Fifth Mountain: A Novel

  It was possible to control the army and calm the population about the foreign patrols. But, with the illness of the widow's son, the governor began having difficulty easing the people's minds about Elijah.

  A DELEGATION of the inhabitants of Akbar went to speak with the governor.

  "We can build the Israelite a house outside the walls," they said. "In that way we will not violate the law of hospitality but will still be protected from divine wrath. The gods are displeased with this man's presence."

  "Leave him where he is," replied the governor. "I do not wish political problems with Israel."

  "What?" the townspeople asked. "Jezebel is pursuing all the prophets who worship the One God, and would slay them."

  "Our princess is a courageous woman, and faithful to the gods of the Fifth Mountain. But, however much power she may have now, she is not an Israelite. Tomorrow she may fall into disfavor, and we shall have to face the anger of our neighbors; if we demonstrate that we have treated one of their prophets well, they will be kind to us."

  The delegation left unsatisfied, for the high priest had said that one day Elijah would be traded for gold and other rewards. Nevertheless, even if the governor were in error, they could do nothing. Custom said that the ruling family must be respected.

  IN THE DISTANCE, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE VALLEY, THE tents of the Assyrian warriors began to multiply.

  The commander was concerned, but he had the support of neither the governor nor the high priest. He attempted to keep his warriors constantly trained, though he knew that none of them--nor even their grandfathers--had experience in combat. War was a thing of the past for Akbar, and all the strategies he had learned had been superseded by the new techniques and new weapons that other countries used.

  "Akbar has always negotiated its peace," said the governor. "It will not be this time that we are invaded. Let the other countries fight among themselves: we have a weapon much more powerful than theirs--money. When they have finished destroying one another, we shall enter their cities--and sell our products."

  The governor succeeded in calming the population about the Assyrians. But rumors were rife that the Israelite had brought the curse of the gods to Akbar. Elijah was becoming an ever greater problem.

  ONE AFTERNOON, the boy's condition worsened severely; he could no longer stand, nor could he recognize those who came to visit him. Before the sun descended to the horizon, Elijah and the widow kneeled at the child's bedside.

  "Almighty Lord, who led the soldier's arrow astray and who brought me here, make this child whole again. He has done nothing, he is innocent of my sins and the sins of his fathers; save him, O Lord."

  The boy barely moved; his lips were white, and his eyes were rapidly losing their glow.

  "Pray to your One God," the woman asked. "For only a mother can know when her son's soul is departing."

  Elijah felt the desire to take her hand, to tell her she was not alone and that Almighty God would attend him. He was a prophet; he had accepted that truth on the banks of the Cherith, and now the angels were at his side.

  "I have no more tears," she continued. "If He has no compassion, if He needs a life, then ask Him to take me, and leave my son to walk through the valley and the streets of Akbar."

  Elijah did all in his power to concentrate on his prayer; but that mother's suffering was so intense that it seemed to engulf the room, penetrating the walls, the door, everywhere.

  He touched the boy's body; his temperature was not as high as in earlier days, and that was a bad sign.

  THE HIGH PRIEST had come by the house that morning and, as he had done for two weeks, applied herbal poultices to the boy's face and chest. In the preceding days, the women of Akbar had brought recipes for remedies that had been handed down for generations and whose curative powers had been proved on numerous occasions. Every afternoon, they gathered at the foot of the Fifth Mountain and made sacrifices so the boy's soul would not leave his body.

  Moved by what was happening in the city, an Egyptian trader who was passing through Akbar gave, without charge, an extremely dear red powder to be mixed with the boy's food. According to legend, the technique of manufacturing the powder had been granted to Egyptian doctors by the gods themselves.

  Elijah had prayed unceasingly for all this time.

  But nothing, nothing whatsoever, had availed.

  "I KNOW WHY they have allowed you to remain here," the woman said, her voice softer each time she spoke, for she had gone many days without sleep. "I know there is a price on your head, and that one day you will be handed over to Israel in exchange for gold. If you save my son, I swear by Baal and the gods of the Fifth Mountain that you will never be captured. I know escape routes that have been forgotten for generations, and I will teach you how to leave Akbar without being seen."

  Elijah did not reply.

  "Pray to your One God," the woman asked again. "If He saves my son, I swear I will renounce Baal and believe in Him. Explain to your Lord that I gave you shelter when you were in need; I did exactly as He had ordered."

  Elijah prayed again, imploring with all his strength. At that instant, the boy stirred.

  "I want to leave here," the boy said in a weak voice.

  His mother's eyes shone with happiness; tears rolled down her cheeks.

  "Come, my son. We'll go wherever you like, do whatever you wish."

  Elijah tried to pick him up, but the boy pushed his hand away.

  "I want to do it by myself," he said.

  He rose slowly and began to walk toward the outer room. After a few steps, he dropped to the floor, as if felled by a bolt of lightning.

  Elijah and the widow ran to him; the boy was dead.

  For an instant, neither spoke. Suddenly, the woman began to scream with all her strength.

  "Cursed be the gods, cursed be they who have taken away my son! Cursed be the man who brought such misfortune to my home! My only child!" she screamed. "Because I respected the will of heaven, because I was generous with a foreigner, my son is dead!"

