The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, Part 37

In Short

This narrative follows the aging, delusional knight-errant Don Quixote and his loyal, pragmatic squire, Sancho Panza, as they arrive in the coastal city of Barcelona. Having spent their lives wandering the arid plains of La Mancha, the pair encounters the overwhelming scale of the Mediterranean sea and the sophisticated, mocking urban culture of the city. Part travelogue and part tragedy, the story captures the collision between a man who insists on living in the age of chivalry and a modern world that finds his devotion both fascinating and deeply absurd.

The Story

The narrative begins in the company of Roque Guinart, a notorious bandit who provides the travelers with a temporary, albeit precarious, refuge. Living with Roque offers a stark look at a man whose life is defined by constant movement, fear, and the tactical necessity of staying one step ahead of the law. After three days of this nomadic, shadowy existence, Roque facilitates their departure for Barcelona, ensuring their safe passage through secret paths before parting ways with a final, generous gesture of respect.

Don Quixote and Sancho, accustomed to the landlocked horizons of their home, are stunned by their first sight of the ocean. The vastness of the sea and the grandeur of the galleys anchored in the bay create a sensory spectacle that leaves the squire marveling at how such massive structures could possess "feet" to navigate the water. The city greets them not with the hostility of the bandits but with a performative, theatrical welcome. A group of riders, dressed in colorful liveries, approaches the duo, hailing the knight as the "true" and "legitimate" Don Quixote, intentionally distinguishing him from the apocryphal accounts of his life that have recently appeared in print.

The knight, deeply moved by this recognition, accepts their invitation to enter the city. The atmosphere is one of celebration, with trumpets, clarions, and drums creating a festive, martial rhythm. However, this triumphal entry is short-lived. A group of mischievous street urchins, sensing an opportunity for cruelty, sneaks up on the travelers’ mounts, Rocinante and Dapple, and thrusts bundles of prickly furze under their tails. The resulting panic is instantaneous: the animals bolt, bucking their riders into the dirt and shattering the knight’s sense of dignity.

Though the gentlemen escorting them attempt to intervene, the culprits vanish into the crowd, leaving the knight and his squire to recover their mounts and their composure in a state of deep, public humiliation. Despite this indignity, the party continues to the residence of a wealthy gentleman. As they reach the stately home, the narrative pauses, leaving the knight and squire within the walls of a city that promises both the hospitality of the elite and the relentless mockery of the common folk.

How It Unfolds

A life of shadows The knight and his squire spend three days living under the constant, jittery vigilance of a bandit camp. This period exposes them to the weariness of a life where one must sleep standing and never reveal their position to even their own men.

The threshold of the sea The travelers reach the Mediterranean coastline, where they encounter the vast, shimmering expanse of the ocean for the first time. The sight of the warships and the cacophony of cannon fire provide a grand, overwhelming introduction to the world beyond their rural experience.

A complicated welcome The residents of Barcelona greet the knight with a mixture of genuine fascination and self-aware irony. By referencing the "false" histories of his life, the city dwellers show they are interacting with his legend rather than the man himself.

The sting of reality The procession into the city ends in chaos when local boys sabotage the knight’s horse and the squire’s donkey. This act of petty, juvenile violence serves as a harsh reminder that regardless of how the elite perceive him, the knight remains a public spectacle and a target for ridicule.

The People

Don Quixote remains the central, tragic figure, driven by an unwavering, internal commitment to the ideals of knight-errantry. He longs for recognition as a hero, but his desire for nobility is consistently countered by the physical reality of his aging body and his status as a social anomaly.

Sancho Panza acts as the necessary tether to the earth. He is motivated by the promise of rewards and the simple needs of survival, yet he grows increasingly observant of the world around him. His confusion regarding the galleys and his shared humiliation in the city streets underscore his evolution from a skeptical follower to a man who truly inhabits the strange, unpredictable journey of his master.

Roque Guinart provides a bridge between the lawless wild and the civilized city. He is a man of contradictions—a criminal who shows genuine kindness and professional courtesy to the knight. His presence highlights the theme that in this world, even the most honorable or most dangerous men are subject to the same fleeting, uncertain fates.

In Its Own Voice

"The dawn made way for the sun that with a face broader than a buckler began to rise slowly above the low line of the horizon; Don Quixote and Sancho gazed all round them; they beheld the sea, a sight until then unseen by them."

The narrator sets the scene as the travelers experience the overwhelming scale of the ocean for the first time upon reaching the coast.

"Welcome to our city, mirror, beacon, star and cynosure of all knight-errantry in its widest extent!"

A cavalier in Barcelona greets the knight, using elevated language that highlights the city's self-conscious awareness of the knight's fame.

What It's Really About

The central tension lies in the conflict between the ideal and the actual. The knight seeks to impose a grand, chivalric narrative upon a modern world that is far more interested in spectacle and irony than in genuine heroism. The book explores the burden of fame, suggesting that when a person becomes a legend—or a character in a book—they lose control over their own identity. The city of Barcelona serves as a mirror, showing the knight that his quest is no longer a solitary spiritual journey but a public performance. Ultimately, it asks whether a noble spirit can survive in a world that has replaced the pursuit of virtue with the consumption of entertainment.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the intersection of high philosophy and low comedy will find this work rewarding. It is a deeply human story about the pain of being misunderstood and the quiet resilience required to maintain one’s convictions in the face of constant public mockery. The prose, while occasionally dense in its descriptions of sixteenth-century manners, possesses a sharp, observational wit that remains surprisingly modern.

However, the reader should be prepared for the deliberate pacing of the narrative and the frequent shifts in tone. The text reflects a period that valued long, descriptive passages and a certain formality of speech that may feel jarring to modern sensibilities. Furthermore, the casual cruelty of the characters—particularly the urchins who harass the travelers—is presented without the sentimentality that a contemporary reader might expect. It is a book that does not shy away from the harshness of its time, nor does it offer the knight an easy redemption. Instead, it invites the reader to sit with the knight in his humiliation, finding that even in his darkest, most ridiculous moments, there is a profound, aching dignity in his refusal to stop being who he is. It is a challenging, thoughtful experience that lingers, long after the last page, as a reflection on the fragile line between the dreamer and the fool.