[33] In several respects, Alfonso el Sabio was a pioneer. Well-educated, intelligent, keenly aware of the value to his nation of the maintenance of learning and culture, he employed his position and his wealth in the furtherance of goals which have justified his designation as "the wise" or more properly "the learned" during succeeding generations. Ambition for his nation extended to himself as well. He dreamed of larger things, which undoubtedly played an important role in the less fortunate aspects of his political life. As the son of a great and saintly father and of a mother with an illustrious political heritage, his vision of himself in a greater than Spanish context helped to bring both him and his cultural dreams to a sad end. His final troubled days could well have been an object lesson of the vanity of ambition. His actions in later life made his sobriquet "the wise" quite inappropriate. But he was definitely learned, and in a cultural context he still looms large. Further study of what he left Western civilization has, bit by bit, served to raise his stature.

In the cultural sense, he was, of course, primarily a patron. Quite aside from his activities as a poet of both religious and profane songs and his sponsorship of music, he still remains, if not through total physical participation, the guiding spirit of a monumental enterprise. The royal patronage extended beyond financial support, and it is clear he shared in the great cultural tasks that he sponsored and supported, assuming an active role in some of them. The aspects of Latin and Arabic culture which he made available were in his opinion personal contributions, as is attested by his well-known statement to the effect that this was his own work although the carrying out of his ideas was entrusted to others. This was by necessity, of course, for his plans were so great and the available royal time so little. He recognized himself as the architect, and like a good architect, he concerned [34] himself with even small details in the total structure, while entrusting his overall plan to execution by others.

The scope of Alfonso's concept of his cultural mission is pertinent to the general consideration of the language in which his work was preserved. His activities at the royal literary court, both in his translations and in the more original compilations, are reminiscent of several similar activities located in the Iberian peninsula during the Middle Ages. In breadth of activity and in the use of translation as a source of information, the group is similar to the twelfth-century so-called Toledo school of translators. These earlier activities had centered around translations from Arabic into Latin, however, thus providing European contemporaries with some knowledge of the Eastern learning that had long been in the possession of the Arabs and was drawn from varied sources, including ancient Greece. They were an important component of the renaissance of learning which is associated with the twelfth century in Western Europe. Yet, that group of translators of many national origins was by comparison to Alfonso's an amorphous body, whose primary accomplishment was transferring the knowledge locked up in Arabic manuscripts to the universal Latin of the scholar. The operations of these translators were on a high intellectual level.

Another similar but much later venture, quite possibly inspired by the Alfonsine example and resembling it in its choice of the vernacular instead of a scholarly language, was the huge corpus of translation and compilation left by the grand master of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, Juan Fernández de Heredia, whose histories and translations provide precious linguistic material on the state of the Aragonese language in the fourteenth century. His work filled in certain gaps, such as translation directly from Greek and from French, but there was a utilitarian aspect to his activity which removed it from the more intellectual approach of both the Toledo group and Alfonso el Sabio. Living both in the eastern Mediterranean region and at the papal court in Avignon, the grand master seems to have conceived of the products of his scriptorium as a means of assisting in a passage to the Holy Land, a crusade against the infidel. By learning to know the enemy, the Muslims, better, he appeared to believe that they could be pushed back more effectively. Thus, his scriptorium issued a series of texts informative of the eastern Mediterranean area and beyond.

On the other hand, Alfonso el Sabio was, as Antonio Solalinde pointed out so perceptively, oriented toward a study of human nature -- man as conceived of in the thirteenth century. Historical man, revealed through his acts throughout the centuries since the creation, would show [35] what he had been, where he erred, and what he could teach individually and collectively. Then there was moral man, whose ideal type should be revealed by law. Law would teach him how he should act. Finally, man not only lives through earthly influences but also is affected by heavenly bodies. These influences were of the utmost importance and could be revealed by astrology and related sciences, primarily astronomy. This triple concept of mankind seems to lie at the core of the Alfonsine efforts at the literary court, and there his scholars planned, compared, translated, paraphrased, and commented.

