The great writer Cervantes and "Don Quixote"
People say that if you see someone reading and laughing at the same time in Spain, that person must be reading. "Don Quixote". This does not affect the author of such a huge novel, Miguel de Cervantes, a famous writer during the European Renaissance.
On September 26, 1547, Spain's greatest novelist Cervantes was born in Algara de Henares, a small town near Madrid.
Youth
Cervantes’ full name is Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Although his father was a poor tourist, Fang is a doctor, but his medical skills are superb. This doctor who travels all year round is very experienced and deeply understands the importance of knowledge to a person. Therefore, when treating some wealthy people who have a collection of books, he would borrow many books to take home to his son. Cervantes, who was very smart in his youth, often surprised his father with his reading speed. In order to let his son read more books, he took his son with him when he went to see the doctor of those who were well-educated. , he treated others in the house and let his son read their books outside the door.
When Cervantes was thirteen or fourteen years old, he was famous in their small town for reading the most. A large amount of reading gave Cervantes the impulse and inspiration to create, and he slowly began to learn to write poetry. Soon the poems he wrote were circulated everywhere in their small town, so that when his father went alone to treat people, people would ask him: "Ah, where is our poet?"
In 1566, the Cervantes family came to Madrid to settle. It didn't take long for Cervantes to become famous as a poet in Madrid with his overwhelming literary talent. After reading Cervantes's poems, Juan Lobes de Voyos, a well-known humanist scholar in Madrid at that time, visited him personally and enrolled the 19-year-old young man into his own school. Study here. In this school, Cervantes' knowledge was greatly enriched, and under the influence of Voyos's humanistic ideas, he wrote many beautiful poems, which were passed down for a while.
Suddenly one day, Cervantes, who was walking out of his house, saw a luxurious carriage parked in front of his door. Being humorous by nature, he casually joked: "Are you inviting me to a palace banquet?" ?" Unexpectedly, the coachman said respectfully: "No, sir, it is the distinguished archbishop who invites you to come to him!" It turns out that the Spanish archbishop appreciates Cervantes's poems very much. From then on, Cervantes often visited the archbishop and received special appreciation from the archbishop.
In the winter of 1569, Cervantes, as an attendant of the Spanish Archbishop, followed the Archbishop to Rome, Italy. While accompanying the archbishop to many famous cultural cities in Italy, Cervantes wrote many poems praising Italy. After the Archbishop of Rome, Julio Quaviva, saw these poems, he praised Cervantes so much that the Archbishop of Spain recommended Cervantes to him as an attendant. In Rome, Cervantes was admired by Archbishop Quaviva, but was jealous and framed by other attendants. Soon, with Quaviva's mediation, Cervantes joined the Spanish army in Italy in 1570 and became an ordinary soldier. At the time, this was indeed a good thing for Cervantes, because the Spanish generally believed that joining the army loyal to the royal family in Italy was a path to glory and wealth.
From warrior to prisoner
In the first half of the 16th century, Spain was at its peak. In 1571, when the famous naval battle of Rebondo broke out, Spain was still the leading military power in Europe. In May 1571, Venice and Rome formed an alliance and began a three-year war against the Islamic countries that were aggressively invading Europe. At that time, Spain was responsible for providing half of the cost of the Eastern Expedition and helping Venice open up the shipping lanes blocked by the Turkish navy in the east. Don Juan, the younger brother of the King of Spain, was appointed commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, commanding the combined fleets composed of Spain and Venice. On October 7, 1571, he launched an attack on the Turkish fleet stationed in Rebondo Bay.
