nd well are the Spaniards
proud of him. Honor was the moving spring of his career. As a devoted son,
he revenged the insult to his father; as a loving husband, he made Ximena
the partner of his fame; as a tender father, he redressed his daughters'
wrongs; as a loyal subject, he would not serve a king on whom doubt of
treachery rested. In spite of the injustice of the king, he was true to
his country, and came again and again to its aid. Though forced into the
field as a free lance, he was throughout a Christian cavalier. And, though
he cheated the Jews, the story goes that he repaid them their gold.
Courage, courtesy, and honor were the jewels of his fame, and romance
holds no nobler hero.

It will not be amiss to close our tale of the Cid with a quotation from
the famous poem in which it is shown how even a lion quailed before his
majesty:

"Peter Bermuez arose; somewhat he had to say;
The words were strangled in his throat, they could not find their way;
Till forth they came at once, without a stop or stay:
'Cid, I'll tell you what, this always is your way;
You have always served me thus, whenever you have come
To meet here in the Cortes, you call me Peter the Dumb.
I cannot help my nature; I never talk nor rail;
But when a thing is to be done, you know I never fail.
Fernando, you have lied, you have lied in every word;
You have been honored by the Cid and favored and preferred.
I know of all your tricks, and can tell them to your face:
Do you remember in Valencia the skirmish and the chase?
You asked leave of the Cid to make the first attack,
You went to meet a Moor, but you soon came running back.
I met the Moor and killed him, or he would have killed you;
I gave you up his arms, and all that was my due.
Up to this very hour, I never said a word;
You praised yourself before the Cid and I stood by and heard
How you had killed the Moor, and done a valiant act;
And they believed you all, but they never knew the fact.
You are tall enough and handsome, but cowardly and weak,
Thou tongue without a hand, how can you dare to speak?
There's the story of the lions should never be forgot;
Now let us hear, Fernando, what answer you have got?
The Cid was sleeping in his chair, with all his knights around;
The cry went forth along the hall that the lion was unbound.
What did you do, Fernando? Like a coward as you were,
You shrunk behind the Cid, and crouched beneath hi