Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) A Novel

mmovability, now had to abandon the Mare Nostrum and suffer the

m Naples, crushed with silent melancholia. He wished to die. During the trip they had to keep sharp watch so

ced the death of Esteban Ferragut in the torpedoing of the Californian. The commercial traveler was still relating everywhere his version of the event, co

ened to present himself

re, surrounding Cinta a

e mother was groaning,

nsolations and recommendations of resignation. She ought to think of the father: she was

d just at t

cried in desperati

It was his fault that the boy had undertaken the crazy journey at whose end death was awaiting him….. The devout Cinta looked upon this misfortune as a chastisement from God, alway

as though this emotion were not enough, he received the news a few hours later of his capt

officials of merchant vessels, he found Ferragut seated

n and faded, beard unkempt, and a manif

i!…

certain relief. The presence of his faithful officer brought him back to life. Forgotten memories of business journeys c

s secret: he was the only one to whom he ha

Esteban!…

legal trip whose memory was weighing him down like a monstrous crime. But Toni was discreet.

know that nothing is gained by

might have believed that he had entirely forgotten it. Not the slightest gesture, not a gleam in his eyes, reveal

recovered his strength and a few days after, abandoned the room in which

sidered until then with the protecting superiority of the Orientals who do not recognize

desperate weeping, as though the presence of her husband brought into higher relief the image of her son whom

That was her duty. From childhood, she had known what are the obligations of the wife of the captain of a ship when he stops at home for a few days, like a bird of passage. But back of such attentions, Ulysses divined the presence of an immovable obstacle. It was som

band was near her, but giving herself up freely to grief when she was a

on, and desiring to illuminate Cinta's twilight existence with a pale ray of sunlight, ventured to caress her as in the early days of their marriage. She d

curved with wrath and a flash of madness in her eyes. All that she was guarding in the dep

ove you: I cannot love you…. The wrong that you have done me!… I who loved you so much!… However much you may hunt i

of supine and tolerant fidelity, now issued

among your books, the allusions of your comrades, your smiles of pride, the satisfied air with which you many times returned, the series of new manners and additional care of your p

or a few moments, letting the blush

er weeping and pitied her simplicity. There is no use weeping for what men do in distant lands. It is always bitt

heir progress. Now he had become enamored with the enthusiasm of a husky boy with an elegant and handsome dame, with a foreign woman who had made him forget his business, abandon his ship, and remain away, as though renouncing h

at woman of Naples, whom she believed a great lady with all the attractions of wealth and high birth. She

f, and my son was living at my side…. And now I shall never see him again!… My fate is to live eternally alone. You know very well that I

t improbable reasons for explain

death I wished to throw myself off the balcony. I am still living because I am a Christian, but what an existence awaits me!

out strength to repeat the confused and lying protes

h!" the voice of remorse

he had been of assistance to the assassins of their son…. And the conviction that she never would know it made him admit her words wit

d out, consumed by its own violence. Her sobs cut short her words. Her husband would never

ng inevitable…. As soon as I hear your footsteps, the truth springs forth. I realize that my son has died because of you, that he would still be living had he not gone in search of you, trying to make you realize that yo

he reminder of death filled everything, intervening between him and Cinta, pushing him away, forcing him again on the sea. His vessel was the only ref

herself to him as an entirely new being. He would never have suspected such energy of character, such passionate vehemence, in his sw

he man since the days of his courtship. Besides, it offended him to see him in his home with a certain air

all the famous Don Juans,-liberal and care-free when in far-

inta. It is a platonic passion: with him, it couldn't be anything el

g of poor Esteban as though he were his own son, and casting servile smiles upon the c

ures were accented with a vigorous ugliness. At that

ofessor. His namesake, old Ulysses, upon returning to his palace, had found

re than one suitor, but this Ulysses swears to you that he wi

and on paper. In reality they now seemed to him most dangerous brutes, and he wrote a letter to

