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The Legend Of The Enchanted SoldierThe Legend Of The Enchanted Soldier
The Legend Of The Enchanted Soldier
Everybody has heard of the Cave of St. Cyprian at Salamanca, where in
old times judicial astronomy, necromancy, chiromancy, and other dark and
damnable arts were secretly taught by an ancient sacristan; or, as some will
have it, by the devil himself, in that disguise. The cave has long been
shut up and the very site of it forgotten, though, according to tradition,
the entrance was somewhere about where the stone cross stands in the small
square of the seminary of Carvajal; and this tradition appears in some degree
corroborated by the circumstances of the following story.
There was at one time a student of Salamanca, Don Vicente by name, of
that merry but mendicant class, who set out on the road to learning without
a penny in pouch for the journey, and who, during college vacations, beg
from town to town and village to village to raise funds to enable them to
pursue their studies through the ensuing term. He was now about to set forth
on his wanderings; and being somewhat musical, slung on his back a guitar
with which to amuse the villager, and pay for a meal or a night`s lodgings.
As he passed by the stone cross in the seminary square, he pulled off
his hat and made a short invocation to St. Cyprian, for good luck; when
casting his eyes upon the earth, he perceived something glitter at the foot
of the cross. On picking it up, it proved to be a seal ring of mixed metal,
in which gold and silver appeared to be blended. The seal bore as a device
two triangles crossing each other, so as to form a star. This device is said
to be a cabalistic sign, invented by King Solomon the wise, and of mighty
power in all cases of enchantment; but the honest student, being neither sage
nor conjurer, knew nothing of the matter. He took the ring as a present from
St. Cyprian in reward of his prayer, slipped it on his finger, made a bow to
the cross, and strumming his guitar, set off merrily on his wandering.
The life of a mendicant student in Spain is not the most miserable in
the world; especially if he has any talent at making himself agreeable. He
rambles at large from village to village, and city to city, wherever curiosity
or caprice may conduct him. The country curates, who, for the most part, have
been mendicant students in their time, give him shelter for the night, and a
comfortable meal, and often enrich him with several quartos, or half-pence in
the morning. As he presents himself from door to door in the streets of the
cities, he meets with no harsh rebuff, no chilling contempt, for there is no
disgrace attending his mendicity, many of the most learned men in Spain having
commenced their career in this manner; but if, like the student in question,
he is a good-looking varlet and a merry companion, and, above all, if he can
play the guitar, he is sure of a hearty welcome among the peasants, and
smiles and favors from their wives and daughters.
In this way, then, did our ragged and musical son of learning make his
way over half the kingdom, with the fixed determination to visit the famous
city of Granada before his return. Sometimes he was gathered for the night
into the fold of some village pastor; sometimes he was sheltered under the
humble but hospitable roof of the peasant. Seated at the cottage door with his
guitar, he delighted the simple folk with his ditties, or striking up a
fandango or bolero, set the brown country lads and lasses dancing in the
mellow twilight. In the morning he departed with kind words from host and
hostess, and kind looks and, peradventure, a squeeze of the hand from the
daughter.
At length he arrived at the great object of his musical vagabondizing,
the far-famed city of Granada, and hailed with wonder and delight its Moorish
towers, its lovely Vega and its snowy mountains glistering through a summer
atmosphere. It is needless to say with what eager curiosity he entered its
gates and wandered through its streets, and gazed upon its oriental
monuments. Every female face peering through a window or beaming from a
balcony was to him a Zorayda or a Zelinda, nor could he meet a stately dame on
the Alameda but he was ready to fancy her a Moorish princess, and to spread
his student`s robe beneath her feet.
His musical talent, his happy humor, his youth and his good looks, won
him a universal welcome in spite of his ragged robes, and for several days he
led a gay life in the old Moorish capital and its environs. One of his
occasional haunts was the fountain of Avellanos, in the valley of the Darro.
It is one of the popular resorts of Granada, and has been so since the days of
the Moors; and here the student had an opportunity of pursuing his studies of
female beauty, a branch of study to which he was a little prone.
