Кихот

Much has been written about Don Quixote. There is rarely a great poet, thinker, writer, statesman, even a scientist who has not spoken about him on some occasion. And here - the most fantastic of all literary heroes has become a solid, unshakable reality. Long ago, more than three centuries ago, the Spanish hidalgo ceased to be a literary image and became not only a living person, but something more: a household name, a concept, a word in the languages ​​of all peoples, a symbol of human qualities. And this does honor to those sober, wise, logical minds who have directed their penetrating gaze at the drunken, unwise knight and have given him their praise throughout the centuries. We are not talking only about poets. Don Quixote has long been their true brother in spirit. There is rarely a great poet who has not sung sad or joyful verses about this ecstatic sufferer. Even in our literature, such poets as Raztsvetnikov and Liliev sang with love about the knight. But for good honor, not only poets, but also essayists, writers, critics paid their tribute to the funny hero. And not only writers. Also philosophers - and the greatest ones. Idealists Hegel and Kant wrote about Don Quixote. Marx and Engels spoke enthusiastically about the novel. Lafargue emphasizes that "Don Quixote was Marx's favorite book. Ever since Don Quixote was born, interest in him has not subsided. This joyful, beautiful phenomenon is no less interesting than the image of the hero himself. e But here the question arises: should we still write about Don Quixote today? First of all - because everything has already been said about him. It could only be repeated and compiled. And secondly: in the age of machines, robots, the cold triumph of logic, is it not an archaic obsolescence to write about an obsessive dreamer who cannot distinguish a barber's basin from a knight's helmet?

With Don Quixote, Cervantes preserved for generations the chivalric spirit of Spain. In 1553, Charles V issued a law prohibiting the printing of chivalric novels in Spain's American possessions; two years later, the Cortes insisted on their prohibition in Spain itself. Cervantes did what neither the king nor the Cortes could do: Don Quixote destroyed chivalric novels. A Greek painter depicted in his painting Palamedes, killed by his friends for the treacherous betrayal of Odysseus. Alexander the Great trembled and turned pale whenever his gaze rested on this painting, because it reminded him that he himself had caused the death of his friend Cleitus. After the publication of Don Quixote, chivalric novels reflected themselves in him just as Alexander did in the painting of the Greek painter. But "Don Quixote" showed the strength of both the Spanish character and the chivalric spirit. Byron was wrong when he thought that "Don Quixote" destroyed the chivalric spirit of the Spaniards and that, as a result, Spain became a third-rate state.