Don Quixote - Part I - Page 90/400

"I do not say, Sancho," replied Don Quixote, "that it is imperative on

knights-errant not to eat anything else but the fruits thou speakest of;

only that their more usual diet must be those, and certain herbs they

found in the fields which they knew and I know too."

"A good thing it is," answered Sancho, "to know those herbs, for to my

thinking it will be needful some day to put that knowledge into

practice."

And here taking out what he said he had brought, the pair made their

repast peaceably and sociably. But anxious to find quarters for the

night, they with all despatch made an end of their poor dry fare, mounted

at once, and made haste to reach some habitation before night set in; but

daylight and the hope of succeeding in their object failed them close by

the huts of some goatherds, so they determined to pass the night there,

and it was as much to Sancho's discontent not to have reached a house, as

it was to his master's satisfaction to sleep under the open heaven, for

he fancied that each time this happened to him he performed an act of

ownership that helped to prove his chivalry.