CANDOYL AND WAS KNOWN OF CANDACE WHEN HE CAME TO HER.
After these things the host of the Greeks and the Persians and
the Indians was gathered together, in one place, and messengers
came from all the kings of the land to it to Alexander the king,
bringing gifts of rare and precious things, of gold and spices, of
the skins of a fish like to a leopard’s skin, of living lions and
other wild beasts. Now, among these was the messenger of a Queen
of the land, Candace by name, the widow of a great king friend
and cousin of Porus; and they brought with them letters to King
Porus from her. And when Alexander heard tell of her, he asked the
King of India concerning her, who she was, and what manner of men
she ruled over, and Porus answered and told him how she was the
fairest woman in India, and how she had married his near kinsman,
and had borne him three sons, Candoyl, Marcippus, and Caratros.
Then he told him how he had sent his daughter to her for safety,
and how she had married her to Caratros, her youngest son, who
should reign after her, as the custom of that folk was: and he told
of the gods she worshipped, and of the people she ruled, and of the
riches of the land. Then Alexander was fain of her presence, and
sent rich gifts, and a golden image of Ammon his god, and a letter
in which he asked her to journey towards the mountains and meet him
there, and he gave the messengers wealth and a strict command to
tarry not till they brought him word again. But Porus purposed evil
in his heart, for he sought to stir up wrath against Alexander in
Roxana the Queen.
Thus the messengers came to Queen Candace and they laid before her
the letter of Alexander, and his gifts, and told how she had been
honoured by the wealth given to her messengers, and besought her
to meet the Lord of the Greeks, but she would not, for she knew
the double mind of Porus, and would not adventure herself where
she could meet him, yet was she willing to please Alexander, so
she sent again her messengers, and richer gifts than before, and
a letter praising his knighthood and his valour, and the power of
his gods. Now these were her gifts, a crown of gold set with a
hundred precious stones, and two hundred and ten chains of red
gold, and thirty rich goblets carved with pelicans and parrots,
five Ethiopian slaves of one age, a rhinoceros, a thousand beryls
in caskets of ebon-wood, and four elephants to carry this wealth,
and on the back of each was the skin of a spotted panther, rich and
precious. So the messengers went their way, and with them Queen
Candace sent a cunning painter, and she prayed him in private to
make her a portrait of the king on parchment, noting all his shape
and proportion. And it was done as she said, for Alexander received
her gifts and well entreated her messengers, and sent them home;
and when they came the painter brought his drawing before her, and
she rejoiced, for she had longed to see what manner of man the
Greek lord was, and now was her wish fulfilled.
It fell on a day that Alexander was in his tent, and one of his
clerks was there with him, and as men went out and he chanced to be
alone with the king, he fell on his knees before him, and besought
grace. Then Alexander comforted him and bade him speak out boldly
and fear not. So this clerk told the king how Porus knew that the
death of Alexander was near, and that he had gathered together
men from all parts to slay him, and he told him how that the men
of Gog and Magog were on the march from the frozen lands of the
North at the pay of Porus. Then Alexander asked how this should
be, and the clerk told him that he had been sent to them in years
back by Darius, and that then it had been a full year’s journey,
but now had they come nearer, so that one month saw the beginning
and the end of the way to them, when Porus had sent him. Then the
Lord of the Greeks grew wrathful and began to doubt all men, for
he remembered that he should die by the hands of a friend whom he
trusted, wherefore he sent messengers for Porus, and when he came
he said to him: “O Porus, is not the half of my throne sufficient
for thee, but thou must adventure to slay me by the hand of the
outer barbarians? True knight thou art not, or thou wouldest scorn
to do by another what thou durst not attempt thyself.” But Porus
the king stood silent, and turned red and purple and white in
turns, and then he tugged off his glove and threw it at the feet
of Alexander on the ground. Then said Alexander: “O Porus, though
mayhap it were better to slay thee as a traitor, yet thou hast been
my fellow at board and bed, and I will meet thee as thou wishest,
that at least thou shalt die as a true knight, if thou couldst not
live as one.” Then he called for his page and he bade him take up
the glove and put it in his helmet against the set day.
On the third day at sunrise all men rose up early and came to the
field of war outside the camp, and each man took his place round
the field, the Greeks on the south, the Indians on the north,
and the Persians where they would on either side. And as they
looked they saw the tent of Alexander hung with green silk and
embroideries at the east end of the field, and the tent of Porus
hung with cloth of gold at the other. Before the doors stood pages
and trumpeters, and from time to time long calls rung out in the
air, notes of defiance and of confidence. From end to end of the
field ran a partition dividing it into two strips, for the battle
was to be fought out with the lance alone, and in the middle was
a high seat in which Ptolemy the king’s lieutenant was to sit as
judge. Beside and below him were places for the heralds, and as
time wore on they took their seats. And now the bustle round the
tents increased, and men went in and out, and the noise of the
hammer on the rivets rose between the calls. Then came a pause,
and the squires brought long lances and laid them before the
heralds, and they measured them side by side, and returned them to
the squires, who bore them back to their tents. A long call was
sounded, and a troop of men brought in between them the famous
white horse Bucephalus, and at the sight of him all the warriors
of Greece shouted, for many times had they followed him in battle,
and they deemed him the best horse in the world, though he was now
stricken in years; and when this shout died away another was raised
by the Indian knights as their lord’s great black horse came in to
the field, and the two horses smelled each other from afar, and
neighed out their defiance.
Now sounded the drums and clarions, and from afar the procession of
the lord of the lists came into the field, and amid the shouts of
the army Ptolemy sat down on the throne, and all men kept silence.
Then the heralds rose and saluted him, and he spoke to them, and
soon they broke up into two parties, and went one to each tent, and
each man’s eyes followed a party, this way or that. As they came
before the tent doors, the squires drew aside the curtains and the
kings stood before the heralds, clad in armour from head to foot.
Then the processions re-formed and with lowly reverence the knights
were brought before the lord of the lists, where they repeated one
by one the solemn oath that they had used no charm or magic against
their foe, but that the battle should be fought, man to man and
horse to horse, till death: and as they stood side by side the
giant Porus showed taller and stronger when compared with the Lord
of Macedon.
Then the knights mounted their horses, and saluting each other and
the lord of the lists, they turned away and rode to the end of the
lists and stood there two images of bright steel, waiting for the
sign of battle. A few moments pass, the lord of the field rises,
and the trumpet-call rings out, first low and steady and strong,
then higher and louder till it seems to carry men’s hearts with it
to the clouds, and in the midst of its last and loudest call the
baton is thrown down, and the two knights are spurring towards one
another; no man breathes, each stride brings them nearer, their aim
seems true, when a shout rises from the Greeks, and next second
both knights are on the ground, the air is filled with curses and
cries, the lists are peopled with heralds and knights and squires,
the black horse is galloping wildly over the field, Alexander
is kneeling by the side of his horse Bucephalus, and Porus is
lying still on the field, for he had shifted his lance and taken
traitor’s aim at the good horse and slain him, while Alexander had
struck him on the helm and thrown him far on the ground.
So the lord of the lists stood up and bade the heralds bring the
knights before him, but they came back and told him how Porus
lay deathlike on the field, yet was he unhurt to all seeming, so
Ptolemy spake to Alexander and said, “Sir Alexander, thou hast
done thy duly as a true knight, thine adversary is at thy mercy to
slay or to spare.” Then Alexander answered, “Were it not for his
traitorous dealing to my good steed I would forgive him yet again,
nor may I slay him unarmed, but by to-morrow morn I will meet
him again on foot, sword to sword, till one of us die.” Then the
squires carried Porus away to his tent, and the Indian knights went
away from the field shamefast, but the Persians and the Greeks
rejoiced in the fame of their lord, and mourned over the death of
the good steed Bucephalus. That day Alexander built a tomb for his
horse and laid him there, and bitter were the tears he shed, for
it seemed to him that the best days of his life were beginning to
leave him, and his evil days had begun.
