Don Antonio Moreno is Don Quixote's host, and he sets out to amuse himself with Quixote's madness in a harmless fashion. He displays him before a crowd. Sancho is delighted because their host is able to provide delicious food. Don Quixote becomes puffed up with importance over the exalted treatment he receives.
Sancho, however, claims he is not greedy. He makes the most of his opportunities, and he eats what he is given. Don Quixote vouches that though Sancho make look like a pig when he eats, he can have good table manners when he wishes.
Don Quixote and Sancho both tell how Sancho was a governor for ten days, which amuses the listeners.
Don Moreno then takes Don Quixote into another room to speak in private. He shows him a bronze head, and asks him to swear to secrecy. Quixote does. Don Moreno explains that the head was made in the image of a great wizard, who had constructed it for Don Moreno. He swears that the head will answer any question truthfully. Don Quixote doesn't really believe him, but thanks him for showing him the head.
That afternoon, orders are given to entertain Sancho so he won't leave the house. Don Quixote goes out on a stroll. There is a banner announcing him to the populace placed on his back without his knowledge. He is pleased that people seem to recognize him without having ever seen him.
On man, though, shouts at him that he is a madman--and he should go home.
Don Moreno tells the man not to give unwanted advice. The man concedes that it is pointless to give unwanted advice. The attention, though, of the crowd becomes so great that Don Moreno has to remove the placard from Don Quixote's back.
Don Moreno's wife throws a ball. Two women dance with Don Quixote until he is exhausted. They try to seduce him, but he claims his heart belongs to only one woman. He is so tired, he has to be carried to bed.
The next day, Don Quixote decides he would like to test the bronze head. Don Moreno goes up to the head to ask it what he is thinking, but it claims it cannot know a person's thoughts. Everyone in the room is astonished, for they cannot see that the voice is coming from under the table.
Don Moreno then asks how many people are in the room, and the head answers correctly. One of the women who danced with Quixote asks how she can be vey beautiful, and the head answes that she should be modest. Another lady, who also danced with Quixote, asks if her husband loves her. The head replies she should know by his treatment of her. Another man asks if the head knows him, and the head identifies him. Another man asks about the wishes of his eldest son. The head answers it doesn't know people's wishes, but he does know that the son wishes his father's death. Don Moreno's wife asks if she will have many years left with her husband, and the head confirms this.
Don Quixote asks two questions. He asks if the event at the Cave of Montesinos was real, and he asks if Dulcinea will ever be disenchaned. The head replies that there is truth and falsehood in the event at the cave, and Dulcinea's disenchantment will come about--though Sancho's penance will be done at a leisurely pace. Sancho asks if he will ever be a governor again, will he see his wife and children, and will he cease to be a squire. The head replies he will govern his household, he will see his family again, and when he does his days of being a squire will end.
Don Moreno had the head especially made to astonish the more ignorant classes. His nephew is in another room providing the answers, and through the genius of the construction, the answers seem to come from the head.
Don Quixote takes a walk and enters a bookstore. He sees a history printed about himself, but it is the one that he feels is full of lies.