登陆注册
5380100000122

第122章 RENEWED INVASION OF SAVAGES(6)

The two men had innumerable young trees planted about their huts, so that, when you came to the place, nothing was to be seen but a wood; and though they had twice had their plantation demolished, once by their own countrymen, and once by the enemy, as shall be shown in its place, yet they had restored all again, and everything was thriving and flourishing about them; they had grapes planted in order, and managed like a vineyard, though they had themselves never seen anything of that kind; and by their good ordering their vines, their grapes were as good again as any of the others.They had also found themselves out a retreat in the thickest part of the woods, where, though there was not a natural cave, as I had found, yet they made one with incessant labour of their hands, and where, when the mischief which followed happened, they secured their wives and children so as they could never be found; they having, by sticking innumerable stakes and poles of the wood which, as I said, grew so readily, made the grove impassable, except in some places, when they climbed up to get over the outside part, and then went on by ways of their own leaving.

As to the three reprobates, as I justly call them, though they were much civilised by their settlement compared to what they were before, and were not so quarrelsome, having not the same opportunity; yet one of the certain companions of a profligate mind never left them, and that was their idleness.It is true, they planted corn and made fences; but Solomon's words were never better verified than in them, "I went by the vineyard of the slothful, and it was all overgrown with thorns": for when the Spaniards came to view their crop they could not see it in some places for weeds, the hedge had several gaps in it, where the wild goats had got in and eaten up the corn; perhaps here and there a dead bush was crammed in, to stop them out for the present, but it was only shutting the stable-door after the steed was stolen.Whereas, when they looked on the colony of the other two, there was the very face of industry and success upon all they did; there was not a weed to be seen in all their corn, or a gap in any of their hedges; and they, on the other hand, verified Solomon's words in another place, "that the diligent hand maketh rich"; for everything grew and thrived, and they had plenty within and without; they had more tame cattle than the others, more utensils and necessaries within doors, and yet more pleasure and diversion too.

It is true, the wives of the three were very handy and cleanly within doors; and having learned the English ways of dressing, and cooking from one of the other Englishmen, who, as I said, was a cook's mate on board the ship, they dressed their husbands'

victuals very nicely and well; whereas the others could not be brought to understand it; but then the husband, who, as I say, had been cook's mate, did it himself.But as for the husbands of the three wives, they loitered about, fetched turtles' eggs, and caught fish and birds: in a word, anything but labour; and they fared accordingly.The diligent lived well and comfortably, and the slothful hard and beggarly; and so, I believe, generally speaking, it is all over the world.

But I now come to a scene different from all that had happened before, either to them or to me; and the origin of the story was this: Early one morning there came on shore five or six canoes of Indians or savages, call them which you please, and there is no room to doubt they came upon the old errand of feeding upon their slaves; but that part was now so familiar to the Spaniards, and to our men too, that they did not concern themselves about it, as I did: but having been made sensible, by their experience, that their only business was to lie concealed, and that if they were not seen by any of the savages they would go off again quietly, when their business was done, having as yet not the least notion of there being any inhabitants in the island; I say, having been made sensible of this, they had nothing to do but to give notice to all the three plantations to keep within doors, and not show themselves, only placing a scout in a proper place, to give notice when the boats went to sea again.

This was, without doubt, very right; but a disaster spoiled all these measures, and made it known among the savages that there were inhabitants there; which was, in the end, the desolation of almost the whole colony.After the canoes with the savages were gone off, the Spaniards peeped abroad again; and some of them had the curiosity to go to the place where they had been, to see what they had been doing.Here, to their great surprise, they found three savages left behind, and lying fast asleep upon the ground.It was supposed they had either been so gorged with their inhuman feast, that, like beasts, they were fallen asleep, and would not stir when the others went, or they had wandered into the woods, and did not come back in time to be taken in.

