Don Alfonso

“ Young Bernaldo de Carpio, when he arrived at manhood, was, like many another hero of romance, unaware that he was of illustrious parentage, for his mother was a sister of Don Alfonso of Castile, and had wed in secret the brave and noble Count de Sandias de Saldaña. King Alfonso, bitterly offended that his sister should mate with one who was her inferior in rank, cast the Count into prison, where he caused him to be deprived of sight, and immured the princess in a cloister. ”

“ Aragonese with hempen sandals, the heavy-mantled Castilian who dreads the cold, and the men of Leon who till the fields.
At the roll of the drum the troops march forward, the colours are lowered, and a solemn Mass is celebrated by the Archbishop of Toledo before the sham king, while martial bands thrill the souls of men.
Then to the blare of trumpets the young Infante{285} Don Alfonso (only eleven years of age) is borne in—a tall, slender boy of the delicate type of his family, brother of Doña Isabel, who declines to appear. ”

“ Dogs and Traitors,... ye took them from Valencia when ye did not love them, and with your bridles ye smote and with your spurs ye spurned and wounded them, and ye left them alone in the Oak-forest, to the wild beasts, and to the birds of the mountain! King Don Alfonso, they neither remembered God, nor you, nor me, nor their own good fortune! And here was fulfilled the saying of the wise man, that harder it is for those who have no understanding to bear with good than with evil. ”

“ XII. After this was King Don Alfonso crowned King of Castille, and Leon, and Galicia, and Portugal; and he called himself King and Emperor of all Spain, even as his father had done before him. And in the beginning of his reign he did in all things according to the counsel of the Infanta Doña Urraca his sister; and he was a good King, and kept his kingdom so well, that rich and poor alike dwelt in peace and security, neither did one man take arms against another, nor dare to do it, if he valued the eyes in his head. And if the King was noble and high of lineage, much more was he of heart ”

“ When Ferran Alfonso, who was there to guard the ivory seat heard this, he answered and said, Count, you talk full foolishly, and speak ill of one against whom it behoves you not to talk. He who is to sit upon this seat is better than you, or than all your lineage; and he hath ever appeared a man to all his enemies, not like a woman as you say. If you deny this I will lay hands upon you, and make you acknowledge it before my Lord the King Don Alfonso, who is here present. ”

“ Then King Don Alfonso answered, "This is betimes in the morning for a banished man to ask favour of his lord; nor is it befitting a king, for no lord ought to be wroth for so short a time. Nevertheless, because the horses were won from the Moors, I will take them, and rejoice that my Cid hath sped so well. And I pardon you, Minaya, and give again unto you all the lands which you have ever held of me, and you have my favour to go when you will, and come when you will. ”

“ And she knelt down before the king her brother, and besought him that he would let their brother Don Alfonso take the habit of St. Benedict, in the royal Monastery of Sahagun. And the king took my Cid aside, and asked counsel of him what he should do; and the Cid said, that if Don Alfonso were willing to become a monk, he would do well to set him free upon that condition, and he besought him so to do. Then King Don Sancho, at my Cid's request, granted to Donya Urraca what she had asked. And Don Alfonso became a monk in the Monastery at Sahagun, more by force than of free will. ”

“ Alfonso first examined well their fashion,
And then flew out into another passion.
CLXXXII
He left the room for his relinquish'd sword,
And Julia instant to the closet flew.
"Fly, Juan, fly! for heaven's sake—not a word—
The door is open—you may yet slip through
The passage you so often have explored—
Here is the garden-key—Fly—fly—Adieu!
Haste—haste! I hear Alfonso's hurrying feet—
Day has not broke—there's no one in the street:" ”

“ Now Don Alfonso was a goodly personage and of fair demeanour, so that the Moors liked him well. And as he was going by the side of the King, two honourable Moors followed them, and the one said unto the other, How fair a knight is this Christian, and of what good customs! well doth he deserve to be the lord of some great land. And the other made answer, I dreamed a dream last night, that this Alfonso entered the city riding upon a huge boar, and many swine after him, who rooted up all Toledo with their snouts, and even the Mosques therein: Certes, he will one day become King of Toledo. ”

