XI. When the Moor had produced all these things before the Cid, he said
unto him, All this, Sir, with the animals which thou hast seen, my Lord
the Soldan of Persia hath sent unto thee, because of the great fame
which he hath heard of thy goodness and loyalty; and, Sir, he
beseecheth thee to accept it for the love of him. And the Cid thanked
him, taking great pleasure therein, and said that he would fain do him
greater honour than he had ever yet done to any one. And then he
embraced him in the name of the Soldan, and said, that if he were a
Christian he would give him the kiss of peace; and he asked whether
among those things there was aught which had belonged to the person of
the Soldan, that if so he might kiss it in his honour, and in token
that if he were there present, he would kiss him on the shoulder,
according to the custom of the Moors, for he knew that his Lord was one
of the noblest men in all Pagandom. When the kinsman of the Soldan
heard this he was greatly rejoiced, because of the great courtesy with
which the Cid had spoken, and he perceived how noble a man he was. And
he said unto him, Sir Cid, if you were present before my Lord the
Soldan, he would do you full great honour, and would give you the head
of his horse to eat, according to the custom of our country; but seeing
that this is not the custom of this country, I give you my living
horse, which is one of the best horses of Syria; and do you give order
that he be taken in honour of my Lord the Soldan, and he will be better
than his head would be boiled. And I kiss your hand, Sir Ruydiez, and
hold myself more honoured and a happier man than ever I have been
heretofore. And the Cid accepted the horse, and gave consent to the
Moor that he should kiss his hand. And then he called for his
Almoxarife, and bade him take with him this kinsman of the Soldan, and
lodge him in the Garden of Villa Nueva, and do him even such honour and
service as he would to himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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