The two friars walked along the sandy
beach, as the wind blew through the palm trees and cooled down heat from the
sun. The sea was turquoise and animated. One or two palm trees on the left
guarding a jungle, bowed down on them here and there. A paradise indeed, which was slowly coming to
a cruel end like the rest of Hispaniola.
“What is your take on all of this, Father?”
Las Casas inquired.
“I do believe no stronger argument could be
made against slavery other than an increase of signatures for your petition, Father.
“ Del Rio said, wearily kicking the sand away from his feet as he walked. “But
sadly, the people of Spain have seen the gold for themselves. As you yourself
have?”
“Indeed I have. It is… a spectacular sight;
there is no denying it. But I have seen the greed flicker in these men’s eyes,
and once it settles, it spreads like a virus, laying down destruction in all of
its paths. If temptation is there before you, should it be normal to lust after
it like wild dogs?”
“It shouldn’t be. But you are simply one of
few, Father. And the numbers on your petition aren’t looking good.”
“Then I shall make them better.” he spoke
firmly while marching faster. “The king is in our favour. And he will make the
people listen.”
Suddenly, a walloping cheer was heard from
the jungle. The camp where Captain Pànfilo de Narvaez was settled had been
silent since their arrival on the island. Del Rio turned to him and sighed with
his eyebrows raised.
“Three days, now. I don’t suppose it would
have taken them that long.”
Las Casas stood still for a few seconds,
the terrible suspicions dawning in on him. He then marched fervently towards
the ruckus, treading over the foreign bushes and brushing aside the branches.
As the priests made their way further towards the camp, a screaming of such
inhumane nature reached their ears, before a whip cracked. Any other sound was
completely drowned out by the raucous cheers of Spaniards.
He felt an unprecedented anger catch hold
of him as he began to run. Sure enough,
when they came to the clearing in the jungle, they saw Narvaez surrounded by
his crewmembers and a few of the Castilian friars.
A pole had been shoved into the earth in
the middle of the circle. The same ones used to plant the flags of Spain in
other camps. Her hands were secured to the pole by a rope. The whip from the
captain came down on her naked body like flash of lightening and once again,
the cheering of the men diminished her screams. As she lifted up her head to let
out another tortured cry, Las Casas ‘s horrified eyes trailed down to the bulge
of her stomach.
“Barbarians!” he screamed as Narvaez
brought the whip down on her again. “Del Rio, cut her free!”
Del Rio, sharp as ever, grabbed a dagger
from the hilt of the nearest crewmember and rushed towards the pole. He cut
through the ropes and held the girl his arms. Long bloody gashes covered the
girl’s back and legs, which were soon shielded by Del Rio’s cloth.
“Have you gone mad?” Las Casas turned to Narvaez,
who seemed rather indifferent at the interruption. “What malicious devil
possessed you to do this?”
“She refused to work. So I punished her.”
The captain shrugged.
“She’s pregnant, you unrelenting fool!
Would you treat a Spanish woman in this manner?”
“The heathens cannot feel pain as we do.
She is a slave and I will govern her and them as I please.”
“You promised!” Las Casas spluttered. The
rest of the men all gathered around Las Casas, all of them now annoyed that
this little man had interrupted their source of amusement. The friars, on the
other hand, stayed in their place. Misery and apprehension etched out on their
faces. They looked ashamed. One of them crossed himself, bowing his head down.
“You promised you would not mistreat any of
the Indians you encountered. The king gave you specific orders not to do it!”
Narvaez looked all around at his men nonchalantly.
His face was bearded with dark brown hair and his mouth perpetually rolled into
a pout. His cruel eyes then turned to Las Casas.
“The
king is not here. I am the king around these parts. My rules, my say.”
“And what of the say of Our Lord? To treat
his creatures with such unspeakable cruelty? To lie, and trick your way into
promotion? And for what? For your gold?”
“I am the only God here!” snapped the
captain before spitting in the direction of Del Rio and the Indian woman,
huddled up between two trees.
“Heathen whores like that will submit to
our ways or suffer the consequences! I have spared that girl with her life. She
aught to be grateful. I mean after all, I’d rather take her in my bed alive and
thrashing than dead and filthy.”
It was then that Las Casas lost his temper.
He pointed his finger at the captain and cried: “Take that back! Take that back
and repent! Or you will be damned to hell for all eternity!”
There were jeers and hoarse laughter from
all of his men.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Father.” The
captain said calmly. “You are a race traitor. The wickedness of the heathens has
put a spell on you.”
“Satan has put a spell on you.” Las Casas retorted. “Your lust for
gold has poisoned your heart and soul. Repent your actions or suffer holy
judgment! “
“Ha! And what will you do about it, hm?”
Las Casas held his head up high and took a
step towards Narvaez. The sneering murmurs of his crewmen intensified.
“I will tell the king of what you have done
and said on this day. I don’t imagine he will take kindly your word being so
profanely broken. And he will strip away all of your riches!”
He addressed Narvaez’s men to scream those
last words. At this, they exploded into an angry rage and screamed and jeered
at the Friar.
“Your greed has turned you away from the
benevolence of our lord Jesus Christ and sent you to the devil. Repent at once!”
The men caved in on him, calling him a
traitor and a fool. Narvaez’s face finally hardened.
“You are a damned fanatic!” he looked the
priest up and down with disgust. “You have no power over a king! Your words
serve and mean nothing. Without gold, there will be no ships, no expeditions
and no conquests. Scream and whimper all you like, no one will listen.”
By then, the crewmembers were screaming
into Las Casas’s face, pointing their dirty fingers, declaring death threats. The
friar was so incensed that he continued to bellow along with them.
“You are no Christian! Under that charming
mask lies the spawn of the Devil. You have no place in Heaven!”
“Get this lunatic out of my sight!”
And with that, the mob grabbed him and
carried him away from the captain. They
would not harm a Christian friar, but he now knew it could change at any
minute.
After a few minutes of being gripped
tightly by the arms and moved about in dizzying directions, they stopped and
pushed him headfirst into a puddle of mud, roaring with laughter. Las Casas
felt the dampness of the water and bruising on his elbows.
One of the crewmembers, a tall, black
bearded Castilian, scooped a handful of mud near the puddle and smeared the
earthy substance all over the friar’s face. He kept his mouth and eyes shut,
hearing the man chortle: “Now you have the same skin as the heathens!”.
What he felt was relief, rather than
humiliation. If they had him whipped like the poor girl, it would not have faltered
him. He smiled as Narvaez’s men marched back into the camp.
As Las Casas got up groggily, Del Rio
appeared before him, his arm wrapped around the Indian girl; the linen cloth
still enveloped around her bloodied body. She had her eyes closed, her head
leaning towards her saviour in gratitude.
“Are you alright, Father?” Del Rio asked,
looking rather remorseful.
“I’m alright, Del Rio.” Las Casas daubed
his cloth into the muddy water and washed away the cake-like substance from his
face.
“I’m so sorry.”
Las Casas laughed at this.
“What is there to be sorry about?” He
gestured towards his filthy robes. “It is but earth - God’s fine earth. Why
should I care if those miscreants want to rub it in my face? They think they
can dehort me from my cause, but they have done the opposite. I have angered
them by showing them their true colours. When ugliness is unmasked to the
public, it is indubitably uncomfortable for them, but it’s what they deserve.
And it is what the world must know about.”
Del Rio coiled his protective arm around
the native woman gently and nodded.
“I hope it will be so, Father.”
