before he took his food, he saw a good man come towards him, clad in
white garments, and with a fresh countenance and a cheerful, and a cross
upon his breast. And as he arrived where the King was, he blest him; and
when the King saw him he perceived that it was a revelation of God, and
he joined his hands and placed himself on his knees upon the ground,
weeping plentifully. And the holy man said, King, who art desirous of
heavenly glory, continue the service which thou art performing for the
love of my holy name; and take heed lest the enemy overcome thee, as he
who many times hath overcome thee, whereby thou hast come to what thou
now art. And believe none of all those who may come to thee here, for
they come for no other cause but only to deceive thee, and withdraw thee
from the service which thou dost me. And always observe the rule given
thee by the holy man whom thou buriedst; for I am content with it, and
thy soul shall receive refreshment if thou observest it. Come here, and I
will show thee how the Devil thought to deceive thee, that thou mightest
adore him. Then the King arose and went, alway upon his knees, following
the Holy Spirit of God; and when he was within the hermitage, our Lord
spake and said, Depart from hence, thou cursed one, and go thy way, for
thou hast no power to deceive him who continues in my service. Get thee
to the infernal pains which are suffered by those who are in the ninth
torment! And at that hour the King plainly saw how from the ark, which
was upon the altar, there went out a foul and filthy devil, with more
than fifty tails and as many eyes, who, uttering great yells, departed
from the place. And the King was greatly dismayed at the manner in which
the false Hermit had deceived him. And the Holy Spirit of God said to
him, King, let thy hope be in my name, and I will alway be with thee,
so thou wilt not let thyself be vanquished by the enemy. Then the Holy
Spirit of God departed, and the King remained full joyful and greatly
comforted, as if he had been in celestial glory. And thus he continued
his life for nearly two months.
Ch. 250.—_How the Devil would have deceived King Don Rodrigo in the
figure of Count Don Julian._
“The King was in his oratory one Sunday toward nightfall, just as the
sun was setting, when he saw a man coming toward him, clad in such guise
as is fitting for one who follows arms. And as he looked at him, he saw
that it was the Count Don Julian who approached; and he saw that behind
him there came a great power of armed people. And the false Count, when
he drew nigh, made obeisance to him; and the King was amazed at seeing
him, for he knew him well: nevertheless he remained still. And the false
Count came to him, and would have kissed his hand, but the King would
not give it, neither would he rise up from the oratory: and the false
Count knelt upon the ground before him, and said, Sir, forasmuch as I
am he who sinned against thee like a man who is a traitor to his Lord,
and as I did it with great wrath and fury, which possessed my heart
through the strength of the Devil, our Lord God hath had compassion upon
me, and would not that I should be utterly lost, nor that Spain should
be destroyed, nor that thou, sir, shouldst be put down from thy great
honour and state, and the great lordship which thou hadst in Spain. And
he has shown me, in a revelation, how thou wert here in this hermitage
doing this great penance for thy sins. Wherefore I say to thee, that
thou shouldst do justice upon me, and take vengeance according to thy
will, as upon one who deserves it, for I acknowledge that thou wert my
lord, and also the great treason into which I have fallen. Wherefore,
sir, I pray and beseech thee by the one only God, that thou wilt take
the power of Spain, which is there awaiting thee, and that thou wilt go
forth to defend the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and suffer not that
poor Spain, should be utterly destroyed, seeing that thou canst defend it
and protect it. And then Count Julian drew his sword, and gave it to the
King, saying, Sir, take this my sword, and with thine own hand do justice
upon me, and take such vengeance as thou pleasest; for I will suffer it
with much patience, seeing I have sinned against thee. And the King was
greatly troubled at his sight, and at his words also, and knew not what
he should do, neither what he should say. Howbeit, presently he called to
mind what the Holy Spirit of God had said to him, how he should take heed
lest the Devil should subdue him; and so he said nothing, but continued
in his prayer. And the false Count Don Julian said to him, Sir, wilt thou
not turn for the Holy Faith of Jesus Christ, which is utterly going to
destruction? rise up and defend it, for I bring thee a full great power;
and thus thou wilt serve God and recover the honour which thou hadst
lost. Rise then and go forth, and have pity upon miserable Spain, which
is about to be lost; and have compassion also upon so many people as are
perishing for want of a Lord who should defend them. Now all these words
were only meant to deceive him, for it was the Devil who had taken the
form of Count Don Julian, and not the Count himself. But the King could
no longer restrain himself from replying, and he said, Go you, Count,
and defend the land with this force which you have assembled, even as
you went to destroy it by the great treason which you committed against
me and against God. And even as you brought the men, who are enemies of
God and of his Holy Faith, and led them into Spain, so now thrust them
out and defend it; for I will neither slay you, nor assist you in it.
