A Book of Myths, by Jean Lang - Umnet

comrades whose eyes never more would open on the fair land of France,
but even as Roland was about to take his rest he saw descending upon
him and his little band a host of Saracens, led by Marsile himself.
A hundred thousand men, untired, and fiercely thirsting for revenge,
came against the handful of wearied, wounded heroes. Yet with
unwavering courage the Franks responded to their leaders' call.
The war-cry of the soldiers of France--"Montjoie! Montjoie!"--rang
clear above the fierce sound of the trumpets of the Saracen army.
"'Soldiers of the Lord,' cried Turpin, 'Be ye valiant and steadfast, For
this day shall crowns be given you Midst the flowers of Paradise. In the
name of God our Saviour, Be ye not dismayed nor frighted, Lest of you
be shameful legends Chanted by the tongues of minstrels. Rather let us
die victorious, Since this eve shall see us lifeless!-- Heaven has no
room for cowards! Knights, who nobly fight, and vainly, Ye shall sit
among the holy In the blessed fields of Heaven. On then, Friends of
God, to glory!'"
Marsile fell, the first victim to a blow from the sword of Roland, and
even more fiercely than the one that had preceded it, waged this terrible
fight.
And now it seemed as though the Powers of Good and of Evil also took
part in the fray, for a storm swept down from the mountains, thick
darkness fell, and the rumble of thunder and the rush of heavy rain
dulled the shouts of those who fought and the clash and clang of their
weapons. When a blood-red cloud came up, its lurid light showed the
trampled ground strewn with dead and dying. At that piteous sight
Roland proposed to send a messenger to Charlemagne to ask him for
aid, but it was then too late.
When only sixty Franks remained, the pride of Roland gave way to pity
for the men whom he had led to death, and he took the magic horn
Olifant in his hand, that he might blow on it a blast that would bring
Charlemagne, his mighty army behind him, to wipe out the Saracen
host that had done him such evil. But Oliver bitterly protested. Earlier