Perhaps little original work was accomplished, but at a time when authority was stressed, it must not seem surprising that authority is constantly cited for everything. On those occasions when there was a conflict in the authorities, it was incumbent upon the scholars to reconcile if possible, to explain away the differences, and even occasionally to venture their own opinion. This attitude served to keep the Alfonsine work close to the source text, of course, whether it was in Arabic or in Latin. And translation is one way to stick close to authority.

It would be advantageous indeed if the actual source manuscripts employed by the translators were known, but the identity of any surviving texts has not been established as those actually used at the royal scriptorium. In a close comparison, it would be interesting to know whether what now appear to be deviations in the text were the result of erroneous readings or even of punctuation in the source, which would make a difference in modern editorial procedures. This might also explain why a translation from classical Latin would be flawless and a section derived from a simpler medieval Latin text would be hopelessly garbled. Close comparisons occasionally yield unexpected bonuses. They have demonstrated, for example, that the readings in Alfonso's translations of the letters in Ovid's Heroïdes are not errors on the part of the Spanish translators but represent a family of manuscripts whose existence had been suspected by textual critics but which apparently have now disappeared. Alfonsine readings agree with the hypotheses of the editors--a triumph for textual criticism. It appears that in general the Alfonsine collaborators were rather good Latinists, being able to handle classical authors like Ovid and Lucan adequately and with genuine feeling for the original readings. Yet, in a much simpler text such as the Vulgate, translations are presented in a meaningless garbled fashion, as in the literal translation of the Psalms in part three of the General estoría . Since the earliest manuscript of this part dates back to the thirteenth century, one must posit a defective original biblical text or a very early [36] scribal deformation in the Spanish version, since the manuscripts of both surviving families are untrustworthy.

It is a rare thing to possess a manuscript from the Middle Ages which is identified as undoubtedly the one produced by the author himself. In this respect, Spain is most fortunate, for a good number of the original Alfonsine manuscripts have been preserved. These include such long texts as parts one and four of the General estoría, the Estoria de Espanna (also known as the Primera crónica general), and a set of astrological and scientific works. The codex containing the astronomical works has also been preserved in the library of the University of Madrid; but over the years, it has been mutilated through vandalism, not the least of which was its employment in building the barricades in University City during the civil war in the 1930's. Nonetheless, the prewar text had been preserved on Photostats at the University of Wisconsin and on microfilm at the Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid, which can now be of help to those working on the original codex. All in all, an enviable amount of unquestioned authoritative material is available for a study of the language used by Alfonso el Sabio. Only in the case of the many preserved texts of Fernández de Heredia is there anything similar found in Spain.

The possibility of studying the language employed at the royal scriptorium, with absolute faith in its authenticity, is guaranteed by the availability of these manuscripts. It is true that some questions have arisen about the authenticity of several of the Alfonsine texts as the original product of the royal scriptorium, but their dating as belonging to the thirteenth century has not been disproved. There exists, then, a range of historical texts which have in part a literary background, a series of pseudoscientific texts with their specialized technical vocabulary, a book on games, and a legal text. The loss of slightly more than three parts of the original manuscript of the General estoría and six parts of the Siete partidas will always be regretted, but as it is, the amount of authoritative material to illuminate Castilian of the second half of the thirteenth century is overwhelming. An idea of its extent can be had by consulting the microfiche version of those texts and the concordances thereto, which occupy a total of approximately 20,000 pages. ⁽¹⁾

