The Atlas

by William T. Vollmann

  You have a mind ... he said, trying yet to love her.

  Sitting beside him on a monument wall, she drew her knees under her armpits like a grasshopper and said: You have no mind.

  His anger lurched the way that when you have a fever the flowers on the curtains crawl nauseatingly. He shouted into her face the Three Holy Names. (Everyone knows them.)

  Her lips opened. She saw the paper animals. Her ruby was in the paper lion's mouth. She sat for a moment like a naked statue bronzily balancing on air. Then her dark head fell down upon his snow-white shirt.

  Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico (1992)

  At noon they tolled the half-spent day until the shadows of terrified pigeons darkened the plaza like rain. They fired the cannon as pigeon-wings seethed like steam. Then came the chanting procession of whores: women and children, two girls ahead bearing the Red Song's dress which was petalled like a sunflower, then six bearing a wreathed coffin, then the ladies in the back bowing beneath their parasols. At the very back came the madam, longing for the cathedral's smoky shade. By Maria, how her blood was simmering! But, her notebook open, she marched ready as ever for business. She followed her girls between the walls of waiting men. Men watched hoping for a stare of black, black lace. They'd forgotten the Red Song already, even though her ankles had never been like other girls' pale yellow ankles; their lust remained alive in just the way a fat girl's breasts strain for joy when she breathes. The madam smiled on them kindly. Resurrected, the soda girl sold orange fizz. The girls continued happy, she thought; they bore the Red Song lightly toward the church. No one knew she lay still bleeding in that coffin. Pale and swollen, she bled through her copper belt's hundred locks; the blood kept coming out until she floated up against the lid. So loudly did the pallbearers sing for the good of her soul that they did not hear her horrid sloshing. But at last blood began to ooze between the hinges of the coffin. For a moment longer it hid itself among her red roses. Then it jetted like the juice of pressed grapes. The six girls' shoulders were soaked with the dark black blood. They dropped the coffin and scattered into screams.

  But the madam knew blood in the way that ice cream vendors handle dry ice with bare fingers, underawed by its steaming. She called her whores back. She pulled a withered cigarette from her blouse and threw it into the sewer. Then, gathering them around the lake of blood in which the coffin now floated, joining them hand in hand as they stood upon the cobblestones (circled more largely by the armies of waiting men), she said:

  Whenever it rains, the red paint on the cathedral dome runs like blood. Blood goes where the shit goes, bleeding down our white restaurants that darkness eats like layer cakes. Blood goes down to the place where ancient ceramics turn brown in the earth. Listen to blood, my little nieces! Women know that blood's always being made-blood sings the red song! Even when the day's as white as the sunlight on the skull of that Indian lady selling plates, blood bleeds secretly from the gums of old men, from the throats of slaughtered cattle, from the prisoners' wounds, from between your legs, you women! Even in our cemetery whose skeletons are stuffed with bottles and trash, the hulks of switchboxes under dead traffic lights, the dust of old blood sifts out of bones. Blood's the song of rubies. Blood's the only song. Blood's as natural as a dead dog in the street.

  * In 1992, a hundred fifty thousand pesos was about U.S. $50.

  * Mexico City slang: to go to the river = to engage in cunnilingus.

  THE HILL OF GOLD

  Masada, Territory of Judea, Israel (1993)

  Limbo (1994)

  Capri, Campania, Italia (1993)

  * * *

  Masada, Territory of Judea, Israel (1993)

  Now Eleazar went down to the Elders, for all Rome, as it seemed, had come against them to take Masada.2And the Elders were glad of his coming, and the Rabbis also resorted to him, for upon their hearts were shadows darker than the Dead Sea. 3And the fighters lifted their eyes and watched his passing. 4Then they turned their heads to study once again how the Roman armies did draw slowly closer. 5And the Elders awaited Eleazar on the middle terrace of Herod's northern palace where it was cold and shady and sandy. 6(But the women waited with the little ones where the pale rock had been hollowed out into ritual baths.)

