The Ice People 42 - The Calm Before the Storm. Margit Sandemo

pity on me. His name was Cain. He kept me because he believed I might be useful to him, but he did something evil and was banished to the hostile mountainous regions in the east, where nobody wanted to live. He thought that I had bewitched him, making him kill his brother, and he tried to sell me when he was old. By now, there were many people on earth, and when they saw what I could do, they competed among themselves to buy me. The price that Cain received was very high. The Ruler had decreed that owning me meant the perdition of their souls when they died. So my first owner after Cain found me very useful – but when his hour of destiny drew near, he had to sell me at a lower price than he had paid himself. This went on and on. Everybody wanted to own me, but nobody wanted to die with me in their possession. In this way I passed through many hands, and I must say that my owners seemed greedy for earthly joy and wealth. For a long time, I wandered from hand to hand, residing all the time in the east. I knew that I had many fellow species, but for some reason the mandrake plant, Mandragora, wandered in the opposite direction, towards the west, until it stopped in the countries along the Mediterranean. This is where it grows today, albeit from a much smaller root. Meanwhile, I continued to journey further eastwards until I came to the land of the Rising Sun ...”

      “Japan,” said André. “So that is where we are. Rune, I think you jumped pretty far ahead in time. You must have experienced a lot on your journey to Norway. Won’t you please tell us about a few episodes?”

      Rune laughed. It sounded like a crow chattering. “I thought it would take too long. But ... I suppose I could mention some of my owners. Such as the son of a king in Anuradhapura. He had bought me quite cheaply from a Phoenician merchant. If I found that I had confidence in certain people, then I made life easier for them. After all, I was just a root, but I had strong powers, as I suppose you’ve discovered by now.”

      Many laughed in the affirmative.

      “The merchant was all right. However, like many others, he knew that owning me would lead to devilry. You see, it was impossible to just get rid of me, because I would always come back. He sold me to Kashyapa, the son of a king, who wasn’t a good person. In order to gain access to the throne, he had his father, the king, walled up alive. Kashyapa was forced to flee because he feared his brother’s vengeance, and on the top of a vertical cliff, Sigiriya, he built a town where he lived for eighteen years. Then his brother found him and besieged the beautiful Sigiriya until Kashyapa came down. That was where he was killed. Since he hadn’t had the time to sell me, his soul probably didn’t do so well ...”

      Jonathan said: “Please stop for a moment. What you’re telling us are episodes from the history of Ceylon. So you have been there, haven’t you?”

      Rune nodded. “Yes, although at the time, it was known as Sinhala, the Realm of the Lion. And I have been to Persia, or as it was once known, the Realm of the Parsees. I was in Mesopotamia and Assyria and Bactria. I was in China during the Han dynasty ... but that doesn’t matter. At the time, I had no idea that Paradise was supposed to be located close to some of the places that I had been taken to. That is something I’ve only just been told.”

      “When Kashyapa died without having sold you, what happened to you then? You must have been free, surely?”

      “Free?” said Rune with a bitter smile. “I couldn’t function without an owner, because it was only through them that I could live. When Kashyapa’s brother conquered Sigiriya and his troops ravaged the fantastic fortress, I ended up with many other more or less valuable things in his treasury. I was taken to Anuradhapura and kept in a huge stupa.”

      “The Ruwanwelisaya,” said Jonathan, who had travelled widely. “You should all visit Ceylon and see Sigiriya, the cliff, which stands in the middle of the jungle. How they were able to build a citadel on top of that rock is unbelievable. They say that thousands of slaves lost their lives in the process. The Ruwanwelisaya is almost as incredible. A stupa is a reliquary chamber. Under an immense dome lies the treasure, but the dome itself is also a treasure. Many hundreds of life-sized elephants chiselled in stone encircle it. Among other things, the foundation of the stupa is said to include a twenty-centimetre layer of rubies, twenty centimetres of quartz, just as much copper and just as much silver. When you know that it takes at least twenty minutes to walk around the stupa, you realize what riches are hidden underneath it. Oh, well, this was an aside. Sorry, Rune, for interrupting you.”

      “I don’t mind at all,” said Rune. “I lay among the treasures in Anuradhapura for quite a long time because nobody in that country knew what I was. Then, several hundred years later, a silk merchant arrived. He came by ship from the west, wanting to take the so-called Silk Road eastwards. His ship had been stranded off the coast of Ceylon. He was helped onwards, but first of all he got permission to see the treasures in the sacred city of Anuradhapura. Perhaps there was something there that he would like to buy? Then he saw me and asked for permission to buy me – among other things, of course. He knew what kind of object I was, which is why he insisted on buying me at a lower price than was previously paid for me. Of course, nobody knew my original price anymore. In order to be absolutely sure, he quoted a ridiculously small amount, which was accepted immediately since the ruler in the country didn’t know my value.

      “Then I was on the move once more. With the silk merchant, I arrived in Silla ...”

      “Korea,” said André.

      Rune smiled his quick, painful smile. “Now everybody knew what I represented. They bought me to gain riches, honour and love, and they sold me again at a lower price before they died. From Silla, I travelled easily to Japan ...”

      Nataniel said plainly: “That was where you got in touch with Tengel the Evil.”

      “Well, not immediately. First with his father, Teinosuke, who as a young boy fled into Asia and to the steppes of Manchuria. He had managed to buy me some time before he disappeared from Japan – and I can’t say that I got along with that owner at all ...”

      Dida said calmly: “I think you should tell us about him, first of all. Before you come to Tengel the Evil.”

      “Right. Teinosuke was important. What Nataniel found out about him is absolutely true. Although he was so young, he was an evil wizard in Japan. He had it in him; many of his ancestors had been skilled magicians, and evil was a family trait, which was enhanced with Teinosuke.”

      Rune pondered for a moment. The audience could see that he didn’t like those memories at all. “I was with him on the walk westwards across the deserted steppes. Teinosuke suffered a lot of evil and many times was at the point of death. Then, and only then, I would choose to help him because I didn’t want to languish with a pile of bones out on the steppes where nobody passed by. I also helped him when he got into brawls with others – which happened often. Those he fought didn’t know who or what I was. They just wanted to kill him and wouldn’t have cared a damn about me afterwards. He was a bad master to serve and when I saved him once in a while, it was purely for selfish reasons. I was immensely unhappy and didn’t thrive at all during those years. I just wanted to pass quickly to a different master.

      “That wasn’t how things turned out. Teinosuke misused my power year after year, using it for evil purposes. I, who was created by the Highest and blessed by the second-highest, suffered terribly. Yes, Nataniel: I was with Teinosuke when you saw him in an inn together with a group of merchants. I was also with him when he reached the little nomadic settlement where he finally settled down.

      “By then, Teinosuke was a very experienced wizard, highly respected and feared by everybody. However, I must be credited with many of his skills; he knew how to use me.

      “Among the nomads, there was a young shaman woman. Teinosuke settled down with her. And you were absolutely right, Nataniel, because this woman was also very cruel. She loved inflicting troubles and devilry on everyone. Yes, they decided to have a child, who was to be the representative of evil on earth. They probably had no idea at the time how well they succeeded. The evil god of the nomadic tribe was Kat, which was also the name of Tengel the Evil’s grandson. On the night Tan-ghil was conceived, both parents sacrificed to Kat. I won’t tell you what they sacrificed – sacrifices of that kind are a complete waste; they don’t work. They wanted to throw