Don Quixote novel published in two parts by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes one of the most widely read classics of Western literature. Originally conceived as a parody of the chivalric romances that had long been in literary vogue it describes realistically what befalls an aging knight who his head bemused by reading such romances sets out on his old horse Rocinante with his pragmatic squire Sancho Panza to seek adventure. Widely and immediately translated the novel was a great and continuing success and is considered a prototype of the modern novel.