found?"
"Softly, softly," said the parrot, "easier to be found than gained. She
is the only daughter of the Christian king who reigns at Toledo, and is
shut up from the world until her seventeenth birthday, on account of some
prediction of those meddlesome fellows the astrologers. You'll not get a
sight of her; no mortal man can see her. I was admitted to her presence
to entertain her, and I assure you, on the word of a parrot who has seen
the world, I have conversed with much sillier princesses in my time."
"A word in confidence, my dear parrot," said the prince. "I am heir to a
kingdom, and shall one day sit upon a throne. I see that you are a bird
of parts, and understand the world. Help me to gain possession of this
princess, and I will advance you to some distinguished place about court."
"With all my heart," said the parrot; "but let it be a sinecure if
possible, for we wits have a great dislike to labour."
Arrangements were promptly made: the prince sallied forth from Cordova
through the same gate by which he had entered; called the owl down from
the hole in the wall, introduced him to his new travelling companion as
a brother savant, and away they set off on their journey.
They travelled much more slowly than accorded with the impatience of the
prince; but the parrot was accustomed to high life, and did not like to
be disturbed early in the morning. The owl, on the other hand, was for
sleeping at mid-day, and lost a great deal of time by his long siestas.
His antiquarian taste also was in the way; for he insisted on pausing
and inspecting every ruin, and had long legendary tales to tell about
every old tower and castle in the country. The prince had supposed that
he and the parrot, being both birds of learning, would delight in each
other's society, but never had he been more mistaken. They were eternally
bickering. The one was a wit, the other a philosopher. The parrot quoted
poetry, was critical on new readings and eloquent on small points of
erudition; the owl treated all such knowledge as trifling, and relished
nothing but metaphysics. Then the parrot would sing songs and repeat _bons
mots_ and crack jokes upon his solemn neighbour, and laugh outrageously
at his own wit; all which proceedings the owl considered as a grievous
invasion of his dignity, and would scowl and sulk and swell, and be
silent for a whole day together. The prince heeded not the wranglings
of his companions being wrapped up in the dreams of his own fancy and
the contemplation of the portrait of the beautiful princess. In this
way they journeyed through the stern passes of the Sierra Morena, across
the sunburnt plains of La Mancha and Castile, and along the banks of the
"Golden Tagus," which winds its wizard mazes over one half of Spain and
Portugal. At length they came in sight of a strong city with walls and
towers built on a rocky promontory, round the foot of which the Tagus
circled with brawling violence.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
"Behold," exclaimed the owl, "the ancient and renowned city of Toledo; a
city famous for its antiquities. Behold those venerable domes and towers,
hoary with time and clothed with legendary grandeur in which so many of
my ancestors have meditated."
"Pish!" cried the parrot, interrupting his solemn antiquarian rapture,
"what have we to do with antiquities, and legends, and your ancestry?
Behold what is more to the purpose--behold the abode of youth and
beauty--behold at length, O prince, the abode of your long-sought
princess."
[Illustration: _Toledo._]
The prince looked in the direction indicated by the parrot, and beheld,
in a delightful green meadow on the banks of the Tagus, a stately palace
rising from amidst the bowers of a delicious garden. It was just such a
place as had been described by the dove as the residence of the original
of the picture. He gazed at it with a throbbing heart; "perhaps at this
moment," thought he, "the beautiful princess is sporting beneath those
shady bowers, or pacing with delicate step those stately terraces, or
reposing beneath those lofty roofs!" As he looked more narrowly, he
perceived that the walls of the garden were of great height, so as to defy
access, while numbers of armed guards patrolled around them.
The prince turned to the parrot. "O most accomplished of birds," said
he, "thou hast the gift of human speech. Hie thee to yon garden; seek the
idol of my soul, and tell her that Prince Ahmed, a pilgrim of love, and
guided by the stars, has arrived in quest of her on the flowery banks of
the Tagus."
[Illustration]
The parrot, proud of his embassy, flew away to the garden, mounted above
its lofty walls, and after soaring for a time over the lawns and groves,
alighted on the balcony of a pavilion that overhung the river. Here,
looking in at the casement, he beheld the princess reclining on a couch,
with her eyes fixed on a paper, while tears gently stole after each other
down her pallid cheek.
