The creator of fiction's most illustrious madman, Don Quixote, also enriched the English language by two words "quixotic' (to mean eccentric behaviour) & "tilting at windmills" (to fight against imaginary enemies).It may not be known by many that Cervantes, in his collection of stories "Exemplary Tales", included a story about another madman, nicknamed "Dr. Glass Case", who believed that he was made of glass. He was mortally afraid of being broken into smithereens at the slightest jolt.
Apart from this idiosyncrasy, he was a very wise man (thus the honorific of Doctor), on the reputation of which, he was invited to the Palace. His reply, furthered his image, as he said "that I am not fit to dwell in the Palace, because I have some sense of shame left, & do not know how to flatter."
In this connection, it may be relevant to mention the remarks of Miguel de Unamuno, the Spanish philosopher, who said "If Don Quixote were to raise from the dead & return to present day Spain, they would seek out the ulterior motives behind his noble extravagance. If anyone denounces an abuse, prosecutes injustice, lashes out at vulgarity, the slaves ask themselves: What is he looking for here? What is he after? Sometimes they think & say that he does it to get his mouth stopped with gold etc.,
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