Maugis, ye sorcerer from ye ancient French : a wonderful tale from ye writings of ye mad savant of ye Maison Maugis in ye olde citie of Mouzon, France
to be besieged the way he was at Montaubon. He mounted his horse
and set out to meet the enemy, having first said to his soldiers in
a proclamation that personally he would not enter a fight against
Charlemagne, but for the fact he desired to give them an opportunity to
avenge those dear ones they had lost.
Arriving at a short distance from the imperial army, Maugis stopped and
sent forward his esquire, bearing a piece of olive branch to demand
peace of the emperor.
This envoy was badly received by the emperor, who greeted him with
harsh words and insults, and gave orders to commence the attack.
Maugis, then feeling he had exhausted every resource, made a fierce
charge upon the first knights, who had come forward to obey the order
of Charlemagne, hurling them lifeless at the feet of the emperor. Then
retiring he headed his soldiers, and uttering the war-cry of Dordogne,
made an irresistible charge on the troops of Charlemagne, who wavered
and broke and were thrown into confusion. The Duke de Naimes, seeing
this, seized the golden banner, and placing himself at the head of the
royal army, tried to rally them; but it was hopeless, they were fast
disappearing under the fierce assaults of the soldiers of Maugis. They
had nearly succeeded in surrounding the emperor, who was only saved by
the quickness of Roland, when the signal for retreat was given.
This signal everyone obeyed, except the brave Richard de Normandie,
who, oblivious to all else, could not endure the thought of defeat,
and tried to cut off the troops of Maugis just before the gates of
Dordogne, an attempt in which he did not succeed.
Profiting by the ardor of the duke, Maugis hurried the retreat of his
troops, causing them to rush pellmell into the city, tempting Richard,
obstinate in his pursuit, to follow, thinking his enemies to be
demoralized. This strategic move was successful. Getting Richard once
inside of the gates, Maugis caused them to be closed and guarded behind
them, making him a prisoner, and seeing that resistance was useless,
Richard de Normandie and his men were forced to surrender.
The loss of this new battle added more to the grief and rage of
Charlemagne and stimulated him still further in his relentless pursuit
of the sons of Aymon.
As both sides required some little time to recuperate from the battle,
several days passed without an engagement. It was during this period of
quiet that King Yon died, in great suffering. Consumed with regrets,
he begged Maugis and his brothers to forgive him for all the evil they
had endured through his fault. He confirmed to Maugis the donations of
Montaubon and its dependencies, and drew his last breath in the arms
of his brother-in-law, who mourned him as sincerely as if he had never
been guilty of a vile treachery.
After the obsequies, in which the entire army took part, Maugis
proceeded actively to strengthen the defenses of the city in case of
an attack from the waiting enemy. It was during this period of the
cessation of hostilities that an extraordinary incident occurred.
Maugis was an adept at assuming disguises, and one day he determined to
visit the camp of Charlemagne; perfectly fearless as to the possible
result of his perilous mission, he set out, having taken the shape
of an old knight, infirm and miserable, and entered the camp of the
emperor, leaning heavily on his staff. So sorry was his aspect that the
sentinels made fun of him.
“Ho! ho!” shouted one of them after him. “Hast thou come to take the
city?”
This jibe was greeted with roars of laughter. Passing onward quietly,
the old knight made no reply. As he proceeded, Pinabel, seated in front
of his tent, laughed at him and sneeringly inquired:
“Ho! brave knight, hast thou come to fight Roland?”
Maugis, nettled by the insolence of the knight, replied:
“Roland has done nothing to me, therefore I have no reason to fight
him, but if you will try it with me, I will punish you for your insult
and your cowardice, for all the world knows you are bravest only when
you are dealing with some one whom you think is incapable of defending
himself. Only for that, you never would have dared to insult me and my
white hairs.”
Pinabel, furious, seized a picket and would have struck the old knight,
when Oger, who arrived on the scene, separated them.
“He insulted me,” said the supposed old man.
“He had the audacity to doubt my courage,” cried Pinabel.
“Thou art wrong, Pinabel,” responded Oger, “and this man may demand of
you any reparation he may require.”
“I know of no other reparation than to fight me,” answered Maugis, “or
else I will publish him to all the world as a coward.”
By this time a crowd of soldiers and knights had gathered around the
contending parties, and the noise of the altercation had reached the
ears of Charlemagne, who caused them to be summoned before him.
“Who art thou?” demanded he of Maugis.
“Sire,” replied he. “I am Sieur de la Perron of Château Raucourt, who
having been to the holy land, where I did battle with the Saracens, do
now wend my weary way homeward, that I may pass my remaining days in
peace. The knight here present has insulted me,” he continued, “without
cause, and when I gave him the provocation in return, he, instead of
accepting battle, threw himself upon me with a stick, and but for the
timely appearance of this noble lord,” indicating Oger, “I should have
been struck by the scoundrel.”
“Pinabel is undoubtedly wrong,” said Charlemagne. “But if you persist
in fighting how will you defend yourself? He is young and vigorous, and
you are on the borders of the grave.”
“It is true, sire, I am paralyzed on my right side, but I can rely upon
my left arm. Do you think I shall allow that to stand in the way if my
adversary is willing to fight?”