Pluming his wings for a moment, adjusting his bright-green coat, and
elevating his top-knot, the parrot perched himself beside her with a
gallant air; then assuming a tenderness of tone, "Dry thy tears, most
beautiful of princesses," said he; "I come to bring solace to thy heart."
The princess was startled on hearing a voice, but turning and seeing
nothing but a little green-coated bird bobbing and bowing before her,
"Alas! what solace canst thou yield," said she, "seeing thou art but a
parrot?"
The parrot was nettled at the question. "I have consoled many beautiful
ladies in my time," said he; "but let that pass. At present I come as
ambassador from a royal prince. Know that Ahmed, the prince of Granada,
has arrived in quest of thee, and is encamped even now on the flowery
banks of the Tagus."
The eyes of the beautiful princess sparkled at these words even brighter
than the diamonds in her coronet. "O sweetest of parrots," cried she,
"joyful indeed are thy tidings, for I was faint and weary, and sick almost
unto death with doubt of the constancy of Ahmed. Hie thee back, and tell
him that the words of his letter are engraven in my heart, and his poetry
has been the food of my soul. Tell him, however, that he must prepare to
prove his love by force of arms; to-morrow is my seventeenth birthday,
when the king my father holds a great tournament; several princes are to
enter the lists, and my hand is to be the prize of the victor."
The parrot again took wing, and rustling through the groves, flew back to
where the prince awaited his return. The rapture of Ahmed on finding the
original of his adored portrait, and finding her kind and true, can only
be conceived by those favoured mortals who have had the good fortune to
realise daydreams and turn a shadow into substance: still there was one
thing that alloyed his transport--this impending tournament. In fact, the
banks of the Tagus were already glittering with arms, and resounding with
trumpets of the various knights, who, with proud retinues, were prancing
on towards Toledo to attend the ceremonial. The same star that had
controlled the destiny of the prince had governed that of the princess,
and until her seventeenth birthday she had been shut up from the world, to
guard her from the tender passion. The fame of her charms, however, had
been enhanced rather than obscured by this seclusion. Several powerful
princes had contended for her hand; and her father, who was a king of
wondrous shrewdness, to avoid making enemies by showing partiality, had
referred them to the arbitrament of arms. Among the rival candidates were
several renowned for strength and prowess. What a predicament for the
unfortunate Ahmed, unprovided as he was with weapons, and unskilled in the
exercise of chivalry! "Luckless prince that I am!" said he, "to have been
brought up in seclusion under the eye of a philosopher! Of what avail are
algebra and philosophy in affairs of love? Alas, Eben Bonabben! why hast
thou neglected to instruct me in the management of arms?" Upon this the
owl broke silence, preluding his harangue with a pious ejaculation, for
he was a devout Mussulman.
"_Allah Akbar!_ God is great!" exclaimed he; "in his hands are all secret
things--he alone governs the destiny of princes! Know, O prince, that this
land is full of mysteries, hidden from all but those who, like myself,
can grope after knowledge in the dark. Know that in the neighbouring
mountains there is a cave, and in that cave there is an iron table, and
on that table there lies a suit of magic armour, and beside that table
there stands a spell-bound steed, which have been shut up there for many
generations."
The prince stared with wonder, while the owl, blinking his huge round
eyes, and erecting his horns, proceeded.
"Many years since I accompanied my father to these parts on a tour of
his estates, and we sojourned in that cave; and thus became I acquainted
with the mystery. It is a tradition in our family which I have heard
from my grandfather, when I was yet but a very little owlet, that this
armour belonged to a Moorish magician, who took refuge in this cavern when
Toledo was captured by the Christians, and died here, leaving his steed
and weapons under a mystic spell, never to be used but by a Moslem, and
by him only from sunrise to mid-day. In that interval, whoever uses them
will overthrow every opponent."
"Enough: let us seek this cave!" exclaimed Ahmed.