When the morrow came all men went again to their places, and the
heralds and the trumpeters sat down in their seats, and Ptolemy
bade silence. Then the two knights were brought before him, on
foot, armed with sword and dagger, and he placed them before each
other, and bade them fall to when the trumpet sounded. The heralds
rose and made proclamation: “Lo ye, all men here present, these
knights, Sir Alexander of Macedon and Sir Porus of India, be met
for the agreement of certain differences between them; if now any
man shall enter this field, or aid them in any way, he shall fall
under pain of death, until this difference be voided.” Then all men
kept silence, till the lord of the field let fall his sceptre and
the trumpets rang out one shrill call.
Scarcely had the sound died away before the two knights began
circling round each other, like birds watching an opportunity to
dart in and seize their prey; but they dared not adventure, for
Porus was tall and long of reach, and Alexander was nimble and
long-armed and very mighty, and each man wished to strike a blow
that would end the fight at once, and time after time they came
near each other and stepped back again, till at the last Porus
struck at the left shoulder of Alexander, which was just in his
reach, and Alexander caught the blow on his shoulder, and running
forward struck with his right arm alone, and drove his sword-edge
through helm and cheek-bone and skull, and Porus fell dead on the
ground, and the Greeks shouted with joy. Thus was the treason of
Porus, his evil thoughts and his unknightly deeds, avenged by
Alexander. But when he was dead the Lord of Macedon gave him burial
like one of the kings, and he built over him a temple, with walls
and towers and priests to pray for him perpetually.
At this time it fell that Candoyl, the eldest son of Candace the
queen, came before his mother and said to her, “Fair mother and
queen, grant me that I may leave thy lands and journey out into the
world;” and she said, “Go, my son, with my blessing and leave, and
tarry not till thou return.” So he got together much wealth and
departed, with his wife and his servants, and came to a certain
strong city called Bebrik, and harboured there, and when the morrow
was come and he departed, the king of Bebrik came round and met him
on a certain bent, and slew many of his men, and one of the king’s
knights took the lady and bore her off to the town, shrieking
and lamenting so as to pierce the heart of any true knight: for
it is to be said that the king of Bebrik had loved her for many
years. Then was Candoyl sore troubled, and he went on his way to
the army of Alexander to seek his grace, if by any means he would
help him to recover his lady and love. Soon he came near the camp
and entered it, and the watchmen took him and brought him before
Ptolemy, the most noble of the Greeks after Alexander, and he asked
him, “What manner of man art thou, and what dost thou here? What is
the cause of thy coming? Let us know thy name?” “Sire,” said he, “I
am Candoyl, the son of Candace the conqueress,” and he told him of
his coming, and of what befell him in the way. Then Ptolemy hurried
from the tent, leaving Candoyl in ward of a knight, and went into
the cabin where the King was lying, and found him asleep. So he
waked him gently and told him the tidings, how a knight, the son of
Candace the queen, had come to crave his help against the king of
Bebrik, who had reft his wife from him.
Then said Alexander, “Go back again to thy tent, put on thy head
the richest diadem I have, a crown of red gold, and a king’s
mantle, and seat thee in the king’s seat as though thou wert
myself, let my knights come about thee and call thee by my name
with all due reverence, and then send messengers for me, and call
me Antiochus, and I shall obey thy bidding as I were thy liegeman.
And when I come to thy call, and kneel before thee, declare to me
all the case of Candoyl’s adventure openly before him, and be not
abashed when I bow, nor bid me not to rise, but let thy countenance
be solemn when thou art speaking, and say then, ‘Antiochus, my
noble, let us see thy wisdom in this matter, do thou wisely advise
me.’” So Ptolemy hurried away and clothed him in the dress of an
emperor, and sent for Alexander in the name of Antiochus, and when
he was come, he told him the tale before Candoyl, and asked his
advice. Then answered Antiochus, “Were it your will, noble Emperor,
I would fare with this knight to recover his wife, and would bid
the king of Bebrik on pain of his eyes restore her, and if not, we
should grind his city and him to dust.” Then Candoyl bowed before
the king, and said, “Sir Antiochus, of all men be thou happy, thy
wisdom is worthy of a king clad in gold with crown and sceptre.”
