Then Zal bade adieu to the fair one;
His soul was darkened, and his bosom on fire,
And the eyes of both were filled with tears;
And they lifted up their voices against the sun:
"O glory of the universe, why come so quick?
Couldst thou not wait one little moment"
Then Zal cast his noose on a pinnacle,
And descended from those happy battlements,
As the sun was rising redly above the mountains,
And the bands of warriors were gathering in their ranks.
_Robinson's Translation._
THE POEM OF THE CID.
Rodrigo Ruy Diaz, El Cid Campeador, was born near Burgos, in Spain, about
1040. The name Cid was given him by the Moors, and means lord. Campeador
means champion.
Ruy Diaz was the trusty lord of Sancho, King of Castile, who at his death
divided his kingdom among his children. He then espoused the cause of the
eldest son, Sancho, and assisted him in wresting their portion of the
kingdom from his brothers Garcia and Alfonso. Sancho having been
treacherously slain while besieging his sister Urraca's town of Zamora,
the Cid attached himself to Alfonso, humiliating him, however, by making
him and his chief lords swear that they had had no hand in Sancho's death.
For this, Alfonso revenged himself by exiling the Cid on the slightest
pretexts, recalling him only when his services were needed in the defence
of the country.
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