  7 And Eleazar said: Have you heard the news from Jerusalem?

  8 And the Elders said: We saw a spy come to you, and the spy was weeping.

  9 Eleazar said: Jerusalem is perished, and we alone are left of the Jewish nation.10The Temple is no more.

  11 Then the Elders burst into lamentation and rent their clothes in pieces, and their hearts were overthrown with sorrow. 12And the women listened, but could not hear the cause, so they crouched in silence, waiting to learn whether they should scream.

  13 And Eleazar said: 'Tis well that we've repaired this old stronghold, and increased our walls towards Heaven, and bolted our gates with the strongest bolts. 14Because now the conquerors of Jerusalem turn to us. 15And belike they are saying to one another: This Masada is but a tomb that the Jews have built for themselves.

  16 And the eyes of Eleazar were as sinister cavities. 17And a craven man who'd drunk of fear went rushing toward the women's place, and no one said him nay. 18The others sat on, and waited until they heard the women begin to scream.

  19 Then Eleazar said: Now the worst is told. 20But even if Jerusalem is finished, still we have our Laws. 21And Masada is our rock of honor. 22In Herodium and Machaerus a few brave comrades hold out. 23Remain of good heart. 24I shall lead you until the end. 25And perhaps we can prevail even now, for who knows what the Lord has written?

  26 Then the Elders raised their voices to reply, and said: Fight our battles, and all that you command we promise to accomplish.

  27 And the Rabbis likewise became glad, saying: Now God will show His power to these Gentiles. 28God can defend one against a thousand. 29So we have no fear.

  30 And in the Dry Hours, when they spied the Romans sleeping, they prayed among the pillars of the synagogue, requesting the Lord to send them relief; yea, they prayed beneath the harsh dark sky.

  2 But it was as Eleazar said: Who knows the ways of God? — 2In the Book of Chronicles 'tis written that King David and all Israel assembled to bring the sacred Ark from Kiriathjearim, and one whose name was Uzzah pressed his palms against the Ark, because the oxen had stumbled and he feared the Ark would fall. 3What else should he have done? 4But God raged, and Uzzah died. 5This is why the proverb goes: The mind of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. 6Such are the ways of God.

  3 In the first year the Romans could not take Masada, there being but one way up that Hill of Gold, and that was the Serpentine Path, above which Eleazar's soldiers waited with their boulders and cauldrons of pitch. 2And their cavalry and picked troops did not yet assault that place, because Flavius Silva, the Procurator of that province, had set them to harrying the land far and wide, robbing, raping and killing, so that the Jews would never dare to rebel again. 3And Eleazar came down from Masada many times with his Zealots, and whenever his spies found Romans he came upon them by night, sparing none whom God had delivered into his power. 4So the Romans were discontented. 5And that first year passed. 6At the dawn of the second year, Eleazar went to the Elders and the Rabbis who awaited him on the middle terrace. 7And Eleazar said: Have you heard the news from Herodium and Machaerus?

  8 And the Elders said: We saw a spy come to you, and the spy was shaking with fear.

  9 Eleazar said: Herodium is perished, and Machaerus overrun. 10The defenders are dead or given to the torture of chains. 11Their wives have become Roman concubines, and their children beg for bread.

  12 Then the Elders groaned. 13And the Rabbis called upon the Lord to witness their sorrow, and the Lord gazed down upon them.

  14 Then Eleazar said: But still we have our Laws. 15Our oil continues sweet, and our wine is not yet vinegar. 16The locusts have not found our grain.

  17 Then the Elders said: You who are the
son of a Rabbi, according to your wisdom do we continue our rebellion?

  18 He answered: Purify yourselves, and celebrate our resolution with joy. 19Tomorrow I shall order that the gate be opened, and I shall lead a hundred men down the Serpentine Path to kill Romans in the night. 20Blessed be the Lord, whose goodness never fails the people of Israel. 21We can prevail even now. 22He will give us courage to live without dishonor on our hill of gold, high above the pollutions of the land.

  23 And in the Dry Hours, while the Romans slept, the defenders prayed together, humbling themselves in sackcloth and strewing ashes upon their heads.

