The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (15 page)

Soon after, Testalunga died of pleurisy and his whole band broke up. My brothers, who knew Spain well, persuaded me to go there. At the head of a dozen men I went down to the Bay of Taormina and hid for three days. On the fourth we snatched a vessel, a snow, which carried us to the shores of Andalusia.

Although in Spain there was more than one mountain range which might have offered us favourable hiding-places, I chose the Sierra Morena and have not had cause to regret my decision. I captured two convoys of piastres and was responsible for a number of other feats on this scale.

In the end my successes caused offence at court. The Governor of Cadiz was ordered to take us dead or alive and sent out several regiments. But from another quarter the Sheikh of the Gomelez invited me to enter his service and allowed me to use these caves as a hiding-place. I had no hesitation in accepting.

The court in Granada did not want to admit defeat. So, seeing that we could not be found, it had two shepherds from the valley arrested, and hanged them under the names of Zoto's two brothers. I was acquainted with the two men and know that they had committed several murders. It is said, however, that they were vexed at being hanged in our stead and that at night they get down from the gallows and cause all sorts of mischief. I have not been witness to this and do not know what comment to make about it. However, it is true that I have had occasion to go by the gallows at night, and when the moon has been out, I have noted that the hanged men were no longer there although by morning they had reappeared.

And that, my dear sirs, is the story you asked of me. I believe that my brothers, whose lives have not been so wild, would have more interesting tales to tell you, but they will not have the time as we are ready to embark and I have had firm orders that this should take place tomorrow morning.

Supper was mournful and I hastened to say good-night to my cousins, for I hoped to see them again in my bedchamber and to be more successful in dispelling their melancholy.

They came back earlier than usual, and to my great delight carried their belts in their hands. The meaning of this gesture was not difficult to grasp. Emina took the trouble to explain it to me.

She said, ‘Dear Alphonse, you have set no limit to your loyalty to us. We wish to set no limit to our gratitude. We may be parted for ever. For other women this would be a reason to refuse you their favours. But we wish to live on in your memory, and even if the women whom you will meet in Madrid surpass us in beauty of mind or face, at least you will not find that they outdo us in love and passion. But you must renew your oath never to betray us, dear Alphonse, and swear also that whatever ill is said of us you will not believe it.'

I could not help laughing at this last request but promised what they wished and was rewarded with the sweetest caresses.

Then Emina continued, ‘My dear Alphonse, the relic around your neck bothers us. Couldn't you take it off for a little while?'

I refused, but Zubeida had a pair of scissors in her hand and, holding them behind my neck, cut the ribbon from behind. Emina seized the relic and threw it into a crevice in the rock.

‘You can get it back tomorrow,' she declared. ‘Meanwhile, put this tress of hair around your neck. It has been woven from my hair and that of my sister and the talisman which is attached to it wards off inconstancy in lovers, if anything is capable of doing such a thing.'

Then Emina pulled out a gold pin which held her hair in place and used it to close up the curtains around my bed tight together.

I shall do as she did and draw a veil over the rest of this scene. You need only know that my charming companions became my wives. There are doubtless cases where it is a crime violently to shed innocent blood, but there are others where such cruelty enhances innocence by making it appear in all its lustre. That is what happened
to us. And I am led to conclude that my cousins played no real part in my dreams at the Venta Quemada.

Eventually our passions were spent and we lay peacefully together, when a fateful bell began to strike midnight. I could not repress a shiver of horror, and said to my cousins that I feared that some sinister event hung over us.

‘I fear so, too,' said Emina. ‘The danger is near. But listen carefully to what I am now saying to you. Do not believe any ill that is spoken of us. Do not even believe the evidence of your eyes.'

At that moment the curtains of my bed were ripped open and I saw a man of majestic height standing there in Moorish dress. In one hand he held the Koran, in the other a sabre. My cousins threw themselves at his feet and said:

‘Oh mighty Sheikh of the Gomelez, forgive us.'

The sheikh replied in a terrible voice, ‘Adonde están los fajas?'
²
Then he turned to me and said, ‘Damn you, Christian wretch. You have dishonoured the blood of the Gomelez. You must become a Muslim or die.'

I heard a ghastly howl and caught sight of Pacheco the demoniac making signs at me from the corner of the room. My cousins also saw him, and in a terrible rage they got up, took hold of him and dragged him out of the room.

