El Cid

“ On the steed Baviéca sprang the lord Cid with a leap.
Fair trappings and caparisons girded that steed about.
With the standard from Valencia forthwith they sallied out.
Were with the Cid four thousand less but a score and ten,
They came gladly to a battle against fifty thousand men.
Alvar Alvarez and Minaya on the other side did smite.
It seemed good to the Creator, and they threw them into flight.
With the lance the Cid did battle, hand he set to sword as well.
So many Moors he slaughtered that their numbers none might tell. ”

“ O Minaya Alvar Fañez! For thee what glorious day!
Thou bringest here these ladies, whence we shall have great good,
The fighting Cid his consort, and the daughters of his blood.
We all shall do thee honor for his fortune groweth great.
Though we wished him ill, we cannot diminish his estate;
He will have alway our succor either in peace or war.
The man who will not know the truth, he is a dolt therefor. ”

“ The Cid was warned upon his guard to be,
For the King said, if thereafter he should find him in the land,
Then neither gold nor silver should redeem him from his hand.
And now the day was over and night began to fall
His cavaliers unto him he summoned one and all:
"Hearken, my noble gentlemen. And grieve not in your care.
Few goods are mine, yet I desire that each should have his share.
As good men ought, be prudent. When the cocks crow at day,
See that the steeds are saddled, nor tarry nor delay.
In San Pedro to say matins the Abbot good will be ”

“ For outrage at Roy Diaz's hand no whit were they afraid.
LIV.
Then back to their encampment they hastened with their prey.
All men were very merry for a mighty spoil had they.
The Cid was glad exceeding; Alvar Fañez liked it well.
But the great Cid smiled, for there at ease he could not bear to
dwell.
"Ha! All my knights, unto you the truth will I confess:
Who still in one place tarries, his fortune will grow less.
Let us tomorrow morning prepare to ride apace,
Let us march and leave forever our encampment in this place."
Unto the pass of Alucát the lord Cid got him gone. ”

“ In all the domain of historical criticism, there is no question more fascinating than that which involves the existence and the achievements of the Cid. The fact is—and out of it has grown all the ambiguity connected with his name—that this extraordinary personage was made up of two distinct characters. The Cid of romance was the exemplar of courtesy, of magnanimity, of honor, the chivalrous avenger of the oppressed, the model of every Christian virtue. ”

“ A noble body lay....
These ballads are included in the Romancero del Cid, and they are particularly interesting as being the débris of a lost epic on the siege of Zamora which has apparently been utilised in the Crónica general; but perhaps a translator might excuse himself for not dealing with them on the ground that the Cid only appears incidentally. Indeed in
Por aquel postigo viejo que nunca fuera cerrado, the Cid does not appear at all. ”

“ My lord Cid stopped before them, reining in the charger great:
"Ladies, I bow before you. Groweth apace my fame.
While you have held Valencia in the field I overcame.
This was our God's desire and all his Saints likewise,
Since at your coming hither He gave us such a prize.
Look on the bloody sword-blade and the steed with sweat a-foam.
With such are the Moriscos in the battle overcome.
Pray now to God that I may yet live some few years from this;
You shall enter to great honor and men your hands shall kiss." ”

“ The Cid of romance, the Cid of a thousand battles, legends and dramas, the Cid as apotheosized in literature, the Cid invoked by good Spaniards in every national crisis, whose name is a perpetual and ever-present inspiration to Spanish patriotism, is a very different character from the historical Rodrigo Diaz—the freebooter, the rebel, the consorter with the infidels and the enemies of Spain. He is the Perfect One, the Born in a Happy Hour, “My Cid,” the invincible, the magnanimous, the all-powerful. ”

“ When they were within three miles of Valencia, under the thick shade of the orange woods of the Huerta, word of their coming was brought to the Cid, who ordered that Babieca should be saddled, and girt on his sword.
He was much changed. He had the same commanding aspect and far-seeing eyes, but his white beard was so long and flowing, it was a wonder to behold. No man ever put his hand on it in life but himself, or touched it with a razor, and when he fought it was screwed up like a curl under his chin. Every gesture was imperious, as of a king. ”

