by Jan Potocki
Here the guides lit a fire and carried us another hundred paces to a sort of jetty, where a boat was waiting for us. They gave us a light meal. They themselves recovered their strength by drinking and by smoking hashish, a drug derived from hemp seed. Then they lit a resin torch, which threw light for a good distance all around, and fixed it to the rudder. We climbed into the boat, our porters turned themselves into oarsmen and all day we advanced along the underground waterway. Towards evening we reached a bay where the waterway divided into several branches. Sid Ahmed said that it was the beginning of the labyrinth of Ozymandias, which was famous in the ancient world. Nowadays only the underground part which is connected to the caves of Luxor and the underground areas of Thebes has been preserved.
They brought the boat to a halt at the entrance to one of the inhabited caves. The helmsman went to fetch food. Then we wrapped ourselves up in our haiks1 and slept in the boat.
The next day they rowed on. Our boat advanced along long tunnels lined with slabs of dressed stone of extraordinary dimensions. Some were completely covered with hieroglyphs. At last we reached a port, where we declared ourselves to the local garrison. The officer in charge took us to his superior, who presented us to the Sheikh of the Druze.
The sheikh extended his hand to me in a friendly manner and said, ‘Young Andalusian, our brothers in Cassar Gomelez have written good things about you to me. May the prophet send down his blessing on you.’
The sheikh seemed to know Sid Ahmed of old. Dinner was served, but at that moment strangely dressed men rushed into the room and spoke to the sheikh in an incomprehensible language. They spoke with vehemence and pointed to me as though accusing me of a crime. I looked towards my travelling companion to find out what was happening, but he had disappeared. The sheikh became violently angry with me; I was seized, my hands and feet were put in chains and I was thrown in a dungeon.
This was a cave, hollowed out of the rock, which was linked to other tunnels by several corridors. A lamp lit the entry to my prison. Here I saw two horrible eyes and, just below, a terrifying mouth armed with monstrous teeth. A crocodile walked half-way into my cave and threatened to swallow me up. I was bound and couldn’t move, so I prayed and waited for death.
The crocodile, however, was attached to a chain. This was a test of courage. The Druze then formed a great sect in the East. Their origins went back to a fanatic called Darasi, who in reality was nothing but a tool in the service of Al Hakim bi-Amr-Allah, the third caliph of the Egyptian Fatimids.
This monarch, famous for his impiety, tried by every means at his disposal to reintroduce the ancient cult of Isis. He commanded that he be considered an incarnation of the deity and indulged in the most abominable debauchery, which he tolerated also in his followers. At that time the ancient mysteries had not been altogether abolished. They were celebrated in a subterranean labyrinth. The caliph had himself initiated but was later defeated in his wild enterprises. His followers were persecuted and sought refuge in the labyrinth.
Nowadays they profess the purest of Muslim faiths, like that practised by the sect of Ali, which had formerly been adopted by the Fatimids. They took the name of Druze to avoid the universally hated name of Hashemites. Of all their ancient mysteries, all that the Druze have kept is their test of courage.
I have been present at some of these tests and have seen physical means employed which would give the best European scientist cause to ponder. Moreover, it seems to me that the Druze had several degrees of initiation which do not all relate to the Muslim faith but to things I know nothing about. I was then too young anyway to understand them. I spent a whole year in the caves of the labyrinth and often went to Cairo, where I stayed with people who kept secret links with us.
At bottom we only undertook these journeys to get to know the secret enemies of the Sunni faith, which was then dominant. We set out for Mascate, whose imam declared himself firmly against the Sunnis. This eminent priest received us with exquisite courtesy, showed us the list of Arab tribes who believed in him and claimed that he could drive the Sunnis out of Arabia. But as his faith was opposed to that of Ali we couldn’t expect anything from him.
From Mascate a sailing boat took us to Bassora and, passing through Chiras, we reached the Seferid kingdom. It is true that there we saw the disciples of Ali to be in the majority. But the Persians indulged in sensual pleasures, tore themselves apart in internal quarrels and took little care to propagate Islam in their own country. We were recommended to go to see the Isids who inhabit the hills of Lebanon. Several sectarian groups were called Isids; those of the Lebanon were really known by the name Mutawali. From Baghdad we crossed the desert and reached Tadmora, which you call Palmyra. From there we wrote to the Sheikh of the Isids. He sent us horses, camels and an armed escort.
