by Lew Wallace
BOOK II
THE PRINCE OF INDIA
CHAPTER I
A MESSENGER FROM CIPANGO
Just fifty-three years after the journey to the tomb of the Syrianking--more particularly on the fifteenth day of May, fourteen hundredand forty-eight--a man entered one of the stalls of a market inConstantinople--to-day the market would be called a bazaar--andpresented a letter to the proprietor.
The Israelite thus honored delayed opening the linen envelope while hesurveyed the messenger. The liberty, it must be remarked, was not ausual preliminary in the great city, the cosmopolitanism of which hadbeen long established; that is to say, a face, a figure, or a mode, togain a second look from one of its denizens, had then, as it has now,to be grossly outlandish. In this instance the owner of the stallindulged a positive stare. He had seen, he thought, representatives ofall known nationalities, but never one like the present visitor--neverone so pinkish in complexion, and so very bias-eyed--never one whowrapped and re-wrapped himself in a single shawl so entirely, making itanswer all the other vestments habitual to men. The latter peculiaritywas more conspicuous in consequence of a sack of brown silk hangingloosely from the shoulder, with leaves and flowers done in dazzlingembroidery down the front and around the edges. And then the slipperswere of silk not less rich with embroidery, while over the bare head asunshade of bamboo and paper brilliantly painted was carried.
Too well bred to persist in the stare or attempt to satisfy hiscuriosity by a direct question, the proprietor opened the letter, andbegan reading it. His neighbors less considerate ran together, andformed a crowd around the stranger, who nevertheless bore theinspection composedly, apparently unconscious of anything to make himsuch a cynosure.
The paper which the removal of the envelope gave to the stall-keeper'shand excited him the more. The delicacy of its texture, its softness tothe touch, its semi-transparency, were unlike anything he had everseen; it was not only foreign, but very foreign.
The lettering, however, was in Greek plainly done. He noticed first thedate; then, his curiosity becoming uncontrollable, and the missivebeing of but one sheet, his eyes dropped to the place of signature.There was no name there--only a seal--an impression on a surface ofyellow wax of the drooping figure of a man bound to a cross.
At sight of the seal his eyes opened wider. He drew a long breath toquiet a rising feeling, half astonishment, half awe. Retreating to abench near by, he seated himself, and presently became unmindful of themessenger, of the crowd, of everything, indeed, except the letter andthe matters of which it treated.
The demand of the reader for a sight of the paper which could producesuch an effect upon a person who was not more than an ordinary dealerin an Eastern market may by this time have become imperious; whereforeit is at once submitted in free translation. Only the date ismodernized.
"ISLAND IN THE OVER-SEA. FAR EAST. _May_ 15, A.D. 1447.
"Uel, Son of Jahdai.
"Peace to thee and all thine!
"If thou hast kept faithfully the heirlooms of thy progenitors,somewhere in thy house there is now a duplication of the seal whichthou wilt find hereto attached; only that one is done in gold. Thereference is to prove to thee a matter I am pleased to assert, knowingit will at least put thee upon inquiry--I knew thy father, thygrandfather, and his father, and others of thy family further back thanit is wise for me to declare; and I loved them, for they were avirtuous and goodly race, studious to do the will of the Lord God ofIsrael, and acknowledging no other; therein manifesting the chiefest ofhuman excellences. To which, as more directly personal to thyself, Iwill add that qualities of men, like qualities in plants, aretransmissible, and go they unmixed through many generations, they makea kind. Therefore, at this great distance, and though I have neverlooked into thy face, or touched thy hand, or heard thy voice, I knowthee, and give thee trust confidently. The son of thy father cannottell the world what he has of me here, or that there is a creature likeunto me living, or that he has to do with me in the least; and as thefather would gladly undertake my requests, even those I now reveal untothee, not less willingly will his son undertake them. Refusal would bethe first step toward betrayal.
"With this preface, O Son of Jahdai, I write without fear, and freely;imparting, first, that it is now fifty years since I set foot upon theshores of this Island, which, for want of a name likely to be known tothee, I have located and described as 'In the Over-Sea. Far East.' Itspeople are by nature kindly disposed to strangers, and live simply andaffectionately. Though they never heard of the Nazarene whom the worldpersists in calling the Christ, it is truth to say they betterillustrate his teachings, especially in their dealings with each other,than the so-called Christians amongst whom thy lot is cast. Withal,however, I have become weary, the fault being more in myself than inthem. Desire for change is the universal law. Only God is the sameyesterday, to-day, and to-morrow eternally. So I am resolved to seekonce more the land of our fathers and Jerusalem, for which I yet havetears. In her perfection, she was more than beautiful; in her ruin, sheis more than sacred.
"In the execution of my design, know thou next, O Son of Jahdai, that Idespatch my servant, Syama, intrusting him to deliver this letter. Whenit is put into thy hand, note the day, and see if it be not exactly oneyear from this 15 May, the time I have given him to make the journey,which is more by sea than land. Thou mayst then know I am followinghim, though with stoppages of uncertain duration; it being necessaryfor me to cross from India to Mecca; thence to Kash-Cush, and down theNile to Cairo. Nevertheless I hope to greet thee in person within sixmonths after Syama hath given thee this report.
