Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Four

"There! There! Oh, they're beautiful! Oh, my lord, they're tame as lambs! And fat and big! Look, look! It's real wool, softer than a ewe's. Oh Oh! Oh! Cute, cute, so cute!" The waiter yelled and yelled from the clown, and then laughed.It's amazing that such a small body can have so much strength.He was dressed in lace and a doll-like outfit with a big hat.Stretching his short hands forward, he ran after the alpacas, then slipped under their bellies, scratched and touched them, then rode on their necks, rubbed the thick hair on their cheeks, Jump up and down again!

The irritated llamas tied to the reins led the two Indians, Martiniello and Filipino, in jagged steps.They had already been frightened by the numerous audiences and the gorgeous decoration in front of them, and they didn't know where they were. The two of them stared wide-eyed and talked a few words in a language that no one could understand. "Oh, it turns out that these two little bugs are screaming, my king!" The waiter began to imitate the two Indians with a funny voice from the clown, pulling their capes, making faces, and jumping between their legs.Then, suddenly, with a feint, he fell onto Filibilo and rolled with him onto the thick carpet.The unleashed alpaca immediately took advantage of the opportunity and ran towards the king.Fortunately, the Greek Bedo rushed forward and stopped the alpaca. The animal let out a piercing roar and sprayed on the ground.

"What does it want? That guy!" The servant clown stood in front of the alpaca, pretending to be frightened. "Doesn't it know it's impolite for the king to do so?" "Sir, this is what the alpaca looks like when it is angry." Filipino said painfully. "When the alpaca is angry?" the clown repeated amusedly, spitting at Filipino. The audience laughed and even applauded.After a flurry of antics worked, he smacked Filibilo with his hat: "Your Majesty, this man has two legs, but he doesn't know how to use them. You see, if his legs were made of wool, he would really like to chew your rug!"

Jia Boye was terrified, seeing Mr. Francesco's face turn pale with anger in the face of such an insult.He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly in his leather gloved hand, puffed out his nostrils, and turned to face the steps in front of the throne.Unfortunately, if the young queen had a smile on her face, Charles V was deadpan.His large, conspicuous chin made the whole face look incongruous, especially incompatible with the piercing eyes.But with a little attention, there is unmistakable respect in his nods and winks. The ups and downs of Mr. Francisco's chest immediately calmed down.He bent as gracefully as possible, the green feather in his hat scraping the ground.

Bedo the Greek held the reins of the alpaca, Filibilo stood aside, and Saiba Tian, ​​the black man, was trying to comfort him.This time it was Jia Boye's turn to quietly breathe a sigh of relief. From eight o'clock in the evening, they were in a state of readiness for battle.Mr. Francisco finally couldn't take it anymore and woke them all up in the middle of the night.The same order has been rehearsed hundreds of times, and I don't know how many times, he asked someone to dust off the brand new black coat for him, change the feathers on the cap to yellow, then to white, and then to white. as red, and did not decide to be green until early in the morning.He also constantly ordered five other people, including the Greek Bedo, Sebatian, Jaber Ye or his brother, and the two Indians, to bow down to the statuette of the Virgin in turn.

At dawn, a large number of people had already been waiting in front of the Akasha Palace. Their hands were soaked in sweat, their eyes were empty, and they paced back and forth in front of the beautiful garden absent-mindedly. At this time, the sunlight gradually increased.It was not until near noon that they were brought into the hall of the palace. The ladies in the hall wore cloaks and long skirts, and the collars around their necks were embroidered with pearls, lace and jewels from Bruges. Surrounded, as if admiring a beast that is about to be devoured in the arena. Seeing that the sun was about to set, they were ushered into the reception room.All the gold ornaments, pottery and cloth brought back from Peru were spread out on a long table.Alas, the hall was so large that even though it was filled with presents, furniture, rugs, tapestries, pictures, exotic as they were, they seemed suddenly to be so few in number!

The heavyweights from all over Spain were invited.About a hundred great men and officials, clad in silks and satins resembling winter garments, adorned with all the vulgar trinkets of the fashion, anointed their beards or rouged their cheeks, according to sex.Everyone's eyes were full of arrogance, facing the scene in front of them, they opened their mouths wide and pretended to smile. Jia Boye felt agitated and lost face, as if he himself was Mr. Francesco, the explorer who discovered Peru, and now he was being laughed at by everyone because of the antics of a clown... With a wave of his hand, the king told everyone to stop laughing, and like calling a puppy, he asked the clown to come to him.

"Stop, Estebanino!" His voice was calm and clear enough, and he went on: "We listen to you, Captain Pizarro." Then the hall was silent for a while. Mr. Francisco seems to have suddenly lost the ability to speak.His elder brother Anando had already stepped forward, saluting the king with a smile on his lips, but Mr. Francisco suddenly stretched out his hand to hold him. "Get out of the way, I should say..." He whispered. Pushing Anando away, he said in a hoarse voice: "Sire, I have discovered a country rich in gold mines that will bring wealth to Spain for centuries."

The king was unmoved.The servant standing beside the king was a clown and said with a sneer: "Gold! Gold! Gold! Oh, gold everywhere, King! . . . It is said! But these big sheep standing here, I assure you, are covered with wool!" Laughter was everywhere, but the queen unexpectedly interrupted everyone's laughter with a clear voice: "Captain Pizarro, we would love to hear your story of this adventure with our own ears." "It's a long story, Your Majesty! More than ten years!" "Then, to make a long story short, Mr. Francisco." "Long story short, Her Majesty, it's hard, because the story begins with our discovery of the South Sea, as we call it, on the other side of Darion. That part alone is hard to tell! I was part of the founding of Panama City, and we and At that time, the governor called... um..."

