Before he could touch it, however, the hero's lifeless hand clasped the sword hilt and drew Tizona a few inches out of its scabbard.
"Ere the beard his fingers touched, Lo! the silent man of death Grasp'd the hilt, and drew Tizona Full a span from out the sheath!" _Ancient Spanish Ballads_ (Lockhart's tr.).
Of course, in the face of such a miracle, the Jew desisted, and the Cid Campeador was reverently laid in the grave only when his body began to show signs of decay.

His steed Babieca continued to be held in great honor, but no one was ever again allowed to bestride him.
[Sidenote: Evacuation of Valencia.] As for the Moors, they rallied around Valencia.

After hovering near for several days, wondering at the strange silence, they entered the open gates of the city, which they had not dared to cross for fear of an ambuscade, and penetrated into the court of the palace.

Here they found a notice, left by the order of the Cid, announcing his death and the complete evacuation of the city by the Christian army.
The Cid's sword Tizona became an heirloom in the family of the Marquis of Falies, and is said to bear the following inscriptions, one on either side of the blade: "I am Tizona, made in era 1040," and "Hail Maria, full of grace.".