Excerpt
Prologue
So engrossed was Samasin appreciating a reward from King Shulgi's palace that he did not see a man sneaking into the tavern. He heard a snort overhead and his gift, a flint dagger, was yanked out from his hands.
"That's a nice little toy you got here, boy!" said a voice. Sam jerked up to see a small head atop an unduly bulky torso, glowering down at him. Attached to it was a nose which seemed moulded in clay by a child. Sam's first thought was to fly at him and bang his snout into pulp.
Before he could put the notion into practice, the villain had sauntered away towards the only other patron in the tavern, a dark elderly man. He wore a blue headgear which, despite a normal size, appeared too big on him. From his features Sam surmised that he hailed from Meluhha, a prosperous country which lay beyond the Lower Sea.
"Hey, you," said the man with the crooked nose to the Meluhhan, "where's the bar owner?" The old man gauged him from head to foot and smiled. The tough pointed a thick finger at his face, "Do you think I cracked a joke?" The Meluhhan turned serious and he fumbled for words. The Crooked-nose jabbed at his turban. The poor man raised a hand to keep the headgear from falling off. The villain seemed to interpret that mild reflex as an affront. "You want to fight, do you?" he asked, raising the dagger.
A terrifying shriek hit Sam's ears. To his horror, he saw his flint dagger flashing into the foreigner's chest. The next moment the Crooked-nose had snatched a black leather purse hanging from the old Meluhhan's shoulder, and melted away.
Sam saw the injured man tottering. Instinct whispered to him, 'Sam, leave the scene fast!' The goblet slipped from his hand and he ran towards the entrance. As he reached it, a hammering sound followed by a gasp made him glance back.
The Meluhhan's head had hit a log seat and his turban was rolling on the ground. His eyeballs bulged and his body shook with spasms. Blood gushing out from his wound started forming a red puddle on the floor. Sam turned. Screaming for help, he bounded over the log seats to reach the distressed foreigner.
He looked around desperately but did not see anyone, not even the tavern-owner who had served him little while ago. Unsure of himself, he sank and took the stranger's trembling hands into his own. The dying man pleaded with his eyes. Sam felt something sharp in his palm, and heard a whisper, "Give Hiwa Haqra." With tears flowing down his cheeks, Sam nodded. The man's chest heaved like a pair of bellows as he laboured to continue: "Tell 'Amma nacciyar aru perum ha…hara…'"
A gargling sound emanated from his throat and he vomited blood. Then he convulsed and slumped lifeless in Sam's lap.
~~
Chapter 1
Sam's testing childhood
Sam was six when he joined his parents and baby sister on a trip along the west coast of the Lower Sea. For a few days, the family stayed with Sam's paternal aunt and uncle in Urim. The couple took such a liking for both children that the night before boarding the ship, little Sam told his mother, "I won't come with you, I'll stay with aunt."
His mother hugged him saying "Of course, Sammu." He saw her winking at the aunt. "But she insists that we gift little Anlil to her."
"No, Ama-ugu!" Sam screamed. He lowered his face and looked at his aunt from under his brow. That settled it. The next day Sam frantically waved farewell to his uncle and aunt from the deck of a ship sailing to Magan.
Sam and Anlil were the only children on board, and they provided a pleasant diversion to other passengers. Among them, a camel keeper became very fond of the loquacious boy. Magan was the last port where Sam's family too was to spend a few days before boarding another ship to return home.
On their second evening in Magan, Sam shook out of sleep. Baby Anlil was howling but his mother's pacifying voice was missing. He saw several uncouth men, with bandanas tied on their faces, tugging at his mother's dress and tearing it. She was trying hard to get free and in the scuffle she bit one of the men.
Just then Sam saw his father running into the room, carrying cloth bags in which he usually brought dry fruit and food for the family. The bags dropped from his
father's hands as he rushed to rescue his mother. The men surrounded his father and attacked him. His mother fought the savages along with his father but they could not hold against the armed men for long. Both fell on the ground, covered in blood.
Sam cried out. He was familiar with the pain that went with little cuts and a few drops of blood, and he could feel the agony of the deep stabs on their bodies. Seeing his mother writhing and reaching for his father who seemed asleep, Sam rushed at the departing men. He heard his mother cry, "No, Sammu, don't!" By then he had kicked one of the men in the seat.
While his companions grinned, the irritated man picked up the boy and raised him over his head. Sam felt like he had ridden a rotating top, and heard his mother pleading. Then a powerful force hurtled his small frame through the air, and his head hit something hard before everything went black.
~
When Sam awoke, he saw two worried eyes peering into his own. He thought that he had seen them somewhere but could not recollect where. He looked around anxiously.
"Where's Anlil? Where's my Ama-ugu?" he tried to ask, but heard himself producing only a groan. His throat was dry and his tongue seemed to have stuck in it. The man drew him close. Sam felt himself heaving with the man's chest. Sam opened his mouth to say, "Take me to my parents." His voice failed him again.
