_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.
[Illustration]