Cide Hamete Benengeli is a fictional Arab Muslim historian created by Miguel de Cervantes in his novel Don Quixote, who Cervantes says is the true author of most of the work. This is a skillful metafictional literary pirouette that seems to give more credibility to the text, making the reader believe that Don Quixote was a real person and the story is decades old. However, it is obvious to the reader that such a thing is impossible, and that the pretense of Cide Hamete's work is meant as a joke. In the preface of Part One of the novel (published in 1605), Cervantes indicates that he is not the original author, but is simply passing on information that can be found in "the archives of La Mancha". At the end of Chapter VIII, Cervantes states that the information from the archives ends in a particularly exciting cliffhanger, and in Chapter IX, he describes finding an Arabic manuscript called "The History of Don Quixote of La Mancha, written by Cide Hamete Benengeli, an Arab historian." In Part Two (published in 1615), the young scholar Carrasco informs Don Quixote that the story of his adventures is well-known, thanks to the publication of his history by Cide Hamete. Cide Hamete is Moorish, although this adjective is not explicitly applied to him. Cervantes says that he is "Arabian and Manchegan": in other words, a Spanish Muslim Arab-speaker, and not a North African or an Ottoman. However, in Part Two, Chapter XLIV, Benengeli writes, "I, though a Moor..." Parody of chivalric romances Cervantes' use of the supposed translation of a true record of events is a parody of an element commonly found in the books of chivalry. For example, in the Cristalián de España, author Beatriz Bernal claims that she found a book in an ancient tomb, and explains her decision to copy it. Another example can be seen in Florisando by Páez de Ribera, who claims to have translated a work of Greek origin from the Tuscan. These adventures are never presented as inventions of the authors themselves, thus giving them greater credibility. The tweaking of this narrative convention gave Cervantes the opportunity to make humorous, ironic comments, and even play several fictional games. Etymology Many speculations have been made about the meaning of Benengeli's name. The first element, "Cide," as Don Quixote states, means "sir" in Arabic: it is a corruption of سيد