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diff --git a/31510-h/31510-h.html b/31510-h/31510-h.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d701e1c --- /dev/null +++ b/31510-h/31510-h.html @@ -0,0 +1,8178 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /><link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" /><meta name="DC.Creator" content="Edgar Saltus" /><meta name="DC.Title" content="Mary Magdalen" /><meta name="DC.Date" content="March 5, 2010" /><meta name="DC.Language" content="English" /><meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Project Gutenberg" /><meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/31510" /><meta name="DC.Rights" content="This text is in the public domain." /><title>The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mary Magdalen by Edgar Saltus</title><style type="text/css">/* +The Gnutenberg Press - default CSS2 stylesheet + +Any generated element will have a class "tei" and a class "tei-elem" +where elem is the element name in TEI. +The order of statements is important !!! 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You may copy it, + give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project + Gutenberg License <a href="#pglicense" class="tei tei-ref">included with this + eBook</a> or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license" class="tei tei-xref">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a></p></div><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">Title: Mary Magdalen + +Author: Edgar Saltus + +Release Date: March 5, 2010 [Ebook #31510] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY MAGDALEN*** +</pre></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + </div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb" style="text-align: center"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + By Mr. Saltus + </p> + + <table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem" style="text-align: center"><th class="tei tei-label" style="text-align: center"></th><td class="tei tei-item" style="text-align: center">HISTORIA AMORIS</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem" style="text-align: center"><th class="tei tei-label" style="text-align: center"></th><td class="tei tei-item" style="text-align: center">THE POMPS OF SATAN</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem" style="text-align: center"><th class="tei tei-label" style="text-align: center"></th><td class="tei tei-item" style="text-align: center">IMPERIAL PURPLE</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem" style="text-align: center"><th class="tei tei-label" style="text-align: center"></th><td class="tei tei-item" style="text-align: center">THE ANATOMY OF NEGATION</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem" style="text-align: center"><th class="tei tei-label" style="text-align: center"></th><td class="tei tei-item" style="text-align: center">VANITY SQUARE</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem" style="text-align: center"><th class="tei tei-label" style="text-align: center"></th><td class="tei tei-item" style="text-align: center">THE PERFUME OF EROS</td></tr></tbody></table> + + </div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-titlePage" style="text-align: center"> + <div class="tei tei-pb" style="text-align: center"></div> + + <span class="tei tei-docTitle" style="text-align: center"><span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">MARY MAGDALEN</span></span></span> + <br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 144%; font-style: italic">A Chronicle</span></span></span> + </span> + + <div class="tei tei-byline" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-style: italic">By</span></span> + <br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-docAuthor" style="text-align: center"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">EDGAR SALTUS</span></span></span> + </div> + <br /><br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-docImprint" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 4.00em"> + NEW YORK<br /> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">BRENTANO’S</span></span><br /> + <span class="tei tei-docDate" style="text-align: center">MCMXIX</span> + </span> + + </div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-variant: small-caps">Copyright, 1891, + </span><br /><span style="font-size: 90%; font-variant: small-caps">By EDGAR SALTUS.</span></span></p> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Contents</span></h1> +<ul class="tei tei-index tei-index-toc"><li><a href="#toc1">CHAPTER I.</a></li><li><a href="#toc3">CHAPTER II.</a></li><li><a href="#toc5">CHAPTER III.</a></li><li><a href="#toc7">CHAPTER IV.</a></li><li><a href="#toc9">CHAPTER V.</a></li><li><a href="#toc11">CHAPTER VI.</a></li><li><a href="#toc13">CHAPTER VII.</a></li><li><a href="#toc15">CHAPTER VIII.</a></li><li><a href="#toc17">CHAPTER IX.</a></li><li><a href="#toc19">CHAPTER X.</a></li><li><a href="#toc21">Transcriber’s note</a></li></ul> + +</div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">MARY MAGDALEN</span></span> + </p> + + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + </div> +</div> +<div lang="en" class="tei tei-body" style="margin-bottom: 6.00em; margin-top: 6.00em" xml:lang="en"><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page17">[pg 17]</span><a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc1" id="toc1"></a><a name="pdf2" id="pdf2"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER I.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page19">[pg 19]</span><a name="Pg019" id="Pg019" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">I.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Three to one on Scarlet!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Throughout the brand-new circus were +the eagerness, the gesticulations, shouts, +and murmurs of an impatient throng. On +a ledge above the entrance a man stood, +a strip of silk extended in his finger-tips. +Beneath, on either side, were gates. +About him were series of ascending tiers, +close-packed, and brilliant with multicolored +robes and parasols. The sand of +the track was very white: where the sunlight +fell it had the glitter of broken +glass. In the centre was a low wall; at +one end were pillars and seven great +balls of wood; at the other, seven dolphins, +their tails in the air. The uproar +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page20">[pg 20]</span><a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>mounted in unequal vibrations, and +stirred the pulse. The air was heavy +with odors, with the emanations of the +crowd, the cloy of myrrh. Through the +exits whiffs of garlic filtered from the +kitchens below, and with them, from the +exterior arcades, came the beat of timbrels, +the click of castanets. Overhead +was a sky of troubled blue; beyond, a +lake. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“They are off!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The strip of silk had fluttered and +fallen, the gates flew open, there was a +rumble of wheels, a whirlwind of sand, +a yell that deafened, and four tornadoes +burst upon the track. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +They were shell-shaped, and before +each six horses tore abreast. Between +the horses’ ears were swaying feathers; +their manes had been dyed clear pink, +the forelocks puffed; and as they bounded, +the drivers, standing upright, had the +skill to guide but not the strength to +curb. About their waists the reins were +tied; at the side a knife hung; from the +forehead the hair was shaven; and +every<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page21">[pg 21]</span><a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>thing they wore, the waistcoat, the short +skirt, the ribbons, was of one color, scarlet, +yellow, emerald, or blue: and this +color, repeated on the car and on the +harness, distinguished them from those +with whom they raced. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Already the cars had circled the hippodrome +four times. There were but three +more rounds, and Scarlet, which in the +beginning had trailed applause behind +it as a torch trails smoke, lagged now +a little to the rear. Green was leading. +Its leadership did not seem to please; it +was cursed at and abused, threatened +with naked fist; yet when for the sixth +time it turned the terminal pillar, a shout +that held the thunder of Atlas leaped +abroad. Where the yellow car, pursued +by the blue, had been, was now a mass of +sickening agitation—twelve fallen horses +kicking each other into pulp, the drivers +brained already; and down upon that +barrier of blood and death swept the +scarlet car. In a second it veered and +passed; in that second a flash of steel +had out the reins, and, as the car swung +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page22">[pg 22]</span><a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>round, the driver, released, was tossed to +the track. What then befell him no one +cared. Stable-men were busy there; the +car itself, unguided, continued vertiginously +on its course. If it had lagged +before, there was no lagging now. The +hoofs that beat upon the ring plunged +with it through the din down upon Emerald, +and beyond it to the goal. And as +the last dolphin vanished and the seventh +ball was removed, the palm was granted, +and the spectators shouted a salutation +to the giver of the games—Herod Antipas, +tetrarch of Galilee. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He was superb, this Antipas. His +beard was like a lady’s fan. On his +cheeks was a touch of alkanet; his hair, +powdered blue, was encircled by a diadem +set with gems. About his shoulders was +a mantle that had a broad purple border; +beneath it was a tunic of yellow silk. +Between the railing of the tribune in +which he sat one foot was visible, shod +with badger’s skin, dyed blood-red. He +was superb, but his eyelids drooped. He +had a straight nose and a retreating +fore<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page23">[pg 23]</span><a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>head, a physiognomy that was at once +weak and vicious. He looked melancholy; +it may be that he was bored. +At the salutation, however, he affected a +smile, and motioned that the games +should continue. And as the signals, the +dolphins and the seven balls, appeared +again, his thoughts, forsaking the circus, +went back to Rome. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Insecure in the hearts of his people, +uncertain even of the continued favor of +the volatile monster who was lounging +then in his Caprian retreat, it was with +the idea of pleasing the one, of flattering +the other, that he had instituted the +games. For here in his brand-new Tiberias, +a city which he had built in a +minute, whose colonnades and porticoes +he had bought ready-made in Rome, and +had erected by means of that magic which +only the Romans possessed—in this capital +of a parvenu was a mongrel rabble of +Greeks, Cypriotes, Egyptians, Cappadocians, +Syrians, and Jews, whose temper +was uncertain, and whose rebellion to be +feared. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page24">[pg 24]</span><a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Annonâ et spectaculis</span></span> indeed! Antipas +knew the dictum well; and with an uprising +in the yonderland, and a sedition +under his feet, what more could he do +than quell the first with his mercenaries, +and disarm the second with his games? +Tiberius, whom he emulated, never +deigned to appear at the hippodrome; +it was a way he had of showing his contempt +for a nation. Antipas might have +imitated his sovereign in that, only he +was not sure that Tiberius would take +the compliment as it was meant. He +might view such abstention as the airs +of a trumpery tetrarch, and depose him +there and then. He was irascible, and +when displeased there were dungeons at +his command which reopened with difficulty, +and where existence was not secure. +Ah, that sausage of blood and mud, how +he feared and envied him! An emperor +now, a god hereafter, truly the dominion +of this world and a part of the next was +a matter concerning which fear and envy +well might be. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And as Antipas’ vagabond fancy roamed +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page25">[pg 25]</span><a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in and out through the possibilities of +the Caesar’s sway, unconsciously he +thought of another monster, the son of +a priest of Ascalon, who had defied the +Sanhedrim, won Cleopatra, murdered the +woman he loved the most, conquered +Judæa and found it too small for his +magnificence—of that Herod in fact, his +own father, who gave to Jerusalem her +masterpiece of marble and gold, and +meanwhile, drunk with the dream of empire, +had made himself successor of +Solomon, Sultan of Israel, King of the +Jews, and who, even as he died, had +vomited death and crowns, diadems and +crucifixions. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was through his legacy that Antipas +ruled. The kingdom had been sliced into +three parts, of one of which Augustus +had made a province; over another a +brother whom he hated ruled; and he +had but this third part, the smallest yet +surely the most fair. Its unparalleled +garden surrounded him, and its eye, the +lake, was just beyond. In the amphitheatre +the hills formed was a city of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page26">[pg 26]</span><a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>pink and blue marble, of cupolas, porticoes, +volutes, bronze doors, and copper +roofs. Along the fringe of the shore were +Choraizin and Bethsaïda, purple with +pomegranates, Capharnahum, beloved for +its honey, and Magdala, scented with +spice. The slopes and intervales were +very green where they were not yellow, +and there were terraces of grape, glittering +cliffs, and a sky of troubled blue, +wadded with little gold-edged clouds. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Yes, it was paradise, but it was not +monarchy. It was to that he aspired. As +he mused, a rancid-faced woman decked +with paint and ostrich-plumes snarled in +his ear: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“What have you heard of Iohanan?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And as with a gesture he signified +that he had heard nothing, she snarled +again. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas turned to her reflectively, but +it was of another that he thought—the +brown-eyed bride that Arabia had given +him, the lithe-limbed princess of the +desert whose heart had beaten on his +own, whom he had loved with all the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page27">[pg 27]</span><a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>strength of youth and weakness, and +whom he had deserted while at Rome +for his brother’s wife, his own niece, +Herodias, who snarled at his side. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Behind her were her women, and +among them was one who, as the cars +swept by, turned her head with that +movement a flower has which a breeze +has stirred. Her eyes were sultry, darkened +with stibium; on her cheek was the +pink of the sea-shell, and her lips made +one vermilion rhyme. The face was +oval and rather small; and though it was +beautiful as victory, the wonder of her +eyes, which looked the haunts of hope +fulfilled, the wonder of her mouth, which +seemed to promise more than any mortal +mouth could give, were forgotten in her +hair, which was not orange nor flame, +but a blending of both. And now, as the +cars passed, her thin nostrils quivered, +her hand rose as a bird does and fluttered +with delight. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On the adjacent tiers were Greeks, +fat-calved Cypriotes, Cappadocians with +flowers painted on their skin, red +Egypt<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page28">[pg 28]</span><a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ians, Thracian mercenaries, Galilean +fishermen, and a group of Lydians in +women’s clothes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On the tier just beyond was a man +gazing wistfully at the woman that sat +behind Herodias. He was tall and sinewy, +handsome with the comeliness of the East. +His beard was full, unmarred at the +corners; his name was Judas. Now and +then he moistened his under lip, and a +Thracian who sat at his side heard him +murmur <span class="tei tei-q">“Mary”</span> and some words of +Syro-Chaldaic which the Thracian did +not understand. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To him Mary paid no attention. She +had turned from the track. An officer +had entered the tetrarch’s tribune and +addressed the prince. Antipas started; +Herodias colored through her paint. The +latter evidently was pleased. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Iohanan!”</span> she exclaimed. <span class="tei tei-q">“To +Machærus with him! You may believe +in fate and mathematics; I believe in +the axe.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And questioningly Herodias looked at +her husband, who avoided her look, yet +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page29">[pg 29]</span><a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>signified his assent to the command she +had given. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The din continued. From the tier beyond, +Judas still gazed into the perils of +Mary’s eyes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Dear God,”</span> he muttered, in answer +to an anterior thought, <span class="tei tei-q">“it would be the +birthday of my life.”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page30">[pg 30]</span><a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page31">[pg 31]</span><a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc3" id="toc3"></a><a name="pdf4" id="pdf4"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER II.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg032" id="Pg032" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page33">[pg 33]</span><a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">II.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“O Prophet Iohanan, how fair you +are!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Iohanan was hideous. His ankles were +in stocks, a chain about his waist was +looped in a ring that hung from the wall. +About his body were tattered furs, his +hair was tangled, the face drawn and +yellow. Vermin were visible on his person. +His lips twitched, and his gums, +discolored, were as those of a camel that +has journeyed too far. A tooth projected, +green as a fresh almond is; the chin projected +too, and from it on one side a rill +of saliva dripped upon the naked breast. +On the terrace he was a blur, a nightmare +in a garden. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah, how fair!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Tantalizing as temptation, Mary stood +just beyond his reach. Her eyes were +full of compliments, her body was bent, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page34">[pg 34]</span><a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and, the folds of her gown held back, +she swayed a little, in the attitude of one +cajoling a tiger. She was quite at home +and at her ease, and yet prepared for instant +flight. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Iohanan, or John—surnamed, because +of practices of his, the Baptist—beckoned +her to approach. In his eyes was +the innocence that oxen have. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“My body is chained, but my soul is +free!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary made a pirouette, and through +the terrace of the citadel the rattles on +her ankles rang. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was appalling, this citadel; it dominated +the entire land. Perched on a +peak of basalt, it overhung an abyss in +which Asphalitis, the Bitter Sea, lay, a +stretch of sapphire to the sun. In the +distance were the heights of Abraham, +the crests of Gilead. Before it was the +infinite, behind it the desert. At its base +a hamlet crouched, and a path hewn in +the rock crawled in zigzags to its gates. +Irregular walls surrounded it, in some +places a hundred cubits high, and in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page35">[pg 35]</span><a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>each of the many angles was a turret. +Seen from below it was a threat in stone, +but within was a caress, one of those +rapturous palaces that only the Orientals +build. It was called Machærus. Peopled +with slaves and legends, it was a +haunt of ghosts and fierce delights. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And now as Mary tripped before the +prophet the walls alone repelled. The +terrace was a garden in which were lilies +and sentries. For entrance there was a +portal of red porphyry, above which was +a balcony hemmed by a balustrade of +yellow Numidian stone. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Against it Antipas leaned. He had +been eyeing the desert in tremulous surmise. +The day before, he had caught +the glitter of lances, therewith spirals of +distant smoke, and he had become fearful +lest Aretas, that king of Arabia Petræa +whose daughter he had deserted, +might be meditating attack. But now +there was nothing, at most a triangular +mass speeding westwards, of which only +the edges moved, and which he knew to +be a flight of cranes. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page36">[pg 36]</span><a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He took heart again and gazed in the +valley below. It was the anniversary of +his birth. To celebrate it he had invited +the stewards of his lands, the notables of +Galilee, the elect of Jerusalem, the procurator +of Judæa, the emir of Tadmor, +mountaineers and Pharisees, Scribes and +herdsmen. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But in the valley only a few shepherds +were visible. Along the ramparts soldiers +paced. At the further end of the +terrace a group of domestics was busy +with hampers and luggage. The day was +solemnly still, exquisitely clear; and between +two hills came a glare of gold projected +from the Temple of Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Through the silence rang the tinkle of +the rattles that Mary wore. The prophet +was beckoning her. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And Martha?”</span> the tetrarch heard him +ask. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The pirouette ceased awkwardly. +Mary’s eyes <a name="corr036" id="corr036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-corr">forgot</span> their compliments. +<span class="tei tei-corr">Her</span> brows contracted, and, as though +perplexed, she held her head a little to +one side. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page37">[pg 37]</span><a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There,”</span> he added, <span class="tei tei-q">“there, I know you +well. It was at Bethany I saw you first. +Yes, yes, I remember perfectly; you were +leaving, and Martha was in tears. Only +a little since I had speech with her. She +spoke of you; she knew you were called +the Magdalen. No,”</span> he continued, for +Mary had shrunk back, <span class="tei tei-q">“no, I will not +curse. There is another by whom you +will be blessed.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“I am going to Rome. +Tiberius will give me a palace. I shall +sleep on the down the Teutons bring. I +shall drink pearls dissolved in falernian. +I shall sup on peacocks’ tongues.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No, Mary, Rome you will never see. +The Eternal has you in His charge. Your +shame will be washed away.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Shame to you,”</span> she interrupted. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Shame and starvation too.”</span> She made +as though she were about to pirouette +again. <span class="tei tei-q">“Whom are you talking of?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“One whose shoes I am unworthy to +bear.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +For a moment he seemed to meditate; +then, with the melancholy of one +renounce<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page38">[pg 38]</span><a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ing some immense ambition, he murmured, +half to himself, half to the sky, <span class="tei tei-q">“For him +to increase I must diminish.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“As for that, you are not much to look +at now. I must go. I must braid my +hair; the emir’s eyes are eager.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mary,”</span> he hissed, and the sudden asperity +of his voice coerced her as a bit +might do, <span class="tei tei-q">“you will go to Capharnahum, +you will seek him, you will say Iohanan +is descended into the tombs to announce +the Son of David.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Through the lateral entrance to the +terrace a number of guests had entered. +From the balcony above, Antipas leaned +and listened. Some one touched him; +it was Herodias. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The procurator is coming,”</span> she announced. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You should be at the gate.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He seemed indifferent. What Iohanan +had said concerning the Son of David +stirred him like the point of <a name="corr038" id="corr038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-corr">a</span> sword. He +felt that there could be no such person; +his father had put a stop to all that. And +yet, if there were! +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page39">[pg 39]</span><a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +His indifference surprised Herodias. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“What are you staring at?”</span> she asked; +and to assure herself she looked over +the balustrade. <span class="tei tei-q">“That carrion? You +should——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Her hand drawn across her throat +completed the sentence. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The tetrarch shook his head. There +was no hurry. Then, too, the prophet +was useful. He reviled Jerusalem, and +that flattered Galilee. But there was +another reason, which he kept to himself. +Iohanan affected him as no one +had done before. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He feared him, chained though he was, +and into that fear something akin to +admiration entered. In his heart he +wished he had let him alone. No, there +was no hurry. As he assured her of that +the prophet looked up. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Jezebel!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The guests approached. Their number +had increased. There were Greek +merchants from Hippos and Sepphoris, +Pharisees from Jericho, and Scribes from +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page40">[pg 40]</span><a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Jerusalem. Herodias clapped her hands. +A negro, naked to the waist, appeared. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Take him below.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But the guests surrounded Iohanan. +The Pharisees recognized him at once. +He was the terror of the hierarchs. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As he cried out at Herodias he seemed +as though he would rise and wrench his +bonds and mount to where she was. His +eyes had lost their pathos; they blazed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Woe unto you!”</span> he shouted, <span class="tei tei-q">“and +woe unto your barren bed! Though you +hid in the bowels of the earth, in the +uttermost depths of a jungle, the stench +of your incest would betray you. Woe +unto you, I say; the swine will turn +from you, the Eternal will rend you, and +the heart of hell will vomit you back!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Herodias shook with anger. She was +livid. Murmurs circulated through the +increasing throng. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Pharisees edged nearer. On their +foreheads were slips of vellum on which +passages of the Law had been inscribed. +About their left arms other slips extended +spiralwise from the elbow to the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page41">[pg 41]</span><a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>end of the third finger. They were in +white; where their garments had become +soiled, the spots had been chalked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To them the prophet showed his teeth. +<span class="tei tei-q">“And woe unto you too, race of vipers, +bladders of wind! As the fire devours +the stubble, and the flame consumes the +chaff, so your root will be rottenness +and your seed go up as dust. Fear will +engulf you like a torrent. The high +peaks will be broken, the mountains will +sever, and night be upon all. The valleys +and hills will be strewn with your +corpses, the rocks will run with your +blood, the plain will drink it, and the +vultures feast on your flesh. Woe unto +you all, I say, that call good evil, and +evil good!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The invective continued. It enveloped +the world. Everything was to be destroyed. +Presently it subsided; the voice +of the prophet sank lower; his eyes +sought the sky, the pupils dilated; and +the dream of his nation, the triumphant +future, the sanctification of the faithful, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page42">[pg 42]</span><a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the magnificence that was to be, poured +rapturously from his lips. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The whole land will glow with glory. +The sky will be a rose in bloom. The +meadows will rejoice, and the earth will +be filled with men and maidens singing +and kneeling to Thee, Immanuel, whom +I await.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The vision would have expanded, perhaps, +but the chain that bound him was +loosed, sinewy arms were dragging him +away. As he went, he glared up again at +Herodias. His face had lost its beatitude. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You will be stripped of your purple, +Jezebel; your diadem will be trodden +under foot. The pains of a woman in +travail will be as joys unto yours. There +will be not enough stones to throw at +you, and the abomination of your lust +will bellow, Accursed, even beyond the +tomb.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The anathema fainted in the distance. +The Scribes consulted between their +teeth. By the Pharisees Antipas was +blamed. A merchant from Hippos did +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page43">[pg 43]</span><a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>not understand, and the Law was explained. +That a man should marry his +brother’s wife was a duty, only in this instance +it had not occurred to the brother +to die beforehand. Then, again, by her +first husband Herodias had a child, and +in that was the abomination. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The merchant did not wholly grasp the +distinction, but he nodded as though he +had. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There was a child, was there?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A captain of the garrison answered: +<span class="tei tei-q">“A girl, Salomè.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He said nothing further, but the merchant +could see that his mouth watered +at the thought of her. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The crowd had become very dense. +Suddenly a trumpet blared. At the +gate was Pontius Pilate. On his head +was a high and dazzling helmet. His tunic +was short, open at the neck. His legs +were bare. He was shod with shoes that +left the toes exposed. From his cuirass +a gorgon’s head had, in deference to local +prejudice, been effaced; in its stead were +scrolls and thunderbolts. From the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page44">[pg 44]</span><a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>belt rows of straps, embroidered and +fringed, fell nearly to the knee. He held +his head in the air. His features were +excellent, and his beard hung in rows of +short overlapping curls. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Behind him was his body-guard. Before +him Antipas stood, welcoming the +Roman in Greek. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the sky now were the advancing +steps of night; in crevices of the basalt +the leaves of the baaras weed had begun +to flicker. It was time for the festival to +begin; and, preceding the guests, Antipas +passed into a hall beyond. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was oblong, curved at the ends, and +so vast that the roof was vague. On the +walls were slabs of different colors, marble +spotted like the skin of serpents, and +onyx flecked with violet. On two sides +were galleries supported by columns of +sandstone. A third gallery formed a +semicircle. Opposite, at the further end, +on a dais, was the table of the tetrarch. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas faced the assemblage. At his +left was the procurator, at his right the +emir of Tadmor. Curtains were looped +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page45">[pg 45]</span><a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>on either side. Above were panels; they +separated, and flowers fell. On a little stool +next to the couch on which the emir lay +was a beautiful boy with curly hair. +The couch of the procurator was covered +with a dim Babylonian shawl. That of +the tetrarch was of ivory incrusted with +gold. All three were cushioned. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As the guests entered they were sprinkled +with perfume. Throughout the +length of the hall other tables extended, +and at these they found seats and food: +Syrian radishes, melons from the oases +near the Oxus, white olives from Bethany, +honey from Capharnahum, and the +little onions of Ascalon. There were candelabra +everywhere, liquids cooled with +snow, cheeses big as millstones, chunks +of fat in wooden bowls, and behind the +tables, slaves with copper platters. On +the platters were quarters of red beef, +breams swimming in grease, and sunbirds +with their plumage on. In the semicircular +gallery musicians played, three +notes, constantly repeated. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The tetrarch’s table was spread with a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page46">[pg 46]</span><a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>cloth of byssus striped with Laconian +green. On it were jars of murrha filled +with balsam, Sidonian goblets of colored +glass, jasper amphoræ, and water-melons +from Egypt. Before the procurator was +a dish of oysters, lampreys, and boned +barbels, mixed well together, flavored +with cinnamon and assafœtida; mashed +grasshoppers baked in saffron; and a +roasted boar, the legs curled inward, the +eyes half-closed. The emir ate abundantly +of heron’s eggs whipped with wine +into an amber foam. When his fingers +were soiled, he wiped them in the +curls of the beautiful boy who sat near +by. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The smell of food filled the hall, +mounted to the <a name="corr046" id="corr046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-corr">roof.</span> The atmosphere +was that of a bath, and the wines were +heady. Already discussions had arisen. +A mountaineer and a Galilean skiffsman +had been dragged away, the one senseless, +the other with features indistinguishable +and masked in blood. It was +a great festival, and the tetrarch was entertaining, +as only he could, his friends, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page47">[pg 47]</span><a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>his enemies, and whoever chanced that +way. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“As a child he rubbed his body with +the leaves of the cnyza, which is a preservative +of chastity.”</span> It was a little man +with restless eyes and a very long white +beard detailing the virtues of Iohanan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But,”</span> he added, <span class="tei tei-q">“he must have found +cold water better.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +His neighbors laughed. One pounded +the table. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Jeshua—”</span> he began, but everyone was +talking at once. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Jeshua—”</span> he continued; yet, as no +one would listen, he turned to a passing +eunuch and caught him by the arm—<span class="tei tei-q">“Jeshua +does more; he works miracles, +and not with the cnyza either.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The eunuch eluded him and escaped. +However, he would not be balked; he +stood up and, through the din, he shouted +at the little man: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Baba Barbulah, I tell you he is the +Messiah!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +His voice was so loud it dominated the +hubbub, and suddenly the hubbub ceased. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page48">[pg 48]</span><a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From the dais Pontius Pilate listened +indifferently. Antipas held his hands +behind his ears that he might hear the +better. The emir paid no attention at +all. On his head was a conical turban; +about it were loops of sapphire and coils +of pearl. He wore a vest with scant +sleeves that reached to the knuckles, and +trousers that overhung the instep and fell +in wide wrinkles on his feet; both were +of leopard-skin. Over the vest was a +sleeveless tunic, clasped at the shoulders +and girt at the waist. His hair was long, +plentifully oiled; his beard was bushy, +blue-black, and specked with silver. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary had approached. From the lessening +waist to the slender feet her dress +opened at either side. Beneath was a +chemise of transparent Bactrianian tissue. +From girdle to armpits were little +clasps; on her ankles, bands; and above +the elbow, on her bare white arm, two +circlets of emeralds from the mines of +Djebel Zabur. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The emir spoke to her. She listened +with a glimpse of the most beautiful +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page49">[pg 49]</span><a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>teeth in the world. He put out a hand +tentatively and touched her: the tissue of +her garment crackled and emitted sparks. +He raised a goblet to her. The wine it +held was yellower than the marigold. +She brushed it with her lips; he drank it +off, then, refreshed, he looked her up and +down. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In one hand she held a cup of horn, +narrower at the top than at the end; in +it were dice made of the knee-joints of +gazelles, and these she rattled in his +beard. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That beautiful Sultan, will he play?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With an ochre-tipped finger she pointed +at the turban on his head. The eyes of +the emir vacillated. He undid a string +of gems and placed them on the table’s +edge. Mary unclasped a coil of emeralds +and rattled the dice again. She +held the cup high up, then spilled the +contents out. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ashtaroth!”</span> the emir cried. He had +won. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary leaned forward, fawned upon his +breast, and gazed into his face. Her +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page50">[pg 50]</span><a name="Pg050" id="Pg050" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>breath had the fragrance of his own +oasis, her lips were moist as the pomegranate’s +pulp, her teeth as keen as his +own desire. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No, beautiful Sultan, it is I.”</span> With +the back of her hand she disturbed the +dice. <span class="tei tei-q">“I am Ashtaroth, am I not?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Questioningly the emir explored the +unfathomable eyes that gazed into his. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On their surface floated an acquiescence +to the tacit offer of his own. Then +he nodded, and Mary turned and gathered +the jewels from the cloth of byssus +where they lay. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I tell you he is the Messiah!”</span> It +was the angry disputant shouting at the +little man. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Who is? What are you talking +about?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Though the hubbub had ceased, +throughout the hall were the mutterings +of dogs disturbed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Jeshua,”</span> the disputant answered; +<span class="tei tei-q">“Jeshua the Nazarene.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A Pharisee, very vexed, his bonnet +tottering, gnashed back: <span class="tei tei-q">“The Messiah +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page51">[pg 51]</span><a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>will uphold the law; this Nazarene attacks +it.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A Scribe interrupted: <span class="tei tei-q">“Many things +are to distinguish his advent. The light +of the sun will be increased a hundredfold, +the orchards will bear fruit a thousand +times more abundantly. Death will +be forgotten, joy will be universal, Elijah +will return.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But he has!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas started. The Scribe trembled +with rage. But the throng had caught +the name of Elijah, and knew to whom +the disputant referred—a man in tattered +furs whom a few hours before they had +seen dragged away by a negro naked to +the waist, and some one shouted: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Iohanan is Elijah.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Baba Barbulah stood up and turned to +whence the voice had come: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“In the footprints of the Anointed impudence +shall increase, and the face of +the generation shall be as the face of a +dog. It may be,”</span> he added, significantly—<span class="tei tei-q">“it +may be that you speak the truth.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The sarcasm was lost. The musicians +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page52">[pg 52]</span><a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in the gallery, who had been playing +on flute and timbrel, began now on the +psalteron and the native sambuca. Behind +was a row of lute-players; but most +in view was a trignon, an immense Egyptian +harp, at which with nimble fingers a +fair girl plucked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the shadow Herodias leaned. At a +signal from her the musicians attacked +the prelude of a Syrian dance, and in the +midst of the assemblage a figure veiled +from head to foot suddenly appeared. +For a moment it stood very still; then +the veil fell of itself, and from the garrison +a shout went up: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Salomè! Salomè!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Her hair, after an archaic Chanaanite +fashion, was arranged in the form of a +tower. Her high bosom was wound +about with protecting bands. Her waist +was bare. She wore long pink drawers +of silk, and for girdle she had the blue +buds of the lotus, which are symbols of +virginity. She was young and exquisitely +formed. In her face you read strange +records, and on her lips were promises as +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page53">[pg 53]</span><a name="Pg053" id="Pg053" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>rare. Her eyes were tortoise-shell, her +hair was black as guilt. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The prelude had ceased, the movement +quickened. With a gesture of abandonment +the girl threw her head back, and, +her arms extended, she fluttered like a +butterfly on a rose. She ran forward. +The sambuca rang quicker, the harp +quicker yet. She threw herself to one +side, then to the other, her hips swaying +as she moved. The buds at her girdle +fell one by one; she was dancing on +flowers, her hips still swaying, her waist +advancing and retreating to the shiver of +the harp. She was elusive as dream, +subtle as love; she intoxicated and entranced; +and finally, as she threw herself +on her hands, her feet, first in the air +and then slowly descending, touched the +ground, while her body straightened like +a reed, there was a long growl of unsatisfied +content. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +She was kneeling now before the dais. +Pilate compared her to Bathylle, a mime +whom he had applauded at Rome. The +tetrarch was purple; he gnawed his +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page54">[pg 54]</span><a name="Pg054" id="Pg054" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>under lip. For the moment he forgot +everything he should have remembered—the +presence of his guests, the stains +of his household, his wife even, whose +daughter this girl was—and in a gust of +passion he half rose from his couch. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Come to me,”</span> he cried. <span class="tei tei-q">“But come +to me, and ask whatever you will.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Salomè hesitated and pouted, the point +of her tongue protruding between her +lips. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Come to me,”</span> he pleaded; <span class="tei tei-q">“you shall +have slaves and palaces and cities; you +shall have hills and intervales. I will +give you anything; half my kingdom if +you wish.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There was a tinkle of feet; the girl +had gone. In a moment she returned, +and balancing herself on one foot, she +lisped very sweetly: <span class="tei tei-q">“I should like by +and by to have you give me the head of +Iohanan—”</span> she looked about; in the +distance a eunuch was passing, a dish in +his hand, and she added, <span class="tei tei-q">“on a platter.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas jumped as though a hound +under the table had bitten him on the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page55">[pg 55]</span><a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>leg. He turned to the procurator, who +regarded him indifferently, and to the +emir, who was toying with Mary’s agate-nailed +hand. He had given his word, +however; the people had heard. About +his ears the perspiration started; from +purple he had grown very gray. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Salomè still stood, balancing herself +on one foot, the point of her tongue just +visible, while from the gallery beyond, in +whose shadows he divined the instigating +presence of Herodias, came the grave +music of an Hebraic hymn. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“So be it,”</span> he groaned. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The order was given, and a tear +trickled down through the paint and +furrows of his cheek. On the hall a +silence had descended. The guests were +waiting, and the throb of the harp accentuated +the suspense. Presently there +was the clatter of men-at-arms, and a +negro, naked to the waist, appeared, an +axe in one hand, the head of the prophet +in the other. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He presented it deferentially to Antipas, +who motioned it away, his face +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page56">[pg 56]</span><a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>averted. Salomè smiled. She took it, +and then, while she resumed her veil, she +put it down before the emir, who eyed it +with the air of one that has seen many +another object such as that. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But in a moment the veil was adjusted, +and with the trophy the girl disappeared. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The harp meanwhile had ceased to +sob, the guests were departing; already +the procurator had gone. The emir +looked about for Mary, but she also had +departed; and, with the expectation, perhaps, +of finding her without, he too got +up and left the hall. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas was alone. Through the lattice +at his side he could see the baaras +in the basalt emitting its firefly sparks of +flame. From an adjacent corridor came +the discreet click-clack of a sandal, and +in a moment the head of the prophet was +placed on the table at which he lay. The +tetrarch leaned over and gazed into the +unclosed eyes. They were haggard and +dilated, and they seemed to curse. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He put his hand to his face and tried +to think—to forget rather, and not to +re<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page57">[pg 57]</span><a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>member; but his ears were charged with +rustlings that extended indefinitely and +lost themselves in the future; his mind +peopled itself with phantoms of the past. +Perhaps he dozed a little. When he +looked up again the head was no longer +there, and he told himself that Herodias +had thrown it to the swine. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page58">[pg 58]</span><a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page59">[pg 59]</span><a name="Pg059" id="Pg059" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc5" id="toc5"></a><a name="pdf6" id="pdf6"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER III.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page61">[pg 61]</span><a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">III.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the distance the white and yellow +limestone of the mountains rose. Near +by was a laughter of flowers, a tumult of +green. Just beyond, in a border of sedge +and rushes, a lake lay, a mirror to the +sky. In the background were the blue +and white terraces of Magdala, and about +a speaker were clustered a handful of +people, a group of laborers and of fishermen. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He was dressed as a rabbi, but he +looked like a seer. In his face was the +youth of the world, in his eyes the infinite. +As he spoke, his words thrilled and +his presence allured. <span class="tei tei-q">“Repent,”</span> he was +saying; <span class="tei tei-q">“the kingdom of heaven is at +hand.”</span> And as the resplendent prophecy +continued, you would have said that a +bird in his heart had burst into song. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A little to one side, in an attitude of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page62">[pg 62]</span><a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>amused contempt, a few of the tetrarch’s +courtiers stood; they were dressed in the +Roman fashion, and one, Pandera, a captain +of the guard, wore a cuirass that glittered +as he laughed. He was young and +very handsome. He had white teeth, +red lips, a fair skin, a dark beard, and, +as he happened to be stationed in the +provinces, an acquired sneer. Dear old +Rome, how vague it was! And as he jested +with his comrades he thought of its +delights, and wished himself either back +again in the haunts he loved, or else, if +he must be separated from them, then, +instead of vegetating in a tiresome tetrarchy, +he felt that it would be pleasant +to be far off somewhere, where the uncouth +Britons were, a land which it took +a year of adventures to reach; on the +banks of the Betis, whence the girls came +that charmed the lupanars; in Numidia, +where the hunting was good; or in Thrace, +where there was blood in plenty—anywhere, +in fact, save on the borders of the +beautiful lake where he happened to be. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was but the restlessness of youth, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page63">[pg 63]</span><a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>perhaps, that disturbed him so, for in +Galilee there were oafs as awkward as +any that Britannia could show; there was +game in abundance; blood, too, was not +as infrequent as it might have been; and +as for women, there at his side stood one +as appetizing as Rome, Spain even, had +produced. He turned to her now, and +plucked at his dark beard and showed +his white teeth; he had caught a phrase +of the rabbi in which the latter had mentioned +the kingdoms of the earth, and the +phrase amused him. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I like that,”</span> he said. <span class="tei tei-q">“What does +he know about the kingdoms of the +earth? Mary, I wager what you will +that he has never been two leagues from +where he stands. Let’s ask and see.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But Mary did not seem to hear. She +was engrossed in the rabbi, and Pandera +had to tug at her sleeve before she consented +to return to a life in which he +seemingly had a part. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“What do you say?”</span> he asked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary shook her head. She had the +air of one whose mind is elsewhere. Into +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page64">[pg 64]</span><a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>her face a vacancy had come; she seemed +incapable of reply; and as the guardsman +scrutinized her it occurred to him that +she might be on the point of having an +attack of that catalepsy to which he knew +her to be subject. But immediately she +reassured him. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Come, let us go.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And, the guardsman at her side, the +others in her train, she ascended the little +hill on which her castle was, and where +the midday meal awaited. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was a charming residence. Built +quadrangularwise, the court held a fountain +which was serviceable to those that +wished to bathe. The roof was a garden. +The interior façade was of teak +wood, carved and colored; the frontal was +of stone. Seen from the exterior it looked +the fortress of some umbrageous prince, +but in the courtyard reigned the seduction +of a woman in love. From without +it menaced, within it soothed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Her title to it was a matter of doubt. +According to Pandera, who at the mess-table +at Tiberias had boasted his +pos<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page65">[pg 65]</span><a name="Pg065" id="Pg065" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>session of her confidence, it was a heritage +from her father. Others declared +that it had been given her by her earliest +lover, an old man who since had passed +away. Yet, after all, no one cared. She +kept open house; the tetrarch held her +in high esteem; she was attached to the +person of the tetrarch’s wife; only a little +before, the emir of Tadmor had made a +circuitous journey to visit her; Vitellius, +the governor of the province, had stopped +time and again beneath her roof; and—and +here was the point—to see her was +to acquire a new conception of beauty. +Of human flowers she was the most fair. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Yet now, during the meal that followed, +Mary, the toast of the tetrarchy, she +whose wit and brilliance had been echoed +even in Rome, wrapped herself in a mantle +of silence. The guardsman jested in +vain. To the others she paid as much +attention as the sun does to a torch; and +when at last Pandera, annoyed, perhaps, +at her disregard of a quip of his, attempted +to whisper in her ear, she left the +room. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page66">[pg 66]</span><a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The nausea of the hour may have affected +her, for presently, as she threw herself +on her great couch, her thoughts forsook +the present and went back into the +past, her childhood returned, and faces +that she had loved reappeared and smiled. +Her father, for instance, Theudas, who +had been satrap of Syria, and her mother, +Eucharia, a descendant of former +kings. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But of these her memories were slight—they +had died when she was still very +young—and in their place came her sister, +Martha, kind of heart and quick of temper, +obdurate, indulgent, and continually +perplexed; Simon, Martha’s husband, a +Libyan, born in Cyrene, called by many +the Leper because of a former whiteness of +his skin, a whiteness which had long since +vanished, for he was brown as a date; +Eleazer, her brother, younger than herself, +a delicate boy with blue pathetic +eyes; and with them came the delight of +Bethany, that lovely village on the oriental +slope of the Mount of Olives, +where the rich of Jerusalem had their +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page67">[pg 67]</span><a name="Pg067" id="Pg067" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>villas, and where her girlhood had been +passed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From the lattice at which she used to +sit she could see the wide white road +begin its descent to the Jordan, a stretch +of almond trees and oleanders; and just +beyond, in a woody hollow, a little house +in which Sephôrah lived—a woman who +came from no one knew where, and to +whom Martha had forbidden her to speak. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +She could see her still, a gaunt, gray +creature, with projecting cheek-bones, a +skin of brick, and a low, insinuating +voice. The fascination which she had exercised +over her partook both of wonder +and of fear, for it was rumored that she +was a sorceress, and as old as the world. +To Mary, who was then barely nubile, +and inquisitive as only fanciful children +are, she manifested a great affection, enticing +her to her dwelling with little +cakes that were sweet to the tooth and +fabulous tales that stirred the heart: the +story of Stratonice and Combabus, for +instance, which Mary did not in the least +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page68">[pg 68]</span><a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>understand, but which seemed to her intensely +sad. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And then what?”</span> she would ask when +the tale was done; and the woman would +tell her of Ninus and Semiramis, of Sennachereb, +of Sardanapalus, Belsarazzur, +of Dagon, the fish-god of Philistia, by +whom Goliath swore and in whose temple +Samson died, or of Sargon, who, placed +by his mother in an ark of rushes, was +set adrift in the Euphrates, yet, happily +discovered by a water-carrier, afterwards +became a leader of men. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why, that was Moses!”</span> the child +would exclaim. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No, no,”</span> the woman invariably answered, +<span class="tei tei-q">“it was Sargon.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But that which pleasured Mary more +highly even than these tales were the +legends of Hither Asia, the wonderlands +of Babylon, and particularly the story of +the creation, for always the human mind +has wished to read the book of God. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Where did they say the world came +from?”</span> she would ask. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And Sephôrah, drawing a long breath, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page69">[pg 69]</span><a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>would answer: <span class="tei tei-q">“Once all was darkness +and water. In this chaos lived strange +animals, and men with two wings, and +others with four wings and two faces. +Some had the thighs of goats, some had +horns, and some had horses’ feet, or were +formed behind like a horse and in front +like a man; there were bulls with human +faces, and men with the heads of dogs, +and other animals of human shape with +fins like fishes, and fishes like sirens, and +dragons, and creeping things, and serpents, +and fierce creatures, the images of +which are preserved in the temple of Bel.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Over all these ruled the great mother, +Um Uruk. But Bel, whom your people +call Baal, divided the darkness and clove +the woman asunder. Of one part he +made the earth, and of the other the sun, +the moon, the planets. He drew off the +water, apportioned it to the land, and +prepared and arranged the world. The +creatures on it could not endure the light +of day and became extinct.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Now when Bel saw the land fruitful +yet uninhabited, he cut off his head and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page70">[pg 70]</span><a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>made one of the gods mingle the blood +which flowed from it with earth and form +therewith men and animals that could +endure the sun. Presently Chaldæa was +plentifully populated, but the inhabitants +lived like animals, without order or rule. +Then there appeared to them from the +sea a monster of the name of Yan. Its +body was that of a fish, but under its +head another head was attached, and on +its fins were feet, and its voice was that +of a man. Its image is still preserved. +It came at morning, passed the day, and +taught language and science, the harvesting +of seeds and of fruits, the rules for +the boundaries of land, the mode of +building cities and temples, arts and +writing and all that pertains to civilized +life, and for four hundred and thirty-two +thousand years the world went very well.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Then in a dream Bel revealed to +Xisuthrus that there would be a great +storm, and men would be destroyed. He +bade him bury in Sepharvaim, the city of +the sun, all the ancient, mediæval, and +modern records, and build a ship and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page71">[pg 71]</span><a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>embark in it with his kindred and his +nearest friends. He was also to take +food and drink into the ship, and pairs +of all creatures winged and four-footed.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Xisuthrus did as he was bidden, and +from the ends of heaven the storm began +to blow. Bin thundered; Nebo, the Revealer, +came forth; Nergal, the Destroyer, +overthrew; and Adar, the Sublime, +swept in his brightness across the earth. +The storm devoured the nations, it lapped +the sky, turned the land into an ocean, +and destroyed everything that lived. Even +the gods were afraid. They sought refuge +in the heaven of Anu, sovereign of the +upper realms. As hounds draw in their +tails, they seated themselves on their +thrones, and to them Mylitta, the great +goddess, spake: <span class="tei tei-q">‘The world has turned +from me, and ruin I have proclaimed.’</span> +She wept, and the gods on their thrones +wept with her.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“On the seventh day Xisuthrus perceived +that the storm had abated and +that the sea had begun to fall. He sent +out a dove, it returned; next, a swallow, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page72">[pg 72]</span><a name="Pg072" id="Pg072" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>which also returned, but with mud on its +feet; and again, a raven, which saw the +corpses in the water and ate them, and +returned no more. Then the boat was +stayed and settled upon Mount Nasir. +Xisuthrus went out and worshipped the +recovered earth. When his companions +went in search of him he had disappeared, +but his voice called to them saying that +for his piety he had been carried away; +that he was dwelling among the gods; +and that they were to return to Sepharvaim +and dig up the books and give them +to mankind. Which they did, and erected +many cities and temples, and rebuilt +Babylon and Mylitta’s shrine.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is simpler in Genesis,”</span> Mary said, +the first time she heard this marvellous +tale. For to her, as to Martha and Eleazer, +the khazzan, the teacher of the synagogue, +had read from the great square +letters in which the Pentateuch was written +another account of the commingling +of Chaos and of Light. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the mention of the sacred canon, +Sephôrah would smile with that +indul<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page73">[pg 73]</span><a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>gence which wisdom brings, and smooth +her scanty plaits, and draw the back of +her hand across her mouth. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Burned on tiles in the land of the +magi are the records of a million years. +In the unpolluted tombs of Osorapi the +history of life and of time is written on +the cerements of kings. Where the bells +ring at the neck of the camels of Iran +is a stretch of columns on which are inscribed +the words of those that lived in +Paradise. On a wall of the temple of +Bel are the chronicles of creation; in the +palace of Assurbanipal, the narrative of +the flood. It is from these lands and +monuments the Thorah comes; its verses +are made of their memories; it gathered +whatever it found, and overlooked the +essential, immortal life.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And Sephôrah added in a whisper, +<span class="tei tei-q">“For we are descended from gods, and +immortal as they.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The khazzan had disclosed to Mary +no such prospect as that. To him as to +all orthodox expounders of the Law man +was essentially evanescent; he lived his +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page74">[pg 74]</span><a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + little day and disappeared forever. God + alone was immortal, and an immortal being + would be God. The contrary beliefs + of the Egyptians and the Aryans were to + them abominations, and the spiritualistic + doctrine inaugurated by Juda Maccabæus + and accepted by the Pharisees, an + impiety. The Pentateuch had not a word + on the subject. Moses had expressly declared + that secret things belong to the + Lord, and only visible things to man. + The prophets had indeed foretold a terrestrial + immortality, but that immortality + was the immortality of a nation; and the + realization of their prophecy the entire + people awaited. Apart from that there + was only Sheol, a sombre region of the + under-earth, to which the dead descended, + and there remained without consciousness, + abandoned by God. + </p><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-q">“Immortal!”</span> Mary, with great wondering + eyes, would echo. <span class="tei tei-q">“Immortal!”</span> + </p><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; but to become so,”</span> Sephôrah + replied, <span class="tei tei-q">“you must worship at another + shrine.”</span> + </p><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-q">“Where is it?”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page75">[pg 75]</span><a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Sephôrah answered evasively. Mary +would find it in time—when the spring +came, perhaps; and meanwhile she had +a word or two to say of Baal to such effect +even that Mary questioned the khazzan. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“However great the god of the Gentiles +has been imagined,”</span> the khazzan +announced, <span class="tei tei-q">“he is bounded by the earth +and the sky. His feet may touch the +one, his head the other, but of nature he +is a part, and, to the Eternal, nature is not +even a garment, it is a substance He +made, and which He can remould at will. +It is not in nature, it is in light, He is: +in the burning bush in which He revealed +Himself; in the stake at which Isaac +would have died; in the lightning in which +the Law was declared, the column of fire, +the flame of the sacrifices, and the gleaming +throne in which Isaiah saw Him sit—it +is there that He is, and His shadow is +the sun.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Of this Mary repeated the substance +to her friend, and Sephôrah mused. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> she said at last—<span class="tei tei-q">“no, he is not +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page76">[pg 76]</span><a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in light, but in the desert where nature is +absent, and where the world has ceased +to be. The threats of a land that never +smiled are reflected in his face. The +sight of him is death. No, Baal is the +sun-god. His eyes fecundate.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And during the succeeding months +Sephôrah entertained Mary with Assyrian +annals and Egyptian lore. She told +her more of Baal, whose temple was in +Babylon, and of Baaltis, who reigned at +Ascalon. She told her of the women who +wept for Tammuz, and explained the reason +of their tears. She told her of the +union of Ptah, the unbegotten begetter +of the first beginning, and of Neith, +mother of the sun; of the holy incest of +Isis and Osiris; and of Luz, called by the +patriarchs Bethel, the House of God, the +foothold of a straight stairway which +messengers ceaselessly ascended and descended, +and at whose summit the Elohim +sat. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +She told her of these things, of others +as well; and now and then in the telling +of them a fat little man with beady eyes +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page77">[pg 77]</span><a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>would wander in, the smell of garlic +about him, and stare at Mary’s lips. His +name was Pappus; by Sephôrah he was +treated with great respect, and Mary +learned that he was rich and knew that +Sephôrah was poor. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When the Passover had come and gone, +Sephôrah detected that Mary had ceased +to be a child; and of the gods and goddesses +with whose adventures she was +wont to entertain her, gradually she confined +herself to Mylitta; and in describing +the wonderlands which she knew so well, +she spoke now only of Babylon, where +the great tower was, and the gardens that +hung in the air. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was all very marvellous and beautiful, +and Sephôrah described it in fitting +terms. There was the Temple of the Seven +Spheres, where the priests offered incense +to the Houses of the Planets, to the +whole host of heaven, and to Bel, Lord +of the Sky. There was the Home of the +Height, a sheer flight of solid masonry +extending vertiginously, and surmounted +by turrets of copper capped with gold. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page78">[pg 78]</span><a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>In its utmost pinnacle were a sanctuary +and a dazzling couch. There the priests +said that sometimes Bel came and rested. +For the truth of that statement, however, +Sephôrah declined to vouch. She had +never seen him; but the hanging gardens +she had seen, long before they were demolished. +She had walked in them, and +she described their loveliness, and related +that they were erected to pleasure a Persian +princess whose eyes had wearied of +the monotony of the Babylonian plain. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Once when Pappus was present—and +latterly he had been often there—she +passed from the gardens to the grove +where the temple of Mylitta stood. At +the steps of the shrine, she declared, were +white-winged lions, and immense bulls +with human heads. Within were dovecotes +and cisterns, the emblems of fecundity, +and a block of stone which she did +not describe. Without, among the terebinths +and evergreens, were little cabins +and an avenue bordered by cypress trees, +in which men with pointed hats and long +embroidered gowns passed slowly, for +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page79">[pg 79]</span><a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>there the maidens of Babylon sat, chapleted +with cords, burning bran for perfume, +awaiting the will of the first who +should toss a coin in their lap and in +the name of Mylitta invite them to perform +the sacred rite. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That,”</span> said Sephôrah, <span class="tei tei-q">“is the worship +Mylitta exacts.”</span> As she spoke she +drew herself up, her height increased, +an unnatural splendor filled her eyes. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I,”</span> she continued, <span class="tei tei-q">“am her priestess. +I sacrificed at Byblus, but you may sacrifice +here. There is a dovecote, yonder +is a cistern, beyond are the cypress and +the evergreens that she loves. Mary, do +you wish to be immortal? Do you see +the way?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary smiled vaguely, and with the +serenity of one worshipping a divinity +she suffered the fat Jerusalemite to take +her in his arms. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And now as she lay on her great couch +these things returned to her, and subsequent +episodes as well. There had +been the lamentable grief of Martha, the +added pathos in her brother’s eyes. The +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page80">[pg 80]</span><a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>estate of her father had been divided, +and the castle of Magdala had fallen to +her share. Meanwhile she had been at +Jerusalem, and from there she had +journeyed to Antioch, where she had +heard the beasts roar in the arena. +She had looked on blood, on the honey-colored +moon that effaced the stars, +and everywhere she had encountered +love. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Since then her hours had been grooved +in revolving circles of alternating delights, +and delights to which no shadow +of regret had come. To her, youth had +been a chalice of aromatic wine. She +had drained it and found no dregs. +Day had been interwoven with splendors, +and night with the rays of the sun. +Where she passed she conquered; when +she smiled there were slaves ready-made. +There had been hot brawls where she +trod, the gleam of white knives. Men +had killed each other because of her +eyes, and women had wept themselves +to death. For her a priest had gone +mad, and a betrothed had hid herself +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page81">[pg 81]</span><a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in the sea. In Hierapolis the galli had +fancied her Ashtaroth; and at Capri, +where Tiberius lounged, a villa awaited +her will. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Her life had indeed been full, yet that +morning its nausea had mounted to her +heart. At the words of the rabbi the +horizon had expanded, the dream of immortality +returned. It had been forgot +long since and abandoned, but now, for +the first time since her childhood, something +there was which admonished her +that perhaps she still might stroll through +lands where dreams come true. The +path was not wholly clear as yet, and as +in her troubled mind she tried to disentangle +the past from the present the +sun went down behind the castle, the +crouching shadows elongated and possessed +the walls. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +An echo came to her, Repent, and the +prophecy continuing danced in her ears; +yet still the way was obscure. In the +echo she divined merely that the past +must be put from her like a garment +that is stained. The rest was vague. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page82">[pg 82]</span><a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Then suddenly she was back again in +Machærus, and she heard the ringing +words of John. Could this be the Messiah +her nation awaited? was there a +kingdom coming, and immortality too? +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Her thoughts entangled and grew confused. +There was a murmur of harps in +the distance, and she wondered whence +it could come. Some one was speaking; +she tried to rouse herself and listen. +The room was filled with bats that +changed to butterflies. The murmur of +harps continued, and through the wall +before her issued a litter in which a +woman lay. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A circle of slaves surrounded her. +She was pale, and her eyes closed languorously. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am Indolence,”</span> she said. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Sleep is not softer than my couch. +My lightest wish is law to kings. I live +on perfumes; my days are as shadows +on glass. Mary, come with me, and I will +teach you to forget.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +She vanished, and where the litter +had been stood a eunuch. <span class="tei tei-q">“I am Envy,”</span> +he said, and his eyes drooped sullenly. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page83">[pg 83]</span><a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">“I separate those that love; I dismantle +altars and dismember nations. I corrode +and corrupt; I destroy, and I never +rebuild. My joy is malice, and my creed +false-witnessing. Mary, come with me, +and you will learn to hate.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He disappeared, and where his slime +had dripped stood a being with fingers +intertwisted and a back that bent. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +am Greed,”</span> it said. <span class="tei tei-q">“I sap the veins of +youth; I drain the hearts of women; I +bring contention where peace should be. +I make fathers destroy their sons, and +daughters betray their mother. I never +forget, and I never release. I am the +master. Mary, come with me, and you +shall own the world.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The fetor of the presence went, and in +its place came one whose footsteps thundered. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am Anger,”</span> he declared. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +exterminate and rejoice. I batten on +blood. In my heart is suspicion, in my +hand is flame. It is I that am war and +disaster and regret. My breath consumes, +and my voice affrights. Mary, come with +me, and you will learn to quell.”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page84">[pg 84]</span><a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He dissolved, and in the shadows stood +one whose hands were ample, and whose +wide mouth laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“I am Gluttony,”</span> +he announced, and as he spoke his voice +was thick. <span class="tei tei-q">“I fatten and forsake. I offer +satrapies for one new dish. I invite and +alienate, I welcome and repel. It is I +that bring disease and disorders. I am +the harbinger of Death. Mary, come with +me, and you shall taste of Life.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He also disappeared, and two heralds +entered with trumpets on which they +blew, and one exclaimed, <span class="tei tei-q">“Make way for +Assurbanipal, ruler of land and of sea.”</span> +Then, with horsemen riding royally, +Sardanapalus advanced through the fissure +in the wall. On his head a high +and wonderful tiara shone with zebras +that had wings and horns. His hair was +long, and his beard curled in overlapping +rings. His robe dazzled, and the +close sleeves were fastened over his +knuckles with bracelets of precious stones. +In one hand he held a sceptre, in the +other a chart. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I,”</span> he cried—<span class="tei tei-q">“I am Assurbanipal; +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page85">[pg 85]</span><a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the progeny of Assur and of Baaltis, son +of the great king Riduti, whom the +lord of crowns, in days remote prophesying +in his name, raised to the kingdom, +and in the womb of his mother created +to rule. The man of war, the joy of Assur +and of Istar, the royal offspring, am I. +When the gods seated me on the throne +of the father my begetter, Bin poured +down his rain, Hea feasted the people. +My enemies I destroyed, and their gods +glorified me before my camp. The god +of their oracles, whose image no man had +seen, I took, and the goddesses whom +the kings worshipped I dishonored.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He paused and looked proudly about, +then he continued: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That which is in the storehouse of +heaven is kindled, and to the city of cities +my glory flies. The queens above and +below proclaim my glory. I am Glory, +and I am Pride. Mary, come with me, +and you shall disdain the sky.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But Mary gave no sign. The clattering +horses vanished, and two men dressed in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page86">[pg 86]</span><a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>women’s clothes appeared. They bowed +to the ground and chanted: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The holy goddess, our Lady Mylitta, +whose sacrificants we are.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Then came a form so luminous that +Mary hid her face and listened merely. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I,”</span> said a voice—<span class="tei tei-q">“I am Desire. In +Greece I am revered, and there I am +Aphrodite. In Italy I am Venus; in +Egypt, Hathor; in Armenia, Anaitis; in +Persia, Anâhita; Tanit in Carthage; +Baaltis in Byblus; Derceto in Ascalon; +Atargatis in Hierapolis; Bilet in Babylon; +Ashtaroth to the Sidonians; and Aschera +in the glades of Judæa. And everywhere +I am worshipped, and everywhere +I am Love. I bring joy and torture, delight +and pain. I appease and appal. +It is I that create and undo. It is I that +make heaven and people hell. I am the +mistress of the world. Without me time +would cease to be. I am the germ of +stars, the essence of things. I am all +that is, will be, and has been, and my robe +no mortal has raised. I breathe, and nations +are; in my parturitions are planets; +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page87">[pg 87]</span><a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>my home is space. My lips are blissfuller +than any bloom of bliss; my arms +the opening gates of life. The Infinite is +mine. Mary, come with me, and you shall +measure it.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When Mary ventured to look again the +vision had gone. They had all gone now. +She had made no effort to detain them. +They were tempters of which she was +freed, in which she believed, and which +were real to her. The wall through which +they had come and departed was vague +and in the darkness remote, but presently +it dissolved again, and afar in the beckoning +distance was one breathing a soul into +decrepit rites. <span class="tei tei-q">“Come unto me, all ye that +sorrow and are heavy-laden,”</span> she heard +him say; and, as with a great sob of joy +she rose to that gracious summons, night +seized her. When she awoke, a newer +dawn had come. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page88">[pg 88]</span><a name="Pg088" id="Pg088" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page89">[pg 89]</span><a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc7" id="toc7"></a><a name="pdf8" id="pdf8"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER IV.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page91">[pg 91]</span><a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">IV.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the gardens of the palace the tetrarch +mused. The green parasols of the +palms formed an avenue, and down that +avenue now and then he looked. Near +him a Syrian bear, quite tame, with a +sweet face and tufted silver fur, gambolled +prodigiously. Up and down a neighboring +tree two lemurs chased with that +grace and diabolic vivacity which those enchanting +animals alone possess. Ringed-horned +antelopes, the ankles slender as +the stylus, the eyes timid and trustful, +pastured just beyond; and there too a +black-faced ape, irritated perhaps by the +lemurs, turned indignant somersaults, the +tender coloring of his body glistening in +the sun. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is odd that Pahul does not return,”</span> +the tetrarch reflected; and then, it may be +for consolation’s sake, he plunged his face +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page92">[pg 92]</span><a name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>in a jar of wine that had been drained, in +accordance with a recipe of Vitellius, +through cinnamon and calamus, and drank +abundantly. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Long since he had deserted Machærus. +The legends that peopled its corridors +had beset him with a sense of reality +which before they had never possessed. +The leaves of the baaras glittered frenetically +in the basalt, and in their spectral +light a phantom with eyes that cursed +came and went. At night he had drunk, +and in the clear forenoons he paced the +terrace fancying always that there, beyond +in the desert, Aretas prowled like a +wolf. Machærus was unhealthy; men had +gone mad there, others had disappeared +entirely. It was a haunt of echoes, of +memories, of ghosts also, perhaps too of +reproach. And so, with his court, he returned +to his brand-new Tiberias, where +the air was serener, and nature laughed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And yet in the gardens that leaned to +the lake the tranquillity he had anticipated +eluded and declined to be detained. +Rumors that Herodias collected came to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page93">[pg 93]</span><a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>him with the stamp of Rome. One of his +brothers was plotting against him; another, +though in exile, was plotting too. +It was the Herod blood, his wife said; +and, with the intemperance of a woman +whose ambition has been deceived, she +taunted him with his plebeian descent. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Your grandfather was a sweep at Ascalon, +a eunuch at that,”</span> she had remarked; +and the tetrarch, by way of +reply, had been obliged to content himself +by asking how, in that case, he could +have been grandfather at all. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But latterly a new source of inquietude +had come. At Magdala, Capharnahum, +Bethsaïda, there, within the throw of a +stone, was a Nazarene going about inciting +the peasants to revolt. It was very vexatious, +and he told himself that when an +annoyance fades another appears. Life, +it occurred to him, was a brier with renascent +thorns. And now, as he gargled +the wine that left a pink foam on his +lips, even that irritation lapsed in the +perplexing absence of Pahul. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pahul was a butler of his, a Greek +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page94">[pg 94]</span><a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>whom he had picked up one adventurous +night in Rome, who had made himself +useful, whom he had attached to his +household, whom he consulted, and on +whom he relied. Early that day he had +sent him off with instructions to run the +demagogue to earth, to listen, to question +if need were, and to hurry back and report. +But as yet he had not returned. +The day was fading, and on the amphitheatre +which the hills made the sun seemed +to balance itself, the disk blood-red. The +lemurs had tired, perhaps; their yellow +eyes and circled tails had gone; the bear +had been led away; only the multicolored +ape remained, gnawing now with little +plaintive moans at a bit of fruit which he +held suspiciously in his wrinkled hand. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Presently a star appeared and quivered, +then another came, and though overhead +were streaks of pink, and, where the +sun had been, a violence of red and orange, +the east retained its cobalt, night +still was remote—an echo of crotals from +the neighboring faubourg, the cry of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page95">[pg 95]</span><a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>elephants impatient for their fodder, +alone indicating that a day was dead. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the charm of the encroaching twilight +the irritation of the tetrarch waned and +decreased. He lost himself in memories +of the princess who had been his bride, +and he wondered were it possible that, +despite the irrevocable, he was never to +see, to speak, to hold her to him again. +Truly her grievance was unmeasurable, +the more so even that she had not deigned +to utter so much as a reproach. At the +rumor of his treachery she had betaken +herself to the solitudes, where Aretas her +father was king, and had there remained +girt in that unmurmuring silence which +nobility raises as a barrier between outrage +and itself, and which the desert is +alone competent to suggest. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is he!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The tetrarch started so abruptly that +he narrowly missed the jar at his side. +On noiseless sandals Pahul had approached, +and stood before him nodding +his head with an air of assured conviction. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page96">[pg 96]</span><a name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>The ape had fled and a stork stepped +gingerly away. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is he,”</span> the Greek repeated—<span class="tei tei-q">“John +the Baptist.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas plucked at his beard. <span class="tei tei-q">“But +he is dead,”</span> he gasped; <span class="tei tei-q">“I beheaded him. +What nonsense you talk!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is he, I tell you, only grown younger. +I found him in the synagogue.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Where? what synagogue?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pahul made a gesture. <span class="tei tei-q">“At Capharnahum,”</span> +he answered, and gazed in +the tetrarch’s face. He was slight of form +and regular of feature. As a lad he had +crossed bare-handed from Cumæ to Rhegium, +and from there drifted to Rome, +where he started a commerce in Bœtican +girls which had so far prospered that he +bought two vessels to carry the freight. +Unfortunately the vessels met in a storm +and sank. Then he became a hanger-on +of the circus; in idle moments a tout. It +was in the latter capacity that Antipas +met him, and, pleased with his shrewdness +and perfect corruption, had attached him +to his house. This had occurred in years +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page97">[pg 97]</span><a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>previous, and as yet Antipas had found +no cause to regret the trust imposed. He +was a useful braggart, idle, familiar, and +discreet; and he had acquired the dialect +of the country with surprising ease. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There were any number of people,”</span> +Pahul continued. <span class="tei tei-q">“Some said he was +the son of Joseph, the son of——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But he, what did he say? How tiresome +you are!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah!”</span> And Pahul swung his arms. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Who is Mammon?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mammon? Mammon? How do I +know? Plutus, I suppose. What about +him?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And who is Satan?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Satan? Satan is a—He’s a Jew +god. Why? But what do you mean by +asking me questions?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pahul nodded absently. <span class="tei tei-q">“I heard him +say,”</span> he continued, <span class="tei tei-q">“that no man could +serve God and Mammon. At first I +thought he meant you. It was this way. +I got into conversation with a friend of +his, a man named Judas. He told me any +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page98">[pg 98]</span><a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>number of things about him, that he cured +the sick——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Bah! Some Greek physician.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That he walks on the sea——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Nonsense!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That he turns water into wine, feeds +the multitude, raises the dead——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Raises the dead!”</span> And the tetrarch +added in the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sotto voce</span></span> of thought, <span class="tei tei-q">“So +did Elijah.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That he had been in the desert——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“With Aretas?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No; I questioned him on that point. +He had never heard of Aretas, but he said +that in the desert this Satan had come +and offered him—what do you suppose? +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The empire of the earth!</span></span>”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas shook with fright. <span class="tei tei-q">“It must +have been Aretas.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But that he had refused.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Then it is John.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There, you see.”</span> And Pahul dandled +himself with the air of one who is master +of logic. <span class="tei tei-q">“That’s what I said myself. I +said this: <span class="tei tei-q">‘If he can raise the dead, he +can raise himself.’</span> ”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page99">[pg 99]</span><a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> John,”</span> the tetrarch repeated. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am sure of it,”</span> the butler continued. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But he did not say so. Judas didn’t +either. On the contrary, he declared he +was not. He said John was not good +enough to carry his shoes. I saw through +that, though,”</span> and Pahul leered; <span class="tei tei-q">“he knew +whom I was, and he lied to protect his +friend. I of course pretended to believe +him.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Quite right,”</span> said the tetrarch. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I played the fool. H’m, where +was I? Oh, I asked Judas who then +his friend was, but he went over to where +a woman stood; he spoke to her; she +moved away. Some of the others seemed +to reprove him. I would have followed, +but at that moment his friend stood up; +a khazzan offered him a scroll, but he +waved it aside; then some one asked him +a question which I did not catch; another +spoke to him; a third interrupted; he +seemed to be arguing with them. I was +too far away to hear well, and I got nearer; +then I heard him say, <span class="tei tei-q">‘I am the bread of +life.’</span> Now, what did he mean by that?”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span><a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas had no explanation to offer. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Then,”</span> Pahul continued, <span class="tei tei-q">“he said he +had come down from heaven. A man +near me exclaimed, <span class="tei tei-q">‘He is the Messiah;’</span> +but others——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Messiah!”</span> echoed the tetrarch. +For a moment his thoughts stammered, +then at once he was back in the citadel. +On one side was the procurator, on the +other the emir of Tadmor. In front of +him was a drunken rabble, wrangling +Pharisees, and one man dominating the +din with an announcement of the Messiah’s +approach. The murmur of lutes +threaded through it all; and now, as his +thoughts deviated, he wondered could that +announcement have been the truth. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But others,”</span> Pahul continued, <span class="tei tei-q">“objected +loudly. For a little I could not +catch a word. At last they became quieter, +and I heard him repeat that he was the +bread of life, adding, <span class="tei tei-q">‘Your fathers ate +manna and are dead, but this bread a +man may eat of and never die.’</span> At this +there was new contention. A woman +fainted—the one to whom Judas had +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span><a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>spoken. They carried her out. As she +passed I could see her face. It was +Mary of Magdala. Judas held her by +the waist, another her feet.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas drew a hand across his face. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is impossible,”</span> he muttered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Not impossible at all. I saw her as +plainly as I see you. The man next to +me said that the Rabbi had cast from her +seven devils. Moreover, Johanna was +there—yes, yes, the wife of Khuza, your +steward; it was she, I remember now, who +had her by the feet. And there were +others that I recognized, and others that +the man next to me pointed out: Zabdia, +a well-to-do fisherman whom I have +seen time and again, and with him his +sons James and John, and Salomè his +wife. Then, too, there were Simon Barjona +and Andrew his brother. Simon +had his wife with him, his children, and +his mother-in-law. The man next to me +said that the Rabbi called James and +John the Sons of Thunder, and Simon a +stone. There was Mathias the tax-gatherer, +Philip of Bethsaïda, Joseph +Bar<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span><a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>saba, Mary Clopas, Susannah, Nathaniel +of Cana, Thomas, Thaddeus, Aristian the +custom-house officer, Ruth the tax-gatherer’s +wife, mechanics from Scythopolis, +and Scribes from Jerusalem.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The fingers of Antipas’ hand glittered +with jewels. He played with them nervously. +The sky seemed immeasurably +distant. For some little time it had been +hesitating between different shades of +blue, but now it chose a fathomless +indigo; Night unloosed her draperies, +and, with the prodigality of a queen who +reigns only when she falls, flung out upon +them uncounted stars. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pahul continued: <span class="tei tei-q">“And many of them +seemed to be at odds with each other. +They wrangled so that often I could not +distinguish a word. Some of them left +the synagogue. The Rabbi himself must +have been vexed, for in a lull I heard him +say to those who were nearest, <span class="tei tei-q">‘Will you +also go away?’</span> Judas came in at that +moment, and he turned to him: <span class="tei tei-q">‘Have I +not chosen twelve, and is not one of you a +devil?’</span> Judas came forward at once and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span><a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>protested. I could see he was in earnest, +and meant what he said. The man next +told me that he was devoted to the Rabbi. +Then Simon Barjona, in answer to his +question, called out, <span class="tei tei-q">‘To whom should we +go? Thou art Christ, the Son of God.’</span> ”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas had ceased to listen. At the +mention of the Messiah the dream of +Israel had returned, and with it the pageants +of its faith unrolled. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Behind the confines of history, in the +naked desert he saw a bedouin, austere +and grandiose, preparing the tenets of a +nation’s creed; in the remoter past a +shadow in which there was lightning, then +the splendor of that first dawn where the +future opened like a book, and in the +grammar of the Eternal the promise of an +age of gold. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Through the echo of succeeding generations +came the rumor of that initial impulse +which drew the world in its flight. +The bedouin had put the desert behind +him, and stared at another. Where the +sand had been was the sea. As he passed, +the land leapt into life. There were +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span><a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tents and passions, clans not men, an aggregate +of forces in which the unit disappeared. +For chieftain there was Might; +and above, the subjects of impersonal +verbs, the Elohim from whom the thunder +came, the rain, light and darkness, death +and birth, dream too, and nightmare as +well. The clans migrated. Goshen +called. In its heart Chaldæa spoke. The +Elohim vanished, and there was El, the +one great god, and Isra-el, the great +god’s elect. From heights that lost themselves +in immensity the ineffable name, +incommunicable and never to be pronounced, +was seared by forked flames on +a tablet of stone. A nation learned that +El was Jehovah, that they were in his +charge, that he was omnipotent, and that +the world was theirs. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +They had a law, a covenant, a future, +and a god; and as they passed into the +lands of the well-beloved, leaving tombs +and altars to mark their passage, they had +battle-cries that frightened and hymns +that exalted the heart. Above were the +jealous eyes of Jehovah, and beyond +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span><a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was the resplendent to-morrow. They +ravaged the land like hailstones. They +had the whirlwind for ally; the moon was +their servant; and to aid them the sun +stood still. The terror of Sinai gleamed +from their breastplates; men could not +see their faces and live. They encroached +and conquered. They had a home, they +made a capitol, and there on a rock-bound +hill Antipas saw David founding a line of +kings, and Solomon the city of god. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was in their loins the Messiah was; +in them the apex of a nation’s prosperity; +in them glory at its apogee. And across +that tableau of might, of splendor, and +of submission for one second flitted the +silhouette of that dainty princess of +Utopia, the Queen of Sheba, bringing +riddles, romance, and riches to the wise +young king. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +She must have been very beautiful, +Antipas with melancholy retrospection +reflected; and he fancied her more luminous +than the twelve signs of the zodiac, +lounging nonchalantly in a palanquin that +a white elephant with swaying tail +bal<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span><a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>anced on his painted back. And even as +she returned, with a child perhaps, to the +griffons of the fabulous Yemen whence +she came, Antipas noted a speck on the +horizon that grew from minim into +mountain, and obscured the entire sky. +He saw the empire split in twain, and in +the twin halves that formed the perfect +whole, a concussion of armies, brothers +appealing against their kin, the flight of +the Ideal. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Unsummoned before him paraded the +regicides, convulsions, and anarchies that +deified Hatred until Vengeance incarnate +talked Assyrian, and Nebuchadnezzar +loomed above the desert beyond. His +statue filled the perspective. With one +broad hand he overturned Jerusalem; with +another he swept a nation into captivity, +leaving in derision a pigmy for King of +Solitude behind, and, blowing the Jews +into Babylon, there retained them until +it occurred to Cyrus to change the Euphrates’ +course. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +By the light of that legend Antipas saw +an immense hall, illuminated by the seven +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span><a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>branches of countless candelabra, and +filled with revellers celebrating a monarch’s +feast. Beyond, through retreating +columns, were cyclopean arches and towers +whose summits were lost in clouds that +the lightning rent. At the royal table sat +Belsarazzur, laughing mightily at the enterprise +of the Persian king; about him +were the grandees of his court, the flower +of his concubines; at his side were the +sacred vases filled with wine. He raised +one to his lips, and there on the frieze +before him leapt out the flaming letters +of his doom, while to the trumpetings of +heralds Cyrus and his army beat down +the city’s gates. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It passed, and Antipas saw Jerusalem +repeopled, the Temple rebuilt, peace after +exile, the joy of bondage unloosed. For +a moment it lasted—a century or two at +most; and after Alexander, in chasing +kings hither and thither, had passed with +his huntsmen that way, Isis and Osiris +beckoned, and the descendants of the bedouin +belonged to Goshen again, and so remained +until Syria took them, lost them, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span><a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>reconquered them, and might have done +with them utterly had not Juda Maccabæus +flaunted his banner, and the Roman +eagles pounced upon their prey. Once +more the Temple was rebuilt, <a name="corr108" id="corr108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-corr">superber</span> +than ever, and from the throne of David, +Antipas saw the upstart that was his +father rule Judæa. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With him the panorama and the kaleidoscope +of its details abruptly ceased. +But through it all the voices of the +prophets had rung more insistently with +each defeat. The covenant in the wilderness +was unforgetable; in the chained +links of slavery they saw the steps of a +throne, the triumph of truth over error, +peace over war, Israel pontiff and shepherd +of the nations of the world. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The expectation of a liberator who +should free the bonds of a people and +definitively re-create the land of the elect +possessed them utterly; his advent had +been constantly awaited, obstinately proclaimed; +the faith in him was unshakeable. +Palestine was filled with believers +praying the Eternal not to let them die +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span><a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>before the promise was fulfilled; the atmosphere +itself was charged with expectation. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And as the visions rushed through his +mind, Antipas fell to wondering whether +that covenant was as meaningless as he +had thought, or whether by any chance +this rabbi who had been arguing at Capharnahum +could be the usher of Israel’s +hope. If he were, then indeed he might +say good-bye to his tetrarchy, to his +dream of a kingdom as well. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Pahul repeated, <span class="tei tei-q">“the Son of +God!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas had been so far away that now +he started as one does whom the touch of +a hand awakes. To recover himself he +leaned over and plunged his face in the +jar. The wine brought him courage. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He must be suppressed, he decided. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But,”</span> the butler continued, <span class="tei tei-q">“I——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The frontal of the palace was set with +lights. The parasols of the palms had +turned from green to black, the stars +seemed remoter, the sky more dark. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span><a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>From beyond came the call and answer of +the sentinels. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas stood up. A fringe of his tunic +was detained by a rivet of the bench on +which he had sat; he stooped to loose it; +something moist touched his fingers, and +as he moved to the palace the black-faced +ape sprang at his side and nibbled at the +jewels on his hand. +</p> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span><a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc9" id="toc9"></a><a name="pdf10" id="pdf10"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER V.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span><a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">V.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The house of Simon Barlevi was gray, +and in shape an oblong. It had a flat +roof laid with a plaster of lime, about +which was a fretwork of open tiles. Beneath, +for doorway, was a recess, surmounted +by an arch and covered with a +layer of mud. On each side was a room. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the recess, sheltered from the sun +and visited by the breeze, Simon stood. +His garments were white, and where they +were not they had been neatly chalked. +On the border of his skirt and sleeves +were the regulation fringes, and on his +forehead and about his left arm the phylacteries +which Pharisees affect. He was +not pleasant to the eye, but he was virtuous +and a strict observer of the Law. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the room at his left were mats and +painted stools, set in the manner customary +when guests are awaited. For on +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span><a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that day Simon Barlevi was to give a +little feast, to which he had bidden his +friends and also a rabbi whom he had +listened to in the synagogue, and with +whose ideas he did not at all agree. +Save for the mats and stools, and a lamp +of red clay, the room was bare. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In front of the house was a bit of +ground enclosed by a hedge of stones; +and now as Simon stood in the recess a +guest appeared. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Reulah!”</span> he exclaimed, <span class="tei tei-q">“the Lord +be with you.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And Reulah answering, as etiquette required, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Unto you be peace, and to your +house be peace, and unto all you have be +peace,”</span> the two friends clasped hands +raised them as though to kiss them, then +each withdrawing kissed his own hand, +and struck it on his forehead. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Singularly enough, host and guest +looked much alike. Simon had the appearance +of one conscious of and strong +in his own rectitude, while Reulah seemed +humbler and more effaced. Otherwise +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span><a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>there was not a pin to choose between +them. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To Simon’s face had come an expression +of perplexity in which there was +zeal. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I was thinking, Reulah,”</span> he announced, +<span class="tei tei-q">“of the rabbi who is to break +bread with us to-day. His teaching does +not comfort me.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Reulah was unlatching his shoes. <span class="tei tei-q">“Nor +me,”</span> he interjected. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“On questions of purity and impurity +he seems unscrupulously negligent. I +have heard that he is a glutton and a +wine-bibber. I have heard that he despises +the washing of the hands.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Whoso does,”</span> Reulah threw back, +<span class="tei tei-q">“will be rooted out of the world.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Simon nodded; a smile of protracted +amiability hovered in the corners of his +mouth. For a moment he played with +his beard. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I think,”</span> he added, <span class="tei tei-q">“that he will find +here food in plenty, and counsel as well.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Reulah closed his eyes benignly, and +Simon, in a falsetto which he affected +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span><a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>when he desired to impress, continued in +gentle menace: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But I have certain questions to put to +him. Whether water from an unclean +vessel defiles that which is clean. +Whether the flesh of a dead body alone +defiles, or the skin and bones as well. I +want to see how he will answer that. +Then I may ask his opinion on points of +the ritual. Should the incense be lighted +before the high-priest appears or as he +does so. Is or is not the Sabbath broken +by the killing of the Paschal lamb? +Why is it lawful to take tithe of corn and +wine and oil, and not of anise, cummin, +and peppers? In swearing by the Temple, +should one not first swear by the +gold on the Temple? and in swearing by +the altar, should one or should one not +first swear by the sacrifices on it? These +things, since he preaches, he must know. +If he does not——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And Simon looked at his friend as who +should say: What is there wanting in me? +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“If I may be taught another duty I +will observe it,”</span> said Reulah, sweetly. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span><a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At this evidence of meekness Simon +grunted. Two other guests were approaching. +On the edges of their tallîth +were tassels made of four threads which +had been drawn through an eyelet and +doubled to make eight. Seven of these +threads were of equal length, but the +eighth was longer, and, twisted into five +knots, represented the five books of the +Law. The right hand on the left breast, +they saluted their host, and placing in +turn a hand under his beard, they kissed +it. A buzz of inquiries followed, interrupted +by the coming and embracing of +newer guests, the unloosing of sandals, +the washing of feet. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As they assembled, one drew Simon +aside and whispered importantly. Simon’s +eyes dilated, astonishment lifted +him, visibly, like a lash, and his hands +trembled above his head. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Have you heard,”</span> he exclaimed to the +others—<span class="tei tei-q">“have you heard that the Nazarene +whom I invited here, and who pretends +to be a prophet, allowed his followers +to pluck corn on the Sabbath, to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span><a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>thresh it even, and defended and approved +their violation of the Law? Have +you heard it? Is <a name="corr118" id="corr118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-corr">it</span> true?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Reulah quaked as one stricken by +palsy. <span class="tei tei-q">“On the Sabbath!”</span> he moaned. +<span class="tei tei-q">“On the Sabbath! Why, I would not +send a message on Wednesday, lest perchance +it should be delivered on the +Sabbath day. Surely it cannot be.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But on that point the others were certain. +They were all aware of the scandal; +one had been an eye-witness, another had +heard the Nazarene assert that he was +<span class="tei tei-q">“Lord of the Day.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“This is monstrous!”</span> Simon cried. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He declared,”</span> the eye-witness continued, +<span class="tei tei-q">“that the Sabbath was made for +man, and not man for the Sabbath.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is monstrous!”</span> Simon repeated. +<span class="tei tei-q">“The command to do no manner of work +is absolute and emphatic. The killing +of a flea on the Sabbath is as heinous as +the butchering of a bullock. The preservation +of life itself is inhibited. Moses +had the son of Shelomith stoned to death +for gathering sticks on it. Shammai +oc<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span><a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>cupied six days of the week in thinking +how he could best observe it. It is unlawful +to wear a false tooth on the Sabbath, +and if a tooth ache it is unlawful to +rinse the mouth with vinegar.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yet,”</span> objected Reulah, <span class="tei tei-q">“it is lawful +to hold the vinegar in the mouth provided +you swallow it afterward.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +No one paid any attention to him. +Simon’s indignation increased. Of the +thirty-nine Abhôth he quoted twelve; he +showed that the Nazarene had violated +each one of these prohibitions against +labor; he showed, too, that by his subsequent +speech and bearing he had practically +scoffed at the Toldôth, at the +synagogue which had drawn it up as +well. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“If the Sadducees were not in power, +Jerusalem should hear of this. As it +is——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Whatever resolution he may have intended +to express remained unuttered. A +silence fell upon his lips; his guests drew +back. At the step stood the Nazarene, behind +him his treasurer, Judas of Kerioth. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span><a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>For a second only Jesus hesitated. He +stooped, undid his shoes, and moved to +where Simon stood. The latter bowed +constrainedly. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Master,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“we awaited you.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At this his friends retreated into the +little room. Reulah reached the middle +seat of the central mat first and held it, +his nostrils quivering at the envy of the +others. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Preceded by their host, Jesus and +Judas found places near together, and, +the usual ablutions performed, the customary +prayers recited, lay, the upper +part of the body supported by the left +arm, the head raised, the limbs outstretched. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On the stools were dishes of stewed +lentils, milk, and cakes of mashed locusts. +Reulah ate with the tips of his lips, +greedily, like a goat. Judas, too, ate +with an air of hunger. The Master +broke bread absently, his thoughts on +other things. These thoughts Simon interrupted. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Rabbi”</span>—and to his wide mouth came +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page121">[pg 121]</span><a name="Pg121" id="Pg121" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the sneer of one propounding a riddle +already solved—<span class="tei tei-q">“it is not meet, is it, to +thresh on the Sabbath day? Yet since +you permit your followers to do so, how +are we to distinguish between what is +lawful and what is not?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Master raised his eyes. The dawn +was in them, high noon as well. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Show yourself a tried money-changer. +Choose that which is good metal, reject +that which is bad.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Simon blinked as at a sudden light. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But,”</span> he persisted, <span class="tei tei-q">“in seeking to +observe the Law, there is not a jot or +tittle in it that can be rejected.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With an acquiescence that was both +vague and melancholy, Jesus looked the +Pharisee in the face. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Seek those things that are great, and +little things will be added unto you——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He would have said more, perhaps, but +a woman who had entered from the recess +approached circuitously, and kneeling +beside him let a tear, long as a pearl, +fall upon his unsandalled feet. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Judas’ heart bounded; he glared at +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page122">[pg 122]</span><a name="Pg122" id="Pg122" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>her, his eyes dilating like a leopard preparing +to spring. At once he was back +in the circus, gazing into the perils and +the splendors of a woman’s face, telling +himself with reiterated insistence that to +hold her to him would be the birthday +of his life; and here, within reach of his +hand, was she whom in the din of the +chariots he had recognized as the one +woman in all the world, and who for one +moment the day before had lain unconscious +in his arms. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Reulah sat motionless, his mouth +agape, a finger extended. <span class="tei tei-q">“The paramour +of Pandera,”</span> he stammered at last; +and lowering his eyes, he looked at her +covetously from beneath the lids. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Simon, too, sat motionless. There was +rage in his expression, hate even—that +hatred which the beautiful excites in the +base. Time and again he had seen her; +she was a byword with him; from the +height of her residence she looked down +on his mean gray walls; her luxury had +been an insult to his abstinence; and with +that zest which a small nature takes in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span><a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the humiliation of its superior, he determined, +in spite of her manifest abjection, +to humiliate her still more. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“If this man,”</span> he confided to his +neighbor, <span class="tei tei-q">“has in him anything of that +which goes to the making of a prophet, +he will divine what manner of woman +she is. If he does not, I will denounce +them both.”</span> And nourishing his hate he +waited yet a while. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Master seemed depressed. The +great secret which in all the world +he alone possessed may have weighed +with him. But he turned to Mary and +looked at her. As he looked she bent +yet lower. The marvel of her hair was +unconfined; it fell about her in tangling +streams of gold and flame, while on +his feet there fell from her tears such +as no woman ever shed before. In the +era of primitive hospitality the daughters +of kings had not disdained to unlatch +the sandals of their fathers’ guests; but +now, at the feet of Mercy, for the first +time Repentance knelt. And still the +tears continued, unstanched and +unde<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span><a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tained. Grief, something keener still +perhaps, had claimed her as its own. +She bent lower. Then Misery looked up +at Compassion. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Master stretched his hand. For +a moment it rested on her head. She +quivered and clutched at her throat; and +as he withdrew that hand, in which all +panaceas were, from her gown she took a +little box, opened it, and dropping the +contents where the tears had fallen, with +a sudden movement she caught her hair +and poured its lava on his feet. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +An aroma of beckoning oases filled the +small room, passed into the recess, mounted +to the roof, pervaded and penetrated +it, and escaped to the sky above. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And still she wept. Judas no longer +saw her tears, he heard them. They fell +swiftly one after another, like the ripple +of the rain. A sob broke from her, but +in it was something which foretokened +peace, the sob which comes to those who +have conceived a despairing hope, and +suddenly intercept its fulfilment. Her +hands trembled; the little box fell from +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page125">[pg 125]</span><a name="Pg125" id="Pg125" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>her and broke. The noise it made exorcised +the silence. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Master turned to his host. <span class="tei tei-q">“I have +a word to say to you.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Simon stroked his beard and bowed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There was once a man who had two +debtors. One owed him five hundred +pence, the other fifty. Both were poor, +and because of their poverty the debt of +each he forgave.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +For an instant Jesus paused and seemed +to muse; then, with that indulgence which +was to illuminate the world, <span class="tei tei-q">“Tell me, +Simon,”</span> he inquired, <span class="tei tei-q">“which was the +more grateful?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Simon assumed an air of perplexity, +and glanced cunningly from one guest to +another. Presently he laughed outright. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why, the one who owed the most, of +course.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Reulah suppressed a giggle. By the +expression of the others it was patent that +to them also the jest appealed. Only +Judas did not seem to have heard; he sat +bolt upright, fumbling Mary with his +violent eyes. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span><a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Master made a gesture of assent, +and turned to where Mary crouched. She +was staring at him with that look which +the magnetized share with animals. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You see her?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Straightening himself, he leaned on his +elbow and scrutinized his host. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Simon, I am your guest. When I +entered here there was no kiss to greet +me, there was no oil for my head, no water +for my feet. But this woman whom you +despise has not ceased to embrace them. +She has washed them with her tears, +anointed them with nard, and dried them +with her hair. Her sins, it may be, are +many, but, Simon, they are forgiven——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Simon, Reulah, the others, muttered +querulously. To forgive sins was indeed +an attribute which no one, save the Eternal, +could arrogate to himself. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“—for she has loved much.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And turning again to Mary, who still +crouched at his side, he added: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Your sins are forgiven. Go now, and +in peace.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But the fierce surprise of the Pharisees +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span><a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>was not to be shocked into silence. +Reulah showed his teeth; they were +pointed and treacherous as a jackal’s. +Simon loudly asserted disapproval and +wonder too. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am amazed——”</span> he began. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Master checked him: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The beginning of truth is amazement. +Wonder, then, at what you see; for he that +wonders shall reign, and he that reigns +shall rest.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The music of his voice heightened the +beauty of the speech. On Mary it fell +and rested as had the touch of his hand. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Messiah, my Lord!”</span> she cried. <span class="tei tei-q">“In +your breast is the future, in your heart +the confidence of God. Let me but tell +you. There are those that live whose +lives are passed; the tombs do not hold +all of those that are dead. I was dead; +you brought me to life. I had no conscience; +you gave me one, for I was dead,”</span> +she insisted. <span class="tei tei-q">“And yet,”</span> she added, with +a little moan, so human, so sincere, that it +might have stirred a Cæsar, let alone a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span><a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Christ, <span class="tei tei-q">“not wholly dead. No, no, dear +Lord, not wholly dead.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Again her tears gushed forth, profuser +and more abundant than before; her frail +body shook with sobs, her fingers intertwined. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Not wholly dead,”</span> she kept repeating. +<span class="tei tei-q">“No, no, not wholly dead.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Jesus touched his treasurer. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“She is not herself. Lead her away; +see her to her home.”</span> And that the +others might hear, and profit as well, he +added, in a higher key, <span class="tei tei-q">“Deference to a +woman is always due.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And to those words, which were to found +chivalry and banish the boor, Judas led +Mary from the room. +</p> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page129">[pg 129]</span><a name="Pg129" id="Pg129" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc11" id="toc11"></a><a name="pdf12" id="pdf12"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER VI.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span><a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VI.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Are you better?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The road that skirted the lake had +branched to the left, and there an easy +ascent led to the hill beyond. On both +sides were carpets of flowers and of green, +and slender larches that held their arms +and hid the sky. Above, an eagle circled, +and on the lake a sail flapped idly. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I am better,”</span> Mary answered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From her eyes the perils had passed, +but the splendors remained, accentuated +now by vistas visible only to herself. +The antimony, too, with which she darkened +them had gone, and with it the +alkanet she had used on her cheeks. +Her dress was olive, and, contrary to +custom, her head uncovered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You are not strong, perhaps?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As Judas spoke, he thought of the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span><a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>episode in the synagogue, and wished her +again unconscious in his arms. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I have been so weak,”</span> she murmured. +And after a moment she added: <span class="tei tei-q">“I am +tired; let me sit awhile.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The carpet of flowers and of green invited, +and presently Judas dropped at +her side. About his waist a linen girdle +had been wound many times; from it a +bag of lynx-skin hung. The white garments, +the ample turban that he wore, +were those of ordinary life, but in his +bearing was just that evanescent charm +which now and then the Oriental possesses—the +subtlety that subjugates and +does not last. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But you must be strong; we need +your strength.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary turned to him wonderingly. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> he repeated, <span class="tei tei-q">“we need your +strength. Johanna has joined us, as you +know. Susannah too. They do what +they can; but we need others—we need +you.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do you mean——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Something had tapped at her heart, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span><a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>something which was both joy and dread, +and she hesitated, fearing that the possibility +which Judas suggested was unreal, +that she had not heard his words aright. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do you mean that he would let me?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He would love you for it. But then +he loves everyone, yet best, I think, his +enemies.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“They need it most,”</span> Mary answered; +but her thoughts had wandered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And I,”</span> Judas added—<span class="tei tei-q">“I loved you +long ago.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Then he too hesitated, as though uncertain +what next to say, and glanced at +her covertly. She was looking across the +lake, over the country of the Gadarenes, +beyond even that, perhaps, into some +infinite veiled to him. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I remember,”</span> he continued, tentatively, +<span class="tei tei-q">“it was there at Tiberias I saw +you first. You were entering the palace. +I waited. The sentries ordered me off; +one threw a stone. I went to where the +garden is; I thought you might be among +the flowers. The wall was so high I +could not see. The guards drove me +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span><a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>away. I ran up the hill through the +white and red terraces of the grape. +From there I could see the gardens, the +elephants with their ears painted, and +the oxen with the twisted horns. The +wind sung about me like a flute; the +sky was a tent of different hues. Something +within me had sprung into life. It +was love, I knew. It had come before, +yes, often, but never as then. For,”</span> he +added, and the gleam of his eyes was as +a fanfare to the thought he was about to +express, <span class="tei tei-q">“love returns to the heart as +the leaf returns to the tree.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary looked at him vacantly. <span class="tei tei-q">“What +was he saying?”</span> she wondered. From a +sea of grief she seemed to be passing onto +an archipelago of dream. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The next day I loitered in the neighborhood +of the palace. You did not +appear. Toward evening I questioned a +gardener. He said your name was Mary, +but he would tell me nothing else. On +the morrow was the circus. I made sure +you would be there—with the tetrarch, I +thought; and, that I might be near the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span><a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tribune, before the sun had set I was at +the circus gate. There were others that +came and waited, but I was first. I remember +that night as never any since. I +lay outstretched, and watched the moon; +your face was in it: it was a dream, of +course. Yes, the night passed quickly, +but the morning lagged. When the gate +was open, I sprang like a zemer from tier +to tier until I reached the tribune. +There, close by, I sat and waited. At +last you came, and with you new perfumes +and poisons. Did you feel my +eyes? they must have burned into you. +But no, you gave no heed to me. They +told me afterward that Scarlet won three +times. I did not know. I saw but you. +Once merely an abyss in which lightning +was.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Before the last race was done I got +down and tried to be near the exit +through which I knew you must pass. +The guards would not let me. The next +day I made friends with a sentry. He +told me that you were Mirjam of Magdala; +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span><a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that Tiberius wished you at Rome, and +that you had gone with Antipas to his +citadel. In the wine-shops that night +men slunk from me afraid. A week followed +of which I knew nothing, then +chance disentangled its threads. I found +myself in a crowd at the base of a hill; +a prophet was preaching. I had heard +prophets before; they were as torches +in the night: he was the Day. I listened +and forgot you. He called me; I followed. +Until Sunday I had not thought +of you again. But when you appeared in +the synagogue I started; and when you +fainted, when I held you in my arms and +your eyes opened as flowers do, I looked +into them and it all returned. Mary, kiss +me and kill me, but kiss me first.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, he is the Day.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Of the entire speech she had heard +but that. It had entered perhaps into +thoughts of her own with which it was +in unison, and she repeated the phrase +mechanically, as a child might do. But +now as he ceased to speak, perplexed, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span><a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>annoyed too at the inappositeness of her +reply, she came back from the infinite in +which she had roamed, and for a moment +both were silent. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the turning of the road a man appeared. +At the sight of Judas he halted, +then called him excitedly by name. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is Mathias,”</span> Judas muttered, and +got to his feet. The man hurried to +them. He was broad of shoulder and of +girth, the jaw lank and earnest. His +eyes were small, and the lids twitched +nervously. He was out of breath, and +his garments were dust-covered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Where is the Master?”</span> he asked; and +at once, without waiting a reply, he added: +<span class="tei tei-q">“I have just seen Johanna. Her husband +told her that the tetrarch is seeking +him; he thinks him John, and would do +him harm. We must go from here.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Judas assented. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, we must all +go. Mary, it may be a penance, but it is +his will.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mathias gazed inquiringly at them +both. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page138">[pg 138]</span><a name="Pg138" id="Pg138" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is his will,”</span> Judas repeated, authoritatively. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary turned away and caught her +forehead in her hands. <span class="tei tei-q">“If this is a +penance,”</span> she murmured, <span class="tei tei-q">“what then are +his rewards?”</span> +</p> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page139">[pg 139]</span><a name="Pg139" id="Pg139" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc13" id="toc13"></a><a name="pdf14" id="pdf14"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER VII.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg140" id="Pg140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page141">[pg 141]</span><a name="Pg141" id="Pg141" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VII.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +On the floor of a little room Mary lay, +her face to the ground. In her ears was +the hideousness of a threat that had +fastened on her abruptly like a cheetah +in the dark. From below came the +sound of banqueting. Beyond was the +Bitter Sea, the stars dancing in its ripples; +and there in the shadow of the evergreens +was the hut in which that Sephôrah +lived to whom long ago Martha had +forbidden her to speak. Through the +lattice came the scent of olive-trees, and +with it the irresistible breath of spring. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In its caress the threat which had +made her its own presently was lifted, +and mingling with other things fused into +them. The kaleidoscope of time and +events which visits those that drown +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page142">[pg 142]</span><a name="Pg142" id="Pg142" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>possessed her, and for a second Mary relived +a year. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There had been the sudden flight from +Magdala, the first days with the Master, +the gorges of the Jordan, the journey to +the coast, the glittering green scales of +that hydra the sea. Then the loiterings +on the banks of the sacred Leontes, the +journey back to Galilee, the momentary +halt at Magdala, the sail past Bethsaïda, +Capharnahum, Chorazin, the fording of +the river, the trip to Cæsarea Philippi, +the snow and gold of Hermon, the visit +to Gennesareth, the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, +and the return to Bethany. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Her recollections intercrossed, scenes +that were trivial ousted others that were +grave; the purple limpets of Sidon, the +shrine of Ashtaroth, the invective at +Bethsaïda, the transfiguration on the +mountain height, the cure of lepers, and +the presence that coerced. Yet through +them all certain things remained immutable, +and of these, primarily her contact +with the Christ. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To her, Jesus was not the Son of man +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page143">[pg 143]</span><a name="Pg143" id="Pg143" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>alone, he was the light of this world, the +usher of the next. When he spoke, there +came to her a sense of frightened joy so +acute that the hypostatical union which +left even the disciples perplexed was by +her realized and understood. She had +the faith of a little child. And on the +hills and through the intervales over +which they journeyed, in the glare of +the eager sun or beneath the wattled +boughs, the emanations of the Divine +filled her with transports so contagious +that they affected even Thomas, who was +skeptical by birth; and when, after the +descent from Hermon, two or three of the +disciples mused together over the spectacle +which they had seen, the rhyme of her +lips parted ineffably. She too had seen +him aureoled with the sun, dazzling as +the snow-fields on the heights. To her +it was ever in that aspect he appeared, +with a radiance so intense even that there +had been moments in which she had +veiled her eyes as from a light that only +eagles could support. To her, marvels +were as natural as the escape of night. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page144">[pg 144]</span><a name="Pg144" id="Pg144" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>At Beth-Seân she had heard him speak +to dumb beasts, and never doubted but +that they answered him. At Dan she +had seen a short-eared hare rush to him +for refuge, and follow him afterwards as +a dog might do. At Kinnereth he had +called to a lark that from a tree-top was +pouring its heart out to the morning, and +the lark had fluttered down and nestled +in his hand. At Gadara he had tamed +wild doves, and a swarm of bees had +stopped and glistened in his hair. At +Cæsarea, when he began to speak, the +thrushes that had been singing ceased; +and when the parables were delivered, +began anew, louder, more jubilant than +before, and continued to sing until he +blessed them, when they mounted in one +long ascending line straight to the zenith +above. At his approach the little gold-bellied +fish of the Leontes had leaped +from the stream. In the suburbs of +Sidon the jackals had fawned at his feet. +The underbrush had parted to let him +pass, and where he passed white roses +came and the tenderness of anemones. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page145">[pg 145]</span><a name="Pg145" id="Pg145" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>At times he seemed to her immaterial as +a shadow in a dream, at others appalling +as the desert; and once when, in prayer, +she entered with him into the intimacy of +the infinite, she caught the shiver of an +invisible harp whose notes seemed to fall +from the night. And as she journeyed, her +love expanded with the horizon. She +loved with a love no woman’s heart has +transcended. In its prodigality and ascending +gammes there was place for +nothing save the Ideal. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The little band meanwhile lived as +strangers on earth. Out of her abundant +means their simple wants were supplied. +She was less a burden than a sustenance; +her faith bridged many a doubtful hour; +and when, as often occurred, they disputed +among themselves concerning their +future rank and precedence, Mary +dreamed of a paradise more pure. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +One evening, near the rushes of Lake +Phiala, where the Jordan leaps anew to +the light, a Greek merchant who had refused +them shelter at Seleucia ambled +that way on an ass, and would have +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page146">[pg 146]</span><a name="Pg146" id="Pg146" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>stopped, perhaps, but one of the band +scoffed him, and he rode on, and disappeared +in the haze of the hills. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Unobserved, the Master had seen and +heard; presently he called them to where +he stood. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Do not think,”</span> he admonished—<span class="tei tei-q">“do +not think that because you imitate the +Pharisees you are perfecting your lives. +They fast, they pray, they weep, and they +mortify the flesh; but to them one thing +is impossible, charity to the failings of +others. Whoso then shall come to you, +be he friend or foe, penitent or thief, receive +him kindly. Aid the helpless, console +the unfortunate, forgive your enemy, +and forget yourselves—that is charity. +Without it the kingdom of heaven is lost +to you. There, there is neither Greek +nor Jew, male nor female; nor can it come +to you until the garment of shame is +trampled under foot, until two are as +one, and the body which is without is as +the soul within.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Thereat, with a gesture of exquisite +in<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page147">[pg 147]</span><a name="Pg147" id="Pg147" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>dulgence, he turned and left them to the +stars. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary had heard, and in the palingenesis +disclosed she saw space wrapped in +a luminous atmosphere, such as she fancied +lay behind the sun. There, instead +of the thrones and diadems of the elect, +was an immutable realm in which there +was neither death nor life, clear ether +merely, charged with beatitudes. And so, +when the disciples disputed among themselves, +Mary dreamed of diaphanous +hours and immaculate days that knew +no night, and in this wise lived until +from the terrace of Jerusalem’s Temple +the Master bade her return to Bethany +and wait him there. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Obedience to that command was bitter +to her. She did not murmur, however. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Rabboni,”</span> she cried, <span class="tei tei-q">“let me but do +your will on earth, and afterwards save +me or destroy me as your pleasure is.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With that she had gone to her sister’s +house, and to the bewildered Martha +poured out her heart anew. There could +be no question of forgiveness now, of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page148">[pg 148]</span><a name="Pg148" id="Pg148" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>penitence even; her sins, such as they +were, had been remitted by one to whom +pardon was an attribute. And this doubtless +Martha understood, for she took her +in her arms unreproachfully and mingled +her tears with hers. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Where all is marvel the marvellous disappears. +To the accounts which Mary +gave of her journeys with the little +band that followed the Master, Martha +listened with an attention which nothing +could distract. With her she sailed +on the lovely lake; with her she visited +cities smothering in the scent of cassia +and of sugar-cane; with her she passed +through glens where panthers prowled, +and bandits crueller than they. With +her eyes she saw the listening multitudes, +with her ears she heard again the +words of divine forgiveness; and, the lulab +and the citron in her hands, she assisted +at the Feast of the Tabernacles, and +watched the vain attempt to charm the +recalcitrant Temple and captivate the +inimical town. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +For in Jerusalem, in place of the +re<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page149">[pg 149]</span><a name="Pg149" id="Pg149" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>assuring confidence of peasants, was the +irritable incredulity of priests; instead +of meadows, courts. Besides, was not this +prophet from Galilee, and what good had +ever come from there? Then, too, he +was not an authorized teacher. He belonged +to no school. The followers of +Hillel, the disciples of Shammai, did not +recognize him. He was merely a fractious +Nazarene trained in the shop of a +carpenter; one who, by repeating that +it was easier for a camel to pass through +a needle’s eye than for a rich man to +enter the kingdom of heaven, flattered +basely the mob of mendicants that surrounded +him. The rabble admired, but +the clergy stood aloof. When he was not +ignored he was disdained. Save the pleb, +no one listened. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Presently he spoke louder. Into the +grave music of the Syro-Chaldaic tongue +he put the mutterings of thunder. Where +he had preached, he upbraided; in place +of exquisite parables came sonorous +threats. He blessed but rarely, sometimes +he cursed. That mosaic, the Law, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page150">[pg 150]</span><a name="Pg150" id="Pg150" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>he treated like a cobweb; and to the arrogant +clergy a rumor filtered that this +vagabond, who had not where to lay his +head, declared his ability to destroy the +Temple, and to rebuild it, in three days, +anew. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A rumor such as that was incredible. +Inquiries were made. The rumor was +substantiated. It was learned that he +healed the sick, cured the blind; that he +was in league, perhaps, with the Pharisees. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Sanhedrim took counsel. They +were Sadducees every one. The Pharisees +were their hereditary foes. Both were +militant, directing men and things as best +they could. The Sadducees held strictly to +the letter of the Law; the Pharisees held +to the Law, and to tradition as well. But +the Sadducees were in power, the Pharisees +were not. The former endeavored +in every way to maintain their authority +over the people; and against that authority, +against the aristocracy, the priesthood, +and the accomplices of foreign dominion, +the Pharisees ceaselessly excited +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page151">[pg 151]</span><a name="Pg151" id="Pg151" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the mob. In their inability to overthrow +the pontificate, they undermined it. With +microscopic attention they examined and +criticised every act of the clergy; and, +with a view of showing the incompetence +of the priests, they affected rigid theories +in regard to ritualistic points. Every +detail of the ceremonial office was watched +by them with eyes that were never pleased. +They asserted that the rolls of the Law +from which the priests read the Pentateuch +were made of impure matter, and, +having handled them, the priests had +become impure as well. The manner in +which the incense was made and offered, +the minutiæ governing the sacrifices, the +legality of hierarchal decisions—on each +and every possible subject they exerted +themselves to show the unworthiness of +the officiants, insinuating even that the +names of the fathers of many of the +priests were not inscribed at Zipporim +in the archives of Jeshana. As a consequence, +many of those whose rights the +Pharisees affected to uphold saw in the +hierarchy little more than a body of men +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page152">[pg 152]</span><a name="Pg152" id="Pg152" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>unworthy to approach the altar, a group +of Herodians who in religion lacked every +requisite for the service of God, and who +in public and in private were bankrupts in +patriotism, morality, and shame. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The possibility, therefore, that this +fractious demagogue had found favor +with the Pharisees was grave. He was +becoming a force. He threatened many +a prerogative. Moreover, Jerusalem had +had enough of agitators. People were +drawn by their promises into the solitudes, +and there incited to revolt. Rome +did not look upon these things leniently. +If they continued, Tiberius was quite capable +of putting Judæa in a yoke which +it would not be easy to carry. Clearly +the Nazarene was seditious, and as such +to be abolished. The difficulty was to +abolish him and yet conciliate the mob. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was then that the Sanhedrim took +counsel. As a result, and with the hope +of entrapping him into some blasphemous +utterance on which a charge would lie, +they sent meek-eyed Scribes to question +him concerning the authority that he +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page153">[pg 153]</span><a name="Pg153" id="Pg153" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>claimed. He routed the meek-eyed +Scribes. Then, fancying that he might +be seduced into some expression which +could be construed as treason, they sent +young and earnest men to learn from him +their duty to Rome. The young and +earnest men returned crestfallen and +abashed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The elders, nonplussed, debated. A +levite suspected that the casuistry and +marvellous cures of the Nazarene must +be due to a knowledge of the incommunicable +name, Shemhammephorash, seared +on stone in the thunders of Sinai, and +which to utter was to summon life or +beckon death. Another had heard that +while in Galilee he was believed to be in +league with Baal-Zebub, Lord of Flies. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To this gossip no attention was paid. +Annas, merely—the old high-priest, +father-in-law of Caiaphas, who officiated +in his stead—laughed to himself. There +was no such stone, there was no such god. +Another idea had been welcomed. A +festival was in progress; there was gayety +in the neighborhood, drinking too; and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page154">[pg 154]</span><a name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>as over a million of pilgrims were herded +together, now and then an offence occurred. +The previous night, for instance, +a woman had been arrested for illicit commerce. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Annas tapped on his chin. He had the +pompous air of a chameleon, the same +long, thin lips, the large, protruding eyes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Take her before the Galilean,”</span> he +said. <span class="tei tei-q">“He claims to be a rabbi; he must +know the Law. If he acquit her, it is +heresy, and for that a charge will lie. +Does he condemn her he is at our mercy, +for he will have alienated the mob.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A smile of perfect understanding passed +like a vagrant breeze across the faces of +the elders, and the levites were ordered +to lead the prisoner to the Christ. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +They found him in the Woman’s Court. +From a lateral chamber a priest, unfit for +other than menial services because of a +carbuncle on his lip, dropped the wood +he was sorting for the altar and gazed +curiously at the advancing throng, in +which the prisoner was. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +She must have been very fair, but now +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page155">[pg 155]</span><a name="Pg155" id="Pg155" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>her features were distorted with anguish, +veiled with shame. The blue robe she +wore was torn, and a sleeve rent to the +shoulder disclosed a bare white arm. +She was a wife, a mother too. Her name +was Ahulah; her husband was a shoemaker. +At the Gannath Gate, where her +home was, were two little children. She +worshipped them, and her husband she +adored. Some hallucination, a tremor of +the flesh, the flush of wine, and there, circled +by a leering crowd, she crouched, her +life disgraced, irrecoverable for evermore. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The charge was made, the usual question +propounded. The Master had +glanced at her but once. He seemed to +be looking afar, beyond the Temple and +its terraces, beyond the horizon itself. +But the accusers were impatient. He bent +forward and with a finger wrote on the +ground. The letters were illegible, perhaps, +yet the symbol of obliteration was +in that dust which the morrow would disperse. +Again he wrote, but the charge +was repeated, louder, more impatiently +than before. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page156">[pg 156]</span><a name="Pg156" id="Pg156" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Jesus straightened himself. With the +weary indulgence of one to whom hearts +are as books, he looked about him, then +to the dome above. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Whoever is without sin among you,”</span> +he declared, <span class="tei tei-q">“may cast the first stone.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When he looked again the crowd had +slunk away. Only Ahulah remained, her +head bowed on her bare white arm. +From the lateral chamber the priest still +peered, the carbuncle glistening on his +lip. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Did none condemn you?”</span> the Master +asked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And as she sobbed merely, he added: +<span class="tei tei-q">“Neither do I condemn you. Go, and +sin no more.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To the elders this was very discomforting. +They had failed to unmask him as +a traitor to God, to Rome even, or yet as +a demagogue defying the Law. They did +not care to question again. He had +worsted them three times. Nor could +they without due cause arrest him, for +there were the Pharisees. Besides, a religious +trial was full of risk, and the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page157">[pg 157]</span><a name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>coöperation of the procurator not readily +to be relied on. It was that coöperation +they needed most, for with it such feeling +as might be aroused would fall on Rome +and not on them. As for Pilate, he could +put a sword in front of what he said. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In their enforced inaction they got +behind that wall of prejudice where they +and their kin feel most secure, and there +waited, prepared at the first opportunity +to invoke the laws of their ancestors, +laws so cumbersome and complex that +the Romans, accustomed to the clearest +pandects, had laughed and left them, +erasing only the right to kill. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At last chance smiled. Into Jerusalem +a rumor filtered that the Nazarene they +hated so had raised the dead, that the +suburbs hailed him as the Messiah, and +that he proclaimed himself the Son of +God. At once the Sanhedrim reassembled. +A political deliverer they might +have welcomed, but in a Messiah they +had little faith. The very fact of his +Messiahship constituted him a claimant +to the Jewish throne, and as such a +pre<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page158">[pg 158]</span><a name="Pg158" id="Pg158" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>tender with whom Pilate could deal. +Moreover—and here was the point—to +claim divinity was to attack the unity of +God. Of impious blasphemy there was +no higher form. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It were better, Annas suggested, that +a man should die than that a nation +should perish—a truism, surely, not to +be gainsaid. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +That night it was decided that Jesus +and Judaism could not live together; a +price was placed upon his head, and to +the blare of four hundred trumpets excommunication +was pronounced. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Of all of these incidents save the +last Mary had been necessarily aware. +In company with Johanna, the wife of +Herod’s steward, Mary, wife of Clopas, +and Salomè, mother of Zebedee’s children, +she had heard him reiterate the burning +words of Jeremiah, and seen him purge +the Temple of its traffickers; she had +heard, too, the esoteric proclamation, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Before Abraham was, I am;”</span> and she +had seen him lash the Sadducees with +invective. She had been present when a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page159">[pg 159]</span><a name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>letter was brought from Abgar Uchomo, +King of Edessa, to Jesus, <span class="tei tei-q">“the good +Redeemer,”</span> in which the potentate prayed +the prophet to come and heal him of a +sickness which he had, offering him a +refuge from the Jews, and quaintly setting +forth the writer’s belief that Jesus was +God or else His Son. She had been +present, also, when the charge was made +against Ahulah, and had comforted that +unfortunate in womanly ways. <span class="tei tei-q">“Surely,”</span> +she had said, <span class="tei tei-q">“if the Master who does +not love you can forgive, how much more +readily must your husband who does!”</span> +Whereupon Ahulah had become her +slave, tending her thereafter with almost +bestial devotion. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +These episodes, one after another, +she related to Martha; to Eleazer, her +brother; to Simon, Martha’s husband; to +anyone that chanced that way. For it +was then that the Master had bade her +go to Bethany. For a little space he +too had forsaken Jerusalem. Now and +then with some of his followers he would +venture in the neighborhood, yet only to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page160">[pg 160]</span><a name="Pg160" id="Pg160" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>be off again through the scorched hollows +of the Ghôr before the sun was up. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +These things it was that paraded before +her as she lay on the floor of the +little room, felled by the hideousness +of a threat that had sprung upon her, +abruptly, like a cheetah in the dark. To +Martha and to the others on one subject +alone had she been silent, and now at the +moment it dominated all else. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From the day on which she joined the +little band to whom the future was to +give half of this world and all of the +next, Judas had been ever at her ear. +As a door that opens and shuts at the +will of a hand, his presence and absence +had barred the vistas or left them clear. +At first he had affected her as a scarabæus +affects the rose. She knew of him, +and that was all. When he spoke, she +thought of other things. And as the +blind remain unawakened by the day, he +never saw that where the wanton had +been the saint had come. To him she +was a book of ivory bound in gold, whose +contents he longed to possess; she was a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page161">[pg 161]</span><a name="Pg161" id="Pg161" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>book, but one from which whole chapters +had been torn, the preface destroyed; +and when his increasing insistence forced +itself upon her, demanding, obviously, +countenance or rebuke, she walked serenely +on her way, disdaining either, occupied +with higher things. It was of the +Master only that she appeared to think. +When he spoke, it was to her as though +God really lived on earth; her eyes +lighted ineffably, and visibly all else was +instantly forgot. At that time her life +was a dream into whose charmed precincts +a bat had flown. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +These things, gradually, Judas must +have understood. In Mary’s eyes he +may have caught the intimation that to +her now only the ideal was real; or the +idea may have visited him that in the +infinite of her faith he disappeared and +ceased to be. In any event he must have +taken counsel with himself, for one day +he approached her with a newer theme. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I have knocked on the tombs; they +are dumb.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary, with that grace with which a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page162">[pg 162]</span><a name="Pg162" id="Pg162" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>woman gathers a flower when thinking +of him whom she loves, bent a little and +turned away. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Have you heard of the Buddha?”</span> he +asked. <span class="tei tei-q">“Babylon is peopled with his +disciples. One of them met Jesus in the +desert, and taught him his belief. It is +that he preaches now, only the Buddha +did not know of a heaven, for there is +none.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And he added, after a pause: <span class="tei tei-q">“I tell +you I have knocked on the tombs; there +is no answer there.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With that, as a panther falls asleep, his +claw blood-red, Judas nodded and left +her to her thoughts. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“In Eternity there is room for everything,”</span> +she said, when he came to her +again. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Eternity is an abyss which the tomb +uses for a sewer,”</span> he answered. <span class="tei tei-q">“Its +flood is corruption. The day only exists, +but in it is that freedom which waves +possess. Mary, if you would but taste it +with me! Oh, to mix with you as light +with day, as stream with sea, I would +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page163">[pg 163]</span><a name="Pg163" id="Pg163" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>suck the flame that flickers on the walls +of sepulchres.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +She shuddered, and he saw it. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You have taught me to love,”</span> he +hissed; <span class="tei tei-q">“do not teach me now to hate.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary mastered her revolt. <span class="tei tei-q">“Judas, +the day will come when you will cease +to speak as you do.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You believe, then, still?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, surely; and so do you.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The day will come,”</span> he muttered, +<span class="tei tei-q">“when you will cease to believe.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And you too,”</span> she answered. <span class="tei tei-q">“For +then you will <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">know</span></span>.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The dialogue with its variations continued, +at intervals, for months. There +were times, weeks even, when he avoided +all speech with her. Then, abruptly, +when she expected it least, he would +return more volcanic than before. These +attacks she accustomed herself to regard +as necessary, perhaps, to the training of +patience, of charity too, and so bore with +them, until at last Jerusalem was reached. +Meanwhile she held to her trust as to a +fringe of the mantle of Christ. To her +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page164">[pg 164]</span><a name="Pg164" id="Pg164" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the past was a grammar, its name—To-morrow. +And in the service of the +Master, in the future which he had evoked, +she journeyed and dreamed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But in Jerusalem Judas grew acrider. +He had fits of unnecessary laughter, and +spells of the deepest melancholy. He +quarrelled with anyone who would let +him, and then for the irritation he had +displayed he would make amends that +were wholly slavish. His companions +distrusted him. He had been seen talking +amicably with the corrupt levites, the +police of the Temple, and once he had +been detected in a wine-shop of low repute. +The Master, apparently, noticed +nothing of this; nor did Mary, whose +thoughts were on other things. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At Bethany one evening Judas came to +her. The sun, sinking through clouds, +placed in the west the tableau of a duel +to the death between a titan and a god. +There was the glitter of gigantic swords, +and the red of immortal blood. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mary,”</span> he began, and as he spoke +there was a new note in his voice—<span class="tei tei-q">“Mary, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page165">[pg 165]</span><a name="Pg165" id="Pg165" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>I have watched and waited, and to +those that watch how many lamps +burn out! One after another those that +I tended went. There was a flicker, a +little smoke, and they had gone. I tried +to relight them, but perhaps the oil was +spent; perhaps, too, I was like the blind +that hold a torch. My way has not been +clear. The faith I had, and which, I do +not know, but which, it may be, would +have been strengthened, evaporated when +you came. The rays of the sun I had +revered became as the threads of shadows, +interconnecting life and death. In +them I could see but you. In the jaw of +night, in the teeth of day, always I have +seen you. Mary, love is a net which +woman throws. In casting yours—there! +unintentionally, I know—you caught my +soul. It is yours now wholly until time +shall cease to be. Will you take it, +Mary, or will you put it aside, a thing +forever dead?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary made no answer. It may be she +had not heard. In the west both titan +and god had disappeared. Above, in a field +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page166">[pg 166]</span><a name="Pg166" id="Pg166" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of stars, the moon hung, a scythe of gold. +The air was still, the hush of locusts accentuating +the silence and bidding it be +at rest. In a house near by there were +lights shining. A woman looked out +and called into the night. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Then, as though moved by some jealousy +of the impalpable, Judas leaned forward +and peered into her face. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is the Master who keeps you from +me, is it not?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is my belief,”</span> she answered, simply. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It was he that gave it to you. Mary, +do you know that there is a price upon +his head? Do you know that if I cannot +slake my love, at least I can gorge my +hate? Do you know that, Mary? Do +you know it? Now choose between your +belief and me; if you prefer the former, +the Sanhedrim will have him to-morrow. +There, your sister is calling; go—and +choose.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was with the hideousness of this +threat in her ears that Mary escaped to +the little room where her childhood had +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page167">[pg 167]</span><a name="Pg167" id="Pg167" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>been passed and flung herself on the +floor. From beyond came the sound of +banqueting. Martha was entertaining +the Lord, his disciples as well; and Mary +knew that her aid was needed. But the +threat pinioned and held her down. To +accede was death, not of the body alone, +but of the soul as well. There was no +clear pool in which she might cleanse the +stain; there could be no forgiveness, no +obliteration, nothing in fact save the loss +never to be recovered of life in the diaphanous +hours and immaculate days of +which she had dreamed so long. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +For a little space she tried to comfort +herself. Perhaps Judas was not in earnest; +perhaps even he had lied. And if he +had not, was there not time in plenty? +The desert was neighborly. She could +follow the Master there, and minister to +him till the sky opened and the kingdom +was prepared. And the threat, +coupled with that perspective, charmed, +and for the moment had for her that +enticement which the quarrels and kisses +of children equally possess. She would +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page168">[pg 168]</span><a name="Pg168" id="Pg168" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>warn him secretly, she decided, for surely +as yet he did not know; she would warn +him, and before the sun was up he could +be beyond the Sanhedrim’s reach, and +she preparing to follow. For a moment +she lost herself in anticipation; then, +the threat loosening its hold, she stood +up, her face very white in the starlight, +her eyes brave and alert. Already her +plan was formed; and, taking a vase that +she had brought with her from Magdala, +she hurried to the room below. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Master; the disciples; Eleazer, +her brother; Simon, her sister’s husband, +were all at meat. Martha was serving, +and as Mary entered Judas stood up. +She moved to where the Master was, and +on him poured the contents of the vase. +Thomas sniffed delightedly, for now the +room was full of fragrance. The Master +turned to her and smiled; the homage +evidently was grateful. Mary bent nearer. +Thomas and Bartholomew joined in loud +praises of the aroma of the nard, and +under cover of their voices she whispered, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page169">[pg 169]</span><a name="Pg169" id="Pg169" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">“Rabboni, the Sanhedrim has placed a +price on——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The whisper was drowned and interrupted. +Judas had shoved her away. +<span class="tei tei-q">“To what end is this waste?”</span> he asked; +and as Mary looked in his face she saw +by the expression in it that her purpose +had been divined and her warning overheard. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is absurd,”</span> he continued, with affected +anger. <span class="tei tei-q">“Ointment such as that has +a value. It might better have been saved +for the poor.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Thomas chimed in approvingly; placed +in that light it was indeed an extravagance, +unnecessary too, and he looked +about to his comrades for support. Eleazer +and Peter seemed inclined to view the +matter differently. A discussion would +have arisen, but the Master checked it +gently, as was his wont. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The poor are always with you, but me +you cannot always have.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As he spoke he turned to Judas with that +indulgence which was to be a heritage. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Could he <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">know</span></span>? Judas wondered. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page170">[pg 170]</span><a name="Pg170" id="Pg170" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Had he heard what Mary said? And, the +Master’s speech continuing, he glanced at +her and left the room. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The moon had mowed the stars, but the +sky was visibly blue. Behind the shoulder +of Olivet he divined the silence of Jerusalem, +the welcome of the Sadducees, the +joy of hate assuaged. There was but one +thing now that might deter; and as his +thoughts groped through that possibility, +Mary stood at his side. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Judas——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He wheeled, and, catching her by the +wrists, stared into her eyes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Is it yes?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A shudder seized her. There was dread +in it, anguish too, and both were mortal. +He had not lied, she saw, and the threat +was real. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Is it yes?”</span> he repeated. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There may be moments that prolong, +but there are others in which time no +longer is; and as Mary shrank in the +blight of Judas’ stare, both felt that the +culmination of life was reached. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No!”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page171">[pg 171]</span><a name="Pg171" id="Pg171" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The monosyllable dropped from her +lips like a stone, yet even as it fell the +banner of Maccabæus unfurled and +flaunted in her face; the voice of Esther +murmured, and a vision of Judith saving +a nation visited her, and, continuing, +made spots on the night. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Judas had flung her from him. She +reeled; the violence roused her. Who +was she to consider herself when the security +of the Master was at stake? How +should it matter though she died, if he +were safe? +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It is my soul you ask,”</span> she cried. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Take it. If I had a thousand souls, I +would give each one for Him.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But she cried to the unanswering night. +Where the road curved about the shoulder +of the Mount of Olives, for one second +she saw a white robe glisten. Agonized, +she called again, but there was no one +now to hear. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A little later, when the followers of the +Lord issued from the house, Mary lay before +the door, her eyes closed, her head +in the dust. They touched her. She had +fainted. +</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page172">[pg 172]</span><a name="Pg172" id="Pg172" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page173">[pg 173]</span><a name="Pg173" id="Pg173" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc15" id="toc15"></a><a name="pdf16" id="pdf16"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER VIII.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg174" id="Pg174" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page175">[pg 175]</span><a name="Pg175" id="Pg175" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VIII.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“They have him, they are taking him +to Pilate.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was Eleazer calling to his sister from +the turn of the road. In a moment he +was at her side, dust-covered, his sandals +torn, his pathetic eyes dilated. He was +breathless too, and, in default of words, +with a gesture that swept the Mount of +Olives, he pointed to where the holy city +lay. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To Mary the morrow succeeding her +swoon was a pall. Love, it may be, is a +forgetfulness of all things else, but despair +is very actual. It takes a hold on +memory, inhabits it, and makes it its own. +And during the day that followed, Mary +lay preyed upon by the acutest agony +that ever tortured woman yet. Early +in the night, before her senses returned, +the Master had gone without mentioning +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page176">[pg 176]</span><a name="Pg176" id="Pg176" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>whither. His destination may have been +Ephraïm, Jericho even, or further yet, beyond +the hollows of the Ghôr. Then, again, +he might have loitered in the neighborhood, +on the hill perhaps, in that open-air +solitude he loved so well, and for which +so often he forsook the narrowness of +roofs and towns. But yet, in view of the +Passover, he might have gone to Jerusalem, +and it was that idea that tortured +most. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was there the keen police, the levites, +were, and their masters the Sadducees, +who had placed a price on his head. Did +he get within the walls, then surely he +was lost. At the possibilities which that +idea evoked her thoughts sank like the +roots of a tree and grappled with the under-earth. +To her despair, regret brought +its burden. A moment of self-forgetfulness, +and, however horrible that forgetfulness +might have been, in it danger to him +whom she revered would have been averted, +and, for the time being at least, dispersed +utterly as last year’s leaves. It +had been cowardice on her part to let +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page177">[pg 177]</span><a name="Pg177" id="Pg177" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Judas go; she should have been strong +when strength was needed. There were +glaives to be had; the head of Holofernes +could have greeted his. The legend +of Judith still echoed its reproach, and +recurring, pointed a slender finger of disdain. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To the heart that is sinking, hope throws +a straw. Immaterial and caressing as a +shadow, came to her the fancy that if the +Master were in the neighborhood, at any +moment he might appear. In that event +it was needful that she should be prepared +to aid him at once beyond the confines +of Judæa. Were he already beyond +them, presently she must learn it, and +then could warn him of the danger of +return. But meanwhile, for security’s +sake, had he gone by any chance to Jerusalem, +some one must be there to warn +him of the plot. She thought of her sister, +and dismissed her. Martha was too +feather-headed for an errand such as that. +She thought of Ahulah, but some of those +well-intentioned friends that everyone +possesses had told of the misadventure +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page178">[pg 178]</span><a name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to her husband, and the latter, cruel as a +woman, had spat upon her, and now +through the suburbs she wandered, distraught, +incompetent to aid. Her brother +occurred to her. It was on him she could +rely. His devotion was surpassed only +by her own. Thereupon she sought him +out, instructed him in his duty, and sent +him forth to watch and warn. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The green afternoon faded in the hemorrhages +of the setting sun. Twilight +approached like a wolf. Night unfurled +her great black fan; the moon came, +fumbling the shadows, checkering the +underbrush with silver spots. Once a +caravan passed, and once from the hillside +came the bark of a dog, caught up and +repeated in some farm beyond; otherwise +the night was unstirred; and as Mary +stared into the immensities where lightning +wearies and subsides, a lethargy +beset her, her body was imprisoned; but +her soul was free, and in a moment it +mounted sheerly to a fringe of the heavens +and bathed in space. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When it descended, another day had +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page179">[pg 179]</span><a name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>come, and Eleazer was calling to her from +the turn of the road. At once she was on +earth and on her feet, and as the brother +gasped for breath the sister’s strength +returned. There must be no more weakness +now, she knew; it was time to act. +She got drink, water for the feet; then +Eleazer, refreshed, continued: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I ran through the ridge and up to +where the two cedars are. I looked among +the cypresses beyond, in the pines +where the descent begins, through the +olive groves below and the booths and +tents beneath. There was no trace of +him anywhere. I crossed the brook and +sat awhile at the Shushan gate, watching +those that entered. The crowd became +so dense that it was impossible to distinguish. +I thought I might hear of him +in the Temple. The porch was thronged. +I roamed through the Mountain of the +House into the Woman’s Court, and out +of it on the Chel. But they were all so +filled with pilgrims that had he been +there only accident could have brought +me to him. It was on that I counted, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page180">[pg 180]</span><a name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>I went out on Zion and Acra, where the +crowd was less. It was getting late. +Beth-horon was dim. I could see lights +in Herod’s palace. Some one said that +the tetrarch of Galilee was there, the +guest of the procurator. I went back by +way of Antonia to Birket Israil and the +Red Heifer Bridge. I had given up; +it seemed to me useless to make further +attempt. Suddenly I saw Judas in the +angle of the porch. With him was a levite. +I got behind a pillar, near where +they stood, and listened. The only thing +I distinctly heard was the name of Joseph +of Haramathaïm. I fancied, though I was +not certain, that Judas spoke as though +he had just left his house. They must +have moved away then, for when I looked +they had gone. I knew that Joseph was +a friend of the Master’s, and it struck me +that he might be at his house. It is in +the sook of the Perfumers, back of Ophel. +I ran there as fast as I could. It was unlighted. +I beat on the door: there was +no answer. I felt that I had been mistaken, +anyway that I could do no more. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page181">[pg 181]</span><a name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>I went down again into the valley, crossed +the Kedron, and would have returned +here at once perhaps, but I was tired, and +so, on the slope where the olive-presses +are, I lay down and must have fallen +asleep, for I remembered nothing till +there came a tramping of men. I +crouched in the underbrush. They passed +very close; some had torches, some had +spears. Judas was leading, and as an ape +munches a flower he was muttering the +Master’s name.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Eleazer paused and looked at his sister. +She was standing erect, her face +wan, the brow contracted, the rhymes of +her lips tight-pressed. Then, with a glance +at Olivet, he continued: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“For a little space I waited. They had +ascended the slope and halted. There +was a shout, the waving of torches, then +a silence. In it I heard the Master’s +voice, followed by a cry of pain. I hurried +to where they were. They had him +bound when I got there. I saw a soldier +raising a hand to his ear and looking at +the palm; it was red. Peter was running +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page182">[pg 182]</span><a name="Pg182" id="Pg182" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>one way, Thomas another. I got nearer. +Some one, a levite I think, caught me by +the coat. I freed myself from it and escaped +up the hill.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“From there I looked down. They +were going away. When they had gone, +I went back and found my cloak. While +I was putting it on, John appeared. +<span class="tei tei-q">‘They are taking him to Caiaphas,’</span> he +said; <span class="tei tei-q">‘I shall follow. Come with me if +you wish.’</span> I went with him. On the way +we met Peter; he joined us. We walked +single-file, John leading. Beyond I could +see the lights of the torches, the glint of +steel. No one spoke. Peter whimpered +a little. We crossed the Kedron and got +up into the city. The soldiers went directly +to where Annas lives; they entered +in a body, and the door closed. John +rapped: it was opened. He said something +to the doorkeeper, who admitted him. +The door closed again. Peter and I +waited a little, not knowing where to turn. +Presently the door reopened, and John +motioned us to come in. In the court +was a fire; about it were servants and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page183">[pg 183]</span><a name="Pg183" id="Pg183" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>khazzans. I stopped a moment to warm +my hands; Peter did the same. John +had disappeared. I heard one of the +khazzans say that they had taken the +Master to Annas, and the others discuss +what he would probably do. While I +stood there listening, and wondering what +had become of John, I saw the Master +being led across the court to the Lishcath +ha-Gazith. I left Peter, and followed. +In the hall were the elders, ranged in a +semicircle about Caiaphas. They must +have been prepared beforehand, for the +clerks of acquittal and of condemnation +were there, the crier too, and a group of +levites and Scribes. In a corner were +some of Annas’ servants. I got among +them and stood unnoticed.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Master’s hands were bound. On +either side of him was a soldier. Caiaphas +was livid. He looked him from head +to foot.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘You are accused,’</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q">‘of inciting +sedition, of defying the Law, of blasphemy, +and of breaking the Sabbath day. +What have you to answer?’</span></span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page184">[pg 184]</span><a name="Pg184" id="Pg184" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Master made no reply.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Caiaphas pointed to the levites. +<span class="tei tei-q">‘Here,’</span> he continued, <span class="tei tei-q">‘are witnesses.’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He motioned; one of them stepped +forward and spoke.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘I testify that this man has incited +to sedition by denouncing the members +of this reverend council as hypocrites, +wolves in sheep’s clothing, blind leaders +of the blind; and I further testify that he +has declared no one should follow them.’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘What have you to say to that?’</span> +Caiaphas snarled. But the Master said +nothing.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The first levite moved back, and at +a gesture from the high-priest another +stepped forward.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘I testify that I have seen that man +eat, in defiance of the Law, with unwashed +hands, and consort with publicans and +people of low repute.’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘And what have you to say to that?’</span> +Caiaphas asked again. But still the +Master said nothing.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The second levite moved back, and a +third advanced.</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page185">[pg 185]</span><a name="Pg185" id="Pg185" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘I testify that I have heard that man +blaspheme in calling God his father, and +in declaring himself to be one with Him.’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘Is that blasphemy or is it not?’</span> +Caiaphas bawled. But the Master’s lips +never moved.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The third levite gave way to a fourth.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘I testify that that man has broken +the Sabbath in healing the sick on that +day, and further that he has seduced +others to break it. On the Sabbath I +have heard him order a cripple to take +up his bed and carry it to his home. I +have heard him also declare that he could +destroy the Temple and rebuild it, in +three days, anew.’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Caiaphas turned to the Master. <span class="tei tei-q">‘Do +you still refuse to answer?’</span> he asked. +<span class="tei tei-q">‘Do you think that silence can save you? +Have you heard these witnesses?’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And as the Master still made no reply, +Caiaphas lifted his hand and cried, +<span class="tei tei-q">‘I adjure you by the Eternal to answer, +Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“In the breathless silence Jesus raised +his eyes. He looked at the high-priest, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page186">[pg 186]</span><a name="Pg186" id="Pg186" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>at the levites, the Scribes. <span class="tei tei-q">‘You have +said it,’</span> he murmured, and smiled with +that air he has.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Caiaphas grew purple. He caught his +gown at the throat and ripped it from neck +to hem. The elders started. I heard +them mutter, <span class="tei tei-q">‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Ish maveth</span></span>.’</span> The high-priest +glanced toward them. <span class="tei tei-q">‘You have +heard this ragged blasphemy?’</span> he exclaimed; +and, turning to where the Scribes +stood, <span class="tei tei-q">‘What,’</span> he asked, <span class="tei tei-q">‘does the Law +decree concerning the Sabbath-breaker?’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“One of them, the book unrolled in his +hand, advanced and read:</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘Ye shall keep the Sabbath holy. +Whoso does any work thereon shall be +cut off from his people.’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“ <span class="tei tei-q">‘And what of blasphemy?’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Scribe glanced at the roll and +repeated from memory: <span class="tei tei-q">‘He that blasphemeth +the name of the Lord shall be +put to death. The congregation shall +stone him, as well the stranger as he that +was born in the land.’</span></span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Caiaphas closed the fingers on the +palm of his left hand, and, raising it, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page187">[pg 187]</span><a name="Pg187" id="Pg187" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>turned again to the elders. <span class="tei tei-q">‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Ish maveth</span></span>,’</span> +they repeated, closing their fingers as he +had done.</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I knew then that he was condemned. +After all”</span>—and Eleazer looked wearily to +the ground—<span class="tei tei-q">“it was legal enough. Each +moment I expected him to give some +sign, but, save to affirm the charge of blasphemy, +during the entire time he kept +silent. Yes, it was legal enough. From +where I stood I heard the Scribes say +that he would be sentenced at sunrise, +and then Pilate would have a word with +him. I could do nothing. Caiaphas +still fumed. I went out in the court +again. In the corridor was Judas. Peter +was wrangling with the servants. I +did not wait for more. I got away and +into the valley and up again on the hill. +A cock was crowing, and I saw the dawn. +O Mary, the pity of it!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He looked at his sister. There was no +weakness now in her face, nor beauty +either. Age must have passed her in the +night. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page188">[pg 188]</span><a name="Pg188" id="Pg188" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And I will have a word with Pilate +too,”</span> she said. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As a somnambulist might, she drew her +mantle closer, and, moving to the wayside, +ascended the hill. The silver and green +of the olives closed around her, and with +them the branching dates. Above, a star +left by the morning glimmered feebly. +In a myrtle a bird began to sing, and a +lizard that had come out to intercept the +sun scurried as she passed. Upward +and onward still she went, and, the summit +reached, for a moment she stopped +and rested. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To the east the Dead Sea lay, a stretch +of silk. At its edge was the flutter of +ospreys feasting on the barbels and +breams of the Jordan, which as they enter, +die. Beyond was a glitter of white +and gold, the scarp of Moriah and its +breast of stone, the Tyrian bevel of Solomon, +the porphyry of Nehemiah, the marble +that Herod gave; ascending terraces, +engulfing porticoes, the splendor of Jerusalem +at dawn. Between the houses +nearest was the dimness that shadows +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page189">[pg 189]</span><a name="Pg189" id="Pg189" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>cast; those further away had a scatter of +pink; about it all was a wall surmounted +by turrets; beneath was a ravine in which +was a brook, and a city of booths and +tents, grazing camels and fat-tailed sheep. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Through the pines and cypresses Mary +passed down to where the olives were. +The brook sent a message to her; the +blood that had flowed from the sacrifices +was in it, and in the fresh morning it +reeked a little, as such brooks do. It was +here, she thought, the Master had been +taken, and for a second she stopped again. +The sun now was rising behind her; the +color of the sky shifted. Beyond Jerusalem +a mountain was melting in excesses +of vermilion, and the ravine that had been +gray was assuming the tenderest green. +The star had disappeared, but from each +tree broke the greeting of a bird. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A rustle of the leaves near by startled +her, and she looked about, fearful, as +women are, of some beast of prey. A +white robe was there, a white turban, and +beneath it the swart face of one whom +she had known. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page190">[pg 190]</span><a name="Pg190" id="Pg190" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To her eyes came massacres. <span class="tei tei-q">“Judas!”</span> +she exclaimed, and looked up in that roof +of her world where day puts its blue and +night puts its black. <span class="tei tei-q">“Judas!”</span> she repeated. +Her small hands clenched, and +the rhymes of her mouth grew venomous. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Then the woman spoke in her. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why +did you not kill me first?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Judas swayed like an ox hit on the +forehead. The motion distracted and irritated +her. <span class="tei tei-q">“Can’t you speak,”</span> she +cried, <span class="tei tei-q">“or does hell hold you, tongue and +all?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He raised a hand as though he feared +another blow. The gesture was so human +and yet so humble that Mary looked +into his face. Time, which turns the +sweet-eyed girl into a withered spectre, +must have touched him with its thumb. +His eyes were ringed and cavernous, his +cheeks empty. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You have heard, then?”</span> he said; but +he evinced no curiosity. He spoke with +the apathy of one who takes everything +for granted, one with whom fate is to +have its will. <span class="tei tei-q">“I have just come from +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page191">[pg 191]</span><a name="Pg191" id="Pg191" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>there,”</span> he added, with a backward gesture. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I never thought that such a thing could +be. No, I swear it, I never did.”</span> Then, +in answer perhaps to some inner twinge, +perhaps also because of the expression +of Mary’s lips, he continued: <span class="tei tei-q">“If there +is a new oath, one that has never been +used before, prompt me, and I will swear +again, I never did. I thought——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary interrupted him savagely: +<span class="tei tei-q">“There are ten kinds of hypocrisy. You +have nine of them; you will develop the +tenth and invent a new one besides.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At this Judas made a pass with his +hands and stared absently at the ground. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mary,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“life is a book which +man reads when he dies. During the last +hour I have been unrolling it. In its scroll +I found existence a wine-shop where the +guest fares so badly that he would go at +once were it not that he fears to call for +the reckoning. The reckoning, Mary, is +death. I have called for it. I am about +to pay. Let me tell you. I have no excuse +to offer, no forgiveness now to await. My +heart was a meadow: you made it stone. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page192">[pg 192]</span><a name="Pg192" id="Pg192" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>There were well-springs in it: you dried +them, Mary. When I first saw you, you +were a dream fulfilled. Others had brought +echoes of life; you brought its song. It +was then that I heard the Master speak. +I followed him, and tried to forget. It +must be that I failed, for when I saw you +in Capharnahum my blood danced, and +when you spoke I trembled. It was love, +Mary; and love, when it is not death, is +life. It was that I sought at your side. +You would not listen. Innocence is a +garment. You seemed to have wrapped +it about you. I tried to tear it away. +There was my fault, and this my punishment. +Your right was inflexible as a +prison-door, and yet always behind it was +the murmur of a mysterious Perhaps. +The others turned to me; I turned to you. +I forgot again, but this time it was my +duty, my allegiance, and my faith. Mary, +I loved the Master more wholly even than +I loved you. He was the Spirit; you +were the flesh. In him was the future; in +you the tomb. I thought to conquer both. +While I mixed my darkness with his light, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page193">[pg 193]</span><a name="Pg193" id="Pg193" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>I pursued you as night pursues the day. +On the light I have cast a shadow, and to +you I have brought a blight. But, Mary, +both will disappear. The one consolation +I cling to now is that belief. When +I delivered him up, it was myself I betrayed, +not him. I am forever dead, and +he forever living. While I bargained +with the priests and pretended that my +aim was coin, when I led the levites and +the Temple-guard just here to where he +stood, during all the hours since I left +you, I tried to escape from that cage we +call Fate. Mary, there is something about +us higher than our will. The revenge I +sought on you forsook me before I reached +the city’s gate. It is the intangible that +has brought me where I am. I have +sworn to you I never thought this thing +could be. I swear it now again. In +carrying out the threat I made, I thought +to make you fear my hate and make him +greater than he was. His enemies, I had +seen, were many. Those that had believed +in him grew daily less. In Jerusalem his +miracles had ceased, and I thought that, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page194">[pg 194]</span><a name="Pg194" id="Pg194" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>when the levites and the Temple-guard +approached, he would speak with Samuel’s +thunder, answer with Elijah’s flame. +I thought the stars would shake, the moon +grow red; that he would produce the lost +Urim, the vanished Ark, and so forever +silence disbelief. I was wrong, and he +was right. Belief is in the heart, not in +the senses; the visible contradicts, but +faith is not to be confuted. No, Mary, +the tombs are not dumb. I said so once, +I know, but they answer, and mine will +speak. On it perhaps a caricature may +be daubed, and about it prejudice will uncoil. +I deserve it. Yet though you think +me wholly base, remember no man is that. +Since I met you my life has been a battle-field +in which I have fought with conscience. +It has conquered. I am its +slave; it commands, and I obey.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He drew a breath as though he had +more to add, and turned to where she +stood. There was no one there. From +an olive-branch a red-start piped to the +morning; over the buds of a pomegranate +a bee buzzed its delight; across the leaves +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page195">[pg 195]</span><a name="Pg195" id="Pg195" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of a myrtle a blue spider was busy with +its web, but Mary was no longer there. +He peered through the underbrush, and +wandered to the grove beyond. There +was no one. He looked to the hill-top: +there was the advancing sun. He looked +in the valley: there were the pilgrims’ +booths, the grazing camels and fat-tailed +sheep. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“She has gone,”</span> he told himself. <span class="tei tei-q">“She +would not even listen.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He bent his head. For the first time +since boyhood the tears rolled down his +face. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“She might at least have heard me,”</span> he +thought, and brushed the tears away. +Others came and replaced them. When +they had fallen, there were more. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, she might at least have listened. +If I had no excuse to offer, at least I had +regret.”</span> For a moment he fancied her, +cruel as only woman is, hurrying to some +unknown goal. The tears he had tried +to stanch ceased now abruptly. <span class="tei tei-q">“She is +right,”</span> he mused. <span class="tei tei-q">“She has left me to +conscience and to death.”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page196">[pg 196]</span><a name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He turned again and went back to +where he had stood before. As he crossed +the intervening space he unloosed the +long girdle which he wore, and from which +still hung the treasury of the twelve. +The bag that held it fell where the bee +was buzzing. One end of the girdle +he tossed over a branch; the red-start +spread its wings and fled. He +looked about. There was a stone near by; +he got it and with a little labor rolled it +beneath the branch. Then he made a +noose, very carefully, that it might not +come undone, and settling it well under +the chin, he tied the other end of the +girdle to it and swung himself from the +stone. +</p> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page197">[pg 197]</span><a name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc17" id="toc17"></a><a name="pdf18" id="pdf18"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER IX.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg198" id="Pg198" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page199">[pg 199]</span><a name="Pg199" id="Pg199" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">IX.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the apartment of Claudia Procula, +Mary and the wife of the procurator +stood face to face. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The apartment itself overlooked Jerusalem. +Beneath was an open space tiled +with little oblong stones, red, yellow, and +blue; the blue predominating. On either +side the colossal white wings of the palace +stretched to a park, very green in the +sunlight, cut by colonnades in which +fountains were, and surrounded by a marble +wall that was starred with turrets and +fluttered with doves. The Temple, which, +from its cressets, radiated to the hills +beyond a glare of gold, was not as fair +nor yet as vast as this. Within its gates +an army could manœuvre; in its banquet-hall +a cohort could have supped. It was +Herod’s triumph, built subsequent to the +Temple, to show the world, perhaps, that +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page200">[pg 200]</span><a name="Pg200" id="Pg200" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to surpass a masterpiece he had only to +conceive another. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To it now and then, for a week or more, +the procurator descended from his residence +by the sea. He preferred the +latter; the day was freer there, life less +cramped. But during festival times, when +the fanatic Jews were apt to be excited +and need the chill of a curb, it was well +for him and his soldiery to be on hand. +And so on this occasion he had come, and +with him his wife, Claudia Procula, and +the tetrarch Antipas, who had joined +them on the way. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas and his retinue occupied the +Ægrippeum, the north wing of the palace, +while in the Cæsareum, the wing that +leaned to the south, was Pilate, his wife +and body-guard. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And now on this clear morning the +sweet-faced patrician, Claudia Procula, +with perfectly feminine curiosity was +looking into the drawn features of the +Magdalen, and wondering whence her +rumored charm could come. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I will do my best,”</span> she said, at last, in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page201">[pg 201]</span><a name="Pg201" id="Pg201" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>answer to an anterior request. And calling +a servant, she wrote on a tablet a +word for Pilate’s eye. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary moved to the portico. The variegated +tiles of the quadrangle were nearly +covered now. A flight of wide, low +steps led to the main entrance of the palace, +and there a high seat of enamelled +ebony had been placed. In it Pilate sat, +in his hand the staff of office. Beside +him were his assessors, members of his +suite, and Calcol, a centurion. On one of +the steps Caiaphas stood, near him the +elders of the college. Below was the +Christ, bound and guarded. Across the +quadrangle was a line of soldiery, behind +it a mob. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The helmets, glancing mail, short +skirts, and bare legs of the Romans contrasted +refreshingly with the blossoming +garments, effeminate girdles, frontlets, and +horned blue bonnets of the priesthood. +And in the riot of color and glint of steel +the Christ, bound as he was, looked, in +the simplicity of his seamless robe, the +descendant of a larger sphere. Above, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page202">[pg 202]</span><a name="Pg202" id="Pg202" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to the left, Antipas, aroused by the clamor, +leaned from a portico. Opposite +where the sunlight fell Mary held her +cloak about her. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas, a hand indicating Jesus, his +head turned to Pilate, was formulating a +complaint. Not indeed that the prisoner +had declared himself a divinity. There +were far too many gods in the menagerie +of the Pantheon for a procurator to be +the least disturbed at the rumor of a new +one. It was the right to rule, that attribute +of the Messiah, on which he intended +the gravamen of the charge should rest. +But he began circuitously, feeling the +way, in Greek at that, with an accent +which might have been improved. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And so,”</span> he concluded, <span class="tei tei-q">“in many +ways he has transgressed the Law.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why don’t you judge him by it, +then?”</span> asked Pilate, grimly. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A servant approached with a tablet. +The procurator glanced at it, looked up +at the man, and motioned him away. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“My lord governor, we have. The +Sanhedrim, having found him guilty, has +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page203">[pg 203]</span><a name="Pg203" id="Pg203" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>sentenced him to death. But the Sanhedrim, +as you know, may not execute the +sentence. The Senate has deprived us of +that right. It is for you, as its legate, to +order it done.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate sneered. <span class="tei tei-q">“I can’t very well, +until I know of what he is guilty. What +crime has he committed—written a letter +on the Sabbath, or has he been caught +without his phylacteries?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He has declared himself Israel’s +king!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah!”</span> And Pilate smiled wearily. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You are always expecting one; why not +take him?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why not, my lord? Because it is +treason to do so.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate nodded with affected approval. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I admire your zeal.”</span> And with a glance +at the prisoner, he added: <span class="tei tei-q">“You have +heard the accusation; defend yourself. +What!”</span> he continued, after a moment, +<span class="tei tei-q">“have you nothing to say?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas exulted openly. The corners +of his mouth had the width and cruelty, +and his nostrils the dilation, of a wolf. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page204">[pg 204]</span><a name="Pg204" id="Pg204" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“My lord,”</span> he cried, <span class="tei tei-q">“his silence is an +admission.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hold your tongue! It is for me to +question.”</span> And therewith Pilate gave +the high-priest a look which was tantamount +to a knee pressed on the midriff. +He glanced again at the tablet, then at +the prisoner. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Tell me, do you really claim to be +king?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Is it your idea of me?”</span> the Christ +asked; and in his bearing was a dignity +which did not clash with the charge; +<span class="tei tei-q">“or have others prompted you?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But I am not a Jew,”</span> Pilate retorted. +<span class="tei tei-q">“The matter only interests me officially. +It is your hierarchy that bring the +charge. Why have they? What have +you done? Tell me,”</span> he continued, in +Latin, <span class="tei tei-q">“do you think yourself King?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Tu dixisti</span></span>,”</span> Jesus answered, and smiled +as he had before, very gravely. <span class="tei tei-q">“But my +royalty is not of the earth.”</span> And with +a glance at his bonds, one which was so +significant that it annulled the charge, he +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page205">[pg 205]</span><a name="Pg205" id="Pg205" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>added, still in Latin, <span class="tei tei-q">“I am Truth, and I +preach it.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate with skeptical indulgence shook +his head. Truth to him was an elenchicism, +an abstraction of the Platonists, +whom in Rome he had respected for their +wisdom and avoided with care. He turned +to Caiaphas. The latter had been regretting +the absence of an interpreter. +This amicable conversation, which he did +not understand, was not in the least to +his liking, and as Pilate turned to him +he frowned in his beard. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am unable to find him guilty,”</span> the +procurator announced. <span class="tei tei-q">“He may call +himself king, but every philosopher does +the same. You might yourself, for that +matter.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“A philosopher, this mesîth!”</span> Caiaphas +gnashed back. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why, he seduces the +people; he incites to sedition; he is a +rebel to Rome. It is for you, my lord, +to see the empire upheld. Would it be +well to have another complaint laid before +the Cæsar? Ask yourself, is this +Galilean worth it?”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page206">[pg 206]</span><a name="Pg206" id="Pg206" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The thrust was as keen and as venomous +as the tooth of a rat. Pilate had +been rebuked by the emperor already; +he had no wish to incur further displeasure. +Sejanus, the emperor’s favorite, +to whom he owed his procuratorship, +had for suspected treason been strangled +in a dumb dungeon only a little before. +Under Tiberius there was quiet, a future +historian was to note; and Pilate was +aware that, should a disturbance occur, +the disturbance would be quelled, but at +his expense. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +An idea presented itself. <span class="tei tei-q">“Did I understand +you to say he is a Galilean?”</span> he +asked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> Caiaphas answered, expecting, +perhaps, the usual jibe that was flung at +those who came from there. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, he is +a Nazarene.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Hm. In that case I have no jurisdiction. +The tetrarch is my guest; take +your prisoner to him.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“My lord,”</span> the high-priest objected, +<span class="tei tei-q">“our law is such that if we enter the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page207">[pg 207]</span><a name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>palace we cannot officiate at the Passover +to-night.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate appeared to reflect. <span class="tei tei-q">“I suppose,”</span> +he said at last, <span class="tei tei-q">“I might ask him +whether he would care to come here. In +which case,”</span> he added, with a gesture of +elaborate courtesy, <span class="tei tei-q">“you may remain uncontaminated +where you are. Ressala!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +An official stepped forward; an order +was given; he disappeared. Presently a +massive throne of sandalwood and gold +was trundled out. Caiaphas had seen it +before, and in it—Herod. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The justice that comes from there,”</span> +he muttered, <span class="tei tei-q">“is as a snake that issues +from a tomb.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +His words were drowned in the clamors +of the crowd. The sun had crossed the +zenith; in its rays the waters that gushed +from the fountain-mouths of bronze lions +fell in rainbows and glistened in great +basins that glistened too. There was +sunlight everywhere, a sky of untroubled +blue, and from the Temple beyond came +a glare that radiated from Olivet to Bethlehem. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page208">[pg 208]</span><a name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate was bored. The mantle which +Mary wore caught his eye, and he looked +at her, wondering how she came in his +wife’s apartment, and where he had seen +her before. Her face was familiar, but +the setting vague. Then at once he remembered. +It was at Machærus he had +seen her, gambling with the emir, while +Salomè danced. She was with Antipas, +of course. He looked again; she had +gone. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Sanhedrim consulted nervously. +The new turn of affairs was not at all to +their liking. The clamors of the mob +continued. Once a fanatic pushed against +a soldier. There was a thud, a howl, and +a mouth masked with liquid red gasped +to the sun and was seen no more. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Behind the procurator came a movement. +The officials massed about the +entrance parted in uneven ranks, and +in the great vestibule beyond, Antipas +appeared. Pilate rose to greet him. The +elders made obeisance. The tetrarch +moved forward and seated himself in his +father’s throne. At his side was Pahul, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page209">[pg 209]</span><a name="Pg209" id="Pg209" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the butler, balancing himself flamingowise +on one leg, his bold eyes foraging +the priests. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas formulated the complaint +anew, very majestically this time, and, +thinking perhaps to overawe the tetrarch, +his voice assumed the authority of a +guardian of the keys of heaven, a chamberlain +of the sceptres of the earth. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Antipas ignored him utterly. He +plucked at his fan-shaped beard, and +stared at the Christ. He could see now +he bore no resemblance to Iohanan. +There was nothing of the hyena about +him, nor of the prophet either. Evidently +he was but a harmless vagabond, skilled +in simples, if report were true; perhaps +a thaumaturge. And it was he whom he +had feared and fancied might be that Son +of David for whom a star was created, +whom the magi had visited, whom his +father had sought to destroy, and whom +now from his father’s own throne he himself +was called upon to judge! He shook +his head, and in the sunlight the indigo +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page210">[pg 210]</span><a name="Pg210" id="Pg210" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>with which his hair was powdered made +bright blue motes. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I say——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Just beyond, where the assessors stood, +Mary suddenly appeared. He stopped +abruptly; for more than a year he had +not seen her. Pahul had told him +she had gone to Rome. If she had, he +reflected, the journey had not improved +her appearance. Then for the moment +he dismissed her, and returned to the +Christ. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“See here: somebody the other day +told me you worked miracles. I have +wanted to see one all my life. Gratify +me, won’t you? Oh, something very easy +to begin with. Send one of the guards up +in the air, or turn your bonds into bracelets.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Christ did not seem to hear. Pahul +laughed and held to the throne for +support. Antipas shrugged his shoulders. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He looks harmless enough,”</span> he said. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why not let him go?”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page211">[pg 211]</span><a name="Pg211" id="Pg211" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas glowered, and his fingers +twitched. <span class="tei tei-q">“He claims to be king!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At this statement the tetrarch laughed +too. He gave an order to Pahul, who +vanished with a grin. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He has jeered at the Temple your +father built,”</span> Caiaphas continued. <span class="tei tei-q">“He +has declared he could destroy it and +rebuild a better one, in three days at +that.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He is king, then, but of fools.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And he has called you a fox,”</span> Caiaphas +added, significantly. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He doesn’t claim to be one himself, +does he?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He is guilty of treason, and it is for +you, his ruler, to sentence him.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Not I. The blood of kings is sacred. +Pahul, make haste!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The butler, reappearing, held in his +hand the glittering white vestment of a +candidate. The tetrarch took it and held +it in air. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Here, put this on him, and let his +subjects admire him to their hearts’ +content.”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page212">[pg 212]</span><a name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Antipas, you disgrace your purple!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the exclamation, the Sanhedrim, the +guards, the assessors, the officials, Pilate +himself, everyone save the prisoner, +turned and looked. On the colored pavement +Mary stood, her face very pale. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The tetrarch flushed mightily; anger +mounted into his shifting eyes. For a +moment the sky was blood-red; then he +recovered himself and answered lightly: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It seems to me, my dear, that you +take things with a high hand. It may be +that you forget yourself.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I take them from where I am,”</span> she +cried. <span class="tei tei-q">“As for forgetfulness, remember +that my grandfather was satrap of Syria, +my father after him, while yours——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, yes, I dare say. He is not in +power now; I am.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Not here, Antipas, nor in Rome. I +appeal to Pilate.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The tetrarch rose from the throne. +The elders whispered together. Pilate +visibly was perplexed. Remembering +Mary as he did, he looked upon the incident +as a family quarrel, one in which it +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page213">[pg 213]</span><a name="Pg213" id="Pg213" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>would be unseemly for him to interfere, +and which none the less disturbed the +decorum of his court. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas edged up to the tetrarch, but +the latter brushed him aside. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The hetaira is right,”</span> he exclaimed. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am not in power here. If I were, she +should be lapidated.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And, preceded by the butler, Antipas +passed through the parting ranks to the +vestibule beyond. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The perplexity of the procurator increased. +He did not in the least understand. +To him Mary stood in the same +relation to Antipas that Cleopatra had to +Herod. There had been a feud between +the tetrarch and himself, one recently +mended, and which he had no wish to +renew. Yet manifestly Antipas was aggrieved, +and his own path in the matter +by no means clear. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Bah!”</span> he muttered, in the consoling +undertone of thought, <span class="tei tei-q">“what are their +beastly barbarian manners to me?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +These reflections Caiaphas interrupted. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page214">[pg 214]</span><a name="Pg214" id="Pg214" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“We are waiting, my lord, for the sentence +to be pronounced.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The tone he used was not, however, +indicative of patience, and in conjunction +with the incident that had just occurred +it irritated and jarred. Besides, Pilate +did not care to be prompted. It was for +him to speak first. He strangled an oath, +and, gathering some fringe of the majesty +of Rome, he announced very measuredly: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“You have brought this man before +me as a rebel. I have examined him and +find no ground for the charge. His ruler, +the tetrarch, has also examined him, and +by him too he has been acquitted. But +in view of the fact that he appears to have +contravened some one or another of your +laws I order him to be scourged and to +be liberated.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With that he turned to the prisoner. +During the entire proceedings the attitude +of Jesus had not altered. He stood as a +disinterested spectator might—one whom +chance had brought that way and there +hemmed in—his eyes on remote, +inacces<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page215">[pg 215]</span><a name="Pg215" id="Pg215" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>sible horizons, the tongue silent, the head +a little raised. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Scourging, my lord,”</span> Caiaphas interjected, +<span class="tei tei-q">“is fit and proper, but,”</span> he continued, +one silk-gloved hand uplifted, +<span class="tei tei-q">“our law prescribes death. Only an +enemy to Tiberius would prevent it.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the veiled menace Pilate gnawed +his under lip. He had no faith at all in +the loyalty of the hierarch; at any other +time the affection the latter manifested +for the chains he bore would have been +ludicrous and nothing else. But at the +moment he felt insecure. There were +Galileans whom he had sacrificed, Judæans +whom he had slaughtered, Samaritans +whom he had oppressed, an embassy +might even now be on its way to +Rome; he thought again of Sejanus, and, +with cause, he hesitated. Yet of the inward +perturbation he gave no outward +sign. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“On this day,”</span> he said at last, <span class="tei tei-q">“it is +customary that in commemoration of +your nation’s delivery out of Egypt I +should release a prisoner to you. There +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page216">[pg 216]</span><a name="Pg216" id="Pg216" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>are three others here, among them Jesus +Barabba.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Then, for support perhaps, he looked +over at the clamoring mob. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I will leave the choice to the people.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A wind seemed to raise the elders; +they scattered through the court like +leaves. <span class="tei tei-q">“Have done with the Nazarene,”</span> +cried one. <span class="tei tei-q">“He would lead you astray,”</span> +insinuated another. <span class="tei tei-q">“He has violated +the Law,”</span> exclaimed a third. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And, filtering through the soldiery into +the mob without, they exhorted and +prayed and coerced. <span class="tei tei-q">“Ask for Barabba; +denounce the blasphemer. Trust to the +Sanhedrim. We are your guides. Let +him atone for his crimes. The God of +your fathers commands that you condemn. +Demand Barabba; uphold your +nation. To the cross with the Nazarene!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Whom do you choose?”</span> shouted +Pilate. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And the pleb of Jerusalem shouted +back as one man, <span class="tei tei-q">“Barabba!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the moment Pilate fancied himself +in an amphitheatre, the arena filled with +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page217">[pg 217]</span><a name="Pg217" id="Pg217" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>beasts. There were the satin and stripes +of the panther, the yellow of treacherous +eyes, the gnash of fangs, the guttural +rumble, the deafening yell, the scent of +blood, and above, the same blue tender +sky. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“What of the prisoner?”</span> he called. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A roar leapt back. <span class="tei tei-q">“Sekaph! Sekaph! +Let him be crucified.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate had fronted a rabble before, and +in two minutes had turned that rabble +into so many dead flies, the legs in the +air. He shook his head, and told himself +he was not there to be coerced. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Release Barabba,”</span> he ordered. <span class="tei tei-q">“And +as for the prisoner, take him to the barracks +and have him scourged.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Brute!”</span> cried a voice that lifted him +as a blow might from his ebony chair. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Pilate, though you are a plebeian, why +show yourself a slave?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And Mary, with the strength of anger, +brushed through the encircling officials +and towered before him, robed in wrath. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah, permit me,”</span> he answered; <span class="tei tei-q">“you +are singularly unjust.”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page218">[pg 218]</span><a name="Pg218" id="Pg218" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Prove me so, and countermand the +order that you gave.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As she spoke she adjusted her mantle, +which had become disarranged, and looked +him from head to foot, measuring him as it +were, and finding him, visibly, very small. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Already the prisoner had been led +away, and beyond, in the barracks, was +the whiz of jagged leather that lacerated, +rebounded, and lacerated again. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I will not,”</span> he answered. <span class="tei tei-q">“What I +have ordered, I have ordered. As for +you——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +There had come to her that look which +sibyls have. <span class="tei tei-q">“Pilate,”</span> she interrupted, +<span class="tei tei-q">“you are powerful here, I know, but”</span>—and +her hand shot out like an arrow +from a bow—<span class="tei tei-q">“over there vultures are +circling; in your power is a corpse. +What the vultures scent, I see.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +So abrupt and earnest was the gesture +that unconsciously Pilate found himself +looking to where she seemed to point. +He lowered his eyes in vexation. +Wrangling with a woman was not to +his taste. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page219">[pg 219]</span><a name="Pg219" id="Pg219" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There, there,”</span> he said, much as one +might to a fretful child; <span class="tei tei-q">“don’t throw +stones.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I have but one; it is Justice, and that +I keep to hurl at you.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The procurator’s mouth twitched ominously. +<span class="tei tei-q">“My dear,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“you are +too pretty to talk that way; it spoils the +looks. Besides, I have no time to listen.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Tiberius has and will.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate nodded; it was the third time +he had heard the threat that day. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“There are many rooms in his palace,”</span> +he answered, with covert significance. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I know it. There are many, as +you say. But there is one I will enter. +On the door stands written The Future, +and behind it, Pilate, is your death.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Roman, goaded to exasperation, +sprang to his feet. An expression which +Antipas had used occurred to him. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Away with the hetaira,”</span> he cried; and +he was about, it may be, to order her to +be tossed to the fierce wild swine in the +paddocks of the park when the prisoner +and his guards reappeared on the +tessel<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page220">[pg 220]</span><a name="Pg220" id="Pg220" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>lated pavement, and Mary, already +dragged from him, was instantly forgot. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A tattered sagum, which had once been +scarlet, but which had faded since, hung, +detained at the shoulder by a rusty +buckle, and bordered by a laticlave, loosely +about his form. In his hand a bulrush +swayed; on his head was a twisted coil of +bear’s-breech, in which, among the ruffled +leaves, one bud remained; it was white, +the opening edges flecked with pink, +perhaps with blood, for from the temples +and about the ear a rill ran down and +mixed with the purple of the laticlave +below. And in this red parody of kingship +the Christ stood, unmoved as a +phantom, but in his face and eyes there +was a projecting light so luminous, so +intangible, and yet so real, that the skeptical +procurator started, the staff of office +pendent in his grasp. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ecce homo!”</span> he exclaimed. Instinctively +he drew back, and, wonderingly, +half to himself, half to the Christ, <span class="tei tei-q">“Who +are you?”</span> he asked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“A flame below, a soul above,”</span> Jesus +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page221">[pg 221]</span><a name="Pg221" id="Pg221" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>answered, yet so inaudibly that the guards +beside him did not catch the words. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To Pilate his lips had barely moved, +and his wonderment increased. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why +do you not answer?”</span> he said. <span class="tei tei-q">“You +must know that I have the power to condemn +and to acquit.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With that gentleness that was the flower +of his parables Jesus raised his voice. +<span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> he replied, <span class="tei tei-q">“you can have no power +against me unless it come from above.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Again Pilate drew back. Unsummoned +to his lips had sprung the words, <span class="tei tei-q">“Behold +the man!”</span> and now he exclaimed, <span class="tei tei-q">“Behold +the king!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But to the mob the vision he intercepted +was lost. They saw the jest merely, +and with it the stains that torture leaves. +The sight of blood is heady; it inebriates +more surely than wine. The mob, trained +by the elders, and used by them as a +body-guard, fanatic before, were intoxicated +now. With one accord they shrieked +the liturgy again. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Sekaph! Sekaph! Let him be crucified.”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page222">[pg 222]</span><a name="Pg222" id="Pg222" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In that gust of hatred Pilate recovered. +He turned to Caiaphas: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I have released one prisoner; I will +release another too.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“My lord, be warned by one who is +your elder.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“One whom I can remove.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“No doubt, my lord; but suffer him +while he may to warn you not to cause a +revolution on the day of the Paschal feast. +You hear that multitude. Then be +warned.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“But your feast is one of mercy.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The high-priest gazed curiously at his +silk-gloved hands. You would have said +they were objects he had never seen before. +Then he returned the procurator’s +stare. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“We know of no such god.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah!”</span> And the procurator drew a +long breath of understanding. <span class="tei tei-q">“It is that, +I believe, he preaches.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And it is for that,”</span> Caiaphas echoed, +<span class="tei tei-q">“that he must die. Yes, Pilate, it is for +that. There is no such doctrine in the +Pentateuch. We have done our duty. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page223">[pg 223]</span><a name="Pg223" id="Pg223" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>We have convicted a rebel of his guilt. +We have brought him to you, and we demand +his sentence. Pilate, it is not so +very long ago you had hundreds massacred +without judgment, without trial +either, and for what?—for one rebellious +cry. You must have a reason for the +favor you show this man. It would interest +me to learn it; it would interest +Tiberius as well. Listen to that multitude. +If you pay no heed to our accusation nor +yet to their demand, on you the consequences +rest. We are absolved.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He is your king,”</span> the procurator objected, +meditatively. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas wheeled like a feather a breeze +has caught. One hand outstretched he +held to the mob, with the other he pointed +to the Christ. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Our king!”</span> he cried. <span class="tei tei-q">“The procurator +says he is our king!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As the thunder peals, a roar surged +back: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“We have no other king than Cæsar.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Think of Sejanus,”</span> the high-priest +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page224">[pg 224]</span><a name="Pg224" id="Pg224" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>suggested. The thrust was so well timed +it told. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Pilate looked sullenly about. <span class="tei tei-q">“Fetch +me water,”</span> he ordered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A silver bowl was brought, and borrowing +a custom from the Jews he loathed, he +dipped his fingers in it. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I wash my hands of it all,”</span> he muttered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas looked at the elders and +sighed with infinite relief. He had conquered. +For the first time that day he +smiled. He became gracious also, and he +bowed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The blood be upon us, my lord, and +on our children. Will you give the +order?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Calcol!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The centurion approached. An order +was given him in an undertone, and as he +turned to the guards, Pilate drew the staff +of office across his knee, snapped it in +two, tossed the pieces to the ground, and +through the ranks of his servitors passed +on into the great blue vestibule beyond. +</p> + +</div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page225">[pg 225]</span><a name="Pg225" id="Pg225" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc19" id="toc19"></a><a name="pdf20" id="pdf20"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CHAPTER X.</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-pb"></div><a name="Pg226" id="Pg226" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page227">[pg 227]</span><a name="Pg227" id="Pg227" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">X.</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In a sook near the Gannath Gate Mary +stood. In the distance the palace of +Herod defied the sun. Beyond the gate +lay the Hennom Valley, the Geia Hennom, +contracted by the people into Ge’ +Hennom, or Gehenna, and converted by +them into a sewer, a place where carrion +was thrown, and the filth of a great city. +In earlier days children had been immolated +to Moloch there, human victims had +been burned; it was a place accursed, and +to purify the air, as a safeguard against +pestilence, the offal was consumed by +bonfires that were constantly renewed +and never extinguished. At its extremity +was an elevation, a hilly contour which +to the popular fancy suggested a skull. +To the west it fell steeply away. It was +called Gülgolta. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The sook in which Mary stood was +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page228">[pg 228]</span><a name="Pg228" id="Pg228" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>affected by shoemakers. Against the +dwelling of one of them she leaned. The +mantle was gone from her now, and the +olive robe had a rent, but the splendor of +her hair fell unconfined, the perils of her +eyes had increased; yet in their depths +where love had been was hate. One arm +lay along the resisting stone, the other +hung at her side; her face was turned to +the palace, her thin nostrils quivering, her +breath coming and going with that spasmodic +irregularity which the consciousness +of outrage brings. She laid it all to +Judas; he must have returned to Kerioth, +she thought. The sook itself was silent, +stirred merely by some echo of the uproar +in the palace beyond. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From a grilled lattice near by an old +man peered out. He had the restless +eyes of a ferret, and a white beard that +was very long. He too was looking toward +the palace. Now and then he muttered +inaudibly in Aramaic to himself. +In the shadow of a neighboring house a +woman appeared; he shook at the lattice +as an ape does at the bars of a cage, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page229">[pg 229]</span><a name="Pg229" id="Pg229" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>spat a bestial insult at her. The woman +shrank back. Instinctively Mary turned. +In the retreating figure she recognized +Ahulah, and at once, without conscious +effort, she divined that the dwelling +against which she leaned was that of Baba +Barbulah, the husband of the woman +whom the Master had declined to condemn. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +But other things possessed her—the +outrage to the Christ, perplexity as to +how the trial would result, more remotely +the indignity to herself, the slurs of the +tetrarch and of the procurator; and with +them, sapping her heart as fever might, +was that thirst for reparation, unquenchable +in its intensity, which comes to those +who have seen their own life wrecked and +its ideals dispersed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Already Ahulah was forgot. On the +wings of vagabond fancy she was in Rome, +demanding vengeance of Tiberius, wresting +it from him by the sheer force of entreaty, +and with it exulting in the death-throes +of the procurator. Oh, to see his +nails pulled out, his outer skin removed, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page230">[pg 230]</span><a name="Pg230" id="Pg230" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>his tongue severed, his eyes seared with +irons, his wrists slowly twisted till they +snapped! to hear him cry for mercy! to +promise it and not fulfil!