y a twinge in his bleeding ear. The
sight of his shattered helmet brought the climax to his anger, and he
swore by the creator and all the four gospels to avenge himself. When
Sancho heard this, he reminded his knight of his solemn oath to the
ladies. Had he not promised them to refer the Biscayan's punishment to
the court of his Dulcinea? Being thus reminded by his squire, Don
Quixote nobly declared his oath null and void, and commended Sancho
Panza for unknowingly having made him conform with the customs of
chivalry.

Then he repeated his vows of knighthood and swore to capture from some
other knight a helmet as good as his own. Sancho, by this time, was
beginning to wonder whether so many oaths might not be injurious to
Don Quixote's salvation. He suggested, for instance, the possibility
of meeting with no one wearing a helmet, and asked what his master
intended to do to keep his oath in such a case. Don Quixote assured
him that they would soon encounter more men in armor than came to
Albraca to win the fair Angelica.

Unwittingly Sancho's thoughts went back to his favorite unconquered
island, and again his master admonished him to feel no uneasiness on
that score. He even bettered his chances, explaining that if the
island should disappear or for some reason be out of the question,
there were countless other realms to be considered. He mentioned the
kingdoms of Denmark and Sobradisa as some of them, and added that
these possessed advantages that no island had. These were on the
mainland and did not have to be reached by boat or by swimming.

Now Don Quixote was beginning to feel hungry, and he asked Sancho
Panza to give him some food out of his _alforjas_. Sancho made
apologies for having nothing but onions, cheese, and a few crusts of
bread to offer such a valiant knight, but Don Quixote explained that
one of the glories of knighthood was self-denial: many a knight had
been known to go without food for a month at a time. However, he
thought it advisable for Sancho to gather dry fruits from time to time
as a safeguard against overwhelming hunger. Sancho feared that his
appetite might crave food of a more substantial kind, and added that
he would garnish his meals with some poultry. His master made no
direct remonstrance to this assertion of his squire, but presumed that
not _all_ knights at _all_ times lived on dry fruit.

As soon as they had finished their repast, they mounted and continued
their way, anxious