Continuing their thirsty traveling through the night, Sancho and Don Quixote hear the cheering sounds of a waterfall nearby, but they are filled with horror when they hear accompanying thuds of heavy, regular blows. Sancho begs his master to investigate the strange noises only in the daylight, but Don Quixote is brave and firm, charging his squire to tighten Rosinante's girth in readiness for the attack. Sancho, however, ties the horse's back legs together so that he leaps forward at the spur but cannot move further. "Heaven is on my side," declares Sancho, "So you must have patience until it is light." At dawn, Sancho quietly unties Rosinante's legs, and they ride closer to the noise. Don Quixote is "ready to drop from his horse with shame and confusion" for the heavy thuds are merely the noises of six fulling-mill hammers pounding out the cloth. Sancho laughs so hard that Don Quixote strikes him in anger. "See here, Mr. Jester," he says, "If these, instead of fulling hammers had been some perilous adventure, have I not, think you, shown the courage required for the attempt and achievement." Sancho begs pardon and swears to "always stand in awe of you and honor you as my Lord and Master."
Connect with CliffsNotes
