There was a shock, followed by a howl, in which all the voices of the passengers and crew were mingled, but terror was no longer making me suffer. My mind had been gained by a lucidity that became increasingly great and which combined with a sentiment of almost perfect security. I considered a spectacle from which I was detached.
I saw a few passengers appear who attempted to walk on the deck, which became almost vertical. One mariner stripped completely naked and dived into the sea. Another was pulling a packet of ropes in order to tie planks together, perhaps in the hope of making a raft. I heard the young Portuguese woman shout: “Miguel!” which was her husband’s name. I perceived the noise that the water made as it precipitated into the interior of the ship. A wisdom hidden within me drove me, independent of all reflection, to throw myself overboard abruptly.
I had the good luck to be thrown on to the sand. The shock had stunned me, but I only had bruises. I started running to flee the detestable element that had nearly swallowed me. Then I retraced my steps to discover what had happened to my companions in misfortune, and also to dry myself and escape the cold that was invading me.
The daylight was beginning to appear. I thought at first that I was the only one to have escaped, but I seemed to hear cries among the rocks. My joy was immense on seeing two men dragging themselves over the ground. It was the captain of the ship and a crewman, both Dutch like myself. The sailor was a big red-haired fellow named Otters, renowned on the ship for the violence of his character, and whom people amused themselves by irritating deliberately. As soon as he saw me he repeated several times that he thought he had broken his foot, as well as several fingers. As for Captain Fingham, without perceiving my presence, he vomited up the water that he had drunk and wept without pause for the loss of his ship.
I helped them to draw away from the shore. We lay down on the sand and waited, prey to despair. The tempest calmed down, and when our clothes were dry, we went to sleep.
We woke up toward evening, famished. I went into the rocks and I had the good fortune to find a cask of wine and a barrel of salted meat. With great difficulty, I dragged them out of the reach of the waves, and we ate avidly.
We had seen nothing around us but marshes and desolate heath, and we thought we were on a desert island. We had nothing with which to make a fire and we suffered cruelly from the cold and the apprehension of ferocious beasts.
In the morning, Captain Fingham wept even more abundantly than the day before, which made me think that the emotions he had experienced had attacked his reason. I agreed with Otters that he would stay with him while I went along the shore to discover whether the land we were on was inhabited. That violent man, impressed by his captain’s tears and the wound in his foot, had become as weak and gentle as a child. He told me that we were going to fall into the hands of savages who would kill us amid tortures and that it was preferable to kill ourselves immediately. I did my best to comfort him and I left.
I walked for half an hour over sandy terrain, dotted here and there by trees, when I seemed to hear human voices. I continued advancing and perceived two forms in the distance, one of which was lying on the ground and the other bending over it.
As I approached I recognized Omar, the former chief of the fleet of the Imam of Muscat. He had made me signals from a distance but he manifested a certain embarrassment in my presence. A naked woman was lying face down on the ground. It was her who was uttering cries. At the sight of me she stopped, leapt to her feet and ran toward me, imploring my pity and begging me to defend her. She took me by the shoulders, trembling, and did not let go.
In spite of the great difference there is between someone dressed and someone naked, I had recognized the beautiful Portuguese woman. She showed her fist to the Arab. She explained to me in halting words that he had stripped her of all her garments by force and had not ceased to do violence to her all night. She had resisted him on my arrival and begged me to save her and punish the wretch.
I reproached Omar for conduct all the more unworthy as it came from a man with graying hair and who ought not to have added further to the misfortunes of destiny. He replied to me that he had saved the life of the Portuguese woman by pulling her out of the sea and that he had, in consequence, certain rights over her. He had only taken off her clothes because they were wet and in order to reanimate her by an energetic friction, without which she would probably not have survived. The chill of the night had obliged them to cling together tightly in order to keep warm. No man, he added, would have done otherwise, and anyway, when death is so close, what is the point of not taking the final pleasure that it might permit you.
I could not help finding those reasons valid enough. I told the young woman that a common misfortune ought to incite forgiveness, that, in any case, she was sheltered henceforth from the Arab’s attempts, and that it was necessary, in order to try to save our lives, that we be united.
She perceived then that she was only clad in her hair, which scarcely came down any lower than her shoulders. She made a modest gesture and wanted to put on her dress—but the dress was in tatters, either because the rocks had ripped it or because of the Arab and his brutality.
Omar declared to us that the wise thing to do was to draw closer to the shore while returning to our companions and to see whether the sea had cast up any cadavers on the sand. We could strip them of their garments and thus remedy the wretched state of our own. That proposal filled us with horror at first, but we accepted it thereafter because necessity is stronger than anything.
After several hours of searching we had found the bodies of some of our companions and a large quantity of objects that might be of great utility to us subsequently. We removed the costume of a poor mariner whose face, already partly eaten away, was painful to behold, and we gave it to the beautiful Portuguese woman.
