The First Book of Samuel by SAREJESS (epub read online books txt) 📕

Ferreira you have been in the east?” asked Rembrandt. "Yes for a number of years" said Samuel. The chamber in which they sat was filled with light from a large bay window. Rembrandt had insisted that the painting be done in this room because as he said the natural light would make a better portrait than the artificial light of a room filled with candles. Samuel had to agree the artist knew best when it came to these matters.

"Did you manage to make your fortune working for Jan Company? asked Rembrandt. "I must admit I did rather well from the company." answered Samuel. "I have always longed to travel" said the painter who was busy mixing colors on his pallet, "but alas commitments and the life of a company man is not suited for my temperament" said Rembrandt. "Then Holland is my home. I should feel quite out of place in foreign parts I imagine” he continued. “How did you find the east mynheer?” He asked.

"Well to be frank sometimes it was a little strange. The customs and the ways of the people who live there are so much different from here in Holland" said Samuel. "Turkey is an interesting place. There is so much to see and the court of the Grand Turk, well that is a whole other world, so formal and so many bribes to be paid even to minor officials. Nothing is done with out a little money changing hand."

"Oh I did not realize that it was so much like a robbers market" said Rembrandt "tell me mynheer, did you ever have trouble on your travels with the Barbary pirates?” asked Rembrandt. "Once we were pursued for a whole day at sea before we were able to give them the slip. You know life at sea is so dangerous. When you are the only merchant ship within a thousand miles every pirate and minor chieftain takes it upon himself to try and capture the vessel. But we had a good ship and a wise captain who knew how to slip away from the pirates in the dark." Said Samuel

"Tell me mynheer, what is Batavia like?” asked Rembrandt. "Well I must tell you that Batavia is at once a wonderful yet at the same time a terrible place. The air is filled with spices, the warehouse filled with peppercorns and other spices. Yet our people there are not use to the climate. They die from ailments, which do not seem to affect the locals. It is as if there is something in the water that causes a man to be healthy in the morning yet deadly sick at night. I have known strong men to retire soundly to bed at night and to awaken in the morning sweating with fever and to be dead at mid day. The orient though brings Holland much wealth."

"Indeed I have heard tales of the east which I can hardly credit" said Rembrandt. “I do not know weather to believe them or not. The men I have spoken with say a man’s fortune could be made on one voyage to Batavia but also a fortune can be lost he ended." "Believe me master Rembrandt the tales you have been told are all true. Unfortunately the majority of those who go never return wealthy. There are far too many distractions and when a man gets distracted from making his fortune it is but a short road to destruction” said Samuel. “I was lucky that I made a good bargain and was able to rise in the company when I started. I had but a small amount of capital, but slowly I amassed a fortune in the east. The food there I must tell you is like nothing you will ever taste in Holland" said Samuel.

"So in general Jan Company has been a good thing for you" said Rembrandt. "Yes I have to admit that it has” said Samuel. “The painting progresses well?” asked Samuel of the artist. "Yes mynheer, if you would step this way I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised" said Rembrandt.

The painting showed Samuel standing under the window with one hand on a globe of the world while the other hand was clasping a scroll, also to be seen in the painting was a number of bags of spices. Although the bags did not contain spice any more, they now contained a goodly amount of good Dutch soil and pebbles. Samuel approached the painting and looked while the artist cleaned his hands "I think it is time for some wine" said Rembrandt who crossed the room to a cabinet, which had a very large lock. Sorting through his bunch of keys they continued to talk until he had found the key. Once he had opened the cabinet, he produced a bottle of wine from which he poured two large glasses of wine, one he offered to Samuel who was busy lighting his pipe with a coal from the fire. "Thank you master Rembrandt" said Samuel "this wine seems to travel well I have seldom tasted such good wine in all my travels" said Samuel. “Ah that is indeed a great compliment from a man who has traveled to distant shores".

"You are too kind master Rembrandt. I am interested to know by what method you would suggest for preserving my painting for a long time and in different climates. As I think I will be away from Holland for many years and I would like to think that I am not just wasting money" said Samuel. “Ah well I would suggest that at all times you keep the painting dry and covered with a sheet as to prevent the colors from fading I will also mix a varnish which will preserve it for many years" said Rembrandt. "Good, that is indeed good news" said Samuel.

