Easy to miss the playful chapter beginnings that Cervantes sprinkles around.
Chapter three ends w/the landlord moving out his disoriented and violent guest as quickly as possible; then, chapter four picks up this thought as if the reader has not turned a page.
In the Spanish this is obvious:
le dejó ir a la buen hora . . . La del alba sería . . .Which should be translated something like this:
[Chapter Three ending] The innkeeper 'let him go at an early hour.'
[Chapter Four beginning] 'That being dawn . . .
This light touch from Cervantes encourages the reader to continue while also inviting the reader not to take any of this too seriously.
Is silliness intended as a shield from inquisitorial censors and prosecutors? Maybe. Probably. Of course.
The second half of the chapter relates what DQ did after 'saving' the shepherd boy from his abusive employer.
DQ comes to a crossroad 'branching in four directions' - en cuatro se dividía . . .
Four seems at first, like a lot of directions at a single crossroad. But that's the usual number. +
Are these options to represent the four fundamental directions, north, south, east, west? In this case, which direction did DQ ride in from and is DQ to consider turning around?
In the event, DQ is put in mind of the knights-errant of his obsessive reading; these heroic figures had to make crucial decisions when reaching a crossroad. So also with DQ, who takes time to weigh the options - and then lets his horse decide - 'submitting his own will to that of his nag' - dejando a la voluntad del rocín la suya.
Rocinante heads for home. We are not told which of the four roads Rocinante picked. But the unfolding story suggests DQ was riding north.
Traveling a couple miles, DQ meets a group of thirteen men, traveling south from Toledo to Murcia to buy silk. The group is precisely composed: six traders, riding under sunshades, four mounted servants and three muleteers, on foot.
We are not given a rationale why two of the traders seem not to have a servant, nor are we told how many mules are being driven along by the muleteers.
The geography works. This group could be passing through the region of La Mancha, probably named in Arabic, since the area was called, al-mansha - a dry, arid or wilderness region, located south of Madrid.
The deluded DQ challenges the group by demanding they acknowledge the unmatched beauty of 'the empress of La Mancha, the incomparable Dulcinea of Toboso' - la emperatriz de la Mancha, la sin par Dulcinea del Toboso.
Long story made shorter:
On behalf of the figment Dulcinea, DQ feels insulted by the traders; DQ levels his lance and charges forward on Rocinante, who trips, leaving DQ in the dust and unable to rise because of his unwieldy armour. DQ lies there in the dust shouting at the scoffing knights-errant - 'for such he took them to be - que ya él por tales los tenía - not to ride off even though he could not rise to fight them.
At this point, one of the teamsters breaks DQ's lance into pieces and beats the crap out of him with this stick, until the teamster wore himself out.
The group of traders continue on their way, leaving DQ:
. . . el cual, después que se vio solo, tornó a probar si podía levantarse; pero si no lo pudo hacer cuando sano y bueno, ¿cómo lo haría molido y casi deshecho? Y aún se tenía por dichoso, pareciéndole que aquélla era propia desgracia de caballeros andantes , y toda la atribuía a la falta de su caballo; y no era posible levantarse, según tenía brumado todo el cuerpo.
'. . . afterwards, finding himself alone, he tried to rise; but since he could not when he was healthy and in decent shape, how could he do it now that he was thrashed and just about knocked to pieces? Even so, he thought himself lucky; all this misfortune was typical for knight-errants and besides, everything could be blamed on his horse. Even so, he was not able to get up, battered as he was.'
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