The Life And Death Of Richard Yea And Nay Volume 91 by Maurice Hewlett (free books to read .txt) 📕

Held Close To Their Breasts.

They Are Eaters And Drinkers Of Hemp, These People, Which Causes Them To

Sleep Much And Wake Up Mad. Then, When The Old Man Calls One Or Another

And Says, Go Down The Mountains Into The Cities Of The Seaboard, And

When Thou Seest Such-A-One, Kiss Him And Strike Deep--He Goes Out Then

And There With Fixed Eyeballs, And Never Turns Them About Until He Finds

Whom He Seeks, Nor Ever Shuts Them Until His Work Is Done. This Is The

Custom Of Musse In The Enclosed Valley Of Lebanon.

 

Thither On Mules From Tortosa Came El Safy, Leading The Abbot Milo And

Jehane, And Brought Them Easily Through All The Defiles To That Castle

On A Spur Which Is Called Mont-Ferrand, But In The Language Of The

Saracens, Barin. From That Height They Looked Down Upon The Domes And

Gardens Of Musse, And Knew That Half Their Work Was Done.

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What Immediately Followed Was Due To The Insistence Of El Safy, Who Said

That If Jehane Was Not Suitably Attired And Veiled She Would Fail Of Her

Mission. Jehane Did Not Like This.

 

'It Is Not The Custom Of Our Women To Be Veiled, El Safy,' She Said,

'Except At The Hour When They Are To Be Married.'

 

'And It Is Not The Custom Of Our Men,' Replied The Assassin, 'To Choose

Unveiled Women. And This For Obvious Reasons.'

 

'What Are Your Reasons, My Son?' Asked The Abbot.

 

'I Will Tell You,' Said El Safy. 'If A Man Should Come To Our Master

With A Veiled Woman, Saying, My Lord, I Have Here A Woman Faced Like

The Moon, And More Melting Than The Peach That Drops From The Wall, The

Old Man Would Straightway Conceive What Manner Of Beauty This Was, And

Picture It More Glorious Than The Truth Could Ever Be; And Then The

Reality Would Climb Up To Meet His Imagining. But Otherwise If He Saw

Her Barefaced Before Him; For Eyesight Is Destructive To Mind-Sight If

It Precede It. The Eye Must Be Servant. So Then He, Dreaming Of The

Veiled Treasure, Weds Her And Finds That She Is Just What Was Predicted

Of Her By The Merchant. For Women And Other Delights, As We Understand

The Affair, Are According To Our Zest; And Our Zest Is A Thing Of The

Mind's Devising, Added Unto Desire As The Edge Of A Sword Is Superadded

To The Sword. So The Fair Woman Must Certainly Be Veiled.'

 

'The Saying Hath Meat In It,' Said The Abbot; 'But Here Is No Question

Of Merchants, Nor Of Marriage, Pardieu.'

 

'If There Is No Question Of Marriage, Of What Is There Question In This

Company?' Asked El Safy. 'Let Me Tell You That Two Questions Only

Concern The Old Man Of Musse.'

 

Jehane, Who Had Stood Pouting, With A Very High Head, Throughout This

Little Colloquy, Said Nothing; But Now She Allowed El Safy His Way. So

She Was Dressed.

 

They Put On Her A Purple Vest, Thickly Embroidered With Gold And Pearls,

Underdrawers Of Scarlet Silk, And Gauze Trousers (Such As Eastern Women

Wear) Of Many Folds. Her Hair Was Plaited And Braided With Pearls, A

Broad Silk Girdle Tied About Her Waist. Over All Was Put A Thick White

Veil, Heavily Fringed With Gold. Round Her Ankles They Put Anklets Of

Gold, With Little Bells On Them Which Tinkled As She Walked; Last,

Scarlet Slippers. They Would Have Painted Her Face And Eyebrows, But

That El Safy Decided That This Was Not At All Necessary. When All Was

Done She Turned To One Of Her Women And Demanded Her Baby. El Safy, To

Milo's Surprise, Made No Demur. Then They Put Her In A Gold Cage On A

Mule's Back, And So Let Her Down By A Steep Path Into The Region Of

Birds And Flowering Trees. There Was Very Little Conversation, Except

When The Abbot Hit His Foot Against A Rock. In The Valley They Passed

Through A Thick Cedar Grove, And So Came To The First Of Four Gates Of

Approach.

 

Half A Score Handsome Boys, Bare-Legged And In Very Short White Tunics,

Led Them From Hall To Hall, Even To The Innermost, Where The Old Man

Kept His State. The First Hall Was Of Cedar Painted Red; The Second Was

Of Green Wood, With A Fountain In The Middle; The Third Was Deep Blue,

And The Fourth Colour Of Fire. But The Next Hall, Which Was Long And

Very Lofty, Was White Like Snow, Except For The Floor, Which Had A

Blood-Red Carpet; And There, On A White Throne, Sat The Old Man Of

Musse, Himself As Blanched As A Swan, Robed All In White, White-Bearded;

And About Him His Assassins As Colourless As He.