So Alexander and Candoyl rode forth that same night, and when it
was dawn they came before the walls of Bebrik. Then the watch on
the gate saw them, and cried out, “Who are ye, O knights; whence
and what is your errand?” And Alexander answered, “It is Sir
Candoyl, that has come for his spouse, and I am the messenger of
the Lord of Macedon, and I bid you, if you will save your city from
destruction, to yield his bride to him without delay.” Then the
burghers of the city were filled with fear, though they were a
stiff-necked folk, and they went in a body to the palace of their
king, and burst open the gates and brought forth the dame, and led
her to her husband in all honour. So Candoyl thanked him heartily,
and said, “I pray thee, dear prince, pass with me to my mother,
that thou mayst have the honour and reward thou hast merited for
thy deeds.” Then was the King rejoiced at these words, and he said,
“Go we to Alexander to ask his leave, and gladly will I follow thee
and do thy will;” for he would not have him to think him other than
Antiochus; so they went to Ptolemy and he gave him full leave to
depart.
Now drew they near the city of Candace the queen, and she heard of
the coming of Candoyl her son and his wife, and how she had been
taken prisoner by the king of Bebrik, and released by a knight of
Macedon, who was with them, and she was glad in her heart, and
greatly rejoiced. Into a chamber she went and changed all her
weeds, and put on a robe of red gold and a rich mantle over it,
a crown and a kerchief clustered with gems, and came down from
her palace gate surrounded by her knights, and found them before
it. So she clasped her son in her arms and kissed him, and said,
“Welcome be thou, my loved son, and thou, my dearest daughter, and
I am glad of your guest, as the gods give me joy:” and Alexander
looked on her, and his heart rejoiced, for he thought her likest
of all women to Olympias his mother; fair and fresh was she as a
falcon, or as some spirit from another world. So they came into
her castle-hall, full of precious stones and adorned with gems,
its pillars of porphyry, and its floor of bright crystal, clear
as a river, and there they sat at meat--Alexander and Candace and
Candoyl, served together at the high table.
On the morrow at first light Candace the queen came with her
ladies and took the Greek knight Antiochus through the palace and
showed him how richly it was built, and all the wonders in it,
great and small. And when he had seen all these things she asked
him of the palace of Alexander, and he told her how it was not so
rich as hers, but was a home for fighting men to rest in, and to
prepare for new wars, while the palaces of the Kings of the East
were fitter to make men long for ease than to give them heart for
the toil and danger of battle. Then said the Queen, “Other wonders
still shall I show thee, O Antiochus, wonders that no king hath the
like of,” and she bade her servants go forth, and giving her hand
to the Greek led him into a room, covered with cypress and with
cedar from floor to roof, where they sat down on two thrones in the
room. Soon a mighty sound was heard, and as the Greek looked out
he saw the trees and the fields and the town moving round him, and
he knew that he was in a chamber that turned round by some hidden
power. It is to be said that this room was turned round by the
strength of twenty tame elephants that the queen kept for this end,
and everyday she came and sat in the chamber and looked from the
window while it was turned for a space. So as the false Antiochus
looked he wondered and said, “Verily, O Queen, were such a wonder
as this in our land of Macedon, proud would our lord the king be of
it above all his treasures”; and Candace looked on him and said,
“Alexander, this is but little to the wonders that the men of this
land can show the Greeks.”
