The source of eternal youth. In search of immortality

But hope has always lived with those who hoped, and faith with those who believed. The next chapter, in search of the promised land of immortality, was opened by His Majesty's Admiral Christopher Columbus, who found new, unknown lands across the ocean. Following the conquistadors and merchants, adventurers of all stripes and peoples, hopes also moved to the west. We are interested in Pedro Martyr d "Angleria (actually Pietro Martyr d" Angierra; 1455-1526) - Italian historian; settled in Spain and in 1505 became prior of the Granada Cathedral. From him remained several works and letters in Latin, in which he tells a lot of interesting things about the life of Spain at that time. Pedro Martyr, who personally knew the great navigator, wrote to Pope Leo X in the first book of his seventh Decade: “To the north of Hispaniola, among other islands, there is one island at a distance of three hundred and twenty miles from her, as those who found him say. On the island of Tom, an inexhaustible spring of running water of such wonderful properties beats that an old man who begins to drink it, while observing a certain diet, after a while will turn into a young man. And they, the islands and the inhabitants, are called by the same name: Yukayos. I beg your Holiness, do not think that I am saying this out of frivolity or at random; this rumor was really established at the court as an undoubted truth, and not only the common people, but also many of those who stand above the crowd in their intelligence or wealth, also believe it. "

Among those who believed in the existence of a source of life were representatives of the nobility and commoners. The Castilian hidalgo Juan Pons de Leon was one of them. He was already at an age when he learned from old Indians living in Puerto Rico about an island located in the north, where there is a source that returns youth and gives immortality. Many years ago, many Indians from the island of Cuba sailed in search of him. None of them returned, so they managed to find this island.

Others argued on this point: why go so far when in the Bahamas there is the island of Bimini, where exactly the same source of eternal life beats?
Ponce de Leon was not the only Spaniard interested in these legends. He decided, at his own peril and risk, to organize a special expedition and go in search of this island. When rumors concerned gold, funds, ships, and participants would not keep themselves waiting. But there were few people willing to chase the chimera. After all, it was only about immortality. But Pons de Leon was already at that age when people begin to understand the relative value of gold and the absolute value of youth and longevity.
Ponce de Leon invests all his funds in the purchase of ships, recruits a crew, and on March 3, 1512, he leaves for the unknown. Amid the roar of cannon fire, the flotilla, created for the search for immortality, goes to sea.

The ships safely reached the green islands of the Bahamas. The Bahamas archipelago consists of 700 islands and almost 2500 small islets, located on 259 thousand km2 of the ocean. Day after day, month after month, the ships bypassed the islands, but all searches and all inquiries remained unsuccessful. The captain himself went ashore, not trusting anyone, and drank from all the sources that he could come across. He tasted the water from rotten swamps and muddy streams. But alas! - youth did not return to him. Juan Popce de Leon sailed through the archipelago in search of the mythical Fountain of Youth. Instead, he entered the rapid current of the Gulf Stream, which carried him to Florida, and he discovered North America.
At first, the new unknown land was also mistaken for an island. Florida named it Pons de Leon in honor of the day it was opened ("Sand Florida" - Palm Sunday). The captain immediately sent all his people to search deep into the unknown country. But those sent returned with nothing. Soon there was cause for concern. The Indians began to attack the sailors. Pons de Leon himself was also wounded. It was decided to go back.

Fighting hostile inhabitants, storms and trade winds, seekers of immortality returned to Puerto Rico. Only two ships returned to the port. The third, headed by Pons de Leon himself, continued to search. Finally, persistence was rewarded. The legendary island of Bimini has been found. Covered with beautiful forests and undulating meadows, framed by clean and transparent springs, the island mesmerized and delighted. But, alas, there was no magic fountain among them. Ponce de Leon, seeking youth

Every day he grew old more and more, And a cripple frail, decrepit Finally sailed to the country -
To that country; to the sad limit, B shadow of gloomy cypresses,
Where the river rustles, whose waves "
So wonderful, so healing.
That river is called Leta. Drink, friend, pleasant moisture - And you will forget all the torment, You will forget all that you have suffered.
Oblivion key, oblivion edge!
Who entered there will not come out,
For that country is
A real bimini.
(Heinrich Heine. Bimini)
But here's the paradox: the inhabitants of Puerto Rico, from where Ponce de Leon went in search of eternal life, were sure that the Spaniards who conquered these lands were immortal! The Indians endured all the oppression and the arbitrariness that the conquistadors were doing. The rebellion against the immortals in their mind was initially doomed to failure.

However, any discovery starts with doubt. There were some brave ones who expressed some uncertainty that the terrible white gods do not know death. To test the validity of this assumption, it was decided to conduct a rather daring experiment. Upon learning that a noble Spaniard was going to proceed through his domain, the leader sent an honorary escort to him, explaining to his people what they needed to do. In accordance with these instructions, while crossing the river, the Indians dropped the stretcher into the water and kept the "immortal" in the water until he stopped escaping. Having pulled him to the shore, just in case, they apologized for a long time and floridly to God for having accidentally dropped the Spaniard into the river. He, naturally, did not move and did not answer. To make sure that this was not a trick or a pretense, the Indians did not take their eyes off him for several days, until they were convinced that this was not a pretense. The Immortal was, in fact, dead. Realizing that their conquerors were as mortal as themselves, the Indians revolted throughout the island, destroying every one of the Spaniards.

However, the delusion about the immortality of the rulers was inherent in other peoples as well. So, during the campaign of Alexander the Great, the peoples of the Middle East captured by him believed that the king of the Greeks who had captured them was immortal. During the reign of Emperor Augustus, his subjects sincerely considered their emperor to be immortal.

The willingness to believe in the immortality of the ruler has always been so great that it took very little to turn it into confidence. This was evidently known by the Western Roman emperors Arcadius and Honorius (395-408), who in 404 issued a verdict on their divine origin. The main argument was the following: "Those who dare to deny the divine essence of our personalities will be deprived of their positions, and their property will be confiscated."

From the moment the verdict was announced, it was no longer “Your Majesty,” but “Your eternity” to address the emperors. But we also know something else - the dates of death of both emperors, which means that the measure taken by them did not provide them with eternal life.

