Transcriber's note: Corrected obvious punctuation errors (e.g. " for ')
THE
CID CAMPEADOR
_A HISTORICAL ROMANCE_
BY
D. ANTONIO DE TRUEBA Y LA QUINTANA
Translated from the Spanish
BY
HENRY J. GILL, M.A., T.C.D.
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1895
[_All rights reserved_]
PREFACE
The "Cid Campeador" has been for centuries the great popular hero of
Spain. He takes the same place in that country as King Arthur does in
England, Roland, or Rolando, in France, and William Tell in Switzerland;
and, like them, his life and exploits are, to a great extent, founded on
popular traditions. In English-speaking countries there is very little
known respecting him, and the translator ventures to place before the
public a work which is considered by Spaniards to be one of the best
historical romances in their literature. It is founded on a large number
of ballads and other poetical pieces, extant in Spain for centuries, and
on a very old work named "The Chronicle of the Cid."
The Author writes in his Introduction: "The Cid is the most popular of
the Castilian heroes, and not without reason, for in him are personified
all the virtues of the citizen and of the soldier. A good son, he
avenges the insults offered to his father by bravely fighting with the
Count of Gormaz: a good cavalier and faithful lover, he gives his hand
and heart to the daughter of the man whom he had slain in fair combat: a
good monarchist, he risks the anger of King Alfonzo by compelling him to
take an oath that he was not guilty of a crime which would stain the
throne of Fernando the Great: a good soldier and a good vassal, he
conquers, with his invincible sword, hostile realms and Moorish kings,
and lays at the feet of his sovereign, who had unjustly banished him,
the spoils which he had won and the countries of which he had made
himself master: a good patrician, loving the glory and the preponderance
of his native land, he proceeds to Rome, enters the Church of St. Peter,
and seeing in the place of honour the seat of the representative of
France, he breaks it in pieces, filled with indignation, and puts in its
place that of the representative of Spain: and finally, a good
Christian, a good husband, and a good father; before entering into the
combats, when calling upon God, he also uses the names of his wife and
children, over whom he had wept when parting from them,--he who, in
battle, showed a heart more hard than the armour which covered it."
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. WHICH TREATS OF SOME LOVE AFFAIRS WHICH COMMENCED
ALMOST WHEN OTHERS END . . . 1
II. IN WHICH CERTAIN FESTIVITIES ARE DESCRIBED, WHICH
ENDED WITH A BLOW ON A FACE . . 10
III. IN WHICH THE READER WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENED
TO RODRIGO AND HIS SQUIRE BETWEEN LEON AND
VIVAR. . . . . 16
IV. IN WHICH THE MAIDEN, IN ADDITION TO HER OWN
STORY, RELATES CERTAIN MATTERS, WHICH WILL
ROUSE THE ANGER OF THOSE WHO READ OF THEM . 22
V. HOW RODRIGO AND HIS SQUIRE WERE RECEIVED AT
VIVAR. . . . . 29
VI. HOW FERNAN DESPAIRED OF GETTING WOMEN TO
UNDERSTAND REASON, AND HOW DIEGO LAINEZ
HOPED THAT HIS HONOUR WOULD BE AVENGED . 37
VII. HOW RODRIGO FOUGHT WITH THE COUNT OF GORMAZ . 42
VIII. HOW XIMENA DEMANDED JUSTICE FROM THE KING
AGAINST RODRIGO DIAZ . . . 49
IX. HOW A MOORISH PRINCESS WAS CONVERTED, AND HOW
A SOLITARY CEASED TO BE SUCH . . 55
X. HOW MARTIN SET OUT TO AVENGE HIS FATHER . 60
XI. HOW THE DE VIVAR FAMILY RECEIVED LETTERS FROM
THE KING, DON FERNANDO . . . 71
