Nicholas tells the other barber that he is a barber also, and he has been a soldier. The basin is not a basin, but an incomplete helmet. The others agree. The barber backs down, thinking they are all mad.
One of the troopers, though, comes to his defense. Quixote hits the trooper with his lance. The other three troopers come to help their firend. Quixote’s friends come to his aid. The barber tries to take his packsaddle back and fights with Sancho. Don Quixote orders them to stop, saying that the enchanted place is full of demons driving them to act this way. The troopers refuse to back down, but the barber does—for his packsaddle has been destroyed in the fight.
The landlord wants Quixote punished, for he is a troublemaker. The troopers sheath their swords because they fear they will be beaten. One remembers he has an arrest warrant for Quixote for freeing the galley slaves. He seizes Quixote. Quixote seizes the trooper by the throat, but the other troopers come to his rescue. Don Fernando stops the fight. Quixote tells them he can’t be arrested because there is no jurisdiction over knights. He is the law, and he makes his own statutes.