wherein periander pursues his pleasant narrative.
it was the beautiful sinforosa who hung with the greatest delight upon the words of periander, such was the charm and grace of his manner in relating his adventures.
"that night," said he, "we all went over to a small island in the middle of the river, invited by its verdant appearance, and the tranquillity of the spot. the newly-married couples, without openly showing their satisfaction, were diligent, and anxious, to give all the pleasure in their power to those to whom they owed their present happiness; and they gave orders that in this little islet of the river the festivities should be renewed, and should continue for three days.
"the season of the year, which was summer, the beauty of the place, the brilliant moonlight, the murmuring of the stream, the fruit covered trees, the fragrance of the flowers, each of these separately, and altogether, invited us to resolve that we would remain here whilst the festivities lasted; but scarcely had we reached the isle, when from a little grove, which was in it, rushed forth a band of fifty men, lightly armed, like those who rob and run away; and as the unwary when attacked, are overcome through their surprise, almost without attempting to defend ourselves,—bewildered by the suddenness of the assault, we gazed upon the robbers instead of attacking them, who, like hungry wolves that have beset a flock of innocent sheep, carried off, if not in their mouths, yet in their arms, my sister auristella, her nurse clelia, and silviana, and leoncia, as if it was only for them that they came, for they left many other women who were extremely beautiful.
"i, whom the strangeness of the event had rendered furious rather than stupified, rushed after the robbers, following them with loud cries, insulting them as if they were men capable of feeling insults, in the hope that by irritating them i might move them to return and take vengeance for it; but intent only on their prey, they neither seemed to hear or to wish for revenge, but disappeared with their prizes. then the bridegrooms and myself, with some of the principal fishermen, took counsel together what we had better do to recover our lost ones; one said, 'it is not possible but that there must be in these seas some vessel belonging to these robbers, and in some place from whence they have easily landed, perhaps being aware of our meeting and festivities; if it be thus, as i imagine, the best remedy will be for some of our boats to go out and offer any ransom for the captives that they may require without any reserve.'
"'this business shall be mine,' i then exclaimed, 'for to me my sister is worth more than anything else in the whole world,' and carino and solercio said the same. they wept openly—i was raging inwardly. when we had come to this resolution, it was beginning to grow dark; nevertheless the two bridegrooms and i, got into a boat with six oars, but when we reached the open sea, night had closed in, and we could distinguish no ship at all in the darkness. we resolved to wait for daylight, in the hope of then discovering some vessel. it so happened that we did see two, one that was just leaving the shore, and another that was approaching it; i knew that the one which was departing, was the very same ship in which we had come to the island, for her flags as well as her sails were all marked with a red cross, the other had hers, green, and both were pirates.
"then, as i imagined, that the ship which was leaving the shore was the one which contained our robbers and their prizes, i put a white flag on the end of a lance, and came near the ship's side to treat about the ransom, being careful not to be taken myself. the captain appeared on the deck, and when i was about to raise my voice and speak to him, i must confess i was startled and disturbed at being cut short in my attempt by a loud and frightful noise, proceeding from a discharge of artillery; this came from the vessel that was outermost, and was a message of defiance to the other vessel that was near the land; it was quickly answered by a return not less tremendous, and then began a cannonading between the two ships, like two fierce and furious enemies.
"we withdrew our little boat from the scene of combat, and from a distance we surveyed the fight. after the firing had lasted an hour, the two ships grappled one another with unexampled fury. the men of the outermost vessel, either more daring or more valiant, leapt into the other ship, and cleared her decks in a few minutes, killing all, without sparing a single soul on board; then, finding themselves masters, they proceeded to pillage the ship of everything valuable that she contained, which was not much, seeing that she was only a pirate vessel, but in my estimation she held what was more precious than anything else in the whole world, for they got possession of my sister and clelia, and silviana, and leoncia, thus carrying a rich cargo to their own vessel, for they saw that the beauty of auristella would ensure an unheard-of ransom. i wished to row near the ship, and speak to the captain of the conquerors—but the winds have been ever to me a source of misfortune,—a land breeze sprung up, which carried the ship rapidly away, and made it quite impossible for me to reach it, or to offer impossibilities as a ransom for their prize.
