#Heolagampa1

Heolagampa

The walls of Heolagampa were getting closer and closer. Jean had not imagined what were so majestic. He advanced without fearing the wrath of those within. His desire to know had not invaded his mind to the point of giving everything to snatch the quintessence of the building. A fair curiosity, at most ... Not wanting to transgress the law, he did not go around the great city. He stopped in front of the big bronze doors and waited for something to happen ...

For a moment he looked at the sight of the desolation that surrounded him. He took a few steps aside, and sat down on the floor, waiting for time to play in his favor. He knew that the curiosity of those inside would be stronger than the thickness of all the walls of the world. This curiosity that had cost the lives of countless fighters would be his only weapon.

Some heads were moving above the parapet. The plan paid off ...

Those inside wondered who could be the stranger who came to taunt them, alone, unarmed, unescorted and without troops ...

The watchers were looking in the distance. Where were the divisions of a secret army? But the campaign was empty of troops. They did not believe that a man could stand alone in front of their city and not be a conqueror.

Time was ticking its hours. Observation of earthenware dogs. The heads were more present. They moved in an incessant ballet of back and forth. Sometimes a slight rumor reached Jean's ears. The palaver and the discussions were in the walls. The fault was open. It only remained for him to wait until this breach deviated from itself.

Evening was falling, and nothing more had happened. The gleams of Heolagampa made the points of his walls twinkle. She was like a city of gold, lost in the middle of the night.

Jean continued to gaze at her through the fire he had lit. They had to know he was still here ...

After a few days his wait was rewarded. Those inside could not wait anymore. A sort of sedition had come on. The people had split into two clans. The curious, and the ardent servants of the law.

The curious were like all those men who open like a rose, as soon as a strangeness appears. They are like children born to the world with a thirst for knowledge as great as their life is at their beginning. They never stop being hungry to know the substance of things. The only obstacle to their appetite is dogmatism, faith in the certainty of their knowledge, and never to question it again. For others who might be called hard, only power interests them. They dispense the knowledge to the curious, directing them in their research, feeding them with bread that is often dry and watering them with bitter water. They know they do not know anything, but the curious do not know it. Let them stay in ignorance!

But the inhabitants of Heolagampa could no longer hold. They wanted to know the plans of Jean.

The heavy bronze doors swung on their hinges. A dull sound was heard. Suddenly, a louder voice cried out:

"Do not bring him in. He will be the dismantler of the order that reigns with us!" And others to outbid:

"It will be the end of the eternity of our inner peace!" More besides :

"If the stranger enters our home, it is surely to break our alliance that we have with the law of The One Who Knows!"

From the depths of this hubbub, a small minority had difficulty in making themselves heard and tried to shout louder than the others:

"Let him in! He who knew how to observe our law, without knowing our teaching, is surely an envoy of The One Who Knows. He sends it to us for a good reason and it is certainly not to break our alliance, but to get closer to it!"

The one who had just spoken these words was a tall man. His hair was white as snow. He wore a broad white robe, tight with a gold cord. On his shoulders was thrown a blue cape, embroidered with golden palms. He raised his right hand as a sign of appeasement, the other held a golden cane at the end of which sparkled a glittering stone. He was at the top of a grand staircase that led to a kind of temple. As he had spoken these words, others like him were coming out of the temple. Six others, with equally hieratic faces, followed him in a great silence of contemplation. The crowd was scolding the rumor. The seven patriarchs had come out of their reserve ...

For ages they had not been involved in the affairs of the city, the inhabitants of Heolagampa had almost forgotten them. They did not even know who they were and what their duties were. Some of the inhabitants just knew that the patriarchs roamed the city in search of young children, and that they served as preceptors.

The order of the patriarchs was a closed order. The children who entered it never came out again. Those of Heolagampa feared them more by the secrecy surrounding them than by the power they could represent. For power, the patriarchs did not intend to exercise it in the city. Even during the dark days of great battles with the barbarians from the outside, they had never ceased to believe in the coming of a man who would free them from their mission. But in the long run they were forced to become as frightful as their opponents. They hoped so much that the savior would come within their walls that they tried to look for him among the children of Heolagampa. Years and years for ruses, abductions of children, without the expected being discovered. Parents were afraid of it, even hiding their toddlers in the most remote corners of the city. But nothing could escape the patriarchs. Nothing could stop them in their approach, and they always arrived at their ends. So they had gradually moved away from the law and had become like the ones they were fighting ...

The clamor faded. A kind of anguish could be seen on the faces of the inhabitants of Heolagampa. The first of the seven sages waited for silence. An invading silence reigned over the city. All looked at their feet, not wanting to endure the inquisitive look of the old sage. So without saying a word, he raised his arms to heaven, and his classmates did the same. A low murmur was heard. Some eyes had risen and tried to defy authority. What would be the prodigy that would fall on them? A few more seconds and everyone would know what would happen to them ...

From the back of the temple, a soft music rose in the air. A happy song, crystalline voices. People did not believe their ears. The missing children of Heolagampa reappeared in the eyes of all.

All these children wore a crown on their fair heads. They swung their little arms over their heads and did not seem to look at those who could be their parents. They were under the spell of a force from elsewhere. The crowd moved slowly away for their ease. Recognizing their children, some women could not hide their tears. Others clasped in the arms of their companion did not dare to see the flesh of their flesh and kept in them the last tears that they could not shed the day of the tithe. They were alive and they were still children ...

