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According to the writer of mythohistory, S. J. Mathrow, the incident of the fulling mills as told by that infidel, Sidi Hamid Benengeli, was to lessen the stature of Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho.
Truly, did the two seek out a flowing stream to quench their thirst (and as Sancho was afflicted by god's revenge and found his bowels loosened to the point of a cascade he required a cleansing wash) and find a quiet place to spend the night. The urgency of the matter was upon them as the sun had passed behind the mountains and the whole valley was quickly passing to a darkness into which no man or beast should trespass. Guided by the path which was none to distinct, they exited a grove of trees, and shadows foretold another ahead. But better still, was the sound of a stream not too distant.
It is at this point that Benengeli attempted to lessen the victorious and noble character of Don Quixote. He would have him spend the night in a treed area, frightened by the sounds of an unknown source, which by his account was that of a battle being fought in which chains and irons were being used to flail some unknown adversary. True Sancho and Quixote spent time in the grove but it was to prepare for the coming sunrise and the battle into which Don Quixote would avenge the person or persons to which wrong was being done. Rather than sit upon Rozinante the night thru as described in the original text and faithfully translated in various languages, Quixote spent it against a tree polishing his armour to a sheen that would catch the morning light and give him quick advantage as he would have the sun to his back and the combatants would have to look to the east and see two suns as Quixote's armour would be as bright as old sol. Such was the clever planning of Quixote as explained to his squire in the following discourse: "Sancho, as I must now prepare to serve my God and my Country to drive from this place that which is most evil, that would deprive one of a just sleep and perchance hearing as well if not to far from this frightful sound, you must take note of my actions so that they will be recorded and acknowledge me as the heir to those knights of the distant past who so much served the humble, the crippled, the poor, the mind-befuddled, the dirt encrusted, the laborers of the field, the clergy who know not what they teach. Sancho, prepare a feed for Rozinante and make do for your ass, Amadis, as well, for they must be well conditioned to meet the challenges which we shall face at early light.
Now, assist me in dismounting my noble steed, aid me in removal of my armour, then, bring forth the polishing stones so that we may truly make this product of the iron-age shine as though newly minted. My buckler and all the rest must reflect the honor of my position, and I might add the sun's early rays as well."
Accordingly having spent the night hard at the task, with the first break of dawn, they mounted their beast and rode toward the offending sound. As they grew near, rather than find upon the plain combatants engaged in fearsome battle, they spied a single grotesque edifice astraddle the stream.
A group of buildings housing washer women, as told by Benengeli, formed a village not too distant from the mill. Taking that scoundrel's writings one would think that a multitude of these peasants took cloth woven from wool and beat it in water to soften the fibers and shrink the cloth permitting construction of clothing (thus Hamid's reference to fulling mills or fullers, those who process cloth by cleaning it and shrinking it to make a useful material. And it might be added, that fuller's earth is a clay used to rub into the cloth to remove stains and oils) which would not shrink further.
Had his story been true, how do you explain the horrible sounds of chains and hammers pounding? Chains and hammers are not tools of simple ones trying to make cloth more acceptable, and certainly you would not expect the activities to continue non-stop through day and night. But enough of Benengeli's lies.
As Mathrow has written, the Don and his squire found an awesome sight. Let us continue.
The building that appeared in the distance appeared to have swallowed the small river. Into its maw, the torrent flowed, only to exit tamed and quiet. And inside the walls, echoed the sound of the life being driven from the waters to make them placid. This was truly the act of some evil being.
The noise at first appeared to be that of chains rattling which was in part true as there was the sound of chains being jangled, but the more fearsome noise was that of a striking of a force on an anvil, but what an anvil, and if this was not enough it was as though there was at least five or six anvils being beaten in a regular fashion. What giant or giants could be responsible for such action?
The knight-errant and his squire descended the slight hill toward the castle, for surely it was a castle, the path on which they had previously been riding seems to have disappeared and they in true military fashion kept the sun to their backs without regard to seeking an easily traveled path.. When they were no more than the distance an archer could set flight to an arrow from a long-bow, a group of pygmies ran from the castle waving their arms and making gestures that surely were intended to insult so valorous a knight.
Accepting the challenge, our brave crusader, shouting for Sancho to follow closely as he would dispose of the first of the evil inhabitants of the castle, plunged ahead. And plunge ahead he did. Rozinante with two strides found himself in a moat which at first had appeared to be solid ground. And of course, Amadis, Sancho's ass likewise found himself in similar straits. Not accepting this turn of events, Don Quixote spurred his mount forward and with each lunge, they found themselves only deeper in the bottomless mire. What evil mind conceived such a scheme to ensnare those who sought to bring justice to the world? With each forward move, the mighty horse slowed until finally, exhausted, he stood quite still. At which point, our knight of the rude countenance decided to dismount and help his struggling steed. In no more time than it takes to tell this tale, our armour encased Quixote found himself likewise entrapped. To his side floundered Sancho and Amadis who were unable to free themselves as well.
