The prince dismounted right
gladly, and replaced the armor, to abide the further decrees of
fate. Then seating himself in the cavern, he ruminated on the
desperate state to which this demoniac steed and armor had reduced
him. Never should he dare to show his face at Toledo after
inflicting such disgrace upon its chivalry, and such an outrage on its
king. What, too, would the princess think of so rude and riotous an
achievement? Full of anxiety, he sent forth his winged messengers to
gather tidings. The parrot resorted to all the public places and
crowded resorts of the city, and soon returned with a world of gossip.
All Toledo was in consternation. The princess had been borne off
senseless to the palace; the tournament had ended in confusion;
every one was talking of the sudden apparition, prodigious exploits,
and strange disappearance of the Moslem knight. Some pronounced him
a Moorish magician; others thought him a demon who had assumed a human
shape, while others related traditions of enchanted warriors hidden in
the caves of the mountains, and thought it might be one of these,
who had made a sudden irruption from his den. All agreed that no
mere ordinary mortal could have wrought such wonders, or unhorsed such
accomplished and stalwart Christian warriors.
The owl flew forth at night and hovered about the dusky city,
perching on the roofs and chimneys. He then wheeled his flight up to
the royal palace, which stood on a rocky summit of Toledo, and went
prowling about its terraces and battlements, eavesdropping at every
cranny, and glaring in with his big goggling eyes at every window
where there was a light, so as to throw two or three maids of honor
into fits.
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