The patriarchs took the lead of the procession. They advanced towards Jean. Suddenly, the children took off their crowns and stopped singing. They watched him without moving, having in them a feeling of fear and love whose source they did not know. One of the children took his hand and smiled at him. Heavy silence of a battle of the spirit. Even the wind did not make its whistle sound. Everything was suspended even the time. Jean did not know what to do. He could never have imagined what that magical moment of meeting children might be. They were the true army of this terrible city, and the masters did not know it. The first of the patriarchs approached Jean. He turned once again to the crowd, making sure of their silence and obedience, and then he bowed his back, leaning on his golden cane. The left hand on his heart he put one knee on the ground and face always turned to the ground, he says:

"Be wellcome, Ô King of Heolagampa! Enter your city, the city of your people. See how he knew how to wait for you. Give him the power and glory that come back to him, for despite all the temptations that presented themselves to him, he defended your city without bending. May the world be subject to your will and to your law ..."

For a moment, the heavy silence that reigned over the city was as heavy as a leaden screed. People stared at each other. The old men must have lost their heads. Was that their powers? Did they live them in fear only to live this moment? Some of the men who fought the unfaithful hordes wanted to rebel. But the women had seen their children again and they did not admit that a struggle was going on between the patriarchs and the men. Peace be the emblem of this day, such was their desire. So they held back their companions, those of the most savage, and these wolves became lambs. They all knelt as the patriarchs did. Only the children and Jean remained standing ...

Jean did not understand what was happening to him. He had simply come to this land because his path was leading him there and following the teachings of his dreams. His dreams had not taught him that he should become king ... Was that still a test of The One Who Knows? He watched the crowd bite the dust and did not seem to want to meet his eyes. It seemed to him that he had become a taboo; an object of worship and veneration. He, an ordinary man, only sought the path of his life. He was certain that the answer he would give to the invitation of the old man, would mark the rest of his journey. All this crowd at his feet, all those faces petrified with horror, all those lifeless bodies outside the city. Why so much hatred, so much bloodshed? For the coming of a king? To be the sovereign of a bloody past, of a people enslaved by its superstitions and its superiority over others, did not delight him. On the other hand, this people so strong, without fear; even to free oneself from the texts of his law, from the law of him who knows; this people could tear it to pieces, just like those barbarians who had been decimated and whose corpses surrounded the great city ... Choice of doors, again and again ...

After a moment of reflection Jean spoke:

"The king you are waiting for, it may be just another. Personally, I did not receive the necessary initiation for this position. I thank you for having offered it to me, but really I can only decline this invitation. Your people are great. Your people are rich in the teachings of The One Who Knows, and certainly you hold the teachings of a very high science, as well as the expression of great wisdom. This city bears witness to this. The only reason for my presence in this place is my desire to seek my way. I leave it to your wisdom to accept me as I am and to let me know the great wisdom that animates you. Thus will I be the happiest of men. What I ask of you is neither alms nor honors. From this moment that you open the doors of your city, and that you are informed of my intentions, it remains for you to judge my fate ..."

A new rumor rose from the attentive crowd. Those who, from the beginning of the affair, did not want this stranger to enter the city, resumed their invectives.

They felt that they had been stripped of their privacy. They were as horrified of a crime as they would have committed, a crime against the law of The One Who Knows. The crowd finally noticed the level of his ignorance, the brutality of his reactions. This people finally knew what the image of their collective soul was. They had just learned that they were no better than others. Curiosity and the certainty of holding power left them defenseless. Only the insults and the death threats remained against Jean, the man who had known how to put them on his knees and who was trying to lift them.

"To death ! To death the imposter!" Cried they. "That the stranger knows nothing of the secret of the temple of numbers! He is not worthy to live among the elect of The One Who Knows!"

At these words, the patriarch turned to his sheep and said to them:

"You all, listen ... This man says he is not the one we've been waiting for generations. May his declaration be ratified! But, recognize that he knew how to respect the law, our law, without anyone having transmitted it to him. As a result, he can not be considered one of those vulgar barbarians we have had to fight. That's what I propose ..."

He watched the taken aback crowd. The eyes and ears were open.

"As he has not asked us anything, and that we ourselves have opened the doors of Heolagampa, we will give him the knowledge he asks to receive. Thus, let us see if he is worthy to enter the temple of numbers. I, who speaks to you, I know that this man is a king, but a king who has not yet received kingship. The path he pursues is the path of a righteous man. Let us serve the law of The One Who Knows to assure him on the way that carries it. This is our duty. If the majority of you decide, it should be so. If you decide otherwise, I can assure you of the wrath of The One Who Knows! Finally, know that we have been the judges of many peoples. Here we have just been judged by one man, without any drop of blood being shed. We were judged because we had lost the sense of the law and haved to sin by pride. We have become like those people we fought in the past. This time is over. May he who fears the judgment of the Knower recognize His will! May everyone hear his oracle transmitted by the mouth of his humble servant!"

Grumbling a little longer, the crowd was slowly dispersing. Jean felt the eyes still heavy with hatred that landed on him ...

The great dreamer ©Jean-Paul Leurion 1999-

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