The more he talked and reasoned and argued and even drew maps to prove that he was right, the more everybody shook their heads and called him crazy.
Columbus was about to give up in despair because he was very poor, and there seemed to be no way by which he could demonstrate that his theory of the shape of the earth was correct.
And now comes a curious coincidence.
He was a very devout Christian, and felt certain that the inhabitants of this strange country in the west had never heard of our God nor of his beloved son Jesus, and his heart was fired with zeal to reach these poor heathens and tell them the story of the Christ.
About this time some influential friend secured an audience for him with the King of Portugal, but it did no good to tell his story to the rich monarch, who was neither of a scientific nor a religious turn of mind, and he might as well have talked to the wind. Utterly discouraged Columbus decided to go to Spain, which is a near neighbor of Portugal, and see if he could not induce the famous King Ferdinand and Isabella, the queen, to give him boats to make his longed-for voyage. The queen especially was very pious and was much interested in Columbus' story about the heathens, but the ministers of her court laughed at Columbus and said:
"It is a foolish dream which can never be carried out."
Almost heart-broken Columbus silently turned his back on the Spanish capital and walked a long way to a seaport called Palos, where there was a queer old convent in which strangers were made welcome by the kind monks living in it. Knocking upon the gate, he said to the porter:
"Will you please give me a bit of bread and a drink of water."
Fortunately, the prior, a learned man and an intimate friend of Queen Isabella came along, and was quick to see that Columbus was no common beggar. He invited him in, and after listening quietly and thoughtfully to his visitor's plan of crossing the ocean to convert the heathen to Christianity, he borrowed a mule and rode miles across the country to the castle where the Queen was staying and persuaded her to help Columbus.
"It is your duty," he said. "God has given you riches and many blessings that you may assist your fellow men, and these strange people know nothing of our God, and they need teachers to help them find the right way of living."