his son, his only child, who was to remain in his stead a
sort of captive in a hostile land, he folded him in his arms and wept
over him. "Woe the day that I was born!" exclaimed he, "and evil the
stars that presided at my birth! Well was I called El Zogoybi, or the
Unlucky, for sorrow is heaped upon me by my father, and sorrow do
I transmit to my son!" The afflicted heart of Boabdil, however, was
soothed by the kindness of the Christian sovereigns, who received the
hostage prince with a tenderness suited to his age and a distinction
worthy of his rank. They delivered him in charge to the worthy alcayde
Martin de Alarcon, who had treated his father with such courtesy during
his confinement in the castle of Porcuna, giving orders that after the
departure of the latter his son should be entertained with great honor
and princely attention in the same fortress.

On the 2d of September a guard of honor assembled at the gate of the
mansion of Boabdil to escort him to the frontiers of his kingdom. He
pressed his child to his heart at parting, but he uttered not a word,
for there were many Christian eyes to behold his emotion. He mounted his
steed, and never turned his head to look again upon the youth, but those
who were near him observed the vehement struggle that shook his frame,
wherein the anguish of the father had wellnigh subdued the studied
equanimity of the king.

Boabdil el Chico and King Ferdinand sallied forth side by side from
Cordova, amidst the acclamations of a prodigious multitude. When they
were a short distance from the city they separated, with many gracious
expressions on the part of the Castilian monarch, and many thankful
acknowledgments from his late captive, whose heart had been humbled by
adversity. Ferdinand departed for Guadalupe, and Boabdil for Granada.
The latter was accompanied by a guard of honor, and the viceroys of
Andalusia and the generals on the frontier were ordered to furnish him
with escorts and to show him all possible honor on his journey. In this
way he was conducted in royal state through the country he had entered
to ravage, and was placed in safety in his own dominions.

He was met on the frontier by the principal nobles and cavaliers of his
court, who had been secretly sent by his mother, the sultana Ayxa, to
escort him to the capital. The heart of Boabdil was lifted up for a
moment when he found himself on his own territories, surrounded by
Moslem knights, with his own banners