I was roused from my sleep with a great
noise coming from outside of my tent and in the valley below. I quickly
got up and run outside, and there I learned that it was almost noon.
I must have been very tired than I first thought, for I have slept all
through the night and into the middle of the day. The rains stopped
and the storm has momentarily passed, but the skies were still overcast.
But I can tell by the direction of the wind that the tempest is not over
yet. The air were more chillier and colder than the previous day,
but I ventured out still, braving the gusty wind, needing to satisfy my
curiosities about the source of all the noise I hear.
I swept the valley below me with
my eyes to find out where and what the sounds were all about. I thought
I heard men speaking about . . . the neighing and panting of horses . .
. the clanging of what seems like metallic objects, and there were shouts
of men every now and then like someone barking commands or something, but
I couldn’t figure it out. I turned my head left and right, but I
couldn’t see anything. The valley below was shrouded in heavy fog.
“Something is going on, I know” I said to myself, and it seemed like there
was excitement of some sort going on down.
The winds were blowing from the
east and I waited ‘til the fogs were slowly lifted up. I waited like
a child eager to investigate something that provokes his curiosities.
And slowly as the eastern wind lifted the fog, silhouettes of men and horses
began to take shape. At first, like some ghostly apparition, and
I felt like as if I was transported into some netherworld which raised
all the hairs in my body . . . but I still couldn’t make out what the commotion
were all about.
Then behold . . .!
I was aghast from what
I saw,
I was breathless from the sight
below.
For there before me
as far as the eye could see,
two great army,
facing each other on the valley!
Men of chivalry,
Knights of unquestionable gallantry,
riding their stallions so proudly,
standing by to battle each other
valiantly.
For awhile, I stood upon this
hill motionless. Caught by surprise, my eyes opened wide as if they
were about to leave its sockets. My mouth were fully ajar and my
jaws stiffened, but no words came about. I was speechless.
My heart’s beating so fast, it pounds the inside of my chest like a rapid
drumbeatings as I watched the unfolding drama transpiring right down below
me. I watched them all with fearful excitement and great anticipation as
to what will happen next.
The storm that blew all day yesterday
may have passed momentarily, but a very different kind of storm is brewing
right down below from where I was standing. I knew this one will
be more vicious, more fiercest and more merciless than the tempest that
blew.
I held my breath in great suspense.
Eyes riveted to the two armies slowly closing the gap from each other.
My throats were almost dry and I couldn’t move from where I was standing.
The unfolding drama is just too unreal, yet, there it was before me.
I could not even afford to blink my eyes, for I might miss something crucial
that could lead to something.
I looked around to see if there
was anyone else watching this event with me. And there I found a
young lad, a shepherd, a couple of yards away to my left, tending his flock.
But I noticed, he too was watching the drama with the same curiosity, and
perhaps with the same fearful excitement just like me. Momentarily
forgetting the flock of sheeps he’s tending.
I hurriedly went to this young lad.
Eyes, still fixed at the commotion below. Needing to satisfy my curiosities
about all the things that were happening down below. I inquired,
“. . . What is this all about?” “Why are there so many men lining
up against each other?” But the young lad just shook his head and
said, “I don’t know, Sir . . .?” He too was filled with astonishment,
an accidental witness just like me. “If I'm possessed by so much
wonder, how much more a ten year old?”
So we stood upon this hill, awed
by the spectacle we saw. Eagerly watching this event unfolding right
before our eyes.
“What now . . .?”
“What’s next . . .?”
“What’s going to happen . . .?”
as I repeatedly asked myself.
“Then I saw a fair Lady,
hand and feet bounded in chain,
dragged by two men,
mercilessly, along the muddy terrain.
Could it be She’s a princess, or
a Queen . . .?
And by the looks of it, so it seems.
But why is She bounded in chain?
Is She a prisoner, a captive
held by the other King . . .?
Ah . . . She must be the reason
for all these noble Knights
in tight battle formation.”
What is it about this woman
that men of nobility are lining up against each other ready to do bat-tle?
Who is this woman, that knights of ancient valor gathering in this valley
maneuvering, and in close ranks against one another?
“Who is She?
What is She?
She must be a woman worthy
of a thousand blood
shed on a battlefield.
She must be a woman worthy
of a thousand cries,
of pain and anguish,
of sorrows and lamentations . .
.”
But I couldn’t find any answer.
At best, I could only speculate and I felt more of a fool trying to answer
something he does not understand.
Then I squint my eyes even more
hoping that I could get a good look at the face of this fair Lady. Trying
to make up her appearance on this foggy and misty day.
And there . . .
“Although ragged and smeared
with mud,
Her beauty is one that would make
any man
raving mad.
So innocent, So Fair . . .
yet, one that would cause a mother’s
despair,
whose sons they knew would be marching
off
through death’s inhospitable lair.
I too am captivated by her beauty.
No man in his right mind would
have ignored such a sight, so lovely!
Ah . . . woman! The cause
of it all!
The reason behind every man’s rising
and fall!”
Then I looked up, the skies
were still overcast. The sun, still seems to be hiding. Lightnings
would flash across the heavens every now and then, rolling thunder follows.
Momentarily illuminating the floor of the valley, almost like as if they
were giving highlight to the drama that’s taking place. Then there
was a slight drizzle, turning the rich brown muddy earth beneath my feet
into more of a slippery quagmire that only a lowly swine would love to
wallow.
“Below across the valley
there was silence . . .
Only the horse’s hooves and pantings
you hear.
No one is making a sound.
No, not even a whisper . . .
Just a hushed feeling.
You know it is about to begin.
You know it’s coming . . .”
Thus, I held my breath in great
suspense.
