Part 5 (1/2)

The field for fighting formed four corners: Lions to the north, Hippos to the south, Elephants to the east, and Whales were confined to the west. Schamah sat on the southern side of her throne, where she could easily keep her eyes on everything. Guewerdschina the mule served as her throne, the most protected place that remained on that site. Musicians sat in the corner: a jar-drum, a tambourine, trumpets, and a fipple flute. If Thar were wrestled to the ground, they were supposed to make the loudest possible clamor. With the victory never tipping to their side, the Hebronite musicians had no chance to play their instruments.

They had chosen their strongest athletes. The compet.i.tion's rules were very simple: the loser would be whoever was thrown to the ground in the first three beast- matches. The battle of the Whales would take place in the fountain. The winner had to dunk his opponent, then publicly spew a mouth full of water in his face.

Before the matches began, the Four Heroes of Hebron were asked whether they wanted to withdraw their names from the compet.i.tion.

”For no amount of money!” they replied.

Secretary of State Abdullah then gave the signal for the battle of the Lions to begin. The Lion of Hebron stepped forward. He was the same tall, robust boy who first gave a speech. When he saw all eyes turn towards him, his face took on an overly confident expression.

Thar stood beside us: ”Watch carefully! See how quickly this happens. The main thing is to give your enemy no time to think.” He then stepped into the ring, bowed to Schamah, and positioned himself squarely in front of his foe. No doubt he had learned this knightly behavior from hearing some legend, or from some fairy tale. Abdullah now clapped his hands three times. In the blink of an eye, it happened. When his opponent hesitated, Thar lunged. He let him come quite close, then sprang to the side as he clenched the boy from behind and completely buckled him under. Just as he had wrestled old Eppstein down to the ground, he firmly held the young Hebron Lion as he called out to the musicians: ”Now you can sound your notes of triumph for him!” Of course, they were silent. The loser slowly stood up; with his head lowered, he slinked away.

Next came the Battle of the Elephants. The opponent was a c.u.mbersome guy who seemed to have twice the strength as our boy possessed. With a smile, Thar gave a nod to us. That was a good sign.

He had told us how those in the Elephant Club had to do their trampling in unison. First here, then suddenly over there, he didn't simply take the kid down-he bounced him to the ground. When Abdullah gave the signal, Thar powerfully launched forward, swung himself upward, and simply sprang over that heap of a foe. In an instant, he put his knees upon the boy and called out to the musicians: ”Loudly, loudly, now play your song of triumph for him!” All around, stillness reigned.

Only Secretary of State Abdullah angrily called out: ”Oh my, two are already down. This is not acceptable. Let our Hippo come forth, and he will stomp him into the ground. The Hippo was a short, thick rascal who was not endowed with muscles, just a lot of fat.

Fearlessly, he rolled his eyes; he had good courage. As the time drew nearer for the start of the match, he put his head down like a runner. Letting out a colossal hoo-ha, the Hebron Monster then lay down on the ground and stretched his legs into the air. He held his head with both hands and bellowed as if someone were planning to roast him on a grill. Thar just stood there erect; with a laugh, he teased the musicians: ”You guys don't need to play your drums nor blow your horns, because he's making his own music.”

Now the giants of the ocean would show what they could do. The former four sides of the ring now collapsed. Everyone headed to the deep well, wherein the final judgment was supposed to take place.

Thar was the first to arrive at the cistern; he stood ready to descend into the water. The Hebronites came less quickly. Slowest of them all were the Whales. The very last one to arrive was the guy that was supposed to fight with Thar. With a very embarra.s.sed look on his face, he came to the brink of the well, then looked away as he said: ”I don't want this job anymore!” Abdullah responded: ”You've already accepted the position, so you must go through with it!” As the boy turned and hurried away, he called out: ”Not for any amount of money! I'm leaving!”

”So, we must choose someone else!” said Abdullah. From out of the throats of the remaining Whales, this chorus rang out: ”You couldn't pay me enough money! I'm going-I'm leaving-I'm out of here!”

One after another, they disappeared, until there were no more to be seen-except one in the distance. Without saying ”adieu,” the Lions followed those who had already left. In much the same way, the Hippos and the musicians made the same kind of exit. Most of the Elephants ambled off in single file, but some left in twos and threes. Without saying a word or grudgingly waving good-bye, the adults finally rode away.

Thar turned towards Schamah: ”Now do you believe that I'm a hero?” She handed him the Canterbury-bells: ”From the very beginning, I believed you. You've won, so here are your flowers.” He accepted the prize, then he gave the bouquet to my wife, asking her to take care of them; she could do this better than he would.