So far as the methods of work at the royal scriptorium are known, these texts presumably bear the approval of Alfonso, who as architect and general editor prescribed procedures and standards. The scribes were clearly trained with great care in the use of the French Gothic minuscule script, which characterizes all of the manuscripts produced at the royal [37]scriptorium. Standards of language were set, a clear necessity in such a varied group as the one Alfonso had working around him. It consisted, as is well known, of Christians, Jews, and Muslims, men from various parts of the peninsula. The cultivation of Castilian was de rigueur, as the language of the court and of the most rapidly expanding sector of the kingdom. But scribes did have occasional problems, and other linguistic forms did manage to creep in. There were slips, as in the Libro de las cruzes, where Catalan words crept in; the translators of this work identify themselves as Jhuda Fy de Mosse al Choen, and Maestre Johan dAspa, apparently from eastern Spain. At other times, there were variations in form and spelling that clearly reflected language in the process of change. As could be very well expected, there appear to have been difficulties with new and unfamiliar words, particularly in the case of transcription or adaptations of Arabic words in the technical treatises. Finally, adhering to the rule that there is no error-free copy, it is reasonable to expect scribal errors even in the process of transferring the text from the borrador or rough draft to the splendid royal codex. Thus, the texts do not reflect absolute accuracy or uniformity, but frequently they are more interesting because of what the defects reveal.

The specific contributions that these prose texts made to the Spanish language and its expression would at this point be very difficult to pin down. To make such a determination, of course, it would be necessary to analyze previous prose and then prose subsequent to Alfonso's in great detail and then compare them with the products of the royal scriptorium. This has not been done for very good reasons. Until recently, sufficient data were not readily available to assess even the prose of Alfonso's works alone, without reference to anything else. But the analysis of prose previous to 1250 offers considerable difficulty. The identification of literary prose before that time gives scholars very little on which to base a judgment about the type of prose employed then. Even in some of the early works represented by much later manuscripts, there has been a tendency to associate their original date with the time of Alfonso if not actually with the activities of the monarch himself. Extensive works preceding him are nonexistent. It is supposed that the translation of the Fuero juzgo may have antedated him, but perhaps it did not. If it is anterior to 1250, it might be used for comparison with Alfonso's legal works; strictly speaking, in such a case one should employ the legal texts exactly as composed by Alfonso and not some corrupted reworking of later centuries, but those are unfortunately not available. Thus, there is little concrete material with which to compare the [38] huge mass of data in the Alfonsine manuscripts. The picture is sketchy at best. It is almost as if prose was born full-fledged like Minerva, with Alfonso assuming the role of Jupiter.

The insistence on using only the original texts in studying the language of Alfonso X is a luxury that cannot be duplicated with other authors, but as long as these manuscripts are available, the unique opportunity should not be passed up. Certainly, the transcriptions of royal scriptorium manuscripts provide a sufficient body of text to afford a broad and detailed view of Alfonsine prose in general. It makes sense to reject later manuscripts of Alfonso's works. Experience in editing the General estoría and in studying variants has put scholars on guard concerning the many alterations and distortions that exist in later manuscript copies and has raised doubts concerning the trustworthiness of "restored" readings. Nor do edited texts inspire confidence, for the process of editing in itself admits of various solutions, and it has even been used to force texts into patterns to suit the editor's bias. The result is unsatisfactory for strict analyses. In making the most significant comparisons with Alfonsine prose, it would be necessary to accumulate from later authors and works the type of data that is now available for the royal scriptorium texts, using a good manuscript that originates as close to the date of its composition as possible.

The Alfonsine lexicon is of special concern at the moment, particularly in establishing special meanings current at that time. Another point of interest is the identification of the earliest use of words in Castilian; on the basis of available data, there seem to be a goodly number of such cases in Alfonsine prose. It is not surprising that terms not normally used in poetry should appear first in texts which so often are technical in nature. Even with a word at hand in the Castilian text, it may be questionable as to whether it should be counted as truly Spanish. It can be argued that, in the eye of the translator, they were loanwords of the period and that, during the time of their currency, they may not have been preserved in any texts that have survived. Often a word, the name of a stone in the Lapidary, for example, appears to be merely the transliteration of an Arabic term which the translator did not recognize as anything familiar. The question of how to treat such words is not easy to answer. The determination of first appearances, or the earliest date when a word makes its entrance into the written language, is a tricky matter. Until every text in Castilian has been checked, scholars cannot be certain that a given word was first used at any particular time and not before.