Then Alexander sprang up from his seat at the calling of his name,
for well he knew the danger he was in, and all his face turned
pale, since any of the kings of India would give his weight in
gold to have him in their power, and he said, “Nay, lady, my name
is Antiochus,” but she rose and took him by the hand with a kindly
laugh, and going to the recess drew back the tapestry banging and
shewed him a picture in parchment whereon he was painted dressed in
his royal robes. “See for thyself,” said she, “that I have made no
mistake.” Then as the king looked on the picture his face turned
yellow, and his flesh trembled. “Why fades thy fair hue?” said the
lady, “thou warrior of all the world, the conqueror of Persia and
of India, the Medes and the Parthians! Lo, now, thou art here in
a woman’s ward, in spite of all thy worthy deeds. Where is now
thy praise that reaches up to heaven? It is gone at once, at the
turning of the breath of a woman.” Then she waited for a space,
but the lord of Macedon answered her naught, for his heart waxed
hot within him, and he ground his teeth with rage as he looked
hither and thither, so she said, “Why dost thou vex thy soul, Sir
Conqueror, what may thy manhood avail thee, or all thy rage?” Then
the King answered her and said, “For one thing only I grieve, that
I have not my sword, nor may I see any weapon.” “And, my fair
knight, what bold brave deed would thy sword help thee to, if thou
hadst one?” “Since I am taken unawares,” quoth he, “surely I would
slay thee where thou sittest, and myself after.” Then Candace the
Queen laughed out, “That were the deed of a true knight,” said she,
“but not yet are we to do and suffer such things; hast thou not
rescued my son’s wife from the hands of the king of Bebrik? Surely
I shall save thee unharmed from my folk. Yet were it known that
thou wert here, not all my power could save thee, since thou hast
slain the Lord of India, good Porus, whose daughter my youngest
son Caratros has taken to wife. But no man has seen thy picture
from the day I had it till now.” Then the Lord of Macedon came near
her, and she took him by the hand and led him into the hall of the
palace.
Now when Candace the Queen left Alexander in the hall she came on
her two sons Candoyl and Caratros, and they were in sore strife.
For after the Queen had borne away with her the Greek, Caratros
said to his brother Candoyl, “Now has this Greek Lord slain my
father-in-law, Porus the Good, and needs must I have revenge or my
wife will go mad. I will slay this lord Antiochus, his friend and
messenger, and when he comes to revenge his servant, I will go out
and slay him in combat.” But Candoyl answered him, “My brother,
the Lord of Macedon has helped me, and this knight, Sir Antiochus,
has recovered for me my wife: I brought him hither, and I shall
lead him in safety to his lord’s tents.” Then Candace the Queen
said, “Caratros, my son, what honour will come to thee for slaying
a guest and a friend? Shall anything come of it but sorrow?” But
Caratros grew angry and said, “What ails thee brother, that we
should strive with each other in this matter, leave me to do my
will.” Then Candace the Queen went quickly and took Alexander
into council and told him how her son wished to slay him, and how
Candoyl would fight for him. “Lord Alexander,” said she, “I pray
thee, make peace between my children.” Then Alexander rose up,
and came to the room of the brethren, and the clash of swords was
heard, so he caught up a weapon and ran between them and beat down
their swords, saying, “Fair lords, this must not be, ye must not
fight alone.” And after he had quieted them, he spake to Caratros
in fair words, saying, “My good lord, if you end my life, you can
win no praise for it, since I am in thy hands. Alexander has seven
hundred knights as good as I am, if I were precious to him, would
he have let me come in a strange land without ward or retinue?
Not so, my lord, but if in truth you desire to look on Alexander,
you need but give me the goods I crave for and I will immediately
put that prince into your hands.” Then Caratros rejoiced, and
kissed his brother in his joy; and Candace the Queen called to her
Alexander and said, “Happy should I be, if you were ever with me,
then should all my foes be destroyed.” So she gave him a crown of
amethysts and diamonds, and a noble mantle, and dearly she kissed
him, and bade him farewell. And the Lord of Macedon departed and
with him Candoyl went as his guide, for he thought that Caratros
his brother might again change his mind and work him evil, if the
Greek knight returned alone to the camp; and he purposed to lead
him through the mountains and to shew him the place where Candace
his mother worshipped the great gods, and heard oracles of things
to come, and teamed the mysteries of the gods.
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