POEM OF THE CID. WITH tearful eyes he turned to gaze upon the wreck behind : Yet with a measured voice, and calm, my Cid spake loftily— 'I thank thee God our Father, thou that dwellest upon high, I suffer cruel wrong to-day, but of mine enemy.' As they came riding from Bivar 1 the crow was on the right, By Burgos gate, upon the left, the crow was there in sight.2 My Cid he shrugged his shoulders and he lifted up his head : 'Good tidings! Alvar Fanez;3 we are banished men !' he said. 1 Bivar, now a small hamlet about three miles to the north of Burgos, on the Santander road. A few stones near the river are said to mark the site of the Cid's castle. 2 The Cid's belief in augury is more than once alluded to in the poem, and he is taunted with it in a letter from the Count of Barcelona quoted in the Gesta. It seems, however, to have been common in Spain at the time, for in the Cento Novelle Antiche Messer Imberal del Balzo is described as much given to augury 'a guisa spagnuola.' 3 Albricia (Arabic, Al-baschara), a fee claimed by the bringer of With sixty lances in his train my Cid rode up the town, The burghers and their dames from all the windows looking down ; And there were tears in every eye, and on each lip one word : 'A worthy vassal-would to God he served a worthy lord!' Fain would they shelter him, but none durst yield to his desire. Great was the fear through Burgos town of King Alfonso's ire. Sealed with his royal seal hath come his letter to forbid race; And, since they might not greet my Cid, they hid them from his face. He rode to his own mansion gates; shut firm and fast they were, Such the king's rigour, save by force, he might not enter there; And loudly though his henchmen call, within no sound is heard, No answer to their call; my Cid up to the threshold spurred, news. Alvar Fanez (or Fernandez), son of Fernan Lainez, was the Cid's cousin, and next to him the most distinguished warrior of the time in Moorish warfare; and as such is celebrated in the old poem on the taking of Almería. 4 The Cid's town house (su posada) was in the Calle Alta near the Arco de San Martin. The site is marked by three pillars of modern date. His foot from out the stirrup raised and on the door smote hard : It yielded not beneath the stroke, 'twas stout and strongly barred : But from a chamber window high a damsel's voice im plored: 'O thou that in a happy hour didst gird thee with the sword, It is the order of the king; we dare not, O my lord! Sealed with his royal seal hath come his letter to forbid Go, and God prosper thee in all that thou dost undertake.' And turning away he spurred on through Burgos to Santa Maria, and passing through the gate he halted beside the Arlanzon, and my Cid Ruy Diaz, he who girt on the sword in a good hour, with a goodly company around him, pitched his tent there in the Glera, as if he were on a mountain-side, since there was no house open to him. Moreover, he was forbidden to buy food of any sort in Burgos, nor durst any man sell him a farthing's-worth. But Martin Antolinez, the worthy Burgalese, brought them bread and wine of his own, and my Cid and his men were refreshed. And said Martin Antolinez, 'Campeador, born in a good hour, we must go forth this night, for I shall be held to account, and earn the wrath of King Alfonso, because I have served you. But if I escape safe with you, sooner or later the king will be glad to have me for a friend; if not, I care not The Glera is the gravelly plain to the east of Burgos, through which the Arlanzon river flows. F a fig for what I leave behind.' Said my Cid, 'Martin Antolinez, a stout lance art thou; if I live I will repay thee double; but my gold and silver are spent ; money have I none, and I need it for my troop, and have it I must; for nothing is obtained for nothing. With your help I will make two chests, and we will fill them with sand, so that they be heavy, and they shall be covered with red leather and studded with gilt nails, and thou shalt go to Rachel and Vidas, and say that I cannot carry with me my treasure, for it is very weighty, and that I would pawn it for what may be reasonable. I call God and all his Saints to witness, that I cannot help this, and do it against my will.' And Martin Antolinez without delay passed through Burgos and entered the castle and sought out Rachel and Vidas. And Rachel and Vidas were together, counting their wealth and profits. In friendly fashion Martin Antolinez came to them : 'Rachel and Vidas, my dear friends, give me your hands that ye will not discover me to Christian or to Moor. I am come to make you rich for ever with no risk of loss. The Campeador has levied much tribute, and has carried away great and rich treasure, on account of which he has been accused. He has two chests full of fine gold. These he cannot carry with him unseen, and he would leave them in your hands if ye will lend him what money may be reasonable, and put the chests in your place of safety, swearing and pledging yourselves both that ye will not look into them for this year to come.' Rachel and Vidas consulted together. "We must seek profit by every means. We know well he has wealth: what rich treasure he took when he entered the lands of the Moors. He who has money sleeps not without care. We will take these chests and put them where they shall not be seen; but tell us what will content the Cid, and what interest will he give us for the year?' Said Martin Antolinez in friendly fashion, 'My Cid desires what is reasonable, and asks little for leaving his treasure in your hands. Needy men are gathering to him from all sides. 7 • One of these chests, long since stripped of its red leather and gilt nails, is still seen, or, to use a safer word, shown, in the sacristy of Burgos Cathedral. Literally, 'in your safe'-'en vuestro salvo.' 6 He requires six hundred marks.' Said Rachel and Vidas, 'We will give them willingly.' Said Martin, 'Night is coming on, and my Cid is pressed: we would that ye give us the marks.' But,' said Rachel and Vidas, 'business is not done thus; but by first taking and then giving.' 'Good,' said Martin Antolinez, 'let us all three to the Campeador, and we will help you to carry the chests and put them in your place of safety, so that neither Moor nor Christian may know.' With that they betook themselves to the tent of the Campeador, and they kissed his hands, and my Cid said smiling, 'Don Rachel and Vidas, ye have forgotten me. I am exiled now, and under the wrath of the king, but ye will have somewhat of my substance, and while ye live ye shall never suffer loss.' Then Martin Antolinez set forth the agreement that they should give him six hundred marks on those chests, and keep them safely till the end of the year, and pledge themselves by oath not to look into them meanwhile; else that they should be forsworn, and that my Cid should not give them a farthing of the interest. Then said Martin Antolinez, 'Take up the chests and carry them away, and I will go with you to bring back the marks, for my Cid has to march before the cock crows.' You might see how glad they were when they came to move the chests. They were not able to hoist them on their shoulders, strong as they were. palace they spread a carpet, and over it a sheet of white linen, whereon they paid down three hundred marks in silver and other three hundred in gold. And Don Martin counted them, taking them without weighing, and with them he loaded five squires he had with him. This done, he said, 'Now, Don Rachel and Vidas, that the chests are in your hands, I who have brought you this gain have fairly earned breeches.' And Rachel and Vidas said between themselves, 'Let us give him a good gift, for it was he who sought us out.' 'You deserve something,' they said, 'and we will give you wherewithal you may get breeches and a fur robe and a fair mantle; we will give you thirty marks; you have earned them, and it is reasonable, and you will testify to what we have agreed.' Don Martin received the marks with thanks and took his leave, glad to quit the house; and passed through Burgos and across the Arlanzon, and came to the tent of the Cid, who received him with open arms. And in the |