Daily Times

The travelling historian reached Efseen within few weeks after leaving Rahaba. As per the instructions of his old historian friend, he had tracked the grandson of Amal, who also happened to be the cousin of his old historian friend. The travelling historian asked him to narrate the story of the Efseen couple. The story goes something like this:

Ever since gaining consciousness, Zonia had seen him and played with him. Both were only few years apart. She was two years his junior. He was a ‘white negro’ – a man with albinism with strong eyesight. He looked more like a white male. Especially because his hair was not curly like other blacks and his nose was a bit slimmer as compared to other negros. He was Zonia’s only friend. If he wouldn’t have been around, she wouldn’t have had any childhood friends in her castle.

Her father was a very rich tribal man. He owned lands as far as the eyes could see. He also had stables with the best horses, and was breeding more to sell to the Arabs. He was also in the business of taming the horses. He was a typical Greek man who had loved buying and selling everything from crops to men.

Zonia however was the weakness of every person in the family. She was the most pampered child in the house of his father’s five brides that gave him eleven children. All children loved each other irrespective of which mother had them. Zonia was the youngest of the lot. The second last child was seven years older than her.

Instead of working out in the field, Jacob was the only male servant who was neither sent to the gym for training to become a gladiator nor was he sent to the fields for work. He was always at the castle, looking after the shores such as gardening, painting and even sewing. After turning 15, Zonia and he along with his mother had travelled to the nearby towns to buy the best Couscous, which was not easily available in their town. This was the most likened dish from Arabs that was very popular in their town.

One day when Zonia woke up, she found her mother sobbing nearby. Jacob’s mother was in the room too and she too looked depressed. There was an eerie silence in the castle. She asked her mother what had happened. She only hugged her and didn’t say anything. Jacob was not in the castle. He was her best source for information. Her father and brothers were not in the castle whereas her other sisters were in the rooms of their mothers.

The only news she was able to extract from Jacob’s mother was that there was some sort of disease spreading in the crops that had affected the land. Since horses used to graze in the field in the evening, therefore they too had caught some disease. The fields and horses shall be wasted very soon. The land shall also be uncultivable for a long time.

She couldn’t understand the extent to which this would affect their lives. After all she was just a young lady. She knew everyone including Jacobs would find a way out. Days went by, and food on their diner table started lessening. Although they were still living in the castle with all the servants, but she was not feeling as rich any more.

That day, this black man came to see her father early in the morning. Her father and her elder brothers were in the meeting with him for hours. She saw him when he had arrived. He looked more like a snake charmer. Her and Jacobs’ mother also didn’t know who he was. There was no explanation about why he was there.

The next morning when she woke up, Jacobs’ mother told Zonia gladly that she and Jacob were going to see his grandfather who lives somewhere in Africa. It was news for her. She didn’t know that Jacobs’ grandfather was alive. Jacobs told her that he and his mother should be going with the man who looked like the snake charmer. Although she was happy that Jacobs should be free for a few months, however she didn’t like the man accompanying them. However she had suppressed her feelings.

Jacobs, his mother and that man departed the next day. They were to travel with few horses before entering Africa from where they were to travel on camel backs. The journey was long and hard. Oddly, that man placed Jacobs and his mother in the coach of a horse cart and once they were in there, he locked it from outside. When Jacobs’ objected to it, her father assured him that this was for their own safety. On this, the black man looked directly at her for the first time – their eyes locked for few moments and she instantly realised that the journey might not be exactly for the reason that is told to her.

In the next few days she kept investigating the truth. Among her 11 siblings was a partially handicapped brother. He was born with a smaller brain. Although over time he had gained enough intelligence that he could do his own work however he was never involved in decision making. Zonia thought she can ask Isaac and see if he knows something. Once she got a chance to meet him alone, Isaac was only able to tell her that it had something to do with the declining business and some sort of blood sacrifice to revive it. This was shocking for Zonia. Her father was a greedy man but he was never cruel. In fact, he was the only landowner who had treated his slaves very gently.

Zonia had never heard of any blood sacrifice before, though she had seen some Muslim merchants slaughtering rams on specific days as sacrifice. She went to the oldest slave in her friend’s house to inquire if it was something specific to the Negros alone. She was horrified to know that in Africa, white negros were considered witches. People use their body parts – limbs, brain, etc – as a type of sacrifice to God to please him and ask for mercy. That’s when she realised that her father in the pursuit of reviving his business must have sent Jacobs to Africa to offer a human sacrifice. He was a desperate man. Feeding a large family was never so easy in the present day Greece.

She confronted her father at the dinner table. Everyone was around. When she asked if he had sent Jacobs as a sacrifice, no head turned. Probably everyone already knew it. Only her father looked at her in disbelief. He only asked ‘how do you know this?’ She didn’t eat that night – in fact for several nights. However this was not the solution. She wanted to do something to save her childhood friend. He was her protector, friend, mentor, confidante, and probably her first love. How could she fail him when he needs her the most?

Her friends advised her to talk to Amal, the travelling historian. He probably knew the routes and knew how to reach them in time before the sacrifice happens. Amal was an old travelling historian. He had already retired and was not travelling for many years. However somehow she had convinced him to take her on the journey. She wanted to get to one village, which was ahead of the current location of Jacobs. Amal knew that if the reason for the journey was sacrifice then they must be traversing a typical route on which they shall find the right ingredients used in the sacrificial ceremony. She was sick to her stomach. How cruel can people be; Jacobs is a human not a bird who should be sacrificed that also with typical ingredients!