ented it as an offense against herself. After having made

sphere, which was only sharpening his remorse, he would pile on

offered his services to the allied navies in order to carry food to the fleet in the

to find trips equally productive and much

st of my life to doing all the evil that I can to the assassins of my

"Besides, they pay well. These trips are very r

d the Mare Nostrum, the mate made a scornfu

inued Ulysses, smiling

your ideals…. We are

ubl

r the Dardanelles. Ferragut wished to sail alone without the

t remorse, nor did it appear as disloyal to him. The German corsairs were coming closer to their prey, displaying neutral flags, in order to deceive. The submarines were remaining hid

s. He trusted in the speed of the

ur path," he said to his second, "

d his vessel upon the submersible a

onths before when the captains knew all its secrets; he could n

ithout seeing each other, with their eyes turned on the sea, scanning the heaving blue surface

e vessel, now provoked cries of attention, and many arms were outstretched, pointing it out. Bits of sticks, empty preserve cans sparkling in the sunlight, bunches of

ere traveling with few lights or completely dark. The sentinels on the bridge were no longer scanning the surface of the sea with its pale phosphorescence

ed in his stateroom, instantly t

an!… M

es were fu

t it would be impossible to carry it through, but it was a momentary conso

him a shameful reversion. He admired the beauty of this apparition, a thrill passing over his body as their past intercourse recurred to him…. And at the same time that other

e put the fragments together again an

at other one, of the pretended diplomat, of that von Kramer who perhaps had directed the torpedo which had blown his son to atom

e bridge he felt better…. And with a humble condescension, such as his mate had never known before, he would talk and talk, en

ents sent by the ocean into the Mediterranean, at certain tim

and rivers could bring to it, would become dry in a few centuries. It had been calculated that it might disappear in abo

m the Black Sea, which on returning to the Mediterranean accumulated from the rains and the discharge of its rivers, more water than it lost by evaporation, sending it across the Bosporous

ry winds nor reflex motion could stop them. Sailboats sometimes had to wait entire months

Gibraltar more than fifty days, going backwards and forwards until a favor

discovered Indies, and the Catalan or the Genoese ships would remain here in the strait weeks and weeks, struggling with the wind and the contrary current while the Galicians,

in. What he must have learned in tho

but the Asiatic peoples were not able to master the art of navigation in their few seas whose coasts were very far a

he might set his sails, he would be sure to reach some hospitable shore. The fresh and irregular breezes revolved with the sun at certain times of the year. The hurricane whirled across its bowl, but never stopped. There wer

nuraghs of Sardinia and the talayots of the Balearic Islands,-gigantic tables formed with blocks, barbaric altars of enormous rocks which recalled the Celtic obelisks

f a stick, with no other aid than a single rudimentary sail spread to the fresh breeze. The navy of the first Europeans had been lik

ry advance of this hesitating marine over the Mediterranean had represented greater expenditure of audacity and energy than the discovery of America or the first voyage around the world…. These primitive sailors did not go forth alone to

e sailing exodus, entire fleets of rough rafts swallowed up by the abyss in a few moments, families dying c

inds used to impose a religious terror on those warriors of the sea, reunited in order to fall upon Troy. Their ships remained chained an entire year in the

were singing sirens who, with their music, attracted ships in order to dash them to pieces. There was not

s, mankind had attributed to the

ot of a hillock crowned with the remains of a Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine or Saracen castle, or with a fortress contemporary with the Crusades. In other centuries these had been famous ports; before their walls had taken place naval battles; now from their ruined acropolis one could scarcely

r to divert the course of its waters so as to convert it into an inland city, thereby ruining its fleets and its traffic. The Genoese, triumphant over Pisa, stopped up its harbor with the sands of the Arno; and the

nged the commercial routes and histo

was the unheard-of epic of Roger de Flor which he had known from childhood through the stories told him by the poet

were furthering the great military operation that was developing opposite Gallipoli. The name of the long, narrow maritime pass which separates Europe