Mr. Francisco, who was emotional again, remained silent. His tall and thin body kept shaking, and his blood pressure rose. "Balebao!" Jia Boye blurted out. Enando Pizarro gave him a hard look.But Mr. Francesco actually opened his mouth and said: "Yes, Governor Balebao..." Hearing that Mr. Francesco's voice was much calmer, Jia Boye breathed a sigh of relief. He said each sentence slowly, and the more he spoke, the more natural and vivid he was.In this way, in about an hour, an epic story firmly grasped everyone's heart.He said how he would dismantle a whole sailing ship, and carry the pieces of the hull through the forest piece by piece, and sail from the Atlantic to the South Seas!And how he was constantly fighting vermin, snakes, beasts, Indians, hunger, thirst, and sickness!It tells how the most stubborn people on board survived and set out again with enough vitality and courage to sail to the country just mentioned far beyond the forest and full of gold.He talks about how he overcomes anxiety, uncertainty, disappointment, financial shortages and mounting doubts.He explained how during these long and seemingly endless ten years he wrestled daily with the sea, overcoming all the calamities that imagination and all unknown doom could inflict on a believer in God like himself! ...

"Afterwards, one day, Your Majesty, it succeeded! From the boat we saw a city appearing on the shore! A very large city... The surrounding forests stretch as far as the eye can see, exuding a charming fragrance, as if it is the unique smell of that place. Ah, You must believe me, a city with at least two thousand houses! And the whole city shone like a paradise castle, Your Majesty! When we got closer, we realized that the sun was shining on a piece of gold that was as dazzling as it Come on! Thanks to the Virgin Mary, it turned out to be a large wall of gold! This is the city of Tumbes! Ah, I swear to God!" Speaking of excitement, Mr. Francisco suddenly knelt down and made the holy sign.The audience around were all unconsciously moved by his pious narration tone. Sebatian, Anando, two Indians, a Greek and Jia Boye also knelt down and drew the holy name together. There were whispers of admiration from the ecstatic audience in the hall.But again the queen said in a clear and bright voice: "Mr. Francesco, what you just told is a beautiful story. But I heard that during these dangerous expeditions, a large number of people unfortunately lost their lives..." Mr. Francisco was so excited that he stood up abruptly.Ignoring the queen's eyes, he looked at the king with hostility, and said loudly, without politeness: "Please the king, the accusations just now are all nonsense! If it is so easy to find a country full of gold like Peru, then Your Majesty should really go to dinner earlier, and don't waste time listening to my nonsense!" "Well said!" The waiter applauded from the clown. "Are all the narrations just now fabricated, Captain Pizarro?" the king asked in broken Castilian. "Alas! Lives were lost. They could be lost by accident at any moment in Indiana, if it may be called such. But should I be blamed for such misfortune? I have always reserved for those who would follow me Chance." "Mr. Pizarro, it is said that you always lock a hundred people on an island for a whole year, and half of them will not survive..." "No! No! Your Majesty! I was imprisoned on the island by myself, because the people accompanying me would not let me continue my exploration. Of them, at most, about twenty people would not survive. You know that when a ship finally came to rescue us, I What were we doing?... We were on a beach, and when the rescue boat arrived, each of us had to decide whether to continue our expedition south or return to Panama..." Don Francisco stopped suddenly, took a step forward, gave a loud roar, drew his sword, and swung it over his head. "That's what I did, Your Majesty! I drew my sword and thrust it into the sand..." In order to match his words with his deeds, Mr. Francisco stuck his sword on the thick carpet, roared angrily, and cut the carpet—— "Mr. Francisco!" cried the young queen, waving her hands. "Please! Be careful with this carpet, it was taken back from the Ottoman Empire!" Mr. Francisco jumped away, looked at the carpet with a frown, made a gesture of apology indiscriminately, and then turned to face the king with a look of indifference: "On the sands of Galle Island, I made the exact same cut, Your Majesty, the cut was deep. Then I said: 'Companions, friends! I'm not going back to Panama, I'm going further, To the mysterious and unknowable South. Those who want to follow me cross this line. Those who do that choose, of course, hunger, thirst, sickness, or death; those who do not cross the line Returning to Panama and returning to normal life. I thank them for having been with us through a period of suffering that has never been encountered in this life, a long period of suffering, and deserves respect as I respect everyone else. But to the rest Men, I pledge them with Peru and its golden rivers. I don't want to push anyone, but I say that courage will pay off one day! I know!' That's what I said then, Your Majesty. In fact, there are many People decided to return to Panama, and I didn't stop them at all! However, there were still thirteen people who crossed the line I drew and stood by my side: these thirteen people, Your Majesty, are all a legend that will be passed down through the ages Heroes here!" In the perfumed crowd, the ladies began to clap with outstretched hands, and the grim-faced dukes, marquises, squires, and advisors murmured reluctant approval. At this moment, Jia Boye saw in disbelief that Charles V, the king of the Fifth European Empire and the richest king in the world, stood up.He opened his peculiar mouth into a wide smile.Afterwards he left his throne, and descended the steps, and, like a commoner, he pointed to the Indians and their llamas with the same gesture and said: "Tell me about these strange animals, Captain Pizarro."