Don Quixote Plot Summary: Part 1, Chapters XLV - LII

Finished with part one.

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.

Don Quixote Plot Summary: Part 1, Chapters XXXIX-XLIV

The captive and Zoraida's exciting adventures in prison and at sea, as well as a web of brothers/lovers/neighbors/daughters converging at the inn.

Chapter XXXIX

In which the captive tells the story of his life and adventures

The captive tells a story of his father dividing his money amongst his three sons and asking that one enter the church, one son become a trader, and one son serve the king. The captive was the son who chose to serve the king, and explained how he was captured after leaping aboard an enemy ship.

Chapter XL

In which the captive’s tale is continued

The captive explains how he came to meet Zoraida; that she was the only daughter of a man whose house overlooked the prison camp, and she was lower notes and money down to him. Through these notes they devised a plan to escape together.

Chapter XLI

In which the captive gives us still more of his tale

The captain explains how on the night of the escape, Zoraida’s father was awoken and saw what was going on. The escaping Christians had to capture the father and take him on the boat with them so he wouldn’t alert the navy to send ships after the runaways. The father eventually realizes that Zoraida was in on the plot as opposed to being a captive herself, and becomes so agonized that he throws himself overboard (but is successfully rescued). The group releases the father on a deserted beach. The group’s ship gets fired upon by a ship of French privateers, who sink it and take its passengers aboard. The privateers strip the Christians of all their valuables, but feel bad for them and give them their ship’s skiff and some basic provisions before sending them on their way. The group eventually ends up successfully landing on Christian soil.

Chapter XLII

Concerning further events at the inn, and many other particulars worth knowing about

A judge and his daughter arrive at the inn. The captive realizes that the judge is his brother (the one who took up letters), and the priest retells to the judge the story of the captive meeting Zoraida and escaping. The captive and the judge are overcome with emotion at finding each other again, especially in light of the judge learning what his brother had been through.

Chapter XLIII

Which relates the agreeable history of the footman, together with other strange events at the inn

The judge’s daughter, Dona Clara de Viedma, discovers that a boy from her neighborhood who was in love with her had followed her to the inn disguised as a footman. Maritornes, the inn servant, tricks Don Quixote into getting his hand tied up in a trap.

Chapter XLIV

In which a further account is given of the singular events in the inn

A group arrives at the inn searching for Don Clara’s disguised admirer, Don Luis, whom they find. The judge recognizes Don Luis as his neighbor, questions him about why he ran away, and tries to reason with him to return home. Don Luis confesses his love for Clara. The innkeeper’s wife begs Don Quixote to help her husband, who is being beaten up by two guests who were trying to leave without paying their bill. Don Quixote explains that he can’t help until he first goes to ask for Princess Micomicona’s permission to abandon his current adventure and help the innkeeper instead. The barber who had his basin (“Malino’s helmet”) and pack-saddle stolen shows up at the inn and angrily demands his items back- which Don Quixote and Sancho argue are their rightfully won spoils of war.

Don Quixote Plot Summary: Part 1, Chapters XXXIII-XXXVIII

Chapter XXXIII

Which tells the Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity

The Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity is a story of two best friends, Lotario and Anselmo. Anselmo wishes to test his wife Camila’s honor and chastity, so he asks Lotario to tempt her. Lotario thinks the plan is a horrible idea and tries to reason with Anselmo to abandon it, but Anselmo is steadfast on testing his wife. Seeing Anselmo’s stubbornness on the matter, Lotario claims that he will agree to go along with the plan so that Anselmo doesn’t just go find another cohort instead. Lotario tells Anselmo that he is lavishing praise on Camila whenever they are alone and that she is resisting them, but really he never speaks to her. Eventually Anselmo discovers that Lotario has been lying, so he decides to leave the city with Lotario and Camila alone together in his house. While spending all his time around Camila, Lotario begins to succumb to her beauty despite his intentions.

