Blackthorne and Rodrigues's reciprocal rescues and mutual respect

Blackthorne and Rodrigues's reciprocal rescues and mutual respect take shape in a conversation about what each owes the other. Rodrigues remembers drowning with a vivid fear of crabs entering through his eyes, and Blackthorne answers that Rodrigues had already given him life and succor when he was desperate. Rather than leave their rescues as an outstanding debt, Blackthorne declares them even, turning survival into a bond of mutual obligation freely released.

Rescue and the Question of Debt

Rodrigues says that he still owes Blackthorne a life. His confession is not abstract: he recalls feeling the crabs churn inside him as he drowned, and says that being overboard for the third time had been worse than before. He also notes that he has been sunk at sea four times, three of them by Spaniards, placing their exchange within a life repeatedly endangered at sea.

Blackthorne rejects the idea that Rodrigues remains indebted. He recalls Rodrigues's own earlier aid, describing it as life and succor given when he was desperate, and thanks him. The exchange makes their bond reciprocal rather than transactional: each has helped the other survive, and Blackthorne closes the account instead of demanding repayment.

Rodrigues's Warning

Before Blackthorne leaves, Rodrigues offers what he calls a partial payment in the form of a warning. He invokes the Japanese saying that a person has several hearts: one visible to everyone, one shown to family and close friends, and a hidden, private one. Rodrigues then turns that image into a sweeping, bitter judgment of the Japanese as treacherous and morally corrupt. The advice therefore carries both the force of a warning from an experienced Portuguese sailor and the limitation of his own hostile generalization; the exchange records Rodrigues's view, not an established truth about the people Blackthorne encounters.

Parting and Mutual Regard

When Blackthorne asks why Toranaga wants to see him, Rodrigues admits that he does not know and invokes the Blessed Virgin in his frustrated reply. He asks Blackthorne to come back if he can. Blackthorne wishes him good luck, and Rodrigues answers with a blessing. Their farewell does not resolve the uncertainty surrounding Toranaga's summons, but it leaves their relationship on a note of warmth: candid disclosure, an invitation to return, and a final exchange of goodwill.