Best Fantasy Stories

Chapter 19 THE WONDERS OF THE "AMIR"

Chapter 19

THE WONDERS OF THE "AMIR"We were drawn on cars up to the first terraced street, and here

we found the vast multitude which we had seen from a distance.

Crossing this street, we ascended and came to another precisely

like it; then, still going on, we came to a third. Here there was

an immense space, not overgrown with trees like the streets, but

perfectly open. In the midst arose a lofty pyramid, and as I looked

at it I could not refrain from shuddering; for it looked like the

public altar, upon which in due time I should be compelled to make

my appearance, and be offered up as a victim to the terrific

superstitions of the Kosekin.

Crossing this great square, we came to a vast portal, which

opened into a cavern with twinkling lights. The city itself

extended above this, for we could see the terraced streets rising

above our heads; but here our progress ended at the great cavern in

the chief square, opposite the pyramid.

On entering the cavern we traversed an antechamber, and then

passing on we reached a vast dome, of dimensions so great that I

could perceive no end in that gloom. The twinkling lights served

only to disclose the darkness and to indicate the immensity of the

cavern. In the midst there arose two enormous columns, which were

lost in the gloom above.

It was only by passing through this that we learned its great

extent. We at length came to the other end, and here we saw

numerous passages leading away. The Kohen led us through one of

these, and after passing through several other domes of smaller

dimensions we at length reached an apartment where we stopped. This

place was furnished with couches and hangings, and lighted with

flaming lamps. The light was distressing to those who had

accompanied us, and many of them left, while the few who remained

had to cover their eyes. Here we found that all preparations had

been made. The apartments were all illuminated, though our love of

light never ceased to be a matter of amazement to the Kosekin, and

a bounteous repast was spread for us. But the Kohen and the others

found the light intolerable, and soon left us to ourselves.

After the repast some women appeared to take Almah to her

chamber, and, with the usual kindness of the Kosekin, they assured

her that she would not be expected to obey the law of separation,

but that she was to remain here, where she would be always within

reach of me.

After her departure there came to visit me the lowest man in all

the land of the Kosekin, though, according to our view, he would be

esteemed the highest. This was the Kohen Gadol. His history had

already been told me. I had learned that through lack of Kosekin

virtue he had gradually sunk to this position, and now was

compelled to hold in his hands more wealth, power, and display than

any other man in the nation.

He was a man of singular appearance. The light was not so

troublesome to him as to the others—he merely kept his eyes shaded;

but he regarded me with a keen look of inquiry that was suggestive

of shrewdness and cunning. I confess it was with a feeling of

relief that I made this discovery; for I longed to find someone

among this singular people who was selfish, who feared death, who

loved life, who loved riches, and had something in common with me.

This I thought I perceived in the shrewd, cunning face of the Kohen

Gadol, and I was glad; for I saw that while he could not possibly

be more dangerous to me than those self-sacrificing, self-denying

cannibals whom I had thus far known, he might prove of some

assistance, and might help me to devise means of escape. If I could

only find someone who was a coward, and selfish and avaricious—if

this Kohen Gadol could but be he—how much brighter my life would

be! And so there happened to me an incredible thing, that my

highest wish was now to find in the Kohen Gadol cowardice, avarice,

and selfishness.

The Kohen was accompanied by a young female, richly attired,

who, I afterward learned, was his daughter. Her name was Layelah,

and she filled the office of Malca, which signifies queen; and

though honorable with us above all, is among the Kosekin the lowest

in the land. Layelah was so beautiful that I looked at her in

amazement. She was very tall for one of the Kosekin, which made her

stature equal to that of an ordinary girl with us; her hair was

rich, dark and luxuriant, gathered about her head in great masses

and bound by a golden band. Her features were delicate and perfect

in their outline; her expression was noble and commanding. Her eyes

were utterly unlike those of the other Kosekin; the upper lids had

a slight droop, but that was all, and that was the nearest approach

to the national blink. Her first entrance into the room seemed to

dazzle her, and she shaded her eyes for a few moments, but after

that she looked at me fixedly, and seemed to suffer no more

inconvenience than I did. The perfect liberty of women among the

Kosekin made this visit from her quite as natural as that of her

father; and though she said but little on this occasion, she was an

attentive listener and close observer.

Their visit was long, for they were evidently full of curiosity.