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The Ten Boys Knelt Down And Crossed Their Arms Upon Their Bosoms; El

Safy Fell Flat Upon His Face, And Crawling So, Like A Worm, Came At

Length To The Steps Of The Throne. The Old Man Let Him Lie While He

Blinked Solemnly Before Him. Not The Pope Himself, As Milo Had Once Seen

Him, Hoar With Sanctity, Looked More Remotely, More Awfully Pure Than

This King Of Murder, Snowy Upon His Blood-Red Field. What Gave Closer

Mystery Was That The Light Came Strange And Milky Through Agate Windows,

And That When The Old Man Spoke It Was In A Dry, Whispering Voice Which,

With The Sound Of A Murmur In The Forest, Was In Tune With The Silence

Of All The Rest. El Safy Stood Up, And Was Rigid. There Ensued A

Passionless Flow Of Question And Answer. The Old Man Murmured To The

Roof, Scarcely Moving His Lips; El Safy Answered By Rote, Not Moving Any

Other Muscles But His Jaw's. As For The Assassins, They Stayed Squat

Against The Walls, As If They Had Been Dead Men, Buried Sitting.

 

At A Sign From El Safy The Abbot With Veiled Jehane Came Down The Hail,

And Stood Before The White Spectre On His Throne. Jehane Saw That This

Was Really A Man. There Was A Faint Tinge Of Red At His Nostrils, His

Eyes Were Yellowish And Very Bright, His Nails Coloured Red. The Shape

Of His Head Was That Of An Old Bird. She Judged Him Bald Under His High

Cap; But His Beard Came Below His Breast-Bone. When He Opened His Mouth

To Speak She Observed That His Teeth Were The Whitest Part Of Him, And

His Lips Rather Grey. He Did Not Seem To Look At Her, But Said To The

Abbot, 'Tell Me Why You Have Come Into My Country, Being A Frank And A

Christian Dog; And Why You Have Brought With You This Fair Woman.'

 

'My Lord,' Said The Abbot, After Clearing His Throat, 'We Are Lovers And

Servants Of The Great King Whom You Call The Melek Richard, A Lion

Indeed In The Paths Of The Moslems, Who Makes Bitter War Upon Your Enemy

The Soldan; And In Defence Of Him We Are Come. For It Appears That A

Servant Of Your Lordship's, Called Giafaribn Mulk, Is Now In Acre, Which

Is King Richard's Good Town, Conspiring With The Marquess The Death Of

Our Lord.'

 

'It Is The First I Have Heard Of It,' Said The Old Man. 'He Was Sent For

A Different Purpose, But His Hand Is Otherwise Free. What Else Have You

To Say?'

 

'Why, This, My Lord,' Said The Abbot, 'That Our Lord The King Has Too

Many Enemies Not Declared, Who Compass His Destruction While He

Compasses Their Soul's Health. This Is So Shameful That We Think It No

Time For The King's Lovers To Be Asleep. Therefore I, With This Woman,

Who, Of All Persons Living In The World, Is Most Dear To Him (As He To

Her), Have Come To Warn Your Lordship Of The Marquess His Abominable

Design, In The Sure Hope That Your Lordship Will Lend It No Favour. King

Richard, We Believe, Is Besieging The Holy City, And Therefore (No

Doubt) Hath The Countenance Of Almighty God. But If The Devil (Who Loves

The Marquess, And Is Sure To Have Him) May Reckon Your Lordship Also

Upon His Side, We Doubt That He May Prevail.'

 

'And Do You Also Think,' Asked The Old Man, Scarcely Audible, 'That The

Melek Richard Will Thank You For These Precautions Of Yours?'

 

'My Lord,' Said Milo, 'We Seek Not His Thanks, Nor His Good Opinion, But

His Safety.

 

'It Is One Thing To Seek Safety,' Said The Old Man, 'But Another Thing

To Find Or Keep It. Get You Back To The Doorway.'

 

So They Did, And The Lord Of The Place Sat For A Long Time In A Stare,

Not Moving Hand Or Foot. Now It Happened That The Child In Jehane's Arm

Woke Up, And Began To Stretch Itself, And Whimper, And Nozzle About For

Volume 91 Book 2 (The Book Of Nay) Chapter 7 (The Chapter Of The Sacrifice On Lebanon Also Called Cassandra) Pg 147

Food. Jehane Tried To Hush It By Rocking Herself To And Fro Gently On

One Foot. The Abbot, Horrified, Frowned And Shook His Head; But Jehane,

Who Knew But One Lord Now Richard Was Away, Took No Notice. Presently

Young Fulke Set Up A Howl Which Sounded Piercing In That Still Place.

Milo Began To Say His Prayers; But No One Moved Except Jehane, Whose

Course, To Her Own Mind, Was Clear. She Put The Great Veil Back Over Her

Head, And Bared Her Beauty; She Unfastened The Purple Vest, And Bared

Her Bosom. This She Gave To The Child's Searching Mouth. The Free

Gesture, The Bent Head, The Unconscious Doing, Made The Act As Lovely As

The Person. Fulke Murmured His Joy, And Jehane Looking Presently Up Saw

The Old Man's Solemn Eyes Blinking At Her. This Did Not Disconcert Her

Very Much, For She Thought, 'If He Is Correctly Reported He Has Seen A

Mother Before Now.'

 

It Might Seem That He Had Or Had Not: His Action Reads Either Way. After

Three Minutes' Blinking He Sent An Old Assassin (Not El Safy) Down The

Hall To The Door.

 

'Thus,' He Reported, 'Saith The Old Man Of Musse, Lord Of The Assassins.

Tell The Sheik Of The Nazarenes That The Marquess Of Montferrat