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Panel 2, Left of Cantiga 155 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X

The Knight [Mamluk] who Filled a Tankard with Tears (Quen as coitas deste mundo ben quiser sofrer)

   A knight in Alexandria was a wicked thief. Nevertheless, when he grew old, he acknowledged his sins and went to a holy man to confess them.
   The holy man told him to go on pilgrimage overseas, but the knight refused. He then suggested fasting, but the knight also objected to that. When the holy man told him to give alms, the knight replied that he had nothing to give. The hermit asked him to fetch him a tankard of water. He said if the knight did this, he would win pardon for his sins.
   The knight went off to fetch the water from a spring, but when he tried to fill the tankard, he could not catch a drop.
   He then went to a nearby river, but the water drained away. For two years he could not get any water, not even a sip to drink.
   He thought that God might never pardon his sins, but that he might obtain it through the Virgin if he served her. He prayed to the Virgin, asking her to permit him to fill his tankard. As he said this, he wept and two tears landed in it and filled it immediately. The knight was overjoyed.
   He went to the hermit and told him how the Virgin had filled the whole tankard with two tears. When the hermit saw the miracle, he praised the Virgin.



Back to the double page image of Cantiga 155 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X - The Knight [Mamluk] who Filled a Tankard with Tears
Individual panels of military subjects from the Cantigas de Santa Maria