e," said Ferragut with

r many years by the Cat

our cities governed b

tan

f Athens and Neopatria in the city of Pericles and Minerva. The chronicles of the Oriental Middle Ages, the books of Byzantine chivalry, the fantastic tales of the Arab do not contain more im

ventures of Roger de Flor around Gallipoli, "the Spanish duchy of Athens

e where the red haze of distant promontori

and its code was "The book of Usages and Customs of the City of Barcelona." The Catalan tongue ruled as the offici

st monument of Minerva converted into a Christian church, had not undergone any oth

he Te Deum was sung for eighty years in honor of the Arago

s not remain on the Grecian land any trace of their dominion,-edifices, seals, nor c

s," said Ferragut. "'May the vengeance of the Catalans overta

he clash of western crudeness, almost savage but frank and noble, against the refined malice and d

, while his ship was navigating through the black night and bounding over the dark sea accompanied by the throbbing

deserts and from the gap of Gibraltar tempestuously mingled their atmospheric currents. The waters boxed in among the numerous islands of the Grecian archipelago

standing immovable near him and also covered with a waterproof coat that was spouting moisture from every fold. The rain was streaking with light,

lads enveloped in floating veils of smoke. There came to their ears, like incessant thu

ey had only to throw into the strait a quantity of floating mines and the blue river which slipped by the Dardanelles would drag these toward the boats, destroying them with an infernal explosion. On the coast of Tenedos t

iny night, when the faint streaks of dawn were beginning to dissipate th

. Then he recognized the roadstead, a vast aquatic extension with a frame of sandy bars and pools reflecting the uncertain life of daybreak. The recently awakened sea-gulls were flying in

, their peaks sparkling with the fires of Aurora. As the vessel advanced, the morning clouds vanished, and Salonica became entirely v

uses with gold-lettered signs, hotels, banks, moving-picture shows, concert halls, and a massive tower

eets climbing to the hillock above, crossing the Grecian, Mohammedan and Jewish quarters

ession of terraces; the Mohammedan minaret formed a colonnade, white, sharp and slender. Modern life had added factory chimneys and the arms of steam-cranes which gave an anachronistic effect to this decoration of an Oriental harbor. Around the city and its acropolis was the plain which lost itself i

usands of men were encamped around the city, occupying new villages made of canvas, rectangular streets of tents, cities o

ring places, parks of artillery with their cannon upraised like the tubes of a telescope, enormous birds with yellow wings that were trying to sk

d mistaken adventure of the Dardanelles or proceeding from Mar

iven a much greater activity to this port than in times of peace. Steamers of a

provinces, unending herds of oxen and horses, tons upon tons of steel, prepared for deadly work, and human crowds lacking only a tail of women and children to

vessels, but now commandeered by military necessity, were dirty and greasy and used as cargo boats. Lined up, drowsing along the docks, ready to begin their work, were new hospital ships,

stance from their hulls. A damaged steamer lay on its side, with only the keel submerged, all its red exterior exposed to the air; on its water-line there had opened a breach,

g its cargo under Toni's supervision, p

e little mosques with their patios of cypresses and fountains of melancholy tinkling; the tombs of Mohammedan dervishes in kiosks which block the streets under the pale reflection of a lam

treet of modern Salonica. Still a part of its pavement remained and appeared gloriously obstructed by an ar

touched elbows with the foreign troops. The allied governments had sent out a call to the professional combatants and volunteers of their colonies. The black sharpshooters from the center of Africa showed thei

e corner of Greece where were again repeated the invasions of remote centuries which had m

he neighborhood of Salonica, composed of various races and religions that were mingled together without confusing their individuality. Files of black tunics and hats with brimless crowns passed through the streets, near the Catholic priests or the rabbis with their long, loose gowns. In the out

uropean fashions, usually wore a picturesque garment that recalled the Spanish apparel of the Middle Ages. Here they were not mere brokers or traders as in the rest of the world. The necessities of the city dominated by them had made them pick up all the professions, becoming

y to Captain Ferragut. "My ancestors we

t of terror in them, and they feared that upon seeing them return, the present-day Spaniards wo

