To follow impetuous, bird-like Rima in her descent of the hill would
have been impossible, nor had I any desire to be a witness of old
Nuflo’s discomfiture at the finish. It was better to leave them to
settle their quarrel themselves, while I occupied myself in turning
over these fresh facts in my mind to find out how they fitted into the
speculative structure I had been building during the last two or three
weeks. But it soon struck me that it was getting late, that the sun
would be gone in a couple of hours; and at once I began the descent.
It was not accomplished without some bruises and a good many scratches.
After a cold draught, obtained by putting my lips to a black rock from
which the water was trickling, I set out on my walk home, keeping
near the western border of the forest for fear of losing myself. I had
covered about half the distance from the foot of the hill to Nuflo’s
lodge when the sun went down. Away on my left the evening uproar of the
howling monkeys burst out, and after three or four minutes ceased; the
after silence was pierced at intervals by screams of birds going to
roost among the trees in the distance, and by many minor sounds close
at hand, of small bird, frog, and insect. The western sky was now like
amber-coloured flame, and against that immeasurably distant luminous
background the near branches and clustered foliage looked black; but on
my left hand the vegetation still appeared of a uniform dusky green. In
a little while night would drown all colour, and there would be no light
but that of the wandering lantern-fly, always unwelcome to the belated
walker in a lonely place, since, like the ignis fatuus, it is confusing
to the sight and sense of direction.
With increasing anxiety I hastened on, when all at once a low growl
issuing from the bushes some yards ahead of me brought me to a stop. In
a moment the dogs, Susio and Goloso, rushed out from some hiding place
furiously barking; but they quickly recognized me and slunk back again.
Relieved from fear, I walked on for a short distance; then it struck
me that the old man must be about somewhere, as the dogs scarcely ever
stirred from his side. Turning back, I went to the spot where they
had appeared to me; and there, after a while, I caught sight of a dim,
yellow form as one of the brutes rose up to look at me. He had been
lying on the ground by the side of a wide-spreading bush, dead and
dry, but overgrown by a creeping plant which had completely covered
its broad, flat top like a piece of tapestry thrown over a table, its
slender terminal stems and leaves hanging over the edge like a deep
fringe. But the fringe did not reach to the ground and under the bush,
in its dark interior. I caught sight of the other dog; and after gazing
in for some time, I also discovered a black, recumbent form, which I
took to be Nuflo.
“What are you doing there, old man?” I cried. “Where is Rima--have you
not seen her? Come out.”
Then he stirred himself, slowly creeping out on all fours; and finally,
getting free of the dead twigs and leaves, he stood up and faced me. He
had a strange, wild look, his white beard all disordered, moss and dead
leaves clinging to it, his eyes staring like an owl’s, while his mouth
opened and shut, the teeth striking together audibly, like an angry
peccary’s. After silently glaring at me in this mad way for some
moments, he burst out: “Cursed be the day when I first saw you, man of
Caracas! Cursed be the serpent that bit you and had not sufficient power
in its venom to kill! Ha! you come from Ytaioa, where you talked
with Rima? And you have now returned to the tiger’s den to mock that
dangerous animal with the loss of its whelp. Fool, if you did not wish
the dogs to feed on your flesh, it would have been better if you had
taken your evening walk in some other direction.”
These raging words did not have the effect of alarming me in the least,
nor even of astonishing me very much, albeit up till now the old man had
always shown himself suave and respectful. His attack did not seem quite
spontaneous. In spite of the wildness of his manner and the violence
of his speech, he appeared to be acting a part which he had rehearsed
beforehand. I was only angry, and stepping forward, I dealt him a very
sharp rap with my knuckles on his chest. “Moderate your language, old
man,” I said; “remember that you are addressing a superior.”
“What do you say to me?” he screamed in a shrill, broken voice,
accompanying his words with emphatic gestures. “Do you think you are on
the pavement of Caracas? Here are no police to protect you--here we are
alone in the desert where names and titles are nothing, standing man to
man.”