With the Alfonsine language in mind, I used a survey of words of Arabic and Persian [39] origin in the works of Alfonso el Sabio which was compiled by the late Hispano-Arabist A. R. Nykl. This list included as well some words of other origins, mostly Greek, which were transmitted through Arabic. (Regrettably, this work has remained unpublished because of defects in treatment and presentation.) Despite the problem words in the list which were discarded, the number of terms that could be regarded as first appearances was naturally large.

A check on the words beginning with A in the new edition of Corominas's etymological dictionary, ⁽²⁾ in order to determine whether any of the words in the Nykl list were designated by Corominas with a chronologically later "first usage," yielded a number of surprises. In some instances, the discrepancy is insignificant, as when a date such as 1295 or 1300 is given, often without any indication of the work in which the word is found, yet the word appears on the earlier folios of the Estoría de Espanna which is of a somewhat earlier date--words such asalmohade [Almohad], azagaya [javelin], or alfaqui [a scholar versed in Islamic law]. Slightly greater is the time difference in words such as algalia [musk] (in Alfonso's Picatrix as opposed to the Corominas lexicon entry of 1328-1335); albur [a kind of fish] (in Alfonso's General estoría II as opposed to the later author Juan Ruiz); alamin [a market judge] (in Alfonso's Judizios as opposed to a notice of 1313); and alhaya, alhoyd, or alhaite [a string or necklace] (in his Astronomía as opposed to a notice from the fourteenth century). More striking are the gaps inalamud [bolt, bar for a door] (in his General estoria IV as opposed to a fifteenth-century reference), alquice for alquicel [cloak] (in both his Lapidario and Picatrix as opposed to a notice from 1611), or albait or albaida [egg] (in his Astronomía as opposed to the year 1884).

Most of these are far from common words, but they do indicate the possibility of a greater choice in vocabulary from the Alfonsine period onward than the Corominas dictionary indicates. It is much easier to spot first appearances with tools such as the now difficult to obtain Oelschläger Wordlis t ⁽³⁾ and the Alfonsine concordances. In the meantime, the number of lexical items contained in these works leaves no doubt that the royal scriptorium had already established on a literary basis a very large body of words sufficient for any normal expression.

Orthography was a matter that Alfonso could have taken into account, but the practice in the various texts he sponsored has not been consistent. For example, the word mentioned above which Corominas finds as alloza appears in the astronomical texts variously as allauce, alianza, and alleuce. This inconsistency constitutes today one more hurdle for the lexicographer [40] who seeks to subordinate all these errant forms under the proper lemma. The reader with imagination and with a sense for the sound of a word may scarcely be bothered. Spelling appears not to have been a matter of deep concern to medieval people.

If spelling was no problem to Alfonso, there was deep concern about the meaning of words. In some areas, exactness of definition was of utmost importance. In order that there should be a clear transmission of meaning from author to reader, he deemed it advisable in a number of instances to define the words that he used. Often they were terms used in legal works, where the need for a definition did not result from unfamiliarity with the term but was needed to establish boundaries to its meaning and to prevent quibbling. But there were other definitions that explained scientific terminology, medical terms, obsolete words, special usages, and gems. They range from precise scientific explanations to a mere statement of lexical equivalents. In some instances, Alfonso has recourse to the etymon in establishing meaning. These definitions have a special appeal to lexicographers, as representing contemporary opinions about the meaning of a word or a phrase and as substantiation or correction to what has been determined by them through other methods. A few examples of Alfonsine definitions, given in Appendix at the end of this chapter, illustrate the various means used to clarify the meanings of terms.

Comparable to the lack of uniformity in orthography is the deviation within morphological patterns. This is possibly in part a reflection of regional differences or an indication of the uncertainty present during a time of linguistic change. The morphological field presents a large and complicated area of study, but the status of the problem may be illustrated with several examples. The strong preterite which developed mainly from the Latin third conjugation did not always result in the forms that might be expected. The form traer [to bring] (with its compound satraer and maltraer following suit) displays four stems in use. Because of the nature of the Alfonsine works the first and second persons are infrequent; but in the third-person singular and plural, the variant forms troxo and troxieron are by far the most used, followed by the formstrexo and trexieron, then by traxo and traxieron, and finally by the rare form trqgo. The statistics are surprising, and the philologically inclined will be interested in seeing that the troxo type, singular and plural, appears 95 times, the trexo type 25, the traxo type 6, and trogo only twice. Ultimately, it was traxo that won out, with trujo succeeding troxo in substandard speech.

The presumably dialect forms with the preterite third-person plural [41] ending in -oron were very nearly eliminated in the Alfonsine writings. They are found occasionally, but if they were heard in other parts of Spain, Alfonso's scribes did a good job in regularizing the first conjugation ending -aron in scriptorium use. The total forms in -oron (only twenty-two, of which six are in the latter portions of the Estoria de Espanna and another six in the Libro de las cruzes) are indeed few, when for example compared with 273 cases where the reduction of the ie diphthong in the preterite third-person plural of the second and third conjugation verbs resulted in the ending -iron. From bits of evidence such as this, it is clear that a good deal of uniformity was operative among the scribes and that the best examples of writing and language that the age could offer as worthy of emulation were indeed these. The problem of deviations from the preponderant usage in these texts deserves full examination.

Literary translation, as opposed to translation of didactic materials, begun by Alfonso el Sabio and later carried on by the humanists of the fifteenth century, put the capabilities of the young Spanish language to a test. It is unlikely that Alfonso's primary aims were at all literary. After all, he was writing history. It was a history that concerned itself most with human exploits and individual acts, however, and that could serve to reinforce the moral lessons to be derived from the past. With the idea of drawing profitable lessons and guided by other medieval moralization, he incorporated all the details that the poets provided concerning the deeds of even mythological figures of the ancient world, precisely at those points where the chronological tables of Eusebius and Jerome specified that they had taken place. In this way, the General estoría, which depended so much on the historical portions of the Bible as the framework on which to hang other information, became a mosaic in which literature periodically elbowed aside the Bible and the historians to permit the purely literary Roman poets and the French cycle of antiquity to take over. Collectively, these authorities were referred to as the sabios antiguos, whose writings all appear to have been considered authoritative.

Treatment of pagan sources was the same as in the case of biblical material. If the Bible quotes a speaker verbatim, Alfonso gives the exact Castilian equivalent. When Ovid quotes his characters, Alfonso translates their words as if they were historical utterances, even down to the exclamations. In general, the classical material is more or less paraphrased, as are the more historical sources. When direct quotations arise, however, a careful translation is given. One of the finest examples of consistent translation appears in the utilization of Ovid's Heroïdes, whose epistles are rendered in [42] long passages in which the wording is respected as historical evidence. Although the translation as such is generally accurate, there are many occasions when the spirit of the situation carries the writer along so that he does more than an adequate job on his material. A happy choice of words and sentence rhythms makes for a moving presentation in prose. Thus, the ability to interpret the spirit of a situation argues for a knowledge of writing far beyond any primitive stage. An example is given in Appendix 2 at the end of this chapter.

Historical narrative with action generally depicting the individual even amongst the most bizarre backgrounds (as in the case of Alexander the Great), interest in the various aspects of the creation and nature (as seen by such diverse eyes as those of biblical commentators and the classical Pliny), and the depiction of human emotions all found a place in the various productions of the Learned King. Whether they were history or not, at numerous points they crossed over into the purely literary realm of the ancients. For several centuries in their Castilian form, they provided a possibility of getting acquainted with the themes of classical antiquity, for readers without the capability of enjoying the originals. Did many take advantage of this possibility? The multiple manuscripts remaining of the Alfonsine histories are indicative of their extensive circulation and availability.

