The Rite of Spring: The Third of The Cock

The Rite of Spring: Fragment 35

The Third of The Cock
which describes a meeting of the Council of the Cock

Council meetings are usually dull. Since Tan took over, they have, fortunately, usually been brief. In Dorusduainnie's days as First, they were much more tedious because longer, but Tan seems to keep the business well organized and gets through it quickly; he's been a good choice. So we rolled up to the meetings each morning without too much resentment, but without too much enthusiasm either.

So, on the morning of the second Cunt of the Cunt, we rolled up when the Eye rang the second sand of the morning, as usual. The meeting, as it was good weather, was held in the roof cloister, a pleasant and private space, overlooked only by the Front Gate. The lawn was green with careful watering, and we spread our mats and sat cross legged on the turf. Tan came last, which is not usual; and he came from his cell. I knew that he had not slept there, and, indeed, that he had been for his run that morning. He must have been meditating, I thought; and, although Tan is devout in his own way, and meditates by himself a great deal, it worried me. He is not given to being late, so this was a bad sign in him. He looked strained, too.

There was indeed little business, I assumed, merely assignments for the morrow's Rite, and they were a formality. I was wrong, however. Tan skipped all that, simply saying

"I assume everybody knows what they have to do tomorrow?"

We all assented.

"Good. So..." He took a long breath, which came out as something of a sigh. I could see his eyes distracted, looking over Duirloch's head at the clematis which grows over the door of Mheathre's cell. He pulled himself up and looked, slowly, around all of us. He spoke in a very low tone, not like his usual gently confidence.

"Friends, we have a problem. Our problem is at least partly me. I may leave this House tomorrow; I may leave in disgrace, and each one of you may be happy to see me go. I do not know that I can fulfill the word of the God. I may refuse. We must consider how this House will react if this happens. I want you all to know that I have loved you, I have tried to serve you. I will not let you down as a matter of choice, but because a task has been given me for which I lack the strength. I hope you will all forgive me. More: I hope you will pray for me."

I was staggered, could not react. Others did, quickly saying "nonsense", and other such things, which are intended to reassure, and fail. I looked up at Tan, who was looking absurdly young and exposed. I said

"it is the ricnic girl, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Pray for her, too."

Dorusduainnie said

"but my dear Tan, what can possibly be the problem? What can this young barbarian do to you that can possibly reduce you to such a state of despondency? Really, I would have thought the God's instructions were perfectly straightforward. Has she some exotic venereal condition, or something?"

Tan looked at him for a long moment, puzzled, as if unable to make sense of what had been said. Then suddenly he smiled, but it was a broken smile.

"Yes", he said. "She has an exotic condition. It is called 'chastity'; and she has it in an extreme form. I do not think she will consent to celebrate either part of the Rite, and nothing we can do, short of force, will make her."

I looked around the circle, to see how my colleagues would take this. I suppose I had myself been partly prepared; I'd seen something of the girl. Others had not. People digested the notion thoughtfully; it was quite new to us. Finally Ron spoke. He is oldest of this House, and his mind sometimes wanders a little; but he can be very acute.

"What is her reason for refusing? Is it deliberate blasphemy, or something else?"

Tan said

"I believe - mind, I'm not expert on this, but I went and talked to the Intelligencer of the Foot yesterday to get some background - that among the ricnic a woman may take the seed only of the man who is her 'master' - among the ricnic women have no status of their own, you know? A woman of an important family will be betrothed in early infancy, and will be given to her master as soon as she reaches puberty. From that time on she dwells in his tent and is usually not seen again by any other man. Normally a woman does not inherit, but if her father dies without male heir, the eldest daughter's master inherits his position. Now Aonan's father was a Chief, and is dead without male heir. So her betrothed will become Chief as soon as he has sprung seed in her; but until that time the tribe has no Chief. I know this sounds most strange, but I am told it is their custom. What I have learned from Aonan herself confirms this."

"It is indeed strange", Ron said,

"but in what way does it prevent her from taking part in the Rite?"

