Don Quixote · Chapter
Of the freedom Don Quixote conferred on several unfortunates who against their will were being carried where they had no wish to go explained
Don Quixote and Sancho encounter a chain of galley slaves being forced to the king's galleys.
What happens
Don Quixote and Sancho encounter a chain of galley slaves being forced to the king's galleys. Don Quixote, believing it is his duty to help the oppressed, questions each prisoner about their crimes. Despite Sancho's warning that the king's justice is not force but punishment, Don Quixote attacks the guards and frees the slaves. He then asks them to go to Toboso to present themselves to Dulcinea, but Ginés de Pasamonte leads the ungrateful slaves in pelting Don Quixote and Sancho with stones before fleeing. Sancho fears retribution from the Holy Brotherhood.
Themes in this chapter
Justice and Morality
Don Quixote's intervention challenges the legal justice system, arguing that the king's force is unjust against those whom God and nature made free.
Chivalry and Idealism
Don Quixote acts on his chivalric vow to aid the oppressed, even when it conflicts with practical consequences.
Reality vs. Illusion
Don Quixote sees the galley slaves as innocent victims of oppression, while Sancho and the guards see them as criminals justly punished.
Characters to notice
- Don Quixote
Frees the galley slaves, believing it is his chivalric duty to help the oppressed, but is later stoned by them.
- Sancho Panza
Warns Don Quixote about the king's justice and fears the Holy Brotherhood's pursuit after the escape.
- Ginés de Pasamonte
A galley slave who is freed by Sancho and later leads the attack on Don Quixote.
- The Priest
Not present in this chapter.
- The Innkeeper
Not present in this chapter.
Key passages
“That is a chain of galley slaves, on the way to the galleys by force of the king’s orders.”
Sancho explains that the men are criminals being sent to row in the king's galleys.
Sancho identifies the chain of prisoners as galley slaves.
“Recollect, your worship, that Justice, which is the king himself, is not using force or doing wrong to such persons, but punishing them for their crimes.”
Sancho warns Don Quixote that the king's justice is not force but punishment for crimes.
Sancho tries to dissuade Don Quixote from interfering.
“I will ask these gentlemen, the guards and commissary, to be so good as to release you and let you go in peace, as there will be no lack of others to serve the king under more favourable circumstances; for it seems to me a hard case to make slaves of those whom God and nature have made free.”
Don Quixote politely requests the guards to free the prisoners, arguing that it is unjust to enslave free men.
Don Quixote appeals to the guards' sense of fairness before resorting to force.
“Nice nonsense! said the commissary; a fine piece of pleasantry he has come out with at last! He wants us to let the king’s prisoners go, as if we had any authority to release them, or he to order us to do so!”
The commissary mocks Don Quixote's request, saying it is absurd to expect them to release the king's prisoners.
The guard dismisses Don Quixote's demand as foolish.
“To be grateful for benefits received is the part of persons of good birth, and one of the sins most offensive to God is ingratitude; I say so because, sirs, ye have already seen by manifest proof the benefit ye have received of me.”
Don Quixote tells the freed slaves that gratitude is a noble virtue and reminds them of the benefit he has given them.
Don Quixote expects the galley slaves to show gratitude for their liberation.
