XI. how he had afterwards been anointed and embalmed, he did BOOK not then hold it for so great a wonder, for he had heard that in the land of Egypt they were wont to do thus with their Kings. When they had all returned to the Monastery they took the Cid from off his horse, and set the body upon the frame, as they were wont to do, and placed it before the altar. Many were the honours which King Don Alfonso did to the Cid in masses and vigils, and other holy services, such as are fitting for the body and soul of one who is departed. Moreover he did great honour to the King of Navarre, and to the Infante of Aragon, ordering that all things which were needful should be given to cap. 287. them and their companies. XIII. On the third day after the coming of King Don Alfonso, they would have interred the body of the Cid, but when the King heard what Doña Ximena had said, that while it was so fair and comely it should not be laid in a coffin, he held that what she said was good. And he sent for the ivory chair which had been carried to the Cortes of Toledo, and gave order that it should be placed on the right of the altar of St. Peter; and he laid a cloth of gold upon it, and upon that placed a cushion covered with a right noble tartari, and he ordered a graven tabernacle to be made over the chair, richly wrought with azure and gold, having thereon the blazonry of the Kings of Castille and Leon, and the King of Navarre, and the Infante of Aragon, and of the Cid Ruydiez the Campeador. And he himself, and the King of Navarre and the Infante of Aragon, and the Bishop Don Hieronymo, to do honour to the Cid, helped to take his body from between the two boards, in which it had been fastened at Valencia. And when they had taken it out, the body was so firm that it bent not on either side, and the flesh so firm and comely, that it seemed as if he were yet alive. And the King thought that what they purport Chr. del Cid Chr. Gen. f. 310. How the body of the Cid was placed in his ivory chair. BOOK ed to do and had thus begun, might full well be effected. XI. Chr.del Cid. cap. 288. Chr. Gen. f. 311. How the company brake up after this was done. Chr. del Cid. cap. 288. Chr. Gen. f. 311. Of the care which was And they clad the body in a full noble tartari, and in cloth of purple, which the Soldan of Persia had sent him, and put him on hose of the same, and set him in his ivory chair; and in his left hand they placed his sword Tizona in its scabbard, and the strings of his mantle in his right. And in this fashion the body of the Cid remained there ten years and more, till it was taken thence, as the history will relate anon. And when his garments waxed old, other good ones were put on. XIV. King Don Alfonso, and the sons-in-law of the Cid, King Don Ramiro of Navarre, and the Infante Don Sancho of Aragon, with all their companies, and all the other honourable men, abode three weeks in St. Pedro de Cardeña, doing honour to the Cid. And the Bishop Don Hieronymo, and the other Bishops who came with King Don Alfonso, said every day their masses, and accompanied the body of the Cid there where it was placed, and sprinkled holy water upon it, and incensed it, as is the custom to do over a grave. And after three weeks they who were there assembled began to break up, and depart to their own houses. And of the company of the Cid, some went with the King of Navarre, and other some with the Infante of Aragon; but the greater number, and the most honourable among them, betook themselves to King Don Alfonso, whose natural subjects they were. And Doña Ximena and her companions abode in San Pedro de Cardeña, and Gil Diaz with her, as the Cid had commanded in his testament. And the Bishop Don Hieronymo, and Alvar Fañez Minaya, and Pero Bermudez, remained there also till they had fulfilled all that the Cid Ruydiez had commanded in his testament to be done. XV. 'Gil Diaz did his best endeavour to fulfil all that his taken of Ba- Lord the Cid Ruydiez had commanded him, and to serve Doña Ximena and her companions truly and faithfully; and this he vieca. XI. did so well, that she was well pleased with his faithfulness. And BOOK Doña Ximena fulfilled all that the Cid had commanded her; and every day she had masses performed for his soul, and appointed many vigils, and gave great alms for the soul of the Cid and of his family. And this was the life which she led, doing good wherever it was needful for the love of God; and she was alway by the body of the Cid, save only at meal times and at night, for then they would not permit her to tarry there, save only when vigils were kept in honour of him. Moreover Gil Diaz took great delight in tending the horse Bavieca, so that there were few days in which he did not lead him to water, and bring him back with his own hand. And from the day in which the dead body of the Cid was taken off his back, never man was suffered to bestride that horse, but he was alway led when they took him to water, and when they brought him back. brought him back. And Gil Diaz thought