Under my cloak I kill the king
Don Quixote“Under my cloak I kill the king” is a common saying invoked in the preface to defend the reader’s independence. Its image of a deed concealed beneath a cloak supports the author’s point that readers may speak freely about Don Quixote and need not fear consequences for their judgment.
Wording and Context
The author places the saying in an appeal to the “idle reader,” whom he describes as being in his own house and master of it. The cloak evokes secrecy, while the act of killing a king makes the saying deliberately forceful; in context, however, it is not a report of an actual act but a proverb illustrating the reader’s freedom from restraint.
Function in the Preface
The saying sharpens the author’s contrast between customary appeals for praise or indulgence and the reader’s right to respond as he chooses. Because the reader is neither the book’s kinsman nor its friend, the author argues, no personal obligation should govern the verdict. The reader may criticize the story or praise it without fear of abuse for fault-finding or reward for approval. The proverb thus gives memorable, paradoxical force to the preface’s defense of independent judgment.