XII. THE COMBAT BETWEEN RODRIGO AND MARTIN GONZALEZ . 80
XIII. OF AN UNEXPECTED VISIT WHICH XIMENA RECEIVED IN
HER RETREAT . . . . 87
XIV. HOW RODRIGO AND XIMENA WERE MARRIED, AND HOW
THE DEVIL TERRIFIED THE PEOPLE OF BURGOS . 95
XV. HOW RODRIGO BECAME THE POSSESSOR OF BABIECA,
AND WHAT HAPPENED WHILST HE WAS RIDING HIM . 105
XVI. HOW RODRIGO ROUSED UP THE COUNTRY, AND DEFEATED
THE MOORS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF OCA . . 113
XVII. HOW THE ARMY OF RODRIGO MARCHED BACK TO BURGOS
WITHOUT BEING WEARIED, AS THE READER MAY BE . 122
XVIII. HOW THE VENGADOR AND RUI-VENABLOS, ALTHOUGH
ONLY BANDITS, THOUGHT AS CAVALIERS . . 129
XIX. HOW THE SINGLE PAINT THE LIFE OF THE MARRIED . 136
XX. HOW THE COUNT OF CARRION GAINED NOTHING BY
BULLYING . . . . 145
XXI. HOW ONE MOOR REMAINED, AND FIVE WENT AWAY . 152
XXII. HOW THE BAND OF THE VENGADOR ATTACKED THE
CASTLE OF CARRION . . . 161
XXIII. IN WHICH IT IS PROVED THAT COLD AND LOVE
ARE NOT INCOMPATIBLE . . . 170
XXIV. HOW TWO WOMEN DISCUSSED THE MAKING OF THEIR
FORTUNES--HOW TWO CHILDREN DIVERTED
THEMSELVES--AND HOW TWO MEN PLOTTED TREASON . 178
XXV. WHAT HAPPENED TO RODRIGO ON THE ROAD TO
COMPOSTELA . . . . 187
XXVI. HOW THE VENGADOR AND RUI-VENABLOS CHANGED
THEIR OPINION REGARDING BELLIDO . . 198
XXVII. HOW TERESA AND GUILLEN BELIEVED THAT GOD HAD
TOUCHED THE HEART OF DON SUERO . . 206
XXVIII. HOW THE COUNT OF CABRA SANG A BALLAD FOR THE
COUNT OF CARRION . . . 217
XXIX. HOW THE KING AND RODRIGO, HAVING SAID GOOD
PRAYERS, GAVE GOOD SWORD STROKES . . 226
XXX. HOW ONE GOOD MAN CAN MAKE A HUNDRED GOOD ALSO . 233
XXXI. IN WHICH THE PROVERB, "LET THE MIRACLE BE
WROUGHT, EVEN THOUGH THE DEVIL DOES IT,"
IS JUSTIFIED . . . . 245
XXXII. IN WHICH IT IS PROVED THAT HE WHO SOWS REAPS,
AND IN WHICH IT IS SEEN THAT THEY WHO GIVE
RECEIVE . . . . 257
XXXIII. IN WHICH WE CONTINUE TO PROVE THAT THE CID
WAS A CID IN EVERY WAY . . . 266
XXXIV. WHICH TREATS OF CAVALIERS FREE WITH THE HAND
AND PEASANTS FREE WITH THE TONGUE . . 276
XXXV. OF THE SORROWS WHICH THE COWARDLY DON SUERO
CAUSED HIS SISTER . . . 283
XXXVI. THE KING IS DEAD--LONG LIVE THE KING . . 293
XXXVII. HOW CERTAIN CAVALIERS WENT FOR WOOL AND CAME
BACK SHORN . . . . 302
XXXVIII. HOW THE PEASANT OF BARBADILLO WENT TO BURGOS,
WITH OTHER THINGS WHICH THE READER WILL
LEARN. . . . . 310
XXXIX. HOW THE CID AVENGED HIMSELF ON THE COUNT OF
CABRA. . . . . 321
XL. HOW THE COUNT OF CARRION WOUND THE SKEIN AND
HOW OTHERS UNWOUND IT . . . 331
XLI. FROM BURGOS TO VIVAR . . . 337
XLII. FROM VIVAR TO CARRION . . . 344
XLIII. HOW A GOOD CAVALIER WAS CHARGED WITH AN EVIL
MESSAGE . . . . 350
XLIV. THE SIEGE OF ZAMORA. . . . 357
XLV. IN WHICH IT IS PROVED THAT ONE CAN FIGHT WITHOUT
CONQUERING OR BEING CONQUERED . . 365
XLVI. THE OATH IN SANTA GADEA . . . 372
XLVII. IN WHICH THIS BOOK ENDS, PROVING THAT GOD
GIVES IN THIS WORLD, BOTH TO THE GOOD AND
TO THE BAD, A SAMPLE OF THE CLOTH WHICH
THEY SHALL WEAR IN THE OTHER WORLD . . 379
THE CID CAMPEADOR
CHAPTER I
WHICH TREATS OF SOME LOVE AFFAIRS WHICH COMMENCED ALMOST WHEN OTHERS
END
Joyous festivities were being celebrated at the Court of Leon in the
spring of A.D. 1053. Don Fernando I., King of Castile and Leon, had
journeyed to Najera to visit his brother Don Garcia, King of Navarre,
who was sojourning, in bad health, in that town; but, having learned
that Don Garcia desired to take him prisoner, on account of certain
matters which were pending between them, regarding the partition of
their late father's kingdom, he quickly withdrew to a place of safety.
