An aged hermit named Sergius dwelt in the wilds of Arabia, addicting
himself to the pursuit of religion and alchemy. Of his creed it could
only be said that it was so much better than that of his neighbours as
to cause him to be commonly esteemed a Yezidi, or devil worshipper. But
the better informed deemed him a Nestorian monk, who had retired into
the wilderness on account of differences with his brethren, who sought
to poison him.
The imputation of Yezidism against Sergius was the cause that a certain
inquisitive young man resorted to him, trusting to obtain light
concerning the nature of demons. But he found that Sergius could give
him no information on that subject, but, on the contrary, discoursed so
wisely and beautifully on holy things, that his pupil’s intellect was
enlightened, and his enthusiasm was inflamed, and he longed to go forth
and instruct the ignorant people around him; the Saracens, and the
Sabaeans, and the Zoroastrians, and the Carmathians, and the
Baphometites, and the Paulicians, who are a remnant of the ancient
Manichees.
“Nay, good youth,” said Sergius, “I have renounced the sending forth of
missionaries, having made ample trial with my spiritual son, the
Prophet Abdallah.”
“What!” exclaimed the youth, “was Abdallah the Adite thy disciple?”
“Even so,” said Sergius. “Hearken to his history.
“Never have I instructed so promising a pupil as Abdallah, nor when he
was first my disciple do I deem that he was other than the most
simple-minded and well-intentioned of youths. I always called him son,
a title I have never bestowed on another. Like thee, he had compassion
on the darkness around him, and craved my leave to go forth and dispel
it.
“‘My son,’ said I, ‘I will not restrain thee: thou art no longer a
child. Thou hast heard me discourse on the subject of persecution, and
knowest that poison was administered to me personally on account of my
inability to perceive the supernatural light emanating from the navel
of Brother Gregory. Thou art aware that thou wilt be beaten with rods
and pricked with goads, chained and starved in a dungeon, very probably
blinded, very possibly burned with fire?’
“‘All these things I am prepared to undergo,’ said Abdallah; and he
embraced me and bid me farewell.
“After certain moons he returned covered with weals and scars, and his
bones protruded through his skin.
“‘Whence are these weals and scars?’ asked I, ‘and what signifies this
protrusion of thy bones?’
“‘The weals and the scars,’ answered he, ‘proceed from the floggings
inflicted upon me by command of the Caliph; and my bones protrude by
reason of the omission of his officers to furnish me with either food
or drink in the dungeon wherein I was imprisoned by his orders.’
“‘O my son,’ exclaimed I, ‘in the eyes of faith and right reason these
scars are lovelier than the moles of beauty, and the sight of thy bones
is like the beholding of hidden treasure!’
“And Abdallah strove to look as though he believed me; nor did he
entirely fail therein. And I took him, and fed him, and healed him, and
sent him forth a second time into the world.
“And after a space he returned, covered as before with wounds and
bruises, but comely and somewhat fat.
“‘Whence this sleekness of body, my son?’ I asked.
“‘Through the charity of the Caliph’s wives,’ he answered, ‘who have
fed me secretly, I having assured them that in remembrance of this good
work each of them in the world to come would have seven husbands.’
“‘How knewest thou this, my son?’ I inquired.
“‘In truth, father,’ he said, ‘I did not know it; but I thought it
probable.’
“‘O my son! my son!’ exclaimed I, ‘thou art on a dangerous road. To win
over weak ignorant people by promises of what they shall receive in a
future life, whereof thou knowest no more than they do! Knowest thou
not that the inestimable blessings of religion are of an inward and
spiritual nature? Did I ever promise any disciple any recompense for
his enlightenment and good deeds, save flogging, starvation, and
burning?’
“‘Never, father,” said he, ‘and therefore thou hast had no follower of
thy law save one, and he hath broken it.’
“He left me after a shorter stay than before, and again went forth to
preach. After a long time he returned in good condition of body, yet
manifestly having something upon his mind.
