THE IRISH PRINCESS [78].
I was born in Venice the renowned. When I had completed my twentyAprils, my father called me to him one day, and said to me, "Dearson, I have overflowing wealth of possessions, and in silver and goldtwenty thousand doubloons fully told; you are my only heir, and I aminfirm and stricken in years. I am thinking of selling the good ship,that even now lies anchored in port."
To which I replied, "Father and lord, observe, the possessions,silver and gold, may all in an instant be reduced to nothing. Butfreight the good ship now with rich merchandise and wares which shallprofit in exchange."
A few days after this, I sailed forth in the good ship, well freightedwith precious stores; her linen sails filled out with the soft wind,and her keel ploughing the berdinegros [79] waters of the crystal main.
Thus to Tunis we came, where my affairs succeeded prosperously. Mymerchandise was all disposed of to great advantage in a short time,and before leaving the port I wandered forth to see the town. Passingby one of the great public squares, I saw some Turkish sentinelswalking up and down, guarding a dead body; I addressed them, askingwhy they did not inter it.
"Because," said they, "he was of the Christian people, and in his daysof life traded with his ship, wherefore a Turk of great considerationin our city, and a friend of his, entrusted to him a thousand ducatsin silver, with which he bought great provision of cloth, and senthis servants to trade with it, while he remained in Tunis. The shipleft the port with a prosperous wind, but before four days were out,a balandra [80] came in, bearing the news that the ship had beenovertaken by a tempest, and all the merchandise had gone down intothe boiling deep. With that the Christian merchant was so overcome,that he fainted and fell down dead, and we hold his body in bail forthe thousand ducats he owed the Turk."
To which I replied, "I will pay the sum you have named." And then,taking the body on my shoulders, I carried it to the church of SeraficFrancis, which there is in Tunis, to give it burial, and paid thestipend of the priest who should say a hundred masses for the soul'srest. Then I returned to pay the debt to the Turk.
Scarcely had I passed the threshold of his house, when I heard thesound of great wailing and lamentation, as of one taking leave of life.
So I turned and asked two turbaned renegades who stood in waiting, whatmeant the wail. And they said, "There came to Tunis a female slave,a captive Christian, causing envy to all the womanhood of this place,so beauteously had Heaven arrayed her. Her our master bought, with theintention of making her recant and marrying her. But she said to him,'Senor, it is vain you weary yourself, to persuade me to do this thing,for never will I deny my God and His laws, though to lay down my lifeI am ready.'
"When the master heard this he was wroth, and taking her by theshoulders let her down into a mazmorra [81] under his house, bindingher with a heavy chain, and feeding her day by day with but six ouncesof coarse bread and half a pint of water."
Hearing that, I said I would buy the maid, and redeem her; but theyanswered it was vain. The Turk would not part with her to any one,and in mockery he had set her price at a hundred millions. So I sawI must have recourse to stratagem, and asked accordingly whetherthe maid had declared herself a Christian, and they answered,"No, she had only spoken of her God and of His law," then, whileI bethought me how to arrange my plan, they exclaimed suddenly,"Here comes the master;" and the moment that he entered the house,eagerly prostrating themselves at his feet, they said:--
"Great lord of this mighty alcazar [82], behold a man who comes topay the debt of the dead Christian, and who is also desirous to buythe maiden, the slave."
Nor was I sorry to find myself thus launched into the middle of thebusiness, but I stood perplexed, praying in my own mind that Godwould give me some well-conceived idea which should serve for theredemption of the maiden.
Meantime, I counted out the sum that was due from the dead man; andthen I said, "Know you that this Mustafa, my sister, whom you keep inyour mazmorra, feeding her with the bread of affliction, is the mostpious Jewess of our nation, and that in this you do a great wrong?"
I could proceed no further, for the Moors think it a terrible discreditto have any Jew within their precincts; and this one flew into anungovernable rage at the bare idea that he had been harbouring one;plucking out his beard by handfuls, he cried out with a loud voiceof desolation,--
"Woe is me, for my fame and my honour before my people is gone, nowthat I have suffered this scum of the earth to be with me! Let herbe thrust forth from my gates."
So his servants ran and took her up, more dead than alive, and puttingher into my arms drove us forth with ignominy and imprecations.
I was no sooner in the street, than I gave great thanks to God forthe rescue He had provided, and then I bore her along to the church,thinking she needed the rites of sepulture; but I had scarcely enteredthe sacred place, than she opened her eyes and breathed. So I gaveher such means of refreshment as I had about me, and by degrees thesad lady came to herself; and to give her greater consolation, I bidher observe she was no longer in the estate of a slave, but that bythe mercy of Heaven she was redeemed and free.
As soon as her strength had begun to return, I deemed it prudent torun no risk of danger from the Turk, and therefore used every possiblediligence to conduct her to the harbour, where at once we went downinto my good ship, and giving the crew word to get to sea with alldespatch, we were soon steering swiftly between two azure fields.
Thus we came to Venice, my country, where I found that during myabsence my dear old father had died; and I should well-nigh have diedof sorrow too, but that I had the charge of the beautiful captivelady upon me, and I had to provide for her welfare.
One day I took her aside, and asked her respectfully to tell me whatcountry she was of, and who were her people; but she shook her headin a melancholy way, and bid me ask her nothing, but that with timeI should learn all her eventful history. For she came from a farcountry, and she was not bold enough to propose to me the travailand peril of bearing her home.