Chapter XXXIV

In which the Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity is continued

Camila writes to Anselmo to tell him that he needs to come home, but then succumbs to Lotario’s advances soon after. When Anselmo gets home, Lotario lies and says that Camila rejected him. Anselmo tells Lotario to write love sonnets to a fake woman named Chloris and read them in front of Camila, so Camila will think he has forgotten her and fallen in love with another woman instead. Lotario reveals this plan to Camila, so she would know that what he is saying about a woman named Chloris is really meant for her. Camila’s maid Leonela has been sneaking her boyfriend into their home at night, and Camila is concerned that somebody will see the man leaving at night and think he was there visiting Camila. However, Camila is afraid that if she tells Leonela to stop, Leonela will reveal Camila’s affair to Anselmo. Lotario sees the maid’s boyfriend leaving one night and assumes Camila is having a second affair with the man. Furious at this, he goes to tell Anselmo that Camila had recently accepted his advances towards her, and that he can prove it by having Anselmo tell Camila that he is leaving town but then have him really go hide in his closet. Lotario immediately regrets what he told Anselmo, and he goes to tell Camila about his mistake. Camila explains that the man he saw leaving is Leonela’s boyfriend, and why she’s afraid to tell Leonela to stop having him over. Camila develops a plan to solve the whole situation by acting out a scene with Lotario and Leonela in front of the closet where she acts like she can no longer live with her shame, and then pretend to stab herself with a dagger. Anselmo, seeing that it is only a minor wound, does not come out of the closet during the scene, but later meets with Lotario to celebrate that he now once again believes his wife to be chaste and honorable.

Chapter XXXV

Which brings the Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity to an end

There is a break in the priest’s reading of the Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity when the group hears Don Quixote screaming from his room. They discover that Don Quixote thinks that he has slain Dorotea’s giant, when really he has been slashing the inn’s wine skins and spilling red wine everywhere. The priest eventually goes on to read the last bit of the Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity, which ends in Camila, Leonela, and Lotario all running away and leaving Anselmo- who dies of grief and regret at his curiosity.

Chapter XXXVI

Concerning the fierce and prodigious battle that Don Quixote fought against some skins of red wine, and other things that happened to him at the inn

A group of travelers arrive at the inn. Eventually it is discovered that the group includes Don Fernando and Luscinda. Dorotea convinces Don Fernando that he is her true love, and that Cardenio is Luscinda’s true love.

Chapter XXXVII

Which continues the history of the famous Princess Micomicona, together with other amusing adventures

An escaped captive and a Moor woman named Lela Zoraida arrive at the inn. The large group sits together at a table for dinner, and Don Quixote begins discussing the merits of the life of a student versus life as a soldier.

Chapter XXXVIII

Concerning Don Quixote’s curious discourse about arms and letters

Don Quixote finishes his debate regarding students and soldiers, but he is so busy talking that he doesn’t eat anything. After dinner, Don Fernando asks the escaped captive to tell the group his story, which he begins to do.

Don Quixote Plot Summary: Part 1, Chapters XXVII-XXXII

Chapter XXVII

About how the priest and barber achieved their aim, and other matters worthy of being recounted in this great history

The priest and barber make a plan to dress in disguises and follow Sancho back to Don Quixote to help break him out of his madness. The priest and barber end up running into Cardenio, who tells them his complete story. He explains that the Duke’s son Don Fernando tricked him and asked for his love Luscinda’s hand in marriage, which she accepted. He is living in the sierra to torture himself due to his agony over being betrayed by both of them.

Chapter XXVIII

Concerning the unusual and agreeable adventure undergone by the priest and the barber in the Sierra Morena

Cardenio, the barber, and the priest discover a beautiful woman dressed in men’s farming clothes talking to herself near a stream. The woman, Dorotea, tells them her story of how Don Fernando had essentially forced her to marry him, and then quickly left her to go marry Luscinda. She tells about how she had discovered that Luscinda had a note declaring that Cardenio was her true husband and that she had intended to kill herself after the wedding ceremony (all of which Carenio was unaware of because he angrily left the ceremony too soon).

