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that everything remains the same; we do not see the result of our
effort.
Elijah reflected for some time on what he had heard. And he ordered
that, at the end of each day of work, the people gather at the foot of the
Fifth Mountain to contemplate together the sunset.
Most were so weary that they exchanged not a word, but they discovered
that it is important to allow thought to wander as aimlessly as the clouds
in the sky. In this way, anxiety fled from each person's heart and they
found inspiration and strength for the day to come.
ELIJAH AWOKE SAYING THAT TODAY HE WOULD NOT LABOR.
In my land, this is the Day of Atonement.
There is no sin in your soul, a woman told him. You have done the
best that you can.
But custom must be maintained. And I shall keep it.
The women left, bearing water for the fields, the old men went back to
their task of erecting walls and shaping the wood for doors and windows.
The children helped to mold the small clay bricks that would later be
baked in fire. Elijah watched them with immense joy in his heart. Then
he went out from Akbar and walked toward the valley.
He wandered about aimlessly, praying the prayers that he had learned in
childhood. The sun was not yet completely risen, and from the place
where he stood he could see the enormous shadow of the Fifth Mountain
covering part of the valley. He felt a horrible premonition: the struggle
between the God of Israel and the gods of the Phoenicians would go on
for many generations, and for many thousands of years.
HE RECALLED that one night he had climbed to the top of the mountain
and spoken with an angel. But since Akbar's destruction he had never
again heard the voices from heaven.
O Lord, today is the Day of Atonement, and my list of sins against Thee
is long, he said, turning toward Jerusalem. I have been weak, for I
have forgotten my strength. I have been compassionate when I should
have been firm. I have failed to choose, for fear of making the wrong
decision. I have yielded before the time to do so, and I have
blasphemed when I should have given thanks.
Still, Lord, I have also a long list of Thy sins against me. Thou hast
made me suffer more than was just, by taking from this world one that I
loved. Thou hast destroyed the city that received me, Thou hast
confounded my search, Thy harshness almost made me forget the love I
have for Thee. For all that time I have struggled with Thee, yet Thou
dost not accept the worthiness of my combat.
If we compare the list of my sins with the list of Thy sins, Thou shalt see
that Thou art in my debt. But, as today is the Day of Atonement, give me
Thy forgiveness and I shall forgive Thee, so that we may go on walking
at each other's side.
At that moment, a wind blew, and he heard his angel say to him, Thou
hast done well, Elijah. God hath accepted thy combat.
Tears streamed from his eyes. He knelt and kissed the valley's arid soil.
Thanks unto you for having come, for I still have one doubt: is it not a
sin to do this?
The angel said, If a warrior fight with his instructor, doth he offend
him?
No. It is the only way to teach the technique that he must learn.
Then continue, until the Lord call thee back to Israel, said the angel.
Rise and go on proving that thy struggle hath meaning, because thou
hast known how to cross the current of the unavoidable. Many navigate it
and founder; others are swept to places for which they were not fated.
But thou confrontest the crossing with dignity; thou hast guided the path
of thy vessel well and transformed pain into action.
How sad that you are blind, said Elijah. Otherwise you would see how
orphans, widows, old people have been able to rebuild a city. Soon, all
will be as it was.
Would that it not be so, said the angel. Remember that they have paid
a high price so that their lives could be changed.
Elijah smiled. The angel was right.
Would that thou mightest act as do men who are given a second chance:
do not twice commit the same error. Never forget the reason for thy
life.
I shall not forget, he replied, happy that the angel had returned.
CARAVANS NO LONGER CAME THROUGH THE VALLEY; the Assyrians must
have destroyed the roads and changed the trade routes. Day after day,
children scaled the only turret in the wall that had escaped destruction;
they were charged with watching the horizon and alerting the city to the
return of enemy warriors. Elijah planned to receive them with dignity
and hand over command.
Then he could depart.
But with each passing day the feeling grew that Akbar had become part
of his life. Perhaps his mission was not to remove Jezebel from the
throne but to be there with these people for the rest of his life, carrying
out the humble role of servant for the Assyrian conqueror. He would help
to reestablish trade routes, learn the language of the enemy, and during
his moments of repose, oversee the library, which was daily more
complete.
Whereas on a night already lost in time the city had appeared to be at its
end, it now seemed possible to make it even more beautiful than it had
been. The work of rebuilding encompassed widening streets, erecting
sturdier roofs, and creating an ingenious system for bringing water from
the well to the most distant places. And his soul too was being restored;
each day he learned something new from the old people, from the
children, from the women. That group, which had not abandoned Akbar
only because of the absolute impossibility of doing so, was now a
competent, disciplined company.
If the governor had known that they were of such help, he would have
created another type of defense, and Akbar would not have been
destroyed.
Elijah thought a moment, then saw that he was mistaken. Akbar needed
to be destroyed so that all could awaken the forces that lay dormant
inside their own being.
Months went by without the Assyrians showing any sign of life. By now
Akbar was almost complete, and Elijah could think of the future. The
women had repaired pieces of cloth and made new garments from them.
The old folk were reorganizing the dwellings and attending to the city's
sanitation. The children were helping when asked, but they usually spent
the day at play: that is a child's foremost obligation.
Elijah lived with the boy in a small stone house rebuilt on the site that
had once been a storage place for merchandise. Each night the
inhabitants of Akbar would sit around a fire in the main square, telling
stories that they had heard earlier in their lives, alongside the boy, who
noted everything on clay tablets that were baked the next day. The
library was growing before their very eyes.
The woman who had lost her son was also learning the characters of
Byblos. When Elijah saw that she could create words and phrases, he
charged her with teaching the alphabet to the rest of the population; in
this way, when the Assyrians returned, they could be used as interpreters
or teachers.
This was just what the high priest wanted to prevent, an old man, who
had taken the name Ocean because he desired to have a soul as great as
the sea, said one afternoon. That the writing of Byblos survive to
threaten the gods of the Fifth Mountain.
Who can prevent the unavoidable? Elijah replied.
The people of Akbar would toil by day, watch the sunset together, and
recount stories during the night.
Elijah was proud of his work. And with each day that passed he grew
more impassioned with it.
One of the children charged with keeping the vigil descended in a run.
I saw dust on the horizon! he said excitedly. The enemy is returning!
Elijah climbed to the turret and saw that the news was correct. He
reckoned that they would be at the gates of Akbar the next day.
That afternoon he told the inhabitants that they should not attend the
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