“An old man to a young one,” I returned. “And in virtue of my youth I am
your superior. Do you wish me to take you by the throat and shake your
insolence out of you?”
“What, do you threaten me with violence?” he exclaimed, throwing himself
into a hostile attitude. “You, the man I saved, and sheltered, and fed,
and treated like a son! Destroyer of my peace, have you not injured me
enough? You have stolen my grandchild’s heart from me; with a thousand
inventions you have driven her mad! My child, my angel, Rima, my
saviour! With your lying tongue you have changed her into a demon to
persecute me! And you are not satisfied, but must finish your evil work
by inflicting blows on my worn body! All, all is lost to me! Take my
life if you wish it, for now it is worth nothing and I desire not to
keep it!” And here he threw himself on his knees and, tearing open his
old, ragged mantle, presented his naked breast to me. “Shoot! Shoot!” he
screeched. “And if you have no weapon take my knife and plunge it into
this sad heart, and let me die!” And drawing his knife from its sheath,
he flung it down at my feet.
All this performance only served to increase my anger and contempt; but
before I could make any reply I caught sight of a shadowy object at some
distance moving towards us--something grey and formless, gliding swift
and noiseless, like some great low-flying owl among the trees. It was
Rima, and hardly had I seen her before she was with us, facing old
Nuflo, her whole frame quivering with passion, her wide-open eyes
appearing luminous in that dim light.
“You are here!” she cried in that quick, ringing tone that was almost
painful to the sense. “You thought to escape me! To hide yourself from
my eyes in the wood! Miserable! Do you not know that I have need of
you--that I have not finished with you yet? Do you, then, wish to be
scourged to Riolama with thorny twigs--to be dragged thither by the
beard?”
He had been staring open-mouthed at her, still on his knees, and holding
his mantle open with his skinny hands. “Rima! Rima! have mercy on me!”
he cried out piteously. “I cannot go to Riolama, it is so far--so far.
And I am old and should meet my death. Oh, Rima, child of the woman I
saved from death, have you no compassion? I shall die, I shall die!”
“Shall you die? Not until you have shown me the way to Riolama. And when
I have seen Riolama with my eyes, then you may die, and I shall be glad
at your death; and the children and the grandchildren and cousins and
friends of all the animals you have slain and fed on shall know that you
are dead and be glad at your death. For you have deceived me with lies
all these years even me--and are not fit to live! Come now to Riolama;
rise instantly, I command you!”
Instead of rising he suddenly put out his hand and snatched up the knife
from the ground. “Do you then wish me to die?” he cried. “Shall you be
glad at my death? Behold, then I shall slay myself before your eyes. By
my own hand, Rima, I am now about to perish, striking the knife into my
heart!”
While speaking he waved the knife in a tragic manner over his head, but
I made no movement; I was convinced that he had no intention of taking
his own life--that he was still acting. Rima, incapable of understanding
such a thing, took it differently.
“Oh, you are going to kill yourself.” she cried. “Oh, wicked man, wait
until you know what will happen to you after death. All shall now be
told to my mother. Hear my words, then kill yourself.”
She also now dropped on to her knees and, lifting her clasped hands
and fixing her resentful sparkling eyes on the dim blue patch of heaven
visible beyond the treetops, began to speak rapidly in clear, vibrating
tones. She was praying to her mother in heaven; and while Nuflo listened
absorbed, his mouth open, his eyes fixed on her, the hand that clutched
the knife dropped to his side. I also heard with the greatest wonder and
admiration. For she had been shy and reticent with me, and now, as
if oblivious of my presence, she was telling aloud the secrets of her
inmost heart.
“O mother, mother, listen to me, to Rima, your beloved child!”
she began. “All these years I have been wickedly deceived by
grandfather--Nuflo--the old man that found you. Often have I spoken to
him of Riolama, where you once were, and your people are, and he denied
all knowledge of such a place. Sometimes he said that it was at an
immense distance, in a great wilderness full of serpents larger than the
trunks of great trees, and of evil spirits and savage men, slayers of
all strangers. At other times he affirmed that no such place existed;
that it was a tale told by the Indians; such false things did he say to
me--to Rima, your child. O mother, can you believe such wickedness?