‘Miserable Nazarene,' continued the Sheikh of the Gomelez, ‘drink at a single draught the liquid contained in this cup or you will die a shameful death and your body will hang between those of Zoto's brothers; it will be prey to the vultures and the plaything of the infernal spirits who will use it for their diabolical charades.'

It seemed to me that in such circumstances honour dictated that I should commit suicide. I cried out in anguish, ‘Oh father, in my place you would have done as I did.'

Then I took the cup and drained it at one draught. I felt a terrible pain and lost consciousness.

When the stranger saw where he was, he started to laugh and said, ‘It must be admitted that in studying the cabbala one is subject to annoying delusions. Evil spirits can take on so many shapes that one doesn't know whom one is dealing with.

‘But,' he added, ‘why have I got a rope around my neck? I thought I had a tress of hair.'

Then he caught sight of me and said, ‘You are young for a cabbalist but you too have a rope around your neck.'

And so I did. I remembered that Emina had put a plait woven from her hair and that of her sister around my neck. And I did not know what to make of it.

The cabbalist stared at me for a moment and then said, ‘No, you are not one of us. Your name is Alphonse and your mother was a Gomelez. You are a captain in the Walloon Guards and you are brave but still a bit naïve. Never mind. We must get out of here and then we'll see what is to be done.'

The gallows gate stood open and we went out. Once more I saw the accursed valley of Los Hermanos. The cabbalist asked me where I wanted to go. I told him that I had decided to take the road to Madrid.

‘Good,' he said, ‘I am also going that way. But we will begin by taking a little nourishment.'

He pulled out of his pocket a gilt cup, a pot filled with an opiate substance and a crystal phial, which contained a brownish liquor. He put a spoonful of the opiate in the cup, added a few drops of the liquor and told me to drink it all down. He did not need to repeat his request for I was faint with hunger. The elixir was marvellous. I felt so much better that I did not hesitate to set out on our journey on foot, which I would have found very difficult to do otherwise.

The sun was already quite high in the sky when the ill-fated Venta Quemada came into view.

The cabbalist stopped and said, ‘There's an inn where a very cruel trick was played on me last night. However, we shall have to venture into it. I have left some provisions there which will do us good.'

So we went into that terrible
venta
, and in the dining room we found a table ready laid, on which there was a partridge pâté with two bottles of wine. The cabbalist seemed to have a healthy appetite and he encouraged me by his example. If he had not, I do not think that I could have brought myself to eat anything, for all that I had seen over the last few days had so perplexed my mind that I no longer knew what I was doing, and if anyone had tried they could have made me doubt my own existence.

When we had eaten we went from room to room and came to where I had slept on the day I left Andújar. I recognized my miserable pallet bed, sat down on it and began reflecting on all that had happened to me and especially on the events in the caves. I did not forget that Emina had warned me not to believe any ill which might be said of her.

I was absorbed in these thoughts when the cabbalist pointed out to me something which was glinting between the loose-fitting planks of the floor. I looked more closely and saw that it was the relic which the two sisters had removed from my neck. I had seen them throw it into a crevice in the rock and now I discovered it in a gap in the floorboards. I began to believe that I had never left that damned inn, and the hermit, the inquisitor and Zoto's brothers were so many
ghostly apparitions produced by magical spells. Meanwhile with the help of my sword I recovered the relic and put it round my neck again.

The cabbalist started to laugh and said, ‘So it belonged to you, Señor caballero! If you slept here, I am not at all surprised that you woke up under the gallows. Never mind, we must be on our way and we will reach the hermitage this evening.'

We set out and were only half-way there when we met the hermit, who seemed to be finding great difficulty in walking. He caught sight of us from afar and shouted out, ‘Ah, my young friend, I was looking for you! Come back to the hermitage. Snatch your soul from Satan's clutches! But first lend me your arm. I have exerted myself cruelly on your behalf.'

We rested for a while and then set off again. The old man could only keep up by leaning on one or the other of us in turn. Eventually we reached the hermitage.

The hermit took holy water, sprinkled it over the possessed man and said to him, ‘Pacheco, Pacheco, in the name of your Redeemer, I order you to tell me what happened to you last night.'

Pacheco shuddered, let out a long wail and spoke as follows: