The Travels of Fedoso, Part IV
XXXVI.
The waters calmed, and yet I floated,
Flotsam in a tepid sea,
'Til a merman's arms embraced me,
Raised me to the stony shore.
Not a merlord: just a soldier
And his captain, brightly clad;
These two pressed me to a pillar,
Traced their blades across my cheek.
"A river rat," the captain growled,
"A-swimming in the master's bath...
Shall we let him dry his fur,
Or throw him back and push him down?"
"Where is this?" I barely gasped,
Confusion blurring every thought.
The soldier, angered, meant to cut me,
But his elder stayed his hand.
"Toad, into the Royal City
You have hopped, and only one,
Sage David, knows if thy sweet head
Deserves to keep its pedestal."
They dragged me off through colonnades,
Up steps, by gardens framed in blooms,
Then past a sturdy palisade
Wherein a greyish boulder loomed.
And yet it moved! It was a hill
That swayed on massy tree-trunk legs,
A rock that blared a note so loud
It burned the ear and shook the ground.
The palace dwarfed us--there I heard
Angelic voices weaving airs
And coarser drones reciting texts,
Both harmonizing in its halls.
A bearded man--short, spare and dark,
Though richly garbed--accosted us.
The soldier and the captain bowed,
And then the latter spoke to him:
"From our Elysian Wells, my lord,
We fished this calf, this knave who claims
A lack of wits, and verily,
A sneak may bask in ignorance."
I knelt and meekly bent my head.
"Sire, I am stranger here,
New to your domain and laws--
Have mercy! I intend no harm."
"My laws? You fool, the chancellor
Cannot apportion clemency."
The short man sneered and walked away;
I knew I faced a tragic fate.
But he returned and led me on--
We crossed a chamber grandly decked,
Enlivened by a morning beam,
And in that beam, a stunning sight:
Lofty was he, nearly a giant,
With snowy mane and owlish eyes...
Erect he stood, and radiated
A cast of flawless majesty.
Friendly he seemed, but serious, too.
A sword he wore with a silver belt,
His hose was banded, and on his spaulds
A servant draped an azure cloak.
He stared at me a while, then said:
"Can it be true? Within my house,
A visitor knows not my name?
Let me repeat it." So he did.
I shook my head reluctantly.
A smile then fractured o'er his lips--
"The name unknown, and thus, no fame.
Some honesty I sense in you.
"Perhaps my work you recognize:
My troops tore down the Irminsul...
They then subdued the heathen clans
And smashed the palace of the Khan.
"With wood I spanned old Father-Rhenus;
With care I unified the laws,
With hope I freed the peasants' plows--
Are these light deeds familiar?"
"Blessed by the pope, who then bestowed
The name Augustus!" the chancellor cried.
"Yes, even that," the emperor sighed,
Who seemed quite humbled by the thought.
"Here is my father--do you recall him?"
I glanced at the portrait on the coin.
It all meant nothing. "Callous whelp!"
The chancellor raged. "Revere your lord!"
"Respect cannot be thrust on men,"
The tall one said. He paused, then asked:
"But have you seen the mighty beast
We keep confined by the southern wall?"
Indeed, the creature was a marvel.
"(You see--thus admiration's earned.)
The monster is a welcome gift,
Received of late from eastern realms.
"They live three hundred years, I'm told.
With such a mount, like Hannibal,
I'll crush insurgents underfoot,
Stride over mountains like a god."
He gave me an assessing look.
"I owe a favor in response.
I will appoint you ablegate
To carry to Prince Aaron this--"
He lifted up a purple cloth.
"This table is a marvel, too--
Note the tracings on its plane,
The roads, the rivers and their vales...
"When moved, the pattern shifts as well
To represent a local lie;
It is an everchanging map,
Worth more than twice its weight in gems.
"I charge you: safely bear this prize
To Persia's gracious suzerain,
Or else, if travel frightens you,
Retire to my kitchen's caves."
Without a moment's thought, I stooped
And humbly thanked the genteel king
For giving me a task so grave
That nobler men might envy me.
XXXVII.
Months we journeyed under the sun,
Some nights, under the moon,
And once, both orbs in balance hung:
Two sharp medallions, silver and gold.
Through savage lands our party trudged.
In many towns, the emperor's seal
Prepared our welcome; other lords
Begrudgingly listened to our spears.
At last we reached the caliph's burgh,
Spires and domes and towers immense,
Ringed by rings within rings of bulwarks,
Bursting with commerce, noise and sweat.
I delivered the table to Aaron,
A generous monarch like our own;
We feasted 'til our bellies bloated--
His guests he pampered better than sons.
