emplate past disasters, for in
the distance he suddenly perceived rising clouds of dust, and what
could it be but two opposing armies making ready for battle; since the
clouds were seen on either side of the road! He made Sancho believe
they were the great armies of the mighty emperor Alifanfaron and his
enemy, the king of the Garamantas, Pentapolin of the Bare Arm,
explaining--on seeing a bare-armed shepherd--that this lord always
went into battle in this manner.

Sancho Panza asked what they should do. His master replied that their
duty was clear: they should, of course, help the weak and needy. Then
he went on to explain that the reason for the feud was the pagan
Alifanfaron's wish to marry the beautiful and Christian daughter of
Pentapolin, and her father's refusal to sanction the marriage unless
the emperor became a convert. Immediately Sancho's instinct for
righteousness made him declare himself for Pentapolin, and he wanted
to fight for him. This spirit pleased Don Quixote tremendously, for,
he said, it was not required of dubbed knights to engage in feuds of
this sort; thus Sancho would have a chance to distinguish himself all
alone.

Scratching his head, Sancho now began to worry about his faithful
donkey, for he believed it was not good taste to go into battle
mounted on an ass, and if he dismounted, he was afraid his Dapple
would be lost in the ensuing tumult. Don Quixote, however, calmed his
fears. There would be hundreds of riderless horses after the battle,
from which both of them might choose; and he asked Sancho to follow
him to a hill nearby that he might point out to his valiant squire the
great and illustrious knights of the two armies. He cried out name
after name, the last one always more illustrious than the previous
one. But Sancho could see nothing but the two flocks of sheep and the
shepherds, and he said so.

"How can you say that!" cried Don Quixote. "Do you not hear the
neighing of the steeds, the braying of the trumpets, the roll of the
drums?"

Sancho answered in despair that he could hear nothing but the
bleating of ewes and sheep. To this his master explained that often
fear deranged the senses and made things appear different from what
they were. Therefore, being certain that Sancho had suddenly become
possessed of fear, he put the spurs in Rocinante and charged down the
hill like a flash of lightning, determined to down the pagan emperor.

Lifting his lance, he galloped into the