The knight was not mounted on Rocinante, but accommodated with an ambling mule gayly caparisoned; and, upon the back of his coat or cloak, they pinned a parchment inscribed in large letters, This is Don Quixote de la Mancha. The procession no sooner began than this scroll attracted the eyes of the people; and, when they read it aloud the knight was astonished to find himself known, and hear his name repeated by all the spectators.
By no means, said he of the White Moon: let the fame of my lady Dulcinea’s beauty flourish in full perfection; all the satisfaction I ask is, that the great Don Quixote shall retire to his own house, and there abide for the space of one year, or during the term which I shall prescribe, according to the articles agreed upon before we engaged.
You must know, then, señor, that I am called the bachelor Sanson Carrasco, a townsman of Don Quixote de la Mancha, whose madness and extravagance have given great concern to all his acquaintance, and to me in particular. Believing that his recovery would depend upon his living quietly at his own home, I planned a scheme for compelling him to stay at home[.]
