Then, standing alone and at peace in this courtyard drenched in the sweet light of late summer, watching the little fountain quietly playing, Ben Attar felt that the fears of the journey that had just come to an end had been transformed within him into a gentle desire. Why should he not take another wife and install her in this house? The thought of marrying a second wife had occasionally flitted through his head, and he had sometimes conjured up an image of this or that woman whom he knew from a snatched glance or by hearsay. But now he felt that the decision had been taken in his mind. His wealth would probably continue to increase, he still had strength in his loins, and his wife had begun to weaken a little. Several of his kinsmen and his Jewish friends, not to mention Muslim acquaintances, kept two and sometimes even three wives, in some cases under a single roof. He was now thirty-five years old, and if he managed to exceed the lifespan of his father, who had died at the age of forty, he still had ten years ahead of him, or even more. This was the right moment to widen his horizons. When his time came and his children stood around his deathbed, the leavetaking would be easier, because the wealth he would have amassed by then would enable them to part on easy and generous terms.
The sudden new thought so captured his heart that after locking the door behind him he did not hasten to his home but entered Ben Ghiyyat’s synagogue. His uncle interrupted his meal to greet him, and Ben Attar, stooping to kiss his hand and receive his blessing, was on the point of taking a few coins out of his pocket as a gift to the poor students who sat around the table when he suddenly thought better of it and decided to tell Ben Ghiyyat first about the new desire that had seized his heart, and then to fix the size of the gift in proportion to his uncle’s reaction. The sage listened with a smiling countenance, nodded his agreement, and only inquired whether he had spoken to his first wife yet about the second one. As he responded in the negative, he immediately offered to go and tell her and receive her approval, so that the announcement might seem to be an invitation to a meritorious act rather than an order. Who knew, she might even agree to help him select a suitable woman, so that there would be twice as much joy for all of them.
4.
Slowly the dawn began to break and the European continent opened up before them, sucking in the remains of the fog and enchanting the passengers on the old guardship with the lush greenery of the banks of the River Seine emptying lazily into the ocean. Small, unfamiliar birds with multicolored wings filled the air with their chirping, as though they had only been waiting for this ship. Everything that had appeared inscrutable and menacing in the night became clear and friendly with the gathering daylight. The flame that had burned so threateningly in the night had turned into a pleasant curl of grayish smoke, and the outline of a giant bird hovering in the darkness over the sea was now revealed as a wreck, which, to judge by the seaweed that had invaded it, had evidently been lying at the mouth of the river for many a year. Although Abd el-Shafi took pains to give it a wide berth, for fear of unseen projections, his heart drew him closer to it, because his sharp eyes had recognized excitedly the beautiful carvings of the savage Vikings. Even without the wreck he would have had no doubt that he was steering the ship into the right estuary, but the greenish presence of this living ancient testimony confirmed with the sweetness of certainty his confidence about the whole journey. He nearly shouted something about this to the ship’s owner, but he held himself back at the last minute so as not to arouse the memory of his forebear the captive pirate, which was liable to undermine the trust he had acquired in the course of the voyage from the two women too, who were now sitting on the old bridge, quiet and thoughtful after the double night, staring with fresh-eyed curiosity not only at each other but at the first bend of the river, which was now approaching.
It was at this time, as the ship began to penetrate the River Seine, solemnly raising the spirits of passengers and crew alike, that the chimes of the black slave’s little bells died down, for after a night replete with activity he now sank into slumber in the hold, sprawled like a black octopus among the jars of oil and sacks of condiments and heaps of sheep’s wool close to the two little camels, who eyed their young lover anxiously. With the rising and falling rhythm of his breathing he now became the hidden heart of this Muslim guardship that had come from so far away and was now sailing slowly through the Christian lands. Abd el-Shafi, who for several days had feared the opposing force of the expected current, was surprised not only by the gentleness of the summer stream but also by the unexpected generosity of the northwesterly wind that blew from behind them, whose good intentions he had discovered from its caress on his naked back. If these infidels are so successful, he mused with the strange jealousy of a veteran sea salt, at balancing current and wind to facilitate the passage of travelers on this river, why then, despite their primitive faith in a divinity who vanished from his tomb, they have a slight advantage over the Muslims, who are drawn to the decrees of fate. But despite the hope aroused in him by the northwesterly wind, his anxiety did not leave him, for he had never before sailed such a wide ship up such a narrow waterway, and his reckless wine-bibbing of the night before now bound his head with bands of iron, and each one of the unnumbered cups of Bordeaux wine that he had downed in the night had become a needle to stab his brain. He decided to talk or shout as little as possible, to avoid disturbing his brain, and preferred to give his orders in silence. With help from his sailors he lashed himself to the great mast, so that he would feel the sail on his body and know the precise direction of the wind and so that he could estimate from a height the safe distance between the two banks of the river. In order not to lose contact with his sailors he attached cord harnesses to them, and by lightly tugging on the cords he could transmit his orders to them, as though he were in charge of a great chariot rather than a ship, with its horses contained within it. And so, softly and silently, the ship traversed the first five bends of the river.
Ben Attar and Abu Lutfi, however, were untroubled by the river and its bends. After forty days of successfully sailing the ocean, they had absolute confidence in their captain’s skill; indeed, they would have trusted him, had it been needed, to steer his ship up the very steps of Abulafia’s house. However, they nervously awaited the first encounter with Franks, if only to discover whether merchandise coming from abroad was taxed in these remote and savage lands, or whether it was merely a matter of generous hospitality. But until the afternoon deep silence reigned all around, and there was not a living soul to be seen apart from the cheerful birds, as though the progress of a Moroccan ship down the arteries of Francia did not stir enough curiosity in any inhabitant that he should ask himself about its intentions. Where were all the new customers that Abulafia talked about so hopefully? True, little Samuel Elbaz, who since dawn had occupied his favorite spot at the masthead, high above Abd el-Shafi, and could see beyond the wall of trees and undergrowth, was constantly observing things that the other travelers could not, such as the sails of a water mill, or a goose girl leading her charges down a hill, a peasant plowing in a field, or children playing next to a thatched cottage. But for the time being he was silent, because it seemed as if none of the inhabitants had noticed the outlandish ship sailing secretly so close to their homes. Surely even if someone had happened to raise his eyes and catch sight of the tip of a white triangle swaying above the tops of the trees, topped by a naked youth half merged with the pinkish sky, he would not have hastened to verify the import of this apparition but would have simply fallen to his knees, crossed himself, and bowed his head in excited gratitude for this portent announcing the advent of the approaching millennium.