Don Quixote and the Windmills
Classical Stories · No. 83 — The knight who decided windmills were giants.
- Classical Stories
- 40 min
- Ages 15–99
- 6 chapters
About this audiobook
Alonso Quixano, an elderly gentleman, reads so many books of chivalry that his wits turn, and he resolves to revive knighthood — becoming 'Don Quixote,' donning his great-grandfather's rusty armor, renaming his skinny old horse Rocinante, and choosing a farm-girl he's never met as his noble lady, Dulcinea. He persuades a good-natured neighbor, Sancho Panza, to be his squire with promises of an island to govern, and the mismatched pair ride out. Everywhere, Don Quixote sees the world of his books: a roadside inn is a castle, flocks of sheep are armies, and, most famously, a row of windmills on the plain are monstrous giants he must charge — lance lowered, in earnest, while practical Sancho shouts that they are only windmills. He is knocked flat, and gets up undeterred, because in his world he fought giants, and that is a braver thing to be.
Why it's worth a listen
An old gentleman reads so many tales of knights that he decides to become one himself — dressing in rusty armor, renaming his bony horse, and riding out with a puzzled farmer as his squire to right wrongs and fight monsters that everyone else can plainly see are windmills. From one of the first and greatest novels ever written, the funny, touching story of the man who chose to live in a braver, more magical world than the one that was actually there.
A question to keep
Is it foolish to see the world as more magical and heroic than it is — or is there something noble in it?
Chapters
- The Library of Dreams
- The Making of a Knight
- A Squire for the Journey
- Castles and Innkeepers
- The Giants of La Mancha
- A Question to Keep