Don Quixote · Chapter
Wherein it is shown who Master Pedro and his ape were, together with the mishap Don Quixote had in the braying adventure, which he did not conclude as he would have liked or as he had expected. explained
Cide Hamete reveals that Master Pedro is actually Ginés de Pasamonte, the galley slave freed by Don Quixote, who stole Sancho's donkey and now poses as a puppet-showman with a supposedly divining ape.
What happens
Cide Hamete reveals that Master Pedro is actually Ginés de Pasamonte, the galley slave freed by Don Quixote, who stole Sancho's donkey and now poses as a puppet-showman with a supposedly divining ape. Don Quixote and Sancho encounter a group of armed villagers from a town that was mocked for braying like donkeys, preparing to fight another town. Don Quixote delivers a lengthy speech arguing that a private individual cannot insult an entire community, and that taking up arms for such trifles is unjust, urging them to keep the peace.
Themes in this chapter
Reality vs. Illusion
Master Pedro's ape is a fraud, pretending to divine the past and present, illustrating the theme of deceptive appearances.
Justice and Morality
Don Quixote argues that taking up arms for trivial insults is unjust, citing divine and human laws for just war.
Chivalry and Idealism
Don Quixote's role as a knight-errant leads him to intervene in a petty conflict, attempting to apply chivalric ideals of peace and reason.
Characters to notice
- Don Quixote
Delivers a reasoned speech to the braying villagers, arguing against taking up arms for trivial insults, and shows his knowledge of chivalric and legal principles.
- Sancho Panza
Observes his master's wisdom, comments on the braying story, and interjects to support Don Quixote's authority.
- Ginés de Pasamonte
Revealed to be Master Pedro, the puppet-showman who stole Dapple from Sancho and now uses a trained ape to deceive villagers.
- Cide Hamete Benengeli
The chronicler who swears as a Catholic Christian to affirm the truth of his account, explaining Master Pedro's true identity.
- Dapple
Mentioned as having been stolen by Ginés de Pasamonte from Sancho Panza.
- Rocinante
Don Quixote's horse, which he spurs to ascend the hill to investigate the noise.
Key passages
“I swear as a Catholic Christian; with regard to which his translator says that Cide Hamete’s swearing as a Catholic Christian, he being—as no doubt he was—a Moor, only meant that, just as a Catholic Christian taking an oath swears, or ought to swear, what is true, and tell the truth in what he avers, so he was telling the truth, as much as if he swore as a Catholic Christian, in all he chose to write about Quixote”
Cide Hamete swears like a Catholic Christian, though he is a Moor, meaning he vows to tell the truth in his chronicle, just as a Christian would.
The narrator comments on the translator's explanation of Cide Hamete's oath, emphasizing the reliability of the account despite the author's faith.
“This Ginés de Pasamonte—Don Ginesillo de Parapilla, Don Quixote called him—it was that stole Dapple from Sancho Panza; which, because by the fault of the printers neither the how nor the when was stated in the First Part, has been a puzzle to a good many people”
Ginés de Pasamonte, whom Don Quixote called Ginesillo de Parapilla, was the one who stole Sancho's donkey, but the first part of the book omitted the details due to a printer's error.
The narrative clarifies a previous inconsistency about the theft of Dapple, attributing it to a printing mistake.
“They did not bray in vain, Our alcaldes twain.”
The two mayors did not bray for nothing.
The motto on the standard of the braying town, indicating that the two alcaldes who brayed are celebrated rather than shamed.
“A fine thing it would be if the people of the clock town were to be at loggerheads every moment with everyone who called them by that name—or the Cazoleros, Berengeneros, Ballenatos, Jaboneros, or the bearers of all the other names and titles that are always in the mouth of the boys and common people!”
It would be absurd if every town that had a nickname fought everyone who used it, like the clock town or other such names.
Don Quixote uses examples of common town nicknames to argue that taking offense at such trivialities is unreasonable.