“Then a stranger, a white man from Venezuela, came into our woods: this
is the man that was bitten by a serpent, and his name is Abel; only I do
not call him by that name, but by other names which I have told you. But
perhaps you did not listen, or did not hear, for I spoke softly and not
as now, on my knees, solemnly. For I must tell you, O mother, that
after you died the priest at Voa told me repeatedly that when I prayed,
whether to you or to any of the saints, or to the Mother of Heaven, I
must speak as he had taught me if I wished to be heard and understood.
And that was most strange, since you had taught me differently; but you
were living then, at Voa, and now that you are in heaven, perhaps you
know better. Therefore listen to me now, O mother, and let nothing I say
escape you.
“When this white man had been for some days with us, a strange thing
happened to me, which made me different, so that I was no longer Rima,
although Rima still--so strange was this thing; and I often went to the
pool to look at myself and see the change in me, but nothing different
could I see. In the first place it came from his eyes passing into mine,
and filling me just as the lightning fills a cloud at sunset: afterwards
it was no longer from his eyes only, but it came into me whenever I saw
him, even at a distance, when I heard his voice, and most of all when he
touched me with his hand. When he is out of my sight I cannot rest until
I see him again; and when I see him, then I am glad, yet in such fear
and trouble that I hide myself from him. O mother, it could not be told;
for once when he caught me in his arms and compelled me to speak of it,
he did not understand; yet there was need to tell it; then it came to me
that only to our people could it be told, for they would understand, and
reply to me, and tell me what to do in such a case.
“And now, O mother, this is what happened next. I went to grandfather
and first begged and then commanded him to take me to Riolama; but he
would not obey, nor give attention to what I said, but whenever I spoke
to him of it he rose up and hurried from me; and when I followed he
flung back a confused and angry reply, saying in the same breath that it
was so long since he had been to Riolama that he had forgotten where it
was, and that no such place existed. And which of his words were true
and which false I knew not; so that it would have been better if he had
returned no answer at all; and there was no help to be got from him. And
having thus failed, and there being no other person to speak to except
this stranger, I determined to go to him, and in his company seek
through the whole world for my people. This will surprise you, O mother,
because of that fear which came on me in his presence, causing me
to hide from his sight; but my wish was so great that for a time it
overcame my fear; so that I went to him as he sat alone in the wood, sad
because he could not see me, and spoke to him, and led him to the summit
of Ytaioa to show me all the countries of the world from the summit. And
you must also know that I tremble in his presence, not because I fear
him as I fear Indians and cruel men; for he has no evil in him, and is
beautiful to look at, and his words are gentle, and his desire is to be
always with me, so that he differs from all other men I have seen, just
as I differ from all women, except from you only, O sweet mother.
“On the mountain-top he marked out and named all the countries of the
world, the great mountains, the rivers, the plains, the forests, the
cities; and told me also of the peoples, whites and savages, but of our
people nothing. And beyond where the world ends there is water, water,
water. And when he spoke of that unknown part on the borders of Guayana,
on the side of the Cordilleras, he named the mountains of Riolama, and
in that way I first found out where my people are. I then left him on
Ytaioa, he refusing to follow me, and ran to grandfather and taxed him
with his falsehoods; and he, finding I knew all, escaped from me into
the woods, where I have now found him once more, talking with the
stranger. And now, O mother, seeing himself caught and unable to escape
a second time, he has taken up a knife to kill himself, so as not to
take me to Riolama; and he is only waiting until I finish speaking
to you, for I wish him to know what will happen to him after death.
