42. CHAPTER XLII.
The three canoes still gliding on, some further particulars
were narrated concerning Dominora; and incidentally, of
other isles.
It seems that his love of wide dominion sometimes led
the otherwise sagacious Bello into the most extravagant actions.
If the chance accumulation of soil and drift-wood
about any detached shelf of coral in the lagoon held forth
the remotest possibility of the eventual existence of an islet
there, with all haste he dispatched canoes to the spot, to
take prospective possession of the as yet nearly sub-marine
territory; and if possible, eject the zoophytes.
During an unusually low tide, here and there baring the
outer reef of the Archipelago, Bello caused his royal spear to
be planted upon every place thus exposed, in token of his
supreme claim thereto.
Another anecdote was this: that to Dominora there came
a rumor, that in a distant island dwelt a man with an uncommonly
large nose; of most portentous dimensions, indeed;
by the soothsayers supposed to foreshadow some dreadful
calamity. But disregarding these superstitious conceits,
Bello forthwith dispatched an agent, to discover whether
this huge promontory of a nose was geographically available;
if so, to secure the same, by bringing the proprietor
back.
Now, by sapient old Mohi, it was esteemed a very
happy thing for Mardi at large, that the subjects whom
Bello sent to populate his foreign acquisitions, were but too
apt to throw off their vassalage, so soon as they deemed
themselves able to cope with him.
Indeed, a fine country in the western part of Mardi, in
this very manner, became a sovereign—nay, a republican
state. It was the nation to which Mohi had previously
alluded—Vivenza. But in the flush and pride of having
recently attained their national majority, the men of Vivenza
were perhaps too much inclined to carry a vauntful crest.
And because intrenched in their fastnesses, after much protracted
fighting, they had eventually succeeded in repelling
the warriors dispatched by Bello to crush their insurrection,
they were unanimous in the opinion, that the hump-backed
king had never before been so signally chastised. Whereas,
they had not so much vanquished Bello, as defended their
shores; even as a young lion will protect its den against
legions of unicorns, though, away from home, he might be
torn to pieces. In truth, Braid-Beard declared, that at the
time of this war, Dominora couched ten long spears for
every short javelin Vivenza could dart; though the javelins
were stoutly hurled as the spears.
But, superior in men and arms, why, at last, gave over
King Bello the hope of reducing those truculent men of Vivenza?
One reason was, as Mohi said, that many of his
fighting men were abundantly occupied in other quarters of
Mardi; nor was he long in discovering, that fight he never
so valiantly, Vivenza—not yet its inhabitants—was wholly
unconquerable. Thought Bello, Mountains are sturdy foes;
fate hard to dam.
Yet, the men of Vivenza were no dastards; not to lie,
coming from lion-like loins, they were a lion-loined race.
Did not their bards pronounce them a fresh start in the
Mardian species; requiring a new world for their full development?
For be it known, that the great land of Kolumbo,
no inconsiderable part of which was embraced by Vivenza,
was the last island discovered in the Archipelago.
In good round truth, and as if an impartialist from Arcturus
spoke it, Vivenza was a noble land. Like a young
tropic tree she stood, laden down with greenness, myriad
blossoms, and the ripened fruit thick-hanging from one
bough. She was promising as the morning.
Or Vivenza might be likened to St. John, feeding on locusts
and wild honey, and with prophetic voice, crying to
the nations from the wilderness. Or, child-like, standing
among the old robed kings and emperors of the Archipelago,
Vivenza seemed a young Messiah, to whose discourse the
bearded Rabbis bowed.
So seemed Vivenza in its better aspect. Nevertheless,
Vivenza was a braggadocio in Mardi; the only brave one
ever known. As an army of spurred and crested roosters,
her people chanticleered at the resplendent rising of their
sun. For shame, Vivenza! Whence thy undoubted valor?
Did ye not bring it with ye from the bold old shores of
Dominora, where there is a fullness of it left? What isle
but Dominora could have supplied thee with that stiff spine
of thine?—That heart of boldest beat? Oh, Vivenza!
know that true grandeur is too big for a boast; and nations,
as well as men, may be too clever to be great.
But what more of King Bello? Notwithstanding his
territorial acquisitiveness, and aversion to relinquishing stolen
nations, he was yet a glorious old king; rather choleric—a
word and a blow—but of a right royal heart. Rail at him
as they might, at bottom, all the isles were proud of him.
And almost in spite of his rapacity, upon the whole, perhaps,
they were the better for his deeds. For if sometimes he did
evil with no very virtuous intentions, he had fifty ways of
accomplishing good with the best; and a thousand ways of
doing good without meaning it. According to an ancient
oracle, the hump-backed monarch was but one of the most
conspicuous pieces on a board, where the gods played for
their own entertainment.
But here it must not be omitted, that of late, King Bello
had somewhat abated his efforts to extend his dominions.
Various causes were assigned. Some thought it arose from
the fact that already he found his territories too extensive for
one scepter to rule; that his more remote colonies largely
contributed to his tribulations, without correspondingly contributing
to his revenues. Others affirmed that his hump
was getting too mighty for him to carry; others still, that
the nations were waxing too strong for him. With prophetic
solemnity, head-shaking sages averred that he was growing
older and older; had passed his grand climacteric; and
though it was a hale old age with him, yet it was not his
lusty youth; that though he was daily getting rounder, and
rounder in girth, and more florid of face, that these, how-beit,
were rather the symptoms of a morbid obesity, than of
a healthful robustness. These wise ones predicted that very
soon poor Bello would go off in an apoplexy.
But in Vivenza there were certain blusterers, who often
thus prated: “The Hump-back's hour is come; at last the
old teamster will be gored by the nations he's yoked; his
game is done,—let him show his hand and throw up his
scepter; he cumbers Mardi,—let him be cut down and
burned; he stands in the way of his betters,—let him sheer
to one side; he has shut up many eyes, and now himself
grows blind; he hath committed horrible atrocities during
his long career, the old sinner!—now, let him quickly say
his prayers and be beheaded.”
Howbeit, Bello lived on; enjoying his dinners, and taking
his jorums as of yore. Ah, I have yet a jolly long lease
of life, thought he over his wine; and like unto some obstinate
old uncle, he persisted in flourishing, in spite of the
prognostications of the nephew nations, which at his demise,
perhaps hoped to fall heir to odd parts of his possessions:
Three streaks of fat valleys to one of lean mountains!