Chapter XXIX

Concerning the beautiful Dorotea’s intelligence and other delightful and entertaining matters

Cardenio tells Dorotea who he is, and promises that he will go find Don Fernando and make things right. Dorotea is able to help the priest, the barber, and Sancho by pretending to Don Quixote that she is a damsel in distress, and convincing him to leave the sierra and help them go find Don Fernando (whom she describes as an evil giant).

Chapter XXX

About the delectable conversation between Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza, and other events

Dorotea tells Don Quixote that he can marry her after he’s slain her giant. Don Quixote is initially very excited at the thought, but then remembers Dulcinea. Sancho gets his donkey back after he sees Gines de Pasamonte riding it wearing a gypsy disguise- who gets scared and runs off when he sees the group. Don Quixote reveals to Sancho that he already knew that his letter was not delivered to Dulcinea, because he found the letter still in his notebook not long after Sancho left.

Chapter XXXI

About the delectable conversation between Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza, and other events

The group comes across Andres on the road, the boy who was being flogged by his master in the woods. Andres explains that his master went back to whipping him even longer and harder as soon as Don Quixote left, and that Don Quixote’s interference in the affair only made things worse.

Chapter XXXII

Concerning what happened to Don Quixote and his gang at the inn

The group returns to stay at the inn where Sancho was blanket-tossed. The innkeeper reveals that he has some books on chivalry- to which the priest and barber want to burn but the innkeeper refuses. The priest begins to read a manuscript called the Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity to the group.

Don Quixote Plot Summary: Part 1, Chapters XXI-XXVI

Enchanted barber basin helmets, stolen donkeys, and paying penance deep within the crags.

Chapter XXI

Concerning the sublime adventure and rich prize of Mambrino’s helmet, and other things that happened to our invincible knight

Don Quixote scares away a traveling barber and takes his basin, which Don Quixote takes to be the famous Mambrino’s helmet. Don Quixote and Sancho then fantasize about what their lives will be like after they’ve achieved great notoriety.

Chapter XXII

About how Don Quixote freed many wretches who, much against their will, were being taken where they would have preferred not to go

The two men see a group of prisoners in chains being marched down the road towards the King’s galleys. Don Quixote talks to the prisoners, decides they’re innocent, and then attacks the guards in order to free them. The prisoners then turn on Don Quixote and throw stones at him.

Chapter XXIII

About what happened to the famous Don Quixote in the Sierra Morena, one of the strangest adventures recounted in this true history

Don Quixote and Sancho find an old travel bag with a notebook and money in it deep in the woods. The come to be told that the items belong to a young man who said he was living in the most remote and rugged land in the area in order to pay a penance for his sins. They eventually encounter the young man.

Chapter XXIV

In which the advent in the Sierra Morena is continued

The Ragged Knight of the Sierra, Cardenio, tells the men his story full of love and envy, but then Don Quixote takes offense to a remark Cardenio makes about Queen Madasima. The men end up fighting, and Cardenio runs off into the woods before finishing his story.

Chapter XXV

Concerning the strange things that happened to the brave knight of La Mancha in the Sierra Morena, and his imitation of the penance of Beltenebros

Gines de Pasamonte, one of the prisoners whom Don Quixote had freed, had been hiding in the same sierra and decided to steal Sancho’s donkey. Don Quixote writes a letter for Sancho to take to Dulcinea, as well as a warrant to allow Sancho to have three of his donkeys. Sancho embarks towards home on Rocinante.

Chapter XXVI

In which a further account is given of the dainty deeds performed by the lover Don Quixote in the Sierra Morena

While returning to El Toboso, Sancho passes the inn where he was blanket-tossed and sees the priest and barber who burned Don Quixote’s books. He realizes that he has forgotten to bring the notebook with the letter to Dulcinea, so he makes a comical attempt at reciting the letter from memory for the priest and barber to write down.

Don Quixote Plot Summary: Part 1, Chapters XI-XX

The two adventurers continue along their stretch of bad luck; including being beaten with walking sticks, a run-in with the Holy Brotherhood, a blanket-tossing for the squire, and excommunication from the church after yet another case of mistaken identity. 