Once they had finished their wine Samuel returned to his position under the window and placed the Turkish headband once more on his head. In the mean time Rembrandt returned to the painting and began to add paint to the image on the canvas.

1632 Invitation to dinner with Rembrandt
The painting was almost finished and Rembrandt and Samuel were standing looking at the painting "Well Mynheer Ferreira, what do you think of your portrait?" asked the artist. "Very impressive, I shall treasure it always" said Samuel with a smile. "I am glad to say that it indeed shows a true reflection of the man" said the artist "Indeed it does" said Samuel. “So, Mynheer Ferreira where will you be off to next?” asked Rembrandt. "I have heard that there is much to be said of Ceylon" said Samuel "A fortune to be made they say. I have invested the bulk of my money with the Amsterdam bankers. With what I have left I should be able to live comfortably for a few years and still make some money. If I invest again in the Tea plantations in Ceylon" said Samuel. "An excellent idea" said Rembrandt, who was wishing he had some money to invest in some similar project.

"Yes tea is the new thing. A number of tea shops have opened in The Hague. They seem to be quite popular with the subjects of the realm" said Samuel. "Ah yes I have been to one of those shops I was very impressed with the tea drinking experience. I liked the taste. There is much to be said for taking tea. But I do not like all of the methods of drinking it. I liked mine with a little milk and sugar but I saw some people drinking theirs black and with chili powder, a very unusual and strong brew indeed" said Rembrandt, wiping his hands before taking up a brush to begin applying varnish to the painting.

"I have heard that Formosa was the place to find many strange and wonderful things" said Rembrandt as he worked. "I was there for a while it is an interesting place. The local rulers are very stringent on what one is allowed to buy and sell there. I find that opium is quite popular there but the use is restricted due to the fact that it makes people very lazy and slothful".

"How is it that a man as busy as you, have been able to travel to so many places in your short life? asked Rembrandt. "Ah well if I had to tell you my secret I think I do not think you would believe me” said Samuel with a smile as he took an apple from a bowl which lay on the table. "I think you might be right Mynheer” said Rembrandt who in his own life had already undergone a number of events.

"I can say this though, if you work hard for Jan company you do find ways to get around and if your service is noticed they do tend to promote you and to send you to the most interesting places" said Samuel. "I have been on some of the most deserted places in the world and some of the most populous place in the service of the Dutch East India Company. I have stood in a market in Batavia surrounded by thousands of people all speaking different languages I have also spent the night on the beach on the southern tip of Africa, a most desolate place, thousands of Leagues from the nearest habitation of civilized man" said Samuel.

“Now I am in one of the most modern cities of the world enjoying a conversation with a most remarkable man who will one day be remembered for the great commissions he has yet to undertake a master craftsman. A man who I am proud to call friend" said Samuel "Ah Mynheer, you are too kind. I paint because I love it and it also brings me a pretty nice income but mainly because I love it” said the great artist.

"But come Mynheer Ferreira the hour grows late you must join me and my family for dinner. We have lately had a new addition to the family, a boy. Little Titus who is but a few weeks old you must see him and give me your opinion on what he should become. I am all for him becoming an artist but Saskia says we must wait and see."

“I should be delighted Master Rembrandt, to eat at your table to share a little wine to enjoy good Dutch company" said Samuel.


CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LONDON ENGLAND 1666
The vessels in the Thames river rood were easy at anchor, the tide pulling at the ships gently. Samuel came on to the deck “Give you good day captain” he said to the bearded man in a red coat. “Morning master Ferreira, I trust you slept well?” replied the master of the vessel. “I see that we have arrived, how soon before I will be able to go ashore asked Samuel?” “As soon as the sun rises we will make for the docks” said the captain. “The boatmen are a little thin since the plague has cleaned their ranks.” “Ah yes I have heard in Holland of the plague. Were you here when it happened?” asked Samuel.

“I was here for a short time” replied the man. “London is much changed since then there are so few people on the streets. Many shops closed because the merchants left or died. Ah well that is the way of life in the midst of life there is death” said the master of the vessel quoting from a well remembered section of the scripture.

Samuel had come to London from continental Europe. The last time he had been in England was more then a hundred years earlier. He saw