The New Moon, page 19
Shortly after their departure, cries of joy were heard in the palace square, provoked by the report of the three envoys, who told the people about the fine and noble reception that the Queen had given them. But the nobles were not content and were already weaving a new plot.
They decided to accuse the foreigner of seeking to take possession of the throne and become their king; to that effect they hired a number of commoners to affirm, as witnesses in the lawsuit they intended to bring, that the foreigner had promised them large rewards if they would associate themselves with his project, which was to overthrow the Queen’s government, and recognize him as their King. The men who had woven the plot denounced me to the Chief Justice, and I was summoned to appear in three days at the Supreme Court. All the hired witnesses were obliged to appear before the judges at the same time as me.
When the Queen learned that I was to be brought before the judges of the criminal court she came to me and said: “Is the news that I have just heard really true, my friend? You have been accused of being the author of a plot against me? Can that be possible? I can’t believe it.”
“You’re right, my friend; I’m incapable of it, and you have judged me correctly—but let them do it. I’m tranquil on the subject that obliges me to appear before the judges. Be present at my trial on the appointed day, and you will see my calumniators confounded.”
IV
The day of my judgment arrived. There was a great stir in the town; people were coming and going in all directions and there was a confused murmur of voices. The sun’s rays only illuminated the day lugubriously; large clouds announced an impending storm; everything was somber and sad.
The Queen had come to my apartment at an early hour; anxiety had kept her awake all night. “Well, my friend,” she said, when she came in, weeping. “It is today that you will be tried and perhaps convicted unjustly; I will not permit that. My guards will be at the tribunal, ready to act at my first signal.”
“Thank you, my Queen, my good friend, but, as I’ve already told you, let them do it. I shall be convicted, without a doubt, but promise me that you will remain a tranquil spectator of everything that happens, for it is then that you will know me better and will be assured of my perfect innocence.”
“I promise,” she said. “I see you so full of confidence that my fears die down and you reanimate my courage.”
“I shall be convicted, as you say, but don’t worry, I implore you.”
“You will be content with me, my friend.”
“And come to see me this evening, my noble friend, so that I can thank you.”
“I will come,” she said.
The palace square was covered by the people, curious to see me pass on my way to the tribunal. I went there alone; I had not wanted an escort. The crowd opened a passage for me, and I went through the middle of it without having heard the slightest murmur. For her part, the Queen went there carried on a palanquin by her servants; she was followed by her maids of honor and escorted by guards.
I went into the tribunal hall; an usher indicated the seat that was reserved for me on a platform facing the judges. The Queen was on a platform surmounted by an awning. On the opposite side were the dignitaries of the State and the commoners called as witnesses. Some of the Queen’s guards were placed beneath the sovereign’s platform, while others were posted at various points in the hall and others at the entrance door—for the room was vast. The air circulated freely, for glazed windows are unknown in the realm; people are only protected from the insults of the weather and the sun’s rays by means of large curtains opened and closed at will; on cloudy days all of them are open.
The greatest silence reigned in the hall. At a sign given by the Great Judge the usher told me to stand up, and the interrogation commenced.
“Who are you?”
“I’m a foreigner.”
“Where do you come from?”
“The Earth.”
“What is your name?”
“Pcer.”
“Why did you come here?”
“To educate myself.”
“You have no other designs?”
“No.”
“You are accused of wanting to take possession of the throne.”
“It is a false accusation.”
“However, there are witnesses that you have tried to suborn.”
“They are false witnesses.”
“How can you prove that?”
“By confounding them.”
“How will you confound them?”
“By putting them in my presence and making them identify the true suborners, for I know who they are.”
Then there was a murmur among the noblemen of the realm; several of them approached the Great Judge and spoke to him in a low voice. The Great Judge said to me: “Accused, your defense is inadmissible, and in any case, we are enlightened by witnesses worthy of faith. We shall return to the deliberation room, and I shall return to inform you of the result.”
The judges retired, and reappeared a short time afterwards. The Great Judge read the result of their deliberation and said to me: “Accused, you are convicted and judged guilty of the crime of lèse-majesté, and as such, condemned to the penalty of death by the torture of scatole.”77
A stifled exclamation departed from the Queen’s platform. I was standing up; I looked at her, and my calmness reassured her.
“Jailer,” said the Judge, “take possession of the guilty party, take him to the tower and guard him there until the time of his execution.”
The jailer approached and made as if to take possession of me, but at that moment, the collision of the electrified clouds produced a flash of lightning. Thunder crashed, and already the jailer had fallen at my feet, struck dead.
Great was the astonishment and consternation that reigned in the hall; terror was painted on the faces of a few highly-placed individuals. The thunder was still rumbling. The crowd was prostrated, fearful of great misfortunes. The Queen was calm.
