his strict book) to taste the sweet grape’s juice.
His whiskers berry-drenched, his beaker flowing,
With praise of wine he had enhanced his teaching.”’
Having recited these lines, Khalid burst into tears, and explained that it was for their sake that he had been condemned to serve in the galleys. For the Caliph, who was the protector of the true faith and the earthly representative of the Prophet, had ordained that any who blasphemed against the Prophet or criticized his teaching should be severely punished, and the governor had hit upon this method of securing his revenge, under the pretext of demanding justice.
‘But I solace myself by reflecting that this state of affairs cannot last for long,’ said Khalid. ‘For my family is more powerful than his, and has, besides, the Caliph’s ear, so that I shall shortly be liberated. That is why nobody in this ship dares to bring the whip to me, for they know that no man can, with impunity, lay his hand on one who is descended from the Prophet.’
Orm asked when this Prophet had lived, and Khalid replied that he had died more than 350 years ago. Orm remarked that he must indeed have been a mighty man if he could still, after so long an interval, protect his kinsmen and decide what his people might or might not drink. No man had ever wielded such power in Skania, not even King Ivar of the Broad Embrace, who was the mightiest man that had lived in the north.
‘No man in my country,’ he said, ‘lays down the law about what another man may drink, be he king or commoner.’
Orm’s knowledge of Arabic increased by leaps and bounds now that he had Khalid as his companion, for the latter talked incessantly and had many interesting things to tell of. After some days, he enquired where Orm’s country was and how he had come to be in the ship. Then Orm told him the story of Krok’s expedition, and how he had joined it, and of all that had ensued. When he had recounted his adventures, as well as he could, he concluded: ‘As you see, much of what happened was the result of our meeting with the Jew Solomon. I think it possible that he was a man of luck, for he was freed from his slavery, and, as long as he remained with us, our fortunes prospered. He said that he was an important man in a town called Toledo, where he was a silversmith, as well as being the leading poet.’
Khalid said that he had certainly heard of him, for his skill as a silversmith was renowned; nor was he a bad poet, as poets went in Toledo.
‘Not so long ago,’ he said, ‘I heard one of his poems sung by a wandering minstrel from the north, in which he described how he had fallen into the hands of an Asturian margrave, who used him ill, and how he had escaped and had led the fierce pirates against the fortress, storming it and killing the margrave and sticking his head on a pole for the crows to peck at, after which he had returned home to his own country with the margrave’s gold. It was a competent work, in a simple style, though lacking the delicacy of expression that we of Malaga aim at.’
‘He does not belittle his achievements,’ said Orm. ‘If he is prepared to go to so much trouble to revenge himself on an enemy, he ought to be willing to do something to help the friends who rendered him such service. It was we who liberated him from his slavery, stormed the fortress and executed his revenge; and, if he is in reality an important man in his country, he is, perhaps, in a position to render us who sit here a service comparable to that which we performed for him. Nor do I see how else we shall ever regain our freedom, if he does not help us.’
Khalid said that Solomon was famous for his wealth, and that the Caliph regarded him highly, although he did not follow the true religion. Orm now began to hope, but he said nothing to his countrymen of what Khalid had told him. The outcome of their conversation was that Khalid undertook to send a message, together with Orm’s greetings, to Solomon in Toledo, as soon as he was released himself.
But the days passed, and still no order arrived for Khalid’s liberation. The delay made him more unruly than ever, and he inveighed furiously against the indifference shown by his kinsmen. He began to compose a long poem on the pernicious influence of wine, hoping that he might be able to get this copied out when they were in port and forwarded to the Caliph, so that his real feelings on the subject might become known. But when it came to the point where he had to sing the praises of water and lemon-juice, and to acclaim their superiority to wine, his verses began to halt somewhat. However, although he continued to shriek imprecations at the ship’s crew whenever his dark fits settled on him, he was still never touched with the whip, and Orm took this to be a hopeful sign that he would not remain with them for much longer.
One morning, when they were in one of the eastern harbours, the ship having returned with many others from a hard chase after African pirates, four men walked aboard and, when Khalid saw them, he became faint with joy and paid no heed to Orm’s questions regarding their identity. One of the men was an official with a big turban and a cloak reaching to his feet. He handed a letter to the captain of the ship, who touched it with his forehead and read it reverently. Another member of the four seemed to be some kinsman of Khalid’s, for, as soon as the latter had been released from his ankle-chain, they threw themselves into each other’s arms, weeping and exchanging kisses and chattering like madmen. The other two men were servants, bearing clothes and baskets. They dressed Khalid in a fine robe and offered him food. Orm shouted to him to remember his promise, but Khalid was already rebuking his kinsman for having forgotten to bring a barber with him, and did not hear. Then Khalid went ashore with his suite, the captain and crew bidding him obsequious farewells, which he acknowledged with condescension as though barely aware of their presence, and disappeared arm in arm with his kinsman.
Orm was sorry to see him depart, for Khalid had been an entertaining companion, and he feared that, in his new-found freedom, he would be above remembering to fulfil his promise. Another man was chained beside Orm in Khalid’s place, a shop-keeper who had been found guilty of using false weights. He tired quickly, and was little use at the oar, and had to be whipped frequently, at which he moaned and mumbled little pieties to himself. Orm gained small pleasure from his company, and this was the period of his life in the galley that he found most tedious. He set all his hopes on Khalid and Solomon but, as more and more time passed, these began to fade.
At last, however, in Cadiz, their lucky day arrived. An officer came on board with a troop of men, and all the Northmen were released from their ankle-chains and were given clothes and shoes, and were removed to another ship, which proceeded up the great river to Cordova. They were made to lend a hand rowing against the stream, but were not fettered or whipped, and were frequently relieved; moreover, they were allowed to sit together, and so could talk without hindrance for the first time for many a day. They had been galley-slaves for two years and the greater part of a third; and Toke, who sang and laughed almost the whole time, said that he did not know what would become of them now, but that one thing he did know, that it was high time that he drank the thirst out of himself. Orm said that it would be better if he could wait until he had someone’s permission to do so, for it would be a bad thing if they had any violence now, which they would be liable to have, if Orm’s memory served him rightly, once Toke began quenching his thirst. Toke agreed that he would do better to wait, though he added that the waiting would be difficult. They all wondered what was going to happen to them, and Orm now repeated to them the details of his conversation wth Khalid concerning the Jew. Then they were loud in the Jew’s praise, and in Orm’s also; and, although Orm was the youngest of them, they all now acknowledged him to be their chieftain.
Orm asked the officer what was going to be done with them, and whether he knew of a Jew called Solomon, but all the officer could tell him was that he had been commanded to conduct them to Cordova; and he had never heard of Solomon.
They arrived at the Caliph’s city, and saw it spreading out on both banks of the river, with many houses huddled together and white palaces and palm courts and towers. They marvelled greatly at its size and splendour, which surpassed anything that they could have imagined, and its wealth seemed to them sufficient to provide rich booty for all the seamen from the whole of the Danish kingdom.
They were led through the city, gazing in wonder on the throngs of people; though they complained that there were too few women among them, and that not much could be seen of those that were abroad, because they were all cloaked