-errant and changes his name to Don Quixote de la Mancha.

The book as a whole was so well read over the last four centuries that it has sold more copies in literary history, except for the Bible.

My book only covers Part One of Cervantes’ masterpiece. It covers 52 hilarious chapters that reveal Don Quixote’s entertaining adventures and downfalls with his sidekick, Sancho Panza. I describe all chapters in Part One which are funny, but not the ones in Part Two.

For reference, I used the edition Of Don Quixote by Edith Grossman (2003).

Introduction

From the beginning of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote de la Mancha, the reader becomes astonished by a well-to-do, fifty-year gaunt man, named Alonso Quijano who sells close to everything he owns to buy books about medieval chivalry and knights-errantry. This gentleman reads so many that he is convinced that he is actually is a chivalric knight who gets ready to go out in the world on his skinny nag he names Rocinante, wearing his great grandfather’s ancient armor. He stews for a long about a name for himself when he invents one – Don Quixote de la Mancha.

The gentleman turned medieval knight believes he must change the world to right every wrong, save damsels in distress, fight those who refuse to acknowledge his mythical lady love, who he names Dulcinea del Toboso is the most beautiful woman in the land.

Cervantes invents this odd hero who parodies the medieval knight’s mind who only views the world around him as a fictional character in the constructions of the many false tales in the novels he reads. Don Quixote’s mind unfolds the satire that makes fun of romance and chivalric literature. These parodies are what drive the humor throughout the novel.

How does Don Quixote’s flawed, medieval reality meet 17th century Spanish society? He gets injured by a windmill that he believes is a giant, clobbered by people fetching water at a well where the knight places his armor so he can stand vigil over them. He fights: herds of sheep he sees as armies ready for battle, friars who are rogues who he thinks have captured noble women, chain gangs who he releases from their chains, and constables who beat him severely when he unknowingly sleeps in a woman’s bed.

Additionally, Don Quixote chooses a peasant, Sancho Panza who is promised to inherit an island if he will be the knight’s squire. Sancho is the common man who has no false illusions of an artificial medieval society like the knight he is attached to. He sees reality like every other Spaniard living in the 17th century. He is not well-versed in the novels of knight-errantry, nor especially intelligent. He tries to save his master from getting