How the Curate and the Barber Put Their Design in Execution with Other Things Worthy to be Recorded in this Important History.
Dressed in their disguises, that of a distressed damsel and her gentleman-usher, the barber and the curate and the squire reach the foot of the Sierra Morena. Sancho goes ahead in order to give Don Quixote the fictional message from Dulcinea, which is that he must put an end to his penance and repair immediately to her side. In the meantime, the barber and the curate meet Cardenio, who tells them the entire story of his misfortunes, Cerventes continuing the narrative at the point he left it.
Ferdinand fell in love with Lucinda and plotted to get rid of his friend in order to marry her. Sending Cardenio on a bogus errand to his brother, Ferdinand gains the father's permission to wed Lucinda, and the wedding takes place. Cardenio returns just in time to witness secretly the marriage vows of his promised bride. Saddened that Lucinda would rather marry Ferdinand than commit suicide as she promised, Cardenio plans to live his life in the wilderness, mournful and almost insane.