“ Is no nobleman so mighty our whole country o'er."
My lord Cid on the charger came then the King before,
And of his lord Alfonso there has he kissed the hand.
"To start fleet Baviéca thou gavest me command.
Today no Moor nor Christian has a horse so strong and swift.
Sire, unto thee I give him. Say thou wilt accept the gift."
Then said the King:
"No pleasure would I have therein indeed.
If I took him, then less glorious were the master of the steed.
But a horse like this befitteth too well a man like thee,
Swift to chase the Moors ye routed in the battle, when they flee. ”

“ He made them turn the standard. They spurred the steeds apace.
"Ho! cavaliers! Now swiftly let every man strike in,
By the Creator's favor this battle we shall win."
And there they gave them battle in the midmost of the mead.
Ah God! is the rejoicing on this morning great indeed.
The Cid and Alvar Fañez went spurring on ahead;
Know ye they had good horses that to their liking sped.
'Twixt the townsmen and the castle swiftly the way they broke.
And the Cid's henchmen merciless, came striking stroke on stroke,
In little space three hundred of the Moors they there have slain. ”

“ In the mountains of Miédes the Cid encamped that night,
With the towers of Atiénza where the Moors reign on the right.
XXI.
'Twas not yet come to sunset, and lingered still the day.
My lord the Cid gave orders his henchmen to array.
Apart from the footsoldiers, and valiant men of war,
There were three hundred lances that each a pennon bore.
XXII.
"Feed all the horses early, so may our God you speed.
Let him eat who will; who will not, let him get upon the steed.
We shall pass the mountain ranges rough and of dreadful height.
The land of King Alfonso we can leave behind tonight. ”

“ Every foot soldier shared a hundred marks of silver that day. And the Cid returned full honourably to Valencia. Great was the joy of the Christians in the Cid Ruydiez, he who was born in a good hour. His beard was grown, and continued to grow a great length. My Cid said of his chin, For the love of King Don Alfonso, who hath banished me from his land, no scissars shall come upon it, nor shall a hair be cut away, and Moors and Christians shall talk of it. ”

“ The Cid was always in the very front, spurring on his steed to close with his adversaries, and at his side could be seen Fernan, although to keep up with Babieca, which flew at the slightest touch of the spur, he had almost to flay the sides of Overo.
"On, on! St. James of Compostela!" cried the Cid, burning with anger at seeing the impotence of all his efforts, and preparing for a fresh charge. "We shall all die on those fields of our native land rather than lose the name of Invincibles which Castile has given us, for it is better to die fighting than to live flying. ”

“ At any rate, it is difficult to imagine a more spirited opening than that which chance has given us. The Cid is introduced at a critical moment, misjudged, calumniated, a loyal subject driven from his own Castilian home by an ungrateful Leonese king. There is something spacious in the atmosphere, there is a stately simplicity even in the deliberate repetition of conventional epithet—‘the Castilian,’ ‘he who was born in a good hour,’ ‘the good one of Bivar,’ ‘my Cid,’ and rarely—very rarely—‘the Cid.’ The poet lauds his hero, as he should, but does not degrade him by fulsome eulogy ”

“ The people of Castile had loved the Cid very much, and that love now changed almost into adoration after the recent splendid feats of arms of the brave cavalier, and especially on account of the valour and the energy with which he had defended the freedom of the kingdom at the last Cortes in Leon. Nations are extreme in their loves and hatreds. When a public man should be exalted, they raise him to the very clouds; when his humiliation is concerned, they drag him through the mire; they always exaggerate things, whether it is a question of reward or punishment. ”

“ All this while the company of the Cid were preparing all things to go into Castille, as he had commanded before his death; and his trusty Gil Diaz did nothing else but labour at this. And the body of the Cid was prepared and the virtue of the balsam and myrrh was such that the flesh remained firm and fair, having its natural colour and his countenance as it was wont to be, and the eyes open, and his long beard in order, so that there was not a man who would have thought him dead if he had seen him. And on the second day after he had departed, Gil Diaz placed the body upon a right noble saddle. ”

“ That of him who rules Valencia the King no ill may say."
He bade go with Minaya Per Vermudóz straightway.
The next day in the morning they departed with all speed,
And a full two hundred henchmen along with them they lead,
With greetings from the Cid who fain would kiss his hands aright.
Even out of the battle where my lord Cid won the fight,
For a gift he sent Alfonso of horses good ten score:
"While I have breath within me, I will serve him evermore."
XCVII.
They have issued from Valencia. And they fettle them to fare.
They must watch well so mighty a booty do they bear. ”

“ Then Carrión's heirs commanded that the packs be loaded straight,
Through Valencia the city was the press of business great,
And all have taken weapons and all men gallop strong,
For they must forth the daughters of the Cid to speed along
Unto the lands of Carrión. To mount all men prepare,
Farewell all men are saying. But the two sisters there,
Dame Sol and Dame Elvíra, kneeled to the Cid Campeador:
"A boon, so may God keep thee, O father, we implore.
Thou begottest us. Our mother she brought us forth in pain.
Our liege-lord and our lady, here do ye stand ye twain. ”

“ The Cid and all his henchmen, it pleased them passing well,
For so by the lord's favor their gain should grow the more.
But know the Heirs of Carrión at heart were very sore,
For they saw of the Moriscos many and many a tent,
Which liked them not. The brothers forthwith apart they went.
"We would keep in mind our profit, nor for the loss have care.
And now within this battle we must needs do our share."
"Such a thing well may keep us from seeing Carrión more.
Widows will be the daughters of the good Campeador." ”

“ There are not many countries where two such gallants dwell.
From my lord King Alfonso what tidings are to tell?
Is he content? Did he vouchsafe to take the gift from me?"
Said Minaya, "In his soul and heart right well content is he,
And his good will he sendeth unto thee furthermore."
Said the Cid: "To the Creator now mighty thanks therefor."
The Leonese Alfonso his pleasure they made known
That the Cid should give his daughters to the Heirs of Carrión.
He deemed it would make him glorious and cause his fame to grow.
And in all truth and honor would advise him even so. ”

“ Whatever were his qualities as a fighter, the Cid was but indifferent material out of which to make a saint,—a man who battled against Christian and against Moslem with equal zeal, who burnt churches and mosques with equal zest, who ravaged, plundered and slew as much for a livelihood as for any patriotic or religious purpose, and was in truth almost as much of a Mussulman as a Christian in his habits and his character. ”

“ After a while Alvar Fañez rose and said, Sir, when we departed from the Cid we left him in great honour and prosperity; but on our way we met a squire who is his nephew, by name Felez Muñoz, and he hath told us the evil and the dishonour which both we and the Cid endure in the villainy which the Infantes of Carrion have committed upon his daughters. ”

“ XXV. When the Infantes of Carrion, Diego Gonzalez and Ferrando Gonzalez, saw the noble present which the Cid had sent unto the King, and heard how his riches and power daily increased, and thought what his wealth must needs be when he had given those horses out of the fifth of one battle, and moreover that he was Lord of Valencia: they spake one with the other, and agreed, that if the Cid would give them his daughters to wife, they should be well married, and become rich and honourable. ”

“ When we cast away the women we made our honor good."
CXLVI.
Then Martin Antolínez upon his feet he stood:
Thou wretch, do thou keep silence. Mouth that truth knoweth not!
The matter of the lion hast thou so soon forgot
Out through the door thou fleddest lurking in the court outside,
Behind the wine-press timber in that hour didst thou hide.
That mantle and that tunic were worn no more by thee.
In fight I will maintain it. No other can it be.
Since the lord Cid his daughters forth in such plight ye threw,
They are in every fashion far worthier shall you. ”

“ Dame Sol and Dame Elvíra in due course wedded are.
Great were their former matches, but these are nobler far.
He gave with greater honor than before the twain to wed;
He who in happy hour was born still doth his glory spread,
Since o'er Navarre and Aragon as queens his daughters reign;
Today are they kinswomen unto the kings of Spain.
From him came all that honor who in good hour had birth.
The Cid who ruled Valencia has departed from the earth
At Pentecost. His mercy may Christ to him extend.
To us all, just men or sinners, may He yet stand our friend. ”