The wonders of his palace were many,
But soon I yearned for the world outside;
One day I squirmed through a broken postern
And joined the throngs in the street beyond.
Such sights, such smells! A constant babble
Carried me through the turbulent ways--
I was a leaf in a highland torrent
Surging and spitting through rocky clefts.
I slowed within an alien quarter,
Peopled by a foreign breed
Fond of banners and flaming colors,
Their musical language intriguingly queer.
Their wares: pots of translucent clay,
Figures carved from greenstone and bone,
Bolts of delicate silk, and scrolls
Of fragile parchment, pliant and sheer.
One merchant hailed me in my own tongue:
"Yes, far-flung languages I've acquired...
One does, when out with the winds one blows--
Come raise a cup with me inside."
Behind his shop there was a room
Dim and fragrant with burning oils;
He poured out droughts of smoky liquor,
A brew exotic and flavorful.
"These leaves are brought from eastern lands
Where I once lived--they grow on slopes
That seem to lift the sky itself...
No doubt the dews are Heaven-sent."
"The Gate of Eden," I murmured idly.
"Ah, yes, that western tale I've heard.
But think you God amassed all beauty
In one small tract, one crown for the world?"
Just then a shadow shifted softly,
Knelt to fill our cups again.
"My daughter, Kama, dab of starshine,
A treasure dearer than all I own."
A wave of jasmine, musk and anise,
Scents profane and joyful mixed,
Kissed my senses, then as sudden,
Seeped away, a censered draft.
I bid my host goodbye and parted.
In a daze I whirled around--
Night had fallen, streets had emptied,
Every route looked dull and strange.
Then a lantern graced a doorway;
All at once, her spell revived...
Dazzled, I ran toward that flicker--
Where it led I did not care.
Twisting through a maze of alleys,
Stairs and ramps and squalid lanes,
Past cells alive with insect chatter,
I crawled into a den of bliss.
Gusts of passion tore the curtains,
Storms of ardor split the bed,
Shoals of pillows scattered wildly,
Blankets billowed with our lust.
Glory to her resined lips,
Her satin arms and sable hair!
Helplessly I clawed the cushions,
As I floundered 'twixt her thighs.
Soon relief brought me above her,
Panting like a weary dog;
Thus she stroked my brow past midnight,
When the lampwick sputtered dry.
"You must leave this teeming city,
Lest my father find you out;
Agents he employs in legion,
Rumors cannot slip his nets."
All my protests she discarded--
Her concern was quite sincere:
"Tarry long and he will slay you,
Feed you to the carrion-birds.
"Some day, we will be united
On those fabled temple steps
Where I'll play the Dancing Pheasant,
Warbling bribes for love's return."
With a rustle, she departed,
Vanished in a honeyed haze;
As I pulled apart the curtains,
I collapsed in weakling rage.
XXXVIII.
With the dawn I fled the city,
Joined a gritty caravan
Trundling toward the East's horizon;
Memories I washed with tears.
Three pieces paid for privilege--
(Among them was the emperor's coin)
I rode with rocking camel cargo--
The earth heaved like a russet sea.
Searing plains met famished mountains...
Our track relentlessly pursued
A snaking defile, winding higher...
Nights I shivered in a rug.
A traveler en route to Loyang
Cheered me with exciting tales;
His fortune he had gleaned abroad
And now he longed for wife and home.
A cousin lived in busy Chengan:
This herbist had a proper shop
That healed the city's wealthy heads--
With patience I might prosper there.
We loped into that dusty sprawl,
Chengan: a-swarm yet orderly,
Its straight-lined, flat and broad parades
Boxed buildings in recurrently.
The shrill-voiced cousin hired me;
My daily duties: grating roots,
Grinding seeds and shaving gourds--
I learned his art in increments.
One day a black-robed man strode in;
He bore a scroll with crimson braids.
At once, both clerks and clients dropped--
I aped their deferential act.
The shroud-man barked a terse command;
I found myself among a host
Of palace guards zigzagging towards
The heart of the imperial zone.
Inside an alcove painted green,
The dusky man sank down cross-legged,
Uncapped a jug and poured out wine,
Released a sigh midge-flecked with pain.
"You are the phantom of my dreams!"
The man exclaimed. "I saw you first
Twelve nights ago, not long before
Young master's sufferings commenced.
"I am the Royal Astrologer,
Entrusted with affairs of fate;
Alas! the stars have cursed these times
And all my lordship's garlands rot.
"He who fashioned out of soil
An army, bane to Tufan's hordes,
Has now retreated to a glade,
Wherefrom he exhales poetry.
