ABSTRACT
O ne day, I being at my farm called Xiluella (which is situated in the huerta1 of Valencia), and asleep in my bed, there came to me in a vision an old notable, dressed in white, who said to m e: “ Muntaner, get up and prepare to make a book of the great marvels that thou hast seen, which God has worked in the wars in which thou hast been. For it is God’s pleasure that by thee they should be manifested. And I wish thee to know that for four reasons more particularly has God prolonged thy life and has brought thee to a prosperous position and will bring thee to a good end. Of these four things the first is, that thou hast held many commands, as well on the sea as on land, in which thou mightest have done more wrong than thou didst. The second is that thou hast never wished to return evil for evil to anyone who was in thy power; rather, many men of great importance came into thy power, who had done thee much injury and who thought to die when they came into thy hands, and thou, then, gavest thanks to God for the favour done to thee, and when they thought themselves most certain to die and to be lost, thou didst
surrender them to Our Lord and true God, and didst deliver them from thy prison and didst send them to their country, safe and sound, clothed and apparelled as was fitting for each one. The third reason is that it is God’s pleasure that thou shouldst recount these adventures and marvels, for there is not another alive to-day in the world who could relate them as truly. And the fourth, that whoever is King of Aragon should endeavour to act and speak well when he hears the favours God has shown in those events that thou wilt relate to them and to their people ; and that they should believe that they will always go from well to better whilst they employ and spend their time in truth and rectitude. And that they should see and know that Our Lord always helps the righteous and that him who wages war and walks in uprightness, God exalts, and gives him victory and makes him, with few followers, destroy many who walk in pride and wickedness and trust more in their own power than in the power of God. And so, for this reason, arise and begin thy book and thy history in the best way God has granted thee.”
