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Youths from desert tribes were invited to Alamut, drugged and transported
into this interior valley. For a few days they lived as they had never lived
upon the harsh and infertile desert.
Until this experience these desert youths had known nothing but dates,
camel's milk, and goat's flesh. Suddenly they were surrounded by all manner of
luxuries and permitted to enjoy the company of women of such beauty as only
appear in dreams.
They were doped again, taken back to the outside, and told that the Old Man
had transported them toParadise and could do so again, at will. Furthermore,
if they died in his service they would be returned toParadise .
Then these young men were sent to slay the enemies of the Old Man, and
because they were given hashish to make them fearless, they became known
ashashishans,or assassins.
Stories were told of the Old Man and those he had slain. Every death of a
possible enemy was attributed to him, no matter how it came about. And now my
father was a prisoner in Alamut. Somehow I must go there, enter the fortress,
and get him out. I said as much.
"I knew you would want to go there, but there is nothing I can do to help
you, nothing at all."
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"I expect no help. The task is my own. I now know he is alive, know he is in
health, and the rest is up to me."
"I need not warn you, Mathurin, but the Old Man has spies everywhere. If you
speak of your intentions, he will know. Even here he may have spies, so tell
no one of your plans."
We listened to the rustle of the river, and the stirring of the leaves.
"Safia? You are sure you will be all right now?"
"I have friends, Mathurin, but I will need money. If you agree, I will take
what cash we have, and you keep the goods, and the horses."
"It is unfair. The value of the goods and the horses far exceeds what we have
in gold."
Behind us the camp was stirring. Guido was singing, and we could hear the
laughter of Johannes. "I shall miss them, as I shall miss you. We were
fortunate to find them when we did."
"And I was fortunate to find you when I did," I said. "Do you remember that
night, Safia? I had no place to turn and enemies everywhere."
"You have been a good friend to me." She looked up at me. "Mathurin, I wish
..."
What she wished I was never to know, for at that moment there was a call from
camp.
TheHansgrafand Peter awaited me, with them were Lucca and Johannes. "We need
your advice. Safia informs us that you have much knowledge of the science of
lands, and even maps?"
"I have such knowledge."
"East of here? Do you know the lands of the Magyars and Petchenegs?"
"I have read Marvazi, and others. They offer little."
"Do you knowKiev ?"
"It is a large market town, the largest in northernEurope , but the way there
is dangerous, and the Petchenegs are a savage people."
"No matter. Our two caravans, Peter's and mine, will muster more than one
hundred and fifty fighting men."
Having heard much of the fierce steppe tribesmen, I was worried about the
idea. TheHansgraflistened gravely to my objections. "We have missed the fairs
at Bruges and Lille while the fair here at St. Denis is a small one. There
will be trading at Lagny and Provins, but if we go eastward, there are fairs
at Cologne and Leipzig. It seems to me if we take the cloth of Flanders to
Kiev and sell it there and buy furs to take to Constantinople, we will make
good trade."
There had been rumors of restlessness among the steppe tribes, and I was
disturbed. Safia was awaiting me, and I told her of what was planned and what
I feared. The deep sea can be fathomed, but who knows the heart of a woman? We
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had known each other for many months, and she was always disturbing to me, yet
there is a moment in the acquaintance of a man and woman and once that moment
is passed it may never be recaptured. Not at least with the same essence.
We had met as equals, rarely a good thing in such matters, for the woman who
wishes to be the equal of a man usually turns out to be less than a man and
less than a woman. A woman is herself, which is something altogether different
than a man.
"I shall escort you into the city. It is not well that you should ride
alone."
"All right."
Silence fell between us, and I searched my heart for a key to the silence and
found no words.
Pariswas no such city as those to which I had become accustomed, but a shabby
little place with muddy streets and a people suspicious of strangers.
My father told me how fishermen had settled an island in theSeine and started
a town called Lutetia, raided many times by the Vikings. Finally, the Count
Eudes and Bishop Gozlin fortified the island and organized the townspeople to
fight off the Vikings, who then went downstream to settle in the land named
for them,Normandy . The Northmen came to be known in the Frankish lands
asNormans .
The city ofParis , if such it could be called, was actually three cities. On
the island where Lutetia had been and where Notre Dame now was were the seat
of government and the palace. The bishop lived on the island. On the right
bank, separately administered, was the Town, the shops, markets, and the six
great guilds. There were the money changers, goldsmiths, and bankers. This
area was ruled by the Provost of Paris. On the left bank, only beginning, were
the "schools" with their own laws, administrations, and customs. The Bishop of
Paris was himself a feudal lord, a great landed proprietor with as much power
as the king himself.
The ancient site of Lutetia was called the "Isle of the City," but the king
and the bishop who lived there had less to do with what was called government
than members of the guilds or even the argumentative and often ribald students
of the university. The Romans, I noticed, had not kept themselves to the
island, for there were the remains of an amphitheatre and a few arches of an
aqueduct on the left bank.
Safia and I parted at the bridge, for I had no desire to cross into the realm
of officialdom. The further one can remain from the powers that be the longer
and happier life is apt to be. Moreover, prolonged leave-takings made me
uneasy.
"You will be all right?" I asked.
"Only this can I tell you. I shall be here for some time. Some friends, it
does not matter who, plan to introduce silk manufacture toParis ."
"It is a good idea, Safia. Times are changing. Only a few years ago towns
lacked importance. They have ceased to be merely places of refuge and have [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]