"In his grandson, hope remains
Of staving off pretenders' plots
To doom our kingdom--their ascent
Would leach out goodness from the throne.
"In my dreams I saw you mix
A potion to drive out the heat
That plagues the true inheritor--
A glimpse is all I can allow..."
He waved his hands, and panels rose;
Beyond the gap, a silken suite
I spied, and with breast unclad,
A lad, face cloaked in lucent pearls.
The panels closed. "Now to your work.
Succeed you must, or two shall greet
The sharpened tang of sacrifice,
The point by which blood feeds the dawn."
The servants brought in trays of shells,
Horns and husks and polished nuts,
Pots of extracts, oils and balms--
I chose a mortar and began.
Three times I dosed him; three times more,
And finally the poison waned--
Vigor flashed through princely flesh
And flushed the evil tatters out.
In a hall with polished walls
There sat a melancholy man...
"Chiatan," my escort breathed,
"He made the Heineihuaitu.
"For sixteen years, that was his work:
To measure out the countryside,
Reduce it to a tapestry
Ten paces square; here is his feat--"
The portent-man unfurled the chart,
A meadow daubed with red and black,
A thousand fiefs in dismal bloom,
With water-courses vining through.
"When he was done, the emperor,
No longer looking outwardly,
Gave him a nod, and tottered off.
Thus, devastation was he paid.
"A life at court is very sad
And dangerous; when factions rise,
Upon a pike-point you must dance,
While underneath combatants roil.
"My lord extends his gratitude
For rescuing his heir from death;
He grants you his remote estate
Which squats below the Shifting Hills."
He pointed to the map, and there,
Between the Changcheng's line and peaks
That bore the epithet, "Cloud Realm,"
A humble palace was described.
"Please go at once. A retinue
Of men-at-arms will squire you;
I hope that Fortune treats you well--
She ridicules those dwelling here."
At midnight, fourteen mounts and men
Assembled in a narrow yard;
Beneath a lantern by the gate,
A eunuch picked through chicken bones.
XXXIX.
A paltry half a league remained
To touch the sturdy palace walls
And sanctuary from the wilds--
Alas, a carnage closed our ride.
Within a stony pass where sounds
Rebounded, amplified our din,
In twilight gloom, a spirit force
Like leopards dropped upon our troop.
No eye foresaw, no shout forewarned--
Dismay and terror raced around
As one by one the shielded soldiers,
Gored and gashed, from horses fell.
The animals in panic reared--
I lost my seat and landed near
A knight whose naked bowels were strewn
Like offal in a peasant's field.
One guardsman stoutly paced and roared
Until an unseen sickle tore
His crimson head from crimson stalk;
It settled in a crimson rut.
Then, channelled by some mystic guile,
The horses in a huddle fled,
Deserting men to grassless graves:
Fleshy tombs heaped on the waste.
I alone escaped unscathed,
I alone among the dead
Still shuddered in the frigid wind,
Still clutched my worldly cares and fears.
I shunned the castle's shelter now--
No human occupied its halls,
Its gaping mouth seemed sinister,
Its wings reached out like groping claws.
Fed by madness, spurred by dread,
I tracked the exodus of hooves
Recorded in a worn-out swath
That scaled the heights impatiently.
For days I labored up the slopes,
Sustaining strength with roots and herbs;
I thanked my teacher for his gift,
A knowledge gold could not repay.
Wind-driven mist forever flew
With ice that scoured my soppy brow;
At times Her voice I thought I heard,
Her purling descant pushed me on.
Then suddenly, the tempest broke--
Within a slanting sunset ray
Her roseate pavilion gleamed
And warmth resurged in every bone.
But for a hopeful heart's brief beat:
A blink, and that fine light was lost;
The cloud-wraithed dusk gave its report:
A haughty fortress, stern and harsh.
I waited by an open grate...
Chants and patter rose and fell,
Torchlight wavered on the walls,
But not one shadow scooted by.
As silence grew, I edged inside.
Inspired by a cryptic source,
I traced a loose and snaky route
Which ended in a vaulted cell.
Within its confines, dim and dank,
There sat a figure, knees held tight,
Scrawny, bent, with desperate eyes
That flicked about with subtle life.
The furrows of his tawny skin--
Quite leathery, as if the sun
And cold together cured it well--
Bespoke of ageless, aimless toil.
He peered at me and shivered once,
And with mounting vigor mewled,
Then howled from woe--I darted back,
Afraid the keepers had been warned.
He ceased anon. "Please do not go,"
He said so timidly I thought,
This is a child! "I'm captive here...
They mean to starve me 'til I die."
Indeed, he looked a sorry thing--
No clothes, no food nor jug nearby,
Yet from my purse of sympathy
I drew out leaden miser-dibs.
"Up on your feet and follow me,"
With frail conviction I proposed.
My hand I offered, then retrieved--
A qualm disturbed my courtesy.
"I can't! I can't!" the wretch declared.
"My captors supreme magic wield,
And by their charms, I am controlled--
See here the telltales of their skill."
He pointed to an arabesque
Drawn all about him on the floor;
It was a pleasant little work--
Four disks receding into arcs.
"I cannot touch it from within,
But you, my savior, have the will...
Obliterate it with your foot,
And all I own in life is yours."
I doubted he possessed a stick
To call his own, yet his request
Rang genuine, and so I struck
The chalky image with my boot.
The chamber rumbled; a smoky stench
From fissures streamed, and on the spot
Where once the sickly being stewed,
A scarlet shaft of fire spun.
I tripped and to the pavement crashed;
And from my crouch I glimpsed a bull
Or bullish brute hulked over me,
Snorting in a joyous wrath.
"Mortal fooled, a folly immortal,"
The vision boomed, then like a djinn
Recalled to serve, he faded out;
A dire void engulfed the room.
Another vision soon swam in:
Divinely formed in silver hues
And delicate dress, its pleated wings
Fanned out from trunk to graceful arms.
"Wayward waif," the seraph sighed,
"The demon played your weakness well--
He can, through sight and sound command
The strongest champions in the land.
"Therefore our company of monks
Surrounds itself in broidery
That renders us invisible,
Removes us from his influence."
"'Twas you who set upon our band
And wantonly destroyed those men!"
"We did attack, but not with malice--
The guards we slew were not your friends.
"They rode with orders from Wang Pei:
Once inside the palace gate,
They were obliged to murder you
And seize the manor for their lord.
"Such evil we cannot abide;
In consequence, our action caused
A viler deed: so God designs
A clockwork no one can predict.
"And you, sad soul, must bear the brunt.
A demon holds indebtedness
To him that snaps apart his chains--
This curse will haunt you many days.
"No stricter sentence could we cite
To balance out your heavy crime;
But know that somehow grief will pass,
And consolation will come at last."
With that, the apparition waned;
As well, the fortress walls dissolved...
The bleak and lonely moor refrained
My anguished and most pious prayers.
XL.
I roamed the high lands steadily,
A nomad without destiny,
No memory of what just passed:
Each morning, mist erased my mind.
Where the grasses rolled like waves,
A fickle spirit seized my tongue
And emptied me of well-worn words--
One syllable replaced them: peace.
One day, upon a horse's back
There rode an archer, bending bow:
A boy--no older--stood erect
And flung a point that scraped my thigh.
I let him harnass me in tow;
He took me to his fellow tribe
Who marvelled at my face and skin--
They sheltered me for many nights.
I witnessed their strange customs: how
A chief was buried with his horse,
And sometimes servants, still alive,
Were laid beside the grave-sunk corpse.
But at a river wide and cruel
They bickered on a barge's prow,
And I was cast upon its planks--
New pupil in the school of thrall.
I rebelled until the lashes
Tore my will down to the soul;
Then I sadly watched the waters
Lick the unrelenting bow.
Even sight of that stunning city,
Nova Roma on the sparkling Horn,
Could not shake my melancholy--
Want had wilted in despair.
Up the sunburnt stones they dragged me,
Past the monuments of time,
To a shabby courtyard setting
Where on benches bidders vied.
These I faced togged up in irons,
Rings on ankles, wrists and neck;
Naked but for those five bangles,
I was judged and hauled away.
In the stalls I languished lonely,
'Til a robust lord appeared,
Short but strong, young but seasoned,
He yanked me to my feet with ease.
"Well done, slave," he bantered brightly.
"We must reason eye to eye,
Or ear to ear, or mouth to mouth--
Ah, but no: you are a mute.
"That's why I chose you: confidences
Must be kept in our regime;
Not just for that--you have retained
Some handsome aspects of your youth.
"I am Kayal, a slave like you,
But better handled; as a boy
My parents sold me into service--
War-work for the Abbasids.
"I was trained to be a fighter,
On a steed or hand to hand;
I have earned the title Prefect,
Though a mamluk I remain.
"I am blessed, because my sire,
The wali of Jerusalem,
Is kinder than a Christian saint,
And lavish with his chamber-fees!
"I've been his agent many years.
Hear that roar of disbelief?
The city is receiving word
That Krum has slain their emperor.
