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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity, by Alexandre Kuprin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity
+
+Author: Alexandre Kuprin
+
+Illustrator: Forbes-Felix
+
+Translator: B. G. Guerney
+
+Release Date: August 16, 2010 [eBook #33444]
+[Most recently updated: October 16, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SULAMITH: A ROMANCE OF ANTIQUITY ***
+
+
+
+
+_Printed in 18 point Caslon on Villon Antique Laid paper. 1500 numbered
+copies were issued for subscribers, and type distributed after printing.
+The illustrations were especially designed for this edition._
+
+
+_This is number_ [1114]
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+SULAMITH
+
+_A Romance of Antiquity_
+
+_By_ ALEXANDRE KUPRIN
+
+Author of “_Yama_” (_The Pit_), etc.
+
+_Translated from the Russian_
+
+By B. G. GUERNEY
+
+with
+
+_Eight full-page illustrations in color_
+
+_By_ FORBES-FELIX
+
+NEW YORK
+
+_Privately Printed for Subscribers_
+
+MCMXXVIII
+
+
+  Copyright by
+  NICHOLAS L. BROWN
+  _All Rights Reserved_
+
+PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+_AUTHOR’S DEDICATION:_
+
+To Ivan Alexeievich Bunin
+
+  A. Kuprin
+
+
+
+
+Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love
+_is_ strong as death; jealousy _is_ cruel as the grave: the coals
+thereof _are_ coals of fire, _which hath_ a most vehement flame.[1]
+
+_THE SONG OF SONGS_
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  Plate One
+  Plate Two
+  Plate Three
+  Plate Four
+  Plate Five
+  Plate Six
+  Plate Seven
+  Plate Eight
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+
+King Solomon had not yet attained middle age--forty-five; yet the fame
+of his wisdom and comeliness, of the grandeur of his life and the pomp
+of his court, had spread far beyond the limits of Palestine. In Assyria
+and Phoenicia; in Lower and Upper Ægypt; from ancient Tabriz to Yemen
+and from Ismar unto Persepolis; on the coast of the Black Sea and upon
+the islands of the Mediterranean,--all uttered his name in wonder, for
+there was none among the kings like unto him in all his days.
+
+In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were
+come out of Ægypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in
+the month of Zif,[2] did the king undertake the erection of the great
+temple of the Lord in Mount Moriah, and the building of his palace in
+Jerusalem. Fourscore thousand stonesquarers and threescore and ten
+thousand that bare burthens wrought without cease in the mountains, and
+in the outskirts of the city; while ten thousand hewers that cut timber,
+out of a number of eight and thirty thousand, were sent each month, by
+courses, to Lebanon, where they spent a month in labour so arduous that
+they rested for two months thereafter. Thousands of men tied the cut
+trees into flotes, and hundreds of seamen brought them by sea to Jaffa,
+where they were fashioned by Tyrians, skilled to work at turning and
+carpentry. Only at the rearing of the pyramids of Khephren, Khufu, and
+Mencheres, at Ghizeh, had such an infinite multitude of labourers been
+used.
+
+Three thousand and six hundred officers oversaw the works; while
+Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over the officers,--a cruel man and an
+active, concerning whom had sprung up a rumour that he never slept,
+devoured by the fire of an internal, incurable disease. As for the
+plans of the palace and the temple; the drawings of the columns, the
+fore-court, and the brasen sea; the designs for the windows; the
+ornaments of the walls and the thrones,--they had all been created by
+the master builder Hiram-Abiah of Sidon, the son of a worker in brass
+of the tribe of Naphtali.
+
+After seven years, in the month of Bul,[3] the temple of the Lord was
+completed; and after thirteen years, the palace of the king also. For
+cedar logs out of Lebanon, for cypress and olive boards, for almug,
+shittim, and tarshish woods, for great stones, costly stones, and hewed
+and polished stones; for purple, scarlet, and for byssin broidered in
+gold; for stuffs of blue wool; for ivory and red-dyed rams’ skins; for
+iron, onyx, and the vast quantity of marble; for precious stones; for
+the chains, the wreaths, the cords, the tongs, the nets, the lavers,
+and the flowers and the lamps and the candlesticks,--all, all of gold;
+for the hinges of gold for the doors, and the nails of gold, weighing
+sixty shekels each; for the basons and platters of beaten gold; for
+ornaments,--graven and in mosaic; for the images of lions, cherubim,
+oxen, palms and pineapples, both hewn in stone and molten,--for all
+these did Solomon give Hiram, King of Tyre, who bore the same name as
+the master builder, twenty cities and hamlets in the land of Galilee,
+and Hiram found the gift insignificant, with such splendour had been
+built the temple of the Lord, and the palace of Solomon, and the little
+palace at Millo for the king’s wife, the beautiful Queen Astis, daughter
+to Shishak, Pharaoh of Ægypt; while the redwood which later went for the
+balustrades and stairs of the galleries, for the musical instruments and
+for the bindings of the sacred books, had been brought as a gift to
+Solomon by the Queen of Sheba, the wise and beautiful Balkis, together
+with such a quantity of aromatic incense, sweet smelling oils, and
+precious perfumes, as had never been seen before in the land of Israel.
+
+With each year did the riches of the king increase. Thrice a year
+did his ships return to harbour: the _Tarshish_, that sailed the
+Mediterranean, and the _Hiram_, that sailed the Black Sea. They brought
+out of Africa ivory and apes and peacocks and antelopes; richly adorned
+chariots out of Ægypt; live tigers and lions, as well as animal pelts
+and furs, out of Mesopotamia; snow-white steeds out of Cuth; gold dust
+out of Parvaam that came to six hundred and threescore talents in one
+year; redwood, ebony and sandalwood out of the land of Ophir; gay rugs
+of Asshur and Calah, of marvelous designs,--the friendly gifts of King
+Tiglath-Pileser; artistic mosaic out of Nineveh, Nimroud, and Sargon;
+wondrous figured stuffs out of Khatuar; goblets of beaten gold out
+of Tyre; stained glass out of Sidon; and out of Punt, which is near
+Bab-el-Medebu, those rare perfumes,--nard, aloes, calamus, cinnamon,
+saffron, amber, musk, stacte, galbanum, Smyrna myrrh, and
+frankincense,--for the possession of which the Ægyptian pharaohs had
+more than once embarked upon bloody wars.
+
+As for silver, it was accounted of as common stone in the days of
+Solomon, and redwood was of no more value than the common sycamores that
+grow in the low plains in abundance.
+
+Pools of stone, lined with porphyry, and marble cisterns and cool
+fountains did the king build, commanding the water to be conveyed from
+mountain springs that plunged down into the Kidron’s torrent; while
+around the palace he planted gardens and groves, and cultivated a
+vineyard in Baal-hamon.
+
+And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for mules and for the horses for
+his chariots, and twelve thousand for his cavalry; barley also and straw
+for the horses were brought daily from the provinces. Thirty measures of
+fine flour, and threescore measures of other meal; an hundred baths of
+different wines; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and
+three hundred sheep, not counting harts and roebucks, and fallowdeer,
+and fatted fowl,--all this, passing through the hands of twelve officers,
+went daily for the table of Solomon, as well as for his court, his
+retinue, and his guard. Threescore warriors, out of a number of five
+hundred of the most stalwart and most valiant in all his army, held
+watch by turns in the inner chambers of the palace. Five hundred
+bucklers, covered with plates of gold, did the king command to be made
+for his bodyguards.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+
+Whatsoever the eyes of the king might desire, he kept not from them;
+and withheld not his heart from any joy. Seven hundred wives had the
+king, and three hundred concubines, without counting slaves and
+dancers. And all of them did Solomon charm with his love, for God had
+endowed him with such an inexhaustible strength of passion as was not
+given to ordinary men. He loved the white-faced, black-eyed, red-lipped
+Hittites for their vivid but momentary beauty, that bursts into blossom
+just as early and enchantingly, and fades just as rapidly as the flower
+of the narcissus; the swarthy, tall, vehement Philistines, with wiry,
+curly locks, who wore golden, tinkling armlets upon their wrists,
+golden hoops upon their shoulders, and broad anklets, joined by a thin
+little chain, upon both ankles; gentle, diminutive, lithe Ammorites
+formed without a blemish, whose faithfulness and submissiveness in love
+had passed into a proverb; women out of Assyria, who put their eyes in
+painting to make them seem more elongated, and who ate out with acid
+blue stars upon their foreheads and cheeks; well-schooled, gay and
+witty daughters of Sidon, who knew well how to sing and dance, as well
+as to play upon harps, lutes and flutes, to the accompaniment of
+tabours; xanthochroöus women of Ægypt, indefatigable in love and insane
+in jealousy; voluputous Babylonians, whose entire body underneath their
+raiment was as smooth as marble, because they eradicated the hair upon
+it with a special paste; virgins of Baktria, who stained their nails
+and hair a fiery-red colour, and wore wide, loose trowsers; silent,
+bashful Moabites, whose magnificent breasts were cool on the sultriest
+nights of summer; care-free and profligate Ammonites, with fiery hair,
+and flesh of such whiteness that it glowed in the dark; frail,
+blue-eyed women with flaxen hair, and skin of a delicate fragrance, who
+were brought from the north, through Baalbec, and whose tongue was
+incomprehensible to all the dwellers in Palestine. The king loved many
+daughters of Judæa and Israel besides.
+
+Also shared he his couch with Balkis-Mâkkedah, the Queen of Sheba, who
+had surpassed all women on earth in beauty, wisdom, riches, and her
+diversified art in passion; and with Abishag the Shunamite, who had
+warmed the old age of David,--a kindly, quiet beauty, for whose sake
+Solomon had put to death his elder brother Adonijah, at the hands of
+Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada.
+
+And also with the poor maiden of the vineyard, by the name of Sulamith,
+whom alone among all women the king had loved with all his heart.
+
+Solomon made himself a litter of the best cedar wood, with pillars of
+silver, with arm-rests of gold in the form of recumbent lions, with a
+covering of purple Tyrian stuff, while the entire inner side of the
+covering was ornamented with gold embroidery and with precious
+stones,--the love-gifts of the women and virgins of Jerusalem. And when
+well-built black slaves bore Solomon among his people on grand festal
+days, truly was the king glorious, like the lilies that are in the
+Valley of Sharon!
+
+Pale was his face; his lips like unto a vivid thread of scarlet; his
+wavy locks a bluish black, and in them--the adornment of wisdom--gleamed
+gray hairs, like to the silver threads of mountain streams, falling down
+from the dark crags of Hermon; gray hairs glistened in his dark beard
+also, curled, after the custom of the kings of Assyria, in regular,
+small rows.
+
+As for the eyes of the king, they were dark, like the darkest agate, like
+the heavens on a moonless night in summer; while his eye-lashes, that
+spread upward and downward like arrows, resembled dark rays around dark
+stars. And there was no man in all the universe who could bear the gaze
+of Solomon without casting down his eyes. And the lightnings of wrath in
+the eyes of the king would prostrate people to the earth.
+
+But there were moments of heartfelt merriment, when the king would grow
+intoxicated with love, or wine, or the delight of power, or when he
+rejoiced over words of wisdom or beauty, fitly spoken. Then his lashes
+would be softly half-lowered, casting blue shadows upon his radiant
+face, and in the king’s eyes would kindle the warm flames of a kindly,
+tender laughter, just like the play of black diamonds; and whosoever
+might behold this smile was ready to yield up body and soul for it--so
+indescribably beautiful was it. The mere name of King Solomon, uttered
+aloud, stirred the hearts of women, like the fragrance of spilt myrrh
+that recalls nights of love.
+
+The king’s hands were soft, white, warm and beautiful, like a woman’s;
+but they held such an excess of life energy that, by the laying on
+of his palms upon the temples of the sick, the king cured headaches,
+convulsions, black melancholy, and demoniacal possession. Upon the index
+finger of his left hand the king wore a gem of blood-red asteria that
+emitted six pearl-coloured rays. Many centuries did this ring number,
+and upon the reverse side of its stone was graven an inscription, in the
+tongue of an ancient, vanished people: “All things pass away.”
+
+And so great was the sway of Solomon’s soul that even beasts submitted
+to it; lions and tigers crawled at the feet of the king, rubbing their
+muzzles against his knees, and licking his hands with their rough
+tongues, whenever he entered their quarters. And he, whose heart found
+joy in the dazzling play of precious stones, in the fragrance of
+sweet-smelling Ægyptian resins, in the soft touch of light stuffs, in
+sweet music, in the exquisite taste of red, sparkling wine playing in
+a chased Ninuanian chalice,--he also loved to stroke the coarse manes
+of lions, the velvety backs of black panthers, and the tender paws
+of young, speckled leopards; loved to hear the roar of wild beasts, to
+see their powerful and superb movements, and to feel the hot feral odour
+of their breath.
+
+Thus did Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the historian of his days,
+depict King Solomon.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+
+“Because thou hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked
+riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast
+asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold, I have done
+according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding
+heart: so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee
+shall any arise like unto thee.”
+
+Thus spake God unto Solomon, and through His word did the king come to
+know the structure of the universe and the working of the elements; to
+fathom the beginning, end, and midst of all ages; to penetrate the
+mystery of the eternal, wave-like and rotating recurrence of events;
+from the astronomers of Byblos, Acre, Sargon, Borsippa and Nineveh did
+he learn to watch the yearly orbits of the stars and the changes in
+their positions. He knew also the nature of all animals and divined the
+feelings of beasts; he understood the source and direction of winds, the
+different properties of plants, and the potency of healing herbs.
+
+The designs in the heart of man are deep waters, but even them could
+the king fathom. In the words and voice, in the eyes, in the motions
+of the hands, he read the innermost mysteries of souls as plainly as
+the characters of an open book. And because of that, from all ends of
+Palestine, there came to him a vast multitude of people, imploring
+judgment, advice, help, the settlement of some dispute, as well as the
+solving of incomprehensible portents and dreams. And men would marvel
+at the profundity and finesse of Solomon’s answers.
+
+Three thousand proverbs did Solomon compose, and his songs were a
+thousand and five. He dictated them to two skilled and rapid scribes:
+Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, and afterwards collated
+what both had written. Always did he clothe his thoughts in choice
+expressions, for a word fitly spoken is like an apple of gold in a bowl
+of translucent sardonyx;[4] and also for that the words of the wise are
+as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which
+are given from one Shepherd. “A word is a spark in the motion of the
+heart,”--thus saith the king. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom
+of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of the
+Ægyptians. For he was above all men in wisdom; wiser than Ethan the
+Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dardra, the sons of Mahol. But he
+was already beginning to weary of the beauty of ordinary human wisdom,
+and no longer did it have its former value in his eyes. With a restless
+and searching mind did he thirst after that higher wisdom, which the
+Lord possessed in the beginning of His way, before His works of old, set
+up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was; that
+wisdom which was His great artificer when He set a compass upon the
+face of the deep. And Solomon found it not.
+
+The king mastered the teachings of the magi of Chaldæa and Nineveh; the
+science of the astrologers of Abydos, Sais, and Memphis; the secrets of
+the Assyrian sorcerers, mystagogues, and epopts, and of the fatidicæ of
+Baktria and Persepolis; and he had become convinced that their knowledge
+was but the knowledge of mortals.
+
+Also did he seek for wisdom in the occult rites of ancient pagan faiths,
+and for that reason visited idol-temples and offered up oblations to the
+mighty Baal-Lebanon, who was honoured under the name of Melkart,--the
+god of creation and destruction, the patron of navigation in Tyre and
+Sidon,--called Ammon in the Oasis of Sibakh, where his idol would nod his
+head to indicate the routes to festal processions; called Bel by the
+Chaldæans, and Moloch by the Canaanites. He also bowed down before his
+spouse,--the dread and passionate Astarte, who bore in other temples the
+names of Ishtar, Isaar, Baaltis, Ashera, Istar-Belet, and Atargatis.
+He libated holy oil and burnt incense before Isis and Osiris of
+Ægypt,--sister and brother, joined in wedlock while still in the womb
+of their mother and there conceiving the god Horus; and before Derketo,
+the pisciform Tyrian goddess; and before Anubis of the dog’s head, the
+god of embalming; and before the Babylonian Cannes; and Dagon of the
+Philistines; and the Assyrian Abdenago; and Utsabu, the Ninevehian idol;
+and the sombre Kybele; and Bel Marduk, the patron of Babylon,--the god of
+the planet Jupiter; and the Chaldæan Or,--the god of eternal fire; and
+the mystic Omorca, the first mother of the gods, whom Bel had cloven in
+two parts, creating heaven and earth out of them, and out of her head,
+men; and the king bowed down also before the goddess Anaïtis, in whose
+honour the virgins of Phoenicia, Lydia, Armenia and Persia gave up
+their bodies to passers-by, as a sacred offering, at the threshold of
+temples.
+
+But the king found in the pagan rites nought save drunkenness, night
+orgies, lechery, incest, and lusts contrary to nature; and in their
+dogmas he perceived vain discourse and deception. But he forbade none
+of his subjects to offer up sacrifices to a favourite god, and he
+even built upon the Mount of Olives an idol-temple for Chemosh, the
+abomination of Moab, at the supplication of the beautiful, pensive
+Ellaan, the Moabite, the then favorite wife of the king. One thing
+only could not Solomon abide and pursued with death,--the bringing
+of children in sacrifice.
+
+And he saw in his seekings that that which befalleth the sons of men
+befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as one dieth, so
+dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no
+preëminence above a beast. And the king understood, that in much wisdom
+is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. He
+also learned that even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end
+of mirth is heaviness. And so one morning he dictated to Elihoreph and
+Ahiah:
+
+“‘All is vanity of vanities and vexation of spirits’--thus saith
+Ecclesiastes.”
+
+But at that time the king did not yet know that God would soon send him
+a love so tender and ardent, so devoted and beautiful,--more precious in
+itself than riches, fame, and wisdom; more precious than life itself,
+for it values not even life, nor hath fear of death.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+
+The king had a vineyard at Baal-hamon, upon the southern slope of
+Bath-El-Khav, to the south of the idol-temple of Moloch; thither
+did the king love to withdraw in the hours of his great meditations.
+Pomegranate,--olive,--and wild apple-trees, interspersed with cedars and
+cypresses, bordered it on three sides upon the mountain, while on the
+fourth it was fenced off from the road by a high stone wall. And other
+vineyards, lying about, also belonged to Solomon; he let them out unto
+keepers, each one for a thousand pieces of silver.
+
+Only with the dawn came to an end in the palace the magnificent feast
+which the King of Israel was giving in honour of the emissaries of the
+King of Assyria, the good Tiglath-Pileser. Despite his fatigue, Solomon
+could not fall asleep this morn. Neither wine nor hippocras had befogged
+the stout heads of the Assyrians, nor loosened their canny tongues. But
+the penetrating mind of the wise king had already forestalled their
+plans, and was, in its turn, already weaving a fine political net,
+wherein he would enmesh these proud men with supercilious eyes and of
+flattering speech. Solomon would be able to preserve the necessary amity
+with the potentate of Assyria, yet at the same time, for the sake of
+his eternal friendship with Hiram of Tyre, would save from pillage the
+latter’s kingdom, which, with its countless riches, hid in subterranean
+vaults underneath narrow streets, had for a long time drawn the covetous
+gazes of oriental sovereigns.
+
+And so at dawn Solomon had commanded himself to be borne to Mount
+Bath-El-Khav; had left the litter far down the road, and is now seated
+alone upon a simple wooden bench, above the vineyard, under the shade of
+the trees, still hiding in their branches the dewy chill of night. The
+king has on a simple white mantle, fastened at the right shoulder and
+at the left side by two Ægyptian clasps of green gold, in the shape of
+curled crocodiles,--the symbol of the god Sebekh. The hands of the king
+lie motionless upon his knees, while his eyes, overshadowed by deep
+thought, unwinking, are directed toward the east, in the direction of
+the Dead Sea,--there, where from the rounded summit of Anaze the sun is
+rising in the flame of dawn.
+
+The morning wind is blowing from the east and spreads the fragrance of
+the grape in blossom,--a delicate fragrance, like that of mignonette and
+mulled wine. The dark cypresses sway their slender tops pompously and
+pour out their resinous breath. The silvery-green leaves of the olives
+hurriedly converse among themselves.
+
+But now Solomon arises and hearkens carefully. An endearing feminine
+voice, clear and pure as this dewy morn, is singing somewhere not far
+off, beyond the trees. The simple and tender motive runs on and on, of
+its own accord, like a ringing rill in the mountains, repeating the five
+or six notes, always the same. And its unpretentious, exquisite charm
+calls forth a smile in the eyes of the touched king.
+
+Nearer and nearer sounds the voice. Now it is already here, alongside,
+behind the spreading cedars, behind the dark verdure of the junipers.
+Then the king cautiously parts the branches with his hands, quietly
+makes his way between the prickly branches, and comes out upon an open
+place.
+
+Before him, beyond the low wall, rudely built of great yellow stones,
+the vineyard spreads upward. A girl, in a light garment of blue, walks
+between the rows of vines, bending down over something below, and again
+straightening up, and she is singing. Her ruddy hair flames in the sun:
+
+  The breath of the day is coolness,
+  And the shadows flee away.
+  Turn, my beloved,
+  And be thou like a roe or a young hart,
+  Within the clefts of the rocks....
+
+Thus sings she, tying up the grapevines, and slowly descends, nearer and
+nearer the stone wall behind which the king is standing. She is alone,
+none sees nor hears her; the scent of the grapes in blossom, the joyous
+freshness of the morning, and the warm blood in her heart are like
+wine unto her, and now the words of the naïve little song are born
+spontaneously upon her lips and are carried away by the wind, to be
+forgotten forever:
+
+  Take us the foxes,
+  The little foxes
+  That spoil the vines:
+  For our vines have tender grapes.
+
+In this manner does she reach the very wall, and, without noticing the
+king, turns about and walks on, climbing the hill lightly, along the
+neighbouring row of vines. Now her song sounds less distinctly:
+
+  Make haste, my beloved,
+  And be thou like to a roe or a young hart
+  Upon the mountains of spices.
+
+But suddenly she grows silent and bends so low to the ground that she
+can not be seen behind the vines.
+
+Then Solomon utters in a voice that caresses the ear:
+
+“Maiden, show me thy face; let me hear thy voice anew.”
+
+She straightens up quickly and turns her face to the king. A strong wind
+arises at this second and flutters the light garment upon her, suddenly
+making it cling tightly around her body and between her legs. And the
+king, for an instant, until she turns her back to the wind, sees all of
+her beneath the raiment, as though naked,--tall and graceful, in the
+vigorous bloom of thirteen years; sees her little, round, firm breasts
+and the elevations of her nipples, from which the cloth spreads out in
+rays; and the virginal abdomen, round as a bason; and the deep line that
+divides her legs from the bottom to the top, and there parts in two,
+toward the rounded hips.
+
+“For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance comely,” says Solomon.
+
+She draws nearer and gazes upon the king with trembling and with
+rapture. Her swarthy and vivid face is inexpressibly beautiful. Her
+heavy, thick, dark-red hair, into which she has stuck two flowers of the
+scarlet poppy, covers her shoulders in countless resilient ringlets and
+spreads over her back, and, transpierced by the rays of the sun, glows
+in flame, like aureate purple. A necklace which she had made herself out
+of some red, dried berries, naïvely winds twice about her long, dark,
+slender neck.
+
+“I did not notice thee!” she says gently, and her voice sounds like the
+song of a flute. “Whence didst thou come?”
+
+“Thou sangst so well, maiden!”
+
+She bashfully casts down her eyes and turns red, but beneath her long
+lashes and in the corners of her lips trembles a secret smile.
+
+“Thou sangst of thy dear. He is as light as a roe, as a young hart upon
+the mountains. For he is very fair, thy dear,--is not that the truth,
+maiden?”
+
+Her laughter is ringing and musical, as though silver were falling upon
+a golden platter.
+
+“I have no dear. It is but a song. I have yet had no dear....”
+
+For a minute they are silent, and intently, without smiling, gaze at
+each other.... Birds loudly call one another among the trees. The
+maiden’s bosom quickly rises and falls under the worn linen.
+
+“I do believe thee, beautiful one. Thou art so fair....”
+
+“Thou dost mock me. Behold, how black I am....”
+
+She lifts up her small, dark arms, and the broad sleeves lightly slide
+down towards her shoulders, baring her elbows, that have such a slender
+and rounded outline.
+
+And she says plaintively:
+
+“My brethren were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the
+vineyard,--and now behold how the sun hath scorched me.”
+
+“O, nay, the sun hath made thee still more fair, thou fairest among
+women. Lo, thou hast smiled,--and thy teeth are like white twin-lambs,
+which come up from the washing, and none among them hath a blemish. Thy
+cheeks are like the halves of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy lips
+are scarlet,--yea, pleasant to gaze upon. As for thy hair ... Dost know
+what thy hair is like? Hast thou ever beheld a flock of sheep come down
+from Mount Gilead at eve? It covers all the mountain, from summit to
+foot, and from the light of the evening glow and from the dust it seems
+even as ruddy and as wavy as thy locks. Thine eyes are as deep as the
+two fishponds in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. O, how fair art
+thou! Thy neck is straight and graceful, like the tower of David!...”
+
+“Like the tower of David!” she repeats in rapture.
+
+“Yea, yea, thou fairest among women. A thousand bucklers hang upon the
+tower of David, all shields of vanquished chieftains. Lo, I hang my
+shield also upon thy tower....”
+
+“O, speak on, speak on....”
+
+“And when thou didst turn around in answer to my call, and the wind
+arose, I did see beneath thy raiment thy two nipples and methought:
+Here be two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. This
+thy stature was like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of
+grapes.”
+
+The girl cries out faintly, hides her face with her palms, and her bosom
+with her elbows, and blushes so that even her ears and neck turn
+crimson.
+
+“And I saw thy hips. They are shapely, like a precious vase, the work of
+the hands of a cunning workman. Take away thy hands, therefore, maiden.
+Show me thy face.”
+
+She submissively let her hands drop. A deep, golden radiance glows from
+the eyes of Solomon and casts a spell over her, makes her head dizzy,
+and in a sweet, warm tremour streams over the skin of her body.
