It was the height of the Black Death in the year 1349 in the city of Buda, the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. Rumors of a Satanic visitation had preceded the arrival of the Bubonic Plague that year giving way to panic among the ignorant masses. Terror reigned supreme. People claimed to have witnessed parades of demons and other hideous monsters who were preying upon the people.
Some of these stories of demonic possession and worse are no doubt fanciful. These are stories of the most awful horror. The story that I am about to relate has never been printed before. I have only seen it on a handwritten manuscript by the biased and superstitious monk Philip Corvinus. I will now give you the full reading of this short and strange story from the manuscript kept by the monks of the Abbey of Saint Manfred. Of its veracity, the monks had no doubt. You must remember that back in those dark and depressing days, there were all sorts of wild stories flying about the land. Of these tales, certainly the monks and the padres believed each and every one of them
In the year of our Lord, 1349,when Satan afflicted our fair city of Buda with a pestilence unheard of in its awfulness, there was an astrologer named Matthias. Some say that he came from Transylvania, others say he was from Bosnia. I myself knew not whence he came. What matters is that by means of his art, he predicted some time ago that the pestilence would come. In addition to astrology, he was also learned in alchemy. He also dabbled in magic, but kept that hidden to himself lest it provoke persecution. He was an old man, but unusually strong and in surprisingly robust health for a man of his advanced age.
Matthias was something of a hermit who stayed at home for weeks at a time venturing out for only food and and the substances with which he indulged himself in his arcane arts. Unlike most who try their hands in those scientific arts, he was an uncommonly patient man.
One day, a young man dressed in black, for that is the clothing of mourning, came to the door of Matthias's house. When the astrologer opened the door, the young man gave him a warning, "Matthias! Repent your dabbling in those foul studies for they will get you in trouble with the ecclesiastical authorities."
"Young man," replied Matthias, "I am engaged in attempting to find a cure for this dreadful pestilence that is afflicting our land and, if I'm not mistaken, it is the pestilence that is the author of your mourning."
"We both know why you seek a cure for the affliction of our age an it is not for the betterment of mankind," replied the young man.
The old man grew angry at this insult and struggled to maintain his composure. He was on the verge of rebuking the young man when the youth strangely smiled and said, "You will never discover the medicines that will cure the plague for you know not how to find them."
"Possibly," replied the alchemist.
"You are entirely too stuck on yourself for your own good," replied the black clad youth.
"In any event, I have been working on the problems afflicting mankind and feel that I have made great progress. Now if you will kindly leave, I will resume my studies," said Matthias
"Resuming your studies will do you no good. You will pursue knowledge in vain, I have discovered," replied the young man in black.
"Are you saying that you have discovered the solution to the mysteries affecting mankind?"
"Yes, I have found how to both prolong human life and to turn base metals into gold,' replied the ebony clad youth, "but I care for neither."
"If what you say is true, then you are a genius of the first rank!"
"No," replied the stranger in black, "Just a fellow with a great deal of experience.'
"Could you help me with my studies then?"
"I'd rather show you," replied the youth entering the house, walking past the alchemist. He quickly strode to the workshop as just as fat moved his hands with such speed that Matthias could hardly follow his movements. When the young stranger was finished, there was a cup that was halfway filled with ingredients from the containers in the workshop.
"Is that it?" asked Matthias.
"Not yet," said the young man, "there is one ingredient that its very existence seems oblivious to you." With that, he took a vial out of one of his pockets and with a sigh he poured some of its contents into the cup. Once done, he laid the vial on the desk right on front of the old man. As Matthias gazed at the vial, he thought that he could see the face of a young lady who was beautiful yet sinister. And then the face was gone replaced by the plain glass of the vial.
"This is a special vial," said the stranger, "for it was used by the Abbess of the Convent of Saint Sylvester before she renounced all worldly passions and entered the service of the Church. They say that she was both beautiful and a scientific genius which I have found is exceedingly rare."
The stranger then poured the contents into an iron pot and then bade the old man to melt some lead and pour it into the pot before placing the pot with all the ingredients above the fire for cooking. Once the cooking commenced, there was a purple flame which arose from the pot and once extinguished, there was nothing in the pot save for a gold nugget.
Matthias's eyes grew large with astonishment. Lead had been turned into gold! He almost could have proclaimed the stranger to be the greatest genius alive, save for the the fact that Matthias had always reserved that dignity for himself.
"Now in return for my satisfying your curiosity, please abstain from this dreadful science of greed, which is what alchemy is in essence, and turn your mind to more worthy pursuits. Take this as a warning that the wages of alchemy are sadness and melancholy," said the young man.
The old man asked, "Won't you tell me how to commute base metals into gold and produce any magical elixirs for me?"
"What you are engaged in is a dangerous occupation. I came here to warn you, not encourage you," replied the youth.
At that precise moment, there came a sound of a sharp banging on the door.
The young man cried, "That must be my friend! I have to go now!"
With that, the youth bowed and made his exit so swiftly that he was out of the house before Matthias could even get up.
"The old man cried, shedding genuine tears,"O what a fool I am! I left this young genius go and with him the secret solutions to so many of mankind's problems!"
Note: Start at the top of the 2nd column on page 37.
No comments:
Post a Comment