"If this be thy story, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "thou wilt not have
done these two days. Tell it concisely, like a man of sense, or else
say no more."

"I tell it in the manner they tell all stories in my country,"
answered Sancho, "and I cannot tell it otherwise, nor ought your
Worship to require me to make new customs."

"Tell it as thou wilt, then," said Don Quixote, "since it is the will
of fate that I should here it, go on."

Sancho continued:

"He looked about him until he espied a fisherman with a boat near him,
but so small that it could only hold one person and one goat. The
fisherman got into the boat and carried over on goat; he returned and
carried another; he came back again and carried another. Pray, sir,
keep an account of the goats which the fisherman is carrying over, for
if you lose count of a single one, the story ends, and it will be
impossible to tell a word more. . . . I go on, then. . . . He returned
for another goat, and another, and another and another---"

"_Suppose_ them all carried over," said Don Quixote, "or thou wilt not
have finished carrying them this twelve months!"

"Tell me, how many have passed already?" said Sancho.

"How should I know?" answered Don Quixote.