Sancho at the Door and the Village's Verdict — Don Quixote

Sancho tries to enter and the niece and housekeeper block the door, blaming him for leading their master astray while Sancho insists Quixote tricked him with a promised island. The curate and barber leave sure Quixote is still mad and that master and squire were cast in the same mould.

Alone, Quixote rebukes Sancho for saying he was dragged from home and argues that when the head suffers, the members suffer; Sancho replies his head was on the other side of the wall during the blanket toss. Quixote orders the naked truth about his local reputation and forbids flattery or softening.

Sancho reports that common folk call them madmen, hidalgos mock the borrowed Don and vine-stocks, and opinion splits on valour and courtesy. Then he brings worse news: Samson Carrasco says their adventures are already in print as The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, by Cide Hamete Berengena. Quixote calls the author a sage enchanter and sends Sancho to fetch the bachelor.