HOW THE COUNT OF CARRION WOUND THE SKEIN AND HOW OTHERS UNWOUND IT
The Count of Carrion had some friends in Toro, and he proceeded thither,
two days after he had received the sentence of banishment pronounced by
Don Sancho, leaving his sister in the castle under the guard of his
accomplice, Bellido Dolfos.
Doña Elvira, the mistress of Toro, was a young princess, as unsuspecting
as she was good, and this being known to Don Suero and his partisans,
they determined, at any cost, to make themselves masters of her will, in
order to establish at Toro the centre of their operations; for they had
resolved to get up a conspiracy against Don Sancho, in order to avenge
themselves for the sentence of banishment which he had passed on them.
They made the Infanta believe that she was surrounded by dangers, that
her brother harboured the design of reigning in all the states of his
late father, and that Toro was the first which he had resolved to get
possession of, as, being the weakest, he preferred to commence in it his
plans of usurpation. "Let us cause enmity," they said, "between Doña
Elvira and Don Sancho, and he will at once endeavour to make himself
master of Toro. Don Alfonso, Don Garcia, and Doña Urraca will take up at
once the defence of their sister, fearing lest Don Sancho would also
attack their dominions, stimulated to it by his usurpation of the state
of Toro, and then the King of Castile will lose his crown, for he will
not be able to resist all his brothers and sisters leagued against him."
At the same time they instilled distrust, regarding the intentions of
Don Sancho, into the heart of Don Alfonso, and into those of Don Garcia
and Doña Urraca, by means of trusty friends whom they had near them. In
a word, they were hatching a widespread conspiracy, which they felt
confident would enable them to avenge themselves on the King of Castile.
The credulous Doña Elvira cast herself blindly into the arms of those
men, believing that she could only procure her safety through them; so
that, in a very short time, the Count of Carrion and his partisans were
much more rulers of Toro than the daughter of Don Fernando. Such being
the condition of affairs, was it not easy for those traitors to force
Doña Elvira to declare war against Don Sancho? And having embroiled
himself with Doña Elvira, would he not also have done so with all his
brothers and sisters? And then, was not his ruin certain?
Don Sancho learned that Toro was now the residence of his bitterest
foes, that they were conspiring there against Castile, and that his
sister, far from opposing the conspirators, was aiding them by her
tolerance, and even openly protecting them. On this account he was very
much irritated with Doña Elvira, to whom he addressed frequent protests,
threatening her with the loss of her state if she did not change her
conduct.
Persuaded by her disloyal advisers, she replied to Don Sancho with much
haughtiness, telling him that, if he dared to make an attempt on her
state, all her brothers and sisters would side with her, and that they
would divide amongst them the kingdom of Castile.
Don Sancho was easily excited to anger, but brave at the same time. That
challenge made him very indignant, with the much more reason, as he
believed that his brothers and sisters owed the quiet possession of
their states, up to the present time, to his affection and
generosity--states which, he believed, belonged by right to him.
Besides, his mother, whose counsels were the only ones which had very
strong effect on him, was not with him; he held, indeed, those of the
Cid in much esteem, but he did not always allow himself to be blindly
guided by him.
"My sister!" he exclaimed, filled with rage, when he had read her
letters, "thinks that I fear my brothers, but she knows me but very
imperfectly. I promised my mother not to proclaim war against my
kinsfolk, and I have kept that promise; but if they declare war against
me, I accept the issue. I do not fail in my word. Within a few days the
state of Toro shall be mine, even though all my brothers and sisters
should unite for its defence."
"Sire," said Rodrigo Diaz and other cavaliers to him, "remember the
curse which your father called down on the head of any child of his who
would dare to deprive another of them of his inheritance. You should
know that Doña Elvira is but a powerless woman, who, instead of being
punished, should be protected by you, for, in addition to being her
brother, you are powerful."
"I do not incur the malediction of my father by opposing war to war,"
answered Don Sancho; "the curse of my father will fall on the head of
that sister or brother who insults and challenges me. If I tolerate the
arrogance and the provocation of my sister, they will all look on me as
weak and cowardly, and some day they will all attack me, anxious to
divide my kingdom amongst them. If I let Doña Elvira and all the others
see now that I am neither weak nor a coward, they will not abuse my
generosity in the future. The state of Toro must be mine, even though I
return it to my sister immediately after having taken possession of it."
The Cid endeavoured to dissuade Don Sancho from his resolve, but his
counsels were of no avail. He did not persist in them energetically, in
order not to act against the principle which he had formerly expressed,
that the king should act without being impeded either by nobles or
commoners.
Don Sancho then collected a large body of men-at-arms, and was preparing
to attack Toro; but just then Doña Elvira, having sought aid from Don
Garcia, who was the most powerful of her brothers, the latter sent one
of his cavaliers, named Rui-Ximenez, to Don Sancho, challenging him to
attack the kingdom of Galicia instead of the state of Toro, and
charging him with cowardice, on account of his intention to fall upon
the weak, like Doña Elvira, instead of the strong, like him. The
vexation which this message caused Don Sancho was much greater than that
which the provocations of Doña Elvira had occasioned.
The King of Castile consulted the Cid as to the reply which he should
give to his brother.
"Endeavour," said Don Rodrigo to him, "to avoid war with your brother,
but if he perseveres in his provocations, make war against him, without,
however, forgetting that he is your brother; but to enter into his
kingdom you must pass through that of Leon, and to do so without the
consent of Don Alfonso would be only to make another enemy."
