Seiobo There Below Read online

  There is no other river like it in the world, if someone sees it for the first time he simply can’t believe his eyes, he just can’t believe it, and standing on one of the bridges — let us say, the Gojo-ohashi — he asks his companion, if there is one, what exactly is this here below us, in this wide riverbed, where at first water, but only in the narrowest of veins, trickles here and there between the completely absurd-looking islets; because this is the question, whether someone can believe what they are seeing or not; the Kamogawa is a relatively wide river in which there is so little water that in the riverbed the little islets, hundreds of them, are formed from silt, islets now overgrown with grass, the entire Kamogawa is full of such haphazard silt-islets overgrown with grass, knee- or chest-high, and it is between these that the little bit of water meanders, as if on the verge of completely drying up; what has happened here, a person asks his companion, if there is one; maybe some catastrophe or what, why has the river dried up so much? — he, however, must be content with the reply that oh, the Kamo was a very wild river, and beautiful, and certainly downstream by the Shijo-ohashi it still is, and sometimes here too, when the rainy season sets in, even now it can be filled up with water, until 1935 it flooded on a regular basis, for centuries they couldn’t control it, even in the Heike Monogatari it is described how they couldn’t control it, then Toyotami Hideyori ordered the regulation of the river, and a certain Suminokura Soan and his father Ryõi began to do so; indeed Ryõi completed the Takase canal and then its channel was straightened, and then by 1894 the Biwa canal was completed, but of course there were still floods, and the last time, precisely in 1935, so great was the flooding that nearly all of the bridges were destroyed, and there were many deaths, and unspeakable damage; well at that point, it was decided that they would finally put an end to its destructive strength, they decided they would build this and they would build that, and not just along the embankments but down there in the riverbed as well, a kind of system of irregular dams made of blocking stones, which would then break up the flow of the water that was excessively turbulent as it fell in torrents from the northwestern mountains; and so they broke it, says the local companion, if there is one, as is clearly visible, they were able to break its strength, there is no more flooding, no more death, no more damage, only these tricklings; these blocking stones, this system of dams work very effectively and, well, the birds — from the middle of the Gojo-ohashi — the local companion points upward and downward, many kilometers into the distance, and toward the riverbed; these countless birds, they come from the Biwa lake; but even he doesn’t know exactly from where, and there is everything here — Yurikamome, Kawasemi, Magamo, Onagagamo and Hidorigamo, Mejiro and Kinkurohajiro — really all different sorts and this kind and that, and little dragonflies dart about here and there, it is just the snow-white great heron that the local companion, if there is one, does not mention; he doesn’t mention it because he doesn’t see it, as he points over there, because of its continual motionlessness, everyone has got so used to it, it is always down there, they don’t even notice anymore, yet it is there as if it weren’t even there, it stands motionlessly, not even a single feather quivering, it leans forward, raking with its gaze the foamy froth of the water trickling down, the snow-white unceasingness of the Kamo, the axis of the city, the artist who is no more, who is invisible, who is needed by no one.

  It would be better for you to turn around and go into the thick grasses, there where one of those strange grassy islets in the riverbed will completely cover you, it would be better if you do this for once and for all, because if you come back tomorrow, or after tomorrow, there will be no one at all to understand, no one to look, not even a single one among all your natural enemies that will be able to see who you really are; it would be better for you to go away this very evening when twilight begins to fall, it would be better for you to retreat with the others, if night begins to descend, and you should not come back if tomorrow, or after tomorrow, dawn breaks, because for you it will be much better for there to be no tomorrow and no day after tomorrow; so hide away now in the grass, sink down, fall onto your side, let your eyes slowly close, and die, for there is no point in the sublimity that you bear, die at midnight in the grass, sink down and fall, and let it be like that — breathe your last.

  2

  THE EXILED QUEEN

  I Quiz Biblici online, maintained by the website La Nuova Via, offered its readers in the autumn of 2006 the following crossword puzzle, which in number 54 across compelled its readers to a decisive conclusion:

  CRUCIVERBA 21

  Orizzontali:

  1 E sulla . . . e sulla coscia porta scritto questo nome: RE DEI RE, SIGNOR DEI SIGNORI

  5 Il marito di Ada e Zilla

  10 Il Signore . . . trarre i pii dalla tentazione

  11 . . . questa stagione io verrò, e Sara avrà un figliuolo

  12 La legge è fatta non per il giusto, ma per gl’iniqui e i ribelli, per gli empî e i peccatori, per gli scellerati e gl’. . . , per i percuotitori di padre e madre

