This chapter not only describes again how the imaginative weapons of Don Quixote overcome obstacles, but how the relationship between master and squire develops. Sancho, anxious to imitate his master, thinks that tying Rosinante's legs and then saying it is the will of Providence to keep them in one place are typical Don Quixote rationalizations. At this point, however, Sancho is merely an imitative clown, transforming reality by tricks, and not by the force of faith. Until he becomes a bit "quixotized," he will still have a muddled notion of the difference between truth and illusion.
Don Quixote, on the other hand, uses no tricks at all. Understanding everything with his imagination, he is capable of overcoming any danger because the appearance of the obstacle is inconsequential. Fulling-mills and giants are conquered by efforts of the imagination, by a strong-willed attack of ideals and ideas. Sancho, fearful and anxious in the dark, huddles close to his visionary master because he cannot see the danger, but he is ready to mock the hero when there is nothing to fear. In other words, Sancho and the rest of common men depend on men of ideas when they are threatened with something their senses cannot grasp. The heroes and leaders of men are always those who impose their will on reality, who bend events according to the idea. Reality, to Don Quixote, is therefore an internal quality, and he renounces this strength of perspective only when at the point of death.