Here he would take his seat with his guitar, improvise love-ditties to
admiring groups of majos and majas, or prompt with his music the ever ready
dance. He was thus engaged one evening, when he beheld a padre of the church
advancing at whose approach every one touched the hat. He was evidently a man
of consequence; he certainly was a mirror of good if not of holy living-robust
and rosy-faced, and breathing at every pore, with the warmth of the weather
and the exercise of the walk. As he passed along he would every now and then
draw a maravedi out of his pocket and bestow it on a beggar, with an air of
signal beneficence. "Ah, the blessed father!" would be the cry; "long life to
him, and may he soon be a bishop!"
To aid his steps in ascending the hill he leaned gently now and then on
the arm of a handmaid, evidently the pet-lamb of this kindest of pastors. Ah,
such a damsel! Andalus from head to foot: from the rose in her hair to the
fairy shoe and lacework stocking - Andalus in every movement; in every
undulation of the body-ripe, melting Andalus! But then so modest! - so shy! -
ever, with downcast eyes, listening to the words of the padre; or, if by
chance she let flash a side glance, it was suddenly checked and her eyes once
more cast to the ground.
The good padre looked benignantly on the company about the fountain, and
took his seat with some emphasis on a stone bench, while the handmaid
hastened to bring him glass of sparkling water. He sipped it deliberately
and with a relish, tempering it with one of those spongy pieces of frosted
eggs and sugar so dear to Spanish epicures, and on returning the glass to the
hand of the damsel pinched her cheek with infinite loving-kindness.
"Ah, the good pastor!" whispered the student to himself; "what a
happiness would it be to be gathered into his fold with such a pet-lamb for a
companion!"
But no such good fare was likely to befall him. In vain he essayed those
powers of pleasing which he had found so irresistible with country curates and
country lasses. Never had he touched his guitar with such skill; never had he
poured forth more soul-moving ditties, but he had no longer a country curate
or country lass to deal with. The worthy priest evidently did not relish
music, and the modest damsel never raised her eyes from the ground. They
remained but a short time at the fountain; the good padre hastened their
return to Granada. The damsel gave the student one shy glance in retiring, but
it plucked the heart out of his bosom!
He inquired about them after they had gone. Padre Tomas was one of the
saints of Granada, a model of regularity, punctual in his hour of rising, his
hour of taking a paseo for an appetite, his hours of eating, his hour of
taking his siesta; his hour of playing his game of tresillo, of an evening,
with some of the dames of the Cathedral circle; his hour of supping, and his
hour of retiring to rest, to gather fresh strength for another day`s round of
similar duties. He had an easy sleek mule for his riding, a matronly
housekeeper skilled in preparing tit-bits for his table, and the pet lamb, to
smooth his pillow at night and bring him his chocolate in the morning.
Adieu now to the gay, thoughtless life of the student; the side glance of
a bright eye had been the undoing of him. Day and night he could not get the
image of this most modest damsel out of his mind. He sought the mansion of the
padre. Alas! it was above the class of houses accessible to a strolling
student like himself. The worthy padre had no sympathy with him; he had never
been Estudiante sopista, obliged to sing for his supper. He blockaded the
house by day, catching a glance of the damsel now and then as she appeared at
a casement; but these glances only fed his flame without encouraging his hope.
He serenaded her balcony at night, and at one time was flattered by the
appearance of something white at a window. Alas, it was only the nightcap of
the padre.
Never was lover more devoted, never damsel more shy: the poor student
was reduced to despair. At length arrived the eve of St. John, when the lower
classes of Granada swarm into the country, dance away the afternoon, and
pass midsummer`s night on the banks of the Darro and the Xenil. Happy are
they who on this eventful night can wash their faces in those waters just as
the Cathedral bell tells midnight; for at that precise moment they have a
beautifying power. The student, having nothing to do, suffered himself to be
carried away by the holiday-seeking throng until he found himself in the
narrow valley of the Darro, below the lofty hill and ruddy towers of the
Alhambra. The dry bed of the river, the rocks which border it, the terraced
gardens which overhang it were alive with variegated groups, dancing under the
vines and fig-trees to the sound of the guitar and castanets.
