The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda: A Northern Story

by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The earnestness with which Rafaella spoke went to the hearts of Auristella and Constance, and they believed her words, and only replied by thanks. They immediately called Periander and Antonio, and told them what had passed. Then, without seeming to do anything particular, they all went out. Bartholomew objected much to the move, for he felt more in need of rest than a change of abode; but he obeyed his masters, and they reached the church, where they were well received by the priest and the Jadraque, to whom they related all Rafaella had told them. The priest said, "It is some days, gentlemen, since the arrival of these vessels has disturbed us, and although it is customary for them to come, yet I have felt uneasy. Come in hither, my children, the church is a good castle, and has strong and good doors, not easily burnt or destroyed." "Ah," said the Jadraque, "if that my eyes may but see, before they close for ever, this land freed from the thorns and the briers that oppress it. Ah! when will the time come, foretold by my grandfather, who was a learned astrologer, when Spain shall see herself entire and firm in the Christian religion, for she alone is the corner of the earth where the true faith is most acknowledged and revered. I am a Moor, sirs, and you hear that I deny it not, but not for this am I the less a Christian, for God gives his grace to all who serve him, and as you know, he makes his sun shine alike upon the good and the bad, and bestows his rain equally on the just and the unjust. I say, then, that this grandfather of mine used to fore-tell that, about this time, there would reign in Spain a king of the house of Austria [(Note 7)], who would conceive in his soul the difficult resolution of expelling the Moors from the country, as one flings from one's bosom a serpent that is devouring one's entrails, or rather, as one who separates the wild flowers from the wheat, and pulls out the weeds from the growing grain. Come, then, brave youth, and prudent king, and execute this decree of expulsion; let not the fear of rendering this country desert and depopulated, deter thee, nor even the consideration that there are many who have been baptized whom it would not be well to expel; for, although these are fears that deserve to be considered, yet the carrying so great a work into effect would make them not worth thinking of. Soon the land would be re-peopled by Christians, it would again be fertile, and more so than it is now: it would have its lords, and, if not so many or such humble vassals as now, yet they would be good Catholics, under whose protection their roads would be secure, and peace would reign, and riches increase without fear of robbers and highwaymen."

After having thus spoken, he made the doors fast, and fortified them by putting all the seats and benches against them. They then mounted to the top of the tower, taking up a portable ladder, or steps. The priest carried up with him the holy vessels belonging to the sacrament, provided a store of stones, and armed himself with two loaded guns. They left the baggage mule at the door relieved of its burden, and Bartholomew shut himself in with his masters.

With watchful eyes, ready hands, and resolute hearts, the little party awaited the hour of assault, of which the Moorish maiden had given them warning.

Midnight passed, the priest knew it by the stars; they looked out upon the sea which lay before them, and not a cloud passed over in the moonlight, but they fancied it a Moorish bark, and, applying themselves to the bells, they began to raise a peal so loud and vigorous that every valley and all the shores resounded again; at which sound the officials in the harbour assembled together, and ran here and there, but their haste was of no use in preventing the vessels approaching the shore and taking away the people from land; those in the place who were expecting them, went out laden with their most valuable property, and were received by the Turks with loud cries and shouts, and the sound of musical instruments.

They set fire to the place, and also to the church doors, not meaning to enter in, but simply to do all the harm they could. Bartholomew was left to go afoot, for they carried off his mule, demolished a stone cross that stood at the entrance of the town, called aloud upon Mahomet, and gave themselves up to the Turks, a dishonest and thievish nation. Several times, and perhaps not always in vain, did Periander and Antonio fire their guns; many a stone did Bartholomew throw, always to that quarter whence the mule was stolen, and many an arrow was shot by the Jadraque; but more than all were the tears that were shed by Auristella and Constance, praying to God to deliver them from the danger they were in, and that his temple might not be injured by the fire, which it was not: it did not escape, however, by a miracle, but because the doors were of iron, and the fire not very strong.

It was nearly day when the ships laden with their prizes went to sea with shouts of triumph and raising the Moorish war cry, and the joyful sounds of atabals and trumpets.

Two persons were now seen running towards the church, one from the shore, the other from the land side; on their nearer approach, the Jadraque knew one to be his niece Rafaella, who, with a cane cross in her hand, came, crying out, "Christian, Christian, and free, free by the grace and mercy of God!"

They recognized in the other the notary, who had by chance been out of the town that night, and at the sound of the alarm bell came to see the disastrous events, which he deplored, not for the loss of wife or child, since he had none, but for that of his house, which was plundered and burned.

They waited till the day was far advanced, and the ships began to disappear in the distance, and the coast guardians had taken measures to protect the coast, then they descended from the tower, and opened the church, which Rafaella entered with her face bathed in joyful tears, and her beauty heightened by her emotion. She knelt and offered her prayers to the images, and then embraced her uncle, first having kissed the hands of the good priest. The notary neither said a prayer nor kissed the hand of anybody, for his whole soul was occupied with the thoughts of his lost property.

The first alarm having subsided, the fugitives recovered their spirits, and the Jadraque recovering breath, began afresh to think about his grandfather's prophecy as being undoubtedly inspired from above.—"Ah! noble youth! ah! invincible king, trample down and destroy all impediments, and make Spain clear and free from my bad race, which now infests and injures her. Ah! prince, as wise as thou art illustrious, thou new Atlantis, who supportest the weight of this kingdom, aid, and make easy with thy wisdom this necessary expulsion; fill the seas with thy galleys laden with the useless crowd of the Hagarene generation; cast upon the opposite shores the brambles, weeds, and thorns that hinder the growth and abundance of a Christian population; for, if the few Hebrews who went over into Egypt multiplied so exceedingly, that, when they went away, they were in number more than seven hundred families, what is not to be feared from those who are more numerous and live more idly? Religion does not gather any under her wing, none are cut down by the Indies; war does not diminish their numbers; all marry, all, or most, have children; hence it is to be inferred that they must increase and multiply innumerably. Again, I say, arise, O king! arise, and set to work, and leave the history of thy reign bright as the sun, and clear as the blue sky above us."