Members of the French Academy of Sciences have held the title of "immortals" for the fifth century. This title did not bring them any closer to immortality than the members of the clubs that now exist in Los Angeles, Chicago and Tokyo, whose charter proclaims the bodily immortality of all their members.

Saint Augustine (St. Augustine), Spanish name San Agustin, ( San Agustín) Is the oldest city in the United States, the first surviving settlement of Europeans on the territory of the modern United States, located in the northeastern part of Florida on the Matanzas and San Sebastian rivers near the Atlantic Ocean. The "Inter-Atlantic Waterway" begins from St. Augustin.

It is believed that the Spanish explorer and navigator Juan Ponce de León was the first European to set foot on Florida land. The first Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon (Columbus's companion on his second voyage, the former governor of Puerto Rico) set foot on this land in 1513. In March 1513, using his own money, he gathered an expedition and sailed from Puerto Rico in search of a miraculous source of eternal youth to the Bimini Islands (present-day Bahamas), which he learned from the Indians.

In 1521, Ponce de Leon set out on two ships to colonize Florida. His 200-man detachment landed on the west bank and entered a war of extermination with the Calusa tribe. Ponce de Leon was wounded by a poisoned arrow and died during a sea voyage to Cuba. Buried in San Juan. The third largest city in Puerto Rico, Ponce, bears his name. Ponce de Leon's grandson, Juan II, temporarily ruled Puerto Rico in 1579, and in 1581 compiled a written description of the West Indies.

The painting by artist Eduard Veith depicts a scene at the mystical fountain Fountain of Youth.

The first known mention of the Fountain of Youth, the water of which supposedly confers eternal youth to the drinker, concerns the legend of PRESTER JOHN, a legendary Christian monarch who was believed to have ruled either Asia or Africa in the 12th century or later.

Lisa Zwerling. Detail of ,

The Italian Pedro Martyr, who personally knew Columbus, wrote: "To the north of Hispaniola, between the other islands, there is one island at a distance of three hundred and twenty miles from it. diet, after a while will turn into a youth. "

Ponce de Leon also heard from old Indians living in Puerto Rico about the island of Bimini, located in the north, where there is a source that gives eternal youth. It was said that a few years before that, many Indians from the island of Cuba went in search of her and none of them returned.

It was during this expedition in April 1513 that Ponce de Leon saw the land and landed on it. He took this land for an island and named it Florida for a luxurious tropical flora, and due to the fact that the discovery of the "blooming land" fell on Easter week (Pascua Florida) and declared it the possession of the Spanish crown.

In the mornings, boats descended from the ships and headed for the coast, and at night Captain Ponce de Leon checked the contents of every flask filled with water from every source that could only be found on the island. They said that just a couple of sips are enough, that the transformation begins instantly.

So what made the water in St. Augustine so special when he found it? When Ponce went ashore, he noticed that the local people lived for a very long time - up to 70 years. He couldn't believe it. Ponce and his pals were happy to live to the age of 35. These dark-skinned old people on the mainland were healthy and well, and by God, it just had to be water, Ponce concluded. The researcher found the sacred key, drank from it, and said that it was the sweetest, best water he had ever drunk. It must be magical. Ponce, accustomed to drinking seawater and the rancid water stored on his ships, certainly tasted much better spring water. He poured it into bottles, put them in a ship and took it all home back to Europe. He drank gallons of spring water, bathed in it, and swore that he felt like a child. A little later he was shot with an arrow from a bow, and he died. So we really don't know if the water was really magical, but we really want to believe it, right?

Mentions about the Fountain of Youth in cinema:

• In Darren Aronofsky's film Fountain, the storyline revolves around the fountain of eternal youth that Ponce de Leon was looking for.
• At the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Captain Barbossa tells the crew of the Black Pearl about their new goal - the fountain of Ponce de Leon's eternal youth.
• In The X-Files season 5, an episode titled Detour, agents Scully and Mulder investigate the disappearance of people in the forests of Florida, the culprits of which are mysterious forest people, possibly long-lived in the forest and were once, according to Mulder , members of the Ponce de Leon expedition.
• In the animated series "Spider-Man" (), in the episode "Fountain of Terror," Dr. Conner finds "the fountain of eternal youth," but the doctor is discovered and imprisoned in Ponce de Leon's cell.
• In Episode 6 of Lost Season 2, Sawyer addresses the lost Ana Lucia: "Then tell me, Ponce de Leon, where do we go?"
• In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the entire plot is based on the search for "the source of eternal youth", at the very beginning, two fishermen find a man who claimed to have been on Ponce de Leon's ship. Also in one of the episodes, Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa will visit Ponce de Leon's ship.

(from Wikipedia)

But it was rather dangerous to stay here in Florida, as the Spaniards met warlike Indian tribes there. Ponce de Leon returns to Spain.

If you have ever wondered where exactly the Fountain of Youth is, then you are already there. And the fact that it is located in the oldest city in the country only once again convinces of this.

The road leading to the fountain.

There is definitely an impression of mysticism that surrounds the Molodasti Fountain at National Archeological Park.

Many travelers of the ancient world searched in vain for the Fountain of Youth with water that bestows eternal life. Among these famous explorers was Ponce de Leon, who sought and found this.

In 1901, an enterprising woman bought a property in St. Augustine and began offering people water from a fountain located on her property.

She argued that it was the very Fountain of Youth that Ponce de Leon had discovered, and an intrigued public immediately began to flock there. Believe it or not in the legend, it doesn't hurt to check what happens if you heat a sip from this magical fountain!

In a sense, the Spanish researchers were right in thinking that the Fountain of Eternal Youth was somewhere in what we now call Florida. Florida is home to the world's largest known source system. The waters of these springs, enriched with minerals and "as pure as anything that appears on this planet for the first time", provides life for unique animals and rare life forms.

These springs and Florida animals are featured in a popular science film Springs Eternal: Florida "s Fountain of Youth (engl .; 51: 27)

Monument to the founder of Sant Augustine - Admiral Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

Fort Matanzas.

Built 1740-1742, it is a well-preserved masonry fort built by the Spanish. Providing a height to watch enemy ships approaching from the south, the fort played a strategic role in forestalling St. Augustine's potential enemy advances from the south across the Matanzas River.

