Sancho finds a way out of his earlier lie by presenting a stranger as Dulcinea. This time Don Quixote sees the ordinary woman while his squire supplies the fantastic explanation.
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Characters and setting
Characters: Don Quixote, Sancho and three peasant women; Sancho presents one of them as Dulcinea. Setting: The outskirts of El Toboso.
Summary
With his master waiting outside El Toboso, Sancho decides to exploit his belief in enchanters. Three peasant women pass on their donkeys, and he announces Dulcinea and her attendants. Don Quixote sees only countrywomen. Sancho insists that a great lady stands before them, and they kneel to one woman, who wants to continue her journey. After trouble with her mount, she gets back on with remarkable agility and leaves. The knight concludes that an enchanter has distorted his perception of Dulcinea. Sancho struggles not to laugh.
What to notice
The trick does not begin with Don Quixote spontaneously mistaking the woman. He sees her ordinary appearance; Sancho asserts a different identity and supplies the means of explaining the contradiction.
Analysis
The squire now creates the sort of adventure his master previously interpreted. His solution preserves the ideal Dulcinea by blaming conflicting evidence on an invisible force. The woman herself has no part in their agreement and simply demands a clear path.
A reflection for today
An explanation becomes difficult to correct when every contrary observation is treated as proof of a cover-up. This scene invites us to distinguish a claim that can be checked from a story designed to protect another story.
Sources and edition
This guide uses Cervantes’s text in Francisco Rodríguez Marín’s La Lectura edition (1911–1913), volume 5, II.10. Verifiable locator: Identifier donquijotedelama05cerv, scan images 177–200 (zero-based digital index). The heading and selected passages were visually checked; the complete notes were not collated. Analysis and present-day reflection are this guide’s commentary.
