Italian belief finally dangerous
Indies ocean theory persuade
Europe imagine journey furnish
About four hundred years ago there came to Spain an Italian sailor who
believed that the earth is round. Such a belief may not seem at all
strange to us, but to the people of that time it appeared to be very
foolish and unreasonable. Almost everybody laughed at the Italian, and
called him a silly fellow.
“Have you eyes?” they asked. “If so, you need only to open them and look
about you to see that the earth is as flat as the top of a table.”
“You may think it is flat,” he answered, “and indeed it does appear to be
so. But I know it is round; and if I had only a good ship or two, and some
trusty sailors, I would prove it to you. I would sail westward across the
great ocean, and in the end would reach the Indies and China, which must
be on the other side of the great round world.”
“Who ever heard of such nonsense!” cried his learned critics. “Everybody
knows that China and the Indies are in the far East, and that they can
be reached only by a dangerous voyage through the Mediterranean Sea,
and long journeys with camels across the great desert. Yet, here is Mr.
Crack-brain, an Italian sailor, who says he can go to the East by sailing
west. One might as well try to reach the moon by going down into a deep
well.”
“But you don’t understand me,” answered the man whom they had called Mr.
Crack-brain. “Here is an apple. Let us suppose that it is the earth. I
stick a pin on this side, and call it Spain. On the other side I stick
another pin, and call it the Indies. Now suppose a fly lights upon the
apple at the point which I have called Spain. By turning to the right, or
eastward, he can travel round to the Indies with but little trouble; or by
turning to the left, or westward, he can reach the same place with just as
much ease, and in really a shorter time. Do you see?”
“Do we see?” said his hearers. “Most certainly we see the apple, and we
can imagine that we see the fly. It is very hard, however, to imagine that
the earth is an apple, or anything like it. For, suppose that it were so:
what would become of all the water in the seas and the great ocean? Why,
it would run off at the blossom end of the apple, which you call the South
Pole; and all the rocks and trees and men would follow it. Or, suppose
that men could stick to the lower part of the earth as the fly does to
the lower part of the apple--how very silly it would be to think of them
walking about with their heads hanging down!”
“And suppose,” said one of the doubters, who thought himself very
wise,--“suppose that the earth is round, and suppose that the water should
not spill off, and suppose you should sail to the other side, as you want
to do, how are you to get back? Did anybody ever hear of a ship sailing
uphill?”
And so, with sneering remarks, the wise men dismissed the whole subject.
They said it was not worth while for them to spend their time in talking
about such things. But the man whom they had called Mr. Crack-brain would
not give up his theory. He was not the first man to believe that the
earth is round--this he knew; but he hoped to be the first to prove it
by sailing westward, and thus finally reaching the Indies, and the rich
countries of the far East. And yet he had no ship, he was very poor, and
the few friends whom he had were not able to give him any help.
“My only hope,” he said, “is to persuade the king and queen to furnish me
with a ship.”
But how should an unknown Italian sailor make himself heard by the king
and queen of the most powerful country in Europe?
The great men at the king’s court ridiculed him. “You had better buy a
fisherman’s boat,” they said, “and try to make an honest living with your
nets. Men of your kind have no business with kings. As to your crazy
theory about the shape of the earth, only think of it! How dare you, the
son of an Italian wool-comber, imagine that you know more about it than
the wisest men in the world?”
But he did not despair. For years he followed the king’s court from place
to place. Most people looked upon him as a kind of harmless lunatic who
had gotten a single idea in his head and was unable to think of anything
else. But there were a few good and wise men who listened to his theories,
and after studying them carefully began to believe that there was some
truth in them.
One of these men was Father Perez, the prior of the convent of La Rabida,
and, to please this good prior, the queen at last sent for the sailor and
asked him to tell her all about his strange theories and his plans for
sailing west and reaching the East.
