OF THE LOVES OF RODERICK AND THE PRINCESS ELYATA.
As yet the heart of Roderick, occupied by the struggles of his early
life, by warlike enterprises, and by the inquietudes of newly-gotten
power, had been insensible to the charms of women; but in the present
voluptuous calm the amorous propensities of his nature assumed their
sway. There are divers accounts of the youthful beauty who first found
favour in his eyes, and was elevated by him to the throne. We follow, in
our legend, the details of an Arabian chronicler[5], authenticated by a
Spanish poet.[6] Let those who dispute our facts produce better authority
for their contradiction.
Among the few fortified places that had not been dismantled by Don
Roderick was the ancient city of Denia, situated on the Mediterranean
coast, and defended on a rock-built castle that overlooked the sea.
The Alcayde of the castle, with many of the people of Denia, was one day
on his knees in the chapel, imploring the Virgin to allay a tempest which
was strewing the coast with wrecks, when a sentinel brought word that a
Moorish cruiser was standing for the land. The Alcayde gave orders to
ring the alarm bells, light signal fires on the hill tops, and rouse the
country; for the coast was subject to cruel maraudings from the Barbary
cruisers.
In a little while the horsemen of the neighbourhood were seen pricking
along the beach, armed with such weapons as they could find; and the
Alcayde and his scanty garrison descended from the hill. In the meantime
the Moorish bark came rolling and pitching towards the land. As it drew
near, the rich carving and gilding with which it was decorated, its
silken bandaroles, and banks of crimson oars, showed it to be no warlike
vessel, but a sumptuous galleot, destined for state and ceremony. It bore
the marks of the tempest: the masts were broken, the oars shattered, and
fragments of snowy sails and silken awnings were fluttering in the blast.
As the galleot grounded upon the sand, the impatient rabble rushed into
the surf to capture and make spoil; but were awed into admiration and
respect by the appearance of the illustrious company on board. There
were Moors of both sexes sumptuously arrayed, and adorned with precious
jewels, bearing the demeanour of persons of lofty rank. Among them shone
conspicuous a youthful beauty, magnificently attired, to whom all seemed
to pay reverence.
Several of the Moors surrounded her with drawn swords, threatening death
to any that approached; others sprang from the bark, and, throwing
themselves on their knees before the Alcayde, implored him, by his
honour and courtesy as a knight, to protect a royal virgin from injury
and insult.
“You behold before you,” said they, “the only daughter of the King of
Algiers, the betrothed bride of the son of the King of Tunis. We were
conducting her to the court of her expecting bridegroom, when a tempest
drove us from our course, and compelled us to take refuge on your coast.
Be not more cruel than the tempest, but deal nobly with that which even
sea and storm have spared.”
The Alcayde listened to their prayers. He conducted the princess and her
train to the castle, where every honour due to her rank was paid her.
Some of her ancient attendants interceded for her liberation, promising
countless sums to be paid by her father for her ransom; but the Alcayde
turned a deaf ear to all their golden offers. “She is a royal captive,”
said he; “it belongs to my sovereign alone to dispose of her.” After she
had reposed, therefore, for some days at the castle, and recovered from
the fatigue and terror of the seas, he caused her to be conducted, with
all her train, in magnificent state to the court of Don Roderick.
The beautiful Elyata[7] entered Toledo more like a triumphant sovereign
than a captive. A chosen band of Christian horsemen, splendidly armed,
appeared to wait upon her as a mere guard of honour. She was surrounded
by the Moorish damsels of her train, and followed by her own Moslem
guards, all attired with the magnificence that had been intended to
grace her arrival at the court of Tunis. The princess was arrayed in
bridal robes, woven in the most costly looms of the orient; her diadem
sparkled with diamonds, and was decorated with the rarest plumes of the
bird of paradise; and even the silken trappings of her palfrey, which
swept the ground, were covered with pearls and precious stones. As this
brilliant cavalcade crossed the bridge of the Tagus, all Toledo poured
forth to behold it; and nothing was heard throughout the city but praises
of the wonderful beauty of the princess of Algiers. King Roderick came
forth, attended by the chivalry of his court, to receive the royal
captive. His recent voluptuous life had disposed him for tender and
amorous affections, and, at the first sight of the beautiful Elyata, he
was enraptured with her charms. Seeing her face clouded with sorrow and
anxiety, he soothed her with gentle and courteous words, and, conducting
her to a royal palace, “Behold,” said he, “thy habitation, where no one
shall molest thee; consider thyself at home in the mansion of thy father,
and dispose of any thing according to thy will.”
Here the princess passed her time, with the female attendants who had
accompanied her from Algiers; and no one but the king was permitted
to visit her, who daily became more and more enamoured of his lovely
captive, and sought, by tender assiduity, to gain her affections. The
distress of the princess at her captivity was soothed by this gentle
treatment. She was of an age when sorrow cannot long hold sway over the
heart. Accompanied by her youthful attendants, she ranged the spacious
apartments of the palace, and sported among the groves and alleys of its
garden. Every day the remembrance of the paternal home grew less and
less painful, and the king became more and more amiable in her eyes; and
when, at length, he offered to share his heart and throne with her, she
listened with downcast looks and kindling blushes, but with an air of
resignation.
One obstacle remained to the complete fruition of the monarch’s
wishes, and this was the religion of the princess. Roderick forthwith
employed the Archbishop of Toledo to instruct the beautiful Elyata in
the mysteries of the Christian faith. The female intellect is quick
in perceiving the merits of new doctrines: the archbishop, therefore,
soon succeeded in converting, not merely the princess, but most of
her attendants; and a day was appointed for their public baptism. The
ceremony was performed with great pomp and solemnity, in the presence of
all the nobility and chivalry of the court. The princess and her damsels,
clad in white, walked on foot to the cathedral, while numerous beautiful
children, arrayed as angels, strewed the path with flowers; and the
archbishop, meeting them at the portal, received them, as it were, into
the bosom of the church. The princess abandoned her Moorish appellation
of Elyata, and was baptised by the name of Exilona, by which she was
thenceforth called, and has generally been known in history.
The nuptials of Roderick and the beautiful convert took place shortly
afterwards, and were celebrated with great magnificence. There were
jousts, and tourneys, and banquets, and other rejoicings, which lasted
twenty days, and were attended by the principal nobles from all parts of
Spain. After these were over, such of the attendants of the princess as
refused to embrace Christianity, and desired to return to Africa, were
dismissed with munificent presents; and an embassy was sent to the king
of Algiers, to inform him of the nuptials of his daughter, and to proffer
him the friendship of King Roderick.[8]