They had heard much about me and wished to see more. It was the

first time that I had found among the Kosekin the slightest desire

to know where I had come from. Hitherto all had been content with

the knowledge that I was a foreigner. Now, however, I found in the

Kohen Gadol and Layelah a curiosity that was most eager and

intense. They questioned me about my country, about the great world

beyond the mountains, about the way in which I had come here, about

the manners and customs of my countrymen. They were eager to know

about those great nations of which I spoke, who loved light and

life; about men who loved themselves better than others; of that

world where men feared death and loved life, and sought after

riches and lived in the light.

The sleeping-time came and passed, and my visitors were still

full of eager questionings. It was Layelah who at last thought of

the lateness of the hour. At a word from her the Kohen Gadol rose,

with many apologies, and prepared to go. But before he left he

said:

"When I was a child I was shipwrecked, and was taken up a ship

which conveyed me to a nation beyond the sea. There I grew up to

manhood. I learned their language and manners and customs, and when

I returned home I found myself an alien here: I do not love

darkness or death, I do not hate riches, and the result is that I

am what I am. If I were like the rest of my countrymen, my lot

would make me miserable; but as it is I prefer it to any other, and

consider myself not the lowest but the greatest in the land. My

daughter is like me, and instead of being ashamed of her station

she is proud of it, and would not give it up even to become a

pauper. I will see you again. I have much to say."

With these words the Kohen Gadol retired, followed by Layelah,

leaving me more hopeful than I had been for a long time.

For many joms following I received visits from the Kohen Gadol

and from Layelah. Almah was with me until sleeping-time, and then

these other visitors would come. In this, at least, they resembled

the other Kosekin, that they never dreamed of interfering with

Almah when she might wish to be with me. Their visits were always

long, and we had much to say; but what I lost of sleep I always

made up on the following jom. The Kohen Gadol, with his keen,

shrewd face, interested me greatly; but Layelah, with her proud

face and air of command, was a positive wonder.

I soon learned that the Kohen Gadol was what we term "a man of

advanced views," or perhaps a "Reformer," or a "Philosophic

Radical," it matters not which; suffice it to say that his ideas

and feelings differed from those of his nation, and if carried out

would be equal to a revolution in politics and morals.

The Kohen Gadol advocated selfishness as the true law of life,

without which no state can prosper. There were a few of similar

views, but they were all regarded with great contempt by the

multitude, and had to suffer the utmost rigor of the law; for they

were all endowed with vast wealth, compelled to live in the utmost

splendor and luxury, to have enormous retinues, and to wield the

chief power in politics and in religion. Even this, however, had

not changed the sentiments of the condemned, and I learned that

they were laboring incessantly, notwithstanding their severe

punishment, to disseminate their peculiar doctrines. These were

formulated as follows:

1. A man should not love others better than himself. 2. Life is

not an evil to be got rid of. 3. Other things are to be preferred

to death. 4. Poverty is not the best state for man. 5. Unrequited

love is not the greatest happiness. 6. Lovers may sometimes marry.

7. To serve is not more honorable than to command. 8. Defeat is not

more glorious than victory. 9. To save a life should not be

regarded as a criminal offence. 10. The paupers should be forced to

take a certain amount of wealth, to relieve the necessities of the

rich.

These articles were considered both by the Kohen Gadol and by

Layelah to be remarkable for their audacity, and were altogether

too advanced for mention by any except the chosen few. With the

multitude he had to deal differently, and had to work his way by

concealing his opinions. He had made a great conspiracy, in which

he was still engaged, and had gained immense numbers of adherents

by allowing them to give him their whole wealth. Through his

assistance many Athons and Kohens and Meleks had become artisans

laborers, and even paupers; but all were bound by him to the

strictest secrecy. If anyone should divulge the secret, it would be

ruin to him and to many others; for they would at once be punished

by the bestowal of the extremest wealth, by degradation to the rank

of rulers and commanders, and by the severest rigors of luxury,

power, splendor, and magnificence known among the Kosekin.

Overwhelmed thus with the cares of government, crushed under the

weight of authority and autocratic rule, surrounded by countless

slaves all ready to die for them, their lives would be embittered

and their punishment would be more than they could bear. But the

philosophic Kohen Gadol dared all these punishments, and pursued

his way calmly and pertinaciously.