  24 So the Jews yet defended Masada. 25And they worshiped before the Lord, fearing only Him; but that could not save them, for it was already the will of the Lord that they be slain. 26And still they withstood all the Romans' force and might and treachery.

  4 Now at the dawn of the third year Flavius Silva received instructions from Vespasian Emperor of Rome to carry out the destruction of Masada, so he brought together his captains according to the knowledge that was in his heart; 2and he picked men of the Tenth Legion along with many Jewish slaves and prisoners of war, and he assembled them and formed them in ranks, and he put them under oath and armed them, 3and they set out across the desert, with the Jewish captives bearing water. 4And on the march many Jews died. 5But Flavius said: If thirst slays them now, we need not slay them later. 6And he led under his command fifteen thousand cavalrymen, legionnaires, infantrymen and engineers. 7And the number of slaves and prisoners who carried water for them was ten thousand.

  8 Now Flavius Silva acted according to the Emperor's command. 9And he walked around the Golden Hill with his engineers, stalking victory like a lion. 10Then he built eight camps and fortified them well, for he gave orders wisely, so that none of his words fell to the ground. 11And his engineers set the slaves to building a siege wall whose thickness was as the height of a tall man, and many of the slaves died, but Flavius Silva only laughed, for although he did not know Him, the Lord guarded his feet. 12This wall entirely encircled Masada, and its length was more than seven thousand cubits, and it bore twelve towers.

  5Eleazar went to the Elders and the Rabbis who awaited him on the middle terrace. 2And Eleazar said: There is no news. 3The Romans have killed our spy. 4Or, if news there be, I think your eyes can tell it to you. — 5And he pointed to the west, where the Romans had brought in engineers to build a ramp, in order to bypass the Serpentine Path. 6And at the summit of the ramp the Romans were building a siege tower sixty cubits high, reinforced with iron. 7And from this tower they launched stones and arrows against the Jews, and from underneath it the Jewish prisoners were commanded by Flavius Silva to charge against the walls of Masada with a battering ram; and those who refused were crucified until they died with swollen faces. 8And this time the craven man did not run, and the women did not scream, because it was as Eleazar said. 9This was not news. 10And the Elders were silent.

  11 Then Eleazar said: But still we have our Laws. 12And who knows what the Lord has written?

  13 But the Elders did not take heart. 14Then the Rabbis assembled them in the synagogue. 15They prayed that their dear ones not become carrion and whores and slaves. 16They prayed that their altar not be profaned. 17They fasted one and all until the soldiers could scarcely lift their spears. 18And the Lord looked down upon their affliction.

  6Now the battering ram of the Romans breached the wall with a hideous clash, and the children started weeping, and the Rabbis called upon the Lord God while the women drew wine and water from the cisterns and poured it out before the Lord; but Eleazar with all the men built two walls of stout timber at the breach, and they packed earth in between. 2And after this the Roman missiles only compressed the earth to a superior hardness, so that the enemy could make no shift against Masada. 3Then the people praised Eleazar. 4But the sound of the battle was like thunder; and the craven man howled. 5And the soldiers lay day and night in their trenches, and the women and children carried water to them and brought them stones to launch against the Romans. 6So the Romans grew weary and filled with fear, because they could not conquer that last stronghold of the Jews. 7And they began to whisper against their governor, Flavius Silva. 8But came the close of the third year, in the month called Xanthicus, when the wide gray siege ramp stretched like one of those tendons between neck and shoulder, 9Eleazar son of Ananias went to the Elders and Rabbis who awaited him on the middle terrace. 10And Eleazar said: The Romans are preparing fire. — 11And from below they heard Flavius Silva shout in a terrifying voice: Launch the burning arrows! — 12And the arrows came with a noise like hornets, and there were many of them, and their heads were smeared with burning pitch. 13And they lodged in the outermost of the two wooden walls which Eleazar had built, and it caught fire. 14When the defenders sought to save their wall, the Romans launched great stones which smashed the skulls of many brave men. 15And the craven man screamed until the people covered their ears, and then Eleazar slew him with a sword. 16And the fire destroyed the wall, and the earth tumbled out like entrails from the belly of a pregnant woman who is disembowelled by conquerors; 17and the Romans exulted, 18but then the wind changed and blew the flames back toward the siege tower, which began to smoke. 19Now the Romans shouted in fear, and the Rabbis praised God; and then the wind changed again. 20Then the Romans took heart, and compelled their Jewish slaves to quell the fire in the siege tower; and afterwards launched another volley of arrows to set afire the second wall. 21And the Jews cried out. 22Then the Romans called upon them to surrender, and the Jews were silent. 23After this they heard the Romans laughing, and then the Romans went down to their camps to sleep. 24And Eleazar said: Tomorrow they will conquer this place and bring us into shame.