+
+“Tell me, who art thou?” she says slowly, in perplexity. “Never have I
+seen any like to thee.”
+
+“I am a shepherd, my beauty. I graze my splendid flocks of white lambs
+upon the mountains, where the green grass is pied with narcissi. Wilt
+thou not come with me, unto my pasture?”
+
+But she quietly shakes her head:
+
+“Canst thou think that I will believe this? Thy face has not grown rough
+from the wind, nor is it scorched by the sun, and thy hands are white.
+Thou hast on a costly chiton, and the buckle upon it is worth the yearly
+rental that my brothers bring for our vineyard to Adoniram, the king’s
+tax-gatherer. Thou hast come from yonder, from beyond the wall. Thou
+art, surely, one of the men near to the king? Meseems I saw thee once
+upon the day of a great festival; I even remember running after thy
+chariot.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Thou hast guessed it, maiden. It is hard to be hid from thee. And
+verily, why shouldst thou be a wanderer nigh the flocks of the
+shepherds? Yea, I am one of the king’s retinue. I am the chief cook of
+the king. And thou didst see me when I rode in the chariot of Ammi-nadib
+on the gala-day of Passover. But why dost thou stand distant from me?
+Draw nearer, my sister! Sit down here upon the stones of the wall and
+tell me something of thyself. Tell me thy name.”
+
+“Sulamith,” she says.
+
+“Then, Sulamith, why have thy brothers grown wroth with thee?”
+
+“I am ashamed to speak of it. They received moneys from the sale of their
+wine, and sent me to the city to buy bread and goat-cheese. But I ...”
+
+“And thou didst lose the money?”
+
+“Nay, still worse....”
+
+She bends her head low and whispers:
+
+“Besides bread and cheese I bought a little of attar of roses,--oh, so
+little!--from the Ægyptians in the old city.”
+
+“And thou didst keep this from thy brethren?”
+
+“Yea....”
+
+And she utters in a barely audible voice:
+
+“Attar of roses hath so goodly a smell!”
+
+The king caressingly strokes her little rough hand.
+
+“Surely, thou must be lonesome, all alone in thy vineyard?”
+
+“Nay, I work, I sing.... At noon food is brought me, and at evening one
+of my brothers relieves me. At times I dig for the roots of the
+mandragora, that look like little mannikins.... The Chaldæan merchants
+buy them from us. It is said they make a sleeping potion out of them....
+Tell me, is it true that the berries of the mandragora help in love?”
+
+“Nay, Sulamith, only love can help in love. Tell me, hast thou a father
+or a mother?”
+
+“Only a mother. My father died two years ago. My brethren are all older
+than I,--they are from the first marriage; only my sister and I have
+sprung from the second.”
+
+“Is thy sister as comely as thou?”
+
+“She is little. She is but nine.”
+
+The king laughs quietly, embraces Sulamith, draws her to him, and
+whispers into her ear:
+
+“Therefore, she hath no such breast as thine? A breast as proud, as
+warm?...”
+
+She is silent, burning with shame and happiness. Her eyes glow and grow
+dim, with the mist of a happy smile over them. The king feels the
+riotous beating of her heart within his hand.
+
+“The warmth of thy garments hath a goodlier smell than myrrh, than
+nard,” he is saying, avidly touching her ear with his lips. “And when
+thou breathest, the smell of thy nostrils is like that of apples unto
+me. My sister, my beloved, thou hast ravished my heart with one glance
+of thy eyes, with one chain of thy neck.”
+
+“O, gaze not upon me!” implores Sulamith. “Thine eyes stir me.”
+
+But of her own accord she bends backward and lays her head upon
+Solomon’s breast. Her lips glow over the gleaming teeth, her eyelids
+tremble with intense desire. Solomon’s lips cling greedily to her
+enticing mouth. He feels the flame of her lips and the slipperiness of
+her teeth, and the sweet moistness of her tongue; and he is all consumed
+of an unbearable desire, such as he has never yet known in his life.
+
+Thus passes one minute; then two.
+
+“What dost thou with me!” says Sulamith faintly, closing her eyes.
+
+But Solomon passionately whispers near her very mouth:
+
+“Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under
+thy tongue.... O, come away with me, speedily. Here, behind the wall, it
+is dark and cool. None shall see us. The green is soft here underneath
+the cedars.”
+
+“Nay, nay, leave me. I desire it not, I can not.”
+
+“Sulamith ... thou dost desire it, thou dost desire it.... Come to me,
+my sister, my beloved!”
+
+Some one’s steps resound below, upon the highway, below the wall of the
+vineyard, but Solomon detains the frightened girl by her hand.
+
+“Tell me, quickly,--where dwellest thou? This night shall I come to thee,”
+he is hurriedly saying.
+
+“Nay, nay, nay ... I shall not tell thee this. Let me go. I shall not
+tell thee.”
+
+“I shall not let thee go, Sulamith, till thou dost tell.... My desire is
+unto thee!”
+
+“It is well, I shall tell thee.... But first promise not to come this
+night.... Also, come thou not the following night ... nor the night
+after that ... My king! I charge thee by the roes and the hinds of the
+field, that thou stir not up thy beloved till she please!”
+
+“Yea, I pledge thee this.... Where is thy dwelling, Sulamith?”
+
+“If on the way to the city thou dost pass over the Kidron, upon the
+bridge above Siloam, thou shalt see our dwelling nigh the spring.
+There are no other dwellings there.”
+
+“And which is thy window there, Sulamith?”
+
+“Why shouldst thou know this, beloved? O, gaze not thus upon me. Thy
+gaze casts a spell over me.... Do not kiss me.... Beloved! Kiss me
+again....”
+
+“But which is thy window, my only one?”
+
+“The window on the south side. Ah, I must not tell thee this.... A
+small, high window with a lattice.”
+
+“And doth the lattice open from within?”
+
+“Nay, it is a fixed window. But around the corner is a door. It leads
+directly into the room where I sleep with my sister. But thou hast
+promised me!... My sister sleeps lightly. O, how fair art thou, my
+beloved! Truly, hast thou not promised?”
+
+Solomon quietly smoothes her hair and cheeks.
+
+“I shall come to thee this night,” he says insistently. “At midnight I
+shall come. Thus, thus shall it be. I desire it.”
+
+“Beloved!”
+
+“Nay. Thou shalt await me. But have no fear, and put thy trust in me. I
+shall cause thee no grief. I shall give thee such joy compared with
+which all things upon earth are without significance. Now farewell. I
+hear them coming after me.”
+
+“Farewell, my beloved ... O, nay, go not yet! Tell me thy name,--I know
+it not.”
+
+For a moment, as though undecided, he lowers his lashes, but immediately
+raises them again.
+
+“The King and I have the same name. I am called Solomon. Farewell. I
+love thee.”
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+
+Radiant and joyous was Solomon upon this day, as he sat upon his throne
+in the hall of the House at Lebanon and meted out justice to the people
+who came before him.
+
+Forty columns, four in a row, supported the ceiling of the Hall of
+Judgment, and they were all faced with cedar and terminated in capitals
+in the form of lilies; the floor consisted of cypress boards, all of
+a piece; nor was the stone upon the walls to be seen anywhere for the
+cedar finish, ornamented with gold carving, shewing palms, pineapples,
+and cherubim. In the depth of the hall, with its triple-tiered windows,
+six steps led up to the elevation of the throne, and upon each step stood
+two bronze lions, one on each side. The throne itself was of ivory with
+gold incrustation and with elbow-rests of gold, in the form of recumbent
+lions. The high back of the throne was surmounted by a golden disc.
+Curtains of violet and purple stuffs hung from the ceiling down to the
+floor at the entrance to the hall, dividing off the entry, where between
+the columns thronged the plaintiffs, supplicants, and witnesses, as well
+as the accused and the criminals under a strong guard.
+
+The king had on a red chiton, while upon his head was a simple, narrow
+crown of sixty beryls, set in gold. At his right hand stood the throne
+for his mother, Bathsheba; but of late, owing to her declining years,
+she rarely showed herself in the city.
+
+The Assyrian guests, with austere, black-bearded faces, were seated
+along the walls upon benches of jasper; they had on garments of a light
+olive colour, broidered at the edges with designs of red and white.
+While still at home, in their native Assyria, they had heard so much
+of the justice of Solomon that they tried to let no single word of
+his slip by, in order to tell later of the judgment of the King of the
+Israelites. Among them sat the commanders of Solomon’s armies, his
+ministers, the governors of his provinces, and his courtiers. Here was
+Benaiah, at one time executioner to the king; the slayer of Joab,
+Adonijah, and Shimei,--a short, corpulent old man, with a sparse,
+long, gray beard; his faded, bluish eyes, rimmed by red lids that seemed
+turned inside out, had a look of senile dullness; his mouth was open
+and moist, while his fleshy, red lower lip drooped down impotently, and
+was slightly trembling. Here also were Azariah, the son of Nathan,--a
+jaundiced, tall man, with a lean, sickly face and dark rings under his
+eyes; and the good-natured, absent-minded Jehoshaphat, historiographer;
+and Ahishar, who was over the court of Solomon; and Zabud, who bore the
+high title of the King’s Friend; and Ben-Abinadab, which had Taphath,
+the eldest daughter of Solomon, to wife; and Ben-Geber, the officer over
+the region of Argob, which is in Bashan: to him pertained threescore
+cities, surrounded by walls, with gates of brasen bars; and Baanah, the
+son of Hushai, at one time famed for his skill in casting a spear to the
+distance of thirty parasangs; and many others. Sixty warriors, their
+helmets and shields gleaming, stood in a rank to the left of the throne
+and the right; their head officer this day was the handsome Eliab, of
+the black locks, son of Ahilud.
+
+The first to come before Solomon with his complaint was one Achior, a
+lapidary by trade. Working in Bel of Phoenicia he had found a precious
+stone, had cut and polished it, and had asked his friend Zachariah, who
+was setting out for Jerusalem, to give the stone to his--Achior’s--wife.
+After some time Achior also returned home. The first thing that he asked
+about upon beholding his wife was the stone. But she was very much amazed
+at her husband’s question, and repeated under oath that she had received
+no stone of any sort. Whereupon Achior set out for an explanation to his
+friend Zachariah, but he asseverated, and also to an oath, that he had,
+immediately upon arrival, given the stone over as instructed. He even
+brought witnesses, who affirmed having seen Zachariah give the stone in
+their presence to the wife of Achior.
+
+And now all four,--Achior, Zachariah, and the two witnesses,--were
+standing before the throne of the King of Israel.
+
+Solomon gazed into the eyes of each one in turn and said to the guard:
+
+“Lead each one to a separate chamber, and lock up each one apart.”
+
+And when this was done, he ordered four pieces of unbaked clay to be
+brought.
+
+“Let each one of them,” willed the king, “fashion out of clay that form
+which the stone had.”
+
+After some time the moulds were ready. But one of the witnesses had made
+his mould in the shape of a horse’s head, as precious stones were
+usually fashioned; the other, in the shape of a sheep’s head; only two
+of them--Achior and Zachariah--had their moulds alike, resembling in
+form a woman’s breast.
+
+And the king spake:
+
+“Now it is evident even to one blind that the witnesses are bribed by
+Zachariah. And so, let Zachariah return the stone to Achior, and together
+with it pay him thirty shekels, of this city, of law costs, and give ten
+shekels to the priests for the temple. As for the self-revealed witnesses,
+let them pay into the treasury five shekels each for bearing false
+witness.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Three brothers then drew nigh to Solomon’s throne; they were at court
+about an inheritance. Their father had told them before his death: “That
+ye may not quarrel at division, I myself shall apportion ye in justice.
+When I die, go beyond the knoll that is in the midst of the grove behind
+the house, and dig therein. There shall ye find a box with three
+divisions: know, that the topmost is for the eldest brother; the middle
+one for the second; the lowest for the youngest.” And when, after his
+death, they had gone, and had done as he had willed, they had found that
+the topmost division was filled to the top with golden coins, whereas in
+the middle one were lying only common bones, and in the lowest naught
+but pieces of wood. And so among the younger brothers arose envy for the
+eldest, and enmity; and in the end their life had become so unbearable
+that they decided to turn to the king for counsel and judgment. And even
+here, standing before the throne, they could not refrain from mutual
+recriminations and affronts.
+
+The king shook his head, heard them out, and spake:
+
+“Cease quarreling; a stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool’s
+wrath is heavier than them both. Your father was, it is plain to see, a
+wise man and a just, and he has expressed his wishes in his testament
+just as clearly as though it had been consummated before an hundred
+witnesses. Is it possible that ye have not surmised at once, ye sorry
+brawlers, that to the eldest brother he left all his moneys; to the
+second, all his cattle and all his slaves; while to the youngest,--his
+house and plow-land? Depart, therefore, in peace; and be no longer
+enemies among yourselves.”
+
+And the three brothers--but recently enemies--with beaming faces bowed
+to the king’s feet and walked out of the Hall of Judgment arm in arm.
+
+And the king decided also another suit at inheritance, begun three days
+ago. A certain man, dying, had said that he was leaving all his goods
+to the worthier of his two sons. But since neither one of them would
+consent to call himself the worse one, they had therefore turned to the
+king.
+
+Solomon questioned them as to their pursuits, and, having heard them
+answer that they were both hunters with the bow, he spake:
+
+“Return home. I shall order the corpse of your father to be stood up
+against a tree. We shall first see which one of you shall hit his breast
+more truly with an arrow, and then decide your suit.”
+
+Now both brothers had returned in the custody of a man sent by the king
+for their surveillance. He it was whom the king questioned about the
+contest.
+
+“I have fulfilled all that thou hast commanded,” said his man. “I stood
+the corpse of the old man against a tree, and gave each brother his bow
+and arrows. The elder was the first to shoot. At a distance of an
+hundred and twenty ells he hit just the place where, in a living man,
+the heart beats.”
+
+“A splendid shot,” said Solomon. “And the younger?”
+
+“The younger ... Forgive me, O King,--I could not insist upon thy
+command being fulfilled exactly.... The younger did make his string
+taut, but suddenly lowered the bow to his feet, turned around, and said,
+weeping: ‘Nay, this I can not do.... I will not shoot at the corpse of
+my father.’”
+
+“Therefore, let the estate of his father belong to him,” decided the
+king. “He has proven the worthier son. As for the elder, if he desire,
+he may join the number of my bodyguards. I have need of such strong and
+rapacious men, sure of hand and true of eye, and with a heart grown over
+with wool.”
+
+Next three men came before the king. Carrying on a mutual traffic in
+merchandise, they had amassed much money. And so, when the time had
+come for them to journey to Jerusalem, they had sewn up the gold in a
+leathern belt and had set out on their way. On the road they had spent
+a night in a forest, and, for safe-keeping, had buried the belt in the
+ground. But when they awoke in the morning, they found no belt in the
+place where they had put it.
+
+They all accused one another of the secret theft, and since all three
+seemed to be men of exceeding cunning, and subtile of speech, the king
+therefore said unto them:
+
+“Ere I decide your suit, hearken unto that which I shall relate to you.
+A certain fair maiden promised her beloved, who was setting out upon a
+journey, to await his return, and to yield her virginity to none save
+him. But, having gone away, he within a short while married another
+maiden, in another city, and she came to know of this. In the absence of
+her beloved, a wealthy and kind-hearted youth in her city, a friend of
+her childhood, paid court to her. Constrained by her parents she durst
+not, for shame and fear, tell him of her pact, and took him to spouse.
+But when, at the conclusion of the marriage feast, he led her to the
+bed-chamber, and would lay down with her, she began to implore him:
+‘Allow me to go to the city where my former beloved dwelleth. Let him
+relieve me of my vow; then shall I return to thee, and do all thy
+desire!’ And since the youth loved her exceedingly, he did agree to her
+request, allowed her to go, and she went. On the way a robber fell upon
+her, disheveled her, and was about to ravish her. But the maiden fell
+down on her knees before him, and, in tears, implored him to spare her
+virtue, telling the robber all that had befallen her, and her reason for
+travelling to a strange city. And the robber, having heard her out, was
+so astounded by her faithfulness to her word, and so touched by the
+goodness of her bridegroom, that not only did he let the girl depart in
+peace, but also returned to her the valuables he had taken. Now I ask
+you, who of all these three did best before the countenance of God,--the
+maiden, the bridegroom, or the robber?”
+
+And one of the plaintiffs said that the maiden was the most worthy of
+praise, for her steadfastness to her oath. Another marvelled at the
+great love of her bridegroom; the third, however, found the action of
+the robber the most magnanimous one.
+
+And the king said to the last:
+
+“Therefore, it is even thou who hast stolen the belt with the common
+gold, for thou art by nature covetous, and dost desire that which is not
+thine.”
+
+But this man, having given his travelling staff to one of his
+companions, spake, raising his hands aloft as though for an oath:
+
+“I witness before Jehovah that the gold is not with me, but him!”
+
+The king smiled and commanded one of his warriors:
+
+“Take this man’s rod and break it in half.”
+
+And when the warrior had carried out Solomon’s order, gold coins poured
+out upon the floor, for they had been concealed within the hollowed-out
+stick; as for the thief, he, struck by the wisdom of the king, fell down
+before his throne and confessed his misdeed.
+
+There also came into the House of Lebanon a woman, the poor widow of a
+stone-cutter, and she spake:
+
+“I cry for justice, O King! For the last two dinarii left me I bought
+flour, put it into this large earthen bowl, and started to carry it
+home. But a strong wind suddenly arose and did scatter my flour. O wise
+king, who shall bring back this my loss? I now have naught wherewith to
+feed my children.”
+
+“When was this?” asked the king.
+
+“It happened this morning, at dawn.”
+
+And so Solomon commanded that there be summoned to him several
+merchants, whose ships were to set out this day with merchandise for
+Phoenicia, by way of Jaffa. And when, in alarm, they appeared in the
+Hall of Judgment, the king asked them:
+
+“Did ye pray God, or the gods, for a favourable wind for your ships?”
+
+And they answered:
+
+“Yea, O King. We did so. And our offerings were pleasing to God, for He
+did send us a propitious wind.”
+
+“I rejoice on your account,” said Solomon. “But the same wind has
+scattered a poor woman’s flour that she was carrying in a bowl. Do ye
+not deem it just, if ye have to recompense her?”
+
+And they, made glad that the king had summoned them only for this, at
+once filled the bowl by casting into it small and large silver coin. And
+when, with tears, she began to thank the king, he smiled radiantly and
+said:
+
+“Wait, this is not yet all. This morning’s wind has bestowed joy upon me
+as well, which I did not expect. And therefore, to the gifts of these
+merchants, I shall add my kingly gift also.”
+
+And he commanded Adoniram, the treasurer, to put on top of the money of
+the merchants enough gold coin to cover the silver entirely out of
+sight.
+
+Solomon desired to see none unhappy on this day. He distributed more
+rewards, pensions, and gifts than he sometimes did within a whole year,
+and he pardoned Ahimaaz, the governor of the land of Naphtali, against
+whom his wrath had flamed before, because of his lawless levies; and he
+commuted the faults of many who had transgressed the law, nor did he
+overlook any of the petitions of his subjects,--save one.
+
+When the king was passing out from the House at Lebanon through the
+small southern door, one in a garment of yellow leather stood up in his
+path,--a squat, broad-shouldered man, darkly-ruddy and morose of face,
+with a black, bushy beard, with a neck like a bull’s, and an austere
+gaze from underneath shaggy, black eyebrows. This was the high priest
+of Moloch’s temple. He uttered but one word in a supplicating voice:
+
+“King!...”
+
+In the bronze belly of his god were seven divisions: one for meal,
+another for doves, the third for sheep, the fourth for rams, the fifth
+for calves, the sixth for beeves; but the seventh, meant for living
+infants brought by their mothers, had long stood empty at the interdict
+of the king.
+
+Solomon walked in silence past the priest, but the latter stretched out
+his hands after him and exclaimed with supplication:
+
+“King! I adjure thee by thy joy!... Show me this kindness, O king, and I
+shall reveal to thee what danger threatens thy life.”
+
+Solomon made no reply; and the eyes of the priest, who had clenched his
+powerful hands into fists, followed him to the exit with a ferocious
+glare.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VI.
+
+
+At nightfall Sulamith went to that spot in the old city where, in long
+rows, stretched the shops of the moneychangers, usurers, and dealers
+in sweet-smelling condiments. There she sold to a jeweller for three
+drachmas and one dinar her only valuable,--her earrings for festal days;
+of silver, in the form of rings, each with a little golden star.
+
+Then she paid a visit to a seller of perfumes. In the deep, dark,
+stone niche, in the midst of jars with gray Arabian amber, packets of
+frankincense from Lebanon, bunches of aromatic herbs, and phials with
+oils, was sitting an Ægyptian, a castrate,--old, obese, wrinkled,
+immobile, all fragrant himself; his legs tucked under him, and blinking
+his lazy eyes. He carefully counted out of a Phoenician flask into a
+little clay flagon just as many drops of myrrh as there were dinarii
+among all the moneys of Sulamith; and when he had finished this task he
+said, gathering up with the stopper the remnant of the oil around the
+neck of the bottle, and laughing slyly:
+
+“Swarthy maiden, beautiful maiden! When this day thy beloved shall kiss
+thee between thy breasts and say: ‘How fragrant is thy body, O my
+beloved!’--recall me at that moment. I have poured over three extra
+drops for thee.”
+
+And so, when night had come, and the moon had risen over Siloam,
+blending the blue whiteness of its houses with the black blueness of the
+shadows and the dull green of the trees, Sulamith did arise from her
+humble couch of goats’-wool and hearkened. All was quiet in the house.
+Her sister was breathing evenly upon the floor, nigh the wall. Only
+outside, in the wayside bushes, the cicadas chirped stridently and
+passionately; and the blood throbbed noisily in her ears. The shadow of
+the window-lattice, etched by the light of the moon, lay, sharp and
+oblique, upon the floor.
+
+Trembling with timidity, expectation, and happiness, Sulamith loosened
+her garments, let them down to her feet, and, stepping over them, was
+left naked in the middle of the room, facing the window, in the light of
+the moon falling through the bars of the lattice. She poured the thick,
+sweet-smelling myrrh upon her shoulders, upon her bosom, upon her
+abdomen; and, fearing to lose even one precious drop, began to rub
+the oil over her legs, under her armpits, and about her neck. And
+the smooth, slippery touch of her palms and elbows against her body
+compelled her to shiver with sweet anticipation. And, smiling and
+trembling, she gazed out of the window, where, beyond the lattice, two
+poplars showed,--dark on one side, silvered on the other,--and whispered
+to herself:
+
+“This is for thee, my love; this is for thee, my beloved. My beloved is
+the chiefest among ten thousand, his head is as the most fine gold, his
+locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His lips are most sweet; yea, he
+is all desire. This is my beloved, and this is my brother, O daughters
+of Jerusalem!...”
+
+And now, fragrant with myrrh, she lay down upon her couch. Her face is
+turned toward the window; her hands, like a child, she has squeezed
+between her knees; her heart fills the room with its loud beating. Much
+time passes. Scarce closing her eyes, she is plunged into dozing, but
+her heart keeps vigil. As in a dream, it seems to her that her dear is
+lying beside her. In a joyous fright she casts off her drowsiness; she
+seeks her beloved near her on the couch, but finds no one. The moon’s
+design upon the floor has crept nearer the wall, is dwindled and more
+oblique. The cicadas are calling; the Brook of Kidron babbles on
+monotonously; the doleful chant of a night watchman is heard in the city.
+
+“What if he comes not to-day?” thinks Sulamith; “I did implore him,--and
+what if he hath suddenly obeyed me?... I charge you, O ye daughters of
+Jerusalem, by the roses and lilies of the field: awake not love till it
+come.... But now my love hath come to me. Make haste, my beloved! Thy
+bride awaits thee. Make haste like to a young hart upon the mountains of
+spices.”
+
+The sand crunches in the yard under light steps. And the soul of the
+maiden deserts her. A cautious hand knocks at the window. A dark face
+shows on the other side of the lattice. The low voice of her beloved is
+heard:
+
+“Open to me, my sister, my dove, my undefiled! For my head is filled
+with dew.”
+
+But a charmed numbness has suddenly taken possession of Sulamith’s body.
+She wants to rise, and can not; wants to move her hand, and can not.
+And, without understanding what is taking place with her, she whispers,
+gazing through the window:
+
+“Ah, his locks are filled with the drops of the night! But I have put
+off my chiton. How shall I put it on?”
+
+“Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The morn is nigh, flowers
+appear on the earth, and the vines with the tender grape give a goodly
+smell; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the
+turtle dove is heard from the mountains.”
+
+“I have washed my feet,” whispers Sulamith; “how shall I defile them?”
+
+The dark head disappears from the window-lattice; the resounding steps
+pass around the house and cease at the door. The beloved cautiously puts
+in his hand by the hole of the door. His fingers can be heard groping
+for the inner bolt.
+
+Then does Sulamith rise up, pressing her palms hard against her breasts,
+and whispers in affright:
+
+“My sister sleeps--I fear to awaken her.”
+
+She irresolutely dons her sandals, puts a light chiton upon her naked
+body, throws a vail over it, and opens the door, leaving marks of myrrh
+upon the handles of the lock. But there is no longer anyone upon the
+road that glimmers whitely in its solitude between the dark bushes in
+the gray murk of morning. The beloved had not waited, and was gone; not
+even his steps were to be heard. The moon has dwindled and paled, and
+floats on high. In the east, above the waves of the mountains, the sky
+is putting on a chilly pink before the dawn. In the distance the walls
+and towers of Jerusalem glimmer whitely.
+
+“My beloved! King of my life!” Sulamith calls into the humid darkness.
+“I am here. I await thee.... Return!”
+
+But none responds.
+
+“I will run upon the highway; I shall, I shall overtake my beloved,”
+Sulamith says to herself. “I will go about the city in the streets and
+in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loveth. O that thou wert
+as my brother, that sucked the breast of my mother! When I should find
+thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would
+lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house. Thou wouldst instruct
+me; I would cause thee to drink of the juice of my pomegranates. I
+charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell
+him I am smitten by love.”
