Months had passed away since the disappearance of the gay Thavanan, once
the favourite of the potent monarch of Shoa. Fallen in a single day
from his high estate, and deprived of an eye before the scoffing
multitude, the innocent victim to intrigue had departed alone and on
foot through the gateway of the palace. A thousand cavaliers had that
morning obeyed his least command, but not one attended him in the hour
of adversity; and shunned as a thing accursed by the brutal mob, he
wended his way in moody silence to his home in the green meadow of the
Chaka. But the myrmidons of tyranny had outstripped his heavy footstep.
Ashes alone proclaimed the site of his late flourishing abode, and a
solitary goat, bleating amid the ruins, was all that remained of his
once numerous possessions.
The king's _aferoch_ had been busy since early morn, and every thing had
been swept with the besom of destruction. The flocks and the herds of
the disgraced noble were now in the royal pastures, and his family and
relatives, his serfs and drudges, in the household of the despotic
monarch. Stunned by the fatal intelligence, Thavanan, followed only by
the goat, withdrew unnoticed from the scene of desolation, and his very
name was for a time forgotten in the land.
Towards the close of the year strange reports were circulated from the
palace. Unseen hands abstracted the choicest viands--the clearest
hydromel was drained ere it reached the expectant lip--and a thousand
vagaries were played in the great hall of entertainment. The
replenished horn was dashed untasted to the ground, and the delicate
morsel transferred from the gaping mouth to the rushes which strewed the
floor. The monarch himself was not exempt from the foul plague. His
palate was daily cheated of some accustomed dainty; and once, to the
horror of the assembled courtiers, a bloody tail was inserted as the
royal jaws opened to essay a dish prepared in the seraglio--a loud laugh
ringing meanwhile among the rafters of the banqueting-room, which struck
upon the ear of the discomfited despot like the merry tones of his
exiled favourite.
Priests were called in to the rescue--holy books were read, and
consecrated water profusely sprinkled upon the walls, but all without
the slightest effect. Doors were closed and double-locked, and guards
were planted over every aperture, yet still the pest continued without
any abatement. The palace was in a state of terror and confusion, and
the life of the king became weary and burdensome.
Awful voices now sounded at night through the lone apartments, and
apparitions haunted the imperial slumbers. The band of nocturnal
singers was trebled, but the stout lungs of thirty hale priests, who
surrounded the royal bed-chamber, and elevated their voices in psalm to
a more frantic key than had ever before been heard in Shoa, failed to
intimidate the goblin. Tossing on his couch, the restless monarch sunk
weary to sleep, only to be jaded by spectres and evil dreams, in which
the wronged Thavanan invariably appeared as the chief tormentor.
The nuisance continued without intermission, until, on the high festival
of Easter, harassed and exhausted, the Negoos took his customary seat in
the great hall of his ancestors. The groaning table was once again well
filled. The holy feast had induced chiefs and nobles in some degree to
overcome the fears which had latterly estranged them entirely from the
banquet; but there was no joy in the depressed eye, no mirth or hilarity
on the tongue of any guest, and a low whisper hardly disturbed the
silence which reigned among the dismayed assembly.
The usual infernal sallies were on this day practised exclusively at the
royal board, before which the uneasy monarch, occupying a high alcove,
and surrounded by pages and men at arms, reclined in his wonted
grandeur. Suddenly, another figure appeared at the table, resting one
hand in a curiously wrought earthen vase, and extending the other high,
in defiance towards the throne.
"The lost Thavanan!" shouted the crowd: "he has pawned his soul to the
fiend"--and swords flashed from the scabbard, as men's hearts were
strengthened at the sight of danger in a tangible form. But high over
the storm rose the voice of the despot:--"Back, minions, back! we will
ourselves deal with the ingrate. Death--but a lingering death--shall be
the portion of him who trifles with the pleasure of kings!"
