Les aventures du Capitaine Magon. English

by David-Léon Cahun

  CHAPTER XXII.

  BELESYS FINDS BICHRI SOMEWHAT HEAVY.

  It did not take us much more than a month to sail to the mouth ofthe Euphrates, although during the time we made one sojourn with theArabians, and another with the fish-eating Gedrosians on the oppositecoast.

  On receiving the announcement from me of the aged King David's death,Chamai and his fellow-countrymen observed a week's mourning, fasted,rent their clothes, and combed neither their hair nor their beards;but at the end of the week they made plentiful ablutions, and held afestival in honour of Solomon, the King's son and successor.

  It was early in the morning that we reached the river-mouth, andhaving entered it, proceeded till we came to a little town dedicatedto the god Oannes. There is no stone found in the country, and theplace, like all the other towns on the Euphrates, is built entirelyof bricks, the fortifications being circular walls constructed ofbricks, baked and unbaked, cemented with layers of bitumen. On theright were the remains of vast forests, which, according to thestatements of the learned, were, three hundred years ago, the hauntsof the elephant. On the other side, extending as far as the eye couldreach, was a long stretch of meadow-lands and corn-fields. Looking upthe river, we could count some hundreds of tents pitched among thecrops or sheltered by the forest, the fires of the encampment sendingup columns of smoke, and groups of horses being picketed everywhereamongst them. A few boats and two large ships of Phœnician buildwere moored to the shore; but what struck us most of all was theswarms of soldiers, many of them with swords drawn and lance in hand,who were posted everywhere alike on the river-bank, in the pastures,among the crops, and along the skirts of the forest.

  "The army of the Assyrians!" cried Himilco.

  "The gods be praised!" said Hannibal, in an ecstasy of delight; "nowshall I set eyes upon something like an army once again. See, howadmirable their position! how skilful their groupings! I must makethe acquaintance of their officers."

  He was stopped short in his panegyric by the shouts of a troop ofhorsemen who were galloping towards us, and ordering us, in Chaldean,to bring our ships immediately to a standstill, and to tell them whowe were. From the stern of my ship I answered the officer in commandas courteously as I could, and he, in reply, ordered me to remainwhere I was whilst he reported my statement to his superior. In abouta quarter of an hour he returned from the camp whither he had gone,and brought with him a troop of cavalry, at the head of which rode aburly fellow armed in a complete suit of mail, and carrying a lance.

  Hannibal again began to praise the order and accoutrements ofthe troop and their leader to Chamai, who, while admitting thesuperiority of Assyrian cavalry, contended that the infantry of Judahwas second to none; but before they had finished their militarydiscussion, the Chaldean had halted just opposite our ships, and wascalling out that our principal officers must come ashore and stateour demands in the presence of Belesys, the King's commander-in-chief.

  Hanno knew enough of Chaldean to remember that the word "belesys"in that language signified "terrible," and muttered that it was aformidable name for a man to have.

  Taking the Queen of Sheba's letters, and followed by eight sailorscarrying her presents to the King, and escorted by my own officers, Iwent on shore. The Chaldean was tall and stout; he had a wide face,with a strong jaw and great deep-set eyes; his beard was thick andfrizzled like the rest of his company, and his manners were extremelycoarse and insolent.

  "Come, now, you sailor fellows, stir yourselves a little briskly,will you?" he cried; "I'm not fond of walking my horse."

  He conducted us first of all through an enclosure filled withwar-chariots, and then past an encampment of infantry, composed ofMesopotamians armed with maces and spears, and in physiognomy bearinga striking likeness to the people of Judæa. A little removed from uswas a regiment of Medes, the representatives of a nation recentlysubjugated, but whose ancestors had given Nineveh her line ofkings. They were thick-set, and had round heads, scanty beards, andobliquely-set eyes. Their fierce expression of countenance attractedour notice, and armed with their swords and short, strong bows, theymust be very formidable in battle. As we passed, we were near enoughto hear that they were making coarse jokes upon us in their owntongue. A noisy band of half-naked Arabs next caught our attention.These, with their camels, always form part of the contingent of theKing of Assyria, and mingling with them I recognised some Midianiteslave-dealers and some Phœnician merchants, who act as purveyorsto the army, but make their chief profits by purchasing slaves andplunder from the soldiers.

  We proceeded to the cavalry encampment, and when we were about in themiddle of it, we were ordered to halt. We found ourselves in front ofa large circular tent made of rich hangings, the entrance of whichwas guarded by Kardook infantry carrying maces, and equipped withbreast-plates, greaves, crested helmets, and round shields. This wasthe tent of Belesys, the terrible.

  "Enter," said the officer who had been conducting us, adding in ajeering tone: "I hope the general will give you a handsome reception;perhaps he will put on a good temper for the occasion."