+
+Thus does she commune with herself, and with light, docile steps runs
+upon the road toward the city. At the Dung Gates near the wall, two
+watchmen that had gone about the city at night are sitting and dozing
+in the chill of the morning. They awaken and stare with astonishment at
+the running girl. The younger arises and blocks her way with outstretched
+arms.
+
+“Stay, stay, thou fair!” exclaims he with laughter. “Whither so fast?
+Thou hast passed the night on the sly in the bed of thy dear and art yet
+warm from his embraces; whereas we have been chilled through by the
+dampness of the night. It would be but fair if thou wert to sit a while
+with us.”
+
+The elder also arises and wants to embrace Sulamith. He does not laugh;
+he breathes heavily, fast, and with wheezing; he is licking his blue
+lips with his tongue. His face, made hideous by great scars of healed
+leprosy, seems frightful in the pallid murk. He speaks in a voice hoarse
+and snuffling:
+
+“Yea, of a truth. What is thy beloved more than other men, sweet maiden!
+Shut thy eyes, and thou canst not tell me apart from him. I am even
+better, for, of a certainty, I am more experienced than he.”
+
+They clutch at her bosom, her shoulders, her arms and raiment. But
+Sulamith is lithe and strong, and her body, anointed with oil, is
+slippery. She tears herself away, leaving in the hands of the watchmen
+her outer vail, and runs back still faster along the same road. She has
+experienced neither offense nor fear,--she is all swallowed up in
+thoughts of Solomon. Passing by her house, she sees the door out of
+which she had just gone still left open, a gaping black quadrangle in
+the white wall. But she merely catches her breath, shrinks within
+herself, like a young cat, and runs by on her tip-toes with never a sound.
+
+She crosses the bridge of Kidron, avoids the outskirt of the village of
+Siloam, and by a stony road gradually climbs the southern slope of
+Beth-El-Khav, into her vineyard. Her brother is still sleeping among the
+vines, wrapped up in a woolen blanket all wet from the dew. Sulamith
+rouses him, but he can not awaken, enchained by the morning sleep of
+youth.
+
+As yesterday, the dawn is flaming over Anaze. A wind springs up. The
+fragrance of the grape in blossom streams through the air.
+
+“I shall come away and look upon that place of the wall where my beloved
+hath stood,” Sulamith is saying. “I shall feel with my hands the stones
+that he hath touched; I shall kiss the ground beneath his feet.”
+
+She glides lightly between the vines. The dew falls from them, chilling
+her feet and spattering her elbows. And now a joyous cry from Sulamith
+fills the vineyard! The king is standing beyond the wall. With a radiant
+face he stretches out his arms to meet her.
+
+More lightly than a bird Sulamith surmounts the enclosure, and, without
+words, with a moan of happiness, entwines the king.
+
+Several minutes pass thus. Finally, tearing his lips away from her
+mouth, Solomon speaks, enraptured, and his voice trembles:
+
+“Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair!”
+
+“O, how fair art thou, my beloved!”
+
+Tears of delight and gratefulness,--blessed tears,--sparkle upon
+Sulamith’s pale and beautiful face. Languishing with love, she sinks to
+the ground and whispers words of madness in a barely audible voice.
+
+“Our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedars.... Kiss me with
+the kisses of thy mouth--for thy love is better than wine....”
+
+After a brief space Sulamith is lying with her head upon Solomon’s
+breast. His left arm is embracing her.
+
+Bending to her very ear, the king is whispering something to her; the
+king is tenderly apologizing, and Sulamith reddens from his words and
+closes her eyes. Then, with an inexpressibly lovely smile of confusion,
+she says:
+
+“My mother’s children made me the keeper of the vineyard.... But mine
+own vineyard have I not kept.”
+
+But Solomon takes her little swarthy hand and presses it fervently to
+his lips.
+
+“Thou dost not regret this, Sulamith?”
+
+“O nay, my king, my beloved. I regret it not. Wert thou to arise this
+minute and go from me, and were I condemned never to see thee after, I
+would to the end of my life utter thy name with gratitude, Solomon!”
+
+“Tell me one thing else, Sulamith.... Only, I beseech thee, speak the
+truth, my undefiled.... Didst thou know who I am?”
+
+“Nay,--even now I know it not. Methought.... But I am shamed to confess
+it.... I fear thou wilt laugh at me.... They tell, that here, upon Mount
+Beth-El-Khav, pagan gods do oft wander.... Many of them, it is said, are
+beautiful.... And methought: art thou not Hor, the son of Osiris; or
+else some other god?”
+
+“Nay, I am but a king, beloved. But here, upon this spot, I kiss thy
+dear hand, scorched of the sun, and swear to thee that never
+yet--neither in the time of first love longings, nor in the days of my
+glory--has my heart flamed with such an insatiable desire as that which
+is awakened within me by thy mere smile, by the mere touch of thy
+flaming locks,--the mere curve of thy purple lips! Thou art comely as
+the tents of Kedar, as the curtains in the temple of Solomon! Thy
+caresses intoxicate me. Behold thy breasts--they are fragrant. Thy
+nipples are as wine!”
+
+“O, yea,--gaze, gaze upon me, beloved. Thy eyes arouse me! O, what
+joy!--for thy desire is unto me,--me! Thy locks are scented. As a bundle
+of myrrh thou dost lie betwixt my breasts!”
+
+Time ceases its current and closes over them in a solar cycle. Their bed
+is the green; their roof is of cedars; and their walls are of cypresses.
+And the banner over their tent is love.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+
+The king had a pool in his palace,--an octagonal, fresh pool of white
+marble. Steps of dark-green malachite ran down to its bottom. A facing
+of Ægyptian jasper, snowy-white, with pink, barely perceptible little
+veins, served as a frame for the pool. The best of ebony had gone for
+the ornamentation of the walls. Four lions’ heads of pink sardonyx cast
+forth the water in thin jets into the pool. Eight mirrors of polished
+silver, the height of a man and of excellent Sydonian workmanship, were
+set into the walls, between the slender columns of white.
+
+Before Sulamith was to enter the pool, young maid-servants poured
+aromatic compounds into it, that made the water to turn white and blue
+and to play with all the colours of a milky opal. The female slaves
+disrobing Sulamith gazed with delight upon her body; and, when they had
+disrobed her, they led her up to a mirror. Not a single blemish was
+there upon her beautiful body, made aureate like a tawny, ripe fruit by
+the golden down of soft hair. And she, gazing upon her naked self in the
+mirror, turned red and thought:
+
+“All this is for thee, my king!”
+
+She came out of the pool fresh, cool, and fragrant, covered with
+quivering drops of water. The female slaves put upon her a short white
+tunic of the finest Ægyptian linen, and a chiton of precious Sargonian
+byssin, of such a refulgent golden colour that the garment seemed woven
+out of the rays of the sun. They shod her feet in red sandals made from
+the skin of a young kid; they dried her dark, flaming locks and bound
+them with strings of large black pearls; and they adorned her arms with
+tinkling bracelets.
+
+In such array did she come before Solomon, and the king exclaimed
+joyously:
+
+“Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear
+as the sun? O, Sulamith, thy beauty is more terrible than an army with
+flaunted banners! Seven hundred wives have I known and three hundred
+concubines, and virgins without number,--thou art but one, my fair! The
+queens shall behold thee and extoll thee, and all women upon earth shall
+praise thee. O, Sulamith, that day when thou wilt become my spouse and
+queen shall be the happiest my heart has known.”
+
+Whereupon she walked up to the door of carved olive, and, pressing her
+cheek against it, said:
+
+“I desire to be but thy slave, Solomon. Behold, I have put my ear to the
+post of the door. I beseech thee,--in accordance with the law of Moses,
+nail down my ear in witness of my voluntary bondage before thee.”
+
+Then Solomon did command to be brought out of his treasure house
+precious pendants of deep-red carbuncles, fashioned to resemble
+elongated pears. He himself put them upon the ears of Sulamith, and
+said:
+
+“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.”
+
+And, taking Sulamith by the hand, the king brought her to the banqueting
+house, where his companions and familiars were already awaiting him.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VIII.
+
+
+Seven days had sped since Sulamith had stepped into the palace of the
+king. Seven days had she and the king taken joyance in love, yet could
+not be sated therewith.
+
+Solomon loved to adorn his beloved with precious things. “How beautiful
+are thy little feet in sandals!” he would exclaim in rapture, and,
+getting down on his knees before her, he would kiss each toe in turn,
+and put upon them rings with stones so splendid and rare that their like
+was not to be found even upon the ephod of a high-priest. Sulamith would
+listen, entranced, whenever he discoursed upon the inner nature of
+stones, their magic properties and secret significations.
+
+“Here is anthrax, the sacred stone from the land of Ophir,” the king
+would say. “It is hot and moist. Behold, it is red, like blood, like the
+evening glow, like the blown flower of the pomegranate, like thick wine
+from the vineyards of En-gedi, like thy lips, my Sulamith, in the
+morning after a night of love. This is the stone of love, wrath, and
+blood. Upon the hand of a man languishing in a fever or made drunk by
+desire, it waxes warmer and glows with a red flame. Put it upon thy
+hand, my beloved, and thou shalt see it enkindle. If it be brayed to a
+powder and taken in water, it imparts a glow to the face, allays the
+stomach, and maketh the soul to rejoice. He that weareth it attaineth
+power over men. It is a curative for the heart, brain, and memory. But
+it ought not be worn nigh children, for it doth arouse the passions of
+love around it.
+
+“Here is a transparent stone, the colour of copper verdigris. In the
+land of the Æthiopians, where it is gotten, it is called Mgnadis-Phza.
+It was given me by the father of my wife, Queen Astis,--by Shishak, the
+Pharaoh of Ægypt, into whose hands it came through a captive king. Thou
+seest,--it is not beautiful; yet is its value beyond computation, for
+but four men on earth possess the stone Mgnadis-Phza. It possesses the
+unusual property of attracting silver to it, just like a covetous man
+that loveth the metal. I give it thee, my beloved, for that thou are
+not covetous.
+
+“Gaze upon these sapphires, Sulamith. Some of them resemble in colour
+corn-flowers among wheat; others, an autumn sky; others still, the sea
+in fine weather. This is the stone of virginity,--chill and pure. During
+far and difficult voyages it is placed in the mouth to allay thirst. It
+also cureth leprosy and all malignant growths. It bestoweth clarity to
+thoughts. The priests of Jupiter in Rome wear it upon the index finger.
+
+“The king of all stones is the stone Shamir. The Greeks name it
+Adamas,--which signifieth, the invincible. It is the hardest of all
+substances on earth and remains uninjured in the fiercest of fires.
+It is the light of the sun, concentrated in the ground and cooled by time.
+Admire it, Sulamith,--it playeth with all colours, but in itself
+remaineth translucent, like a drop of water. It shineth in the darkness
+of night; but loseth its radiance, even in the daytime, upon the hand of
+a murderer. The Shamir is tied to the hand of a woman tortured in heavy
+travail with child; and it is also put upon the left hand by warriors
+setting out for battle. He that weareth the Shamir findeth favour with
+kings and hath no dread of evil spirits. The Shamir driveth the mottled
+colour off the face, purifieth the breath, giveth quiet slumber to
+lunaticks, and induceth a sweat curative of near proximity to poison.
+The Shamir stones are male and female; buried deep in the ground they
+are capable of multiplying.
+
+“The moonstone, pale and mild, like the shining of the moon,--it is
+the stone of the Chaldæan and Babylonian magi. Before divination it is
+placed under the tongue, and it imparts to them the gift of seeing the
+future. It hath a strange tie with the moon, for during a new moon it
+groweth chill and shineth more brightly. It is beneficial to woman
+during that year when from a child she is becoming a woman.
+
+“Wear thou this ring with a smaragd constantly, my beloved, for the
+smaragd is the favourite stone of Solomon, King of Israel. It is green,
+pure, gay, tender, like grass in the spring of the year, and when one
+gazeth at it for long the heart waxeth radiant; if thou wilt look upon
+it in the morning, all the day shall hold no hardship of thee. I shall
+hang a smaragd over thy night couch, my comely one; let it drive evil
+dreams away from thee; let it lull the beating of thy heart, and divert
+black thoughts. Serpents and scorpions come not nigh him that weareth a
+smaragd; but if a smaragd be held before the eyes of a serpent, water
+shall flow from them, and continue flowing, till it go blind. Pounded
+smaragd, together with camel’s milk, is given an empoisoned man, that
+the poison may go off in transpiration; mixed with attar of roses,
+smaragd cureth the bites of venomous reptiles; while ground with saffron
+and applied to ailing eyes it eradicates night blindness. It also helps
+in dysentery and the black cough that is incurable by any human means.”
+
+The king also bestowed upon his beloved Lybian amethysts, whose colour
+resembled early violets, that put forth in forests at the foot of the
+Lybian mountains,--amethysts, possessed of the wondrous property of
+curbing wind, mollifying wrath, preserving from intoxication, and
+helping at the trapping of wild beasts; turquoise of Persepolis, that
+bringeth happiness in love, endeth connubial quarrels, turneth away the
+wrath of kings, and is propitious in the breaking and selling of horses;
+and cat’s-eye,--that guardeth the property, reason, and health of its
+possessor; and the pale beryllion, blue-green, like sea-water near
+shore,--a good travelling companion for pilgrims and a remedy against
+cataract and leprosy; and the vari-coloured agate: he that weareth it
+hath no dread of the evil machinations of enemies, and avoideth
+the danger of being crushed in an earthquake; and the apple-green,
+turbidly-pellucid onychion,--its master’s guardian from fire and
+madness; and iaspis, that maketh beasts to tremble; and the black
+swallow-stone, that endoweth with eloquence; and the eagle-stone,
+esteemed of pregnant women,--eagles put it in their nests when the time
+comes for their young to break out of their shells; and zaberzate out
+of Ophir, shining like little suns; and yellow-aureate chrysolite,--the
+friend of merchants and thieves; and sardonyx, beloved of kings and
+queens; and the crimson ligurion: it is found, as all know, in the
+stomach of the lynx, whose sight is so keen that it can see through
+walls,--and for that reason he that weareth a ligurion is also noted
+for keen sight, and besides this it stoppeth bleeding of the nose, and
+healeth all wounds, save wounds inflicted by stone or iron.
+
+The king also put upon Sulamith’s neck carcanets of great price, of
+pearls that had been dived for in the Persian Sea by his subjects; and
+the pearls put on a living lustre and a soft colour from the warmth of
+her body. And corals became redder upon her swarthy breast; and
+turquoise came to life upon her fingers; and those baubles of yellow
+amber which were brought from far northern seas, in gift to the king, by
+the doughty ship-masters of Hiram, King of Tyre, emitted crackling
+sparks in her hands.
+
+With marigolds and lilies did Sulamith deck her couch, preparing it for
+the night; and, reposing upon her breast, the king would say in the
+joyousness of his heart:
+
+“Thou are like to the king’s decked, masted boat in the Land of Ophir, O
+my beloved; a light, golden boat that floats, swaying, upon the sacred
+river, among white fragrant blossoms.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thus did his first--and last--love come to Solomon, the greatest of
+kings and wisest of sages.
+
+Many ages have passed since then. There have been kingdoms and kings,
+and of them no trace has been left, as of a wind that has sped over a
+desert. There have been prolonged, merciless wars, after which the names
+of the commanders shone through the ages, like ensanguined stars; but
+time has effaced even the very memory of them.
+
+But the love of the lowly maiden of the vineyard and the great king
+shall never pass away nor be forgotten,--for love is strong as death;
+for every woman who loves is a queen; for love is beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+
+Seven days had sped since Solomon,--poet, sage, and king,--had brought
+into his palace the lowly maiden he had met in the vineyard at dawn. For
+seven days did the king take joyance in her love, nor could be sated
+therewith. And a great joy irradiated his countenance, like to the
+golden light of the sun.
+
+It was the time of light, warm, moonlit nights,--sweet nights of
+love.... Upon a couch of tiger fells lay the naked Sulamith; and the
+king, sitting upon the floor at her feet, filled his emerald goblet with
+the aureate wine of Mauretus, and drank to the health of his beloved,
+rejoicing with all his heart, and narrated to her the sage, strange
+legends of eld. And Sulamith’s hand rested upon his head, stroking his
+wavy black hair.
+
+“Tell me, my king,” Sulamith had once asked, “is it not wonderful that I
+fell in love with thee so instantly? I now call all things to mind, and
+meseems I began belonging to thee from the very first moment, when I had
+not yet had time to behold thee, but had merely heard thy voice. My
+heart began to flutter and did open to meet thee, as a flower opens to
+the south wind on a night in summer. How hast thou taken me so, my
+beloved?”
+
+And the king, quietly bending his head toward the soft knees of
+Sulamith, smiled tenderly and answered:
+
+“Thousands of women before thee, O my comely one, have put this question
+to their beloveds, and hundreds of ages after thee will they be asking
+their beloveds about this. There be three things which are too wonderful
+for me, yea, four which I know not: the way of an eagle in the air;
+the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of
+the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. This is not my wisdom,
+Sulamith,--these are the words of Agur, son of Jakeh, heard from him
+by his disciples. But let us honour the wisdom of others also.”
+
+“Yea,” said Sulamith pensively, “mayhap it is even true that man
+shall never comprehend this. To-day, during the banquet, I wore a
+sweet-smelling cluster of stacte upon my breast. But thou didst leave
+the table, and my flowers ceased to give out their smell. Meseems, thou
+must be beloved, O king, of women, and men, and beasts, and even of
+flowers. I oft ponder, yet comprehend not: how can one love any other
+save thee?”
+
+“And any save thee, save thee, Sulamith! Every hour do I render thanks
+to God for that He has set thee in my path.”
+
+“I remember, I was sitting upon a stone of the wall, and thou didst put
+thy hand on mine. Fire ran through my veins; my head was dizzied. I said
+within me: Behold, there is my lord, my king, my beloved!”
+
+“I remember, Sulamith, how thou didst turn around to my call. Under the
+thin raiment I saw thy body, thy beautiful body, that I love as I love
+God. I love it,--covered with its golden down, as though the sun had left
+its kiss upon it. Thou art graceful, like to a filly in the Pharaoh’s
+chariot; thou art fair like the chariot of Ammi-nadib. Thy eyes are as
+two doves, sitting by the rivers of waters.”
+
+“O, beloved, thy words stir me. Thy hand sears me sweetly. O, my king,
+thy legs are as pillars of marble. Thy belly is like an heap of wheat,
+set about with lilies.”
+
+Surrounded, irradiated, by the silent light of the moon, they forgot
+time and place; and thus hours would pass, and they with wonder beheld
+the rosy dawn peeping through the latticed windows of the chamber.
+
+Sulamith also said once:
+
+“Thou hast known, my beloved, wives and virgins without number, and they
+were all the fairest women on earth. I become ashamed whenever I consider
+myself,--a simple, unschooled girl,--and my poor body, scorched of the
+sun.”
+
+But, touching her lips with his, the king would say, with infinite love
+and gratefulness:
+
+“Thou art a queen, Sulamith! Thou wast born a true queen. Thou art brave
+and generous in love. Seven hundred wives have I, and three hundred
+concubines, and virgins without number have I known; but thou, my timid
+one, art my only one,--thou fairest among women. I have found thee like
+as a diver in the Gulf of Persia, that filleth a great number of baskets
+with barren shells and pearls of little price, ere he get from the bed
+of the sea a pearl worthy a king’s crown. My child, a man may love
+thousands of times, yet he loveth but once. People without number think
+they love, yet only to two of them doth God send love. And when thou
+didst yield thyself up to me among the cypresses, under the rafters of
+cedars, upon the bed of green, I did with all my soul render thanks to
+God, so gracious to me.”
+
+Sulamith also asked once:
+
+“I know that they all loved thee, for not to love thee is impossible.
+The Queen of Sheba did come to thee from her domain. They say, that she
+was the wisest and fairest of all women that had ever been on earth. As
+in a dream, I recall her caravans. I know not why, but since my earliest
+childhood I have been drawn to the chariots of the great. I was then
+perhaps seven, perhaps eight. I remember the camels in golden harness,
+covered with caparisons of purple, laden with heavy burthens; I remember
+the mules with the little bells of gold between their ears; I remember
+the droll monkeys in silvern cages; and the wondrous peacocks. There was
+a multitude of servants in garments of white and blue, marching; they
+led tame tigers and panthers upon ribbands of red. I was but eight
+then.”
+
+“O child, thou wert but eight then,” said Solomon with sadness.
+
+“Didst thou love her more than me, Solomon? Wilt tell me something of
+her?”
+
+And the king told her all pertaining to this amazing woman. Having heard
+much of the wisdom and beauty of the King of Israel, she had come to him
+from her domain with rich gifts, desiring to prove his wisdom and subdue
+his heart. This was a magnificent woman of forty, who was already
+beginning to fade. But through secret, magic means she contrived to make
+her body, that was growing flabby, seem graceful and supple, like a
+girl’s, while her face bore an impress of an awesome, inhuman beauty.
+But her wisdom was ordinary wisdom, and the petty wisdom of a woman to
+boot.
+
+Desiring to test the king with riddles, she at first sent to him fifty
+youths of tenderest age, and fifty maidens. They were all so cunningly
+dressed that the keenest eye could not have discerned their sex. “I
+shall call thee wise, O King,” said Balkis, “if thou shalt tell me
+which of them is woman, and which man.”
+
+But the king burst out laughing, and ordered that every he and she
+sent him be brought a separate bason of silver, and a separate ewer of
+silver, for laving. And whereas the boys bravely splashed in the water
+and cast it in handfuls at their faces, drying their skin vigorously,
+the girls acted as women always do at their ablutions. They lathered
+each hand gently and solicitously, bringing it closely to their eyes.
+
+In so easy a manner did the king solve the first riddle of
+Balkis-Mâkkedah.
+
+Next she sent Solomon a large diamond, the size of a hazel nut. This
+stone had a thin, exceedingly tortuous flaw, that perforated its entire
+body with a narrow, intricate path. The task was to put a silken thread
+through the jewel. And the wise king let into the opening a silk worm,
+which, having passed through, left the finest of silken webs in its
+wake.
+
+Also, the beauteous Balkis sent King Solomon a precious goblet of carved
+sardonyx, of magnificent workmanship. “This goblet shall be thine,” she
+had commanded that the king be told, “if thou fillest it with moisture
+taken neither from earth nor heaven.” And Solomon, having filled the
+goblet with froth falling from the body of a fatigued steed, ordered it
+to be carried to the queen.
+
+Many such hard questions did the queen put to Solomon, but could not
+belittle his wisdom; nor with all her secret charms of love’s passion
+in the night might she contrive to retain his love. And when she had
+finally palled upon the king, he had cruelly, hurtfully made mock of
+her.
+
+Everybody knew that the Savvian queen never showed her lower extremities
+to anyone, and for that reason wore a garment reaching to the ground.
+Even in the hours of love caresses did she keep her legs closely covered
+with raiment. Many strange and droll legends had sprung up on this
+account.
+
+Some averred, that the queen had legs like a goat, grown over with wool;
+others swore, that instead of human feet she had webbed feet, like a
+goose. And they even related how the mother of Balkis had once, after
+bathing, sat down upon sand where just before a certain god, temporarily
+metamorphosed into a gander, had left his seed, and that through this
+she had borne the beauteous Queen of Sheba.
+
+And so Solomon one day commanded to be built, in one of his chambers, a
+transparent floor of crystal, with an empty space beneath it, which was
+filled with water and stocked with live fish. All this was done with
+such extraordinary art that one not forewarned could never possibly
+notice the glass, and would take an oath that a pool of clear, fresh
+water lay before him.
+
+And when all was in readiness, Solomon invited his regal guest to an
+interview. Surrounded by all the pomp of her retinue, she paced through
+the chambers of the House at Lebanon, and came up to the treacherous
+pool. At the other end of it sat the king, resplendent with gold and
+precious stones, and with a welcoming look in his dark eyes. The door
+opened before the queen, and she took a step forward,--but cried out
+and....
+
+Sulamith claps her palms and laughs, and her laughter is joyous and
+child-like.
+
+“She stoops and lifts up her raiment?” asks Sulamith.
+
+“Yea, my beloved, she acted as any among women would have acted. She
+raised up the hem of her garment, and although this lasted for but a
+moment, not only I but all my court saw that the beauteous Savvian
+Queen, Balkis-Mâkkedah, had ordinary human legs, but crooked and grown
+over with coarse hair. On the very next day she set off, without bidding
+me farewell, and departed with her magnificent caravan. I had not meant
+to offend her. I sent after her a trustworthy runner, whom I ordered to
+give to the queen a bundle of a rare mountain herb,--the best means for
+the extirpation of hair upon the body. But she returned to me the head
+of my emissary in a bag of costly purple.”
+
+Solomon also told his beloved many things out of his life, which none
+other among men and women knew, and which Sulamith carried with her into
+the grave. He told her of the long and weary years of his wanderings,
+when, fleeing from the wrath of his brethren, he was forced to hide
+under an assumed name in foreign lands, enduring fearful poverty and
+privations. He told her how, in a far-off, unknown country, while he
+was standing in the market place, in expectation of being hired to work
+somewhere, the king’s cook had approached him and said:
+
+“Stranger, help me carry this hamper of fish into the palace.”
+
+Through his wit, adroitness, and skilled demeanor, Solomon so pleased
+the officers of the court, that in a short while he had made himself at
+home in the palace, and when the head cook died he had taken his place.
+Further, Solomon told of how the king’s only daughter,--a beautiful,
+ardent maiden,--had fallen in love with the new cook and had confessed
+her love to him; how they fled from the palace one night, and had been
+re-taken and brought back; how Solomon had been condemned to die; and
+how, by a miracle, he succeeded in escaping from the dungeon.
