Overjoyed at this dream,
Emmanuel proclaimed it to his people. I, O king, felt my bosom burn, for
long had I aspired to this work. Me the king singled out, to me the dread
toil he gave of seeking unknown seas. Such zeal felt I and my youths as
inspired the Mynian youths when they ventured into unknown seas in the
Argo, in search of the golden fleece.
"On the shore was reared a sacred fane, and there at the holy shrine my
comrades and I knelt and joined in the solemn rites. Prostrate we lay
before the shrine until morning dawned; then, accompanied by the 'woful,
weeping, melancholy throng' that came pressing from the gates of the city,
we sought our ships.
"Then began the tears to flow; then the shrieks of mothers, sisters, and
wives rent the air, and as we waved farewell an ancient man cried out to
us on the thirst for honor and for fame that led us to undertake such a
voyage.
"Soon our native mountains mingled with the skies, and the last dim speck
of land having faded, we set our eyes to scan the waste of sea before us.
From Madeira's fair groves we passed barren Masilia, the Cape of Green,
the Happy Isles, Jago, Jalofo, and vast Mandinga, the hated shore of the
Gorgades, the jutting cape called by us the Cape of Palms, and southward
sailed through the wild waves until the stars changed and we saw
Callisto's star no longer, but fixed our eyes on another pole star that
rises nightly over the waves.
Pages:
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454