Summary Chapter 101

The farmer tries to press his point. Sancho, speaking uncharacteristically elegantly, complains how he didn't realize the difficulties a governor faced. The people come at inopportune times when he is resting or eating, wanting to be heard and their problems resolved. When he refuses, the people abuse him. Sancho tells the farmer to come at the proper time to ask for help. Then he has to contend with bad doctors trying to starve him to death.

The doctor orders a meal that Sancho devours with relish. Sancho tells him that he can feed him the foods he is accustomed to.

Sancho vows to govern without giving up a right or taking bribes. The carver assures him the people will be loyal. Sancho plans to get rid of those who are idle and consume the produce of the more industrious workers.

The majordomo praises Sancho's sage philosophies, marveling that they come from a man who has had no education. He wasn't what they expected him to be. He remarks about how jokes become realities, and sometimes they turn the tables on the jokers.

Sancho patrols the grounds and comes across two men fighting. The one man says that the other won 1000 reals by cheating at a gaming house. He expected the gambler to give him a share for backing his claim, but the man pocketed the money and left. The gambler protests that he tipped the man already.

Sancho orders the gambler to give 100 reals to the other man and 30 to the prisoners. The other man with the 100 reals is to be exiled for ten years from the town. Sancho plans to get rid of the gaming houses. The steward tells him he many not be albe to get rid of that one gaming house, for it is owned by a wealthy man. It is better for the people to play there, for they get ruined at other places.

Some of his men have captured a weaver, who ran away from them when he saw them. They assumed he was up to no good. The weaver says he was merely avoiding them so he wouldn't have to answer the questions authorities ask. Sancho asks what he was doing. He said he was just getting some fresh air. Sancho orders him to be taken to jail. He'll make him sleep there without air.

The weaver tells Sancho he can't make him sleep, despite his powers to arrest him and put him in jail. Sancho adds 2000 ducats to his fine, but the man continues to argue he can't make him sleep in jail. He can choose to stay up all night in jail, and there is nothing Sancho can do about it. Sancho lets him go home, warning him that it isn't a good idea to joke with authorities.

The constables bring a girl disguise as a man. The maiden refuses to discuss her case in front of everyone. She says she is just a jealous woman, but not a criminal. Sancho dismisses the others so the lady can speak. The girl says her father has kept her confined to the house since her mother’s death. She was curious to see the outside and asked her brother to take her out. She dressed in his clothes and he dressed in hers. On their way home, they saw the governor’s round. Her brother fled. She tripped and was captured.

The constables come with the brother. Sancho orders them to be escorted home and warns the girl to be careful in the future. Her confinement is to protect her virtue. Sancho decides to marry the boy to his daughter, while his carver plans to ask for the girl's hand in marriage.