+
+Avidly did Sulamith listen to him, and, when he grew silent, amidst the
+stillness of the night their lips joined, their arms entwined each
+other, and breast touched breast. And when morning drew near, and
+Sulamith’s body seemed a foamy pink, and the fatigue of love encircled
+her splendid eyes with blue shadows, she would say with a tender smile:
+
+“Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick with love.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+
+In the temple of Isis, upon Mount Beth-El-Khav, the first part of the
+great mystery, to which the faithful of the lesser initiation were
+admitted, was just over. The priest on duty,--an ancient elder in white
+vestment, with shaven head, and neither moustache nor beard,--had turned
+from the elevation of the altar toward the people, and pronounced in a
+quiet, tired voice:
+
+“Dwell in peace, my sons and daughters. Wax perfect through deeds.
+Extoll the name of the goddess. And may her blessings be over ye for
+ever and aye.”
+
+He raised his hands on high over the people, in benediction. And
+immediately all the initiates into the lesser rank of the mysteries
+prostrated themselves on the floor, and then, arising, softly and in
+silence made their way to the exit.
+
+To-day was the seventh day of the month Phamenoth, sacred to the
+mysteries of Osiris and Isis. Since evening the solemn procession had
+thrice made the circuit of the temple with lamps, palm-leaves, and
+amphoræ; with the occult symbols of the gods and the sacred images of
+the Phallus. In the midst of the procession, upon the shoulders of the
+priests and the minor prophets, was reared the closed _naos_ of costly
+wood, ornamented with pearl, ivory, and gold. Therein dwelt the goddess
+herself,--She, The Invisible, The Bestower of Fecundity, The Mysterious;
+Mother, Sister, and Wife of gods.
+
+The evil Seth had enticed his brother, the divine Osiris, to a feast;
+through craftiness he made him to lie down in a magnificent sarcophagus,
+and, having clapped down the lid over him, cast the sarcophagus with the
+body of the great god into the Nile. Isis, who had just given birth to
+Horus, with yearning and tears searches all the world over for the body
+of her spouse, and for long can not find it. Finally, slaves inform her
+that the body had been borne out to sea by the waves, and that it had
+been cast up at Byblos, where an enormous tree had sprung up about
+it, enclosing within its trunk the body of the god and his floating
+dwelling. The king of that domain had commanded a mighty column to be
+made out of the enormous tree, not knowing that within it reposed the
+god Osiris himself, the great bestower of life. Isis goes to Byblos;
+she arrives there fatigued with sultriness, thirst, and the toilsome,
+stony road. She liberates the sarcophagus out of the midst of the tree,
+carries it with her, and buries it in the earth near the city wall.
+But Seth again secretly steals away the body of Osiris, cuts it up into
+fourteen parts, and strews them over all the towns and settlements of
+Upper and Lower Ægpyt.
+
+And again with great grief and lamentations Isis set out in search of
+the sacred members of her spouse and brother. Her sister, the goddess
+Nephthys, and the mighty Thoth, and the son of the goddess, the radiant
+Horus,--Horus of the Horizon,--all join their plaints to her weeping.
+
+Such was the hidden meaning of the present procession in the first half
+of the sacred service. Now, upon the departure of the common believers,
+and after a short rest, the second part of the great mystery was about
+to be consummated. In the temple were left only those initiated into the
+higher degrees,--mystagogues, epopts, prophets and sacrificators.
+
+Boys in white vestments bore about, upon salvers of silver, flesh,
+bread, dried fruits, and sweet wine of Pelusium. Others poured hippocras
+out of narrow-necked Tyrian vessels,--a drink given in those days to
+condemned criminals before execution, to arouse their manhood, but which
+also possessed the great virtue of generating and sustaining in men the
+fire of a sacred madness.
+
+At a sign from the priest on duty the boys withdrew. A priest who was
+also the keeper of the gates locked all doors. Then he attentively made
+the rounds of all those who remained, scrutinizing their faces and
+testing them with secret words that constituted the pass-orders for this
+night. Two other priests drew a silvern thurible upon wheels down the
+length of the temple and around each of its columns. The temple filled
+with the blue, thick, heady, aromatic fumes of incense, and through the
+layers of smoke grew barely visible the vari-coloured flames of the
+lamp,--lamps made of translucent stones, lamps set in carved gold and
+suspended from the ceiling upon long chains of silver. In the times of
+eld this temple of Osiris and Isis was known for its small extent and
+its poverty, and was hollowed out like a cavern in the heart of the
+mountain. A narrow subterranean corridor led to it from without. But in
+the days of the reign of Solomon, who had taken under his protection
+all religions save those which permitted the offering of children in
+sacrifice, and thanks to the zeal of Queen Astis, an Ægyptian born, the
+temple had expanded in depth and height, and had become adorned with
+rich offerings.
+
+The former altar still remained inviolate in its primordial, austere
+simplicity, together with a great number of small chambers surrounding
+it and serving for the keeping of treasures, sacrificial objects, and
+priestly appurtenances, as well as for special secret purposes during
+the most occult mystic orgies.
+
+But then, the outer court was truly magnificent, with its pylons in
+honour of the goddess Hathor, and with a four-sided colonnade of four
+and twenty columns. The inner, subterranean, hypostylic hall for
+worshippers was built still more magnificently. Its mosaic floor was all
+adorned with cunningly wrought images of fishes, beasts, amphibians
+and reptiles; while the ceiling was overlaid with blue lazure, and
+upon it shone a sun of gold, glowed a moon of silver, innumerable
+stars twinkled, and birds soared upon outspread wings. The floor was
+the earth, the ceiling the sky, and they were joined by round and
+many-sided columns, like mighty tree trunks; and since all the columns
+were surmounted by capitals in the form of the tender flowers of lotus
+or the slender cylinders of the papyrus, the ceiling they supported did
+in reality seem as light and æthereal as the sky.
+
+The walls to the height of a man were faced with plates of red granite,
+brought at the desire of Queen Astis out of Thebes, where the local
+master workers could impart to the granite a smoothness like that of a
+mirror, together with an amazing polish. Higher, to the very ceiling,
+the walls, as well as the columns, were gay with graven and limned
+images with the symbols of the gods of both Ægypts. Here was Sebekh,
+honoured in Fayum in the form of a crocodile; and Thoth, the god of the
+moon, depicted as an ibis in the city of Khmunu; and the sun-god Horus,
+to whom a small idol-temple was consecrated in Edfu; and Bast of
+Bubastis, in the form of a cat; Shu, the god of the air, as a lion;
+Ptah,--an Apis; Hathor, the goddess of mirth,--a heifer; Anubis, the
+god of embalming, with the head of a jackal; and Menthu out of Hermon;
+and the Coptic Minu; and Neith of Sais, the goddess of the sky; and,
+finally, in the form of a ram,--the dread god whose name was never
+uttered, and who was called Khenti-Amentiu, which signifieth: The
+Dweller in the West.
+
+The half-dark altar reared above the entire temple, and the gold upon
+the walls of the sanctuary that hid the images of Isis gleamed within
+its depths. Three gates,--a large one in the middle, and two small ones
+flanking it,--opened into the sanctuary. Before the middle one stood a
+small sacrificial altar with a sacred stone knife of Æthiopian obsidian.
+Steps led up to the altar, and upon them were disposed young priests and
+priestesses with tympani and sistrums, with flutes and tabours.
+
+Queen Astis was reclining within a little, secret chamber. A small
+quadrangular opening, artfully concealed by a large curtain, led
+directly to the altar, and permitted one to follow all the details
+of the sacred service without betraying one’s presence. A light,
+closely-fitting dress of linen gauze, interwoven with silver, tightly
+enveloped the body of the queen, leaving the arms bare up to the
+shoulders, and the legs half-way to the calf. Her skin gleamed pinkly
+through the diaphanous material, and one could see the pure lines and
+elevations of her graceful body, which, despite the queen’s age of
+thirty, still had lost none of its litheness, beauty and freshness. Her
+hair, stained a blue colour, was spread loosely over her shoulders and
+back, and was adorned with innumerable little aromatic pomanders. Her
+face was much rouged and whitened; while her eyes, finely outlined by
+kohl, seemed enormous and glowed in the darkness, like those of some
+powerful beasts of the feline species. A sacred uræus of gold hung down
+from her neck, separating the half-bared breasts.
+
+Ever since Solomon had cooled toward Queen Astis, tired of her unbridled
+sensuality, she, with all the ardour of southern love-passion, and
+with all the jealousy of a woman scorned, had given herself up to those
+secret orgies of perverted lust that constituted the highest cult of the
+castrates’ service of Isis. She always showed herself surrounded by
+priests-castrates, and, even now, as one of them fanned her head with
+measured strokes of a fan made of peacock feathers, others were seated
+upon the floor drinking in the beauty of the queen with eyes of insane
+bliss. Their nostrils were dilating and quivering from the scent of her
+body wafted to them, and they sought with trembling fingers to touch
+unperceived the hem of her light raiment, barely stirring in the breeze.
+Their excessive, never satiated sensuousness spurred on their imagination
+to its utmost limits. Their inventiveness in the pleasures of Kybele and
+Ashera surpassed all human possibilities. And being jealous of the queen
+toward one another, toward all men, women, and children--being jealous
+of her own self--they adored her even more than Isis, and, loving her,
+hated her as an inexhaustible, fiery fountain-head of delectable and
+cruel sufferings.
+
+Dark, evil, fearful, and fascinating rumours were current about Queen
+Astis in Jerusalem. The parents of beautiful boys and girls hid
+their children from her gaze; men dreaded to utter her name upon the
+conjugal couch, as an omen of defilement and disaster. But agitating,
+irresistible curiosity drew all souls to her, and gave all bodies
+up into her power. They who had but once experienced her ferocious,
+sanguinary caresses could nevermore forget her, and became her lifelong,
+pitiful, spurned slaves. Ready, for a renewed possession of her, to
+commit every sin, to endure every degradation and crime, they came to
+resemble those unfortunates who, having once tasted of the bitter drink
+of the poppy from the Land of Ophir,--the drink that bestoweth sweet
+dreams,--will never more draw away from it, bowing down before it only
+and honouring it alone, until exhaustion and madness cut short their
+life.
+
+The fan swayed slowly in the sultry air. In silent rapture the priests
+contemplated their dread sovereign. But she seemed to have forgotten
+their presence. Having moved the curtain slightly aside, she was
+ceaselessly gazing across toward that part of the altar where at one
+time, out of the dark fissures of the ancient curtains of beaten gold,
+was to be seen the beautiful, radiant countenance of the king of Israel.
+Him alone did the spurned queen, the cruel and lecherous Astis, love
+with all her flaming and depraved heart. His glance of a fleeting
+moment, a kind word of his, the touch of his hand, did she seek
+everywhere, and found not. Upon triumphal levees, court banquets, and
+upon the days of judgment, did Solomon pay his respects, due a queen and
+the daughter of a king; but his soul was not quick unto her. And the
+proud queen would often command herself to be borne at set hours past
+the House at Lebanon, to glimpse, even though afar and unnoticed, through
+the heavy stuffs of her litter, the proud, unforgettably splendid visage
+of Solomon, in the midst of the throng of courtiers. And long since her
+flaming love had grown so closely joined to searing hatred that Astis
+herself was unable to tell them apart.
+
+In former days Solomon also had visited the temple of Isis on great
+festal days, had brought the goddess offerings, and had even accepted
+the title of her hierophant,--second after that of the Pharaoh of Ægypt.
+But the horrible mysteries of “The Sanguine Sacrifice of Fecundation”
+had turned his mind and heart from the service of the Mother of Gods.
+
+“He that is castrated through ignorance or by force, or through accident
+or disease, is not abased before God,” the king hath said. “But woe be
+unto him that doth maim himself with his own hand.”
+
+And now for a whole year his couch in the temple had remained vacant.
+And in vain did the flaming eyes of the queen now gaze feverishly at the
+unstirred hangings.
+
+In the meanwhile, the wine, hippocras, and the stupefying burnt perfumes
+were already having a perceptible effect upon those gathered within the
+temple. Cries, and laughter, and the ring of silver vessels falling upon
+the stone floor came with greater frequency. The grand, mysterious
+moment of the sanguinary sacrifice was approaching. Ecstasy was overcoming
+the faithful.
+
+With an abstracted gaze the queen surveyed the temple and the believers.
+Many honoured and illustrious men of Solomon’s retinue and many of his
+generals were here: Ben-Geber, ruler over the region of Argob; and
+Ahimaaz, who had Basmath, the daughter of the king, to wife; and the
+witty Ben-Dekar; and Zabud, who bore, in accordance with eastern
+customs, the high title of the King’s Friend; and the brother of Solomon
+by the first marriage of David,--Dalaiah, a debilitated, half-dead man,
+who had prematurely fallen into idiocy through excesses and drinking.
+They were all--some through faith, some through ulterior designs, others
+out of adulation, and still others for lecherous purposes,--the adorants
+of Isis.
+
+And now the eyes of the queen rested, long and attentively, intent in
+thought, on the comely, youthful face of Eliab, one of the officers of
+the king’s bodyguards.
+
+The queen knew why his swarthy face was aflame with such a vivid colour,
+why his eyes were directed with such passionate yearning hitherward,
+upon the curtains, scarce stirring from the touch of the queen’s
+beautiful hands. Once, almost in jest, submitting to a momentary
+caprice, she had made Eliab to pass a whole night of felicity with her.
+In the morning she had let him depart, but ever since, for many days
+running, she had beheld everywhere,--in the palace, in the temple, in
+the streets,--two enamoured, submissive, yearning eyes, that followed
+her entranced.
+
+The dark eyebrows of the queen contracted, and her green, elongated eyes
+suddenly darkened from a fearful thought. With a barely perceptible
+motion of her hand she ordered the castrate to lower the fan and said
+quietly:
+
+“Get hence, all of you. Hushai, thou shalt go and summon to me Eliab,
+the officer of the king’s guard. Let him come alone.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+
+Ten priests, in white vestments, maculated with red, stepped out to the
+centre of the altar. Following them came two other priests, clad in
+feminine garments. It was their duty to-day to represent Nephthys and
+Isis, bewailing Osiris. Then out of the depths of the altar came one in
+a white chiton, without a single ornament, and the eyes of all the men
+and women were eagerly drawn to him. This was the very same desert
+anchorite who had undergone a heavy trial of ten years’ wrestling with
+the flesh upon the mountains of Lebanon, and was now to bring a great,
+voluntary bloody sacrifice to Isis. His face, emaciated by hunger,
+wind-beaten and scorched, was stern and pallid, the eyes austerely cast
+down; and a supernatural horror was wafted from him upon the throng.
+
+Finally, the chief priest of the temple also made his appearance,--a
+centenarian ancient, with a tiara upon his head, with a tiger skin upon
+his shoulders, in an apron of brocaded samite adorned with the tails of
+jackals.
+
+Turning to the worshippers, he uttered in a senile voice, meek and
+tremulous:
+
+“_Suton-di-hotpu._” (“The king bringeth the sacrifice.”)
+
+And then, turning around to the sacrificial altar, he took from the
+hands of an acolyte a white dove with little red feet, cut off the
+bird’s head, took the heart out of her breast, and sprinkled the
+sacrificial altar and the consecrated knife with her blood.
+
+After a brief silence he proclaimed:
+
+“Let us weep for Osiris, the god of Atum, the Great On-Nefer-Hophra, the
+god Ona!”
+
+Two castrates in female garments,--Isis and Nephthys,--at once commenced
+the lamentation, in harmonious, high-pitched voices:
+
+“Return to thy dwelling, O beauteous youth! To behold thee is bliss.
+
+“Isis charges thee,--Isis, that was conceived in the one womb with
+thee,--Isis, thy spouse and thy sister.
+
+“Show us thy countenance anew, radiant god. Here is Nephthys, thy
+sister. She is deluged in her tears and plucks out her hair in her
+grief.
+
+“In a yearning like unto death do we seek after thy beauteous body.
+Return to thy dwelling, Osiris!”
+
+Two other priests joined their voices to those of the first two. These
+were Horus and Anubis lamenting for Osiris, and each time they concluded
+a stanza, the chorus, disposed upon the steps of the staircase, repeated
+it to a solemn and sad motif.
+
+Then with the same chant the elder priests brought out of the sanctuary
+the statue of the goddess, no longer covered with the _naos_. A black
+mantle, strewn over with golden stars, now enveloped the goddess from
+head to foot, leaving visible only her silvern feet, entwined by a
+serpent, as well as, over her head, a silvern disc, confined within the
+horns of a cow. And slowly, to the tinkling of the censers and sistra,
+with mournful weeping, the procession of the goddess Isis set out from
+the steps of the altar, down into the temple, along its walls, and in
+and out between the columns.
+
+Thus did the goddess gather up the scattered members of her spouse, that
+she might resuscitate him with the aid of Thoth and Anubis.
+
+“Glory to the city of Abydos, that preserved thy fair head, Osiris.
+
+“Glory to thee, city of Memphis, where we did find the right hand of the
+great god,--the hand of war and protection.
+
+“And to thee also, O city of Sais, that didst harbour the left hand of
+the radiant god,--the hand of justice.
+
+“And be thou blessed, city of Thebes, where the heart of On-Nefer-Hophra
+did repose.”
+
+Thus did the goddess make the round of the entire temple, coming back to
+the altar, and more and more passionate and loud did the singing of the
+chorus become. A sacred exaltation was taking possession of the priests
+and those praying. All the parts of the body of Osiris had Isis found,
+save one,--the sacred Phallus, impregnating the maternal womb, creating
+new life eternal. Now was approaching the grandest act in the mystery of
+Osiris and Isis....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+“Is it thou, Eliab?” the queen asked the youth, who had quietly entered
+the door.
+
+In the darkness near the couch he noiselessly sank at her feet and pressed
+to his lips the hem of her raiment. And the queen felt him weeping with
+rapture, shame, and desire. Lowering her hand upon his curly, tousled
+head, the queen uttered:
+
+“Tell me, Eliab, all that thou knowest of the king and this girl of the
+vineyard.”
+
+“How thou dost love him, O queen!” said Eliab with a bitter moan.
+
+“Speak!...” commanded Astis.
+
+“What can I tell thee, queen? My heart is rent by jealousy.”
+
+“Speak!”
+
+“Never yet has the king loved any as he loveth her. He doth not part
+from her for an instant. His eyes shine with happiness. He lavishes
+favours and gifts all about him. He, the Abimelech[5] and sage,--he,
+like a slave, lieth at her feet and, like a dog, taketh not his eyes
+off her.”
+
+“Speak!”
+
+“O, how thou dost torture me, queen! And she ... she is all love, all
+tenderness and caresses! She is meek and abashed, she sees and knows
+naught save her love. She arouses wrath, envy, or jealousy in none....”
+
+“Speak!” furiously moaned out the queen, and, clutching with her pliant
+fingers the black curls of Eliab, she pressed his head against her body,
+scratching his face with the silver embroidery of her diaphanous chiton.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And in the meanwhile, at the altar, around the image of the goddess
+covered with its black pall, the priests and priestesses were careering
+in a holy frenzy, with shouts resembling barking, to the clashing of
+tympani and the jarring strum of sistrums.
+
+Certain ones among them were flaying themselves with many-tailed
+whiplashes of rhinoceros hide; others were inflicting long, slashing
+wounds upon their own breasts and shoulders with short knives; others
+still were tearing their mouths with their fingers, tearing at their
+ears, and excoriating their faces with their nails. In the midst of this
+mad round-dance, at the very feet of the goddess, with inconceivable
+rapidity the anchorite from the mountains of Lebanon was whirling on one
+spot, in snowy-white, waving raiment. The head priest alone remained
+motionless. In his hand he was holding the sacred sacrificial knife of
+Æthiopian obsidian, ready to pass it over at the ultimate, frightful
+moment.
+
+“The Phallus! The Phallus! The Phallus!” the maddened priests were
+crying in an ecstasy. “Where is thy Phallus, O radiant god? Come,
+fecundate the goddess! Her bosom languishes with desire! Her womb is
+like a desert in the sultry months of summer!”
+
+And now a fearful, insane, piercing scream for an instant drowned all
+sound of the chorus. The priests quickly parted, and all those in the
+temple beheld the anchorite of Lebanon, utterly nude, horrible with his
+tall, gaunt, yellow body. The high priest held out the knife to him. The
+temple grew unbearably still. And he, quickly stooping, made some motion,
+straightened up, and with a wail of pain and rapture suddenly cast at
+the feet of the goddess a formless, bloody piece of flesh.
+
+He was tottering. The high priest carefully supported him, putting his
+arm around his back; led him up to the image of Isis, painstakingly
+covered him with the black pall, and left him thus for a few moments, in
+order that in secret, unseen of the others, he might imprint his kiss
+upon the lips of the impregnated goddess.
+
+Immediately thereafter he was laid upon a stretcher and borne from the
+altar. The priest who kept the gates went outside the temple. He struck
+an enormous copper disc with a wooden mallet, proclaiming to all the
+universe that the great mystery of the fecundation of the goddess had
+been consummated. And the high, singing sound of the copper floated away
+over Jerusalem....
+
+Queen Astis, her body still quivering without cease, threw back Eliab’s
+head. Her eyes were aflame with an intense, red fire. And she spake
+slowly, word by word:
+
+“Eliab, wouldst have me make thee king over Judæa and Israel? Wouldst
+thou be sovereign over all Syria and Mesopotamia, over Phoenicia and
+Babylon?”
+
+“Nay, queen, I desire thee alone....”
+
+“Yea, thou shalt be my lord. All my nights shall belong to thee. My
+every word, my every glance, my every breath shall be thine. Thou
+knowest the shibboleth. Thou shalt go this day into the palace and slay
+them. Thou shalt slay them both! Thou shalt slay them both!”
+
+Eliab was fain to speak. But the queen drew him to her, and her burning
+lips and tongue clung to his mouth. This lasted excruciatingly long.
+Then, suddenly tearing the youth away from her, she said curtly and
+imperiously:
+
+“Go!”
+
+“I go,” answered Eliab, submissively.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+
+And it was the seventh night of Solomon’s great love.
+
+Strangely quiet and deeply tender were the caresses of the king and
+Sulamith on this night. Some pensive melancholy, some cautious timidity,
+some distant premonition, seemed to have cast a slight shadow over their
+words, their kisses and embraces.
+
+Gazing through the window at the sky, where night was already
+vanquishing the sinking flame of the evening, Sulamith let her eyes rest
+upon a bright, bluish star that trembled meekly and tenderly.
+
+“What is that star called, my beloved?” she asked.
+
+“That is the star Sopdit,” answered the king. “It is a sacred star.
+Assyrian magi tell us that the souls of all men dwell upon it after the
+death of the body.”
+
+“Dost thou believe it, my king?”
+
+Solomon made no reply. His right hand was under Sulamith’s head, and his
+left did embrace her; and she felt his aromatic breath upon her,--upon
+her hair, upon her temple.
+
+“Mayhap we shall see each other there, my king, after we have died?”
+asked Sulamith uneasily.
+
+The king again kept silence.
+
+“Give me some answer, beloved,” timidly implored Sulamith.
+
+Whereupon the king said:
+
+“Brief is the life of man, but time is without end, and matter hath no
+death. Man dieth and maketh the earth fertile with the corruption of his
+body; the earth nourisheth the blade; the blade bringeth forth grain;
+man consumeth bread, and feedeth his body therewith. Multitudes, and
+multitudes upon multitudes, of ages shall pass; all things in the
+universe repeat themselves,--men, beasts, stones, plants,--all repeat
+themselves. In the multiform vortex of time and matter we, too, are
+repeated, my beloved. It is just as true as that, if thou and I were to
+fill a large bag up to the top with sea gravel, and were to cast therein
+but one precious sapphire,--though we were to take pebbles out of the bag
+many, many times, we still would, sooner or later, draw out the precious
+stone as well. Thou and I will meet, Sulamith, nor shall we know each
+other; but our hearts, with rapture and yearning, will strive to meet,
+for thou and I have already met,--my meek, my fair Sulamith,--though we
+remember it not.”
+
+“Nay, my king, nay! I remember. When thou didst stand beneath the window
+and didst call to me: ‘My fair, come out, for my locks are filled with
+the drops of the night!’ I knew thee, I remembered thee; and fear and
+joy possessed my heart. Tell me, my king,--tell me, Solomon: if I were,
+say, to die on the morrow, wouldst thou recall thy swarthy maiden of the
+vineyard, thy Sulamith?”
+
+And the king, pressing her to his breast, whispered in emotion:
+
+“Never speak thus.... Speak not thus, O Sulamith! Thou art chosen of God,
+thou art the veritable one, thou art the queen of my soul.... Death
+shall not touch thee....”
+
+The strident sound of brass suddenly soared over Jerusalem. For long it
+trembled mournfully and wavered in the air, and when it had grown silent
+its quavering echoes still floated on for a long while.
+
+“This marks the ending of the mystery in the temple of Isis,” said the
+king.
+
+“I am afraid, my comely one,” whispered Sulamith. “A dark terror has
+penetrated into my soul.... I do not want to die.... I have not yet had
+time to enjoy my fill of thy embraces.... Embrace me.... Press me closer
+to thee.... Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm!...”
+
+“Fear not death, Sulamith! For love is strong as death.... Drive sad
+thoughts from thee.... Wouldst have me tell thee of the wars of David,
+of the feasts and hunts of the Pharaoh Shishak? Wouldst hear one of
+those fairy tales that come from the land of Ophir?... Wouldst have me
+tell thee of the wonders of Bakramaditiah?”
+
+“Yea, my king. Thou dost know thyself that when I hearken to thee, my
+heart doth expand from happiness! But I would ask a boon of thee....”
+
+“O Sulamith, all that thou dost desire! Ask my life of me,--I shall
+render it up to thee with delight. I shall only regret having paid too
+small a price for thy love.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Then Sulamith smiled in the darkness for happiness, and, entwining the
+king with her arms, whispered in his ear:
+
+“I beseech thee, when the morning cometh let us go together there ... to
+the vineyard.... There, where it is green, and the cypresses are, and
+the cedars; where, nigh the stone wall, thou didst take my soul with thy
+hands.... I beseech thee to do this, my beloved.... There will I give
+thee my loves anew....”
+
+In a transport of delight the king kissed the lips of his love.
+
+But Sulamith suddenly raised herself up on the couch and hearkened.
+
+“What is it, my child?... What hath frightened thee?” asked Solomon.
+
+“Stay, my beloved.... Some one is coming hither.... Yea ... I hear
+steps.”
