In the third part of volume one there was a lot of fighting from slaying sheep to getting beaten up in an inn. There was a lot of conflict throughout the chapters and it seems as though Quixote kept finding himself in trouble.

Rocinante and the Mares

The first event that got him in trouble was partially because of his horse, Rocinante. Rocinante smelled some mares (otherwise known as female horses) and decided he wanted to go have fun with them. When the muleteers saw this happen they beat Sancho, Quixote, and Rocinante to the ground. Quixote was so badly wounded that Sancho had to throw him over the donkey and take him to an inn.

The Inn

The next event where Quixote got himself into distress was at the inn. Quixote made up a story in his head that the innkeepers daughter was really a princess and was going to sleep with him. Meanwhile, Marcela was finding her way to sleep with a muleteer when Quixote grabbed her thinking it was the princess. Eventually the muleteer beat up Quixote and everyone started fighting.

Is Quixote at Fault?

There were several other instances where Quixote got beaten up, such as when he got his teeth knocked out by the shepherds and when Cardenio beats him, Sancho, and the goatherd. What I am getting to is that in all of these scenes Quixote gets himself, Sancho, and often other people hurt or into some sort of trouble.

In all of these scenarios he is either warned of the trouble that is to come or he gets himself into trouble because the story in his head is far from what reality actually is. For example, the goatherd clearly tells Quixote and Sancho, “All this has been since then confirmed on those occasions, and they have been many, on which he has crossed our path, at one time to beg the shepherds to give him some of the food they carry, at another to take it from them by force; for when there is a fit of madness upon him, even though the shepherds offer it freely, he will not accept it but snatches it from them by dint of blows.” Yet they are surprised when Cardenio beats them up after he tells his story.

An example of him when he made up stories in his head that lead to trouble, was with the sheep. (as well as many other situations) He could not see the sheep through a cloud of dust, so he immediately came up with the story that they were armies and he was going to intervene. Long story short, he ended up on the ground once again, with many teeth knocked out.

While getting everyone hurt is not his purpose on these missions, it is usually what seems to happen. There is also an example in this chapter of Quixtoe getting hurt although he’s actually not trying to fight anyone this time. When he decided to let the prisoners go, they turned on him and beat him up. In this case, he was trying to do something nice but still ended up on the ground.

These chapters came with a lot of adventure as well as a lot of trouble. They were very entertaining and intriguing to read. I will be interested to see how the story progresses and what other trouble Quixote gets into.