  15 Poiché egli fu crocifisso per la sua debolezza; ma . . . per la potenza di Dio

  17 Re d’Israele

  19 Perciò pure per mezzo di lui si pronunzia l’. . . alla gloria di Dio, in grazia del nostro ministerio

  20 Una testa d’asino vi si vendeva

  ottanta sicli d’argento, e il quarto d’un . . . di sterco di colombi, cinque sicli d’argento

  23 Perché mille anni, agli occhi tuoi, sono come il giorno d’. . . quand’è passato

  24 Quando sono stato in grandi pensieri dentro di . . . , le tue consolazioni han rallegrato l’anima mia

  25 Figliuolo d’Eleazar, figliuolo d’Aaronne

  26 . . . amerai dunque l’Eterno, il tuo Dio, con tutto il cuore, con tutta l’anima tua e con tutte le tue forze

  27 Allora l’ira di Elihu, figliuolo di Barakeel il Buzita della tribù di . . . , s’accese

  28 Questi sono i figliuoli di Dishan: Uts e . . .

  29 Perciò Iddio li ha abbandonati a passioni infami: poiché le loro femmine hanno mutato l’uso naturale in quello che è contro natura; e similmente anche i maschi, lasciando l’uso naturale della donna, si sono infiammati nella loro libidine gli uni per gli altri, commettendo uomini con uomini cose . . . , e ricevendo in loro stessi la condegna mercede del propio taviamento

  32 Elkana ed Anna immolarono il giovenco, e menarono il fanciullo ad . . .

  33 Io do alla tua progenie questo paese, dal fiume d’Egitto al gran fiume, il fiume Eufrate; i Kenei, i . . . , i Kadmonei

  35 . . . dal primo giorno toglierete ogni lievito dale vostre case

  37 Davide rimase nel deserto in luoghi forti; e se ne stette nella contrada montuosa del deserto di . . .

  38 Or Abner, figliuolo di . . . , capo dell’esercito di Saul

  40 Figliuoli di Tola: . . . , refaia, Jeriel, Jahmai, Jbsam e Samuele

  42 Fa’ presto . . . accordo col tuo avversario mentre sei ancora per via con lui

  45 Questi tornò a Jzreel per farsi curare delle ferite che avea ricevute dai Sirî a . . .

  47 . . . n’è di quelli che strappano dalla mammella l’orfano

  48 . . . la si ottiene in cambio d’oro

  49 Non han più ritegno, m’umiliano, rompono ogni freno in . . . presenza

  50 Il mio amico m’è un grappolo di cipro delle vigne d’. . .-ghedi

  51 La città rumorosa sarà resa deserta, la collina e la torre saran per sempre ridotte in caverne, in luogo di spasso per gli onàgri e di pascolo . . .’ greggi

  52 Il suo capo è oro finissimo, le sue chiome sono crespe, . . . come il corvo

  54 La regina Vashti ha . . . non solo verso il re, ma anche verso tutti i principi e tutti i popoli che sono in tutte le province del re Assuero

  56 . . . dunque, figliuoli, ascoltatemi, e non vi dipartite dale parole della mia bocca

  57 Il cuore allegro rende . . . il volto

  58 Mahlah, Thirtsah, Hoglah, Milcah e Noah, figliuole di Tselofehad, si
maritarono coi figliuoli dei loro . . .

  60 Uno dei valorosi guerrieri al servizio del re Davide

  61 Oggi tu stai per passare i confini di Moab, . . . Ar

  63 La moglie di Achab, re d’Israele

  64 Fu giudice d’Israele per 23 anni, era della tribù d’Issacar

  Verticali:

  1 Ma quella che si dà ai piaceri, benché . . . , è morta

  2 Sansone disse loro: ‘Io vi proporrò un . . .

  3 Perché Iddio . . . gli occhi aperti sulle vie de’ mortali, e vede tutti i lor passi

  4 Figliuolo di Giuda, figliuolo di Giacobbe

  5 . . . porte della morte ti son esse state scoperte?

