Arms Versus Letters and the Captive's Promise — Don Quixote

Don Quixote continues his supper speech on arms and letters by turning to the soldier's poverty: miserable pay, nakedness, winter in the open field, and the "doctor's cap made of lint" when battle finally comes. He argues that the dead in war cannot be numbered while rewarded survivors fit in three figures, whereas men of letters find support by their very trade.

The debate widens: letters claim war needs laws; arms answer that without soldiers there are no states, roads, or seas safe from chaos. Quixote praises the courage of galley fighting and curses the inventor of artillery, then admits he almost repents being a knight-errant in an age when powder may rob him of glory. He forgets to eat while talking; Sancho begs him to sup, and the company pities a man who sounds rational on every subject until chivalry is mentioned. Even the curate, a graduate of letters, agrees that arms have the better case.

Supper ends and the women retire to Quixote's garret. Don Fernando asks the captive to tell his life, and the captive warns his tale may disappoint before promising a true story that perhaps no fiction built with studied art can match. The room falls silent, waiting for him to begin.