Best Fantasy Stories

Chapter 8 THE CAVE-DWELLERS

Chapter 8

THE CAVE-DWELLERSThe cavern into which the chief led me was very spacious, but

had no light except that which entered through the portal. It was

with difficulty that I could see anything, but I found that there

were many people here moving about, all as intent upon their own

pursuits as those which one encounters in the streets of our

cities. As we went on farther the darkness increased, until at last

I lost sight of the chief altogether, and he had to come back and

lead me. After going a little farther we came to a long, broad

passage-way like a subterranean street, about twenty feet in width,

and as many in height. Here there were discernible a few twinkling

lamps, which served to make the darkness less intense and enabled

me to see the shadowy figures around. These were numerous, and all

seemed busy, though what their occupation might be I could not

guess. I was amazed at the extent of these caverns, and at the

multitude of the people. I saw also that from the nature of their

eyes the sunlight distressed them, and in this cavern gloom they

found their most congenial dwelling-place. From what I had thus far

seen, this extraordinary people shrank from the sunlight; and when

they had to move abroad they passed over roads which were darkened

as much as possible by the deep shadows of mighty ferns, while for

the most part they remained in dark caverns, in which they lived

and moved and had their being. It was a puzzle to me whether the

weakness of their eyes had caused this dislike of light, or the

habit of cave-dwelling had caused this weakness of eyes. Here, in

this darkness, where there was but a faint twinkle from the feeble

lamps, their eyes seemed to serve them as well as mine did in the

outer light of day; and the chief, who outside had moved with an

uncertain step, and had blinked painfully at objects with his eyes

almost closed, now appeared to be in his proper element; and while

I hesitated like a blind man and groped along with a faltering

step, he guided me, and seemed to see everything with perfect

vision.

At length we stopped, and the chief raised up a thick, heavy mat

which hung like an unwieldly curtain in front of a doorway. This

the chief lifted. At once a blaze of light burst forth, gleaming

into the dark, and appearing to blind him. His eyes closed. He held

up the veil for me to pass through. I did so. He followed, and then

groped his way slowly along, while I accompanied and assisted

him.

I now found myself in a large grotto with an arched roof, from

which was suspended an enormous lamp, either golden or gilded. All

around were numerous lamps. The walls were adorned with rich

hangings; couches were here, with soft cushions, and divans and

ottomans; soft mats were on the floor, and everything gave

indications of luxury and wealth. Other doors, covered with

overhanging mats, seemed to lead out of this grotto. To one of

these the chief walked, and raising the mat he led the way into

another grotto like the last, with the same bright lights and the

same adornments, but of smaller size. Here I saw someone who at

once took up all my attention.

It was a young maiden. Her face and form, but especially her

eyes, showed her to be of quite a different race from these others.

To me she was of medium height, yet she was taller than any of the

people here that I had hitherto seen. Her complexion was much

lighter; her hair was dark, luxuriant, and wavy, and arranged in a

coiffure secured with a golden band. Her features were of a

different cast from those of the people here, for they were regular

in outline and of exquisite beauty; her nose was straight; she had

a short upper lip, arched eyebrows finely pencilled, thin lips, and

well-rounded chin. But the chief contrast was in her eyes. These

were large, dark, liquid, with long lashes, and with a splendid

glow in their lustrous depths. She stood looking at me with her

face full of amazement; and as I caught the gaze of her glorious

eyes I rejoiced that I had at last found one who lived in the light

and loved it—one who did not blink like a bat, but looked me full

in the face, and allowed me to see all her soul revealed. The

chief, who still was pained by the glare of light, kept his eyes

covered, and said a few hasty words to the maiden. After this he

hurried away, leaving me there.

The maiden stood for a moment looking at me. As the chief spoke

to her a change came over her face. She looked at me in silence,

with an expression of sad and mournful interest, which seemed to

increase every moment. At length she approached and said something

in the same strange language which the chief had used. I shook my

head and replied in English, whereupon she shook her head with a

look of perplexity. Then, anxious to conciliate her, I held out my

hand. She looked at it in some surprise. Upon this I took her hand,

and pressed it to my lips, feeling, however, somewhat doubtful as

to the way in which she might receive such an advance. To my great

delight she accepted it in a friendly spirit, and seemed to

consider it my foreign fashion of showing friendship and respect.

She smiled and nodded, and pointed to my g*n, which thus far I had

carried in my hand. I smiled and laid it down. Then she pointed to

a seat. I sat down, and then she seated herself close by me, and we

looked at each other in mutual wonder and mutual inquiry.

I was full of amazement at thus meeting with so exquisite a

being, and lost myself in conjectures as to her race, her office,

and her position here. Who was she, or what? She was unlike the

others, and reminded me of those Oriental beauties whose portraits

I had seen in annuals and illustrated books. Her costume was in

keeping with such a character. She wore a long tunic that reached

from the neck to the ground, secured at the waist with a golden

girdle; the sleeves were long and loose; over this she had a long

mantle; on her feet were light slippers, white and glistening. All

about her, in her room and in her costume, spoke of light and

splendor and luxury. To these others who shrank so from the light

she could not be related in any way. The respect with which she was

treated by the chief, the peculiar splendor of her apartments,

seemed to indicate some high rank. Was she, then, the queen of the

land? Was she a princess? I could not tell. At any rate, whatever

she was, she seemed anxious to show me the utmost attention. Her

manner was full of dignity and sweet graciousness, and she appeared

particularly anxious to make herself understood. At first she spoke

in a language that sounded like that of the chief, and was full of

gutturals and broad vowels; afterward she spoke in another that was

far more euphonious. I, on the other hand spoke in English and in

French; but of course I was as unintelligible to her as she was to

me.

