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P _ _ N T _ R . Clue
OF ALL THIS THERE WILL BE NOTHING IN MY BOOK, FOR I HAVE NOTHING TO QUOTE IN THE MARGIN OR TO NOTE AT THE END, AND STILL LESS DO I KNOW WHAT AUTHORS I FOLLOW IN IT, TO PLACE THEM AT THE BEGINNING, AS ALL DO, UNDER THE LETTERS A, B, C, BEGINNING WITH ARISTOTLE AND ENDING WITH XENOPHON, OR ZOILUS, OR ZEUXIS, THOUGH ONE WAS A SLANDERER AND THE OTHER A PAINTER. ALSO MY BOOK MUST DO WITHOUT SONNETS AT THE BEGINNING, AT LEAST SONNETS WHOSE AUTHORS ARE DUKES, MARQUISES, COUNTS, BISHOPS, LADIES, OR FAMOUS POETS. THOUGH IF I WERE TO ASK TWO OR THREE OBLIGING FRIENDS, I KNOW THEY WOULD GIVE ME THEM, AND SUCH AS THE PRODUCTIONS OF THOSE THAT HAVE THE HIGHEST REPUTATION IN OUR SPAIN COULD NOT EQUAL. HE FORGOT TO TELL US WHO WAS THE FIRST MAN IN THE WORLD THAT HAD A COLD IN HIS HEAD, AND WHO WAS THE FIRST TO TRY SALIVATION FOR THE FRENCH DISEASE, BUT I GIVE IT ACCURATELY SET FORTH, AND QUOTE MORE THAN FIVE-AND-TWENTY AUTHORS IN PROOF OF IT, SO YOU MAY PERCEIVE I HAVE LABOURED TO GOOD PURPOSE AND THAT THE BOOK WILL BE OF SERVICE TO THE WHOLE WORLD." HE THEN BEGGED THE BACHELOR, IF HE WERE A POET, TO DO HIM THE FAVOUR OF COMPOSING SOME VERSES FOR HIM CONVEYING THE FAREWELL HE MEANT TO TAKE OF HIS LADY DULCINEA DEL TOBOSO, AND TO SEE THAT A LETTER OF HER NAME WAS PLACED AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH LINE, SO THAT, AT THE END OF THE VERSES, "DULCINEA DEL TOBOSO" MIGHT BE READ BY PUTTING TOGETHER THE FIRST LETTERS.