CHAPTER XII.
SOLD INTO BONDAGE.
The experience of that evening was only the prelude for a horrid day, aday doubly horrid due to the mystery that surrounded it.
Aye, to this hour, when I write this for you, O my son Sylvest, to theend that from this truthful and detailed account, in which I recite toyou one by one the torments and the indignities heaped upon our countryand our race, you may contract a hate implacable for the Romans, whileawaiting the day of vengeance and deliverance;--aye, to this hour themysteries of that horrid day of sale are still impenetrable to me,unless they be explained by the sorceries of the "horse-dealer," many ofhis people being given to magic. But our venerable druids affirm thatmagic does not exist.
The day of the auction I was roused from my stupor by my master. I hadslept profoundly. I remembered what had occurred the previous evening.My first movement was to carry my hands to my head. It was shaved, andmy beard also! A thrill of anguish shot through me at the discovery; butinstead of flying into a rage, as I would have done the evening before,I only shed a few tears, fearfully regarding the "horse-dealer." Aye, Icried before that man--aye, I looked at him with fear.
What could have come over me during the night? Was I still under theinfluence of the philter poured into the wine? No, my torpor had gone. Ifound myself active of body, and in sound mind, but in character andheart I found myself softened, enervated, timid,--and, why not say theword?--cowardly! Aye, cowardly! I, Guilhern, son of Joel, the brenn ofthe tribe of Karnak. I looked timidly around me. Every minute my heartseemed to sink, and tears came to my eyes, as formerly the flush ofanger and pride had mantled my forehead. Of this inexplicabletransformation, due, perhaps, to sorcery, I was dimly conscious andwondered thereat. Down to this day, when I recall the incident, Iwonder, and none of the details of the horrid day has escaped from mymemory.
The "horse-dealer" observed me in silence with an air of triumph. He hadleft me my breeches only. I was stripped to the waist. I was seated onmy bed of straw. The dealer addressed me:
"Get up!" said he.
I hastened to obey. My master drew from his pocket a steel mirror,handed it to me, and resumed:
"Look at yourself!"
I looked at myself. Thanks to the witch-craft of my master, my cheekswere red, my face clear, as if awful misfortune had not settled upon meand my family. Nevertheless, on seeing for the first time in the mirrormy face and head completely shaved, as the badge of my bondage, I shedfresh tears, but tried to hide them from the "horse-dealer," for fearof annoying him. He replaced the mirror in his pocket, took from thetable a braided wreath of beech leaves,[25] and said:
"Put your head down."
I obeyed. The dealer put the wreath on my head. Then he took a parchmenton which were written several lines in large Roman characters, and hungthe inscription on my chest by means of two strings which he tied behindmy neck. Over my shoulders he threw a woolen covering. Then he openedthe secret spring which held my chain to the end of the bed, andfastened it to another iron ring which had been riveted on my otherankle during my heavy sleep. This way, although chained by both legs, Icould still walk with short steps. Finally, my hands were bound behindme.
Obedient to the "horse-dealer's" orders, whom I followed as quiet andsubmissive as a dog does his master, I descended the stairs which ledfrom my cell to the shed. The descent was affected not without pain tomy limbs owing to the shortness of the chain. In the shed I foundseveral captives, among whom I had passed my first night, lying uponstraw. No doubt their recovery was far enough advanced to admit of theirbeing put up for sale. Other slaves whose heads had likewise beenshaved, either by trick or by force, also wore wreaths on theirforeheads, inscriptions on their breasts, handcuffs on their hands andheavy shackles on their feet. They had started, under the supervision ofarmed keepers, to defile by a door which opened on the town square. Itwas there the auction sale was to be held. Nearly all the captivesseemed to me to be mournful, depressed and submissive like myself. Theylowered their eyes like men ashamed to look at one another. Among thelast, I recognized two or three men of my own tribe. One of them passedclose to me, and said in a low voice:
"Guilhern, we are shaven; but hair will grow again, and nails also."
