Caryl Phillips - The Nature of Blood

The Mama who met me at the end of the school day seemed suddenly older. A week had passed by and nothing further had been mentioned about Margot's imminent departure. As we began to walk home, a fatigued Mama started to speak, but she spoke in a manner which suggested that she was wandering in her mind. I knew immediately that today was the day we would lose Margot. 'Remember, Eva, you are a guest in this country. And you must never speak with your hands.' Mama stopped and began to demonstrate. A man whose pride remained intact, despite his unshaven face and his unwashed skin, looked on. Only in his expensive clothes, now filthy, could I see the quality of his past. He stared, and for a brief moment his eyes met mine. Mama did not notice as she finished her demonstration. And then, without warning, she began to walk away from me. I turned from the man and chased after Mama, who by now was speaking aloud to herself. 'Eva, where in the world is the United States? Where is Russia, even? One day you are neighbours, the next day they spit on you. We are stupid for being proud to be what we are not, do you understand? Stupid.' I took Mama's hand, but she did not seem to notice. 'In this world, you do not shoot people without a reason. There has to be a reason. How is it possible to be so angry with people who have done you no wrong?' The afternoon light was prematurely fading, and the snow continued to fall.

Margot pulled on her coat and picked up her suitcase. The man took the envelope from Papa, tucked it into his pocket, and said that he would wait downstairs. 'No,' said Papa. 'There will be no farewell scenes. This is only a temporary measure.' Papa quickly kissed Margot, and then Mama hugged her eldest daughter. Over Mama's shoulder, Margot winked at me. And then she was gone. That night, I lay in bed and listened to a volley of dull thwacks as, somewhere, a restless housewife beat the dust from a hanging rug. But above this sound, and dominating the night, was the sobbing of Mama, who had now lost one daughter. Through the window I could see that it had stopped snowing, although the sill remained thickly crusted.

ON GOOD Friday 1480, the Christian faithful of Portobuffole began to congregate in large numbers at the Church of St Marie of Settimo. The altar had been carefully dusted many times over, and the crucifix was covered with a black veil. Three purple cushions had been placed on the altar steps, and the failing light at the end of the day evoked the darkness which covered the earth during the death of Jesus. As ever, the service was both austere and moving, and towards the conclusion the priest joined his hands together for prayer and exhortations. The first oration was said for 'Omnipotent God', and then six more followed.

— For the Pope.

— For the clergy, the virgins, the widows and the people of God.

— For the Most Serene Doge of Venice.

— For the catechumens.

— For the sick, the imprisoned, the travellers and the navigators.

— For the heretics and schismatics.

And then there was a brief pause, and the voice of the priest changed in tone, in order that he might fully capture the attention of the faithful.

'We also pray for the malicious Jews so that You, God, can take away the venom of their spirits so that they may come to recognize Jesus Christ.'

Before these words had time to settle, there was a call for one last oration for the salvation of these Jews.

'Eternal, omnipotent God, who does not refuse mercy to the Jews, grant us prayers that we might pray for the blindness of these Jews so that, recognizing the light of your truth in Christ, they may soon be taken from their darkness.'

At the conclusion of their Good Friday service, the Christian faithful of Portobuffole, their souls contented, spilt out on to the dark streets of the town and began to wander home, but not before casting a stern look at the houses of those who carried evil in their hearts.

Easter passed, but left trouble in its wake. The doge's representative, Andrea Dolfin, felt obliged to mention, in his periodical report to the Council of Ten, that a certain discontent had broken out in the town, but he did so in a manner designed not to raise alarm. The doge was consumed with problems in the Orient, with the Pope, and with the extension of the Most Serene Republic's business affairs inland; civil disorder in his domain was the last thing that the doge desired. However, much to Andrea Dolfin's disappointment, the ferment would not seem to pass, and the situation was further exacerbated by the fact that the frightened Jews were now refusing to open their banks. People came from surrounding regions both to pawn and to redeem their personal belongings, but, upon discovering this Jewish recalcitrance, they voiced their opinion that the Jews should respect their commitments and not be permitted to live outside the law. Andrea Dolfin ordered the civic council to meet, but, before they could do so, the Jews, fearing that they were about to suffer physical assault, returned to their work. However, the reopening of the banks failed to quell the wave of anti-Hebrew sentiment.

The unresolved question of the abduction and murder of the blond beggar child, Sebastian New, was clearly a matter so serious that the public was not going to let this issue pass until justice had been served. However, as a Venetian aristocrat, Andrea Dolfin could not allow a civic council comprised principally of plebeians to by-pass Venetian authority and take reckless measures against the Jews, which they were threatening to do. This would serve to enrage not only the doge, but also the Grand Council of Venice. Andrea Dolfin had little choice but to act swiftly and according to the law, therefore he decided to order the chief of police and his army into the houses of the Jews.

Servadio, usurer, was taken.

Sara, his wife, was put under arrest along with the children,

Fays, their tutor, and Donate, the servant boy

Moses, usurer, was taken.

Rebecca, his wife, was arrested.

Giacobbe from Colonia, Germany, was taken.

Four 'wanted' men could not be found and they were declared fugitives.

To guarantee the legality of the trial against the Jews, Andrea Dolfin insisted that a lawyer be engaged on their behalf, whose duty would be to explain fully anything that they could not follow. The Most Serene Republic of Venice not only boasted of its severe justice, but was also proud of its flawless procedure. No one could be arrested unless there was already evidence against them, and no one could be condemned to death unless his crimes could be verified by proof or confession. The Republic had faith in the Latin inscription that was to be found over the entrance to the courtroom in the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Before everything, always investigate scrupulously to find the truth with justice and clarity. Do not condemn anyone without a sincere and just trial. Do not judge anyone based on suspicion, but research well and in the end find a merciful sentence. And do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself.

At the onset of the Portobuffole investigation, the accused Jews were obliged to take an oath that they would freely volunteer the truth. If, at any point during the course of the investigation, the judge suspected either perjury or reticence in the accused, he could order the individual to be tormented. Both the judge and a lawyer were obliged to attend the torture session, which most commonly involved the employment of a mechanism known as the strappada, which featured a cord, a pulley, and the optional use of weights of twenty-five, fifty, or one hundred pounds. The accused would raise his hands behind his back and they would be tied together with the cord, which was then strung up to the pulley firmly attached to the ceiling. He would then be hoisted up and left hanging for an hour, the abnormal stretching and stress producing a pain that became more atrocious with each pull. If the accused did not confess, he would be given a few additional tugs of the cord, and weights would then be attached to his feet. In smaller country towns, something else, such as a live ram, might be used in place of the weights. In certain cases, the accused could be additionally tortured with a flame or a piece of charcoal that was placed on the bottom of his feet.