“You say that, if you had the vessels and the men, you would sail westward
and discover new lands on the farther side of the great ocean,” said the
queen. “What reasons have you for supposing that there are any such lands?”
“My first reason is that, since the earth is round like a ball, the
countries of China and the Indies must lie in a westward direction and
can, sooner or later, be reached by sailing across the sea,” was the
answer. “You, yourself, have heard the story of St. Brandon, the Scottish
priest, who, eight hundred years ago, was driven by a storm far across the
ocean, and how at last he landed upon a strange and unknown shore. I doubt
not but that this country was one of the outlying islands of the Indies,
or perhaps the eastern shore of China.
“Not very long ago, Martin Vincent, a sea captain of Lisbon, ventured to
go a distance of four hundred miles from land. There he picked up a piece
of wood, with strange marks and carvings upon it, which had been drifted
from the west by strong winds. Other seafaring men have found, far out
in the ocean, reeds and light wood, such as travelers say are found in
some parts of the Indies, but nowhere in Europe. And if any one should
want more proofs than these, it would not be hard to find them. There is
a story among the people of the far north which relates that, about five
hundred years ago, some bold sea rovers from Iceland discovered a wild,
wooded country many days’ sail to the westward. Indeed, it is said that
these men tried to form a settlement there, and that they sent more than
one shipload of grapes and timber back to Iceland. Now, it is very plain
to me that this country of Vinland, as they called it, was no other than a
part of the northern coast of China or Japan.”
It is not to be supposed that the queen cared whether the earth was round
or flat; nor is it likely that her mind was ever troubled with questions
of that kind. But she thought that if this man’s theories were true, and
there were lands rich in gold and spices on the other side of the ocean,
it would be a fine thing for the queen and king of Spain to possess them.
The Italian sailor had studied his subject well, and he certainly knew
what he was talking about. He had told his story so well that the queen
was almost ready to believe that he was right. But she was very busy just
then, in a war with the Moors, and she had little time to think about
anything else. If the Italian would wait till everything else could be
settled, she would see whether a ship or two might not be fitted out for
his use.
For seven years this man with a new idea kept on trying to find some one
who was able and willing to help him carry out the plans which he had so
much at heart. At last, broken in health and almost penniless, he gave up
hope, and was about to leave Spain forever. It was then that one of his
friends, Luis St. Angel, pleaded his case before the queen.
“It will cost but little to fit out two or three ships for him. If the
undertaking should prove to be a failure you would not lose much. But if
it should succeed, only think what vast riches and how great honor will be
won for Spain!”
“I will take the risk!” cried the queen, at last. “If the money cannot be
had otherwise, I will sell my jewels to get it. Find him, and bring him
before me; and let us lose no more time about this business.”
St. Angel hastened to obey.
“Do you know whether Christopher Columbus has passed out through this gate
to-day?” he asked of the soldier who was standing guard at one of the
gates of the old city of Granada.
“Christopher Columbus? Who is he?” asked the soldier.
“He is a gray-bearded man, rather tall, with a stoop in his shoulders.
When last seen he was riding on a small, brown mule, and coming this way.”
“Oh? Do you mean the fellow who has been trying to make people believe
that the earth is round?”
“Yes, that is the man.”
“He passed through here not half an hour ago. His mule is a very slow
traveler, and if you follow, you can easily overtake him before he has
gone far.”
St. Angel gave the rein to his swift horse, and galloped onward in pursuit
of Columbus. It was not long until the slow-paced mule, with its sad
rider, was seen plodding along the dusty highway. The man was too busy
with his own thoughts to heed the sound of the ringing hoofs behind him.
“Christopher Columbus!” cried his friend, “turn about, and come back with
me. I have good news for you. Queen Isabella bids me say that she will
help you, and that you shall have the ships and the men for which you
ask. And she hopes that you may find a new way to the East, and perhaps
discover unknown lands on the farther side of the great ocean. Turn about,
and come back with me!”