Their influence on various aspects of medieval forms and themes, both in style and in subject matter, is an intriguing possibility to examine. Olga Impey of Indiana University is currently engaged in the study of courtly love and the sentimental novel of the fifteenth century, as related to the Alfonsine histories. In all present and future work, the availability of these histories to medieval scholars is a problem that may be close to resolution. The first, second, and fourth parts of the General estoría, are now available; the third is edited but not yet printed. Transcription of the fifth part, which derives from Lucan and the Bible, has been completed in the Netherlands, where Wilhelmina Jonxis-Henkemans is cooperating most effectively with the Wisconsin project. Various signs of interest in doing a careful edition of the legal works give hope that soon the entire body of work ascribed to Alfonso will be available and will provide the possibility of definitive studies of their place in Hispanic culture. Finally, the remaining texts of the astronomical or astrological group are being worked on by Anthony Cárdenas. In these years marking the septencentennial of Alfonso's death, it would be appropriate to observe the occasion with the editing and scholarly investigation needed to see him on all scores in the proper light.[43]

Appendix 1: Definitions from Alfonso's Works, in Translation ⁽⁴⁾

"Lector. There is another rank [in the clergy] which is called 'lector,' which signifies reader."(Libro de las leyes)

"1. Febrero. 2. Hebrero. 1. The second month was given the name 'febrero,' from februa, which they say in Latin for purification. 2. The second month is 'hebrero,' which in the ordinary year has 28 days and in leap year has 29." (Astronomía)

"Bigamia. 'Bigamia' is having two wives, for we say bis in Latin for two, and in Greek we say gamos for woman, and by joining these two words bis and gamos, the men learned in Latin grammar composed this noun bigamis; wherefore bigamy means one man having two wives together at the same time." (General estoria I)

"Planeta. 'Planeta' is the same as wandering star,' and they gave it this name from planos, which is what Greek calls such wandering." (General estoria I)

"Astrologia. 'Astrologia' is the science of the stars, and astrology derives its name from astris,which they say in Latin for stars, and logos in Greek for discourse, wherefore 'astrologia' is equivalent to discourse or science of the knowledge of stars." (General estoria I )

"Argent. The stone which is commonly called 'argent' or silver, and the Moors call feda, can be hammered or smelted the same as other metals. And if its filings are mixed with medicines for the inflammation which they call 'uitreun,' it is beneficial. And likewise for all illnesses which involve inflammation. . . . And the color of this stone is white, and the more it is polished, the shinier it gets." (Lapidario)

Special curiosities are the definitions of the tiger and unicorn. Surely the latter would scarcely be recognized as the mythical animal discussed in medieval bestiaries, for here it is clearly a description of the rhinoceros.

"Thigre. The tiger is a very fierce and brutal beast by nature. Its body is large, like a big deer, and it is as strong and fierce as the most savage beast in existence. It has the feet, the legs, and the tail of a lion. Its face is long, similar to that of a bald man." (General estoria II)

"Unicornio. The unicorn is a very large and very strong beast; and it has two horns: one on its forehead and the other on its nose, and the one on its nose is longer than the one on its forehead. This unicorn has a large body like ivory of an ashen hue, and its legs are like ivory, and its ears like those of a pig." (Ajedrez)

[44] The originals read:

"Lector. Otro grado y ha a que llaman lector, que quier tanto dezir cuerno leedor."

"1. Febrero. 2. Hebrew, 1. Al segundo mes pusieron nombre febrero, de februa, que dizen en latín por alimpiamiento. 2. El segundo mes es hebrero, el qual en el anno simple es de xxviii dias et en el anno bissiesto de xxix."

"Bigamia. Es bigamia auer dos mugieres, ca dezimos en el latin bis por dos e en el griego dizen gamos por mugier, e ayuntado estas dos palabras bis e gamos, conpusieron ende los sabios en la gramática en latin este nombre bigamis; onde quier dezir bigamia tanto como un varón auer dos mugieres en una sazón e en uno."

