midnight
Thou dost mark well , faithful and trusty squire , the gloom of this night , its strange silence , the dull confused murmur of those trees , the awful sound of that water in quest of which we came , that seems as though it were precipitating and dashing itself down from the lofty mountains of the Moon , and that incessant hammering that wounds and pains our ears ; which things all together and each of itself are enough to instil fear , dread , and dismay into the breast of Mars himself , much more into one not used to hazards and adventures of the kind . Well , then , all this that I put before thee is but an incentive and stimulant to my spirit , making my heart burst in my bosom through eagerness to engage in this adventure , arduous as it promises to be ; therefore tighten Rocinante 's girths a little , and God be with thee ; wait for me here three days and no more , and if in that time I come not back , thou canst return to our village , and thence , to do me a favour and a service , thou wilt go to El Toboso , where thou shalt say to my incomparable lady Dulcinea that her captive knight hath died in attempting things that might make him worthy of being called hers . '' When Sancho heard his master 's words he began to weep in the most pathetic way , saying : `` Senor , I know not why your worship wants to attempt this so dreadful adventure ; it is night now , no one sees us here , we can easily turn about and take ourselves out of danger , even if we do n't drink for three days to come ; and as there is no one to see us , all the less will there be anyone to set us down as cowards ; besides , I have many a time heard the curate of our village , whom your worship knows well , preach that he who seeks danger perishes in it ; so it is not right to tempt God by trying so tremendous a feat from which there can be no escape save by a miracle , and Heaven has performed enough of them for your worship in delivering you from being blanketed as I was , and bringing you out victorious and safe and sound from among all those enemies that were with the dead man ; and if all this does not move or soften that hard heart , let this thought and reflection move it , that you will have hardly quitted this spot when from pure fear I shall yield my soul up to anyone that will take it . I left home and wife and children to come and serve your worship , trusting to do better and not worse ; but as covetousness bursts the bag , it has rent my hopes asunder , for just as I had them highest about getting that wretched unlucky island your worship has so often promised me , I see that instead and in lieu of it you mean to desert me now in a place so far from human reach : for God 's sake , master mine , deal not so unjustly by me , and if your worship will not entirely give up attempting this feat , at least put it off till morning , for by what the lore I learned when I was a shepherd tells me it can not want three hours of dawn now , because the mouth of the Horn is overhead and makes midnight in the line of the left arm . '' `` How canst thou see , Sancho , '' said Don Quixote , `` where it makes that line , or where this mouth or this occiput is that thou talkest of , when the night is so dark that there is not a star to be seen in the whole heaven ? '' `` That 's true , '' said Sancho , `` but fear has sharp eyes , and sees things underground , much more above in heavens ; besides , there is good reason to show that it now wants but little of day . '' `` Let it want what it may , '' replied Don Quixote , `` it shall not be said of me now or at any time that tears or entreaties turned me aside from doing what was in accordance with knightly usage ; and so I beg of thee , Sancho , to hold thy peace , for God , who has put it into my heart to undertake now this so unexampled and terrible adventure , will take care to watch over my safety and console thy sorrow ; what thou hast to do is to tighten Rocinante 's girths well , and wait here , for I shall come back shortly , alive or dead . ''