I comprehended that the Gaul wished to give me to understand that someday would come the hour of vengeance. But in the great cowardice whichparalyzed me since my awakening, such was my fear of the "horse-dealer"that I pretended not to understand my countryman.[26]
The space engaged by the "horse-dealer" for the auction was not a greatway from the shed where we had been kept prisoners. We speedily arrivedat a sort of booth or stall, surrounded on three sides by planks,covered with canvas, and with the floor strewn with straw. Other booths,similar to it, were arranged to the right and left of a long space likea street. In this space Roman officers and soldiery walked in crowds,together with the buyers and sellers of slaves and various other men whofollow in the wake of armies. They looked at the captives chained in thebooths with a jeering and insulting curiosity. My master had informedme that his stall in the market was directly opposite that of hiscompanion in whose possession were the two children. A cloth was loweredover the opening. I only heard, a few moments later, imprecations andpiercing shrieks, mingled with mournful moans, from women, who werecrying in Gallic:
"Death, death, but not disgrace!"
"Those timorous fools are playing the vestals, because they are strippednaked to be shown to the customers," said the "horse-dealer," who hadkept near me. Presently he took me to the rear of the booth. On the wayI counted nine captives, some in their youth, others middle-aged, andonly two were past their prime. Some were seated on the straw, theirfaces turned down to escape the looks of the curious, others were lyingprone, their faces to the ground; a few stood erect casting fierceglances around them. The keepers, their scourges in their hands, theirswords at their sides, kept watch. The "horse-dealer" pointed to awooden cage, a sort of large box at the back of the booth, and said tome:
"Friend Bull, you are the pearl, the carbuncle of my assortment. Enterthis cage. The comparisons which would be made between you and my otherslaves would lower their value too much. As a thrifty merchant, I willtry to sell first what is of least value. One sells the small fry beforethe big fish."[27]
I obeyed. I went into the cage, and the door was closed upon me. Ifound that I could stand up. An opening through the top permitted me tobreathe without being seen from the outside. Just then a bell sounded.It was the signal for the sale. On all sides arose the squeaky voices ofthe auctioneers announcing the bids of the purchasers of human flesh.The merchants bragged their slaves in the Roman tongue, and invited thepurchaser into their booths. Several customers entered to inspect the"horse-dealer's" stock. Without understanding the words that he spoke, Iguessed by the inflections of his voice that he strove to capture them,while the auctioneer all the while called out the bids. From time totime a loud tumult arose in the booth, mingled with the sound of thekeepers' lashes, and the curses of the dealer. Evidently they werescourging some of my companions in slavery who refused to follow the newmaster to whom they had been "knocked down." But speedily the clamorceased, choked off by the gag. Other times I heard the trampings of aconfused struggle, desperate, though muffled. These struggles also cameto an end under the efforts of the keepers. I was frightened at thecourage displayed by the captives. I no longer understood resistance orboldness. I was plunged into my cowardly sluggishness. All at once thedoor of my cage opened, and the "horse-dealer" cried out in great glee:
"All sold, save you, my pearl, my carbuncle. And by Mercury, to whom Ipromise an offering in recognition of my day's profits, I believe I havefound for you a purchaser by private contract."
My master made me step out of my cage; I traversed the booth, in which Isaw not a single slave left. I found myself face to face with a grayhaired man, of a cold, hard countenance. He wore the military dress,limped very badly, and supported himself on a vine-wood cane, which
wasthe mark of the centurion rank in the Roman army. The dealer lifted frommy shoulders the woolen covering in which I was wrapped, and left mestripped to the waist; he then made me get out of my breeches also. Mymaster, with the air of a man proud of his merchandise, thus exposed mynakedness to the customer. Several of the curious, assembled outside ofthe stall, looked in and contemplated me. I dropped my eyes in shame andsorrow, not in anger.
After the prospective purchaser read the writing which hung from myneck, he looked me over carefully, answering with affirmative nods ofthe head to what the merchant, with his usual volubility, was saying tohim in Latin. Often he stopped to measure, with his spread out fingers,the size of my chest, the thickness of my arms, or the width of myshoulders.
His first examination must have pleased the centurion, for my mastersaid to me: "Be proud for your master, friend Bull, your build is foundfaultless. 'See'--I just said to the customer--'would not the Greciansculptors have taken this superb slave as a model for a Hercules?' Mycustomer agreed with me. Now you must show him that your strength andagility are not inferior to your appearance."
My master pointed to a lead weight in readiness for the trial, and saidto me while loosening my arms:
"Now put on your breeches again, then take this weight in your twohands, lift it over your head, and hold it there as long as you can."
I was about, in my stupid docility, to do as I was bid, when thecenturion stooped towards the weight, and attempted to lift it from theground, which he did, with much difficulty, while my master said to me:
"This mischievous cripple is as foxy as myself. He knows that manydealers use hollow weights which appear to weigh two or three times asmuch as they actually do. Come, friend Bull, show this suspicious fellowthat you are as powerful as you are well built."
