קיג FAMINE IN ITALY. 307 of Venice are peaceable with us*, I have made a covenant with them;' and now let there be peace with you, fear ye not, only send one of you to speak unto me, and I will go my way." And they said, "Send away this army; then according to what thou shalt say unto us, we will do." And it came to pass on the morrow, that all of them went abroad, and passed over unto Castel-Nuovo, and the inhabitants of Cattaro rejoiced much, and sent Gerolamo with a present in his hand. And Chaireddin took it from his hand, and he also gave gifts unto Gerolamo; so he went out from him in peace. And he demanded of the governor of Venice the city of Sophat; and its inhabitants were about seven hundred men, men of war. And he said, "Why dost thou speak thus unto thy servant, I cannot do from my own mind either a great or a small matter§. And he journeyed from thence on the twentieth of the month, and went his way. 1010. And the Lord called for a famine|| in all the provinces of Italy in that year; and the emperor hardened his heart, and would not grant corn from Sicily, except they should give three scudi for every salma, which is a camel's load; there *Gen. xxxiv. 21. § Num. xxii. 18. + Gen. xv. 9. זופה + .סאלמה 1 308 CHARLES AT PARIS, A.D. 1540. קיג was not such a thing from the time it became a nation*, and the famine was sore in Venice. And the people cried for breadt, and said, "It is better for us to serve Solyman, than that we should die of hunger." And they sent messengers unto Solyman, and surrendered unto him Napoli di Romania and Malvasia, which were left unto them in the Morea and many talents of gold; and he made a covenant with them; and they went unto his country, and brought corn and bread; and it grieved the emperor much. 1011. And in the year three hundred of the fifth thousand, which is the year one thousand five hundred and forty, the emperor Charles went by the way of France unto Flanders and Germany; and the king and his nobles honored him much. And the king made great buildings, overlaid with gold, in the cities of his kingdom to receive him; there was not such made in France from the time she became a nation; and he abode with the king a number of days, and they rejoiced together; and he went out from him in peace. And Ghent is a city and a mother in the districts of Flanders, the perfection of beauty¶, which was never wrought with, and which never bore a yoke * Exod. ix. 24; Deut. iv. 32. Comp. Exod. xiv. 12. .גאנטי || † Gen. xli. 35. i. e. Triumphal arches. ¶ Lam. ii. 15. P THE TURKISH FLEET RAVAGES SPAIN. 309 from ancient days*, and her government was between themselves until that dayt; and they sought to give their hand unto the king, but he hearkened not unto their voice. And the king revealed their secret unto the emperor, when his heart was merry with winet; and the emperor was very wroth, and marked the thing, and went thither, and made his yoke heavy upon them, and chastised them with whips and with scorpions§, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down their chosen men||, and his eye did not spare them. And he builded a tower in the midst thereof**, and made them servants unto tribute; and they became weary of their lives, and their cry went up toward heaven; and his heart became much lifted up. And he mocked also the king, and did not fulfil the thing which he spake unto him, and it grieved the king muchtt. 1012. And Andrea Doria went with his ships unto Messina in the month of May, which is the third month. And the ships of the Turks went into the seas of Spain, and took of the large ships as many as their soul desired‡‡, neither was there any that could deliver out of their hand§§; they came *Deut. xxi. 3. i. e. They were Republicans. Esth. i. 10; 2 Sam. xiii. 28. § 1 Kings xii. 11-14. || Ps. lxxviii. 31. ¶ Deut. vii. 16; Ez. ix. 5. ** Is. v. 2. †† Sleidanus, Thuanus, Robertson, Denina, Raumer. ‡‡ 1 Sam. ii. 16. §§ Deut. xxxii. 39. 310 DRAGUT AT CAPRAJA. קיג also into the seas of Genoa, and took a large ship bearing wheat on the thirtieth day of the month, and sent her into their own country. And Capraja* was a small city on one of the isles of the sea near Corsica, and was reckoned to be the country thereoff. And they went thither and besieged it, and cast up trenches against it, and conquered it on the fifth day of the month of June, and took the persons and the goods. And these men went unto Corsica also. And Dragut Reis‡ was the chief of their host, and there were eleven galleys; and they took there also as much as their soul desired, and made much spoil§. 1013. And Andrea Doria heard the report of Dragut, and his wrath was kindled; and he divided his ships into two bands, and twenty-one of his ships came into the seas of Corsica, as swift as the eagle flieth¶. And Dragut heard nothing thereof, for the Lord had made heavy his ears**. And it came to pass, when their heart was merry, as they divided the prey upon the coast of the sea, to every man a damsel or twott, that they fell suddenly upon them; and gave the signal for battle. And the Turks hastened to return unto the ships, but could not, for evil was .seems to be compounded with Caprera קאפראיה * .אדרגוט ראיז f + Comp. 2 Sam. iv. 2. § 2 Chron. xxv. 13. ** Comp. Is. vi. 10. || Gen. xxxii. 7. ¶ Deut. xxviii. 49. קיג JUNE 4. RABBI JOSEPH AT GENOA. 311 determined against them*. And they left the ships as they were, and fled on shore, and their lives were unto them for a preyt. And two of the ships which were outside fled away; and they pursued after them; and the Turks cast into the sea the women and the children who were with them, when they hastened to make themselves lighter, and so they saved their lives. There was none taken in the destruction wrought by the uncircumcised, except the nine who were left. And Dragut, the chief of the host, was taken alive; and they put irons on his foot, like unto one of the base. And of those who remained in the ships, who went not on shore, were taken about one hundred men at that time. And they came unto Genoa, the city wherein I was, with all the prey, on the twentieth day of the month of June, which is the fourth month. And the nine ships they towed after them and their faces were backward§, and their banner they dragged in the sea with cords of vanity; and they exposed them unto mockery. And the earth was rent at the voice of the rams, and all the people of the land were glad; and the city of Genoa rejoiced and was glad¶. 1014. And the duke of Mantua died in the *Esther vii. 7. Exod. xiv. 9. Jer. xxi. 9; xxxviii. 9; xxxix. 18. § i. e Their prows were turned backward. Gen. ix. 23. |