Nothing surprised the Kohen Gadol so much as the manner in which

I received his confidences. He half expected to startle me by his

boldness, but was himself confounded by my words. I told him that

in my country self was the chief consideration, self-preservation

the law of nature; death the King of Terrors; wealth the object of

universal search, poverty the worst of evils; unrequited love

nothing less than anguish and despair; to command others the

highest glory; victory, honor; defeat, intolerable shame; and other

things of the same sort, all of which sounded in his ears, as he

said, with such tremendous force that they were like peals of

thunder. He shook his head despondently; he could not believe that

such views as mine could ever be attained to among the Kosekin. But

Layelah was bolder, and with all a woman's impetuosity grasped at

my fullest meaning and held it firm.

"He is right," said Layelah—"the heaven-born Atam-or. He shall

be our teacher. The rich shall be esteemed, the poor shall be

down-trodden; to rule over others shall be glorious, to serve shall

be base; victory shall be an honor, defeat a shame; selfishness,

self-seeking, luxury, and indulgence shall be virtues; poverty,

want, and squalor shall be things of abhorrence and contempt."

The face of Layelah glowed with enthusiasm as she said these

words, and I saw in her a daring, intrepid, and high-hearted woman,

full of a woman's headlong impetuosity and disregard of

consequences. In me she saw one who seemed to her like a prophet

and teacher of a new order of things, and her whole soul responded

to the principles which I announced. It required immense strength

of mind and firmness of soul to separate herself from the prevalent

sentiment of her nation; and though nature had done much for her in

giving her a larger portion of original selfishness than was common

to her people, still she was a child of the Kosekin, and her daring

was all the more remarkable. And so she went further than her

father, and adopted my extreme views when he shrank back, and dared

more unflinchingly the extremest rigors of the national law, and

all that the Kosekin could inflict in the way of wealth, luxury,

supreme command, palatial abodes, vast retinues of slaves, and the

immense degradation of the queenly office.

I spoke to her in a warning voice about her rashness.

"Oh," said she, "I have counted the cost, and am ready to accept

all that they can inflict. I embrace the good cause, and will not

give it up—no, not even if they could increase my wealth a

thousand-fold, and sentence me to live a hundred seasons. I can

bear their utmost inflictions of wealth, power, magnificence; I

could even bear being condemned to live forever in the light. Oh,

my friend, it is the conviction of right and the support of

conscience that strengthens one to bear the greatest evils that man

can inflict."

From these words it was evident to me that Layelah was a true

child of the Kosekin; for though she was of advanced sentiments she

still used the language of her people, and spoke of the punishments

of the law as though they were punishments in reality. Now, to me

and to Almah these so-called punishments seemed rewards.

It was impossible for me to avoid feeling a very strong regard

for this enthusiastic and beautiful girl; all the more, indeed,

because she evinced such an undisguised admiration for me. She

evidently considered me some superior being, from some superior

race; and although my broken and faulty way of speaking the

language was something of a trial, still she seemed to consider

every word I uttered as a maxim of the highest wisdom. The tritest

of truths, the commonest of platitudes, the most familiar of

proverbs or old saws current among us were eagerly seized by

Layelah, and accepted as truths almost divine—as new doctrines for

the guidance of the human race. These she would discuss with me;

she would put them into better and more striking language, and ask

for my opinion. Then she would write them down.

For the Kosekin knew the art of writing. They had an alphabet of

their own, which was at once simple and very scientific. There were

no vowels, but only consonant sounds, the vowels being supplied in

reading, just as if one should write the words fthr or dghtr, and

read them father and daughter. Their letters were as follows: P, K,

T, B, G, D, F, Ch, Th, M, L, N, S, H, R. There were also three

others, which have no equivalents in English.

It soon became evident to me that Layelah had a complete

ascendancy over her father; that she was not only the Malca of the

amir, but the presiding spirit and the chief administrative genius

of the whole nation of the Kosekin. She seemed to be a new

Semiramis—one who might revolutionize an empire and introduce a new

order of things. Such, indeed, was her high ambition, and she

plainly avowed it to me; but what was more, she frankly informed me

that she regarded me as a Heaven-sent teacher—as one who in this

darkness could tell her of the nations of light—who could instruct

her in the wisdom of other and greater races, and help her to

accomplish her grand designs.

As for Almah, she seemed quite beneath the notice of the

aspiring Layelah. She never noticed her, she never spoke of her,

and she always made her visits to me after Almah had gone.