Don Quixote shows that it is the soldier who suffers the most privations, receiving in return lesser compensation, especially when one considers that he may not live to enjoy the rewards of his service. The man of letters, on the other hand, is guaranteed of life, and his scholarship will gain him a career with professional status. The more noble following, Don Quixote concludes, is, however, that of the soldier. Dinner being over, the entire company begs the captive for his life story.
He tells them of his father, a ne'er-do-well whose extravagance almost left his children without any means. He and his brother joined the army and fought victoriously in a great naval battle against the Turks. He relates how he was captured by the captain of a corsair, thus beginning a long imprisonment. The captive goes on to describe the battles he witnessed and the particular bravery of a man named Pedro de Aguilar, who Don Ferdinand recognizes as his brother.
The fleet for which he was a galley slave returned victorious to Algiers, and his work was changed. Upon the death of his master, the captive became the property of the most bloodthirsty Dey of Algiers, a renegade named Hussan Aga. He was placed in a special prison house, called a bagnio, reserved for Christians whose rich connections will soon provide a ransom, although he had no claim to this distinction other than having the title of captain. Overlooking the bagnio's courtyard were the windows of a high-ranking Moor, whose beautiful daughter, secretly a Christian, made clandestine communication with him. She sent the captive money enclosed in a note that told him of her desire to escape to a Christian land if he would arrange to free himself and take her to Spain. The letter was written in Arabic, and the captain engaged a renegade to translate it. Many other messages were exchanged between Zoraida and the captive until enough money was collected to furnish a ship and ransom other bagnio captives besides himself.
