The Road to Jerusalem - Crusades Trilogy 01

by Jan Guillou

  As his mood now shifted from dark to light just as rapidly and unpredictably as the spring weather, he also began to be filled with excitement and anticipation. It was certainly true that he knew nothing of the world outside the cloister walls. He could hardly remember what Arnas looked like, the place that had once been his home. He remembered a very tall stone tower, a courtyard behind walls where he and other children had played a game with hoops and where his father had shown him how to shoot a bow and arrow. But he had a hard time summoning up any image in his memory about how they had actually lived. He thought he recalled that they all lived together somehow, that it was dark with a big fire, but he didn't trust his memories because they seemed so foreign. Now he was finally going to see everything with his own eyes. He should be there by tomorrow. With a better horse he could have been there by evening, but he was riding an old and slow Nordic horse, one of those that according to Brother Guilbert was no use for breeding and hardly good for anything else. But lay brother Erlend was now at Arnas to teach new children to read, as he had once taught Arn and Eskil, and so Erlend would be given a compliant horse when he had to return to Varnhem. Father Henri was of the opinion that lay brother Erlend would be of little use at Arnas, either for reading or anything else, after Arn came home.

  A person had to learn to come to terms with the fate determined for him by God. It would do no good to grumble that one would rather be someone else or live somewhere else. Instead one had to try to make the best of the situation; that was the only way to fulfill God's plans. The last of the brothers to repeat these words to Arn before his departure was Brother Rugiero, who had also been called from Vitae Schola to Varnhem after Father Henri found the food up there wretched.

  Brother Rugiero had secretly shed a few tears at their parting, but then foisted on Arn a gigantic package of traveling provisions that would have lasted a week or more. When Arn protested, Brother Rugiero quickly closed the boy's knapsack and mentioned that it certainly couldn't hurt to bring along a bit of food to provide for his welcome ale at home. Brother Rugiero, like the other brothers from Vitae Schola, knew little about Arn, surmising that he'd come to them because his parents were poor and were having a hard time with all the mouths to feed back home.

  After a few hours Arn spied Skara in the distance; the double tower of the cathedral rose grandly over a conglomeration of low wooden houses. Soon he caught the scent of the town, since he was approaching from downwind. It smelled of smoke and putrefaction and rubbish and manure—a smell so strong that he would have had no trouble heading in the right direction for the last half hour even if it had been pitch dark.

  When Arn came closer to the town his curiosity was aroused by a large building under construction, and he made a little detour so he could watch the work at close hand. They were erecting a fortress.

  He reined in his horse and grew more and more astonished at what he saw. A whole crowd was in motion; most of the people were busy dragging stone blocks over rolling logs, but the work looked to be proceeding sluggishly. Nowhere did he see any block and tackle or hoisting mechanisms. Everything seemed to be done by brute force. Many ill-clad men were toiling hard, overseen by men with weapons who didn't seem at all kindly disposed toward the workers. And none of those who were doing the dragging and laboring seemed happy about their work.

  The walls were not very high, and they consisted mainly of earthworks that an attacker could easily ride to the top; from there a good horse could probably leap over in one jump. Khamsiin would be able to do it easily.

  Arn didn't know very much about war and defensive works except what he had read in books, which was mostly Roman strategy and tactics. But it seemed to him that this fortress under construction would be difficult to defend if the attackers built their own covered wooden towers and rolled them up to the walls. But perhaps the Roman methods were totally antiquated.

  Some of the men supervising the work noticed Arn staring, and they came over to him and let fall some harsh words which Arn didn't fully understand, but he gathered that he should leave because he wasn't welcome. He at once begged their pardon and turned his slow horse back toward town.

  The town of Skara was also surrounded by some sort of walls that consisted of logs and piles of branches with dirt thrown on top. Outside the town gate was an area with tents and people singing foreign songs and playing instruments. When Arn drew closer he saw that many men were sitting together in one of the tents drinking ale, and they had no doubt been doing so for a good while, since some had collapsed unconscious. He saw to

  his surprise a woman with her clothing in disarray, staggering over to a smaller tent, and a man sitting utterly without embarrassment as he answered the call of nature.

  Arn was completely bewildered by the behavior of his fellow human beings, and this was obvious from looking at him. Three small boys spotted him, pointed their fingers, and laughed, but he had no idea why. Yet he had to pass them to get through the opening in the wall, and then they whispered something amongst themselves before they approached to block his way.

  "Here you have to pay toll to the poor to be allowed in, monk boy!" said the oldest and boldest of the three.

  "I don't have much to give," replied Arn, truly sorry. "I just have a little bread and—"

  "Bread would be good, because we have nothing at all. How much have you got, monk boy? "

  "I have four pieces of bread baked this morning," said Arn truthfully.

  "Fine, we'll take them. Give us the bread at once!" called all three. And it seemed to Arn that they suddenly looked happy.

  Fortified by the thought that he could make his neighbor happy so easily, Arn opened his knapsack and handed over the pieces of bread. The three boys snatched them away and ran off, laughing wildly and without a word of thanks. Arn watched them go in amazement. He suspected that he'd been fooled in some way, but he didn't understand why anyone would want to do such a thing, so he felt guilty for thinking ill of his neighbor.

