The Alhambra 47

The Alhambra 47

“I have put up gladly with worse in my time,” said the governor,

returning his pocket-handkerchief into the hilt of his sword.

 

“While I was quietly crunching my crust,” pursued the soldier, “I heard

something stir within the vault; I listened--it was the tramp of a

horse. By-and-by a man came forth from a door in the foundation of the

tower, close by the water’s edge, leading a powerful horse by the

bridle. I could not well make out what he was, by the starlight. It had

a suspicious look to be lurking among the ruins of a tower, in that wild

solitary place. He might be a mere wayfarer, like myself; he might be a

contrabandista; he might be a bandolero! what of that? thank heaven and

my poverty, I had nothing to lose; so I sat still and crunched my crust.

 

“He led his horse to the water, close by where I was sitting, so that I

had a fair opportunity of reconnoitring him. To my surprise he was

dressed in a Moorish garb, with a cuirass of steel, and a polished

skull-cap that I distinguished by the reflection of the stars upon it.

His horse, too, was harnessed in the Morisco fashion, with great shovel

stirrups. He led him, as I said, to the side of the stream, into which

the animal plunged his head almost to the eyes, and drank until I

thought he would have burst.

 

“‘Comrade,’ said I, ‘your steed drinks well; it’s a good sign when a

horse plunges his muzzle bravely into the water.’

 

“‘He may well drink,’ said the stranger, speaking with a Moorish

accent; ‘it is a good year since he had his last draught.’

 

“‘By Santiago,’ said I, ‘that beats even the camels I have seen in

Africa. But come, you seem to be something of a soldier, will you sit

down and take part of a soldier’s fare?’ In fact, I felt the want of a

companion in this lonely place, and was willing to put up with an

infidel. Besides, as your Excellency well knows, a soldier is never very

particular about the faith of his company, and soldiers of all countries

are comrades on peaceable ground.”

 

The governor again nodded assent.

 

“Well, as I was saying, I invited him to share my supper, such as it

was, for I could not do less in common hospitality. ‘I have no time to

pause for meat or drink,’ said he, ‘I have a long journey to make before

morning.’

 

“‘In what direction?’ said I.

 

“‘Andalusia,’ said he.

 

“‘Exactly my route,’ said I; ‘so, as you won’t stop and eat with me,

perhaps you will let me mount and ride with you. I see your horse is of

a powerful frame; I’ll warrant he’ll carry double.’

 

“‘Agreed,’ said the trooper; and it would not have been civil and

soldierlike to refuse, especially as I had offered to share my supper

with him. So up he mounted, and up I mounted behind him.

 

“‘Hold fast,’ said he, ‘my steed goes like the wind.’

 

“‘Never fear me,’ said I, and so off we set.

 

“From a walk the horse soon passed to a trot, from a trot to a gallop,

and from a gallop to a harum-scarum scamper. It seemed as if rocks,

trees, houses, everything flew hurry-scurry behind us.

 

“‘What town is this?’ said I.

 

“‘Segovia,’ said he; and before the word was out of his mouth, the

towers of Segovia were out of sight. We swept up the Guadarrama

mountains, and down by the Escurial; and we skirted the walls of

Madrid, and we scoured away across the plains of La Mancha. In this way

we went up hill and down dale, by towers and cities, all buried in deep

sleep, and across mountains, and plains, and rivers, just glimmering in

the starlight.

 

“To make a long story short, and not to fatigue your Excellency, the

trooper suddenly pulled up on the side of a mountain. ‘Here we are,’

said he, ‘at the end of our journey.’ I looked about, but could see no

signs of habitation, nothing but the mouth of a cavern. While I looked I

saw multitudes of people in Moorish dresses, some on horseback, some on

foot, arriving as if borne by the wind from all points of the compass,

and hurrying into the mouth of the cavern like bees into a hive. Before

I could ask a question, the trooper struck his long Moorish spurs into

the horse’s flanks, and dashed in with the throng. We passed along a

steep winding way, that descended into the very bowels of the mountain.

As we pushed on, a light began to glimmer up, by little and little, like

the first glimmerings of day, but what caused it I could not discern. It

grew stronger and stronger, and enabled me to see everything around. I

now noticed, as we passed along, great caverns, opening to the right and

left, like halls in an arsenal. In some there were shields, and helmets,

and cuirasses, and lances, and cimeters, hanging against the walls; in

others there were great heaps of warlike munitions and camp-equipage

lying upon the ground.

 

“It would have done your Excellency’s heart good, being an old soldier,

to have seen such grand provision for war. Then, in other caverns, there

were long rows of horsemen armed to the teeth, with lances raised and

banners unfurled, all ready for the field; but they all sat motionless

in their saddles, like so many statues. In other halls were warriors

sleeping on the ground beside their horses, and foot-soldiers in groups

ready to fall into the ranks. All were in old-fashioned Moorish dresses

and armor.

