THE EYES OF IVAN IGER
The
museum drew a respectable crowd. Children marveled at the
dinosaur skeletons, adults inspected the treasures and artifacts of the
ancient world. Below, in the basement, Dr. Lester Huygens was
cataloging the contents of a musty room that, for the most part, had
been neglected since the mid-1800s. For Lester, it was
practically an archaeological dig. He uncovered mummies and
sarcophagi, scrolls and papyri, fossils and pottery and weapons of
bronze.
He found something out of place for the museum's area of
interest, a jar containing two eyeballs floating in a green, murky
liquid. It was labeled “Eyes of Ivan Iger.” Ivan
Iger! Once infamous, now forgotten. But the professor knew
the story well.
Ivan Iger, despite an obvious English accent,
always maintained that he was a Gypsy from Russia. Whatever his
origins, he had great influence wherever he roamed. He never sat
for an official portrait, but by most accounts there was nothing
remarkable about his features – except for the electrifying eyes!
He
traveled throughout Europe, making a name for himself as a seer and a
hypnotist. It was in the latter capacity that he excelled, though
never on a public stage, which he considered undignified. Rather
he entertained royalty at lavish balls, the rich at garden parties,
celebrities in their own dining rooms. They clamoured about him
in throngs, eager to have their fortunes told or to be subjected to his
hypnotic spell for the amusement of the other guests. They filled
his pockets with money, which he squandered by living beyond his means.
There were scandals. Married women threw themselves
at Ivan and he obliged them. Some feared that politicians were under
the influence of his supernatural powers. Scientific societies
challenged him. His enemies were growing exponentially.
The
end of Ivan Iger came in 1818. Disgraced and reduced to a drunken
shambles, he performed on a makeshift stage on the street corner of a
London slum. Some of the onlookers were impressed; others simply
spat and moved on. One day a young woman known to the crowd was
brought before Ivan. He tried to work his magic on her, but she
would not bend to his will. The people laughed at his efforts,
cheered at his failure. Finally, it was revealed to Ivan that the
girl was blind. Enraged, he tore a dagger from his coat and
plunged it into the poor damsel's heart! The crowd was upon him
even before the girl, hilt protruding from her bosom, sank to the
ground. They beat him viciously, almost tore him apart.
What little was left of Ivan went to the hangman.
And now his
eyes were in a jar – but for what purpose? Were they originally
intended for scientific research, to be measured with calipers, the
irises removed and observed under a microscope to see if there were any
abnormal qualities? Whatever the reason, they were preserved and
forgotten, buried in the clutter of a room abandoned for over a century
and a half.
Lester cleared some of the dust from the surface of
the jar with his thumb. He gazed into the ghastly grey orbs for a
while, as if transfixed. Suddenly, mechanically, he unsealed the
lid and removed the eyes, which he then placed on the counter.
And then, with his bare hands Lester tore his own eyes out of
their sockets and replaced them with the hypnotist's eyes! He
blinked a few times and grinned. There was no doubt about it:
Ivan Iger was back!
© 2009 Richard Beland
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