  When he tried to go through the gate, two sleepy men with weapons in their hands prevented him from doing so. First they wanted to know his name and what business he had there. Arn replied that he was lay brother Arn from Varnhem and that he had come to visit the cathedral, but that he would be moving on soon. They let him in with a laugh and said something mysterious about how he should mind he didn't commit some act that he didn't understand either. And because his confusion was so obvious from his expression, the two men laughed even more.

  When Arn entered through the gate he wasn't sure which way to go. The direction of the cathedral was clear from the two tall towers visible from anywhere in town. But there seemed to be nothing but compost amongst all the low and tightly packed wooden buildings. At first Arn thought he would have to find another way through all the garbage. But then he saw a man come riding down an alley that seemed to head straight for the cathedral. The hooves of his horse sank deeper with every step into sludge, manure, and rotting garbage. Very hesitantly and with the stench tickling his nostrils, Arn took the same alley in the opposite direction. It was still morning, or time that was reckoned as morning inside the town. Everywhere cocks were crowing, and at several spots along the alley he was almost struck by garbage thrown out from pots and cooking vessels. The people apparently shared living quarters with their livestock and poultry. He was filled with more astonishment than disgust.

  But when Arn finally emerged from the alley and found himself in front of the cathedral itself, the crowded streets gave way to a large market square with long rows of tents where all sorts of trade was conducted. The ground was also cleaner out here.

  Cautiously he dismounted from his horse, careful where he set his feet, and tied the reins to a post outside the cathedral where two other horses stood. He hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should let his curiosity take over and go to see what was being sold in the tents, or whether he should go inside God's house first. As soon as he posed that question to himself he was ashamed that he'd ha
d even the slightest doubt; he walked straight in through the church door, fell to his knees, and crossed himself.

  It was almost deserted inside and so dark that he had to pause for a moment to let his eyes adjust. Up by the altar burned a score of small candles; he saw a woman just lighting a new one before kneeling down to pray.

  Somewhere up ahead in the darkness a choir began singing hymns, but it didn't sound very good. He could clearly discern two voices singing off-key, and it filled him with wonder, as if they were mocking the Lord by singing like that in His house.

  Arn went over to one of the side aisles and sat down on a little stone bench to meditate. He did not feel at home in this house of God. Up by the altar hung large tapestries woven in garish colors along with two pictures of saints and a Virgin Mary painted in blue, yellow, red, and green. Across from him, light shone through a glass window up along the side of the tower, breaking into all the colors of the rainbow. It made a presumptuous and false impression on Arn, as if the gaudiness were duplicitous. The image of Jesus Christ on one of the walls of the tower was spangled in gold and silver, as if the Lord had been an earthly prince. He knelt down and prayed first for the forgiveness of his sins and then asked God to forgive the people who had turned His house into a worldly manifestation of loathsome and idolatrous taste.

  But from the limestone of the little bench he felt an odd warmth when he sat back down, as if the stone were talking to him. He had the notion that he had sat there before, although that was impossible. Then he saw his mother before him, as if she were coming toward him, smiling. But the vision vanished abruptly when the choir in front took up a new hymn.

  This time the choir sang in only two-part harmony, but it still did no good, since the lead singer of the second voice kept leading the others astray. In the belief that he might now do a good deed, Arn went to stand next to the choir, taking up the second voice and singing it correctly. He had known the lyrics since he was a mere babe.

  Chaplain Inge felt at first as if God in jest, weary of all the false notes, had decided to correct them. But then he discovered that there was a young lay brother from Varnhem standing nearby, and he had shamelessly taken over the lead of the second voice. When they had finished the hymn the chaplain, who was leading the choir, went right over to Arn and put him in the middle of the choir, thus engaging his services for the rest of the mass.

  Afterward several of the singers eagerly wanted to ask questions of Arn, but the chaplain quickly took him aside and led him into the sacristy, where light came in through two small windows so that they could see each other as they talked. Arn was asked to take a seat and was given a mug of water; the chaplain joked that it was poor compensation for such beautiful singing.

  Arn, not realizing that this was said in jest, immediately refused the water, saying that he certainly wasn't demanding payment for singing in God's house. When asked his name he replied that he was called Arn of Varnhem, nothing more.

  The chaplain now got excited because he thought he'd made a discovery. Here was clearly a young man who could not be admitted as a full brother by the Cistercians, who for some reason had been cast out and thus might be available as a blessed addition to the choir. No matter what anyone said about those foreign monks, they could certainly sing to delight God's angels; that much no one could deny.

  Since no one had ever spoken to Arn with hidden intentions, he understood nothing of the import of all the questions that the anxious chaplain now showered upon him.

  So he had left Varnhem to return home? And where was home exactly? And what did his father and mother do? Oh, his mother was dead, peace be with her memory and blessings on her soul. But his father, what did he do? Worked like everyone else in the sweat of his brow? Did the young man mean in agriculture? Was his father a peasant or a freedman then?