Leave me to myself; I am no longer for the world, for here I will do
penance for my sins. Urge me, therefore, no more with these reasons. And
the false Count Don Julian rose, and went to the great company which he
had brought there, and brought them all before the King. And the King,
when he beheld that great company of knights, saw some among them whom he
surely thought had been slain in battle. And they all said to him with
loud voices, Sir, whom wilt thou send us, that we may take him for our
King and Lord to protect and defend us, seeing that thou wilt not defend
the land, neither go with us? Wouldst thou give us thy nephew the Infant
Don Sancho? He is dead. What then wouldst thou command us that we should
do? Look to it well, sir; it is no service of God that thou shouldst let
perish so great a Christianity as is every day perishing, because thou
art here dwelling in this solitude. Look to it, for God will require an
account at thy hands: thou hadst the charge of defending them, and thou
lettest them die. And tell us what course shall we take. And when the
King heard these words he was moved to compassion: and the tears came
into his eyes, so that he could not restrain them: and he was in such
state that his thoughts failed him, and he was silent, and made no reply
to any thing that they could say. And all these companies who saw him
complained so much the more, and sent forth great cries, and made a great
tumult, and uproar, and said, O miserable King, why wilt thou not rouse
thyself for thy own sake, and for that of all thy people whom thou seest
without a Lord; and thou wilt not even speak a word to comfort them, and
tell them what they shall do. And all this while the King did nothing but
weep, and answered them never a word. And when this vile race saw that
they could not take him from thence, and that he answered them nothing,
and that they could not overcome him by whatever they might do, they
went forthwith from the mountain down into a plain, which was then made
to appear before the King, and there they drew up their battles in such
guise as the King Don Roderigo was used to darrain them. And eft-soon he
saw great multitudes of strange people, who came from the other side,
and they began a battle so fierce and so cruel, that the King thought he
had never seen one like it. And the one party put the other to the worst,
and followed after them in pursuit. And then there came messengers to the
King, telling him that his people had conquered, and had slain many of
the enemy; but the King was confounded, and as it were beside himself,
and heeded not, neither did he know what they said, and he answered
nothing. And then they all went away, and seemed to the King that the one
were pursuing the others, and this continued till the first crowing of
the cock. And the King recovered his senses: howbeit he knew not whether
it was a vision, or if it had indeed happened; but he called to mind that
he had not compleated the prayers which he made every day; and he began
them again and finished them. And when he had finished, great part of the
night was past, and he laid himself down to sleep. And then for three
months he had no other temptation.”
Ch. 251.—_How the Devil, in the Figure of La Cava, the Daughter of Count
Don Julian, sought to deceive King Don Rodrigo._
“The King was saying his prayers at the hour of vespers on a Tuesday,
when he saw people on horseback coming toward him: and as they were about
the reach of a cross-bow from him, he saw that they alighted, and that
there came toward him a woman, who was full nobly clad; and when she came
near, he knew her that she was La Cava, the daughter of Count Don Julian,
and she seemed to him more beautiful than he had ever before seen her in
his life. And when she drew nigh she humbled herself, and said, Sir, what
fortune has brought you to this wretched life in which you have so long
continued? And the King held his peace and said nothing. And that false
Cava said, Sir, it is a month since a holy man, clad in white garments,
and having a red cross upon his breast, appeared to me when I was with my
father Count Don Julian in Toledo; where he now holds the seat of the
lordship of Spain, as he who, by force of arms, has subdued the Moors,
and killed or made captives of them all. At the hour when this holy man
appeared to me I was alone in my chamber, having great sorrow in my
heart, because I had no certain news where you was, and whether your soul
continued to live in this world, or in another. And, moreover, I was full
sorrowful, because of the death of my Lady the Queen Eliaca, your wife,
who is now deceased. And for these things my heart was full sorrowful,
and in great trouble with griefs and thoughts, which came to me I know