In the distance, we now saw another considerably large procession, and it looked like it was coming our way. With their sharply trained eyes, our adversaries had already seen this approaching caravan. For that reason, they hurried away. They didn't want their disgrace to be discovered by the incoming crowd. We too no longer had a reason to stay, because the time was drawing nearer for us to move on and keep our appointment to meet Mustafa Bustani.

Schamah's mother said that she and her daughter were headed towards The Oak of Abraham; from there, they wanted to travel to the Russian Hospice and spend the night. The Arabic widow had heard that penniless pilgrims could stay there free-of-charge. Our friendly Donkey Driver declared that the mother and daughter didn't have to walk that distance; since his return to the city would be the same route that they were traveling, they could ride with him.

When Thar heard this, he quietly asked me: ”Effendi, do you have a 20 franc coin? Please, give it to me, but don't let anyone see it.” I suspected why he wanted the money, so I said ”Yes,” and secretly slipped him the coin. Schamah and her mother climbed upon one of the mules, and the driver rode upon another. Thar vaulted onto the back of Guewerdschina and said: ”I'm riding with you. Once we reach the Oak, I'll walk back. Before my father arrives, I'll be there.”

He tugged the dove's tail high into the air-she let out a loud hee-haw and shot down the road. My wife gave the widow our name and our address in Jerusalem and invited her to make every effort to visit us there. We would genuinely and whole-heartedly like to see her and her young daughter. She promised that she would a.s.suredly do her best to visit us. So giving her word, she said good-bye as they rode away and tried to catch up with Thar. My wife and I then took a short walk on the surrounding area, making sure that we avoided any further encounters.

When we reached the rendezvous, Thar was already waiting for us: ”They're so very poor. They only know that I was concerned about them and that I wanted to accompany them to the Hospice.”

”Do they know your name?” I asked.

”Yes.”

”And your father's name?”

”No. You may have heard that the Prophet tells us this: 'Whoever gives to the poor should give everything-only not in the name of his father.' Anyway, I'll see them again in Jerusalem. You can count on that.”

Soon thereafter, Mustafa Bustani arrived with the carriage. He was very glad to hear that the local citizens did not harm us nor his son. He shared the fact that there had been several clashes between Muslims and Jews. In light of the fact that he personally was so angry about the rude reception from his business colleague, he had even refused to share a meal with the man. Now, he was hungry. As soon as we climbed in and were once again moving, we brought out the food that we had packed earlier. So, our on-the-go evening meal's setting was atop four rolling wheels.

On the return home, nothing happened that would be important enough to retell. When we reached the Hebron Valley, we once again stopped at the caf,. This time in a much more measured manner, the innkeeper stepped out and asked for our orders. Mustafa Bustani spoke up: ”Five cups of coffee!” The drinks were served and sipped. I then pulled out my money pouch: ”How much for the five?”

”Exactly one half franc,” he answered.

”And the fifteen from forenoon?”

”One and a half francs.”

”So, altogether for the twenty?”

”Two francs.”

I gave him only two francs-not a fraction of a Turkish piaster more: ”Here! Paid in full!” He quickly gripped the money and slipped it into his pocket. This time, he bowed deeply as he sincerely said: ”Effendi, I thank you. You are fair as well as wise. May your journey home be a blessed one.”

The trip was indeed a blessed one. Mustafa was angry about the fanaticism of his fellow believers; during the entire time, he had no objection to his son's crush on the small Christian girl. When we reached Bethlehem, he took a deep breath and said: ”A lot of love and much goodness has come out of this small city, much more than any other large and famous pilgrimage places. Today, I was rightly and starkly reminded of my own zealot's mind-set. What have you ever done to the people of Hebron? Not a thing! Still, they transgressed against you. Such unkindness and injustice! What did my own brother do to me? Nothing. Yet, I banished him, my dear brother. I was much more unloving and far more unjust than the Canaanites of Hebron. Now that evening is finally here, I can tell you that thoughts of him were with me throughout the entire afternoon.

”What was his name?” my wife asked.

”Achmed Bustani. As you heard me say, we still kept the same family name. I now have no greater wish than that he is still alive and that he will find me!”

”Would you really divide your wealth with them?”

”Of course, immediately! It's not only because I promised my dying wife that I would do so-for me, it's a personal necessity. Ever since that dream that I told you about, I've had a very strange feeling about something more that I now must be concerned about as we make our way home. When we were outside of Abraham's Well, it seemed as if some invisible thing accompanied you when you climbed into the carriage-something that took hold of me and now doesn't want to release me again. Perhaps it's nothing more than realizing the wrongs that need to be righted. Yet in a strange sense, I'm not anxious; instead, it makes me feel much more at ease. There's a feeling of contentment. It burrows itself into me-not to torment, but rather to put me at ease. Are you going to laugh at me when I tell you something which you yourselves can not comprehend?”

”To laugh would not even occur to us!” I answered. ”Be confident of that!”