CHAPTER VI.
Inter their bodies as becomes their births:
_Shakespeare._
Few, few shall part where many meet,
* * * *
And every turf beneath their feet Shall be a soldier's sepulchre.
_T. Campbell._
The victory of the Moors was complete; and as they had been longaccustomed to reverses, so unusual a success elated them beyond allbounds of moderation. They considered their independence as now firmlyestablished, and could scarcely be restrained from rushing, like adisorderly horde of conquering barbarians, on their enemies below, andravaging the country round. But fortunately El Feri joined to greatcourage and activity the rare endowments of a prudent and sagaciouschief. He foresaw that the present success, if not followed upjudiciously, would prove more prejudicial than favorable to their cause.It was not by a confused depredatory system that this first victoryshould be followed up; for their cause could only be ultimatelybenefited by improving their present advantages. Besides, the fiercecourage of his followers, arising rather from a sense of injuries andrevenge, than real military bravery, was ill calculated to sustain thesuperior numbers and better disciplined bands of the Christians. Norcould El Feri be so far dazzled by one solitary success as to attributesolely to their conduct and courage that result which was chiefly to beascribed to the advantages of their position, combined with a series offortunate circumstances that had assisted them against the Christians.He knew that the intelligence of this victory would excite those of hiscountrymen who were as yet lukewarm in the cause, to take up arms andrepair to that mountain which was now the cradle in which their infantliberty was to be rocked. He wished to preserve and improve thissituation without risking the danger of another action, until hepossessed ample means of insuring success. A precipitate movement nowmight involve the Moors in difficulties capable not only of retardingtheir triumph, but even of rendering fruitless the effects of a firstvictory: Gomez Arias was likewise marching with a powerful army, and itwould be madness to abandon the strong hold of the Sierra for the sakeof hazarding an encounter, when as yet they were in all respectsinferior to their enemies.
El Feri, therefore, strongly deprecated the design formed by Mohabed ofadvancing at present against the Spaniards. But Mohabed, flushed withpride and little conversant with military affairs, could only beprevailed upon to defer his sally from the mountain for two days; and ElFeri, considering the baneful effects which any disagreement amongst thechief leaders might produce, prudently acquiesced in his decision. Hehoped that in the meantime he should have an opportunity either ofdissuading his brother chief, or at least of organising a moresystematic and powerful invasion.
Whilst the best warrior in the Moorish ranks was deeply interested inforwarding their views, his disorderly and savage followers wereaffording proofs of their wanton cruelty and insubordination. El Ferisaw with disgust and sorrow, that the men he led to the field adherednot to the principles which they pretended to profess. He perceived thathis army more resembled a horde of undisciplined barbarians than trueand sincere patriots; that the gratification of private animosity andrevenge had a far greater preponderance in directing their exertions,than the heroic impulses of noble enthusiasm and public spirit. He hadbeen himself stimulated to take up arms solely by pure and patrioticsentiments, without the least alloy of personal interest, or theindulgence of a revengeful disposition. He, therefore, bitterlylamented, for the sake of his country, when a secret voice whispered tohim, that he was less the leader of independent men, panting forliberty, than of a lawless discontented rabble, better deserving thename of rebels than that of liberators. Alas! how often is the lustre ofa good cause darkened by the private interests and vices of its agents!
The attention of El Feri was however diverted towards a tumult in thatpart of the mountain where the mighty Aguilar had fallen: he hurried tothe spot to inquire into the cause of the commotion, when he saw thenoble form of his redoubtable foe ignominiously placed on an eminence,round which men, women, and children were crowding, to glut their eyeswith the bleeding spectacle. While their savage disposition wasgladdened with the sight, they heaped maledictions on the dead. Thisdastardly ebullition of revenge was more particularly displayed by theweaker portion of men, and by the refuse of women. Women, fashioned bynature to indulge every kindly feeling, and tender sentiment ofcompassion for the fallen--women, when they have overstepped thebarriers of their natural delicacy, become more lawless and cruel thanthe most hardened of men. An old hag was, with wanton mockery, strivingto close the eyes of the warrior; another was trampling under her footthe cross which she had wrenched from his breast; and a dirty urchin wasrending his venerable locks, whilst some miscreants, not satisfied withthese profanations, in base revenge plunged their weapons into thelifeless clay. But still there were some whom the great Aguilar inspiredwith terrors even in death, and they shrunk from the inanimate corpse,as if it were ready to start into life, and wreak vengeance for theoutrages sustained. Flushed with indignation at the sight, El Feri soondispersed the vile and motley crowd.
"Base, pitiful wretches," he cried in anger, "it well becomes yourcowardly nature thus to insult in death, the man you dared not look onin life. Aye, quench your valour on that unconscious body, for thoseweapons are unworthy of warring against the living, which cannotrespect the dead. Avaunt, miscreants! tempt no further my just anger."
The affrighted crew shrunk back in confusion, but one more daring thanthe rest ventured to exclaim--
"He was the mortal foe of the Moors, and of El Feri de Benastepar----"
"In life he was," sternly replied El Feri; "but death reconciles thebitterest enemy--for enmity must lose its fire in the cold precincts ofthe grave."
"The Moor and the Christian," retorted gruffly the other, "even indeath, must be irreconcileable; even in the frost of the sepulchre, thehate of such foes must not be extinguished.
"Cease, miscreant!" fiercely returned El Feri, "or by the mighty Allah,a single word more, and a blow from the scymitar of El Feri shall be thyonly answer."
