Volume 1, Chapter 3
He asks the innkeeper for private meeting in the stable. On bended knees, he begs him -- in the exaggerated speech he has learned from the books on chivalry -- to dub him a knight. The innkeeper now knew, without a doubt, that his guest is not playing with a full deck and he decides to have some fun and play along. He tells Don Quijote that he, too, had been a knight errant in his youth and had traveled widely to various places such as the Fish Market at Malaga, the Olive Warehouse in Valencia, the Bandstand in Granada, the horse track in Cordoba and the bars of Toledo. He asks him if he is carrying any money and Don Quijote tells him no, for the knight errants in the books never did. The innkeeper informs him that these knights carried lots of money with them, as well as clean shirts and other necessary things; it was just that the authors of these books didn't feel it necessary to write of these mundane matters.
Topic Tracking: Grandiosity 4
Everyone at the inn learns of Don Quijote's madness and watches him hold a vigil over his armor in the courtyard (a requirement before being dubbed). A mule-driver, needing to water his team, picks up Don Quijote's armor from the trough; whereby, Don Quijote instructs him to only touch his armor if he is willing to die. The muledriver then flings the armor across the courtyard. Don Quijote, (after speaking to the Dulcinea of his mind as one might to a saint), takes his spear and smacks the muledriver over the head with it, knocking him unconscious, and then proceeds to calmly continue his vigil. Another muledriver, (unaware of the other's fate), tries to water his animals and receives a noisier blow that brings everyone running outside to see what has happened. The men's friends pelt Don Quijote with stones until, either the innkeeper's warnings that they are dealing with a dangerous crazy man or Don Quijote's bold ferocious threats, scare them away, dragging away their wounded.
Topic Tracking: Grandiosity 5
Topic Tracking: Idealized Women 4
The innkeeper decides it is time to cut these games short and tells Don Quijote that since the required vigil is only two hours, he could dub him right now and then conducts a mock ceremony.
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