Editing Don Quixote (section)

===Other stories===

''Don Quixote, Part One'' contains a number of stories which do not directly involve the two main characters, but which are narrated by some of the [[picaresque]] figures encountered by the Don and Sancho during their travels. The longest and best known of these is "El Curioso Impertinente" (''The Ill-Advised Curiosity''), found in Part One, Book Four. This story, read to a group of travelers at an inn, tells of a [[Florence|Florentine]] nobleman, Anselmo, who becomes obsessed with testing his wife's fidelity and talks his close friend [[Lothario]] into attempting to seduce her, with disastrous results for all.

In ''Part Two'', the author acknowledges the criticism of his digressions in ''Part One'' and promises to concentrate the narrative on the central characters (although at one point he laments that his narrative muse has been constrained in this manner). Nevertheless, "Part Two" contains several back narratives related by peripheral characters.

Several abridged editions have been published which delete some or all of the extra tales in order to concentrate on the central narrative.<ref>An example is ''The Portable Cervantes'' (New York: Viking Penguin, 1949), which contains an abridged version of the Samuel Putnam translation.</ref>

====''The Ill-Advised Curiosity'' summary====
[[File:1879, El ingenioso hidalgo D. Quijote de la Mancha, Arremetió á Lotario con la daga desenvainada, Mestres.jpg|thumb|"Camilla threatens Lothario with a dagger", illustration by Apeles Mestres, engraving by Francisco Fusté|alt=A man raises a hand to stop a woman with a long dagger.]]

The [[story within a story]] relates that, for no particular reason, Anselmo decides to test the fidelity of his wife, Camilla, and asks his friend, Lothario, to seduce her. Thinking that to be madness, Lothario reluctantly agrees, and soon reports to Anselmo that Camilla is a faithful wife. Anselmo learns that Lothario has lied and attempted no seduction. He makes Lothario promise to try in earnest and leaves town to make this easier. Lothario tries and Camilla writes letters to her husband telling him of the attempts by Lothario and asking him to return. Anselmo makes no reply and does not return. Lothario then falls in love with Camilla, who eventually reciprocates; an affair between them ensues, but is not disclosed to Anselmo, and their affair continues after Anselmo returns.

One day, Lothario sees a man leaving Camilla's house and jealously presumes she has taken another lover. He tells Anselmo that, at last, he has been successful and arranges a time and place for Anselmo to see the seduction. Before this rendezvous, however, Lothario learns that the man was the lover of Camilla's maid. He and Camilla then contrive to deceive Anselmo further: When Anselmo watches them, she refuses Lothario, protests her love for her husband, and stabs herself lightly in the breast. Anselmo is reassured of her fidelity. The affair restarts with Anselmo none the wiser.

Later, the maid's lover is discovered by Anselmo. Fearing that Anselmo will kill her, the maid says she will tell Anselmo a secret the next day. Anselmo tells Camilla that this is to happen, and Camilla expects that her affair is to be revealed. Lothario and Camilla flee that night. The maid flees the next day. Anselmo searches for them in vain before learning from a stranger of his wife's affair. He starts to write the story, but dies of grief before he can finish. Lothario is killed in battle soon afterward and Camilla dies of grief.