In speechless terror they all retreated, when El Feri turning to one ofhis followers--
"Do you, Moraz," said he, "and some of your brave companions, pay thelast honors to the noble Don Alonso de Aguilar."
The Moors obeyed the orders of their chief, and forthwith a grave wasdug at the foot of the rock. No funeral pomp--no military honors gracedthe obsequies of the great Aguilar--no chaunting priest was there torehearse the service of the dead--no friend to weep over his loss--nograteful dependant to raise the closed hands in prayer to heaven; but insilence his enemies laid him in his humble grave, and strewed the earthover his warlike form. What, though no sculptured marble was there topoint out the noble dust that lay beneath; the name of the warrior willlive in the hearts of his countrymen, and will be handed to posterity aslong as the records of Spain shall exist. But, in the absence of thepomp which marks the burial of the illustrious, Don Alonso received themost honorable tribute that can adorn a warrior's grave--the manly andvenerating tear of his mortal foe; for, as the earth covered for everthe remains of Aguilar, the silent tear of noble feeling fell on itfrom the eye of El Feri de Benastepar.
Meantime the Christians at the foot of the mountain were making aprecipitate retreat, carrying with them a number of their woundedcompanions, and leaving behind a terrible monument of their bravery andmisfortune.
How imposing is the calm, when the warm activity of action gives placeto the desolate repose of death! Now, the din of strife is over; nolonger the brazen notes of the trumpet swell in the wind--no longer theechoes of the mountain rehearse and fling back the warlike sounds.Hushed is the voice of command and animation--mute the cries of victoryor defeat. Even the howling blast, which lately, with its fitful voice,increased the terrors of the scene, is now softened into a low andmournful murmur, emblematical of the dismal tranquillity that reignsaround. The smiling fa
ce of nature is bloted and defaced by thetruculent works of men. The rich and reviving green that carpeted theground, now presents to the view an ensanguined plain, and the smilingflowers, emblems of innocence and peace, bear no longer in their calicethe pearly moisture of the morn, but display the crimson evidence ofman's hatred to his kind. The soft grass is not now ruffled by thewelcome pressure of living individuals, happy in the joyous dance, orgently reclining under the sweet influence of slumber, but by the weightof ghastly corpses.
It was a sight fearful to behold! not a sound was heard; an unnaturalsadness prevailed over the scene; a thousand warriors lay there in thesilence of the grave, but in those colourless features still lingered atinge of the last feeling by which they were animated--the last passionthat raged within; the brow stiffened into gloomy fierceness--the eyeintensely fixed with bold resolve--the firmly clenched hand--bespoke thevarious sensations in which they were surprised by death. Tranquil andextended lay some who had received the summons without a throb; surelythe blow was struck, and swiftly fled the spark of life, whilst others,in the violent contraction of the muscles, and the writhing expressionof pain, indicated how fearfully the rebellious soul had grappled withthe destroyer, before she could be dislodged from her tenement. Deathlevels all distinction, and here were seen men of various ages andranks, so widely separated in life, promiscuously mingled in the lastrepose. Youth and age alike indifferently strewed the plain, and thesilvered locks lay beside the flowing tresses; the pale hue ofprotracted life, with the rosy healthful tints of commencing and hopefulexistence. Spring had mixed its blossoms with the falling leaves ofautumn. No distinction of rank was here; by the noble chief lay thehumble soldier--their attire alone could distinguish one from the other;and even this external ornament would soon be destroyed, and all, allwould be amalgamated in one general indiscriminate dust.
But still that period was not arrived, and the encampment of corpses,fresh in death, appeared most like an army of sleeping warriors; but forthe bloody tokens and fearful disorder which drove away every image ofnatural repose, it seemed as if their departed spirits still hoveredwithin the bodies which they had lately abandoned. But alas! too soonthe harbinger of fading and helpless mortality would speed to dispel themelancholy charm. The carrion birds were now hurrying to claim theundisputed inheritance of that prey which a short time since had beenthe receptacle of so many feelings and affections, while a thousandhearts were doomed to weep for the occasion that afforded joy to thegloomy and filthy revellers.
The routed Christians, meantime, were fast retreating, whilst the newsof their defeat and the fate of Aguilar spreading swiftly around, soonreached the stately city of Granada, for misfortune is a mostexpeditious traveller. The heroic Isabella felt an indescribable shockat these unwelcome tidings; even victory, if purchased with the death ofDon Alonso, she would consider a reverse, but attended, as it was, withcomplete overthrow, it created the most lively sensations of indignationand sorrow. She made a solemn vow in the presence of the archbishop herconfessor, and her nobles, that she would neither wear linen nor sleepon her royal couch until that daring rebellion had been annihilated, andits agitators brought to retribution. She next gave orders that all hertroops should march against the rebels, and a numerous army was sooncollected, both of veterans and volunteers.
Meantime the grief of Leonor for the death of her father was exhibitedin a striking manner, but still in a manner worthy a branch of thatnoble tree. She found a generous consolation in the name bequeathed toher by her departed parent, and she fondly cherished the halo of glorythat surrounded her father's life, and now must adhere for ever to hismemory. The queen, anxious to contribute to the mitigation of hersorrow, had kindly invited her to the palace, that by a temporaryabsence from her own dwelling she might be relieved from the sight ofobjects, which continually brought to her mind a train of painfulassociations.