What does Don Quixote mistake for an army in Part I?

In Part I of Don Quixote, Don Quixote mistakes flocks of sheep for enemy armies.

The episode occurs during the adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on the road. Seeing clouds of dust rising from a distance, Don Quixote imagines that two great armies are approaching one another. He identifies supposed kings, knights, and battle formations within the moving flocks.

Sancho recognizes the animals and warns him that they are sheep and ewes, but Don Quixote charges anyway. He attacks the flock as though he were joining a heroic battle. Shepherds respond by throwing stones, injuring him and knocking out some of his teeth. The scene turns a familiar pastoral sight into a comic parody of epic warfare.

Don Quixote refuses to admit that he was mistaken. Instead, he claims that an enemy enchanter transformed the armies into sheep to steal his victory. The incident echoes the better-known windmill episode: in both cases, his imagination overwhelms ordinary perception, while Sancho represents practical common sense.