it fitting that the race of that good horse should be continued, and he bought two mares for him, the goodliest that could be found, and when they were with foal, he saw that they were well taken care of, and they brought forth the one a male colt and the other a female; and from these the race of this good horse was kept up in Castille, so that there were afterwards many good and precious horses of his race, and peradventure are at this day. And this good horse lived two years and a half after the death of his master the Cid, and then he died also, having lived, according to the history, full forty years. And Gil Diaz buried him before the gate of the Monastery, in the public place, on the right hand; and he planted two elms upon the grave, the one at his head and the other at his feet, and these elms grew and became great trees, and are yet to be seen before the gate of the Monastery. And Gil Diaz gave order that when he died they should bury him by that good horse Bavieca, whom he had loved so well. Chr. Gen. f. 311. Chr. del Cid. cap. 289. BOOK Of the death of Doña Ximena. XVI. Four years after the Cid had departed that noble lady Doña Ximena departed also, she who had been the wife of that noble baron the Cid Ruydiez, the Campeador. At that time Don Garcia Tellez was Abbot of the Monastery, a right noble monk, and a great hidalgo. And the Abbot and Gil Diaz sent for the daughters of the Cid and Doña Ximena to come and honour their mother at her funeral, and to inherit what she had left. Doña Sol, who was the younger, came first, because Aragon is nearer than Navarre, and also because she was a widow; for the Infante Don Sancho, her husband, had departed three years after the death of the Cid, and had left no child. King Don Ramiro soon arrived with the other dame, Queen Doña Elvira his wife, and he brought with him a great company in honour of his wife's mother, and also the Bishop of Pamplona, to do honour to her funeral; and the Infante Don Garcia Ramirez, their son, came with them, being a child of four years old. Moreover there came friends and kinsmen from all parts. And when they were all assembled they buried the body of Doña Ximena at the feet of the ivory chair on which the Cid was seated; and the Bishop of Pamplona said mass, and the Abbot Don Garcia Tellez officiated. And they tarried there seven days, singing many masses, and doing much good for her soul's sake. And in that time the Bishop Don Hieronymo arrived, who abode with King Don Alfonso, and he came to do honour to the body of Doña Ximena; for so soon as he heard that she was departed, he set off taking long journies every day. And when the seven days were over, King Don Ramiro and Queen Doña Elvira, his wife, and her sister Doña Sol, set apart rents for the soul of Doña Ximena, and they appointed that Gil Diaz should have them for his life, and that then they should go to the Monastery for ever: and they ordained certain anniversaries for the souls of the Cid and of Doña Ximena. After XI. this was done they divided between them what Doña Ximena BOOK had left, which was a great treasure in gold and in silver, and in 花 costly garments; the one half Queen Doña Elvira took, and Doña Sol the other. And when they had thus divided it, Doña Sol said that all which she had in the world should be for her nephew the Infante Don Garcia Ramirez, and with the good will of Queen Elvira his mother, she adopted him then to be her son, and she took him with her to Aragon, to the lands which had been given her in dower, and bred him up till he became a young man; and after the death of his father he was made King of Navarre, as may be seen in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Spain. And when all these things were done they departed each to his own home, and Gil Diaz remained, serving and doing honour to the bodies of his master the Cid and Doña Ximena his mistress. Chr. del Cid. cap. 290. Chr. Gen. f. 312. happened to would have taken the Cid by the beard. XVII. Now Don Garcia Tellez the Abbot, and the trusty of what Gil Diaz, were wont every year to make a great festival on the a Jew who day of the Cid's departure, and on that anniversary they gave food and cloathing to the poor, who came from all parts round about. And it came to pass when they made the seventh anniversary, that a great multitude assembled as they were wont to do, and many Moors and Jews came to see the strange manner of the Cid's body. And it was the custom of the Abbot Don Garcia Tellez, when they made that anniversary, to make a right noble sermon to the people: and because the multitude which had assembled was so great that the Church could not hold them, they went out into the open place before the Monastery, and he preached unto them there. And while he was preaching there remained a Jew in the Church, who stopt before the body of the Cid, looking at him to see how nobly he was there seated, having his countenance so fair and comely, and his long beard in such goodly order, and his sword Tizona in its |