The student remained for some time in doleful dumps, leaning against one
of the huge misshapen stone pomegranates which adorn the ends of the little
bridge over the Darro. He cast a wistful glance upon the merry scene, where
every cavalier had his dame, or, to speak more appropriately, every Jack his
Jill; sighed at his own solitary state, a victim to the black eye of the most
unapproachable of damsels,, and repined at his ragged garb, which seemed to
shut the gate of hope against him.
By degrees his attention was attracted to a neighbor equally solitary
with himself. This was a tall soldier, of a stern aspect and grizzled beard,
who seemed posted as a sentry at the opposite pomegranate. His face was
bronzed by time; he was arrayed in ancient Spanish armor, with buckler and
lance, and stood immovable as a statue. What surprised the student was, that
though thus strangely equipped, he was totally unnoticed by the passing
throng, albeit that many almost brushed against him.
"This is a city of old-time peculiarities," thought the student, "and
doubtless this is one of them with which the inhabitants are too familiar to
be surprised." His own curiosity, however, was awakened, and being of a social
disposition, he accosted the soldier.
"A rare old suit of armor that which you wear, comrade. May I ask what
corps you belong to?"
The soldier gasped out a reply from a pair of jaws which seemed to have
rusted on their hinges.
"The royal guard of Ferdinand and Isabella."
"Santa Maria! Why, it is three centuries since that corps was in
service."
"And for three centuries have I been mounting guard. Now I trust my tour
of duty draws to a close. Dost thou desire fortune?"
The student held up his tattered cloak in reply.
"I understand thee. If thou hast faith and courage, follow me, and thy
fortune is made."
"Softly, comrade, to follow thee would require small courage in one who
has nothing to lose but life and an old guitar, neither of much value; but my
faith is of a different matter, and not to be put in temptation. If it be any
criminal act by which I am to mend my fortune, think not my ragged cloak will
make me undertake it."
The soldier turned on him a look of high displeasure. "My sword," said
he, "has never been drawn but in the cause of the faith and the throne. I am a
Cristiano viejo, trust in me and fear no evil."
The student followed him wondering. He observed that no one heeded their
conversation, and that the soldier made his way through the various groups of
idlers unnoticed, as if invisible.
Crossing the bridge, the soldier led the way by a narrow and steep path
past a Moorish mill and aqueduct, and up the ravine which separates the
domains of the Generalife from those of the Alhambra. The last ray of the sun
shone upon the red battlements of the latter, which beetled far above; and the
convent bells were proclaiming the festival of the ensuing day. The ravine was
overshadowed by fig-trees, vines, and myrtles, and the outer towers and walls
of the fortress. It was dark and lonely, and the twilight-loving bats began to
flit about. At length the soldier halted at a remote and ruined tower,
apparently intended to guard a Moorish aqueduct. He struck the foundation with
the but-end of his spear. A rumbling sound was heard, and the solid stones
yawned apart, leaving an opening as wide as a door.
"Enter in the name of the Holy Trinity," said the soldier, "and fear
nothing." The student`s heart quaked, but he made the sign of the cross,
muttered his Ave Maria, and followed his mysterious guide into a deep vault
cut out of the solid rock under the tower, and covered with Arabic
inscriptions. The soldier pointed to a stone seat hewn along one side of the
vault. "Behold," said he, "my couch for three hundred years." The bewildered
student tried to force a joke. "By the blessed St. Anthony," said he, "but you
must have slept soundly, considering the hardness of your couch."
"On the contrary, sleep has been a stranger to these eyes; incessant
watchfulness has been my doom. Listen to my lot. I was one of the royal guards
of Ferdinand and Isabella; but was taken prisoner by the Moors in one of their
sorties, and confined a captive in this tower. When preparations were made to
surrender the fortress to the Christian sovereigns, I was prevailed upon by
Alfaqui, a Moorish priest, to aid him in secreting some of the treasures of
Boabdil in this vault. I was justly punished for my fault. The Alfaqui was an
African necromancer, and by his infernal arts cast a spell upon me-to guard
his treasures. Something must have happened to him, for he never returned,
and here have I remained ever since, buried alive. Years and years have rolled
away; earthquakes have shaken this hill; I have heard stone by stone of the
tower above tumbling to the ground, in the natural operation of time; but the
spell-bound walls of this vault set both time and earthquakes at defiance.
