Free The Colour of Heaven by James Runcie Page B

what of the past? What if I do not understand that?’
    ‘You have a lifetime to discover your own past,’ Jacopo replied.
    ‘But I want to know now.’
    Jacopo looked worried. ‘You know these men are charlatans.’
    ‘Then why do people go?’
    ‘Like you, they need hope.’
    ‘Then give me hope.’
    At last Jacopo relented, telling Paolo that he would pay for a consultation with a Latin-speaking soothsayer if only to teach his charge how fraudulent the world could be. He gave Paolo three ducats and they approached a tent that seemed to glow like gold.
    ‘Consult your destiny,’ he advised.
    Inside, just behind a table, sat a man with a narrow face and a beard that was almost blue. He was dressed in a bright-yellow hooded cape. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be in a trance. The man lowered his head towards a small crucible in front of him, and inhaled a substance that looked remarkably like black pepper. He then sat back, stretching his arms out wide, and emitted the longest and loudest sneeze Paolo had ever heard.
    ‘ Veni ,’ said the man.
    He brought out two further crucibles and explained, in Latin, that he could tell much of a man’s future simply by measuring the direction and duration of the human sneeze. It would cost Paolo five ducats. This might seem expensive, but he would be able to tell in which direction his guest must travel in order to fulfil his destiny, and for how long. He could even, in certain circumstances, predict the duration of the journey and when a man might be expected to return home.
    ‘I only have three ducats.’
    ‘Very well. Give me what you can.’
    Paolo paid the money and stood before the crucibles. The man in the yellow gown brought forth what looked like a compass, and encouraged Paolo to begin.
    The first crucible was thick with the scent of paprika. Paolo inhaled, and then turned to his right, sneezing away from the table three times.
    ‘South,’ shouted the man.
    He brought the second crucible to Paolo and invited him to sniff once more. This was pepper.
    Paolo inhaled, and his whole body convulsed. His eyes began to stream with the heat and the powder. He felt an enormous sneeze welling inside him until it could be contained no more.
    The resulting sensile explosion was so strong that it lifted him in the air, twisting his body round upon itself.
    Paolo sneezed five times.
    ‘East,’ instructed the man. ‘Five months.’
    ‘No more,’ cried his patient.
    ‘One more,’ instructed the sorcerer. ‘It is your destiny.’
    Paolo looked at the bowl of yellow powder before him. Could it be cumin? He inhaled as lightly as he could, and then began to sneeze again; his body shuddered, and he found himself back in the position in which he had first entered the room.
    The man held out a hot towel. ‘Blow,’ he ordered. ‘Clear yourself.’
    Paolo obeyed. His eyes burned with pain and heat.
    ‘Now rest,’ ordered the sorcerer. ‘Sit in this chair, and close your eyes.’ Paolo felt his eyes cool, as the man laid what appeared to be cucumber across them.
    ‘It will be a long journey,’ the sorcerer began; ‘and it will have dangers. Much heat. You will be very hot. Perhaps at one point you will think that you are dying.’
    ‘You can tell all this from the way in which I sneeze?’
    ‘No. That is destiny. But I advise you to travel south at first, with whatever friends you have. Do not be alone. Then you must, and you will, travel east. Far, far east. For many months.’
    ‘Five months …’ Paulo ventured.
    ‘Probably. The sneezes seldom lie …’
    ‘And then?’
    ‘You finished sneezing in the same position. This means that you will return home. And you will see more clearly …’
    ‘You know my sight is poor?’
    ‘On the contrary. I know your sight is sharp. Sharper than a hawk’s.’
    ‘But only close.’
    ‘Then that is how you must look.’
    ‘And will I find the colour that I seek?’
    ‘That I cannot tell.’
    ‘Shall I know my