"But," I replied, "most beauteous Diana, I asked the question thatin the end I might have become thy beloved husband, and if I am notworthy to know thy country, what shall become of my hope."
And she--"From this day I will be thy beloved wife, for it is thusmeet that love should be paid with love."
When I heard this answer, I was beside myself with joy, and instantlyarranged every thing for the marriage festival, which was celebratedwith great pomp and rejoicing, canas [83] and alcancias [84], music,jousts, and dancing. Among the people who collected from all parts toenjoy the sports, was the captain of one of the ships in port, and hefastened himself on to me with every exterior token of friendship:I too was taken with him, and we were soon inseparable. Nothingwould satisfy him, but that one fair bright morning when our feteswere over, we should come down to this vessel that he might give usa banquet there.
After this there was dancing, and singing, and much merry-making;and while we were enchanted with the dulcet tones of the marvellousinstruments his minstrels played, we failed to perceive we were beingcarried out to sea.
It was about six in the evening when my beloved bride came and tookme by the hand, and said, "Without doubt there is some perfidy,for my heart is filled with fear, and my soul is troubled."
So I took her hand, thinking to reassure her by taking her onshore. But when we came upon the deck, there was nothing to be seenall around but sea and sky, and sea and sky.
My bride, when she saw that, fell into my arms in a swoon; and thecruel captain and half-a-dozen of his men urged by his command,fell upon me, and tore her from me, and cast me into the sea.
"O Holy Virgin of Carmel," I cried, "and thou S. Anthony of Padua,and Santa Barbara the glorious, and thou my guardian angel, pray forme now, that I perish not in this dire distress!"
As I uttered this petition, I felt a plank of wood strike against mybreast; and on it I skimmed the waters all night, and by the firststreak of dawn merciful Heaven comma
nded the waves to throw me upon asoft sandy shore. I could not refrain from kissing the ground whichbrought me safety; and as I rose up again, I beheld a holy hermitcoming towards me, who led me to a little hut, where every day hebrought me a basket of sufficient food.
At the end of six months, the hermit came to me very early one morning,and bid me go stand upon the shore, for there a vessel awaited me inwhich my passage-money was paid.
At the shore I found the vessel, and embarked as the hermit haddirected me, not knowing whither we were bound.
At last, after six months' sailing, we came opposite the coast ofIreland, and as we drew near shore, "Friends," said the captain, "itis necessary that this letter and this folded paper be taken to theillustrious King of Ireland; which of you will undertake the charge?"
The crew answered, "Senor, let the Venetian take them."
And I, having no aim before me, cheerfully undertook the commission;and springing on shore, went straight to the royal palace, where Ifound myself in presence of Caesar's majesty, into whose august handsI delivered the folded paper.
This having opened, he read aloud these words:--"Illustrious Lord! mostpowerful King of Ireland, the bearer of this letter is a physicianof great renown; the sickness of thy daughter, which none can cure,shall flee away at the very sight of him."
Then I was troubled, and would have explained to the King how I was nophysician, and the way in which the lot had fallen upon me to bringthe letter, which might equally have fallen on the most ignorantsea-boy aboard; and in truth I knew no more of medicaments than thelowest sea-boy of them all.
But the King was overjoyed at the prospect of the healing of hisdaughter, and would listen to no explanations. And in proportion ashe manifested his joy, my dismay increased, for I feared his angerwhen the undeception came.
Meantime, at his command, I was ushered into a vast hall, where wereassembled a thousand lords. But, gentle reader, you will well believeme, it was not upon one of them I looked, for at first entering myeye lighted upon a casket covered with emeralds and brilliants whichI had given to my beloved bride on the day of our espousals.
I threw myself upon it, crying, "Beautiful Isabela! Ah! where artthou? Where art thou mourning over my grief, as I mourn over thine?"
She, who lay sunk down in the depths of her white couch, at hearingthese words darted up from it, and flinging her arms round me,embraced me.
I knew her as our lips met; and full of a thousand joys, we sattalking over the past, forgetful of all present.
And first, I asked what had become of the wicked captain.
"Oh, he!" she said, "when I told my father what he had done, he sentand had him put to death.
"And now," she continued, "did I not tell you that time would revealto you all about my history? For now that you have seen who and whereI am, there is little left to tell. While I was yet little more thana child, my father would have married me against my inclination toa prince of Scotland; and I, knowing his intention, went out fromthe palace in the night, disguised, upon a swift mare, and when I hadridden a long way, I came to the sea-coast. I found a ship into which,thoughtless child, I sought refuge, only caring to get away from theprince of Scotland.
"But they were corsairs who manned the vessel; and they carried meoff with them to Tunis, where you found me, and set me free from thatterrible suffering."
While we were talking, the king came up; and as I was yet musing onthe marvellous direction of Providence, by which the lot had fallenon me, rather than another, to come on the embassage to the palace,without which I had been like never again to have met my bride, itfell into my mind that I had yet the letter to give to his Majesty,which having reached to him, he read thus aloud:--
"That I rest in holy ground, my soul at peace, is due to thee;therefore, when the perfidious captain threw thee into the deep sea,I was there; I provided the plank which carried thee to shore; Iwas the hermit that received and nourished thee; I was captain ofthe ship that brought thee to Ireland. And now live long with thygood spouse, and rest after many misfortunes, even as I rest in theeternal habitations."
Then I knew that it was the soul of him I buried at Tunis that hadthus befriended me.
Not very long after this the king died, and all the people acclaimedme as their sovereign, where I have been reigning ever since, fullof happiness and glory.