Chapter XLV
In which the doubts about Mambrino’s helmet, about the pack-saddle and about other adventures are finally resolved
The people at the inn come to Don Quixote’s aid and claim that the basin and pack-saddle are actually a helmet and a horse’s caparison, and are therefore rightfully his. A large fight breaks out, and an officer of the Holy Brotherhood recognizes Don Quixote as having a warrant for highway robbery.
Chapter XLVI
About the notable adventure of the peace-officers, and the ferocity of our good knight Don Quixote
The priest convinced the peace-officers that they should not arrest Don Quixote because he was clearly a madman who would never be charged for his crime. The officers conceded and then helped broker a deal between Don Quixote and the barber, who left feeling satisfied with the compromise. The people at the inn devised a plan to disguise themselves as enchanted visions and trap Don Quixote in a wooden cage on a cart, in which he could be taken back home.
Chapter XLVII
About the strange way in which Don Quixote was enchanted, and other famous events
While traveling as a convey with Don Quixote caged, Sancho gets suspicious and eventually recognizes the “enchanted visions” for who they really are. The convey comes across another group traveling to a nearby inn. The priest from Don Quixote’s group begins a discussion with the priest from the traveling group about the benefits and dangers of dramatic literature.
Chapter XLVIII
In which the canon continues on the subject of books of chivalry and on other matters worthy of his mind
The two priests continue their discussion of the merits of making high-brow works of art that adhere to strict rules versus art more accessible to the general public. Sancho asks Don Quixote if he has ever needed to use the bathroom while trapped in the cage, in attempt to prove that he is still himself and not enchanted.
Chapter XLIX
Which concerns the intelligent conversation that Sancho Panza had with his master Don Quixote
Sancho convinces Don Quixote that they should escape. The canon tells Don Quixote that he should stop reading chivalry books because they are untrue, and that he should spend his time reading books about actual events instead. Don Quixote disagrees and argues that there is no way that all the people described in his books could have been invented.
Chapter L
About the intelligent dispute between Don Quixote and the canon, and other matters
Don Quixote continues to argue the virtues of books on chivalry to the canon, explaining that reading stories of delight and wonder has banished his sadness and made him a better person. The discussion is disrupted by a runaway spotted goat named Spotty, followed by a goatherd chasing after her. The goatherd begins to tell a story.
Chapter LI
Which deals with what the goatherd told those who were carrying off Don Quixote
The goatherd tells the story of being in love with a young girl from his village named Leandra. He was in competition with another man named Anselmo for the girl’s hand in marriage. She ends up running off with a traveling Italian solider named Vicente de la Roca, who made her promises about living in Naples. She was later found left stripped of all her belongings in a cave after Vicente de la Roca robbed her and abandoned her. Leandra withdraws from sight and the goatherd and Anselmo decide to leave the village to go to a herding valley. The valley eventually fills up with other goatherds who had fallen in love with Leandra, and they pass their time there venting their sorrows. The goatherd explains that the reason he speaks to his goat Spotty like she is a human is because the goat is a female and he thinks she has human female characteristics (being “flighty and ill-regulated”).
Chapter LII
Of the quarrel that Don Quixote had with the goatherd, together with the rare adventure of the Penitents, which with an expenditure of sweat he brought to a happy conclusion
Don Quixote gets offended at the goatherd and fights with him until they eventually agree on a truce. Sancho convinces Don Quixote that they should return to their village to let the spate of bad luck pass and rest up for their next sally.