Language was, therefore, of no use. It was necessary to go back

to first principles and make use of signs, or try to gain the most

elementary words of her language; so first of all I pointed to her,

and tried to indicate that I wanted to know her name. She caught my

meaning at once, and, pointing to herself, she looked fixedly at me

and said, "Almah, Almah!"

I repeated these words after her, saying, "Almah, Almah!" She

smiled and nodded, and then pointed to me with a look of inquiry

that plainly asked for my name. I said "Adam More." She repeated

this, and it sounded like "A-tam-or." But as she spoke this slowly

her smile died away. She looked anxious and troubled, and once more

that expression of wondering sadness came over her face. She

repeated my name over and over in this way with a mournful

intonation that thrilled through me, and excited forebodings of

evil. "Atamor, Atamor!" And always after that she called me

"Atamor."

But now she sat for some time, looking at me with a face full of

pity and distress. At this I was greatly astonished; for but a

moment before she had been full of smiles, and it was as though

something in my name had excited sorrowful thoughts. Yet how could

that be, since she could never by any possibility have heard my

name before? The beautiful Almah seemed to be not altogether happy,

or why should she be so quick to sadness? There was a mystery about

all this which was quite unaccountable.

It was a singular situation, and one which excited within me

feelings of unutterable delight. This light and splendor, this

warmth and peace—what a contrast it offered to the scenes through

which I had but lately passed! Those scenes of horror, of ice and

snow, of storm and tempest, of cold and hunger, of riven cliff and

furious ocean stream, and, above all, that crowning agony in the

bleak iron-land of the cannibals—from all these I had escaped. I

had been drawn down under the earth to experience the terrors of

that unspeakable passage, and had at last emerged to light and

life, to joy and hope. In this grotto I had found the culmination

of all happiness. It was like a fairy realm; and here was one whose

very look was enough to inspire the most despairing soul with hop

and peace and happiness. The, only thing that was now left to

trouble me was this mournful face of Almah. Why did she look at me

with such sad interest and such melancholy meaning? Did she know of

any evil fate in store for me? Yet how could there be any evil fate

to be feared from people who had received me with such unparalleled

generosity? No, it could not be; so I resolved to try to bring back

again the smile that had faded out of her face.

I pointed to her, and said, "Almah."

She said, "Atam-or."

And the smile did not come back, but the sadness remained in her

face.

My eager desire now was to learn her language, and I resolved at

once to acquire as many words and phrases as possible. I began by

asking the names of things, such as "seat," "table," "mat," "coat,"

"hat," "shoe," "lamp," "floor," "wall," and all the common objects

around. She gave all the names, and soon became so deeply

interested that her sadness departed, and the smile came back once

more. For my own part, I was always rather quick at learning

languages. I had a correct ear and a retentive memory; in my

wanderings round the world I had picked up a smattering of many

languages, such as French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, German,

Hindoostanee, and a few others. The words which I learned from

Almah had a remote resemblance to Arabic; and, in fact, my

knowledge of Arabic was actually of some assistance, though how it

was that these people should have a language with that resemblance

was certainly a mystery, and I did not try to solve it. The

beautiful Almah soon grew immensely interested in my efforts to

learn, and also in the English words which I gave when I pointed to

any object.

Thus I pointed to myself, and said "Man," then pointing to her,

I said, "Woman." She laughed, and pointing to me said "Iz," and

pointing to herself said, "Izza." Then I pointed to the row of

lights, and said "Light;" she did the same, and said, "Or." Then

her face grew mournful, and she pointed to me, saying "Atam-or." It

struck me then that there was some chance resemblance between "or,"

the word meaning "light," and one of the syllables of my name as

she pronounced it, and that this might cause her sadness; but as I

could make out nothing of this, I dismissed the thought, and went

on with my questions. This took up the time, until at length

someone appeared who looked like a servant. He said something,

whereupon Almah arose and beckoned to me to follow. I did so, and

we went to a neighboring apartment, where there was spread a

bounteous repast. Here we sat and ate, and Almah told me the names

of all the dishes. After dinner we returned to the room.

It was a singular and a delightful position. I was left alone

with the beautiful Almah, who herself showed the utmost

graciousness and the kindest interest in me. I could not understand

it, nor did I try to; it was enough that I had such a happy lot.

For hours we thus were together, and I learned many words. To

insure remembrance, I wrote them down in my memorandum-book with a

pencil and both of these were regarded by Almah with greatest

curiosity. She felt the paper, inspected it, touched it with her

tongue, and seemed to admire it greatly; but the pencil excited

still greater admiration. I signed to her to write in the book. She

did so, but the characters were quite unlike anything that I had

ever seen. They were not joined like our writing and like Arabic

letters, but were separate like our printed type, and were formed

in an irregular manner. She then showed me a book made of a strange

substance. It was filled with characters like those which she had

just written. The leaves were not at all like paper, but seemed

like some vegetable product, such as the leaves of a plant or the

bark of a tree. They were very thin, very smooth, all cut into

regular size, and fastened together by means of rings. This

manuscript is written upon the same material. I afterward found

that it was universally used here, and was made of a reed that

grows in marshes.

Here in these vast caverns there was no way by which I could

tell the progress of time, but Almah had her own way of finding out

when the hours of wakeful life were over. She arose and said,

"Salonla." This I afterward found out to be common salutation of

the country. I said it after her. She then left me. Shortly

afterward a servant appeared, who took me to a room, which I

understood to be mine. Here I found everything that I could wish,

either for comfort or luxury; and as I felt fatigue, I flung myself

upon the soft bed of down, and soon was sound asleep.

I slept for a long time. When I awoke I heard sounds in the

distance, and knew that people were moving. Here in these caverns

there was no difference between day and night, but, by modes of

which I was ignorant, a regular succession was observed of waking

times and sleeping times.