 Family Theater presents Donna Atwood from Hollywood the mutual network in cooperation with Family Theater presents the first voyage of Columbus And now here is your hostess Donna Atwood Thank You Tony LaFranco Family Theater's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives If we are to win peace for ourselves peace for our families and peace for the world Family Theater urges you to pray pray together as a family And now to our transcribed drama the first voyage of Columbus featuring Jan Arvan as Christopher Columbus Think of Columbus Most of us first remember the rhyme we learned in school to help us remember the date of his discovery of America In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue Then perhaps we find before our minds eye the picture of his three ships the Santa Maria the Pinta and the Nenia Moving before the wind on the green and swelling vastness of an unknown scene For this is what most of us consider the voyage of Columbus But actually it was only a small part of his journey. It really began when Columbus unheralded and unknown Was making his way across Spain to Cordova to the court of Isabella and Fertinand Chance or perhaps an act of God Caused him to stop at Palos at the convent of Santa Maria de la Rabeta And it was there that he was given his first real hope of success And he told his plan to follow Juan Perez de Marchena the guardian of the convent and a noted cosmographer whose work was known to the Queen to reach the East by sailing west I believe the plan is sound but the motive my Primary motive father would be the extension of Christianity to the eastern world Primary not the spices the silks and riches of the east father a Few years ago. I commanded a vessel of the Genoese fleet when Genoa was at war with Venice In my last encounter my ship and one of the enemies caught fire While the two were bound together by cordage and grappling irons both ships were lost and for the most part so were the crews and I myself would not have survived if providence had not thrown a large ore in my way with the ore to keep me afloat I made the shore some five miles away God saved my life. Hmm. I choose to believe he did it for a reason I do not believe it was so that I might grow fat merchandising eastern trade goods good good And so with no friends at court and no letters of introduction you come to Spain to further your mission My friend you are either very Courageous or very naive. Well, stay with us a while. Hmm here at Santa Maria de la Ravada I am I am known to Queen Isabella. I will write to her for you You rest meanwhile Prepare the arguments you will need But let me tell you one thing now my friend. Yes, father if she accepts the plan she may not but if she does She will ask what you yourself want from this venture state your motives as you stated them to me But also you must ask for more Drive a bargain and stand by it Or otherwise you will probably be under suspicion and your mission will surely end in failure under suspicion father An Italian businessman working for profit and reputation might be trusted in Spain But an Italian missionary working for the glory of God and Spain Never and there is another reason my friend Your motives They are good. They're very good from a priest. They would be highly acceptable For a layman Columbus they sound a little too good to be true Christopher Columbus stayed at the convent of Santa Maria de la Ravada and with the wise father Marcina extended his studies and his prayers for the success of his undertaking Then with more faith in his plan than ever and an array of learning to maintain it He continued his journey to Cordova where he presented himself to the Queen Though we have heard your plan and are favorably inclined The Moorish war absorbs all our thoughts and so much of our resources as to make such an undertaking almost impossible at this time We do however Promise our aid when the war should be ended Unless a committee of our advisors recommend it be undertaken at an earlier time Gentlemen, you are learned men. Surely you can see the benefits to be gained It is not the benefits which were in question before this council rather your methods Achieve the east by sailing west Well, surely you yourself must question such a scheme as this not at all The great cosmographer Toscanelli as well as your own father Marchena both attest to the probable soundness of the plan As you have say we are learned men and as such at least are able to perhaps with reservations Accept your theory as to the shape of the earth on which we live it is round as any moment You're part as I was about to say We might accept your theory a forsake of argument. Let us say we do that We believe one might reach Cathay by sailing westward and thereby bring Christianity to the east a noble motive How large a ship would be required? How large a ship? If it were to be undertaken at all it should be a fleet of ships Tuff ships a gentleman you heard a fleet of ships Then you're you are familiar with the sea I have sailed since my 14th year from the Pillars of Hercules to the archipelago and have knowledge of sailors as a Commander and as a common seaman I have well then surely you're aware of the superstitions and the legends common to such men You ask for a fleet Yet if we were to give you even one ship, how would you say it? How indeed if your men believed you to be intent on leading them off the edge of the world I I did not come here to amuse you. I have come to offer Spain an opportunity The kings are at war with Granada the last of the Moorish kingdoms. I've been told this over and over since I arrived as an excuse but gentlemen Gentlemen the value of spices brought back from Cathay would do much to defray the costs of this war a Short route to the east would make possible the extension of Christianity and increase Spain in glory in the eyes of God and of the world Gentlemen, I bring you opportunity is is that a matter of laughter you must bear with us in your Columbus If we view this opportunity as did the Genoese and the Phoenicians and the Portuguese to whom we understand You've also offered it. Is this not true? It is true and it is true, too That your Queen Isabella is favorably inclined to my project and has promised her assistance When the war should be ending if she is still so inclined her having been appointed to this council by her highness and your Columbus We must inform her of our opinion in the matter and urge her as befits our stations To projects of a more practical nature to a nation at war to understand I Failed to see what could be more practical to a nation Then gaining the favor of God by bringing his word to the east or more practical to the war Then defraying its cost through the import of Eastern goods and Till such time as the war with Granada should be ended You