The Way of Muri

by Ilya Boyashov

  Muri revelled in a full-body stretch, cracking all his joints. Jacob generously shared his water and some canned fish with the cat, before sharing what was on his mind.

  ‘The Sveingers, the Sharums, the Alochas – all these families, behaving like obedient sheep! But I know what people are like, and I’ll tell you this for nothing – the minute something goes wrong they’ll be the first to cast stones! Trust me, that’s how it will be. Most people are afraid of the open road and want someone to guide them. They’re happy to let themselves be led, but only up to the first pothole! Oh, I know what people are like. Rabbi Benjamin and old Varuch from the Zagreb synagogue taught me well. They used to say, “Tell your people that you’ll take them to Munich or Vienna, wherever it may be, but you must never forget that God’s people are destined to wander for all eternity!”’

  Jacob looked round at his people, sitting by their campfires with their plates of braised kosher meat.

  ‘Ach, how disheartened they would be to learn the truth,’ he said with a sad sigh. ‘Lord, how disheartened they would be!’

  Muri spent two days rocking and swaying through mountains and valleys, without manifesting the slightest inclination to escape. In return Jacob’s confidence in his cat increased and he began to entrust him with his innermost thoughts, which were frequently unhappy.

  By the third evening the children were exhausted, the food supplies had run out and everyone had had enough. They were fed up with Jacob stubbornly dragging his cart behind him, not even bothering to let them know when and where their wandering would end. His aloofness and his apparently unique ability to trudge tirelessly through the mountains, mile after mile, eventually took their toll. Even the most amicable families like the Sharums, who had followed the old man dutifully up to this point, were ready to mutiny. Only Shiloh Sharum, a cheerful ten-year-old boy, seemed immune to the general mood. He ran alongside Jacob, desperately coveting his pipe and jumping up and down to try and capture stray wisps of aromatic tobacco smoke with his curious nose. Always on the lookout for adventure, Shiloh was virtually glued to Jacob’s cart, listening to his strange ramblings about the sons of Israel needing strong, healthy legs.

  During the next rest stop the old man went off by himself, as usual, and settled under a large overhanging stone. The last thing he wanted was to socialize with his fellow countrymen, but this merely contributed to the mutinous atmosphere. Muri could feel the tension too, so he decided to stay in the basket. Two angry young men decided to take the first shot. Approaching their leader, they both started haranguing him.

  ‘Hey, Jacob! What made you think our neighbourhood would burn down? How could you be so sure? Why did you harass us all into leaving Sarajevo and then drag us out here? What were you thinking? Our houses, warehouses and shops have probably been ransacked already! But if we’d stayed, like Abraham, we might’ve been able to defend our property.’

  Ignoring their impudent tirade, Jacob filled his pipe with tobacco and calmly searched for an ember in the fire.

  ‘Do you even know where you’re taking us?’ The self-appointed envoys were determined to get a reaction. ‘Okay, so there’s no war up here in the hills, but we’re going to freeze to death and we’ll probably starve too!’

  ‘It’s not your hunger that will kill you, but your greed,’ said the old man. ‘There’s no point living in the past. Ach, Baruch, use that clever head of yours to think for a moment… How difficult will it be for you to open up a new shop? If we were to walk as far as the Arctic Ocean, I bet you’d have a new business up and running before we’d even been there for five minutes. Is that really what this is about?’

  ‘You’re going senile in your old age,’ Baruch continued relentlessly. ‘We’ve seen the way you talk to that cat. Do you know what everyone’s saying about you?’

  ‘Yeah,’ echoed his friend. ‘Do you know what they’re all saying?’

  ‘No, and I have no desire to know either, you brazen young upstarts!’ cried Jacob, losing his temper. ‘Leave me in peace, both of you! The sun has obviously affected your brains… You shall have water tomorrow!’ he cried after them. ‘Tell your families they won’t have to wait much longer. That Abraham was right about one thing,’ said Jacob, bending over the basket. ‘A herd is a herd, and the less they know the better. What choice do I have? The Lord will forgive me my lies, for those fools would find the truth impossible to bear.’