The whole population gathered in a valley near Baalbec; there we experienced real satisfaction. A hundred thousand fanatics uttered curses against Omar and screamed the praises of Ali. A funeral ceremony was celebrated in honour of Hussain, son of Ali. The Isids slashed their arms with knives, some cut their veins in the grip of madness and died, wallowing in their own blood.
We stayed with the Isids longer than planned. Eventually we received news from Spain. My parents had died and the sheikh intended to adopt me.
After four years of travel I was glad at last to return to Spain. The sheikh adopted me with all the usual ceremonies. Soon I was told of plans which even the six chiefs of tribes did not know about. It was hoped to make me a mahdi. I was first to have myself recognized in the Lebanon; the Egyptian Druze would declare themselves in my favour; Kairouan would also rally to me and when I had brought to this the wealth of Cassar Gomelez, I would be the most powerful monarch on earth.
All that wasn’t badly thought out, but first, I was far too young, and second, I had no idea about military matters. So it was decided that I should immediately join the Ottoman army that was then fighting the Germans. Being of a gentle nature, I wanted to oppose these plans but I had to obey. Suitably equipped as a noble warrior, I went to Istanbul and joined the vizir’s household. A general called Eugene defeated us and forced the vizir to fall back behind the Tana, that is to say, the Danube. We tried then to return to the attack and invaded Transylvania. We followed the course of the Pruth but the Hungarians attacked us from behind, cut us off from the Turkish frontier and slaughtered us. I was shot twice in the chest and was left for dead on the battlefield.
Nomad Tatars retrieved me, dressed my wounds and fed me exclusively on soured mare’s milk. I am able to say that this drink saved my life. But I remained so weak for a year that I couldn’t ride a horse and when the nomads moved camp, I was laid out on a cart with some old women, who looked after me.
My mind was as enfeebled as my body. I was incapable of learning a single word of Tatar. After two years I met a mullah who knew Arabic. I told him that I was a Moor from Andalusia, and begged to be allowed to return to my own country. The mullah interceded on my behalf with the khan, who gave me money for the journey.
At last I reached the caves where I had long been thought dead. My return gave rise to general rejoicing. Only the sheikh was sad, for he could see to what degree I was weakened and diminished. I was less able than ever to become the mahdi, but in spite of that a messenger was sent to Kairouan to test opinion because it was decided to act as soon as possible.
The messenger came back six weeks later. Everyone was extremely curious and crowded round him, but in the middle of his report the man collapsed and seemed to lose consciousness. He was given aid, came to, tried to speak but was unable to collect his thoughts. All that could be understood was that the plague was rife at Kairouan. It was decided to isolate him but it was already too late. People had touched him and carried his baggage. So all the inhabitants of the caves succumbed to a terrible epidemic.
That happened on the Saturday. When, on the next Friday, the Moors from the valleys came to pray and to bring us food, they found only corpses, among which I w
as crawling about with a great bubo on my left breast. But I escaped death.
As I no longer risked contagion, I set about burying the dead. In undressing the six chiefs of tribes, I discovered the six strips of parchment. I put them together and thus discovered the secret of the inexhaustible gold-mine.
The sheikh had opened the sluices before dying. I drained off the water and for some time stared in wonderment at my wealth without daring to touch it. My life had been so tumultuous that I needed peace, and I wasn’t in the slightest bit tempted by the dignity of mahdi. I did not know the secret means of communication with Africa. The Muslims in the valley had decided to pray at home from then on, so I was left alone in my underground domains. I flooded the gold-mine again, collected together all the jewels I had found in the caves, washed them carefully in vinegar and went to Madrid, passing myself off as a Moorish jeweller from Tunis.
There, for the first time, I saw a Christian city. The freedom of the women amazed me, and I was enraged by the inconstancy of the men. I thought nostalgically about settling in a Muslim city. I wanted to go to Istanbul and live very comfortably in obscurity and return from time to time to the caves to replenish my wealth.