his first voyage, discovering the Indies, the Jews were expelled from the Spanish peninsula, and Nebrija brought out the firs

ains used to gather together. These were the only ones wearing civilian clothes among the crowds of land

an that of the men of war, who were able to return blow for blow. All the officers of the different fleets, seated near them, had at their disposition cannon, ram, torpedo, great speed and aerial telegraphy. These valorous muleteers of the sea defied the enemy in d

ance of a submarine, the torpedo missing aim a few yards away, the flight at full speed while being shelled by their pu

ey would always conclude, "it would

une in their vessel, completely alone, preferring free and wary navigation to the journey in convo

heir luxurious staterooms converted into dormitories for the troops, their polished decks that had been turned into stables, their dining-room where they used to sit among people in dress su

, more careless than before, worse dressed, with the military slovenliness of the

n to pursue the submersible. They wore oilskins and tarpaulins, just like the North Sea fishermen, smacking of fuel and tempestuous water. They would pass weeks and weeks on the sea whatever the weather, sleeping in the bo

y for the inland march. As he did not wish to go away without seeing the lad he

th other boys devoted to singing Los Segadores and perturbing the tranquillity of the "Consul of Spain" sent by Madrid. The son of the p

of the family. A boy that had such a great future in his father's factory!… And then he had related to Ulysses with shaking voice and moist eyes the achievements of his son,-wounded i

repeated Blanes. "Tell him that his mother i

obtain a permit and an old automobile with whi

ies of automobiles, were rolling over recently opened roads that the rain had converted into mir

ehicle frequently had to stop in order to make way for interminable files of trucks. At other times machine

er, Genghis-Khan, all the leaders of men who had made their advance carrying villages en masse behind their horses, transforming the servants of the ear

o other volunteers, an Andulasian and a South American,-the three unite

er a sail-cloth awning before boxes that had contained munitions and were converted into office tables. This

"Three Musketeers," He wished to treat them to the very best which the canteen afforded, so the proprietor produce

mer existence. Boiled by the sun and the inclemency of the weather, habituated to the hard li

arms were sticking out to an ungainly degree from the sleeves of their coats, already too short for them. The rude gym

ould see him thus, made into a soldier like his cousin! See him

a merchant bent upon adventure should be, was talking of the daring deeds of the troops of the Orient with all the enthusiasm of his twenty-two years. There

venge Roger de Flo

parable only to the retrospective memory of the poet Labarta and that

s, Czechs, Jugo-Slavs…. And very simply, as though he were saying something indisputable, he included Catalunia among the people who were weeping tears of blood under the lashes of the tyrant. Thereup

of vision. He was not near-sighted and egoistic like his friend, "the Catalan." He was giving

ance because it is th

history makes no differ

, but dating from the

r mine and the prope

ds, searching for a mo

ptain, because of

elet and the romantic foretop of Lamartine upon a double pedestal

concluded the lad triumphantly, "beca

ican was probably hiding in his knapsack a blank b

country in ruins. Blanes, the son of a middle-class citizen, used to admire him for his more distinguished family. The day of the mobilization he had gone to Paris

in uniform, should devote a few tears of admiration and astonishment to him. He had felt the necessity of producing a touching effect upon all the ladies that had danced the ta

e is lasting to

m much; for him the terrible things were the vermin, the impossibility of changing

is enthusiasm with

ly in Paris do the women know how to dress. Those Germans,

to add anything to th

es conquered by the bayonet. A rain of projectiles had fallen incessantly upon them. They had had t

his companions had excavated pitchers, statuettes, and plates centuries old. At other times, when opening trenches that had served as cemeteries for Turks, they had hacked into repulsive bit

with my nose touching the intestines of a Turk who had died two weeks before…. No, war is not chi

broken camp and was now situated several kilometers further inland, opposite the first Bulgarian

ling Cape Croisette, and noting the vast maritime curves opening out before the prow. In the center of it was an abrupt

