But there were some who were jealous of the discoverer, and as ready to find fault as others were to praise. “Who is this Columbus?” they asked, “and what has he done? Is he not a pauper pilot from Italy? And could not any other seaman sail across the ocean just as he has done?”
One day Columbus was at a dinner which a Spanish gentleman had given in his honor, and several of these persons were present. They were proud, conceited fellows, and they very soon began to try to make Columbus uncomfortable.
“You have discovered strange lands beyond the sea,” they said. “But what of that? We do not see why there should be so much said about it. Anybody can sail across the ocean; and anybody can coast along the islands on the ot