Upon the shore of Barcelona, between the planks of a ship which had
suffered wreck, there appeared as if it had been a parcel of cloth
covered with weed: which being perceived by some fishermen, they
took it into their bark, and carried it along the shore about the
space of two miles, where under the shade of some trees, they
cleaned away the weeds and mud, and found that it was a man in a
trance, who was almost past sense, and without life. These fishers,
moved with compassion, kindled a fire with some branches cut from an
old oak, and he who had been so near the losing of his life, now
recovering it, let them know what countryman he was, by his
complaint: discovered his admiration by his looks; and the feeling
he had of the good which they had done him, by the fire with which
he had to acknowledge it. Nature, doing the accustomed office of a
pitiful mother, sent his blood to restore the more enfeebled parts;
and having brought him almost to his former strength, he was about
to have revealed himself: but thinking it did not fit in so strange
a fortune, he concealed his birth and name, only saying that his
ship suffered wreck in the sea, and seizing of these planks which
the waves had cast upon the shore, he was two days floating amongst
the billows of the sea, who sometimes merciful and then again cruel,
did bring him nearer and then farther from the land, until such time
that the reflux of the water vanquishing the impetuosity of the
tempest, he was cast upon the sands, where the violence of the
stroke having as it were ploughed up his tomb, he thought himself
buried. His return (he said) was from Italy, and the occasion of his
voyage the indulgences of the Jubilee, which was while Clement the
Eighth sat as Pope. And sighing much, amongst the broken speeches of
his story, he let them understand that he missed a companion of his
travels, of whom there was no news to be had, as it seldom happens
that those who do free us from bodily misfortunes can also ease
those of the mind. So he rested this day within one of their cabins,
while the cold night descending, all crowned with stars, did impart
unto mortal creatures rest in conformity with the quality of their
lives, giving desires unto the poor, cares unto the rich, complaints
unto the sad, unto the contented sleep, and jealousy to the amorous.
In the midst thereof he heard a lyre played upon, and according with
a voice, which in singing complained of a shepherdess's cruelty. The
pilgrim, although weary, loved music more than rest, and went out of
his cabin into a meadow, from whence seeing about a dozen houses,
and among some osiers the author of those plaints, called him from a
distance. The singer replied fearfully, but the pale light of the
moon, revealing the secrets of the night, made him see that it was a
poor man, and without arms. He then showed him a plank lying amongst
reeds over a little brook, giving its murmuring unto the
solitariness of the place and silence of the night; which when he
had passed, they saluted one the other courteously, especially he
which came (for strangers are always courteous out of necessity);
and they sat down together upon the grass.
No sooner had the pilgrim informed himself of the name of the
village, of the lord thereof, and how far it was distant from
Barcelona, when they saw two men approaching, who instead of
saluting them presented two arquebuses to their faces, and instilled
a thousand fears in their hearts. The stranger told them that they
could take nothing from them but his life--which he esteemed little
(and six hours ago much less): the other said that he was the son of
a seaman--between a fisherman and a pilot--and that all his goods
consisted of this his instrument, with which he did charm away his
cares. The soldiers did not appear to desire their clothes, because
one was of ship's canvas and the other of coarse cloth; and there is
no robber who is not liberal of that which is of no worth. But they
entreated them to conduct them to the village, which in regard to
the uncertainty of the way they could not find but in a great time.
The fisherman told them that in recompense for their courtesy he
would advise them not to go, forasmuch as the inhabitants were a
warlike people, and did not willingly lodge men of their fashion;
and that it would be impossible to escape from their hands if they
were discovered, because upon the sounding of the first alarm, all
the other villages would answer them, from whom would come a
multitude of labourers, who with divers arms would stop the
passages, and knew the ways so well that there was neither brook,
tree nor rock which they had not at their fingers' ends. To this
counsel the bandoleers replied that they were not alone; but there
were above fifty in their troupe, fighting under the colours of a
Catalonian knight, who had been injured by another more mighty than
he both in means and parentage, although not in strength, reason or
courage. Hardly had they ended these words, when by the light of the
stars they saw the arms of the squadron and its captain of whom they
had spoken, and now being joined all together, they lodged by force
in various houses of the village. The pilgrim, curious to learn (as
are all those who travel in foreign countries), mingled himself
amongst the soldiers, who in no way disliked his company but instead
invited him to supper; after which (the floor serving them for beds)
they entertained one the other with discourse, until the slow dawn
then at the end of February became daybreak. Now that they knew the
pilgrim's history, and he being desirous to learn from them their
own turbulent narrative, his features and comprehension being
pleasing to them, one among them named Ramond told it in this
manner: