Pirin - Book II - Hairam the Queen

Chapter 5

“What then? It is praiseworthy for you to love good singing, what may be wrong with that? I would be surprised by the contrary, that being the case, since it is proper to the nature of civilized men to appreciate melodic tunes and the intonated voice”.

“You should know, Milord, that soon a little crowd of people gathered around me, listening to my singing. Naturally, at first, I was embarassed by the occurrence, but then I heard some of the bystanders exclaiming words of praise for my powerful voice. Since that day I started thinking, and dreaming I too was one of those singers whose performance had enchanted me. I came up with the idea of singing myself before crowds, in the squares of Lothriel, in theatres, and in the occasion of banquets. I soon started doubting my own inclinations. And now I am not certain anymore I want to keep up with my profession of the smithy. Perhaps I should give up my job as an ironsmith in order to learn the art of singing from one of the great singers making our city proud. Please, help me, Your Highness, to figure out the right path to follow!”

Once I had heard that request, I kept silent for quite a long while, observing stout, strong-necked Bineharanur. I put my fingers over my lips, caressing my chin, as I pondered the matter. Then, I invited Bineharanur: “Sing”.

He was perplexed. “Do you mean... so, you advice me to give up my occupation as an ironsmith in order to be a singer?”

“No, I mean now! Sing. Let me hear your voice. Intonate a song of your choice, as you please, so that I may listen to your performance”.

Slightly embarassed, the ironsmith nodded. He cleared his voice, then, he started telling the story of Melimandhy, the Pixie of Snowflakes, in such a powerful tone of voice that he had marble and the many-coloured stained glass windows vibrate. There were no instruments accompanying him, yet his voice would make the absence of harps, flutes, long horns and string instruments unfelt at all...

Among the people of the Pixies of Snowflakes,

Delicately falling from above in their flight,

Over whitened woods and crystal rivers,

Getting down in their wiggling dance,

Chasing one another in their twirls,

Once upon a time there lived Melimandhy.

The tiny Pixie, made of sweet white crystal,

Who swinging came down among a thousand flakes,

Played along without a cease, and his companions too,

And countless turns, and countless flips, silently, slowly,

Waiting for the time when everybody plunged themselves

Into the soft bed of unsullied cotton wool.

Oh yes, there they would rejoice, eventually, all of them,

Being able to rest! There they would dive in,

Joyous and carefree, before they had to leave once more

They would sleep, oh, they would sleep,

After flipping about the whole day long.

Before leaving once more, taking flight once more.

But Melimandhy saw something there below,

Under the snow, below the soft unsullied bed.

Melimandhy saw one colour never before seen.

Since he was born, his whole world had always been white,

And yet, upon that day, it appeared in yellow green.

And so the Pixie came out of the soft white bed...

And so the Pixie came out, so that he could now see,

While all his brothers rested, already in their sleep,

Exhausted by celestial twirls among other snowflakes.

And so the Pixie could see, Melimandhy sweet,

A tiny flower sprouting out of the snowy cloak.

And, among the petals, a very tiny Fairy.

“And then who might you be?”, sweet Melimandhy asked her,

And she to him: “A Fairy, and here is the Snow Piercer”,

And that is how she got into Melimandhy's heart.

But hearts in love are warm, and warmth indeed melts snow,

And also Melimandhy melt, a drop drunk by the ground,

And there, as swan the swimmer, a milk-sea flower grows.

I had listened to Bineharanur's moving song as awestruck. Many, perhaps, on that day would have certainly adviced Bineharanur to let go of the ensigns of the Guild of Blacksmiths. But I did not.

“Master Bineharanur, here is my advice: you shall leave the city, your home, and your workshop. You shall go to a lonely place on the hills over Vanarion and stay there for a year. In your life as a hermit there, you shall keep practicing the art of the smithy, while also practicing your singing. When the years is past, you shall come back here and tell me about your choice”.

Strong Bineharanur thanked me and followed my advice, so that, when, after a year, he came back to the audience hall before me, he told me:

“Noble Helewen, my excellent Sire, I come to you to inform you that I applied your counsel. For a year I have been living in utter isolation in the house you gave me, on the woody hills of fair-walled Vanarion. There I have been beating my hammer upon the anvil each and every day, all the while raising my singing over the silence of my solitude. What I could realize, so that I shall always be thankful toward you, Milord, is that, while I could get real satisfaction from the hammer's blows and my own arms, as well as from the contemplation of the items I had fashioned, as I kept them in my hands, I only received some vague feeling from the act of singing, when I did so alone, without the acclaiming crowd”.

At hearing such words, I smiled, pleased. “That is the reason why I invited you to live alone for a while, master Bineharanur. For a man must find his true vocation by himself. If he likes his art even by practicing it when nobody can see him, he shall then know he loves it sincerely. Otherwise, one might as well give up on it”.

