The violence and fury of her voice swept the people back believing that the god himself was being explained. The Priestess’ venerable appearance, which many people glimpsed, brought out a dreadful murmur. The King, who knew that the last resort was called for under such drastic circumstances, threw his crown into the crowd of people.150 This unexpected action recalled them to respect and silence.
“Oh Magna Fakhaldak,” the Lindiagar raised his voice in anger, “what good are your tricks and how can you escape the punishment I have prepared for you? Doesn’t the statue’s silence in this drastic time condemn you? Fulghane reacts when you are alone and stays quiet when you need his voice.151 But it’s up to him to judge your abuse of his ministry. However, let’s prove this very important point that provoked the present troubles. Let’s pass over the horrible crime of changing the order of the succession of the state. As great an evil as it is, we can try to fix it. Is it so hard to put things back in the order they should be in? I grant the switch; it is fair. But I want the right of primogeniture to be established. The Princesses, my daughters, are both dear to me and on this basis I have to treat them the same. So, Magna Fakhaldak, what do you have to say to that? Are you worried that the mask is falling? The truth will win out and the mystery be revealed. Only one word is needed to expose you.
“Priestess, it’s your turn to learn a secret that should be kept quiet forever, but that your tricks have forced me to reveal now. At the birth of my children the Council of Seven enjoyed the secret privilege of being at the side of the Queen and they marked the newborn’s skull with a mysterious seal kept under lock and key in the nuptial room.152 What I’m telling you is a truth that cannot be cast in doubt: if the Princess whom you told us about is taking her rightful place as heir, her head will be marked with the mysterious sign and the Council of Seven here can verify it. But if it is a fraud, if the Cleannes coming out of the temple is not the real Cleannes, there will be punishment. Let’s get the fire-mutilated Princess out of criminal negligence…” The King noticed that the Priestess was opposing his orders. “Obey! If I am committing a crime, violating the laws of the sanctuary, Kod-si-kad-zaïd.”153
How the authority of sovereigns has great power over his people, especially when these rulers are respected by their virtues! The Lindiagar’s order was carried out with no problems. Someone went off,154 according to custom and law. The Magna Fakhaldak was so crushed knowing that her ploys were finally going to be discovered and they would soon know all about her dark designs that she descended the throne and started to go off to get the Princess.
The King, your father (the Karveder said), fearing that the Priestess was escaping or taking advantage of the break to stir up new troubles, ordered the sanctuary to be kept under guard and no one could leave until everything was cleared up.
The trial of the 12 tables
I was up to this point in the wonderful story of Motacoa, and Sinouis was so attentive that he was barely breathing so he would not miss a word when all of a sudden the darkness around us turned bright as day with piercing, glaring rays. We stood up, dumbfounded, and looked around. My partner in misfortune cried out in joy when he recognized them. “Vilkonhis be praised!” He stepped forward and motioned me to follow. “Oh Lamekis, what a sight! The spell is finally broken and here we are in this wonderful room. What a pleasure! The tables are set and piled high and all these wonderful guests around us are drinking and eating. They’re inviting us to join in. Isn’t it time to take a break from all the wear and tear? Don’t you see, Lamekis,” Sinouis went on, “we’ve finally made it to that longed for bliss. Obviously the good cheer is shining in all the things around us. The beauty of the women who we can see here in the feast and the number of different tables that are set up in the room are all proof enough of the happiness of those who are allowed in and the grandeur of the master of this place—it can be none other than the great Scealgalis whom we’ve heard so much about. The Sylph didn’t lie to us. Let’s go, Lamekis,” weak Sinouis wound up, “let’s follow their good examples. We’ll offend the great King if we go hungry here where everyone seems to be invited to enjoy themselves and be merry.”
After saying this my travel companion left me and went up to one of the tables where several people of both sexes were indulging in the charms of voluptuousness. I tried in vain to call back my easy-going friend, but he was already sitting down and a young woman, as pretty as Venus, was serving him delicacies with eyes only for him, eyes full of fire and tenderness that invited him not so much to make cheer as to make love. I turned away my own eyes and sighed. It was all too seductive. My excited heart was flying after the goods that my reason fled from. I looked around the huge room where all kinds of amusement was going on and I could barely tell how big it was. The ceiling was incredibly high and looked like the sky with all the stars shining on an azure night. The light was so cleverly set up that it seemed to shine out of the painted planets.
I spent quite a while enjoying the sight of so much beauty and trying to figure out how the light was physically produced, which was enough to light up the whole room even though it was obviously a trick. Then I noticed the paneling on the walls and I was not so surprised to see that it was made of fine, polished crystal, cut and beveled so that the facets reflected off one another, multiplying the hidden source of light.
After checking out all the different objects decorating the room, I went to Sinouis’ table with the idea of getting him away from such a dangerous place, which was becoming even more so as the thorns of hunger were starting to torment me. The sage advice of the philosopher Dehahal could barely hold me back and my own wariness kept me at a distance while trying to urge him to follow me. But what a wonder! If my weak friend heard me, he did not recognize me. All I could get out of him was a look in his eyes infused with wine and love. The guests around him saw me standing back and tried to seduce me into joining them, but as sorry as I was for it, I felt I had to flee. It pained me to have to abandon a friend, but I could not get lost with him. My hunger was acute and the sights and smells would not have taken long to overcome my reason. Running away from so many attractive objects was the only way to halt my burgeoning desires. So, I fled.
And then a soft, silvery voice, penetrating me deep down, said, “Lamekis, is this how you abandon me?” I knew the voice and turned around and ran toward it. Good god! What did I see? Was it a ghost or Clemelis herself? I fell into her arms and, cruel fortune, the illusion vanished, the wonderful ghost disappeared; I was hugging only the wind. I stood still and bursts of laughter broke out. I turned around again toward the one whom I took for the dear object of my affection and I saw her; I recognized her again. But what a surprise! A light mist was slowly evaporating. The features that were so dear to me were fading away and other, more material ones were taking their place. I waited, trembling, for the extraordinary transformation to finish. And who was there? Instead of Clemelis I recognized the Sylph whose advice had warned me about what would happen here. It looked stern but sympathetic. I wanted to go up to it and beg it to get me out of that tantalizing place. I approached with my arms held out, but it was no good. The Sylph was no longer there. It had disappeared.
I felt all the harshness of fate pursuing me. Then I made a firm decision to resist all the attacks that might come against me and to get out of that deadly place at any cost. But the tender friendship I had for Sinouis made me try once more to wrench him from the destiny that threatened him. I went back to the table where I had left him, but he was gone. I sighed in sorrow.
“Poor friend,” I cried, “why did you let yourself get dragged into the seductive charms of voluptuousness, which surely appeared under this mask of lies only to drag you down into the awful pit of vice?”
I started walking away and thinking, trying to avoid looking at the tables I had to pass by, but at every step I found new temptations. All my senses were attacked by the most formidable enemies: on one side a graceful, enchanting voice sweet-talked me; elsewhere the sc
ents of sumptuous dishes tickled my taste buds; a third, more dangerous attack, because it was felt stronger, made me quiver—a hand, softer than satin, took mine and tried to sit me at a table and my eyes snuck a peek at the perfect beauty who was inviting me to fulfill my culminating sense. The Heavens graced me with resistance. I closed my eyes, held my breath, covered my ears and started running as fast as I could.
I ran for half an hour without stopping, stumbling and staggering the entire way until I finally took a painful fall. For a few minutes I was dazed, but I heard nothing that led me to believe that I was still in the room. I dared to open my eyes and found myself in a room lit only by a dome. The walls looked blank and all the furniture was very modest. In the back of the room I found a marble balustrade that blocked off the entrance to an area where I saw a young man dressed in blue. The only food he had was bread and a bottle full of a liquid that was clearer than crystal. I thought he looked familiar in some way. He was reading a big book and once in a while looked up at me. Sometimes he even picked at the simple meal in front of him, but he seemed less interested in this food than in the spiritual sustenance he was devouring with his eyes.