It was indeed Thavanan who confronted the frown of majesty; but how
changed from the mild and handsome favourite of former days! White as
the feather of the _Rasa_, his dishevelled hair floated over the bent
shoulder, and stern revenge was graven in the deep furrows of his pallid
cheek. His solitary eye gleamed with infernal expression, and bright
with the cabalistic figures of magic lore, a golden fillet screened the
mutilated orb. Retaining his disdainful position, he cast first a
withering glance over the crowd, and then addressed the prince in words
of scorn:--
"False monarch, repent in time, for the serpent will turn upon its
destroyer. Proud descendant of the race of Solomon, the wit of thy
illustrious ancestor is dull in comparison with the wisdom of the
meanest disciple of Warobal. I defy thy myrmidons and thyself!"
And uttering these words, Thavanan instantaneously disappeared from
before the gaze of the astounded and crest-fallen court.
The waters of the mystic vase hissed and bubbled for a moment. A dark
cloud of stifling steam shot aloft, and a thick crust of red ashes,
which strewed the board, remained the sole memento of the unwelcome
intrusion. Again the hearts of the vassals fell within them; and whilst
a gloomy silence pervaded the hall, the triumphant song of the tormentor
came ringing among the notes of wild music.
"Far down in the depths of the azure blue,
Away from the mists of the cold dull sky,
Concealed from detested mortal view,
Thavanan lives in liberty."
The courage of the tyrant quailed before the dread powers which were in
array against him, and resolved upon an act of tardy justice. Freedom
was restored to the degraded and enslaved family, and the confiscated
lands were returned threefold to the impoverished race. But the door of
the royal harem was closed on the fair daughter of the house of
Thavanan, and the wail of the captive maid still cried aloud for
redress. Persecution, nevertheless, ceased for a time; and men breathed
more freely as their hopes gained ground that the spirit of the avenger
was appeased.
On the proclamation of the annual military expedition, the chiefs and
nobles of Shoa thronged once more to the capital. Swarming around the
black tents of their warrior leaders, multitudes were spread over hill
and dale, and the Amhara host, in all its savage magnificence, had
mustered on the highest mountains of Anko. But evil omens and
portentous signs were witnessed continually. Dogs howled unceasingly
during the livelong night. Throughout the hours of day, the shrike
croaked from every bush; and the merlin, turning her back on the passing
cavalier, arranged her sober plumage on the stone, without bestowing, in
earnest of victory and success, one glimpse of her snow-white breast.
No heed was given by the stern monarch to these portents of coming evil;
and on the eve of the intended march the halls of the palace were
crowded with all the chivalry of Efat. Boisterous mirth presided at the
banquet; but as the last horn of old hydromel was drained to the
downfall of the Galla, there arose a fearful cry from the interior
enclosure, and bands of eunuchs, with horror depicted upon their
withered countenances, burst into the chamber from every direction.
Falling prostrate at the footstool of the throne, they proclaimed the
disaster which had descended like a thunderbolt on the heretofore
unsullied honour of the nation. "He has left the old and the ugly,"
sobbed the trembling guardians; "but alas for the fair and beautiful
ones of the harem, they are all gone on the wings of the evening wind!"
King and nobles rushed into the court-yard, and every hut which crowned
the pinnacle of the capital poured forth its inmates to gaze at the
wondrous spectacle. High over the up-reared peak of the mountain soared
a rich rosy cloud, lit by the last glorious rays of the setting sun, and
charged with a freight more prized than the fine gold of Kordofan.
Amhara's fairest daughters were revealed to the unhallowed view of the
gaping multitude, and no envious vest shrouded their amazing charms.
All had been caught up by the whirlwind in the simple dress of ordinary
avocation; and as their light laughing voices came tinkling from above,
they carried the bitter truth to the exasperated monarch, that the
captives enjoyed their present thraldom as a happy release from the bolt
of the harem gate, and the rod of the testy old eunuch.
Dishonoured in the eyes of his subjects, and smarting under the loss of
objects which still held a place in his heart, the despot stamped and
raged in uncontrollable fury. The beat of the nugareet and the voice of
the herald forthwith proclaimed the abandonment of the projected
expedition; and, plunged in the deepest mortification, Asfa Woosen
retired to brood in solitude over his unprecedented misfortune.