"Planeta. Planeta tanto quier dezir como estrella andadora, e dieron le este nombre de planos, que dize el griego por tal andar."

"Astrologia. Astrologia es el saber de las estrellas, e ende a la astrologia este nombre, de astris que dizen en el latin por estrellas, e logos en el griego por razón; onde astrologia tanto quiere dezir como razón o scientia del saber de las estrellas."

"Argent. La piedra a que llaman comunal miente todos argent o plata, e los moros feda . . . sufre martiello e fundición, assi como las otras que son metales. Et si las limaduras della con las melezinas que son contra la flema a que llaman uitreun metiere, presta. Et otrossi a todas las enfermedades que son de flema. . . . Et la color desta piedra es blanca e quanto mas la pulen, mas resplandece, mas no que la passe el uiso."

"Thigre. Es la thigre bestia muy brava e muy bruda de natura. Es grant de cuerpo como un grant cieruo e fuerte e brava assi como la bestia mas salvage que y a. A pies e piernas e rabo de leon. El rostro a luengo a semeianca de ombre caluo."

"Unicornio. Eli unicornio es bestia muy grant e muy fuerte, e ha dos cuernos: ell uno en la fruente e ell otro en la nariz, e el de la nariz es mas luengo que el de la fruente. E este unicornio a el cuerpo grant como marfil e la color como de ceniza e las piernas tales como el marfil e las oreias commo de puerco."

Appendix 2

The reader may judge from the following passages translating from the Heroïdes--the epistle of Ariadne to Theseus as found in the General estoria. ⁽⁵⁾

"Aquel tienpo de la noche era en que la elada comiença primero a [45] esparzer se por la tierra e parescer reluzient e uidria como uidrio, et quando las aues que están por los aruoles cubiertas de la foia se querellan e mur-murian. Et yazia yo a aquella ora, e esto podrie seer a los primeros gallos, que nin uelaua nin yazia espierta. Et atal qual estaua sonnolienta, moui las manos por el lecho pora poner las en ti, Theseo, e non falle nada; e leue las manos aluen e desi trox las a todas partes por ueer si te fallaría, e non falle nada.

"Alli oue el miedo tan grant que todo el suenno perdi, e leuanteme muy espantada, e derríbeme luego del lecho que falle bibdo sin marido. Et assi como fuy en tierra, eche las manos en los uestidos, e rompi me toda, e feri me los pechos, e messe los cabellos assi como me leuantaua e los tenia bueltos. E fazie estonces luna, e sabes lo tu, e cate yo a la luz della si ueria otra cosa si non las riberas. Mas los mios oios non uieron otra cosa si non la mar e la ribera; et yo, mesquina e desamparada, comencé a correr por la ribera a todas partes e sin todo ordenamiento.

"Et era aquel lugar grand arenal, commo tu sabes; e quando corría por ueer por uentura si te fallaria entrando aun en el nauio e me recibries, tardaua me el arena los pies que fuye con ellos. Et pues que ningún recabdo non fallaua nin ueya nada, comencé a llamar a grandes uozes 'Theseo' por toda la ribera. Et las pennas que estauan y socauadas rescibien la mi boz, e retennien e dizien otra uez el tu nonbre. Et quantas uezes te yo llamaua, tantas uezes te llamaua aquel logar: assi que semeiaua que querie fazer su ayuda a mi, mesquina e desamparada."
 

2. Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico , ed. Joan Coraminas and José A. Pascual, 5 vols. (Madrid: Credos, 1980-1983).

3. Victor R. B. Oelschläger, A Medieval Spanish Word-List: A Preliminary Dated Vocabulary of First Appearances Up To Berceo (Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1940).

4. Many additional definitions may be found in Herbert Alien Van Scoy, A Dictionary of Old Spanish Terms Defined in the Works of Alfonso X, ed. Ivy Corfis (Madison, Wisc.: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1986).

5. Ed. by A. G. Solalinde, et al. (Madrid: Molina, 1930, for part i; Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1957, for part 2), part 2, 1: 425.