 

“Well, your Excellency, to cut a long story short, we at length entered

an immense cavern, or I may say palace, of grotto-work, the walls of

which seemed to be veined with gold and silver, and to sparkle with

diamonds and sapphires and all kinds of precious stones. At the upper

end sat a Moorish king on a golden throne, with his nobles on each side,

and a guard of African blacks with drawn cimeters. All the crowd that

continued to flock in, and amounted to thousands and thousands, passed

one by one before his throne, each paying homage as he passed. Some of

the multitude were dressed in magnificent robes, without stain or

blemish, and sparkling with jewels; others in burnished and enamelled

armor; while others were in mouldered and mildewed garments, and in

armor all battered and dented and covered with rust.

 

“I had hitherto held my tongue, for your Excellency well knows it is not

for a soldier to ask many questions when on duty, but I could keep

silent no longer.

 

“‘Prithee, comrade,’ said I, ‘what is the meaning of all this?’

 

“‘This,’ said the trooper, ‘is a great and fearful mystery. Know, O

Christian, that you see before you the court and army of Boabdil the

last king of Granada.’

 

“‘What is this you tell me?’ cried I, ‘Boabdil and his court were exiled

from the land hundreds of years agone, and all died in Africa.’

 

“‘So it is recorded in your lying chronicles,’ replied the Moor; ‘but

know that Boabdil and the warriors who made the last struggle for

Granada were all shut up in the mountain by powerful enchantment. As

for the king and army that marched forth from Granada at the time of the

surrender, they were a mere phantom train of spirits and demons,

permitted to assume those shapes to deceive the Christian sovereigns.

And furthermore let me tell you, friend, that all Spain is a country

under the power of enchantment. There is not a mountain cave, not a

lonely watch-tower in the plains, nor ruined castle on the hills, but

has some spell-bound warriors sleeping from age to age within its

vaults, until the sins are expiated for which Allah permitted the

dominion to pass for a time out of the hands of the faithful. Once every

year, on the eve of St. John, they are released from enchantment, from

sunset to sunrise, and permitted to repair here to pay homage to their

sovereign! and the crowds which you beheld swarming into the cavern are

Moslem warriors from their haunts in all parts of Spain. For my own

part, you saw the ruined tower of the bridge in Old Castile, where I

have now wintered and summered for many hundred years, and where I must

be back again by daybreak. As to the battalions of horse and foot which

you beheld drawn up in array in the neighboring caverns, they are the

spell-bound warriors of Granada. It is written in the book of fate, that

when the enchantment is broken, Boabdil will descend from the mountain

at the head of this army, resume his throne in the Alhambra and his sway

of Granada, and gathering together the enchanted warriors from all parts

of Spain, will reconquer the Peninsula and restore it to Moslem rule.’

 

“‘And when shall this happen?’ said I.

 

“‘Allah alone knows: we had hoped the day of deliverance was at hand;

but there reigns at present a vigilant governor in the Alhambra, a

stanch old soldier, well known as Governor Manco. While such a warrior

holds command of the very outpost, and stands ready to check the first

irruption from the mountain, I fear Boabdil and his soldiery must be

content to rest upon their arms.”

 

Here the governor raised himself somewhat perpendicularly, adjusted his

sword, and twirled up his moustaches.

 

“To make a long story short, and not to fatigue your Excellency, the

trooper, having given me this account, dismounted from his steed.

 

“‘Tarry here,’ said he, ‘and guard my steed while I go and bow the knee

to Boabdil.’ So saying, he strode away among the throng that pressed

forward to the throne.

 

“‘What’s to be done?’ thought I, when thus left to myself; ‘shall I wait

here until this infidel returns to whisk me off on his goblin steed, the

Lord knows where; or shall I make the most of my time and beat a retreat

from this hobgoblin community?’ A soldier’s mind is soon made up, as

your Excellency well knows. As to the horse, he belonged to an avowed

enemy of the faith and the realm, and was a fair prize according to the

rules of war. So hoisting myself from the crupper into the saddle, I

turned the reins, struck the Moorish stirrups into the sides of the

steed, and put him to make the best of his way out of the passage by

which he had entered. As we scoured by the halls where the Moslem

horsemen sat in motionless battalions, I thought I heard the clang of

armor and a hollow murmur of voices. I gave the steed another taste of

the stirrups and doubled my speed. There was now a sound behind me like

a rushing blast; I heard the clatter of a thousand hoofs; a countless

throng overtook me. I was borne along in the press, and hurled forth

from the mouth of the cavern, while thousands of shadowy forms were

swept off in every direction by the four winds of heaven.