human
Could this sea give up its dead--its dead men and its dead ships; could they all come back as they looked the moment before they sank, they would make a panorama of the ages, and would show the progress of the world for five thousand years. Every mile square of this sea must be paved with things which were once glorious in life and power. Maybe below where we are sailing here, helmeted Roman soldiers, being transported to some point of contemplated conquest, went down. Here pirate craft have roamed; here lumbering wheat ships have ploughed their way; here the watches have been set by the crews of a hundred nations; here sailors have been cursed in a thousand tongues. Along these shores ship-building had its birth; from these shores the ships sailed out over these waters, engaging in foreign commerce, and the camel-owner on the land learned to hate the thing which on the water could carry the burden of many camels. One could sit all day and conjure up the ghosts that these blue waters are peopled with.
gpt
Go ahead, Jim, said Jordan.
human
Thet sounds as it useter when yo' read to us in ther old house thar in Texas. What war thet book that told all 'bout Lissis and Ajax, the hoss-tamer Diamed, and the boss fighters, Killes and Hector, and ther pretty gal Helen, that raised all the hel-lo, and Dromine, the squar woman thet war Hector's wife, and hed the kid thet war afeerd of the old man's headgear?
gpt
That was the Iliad, Jordan, said Sedgwick,
human
How long ago war that, Jim?
gpt
Three thousand years,
human
But they were fighters, them fellers?
gpt
Yes, great fighters,
human
And their hosses war thoroughbreds, every one? Isn't thet so, Jim?
gpt
They were great horses, indeed,
human
Powerful, said Jordan,
gpt
You mean Æneas, Jordan. It was in Virgil that we read that. Æneas was of the family of that Priam who was king of Troy when the siege was on. He got away in a ship and finally landed and settled in southern Italy, off here to our left, and the legend goes that his descendants founded Rome.
human
Yo' don't mean ter say he wur ther 'riginater uv ther Dagoes?
gpt
Well, said Sedgwick, with a laugh,
human
They inbred with mustangs, so ter speak, said Jordan,
gpt
May-be,
human
Half-breeds is no good, as a rule, but that Nais war a good one.
gpt
A good one, I guess,
human
He's ther feller that Queen--what's her name?--O, yes, Queen Dido got soft on?
gpt
Yes, Queen Dido,
human
And she got looney-like when he cum away, and uv nights would go down on ther shore and watch for him to cum back?
gpt
So the legend has come down, and by the way, added Sedgwick,
human
Say, Jim, said Jordan,
gpt
I guess you are right, Jordan, said Sedgwick,
human
Wurn't it from thet place Carthage that ther black feller cum what held ther Dagoes so level fur so long?
gpt
Hannibal, do you mean?
human
Ther same,
gpt
Yes, replied Sedgwick,
human
Indeed, he wur; but say, Jim, what do yo' calcerlate his pedigree wur?
gpt
Why, he came from a family of kings and fighting men,
human
Yes, I know; but I mean what breed war he? War he one of them ere Ethiopians?
gpt
No, I think not, answered his friend.
human
He was dark like an Arab or a Moor, but he belonged to a race that built cities and ships, tamed horses, and fought scientific battles.
gpt
said Jordan.
human
And he wur a fighter from way back?
gpt
Yes, responded Sedgwick,
human
Thay ain't much in men, Jim. Thar's everything in a man,
gpt
That is what Napoleon used to say,
human
Did Napoleon say thet? asked Jordan.
gpt
He war a brighter man than I thought, but it is true, don't yo' think, Jim?
human
I think I understand, but am not quite sure,