+
+She became silent. And the stillness was such that they marked the beating
+of their hearts.
+
+A slight rustling was heard beyond the door, and it was suddenly thrown
+ajar, quickly and without a sound.
+
+“Who is there?” cried out Solomon.
+
+But Sulamith had already sprung up from the bed, and with one move
+dashed toward the dark figure of a man with a gleaming sword in his
+hand. And immediately, stricken through by a short, quick stroke, she
+fell down to the floor with a faint cry, as though of wonder.
+
+Solomon shattered with his hand the screen of carnelian that shaded the
+light of the night-lamp. He beheld Eliab, who was standing near the
+door, stooping a little over the body of the girl, swaying like one in
+wine. The young warrior raised his head under Solomon’s gaze, and, when
+his eyes met the wrathful, awesome eyes of the king, he blanched and
+groaned. An expression of despair and terror distorted his features. And
+suddenly, stooping, hiding his face in his mantle, he began timidly,
+like a frightened jackal, to slink out of the room. But the king stayed
+him, saying but three words:
+
+“Who compelled thee?”
+
+All a-tremble and with teeth chattering, with eyes grown white from
+fear, the young warrior let drop dully:
+
+“Queen Astis....”
+
+“Get thee hence,” commanded Solomon. “Tell the guard on duty to watch
+thee.”
+
+Soon people with lights commenced running through the innumerable rooms
+of the palace. All the chambers were illuminated. The leeches came; the
+friends and the military officers of the king gathered.
+
+The chief leech said:
+
+“King, neither science nor God will now avail. She will die the instant
+we draw out the sword left in her breast.”
+
+But at this moment Sulamith came to and said with a calm smile:
+
+“I would drink.”
+
+And when she had drunk, her eyes rested with a tender, beautiful smile
+upon the king, nor did she again take them away, the while he stood upon
+his knees before her couch, all naked, even as she, without perceiving
+that his knees were laved in her blood, nor that his hands were
+encrimsoned with the scarlet of her blood.
+
+Thus, with difficulty, gazing upon her beloved and smiling gently, did
+the beautiful Sulamith speak:
+
+“I thank thee, my king, for all things: for thy love, for thy beauty,
+for thy wisdom, to which thou didst allow me to set my lips, as to a
+sweet well of living waters. Let me to kiss thy hands; take them not
+away from my mouth till such time when the last breath shall have fled
+from me. Never has there been, nor ever shall there be, a woman happier
+than I. I thank thee, my king, my beloved, my fair. Think ever and anon
+upon thy slave, upon thy Sulamith, scorched of the sun.”
+
+And the king made answer to her, in a deep, slow voice:
+
+“As long as men and women shall love one another; as long as beauty of
+soul and body shall be the best and sweetest dream in the universe,--so
+long, I swear to thee, Sulamith, shall thy name be uttered through many
+ages with emotion and gratefulness.”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Toward morning Sulamith ceased to be.
+
+Then did the king rise up, command the means for laving to be brought to
+him, and, donning his most magnificent chiton of purple, broidered with
+golden scarabæ, he placed upon his head a crown of blood-red rubies.
+After this he did call Benaiah to him, and spake calmly:
+
+“Benaiah, thou shalt go and put Eliab to death.”
+
+But the old man covered his face with his hands and fell prostrate before
+the king.
+
+“Eliab is my grandson, O King.”
+
+“Didst thou hear me, Benaiah?”
+
+“Forgive me, O King,--threaten me not with thy wrath; command some other
+to do this. Eliab, having come out of the palace, did run to the temple,
+and caught hold on the horns of the altar. I am old, my death is nigh; I
+dare not take upon my soul this two-fold crime.”
+
+But the king retorted:
+
+“Nevertheless, when I did instruct thee to put to death my brother
+Adonijah, who had likewise caught hold on the sacred horns of the altar,
+didst thou not hearken to me, Benaiah?”
+
+“Forgive me! Spare me, King!”
+
+“Lift up thy face,” commanded Solomon.
+
+And when Benaiah did raise up his face, and beheld the king’s eyes, he
+quickly rose up from the floor and obediently made his way to the exit.
+
+Then, turning to Ahishar, who was the seneschal, and over the household,
+he commanded:
+
+“I do not want to give the queen up to death; let her live as she
+wishes, and die when she wishes. But nevermore shall she behold my
+countenance. This day, Ahishar, thou shalt fit out a caravan and escort
+the queen to the harbour at Jaffa; and thence to Ægypt, to the Pharaoh
+Shishak. Now let all get hence.”
+
+And, left alone face to face with the body of Sulamith, he long
+contemplated her beautiful features. Her face was pale, and never had it
+been so fair during her life. The half-parted lips that Solomon had been
+kissing but half an hour ago were smiling enigmatically and beautifully;
+and her teeth, still humid, gleamed very faintly from between them.
+
+For long did the king gaze upon his dead leman; then, he softly touched
+with his fingers her brow, already losing the warmth of life, and with
+slow steps withdrew from the chamber.
+
+Beyond the doors the high priest Azariah, son of Zadok, was awaiting
+him. Approaching the king, he asked:
+
+“What shall we do with the body of this woman? It is now the Sabbath.”
+
+And the king recalled how, many years ere this, his father had expired
+and lay upon the sand, already beginning to decompose rapidly. Dogs,
+drawn by the scent of carrion, were already prowling about with eyes
+glaring from hunger and greediness. And, even as now, the high priest,
+a decrepit old man, the father of Azariah, had then asked him:
+
+“Here lieth thy father; the dogs may rend his corpse.... What are we to
+do? Honour the memory of the king and profane the Sabbath; or observe
+the Sabbath but leave the corpse of thy father to be devoured of dogs?”
+
+Thereupon Solomon made answer:
+
+“Leave him. A living dog is better than a dead lion.”
+
+And when now, after the words of the high priest, he did recall this,
+his heart did contract from sadness and fear.
+
+Having made no answer to the high priest, he went on, into the Hall of
+Judgment.
+
+As always of mornings, two of his scribes, Elihoreph and Ahiah, were
+already reclining upon mats, one on either side of the throne, holding
+in readiness their inks, reeds, and rolls of papyrus. Upon the king’s
+entrance they arose and salaamed to the ground before him. And the king
+sat down upon his throne of ivory with ornaments of gold, leant his
+elbow upon the back of a golden lion, and, bowing his head upon his
+palm, commanded:
+
+“Write!
+
+“Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a ring upon thy hand; for love is
+strong as death; jealousy is cruel as hell: the arrows thereof are arrows
+of fire.”
+
+And, having kept a silence so prolonged that the scribes held their
+breath in alarm, he said:
+
+“Leave me to myself.”
+
+And all day, till the first shadows of evening, did the king remain
+alone with his thoughts; nor durst any enter the vast, empty Hall of
+Judgment.
+
+
+_Tamam Shud_
+
+
+
+
+NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR
+
+
+[Footnote 1: The Russian version of this passage reads: “... jealousy is
+cruel as the grave: the arrows thereof are arrows of fire.” In this, I
+have been given to understand, it adheres more closely than does the
+English Bible to the original Hebrew.]
+
+[Footnote 2: “Which _is_ the second month...” _I KINGS; vi:1_.]
+
+[Footnote 3: “Which _is_ the eighth month...” _I KINGS; vi:38_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: “A word fitly spoken _is like_ apples of gold in pictures
+of silver.” _PROVERBS; xxv:11_.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Abimelech; _i. e._, Father-King.]
+
+
+
+
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity, by Alexandre Kuprin</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
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+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
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+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Alexandre Kuprin</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Forbes-Felix</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: B. G. Guerney</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 16, 2010 [eBook #33444]<br />
+[Most recently updated: October 16, 2021]</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SULAMITH: A ROMANCE OF ANTIQUITY ***</div>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a href="images/cover.jpg"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="376" height="600"
+alt="(front cover)" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<i>Printed in 18 point Caslon on Villon Antique Laid paper. 1500 numbered
+copies were issued for subscribers, and type distributed after printing.
+The illustrations were especially designed for this edition.</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<i>This is number</i> 1114
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0001"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-1.jpg"><img src="images/ill-1.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<h1>SULAMITH</h1>
+
+<h3><i>A Romance of Antiquity</i></h3>
+
+<h2 class="no-break"><i>By</i> ALEXANDRE KUPRIN</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+Author of &ldquo;<i>Yama</i>&rdquo; (<i>The Pit</i>), etc.
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+<small><i>Translated from the Russian</i></small>
+<br />
+By B. G. GUERNEY
+</h3>
+
+<h3>
+<small>with</small>
+<br />
+<small><i>Eight full-page illustrations in color</i></small>
+<br />
+<i>By</i> FORBES-FELIX
+</h3>
+
+<p class="center">
+NEW YORK
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<i>Privately Printed for Subscribers</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+MCMXXVIII
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a href="images/title.jpg"><img src="images/ill-title.jpg" width="250" height="400"
+alt="(title page image)" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p class="center">
+Copyright by<br />
+NICHOLAS L. BROWN<br />
+<i>All Rights Reserved</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+</p>
+
+<h4>
+<i>AUTHOR&rsquo;S DEDICATION:</i>
+</h4>
+
+<p class="center">
+To Ivan Alexeievich Bunin
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="sc">A. Kuprin</span>
+</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 25%;">
+Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love <i>is</i>
+strong as death; jealousy <i>is</i> cruel as the grave: the coals thereof
+<i>are</i> coals of fire, <i>which hath</i> a most vehement flame.<a href="#note-1" name="noteref-1"><small>1</small></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<i>THE SONG OF SONGS</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="quote" style="padding: .5em; border: 1px solid black; background-color: #c0c0c0;">
+<b>Transcriber&rsquo;s Note:</b> This Table of Contents has been added for convenience; none
+was present in the original, which contained only the List of Illustrations.
+</p>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0001">Chapter One</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0002">Chapter Two</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0003">Chapter Three</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0004">Chapter Four</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0005">Chapter Five</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0006">Chapter Six</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0007">Chapter Seven</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0008">Chapter Eight</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0009">Chapter Nine</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0010">Chapter Ten</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0011">Chapter Eleven</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2HCH0012">Chapter Twelve</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#h2H_NOTE">Notes by the Translator</a></span></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0001">Plate One</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0002">Plate Two</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0003">Plate Three</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0004">Plate Four</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0005">Plate Five</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0006">Plate Six</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0007">Plate Seven</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="sc"><a href="#image-0008">Plate Eight</a></span></td></tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0001" id="h2HCH0001"></a>I.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-K.png" width="50" height="50" alt="K" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">K</span>ing Solomon had not yet attained middle age&mdash;forty-five; yet the fame
+of his wisdom and comeliness, of the grandeur of his life and the pomp
+of his court, had spread far beyond the limits of Palestine. In Assyria
+and Phœnicia; in Lower and Upper Ægypt; from ancient Tabriz to Yemen
+and from Ismar unto Persepolis; on the coast of the Black Sea and upon
+the islands of the Mediterranean,&mdash;all uttered his name in wonder, for
+there was none among the kings like unto him in all his days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come
+out of Ægypt, in the fourth year of Solomon&rsquo;s reign over Israel, in the
+month of Zif,<a href="#note-2" name="noteref-2"><small>2</small></a> did the
+king undertake the erection of the great temple of the Lord in Mount Moriah,
+and the building of his palace in Jerusalem. Fourscore thousand stonesquarers
+and threescore and ten thousand that bare burthens wrought without cease in the
+mountains, and in the outskirts of the city; while ten thousand hewers that cut
+timber, out of a number of eight and thirty thousand, were sent each month, by
+courses, to Lebanon, where they spent a month in labour so arduous that they
+rested for two months thereafter. Thousands of men tied the cut trees into
+flotes, and hundreds of seamen brought them by sea to Jaffa, where they were
+fashioned by Tyrians, skilled to work at turning and carpentry. Only at the
+rearing of the pyramids of Khephren, Khufu, and Mencheres, at Ghizeh, had such
+an infinite multitude of labourers been used.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Three thousand and six hundred officers oversaw the works; while Azariah, the
+son of Nathan, was over the officers,&mdash;a cruel man and an active,
+concerning whom had sprung up a rumour that he never slept, devoured by the
+fire of an internal, incurable disease. As for the plans of the palace and the
+temple; the drawings of the columns, the fore-court, and the brasen sea; the
+designs for the windows; the ornaments of the walls and the thrones,&mdash;they
+had all been created by the master builder Hiram-Abiah of Sidon, the son of a
+worker in brass of the tribe of Naphtali.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After seven years, in the month of Bul,<a href="#note-3"
+name="noteref-3"><small>3</small></a> the temple of the Lord was completed; and
+after thirteen years, the palace of the king also. For cedar logs out of
+Lebanon, for cypress and olive boards, for almug, shittim, and tarshish woods,
+for great stones, costly stones, and hewed and polished stones; for purple,
+scarlet, and for byssin broidered in gold; for stuffs of blue wool; for ivory
+and red-dyed rams&rsquo; skins; for iron, onyx, and the vast quantity of
+marble; for precious stones; for the chains, the wreaths, the cords, the tongs,
+the nets, the lavers, and the flowers and the lamps and the
+candlesticks,&mdash;all, all of gold; for the hinges of gold for the doors, and
+the nails of gold, weighing sixty shekels each; for the basons and platters of
+beaten gold; for ornaments,&mdash;graven and in mosaic; for the images of
+lions, cherubim, oxen, palms and pineapples, both hewn in stone and
+molten,&mdash;for all these did Solomon give Hiram, King of Tyre, who bore the
+same name as the master builder, twenty cities and hamlets in the land of
+Galilee, and Hiram found the gift insignificant, with such splendour had been
+built the temple of the Lord, and the palace of Solomon, and the little palace
+at Millo for the king&rsquo;s wife, the beautiful Queen Astis, daughter to
+Shishak, Pharaoh of Ægypt; while the redwood which later went for the
+balustrades and stairs of the galleries, for the musical instruments and for
+the bindings of the sacred books, had been brought as a gift to Solomon by the
+Queen of Sheba, the wise and beautiful Balkis, together with such a quantity of
+aromatic incense, sweet smelling oils, and precious perfumes, as had never been
+seen before in the land of Israel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With each year did the riches of the king increase. Thrice a year did his ships
+return to harbour: the <i>Tarshish</i>, that sailed the Mediterranean, and the
+<i>Hiram</i>, that sailed the Black Sea. They brought out of Africa ivory and
+apes and peacocks and antelopes; richly adorned chariots out of Ægypt; live
+tigers and lions, as well as animal pelts and furs, out of Mesopotamia;
+snow-white steeds out of Cuth; gold dust out of Parvaam that came to six
+hundred and threescore talents in one year; redwood, ebony and sandalwood out
+of the land of Ophir; gay rugs of Asshur and Calah, of marvelous
+designs,&mdash;the friendly gifts of King Tiglath-Pileser; artistic mosaic out
+of Nineveh, Nimroud, and Sargon; wondrous figured stuffs out of Khatuar;
+goblets of beaten gold out of Tyre; stained glass out of Sidon; and out of
+Punt, which is near Bab-el-Medebu, those rare perfumes,&mdash;nard, aloes,
+calamus, cinnamon, saffron, amber, musk, stacte, galbanum, Smyrna myrrh, and
+frankincense,&mdash;for the possession of which the Ægyptian pharaohs had more
+than once embarked upon bloody wars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for silver, it was accounted of as common stone in the days of Solomon, and
+redwood was of no more value than the common sycamores that grow in the low
+plains in abundance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pools of stone, lined with porphyry, and marble cisterns and cool fountains did
+the king build, commanding the water to be conveyed from mountain springs that
+plunged down into the Kidron&rsquo;s torrent; while around the palace he
+planted gardens and groves, and cultivated a vineyard in Baal-hamon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for mules and for the horses for his
+chariots, and twelve thousand for his cavalry; barley also and straw for the
+horses were brought daily from the provinces. Thirty measures of fine flour,
+and threescore measures of other meal; an hundred baths of different wines; ten
+fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and three hundred sheep, not
+counting harts and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl,&mdash;all this,
+passing through the hands of twelve officers, went daily for the table of
+Solomon, as well as for his court, his retinue, and his guard. Threescore
+warriors, out of a number of five hundred of the most stalwart and most valiant
+in all his army, held watch by turns in the inner chambers of the palace. Five
+hundred bucklers, covered with plates of gold, did the king command to be made
+for his bodyguards.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0002" id="h2HCH0002"></a>II.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-W.png" width="50" height="50" alt="W" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">W</span>hatsoever the eyes of the king might desire, he kept
+not from them; and withheld not his heart from any joy. Seven hundred wives had
+the king, and three hundred concubines, without counting slaves and dancers.
+And all of them did Solomon charm with his love, for God had endowed him with
+such an inexhaustible strength of passion as was not given to ordinary men. He
+loved the white-faced, black-eyed, red-lipped Hittites for their vivid but
+momentary beauty, that bursts into blossom just as early and enchantingly, and
+fades just as rapidly as the flower of the narcissus; the swarthy, tall,
+vehement Philistines, with wiry, curly locks, who wore golden, tinkling armlets
+upon their wrists, golden hoops upon their shoulders, and broad anklets, joined
+by a thin little chain, upon both ankles; gentle, diminutive, lithe Ammorites
+formed without a blemish, whose faithfulness and submissiveness in love had
+passed into a proverb; women out of Assyria, who put their eyes in painting to
+make them seem more elongated, and who ate out with acid blue stars upon their
+foreheads and cheeks; well-schooled, gay and witty daughters of Sidon, who knew
+well how to sing and dance, as well as to play upon harps, lutes and flutes, to
+the accompaniment of tabours; xanthochroöus women of Ægypt, indefatigable in
+love and insane in jealousy; voluputous Babylonians, whose entire body
+underneath their raiment was as smooth as marble, because they eradicated the
+hair upon it with a special paste; virgins of Baktria, who stained their nails
+and hair a fiery-red colour, and wore wide, loose trowsers; silent, bashful
+Moabites, whose magnificent breasts were cool on the sultriest nights of
+summer; care-free and profligate Ammonites, with fiery hair, and flesh of such
+whiteness that it glowed in the dark; frail, blue-eyed women with flaxen hair,
+and skin of a delicate fragrance, who were brought from the north, through
+Baalbec, and whose tongue was incomprehensible to all the dwellers in
+Palestine. The king loved many daughters of Judæa and Israel besides.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also shared he his couch with Balkis-Mâkkedah, the Queen of Sheba, who had
+surpassed all women on earth in beauty, wisdom, riches, and her diversified art
+in passion; and with Abishag the Shunamite, who had warmed the old age of
+David,&mdash;a kindly, quiet beauty, for whose sake Solomon had put to death
+his elder brother Adonijah, at the hands of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And also with the poor maiden of the vineyard, by the name of Sulamith, whom
+alone among all women the king had loved with all his heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon made himself a litter of the best cedar wood, with pillars of silver,
+with arm-rests of gold in the form of recumbent lions, with a covering of
+purple Tyrian stuff, while the entire inner side of the covering was ornamented
+with gold embroidery and with precious stones,&mdash;the love-gifts of the
+women and virgins of Jerusalem. And when well-built black slaves bore Solomon
+among his people on grand festal days, truly was the king glorious, like the
+lilies that are in the Valley of Sharon!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pale was his face; his lips like unto a vivid thread of scarlet; his wavy locks
+a bluish black, and in them&mdash;the adornment of wisdom&mdash;gleamed gray
+hairs, like to the silver threads of mountain streams, falling down from the
+dark crags of Hermon; gray hairs glistened in his dark beard also, curled,
+after the custom of the kings of Assyria, in regular, small rows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As for the eyes of the king, they were dark, like the darkest agate, like the
+heavens on a moonless night in summer; while his eye-lashes, that spread upward
+and downward like arrows, resembled dark rays around dark stars. And there was
+no man in all the universe who could bear the gaze of Solomon without casting
+down his eyes. And the lightnings of wrath in the eyes of the king would
+prostrate people to the earth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But there were moments of heartfelt merriment, when the king would grow
+intoxicated with love, or wine, or the delight of power, or when he rejoiced
+over words of wisdom or beauty, fitly spoken. Then his lashes would be softly
+half-lowered, casting blue shadows upon his radiant face, and in the
+king&rsquo;s eyes would kindle the warm flames of a kindly, tender laughter,
+just like the play of black diamonds; and whosoever might behold this smile was
+ready to yield up body and soul for it&mdash;so indescribably beautiful was it.
+The mere name of King Solomon, uttered aloud, stirred the hearts of women, like
+the fragrance of spilt myrrh that recalls nights of love.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king&rsquo;s hands were soft, white, warm and beautiful, like a
+woman&rsquo;s; but they held such an excess of life energy that, by the laying
+on of his palms upon the temples of the sick, the king cured headaches,
+convulsions, black melancholy, and demoniacal possession. Upon the index finger
+of his left hand the king wore a gem of blood-red asteria that emitted six
+pearl-coloured rays. Many centuries did this ring number, and upon the reverse
+side of its stone was graven an inscription, in the tongue of an ancient,
+vanished people: &ldquo;All things pass away.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so great was the sway of Solomon&rsquo;s soul that even beasts submitted to
+it; lions and tigers crawled at the feet of the king, rubbing their muzzles
+against his knees, and licking his hands with their rough tongues, whenever he
+entered their quarters. And he, whose heart found joy in the dazzling play of
+precious stones, in the fragrance of sweet-smelling Ægyptian resins, in the
+soft touch of light stuffs, in sweet music, in the exquisite taste of red,
+sparkling wine playing in a chased Ninuanian chalice,&mdash;he also loved to
+stroke the coarse manes of lions, the velvety backs of black panthers, and the
+tender paws of young, speckled leopards; loved to hear the roar of wild beasts,
+to see their powerful and superb movements, and to feel the hot feral odour of
+their breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus did Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the historian of his days, depict King
+Solomon.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0003" id="h2HCH0003"></a>III.</h2>
+
+<div style="float:left; margin-right: .3em;">&ldquo; </div>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-B.png" width="50" height="50" alt="B" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">B</span>ecause thou hast not asked for thyself long life;
+neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine
+enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold,
+I have done according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and
+understanding heart: so that there was none like thee before thee, neither
+after thee shall any arise like unto thee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus spake God unto Solomon, and through His word did the king come to know the
+structure of the universe and the working of the elements; to fathom the
+beginning, end, and midst of all ages; to penetrate the mystery of the eternal,
+wave-like and rotating recurrence of events; from the astronomers of Byblos,
+Acre, Sargon, Borsippa and Nineveh did he learn to watch the yearly orbits of
+the stars and the changes in their positions. He knew also the nature of all
+animals and divined the feelings of beasts; he understood the source and
+direction of winds, the different properties of plants, and the potency of
+healing herbs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The designs in the heart of man are deep waters, but even them could the king
+fathom. In the words and voice, in the eyes, in the motions of the hands, he
+read the innermost mysteries of souls as plainly as the characters of an open
+book. And because of that, from all ends of Palestine, there came to him a vast
+multitude of people, imploring judgment, advice, help, the settlement of some
+dispute, as well as the solving of incomprehensible portents and dreams. And
+men would marvel at the profundity and finesse of Solomon&rsquo;s answers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Three thousand proverbs did Solomon compose, and his songs were a thousand and
+five. He dictated them to two skilled and rapid scribes: Elihoreph and Ahiah,
+the sons of Shisha, and afterwards collated what both had written. Always did
+he clothe his thoughts in choice expressions, for a word fitly spoken is like
+an apple of gold in a bowl of translucent sardonyx;<a href="#note-4"
+name="noteref-4"><small>4</small></a> and also for that the words of the wise
+are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are
+given from one Shepherd. &ldquo;A word is a spark in the motion of the
+heart,&rdquo;&mdash;thus saith the king. And Solomon&rsquo;s wisdom excelled
+the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of the
+Ægyptians. For he was above all men in wisdom; wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite,
+and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dardra, the sons of Mahol. But he was already
+beginning to weary of the beauty of ordinary human wisdom, and no longer did it
+have its former value in his eyes. With a restless and searching mind did he
+thirst after that higher wisdom, which the Lord possessed in the beginning of
+His way, before His works of old, set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
+or ever the earth was; that wisdom which was His great artificer when He set a
+compass upon the face of the deep. And Solomon found it not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king mastered the teachings of the magi of Chaldæa and Nineveh; the science
+of the astrologers of Abydos, Sais, and Memphis; the secrets of the Assyrian
+sorcerers, mystagogues, and epopts, and of the fatidicæ of Baktria and
+Persepolis; and he had become convinced that their knowledge was but the
+knowledge of mortals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also did he seek for wisdom in the occult rites of ancient pagan faiths, and
+for that reason visited idol-temples and offered up oblations to the mighty
+Baal-Lebanon, who was honoured under the name of Melkart,&mdash;the god of
+creation and destruction, the patron of navigation in Tyre and
+Sidon,&mdash;called Ammon in the Oasis of Sibakh, where his idol would nod his
+head to indicate the routes to festal processions; called Bel by the Chaldæans,
+and Moloch by the Canaanites. He also bowed down before his spouse,&mdash;the
+dread and passionate Astarte, who bore in other temples the names of Ishtar,
+Isaar, Baaltis, Ashera, Istar-Belet, and Atargatis. He libated holy oil and
+burnt incense before Isis and Osiris of Ægypt,&mdash;sister and brother, joined
+in wedlock while still in the womb of their mother and there conceiving the god
+Horus; and before Derketo, the pisciform Tyrian goddess; and before Anubis of
+the dog&rsquo;s head, the god of embalming; and before the Babylonian Cannes;
+and Dagon of the Philistines; and the Assyrian Abdenago; and Utsabu, the
+Ninevehian idol; and the sombre Kybele; and Bel Marduk, the patron of
+Babylon,&mdash;the god of the planet Jupiter; and the Chaldæan Or,&mdash;the
+god of eternal fire; and the mystic Omorca, the first mother of the gods, whom
+Bel had cloven in two parts, creating heaven and earth out of them, and out of
+her head, men; and the king bowed down also before the goddess Anaïtis, in
+whose honour the virgins of Phœnicia, Lydia, Armenia and Persia gave up their
+bodies to passers-by, as a sacred offering, at the threshold of temples.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the king found in the pagan rites nought save drunkenness, night orgies,
+lechery, incest, and lusts contrary to nature; and in their dogmas he perceived
+vain discourse and deception. But he forbade none of his subjects to offer up
+sacrifices to a favourite god, and he even built upon the Mount of Olives an
+idol-temple for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, at the supplication of the
+beautiful, pensive Ellaan, the Moabite, the then favorite wife of the king. One
+thing only could not Solomon abide and pursued with death,&mdash;the bringing
+of children in sacrifice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And he saw in his seekings that that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth
+beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as one dieth, so dieth the other; yea,
+they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preëminence above a beast. And
+the king understood, that in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth
+knowledge increaseth sorrow. He also learned that even in laughter the heart is
+sorrowful; and the end of mirth is heaviness. And so one morning he dictated to
+Elihoreph and Ahiah:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&lsquo;All is vanity of vanities and vexation of
+spirits&rsquo;&mdash;thus saith Ecclesiastes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But at that time the king did not yet know that God would soon send him a love
+so tender and ardent, so devoted and beautiful,&mdash;more precious in itself
+than riches, fame, and wisdom; more precious than life itself, for it values
+not even life, nor hath fear of death.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0004" id="h2HCH0004"></a>IV.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-T.png" width="50" height="50" alt="T" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">T</span>he king had a vineyard at Baal-hamon, upon the
+southern slope of Bath-El-Khav, to the south of the idol-temple of Moloch;
+thither did the king love to withdraw in the hours of his great meditations.