The Great Judge, at the instigation of my enemies, had a turnkey summoned from the tower, and ordered him to take possession of me, to take me away and guard me until further notice. The turnkey approached me, but, at the moment when he was about to take hold of me, I disappeared from all eyes. My good genius Za had rendered me invisible like him and had transported me to the apartment I occupied at the palace, where I thanked him sincerely for the further service that he had just rendered me.
“It will always be the same, every time you are in danger,” he told me, in his soft voice. “You were accused unjustly, and I must protect your innocence; I would not have done it if you had been guilty. Such are the orders I have received from Zadir. If you do not deviate from the conduct you have maintained thus far, your good genius will not cease to protect you—but if you were weak enough to cede to the insinuation of the few evil genii who are our enemies, Zadir would abandon you and forbid me to be useful to you. I cannot give you advice—that is forbidden to me—but the one thing I am permitted to advise you to do is always take your honor as the guide of your conduct.”
I assured him that my conduct would always be exempt from evil actions.
“If that is so,” he said, “and I believe you to be sincere, you can always count on my protection, wherever you are; you know the three words that you must pronounce to summon me to your aid. Pronounce them in case of need and I shall be with you immediately. Now, when do you want to continue your voyage, and what planet do you have the intention of visiting?”
“Mercury,” I told him.
“It isn’t far from here,” he said, “and you can be there in a few moments. Inform me when you are ready.”
I thanked him and he vanished. Left alone, I ate some food that was on my table, and then lay down on the sofa to reflect on the events of that terrible day, which had terminated so well for me.
Suddenly, the Queen appeared in my apartment, and said to me: “You can be tranquil now.”
“It’s necessary to hope so, at least,” I replied.
“What!” she said to me. “Don’t you believe that the sedition is appeased?”
“I think it has relented,” I replied, “but in suspense, for the same ferments exist. It will not take much to excite the people again, and believe that they are working on that at this moment. It’s me that they want and it’s on me that the hatred and jealous of the nobles will pour. For myself, I have no fear—you’ve had the proof of that—but I fear the annoyances and torments that my presence here will cause you. It’s necessary, for your tranquility, that I go away for a time.”
Scarcely had I finished speaking that we heard a roar similar to that of waves violently agitated by a tempest and breaking into surf against reefs.
“What’s that noise?” she asked me.
“It’s the voice of the people,” I replied.
Immediately, a horrible cracking sound was heard.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s the doors of your palace being broken down. Go back to your apartment; they won’t abuse you and no harm will come to you; it’s only me they want. You can see that I’m an obstacle to your tranquility.”
And as the mob had invaded the palace, and was approaching my apartment, I urged the Queen to return to her own. Scarcely had she gone than I summoned Za. He appeared immediately. I asked him to render me invisible to the crowd that was about to irrupt into my apartment and, once it had gone and I had made sure that the Queen was safe, that we should depart for the planet Mercury.
“Very well,” he said.
The crowd precipitated into my apartment, and remained mute with astonishment at not seeing me there. A powerful voice made these words heard: “The one you seek is not here; he has gone. Go away, or fear the effects of my wrath.”
Consternated by that superhuman voice, the crowd withdrew in silence. Then I asked my genius to let me go to the Queen’s apartment to make sure that she was tranquil and in no anger.
“Very well,” he said. “Go; I’ll wait.”
I went to the Queen’s apartment, still invisible to all eyes. Everything was calm. I went in without being seen; I found her sad and pensive, and said to her: “Have courage and hope; adieu, my noble friend.”
That adieu pierced my heart, but I had a sacred duty to fulfill: a duty and sacrifice that honor ordered me to fulfill.
V
I returned to my good genius Za, and we departed immediately for Mercury, where we arrived in a few moments. The heat is excessive on that planet, where it is seven times stronger than in our hottest summers, to the extent that it liquefies metals. The inhabitants are extremely lively and frolicsome; one might think that they were afflicted by calenture, a species of delirium to which Europeans are subject in the tropics.
It was on that planet that Za set me down, and as soon as the inhabitants perceived me they ran to look at me, some on their hands instead of making use of their feet, others turning cartwheels and other uttering fearful cries.
I thought that they were all afflicted by madness, and said so to my good genius, who had not quit me.
“You’ve judged them accurately,” he told me, “And I doubt that you’ll like it here—or that you’ll obtain any pleasure from visiting the planet, which is covered with saltpeter, and where the excessive heat might make you uncomfortable. I think it might be better for you to leave.”
“You’ve divined my desire and anticipated the request that I was about to make for you to transport me to another, more habitable, planet.”
“I’m entirely ready to do so,” he replied. “Where would you like to go?”
“First, to Iris,” because I believe it’s not far from here.”
“That’s true,” he said. “You’ll be there in five minutes.”
Indeed. Five minutes later he deposited me on the planet Iris, beside an elegant summer-house in the garden of the Queen of that planet.
The Queen’s maids of honor perceived me and hastened to inform her that there was a stranger in the garden near the summer-house, and that they could not understand how the man in question had been introduced.