"Poor child Sammu," he heard a voice and recognized it as that of the camel keeper, his father's friend on the ship. "You'll have to grow up with my nine children, dear."
A tremble in the man's voice and wet edges of his eyes made Sam fear something which he could not understand. He buried his face in the camel keeper's arms and wept.
Reaching the camel keeper's village and living with his family, Sam soon came out of the trauma and adjusted to his new surroundings. Within a year, he could distinguish and grasp the significance of the various sounds that a camel produced. As he grew, he could diagnose their maladies and he learnt how to treat them. That made his proud foster parents to abandon his baby name and start calling him 'Sam'.
~
When Sam was about fifteen, a young man named Nergal, who had made it big in Babili, came home for a visit with his wife Ella and a child. He hired three camels to return to Babili and Sam escorted the family through the desert. On the way, they were caught unawares by a severe sandstorm. Ella was so moved by Sam's manoeuvres to shield them that she prevailed upon Nergal to employ him as a stable boy.
In his spare time, Sam also helped around the house, and Ella took it upon herself to teach him reading and writing the Cuneiform script. The eager boy learnt the letters quickly but he also observed many things that his juvenile mind could not grasp.
Sam wondered why Master Nergal lived in Lady Ella's small house on the outskirts when he possessed a mansion in the centre of Babili. He failed to understand how the Master could afford a luxurious life style when all he did was to visit a storehouse outside the town. He realized that whenever he asked the other servants about the Master, they waved away the matter. Sam also discovered that the Babilians called him 'Nergal the Fox'.
By the time a silky moustache and beard sprouted on Sam's face, he had discovered that all was not well in the family. Over the following few years, with increasing concern he saw Master Nergal shouting at Lady Ella, and she trying to reason with him and then sulking. One day he saw the kind mistress breaking down, and approaching the Council of Elders for divorce.
Several weeks later, Sam cried when he left Lady Ella's house with Master Nergal's entourage.
Sam's skills drew the attention of the Priest-physician of Babili who treated humans as well as animals. King Shulgi had had in his palace many exotic animals from Tawi and Meluhha. The Priest-physician took Sam's assistance in treating those animals, for which he had lately rewarded Sam with a flint dagger.
That ill-fated weapon had landed the naïve rural boy in his current quandary – that of holding a murdered foreigner in his lap.
~~
You can read a much larger excerpt on Google Books.
So engrossed was Samasin appreciating a reward from King Shulgi's palace that he did not see a man sneaking into the tavern. He heard a snort overhead and his gift, a flint dagger, was yanked out from his hands.
"That's a nice little toy you got here, boy!" said a voice. Sam jerked up to see a small head atop an unduly bulky torso, glowering down at him. Attached to it was a nose which seemed moulded in clay by a child. Sam's first thought was to fly at him and bang his snout into pulp.
Before he could put the notion into practice, the villain had sauntered away towards the only other patron in the tavern, a dark elderly man. He wore a blue headgear which, despite a normal size, appeared too big on him. From his features Sam surmised that he hailed from Meluhha, a prosperous country which lay beyond the Lower Sea.
"Hey, you," said the man with the crooked nose to the Meluhhan, "where's the bar owner?" The old man gauged him from head to foot and smiled. The tough pointed a thick finger at his face, "Do you think I cracked a joke?" The Meluhhan turned serious and he fumbled for words. The Crooked-nose jabbed at his turban. The poor man raised a hand to keep the headgear from falling off. The villain seemed to interpret that mild reflex as an affront. "You want to fight, do you?" he asked, raising the dagger.
A terrifying shriek hit Sam's ears. To his horror, he saw his flint dagger flashing into the foreigner's chest. The next moment the Crooked-nose had snatched a black leather purse hanging from the old Meluhhan's shoulder, and melted away.
Sam saw the injured man tottering. Instinct whispered to him, 'Sam, leave the scene fast!' The goblet slipped from his hand and he ran towards the entrance. As he reached it, a hammering sound followed by a gasp made him glance back.
The Meluhhan's head had hit a log seat and his turban was rolling on the ground. His eyeballs bulged and his body shook with spasms. Blood gushing out from his wound started forming a red puddle on the floor. Sam turned. Screaming for help, he bounded over the log seats to reach the distressed foreigner.
He looked around desperately but did not see anyone, not even the tavern-owner who had served him little while ago. Unsure of himself, he sank and took the stranger's trembling hands into his own. The dying man pleaded with his eyes. Sam felt something sharp in his palm, and heard a whisper, "Give Hiwa Haqra." With tears flowing down his cheeks, Sam nodded. The man's chest heaved like a pair of bellows as he laboured to continue: "Tell 'Amma nacciyar aru perum ha…hara…'"
A gargling sound emanated from his throat and he vomited blood. Then he convulsed and slumped lifeless in Sam's lap.
