Chapter 150 Chapter One

The oracle of how Pagoda went out to sea to find the vase On the day of Vesta in June, that is, the day when Brutus took Spain and conquered the Spaniards, or the day when Crassus the miser was defeated by the Baldias, Paganoguel said goodbye. In honor of his father's goodness, the old man (according to the admirable custom of the pious early churchgoers) prayed for the safe voyage of his son and crew.Panagure led Panurge, Brother John de Antecourt, Ibisdemon, Jimnast, Osten, Risotaume, Gabalin, and his servants who had followed him for a long time. We waited and boarded the ship at the port of Thalassa.

Accompanying him was Xenomaine, the great traveler and conqueror of the Way of Misery, who had arrived a few days before at the summons of Banurge.The traveler very wisely gave Gao Kangda the route they had to go to find the bottle on a detailed world nautical chart. I have already explained the number of ships in the third part. This time, there are also the same number of triremes, galleys, galleons, and Libnias⑤, all of which are in good condition. It is specially reinforced and well-equipped, and it also contains a large amount of "huge Guai grass".All officers, translators, pilots, captain, helmsman, crew, rowers, and sailors report to the "main ship" ⑥ together.This was the name given to the great ship of which Grande Guay commanded the fleet, and was marked by a tall wine-flask at the stern, half of silver, smooth and bright, and the other half of gold, inlaid with red enamel.From the red and white colors, it is not difficult to see that they represent the colors of the noble travelers who went to seek the revelation of the divine vase.

On the stern of the second boat hung high an ancient lantern carved with transparent, reflective stone, indicating that they would pass through the Land of Lanterns. The symbol of the third ship is a beautiful and tall porcelain prince. On the fourth boat was a golden urn with two handles, which looked like an ancient urn. On the fifth boat was an excellent emerald green pot. In the sixth boat was a monastic baron, made of quartet metal. In the seventh boat was a funnel of ebony covered with golden fabric. In the eighth boat was a very precious rattan bowl, inlaid with gold flowers in the Damascus pattern.

On the ninth boat is a finely crafted golden bowl. On the tenth boat was a wine cup of nanmu wood (you call this wood agarwood), inlaid with gold ornaments from Cyprus, which is a Persian workmanship. On the eleventh boat was a finely crafted golden basket. In the twelfth ship was a golden barrel covered with a layer of large Indian pearls, completely Roman carving. ① Vesta: The goddess of the stove in mythology, the daughter of Demogorgon, the wife of Kerus, and the mother of Saturn; another said it is the daughter of Saturn and Liya. The Vesta Festival is on June 9th, see Ovid's "Festivals", Chapter VI, Lines 247 to 250.

② Crassus: One of the three rulers of Rome in the first century BC (the other two were Pompey and Caesar), who was stabbed to death when he met with the Bardia National Congress. ③ For the story, see lines 461 to 466 in Chapter 6 of Ovid's "Book of Seasons". ④ There is also Bonokrates, not mentioned here. ⑤ Libnia: The place name of the ancient Illyrian country in the Adriatic Sea. The Libunians were good at sailing. Their ships were very fast. The Romans called the fast ships "Libnian ships". ⑥ The word Thalamege in the original text comes from Greek, which means a ship with bedding equipment, and here it refers to the flagship of Pagoda.

① Gold, silver, steel and copper. ② The author once quoted Plinius' argument, saying that vines can distinguish water and wine, see the first part of this book. In this way, no matter how sad, angry, depressed, melancholy a person is, even the pessimistic Heraclitus himself, as soon as he sees the sign of this mighty fleet, he will immediately turn his anger into joy and smile; It was invariably said that the passengers on board must have been wine-loving friends, and good men; and it was safe to conclude that they had been very happy and healthy during their voyage, both to and from.

At this time, all the people of the fleet were gathered on the "main ship", and Panagure gave them a short and earnest talk, all using allusions about navigation in the Bible as materials.After the conversation, they prayed to God in a resounding voice, which was heard clearly by all the citizens of the port of Thalassa. They rushed to the pier to watch them board the ship. After praying, they sang the Psalm of King David in harmony. The opening sentence was: "Israel came out of Egypt." ①After the psalm was sung, a long platform was set up on the deck and food was quickly placed.The people of Thalassa also sang the above psalm, and asked people to send a lot of food and wine from their homes. Everyone toasted them together, and they toasted everyone.Therefore, none of the people on the boat vomited after going to sea, and no one had stomachaches or headaches.This kind of discomfort is usually not easy to avoid, even if you drink salt water, whether it is pure water or water mixed with alcohol, like those people who are told by the bastard doctor to go to sea, or eat papaya stuffed, lemon peel, sour pomegranate juice; or not eating for a long time; or stuffing your appetite with paper, or doing other stupid things.

After several rounds of toasts, everyone returned to their own boats and sailed out in the east wind while the weather was still early. The leader of the port was Yamet Breyer, who commanded the course and set the compass.According to him and Xenomaen, since Shenping is near China, north of India, there is no need to take the usual route taken by the Portuguese.The Portuguese sailed through the tropics, along the south of the equator, along the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, and turned their backs to the North Pole. Therefore, the North Pole has lost its guiding role for them, and the route has become extremely long; therefore, they must try not to leave India. Turn around from the west facing the North Pole, so that you can be on the opposite side of the North Pole, at the same latitude as Olona, ​​but you can't go further north, otherwise there is a danger of entering the ice sea and freezing there.After turning around on this latitude, they also headed east, and those who were on their left when they sailed were now on their right.Going this way has unexpected benefits, because the ship will not be wrecked, will not be in danger, and will not lose people. It is safe and reliable (except for one day when it needs to pass near the island of "Longevity Man"). Within a month, you can reach the northern part of India steadily.The Portuguese, on the other hand, will need three years, and they will have to go through countless difficulties and dangers, and they may not be able to reach it.In addition to having a more definite conclusion, I think that the Indians who sailed to Germany before and were solemnly received by the king of the Suweiwei, took the same road.That was when Gantus Metarus Celler was governor of Gaul, Cornelius Nepos, Pampaunius Myra, and after them Plinius have been described.

① See Psalms 114 and 114 in the Old Testament, which were sung according to folk tunes at that time. ① The word macreom in the original text comes from Greek, which means a long-lived person. ② Su Weiwei: a nation in northeastern Germany. ③ Cornelius Naipes: Roman biographer in the first century BC. ④ Pampaunius Mira: Roman geographer in the first century.