They did not bray in vain, Our alcaldes twain

“They did not bray in vain, Our alcaldes twain” is a couplet displayed beneath the image of a braying ass on a white-satin standard. In the episode, the verse identifies an armed company by recalling the mockery that has brought the towns into conflict: the braying has not been forgotten, and the taunt has not ended with the original joke.

Image and Wording

The standard depicts an ass in lifelike detail, its head raised, mouth open, and tongue out as if caught in the act of braying. The couplet beneath it makes the animal more than a picture: it points to two town officials whose braying became the subject of ridicule. Carried among flags by a troop of more than two hundred armed men, the verse turns that ridicule into a public emblem.

Don Quixote and Sancho’s Reading

Don Quixote recognizes the standard as belonging to the town known for the braying story. He also corrects a detail in the account he had heard: the lines call the two officials alcaldes, not regidors. Sancho treats the distinction as secondary, suggesting that the men might have held both offices at different times and insisting that the story’s essential fact is that they brayed. His answer preserves the joke while exposing how easily a dispute over names can distract from the insult itself.

From Taunt to Conflict

The company has turned out to fight another town for jeering at it beyond what was fair or neighborly. Thus the couplet marks a reversal: a laugh at two officials has become a shared grievance carried into an armed confrontation. Don Quixote approaches the standard and joins the group, to Sancho’s unease; the men take him for one of their own. The verse is at once a comic caption and evidence that mockery can acquire consequences well beyond its original occasion.