If the above is even roughly correct, Borges' story is a multi-leveled parody, thoroughly ironic in tone, and from first to last deadly serious in the way that only a sophisticated piece of humor can be. The very claim registered in its title, "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote," is a focal point for the pervasive irony found throughout. But there is another level of enveloping irony not yet explored. Three routes lead to it, one from the Quixote itself, one from an essay of Borges on the Quixote, and one from elements within the story itself.

Consider first the Quixote. The story of the Quixote is basically quite simple. Don Quixote, an otherwise sane man, has had his wits scrambled by an inordinate devotion to literature, in particular, romances of chivalry. He imagines himself to be called upon to roam the world in search of adventures...