  The neighbors heard the widow's lamentations and saw her son laid out on the floor of the house. The woman was still screaming, her fists pounding against the chest of the Israelite prophet beside her; he seemed to have lost any ability to react and did nothing to defend himself. While the women tried to comfort the widow, the men immediately seized Elijah by the arms and took him to the governor.

  "This man has repaid generosity with hatred. He put a spell on the widow's house and her son died. We are sheltering someone who is cursed by the gods."

  The Israelite wept, asking himself, "O my Lord and God, even this widow, who has been so generous to me, hast Thou chosen to afflict? If Thou hast slain her son, it can only be because I am failing the mission that has been entrusted to me, and it is I who deserve to die."

  That evening, the council of the city of Akbar was convened, under the direction of the high priest and the governor. Elijah was brought to judgment.

  "You chose to return hatred for love. For that reason, I condemn you to death," said the governor.

  "EVEN THOUGH YOUR HEAD is worth a satchel of gold, we cannot invite the wrath of the gods of the Fifth Mountain," the high priest said. "For later not all the gold in the world will bring peace back to this city."

  Elijah lowered his head. He deserved all the suffering he could bear, for the Lord had abandoned him.

  "You shall climb the Fifth Mountain," said the high priest. "You shall ask forgiveness from the gods you have offended. They will cause fire to descend from the heavens to slay you. If they do not, it is because they desire justice to be carried out at our hands; we shall be waiting for you at the descent from the mountain, and in accordance with ritual you will be executed the next morning."

  Elijah knew all too well about sacred executions: they tore the heart from the breast and cut off the head. According to ancient beliefs, a man without a heart could not enter paradise.

  "Why hast Thou chosen me for this, Lord?" he cried
out, knowing that the men about him knew nothing of the choice the Lord had made for him. "Dost Thou not see that I am incapable of carrying out what Thou hast demanded of me?"

  He heard no reply.

  SHOUTING INSULTS AND HURLING STONES, THE MEN and women of Akbar followed in procession the group of guards conducting the Israelite to the face of the Fifth Mountain. Only with great effort were the soldiers able to contain the crowd's fury. After walking for half an hour, they came to the foot of the sacred mountain.

  The group stopped before the stone altars, where people were wont to leave their offerings and sacrifices, their petitions and prayers. They all knew the stories of giants who lived in the area, and they remembered some who had challenged the prohibition only to be claimed by the fire from heaven. Travelers passing through the valley at night swore they could hear the laughter of the gods and goddesses amusing themselves from above.

  Even if no one was certain of all this, none dared challenge the gods.

  "Let's go," said a soldier, prodding Elijah with the tip of his spear. "Whoever kills a child deserves the worst punishment there is."

  ELIJAH STEPPED ONTO the forbidden terrain and began to climb the slope. After walking for some time, until he could no longer hear the shouts of the people of Akbar, he sat on a rock and wept; since that day in the carpentry shop when he saw the darkness dotted with brilliant points of light, he had succeeded only in bringing misfortune to others.

  The Lord had lost His voices in Israel, and the worship of Phoenician gods must now be stronger than before. His first night beside the Cherith, Elijah had thought that God had chosen him to be a martyr, as He had done with so many others.

  Instead, the Lord had sent a crow--a portentous bird--which had fed him until the Cherith ran dry. Why a crow and not a dove, or an angel? Could it all be merely the delirium of a man trying to hide his fear, or whose head has been too long exposed to the sun? Elijah was no longer certain of anything: perhaps Evil had found its instrument, and he was that instrument. Why had God sent him to Akbar, instead of returning him to put an end to the princess who had inflicted such evil on his people?

  He had felt like a coward but had done as ordered. He had struggled to adapt to that strange, gracious people and their completely different way of life. Just when he thought he was fulfilling his destiny, the widow's son had died.

  "Why me?"

  HE ROSE, walked a bit farther until he entered the mist covering the mountaintop. He could take advantage of the lack of visibility to flee from his persecutors, but what would it matter? He was weary of fleeing, and he knew that nowhere would he find his place in the world. Even if he succeeded in escaping now, he would bear the curse with him to another city, and other tragedies would come to pass. Wherever he went, he would take with him the shadow of those deaths. He preferred to have his heart ripped from his chest and his head cut off.

  He sat down again, amid the fog. He had decided to wait a bit, so that those below would think he had climbed to the top of the mountain; then he would return to Akbar, surrendering to his captors.

  "The fire of heaven." Many before had been killed by it, though Elijah doubted that it was sent by the Lord. On moonless nights its glow crossed the firmament, appearing suddenly and disappearing just as abruptly. Perhaps it burned. Perhaps it killed instantly, with no suffering.

  AS NIGHT FELL, the fog dissipated. He could see the valley below, the lights of Akbar, and the fires of the Assyrian encampment. He heard the barking of their dogs and the war chants of their soldiers.

  "I am ready," he said to himself. "I accepted that I was a prophet, and did everything I did as best I could. But I failed, and now God needs someone else."

