Timeline and Summary

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• One day, Don Quixote shows up at Sancho's door and asks him to ride around the countryside with him and have adventures as his personal servant. Sancho is skeptical, but Don Quixote makes him so many outlandish promises that he eventually agrees.
• It doesn't take Sancho long to get beaten up for trying to help Don Quixote. What do you expect when your boss keeps challenging random people to fights?
• Sancho thinks about quitting several times early on, but Don Quixote keeps plying him with promises that he'll become the governor of an island someday if he sticks it out.
• When Sancho and Don Quixote retreat into the Sierra Morenas (the Black Mountains), Sancho finds a wallet filled with gold and decides to pocket the money.
• At the end of Part 1 of the book, Sancho realizes that Don Quixote is being tricked into returning home. Part of Sancho is happy that the trials are over. But part of him wants Don Quixote to keep going until he (Sancho) gets his island.
• In Part 2 of the book, Sancho forces his way into Don Quixote's house and demands that Don Quixote make good on his promises. Before you know it, Sancho and the Don are back on the road.
• After taking a few more hard beatings, Sancho and the Don run into the Duke and Duchess, who invite the men to stay at their castle. Sancho is totally on cloud nine, filling his belly with delicious food every night and sleeping in a comfortable bed.
• Better yet, the Duke informs Sancho the he (Sancho) is going to be the new governor of one of the Duke's islands, Barataria. This "island," of course, is just a town in the middle of Spain, but Sancho doesn't need to know that.
• Before taking up his post as governor, Sancho is confronted by the ghost of the wizard Merlin (a prank by the Duke), who tells Sancho that the only way to lift a curse on Don Quixote's beloved Dulcinea is for Sancho to take 3,300 lashes on his bum. Sancho absolutely refuses, no matter how hard Don Quixote begs him to take the lashes. He eventually agrees when the Duke tells him that it's no lashes, no governorship. Sancho insists that the lashes be given over time and whenever he feels ready.
• When he becomes a governor, Sancho impresses people with his skills as a judge. He's not the most educated dude, but he's very good at dealing with practical issues like property disputes.
• Eventually, though, the Duke's servants make being a governor such a huge hassle that Sancho decides he'd rather just be a normal, everyday guy. He quits his job as governor and returns to Don Quixote.
• Sancho sets off for Barcelona with Don Quixote. Throughout the remainder of the book, Don Quixote keeps pestering Sancho to take his lashes on the bum and to restore Dulcinea to her beautiful form. Sancho keeps delaying the lashes, though, angering Don Quixote.
• On their way home, Sancho and Don Quixote are stopped by the Duke and Duchess again, who set up a fake funeral for one of their servants who apparently died of a broken heart. Once again, they say that the only way to bring her back to life is for Sancho to feel pain. Again, Sancho says he has nothing to do with any of these people or their curses.
• Eventually, Sancho agrees to let his beard be tugged. The Duke and Duchess's servant magically recovers, and Sancho and Don Quixote set off on their way again.
• Finally, Don Quixote agrees to pay Sancho a good sum of money for every single lash he gives himself on the bum. Sancho walks out of sight and whips a tree to convince Don Quixote that he's done his duty. And he makes a ton of money while doing it.
• When they get back home, Don Quixote falls mortally ill. Sancho visits his bedside and cries over the Don's impending death. Don Quixote draws up his last will and testament and gives Sancho a bunch of money for his loyalty.