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قراءة كتاب The Cid Campeador A Historical Romance
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THE
CID CAMPEADOR
A HISTORICAL ROMANCE
BY
D. ANTONIO DE TRUEBA Y LA QUINTANA
Translated from the Spanish
BY
HENRY J. GILL, M.A., T.C.D.
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1895
[All rights reserved]
PREFACE
The "Cid Campeador" has been for centuries the great popular hero of Spain. He takes the same place in that country as King Arthur does in England, Roland, or Rolando, in France, and William Tell in Switzerland; and, like them, his life and exploits are, to a great extent, founded on popular traditions. In English-speaking countries there is very little known respecting him, and the translator ventures to place before the public a work which is considered by Spaniards to be one of the best historical romances in their literature. It is founded on a large number of ballads and other poetical pieces, extant in Spain for centuries, and on a very old work named "The Chronicle of the Cid."
The Author writes in his Introduction: "The Cid is the most popular of the Castilian heroes, and not without reason, for in him are personified all the virtues of the citizen and of the soldier. A good son, he avenges the insults offered to his father by bravely fighting with the Count of Gormaz: a good cavalier and faithful lover, he gives his hand and heart to the daughter of the man whom he had slain in fair combat: a good monarchist, he risks the anger of King Alfonzo by compelling him to take an oath that he was not guilty of a crime which would stain the throne of Fernando the Great: a good soldier and a good vassal, he conquers, with his invincible sword, hostile realms and Moorish kings, and lays at the feet of his sovereign, who had unjustly banished him, the spoils which he had won and the countries of which he had made himself master: a good patrician, loving the glory and the preponderance of his native land, he proceeds to Rome, enters the Church of St. Peter, and seeing in the place of honour the seat of the representative of France, he breaks it in pieces, filled with indignation, and puts in its place that of the representative of Spain: and finally, a good Christian, a good husband, and a good father; before entering into the combats, when calling upon God, he also uses the names of his wife and children, over whom he had wept when parting from them,—he who, in battle, showed a heart more hard than the armour which covered it."
CONTENTS
CHAP. | PAGE | |
I. | WHICH TREATS OF SOME LOVE AFFAIRS WHICH COMMENCED ALMOST WHEN OTHERS END | 1 |
II. | IN WHICH CERTAIN FESTIVITIES ARE DESCRIBED, WHICH ENDED WITH A BLOW ON A FACE | 10 |
III. | IN WHICH THE READER WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO RODRIGO AND HIS SQUIRE BETWEEN LEON AND VIVAR | 16 |
IV. | IN WHICH THE MAIDEN, IN ADDITION TO HER OWN STORY, RELATES CERTAIN MATTERS, WHICH WILL ROUSE THE ANGER OF THOSE WHO READ OF THEM | 22 |
V. | HOW RODRIGO AND HIS SQUIRE WERE RECEIVED AT VIVAR | 29 |
VI. | HOW FERNAN DESPAIRED OF GETTING WOMEN TO UNDERSTAND REASON, AND HOW DIEGO LAINEZ HOPED THAT HIS HONOUR WOULD BE AVENGED | 37 |
VII. | HOW RODRIGO FOUGHT WITH THE COUNT OF GORMAZ | 42 |
VIII. | HOW XIMENA DEMANDED JUSTICE FROM THE KING AGAINST RODRIGO DIAZ | 49 |
IX. | HOW A MOORISH PRINCESS WAS CONVERTED, AND HOW A SOLITARY CEASED TO BE SUCH | 55 |
X. | HOW MARTIN SET OUT TO AVENGE HIS FATHER | 60 |
XI. | HOW THE DE VIVAR FAMILY |