"thus then were we obliged to return hopeless of recovering our lost ones, and knowing nothing of her course except that she had gone before the wind. we knew nothing of whither she was bound, or who were the pirates, so as to judge from a knowledge of their country what hopes remained of any remedy. with downcast and dejected hearts we entered the river, where all the fishermen in their boats were expecting us.
"i know not if i ought to tell you what is, however, indispensable to be told, that a certain feeling then arose within me which, without changing my being, yet made me feel as if i was more than man; and rising up in the boat i addressed myself to all the men who were gathered around us, and who listened attentively to my words. 'misfortunes,' i said, 'are never mended by sitting down idly to lament them—good luck never befriends the pusillanimous soul; we are ourselves the fabricators of our own fortunes, and there breathes not a man who has not the capability of raising himself. the cowardly, though born rich, are always poor, like the miserly beggar. i speak thus, my friends, in hopes of exciting and impelling you to better your lot, to quit these poor nets and fishing tackle, and small boats, and go in search of the treasures that are to be gained by noble enterprises. i call such enterprises noble as are undertaken for high and great ends. if the man who tills the earth by the sweat of his brow, hardly obtains enough for the day's sustenance, and gains no fame, why does he not take a lance instead of a spade in his hand, and without the fear of the heat of the sun, or the inclemencies of the weather, seek to win, besides his daily bread, fame which can place him high among his fellow men? war, though but a step-mother to cowards, is a true mother to brave men, and for them she has rewards that surpass all calculation. then arouse yourselves, my friends; cast your eyes towards yonder ship which bore away the beloved prize from the arms of your companions, ye valiant youths. she lies on the shore, and seems left to us as by the peculiar ordonnance of heaven. let us take possession of her, and become pirates, not for love of gain like most pirates, but to redress our wrongs: we are all skilled in navigation; in that ship we shall find everything we need to manage her, for she was despoiled of nothing but the women, and if our injury is great, very great also is the opportunity that offers itself of avenging it. follow me then who will, i entreat you, and carino and solercio ask you also, for well i know that they will not leave me to undertake this noble enterprise alone.'
"hardly had i ceased speaking, when a murmur of many voices arose among all the boats,—the men were asking each other what they should do,—and then from the crowd a voice exclaimed, 'embark, generous guest, and be our captain and our guide, for we will all follow thee.'
"i took this sudden resolution as a good omen, and fearing that delay in carrying my plan into execution might give their zeal time to moderate, i immediately steered my boat towards the ship, followed by about forty others. we reconnoitred the vessel, boarded her, examined every part, noted what she had and what she needed, and found all i could desire that was necessary for a voyage; i advised that nobody should return to land, to escape the lamentations of the women and dear children, which i feared might weaken their gallant resolution of departing. they did as i counselled, and took leave in imagination of parents, wives, and children; so wonderful is this, that i feel i shall need all your courtesy to give credit to what i say; not a man returned to land, or wished for more clothing than he had on when he came on board the ship, in which all served as mariners and pilots, except myself, who was unanimously appointed as their captain, and commending myself to god, i instantly began to exercise my new office. the first order i issued was, to have all the dead corpses thrown overboard that had been killed in the late affray, and to cleanse the ship from the blood that stained her decks; i then ordered all the arms to be sought for, and distributed them among the men, giving each what i thought best suited to him; i next inspected the provisions, and calculated how much would be necessary for each person, and for what number of days.
"this done, and having offered our prayers to heaven to implore that our voyage might be propitious, and that our intentions might have a blessing upon them, i gave the word of command to set the sails, for they were all made fast to the yards, and to take advantage of the wind, which as i before said, blew off shore; and gay as gallant, and gallant as determined, we followed in the same track that we had seen the pirate vessel take with her prey.
"you, my friends, who are listening to my history, behold me turned now into a fisherman and match-maker, rich in the possession of a beloved sister, next robbed by pirates, and poor, deprived of her, raised to the rank of a captain in order to regain my treasure, and say whether the changes of my fortune have not reached a point almost unparalleled and boundless, so as to fatigue your patience in listening to them."
"not so, my friend," said arnoldo, "for if you are not weary of relating your adventures and misfortunes, we shall not be tired of hearing them, be they ever so numerous."
"if possible," answered periander, "i will bring my story to an end to-morrow night, although it is yet hardly begun."
all agreed that they would meet again for the purpose of hearing him relate it, in the same place on the following evening.
