The Pleasant Story of the Young Muleteer with Other Strange Adventures That Happened at the Inn.
Dorothea awakens Clara so that she too can hear the music. The young girl is overcome by sobbing. She explains that the singer is not a muleteer, but a young man of rich background who follows wherever she and her father travel. Because they are both so young—sixteen years—and because Don Luis' father is so wealthy and influential, the couple cannot marry, no matter how deeply they love each other. Dorothea soothes the sobbing Clara until she falls asleep.
Meanwhile, Maritornes and the landlord's daughter play a trick on Don Quixote as he stands guard on horseback. The girl softly calls him, and the knight, assuming as before that she is in love with him, bids her to withdraw her attentions because his heart already belongs to Dulcinea. Maritornes begs him merely to extend his hand so that her mistress might satisfy her passion a small amount. Don Quixote complies, standing on the saddle to reach the loft window. Maritornes quietly slips a knot over his wrist, tying the other end of the strap to the bolt on the door. Thus imprisoned, Don Quixote can only assume that he has been enchanted. Rosinante, remaining as immobile as a statue, reinforces his judgment; the knight fervently hopes that his horse remains still. At dawn, however, four horsemen arrive at the inn, and Rosinante gently turns to sniff at one of the mounts. His foot slipping from the saddle, Don Quixote is left dangling by the arm in a most painful manner.