From Tony Horwitz's "Long and Strange Journey" ( A Voyage Long and Strange) about Florida discovery, Fountain of Youth and Ponce De Leone:

".... Distorted history. Or what is it? Research of French Protestants led by Jean Ribot and Rene de Lodonnier and Spanish Catholics led by Pedro Menendez in the mid-1500s led to the discovery of the land of present-day Florida. This chapter of research responded to the question of whether the English "pilgrims" created the first religious colony in North America.

The answer was no.
French Protestants (later called the Huguenots), escaping religious persecution in France in 1562, fled to North America and founded the small colony of La Caroline under the direction of the explorer Laudonniere. Laudonniere and the French were running out of food supplies and were about to head back. But just then the French explorer Jean Ribault arrived to resupply the colony and replace Laudonniere. As the French colony began to flourish and grow in La Caroline (an area now known as Jacksonville, Florida), they were surprised by the arrival of a Spanish fleet led by Pedro Menendez. Menendez carried out strict orders given to him by the King of Spain, Philip II "to liberate those lands, and not give a quarter to the enemy to take root in them." When Menendez arrived, he stopped near La Caroline, calling the place St. Augustine. Ribault was repelled by the Spaniards and brought out several French ships to repel the Spanish invasion, but the powerful ocean current carried the Ribault people towards the ocean, forcing them to lose their original positions. When the missing Ribot ships returned, they arrived at the estuary at St. Augustine and asked the Spaniards for safe passage. The Spaniards refused them this, promising to kill every Frenchman who dared to approach. The French were forced to surrender to Menendez's mercy. Menendez gave them a condition to renounce their faith, and only in this case will he spare those who convert to Catholicism. However, only two out of one hundred and ten Frenchmen went for it. The rest did not renounce the Protestant faith and died.

The Spaniards, led by Menendez, who had 500 soldiers at their disposal in order to reclaim the territory of La Caroline, struck the French with their brutality and cruelty: they massacred more than 140 people of the French colony. Menendez believed he was fulfilling God's will in slaughtering these French for their religious Protestant beliefs. A Spanish priest wrote about Menendez: "He is tireless in his passionate desire to serve Our God, destroying this Lutheran sect, the enemy of our Holy Catholic Faith."

With the aggravation of the rivalry between the Spaniards and the British, the former fortified San Agustin by erecting the massive gloomy fortress of St. Mark (1672). Now it is a monument of national importance - the oldest stone stronghold in American territory ..

For nearly 200 years, Saint Augustine has witnessed numerous battles between the Spanish and the French and British. Fortress of San Marcos (Castillo de San Marcos) - the oldest stone fort in the United States, built from shell limestone in the late 1600s - has successfully withstood several attacks and sieges.

In 1670 Charles Town (present-day Charleston, South Carolina) was founded by the British, and was located near St. Augustine. In November 1702, the British Navy sets sail from the Carolina in an attempt to capture the city of St. Augustine.

Upon arrival at St. Augustine, the British laid siege to the city. The entire city with its inhabitants (about 1,200 people) along with all the soldiers of the fort (about 300) remained protected within the walls of the fort during the siege for the next two months.

The British cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort. The shell and limestone (coquina) was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, allowing very little damage to the walls themselves: the cannon balls were stuck in them without breaking, as is usually the case. The Spaniards who built the fortress themselves were surprised at such a successful and unexpected phenomenon for them. The siege was broken when a Spanish fleet from Havana (Cuba) arrived, trapping the British in the bay. The British were forced to burn their ships so that the Spanish would not get them, and went overland back to Carolina. As the British left, they set fire to St. Augustine, and the resulting fire burned most of the city to the ground.

After the siege of 1702, Fort Castillo was reconstructed. Beginning in 1738, the interior of the fort was redesigned and restored. The interior spaces have been deeper and vaulted ceilings have replaced the original wooden ones. The vaulted ceilings allowed for better protection against bombardments and allowed for the cannon to be placed along the arms deck, not just in the corner of the strongholds. The new ceilings required an increase in the height of the outer wall from 26 feet to 33 feet.

Among the many attacks by the British on San Agustin, the robbery committed in the 16th century by Sir Francis Drake and the siege of San Agustin by the founder of the colony of Georgia are especially famous.

Osceola from Florida, drawing on the stone, made By George Cutlin from the original portrait

Despite being outnumbered by ten to one over the Seminoles, the US forces failed to achieve a quick victory. In the end, they resorted to desperate measures and cunning, namely, they captured Osceola under the pretext of negotiating an armistice. The American artist George Kathlin was outraged by this act of hypocrisy and went to South Carolina, to the place of Osceola's imprisonment, to express his support. In 1837, the Seminole chief agreed to pose for the portrait, which formed the basis of this lithography. Osceola died in captivity a year later.

The film begins with two sailors pulling an old man out of the water and finding documents from the ship of Juan Ponce de Leon. Together with the documents and the old man, the sailors go to Cadiz to the palace of King Ferdinand VI. The king realizes that de Leon managed to find the legendary Spring of Youth and therefore orders to prepare for the expedition.

Meanwhile, Captain Jack Sparrow travels to London to find an impostor posing as him. According to rumors, the doppelganger was recruiting a team to search for the Fountain of Youth. But first, Sparrow saves his former assistant Joshami Gibbs from the gallows and they try to make an escape, but fall into the hands of the royal guard. Jack is granted an audience with King George II, who wants him to lead his expedition to the Well before the Spaniards find him. The expedition will be led by Jack's old rival, Captain Hector Barbossa, who serves the British Navy, who lost Jack's ship, the Black Pearl, and his leg along with the crew.

Jack manages to escape from the guards, not without the help of his father, Captain Teague, who warns Jack about the trials on the way to the Source. Soon, Jack discovers the impostor - it turns out to be Jack's former lover - Angelica, who is the daughter of the famous pirate Edward Teach, nicknamed Blackbeard, who owns voodoo magic and witchcraft. Jack is forced to join Blackbeard's team and lead them to the Well. Gibbs, who stole the card from Sparrow so as not to be hanged, burns it, leaving no choice to Captain Barbossa. He decides to take him with him so that he will also lead them to the Source.

