Page:Impressions of Spain in 1866.djvu/31

Rh tempting the Cerberus with the remains of her luncheon, got past him, and wandered through the cloister, up a fine staircase to a spacious cor- ridor, in hopes of finding a guide to show them the way to the chapel, where lay the object of their expedition, i.e., the monument of the Cid. But she was only answered by the echo of her own footsteps. The cells were empty ; the once beautiful library gutted and destroyed ; the refec- tory had nothing in it but bare walls — the whole place was like a city of the dead. At last, she discovered a staircase leading down to a cloister on the side opposite the great entrance, and there a low-arched door, which she found ajar, admitted her into the deserted church. The tomb of the Cid has been removed from the high altar to a side chapel; and there is interred, likewise, his faithful and devoted wife Ximena, and their two daughters. On his shield is emblazoned the 'tizona,' or sparkling brand, which the legends afl&rm he always carried in his hand, and with which he struck terror into the hearts of the infidels. This church and convent, built for the Benedictines by the Princess Sancho, in memory of her son Theodoric, who was killed out hunting, was sacked by the Moors in the ninth century, when 200 of the monks were murdered. A tablet