Charlemagne and his army slowly march through towns. Impatient, Agilulf seems to be the only paladin with a sense of urgency, as the others stop in the village taverns to make merry. Charlemagne also holds up the train of soldiers, taking note of various points of interest that they pass. In one town, he stops to inquire about a man acting like a duck; upon nearly drowning, he then begins acting like a frog. Later, as they are passing a pear orchard, they see him in a tree pretending to be a pear. One of the knights strikes him with a lance and he rolls down a hill with other pears. Charlemagne asks a gardener about him and learns that the man goes by many names and seems to think of himself as all sorts of objects.

Charlamagne insists that the man, whose name is sometimes Gurduloo, be brought to him. Gurduloo seems to think that he himself is king, and Charlemagne, amused, commands that Gurduloo be brought some soup. Gurduloo believes that he is to be eaten by the soup before the gardener corrects him, and then he begins trying to feed soup to a tree. Charlemagne jokingly suggests that Gurduloo become Agilulf’s squire, but Agilulf takes him seriously, and turns to issue Gurduloo an order. Gurduloo has fallen asleep, and he does not wake until a wandering hedgehog rubs against his foot. Gurduloo asks his foot why it won’t move and then shows his foot how easy it is to avoid the pain from the hedgehog by bending his knee. He then runs into the bushes and vanishes. Agilulf attempts to follow Gurduloo but loses him in the fields.