During the search for Marcella, Don Quixote and Sancho rest and eat in a pleasant meadow. Their beasts graze nearby. Meanwhile, some Galician (Yanguesian) carriers have rested their herd of mares in the same grazing area, and Rosinante, usually so chaste and modest, begins to pay gallant court within the herd. The carriers are furious and with their staves and poles beat the poor horse until he sinks to the ground. Don Quixote rushes to the rescue with Sancho, despite his better judgment, at his side. The odds are two against twenty. The carriers have soon beaten the knight and squire so badly that they (the carriers) flee with their mares rather than be accused of murder.
Still too sore to move, Don Quixote and Sancho have a long discussion, the squire maintaining a position of absolute pacifism, while his master upholds the nobility of violent defense. They manage at last, however, to limp their way toward an inn, which the knight declares is a castle.
