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xvii
SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTERS

beard. He orders all the doors to be closed, as murder has been committed. All steal away to bed; and as the innkeeper has taken the precaution to extinguish all lights, the policeman has to leave the “corpse” and search for a coal to light the lamp. While he is gone from the loft the Don recovers consciousness and speaks Sancho. He asserts that the “castle” is enchanted, and that a magic giant has assaulted him. The carrier quietly takes his departure while the conversation is going on. Enters the policeman with a light. He inquires after the Don’s condition, but his tone is too familiar for the Don’s taste, and he calls him a blockhead. The policeman, disappointed at not having a case or effecting an arrest, throws the lamp at the Don’s head and departs.

XVII.

Sancho and the Don agree that he must have been the “giant.” The Don requests Sancho to call the “Governor of the Castle” and get the materials for the famous balsam. Sancho, still stiff from the double beating, rises with difficulty and fetches the rosemary and other ingredients. The Don brews the balsam, over which he repeats many prayers and makes many mysterious passes, and fills a bottle with it. He drinks a large quantity of the balsam, which has an immediate and unpleasant effect. He is wrapped in a blanket and put to bed; and after some sleep is quite refreshed. Sancho is so much impressed by the cure that he begs for some of the balsam, which nearly kills him. When he recovers sufficiently from its effects he abuses his master for giving it to him; the Don accounts for its excessive action in the case of Sancho as being due to the fact that the latter was not dubbed a knight. The Don is now anxious to proceed on his travels. He harnesses Rosinante with his own hands; dresses Sancho, and puts him on the ass. Spying a pike lying against the wall of the inn yard, he appropriates it to supply the want of his spear. The people of the inn are looking on while he is making preparations for his departure. He, knowing that according to the books the knight-errant is bound to show affection for the daughter of the “King of the Castle,” keeps rolling his eyes at the innkeeper's daughter and sighing deeply. She attributes these symptoms to internal pains—the aftermath of the balsam!

XVIII.

When knight and squire are mounted and ready for the road, the knight turns to the innkeeper and thanking him for the entertainment he has received in the “castle,” asks that he may have the pleasure of avenging the “governor” on his enemies as a recompense. The innkeeper replies that the only recompense he requires is the prosaic one of paying him his bill. The Don refuses to pay because such a procedure was unheard of