Of Trolls

Of Trolls

Then he rearranged himself on the shallow stage, settling in for the telling. The three monkeys in white returned to his side and sat down. Beside us Mandar and Manini also sat down, crossing their legs for comfort. A restful silence settled on the large hall after everyone had made themselves comfortable. There was anticipation in the air. This is the story Esh told.

“Hanuman’s grandfather was blessed with an outstanding memory. This is the story he told, and for which he in turned thanked the blessings of those many outstanding memories that had gone before.

“Vishnu was bored.

“The sun and moon and stars and the many planets, one rounder than the next, spun their soft, silent songs in perfect rhythm, all according to perfect plan and perfect wish.

“Light shone through the universe from the center of Vishnu to each end, and when it reached the ends, by shining it pushed the end before it, chasing it as it fled into farther and farther and into larger and larger, and some say that light still chases the far ends today into ever larger.

“The planets spun like spinning tops, that in turn spun around suns like wheels, pacing the years in quick succession, one or ten to a breath, the galaxies rolled and sailed in waves so majestic only one whose time is endless can see them move.

“This was Vishnu’s playground, vast, organized, brilliant, and moving, expanding.

“And, yet, for all this beauty, for all this symmetry and dancing, Vishnu was bored.

“Maybe he had seen it all before, what do I know. Maybe this was not the first universe he had built. Maybe this was the last in an endless row of universes, one more complex, more dancing than the next, what do I know. But after some trillion trillion years of watching and tweaking and adjusting and shifting this dance he was bored.

“The tale does not tell whether he chose this world, or whether this world is one of a trillion, trillion worlds that he chose. It is enough that we should think that this is the only world he chose, for that makes us important.

“Vishnu, out of love say some, but out of boredom says Hanuman’s grandfather’s excellent memory and the many outstanding memories before him, then begot the four elements, earth, water, fire, and air.

“Earth he made by crumbling with his many tendril fingers the surface of the smooth silver ball that was the world before Vishnu got bored.

“Water he made by scooping large valleys in the newly earthy surface and filling them with his breath.

“Fire he made from the drops of stars.

“And air he made from the hum of constant motion.

“And in the earth he sowed the fire, made it root and sprout and rise, and so color was born. Greens and reds and blues and yellows rose up to sing for him.

“And in the oceans he sowed the fire, where it sprouted fins and gills and swam and soon knew hunger.

“And in the air he sowed the fire, where it sprouted wings and lungs and flew and soon knew hunger.

“And on the surface of the earth, among the colors, he spread the fire which grew legs and lungs and heart and walked and soon knew hunger.

“Some of the colors of plants and trees loved the ocean more than others and moved into it and covered first its shallow waters, then the deeps, with color, mainly green.

“Then the hunger worsened and grew so painful that some fishes could not endure it and wondered whether color was edible, and they ate of the water plants. Other, less patient fishes, wondered if smaller fishes were edible, and so they ate them.

“Some birds picked at fruits and berries with their beaks to still the hunger, and larger birds picked at smaller birds with talons and beaks to still their hunger.

“Some beasts ate the fruits and grains and berries to still their hunger and other beasts tore the smaller beasts apart and ate their hearts and livers and muscles and drank the warm blood to still their hunger.

“Only plants and trees were saved the hunger, for their roots embraced the earth in constant feeding and their leaves embraced the sky in constant breathing and they never knew the hunger of not eating. And so they were the happiest creatures on Earth, and many think they still are.

“This strange dance, fierce and intricate, with the twist of hunger, held Vishnu’s interest for a time, maybe for trillions of years, maybe for an afternoon, it does not matter, then he grew bored again.

“Out of love, say some, out of boredom says Hanuman’s grandfather’s excellent memory and the many outstanding memories before him, Vishnu spread new fire on the earth, grew it to a large beast, which he stood up and walked.

“Vishnu gave it large, dark eyes and hairy ears, a large mouth with many teeth, and a naked tail with a tuft of hair at its end, and called it troll, which means daemon in the old tongue, which means divine power and guiding spirit in a tongue older still, which means Vishnu in the oldest of tongues.

“Then he made a mate for himself, and forgot all about Vishnu.

“The first troll called himself Rama. He called his wife Rameya. They mated and had one child, and Vishnu has not been bored since.

