The canon now includes a critical appraisal of drama in his discussion with the curate. He says that the plays written for the modern theater are devoid of graceful writing or dramatic development because the public is only interested in spectacle and fast action. Furthermore, he says, the comedies that are played are loosely constructed in terms of historical accuracy, chronological sequence, or moral truth.
While the curate and canon are so engaged, Sancho has a shrewd talk with his encaged master. He declares that the town curate and barber are playing a shameful trick, and that if Don Quixote were truly enchanted the natural functions of his body would be suspended. The knight admits that he is in need of physical relief because his bodily functions are operating, but he counsels his squire to understand that enchantments always take different forms, according to circumstance. The curate may appear to be a familiar person, but he is in fact a powerful necromancer. Sancho seeks permission for his master to be uncaged in order to relieve himself, and while Don Quixote is gratefully relaxing on the grass, he engages with the canon in conversation about books of chivalry. To all the clergyman's accusations that the novels are untruthful and therefore pernicious, Don Quixote declares that every incident therein depicted and each person discussed is in the image of truth and is documented in history.