+Pomegranate,&mdash;olive,&mdash;and wild apple-trees, interspersed with cedars
+and cypresses, bordered it on three sides upon the mountain, while on the
+fourth it was fenced off from the road by a high stone wall. And other
+vineyards, lying about, also belonged to Solomon; he let them out unto keepers,
+each one for a thousand pieces of silver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only with the dawn came to an end in the palace the magnificent feast which the
+King of Israel was giving in honour of the emissaries of the King of Assyria,
+the good Tiglath-Pileser. Despite his fatigue, Solomon could not fall asleep
+this morn. Neither wine nor hippocras had befogged the stout heads of the
+Assyrians, nor loosened their canny tongues. But the penetrating mind of the
+wise king had already forestalled their plans, and was, in its turn, already
+weaving a fine political net, wherein he would enmesh these proud men with
+supercilious eyes and of flattering speech. Solomon would be able to preserve
+the necessary amity with the potentate of Assyria, yet at the same time, for
+the sake of his eternal friendship with Hiram of Tyre, would save from pillage
+the latter&rsquo;s kingdom, which, with its countless riches, hid in
+subterranean vaults underneath narrow streets, had for a long time drawn the
+covetous gazes of oriental sovereigns.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so at dawn Solomon had commanded himself to be borne to Mount Bath-El-Khav;
+had left the litter far down the road, and is now seated alone upon a simple
+wooden bench, above the vineyard, under the shade of the trees, still hiding in
+their branches the dewy chill of night. The king has on a simple white mantle,
+fastened at the right shoulder and at the left side by two Ægyptian clasps of
+green gold, in the shape of curled crocodiles,&mdash;the symbol of the god
+Sebekh. The hands of the king lie motionless upon his knees, while his eyes,
+overshadowed by deep thought, unwinking, are directed toward the east, in the
+direction of the Dead Sea,&mdash;there, where from the rounded summit of Anaze
+the sun is rising in the flame of dawn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The morning wind is blowing from the east and spreads the fragrance of the
+grape in blossom,&mdash;a delicate fragrance, like that of mignonette and
+mulled wine. The dark cypresses sway their slender tops pompously and pour out
+their resinous breath. The silvery-green leaves of the olives hurriedly
+converse among themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But now Solomon arises and hearkens carefully. An endearing feminine voice,
+clear and pure as this dewy morn, is singing somewhere not far off, beyond the
+trees. The simple and tender motive runs on and on, of its own accord, like a
+ringing rill in the mountains, repeating the five or six notes, always the
+same. And its unpretentious, exquisite charm calls forth a smile in the eyes of
+the touched king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nearer and nearer sounds the voice. Now it is already here, alongside, behind
+the spreading cedars, behind the dark verdure of the junipers. Then the king
+cautiously parts the branches with his hands, quietly makes his way between the
+prickly branches, and comes out upon an open place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before him, beyond the low wall, rudely built of great yellow stones, the
+vineyard spreads upward. A girl, in a light garment of blue, walks between the
+rows of vines, bending down over something below, and again straightening up,
+and she is singing. Her ruddy hair flames in the sun:
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i2">The breath of the day is coolness, </p>
+<p class="i2">And the shadows flee away. </p>
+<p class="i2">Turn, my beloved, </p>
+<p class="i2">And be thou like a roe or a young hart, </p>
+<p class="i2">Within the clefts of the rocks.... </p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Thus sings she, tying up the grapevines, and slowly descends, nearer and nearer
+the stone wall behind which the king is standing. She is alone, none sees nor
+hears her; the scent of the grapes in blossom, the joyous freshness of the
+morning, and the warm blood in her heart are like wine unto her, and now the
+words of the naïve little song are born spontaneously upon her lips and are
+carried away by the wind, to be forgotten forever:
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i2">Take us the foxes, </p>
+<p class="i2">The little foxes </p>
+<p class="i2">That spoil the vines: </p>
+<p class="i2">For our vines have tender grapes. </p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In this manner does she reach the very wall, and, without noticing the king,
+turns about and walks on, climbing the hill lightly, along the neighbouring row
+of vines. Now her song sounds less distinctly:
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i2">Make haste, my beloved, </p>
+<p class="i2">And be thou like to a roe or a young hart </p>
+<p class="i2">Upon the mountains of spices. </p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+But suddenly she grows silent and bends so low to the ground that she can not
+be seen behind the vines.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Solomon utters in a voice that caresses the ear:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Maiden, show me thy face; let me hear thy voice anew.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She straightens up quickly and turns her face to the king. A strong wind arises
+at this second and flutters the light garment upon her, suddenly making it
+cling tightly around her body and between her legs. And the king, for an
+instant, until she turns her back to the wind, sees all of her beneath the
+raiment, as though naked,&mdash;tall and graceful, in the vigorous bloom of
+thirteen years; sees her little, round, firm breasts and the elevations of her
+nipples, from which the cloth spreads out in rays; and the virginal abdomen,
+round as a bason; and the deep line that divides her legs from the bottom to
+the top, and there parts in two, toward the rounded hips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance comely,&rdquo; says Solomon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She draws nearer and gazes upon the king with trembling and with rapture. Her
+swarthy and vivid face is inexpressibly beautiful. Her heavy, thick, dark-red
+hair, into which she has stuck two flowers of the scarlet poppy, covers her
+shoulders in countless resilient ringlets and spreads over her back, and,
+transpierced by the rays of the sun, glows in flame, like aureate purple. A
+necklace which she had made herself out of some red, dried berries, naïvely
+winds twice about her long, dark, slender neck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I did not notice thee!&rdquo; she says gently, and her voice sounds like
+the song of a flute. &ldquo;Whence didst thou come?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou sangst so well, maiden!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She bashfully casts down her eyes and turns red, but beneath her long lashes
+and in the corners of her lips trembles a secret smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou sangst of thy dear. He is as light as a roe, as a young hart upon
+the mountains. For he is very fair, thy dear,&mdash;is not that the truth,
+maiden?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her laughter is ringing and musical, as though silver were falling upon a
+golden platter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have no dear. It is but a song. I have yet had no dear....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a minute they are silent, and intently, without smiling, gaze at each
+other.... Birds loudly call one another among the trees. The maiden&rsquo;s
+bosom quickly rises and falls under the worn linen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do believe thee, beautiful one. Thou art so fair....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou dost mock me. Behold, how black I am....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She lifts up her small, dark arms, and the broad sleeves lightly slide down
+towards her shoulders, baring her elbows, that have such a slender and rounded
+outline.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And she says plaintively:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My brethren were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the
+vineyard,&mdash;and now behold how the sun hath scorched me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O, nay, the sun hath made thee still more fair, thou fairest among
+women. Lo, thou hast smiled,&mdash;and thy teeth are like white twin-lambs,
+which come up from the washing, and none among them hath a blemish. Thy cheeks
+are like the halves of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy lips are
+scarlet,&mdash;yea, pleasant to gaze upon. As for thy hair ... Dost know what
+thy hair is like? Hast thou ever beheld a flock of sheep come down from Mount
+Gilead at eve? It covers all the mountain, from summit to foot, and from the
+light of the evening glow and from the dust it seems even as ruddy and as wavy
+as thy locks. Thine eyes are as deep as the two fishponds in Heshbon, by the
+gate of Bath-rabbim. O, how fair art thou! Thy neck is straight and graceful,
+like the tower of David!...&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Like the tower of David!&rdquo; she repeats in rapture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea, yea, thou fairest among women. A thousand bucklers hang upon the
+tower of David, all shields of vanquished chieftains. Lo, I hang my shield also
+upon thy tower....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O, speak on, speak on....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And when thou didst turn around in answer to my call, and the wind
+arose, I did see beneath thy raiment thy two nipples and methought: Here be two
+young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. This thy stature was
+like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl cries out faintly, hides her face with her palms, and her bosom with
+her elbows, and blushes so that even her ears and neck turn crimson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I saw thy hips. They are shapely, like a precious vase, the work of
+the hands of a cunning workman. Take away thy hands, therefore, maiden. Show me
+thy face.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She submissively let her hands drop. A deep, golden radiance glows from the
+eyes of Solomon and casts a spell over her, makes her head dizzy, and in a
+sweet, warm tremour streams over the skin of her body.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, who art thou?&rdquo; she says slowly, in perplexity.
+&ldquo;Never have I seen any like to thee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am a shepherd, my beauty. I graze my splendid flocks of white lambs
+upon the mountains, where the green grass is pied with narcissi. Wilt thou not
+come with me, unto my pasture?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But she quietly shakes her head:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Canst thou think that I will believe this? Thy face has not grown rough
+from the wind, nor is it scorched by the sun, and thy hands are white. Thou
+hast on a costly chiton, and the buckle upon it is worth the yearly rental that
+my brothers bring for our vineyard to Adoniram, the king&rsquo;s tax-gatherer.
+Thou hast come from yonder, from beyond the wall. Thou art, surely, one of the
+men near to the king? Meseems I saw thee once upon the day of a great festival;
+I even remember running after thy chariot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0002"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-2.jpg"><img src="images/ill-2.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou hast guessed it, maiden. It is hard to be hid from thee. And
+verily, why shouldst thou be a wanderer nigh the flocks of the shepherds? Yea,
+I am one of the king&rsquo;s retinue. I am the chief cook of the king. And thou
+didst see me when I rode in the chariot of Ammi-nadib on the gala-day of
+Passover. But why dost thou stand distant from me? Draw nearer, my sister! Sit
+down here upon the stones of the wall and tell me something of thyself. Tell me
+thy name.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sulamith,&rdquo; she says.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, Sulamith, why have thy brothers grown wroth with thee?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am ashamed to speak of it. They received moneys from the sale of their
+wine, and sent me to the city to buy bread and goat-cheese. But I ...&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And thou didst lose the money?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, still worse....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She bends her head low and whispers:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Besides bread and cheese I bought a little of attar of roses,&mdash;oh,
+so little!&mdash;from the Ægyptians in the old city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And thou didst keep this from thy brethren?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And she utters in a barely audible voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Attar of roses hath so goodly a smell!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king caressingly strokes her little rough hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely, thou must be lonesome, all alone in thy vineyard?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, I work, I sing.... At noon food is brought me, and at evening one
+of my brothers relieves me. At times I dig for the roots of the mandragora,
+that look like little mannikins.... The Chaldæan merchants buy them from us. It
+is said they make a sleeping potion out of them.... Tell me, is it true that
+the berries of the mandragora help in love?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, Sulamith, only love can help in love. Tell me, hast thou a father
+or a mother?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only a mother. My father died two years ago. My brethren are all older
+than I,&mdash;they are from the first marriage; only my sister and I have
+sprung from the second.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Is thy sister as comely as thou?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She is little. She is but nine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king laughs quietly, embraces Sulamith, draws her to him, and whispers into
+her ear:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore, she hath no such breast as thine? A breast as proud, as
+warm?...&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She is silent, burning with shame and happiness. Her eyes glow and grow dim,
+with the mist of a happy smile over them. The king feels the riotous beating of
+her heart within his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The warmth of thy garments hath a goodlier smell than myrrh, than
+nard,&rdquo; he is saying, avidly touching her ear with his lips. &ldquo;And
+when thou breathest, the smell of thy nostrils is like that of apples unto me.
+My sister, my beloved, thou hast ravished my heart with one glance of thy eyes,
+with one chain of thy neck.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O, gaze not upon me!&rdquo; implores Sulamith. &ldquo;Thine eyes stir
+me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But of her own accord she bends backward and lays her head upon Solomon&rsquo;s
+breast. Her lips glow over the gleaming teeth, her eyelids tremble with intense
+desire. Solomon&rsquo;s lips cling greedily to her enticing mouth. He feels the
+flame of her lips and the slipperiness of her teeth, and the sweet moistness of
+her tongue; and he is all consumed of an unbearable desire, such as he has
+never yet known in his life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus passes one minute; then two.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What dost thou with me!&rdquo; says Sulamith faintly, closing her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Solomon passionately whispers near her very mouth:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under
+thy tongue.... O, come away with me, speedily. Here, behind the wall, it is
+dark and cool. None shall see us. The green is soft here underneath the
+cedars.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, nay, leave me. I desire it not, I can not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sulamith ... thou dost desire it, thou dost desire it.... Come to me, my
+sister, my beloved!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some one&rsquo;s steps resound below, upon the highway, below the wall of the
+vineyard, but Solomon detains the frightened girl by her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, quickly,&mdash;where dwellest thou? This night shall I come to
+thee,&rdquo; he is hurriedly saying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, nay, nay ... I shall not tell thee this. Let me go. I shall not
+tell thee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall not let thee go, Sulamith, till thou dost tell.... My desire is
+unto thee!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is well, I shall tell thee.... But first promise not to come this
+night.... Also, come thou not the following night ... nor the night after that
+... My king! I charge thee by the roes and the hinds of the field, that thou
+stir not up thy beloved till she please!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea, I pledge thee this.... Where is thy dwelling, Sulamith?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;If on the way to the city thou dost pass over the Kidron, upon the
+bridge above Siloam, thou shalt see our dwelling nigh the spring. There are no
+other dwellings there.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And which is thy window there, Sulamith?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why shouldst thou know this, beloved? O, gaze not thus upon me. Thy gaze
+casts a spell over me.... Do not kiss me.... Beloved! Kiss me again....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But which is thy window, my only one?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The window on the south side. Ah, I must not tell thee this.... A small,
+high window with a lattice.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And doth the lattice open from within?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, it is a fixed window. But around the corner is a door. It leads
+directly into the room where I sleep with my sister. But thou hast promised
+me!... My sister sleeps lightly. O, how fair art thou, my beloved! Truly, hast
+thou not promised?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon quietly smoothes her hair and cheeks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall come to thee this night,&rdquo; he says insistently. &ldquo;At
+midnight I shall come. Thus, thus shall it be. I desire it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Beloved!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay. Thou shalt await me. But have no fear, and put thy trust in me. I
+shall cause thee no grief. I shall give thee such joy compared with which all
+things upon earth are without significance. Now farewell. I hear them coming
+after me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Farewell, my beloved ... O, nay, go not yet! Tell me thy name,&mdash;I
+know it not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a moment, as though undecided, he lowers his lashes, but immediately raises
+them again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The King and I have the same name. I am called Solomon. Farewell. I love
+thee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0005" id="h2HCH0005"></a>V.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-R.png" width="50" height="50" alt="R" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">R</span>adiant and joyous was Solomon upon this day, as he
+sat upon his throne in the hall of the House at Lebanon and meted out justice
+to the people who came before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Forty columns, four in a row, supported the ceiling of the Hall of Judgment,
+and they were all faced with cedar and terminated in capitals in the form of
+lilies; the floor consisted of cypress boards, all of a piece; nor was the
+stone upon the walls to be seen anywhere for the cedar finish, ornamented with
+gold carving, shewing palms, pineapples, and cherubim. In the depth of the
+hall, with its triple-tiered windows, six steps led up to the elevation of the
+throne, and upon each step stood two bronze lions, one on each side. The throne
+itself was of ivory with gold incrustation and with elbow-rests of gold, in the
+form of recumbent lions. The high back of the throne was surmounted by a golden
+disc. Curtains of violet and purple stuffs hung from the ceiling down to the
+floor at the entrance to the hall, dividing off the entry, where between the
+columns thronged the plaintiffs, supplicants, and witnesses, as well as the
+accused and the criminals under a strong guard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king had on a red chiton, while upon his head was a simple, narrow crown of
+sixty beryls, set in gold. At his right hand stood the throne for his mother,
+Bathsheba; but of late, owing to her declining years, she rarely showed herself
+in the city.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Assyrian guests, with austere, black-bearded faces, were seated along the
+walls upon benches of jasper; they had on garments of a light olive colour,
+broidered at the edges with designs of red and white. While still at home, in
+their native Assyria, they had heard so much of the justice of Solomon that
+they tried to let no single word of his slip by, in order to tell later of the
+judgment of the King of the Israelites. Among them sat the commanders of
+Solomon&rsquo;s armies, his ministers, the governors of his provinces, and his
+courtiers. Here was Benaiah, at one time executioner to the king; the slayer of
+Joab, Adonijah, and Shimei,&mdash;a short, corpulent old man, with a sparse,
+long, gray beard; his faded, bluish eyes, rimmed by red lids that seemed turned
+inside out, had a look of senile dullness; his mouth was open and moist, while
+his fleshy, red lower lip drooped down impotently, and was slightly trembling.
+Here also were Azariah, the son of Nathan,&mdash;a jaundiced, tall man, with a
+lean, sickly face and dark rings under his eyes; and the good-natured,
+absent-minded Jehoshaphat, historiographer; and Ahishar, who was over the court
+of Solomon; and Zabud, who bore the high title of the King&rsquo;s Friend; and
+Ben-Abinadab, which had Taphath, the eldest daughter of Solomon, to wife; and
+Ben-Geber, the officer over the region of Argob, which is in Bashan: to him
+pertained threescore cities, surrounded by walls, with gates of brasen bars;
+and Baanah, the son of Hushai, at one time famed for his skill in casting a
+spear to the distance of thirty parasangs; and many others. Sixty warriors,
+their helmets and shields gleaming, stood in a rank to the left of the throne
+and the right; their head officer this day was the handsome Eliab, of the black
+locks, son of Ahilud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first to come before Solomon with his complaint was one Achior, a lapidary
+by trade. Working in Bel of Phœnicia he had found a precious stone, had cut and
+polished it, and had asked his friend Zachariah, who was setting out for
+Jerusalem, to give the stone to his&mdash;Achior&rsquo;s&mdash;wife. After some
+time Achior also returned home. The first thing that he asked about upon
+beholding his wife was the stone. But she was very much amazed at her
+husband&rsquo;s question, and repeated under oath that she had received no
+stone of any sort. Whereupon Achior set out for an explanation to his friend
+Zachariah, but he asseverated, and also to an oath, that he had, immediately
+upon arrival, given the stone over as instructed. He even brought witnesses,
+who affirmed having seen Zachariah give the stone in their presence to the wife
+of Achior.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now all four,&mdash;Achior, Zachariah, and the two witnesses,&mdash;were
+standing before the throne of the King of Israel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon gazed into the eyes of each one in turn and said to the guard:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lead each one to a separate chamber, and lock up each one apart.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And when this was done, he ordered four pieces of unbaked clay to be brought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let each one of them,&rdquo; willed the king, &ldquo;fashion out of clay
+that form which the stone had.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After some time the moulds were ready. But one of the witnesses had made his
+mould in the shape of a horse&rsquo;s head, as precious stones were usually
+fashioned; the other, in the shape of a sheep&rsquo;s head; only two of
+them&mdash;Achior and Zachariah&mdash;had their moulds alike, resembling in
+form a woman&rsquo;s breast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king spake:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now it is evident even to one blind that the witnesses are bribed by
+Zachariah. And so, let Zachariah return the stone to Achior, and together with
+it pay him thirty shekels, of this city, of law costs, and give ten shekels to
+the priests for the temple. As for the self-revealed witnesses, let them pay
+into the treasury five shekels each for bearing false witness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0003"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-3.jpg"><img src="images/ill-3.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Three brothers then drew nigh to Solomon&rsquo;s throne; they were at court
+about an inheritance. Their father had told them before his death: &ldquo;That
+ye may not quarrel at division, I myself shall apportion ye in justice. When I
+die, go beyond the knoll that is in the midst of the grove behind the house,
+and dig therein. There shall ye find a box with three divisions: know, that the
+topmost is for the eldest brother; the middle one for the second; the lowest
+for the youngest.&rdquo; And when, after his death, they had gone, and had done
+as he had willed, they had found that the topmost division was filled to the
+top with golden coins, whereas in the middle one were lying only common bones,
+and in the lowest naught but pieces of wood. And so among the younger brothers
+arose envy for the eldest, and enmity; and in the end their life had become so
+unbearable that they decided to turn to the king for counsel and judgment. And
+even here, standing before the throne, they could not refrain from mutual
+recriminations and affronts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king shook his head, heard them out, and spake:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cease quarreling; a stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a
+fool&rsquo;s wrath is heavier than them both. Your father was, it is plain to
+see, a wise man and a just, and he has expressed his wishes in his testament
+just as clearly as though it had been consummated before an hundred witnesses.
+Is it possible that ye have not surmised at once, ye sorry brawlers, that to
+the eldest brother he left all his moneys; to the second, all his cattle and
+all his slaves; while to the youngest,&mdash;his house and plow-land? Depart,
+therefore, in peace; and be no longer enemies among yourselves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the three brothers&mdash;but recently enemies&mdash;with beaming faces
+bowed to the king&rsquo;s feet and walked out of the Hall of Judgment arm in
+arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king decided also another suit at inheritance, begun three days ago. A
+certain man, dying, had said that he was leaving all his goods to the worthier
+of his two sons. But since neither one of them would consent to call himself
+the worse one, they had therefore turned to the king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon questioned them as to their pursuits, and, having heard them answer
+that they were both hunters with the bow, he spake:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Return home. I shall order the corpse of your father to be stood up
+against a tree. We shall first see which one of you shall hit his breast more
+truly with an arrow, and then decide your suit.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now both brothers had returned in the custody of a man sent by the king for
+their surveillance. He it was whom the king questioned about the contest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have fulfilled all that thou hast commanded,&rdquo; said his man.
+&ldquo;I stood the corpse of the old man against a tree, and gave each brother
+his bow and arrows. The elder was the first to shoot. At a distance of an
+hundred and twenty ells he hit just the place where, in a living man, the heart
+beats.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A splendid shot,&rdquo; said Solomon. &ldquo;And the younger?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The younger ... Forgive me, O King,&mdash;I could not insist upon thy
+command being fulfilled exactly.... The younger did make his string taut, but
+suddenly lowered the bow to his feet, turned around, and said, weeping:
+&lsquo;Nay, this I can not do.... I will not shoot at the corpse of my
+father.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore, let the estate of his father belong to him,&rdquo; decided
+the king. &ldquo;He has proven the worthier son. As for the elder, if he
+desire, he may join the number of my bodyguards. I have need of such strong and
+rapacious men, sure of hand and true of eye, and with a heart grown over with
+wool.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next three men came before the king. Carrying on a mutual traffic in
+merchandise, they had amassed much money. And so, when the time had come for
+them to journey to Jerusalem, they had sewn up the gold in a leathern belt and
+had set out on their way. On the road they had spent a night in a forest, and,
+for safe-keeping, had buried the belt in the ground. But when they awoke in the
+morning, they found no belt in the place where they had put it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They all accused one another of the secret theft, and since all three seemed to
+be men of exceeding cunning, and subtile of speech, the king therefore said
+unto them:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ere I decide your suit, hearken unto that which I shall relate to you. A
+certain fair maiden promised her beloved, who was setting out upon a journey,
+to await his return, and to yield her virginity to none save him. But, having
+gone away, he within a short while married another maiden, in another city, and
+she came to know of this. In the absence of her beloved, a wealthy and
+kind-hearted youth in her city, a friend of her childhood, paid court to her.
+Constrained by her parents she durst not, for shame and fear, tell him of her
+pact, and took him to spouse. But when, at the conclusion of the marriage
+feast, he led her to the bed-chamber, and would lay down with her, she began to
+implore him: &lsquo;Allow me to go to the city where my former beloved
+dwelleth. Let him relieve me of my vow; then shall I return to thee, and do all
+thy desire!&rsquo; And since the youth loved her exceedingly, he did agree to
+her request, allowed her to go, and she went. On the way a robber fell upon
+her, disheveled her, and was about to ravish her. But the maiden fell down on
+her knees before him, and, in tears, implored him to spare her virtue, telling
+the robber all that had befallen her, and her reason for travelling to a
+strange city. And the robber, having heard her out, was so astounded by her
+faithfulness to her word, and so touched by the goodness of her bridegroom,
+that not only did he let the girl depart in peace, but also returned to her the
+valuables he had taken. Now I ask you, who of all these three did best before
+the countenance of God,&mdash;the maiden, the bridegroom, or the robber?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And one of the plaintiffs said that the maiden was the most worthy of praise,
+for her steadfastness to her oath. Another marvelled at the great love of her
+bridegroom; the third, however, found the action of the robber the most
+magnanimous one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king said to the last:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Therefore, it is even thou who hast stolen the belt with the common
+gold, for thou art by nature covetous, and dost desire that which is not
+thine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this man, having given his travelling staff to one of his companions,
+spake, raising his hands aloft as though for an oath:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I witness before Jehovah that the gold is not with me, but him!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king smiled and commanded one of his warriors:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Take this man&rsquo;s rod and break it in half.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And when the warrior had carried out Solomon&rsquo;s order, gold coins poured
+out upon the floor, for they had been concealed within the hollowed-out stick;
+as for the thief, he, struck by the wisdom of the king, fell down before his
+throne and confessed his misdeed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There also came into the House of Lebanon a woman, the poor widow of a
+stone-cutter, and she spake:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I cry for justice, O King! For the last two dinarii left me I bought
+flour, put it into this large earthen bowl, and started to carry it home. But a
+strong wind suddenly arose and did scatter my flour. O wise king, who shall
+bring back this my loss? I now have naught wherewith to feed my
+children.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;When was this?&rdquo; asked the king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It happened this morning, at dawn.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so Solomon commanded that there be summoned to him several merchants, whose
+ships were to set out this day with merchandise for Phœnicia, by way of Jaffa.
