Chapter XXIX
Don Quixote and Sancho come to the river Ebro, where they
find a fishing boat. Don Quixote takes the empty boat as a sign
that he must use it to aid some imperiled knight. Much to Sancho’s
dismay, they tether Rocinante and Dapple to a tree and set off in
the boat. They do not go very far, but Don Quixote believes they
have traveled two thousand miles. The boat reaches some mills, where
Don Quixote and Sancho nearly perish. Some of the millers save them despite
the curses of Don Quixote, who believes that the millers hold a
trapped knight-errant in their mill, which he calls a castle. The
fisherman who owns the boat arrives, and Don Quixote pays him off.
Chapter XXX
In the woods, Don Quixote and Sancho encounter a Duchess
hunting with a Duke. Don Quixote sends Sancho to speak with the Duchess,
and she receives him favorably, since she has read the First Part
of the novel. She and the Duke resolve to treat Don Quixote according
to the customs in books of chivalry. After initially falling off
their respective mounts, Don Quixote and Sancho ride with the Duchess
and the Duke to their castle.
Chapter XXXI
Don Quixote, seeing that the Duke and Duchess are treating
him according to chivalric traditions, feels certain that he is
a true knight-errant. Sancho is also thrilled at their reception,
but when he asks one of the maidservants, Doña Rodriguez, to care
for Dapple, she refuses and they get into an argument. At dinner,
the Duke forces Don Quixote to sit at the head of the table. Don
Quixote and Sancho amuse the Duke and Duchess with their frivolity.
The Duchess takes a particular liking to Sancho, who repeatedly
embarrasses his master with his simplicity.
Chapter XXXII
Don Quixote defends knight-errantry to a clergyman who
condemns it as frivolity. The Duke promises Sancho that he will
make him governor of some isle, and the clergyman storms out in
anger. The servants play a trick on Don Quixote by washing his head
in a basin and pretending to run out of water in the middle so that
he must sit at the table with a mound of suds on his head. The Duke forces
them to wash his head in the same way to maintain the ruse.
The Duchess asks Don Quixote to describe Dulcinea. He
says he cannot remember what Dulcinea looks like, since her memory
was blotted from his mind when he saw her transformed into an ugly peasant
by enchantment. The Duchess challenges Don Quixote on the fine points
of his love for Dulcinea and asks how he can compare Dulcinea to
other princesses when he cannot even prove that she comes from noble
lineage. Don Quixote answers that Dulcinea’s virtues raise her above
her noble heritage. Meanwhile, Sancho goes off with the servants
but comes running back in with several servants who want to clean
him with dirty dishwater. Sancho implores the Duchess to intercede,
which she does.
Chapter XXXIII
After dinner, the Duchess asks Sancho to accompany her
to a cool place. Sancho agrees and, after making sure that the room
contains no eavesdroppers, entertains her with stories of his adventures
with Don Quixote. He tells her that he knows Don Quixote is crazy
but that he stays with him out of loyalty. Sancho tells her how
he deceived Don Quixote into believing in Dulcinea’s enchantment, but
the Duchess convinces Sancho that he is the one who was actually
deceived. She says that Dulcinea really was transformed into a peasant
girl. Sancho tells the Duchess about his argument with her maidservant,
Doña Rodriguez, and the Duchess vows to make sure that Dapple receives
good care.