rs of the mare nostrum. In its bay with choppy waves were various yellowish islands f

ation of gray edifices upon which sparkled the Byzantian domes of the new cathedral. Around Marseilles there opened out a semi-circle of dry and barren heights brightly colored by the sun of Provenc

glistened like a shaft of fire on the top of Notre-Dame-de-la-

used to say gayly. "I invite you

famous restaurant of the port, its twilight shadows smelling of shell-fish and spicy sauc

h kindly but sad eyes. He could see himself disembarking there that last time,

arseilles, penetrating like an aquatic knife into the heart of its clustered homes. The city extended along the wharves. It was an enormous stretch of water into wh

this obstacle which made the waves foam and roar were eight roomy communicating harbors stretching from Joliette at the entrance to

f every epoch. Near to the enormous transatlantic liners were some very ancient tartans and

, Egyptians. Many had kept their original costume and to this varied picturesque garb was united a diversity of tongues, some of them mysterious and well-nigh extinct. As though i

ong past groups of pedestrians and carts that were waiting the closing of the steel drawbrid

iced the great transformation which

ares no longer existed. On the wharves there were piled up only

ent double as though dying under the rain or the breeze of the Mistral. They were working with red caps pulled down over their ears, and at the slightest suspension of their labor would hasten to put their hands in the pockets of their co

by the thousands, pairs of gray wheels, the support of cannons and trucks; boxes as big as dwellings that contained aeroplanes; huge pieces of steel that served as scaffolding for heav

s,-rosy and happy, in spite of their captivity, still wearing their uniforms of green cabbage color, with round caps on their shaved heads. The

Two-thirds of the hull, usually hidden in the water, were now in evidence, showing the bright red of their curved shell. Only the keel kept itself in the water. The upper third, that which remained visible abov

land and France had mobilized their tramp ships and were beginning to supply them with means of defense. Some of them had not been able to

acted by the famous Cannebiere, that engulfing road

awnings as though they were the sails of a vessel. The Mistral was approaching and every owner of an establishment was ordering this maneuver in o

s, tall, slender Hindoos with coppery complexion and thick fan-shaped beards, Senegalese sharpshooters of a glistening black, and Anammite marksmen with round yellow countenance and eyes forming a triangle. There was a continual proces

before the Palace of the Bourse he shot a glance at the statue of the two great Marseillaise navigators,-Eutymenes and Pytas,-the most remote a

ats were easily able to overcome the obstacles of the Strait of Cadiz without being obliged to wait weeks until the violence of the current sent by the Atlantic should abate. Industrialism was born and inland factories sent forward, over the recently-installed railroads, a downpour of products that the fleets were transp

calm mornings it was a yellowish green and smelled slightly of stale water,-organic water, animal water.

wish foam. The boats would begin to dance, creaking and tugging at their hawsers. Between their hulls and the vertical surfa

arine-chasers, robust and short little steamers, constructed for fishing, that carried quickfirers on their prows. All these vessels were painted

th their wisps of horizontal smoke toward the point where they expected to surprise the periscope of the enemy hidden between two waters. There was no weather bad enough to terrify them or make them drowsy.

may still be seen some ruined palaces of the merchants and privateers of other centuries. On the

fantry, recently disembarked or convalescing from wounds, young soldiers with red caps and long cloaks of mustard yellow. The Zouaves of Algiers conversed with them in a Spanish spattered with Arabian and French. Negro youths who worked as stokers in the vessels, came up the steep, narrow streets with

at the end of these evil smelling ditches occupied by abandoned womanhood, there opened out a great space of light and blue color where could be seen little white sailboats, anchored at the foot of the hill, a sheet of sparkling water and the houses of the opposite wharf diminished by the distance. Through other gaps appeare

old district, the sailor returned to the center of the city

ar in the Cannebiere, he turned his head with a p

aven gentleman whose aspect was that of an Englishman careful of his personal appearance.

