Thereupon cried Lev-el-Hedyd:
"Here are the first words thou hast uttered, O Nofuhl, that cause meto regret the extinction of this people! There is ever a place in myheart for a blushing maiden!"
"Then let thy grief be of short life," responded Nofuhl, "forMehrikan damsels were not of that description. Blushing was an artthey practised little. The shyness thou so lovest in a Persian maidenwas to them an unknown thing. Our shrinking daughters bear noresemblance to these Western products. They strode the public streetswith roving eyes and unblushing faces, holding free converse with menas with women, bold of speech and free of manner, going and coming asit pleased them best. They knew much of the world, managed their ownaffairs, and devised their own marriages, often changing their mindsand marrying another than the betrothed."
"Bismillah! And men could love these things?" exclaimed Lev-el-Hedydwith much feeling.
"So it appears."
"But I should say the Mehrikan bride had much the freshness of a driedfig."
"So she had," said Nofuhl; "but those who know only the dried fig haveno regret for the fresh fruit. But the fault was not with the maidens.Brought up like boys, with the same studies and mental development,the womanly part of their nature gradually vanished as their mindsexpanded. Vigor of intellect was the object of a woman's education."
Then Lev-el-Hedyd exclaimed with great disgust:
"Praises be to Allah for his aid in exterminating such a people!" andhe walked away from the bed, and began looking about the chamber. In amoment he hastened back to us, saying:
"Here are more jewels! also money!"
Nofuhl eagerly took the pieces.
"Money!" he cried. "Money will tell us more than pages of history!"
There were silver coins of different sizes and two small pieces ofcopper. Nofuhl studied them closely.
"The latest date is 1957," he said; "a little less than a thousandyears ago; but the piece may have been in circulation some yearsbefore this woman died; also it may have been coined the very year ofher death. It bears the head of Dennis, the last of the Hy-Burnyandictators. The race is supposed to have become extinct before 1990 oftheir era."
The Face and Back of One of the Silver Coins.]
I then said:
"Thou hast never told us, O Nofuhl! the cause of their disappearance."
"There were many causes," he answered. "The Mehrikans themselves wereof English origin, but people from all parts of Europe came here invast numbers. Although the original comers were vigorous and hardy theeffect of climate upon succeeding generations was fatal. They becameflat-chested and thin, with scanty hair, fragile teeth, and weakdigestions. Nervous diseases unknown to us wrought deadly havoc.Children were reared with difficulty. Between 1945 and 1960, the lastcensus of which any record remains, the population decreased fromninety millions to less than twelve millions. Climatic changes, thelike of which no other land ever experienced, began at that period,and finished in less than ten years a work made easy by nervousnatures and rapid lives. The temperature would skip in a single dayfrom burning heat to winter's cold. No constitution could withstandit, and this vast continent became once more an empty wilderness."
Much more of the same nature he told us, but I am too sleepy to writelonger. We explored the rest of the mansion, finding many things ofinterest. I caused several objects to be carried aboard the _Zlotuhb_.(These objects are now in the museum of the Imperial College, at Teheran.)
_14th May_
Hotter than yesterday.
In the afternoon we were rowed up the river and landed for a shortwalk. It is unsafe to brave the sun.
The more I learn of these Mehrikans the less interesting they become.Nofuhl is of much the same mind, judging from our conversation to-day,as we walked along together.
It was in this wise:
_Khan-li_.How alike the houses! How monotonous!
_Nofuhl_.So, also, were the occupants. They thought alike, worked alike, ate,dressed and conversed alike. They read the same books; they fashionedtheir garments as directed, with no regard for the size or figure ofthe individual, and copied to a stitch the fashions of Europeans.
_Khan-li_.But the close-fitting apparel of the European must have been sadlyuncomfortable in the heat of a Mehrikan summer.
