Don Quixote tells his friends that, weary of hanging from the rope, he took rest on a spacious ledge about sixty feet down. Sleep overcame him, and he awoke to discover himself in the midst of a beautiful sun-flooded meadow. Before him stood a "royal and sumptuous palace" built of transparent crystal whose guardian is none other than Montesinos himself. Greeting Don Quixote by name, the old man told him that the enchanted knights and ladies who live here have long awaited his arrival. Montesinos showed him the still-living Durandarte, a knight whose dying wish was for Montesinos to deliver his heart as a present to his mistress Belerma. Belerma herself, with her waiting women, also passed before Don Quixote's eyes. More surprising, however, were the presence of the three country wenches, mounted on she-asses, who again ran away as the knight approached. One of them returned, begging Don Quixote to lend her six reals, for her mistress, Dulcinea, required money. At this amazing request, the knight gave her all he had, about four reals.
While the narrative continues, Sancho constantly interrupts. Impertinently refusing to believe what his master says, he suggests that this all took place in his head. Unruffled, Don Quixote says that there will come a time to prove to him of the reality of what he has seen, "the truth of which admits of no dispute."
