The Chronicles Of Jayzed

The Chronicles Of Jayzed

Wednesday, September 20th, 2017

In the Beloved Land, in the years of the reign of King Embeki, there was strife among the chieftains. At that time (about 13H00, Harare time), there came forth out of the tribe of the Ancites a warrior called Jayzed, fair of countenance and a mirthful man. He sang and danced before the people and did please them greatly. Then they cried out with one voice: ‘Let Jayzed be king!’ And lo, it came to pass. The chieftains and the people banded together and wrested the throne from King Embeki and sent him forth from the city gates to wander in the northern desert lands.

The people rejoiced with song, dance and feasting.And Jayzed prophesied that the Ancites would rule until the end of the age (for he was a man of great learning, able to interpret and divine the hidden things)
And Jayzed took unto himself several wives and concubines, for many maidens swooned when he sang and danced. And he caused a palace to be built in the fair land of rolling hills. All who passed by did marvel at the king’s palace and the miraculous pool in which he bathed (for cleanliness was near to his heart). The king also gathered unto himself many asses. Herds and flocks, too, he gathered. 

But there was yet strife in the land. Among the vineyards of the western land dwelt the tribe of the Daites. They were makers of wine and fishers who went down to the sea. The daughter of Zilla ruled over them and she stirred them up, saying: “Let us make war upon King Jayzed, for he will bring the land to nought.” And it came to pass that many battles were fought in diverse places in the land. But the Daites were few in number and the armies of the king prevailed. And they mocked the Daites, calling them jackals, winebibbers and all manner of names. As for the daughter of Zilla, the ministers, concillors and chieftains heaped insults upon her head, proclaiming it abroad that she was a witch. Yet the daughter of Zilla ceased not to fight and to this day, she has not sheathed her sword. 

The Copites also stood forth to make ready for war. Then their rulers, the son of Shilowar and the son of Lakotar did quarrel on the field of battle. Their army was scattered and many warriors returned to their lands and their herds and flocks. 

Then Jayzed looked about him and said: “My enemies have all been vanquished and who can stand against me?” And the king did what was right in his own eyes for he cast down those ministers who displeased him and raised up others who pleased him. One whose fame spread throughout the land was the son of Royan. He was keeper of the king’s treasures, a man of astonishing wisdom, who accomplished so much in three days that the king bade him take his ease at his right hand. But the son of Gordan displeased the king. He stood before the king, the ministers and the chieftains and cried out in a loud voice: “This is not a good thing that you do. You dwell in marbled palaces, eat of the choicest meats and ride in fine chariots while the people stumble under the yoke of poverty,”  The king gnashed his teeth and sunto his councillors: “This man is become a thorn in my flesh.” So they brought forth witnesses against the son of Gordan and heaped accusations upon his head. And as the son of Gordan fought in battle in the far off Anglite lands, the king sent for him and caused him to be forever banished from his courts. And the king raised up another in his place, whose name the chronicles do not record, for he did no deeds of valour.

Thus the king Jayzed did cast down and raise up until his spirit was at peace. Then dwelt the king at ease with his wives, children, herds and flocks.

But lo, in the early years of the reign of Jayzed, there arose in the land a great famine. The people groaned under the yoke of taxes, rising prices, inefficiency, corruption and rumours of corruption. Some did murmur that the vision had fled the land.And they cried out to Jayzed: ‘Give us bread. Give us work. Give us… something.’ And Jayzed giggled.

Then he rose up from his throne in the place of green hills and cane fields, girded his famed loins and proclaimed: ‘This people does trouble me with many cries and protestations. I shall give them stories, magic, song and dance that they may be filled and trouble me no more.’ (For he was gifted in every art of entertainment).
Then the king travelled the land with his faithful companions, telling in song, dance and stories of the wondrous things to be accomplished in the kingdom. Boldly, the king proclaimed that the glories of the rule of the Ancites would be told in song for years to come. The people did marvel and sang his praises, saying: ‘ Truly, this is a man of the people.’

But there came forth messengers from the north with news of a mighty, warlike tribe in the hills of Saxonworld. ‘Behold’, they cried. ‘These men do make war and plunder the land from east to west. They have plundered dairy herds and milk the very earth of its treasures.’ Some murmured that the king was joined in alliance with the Gupterites (for so they were called, having travelled from a distant land to the east). But Jayzed laughed them to scorn.
But a rumour spread throughout the land that  scrolls had been found whereon the names of those allied to the Gupterites were inscribed. Many secret things also were inscribed upon the scrolls.  And many chieftains swore that they knew not of these things. As for the king, he swore by his wives and children that he knew not of the secrets of the Gupterites. In truth, he did deny it thrice. ‘Nothing, nothing, nothing,’ he proclaimed before all the people. But the anger of the people burned hot against the Gupterites and their allies.

