Publisher's Synopsis
In presenting the Buscapié to the English public, it may not be superfluous, first to explain the title of this literary curiosity, and next to offer a few observations relative to its nature and origin.The title Buscapié seems to have been suggested by one of those quaint conceits common to the Spanish writers of the sixteenth century. The word etymologically considered, is compounded of busca (seek; from the verb buscar to seek), and pie (foot); and it signifies in the Spanish language a squib or cracker, which, being thrown down in the streets by boys and mischievous persons, rolls about and gets be-tween the feet of passers-by. Towards the close of the Work itself Cervantes thus explains his reason for selecting this ti-tle. "I call this little book Buscapié," he says, "to show to those who seek the foot with which the ingenious Knight of La Mancha limps, that he does not limp with either, but that he goes firmly and steadily on both, and is ready to chal-lenge the grumbling critics who buzz about like wasps."