"Yet that's not true: 'twas not Krum's man
Who aimed the fatal shaft today--
I'd blame a shadow for that deed;
But come, we'd best be on our way.
"You'll play my houseboy, taster, squire--
Whatever role I deem most apt;
You'll share my secrets and my doom--
Betray me, and I'll snap your neck.
"How are you called? Unlike the ruk,
You have a body but no name...
'Darrat' fits for a clown, perhaps,
Though 'Qaina' you may sometimes be."
Thus my master claimed his goods
And brought them to his boat, to sail
Along the Carian coast, and hence
To holy countries, hot and sere.
XLI.
Behind a pockmarked, grey rock wall,
The mamluk's manor wrapped around
A swath of cypresses and shade
And water trickling from an urn.
My first night in that gloried town,
The wali called upon our house;
All silks and spice, with tiny hands
He stretched to fondle every thing.
Upon my master's gauze-hemmed bed.
The two of them ate figs and cream,
The while appraising me with leers
And laughing at my abject state.
I quaked with rage and fear and grief,
And when their moistened fingers jabbed
My nether belly, I succumbed,
Upset the kettle, scales and tray.
My swoon was lifted by a splash
Of lukewarm tea. "A windlashed boy!"
Kayal pronounced and broadly smirked--
"Not worthy of the Udar's lust."
They threw me out and tossed a pouch
That landed near me with a chink;
Inside, six shekels slid about--
They comforted my injured pride.
Within the lamplit corridor
Two figures lurked, then slipped away.
One was Kayal's daughter, Anis:
She froze me with her raptor's gaze.
Three days later, I was summoned--
Hiyla, servant to the girl,
A hunched old woman, drab and veiled,
Sent me to the marketplace.
To the Beggars' Sook I hurried,
There to purchase for the crone
Several fortunes from a seer
Capable in letterwork.
When the gaunt magician saw me,
Right away, three scripts he pulled;
He tallied with his cloudy vision
Weird designs the shadows drew.
"Tell the one who sent you hither
Hoods and cloaks cannot conceal
Deformity abhorred by nature--
God's clairvoyance bares deceit.
"To her mistress: what she longs for
Now is present, near at hand;
Tonight, the star al-ghul will guide her
To the haunted crypt of kings.
"As for you, here is my warning:
At the ready you must be
Lest a secret foe destroy you--
Here's the only remedy."
In his palm he placed a splinter,
Worn brown needle made of wood,
Ordinary, yet beguiling,
What it was I understood.
Money freed from its confinement
Clattered in his other hand;
The leather purse I had just emptied
Opened for the sacred shard.
That night, I tensely searched the compound
For the hag that sought the runes;
Finally, I tried her chambers,
Tucked away below the vaults.
My voice there echoed--no rejoinder...
Shadows bent by candlelight
Shifted up and down the ceiling--
I felt the chill of peril's vise.
Then I heard a scratchy murmur
From a niche carved high above;
I climbed a creaky ladder to it,
Tugged upon a velvet drape.
Hidden there, a sight horrific:
Head preserved in oily glaze,
Skin like that of shrivelled currants,
Eyebrows melded in one wave.
And beneath their hairy archway,
Orbs like glacial globes peered out--
Lidless, thoughtless, lifeless, soulless,
Witnessing a ghostly play.
From the ladder's rungs I tumbled,
Stumbled out the cellar's door,
Raced across the moondrenched courtyard,
Quailed within my bunk alone.
Later, as I edged near slumber,
Birdlike shrieks tore through the air;
Bounding to my master's haven,
I beheld a dismal scene.
There he lay, all strength abandoned,
A deathly pallor on his face;
A rubied hilt extended toward me,
Where its blade had struck his breast.
The wali's dagger--I had seen it
Bouncing on its owner's hip;
Yet its presence was a puzzle--
The governor rested far away.
I ran to find a guard to aid me,
But I found Anis instead;
Heedless of my indications,
She rebuked me, and she said:
"Come, we need your mute devotion,
Someone who can wield a sword,
Someone who will not reveal us,
I own you now that he is gone."
So I followed her, that elf-girl,
Slender shred of youth, but hard;
With her elder maid we traveled,
Once again on roads I trod.
XLII.
We journeyed down to Askalon;
There Anis hired a ratty ship
To take us west--how far we'd sail
Not even she could recommend.
"Perhaps to Tripoli, or Carthage,
Or even further; they say Karmona
Is idyllic--splendid, stylish,
Thick with art and erudition."
She yawned. The Saracen, our captain,
Gave the shout to pole away.
A pirate crew this rogue commanded,
Men too shrewd to love a land.