  25 And the Elders said: We must go to the temple to pray.

  7Now Eleazar mustered all the people together, to see how many had survived. 2And he counted nine hundred and sixty souls at Masada, but many were wounded and defiled with blood. 3And some were fearful and others remained as steadfast as stone; and they all prostrated themselves through the Dry Hours of that last evening. 4And they became very faint. 5And they abased themselves in the inner chamber, and the Rabbis led them in entreaties for God's mercy upon themselves and their inheritance. 6Their hearts were as deep and dank as the Western Wall's great cistern, whose stairs went interminably down into a slit of darkness; and in the slit one saw other stairs descending into an immense bubble of golden dirt bearing black and white stain-continents.7The pigeons which nested in the ceiling cooed, and their echoings seemed demonic and far away. 8In their prison of fear the people were shut away from the stars. 9Their sorrow scorched them with darkness, and their prayers were appalled. 10Then at last Eleazar stood up, and put his hand upon the shoulder of the Chief Rabbi. 11And most wearily he spoke to the people the words of Judith the daughter of Merari the son of Ox: Do not try to bind the purposes of the Lord our God, for God is not like man, to be threatened, nor like a human being, to be won over by pleading.

  12 Then the people were silent, but the Elders said: What would you have us do?

  13 And Eleazar prayed to the Lord. 14Then he rose and said: We must kill ourselves, so that the Romans cannot work their will upon us. 15And we must do it quickly, for at dawn they come.

  16 The Elders had grown accustomed to walk in his ways, and so they said: You speak from a true heart.

  17 But the people cried out then, because they saw the approach

  of their deaths.* 18Yet the other way, of awaiting the Roman legions in their terrifying armor, that they likewise dared not take. 19So they bowed down and were pale. 20But at last they said: Behold, we are your flesh, and the bones of your flesh. 21We do as you will.

  8 Then said Eleazar: I am glad. 2The Lord called my death from the womb; behold, it is born; it is here. 3He pulled your deaths from His quiver, my brothers and sisters; behold, they come speeding hither. 4We are rebels to the Romans, but we cannot rebel against the grave. 5We shall not be confounded; and this n
ight we'll find respite from our sighs.

  6 Now they kindled tall flames to burn their houses and treasures, and the women made their hearts as pale blue as the Dead Sea. 7But the children said: Mother, why do you throw my pretty things in the fire? 8Father, why do you set our house alight? 9But their parents would not answer. 10Thus they destroyed the toil of their hands, and all that had been handed down to them, in order to baffle the Romans' greed. 11But their stores of food, oil and wine they piled in the middle of the square, so that the Romans would see that their siege had failed to starve them. 12Then they went into the night to slay themselves.

  13 Weeping, the men of Masada embraced their wives and children, stabbing them one by one; and thus they made of their dear ones offerings to the Lord. 14Then these self-made widowers formed themselves in squads often, as was their wont when they went down to fight with the Romans. 15And they cast lots, thereby choosing one man out of each ten to slay the others. 16Thus they died, all on the same night together. 17And at last there was but one man left upon Masada the Hill of Gold. 18And he passed through the smoking houses, and he searched the rooms of the ruined palace to make certain that all were dead. 19Then he set the palace on fire and leaped onto his sword. 20And when the Romans breached the charred walls at dawn and came upon the Jews, and when they saw that they were dead by their own hand, all expressed admiration for their defiance, even their governor, Flavius Silva.