The Spaniards were greatly surprised at this sight and perfectly at a loss what to do.The Spaniard governor, as it happened, was with them, and his advice was asked, but he professed he knew not what to do.As for slaves, they had enough already; and as to killing them, there were none of them inclined to do that: the Spaniard governor told me they could not think of shedding innocent blood;

同类推荐
  • 靖康稗史笺证

    靖康稗史笺证

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 金刚顶瑜伽经十八会指归

    金刚顶瑜伽经十八会指归

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 云蕉馆纪谈

    云蕉馆纪谈

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 思益梵天所问经

    思益梵天所问经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说懈怠耕者经

    佛说懈怠耕者经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 中原匪事

    中原匪事

    一曲绿林好汉的慷慨悲歌、一组山寨兴衰的历史写真、一段不屈男儿的抗倭实录、一部让人扼腕的土匪传记!逢乱局,武装势力相互倾轧;为爱情,土匪头子九死一生;打日寇,众杆子视死如归;遇饥荒,山寨弟兄设场放饭;报大恩,土匪神枪手投奔新四军;为私利,国军师长射杀胞妹;救苍生,文弱秀才勇闯敌营;顾大局,压寨夫人慷慨赴义;不屈服,众英雄挺身跳崖……陈传龙,河南省作协会员,散文、小说散见于报刊,散文《山妞》获第二届全国吴伯箫散文奖,《裸女》获第三届长江杯网络小说大赛中短篇赛区冠军,《疯女》获第四届中短篇赛区亚军。
  • 周少的学霸甜妻

    周少的学霸甜妻

    重生学霸小甜妻,智慧美貌数第一。周少不嫌媳妇小,一口叼来吃到老。上辈子被亲妈亲姐诬陷作弊退学,被渣男骗婚,被夺夫,被侮辱……一直到死,江意都再也没有爬起过。重回13岁,江意决定抓学习做状元,赚钱报仇两不误,一路虐渣打脸蹿升到旁人可望不可及的高度,先爽了再说!某冷面周少勾唇一笑:好,我让你身、心都爽。江意:……一句话,女主重生要爽爽爽,男主甜宠无度让女主身心都爽爽爽!
  • 神魄榜

    神魄榜

    星魄大陆每个人都有一种名为神魄的精神物质,而这个大陆所有强大的职业都需要神魄发出的特殊能量为基础。
  • 明伦汇编交谊典同年部

    明伦汇编交谊典同年部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 如果相思听得见

    如果相思听得见

    十八岁前,她是被他宠上天的小流氓;十八岁后,她是被他改造了的小绵羊。沈boss这辈子最得意的事情,就是成功把一只野猫训成了听话的宠物猫。
  • 缺陷管理

    缺陷管理

    不怕企业有缺陷,就怕企业无视缺陷。让本书给你的企业做一个全面的体检,清倒企业垃圾,重塑完美企业管理。
  • 罪与罪

    罪与罪

    本书选自希区柯克短篇故事集,包括《罪与罪》《三角游戏》《报复》等十余篇短篇小说,文字简洁平实,情节曲折跌宕,结局却出人意料,并且往往让读者有一种身临其境的感觉。小说具有较高的可读性,富于现代特点,符合当下阅读习惯及阅读趋向,颇受年青一代欢迎。
  • 龙妻

    龙妻

    书生柳月水是个妻管严,因为婚后无子,四处求神拜佛。这日进入龙女庙祭拜,不想破解开龙女神的姻缘线,与此产生感情纠缠。二人杀妖怪,救孕妇,通鬼魂,斗恶敌,发生一段段精彩的故事。
  • CEO谈管理

    CEO谈管理

    《CEO谈管理》作者以自己二十年私企高管的亲身经历,向大家讲述了奋斗在私企一线的职业人士所经历的许多鲜为人知的决策内幕以及其中的玄机。作者将那些每天发生在管理者身边的平凡“琐事”提炼成一个个具体的管理问题,并且将作者自己的感悟与读者共享,为大家遇到的职场中的管理问题提供解决之道,以此帮助管理者规避职业风险,提高分析判断能力。本书共分为6章40节,根据事件的共性进行分类。书中所叙案例,大多发生在民营企业,是作者从业20年中,以人力资源经理、总经理助理、董事长助理、副总经理和执行总裁等中高层管理者身份亲身经历和处置的一些实例。
  • 梁启超讲国学

    梁启超讲国学

    《梁启超讲国学》有侧重、有针对性地选取了梁启超著述中的相关内容,以通俗易懂的语言并辅以故事性的叙述方式,来做解读。这些内容包括史学、文学、儒学、佛学、法学和教育、修养、伦理等诸方面。我们之所以采用这样的方式,是希望通过本书能让初接触的读者一看就入门,让有基础的读者一看就能见微知著,从而更上一层楼。