THE SCENE: In a passage that displays the complicated web of loyalties for those at the frontier between two civilizations, the great Spanish hero El Cid is betrayed by his two royal Spanish son-in-laws (the Infantes of Carrion), while his Moorish vassal Abengalbon remains steadfastly loyal.
THE TEXT: Next morning Abengalbon rode out with them, accompanied by two hundred horsemen at his command to see them on their way. The whole party first crossed the heights of Luzon. Abengalbon presented gifts to the Cid’s daughters and gave their husbands a good horse each. Then they passed along the valley of the Arbujuelo, reached the river Jalon and halted to rest at a place called Ansarera. The Moor did all this service for the love he bore to the Campeador [El Cid]. When the Infantes saw the wealth displayed by the Moor, they plotted an act of treachery. “We have already decided,” they said to each other, “to abandon the Cid’s daughters; now if we can kill Abengalbon we shall get hold of all his wealth. We can be as sure of it as we are of our possession in Carrion; the Cid is very unlikely to demand satisfaction from us.” However, a Moor who understood Spanish heard them concocting this treachery and reported it without delay to Abengalbon, saying “My lord governor, beware of these two Infantes of Carrion, for I have heard them discussing a plan to kill you.”
Abengalbon, who was a fine brave fellow, rode out with his two hundred horsemen displaying feats of arms. He halted in front of the Infantes and uttered these harsh words: “Tell me, what have I done to you, Infantes of Carrion? I have kept faith with you and in return you have plotted my death. If I did not forbear for the sake of the Cid, Rodrigo of Vivar, I should exact such vengeance as would startle the world. Then I should escort his daughters to the loyal Campeador, and you would never return to Carrion.
– The Song of the Cid, 12 Century AD
