| Battle of Sorcerers |
[Nov. 16th, 2004|12:15 am] |
Traveling with my sister Tamar to the village of Girona in Spain,
we wandered the streets before the sunset, and looked for a place
to stay. The day was almost out, and nobody would offer us shelter
for the night.
"This is a STRANGE place!", said Tamar.
"Nobody here is happy to see strangers from another land walk into
their town."
I nodded in agreement. I also noticed that no children had come to
greet us as they did in every other town and village we visited.
Then, just as that last bit of sun sunk beyond the horizon, a young
man in his late twenties, walked towards us, stared for a moment,
and said:
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I am Joseph and this is my sister Tamar. We are from Israel,
and we are here because our ancestors lived here for a thousand
years." I answered quickly and added, "We were hoping for someone
to offer us shelter for the night. All we require is a rooftop and
walls. We have our own food and would not impose anything more
on you."
Surprised at my answer, the man said:
"My name is Roderigo. I would offer you my hospitality, but my
wife, Mercedes, is about to give birth any moment now, and ..."
He started to cry uncontrollably.
Tamar lay her hand on his brow and said:
"I have delivered babies before and my brother has healed many
people. We will help you and your wife deliver a healthy baby."
"That's not it", said Roderigo. "You don't understand..."
"What is it, Roderigo? Tell us", Tamar asked.
"Okey..." said Roderigo, "Let's get indoors first, and I will
tell you everything. I still don't think that it is good for
you to be here, but... I am too weak to argue with you."
"Come on, you two!", he rushed us to follow him to his home.
We left the outskirts of the village, and walked through a few
fields. By now it was getting very dark. Roderigo was dressed
in white clothes, so it was easy for us to follow him.
"Damn it, Sefi!" whispered Tamar as we were following Roderigo,
"Why do you always have to play the part of the Angel in front
of these innocent villagers?"
"This time it's very serious, Tamar, I can feel it. Besides,
our ancestors did live in this place many years ago. What
better tribute can we pay to their memories, then to bring
goodness and Godliness to this dark place."
"Sefi, you have seriously got to get over this 'I AM JOSEPH'
shit of yours. It's gonna get you into serious shit one day.
I wish you would finally find a NORMAL girlfriend and settle
down and stop trying to save the world all the time. Sefi, I
just want you to be happy and content, you KNOW that."
"Nothing makes me happier than to see what an amazing woman
you are growing into, Tamar, now GET BACK INTO IT, we're
almost there."
"Sefi, you always know how to say the right thing to a woman.
Wow, this place is so quiet, I can't even hear any crickets."
"Tamar, for the next two days I want you to SHINE."
"OK, Sefi. You got it."
We arrived at a simple beautiful looking house in the middle
of a meadow. It was like something out of Little House in the
Prairie. Roderigo held the door open for us to come in. The
place was neatly furnished. Almost everything in the house,
including the furniture, was made out of wood. The house had
a living room, including a kitchen and dining table, and one
bedroom. Roderigo pointed at the door to the bedroom and said:
"My wife, Mercedes, and the midwife are in there. We gave her
a remedy that put her to sleep for a while, but she is due at
any moment. I found you two in the village right after I went
to the old church to pray for my wife and unborn child."
"What is it, Roderigo? TELL ME !!!" I said.
"My wife has given birth twice before, but both babies were
born DEAD. The second one breathed a few breaths and then died.
The poor baby died in my own hands moments after he was born..."
He started to cry again. Tamar couldn't help herself and hugged
Roderigo and said, "Don't worry, Roderigo, you are a good man,
and God never abandons men such as you. If we can do anything
to help, WE WILL.". Roderigo leaned his head on Tamar's shoulder
and breathed deeply and calmly as her warmth touched his soul.
After a minute or so, Roderigo went to open the door to the
bedroom. The midwife was sitting there holding Mercedes' hand.
Mercedes breathing rapidly in her sleep.
"She's alright for now, she'll wake up soon." said the midwife
"I think it's going to happen late tonight."
"What can you tell me about your wife? Is she a healthy woman?"
I asked.
"Mercedes was the only daughter of the Mayor of Girona."
"WAS?"
"Her father died, and was replaced by a new mayor. I don't like
the new mayor so much, but I don't care much. I didn't marry
Mercedes because of her father. I married her for LOVE. I love
her more than anything in the world, and only want for her to be
happy. She has always been healthy and cheerful. However . . .
After her father died, a sadness came over her like a sickness.
This sadness has made her weak. I never was a religious man, but
it looks like far more than sadness over her dead father. I have
started to believe that God may have cursed us."
Tamar came up to me in the bedroom and whispered "Hey Sefi Sefi"
anxiously.
"Yes, Tamar, I sense it too."
I looked at Roderigo and said "Roderigo, tonight your wife will
give birth to a healthy baby. I give you my word on this. But...
You will have to trust me and do everything that I say. Do you
trust me?"
"Yes I do, Joseph. Don't ask me why, but you and your beautiful
sister look like two angels that fell out of heaven to help us."
"I assure you, Roderigo, we are nothing more than a brother and
sister, and we are from Israel - a place FAR from heavenly."