She washed it in the sea with great care and put it on still wet, for the sun had become ardent. I noticed that, in spite of the grief that she now allowed to burst forth in thinking about her husband, she put a certain coquetry into arranging the folds of her jacket. I had been dazzled by the beauty of her nudity and I regretted being deprived of it.
Our companions showed neither joy nor surprise when they saw me returning with two survivors of the shipwreck. We all ate salted meat and drank a little wine. We decided to spend the coming night in the place where we were and set off the following day marching toward a wooded hill that we could see in the distance, where we hoped to encounter inhabitants.
I learned that the beautiful Portuguese was named Inès de Torres, that she had married before her departure from Portugal, and that she had been going to Japan where her husband was to direct a large business trading in furs, spices and precious wood. She thanked me for having saved her from the man she called the ignoble Arab. She told me that she placed herself under my protection with every confidence. She kissed me on the cheeks to seal our amity. I experienced a delight full of tenderness.
We had dug a hole in the sand in order to be sheltered from the wind while we slept. The night was not as cold, and Inès slept next to me without any fear. In the morning, when we woke up, however she had such aches in her body that she declared herself to be incapable of walking. The wound that the sailor Otters had in his foot had become infected and he could hardly stand. We then decided that they would both remain there with the provisions and the objects recovered from the shipwreck, while I went with the Arab and Captain Fingham to the wooded hill, which ought not to be more than a few hours march away.
We set forth, only taking a little salted meat for our breakfast.
We had not been waking for an hour when we discovered a stream, from which we drank with delight. To our great joy, we saw a bridge, over which we passed. It was made of wood but cemented at its two extremities, which made us think that we were in a country inhabited by civilized men.
Scarcely had we made that observation than we heard several gunshots and we perceived several men who were firing at us with muske
ts. They appeared to me to be dressed as I imagined the Chinese were dressed. I waved my handkerchief as a sign of peace, but we saw that they were reloading their weapons and were about to recommence firing. We went back over the bridge and retraced our steps.
I was anxious about having abandoned Inès even for a day. I reflected that, if she had consented to it, it was uniquely because of her desire to sleep, and that once that desire passed she would be afraid to be distanced from me. I therefore persuaded my companions to return to the shore. In any case, only Omar had an opinion, for Captain Fingham seemed struck with stupidity.
I acted sagely, but it was already too late, Inès came running toward us. Scarcely had we left than Otters had drunk all the wine that remained in the cask and had lost consciousness of things through drunkenness. He had thrown himself upon her. She dared not say what had happened, but it was easy to guess.
I allowed my indignation to burst forth on seeing Otters, but he was like a madman. I had scarcely called out to him than he threw himself upon me. The wine he had drunk and his injured foot put him in a state of inferiority. I knocked him down easily, but without doing him any great harm. I was still holding him beneath me when shouts burst forth from all sides. We were surrounded by a hundred men.
Some of them were on horseback. Almost all of them had long moustaches and they were wearing fur bonnets. The one who appeared to be the leader continually made signs to the men surrounding us not to do us any violence, and he made us understand that we had nothing to fear. Nevertheless, as he had seen me knock down one of my companions, he gave the order that my wrists should be bound, which was done immediately.
It was in vain that Inès and Omar tried to explain in Dutch, Portuguese and Arabic that it was only a quarrel without importance. Otters himself, sobered up and calmed down, attempted it just as loyally and gestured to them to remove my bonds. It was futile.
Having my hands tied, I told Inès to make a present to the islanders’ chief of a telescope that was one of the objects cast up by the waves, which we had picked up. He received it with pleasure and gave the impression of telling us that everything originating from the ship was ours, and that he would not permit anyone to touch it.
Then everyone set forth. Otters was placed on a horse because of his foot. I was treated with far less respect than my companions and one of my guards even sniggered as he looked at me, pointing to my back and making the gesture of beating it with a rod, which was a promise of punishment.
On the way we learned that we were on the island of Quelpart, which is part of the kingdom of Korea.
We marched all day and arrived, worn out by fatigue, when night had already fallen, in the outskirts of a town that was named as Mokso. I was so weary that I scarcely had the strength to look around. The chief, who was on horseback, quit us, having given orders in our regard. We were given a meal composed of boiled rice, which, in the condition we were in, seemed very tasty. Then we were made to understand that we would be locked up for the night.
I had been untied in order to permit me to eat, and there was no question of tying me up again. But it was still supposed that I was dangerous, and I was shoved to one side, in order to be locked up on my own in a kind of narrow hut. I understood that my companions would be imprisoned together.
When she saw that she was about to be separated from me and that she would be obliged to spend the night with men she feared, with reason, Inès begged her guards to put her in the same hut as me, and I joined my pleas with hers. She did not hide, in doing that, the horror that my companions inspired in her—a horror that was susceptible of awakening a spirit of vengeance in them. It was in vain that I told her in a low voice to moderate herself.
