The Pounding Hammers — Don Quixote

Fear turns a fulling mill into an epic before dawn proves otherwise. Thirsty after eating the dead man's meat without wine, Sancho reads the grass as proof of water, then hears falls, iron, and measured strokes in the dark chestnut grove. Quixote declares the golden age reborn and rides toward peril.

Sancho secretly ties Rocinante's legs, calls it heaven's sign, and tells the endless Lope Ruiz and Torralva goat story one crossing at a time until Quixote begs him to stop repeating every line. At daybreak Quixote charges the noise anyway; Sancho weeps and follows.

The terror is six fulling hammers. Sancho laughs until Quixote strikes him with the pike; Quixote says turn them into giants and he will still fight. Sancho promises reverence; Quixote lectures him on the distance between knight and squire.