Zawis and Kunigunde/Chapter 1
CHAPTER I.
THE JOURNEY.
In the latter part of the month of August, A. D. 1278, two travelers journeyed on foot, not far from each other, along the road from Vienna towards the March. They were strangers in that country and with difficulty made themselves understood. But little opportunity existed, however, for the exercise of conversational powers, and the region seemed depopulated. In several miles not an inhabitant was encountered on the highway; and once or twice only a frightened peasant who came in sight in the cultivated portions showed himself for an instant and then hastily disappeared.
Toward evening the foremost traveler checked his steady pace occasionally and scanned the surrounding country for a symptom of possible shelter. These halts enabled the second stranger to diminish the distance between them, and, ashe approached, his general appearance was scrutinized very closely by the other. The investigation, conducted on both sides with obvious attention, appeared to be mutually assuring. Neither carried a weapon, except a straight staff evidently not fashioned for combat. The foremost one briefly addressed his companion in the Arabic language, but he only obtained in reply a sign that he was not understood. As he hesitated to speak again, not knowing of what kindred the stranger might be, he was in turn addressed in Spanish Provençal. Replying in broad Spanish and being at once answered therein, a method of communication was welcomed by each.
“A dreary prospect, brother stranger,” remarked the foremost, “and slight promise of even a bag of straw and a crust to-night.”
“Let not my brother speak so,” replied the other; “there is always a superintending eye and a ready hand for those who commit themselves to the Highest.”
“You speak worthily, excellent sir,” was the answer, a relaxed countenance indicating confidence, “and I trust that this supreme care may be extended to us, for according to appearances we shall need it. Our own potency seems to be at a limit here.”
“Our assurance of the protection of a better wisdom than our own should not deprive us of the exercise of the free faculties intrusted to us,” was the rejoinder. “Let us see what we can do to help ourselves.”
Whether the free voices were heard by sensitive ears of man or quadruped in the quiet summer air, and recognized as human, or whether more probably an indistinct sound was conveyed farther than the two men believed possible, the barking of a small dog at a distance became faintly audible. Both men had spoken with that candor and frankness of word and manner which denotes a life of naturalness and unconstraint. Looking around to discover whence probably came the sound, one of the men perceived a line of tracks through the shrubs and thickets that betokened the customary presence here of that elementary indication of civilization, a herd of swine.
“Not an inviting symbol,” said the other, when these tokens of habitation were pointed out to him, “but probably the associations of the forbidden creature may possess redeeming opportunities. We are not to avoid that progress towards perfect reason which apparently trivial circumstances frequently supply to us in daily life, during our advance to perfection, which is the end of all being.”
Following the track thus presented, the strangers advanced along an irregular and circuitous, but, considering the unevenness of the ground, a remarkably level line; and before long found themselves in presence of a congeries of huts formed out of the broken walls of what had previously been a large and pretentious edifice. Dogs barked, scared children ran hither and thither, women appeared at doors and at once retired. The strangers stood and looked around, and then at each other without speaking. An old man with long white hair and beard presented himself, and with an air indicating fallen fortunes saluted the strangers. His language was unintelligible. Spanish, Arabic, Provençal, were tried without effect. German he would not or could not understand; it was difficult from his air to determine which. At length he uttered a few words in Greek, and was at once perfectly comprehended by one of the strangers. From the implements of husbandry visible it was clear that younger men still inhabited the place, but they were nowhere seen. A simple meal and a lodging were cheerfully provided as soon as it became ascertained that the visit was not accompanied with evil intentions. The old gentleman waited upon his guests himself, and left them to their repose, complete masters of one of the huts which constituted the complex habitation.
“What are they?” eagerly inquired the old lady of the place as soon as all was quiet. “What does it mean, do you think? More emissaries to do the evil work of our destroyers? More secret agents of the hated Latin man come to uproot our ancient faith and show his myrmidons the by-ways of our land that he may grasp our inheritance to nourish his persecuting superstition? What think you, father?”
“Be assured, good heart,” said the old man, “our new friends are no servants of the Latin tyrant. They are both men of grave, if not reverend aspect, and express themselves with all due ceremony. The elder is somewhat swarthy of complexion, and I judge about fifty years of age. From his dress and language I consider him a Hebrew of the Spanish stock, and I should infer a man of sound learning after his system. His dress corresponds to his personality, and is of the Hebrews’, without ostentation or concealment. His language is that of a scholar; and his mode of address is that of the modern school patterned after the pagan maxims of the unenlightened days, but reverenced by men of Eastern mental tastes. His companion is younger, and if I mistake not, is one of our brethren whose fathers’ home was in the sunny fields of France ere the whirlwind of cruelty drove them forth to such shelter as we and our neighbors can supply. I judge that he is bound on a mission of faith to our brethren in Hungary and Poland. He has learned some of the Dalmatian speech too, as he took occasion to let me perceive, and I infer that he bears a message from the exiles along that coast. He is less of a philosopher than his companion; but I doubt not that his heart is of the purified, and his light is from the Enlightener of men. But I marvel that our new friends have ventured hither at this moment, when the deadly embrace of death again menaces all. The new sworn ally of the Latin tyrant is again bearing down against us, and I fear that our gallant King must succumb to the treacherous combination that assails him.”