  He burst into a roar of laughter and galloped off.

  "Stop!" cried Chamai, wrathfully; "is that the way you speak to aPhœnician captain?"

  But his words were wasted. The Chaldean was out of hearing, far away.

  The Kardook guards scrutinised us narrowly, and consulted each otherin an undertone. They appeared especially attracted by the dress ofHanno, who had arrayed himself in the costly presents of the Queen ofSheba. Turning to him, one of them said:

  "Are you captain?"

  "No," replied Hanno, pointing to me; "there is our captain."

  The Kardooks stared in astonishment.

  I was dressed in my ordinary naval attire; but as the Assyriansalways associate dignity of place with costliness of apparel, theycould only account for my appearance by conjecturing that I was indisguise.

  "You wish to see Belesys?" said the guard; and having entered thetent, returned again immediately with permission for us to beadmitted.

  The Assyrian commander-in-chief was at the farther extremity ofthe tent, surrounded by a number of officers and slaves, and wasreclining, or rather lolling, upon a luxurious couch; he was superblydressed, but wore no armour. Armed men stood on both sides of him,and two cup-bearers were in attendance holding goblets of wine, ofwhich, however, he was in no need, as he was already very drunk.

  With the exception of Bichri, we all made a low bow on entering thetent; but the young archer, who was not always in a conciliatingmood, did not feel disposed on this occasion to exhibit any sign ofcourtesy.

  Pushing aside one of the cup-bearers who was obstructing his view,Belesys stared straight at us. He was a tall man, with a greatfrizzled beard, thick lips, and a heavy jaw, and his hair was glossywith perfumed ointment. A heavy mace which lay by his side wassurmounted by the figure of a bull's head. As he gazed at us, heshook his head, screwed up his eyes, and, indeed, distorted all hisfeatures; while his attendants, as if to flatter him by imitation,did precisely the same. We waited some time for him to speak, andat last, in a tone that quite confirmed our suspicion that he wasintoxicated, he roared out:

  "You see those two big fellows? and you see that youngster with thebow? Take them, and give them five-and-twenty lashes apiece; and thenput them amongst my archers. I don't dislike the look of them."

  Utterly astounded, I held my tongue. Taking no notice of Hanno'sclenched fist and gleaming eye, he went on, hiccupping as he spoke:

  "That young man with the gold shoulder-belt, strip him to the skin,and pack him off to the slaves. I don't care for the other oldscarecrows; do as you like with them; there's an ugly one-eyed rascalamong them; hang him or behead him as you please, the sooner thebetter."

  "What?" shrieked Himilco, in ungovernable rage; "what? do you call mea one-eyed rascal? and our captain, a Phœnician admiral, do youcall him a scarecrow? By all the gods!"----

  Belesys burst into a roar of laughter, repeated his orders thatwe sho
uld be put under arrest, and taking a cup from the nearestcup-bearer, drained it at a gulp and flung it back into the man'sface.

  "Handcuff them, I say!" he bawled again.

  Several of his men approached to execute his bidding, but I shookoff the hands of the Chaldean who ventured near me; Hannibal flooredthe man who was about to assail him, by planting his fist heavily inthe fellow's eyes after the Cymri fashion in Prydhayn; Chamai, ingenuine Celtic style, knocked down another by butting at him withhis head in the middle of the stomach; but Bichri, the most agile ofus all, took a much more determined measure. Bounding like a cat uponthe couch, he fixed his knee firmly upon the general's breast, andwith one hand caught hold of his beard, while with the other he heldthe point of his knife close enough to his throat to be felt.

  "Capital, Bichri! well done!" shouted Hannibal, drawing his sword.

  "Keep your hold, Bichri, and long live the King!" cried Chamai,following Hannibal's example.

  Hanno and myself, resolved to act on the defensive, also drew ourswords; Himilco tripped up another of the Chaldeans by one of thoseadroit turns of the hand with which a sailor knows so well how totake a landsman by surprise; and all my own sailors, seeing theaspect of affairs, in a moment set down their packages and unsheathedtheir cutlasses.

  "Shall I cut his throat?" asked Bichri, coolly, appealing to me.

  "No; wait a little," I answered; "let me talk to him a bit first."

  Approaching near enough for him to hear me distinctly, I said:

  "Belesys, you have only to cry out or make the least resistance, andin one instant that knife severs your head from your body."

  "Soldiers," I continued, turning myself to his guard, "the moment youcall for assistance or lift up your hands to attack us, that moment,mark me, your general is a dead man."

  The proximity of Bichri's knife to the general's gullet seemed tohave a sobering influence upon him, and in a voice very much subdued,he implored his soldiers and slaves to keep perfectly quiet, and athis wish they retreated to the sides of the tent.