The mamluk's daughter found her hammock,
Yet before the stars appeared,
Her screams rang out--a startled seaman
Dropped his sack and cursed the air.
I rushed to her--she lay there, trembling;
In distress, she hugged me hard.
Words of comfort I could not offer...
To compensate, she told me all.
"I am not Kayal's true offspring--
Conceived in Baghdad's slums, I dwelt
In my mother's womb three seasons;
Where she wandered, I did, too.
"She was banished from the city--
Penniless, nowhere to turn--
Then she met Jafar, the minister:
Another exile, she would learn.
"The caliph had been seized by laughter
While browsing through his trove of books,
'Jafar, you imp, get out, be gone now!'
Was all His Eminence could shout.
"The vizier was perplexed and saddened,
But my mother had the gift,
And at once she saw the issue,
Smiled and reassured the man.
"'He had read a sly adventure,
Prophesizing your affairs
In Damascus, and he realized
God intended you go there.
"'For whatever's written truly
Must by virtue come to pass;
Thus for love of you and Allah,
He did push you on this path.'
"The minister was deeply grateful
For those words of wisest sense;
He provided for my mother
While they voyaged east to west.
"But when I was born, she perished;
In Damascus is her tomb.
Kayal was present on a mission--
He scooped up her rueful babe.
"Nursed by many breasts, I quickened,
Maturing faster than my years.
Look upon me, gauge my ripeness--
I'm not half the age I seem.
"Then the visions came upon me,
Interrupting blissful sleep;
In my dreams, one figure ravaged,
Dark as midnight, visage screened.
"Always on a ledge he'd lift me,
Shove me off a cloud-backed cliff;
Through a blue abyss I'd plummet,
Suffocating 'til I woke.
"Frantic, fraught with desperation,
I read auguries for signs,
Scraped out hints from bland predictions,
Combed each fortune for a nit.
"Soon the muck of forecasts stiffened,
One alignment gathered force--
Toward my father entrails pointed,
Ashes painted out this thought:
"'He has called on distant kingdoms...
But reunions soon approach.
Blood has been the knot that binds you,
Blood will free you from his bond.'
"Many days I fought the portents,
But agreement was too clear--
If I did not act upon them,
Insanity and dread would reign.
"So I slew him with the dagger
Hiyla lifted from his consort.
Sorrow tinged the slight relief
That I had brought about some change.
"But now the figure has recovered
Despite my agonies and plots...
Granny, fetch my bag of scry-stones,
I must cast those bones anew!"
The woman hobbled out and back,
Presented Anis with a pouch
From which the girl drew seven beads
As round as dots the size of beans.
These she threw upon the deck
To trace their geomantic lines.
Seven times she tossed them out
And picked them up like priceless gems.
"It seems I am a lucky child
To have two fathers--one who lives
Upon this floating heap of woe."
Her lunate eyes roved all about.
"By my mother's craft I will
The truth from those who hear my plea:
Are you, wretches, kin to me?"
The sailors feared her sorcery.
And yet, each man denied a link
To her conception; each replied
With vigor, "Nay," until one mate
Alone withstood her probing charm.
He would not answer her at once.
Thus, with shrewish certainty
She made her claim: "'Tis you, I know,
Who stalks me throughout night's domain.
"You've lured me here by some vile art,
But now I'll cut the sanguine loop
That mingles us. Slave, slit his throat,
Then pay the captain for your stroke."
The sword felt heavy in my hands.
Just then a whisper blocked the breeze
And hushed the seabirds' stubborn cries
And brought the crewmen to their knees.
"Fedoso." It was Hiyla's mouth
That worked in anguish, then let out:
"Fedoso." At that long-lost sound,
I tottered toward her, raised my blade.
"Fedoso!" Voice as harsh as rubble,
Tainted with a wicked squeal.
"Your father's name, it is Fedoso!"
I lunged at her in boiling ire.
But she was not a fragile hen--
She grasped my steel with double claws
And snapped it like a brittle twig
Before those talons clutched my neck.
Behind the veils and wraps and cowl,
I spotted eyes of depthless black,
Both foul and gleeful, and I knew
What creature skulked beneath that guise.
Then I recalled the seer's rede--
With agile hands I plucked the splint
From bosomed fastness, and anon
The strangler panicked, loosed her grip.
With point outstretched I stepped, advanced,
And she, reverting, stooped and begged,
Until her back chafed on the rail--
I made my final, forceful thrust.
But like a swallow bent in flight
That darts between two tangled trees,
Anis intruded, barred my stab--
The spike caressed her harmlessly.
