CHAPTER IV. HOW GANELON, COUNT OF MAYENCE, WAS NEARLY SMOKED IN THECOMPANY OF TWO HOGS, AND WHAT FOLLOWED THEREAFTER.
GANELON'S castle was situated on the loftiest peak of the HartzMountains, the Blocksberg. There, in the midst of the Hercynian forest,which cannot be less than twenty-four leagues in length by ten inbreadth, towered the eyrie of this vulture. One road, and only one,traversed this vast extent of forest, but Ganelon took care that itshould always be in good repair; it was a courtesy which he felt was duefrom him to the travellers he despoiled.
035]
The count had gathered round him a collection of the best assortedruffians of every country; Saxons, Danes, Lombards, Jews, and Saracens,lent him a hand to forward the interests of the Evil One. One morning hecalled them all together, and said to them---
"I have pleasant news for you. We have the opportunity of playing apretty trick on some Saxon traders. I have just been informed that acaravan, consisting of thirty mules, laden with treasure, and conveyedby a small escort, is about to cross the Hartz Mountains this morning,to attend the fair of St. Denis. I have conceived the design ofprotecting French commerce, and putting a stop to the opposition whichis meditated against it. Under the protection of our patron saints, thetwo thieves, we will make ourselves masters of this venture."
Ganelon and his rascals placed themselves in ambush along the border ofthe forest, and before long saw a thick cloud of dust rising along theroad in the distance.
"Here," cried they, "beyond a doubt, are those we are waiting for. Letus save them three-quarters of their journey;" and they rushed forward,sword in hand. The two opposing storms of dust approached each other,and from the further came the cry, "i' what are you doing? You'lldestroy the beasts!"
Ganelon and his men had charged into the midst of an army of porkers,driven by Westphalian swineherds.
037]
The surprise of the assailants was so great that it allowed theswineherds time to form in a body and draw their knives; and thoseweapons were not to be sneered at, readers mine, for they were thosewhich butchers use for quartering and cutting up carcases.
Ganelon remained for a moment undecided. That hesitation was fatal. TheJews and Saracens, to whom pork is a forbidden dish, did not think itworth while to press matters further. They accordingly retreated, takingwith them several of their fellows, who thought their chief would retireinto ambuscade again. But a Count of Mayence is not the man to despisebacon and sour-crout. So Ganelon, gazing over the ocean of lard whichgrunted at his feet, began to lick his lips, and think that here wasa booty which was quite as well worth having as the other. But theswineherds knew with whom they had to deal, and, indeed, had come insuch numbers solely because they expected an attack. They rushed on thecount and his lances, and began to hamstring the horses. The horsemenwere soon rolling in the dust among the hogs. Two of them, who showed aninclination to resist, were very properly run through on the spot, andmingled their lifeblood with that of two pigs that had been run downby the horses. The others were disarmed, and allowed to escape. As forGanelon, they tied his hands tightly behind his back.
"Now then," said the head swineherd, "before they pluck up courage tocome back in force, suppose we hang their leader?"
038]
This idea appeared very agreeable to everybody except Ganelon, whouttered the most furious oaths. But they dragged him, armed as he was,under an oak, and then, having chosen a stout bough worthy of such finefruit, they adjusted the cord round his neck. Then they brought the twoslaughtered pigs--the only victims of the Count of Mayence--and havingfitted each with a strong hempen cravat, suspended them one at eachend of the bough, reserving the post of honour for the knight. Thesepreparations concluded, Ganelon was dragged, bound hand and foot, to theplace of execution. He writhed about in the madness of his rage, foamingat the mouth, calling on his companions in villany, and cursing themfor their desertion. In vain did he struggle--a score of sturdy armsspeedily hoisted him up between his two companions.
"Pull down his visor," said the head swineherd to the man who was on thebough adjusting the noose, "the monster is hideous enough at the best oftimes--what will he look like presently?"
Ganelon continued to struggle at the end of the cord, to the greatdelight of the spectators, who, though they found him tenacious of life,did not complain on that account.
Meanwhile, the count began to find that death was rather slow in coming.He had hanged too many not to know something about it, and in thisinstance it was so personally interesting to him that it could not failto arrest his attention. "These knaves," said he to himself, "have madea sad bungle of the job. I ought to have been dead some time." Andthen it dawned on him that he was only suspended, not hanged. Hisexecutioners had put the noose round the gorget of his helmet.
"Oho!" said Ganelon to himself, "this is quite another affair, andall is not yet lost, possibly. Only, if I continue my gambols, I may,perhaps, give the hint to these idiots, and they might hang me againmore carefully. I'll sham dead, and it's odd if the Evil One doesn'tsend some one to my aid. It would be very inconsiderate of him to let medie like this!"
