DON QUIXOTE

I. Summary:
A lesser Spanish nobleman from La Mancha by
the name Alonso Quixano was almost fifty
years old when he lost his mind. He spent most
of his time reading fictional books about
chivalry and was so obsessed with them that
took every word literally and believed them to
be all true. Copying the heroes of the boos, he
decided to become a knight errant in search of
glory and adventure to prove his worth and
valor. He then found himself a suit of armor,
gave himself the title of “Don Quixote” and
named his old horse “Rocinante”. As for his
lady of love, he chose a farm girl and without
her even knowing it called her Dulcinea del
Toboso. First, Don Quixote arrived at an inn,
where he believed to be a castle. He treated
prostitutes as noble ladies and asked the
innkeeper who he referred to as the lord of the
castle, to dub him a knight. At night he stayed
up guarding his armor, and when inn workers
tried to move it out of the way to water the
musles, he beat them up. Eventually, the
innkeeper dubbed Don Quixote a knight in a
pretend ceremony to get rid of him. Next, he
encountered a slave named Andres who was tied to a tree his master and being punished.
Don Quixote freed the slave and forced the master to promise to pay him his wages and
treat him fairly. A promise that the master broke the moment Don Quixote left. He then ran
into some merchants from Toledo, who insulted his imaginary but beloved lady Dulcinea.
Enraged by their insults, Don Quixote, attacked them to defend his lady’s honor. The
merchant beat the old man up and left him by the road to die. Fortunately, his neighbor
found him and returned him to his home. When he was unconscious, his niece, his priest,
and a local barber burned most of the books in his library and sealed up the room. When
Don Quixote gained his consciousness again, they told him that it was all done by a wizard. A
few months later, and after getting his strength back, Don Quixote promised his neighbor
Sancho Panza to make him a governor if he agreed to be his squire. Sancho, who was a
simple farmer, agreed to the offer and snuck away with Don Quixote at dawn. Next, they
came across two Benedictine friars who were traveling on the same road with a lady in a
carriage. Don Quixote took the friars as captors of the lady and attacked them. An armed
guard who was accompanying the party, tried to defend against the attack and a fight broke
out. The short battle ended when the lady came out of the carriage and ordered those who
were traveling with her to surrender to Don Quixote. Don Quixote agreed to not punish
them on the condition that the armed guard would go to lady Dulcinea and tell her of his
bravery. After that, Don Quixote and Sancho encountered a group of goat herders who were
going to the funeral of a student who after reading too many pastoral novels, had left his
studies to become a shepherd and seek the love of a shepherdess named Marcela. At the
funeral Marcela showed up and vindicated herself from all the vile things that the student
had wrtitten about her in his poems, then she vanished into the woods. Don Quixote and
Sancho followed hẻ but gave up after a few hours. When they were resting by a pond, a
group of Galicians showed up to water their ponies. Don Quixote’s horse, Rocinante, tried to
mate with the ponies which caused the Galicians to hit him. At this moment when Don
Quixote rose to defend his horse, which caused the Galacians to beat him and Sancho up too
and once again leave them injured and in great pain. After escaping the ordeal, Don Quixote
and Sancho arrived at a nearby inn and shared a room with another man in a hayloft. At
night, Don Quixote, who once again saw the inn as a castle, took a servant girl named Helen
as a beautiful princess and asked her to sit on his bed with him which caused the girl to
panic. At this moment the other man with whom they were sharing the room, interfered to
save the girl and attacked Don Quixote. As a result, a huge fight broke out in which everyone
was badly hurt. Next, an officer who had a warrant to arrest Don Quixote for illegal freeing
slaves was convinced by the priest to show mercy on the account of his insanity. Instead of
taking him to prison, they locked him up in a cage and made him think it is an enchantment
and that there is a prophecy for his heroic return home. After getting ridiculed by a Duke and
Duchess and being sent to a series of imagined adventures resulting in practical jokes, Don
Quixote took a short trip to Barcelona and was met with nothing but more mockery. At
home, his friends, who were worried about his well-being devised a plan to defeat Don
Quixote in a duel and force him to leave knight-errantry as the just punishment for his
defeat. So a young bachelor and a friend of Don Quixote by the name of Sanson Carrasco
dressed himself up as a knight and challenged him to a duel. After defeating Don Quixote in
the fight he ordered him to abandon knight-errantry for a year and go back to his home and
stay there. Disheartened by his defeat, Don Quixote returned to his home and gradually
became depressed and finally fell on his deathbed. After a long dream, however, he woke up
having fully recovered his sanity. He rejected his ambitions and apologized for the damage
that he had caused. He then named his niece as the main benefactor of his will with the one
condition that she can never marry a man who reads books of chivalry.

II. Vocabulary:
1. Chivalry (n): phong cách hiệp sĩ
2. Enchant (v): làm say mê, vui thích
3. Damsel (n): cô gái, thiếu nữ
4. Wealthy (adj): giàu sang, giàu có
5. Hidalgo (n): người quý tộc Tây Ban Nha
6. Landowner (n): địa chủ
7. Nobleman (n): người quý tộc
8. Modestly (adv): 1 cách khiêm tốn
9. Housekeeper (n): quản gia
10. Adventure (n): chuyến phiêu lưu
11. Priest (n): linh mục, thầy tu
12. bloodshot eyes (n): đôi mắt đỏ ngầu
13. Announce (v): thông báo, loan báo
14. knight-errant (n): hiệp sĩ giang hồ
15. Concern (v): liên quan
16. Warrant (v): chứng nhận, chứng thực
17. Unfortunate (adj): rủi ro, kém may mắn
18. Fair (adj): công bằng
19. Rescuer (n): người cứu, người giải thoát
20. Attic (adj): sắc sảo, ý nhị
21. Rusty (adj): bị gỉ, han rỉ
22. Action (n): hành động
23. Faithful (adj): trung thành, chung thuỷ
24. Steed (n): chiến mã
25. Worn-out (adj): rất mòn
26. Nag (v): rầy la, cằn nhằn
27. Delusional (adj): ảo tưởng, ảo giác
28. Valiant (adj): anh dũng, gan dạ
29. Dedicate (v): cống hiến
30. Frightened (adj): hoảng sợ, khiếp đảm
31. Insane (adj): điên cuồng, mất trí
32. Rambling (adj): lang thang, ngao du
33. Conquer (v): xấm chiếm, chinh phục
34. Maiden (n): trinh nữ
35. Villain (n): kẻ hung ác, tên côn đồ
36. Parade (n): cuộc diễu hành, cuộc diễu binh
37. Prove (v): chứng minh
38. Loyalty (n): lòng trung thành
39. Peasant (n): nông dân
40. Grip (v): nắm chặt
41. Lonely (adj): cô đơn, hiu quạnh
42. Princess (n): công chúa
43. Demand (v): yêu cầu
44. Sweet (adj): ngọt
45. Leather (n): da thuộc, đồ da
46. Shield (n): cái khiên
47. March (v): hành quân, diễu hành
48. Stable (adj): ổn định, vững vàng
49. Mockery (n): sự nhạo báng, lời chế giễu
50. Lord (n): chúa tể
51. Fraud (n): sự gian lận, sự gian trá
52. Scorching (adj): nóng như thiêu, nóng cháy da
53. Inn (n): quán trọ
54. Toward (prep): theo hướng, nhằm
55. Shelter (n): sự nương tựa, sự che chở
56. Shabby (adj): mòn, sờn
57. Summon (v): triệu đến, gọi đến
58. Trumpeter (n): lính kèn
59. Giggle (v): cười khúc khích
60. Horn (n): sừng