BOOK Chr. del Cid. cap. 192.193. Chr Gen. ff. 267. How the Cid attack and was put to the worst, and of the great cruelty which he committed upon the Moor. to the house of Abeniaf, who sent him to prison, and gave orders to smite off the heads of the others. And Abeniaf sent to lay hands on all whom he suspected, and took from them all that they had. And he sent messengers to the King of Zaragoza to tell him what had chanced, and they took with them Abenmoxiz prisoner, and they were charged to remain at Zaragoza, and send him true tidings from thence. XXVII. Now there was no food to be bought in the ed the city city, and the people were in the waves of death: and men were seen to drop and die in the streets, and the Place of the Alcazar round about the walls thereof was full of graves, and there was no grave which had fewer than ten bodies in it. As as could fled out of the town, and delivered themmany selves up to the Christians to be made prisoners. The Cid thought that they who were the Chiefs within the walls, thrust out the poor and feeble, that they might be able to hold out longer; and it troubled him, for he thought to take the town by starving it, and he feared the coming of the Almoravides. Sometimes it troubled him, and at other times he seemed pleased that the Moors should come out and give themselves prisoners to his people. Now it befel that once, at such time as it seemed to please him, some of the chief men of the town came out in this manner, and counselled him that he should attack it, for they said the men at arms were few, and weak for hunger, and that he might presently win it and the Cid took thought upon this matter, and resolved to do as they said; and he gathered together his host and advanced against the gate which is called Belfanhanes, that is to say, the Gate of the Snake, and they drew nigh unto the wall. And all the people of the town assembled, even all the force which was therein, and threw down stones from the gate and from the wall, and shot their arrows, so that neither stone nor arrow fell in vain; and the Cid and they who had advanced with him went into a bath which was near the wall, to be under cover from the arrows. And VI. Abeniaf's company opened the gate and sallied out, seeing BOOK that the stones and arrows from the wall had hurt many, and made the Christians draw back; and the Cid and they who were with him remained in the bath, being shut up there, for they could not go out by the door whereat they had entered, and they broke through the wall on the other side, and the Cid escaped that way, being thus put to rout. Then he thought himself ill advised in having attacked the town, and in putting himself into a place from whence he had escaped with such great danger; and he held that the worst war which he could make upon the men of Valencia was to let them die of hunger. So he ordered proclamation to be made so loud that all the Moors upon the walls could hear, bidding all who had come out from the town to return into it, or he would burn as many as he should find; and saying also that he would slay all who came out from that time forth. Nevertheless they continued to let themselves down from the walls, and the Christians took them without his knowledge. But as many as he found he burnt alive before the walls, so that the Moors could see them; in one day he burnt eighteen, and cast others alive to the dogs, who tore them in pieces. They who could hide any sent them away by sea and by land to be sold; the most whom they sent were young men and girls, for others they would not take; and many virgins they kept for themselves. And if they knew that any who came out, had left kinsmen or friends in the town who would give any thing for them, they tortured them before the walls, or hung them from the towers of the Mosques which were without the city, and stoned them; and when they in the town saw this they gave ransom for them, that they might be permitted to dwell in Alcudia with the Moors who were in peace with the Cid. This continued for two months, till there were only four beasts left in the town, and one was a mule of Abeniaf's, and another was a horse Chr. del of his son's; and the people were so wasted that there were 193. 194. but few who had strength to mount the wall. Cid. cap. Chr. Gen. ff. 268. BOOK ed that he should go between them and the Cid. XXVIII. The company of Abeniaf and of his kinsmen despaired now of holding out, and of the help of the King of How the Zaragoza, or of the Almoravides, and they desired rather to people went to an Al- die than endure this misery. And the good men of the city, faqui, and it was accord- as many as were left, went to an Alfaqui, who was a good man, and one who was held in great esteem, and besought him to give them counsel, for he saw their great distress, and how they were out of all hope of succor; and they besought him that he would go to Abeniaf, and know of him what he thought to do, or what hope he had, that he let them all perish thus. The Alfaqui gave ear to them, and said that if they would all hold together, and be of one heart, and show great anger at having been brought to this misery, he would do all he could to relieve them; and they promised to do whatever he should advise. Now Abeniaf knew of the talk which the good men of the town had had with the Alfaqui, and understood that it was because of the great misery which they endured; and he thought in his heart that he would humble himself, and do whatever his people should think good. And the Alfaqui thought that happy man was his dole now that the people had committed themselves to his guidage, and he went to Abeniaf and communed with him, and their accord was to give up all hope of succor. And Abeniaf put himself in the hands of the Alfaqui, that he should go between him and the Cid and the people of Valencia, and make the best terms for them that he could, seeing that they could no longer hold out, and maintain the Chr. del Cid. cap. 194. 