knights of old, the spirit only counted. What is it to me if they call me Emperor, if my spirit is turning into a hog?”
“I cannot understand you, Your Majesty. You are Emperor. Dulcinea is Empress. The most beautiful women are your hand-maids. The greatest army recognizes you as their supreme ruler. What more can you desire?”
“It’s true, Sancho, you never belonged to the race of knights. Your nose always sought the mud, like the snouts of pigs. Your belly was always more important to you than your soul.”
“If I never belonged to the race of Knights,—I am now mightier than all of them. What were they but half-naked wanderers, mocked at by people? I am Governor-General of Micamaca, the greatest country in the world. And my subjects love me and respect me. I am dressed in gold and jewels, and dwell in a palace.”
The Emperor smiled sadly.
“How can you be satisfied with rags? I irk underneath mine. They stifle me. Take this barber’s basin off my head, and lather your beard in it.”
The Emperor bent his head, until his chin touched his chest.
“Never, Your Majesty! It’s the greatest crown in the world!”
The Emperor raised his head, and sighed deeply like the breath of a bottomless well.
[ 182 ]
