Don Quixote

Quixote and Panza share a meal with the men who watch over the herd of goats. Quixote makes a show of inviting Panza to dine with him as though they were social equals. After they finish their meal, Quixote shares a story about a historical period when humans shared food with one another. At that time, he insists, people were honest, modest, and chaste. Nowadays, he says, the world has become darker and more complex. As a result, knights are required to defend the helpless, innocent people. The goatherders listen without interjecting. Eventually, they are joined by a local boy. The boy joins the men and sings a song about a beautiful girl who ignores her lover. When the song is over, one of the goatherders rubs an herbal remedy on Quixote’s wounded ear. 

A goatherd tells a story about a young man named Grisostomo, who fell in love with a wealthy female shepherd named Marcela. Many men became shepherds just to be near the beautiful, wealthy Marcela, though she refused all proposals. According to the story, Grisostomo died that exact morning as the result of a broken heart. Quixote listens to the story and promises to attend the young man’s funeral. He sleeps in the shepherds’ hut that night and dreams of Dulcinea.

The next day, Quixote and Panza join the goatherds as they travel to Grisostomo’s funeral. The goatherds quickly become aware that Quixote is experiencing delusions, so they entertain themselves by asking questions about knights. Quixote responds sincerely to their questions, insisting he is undertaking important work in the name of God. The shepherds try to find flaws in his reasoning, but Quixote dismisses them all. When they arrive where the funeral takes place, Grisostomo’s friend Ambrosio is stopped from burning the dead man’s diary, which is filled with poems dedicated to Marcela. A man named Vivaldo argues that the diary should be kept as a warning to other young men about the dangers of unrequited love. Vivaldo reads one of the poems.

Vivaldo reads a poem named Song of Despair, written by Grisostomo. The poem describes Marcela’s cruel indifference and Grisostomo’s complete despair. The reading is interrupted by the arrival of Marcela, who wants to defend her reputation. She argues she is not responsible for Grisostomo’s death and speaks eloquently about the nature of love and beauty. After she finishes her speech, she leaves the funeral. Quixote rises up and brandishes his sword, determined to protect Marcela’s exit as she retreats into the forest. The funeral resumes, and Grisostomo is buried. His papers are burned. 

Quixote and Panza search for Marcela in the forest. Quixote wants to offer his protection to her, but the men cannot find her. As they rest, Rocinante spots a herd of female horses nearby. Rocinante approaches, but the mares attack him. Quixote tries to defend his horse. He takes on a group of men who are near the horses, but after knocking down one of them, Quixote and Panza are badly beaten. The men depart and leave Quixote and Panza on the ground. Quixote decides the beating is a warning from God because he has fought against men who are not knights, thereby breaking the chivalric code. He decides Panza should be responsible for any fights against non-knights from now on. Panza, nursing his wounds, asks why being a knight should involve so much pain. When Quixote insists that suffering is honorable, Panza says he does not care about honor. Quixote asks for help to mount Rocinante and then sends Panza to find somewhere to stay for the night. When Panza finds an inn, Quixote deludes himself into thinking it is a castle. 

At the inn, the owner’s wife and daughter help their maid Maritornes to tend to Quixote’s and Panza’s wounds. They are placed in a room with a mule herder. During the night, Maritornes visits the mule herder. In the dark room, Quixote mistakes Maritornes for a princess of the castle and believes she has come to visit him. He holds her close but apologizes they cannot be together because he has dedicated himself to Dulcinea. As Maritornes struggles to get free, the mule herder jumps out of his bed and attacks Quixote. He tramples Quixote, whose bed collapses under the force of the attack. The innkeeper is awakened by the sound. Meanwhile, Maritornes finds herself in Panza’s bed, and they begin to fight. The innkeeper bursts into the room and joins the brawl, certain that Maritornes is responsible for the violence. The captain of the local police force is staying in another room. The brawl wakes the captain, who investigates and finds Quixote unconscious on the floor. He announces that Quixote is dead. 

Quixote regains consciousness in the dark. He finds Panza and tells him about the princess who tried to seduce him in the night, only to be foiled by some mysterious enemy. Panza complains about his injuries and says the same enemies attacked him as well. He is beginning to understand the painful life of a squire. Quixote decides to make a magical herbal potion to heal their wounds and sends Panza to fetch the ingredients that he has memorized from a book. The innkeeper hands Panza everything required, and Quixote mixes them together in the attic room. He drinks the mixture and immediately vomits. Then, he falls asleep for three hours.

When he wakes, he announces he feels much better. He believes his improvement shows that the balsam works. Panza—who also drank the potion—is not as healthy. He is exhausted and convinced he is about to die. Quixote wonders whether his recipe only works for knights. He leaves his friend to recover at the inn and goes in search of a new adventure. Before he leaves, however, the innkeeper presents him with the bill. Quixote insists that knights do not pay bills and then rides away on his horse. The innkeeper presents the bill to Panza, who echoes Quixote’s reasoning. Panza is accosted by a group of cloth merchants. They place him on a piece of cloth and toss him in the air for their amusement. Quixote hears his friend’s screams, so he rides back to the inn. He tries to stop the men, but they only stop when they grow tired. Maritornes fetches food and wine for Quixote and Panza; they try to leave without paying again, but this time the innkeeper steals a set of saddlebags from Panza in lieu of payment. 

Quixote and Panza ride away from the inn. Panza believes they should return home, but Quixote insists they continue on their adventure. Quixote spots a herd of sheep and decides the sheep are actually two armies in the midst of a battle. He joins the imaginary battle, riding through the herd until a group of angry shepherds throws rocks at him. They also throw candied almonds, which hit Quixote and causes a great deal of pain. As he drinks his magical herbal potion, another almond knocks it from his hand and into his teeth. Quixote’s teeth are knocked out, and he falls from his horse as the shepherds run away. Quixote blames magicians for tricking him. As the potion begins to take effect, Quixote vomits on Panza. In turn, the disgusted Panza vomits on Quixote. Then, Panza goes to search through his saddlebags for something to clean the vomit. As he is considering abandoning Quixote, he realizes his saddlebags are gone. The men have no food, so they search for somewhere to sleep. 

As night approaches and without food, Quixote and Panza encounter a funeral procession carrying a man’s remains back to his home. However, Quixote is convinced the people are carrying a wounded knight. Despite his attempts to stop the procession, the mourners have no interest in talking to him. Offended, Quixote attacks. The mourners retreat, convinced that Quixote is some kind of devil sent to fetch the dead man to hell. When one mourner explains the reality of the situation to Quixote, Quixote insists he was right to attack. Panza is impressed at the way Quixote defeated the funeral procession. He decides that Quixote should be known as the Knight of the Sorrowful Face due to his pathetic, miserable expression caused by tiredness and missing teeth. Panza steals food from the mourners, and he and Quixote retreat to a valley to eat the meal.