Don Garcia having gone, in his turn, to visit his brother, was
incarcerated in the Castle of Cea. However, having succeeded in escaping
from it, he summoned the Moors to his aid, and entered Castile,
determined on revenge, and committed horrible atrocities. Don Fernando
sallied forth to meet him, engaged with him at Atapuerca, not far from
Burgos, and the invading army was completely routed. Don Garcia was
killed by a lance-wound inflicted on him by a soldier named Sancho
Fortun, who had gone over to the service of Don Fernando.
This, then, was the occasion of the festivities to which we have
alluded, festivities which had attracted to the Court great numbers of
ladies and cavaliers, not alone from Castile and Leon, but also from the
other kingdoms, into which, at that time, Spain was divided. There had
been various games, and a splendid tournament had taken place, in which
Don Fernando had broken lances with the bravest and most polished
cavaliers of the period--a period so celebrated for skilful jousters and
valiant warriors.
Night having come on, the dances, games, and jousts ceased, and great
bonfires were lighted up in the open places of the town and in the
surrounding fields, where the people continued the rejoicings until the
approach of morning. They mingled their songs and acclamations with the
continuous clanging of the bells and the sounds of the rustic musical
instruments used in those times, until the ladies and cavaliers filled
up the halls of the royal Alcazar. In them was to be celebrated a ball
well worthy of the festivities that had taken place on that memorable
day, the remembrance of which both Castilians and Leonese preserved for
long years after, on account of the favours which their king dealt out
to them with a generous hand.
If we were to paint with rich and vivid colours the halls in which was
assembled the Court of Don Fernando, we should perchance please readers
fond of the marvellous and magnificent. The picture would indeed be very
effective, but we should fail in strict adherence to truth, and in our
intention to sacrifice everything for its sake, during the long course
of events which we are about to describe. The spirit of independence
which reigned at that period in Castile had driven out the Eastern
luxury which the Moslims were in the habit of displaying, during four
centuries, in the southern parts of Spain. The contemporaries of the Cid
were as brave and manly as the heroes of Covadonga, but also as rude and
simple-minded as the first champions of the Holy Crusade, who had
succeeded in driving back into the African deserts the impious followers
of the Crescent. Light and flowers were the riches which abounded in the
halls of the Alcazar of Leon--light and flowers which are the riches of
the fields, the luxury of nature. However, if any discontented person
found those decorations too insignificant, he must have found
compensation in the beauteous dames and brave knights who moved about in
all directions, evidently well pleased and content. All were impatiently
awaiting the arrival of the king, which was to be the prelude to the
dancing and to the other amusements proper to the occasion and to the
period, when the voice of a page was heard above the buzz of the crowd,
announcing the approach of Don Fernando and his family. A profound
silence reigned throughout the saloons, and all looks were fixed on the
door which communicated with the royal apartments. And, indeed, Don
Fernando immediately appeared, accompanied by his queen Doña Sancha, by
his daughters Elvira and Urraca, by his sons, Sancho, Alfonso, and
Garcia, and by some grandees who, during the day, had had the honour of
accompanying him, and whom the king had invited to his table. Amongst
these last universal attention was centred on an old man of noble
appearance, to whom Don Fernando directed his conversation frequently
and with great kindness. That old grandee was the noble Diego Lainez,
lord of Vivar.
We have said that all looks were fixed on the royal family, but for our
credit sake, as true and accurate narrators, we must make an exception.
At one end of the principal hall a gentle maiden, who might count
perhaps twenty summers, was conversing, without paying attention to
their arrival, with a handsome youth not much more advanced in years.
The importunities of a rather ancient dueña, who evidently feared that
they might be noticed, judging from the terrified way in which she
frequently gazed around, did not succeed in interrupting their
confidential chat, which to all appearance was of an amatory character.
