A little History about Don Adelmo Quixote:
My name is Adelmo Quixote; my first name means strong and
persistent.
My family, the Quixotes, have lived in the Spanish country
village of La Mancha for hundreds of years.
I want to set the record straight about my great, great,
great grandfather, the Honorable Sir Don Adelmo Quixote, defender of Spain and Royal
Knight to King Felipe II and the Royal Family of Spain. Spain’s King Felipe II was not only the king of
Spain but also the king of England, Ireland, Portugal, Naples,
Sicily and the Duke of Milan.
When that book was written about my great, great, great,
grandfather, the Honorable Sir Don Adelmo Quixote, defender of Spain and Royal Knight,
he was in the final years of his life and the way that he thought, at that time,
may have not been incorrect. I believe
it was because he longed for the days when he was young, a defender of Spain
and a Royal Knight.
Never would I speak an unkind word about him as he was
courageous and a kind soul.
When that book about my great, great, great grandfather was
written, gone were his looks, physique, his wealth; no longer was he the
affluent man he was in his youth.
Now he was in the winter of his life relegated to only
dreaming about his youth, when he was a defender of Spain and a brave Royal Knight
for King Felipe II and the Royal Family.
Not one person living in the Spanish country village of La
Mancha knew that at one time that thin and leather faced man, whom they thought
was….. okay, I will say it…crazy…. was at one time the Honorable Sir Don Adelmo
Quixote, brave defender of Spain and Royal Knight in the court of King Felipe
II.
Yes, I am proud to say that I am named after such a brave and
honorable man.
This man, Sir Don Adelmo Quixote, lived by a very special
code he believed in; honor, chivalry, bravery and good deeds to the less
fortunate.
When Sir Don Adelmo Quixote was in his last years of life, he
was doomed to relive his younger years only through books, his precious,
precious books, so much did he love those books that he would sell off much of
his land to buy more and more precious books, which freed his mind to once more
become a defender of Spain and a Royal Knight in the court of King Felipe II.
To, once more, go bravely on knight’s adventures that were
only done by brave knights such as my great, great, great grandfather, the Honorable
Sir Don Adelmo Quixote, defender of Spain and Royal Knight in the court of King
Felipe II.
Now I must tell the whole world the true story about the Honorable
Sir Don Adelmo Quixote, defender of Spain and Royal Knight in the court of King
Felipe II.
He was born in the Spanish country village of La Mancha, in
the year 1549, in the month of February, on the seventeen day of the
month. His parents, Jose Don Quixote and
Antonia Amor De La Vega Quixote were educated and very affluent.
Jose Don Quixote was looked up to and many village disputes
were settled by him.
It was a fairy tale type of life for Don Quixote growing
up. Well educated, taught all things of
the sciences, arts and literature.
Literature, the great books of the time, Don Quixote could
not read enough of them, wanting to spend all of his waking time reading those
books. His favorites were those of the
great adventures by the Royal Knights of the king’s court from all of the
powerful lands, from his own land of Spain, to England, France, Sweden, Russia,
and Prussia.
I Will Become a Defender of Spain and Royal Knight in the
Royal Court of King Felipe II
He had made his mind up as to what he would do when he became
a man.
Yes, Don Adelmo Quixote would become a defender of Spain and
a Royal Knight in the court of King Felipe II.
When he first made such a statement in front of his parents,
his father, Jose Don Quixote, just smiled at him and said, “Don, yes, this is
good that you have your childhood dreams as I did when I was your age. I wanted to be a sailor to sail beyond the
known points of the ocean as Christopher Columbus had done, but when you grow
up you will realize that you must have a real occupation.
Don, keep your childhood dreams but know when you grow up you
will have to live in a real world and not in those books that you read.
Don, you shall learn what I do as I did with my father, to
become a pillar of this village of La Mancha, for this is a noble life.”
From that point in Don Quixote’s life, he would repeat those
words before he fell into a slumber and the first thing when the sun would wake
him, to think, “I will become a defender of Spain and a Royal Knight in the
court of King Felipe II.”
