From “paso” to “pasto” (<em>Don Quixote</em> I, XIII), and a small addition to the <em>Dictionary</em>

Abstract

This paper examines the textual and interpretative tradition of a passage in Don Quixote, with the aim of demonstrating that subsequent editions of the novel reproduced a typographical error from the first edition of 1605 (paso for pasto). To correct the error, this paper reviews the definitions of the term paso, pasar and pasto in the Diccionario de autoridades and other dictionaries, as well as the amendments and notes added by critical editors to the sentence under analysis, and several of the old translations of the novel. The proposed amendment is justified with parallel passages by Cervantes and other authors of the period, and with a brief review of other moments where Don Quixote defines the order of chivalry. Finally, the paper proposes that the sense of the term pasto as 'food for humans' should be included in the Academy's Dictionary.