English

CLXI

Count Roland loved no craven nor proud nor haughty wight,
Nor ever any cavalier that was not a faithful knight.
He called to Bishop Turpin:
" Lo! on thy feet art thou,
And I a-horse; of charity I will halt beside thee now.
Let us abide together the evil and the good.
I will not quit thee for any that is made of flesh and blood.
This day in this same battle well shall the Paynims know.
The name of the sword Almace and Durendal also. "

CXLI

And Charlemagne the Emperor in mighty anger sped.
Down on his battle-hauberk his great white beard it spread.
In fiery haste along with him the Frankish barons spurred.
There was no man among them but spoke a bitter word,
For that with the Captain Roland they were not standing then,
What time he joined the battle with the Spanish Saracen.
Of his host, if he be wounded, no soul alive will be.
Ah, what a gallant sixty yet keep him company!
There is no king or captain hath better men than he.

CXXII

A red sword had Count Roland. What lament the Franks did make
He hearkened, and he sorrowed till his heart was like to break.
He said unto the Paynim:
" God's curse fall on thee here!
Thou hast slaughtered my companion. The thing shall cost thee dear. "
He spurred the charger onwards that slackened not his pace.
Whosoe'er shall lose the battle the twain are face to face.

CXXIII

CI

And Engelier of Bordeaux, the Gascon, came amain.
He spurred the charger onwards, he loosed the bridle-rein.
Escremis of Valtierra he galloped in to slay.
He clove the shield of the Paynim that the cantels fell away.
Out of the heathen hauberk the steel rings did he wrest.
Between the man's two shoulders he stabbed him through the breast.
And dead out of the saddle he hurled him with the spear.
Thereon aloud he shouted: " Ye all shall perish here! "

LXXXI

Over the mountain ridges Olivier climbed on high.
And down a grassy valley on the right he cast his eye,
And saw the Paynim army how hard on them it hied.
Then to his comrade Roland with a loud voice he cried:
There cometh a great press of men out of the land of Spain —
A host of the white hauberks. The helmets flash again.
They shall stir up in our Frenchmen a great wrath fierce and fell.
Count Ganelon the traitor hath wrought his treason well,

LXI

When with the rear-guard he should go that the Count Roland heard
Then unto his stepfather he spoke a bitter word:
" Thou traitor! thou most wicked! born of a shameful line!
Thou thinkest here the glove will fall out of this hand of mine,
Even as the staff of office fell erewhile out of thine. "

LXII

Count Roland to King Charlemagne his voice uplifted there

XLI

" Count Ganelon, " said Marsile, " the truth to thee I tell.
I have it in my spirit to love thee passing well.
I would hear thee speak of Charlemagne, who is old, and whose day is o'er;
Of years unto my thinking he hath lived a full ten-score.
And he hath borne him manful in many a foreign field,
And many a stroke, moreover, hath taken on his shield;
And of many a wealthy ruler a beggar hath he made.
When will he grow a-weary of the ravage and the raid? "

XXI

Said Charlemagne:
" Count Ganelon, now forth before us stand.
The staff of place and the gauntlet, now take them in the hand.
Thou art chosen. By the common choice on thee the lot doth fall. "
Said Ganelon:
" This matter Count Roland wrought it all.
In no wise do I love him, nor Olivier beside,
(For he is Roland's comrade) nor the twelve peers of thy pride
That love Count Roland. In thy sight do I defy them now. "

I

For seven years together, the Emperor Charlemagne,
Our Lord and King, had sojourned within the land of Spain.
From the upland to the sea-coast he had conquered all the land
Nor was there any castle before him left to stand.
There was not town nor bulwark unbroken by his might,
Save only Saragossa that standeth on the height.
King Marsile held that city, in whom no grace was found
To love his God. He worshipped Apollo and Mahound,
Nor could shun the evil fortune that beleaguered him around.

ACT THIRD

E STEBAN . Is the Town Board assembled?
B ARRILDO . Not a person can be seen.
E STEBAN . Bravely we face danger!
B ARRILDO . All the farms had warning.
E STEBAN . Frondoso is a prisoner in the tower and my daughter Laurencia in such plight that she is lost save for the direct interposition of heaven.

J UAN R OJO . Who complains aloud when silence is salvation? Peace, in God's name, peace!
E STEBAN . I will shout to the clouds till they re-echo my complaints while men marvel at my silence.