"Once every hundred years, on the festival of St. John, the enchantment
ceases to have thorough sway; I am permitted to go forth and post myself upon
the bridge of the Darro, where you met me, waiting until some one shall arrive
who may have power to break this magic spell. I have hitherto mounted guard
there in vain. I walk as in a cloud, concealed from mortal sight. You are the
first to accost me for now three hundred years. I behold the reason. I see on
your finger the seal-ring of Solomon the wise, which is proof against all
enchantment. With you it remains to deliver me from this awful dungeon, or to
leave me to keep guard here for another hundred years."
The student listened to this tale in mute wonderment. He had heard many
tales of treasure shut up under strong enchantment in the vaults of the
Alhambra, but had treated them as fables. He now felt the value of the seal
ring, which had, in a manner, been given to him by St. Cyprian. Still, though
armed by so potent a talisman, it was an awful thing to find himself
tete-a-tete in such a place with an enchanted soldier, who, according to the
laws of nature, ought to have been quietly in his grave for nearly three
centuries.
A personage of this kind, however, was quite out of the ordinary run, and
not to be trifled with, and he assured him he might rely upon his friendship
and good will to do every thing in his power for his deliverance.
"I trust to a motive more powerful than friendship," said the soldier.
He pointed to a ponderous iron coffer, secured by locks inscribed with
Arabic characters. "That coffer," said he, "contains countless treasure in
gold and jewels, and precious stones. Break the magic spell by which I am
enthralled, and one half of this treasure shall be thine."
"But how am I to do it?"
"The aid of a Christian priest, and a Christian maid is necessary. The
priest to exorcise the powers of darkness; the damsel to touch this chest with
the seal of Solomon. This must be done at night. But have a care. This is
solemn work, and not to be effected by the carnal-minded. The priest must be a
Cristiano viejo, a model of sanctity, and must mortify the flesh before he
comes here, by a rigorous fast of four-and-twenty hours; and as to the
maiden, she must be above reproach, and proof against temptation. Linger not
in finding aid. In three days my furlough is at an end; if not delivered
before midnight of the third, I shall have to mount guard for another
century."
"Fear not," said the student, "I have in my eye the very priest and
damsel you describe; but how am I to regain admission to this tower?"
"The seal of Solomon will open the way for thee."
The student issued forth from the tower much more gayly than he had
entered. The wall closed behind him, and remained solid as before.
The next morning he repaired boldly to the mansion of the priest, no
longer a poor strolling student, thrumming his way with a guitar; but an
ambassador from the shadowy world, with enchanted treasures to bestow. No
particulars are told of his negotiation, excepting that the zeal of the worthy
priest was easily kindled at the idea of rescuing an old soldier of the faith
and a strong-box of King Chico from the very clutches of Satan; and then what
alms might be dispensed, what churches built, and how many poor relatives
enriched with the Moorish treasure!
As to the immaculate handmaid, she was ready to lend her hand, which
was all that was required, to the pious work; and if a shy glance now and then
might be believed, the ambassador began to find favor in her modest eyes.
The greatest difficulty, however, was the fast to which the good Padre
had to subject himself. Twice he attempted it, and twice the flesh was too
strong for the spirit. It was only on the third day that he was enabled to
withstand the temptations of the cupboard; but it was still a question whether
he would hold out until the spell was broken.
At a late hour of the night the party groped their way up the ravine by
the light of a lantern, and bearing a basket with provisions for exorcising
the demon of hunger so soon as the other demons should be laid in the Red Sea.
The seal of Solomon opened their way into the tower. They found the
soldier seated on the enchanted strong-box, awaiting their arrival. The
exorcism was performed in due style. The damsel advanced and touched the locks
of the coffer with the seal of Solomon. The lid flew open, and such treasures
of gold and jewels and precious stones as flashed upon the eye!
"Here`s cut and come again!" cried the student, exultingly, as he
proceeded to cram his pockets.
"Fairly and softly," exclaimed the soldier. "Let us get the coffer out
entire, and then divide."
