The Colour of Heaven by Runcie James

Author:Runcie, James [Runcie, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007494996
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2012-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

TUN-HUANG

Now they travelled east, through narrow passes and under heavy peaks, towards Cathay, sheltering in hollows and on raised ledges, making camp wherever they could. The snow often wiped away all tracks of the previous day and when fog descended it was almost impossible for the men to find their bearings. Paolo set up signs each night, pointing in the direction they wished to travel the next morning, hammering down the tents, making their possessions secure.

The three companions stopped whenever there was water, and the rivers began to fill with the winter rains. They set out traps for animals and survived on raisins and dried mulberries, the bread they made and the water they carried. When the men were hungry they dreamed of meat – lamb, chicken, rabbit, marmot, and gazelle. Salek told them how merchants from his village would slaughter a sheep, skin it, cut it into pieces, and throw it down the sides of the mountain into the valleys, hoping that precious stones would adhere to the stickiness of fresh, bloody meat.

As they approached Cathay the vegetation became richer and they found themselves in a grove of bamboo trees, stretching out into the distance. At last there was lushness, a swathe of green, the possibility of spring. The bamboo bent low under the weight of the snow, snapping as suddenly as a broken bone. The men cut the first of the new shoots and heated them with boiled rice, their purple nodules like old brocade, the white skin coloured like pearls. When it was necessary to cross a river they made a raft from the bamboo, lashing each rod with hemp.

When they finally arrived they discovered that the streets of Tun-huang were filled with traders, water-sellers, dancers, acrobats, musicians, and singing girls. Noodle makers offered breakfast delicacies of mutton and goose, steamed pancakes and fragrant rice. The women of the city hung branches of willow over their doorways and prepared marrow soup, swallows’ nests smoked with slices of duck, and beef with ginger, star anise, and rock sugar.

Salek spoke to a man selling firecrackers made from sticks of bamboo packed with gunpowder. He told them that they had arrived in time for his play of explosions, and that in the evening he would light the sky, challenging the heavens with fire.

Paolo had never seen Jacopo so at ease in his surroundings. Before them stood the Jade Gate decorated with carved lions and gleaming with a translucent green light. Beyond he could see piles of the jewel on the traders’ tables: snow white, emerald green, lavender blue. Men worked with cutting tools, treadle wheels, whetstones, and polishing paste to shape the precious objects that lay before them: triple hoops, rings, amulets, pendants, and necklaces; hairpins decorated with pearl-eyed dragons breathing ruby flames; jadeite drops and pearls the size of canary eggs. Everything that might celebrate life, decorate existence, or protect the wearer against evil lay before them. Paolo could see mountains in stone, forests in agate, rivers in marble, and faces in jasper.

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