The Golden Gong
This
is a story of a long, long time ago. A story of Once upon a time. A lone hulk was sailing
majestically in the serene waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The endless blue
waters wove a sparkling mesh of fluid shimmers stretched till the horizon.
The golden sunset bathed everything in gold. It was
surreal. It was gorgeous. But all its beauty was lost on the young man
strolling on the deck, deep in thought. Restlessly pacing to and fro, Francis’ gaze
took in the millions of diamond studded tiny waves of the open sea and the orange
hued sky above and all he could think about was –was the myth of the Golden
Gong a mere reflection of idle minds of sailors on holiday in taverns or was
there any truth to it? Was there any reality in the root of the story that there
was a bell made of pure gold hidden somewhere in the Mediterranean Region?
The myth surrounding the origin of the Gong was very
intriguing as well. The story went that in a small town called Dimelo in the
coast of Spain, there was a chapel which was inhabited by a couple of dozens of
monks. They wore white robes by day and put on black masks by night. But hey
were no ordinary dacoits. You see, they only robbed gold, no other artifact,
however much valuable. They targeted only gold coins and gold jewelries.
The dacoit-monks started out by raiding the neighborhood
towns but soon expanded their area of operation. Soon, the far off towns came
under the shadow of their thirst for gold. Right behind the chapel there was a
deep forest. There they built a massive clay mold for a massive bell. All the
gold collected from the robberies used to go into the mold. For years they kept
on feeding it until half of it was filled.
By then, all the rich and prosperous that fell within
their territory got alerted of these daring and violent robberies and started
hiding their gold. And soon the dacoit monks could find only silver coins and
jewelries for their pains. No sign of any gold.
They pondered for long, thinking of different ways they
could continue the construction of the bell. When they started at last to
despair, one of the monks walked in with a piece of good news. It seemed that, all
the gold that they were unable to get their hands on was being shipped abroad. And
there were many a shipments waiting in the harbor to set sail soon.
So, they came up with a plan to obtain all the gold
they’d ever need to complete the construction of the Gong once and for all. They
elected from among themselves thirty of the best seafaring sailors and warriors.
The rest stayed back in the chapel. A story was put out that the thirty monks
were being sent abroad as missionaries.
Those chosen men then rented a ship and spent the next
three four months pirating in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Not one ship
with a cargo consisting of gold escaped them. When they finally returned to
Dimelo, there were twenty huge wooden caskets overflowing with gold jewelries
and coins. After that it was merely a matter of melting the entire loot and
filling up the clay mold.
Because they couldn’t risk anyone from the spotting
the brilliance of the huge Gong they refrained from breaking the clay mold and
it resided in the forest for several days.
The rest of the story was unclear. It was said the
soon after the monks painted the bell in black and set sail for an unknown
destination. A huge wooden platform was used to hoist the bulky construction on
to the ship. It was installed in an uninhabited island to be hidden the Gong
from the eyes of the world. On the return journey though, the monks faced a
terrible sea storm and every single being perished. And with them, was lost the
location of the island and the passage of time gave birth to the myth of the Lost
Golden Gong.
“Hey there.”
Francis was jolted out of his reverie. He looked
around to see the smiling face of pot-bellied Jacob.
“Why the frown, mate?”
Francis silently pointed towards the horizon.
“What’s there?” Jacob quizzed.
“There, the sky, it’s filled with gold, but you can
never touch it.”
A moment of incomprehension and then Jacob gave a bark
of laughter.
“Mate, you must be hungry. Come downstairs, we’ll fix
you up with some dinner, eh? “
They soon had a friendly chatter going over dinner. Francis
kept to himself most of the time but he had become friendly with Jacob. He had
found that he could talk to him.
Francis was a Viking. His country was situated in the
west coast of Europe. Though the Vikings were infamous as vicious pirates, they
were also known for their advanced ships, as the best sailors in Europe and fierce
warriors, which had earned them a reputation of being formidable all over the
world.
But he wasn’t just any Scandinavian sailor. He was
actually a highborn Viking. His father was the Prime Minister of their country.
And Jacob was the only one who knew this secret.
Trying to tackle a rather huge piece of chicken leg,
Jacob said, “Francis?”
“Hmm?”
“You better go back home.”
“Why do you say so?”
“You are not cut out for this. The chores round the
clock, cleaning the deck, rowing, all these are not for people like you.”
Francis was silent for a moment.
“You know, you are right. I have never worked so hard
in my entire life. But you know one thing? We are Vikings, and it is in our
genes to be able to cope with any type of situation, do whatever needs to be
done. Besides…” he paused.
“Besides what?”
“There is this story I have heard since my childhood. About
a lost Golden Gong…”
“Oh the story of the dacoit monks and the Golden Gong?
Everybody knows that. It’s all rubbish.” Jacob yawned.
“I don’t think so.” Francis said with conviction.
“Yeah?”
“Yes. I firmly believe that it existed. And still
does, in one of the islands around here.”
“Yeah right.” Jacob leaned back.
Francis checked to see no one was within hearing and
leaned forward towards Jacob and whispered.
“Before I left home, I met this very old sailor. You know
what he said to me? That he had actually heard the gong of the bell.”
“What?” Jacob was surprised into sitting upright.
“Yes. People, though, used to call him crazy, but not
I. I paid attention to his story.”
“What was it?”
“A long time ago, sailing the Mediterranean, they had faced
a terrible storm and lost way. The ship struck some hidden rocks and it was an ‘all
abort’ situation. Just before he jumped off the sinking vessel, the sailor
heard it. The deep resonance of a bell which could be heard even above the
noise of the storm. Till the last moment he lost consciousness, he had heard the
sound of the ringing, reverberated all-round the hills and the sea, and went on…dong… dong… dong.”
Jacob was open mouthed. He had stopped eating. He whispered,”
The Golden Gong?”
“Yes.”
“He heard the Golden Gong ringing?”
“I think so.” Francis nodded, his full voice full with conviction.
Jacob was speechless.
..........to be continued.............
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