Don Quixote, whose whole title is The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (in Spanish El
ingenioso hidalgo Don Quiijote de la Mancha), is a novel written by Miguel
de Cervantes in the XVII century and the most important classic book in Spanish
language all over the world. In 2002 one hundred major writers from fifty-four
countries voted it the best work of fiction in the word.
It
relates the adventures of a man from the lower aristocracy, called Alonso
Quijano, who goes mad because of reading chivalric novels, fantastical books of
knights, princesses, wizards, giants, etc. So he decides to get out dressed as
an old knight on a skinny horse (Rocinante) in order to live adventures helping
the needy people. He renames himself as Don Quixote and imagines a love lady
(Dulcinea del Toboso), actually a farm girl.
He goes out from his village three times. The
first sally, alone; the second and the third ones, accompanied by a farmer as
his squire, Sancho Panza, a sensible man, the opposite of his crazy master. Don
Quixote watches the reality with his fantasist eyes, despite the warnings of
Sancho, so their adventures usually end badly. It’s especially famous an
episode in which Don Quixote fights against some windmills because he believes
they are giants.
One of the main aspects of the book is its
realism, considered the founding work of the realist novel in world literature.
The characters have to eat, drink, sleep… as common people. Every character
speaks in its own way.
Because of this realism, in the book there are
some food references, usually modest foods. At the beginning of the book the humble
weekly diet of our hero is read:
An occasional stew,
beef more often than lamb, hash most nights, eggs and abstinence on Saturdays,
lentils on Fridays, sometimes squab as a treat on Sundays, these consumed three
fourths of his income.
[Una olla de algo más vaca que carnero, salpicón
las más noches, duelos y quebrantos los sábados, lantejas los viernes, algún
palomino de añadidura los domingos, consumían las tres partes de su hacienda]
Don Quixote and Sancho travels constantly; so
their food as knight-errant, is very simple: stale bread and cheese. There are
some advices that Don Quixote gives to Sancho about food:
“Do not eat garlic
or onions lest their smell reveal your peasant origins […]. Eat sparingly at
midday and even less for supper, for the health of the entire body is forged in
the workshop of the stomach. Be temperate in your drinking, remembering that
too much wine cannot keep either a secret or a promise. Be careful, Sancho, not
to chew with your mouth full or to eructate in front of anyone.”
“I don’t understand
eructate,” said Sancho.
And Don Quixote
said:
“Eructate,
Sancho, means to belch…”
[“No comas ajos ni cebollas,
porque no saquen por el olor tu villanería. […]. Come poco y cena más poco, que
la salud de todo el cuerpo se fragua en la oficina del estómago. Sé templado en
el beber, considerando que el vino demasiado ni guarda secreto ni cumple
palabra. Ten en cuenta, Sancho no mascar a dos carrillos ni de erutar
delante de nadie.”
Eso de erutar no
entiendo –dijo Sancho.
Y don Quijote le dijo:
Erutar, Sancho, quiere decir
‘regoldar’…]
Questions:
1. According
to the whole tittle of Don Quixote of La Mancha, this knight was:
a. Ingenious.
b. Clever.
c. Crazy.
d. Foolish.
2. Don
Quixote’s weekly diet is:
a. Rich
in meat.
b. Pizza
every day.
c. Humble.
d. Gargantuan.
3. Don
Quixote advices to his squire Sancho:
a. Not
to eat garlic or onions.
b. Not
to eat cakes.
c. Eat
olives.
d. Chewing
with the mouth open.
4. In
relation to wine Don Quixote of La Mancha suggest:
a. Not
to drink at all.
b. To
drink from dusk till dawn.
c. To
drink good Spanish wine only.
d. To
be temperate.
5. The
book Don Quixote is a
a. Cookery
book.
b. Recipe
book
c. Realist
novel.
d. Fantasist
tale with giants.
6. ¿Do
you remember what Don Quixote ate on Fridays?
a. Kebab.
b. Lentils.
c. Vegetables.
d. Fish
and chips.
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