“Rama grew to be older than many stars, and so did Rameya. Their children grew to be older than many stars, and so did their children.

“One morning some of the beasts Vishnu had made climbed up into the trees, and then, maybe a thousand thousand years later, maybe the same morning, climbed down again onto the ground, and then stood up on their hind legs and made weapons.

“With clubs and arrows they killed other beasts, and ate their hearts, and soon they built cities of stone and surrounding walls also of stone to protect themselves against the night which they feared, knowing they owed many lives to many beasts, knowing the beasts had a right to come and collect on this debt, knowing they would choose the night to do so.

“But what they feared the most was the trolls.

“Although they were few—the race of trolls did not yet number a hundred for they each lived many thousand thousand years and some never mated, and many only once—man feared their size and strength and freedom, knowing they were of the gods, above both beast and man. Above fish and bird and tree. Above earth and water and fire and air.

“Silent and strong, tall and proud and wise, but sometimes also curious, the trolls would now and then come to the outskirts of the cities and gaze in wonder at the hustle and bustle of the ant life within.

“When this happened, the men inside sounded the sirens and alarms and shut the gates and locked their doors for they owed an ever increasing debt of life to the beasts and they thought the trolls might come to collect; and they locked their hearts for they all had secrets they did not want the trolls to find.

“It was well known by this time that if a troll’s eye fell on you, your sins—and no one was entirely free of them—would burst into flame and consume you.

“One day a clever little man called Vasupati who had more to hide than most, and who had more to lose than most by bursting into flame—for he had swindled and stolen and cheated his way to owning most of the city—suggested that they make the city safer by ridding the world of the menace of trolls.

“Jigyasa was a young troll-girl, named for her curiosity. She had good ears and a clean heart, and she had learned all that Rama and Rameya had told. She had good eyes and had learned the way of the fishes and the birds and the beasts and she understood their hungers. She had tender fingers and deep lungs and had learned the way of the trees and flowers and loved them the best. But she did not yet understand man who locked his doors and his hearts with such industry as soon as she sat down to watch them.

“Vasupati told every man to come to the town hall one morning, for he had grave news. Every man came, and to a man brought their wives too, for it was mostly the women who decided what was to be done in the house and in the town, no matter what the men thought, and if the women decided to come—which they did—there was no man smart enough to stop them.

“No one knew that Vasupati had no news to tell other than what he had himself invented and conceived of as good for his purpose. And if it served a good purpose, then it was not lying, that was Vasupati’s creed. ‘Men,’ he said, and looking around the gathering, added, ‘and women of Hara, the city of the sun, I thank you for coming.’

“The many men and their wives shifted restlessly, impatient to hear the news. ‘Know, that today I have heard, and on very good authority, that the trolls are planning to enter this city and drive us out.’

“Many men gasped and many women shrieked and a great commotion began as most everyone began talking and yelling and asking questions both of Vasupati and of each other all at the same time. Vasupati was waving his hands in the air and asking for silence, and this went on for quite a little while until everyone finally noticed his waving.

“When the hall was quiet again, Vasupati, who was quite pleased to have caused such a commotion, clasped his chubby little fingers over his chubby little belly and then fingered his many gold rings, now so deeply embedded in his flesh as to seem a part of the skin, and looked out over the men and women for a long time with his puffy little eyes.

“Then he said, ‘I have it on very good authority that the trolls are tired of their mountain caves, are tired of cold nights and hot days and leaky roofs and hard beds. They have grown tired of their ways and are envious of our city.’

“’That is why,’ he said, ‘they come and look at us. It is to spy on us and to plan how best to kill us all and steal our city.’

“Meanwhile, at this very moment Jigyasa sat on a little hillock outside the walls and wondered why everybody had gone into the large white building and locked the doors. She had heard the commotion and found it strange. She watched and knew that understanding man would take some time.

“’The only way open to us,’ continued Vasupati, louder now, his chubby little voice rose and fell with peevish energy, ‘is to kill them all before they kill us.’

“’How are we to kill them when just by looking at us they burst us into flame?’ asked a large woman at the front of the gathering.

“Vasupati had anticipated this question, and was pleased that it had been asked. He had to wait, however, until the commotion had once again settled, for everybody agreed, and loudly, that this was a good question that needed a good answer, or there would be no troll-killing.

