"Then the lovers bade each other farewell, and Don Juan rode to the
wars. These were waged against the wicked Moors, and with knights and
squires, the armies of Don Alphonso of Castile, Don Pedro of Aragon,
and Don Sancho of Navarre fought long and fiercely until, at the great
battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, the Moor was crushed. Many a valiant
deed was done, and Don Juan was bravest of them all. He broke through
the chain which guarded the tent of the Moorish king, and thereby
gained great glory and won for himself the right to wear a chain
around the margin of his shield in honour of the day. He gained great
renown and fortune, but, alas, he was sorely wounded, and it was more
than five years before he could return to his beloved. He arrived in
Teruel but one short day after the time was up, and found Doña Isabel
married to another, Don Pedro Fernandez de Azagra. Despairing, he
desired to see his beloved once more, and climbed to her window on her
wedding-night. Finding her alone and her husband sleeping, he implored
her to give him one last kiss. She refused, and said, weeping, 'Alas!
you came not and I thought myself forgotten. I am wedded to this good
man, and to him alone belong my caresses.'
"At this his heart broke, and crying, 'Farewell, beloved!' he dropped
dead at her feet.
"At that moment her husband awoke, and she told him straightway the
truth, at which he said, 'Thou hast been cruel and unkind to this good
man, but to me faithful and true, and I shall but love thee the more!'
and he took the body of the poor Don Juan and bore it secretly to his
father's step and laid it down and fled away.
"When the body of the knight was found, there was great mourning, and
he was given a grand funeral at the cathedral, to which all Teruel came
to do him honour. There also came the unhappy Doña Isabel, disguised so
that none might know her, and, determined to give her lover in death
the kiss which she had denied him in life, she stooped to kiss his
lips. Lo! the eyes unclosed, he smiled at her, and they closed again,
and she fell beside him dead! All were struck dumb with horror, but
Don Azagra came forward and told the mournful story, whereupon the two
bodies were buried in the same grave.
"'Separated in life, in death they shall be together,' said the
generous knight who had been her husband but not her beloved; and this
is the sad, sad story of the lovers of Teruel."
"Oh, thank you, Dolores, it is a beautiful story," cried Juanita, and
the young people who had gathered around to hear clapped their hands,
and thanked her, too.
"What think you, Señorita Trinidad, would you have kissed your lover
had you been Doña Isabel?" asked Pablo of the young girl.
"I should not have married the other man, señor," she said, flushing
prettily.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account