"The sending a courier thus in advance is with a design of which Ithink it of next importance to inform thee.
"It is my purpose to resume residence in Constantinople; for that, Imust have a house. Syama, amongst other duties in my behalf, is chargedto purchase and furnish one, and have it ready to receive me when Iarrive. The day is long passed since a Khan had attractions for me.Much more agreeable is it to think my own door will open instantly atmy knock. In this affair thou canst be of service which shall be bothremembered and gratefully recompensed. He hath no experience in thematter of property in thy city; thou hast; it is but natural,therefore, if I pray thou bring it into practice by assisting him inthe selection, in perfecting the title, and in all else the project mayrequire doing; remembering only that the tenement be plain andcomfortable, not rich; for, alas! the time is not yet when the childrenof Israel may live conspicuously in the eye of the Christian world.
"Thou wilt find Syama shrewd and of good judgment, older than heseemeth, and quick to render loyalty for my sake. Be advised also thathe is deaf and dumb; yet, if in speaking thou turn thy face to him, anduse the Greek tongue, he will understand thee by the motion of thylips, and make answer by signs.
"Finally, be not afraid to accept this commission on account ofpecuniary involvement. Syama hath means of procuring all the money hemay require, even to extravagance; at the same time he is forbidden tocontract a debt, except it be to thee for kindness done, all which hewill report to me so I may pay them fitly.
"In all essential things Syama hath full instructions; besides, he isacquainted with my habits and tastes; wherefore I conclude this writingby saying I hope thou wilt render him aid as indicated, and that when Icome thou wilt allow me to relate myself to thee as father to son, inall things a help, in nothing a burden.
"Again, O Son of Jahdai, to thee and thine--Peace!"
[Seal.]
The son of Jahdai, at the conclusion of the reading, let his hands fallheavily in his lap, while he plunged into a study which the messengerwith his foreign airs could not distract.
Very great distance is one of the sublimities most powerful over theimagination. The letter had come from an Island he had never heardnamed. An Island in the Over-Sea which doubtless washed the Eastern endof the earth, wherever that might be. And the writer! How did he getthere? And what impelled him to go?
A chill shot the thinke
r's nerves. He suddenly remembered that in hishouse there was a cupboard in a wall, with two shelves devoted tostorage of heirlooms; on the upper shelf lay the _torah_ of immemorialusage in his family; the second contained cups of horn and metal, oldphylacteries, amulets, and things of vertu in general, and of suchaddition and multiplication through the ages that he himself could nothave made a list of them; in fact, now his attention was aroused, herecalled them a mass of colorless and formless objects which had ceasedto have history or value. Amongst them, however, a seal in the form ofa medallion in gold recurred to him; but whether the impression upon itwas raised or sunken he could not have certainly said; nor could hehave told what the device was. His father and grandfather had esteemedit highly, and the story they told him about it divers times when hewas a child upon their knees he could repeat quite substantially.
A man committed an indignity to Jesus the pretended _Christ_, who, inpunishment, condemned him to linger on the earth until in the fulnessof time he should come again; and the man had gone on living throughthe centuries. Both the father and grandfather affirmed the tale to betrue; they had known the unfortunate personally; yet more, theydeclared he had been an intimate of the family, and had done itsmembers through generations friendlinesses without number; inconsequence they had come to consider him one of them in love. They hadalso said that to their knowledge it was his custom to pray for deathregularly as the days came and went. He had repeatedly put himself inits way; yet curiously it passed him by, until he at last reached aconviction he could not die.
Many years had gone since the stall-keeper last heard the tale, andstill more might have been counted since the man disappeared, going noone knew whither.
But he was not dead! He was coming again! It was too strange tobelieve! It could not be! Yet one thing was clear--whatever themessenger might be, or presuming him a villain, whatever the lie hethought to make profitable, appeal could be safely and cheaply made tothe seal in the cupboard. As a witness it, too, was deaf and dumb; onits face nevertheless there was revelation and the truth.
Through the momentary numbness of his faculties so much the son ofJahdai saw, and he did not wait. Signing the messenger to follow, hepassed into a closet forming part of the stall, and the two beingalone, he spoke in Greek.
"Be thou seated here," he said, "and wait till I return."
The messenger smiled and bowed, and took seat; thereupon Uel drew histurban down to his ears, and, letter in hand, started home.
His going was rapid; sometimes he almost ran. Acquaintances met him onthe street, but he did not see them; if they spoke to him, he did nothear. Arrived at his own door, he plunged into the house as if a mobwere at his heels. Now he was before the cupboard! Little mercy thephylacteries and amulets, the bridle-spanglery of donkeys, thetrinketry of women, his ancestresses once famous for beauty or manychildren--little mercy the motley collection on the second shelfreceived from his hands. He tossed them here and there, and here andthere again, but the search was vain. Ah, good Lord! was the medaletlost? And of all times, then?
