Don Quixote Volume 2, Chapter 22

The newly-weds praise Don Quijote for his courage and all he did to assist their cause. Quiteria, it turns out, was not in on the scheme. Don Quijote speaks of how it is easier to keep a good woman good, than try to make a bad woman good. Sancho speaks bitterly of his wife Teresa saying that although she could be worse; she is not nearly as good as he wishes her to be.

Topic Tracking: Idealized Women 27

Don Quijote asks the Swordsman if he knows of anyone who could guide them to Montesinos' Cave, and he tells him he will get his cousin to do it. Basilio's cousin is an author and a big fan of tales of chivalry. Don Quijote and Sancho and Basilio's cousin set out for the cave and learn that he has written a historical book that explains the origins of everything from the first person to have a cold to the first person to use mercury to cure syphilis. Sancho, who finds the idea of this book fascinating, asks who is the first man to scratch his head and then decides it must have been Adam. He then asks who the first acrobat could have been and decides that it must have been Lucifer when he was thrown out of heaven and tumbled down to hell. Don Quijote accuses him of having heard that one from someone else, and Sancho replies:

"I tell you, when it comes to asking stupid questions and giving crazy answers, I don't need to go looking for help from my neighbors." Volume 2, Chapter 22, pg. 476

Arriving at the cave, they tie a knot about Don Quijote and lower him into it till all six hundred feet of rope is gone and they no longer hear his shouts. After waiting a half hour, they decide to bring him back up and find that the rope is weightless and fear the worst for their friend. But as they bring up the last hundred feet they finally feel weight on the rope and bring up a sleeping Don Quijote. They finally manage to awaken him whereupon he tells them that they have brought him out of a paradise that he will tell them all about as soon as he has eaten.