The Koreans that were guarding us did not give the impression of being bad men, in spite of their terrible appearance, but they made us understand that their chief had departed and that they were obliged to carry out his orders. They concluded the argument by imprisoning me violently, and I heard them dragging Inès away, and that the Arab was laughing.
The hut where my companions were imprisoned was not far from mine. As I began to fall asleep I was woken up by a cry for help from Inès. A little later, she uttered others, but I could not do anything for her. I imagined the frightful scene that must be unfolding, and I wept bitterly over her fate and mine. I heard her screams far into the night.
We were all reunited the following day in order to be taken before the Governor. Inès made no complaint. I dared not question her, but she told me that she did not want to be parted from me again, no matter what happened.
We traversed the town, which was singular, in that the houses were almost invisible. They were all situated behind bamboo palisades. The majority appeared to me to be made of wood, but there were some in stone that were large and beautiful. The Governor’s house was circular in form and had the appearance of a very ancient fortress. Our passage provoked a great curiosity among the inhabitants.
The Governor was old and ill. He had an extraordinarily white face with very soft eyes. He received us lying in his bed. A very small man with a long white beard had been summoned to serve as interpreter. We learned that he was a Japanese prisoner who had learned a few words of Dutch thirty years ago. He had almost forgotten them and the conversation was very difficult.
I explained that we were victims of a shipwreck and we were imploring the Governor for the means to reach Japan. The interpreter explained to us that it was a law of the land, without exception, never to allow foreigners whose ill fortune cast them ashore in Korea to leave. Nevertheless, they were not reduced to slavery, what belonged to them was not taken, and they were allowed to work and beg. We learned that in exchange for the wreckage originating from the ship we would have a hut outside the town where we could live. A ration of salt and cooked rice would be brought to us there for some time. In order to give evidence of his benevolence, the Governor, by reason of the state of our clothes, would have us each given a pair of shoes, a coat and hide stockings.
He had just made a sign that the audience was concluded when Inès, who had not understood very well what the Japanese had said and dreaded spending another night like the previous one advanced, unfastened her jacket and showed her breasts in order to make it known that she was a woman. Then she put her arm round my neck to express that she did not want us to be separated. The Governor’s only response was that she would have a woman’s dress.
My prudence would have made me repress Inès’ gesture had I been able to do so; but it was too late. A tall and very fat Korean who wore rich garments and who seemed to be a counselor of the Governor advanced precipitately as we were being taken away. He passed his hand under Inès’ jacket several times and touched her breasts, laughing. Then he made a gesture that seemed to signify: “Au revoir!”
The hut to which we were taken was wretched and only had a rickety door. When the five of found ourselves confronted by the rations of salt and rice and the Korean clothing, we became conscious of our poverty and we understood that it came less from our abandonment in a unknown country but from the bad sentiments that we had toward one another.
We agreed that we ought not to think about anything but our escape. It might be achieved by stealing one of the boats we had seen moored on the coast. Captain Fingham, who had recovered his intelligence, assured us that we were only a few days away from the islands surrounding Japan and that we might be able to reach them if the wind was favorable and if we wanted to take the risk. He added that in the meantime, and after what had happened the previous night, Inès ought to be common to all of us. Otters and the Arab agreed with him.
I did not know what had happened in the night, but I could guess all too easily. Anger took possession of me at that odious pretension, coldly formulated. I went out of the cabin and took possession of a broken oar that I had noticed, abandoned next to the road. I went back in precipitately, raising that weapon, and I swore solemnly to break the skull immediately of anyone who dared to renew the propo
sition made by the captain. That threat changed their ideas. They pretended to laugh, and Otters declared that it was absurd to quarrel over a question of such scant importance.
It was agreed that we would go to see right way—separately, so as not to awaken suspicion—which boat would be the easiest to capture.
Many curious individuals were gathered around the place where we were, but they dared not disturb us, for the Governor had given the order to administer twenty strokes of the rod to the inhabitants who had fired musket-shots at us, and cavaliers had departed to carry out that order.
Scarcely were Inès and I alone than she threw herself into my arms and kissed me on the lips. I sensed that she was in haste to lavish the caresses upon me that she had not been able to refuse the men she hated.
In the evening, Inès picked up the dress give by the Governor in order to put it on. We were all together in our narrow habitation and she did not want to undress in front of four men. I asked my companions to come outside for a few moments with me. Those coarse individuals refused, claiming that it was not necessary to be so ceremonious since they were very familiar with the body that Inès wanted to hide from them.
As night had fallen completely and it was still warm, I told Inès to go out and change her clothes outside. There was no moon and all the curious people had gone.
She put the Korean robe under her arm and went out, smiling at me tenderly and making a movement of the lips that signified that she was soon going to give me the recompense or my solicitude for her.
I was never to see her again.
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