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day finally came for Tang to assume his role as Master of Sinanju, and when
this day arrived Tang the Dullard was assigned the simple task of protecting a
minor assemblyman which was another name for a Greek nobleman in the town of
Bura in one of the far Greek provinces.
"While not a glorious task, Tang approached it with an enthusiasm normally
discovered only in the very young or the very stupid. The noble was old and
weak and had made many enemies during his years of public life, which is not
only not unusual in a Greek, it is something that is expected in their
politicians.
"Now, this noble had enemies who lusted after his assembly seat. These enemies
whispered behind the old Greek's back that he would die on a certain date in a
certain way because an oracle had predicted it to be so. And it was with the
promise of gold and fine bolts of silk, slaves and fabulous jewels, sweetmeats
and confections and many gallons of fine wine that the noble did hire Tang to
protect his life from danger until the ordained hour had passed. To this,
Master Tang agreed.
' 'Now, even Tang at his most obtuse knew that oracles were merely
fabrications meant to frighten men. They were nearly always ambiguous and
never reliable. So Tang took his place at the nobleman's right hand for a
period of one month. And when the day of doom foretold by the oracle was at
hand, Master Tang slipped into the Greek's bedchamber under cover of
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darkness and spirited him away, secreting him in a cave several miles distant
until the death hour had passed.
"At daybreak Tang returned the noble to his home. This man was so overjoyed to
have cheated certain death, he offered Tang the hand of his loveliest daughter
in marriage. Tang declined the offer, saying that his lot was a marriage of
duty and obligation to his tiny village. So he bade farewell to the noble and
his daughter who was, in point of fact, far from lovely. The girl was ugly and
white and a Greek, and it was for these three reasons that Tang did not wish
to wed her, for while he was an idiot, Tang was not completely stupid. He
returned home to Sinanju, there to rest from his travels."
"That's it? End of story?" Remo asked, perplexed.
"Of course not," Chiun rejoined. "When the day the noble was prophesied to
perish came around again Greeks for some reason repeating their days word
reached Tang that death had struck in the foretold method. In a vile bathhouse
where all manner of perversions took place. This on the exact date, one year
later, as prophesied by the oracle. While the cause of death was ascribed to
heart failure while in the act of pederasty, word was spread that the elderly
statesman had been killed in battle against Xerxian forces, an all-too-common
lie created to mask an ignominious death among Greek nobles. No one believed
the story, save the nobleman's trusting daughter. The very one whom Tang
refused to take as his wife. And this daughter traveled in secret from the
house of her uncle in Thebes, to Delphi in Phocis, there to visit the famed
Pythia who had prophesied the demise of her father.
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The girl thereupon had vanished a victim of roadside thieves, according to the
slave with whom she had traveled.
"Now, Master Tang, being an idiot, was troubled by these things. Instead of
considering himself fortunate to have earned a large payment despite what some
might consider a technical failure, a nagging pressure filled his heretofore
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empty head, entreating him to return to Greece to avenge the death of his
former charge."
"His conscience," offered Remo.
"His stupidity," explained Chiun. "The noble was already dead and Tang was
already paid. What need was there for him to run halfway around the world on a
fool's errand? But this is what Tang did.
"Tang returned to Greece and made his way to Pho-cis and Delphi, there to
confront the priests of the Pythia, the peristiarchoi. Tang assumed, as only a
fool would, that the priests had been paid by a rival noble to predict the
death of the old man, whereupon the death was arranged, leaving the
all-important seat in the assembly open." Here Chiun broke from the narrative
and leaned over to Remo. "I say all-important, Remo, because that is how it is
written in the histories. But I tell you that nothing white people do is ever
important. This is a myth perpetuated by whites about whites to make
themselves feel more worthy in one another's futile estimation."
This stated, Chiun returned to his tale. "The all-important seat was empty. A
charge of Sinanju was dead. So Master Tang sought retribution in the place
where the prediction had originated. This is a logic not uncommon among
idiots."
269
"Delphi wasn't where the hit order came from?" asked Remo.
"There was no order," Chiun said.
"So why was the guy killed?"
"He died of natural causes."
"So why the fuss?" asked Remo, exasperated. "He just happened to die on the
right day. It was a coincidence, right?"
"Wrong," said Chiun. "It was foreseen by the Pythian oracle at Delphi."
' 'But you just got through telling me that these people were fools for
listening to oracles."
Chiun's hazel eyes grew heavy of lid. "Up until that time, no oracle had been
known to speak truth."
Remo felt a lurking presence flit through his mind like a fugitive shadow. He
suppressed a shudder.
"But the Delphic Oracle could predict the future," Chiun said gravely. "And
alas for Sinanju, it was the dullard Tang who made this discovery." He
returned to the story. "Not knowing the truth behind the nobleman's death,
Tang fell upon the priests of Delphi to avenge his murder. Ignorant of all but
vengeance, Tang slew the priests of Delphi."
Chiun raised his arms in pantomime, his long ivory nails flashing like daggers
in the fitful candlelight.
"Thwap! His hand shot east, and a body fell. Snap! His hand flew west, and
another's life was snuffed. Many in number were the priests of the Pythia. But
Tang, dull though he was, littered the temple floor with their hapless
corpses. Through the storm, Tang did shout, 'You have dared discharge one whom
it was my duty to protect.' Tang tore through the temple, reaching the very
inner chamber where the mythic Py-
270
thia sat atop her tripod. A horrible-smelling smoke filled the large room,
pouring from the rocky crevice over which the Pythia sat. And it was in this
chamber that strange thoughts began to crowd the vacant mind of Tang, seeking
to control his mighty rage."
At this, Remo sat up. For a moment the alien presence in his own mind seemed
to still. Almost as if it heard Chiun's words.
"But the tendrils that touched the dull mind of Tang slithered back into the
circling yellow sulphur smoke. And Tang, in his idiocy, did shout up at the
Pythia, 'What is this place of demons that fills my mind with thoughts of
death?' And the Pythia on her tripod her long black hair covering her face did
writhe and twist on her seat as if to do herself harm. And this child of the
smoke called down in an unearthly voice, saying, 'Tang, you of simple mind are
not a worthy vessel of Apollo's essence, but hear you this. When the time has
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come for the dead night tiger of Sinanju to walk the earth, East will meet
West and the destiny of Sinanju will be forever changed. This I have foreseen
and this is the legacy I bequeath you for that which you are about to do."
Remo frowned. According to Sinanju legend, Remo was the dead night tiger, the
avatar of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Chiun went on.
"Tang flashed to the top of the Pythia's platform. As the smoke burst into
searing yellow flame around him, he spirited Apollo's Pythia to safety, for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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