The two young persons were Ximena, daughter of the Count de Gormaz, and
Rodrigo, son of Diego Lainez; the elderly lady, who showed herself so
uneasy, was Lambra, the dueña of the young girl.
The conversation between them was indeed of the nature mentioned above,
for Rodrigo and Ximena loved each other from the years of their
childhood, and love was always the subject of their conversations. Let
us tell how the son of Diego Lainez and the daughter of Don Gome de
Gormaz first became lovers. Bonds of friendship and relationship--the
latter, however, rather distant--had united for very many years the two
families. On the occasion of the celebration of certain famous
tournaments at Vivar, Don Gome and his family repaired thither, and were
hospitably lodged in the house of Diego Lainez. Rodrigo at that time was
four years old, and Ximena, whose parents had brought her with them to
Vivar, but little younger. Diego Lainez, to do honour to his friends,
gave a banquet sufficiently splendid and abundant, when the traditional
frugality in his household is taken into consideration. On this occasion
the two gentlemen renewed their pledges of friendship.
Teresa Nuña, the noble wife of Diego, loved her son with a tenderness
only to be compared with that with which the wife of De Gormaz loved her
daughter. The children rivalled each other in beauty and grace, and the
two mothers started a friendly and praiseworthy discussion on that
subject, after the termination of the banquet. We call it praiseworthy,
because maternal pride is noble and holy, although it may appear
unreasonable to those who judge it dispassionately. That controversy
ended by all those present, including the fathers of the children,
agreeing that they were equal in beauty and grace, as they were almost
equal in age.
"They seem made for each other," said Teresa Nuña. And from that opinion
a thought took birth which was received with enthusiasm by both
families--to enlace more and more their interests and friendship by the
union of Rodrigo and Ximena. The realisation of this project was
arranged for the time when the two fair scions of those noble families
would have completed their twentieth years; for in that iron age all the
risks to life and health attending the too early marriages of young
girls were, with good reason, avoided.
Love, and above all the love of a mother, is the source of the most
beautiful and poetic thoughts; thus it was that Teresa was inspired with
a very beautiful idea. It was, that the children should consecrate this
arrangement for their future union with a kiss, which also should be the
pledge of a love that commenced on that day. Teresa Nuña, therefore,
took Rodrigo by the hand and led him up to Ximena; he then sealed with
his pure lips the blushing cheek of the girl, who, in her turn, kissed
that of Rodrigo.
This compact was a bond which made the intercourse of the two families
more close than it had been before, and the two children grew up like
two flowers on one stem--brother and sister in their education as they
were also in their souls.
Many years passed, and nothing had disturbed the warm friendship of the
two noble families; however, some special privileges conferred on Diego
Lainez at the Court of King Fernando, with whom the two grandees had
enjoyed much favour, irritated De Gormaz, whose nature, to judge by some
circumstances which had arisen anterior to those which afterwards took
place, was widely different, in nobleness and generosity, from that of
Diego. Indeed, thanks to the prudence of the latter, a complete
estrangement had been avoided until a short time before the events which
we have narrated at the beginning of this chapter; but at last De Gormaz
took the initiative by ordering his daughter to have no communication
whatever with Rodrigo, threatening Lambra to expel her from his
household if she permitted such.
On the day of which we are now treating the exasperation and the anger
of De Gormaz rose to their highest point, on account of the kindness
shown by the king to Diego, and, on the other hand, by the coldness with
which he himself had been received, and above all, by the slight which
he considered had been cast on him, by his not having been invited to
the royal table, as had been Diego Lainez, to whom he attributed his
disgrace with the king. Certainly Diego was very far indeed from
meriting such an accusation on the part of his former friend, for on
that very day he had done his utmost to rehabilitate him in the eyes of
Don Fernando; the king, however, had just motives for complaint against
the count, and the good offices of De Vivar had been unavailing.
At the moment when the entry of the royal family into the saloons of the
Alcazar was announced, Don Gome was passing through them, accompanied by
his daughter. Although feeling much resentment, on account of the
coldness of the king, he did not wish to renounce all chance of
recovering the favour of Don Fernando, provoking afresh his resentment
by abstaining from joining his suite, and thus acting differently from
all the other cavaliers who were passing through the saloons. It so
happened that, charging Lambra with the care of his daughter, he
advanced towards the royal family. Rodrigo, who was watching for an
opportunity to speak to the young girl, saw heaven opened when he
perceived that she was free from the presence of her father, and flew to
her side despite the anxiety which he knew it would cause the dueña.