[Illustration]
Guided by his legendary mentor, the prince found the cavern, which was
in one of the wildest recesses of those rocky cliffs which rise around
Toledo; none but the mousing eye of an owl or an antiquary could have
discovered the entrance to it. A sepulchral lamp of everlasting oil shed
a solemn light through the place. On an iron table in the centre of the
cavern lay the magic armour, against it leaned the lance, and beside it
stood an Arabian steed, caparisoned for the field, but motionless as a
statue. The armour was bright and unsullied as it had gleamed in days of
old; the steed in as good condition as if just from the pasture; and when
Ahmed laid his hand upon his neck, he pawed the ground and gave a loud
neigh of joy that shook the walls of the cavern. Thus amply provided with
"horse and rider and weapon to wear," the prince determined to defy the
field in the impending tourney.
The eventful morning arrived. The lists for the combat were prepared in
the _Vega_, or plain, just below the cliff-built walls of Toledo, where
stages and galleries were erected for the spectators, covered with rich
tapestry, and sheltered from the sun by silken awnings. All the beauties
of the land were assembled in those galleries, while below pranced plumed
knights with their pages and esquires, among whom figured conspicuously
the princes who were to contend in the tourney. All the beauties of the
land, however, were eclipsed when the Princess Aldegonda appeared in
the royal pavilion, and for the first time broke forth upon the gaze
of an admiring world. A murmur of wonder ran through the crowd at her
transcendent loveliness; and the princes who were candidates for her hand,
merely on the faith of her reported charms, now felt tenfold ardour for
the conflict.
[Illustration: _Toledo._]
The princess, however, had a troubled look. The colour came and went from
her cheek, and her eye wandered with a restless and unsatisfied expression
over the plumed throng of knights. The trumpets were about sounding for
the encounter, when the herald announced the arrival of a strange knight;
and Ahmed rode into the field. A steel helmet studded with gems rose
above his turban; his cuirass was embossed with gold; his cimeter and
dagger were of the workmanship of Fez, and flamed with precious stones.
A round shield was at his shoulder, and in his hand he bore the lance of
charmed virtue. The caparison of his Arabian steed was richly embroidered
and swept the ground, and the proud animal pranced and sniffed the air,
and neighed with joy at once more beholding the array of arms. The lofty
and graceful demeanour of the prince struck every eye, and when his
appellation was announced, "The Pilgrim of Love," a universal flutter and
agitation prevailed among the fair dames in the galleries.
[Illustration: _The Castle, Toledo._]
When Ahmed presented himself at the lists, however, they were closed
against him: none but princes, he was told, were admitted to the contest.
He declared his name and rank. Still worse!--he was a Moslem, and could
not engage in a tourney where the hand of a Christian princess was the
prize.
The rival princes surrounded him with haughty and menacing aspects;
and one of insolent demeanour and herculean frame sneered at his light
and youthful form, and scoffed at his amorous appellation. The ire of
the prince was roused. He defied his rival to the encounter. They took
distance, wheeled, and charged; and at the first touch of the magic lance,
the brawny scoffer was tilted from his saddle. Here the prince would have
paused, but, alas! he had to deal with a demoniac horse and armour; once
in action, nothing could control them. The Arabian steed charged into the
thickest of the throng; the lance overturned everything that presented;
the gentle prince was carried pell-mell about the field, strewing it
with high and low, gentle and simple, and grieving at his own involuntary
exploits. The king stormed and raged at this outrage on his subjects and
his guests. He ordered out all his guards--they were unhorsed as fast as
they came up. The king threw off his robes, grasped buckler and lance,
and rode forth to awe the stranger with the presence of majesty itself.
Alas! majesty fared no better than the vulgar; the steel and lance were
no respecters of persons; to the dismay of Ahmed, he was borne full tilt
against the king, and in a moment the royal heels were in the air, and
the crown was rolling in the dust.
