of which Gibson, however, gives a fairly adequate rendering, so far as the difference of language allows:— The King was dying, slowly dying, The good King Ferdinand; His feet were pointed to the East, A taper in his hand. Beside his bed, and at the head, His four sons took their place, The three were children of the Queen, The fourth of bastard race. The bastard had the better luck, Had rank and noble gains; Archbishop of Toledo he, And Primate of the Spains.... So, again, the Cid does not appear in the often-quoted _romance_ beginning— Rey don Sancho, rey don Sancho, no digas que no te aviso.[45] Nor does he figure in the still more celebrated ballad which records Diego Ordóñez’ challenge to the garrison of Zamora after Sancho’s assassination:— Ya cabalga Diego Ordóñez, del real se habia salido.[46] But we may thank Gibson for enabling English readers to form some idea of both. His version of the Ordóñez ballad is by no means unhappy:— Don Diego Ordóñez rides away From the royal camp with speed, Armed head to foot with double mail, And on a coal-black steed. He rides to challenge Zamora’s men, His breast with fury filled; To avenge the King Don Sancho Whom the traitor Dolfos killed. He reached in haste Zamora’s gate, And loud his trumpet blew; And from his mouth like sparks of fire His words in fury flew: ‘Zamorans, I do challenge ye, Ye traitors born and bred; I challenge ye all, both great and small, The living and the dead. I challenge the men and women, The unborn and the born; I challenge the wine and waters, The cattle and the corn. Within your town that traitor lives Our King who basely slew;— Who harbour traitors in their midst Themselves are traitors too. I’m here in arms against ye all The combat to maintain; Or else with five and one by one, As is the use in Spain!’... To Gibson’s fine instinct we are also indebted for an English rendering of En las almenas de Toro, allí estaba una doncella[47]— a ballad of doubtful date which is superbly ‘glossed’ in _Las Almenas de Toro_ by Lope de Vega, who uses the old _romances_ with astonishing felicity. But the most ancient poem in the whole series of the Cid ballads is a composition, said to be unconnected with any antecedent epic, and possibly dating (in its primitive form) from the fourteenth century:— Hélo, hélo por dó viene el moro por la calzada.[48] This _romance_ has been done into English by Gibson with considerable success, as you may judge by the opening stanzas:— He comes, he comes, the Moorman comes Along the sounding way; With stirrup short, and pointed spur, He rides his gallant bay.... He looks upon Valencia’s towers, And mutters in his ire: ‘Valencia, O Valencia, Burn thou with evil fire!