The Innocents Abroad · Chapter
XLVII explained
The pilgrims journey through desolate country near the Sea of Galilee, reflecting on the ruins of Capernaum and the life of Christ.
What happens
The pilgrims journey through desolate country near the Sea of Galilee, reflecting on the ruins of Capernaum and the life of Christ. They attempt to sail on the lake but balk at the price, leading to embarrassment. Jack's encounter with a turtle prompts a critique of the Colonel's embellished biblical descriptions.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Hypocrisy
The pilgrims' fervent devotion contrasts with their haggling over the boat fare, and Jack's literal interpretation of biblical claims exposes potential exaggeration.
The Past vs. the Present
The ruins of Capernaum and the Roman road evoke the grandeur of the past, while the present desolation and the pilgrims' commercial transaction highlight decline.
Travel as Education
Jack's experience with the turtle and the pilgrims' visit to holy sites serve as lessons in critical thinking and the gap between expectation and reality.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Reflects on the holy sites and the pilgrims' enthusiasm, and recounts Jack's turtle incident.
- Jack
Suffers from sun exposure, throws a clod at a turtle, and questions the Colonel's claim about turtles singing.
- Ferguson
Interprets for the boatman and assists with drinking from the fountain.
- Mr. Church
Supports the narrator and is trusted by Jack for truthful information.
- Colonel J. Heron Foster
Implied as the Colonel who claimed the land flowed with milk and honey and that turtles sing.
Key passages
“And did I not overhear Church, another pilgrim, say he did not care who went or who stayed, he would stand by me till I walked out of Damascus on my own feet or was carried out in a coffin, if it was a year?”
I heard Church say he would stay with me until I left Damascus, alive or dead, even if it took a year.
Shows Church's loyalty to the narrator.
“But all desolate and unpeopled as it was, it was illustrious ground. From it sprang that tree of Christianity whose broad arms overshadow so many distant lands today.”
Though now empty and ruined, Capernaum was the birthplace of Christianity, which now spreads across the world.
Highlights the significance of the ruins.
“If all the poetry and nonsense that have been discharged upon the fountains and the bland scenery of this region were collected in a book, it would make a most valuable volume to burn.”
All the exaggerated praise written about these fountains and scenery would be better off burned.
Satirizes the romanticized descriptions of the Holy Land.
“What wonder that the sordid lights of workday prudence should pale before the glory of a hope like theirs in the full splendor of its fruition?”
No wonder practical concerns faded in the face of their long-held dream coming true.
Explains the pilgrims' initial extravagant enthusiasm.
“It was too much like 'Ho! let me at him!' followed by a prudent 'Two of you hold him—one can hold me!'”
Their bold talk was followed by a cowardly retreat, like someone who boasts but then backs down.
Criticizes the pilgrims' hypocrisy in bargaining.
“I sat there and watched that turtle nearly an hour today, and I almost burned up in the sun; but I never heard him sing.”
I watched the turtle for an hour in the hot sun and it never made a sound.
Jack's literal test disproves the Colonel's claim.