will be given employment here in Cordova suitable to your abilities When the war is ended you may again petition the Queen Until that time the matter is closed And the matter was closed Columbus remained for six years in vain urging his project Then in November of 1491 He lost all hope of success through the Spanish thrones and returned to Palos and his first friend in Spain Padre Marchena, but my friend the Queen did promise aid when the war should be completed. Good father I've been through this a thousand times in my own mind No There is no course open now, so you will take your project to the court of France to France Wait, Columbus wait a little longer wait wait for what father for the war to end what purpose would it serve father? I have waited out six years already. I will write the Queen another letter. I want to tell her what you intend to do Urge her as strongly as I can Not to lose so great an opportunity In two there is an officer at the court. There is a man who has been growing in influence, and I will write to him also And then if nothing happens Then I will send you off to France with my blessings But will you wait out the winter? Yes father. I will wait Granada fell on the 30th of December 1491 and Before the end of the winter Columbus stood at the court before the Queen of Spain We have heard much about you in recent days Christopher Columbus. I am flattered your Highness In fact, we hold in our hand a letter From our dear friend the friar one Perez de Marchena Who commends you to us as a man of notable virtue and great vision who seeks earnestly to serve God and Spain But then perhaps you have read the letter It is so filled with praise and recommendation It had occurred to us that you might have helped the good friar write it There was no need your Highness the good father has always made a habit of serving me better than I could possibly serve myself We have that in common then now What is your price? My price your Highness if we were to commission you to find us a new trade route to the east by sailing west No, no my children. This is no laughing matter Well My price is quite high The war has been expensive Christopher Columbus, but we will consider anything reasonable first Not less than three ships with full complement and provisions To be commissioned an admiral of the ocean indeed vice-roy of all newfound land And to receive one-tenth of all the gold precious stones and other commodities exported from them That will be enough We We find your price too high Christopher Columbus The interview is ended You heard him. I did your highness. Yes your hiders Well, what do you think? You are my advisor's advice The man is bold And this is the man friar marchainer recommended for his virtue perhaps Perhaps the man of god is a better judge of virtue than an angry queen You You dare say that to me. I meant no offense your highness I'm merely curious as to whether you want my agreement or my council Perhaps we'd better tell you that after we've heard the council You You like the man don't you I do And you To me it's refreshing to find a man with such enthusiasm and such faith in himself Yes, I like him your highness And I do not think his price too high You do not think his price too high. No madam. I do not if you will reflect a moment You will see as we did that it only sounded high indeed It is only a token price Involving only a token title that and the expedition costs themselves You say he means to find a new trade route to cathay the forest with no expectation of finding any new lands over Which to be appointed viceroy or from which to exact any 10 percent for gold or precious stones exported from them By no stretch of definition could cathay be considered a new found land It would seem then that his price is to be made admiral of the ocean And have the opportunity of extending the holy faith to the forest for god and country in a strict sense for god alone The man is an Italian But should he find new lands the chance is always there if he should I would say he'd be welcome to his 10 percent If this man is sent away as indeed he seems to have been already Spain will not even have a 90 percent 90 percent of something is certainly better than 100 percent of nothing His price is low the title and the costs of the expedition Even that right now Oh, the war has been costly If one would make gains one must take risks The uh pink zones might supply one ship and ships compliments are drawn from the military We We will make the voyage Send a rider after the man We will make the voyage if I have to pledge my jewels to obtain the money On the 30th of april 1492 Christopher Columbus was made grand admiral of the ocean Viceroy of all the islands and mainland's he might discover And at the harbor at palos Three ships were made ready An old but serviceable karak furnished by the city of palos Columbus made his flagship and named it for the mother of god The santa maria And two smaller craft the pinta given by castile and the nina a gift of the pinzone family On the 3rd of august 1492 Early mass was celebrated at santa maria de la rabida Prayers were offered for the success of the venture And for the health and well-being of the 120 men of the compliment And then shortly before noon The expedition sailed out of the bay of palos Sailing westward to find a new route to the east At the canary islands the ships were detained so that the sails and rigging of the nina could be altered for greater speed And there columbus heard that three portuguese vessels had been sent out to capture or defeat the expedition But he alluded them as his flotillas sailed on boldly Into the frightening almost infinite vastness of the unknown sea I do not like it my captain why not the wind is fair and from a friendly quarter and the weather perfect The sea my captain the sea I've been a sailor all my life and i've grown a kinship with the seas i've sailed But not this one This one is strange stranger than any i've ever seen Patches of strange lighted water in the night the reflections of the starlight I enshrined stars in the heavens. We are free of the dust of the mainland We just see stars. We have not been able to see before perhaps my captain Stars, we were never meant to see I say turn back god did not bring us this far without a purpose There will be no turning back my captain the mariners compass no longer points due north it inclines westward This is an omen. Don't speak to me of omen sinyorpian zone I count such things as an affront to god But the compass make allowance for the degree of change and navigate accordingly. Yes, my captain But still or forget the compass and plot by the stars or do they too incline to the westward If this is your order captain, I will ignore the compass and pilot by the stars. Is that all no Wait, yes, sir I I did not mean