“’Tis plain,” said Don Quixote, “that thou hast still much to learn in our school of adventures. I tell thee they are giants, and if thou art afraid, keep out of the way, and pass the time in prayer, while I am engaged with them in fierce and unequal battle.”
Saying this, he set spurs to Rozinante, and turning a deaf ear to the cries of Sancho, who kept repeating that the supposed giants were nothing but windmills, he thundered across the plain, shouting at the top of his voice:
“Fly not, ye cowardly loons, for it is only a single knight who is coming to attack you!”
Just at this moment there came a puff of wind, which set the sails in motion; seeing which, Don Quixote cried “Ay, swing your arms! If ye had more of them than Briareos himself, I would make you pay for it.” Then, with a heartfelt appeal to his lady Dulcinea, he charged full gallop at the nearest mill, and pierced the descending sail with his lance. The weapon was shivered to pieces, and horse and rider, caught by the sweep of the sail, were sent rolling with great violence across the plain.*
Translated and abridged by Herbert Lord Havell (1863-1913).
From Stories from Don Quixote (1908), translated and abridged by Herbert Lord Havell (1847-1916).
* In Greek mythology, Briareos is a Hecatonchire, one of the three giants of immense strength, each having a hundred hands.
* From this episode we derive the phrase ‘tilting at windmills’, i.e. attacking imaginary enemies, fighting shadows, conducting a campaign against something that isn’t there or isn’t what it is supposed to be.