The Exemplary Novels of CervantesCervantes Saavedra, Miguel de
General
The Exemplary Novels of Cervantes
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de
Spanish fiction -- Translations into English
And now Rodaja could not fail to remark the authority assumed by the
commissaries; the intractable character of many among the captains; the
rapacity of the quartermasters, and the unreasonable nature of their
demands; the fashion in which the paymasters managed their accounts; the
complaints of the people; the traffic in and exchange of billets; the
insolence of the undisciplined troops; their quarrels with the other
guests at the inns; the requisition of more rations and other stores
than were rightful or necessary; and, finally, the almost inevitable
consequences of all this. Much besides came under his observation,
which he could not but see to be in every way wrong and injurious.
For Rodaja himself, he had now abandoned the garb of a student, and
dressed himself parrot-fashion (as we say), conforming to such things as
the life around him presented. The many books he had possessed were now
reduced to the "Orisons of Our Lady," and a "Garcilaso without
Comments," which he carried in two of his pockets.
The party with which he travelled arrived at Carthagena much earlier
than he desired, for the varied life he led was very pleasant, and each
day brought something new and agreeable. At Carthagena the troops
embarked in four galleys for Naples; and in his cabin, also, Kodaja made
many observations on the strange life passed in those maritime houses,
where, for the most part, a man is devoured by vermin and destroyed by
rats, vexed by the sailors, robbed by the galley-slaves, and tormented
by the swell of the waters. He endured terrible fear from violent storms
and tempests, more especially in the Gulf of Lyons, where they had two,
by one of which they were cast on the Island of Corsica, while the other
drove them back upon Toulon, in France. At last, weary and half-drowned,
they reached land in the darkness of the night, and with great
difficulty arrived at the most peaceful and beautiful city of Genoa.
Having disembarked, and hastily visited a church to return thanks for
their safety, the captain with all his comrades adjourned to a tavern,
where they quickly forgot past storms and tempests in present rejoicing
and feasting.
Here they learned to appreciate the respective merits of the different
wines presented to them by their active and voluble host; the delicacy
of Trebbiano, the fine body of Montefiascone, the purity of Asperino,
the generous spirit of the wines from Candia and Soma, and the strength
of those from the Cincovinas, or Five Vineyards. Neither did they
disregard the sweetness and amenity of the Señora Guarnacha, or the
rustic bloom of the Centola, not forgetting even in this bright array
the humble Romanesco, which likewise came in for its meed of praise.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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