Those were my plans. I thought that no one knew who I was but I was mistaken. To appear more credible as a merchant I went to busy avenues and set out my jewels there. I had settled on fixed prices and refused to bargain. This procedure earned me general respect and assured me a profit that I wasn’t at all concerned about.
However, I was being followed. Wherever I went – to the Prado, to the Buen Retiro, everywhere – a man was watching me whose stern, sharp eyes seemed able to read my soul. This man’s persistent stare plunged me into the greatest anxiety.
The sheikh fell into a reverie, as if succumbing to his memories. Just then we were told that dinner was served and so he put off to the next day the sequel of his story.
The Sixty-fifth Day
I went back down the mine and set to work again. I had extracted an appreciable quantity of very pure gold. As a reward for my zeal the sheikh continued his story that evening as follows:
THE GREAT SHEIKH OF THE GOMELEZ’S STORY
CONTINUED
I had told you that wherever I went in Madrid a stranger kept me in his sight and his continual surveillance plunged me into indescribable anguish. One evening I decided at last to speak to him.
‘What do you want from me?’ I asked him. ‘Are you trying to devour me with your gaze? What is your business with me?’
‘I have no business with you,’ the stranger replied. ‘I simply intend to murder you if you betray the secret of the Gomelez.’
These few words made my situation clear to me. I realized that I must give up all peace of mind and a dark anxiety, the inevitable companion of all wealth, overwhelmed me.
It was already late. The stranger invited me to his house, had a meal prepared and carefully shut the door. Then he fell to his knees before me and said, ‘Sovereign of the caves, receive my homage! But if you fail in your duty, I will kill you as once Billah Gomelez killed Sefi.’
I asked my strange vassal to rise, then sit down and tell me who he was. The stranger did as I wished and spoke as follows:
THE STORY OF THE UZEDA FAMILY
Our family is one of the most ancient in the world but as we don’t like boasting about our lineage we restrict ourselves to tracing our origins to Abishua, son of Phinehas, grandson of Eleazar and greatgrandson of Aaron, who was Moses’s brother and high priest of Israel.1 Abishua was the father of Bukki, the grandfather of Uzzi, the great-grandfather of Zerahiah and great-great-grandfather of Meraioth, who was the father of Amariah, the grandfather of Ahitub, the great-grandfather of Zadok and the great-great-grandfather of Ahi-maaz, who was the father of Azariah, the grandfather of Johanan and the great-grandfather of Azariah II.
Azariah held the office of high priest in the famous temple of Solomon and left chronicles which some of his descendants continued. Solomon, who had done so much for the house of Adonaï, tarnished his old age by allowing his wives publicly to worship their idols. Azariah was justly angry, and wanted to oppose this sacrilege, but eventually on reflection realized that ageing monarchs have to show their wives some understanding, so he shut his eyes to these excesses which he had been unable to prevent and died high priest.
Azariah was the father of Amariah II, the grandfather of Ahitub II, the great-grandfather of Zadok II and the great-grandfather of Shallum, who was the father of Hilkiah, the grandfather of Azariah III, the great-grandfather of Seriaiah and the great-great-grandfather of Jehozadak, who was led into exile in Babylon.
Jehozadak had a younger brother called Obadiah and it is precisely from him that we are descended. He was not yet fifteen years old when he was made a page in the king’s household and changed his name to Sabdek. There were other young Hebrews there whose names were also changed. Four of them refused to have any contact with the king’s kitchens because of the unclean meat that was served there. So they lived on water and roots, and yet were well nourished, while Sabdek, who ate the portions intended for all four of them, despite this became thinner every day.
Nebuchadnezzar was a great king although he was too much ruled by his ambitions. In Egypt he had seen colossi sixty feet high, which is why he commanded that his own statue should be erected in the same dimensions, that it should be gilded and that everyone should prostrate themselves before it and worship it. The young Israelites who would not eat unclean meat refused also to bend the knee before a statue. Sabdek, on the other hand, did so fervently and in his memoirs, written in his own hand, he commanded his descendants to bow before kings, their statues, their favourites, their mistresses and even their lap–dogs.