  Bichri began to whistle one of his Benjamite airs, and deliberatelybrought up his other knee on to the general's chest.

  "You are stifling me, young man; let me breathe, let me breathe."

  "O nonsense, I know better than that," replied Bichri, withoutstirring an inch; "I am a very light weight."

  "Let me go," gasped Belesys. "Believe me, I was only joking; let mefree, and I will recompense you liberally."

  "As to letting you free, that's not my concern; that depends uponCaptain Mago; no one but the captain gives orders; you should sue tohim."

  At a hint from me that he should allow the Assyrian room to breathe,Bichri removed his feet to the ground, but without relaxing his holdupon his beard or lifting the knife from his throat. Belesys wasbreathing heavily; his face was pale; his forehead moist with a coldsweat; there was no doubt about his being sober now; and he piteouslyasked for our captain to speak to him. Without waiting for me,Himilco began to jeer him.

  "Ah! you would like to see the old scarecrow, would you? and heream I, too, the one-eyed rascal; it is a long way to come, all roundLibya, to cut your throat, but it is quite worth the trouble if itteaches you that you shouldn't get drunk all by yourself."

  And snatching the goblet from one of the cup-bearers he drained itoff, and pitched the empty cup at the nose of the general.

  "Gently," I said, and laid my hand upon the irascible pilot. "Belesysis mistaken altogether; he did not understand that we were conveyingpresents to his King."

  The Assyrian gave so violent a start that his neck was actuallygrazed by Bichri's knife. He was beginning to bawl out somethingabout his illustrious sovereign Belochus II., when I admonished himthat he had better not speak so loud, a warning that Bichri enforcedby tightening his grasp upon his throat.

  "I was but jesting; you should take a joke," he gasped. "Only tellyour young man to loose his hold upon my throat, and I swear by thealmighty Nisroch, I will not hurt a hair of your heads. Can you nottrust me now?"

  "Not quite," I answered, smiling.

  It was now my turn to assume the tone of irony, and with mockreverence I turned to him and said:

  "And now, most valiant Belesys, servant of the mighty Belochus, willyou condescend to do me the favour of visiting our ships?"

  "By all means. I am ready; I will come at once."

  "We will take our time," I continued. "Just attend to me: you musthave, you know, every proper mark of respect; on your way to thevessels you shall walk between Hannibal and Chamai; they shall showtheir respect by drawing their swords, and Bichri shall walk closebehind you; that will be another sign of respect: and when you get onboard you shall remain on board until I have had an interview withthe King. On board ship, you have heard, it is the captain who givesorders."

  "I think I understand your terms," he replied. "I am to go with you;if I cry out you will murder me; and when I am on your ship I am tobe kept as a hostage."

  "Precisely so," I said.

  The incorrigible Himilco renewed his jeering, and asked whether hecould not produce a little more wine, but the general made no reply,and closed his eyes as if he were in deep thought. Bichri took hisseat upon the breast of his prisoner, who, in spite of the indignityhe was receiving, seemed to be so much struck with admiration for theyoung man, that he promised to make his fortune if he would enter hisservice.

  "But get up, get up, I entreat you," he begged him, in an imploringtone. "I assure you that you are a great deal heavier than you seemto imagine."

  Bichri made no answer, but whistled an air, and jolted himself up anddown upon his seat.

  Himilco, meanwhile, filched a flask of wine from one of thecup-bearers, whom he rewarded by some good hard knocks, and thenprofessed that he was enjoying himself extremely.

  "Come now, general," I said at length; "we can't spend all daywaiting here; we shall have some one coming in. Is your mind made up?"

  He made an ambiguous movement. Bichri frowned, and jerked his knife.

  "Yes, I will come," he said, abruptly. "After all, I was in fault."

  We now arranged our party as I had proposed. Assuming all theappearance of respect, Hannibal and Chamai placed themselves one oneach side of Belesys, and Bichri, still whistling gently to himself,followed alone behind. I followed with Hanno and Himilco, and thesailors, taking up their packages, brought up the rear.

  As we passed along the ranks, the soldiers all prostrated themselvesin honour of their general, and I could scarcely suppress a smile attheir ignorance of the true state of things. Belesys did not uttera word or make a sign, and in half an hour's time he was on boardthe _Ashtoreth_, witnessing the respectful salute with which my ownpeople always acknowledged my return.

  "To your posts, men!" I cried, cheerily; "here is the noblecommander-in-chief of the Assyrian army; he does us the honour toinspect our ships."

  "And he intends," said Himilco, "to treat you to a double ration ofwine."

  "Long live the King of Assyria! long live his illustrious general!"rose in acclamation from a chorus of voices.

