Don Quixote and Sancho stayed three days in Basilio’s village. The newlyweds loaded him with gifts for taking their side. People likened him to El Cid with a sword and to Cicero with words.
In the meantime one thing came to light. The trick of the false wound had not been planned with Quiteria at all, but was Basilio’s own idea. He had let only a few friends in on it and asked them to back him up when the moment came. It was not what people had guessed on the wedding day, then.
Don Quixote spoke. “When a deed aims at a virtuous end, it cannot be called a deception, nor should it be.”