Therefore, O mother, listen well and do what I tell you. When he has
killed himself, and has come into that place where you are, see that he
does not escape the punishment he merits. Watch well for his coming, for
he is full of cunning and deceit, and will endeavor to hide himself from
your eyes. When you have recognized him--an old man, brown as an Indian,
with a white beard--point him out to the angels, and say: ‘This is
Nuflo, the bad man that lied to Rima.’ Let them take him and singe his
wings with fire, so that he may not escape by flying; and afterwards
thrust him into some dark cavern under a mountain, and place a great
stone that a hundred men could not remove over its mouth, and leave him
there alone and in the dark for ever!”
Having ended, she rose quickly from her knees, and at the same moment
Nuflo, dropping the knife, cast himself prostrate at her feet.
“Rima--my child, my child, not that!” he cried out in a voice that was
broken with terror. He tried to take hold of her feet with his hands,
but she shrank from him with aversion; still he kept on crawling after
her like a disabled lizard, abjectly imploring her to forgive him,
reminding her that he had saved from death the woman whose enmity had
now been enlisted against him, and declaring that he would do anything
she commanded him, and gladly perish in her service.
It was a pitiable sight, and moving quickly to her side I touched her on
the shoulder and asked her to forgive him.
The response came quickly enough. Turning to him once more, she said: “I
forgive you, grandfather. And now get up and take me to Riolama.”
He rose, but only to his knees. “But you have not told her!” he said,
recovering his natural voice, although still anxious, and jerking a
thumb over his shoulder. “Consider, my child, that I am old and shall
doubtless perish on the way. What would become of my soul in such
a case? For now you have told her everything, and it will not be
forgotten.”
She regarded him in silence for a few moments; then, moving a little
way apart, dropped on to her knees again, and with raised hands and
eyes fixed on the blue space above, already sprinkled with stars, prayed
again.
“O mother, listen to me, for I have something fresh to say to you.
Grandfather has not killed himself, but has asked my forgiveness and has
promised to obey me. O mother, I have forgiven him, and he will now take
me to Riolama, to our people. Therefore, O mother, if he dies on the
way to Riolama let nothing be done against him, but remember only that
I forgave him at the last; and when he comes into that place where
you are, let him be well received, for that is the wish of Rima, your
child.”
As soon as this second petition was ended she was up again and engaged
in an animated discussion with him, urging him to take her without
further delay to Riolama; while he, now recovered from his fear, urged
that so important an undertaking required a great deal of thought and
preparation; that the journey would occupy about twenty days, and unless
he set out well provided with food he would starve before accomplishing
half the distance, and his death would leave her worse off than before.
He concluded by affirming that he could not start in less time than
seven or eight days.
For a while I listened with keen interest to this dispute, and at
length interposed once more on the old man’s side. The poor girl in her
petition had unwittingly revealed to me the power I possessed, and it
was a pleasing experience to exercise it. Touching her shoulder again, I
assured her that seven or eight days was only a reasonable time in which
to prepare for so long a journey. She instantly yielded, and after
one glance at my face, she moved swiftly away into the darker shadows,
leaving me alone with the old man.
As we returned together through the now profoundly dark wood, I
explained to him how the subject of Riolama had first come up during my
conversation with Rima, and he then apologized for the violent language
he had used to me. This personal question disposed of, he spoke of the
pilgrimage before him, and informed me in confidence that he intended
preparing a quantity of smoke-dried meat and packing it in a bag, with
a layer of cassava bread, dried pumpkin slips, and such innocent trifles
to conceal it from Rima’s keen sight and delicate nostrils. Finally he
made a long rambling statement which, I vainly imagined, was intended to
lead up to an account of Rima’s origin, with something about her people
at Riolama; but it led to nothing except an expression of opinion that
the girl was afflicted with a maggot in the brain, but that as she had
interest with the powers above, especially with her mother, who was
now a very important person among the celestials, it was good policy to
submit to her wishes. Turning to me, doubtless to wink (only I missed
the sign owing to the darkness), he added that it was a fine thing to
have a friend at court. With a little gratulatory chuckle he went on to
say that for others it was necessary to obey all the ordinances of the
Church, to contribute to its support, hear mass, confess from time to
time, and receive absolution; consequently those who went out into the
wilderness, where there were no churches and no priests to absolve them,
did so at the risk of losing their souls. But with him it was different:
he expected in the end to escape the fires of purgatory and go directly
in all his uncleanness to heaven--a thing, he remarked, which happened
to very few; and he, Nuflo, was no saint, and had first become a dweller
in the desert, as a very young man, in order to escape the penalty of
his misdeeds.