Many days had passed since Ximena had seen him, and it is easy to
imagine what was her pleasure, taking into account the tender and old
love which united them.
"Ximena!" murmured Rodrigo in a low voice, trembling with emotion.
"Rodrigo!" whispered the girl, without being able to add another word.
"By all the saints of the heavenly court," said the terrified dueña,
directing an entreating gesture to Rodrigo, "I ask you to depart hence,
for if the count sees you it will go ill with my lady and with me. You
doubtless do not know that he has threatened to cut my skirts short, in
order to disgrace me, if I allow my lady to hold any converse with you.
I beseech you to do nothing to increase his anger, as things have not
gone well with him to-day."
"Fear nothing, honoured dueña," replied Rodrigo, "for if the count cuts
your skirts short I shall give you others made of the richest cloth."
"I know well that you are a cavalier, and it is the prerogative of
cavaliers to be generous. Speak with my lady; but be brief. I shall
meantime keep watch, and say my beads that my lord may not see ye."
Rodrigo and Ximena were already conversing, not paying the slightest
attention to the words of Lambra.
"Rodrigo," said Ximena, "whither have gone those happy times when the
houses of De Vivar and De Gormaz were as one trunk with two branches;
when no cloud obscured the bright sky of our loves; when we saw the
distant horizon rosy and beautiful before us; when I found in your
parents the love which you found in mine? Vain have been your efforts,
vain have been mine, and vain also have been those of your friends and
mine, to appease the enmity which now separates our noble parents."
"That time, Ximena, has not, perhaps, passed away never to return. My
father, the son of Lain Calvo, although old, preserves, in youthful
luxuriance, the noble pride of ancestry, and it would not correspond
with such dignity if he were to bear with patience the unjust suspicions
with which your father has responded to his friendship. For a long time
he has borne them, Ximena. I indeed might humiliate myself before your
father, without such humiliation casting a stain on me, for I would do
it for your sake, and no reproach could be directed against him who
humiliates himself for a lady. What does your father desire? Honours;
riches; a kingdom; a throne for his daughter? You shall have all that,
Ximena, I swear it by our love and by the honour of my ancestors. My arm
is strong and my heart full of courage. Even to-morrow I shall set out
for the country of our enemies. I shall enter the territory of the
Moors, I shall fight as Bernardo fought at Roncesvalles, and I shall be
victorious; for that love, which I have cherished for you during so many
years, will make me invincible; and I shall lay all at the feet of your
father, demanding, as a recompense, your hand and the return of the
friendship which, at one time, was equal to ours for him."
"Good heavens!" said Doña Lambra, "my lord is just coming, and you, Don
Rodrigo, will be the victim of his anger; and if he cuts my skirts
short, good-bye to those of rich cloth!"
The two lovers paid little attention to the inquietude and the
ridiculous words of the dueña.
"I know well, Ximena," continued Rodrigo, "that your father will use
every means in order to avenge his supposed injuries on mine, and
perchance I, the idol of Diego Lainez, shall be the first victim of his
attempts; for, in order to wound the heart of the father, he will wound
that of the son, by taking from me the hope of gaining the sole object
of my ambition, which is yourself, Ximena. However, if the love which
you often have sworn to me is real, if you hold in any account the
happiness, the hopes, the life of the companion of your childhood, of
him who has dreamed of such felicity with you, you will know how to
resist his endeavours until the day shall come when Rodrigo will return
to Castile, worthy of the daughter of a king. Then pride will compel him
to grant that which his ambition, thwarted in its hopes, now denies to
me."
"I swear to you," answered Ximena, in one of those bursts of enthusiasm
in which, without taking reason into account, all things appear possible
to us,--"I swear to you that nothing in this world shall be able to
conquer my resolve,--I shall be the wife of Rodrigo or of none other. My
father may be able to extinguish the breath of my lungs, but never the
love of my heart."