At this moment the sun reached the meridian; the magic spell resumed
its power; the Arabian steed scoured across the plain, leaped the
barrier, plunged into the Tagus, swam its raging current, bore the prince
breathless and amazed to the cavern, and resumed his station, like a
statue, beside the iron table. The prince dismounted right gladly, and
replaced the armour, to abide the further decrees of fate. Then seating
himself in the cavern, he ruminated on the desperate state to which this
demoniac steed and armour had reduced him. Never should he dare to show
his face at Toledo after inflicting such disgrace upon its chivalry,
and such an outrage on its king. What too would the princess think of
so rude and riotous an achievement? Full of anxiety, he sent forth his
winged messengers to gather tidings. The parrot resorted to all the
public places and crowded resorts of the city, and soon returned with a
world of gossip. All Toledo was in consternation. The princess had been
borne off senseless to the palace; the tournament had ended in confusion;
every one was talking of the sudden apparition, prodigious exploits, and
strange disappearance of the Moslem knight. Some pronounced him a Moorish
magician; others thought him a demon who had assumed a human shape, while
others related traditions of enchanted warriors hidden in the caves of
the mountains, and thought it might be one of these, who had made a sudden
irruption from his den. All agreed that no mere ordinary mortal could have
wrought such wonders, or unhorsed such accomplished and stalwart Christian
warriors.
[Illustration: _The Royal Palace._]
The owl flew forth at night and hovered about the dusky city, perching on
roofs and chimneys. He then wheeled his flight up to the royal palace,
which stood on a rocky summit of Toledo, and went prowling about its
terraces and battlements, eavesdropping at every cranny, and glaring in
with his big goggling eyes at every window where there was a light, so as
to throw two or three maids of honour into fits. It was not until the grey
dawn began to peer above the mountains that he returned from his mousing
expedition, and related to the prince what he had seen.
"As I was prying about one of the loftiest towers of the palace," said
he, "I beheld through a casement a beautiful princess. She was reclining
on a couch with attendants and physicians around her, but she would
none of their ministry and relief. When they retired, I beheld her draw
forth a letter from her bosom, and read and kiss it, and give way to
loud lamentations; at which, philosopher as I am, I could but be greatly
moved."
The tender heart of Ahmed was distressed at these tidings. "Too true
were thy words, O sage Eben Bonabben," cried he; "care and sorrow and
sleepless nights are the lot of lovers. Allah preserve the princess from
the blighting influence of this thing called love!"
Further intelligence from Toledo corroborated the report of the owl. The
city was a prey to uneasiness and alarm. The princess was conveyed to the
highest tower of the palace, every avenue to which was strongly guarded.
In the meantime a devouring melancholy had seized upon her, of which no
one could divine the cause--she refused food and turned a deaf ear to
every consolation. The most skilful physicians had essayed their art in
vain; it was thought some magic spell had been practised upon her, and
the king made proclamation, declaring that who ever should effect her cure
should receive the richest jewel in the royal treasury.
When the owl, who was dozing in a corner, heard of this proclamation, he
rolled his large eyes and looked more mysterious than ever.
"_Allah Akbar!_" exclaimed he, "happy the man that shall effect that cure,
should he but know what to choose from the royal treasury."
"What mean you, most reverend owl?" said Ahmed.
"Hearken, O prince, to what I shall relate. We owls, you must know, are a
learned body, and much given to dark and dusty research. During my late
prowling at night about the domes and turrets of Toledo, I discovered a
college of antiquarian owls, who hold their meetings in a great vaulted
tower where the royal treasury is deposited. Here they were discussing
the forms and inscriptions and designs of ancient gems and jewels, and of
golden and silver vessels, heaped up in the treasury, the fashion of every
country and age; but mostly they were interested about certain relics and
talismans that have remained in the treasury since the time of Roderick
the Goth. Among these was a box of sandal-wood secured by bands of steel
of Oriental workmanship, and inscribed with mystic characters known only
to the learned few. This box and its inscription had occupied the college
for several sessions, and had caused much long and grave dispute. At the
time of my visit a very ancient owl, who had recently arrived from Egypt,
was seated on the lid of the box, lecturing upon the inscription, and he
proved from it that the coffer contained the silken carpet of the throne
of Solomon the wise; which doubtless had been brought to Toledo by the
Jews who took refuge there after the downfall of Jerusalem."