“Then he said, ‘Mirror shields,’ with a smug little smile. ‘Shields polished to the shine of mirrors. They will deflect their gaze and protect us.’

“The gathering looked at each other and asked had they heard right, did he say ‘Mirror shields,’ and yes that is what he had said. ‘Mirror shields,’ they then repeated to themselves and among themselves and they discussed and argued and finally saw that mirrors would indeed be a good idea, for it was Vasupati’s idea and his ideas were good, mostly. Just look at all the gold rings on his fingers, he always gets his way, and who’s to say that he won’t get his way with the trolls too.

“‘Yes,’ said Vasupati once the silence had resettled. ‘Mirror shields. They will protect you,’ Then he hesitated as he surveyed the lay of the land and saw that, although he had no intention of participating in actual combat—you could get hurt that way, and that was not part of the plan—he was expected to lead the charge on the trolls. ‘They will protect us,’ he said as smoothly as cream, and none seemed the wiser. ‘They will allow us to surround them as they come to spy, and then we will kill them with our spears.’

“‘Can they die?’ asked a young mother, holding her baby to her breast and eyeing Vasupati with suspicion.

“‘Why, of course,’ said Vasupati. ‘I have it on very good authority that if you pierce their eyes with spears they die instantly.’

“‘How are we to reach their eyes with our spears?’ asked a tall man, knowing very well that a troll’s eyes could not be reached even by three of him standing feet on shoulders, even if the topmost carried a spear.

“‘We bring them down,’ said Vasupati. ‘Once on the ground, we can gouge their eyes.’

“That was a good answer, and the tall man fell silent.

“‘How are we to bring them down?’ asked his wife.

“Vasupati was ready for this, and as he was a clever man he had thought it out well. ‘We will cast the sun in their eyes with our mirror shields and then, when they are confused, we toss our fishing nets over them.’

“ ‘How many of them are there?’ asked the tall man’s wife.

“‘I have it on good authority,’ said Vasupati, ‘that there are no more than perhaps a hundred of them.’

“‘How could we defeat a hundred of them at the same time?’ asked the wife.

“‘One by one,’ said the clever Vasupati. ‘Not at the same time. One by one.’

“‘What if we succeed in killing one of them, and they all find out and come together to take revenge,’ asked the tall man’s wife, who by now was upsetting Vasupati. She was too clever by far for his design.

“‘Would you rather do nothing?’ he said, and pointed his finger at her, embarrassing her husband. ‘Would you rather do nothing and let the trolls take over our city and kill us all. Perhaps you suggest that we open the city gates for them, to make it all quicker and easier for them,’ all the while stabbing the air in her direction with his chubby little fingers. Sweating as he did so.

“At this the tall man’s wife fell silent, for there were many threatening murmurs and movements around her as in their minds she was already assuming the color of a traitor.

“Vasupati saw that his little outburst had had the intended effect and that the gathering was firmly on his side. ‘Next troll that comes our way, we will kill,’ he said with confidence.

“‘There is one sitting on the south hill,’ said a man at the back dressed in a soldier’s uniform.

“‘There is?’ shrieked Vasupati. ‘Why did no one sound the alarm?’

“‘You told everyone to be here,’ said the man, which drew some laughter.

“‘We are not ready yet,’ said Vasupati. ‘We need to make our mirror shields.’

“This was of course true, and everyone agreed. They would make their mirror shields, and the next troll that showed up after they were ready, would be as good as dead.

“‘Who is the very good authority,’ asked the tall man’s wife of her husband, ‘that has told Vasupati all these things?’

“But her husband pretended not to hear for to question Vasupati at this meeting would be a dangerous thing.

“‘Who is the very good authority,’ asked the wife again.

“‘Be quiet, woman,’ said the man. ‘Do you want to see us killed?’

“The woman looked around and saw the suspicious glances cast in her direction and knew that her husband was right. She asked no further questions.

“The next troll to show up, after the shields were ready, was of course Jigyasa, who was the only one to come to the city regularly and wonder at the strangeness of men.

