Don Quixote, Chapter 18 summary

What happens

1. Sancho questions his master’s explanation of enchantment and urges him to return home for the harvest.
2. Don Quixote sees dust from two flocks and invents opposing armies, their leaders, and a dispute over marriage and religion.
3. Ignoring Sancho’s warnings, Don Quixote attacks the sheep, and their keepers strike him with stones.
4. Don Quixote blames an enemy enchanter, and his potion makes him vomit over Sancho, who vomits in return.
5. Sancho discovers the missing saddlebags, leaving them without their provisions, and privately resolves to return home.
6. After examining his master’s missing teeth, Sancho leads the slow search for shelter along the main road.

In this chapter

What to notice

Sancho reports direct evidence that contradicts his master’s imagined battle. Don Quixote rejects this warning and attacks.

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