Valerio Mafredi - The Oath

He walked back towards the stream and disappeared among the oaks. I looked around and tried to apply Damastes’ advice. I needed to seek cover behind a tree trunk to stay safe but the nearest trees were all far in front of me. The ones behind me were at least a hundred paces away and that was too far. I felt like calling my grandfather back to ask him how I could find a safe position but I was ashamed. I had no choice but to remain where I was. I looked around to work out how I could protect myself if one of those animals charged me, but all I could see was a small depression in the ground. In the distance I could hear horns blaring and sticks knocking and thrashing. The beaters! From the sound of it, there must be more than one boar. I gripped my spear tightly. My heart started pounding but I tried to control it. The sounds were getting closer. Without even realizing what I was doing, I had instinctively begun taking steps backwards. I would need more room to take aim.

All at once, a rush of broken branches and uprooted underbrush. I drew my bow and assumed my stance, planting myself firmly with my legs wide apart. Nothing. More branches snapping. I backed up. Nothing. Drops of sweat dripped into my eyes, burning them. Then a group of boar suddenly broke into the clearing at a gallop. Not in front of me, not behind me, but at my left side. I turned that way but the rising sun blinded me. I let fly regardless and a female collapsed abruptly. Instantly a dark shadow, enormous, loomed; I hurled my spear. A tremendous snort of pain. I threw myself on the ground and found him on top of me. A gigantic male. I felt an acute, agonizing spasm and was overwhelmed by a foul stench. With my right hand I pulled the dagger from my belt and plunged it hilt-deep into the animal’s belly. I was drenched in blood. I neither saw nor heard anything else.

It was my pain that awoke me, piercing, at the bottom of my thigh, near my knee. I opened my eyes and saw.

A mighty albino ram, with great curving horns, enormous horns. Perhaps I was dreaming. But the pain was real and getting stronger. I was lying on the ground in the middle of the grass. I was all covered with blood. A voice:

‘You’ve killed your first boar.’

The voice of Autolykos, my grandfather.

‘Is it real?’

‘What?’

‘That.’ I pointed to the ram standing absolutely still in front of me.

‘The ram. Of course. He’s the leader of my herd. He’s magnificent. No other ram this big exists. I stole him from the Aetolians who live in the interior. They offered to pay a ransom to have him back but I refused.’

‘It hurts, so much. .’

‘The boar ripped your thigh open,’ he said, and turned away.

A downpour of water hit me. Then another and another. They were taking buckets of water from the stream nearby and throwing them over me. I was being washed.

Autolykos reappeared and in his hand was a red-hot knife. ‘I have to cauterize your wound and sew you up or you’ll die. Don’t scream, it irritates me.’

The blade burned my flesh, the pain rent my heart, my eyes clouded over.

Only the albino ram remained, a white vision standing out against the darkness.

The fever raged within me for five days and five nights, then left me. It was then that I met my grandmother Amphithea because it was she who stitched my wound, not grandfather, and who nursed me. She spread an ointment on the flesh scorched by Autolykos’ blade that greatly eased the pain and calmed the itching of the scab that was forming. When she felt I had begun to heal she allowed me to get out of bed so I could try to take a few steps. I was careful not to betray my fear: the gash had been very deep, all the way to the bone. I knew that many, under similar circumstances, had remained crippled their whole lives. I tried to take heart by telling myself that even though I hadn’t been wounded in battle I could say I’d had a close encounter with a wild animal, so at least it had been an honourable fight.

I touched the ground first with one foot and then with the other and. . I was standing. A servant handed me a cane but I refused to take it. I took one step and then another: my muscles and tendons didn’t seem to be severely damaged. My gait was halting and quite stiff, painful but normal. My spirit filled with joy. This wouldn’t prevent me from doing battle, from running, from competing, on land or sea. In my heart of hearts I thanked Athena, who had appeared to me that first night in the form she most often takes when she wants to hide from mortal gaze. And I thanked my grandmother, who had cured me.

My grandfather came to see me as well and since I’d had plenty of time to ponder what had happened I told him what I thought: ‘The attack didn’t happen by chance. I was expecting the boars to come from the north and that animal charged at me from the east. You were the one who told me to take position at that spot, without any cover. You had them drive that animal at me knowing that I would be blinded by the sun. Was it the beaters who did it, or did you drive him at me yourself? Is that why you invited me to hunt with you when I was still an infant? So you could watch me die? At least now I know why no one wanted you around when they were hunting the boar of Calydon.’

‘I told you that first night that you would soon understand why I hadn’t been invited on that hunt despite the fact that I was the best hunter, and that should have put you on your guard. It was meant as a warning. It was I who saved your life, actually, no one else. You are a wise and courageous boy: two virtues that are rarely found in the same person. Many courageous men are stupid; many a shrewd, clever man is a coward. What happened was my will. You’ve learned that you can trust no one in this world and you’ll never forget that as long as you live. That’s why I called you here. In Ithaca you would never have learned what you now know. Now your flesh bears the indelible mark of your credulity. That scar will be a reminder forever.’

‘I could have died.’

‘But that didn’t happen. I’ve been observing you since the first moment we met: how you take in your surroundings, how you listen to the men, the animals and the world around you. I haven’t missed a single one of your words.’

‘What if it had happened? If I had lost my life?’

‘We are all mortal beings, but no one can say whether living a longer life is a boon or a curse. For me it has been a curse and I have met many men who are sorry they were ever born. I have a terrible reputation because I don’t hide who I am. Others, many who are much worse than I am, manage to hide their true natures. I’m exactly who you see I am. And I came to your father’s palace when you were born because I had waited so long for you.’

‘You came to give me this dreadful name.’

‘No, a sincere name. I wanted you to remember what the world is like, what human beings are like. Hatred is by far the most common emotion felt by mankind.’

‘And why were you so eager for me to be born?’

‘Because I don’t like any of my own sons and I was hoping that the new heir would be different.’

‘Well then?’

‘What I desired has come to be. You don’t know what happened that day during the boar hunt: I saw everything. I had my bow aimed at that big male, ready to take him down but I didn’t need to do that. Your instinct was faster than the beast’s, your spear struck a vital spot with precision. And your bow did not fail either. The arrow that felled the female penetrated her right shoulder, very close to her heart. All that was missing was a bit of strength, but that will come as you finish growing. Your body fitted perfectly into a hollow of the soil so you wouldn’t be crushed by the weight of the boar. You are perfect, Odysseus, the son I would have desired.’