"Ah!" exclaimed Rodrigo, "blessed was the day when my eyes first looked
on you! Perhaps, without the love of Ximena, Rodrigo Diaz would be one
of those plants which spring up, live, and die, without having borne any
fruit; one of those men who pass through the world without leaving a
trace which might point out his path to those who come after him; your
love, however, will immortalise his name; by him the plains of Castile
will be stained by Moslim blood; through him the standard of Mahomet
will be trampled under foot by the Christian kingdoms; in him the weak
and the oppressed shall have an arm to sustain and defend them; and
through him the race of the Counts of Castile shall wear the royal
purple."
Whilst thus speaking, forgetting where he was, the cheeks of Rodrigo
flushed, his broad and noble brow lit up, and his eyes sparkled, as if
all the fire that inflamed his heart flew to his head. The eyes of
Ximena shone also with joy, and her heart beat with violence, agitated
by love and pride,--by pride, for the daughter of a king would have felt
it, knowing she was loved by such a generous and brave youth, to whom
she desired to return, in her ardent glances, all the treasures of love
which were shut up in her soul.
The anxiety of Lambra was increasing every moment, and not without
cause; for the crowd which had collected around the royal family,
curiosity being satisfied, was moving off and distributing itself
through the saloons; and the honoured dueña feared the return of her
master, or that someone might notice her complacency and report it to
him.
"Ah! my skirts!" she said, moving in between Ximena and Rodrigo, "my
master is coming, and he will cut them short without remedy!"
A group of cavaliers came from the farthest end of the hall, and Rodrigo
thought he saw amongst them Don Gome.
"Adieu, Ximena," the young man hastened to say; "either everything or
nothing, either death or Ximena!"
"Either Rodrigo or nothing!" replied the young girl, following with her
glances her lover, who was just issuing from the halls of the Alcazar at
the instant that the count was returning to the side of his daughter.
An unusual joyous expression could be noticed on the visage of Don Gome,
which but shortly before was gloomy, and frequently contracted by anger.
The cause of this was, that the Count de Gormaz, far from receiving, as
he feared, a fresh slight from the king, had met with a kind reception,
which, as he had not anticipated it, doubly pleased him. To what was due
this sudden change in the feelings of the monarch? It was caused by the
endeavours which Diego Lainez, taking advantage of the mood in which the
king was on that day to grant favours, had used, with the object of
restoring his former friend to the royal favour. The monarch ultimately
had yielded to his solicitations, promising to show marks of kindness to
the grandee De Gormaz, in the presence of the entire Court. And indeed
the king had done so; when Don Gome had approached him in the saloons of
the Alcazar. Don Fernando had succeeded in concealing his resentment,
and received him with the same kindness which he exhibited towards Diego
Lainez himself.
"Ximena, my daughter!" exclaimed the count, pressing her in his arms,
for he required some means of showing his content, "the king, despite my
calumniators, has remembered my services, and restored me to his favour.
Don Fernando, who knows how much I love you,--that you are the dearest
thing that your father possesses, and that honouring you he honours
me,--desires to see you, and has commanded me to lead you to him."
Pleasure, in turn, shone on the countenance of Ximena; it was not,
however, the same kind of pleasure which her father experienced; it was
not that joy which proceeds from satisfied vanity. The reason for it
was, that Ximena loved her father, although she was well acquainted with
his defects, and desired his happiness, whatever might be the occasion
of it. A ray of hope now brightened up her heart--the hope that the old
friendly relations between the two families might be renewed, the
consequence of which would be the return of those happy times when no
obstacle was interposed between her and her lover. Pure and loving souls
are as much inclined towards hope as towards despair; Ximena, therefore,
ran over in her mind, in a brief space of time, those conflicting
sentiments, and passed from darkness to light, from death to life.
Her father then led her into the presence of the king, from whom, as
well as from the queen and the royal children, she received a most kind
reception. The many different experiences, which she had passed through
on that day, had in no way rendered her less beautiful than usual, and a
murmur of admiration arose amongst the ladies and cavaliers who were
accompanying the royal family when Ximena approached. De Gormaz smiled
with satisfaction and pride; and Diego Lainez, contemplating for the
thousandth time so much beauty and nobleness of expression, could not
help thinking, "My Rodrigo will be a hero if she commands it; he will
gain a throne if she asks him for one!" And a similar thought most
likely came into the minds of many others, for no one connected with the
Court was ignorant of the old love that united Ximena and Rodrigo, nor
of the influence that the maiden exercised on the soul of the valiant
youth who was the pride of the family of De Vivar, and the hope of the
good Castilians and Leonese.