you shall return, you shall have my daughter to wife, and my kingdom also, for this I have ever purposed in my heart, that he who should deliver it from the foul tyranny should have it for his own, for none could be more fit." 5 QUESTIONS AND HELPS 1. About how long was it from the death of Chaucer to the birth of Spenser? Name some important things that happened during that time. Who printed the first book in English? 2. Write or tell the story of Spenser when and where he was born, how he got an education, how he happened to go to Ireland, and what happened to him there. 3. Who was the ruler of England at this time, and what can you say of the court and the people? Name at least one great man who lived at the same time as Spenser more if you can. 4. Tell briefly what "The Fairy Queen" is about. 5. Tell some of the main points in the story of Una and the Red Cross Knight. What other name did the Red Cross Knight have? 6. Write or tell briefly the story of the slaying of the dragon. 7. What other dragons do you remember to have read about? You will be interested in the other adventures of the knights as told in Church's "The Fairy Queen and her Knights." "Una and the Red Cross Knight," by N. G. Royde-Smith, is largely in Spenser's words and in verse, but is harder to read. sizar (sī ́zar): a student, in some of the English universities, who is educated free of charge. Leicester (Lěster). Raleigh (Rali). Lord Treasurer (trězh ́úr er): form erly the keeper of the royal treasure or money. economical (ẽ có nom'I căl or ĕc'ònom I căl): saving, thrifty. Saracen (Săr ́à çen): Mohammedan. pricking urging a horse forward by pricking his sides with the spur. yclad (I clăd'): an old form for clad. furlong (fûr long): : one eighth of a mile. sulphurous (sŭl'fur oŭs): like sulphur. beacons (beacons): signal fires or lights. address himself: prepare himself. shrewd biting, sharp, keen. constrained (con strained'): obliged, forced. grisly (grisly) horrible, ghastly. amain (à mãin'): with full force. bereft (bě rěft'): deprived of. crest: something rising from the top of the head, as the comb of a fowl. cased (cased): covered, protected. adamant (ǎd ́à mănt): a very hard stone or mineral. perform its office: do what it was made for. seared (seared): scorched, burned. adversary (ǎd'ver så ry): foe, enemy. dismay (dis māy'): overwhelming fear. encounter (en coun ́ter): battle, combat. sacred (sa cred): holy. shore (shōre): sheared, cut off. beset (bě sět ́): surrounded, besieged. mire (mīre): wet, spongy earth or mud. balm (bälm): the juice of certain plants, useful in healing wounds. balked (balked): checked, stopped, or disappointed. occasion (oc ca'shon): opportunity, chance. vital (vi'tal): that on which life depends. betrothed (be trothed' or be trothed'): engaged to be married. Gloriana (Glō ri a'nȧ): the Fairy Queen. infidel (în ́fí děl): an unbeliever. In the Middle Ages the word was used especially of Mohammedans. (For memorizing) Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us dare to do our duty, as we understand it. ABRAHAM LINCOLN HOW DON QUIXOTE WAS MADE A KNIGHT FROM "DON QUIXOTE" MIGUEL CERVANTES To-day I am going to take you from England to Spain. We have talked of Chaucer and Spenser, and have learned how books were being written in the English language. Now let us see what was going on at about the same time in the south of Europe. In the story of Columbus (Book Five, page 167) you read how Spain had conquered the Moors, and had united all the little kingdoms of the Spanish peninsula, except Portugal, into a great and powerful nation. Somewhat more than fifty years after that time, and after Columbus 10 had discovered America and had brought the news of it to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, the famous Spanish author Miguel Cervantes was born in a town near Madrid, in the autumn of the year 1547. Cervantes came of a family of Castilian noblemen and 15 must have been well educated, but we know very little about his early life. He studied for a time under a celebrated teacher in Madrid, and wrote several poems which this teacher published with a note saying that they were the work of his "dear and beloved pupil." It is probable 20 that later the boy served as a page. We know that when he was twenty-one he went to Rome as an attendant of the ambassador of the Pope. It was the time of the Crusades, when all the Christian world was fighting against the Saracens, or Turks, and when almost every young man wished to be a soldier. Cervantes enlisted 5 in a Spanish regiment, and a year later we hear of him as being on board a Spanish galleon in the battle of Lepanto. At the beginning of the battle he lay in his bunk, below decks, sick of a fever, but when he heard the fighting he leaped up, clothed himself hastily, and 10 rushed on deck. At the end of the day they found him with two wounds in his breast and with his left hand so shattered that he could never use it again. This battle of Lepanto was one of the great naval battles of the world. Nearly six hundred ships were 15 engaged in it; and when it was over, the Turkish power in the Mediterranean was broken, twelve thousand Christian galley slaves were freed from their chains, and the great Turkish fleet was sunk, captured, or put to flight. For five years Cervantes served in these wars, and 20 Don John of Austria, who commanded the forces against the Turks, wrote a letter testifying to his bravery and ability and recommending him to Philip the Second, then king of Spain, as a young man well fitted to command. With these letters Cervantes sailed for Spain 25 in company with his brother Rodrigo; but on the way he met with adventures which delayed him several years, and which make an interesting story. |