Chapter 58
The Niece, the Housekeeper, and the Third Sally
OF WHAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN DON QUIXOTE AND HIS NIECE AND HOUSEKEEPER; ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTERS IN THE WHOLE HISTORY While Sancho Panza and his wife, Teresa Cascajo, held the above irrelevant conversation, Don Quixote’s niece and housekeeper were not idle, for by a thousand signs they began to perceive that their uncle and master meant to give them the slip the third time, and once more betake himself to his, for them, ill-errant chivalry. They strove by all the means in their power to divert him from such an unlucky scheme; but it was all preaching in…
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Critical Thinking Exercise
Name the When Family Cannot Talk You Out of It Move
Re-read the chapter summary and write down where when family cannot talk you out of it first appears, who pays for it, and who benefits from keeping it going. Then write one sentence you could say to interrupt the pattern without shaming the person caught in it.
Consider:
- •Separate the person's worth from the pattern's cost
- •Notice who has power to stop or fuel the scene
- •Ask what truth would require someone to give up
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you saw when family cannot talk you out of it in your own life. What finally made the pattern impossible to ignore?
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