  6 . . . solo udir parlare di me, m’hanno ubbidito

  7 . . . rendono male per bene; derelitta è l’anima mia

  8 Gli uomini saranno . . . , amanti del danaro, vanagloriosi

  9 O monte di Dio, o monte di Basan, o monte dalle molte . . . , o monte di Basan

  10 . . . rallegrino i cieli e gioisca la terra

  13 Io ho veduto gli sleali e ne ho provato . . .

  14 . . . attento al mio grido, perché son ridotto in molto misero stato

  16 Or i capi sacerdoti e gli scribi stavan là, acusandolo con . . .

  18 Figliuoli di Caleb figliulo di Gefunne: . . . , Ela e Naam, i figliuoli d’Ela e Kenaz

  20 Rimpiangete, costernati, le schiacciate, d’uva di . . .-Hareseth!

  21 Prima vi abitavano gli Emim: popolo grande, numeroso, alto di statura come gli . . .

  22 E non dimenticate di esercitar la . . .

  25 E l’Eterno gli disse: ». . . tu bene a irritarti così?«

  26 E in quell’istante, accostatosi a Gesù, gli disse: . . . saluto, Maestro!

  27 Per la tribù di Beniamino: Palti, figliuolo di . . .

  30 Efraim ebbe per figliuola Sceera, che edificò Beth-horon, la inferiore e la superiore, ed . . .-Sceera

  31 Uno dei capi di Edom

  34 . . . notte e giorno, e non sarai sicuro della tua esistenza

  36 Davide sposò anche Ahinoam di . . .

  37 Essa gli partorì questi figliuoli: Jeush, Scemaria e . . .

  39 Dio in lingua ebraica

  41 Dopo di loro Tsadok, figliuolo d’. . . , lavorò dirimpetto alla sua casa

  43 I dormiglioni n’andran vestiti di . . .

  44 Quand’hai fatto un . . . a Dio, non indugiare ad adempierlo

  46 Amica mia io t’assomiglio alla mia cavalla che s’attacca . . . carri di Faraone

  51 Non sapete voi che un . . . ’ di lievito fa lievitare tutta la pasta

  52 Li hanno gli uccelli dei cieli

  53 E i suoi piedi eran simili a terso . . . , arroventato in una fornace

  55 E questi sono i figliuoli di Tsibeon: . . . e Ana

  59 Or Amram prese per moglie Iokebed, sua . . .

  60 . . . vostro agnello sia senza difetto, maschio, dell’anno

  62 Ecco, io ti . . . di quelli della sinagoga di Satana

  At about the same time as this, a firm registered at the address of Mitchelton 4053, Qld, Australia made an update to its internet page, vashtiskin.com, so as to correspond with the new spirit of the times, and as one can sense, this act is not a trifling one, for as they write, Vashti Purely Natural Skin Care, distantly related to the website www.3roos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=194376, has a unique range that supports health and well-being by using nature’s gifts to work in synergy to rejuvenate the body and uplift the soul. Their products, which include skin cleansers, body lotions, hair lotions, and baby products, are handmade from the finest plant-based ingredients that mimic the naturally occurring constituents in the skin, reduce free radical damage, and encourage hydration, blood supply, and cellular regrowth. In addition, they inform us that Vashti uses only quality ingredients, and also wish to tell us that their products are 100% vegan-friendly, that they respect humans by avoiding the use of synthetic ingredients and artificial colors and fragrances. Finally, they add that they respect animals by not supporting testing on them.