Aboard Blackbeard's ship, Queen Anne's Revenge, Jack learns about the ritual: the water from the Well is to be drunk from two silver bowls that belonged to Ponce de Leone. A person who drank from a cup with a mermaid's tear gets the life of a person who drank from another cup, draining his body. Blackbeard, fearing the prophecy that he will die from a one-legged man, plans to use the Fountain to break the spell and sets a course for Foam Bay. There he lures one of the mermaids into a trap, which the captive missionary falls in love with and calls her Siren. Blackbeard sends Jack Sparrow to retrieve the bowls from de Leon's ship. Having reached the place, Sparrow discovers there Barbossa and an empty box with cups: the Spaniards have already been ahead of them.

It turns out that Barbossa's true goal is revenge against Blackbeard for the "Pearl" and for the leg, which he had to chop off in order to escape. Jack and Barbossa team up against Blackbeard and steal the bowls from the Spanish camp. Meanwhile, Blackbeard tricks Siren into shedding a tear, and, leaving her to die, forces Philip to go with him. Sparrow returns with bowls and Gibbs, who has joined him in helping Captain Barbossa. Jack sets a condition for Blackbeard: to return his compass and release Gibbs in exchange for the bowls and the opportunity to continue on his way to the Source. Blackbeard agrees, and Gibbs leaves them with Jack's compass.

Near the Well, Blackbeard and his crew are attacked by the English and Spanish fleets. As it turns out, the Spaniards have completely different plans for the Source: they are here only to destroy it, believing that eternal life can only be given by God. During a prolonged battle, Barbossa stabs Blackbeard with a poisoned sword, Angelica accidentally wounds her hand with the same sword. Barbossa requires Blackbeard's magic sword, his ship and crew. Mortally wounded Philip returns to save Siren from death. Siren finds the bowls thrown by the Spaniards into deep waters, gives them to Sparrow, and returns to the dying Philip to save him.

Angelica intends to sacrifice herself for her father, but Sparrow deceives them, and Angelica unconsciously drinks from a cup containing the tear of the Siren, thus killing the insidious pirate and saving herself. Jack and Angelica confess their love for each other, but Jack, implying that she can avenge her father's death, takes her to the island, hoping a merchant ship will pick her up. Angelica is trying in every way to keep Jack and begs him not to leave her. She even says she is pregnant with him. But Jack floats away. Jack finds Gibbs, who used Sparrow's compass to locate all of the captured ships that Blackbeard had magically shrunk and bottled, including the Black Pearl. It remains to be seen how to return the ships to their true size.

Post-credits scene

After the end credits, there is a short scene in which Angelica, who is on the island, finds a voodoo doll of Jack Sparrow, made by Blackbeard, brought to the shore by the waves, which was thrown into the river by a zombie quartermaster during the search for the Source.

For many years people have tried to find the source of eternal youth. There were rumors about a source of living water, which is supposedly located on one of the islands in the East Sea. Servants of the Chinese emperor tried to find this source, but to no avail. Then rumors moved the source to India, where many searches were also carried out by the inhabitants of China.

Centuries have passed, and here their paths invisibly intersected with the paths of the Jesuits and Catholic missionaries. One of these missionary travelers, in his letter from India in 1291, sadly complained that his many years of searching were in vain. By the way, at that time the opinions of theologians about where the source of living water was located differed: some were inclined to believe that the search should be continued in India, others, referring to the vague passages of Scripture and the omissions of ancient authors, called Ceylon, and the third, Ethiopia.

But when His Majesty's Admiral Christopher Columbus discovered new, unknown lands across the ocean, hopes for immortality, following the conquistadors and merchants, moved to the West.

The Italian humanist Pedro Martyr, who lived in those years and personally knew the great navigator, wrote to Pope Leo X: “To the north of Hispaniola, between the other islands, there is one island at a distance of three hundred and twenty miles from it, as those who found it say. An inexhaustible spring of running water of such a wonderful quality beats on the island that an old man who begins to drink it, while observing a certain diet, after a while will turn into a young man. I implore, Your Holiness, do not think that I am saying this out of frivolity or at random; this rumor was really established at court as an unquestionable truth, and not only the common people, but also many of those who stand above the crowd in their intelligence or wealth, also believe it. "

Search for the source

Is it any wonder that among those who believed in the existence of the source of eternal life was the noble Castilian hidalgo Juan Ponce de Leon? He was already over fifty, when he learned from the old Indians living in Puerto Rico about a country located in the north, where there is a source that gives eternal youth. It was said that a few years earlier, many Indians from the island of Cuba went in search of her and not one of them returned. Do we need other evidence that they managed to find this country ?!

Other Indians objected: is it worth embarking on such a long journey, when among the Bahamas there is also an island where exactly the same source of youth and eternal life beats.

Ponce de Leon was not the only Spaniard to hear these stories. But he was the only one who decided at his own peril and risk to equip an expedition in search of the island. Of course, if the rumors were about gold, funds would be immediately found, and ships, and a crowd of volunteers would not be long in coming. But it was not about wealth, but just about immortality. True, Ponce de Leon himself was already at the age when people begin to understand the relative value of gold and the absolute value of life.

Therefore, having invested all his funds in the purchase of three brigs, Ponce de Leon recruits a crew and at dawn on March 3, 1512, under cannon fire, orders to raise the anchors. The sun shines brightly, foreshadowing good luck, the morning wind blows the sails, and the flotilla sets off. How many of these ships were equipped in those years in search of new lands, spices or gold! But these were marked with a special sign. The one who led them was not called by words, not power and not wealth. Eternal life and eternal youth were what he was looking for. And for a long time, until the ships turned to three points on the horizon, a crowd stood on the shore and looked after them.

Exploration of the Bahamas

The weather and luck favored sailing, and soon the green islands of the Bahamas appeared in the distance. Each of them abounded in quiet bays and channels, convenient for anchorage of ships. And each could be exactly what they were looking for. In the morning, boats descended from the ships and, cutting through the blue surface of the lagoon, headed for the shore. Those on board were jealous of those who had a happier fate that day. But no one awaited their return with such impatience as the captain himself. In the evenings, the boats sailed to the ship on which he was, and with a soft thud - tree on tree - froze at the tarred side. Boatswain Crooked Huang accepted the loot - copper flasks, flasks, bottles and vials filled with water from all the sources that could only be found on the island.

