IV
CERVANTES
1547-1616
Leisure, an agreeable residence, pleasant fields, serene skies, murmuring
streams, and tranquillity of mind—by these the most barren
muse may become fruitful and produce that which will delight and
astonish the world.
It is not often that great men are recognized in their lifetime. They may have a few admirers, but their work is probably the subject of dispute and disagreement, and not till years have passed, and the smaller men who attracted momentary attention have been forgotten, are they valued at last at their true worth. Thus it may happen that men who are talked about a great deal, and rather noisily praised by their contemporaries, disappear almost entirely from the memory of man in succeeding generations, while men who in their day have despaired of success, have been neglected, and have sometimes felt the humiliation of failure, live on in their work long after their death and exercise an influence more far-reaching than they themselves ever dreamed of.
Of course you have heard of Don Quixote, and you
