midnight
Her friend retorted with venom in her voice that she wished he would disappear from the castle , for if he remained there much longer Altisidora would be wasting away into nothingness -- even if she were the healthiest and most buxom maiden there at the moment -- and die from a broken heart . This seemed to touch Don Quixote , for he replied that if she would see to it that a lute was put in his room that night , he would sing to her and try to comfort her in the night while she stood outside his window . The damsels went at once to tell the Duchess what had happened , and she was pleased beyond words ; and together they hit upon a new joke which would bring them fresh merriment . Just before midnight Don Quixote came to his chamber and found there a guitar ; and , having tuned it as best he could , he began to let out his rusty voice into the notes of a ballad that he himself had composed that day . While he stood there on his balcony singing , there suddenly broke out a tremendous din ; and from above was let down a cord to which hundreds of bells were attached , making the most deafening sound . At the same time a bag of cats , each with a bell tied to its tail , came shooting down upon the unfortunate knight , who was frightened beyond words by the meowing and squalling and screaming of the cats and by the jingling of the bells . Don Quixote stood paralyzed , with the guitar clutched in his hand , when suddenly it struck him that his room must have been invaded by jumping devils -- for the cats had knocked the candles down on the floor , extinguishing them as they did so , and the room was now in pitch darkness .