Pero Perez

Pero Perez is the curate and a close friend of Don Quixote who takes a leading role in the response to his friend’s apparent loss of reason. He proposes that the books of chivalry be judged and possibly burned, then joins Master Nicholas in examining the library; his willingness to assess the books one by one makes the inquiry more discriminating than a blanket purge.

Identity and Friendship

When Don Quixote is brought home at night, the household is already in confusion over his absence. The housekeeper explains that he has been missing for three days and blames his constant reading of chivalric books for his delusion that he should become a knight-errant. The curate is identified as Señor Licentiate Pero Perez and as one of Don Quixote’s great friends, so the proposed intervention comes from someone both personally close to him and concerned about the effects of his reading.

Judgment on the Books

After hearing the account of Don Quixote’s return and his confused talk on the journey, Pero Perez becomes more determined to act. He says that the books should face public judgment the following day and be condemned to the flames if they might lead readers to behave as Don Quixote has. His response treats the library not merely as a private collection but as the apparent source of a danger that, in his view, warrants deliberate examination.

The Library Examination

The next day, while Don Quixote is still asleep, Pero Perez asks his niece for the key to the room containing the books. More than a hundred large, well-bound volumes and several smaller ones are found there. The housekeeper returns with holy water and a sprinkler, fearing that the books’ magicians might take revenge; Pero Perez laughs at her simplicity and directs Master Nicholas to hand him the books one by one.

That procedure qualifies his earlier call for judgment by fire: Pero Perez allows that some volumes may not deserve that penalty. His role in the episode is therefore both protective and evaluative. He shares the belief that the books have harmed his friend, but the close inspection he initiates leaves room for distinctions among them rather than treating every book as equally culpable.