Читать книгу The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda - Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - Страница 12

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The account that the Spanish barbarian gives of himself to his new guests.

Short and quickly finished was the supper, but to sup without fear made it savoury. They replaced the torches with fresh ones, and although there was a good deal of smoke in the apartment, it was warm. The dishes on which the supper was served were neither of silver nor china; the hands of the young host and hostess were the plates, and the drinking cups were made from the bark of some tree more suited to the purpose than cork would have been. The young girl kept at a distance, and supplied them with water, fresh, clear and cool. Clelia soon fell asleep, for sleep is more welcome to age than any conversation however pleasant it may be. The elder hostess made her a couch in the inner apartment, of which the mattrass and blankets were skins. She then returned to sit with the others, to whom the Spaniard now spoke as follows: "Although by rights I should hear your story first, yet will I tell you who and what I am, that you may conceal nothing from me after having heard my history of myself.

"As my good fortune would have it I was born in Spain, in one of her best provinces. My family is respectable though not noble, I was brought up in affluence; I learned grammar, which is the step that leads to the other sciences, but my star inclined me rather to that of arms, than of letters. In my youth I had no friendship for either Bacchus or Ceres, nor had Venus any charms for me either. Impelled then by my inclinations, I left my country, and went to the wars, which at that time his Majesty the Emperor Charles V. was waging in Germany with some of its potentates. Mars befriended me; I acquired the name of a good soldier. The emperor distinguished me, I made friends, and above all, I learned liberality and good breeding—one learns this in the school of a Christian soldier. I returned home with riches and honours, intending to remain some days there in order to enjoy the society of my parents, who were both living, and of the friends who expected me. But that which men call fortune,—for my part I know not what she is,—envious of my tranquillity, turning the wheel she is said to hold, threw me down from the summit on which I had been placed into the depths of misery wherein you see me now, using, as her instrument wherewith to effect this, a gentleman, the second son of a nobleman who had an estate near my home. He came to our village on a festival-day. In the square there was a circle of gentlemen of whom I was one. Coming up to me, with an arrogant air and manner, he said, smiling, 'So you are a valiant soldier, Señor Antonio, and the public talk of all Flanders and Italy has declared you to be truly a most gallant and generous gentleman.' 'And my good Antonio must know how glad I am to hear this,' I answered (being myself this Antonio). 'I thank you a thousand times, my lord, for the praise you bestow on me, your lordship does well to honour your countrymen and servants; but with all this, I would wish your lordship to know that I gained my honours and rewards in Flanders, but good breeding I inherited at my birth, and therefore I deserve for that neither praise nor blame. But, nevertheless, good or bad, I am your lordship's very humble servant, and I beseech you to honour me according to my desert.'

"A gentleman who stood by me, and one of my particular friends, said to me in not so low a voice but that the young nobleman could hear, 'Antonio, my friend, how you talk, one does not call Don Such a one,—My lord.' Before I could reply the young nobleman answered, 'The good Antonio speaks well, for he treats me after the Italian fashion, which is to say—your lordship, instead of your worship.'

"'I am perfectly well acquainted,' said I, 'with the customs and usages of well-bred people, and in addressing your lordship as my lord, it is not after the fashion of Italy, but that I desire to give you your full title according to the rank you bear in Spain; and I, being only a simple gentleman and raised by my own deeds, am at least deserving of the common forms of politeness from any nobleman in the land, and he who fails in this (here I clapped my hand to my sword) is not worthy to be called a gentleman.' So saying, I gave him two cuts on the head, bestowed with very good will, which took him so by surprise that he hardly knew what had happened to him, nor stirred a step in his own defence, and I awaited his attack, sword in hand. His first surprise over, he drew his sword and prepared to avenge himself with great spirit; but this was prevented, partly by the blood that flowed from his wounds and that the bystanders interfered, laid hold of me and made me retire to my father's house, where the story was soon told; my friends represented to me strongly the danger I was in, and providing me with money and a good horse, advised me to put myself in safety, since I had made myself such great and powerful enemies. Accordingly I did so, and in two days had passed the boundary of Aragón, where I breathed awhile. In short, I determined to return to Germany, where I intended again to enter the service of the emperor, but there I was warned that my enemy and many more were seeking me, with the purpose of taking my life by any means they could. This, as was not unnatural, rather alarmed me, and I returned again to Spain, for I thought there could not be a safer asylum than the home of my enemy. I saw my parents in the night time, provided myself with money and jewels; with these I came to Lisbon, and embarked on board a vessel which was on the point of sailing for England, in which were several English gentlemen, who had come out of curiosity to visit Spain, and having seen all, or at least the best part of her principal cities, were returning home to their own country.

"It so happened that I was disputing a point of small importance with one of the English sailors, in the course of which, growing angry, I was obliged to give him a blow. This excited the wrath of the other sailors, and in fact of the whole crew, who seized every missile weapon that came to hand, wherewith to assail me. I retreated to the forecastle, and took one of the English gentlemen as my shield, putting myself behind him, which mode of defence so far availed me, that I was not instantly slain.

"The other gentlemen quieted the tumult; but on condition that I should be thrown into the sea, or at least, that I should be cast adrift in a small boat in which I might return to Spain, or wherever Providence might send me.

