of La Mancha, and had made him
confess that his own Casildea was more beautiful by far than the La
Mancha knight's Dulcinea. Don Quixote suppressed a scornful smile that
threatened to betray him, and controlled the feelings that the
boasting errant's words provoked, while wondering at the braggart's
audacity. He slyly expressed a doubt, however, that the valiant knight
Don Quixote of La Mancha had let himself be vanquished by any living
being. The Knight of the Grove then gave a description of Don Quixote
which in every detail fitted him.

That drew Don Quixote out of his originally assumed indifference. He
told the knight that he himself was no other than that famed and
illustrious errant, and declared that any other one that had appeared
as Don Quixote, must have been some enchanter who had disguised
himself to resemble him, in order to defraud him of the honor that was
rightly due to him. Then he proceeded to tell the knight how his enemy
had transformed the Lady Dulcinea, and challenged the Knight of the
Grove to single combat if he dared to question what Don Quixote
maintained to be the truth.

To this challenge the Knight of the Grove retorted that since he had
once vanquished the semblance of Don Quixote, he would now welcome the
opportunity of meeting him in combat in his own proper shape. Being a
cautious and cold-blooded knight, however, he suggested to Don Quixote
that they should rest until the morning, when the mighty struggle
could ensue in the light of day. It was further agreed that the
vanquished knight should place himself at the command of the victor,
to fulfill any desire of his within the bounds of chivalry.

Each one was eager to inform his own squire of what the morning was to
behold, so they awoke Sancho and the squire of the Grove and told
them. Sancho was scared that his master might not be the gainer, for
the squire of the Grove had been feeding him with stories of his
master's conquests all that night until they had fallen asleep, drunk
with wine.

The squires went to get the horses ready, and on the way Sancho was
aghast to learn that he would have to fight the friendly squire of the
Grove in cold blood, this squire maintaining that such was a rule
among knights errant. Sancho said he would rather give two pounds of
wax to the church than fight with him; furthermore, he said, he could
not, for he had no sword, and never had had one. Whereupon the
friendly squire told him that did not ma