Book 2, Part 7: Quixote, Sancho, and their tour-guide they call "cousin" come across a poor "merry-faced lad," trying to enlist in the army. The Don gives the boy some words of encouragement, and the three travelers even invite him to stay with them at a nearby inn. At the inn, there seems to be a kind of monkey and puppet show run by a man named Master Peter, who is actually one of the convicts Quixote freed a few days earlier. Although the monkey is unable to tell the future, he is said to be able to tell the present. "Somehow" the man and his monkey know Quixote and Sancho.
Privately, the Don warns Sancho that this ape master must have demonic powers. According to Quixote, the monkey doesn't know the future because Satan himself lacks this knowledge.
During the puppet show, Don Quixote takes it upon himself to fight the imaginary enemies who appear on stage, and in the process, destroys a few rare relics and releases the monkey, who escapes. Afterwards, realizing his error, the Don blames the ape's escape on the work of enchanters, though he promises to compensate the puppet master for his losses.
Book 2, Part 8: Continuing their journey, Sancho and the valiant Don Quixote spy a beautiful huntress a few yards away. At his master's urging, Sancho asks the lady if Quixote can approach her majesty and oblige himself to her service. She agrees to the request, seeming to know the famous knight-errant (later they find out that she and her husband had been avid readers of Book 1).
Soon she brings them to the castle, treating them like royalty. Though a certain gentleman, in the castle, rebukes the Don and his profession, by and large Quixote and his squire are treated extremely well. The duke, this huntress' husband, even promises Sancho the island he so coveted in Book 1. The proceeding conversations between the knight and squire-errant and the duke and duchess (first called the huntress) seem very entertaining, even hilarious to the latter (and the reader).
Our Networks