Don Quixote Part 2, Prologue - Chapter 12
The author claims that he does not wish to accuse the writer of the false sequel, although he takes umbrage at being criticized old as well disabled. He goes on to write two parables, the first deals with a man who inflates the bellies of stray dogs, and another of a man who stones randoms dogs until he is thrashed for his cruelty. He concludes the prologue by declaring that this volume is the final chapter in Don Quixote’s life and has been penned by the same hand that wrote the first volume.
Don Quixote had been recovering for a month when the barber and the priest set out to visit him and check on his progress. They were relieved to find their friend looking healthy yet old, and held a long discourse with him to ascertain his mental condition. They were quite glad to discover that he spoke of a wide array of subjects with much lucidity, but they were woe stricken when he began to discuss the matters of chivalry with his previous attitude. They attempted to dissuade him from the notion that he could bring back the age of knights all on his own, and the barber told him of a story about a madman who was nearly let out of the asylum until he mentioned his conviction that he was Neptune, the god of seas.
Their conversation is interrupted by a lot of shouting from the yard, and they discover that Sancho Panza is its source as he attempts to see his master against the wishes of the housekeeper. The priest and barber depart after bidding Don Quixote farewell, while he reunites with his squire and speedily compels him to tell of the stories that have begun to circulate about the knight errant. Sancho honestly informs Don Quixote that a lot of the people believed him to be a lunatic, while the Hidalgos were discomforted by his decision to take the title of Don for himself. Don Quixote is unperturbed by this as he argues that all great knights were persecuted by the rumors of the masses.
Sancho Panza tells his master of a graduate from the University of Salamanca, Sanson Carrasco, who had told him of a history that had been penned by a historian, Cide Hamete Benengeli, and goes forth to fetch the graduate. Don Quixote is surprised that his exploits have been put to paper so quickly and worries that the moor historian may have misrepresented facts. The graduate hails Don Quixote and expresses his admiration for the knight as he informs of the various adventures that have been recounted by the historian. He tells them that readers of all kinds have been mesmerized by the book, and allays all concerns that Don Quixote has about his representation. The graduate raises questions about some loose ends that had been left unresolved, such as the matter of Sancho’s ass going missing without an explanation. He also wonders where Sancho Panza had spent the money that he had recovered from Cardenio’s saddlebags since it had never been mentioned again. Sancho Panza goes home for lunch and returns to tell the graduate that the gold had been used for his household expenditure for he felt that he had earned that amount twice over with the thrashing he had received so very often in service to Don Quixote. The graduate informs Don Quixote that many readers are eager to read more of Don Quixote, and the knight decides that he must go forth for his third sally. The graduate suggests that they make for Saragossa, where knights from all across the world are said to be gathering for jousts and other knightly pursuits.
Sancho Panza goes home and instructs his wife to prepare the ass for another journey as he was going to set forth with Don Quixote for another sally. He expresses his hope that he will finally get the Island that he deserves, but the author claims that Sancho Panza’s conversation with his wife was so different that he was forced to conclude that the account may have been inauthentic. Sancho expresses his hope that his daughter will be able to marry an earl, but his wife is quite offended at that idea. She believes that her daughter ought to marry a man that they considered their equal, and was content to remain where they were. Sancho admonishes her and claims that he will most certainly ensure that his daughter marries an earl. He returns to his master’s home who has just finished arguing with his niece and housekeeper. The both of them are convinced, much like the barber and the priest, that Don Quixote intends to set out on another sally. They attempted to dissuade him from that notion but could not raise any arguments that moved him. Sancho Panza and Don Quixote retired to a secluded room to begin their planning.
The housekeeper was convinced that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza would soon set out for another adventure. She decided to forestall their plans and reached the house of Sanson Carrasco whom she beseeched for aid. The graduate assured her that he would be of assistance, and asked her to return while he went to confer with the priest and the barber. At Don Quixote’s estate, Sancho Panza explains his need for a fixed wage claiming it to be for the care of his children and his wife. Don Quixote dismisses Sancho’s request as he explains that he has found no instances in books of chivalry that indicated a squire was ever given such a fixed salary as they were mostly rewarded with gifts. Sancho is quite shocked to learn that his master is willing to set out on his own without him as his squire, and their conversation is halted with the entry of Sanson Carrasco. The graduate greets Don Quixote with ardor and claims that he will prevent all impediments in his third sally. He offers his services as a squire but Don Quixote accepts the now pleading Sancho as his squire.
The two of them set off towards El Toboso as Don Quixote desires to see his beloved once before he begins his misadventures. On their way, Sancho argues with his master that it might be more rewarding to lead the life of a saint rather than a knight. Sancho Panza worries that his lie of ever having met the Lady Dulcinea will be discovered, as he tells his master that he had seen the lady threshing wheat during their last audience. They reach El Toboso in the middle of the night, and Sancho Panza allows his master to lead the way since he insists that the lady must be staying in a palace. Unable to locate such habitation, Don Quixote agrees with Sancho Panza who suggests that they spend the night in the woods outside town and then he, Sancho Panza, would come into town the following morning to find and escort the lady back to Don Quixote. Sancho Panza leaves his master in the morning and soliloquizes his dilemma of completing the hazardous errand entrusted to him. He sees three peasant women riding mules on the road, and has the idea of convincing his master that the peasant women were lady Dulcinea and her servants. He rushes to Don Quixote and brings him to the road with much enthusiasm but his master who is generally so quick to imagine commoners as nobles cannot bring himself to see that the peasant women were beautiful ladies. Sancho continues to pretend that the now hostile women were led by the Lady, and Don Quixote then begins to believe that the enchanters have made it so that he cannot see his lady’s true form and instead sees a rather ugly peasant woman. The women move past the pair, but the lead woman falls off her mule so Don Quixote moves towards her to help lift her back. He later confesses that the enchanters had been so thorough that they had caused the woman to smell so horribly that he could barely breathe.
They retreat to the woods and stumble upon the forest knight who laments in the throes of a love unfulfilled. Don Quixote and he meet each other with much cordiality but the knight admonishes Sancho for conversing with his betters, the knights, too freely. Sancho is then taken aside by the forest knight’s squire, and the two knights are left to converse on their own.
Analysis
The second part of the novel is a sequel to the first and was published nearly a decade after the first volume. In the meanwhile, an author had created a spurious version of the second book, which had caused Cervantes to accelerate his completion of the sequel. This is why the second book begins with a prologue that references the fake sequel, as the author argues that writing a good book isn't quite as easy as inflating the bellies of stray dogs. The second book is organized into neat chapters and develops more like a novel than the first book. The narration is taken over by Cervantes and Cide Hamete Benengeli in tandem, and this narration is further complicated by the character's growing knowledge about the historian. Don Quixote goes so far as to insult the narrator for his Moorish background and worries whether the first volume had depicted an accurate account of his story. The author takes the time to address some of the criticisms that had been raised about the first book, chiefly about the length of the stories that were told by the characters and the mistakes he had made in not providing an appropriate explanation about the theft of Sancho's ass.
The priest and the barber worked extremely hard to restore Don Quixote to his home in the village but they do not despair when they begin to suspect his desire to leave the village. In fact, Sanson can be said to be excited at the prospect of their journey, and thus Don Quixote's insanity adds a sense of adventure to the other wise dull lives of the sane priest and graduate.
