Regarding the remarkable things that the great Don Quixote saw in the depths of the Cave of Montesinos

My final adventure as a knight took place in the Cave of Montesinos. Sancho lowered me into the cave by a rope. It was very dark and dingy down there so I went to a corner and feel asleep. It was when I woke up that my adventures began.

I woke up to find myself in a dark jungle. An old man approached me and told me he was Montesinos under a terrible enchantment. He said that he had to show me what my life would be like if I continued a life of knight-errantry. He then took me to four dark corners of the jungle to show me four very different scenes.

The first corner he took me to had an old dying man sitting in a bed. His face somewhat resembled what I look like but he was very weak, very old, and very alone. Montesinos told me that this would be my fate if I continued a life of knight-errantry. He said I would die old and alone in my bed in La Mancha due to the numerous injuries I had from my battles as well as depression and loneliness for the loss of Dulcinea. I asked him what happened to Dulcinea and he said I would find out soon enough.

The second corner he took me to had Sancho and his family in it. They were extremely poor and his children were starving. Montesinos told me that if I continued this life, when I died the money in my will would not be distributed as I had wished. He said that a knights’ allegiance is solely to the King and when I die all of my possessions will be inherited by the Court of the King.  This disturbed me more than the scene of my dying body. Never in my life would I wish this hardship on my loyal squire, Sancho Panza.

The third corner he took me to had my niece and housekeeper. Much like Sancho and his family, they had a horrible life full of debt. They also had not received any money from my will and were forced to make money on their own. I could not bear to see my family live so poorly.

The last corner of the jungle had the worst scene of all. This corner had a smelly ugly looking peasant girl working in a farm. Montesinos told me that this was my Dulcinea and because I had chosen to continue my knight-hood, her enchantment never went away. She lived a peasant girl her whole life, and it was my fault.

These images were too much for me to bear. Three days later, when I was pulled out of the cave, I told my squire what I had seen. I decided to renounce the life of a knight, go to Toboso to marry my love, and take her home with me to live happily in La Mancha.

 

In my heart I truly feel that I have made the right decision.