Don Quixote challenges lions before taking the title Knight of the Lions.
The episode occurs in Part II, Chapter 17. Don Quixote and Sancho encounter a wagon carrying two caged lions, sent as a gift to the king. Don Quixote immediately interprets the animals as a challenge worthy of a knight-errant and orders the keeper to open the cage so he can face the fiercest lion.
The keeper warns him that the lions have just been fed and may be dangerous, but Don Quixote refuses to retreat. The cage is opened, and the male lion merely stretches, turns away and lies down. Don Quixote treats this refusal to fight as a victory, declaring that the beast has acknowledged his superiority. He then adopts the title Knight of the Lions.
The scene is comic because Don Quixote’s courage is genuine, but his interpretation is fanciful. He does not actually defeat or injure a lion. The title also echoes earlier knightly literature, especially figures associated with lions, while marking a new stage in his self-created heroic identity.