For discussion of Cervantes's use of foreign words in «The Captive's Tale», see Spitzer (27-28) and Oliver Asín (75-77). (N. from the A.)

While Spitzer emphasizes the linguistic multiplicity of «The Captive's Tale», in this case he suggests that perspectivism is «subservient to the divine» (25), which makes all language intelligible. (N. from the A.)

Michel de Certeau points to a mode of communication in the chronicles of the New World which is also pertinent to «The Captive's Tale»: «He who does not understand the language only sees the clothes» (Heterologies 74). (N. from the A.)

Such an intentional absence of discourse is necessary for the continued displacement of the clothing/signifier. On several occasions before the escape, the protagonists must maintain silence or reveal the true nature beneath their costume. The Christian oarsmen are forbidden to communicate with each other at their rendezvous point (I, 501). Agi Morato is told three times that any attempt to speak will be punished by death (I, 502-3). The renegade warns his fellow travelers not to answer the inquiries made by the French corsairs (I, 508). In this last instance, silence is interpreted as hostility or descortesía and results in the destruction of the escape boat. (N. from the A.)

This terrain is, in the words of de Certeau, «a landscape of tumultuous, mobile, vanishing things... the boundaries [of which] are uncertain, their reality in motion» (Heterologies 72). (N. from the A.)

Joan-Pau Rubiés points to this new differentiation among Christians as characteristic of the shift in perception of the European self as a result of voyages to the New World: «In a parallel development... Europe was seen and described more explicitly as nationally diverse» (160). The traditional binary opposition between Muslim and Christian is eroded even further, then, by differentiation among Christians. (N. from the A.)

Michel de Certeau considers this attempt to integrate the Other into the sameness of the predominant discourse as the most characteristic element of the ethnographic narrative: «From this we can deduce that 'over there' no longer coincides with alterity. A part of the world which appeared to be entirely other is brought back to the same by a displacement that throws uncanniness out of skew in order to turn it into an exteriority... [T]his operation will be repeated hundreds of times throughout ethnological works» (History 219). (N. from the A.)

This narrative can also be seen as a fitting end to the career of the Captain. We are witnessing the relación de servicios which often accompanied requests from returning soldiers for some type of government work in Spain. It is significant that, when a condensed version of his narrative is recounted for his brother, the oidor, Ruy Pérez is deemed to be worthy of both praise and reward. (N. from the A.)

Despite the joyous reunions at the inn, Cervantes's framing episode leaves the fate of Ruy Pérez and Zoraida unresolved. Ruy Pérez has ended his narrative with an expression of concern about where they might go: «... el gusto que tengo de verme suyo y de que ella sea mía me le turba y deshace no saber si hallaré en mi tierra algún rincón donde recogella» (I, 513). Cervantes assures us that the two intend to travel on to Seville where they will be married. But readers are left to speculate about whether this unlikely pair can actually be assimilated into orthodox Spanish society. (N. from the A.)

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Para el apellido de don Quijote véase Flores 1998. (N. del A.)