_Nofuhl_.So probably it was. Stiff boxes of varying patterns adorned the headsof men. Curious jackets with tight sleeves compressed the body. Thefeet throbbed and burned in close-fitting casings of unyielding leather,and linen made stiff by artificial means was drawn tightly about the neck.
_Khan-li_.Allah! What idiots!
_Nofuhl_.Even so are they considered.
_Khan-li_.To what quality of their minds do you attribute such love of needlesssuffering?
_Nofuhl_.It was their desire to be like others. A natural feeling in a vulgarpeople.
_15th May_
A fair wind from the West to-day. We weighed anchor and sailed upthe Eastern side of the city. I did this as Nofuhl finds the upperportion of the town much richer in relics than the lower, which seemsto have been given up to commercial purposes. We sailed close underone of the great monuments in the river, and are at a loss to divineits meaning. Many iron rods still dangle from the tops of each of thestructures. As they are in a line, one with the other, we thought atfirst they might have been once connected and served as a bridge, butwe soon saw they were too far apart.
Came to anchor about three miles from the old mooring. Up the riverand down, North, South, East, and West, the ruins stretch awayindefinitely, seemingly without end.
Am anxious about Lev-el-Hedyd. He went ashore and has not returned.It is now after midnight.
The Two Monuments in the River]
_16th May_
Praise Allah! my dear comrade is alive! This morning we landed earlyand began our search for him. As we passed before the building whichbears the inscription
. . . DORF ASTORIA
upon its front, we heard his voice from within in answer to our calls.We entered, and after climbing the ruined stairway found him seatedupon the floor above. He had a swollen leg from an ugly sprain, andvarious bruises were also his. While our friends were constructing alitter on which to bear him hence we conversed together. The wallsabout us bore traces of having once enclosed a hall of some beauty. Inidling about I pulled open the decaying door of an old closet and sawupon the rotting shelves many pieces of glass and earthenware of fineworkmanship. Taking one in my hand, a small wine-cup of glass, Iapproached my comrade calling his attention to its slender stem andcurious form. As his eyes fell upon it they opened wide in amazement.I also observed a trembling of his hand as he reached forth to touchit. He then recounted to me his marvellous adventure of the nightbefore, but saying before he began:
"Thou knowest, O Prince, I am no believer in visions, and I shouldnever tell the tale but for thy discovery of this cup. I drank fromsuch an one last night, proffered by a ghostly hand."
I would have smiled, but he was much in earnest. As I made a movementto sit beside him, he said:
"Taste first, O my master, of the grapes hanging from yonder wall."
I did so, and to my great surprise found them of an exquisite flavor,finer even than the cultivated fruit of Persia, sweeter and moredelicate, of a different nature from the wild grapes we have beeneating. My astonishment appeared to delight him, and he said with alaugh:
"The grapes are impossible, but they exist; even more absurd is mystory!" and he then narrated his adventure.
It was this:
WHAT LEV-EL-HEDYD SAW.
Yesterday, after nightfall, as he was hastening toward the _Zlotuhb_ hefell violently upon some blocks of stone, wrenching his ankle and muchbruising himself. Unable to walk upon his foot he limped into thisbuilding to await our coming in the morning. The howling of wolves andother wild beasts as they prowled about the city drove him, forsafety, to crawl up the ruins of the stairway to the floor above. Ashe settled himself in a corner of this hall his nostrils were greetedw
ith the delicious odor from the grapes about his head. He found themsurprisingly good, and ate heartily. He soon after fell into a sleepwhich lasted some hours, for when he awoke the moon was higher in theheavens, the voices of the wolves were hushed and the city was silent.
As he lay in a revery, much absorbed in his own thoughts, he graduallybecame aware of mysterious changes taking place, as if by stealth,about him. A decorated ceiling appeared to be closing over the hall.Mirrors and tinted walls slowly crept in place of ivy and crumblingbricks. A faint glow grew stronger and more intense until it filledthe great room with a dazzling light.
Then came softly into view a table of curious form, set out with flowersand innumerable dishes of glass and porcelain, as for a feast.
Standing about the room he saw solemn men with beardless faces, all inblack attire, whose garments bore triangular openings upon the chestto show the shirt beneath. These personages he soon discovered wereservants.
As he gazed in bewilderment, there entered other figures, two by two,who took their seats about the table. These later comers, sixty ormore, were men and women walking arm in arm, the women in rich attireof unfamiliar fashion and sparkling with precious stones. The men wereclad like the servants.
They ate and drank and laughed, and formed a brilliant scene.Lev-el-Hedyd rose to his feet, and moved by a curiosity he made noeffort to resist,--for he is a reckless fellow and knows no fear--hehobbled out into the room.
They looked upon him in surprise, and seemed much amused at hispresence. One of the guests, a tall youth with yellow mustaches,approached him, offering a delicate crystal vessel filled with asparkling fluid.
Lev-el-Hedyd took it.
The youth raised another from the table and with a slight gesture asif in salutation, he said in words which my comrade understood, thoughhe swears it was a language unknown to him,
"We may meet again the fourth of next month."
He then drank the wine, and so did Lev-el-Hedyd.
Hereupon the others smiled as if at their comrade's wit, all save thewomen, whose tender faces spoke more of pity than of mirth. The wineflew to his brain as he drank it, and things about him seemed to reeland spin. Strains of fantastic music burst upon his ears: then, all inrhythm, the women joined their partners and whirled about him with alightsome step. And, moving with it, his throbbing brain seemeddancing from his head. The room itself, all swaying and quiveringwith the melody, grew dim and stole from view. The music softly diedaway.
Again was silence, the moon above looking calmly down upon the iviedwalls.
He fell like a drunken man upon the floor, and did not wake till ourvoices called him.
Such his tale.
He has a clear head and is no liar, but so many grapes upon an emptystomach with the fever from his swollen limb might well explain it.
* * * * *
Bear's meat for dinner.
This morning toward noon Kuzundam, the second officer, wandered onahead of us, and entered a large building in pursuit of a rabbit. Hewas about descending to the basement below, when he saw, close beforehim, a bear leisurely mounting the marble stairs. Kuzundam is nocoward, but he turned and ran as he never ran before. The bear, whoseemed of a sportive nature, also ran, and in close pursuit. Luckilyfor my friend we happened to be near, otherwise instead of our eatingbear's meat, the bear might have lunched quietly off Kuzundam in theshady corridors of the "FIFTHAVENUEHOTEL."
Kuzundam's Narrow Escape]
_17th May_
To-day a scorching heat that burns the lungs. We started in themorning prepared to spend the night ashore, and explore the northernend of the city. It was a pleasant walk through the soft grass of theshady streets, but in those places unsheltered from the sun we were asfish upon a frying-pan. Other dwellings we saw, even larger and moreimposing than the one we entered yesterday. We were tempted to explorethem, but Lev-el-Hedyd wisely dissuaded us, saying the day was waxinghotter each hour and it could be done on our return.
In the northern part of the town are many religious temples, withtheir tall towers like slender pyramids, tapering to a point. They arecurious things, and surprisingly well preserved. The interiors ofthese temples are uninteresting. Nofuhl says the religious rites ofthe Mehrikans were devoid of character. There were many religiousbeliefs, all complicated and insignificant variations one fromanother, each sect having its own temples and refusing to believe asthe others. This is amusing to a Persian, but mayhap was a seriousmatter with them. One day in each week they assembled, the priestsreading long moral lectures written by themselves, with music by hiredsingers. They then separated, taking no thought of temple or priestfor another seven days. Nofuhl says they were not a religious people.That the temples were filled mostly with women.
In One of the Temples]
In the afternoon we found it necessary to traverse a vastpleasure-ground, now a wild forest, but with traces still visible ofbroad promenades and winding driveways. (Olbaldeh thinks this must bethe Centralpahk sometimes alluded to in Mehrikan literature.) Thereremains an avenue of bronze statues, most of them yet upright and ingood condition, but very comic. Lev-el-Hedyd and I still think themcaricatures, but Nofuhl is positive they were serious efforts, andsays the Mehrikans were easily pleased in matters of art.