  Then he walked over to the tents and gave an impassioned speech, urging his compatriots not to give in to despondency. He painted such an appealing picture of their future, swore so sincerely on the prophets and the venerable forefathers of every person standing before him and conjured up such a convincing image of the warm reception that awaited them in Munich and Tel Aviv (where some of them might wish to stay, though he would have preferred to send them all to America) that the crowd were genuinely inspired by his words.

  ‘Lead us, Jacob!’ they cried. ‘We will listen to you and you alone. Indeed, Benjamin, the wisest of the wise, was right to make you his successor!’

  Many of his audience were seized by a joyful impatience. Men and women alike began to dream about the happy and prosperous future that lay in store for them. But Jacob returned to the dying embers of his fire beneath the overhanging rock and lay there coughing and shivering restlessly, unable to quell his agitation.

  ‘They’re behaving like children!’ he lamented, tossing and turning on his blanket. ‘Even that silver-bearded Sveinger was shouting and screaming like a spoilt child. They all expect some kind of miracle. They seem to think they deserve to end up living on manna in paradise, and that’s why they’re so ready to run at the slightest encouragement… You’re not like that, though, are you?’ said Jacob, tapping the side of the basket. ‘You act as though it’s your destiny to travel with me forever.’

  Muri yawned and answered, brazenly and directly, knowing that the old man couldn’t hear him. ‘No, you old fool. I need my bowl, my blanket and my garden to rule over. There is no doubt in my mind that this particular miracle will occur.’

  The cat rested his precious head carefully on his paws and stared into the darkness. Jacob eventually fell asleep, and his people also grew calm. They slept in cosmic silence, or so they thought; in fact the air here was permeated with voices – the usual incessant chatter of the spirit world. The elementals flew out of their hiding places and began chattering away like market traders as they discussed the refugees. Muri was not surprised when the local residents started gossiping about him, too, but it wasn’t long before their observations overstepped the mark.

  ‘So stubborn, so self-obsessed!’ chirruped the spirits. ‘So devious… He knows what he wants and he’s not going to let anyone stand in his way, the scoundrel! He’s going to carry on tricking that old man for as long as it suits him! Hey, you!’ they called, taunting the cat. ‘Aren’t you ashamed to let a human do all your legwork?’

  ‘Shut up, all of you!’ answered Muri, arching his spine threateningly. ‘What business is it of yours? No, I wouldn’t expect you to understand the importance of my bowl and my blanket.’

  He waved his paw, batting away the shrewd observers hovering beneath his nose, and closed his eyes. But with so much noise all around him, sleep was a long time coming.

  The following morning the Jews continued their journey, hurrying faithfully after their elderly leader. But still they did not find water. The children were now moaning incessantly. As soon as one grew tired of wailing and fell silent, several others would pick up where it had left off. The whining of these human children even began to get on the cat’s nerves, but still Jacob walked on, smoking and coughing at the head of their straggling human chain. He seemed determined to grant their wish and lead them all directly to paradise. Shiloh stuck closely to his side, as though he were under some kind of spell. Several times the boy’s angry father called him back to his family, but Shiloh just ignored him. He seemed to be the only one enjoying this interminable journey.

&nbs
p; When the sun had begun to bear down directly on the men’s and women’s shoulders and the heat had increased to the point where there was steam coming from their brows, another murmur of discontent arose. Baruch and his gang began exchanging comments, ostensibly between themselves, although everyone else could hear them perfectly well. The point they were making was that Abraham was right: they shouldn’t have tagged along after this blind old man.

  ‘The old fool has lost his marbles! But what did we expect? It’s our own fault for following a madman! We need to turn round and go back again, before it’s too late. This road will lead us nowhere. Look at the mountains – they’re getting steeper and more remote… There isn’t even any rubbish lying around!’

