The Lusiads (Oxford World's Classics)
Page 21
He could envisage all the profit
If, with truth and honour, he concluded
The long-term treaty, just and mutual,
Offered him by the King of Portugal.
60 But taking counsel on this matter,
He found many opposing opinions,
For on those from whom he sought advice,
Money was exerting its power.
He summoned da Gama and pronounced
As he arrived: ‘If here and now,
In my presence, hiding nothing, you confess,
You will be pardoned for your wickedness.
61 ‘My informers tell me the document
You presented from your king is forged,
For you have no king, nor loved homeland,
But live the life of a vagabond;
What king or lord so far away,
In the utmost west would commit such folly
As to venture not just a ship but a fleet
On a voyage so distant, so indiscreet?
62 ‘Suppose there exists some great king
Holding sway over mighty realms,
What precious gifts* do you bring me
As proof of your improbable claim?
Sumptuous fabrics, magnificent gifts
Are what seal the friendship of rulers;
So far, every proposal we have heard
Hangs on a wandering mariner’s word.
63 ‘If, by chance, you come here as exiles
Having once been men of high fortune,
You will be guests in my kingdom,
For to the brave all the world is home;
Or if you are pirates on the high seas,
Admit it, without fearing blame or death,
Because all men, in every age, contrive
To act as best equips them to survive.’
64 As he finished, da Gama, who had quickly
Guessed that only Muslim intrigue
Could be the source of the insinuations
To which the king had given voice,
With the confidence the case demanded,
Advancing his credit, was inspired
By Venus of Acidalia* to impart
These words of wisdom from a steadfast heart:
65 —‘Had not the crimes which sinful Man
Committed in the earliest age
Caused that vessel of iniquity,
That cruel scourge of Christendom,
To sow with his lies perpetual hatred
Among Adam’s sons, then you, O king,
Would never have descended to suspect
The things alleged by this dangerous sect.
66 ‘Because no venture is carried forward
Without vexations, and in every quest
Fear follows in hope’s footsteps
And only sweat keeps hope alive,
You allow yourself scant confidence
In my good faith, without considering
The counter-arguments which would seem just
Had you not trusted men you should not trust.
67 ‘For to be frank, were I a buccaneer.
Roaming the seas in perpetual exile,
Why do you think I should voyage so far
Seeking so unknown and remote a port?
From what ambition, or for what motive,
Would I come risking turbulent seas,
Antarctic blizzards, or the sultry rays
Endured beneath the sign of Aries?*
68 ‘If you ask for gifts of great worth
As the warrant for what I report,
I come as simply as explorer, to find
Where nature placed your ancient kingdom;
But if Fortune should so reward me
That I behold my dear king and country,
You will see then what merchandise you earn
As the sure evidence of my return.
69 ‘If it seems beyond belief that a king
In the Hesperides sends me to you,
That noble heart, that royal breast
Rejects what is merely possible.
Indeed, it appears the exalted aims
Of the Lusitanian spirit require
Larger ambitions, faith of a higher state,
Before crediting a feat as truly great.
70 ‘Learn, then, it is many decades since
Our former kings first determined
To surmount the toils and dangers
That attend all great achievements;
And, exploring the ocean, that enemy
Of repose, they took as their goal
To locate the seas’ frontiers, to behold
The uttermost beaches where breakers rolled.
71 ‘It was a task worthy of the brilliant
Son of our most favoured King João,
Who first crossed the sea to drive
From their homes the people of Ceuta.
Then Henrique, by industry and genius,
Built and dispatched ship after ship
To investigate the southern hemisphere*
Of Argo, Hydra, Ara, and the Hare.
72 ‘Fired by their first successes to take
Still greater risks, voyage by voyage
They discovered new seaways which,
Ship after ship, they explored;
In the far south where the Pleiades
Never dawn, we saw the remotest peoples
Of Africa, leaving astern legions
Of the sun-scorched in the tropic regions.
73 ‘And so, with steadfast hearts and great
Ends in view, we conquered Fortune
And reached your distant country
To plant the last of our stone columns;
Conquering the power of dead calms,
Of sudden and awesome tempests,
We have voyaged to your court. I have spoken.
What remains is to take my king some token.
74 ‘This, king, is the truth; were it
Otherwise, I would not spin so long
And so fanciful a yarn, for such
Uncertain benefit, so feeble a reward.
It would, indeed, profit me more
To spend my days as a pirate
On the never-resting bosom of the sea,
Amassing wealth from others’ industry.
