Author’s Prologue
Cervantes explains that writing the prologue was the most difficult part of the entire book, to the point of not wanting to publish the book at all. He then recounts a conversation in which a friend gave him advice on how he can take shortcuts to make his book mimic the proper format of highly regarded books at the time.
Chapter I
"Concerning the famous hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha’s position, character, and way of life"
A countryman who is driven mad by reading chivalrous books day and night decides to become a makeshift knight himself and travel the world in search of adventures.
Chapter II
"Concerning the ingenious Don Quixote’s first sally"
After an uneventful first day of wandering in search of adventure, Don Quixote comes to a common inn that he takes to be a castle. He meets two prostitutes whom he thinks are fair ladies, an innkeeper whom he thinks is the lord of a castle, and is fed a meager meal that he takes to be a fancy feast.
Chapter III
"Which relates to the amusing way in which Don Quixote had himself knighted"
Don Quixote asks the innkeeper, as lord of the castle, to knight him, and the innkeeper plays along. After attacking two mule drivers who moved his armor, Don Quixote is quickly “knighted” by the innkeeper and two maidens so that they may send the madman on his way.
Chapter IV
"About what happened to our knight when he left the inn"
On his way back him to gather more supplies, Don Quixote finds a farmer beating his young servant in the woods and demands it stop (the farmer agrees but then waits until Don Quixote leaves and continues beating the servant). Don Quixote then confronts a group of merchants traveling along the road, but ends up falling off his horse and getting beat up by one of the merchants’ assistants.
Chapter V
"In which the story of our knight’s misfortune continues"
A neighbor of Don Quixote’s finds him beat up on the road and helps take him home, where they find a group of Don Quixote’s associates speculating about where he might have disappeared to.
Chapter VI
"About the amusing and exhaustive scrutiny that the priest and the barber made in the library of our ingenious hidalgo"
While Don Quixote is recovering through sleep, his niece, housekeeper, priest, and barber go to his library with the intention of burning all of the books on chivalry that caused him to go mad. They end up finding redeeming qualities about many of the books that justify them in being spared from the bonfire.
Chapter VII
"About our worthy knight Don Quixote de la Mancha’s second sally"
Don Quixote convinces his neighbor Sancho Panza to become his squire by promising to make Sancho the governor of the first kingdom they conquer. The two set off together, with Sancho riding a donkey.
Chapter VIII
"About the brave Don Quixote’s success in the dreadful and unimaginable adventure of the windmills, together with other events worthy of happy memory"
Taking them to be giants, Don Quixote attacks some windmills and gets thrown off his horse. He then attacks two Benedictine fiars whom he thinks are enchanters who have kidnapped a carriage carrying a princess. A Basque squire escorting the carriage, using a pillow as a makeshift shield, attacks Don Quixote.
Chapter IX
"In which the stupendous battle between the gallant Basque and the valiant man from La Mancha is brought to a conclusion"
Cervantes breaks from the story, with Don Quixote and the Basque’s swords raised over each other’s heads, to explain that he did not know how the incident ended until one day when he found the rest of the story written in Arabic in some notebooks and had them translated. The incident concludes with Don Quixote slashing down the Basque, and then sparing his life only after the pleading of the ladies from the carriage.
Chapter X
"About what happened next between Don Quixote and the Basque, and the peril with which he was threatened by a mob of men from Yanguas"
Don Quixote tells Sancho about a balsam he knows how to make that can cure any injury- even a man cut in two. They eat a small meal and then find some goatherds’ huts to spend the night.
I really enjoyed your summaries, CP! You know, reading them made me realize how beneficial it is to read à la the WEM method. I remembered everything that you have summarized and I read DQ years ago. If I'd read it in my previous, "quickly get through the book and on to another" manner, I know that I wouldn't have retained half of what I have using the WEM. However, I still have to get to The Pilgrim's Progress, so I'm not doing a very good job of making it through her list. :-Z
ReplyDeleteOverall, I thought DQ a fun read. I've heard some people don't like it, but his antics are so hilarious at times, how could you not like him?