Ivan Yefremov - The Land of Foam

Pandion had suddenly made a great discovery, something he had been groping for unconsciously but persistently, something he had always been very near to in his unceasing mental search. He would never have found it if he had not made comparisons and had not sought new paths for his own art. That which has life in it can never be immobile. In a beautiful living body there is never dead immobility, there is only repose, the moment when a movement has been completed and is changing to another movement, its opposite. If he could seize that moment and reproduce it in the motionless material, the dead stone would live.

This is what Pandion had seen in the motionless Nyora, when she stood still like a statue cast from black metal. The young Hellene went away alone to a tree in a small glade. If anybody had seen him there, he would have been sure that Pandion was mad: he was making jerky movements, bending and straightening his arm or his leg, and trying hard to follow the movements, twisting his neck and straining his eyes till they hurt. He did not return home until evening. He was excited and had a feverish gleam in his eye. To Cavius’ great astonishment, Pandion made him stand up in front of him, march about and halt at his command. At first the Etruscan was patient with his friend and his antics, but at last he could stand it no longer and sat down on the ground with an air of determination. Even then Pandion gave him no rest. He stared at him as he sat there, first from the right and then from the left, until Cavius, letting out a stream of profanity, said that Pandion had a touch of fever and threatened to tie him up and lay him down on the bed.

“You can go to the crows!” shouted Pandion in a joyful voice. “I’m not afraid of you; I’ll twist you up like the horn of the white antelope.”

Cavius had never seen his friend in such a childishly jolly mood before. He was glad of it, for he had long been aware that Pandion was spiritually depressed. He muttered something about a boy who was making fun of his father and gave Pandion a light blow; Pandion immediately calmed down and announced that he was as hungry as a wolf. The two friends sat down to supper, and Pandion tried to explain his great discovery to his friend. Contrary to Pandion’s expectations, Cavius showed interest in the matter and asked Pandion many questions, trying to understand the nature of the difficulties that faced the sculptor in his efforts to depict real life.

The two friends sat talking for a long time, until it was quite dark.

Suddenly something stood in the way of the stars that shone through the open doorway, and Kidogo’s voice gave them a pleasant thrill. The Negro had returned unexpectedly and decided to pay an immediate visit to his friends. When they asked him about the results of the hunt, he gave them an indefinite answer, said he was tired and promised to show his trophies the next morning. Cavius and Pandion told him about the expedition in search of ebony and about Takel’s death. Kidogo was infuriated and in his frenzy showered curses upon his friends, said that their actions were an insult to his hospitality and even went to the extent of calling Cavius an “old hyena.” In the end the Negro grew calmer — his sorrow at the death of a comrade was greater than his wrath. Then the Etruscan and the Hellene told him that they were worried about finding something to pay the Sons of the Wind with and asked his advice. Kidogo showed the greatest indifference to their worries and went away without having answered their questions.

The despondent friends blamed Kidogo’s strange behaviour on to his sorrow at the death of the Libyan, and both of them for a long time tossed sleeplessly on their beds, pondering over the situation.

Late next morning Kidogo came to them with an expression of shrewd cunning on his kindly face. He was accompanied by all the Libyans and a crowd of young men of his tribe. Kidogo’s people winked at the puzzled strangers, whispered amongst themselves, laughed loudly and shouted snatches of incomprehensible phrases. They hinted at the sorcery that was supposed to be a feature of their people and said that Kidogo was possessed of the ability to turn ordinary sticks into ebony and ivory, and river-sand into gold. The strangers had to listen to all this nonsense on their way to Kidogo’s house. Kidogo led them to a small storeroom, a building that differed from the other simple houses in that it had a door which was closed from the outside by a huge stone. With the aid of several of his men Kidogo rolled the stone away, and the young people stood on either side of the wide-open door. Kidogo, bending down, entered the storeroom, beckoning to his friends to follow. Cavius, Pandion and the Libyans did not know what it was all about and stood for some time in the gloom until their eyes got accustomed to the half light coming through a narrow gap that encircled the wall under the eaves. Then they saw a number of thick black logs, a pile of elephant tusks and five big baskets filled to the top with medicinal nuts. Kidogo watched the faces of his comrades attentively as he spoke to them.

“All that is yours. My people have gathered it all for you to make your journey pleasant and easy! The Sons of the Wind ought to take a couple of dozen passengers and not one for such a price…”

“Your people are making us such a present,” exclaimed Cavius, “what for?”

“Because you are good people, because you are brave men, because you have performed so many deeds of valour and because you are my friends and helped me return home,” chanted Kidogo, trying to appear imperturbable. “But wait a minute, that isn’t all!” The Negro stepped to one side, thrust his hand down between the baskets and picked up a bag of strong leather as big as a man’s head.

“Take this,” said Kidogo, handing the bag to Cavius.

The Etruscan held out his hands palm upwards and almost dropped the bag as his arms bent under the weight of it. The Negro roared with laughter and danced a few steps as a sign of pleasure. The loud laughter of the youths outside was like an echo.

“What is it?” asked Cavius, clutching the heavy bag to his breast.

“How can you, a wise old soldier, ask such a question?” said Kidogo in the merriest of tones. “As though you don’t know that there’s only one thing in the world that is as heavy as that.”

“Gold!” exclaimed the Etruscan in his own language, but the Negro understood him.

“Yes, gold,” he said.

“Where did you get so much?” put in Pandion, pinching the tightly packed bag.

“Instead of hunting we went to the plateau where gold is found. For eight days we dug the sand there and washed it in water…” The Negro paused for a moment and then added: “The Sons of the Wind won’t take you to your homes. When you reach your own seas, your roads will be different, and everybody will have to make his own way home. Divide the gold and hide it carefully so that the Sons of the Wind won’t see it.”

‘“Who else went on that ‘hunt’ with you?” asked Cavius.

“All these people,” said Kidogo, pointing to the young men crowding round the door.

Deeply touched and filled with joy, the friends hurried to thank the Negroes. The latter, confused by this display of gratitude, shifted from one foot to the other and one by one drifted away to their houses.

The friends left the storeroom and pushed the stone back in front of the door. Kidogo had suddenly become silent, his gaiety had gone. Pandion drew his black friend towards him, but Kidogo immediately slipped out of his embrace, placed his hand on the Hellene’s shoulder and stared deep into his golden eyes.

“How can I leave you!” exclaimed Pandion.

The Negro’s fingers dug into his shoulder.

“The God of Lightning be my witness,” said Kidogo in a dull voice, “I would give all the gold on the plateau, I would give everything I have, down to the last spear, if you would remain here with me for ever…” There was an expression of pain on the Negro’s face and he covered his eyes with his hands. “But I do not even ask that of you.” Kidogo’s voice trembled and broke off. “I learned the meaning of home when I was in captivity… I realize that you cannot stay… and I, as you see, am doing everything to help you go…” The Negro suddenly released his hold of Pandion and ran away to his own house.