Don Quixote · Chapter
XIII explained
The squires of the Knight of the Grove and Don Quixote converse about the hardships of their service, hopes for rewards, and their masters' madness.
What happens
The squires of the Knight of the Grove and Don Quixote converse about the hardships of their service, hopes for rewards, and their masters' madness. They share a meal and wine, with Sancho demonstrating his skill as a wine-taster.
Themes in this chapter
Friendship and Loyalty
Sancho expresses deep loyalty to Don Quixote, loving him 'as the core of my heart' despite his master's madness.
Social Class and Identity
The squires discuss their lowly status, hopes for governorship or canonry, and the burdens of their service, reflecting class aspirations and limitations.
Characters to notice
- Sancho Panza
Engages in a colloquy with the squire of the Knight of the Grove, discussing the hardships of squire life, his hopes for an island governorship, and his love for his master despite his madness.
- Don Quixote
Mentioned by Sancho as a simple, kind-hearted master whom he loves despite his foolishness.
- The Priest
Not directly present, but Sancho recalls that clever people tried to persuade Don Quixote to become an archbishop.
Key passages
“A hard life it is we lead and live, señor, we that are squires to knights-errant; verily, we eat our bread in the sweat of our faces, which is one of the curses God laid on our first parents.”
The squire of the Grove complains to Sancho about the difficult life of a squire, comparing it to the biblical curse of earning bread by the sweat of one's brow.
The squire laments the hardships of their service.
“I have made up my mind and determined to have done with these drunken vagaries of these knights, and go back to my village, and bring up my children; for I have three, like three Oriental pearls.”
The squire of the Grove declares his intention to leave knight-errantry and return home to raise his three children.
The squire expresses disillusionment with the life of a squire.
“Ah, whoreson rogue, how catholic it is!”
Sancho exclaims in praise of the wine, using a term that the other squire explains is a compliment in certain contexts.
Sancho's exclamation highlights the colloquial use of 'whoreson' as praise.