Part 4
I watched the young man with a secret satisfaction that filled my heart with quiet joy in spite of the hunger gnawing at me more and more. All of a sudden I heard my name called. I quickly turned around because I recognized Sinouis’ voice, no doubt about it, and I looked for him eagerly, but he was nowhere to be seen. I thought that my imagination had got the better of me and fooled my hearing. The brain is often so preoccupied that it muddles its fibers and the results agitate the soul such that it takes as real the sounds and visions that the deranged machine offers up to it. Then it wanders off and gets lost in a mess of ideas that it can make no real sense of.
I was beginning to think this was the case with me when a deep sigh and tear-choked words told me that it was no illusion; the weeping really did come from my partner in misfortune. I searched again in vain. I still heard his voice, not far off, but I could not find the source. Anxious now, I turned back to the young man shut up behind the balustrade. The way his eyes stared at me made me look at him differently. He watched me kindly and it looked like one of his fingers was trying to point something out to me. I followed the direction and looking down at the ground I saw a pitiful owl that was staggering around on its wings as much as on its feet. It looked dark and gloomy, wearing its depression. For some unknown reason, I was touched by the sight of it and started crying, which blurred and obscured my view. Then I knew where the voice and sighs were coming from.
“Oh Heavens!” I cried. “What does this awful metaphor mean? Great gods! What is it trying to tell me?”
“A happiness to come,” the young man exclaimed in a tone that calmed my troubled soul. “Dry your tears, Lamekis, and come sit at my table. Through your perseverance and your resistance to pleasure you have been found worthy of the real goods with which the divine Scealgalis rewards truly virtuous men.”
Almost before he finished speaking my heart fluttered, my sight became clear again, my legs regained their strength and I went up to the balustrade with a kind of confidence that I had lacked until then. I recognized the young man as the same one whom we had met when we entered the palace. It was Dehahal, the great philosopher, whom we had heard about. Two Sylphs, whom I had overlooked or maybe were hidden from me when I entered the mysterious room and whom I recognized as the same ones who had carried me and Sinouis away, were guarding the entrance of the balustrade. One looked like jolliness was painted on its face and the other stared sadly down at the poor owl I mentioned.
When I got to the gate the happy Sylph opened it and motioned me to enter. It looked like he was congratulating me and was glad to see me go in. When I greeted him with respect, Dehahal pressed his hand to his forehead, which I took as a sign of thanks.
“Eat and drink,” the young philosopher said, “you will find this sober meal sweeter than you would have found the myriad of sumptuous dishes that were offered to you.”
I obeyed since my dire need outweighed my shyness and surprise. I ate only bread and drank only water, but I had never had a more exquisite meal in my life. Virtue made the stew and a peaceful heart the pleasure: there are no delights that can equal these two boons. Dehahal watched me kindly, smiling from time to time. “Lamekis,” he said when he saw I had had my fill, “is there anything else you want?”
At these words I became worried and my present calm was broken. The image of Clemelis surged up in my mind, as well as the recent loss of Sinouis and his transformation, which I had no reason to doubt. All this made me feel how many different kinds of misery were crushing me. “Sir,” I cried, kneeling at his feet, “don’t you know how I feel? Haven’t you seen into the depths of my heart? Can you think that I can be happy in this situation?”
“Lamekis, Lamekis,” the young man clapped his hands, “you are still a long way from perfection!” The way he spoke and the piercing look he gave made me very ashamed. With my eyes cast down shyly, I could not bring myself to look at the philosopher. I waited in fear for what would come out of his venerable mouth. I wanted to hear it and yet I was afraid.
