The Testimony of Asterion
I had to give up my pit. It became more and more difficult to haul the sand out, and then the water began to seep in and make a dreadful mud of the red earth which fell from above. A large fall of clay and stones crushed my ankle and nearly buried me, and at that point I knew that it was hopeless. I crawled along the tunnels until I reached a half darkness at the basement of the Temple, and lay for a very long time, forlorn, desperate. When a full darkness fell, I crawled into the Temple Mansion and filled my lungs with fresh air. A pithos of figs gave me a handful of sustenance. A jar full of fresh milk also.
Then I descended again into the blackness. A maze of tunnels spread before me. If my pit would not take me to the underworld, then one of these tunnels must. I crawled through the labyrinth of passages, my ankle swollen and painful. The pain fired my determination and I crawled through the tunnels, deeper and deeper and narrower and further from the Temple. Familiarity had imprinted the network of tunnels into a pattern in my mind, and I crawled to the furthest part. I could find no way forward. But in another part of the system I came across a new tunnel. It broadened out from a long, narrow squeeze into a wider passage. Filled with joy, I crawled back to fetch the thread; a long journey back through the stony labyrinth and a long time spent unravelling the plaits and making the thread long again. How long need it be? I had high hopes for my new tunnel. No more would I dig. This tunnel would lead me to the underworld!
I played out the thread as I followed the new passage. It divided and divided again and branched and I had always to choose my way carefully. Each rejected branch might have to be explored. And all the time I descended, crawling on my hands and knees for so long that I became weak with hunger and thirst. Then, all of a sudden I became aware of a dim light ahead of me. The walls of the tunnel became harder and I found myself able to walk without stooping, and then to raise my arms in the darkness above me. The light became brighter, and I saw that the walls were of chalk. The sunlight beckoned and I ran towards it. The underworld. I dropped the thread and ran out into the bright sunlight. Behind me was the slope of a hill, and a white quarry, and trees. In front, a path that led through a forest glade as I followed with the sun dancing through the leaves above. Eventually I came to the edge of a lake. Was this the water that had to be crossed?
In the lake was a line of white boats, with grey, clanking masts. They stood against a pale blue sky and extended in an arc towards the sea, in lines marked by large pink spheres in the water.
·
'My tutor told me to enjoy the Easter break,' said Ariadne, as they walked along the ridge of the downs, 'but how can I, with finals so close!'
She lifted her head to watch a hang glider soar above them as Jim walked on, and lowered her eyes again to watch a hawk of some kind hovering motionlessly a few feet above the grass a hundred yards away - twitching and hovering, dropping, hovering, against the blue of the sky. They descended the slope until they were above an old railway tunnel. Before them, the woods stretched away across the landscape towards the saltwater lakes.
'Did you go to see Dr McKenzie?' asked Ariadne.
'Yes, he was remarkable,' replied Jim. 'He has been working on this idea for years, and hasn't had the courage to publish anything, so nobody knows anything of the work he has done.'
'Are you going to collaborate?'
'You bet! Though I haven't had the courage to tell Ron yet. I think he might throw a wobbly. I'm sure he knows I am trying to avoid him. All he says to me now is - when are you going to start writing your thesis?'
'When are you going to start writing your thesis?' asked Ariadne, playfully. 'You can't put it off for much longer you know!' 'Oh, don't you start,' said Jim, and gave her a shove down the slope as it opened out onto a grassy clearing. Ariadne came to a halt and stood gazing into the woods.
'Look over there,' she said, as Jim caught up.
In the distance, along a woodland path and partly hidden by the trees, a well-proportioned figure, covered in red ochre and dressed only in what appeared to be a short skirt, was limping away at high speed.
·
The Testimony of Asterion
As night fell I lay at the water's edge. Nightfall? Hunger and thirst overcame me. I tried to drink from the water, but it was salt. My ankle gave me pain and I decided to sleep. But thirst and pain and the clanking of the floating objects kept me awake and, now and again, terrifying noises and bright lights moving and vanishing.
It puzzles me that the underworld should have nightfall and a moon. And as the light grows, I see that it has a dawn as well. The light hurts and awakens the voice of the girl. I must return to the darkness of the tunnels. At night, the Temple will provide food and drink, and a little milk, perhaps. Then I will find something to give to the ferryman when I return.
I made my way back through the forest. My ankle was still painful, but I could delay no longer. I found the tunnel into the hillside and looked for the thread in the growing darkness. The walls glistened with water and deep in the tunnel, as my eyes adjusted, I came upon the thread where I had dropped it. I felt the tension as it led up into the system of passages. An infinite thread leading me back into the labyrinth. The tunnels became narrower and branched like a maze, and I was thankful that I had the thread to follow. The walls became softer until the familiar red earth covered my hands and body. I must have crawled all day, because I found myself in darkness within the Temple Mansion.