at Meung, which it had entered about a quarter of an hour before, by the gate of Beaugency, produced an unfavorable impression, which extended even to its rider. And this impression was the more painful to the young D'Artagnan (for that was the name of the Don Quixote of this second Rozinante), that he could not conceal from himself the ridiculous plight in which he, albeit so good a horseman, was placed by such a steed. He had, therefore, sighed deeply when he accepted the gift from M. d'Artagnan, his father; he knew that such a beast was worth about twenty francs, It is true that the words which accompanied the present were pricless.
“My son,” said the Gascon gentleman, in that pure Béarnese patois or dialect which Henry IV. could never entirely shake off, “My son, this horse was born in the paternal family about thirteen years ago, and has remained in it ever since, which alone ought to make you regard it with affection. Never sell it; let it die calmly and honorably of old age; and should you go through a campaign on its back, take as much are of it as you would of an old servant. At the court, if you should ever have the honor to go there—an honor, however, to which your long line of noble ancestor entitles you—support with dignity the name of gentleman, which has been honorably borne by your ancestors, for you and your descendants, for more than five hundred years. Never quietly submit to the slightest indignity, unless it happens to proceed from the cardinal or the king. It is by courage—mark this well—it is by courage alone that a gentleman makes his way nowadays. Whoever hesitates one moment, perhaps lets the chance escape him, which fortune, for that moment alone has put within his reach. You are young, and ought to be brave, for two reasons: in the first place because you are a Gascon; in the second, because you are my son. Doubt not that there will be opportunities, and look around you for adventures. You have been taught to handle the sword; you have muscles of iron, a wrist like steel; fight whenever you can, fight all the more because