We lost our way in this park, having nothing to guide us as in thestreets of the city. This was most happy, as otherwise we should havemissed a surprising discovery.
It occurred in this wise.
Being somewhat overcome by the heat we halted upon a little hill torest ourselves. While reclining beneath the trees I noticed unusualcarvings upon a huge block against which Lev-el-Hedyd was supportinghis back. They were unlike any we had seen, and yet they were notunfamiliar. As I lay there gazing idly at them it flashed upon me theywere Egyptian. We at once fell to examining the block, and found toour amazement an obelisk of Egyptian granite, covered with Egyptianhieroglyphics of an antiquity exceeding by thousands of years the mostancient monuments of the country!
Verily, we were puzzled!
"When did the Egyptians invade Mehrika?" quoth Bhoz-ja-khaz, with asolemn look, as if trying to recall a date.
"No Egyptian ever heard of Mehrika," said Nofuhl. "This obelisk wasfinished twenty centuries before the first Mehrikan was weaned. In allprobability it was brought here as a curiosity, just as we take toPersia the bronze head of George-wash-yn-tun."
We spent much time over the monument, and I think Nofuhl wasdisappointed that he could not bring it away with him.
Also while in this park we came to a high tower, standing by itself, andclimbed to the top, where we enjoyed a wide-spreading view.
The extent of the city is astounding.
Miles away in the river lay the _Zlotuhb_, a white speck on the water.All about us in every direction as far as sight can reach were ruins,and ruins, and ruins. Never was a more melancholy sight. The blue sky,the bright sunshine, the sweet-scented air with the gay flowers andsinging birds only made it sadder. They seemed a mockery.
"Miles away in the river lay the _Zlotuhb_, a whitespeck on the water."]
We have encamped for the night, and I can write no more. Countlessflying insects gather about us with a hateful buzz, and bite us beyondendurance. They are a pest thrice accursed.
I tell Nofuhl his fine theory concerning the extinction of the Yahnkisis a good tale for those who have never been here.
No man without a leather skin could survive a second night.
_18th May_
Poor Ja-khaz is worse than sick.
He had an encounter last night with a strange animal, and his defeatwas ignoble. The animal, a pretty thing, much like a kitten, washovering near when Ja-khaz, with rare courage and agility, threwhimself upon it.
And then what happened none of us can state with precision. We know weheld our noses and fled. And Ja-khaz! No words can fit him. He carrieswith him an odor to devastate a province. We had to leave him ashoreand send him fresh raiment.
This is
, verily, a land of surprises.
Our hands and faces still smart from the biting insects, and the perfumeof the odorous kitten promises to be ever with us.
Nofuhl is happy. We have discovered hundreds of metal blocks, thepoorest of which he asserts would be the gem of a museum. They werefound by Fattan-laiz-eh in the basement of a high building, all laidcarefully away upon iron shelves. The flood of light they throw uponthe manners and customs of this ludicrous people renders them ofpriceless value to historians.
I harbor a suspicion that it causes Nofuhl some pleasure to sit uponthe cool deck of the _Zlotuhb_ and watch Bhoz-ja-khaz walking to andfro upon the ruins of a distant wharf.
_19th May_
The air is cooler. Grip-til-lah thinks a storm is brewing.
Even Nofuhl is puzzled over the wooden image we brought aboardyesterday. It is well preserved, with the barbaric coloring stillfresh upon it. They found it standing upright in a little shop.
The Wooden God.]
How these idols were worshipped, and why they are found in littleshops and never in the great temples is a mystery. It has a diadem offeathers on the head, and as we sat smoking upon the deck this eveningI remarked to Nofuhl that it might be the portrait of some Mehrikannoble. Whereupon he said they had no nobles.