“‘Father,’ he said, ‘thy son hath preached with faithfulness and
acceptance, and turned thousands unto righteousness. But a sorcerer
hath arisen, saying, “Why follow ye Abdallah, seeing that he breathes
not fire out of his mouth and nostrils?” And the people give ear unto
the words that come from this man’s lips, when they behold the flame
that cometh from his nose. And unless thou teachest me to do as he doth
I shall assuredly perish.’
“And I told Abdallah that it was better to perish for the truth’s sake
than to prolong life by lies and deceit. But he wept and lamented
exceeding sore, and in the end he prevailed with me; and I taught him
to breathe flame and smoke out of a hollow nut filled with combustible
powder. And I took a certain substance called soap, but little known in
this country, and anointed his feet therewith. And when he and the
sorcerer met, both breathing flame, the people knew not which to
follow; but when Abdallah walked over nine hot ploughshares, and the
sorcerer could not touch one of them, they beat his brains out, and
became Abdallah’s disciples.
“A long time afterward Abdallah came to me again, this time with a
joyful, and yet with somewhat of a troubled look, carrying a camel-hair
blanket, which he undid, and lo! it was full of bones.
“‘O father,’ he said, ‘I bring thee happy tidings. We have found the
bones of the camel of the prophet Ad, upon which his revelation was
engraved by him.’
“‘If this be so,’ said I, ‘thou art acquainted with the precepts of the
prophet, and hast no need of mine.’
“‘Nay, but father,’ said he, ‘although the revelation was without
question originally engraved by the prophet on these very bones, it
hath come to pass by the injury of time that not one letter of his
writing can be distinguished. I have therefore come to ask thee to
write it over again.’
“‘What!’ I exclaimed, ‘I forge a revelation in the name of the prophet
Ad! Get thee behind me!’
“‘Thou knowest, father,’ he rejoined, ‘that if we had the original
words of the prophet Ad here they would profit us nought, as by reason
of their antiquity none would understand them. Seeing therefore that I
myself cannot write, it is meet that thou shouldst set down in his name
those things which he would have desired to deliver had he been now
among us; but if thou wilt not, I shall ask Brother Gregory.’
“And when I heard him speak of having recourse to that cheat and
impostor my spirit was grieved within me, and I wrote the Book of Ad
myself. And I was heedful to put in none but wholesome and profitable
precepts, and more especially did I forbid polygamy, having perceived a
certain inclination thereunto in my disciple.
“After many days he came again, and this time he was in violent terror
and agitation, and hair was wanting to the lower part of his
countenance.
“‘O Abdallah,’ I inquired, ‘where is thy beard?’
“‘In the hands of my ninth wife,’ said he.
“‘Apostate!’ I exclaimed, ‘hast thou dared to espouse more wives than
one? Rememberest thou not what is written in the Book of the prophet
Ad?’
“‘O father,’ he said, ‘the revelation of Ad being, as thou knowest, so
exceedingly ancient, doth of necessity require a commentary. This hath
been supplied by one of my disciples, a young Syrian and natural son of
Gregory, as I opine. This young man can not only write, but write to my
dictation, an accomplishment in which thou hast been found lacking, O
Sergius. In this gloss it is set forth how, since woman hath the ninth
part of the soul of man, the prophet, in enjoining us Adites (as we now
call ourselves) to take but one wife, doth instruct us to take nine; to
espouse a tenth would, I grant, be damnable. It ensues, therefore, that
having become enamoured of a most charming young virgin, I am
constrained to repudiate one of the wives whom I have taken already. To
this, each thinking that it may be her turn speedily, if not now, they
will in no wise consent, and have maltreated me as thou seest, and the
dens of wild beasts are at this moment abodes of peace, compared to my
seraglio. What is even worse, they threaten to disclose to the people
the fact, of which they have unhappily become aware, that the
revelation of the blessed Ad is not written upon the bones of a camel
at all, but of a cow, and will therefore be accounted spurious,
inasmuch as the prophet is not recorded to have ridden upon this
quadruped. And seeing that thou didst inscribe the characters, O
father, I cannot but fear that the fury of the people will extend unto
thee, and that thou wilt be even in danger of thy life from them.’
