“Surely these must be poetry, and not books of knighthood,” said the priest, and opening one he saw that it was La Diana by Jorge de Montemayor. Supposing that all the rest were of the same kind, he said “These don’t deserve to be burned like the rest, because they do not and will not cause harm as the books of knighthood have done; moreover they are only books of amusement, and do not prejudice anyone else.”

“Oh, sir!” said Don Quixote’s niece, “you may very well burn them with the rest of the books, because it’s likely that, once my uncle is cured of his knight-illness, he will read them and then decide to become a shepherd, and wander the forests and meadows singing and playing an instrument; and what would be worse, he might become a poet, which they say is an incurable and contagious disease.”

Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quijote de la Mancha

(This passage translated from the Spanish by Benjamin Bruce)

1. Nione Says:
   February 1st, 2008 at 5:46 pm

   That’s such a funny snippet! I never thought of being a poet as being a contagious disease. Bravo with the translation! Very well done.