Cervantes was on the battleship "Marquise" at the time, and he was suffering from a high fever. After the cannon fire started, Cervantes rushed out of the cabin, ran to the captain and asked to join the battle. The captain and his companions asked him to go back to the cabin to rest, but he firmly stated that he would rather die fighting for the king than hide in the cabin as a fearful man. The captain had no choice but to give him 12 gunners and a large kayak, so that he could be ready to rush to the enemy ships approaching them at any time. Finally, Cervantes and 12 gunners rushed to the enemy ship. In the face-to-face fight, Cervantes' chest and left hand were injured, but he continued to fight until the combined fleet won. He was still covered in blood and running around the enemy ship brandishing his weapon. This naval battle left Cervantes' left hand disabled. In the United Fleet, people called him the one-armed hero "Rebondo".
In 1575, the 28-year-old Cervantes asked for leave to return home to visit relatives. Don Juan wrote personal letters recommending him to the king and Marquis de Cessa respectively.
Cervantes took two letters and returned to his motherland on the sailing ship "Solar" on September 20. When they passed the coast of Marseille, France, they were suddenly attacked by three pirate ships of the Berber tribe. Although the crew of the "Sun" fought hard, the captain was eventually killed and everyone on board was kidnapped by pirates and taken to Algiers. Cervantes was tortured by the two letters of recommendation that could have given him a promising future. The pirates recognized him as a noble, demanded a huge ransom from him, and put shackles and handcuffs on him to prevent the "rich man" from escaping. Because the Cervantes family could not raise a huge ransom, Cervantes was imprisoned in Algiers for five years. It was not until 1580 that he was ransomed by priests.
However, after returning to Madrid, Cervantes, who was free, soon fell into a difficult life. Because his glorious military exploits five years ago have long been forgotten, the hope he received from those two letters of recommendation has long since vanished. His family was also heavily in debt because of his redemption, and he himself could not find a job that could support him because of his disabled left hand. He had no choice but to pick up the pen he had abandoned for many years and start writing novels.
Don Quixote
The ill-fated Cervantes has been struggling in poverty and has been imprisoned several times for various reasons, but each time he can quickly prove He is innocent. In prison, Cervantes learned extensively about the lives of people in the lower classes of society, came into contact with all kinds of people, and wrote the "Collection of Admonitions Novels" based on this content. His masterpiece "Don Quixote" was conceived and created in a prison in Seville.
In January 1605, the first part of "Don Quixote" was published, and 10 years later, the second part was published. At this time, Cervantes was 68 years old. "Don Quixote" became a rage in Spain as soon as it was published. It is said that Philip III of Spain saw a student laughing wildly while reading a book on the balcony of the palace, and said: "This student must be reading "Don Quixote", otherwise he must be a madman." He sent someone to ask, and sure enough, that student was reading a book and laughing wildly. Students are reading "Don Quixote".
Although this masterpiece enjoys a high reputation among readers and soon spread all over the world, the author Cervantes did not change his life predicament.
In 1615, the Spanish archbishop visited the French ambassador for the royal marriage. Several of the ambassador’s attachés asked him about Cervantes. The archbishop said: “He is old and a The soldier, a little country squire, is very poor." The attendant of the French ambassador was surprised: "Why doesn't Spain support such a talent with money from the treasury?" The Spanish Archbishop said: "If he was forced to write because of poverty, then, I hope God will never make him rich in his life, because he himself is poor, but he enriches everyone."
As the archbishop said, "Don Quixote" was written by Cervantes who suffered from poverty all his life. "Jode" has become the most precious treasure of people all over the world. Since the birth of this masterpiece, it has been translated into almost all languages ??in the world. So far, its circulation in the West is second only to the Bible.
In mid-April 1616, Cervantes completed his last novel "Bersilees and Sixisimunda". Although he was suffering from severe edema at that time, he still jokingly said in his dedication speech: "My life has come to an end. According to my pulse, it will complete its journey this Sunday at the latest." , my life is about to end." As he expected, three days later, on April 23, the most knowledgeable thinker and greatest novelist in Spain and even the world passed away. To this day, no one knows where his grave is.
More than 200 years after his death, the people of Madrid built a majestic monument to him in the Plaza de Espa?a in the city center.