Vega

“ VEGA, GARCILASO DE LA (1503–1536) , Spanish soldier and poet, was born at Toledo on the 6th of February 1503. His father, Garcilaso (Garcias Laso or Garcilasso) de la Vega, was counsellor of state to Ferdinand and Isabella, and, for some time their ambassador at the, court of Rome; by his mother he was descended from the illustrious house of Guzman. At the age of seventeen he was attached to the bodyguard of Charles V., and fought against the insurgent comuneros, being wounded at the battle of Olias near Toledo. ”

“ We set out with our eyes fixed on Vega, blazing above, and flaunt our banner—'tout ou rien!'—but when the campaign ends, Vega laughs at us from the horizon, quitting our world; and we console ourselves with a rushlight, and shelter it carefully from the wind with another flag: 'Quand on n'a pas ce qu'on aime, il faut aimer ce qu'on a!' Such is the worldly wisdom that comes with ripening years, like the deep stain on the sunny side of a peach. Moreover, 'folding empty arms,' is only melodrama metaphor, and 'empty hearts' are, begging your pardon, only figments of romantic brains. ”

“ For thirty days had the Vega been overrun by the Christian forces, and that vast plain, late so luxuriant and beautiful, was one wide scene of desolation. The destroying army, having accomplished its task, passed over the bridge of Pinos and wound up into the mountains on the way to Cordova, bearing away the spoils of towns and villages and driving off flocks and herds in long dusty columns. The sound of the last Christian trumpet died away along the side of the mountain of Elvira, and not a hostile squadron was seen glistening on the mournful fields of the Vega. ”

“ Blue, beloved Vega, burning in the heart of the Lyre—home—when would he go home? He had no home now. Yet his father had left him Vega Interplanet, as well as Eight Colors and a quest to the stars.
He searched for the topaz of Sol, where he had learned astrogation; Procyon, where he had become a Lhari; the ruby of Aldebaran (hail and farewell, David Briscoe!) ; the bloodstone of Antares, where he had learned fear and the shape of integrity. The colors, the unknowable colors of space. And others. Nameless stars where he and his Lhari shipmates had worked and played. ”

“ This seemed to check with our last news on Nordenskjöld’s Vega. If indeed she had reached St. Lawrence Bay and passed south, she was of course safe now and we need no longer concern ourselves. But was it really the Vega?
Patiently, like a skilled lawyer examining an ignorant witness, De Long worked on George to find that out. Who was the Vega’s captain? An old man with a white beard who spoke no English. Who then had George conversed with? Another officer, a Russian, who spoke their tongue, the Tchuchee dialect, like a native. ”

“ Two rivers, the Xenil and the Darro, the sands of the first of which contain gold, and the other silver, wash the feet of the hills, form a junction, and afterwards take a serpentine course in the midst of a charming valley, called the Vega. This plain, which [Pg 15] is overlooked by Granada, is covered with vines, with pomegranate, fig, mulberry and orange-trees; it is surrounded by mountains of singularly beautiful form and colour. An enchanting sky, a pure and delicious air, affect the soul with a secret languor, from which even the passing traveller finds it difficult to preserve himself. ”

“ In the long chain of noble names—warriors, conquerors, statesmen—whose brilliant lives are written in the story of Spanish conquest, the name of De Vega stands well to the fore—
A De Vega stood with Balboa when he discovered the Pacific. A De Vega fought with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru. On "The Night of Tears", when Cortes drenched the new world with the best blood of old Spain, a young De Vega died in armor.
Though the home of the De Vegas has long been on California soil, the eldest son of each new generation returns to Spain for a period of travel and study. ”

“ It was the first time the Vega anchored in a proper haven, since on the 18th August 1878 she left Actinia, Haven on Taimur Island. During the intermediate time she had been constantly anchored or moored in open roads without the least land shelter from sea, wind, and drift-ice. The vessel was, however, thanks to Captain Palander's judgment and thoughtfulness, and the ability of the officers and crew, still not only quite free from damage, but even as seaworthy as when she left the dock at Karlskrona, and we had still on board provisions for nearly a year, and about 4,000 cubic feet of coal. ”