“But the books, father,” earnestly rejoined the old lady, “did you secure them from prying eyes, and possibly hands of covetousness or destruction? You know the Hebrews are no friends of the inspired wisdom of our revelation.”
“Be assured again, good heart,” said the old man; “our friends are not likely to injure or remove the sources whence is derived the hospitable and enlightening spirit that sheds harmony over the home of the one, surrounded as he is by many creeds and races, and secures to the, other that brotherly welcome of which the books themselves furnish the most appropriate example and result. The Hebrew stranger is encompassed in his own home by an atmosphere of culture, and his friends are among the educators of men. I doubt not that his associations are of the learning and the splendor of Cordova, and that he has drunk deep of the widely diffused maxims of Saadia and the sages of Sora. Nowhere have I seen more generous rivalry in the search for the true and the good than in the schools of Andalusia; and nowhere does the human heart blossom out into more devoted search for the divine which they have not yet found. The brightest colors of human aspiration after the good and best are there displayed undimmed by the dark shades of calculating demon-craft in the west, which struggle by every undivine and unhallowed stimulus of the baser passions to crush out the gentle research into the works of the omnipotent which brings the divine in the human soul into such sweet harmony with the equally divine things around it. Let us repose in peace, good heart. It is not from our new friends that my apprehensions arise, but from some probable new troubles that may have suggested their journey.”
“Let us congratulate ourselves,” exclaimed the Hebrew stranger, “on the peaceful shelter we have obtained. Far better is a humble abode like this than the best of the resorts where travelers usually take lodgment. Such places are frequented by footpads, and those who conduct them are usually the associates of robbers. Here, I am well assured, we are secure.”
“Did I not remind you of the protection of a better wisdom than our own?” replied the other.
“Truly you did; but it appears to me that it was the exercise of the faculties conferred upon you by the all-pervading power which is diffused everywhere, and of which your intelligence is a constituent part, that composed the protecting agency. Let men cease to put those faculties in operation and we have no evidence whatever of a governing mind. We take nothing without demonstration.”
“The supreme mind,” said the other cautiously, “does not appear to me to need any aid from us. Its operations are of its own volition; and that volition is benevolence and universal interposition.”
“On that theory,” dryly responded his friend,“ it is hard to account for the ruins that surround us, and the oppression which seems to impede the good efforts and the noble human feelings that seem to animate our worthy host. His heart is not without benevolence, and he interposes where he can; and it is difficult to account for the want of sympathy evidenced in these days, and in all days ancient and modern, towards such worthy persons by the supreme benevolence you speak of. But let us not wrangle ourselves out of our rest. We need all the repose we can secure.”
The apartment occupied by the wayfarers really consisted of an addition to an addition to the original hut of the congeries. Similar additions and expansions existed on the other sides, until the entire collection constituted a small hamlet of itself, but constructed around and attached to an original residence now forming the center of the group. Each addition seemed to constitute a separate abode, and to have been added on as ason introduced a daughter-in-law to the original family, or a daughter had settled down with her husband beside her parents, who ruled the increasing family in real patriarchal form, and with full patriarchal cordiality. The present chamber seemed to be habitually occupied by some members of the family, and contained a small rough box set on end, with one shelf, in which were some twenty books, old and worn and discolored. One volume lay on the top of the box and had evidently been recently used. It was a fair manuscript copy of the gospels in Greek, and contained some illumination in that exceedingly delicate tracery which interwove flowing lines and patterns so frequently into themselves in their endless convolution that pattern became lost, and a general sense of beauty without fixedness or form was presented. This book was opened by the younger man and examined by both with joyful surprise.
“See,” said the elder, “an apt symbol of the wisdom which pervades all things, and diffuses itself everywhere alike from the infinite treasury of nature. All this commingled beauty without beginning, without end, spreads a charm all over whereof each part is a constituent portion, by which each part is produced as it is, and to which each lends its aid in turn. So is the diffused wisdom which composes and is composed by the world around us.”
“And the hut we are in,” responded the younger with a faint smile, “is a constituent portion of that beauty, and the life of our host is omitted altogether.”
The Jew looked grave, and said he could explain the mystery, he thought, on his principles.
“But how came that book here, think you?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing is more simple,” was the reply. “The doctrines held in this region for two hundred years and more were directly taught by Greeks. Cyril and Methodius were commissioned from Constantinople, and their mission was in full sympathy with the faith that pervaded all Eastern and a large portion of Western Europe for many centuries. Their language also was formally permitted here in compliance with the uninterrupted communication with the Northern Church in Constantinople. It is, however, cultivated now only by a few.”
The speaker here incautiously permitted himself to betray a greater knowledge of the traditions of the country than had been his purpose. He therefore added, “I have heard these things from travelers, because my country was long associated with these regions by trade in furs and silks, and horses and wool.” He then laid down the volume, and after performing his devotions without noticing whether any similar proceeding was observed by his companion, rest was speedily attained in asleep that was as quiet as it was welcome.
