Don Quixote Ch. 14: Chrysostom's Verses and

Summary

Vivaldo reads Chrysostom's Lay of Despair aloud: a discord wrung from bitterness, jealousy, absence, and a stanza in which the dead man admits he is self-deluding yet still calls her injustice the cause that makes him quit the life he loathes. The listeners notice that the poem's suspicions do not match what they have heard of Marcela's reserve. Ambrosio explains that Chrysostom wrote it in voluntary absence, so the imaginary fears leave her virtue unshaken and leave only the charge of being cruel, somewhat haughty, and very scornful.

Then Marcela appears on the summit of the rock where they are digging, so beautiful that her beauty exceeds its reputation. Ambrosio greets her as a basilisk come to watch blood flow. She answers that she has come to defend herself. Heaven made her beautiful without her asking; being loved does not bind the loved to love back; a viper is not blamed for the poison nature gave it; she is a fire afar off, a sword laid aside. She gave no hope to Chrysostom or to any other. On this very spot she told him her purpose was perpetual solitude, and if after that open avowal he steered against the wind, his own obstinacy sank him. Let him who calls her wild beast leave her alone; she neither loves nor hates anyone, and if anyone dies for her it is not of jealousy, for she who loves no one can give no cause for it.

Some of those wounded by her eyes move to follow her anyway. Don Quixote lays his hand on his sword and forbids anyone, whatever his rank, to pursue her, saying she has shown that little or no fault is hers for Chrysostom's death. Whether from his threats or from Ambrosio's reminder of duty, none stir until the grave is finished, the remaining papers burned, and the body laid under a heavy stone. The epitaph still names an ungrateful, cruel, coy, and fair woman who drove him to despair. Vivaldo and his companion press Quixote toward Seville, where adventures present themselves in every street. He will not go until he has cleared these mountains of highwaymen. Then he resolves to seek Marcela and offer her all the service he can, though the history says things did not fall out as he expected.

In this chapter:Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Recognizing Clarity Reframed as Cruelty

A clear no can be renamed cruelty when the listener wanted a yes. Chrysostom's poem calls Marcela unjust while admitting self-delusion; she answers that being loved does not bind her to love back and that his obstinacy, not her cruelty, killed him, and Quixote forbids the crowd to follow her.

Ask whether someone's suffering comes from your boundary or from their refusal to accept the boundary you already gave.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Ambrosio

After Marcela has answered from the rock, Ambrosio still means to set a stone. His epitaph calls the dead man "a victim to disdain," and the living woman ungrateful, cruel, coy, and fair. She has already refused that charge, and the stone is there to keep it.

Continue this thoughtDulcinea Has to Stay Unmet

Coming Up in Chapter 15

After failing to find Marcela in the wood, Quixote and Sancho rest by a stream and turn Rocinante loose. Galician ponies in the valley provoke a fight that leaves the horse battered and both master and squire beaten by Yanguesan carriers.

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Original text

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Chapter 14

Chrysostom's Verses and Marcela's Entrance

WHEREIN ARE INSERTED THE DESPAIRING VERSES OF THE DEAD SHEPHERD, TOGETHER WITH OTHER INCIDENTS NOT LOOKED FOR THE LAY OF CHRYSOSTOM Since thou dost in thy cruelty desire The ruthless rigour of thy tyranny From tongue to tongue, from land to land proclaimed, The very Hell will I constrain to lend This stricken breast of mine deep notes of woe To serve my need of fitting utterance. And as I strive to body forth the tale Of all I suffer, all that thou hast done, Forth shall the dread voice roll, and bear along Shreds from my vitals torn for…

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Chrysostom's Verses and Marcela's Entrance

Summary

Why This Matters