ll this man. He was almost sure of never having seen him before. His shaven face, his eyes of a metallic g

the rapidity with which he withdrew his g

Englishman presented itself to his imagination with the distinct relief of reality. He could see it more clearly than in the dying splendor of the Cannebière…. He passed with in

p without giving the slightest answer to his questioning. Then, findin

aptain would be going through the city without any thought of that individual, but on entering the C

nk. "Where have I seen him before?… Because there i

ome one whose back resembled the haunting unknown. One afternoon he felt sure that he recognized him in a hired carriage whose horse w

al and immediate were demanding his attention. His boat was ready; they were going to se

ent ashore without any thought of

r, born in Cartagena, the gay, brilliant chromos on the walls representing bullfights, the newspapers from Madrid, forgo

our later, he left the barber-shop, tearing himself away from the interminable farewells of

es of a cathedral, still exhaled the strong odors of the wares which they had kept in times of

harf with its mountains of merchandise, its squadrons of black stevedores, wagons and carts. On beyond were the hulls of the ships sustaining their grove of masts an

ement awakened the captain's curiosity, sharpening his senses. Suddenly he had a presentiment that this pedestrian was his Englishman, though dressed differently and with les

with him. Then he broke into a run, finding that he was alone in t

hich amounted almost to flight. Before him was a ridge of bundles piled up in uneven ro

?…" And just as he was formulating this question, the other one slowed down

on the sidewalk of the Cannebiere, and now that there was between the two a distance of some fifty yards, now that the other was fleeing an

counterfeit Russian count, he was sure of that,-shaven and disguised, who undoubtedly was "operating" in Marseil

, the captain now beheld his infamous existence in Naples, his expedition in the schooner carrying supplies to the submarines and then the torpedo w

e harbor of Valencia. He recalled his story of a certain night of Egyptian orgy in a low caf

ident, disarmed, without means of attack. In other ports he would have come ashore with a revolver in the pocket of his trousers…. But in Marseilles! He was not even carrying

n was overwhelming him. To kill!… He did not k

taging a prehistoric struggle,-the animal fight before mankind had invented the club. Perhaps that other man was hiding

s though he might have been in the desert, at full speed. The instinct of attack made him stoop, grasp a piece o

e, perceiving the hostile pursuit, was also running

at were seeing everything red finally managed to distinguish a few black faces and some white ones…. They

e people were only concerned with the aggressor, letting the one who was fleeing go free.

spy!… A B

d voice and never did his word of

spy

e boats, vibrating even beyond the reach of the eye, permeating everywhere with the confusion and rapidity of sound waves. "A spy!…" Men came running with redou

boxes and bundles…. They were like the greyhounds that follow the windings of the forest, making the stag come out in the open field, like the ferrets that slip along through the subterranean valleys, obliging the hare to return to the light of day. The fugitive, surrounded in a labyrinth of passageways, colliding with enemies at every turn, c

him firmly, and a convex semi-circle following his footsteps in irregular pursui

is eyes around him with the expression of an animal at bay,

raised a beam of wood which he was grasping as a club. The spy's hand, displaying a bit of paper between the fingers, was hastily raised toward his m

sketched with the outline of the Mediterranean. The entire sea was laid out in squares like a chess board and in the center of each of these squares there was a num

f the discovery. "Indeed he was a spy!" This affirmation awakened the joy of cap

were constantly encountering the treacherous submarine traps. "Ah, the ban

t could see him close by, with one temple spotted with blood and a cold and hau

ached, believing that it would still be possible to lie out of it. But the paper that he had tr

tain. The officer of the military caste reappeared, looking haughtily at his u

ly with a glacial and disdainful insolence. His

e insult of the man of the superior hierarchy to his faithless servant; the pride of the nobl

lent eyes and murmuring, voic

ess, but his wrath was cold and self-contai

nsulting him, shaking his fist at him. His glance sustained that

n to a thousand atoms by the t

ression. His lips separated, emitti

h!

ter hung his head. The vociferating crowd was shoving and carrying him along with

the Mare Nostrum sai