They accordingly went to work with might and main, but it was a difficult
task; the chest was enormously heavy, and had been imbedded there for
centuries. While they were thus employed the good dominie drew on one side and
made a vigorous onslaught on the basket, by way of exorcising the demon of
hunger which was raging in his entrails. In a little while a fat capon was
devoured, and washed down by a deep potation of Val de Penas; and, by way of
grace after meat, he gave a kind-hearted kiss to the pet lamb who waited on
him. It was quietly done in a corner, but the tell-tale walls babbled it forth
as if in triumph. Never was chaste salute more awful in its effects. At the
sound the soldier gave a great cry of despair; the coffer, which was half
raised, fell back in its place and was locked once more. Priest, student, and
damsel, found themselves outside of the tower, the wall of which closed with a
thundering jar. Alas! the good Padre had broken his fast too soon!
When recovered from his surprise, the student would have re-entered the
tower, but learnt to his dismay that the damsel, in her fright, had let fall
the seal of Solomon; it remained within the vault.
In a word, the cathedral bell tolled midnight; the spell was renewed; the
soldier was doomed to mount guard for another hundred years, and there he
and the treasure remain to this day - and all because the kind-hearted Padre
kissed his handmaid. "Ah father! father!" said the student, shaking his head
ruefully, as they returned down the ravine, "I fear there was less of the
saint than the sinner in that kiss!"
Thus ends the legend as far as it has been authenticated. There is a
tradition, however, that the student had brought off treasure enough in his
pocket to set him up in the world; that he prospered in his affairs, that the
worthy Padre gave him the pet lamb in marriage, by way of amends for the
blunder in the vault; that the immaculate damsel proved a pattern for wives
as she had been for handmaids, and bore her husband a numerous progeny; that
the first was a wonder; it was born seven months after her marriage, and
though a seven months boy, was the sturdiest of the flock. The rest were all
born in the ordinary course of time.
The story of the enchanted soldier remains one of the popular traditions
of Granada, though told in a variety of ways; the common people affirm that he
still mounts guard on midsummer eve beside the gigantic stone pomegranate on
the Bridge of the Darro, but remains invisible excepting to such lucky mortal
as may possess the seal of Solomon.
Notes To "The Enchanted Soldier"
Among the ancient superstitions of Spain, were those of the existence of
profound caverns in which the magic arts were taught, either by the devil in
person, or some sage devoted to his service. One of the most famous of these
caves, was at Salamanca. Don Francisco de Torreblanca makes mention of it in
the first book of his work on Magic. The devil was said to play the part of
Oracle there, giving replies to those who repaired thither to propound fateful
questions, as in the celebrated cave of Trophonius. Don Francisco, though he
records this story, does not put faith in it; he gives it however as certain,
that a Sacristan, named Clement Potosi, taught secretly the magic arts in that
cave. Padre Feyjoo, who inquired into the matter, reports it as a vulgar
belief that the devil himself taught those arts there, admitting only seven
disciples at a time, one of whom, to be determined by lot, was to be devoted
to him body and soul for ever. Among one of these sets of students, was a
young man, son of the Marquis de Villena, on whom, after having accomplished
his studies, the lot fell. He succeeded, however, in cheating the devil,
leaving him his shadow instead of his body.
Don Juan de Dios, Professor of Humanities in the University in the early
part of the last century, gives the following version of the story, extracted,
as he says, from an ancient manuscript. It will be perceived he has marred the
supernatural part of the tale, and ejected the devil from it altogether.
As to the fable of the Cave of San Cyprian, says he, all that we have
been able to verify is, that where the stone cross stands, in the small square
or place called by the name of the Seminary of Carvajal, there was the
parochial church of San Cyprian. A descent of twenty steps led down to a
subterranean Sacristy, spacious and vaulted like a cave. Here a Sacristan once
taught magic, judicial astrology, geomancy, hydromancy, pyromancy, acromancy,
chiromancy, necromancy, &c.
The extract goes on to state that seven students engaged at a time with
the Sacristan, at a fixed stipend. Lots were cast among them which one of
their number should pay for the whole, with the understanding that he on whom
the lot fell, if he did not pay promptly, should be detained in a chamber of
the Sacristy, until the funds were forthcoming. This became thenceforth the
usual practice.
