And yet, as he talked to the queen and told her what he wished to do, he said he must have so much as a reward for doing it that the queen and her chief men were simply amazed at his--well, what the boys to-day call "cheek"-- that they would have nothing to do with him.

This man really is crazy, they said.

This poor Genoese sailor comes here without a thing except his very odd ideas, and almost "wants the earth" as a reward.
This is not exactly what they said, but it is what they meant.
His few friends begged him to be more modest.

Do not ask so much, they said, or you will get nothing.

But Columbus was determined.