kee-HOh-tay

Twice in the same year now we see the evidence of ignorance with respect to the existence of Don Quixote, heroic character of legend, subject of the great Cervantes' magnum opus El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, considered by the literary world to be the first modern novel, and thought by many to be one of the most important literary works ever written. The year's first case is well known: a young man with dark hair (pictured below), likely to be of Greek decendence, was reported to enter the home of a certain reader of the Quixote, where the dark-haired man glanced at the book's cover, then said quizzically, "Don QUIX-ote?" As any moderately aware person will tell you, the name Quixote comes from the Spanish name Quijote, pronounced "kee-HOh-tay." This man, however, said "KWICKS-oat," as though it were the name of a cereal for children. Then the dark, hairy man poked fun at the reader of the Quixote for believing the novel was widely known, at which point the reader suggested that the man go outside and ask the first four people he met whether they had heard the name Don Quixote before. The dark-haired man did so. Three of the four people questioned simply confirmed their knowledge of the novel's existence. The fourth answered by breaking into song, singing "To Dream the Impossible Dream," the well-known theme song to the famous Don Quixote film Man of La Mancha. The reader was vindicated.

The second case of ignorance was of a similar, albeit less extreme, nature, wherein the young man in question (also pictured below), apparently from some obscure town in the Arizonan desert, was altogether unaware of the pronunciation of the novel's title character. He was also previously unaware of the novel's existence, reporting absolutely no former knowledge of the book or its author.

A common thread between the Quixotically ignorant has been found. During seemingly unrelated conversations with each of the previously mentioned young men, each professed a significant disbelief in the moon landing of 1969. Witnesses spoke to the young Arizonan in his own Provo apartment, where he reportedly made the comment, "I'm not sure I believe we did it." Months earlier, in the midst of a similar conversation, the dark-haired Greek allegedly commented, "There's a lot of evidence out there that it didn't happen."

The following images represent the only photographic depictions currently available for these two young men.