so
deeply offended; and, with truly Spanish impetuosity, Ximena gave him,
not only pardon, but love. She again repaired to the king and asked
leave to bestow her hand upon the knight, urging the curious plea that
she foresaw he would one day be the most powerful subject in the realm.
Informed of this request, of which the king approved, Rodrigo consented
to the marriage, as an act of obedience to his sovereign and of justice
to the lady. The meeting of this strangely matched pair is thus
described in the ballad (Lockhart's translation):

"But when the fair Ximena came forth to plight her hand,
Rodrigo, gazing on her, his face could not command:
He stood, and blushed before her: thus at the last said he,
'I slew thy sire, Ximena, but not in villany:
In no disguise I slew him; man against man I stood;
There was some wrong between us, and I did shed his blood:
I slew a man; I owe a man; fair lady, by God's grace,
An honored husband shalt thou have in thy dead father's place.'"

It is unfortunate that this charming story is supposed to have but
little foundation in fact. Many of Rodrigo's legendary exploits are
still less authentic; but history and fable unite in declaring him a
warrior of no common stamp. His master, King Ferdinand, as we have said,
invaded the territories of his brothers and friends, besides those of
his enemies. Garcia, Ramirez, and Bermudez successively fell before his
attacks, which Rodrigo, in the true spirit of knightly obedience to his
lord, did not hesitate to lead. Sancho, the king's eldest son, was
Rodrigo's most intimate friend; and on the accession of the prince to
his father's throne on the death of Ferdinand, in 1065, Rodrigo became
Campeador (or, as the Arabs call him, _El Cambitur_); that is, head of
the army. The new king followed in his father's courses of injustice,
and drove his brother, Alfonso, King of Leon, into exile.

[Illustration: The Cid ordering the Execution of Ahmed.]

In 1072 Sancho besieged Zamora, which one of his sisters, whom he had
likewise despoiled, held out against him. The king was killed during the
siege, and, as it was suspected, by the agency of his exiled brother,
Alfonso, who succeeded to the throne. Rodrigo felt his friend's death
deeply, and did not scruple to avow his suspicions of Alfonso. Before
promising allegiance, the Campeador insisted that the king should
cleanse himself by an oath of the accusation which popular rumor had