The Winslow mail., 1898-12-10

HE Cid of Spanish ballad, the Cid
I OF legend, romance and drama,
the Cid OF hundred thousand battles,
the Cid Of famous Spanish epic, the Cid
INVOKED by all Spaniards, good and
bad at al times when the nation is in
DANGER, and whose very name inspires
the tired soldier On to victory, and has
ever been perpetual in Inspiring Span
ish patriotism, is 4 nythological char
acter ii Spanish tradition that has
doubtless grown from the real char
| acter Of Rodrigo Diaz De Bivar--a sort
| Of freebooter and rebel whose daring
bravery and many victories won him
the name of The Cid, or The Lord
The people not only worsbired this
| perfect one while he lived, but in all
The ages since they have sung his
praises in song and ballad until to-day
| among the Spanish soldiers he is the
invincible, rlagnanimous, the all-pow-
arful ''A,y Cid" who is the type OF all
manly virtue, the mirror Of all patriot
ic duty. and the blossonling flower of
al Christian grace. He is everything.
He is almost the Christ as the Jews
| would have had him. He is Napoleon,
Wellington and Nelson, and Washing
ton, Lincoln and Lee al in one.
| II all the other nations of the world,
not excepting King Arthur, CT English
.cgend, there is no character that holds
| the plaeesof that Of the Cid in Spanish
/ literature. In fact, most all of the
| Spanish classics are built around some
story Of his NEUROLOGICAL life. The
song Of the Cid that was chanted by
the wandering nainstrels in the twelfth
century has survived to be hymned in
the odes Of The Spanish soldier to-day.
They believe just as firmly as they be-
lieve in God that the Cid viii deliver
| them finally victorious from the hands
IF the Americans in this present war.
! Within hundred years of his death
! the Cid had become the center of hun
! 1reds Of myths. The "Pcen Del Cid"
writtonin the latter half of the twelfth
! century, has scarcely any trace of his
| torical character. The poem Of the Cid
| is but fragment Of 3,744 lines writ
| ten in harbarous style, in rugged asso-
! nant rhymes, aud rude Alexandrinc
measure, but it glcws with the pure
| fire Of poetry, and is full Of noble sim
| piicity and a true ePical value and
| grandeur, and is Invaluable as q living
| picture of the age. Most Of the ballads
| IF the Cid are extinct. There were at
one tire over 200 Of them; to-day, how
| ever, there are not more than a half
=; dozen that. can be traced without
! doubt over few centuries back. One
Of the most Beautiful Of these is given
! further On. All these ballads take
great liberties with history, thus bely-
ing the opinion OF Sancho Papza that
/ the ballods are too old to tell les
The real Cid Of history. although fall
! ing short CT the poetical ideal which
! his countrymen have bestowed upon
I him, was great warrior, gaining his
name in the long struggle between the
| Christians and the Moslem. He was
| born at Bivar, from which he derives
his name Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar. of a
noble family, some time between the
/ years 1880 and : 04O- His exploits were
/ great, but nevertheless- he was man
I with human power From this person,
! bOmOron lo"ldl'" 4 rll u 4"
however. doubtless started all the
beautiful Spanish legends that hover
about the Cid.
While these legends, written in both
prose and poetry, are very beautiful
and form a great part of Spanish lit
eraturc. they cannot be relied upon,
and some aspiring Spanish author is
continually discovering a new one,
doubtless concocted in his own brain.
There is one beautiful story OF his
birth that tells of his mother praying
to the Virgin 10 give her'a son. She
continued her prayer day after day
lntil one morning she begins her
prayers over beautiful red rose, and
while praying her tears drop on its pc
5als and turn them white. When she
stops her prayers and glances, down
ward, there in the heart of the white
rose she finds a littleTee baby nesting
among the immaculate petals. Such
was the birth of the Cid
Like cur own great men, the famous
hero of Spain is represented as exhib-
iting on so many occasions great gen.
tleness of disposition and compassion.
The following ballad, "The Cid and the
Leper,7' will not only serve as an ex-
ample of this, but also of the quaint
beauty of the lines of the old Spanish
songs:
He had ia en- some twenty gentlemen,
along with him to go.
For he will pay the ancient VOW he to Saint
James doth owe,
To Cornpastelia, where the shrine doth by
the altar stand
The good Rodrigo de Bivar is riding
through the land.
II
Whcre'cr he goes. much aims he throws, to
feeble folk and poor:
Beside the way for him they pray, him
blessing 10 procure.
For God and Mary mother, their Heavenly
grace to win,
His Lord was ever boEntiful; great was
his joy therein.
And there, in middle OF the path. leper
did appear;
in a deep slough the 1eper lay. none would
to help come near.
With a loud voice he thence did cry: For
God, our Sayiour's sake,
From out the fearful jeopardy q Christian
brother take
"
When Rodrigo heard taat pitcous wcrd. he
from his horse cane down