The duke now tells Sancho to prepare to take possession of his government. Sancho, however, is no longer so eager to have the office but finally agrees to take it "not out of covetousness . . . but merely to know what kind of thing it is to be a governor." Don Quixote takes Sancho aside to give him good instructions for his conduct in the discharge of his office. Solemnly the knight intones his advice: Sancho must be honest, compassionate in his judgments, mindful of relatives and friends, and, above all, must remember with pride and humility that he has sprung from peasants. His other injunctions remind Sancho to adjudicate with objectivity and never be tempted into corruption or vice.
Having advised his squire regarding mental and spiritual traits, Don Quixote now turns to directives for Sancho's physical condition. First of all is cleanliness, the master warns, and Sancho must pare his nails regularly and avoid eating onions and garlic so that his breath remains sweet. He must eat moderately and drink never so much as to get drunk. He must ride a horse with grace and wear trim, neat clothes. With many other injunctions, Don Quixote shows how his squire can discharge his duties as an exemplary governor. They then attend the duke and duchess at dinner.
The duke had ordered the management of Sancho's governorship to a clever steward, the same who had impersonated the Countess Trifaldi. As the steward prepares the equipage to accompany Sancho to his island, the squire notes that this man and Trifaldi "have the same face," but Don Quixote says, "Nonsense." After an exchange of tearful embraces, Sancho is ushered off to his new office, while a disconsolate Don Quixote retires to his chamber after dinner. His misery is complete when he tears his silk stocking the only pair he owns and has no matching thread for mending. Overhearing two ladies in the courtyard, the knight opens his window. One of the speakers, Altisidora, bitterly complains to her companion that she is so much in love with Don Quixote that she can hardly sing. Altisidora, knowing that the knight listens, tunes her lute and begins a mocking serenade of love, while the tenderhearted Quixote repeats his vows to serve the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso.
ntering the town of Baratano (on the Island of Barataria), Sancho and his equipage are welcomed by the whole town, each of whose thousand people is curious to see the new governor. After ridiculous pomp and ritual, Sancho sits in the seat of justice for, says the clever and facetious steward, it is an ancient custom to test each new governor by asking him "some difficult and intricate question." The first dispute Sancho experiences is between a farmer and a tailor. The tradesman says he agreed to make five caps out of the cloth provided by the peasant, but his customer refuses to pay or to accept the merchandise. The tailor shows Sancho the caps, which are so tiny that they fit on each finger of the hand. The verdict of the Court, says the governor, is that "the tailor shall lose his making, and the countryman his cloth, and the caps go to the poor prisoners." The next dispute is between a borrower who says he has returned the twelve crowns, and the lender, who says he did not. In order to swear on the Rod of Justice, the borrower asks his disputant to hold his cane while he makes his vow. The creditor is satisfied, but as the plaintiffs turn to leave, Sancho asks to see the cane. He breaks the stick in two, and twelve crowns drop from the hollow cane, while the borrower is overcome with shame and disgrace. The third test of Sancho's sagacity involves a hefty woman who says she has been raped by the hog driver who accompanies her. Sancho first orders the man to give her his entire purse and, when the wench has left, instructs the man to wrest the money from her. Worn out with scuffling, they both return, and the woman announces she still holds the purse. "Hark you, mistress," thunders Sancho, "Had you shown yourself as stout and valiant to defend your body as your purse, the strength of Hercules could not have forced you." Returning the money to the hog driver, he sends the wench out of the Court in disgrace. The scribe who has been ordered to record all of Sancho's words and actions for the duke is amazed anew at the squire's sagacity.
