This is the meadow, said he, where we met the gay shepherdesses and gallant swains, who sought to revive and reenact the pastoral Arcadia, a project equally original and ingenious, in imitation of which, shouldst thou approve of the scheme, I am resolved to assume the garb and employment of a shepherd during the term of my retirement.
Altisidora was going to proceed with her lamentations, when she was prevented by the knight, who said with great solemnity, “I have often told you that I am sorry you have placed your affection upon me, who can make no other return than that of gratitude and thanks: I was born for Dulcinea del Toboso, and the fates, if such there be, have consecrated me for her service; so that to imagine any other beauty shall ever occupy the place which she possesses in my heart, is to suppose a sheer impossibility.
That whole day and night they travelled without encountering any adventure worthy of record, except that, in the dark, Sancho finished his penance, to the unspeakable satisfaction of the knight, who waited with impatience for the day, in hope of finding his mistress Dulcinea del Toboso[.]