# Cide Hamete Benengeli — Don Quixote character guide > Cide Hamete Benengeli in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Hamete Benengeli, Cide Hamete **First appearance:** 0015-part-i-ix ## Snapshot The fictional Arab historian whose manuscript Cervantes claims to have found and translated, and whose truthfulness Don Quixote himself doubts. ## Who they are Cide Hamete Benengeli is the invented author behind the book, a Moor whose Arabic manuscript the narrator says he had translated into Castilian. The tension he creates is one of trust: Don Quixote, hearing that a Moor wrote his history, worries that no truth can be expected from Moors, and fears the account may have sullied Dulcinea's purity. He matters because he lets Cervantes keep a straight face while undermining every claim of historical accuracy, and because the joke of a dubious Arab source becomes one of the novel's most enduring games. ## In the story ### [Translator's Preface](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/translator-s-preface) The fictional Moorish historian whose manuscript Cervantes claims to have translated, referenced in the preface as part of the metafictional framing. ### [About This Translation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/i-about-this-translation) Referenced indirectly through the Morisco's injunction in Chapter IX not to omit or add anything. ### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-ix) Identified as the Arab historian who authored the original manuscript of Don Quixote's history. ### [Chapter XV: The Unfortunate Adventure with the Yanguesans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xv) Cited as the sage historian who relates the events of this chapter. ### [XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xl) Implied as the chronicler of the captive's tale. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-i) Narrator of the chapter, recording the third sally and the visit. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-ii) Identified as the Moorish author of the history of Don Quixote. ### [Of the laughable conversation that passed between Don Quixote, Sancho Panza, and the bachelor Samson Carrasco](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Identified as the Moorish sage who wrote the history of Don Quixote's deeds. ### [Wherein is related what befell Don Quixote on his way to see his lady Dulcinea del Toboso](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-viii) Narrator who opens the chapter with blessings. ### [Wherein are related a thousand trifling matters, as trivial as they are necessary to the right understanding of this great history](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiv) Expresses skepticism about the Cave of Montesinos adventure, calling it apocryphal and beyond reasonable bounds. ### [Chapter XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvi) Implied as the chronicler of the history, as the narrative refers to 'this famous history'. ### [Wherein it is shown who Master Pedro and his ape were, together with the mishap Don Quixote had in the braying adventure, which he did not conclude as he would have liked or as he had expected.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xxvii) The chronicler who swears as a Catholic Christian to affirm the truth of his account, explaining Master Pedro's true identity. ### [XXXIV Which relates how they learned the way in which they were to disenchant the peerless Dulcinea del Toboso, which is one of the rarest adventures in this book.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxiv) Noted for observing the loyalty between Sancho and Dapple. ### [XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xl) Praised as the original author for his scrupulous detail. ### [XLIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xliv) The narrator comments on the difficulty of writing a story confined to a few characters and defends his choice to avoid inserted novels in the Second Part. ### [XLVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xlvii) The historian who promises to relate the events with exactitude. ### [Of what befell Don Quixote with Doña Rodriguez, the duchess’s Duenna, together with other occurrences worthy of record and eternal remembrance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-xlviii) The narrator inserts a parenthesis commenting on the scene of Don Quixote and Doña Rodriguez walking hand in hand. ### [Of what happened Don Quixote on entering Barcelona, together with other matters that partake of the true rather than of the ingenious](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-ii-lxi) Referenced as the historian who described the true Don Quixote. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/endnotes) Implied as the chronicler whose narrative is subject to editorial scrutiny. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/characters/cide_hamete_benengeli - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/characters