not from whence, and I was like one bereft of his judgment. And while I
was contemplating in this state, the holy man appeared to me in such wise
as I have said, and said to me, Of what art thou taking thought? Cease
to lament, for without me thou canst do nothing certain of that which
thou desirest. But that the dominion of Spain may not pass away from the
power of the Goths, and that he who shall have it may descend from thy
seed, and be of the generation of King Don Rodrigo, it is my will that
thou shouldst know where he is, and that thou shouldst go to him, and
that he should go in unto thee, and that thou shouldst conceive of him
a son, and shalt call his name Felbersan, the which shall be such a one
that he shall reduce under his forces all the earth which is below the
firmament. Depart, therefore, from hence, and go to the place where he
is, and make no tarriance: for thus it behoveth for the service of God,
and for the weal and protection and defence of the land. And I said to
him, Sir, how can this be which you tell me, seeing that King Don Rodrigo
is dead; for his enemies slew him when they won the battle in which the
great chivalry of Spain perished. And he said to me, Cava, think not he
is dead, for he liveth, and passeth his life alone in a hermitage; of
the which thy father Count Don Julian will certify thee, for he went to
seek him there, and found him there when he overcame the Moors. He will
tell thee that he is alive, and in what place is the hermitage wherein
he abideth. And I said to him, But if King Don Rodrigo passeth his life
after this manner in the service of God, he will not approach me that I
may conceive of him this son who shall prove so good. And since it thus
pleases you, give me a sign by which I may show him that this is pleasing
to God, and that he may do this which you say, seeing so great good is to
follow from it. And, moreover, he will be brought to such weakness that
he will not be able to obey, by reason of the great abstinence to which
his body has been subjected during his continuance there. And the holy
man said to me, Care not for this, for God will give him strength; and
thou shalt say to him for a sign that he may believe thee, how I told him
that he should take heed lest the enemy deceive him, and how I bade the
Devil depart from the altar where he was in the ark instead of the Corpus
Christi, for that he should adore him. When thou tellest him this he will
believe thee, and will understand that it is by the command of God. And
when he had said these words he disappeared, so that I saw him no more;
and I remained for a full hour, being greatly comforted, because I knew
of your life, so that it seemed to me there were no other glory in this
world. And when I came to myself, I went incontinently to my father Count
Don Julian, and told him all that had befallen me with the holy man who
came in that holy vision; and I asked him if he knew aught concerning
you. And he told me how he had gone to you with all his chivalry to bid
you come out from thence to defend your country, which the enemies had
taken from you, and that you would not; but rather commended it to him
that he should undertake it, and defend the land and govern it; and that
it grieved him to think that you would not be alive, because of the great
abstinence which you imposed every day upon your flesh: nevertheless,
since it pleases our Lord that I should have a son by you, who should
be so good a man that he should recover all Spain, he would have me go
to this place, where I should find you if you were alive; and right
content would he be that there should remain of you so great good. And
I, sir King, seeing how it pleased God that this should be accomplished,
according as I have said, am come here in secret, for neither man nor
woman knoweth of this, save my father Count Don Julian; for I have told
my people who came with me to remain yonder, because I would go and
confess to a holy man who had made his abode here more than fifty years.
Now, since God is the author of this, recover yourself, and remember the
time when you told me that there was nothing in the world which you loved
so much as me, nor which you desired so greatly as to obtain a promise
of me; the which I could not give at that hour, by reason that the Queen
was living, and I knew it to be great sin. And if I come to you now, it
is by command of God, for it pleases him to send me here; and, also,
because the Queen is no longer in this present life. And because you are
so fallen away of your strength, let us go into the hermitage, or I will
order a tent to be placed here, and let us sup together, that your heart
may revive and you may fulfil the command of God.”
