"Ah, Roland, if you had sounded your magic horn the king would soon be here, and we should not perish! Now look to the heights and to the mountain passes: see those who surround us. None of us will see the light of another day!" "Speak not so foolishly," retorted Roland. "Accursed be all cowards, say I." Then, softening his tone a little, he continued: "Friend and comrade, say no more. The emperor has entrusted to us twenty thousand Frenchmen, and not a coward among them. Lay on with thy lance, Oliver, and I will strike with Durendala. If I die men shall say: 'This was the sword of a noble vassal.'" Turpin Blesses the Knights Then spoke the brave and saintly Archbishop Turpin. Spurring his horse, he rode, a gallant figure, to the summit of a hill, whence he called aloud to the Frankish knights: "'Fair sirs and barons, Charles has left us here To serve him, or at need to die for him. See, yonder come the foes of Christendom, And we must fight for God and Holy Faith. Now, say your shrift, and make your peace with Heaven; I will absolve you and will heal your souls; And if you die as martyrs, your true home Is ready midst the flowers of Paradise!'" The Frankish knights, dismounting, knelt before Turpin, who blessed and absolved them all, bidding them, as penance, to strike hard against the heathen. Then Roland called his brother-in-arms, the brave and courteous Oliver, and said: "Fair brother, I know now that Ganelon has betrayed us for reward and Marsile has bought us; but the payment shall be made with our swords, and Charlemagne will terribly avenge us." "Montjoie! Montjoie!" While the two armies yet stood face to face in battle array Oliver replied: "What good is it to speak? You would not sound your horn, and Charles cannot help us; he is not to blame. Barons and lords, ride on and yield not. In God's name fight and slay, and remember the war-cry of our Emperor." And at the words the war-cry of "Montjoie! Montjoie!" burst from the whole army as they spurred against the advancing heathen host. The Fray