the goatherd

Also known as: Eugenio / Pedro / a goatherd / brother goatherds / one of the goatherds / the goatherds · Family: La Mancha · Role: goatherd · First appears: Part 1, Ch. 11.1

In Part 1, Ch. 11, the goatherds cordially welcomed Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, inviting them to share their meal. The goatherd treated Don Quixote’s wounded ear with rosemary, salt, and a bandage, and later travelled with Don Quixote, Vivaldo, and Sancho Panza to the burial of Chrysostom. He was a friend of Antonio, though he quarrelled with Teresa Panza after praising Leandra.

At Sierra Morena, he and four companions resolved to capture Cardenio and take him to Almodóvar for treatment. He and Sancho Panza fed Cardenio, and when Cardenio later attacked Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and the goatherd, the goatherd and Sancho Panza also fought until Don Quixote made peace between them. The goatherd continued to aid Don Quixote, telling him to rest beneath cover after treating his wound and promising “my support and assistance” as one bound to aid the weak and needy.

Later, he caught a runaway goat and accepted food and drink from the canon of Toledo, calming himself before telling the company his story. He had been one of Leandra’s suitors, rivalled by Anselmo, while Vicente de la Roca was another figure in the matter; after Leandra’s father postponed choosing between the two, the goatherd and Anselmo left the village and lived as herdsmen in the valley. In Part 1, Ch. 52, Don Quixote struck him with a loaf, and the goatherd attacked him until Sancho Panza threw him onto the table; the fight ended in a truce when Don Quixote heard a trumpet, while the canon of Toledo and the curate had prevented the violence from going further.