—dear God, what +joy was there! +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From the alley into which Ahulah had +shrunk a man issued. He was sturdy as +a bludgeon, and he had a growth of thick +black hair that curled about an honest +face. In his hand was a basket. At the +sight of Mary his steps hesitated, and his +eyes followed hers to where the palace +lay. Then he crossed the zigzag of the +intervening space, but he had to touch +her outstretched arm before she noticed +him. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Simon!”</span> she exclaimed, with that +start one has when suddenly awaked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, Simon indeed;”</span> and through the +silence of the sook his clear laugh rang. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I frightened you, did I not?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary interrupted him. <span class="tei tei-q">“Haven’t you +heard? Has not Eleazer told you——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“When I left Bethany he was sleeping +with both fists closed. Martha——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Master is arrested. Last night +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page231">[pg 231]</span><a name="Pg231" id="Pg231" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>he was before the Sanhedrim; he is before +the procurator now.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Hurriedly Mary gave an account of +what had occurred. As the recital continued, +Simon’s expression grew darker +than his curling hair, he clutched at the +basket which he held, so tightly that the +handle severed, the basket fell, and fruit +that imprisoned the sunlight rolled on +the ground. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“They were for the Master,”</span> he said. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I thought he would sup with us to-night.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“He may do so yet,”</span> she answered. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Never!”</span> cried a voice from the lattice. +<span class="tei tei-q">“They are leading him to Gülgolta now.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Beyond, through the palace gate, a +mass undulated, the body elongated, expanding +as it moved. It was black, but +at the sides was the glisten that cobras +have. About it dust circled, and from it +came the rumble of thunder heard afar. +As the bulk increased, the roar deepened; +the black lessened into varying +hues. To the glisten came the glint of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page232">[pg 232]</span><a name="Pg232" id="Pg232" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>steel; the cobra changed into a multitude, +the escort of a squad of soldiery, +fronted by a centurion and led by the +banner of Imperial Rome. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Behind the centurion, Jesus, in his +faded sagum, staggered, overweighted +by the burden of a cross. Two comrades +in misery were at his side, but +they moved with steadier step, bearing +their crosses with the brawn of muscular +and untired arms. The soldiers marched +impassibly, preceding the executioners—four +stalwart Cypriotes, distinguishable +by the fatness of their calves—while +behind was the Sanhedrim, and, extending +indefinitely to the rear, the rabble of +yelling Jews. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In a cobra’s coils is death, its eyes +transfix. Neither Mary nor Simon had +spoken, and now, as the soldiery was +upon them, they leaned yet nearer the +wall. For a moment Mary hid her face. +At her feet the Christ had fallen, and +from her came one wail, choked down at +once. She stooped to aid him, but he +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page233">[pg 233]</span><a name="Pg233" id="Pg233" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>stood up unassisted and reached to the +wall for support. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The bars of the lattice shook; the old +man peered out. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t touch my house, you vagabond! +Move on!”</span> he cried. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Calcol had turned to Simon, who was +raising the cross. <span class="tei tei-q">“Carry it for him,”</span> he +commanded. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Baba Barbulah still shook at the lattice. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Move on!”</span> he repeated. <span class="tei tei-q">“Seducer +of the people, remitter of sins, upholder +of adultery, move on; don’t touch my +house, it will fall down on you! Move +on, I say!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Calcol’s command Simon had anticipated. +He shouldered the cross. It was +heavier to him than to the Christ, not in +weight, perhaps, but in purpose. In the +narrowness of the sook the crowd was +impeded, but from the rear they pushed, +surprised at the halt. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary sprang at the lattice. <span class="tei tei-q">“It is you +that shall move on,”</span> she cried; <span class="tei tei-q">“yes, +you; and forever. The desert will call +to you, <span class="tei tei-q">‘March;’</span> and the sea will snarl, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page234">[pg 234]</span><a name="Pg234" id="Pg234" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span class="tei tei-q">‘Further yet.’</span> The gates of cities will +deny you, and the doors of hamlets be +closed. The eagles may return to their +eyrie, the panthers retreat to their lair, +but you will have no home, no rest, and, +till time dies, no tomb.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The old man gnashed back at her an +insult more bestial than he used before, +and spat at her through the bars. But +Mary had turned to the Christ. He was +surrounded now by some women who +had filtered through the alley above. +Johanna, Mary Clopas, the wife of Zebdia, +and Bernice, a fragile girl newly enrolled. +The latter was wiping from his +face the stains of blood and dust. The +others were beating their breasts, crying +aloud. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Of the disciples there was no trace, nor +yet of any of those who had greeted him +as the Messiah. It may be that the admiring +throngs that had gathered about +him had faded before a superior force. +It may be they had lost heart, belief +perhaps as well. Invective never propitiates. +Recently he had omitted to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page235">[pg 235]</span><a name="Pg235" id="Pg235" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>prophesy, he argued. The exquisite +parables with which he had been wont +to charm even the recalcitrant seemed to +have been put aside, and with them those +wonders which rumor held him to have +worked. But now that pathos and grace +which endeared, that perfection of sentiment +and expression which exalted the +heart, returned to him, accentuated perhaps +by the agonies he had endured. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Weep for me no more,”</span> he entreated. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But weep for yourselves and for your +children. The days are coming,”</span> he +added, with a gesture at the impatient +mob—<span class="tei tei-q">“the days are coming in which +they shall say to the mountains, Fall on +us; to the hills, Cover us. For if these +things are done in the green tree, what +will be done in the dry?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And in this entreaty, in which he exhorted +them to view disaster otherwise +than from the external and evanescent +aspect, the voice of the prophet rang +once more. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary as yet had not realized the full +portent of the soldiery and the mob. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page236">[pg 236]</span><a name="Pg236" id="Pg236" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>When it was approaching it had occurred +to her that it might be another triumphal +escort, such as she had once seen surround +him on his way to a feast. As it +advanced, the roar bewildered, and she +had ceased to conjecture; then the Master +had fallen, and the old Jew had vomited +his slime. At the moment it was that, and +that only, which had impressed her, and +she had answered with the force of that +new strength which suddenly she had +found. But now at the sight of the +women beating their breasts, and the +blood-stained face of the Master, an inkling +came to her; she stared open-mouthed +at the cross, at Calcol, and at +the executioners that were there. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Then immediately that horrible longing +to know the worst beset her, and she +darted to where the centurion stood. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“What is it?”</span> she gasped. <span class="tei tei-q">“What are +you to do with him?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +By way of answer Calcol extended his +arms straight out from either side, his +head thrown back. He was a good-natured +ruffian, with clear and pleasant eyes. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page237">[pg 237]</span><a name="Pg237" id="Pg237" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Not crucify?”</span> she cried. <span class="tei tei-q">“Tell me, it +is not that?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Calcol nodded. To him one Jew more, +one Jew less, was immaterial, provided +he had his pay, and the prospect of a return +to Rome was not too long delayed. +Yet none the less in some misty way he +wondered why this woman, with her +splendid hair and scorching eyes, should +have upbraided the tetrarch and abused +the procurator because of the friendless +Galilean whom he was leading to the +cross. Woman to him, however, was, as +she has been to others wiser than he, an +enigma he failed to solve. And so he +nodded merely, not unkindly, and smiled +in Mary’s face. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The horrible longing now was stilled. +She knew the worst; yet as the knowledge +of it penetrated her being, it seemed to +her as though it could not be true, that +she was the plaything of some hallucination, +her mind inhabited by a nightmare +from which she must presently awake. +The howl of the impatient mob undeceived +her. It was real; it was actual; +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page238">[pg 238]</span><a name="Pg238" id="Pg238" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>it was life. She stared at Calcol, her fair +mouth agape. There were many things +she wanted to say; her thoughts teemed +with arguments, her mind with persuasions; +but she could utter nothing; she +was as one struck dumb; and it was not +until the centurion smiled that the spell +dissolved and the power of speech returned. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Ah, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> never; you shall kill me +first!”</span> she cried. And already she saw +herself circumventing the centurion, blinding +the soldiery, defying the mob, and +leading the Master through byways and +underground passages out of the accursed +city into the fresh glades of Gethsemane, +over the hill, down the hollows +to the Jordan, and into the desert beyond. +There was one spot she knew +very well; one that only a bird could +find; one that she would mention to no +one, but to which she could take him and +keep him hidden there in the brakes till +night came, and the fording of the river +was safe. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“That never!”</span> she cried. And +brush<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page239">[pg 239]</span><a name="Pg239" id="Pg239" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ing Bernice off, she caught the Master by +the cloak. <span class="tei tei-q">“Come with me,”</span> she murmured. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I know a way——”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +And she would have dragged him perhaps, +regardless of the others, but the +centurion had her by the arm. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“See here, my pretty friend, your place +is not here.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +With a twist he sent her spinning back +to Baba Barbulah’s wall. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“March!”</span> he ordered. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The soldiery, disarranged, fell in line. +The two robbers picked up their burden. +The Master turned to Mary, to the others +as well, with that expression which he +alone possessed, that look which both +promised and assuaged, and, it may be, +would have said some word of encouragement, +but Mary was at his side again, +her hand upon his cloak. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“It shall never be,”</span> she repeated. +<span class="tei tei-q">“They must kill me first.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Calcol wheeled. His short sword +glistened, reversed, and her cheek was +laid open by the hilt. She staggered +back. The soldiery moved on. The +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page240">[pg 240]</span><a name="Pg240" id="Pg240" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>women surrounded her and stanched the +wound. To her the blow held the difference +between a cut and a cancer; she +knew that it could never heal; and, as the +blood poured down her face, for the first +time she divined the uselessness of revolt. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Presently a wave of the mob caught +her, separating her from the other women, +and carrying her in its eddy through +the gate, into the valley and on to the +hillock beyond. On one side were the +glimmer of fires, the smell of smoke, of +offal too. On the infrequent trees vultures +perched. To the right was a nest +of gardens and of tombs. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the eddies Mary lost foothold and +lagged a little to the rear. When she +reached Gülgolta the soldiery had formed +three sides of a square. In it were the +executioners, the prisoners, and the centurion. +At the place where a fourth side +might have been a steep decline began. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Within the square three crosses lay; +before them the prisoners stood, stripped +of their clothing now, and naked. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The Sanhedrim was grouped about +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page241">[pg 241]</span><a name="Pg241" id="Pg241" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that side of the square which leaned to +the south, the horned bonnet of Caiaphas +towering its lacework above the others. +To the wide and cruel corners of his +mouth had come the calm of a cheetah +devouring its prey. At the outer angle, +to the right, the standard of the empire +swayed; and from an oak two vultures +soared with a scream into the air, their +eyes fixed on the vision of bare white +flesh. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Through the ranks an elder passed. In +his hand was a gourd, which he offered to +one of the thieves. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Drink of it, Dysmas,”</span> he invited. +<span class="tei tei-q">“In it grains of frankincense have been +dissolved.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +To the rear Annas nodded his approval. +His lean, lank jaws parted. <span class="tei tei-q">“Give strong +drink,”</span> he announced, authoritatively; +<span class="tei tei-q">“give strong and heady drink to those +about to die, and wine to those that sorrow.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Dysmas drank abundantly of the soporific, +and held the gourd to his comrade. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Take it, Stegas.”</span> +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page242">[pg 242]</span><a name="Pg242" id="Pg242" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As the second thief raised it to his lips, +with a motion of arm and knee an executioner +caught Dysmas beneath the chin, +behind the leg, and the thief lay on a +cross. In a second his wrists were bound, +his feet as well. There was the blow of +a hammer on a nail, a spurt of blood from +the open hand; another blow, another +spurt; and the cross, upraised, settled in +a cavity already prepared, a beam behind +it for support. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Stegas, his thirst slaked, fell as Dysmas +had, and the elder caught the gourd and +offered it to the Christ. If he had been +tempted in the desert, as rumor alleged, +the temptation could have been as nothing +in comparison to the enticements of +that cup. It held relief from thought, +from the acutest pain that flesh can know, +from life, from death. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +He waved it aside. The executioner +started with surprise; but he had his +duty to perform, and, recovering himself, +he caught the Christ, and in a moment he +too was down, his hands transfixed, the +cross upraised. The blood dripped +lei<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page243">[pg 243]</span><a name="Pg243" id="Pg243" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>surely on the sand beneath. Across his +features a shadow passed and vanished. +His lips moved. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Father,”</span> he murmured, <span class="tei tei-q">“forgive +them; they know not what they do.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Calcol gave an order. Over the heads +of Dysmas and of Stegas the sanis were +affixed, wooden tablets smeared with +gypsum, bearing the name of the crucified +and with it the offence. They were +simple and terse; but above the Christ +appeared a legend in three tongues, in +Aramaic, in Greek, and in Latin: +</p> + + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"></p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/titulus.png" alt="Aramaic: Mâlkâ dî Jehudâje" /></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span lang="el" class="tei tei-foreign" style="text-align: center" xml:lang="el"><span style="font-style: normal">Ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων.</span></span></p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">Rex Judæorum.</p> +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas sprang back as from the +point of a sword. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mâlkâ dî Jehudâje!”</span> he bellowed. +<span class="tei tei-q">“King of the Jews! It is a blasphemy, +an iniquity, and an outrage. Centurion, +tear it down.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Calcol shrugged his shoulders, and +pointed to the palace. <span class="tei tei-q">“What the procurator +has written he has written,”</span> he +answered. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page244">[pg 244]</span><a name="Pg244" id="Pg244" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In the tone, in the gesture that preceded +it, and in its impertinence Caiaphas +read Pilate’s one yet supreme revenge, +the expression of his absolute contempt +for the whole Sanhedrim and the nation +that it ruled. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +From the rear the mob jumped at the +title as at a catchword. To them the +irony of the procurator presumably was +lost. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“King of the Jews!”</span> they shouted. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mâlkâ dî Jehudâje, come down from +your cross!”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +It was a great festival, and as they +jeered at Jesus they enjoyed themselves +hugely. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +In their vast delight the voice of Stegas +was drowned. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I am a Roman citizen,”</span> he kept repeating, +his head swaying, and indicating +with his eyes the wounds in his hands, +the torture he endured. <span class="tei tei-q">“Kill me,”</span> he +implored. And finding entreaty idle, he +reviled the centurion, cursed the soldiery, +and would have spat at them, but to his +burning throat no spittle came. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page245">[pg 245]</span><a name="Pg245" id="Pg245" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The tongue of Dysmas lolled from his +mouth. He had not the ability to speak, +even if in speech relief could come. +Flame licked at his flesh, his joints were +severing, each artery was a nerve exposed, +and something was crunching his brain. +He could no longer groan; he could +suffer merely, such suffering as hell perhaps +has failed to contrive, that apogee +of agony which it was left for man to +devise. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Stegas, catching the refrain the mob +repeated, turned his eyes from the soldiery +to the adjacent cross. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“If you are as they say,”</span> he cried, +<span class="tei tei-q">“save yourself and us.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +As a taunt to Caiaphas, Calcol echoed, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Behold your king!”</span> and raising a stalk +of hyssop, on which was a sponge that he +had dipped in the posca, the thin wine +the soldiers drink, he offered it to the +Christ. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The sun was nearing the horizon. +Caiaphas gathered his ample folds about +him. He had seen enough. The feast, +wretchedly embittered, was nearly done. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page246">[pg 246]</span><a name="Pg246" id="Pg246" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>There was another at which he must officiate: +the shofa presently would sound; +the skewering of the Paschal lamb it was +needful for him to superintend. It was +time, he knew, to return to the Temple; +and as he gave a last indignant look at +the placard, the lips of the Christ parted +to one despairing cry: +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Elî, Elî, lemâh shebâktanî?”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Caiaphas, nodding to the elders, smiled +with satisfaction. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At last the false pretender was forced +to acknowledge the invalidity of his +claims. The Father whose son he vaunted +himself to be had disowned him when +his recognition was needed, if ever it had +been needed at all. And so, with the +smile of one whose labor has had its +recompense, Caiaphas patted his skirt, +and the elders about him strolled back +through the Gannath Gate to the Temple +that awaited him. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The multitude meanwhile had decreased. +To the crowd also the Temple +had its attractions, its duties, and its +offices. Moreover, the spectacle was at +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page247">[pg 247]</span><a name="Pg247" id="Pg247" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>an end. With a blow of the mallet the +legs of the thieves had been broken. +They had died without a shriek, a thing +to be regretted. The Galilean too, +pierced by the level stroke of a spear, +had succumbed without a word. Sundown +was approaching. Clearly it was +best to be within the walls where other +gayeties were. The mob dispersed, leaving +behind but the dead, the circling +vultures, a group of soldiers throwing dice +for the garments of the crucified, and, +remotely, a group of women huddled +beneath a protecting oak. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +During the hour or two that intervened, +the force which had visited Mary evaporated +in strength overtaxed. She was +conscious only that she suffocated. The +words of the women that had drawn her +to them were empty as blanks in a dream; +the jeers of the mob vacant as an empty +bier. To but one thing was she alive, +the fact that death could be. Little by +little, as the impossible merged into the +actual, the understanding came to her +that the worst that could be had been +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page248">[pg 248]</span><a name="Pg248" id="Pg248" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>done, and she ceased to suffer. The departing +hierarchy, the dispersing mob, +retreating before encroaching night, left +her unimpressed. To her the setting sun +was Christ. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The soldiers passed. She did not see +them. Calcol called to her. She did +not hear. The women had gone from +her; she did not notice it. She stood as +a cataleptic might, her eyes on the cross. +Once only, when the Christ had uttered +his despairing cry, she too had cried in +her despair. In the roar of the mob the +cry was lost as a stone tossed in the sea. +Since then she had been dumb, sightless +also, existing, if at all, unconsciously, her +life-springs nourished by death. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Though she gazed at the cross, she had +ceased to distinguish it. A little group +that had reached it before the soldiery +left had been unmarked by her. On the +platform of her dream a serpent had +emerged. In its coils were her immortal +hopes. It was that she saw, and that +alone. Those moments of agony in +which the imagination oscillates between +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page249">[pg 249]</span><a name="Pg249" id="Pg249" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the past and the future, devouring the +one, fumbling the other, had been endured, +and resignation failed to bring its +balm. She had believed with a faith so +firm that now in its demolition there was +nothing left—an abyss merely, where +light was not. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A hand touched her, and she quivered +as a leaf does at the wing of a bird. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mary, come with us,”</span> some one was +saying; <span class="tei tei-q">“we are taking him to a tomb.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Just beyond were men and women +whom she knew. Joseph of Haramathaïm, +a close follower of the Master; +Nikodemon, the richest man in all Judæa; +Johanna, Mary Clopas, Salomè, Bernice, +and the servants of the opulent Jew. It +was Ahulah who had touched her; and as +Mary started she saw before her a coffin +which the others bore. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Come with us,”</span> Ahulah repeated; and +Mary crossed the intervening ridge to +where the gardens were and the tombs +she had already passed. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +At the door of a sepulchre the brief +procession halted. Within was a room, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page250">[pg 250]</span><a name="Pg250" id="Pg250" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>a little grotto furnished with a stone slab +and a lamp that flickered, surmounted by +an arch. The coffin, placed on the slab, +routed a bat that flew to the arch, and a +lizard that scurried to a crevice. In the +coffin the Christ lay, his head wrapped in +a napkin, the body wound about by +broad bands of linen that were secured +with gum and impregnated with spices +and with myrrh. The odor of aromatics +filled the tomb. The bat escaped to the +night. A stone was rolled before the +opening, the brief procession withdrew, +and Mary was left with the dead. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The momentary exertion, the bier, the +sepulchre, the sight of the Christ in his +cerements, the brooding quiet—these +things had roused her. Her mind was +nimbler, and thought more active. One +by one the stars appeared. They would +vanish, she told herself, as her hopes had +done. Only they would reappear, and +belief could not. It had come as a rainbow +does, and disappeared as vaporously, +little by little, before the full glare of +might. For a minute, hours perhaps, she +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page251">[pg 251]</span><a name="Pg251" id="Pg251" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>stood quite still, interrogating the past +in which so much had been, gauging the +future in which so much was to be. The +one retreated, the other fled. Thoughts +came to her evanescently, and faded before +they were wholly formed. At one +moment she was beckoning the unicorns +from the desert, the winged lions from the +yonderland, commanding them to bear +her to the home of some immense revenge. +At others she was asking her way of +griffins, propounding the problem to the +Sphinx. But the unicorns and lions took +flight, the griffins spread their wings, the +Sphinx fell asleep. There was no answer +to her appeal. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Behind the sepulchre the moon rose; it +dropped a beam near by. There is light +somewhere, it seemed to say; and in that +telegram from Above, she thought of +Rome. She remembered now, in Rome +was Tiberius, and in him Revenge. She +smiled at her own forgetfulness. Yes, it +was there. She would go to him, she +would exact reparation; there should be +another crucifixion. Pilate should be +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page252">[pg 252]</span><a name="Pg252" id="Pg252" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>nailed to the cross, Judas on one side, +Caiaphas on the other. Only it would be +at Rome where there was no Passover to +interfere with the torture they endured. +Things were done better there. Men were +crucified, not with the head up, but with +the feet; and so remained, not for hours, +but for days; and died, not of their wounds +alone, but of hunger too. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +A chariot of dream caught her, and, +borne across the intervening space, she saw +herself in a palace where there were gods +and monsters, columns of transparent +quartz, floors of malachite, roofs of gold. +And there, on a dais, the Cæsar lay. +Behind him a fan, luminous as a peacock’s +tail, oscillated to the tinkling of +mysterious keys. In his crown was the +lividity of uncolored dawns, in his sceptre +the dominion of the world. An ulcer devoured +his face, and in his ear a boy repeated +the maxims of Elephantis. Mary +threw herself at his feet, her tears fell on +them as rain on leaves. <span class="tei tei-q">“Vengeance,”</span> +she implored; but he listened merely to +the boy at his side. <span class="tei tei-q">“Death is your +ser<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page253">[pg 253]</span><a name="Pg253" id="Pg253" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>vant,”</span> she cried. <span class="tei tei-q">“You command, it +obeys.”</span> The ulcer oozed, the face grew +vague, he gave no answer. She stood up +and menaced him. <span class="tei tei-q">“Behind you spectres +crouch; you may not see them. I do; their +name is To-morrow.”</span> The murmurs of +the boy were her sole reply. The roof +crumbled, the flooring disappeared, the +emperor faded, and Mary stared into +space. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The moon that had struck aslant the +tomb had gone, but where its beams had +fallen the message remained. There is +light somewhere, it repeated. Across the +heavens a meteor shot like a bee. In the +air voices whispered confusedly. It is +not in Rome, one seemed to say. It is +not on earth, another called. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +Mary clutched at her beating breast. +The sky now was an opening rose. What +the sunset had sown the dawn would reap. +In the night that had enveloped, day +raised a lattice, and through it came a +gust of higher thought. It is not in revenge, +a voice whispered. It is not in +regret, another called. +</p> + +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page254">[pg 254]</span><a name="Pg254" id="Pg254" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“I know it,”</span> Mary gasped. <span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, yes, +I know it now. It is in faith.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-q">“And in abnegation of self.”</span> +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +The stone which stood before the sepulchre +had rolled away. At her side the +Christ stood. In his eyes were golden +parables, in his face Truth shone revealed. +She stared, dumb with the unexpected +joy of belief confirmed, blinded by the +sudden light, while he who had rent the +bonds of death passed on into the budding +day. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> +When the brief procession of the night +before returned to the tomb, it was empty. +At the door Mary lay, her arms outstretched +and vacant. +</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 2.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%">FINIS MARIÆ.</span></span> +</p> + </div></div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-back" style="margin-bottom: 2.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + <div class="boxed tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc21" id="toc21"></a><a name="pdf22" id="pdf22"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Transcriber’s note</span></h1> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The table of contents has been added in the electronic version.</p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The following changes have been made to the text:</p> + <table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#corr036" class="tei tei-ref">page 36</a>, <span class="tei tei-q">“forget”</span> changed to <span class="tei tei-q">“forgot”</span>, <span class="tei tei-q">“Hew”</span> changed to <span class="tei tei-q">“Her”</span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#corr038" class="tei tei-ref">page 38</a>, <span class="tei tei-q">“a”</span> added before <span class="tei tei-q">“sword”</span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#corr046" class="tei tei-ref">page 46</a>, period added following <span class="tei tei-q">“roof”</span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#corr108" class="tei tei-ref">page 108</a>, <span class="tei tei-q">“surperber”</span> changed to <span class="tei tei-q">“superber”</span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#corr118" class="tei tei-ref">page 118</a>, <span class="tei tei-q">“is”</span> changed to <span class="tei tei-q">“it”</span></td></tr></tbody></table> + </div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div id="pgfooter" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY MAGDALEN*** +</pre><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><a name="rightpageheader23" id="rightpageheader23"></a><a name="pgtoc24" id="pgtoc24"></a><a name="pdf25" id="pdf25"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Credits</span></h1><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr><th class="tei tei-label tei-label-gloss">March 5, 2010 </th></tr><tr><td class="tei tei-item tei-item-gloss"><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-respStmt"> + <span class="tei tei-resp">Produced by Bryan Ness, Stefan Cramme and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material + from the Google Print project.)</span> + </span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; 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