Don Quixote — Chapter 27 in French
By Miguel de Cervantes
Le barbier ne trouva rien à redire à l’invention du curé ; elle lui parut si bonne, au contraire, qu’ils la mirent en œuvre sur-le-champ. The curate's plan did not seem a bad one to the barber, but on the contrary so good that they immediately set about putting it in execution. Ils demandèrent à l’hôtesse de leur prêter une jupe et des coiffes, en lui laissant pour gages une soutane neuve du curé. Le barbier se fit une grande barbe avec une queue de vache, toute rousse, aux poils de laquelle l’hôte accrochait son peigne. They begged a petticoat and hood of the landlady, leaving her in pledge a new cassock of the curate's; and the barber made a beard out of a grey-brown or red ox-tail in which the landlord used to stick his comb. L’hôtesse les pria de lui dire pour quoi faire ils demandaient ces nippes. Le curé lui conta en peu de mots la folie de Don Quichotte, et comment ils avaient besoin de ce déguisement pour le tirer de la montagne où il était encore abandonné. The landlady asked them what they wanted these things for, and the curate told her in a few words about the madness of Don Quixote, and how this disguise was intended to get him away from the mountain where he then was. L’hôtelier et sa femme devinèrent aussitôt que ce fou était leur hôte, le faiseur de baume et le maître de l’écuyer berné ; aussi contèrent-ils au curé tout ce qui s’était passé chez eux, sans taire ce que taisait si bien Sancho. The landlord and landlady immediately came to the conclusion that the madman was their guest, the balsam man and master of the blanketed squire, and they told the curate all that had passed between him and them, not omitting what Sancho had been so silent about. Elle lui mit une jupe de drap, chamarrée de bandes de velours noir d’un palme de large, et toute tailladée, avec un corsage de velours vert, garni d’une bordure de satin blanc, corsage et jupe qui devaient avoir été faits du temps du bon roi Wamba. Finally the landlady dressed up the curate in a style that left nothing to be desired; she put on him a cloth petticoat with black velvet stripes a palm broad, all slashed, and a bodice of green velvet set off by a binding of white satin, which as well as the petticoat must have been made in the time of king Wamba. Le curé ne voulut pas permettre qu’on lui mît des coiffes ; mais il se couvrit la tête d’un petit bonnet de toile piquée, qu’il portait la nuit pour dormir ; puis, il se serra le front avec une large jarretière de taffetas noir, et fit de l’autre une espèce de voile qui lui cachait fort bien la barbe et tout le visage. The curate would not let them hood him, but put on his head a little quilted linen cap which he used for a night-cap, and bound his forehead with a strip of black silk, while with another he made a mask with which he concealed his beard and face very well. Par-dessus le tout, il enfonça son chapeau clérical, qui était assez grand pour lui servir de parasol, et, se couvrant les épaules de son manteau, il monta sur sa mule à la manière des femmes, tandis que le barbier enfourchait la sienne, avec une barbe qui lui tombait sur la ceinture, moitié rousse, moitié blanche, car elle était faite de la queue d’une vache rouane. He then put on his hat, which was broad enough to serve him for an umbrella, and enveloping himself in his cloak seated himself woman-fashion on his mule, while the barber mounted his with a beard down to the waist of mingled red and white, for it was, as has been said, the tail of a clay-red ox.
Ils prirent congé de tout le monde, même de la bonne Maritornes, qui promit de réciter un chapelet, bien que pécheresse, pour que Dieu leur donnât bonne chance dans une entreprise si difficile et si chrétienne. They took leave of all, and of the good Maritornes, who, sinner as she was, promised to pray a rosary of prayers that God might grant them success in such an arduous and Christian undertaking as that they had in hand. Il trouva que c’était mal à lui de s’être accoutré de la sorte, et chose indécente pour un prêtre, bien que ce fût à bonne intention. « Mon compère, dit-il au barbier, en lui faisant part de sa réflexion, changeons de costume, je vous prie ; il est plus convenable que vous fassiez la damoiselle quêteuse ; moi, je ferai l’écuyer, et je profanerai moins ainsi mon caractère ; si vous refusez, je suis résolu à ne point passer outre, dût le diable emporter Don Quichotte. But hardly had he sallied forth from the inn when it struck the curate that he was doing wrong in rigging himself out in that fashion, as it was an indecorous thing for a priest to dress himself that way even though much might depend upon it; and saying so to the barber he begged him to change dresses, as it was fitter he should be the distressed damsel, while he himself would play the squire's part, which would be less derogatory to his dignity; otherwise he was resolved to have nothing more to do with the matter, and let the devil take Don Quixote. Sancho arriva dans ce moment, et ne put s’empêcher de rire en les voyant tous deux en cet équipage. Le barbier consentit à tout ce que voulut le curé, et celui-ci, changeant de rôle, se mit à instruire son compère sur la manière dont il fallait s’y prendre, et sur les paroles qu’il fallait dire à Don Quichotte, pour l’engager et le contraindre à ce qu’il s’en vînt avec eux, et laissât le gîte qu’il avait choisi pour sa vaine pénitence. Just at this moment Sancho came up, and on seeing the pair in such a costume he was unable to restrain his laughter; the barber, however, agreed to do as the curate wished, and, altering their plan, the curate went on to instruct him how to play his part and what to say to Don Quixote to induce and compel him to come with them and give up his fancy for the place he had chosen for his idle penance. Il ne voulut pas se déguiser pour le moment, préférant attendre qu’ils fussent arrivés près de Don Quichotte ; il plia donc ses habits, tandis que le curé ajustait sa barbe, et ils se mirent en route, guidés par Sancho Panza. Celui-ci leur conta, chemin faisant, ce qui était arrivé à son maître et à lui avec le fou qu’ils avaient rencontré dans la montagne, mais en cachant toutefois la trouvaille de la valise et de ce qu’elle renfermait ; car, tout benêt qu’il fût, le jeune homme n’était pas mal intéressé. The barber told him he could manage it properly without any instruction, and as he did not care to dress himself up until they were near where Don Quixote was, he folded up the garments, and the curate adjusted his beard, and they set out under the guidance of Sancho Panza, who went along telling them of the encounter with the madman they met in the Sierra, saying nothing, however, about the finding of the valise and its contents; for with all his simplicity the lad was a trifle covetous.