On the bank, the wildly gesturing natives, for now that they had drawn closer it was revealed that they were mere mortals of common statute. If they made a sound it was drowned out by the crashing of the anvils behind them. Now they were nearer and some had ropes, it appeared that their intent was not only to drown Sancho and his master, but to hang them as well. They race about the moat, now throwing logs into the watery mire, now stripping their clothes from their bodies, now bringing up horses that were massive when compared to Rozinante. What was impossible to imagine was the silence, with the exception of the clanging of the castle's forges. No one spoke or yelled, not even Quixote or Sancho who by this time were in a state of exhaustion equal to that of Rozinante and Amadis from their struggles with the mire.
The native's plan was now clear they would reach the foundering horse, ass, knight-errant and squire, rope them in some fashion and drag them to shore. The purpose of the logs was to allow them a means of entering the bog without becoming mired themselves. Slowly and with great caution they built a bridge by locking logs together until finally they were able to reach first Sancho, who seemed to float above the matted material which covered the surface, probably due to his obesity. A rope was passed around him and he was dragged from the pond.
Next came an attempt to remove Don Quixote, but his armour suit held him firm in the mire. A couple of laborers entered the water and like shelling a walnut, they extracted our knight from his metal encasement. Once free, he was dragged to the bank where he and Sancho were laid out, quite exhausted. Freeing the ass was perhaps the easiest of all as his round belly, not unlike his masters, floated him free of the mire,. With little assistance, he was pulled from the pond and in typical donkey fashion, began to bray as loudly as possible although no one paid the least attention.
Rozinante, the poor beast, was unable to stand, unable to float, unable to swim, unable to drown. The simplest way of removing him was to tie a rope about his tail and pull him backward until he was free of the suction of the muddy bottom. Then turning his head toward the shore, he was pulled free at last. He lay on the edge of the pond. His feet and legs protruding into the water, his bony sides resting on the bank, his tongue hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was, as in other adventures, more dead than alive..
Almost as an afterthought, the men recovered all of the armour from which Don Quixote had been extracted. Now, the Don, his squire and the armour were carried into the building and laid before the pounding machine. There were no anvils, no giants, no peoples being mal-treated, only a pod of six massive brass cylinders that stood along side stone pedestals.
As water from the stream entered the base of each cylinder, a valve closed, causing a large piston within to rise on the incoming water. When the piston had reached the top of the cylinder, a rod was engaged which operated a valve permitting the water to exit the cylinder and the piston to fall to the bottom of the cylinder for another stroke. This part of the mechanism made hardly a sound.
The dreadful noise came from another source. As the piston reached the bottom of its path, a clever mechanism engaged a hook on the top of a large stone. Accordingly, as the piston rose in the cylinder, so did the stone rise above the adjacent stone pedestal. Almost at the peak of the cylinders rise, a trip mechanism caused the stone's hook to disengage from its captor, and the stone fell with a crash to the pedestal below. Without end, day and night, the process continued endlessly. The jangling noise of chains was revealed as being the connecting mechanisms that linked the stones to their pistons.
How could this be of use to the men who worked within the room? A large pile of flax straw, all tied in neat bundles, which had been retted in the pond through which Don Quixote and Sancho had attempted to cross and had been rescued from, lay on the floor. Now that all were safe, the men returned to their labors which were to place a bundle of the straw under the rising stone. When it fell it struck a mighty blow on the bundle. The bundle was turned, twisted and place in different positions. Each blow caused the straw to loose some of its stiffness as the shives were broken away from the linen strands that remained. When it was deemed finished, the bundle was replaced by another and another.
In this way the flax fibers were torn free of the encasement and prepared for use in making thread and rope. Others, like Sancho's wife and daughter would take the thread and weave it into cloth and dependent on the quality of the thread and the care in weaving, the cloth would have diverse uses. The tow, for that is the name given to the short fibers were used for cheap fabric for the common people. Line, as the better fibers were called, were long -- some 6 to 40 inches, and strong, often used for fine linen, sewing thread, fish nets and of course, clothing for King Ferdinand and his Queen.
The worker's silence was quickly explained. They were deaf from the noise of their hydraulic rams and hammers, but they were not dumb. Sign language became a easy way of communicating and when they tried to warn Don Quixote and Sancho of the danger of riding into the retting pond, their arm waving was mistaken as a challenge to battle.
Sancho Panza and Don Quixote were stripped bare of their clothes and given a brisk rubbing with burlap which reddened their skin. Then they were anointed with oil from the flax; this slightly fragrant linseed oil soothed their skin and they basked in a friendly glow. Next they were given a joint of mutton, a loaf of fresh bread and a jug of red wine which was as good as any found in Madrid or Barcelona. While they ate, their clothes were wrung free of water and dried before an open fire.