to be short with you pinzone The compass variation troubles me as it does you But we put ourselves in the hands of god and his blessed mother before we left palos Faith is never wasted pinzone There is no need to be apprehensive our lives are in good hands For a time things went well for the admiral of the ocean and his small flotilla And the days went by with the monotony now common to sea travelers But to these men who had never been more than three days out of sight of land There was a difference in the monotony A growing fear an increasing apprehension as they moved farther from home and the security of land Then on the 7th of october 1492 65 days from the mainland of europe What is this who is leader among you? The men have elected me as folksmen then come and speak Captain captain you say You still recognize me that For a moment. I thought this was a mutiny when I saw you approach the bridge bearing arms and long faces, but Now I see it's only a conference We've had enough of this foolish mission I say return to spain you say But you are not the spokesman I have been informed And it's a good thing that you are not for it would certainly not be wise if all of you were putting yourself at odds with the commander Of the captain of this ship the admiral of this flotilla That would be mutiny. I beseech you be reasonable. You say this to me pinzon be reasonable It would appear to me that it is you all of you who have lost reason A man loses reason when he gains fear there is reason and fear this voyage has taken us beyond any reasonable distance If we continue we will all be lost can it be that one italian has more courage than almost 120 spaniards Full heartiness is not bravery. It is madness. I am not mad pinzana. I am angry Through the grace of god. We're on the very doorstep of the east You all are men of the sea you all can read the stars and know the distance we've traveled Now when we might almost reach out our hands and touch the orient You are ready to turn and run Are you indeed sailors afraid of the sea? Or are you men? Do you want to return in failure when you might return in triumph? We are afraid my captain of not returning at all. You will return to your homes and loved ones There's not a man here Or aboard the ninja and the pinta Who has not felt the hand of god in his life And he's with us now And he will protect us as he has since we left palos Because we're on a holy mission To bring his word to the east To extend the holy faith he gave us Put away your arms Replace them with your beads that you might give thanks to god for his goodness That you might give thanks to god for allowing you to be his instruments And you will be his instruments For we have started for the indies and i intend to pursue this voyage till By the grace of god It has ended That night was spent in watching and as columbus urged in prayer Then at ten o'clock from the deck of the santa maria Strange lights were seen moving in the distance At two in the morning one rodriguez bermejo a sailor aboard the santa maria sighted land On sighting the new world columbus ordered first that the three ships move close to each other And that the tedium be sung in thanksgiving to god for success and a safe journey On the morning of october 12 1492 The three ships of columbus dropped anchor before an island resplendent with the brilliant green of mangrove trees Then with the captains of the other two ships Arrayed in a scarlet mantle and bearing the royal standard with the figure of christ on the cross He landed on the shores of the new world planted the cross And named the island in honor of the holy savior san salvador So it was with the first voyage of columbus He made other voyages too and from the new world One of them in chains under spanish arrest But his motives remained the same The only profits he ever gained from the discovery of america were spiritual And the only worldly things he kept in memory of his discovery Were his chains And his title grand admiral of the ocean Well, this is donna atwood again In the play you've just heard the first voyage of columbus You probably noticed that we dealt more with the motives of the man than with his actual discovery of america And in a sense that's the way it should be Because why people do things can be And usually is every bit as important as the things they do Do you follow me? Well, here's what i mean Suppose a man jumps off a bridge into a raging river That could be a terrible thing Or it could be a wonderful thing The why is all important If he jumps with the idea of destroying himself It's terrible because he commits a grave crime against society and a terrible sin against god and himself But if he's risking his life if he's jumping in order to save others from drowning Then he's doing something worthy of the highest praise on society and a great reward from god Then it's a wonderful thing Yes, motives are important and there is no action which does not have its motivation I believe most of us pray And generally for the same reasons to thank god For past favors To ask him for new ones or perhaps for his divine assistance in solving the problems that come up in our lives But we who appear on family theater Generally recommend family prayer and we To have our reasons we believe family prayer is a special instrument Capable of bringing the members of a family closer to god And therefore closer to each other We believe that by including god in the group It increases love in the home and strengthens family ties and Makes home a happier place So next time you pray Try it with the members of your family As little as two or three minutes a day devoted to god In the company of your loved ones Can be a valuable investment And the motives a good one The family that prays together stays together More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of From hollywood family theater has brought you transcribed the first voyage of columbus Donna atwood was your hostess featured in our cast were jan arvand Howard culver margaret brinkton Lawrence dubkin don diamond and lou krugman The script was written and directed for family theater by robert huo solomon with music composed by harry zimmerman This series of family theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type of program By the mutual network which has responded to this need And by the hundreds of stars of state screen and radio Who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our family theater stage To them and to you our humble thanks This is tony lofranow expressing the wish of family theater that the blessing of god may be upon you and your home And inviting you to join us next week when family theater will present Reprisal starring rita johnson and blithe will be your hostess. Join us won't you? This is mutual the radio network for all america