This is another situation in which Don Quixote's vigorous and creative imaginings transform the mockers into true believers, though they do not recognize the occurrence. During the fray in the inn's courtyard, Don Ferdinand, Cardenio, the curate, and the barber all defend Don Quixote's notion that what appears to be a packsaddle for an ass is really the trappings for a knight's steed. Although the knight himself is not too sure what to call the equipment, his followers, not recognizing the ambiguities of truth and illusion, choose an opinion and defend it. Though they are merely making fun of the madman's fancies, Don Quixote's friends are actually fighting for the right to be imaginative against those symbols of commonplace realism, the troopers of the Holy Brotherhood.
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