195. Chr. Gen. ff. 269. How the Pelaez of a coward a good knight. town. XXIX. Here the history relates that at this time Martin Pelaez the Asturian came with a convoy of laden beasts, carrying provisions to the host of the Cid; and as he past near the town the Moors sallied out in great numbers against him; but he, though he had few with him, defended the convoy right well, and did great hurt to the Moors, slaying many of them, and drove them into the town. This Martin Pelaez who is here spoken of, did the Cid make a right good VI. knight, of a coward, as ye shall hear. When the Cid first BOOK began to lay siege to the city of Valencia, this Martin Pelaez came unto him; he was a knight, a native of Santillana in Asturias, a hidalgo, great of body and strong of limb, a well made man and of goodly semblance, but withal a right coward at heart, which he had shown in many places when he was among feats of arms. And the Cid was sorry when he came unto him, though he would not let him perceive this; for he knew he was not fit to be of his company. Howbeit he thought that since he was come he would make him brave whether he would or not. And when the Cid began to war upon the town, and sent parties against it twice and thrice a day, as ye have heard, for the Cid was alway upon the alert, there was fighting and tourneying every day. One day it fell out that the Cid and his kinsmen and friends and vassals were engaged in a great encounter, and this Martin Pelaez was well armed; and when he saw that the Moors and the Christians were at it, he fled and betook himself to his lodging, and there hid himself till the Cid returned to dinner. And the Cid saw what Martin Pelaez did, and when he had conquered the Moors he returned to his lodging to dinner. Now it was the custom of the Cid to eat at a high table, seated on his bench, at the head. And Don Alvar Fañez, and Pero Bermudez, and other precious knights, ate in another part, at high tables, full honorably, and none other knights whatsoever dared take their seats with them, unless they were such as deserved to be there; and the others who were not so approved in arms ate upon estrados, at tables with cushions.' This was the order in 1 Comian en estrados, e en mesas de cabeçales. Chronica General. The others are said to eat at mesas altas. It should seem therefore, if I have not mistaken the meaning of the words, that the common and least honorable mode of eating was after the Roman fashion. The Welsh Kings had their Pedifer, whose office it was to chafe their feet while they were at their meals;.. they probably retained the Roman fashion also. By whom were chairs introduced into common use? Our VI. BOOK the house of the Cid, and every one knew the place where he was to sit at meat, and every one strove all he could to gain the honor of sitting to eat at the table of Don Alvar Fañez and his companions, by strenuously behaving himself in all feats of arms; and thus the honor of the Cid was advanced. This Martin Pelaez, thinking that none had seen his badness, washed his hands in turn with the other knights, and would have taken his place among them. And the Cid went unto him, and took him by the hand and said, You are not such a one as deserves to sit with these, for they are worth more than you or than me; but I will have you with me and he seated him with himself at table. And he, for lack of understanding, thought that the Cid did this to honor him above all the others. On the morrow the Cid and his company rode towards Valencia, and the Moors came out to the tourney; and Martin Pelaez went out well armed, and was among the foremost who charged the Moors, and when he was in among them he turned the reins, and went back to his lodging; and the Cid took heed to all that he did, and saw that though he had done badly he had done better than the first day. And when the Cid had driven the Moors into the town he returned to his lodging, and as he sate down to meat he took this Martin Pelaez by the hand, and seated him with himself, and bade him eat with him in the same dish, for he had deserved more that day than he had the first. And the knight gave heed to that saying, and Cowper has given the rise and progress of seat-making, from the jointstool to the sofa; the subject still remains to be investigated by antiquarians. Sitting on the ground is the more natural and more convenient custom... the Portugueze women of the lower ranks, who still retain it, say it keeps the feet warm. High seats may have been preferred in cold countries because it is desirable to expose the feet to the fire, and skreen the face from it; by a drunken people like the Northern conquer. ors, because it was convenient at their beastly banquets that a guest should fall under the table rather than on his neighbor's lap; or by a dirty people, like our ancestors, who suffered filth to accumulate upon the floors. |