Sixty-seven years old, still dogged by poverty and with his health failing, Cervantes began the sequel to Don Quixote only to find that a pirate edition of his idea had become popular. As if to retort to this underhanded publication, Cervantes quickly completed Part II.
During this brief span of his life between the ages of 57 and 69 Cervantes published his Exemplary Novels, twelve stories of Spain which survive as perceptive accounts of the local life of that time. He also published some plays, Eight Interludes and Eight Comedies, which manifest a dramatic talent that his earlier pieces never quite achieved. His last work, The Troubles of Persiles and Sigismunda, is notable mainly for its prologue dedicated to the ungrateful Count of Lemos. Aubrey Bell, an outstanding Cervantist, considers this work to be "the most pathetic and magnificent farewell in all literature." Cervantes, writing from his deathbed, began the prologue: "With one foot already in the stirrup and with the agony of death upon me, great lord, I write to you." Cervantes died in April 1616, the same month that marks the death of William Shakespeare.
Although Don Quixote is one of the most read novels in the world, as well as one of the longest, and continues to be a bestseller, the life of Spain's greatest author is less known than the lives of lesser literary figures. What is outstanding in the scanty biographical date available about Cervantes, is the energy and warmth that radiated from the personality of this penurious, ill-fated figure. A product of the proud Catholic-inspired Spanish heritage, Cervantes believed implicitly in religious orthodoxy and military heroism. Like Don Quixote, Cervantes traveled through life with a strong sense of purpose. Meeting with misfortune and disillusion like his hero, Cervantes contributed to civilization, possibly as a result of his own life's experiences, the people and the values of Don Quixote.
