the barber

Also known as: Master Basin / Master Nicholas / Master Nicholas the barber / Master shaver / Nicholas / THE BARBER / barber / gossip / master barber / our own barber · Family: Don Quixote's village · Role: barber · First appears: Part 1, Ch. 4.1

In Part 1, Ch. 5, Master Nicholas was a close friend of Don Quixote and the curate. During the examination of Don Quixote’s library in Ch. 6, he handed the books to the curate, ordered the housekeeper to throw the large volumes into the yard, kept Don Belianis and its sequels in his own house, and took Tirante el Blanco home after the curate told him, “Take it home with you and read it, and you will see that what I have said is true.” Soon afterwards, he joined the curate in walling up the library and hiding its disappearance from Don Quixote.

In Ch. 21, Don Quixote charged at him, and the barber abandoned his ass and basin, which Don Quixote claimed as Mambrino’s helmet. Later, the barber and the curate devised disguises to bring Don Quixote back from the mountains, first planning for the barber to impersonate a distressed damsel and then having Dorothea take that role. He helped guide Sancho Panza, listened to Cardenio’s account, offered help to Cardenio and Dorothea, caught Dorothea when she fainted, and followed the disguised party in the rescue scheme. At the inn he brought food to Sancho Panza, disputed the ownership of the pack-saddle and basin, and accepted payment for the basin from the curate, giving a permanent receipt. With the curate, he helped seize, bind, cage, and escort Don Quixote home; he later woke him with cold water and, during another struggle, beat him until his face bled.

In Part 2, Ch. 1, the barber and the curate instructed the niece and the housekeeper to care for Don Quixote, then judged him recovered when he spoke sensibly before despairing of him when his crazy ideas returned. Don Quixote kept his next departure secret from Master Nicholas, while the barber, the curate, and Samson Carrasco later agreed on a plan concerning his further adventures and confinement at home. In Ch. 50, the barber and the curate heard Teresa Panza’s news about Sancho Panza’s government and the duchess’s gifts, and examined the letters with astonishment.