The failure made him the more anxious; his hands shook while he essayedthe search once more; and he reproached himself. The medal was valuablefor its gold, and besides it was a sacred souvenir. Conscience stunghim. Over and over he shifted and turned the various properties on theshelf, the last time systematically and with fixed attention. When hestopped to rest, the perspiration stood on his forehead in large drops,and he fairly wrung his hands, crying, "It is not here--it is lost! MyGod, how shall I know the truth now!"
At this pause it is to be said that the son of Jahdai was wifeless. Theyoung woman whom he had taken as helpmeet in dying had left him a girlbaby who, at the time of our writing, was about thirteen years old.Under the necessity thus imposed, he found a venerable daughter ofJerusalem to serve him as housekeeper, and charge herself with care ofthe child. Now he thought of that person; possibly she knew where theseal was. He turned to seek her, and as he did so, the door of anadjoining room opened, and the child appeared.
He held her very dear, because she had the clear olive complexion ofher mother, and the same soft black eyes with which the latter used tosmile upon him in such manner that words were never required to assurehim of her love. And the little one was bright and affectionate, andhad prettinesses in speech, and sang low and contentedly the day long.Often as he took her on his lap and studied her fondly, he wasconscious she promised to be gentle and beautiful as the departed one;beyond which it never occurred to him there could be superiorexcellences.
Distressed as the poor man was, he took the child in his arms, andkissed her on the round cheek, and was putting her down when he saw themedal at her throat, hanging from a string. She told him thehousekeeper had given it to her as a plaything. Untied at last--for hisimpatience was nigh uncontrollable--he hurried with the recoveredtreasure to a window, to look at the device raised upon it; then, hisheart beating rapidly, he made comparison with the impression sunk inthe yellow wax at the foot of the letter; he put them side byside--there could be no mistake--the impression on the wax might havebeen made by the medallion!
Let it not be supposed now that the son of Jahdai did not appreciatethe circumstance which had befallen. The idea of a man suffering a doomso strange affected him, while the doom itself, considered as ajudgment, was simply awful; but his thought did not stop there--itcarried him behind both the man and the doom. Who was He with power bya word, not merely to change the most fixed of the decrees of nature,but, by suspending it entirely, hold an offending wretch alive for aperiod already encroaching upon the eternal? One less firmly rooted inthe faith of his fathers would have stood aghast at the conclusion towhich the answer as an argument led--a conclusion admitting no escapeonce it was reached. The affair in hand, however, despite itsspeculative side, was real and urgent; and the keeper of the stall,remembering the messenger in half imprisonment, fell to thinking of thepractical questions before him; first of which was the treatment heshould accord his correspondent's requests.
This did not occupy him long. His father, he reflected, would havereceived the stranger cordially, and as became one of such closeintimacy; so should he. The requests were easy, and carried nopecuniary liability with them; he was merely to aid an inexperiencedservant in the purchase of a dwelling-house, the servant having plentyof funds. True, when the master presented himself in person, it wouldbe necessary to determine exactly the footing to be accorded him; butfor the present that might be deferred. If, in the connection, the sonof Jahdai dwelt briefly upon possible advantages to himself, the personbeing presumably rich and powerful, it was human, and he is to beexcused for it.
The return to the market was less hurried than the going from it. ThereUel acted promptly. He took Syama to his house, and put him into theguest-chamber, assuring him it was a pleasure. Yet when night came heslept poorly. The incidents of the day were mixed with much that wasunaccountable, breaking the even tenor of his tradesman's life byunwonted perplexities. He had not the will to control his thoughts;they would go back to the excitement of the moment when he believed themedallion lost; and as points run together in the half-awake state onvery slender threads, he had a vision of a mysterious old man cominginto his house, and in some way taking up and absorbing the life of hischild. When the world at last fell away and left him asleep, it waswith a dread tapping heavily at his heart.
The purchase which Uel was requested to assist in making proved a lightaffair. After diligent search through the city, Syama decided to take atwo-story house situated in a street running along the foot of the hillto-day crowned by the mosque Sultan Selim, although it was then thesite of an unpretentious Christian church. Besides a direct easternfrontage, it was in the divisional margin between the quarters of theGreeks, which were always clean, and those of the Jews, which werealways filthy. It was also observed that neither the hill nor thechurch obstructed the western view from the roof; that is to say, itwas so far around the upper curve of the hill that a thistle-down wouldbe carried by a sou
th-east wind over many of the proudest Greekresidences and dropped by the Church of the Holy Virgin on Blacherne,or in the imperial garden behind the Church. In addition to theseadvantages, the son of Jahdai was not unmindful that his own dwelling,a small but comfortable structure also of wood, was just oppositeacross the street. Everything considered, the probabilities were thatSyama's selection would prove satisfactory to his master. Thefurnishment was a secondary matter.
It is to be added that in course of the business there were two thingsfrom which Uel extracted great pleasure; Syama always had money to paypromptly for everything he bought; in the next place, communicationwith him was astonishingly easy. His eyes made up for the deficiency inhearing; while his signs, gestures, and looks were the perfection ofpantomime. Of evenings the child never tired watching him inconversation.
While we go now to bring the Wanderer up, it should not be forgottenthat the house, completely furnished, is awaiting him, and he has onlyto knock at the door, enter, and be at home.