  Arn answered as best he could without lying, except when it came to the difficult question of whether his father was rich, which he quickly denied. He considered the word "rich" to mean something shameful and didn't want to think such thoughts about his own father. And he wasn't sure what the words peasant or freedman signified exactly, even though he doubted either had anything to do with his father.

  However, one thing was clear to the chaplain. Here was the son of a poor man who worked hard at farming, perhaps a freed thrall, who had too many mouths to feed and had tried to get rid of at least one of them at the cloister. And now the young man would come home, at the most ravenous age of all, and not be good for much more than saying grace. Here was a chance to do something beneficial for all parties; all he had to do was seize the opportunity.

  "I believe, my young lay brother, that you and I might be able to help each other to our mutual advantage," said the chaplain.

  "If I can help you with something, father, I shall not hesitate, but what in all the world might that be? I am only a poor lay brother," said Arn without lying, because he believed what he said.

  "Well yes, many are the poor on this earth, but sometimes God gives even the poor great gifts. And you, Arn . . . wasn't that what you said your name is? Yes, you have truly received a great gift from God."

  "Yes, that is true," said Arn, looking down in embarrassment because he was thinking of God's great gift when he got his life back.

  "Then I have the pleasure of telling you, Arn, that now you may shed a great worry for both you and your father, and at the same time do a good deed that is pleasing to God. Are you ready to hear my proposal? " said the chaplain, leaning forward triumphantly and smiling so broadly that Arn could see his brownish-black teeth and smell his terrible breath.

  "Yes, father," said Arn obediently, but shrank back in horror. "Although I have no idea what you're thinking of, father."

  "We can offer you room and board, and new clothing too, if you stay here and sing in the cathedral choir. It's a great honor for a poor young man, you should know. But then you do have a rare gift from God, as you realize yourself."

  Arn was so astonished that at first he could not reply. It finally dawned on him that the priest meant that his very ordinary singing was supposed to be the great gift, and not the fact that God had brought him back from the realm of the dead. He didn't know how to reply.

  "Yes, I can understand that you would be dumbstruck," said the chaplain, pleased. "It's not every day one shoots so many birds with one arrow. Your father will be spared from having another mouth to feed; we can make souls, both living and dead, rejoice with more beautiful masses; and you will have clothing, meals, and lodging. That would be many blessings for a single day, don't you think?"

  "No . . . I mean yes, of course, it might seem so," Arn said in confusion. For the life of him he didn't want to be taken captive by the ill-smelling priest, cathedral or not. But neither did he know how to get out of the situation. He had no idea know how to refuse someone he was supposed to obey.

  The chaplain clearly considered the matter settled. "Come with me. We'll go over to the singers' quarters so you can meet the others and be given a bed that you need only share with one other boy."

  "This is not . . . this won't work at all!" Arn stammered desperately. "I mean . . . of course I'm deeply grateful for your kindness, father . . . but it won't work . . ."

  The chaplain cast a puzzled and astonished look at the young

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  man with the tonsure that had just started to grow out and a thrall's knotty hands that revealed harsh manual labor. What in the name of all reason could make this poor awkward youth say no to such a generous offer? He even looked as though he was agonizing over his refusal.

  "I have my horse outside. I'm responsible for the animal and must return it to another lay brother," Arn tried to explain.

  "You have a horse, you say? " the chaplain muttered, confused. "You couldn't possibly—I want to see it with my own eyes!"

  Arn obediently walked through the cathedral with the chaplain beside him. The father was busy calculating the value of a horse, deciding that it far exceeded what
he had just offered the boy in the form of room and board.

  Outside in the light stood Arn's borrowed horse, quite rightly, looking very tired with its head drooping heavily. Yet the chaplain decided at once that it was a splendid horse, and Arn discovered to his dismay that his knapsack with all of Brother Rugiero's lamb sausages and smoked hams was gone. He wondered who might be looking after them. But the chaplain was expounding loudly about his fine steed. Arn protested that there was nothing special about the horse, but that he couldn't understand what had become of his hams and sausages. Then the chaplain got angry and declared that surely he wasn't so stupid as to leave such things to thieves.

  Arn was horrified at the thought that he might have been robbed, and in that way contributed directly to grievous sin. He asked innocently whether he couldn't go to the thieves and get his goods back, if he promised to forgive them. That made the chaplain even angrier and he strode off muttering angry words about horses and muttonheads. Arn at once said a brief prayer for forgiveness for the unfortunate souls who had given in to the temptation to steal. He added in his prayer that he took full blame for what had happened, because he had left his knapsack with the food to tempt those who were both weak in spirit and hungry.

  *

  On the way north from Skara the wedding of Gunnar of Redeberga was being celebrated. He was a tenant farmer who worked for the cathedral dean, Torkel of Skara. The dean, who attended the wedding feast, was pleased with what he had arranged for his tenant, because this Gunnar was not handsome to look at and did not have much to offer as a morning gift. But the dean had taken pity on his tenant, and also out of concern for his own earnings he had arranged it so that Gunnar could take a wife.