Ch. 252.—_How the Devil would have deceived King Don Rodrigo, if the Holy
Spirit had not visited and protected him._
“As the King heard all this his whole body began to tremble, and his soul
within him also; and all sense and power past away from him, so that he
was in a trance, and then it was revealed to him that he should take heed
against that temptation. And the false Cava, who saw him thus entranced,
made many burning torches of wax come there, by reason that it was cold,
and because that the King should derive heat; also there was a pavilion
pitched there, and a table set within it with many viands thereon, and
all the people who came with her were seen to lodge themselves far away
upon the mountain. And when he had recovered himself, he saw that the
false Cava was drest in a close-fitting kirtle, which came half way below
the knee, and she seemed to him the fairest woman that he had ever seen
in his life, and it appeared to the King that she said to him, Here, sir,
come and take your supper. And the King began again to tremble and lose
his judgment, and fell into such a state that he knew not where he was,
and it was revealed to him in that hour that he should guard against the
temptation. And when he came to himself he saw that the pavilion was
spread over his head; and seeing himself in that place, he looked for
the oratory, and perceived that it was where it used to be; and within
the pavilion he saw the false Cava, who was there with him, and that
she was standing beside a bed, which was a full rich one, and that she
began to take off her kirtle, and remained in her shift only, and with
her long hair, which reached to her feet; and she said to him, See,
sir, here in your power, that which you most desired, and which is now
awaiting you. Rejoice, then, and take heart, and do that which God has
appointed, and which will recover Spain, and recompense the losses, and
sorrows, and wrongs which you have endured. And then she turned toward
the King, for the Devil thought thus to tempt him, and make him break
the penance which he had begun; and certes I ween there was no living
man who would not right gladly have approached her. And then before
him, in his sight, she began to comb and to plait her golden locks. And
the King, seeing how beautiful she was, began to tremble all over, as
if he had been struck with palsy; and he lost his judgment again, and
became entranced, and remained thus a long while before he came again to
himself. And it was revealed to him again that he should take heed how
the Devil tempted him, and that he should have firm hope in God, and not
break the penance which the holy Hermit had appointed him. But ever when
he recovered from these trances, he forgot all which had been revealed
to him while he was entranced; and now he found that there was a large
_estrado_ placed by him, and that La Cava was lying there beside him
on some pillows, which were richly wrought in gold, undrest, as he had
seen her, and that she said to him, Come, sir, for you tarry long, and
it will soon be day-break. And the King seeing her so near him, then he
was greatly troubled, yet could he not withdraw his eyes from her: but
he called to mind how the Holy Spirit of God had bade him that he should
always confide in his name, and place his true hope in the sign of the
cross. And he clasped his hands, and lifted them towards Heaven, and
weeping bitterly, and in great contrition, he said, O Lord and very God,
Jesus Christ, deliver me from all temptation, and preserve my soul, that
it fall not into perdition. And while he was praying thus, he saw how
there came from the hermitage a great brightness, and he said, Deliver
me, Lord, from the power of the Devil, that I may not be deceived, nor
withdrawn from thy holy service. And at that hour he made the sign of the
cross upon his forehead, and blest himself; and at that hour the false
Cava fell down the rock into the sea, with such a sound as if the whole
world were falling to pieces, and with the plunge which she made the sea
dashed up so high, that where the oratory was the King was wetted with
the spray. And he remained in such astonishment, that he could not for
an hour recover himself. And when he came to himself he began to pray
with great repentance, as if he had been on the point of falling into
temptation. And the Holy Spirit of God came to him in that same manner in
which he had seen it the former time. And he fell on his face upon the
ground, and began to lament full bitterly, and to say, Lord, have mercy
upon my soul, and forsake me not among mine enemies, who would withdraw
me from thee. And the Holy Spirit said to him, O King, of little faith,
how hast thou been on the point of perishing! And the King made no reply,
for he did nothing but weep. And the Holy Spirit of God said to him,
Take heed, King, lest the Devil deceive thee, and have power over thee,
that thou shouldst not fulfil the penance which thou hast commenced,
neither save thy soul. And the King lifted up his countenance, and had
great shame to behold him. Howbeit he took courage, and said, Lord, have
mercy upon me, and let me not be tempted by the enemy, for my heart is
weak, and hath no power to defend itself against the false one: for my
judgement is clean confounded, as one who hath no virtue if he be not
aided by thy grace. Deliver me, Lord, for thy holy mercy and compassion:
my salvation cannot come through the strength of my heart, for it is
wholly full of fear, like a thing which is overcome. And the Holy Spirit
of God said to him, Take courage and fear not, for thou shalt depart from
this place sooner than thou thinkest. And when it is time I will guide
thee to the place where thou shalt do thy penance, that thy soul may
receive salvation. When thou shalt see a little white cloud appear above
thee, and that there is no other in the sky, follow after it: and in the
place where it shall stop shalt thou fulfil thy penance, according as the
chief priest in that place shall appoint it thee. And take heart, and
alway call to mind my holy name, and have true faith and constant hope
in thy Saviour. And when he had said this he departed. And the King was
greatly comforted and full of grace, as one with whom God was present in
his mercy. And he abode in the hermitage a whole year, according to his
reckoning, and twelve days more. And one day, when it was full clear,
the King looked up and saw above him the cloud of which the Holy Spirit
of God had told him; and when he saw it he was full joyful, and gave
many thanks to God. Nevertheless the King did not rise from his prayers,
neither did the cloud move from above him. And when he had finished his
prayers he looked at the cloud and saw that it moved forward.”
Ch. 253.—_How King Don Rodrigo departed from the Hermitage, and arrived
where he was to do penance._