The Talisman

s, in which, as the manners of the period had assigned war to be the chief and most worthy occupation of mankind, the intervals of peace, or rather of

rning. The time and situation afforded so much room for the ebullition of violent passions, that men, unless when peculiarly opposed to each other, or provoked by th

tribute, upon all who dared to oppose the belief of the prophet of Mecca. These alternatives indeed had been offered to the unwarlike Greeks and Syrians; but in contending with the Western Christians, animated by a zeal as fiery as their own, and possessed of as unconquerable courage, address, and success in arms, the Saracens gradually caught a part of their manners, and especially of those chivalrous observances which were so well calculated to charm the minds of a proud and conquering people. They had their tournaments and games of chivalry; they had even their knights, or some rank analogous; and above all, the Saracens o

e at a slow pace towards the fountain of palm-trees to which the Knight of the Couchant Leopard had been tending, when interrupted in mid-passage by his fleet and dangerous adversary. Each was w

tranquil exercise, all saving the foam-flakes which were still visible on his bridle and housings. The loose soil on which he trod so much augmented the distress of the Christian’s horse, heavily loaded by his own armour and the weight of his rider, that the latter jumped from his saddle, and led his charger along the dee

was concluded; “your strong horse deserves your care. But what do you in the desert with an animal whic

ed his favourite steed —“rightly, according to thy knowledge and observation. But my good horse hath ere now borne me,

stify, which was only expressed by a slight approach to a disdainful smile, that h

composing himself to his usual serene gr

ance, and not in malice, our truce had its ending ere it is well begun. Thinkest thou I tell thee an untruth when I say that I, one of five hun

ereth nothing to sink in its waves, but wafts them away, and casts them on its margin; but neither the Dead Sea, nor any of the seven oceans which envir

nstable as water; and in my land cold often converts the water itself into a substance as hard as rock. Let us speak of this no longer, for the thoughts of the calm, clear, blue refulgence of a w

and words which, to him, must have appeared either to contain something of mystery or of imposit

ld it for glee and pastime to GAB, as they term it, of exploits that are beyond human power. [Gaber. This French word signified a sort of sport much used among the French chivalry, which consisted in vying with each o

ke — or, undertaking, cannot perfect. But in this I have imitated their folly, brave Saracen, that in talking to thee of what thou canst not co

ees and the fountain which welled out from

om being absorbed in the earth, or choked by the flitting clouds of dust with which the least breath of wind covered the desert. The arch was now broken, and partly ruinous; but it still so far projected over and covered in the fountain that it excluded the sun in a great measure from its waters, which, hardly touched by a straggling beam, while all around was blazing, lay in a steady repose, alike delightful to the eye and the imagination. Stealing from under the arch, they were first received in a marble basin, much defaced indeed, but still cheering the eye, by showing that the place

tted the animals to drink at the basin, ere they refreshed themselves from the fountain head, which arose under the vault. They then suffered the stee

eir scanty meal, they eyed each other with that curiosity which the close and doubtful conflict in which they had been so lately engaged was calculated to inspire. Each was desirous to measu

his hair, and of the moustaches which thickly shaded his upper lip, while his chin was carefully divested of beard, after the Norman fashion. His nose was Grecian and well formed; his mouth rather large in proportion, but filled with well-set, strong, and beautifully white teeth; his head small, and set upon the neck with much grace. His age could not exceed thirty, but if the effects of toil and climate were allowed for, might be three or four years under that period. His form was tall, powerful, and athletic, like that of a man whose strength might, in

bulky champion, whose strength and size are counterbalanced by weight, and who is exhausted by his own exertions. The countenance of the Saracen naturally bore a general national resemblance to the Eastern tribe from whom he descended, and was as unlike as possible to the exaggerated terms in which the minstrels of the day were wont to represent the infidel champions, and the fabulous description which a sister art still presents as the Saracen’s Head upon signposts. His features were small, well-formed, and delicate, though deeply embrowned by the Eastern sun, and terminated by a flowing and curled black beard, which seemed trimmed with peculiar care. The nose was straight and regular, the eye

l restraint which men of warm and choleric tempers often set as a guard upon their native impetuosity of disposition, and at