The Queen sent one of the ladies of the palace with her maids of honor to find out who I was. They soon arrived in my presence, and after having examined me for a few minutes the lady of the palace told me that the Queen had sent her to find out who I was, where I came from and why I had come to her realm.
I answered all her questions, and she seemed to be satisfied with my replies.
“I shall go report the extraordinary things you’ve told me to our Queen,” she said, “and she will doubtless want to see you.”
“I am at Her Majesty’s disposal,” I told her.
She returned to the palace, and a short time later, I saw a person arriving whose clothes were gaudily adorned. He came toward me placing the back of his hand on his forehead, told me that the Queen desired to see me and invited me to follow him. During the journey I asked him what ceremony I ought to observe.
“On entering the throne room, you bow, crossing our arms over your chest; then you advance toward her, put one knee on the ground and say to her: ‘Great Queen, dispose of your servant,’ And when she says to you: ‘Ben venuto,’ you get up and bow profoundly.
“That ceremony concluded, she will doubtless invite you to dine at her table, and then you will become a commensal or guest of the palace, for the queen likes to learn, and as you appear to me to be very knowledgeable about things that are unknown here, it’s probable that she will want to you to be close to her, in order to profit from your instruction.”
At that moment, another officer came to inform me that the Queen was waiting for me, and that he had been instructed to take me to her. I got up and followed him. On entering the room, I saw Queen Irisa on her throne. She was clad in a long white dress of a very light fabric, striped in various places with the colors of the rainbow.
I approached her, observing the ceremonial custom of which I had been informed. She observed me with great curiosity. She was young and very beautiful, but unlike Vénusté, who had blue eyes and blonde hair, Queen Irisa had brown eyes and chestnut-colored hair. Her face was both noble and piquant; she respired bounty.
“According to what I’ve been told, it appears that you come from a long way away and have come here to learn—but I’m also told that you appear to be very learned.”
“I am, in fact, educated, but Your Majesty knows that there are no limits to science; the more one possess, the more one can acquire.”
“I like to hear you talk thus,” she told me. “I think exactly the same. But what learning do you think you can acquire in this land, where it is non-existent?”
“Forgive me, Madame; I wanted to acquire the knowledge of your planet and judge the reality of something that I had only seen at a distance of thirty-three million leagues, with the aid of our binoculars and telescopes.”
“You are talking about things that are entirely strange to me, which excite my curiosity to the highest degree, and the desire to satisfy it. Would you like to instruct me regarding the marvelous things you have just mentioned?”
“I will do that with great pleasure, Madame, and to facilitate that instruction, I will draw you a plan of the planetary system, which will help you to understand easily what the heavenly bodies are, the place that they occupy in the firmament, and how they circulate there.”
“You throw me into an astonishment that I’ve never felt before. And you have the ability to teach me all these beautiful things, which seem so marvelous?”
“Yes, Madame.”
“And when will you commence my instruction?”
“Whenever it pleases Your Majesty.”
“Tomorrow,” she said, swiftly. “The apartment will be prepared that I invite you to occupy in my palace, in which you will be perfectly free. Your meals will be served at the times you indicated, and all the things necessary to you. One of the rooms in your apartment will be your study; it is far away from noise and perfectly suitable for study and meditation. You will find everything there that might be useful to you in your scientific studies. It is in your study that I shall receive your precious lessons. That study communicates with my apartment, which is above yours, by a secret stairway constructed between two walls, and it’s by means of that stairway that I shall come to your rooms to collect the knowledge that I lack and that I have a great desire to possess.”
That secret stairway reminded me of Vénusté’s passage, and I sighed profoundly.
Queen Irisa did indeed, come down to me apartment the following day, to examine the various rooms, especially the one intended as my study.
“How do you like this room?” she asked. “Do you think it will be suitable? What objects do you need for your work?”
“What is indispensable,” I replied, “is paper, ink and a pen.”
“But I don’t know what paper and ink are. Tell me.”
“Paper is a composition made of old linen, which is allowed to soak in water for a long time and reduced to paste; one then lays that paste very thinly over frames in the shape of the paper, and when it has dried out one peels it away, and the sheet of paper is made. If the paper is to be used for ink drawing or painting with water colors, it is soaked in gummed water in order to prevent it from being absorbent, and then laid out to dry. You have here a tree-bark that is analogous to the papyrus whose internal bark once served as paper, but that papyrus was only used by the ancient Egyptians to write in hieroglyphs on subjects of religion, the scientists and the arts.”
“But I’ve never heard mention of any of what you’ve just told me. Will you be kind enough to teach me about all these things, for the more I hear the more my desire to learn increases?”
“I have the honor of telling you, Madame, that I will do so with great pleasure, for I am entirely devoted to your orders.”
“My orders?” she said. “But you have none to receive from me, for I consider you as a friend.”
With those words she extended her hand to me, which I pressed in mine.
