disgrace and infamy, as though you were some kind of monster. O good
Father of all things, what kind of Carpenter did we have, who, like
construction worker with a pick axe, hacked away, with lances and
swords, at the backs of the Gentiles? See how the craftsman has worn
out a thousand swords with the strength of his blows, and
single-handedly slain the pagan people while we merely rested. Where
is that haughty firmness, that quickness with words that was
nourished at the Loire and at the Seine, which has resulted in so
little action, but in so much steady, thundering speech? Alone, he
had been able to aid the laboring moon,[162] yet, foully sluggish, he
has done nothing useful whatever. Certainly it is in accord with
your great strength that the man who had betrayed the people of the
Lord in Spain exert himself in Syria to achieve the full measure of
honor. Let it be so. Certainly it suits you to do nothing else; in
this way you will receive the most generous reward for behavior that
has been so wretched." Now his derisory speech began to make the
Franks who were standing there feel shame, and with difficulty they
restrained the angry man from speaking. Tempering his severity, the
illustrious man spared the wretch, and was content to exact from him
the oath to continue the journey to Jerusalem, whether prosperity or
penury attended them. And William promised that Tancred, who had
prevented him from escaping, would henceforth be his friend, if he
decided to behave in a manly fashion. After these words were spoken,
they came to mutual agreement. A short time later, that remarkable
Carpenter, who, when he was out of harm's way, once threatened to be
executioner to the Turks, forgot his oath, and that profligate of
fidelity did not hesitate to flee furtively again. However, let no
one be surprised that the army, although pious, had suffered such
want, since it is clear that, with the great crimes they had
committed, they struggled against receiving the divine gifts which