Finally he said, “Get up, Lamekis, and listen very carefully. You have reached the blessed moment when the soul is freed from its weaknesses and vain desires and revels in the priceless luxury of no longer being obsessed.155 Until now I have not been able to tell you how to behave or give you any helpful advice, but now things have changed.156 The perilous trial of the 12 tables,157 which you passed gloriously, gave me responsibility and confidence in you, as well as friendship. The first proof of this is to give you a basic idea of the venerable Island of the Sylphs. Before joining it, it is terribly important that you know its laws and customs. After learning what the price of admittance is, you will search the depths of your heart and make the most important decision of your life whether to stay here or go back to where you came from. Don’t fool yourself, Lamekis, the journeys and troubles you have suffered so far are nothing compared to the moment of initiation.158 And I’ll tell you, it would be better for you to go back into the void you were dragged out of and crawl like a reptile on the earth than to dare to show up at this second trial159 if you are not absolutely sure of a glorious success. There’s no middle ground here. Either you soar into bliss or plunge into the horrors of eternal misery.
“Let’s begin, lucky mortal. But before going into detail, which can bring you the power to move mountains and make rivers flow upstream,160 every profane spirit must be removed,161 every vice cleared out and for the first punishment of these weaknesses he will go down, until called out, into the dark manors162 where the black spirits rot.”
After saying this, Dehahal clapped his hands seven times.163 An awful, mournful cry followed and the melancholy Sylph at the railing took off after the poor owl, who started fluttering around trying to escape. The black spirit grabbed him by a wing and they both disappeared.
I cried seeing what just happened and looked pleadingly at the philosopher, ready to ask him to pardon the poor bird, but his firm look held me back. And yet it was not hard for me to see that Dehahal was affected by his command. The sadness in his face and the sighs he let out left no room for doubt that even if his state of perfection had stripped him of all human concern, he still held a modicum of compassion and sensitivity. But the cloud of emotion did not last long; it was quickly eclipsed by a calm and tranquil face; and then he addressed me.
The story of Dehahal
I am the first philosopher164 who dared to think of the bold plan of discovering the Island of the Sylphs, where we are at the moment—this Island that is so praised by scholars and the object of their deepest and most abstract study and yet remains a mystery and fiction for their various imaginations.165 At an age when most people are worried more about having fun, I had already surpassed all ordinary, natural knowledge and with my keen, clever father as guide I soon traversed the thorny paths that his exper
ience and knowledge laid out for me. The strangest phenomena and the most difficult to explain were nothing more to me than thin veils that I easily exposed. The visible stars, as well as those that are barely seen because of their fantastic distances,166 were followed step by step by my enlightened eye and I knew their orbits before they were completed. My knowledge increased and expanded to such a degree that my mind began living in the Heavens more than in my body.
But can man ever finish contemplating the unlimited? The farther I went on this divine path, the more I loathed crawling on earth. One day I was sitting and daydreaming on the seaside, sadly moaning about my mortal coil whose materiality opposed the lightness and expansion of my ideas, when I first saw the floating island167 that was moving around like a whirlwind, spiraling around in wide circles. For more than four hours I watched its troubled course, carried over the surface of the sea sometimes to the west and sometimes to the north. Finally I ran up on a nearby hill to get a better look at its deviations. The sun was high in the sky, there was no wind and the calm waves could not have been pushing around the floating island. I could not find the reason why; no physical law could provide me with a satisfying cause. I was lost in thought, naturally caused by such a phenomenon, when the island was violently shaken up, started spinning like a top and then a piece of land covered with shells and Roc eggs168 broke off and rose gradually into the air. I stared fixedly at the mass of land as it went up slowly, ponderously. The sun beamed down on the surface and looked like it was stopped by a kind of gum in the half-open shells.169 I even thought that the burning rays shot through the oily, swampy pores in a few places and sucked up, so to speak, the roots and juices concentrated there. I was measuring (if I can use this word) the range and force of the rays, which seemed like so many lines attached to the land, when a new phenomenon awed me. Three of the Roc eggs, half-buried by their weight with the sun beaming straight down on them, suddenly shot up into the sky as quick as an arrow.
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