- We don't do anything like that, but only sing and have fun!
The girl muttered:
- Whose voice would sing, and yours would sniff!
And there was a pause. The boys that the sailors had become now walked on sharp stones with almost no pain. Very quickly, the bare soles of children become coarse. This is indeed a positive fact. And of course the mood rises.
The slave boys even sang;
In the rays of the daytime sun, the back burns with fire,
The overseer does not sleep, and the whip is true to him.
I, extracting sugar all my life from cane, Did not know any other reward than a cuff stick. My hand does not bend and my cloudy look is heavy, But my heart beats terribly like a fiery alarm!
Like a thief I run and hide, the grass is not high,
I still don't hear the dogs, but it's only for now.
In the morning they will seize me, hang me from a post, And the brother-boys will look from under their foreheads.
I'm already dying of thirst, I can't see the water, But the whole day of freedom, who can take it away!
The song, of course, is not God knows what. And does not add optimism.
Gulliver remarked with a childish smile:
- These are the twists and turns of fate! Here I go and I don't know where. And ahead is waiting ... Well, in my previous adventures, somehow there was more dynamics and interest. And here there are only songs, and you stomp yourself like a clockwork robot.
The Viscountess nodded in agreement.
- Do you need dynamics? And what is possible!
And the girl took out a whip from her belt and let them beat Gulliver. The boy howled in pain, and croaked:
- I didn't mean it at all!
The Viscountess laughed and replied:
- But you need to educate! Maybe you can tell a funny story?
The boy-captain nodded and began to weave a story:
Emperor Diocletian refused to step down from power, as he understood that the Roman Empire would not stand without him. Moreover, Diolektan finally had a Son and an heir nicknamed Julius, like Caesar. The emperor ruled even before 320, having managed to strengthen the old faith of Rome by modernizing paganism. Jupiter became the main God, who, as it turned out, also created the universe.
The doctrine of heaven and hell also arose and was strengthened. That is, instead of the gloomy kingdom of Hades, the doctrine of a fabulous empire was introduced, where the souls of the dead receive bodies and live again. Warrior heroes, of course, also have concubines and celebrate feasts. And the emperors have their own powers there. And of course, slaves remain slaves. But those who obey the masters and behave well - their lives are easier and better, and the bodies are given young and healthy after death. And disobedient slaves and Christians are tortured very cruelly, and so brutally tortured that they can only cry and repent.
After the death of Diocletian, his son Julius continued the traditions of his father. And he even undertook several aggressive campaigns - bringing the southern border of the empire to India itself.
So even a new dynasty of Diocletians arose. Which provided Rome with stability and prosperity. Christianity gradually faded and came to naught. Indeed, the tale of Christ gradually went out of fashion. Yes, and Christians could not prove that they could at least do something and that they were worth something. And so everything went to the oblivion of what many considered an offshoot of Judaism. But now the Arabs, who had not yet been conquered by Great Rome, appeared Mohammed.
By this time, the Romans had already conquered India. Their empire has become so huge that it is difficult to manage. In Europe, the Romans reached the Vistula. And conquered almost all of Germany. And in the south, moving along the Nile, they subjugated Sudan and Ethiopia. But scientific progress has been slow.
And it turned out to be very difficult to control such territories from a single center.
Well, therefore, the Arabs, who were poor and lived in the desert, were left alone.
Just like the Romans did not conquer the Slavs, who live too far and in a harsh climate. And China, which is also full of mountains, and rivers, and deserts, and the population is large. And so the Roman Empire is great both in population and territory. And especially in China, emperors do not want to climb.
And in Africa, too, there are no roads, communications. Well, there were still, across the Atlantic Ocean to America, they also had not yet matured. Although individual ships swim away.
But here, under the command of Mohammed, the Arab troops, subjugating Saudi Arabia, invade the Roman possessions.