Luxuria
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y intention was to
return to the park and get back the book from those men. So, I strode hastily
through dim and brightly lighted streets until I reached the vicinity of the
park. I stopped at the other end of the road and was perplexed to see that the
men weren’t there anymore. My first thought was to enter in and search, but my
feelings didn’t allow. I decided to stand there and wait.
Presently, I
spotted Epicure walking towards me from a distance with a lady by his side and
his arm on her shoulder. They both were jesting and laughing aloud and acted
like amorous lovers. I turned towards a shop and pretended to look in as he
passed by me. He didn’t seem to see me because he passed by me without even
raising a wink. I wondered if he saw anyone.
I knew it was worthless trying to follow him. I looked at the park again
and, now, saw something that I didn’t notice earlier. There was a board hanging
above the benches with a quote that read: “He who has learnt the art of
laughter has become free from the past and the hereafter.” Above the quote were
the words: “The Critic’s Bench”. I turned and looked at my right above the
sidewalk and saw another board with the words: “Walk with the crowd and you
won’t be lost.” I read the name of the road: “Freemen’s way”. Now, without a
map, without the book, and without a wallet I had no clue what to do and where
to go. “I’ll look for Elymas,” I resolved, because I knew that the book was the
only link between this world and the one to which I belonged. The words that I had read earlier before
losing the book rang in my ears:
“Seek Wisdom like
one searches for hidden treasure;
And till you find
her, allow no game and no pleasure.
Seek her in the
squares; seek her in the thoroughfares,
Seek her
everywhere, but keep away from barren leisure.”
“I’ll go to the
main square,” I thought, “there would be some clue; also, most feet are bound
to pass that way, and Elymas might pass through it as well.” So, I began
walking in the direction in which I first saw Epicure coming. Most of the
people here looked happy and satisfied. Now and then I would observe one or two
who looked sapless; but, such a person would soon be seen to stop by, pull out
a small bottle of liquid, and sniff it hard. Then, immediately his or her face
would beam and he or she would spring back into mad and wild laughter. I
wondered what stuff that bottle contained. I saw one of such men suddenly turn
towards me, point his finger at me, and laugh jeeringly so wild that his face
became red, swollen, and tears fell from his eyes. He then settled down on a
side bench and holding his stomach kept writhing in laughter. I quickly moved
away from him.
I, presently,
reached a turn and entered another street and noticed the square lit by bright
lights at the far end. There seemed to be some monument in the middle of the
square. The walk here was larger and tents were spread outside houses and shops
where men and women sat and played games of various kinds. The people here sometimes
looked happy and sometimes very unhappy. I noticed that the winners of the
games would jump up, stamp the ground, stand up high and blow a trumpet.
Others, most probably those who lost some game, would be pulling out fists of
rage and yelling curses. There was one thing that I noted about these streets;
I noticed that each of the streets had a stench of a different kind, and the
stench grew pungently irritating to the nose as I drew closer to the square.
I also noticed that
things were getting strange in the city now, because by now a number of men
dressed in black suits were beginning to be seen everywhere, walking with
furtive glances at every man. Also, there were police cars and personnel
stopping a number of men and checking their papers. But, they didn’t seem to
care about the men who were playing the games. Presently, I noticed that there
were also notices pasted on some walls with the picture of someone and the
headline “Wanted!” I looked closer and was suddenly in a dread because the
image that I saw was a pencil sketch of my face. I slowed my pace and ambled
through the walk to avoid suspicion. But, it seemed useless because a policeman
stopped me and demanded, “Your papers, sir!”
In an act of
instinctive reflex, I pulled out the scroll tucked under my shirt and handed it
over to him. My mind reeled with questions and my eyes looked quickly here and
there trying to figure out which way to take in order to run. The policeman
unpinned the seal and opened the scroll; glanced over it, then folded it back,
and returned it to me again. At this moment, I noticed that the police badge
bore the image of the head of a goat. He
then walked way. I wondered what the scroll was all about. “May be some
citizenship papers,” I thought. I unrolled it and saw that it was a plain;
there was nothing in it. The hairs on my hand stood up. I rolled it back and
tucked it under my shirt.
