TALISMAN

CHAPTER 1 


The novel opens with a description of a Crusader riding his horse slowly along the desert close to the death sea, otherwise called the lake Asphaltites. What is an arid desert now was once the fair and fertile valley of Siddim. The place is full of brim-stone and salt and no vegetation grows there. Even the  air is devoid of insects. The knight is wearing a sun coat bearing the picture of a  couchant leopard, with the menacing words, 'I sleep wake me not'. The knight is an honest man. He is poor,and he did not extract any money from the natives he had conquered. He considers his sword his safest escort and his devout thoughts his best companion.
                                   The knight is happy to see a cluster of palm trees at a distance. A fountain is sure to be found there. he hopes to rest there for a while. Suddenly, a Saracen ( a Muslim soldier) emerges from there on horse back. He darts arouse at the Christian knight who falls down from his horse, pretending to be fatally wounded. The Saracen comes closer to find out what has happened to the knight. The knight gets up and seizes hold of the Saracen's sword-belt, depriving him of his sword and quiver of arrows. Reduce to the helpless state, the Saracen expresses a wish to strike a truce with a christian. He argues that they need not clash, us the war between their respective armies has ceased. The Christian knight agrees and the two men become friends and ride towards the cluster of palm trees.