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VI.

company round about him, both of his own people and of those BOOK of the town; and the Christians as they entered ascended the walls and towers. And Abeniaf asked why so many went Chr. del Cid. up, for it was not in the terms; but they would not cease for cap. 202. that, and they took possession of all, little to his liking.

203.
Chr. Gen.

f. 271.

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BOOK I. And all the people of the town gathered together, like VII. men risen from their graves, yea, like the dead when the plete trumpet shall sound for the day of judgment, and men shall the famine. come out of their graves and be gathered together before the

Majesty of God. And hucksters came from Alcudia and brought bread and pulse to sell, and others of the town went out to Alcudia to buy food; and they who were poor, and had not wherewith to buy, plucked of the herbs of the field and ate them, and they held themselves rich because they could go out when they would, and enter in again without fear. And such as were wise among them abstained from taking much food, fearing what would happen, and they took it little by little till they had gotten strength; all they who took their fill died, and the Chr.del Cid mortality among them was so great that all the fields were full

cap. 203.

Chr. Gen.

f. 271.

of graves.

Of

VI.

ofthe ho

nour which the Cid did

unto the

Moors.

Chr. del Cid.

II. On the following day after the Christians had taken pos- BOOK session of the town, the Cid entered it with a great company, and he ascended the highest tower of the wall, and beheld all the city; and the Moors came unto him, and kissed his hand, say ing he was welcome. And the Cid did great honour unto them. And then he gave order that all the windows of the towers which looked in upon the town should be closed up, that the Christians might not see what the Moors did in their houses; and the Moors thanked him for this greatly. And he commanded and requested the Christians that they should show great honour to the Moors, and respect them, and greet them when they met: and the Moors thanked the Cid greatly for the honour which the Christians did them, saying that they had never seen so good a man, nor one so honourable, nor one who had his people cap. 204. under such obedience. III. Now Abeniaf thought to have the love of the Cid; and How the Cid calling to mind the wrath with which he had formerly been re- the Moors. ceived, because he had not taken a gift with him, he took now great riches which he had taken from those who sold bread for so great a price during the siege of Valencia, and this he carried to the Cid as a present. Among those who had sold it were some men from the Islands of Majorca', and he took from them all that they had. This the Cid knew, and he would not accept his gifts. And the Cid caused proclamation to be made in the town and throughout the whole district thereof, that the honourable men and knights and castellans should assemble together in the garden of Villa Nueva, where the Cid at that time sojourned. And when they were all assembled, he went out unto them, to a place which was made ready with carpets

Chr. Gen.

f. 271.

spake unto

All the Balearic Islands, thus called as being subject to the largest.

BOOK and with mats, and he made them take their seats before him VII. full honourably, and began to speak unto them, saying, I am a man who have never possessed a kingdom, neither I nor any man of my lineage. But the day when I first beheld this city I was well pleased therewith, and coveted it that I might be its Lord; and I besought the Lord our God that he would give it me. See now what his power is, for the day when I sate down before Juballa I had no more than four loaves of bread, and now by God's mercy I have won Valencia. And if I administer right and justice here God will let me enjoy it, but if I do evil, and demean myself proudly and wrongfully, I know that he will take it away. Now then let Now then let every one go to his own lands, and possess them even as he was wont to have and to hold them. He who shall find his field, or his vineyard, or his garden, desert, let him incontinently enter thereon; and he who shall find his husbanded, let him pay him that hath cultivated it the cost of his labour, and of the seed which he hath sown therein, and remain with his heritage, according to the law of the Moors. Moreover I have given order that they who collect my dues take from you no more than the tenth, because so it is appointed by the custom of the Moors, and it is what ye have been wont to pay. And I have resolved in my heart to hear your complaints two days in the week, on the Monday and the Thursday; but if causes should arise which require haste, come to me when ye will and I will give judgment, for I do not retire with women to sing and to drink, as your Lords have done, so that ye could obtain no justice, but will myself see to these things, and watch over ye as friend over his friend, and kinsman over his kinsman And I will be Cadi and Guáził, and when dispute

• Both originals have Alcayde. The Cid uses the word in its civil sense;

in

VI.

happens among ye I will decide it. When he had said these BOOK things they all replied that they prayed God to preserve him through long and happy years, and four of the most honourable among them rose and kissed his hands, and the Cid bade them cap. 205. take their seats again.

Chr.del.Cid

Chr. Gen: f. 272.

told what fargreat said unto the

ther the Cid

riches

IV. Then the Cid spake unto them and said, it is me that Abeniaf hath done much evil, and committed wrong toward some of ye, in that he hath taken great from ye to present them to me, saying, that this he did because ye sold food for a great price during the siege. But I will accept of no such gift; for if I were minded to have your riches, I could take them, and need not ask them neither from him, nor from any other; but thing so unseemly as to take that which is his from any one, without just cause, I will not do. They who have gotten wealth thus, God hath given it them; let them go to Abeniaf, and take back what he hath forced from them, for I will order him to restore the whole.. Then he said, Ye see the riches which I took from the messengers who went to Murcia; it is mine by right, for I took it in war because they brake the covenant which they had made, and would have deceived me: nevertheless I will restore it to the uttermost farthing, that nothing thereof shall be lost. And ye shall do homage to me that ye will not withdraw yourselves, but will abide here, and do my bidding in all things, and never depart from the covenant which ye make with me;

Moors

which sense every person who has read the Arabian Nights Entertainments. will understand it. If the Moors in Spain had but one Cadi,.. that is, if the civil power was in the hands of a military officer, as perhaps may be inferred from the word Alcayde, it is one proof more of the miserable state of barbarism into which they had fallen.

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