ewhat careless bearing, as one too conscious of his own importance to be anxious about the opinions of others, appeared to prescribe to the Saracen a style of courtesy more studiously and formally observant of cerem

hough coarse, was more genial. Dried hog’s flesh, the abomination of the Moslemah, was the chief part of his repast; and his drink, derived from a leathern bottle, contained something better than pure element. He fed with more display of appetite, and drank with more appearance of satisfaction, than the Saracen judged it becoming to show in the performance of a mere bodily function; and, doubtless, the secret contempt which each entertained for the other, as the follower of a false religion, was considerably in

ike a dog or a wolf? Even a misbelieving Jew would shudder at the food which you

that which is forbidden to the Jews, being, as they esteem themselves, under the bondage of the old law of Moses. We, Saracen, be it known to thee, have a better warrant for

d as you feed like the brutes, so you degrade yourself to the besti

he grape is given to him that will use it wisely, as that which cheers the heart of man after toil, refreshes him in sickness, and comforts him in sorrow. He who so enjoy

r, and died away in the recollection of the powerful champion with whom he had to deal, and the desperate grapple, the impression of whi

s and to his household; and that thy law, if thou dost practise it, binds thee in marriage to one single mate, be she sick or healthy, be she fruitful or barren, bring she comfort and joy, or clamour and strife, to thy table and to thy bed? This, Nazarene, I do indeed call s

most worship on earth, thou art but a blinded and a bewildered infidel! — That diamond sig

he like,” replied the Saracen; “b

ash the stone into twenty shivers: would each fragment be as valuable as the ori

; “the fragments of such a stone would not equal t

r and faithful, is the gem entire; the affection thou flingest among thy enslaved wives and ha

l diamond is man, firm and entire, his value depending on himself alone; and this circle of lesser jewels are women, borrowing his lustre, which he deals out to them as best suits his pleasure or his convenience. Take the central stone from the signet, and the diamond itself remains as v

n, we of the order of knighthood vow fealty and devotion, thou wouldst loathe for ever the poor sensual slaves who form thy haram. The beauty of our fair ones gives point to our spears a

which brings you hither to obtain possession of an empty sepulchre. But yet, methinks, so highly have the Franks whom I have met with extolled the beauty o

none knows better how to do honour to a noble foe; and though I be poor and unattended yet have I interest to secure for thee, or any such as thou seemest, not safety only, but respect and esteem

wilt postpone thy present intent; and, credit me, brave Nazarene, it were better for thyself to turn back thy horse’s head

night, producing a parchment, “

yria; and having kissed the paper with profound respect, he pressed it to his forehead, then returned it to the Chris

p of Saracens so assailed me, it might have stood with my ho

Saracen haughtily, “was enou

are few such as thou art. Such falcons fly not in floc

of the European’s previous boast; “from us thou shouldst have had no wrong. But well was it for me that I failed to slay thee, wi

the Knight; “for I have heard that the road is infested with robber-t

will myself undertake thy revenge with five thousand horse. I will slay every male of them, and send their women into such distant captivity that the name of their tribe shall never a

erson than of me, noble Emir,” replied the Knight; “but my vow is recorded in heaven, for good or for

must be under the black cov

d penitence with a holy man, Theodorick of Engaddi, who dwells

e you safe thither,

your people has been red with the blood of the servants of the Lord, and therefore do we come hither in plate and mail, with sword and lance

not the land, neither destroy corn and fruit-trees; they are the gifts of Allah. Keep faith when you have made any covenant, even if it be to your own harm. If ye find holy men labouring with their hands, and serving God in the desert, hurt them not, neither destroy their dwellings. But when you find them with shaven crowns, they are of the synagogue of Satan! Smite with the sabre, slay, cease not till they become believers or tributar

s, I have heard, no priest; but were he of that anointed and sacred

to exercise both sword and lance. This Theodorick is protected both by Turk and Arab; and, though one of strange conditions at interva

Christian, “if thou darest name in the sa

ate the founder of thy religion, while we condemn the doctrine which your priests have spun from it. I will myself guide thee to the cavern of the hermit, which, methinks, without my help, thou wouldst find it a hard matter to reach. And, on