Patrañas; or, Spanish Stories, Legendary and Traditional
Page 52
ARAUCANIA.
II.
TEGUALDA.
It happened once, after there had been a desperate encounter betweenthe Spaniards and Araucanians, that Don Alonso de Ercilla wentout late at night to meditate on the lessons of the battle-fieldstrewn with the bodies of those who had been well and brave but afew hours before. The night was dark and gloomy, and yet he thoughthe discerned indistinctly a form moving from place to place, quietlyand noiselessly as a spirit might move; and anon there came from itsighs and groans dismal to hear. Bending down, and hiding himself inthe long grass, he tracked the figure, not without some fear at heart;but clasping his trusty sword, he came swiftly upon it. Then it roseerect, and addressed him in humble, timorous accents: "Senor, Senor,have pity on me; I am but a woman, and never have I offended you! Ifmy misery does not move you to spare me, at least consider that thereis no glory to be gained by killing a woman--or rather, slay me,but first let me fulfil my work." Then Don Ercilla asked her what itwas had brought her there. And she in dolorous tones answered, "Neverwas grief like mine; I loved him with true love and purest constancy,and to-day he was taken from me, and slain. Let me but seek the bodyof him who was my soul, and let me lay it in a decent grave, and thentake my life, lay my body beside his, for so great is my grief thatI dread living without him more than lying beside him in death."
Don Ercilla was greatly moved by her sorrow, but still he had his dutyas a soldier to consider; she might have come to spy the situationof the Spanish camp, under the idea that, as a woman, she would beless easily suspected; and her grief might be assumed in order toinduce him to release her. Yet his compassion swayed him at last,so he let her live, and moreover assisted her in her search, leadingher to relieve her oppressed heart by pouring out all her story.
"Woe is me!" she said, "for no relief is possible for me, no rest tilldeath. He is gone, and if I open now the old wounds by thinking of him,it is but in the hope that in the violent effort I may sink and die.
"Know then, that I am Tegualda, daughter of the Cacique Brancol. Vainof the attentions that were paid me through many young years, Irefused to listen to the suits of any of the young Caciques whom myfather presented to me; nor when they danced or wrestled before mewould I regard them with favour.
"One day my father took me to the shady thicket where gentle Gualebopours its limpid stream into the floods of broad Itata with a soothingmurmur, and where the sunlight playing through the thick foliage ofthe breeze-shaken trees, diapered the perfumed air.
"Scarcely had we sat down, when there entered on the plain thatspread away before us a band of youths, earnest and silent. At asign from Brancol various games began, in which each exerted himselfto the utmost only to win a glance from me. To me, however, it wasa greater pleasure to stand detached from them all, and while theyran, and fought, and showed strange feats of endurance, rather thangratify them by a look, to rest my eyes on the murmuring stream,watching the polished stones, now bathed in snow-like foam, nowpiercing, black and stark through the mimic waves; or on the wavingtrees, flinging their lithesome limbs in every graceful attitude,now wide apart, now interlaced in one another's thrall; or on thefar-off sky, sparkling and peering through the leafy shade; on anything rather than on the contending youths; and thus I sat there,disdaining all interest in the games, and, as I deemed, fancy-free,when all at once a loud cry rose from the contending throng: this wasno unusual occurrence, but it was so exulting and prolonged that Icould not choose but ask the cause. The youth who stood nearest memade answer, 'Did you not observe, Senora, how the brave Mareguanohas won the victory over every other combatant? and now when, withjoyous haste, we were leading him to receive the conqueror's wreathfrom your hand, to gird his temples in token that he is the firstand bravest of our company--all at once that handsome lad yonder,wearing green and scarlet for his device, suddenly confronted him,and at their first contest laid him low on the green sward. Mareguanono sooner regained his feet than he required to be allowed anothertrial; but as this is against all our rules, it was refused him. Sothe stranger youth comes to be crowned by you, unless you, whosepower is absolute over us, suffer them to renew the contest.'
"As he spoke the shouting crowd led him up to me; but before I couldtake the wreath to crown him, he placed himself modestly before meon his knees, and thus spoke:--
"'Lady, I seek one favour, though I be a stranger, and have no claimto your regard, yet I have the boldness to prefer my request, havingno greater desire than to live and die in your service. Let me thenhave your permission to try another fall with Mareguano; ay, andanother and another, even to a hundred, till he is satisfied of mysuperiority; for here striving in your presence, I know I am certainto come off with greater and greater glory in every trial.'