Don Sancho and Don Alfonso met in Sahagun, and arranged that the latter
should allow the Castilian army to pass through the kingdom of Leon. As
a result of this arrangement, Don Sancho sent Alvar Fañez Minaya to
challenge Don Garcia.
He accepted the challenge, and collected a large army, with which he
prepared to march against his brother, who was advancing in great force
towards Galicia. His soldiers, however, who were very much discontented
on account of war having been declared against Castile, as they foresaw
its disastrous consequences, revolted at the moment of setting out, and
killed Rui-Ximenez in the presence of the king, for they believed that
it was he who had given evil counsels to Don Garcia.
This occurrence caused the breaking up of the army of the King of
Galicia, and thus the Castilians penetrated into his kingdom, and Don
Sancho made himself master of several fortified places, and especially
of the entire Portuguese portion of the kingdom.
After a time, however, Don Garcia mustered another large army, and
sallied forth to encounter his brother. The battle was fierce, the two
kings fighting at the fronts of their respective troops, and after a
combat, lasting for half a day, the Castilians were thrown into
disorder. Don Garcia succeeded in making Don Sancho his prisoner, and
having given him into the charge of six of his followers, he set out in
pursuit of the fugitives.
"Give me my liberty, cavaliers," cried Don Sancho to those who were
guarding him, full of anger at not being able to stop the flight of his
disordered army, and of shame at finding himself a prisoner. "Let me
free, and I promise you rich rewards, and I also give you my word that
I will not cause any further injury to your country."
"For all your kingdom we would not do it," replied his guards, "for we
should then be traitors to our lord and king. You must await the return
of Don Garcia, and he can act as he pleases."
Alvar Fañez Minaya saw from a distance the capture of Don Sancho, and,
spurring his horse towards those who were guarding him, he cried out--
"Traitors, set my lord and king at liberty!"
And as they did not show any disposition to obey him, but were rather
preparing to chastise his audacity, he rushed on them, and unhorsed two
with the first thrusts of his lance. The other four then fled in terror;
and Don Sancho, having recovered his freedom, rode up to the top of an
eminence and cried out to his men--
"To me, my cavaliers! Loyal and brave Castilians, rally around me!"
Four hundred cavaliers collected around him in a few minutes, and the
others, who were fighting in groups, scattered here and there, recovered
courage, and succeeded in also joining the king.
The Cid, who in those wars accompanied the king, without taking part in
the conflicts, as he desired to keep the promise which he had made to
Don Fernando the Great, never to draw his sword against a son or
daughter of his, unless one was oppressed by another and required his
aid,--the Cid, we repeat, had remained neutral, at some distance from
the field of battle; but when he became aware of the difficult position
in which Don Sancho was, he believed that he should go to his
assistance, and he appeared, with his three hundred cavaliers, in sight
of the king just as he was preparing to descend to the plain, where the
battle was continuing, with the troops which he had been able to
reunite.
Don Sancho saw him, and joy and hope shone in his eyes.
"Let us descend to the plain," he said to his cavaliers; "for, the Cid
aiding us, we shall still be able to recover our losses, the day shall
yet be ours."
And he added, approaching the Cid--
"You are welcome, Campeador. A vassal never arrived in better time to
serve his king, than you do now."
"Sire," replied Rodrigo, "you can count on winning the battle. Your
brother will be defeated; but you must promise me to spare his life,
should he become your prisoner."
"I make you that promise, good Cid," answered Don Sancho.
They then descended to the plain, Don Sancho and the Cid in the front.
Don Garcia, wearied by the pursuit, was returning, well contented, and
rejoicing at having defeated his brother, when, on turning a hill, he
found himself face to face with the Castilians. The fight then
recommenced, all the troops, on both sides, reuniting.
That second fight was as sanguinary as the first, but shorter. The
cavaliers of the Cid succeeded in breaking up the ranks of Don Garcia,
and the Castilians were victorious.
The Cid took Don Garcia prisoner, and delivered him up to Don Sancho.
"Don Garcia," said the latter to his brother, "tell me, on the word of a
cavalier, what fate you had reserved for me when, a short time ago, you
had me in your power, for I wish to treat you as you would have treated
me."
"Death!" replied Don Garcia, driven to the wildest desperation.
"Your brother does not wish to shed the blood of his brother," said the
King of Castile; "your brother would restore you to liberty, and would
give back to you the kingdom which he has won from you, if he did not
fear that you would provoke a second war, in which Christians would shed
the blood of Christians. As you cannot live free in your Alcazar of
Oviedo, live a prisoner in the Castle of Luna."
"You do well to imprison me," replied Don Garcia, "as I am now your
deadliest foe, since it has been your desire to have in me an enemy and
not a brother. But those who will free me from my prison are not
wanting. The King of Leon is still free; and the hope also remains to me
that your forehead shall be struck some day by the bolt of divine
vengeance, with which our father threatened the Cain who would attack
his brother."
"It is ye that are Cains, not I," exclaimed Don Sancho, in anger; but,
restraining himself, he added--
"Brother, refrain from insults, which can only make your condition
worse. Give me your word that you will live far from my states, and I
shall see that you want nothing wherewith to maintain your dignity, and
in exchange I will now give you your freedom."
"If you give it to me, I shall use it to drag you from the throne which
you have usurped."
"Then you shall live and die in confinement, as you so desire!"
exclaimed Don Sancho indignantly.
A few days after, the unfortunate Don Garcia was imprisoned in the
Castle of Luna.