Don Quixote Part 2, Chapter 61 - 74
Don Quixote remained for a few more days with the captain and was soon escorted to Barcelona by the righteous bandit. Don Quixote was received on the beach of the city as the galley’s in the ocean fired their canons in joy while a host of riders in colorful clothes issued from the city. The riders were led by Don Antonio, the friend that Captain Roque had written to for assistance with Don Quixote, and they all welcomed the knight with much generosity along with his funny squire. Don Antonio had a placard placed on Don Quixote’s back with his name so that several bystanders came over to greet him, which surprised and delighted him greatly. However, not all those who approached the knight were as courteous as some of them called him mad and advised him to return home. Don Antonio tricked the knight and a few of his friends as he used a contraption to make them believe that he had a bronze bust of a sorcerer that could speak. He also took Don Quixote and his squire aboard a galley which happened to run across a Moorish brigantine. The Spanish ships were able to overcome the pirates but lost a small number of valiant sailors as two drunk Turk aboard the ship opened fire unexpectedly.
The admiral killed those two Turks first but when he turned to punish the pirate captain of the brigantine, he instead found a delicate youth who claimed to be a Christian woman. The viceroy himself came aboard to hear the tale of the girl, who had been born to Morisco's parents and so had needed to find shelter outside. Her travels had led her to Algiers where she had saved the life of her lover by claiming that he was a woman dressed in man’s clothing. The king had been so impressed with the appearance of the disguised man that he had decided to treat ‘her’ better than even the women he kept in his harem. The Christian woman had been put at the head of a brigantine to return to Spain so that she could retrieve the treasure that her father had left buried somewhere. At that point, Ricote, the friend that Sancho had recently met as he had been returning to Don Quixote appeared, and declared that the woman was his daughter. Don Antonio takes the girl under her protection, and plans are made to rescue her lover with the gold being supplied by the now wealthy Ricote, who had found his treasure.
The next morning, Don Quixote found himself accosted by the knight of the moon, who challenges the knight to a battle over the claim that Dulcinea Del Toboso was not the fairest woman in the world. Don Quixote reluctantly agrees but is defeated quite easily in front of the whole crowd of the city. They had also agreed that if Don Quixote were defeated, he would have to return to his village and forego the life of a knight for a whole year. Don Quixote agrees to return to his village after being defeated, and Don Antonio uncovers that the mysterious knight had been Sanson Carrasco. He explains his reasons for challenging the old knight in such a manner. Don Antonio makes arrangements for Ricote and his daughter to remain in Spain while Don Quixote prepares to journey back home. He and Sancho set out soon, but encounter the duke’s lackey, who had surrendered to Don Quixote in hopes of marrying the beautiful daughter of Duenna Rodriguez. The lackey reveals that the duke had lashed him for failing to follow his order, and sent the woman to a convent. Don Quixote refuses to be moved by the lackey's request to escort him to the duke and continues on his way home never stopping for any further adventures even when he is cordially invited by the various travelers that he meets on his way.
Don Quixote proposes that they take on the vocation of shepherds during the duration of his retirement from knight-errantry. He imagines the names that they will adopt, and how they would convince both Sanson as well as the priest to take up their vocation. The knight and his squire are suddenly accosted by soldiers on horseback who threateningly escort them back to the palace of the duke and duchess. The duke has set up an elaborate drama around the pretended death of Altisidora, complete with a fake set of judges from the underworld who declare that the maiden would be resurrected when certain punishments were inflicted on Sancho Panza. Sancho Panza’s nose is filliped by the Duennas, his arms are pinched, and his groin is pinpricked with needles. The maiden is ‘resurrected’ before the complete punishment has been administered, and Don Quixote spends another night at the duke’s palace along with Sancho Panza. The next morning, he offends the beautiful maiden, who admonishes him quite soundly for his disinterest. Don Quixote suggests that Altisidora should be kept away from the idleness that had allowed her to become such a busybody and he then departs after bidding the duke and duchess goodbye.
The historian Cide Hamete Benengeli explains how Sanson the graduate had set out in search of Don Quixote to defeat him and thereby confine him to remain in the village. He had encountered the duke and duchess, who had learned of his mission and had compelled him to inform them of its conclusion upon his return. Sanson had eagerly complied and so the duke had arranged this extravagantly complicated hoax upon learning of Don Quixote’s defeat. Cide Hamete comments that so determined were they to create such a complex scenario for a couple of madmen that they appeared madder even their victims. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza recommence their journey, and Sancho Panza convinces his master to pay him for administering on himself the punishment that was required for the ‘disenchantment’ of lady Dulcinea. However, Sancho does not truly whip himself but rather the trees that surround him while he makes sharp whimpers from the pretended lashes. The pair halt at an inn where they encounter Don Alvaro, an individual that was named in the spurious second book about Don Quixote. The knight speaks to the man and extracts from him a notarised document attesting that Don Tarfe had never journeyed to Saragossa with the true knight and squire.
Don Quixote is welcomed home by his niece and housekeeper, while Teresa is shocked to see Sancho attired in his normal clothes and not in the apparel of a governor. Don Quixote retires to his room and the quiet life of a hidalgo, but he soon begins to weaken. The despondency of not leading the life of a knight causes him to fall ill, but before his death, the hidalgo remembers the reality of the world. He summons all his friends upon his deathbed and creates his will as he assures them that he had indeed regained his sanity. He passes away quietly in his bed and is severely missed by the loyal Sancho Panza.
Analysis
The arc of Don Quixote's character reaches its final descent in his contest with the knight of the moon, as the aging knight is forced to retire from chivalry. Later in the ballroom at Barcelona, Don Quixote collapses from dancing too much and this marks the first time that Sancho Panza treats his master as a parent. The descent of Don Quixote is accompanied by the rise of Sancho Panza, who leads his defeated knight back home, and applies the lessons he learned from listening to his master in settling the disputes that arise during their journey. Sancho Panza reaches home as a respectable member of society, having earned a wealth of experience and a generous amount of gold, despite the low rung of society that he occupies.
Don Quixote seems to be incapable of leading a life in a world devoid of chivalry, as suffering the defeat from Sanson haunts him until he recovers his sanity on his deathbed. He attempts to convince his friends to take up the vocation of sheep herding but the prospect soon loses interest to him. The sympathy that the reader experiences for the protagonist is heightened at the end of the tale with Benegeli's words. The historian claims that his purpose in writing the history of Don Quixote had been his intent to put an end to all aspirations of chivalry by displaying the tragic lives of those that led a life of chivalry.
