ll the streets of Burgos--and The Devil he comes after,
For the King has hired the horned fiend for sixteen maravedis,
And there he goes, with hoofs for toes, to terrify the ladies.

VII.
Then comes the bride Ximena--the King he holds her hand;
And the Queen, and, all in fur and pall, the nobles of the land;
All down the street the ears of wheat are round Ximena flying,
But the King lifts off her bosom sweet whatever there is lying.

VIII.
Quoth Suero, when he saw it, (his thought you understand,)
"'Tis a fine thing to be a King; but Heaven make me a Hand!"
The King was very merry, when he was told of this,
And swore the bride ere eventide, must give the boy a kiss.

IX.
The King went always talking, but she held down her head,
And seldom gave an answer to anything he said;
It was better to be silent, among such a crowd of folk,
Than utter words so meaningless as she did when she spoke.

THE CID AND THE LEPER.

Like our own Robert the Bruce, the great Spanish hero is represented as
exhibiting, on many occasions, great gentleness of disposition and
compassion. But while old Barbour is contented with such simple
anecdotes as that of a poor laundress being suddenly taken ill with the
pains of childbirth, and the king stopping the march of his army rather
than leave her unprotected, the minstrels of Spain, never losing an
opportunity of gratifying the superstitious propensities of their
audience, are sure to let no similar incident in their champion's
history pass without a miracle.

I.
He has ta'en some twenty gentlemen, along with him to go,
For he will pay that ancient vow he to Saint James doth owe;
To Compostella, where the shrine doth by the altar stand,
The good Rodrigo de Bivar is riding through the land.

II.
Where'er he goes, much alms he throws, to feeble folk and poor;
Beside the way for him they pray, him blessings to procure;
For, God and Mary Mother, their heavenly grace to win,
His hand was ever bountiful: great was his joy therein.

III.
And there, in middle of the path, a leper did appear;
In a deep slough the leper lay, none would to help come near.
With a loud voice he thence did cry, "For God our Saviour's sake,
From out this fearful jeopardy a Christian brother take."--

IV.
When Roderick heard that piteous word, he from his horse came down;
For all they said, no stay he made, that noble champion;
He reached his hand to pluck him forth, of fear was no account,
T