Her father had already realised his mistake but he knew that the only way he could help Jacobs was by not stopping Zonia in doing whatever she wants to do. He entrusted his daughter in the hands of Amal and gave her money and horses for the route. Jacobs’ entourage was expected to reach their destination within 19 days. They had already been out there for four days. They must have been very far from her town by now. Therefore Zonia and Amal and their two servants travelled day and night. They didn’t take a nap for two days. After four days of their journey, Zonia made a stop in a town to inquire if people had seen a white negro with a black man and an old lady. Many people had seen them. They were in that town only two nights ago. Immediately she started telling who ever she could get hold of that the white negro was a holy man taken as slave by the black man. They told her that the white negro had miraculous capabilities and that if he goes from any barren land, it will become green, if he puts his hand on a Leprosy patient he will become healthy and if he prays for someone he will never get any disease. Amal was surprised too when he heard her saying this, though he didn’t interrupt her. The people of the town became very excited. After spreading the news she immediately headed to the next town in line. She noticed that some men, women and children too had started following her. She was glad that she was able to excite them enough. Soon she was in the next town where Jacob’s entourage was a few nights ago. She did exactly that which she did in the previous town. She kept moving with her group for a day and tried to reach the town where Jacob’s entourage was. She entered this town late in the night. The horse cart in which Jacob and his mother were kept was standing outside the joint where the black man decided to stay. Jacob and his mother were still inside it whereas the black man was sleeping in the motel. Two guards were guarding Jacob’s cart. She didn’t attempt to meet him instead she decided to see the motel staff and tell them about Jacob and his miraculous capabilities. In the night she had told enough people that it became the talk of the town quickly. Within hours people started to gathering around his horse cart to look at him. Before dawn broke, someone had already woken the black man up. He was surprised to see people surrounding Jacob’s cart. He grabbed a man who had told him that the white negro had miraculous capabilities. People had already concocted their own stories. The people from the previous towns were busy telling the people that those old ladies who had touched even the cart of Jacob are now playing like little girls and are so healthy. The fields from where Jacob had passed were all green now. And if someone had certain incurable disease, they should bring the patient to him; if he touches the patient he should survive. The black man who was already convinced that the white negro was a witch came under the influence of the story – superstition was playing its role in the whole situation. Jacob’s cart left early for their destination that day. However Zonia and her servants had already spread the news about Jacob and his miraculous capabilities in the next town as well. Now it became a routine; wherever Jacob’s entourage would go, people would come out to see and receive him. By now, the black man too had decided to move Jacobs in the front of the coach and sat him beside himself. He was also gladly accepting anything that people were putting in Jacob’s feet, which sometimes even included gold rings and lots of food and coins. Jacobs on the other hand was not understanding a bit about what was happening. He explained to himself that may be his grandfather was a well-known man in the area therefore they were respecting him for his connection to his grandfather. However when people would ask him to bless their sick men or pray for their business he would be very surprised. However he was smart enough to play along. After travelling for weeks, and facing the same display of love and affection, Jacob reached their destination town in Africa. Here too people had already been told about the greatness of Jacob. Several people were already following Jacob’s horse cart. Jacob was well received in this town.

The historian stood up and struck off the dust from his clothes. He began packing. He placed his pen in his breast pocket and the notebook in the backpack and nicely folded his mat and stuffed it too in his backpack. Before finally leaving for his next destination, he looked towards the town and took a deep sigh of happiness!

Late in the night when everyone was asleep, Zonia sneaked into the camp of Jacob to see him. The people of the town and the people that were following him set up a very lavish camp for Jacob. There were guards around the camp, which had so far successfully abstained all the followers of Jacob from entering the camp. However somehow she managed to sneak in when the guards too were trying to take a nap. She woke Jacob up and immediately put her hand on his mouth. Jacob was surprised to see Zonia. She explained everything to him from the beginning. He was surprised and terrified too. He didn’t know the custom of sacrificing albino negros as he had lived his entire life in Greece and his white and different features had been successful enough to pass him for a Greek. Zonia and Jacobs with his mother decided to leave the town and its people immediately before the dawn broke. In the garbs of a guard, Jacob left the camp first and found Amal and his servants nearby. Soon Zonia and Jacob’s mother too left the camp.

Amal led them out of the town and after a few miles, decided to leave the entourage on their own. Zonia had already told him that to ensure the freedom of Jacob, they should never go back to her town again and no one should know where they went. That was the last time when Amal saw Zonia, Jacob and his mother. Zonia indeed didn’t fail Jacob. Rumours are that they kept travelling from town to town and never settled in one place.

At this stage, the historian stood up, he struck off the dust from his clothes. Gradually he started packing his stuff. He placed his pen in his breast pocket and the notebook in the backpack. He nicely folded his mat and stuffed it too in his backpack. Before finally leaving for his next destination, he took a long look at the town, took a deep sigh of happiness, looked directly into the readers’ eyes and said, “If only they wouldn’t have been so superstitious!”

The writer is an assistant professor. He can be reached at m.khalid.shaikh@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, August 17^th 2017.