Then came forth two mighty warriors, Juju of the Effites and El Mmusi of the Daite tribe. And their armies joined battle with the king’s army upon the plain of Parliament, a desolate place, filled with the cries of carrion birds and the rushing of the wind. For many days and nights the armies did battle but Jayzed’s army prevailed, for they were a great multitude. They smote the Effites and Daites upon the plain until they withdrew to fight again another day. But the king was sore wounded in the battle, for an arrow pierced his hindmost parts. From that time forth, he sat uneasily upon the throne.
The armies of the king rejoiced with feasting, music and merriement. 

But Jayzed was troubled in spirit, for a dark cloud overshadowed the land. Some of the Ancite chieftains did turn their backs upon Jayzed, saying: ‘This man rules not wisely nor well. He consorts with strange fellows and the noble name of our tribe is become a jest upon the lips of drunkards.’ The daughter of Kozar was one such, a woman of wisdom, valour and beauty. But the chieftains rose up in anger, saying: “This woman has partaken of much wine or strange herbs and speaks what she knows not.” She too, they cast out and the gates of the city were shut against her. Of the valiant deeds of the daughter of Kozar and the son of Gordan, the chronicles have much to tell. Nor do the chronicles forbear to tell of the daughter of Donsella, a warrior of renown, who ceased not from battle though the archers of the king rained fiery arrows upon her, as though the floodgates of the heavens themselves were thrown open. And of other warriors of renown, much may be found in the chronicles.

Some still clove to the king; many chieftains, his sons and kinsmen. One of his kinsmen, Kul U Busayi grew large in the land, for he enlarged his boundaries with many herds, flocks and much treasure. He cared not that some of the people murmered against him and his companions but spent his days feasting and drinking with gladness of heart. The sons of Jayzed also waxed fat in the land. One became a prophet, wandering the land and, in a loud voice,  uttering warnings against the foes of his father. Yet some heaped scorn upon his head,saying:”This fellow is no prophet but a hollow reed, through which every passing wind blows.” Yet he ceased not to cry out as one possessed of an unquiet spirit. Of the sons and kinsmen of Jayzed, the chronicles tell no more, for some said that they were but shadows of the king.

Now upon the king there came a heaviness of spirit. The Ancites began to quarrel among themselves. In council, swords were drawn and shields buffeted. Even the chief counsellors of the king began to utter words of warning and prophecy. Among them were Ram Pozaar and Mantasheer, he whose voice was likened unto the distant thunder of a summer storm. In the market places, where the people gathered, some murmered against Jayzed and the Ancites. Others cursed them openly. And it seemed to the king that to their numbers were added daily. The people rose up and stopped the wells of the Gupterites, saying:’These men live off the fat of our land while we languish in want. Away with them!”. And the Gupterites took their herds and flocks to a distant land and withdrew into the caves of Saxonworld, for they feared that the fat years, the years of wine and laughter, were fading.

And indeed, the king did long for the counsel of wise men like Embeki. As for the former king, he was welcomed into the courts and councils in the northern lands, for they sought his wise counsel. And he lived out his days in peace among the kings and peoples of the desert lands.

But as for Jayzed, it was as when the leaves of summer wither on the branch and the winds blow cold upon the land. The wise men and the scribes meditated daily upon the scrolls of the Gupterites  (so numerous were the scrolls), and they vexed the king sore with a multitude of questions and charges concerning that tribe. At that time also rose up Nezemande, once a close companion of the king but as his sword was drawn, the king broke asunder the blade with a mighty blow, for he was yet a cunning warrior. The armies of the Daites and the Effites were gathering anew. More blood would flow upon the Plain of Parliament and in diverse parts of the land.

Some called upon the king to lay down his crown. And many officers and chieftains who did dance in the streets with him in his day of triumph, now bitterly repented them of their hot hearts and heads. Some there were that would have had him bound in chains and cast into a dungeon with the thieves and vagabonds. Others proclaimed loudly that the rule of Jayzed would be soon ended. But these things are in the future, where none may journey while the breath of life is in him.

The rest of the chronicles of Jayzed are told in the history of the Beloved Land, for her people were yet to suffer much before the days of peace.

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