School and the Defenders of Spain and Royal
Knights in the Royal Court of King Felipe I
In the year 1561, Don Quixote was sent to the most
prestigious school in Madrid.
His father’s hope was that his only son and child would gain
knowledge and refinement and to start to learn the family business, but for Don
Quixote he was closer to his goal as Madrid was the capital of all Spain where
the defenders of Spain and Royal Knights lived.
It was a bright sunny day, which was most fitting when Don
Quixote met his future; met the man who would turn him into a man, into a
defender of Spain and Royal Knight in the court of King Felipe II.
Ademar Alberto Alajandro was the leading knight in all of
Spain, his name described him perfectly, Ademar which means strong and famous,
Alberto means Aristocratic and bright and his family’s name Alajandro means
defender of man.
As Don Quixote walked to school on that very sunny day a
group of six knights on their powerful and trusty steeds passed by.
Such a sight this was for Don Quixote, never before had he
seen a knight for he had only read about them and their adventures in books.
This drove Don Quixote to bow before these six knights as a
sign of much respect.
As the first knight, Ademar Alberto Alajandro, passed, one of
his gloves slipped off of his saddle and landed right in front of Don Quixote.
Not knowing what to do, Don Quixote froze, many things of
what he should say or do raced through his mind but picking up the glove was
not one of them.
It seemed an eternity before a powerful deep voice said, “Boy,
please hand me my glove.”
As if in slow motion, Don Quixote picked up the glove and,
without looking at this brave knight which was before him, handed the glove to
this Royal Knight.
Once more, the powerful deep voice spoke, “Boy, I see that
you respect the realm of the knighthood for this makes defending all of Spain
worthwhile. What is your name and what
is your course of studies?”
Now, as never before, he wanted to speak but the words that
he formulated in his brain would not come forth out of his mouth.
His brain was now shouting at him that a great and brave
knight was speaking to him and that he should answer this knight’s question.
When Don Quixote’s answer finally came forth from his mouth,
it was not what he had hoped for, “Sir, I am Don, I go to school.”
After Don Quixote became an apprentice, Ademar Alberto
Alajandro would say that he had reservations about making Don Quixote his
apprentice because he had thought that he was a half-wit.
Don Quixote decided if he was to become a defender of Spain
and Royal Knight he would now have to prove that he was worthy of it to Ademar
Alberto Alajandro.
At that time, Don Quixote decided that he must make himself
visible to the royal valiant knights.
Don Quixote knew that each and every morning the Royal
Knights took the same path through the streets of Madrid so he decided that he
would be on that same street corner each and every morning where he had first
seen the Royal Knights of Spain.
Each and every morning, whether there was sun or rain, Don
Quixote was standing on that street corner.
By doing this, Don Quixote suffered in his school as he was always tardy.
His classmates found out what he was
doing and this made him a target for ridicule.
The headmaster of the school had warned Don Quixote that if
his tardiness continued he would be forced to write to his father.
Don Quixote knew he might have to decide what to do if the
headmaster of the school was to write to his father about his tardiness.
Still, for several weeks, whether it was sunny, raining,
windy or even very cold, there Don Quixote stood on that same street corner in
the great city of Madrid waiting for the passing of the defenders of Spain, and
Royal Knights.
Every morning as the Royal Knights would pass Don Quixote would
show his respect by bowing.
As Don Quixote would bow, he would peek up at the great Royal
Knight, Ademar Alberto Alajandro, and sometimes see a smile on this great
knight’s face, which made coming to the street corner well worth the
inconvenience of his classmates ridicule and the headmaster’s threats of
writing to his father about his tardiness.
One day, when Don Quixote was standing and bowing before the
knights on the street corner, he made a promise to himself that if he was ever
asked another question by Ademar Alberto Aaljandro or any of the other Royal
Knights, he would speak with a clear and concise answer.
“My name is Don Adelmo Quixote and I would like to become a
defender of Spain and a Royal Knight in the Royal Court of King Felipe II.”
Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months.
Now the letters from his father about his tardiness began,
and Don Quixote regrettably lied in his replies.
“To Mother and Father, I am sorry for my behavior as I was
studying and time slipped by to make me
late. I shall wake earlier so as not to
be late ever again.
Your loving son,
Don Adelmo Quixote.”
The Holiday Break, a Return to home
Now it was time for the school to close for the Christmas
holidays and Don Quixote knew that this may be his last chance to become a
defender of Spain and Royal Knight. His
father had threatened in his last letter that maybe sending Don to the school
in Madrid was a mistake and that he could learn at home, learn the family
business at home as he would always have his father close by.
It was Don Quixote’s last day of standing on that same street
corner before he would travel back to his Spanish country village of La Mancha. He decided to make his stand to say what must
be said to have any chance of becoming a Royal Knight and defender of Spain.
His plan was almost not to be as the Royal Knights were
nowhere to be found, later and later the large clock by the corner ticked the
time away.
When hope was almost all lost, Don Quixote heard that
familiar sound of the Royal Knight’s horses’ hooves beating on the cobblestone
street, closer and closer, and louder and louder, until the knights were
visible.
As the last knight passed, Don Quixote stood straight and
tall and said those words he had practiced saying in his mind hundreds,
thousands, millions of times, “My name is Don Adelmo Quixote and I would like
to become a defender of Spain and a Royal Knight in the Royal Court of King
Felipe II.”
Thinking the Royal Knights had not heard him, this time he
made his statement much louder.
The last knight, Domingo Carlos Salazar, stopped, turned his
trusty steed and rode right up to Don Quixote.
He could feel the breath of the large steed, which was right in front of
him.
“Boy, do you not go to school to gain an education so that
you may have a fine life?
Why would you not want to have a home, wife and family? Do you really want to be on the road for many
days and possibly be killed for only a few pieces of silver per year; is this
what you really desire?”
Once more, Don Quixote was frozen and did not utter one word.
Domingo Carlos Salazar then stated that since this is the
holiday season he should be at home with his family, by the warm glow of a fire
and not on a cold winter plain protecting Spain as the Royal Knights shall be
doing.
By the time Don Quixote could speak, the knights were out of
sight.
Don Quixote decided to go home for the holidays but he would
plead his case to becoming a Royal Knight and would take not one negative word
from his parents.
Don Quixote’s home coming was met with smiles and hugs. Surely, Don Quixote thought; with the holiday
festive feeling within all, he could plead his case successfully for becoming a
defender of Spain and a Royal Knight in the Royal Court of King Felipe II.
Don Quixote knew he must be patient. He would wait one week before he would plead
his case on the Eve of Christmas. To
help his cause, he would do all that he was told to do by his mother and
father.
It was as he had suspected, his father had him work right
alongside of him, from sun up to sun down.
It was not how he thought his holiday at home would be. He even barely had time to read about the
great knights and their adventures from any of his books.
Now a week had passed, it was the Eve of Christmas; the time
was at hand when he would plead his case of becoming a defender of Spain, and a
Royal Knight in the Royal Court of King Felipe II.
It was as if his father knew what he was saying before the
words came out of Don Quixote’s mouth. His
father was as a stone and would not hear of such foolishness. No, for Don Quixote it was two more weeks at
home then back to school in Madrid.
Don Quixote felt like his heart had been removed from his
chest. No, for Don Quixote it was two
more years of school then he would work with his father from sun up till sun
down, no defender of Spain, no Royal Knight in the Royal Court of King Felipe
II.
His life was owned by his father, his future, no matter how
dull, was set for the rest of his life.
As the full moon lit Don Quixote’s room, thoughts raced in
his mind on what he should do.
There was only one thought which made sense to Don Quixote. If he was to become a defender of Spain and a
Royal Knight in the Royal Court of King Felipe II, he would have to bid his
family farewell and return to Madrid to plead his case before the Royal Knights
themselves.
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