Don Quixote | Part 2, Chapters 28–29 | Summary

Summary

Part 2, Chapter 28

Sancho Panza gets mad at Don Quixote for riding away when Sancho needed his help the most. They fight, and Sancho Panza says he's going to take his salary and go home. Don Quixote says that's fine with him and calls Sancho Panza a donkey. Sancho is saddened by his master's words and asks to be forgiven. They sleep.

Part 2, Chapter 29

Two days later, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza arrive at the River Ebro. They spy a boat without oars or sails, and Don Quixote thinks a knight in distress has left it for him. He and Sancho Panza climb aboard, Sancho Panza crying about Rocinante and the donkey being left behind. The boat slowly floats downstream, but Don Quixote swears they have sailed at least 800 leagues and crossed the equator. They come upon the waterwheels at the flour mill, which Don Quixote thinks is a castle. They narrowly escape getting crushed by the wheels, and Don Quixote pays for the boats to be replaced after asking for the prisoners in the castle to be freed.

Analysis

Don Quixote's remark to Sancho Panza about being a donkey isn't entirely off the mark. Like his beloved donkey, Sancho Panza is loyal, short, and round, and he follows his master the way the donkey follows Rocinante. Don Quixote, likewise, is very similar to his own animal, an older man who has trouble recognizing his limitations. Despite their constant bickering, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are best friends, just like Rocinante and the donkey, who are rarely seen apart.