This was in a little collection of verses by different hands on the death of Isabel de Valois, second queen of Philip II, published by the professor in 1569, to which Cervantes contributed four pieces, including an elegy, and an epitaph in the form of a sonnet.

They closed the grave with a heavy stone until a slab was ready which Ambrosio said he meant to have prepared, with an epitaph which was to be to this effect: Beneath the stone before your eyes The body of a lover lies; In life he was a shepherd swain, In death a victim to disdain.

The first words written on the parchment found in the leaden box were these: THE ACADEMICIANS OF ARGAMASILLA, A VILLAGE OF LA MANCHA, ON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF DON QUIXOTE OF LA MANCHA, HOC SCRIPSERUNT MONICONGO, ACADEMICIAN OF ARGAMASILLA, ON THE TOMB OF DON QUIXOTE EPITAPH The scatterbrain that gave La Mancha more Rich spoils than Jason's; who a point so keen Had to his wit, and happier far had been If his wit's weathercock a blunter bore; The arm renowned far as Gaeta's shore, Cathay, and all the lands that lie between; The muse discreet and terrible in mien As ever wrote on brass in days of yore; He who surpassed the Amadises all, And who as naught the Galaors accounted, Supported by his love and gallantry: Who made the Belianises sing small, And sought renown on Rocinante mounted; Here, underneath this cold stone, doth he lie.