Gomes Eannes de Zurara

“ I hear the prayers of the innocent souls of those barbarous peoples, almost infinite in number, whose ancient race since the beginning of the world hath never seen the divine light, but who are now by thy genius, by thy infinite expense, and by thy great labours, brought into the true path of salvation, washed in the waters of baptism, anointed with the holy oil, and freed from that wretched abode of theirs, knowing at this present what darkness lay concealed under the semblance of light in the days of their ancestors. ”

“ The Infant drank wine only for a very small part of his life, and that in his youth, but afterwards he abstained entirely from it. He always shewed great devotion to the public affairs of these kingdoms, toiling greatly for their good advancement, and much he delighted in the trial of new essays for the profit of all, though with great expense of his own substance. And so he keenly enjoyed the labour of arms, and especially against the enemies of the holy faith, while he desired peace with all Christians. Thus he was loved by all alike, for he made himself useful to all and hindered no one. ”

“ For he took no small delight in finding the means to profit all. Where could you find another human body that would endure the toil he underwent in arms, a toil that was but scantly diminished in the time of peace? Certainly I believe that if fortitude could be depicted, it would encounter its true form in his face and members, for he did not prove himself strong in some matters only, but in all. And what courage, what endurance, could be greater than that of the man who is victor over himself? ”

“ And what man in his right judgment could trust in the motions of the head, or the signs of the hands, which a Moor made him? Might it not chance, too, that that Moor, for the purpose of getting free, or perchance to get vengeance over his enemies, should show them one thing for another, and (under pretence of bringing them to a place where, on his showing, our people might expect to win a victory) should lead them into the middle of such a host of foes that they would escape little less than dead? Certainly no judgment in the world could think the contrary. ”

“ And you who are so busy in making that division of the captives, look with pity upon so much misery; and see how they cling one to the other, so that you can hardly separate them.
And who could finish that partition without very great toil? for as often as they had placed them in one part the sons, seeing their fathers in another, rose with great energy and rushed over to them; the mothers clasped their other children in their arms, and threw themselves flat on the ground with them; receiving blows with little pity for their own flesh, if only they might not be torn from them. ”

“ How Antam Gonçalvez, and afterwards Nuno Tristam, came before the Infant with their booty.
I cannot behold the arrival of these ships, with the novelty of the gain of those slaves before the face of our Prince, without finding some delight in the same. For meseemeth [pg 51] that I behold before my eyes that pleasure of his, of what kind it would be. For just in so far as things are more desired, and more numerous and heavy labours are undergone for them, so much the greater delight do they bring with them when a man obtaineth them. ”

“ But how plaintive do I find the people of our nation because I place the testimonies of some other race before theirs. For here in Portugal I meet with great lords, prelates, nobles, widowed ladies, Knights of the Orders of Chivalry, Masters and Doctors of the holy faith, with many graduates of every science, young scholars, companies of esquires, and men of noble breeding, with mechanics and an untold multitude of the people. And some of these shew me towns and castles; others villages and fields; others rich benefices; others great and wealthy farms ”

“ Then they took counsel about their intended actions and Lançarote began to set forth his reasons in this manner:—"My friends! we have left our land to do service to God and to the Infant our Lord, who may expect from us with good reason some performance to his advantage; both from the bringing up that some of us have had of him; and because we are men of such a kind that very shame should force us to do more and greater things than any who came here before. For with such a fleet, it would be matter for great shame to turn back to Portugal without a worthy booty. ”

“ Now when the partition was thus accomplished, the captains of the other caravels came to the Infant, and with them some noblemen of his house, and said to him: "Sire, in that you know the great toil that Lançarote, your servant, hath undergone in this action just achieved, and with what diligence he effected it, by the which God hath given us so good a victory as you have seen; and also as he is a man of good lineage, who deserveth every good; we beg your grace that for his reward, you would be minded to knight him with your own hand. ”

“ For, as I wrote not many days ago in a letter I sent to the Lord King, that although it be written that the wise man shall be Lord of the stars, and that the courses of the planets (according to the true estimate of the holy doctors) cannot cause the good man to stumble; yet it is manifest that they are bodies ordained in the secret counsels of our Lord God and run by a fixed measure, appointed to different ends, which are revealed to men by his grace, through whose influence bodies of the lower order are inclined to certain passions. ”

“ And the Moors rising up about dawn had sight of them where they were coming, and like men without heart and deprived of hope, they began to fly, every one where he perceived he could best take refuge, leaving behind goods, wives and children, as men who perceived that they had quite enough to do to save their own lives. ”

“ Antam Gonçalvez made ready to go with his captives, and beginning his voyage, met with so great a tempest that he had to return again to Lisbon, whence he set out. And there happened to be there a gentleman of the Household of the Emperor of Germany, who had attached himself to the Household of the Infant with the intention of going to Ceuta, where he desired to be made a knight, but not without first doing so much for his own honour, as merited such a reward. ”

“ And as to the profit of our world from this achievement, East and West alike are good witnesses thereof, since their peoples can now exchange their goods, without any great peril of merchandise—for of a surety no one can deny that Ceuta is the key of all the Mediterranean sea. In the which conquest the Prince was captain of a very great and powerful fleet, and like a brave knight fought and toiled in person on the day when it was taken from the Moors ”

