To accustom myself to her strange beauty I begged her, when she had composed herself, to remove her veil and without fear walk with me down the mountainside. The longer I beheld her face and her remarkable eyes the more deeply was I aware of the profound attraction that bound me to her, despite my repugnance; it was as if two people walked beside me, and that in touching one of them I touched both. And so, unknown to me, her evil eyes cast their slow spell upon my soul.
Down by the pools we found Andy and Johanna sleeping heavily, and there was nothing left in the basket but a gnawed bone and the vine leaf that had covered the food. The sun was already sinking; we returned in haste to the port and signaled to the ship to send a boat for us.
At dusk the war galley returned from her vain pursuit, but two days and nights passed before the wind blew freshly from the northwest and we were able to row out of the harbor and hoist sail. I had spent these two days in wholesome reflection, and my proud and chilly demeanor gave place to kindliness. I shared out medicine and bread among my poor fellow passengers and did my best to help them as they lay weeping and praying on the evil-smelling straw. At night I lay awake brooding over Giulia and my own life. For since I had seen her eyes all joy had left me, and I sought oblivion in thinking of others rather than of myself.
But repentance came too late, for the day after our departure from Cerigo the wind freshened, the seas rose, and by evening the sky was filled with flying storm clouds. The ship groaned in all her timbers and began to leak worse than ever, so that all able men were set to the pumps. What with the plunging and creaking of the vessel, the crack of the sails, and the lamentations of the seasick, I confess I trembled in every limb, expecting every moment that we should founder. Yet, rotten and worm eaten though she was, our ship was a sturdy product of the Venetian dockyards, and by daybreak we had suffered no damage. When the sun came out and gilded the foaming crests of the waves we felt we had good reason to give thanks to God and join together in a song of praise.
But to the captain’s way of thinking our rejoicing was premature, and when we had ended our thanksgiving he roared at us to take to the oars, for in driving before the wind we had lost touch with the convoy. Neither sail nor land was now in sight, but by hard rowing the captain strove to alter course and so bring us up with the other vessels.
At midday the wind had dropped, although the ship still rolled in heavy seas. A sail was now descried on the horizon, and to avoid an encounter the captain again altered course and we tugged at the oars with the strength of terror. But it was too late, for by the time we could see the low sail, our lofty masts had long been visible to the stranger, who with terrifying speed approached to intercept our flight. On seeing this the captain ranted and swore and consigned all the rapacious ship owners of Venice to the nethermost pit.
“That craft bodes us no good,” he said. “If you be brave men, grasp your weapons now and fight beside me. Women and the sick must get below.”
My inward parts contracted with fear when I heard his words and watched the narrow enemy ship cleaving the foaming seas toward us, impelled by many pairs of oars. It was not long before two puffs of smoke burst from her bows; one cannon ball had plowed a hissing furrow through the waves and the other had ripped our sail before the wind had even brought us the sound of the shots.
Andy said, “This battle’s lost already, as we have no more than fifteen able-bodied men among us. According to all the rules of war-on land, that is; I know nothing of the sea-we should lay down our arms and negotiate for honorable terms of peace.”
But the pock-marked captain said, “Let us trust in God and hope that the war galley is not far off, and already searching for us. If I surrender this ship without a blow struck I shall incur black dishonor, and the Signoria of the Republic will move heaven and earth to seize me and string me up at the yardarm. But if I fight bravely and survive, the Signoria will buy me out of slavery. And if 1 should fall in battle against the infidel, I have good reason to hope that my soul, freed from sin, will fly straight to heaven.”
Brother Jehan, hoarse with terror, brandished a copper crucifix and yelled, “He who falls in battle against the followers of the false prophet is worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven! He who while on pilgrimage dies at the hands of infidels wins the glorious crown of the martyrs! And truly that crown has never been nearer to us than now. Let us therefore do battle like brave men, and may the name of Jesus be our war cry!”
Andy scratched his ear dubiously, and thrust his fist into the mouth of our only cannon, which was green with age and neglect. There was nothing in it but bits of old birds’ nests. From his cabin the captain threw out an armful of rusty swords, which clattered to the deck, while the crew sullenly picked up their iron pikes. The captain also brought out a big harquebus and I tried to load it, being used to handling such weapons, but the powder was damp. The strange vessel was by now so near that I could distinguish the green and red flags floating from the mast, and we saw also the dread turbans of the crew and the dazzle of many keen scimitars.
At this moment several sharp shots rang out. Two men fell bleeding to the deck and a third seized his wrist with a howl. Then a shower of arrows sang toward us, and many men were hit. When Brother Jehan saw the blood and heard the heart-rending cries of the wounded he was thrown into an ecstasy of sheer terror; he leaped about the deck, tucked the skirts of his habit into the rope girdle, exposing his hairy legs, and shrieked in tones of triumph, “See the blood of the martyrs! This day we shall meet in Paradise, and before God’s throne there is no more precious jewel than the martyrs’ crown.”
Other pilgrims too began madly jumping about the deck and brandishing their weapons, while the invalids gave tongue in a quivering psalm. But Andy drew me into the shelter of the deck house where the captain joined us, shedding tears and crossing himself repeatedly as he said, “May the Virgin and all the saints pity me and may Jesus Christ forgive my sins. I know that ship; she’s from the island of Jerba and is commanded by a pirate named Torgut, who shows no mercy to Christians. Let us sell our lives as dearly as we may, since we’re bound to lose them.”
But any attempt at defense against this seasoned pirate could only result in useless bloodshed, for at a given signal the rowers drew in their oars, leaving their vessel with way enough on her to glide alongside. Numbers of grapnels caught our rail, the two hulls ground together, and we were fast bound to our assailant by countless lines and chains. Our captain, like the honorable man he was, dashed sword in hand to the encounter of the pirates who were now swarming in over the side. But there were few who followed him, and he fell with a cloven skull before he had inflicted a single wound. Seeing his unhappy end his men flung down their pikes and showed their empty hands in token of surrender; in another moment those pilgrims who still showed fight were cut down, and so we won small honor in this unequal struggle.
Andy said, “Our last moment has come. The rules of war require resistance only while the least chance of success remains. Let us not kick against the pricks, but rather die, if need be, like meek Christians.”
To the last Brother Jehan assailed the infidels with his copper crucifix, but they never gave themselves the trouble of striking him. One of them simply snatched the crucifix and threw it into the sea, which so enraged the monk that he hurled himself at the man and attacked him with nails and teeth until a kick in the belly sent him rolling and howling on the deck. Andy and I allowed ourselves to be thrust in among the other prisoners, while the pirates poured all over the ship. Their easy victory had put them in a good humor, and at first they showed us no great hostility. But when they discovered that we carried no valuable cargo, they shook their fists at us and uttered threats in every language under the sun. To my amazement I noticed that they were neither Africans nor Turks, and that despite their turbans the greater number were Italians and Spaniards.