Volume 2, Chapter 74
Don Quijote comes down with a fever and for six days Sancho stays by his side while all his friends including the barber visit him. Carrasco tries to cheer him with news of the sheep dogs he has bought for their new occupation. The doctor tells them all that Don Quijote may well be dying from sorrow. Don Quijote requests that they all leave the room while he sleeps a while. After six hours he wakes up shouting praises to God for his mercy. He tells his niece:
"I am in my right mind, now, clear-headed and free of the murky darkness of ignorance, brought upon me by my continual, bitter reading of those abominable books of chivalry." Volume 2, Chapter 74, pg. 742
The priest, Carrasco and Master Nicolás arrive and he tells them he is Alonso Quijano and an enemy of Amadís of Gaul. They initially fear that he has entered some new stage of madness. Carrasco tells him that they have discovered that Dulcinea is free from the enchantment. Don Quijote tells them to fetch a scribe while he makes his confession to the priest. They return with a scribe and Sancho who weeps, along with the niece and housekeeper. Don Quijote starts dictating his last will and testament. Sancho begs him not to die; they'll go out and about and do their shepherding and maybe find Dulcinea hiding behind some bushes.
Don Quijote tells them again that he is no longer the insane Don Quijote de la Mancha, but the sane and previously know as good, Alonso Quijano. He continues dictating his will leaving most everything he possesses to his niece on the condition that her future husband has no knowledge of books of chivalry. He even asks them to extend his apologies to the man who wrote the ridiculous book The Second Part of the Exploits of Don Quijote de La Mancha because he feels it is his fault that the man ever wrote at all.
After several days drifting in and out of consciousness, Don Quijote dies. The priest asks the scribe to witness this to prevent any other writers from raising him from the dead and producing more sequels. Not as forgiving as Don Quijote, Sidi Hamid finishes this manuscript, his second volume of Don Quijote, with insults to Avellaneda warning him to let his Don Quijote rest in peace. Sidi Hamid is happy and satisfied that he has successfully met his goal of making people feel nothing but disdain for ridiculous books of chivalry.
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