Chapter XI

About what happened to Don Quixote with some goatherds

Sancho and Don Quixote are welcomed by the goatherds and they all eat and drink together. Don Quixote, inspired by seeing a golden colored acorn, tells everybody about how wonderful and carefree of a time the golden ages were compared to their current age. A goatherd musician performs a song for them at the end of the night.

Chapter XII

About what a goatherd told Don Quixote and the others

The goatherds hear news that a famous shepherd named Grisostomo died that morning of despair after being rejected by a woman he loved named Marcela. A goatherd named Pedro tells Don Quixote the story of Marcela; a beautiful women who becomes a shepherdess and rejects all the many men who become shepherds to try to woo her. Don Quixote plans to go to Grisotomo’s burial with the other goatherds because he hears it will be a curiosity to see.

Chapter XIII

Which concludes the story about the shepherdess Marcela, together with other events

The group rides off together towards the burial service, and Don Quixote tells a shepherd named Vivaldo about his lady Dulcinea. At the burial, Vivaldo convinces the shepherd Ambrosio to let him keep a paper with the last song Grisotomo ever wrote, despite Grisotomo’s request that all of his papers be burned after his death.

Chapter XIV

In which the dead shepherd’s verses of despair are given, together with other unexpected events

Grisostomo’s final song is read. Then Marcela makes a surprise appearance to the service to defend herself against all the claims that she was responsible for Grisostomo’s death; arguing that it is not her fault that she is beautiful and that the men should accept her desire to live a solitary life. After the service Don Quixote told all the men to respect Marcela’s wishes and not to follow her, but then he himself went off to look for her.

Chapter XV

Which relates to the unfortunate adventure that came Don Quixote’s way when h came the way of some wicked men from Yanguas

After Rocinante wanders off in a meadow and finds trouble, he, Don Quixote and Sancho get beat up by a group of muleteers. The badly injured Sancho then straps the badly injured Don Quixote over the back of his donkey, then ties on the badly injured Rocinante to walk behind them. They come to another inn that Don Quixote again takes for a castle.

Chapter XVI

About what happened to the ingenious hidalgo at the inn that he took for a castle

While sleeping at the inn that night, Don Quixote provokes some confusion and jealousy involving a prostitute and a muleteer, which causes them all to get in a big fight that includes Sancho and the innkeeper as well. An officer of the Holy Brotherhood who was staying at the inn that night heard the commotion, saw Don Quixote lifeless, and assumed that he is dead and that one of the others had killed him.

Chapter XVII

In which a further account of the countless hardships that the brave Don Quixote and his good squire Sancho Panza underwent at the inn that, unfortunately for him, he mistook for a castle

Don Quixote leaves the inn without paying, but ends up having to return after he hears his squire being tossed in a blanket as punishment for trying to skip the bill.

Chapter XVIII

Which relates the conversation that Sancho Panza had with his master Don Quixote, and other adventures worth relating

Taking them to be two rival armies, Don Quixote attacks flocks of sheep and has his teeth knocked out with rocks flung by the flock’s herders.

Chapter XIX

About the intelligent conversation that Sancho had with his master, and their adventure with a corpse, together with other famous events

Sancho and Don Quixote spot an odd sight of men clad in white carrying torches walking towards them on the road. Don Quixote ends up attacking them, only later to discover that they are priests escorting a corpse.

Chapter XX

About the unprecedented and unique adventure undertaken by the valiant Don Quixote de la Mancha, the one that with the least danger was ever brought to a happy conclusion by any famous knight in the world.

The two adventures hear a dreadful sound of running water and clanking iron and Don Quixote is eager to take it on as his next adventure, only to later discover that the sound is just coming from fulling hammers.

Don Quixote Plot Summary: Part 1, Author's Prologue, Chapters I-X

Without yet evaluating the content of the story itself, I can say that the experience of reading this book has been a pleasant surprise. Initially, the thought of reading 1,000 pages of something written in the 1600's was a bit intimidating. I was happy to find that the book is light and whimsical, and a pleasure to read. There have even been a couple of points so far where Cervantes uses a type of self-deprecating humor that comes across like a fully modern style of wit.

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.