+And when, in alarm, they appeared in the Hall of Judgment, the king asked them:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Did ye pray God, or the gods, for a favourable wind for your
+ships?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And they answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea, O King. We did so. And our offerings were pleasing to God, for He
+did send us a propitious wind.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I rejoice on your account,&rdquo; said Solomon. &ldquo;But the same wind
+has scattered a poor woman&rsquo;s flour that she was carrying in a bowl. Do ye
+not deem it just, if ye have to recompense her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And they, made glad that the king had summoned them only for this, at once
+filled the bowl by casting into it small and large silver coin. And when, with
+tears, she began to thank the king, he smiled radiantly and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wait, this is not yet all. This morning&rsquo;s wind has bestowed joy
+upon me as well, which I did not expect. And therefore, to the gifts of these
+merchants, I shall add my kingly gift also.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And he commanded Adoniram, the treasurer, to put on top of the money of the
+merchants enough gold coin to cover the silver entirely out of sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon desired to see none unhappy on this day. He distributed more rewards,
+pensions, and gifts than he sometimes did within a whole year, and he pardoned
+Ahimaaz, the governor of the land of Naphtali, against whom his wrath had
+flamed before, because of his lawless levies; and he commuted the faults of
+many who had transgressed the law, nor did he overlook any of the petitions of
+his subjects,&mdash;save one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the king was passing out from the House at Lebanon through the small
+southern door, one in a garment of yellow leather stood up in his path,&mdash;a
+squat, broad-shouldered man, darkly-ruddy and morose of face, with a black,
+bushy beard, with a neck like a bull&rsquo;s, and an austere gaze from
+underneath shaggy, black eyebrows. This was the high priest of Moloch&rsquo;s
+temple. He uttered but one word in a supplicating voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;King!...&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the bronze belly of his god were seven divisions: one for meal, another for
+doves, the third for sheep, the fourth for rams, the fifth for calves, the
+sixth for beeves; but the seventh, meant for living infants brought by their
+mothers, had long stood empty at the interdict of the king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon walked in silence past the priest, but the latter stretched out his
+hands after him and exclaimed with supplication:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;King! I adjure thee by thy joy!... Show me this kindness, O king, and I
+shall reveal to thee what danger threatens thy life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon made no reply; and the eyes of the priest, who had clenched his
+powerful hands into fists, followed him to the exit with a ferocious glare.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0004"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-4.jpg"><img src="images/ill-4.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0006" id="h2HCH0006"></a>VI.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-A.png" width="50" height="50" alt="A" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">A</span>t nightfall Sulamith went to that spot in the old
+city where, in long rows, stretched the shops of the moneychangers, usurers,
+and dealers in sweet-smelling condiments. There she sold to a jeweller for
+three drachmas and one dinar her only valuable,&mdash;her earrings for festal
+days; of silver, in the form of rings, each with a little golden star.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she paid a visit to a seller of perfumes. In the deep, dark, stone niche,
+in the midst of jars with gray Arabian amber, packets of frankincense from
+Lebanon, bunches of aromatic herbs, and phials with oils, was sitting an
+Ægyptian, a castrate,&mdash;old, obese, wrinkled, immobile, all fragrant
+himself; his legs tucked under him, and blinking his lazy eyes. He carefully
+counted out of a Phœnician flask into a little clay flagon just as many drops
+of myrrh as there were dinarii among all the moneys of Sulamith; and when he
+had finished this task he said, gathering up with the stopper the remnant of
+the oil around the neck of the bottle, and laughing slyly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Swarthy maiden, beautiful maiden! When this day thy beloved shall kiss
+thee between thy breasts and say: &lsquo;How fragrant is thy body, O my
+beloved!&rsquo;&mdash;recall me at that moment. I have poured over three extra
+drops for thee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so, when night had come, and the moon had risen over Siloam, blending the
+blue whiteness of its houses with the black blueness of the shadows and the
+dull green of the trees, Sulamith did arise from her humble couch of
+goats&rsquo;-wool and hearkened. All was quiet in the house. Her sister was
+breathing evenly upon the floor, nigh the wall. Only outside, in the wayside
+bushes, the cicadas chirped stridently and passionately; and the blood throbbed
+noisily in her ears. The shadow of the window-lattice, etched by the light of
+the moon, lay, sharp and oblique, upon the floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trembling with timidity, expectation, and happiness, Sulamith loosened her
+garments, let them down to her feet, and, stepping over them, was left naked in
+the middle of the room, facing the window, in the light of the moon falling
+through the bars of the lattice. She poured the thick, sweet-smelling myrrh
+upon her shoulders, upon her bosom, upon her abdomen; and, fearing to lose even
+one precious drop, began to rub the oil over her legs, under her armpits, and
+about her neck. And the smooth, slippery touch of her palms and elbows against
+her body compelled her to shiver with sweet anticipation. And, smiling and
+trembling, she gazed out of the window, where, beyond the lattice, two poplars
+showed,&mdash;dark on one side, silvered on the other,&mdash;and whispered to
+herself:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This is for thee, my love; this is for thee, my beloved. My beloved is
+the chiefest among ten thousand, his head is as the most fine gold, his locks
+are bushy, and black as a raven. His lips are most sweet; yea, he is all
+desire. This is my beloved, and this is my brother, O daughters of
+Jerusalem!...&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now, fragrant with myrrh, she lay down upon her couch. Her face is turned
+toward the window; her hands, like a child, she has squeezed between her knees;
+her heart fills the room with its loud beating. Much time passes. Scarce
+closing her eyes, she is plunged into dozing, but her heart keeps vigil. As in
+a dream, it seems to her that her dear is lying beside her. In a joyous fright
+she casts off her drowsiness; she seeks her beloved near her on the couch, but
+finds no one. The moon&rsquo;s design upon the floor has crept nearer the wall,
+is dwindled and more oblique. The cicadas are calling; the Brook of Kidron
+babbles on monotonously; the doleful chant of a night watchman is heard in the
+city.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What if he comes not to-day?&rdquo; thinks Sulamith; &ldquo;I did
+implore him,&mdash;and what if he hath suddenly obeyed me?... I charge you, O
+ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roses and lilies of the field: awake not love
+till it come.... But now my love hath come to me. Make haste, my beloved! Thy
+bride awaits thee. Make haste like to a young hart upon the mountains of
+spices.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sand crunches in the yard under light steps. And the soul of the maiden
+deserts her. A cautious hand knocks at the window. A dark face shows on the
+other side of the lattice. The low voice of her beloved is heard:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Open to me, my sister, my dove, my undefiled! For my head is filled with
+dew.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But a charmed numbness has suddenly taken possession of Sulamith&rsquo;s body.
+She wants to rise, and can not; wants to move her hand, and can not. And,
+without understanding what is taking place with her, she whispers, gazing
+through the window:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ah, his locks are filled with the drops of the night! But I have put off
+my chiton. How shall I put it on?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The morn is nigh, flowers
+appear on the earth, and the vines with the tender grape give a goodly smell;
+the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle dove is
+heard from the mountains.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I have washed my feet,&rdquo; whispers Sulamith; &ldquo;how shall I
+defile them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dark head disappears from the window-lattice; the resounding steps pass
+around the house and cease at the door. The beloved cautiously puts in his hand
+by the hole of the door. His fingers can be heard groping for the inner bolt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then does Sulamith rise up, pressing her palms hard against her breasts, and
+whispers in affright:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My sister sleeps&mdash;I fear to awaken her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She irresolutely dons her sandals, puts a light chiton upon her naked body,
+throws a vail over it, and opens the door, leaving marks of myrrh upon the
+handles of the lock. But there is no longer anyone upon the road that glimmers
+whitely in its solitude between the dark bushes in the gray murk of morning.
+The beloved had not waited, and was gone; not even his steps were to be heard.
+The moon has dwindled and paled, and floats on high. In the east, above the
+waves of the mountains, the sky is putting on a chilly pink before the dawn. In
+the distance the walls and towers of Jerusalem glimmer whitely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My beloved! King of my life!&rdquo; Sulamith calls into the humid
+darkness. &ldquo;I am here. I await thee.... Return!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But none responds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I will run upon the highway; I shall, I shall overtake my
+beloved,&rdquo; Sulamith says to herself. &ldquo;I will go about the city in
+the streets and in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loveth. O that
+thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breast of my mother! When I should
+find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would
+lead thee, and bring thee into my mother&rsquo;s house. Thou wouldst instruct
+me; I would cause thee to drink of the juice of my pomegranates. I charge you,
+daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him I am smitten by
+love.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus does she commune with herself, and with light, docile steps runs upon the
+road toward the city. At the Dung Gates near the wall, two watchmen that had
+gone about the city at night are sitting and dozing in the chill of the
+morning. They awaken and stare with astonishment at the running girl. The
+younger arises and blocks her way with outstretched arms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stay, stay, thou fair!&rdquo; exclaims he with laughter. &ldquo;Whither
+so fast? Thou hast passed the night on the sly in the bed of thy dear and art
+yet warm from his embraces; whereas we have been chilled through by the
+dampness of the night. It would be but fair if thou wert to sit a while with
+us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The elder also arises and wants to embrace Sulamith. He does not laugh; he
+breathes heavily, fast, and with wheezing; he is licking his blue lips with his
+tongue. His face, made hideous by great scars of healed leprosy, seems
+frightful in the pallid murk. He speaks in a voice hoarse and snuffling:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea, of a truth. What is thy beloved more than other men, sweet maiden!
+Shut thy eyes, and thou canst not tell me apart from him. I am even better,
+for, of a certainty, I am more experienced than he.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They clutch at her bosom, her shoulders, her arms and raiment. But Sulamith is
+lithe and strong, and her body, anointed with oil, is slippery. She tears
+herself away, leaving in the hands of the watchmen her outer vail, and runs
+back still faster along the same road. She has experienced neither offense nor
+fear,&mdash;she is all swallowed up in thoughts of Solomon. Passing by her
+house, she sees the door out of which she had just gone still left open, a
+gaping black quadrangle in the white wall. But she merely catches her breath,
+shrinks within herself, like a young cat, and runs by on her tip-toes with
+never a sound.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She crosses the bridge of Kidron, avoids the outskirt of the village of Siloam,
+and by a stony road gradually climbs the southern slope of Beth-El-Khav, into
+her vineyard. Her brother is still sleeping among the vines, wrapped up in a
+woolen blanket all wet from the dew. Sulamith rouses him, but he can not
+awaken, enchained by the morning sleep of youth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As yesterday, the dawn is flaming over Anaze. A wind springs up. The fragrance
+of the grape in blossom streams through the air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I shall come away and look upon that place of the wall where my beloved
+hath stood,&rdquo; Sulamith is saying. &ldquo;I shall feel with my hands the
+stones that he hath touched; I shall kiss the ground beneath his feet.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She glides lightly between the vines. The dew falls from them, chilling her
+feet and spattering her elbows. And now a joyous cry from Sulamith fills the
+vineyard! The king is standing beyond the wall. With a radiant face he
+stretches out his arms to meet her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More lightly than a bird Sulamith surmounts the enclosure, and, without words,
+with a moan of happiness, entwines the king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Several minutes pass thus. Finally, tearing his lips away from her mouth,
+Solomon speaks, enraptured, and his voice trembles:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O, how fair art thou, my beloved!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tears of delight and gratefulness,&mdash;blessed tears,&mdash;sparkle upon
+Sulamith&rsquo;s pale and beautiful face. Languishing with love, she sinks to
+the ground and whispers words of madness in a barely audible voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedars.... Kiss me with the
+kisses of thy mouth&mdash;for thy love is better than wine....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a brief space Sulamith is lying with her head upon Solomon&rsquo;s
+breast. His left arm is embracing her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Bending to her very ear, the king is whispering something to her; the king is
+tenderly apologizing, and Sulamith reddens from his words and closes her eyes.
+Then, with an inexpressibly lovely smile of confusion, she says:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My mother&rsquo;s children made me the keeper of the vineyard.... But
+mine own vineyard have I not kept.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Solomon takes her little swarthy hand and presses it fervently to his lips.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou dost not regret this, Sulamith?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O nay, my king, my beloved. I regret it not. Wert thou to arise this
+minute and go from me, and were I condemned never to see thee after, I would to
+the end of my life utter thy name with gratitude, Solomon!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me one thing else, Sulamith.... Only, I beseech thee, speak the
+truth, my undefiled.... Didst thou know who I am?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay,&mdash;even now I know it not. Methought.... But I am shamed to
+confess it.... I fear thou wilt laugh at me.... They tell, that here, upon
+Mount Beth-El-Khav, pagan gods do oft wander.... Many of them, it is said, are
+beautiful.... And methought: art thou not Hor, the son of Osiris; or else some
+other god?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, I am but a king, beloved. But here, upon this spot, I kiss thy dear
+hand, scorched of the sun, and swear to thee that never yet&mdash;neither in
+the time of first love longings, nor in the days of my glory&mdash;has my heart
+flamed with such an insatiable desire as that which is awakened within me by
+thy mere smile, by the mere touch of thy flaming locks,&mdash;the mere curve of
+thy purple lips! Thou art comely as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains in the
+temple of Solomon! Thy caresses intoxicate me. Behold thy breasts&mdash;they
+are fragrant. Thy nipples are as wine!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O, yea,&mdash;gaze, gaze upon me, beloved. Thy eyes arouse me! O, what
+joy!&mdash;for thy desire is unto me,&mdash;me! Thy locks are scented. As a
+bundle of myrrh thou dost lie betwixt my breasts!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Time ceases its current and closes over them in a solar cycle. Their bed is the
+green; their roof is of cedars; and their walls are of cypresses. And the
+banner over their tent is love.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0007" id="h2HCH0007"></a>VII.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-T.png" width="50" height="50" alt="T" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">T</span>he king had a pool in his palace,&mdash;an
+octagonal, fresh pool of white marble. Steps of dark-green malachite ran down
+to its bottom. A facing of Ægyptian jasper, snowy-white, with pink, barely
+perceptible little veins, served as a frame for the pool. The best of ebony had
+gone for the ornamentation of the walls. Four lions&rsquo; heads of pink
+sardonyx cast forth the water in thin jets into the pool. Eight mirrors of
+polished silver, the height of a man and of excellent Sydonian workmanship,
+were set into the walls, between the slender columns of white.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before Sulamith was to enter the pool, young maid-servants poured aromatic
+compounds into it, that made the water to turn white and blue and to play with
+all the colours of a milky opal. The female slaves disrobing Sulamith gazed
+with delight upon her body; and, when they had disrobed her, they led her up to
+a mirror. Not a single blemish was there upon her beautiful body, made aureate
+like a tawny, ripe fruit by the golden down of soft hair. And she, gazing upon
+her naked self in the mirror, turned red and thought:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;All this is for thee, my king!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She came out of the pool fresh, cool, and fragrant, covered with quivering
+drops of water. The female slaves put upon her a short white tunic of the
+finest Ægyptian linen, and a chiton of precious Sargonian byssin, of such a
+refulgent golden colour that the garment seemed woven out of the rays of the
+sun. They shod her feet in red sandals made from the skin of a young kid; they
+dried her dark, flaming locks and bound them with strings of large black
+pearls; and they adorned her arms with tinkling bracelets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In such array did she come before Solomon, and the king exclaimed joyously:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as
+the sun? O, Sulamith, thy beauty is more terrible than an army with flaunted
+banners! Seven hundred wives have I known and three hundred concubines, and
+virgins without number,&mdash;thou art but one, my fair! The queens shall
+behold thee and extoll thee, and all women upon earth shall praise thee. O,
+Sulamith, that day when thou wilt become my spouse and queen shall be the
+happiest my heart has known.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whereupon she walked up to the door of carved olive, and, pressing her cheek
+against it, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I desire to be but thy slave, Solomon. Behold, I have put my ear to the
+post of the door. I beseech thee,&mdash;in accordance with the law of Moses,
+nail down my ear in witness of my voluntary bondage before thee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Solomon did command to be brought out of his treasure house precious
+pendants of deep-red carbuncles, fashioned to resemble elongated pears. He
+himself put them upon the ears of Sulamith, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am my beloved&rsquo;s, and my beloved is mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, taking Sulamith by the hand, the king brought her to the banqueting house,
+where his companions and familiars were already awaiting him.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0005"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-5.jpg"><img src="images/ill-5.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0008" id="h2HCH0008"></a>VIII.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-S.png" width="50" height="50" alt="S" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">S</span>even days had sped since Sulamith had stepped into
+the palace of the king. Seven days had she and the king taken joyance in love,
+yet could not be sated therewith.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon loved to adorn his beloved with precious things. &ldquo;How beautiful
+are thy little feet in sandals!&rdquo; he would exclaim in rapture, and,
+getting down on his knees before her, he would kiss each toe in turn, and put
+upon them rings with stones so splendid and rare that their like was not to be
+found even upon the ephod of a high-priest. Sulamith would listen, entranced,
+whenever he discoursed upon the inner nature of stones, their magic properties
+and secret significations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here is anthrax, the sacred stone from the land of Ophir,&rdquo; the
+king would say. &ldquo;It is hot and moist. Behold, it is red, like blood, like
+the evening glow, like the blown flower of the pomegranate, like thick wine
+from the vineyards of En-gedi, like thy lips, my Sulamith, in the morning after
+a night of love. This is the stone of love, wrath, and blood. Upon the hand of
+a man languishing in a fever or made drunk by desire, it waxes warmer and glows
+with a red flame. Put it upon thy hand, my beloved, and thou shalt see it
+enkindle. If it be brayed to a powder and taken in water, it imparts a glow to
+the face, allays the stomach, and maketh the soul to rejoice. He that weareth
+it attaineth power over men. It is a curative for the heart, brain, and memory.
+But it ought not be worn nigh children, for it doth arouse the passions of love
+around it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here is a transparent stone, the colour of copper verdigris. In the land
+of the Æthiopians, where it is gotten, it is called Mgnadis-Phza. It was given
+me by the father of my wife, Queen Astis,&mdash;by Shishak, the Pharaoh of
+Ægypt, into whose hands it came through a captive king. Thou seest,&mdash;it is
+not beautiful; yet is its value beyond computation, for but four men on earth
+possess the stone Mgnadis-Phza. It possesses the unusual property of attracting
+silver to it, just like a covetous man that loveth the metal. I give it thee,
+my beloved, for that thou are not covetous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Gaze upon these sapphires, Sulamith. Some of them resemble in colour
+corn-flowers among wheat; others, an autumn sky; others still, the sea in fine
+weather. This is the stone of virginity,&mdash;chill and pure. During far and
+difficult voyages it is placed in the mouth to allay thirst. It also cureth
+leprosy and all malignant growths. It bestoweth clarity to thoughts. The
+priests of Jupiter in Rome wear it upon the index finger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The king of all stones is the stone Shamir. The Greeks name it
+Adamas,&mdash;which signifieth, the invincible. It is the hardest of all
+substances on earth and remains uninjured in the fiercest of fires. It is the
+light of the sun, concentrated in the ground and cooled by time. Admire it,
+Sulamith,&mdash;it playeth with all colours, but in itself remaineth
+translucent, like a drop of water. It shineth in the darkness of night; but
+loseth its radiance, even in the daytime, upon the hand of a murderer. The
+Shamir is tied to the hand of a woman tortured in heavy travail with child; and
+it is also put upon the left hand by warriors setting out for battle. He that
+weareth the Shamir findeth favour with kings and hath no dread of evil spirits.
+The Shamir driveth the mottled colour off the face, purifieth the breath,
+giveth quiet slumber to lunaticks, and induceth a sweat curative of near
+proximity to poison. The Shamir stones are male and female; buried deep in the
+ground they are capable of multiplying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The moonstone, pale and mild, like the shining of the moon,&mdash;it is
+the stone of the Chaldæan and Babylonian magi. Before divination it is placed
+under the tongue, and it imparts to them the gift of seeing the future. It hath
+a strange tie with the moon, for during a new moon it groweth chill and shineth
+more brightly. It is beneficial to woman during that year when from a child she
+is becoming a woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Wear thou this ring with a smaragd constantly, my beloved, for the
+smaragd is the favourite stone of Solomon, King of Israel. It is green, pure,
+gay, tender, like grass in the spring of the year, and when one gazeth at it
+for long the heart waxeth radiant; if thou wilt look upon it in the morning,
+all the day shall hold no hardship of thee. I shall hang a smaragd over thy
+night couch, my comely one; let it drive evil dreams away from thee; let it
+lull the beating of thy heart, and divert black thoughts. Serpents and
+scorpions come not nigh him that weareth a smaragd; but if a smaragd be held
+before the eyes of a serpent, water shall flow from them, and continue flowing,
+till it go blind. Pounded smaragd, together with camel&rsquo;s milk, is given
+an empoisoned man, that the poison may go off in transpiration; mixed with
+attar of roses, smaragd cureth the bites of venomous reptiles; while ground
+with saffron and applied to ailing eyes it eradicates night blindness. It also
+helps in dysentery and the black cough that is incurable by any human
+means.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king also bestowed upon his beloved Lybian amethysts, whose colour
+resembled early violets, that put forth in forests at the foot of the Lybian
+mountains,&mdash;amethysts, possessed of the wondrous property of curbing wind,
+mollifying wrath, preserving from intoxication, and helping at the trapping of
+wild beasts; turquoise of Persepolis, that bringeth happiness in love, endeth
+connubial quarrels, turneth away the wrath of kings, and is propitious in the
+breaking and selling of horses; and cat&rsquo;s-eye,&mdash;that guardeth the
+property, reason, and health of its possessor; and the pale beryllion,
+blue-green, like sea-water near shore,&mdash;a good travelling companion for
+pilgrims and a remedy against cataract and leprosy; and the vari-coloured
+agate: he that weareth it hath no dread of the evil machinations of enemies,
+and avoideth the danger of being crushed in an earthquake; and the apple-green,
+turbidly-pellucid onychion,&mdash;its master&rsquo;s guardian from fire and
+madness; and iaspis, that maketh beasts to tremble; and the black
+swallow-stone, that endoweth with eloquence; and the eagle-stone, esteemed of
+pregnant women,&mdash;eagles put it in their nests when the time comes for
+their young to break out of their shells; and zaberzate out of Ophir, shining
+like little suns; and yellow-aureate chrysolite,&mdash;the friend of merchants
+and thieves; and sardonyx, beloved of kings and queens; and the crimson
+ligurion: it is found, as all know, in the stomach of the lynx, whose sight is
+so keen that it can see through walls,&mdash;and for that reason he that
+weareth a ligurion is also noted for keen sight, and besides this it stoppeth
+bleeding of the nose, and healeth all wounds, save wounds inflicted by stone or
+iron.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king also put upon Sulamith&rsquo;s neck carcanets of great price, of
+pearls that had been dived for in the Persian Sea by his subjects; and the
+pearls put on a living lustre and a soft colour from the warmth of her body.
+And corals became redder upon her swarthy breast; and turquoise came to life
+upon her fingers; and those baubles of yellow amber which were brought from far
+northern seas, in gift to the king, by the doughty ship-masters of Hiram, King
+of Tyre, emitted crackling sparks in her hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With marigolds and lilies did Sulamith deck her couch, preparing it for the
+night; and, reposing upon her breast, the king would say in the joyousness of
+his heart:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou are like to the king&rsquo;s decked, masted boat in the Land of
+Ophir, O my beloved; a light, golden boat that floats, swaying, upon the sacred
+river, among white fragrant blossoms.&rdquo;
+</p> <hr /> <p>
+Thus did his first&mdash;and last&mdash;love come to Solomon, the greatest of
+kings and wisest of sages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many ages have passed since then. There have been kingdoms and kings, and of
+them no trace has been left, as of a wind that has sped over a desert. There
+have been prolonged, merciless wars, after which the names of the commanders
+shone through the ages, like ensanguined stars; but time has effaced even the
+very memory of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the love of the lowly maiden of the vineyard and the great king shall never
+pass away nor be forgotten,&mdash;for love is strong as death; for every woman
+who loves is a queen; for love is beautiful.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0009" id="h2HCH0009"></a>IX.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-S.png" width="50" height="50" alt="S" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">S</span>even days had sped since Solomon,&mdash;poet, sage,
+and king,&mdash;had brought into his palace the lowly maiden he had met in the
+vineyard at dawn. For seven days did the king take joyance in her love, nor
+could be sated therewith. And a great joy irradiated his countenance, like to
+the golden light of the sun.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the time of light, warm, moonlit nights,&mdash;sweet nights of love....