“During the shield polishing, which took several weeks, Vasupati had succeeded in making others suggest that it was probably best that Vasupati directed and organized their attack from atop the wall, where he could have a clear view of the battle, and from where—he thought—he could easily escape down into his cellar should anything go wrong.

“And so the shields were polished, and Jigyasa came out of the forest and sat down on the little hill and watched with fascination how a stream of little men came out of the city to meet her, all carrying mirrors and spears.

“As they came closer she saw the brown-gray miasma of hostility rippling among them and knew that they were not well-intended. Still, curiosity got the better of her.

“As they reached the foot of the hill where she sat, the men moved their mirror shields to catch the sun and throw it into her eyes. As they succeeded—they had practiced this maneuver for the past few days—Jigyasa was stabbed by little blindnesses, which she did not like and did not understand. She no longer wished to stay. So she stood up and walked away, leaving the confused men, and their shields behind.

“Vasupati, from the safety of the wall, saw and realized that he had misjudged the troll. He had counted on its natural evil to attack rather than flee.

“’Next time,’ he said at the following meeting, ‘We must surround it before we use our mirror shields.’

“‘This was generally held as a good idea, but one that they did not have the opportunity to put into practice for another three months since Jigyasa, who had seen their ill intentions had not returned to the city again. But in the end curiosity got the better of her and she returned.

“That was on a clear fall day, when Jigyasa again come to the south hill and sat down. Sirens went off, alarms jingled throughout the city, and Vasupati directed his army as planned, and many of them slipped out through back gates and streamed out into the land to approach the evil troll from behind and from the sides. A smaller group approached her from the main gate as before.

“Again Jigyasa saw the men with their polished shields and spears, but she did not leave. She saw the miasma of ill-intent among them and wondered at it. This was what she had actually returned to observe. There had been much discussion with her parents and other trolls about the brown fog she had seen. Some said she must have been mistaken, and in the end she was not so sure herself. That is why she had returned, to take another look, to make sure. And, as happened the first time, the men who approached her did walk in a mist of ill will, there was no doubt it. She did not comprehend, but instead of leaving, curiosity got the better of her.

“Once the first men reach the bottom of the hill, they again caught the sun in their shields and threw it in her eyes. Again, this disturbed Jigyasa and she rose to go, only to find that many more men had appeared behind her and around her, each with their mirrors and none with good will.

“All of them tried to catch the sun and throw it in her eyes, but for one, the angle was wrong this late in the season, and for another the sun went into a cloud and there was no sun to throw.

“That is where the men panicked and began to throw their spears at her eyes.

“None were good enough of find the mark, but a few found her arms and legs and feet and they stung.

“Jigyasa screamed the pain and boiled into a sudden fury. With hands and feet she mangled and trampled and crushed the entire little army to nothing more than a stain on the Earth and with a sad heart she pulled the little stingy spears out of her skin and left for the forest.

“The trolls did not take too kindly to the attach on Jigyasa, and the next day they left their mountain keeps and descended upon the city.

“Trolls are nothing if not thorough. It took them the better part of the day, but when they were done, there was no city left, nor a single living human to tell the tale. With saddened hearts they returned to the forest to think about this.”

Esh looked up with his cloudy eyes as from a reverie.

“Do you want more refreshments? Tea perhaps?”

At first I didn’t realize that we had temporarily left the story, and I had trouble making sense of the trolls taking tea while their saddened hearts contemplated the city. Then I stirred and made the connection.

I looked at my tray, and I had finished the meal, as well as the tea. This came as a mild surprise to me. And yes, I was thirsty.

“I would like some,” I answered.

Madhuri nodded as well, but Harriet, regarding the floor before her, but seeing none of it, I’m sure, made no answer.

“Princess?” said Esh, with such precision that Harriet looked up, startled.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Would you like some refreshments?” asked Esh again, as if the question had never been asked before.

She too looked at the tray before her, and finding it untouched, said, “No, I think I’m fine.”

The servant monkeys disappeared and reappeared with tea for me and Madhuri. One of them replaced Harriet’s cold, untouched tea, with new, fresh and steaming. Harriet smiled and thanked him.

Outside, above us, the afternoon had veered towards evening, for the thousand thousand points of light had turned a darker blue and made the ceiling look more like a beautiful blanket than a milky way.

