scarce sufficient to afford a dish of hodge-podge

classic books (number 1):

don quixote by miguel de cervantes

part one first published in 1605, part two in 1615

in a village of la mancha the name of which i have no desire to recall, there lived not so long ago one of those gentlemen who always have a lance in the rack, an ancient buckler, a skinny nag, and a greyhound for the chase. a stew with more beef than mutton in it, chopped meat for his evening meal, scraps for saturday, lentils on friday, and a young pigeon as a special delicacy for sunday, went to account for three-quarters of his income. the rest of it he laid out on a broadcloth greatcoat and velvet stockings for feast days, with slippers to match, while the other days of the week he cut a figure in a suit of the finest homespun. living with him were a housekeeper in her forties, a niece who was not yet twenty, and a lad of the field and market place who saddled his horse for him and wielded the pruning knife.
(samuel putnam 1949)


in a certain corner of la mancha, the name of which i do not choose to remember, there lately lived one of those country gentleman, who adorned their halls with a rusty lance and worm-eaten target, and ride forth on a skeleton of a horse, to course with a sort of starved greyhound.
three fourths of his income were scarce sufficient to afford a dish of hodge-podge, in which the mutton bore no proportion to the beef, for dinner; a plate of salmagundy, commonly at supper; gripes and grumblings on saturdays, lentils on fridays, and the addition of a pigeon or some such thing on the lord's day. the remaining part of his revenue was consumed in the purchase of a fine black suit, with velvet breeches and slippers of the same, for holydays; and a coat of home-spun, which he wore in honour of his country, during the rest of the week.
he maintained a female house-keeper turned of forty, a niece of about half that age, and a trusty young fellow, fit for field and market, who could turn his hand to anything, either to saddle the horse or handle the hough.
(tobias smollett m.d. 1755)

books:
-don quixote de la mancha: 1949 modern library edition and 1998 edition translated by samuel putnam
-don quixote: 2001 modern library edition translated (1755) by tobias smollett
-don quijote (norton critical editions): 1999 norton edition translated by burton raffel
-don quixote: translated by edith grossman (unabridged cd version)
-cervantes: by richard l. predmore
-miguel de cervantes don quijote de la mancha, romances y músicas: cd boxset by jordi savall

don quijote by honoré daumier

don quijote by honoré daumier

lyceum don quixote by william nicholson pryde

(number one in a series on my most loved books)