All 3 Uses of
inflexible
in
Don Quixote
- …what causes me most distress and what I desire most to punish with my own hands, for were any other instrument of punishment employed my error might become perhaps more widely known; but before I do so, in my death I mean to inflict death, and take with me one that will fully satisfy my longing for the revenge I hope for and have; for I shall see, wheresoever it may be that I go, the penalty awarded by inflexible, unswerving justice on him who has placed me in a position so desperate.†
Chpt 1.33-34 *
- And if thou wilt not relent or come to reason for me, do so for the sake of that poor knight thou hast beside thee; thy master I mean, whose soul I can this moment see, how he has it stuck in his throat not ten fingers from his lips, and only waiting for thy inflexible or yielding reply to make its escape by his mouth or go back again into his stomach.†
Chpt 2.35-36
- This answer left the viceroy in a state of perplexity, not knowing whether he ought to let the combat go on or not; but unable to persuade himself that it was anything but a joke he fell back, saying, "If there be no other way out of it, gallant knights, except to confess or die, and Don Quixote is inflexible, and your worship of the White Moon still more so, in God's hand be it, and fall on."†
Chpt 2.63-64
Definition:
-
(inflexible) not bendable or adaptablein various senses, including:
- not willing to compromise or make concessions -- as when a boss says "Do it my way or you're fired."
- not able to adjust well to different conditions -- as of a schedule that cannot be changed
- not easily bent without physical damage or injury -- as of brittle steel or person with stiff joints