On one occasion the lot fell on Henry de Villena, son of the marquis of
the same name. He having perceived that there had been trick and shuffling in
the casting of the lot, and suspecting the Sacristan to be cognizant thereof,
refused to pay. He was forthwith left in limbo. It so happened that in a dark
corner of the Sacristy was a huge jar or earthen reservoir for water, which
was cracked and empty. In this the youth contrived to conceal himself. The
Sacristan returned at night with a servant, bringing lights and a supper.
Unlocking the door, they found no one in the vault, and a book of magic lying
open on the table. They retreated in dismay, leaving the door open, by which
Villena made his escape. The story went about that through magic he had made
himself invisible.
The reader has now both versions of the story, and may make his choice. I
will only observe that the sages of the Alhambra incline to the diabolical
one.
This Henry de Villena flourished in the time of Juan II, King of Castile,
of whom he was uncle. He became famous for his knowledge of the Natural
Sciences, and hence, in that ignorant age was stigmatized as a necromancer.
Fernan Perez de Guzman, in his account of distinguished men, gives him credit
for great learning, but says he devoted himself to the arts of divination, the
intepretation of dreams, of signs, and portents.
At the death of Villena, his library fell into the hands of the King, who
was warned that it contained books treating of magic, and not proper to be
read. King Juan ordered that they should be transported in carts to the
residence of a reverend prelate to be examined. The prelate was less learned
than devout. Some of the books treated of mathematics, others of astronomy,
with figures and diagrams, and planetary signs; others of chemistry or
alchemy, with foreign and mystic words. All these were necromancy in the eyes
of the pious prelate, and the books were consigned to the flames, like the
library of Don Quixote.
The Seal of Solomon. The device consists of two equilateral triangles,
interlaced so as to form a star, and surrounded by a circle. According to Arab
tradition, when the Most High gave Solomon the choice of blessings, and he
chose wisdom, there came from heaven a ring, on which this device was
engraven. This mystic talisman was the arcanum of his wisdom, felicity, and
grandeur; by this he governed and prospered. In consequence of a temporary
lapse from virtue, he lost the ring in the sea, and was at once reduced to the
level of ordinary men. By penitence and prayer he made his peace with the
Deity, was permitted to find his ring again in the belly of a fish, and thus
recovered his celestial gifts. That he might not utterly lose them again, he
communicated to others the secret of the marvellous ring.
This symbolical seal we are told was sacrilegiously used by the Mahometan
infidels, and before them by the Arabian idolaters, and before them by the
Hebrews, for "diabolical enterprises and abominable superstitions." Those who
wish to be more thoroughly informed on the subject, will do well to consult
the learned Father Athanasius Kirker`s treatise on the Cabala Sarracenica.
A word more to the curious reader. There are many persons in these
skeptical times who affect to deride every thing connected with the occult
sciences, or black art; who have no faith in the efficacy of conjurations,
incantations or divinations; and who stoutly contend that such things never
had existence. To such determined unbelievers the testimony of past ages is as
nothing; they require the evidence of their own senses, and deny that such
arts and practices have prevailed in days of yore, simply because they meet
with no instance of them in the present day. They cannot perceive that, as the
world became versed in the natural sciences, the supernatural became
superfluous and fell into disuse, and that the hardy inventions of art
superseded the mysteries of magic. Still, say the enlightened few, those
mystic powers exist, though in a latent state, and untasked by the ingenuity
of man. A talisman is still a talisman, possessing all its indwelling and
awful properties, though it may have lain dormant for ages at the bottom of
the sea, or in the dusty cabinet of the antiquary.
The signet of Solomon the Wise, for instance, is well known to have held
potent control over genii, demons, and enchantments; now who will positively
assert that the same mystic signet, wherever it may exist, does not at the
present moment possess the same marvellous virtues which distinguished it in
the olden time? Let those who doubt repair to Salamanca, delve into the cave
of San Cyprian, explore its hidden secrets, and decide. As to those who will
not be at the pains of such investigation, let them substitute faith for
incredulity, and receive with honest credence the foregoing legend.
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