堂吉诃德

堂吉訶德

Tángjíhēdé

proper noun #30,604

Meanings

1 Don Quixote
2 title character of Cervantes' novel; figuratively, an idealistic dreamer who tilts at windmills

About Don Quixote

文学人物 fictional character

Elderly Spanish gentleman in Cervantes' novel who reads too many tales of chivalry, sets out as a knight and charges windmills he takes for giants, with his squire 桑丘. His name stands for a dreamer in hopeless fights.

Also called 唐吉诃德

Characters

堂

táng

hall (here phonetic Don)

吉

jí

auspicious (here: -qui-)

诃

hē

to scold (here: -xo-)

德

dé

virtue (here: -te)

Examples

HSK 7-9

塞万提斯的《堂吉诃德》是西班牙文学的瑰宝。

Sàiwàntísī de 《 Tángjíhēdé 》 shì Xībānyá wénxué de guībǎo.

Cervantes' Don Quixote is a treasure of Spanish literature.

HSK 7-9

他像堂吉诃德一样和风车搏斗。

Tā xiàng Tángjíhēdé yíyàng hé fēngchē bódòu.

He fights with windmills like Don Quixote.

Tips

culture

堂 renders the Spanish title Don; the other three characters spell Quixote. The first Chinese version was 林纾's 《魔侠传》 (1922); the classic one is 杨绛's of 1978, for which she taught herself Spanish.

In Pop Culture

《堂吉诃德》《 Tángjíhēdé 》

Don Quixote (novel)

Two-volume novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1605, 1615), often called the first modern European novel.

Stroke Order

堂 táng

吉 jí

诃 hē

德 dé