  Jacob had indeed dragged them all into the middle of nowhere. The sun was at its zenith. The plump women were throwing off their blouses and scarves, and the weight of all this discarded clothing fell on the men and the young lads. Yet again Shiloh was called back to his family, but the exuberant boy, walking with the help of a stick he had picked up along the way, seemed to have developed rather selective hearing.

  ‘Stop!’ Baruch yelled eventually. His friend spread his hands to stop the crowd. ‘Enough!’

  The young mutineers approached Jacob stealthily. He was waiting for them on a ledge with his pipe clamped between his teeth, spitting on the ground.

  ‘Get rid of that cat!’ the young men shouted at their leader. ‘We’ve left everything back there – our cats, our dogs, everything – but you’ve decided to bring one along for the ride. You’ve even started asking it for advice! Come on, tip it out of that basket right now, or we’ll do it for you!’

  Baruch’s friend even picked up a stone, demonstrating his readiness to smash the cat’s skull.

  ‘Elohim!’ Jacob exclaimed. ‘Can’t you remember how, when you were just a snot-nosed little boy, your parents would bring you to us whenever you were ill? Can’t you remember us looking after you for days at a time? Have you forgotten how I fried calf ’s liver for you and cured you with goat’s milk and honey? My late wife Judith and I cherished you like a son and rejoiced in your recovery… How can you turn against one of your own?’

  His attacker took a step back. Jacob’s noble rage did not bode well.

  ‘If you lay so much as a finger on that poor innocent creature, Elohim, I will take you by the throat and God, whom you insult with your lack of faith, will vindicate me… Go on, get away from me!’ bellowed the old man, in a voice like thunder. ‘And what about the rest of you?’ he cried, addressing the crowd from his elevated position on the ledge. ‘Where is your patience? You’re all behaving like cowardly sheep. I will keep my promise, I swear on every member of my family. You will live through this, and your children and your children’s children will thank me for it. Hold your tongues and do not challenge me – I, Jacob Shleichbaum, son of Aaron and Mirra, know what I am doing. Follow me, follow me! And let there be an end to this snivelling and whimpering.’

  Once again, his shoes began to strike the stones. The crowd sighed and began to follow him. The disgraced Baruch and Elohim trudged at the back, swearing under their breath.

  Shiloh was the first to hear the sound of water. Seconds later they saw the waterfall, which was spilling from the rock face and splashing in all directions. Muri greeted the multicoloured local spirit with a modest miaow. On seeing a kindred spirit amongst the oblivious humans, the scintillating spirit began to gleam and flutter above the water.

  Once the people had satisfied their thirst, the atmosphere changed completely. They began slapping the old man gratefully on the back.

  ‘Forgive them, Jacob,’ said the soft-hearted women, coming up to him on behalf of Baruch and Elohim. ‘Surely you can understand our despair…’

  Their shepherd just shook his head. He was clearly far from overjoyed by his fellow tribesmen, with the exception of Shiloh.

  Before they set off again the heads of the families reprimanded the young mutineers soundly. Baruch and Elohim ended up approaching Jacob under the watchful eyes of their fathers and offering to carry his load. Jacob declined. Without looking at any of them, he lit his pipe and took up the handles of his cart.

  ‘The old goat!’ The offenders cursed him under their breath, spreading their hands as if to show that they’d tried to make peace, but what could they do if he insisted on being so stubborn?

  Some of the other young men tried to offer Jacob their services, but he curtly declined their offers. Nevertheless, the people cheered up and began walking behind the old man with a spring in their step. The girls exchanged light-hearted remarks and joked with the boys. The younger children’s stomachs gurgled. Meanwhile the wheels of the old man’s cart began heading downhill, and the path gradually became a road. The verges were littered with multicoloured scraps of paper and rags, which gladdened their hearts and spurred them all on. Only respect prevented them from overtaking Jacob. With characteristic ardent aplomb, the women began to extol the old man’s erudition. They recalled that he had been distinguished by good sense and sound judgment ever since he was a boy. Rabbi Enoch would not have favoured him without reason, and the rabbi was the most respected figure in the neighbourhood – Jews came to him all the way from Zagreb for advice, and that had to count for something! Jacob himself, may the Lord grant him long life, was always willing to offer advice to those who sought it, particularly on the subject of marital harmony. Indeed, the Lord had singled him out and put His unshakeable trust in him! Women of all ages were swept up in the passion of their effusive eulogies; their husbands were merely required to nod in agreement. In the spirit of reconciliation the men approached Jacob several times, asking him to let his cart be pulled by stronger arms. They were even prepared to carry the cat.