"This was done accordingly; they put me into the boat with two barrels of water, one of butter, and some biscuit. I thanked my protectors for the favour shown me, and set out on my voyage with only two oars. The ship was soon far away. Night came on, and I was alone in the middle of the wide ocean, at the mercy of the wind and waves. I raised my eyes to heaven, and recommended my soul to God, with as much devotion as I could; then I looked northward, by which I hoped to distinguish whither I was going, but I knew not the place where I was. Six days and six nights I went on thus, trusting more to the mercy of Heaven than to my own exertions, for my arms were quite tired with the continued work they had to do. I abandoned the oars, unshipped them, and laid them in the boat, to assist me again, when the sea permitted and my strength returned. I laid myself down at full-length on my back, shut my eyes, and there was not a saint in heaven I did not invoke in my inmost heart to aid me. It may perhaps be hard to be believed, that in the midst of this my greatest need, there came upon me a very heavy sleep, so heavy that I lost all sense and feeling; but in my dreams imagination pictured all kinds of horrible deaths,—all were in the water, and in one it seemed to me that I was devoured by wolves and torn in pieces by wild beasts, so that waking or sleeping, my life was a prolonged death. From this not very pleasant dream, I was roughly awakened by a tremendous wave, which washed over the boat and filled it with water. I saw my danger, and hastened, as well as I was able, to restore the wave to its parent sea. My oars availed me nothing, though I again attempted to use them. The sea was growing boisterous, scourged and fretted by a south-west wind, which seems to prevail more powerfully in these seas than in any others. I saw that it was folly to oppose my little boat to its fury, my weak and fainting strength to its fierceness; so once more I laid down my oars, and let the boat run where it pleased the wind and waves to carry it.

"I had again recourse to prayer, I renewed my promises, I increased the waters of the ocean with the streams that poured from my eyes, not from the fear of death that seemed fast approaching, but from a dread of the punishment my sins deserved. I do not know how many days and nights I was thus a wanderer on the wide sea, which became wilder and fiercer each day. At length I came to an island which seemed to be inhabited by human beings, although full of wolves which ran about it in flocks. I got shelter under a rock near the shore, not daring to set foot on land, for fear of the animals I had perceived. I ate some of my biscuit, which was mouldy, but necessity and hunger stop at nothing. Night came on less obscure than had lately been the case, the sea seemed calmer and promised better things for the coming day; I looked in the heavens, the stars were shining, and all seemed to speak of fair weather at sea, and tranquillity in the sky. I was thus situated, when it seemed to me, by the doubtful light, that the rock which served me as a harbour, was crowned with wolves, such as I had seen before in my dreams, and one of them (as was indeed the fact) spoke in a clear distinct voice, and in my native tongue—'Spaniard,' it said, 'go away, and seek thy fortune elsewhere, unless it is thy wish to die here, torn into pieces by our teeth and claws; and ask not who it is that tells thee this, but give thanks to Heaven, who has permitted thee to find pity even among savage beasts.'

"I leave it to you to guess whether I was alarmed or no; but my terror was not so great as to prevent me from instantly profiting by the advice I had received: I shipped the oars, took them in hand, and rowed with great vigour till I was fairly out at sea once more.

"But, as it is common saying, that misfortunes and afflictions disturb the memory of those who suffer, I cannot tell how long it was that I was moving about in those seas, finding not one, but a thousand deaths at every moment staring me in the face; but at length a tremendous tempest flung my boat and me upon this island, in the same spot where is the mouth of the cave by which you entered. The boat had got into the cave on dry land, but the surf would return, and might carry it out again to sea, which I perceiving, threw myself upon the sand, and digging my nails firmly in, I managed to place myself out of reach of the returning wave; and although with the boat the sea would take away the means of saving my life, yet I remained on the ground, well pleased at any rate to change the manner of my death, and seeing life prolonged, hope did not desert me utterly."

The Spaniard had reached this part of his story, when from the inner apartment, where they had left Clelia, were heard groans and lamentations. Periander, Auristella, and the rest, hastened with lights to see what was the cause. They found Clelia seated on the skins, her back supported by the rock, her eyes turned up to heaven, and almost in her last moments.

Auristella flew to her, and in tender and mournful accents she exclaimed, "What ails you, my beloved nurse? Is it possible that you are wishing to leave me thus alone, at the very moment when I stand most in need of your counsels?" Clelia turned herself a little round, and taking Auristella's hand in her's,—"Yes, child of my love, it is even so," she said, "I could have wished to live till I had seen you placed in the condition that you deserve to be in, but Heaven will not permit this, and I am resigned to its will. All I ask of you, my own beloved mistress, is, that if ever a happier fate should be yours, and any of my relations should be living, you will let them know that I died in the Christian faith, and in that of the holy Roman Catholic Church. I would say more, but I cannot." She then pronounced the name of Jesus several times, and closed her eyes for ever; at sight of which Auristella also closed hers, and sunk to the earth in a deep swoon; those of Periander were as fountains—and as rivers, all the rest. Periander flew to assist his Auristella, who returned to life only to utter such lamentations, to shed so many tears, and heave such sighs, as might have moved even hearts of stone to pity. It was determined that the funeral should be on the following day, and the young barbarian and his sister remained to watch the corpse. The others retired to rest during the short remainder of the night.