Collected Stories (108 page)

“There is a proverb: ‘In time one gets tired even of kreplech.’ After some months Rabbi Joseph was told that the Grand Vizier’s wife was even more voluptuous than Ptima. Her name was Grisha. Since he had given up the rewards of the soul, there was nothing to impede him from tasting this one, too. He bade the demons bring Grisha to him, and when they did he was overwhelmed by her carnal beauty. From then on, the evil spirits brought him both these females each night—Ptima from sunset to midnight, and after he sent Ptima back to her bed, a journey that lasted an instant, he enjoyed Grisha until dawn.

“Once when Ptima spent her hours with Rabbi Joseph, she found in the bed a cameo with the name Grisha engraved on it. She became jealous and asked Rabbi Joseph who this Grisha was. Just as Delilah coaxed Samson, Ptima pestered Rabbi Joseph so long that he finally divulged to her that she was the wife of the Grand Vizier. Ptima knew that Rabbi Joseph worked all these miracles by the force of an unholy name, and after she lulled him to sleep she began to search for this name. She found it inscribed on a piece of parchment that he kept in a little bag at his throat. Once she found the ungodly name, she had the upper hand. She bade the demons bind Rabbi Joseph with a sash and bring her the mightiest males in all the kingdoms of man.

“I wonder if you know that the Fallen Angels—as well as the descendants of Anak, who were seen by the spies Moses sent to Canaan—are still alive today. They’re hiding behind the Black Mountains, or perhaps on the other side of the River Sambatyon. The Angel of Death has no dominion over them, since they are not of this world. Ptima ordered the demons to bring these giants to her. They did so, and she copulated with them in the presence of Rabbi Joseph for three days and three nights. You can imagine what anguish Rabbi Joseph suffered, but since she was in possession of the impure name, he could not free himself. The caliph searched for his wife, but she had disappeared.

“The first time Ptima told her evil messengers to bring her the Fallen Angels and the sons of Anak, she whispered the name so that Rabbi Joseph could not hear it. Before dawn on the fourth day, she had become so fatigued from her loathsome game that she ceased being careful and uttered the name out loud. Rabbi Joseph seemed to be asleep but he awoke at that moment. He had forgotten the name and was helpless, but now that he knew it he regained his power and commanded the messengers of the night to do his will instead of hers. Since both sides applied the same incantation for different purposes, they canceled each other’s spell and the evil ones flew back to Mount Seir and stayed in equilibrium. Slowly Rabbi Joseph managed to unbind himself, and he clutched Ptima’s throat, about to strangle her. How far is adultery from murder?

“When the cunning Ptima realized her end was near, she began to plead and speak sweet words to Rabbi Joseph and to defend herself by saying that she actually loved him, and that she surrendered to the celestial monsters only because of her jealousy. She said to him, ‘What could you gain by killing me? You’ll never find anyone more passionate.’ When Rabbi Joseph answered that Grisha’s flesh was even more gratifying than hers, Ptima said, ‘Grisha is not among the living any more. I told my devils to do away with her, and they did. She was buried yesterday.’ She went on, ‘You let me live, and we two can conquer the world. You will conjure the most beautiful women, and I the richest men. We will put them to sleep and rob them of their diamonds, their medals, and all their possessions. You will become the king of the netherworld and I will be your loving queen. In gratitude for your mercy I will overcome my jealous nature and build a harem for you with more wives and concubines than King Solomon could ever boast of. We will revive the Queen of Sheba, Rahab the Harlot, and give loose rein to all our hearts’ desires.’

“It is known that those who can persuade others are easily incited themselves. Rabbi Joseph asked her if she would consent to reviving Grisha and she replied, ‘Your delight would be mine. Bring her back to life and we all three will rejoice together.’ ‘What would happen to your husband?’ Rabbi Joseph asked, and she answered slyly, ‘For your sake, I will make myself a widow.’

“Not only did Rabbi Joseph give in to aberrant pity but he made a fatal misjudgment. Those who study the Cabala know that with witchery one can accomplish anything but the resurrection of the dead. Once Rabbi Joseph and Ptima attempted to reanimate Grisha, they lost their potency. A wild laugh came down from Mount Seir. Satan and Lilith were laughing with such abandon that the blare echoed over all the deserts. Rabbi Joseph della Reina was deprived of both the power of holiness and the power of the diabolic. He became sick with contamination. Ptima was now more than willing to return to the caliph, but he was four hundred miles away. Besides, the guards wouldn’t have let her into the palace, because her beauty had vanished and she had become nothing but a sack of bones. No one would have recognized her.”

“What did they do then?” Zalman the glazier asked.

“Rabbi Joseph spat on her and left her to her own devices. She became a beggar at the mosque and died soon after. Rabbi Joseph was too proud to repent and he expired in rebellion. He was reincarnated as a dog.”

“I’ve never heard of this,” Levi Yitzchok remarked.

“So you hear it now,” Meir said.

“Have you read it in some book?” Levi Yitzchok asked.

“I am the book,” Meir answered.

He got up and began to pace from wall to wall. He rubbed his hands one against the other. The kerosene lamp flickered. The wick wavered and smoked. The Radzymin study house became full of shadows. Zalman the glazier said, “Really, I will be afraid to walk home.”

Meir the eunuch seemed to have heard his words, because he stopped, laughed, and cried out, “Don’t be a fool, Reb Zalman. The moon is shining. The heavens are bright. Evil is nothing but a coil of madness.”