lready the foe was far.
Anxiously the Emperor looked to the sun as it slowly went down toward
the west. Night was at hand and the enemy still afar.

Then, alighting from his horse, Charlemagne kneeled upon the green
grass. "Oh Lord, I pray thee," he cried, "make the sun to stop. Say
thou to the night, 'wait.' Say thou to the day, 'remain.'" And as the
Emperor prayed, his guardian angel stooped down and whispered to him,
"Ride onward, Charlemagne! Light shall not fail thee. Thou hast lost
the flower of France. The Lord knoweth it right well. But thou canst
now avenge thee upon the wicked. Ride!"

Hearing these words, Charlemagne sprang once more to horse and rode
onward.

And truly a miracle was done for him. The sun stood motionless in
the sky, the heathen fled, the Franks pursued, until in the Valley of
Darkness they fell upon them and beat them with great slaughter. The
heathen still fled, but the Franks surrounded them, closing every
path, and in front flowed the river Ebro wide and deep. Across it
there was no bridge, upon it no boat, no barge. Calling upon their
gods Tervagan and Apollin and upon Mahomet to save them, the heathen
threw themselves into the water. But there no safety they found.
Many, weighted with their heavy armor, sank beneath the waves. Others,
carried by the tide, were swept away, and all were drowned, King
Marsil alone fleeing towards Saragossa.

When Charlemagne saw that all his enemies were slain, he leapt from
his horse, and, kneeling upon the ground, gave thanks to Heaven. And
even as he rose from his knees the sun went down and all the land was
dim in twilight.

"Now is the hour of rest," said the Emperor. "It is too late to return
to Roncesvalles, for our steeds are weary and exhausted. Take off
their saddles and their bridles, and let them refresh themselves upon
the field."

"Sire, it is well said," replied the Franks.

So the knights, leaping from their horses, took saddle and bridle
from them, and let them wander free upon the green meadows by the
river-side. Then, being very weary, the Franks lay down upon the
grass, all dressed as they were in their armor, and with their swords
girded to their sides, and slept. So worn were they with battle and
with grief, that none that night kept watch, but all alike slept.

The Emperor too slept upon the ground among his knights and barons.
Like them he lay in his armor. And his good sword Joyeuse was girt
about him.

The night was c