Lucas Greco demonstrates his survival skills and entrepreneurship. Obliged to flee for his life from Venice, he hogties a Spanish knight's hired servant, takes the servant's place on board the ship that is just about to depart to Constantinople and cheerfully persuades the knight to accept him as a better servant than the man that he has replaced.
Lucas' Arguments
(i) Our Lord told us to forgive wrongdoers.
(ii) Lucas has not harmed the knight but has rid him of a stupid and lazy servant.
(iii) If the knight has Lucas arrested, then he will be without a servant which will be beneath his dignity.
(iv) Lucas is "'...a most excellent servant...,'" (p. 20) able to read, write, calculate, speak fluent Greek and bits of other languages, sing, play a whistle or cither, compose poetry, sail, fight, spy, advise on matters of the heart and learn.
He has Nicholas van Rijn's ability to argue that what is in his interests is in the other person's interests.
See earlier posts on this Prologue here.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
That is a very amusing part of ROGUE SWORD! The combination of Lucas'
quick wits with his gall and chutzpah persuaded someone as wary and experience as En Jaime that accepting Lucas as his servant would be a good investment.
Pity we never got a Young Nick story!
Ad astra! Sean
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