The others coming in, Don Quixote made his confession, and one went to
fetch Sancho Panza. With tears in his eyes the squire sought his poor
master's side, and when in the first clause of his will Don Quixote made
mention of Sancho, saying afterwards, "Pardon me, my friend, that I
brought upon you the shame of my madness," Sancho cried out, "Woe's me,
your worship, do not die this bout; take my counsel, and live many a
good year. For it is the maddest trick a man can play in his whole life
to go out like the snuff of a candle, and die merely of the mulligrubs!"
The others admonished him in like spirit, but Don Quixote answered and
said, "Gently, sirs! do not look in last year's nests for the birds of
this year. I was mad, but now I have my reason. I was Don Quixote of La
Mancha; but to-day I am Alonso Quixano the Good. I hope that my
repentance and my sincerity will restore me to the esteem that once you
had for me. And now let Master Notary proceed." So he finished writing
his will, and then fell into a swooning fit, and lay full length in his
bed. But he lingered some days, and when he did give up the ghost, or to
speak more plainly, when he died, it was amidst the tears and
lamentations of his family, and after he had received the last
sacrament, and had expressed, in pathetic way, his horror at the books
of chivalry.
* * * * *
ADALBERT VON CHAMISSO
Peter Schlemihl, the Shadowless Man
Adalbert von Chamisso, a German lyric poet and scientist, was
born on January 30, 1781, at the Castle of Boncourt, in the
Champagne district of France. His parents emigrated in 1790,
and in 1796 he became page to the Queen of Prussia. Two years
afterwards he entered the army, which he left in 1806 to go to
France, returning to Berlin in the following year. In 1810 he
proceeded to France once more, and thence to Geneva, where he
began his study of natural history. In 1815 he went with Otto
von Kotzehue on a tour round the world, and on his return he
settled in Berlin, having obtained a post in the Botanical
Gardens. He wrote several important books on botany,
topography, and ethnology, but became even more famous through
his poems, ballads and romances. "Peter Schlemihl," which was
written in 1813 was published in the following year by
Chamisso's friend Fouqué, and achieved so great a success that
it was translated into most languages. Chamisso died in Berlin
on August 21, 1838.
_I.--The Grey Man_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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