“ As you know that naturally every prisoner desireth to be free, which desire is all the stronger in a man of higher reason or nobility whom fortune has condemned to live in subjection to another; so that noble of whom we have already spoken, seeing himself held in captivity, although he was very gently treated, greatly desired to be free, and often asked Antam Gonçalvez to take him back to his country, where he declared he would give for himself five or six Black Moors; and also he said that there were among the other captives two youths for whom a like ransom would be given. ”

“ I count it as a service that you wish for news of my health, and, thanks be to God, I am well in body as in other respects, though on the sea of this world one is constantly buffeted by its waves, especially as we are all on that plank since the first shipwreck, so that no one is safe until he reaches the true haven that cannot be seen except after this life, to which may it please God to conduct us when He thinks it time, for He is sailor and pilot, and without Him no man may enter there.... ”

“ Where couldst thou find one so religious, one so catholic, one so prudent, one of so good counsel, one so temperate in all his actions? Where couldst thou light on such magnanimity, such frankness, such humanity, such courage, to support so great and so many toils as his?—for of a surety there was not a man of his time who would have dared to continue in the practice of such severity of life. ”

“ Speak to us, for we traverse the lands and encircle the circumference of the Earth, and know the Courts of Princes and the houses of great lords. Know that thou wilt not find another that can equal the excellency of the fame of this man, if thou judgest by a just weight of all that pertains to a great prince. ”

“ Such was the length of his toil and so rigorous was it, that as the poets have feigned that Atlas the giant held up the heavens upon his shoulders, for the great knowledge that was in him concerning the movements of the heavenly bodies, so the people of our kingdom had a proverb, that the great labours of this our Prince "conquered the heights of the mountains," that is to say, the matters that seemed impossible to other men, by his continual energy, were made to appear light and easy. ”

“ For the wicked do many deeds worthy of praise, but no man should be praised save he who is truly good in himself. Where is the man whose virtues are not offended by some accretion of vices? Certainly I am not one to write or say it of thee, O Prince, for one who hath a place prepared among the celestial thrones cannot receive offence from the deeds he did on earth, though to some they appear worthy of blame; for one may quote the saying of Saint Chrysostom, that there is nothing so holy, but that an evil-minded interpreter thereof can find something to asperse. ”

“ The space was but short from where the enemy lay, and they, seeing themselves surrounded, began to run out of their huts; and, like men more full of terror than of courage, put all their hope in flight. ”

“ Now the traffic of these men must chiefly be to the seaboard; and since they have as yet no knowledge of us, their gathering cannot be too large for us to try their strength; and, if God grant us to encounter them, the very least part of our victory will be the capture of one of them, with the which the Infant will feel no small content, getting knowledge by that means of what kind are the other dwellers of this land. And as to our reward, you can estimate what it will be by the great expenses and toil he has undertaken in years past, only for this end. ”

“ I see well that the delay in agreeing on what we ought to do in this matter (of which we should have good hope with the grace and favour of our Lord Jesus Christ) , may cause us some [pg 70] hindrance and small profit, in that all division, especially among people so few in number as we are, is very weakening, and may bring about our ruin, with little honour to ourselves and little service to God and the Infant our Lord. ”

“ How Affonso Gonçalvez Baldaya reached the Rio d'Ouro.
"As you have found traces of men and camels", said the Infant to Baldaya, "it is evident that the inhabited region cannot be far off; or perchance they are people who cross with their merchandise to some seaport with a secure anchorage for ships to load in, for since there are people, they must of necessity depend upon what the sea brings them, and especially upon fish, however bestial they may be. ”

“ For in writing of their deeds they commenced by telling of the actions of their youth, through their desire to exalt their virtues. And though it may be presumed that authors of such sufficiency would not do aught without a clear and sufficient reason, I shall for the present depart from their course, as I know that it would be a work but little needed in this place. Nor do I even purpose to make a long tale about the Infant's bodily presence, for many in this world have had features right well proportioned, and yet for their dishonest vices have got great harm to their fair fame. ”

“ So the Infant, moved by these reasons, which you have already heard, began to make ready his ships and his people, as the needs of the case required; but this much you may learn, that although he sent out many times, not only ordinary men, but such as by their experience in great deeds of war were of foremost name in the profession of arms, yet there was not one who dared to pass that Cape of Bojador and learn about the land beyond it, as the Infant wished. ”

“ It is not without reason that men of your profession should be prized and honoured; for, next after the Princes and Captains who achieve deeds worth remembering, they that record them, when those are dead, deserve much praise.... What would have become of the deeds of Rome if Livy had not written them; what of Alexander's without a Quintus Curtius; of those of Troy without a Homer; of Cæsar's without a Lucan?... Many are they that devote themselves to the exercise of arms, but few to the art of Oratory. ”

“ And thus, returning to their ships, our men were received as those who deserved honour for their toil and bravery; for although we write some part of their desert, we have not done so as perfectly as they performed it, for the knowledge of a thing can never be so proper by its likeness as when it is known by itself; and yet historians, to avoid prolixity, often summarize things that would be far greater if these were related in their true effects. ”

“ Wherefore I know that lands and seas are full of those that praise thee, for by thy continual voyagings thou hast joined the East with the West, in order that the nations might learn to exchange their riches. ”