  IN HONOR OF THEIR GENERAL. _To face page 322._]

  Belesys, who was still rather pale, smiled uneasily, but with aforced hilarity professed himself ready not only to give my brave menthe double allowance of wine, but to provide them with some sheep andoxen besides. Once again a general cheer was raised, and Hannibalmade him a military salute. Chamai merely shrugged his shouldersand Bichri could not help confiding to Dionysos that the man beforethem was nothing but a drunken coward, who ruled the 50,000 men underhis command by blows and lashes.

  "They are not Hellenes, then," said the young Phocian, proudly; "noHellenes submit to blows!"

  Belesys bit his lip; he had overheard what was said, and it mortifiedhim; he tried to conceal his annoyance, and remarked to me thathe had thought Phœnicians were too much engrossed by commerceto have any concern in the affairs of states. Hannibal was on thepoint of quoting the case of Adonibal, the na
val suffect of Utica,as an instance to the contrary, when our attention was arrested bythe transit of a section of the Assyrian army from one bank of theriver to the other. The water was covered with boats and with largerafts, on which were placed all the war-chariots, and at the stern ofevery one of them was a group of men holding the heads of the horsesthat were swimming behind. The passage of the infantry was made oninflated goat-skins. The utmost confusion prevailed; several poorfellows were drowned, but that seemed a matter of utter indifferenceto the officers that stood upon the bank lashing the men with whipsto make them quicken their movements. At one place we observed thata large bevy of prisoners was being conducted before an official whowas seated on a kind of open air tribunal, surrounded by guards. Sometown had evidently been lately captured. All the gods, and a quantityof booty, were first laid at the officer's feet, and then theprisoners--men, women, and children--were brought before him. Theywere a wretched, dejected set, many of the men fettered with heavybronze chains, and nearly all with their hands bound behind theirbacks, the whole of them being compelled to prostrate themselves inturn before the officer, who placed his foot upon their necks. In afew cases a respite was granted and life was spared; but as a generalrule the captives were forthwith hanged or beheaded in the presenceof their fellow-sufferers. I observed that out of the number ofmiserable objects, four were selected and sent off to be tied tostakes that were driven into the ground on an adjacent eminence.

  It was truly a heartrending spectacle. Chamai and Hannibal had seensomething of the kind before in the course of the warfare in theirown land; but to Aminocles and his countrymen, with their Hellenicideal of liberty, the sight was intolerably shocking, and they wereloud in their asseverations that they would die before they wouldincur the risk of any such utter degradation.

  While we were looking on at this humiliating exhibition, a messengerarrived from the King to ascertain the object of my coming. I statedit as briefly as possible, and in another hour the man came again tosummon us into the presence of Belochus. I took no one with me exceptHanno, and the sailors to carry the Queen's gifts. As we walked alongHanno was silent, evidently preparing some graceful compliment;but his painstaking in this way was of no avail, as we were onlypermitted to view the splendour of the Assyrian sovereign from adistance. At about a hundred paces from the throne we were commandedto halt, and prostrate ourselves to the ground.

  WE WERE COMMANDED TO HALT. _To face page 324._]

  Belochus II. was seated beneath a group of trees, surrounded soclosely by guards, cup-bearers, attendants with fans and parasols,and slaves, with fly-whisks, that for a long time I could see nothingof him except his tiara, which was very dazzling, his robes, whichwere very elaborate, and his unshod feet sparkling with gems. But atlast the mass of gorgeous pomp seemed to open, and I could plainlydistinguish the majestic countenance of the King, encircled with longhair, and conspicuous with a thick frizzled beard.

  An avenue of soldiers was formed; some officers were sent to receivewhatever documents and presents we had brought; we were bidden asecond time to prostrate ourselves to the earth, and were thenescorted back to our ships. I found Belesys very impatient to bereleased from his imprisonment, and he looked much chagrined when Itold him that it was necessary for me to detain him a while longer asa hostage for my own safety.

  In about an hour afterwards some letters, enclosed in a casket ofgold, arrived from King Belochus for the Queen of Sheba; the presentfor the Queen was accompanied by a meagre gift of provisions andstuffs for myself and my people.

  My mission was now accomplished, and I prepared again to set sail.

 

  "You may go," I said to my prisoner; "let us part friends."

  Belesys gave a sigh of relief.

  "I am glad you are a man of your word," he said.

  I laughed heartily.

  "Did you suppose I should keep you? What good could you do me?"

  "Revenge is sweet," he answered. "I feared you would not let myinjustice go unpunished."

  "Ah, you mean that would have been your course."

  Belesys smiled.

  "The hand that cannot be cut off must be caressed," he said.

  I took good care that before he left he should see the scorpionsfilled with missiles and put ready for action, and then I dismissedhim with the most punctilious observance of outward respect.

  Before quitting the ship he made another attempt to induce Bichri tojoin his service, an honour which was coolly and firmly declined.