Yet Hiyla, lurching from my blow,
Had crushed the railing to escape;
Now she with balance all askew
Descended toward the briny brink.
I thought her charge had been reprieved,
But in the briefest span of time
Her nails snagged Anis by the foot
And dragged her to a murky grave.
I stood above them as they sank...
Anis with skyward eyes received
The logic of her ghastly dream,
And found a peaceful sleep at last.
XLIII.
I split the mamluk's legacy
With the pirates, made my way
To Karmona's rangy ramparts,
Where I bought a sumptuous house.
City of flowers, gold and citrus!
Leather and jewelery and books...
Though these all were fair distractions,
I refused them for a vice.
In a public square I idled
Day to day upon a bench;
There I drained off countless tankards,
Carved a circle in each stoup.
Eight sat by my side one morning
As the ouds began to thrum;
Once reciter posed before me,
Winked and crudely chirped his lay:
"I have sung for many rulers,
(Their glory faded, as has mine...)
Princes just and great in power.
(Their glory faded, as has mine...)
"King tramples king, son after father,
(Their glory faded, as has mine...)
Each one hopes his crown will prosper.
(Their glory faded, as has mine...)
"Alexander was the proudest,
Ruler of the earth itself;
Of his kingdoms, all have crumbled,
Columns shattered in the dust.
"Etzel, nicknamed Scourge of Heaven,
Died of gluttony, poor beast!
Caesar steered the Latin armies,
'Til the Senate did him in.
"Hrethric of the Danes was murdered,
Hrothulf got his just reward;
One-legged Gunther fell and foundered
As the Hun-tribes flooded in.
"Aegeus drowned from simple error,
Og of Bashan, Moses slew;
Cleapatra called for venom,
Kshatra's cunning led to doom.
"Hear the sorrows of the Banings!
Witness scores the Hundings smote!
Fear the Franks and mourn the Myrings,
Flee the tumult of the Goths!
"I was with the Swedes and Saxons,
I was with the Greeks and Finns;
I was counted with the Persians,
I supped in the Angles' halls.
"Scots and Longobards and Hebrews,
Romans, Gefthas, Wends and Picts,
Jutes, Egyptians and Burgundians--
All have flourished, all have failed!"
Here the poet paused and gargled
With the dregs poured from my cup;
Then in tones that only I heard,
Thus the minstrel closed his speech:
"Water deep or water shallow
Cannot bury me for long.
Soon I'm dry and searching pastures
For the mouse that gnawed my cords.
"Here you loll in middling splendor
While great nations break and fray.
You're in need of one more lesson,
Then all debts shall be repaid."
In a flash of flavid lightning,
We were skimming over hills
Toward a blue and gray horizon
Where grand monuments decayed.
XLIV.
From Ianiculum's repose we gazed
Across the hazy morning pallor
Pressed upon the weary Tiber,
Guardian of ancient glories.
Draped beyond the shipwrecked island,
Parks and palaces ran rank;
From low piles of regal jumble
Avenues disused fanned out.
"Womb of empire, worn and sickly,
Teeters like a rotten egg
On the axe-blade of the squatters--
History means nought to them."
(Thus my guide began his lecture.)
"Horrid wars the Sibyl sighted
When the Trojans sought her rede;
War was all their children valued...
"Romulus, the first to suckle
On the Palatine teat, grew wroth,
Killed his sibling, Cain to Abel;
As Quirinus he was raised.
"The Tarquins honed their sharp divisions,
Shed their kin's blood, no regret;
At last the people spurned the tyrants
And their new republic thrived.
"Soon the bloodshed plied by royalty
Bathed outsiders far from Rome--
Lord and lackey both were slaughtered
By the military's drones.
"From the Tyrrhenian plains they vanquished
Italian peoples, one by one;
Next, the mighty Phoenicians yielded--
West to Hispania the Romans ruled.
"Greece and Asian lands were conquered,
Then the despots rose again:
Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar--
Half the world crouched at their boot.
"Grave Augustus had made certain
Pax Romana would persist,
Yet as soon as frontiers hardened,
Status quo began to fail.
"Like the golden youth Anchises
Praises, though his march was brief,
Rome, merely admired living,
Now in death is much adored.
"Tombs and ruins are the bedding
For contemporary slums;
Vengeful cares and pale diseases
Haunt old temples of the gods.
"Gone, the great ascending towers
Tickling Heaven, shading Earth;
Now, the hydra-heads of churches
Spring up from the pagan dirt.
"Gone, the baths of Caracalla;
Gone, the forums and the fanes;
All is broken brick and rubble,
Never to be built again."