I could not resist the temptation of remarking here that to an
unregenerate man the celestial country might turn out a somewhat
uncongenial place for a residence. He replied airily that he had
considered the point and had no fear about the future; that he was old,
and from all he had observed of the methods of government followed by
those who ruled over earthly affairs from the sky, he had formed a
clear idea of that place, and believed that even among so many glorified
beings he would be able to meet with those who would prove companionable
enough and would think no worse of him on account of his little
blemishes.
How he had first got this idea into his brain about Rima’s ability to
make things smooth for him after death I cannot say; probably it was the
effect of the girl’s powerful personality and vivid faith acting on an
ignorant and extremely superstitious mind. While she was making
that petition to her mother in heaven, it did not seem in the least
ridiculous to me: I had felt no inclination to smile, even when hearing
all that about the old man’s wings being singed to prevent his escape
by flying. Her rapt look; the intense conviction that vibrated in her
ringing, passionate tones; the brilliant scorn with which she, a hater
of bloodshed, one so tender towards all living things, even the meanest,
bade him kill himself, and only hear first how her vengeance would
pursue his deceitful soul into other worlds; the clearness with which
she had related the facts of the case, disclosing the inmost secrets
of her heart--all this had had a strange, convincing effect on me.
Listening to her I was no longer the enlightened, the creedless man. She
herself was so near to the supernatural that it seemed brought near me;
indefinable feelings, which had been latent in me, stirred into life,
and following the direction of her divine, lustrous eyes, fixed on the
blue sky above, I seemed to see there another being like herself, a Rima
glorified, leaning her pale, spiritual face to catch the winged words
uttered by her child on earth. And even now, while hearing the old man’s
talk, showing as it did a mind darkened with such gross delusions, I
was not yet altogether free from the strange effect of that prayer.
Doubtless it was a delusion; her mother was not really there above
listening to the girl’s voice. Still, in some mysterious way, Rima had
become to me, even as to superstitious old Nuflo, a being apart and
sacred, and this feeling seemed to mix with my passion, to purify and
exalt it and make it infinitely sweet and precious.
After we had been silent for some time, I said: “Old man, the result of
the grand discussion you have had with Rima is that you have agreed to
take her to Riolama, but about my accompanying you not one word has been
spoken by either of you.”
He stopped short to stare at me, and although it was too dark to see
his face, I felt his astonishment. “Senor!” he exclaimed, “we cannot
go without you. Have you not heard my granddaughter’s words--that it is
only because of you that she is about to undertake this crazy journey?
If you are not with us in this thing, then, senor, here we must remain.
But what will Rima say to that?”
“Very well, I will go, but only on one condition.”
“What is it?” he asked, with a sudden change of tone, which warned me
that he was becoming cautious again.
“That you tell me the whole story of Rima’s origin, and how you came to
be now living with her in this solitary place, and who these people are
she wishes to visit at Riolama.”
“Ah, senor, it is a long story, and sad. But you shall hear it all.
You must hear it, senor, since you are now one of us; and when I am no
longer here to protect her, then she will be yours. And although you
will never be able to do more than old Nuflo for her, perhaps she will
be better pleased; and you, senor, better able to exist innocently by
her side, without eating flesh, since you will always have that rare
flower to delight you. But the story would take long to tell. You shall
hear it all as we journey to Riolama. What else will there be to talk
about when we are walking that long distance, and when we sit at night
by the fire?”
“No, no, old man, I am not to be put off in that way. I must hear it
before I start.”
But he was determined to reserve the narrative until the journey, and
after some further argument I yielded the point.