Don Quixote’s release of the galley slaves stands among the adventures most praised by readers within the story, and its consequences follow Sancho Panza and Don Quixote as they flee the Holy Brotherhood. Sancho’s later recollection gives the episode a sharply comic aftermath: while he slept, Gines de Pasamonte stole Dapple from beneath him, leaving Sancho stranded on the pack-saddle before he tumbled to the ground at daybreak.

Place in the Journey

Sancho places the events on the night he and Don Quixote entered Sierra Morena, fleeing the Holy Brotherhood after the release of the galley slaves and the encounter with the funeral party bound for Segovia. They took shelter in a thicket. Don Quixote leaned on his lance, while Sancho sat on Dapple, and both fell asleep, exhausted by the recent adventures.

The Theft of Dapple

Sancho explains that the thief propped him up by putting four stakes beneath the corners of the pack-saddle. With Sancho still sitting on it, the thief was able to take Dapple without waking him. When Sancho stirred in the morning, the stakes gave way and he fell; Dapple was gone. Sancho says that he lamented the loss, and ruefully notes that the history may have omitted what he considered a memorable part of the affair.

Dapple’s Return and the Thief’s Identity

Some days later, while traveling with Princess Micomicona, Sancho saw Dapple again. Gines de Pasamonte was riding the donkey in the dress of a gypsy. Sancho identifies him as the same man whom he and Don Quixote had freed from the chain. The recovery of Dapple thus connects the loss on the road to the earlier release: one of the men freed in that adventure becomes the thief in its aftermath.

Reputation of the Adventure

When Bachelor Samson Carrasco discusses which of Don Quixote’s deeds readers praise most, he names the release of the galley slaves among the leading contenders, alongside the windmills, the fulling mills, the imagined armies, the funeral procession, and the encounter with the Benedictine monks and the Biscayan. The episode is therefore remembered not only as a turning point in the travelers’ flight, but as one of the adventures that most strongly defines Don Quixote’s reputation in the history told about him.