For a long time, after the crew went to bed and the watchmen took over the night watch, the lantern continued to burn in the captain's cabin. The oil crackled in the wick, and then the reddish reflections flickered on the brass flasks, polished to a shine in the rough sailor's pockets. Ponce de Leon lined them up on the table in front of him and slowly tasted the contents of each flask. They said that just a couple of sips are enough, that the transformation begins instantly.

The next morning the other sailors, those to whom the lot had indicated, took apart the empty flasks and went down the hemp ladders overboard into the swinging boats. And while the captain looked impatiently at the sun, again expecting the evening to come, the sailors, huddled under the awning, once again told each other everything that they had heard from those who went ashore. If there is a heaven on earth, then it should be here on these islands. The forests here are full of game, and the quiet rivers are fish that you can catch with your hands right at the shore. But most importantly, it was fertile land, abounding in fruits and, what is most surprising, virtually no one. Because it was impossible to take seriously the timid Indians who scattered, barely hearing the approach of the Spaniards. About such a land, about such a land could they dream, born among the stony fields of Andalusia or the sun-scorched plains of Castile ?!

Crooked Huang did not interfere in these conversations. Passing by, he did not even listen to them. But not because he did not know about them or did not guess about the inevitable development of events that, he knew, would follow all this.

And again, well after midnight, the light was on in the captain's cabin. And again, after the crew had gone to sleep, muffled voices could be heard from the cockpit for a long time. No matter how quietly Crooked Juan walked, every time he passed, the voices died down. But Juan only grinned in the dark. Tomorrow morning, as always, he will know everything. It is not for this that he has been sailing the seas for seventeen years and escaped the gallows three times, so as not to learn to see what is happening under his nose. And one more lesson Juan learned from what he saw and which would be enough, perhaps, for a dozen other lives - never to rush and not to adhere to either side until that very minute, the last minute, when the scales of fate come into motion. And only then he, Crooked Juan, for a moment before everyone else should understand, whatever fate wants. And then, as has happened more than once, he will draw out his pistols and be the first to shout: "Hurray for the captain!" or "Captain on the Rhea!" But every time is exactly what it takes to be with the winners.

True to himself, Crooked Juan was in no hurry this time, although everything seemed to be clear and the fate of the mad hidalgo was, it seemed, a foregone conclusion.

So they moved from island to island, and no one murmured, because each time the new island turned out to be even more beautiful than the one that had to be abandoned. But the inevitable events that Juan had foreseen were about to erupt when an episode occurred that confused all the cards.

Gold in a flask

In the evening, when the captain, as always, retired to the cabin with his flasks, Crooked Juan was missing one flask. Someone, boarding, did not give it away, as usual, but kept it for himself. Why? The captain will hardly notice it. Juan was the only one on the ship who knew. This gave him an extra card in the game, and with it he decided to go.

Those who did not give their flask actually risked little. But did he really think that if it became known, Crooked Juan would not guess who did it?

The very next morning, Juan knew who. For this it was enough from those who were on the shore, to deduct those who came to take the flasks. Rodrigo, nicknamed Little Fox, was the one who ended up in the remnant. Again Juan did not rush things. He only tried that on this day the Little Fox got a job at the rear stern, on the poop, away from the rest. Rewinding the ropes is not an easy job, especially when the sun is directly overhead and there is no protection from it. Juan patiently waited until the shadow of the mast became as short as a fool's thought, and only after that he slowly moved towards the poop. The fox did not immediately notice the boatswain, but having noticed it, he began to rewind the thick tar rope even more quickly. Juan came very close, so that there was almost no space between him and the sailor. Juan knew what he was doing.

- Hot, kid?

Only now the Fox dared to straighten up.

- Is it hot? Juan put on a smile that only the last idiot could find sincere. Maybe there is a sip of water? - And he stretched out his hand to the flask that was hanging from the Fox's belt, stretched out his left hand, namely the left.

He still continued to smile when his body barely had time to dash to the side, dodging the blow. At the same instant, his right hand, also as if by itself, against his will, shot up, and the knocked-out knife deeply entered the deck boards. But it was not for nothing that the Fox was younger than him. In the next moment he outstripped the boatswain. There was only a splash overboard, and the Fox, making wide swings, was already quickly swimming towards the shore.

The shore, however, was not close, and Juan knew that the Fox Cub would not be able to swim like that for long. He managed to think this in a split second, and in that split second he was glad that he had made him work all morning - now he's not the same swimmer. And a split second later, Juan's voice thundered on the deck, and the sailors rolled into the boat overboard one after another. Juan decided not to say anything about the flask yet, let him be caught first.

“This wretch tried to kill me,” he explained hastily, but the captain only pursed his thin lips and said nothing. Juan understood why: he had acted insolently by turning first before the elder spoke to him.

The escape

For the attack on the boatswain Lisenka, shackles and work on galleys were provided. He knew this and swam with all his might. But the distance between the lifeboat and the swimmer keeps getting smaller. However, the distance between the swimmer and the yellow strip of sand where the coast began was shortened even faster. Ponce de Leon pushed the captain's cocked hat over his forehead to keep the sun from dazzling his eyes. Now it became clear that the boat was really lagging behind, the rowers in it had completely stopped working with oars. Crossing his eyes, Juan saw the captain's thin Castilian mustache twitch angrily. Of course, he is a hidalgo and a noble lord, but he does not understand the guys who swim with him. Doesn't understand at all. And Juan allowed himself to remark respectfully:

- Captain, he will not leave. The guys are just playing with him. They want to play.

But the captain did not even glance at him: he again committed audacity.

And the sailors really "played" with the fugitive. When it seemed that he was about to reach the shore, the oars suddenly flashed, the boat darted from its place and a minute later found itself between the Fox and the surf. Then she froze again, slightly noticeably moving away from the coast and driving the Fox into the open sea. He evidently understood this and now they barely wave their arms, just to stay on the water. But the boat moved faster and faster, and he had to hurry to keep the distance from closing.

Then, it seemed, the boat fell behind again, and Lisenk managed, having rounded it, to head towards the shore. This was repeated several times, but even from the ship it was clear that the fugitive was already exhausted and could not hold out for a long time.

When they tried to repeat this fun again on the boat, he began to sink. Now the rowers leaned on the oars with all their might, but when the boat almost overtook him, the Fox emerged for the last time, his hand suddenly rose out of the water, and he threw something that gleamed in the sun away from him. A second later, the boat was already over the place where the Fox had just been, but he never appeared again.