Morn witnessed the dispersion to their respective quarters of governors
and their levies; and before the shades of another evening had closed
over the deep valley of the Airara, a breathless courier galloped
through the palace-gates with the unlooked-for but welcome tidings, that
the ladies of the royal harem had been discovered reposing unattended
among the high fern and heather of the adjacent mountain side.
Again were the parchment faces of the wrinkled eunuchs radiant in sallow
lustre. Three hundred mules were instantly dispatched for the
conveyance of the truant flock to their fold; and at midnight the
muffled damsels were consigned, amid the cracked exultations of
attendants, to their wonted cages in the palace.
But the fair sister of Thavanan was not of the number, neither could any
clue be obtained to her fate or condition. A small scroll had indeed
been discovered on the turf, sealed and bearing the address of the ruler
of Shoa--a gigantic glow-worm, attached by a single yellow hair to the
envelope, having particularly attracted attention to that which it was
conjectured might contain the desired information.
The curiosity of the king finally overcame the cautious scruples of the
priesthood, who advised the immediate destruction of the missive. As
the wax crumbled between his fingers, a roar of thunder shook the palace
to its foundations, whilst a stream of black dust, pouring from the
parchment to the table, gradually assumed the semblance of a pillar of
sand agitated by the fierce whirl of the storm. A pungent odour
impregnated the apartment, and the crackling sound of the devouring
element was followed by the presence of the dread tormentor.
"I have come once again, monarch of the hard heart, to repay the debt
which is still due, and, blasted like the much-injured Thavanan, thy
soul may henceforward entertain some feeling of pity for thy fellow-men.
Listen to thy doom. No mercy was shown unto me, and none shall be
extended to thee. Thy son, after a short reign of terror, shall fall by
the hand of a slave, and die cursing the author of his existence; and
thy son's son shall bear upon his disfigured countenance the searing
mark of his ancestor's cruelty. My face thou shalt see no more--Spirit
of the flame, perform thy task." A bright flash shot from the centre of
the dark threatening column, and curled towards the king, a sickening
sulphuric fume filling the presence chamber, and the necromancer
vanished in the thick smoke.
Plunged for hours in a death-like stupor, Asfa Woosen was only aroused
from his lethargy to bewail the loss of the left eye, which had been
scorched in the socket by the contact of the fierce flame. The calamity
greatly softened and influenced the actions of his after-life; and
torture and mutilation grew gradually out of custom in the kingdom of
Shoa.
During the reign of his grandson, the one-eyed Sahela Selassie, there
dwelt in a mossy cavern, among the recesses of the forest of Mantek, a
hermit of renowned sanctity. Father Peter was universally feared and
beloved, but none knew from whence he derived food or nourishment. The
skin of the agazin formed his humble garb, and a rude leathern girdle
encircled his loins. His charms and amulets were never known to fail,
and his language was not as that of other men. Crowds daily gathered
round his cave in the rock to receive on their knees the benediction of
the recluse; but no one had ever entered the cell, and few cared to pass
it after nightfall. Moans and cries of agony then mingled with the
midnight blast; and the sound of the scourge was often heard amid
prayers for deliverance from the evil one.
On a fresh morning of May, when the roses and jessamine were scenting
the dewy air, the wild flowers springing over the face of the green
meadow, and birds warbled pleasantly amid the rich foliage, the peasants
came as usual to listen to the words of other days, and to receive the
blessing of the austere anchorite. But the accustomed seat was vacant,
and no answer being returned to the voice of inquiry, the boldest
entered the retreat. Curiously emblazoned scrolls and relics were
strewed among the nooks and mouldy recesses of the damp grotto; the body
of the venerable hermit was stretched in eternal slumber upon a bed of
sharp stones; and the tale soon spread through the land that the holy
Father Peter--now no more--was indeed the dread necromancer Thavanan,
who had thus, by the continued penance of half a century, expiated his
fierce act of apostasy.
Volume Two, Chapter XXXV.