When the owl had concluded his antiquarian harangue, the prince remained
for a time absorbed in thought. "I have heard," said he, "from the sage
Eben Bonabben, of the wonderful properties of that talisman, which
disappeared at the fall of Jerusalem, and was supposed to be lost to
mankind. Doubtless it remains a sealed mystery to the Christians of
Toledo. If I can get possession of that carpet, my fortune is secure."
The next day the prince laid aside his rich attire, and arrayed himself
in the simple guard of an Arab of the desert. He dyed his complexion to a
tawny hue, and no one could have recognised in him the splendid warrior
who had caused such admiration and dismay at the tournament. With staff
in hand, and scrip by his side, and a small pastoral reed, he repaired
to Toledo, and presenting himself at the gate of the royal palace,
announced himself as a candidate for the reward offered for the cure of
the princess. The guards would have driven him away with blows. "What can
a vagrant Arab like thyself pretend to do," said they, "in a case where
the most learned of the land have failed?" The king, however, overheard
the tumult, and ordered the Arab to be brought into his presence.
"Most potent king," said Ahmed, "you behold before you a Bedouin Arab,
the greater part of whose life has been passed in the solitudes of the
desert. These solitudes, it is well known, are the haunts of demons and
evil spirits, who beset us poor shepherds in our lonely watchings, enter
into and possess our flocks and herds, and sometimes render even the
patient camel furious; against these, our counter-charm is music; and we
have legendary airs handed down from generation to generation, that we
chant and pipe, to cast forth these evil spirits. I am of a gifted line,
and possess this power in its fullest force. If it be any evil influence
of the kind that holds a spell over thy daughter, I pledge my head to free
her from its sway."
The king, who was a man of understanding, and knew the wonderful secrets
possessed by the Arabs, was inspired with hope by the confident language
of the prince. He conducted him immediately to the lofty tower, secured
by several doors, in the summit of which was the chamber of the princess.
The windows opened upon a terrace with balustrades, commanding a view
over Toledo and all the surrounding country. The windows were darkened,
for the princess lay within, a prey to a devouring grief that refused all
alleviation.
The prince seated himself on the terrace, and performed several wild
Arabian airs on his pastoral pipe, which he had learnt from his attendants
in the Generalife at Granada. The princess continued insensible, and the
doctors who were present shook their heads, and smiled with incredulity
and contempt: at length the prince laid aside the reed, and, to a simple
melody, chanted the amatory verses of the letter which had declared his
passion.
The princess recognised the strain--a fluttering joy stole to her heart;
she raised her head and listened; tears rushed to her eyes and streamed
down her cheeks; her bosom rose and fell with a tumult of emotions. She
would have asked for the minstrel to be brought into her presence, but
maiden coyness held her silent. The king read her wishes, and at his
command Ahmed was conducted into the chamber. The lovers were discreet:
they but exchanged glances, yet those glances spoke volumes. Never was
triumph of music more complete. The rose had returned to the soft cheek
of the princess, the freshness to her lip, and the dewy light to her
languishing eyes.
All the physicians present stared at each other with astonishment. The
king regarded the Arab minstrel with admiration mixed with awe. "Wonderful
youth!" exclaimed he, "thou shalt henceforth be the first physician of
my court, and no other prescription will I take but thy melody. For the
present receive thy reward, the most precious jewel in my treasury."
"O king," replied Ahmed, "I care not for silver or gold or precious
stones. One relic hast thou in thy treasury, handed down from the Moslems
who once owned Toledo--a box of sandal-wood containing a silken carpet:
give me that box, and I am content."
All present were surprised at the moderation of the Arab, and still more
when the box of sandal-wood was brought and the carpet drawn forth. It was
of fine green silk, covered with Hebrew and Chaldaic characters. The court
physicians looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and smiled
at the simplicity of this new practitioner, who could be content with so
paltry a fee.
"This carpet," said the prince, "once covered the throne of Solomon the
Wise; it is worthy of being placed beneath the feet of beauty."
So saying, he spread it on the terrace beneath an ottoman that had been
brought forth for the princess; then seating himself at her feet--
"Who," said he, "shall counteract what is written in the book of fate?
Behold the prediction of the astrologers verified. Know, O king, that
your daughter and I have long loved each other in secret. Behold in me
the Pilgrim of Love!"