Obadiah, or Sabdek, was the father of Salathiel, who lived in the time of Xerxes, whom we Jews called Ahasuerus. This King of Persia had a favourite called Hamman, an extraordinarily arrogant and haughty man. Hamman had it proclaimed that any person who did not prostrate himself before him would be hanged. Salathiel was the first to pay this homage to him. But when Hamman was hanged himself Salathiel was also the first to bow before Mardochee.
Salathiel was the father of Malachiel and the grandfather of Zaphad, who lived in Jerusalem at the time when Nehemiah was governor. The Jewish women and girls were not very attractive. Moabites and Ashdodites were preferred to them. Zaphad married two Ashdodites. Nehemiah cursed him, hit him with his fist and, as that holy man reports himself in his chronicle, tore out the hair of his beard. In spite of this, Zaphad recommended to his descendants in his memoirs that if other women should please them no note should be taken of the opinion of the Jews.
Zaphad was the father of Naasson, the grandfather of Elphad, the great-grandfather of Zorobabel, who in turn engendered Elhuan and was the grandfather of Jehosabhebet. He lived at a time when the Jews rebelled against the Maccabees. Jehosabhebet, being by nature opposed to war, sought refuge in Kassiat, a Spanish town then inhabited by the Carthaginians.
Jehosabhebet was the father of Jonathan and the grandfather of Kalamil, who went back to Jerusalem when he discovered that peace had returned to that country. But he kept his house at Kassiat and the other property he had acquired in the vicinity of the town. As you will remember, our family divided into two branches during the exile in Babylon. Jehozadak, the head of the senior line, was a decent, pious Israelite and all his descendants have followed his example. I don’t know why there was such hate between the two branches, but the elder line had to emigrate to Egypt, where it served the God of Israel in the temple founded by Onias. This line died out, or rather it lived on only in the person of Ahasuerus, known as the Wandering Jew.
Kalamil was the father of Eliphas, the grandfather of Elishua and the great-grandfather of Ephraim. In his time the Emperor Caligula wanted to erect a statue of himself in the temple at Jerusalem. The whole sanhedrin assembled. Ephraim, one of its members, was of the opinion that not only the emperor’s statue, but that of his horse, which was al
ready a consul, should be erected. But Jerusalem rose up in revolt against Petronius, the pro-consul, and the emperor had to abandon his project.
Ephraim was the father of Nebayoth. In his time Jerusalem rose up against Vespasian. Nebayoth did not wait to see how events turned out, but came to Spain, where our family, as I have already said, had considerable possessions. Nebayoth was the father of Jehosub, grandfather of Simran and the great-grandfather of Rephaiah, who was the father of Jeremiah. Now Jeremiah became astrologer to the court of Gonderic, the King of the Vandals.
Jeremiah was the father of Ezbon, the grandfather of Uzego and the great-grandfather of Jeremoth, who was the father of Anathot and the grandfather of Alemeth. In Alemeth’s time Youssouf ben Taher invaded Spain with a view to conquering and converting the country. Alemeth presented himself to the Moorish chief and asked his permission to be converted to the religion of the prophet.
‘You well know, my friend,’ said the chief, ‘that on judgement day all the Jews will be transformed into donkeys and will have to carry believers to paradise. So if you adopt our faith we will risk one day finding ourselves short of mounts.’
This was not a very courteous reply, but Alemeth found consolation in the way he was treated by Massoud, brother of Youssouf. Massoud kept him by him and entrusted him with several missions to Africa and Egypt. Alemeth was the father of Sufi, the grandfather of Gumi and the great-grandfather of Jeser, who was the father of Shalloum, the first sarraf or paymaster of the court of the mahdi.
Shalloum settled at Kairouan and had two sons, Makir and Mahab. The first remained at Kairouan, the other came to Spain, entered the service of the Cassar Gomelez and maintained contact with the Gomelez in Africa and Egypt.
Mahab was the father of Jehophelet, the grandfather of Malkiel, the great-grandfather of Behrez and the great-great-grandfather of Dehod, who was the father of Sachamer, the grandfather of Shova, the great-grandfather of Achieg and the great-great-grandfather of Bereg, who had a son, Abdon.