"In this manner did he invent names for a great many knights in either army, to all of whom also he gave arms, colours, mottos and devices, without the least hesitation, being incredibly inspired by the fumes of a distempered fancy"

— Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de (1547-1616); Smollett, Tobias (1721-1771)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1755
Metaphor
"In this manner did he invent names for a great many knights in either army, to all of whom also he gave arms, colours, mottos and devices, without the least hesitation, being incredibly inspired by the fumes of a distempered fancy"
Metaphor in Context
In this manner did he invent names for a great many knights in either army, to all of whom also he gave arms, colours, mottos and devices, without the least hesitation, being incredibly inspired by the fumes of a distempered fancy; nay, he proceeded without any pause, saying, "That squadron forming in our front, is composed of [end page 169] people of diverse nations: there be those who drink the delicious waters of the celebrated Xanthus, with the mountaineers who tread the Masilican plains; and those who sift the purest golden ore of Arabia felix: there also, may be seen the people who sport upon the cool and famous banks of the translucent Thermodonte; and those who conduct the yellow Pactolus in many a winding stream; the promise-breaking Numidians; the Persians for their archery renowned; the Parthians and the Medes who combat as they fly; the Arabians famed for shifting habitations; the Scythians cruel as they are fair; the thick-lipp'd race of AEthiopia, and an infinite variety of other nations, whose looks I know and can discern, tho' I cannot recollect their names. [...]
(I.iii.4, p. 169-70)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 21 entries in the ESTC (1755, 1761, 1765, 1766, 1770, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1786, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796)

See The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote. Translated from the Spanish of Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra, To Which is Prefixed, Some Account of the Author’s Life. By T. Smollett, M.D. Illustrated with Twenty-Eight New Copper-Plates, Designed by Hayman, and Engraved by the Best Artists. In Two Volumes. (London: Printed for A. Millar, over against Catherine-Street, in the Strand; T. Osborn, T. and T. Longman, C. Hitch and L. Hawes, J. Hodges, and J. and J. Rivington, 1755). <Link to ESTC>

Reading Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de. The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote, trans. Tobias Smollett (New York: Random House, 2001).
Date of Entry
09/12/2008

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.