“ The chief counsellor of King Don Alfonso was Don Pero Ansures, a notable and valiant knight, of the old and famous stock of the Ansures, Lords of Monzon, which is nigh unto Palencia; the same who in process of time was Count of Carrion and of Saldaña and Liebana, and Lord of Valladolid, a city which was by him greatly increased. ”

“ Wherefore, whosoever would begin any good work should first name the name of God, and place him before all things, asking and beseeching of his mercy to give him knowledge and will and power, whereby he may bring it to a good end. Therefore will this pious chronicle henceforward relate whatsoever happened to the noble King, Don Alfonso, of Castile and Leon, and the battles and conquests and victories that he had and did in his life against Moors and against Christians. And it will begin in the fifteenth year of the reign of the most noble King, Don Fernando, his father. ”

“ The fugitive Queen Isabella had with her in exile a young son Alfonso, seventeen years of age. Alfonso was invited to return upon the sole condition that his mother should be excluded from his kingdom. An insurrection which was being fomented by Don Carlos II. led to this action of the Cortes, which was perhaps the wisest possible under the circumstances. The young Prince of the legitimate Bourbon line was proclaimed King Alfonso XII. in 1874.
A romantic marriage with his cousin Mercedes, daughter of the Duke de Montpensier, to whom he was deeply attached, speedily took place. ”

“ At this time his brother was released from prison by desire of the King of Zaragoza, and he went unto him; and many of the rich men of the city also betook themselves to Monviedro, because they were not secure neither in their possessions nor in their bodies.
XII. In these days the Almoravides arose in Barbary. The rise of this people and all that they did in Spain are not for me to relate in this place. Suffice it to say, that King Don Alfonso being in great danger, sent for Alvar Fañez and all his company; and that he had so much to do for himself that he took no thought for Valencia. ”

“ Those impostors would raise the taxes until it would be impossible to pay them, would sell the Antilles and persecute religion.
Tidings were wafted to us mysteriously that the brother of the legitimate King, H.R.H. Don Alfonso, of Bourbon and Lorraine, had held a review of the forces of Saballs at Vidra, in Catalonia. His Royal Highness was accompanied by his wife, the Doña Maria. His Royal Highness wore flesh-coloured riding breeches with black stripes, jack-boots, a zamarra or sheep-skin upper garment, and a flat white cap of the make of those used by Scotch shepherds. ”

“ It was about this time that a reconciliation took place between King Alfonso’s mother, Queen Isabella, and Don Carlos, of a personal but not official character. The proverb, “Blood is thicker than water,” sometimes comes true. ”

“ And you must come to him; for he is going away from Padua, and wants to speak to you once more before he sets off. And don't crawl about so among the parsons, if you mean to be a philosopher."
Hopping and jumping to and fro from side to side he ran down the street again; and Antonio said to Alfonso, who now came up to him, and who for some time past had been forming a friendship with him: "I never know, when talking to that little abortion, whether it means its words in earnest or only in jest. He seems always to be scoffing at himself and at everything else in the world." ”

“ All the world knows that I am the legitimate son of good King Alfonso. It is thou that art the bastard."
At this insult Henry drew his dagger and struck the speaker a light blow in the face. They were in too close a circle to draw their swords, and in mortal fury they seized each other by the waist and struggled [pg 171] furiously, the men around drawing back and no one attempting to interfere.
After a brief period the wrestling brothers fell on a camp bed in a corner of the tent, Don Pedro, who was the stronger, being uppermost. ”

“ His “Domingo de Don Blas,” one of the few among his works not found in the collection printed by himself, is a sketch of the character of a gentleman sunk into luxury and effeminacy by the possession of a large fortune suddenly won from the Moors in the time of Alfonso the Third of Leon; but who, at the call of duty, rouses himself again to his earlier energy, and shows the old Castilian character in all its loyalty and generosity. ”

“ Alfonso leaning, breathless, by the door;
Some half-torn drapery scatter'd on the ground,
Some blood, and several footsteps, but no more:
Juan the gate gain'd, turn'd the key about,
And liking not the inside, lock'd the out.
CLXXXVIII
Here ends this canto.—Need I sing, or say,
How Juan naked, favour'd by the night,
Who favours what she should not, found his way,
And reach'd his home in an unseemly plight? ”

