is master saying that he only wished that he
had at hand the marvelous balsam of Fierabras, of which his master had
spoken. Sancho lamented the lack of it no more than Don Quixote, who
swore that within two days he would have the potion in his possession.
As to his wounds, he took all the blame upon himself: he felt that it
was God's punishment for having engaged in battle with ordinary rabble
like these carriers, and decided that henceforth he would have Sancho
alone chastise those who had not been dubbed knights.

To this Sancho took exception, for he maintained that he had wife and
children to support, and was by nature a peaceful, meek and timid man.
He called upon God to forgive in advance all the insults man or beast
might offer him in the future and for all times; but at this Don
Quixote took him to task and admonished him not to lose his valor in
attacking and defending himself in all sorts of emergencies.

Sancho's soft heart now turned to Rocinante, who had been the cause of
all the trouble. The poor horse was in a sorry plight. So it was
considered best that Don Quixote--who could not sit upright--should be
slung across his servant's donkey. This decision was reached when Don
Quixote remembered that Silenus, the teacher of the God of Laughter,
had entered the city of the hundred gates mounted on a handsome ass.

When his master had been secured and Rocinante raised from the ground,
Sancho took the two beasts by the halter and led them out to the road,
and from there they proceeded on their way. Soon Sancho saw the
outlines of an inn, which Don Quixote insisted must be a castle, and
before they had finished their dispute, they found themselves at the
gate and entered.

CHAPTER XVI

OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INGENIOUS GENTLEMAN IN THE INN
WHICH HE TOOK TO BE A CASTLE

When the keeper of the inn saw the sorry body of the knight on the
ass, he became anxious to learn what had happened to him. His wife was
a kindly and good-natured woman, and when Sancho had explained that
his master had fallen from a rock, she and her pretty daughter offered
to care for him. The daughter, and a one-eyed Asturian servant-girl,
with turned-up nose and high cheek-bones, made a bed for Don Quixote
on four rough boards in a garret, where a carrier was also quartered.
Stretched on this bed Don Quixote was attended by the innkeeper's
wife, who soon covered him with more plasters than he had quilts. In
the meantime she, her