The captain turned inquiringly to Juan. Now he had to speak or shrug. Juan spoke and thus chose his destiny.

“Captain, this sailor hid his flask last night. Today, when I demanded her ...

Crooked Juan has never seen a person turn so pale at once.

“A boat,” the hidalgo parted his dry lips. There were no more boats on the ship. There was only a two-seat boat, and Juan sat on the oars himself.

When they finally reached the boat with the sailors waiting for them, all at random began to indicate the place where the Fox had thrown his flask. - Fifty reais to whoever finds her. You had to be born rich and have a string of rich ancestors behind you in order to pronounce it the way it was said.

- Fifty reais? - like an echo, asked Juan. It was a state. Juan regretted that he was not an ordinary sailor and could not now dive into the water after the others. In all his life he had never had such money, not only to hold in his hands, but also to see. And in life he had everything.

They found the flask after all. The one who succeeded in this, raised it high above his head and shouted so that the captain could see and the others would not take the find away from him.

Juan only held the flask for a moment before handing it to the captain, but that was enough for him to understand what was in it. And when he understood, he was afraid that the captain would guess that he knew. This discovery shocked him so badly that his hands did not obey him, and he barely reached the ship. But the captain noticed nothing. The captain had no time for him.

Riot

That evening the muffled rumors in the sailor's cabin continued longer than usual. On the other two ships, Juan knew it was the same. And when, at dawn, the captain suddenly ordered the sails to be raised and anchored, a riot broke out on all three ships.

The team did not want to swim further. They will settle here, on these lands, they will plant grapes and olives, grow wheat - everyone here will become a noble lord. Let whoever wants to sail with this insane hidalgo, but not they, not they! Crooked Juan knew he would stay with them. But just not in order to gather crops here or raise sheep. He'll do something else here - and the later the others find out about it, the better. The instant he took the flask out of the water, his hand could not be mistaken. Water could not weigh that much - there was gold in the flask!

And one more thing Juan understood and knew, something that the others had not thought of, did not have time to understand: if they stay here, they do not need witnesses. He felt that the moment was approaching when the scales of fate would tremble and begin to move. These people did not have a leader, in a minute he will become one. And then, blocking all the hubbub and screams that rushed from the decks of the three brigs that had come together, he shouted as only his commands had shouted during a storm:

- Captain on the yard!

At first everyone was silent, but then several voices picked up:

- On the rhea! Captain on the Rhea!

And already everyone screamed, roared, bleated:

- Captain on the yard!

Because everyone knew: after these words there is no turning back. And this meant the end of all doubts and hesitations. Someone was hastily dragging the rope, fixing a loop on the way, someone was already dragging the captain onto the keg in a torn and crumpled jacket. Now everything was decided by the moments. If the captain has time to be pulled up before someone hesitates, even one vote against is heard, then the job is done and he, Juan, will be able to congratulate himself. Don't hesitate the one with the rope, maybe that's how it all happened. But the captain suddenly raised his hand. And then everyone fell silent. “So, both now and under the noose, he still remained the captain for them,” Juan managed to think. And again: "You can't let him talk."

But the captain had already spoken. And by how calm and imperious his voice sounded, Juan knew that he had lost.

“Let the one who wants to poke around in the ground stay here,” said the captain. “So he deserves nothing better, nothing else.

“On Rhea,” Juan tried to shout, but everyone shouted at him, and he bit his tongue.

- Sailors, I, Ponce de Leon, will make it so that your former masters, everyone you served with, will bow to your waist, roll at your feet. There will be no richer people in the world than you. Let them bring the flask that I have in my cabin ...

“Look,” he raised the flask over his head, “it's gold. I neglected him ...

And from his dais, he began to throw small nuggets at the feet of those who stood on the deck.

- I throw it because the day will come when you just throw it as unnecessary. For every sip of youthful water, you will be paid more gold than your pockets can hold. The sailors ...

Crooked Huang made a slight movement to get to the gangway, but several hands were already holding him tenaciously.

- Hurray for the captain! Someone shouted.

- Hooray! - the others picked up.

A few minutes later Juan was already in the stocks below, in a deaf and damp hold. Days dragged on that were indistinguishable to him from night. He no longer hoped for anything, did not expect anything. He didn’t get angry anymore when the next sailor, bringing food, tried to put it so that he could not reach it. Or he deliberately tried to splash the half mugs of water that were due to him for the day. Sometimes he wondered whether the royal mayor would sentence him to the gallows or to the gallery. But for some reason this also did not really bother him, as if what happened did not happen to him, but to someone else, whose fate was generally quite indifferent to him.

Therefore, when one of the days (or nights) the hatch of the hold opened and they came for it, Juan could not know what it meant. He could not have known that long weeks of fruitless searches had passed. That now, driven by impatience, the captain himself went down to the shore and bypassed all the springs he could find. The crew, mesmerized by his faith, earnestly combed island after island, and each failure only strengthened everyone's hope: if not today, then tomorrow.

But the captain now knew the value of this devotion and this faith. The safest thing, he thought, was to get rid of the instigators as soon as possible, without waiting for a return to Puerto Rico. He landed several people already on the islands along the way. It was Juan's turn today.

Left to die

The sailors pulled him out of the boat and threw him on the pebbles near the surf. Then, when the boat had already sailed, they remembered that they had not left him a box of provisions and a couple of knives, as the captain had ordered. They did not want to row back, and they simply threw their cargo into the sea.

Despite all this, Crooked Huang survived. And not only survived, but also outlived the noble hidalgo, the owner of three large ships Ponce de Leon.

The ships, meanwhile, continued their journey, and one day at dawn a blossoming island was revealed to them, with which no one they had seen before could compare. It was Palm Sunday (Pasqua Florida), and the captain named the land he took for the island Florida.

But how peaceful and beautiful this land seemed, cut by a hundred small streams and rivers, the Indians who lived here turned out to be just as warlike and irreconcilable. They had little to do with what motives the aliens were guided by and what they were looking for. They met white foreigners, as they used to meet enemies encroaching on their hunting grounds and huts. In one of the skirmishes among the wounded, the captain himself was found ...

