Meanwhile a large multitude of people collected around me from all parts. They requested me to speak; but as I did not understand their language I could not answer them. They repeated often the word Dank, Dank, and supposing them to be Germans, I addressed them in this language, then in Danish, and finally in Latin; but they signified to me, by shaking their heads, that these languages were unknown to them. I tried at last to declare myself in the subterranean1 tongues, namely, in Nazaric and Martinianic; but it was in vain.
After having addressed each other, thus incomprehensibly for a long time, I was carried to a small hut, formed of wickers intricately twisted. In this hut were neither chairs nor tables; these people seat themselves on the ground to eat; instead of beds they spread straw on the earthy floor, upon which they throw themselves indiscriminately at night. Their food is milk, cheese, barley-bread and meat, which they rudely broil2 on the coals; for they do not understand cooking. Thus I lived with them, like a dog, until I learned so much of their language, that I could speak with them and assist them a little in their ignorance. The simplest rules of living that I prepared for them were considered as divine commands. My fame soon spread abroad, and all the villages around sent forth3 crowds to a teacher, who, they believed, had been sent to them from heaven. I heard even, that some had commenced a new chronology from the date of my arrival. All this pleased me only so much the more, as formerly4 in Nazar I had been abused for my imprudence and wavering judgment5, and in Martinia despised and commiserated6 for my ignorance. True, indeed, is the old proverb; that among the blind the one-eyed rules. I had now come to a land, where with little understanding, I could raise myself to the highest dignities. There were here the best opportunities to employ my talents, since this fruitful land produced in abundance whatever subserved for pleasure and luxury as well as usefulness and comfort. The inhabitants were not indocile nor were they wanting in conception; but since they had been blessed with no light without themselves, they groped in the thickest darkness. When I told them of my birth, my native land, of the shipwreck7 I had suffered, and of other occurrences in my voyages, not one would credit me. They thought rather that I was an inhabitant of the sun, and had come down to enlighten them, wherefore they called me Pikil-Su, that is the sun’s ambassador. For their religion, they believed in and acknowledged a God, but cared not at all to prove his existence. They thought it enough for them that their forefathers8 had believed the same; and this blind submission9 to time-honored formul? was their simple and sole theology. Of the moral law, they were ignorant of all commandments save this: Do not unto others that which you would not have others do unto you. They had no laws; the will of the emperor was their only rule. Of chronology they had but a slight conception; their years were determined10 by the eclipses of the sun by Nazar’s intervention11. Were one asked his age, he would answer: that he had attained12 so many eclipses. Their knowledge of natural science too, was very unsatisfactory and unreasonable13; they believed the sun to be a plate of gold, and the planet Nazar, a cheese. Their property consisted in hogs14, which, after marking, they drove into the woods: the wealth of each was determined by the number of his swine.
I applied15 myself, with all the fervor16 imaginable, to refine and enlighten this rude, yet promising17 people, so that shortly I came to be regarded among them as a saint; their trust in my wisdom was so great, that they thought nothing impossible with me. Therefore, when overtaken by misfortune, they would hasten to my hut and pray for my assistance. Once I found a peasant on his knees before my door, weeping, and bitterly complaining over the unfruitfulness of his trees, and beseeching18 me to use my authority, that his trees should bear fruit to him abundantly, as of old.
I had heard that this whole country was governed by a Regent, whose residence, or palace, at that time, was about eight days’ travel from the town where I lived. I say at that time, because the court dwelt, not in substantial, fixed19 houses, but in tents; and the residence was moved at pleasure from one province to another. The ruler at that period was an old man, named Casba, which signifies, the great emperor. In consideration of its many large provinces, this country was indeed a great empire; but, from the ignorance of the inhabitants, who made little use of their many natural advantages, and also from the absence of that unanimity20 among the provinces, which would have dignified21 and strengthened their counsels, and subserved for their mutual22 protection, they were exposed to the attacks and mockeries of their more vigorous neighbors, and not unfrequently obliged to pay tribute to nations much inferior to themselves.
The report of my name and power was spread in a short time even to the remotest provinces. Nothing could be done without consulting me, as an oracle23, and when any undertaking24 miscarried, its failure was ascribed to my indifference25 or indignation; wherefore, oblations were frequently made to assuage26 my anger. Finally the rumor27 was carried to the ears of the old emperor, that a great man had come into his dominions28, in a strange dress, who gave himself out as ambassador of the sun, and had proved himself more than man, by bestowing29 to the Quamites (thus the inhabitants were called, after the name of the land, Quama,) wise and almost divine rules of life. He therefore sent ambassadors, with orders to invite me to the imperial residence. These were thirty in number, all clothed in tiger-skins, this dress being considered in Quama the greatest of ornaments30, since none were permitted to wear it, but those who had distinguished31 themselves in war against the Tanaquites, a nation of sensible tigers, and the mortal enemies of the Quamites.
I had built, in the town where I dwelt, a walled house, after the European style. At the sight of it, the imperial ambassadors were astonished, and exclaimed that it was a work beyond human powers; they entered it, as a sanctuary32, with devout33 reverence34, and there proclaimed to me the emperor’s invitation in the following speech: “Since the great emperor, our most gracious lord, reckons his genealogy35 through manifold generations, from Spunko, the sun’s son, the primary regent of Quama, nothing could surprise him more agreeably than this embassy; wherefore his majesty36 joyfully37 greets the ambassador of the sun, and humbly38 invites him to the capital city of the empire.” I answered by expressing my most humble39 thanks for the emperor’s condescension40, and immediately repaired, with the ambassadors, to the capital. These lords had been fourteen days on their journey to me, but assisted by my genius, the return occupied only four days.
I had observed, during my residence in this country, that there were vast numbers of horses running wild in the woods, and hence rather burthensome than useful to the inhabitants. I showed to the people how beneficial these animals might be made to them, and taught them how to tame these noble creatures. At my suggestion and by my direction, a number of them were caught and broken in, and thus I was enabled to mount the ambassadors, and materially shorten the period of our journey.
No idea can be formed of the wonder and astonishment41 with which the Quamites witnessed our entry into the city; some were so frightened that they ran far into the country. The emperor himself dared not, in his fear, come out from his tent, nor would he stir, until one of the ambassadors, dismounting his horse, went in and explained the whole secret to him. Shortly I was, with a great retinue42, led into the imperial tent. The old emperor was seated on a carpet surrounded by his courtiers. On my entrance, I acknowledged, in the most polite terms, the exceeding grace his imperial majesty had shown me; thereupon the emperor arose and asked me what the king of the sun, and father of his family proposed to do. Conceiving it politic43, and even necessary not to undeceive the Quamites in the opinion they themselves first entertained, I answered: that his majesty, the king of the sun, had sent me down to this land to refine, by good laws and salutary rules of life, the uncultivated manners of the Quamites, and teach them the arts, through which they might not only resist and repel44 their valiant45 and energetic neighbors, but even extend the boundaries of their own empire; and added, that I had been ordered to remain with them forever. The emperor listened to this speech with much apparent pleasure, ordered a tent to be immediately raised for me near his own, gave me fifteen servants, and treated me less as a subject than as an intimate friend.
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1
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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2
broil
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| v.烤，烧，争吵，怒骂；n.烤，烧，争吵，怒骂 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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6
commiserated
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| v.怜悯，同情( commiserate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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8
forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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9
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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12
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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14
hogs
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| n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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15
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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18
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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assuage
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| v.缓和，减轻，镇定 | |
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rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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genealogy
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| n.家系，宗谱 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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40
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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41
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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42
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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43
politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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44
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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45
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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