I turned to the midwife and asked "Is there a river nearby?"
"Yes" she replied, "not a five minute walk down the trail."
"TAMAR, take her there, you KNOW what to do!"
Tamar took the midwife by the hand and they walked out of the
house.
"Roderigo, do you have a strong sack, like a sack of potatoes?"
"Yes, I do. In fact, I have a sack of potatoes."
"Good. Give it to me please."
Roderigo went to the kitchen and got a sack of potatoes.
"There are only about ten potatoes left." he said.
"We don't need them as much as we need the sack, but we will
use them too. After all, today is a happy day. Today is the
day you will become a father.", I said with a smile.
Roderigo did his best to smile, but he was still a little
afraid.
"I need you to put a pot on the stove. A big pot for soup"
Roderigo did it quickly without question. It seemed as though
these tasks I was laying on him were making him feel a little
better. After a few minutes, Tamar and the midwife came back
smelling clean from bathing in the river.
"OKAY Roderigo!" I said. "Now it's our turn, let's go!"
Roderigo followed me out of the house.
"Lead the way to the river" I said.
On the way, Roderigo asked me, "Why are we doing this, Joseph?"
"I believe you have fallen victim to evil works, my friend. If
we are all clean and pure, then the evil we face will have to
come to the surface and show itself, because evil cannot stand
purity, and NOTHING, Roderigo, purifies a man more than bathing
in a COLD river."
We got to the river. I took off my clothes and jumped in.
Ooooooh how it stung my skin and bones, that first encounter
with the coldness of the water. I stuck my head out of the water
and looked at Roderigo who was still dressed and frozen still.
"Make sure to take everything off, your wedding ring, your watch,
EVERYTHING!!!"
He complied silently. We both got out of the water, dressed, and
walked home together, without saying a word to each other the
whole way. WHen we got back home, Tamar and the midwife were in
the bedroom talking cheerfully. I gestured to Tamar to get up.
"Tamar, do you have your spices with you?"
"Yes of course."
"There are potatoes on the dining room table and a pot on the
stove. Would you prepare one of your wonderful soups for us?"
"With pleasure" She said. How she loves to cook that girl.
Half an hour later, the house was filled with the wonderful
smell of Tamar's potato soup. The sadness that we felt, when
we first entered the house, was gone. We all sat to eat at the
table, Me, Tamar, Roderigo and the midwife.
"Tamar" said Roderigo, "You are a wonderful cook. You must give
my wife this recipe when she is well."
"Thank you, I will."
I was washing the dishes when the midwife cried, "She's awake!"
I jumped into the room. Tamar was next to the open window. I
whispered into her ear "Tamar, when I give you a sign, close the
window and the door tight, okay?". She nodded.
Mercedes was waking up, and breathing heavily. I had no doubt,
she was almost ready to deliver. The remedy was taking away a
lot of her pain, but she was breathing in agony. After two hours
She let out a scream. The midwife said "I think it's almost here"
"TAMAR, NOW!!!" I said.
Tamar quickly closed the open window and shut the door tight.
"Tamar, use the rug to block the door!"
She understood, and folded the rug in such a way that it blocked
the crevice between the door and the floor. Just as the baby's
head peaked out, I jumped in front of the midwife with the sack.
A rat was standing there on the floor, inches away from the
infant's head. I quickly caught it with the sack and tied the
sack up. I rushed out of the house with the sack, into the field.
I grabbed a branch and started to beat the sack with it. I heard
shrieking and screeching sounds as I struck the sack. I kept on
beating it hard for a few minutes and jumped on it with all of my
weight and kicked it hard. Then, I untied the sack and left it in
the field. When I came back into the house, I could hear a baby's
crying. The midwife was handling the baby, Roderigo was crying
with joy and relief, and Tamar was sitting by Mercedes on the bed
and comforting her.
"Your daughter is the most beautiful baby girl I have ever seen"
She said to Mercedes, "and your husband is the kindest man we have
met in all of Spain."
Mercedes looked at me as I stepped into the room.
"Thank you, Joseph, for ALL you have done for us. My husband told me
everything. We prayed to God and he sent us you two."
"Congratulations!" I said, "May your daughter grow up to be a beautiful
lady like her mother."
I came over and kissed Tamar on the forehead. "Thank you", I whispered.
"Hey, Roderigo!!!" I said. "Pull yourself together, we HAVE to talk now.
OUTSIDE."
Roderigo followed me outside.
"I don't know what to say, Joseph. IF there is any way I could repay you."
"Roderigo, your hospitality is all the payment we need. Listen, up!!!
This is NOT over yet. Do you have any brothers and sisters?"
"I have another three brothers."
"Do you trust them?"
"I would trust them with my LIFE."
"Good, I want you to go to them NOW, and tell them to meet with us
tomorrow morning."
"What is it, Joseph?"
"I'm not sure, but if it's as bad as I think it is, I will need four
men by my side, four GOOD men. Do you still trust me, Roderigo?"
"You have made a believer out of me, Joseph." he said with a smile.
"Go to your brothers, NOW!"
..... to be continued... |
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sefiel's journal
contemplative
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