Don Quixote · Chapter
Of the famous adventure of the enchanted bark explained
Don Quixote and Sancho reach the river Ebro, where Don Quixote insists on boarding a small boat he believes is enchanted and meant to carry him to aid a knight in distress.
What happens
Don Quixote and Sancho reach the river Ebro, where Don Quixote insists on boarding a small boat he believes is enchanted and meant to carry him to aid a knight in distress. Despite Sancho's protests that the boat belongs to fishermen, they embark. The boat drifts toward water mills, which Don Quixote mistakes for a castle. The millers try to stop the boat, causing it to capsize and throwing both into the river. They are rescued by the millers, and the boat is destroyed. Don Quixote pays for the damage, lamenting that enchanters have thwarted his adventure.
Themes in this chapter
Reality vs. Illusion
Don Quixote perceives the boat as enchanted and the mills as a castle, while Sancho and the millers see only a fishing boat and grain mills.
Madness and Sanity
Don Quixote's insistence on the enchanted bark and his threats to the millers highlight his delusional state, contrasted with Sancho's practical fears.
Chivalry and Idealism
Don Quixote's desire to rescue an imaginary knight or princess from the mills reflects his unwavering commitment to chivalric ideals.
Characters to notice
- Don Quixote
Insists on boarding the enchanted bark, mistakes water mills for a castle, and demands the release of imaginary prisoners.
- Sancho Panza
Reluctantly follows his master, warns the boat belongs to fishermen, weeps for their animals, and prays for deliverance after the capsizing.
- Rocinante
Tied to a tree on the bank, struggles to get loose as Don Quixote and Sancho depart.
- Dapple
Tied alongside Rocinante, brays in grief at being left behind.
Key passages
“this world is all machinations and schemes at cross purposes one with the other. I can do no more.”
The world is full of conflicting plots and counterplots, and I am powerless.
Don Quixote rationalizes his failure by blaming enchanters working against each other.
“I don’t understand that logiquous, nor have I ever heard the word all the days of my life.”
I don't understand that word 'logiquous'; I've never heard it before.
Sancho mishears Don Quixote's archaic word 'longinquous' (meaning far off), showing his lack of Latin education.
“Dapple is braying in grief at our leaving him, and Rocinante is trying to escape and plunge in after us.”
Dapple is braying sadly because we are leaving him, and Rocinante is struggling to break free and follow us.
Sancho anthropomorphizes the animals' distress as they depart in the boat.