The Cid




Late one sunny afternoon one and twenty knights were riding along
the highway in the northern part of Spain. As they were passing a
deep mire they heard cries for help, and turning, saw a poor leper
who was sinking in the mud. One of the knights, a handsome young
man, was touched by the cries. He dismounted, rescued the poor
fellow, took him upon his own horse, and thus the two rode to the
inn. The other knights wondered at this.

When they reached the inn where they were to stop for the night,
they wondered still more, for their companion gave the leper a
seat next to himself at the table. After supper the knight shared
his own bed with the leper. If the knight had not done this, the
leper would have been driven out of the town, with nothing to eat
and no place in which to sleep. At midnight, while the young man
was fast asleep, the leper breathed upon his back. This awakened
the knight, who turned quickly in his bed and found that the leper
was gone.

The knight called for a light and searched, but in vain. While he
was wondering about what had happened, a man in shining garments
appeared before him and said, "Rodrigo, art thou asleep or awake?"
The knight answered, "I am awake, but who art thou that bringest
such brightness?" The vision replied, "I am St. Lazarus, the leper
to whom thou wast so kind. Because I have breathed upon thee
thou shalt accomplish whatever thou shalt undertake in peace or in