That night the inn was quiet, and the only ones not asleep were the innkeeper’s daughter and the maid Maritornes.
The two already knew what illness Don Quixote suffered from. They also know he was outside in his armor, mounted, guarding the castle. So they decided to play a trick on him, or at least to pass the time listening to his strange talk.
The inn had no window facing the fields. There was only the hole of a hayloft, through which straw was thrown in from outside. The two pressed themselves to that hole.