“This argument of Abdallah’s had much weight with me, and I the more
readily consented to his request as he did not on this occasion require
any imposture at my hands, but merely the restitution of his domestic
peace. And I went with him to his wives, and discoursed with them, and
they agreed to abide by my sentence. And, willing to please him, I
directed that he should marry the beautiful virgin, and put away one of
his wives who was old and ugly, and endowed with the dispositions of
Sheitan.
“‘O father,’ said Abdallah, ‘thou hast brought me from death unto life!
And thou, Zarah,’ he continued, ‘wilt lose nought, but gain
exceedingly, in becoming the spouse of the wise and virtuous Sergius.’
“‘I marry Zarah!’ I exclaimed, ‘I! a monk!’
“‘Surely,’ said he, ‘thou would’st not take away her husband without
giving her another in his stead?’
“‘If he does I will throttle him,’ cried Zarah.
“And I wept sore, and made great intercession. And it was agreed that
there should be a delay of forty days, in which space if any one else
would marry Zarah, I should be free of her. And I promised all my
substance to any one who would do this, and no one was found. And she
was offered to thirteen criminals doomed to suffer death, and they all
chose death. And at the last I was constrained to marry her. And truly
I have now the comfort of thinking that if I have offended by
encouraging Abdallah’s deceits, or otherwise, the debt is paid, and
Eternal Justice hath now nothing against me; for verily I was an inmate
of Gehenna until it came to pass that she was herself translated
thither. And respecting the manner of her translation, inquire not thou
too curiously. It was doubtless a token of the displeasure of Heaven at
her enormities that the water of the well of Kefayat, which had been
known as the Diamond of the Desert, became about this time undrinkable,
and pernicious to man and beast.
“As I sat in my dwelling administering to the estate of my deceased
wife, which consisted principally of wines and strong liquors, Abdallah
again appeared before me.
“‘Hast thou come,’ said I, ‘to solicit me to abet thee in any new
imposture? Know, once for all, that I will not.’
“‘On the contrary,’ said he, ‘I am come to set thee at ease by proving
to thee that I shall not again require thy assistance. Follow me.’
“And I followed him to a great plain, where was a host of armed
horsemen and footmen, more than I could number. And they bore banners
on which the name of Abdallah was embroidered in letters of gold. And
in the midst was an ark of gold, with the bones of Ad’s camel, or cow.
And by this was a great pile of the heads of men, and warriors were
continually casting more and more upon the heap.
“‘How many?’ asked Abdallah.
“‘Twelve thousand, O Apostle of God,’ answered they, ‘but there are
more to come.’
“‘Thou monster!’ said I to Abdallah.
“‘Nay, father,’ said he, ‘there will not be more than sixteen thousand
in all, and these men were unbelievers. Moreover we have spared such of
their women as were young and handsome, and have taken them for our
concubines, as is ordained in the eleventh supplement to the Book of
Ad, just promulgated by my authority. But come, I have other things to
manifest unto thee.’
“And he led me where a stake was driven into the earth, and a man was
chained unto it, and fuel was heaped all around him, and many stood by
with lighted torches in their hands.
“‘O Abdallah,’ I exclaimed, ‘wherefore this atrocity?’
“‘This man,’ he replied, ‘is a blasphemer, who hath said that the Book
of Ad is written on the bones of a cow.’
“‘But it is written on the bones of a cow! ‘I cried.
“‘Even so,’ said he, ‘and therefore is his heresy the more damnable,
and his punishment the more exemplary. Had it been indeed written on
the bones of a camel, he might have affirmed what pleased him.’
“And I shook off the dust from my feet, and hastened to my dwelling.
The rest of Abdallah’s acts thou knowest, and how he fell warring with
the Carmathians. And now I ask thee, art thou yet minded to go forth as
a missionary of the truth?”
“O Sergius,” said the young man, “I perceive that the temptations are
greater, and the difficulties far surpassing what I had thought. Yet
will I go, and I trust by Heaven’s grace not to fail utterly.”
“Then go,” said Sergius, “and Heaven’s blessing go with thee! Come back
in ten years, should I be living, and if thou canst declare that thou
hast forged no scriptures, and worked no miracles, and persecuted no
unbelievers, and flattered no potentate, and bribed no one with the
promise of aught in heaven or earth, I will give thee the philosopher’s
stone.”