The morning sunrise beheld the venerable host on the alert to attend to the comfort of his guests. Breakfast consisting of coarse bread, apparently of barley and millet, and wild venison accompanied with home-brewed beer promised a substantial support for the expected fatigue of the coming journey. “You will need it all and more,” replied the old man in answer to a remark on his munificent hospitality. “The country you will pass through has been, I fear, ravaged and wasted in all directions. Already the destroyers have crossed the March, and scattered bands of them are even now plundering the helpless cottagers in Moravia. I fear that dreadful woes await us here. The ruin inflicted by the Tartar hordes in my youth was indeed a shocking sight, but even they disappeared almost as speedily as they came. Now we have a foe that will seize us in his talons and tear us with his ravenous beak. He is a foe that has come to stay; and he is more pitiless than the insatiate bird that emblems him. The skull and bones that figured the Tartar carnage might be appropriately borrowed by the new destroyers. The former created a desolation of death; the latter will set up a living pandemonium.”
“We have but recently reached these borders,” exclaimed the strangers in rapid succession. “We have carefully abstained from discussions, and from association indeed with those we meet.” “I have ensconced myself in the quietest corners,” declared the Jew, “and have passed along as if no outward purpose moved me. Journeying swiftly and in silence, I have escaped molestation, and I can with difficulty comprehend the cause of your extreme apprehension. In my country we are menaced with troubles, and I have devoted little attention to this.”
“The explanation might be tedious,” replied the venerable host. “Be thankful, then, if you escape the impending storm. After three days you will be beyond its fury for the present. We are in its track, and our land, I fear, shall be an Æolian bag of tempests for a long time. Be cautious, and be not surprised, and I would gladly see you safe again.”
The old man then filled the pouch of each wayfarer with the same substantial viands that had served for breakfast, adding, “You will need it. Should you pass this way again, my friends, or either of you, and the miscreants who torment us should spare our hovels, or should we have no more for them to convert into palaces of idleness and superstition,” said the old man again when his guests tendered their farewell greeting, and the security of his company rendered free speech permissible, “and you will honor my humble abode with your respected presence, I hope that the results of events now transpiring will enable me to do you as much honor as I could wish.” Thereupon the Jew, placing his hand on the old man’s shoulders, imprinted a kiss upon his lips, saying: “My honored friend, most welcome shall your roof be to my eyes should I so far progress in that evolution which brings wisdom, and advance in that soul-growth which leads to perfection, as to be able meetly to appreciate the divine life which unity with the all-pervading soul has nourished up in yourself. Accept this trifling token of my esteem, and let it remind you that the illumination which is the essence of the soul is not united to any one phase of its manifestation, or any one degree of its essential potency. The universal reason of which we are emanations, and to which we must return,is immanent in all alike, and constitutes our eternal and necessary brotherhood,and merges all our natures into one. Though we may never meet we shall mingle, and again and again partake in the diffusion of living intellect through the universe.”
While he yet spoke he drew forth from what seemed to be the skin of his arm, but was in reality a leather armlet dyed to perfection, four fine rings of gold, each apparently notched in two places. Stringing them together through a fine diagonal slit, and adjusting the notches, he formed of the four one gold ring handsomely chased and forming a three-stranded coil of gold. Then loosing them again a little and bringing them close to each other, he showed to the old man the Arabic inscription:—“Ibn Roschd”—formed in distinct characters by the different chasings. Closing the rings into one again, with grave obeisance he presented it to his host. “My name,”—he added, “I need not fear to give, and if your progress towards the universal essence should require or permit your presence at Cordova, be assured that Solomon Ben Gerson will welcome his brother in the spirit as his own soul. We are not as we once were,” he added sadly, “but the hearts of our fathers beat in our breasts.”
The old man melted under this touching address. Seeing that further greetings would oppress a heart now overflowing, the younger traveler cordially embraced his host, merely adding: “Receive the blessing of the Lord through his pilgrim Pietro Felice.”
“Now, my brothers,” finally said the old patriarch, “as I am well assured of your fidelity, and I feel in my heart that essential unity of being through the manifestations of its divine lovingness which makes all men of kin with each other and with the great Lord of all love, permit me to gratify myself by directing your steps towards another shelter far more worthy than mine. Should you escape the casualties that I fear you must encounter, direct your steps to the borders of Moravia and Bohemia, and at the secure castle of the lord Zawis you will find congenial associations and cordial welcome. In order to assure you an unquestioned reception present this token. It was the cognizance under which the lord Zawis’ honored father fought at Remové when our brave but too confiding King founded Königsberg, and originated a new power in Europe.” In silence the old man presented to Solomon a small silk banner apparently taken from a knight’s lance. The colors were white and red in parallel bars, the white above, and in the center was emblazoned in embroidery a black eagle. “I fear our cognizance has been changed,” added the old man, “but if you will quietly present that symbol the lord Zawis will know whence it comes. A member of my family is there, and will gladly hear a message from hence.”
Thereupon he dismissed his guests with a low obeisance.