Nevertheless, for one who wasn't dead, the count was uncommonly neardeath. The blood rushed to his head, and filled his eyes. He began tohear a dismal noise in his ears, like the tolling of a bell. His mouthgrew dry, his lips were contracted, and presently his limbs gave onelast convulsive struggle. Ganelon confessed to himself that allwas over, and lost consciousness while faintly murmuring a finalimprecation. The swineherds, encouraged by their success, and notwishing to leave the two hogs for the enemy, resolved to cook and eatthem. They posted sentinels, collected their herds, and prepared tocelebrate their victory with a feast.
"It strikes me," said the chief swineherd, "if we were to omit anopportunity of throwing a light on a point of interest to culinaryscience, we should regret it all our lives. A rare and remarkableopportunity offers itself to us now--we must not allow it to escape us.Are you not all equally anxious, with myself, to learn whether it takeslonger to smoke a peer than a pig?"
The suggestion was a great success. They collected a heap of sticksand leaves under each of the three victims, and lighted it. And then,joining hands, they began to dance round, uttering wild shouts.
Roland, it so chanced, was returning this way from Saxony, whither hehad been sent by Charlemagne. He had, certes, in war laid many a mandead in his path, but he had never permitted a cruelty to be committedin his presence. His indignation was roused by these vile chantings,this demoniac dance, and all the hideous apparatus of torture. He wasnot long in deciding what course to pursue. He rode at the dancers, anddispersed them with the flat of his sword, not deigning to honour themby using against them the edge, which he reserved for foemen more worthyof him.
Then he made to the hanging man, and in order to cut the roue, had tokeep Veillantif for a few seconds trampling on the embers in the midstof the flames. The Count of Mayence tumbled heavily into the middle ofthe fire. Roland dismounted, with one hearty kick sent him rolling somefifty paces, and then ran to assist him.
040]
His first care was to relieve him of his helmet. When he recognisedwhose life he had saved, I must admit he made a grimace. The Count ofMans, the faultless mirror of chivalry, could feel no liking for suchwretches, but he was not the less ready to aid them.
Ganelon re-opened his eyes. His succession of tumbles had done more torecover him than all the eau-de-cologne in the world would have done.When he saw his preserver, he heartily wished it had not been Roland.
041]
"Are you hurt, count? What can I do to assist you?"
"I don't want your pity, Knight of Blaives. Why have you rescued me? Iam not of a race or of a disposition likely to love those who place meunder an obligation, and it would have been less bitter for me to diethan to owe my life to you!"
042]
"I forgive these words, Sir Ganelon. You have just undergone such ashock, that you have evidently not quite recov
ered your senses!"
At these words the Count of Mayence was seized with such a paroxysmof rage, that he found strength enough to try to avenge the insult. Heflung himself on his preserver, and seized him by the throat.
"You'll make yourself ill again," said Roland, coolly freeing himselffrom the other's grasp. "You forget that you are not quite well yet.Allow me to administer a curative process which you ought to undergo."
With these words he caught his adversary by the scruff of the neck,dragged him beside his horse into the heart of the forest, tied hishands with the cord that had already served him as a halter, and boundhim fast to a tree.
Ganelon foamed at the mouth, and bit his lips till the blood came. Thefury in his eyes would have been terrible to any but Roland.
"Now, count, calm yourself. You see I am anxious to cure you in spite ofyourself. Nothing conduces to meditation like solitude. Now that you arealone, you will have time for reflection; and if you are a wise man, youwill say to yourself, 'This Roland is a very good fellow not to breakevery bone in my body;' and, since you are a coward and a villain, youwill possibly say, 'This Roland was a fool not to kill me outright.' Youwill finish by perceiving that such a man as I can only despise onelike you. Meditate, and if Heaven is kind, it will counsel you prudence.Anyhow, do not make an uproar, for fear your enemies should disturbyour reflections, which, in that case, very likely, might come to atermination at the end of a rope. I will call at your castle, andsend some one to your assistance: as my royal uncle is awaiting me atCologne, you must excuse my attending on you further. Don't forget,moreover, that I am, and always shall be, ready to honour you with athrust of my lance or blow of my sword, in spite of the disgust I shouldfeel at having to cross swords with a highway robber!"
043]
Ganelon's thoughts were so frightful that the human language is unableto express them. He hung down his head, and when he found himselfalone he wept. His tears fell upon the grass; an innocent caterpillar,wandering in search of food, mistook them for dewdrops, tasted them, anddied of the poison.
Two hours after, the swineherds had disappeared, and Ganelon re-enteredhis castle. Eight hours after, all whom Ganelon believed to beacquainted with his mishap were dead.
Six months after, he was at the court of Charlemagne, seated at the sametable as Roland. Pork was placed on the table, but the Count of Mayencerefused it.
"You bear malice, count," said Roland; "that is wrong. Who knows?perhaps you are refusing an old brother in misfortune."
Ganelon turned livid, but he did not stir. After the feast was overRoland came to him.
"Have you forgotten," he asked, "the threats you uttered and the offer Imade to you in your domain on the Hartz?"
"I never forget," said the Count of Mayence.
Here, then, was the prime cause of Ganelon's hatred of Roland.