My strength was not yet entirely returned. Nevertheless, I took theheavy weight in my hands, throwing it over my head, and balanced itthere a moment. A vague idea flitted at that instant across my mind tolet the weight fall on my master's skull, and thus crush him at my feet.But that gleam of my bygone courage died out, and I dropped the weighton the ground. The lame Roman seemed satisfied.
"Better and better, friend Bull," said my master to me, "by Hercules,your patron god, never did a slave do more honor to his owner. Yourstrength is demonstrated. Now let us witness your agility. Two keeperswill hold this wooden bar about half a yard from the ground. Althoughyour feet are in chains, you will jump over the bar several times.Nothing will better prove the strength and nimbleness of your muscles."
In spite of my recent wounds, and the weight of my chain, I leapedseveral times with my joined feet over the bar, to the increasingsatisfaction of the centurion.[28]
"Better and better," repeated my master. "You are proven as strong asyou are powerfully built, and as limber as both. It now remains toexhibit the inoffensive gentleness of your nature. As to this lastproof, I am, in advance, certain of your success," saying which he againbound my hands behind my back.
At first I did not understand what the dealer meant. But he took ascourge from the hand of a keeper, and pointing with its handle to me,spoke to the purchaser in a low voice. The latter made a gesture ofassent, and my master passed the scourge over to the centurion.
"The old fox, still suspicious, fears that I would not strike you hardenough, friend Bull," my master explained to me. "Come, do not make aslip. Do me this last honor, and gain me this last profit, by showingthat you endure chastisement patiently."
Hardly had he pronounced the words, when the cripple rained a shower ofblows on my shoulders and chest. I felt neither shame nor indignation,only pain. I fell down on my knees in tears and begged for mercy.Outside, the curious crowd, gathered at the door, roared with laughter.
The centurion, surprised at so much resignation in a Gaul, dropped thewhip, and looked at my master who by his gesture seemed to say:
"Did I deceive you?"
Thereupon, patting me with the flat of his hand on my lacerated back,the same as one would pat an animal that pleased him, my master said tome:
"If you are a bull for strength, you are a lamb for meekness. I expectedso. Now some questions as to your laborer's trade, and the sale isconcluded. The customer wishes to know in what place you were employed."
"In the tribe of Karnak," I answered, with a cowardly sigh, "there myfamily and I cultivated the lands of our fathers."
The "horse-dealer" reported my answer to the cripple, who seemed bothsurprised and pleased. He exchanged a few words with the dealer, whocontinued:
"The customer asks where the lands and house of your fathers weresituated."
"Not far to the east of the rocks of Karnak, on the heights of Craig'h."
At this answer the Roman was so pleased that he seemed hardly to believewhat he heard, and the "horse-dealer" turned to me:
"That cripple beats all for distrustfulness. To be certain that I do notdeceive him, and that I have translated your words faithfully to him, hedemands that you trace before him on the sand, the position of the landsand house of your family with reference to the rocks of Karnak and thesea-shore. Unfortunately I don't know his reasons, for if it were aconvenience to him, I would make him pay for it. But do as he bidsyou."
My hands were once more loosed. I took the handle of a lash from one ofthe keepers, and traced with it on the sand, followed by the eager eyesof the centurion, the location of the rocks of Karnak and the coast ofCraig'h, and then the place of our dwelling to the east of Karnak.
The cripple clapped his hands for joy. He drew from his pocket a longpurse, took out a certain number of gold pieces, and offered them to the"horse-dealer." After a long chaffer, seller and buyer finally reachedan agreement.
"By Mercury," said the dealer to me; "I have sold you for thirty-eightsous of gold, one-half cash as a deposit, the other half at the close ofthe market, when the lame fellow will come to fetch you. Was I wrongwhen I called you the carbuncle of my stock?" After exchanging a fewwords with the centurion, he turned to me:
"Your new master--and I can understand it, seeing he has paid so good aprice for you--your new master is of the opinion that you are notchained securely enough. He wants clogs fastened to your chain. He willcome for you in a chariot."
In addition to my chain, I was loaded down with two heavy clogs of iron,which would have prevented me from moving except by leaping with bothfeet; even if I could lift so heavy a weight. My manacles were carefullyinspected and locked on my wrists, and I sat down in a corner of thestall while the dealer counted and recounted his gold.