I reached the
square and stood at a corner. It was a busy place with people walking and
strolling all around. In the middle of it was a great fountain lit with many
colors in which stood a great stone statue of a lady sitting on a red horse,
with a bow drawn in her hand and a quiver full of arrows on her back. There was
the emblem of a goat’s head on the pedestal and under it the words:
LUXURIA
Also Called LUST
Twice Victor over Truth and Time
I wondered what those words meant. The colors had an unnatural blend
that attracted the eyes but caused such strain that I had to look away from the
image. I also noticed that four huge statues of goats stood at each corner of
the square. Each goat was of a different color, and a different name visibly
carved on their body. I noticed that each of the names was different. Also, a
banner flew over them of the same color with four words written on each. The
red goat bore the name “Amour” on its body and its banner carried the words
“Stolen Waters Are Sweet”. The lavender goat bore the name “Sodom” and it
banner carried the words “All Pleasure is Natural”. The bluish-green goat bore
the name “Sade” and its banner carried the words “Some Deserve Their Hurt”. The
black goat bore the name “Zooerastia” and its banner carried the words “One
With All Nature”. I felt nauseated by what I saw and read.
“Yea, the Lady is
cautious and so has ordered her troops to brush through every house,” I
overheard someone saying behind my back. I didn’t turn around and pretended not
to hear anything.
“Is it true that
she has ordered three sweeps of search?” another person asked.
“Yes, we’ve heard
that. There have been reports that Law was sighted with a young man. The young
man was caught later by one of the officer, but managed to escape. Luxuria was
furious on hearing this and has ordered the entire force to filter through the
division.”
“One little
nuisance can spoil the texture of the entire region. He may have escaped to Ira
or Acedia by now. I’m sure that the
Lady’s fury will subside.”
“I don’t believe
that; Luxuria is never calm until she has obtained what she wants.”
“What about Elymas,
the magician? I heard some rumors.”
My ears perked up.
“Oh yes, I forgot
mentioning that. It is closely related to the case. Elymas was the one, it is
said, who caught the young man and handed him over to the police. He had also
taken away from him a certain book that he carried. It is said that Elymas, on
hearing that the young man had connections with Law, immediately annunciated
that he would demonstrate his greater powers of magic by burning the book in
public. So, after he had gathered a number of people, he placed the book on a
stone altar and cast fiery spells on it. But it seems he didn’t pronounce a
spell rightly, because all of a sudden fire came out of the book and burnt his
eyes, and he became blind.”
“He couldn’t heal
himself?”
“No. He had cast
the ultimate spell and it seems to have boomeranged on him. The Governess came
to know this and confiscated the book. “Let Law come and take it from me,” she
is said to have said.” They laughed.
“Where is Elymas
now?”
“Nobody knows.”
“Oh let the
officials do their job; there are more pleasant things for us to attend.” They
left.
My mind was berserk
with confusion knowing not what to do now. I knew that any attempt towards
Luxuria in order to get the book was like putting the head in a guillotine.
Elymas was not to be found here. What about Wisdom? Would she stand in the
square of a world of shadows? I didn’t think it possible. I doubted if I could
ever find her; if there was any hope now, it relied on her finding me. But
would she?
I decided to return
to the old dilapidated building. “The police may come searching for me there,”
I thought. “But,” I argued, “I must not get away too far from the possibility
of securing the book.” Not being able to decide or compose myself as to my next
step ahead, I turned back. A bit of me didn’t agree with my returning back.
But, that bit was overpowered by my confusion – I absolutely now had no idea
where to go or what to do, and I abandoned the confusion and unknown to the
familiar that I had already known. Before me was a vast emptiness bereft of all
answers, behind me was the only solid thing I now could remove to. So, I
returned, at each step strengthening my resolve with the hope that all we be
fine in the end. I came close to the old building and saw that it stood there
all the same – forsaken and worn. I walked close to it, all the while
pretending not to be in an alarm while also looking from the corner of the eye
and casually making sure that I was not being watched. The street seemed to be
darker and the lamps dimmer, or perhaps I felt so. As I drew closer, I felt
that a shadow was following me from behind. I shirked it off as a mere mental
rearrangement of unknowingly picked sense-signals. As soon as I was close to
the door, I ambled in, sidled back near the desk and sat down in the dark.
Then, suddenly, the lamp above me lit and I jumped back.
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