“ He says of him:—"Depuis Lope de Vega, M. d'Arriaza est le seul de nos poetes qui nous semble penser en vers. La nature le fit poëte, les évènements l'ont fait auteur. II était arrivé à sa reputation littéraire sans y prétendre, il l'accrue pour ainsi dire à son corps défendant." In truth he seems to have poured forth his verses without effort, as a bird does its song, with a simplicity and truthfulness which went to the heart of the hearer, and left in it a sensation of their being only the echoes of its own. ”

“ The fame of Lope de Vega rests upon his dramas alone, and in these there is no end to their diversity, the subjects varying from the deepest tragedy to the broadest farce, from the solemn mysteries of religion to the loosest frolics of common life, and the style embracing every variety of tone and measure known to the language of the country. ”

“ Of the many distinguished men, to whom, in the enterprising reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain had the honour of giving birth, there are few perhaps much more admired by herself, or that come recommended to the notice of a stranger with so much interest as Garcilasso de la Vega. Whether considered as the cultivated spirit, who, shaking from the Spanish lute the dust of ages, imparted to it by the force of his genius, a more harmonious string and a more polished tone ”

“ When he reached the highest crest, Vega still hung over the sullen glow of a furnace throat; but the smudge had grown darker.
The next morning his father, who seemed gifted with the ability to pierce unerringly to whatever weighed on the son's desires, went into the subject with him. "This isn't criticism, Pelham; it's an attempt to help you steer clear of any mess. Particularly with a married woman. ”

“ They were interrupted by the hasty approach of Vega’s chief advisers and nearest friends, General Pulido and Colonel Ramon.
[Pg 160] “Pino seems in a hurry,” said Roddy. “I had no idea he was so bloodthirsty.”
“Colonel Vega,” began Pulido abruptly, “has just informed us of the unfortunate incident. We have come to tell you that no duel can take place. It is monstrous. The life of Colonel Vega does not belong to him, it belongs to the Cause. We will not permit him to risk it needlessly. You, of all people, should see that. ”

“ We soon succeeded in discovering a channel of sufficient depth and not too much blocked with ice, and on the 23rd the Vega was able to resume her voyage among very closely packed drift-ice, often so near the land that she had only a fourth of a metre of water under her keel. We went forward however, if slowly.
The land here formed a grassy plain, still clear of snow, rising inland to gently sloping hills or earthy heights. The beach was strewn with a not inconsiderable quantity of driftwood, and here and there were seen the remains of old dwelling-places. ”

“ A desolation infinitely greater than that which overwhelmed Rome or Byzantium would fall upon Anglo-Saxondom, and its name would be the only monument of its vanished glory.
But the Vega brought something more to Alan and Alexis than the despatches and orders of the Council. This was a letter from Isma to Alan, filled with the tenderest expressions of delight at the triumphs which he and his “companion in arms” had already achieved, and of brave and hopeful confidence in them, despite the terrible dangers that they were going forth to confront. ”

“ I'm not alive; in fact, I'm sure I'm dead.
Roselo. Who speaks of death with such melodious voice?
Marin. Indeed I'm dead. Let me 'scape this once,
And ne'er again will I come groping in
Cold, dank, and deathly vaults, on such fool's errand
As this same.
Roselo. Sweet Love, illumine with thy magic fire!
Marin. I wish Love would; these dead men here
Like droning bees go buzzing by your ear,
First right, then left, but give no light to cheer.
Roselo. Courage, we'll shout. Sweet Julia, love!
Marin. We'll suppose Otavio hears you call
He'll wake the drowsy dead both great and small. ”

“ To these may be added the spirits which are in so great request among all savages; a currency of which, indeed, there was great abundance on the Vega, but which I considered myself prevented from making use of. In exchange for this it is possible to obtain, in short, anything whatever from many of the natives, but by no means from all, for even here there are men who will not taste spirits, but with a gesture of disdain refuse the glass that is offered them. ”

“ Who wants catchee General De Vega? I’ve been up at my gold mines in the interior for a couple of months, and haven’t heard any news.’
“‘Oh,’ says the nigger-man, proud to speak the English, ‘verree great revolution in Guatemala one week ago. General De Vega, him try be president. Him raise armee—one—five—ten thousand mans for fight at the government. Those one government send five—forty—hundred thousand soldier to suppress revolution. ”