Many other adventures and disasters befell the Spaniards as the ships continued on their long journey. Finally, fighting the hostile trade winds, they returned to the port they had left many months ago. Ponce de Leon not without profit sold his ships and returned to Spain.

Return to Spain

In Madrid, they already knew about the courageous attempt of the hidalgo to find the water of eternal life. As soon as he arrived and had time to settle in the hotel, a messenger appeared, demanding him to the king's palace.

The king looked with curiosity at a man who, in fact, could be lucky. And then, standing here, he would hold the bottle of water of eternal life brought for his king. And he, the king of Spain Ferdinand of Aragon, would become the first (and maybe the only) of the Christian kings to live forever.

In any case, it is not the hidalgo's fault that this time he was unlucky. The king listened favorably to the story of Ponce de Leon and showed him signs of his mercy and attention. Respectfully retiring from the audience, Poness de Leon was no longer who he was, stepping under the high arches of the hall. With a wave of the royal hand, he became "His Excellency", the governor of the "Island of Florida" that he discovered ...

Emperor Qin Shi Huang

In his secret hopes of immortality, the king of Spain was not alone among other monarchs. Could Vladyka, being dissimilar to other people in everything, be equated with them even in the face of death? Chinese emperor was probably the first who tried to rebel against the inexorable law of being. Stories also know other rulers who, in their own way, tried to proclaim their immortality. The West Roman emperors-co-rulers Arcadius and Honorius (395-408) promulgated an edict announcing that from that moment the subjects, addressing them, should no longer speak "your majesty", but "your eternity." The main argument was the following: "Those who dare to deny the divine essence of our personalities will be deprived of their positions, and their property will be confiscated."

For the subjects, this argument was naturally very convincing. But not for nature.

In the same way, at one time, his subjects were sincerely confident in the immortal essence of Emperor Augustus. And even earlier, the peoples of the countries he had conquered were revered as immortal Alexander the Great.

And isn't it a mockery of fate: the natives who lived in the vicinity of that very Puerto Rico, from where the brave hidalgo Ponce de Lyon went in search of immortality, were themselves convinced that the Spaniards who conquered them were immortal! That is why the proud Indians endured all the oppression and arbitrariness that the conquistadors repaired. Indeed, can you imagine an enterprise more senseless and hopeless than a revolt against the immortals?

Rebellion against the immortals

As is often the case, the "discovery" began with doubt. There was a local leader who doubted that the cruel white gods do not know death. In order to check this, it was decided to conduct a rather daring experiment. Upon learning that a certain young Spaniard was going to proceed through his domain, the leader assigned him an honorary escort, to whom he gave appropriate instructions. Following them, the Indians, when they crossed the river, dropped the stretcher and kept the Spaniard under water until he stopped struggling. Then they dragged him to the shore and, just in case, long and floridly apologized to the "white god" for daring to accidentally drop him. But he didn’t move and didn’t accept their apology. To make sure that this was not a trick or pretense, the Indians did not take their eyes off the body for several days, either watching it stealthily from the tall grass, then again approaching and repeating their apologies ...

After that, the Indians were convinced that their conquerors were as mortal as themselves. And having convinced themselves, in one day and hour they raised a revolt all over the island, exterminating and expelling the Spaniards every single one. True, not for long.

As for Ponce de Lyon, he - a man who sought immortality - eventually died of a wound he once received in Florida. “In this way, the author of an ancient Spanish chronicle edifyingly notes,“ fate destroys human plans: the discovery with which Ponce hoped to prolong his life served to shorten it. ”

A few years later, Crooked Juan was removed from the island by a brig accidentally passing by. No one believed the story he told. But the name of Ponce de Lyon was known at that time, the fact that Juan sailed with him, aroused the interest of several very elderly (and equally wealthy) Spaniards. For several years, Crooked Juan served as a kind of guide during the expeditions organized by them. But Juan's trouble was that he was not blessed with fantasy. Therefore, the information he possessed about where to look for the water of eternal life was quickly depleted. And soon after that he himself was lost somewhere in the seaside taverns and taverns of the New World.

Also, the names and fates of many others who, like Juan or his reckless captain, went in search of the water of eternal youth, were irretrievably lost in the past. But was this search so crazy?

Ponce de Leon's travels

Don Juan Ponce de Leon was the true son of his time. The representative of one of the most noble Castilian families, he distinguished himself in the countless wars between the Spaniards and the Moors.

Then, without hesitation, he crossed the ocean and arrived in the "West Indies" (as the travelers themselves called the new lands) in November 1493, with the second expedition of Columbus, when the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico were discovered, as well as the expedition again visited the island of Haiti (or as it was then called - Hispaniola).

Ponce de Leon hoped, like thousands of other conquistadors, for a quick enrichment. But if for most of them hope remained hope — at least for the first time — don Juan was lucky. In 1508, at the head of a small detachment of soldiers, he conquered the island, which the natives called Boriken (later Puerto Rico). Recall that this island was discovered by Columbus during his second voyage overseas, and who knows, maybe it was then that don Juan Ponce de Leon, a participant in this voyage, first flashed the thought that the owner of Boriken, a blossoming island with a fertile climate, it should be he. And he became it.

Having heard about the rich deposits of gold on the island of Boriken, de Leon conquered the island, then founded the first Spanish settlement there. Having settled on the northeastern bank of the Boriken, don Juan founded the city in 1511, which he named San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico in honor of his patron saint John the Baptist, where he later became governor. Later, the island became known as Puerto Rico - Rich Harbor.

In any case, she became like that for don Juan. Mercilessly robbing the local Indians, he collected a myriad of gold. He was little embarrassed by the fact that the indigenous population of the island was decreasing at a catastrophic rate. According to the ancient Spanish chronicles, Boriken was the most populated of all the islands. The Indians here were engaged in hunting, farming, fishing, weaving fabrics and making pottery. One of the historians wrote: “Puerto Rico was a real paradise for the Indians who reaped bountiful harvests from its fertile lands; and when the Spaniards stumbled upon a prosperous and happy Indian population, they decided that they, too, had found an earthly paradise ... ”Well, for the Spaniards the island remained a paradise, but for the Indians it turned into a total hell.

And in the same year 1511 don Juan Ponce de Leon first heard the legend about the island of eternal youth - Bimini. At first he was told about him by an old Indian woman who had been taken to his house by a servant. But was it possible to believe the old woman who was out of her mind? However, as it turned out, other Indians knew that somewhere to the north of Puerto Rico lies an island with a spring that gives youth. Their stories surprisingly coincided even in the smallest details, they all named the same number of days and nights that had to be spent on the way to reach Bimini, they equally described the top of the mountain that crowned this happy island, and the walls of trees covering its shores ... It was said that a few years earlier, many Indians from the island of Cuba went in search of her and not one of them returned. Is this not evidence that they managed to find the source of youth?

The Italian Pedro Martyr, who personally knew Columbus, wrote in those years: “To the north of Hispaniola, between the other islands, there is one island at a distance of three hundred and twenty miles from it. The first thing you see from the big water is the top of the mountain. The shore is closed by a solid wall of green trees, and therefore it seems that it is impossible to set foot on the shore. But if you turn out to be vigilant, you will find several inconspicuous paths. Step on the island in one place or another and go to the foot of the mountain. An inexhaustible spring of water of such a wonderful quality beats on the island that an old man who begins to drink it, while observing a certain diet, after a while will turn into a young man. But do not forget during the journey that you must not turn around, otherwise the source will lose its wonderful power for you. The moment will come, and the forests will part, and a level place will open before you. This spring beats there, giving eternal youth. A dried flower moistened with its water will bloom again and will remain so forever. A dead branch lowered into its jets will immediately turn green and give new shoots. And you are a human, if you haven't looked back, get down on your knees and take only a few sips. And the return of youth will happen so imperceptibly that in previous moments you will still be old and weak, and in the next moment you will become young and full of strength ... "

And don Juan, who was already over fifty years old, believed the legend.

How did the legend originate on Boriken Island? Indeed, most often, any legend is based on some kind of real information, intricately intertwined for centuries with the most fantastic conjecture. Perhaps it reflected the memory of some real travels of the indigenous islanders to other lands of the Caribbean Sea, even more fertile and flourishing than Puerto Rico. Be that as it may, the man who conquered the island firmly decided that he would be the first of the Europeans to discover a wonderful source on the island of Bimini, and began to prepare for the journey.

However, before Ponce de Leon had to face some difficulties. He did not have official rights to "sail for discovery" - only the Spanish king gave such rights - and in addition was accountable for his actions to the governor of the larger island, Hispaniola, Diego Colin. First, don Juan had to cross the ocean again to apply for a patent - at his own expense - for the search and colonization of the island of Bimini and for the exploitation of the wonderful spring and the "island of eternal youth."

And, apparently, nothing really could have surprised a person at that incredible time, if the Spanish king Ferdinand of Aragon, without expressing a shadow of amazement, granted Ponce de Leon all the rights and on February 23, 1512, signed an official letter in Burgos. Having sealed this fantastic treaty with his signature, the king even said at the same time, hinting at Columbus's dazzling discoveries: “It is one thing to give authority, when there was no preliminary example for someone to occupy such a post, but we have learned something since then. You are when the beginning has already been made ... "

The chief helmsman of the expedition, de Leon invited Anton Alaminos, a native of the same Andalusian port town of Paloe, which gave the world several famous sailors, companions and rivals of Columbus. Alaminos himself previously participated in the fourth expedition of Columbus.

The head of the expedition and his helmsman proceeded to equip the three ships and recruit sailors. According to the stories, Ponce recruited both the elderly and the crippled, recruiting perhaps the weakest crew in the history of the navy. The crews on the ships of this flotilla were the oldest known in maritime history.

That had its own logic: why is legibility, youth and health, if, after a relatively short sea voyage, his sailors can rejuvenate and regain their lost strength in the waters of a wonderful source?

And so at dawn on March 3, 1513, the flotilla sailed from the coast of Puerto Rico to the northwest, towards the Bahamas. Each could be exactly what they were looking for. At the end of March, on the eve of Easter, they saw the mainland - a wonderful blooming island, with which none of them had ever seen before.

But the goal of the expedition - to find a source, the waters of which would have the power to restore youth - were never achieved. The Spanish explored the entire east coast of Florida. Day after day, sailors went in search. The ships moved from island to island, and on each of them the Spaniards "tested" all the springs and lakes. In the mornings, boats descended from the ships and headed for the coast, and at night Captain Ponce de Leon checked the contents of every flask filled with water from every source that could only be found on the island. They said that just a couple of sips are enough, the transformation begins instantly.

And while the captain waited for the evening to come, the sailors recounted to each other everything they had heard from those who went ashore. If there is a heaven on earth, then it should be here on these islands. The forests here are full of game, and the quiet rivers are full of fish, which you can catch with your hands right on the shore. But most importantly, it was land - fertile, abounding in fruits and, most surprisingly, virtually no one.

But it was not the earthly paradise that Ponce de Leon was looking for, and not even gold, since he was already rich enough. He only dreamed of a wonderful source. Grieved by the failure, he landed on the shore for the last time and in the name of the Castilian crown took possession of a new "island".

The land, which he took for an island, Ponce de Leon called "Pascua de Florida" - a blooming land. This is how the holiday of blooming Easter was called in Spain. According to legend, it was on this holiday, April 2, 1513, that the team first went ashore in Florida. And the name suggested itself - the entire coast was covered with magnificent subtropical vegetation.

It was the first Spanish possession on the continent of North America. But it was dangerous to stay here, as the Spaniards saw warlike Indian tribes in Florida - people "tall, strong, dressed in animal skins, with huge bows, sharp arrows and spears in the manner of swords." This is how Bernal Diaz described the locals in 1517.

In 1521, Ponce de Leon again went in search of Bimini. He also had a patent for the colonization of Florida. In 1521, Ponce de Leon returned to the site of his first landing - on the coast of the Gulf - with two ships loaded with colonists and things to settle in these places. His 200-man squad landed on the west coast of Florida to conquer the island. However, the Spaniards met such fierce resistance from the local Indians that they were forced to hastily embark on ships and get away.

Ponce de Leon, among many, was badly wounded and died in Cuba in July 1521. He is buried in Puerto Rico, in San Juan. True, there is a legend that he survived and in subsequent years continued to explore Florida, seeking to find a magical source of eternal youth. But historians rightly doubt the credibility of this legend.