  But the cheerful, garrulous group didn’t make it any further into the valley. Jacob’s greatest fear came to pass – the Jews were ambushed by one of the many gangs that spring from the stinking loins of any war. Motivated by a combination of partisan ideology and inebriation, the aggressors barricaded the road and ordered the crowd to stop. Then they stuck the barrels of their arbitrary assortment of weapons into the people’s ribs and herded them to the pitiful, barely whispering stream. These hostile marauders not only stank like dogs but also reeked of rotting flesh – the unmistakable stench of living corpses. Muri jumped out of his basket and instantly melted away into the grass. The local spirits also scattered like droplets of water, keen to distance themselves from the inevitable confrontation. The demons, on the other hand, were quick to arrive on the scene. They flew in close, braking abruptly with their reptilian wings. Another dark flock soared over the mountains, preparing to descend, but death wasn’t quite ready to claim its victims. For the time being the people’s streaming foreheads remained untouched, though the smoke-fouled servants of hell pressed ever closer. The observant cat saw an angel land on the edge of a rosy, sunburned cloud; resting its transparent chin in its incorporeal hands, it settled down to await its imminent duties. Judging by the unbridled joy with which the bandits ripped the yarmulkes from some of the old men and began stamping on them, mercy was unlikely to be forthcoming. Jacob alone remained calm, his thin hair fluttering in the breeze.

  ‘What can we do?’ wailed the people, appealing to their leader in desperation.

  ‘Pray to God!’ answered the old man. ‘Only He can save us now… God will shelter us and protect us!’

  One woman opened her mouth and began to scream, expressing the collective thoughts of the petrified hostages.

  ‘You madman! This is all your fault. You’ve led us to our death, you damned fool! Oh, woe, there will be no mercy!’

  As though he hadn’t heard them, Jacob repeated, ‘Start praying!’

  His exhortations were in vain – every mouth was hermetically sealed, and every tongue had turned to stone. The bandits began ripping the clothes from the terrified women, laying bare the girls’ breasts. But it was not their doomed beauty that the men sought to possess. No, th
ese thieves were in the grip of a primitive and urgent greed. Necks and undergarments were what interested them most. Gold chains were snatched, rings were pulled off and savings were swiftly extracted from secret women’s places and stowed away in filthy pockets. The thieves stuffed all the women’s clothing into sacks. In a matter of minutes, naked mothers and grandmothers were hugging the children to their flaccid bellies as the men dolefully cleared their noses and exuded the smell of sweat. During this time the demons had been flitting about frantically almost directly overhead.

  Fortunately a passing UN patrol helicopter had spotted the commotion and radioed for assistance, and it wasn’t long before the roar of military engines was heard overhead. The gang dispersed with the speed of a professional army, leaving only a cascade of small stones tumbling down the slopes. Disappointed, the demons beat a hasty retreat. The angel sighed with relief and melted away with the cloud. One of the helicopters landed in a cloud of dust and a team of peacemakers, resembling armoured tortoises, spilled from its belly. Their hoarse shouts in broken English sounded sweeter than a choir of angels, and the crude, hopeful smell of the soldiers’ boots and weapons brought everyone to their senses. The old women began sobbing at the tops of their voices, and the young women flushed with shame from head to toe. The burly soldiers emptied out the sacks and threw them their clothes. The women dressed quickly then set about calming the children, many of whom had started hiccupping; then they all went down to the stream to wash away their fear. Meanwhile Jacob was preoccupied with his pipe – his fingers seemed to be playing tricks on him, but he eventually managed to light it. Then he bent low over the roadside grass, ignoring the chaos all around him.