Chapter LXVII
Don Quixote implores Sancho to whip himself for Dulcinea’s
sake, but Sancho says he does not believe that his whipping will
help Dulcinea. Don Quixote then decides to be a shepherd during
his retirement, and he and Sancho begin to fantasize about their
simple, pastoral lives.
Chapter LXVIII
Don Quixote wakes Sancho in the middle of the night to
ask him again to whip himself, but Sancho again refuses. Sancho
discourses on the nature of sleep, and Don Quixote marvels at Sancho’s
eloquence. Don Quixote quotes one of Sancho’s own proverbs back
to him, much to Sancho’s astonishment. Some hogs that are being driven
to a fair trample Don Quixote, Sancho, and Rocinante, but Don Quixote
refuses to do battle with the hogs, believing instead that this
trampling is punishment for his defeat at the hands of the Knight
of the White Moon. Near dawn, ten horsemen ride up, capture the
pair, and drive them to the Duke’s castle.
Chapter LXIX
When the horsemen drag Don Quixote and Sancho into the
Duke’s courtyard, Don Quixote recognizes Altisidora on a funeral
bier, apparently dead. The courtyard has been set up as a court,
with the Duke, the Duchess, and two old judges, Minos and Rhadamanthus, sitting
above the rest. A musician sings a poem—which Don Quixote recognizes
as an adaptation of another poet’s work—telling that Altisidora
died out of her unrequited love for Don Quixote. Rhadamanthus demands
that Sancho suffer a beating to bring Altisidora back to life. Sancho
protests that he is tired of being beaten for Don Quixote’s lovers.
He nevertheless receives the beating, and Altisidora revives.
Chapter LXX
Cervantes says that Cide Hamete Benengeli tells how the
Duke and Duchess were able to locate Don Quixote: on his way to
defeat Don Quixote in the guise of the Knight of the White Moon,
Sampson stopped at the Duke’s house. Sampson knew that Don Quixote
and Sancho had been staying there because he had been told so by
the Duke’s page, who had visited Teresa Panza to deliver Sancho’s
letter. Hearing that Sampson intended to end Don Quixote’s career,
the Duke and Duchess determined to have one last bit of fun and
put the funeral sequence into action. Cervantes says that at this
point, Benengeli declares that he considers the Duke and Duchess
almost more mad than Don Quixote and Sancho for poking so much fun
at such fools.
Altisidora comes into Don Quixote’s bedroom and tells
him about her bizarre trip to the gates of hell. She says she saw
devils playing tennis and using books—including the false sequel
to Don Quixote—for balls. The devils said that
this false sequel should be thrown into hell. The musician from
the night before appears, and Don Quixote asks him why he used another
poet’s work to describe Altisidora’s situation. The musician answers
that people commonly steal one another’s literature in this age,
calling the practice “poetic license.” As Don Quixote and Sancho
take their leave of the Duke and Duchess, Don Quixote recommends
that Altisidora perform more chores so that she will not spend her
days pining away for knights who do not love her.
Chapter LXXI
Don Quixote yet again suggests that Sancho whip himself,
and Sancho again refuses. Don Quixote offers to pay Sancho, so Sancho goes
into the woods and whips the trees so that his master will think he
is whipping himself. The two then stop at an inn for the night, where
Don Quixote muses about the paintings on the walls, hoping one day
to be the subject of such paintings.
