Hija del Conde Loçano.
Con ella uviste dineros,
Conmigo uvieras estado.
Bien casaste, Rodrigo,
Muy mejor fueras casado;
Dexaste hija de Rey,
Por tomar la de su vasallo.
This was one of the most popular of the old ballads. It is often alluded to by the writers of the best age of Spanish literature; for example, by Cervantes, in “Persiles y Sigismunda,” (Lib. III. c. 21,) and was used by Guillen de Castro in his play on the Cid.
[217] “En lo que hubo Cid, no hay duda, ni menos Bernardo del Carpio; pero de que hicieron las hazañas que dicen, creo que hay muy grande.” (Parte I. c. 49.) This, indeed, is the good sense of the matter,—a point in which Cervantes rarely fails,—and it forms a strong contrast to the extravagant faith of those who, on the one side, consider the ballads good historical documents, as Müller and Herder are disposed to do, and the sturdy incredulity of Masdeu, on the other, who denies that there ever was a Cid.
[218] See the fine ballad beginning “Si el cavallo vos han muerto,”—which first appears in the “Flor de Romances,” Octava Parte (Alcalá, 1597, f. 129). It is boldly translated by Lockhart.