The Junior Classics, Volume 4: Heroes and heroines of chivalry
General
The Junior Classics, Volume 4: Heroes and heroines of chivalry
Children's literature
Charlemagne, with all his peers, admired the magnanimity of Carahue;
he raised him, embraced him, and restored to him his sword. "Prince,"
said he, "your presence and the bright example you afford my knights
consoles me for the loss of Ogier. Would to God you might receive our
holy faith, and be wholly united with us." All the lords of the court,
led by Duke Namo, paid their respects to the King of Mauritania.
Charlot only failed to appear, fearing to be recognized as a traitor;
but the heart of Carahue was too noble to pierce that of Charlemagne
by telling him the treachery of his son.
Meanwhile the Saracen army was rent by discord. The troops of Carahue
clamored against the commander-in-chief because their king was left in
captivity. They even threatened to desert the cause, and turn their
arms against their allies. Charlemagne pressed the siege vigorously,
till at length the Saracen leaders found themselves compelled to
abandon the city and betake themselves to their ships. A truce was
made; Ogier was exchanged for Carahue, and the two friends embraced
one another with vows of perpetual brotherhood. The Pope was
reestablished in his dominions, and Italy being tranquil, Charlemagne
returned, with his peers and their followers, to France.
A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER
By Thomas Bulfinch
Guerin de Montglave held the lordship of Vienne, subject to
Charlemagne. He had quarrelled with his sovereign, and Charles laid
siege to his city, having ravaged the neighboring country. Guerin was
an aged warrior, but relied for his defence upon his four sons and two
grandsons, who were among the bravest knights of the age. After the
siege had continued two months, Charlemagne received tidings that
Marsilius, King of Spain, had invaded France, and, finding himself
unopposed, was advancing rapidly in the Southern provinces. At this
intelligence, Charles listened to the counsel of his peers, and
consented to put the quarrel with Guerin to the decision of Heaven, by
single combat between two knights, one of each party, selected by
lot. The proposal was acceptable to Guerin and his sons. The names of
the four, together with Guerin's own, who would not be excused, and of
the two grandsons, who claimed their lot, being put into a helmet,
Oliver's was drawn forth, and to him, the youngest of the grandsons,
was assigned the honor and the peril of the combat. He accepted the
award with delight, exulting in being thought worthy to maintain the
cause of his family. On Charlemagne's side Roland was the designated
champion, and neither he nor Oliver knew who his antagonist was to be.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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