There was a honeyeater hovering in front of the rose that grows along the river side of the cloister. Tan followed it with his eyes for a long moment. Drawn by his gaze, I watched it too, enjoying the bright blue and gold of its plumage against the soft yellow flowers, the deep green leaves, and the warm honey-coloured stone.

"She may take seed only from her master, for the bloodline is precious to them. Not the bloodline on the female side, as among the Yachorach, but the bloodline of the male side. If she takes seed of anyone else - even of the God - her womb is tainted by it and her master will refuse her. Her name is taken from her and she is considered never to have existed. She says that this happened to her sister. Both the Foot and the Bridled Woman confirm that it is the practice. I think that Aonan would honestly rather die than take seed from either a priest or the God, whether symbolically or physically. I have introduced her to the ceremonial tool, but she will not consent even to that."

Ron said

"this has never happened in my time before, and I have been in this House one hundred and fourteen years now. I think there are people in the Place who might refuse, too, but they never come forward for the Rite. I do not know what we should do."

He looked firmly at Dorusduainnie.

Dorusduainnie cleared his throat noisily.

"It does indeed seem a very unusual situation. However, this House has surely dealt with such situations in the past, and it is simply a matter of following precedent. Indeed, Tan, I think you are most remiss in not having established the precedent before coming to us in this very panicky fashion."

"Tan has sought a precedent", said Meathre, who is Seventh of the House and is responsible for our archives.

"He asked me to find the last occasion when we had an unwilling celebrant for the Rite of the Plough. The last occasion was in the Year of the Eye Delighted by the Shining Cherry Tree, just before the coming of the Yachorach. Yes, you didn't think we had records that old! Well, we do. It seems it was the practice during the Ascendency of the Eye for women who were condemned to death to be given to this House to celebrate the Rite of the Plough prior to their execution. These women were bound. I believe, also, that it was on these occasions that those dreadful old tools with the spikes were used, although the records are not wholly clear on that point. I do not believe that a rite conducted in such a fashion could serve the God; but that is the precedent."

Meathre's eyes challenged us all, hot with anger.

"I say it would be to the shame and dishonour of this House to follow such a precedent."

After Tan and Dorusduainnie, I am next in rank in the House, so I felt that it now fell to me to give my view. I said

"clearly it is a difficulty. Clearly, also, to give seed to an unwilling woman is a grave offence against the very aspect of the God this House worships, the aspect of loving and fruitful fertility. But the God has directed us, and so it cannot be an offence. Tan, I believe that you like this woman. We all know that you will not hurt her. Furthermore, from what you have described of the repugnant practices of her people towards their women, it cannot be doubted that she would be better off to stay here, as a guest of this House, or to be given a pension and allowed to settle wherever she will in the Place, than to return to them. I feel that you should not be overawed by her primitive scruples. The God has given this House a simple task. One of us must carry out this task; I think that it should be you, not only because you are First but precisely because you know and like her, and can thus be reassuring to her. However, it you don't want to do it, there is no reason for you to leave either your office or this House. I will stand in for you. If she will not consent, she must be bound, That's really all there is to it."

Dorusduainnie was looking at me with some gratitude.

"Conan is right, of course. There is no suggestion of using ancient and bloodthirsty practices out of the distant past. This House is proud to worship the God in Her aspect as Lover. But we cannot let one primitive tribeswoman's scruples stand against the expressed judgement of the God we worship. The woman must of course be bound. The bonds can be made perfectly comfortable, but the ceremony must proceed. Furthermore, in order to ascertain that the ceremony proceeds in a dignified manner, I think you had better make sure she is gagged as well."

He was looking at Tan.

Tan went paler than before.

"Aonan is not a primitive, or a savage. She is a person of dignity, with values which she believes in deeply. Personally, I agree with Conan that she would be better off not going back to her people. But that should be her choice; and if we bind her, we steal that choice from her. I have prayed that she will consent, and will pray at every moment I have free from now until the ceremony. I have also done my best to persuade her with reason, and seduce her with sensual pleasures. I still hope that she will consent."

He plucked angrily at the turf before him.

"While I am First of this House she will not be gagged. I will speak to her on the matter; I am sure she would feel that calling out during the ceremony was an offence against her own dignity as much as ours. If it is the will of this Council I will make arrangements for her to be bound, although I think this is a very wrong thing which brings shame on this House. I will go to the Rite as celebrating Priest; but someone must be ready to take over, because if in the end she still refuses to consent I may not be able to complete the Rite."

Meathre said

"this is very wrong. No-one is celebrating the love of the Godhead who must be bound to make her comply. It is not an act of worship or love but -- I don't have words for it. Perhaps there are no words for it. It is an abomination, an offence. If the God directs us to do such a thing, then the God must be testing us, to see if we are honest in our faith in His love. We cannot bind this woman. Tan must go back to the God and say we pass the test. We refuse."

Tan pointed up to where the tall purple banner rippled against the blue sky.

"Do you know we didn't have a flag of supplication? I had to send one of the novices out into the market to have one made. And the halyards on the flagpole had rotted, so we had to have that down to fix it. Do you know how long it is since this House hoisted the flag of supplication? Ron, has it been done before in your time? But the God has not answered us. Meathre, I believe you're right to this extent: the God is moving, and Aonan a'Aonach is part of Her movement. But I do not know what the meaning of that movement is. I do not know what the God wills us to do. I know only what the God has told us to do. I know that if I defy the God, I will almost certainly die. If we all defy the God, we may all die. I will defy the God for myself. But I cannot defy the God for this House, I have not that right. The Council must vote."

There was a very long silence. Then Ron said

"if it is a test, then it is possible that it is a test of our values, as Meathre says. But it is more likely that it is a test of our faith and our obedience. If we go ahead and do this thing, I am certain that we will find that the God will move. Either the woman will consent, or some miracle will occur. We should have faith and proceed with our preparations."

Duirloch said

"I agree. Our first responsibility is to be obedient to the God. Tan's objection is that he does not believe the God intends the ceremony to happen, and feels that if we carry out the word of the God, we will offend against the will of the God. But this cannot be so. The God sees Aonan, knows her needs and her wishes. She sees each one of us separately. I am sure this is a test. I believe that it is a more complex test than either Meathre or Ron suggest; a test not only for this House, and not only for Aonan. We cannot guess the intention of the God, and should not try. We must, as Ron says, have faith in her goodness and obey."

Tan said, in a voice so low and faint we had to strain to hear him

"I hope that may be so; I fear it is a simpler thing. There is war among the barbarians, as you may have heard. Aonan is critical to that war. If she takes seed in the Rite, her tribe will be leaderless, will be defeated. It may be that the God wills it so, and has chosen this as the means of bringing this defeat about with the least shedding of blood; that the God intends that by violating Aonan we may save the lives of many. If that is so, if that is the will of the God, it must be done. But I will not do it. I would be proud to say Aonan was my friend. I wish to be a friend to her. I will defy the God before I will violate her, because her suffering is near to me and is real, while the lives which would be saved are far from me and unknown. Thus I am weak and unfit for my office."

There was another long silence. We heard the bell for the fourth sand ring from the tower of the Eye, and knew the morning was gone. "Friends", said Tan,

"I do not think we can agree, and so we must vote. First, if it is needed, must Aonan be bound?"

We voted. Tan and Meathre were against; the rest of us, for. Tan nodded.

"So be it. Who will be the celebrating Priest?"

The vote went round. Everyone named Tan; he abstained. When the voting was completed he sighed again, and said

"So be it. I ask you to name someone to deputise."

Again we voted, and I was nominated to deputise by seven votes to four, Tan again abstaining.

He got up then, his eyes far away.

"I think that is all the business there is. Friends, I cannot bear another meeting till this is past. I would ask Dorusduainnie to take the meeting tomorrow, as I shall be praying. Duirloch, you're propmaster, will you see to getting straps fitted to a bench? I'll see you outside her cell at the ringing of the sixth sand."

He walked across the cloister a little unsteadily, as if blind. Meathre scrambled to her feet and went after him, but he waved her away. She came back weeping.

"He is the best of us all", she said - I think we all agreed.

"He will be destroyed by this. Oh God, Oh God, what is it that you will us to do?"

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