Of Don Quixote’s First Sally

Don Quixote has made his preparations and, before dawn in the heat of July, he prepares to leave for adventures unknown. After he laces his helmet, straps on his target, grasps his lance, and mounts the noble Rozinante, he rides out the private door of his back yard. He is thrilled at how well his adventure is going so far, but he does not travel long before he has a terrible thought: because he has not yet been knighted, according to the rules of chivalry he cannot bear arms against any foe, should have no adornment on his shield, and should wear white armor until he performs an act of valor.

This realization nearly deters Quixote, but he decides to get knighted at the first opportunity and to scour his armor along the way until it shines white. He continues his journey, speaking in exaggerated poetry in the fashion of the romances he so loves. The sun is beating down so violently that “it would have been sufficient to have melted his brains had he had any left.”

Nearly the entire day passes uneventfully and Quixote is in despair, for his greatest desire is to meet someone on whom he can wield his weapon. Just when Rozinante is exhausted and famished, Quixote sees an inn which he reaches at dusk. In the romantic glow of near-darkness, the inn appears to him to be a castle, complete with towers, moats, and drawbridge. Because of that, he draws close and then waits for a dwarf to appear on the battlements and announce him with a horn. That, of course, does not happen.

Finally he arrives at the inn door, and all the serving wenches are frightened at the sight of this strange-looking man in battered armor and they immediately begin to run. Sensing their fear, Quixote lifts his visor and begs the young virgins not to flee. These wenches are no virgins, and they laugh at him; with grave concern, he admonishes the girls that laughter is unbecoming to the loftiness of their position. The fat innkeeper enters the conversation and wants to laugh along with the girls; instead he speaks civilly to his armored guest.

Quixote addresses the innkeeper formally (but incorrectly) and says he requires little in the way of comfort; unfortunately, the innkeeper is insulted by Quixote’s well meaning words and threatens to make him sleep on the pavement. While the innkeeper tends to Rozinante, the wenches try to help Quixote take off his armor. As they work, Quixote creates impromptu poems to the women who are no longer afraid of him. They are successful in removing everything but the helmet, which is laced so tightly to his head that it can only be cut off; of course he refuses to let them do that, so Quixote will sleep with his helmet on.

The wenches and the innkeeper mock Quixote by telling him they are offering him the finest food and he believes it, but in fact they give him inferior fish and moldy bread. Because he is still wearing his helmet, Quixote is unable to eat or drink without help, and the sight is comical to the staff of the inn. As he eats, Quixote hears the pipe of a pig-herder passing by outside the inn, adding to his belief that he is in a famous castle and being entertained by a minstrel. The only thing marring his happiness is that he has still not been dubbed a knight and so cannot lawfully undertake an adventure.