rs of
battle, he at least ought to share in the spoils.

He was intercepted by some of the men attending the carriage.
Unfortunately, they were serious-minded men, and they failed to see
the joke. Sancho Panza gave them his views on etiquette pertaining to
such matters as these; but it would have been much better for him had
he not, for the men set upon him with great fury, beating and kicking
him until he was insensible. They left him lying on the ground and
then helped the pale and trembling friar to mount his mule. As soon as
he was in the saddle, he hastened to join his companion, and the two
of them continued their journey, making more crosses than they would
if the devil had pursued them.

In the meantime Don Quixote had been trying to persuade the fair
occupant of the coach to return to El Toboso that she herself might
relate to his beloved Dulcinea the strange adventure from which he had
delivered her.

A Biscayan gentleman, who was one of her attendants and rode a hired
mule, took offense at his insistence to bother her, and a fight was
soon in progress. The Biscayan had no shield, so he snatched a cushion
from the carriage and used it to defend himself. The engagement was a
most heated one, and Don Quixote lost a piece of his ear early in the
combat. This enraged him beyond words; he charged his adversary with
such tremendous force and fury that he began to bleed from his mouth,
his nose, and his ears. Had the Biscayan not embraced the neck of his
mount, he would have been spilled on the ground immediately. It
remained for his mule to complete the damage, and when the animal
suddenly set off across the plain in great fright, the rider plunged
headlong to the ground.

Seeing this, Don Quixote hastened to the man's side and bade him
surrender, at the penalty of having his head cut off. Absolutely
bewildered, the gentleman from Biscay could say nothing; and had it
not been for the ladies in the coach who interceded with prayers for
his life, the Biscayan might have been beheaded right then and there.
Don Quixote finally agreed to spare his opponent's life on one
condition: that he present himself before the matchless Lady Dulcinea
in the village of El Toboso, and it would be for her to determine his
punishment. The ladies having promised that their protector should do
anything and everything that might be asked of him, our hero from La
Mancha said that he would harm the gentleman no more.

CHAPTER X