Paulo Coelho - The Fifth Mountain: A Novel (P.S.)

The Fifth Mountain Coelho, Paulo

At the beginning of the year 870 B.C., a nation known asPhoenicia, which the Israelites called Lebanon, had marked almost threecenturies of peace. Its inhabitants could take pride in theiraccomplishments; because they were not politically powerful, they haddeveloped an enviable skill at negotiation as the only means ofassuring survival in a world beset by constant war. An alliance madearound the year 1000 B.C.with King Solomon of Israel had allowed the modernization of itsmerchant fleet and the expansion of trade. Since that time, Phoeniciahad never stopped growing.

Its navigators had traveled to places asdistant as Spain and the Atlantic Ocean, and there aretheoriesas yet unconfirmedof their having leftinscriptions in northeastern and southern Brazil. They carried glass,cedar, weapons, iron, and ivory. The inhabitants of the large citiessuch as Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos were familiar with numbers,astronomical calculations, the manufacture of wine, and for almost twohundred years had been using a set of characters for writing, which theGreeks knew as alphabet.

At the beginning of the year 870 B.C., a council of warwas meeting in a distant place called Nineveh. A group of Assyriangenerals had decided to send troops to conquer the nations locatedalong the Mediterranean coast. Phoenicia had been selected as the firstcountry to be invaded.

At the beginning of the year 870 B.C., two men hiding in astable in Gilead, in Israel, expected to die in the next few hours.

I HAVESERVED A LORDWHO NOW ABANDONS ME INTO the hands of myenemies, said Elijah.

God is God, the Levitereplied. He did not tell Moses whether He was good or evil;He simply said: I am. Heis everything that exists under the sunthe lightning boltthat destroys a house, and the hand of man that rebuilds it.

Talking was the only way to ward off fear;at any moment, soldiers would open the door to the stable where theywere hiding, discover them both, and offer the only choice possible:worship Baal, the Phoenician god, or be executed. They were searchinghouse by house, converting the prophets or executing them.

Perhaps the Levite would convert and escapedeath. But for Elijah there was no choice: everything was happeningthrough his own fault, and Jezebel wanted his head under allcircumstances.

It was an angel of the Lord whoobliged me to speak to King Ahab and warn him that it would not rain solong as Baal was worshiped in Israel, he said, almost in aplea for absolution for having heeded what the angel had told him.But God acts slowly; when the drought begins to take hold,Princess Jezebel will already have destroyed all who remain loyal tothe Lord.

The Levite said nothing. He was reflectingon whether he should convert to Baal or die in the name of the Lord.

Who is God? Elijahcontinued. Is it He who holds the sword of the soldier, thesword that executes those who will not betray the faith of ourpatriarchs? Was it He who placed a foreign princess on ourcountrys throne, so that all this misfortune could befallour generation? Does God kill the faithful, the innocent, those whofollow the law of Moses?

The Levite made his decision: he preferredto die. Then he began to laugh, for the idea of death frightened him nolonger. He turned to the young prophet beside him and attempted to calmhim. Ask God, since you doubt His decisions, hesaid. I have accepted my fate.

The Lord cannot wish us to bemassacred without mercy, insisted Elijah.