Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow [105]
that nobility had a greater future than ever. Of all the elements in the catalogue, this last had most appeal to me. Thus I groped with sore feet after him and kept saying to myself, "Have faith, Henderson, it's about time you had some faith." Presently there was some light and the end of the staircase came in view. The width of the stairs was due to the architectural crudeness of the palace. I was now beneath the building. Daylight came from a narrow opening above my head; this light was originally yellow but became gray by contact with stones. In the opening two iron spikes were set to keep even a child from creeping through. Examining my situation I found a small passage cut from the granite which led downward to another flight of stairs, which were of stone too. These were narrower and ran to a great depth, and soon I found them broken, with grass springing and soil leaking out through the cracks. "King," I called, "King, hey, are you down there, Your Highness?" But nothing came from below except drafts of warm air that lifted up the spider webs. "What's the guy's hurry?" I thought, and my cheeks twitched and I continued to go down. Instead of cooling, the air appeared warmer, the light filled up the stony space like a gray and yellow fluid, the surfaces of the wall acting as a filter, for the atmosphere was distributed as evenly as water. I came to the bottom, the last few steps being of earth and the bases of the walls themselves mixed with soil. Which recalled to me the speckled vision of twilight at Banyules-sur-Mer in that aquarium, where I saw that creature, the octopus, pressing its head against the glass. But where I had felt coldness there, here I felt very warm. I proceeded, feeling my apparel--the helmet, of course, but even the green silk pants of the rain king, which were light and flimsy--as excessive, a drag on me. By and by the walls became more spacious and widened into a sort of cave. To the left the tunnel went off into darkness. This I certainly had no intention of entering. The other way, there stood a semicircular wall in which there was a large door barred with wood. It was partly open and on the edge of this door I saw Dahfu's hand. For about the count of twenty, this was as much of him as I saw, but it wasn't necessary now to ask myself where he had been leading me. A low ripping sound behind the door was self-explanatory. It was the lion's den. And because the door was ajar I thought it advisable not to budge. I froze where I was, as there was only the king between me and the animal, of which I now began to see glimpses. This beast was not the one he had to capture. I didn't yet understand exactly what his relations with it were, but I did realize that he himself had no hesitation about entering, but had to prepare the animal for me. I was expected to go into the den with him. There was no question about that. And now when I heard that ripping, soft, dangerous sound the creature made, I felt as if I had got astride a rope. Seemingly it passed between my knees. I was under strict orders to myself to have faith, but as a soldier I had to think of my line of retreat, and here I was in a bad way. If I went up the stairs, at the top I would encounter a bolted door. It would do no good to knock or cry. Tatu would never open, and I could see myself chased all the way up and lying there with the animal washing its face in my blood. I expected the liver to go first, as with beasts of prey it is like that, they eat the most nutritious and valuable organ immediately. My other course lay into that dark tunnel, and this I speculated led to another closed door, probably. So I stood in those sad green pants with the stained jockey shorts under them, trying to steel myself. Meanwhile the snarling and ripping rose and fell and I became also aware of the voice of the king; he was talking to the animal, sometimes in Wariri, and sometimes in English, perhaps for my benefit, in order to reassure me. "Easy, easy, sweetheart. Here, here, my dolly." Thus it was a female, and he spoke low and steadily, calming her,