to accept the offer on the table before all interest in this place wanes away.
9:00 p.m.
Had fantastic roast lamb for dinner. Must ask for recipe.
It was a cool evening. I leaned back in my chair, and over a glass of red wine, I asked Bernard to tell me about the curse of the pill. The pill was a blessing to some, Bernard said. The blessing has kept Abdul’s tribe well and living long, but the curse is why the other tribes, perhaps the entire civilization, died. But the experts still have no idea why the civilization ended. Drought, flood maybe. Anemia, some experts have said.
I asked him where the Colossus got the pill from. Ikaria, the Greek island, most likely, Bernard said. (N.B: Research the fact that people still live exceedingly long lives in Ikaria. Possible connection to pill since it was acquired there.)
Bernard said the story was that the Ikarian people had refused to sell Soodhanta the pills. He was told that the pill had been beneficial to the Ikarians but had proved fatal outside their land in the past. Soodhanta ignored the warning and stole several urns of them. The curse must be superstition. Why else did Abdul’s tribe live such long lives?
Perhaps it’s like the curse of Tutankhamun’s tomb, Bernard said.
If someone reading this (when I’m dead perhaps!) doesn’t know about the curse of King Tut’s tomb, here’s a short history lesson. In 1922, Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb. Seven weeks later, his sponsor Lord Carnarvon died suddenly. Some say his dog died, too. The writers of the time had a field day with it. Arthur Conan Doyle called it the Pharaoh’s curse. A few years later, others related to Howard Carter’s work also died.
Coincidence is what I would say.
Bernard then said that the Colossus’s grave had other mysteries, too. The first being that one of the people in that grave had been killed. Beheaded. And the second being that tombs in the Indus Valley usually have families buried together—husband, wife, children added to the tombs later. This tomb had eight men and three women, more or less of the same age and, according to the personal objects left there, of different social standing. Siblings, was the presumption. One of them was the Colossus, I supposed. Bernard agreed.
He said the grave is also unusual because of the writings and drawings on the walls. Seemingly only about the Colossus. Other mass graves in the valley found so far have shown no elaborate writings or drawings. This grave showed no signs of a massacre either, which is one reason for a mass grave with unrelated people. So perhaps a mass grave such as this one means they all died of a boring disease.
I asked Bernard what happened when the Colossus returned to India with the pills. To test his claim, he was asked to eat the pills himself and give some to a handful of people who were about forty years of age, ones who weren’t terminally ill but were nearing the end of their natural lives.
Some years passed. Suddenly, Soodhanta disappeared. In time, the elders announced that he had died and decreed it illegal to mention the pills or Soodhanta’s name. Banishment or beheading awaited those who disobeyed.
So what happened to the Colossus?
The story and pictures on the wall seem to indicate that the elders kept him prisoner in his home. But no one knows why, Bernard said. I asked if we know what happened to the others who ate the pill. Sent into the jungles or put to death, Bernard suggested. Most likely because of the curse. The Indus people, likely ancestors of early Hindus, were a superstitious people.
Bernard has given me a copy of the Colossus’s seal and another for my assistant, Lars. It will remain a cherished possession.
Bernard of course had to turn the discussion to Hitler and German politics, much to my irritation. Many Jews have left Germany, he said pointedly. I told him I’m not an everyday Jew, even in the present Germany.
I don’t want to appear arrogant, but I run
9:00 p.m.
Had fantastic roast lamb for dinner. Must ask for recipe.
It was a cool evening. I leaned back in my chair, and over a glass of red wine, I asked Bernard to tell me about the curse of the pill. The pill was a blessing to some, Bernard said. The blessing has kept Abdul’s tribe well and living long, but the curse is why the other tribes, perhaps the entire civilization, died. But the experts still have no idea why the civilization ended. Drought, flood maybe. Anemia, some experts have said.
I asked him where the Colossus got the pill from. Ikaria, the Greek island, most likely, Bernard said. (N.B: Research the fact that people still live exceedingly long lives in Ikaria. Possible connection to pill since it was acquired there.)
Bernard said the story was that the Ikarian people had refused to sell Soodhanta the pills. He was told that the pill had been beneficial to the Ikarians but had proved fatal outside their land in the past. Soodhanta ignored the warning and stole several urns of them. The curse must be superstition. Why else did Abdul’s tribe live such long lives?
Perhaps it’s like the curse of Tutankhamun’s tomb, Bernard said.
If someone reading this (when I’m dead perhaps!) doesn’t know about the curse of King Tut’s tomb, here’s a short history lesson. In 1922, Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb. Seven weeks later, his sponsor Lord Carnarvon died suddenly. Some say his dog died, too. The writers of the time had a field day with it. Arthur Conan Doyle called it the Pharaoh’s curse. A few years later, others related to Howard Carter’s work also died.
Coincidence is what I would say.
Bernard then said that the Colossus’s grave had other mysteries, too. The first being that one of the people in that grave had been killed. Beheaded. And the second being that tombs in the Indus Valley usually have families buried together—husband, wife, children added to the tombs later. This tomb had eight men and three women, more or less of the same age and, according to the personal objects left there, of different social standing. Siblings, was the presumption. One of them was the Colossus, I supposed. Bernard agreed.
He said the grave is also unusual because of the writings and drawings on the walls. Seemingly only about the Colossus. Other mass graves in the valley found so far have shown no elaborate writings or drawings. This grave showed no signs of a massacre either, which is one reason for a mass grave with unrelated people. So perhaps a mass grave such as this one means they all died of a boring disease.
I asked Bernard what happened when the Colossus returned to India with the pills. To test his claim, he was asked to eat the pills himself and give some to a handful of people who were about forty years of age, ones who weren’t terminally ill but were nearing the end of their natural lives.
Some years passed. Suddenly, Soodhanta disappeared. In time, the elders announced that he had died and decreed it illegal to mention the pills or Soodhanta’s name. Banishment or beheading awaited those who disobeyed.
So what happened to the Colossus?
The story and pictures on the wall seem to indicate that the elders kept him prisoner in his home. But no one knows why, Bernard said. I asked if we know what happened to the others who ate the pill. Sent into the jungles or put to death, Bernard suggested. Most likely because of the curse. The Indus people, likely ancestors of early Hindus, were a superstitious people.
Bernard has given me a copy of the Colossus’s seal and another for my assistant, Lars. It will remain a cherished possession.
Bernard of course had to turn the discussion to Hitler and German politics, much to my irritation. Many Jews have left Germany, he said pointedly. I told him I’m not an everyday Jew, even in the present Germany.
I don’t want to appear arrogant, but I run
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