What Befell the Renowned Don Quixote in the Sierra Morena (Black Mountains). Being One of the Rarest Adventures in This Authentic History.
Sancho, afraid that the police force of the Holy Brotherhood would search for the man who freed the king's prisoners, suggests they go through the Sierra Morena to discourage pursuit. The ringleader of the prisoners, Gines de Passamonte, is also hiding out in these mountains. When he sees his chance, he steals Sancho's beloved ass Dapple, leaving the squire brokenhearted. Sancho is cheered, however, when his master finds a portmanteau lying on the path that contains 200 gold crowns; he gives it all to his squire, taking sole interest in the poem enclosed in the briefcase. Further along, they see a discarded saddle and then the corpse of a mule. Some goatherds tell them the story that clears up the mystery. A well-born youth has come to do penance for a number of sins. He wanders around in the wilderness, alternating moods of lucidity with fits of insanity, gaining nourishment from the woods or from the kindness of the goatherds. Don Quixote vows to find the young man and assist him in his distress. Cardenio himself appears, and the knight greets him with an earnest embrace, as if the stranger were long familiar to him.
