Don Quixote

Panza listens to petitions from local judges. As the judges speak, Panza feels increasingly hungry. Eventually, he reaches a decision. The decision is so widely praised that his steward promises him he can eat as much as he likes, regardless of the doctor’s orders. A messenger brings a letter from Quixote. The letter is filled with more advice on how to govern while also mentioning that Quixote is considering leaving the duke and duchess’s palace because he is about to do something that will inevitably make them angry. Panza dictates a response, complaining about his hunger and his lack of comfort but asking Quixote not to anger the duke too much, as he wants to remain governor. Then, he spends the afternoon composing new laws about random matters, including shoes prices, rude songs, and ways to test the truth about people’s poverty. These laws, the narrator explains, are still used to this day because they are so popular.

Quixote has now fully recovered from the fight with the cat. He plans to leave for the jousting tournament in Zaragoza. Before he can tell the duke about his plans, however, Rodriguez comes to him with her daughter and begs him to help her. Quixote agrees to help. With the duke’s assistance, he challenges the landowner’s son to a duel. The duchess’s messenger returns from his meeting with Teresa Panza. He brings a message for Panza and a message for the duchess. Both letters are read aloud in court. Teresa’s letter to the duchess explains her desire to visit the court and revel in all its splendor. Her letter to her husband praises Panza for his success and provides updates about life in the village. The court laughs and applauds.

Panza wakes up in the middle of the night. He hears sounds of an attack on his town. However, the sounds are made by the townspeople, organized by the duke, as part of their elaborate joke. They urge Panza to join the fight, and they tie him between two shields, hand him a lance, and send him out onto the battlefield. The shields are too heavy, so Panza falls down and is trampled by the other people. The townspeople pick him up and declare they have won a great victory. They heap praise upon him. Panza picks this moment to announce he is resigning as governor. He does not believe he was born to be a leader or a warrior. He plans to inform the duke of his decision and sets off from the town on the back of his loyal donkey. The townspeople are genuinely sad to see him leave.

Quixote prepares for his duel. He is unaware that the duke and duchess have already arranged for one of their servants named Tosilos to fight on behalf of the landowner’s son, who has fled the country. At the same time, Panza meets an old friend on the road. Ricote is a Moor who once lived near Panza’s home before the King of Spain banished all the Moors from the country. Now, Ricote has disguised himself as a German pilgrim in a desperate attempt to return to Spain. Ricote asks Panza to help him find the treasure he buried before he and his family were banished, promising a reward. However, Panza is keen to return to Quixote. He declines Ricote’s offer.

Panza approaches the duke’s palace as night begins to fall. Before he reaches the palace, his donkey slips, and he tumbles into a hole. Clambering around in the hole, he eventually finds an opening and calls for help. Quixote hears a strange sound while practicing for his duel. He helps Panza and the donkey escape from the hole. Speaking to the duke, Panza explains that he has resigned his governorship. They promise him a less stressful post elsewhere on their lands.

The day of the duel arrives. If Quixote wins the duel, the landowner’s son will be forced to marry Rodriguez’s daughter. If Quixote loses, however, the landowner’s son is free to go. Quixote still does not know he is actually facing a servant named Tosilos, who is standing in for the landowner’s son. The duke has weakened all the weapons to ensure no one will be truly hurt. Before the duel begins, however, Tosilos sees Rodriguez’s daughter and immediately falls in love. Just as Quixote begins to charge, Tosilos tries to call off the duel and asks to marry the young girl. The duke is annoyed by the change to his plan. Tosilos removes his helmet and reveals his true identity. Quixote blames magicians for the strange events. The duke indulges this excuse, as it allows him to maintain the pretense. He agrees to keep Tosilos under guard for some days so any enchantments might be revealed.

Quixote and Panza prepare to depart the duke’s palace. Panza receives the letters from his wife, who does not yet know he has resigned his governorship. Before they depart, Altisidora appears and mockingly derides Quixote for refusing to love her. She accuses him of theft, but the duke quickly resolves the issue. Quixote and Panza leave.

While riding along the road, Quixote and Panza encounter a group of workmen, who are carrying religious icons to a local church. Quixote takes a liking to the icons and his knowledge of history impresses his squire. Later, the pair is walking through the woods. Quixote becomes tangled in a bird trap. He blames magicians. Two female shepherds appear and apologize for setting the traps. They invite Quixote and Panza to the new commune they have formed with some local aristocrats, all of whom dress as shepherds. At the commune, Quixote declares the two shepherds are the most beautiful women in the world (apart from Dulcinea). He declines the invitation to join their commune but insists he will stand on the road for two days so he can make other people agree with him regarding the women’s beauty. Just after he takes up the position on the road, however, he is trampled by a herd of bulls. The herd also tramples Panza. Quixote and Panza make a quick and embarrassed exit.

Quixote and Panza discuss whether they should stop, but Quixote insists he does not want to eat. When they eventually reach an inn, Quixote actually agrees that the inn is an inn rather than a castle or a palace. As they eat at the inn, they talk to two men who have read a counterfeit second volume of the Don Quixote stories. The men insist the second volume is not as good as the first. When Quixote reads from the book, he dismisses the events as lies. The book says Quixote visits Zaragoza, so he immediately changes his plans so the book will be wrong. Instead, he will go to Barcelona to prove to the world the book is nothing but lies.