Читать книгу The Book of the Epic - H. A. Guerber - Страница 22

Still, only a few moments can be devoted to sorrow, for Duke Naimes, descrying a cloud of dust in the distance, eagerly suggests that if they ride on they can yet overtake and punish the foe! Detailing a small detachment to guard the dead, Charlemagne orders the pursuit of the Saracens, and, seeing the sun about to set, prays so fervently that daylight may last, that an angel promises he shall have light as long as he needs it. Thanks to this miracle, Charlemagne overtakes the Saracens just as they are about to cross the Ebro, and, after killing many, drives the rest into the river, where they are drowned.

It is only when the last of the foe has been disposed of that the sun sets, and, perceiving it is too late to return to Roncevaux that night, Charlemagne gives orders to camp on the plain. While his weary men sleep peacefully, the emperor himself spends the night mourning for Roland and for the brave Frenchmen who died to defend his cause, so it is only toward morning that he enjoys a brief nap, during which visions foreshadow the punishment to be inflicted upon Ganelon and all who uphold him.

In the mead the Emperor made his bed,

With his mighty spear beside his head,

Nor will he doff his arms to-night,

But lies in his broidered hauberk white.

Laced is his helm, with gold inlaid.

Girt on Joyeuse, the peerless blade,

Which changes thirty times a day

The brightness of its varying ray.

Meanwhile the wounded Marsile has returned to Saragossa, where, while binding up his wounds, his wife comments it is strange no one has been able to get the better of such an old man as Charlemagne, and exclaims the last hope of the Saracens now rests in the emir, who has just landed in Spain.

At dawn the emperor returns to Roncevaux, and there begins his sad search for the bodies of the peers. Sure Roland will be found facing the foe, he seeks for his corpse in the direction of Spain, and, discovering him at last on the little hill, swoons from grief. Then, recovering his senses, Charlemagne prays God to receive his nephew's soul, and, after pointing out to his men how bravely the peers fought, gives orders for the burial of the dead, reserving only the bodies of Roland, Oliver, and the archbishop, for burial in France.

The last respects have barely been paid to the fallen, when a Saracen herald summons Charlemagne to meet the emir. So the French mount to engage in a new battle.

Such is the stimulus of Charlemagne's word's and of his example, that all his men do wonders. The aged emperor himself finally engages in a duel with the emir, in the midst of which he is about to succumb, when an angel bids him strike one more blow, promising he shall triumph. Thus stimulated, Charlemagne slays the emir, and the Saracens, seeing their leader slain, flee, closely pursued by the Frenchmen, who enter Saragossa in their wake. There, after killing all the men, they pillage the town.

On discovering that Marsile has meantime died of his wound, Charlemagne orders his widow to France, where he proposes to convert her through the power of love. The remainder of the pagans are compelled to receive baptism, and, when Charlemagne again wends his way through the Pyrenees, all Spain bows beneath his sceptre.

At Bordeaux, Charlemagne deposits upon the altar of St. Severin, Roland's Olifant, filled with gold pieces, before personally escorting the three august corpses to Blaye, where he sees them interred, ere he hurries on to Aix-la-Chapelle to judge Ganelon.

The Chastisement of Ganelon. On arriving in his palace, Charlemagne is confronted by Alda or Aude, a sister of Oliver, who frantically questions: "Where is Roland who has sworn to take me to wife?" Weeping bitterly, Charlemagne informs her his nephew is no more, adding that she can marry his son, but Aude rejoins that, since her beloved is gone, she no longer wishes to live. These words uttered, she falls lifeless at the emperor's feet.[11]

From Spain the emperor made retreat,

To Aix in France, his kingly seat;

And thither, to his halls, there came,

Alda, the fair-and gentle dame.

"Where is my Roland, sire," she cried,

"Who vowed to take me for his bride?"

O'er Karl the flood of sorrow swept;

He tore his beard, and loudly wept.

"Dear sister, gentle friend," he said,

"Thou seekest one who lieth dead:

I plight to thee my son instead—

Louis, who lord of my realm shall be."

"Strange," she said, "seems this to me.

God and His angels forbid that I

Should live on earth if Roland die."

Pale grew her cheek—she sank amain,

Down at the feet of Carlemaine.

So died she. God receive her soul!

The Franks bewail her in grief and dole.

The time having come for the trial, Ganelon appears before his judges, laden with chains and tied to a stake as if he were a wild beast. When accused of depriving Charlemagne of twenty thousand Frenchmen, Ganelon retorts he did so merely to avenge his wrongs, and hotly denies having acted as a traitor. Thirty of his kinsmen sustain him in this assertion, one of them even volunteering to meet the emperor's champion in a judicial duel. As the imperial champion wins, Ganelon and his relatives are adjudged guilty, but, whereas the latter thirty are merely hanged, the traitor himself is bound to wild horses until torn asunder.

Having thus done justice, Charlemagne informs his courtiers they are to attend the baptism of a Saracen lady of high degree, who is about to be received into the bosom of the church.

The men of Bavaria and Allemaine,

Norman and Breton return again,

And with all the Franks aloud they cry,

That Gan a traitor's death shall die.

They bade be brought four stallions fleet;

Bound to them Ganelon, hands and feet:

Wild and swift was each savage steed,

And a mare was standing within the mead;

Four grooms impelled the coursers on—

A fearful ending for Ganelon.

His every nerve was stretched and torn,

And the limbs of his body apart were borne;

The bright blood, springing from every vein,

Left on the herbage green its stain.

He dies a felon and recreant:

Never shall traitor his treason vaunt.

End of the Song. Having thus punished the traitor and converted the heathen, Charlemagne, lying in his chamber one night, receives a visit from the angel Gabriel, who bids him go forth and do further battle against the pagans. Weary of warfare and longing for rest, the aged emperor moans, "God, how painful is my life!" for he knows he must obey.

When the emperor's justice was satisfied,

His mighty wrath did awhile subside.

Queen Bramimonde was a Christian made.

The day passed on into night's dark shade;

As the king in his vaulted chamber lay,

Saint Gabriel came from God to say,

"Karl, thou shalt summon thine empire's host,

And march in haste to Bira's coast;

Unto Impha city relief to bring,

And succor Vivian, the Christian king.

The heathens in siege have the town essayed,

And the shattered Christians invoke thine aid."

Fain would Karl such task decline.

"God! what a life of toil is mine!"

He wept; his hoary beard he wrung.

Here ends the Song of Théroulde.