75 ‘And so, O king, if you accept my story
For what it is, free of deceit,
Grant me your reply, and soon,
To speed my pleasure in returning home;
Or if it still appears falsehood,
Judge by reason, by what can be proved,
Which an open mind will always recognize
For truth declares itself without disguise.’
76 The Samorin was struck by the confidence
Which reinforced all da Gama said;
And began to give complete credit
To everything he had asserted.
He pondered the sufficiency of his words
Sensing their great authority;
And judged his Catuals wrong in what they warned,
Not comprehending they had been suborned.
77 That, with his greed for the profits
Expected from the Portuguese treaty,
Led him to trust and respect the captain
And not the Muslim conspiracy.
At length, he bade da Gama return
Directly to the ships, secure from harm,
And send ashore whatever merchandise
He wished to sell, or to exchange for spice.
78 He begged especially for textiles
Not found in the kingdoms of the Ganges,
If he had brought anything fine from there
Where the land ends and the sea begins.
Then, taking leave of the royal presence,
The captain returned to the Catual,
His custodian, but had to implore
A boat to convey him, his being offshore.
79 A boat he requested, to re-embark;
But the churlish governor, planning
Fresh obstacles, interposed problems
And delays, conceding him nothing.
He escorted him as far as the quay,
Well beyond earshot of the king,
Where he could risk exposing his malice
Without tidings returning to the palace.
80 There, at a safe distance, he promised
A boat suitable for da Gama’s purpose,
But not today; till tomorrow’s light
He should postpone his departure.
By now, the captain was well aware
From such tardiness, the Hindu made one
With the stratagems the Muslims had devised,
Something he had not fully realized.
81 For this Catual was another of those
Bought over by the Muslim leaders,
Being the chief of those governing
The cities of the powerful Samorin;
From him principally the Muslims hoped
For success in their wicked plans;
He was committed to their machinations
And did not fail them in their expectations.
82 Urgently, da Gama pressed his need
To return to the ships, but uselessly;
Despite this being the express order
Of Perimal’s noble descendant.
Why was he prevented and delayed
From bringing the Portuguese goods ashore?
No subject had the right to countermand
Orders issued under the king’s own hand.
83 The corrupted Catual paid scant heed
To such complaints, spinning instead
Elaborate day-dreams, subtle,
Ingenious, and diabolical, such
As bathing his sword in the blood
He detested, standing there before him,
Or burning the fleet down to the waterline
So no one would return to hearth and shrine.
84 That none should return home was the sole
Purpose of the Muslims’ strategy,
So Portugal’s king should never know
Where the lands of the east lay.
There da Gama remained, in the custody
Of those uncivil people’s governor;
To leave without permission was denied him,
Canoe men forbidden to provide him.
85 To the captain’s arguments and complaints,
The Catual replied he should instruct
The ships to anchor in shore
So he could come and go more freely.
—‘It is a hostile act,’ he said,
For the fleet to stand so far off;
‘A sure and faithful friend would soon forget
He had been under any kind of threat.’
86 At these words, wary da Gama discerned
The Catual wanted the ships nearer
To storm them with fire and sword,
Venting his hatred in open attack.
He fell to weighing his various options,
Planning in advance with what
Feint to react whatever might befall;
So fearing all, he was prepared for all.
87 As the reflected light* from a mirror
Of burnished steel or lovely crystal,
A ray of sunlight, perhaps, glancing
Sideways to focus somewhere else,
Is directed by the idle hand
Of a curious youngster, up
Walls and across roof-tiles like a will-
o-the-wisp, ever-quivering, never still:
88 So da Gama, held captive, let his mind
Wander, and remembered Coelho*
Still, by chance, waiting on the beach
With boats as he had been ordered.
At once, he mandated him to leave
Secretly to return to the fleet,
And not to be caught napping by the plans
He foresaw of the fierce Mohammedans.
89 So must the captain be, who wishes
To copy or equal the great in war:
Flying in thought to every part,
Scenting dangers and averting them,
Knowing the enemy, and outwitting him
With strategy and subtle design;
Considering all, in sum: for he who says
‘I failed to foresee that,’ forfeits any praise.
90 The Malabari continued to imprison him
Till he ordered the ships inshore;
But da Gama was fired with noble anger
And was in no way cowed by his threats;
Rather, he sought to take on himself
Whatever malice or dishonour
Was mounting, than to put in jeopardy
The king’s fleet, riding beyond harm at sea.