"And I, who cared little about the matter, carelessly granted whathe asked.
"On the instant the two darted off to meet each other: then came aprolonged struggle, fought out with desperate resolve; now lithelybending, now strained to their utmost height, they wrestled for along space, grasping each other in such iron fashion that it wouldseem they scarce could breathe; at last the stranger youth ended thecontest by seizing Mareguano round the body, then lifting him highin the air, and flinging him headlong on the ground.
"No sooner had he accomplished the feat than the assembled people,delighted at this exhibition of manly strength, bore him along intriumph to receive his reward at my hand.
"When I looked at him, kneeling before me again, flushed with success,praised and applauded by all around, yet waiting for my word, asif he prized it more than all the rest, I felt a new emotion takepossession of me, I perceived an interest in him which I had neverexperienced for any of the others, and it was with difficulty I couldcommand myself sufficiently to conceal what I felt. However, I rosewith all the dignity I could summon, placed the crown on his brow,and announced that the prize I held for the next contest was a ringornamented with a fine emerald, and that it was for the winner in therace immediately to follow. I could not help saying it in such a wayas to betray I expected it would be on him I should have to conferit. Nor was I mistaken.
"The competitors, forty in number, were ranged in a long row, pantingwith anxiety to start. The signal scarcely given, the whole fortyset off as one man, and so swiftly that their feet scarcely seemed totouch the sand; but Crepino (such was the name of the young stranger)pursued the sport with so much ardour that he distanced the very wind,and touched the red Palio [113] before the others were near it. ButI, when he was brought back to me, was more troubled than before;so that when I handed him the ring, I gave him as it were my libertyenclosed in it. And he no sooner had received the ring than, holdingit still before me, said,--
"'Senora, I pray you accept it of me; for though it be but little tooffer to you, yet it is offered with entire devotion, and the favouryou will confer on me in accepting it will be so great, that it willmake me rich, and shall so strengthen and animate me, that there willthenceforth be no undertaking so arduous that I shall not be able toaccomplish it; and so you will have added the bravest heart and thestoutest arm to the Araucanian band.'
"I could not but accept what was so gracefully proffered; and now,the games being concluded, the meeting was broken up, and I had toreturn home with my father.
"For three weeks I concealed what I felt, that I might not appearto change too suddenly from what had been a life-long resolve. But Icould not overcome the desire to see him again. When next my father,therefore, urged me to make my choice among the young Caciques,I told him that I had resolved to attend to his bidding, and thatmy choice had fallen on Crepino, who was of honourable name, brave,well-mannered, and well-grown.
"My father was all rejoiced at this announcement, and, kissing meon the forehead, he confirmed my choice; he told me how on Crepinoof all the others his own heart yearned, and how Crepino himself hadsued for me, and yet had urged him in no way to overrule my will.
"With joyful haste the nuptial ceremonies were performed over us,and al
l was mirth and gladness. That was but one short month ago, andto-day your people have slain him who was all my joy; and all our hopesof happiness are poured out like water on the ground. What comfort isthere for so great misery! There is nothing left to hope for now, sinceearth contains no good which could be measured against such a grief!
"Now, therefore, let me seek my lord, and bury him; for it is not meetthat his dear body should fall a prey to voracious beasts and birds."
Don Ercilla was so much moved by her recital that he no longerdoubted her, but helped her to search for Crepino's body. When themorning dawned they found it, stark and cold, and disfigured by acannon-ball. Tegualda's agony revived when she came in sight of hisshattered form. She threw herself on him, placed her heart on hisheart, and her lips on his, that so she might perchance yet call backthe life; and then she struck her face, and tore her long dark hair,and pressed her fingers tightly round her throat, and threw herselfagain upon the ground, not knowing what she did for very grief. DonErcilla looked on compassionating, knowing it was but distressing herto interfere till the first violence of her agony was past. Then,at peril of treachery towards him, alone in their midst, he badeher make a signal to call her people, and ordered them to bear awayCrepino's body in decent order.
Then he composed her mantle round her, and, supporting her, gentlyled her along behind it till they reached the sierra where her ownpeople dwelt, and then he delivered her over to her father's keeping.