  At that moment, a light descended upon him.

  "The fire of heaven!"

  The light, however, remained before him. And a voice said:

  "I am an angel of the Lord."

  Elijah kneeled and placed his face against the ground.

  "I have seen you at other times, and have obeyed the angel of the Lord," replied Elijah, without raising his head. "And yet I have done nothing but sow misfortune wherever I go."

  But the angel continued:

  "When thou returnest to the city, ask three times for the boy to come back to life. The third time, the Lord will hearken unto thee."

  "Why am I to do this?"

  "For the grandeur of God."

  "Even if it comes to pass, I have doubted myself. I am no longer worthy of my task," answered Elijah.

  "Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy--for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision."

  "Moments ago, you saw I was not even sure you were an emissary of God."

  "Go, and obey what I have said."

  AFTER MUCH TIME HAD PASSED, ELIJAH DESCENDED THE mountain to the place of the altars of sacrifice. The guards were awaiting him, but the multitude had returned to Akbar.

  "I am ready for death," he said. "I have asked forgiveness from the gods of the Fifth Mountain, and now they command that, before my soul abandons my body, I go to the house of the widow who took me in, and ask her to take pity on my soul."

  The soldiers led him back, to the presence of the high priest, where they repeated what the Israelite had said.

  "I shall do as you ask," the high priest told the prisoner. "Since you have sought the forgiveness of the gods, you should also seek it of the widow. So that you do not flee, you will go accompanied by four armed soldiers. But harbor no illusion that you will convince her to ask clemency; when morning comes, we shall execute you in the middle of the square."

  The high priest wished to inquire what he had seen atop the mountain, but in the presence of the soldiers the answer might be awkward. He therefore decided to remain silent, but he approved of having Elijah ask for forgiveness in public; no one else could then doubt the power of the gods of the Fifth Mountain.

  Elijah and the soldiers went to the poor, narrow street where he had dwelled for several months. The doors and windows of the widow's house were open so that, following custom, her son's soul could depart, to go to live with the gods. The body was in the center of the small room, with the entire neighborhood sitting in vigil.

  When they noticed the presence of the Israelite, men and women alike were horrified.

  "Out with him!" they screamed at the guards. "Isn't the evil he has caused enough? He is so perverse that the gods of the Fifth Mountain refused to dirty their hands with his blood!"

  "Leave to us the task of killing him!" shouted a man. "We'll do it right now, without waiting for the ritual execution!"

  Standing his ground against the shoves and blows, Elijah freed himself of the hands that grasped him and ran to the widow, who sat weeping in a corner.

  "I can bring him back from the dead. Let me touch your son," he said. "For just an instant."

  The widow did not even raise her head.

  "Please," he insisted. "Even if it be the last thing you do for me in this life, give me the chance to try to repay your generosity."

  Some men seized him to drag him away. But Elijah resisted, struggling with all his strength, imploring to be allowed to touch the dead child.

  Although he was young and determined, he was finally pulled away to the door of the house. "Angel of the Lord, where are you?" he cried to the heavens.

  At that moment, everyone stopped. The widow had risen and come toward him. Taking him by the hands, she led him to where the cadaver of her son lay, then removed the sheet that covered him.

  "Behold the blood of my blood," she said. "May it descend upon the heads of your line if you do not achieve what you desire."

  He drew near, to touch the boy.

  "One moment," said the widow. "First, ask your God to fulfill my curse."

  Elijah's heart was racing. But he believed wh
at the angel had told him.

  "May the blood of this boy descend upon the heads of my father and mother and upon my brothers, and upon the sons and daughters of my brothers, if I do not do that which I have said."

  Then, despite all his doubts, his guilt, and his fears, "He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

  "And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord, my God, hast Thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

  "And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord, my God, I pray Thee, let this child's soul come into him again."

  For long moments nothing happened. Elijah saw himself back in Gilead, standing before the soldier with an arrow pointing at his heart, aware that oftentimes a man's fate has nothing to do with what he believes or fears. He felt calm and confident as he had that day, knowing that, whatever the outcome might be, there was a reason that all of this had come to pass. Atop the Fifth Mountain, the angel had called this reason the "grandeur of God"; he hoped one day to understand why the Creator needed His creatures to demonstrate this glory.

  It was then that the boy opened his eyes.

  "Where's my mother?" he asked.

  "Downstairs, waiting for you," replied Elijah, smiling.

  "I had a strange dream. I was traveling through a dark hole, at a speed faster than the swiftest horse in Akbar. I saw a man--I am sure he was my father, though I never knew him. Then I came to a beautiful place where I wanted to stay; but another man--one I don't know but who seemed very good and brave--asked me kindly to turn away from there. I wanted to go on, but you awoke me."

  The boy seemed sad; the place he had almost entered must be lovely.

  "Don't leave me alone, for you made me come back from a place where I knew I'd be protected."

  "Let us go downstairs," Elijah said. "Your mother wants to see you."

  The boy tried to rise, but he was too weak to walk. Elijah took him in his arms and descended the stairs.

  The people downstairs appeared overwhelmed by profound terror.

  "Why are all these people here?" the boy asked.