This strange statement put Pinabel in a very false position; to accept
was an act of cowardice, and to refuse would make him a laughing stock.
He was at a loss what to do.
The old knight grew impatient, and insisted the fight take place,
approaching and menacing Pinabel with his cudgel, and seeing this,
Charlemagne was forced to order the combat.
Pinabel, now exasperated, drew his sword and rushed at the defenseless
old knight, but he stepped aside with great dexterity, avoiding the
shock, and then turned with incredible quickness and gave his adversary
such a heavy blow on the wrist with his staff that he dropped his
sword. A second blow in the stomach sent him tumbling to the feet of
Charlemagne. Then placing his foot on Pinabel’s throat, the old knight
menaced him with his staff, held aloft in his left hand. The now
thoroughly frightened Pinabel, trembling for his life, implored the
grace of his conqueror, who permitted him to arise while he regarded
him with contempt.
The emperor and all the knights greatly marveled. Maugis was then
permitted to visit the camp, of which privilege he was not slow to
avail himself, making a thorough inspection throughout.
In passing again the tent of Pinabel, upon leaving, reassured by the
fact that his disguise had not been penetrated thus far, he determined
to play him a trick. It can be readily conceived that Pinabel was not
charmed by his visit, and he forthwith ordered his esquires to seize
the old man and bind him solidly. But when they attempted to do so
Maugis hypnotized them, and so benumbed them they appeared to be almost
asleep, and when he approached Pinabel, the coward was so appalled at
the manifestations of a power so little known at that remote age, and
doubly terrified at being alone with the old knight, that he fell to
his knees and supplicated him for pardon.
“I will spare thy life,” said the old knight in a terrible voice. “It
hath no value in my eyes; heaven hath condemned thee.”
Pinabel at these words raised his eyes, and there recognized that
Maugis, the terrible warrior sorcerer, stood before him. The coward
would have cried out, but his tongue was paralyzed and the sounds died
upon his lips, his limbs seemed stricken, and with a look of anguish on
his face he fell in a heap.
Maugis, much pleased to have given the coward this fright, left the
camp and arrived safely at the city of Dordogne.
CHAPTER XV.
The captivity of the Duke de Normandie was insupportable to
Charlemagne, for he was one of his bravest and most redoubtable
knights. The emperor complained bitterly to his peers and raved like a
man out of his senses at the infamy of Maugis in retaining his prisoner.
“Consider, sire,” responded Roland to him, “it seems to me that Maugis
is perfectly right, and I am astonished that you fail to recognize
it. He would be pushing his generosity to blindness if he allowed
Richard to go. Do you not remember how grandly Maugis has acted in the
past, and with what admiration he has inspired us all? How he gave
you back your crown and your treasures; how he returned to each of us
our swords, which he had a perfect right to keep? Can you not see in
these actions not only generosity, but grandeur of soul of the highest
degree? Alas! how have you returned these acts of greatness? You
tightened the cordon around Montaubon and besieged him anew with such
vigor that only a few soldiers and their families escaped. The rest of
the inhabitants died of famine or of pest. You have pursued him with
bitterness and sought to take him alive that you might make him suffer
the most rigorous punishment. If he captured the Duke Richard, was the
duke not pursuing him to the very entrance of the city, in order to
capture him and deliver him to you? Again, do you not remember what you
would have done to his brother Richard, when you had him in your power?
That he escaped death was certainly not due to your pardon, but because
Maugis wrested him from the hands of his executioners.”
“Of what avail to thus recount the past?” demanded Charlemagne uneasily.
“Simply this, sire!” continued Roland boldly. “If Maugis should release
the Duke de Normandie, I should tax him of folly. I am surprised he has
been so lenient as not to execute him at once, and if you would save
him from that fate, it would be best for you to take immediate steps by
granting Maugis those conditions of peace he has so long desired.
“Never!” cried Charlemagne obstinately.
“Sire, I beseech thee, reflect,” persuaded Roland. “Reverse your
decision and do not seek to further abuse the magnanimity of a man so
brave as Maugis. Grant him, therefore, sire, peace. I ask it of you in
the name of all your most noble knights.”
These sincere words at last produced on Charlemagne the most profound
impression. He thereupon charged Oger and the Duke de Naimes to go
to Maugis and offer him peace on condition of the surrender of the
Duke Richard de Normandie, only he clung tenaciously to his first idea
concerning Renaud. He still insisted that Renaud should be delivered to
him. It was in vain his peers represented to him that this condition
would be refused as it had been in the past; but he turned a deaf ear
to them, and still persisted in his resolutions.
At this moment Pinabel, who had recovered from his fright, came running
up.
“Beware,” cried he. “Know thou that the old knight, who yesterday
enchanted me by his magical powers; the pilgrim whom you have fed, the
infirm and paralyzed knight whom you congratulated yesterday on the
result of the combat, are one and the same man, and that man is Maugis.”
At first they were all incredulous, but Charlemagne finally divined the
truth; but beyond creating astonishment it made no impression upon him.
He turned to Oger and De Naimes, and bade them go at once to Maugis and
lay before him his proposition.
The ambassadors at once proceeded to Dordogne, and in due time were