The next morning at dawn Raniero mounted his horse. He was in full
armor, but over it he had thrown a coarse pilgrim cloak, so that the
iron dress should not become overheated by exposure to the sun’s rays.
He was armed with a sword and battle-club, and rode a good horse. He
held in his hand a burning candle, and to the saddle he had tied a
couple of bundles of long wax candles, so the flame should not die out
for lack of nourishment.
Raniero rode slowly through the long, encumbered tent street, and thus
far all went well. It was still so early that the mists which had arisen
from the deep dales surrounding Jerusalem were not dispersed, and
Raniero rode forward as in a white night. The whole troop slept, and
Raniero passed the guards easily. None of them called out his name, for
the mist prevented their seeing him, and the roads were covered with a
dust-like soil a foot high, which made the horse’s tramp inaudible.
Raniero was soon outside the camp and started on the road which led to
Joppa. Here it was smoother, but he rode very slowly now, because of the
candle, which burned feebly in the thick mist. Big insects kept dashing
against the flame. Raniero had all he could do guarding it, but he was
in the best of spirits and thought all the while that the mission which
he had undertaken was so easy that a child could manage it.
Meanwhile, the horse grew weary of the slow pace, and began to trot. The
flame began to flicker in the wind. It didn’t help that Raniero tried to
shield it with his hand and with the cloak. He saw that it was about to
be extinguished.
But he had no desire to abandon the project so soon. He stopped the
horse, sat still a moment, and pondered. Then he dismounted and tried
sitting backwards, so that his body shielded the flame from the wind. In
this way he succeeded in keeping it burning; but he realized now that
the journey would be more difficult than he had thought at the
beginning.
When he had passed the mountains which surround Jerusalem, the fog
lifted. He rode forward now in the greatest solitude. There were no
people, houses, green trees, nor plants—only bare rocks.
Here Raniero was attacked by robbers. They were idle folk, who followed
the camp without permission, and lived by theft and plunder. They had
lain in hiding behind a hill, and Raniero—who rode backwards—had not
seen them until they had surrounded him and brandished their swords at
him.
There were about twelve men. They looked wretched, and rode poor horses.
Raniero saw at once that it would not be difficult for him to break
through this company and ride on. And after his proud boast of the night
before, he was unwilling to abandon his undertaking easily.
He saw no other means of escape than to compromise with the robbers. He
told them that, since he was armed and rode a good horse, it might be
difficult to overpower him if he defended himself. And as he was bound
by a vow, he did not wish to offer resistance, but they could take
whatever they wanted, without a struggle, if only they promised not to
put out his light.
The robbers had expected a hard struggle, and were very happy over
Raniero’s proposal, and began immediately to plunder him. They took from
him armor and steed, weapons and money. The only thing they let him keep
was the coarse cloak and the two bundles of wax candles. They sacredly
kept their promise, also, not to put out the candle flame.
One of them mounted Raniero’s horse. When he noticed what a fine animal
he was, he felt a little sorry for the rider. He called out to him:
“Come, come, we must not be too cruel toward a Christian. You shall have
my old horse to ride.”
It was a miserable old screw of a horse. It moved as stiffly, and with
as much difficulty, as if it were made of wood.
When the robbers had gone at last, and Raniero had mounted the wretched
horse, he said to himself: “I must have become bewitched by this candle
flame. For its sake I must now travel along the roads like a crazy
beggar.”
He knew it would be wise for him to turn back, because the undertaking
was really impracticable. But such an intense yearning to accomplish it
had come over him that he could not resist the desire to go on.
Therefore, he went farther. He saw all around him the same bare,
yellowish hills.
After a while he came across a goatherd, who tended four goats. When
Raniero saw the animals grazing on the barren ground, he wondered if
they ate earth.
This goatherd had owned a larger flock, which had been stolen from him
by the Crusaders. When he noticed a solitary Christian come riding
toward him, he tried to do him all the harm he could. He rushed up to
him and struck at his light with his staff. Raniero was so taken up by
the flame that he could not defend himself even against a goatherd. He
only drew the candle close to him to protect it. The goatherd struck at
it several times more, then he paused, astonished, and ceased striking.
He noticed that Raniero’s cloak had caught fire, but Raniero did nothing
to smother the blaze, so long as the sacred flame was in danger. The
goatherd looked as though he felt ashamed. For a long time he followed
Raniero, and in one place, where the road was very narrow, with a deep
chasm on each side of it, he came up and led the horse for him.
Raniero smiled and thought the goatherd surely regarded him as a holy
man who had undertaken a voluntary penance.
Toward evening Raniero began to meet people. Rumors of the fall of
Jerusalem had already spread to the coast, and a throng of people had
immediately prepared to go up there. There were pilgrims who for years
had awaited an opportunity to get into Jerusalem, also some
newly-arrived troops; but they were mostly merchants who were hastening
with provisions.
When these throngs met Raniero, who came riding backwards with a burning
candle in his hand, they cried: “A madman, a madman!”
The majority were Italians; and Raniero heard how they shouted in his
own tongue, “Pazzo, pazzo!” which means “a madman, a madman.”
Raniero, who had been able to keep himself well in check all day, became
intensely irritated by these ever-recurring shouts. Instantly he
dismounted and began to chastise the offenders with his hard fists. When
they saw how heavy the blows were, they took to their heels, and Raniero
soon stood alone on the road.
Now Raniero was himself again. “In truth they were right to call me a
madman,” he said, as he looked around for the light. He did not know
what he had done with it. At last he saw that it had rolled down into a
hollow. The flame was extinguished, but he saw fire gleam from a dry
grass-tuft close beside it, and understood that luck was with him, for
the flame had ignited the grass before it had gone out.
“This might have been an inglorious end of a deal of trouble,” he
thought, as he lit the candle and stepped into the saddle. He was rather
mortified. It did not seem to him very probable that his journey would
be a success.
In the evening Raniero reached Ramle, and rode up to a place where
caravans usually had night harbor. It was a large covered yard. All
around it were little stalls where travelers could put up their horses.
There were no rooms, but folk could sleep beside the animals.
The place was overcrowded with people, yet the host found room for
Raniero and his horse. He also gave fodder to the horse and food to the
rider.
When Raniero perceived that he was well treated, he thought: “I almost
believe the robbers did me a service when they took from me my armor and
my horse. I shall certainly get out of the country more easily with my
light burden, if they mistake me for a lunatic.”
When he had led the horse into the stall, he sat down on a sheaf of
straw and held the candle in his hands. It was his intention not to fall
asleep, but to remain awake all night.
But he had hardly seated himself when he fell asleep. He was fearfully
exhausted, and in his sleep he stretched out full length and did not
wake till morning.
When he awoke he saw neither flame nor candle. He searched in the straw
for the candle, but did not find it anywhere.
“Some one has taken it from me and extinguished it,” he said. He tried
to persuade himself that he was glad that all was over, and that he need
not pursue an impossible undertaking.
But as he pondered, he felt a sense of emptiness and loss. He thought
that never before had he so longed to succeed in anything on which he
had set his mind.
He led the horse out and groomed and saddled it.
When he was ready to set out, the host who owned the caravansary came up
to him with a burning candle. He said in Frankish: “When you fell asleep
last night, I had to take your light from you, but here you have it
again.”
Raniero betrayed nothing, but said very calmly: “It was wise of you to
extinguish it.”
“I have not extinguished it,” said the man. “I noticed that it was
burning when you arrived, and I thought it was of importance to you that
it should continue to burn. If you see how much it has decreased, you
will understand that it has been burning all night.”
Raniero beamed with happiness. He commended the host heartily, and rode
away in the best of spirits.