~~
Chapter 1
Sam's testing childhood
Sam was six when he joined his parents and baby sister on a trip along the west coast of the Lower Sea. For a few days, the family stayed with Sam's paternal aunt and uncle in Urim. The couple took such a liking for both children that the night before boarding the ship, little Sam told his mother, "I won't come with you, I'll stay with aunt."
His mother hugged him saying "Of course, Sammu." He saw her winking at the aunt. "But she insists that we gift little Anlil to her."
"No, Ama-ugu!" Sam screamed. He lowered his face and looked at his aunt from under his brow. That settled it. The next day Sam frantically waved farewell to his uncle and aunt from the deck of a ship sailing to Magan.
Sam and Anlil were the only children on board, and they provided a pleasant diversion to other passengers. Among them, a camel keeper became very fond of the loquacious boy. Magan was the last port where Sam's family too was to spend a few days before boarding another ship to return home.
On their second evening in Magan, Sam shook out of sleep. Baby Anlil was howling but his mother's pacifying voice was missing. He saw several uncouth men, with bandanas tied on their faces, tugging at his mother's dress and tearing it. She was trying hard to get free and in the scuffle she bit one of the men.
Just then Sam saw his father running into the room, carrying cloth bags in which he usually brought dry fruit and food for the family. The bags dropped from his
father's hands as he rushed to rescue his mother. The men surrounded his father and attacked him. His mother fought the savages along with his father but they could not hold against the armed men for long. Both fell on the ground, covered in blood.
Sam cried out. He was familiar with the pain that went with little cuts and a few drops of blood, and he could feel the agony of the deep stabs on their bodies. Seeing his mother writhing and reaching for his father who seemed asleep, Sam rushed at the departing men. He heard his mother cry, "No, Sammu, don't!" By then he had kicked one of the men in the seat.
While his companions grinned, the irritated man picked up the boy and raised him over his head. Sam felt like he had ridden a rotating top, and heard his mother pleading. Then a powerful force hurtled his small frame through the air, and his head hit something hard before everything went black.
~
When Sam awoke, he saw two worried eyes peering into his own. He thought that he had seen them somewhere but could not recollect where. He looked around anxiously.
"Where's Anlil? Where's my Ama-ugu?" he tried to ask, but heard himself producing only a groan. His throat was dry and his tongue seemed to have stuck in it. The man drew him close. Sam felt himself heaving with the man's chest. Sam opened his mouth to say, "Take me to my parents." His voice failed him again.
"Poor child Sammu," he heard a voice and recognized it as that of the camel keeper, his father's friend on the ship. "You'll have to grow up with my nine children, dear."
A tremble in the man's voice and wet edges of his eyes made Sam fear something which he could not understand. He buried his face in the camel keeper's arms and wept.
Reaching the camel keeper's village and living with his family, Sam soon came out of the trauma and adjusted to his new surroundings. Within a year, he could distinguish and grasp the significance of the various sounds that a camel produced. As he grew, he could diagnose their maladies and he learnt how to treat them. That made his proud foster parents to abandon his baby name and start calling him 'Sam'.
~
When Sam was about fifteen, a young man named Nergal, who had made it big in Babili, came home for a visit with his wife Ella and a child. He hired three camels to return to Babili and Sam escorted the family through the desert. On the way, they were caught unawares by a severe sandstorm. Ella was so moved by Sam's manoeuvres to shield them that she prevailed upon Nergal to employ him as a stable boy.
In his spare time, Sam also helped around the house, and Ella took it upon herself to teach him reading and writing the Cuneiform script. The eager boy learnt the letters quickly but he also observed many things that his juvenile mind could not grasp.
Sam wondered why Master Nergal lived in Lady Ella's small house on the outskirts when he possessed a mansion in the centre of Babili. He failed to understand how the Master could afford a luxurious life style when all he did was to visit a storehouse outside the town. He realized that whenever he asked the other servants about the Master, they waved away the matter. Sam also discovered that the Babilians called him 'Nergal the Fox'.
By the time a silky moustache and beard sprouted on Sam's face, he had discovered that all was not well in the family. Over the following few years, with increasing concern he saw Master Nergal shouting at Lady Ella, and she trying to reason with him and then sulking. One day he saw the kind mistress breaking down, and approaching the Council of Elders for divorce.
Several weeks later, Sam cried when he left Lady Ella's house with Master Nergal's entourage.
Sam's skills drew the attention of the Priest-physician of Babili who treated humans as well as animals. King Shulgi had had in his palace many exotic animals from Tawi and Meluhha. The Priest-physician took Sam's assistance in treating those animals, for which he had lately rewarded Sam with a flint dagger.
That ill-fated weapon had landed the naïve rural boy in his current quandary – that of holding a murdered foreigner in his lap.
~~
You can read a much larger excerpt on Google Books.