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Miguel Cervantes: balíček 2 elektronických knih (PDF+ePub)     za 98  74 Kč (-25%)

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5.

For three days we rowed through the open sea and no winds awoke to help us on our way. At night we roped the vessels together and Arsinoe's cat crept surreptitiously along the rails with flaming eyes, arousing the superstitious awe of the sailors. Nor did they grumble, but rowed willingly, believing every stroke took them farther from the dreaded Carthaginian galleys.

But on the fourth night Dorieus girded himself, began talking to his sword, sang war songs to rouse his spirit and finally confronted Dionysius.

"What are your real intentions, Dionysius of Phocaea?" he demanded. "We have long ago eluded the vessels of Carthage. Yet from the sun and stars I see that we have sailed northward day after day. We will never reach Eryx this way."

Dionysius agreed good-naturedly, then gestured with his thumb. Instantly the crew seized and bound Dorieus so quickly that he had not even time to touch his sword. He roared at the outrage, then remembered his honor and grew silent, contenting himself with murderous looks.

Dionysius began to speak soothingly. "We respect you as a hero, and by birth you are far above any of us, but you must admit that the blow on the head you suffered at Lade still troubles you at times. When I heard you talking to your sword, when you spoke of the stars and the sun and seafaring, of which you know nothing, I realized that for your own good I would have to imprison you in the hold until our arrival in Massilia."

Even the men patted him kindly on the shoulder and said, "Don't be angry with us, for it was for your own good that we did this. The vastness of the sea easily affects a mind unaccustomed to it. Even the sly Odysseus had himself bound to the mast when he heard the sirens' song in his ears."

Dorieus quivered with rage. "We are not going to Massilia! Instead of a dangerous voyage I offer you a good battle on land, and when I have won the crown of Segesta I will divide the land of Eryx among you and allow you to build houses where you can raise your sons to be soldiers. I will give you slaves for your fields and you can amuse yourselves by hunting the Siccanians and taking their women. Of all this pleasure Dionysius would treacherously deprive you."

To silence him Dionysius burst into long laughter, slapped his thighs and shouted, "Listen to his confused babble! Would we, men of Phocaea, leave the sea to dig in the earth? I have heard nothing more ridiculous."

But his men began to shift from one foot to the other and glance at one another. Rowers left their benches and the crews of the penteconters climbed to the stern the better to hear.

Dionysius then grew grave. "We are sailing north straight to Massilia and already we are in Tyrrhenian waters. But the sea is wide and my good luck still holds. If necessary, we will overcome the Etruscan vessels also and break through to Massilia. There they make red wine, there even a slave dips his bread in honey, and milk-white slave girls are sold for a few drachmas."

(...)

(Mika Waltari, The Etruscan)

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