404 DRAGUT IN ITALY AND SPAIN, A.D. 2546. P and burned her in the midst of the sea while they were fighting, and their smoke went up towards heaven; and his fame was noised throughout all the country. And Dragut drew nigh, and they came in the darkness of the night of the fourth day nigh unto Monte Rosso*, and surrounded the city before their voice was heard, on the eighth day of the month of July, which is the fifth month. When the men of the city heard thereof, they took hold of each other's hand; one half took hold on spears, and one half made the women and the children to flee, and their soul was unto them a prey. And there were only left in their destruction† the feeble, who delayed to flee. And they took them, and put forth their hand unto the spoil, and left no gleanings. And they kindled a fire at one end of the city, and went their way. Also at Cornega, a small city, they did according as they had done at Monte Rosso; and they took there also clothes and vessels, and nine souls of men. Then the men of Genoa feared, and said one to another, "We are verily guilty, in that we have sent out this grinding oppressor from our hand. The Lord is righteous." And Dragut went on his journey, and overflowed Catalonia, and passed through§. And two open cities he gave up to be spoiled, and went .מונטי רוסו * Comp. Gen. xlii. 21. † Ps. cvii. 20. Is. viii. 8. קכז DORIA PURSUES DRAGUT, 1545. 405 his way unto Algier. And the ships of Andrea* Doria pursued after them. And as they returned, they met in Corsica two small galleys of the Ishmaelites, and took them, and put their feet into irons. And they took another ship in the sea of Piombino and led her unto Naples, for there was his station. 1150. And the queen of Spain, the wife of Philip, the emperor's son, died after she had borne a male child in the month of July; and they mourned over her many days. 1151. And in the month Sivan, in the year three hundred and five, was Israel scattered: the Lord thought to destroy the captives of Jerusalem who were at Salonichit, and the Lord slew among the people a very great slaughter. And they went as fugitives and vagabonds from city to city, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth‡. And there also no rest was given unto them§. And there came one that had escaped, and said, "A fire of God has overwhelmed Salonichi, and destroyed the foundations thereof." For a fire came out from the house of Abraham Catalan, the grocer, in the night of the second day, on the fourth day of the month Ab, which is the fifth month; and it destroyed about eight thousand .אנטוניאו * Is. ii. 19. .Thessalonica,סאלוניקי + Comp. Lam. v. 5. 406 GREAT FIRE IN SALONICHI. קכז houses in a little moment, and about two hundred souls of man; and the cry of the city went up toward heaven. Woe unto the eyes which have seen eighteen of our prayer-houses, and our glory, and the books of our Law, and the believers of our Law become a burning, and fuel of fire*. And they had no strength in their hand to save them. The young and the old lay on the ground desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet embraced dunghills naked, but they were not ashamed on the day of the Lord's anger. And it came to pass, when it was heard in the open cities that the King, the Lord, spake terrors, that great mourning was among the Jews, many being in sackcloth and ashes||. Trembling took hold upon them¶, and horror on that bitter day, a shaking of the knees, and pain in all loins; and their faces gathered blackness. Blessed be the true Judge! And the children of Israel bewailed the burning which the Lord had kindled**. And after this also, there was a great plague among the people, until those who buried became weary, and the mourners and bewailers ceased. And the Jews retained no strength at that time, and Israel became very low. And the Turks put the grocer who had kindled the fire * Is. ix. 4. + Lam. ii. 21. $ Comp. Hos. xiii. 1. ¶ Exod. xv. 15. Ps. xlviii. 7. Lam. iv. 5. ** Levit. x. 6. קכז MOHAMMED KING OF TREMEZEN. 407 into prison; and he became sick, and ended his days there. 1152. And the viceroy who was at Algier fought a second time against Mohammed, king of Tremezen. And Mohammed slept with his fathers, and the viceroy also went the way of the whole earth; and the war ceased. And Kaid Isa returned unto the city after the death of Mohammed, and they made Mansur, the king's uncle, king; and he sat on the throne of the kings. And when Kaid Mansur, who was at Oran, heard that the king was dead, he gathered soldiers, and went with Achmed, the son of his sister, against Tremezen, and took it. And they killed Kaid Isa and his son, and all the seed royal. 1153. And after the death of his lieutenant, Barbarossa sent his son unto Algier with twelve galleys and two thousand Turks. And the fame thereof was heard in Italy*, and Andrea Doria divided his ships into three headst. And he sent them hither and thither; and every one turned his own way to see if they could fight against him, but they found him not§. And the Spanish ships went unto Tabarkah, the island from which those, who go *Gen. xlv. 16. Is. liii. 6. + Gen. xxxii. 7, 8. || MINING, an island on the coast of Tunis, opposite the town of Tabarkah. This island is known for its pearls and corals. 408 KAID MANSUR AND ACHMED. קכז And they restorm and the of the month And it came down to the sea, take the corals*. moved from thence, because of the raging of the sea, on the second day of July, which is the fifth month. to pass on the morrow, that he passed also over unto Tabarkah, and went on his journey unto Algier, his capital, and there was none that stumbled in his campst. 1154. And it came to pass, as he sat on the throne of his kingdom, that he gathered soldiers together, and he went against Tremezen and took it.. And Kaid Mansur, and King Achmed the son of his sister, and the children of the prince, and the Jews who were with them, fled to save their -: ספר השרשים See Kimchi in * עֲצֵי הָאַלְגוּמִים וּבְמָקוֹם אַחֵר אַלְמוּנִים וּשְׁנֵיהֶם עִנְיָן אֶחָד וְהוּא שֶׁקוֹרִין לוֹ בְּלֹעַוּ קוֹרָלוֹ וְיֵשׁ מִי שְׁפִירָשׁ אוֹתוֹ הָעֵץ שֶׁנּוֹכְעִין בּוֹ שֶׁנִקְרָא בְּעַרְבִי אלבקם . שְׁקוֹרִין לוֹ בְּלעז ברזיל 1 Reg. x. 11. 12; 2 Par. ii. 7; ix. 10. 11. "Lignorum pretiosorum genus, tempore Salomonis ex Ophira una cum auro et gemmis mari advectum, templi regiæque ornamentis, itemque musicis instrumentis adhibitum; secundum 2 Par. ii. 7. in Libano etiam nascens. Plerique rabbini coralia intelligunt, atque ita singularis usurpatur in Talmude: sed coralia non sunt ligna : licet, modo antiquus sit iste Talmudistarum usus loquendi, lignum illud pretiosum a similitudine coraliorum dictum esse possit, q. d. lignum Coraliorum, Korallenholz [i. e. Coralwood]. Probabiliora dat Kimchius, cui est Arabicum lignum Brasilium vocant." Gesen.Lex.Man. quod Europæi البقم. + Is. v. 27. Ps. cv. 37. + Esth. i. 2. |