91 All that night he was detained there
And part of the day, when he resolved
To return to the king; but his guard
Was large enough to prevent him.
The Hindu then tried another tactic,
By now fearing to be punished
For his plots, of which the Samorin would know
Unless very soon he let da Gama go.
92 He insisted all the commodities
We had on board should be landed
To be traded or bartered at leisure,
For to deny commerce was to declare war.
Though he saw clearly the evil motive
Concealed in this, da Gama agreed,
For he recognized at once that a handsome
Show of merchandise could be his ransom.
93 They agreed the Catual should provide
Boats suitable for conveying the goods,
For he did not wish to risk his own
Where the enemy might detain them.
So canoes set out accordingly
To ferry the Iberian wares,
And he told his brother* to be sure to send
Means to bring his entrapment to an end.
94 The goods were brought ashore and at once
The corrupt Catual took them in charge;
Álvaro and Diogo* accompanied them
To sell them for what they were worth:
But that profit mattered to him far more
Than honour, orders, or obligation,
The Catual showed to any who had eyes,
Releasing da Gama for the merchandise.
95 He freed him, convinced he had in hand
Sufficient stake to guarantee him
Greater gain than would accrue
By detaining the captain longer.
Da Gama accepted it would be foolish
To return ashore and risk being
Re-imprisoned, so having boarded ship.
He rested and reflected on his trip.
96 He stayed with the fleet, relaxing
Until the future should declare itself,
For he put no trust in the avaricious,
Corrupt, and ignoble governor.
Here discerning judges may consider
How, with the rich as with the poor,
Vile self-interest and the sordid thirst
For gold compels us to our very worst.
97 The king of Thrace* murdered Polydorus
Solely to command his great treasure;
Jupiter breached the walls protecting
Acrisius’ daughter as a shower of gold;
Avarice worked on Tarpeia so grimly
That, for payment in gold bracelets,
She betrayed to the Sabines Rome’s guard
And perished under the weight of her reward.
98 Gold conquers the strongest citadels,
Turns friends into traitors and liars;
Persuades the noblest to acts of infamy,
Betraying their leaders to the enemy;
It corrupts maidens, who ignore
The threat to honour or reputation;
Even scholarship at times has been bought,
Blinding discernment and impartial thought.
99 It glosses and glozes authorities
Subtly making and unmaking laws;
It leads people to perjure themselves
And makes tyrants of a thousand kings;
Even of those sworn only to God
Countless more times you will hear
How this enchanter can corrupt and tarnish,
But all the while preserving virtue’s varnish!
Canto Nine
1 The two factors remained in the city
Many days without trading the goods,
For the Muslims, mixing guile and falsehood,
Ensured no merchant would buy them:
Their whole purpose and intention
Was to detain the discoverers, until
The annual fleet from Mecca should descend
Bringing Portuguese endeavours to an end.
2 Far off in the Red Sea, where Ptolemy*
The Egyptian once founded Arsinoe
—Naming it after his sister, though
It was afterwards better known as Suez—
Nearby is the port of the famous
City of Mecca, which came to greatness
Because its well of Zemzem was rumoured
Wholly belonging, and holy to Mohammed.
3 Jidda is that port’s name, centre
Of the Red Sea’s flourishing trade,
A large source of agreeable
Profit to the Sultan of that realm.
From Jidda to the Indian Ocean
Under contract to the Malabaris,
A great fleet, sailing on the monsoons, made
Its annual voyage* in the spice trade.
4 These ships, the Muslims hoped, given
Their great size and number, would oust
The interlopers seizing the commerce
In sheets of crackling flames.
So much they trusted in this recourse,
They sought nothing more than to delay
The navigators, letting them survive
Until the fleet from Mecca could arrive.
5 But the Ruler of Heaven and of mankind
Who, in whatever He has ordained,
Finds in advance some suitable means
To accomplish what is determined,
Made certain impulses work in the mind
Of Monsayeed, who became His instrument,
Alerting da Gama (for which advice
The Moor deserves to enter Paradise).
6 Being a Muslim, and one from whom
His fellow Muslims had no reserves
(Having been party to former intrigues),
He knew what mischief they were plotting.
Many times he had visited the ships
Offshore, and was distressed
And saddened by the unfair stratagem
The malign Saracens had in store for them.
7 So he told wary da Gama of the ships
Which sailed each year from Arabian Mecca,
And which his own people now awaited