Long I pondered on his statements,
'Til a hopeful gleam appeared;
I said nothing, but he guessed it,
Mocked my feeble thread of cheer.
"So you think he can revive it
By a visit, kiss and bow?
Some take titles in name only,
Those who in their dotage drowse.
"By the thrice three rings of Hades,
Faith and empery so mixed
Will ignite in Fortune's cauldron--
Come, let's warm this savior's crown."
With his wave the landscape altered--
Over fields we sped like steeds,
Mountains dipped like clods beneath us,
'Til we hovered near a grave.
XLV.
By that grave an aging bishop
Knelt and prayed with shaking hands.
"Father, what has so alarmed you?"
(Thus my leading spirit probed.)
"Many devils course the country
On their way to Aachen's door.
One attacked my dearest pupil,
Dug this pit and laid him down."
"'Tis a sign of God's displeasure
With your teachings, hoary gnome.
I would still your worthless babble,
But I've sermons of my own."
Thereupon he pushed the bishop
So his face fell in the dirt.
Stepping on his rounded backside,
To an altar we were flown.
'Twas the dual king's splendid temple,
Pillars plundered from Ravenna,
Gilt and silver lamps, and doors
Of weighty brass, all gold aglow.
On the latticed tier above,
His throne of marble, plain and smooth,
Looked down on us, cold and empty:
A see without its sceptered lord.
Then I noticed right before us,
Supplicating on his knees,
He whom loyalists nicknamed "David"
Bending head in fervent prayer.
How his robust frame had buckled!
How his hair, once alpine white
Now seemed waxy grey and matted,
As if sweat rained every night.
"Lord, forgive me," came his whisper,
"For my sins and hollow deeds,
Please release my lands from torment
And restore the countryside.
"Ease the plagues that rack my people,
Fill their stomachs once again...
From my coffers I will donate
Goodly sums to dress your cause.
"How the last four years have drained me!
First, Abu al-Abbas died,
Gentle pet in titan body;
On his back my fortunes rode.
"Yet I see how pride's misled me--
How I boasted of my feats!
Cleanse me as you did my Mainzbridge,
Touch me with your holy torch!
"I neglected all your promptings,
Even one that westward soared
Past our camp in dire warning,
Threw me to the ground with force.
"All around me, stones are cracking,
Galleries collapse, and signs
Of a doom are in abundance--
Sun and moon are weary bobs.
"Lest my end come quickly on me,
Sundering my unity,
I have shared my crown with Louis--
May you bless my son with strength."
Through his prayers, the demon chuckled:
"See how he's reduced to beg
For assurance of a future?
Fame eternal is his aim.
"All his protests signal nothing!
Vanities he has in store
Far beyond his vaunted treasures--
In his empire lies the fault.
"Here's the prophesy I offer:
His descendants will not rest
'Til his precious whole they've fractured,
Cleft the gem to worthlessness.
"Time has come for my assistance...
See sweet Joiouse by his side?
In her scabbard she is lonely,
She prefers a mate of flesh.
"Let me free her--won't you join me?
Fate decrees you have a hand
In a docile execution;
Your resistance cannot stand."
By some witchcraft he had summoned
Shades to mask our earthly shapes,
And in stealth my feet were beckoned
Closer to the ruler's form.
Slave to evil, I approached him,
Arm extended toward his waist;
Then I felt my lungs erupting--
I reclaimed my stolen voice.
"Cave, Princeps!" Thus I bellowed,
And my echoes filled the church.
He jumped up and drew his cutter,
Swung it wildly toward my roar.
Even then he could not see us,
And the demon's cackles swelled.
"Warn the dead against their dying?
Only God can death dispel."
By those words I was inspired:
I peered upwards at the dome;
On a airy thone He floated,
Painted eyes met mine below.
I an incantation uttered
Gleaned from some forgotten scroll
Hidden in my recollections--
Mercy fetched it to the fore.
All at once the chapel shuddered,
Struck by lightning from without;
In a blaze of argent fire,
Coils of luminescence fell.
Ten bright bands encased the demon,
And his presence was revealed.
With one stroke the hallowed leader
Sent the serpent back to Hell.
I expected him to slash me,
But instead he clasped my arm--
"Like a Solomon you've reasoned,
Now your guerdon I'll award."
On my head he placed a thegnwheel,
Replica of one he wore;
In my palm a hilt he nestled,
With a horn tied on a thong.
"So proceed! She still awaits you
Leagues above the highest peak.
Quiver not, most worthy gallant--
Woo the object of your hunt."
Thereupon a stairway opened:
Alabaster stepping stones
Curving past the seat of nations,
Clinging to a moonbeam's pole.