Ils lui avaient en outre recommandé de ne point dire à son maître qui ils étaient, ni qu’il les connût, et que, si Don Quichotte lui demandait, comme c’était inévitable, s’il avait remis la lettre à Dulcinée, il répondît que oui, mais que la dame, ne sachant pas lire, s’était contentée de répondre de vive voix qu’elle lui ordonnait, sous peine d’encourir sa disgrâce, de venir, à l’instant même, se présenter devant elle, chose qui lui importait essentiellement. Enfin, ils avaient ajouté qu’avec cette réponse et ce qu’ils pensaient lui dire de leur côté, ils avaient la certitude de le ramener à meilleure vie, et de l’obliger à se mettre incontinent en route pour devenir empereur ou monarque ; car il n’y avait plus à craindre qu’il voulût se faire archevêque. The next day they reached the place where Sancho had laid the broom-branches as marks to direct him to where he had left his master, and recognising it he told them that here was the entrance, and that they would do well to dress themselves, if that was required to deliver his master; for they had already told him that going in this guise and dressing in this way were of the highest importance in order to rescue his master from the pernicious life he had adopted; and they charged him strictly not to tell his master who they were, or that he knew them, and should he ask, as ask he would, if he had given the letter to Dulcinea, to say that he had, and that, as she did not know how to read, she had given an answer by word of mouth, saying that she commanded him, on pain of her displeasure, to come and see her at once; and it was a very important matter for himself, because in this way and with what they meant to say to him they felt sure of bringing him back to a better mode of life and inducing him to take immediate steps to become an emperor or monarch, for there was no fear of his becoming an archbishop. Sancho écouta très-attentivement leurs propos, se les mit bien dans la mémoire, et les remercia beaucoup de l’intention qu’ils témoignaient de conseiller à son maître qu’il se fit empereur et non pas archevêque ; car il tenait, quant à lui, pour certain, qu’en fait de récompenses à leurs écuyers, les empereurs pouvaient plus que les archevêques errants. All this Sancho listened to and fixed it well in his memory, and thanked them heartily for intending to recommend his master to be an emperor instead of an archbishop, for he felt sure that in the way of bestowing rewards on their squires emperors could do more than archbishops-errant. « Il sera bon, ajouta-t-il, que j’aille en avant retrouver mon seigneur, et lui donner la réponse de sa dame ; peut-être suffira-t-elle pour le tirer de là, sans que vous vous donniez tant de peine. He said, too, that it would be as well for him to go on before them to find him, and give him his lady's answer; for that perhaps might be enough to bring him away from the place without putting them to all this trouble. » L’avis de Sancho leur parut bon, et ils résolurent de l’attendre jusqu’à ce qu’il rapportât la nouvelle de la découverte de son maître. They approved of what Sancho proposed, and resolved to wait for him until he brought back word of having found his master.
Sancho s’enfonça dans les gorges de la montagne, laissant ses deux compagnons au milieu d’une étroite vallée, où courait, en murmurant, un petit ruisseau, et que couvraient d’une ombre rafraîchissante de hautes roches et quelques arbres qui croissaient sur leurs flancs. Sancho pushed on into the glens of the Sierra, leaving them in one through which there flowed a little gentle rivulet, and where the rocks and trees afforded a cool and grateful shade. On était alors au mois d’août, temps où, dans ces parages, la chaleur est grande, et il pouvait être trois heures de l’après-midi. Tout cela rendait le site plus agréable, et conviait nos voyageurs à y attendre le retour de Sancho. It was an August day with all the heat of one, and the heat in those parts is intense, and the hour was three in the afternoon, all which made the spot the more inviting and tempted them to wait there for Sancho's return, which they did. Mais tandis qu’ils étaient tous deux assis paisiblement à l’ombre, tout-à-coup une voix parvint à leurs oreilles, qui, sans s’accompagner d’aucun instrument, faisait entendre un chant doux, pur et délicat. Ils ne furent pas peu surpris, n’ayant pu s’attendre à trouver dans ce lieu quelqu’un qui chantât de la sorte. They were reposing, then, in the shade, when a voice unaccompanied by the notes of any instrument, but sweet and pleasing in its tone, reached their ears, at which they were not a little astonished, as the place did not seem to them likely quarters for one who sang so well; for though it is often said that shepherds of rare voice are to be found in the woods and fields, this is rather a flight of the poet's fancy than the truth. En effet, bien qu’on ait coutume de dire qu’on rencontre au milieu des champs et des forêts, et parmi les bergers, de délicieuses voix, ce sont plutôt des fictions de poëtes que des vérités. Leur étonnement redoubla quand ils s’aperçurent que ce qu’ils entendaient chanter étaient des vers, non de grossiers gardeurs de troupeaux, mais bien d’ingénieux citadins. And still more surprised were they when they perceived that what they heard sung were the verses not of rustic shepherds, but of the polished wits of the city; and so it proved, for the verses they heard were these: