Chiristopher Columbus Journey in a Rat's View

Columbus’s fleet, which consists of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, is sailing to the Indies westward. I, Pedro the rat, am aboard the Santa Maria. We have been sailing for thirty-five days. Most of the Santa Maria’s crew had tied themselves to anything to secure them while trying to catch a few hours of sleep. Juan and Juanita are sleeping in the grain storage area. They have been seasick during the first seven days of the voyage. I am accustomed to thunderstorms and rough seas, but they have not traveled on this ship prior to this voyage.

I had met Juan, a fellow rat, on an exploration around the Canary Island shipyard. I had plenty of time to explore the area while the Pinta was in dry dock, getting a new rudder installed. Juan was a good tour guide and introduced me to the delicacies of the island. On one of our excursions, he introduced me to his young and beautiful sister, Juanita. It was love at first sight. From then on I spent every day with my new friends. I invited them to join me on the Santa Maria, which was bound to sail westward to the Indies. I told them of my meeting with Sing Lee, a wise older Chinese rat, who had set out to travel the world a few years ago, by sailing. I was convinced that I wanted to see the world also and was determined to board the next ship sailing to India.

I had boarded the Santa Maria, whose captain was Christopher Columbus. The ship seemed to have enough food and water on board to supply the crew and me for more than a whole year. There was a scrumptious array of food and drink. The Santa Maria did not have a mess hall or quarters for the crew, except for the captain and the pilot. The rough seas and the sloppy behavior of the crew guaranteed plenty of food, including live chickens and pigs, and drink for a large group of rats, but to my surprise my friends and I were the only members of my kind on board. I suppose my friendship with Juan and my proposed engagement to his sister had persuaded these friends to come with me on the Santa Maria. By now everyone had his sea legs and showed a consistent appetite. The captain had promised that he would reward the sailor who first sighted land with 10,000 maravedis per year. Ten days ago a sailor in the crow’s nest had yelled at the top of his lungs, “Tierra, Tierra!,” but within the next two hours, Christopher Columbus had announced that it was a false alarm. The sailor had seen some low clouds in the distance and mistakenly thought that it was land. Although the crew and we were disappointed, we all felt a renewed enthusiasm and hope of reaching land soon. My friends began waking up to the persistent crowing of the rooster on board.

“ Sweetheart, are you awake?” I asked.

“I am.” replied Juanita’s brother.

“Juan, just get your sister awake!” I commanded. “And let us have a delicious breakfast of the rotten eggs we found last night.”

“There should be plenty of slop left in the pig trough,” commented Juanita. As we walked behind the barrels of water still securing the sleeping sailors, Juanita whispered,