Book II, Chapter IX
▻ OATH
1.
There was no
defence.
The hour
was late.
The prisoner
stood,
a spectator.
The floor ran
like
a stream, and
the vapor
sat there,
almost
an idolatry.
2.
The prison,
having
seemed to come
out of
the earth
beneath him,
stood like
the crackle
of a horse’s
hoofs
on frost,
the sum of
the prisoner’s
lies.
3.
Blood
is harbored,
summoned,
exchanged.
“The knife has
been
reddened,”
said
the governor.
The two
were brothers,
witnesses
To a different
motive.
4.
The high
street burned,
in M’s red
eyes.
“The is
a punishment?”
he cried.
Had
the question
an answer?
No.
No answer.
Stubborn
persistence is
easy.
5.
Gravity would
no longer
hold M.
In ancient
times, when
evil
was the rule,
there was
little to say.
Within
a snuffbox,
a red
handkerchief
listened.
6.
“Listen to
the words I
say. Ye
two
shall be one
and live
friendly
together.
Ye shall
share meat
together
and all things
besides,”
a dog growled.
7.
“Be an
outlaw. Be
banished
as flames. Flee
from God’s
house and
from hell,
the machinery
of ignorant
people.
Ay, ay,
a madhouse
this island.”
8.
“No,” said M.
”When you
seize
a mad dog,
you
strangle it.”
To protect
husband and
self.
Fear, like
a dream,
had
been broken.
Then followed
terror.
9.
The story
is but half
truth of
pain
and love.
Tongues make
it worse.
M drew a long
breath.
He could
have wrecked
life with
a word,
but
held his peace.
10.
On the high
street,
snow continued
to fall
the whole
night,
and in
the morning,
there was
no daylight.
The hounds
drove along
like ghosts.
11.
The black
waste of
lave, the black
beach,
was gone.
The black
jokulls.
The black
headland, like
a giant hand
of many
fingers.
The black
fjiord.
12.
Jellies
and soups
tempt
the sick man,
but less than
the governor
to M.
With
a brave smile
and a man’s
hand
in the night,
he lay
with his face
down.
13.
“Heap
coals on
my head. Bury
me,”
he thought.
He heard
the hollow
tread
of footsteps
on
frozen snow.
A melancholy
processions,
men bound
for
the mines.
To be continued…