“ As for the King Alfonso, at heart it irked him sore:
"Rise up! Rise up upon thy feet, O thou Cid Campeador,
And kiss my hand, nor prithee in this guise my feet embrace,
And if thou wilt not do it, thou shalt not have my grace."
But natheless the good Campeador yet knelt on bended knee:
"As of my rightful master, I ask a boon of thee,
And namely that thy favor on me thou wilt bestow,
So that all men about us the thing may hear and know." ”

“ Success, though pleasant, is not always good. Alfonso, under its influence, at one time grew heedless of the dictates of his religion. On one occasion, being about to conclude a treaty of peace with Andalla, the Moorish king of Toledo, that prince asked the hand of his sister, Doña Terea, as one of the conditions of the treaty. The king’s counsellors were struck with horror, at the thought of handing over a Christian maiden to an Infidel husband, the people expressed their indignation aloud, and Doña Terea herself implored piteously to be spared. ”

“ So much as when we call our old debts in
At sixty years, and draw the accompts of evil,
And find a deuced balance with the devil.
CLXVIII
Of his position I can give no notion:
'T is written in the Hebrew Chronicle,
How the physicians, leaving pill and potion,
Prescribed, by way of blister, a young belle,
When old King David's blood grew dull in motion,
And that the medicine answer'd very well;
Perhaps 't was in a different way applied,
For David lived, but Juan nearly died.
CLXIX
What's to be done? Alfonso will be back
The moment he has sent his fools away. ”

“ As I have said, success had spoiled Alfonso’s nature; he was so accustomed to succeed in every thing, that he could not bear to be crossed even by righteous counsel. It seemed something fine to do what every one else was afraid of; he would not show himself so weak, not he. He would give his sister to the Moorish king in spite of them all, and show them he was superior to their prejudices. Besides, he further justified it to himself, because Andalla undertook on this condition to help him in his campaign against the other Moorish kings ”

“ As for their infant son, he was sent into the mountains of the Asturias, to be brought up among peasants and mountaineers.
It was known that he had been sent there by Alfonso, and the people believed him to be the king's son and treated him as a prince. In the healthy out-door life of the hills he grew strong and handsome, while his native courage was shown in hunting adventures and the perils of mountain life. When old enough he learned the use of arms, and soon left his humble friends for the army, in which his boldness and bravery were shown in many encounters with the French and the Arabs. ”

“ O Alfonso! Alfonso! how I loved you!”
“The basket was fastened down when you saw it first, and that shows that someone has taken him. If he had fallen out it would have been open,” said Dan.
“I took fine care not to let anyone see him,” observed his brother; “he was too good a bird to run risks with.”
At this Maggie started up.
“It is the man with the silver rings!” she exclaimed—“the rich gipsy in the wood! Oh, it is all my fault! If it had not been for me he would never have seen Alfonso.” ”

“ For of Alfonso of León they stood in mighty dread.
Watch o'er their arms they kept that night. And prayers to God
they said.
At last has night passed over, and breaketh now the dawn,
And many worthy nobles there to the place have drawn,
For to behold that combat, wherefore their mirth was high.
Moreover King Alfonso above all men is by,
Since he desireth justice and that no wrong should be done.
The men of the good Campeador, they get their armour on.
All three are in agreement for one lord's men are they.
The Heirs of Carrión elsewhere have armed them for the fray. ”

“ They feared it was an army for no herald came before.
Straightway the King Alfonso crossed himself o'er and o'er.
Minaya and Per Vermudóz came forward with all speed,
They leaped from the saddle, they dismounted from the steed.
Before the King Alfonso upon their knees they fell.
They kissed the ground beneath him, the kissed his feet as well:
"Now a boon, King Alfonso. Thou art great and glorious.
For my lord Cid the Campeador do we embrace thee thus.
He holds himself thy vassal; he owns thee for his lord.
He prizes high the honor thou didst to him accord. ”