"Put You In This Pickle"
. . . Come, get you to bed, I beseech you; and, my life for yours, we'll take care to cure you without sending for that same Urganda. A hearty curse, and the curse of curses, I say it again and again a hundred times, light upon those books of chivalry that have put you in this pickle! . . .
This line from "Don Quixote" encapsulates the frustration and exasperation felt by those around the delusional knight. The housekeeper's plea for Don Quixote to rest, foregoing the fictional help of Urganda, highlights the absurdity of his chivalric fantasies. Her repeated cursing of the books of chivalry underscores the detrimental impact these tales have had on Quixote's grip on reality. The phrase "put you in this pickle" cleverly conveys the chaotic and troublesome situations stemming from his obsession with these stories. Cervantes uses this metaphor, common in his time, to emphasize how such fanciful literature has led Quixote astray, placing him in a predicament akin to being "in the soup." The housekeeper's words reflect a broader critique of the period's popular literature and its ability to distort perception and reason.
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