Appendix B

　　The letter to the Lady Juana, which gives Columbus's own statementof the indignities¹ put upon him in San Domingo, is written in his mostcrabbed Spanish. He never wrote the Spanish language accurately², and theletter, as printed from his own manuscript, is even curious in its infelicities.

　　It is so striking an illustration of the character of the man that we printhere an abstract of it, with some passages translated directly from his ownlanguage.

　　Columbus writes, towards the end of the year 1500, to the formernurse of Don Juan, an account of the treatment he has received. "If mycomplaint of the world is new, its method of abuse is very old," he says.

　　"God has made me a messenger of the new heaven and the new earthwhich is spoken of in the Apocalypse by the mouth of St. John, afterhaving been spoken of by Isaiah, and he showed me the place where itwas." Everybody was incredulous, but the queen alone gave the spirit ofintelligence and zeal³ to the undertaking⁴. Then the people talked ofobstacles and expense. Columbus says "seven years passed in talk, andnine in executing some noted⁵ acts which are worthy⁶ of remembrance," buthe returned reviled⁷ by all.

　　"If I had stolen the Indies and had given them to the Moors⁹ I could nothave had greater enmity shown to me in Spain." Columbus would haveliked then to give up the business if he could have come before the queen.

　　However he persisted, and he says he "undertook a new voyage to the newheaven and the new earth which before had been hidden, and if it is notappreciated in Spain as much as the other countries of India it is notsurprising, because it is all owing to my industry." He "had believed thatthe voyage to Paria would reconcile all because of the pearls and gold inthe islands of Espanola." He says, "I caused those of our people whom Ihad left there to come together and fish for pearls, and arranged that Ishould return and take from them what had been collected, as I understood,in measure a fanega (about a bushel). If I have not written this to theirHighnesses it is because I wished also to have as much of gold. But thatfled before me, as all other things; I would not have lost them and with them my honor, if I could have busied myself with my own affairs.

　　"When I went to San Domingo I found almost half of the colonyuprising, and they made war upon me as a Moor⁸, and the Indians on theother side were no less cruel.

　　"Hojida came and he tried to make order, and he said that theirHighnesses had sent him with promises of gifts and grants and money. Hemade up a large company, for in all Espanola there were few men whowere not vagabonds, and no one lived there who had wife or children."Hojida retired¹⁰ with threats.

　　"Then Vincente Ganez came with four ships. There were outbreaksand suspicions but no damage." He reported that six other ships under abrother of the Alcalde would arrive, and also the death of the queen, butthese were rumors¹¹ without foundation.

　　"Adrian (Mogica) attempted to go away as before, but our Lord didnot permit him to carry out his bad plan." Here Columbus regrets that hewas obliged to use force or ill-treat Adrian, but says he would have donethe same had his brother wished to kill him or wrest¹² from him thegovernment which the king and queen had given him to guard.

　　"For six months I was ready to leave to take to their Highnesses thegood news of the gold and to stop governing a dissolute people who fearedneither king nor queen, full of meanness and malice¹³. I would have beenable to pay all the people with six hundred thousand maravedis and forthat there were more than four millions of tithes¹⁴ without counting the thirdpart of the gold."Columbus says that be begged before his departure that they wouldsend some one at his expense to take command, and yet again a subjectwith letters, for he says bitterly that he has such a singular reputation thatif he "were building churches and hospitals they would say they were cellsfor stolen goods."Then Bobadilla came to Santo Domingo while Columbus was atLaVega and the Adelantado at Jaragua. "The second day of his arrival hedeclared himself governor, created magistrates¹⁵, made offices, publishedgrants for gold and tithes, and everything else for a term of twenty years."He said he had come to pay the people, and declared he would send Columbus home in irons. Columbus was away. Letters with favors weresent to others, but none to him. Columbus resorted to methods to gain timeso that their Highnesses could understand the state of things. But he wasconstantly maligned¹⁶ and persecuted¹⁷ by those who were jealous of him. Hesays:

　　"I think that you will remember that when the tempest threw me intothe port of Lisbon, after having lost my sails, I was accused of having theintention to give India to that country. Afterwards their Highnesses knewto the contrary. Although I know but little, I cannot conceive that any onewould suppose me so stupid as not to know that though India mightbelong to me, yet I could not keep it without the help of a prince."Columbus complains that he has been judged as a governor who hasbeen sent to a peaceful, well-regulated province. He says, "I ought to bejudged as a captain sent from Spain to the Indies to conquer a warlikepeople, whose custom and religion are all opposed to ours, where thepeople live in the mountains without regular houses for themselves, andwhere, by the will of God, I have placed under the rule of the king andqueen another world, and by which Spain, which calls itself poor, is todaythe richest empire. I ought to be judged as a captain who for many yearsbears arms incessantly¹⁸.

　　"I know well that the errors that I have committed have not been withbad intentions, and I think that their Highnesses will believe what I say;but I know and see that they use pity for those who work against them.""If, nevertheless, their Highnesses order that another shall judge me,which I hope will not be, and this ought to be on an examination made inIndia, I humbly¹⁹ beg of them to send there two conscientious²⁰ andrespectable people, at my expense, which may know easily that one findsfive marcs of gold in four hours. However that may be, it is very necessarythat they should go there."

1 indignities   

n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The soldiers who were captured suffered many indignities at the hands of the enemy. 被俘的士兵在敌人手中受尽侮辱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What sort of indignities would he be forced to endure? 他会被迫忍受什么样的侮辱呢？ 来自辞典例句

2 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

3 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

4 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

7 reviled   

v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The tramp reviled the man who drove him off. 流浪汉辱骂那位赶他走开的人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The old man reviled against corruption. 那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

9 moors   

v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• the North York moors 北约克郡的漠泽
• They're shooting grouse up on the moors. 他们在荒野射猎松鸡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

11 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 wrest   

n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲

参考例句：

• The officer managed to wrest the gun from his grasp.警官最终把枪从他手中夺走了。
• You wrest my words out of their real meaning.你曲解了我话里的真正含义。

13 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

14 tithes   

n.（宗教捐税）什一税，什一的教区税，小部分( tithe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For your tithes and offerings, please use the envelopes at the entrance. 什一捐款及奉献：奉献信封摆放于入口处。 来自互联网
• Although she left the church officially, she still tithes. 虽然她正式离开了该教堂，但她仍然对教堂缴纳什一税。 来自互联网

15 magistrates   

地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to come up before the magistrates 在地方法院出庭
• He was summoned to appear before the magistrates. 他被传唤在地方法院出庭。

16 maligned   

vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• She feels she has been much maligned by the press. 她觉得她遭到了新闻界的恣意诽谤。
• We maligned him dreadfully when you come to think of it. 回头想想，我们狠狠地中伤了他。 来自辞典例句

17 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

18 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

19 humbly   

adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地

参考例句：

• We humbly beg Your Majesty to show mercy. 我们恳请陛下发发慈悲。
• "You must be right, Sir,'said John humbly. “你一定是对的，先生，”约翰恭顺地说道。

20 conscientious   

adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的

参考例句：

• He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责，也很懂行。
• He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。