Even Amadis and Rozinante were given special treatment and in no time both were on their feet, although probably not in the best of condition. A small feed of grain offered, was quickly eaten. Next Don Quixote's armour was addressed. It was disassembled, the leather straps replaced, the metal polished with pumice and then straps, metal and all were rubbed with linseed oil. This drying oil, as it is called, forms a hard finish which makes the treated object resistant to discoloration and oxidation (rust).
When the guest had finished their meal, they were made to put on their warm clothes and escorted from the castle, seated on their beast and led away from the pounding hammers. At the path from whence they had departed the previous evening, their host with wild gestures wished them well and giving Rozinante and Amadis a smart slap on the butt were sent on their way.
Thus endeth the tale of a wonderful adventure, by the Valorous Don Quixote of the Mancha in confronting the giant whose castle consumed the river's water. A tale in which not a word was spoken which perhaps is why the Arab, had difficult in relating it in written word. Now let us continue with the recording of Benengeli, as he describes the sound of the hydraulic hammers that so disturbed Rozinante and Pancho, and perhaps Don Quixote and Amadis as well.
In the Spanish version of Cervantes' Don Quijote, the discovery of the fulling mill is described as follows, with translations from different sources as well. It is best to keep in mind that none were there at the time so that the use of words to describe events often changes with time and Mathrow has seen fit to better describe the events, putting our knight-errant in the sense of his most favorable attitude.
estruendo golpes mazos batan
clamour blow mallet fulling mill
noise stroke bunch of keys
confusion hit
hustle knock
dash
spring bolt of a lock
******** (si no lo has oh lector, por pesadumbre y enojo) seis mazos de batan que con sus alternativos golpes aquel estruendo formaban. pp 156-7, In Spanish, Barcelona 1973.
(If there are no oh reader, by sorrow and anger) six mallets of fulling mill that with their alternative blows aluel roar formed. babelfish.altavista.com 1999.
(O reader! If thou wilt not take it in bad part) six iron maces that fulled cloth, which, with their interchangable blows, did form that marvelous noise. pp 161, Thomas Shelton, P. F. Collier Harvard Classics, 1909.
You not, oh reader, be angry or upset by hydraulic hammers, pounding with alternating strokes on newly manufactured cloth. pp 117, Burton Raffel, W. W. Norton & Co. 1999
(Kind reader, take it not in dudgeon) six fulling-hammers, whose alternate strokes produced that hideous sound. pp 90, Peter Motteux, American Book Exchange 1880.
(If, reader, thou art not disgusted and disappointed) six fulling hammers which by their alternate strokes made all the din. pp 146, John Ormsby, Heritage Press, 1950.
Reader! You will not be too disappointed and disgusted by fulling hammers which with their alternating strokes produced the clangor that resembled the sound of blows. pp154, Samuel Putnam, The Modern Library, 1949.
..., be not offended gentle reader, that six fulling hammers, which by their alternate strokes, produced that amazing din. pp 216, Tomas Smollett, D. Huntington, 1814.
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So you see dear reader, that the differences in telling of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza's adventures lie in the understanding of "batan" which dictionaries and translators have made to mean fulling mill, a mechanism for beating cloth to make it clean, and reduce its thickness as well as to permit shrinkage of the fibers so that it would shrink no more when in use. Now you may ask, as Mathrow did, was this the intent of Cervantes when he retold the tale by quoting Benengeli? Or perhaps, recognizing that a batan would create quite a disturbing noise, and since everyone of that day knew what a batan was, Cervantes simply proceeded with his story thus ending this adventure.
From Mathrow's view, the use of a mill to shrink and wash cloth seems to be a stretch. Granted from times past, the use of water power and the textile industry have been closely linked, but it is more in the mechanization of the weaving process rather than the "washing" of the cloth that the hydraulic power created by a dam has advantageously been applied.
Mathrow's creation of an engine to remove shives from flax to produce linen is the product of his mind and seems a logical extension of technology that would have been available at the time Cervantes wrote Don Quixote which was published in 1605. Shelton's translation dated 1611 is acknowledged as the version best rendering Cervantes style, humor, and critique of society. Look again at Shelton's version of the discovery of the batan. "(O reader! If thou wilt not take it in bad part) six iron maces that fulled cloth, which, with their interchangeable blows, did form that marvelous noise." No question that there were six machines doing the striking. They appear to have been linked in some fashion as the blows are said to be interchangeable (or is this to mean that they could not be distinguished one from the other). And Shelton describes the maces (hammers) as iron. Now this is in keeping with Quixote's comments to Sancho that he was born into the iron age while he desired that they return to the golden era.
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