  Radical Damage

  She was never much loved in the Persian court; she was exalted and envied, praised and condemned; she enchanted everyone and they said of her that she wasn’t, accordingly, so beautiful, but she was beautiful, very beautiful, surpassing every measure known up until then, and consequently more dazzling than anyone else: but love was withheld from her: it never occurred to anyone to approach her in a loving way; neither those who could be in her very presence nor those who had only heard of her, and everyone in Susa knew — no less than everyone across the whole of the Achaemenid Empire — that she lived in the Emperor’s palace under the burden of a perpetual deprivation of love, and that was even so before she became the spouse of the Great King, because at the very moment of her birth her destiny had been sealed, for it was claimed mistakenly that she was the descendent of Bel-sarra-usur, sunk into religious frenzy, and Nabu-kudurri-ushur, the bountiful robber-chieftain king; and from the beginning they treated her, regardless of her age, as someone whom a great future awaited, although they could not have suspected just how great a future it would be, until the end of time itself, because when the sovereign of the gigantic Empire of the Persians made her his first wife, selecting her and pronouncing the marriage, it so happened, when the queenly crown was placed upon her magnificent head, a Babylonian head — so, the Great King couldn’t find anyone suitable among the ladies of Persia, Parysatis let drop in fury; no, the Great King succinctly replied, and indeed it really was so, because no one else existed for him apart from Queen Vashti; he had never seen such beauty as he had perceived in her from that very first glance, neither before nor anywhere else ever since, and yet since the time of Cyrus the Great, the Empire had grown quite large, for surely it was the greatest in all of the world within the grasp of reason, and where to be precise there was no lack of beauties: Medes, Scythians, Parthians, Lydians, Syrians, and Jews, impossible to list just how many peoples and how many kinds of beauty, but not one of them even came close to the godlike beauty radiating from the Babylonian queen; the Great King is in love, they whispered in the Persian court, which continually shifted its quarters between Pasargade, Persepolis, Ecbatana, and Susa, according to the season; if he is in the queen’s presence, they said of the sovereign in Pasargade, it’s as if he’s lost his mind; if he as much as gazes at the queen, they whispered in Persepolis, he can’t look away from her; if he is in the queen’s proximity, the foreign emissaries repeated at home when they had returned from Susa, he doesn’t pay attention, and it is impossible to discuss anything with him; and all of this corresponded to reality; at times, if the Great King was attending a resplendent supper in the zenana, he nearly forgot to eat, for he only gazed at the Queen, and could not bear to free himself from the sight of her magnificent, thick, golden-hued hair, as it fell in plaits below the elegant nape of her neck onto her back — he too marveled at her, lauded her, extolled her, and he felt ill at ease when the court rumors that he was in love reached his ear, for he didn’t know what it was that bound him — whether tightly or slackly — to that feeling through whose power he felt he had to marvel at her, laud her, and extol her, the Great King was helpless, yet he was happy and proud, and could have been capable of murdering with his bare hands anyone at all who might dare to utter her name — not only his mother, Parysatis, which would have been natural, not only the women residing in the secluded world of the palace zenana, which was in itself tradition, but even the subjugated princes and kings — if they dared to speak of his marvelous Queen, saying that she was excessively proud in the court, that she excessively sought the people’s favor, he would, in all certainty, have killed that person, for in addition what they said was not so far from the truth; for Vashti proved in reality to be reclusive during the zenana-feasts ordered for the king, and Vashti was only made happy by being able to take part in a procession in Persepolis or Ecbatana, or Pasargade or, during the winter months, before the people of Susa, winning, in this way, immeasurable
popularity; ever more popular, noted the sovereign’s mother, who was her greatest enemy in the circle of the royal councilors, with murderously glittering eyes; ever more popular, the Persian retinue murmured uneasily, turning gloomy at the mere thought of the male successor to arrive in no time at all no doubt, who thanks to his mother would be half Babylonian; ever more popular, as was reported to the Great King, who hearing the news was in such high spirits as if seeing the people rejoice at his own treasure, believing that this popularity would shine through to him as well; this, however, was not the case, this popularity applied to the Queen alone; an unbridled enthusiasm which, apart from the fact that the procession of the Queen of the Persian Empire was not a custom and therefore not possible, arose from the feeling of this populace that Queen Vashti was using every opportunity to take part in a procession in her gilded carriage before the celebrating crowds because she loved them, the people; the Great Queen, as she was called, by decree and by their sensibilities, however, wanted only to see how they loved her; although this was not true, for if they rejoiced at the sight of her, if they shouted from joy being able to catch a glimpse of her, the people were in fact enthralled only because they could see her, they could glimpse her, which in reality fell far short of the Great Queen’s covetous wishes; but she didn’t notice anything, the people rejoiced and shouted, and yet the court trembled; first and foremost the mother of the Great King, Parysatis, who sensed in all of this the premonition of greater, more treacherous changes, and who would have gladly smothered one hundred peasants of the Babylonian Empire in ashes, just out of deterrence, if not the Great Queen herself — at least for now, she said to her most trusted confidantes; it was impossible, she made accusations in the presence of the Great King, how this vagrant Babylonian had the gall to flout the conventions of the Empire at every possible opportunity, whether under the pretext of making a sacrifice to Mithra or showing gratitude to Anahita, to go out among the crowds, to leave the quarters of the zenana, to have herself feted by the rabble; so let them fete her, the Great King remarked with shining eyes, she is the only one in the entire Empire, he said, gesturing toward the zenana, who deserves to be feted, at which Parysatis snorted loudly and stormed off, and the Great King merely smiled to himself, and had no concern for his mother, his only concern was for the Great Queen, and in his decrees he upheld the cult of Mithra, and of Anahita, while he himself, in accordance with tradition, subjugated himself to the veneration and worship of the Most Supreme, Ahura Mazda; let her go, he pronounced to his entourage, and sacrifice as she wishes to Mithra and Anahita, it will hurt neither the Empire nor the people, and it didn’t hurt him in particular if he himself didn’t take part in these queenly processions, it was enough for him to imagine to himself how, amidst her most dazzling ornaments, in her most dazzling attire, she flung, on the way to the shrine of Mithra, her unparalleled beauty out to the people; this was pleasing to the Great King, this magnificence and this dissipation, as, so to speak, she squandered the inimitable splendor of her own person onto those unworthy of it, this in particular enraptured the Great King, this insolent caprice, for he had not the slightest inkling of why Vashti felt an insatiable desire to be loved; and among the jubilation and screaming of the crowds in Susa and Persepolis, she could imagine that here, on either side of the sacred path, were people filled with love for their queen — a jubilation and shouting which she heard now, too, in the torturing silence, when the theater of her ruin had commenced, and in accordance with the judgment and custom, she was compelled to leave the palace apartments alone, deprived of her jewels, with no one to accompany her, through the queen’s courtyard and toward the Northern Gate, to all others closed.