“ Though La Vega lay on a flat savanna, mountains rose not far away, and one especially beautiful peak held the American's gaze.
“Ah, yes”—his guide was instantly aware of his preoccupation—“our beautiful Yaqui of the Cordilleras del Cibao. Myself, I prefer the Sierra de Monte Cristi and the dead volcanic north.” He made a wide gesture. “Alas, it is in the opposite direction that our path lies. We must leave this exquisite city—though it has, for its beauty, been called the love city of Santo Domingo. We must go tediously through the Dark Country. ”

“ Science has reason to expect very rich results from his work and that of his companions in one of the most interesting, most mis-known, and least known lands of the north.
[ pg 295 ] The Vega left Behring Island on the afternoon of the 19th August, and anchored at Yokohama on the evening of the 2nd September. The first part of the passage, while we were still in the cold northerly Polar Sea current, was favoured by fair winds and moderate heat. The surface temperature of the sea was from +9° to +10°. ”

“ Walruses raised their shiny wet heads above the water, in which numerous seals disported themselves. With the wildest delight the Vega expedition sailed southwards through Behring Strait. In the year 1553 a daring Englishman had commenced the quest of the north-east passage and had perished with all his men, and during the following centuries numberless other expeditions had tried to solve the problem, but always in vain; now it was solved by Swedes. The vessel glided out into the Pacific Ocean without a leak; not a man had been lost and not one had been seriously ill. ”

“ If you want to go back to Vega, you can probably convince the Lhari you're just an innocent bystander. They don't hurt bystanders or children, Bart. They aren't bad people. They're just protecting their business monopoly.
"The safest way to handle it would be this: let me erase your memories of what I've told you tonight. Then just let the Lhari capture you. They won't kill you. They'll just give you a light psych-check. When they find out you don't know anything, they'll send you back to Vega, and you can spend the rest of your life in peace, running Vega Interplanet and Eight Colors." ”

“ On the 4th July the Vega left the harbour of Gothenburg. While sailing along the west coast of Norway there blew a fresh head wind, by which the arrival of the vessel at Tromsoe was delayed till the 17th July. Here I went on board. Coal, water, reindeer furs [15] for all our men, and a large quantity of other stores, bought in Finmark for the expedition, were taken in here; and three walrus-hunters, hired for the voyage, embarked. ”

“ What! do the dead speak, and do I living hear?
Roselo. Hush! hear you not a voice again?
Marin. They say the blood doth course toward the heart;
Mine through the girdle, seems ready to depart.
Roselo. The voice doth issue from that corner vault.
Marin. Think you that chattering bony jaws can speak
Fair words? No mouldy corpse would suffer such, I trow.
Roselo. What can be done?
Marin. How should I know?
Roselo. Canst touch the wall?
Marin. Ugh! In the nape of the neck I've touch'd
A cold and clammy corpse, oh dear!
San Blas, Antonio, all the saints, oh, hear! ”

“ While he was doing this he heard the tinkling of a zither or guitar, and, looking down, he saw that the sound proceeded from the courtyard of what was, apparently, a little inn or venta.
The broad Vega lay smiling beneath him, stretching green and fertile to the last low hill from which the banished Moor had looked back upon Granada; while around him, in every street and alley, was the tinkle of the waters, still rushing from their source in the snows through the Moor’s aqueducts, which kept his memory green with the verdure of the one green spot in Spain. ”

“ Marin, go, enter thou, and see thy looks
Be guarded, and thy tongue discreet.
Marin. And for my pains to clear the scraps
From off the dirty platters they have left,
Shall I go venture 'mid our deadliest foes,
That I may tattle of the sight?
Roselo. Who, thinkest thou, will ever care
To note thy entrance or thy exit there?
Marin. Dark deeds have ever witnesses at hand.
This hated house of Castelvin—
Roselo. Thy chicken's heart doth fail thee, then, Marin.
Marin. Bah! would that all Castelvin's brood were here,
And each with temper'd blade unsheathed! ”