Chapter LXI
Don Quixote and Sancho enter Barcelona with a great following
as the guests of Roque Guinart’s friends. A boy in town places burrs
in Rocinante’s and Dapple’s tails, causing the two animals to throw their
masters, much to the amusement of everyone but Don Quixote and Sancho.
Chapter LXII
Don Quixote and Sancho’s host, Don Antonio Moreno, confides
in Don Quixote that he owns an enchanted brass head that answers any
questions asked of it. The next day, Don Quixote and Sancho parade
around Barcelona with thousands of people following them. Don Antonio’s
men place a sign on Don Quixote’s back that identifies him, and
all the people of the town call to him. Don Quixote interprets their
calls as proof of his fame. At a ball that evening, Don Quixote
dances until he drops, and Sancho is embarrassed for him.
The next day, the brass head speaks to the guests via
a hidden tube that allows a servant in the next room to hear and
answer questions. Don Quixote asks the head whether the incident
in Montesinos’s Cave was real, and the head says that the incident
was partly true and partly false. Don Quixote then asks whether
Sancho will be whipped in order to disenchant Dulcinea, and the
head answers that though Sancho’s whipping will go slowly, Dulcinea’s
disenchantment will eventually be accomplished. Don Quixote then
goes to a publishing house, where he discusses the art of translation
with a translator and expresses his preference for histories that
can be proved to be authentic.
Chapter LXIII
Don Quixote, Sancho, and Don Antonio visit the galleys.
As a prank, the men hoist Sancho onto their shoulders and pass him around
the ship. The ship amazes Sancho, who concludes that he must be
either in hell or in purgatory. The galley captain spies a pirate
ship in the distance, which they approach and stop. A skirmish ensues,
and two of the galley soldiers die. Upon questioning, the captain
of the Moorish pirate ship turns out to be a Christian woman, Anna
Felix, who is an exiled Moor returning to Spain for a treasure her
father buried before he left. Sancho’s friend Ricote, a tourist
on the ship, recognizes Anna, his daughter, and they embrace. Together,
they invent a plan to save Anna’s lover, Don Gregorio, who remains
stranded in Moorish lands.
Chapter LXIV
Riding around one morning, Don Quixote encounters the
Knight of the White Moon, who challenges Don Quixote and makes him swear
to go home and stay there for a year if he is defeated. Don Quixote
agrees and the two fight. The Knight of the White Moon conquers
Don Quixote but says that he will not defame Dulcinea’s beauty.
Don Quixote accepts the condition that he return home for one year.
Chapter LXV
Don Antonio and others desperately want to know the true
identity of the Knight of the White Moon, so they follow him to
an inn and pester him until he admits that he is Sampson Carrasco.
Don Antonio chides Sampson for trying to bring Don Quixote back
to his senses when people are deriving so much pleasure from his
madness. Meanwhile, Don Gregorio, rescued from Algiers, returns
to Barcelona, where he is happily reunited with Anna Felix.
