Journeys Through Bookland, Volume 4 | Page 8

When the king of Valencia,
whose name was Alcamin, heard this, he was greatly troubled; and
incontinently he spake unto two Moorish kings, who were his vassals,
bidding them take three thousand horsemen, and all the men of the
border, and bring the Cid to him alive, that he might make atonement to
him for having entered his land.
Fariz and Galve were the names of these two Moorish kings and they
set out with companies of King Alcamin from Valencia, and halted the
first night in Segorve, and the second night at Celfa de Canal. And they
sent their messengers through the land to all the Councils thereof,
ordering all men at arms, as well horsemen as footmen, to join them,
and the third night they halted at Calatayud, and great numbers joined
them; and they came up against Alcocer, and pitched their tents round
about the castle. Every day their host increased, for their people were
many in number, and their watchmen kept watch day and night; and my
Cid had no succour to look for except the mercy of God, in which he
put his trust. And the Moors beset them so close that they cut off their
water, and albeit the Castillians would have sallied against them, my
Cid forbade this. In this guise were my Cid and his people besieged for
three weeks, and when the fourth week began, he called for Alvar
Fañez, and for his company, and said unto them, "Ye see that the
Moors have cut off our water, and we have but little bread; they gather
numbers day by day, and we become weak, and they are in their own
country. If we would depart they would not let us, and we cannot go

out by night because they have beset us round about on all sides, and
we cannot pass on high through the air, neither through the earth which
is underneath. Now then, if it please you, let us go out and fight with
them, though they are many in number, and either defeat them or die an
honourable death."
Then Minaya answered and said, "We have left the gentle land of
Castille, and are come hither as banished men, and if we do not beat the
Moors they will not give us food*. Now though we are but few, yet are
we of a good stock, and of one heart and one will; by God's help let us
go out and smite them to-morrow, early in the morning, and you who
are not in a state of penitence go and shrieve yourselves and repent ye
of your sins." And they all held that what Alvar Fañez had said was
good. And my Cid answered, "Minaya, you have spoken as you should
do." Then ordered he all the Moors, both men and women, to be thrust
out of the town, that it might not be known what they were preparing to
do; and the rest of that day and the night also they passed in making
ready for the battle. And on the morrow at sunrise the Cid gave his
banner to Pero Bermudez, and bade him bear it boldly like a good man
as he was, but he charged him not to thrust forward with it without his
bidding. And Pero Bermudez kissed his hand, being well pleased. Then
leaving only two foot soldiers to keep the gates, they issued out; and
the Moorish scouts saw them and hastened to the camp. Then was there
such a noise of tambours as if the earth would have been broken, and
the Moors armed themselves in great haste. Two royal banners were
there, and five city ones, and they drew up their men in two great
bodies, and moved on, thinking to take my Cid and all his company
alive; and my Cid bade his men remain still and not move till he should
bid them.
Pero Bermudez could not bear this, but holding the banner in his hand,
he cried, "God help you, Cid Campeador; I shall put your banner in the
middle of that main body; and you who are bound to stand by it--I shall
see how you will succour it." And he began to prick forward. And the
Campeador called unto him to stop as he loved him, but Pero
Bermudez replied he would stop for nothing, and away he spurred and
carried his banner into the middle of the great body of the Moors. And
the Moors fell upon him, that they might win the banner, and beset him
on all sides, giving him many great blows to beat him down;

nevertheless his arms were proof, and they could not pierce them,
neither could they beat him down, nor force the banner from him, for
he was