“But man returned, of course,” said Esh, and soft noises I had not really noticed ceased into a silence that I did notice. “And each town, each city, seemed to sprout their own Vasupatis, each one cleverer than the next, and by the time Jigyasa, still curios about men, returned from the forest to watch the rebuilding of Hara, the man in charge was called Dharmadev, the lord of law.

“Dharmadev, however, was not seen to rule, nor did he want to be. This he left to his captain, a large, fearless man named Heramba, who liked to paint himself as yet larger and more fearless, and who would brook no disobedience. To Heramba, the law was everything, while Dharmadev, his master, in turn, was the law.

“Heramba commanded many officers, some with swords and spears, some cloaked in everyday clothing to move unnoticed among the citizens and slaves of Hara, the secret eyes and ears of rule.

“Dharmadev lived in humble quarters, in a little clearing just outside the rising city. There he kept his books, and his plans, and his dreams. His plans, once thought out in finest detail—and Dharmadev was very clever, and very precise—were then explained to Heramba as law. His dreams, however, he explained to no one.

“And his deepest dream was to become immortal.

“And the best way to become immortal was to become a god. And the best way to become a god was to slay one. And the only gods he knew of were the trolls.

“And the one troll in particular he knew of was, of course, Jigyasa. Heramba reported her presence the moment she first appeared many months before, and Dharmadev gave orders that a constant watch be posted to keep an eye out for trolls.

“By this time trolls were much feared, for the legend of Hara, the destruction of the original city, had fallen into lore and was whispered mother to child among all men of the earth. Not many had seen one, but they all feared them.

“They were gods, dangerous gods, thirsty for blood.

“As the walls were not yet built to protect Hara, and as no gate was yet in place, there was no defense against the troll, save the vigilance and bravery of Heramba and his soldiers.

“Jigyasa was weary of this new anthill, but curiosity got the better of her. She would come every day, to her hillock, from where she had a good view of the entire Hara valley, its river, its fields, and of its new city rising. Thousands of men, sleeping in tents and huts, some in chains, some not, working from dawn till night to build the new city.

“She tried to understand what drove them, what made them toil in the midday sun, and what made them die, many of them, under heavy burdens. What made others, with long, steel tipped whips, treat their brothers like beasts and draw deep streaks of blood on naked backs if they did not move fast enough, or bow deeply enough before the soldiers.

“She tried to understand how fear could build something quite as beautiful as what she, from day to day, saw rising in the valley of Hara.

“Back in her own mountain, the other trolls frowned on her visits, and urged caution. She remembered and agreed, she would be careful. Men were not well meaning.

“Then came the day when not everyone ran to hide when she approached her vantage point.

“Then came the day when fewer still ran to hide when she approached her vantage point.

“Then came the day when no one ran to hide when she approached.

“‘It only sits there,’ reported Heramba to Dharmadev. ‘It comes, sits down, and watches. Nothing else. They see this, and are no longer afraid of it.’

“Dharmadev dismissed Heramba. He had to think about this. The following day he summoned Heramba again and explained his new law to him.

That night Heramba’s officers secretly killed and mutilated twenty of the weakest slaves and spread their remains around the city.

“The following day Heramba’s eyes and ears spread the word that the troll had attacked in the night.

“This was repeated two more nights, and after that the mortal fear of trolls among the people of Hara had been restored.

“Jigyasa tried to understand, and could not. Men who only a week earlier would hardly look up from their toil as she sat down, now dropped their tools and again fled for places to hide.

“Dharmadev explained a new law to Heramba, and soon everyone knew that the trolls were planning an attack, and whom they were coming for were the children, which they would steal and bring back to their mountain, some as slaves, though most as food. The law said that all children had to remain hidden in huts and tents.

“Soon everyone also knew that their children were boiled alive, and that the trolls enjoyed their screams as they turned pink then red from the boiling water and then died as the daggers of pain burned deeper and deeper to finally reach the heart to extinguish it.

“Some trolls, so they were told, so enjoyed the screaming that they packed ice around the children’s hearts to keep them alive longer, the longer to hear them scream. For these trolls the children’s agony was food, their tender flesh they left for other, baser tastes.

“And soon the trolls were no longer fearsome gods to the citizens and slaves of Hara, but devils. Incomprehensibly evil and their mortal enemy. So said the law.

