All 7 Uses of
transgress
in
Don Quixote
- "For myself I must say I cannot guess how many," said the battered knight Don Quixote; "but I take all the blame upon myself, for I had no business to put hand to sword against men who where not dubbed knights like myself, and so I believe that in punishment for having transgressed the laws of chivalry the God of battles has permitted this chastisement to be administered to me; for which reason, brother Sancho, it is well thou shouldst receive a hint on the matter which I am now about to mention to thee, for it is of much importance to the welfare of both of us.†
Chpt 1.15-16transgressed = violated a rule, promise, or social norm
- "I thank thee for thy good intentions, friend Sancho," answered Don Quixote, "but I would have thee know that all these things I am doing are not in joke, but very much in earnest, for anything else would be a transgression of the ordinances of chivalry, which forbid us to tell any lie whatever under the penalties due to apostasy; and to do one thing instead of another is just the same as lying; so my knocks on the head must be real, solid, and valid, without anything sophisticated or fanciful about them, and it will be needful to leave me some lint to dress my wounds, since fortune has compelled us to do without the balsam we lost."†
Chpt 1.25-26transgression = an act that violates a rule, promise, or social norm
- I told him not to let my beauty, such as it was, blind him, for that was not enough to furnish an excuse for his transgression;†
Chpt 1.27-28
- What I entreat of you is that you reproach me not with my transgression and grievous wrong-doing;†
Chpt 1.35-36
- "I am aware of it already," said Don Quixote; "provided what is commanded and imposed upon the vanquished be things that do not transgress the limits of chivalry."†
Chpt 2.13-14 *transgress = violate a rule, promise, or social norm
- and if she leaves you free to do yours, you are in like manner to return and seek me out (for the trail of my mighty deeds will serve you as a guide to lead you to where I may be), and tell me what may have passed between you and her-conditions which, in accordance with what we stipulated before our combat, do not transgress the just limits of knight-errantry.†
Chpt 2.13-14
- "And may God so prosper it, Señor Don Quixote," said the duchess, "that we may always hear good news of your exploits; God speed you; for the longer you stay, the more you inflame the hearts of the damsels who behold you; and as for this one of mine, I will so chastise her that she will not transgress again, either with her eyes or with her words."†
Chpt 2.57-58
Definitions:
-
(1)
(transgress) to violate a rule, promise, or social norm
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much more rarely (and archaically), transgress can mean: "spread over land, especially along a subsiding shoreline" as in "The sea transgresses along the West coast of the island."