Without Lifting A Finger

In 1614 a sequel to Cervantes ' Don Quixote was published under the pseudonym Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda . The identity of Fernández de Avellaneda has been the subject of many theories, but there is no consensus on who he was. One theory holds that Avellaneda's work was a collaboration by friends of Lope de Vega. [ 1 ] Critical opinion has generally held Avellaneda's work in low regard, [ 1 ] and Cervantes himself is highly critical of it in his own Part 2. However, it is possible that Cervantes would never have completed his own continuation were it not for the stimulus Avellaneda provided. Throughout Part 2 of Cervantes' book Don Quixote meets characters who know of him from their reading of his Part 1, but in Chapter 59 Don Quixote first learns of Avellaneda's Part 2, and is outraged since it portrays him as being no longer in love with Dulcinea del Toboso. As a result of this Don Quixote decides not to go to Saragossa to take part in the jousts, as he ...

Getting a little tired of sauna-esque Michigan. My girls have a "list" (places and things) and they've checked off most of the items. Most likely (bow to the gods of Standby) we will be returning to Long Beach tomorrow. Meanwhile I've again seen Chekhov in Michigan country life (sounds like the genesis of a poem or two). And that has inspired me again to put Quixote aside (about 150 pages from the finish line) temporarily. I finished off Edmond Jabes (the big book of everything), ping-ponged between Quixote and Panza (almost as if Cervantes is dragging it out for $$$), and then picked up (via Kindle) in succession: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya , and The Cherry Orchard.

St. Peter's Square obelisk , a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr. I believe this is what Cervantes is calling St. Peter's Needle (also sometimes called Caesar's Needle).

From Quixote : Julius Caesar's ashes were placed on top of a vast stone obelisk now known in Rome as St Peter's Needle; . . . From Renovatio Urbis by  Nicholas Temple (2011):

Throughout Quixote there are numerous proverbs and malaprops, which I'm sure present the translator(s) with various problems. Anyway, it is Sancho Panza who seemingly attempts, anachronistically, to outmalaprop Mrs. Malaprop (though a character named Pedro Alonso also commits them). I present only a few examples here: From Sancho:      'Everything you've said so far,' said Sancho, 'I've understood very well, but all the same I'd like you to dissolve one doubt that's just found its way into my head.'      ' Resolve is what you mean to say, Sancho,' said Don Quixote. 'You are most welcome to ask, and I shall reply as best I can.'      The young graduate was astonished to hear how Sancho Panza expressed himself, because even though he'd read the first volume of his master's history he'd never believed that Sancho was as funny as he's depicted there; but when he heard him talk about a will and codicil that...

Being "enchanted" is a big deal in Don Quixote. In the Don's mind just about everything bad that comes his way is due to "enchantment." In this instance he has been put into a cage because he is "enchanted." Sancho wants to convince him that he isn't. It's a good example of Cervantes' idea of literary fun.      'And I tell you I'm sure my master's a good and honest man, and so, being as it is very much to the point, what I'm asking, with all due respect, is wheter maybe, in the time you've been shut up and, as you think, enchanted here in this cage, you've ever felt the need or urge to do number one or number two, as some people put it.'      'I do not understand what you mean by "doing the numbers", Sancho; you must be more explicit if you wish me to give you a clear answer.'      'How can you not know about doing number one and number two? It's the very first thing you learn at sch...

Where Quixote is now. The Sierra Morena mountains were notorious in former times for being a haunt of bandits and highwaymen . [ 2 ] It has been referenced in the novel Don Quixote , wherein Sancho Panza suggests it to be a refuge from the Holy Brotherhood after Don Quixote frees a group of galley slaves. In Voltaire 's satire Candide , the main characters stop there on their escape from Lisbon (chapter 9-10). Nikolay Karamzin 's 1793 prose "Sierra-Morena", where the Russian writer tells of a love story between the author and young Elvira, is also dedicated to the mountain range. The Sierra Morena was also the setting for the majority of Jan Potocki 's " The Manuscript Found in Saragossa ". The famous song " Cielito Lindo " mentions the Sierra Morena. [From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Morena ]

Or Zorro. Or someone out of Don Quixote. Anyway, a local hero (just don't know what he's fighting for) who I even saw yesterday out on the jetty rocks. This one is on an electrical box not far from where I sleep.

Simple answer: the fictitious Arab author created by Cervantes. Cervantes claims the Arab writer's manuscript is the source of the "history" of Don Quixote. More complicated answer: see "Cide Hamete Benengeli vs. Miguel de Cervantes: The Metafictional Dialectic of Don Quijote " by Howard Mancing: http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/cervante/csa/articf81/mancing.htm

According to the consort "notes": Notorious hack (1492? - 1558?), who wrote various romances of chivalry. Wikipedia is kinder but pretty much agrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feliciano_de_Silva * Anyway, Cervantes makes him Quixote's fave and mocks his style: The reason for the unreason to which my reason is subjected, so weakens my reason that I have reason to complain of your beauty

Tilting at windmills is an English idiom which means attacking imaginary enemies. The word “tilt”, in this context, comes from jousting . The phrase is sometimes used to describe confrontations where adversaries are incorrectly perceived, or courses of action that are based on misinterpreted or misapplied heroic, romantic, or idealistic justifications. Etymology The phrase derives from an episode in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes . In the novel, Don Quixote fights windmills that he imagines to be giants . Quixote sees the windmill blades as the giant's arms, for instance. A relevant portion of the novel states: Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished. Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them...

Madrid - Don Quixote , a photo by okbends on Flickr. I was in Madrid--years ago. Didn't see this (didn't think to look). We had come from Tangier and were on a train all night (I was traveling alone but I "hooked up" with two others--Japanese and Greek--also getting off in Madrid). We had agreed to go to a bullfight, but after the Prado things got tangled. Anyway, I skipped the bullfight and got on a train to Paris. Oh, well.

End of a semester (feels like I was punched in one lung)  Reading: Finished Holderlin's letters (wanted to linger there; will save the essays for another day); Agnes Nemes Nagy's  The Night of  Akhenaton (told to read her long ago); Cervante's Don Quixote (it's been on my to-read list for some while) I think I'll go for a walk