“And before long, everyone also knew that the only way to save their children was to capture and kill the troll spy, who came to watch their building from the western hill, whom they had all seen, and who had already killed sixty of their slaves. Only this would teach the trolls a lesson, and make them leave the city alone.

“Dharmadev was a designer and ruler of fear, and knew his craft very well.

“On the morning of the attack, some saw Heramba’s men carrying large bags dripping with blood, but none dared speak about it.

“This was the morning that Dharmadev had received early word that the troll was approaching.

“Shortly after the troll has reached the hill, a soldier discovered the killed and half eaten children by the foot of the western hill and the word spread like flame.

“Jigyasa noticed the slain children placed at the foot of her hill and did not understand. Nor did she understand the fearful commotion that rippled through the city. Perhaps she was too absorbed by not understanding to act sooner, we do not know, but before she had a clear notion of her predicament she was surrounded by not a handful of soldiers, or a hundred of men, but by thousands and thousands of men and women furious with fear and hate for the child eater.

“She killed hundreds, but for each man she crushed, three swarmed in to reach her. Spears and arrows flew from the soldiers to her left and right, and after some time she grew weak from the many leaks.

“Finally she stumbled, fell, and was covered by hate.

“They did not kill her then, that was not Dharmadev’s plan. She was dragged to the little clearing by his house.

“Heramba entered to tell him they had brought the troll, and Dharmadev stepped out, for the first time in plain view, as the ruler of men, as the giver of laws, as the killer of trolls.

“He ordered Heramba to tie the trolls arms and legs to the ground, and to nail its large ears to the earth with wooden spears. Then he ordered its eyelids pried and held open while he took his finest sword out of its sheath, held it to the sun and kissed it twice, once for each eye.

“Standing by Jigyasa's large head, which reached almost to his waist, Dharmadev then pierced each eye with his sword, drawing a small fountain of clear liquid from each.

“Then, holding his sword again to the sun, and kissing it once, for the heart, he killed her.

“As he lifted his sword a final time, pointing to the sun, Heramba and his soldiers broke out into cheer and the thousands who had witnessed the killing soon followed. Many fell to the ground and mumbled his name, Dharmadev, Dharmadev, and he was well on his way to becoming immortal.

“But Vishnu felt no pain. He had risen from Jigyasa’s body once she had been fettered to the ground and from above looked on in curious disgust. Once Dharmadev pointed to the sun and all men bowed to him, Vishnu returned to the mountains and grew another troll.

“They returned the following morning and slew every man, woman, and child, except for Dharmadev—who knew this would happen—and for Heramba and twenty of his most loyal soldiers, who had fled with Dharmadev in the night.

“The trolls left nothing of the city but crumbs and splinters.

“Dharmadev, the troll slayer, traveled the world from one end to the other, and with the help of Heramba and his soldiers, who now numbered thousands again, spread the fear of trolls, and the light of his own deed.

“He would set them free. He could save them. He would lead the way.

“And when he was done, when he had become immortal, for surely every man, and woman, and child for all time to come would know of him, and think of him, and thank him, he led an army of millions toward the mountains north of the valley of Hara, to seek out the trolls and avenge mankind.

“Many died in that battle. Vishnu did not want to flee, but when the trolls numbered only a handful, he had no choice. He led them through the deeper caves through the mountain and away to the north.

“Many, many thousands of men died in that battle, but many more lived to tell the tale that the trolls had not been armed, had no hordes of children in their caves, had books and flutes and art in their caves, and some even said, had been reluctant to fight.

“That is how Dharmadev finally achieved immortality. As a slayer of men, not as a slayer of trolls. Of course, he did not partake in the battle, he directed it from a safe distance, and after it was done he withdrew from the world.

“The trolls traveled north, beyond the reach of men, and found a home at the top of the world, where they still live, untrustful of men, in long, long lives that have seen roads, and trains, and airplanes cross the earth all in futile rush for an immortality, which like Dharmadev’s will never truly be found.

“And their hearts are saddened by the folly of man, and they are rarely if ever seen.”

Esh stopped and the silence was complete. Only soft breathing could be heard, and only if you really listened.

The silence went on for so long that it may have been the new way of the world.

Thoughts? I'd like to hear them.
Ulf Wolf

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