A brief synopsis of the masterpiece "Don Quixote" and the adventures of the windmill Monk Takahiro Ueda's Circumnavigation of the World - Spain (11)
In our previous articles, we introduced the villages of Campo de Cryptana and El Toboso in La Mancha, the region associated with the novel "Don Quixote.
Don Quixote" is a novel that started out in the La Mancha region.
However, even though people have heard of "Don Quixote," it is surprisingly little known what kind of novel it actually is and what makes it so great.
Although the episode of Don Quixote charging into the windmill in the film is well known, the reason for the event will become even more of a mystery when asked.
Don Quixote" may be a well-known, but actually enigmatic novel.
Therefore, in this article, I would like to consider the synopsis of "Don Quixote" and the windmill episode, albeit briefly.
Don Quixote is a great work written by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616).
There have been several translations by various authors, but I prefer the translation by Nobuaki Ushijima from the Iwanami Bunko collection.
Nobuaki Ushijima's translation is easy to read. The language is modern, and we can read it without any discomfort.
Don Quixote" is a classic. Therefore, older translations have obviously been made with classical tics.
I think the best translation is the Nobuaki Ushijima translation by Iwanami Bunko if you want to enjoy reading the book in a familiar style.
One might imagine a classic to be a difficult text like a philosophy book, but Nobuaki Ushijima's translation is not like that at all.
In addition, the illustrations inserted at key points in the book are also wonderful.
The illustrations make it easier to imagine Don Quixote's situation more vividly and get into the story.
In a word, we can say with certainty that it is hard to find a classic that is so easy to read.
Now, let's get back to the main issue.
What kind of novel is Don Quixote in the first place?
Here's a quick synopsis.
Alonso Quijano, the protagonist of the book, is obsessed with the book of chivalry and reads it day and night, until one day he loses control and becomes possessed by a certain delusion.
The idea was that the world depicted in the chivalry books once existed, and that it would be revived in the modern world of the 16th and 17th centuries to bring the ideal world to life.
Possessed by this idea, the hero calls himself Don Quixote the Knight and embarks on an itinerant journey.
And wherever he goes, he has various adventures with his characteristic delusions and maniacal behavior.
This is the main story of "Don Quixote.
This is still difficult to understand, so a more modern analogy would be this.
The protagonist believed that the world of "Wa0peace" once existed and that this world was the ideal world.
The protagonist sets out on an adventurous journey to become a pirate king, convinced that he can bring that world back to the present day by rowing himself to sea."
Chivalric tales are a group of novels that became very popular in Spain in the 16th century.
The main character is, of course, a traveling knight, an itinerant knight.
And they fight bravely against fearsome giants and wizards to save captive princesses and oppressed people and bring peace.
The book of chivalry that Don Quixote was reading was just such a book, and in its depiction, a knight's single sword cuts a giant as big as a towering tower in half, a magician's power moves him far away in a flash, and strange events occur.
This is exactly the worldview also described in "Wa0peace".
In other words, Don Quixote set out on an adventurous journey, believing that an impossible world was real, and furthermore, that he could actually do it.
One of these adventures leads to the famous windmill scene.
Don Quixote mistook the windmills for giants and charged them."
This is an often-heard episode.
But Don Quixote is reallyby mistakeDid they assault it?
This is actually a very sensitive issue.
Don Quixote actually has a windmill.Believed to be a giantHe charged in. In his eyes.I really saw him as a giant.The first is the "M" in "M".
Don Quixote charged at the windmill and was blown away by the spear that he had thrust into the windmill's wings, sending him flying through the air and knocking him to the ground.
When his squire Sancho saw this, Don Quixote replied, "Oh, dear, oh, dear! Don Quixote replies, even after being taken aback.
The wizard must have turned the giant into a windmill in order to deprive me of the honor of slaying him.
He says that it was indeed a giant, but that the magician has now turned it into a windmill.
Don Quixote is a company thatby mistakeIt was not an assault.
He's a giant.And I really believed in it., ,That's what it looked like.The following is a list of the most common problems with the
Mistake and believing are still subtle but something crucially different nuances.
Believe and you will see the world differently."
Have you ever experienced the following?
What you thought you definitely saw or did not see, others disagree. Then they clash and argue.
Absolutely I saw it! I'm sure of it!"
There was absolutely no such thing." There was no way I could have seen it!"
The same principle applies to the "say it or don't say it" argument.
The world we see is not the only reality.
We only see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear.
We unknowingly select and choose information and recognize the resulting information as "the only world.
The world that others see and the world that I see are two very different things.
The author Cervantes has infused these underlying messages into Don Quixote's seemingly strange and hilarious adventures.
I will return to these methods of Cervantes in the next article, but anyway, I would like to tell you that the famous windmill scene is an episode created by this kind of Don Quixote's imagination.
Now, Don Quixote is a large volume, six books in total (upper and lower volumes), and each book has over 400 pages.
It is obvious when you stack them up. The difference is obvious when viewed side by side with a new book.
Frankly, I wonder if the thickness of the book is keeping readers away.
It's obvious that it would take a lot of commitment to read this all at once. It is hard to think of reaching out to it casually.
But rest assured.
This windmill episode begins on about page 140 of the more than 2,400 total pages.
What a surprise, this windmill episode is unveiled very early in the novel "Don Quixote".
I was quite surprised when I first read it.
I never dreamed that such a famous scene would appear so soon.
Without a doubt, this windmill adventure is one of the highlights of the novel Don Quixote.
And, in my personal opinion, my favorite scenes are in the first two books, Part I (1) and Part II (2).
The massive work, "Don Quixote," runs to six volumes.
But I don't think it is necessary to read all of them at once.
Don Quixote" is simply an interesting book to read.
The first of these books is particularly interesting.
The preface at the beginning of the book is difficult to get into, but once you get into the main text, it is a quick and easy read.
The humorous writing continues with a humor that makes you giggle.
At any rate, read the first book and if that makes you curious about the rest of the story, go on to the second and subsequent books.
I think that is enough to start with.
It would be a real shame to be intimidated by the large volume and not read one.
It is in the first book that the essence of Don Quixote's fun is concentrated.
As an added bonus, you'll get a solid look at the world-famous windmill adventure.
I think it is more than worth it just to taste it.
The first book by Don Quixote is highly recommended.
There are good, solid reasons why it is considered a world masterpiece.
In the next article, I would like to talk about what makes "Don Quixote" so great.
be unbroken
Next Article.
*Addition on May 29, 2021
By Toby GreenThe Inquisition: The Terror That Undermined the Great Spanish Nation.I found a very interesting point about "Don Quixote" in a book called
In this article, I will discuss Cervantes' terrifying satire hidden in the episode with the rowing prisoners of the galleys in "Don Quixote". We will see how Cervantes was able to ironize the Spanish climate of the time. The greatness of "Don Quixote" is evident at a glance. Please come and see it.
*Addition on June 3, 2021
Following the above article, here is a recommended article to further enjoy "Don Quijote".
The story of the book burning that I will tell you in this article was one of my favorite episodes in "Don Quixote". It is just so witty and funny. No matter how many times I read it, I can't help but giggle.
It will also show why Don Quixote lost his sanity and came to believe he was a knight.
I hope you found "Don Quixote" as interesting as I did.
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