From that day on, Bineharanur proudly resumed his guild ensigns, wearing them once more, and getting back to forging horseshoes, dedicating his full commitment and great mastery solely thereto.

A gift from a foreign country

CHAPTER VI

One day, the heralds announced a foreign delegation that had come in full display before the gates of Ektabanghal, unfurling the standards of Pilannard Riel, the City of the Colonnade. If you have never been there nor heard about it, my dear Domenir, you should know that Pilannard Riel is an important river city in Hensellar. It is a very peculiar city according to the way it was built and designed: it has a square plan, and it is a perfect, marble-walled square. Each house there standing is identical to each other, and all of them are perfect cubes. Buildings in Pilannard Riel have an extremely sober look. Indeed, throughout the whole city one can find no sculptures at all, nor a single frieze, nor a fresco, and no arch, no figurehead, no gargoyle, no floral decor and no fretwork. The house walls, nameless and clean, bear no picture, nor inscription of sorts. Roofs are straight and flat, and the buildings grey and smooth. Streets cut across the city in a grid, giving rise to quadrants, all alike one another. But the real wonder in the city of Pilannard Riel is the colonnade providing its name. In the centre of the city one indeed finds an extraordinary colonnade under the open sky, comprised of a hundred polished white pillars, proudly rising from a stone platform in the same colour. Not only it is the greatest, majestic colonnade the like of which has never been known, but also it is the place within the walls where the government meets in its assembly of a hundred ministers, also called the One Hundred Kings.

Pilannard Riel is ruled by very strict laws, enforcing a stern lifestyle, based on work, not allowing distractions nor amusement. Its citizens are pragmatic and stoical, scarcely inclined toward activities not sorting any immediate benefit. Discipline and organization rule each moment of the citizen's lives.

As I was saying, a delegation had come from that city before the gates of our Kingdom. In accordance to good manners, I met the delegation, after leaving my palace and having a chariot bring me to Ektabanghal, in order to welcome the diplomats as they were expected to be. After me, besides a cohort of guards in shining armours, there were also several magnates, handmaids and pages, standard-bearers, and obviously a group of heralds and musicians, shaping a solemn procession.

The foreign embassador stepped forward: “Hail to you, noblest of nobles, excellent Lord Helewen! Please, accept the greetings from my land, being friendly offered to you alongside a gift, meant as a token of our esteem for your people”.

After the pleasantries, a wide, evident rotation of his arm brought everybody's eyes to a palanquin, upon which a studded chest, partially covered by a small baldaquin, had been installed. A gift from a foreign country is always a very relevant diplomatic gesture, expected to be appreciated and generously repaid. Therefore, even before discovering the nature of the gift, I did not hesitate to invite the embassador and the whole of the delegation to enter Lothriel and my palace, where they could stay as long as they pleased, enjoying whatever the royal palace and the hospitality of my people could offer.

That very evening, in the occasion of a rich banquet I offered to our notable guests, I had the gift from the city of Pilannard Riel uncovered. The pages in the retinue of the embassador, after bringing the palanquin before me, only a few steps away from my seat, took the keys from the embassador himself and used them to unlock the studded chest. Then they stood there, unflinching and silent, for the herald to present me the contents of the chest, which the latter did so: “Sire Helewen, noblest of sovereigns from the Kingdom of Lothriel and the blessed kin of Pirin, whose blood is mixed with divine ichor, we beg you to accept as a token of peace and esteem on behalf of our city of Pilannard Riel the gift of an item which has great value to us”.

The pages removed the item from the chest, resting upon a soft satin cushion. The herald's voice continued resumed its presentation: “Before you, Your Majesty, we bear an anthill. It was fashioned by the most skilled artesans in our city. Through its crystal faces, one may observe the industrious work ants are always busy at, as they bustle without cease within it. Upon its lid, one may admire a sculpture portraying Elhem, the creator of animals, whose wisdom gave us in ants a model and guide to follow in order to make a Kingdom prosper and produce. By giving you such a present, Your Highness, we wish it to be unto you as a source of insight and advice”.

I was curious, therefore I came closer to take a look at the case, shaped as a bell, the glass of which, skillfully modelled, magnified the activity of the tiny beasts within it as a magnifying glass. I turned toward the embassador: “You shall inform the governors of your city that your gift pleased us. You shall not leave, though, before managing to recover from your long journey, and having fully enjoyed the delights our Kingdom offers”.

During the following days, I summoned my counsellors and diplomats in order to discuss the best way to repay the gift from the delegates of Pilannard Riel.

“Milord”, a minister suggested, “in order to make a gift such as being suitable to the governors of the City of One Hundred Columns, you should receive some information concerning the laws ruling public and private life in that Kingdom”.

“You speak wisely, minister. Unfortunately, I have not been able to read, as of yet, the law code of Pilannard Riel. Therefore I ask you to have a copy of such a code brought to me immediately, so that it is read in this hall and the precepts therein expressed may guide us in the right choice of gifts”.