+Upon a couch of tiger fells lay the naked Sulamith; and the king, sitting upon
+the floor at her feet, filled his emerald goblet with the aureate wine of
+Mauretus, and drank to the health of his beloved, rejoicing with all his heart,
+and narrated to her the sage, strange legends of eld. And Sulamith&rsquo;s hand
+rested upon his head, stroking his wavy black hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, my king,&rdquo; Sulamith had once asked, &ldquo;is it not
+wonderful that I fell in love with thee so instantly? I now call all things to
+mind, and meseems I began belonging to thee from the very first moment, when I
+had not yet had time to behold thee, but had merely heard thy voice. My heart
+began to flutter and did open to meet thee, as a flower opens to the south wind
+on a night in summer. How hast thou taken me so, my beloved?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king, quietly bending his head toward the soft knees of Sulamith,
+smiled tenderly and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thousands of women before thee, O my comely one, have put this question
+to their beloveds, and hundreds of ages after thee will they be asking their
+beloveds about this. There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea,
+four which I know not: the way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent
+upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man
+with a maid. This is not my wisdom, Sulamith,&mdash;these are the words of
+Agur, son of Jakeh, heard from him by his disciples. But let us honour the
+wisdom of others also.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea,&rdquo; said Sulamith pensively, &ldquo;mayhap it is even true that
+man shall never comprehend this. To-day, during the banquet, I wore a
+sweet-smelling cluster of stacte upon my breast. But thou didst leave the
+table, and my flowers ceased to give out their smell. Meseems, thou must be
+beloved, O king, of women, and men, and beasts, and even of flowers. I oft
+ponder, yet comprehend not: how can one love any other save thee?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And any save thee, save thee, Sulamith! Every hour do I render thanks to
+God for that He has set thee in my path.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember, I was sitting upon a stone of the wall, and thou didst put
+thy hand on mine. Fire ran through my veins; my head was dizzied. I said within
+me: Behold, there is my lord, my king, my beloved!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I remember, Sulamith, how thou didst turn around to my call. Under the
+thin raiment I saw thy body, thy beautiful body, that I love as I love God. I
+love it,&mdash;covered with its golden down, as though the sun had left its
+kiss upon it. Thou art graceful, like to a filly in the Pharaoh&rsquo;s
+chariot; thou art fair like the chariot of Ammi-nadib. Thy eyes are as two
+doves, sitting by the rivers of waters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O, beloved, thy words stir me. Thy hand sears me sweetly. O, my king,
+thy legs are as pillars of marble. Thy belly is like an heap of wheat, set
+about with lilies.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Surrounded, irradiated, by the silent light of the moon, they forgot time and
+place; and thus hours would pass, and they with wonder beheld the rosy dawn
+peeping through the latticed windows of the chamber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sulamith also said once:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou hast known, my beloved, wives and virgins without number, and they
+were all the fairest women on earth. I become ashamed whenever I consider
+myself,&mdash;a simple, unschooled girl,&mdash;and my poor body, scorched of
+the sun.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But, touching her lips with his, the king would say, with infinite love and
+gratefulness:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou art a queen, Sulamith! Thou wast born a true queen. Thou art brave
+and generous in love. Seven hundred wives have I, and three hundred concubines,
+and virgins without number have I known; but thou, my timid one, art my only
+one,&mdash;thou fairest among women. I have found thee like as a diver in the
+Gulf of Persia, that filleth a great number of baskets with barren shells and
+pearls of little price, ere he get from the bed of the sea a pearl worthy a
+king&rsquo;s crown. My child, a man may love thousands of times, yet he loveth
+but once. People without number think they love, yet only to two of them doth
+God send love. And when thou didst yield thyself up to me among the cypresses,
+under the rafters of cedars, upon the bed of green, I did with all my soul
+render thanks to God, so gracious to me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sulamith also asked once:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I know that they all loved thee, for not to love thee is impossible. The
+Queen of Sheba did come to thee from her domain. They say, that she was the
+wisest and fairest of all women that had ever been on earth. As in a dream, I
+recall her caravans. I know not why, but since my earliest childhood I have
+been drawn to the chariots of the great. I was then perhaps seven, perhaps
+eight. I remember the camels in golden harness, covered with caparisons of
+purple, laden with heavy burthens; I remember the mules with the little bells
+of gold between their ears; I remember the droll monkeys in silvern cages; and
+the wondrous peacocks. There was a multitude of servants in garments of white
+and blue, marching; they led tame tigers and panthers upon ribbands of red. I
+was but eight then.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O child, thou wert but eight then,&rdquo; said Solomon with sadness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Didst thou love her more than me, Solomon? Wilt tell me something of
+her?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king told her all pertaining to this amazing woman. Having heard much
+of the wisdom and beauty of the King of Israel, she had come to him from her
+domain with rich gifts, desiring to prove his wisdom and subdue his heart. This
+was a magnificent woman of forty, who was already beginning to fade. But
+through secret, magic means she contrived to make her body, that was growing
+flabby, seem graceful and supple, like a girl&rsquo;s, while her face bore an
+impress of an awesome, inhuman beauty. But her wisdom was ordinary wisdom, and
+the petty wisdom of a woman to boot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Desiring to test the king with riddles, she at first sent to him fifty youths
+of tenderest age, and fifty maidens. They were all so cunningly dressed that
+the keenest eye could not have discerned their sex. &ldquo;I shall call thee
+wise, O King,&rdquo; said Balkis, &ldquo;if thou shalt tell me which of them is
+woman, and which man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the king burst out laughing, and ordered that every he and she sent him be
+brought a separate bason of silver, and a separate ewer of silver, for laving.
+And whereas the boys bravely splashed in the water and cast it in handfuls at
+their faces, drying their skin vigorously, the girls acted as women always do
+at their ablutions. They lathered each hand gently and solicitously, bringing
+it closely to their eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In so easy a manner did the king solve the first riddle of Balkis-Mâkkedah.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next she sent Solomon a large diamond, the size of a hazel nut. This stone had
+a thin, exceedingly tortuous flaw, that perforated its entire body with a
+narrow, intricate path. The task was to put a silken thread through the jewel.
+And the wise king let into the opening a silk worm, which, having passed
+through, left the finest of silken webs in its wake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also, the beauteous Balkis sent King Solomon a precious goblet of carved
+sardonyx, of magnificent workmanship. &ldquo;This goblet shall be thine,&rdquo;
+she had commanded that the king be told, &ldquo;if thou fillest it with
+moisture taken neither from earth nor heaven.&rdquo; And Solomon, having filled
+the goblet with froth falling from the body of a fatigued steed, ordered it to
+be carried to the queen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many such hard questions did the queen put to Solomon, but could not belittle
+his wisdom; nor with all her secret charms of love&rsquo;s passion in the night
+might she contrive to retain his love. And when she had finally palled upon the
+king, he had cruelly, hurtfully made mock of her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everybody knew that the Savvian queen never showed her lower extremities to
+anyone, and for that reason wore a garment reaching to the ground. Even in the
+hours of love caresses did she keep her legs closely covered with raiment. Many
+strange and droll legends had sprung up on this account.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some averred, that the queen had legs like a goat, grown over with wool; others
+swore, that instead of human feet she had webbed feet, like a goose. And they
+even related how the mother of Balkis had once, after bathing, sat down upon
+sand where just before a certain god, temporarily metamorphosed into a gander,
+had left his seed, and that through this she had borne the beauteous Queen of
+Sheba.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so Solomon one day commanded to be built, in one of his chambers, a
+transparent floor of crystal, with an empty space beneath it, which was filled
+with water and stocked with live fish. All this was done with such
+extraordinary art that one not forewarned could never possibly notice the
+glass, and would take an oath that a pool of clear, fresh water lay before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And when all was in readiness, Solomon invited his regal guest to an interview.
+Surrounded by all the pomp of her retinue, she paced through the chambers of
+the House at Lebanon, and came up to the treacherous pool. At the other end of
+it sat the king, resplendent with gold and precious stones, and with a
+welcoming look in his dark eyes. The door opened before the queen, and she took
+a step forward,&mdash;but cried out and....
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sulamith claps her palms and laughs, and her laughter is joyous and child-like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;She stoops and lifts up her raiment?&rdquo; asks Sulamith.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea, my beloved, she acted as any among women would have acted. She
+raised up the hem of her garment, and although this lasted for but a moment,
+not only I but all my court saw that the beauteous Savvian Queen,
+Balkis-Mâkkedah, had ordinary human legs, but crooked and grown over with
+coarse hair. On the very next day she set off, without bidding me farewell, and
+departed with her magnificent caravan. I had not meant to offend her. I sent
+after her a trustworthy runner, whom I ordered to give to the queen a bundle of
+a rare mountain herb,&mdash;the best means for the extirpation of hair upon the
+body. But she returned to me the head of my emissary in a bag of costly
+purple.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon also told his beloved many things out of his life, which none other
+among men and women knew, and which Sulamith carried with her into the grave.
+He told her of the long and weary years of his wanderings, when, fleeing from
+the wrath of his brethren, he was forced to hide under an assumed name in
+foreign lands, enduring fearful poverty and privations. He told her how, in a
+far-off, unknown country, while he was standing in the market place, in
+expectation of being hired to work somewhere, the king&rsquo;s cook had
+approached him and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stranger, help me carry this hamper of fish into the palace.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Through his wit, adroitness, and skilled demeanor, Solomon so pleased the
+officers of the court, that in a short while he had made himself at home in the
+palace, and when the head cook died he had taken his place. Further, Solomon
+told of how the king&rsquo;s only daughter,&mdash;a beautiful, ardent
+maiden,&mdash;had fallen in love with the new cook and had confessed her love
+to him; how they fled from the palace one night, and had been re-taken and
+brought back; how Solomon had been condemned to die; and how, by a miracle, he
+succeeded in escaping from the dungeon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Avidly did Sulamith listen to him, and, when he grew silent, amidst the
+stillness of the night their lips joined, their arms entwined each other, and
+breast touched breast. And when morning drew near, and Sulamith&rsquo;s body
+seemed a foamy pink, and the fatigue of love encircled her splendid eyes with
+blue shadows, she would say with a tender smile:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick with
+love.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0006"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-6.jpg"><img src="images/ill-6.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0010" id="h2HCH0010"></a>X.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-I.png" width="50" height="50" alt="I" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">I</span>n the temple of Isis, upon Mount Beth-El-Khav, the
+first part of the great mystery, to which the faithful of the lesser initiation
+were admitted, was just over. The priest on duty,&mdash;an ancient elder in
+white vestment, with shaven head, and neither moustache nor beard,&mdash;had
+turned from the elevation of the altar toward the people, and pronounced in a
+quiet, tired voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dwell in peace, my sons and daughters. Wax perfect through deeds. Extoll
+the name of the goddess. And may her blessings be over ye for ever and
+aye.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He raised his hands on high over the people, in benediction. And immediately
+all the initiates into the lesser rank of the mysteries prostrated themselves
+on the floor, and then, arising, softly and in silence made their way to the
+exit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To-day was the seventh day of the month Phamenoth, sacred to the mysteries of
+Osiris and Isis. Since evening the solemn procession had thrice made the
+circuit of the temple with lamps, palm-leaves, and amphoræ; with the occult
+symbols of the gods and the sacred images of the Phallus. In the midst of the
+procession, upon the shoulders of the priests and the minor prophets, was
+reared the closed <i>naos</i> of costly wood, ornamented with pearl, ivory, and
+gold. Therein dwelt the goddess herself,&mdash;She, The Invisible, The Bestower
+of Fecundity, The Mysterious; Mother, Sister, and Wife of gods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The evil Seth had enticed his brother, the divine Osiris, to a feast; through
+craftiness he made him to lie down in a magnificent sarcophagus, and, having
+clapped down the lid over him, cast the sarcophagus with the body of the great
+god into the Nile. Isis, who had just given birth to Horus, with yearning and
+tears searches all the world over for the body of her spouse, and for long can
+not find it. Finally, slaves inform her that the body had been borne out to sea
+by the waves, and that it had been cast up at Byblos, where an enormous tree
+had sprung up about it, enclosing within its trunk the body of the god and his
+floating dwelling. The king of that domain had commanded a mighty column to be
+made out of the enormous tree, not knowing that within it reposed the god
+Osiris himself, the great bestower of life. Isis goes to Byblos; she arrives
+there fatigued with sultriness, thirst, and the toilsome, stony road. She
+liberates the sarcophagus out of the midst of the tree, carries it with her,
+and buries it in the earth near the city wall. But Seth again secretly steals
+away the body of Osiris, cuts it up into fourteen parts, and strews them over
+all the towns and settlements of Upper and Lower Ægpyt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And again with great grief and lamentations Isis set out in search of the
+sacred members of her spouse and brother. Her sister, the goddess Nephthys, and
+the mighty Thoth, and the son of the goddess, the radiant Horus,&mdash;Horus of
+the Horizon,&mdash;all join their plaints to her weeping.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was the hidden meaning of the present procession in the first half of the
+sacred service. Now, upon the departure of the common believers, and after a
+short rest, the second part of the great mystery was about to be consummated.
+In the temple were left only those initiated into the higher
+degrees,&mdash;mystagogues, epopts, prophets and sacrificators.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boys in white vestments bore about, upon salvers of silver, flesh, bread, dried
+fruits, and sweet wine of Pelusium. Others poured hippocras out of
+narrow-necked Tyrian vessels,&mdash;a drink given in those days to condemned
+criminals before execution, to arouse their manhood, but which also possessed
+the great virtue of generating and sustaining in men the fire of a sacred
+madness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At a sign from the priest on duty the boys withdrew. A priest who was also the
+keeper of the gates locked all doors. Then he attentively made the rounds of
+all those who remained, scrutinizing their faces and testing them with secret
+words that constituted the pass-orders for this night. Two other priests drew a
+silvern thurible upon wheels down the length of the temple and around each of
+its columns. The temple filled with the blue, thick, heady, aromatic fumes of
+incense, and through the layers of smoke grew barely visible the vari-coloured
+flames of the lamp,&mdash;lamps made of translucent stones, lamps set in carved
+gold and suspended from the ceiling upon long chains of silver. In the times of
+eld this temple of Osiris and Isis was known for its small extent and its
+poverty, and was hollowed out like a cavern in the heart of the mountain. A
+narrow subterranean corridor led to it from without. But in the days of the
+reign of Solomon, who had taken under his protection all religions save those
+which permitted the offering of children in sacrifice, and thanks to the zeal
+of Queen Astis, an Ægyptian born, the temple had expanded in depth and height,
+and had become adorned with rich offerings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The former altar still remained inviolate in its primordial, austere
+simplicity, together with a great number of small chambers surrounding it and
+serving for the keeping of treasures, sacrificial objects, and priestly
+appurtenances, as well as for special secret purposes during the most occult
+mystic orgies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But then, the outer court was truly magnificent, with its pylons in honour of
+the goddess Hathor, and with a four-sided colonnade of four and twenty columns.
+The inner, subterranean, hypostylic hall for worshippers was built still more
+magnificently. Its mosaic floor was all adorned with cunningly wrought images
+of fishes, beasts, amphibians and reptiles; while the ceiling was overlaid with
+blue lazure, and upon it shone a sun of gold, glowed a moon of silver,
+innumerable stars twinkled, and birds soared upon outspread wings. The floor
+was the earth, the ceiling the sky, and they were joined by round and
+many-sided columns, like mighty tree trunks; and since all the columns were
+surmounted by capitals in the form of the tender flowers of lotus or the
+slender cylinders of the papyrus, the ceiling they supported did in reality
+seem as light and æthereal as the sky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The walls to the height of a man were faced with plates of red granite, brought
+at the desire of Queen Astis out of Thebes, where the local master workers
+could impart to the granite a smoothness like that of a mirror, together with
+an amazing polish. Higher, to the very ceiling, the walls, as well as the
+columns, were gay with graven and limned images with the symbols of the gods of
+both Ægypts. Here was Sebekh, honoured in Fayum in the form of a crocodile; and
+Thoth, the god of the moon, depicted as an ibis in the city of Khmunu; and the
+sun-god Horus, to whom a small idol-temple was consecrated in Edfu; and Bast of
+Bubastis, in the form of a cat; Shu, the god of the air, as a lion;
+Ptah,&mdash;an Apis; Hathor, the goddess of mirth,&mdash;a heifer; Anubis, the
+god of embalming, with the head of a jackal; and Menthu out of Hermon; and the
+Coptic Minu; and Neith of Sais, the goddess of the sky; and, finally, in the
+form of a ram,&mdash;the dread god whose name was never uttered, and who was
+called Khenti-Amentiu, which signifieth: The Dweller in the West.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The half-dark altar reared above the entire temple, and the gold upon the walls
+of the sanctuary that hid the images of Isis gleamed within its depths. Three
+gates,&mdash;a large one in the middle, and two small ones flanking
+it,&mdash;opened into the sanctuary. Before the middle one stood a small
+sacrificial altar with a sacred stone knife of Æthiopian obsidian. Steps led up
+to the altar, and upon them were disposed young priests and priestesses with
+tympani and sistrums, with flutes and tabours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Queen Astis was reclining within a little, secret chamber. A small quadrangular
+opening, artfully concealed by a large curtain, led directly to the altar, and
+permitted one to follow all the details of the sacred service without betraying
+one&rsquo;s presence. A light, closely-fitting dress of linen gauze, interwoven
+with silver, tightly enveloped the body of the queen, leaving the arms bare up
+to the shoulders, and the legs half-way to the calf. Her skin gleamed pinkly
+through the diaphanous material, and one could see the pure lines and
+elevations of her graceful body, which, despite the queen&rsquo;s age of
+thirty, still had lost none of its litheness, beauty and freshness. Her hair,
+stained a blue colour, was spread loosely over her shoulders and back, and was
+adorned with innumerable little aromatic pomanders. Her face was much rouged
+and whitened; while her eyes, finely outlined by kohl, seemed enormous and
+glowed in the darkness, like those of some powerful beasts of the feline
+species. A sacred uræus of gold hung down from her neck, separating the
+half-bared breasts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ever since Solomon had cooled toward Queen Astis, tired of her unbridled
+sensuality, she, with all the ardour of southern love-passion, and with all the
+jealousy of a woman scorned, had given herself up to those secret orgies of
+perverted lust that constituted the highest cult of the castrates&rsquo;
+service of Isis. She always showed herself surrounded by priests-castrates,
+and, even now, as one of them fanned her head with measured strokes of a fan
+made of peacock feathers, others were seated upon the floor drinking in the
+beauty of the queen with eyes of insane bliss. Their nostrils were dilating and
+quivering from the scent of her body wafted to them, and they sought with
+trembling fingers to touch unperceived the hem of her light raiment, barely
+stirring in the breeze. Their excessive, never satiated sensuousness spurred on
+their imagination to its utmost limits. Their inventiveness in the pleasures of
+Kybele and Ashera surpassed all human possibilities. And being jealous of the
+queen toward one another, toward all men, women, and children&mdash;being
+jealous of her own self&mdash;they adored her even more than Isis, and, loving
+her, hated her as an inexhaustible, fiery fountain-head of delectable and cruel
+sufferings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dark, evil, fearful, and fascinating rumours were current about Queen Astis in
+Jerusalem. The parents of beautiful boys and girls hid their children from her
+gaze; men dreaded to utter her name upon the conjugal couch, as an omen of
+defilement and disaster. But agitating, irresistible curiosity drew all souls
+to her, and gave all bodies up into her power. They who had but once
+experienced her ferocious, sanguinary caresses could nevermore forget her, and
+became her lifelong, pitiful, spurned slaves. Ready, for a renewed possession
+of her, to commit every sin, to endure every degradation and crime, they came
+to resemble those unfortunates who, having once tasted of the bitter drink of
+the poppy from the Land of Ophir,&mdash;the drink that bestoweth sweet
+dreams,&mdash;will never more draw away from it, bowing down before it only and
+honouring it alone, until exhaustion and madness cut short their life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fan swayed slowly in the sultry air. In silent rapture the priests
+contemplated their dread sovereign. But she seemed to have forgotten their
+presence. Having moved the curtain slightly aside, she was ceaselessly gazing
+across toward that part of the altar where at one time, out of the dark
+fissures of the ancient curtains of beaten gold, was to be seen the beautiful,
+radiant countenance of the king of Israel. Him alone did the spurned queen, the
+cruel and lecherous Astis, love with all her flaming and depraved heart. His
+glance of a fleeting moment, a kind word of his, the touch of his hand, did she
+seek everywhere, and found not. Upon triumphal levees, court banquets, and upon
+the days of judgment, did Solomon pay his respects, due a queen and the
+daughter of a king; but his soul was not quick unto her. And the proud queen
+would often command herself to be borne at set hours past the House at Lebanon,
+to glimpse, even though afar and unnoticed, through the heavy stuffs of her
+litter, the proud, unforgettably splendid visage of Solomon, in the midst of
+the throng of courtiers. And long since her flaming love had grown so closely
+joined to searing hatred that Astis herself was unable to tell them apart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In former days Solomon also had visited the temple of Isis on great festal
+days, had brought the goddess offerings, and had even accepted the title of her
+hierophant,&mdash;second after that of the Pharaoh of Ægypt. But the horrible
+mysteries of &ldquo;The Sanguine Sacrifice of Fecundation&rdquo; had turned his
+mind and heart from the service of the Mother of Gods.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He that is castrated through ignorance or by force, or through accident
+or disease, is not abased before God,&rdquo; the king hath said. &ldquo;But woe
+be unto him that doth maim himself with his own hand.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now for a whole year his couch in the temple had remained vacant. And in
+vain did the flaming eyes of the queen now gaze feverishly at the unstirred
+hangings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meanwhile, the wine, hippocras, and the stupefying burnt perfumes were
+already having a perceptible effect upon those gathered within the temple.
+Cries, and laughter, and the ring of silver vessels falling upon the stone
+floor came with greater frequency. The grand, mysterious moment of the
+sanguinary sacrifice was approaching. Ecstasy was overcoming the faithful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With an abstracted gaze the queen surveyed the temple and the believers. Many
+honoured and illustrious men of Solomon&rsquo;s retinue and many of his
+generals were here: Ben-Geber, ruler over the region of Argob; and Ahimaaz, who
+had Basmath, the daughter of the king, to wife; and the witty Ben-Dekar; and
+Zabud, who bore, in accordance with eastern customs, the high title of the
+King&rsquo;s Friend; and the brother of Solomon by the first marriage of
+David,&mdash;Dalaiah, a debilitated, half-dead man, who had prematurely fallen
+into idiocy through excesses and drinking. They were all&mdash;some through
+faith, some through ulterior designs, others out of adulation, and still others
+for lecherous purposes,&mdash;the adorants of Isis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now the eyes of the queen rested, long and attentively, intent in thought,
+on the comely, youthful face of Eliab, one of the officers of the king&rsquo;s
+bodyguards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The queen knew why his swarthy face was aflame with such a vivid colour, why
+his eyes were directed with such passionate yearning hitherward, upon the
+curtains, scarce stirring from the touch of the queen&rsquo;s beautiful hands.
+Once, almost in jest, submitting to a momentary caprice, she had made Eliab to
+pass a whole night of felicity with her. In the morning she had let him depart,
+but ever since, for many days running, she had beheld everywhere,&mdash;in the
+palace, in the temple, in the streets,&mdash;two enamoured, submissive,
+yearning eyes, that followed her entranced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dark eyebrows of the queen contracted, and her green, elongated eyes
+suddenly darkened from a fearful thought. With a barely perceptible motion of
+her hand she ordered the castrate to lower the fan and said quietly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Get hence, all of you. Hushai, thou shalt go and summon to me Eliab, the
+officer of the king&rsquo;s guard. Let him come alone.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0007"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-7.jpg"><img src="images/ill-7.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0011" id="h2HCH0011"></a>XI.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-T.png" width="50" height="50" alt="T" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">T</span>en priests, in white vestments, maculated with red,
+stepped out to the centre of the altar. Following them came two other priests,
+clad in feminine garments. It was their duty to-day to represent Nephthys and
+Isis, bewailing Osiris. Then out of the depths of the altar came one in a white
+chiton, without a single ornament, and the eyes of all the men and women were
+eagerly drawn to him. This was the very same desert anchorite who had undergone
+a heavy trial of ten years&rsquo; wrestling with the flesh upon the mountains
+of Lebanon, and was now to bring a great, voluntary bloody sacrifice to Isis.
+His face, emaciated by hunger, wind-beaten and scorched, was stern and pallid,
+the eyes austerely cast down; and a supernatural horror was wafted from him
+upon the throng.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Finally, the chief priest of the temple also made his appearance,&mdash;a
+centenarian ancient, with a tiara upon his head, with a tiger skin upon his
+shoulders, in an apron of brocaded samite adorned with the tails of jackals.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning to the worshippers, he uttered in a senile voice, meek and tremulous:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;<i>Suton-di-hotpu.</i>&rdquo; (&ldquo;The king bringeth the
+sacrifice.&rdquo;)
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And then, turning around to the sacrificial altar, he took from the hands of an
+acolyte a white dove with little red feet, cut off the bird&rsquo;s head, took
+the heart out of her breast, and sprinkled the sacrificial altar and the
+consecrated knife with her blood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a brief silence he proclaimed:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Let us weep for Osiris, the god of Atum, the Great On-Nefer-Hophra, the
+god Ona!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two castrates in female garments,&mdash;Isis and Nephthys,&mdash;at once
+commenced the lamentation, in harmonious, high-pitched voices:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Return to thy dwelling, O beauteous youth! To behold thee is bliss.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Isis charges thee,&mdash;Isis, that was conceived in the one womb with
+thee,&mdash;Isis, thy spouse and thy sister.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Show us thy countenance anew, radiant god. Here is Nephthys, thy sister.
+She is deluged in her tears and plucks out her hair in her grief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In a yearning like unto death do we seek after thy beauteous body.
+Return to thy dwelling, Osiris!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two other priests joined their voices to those of the first two. These were
+Horus and Anubis lamenting for Osiris, and each time they concluded a stanza,
+the chorus, disposed upon the steps of the staircase, repeated it to a solemn
+and sad motif.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then with the same chant the elder priests brought out of the sanctuary the
+statue of the goddess, no longer covered with the <i>naos</i>. A black mantle,
+strewn over with golden stars, now enveloped the goddess from head to foot,
+leaving visible only her silvern feet, entwined by a serpent, as well as, over
+her head, a silvern disc, confined within the horns of a cow. And slowly, to
+the tinkling of the censers and sistra, with mournful weeping, the procession
+of the goddess Isis set out from the steps of the altar, down into the temple,
+along its walls, and in and out between the columns.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus did the goddess gather up the scattered members of her spouse, that she
+might resuscitate him with the aid of Thoth and Anubis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Glory to the city of Abydos, that preserved thy fair head, Osiris.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Glory to thee, city of Memphis, where we did find the right hand of the
+great god,&mdash;the hand of war and protection.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And to thee also, O city of Sais, that didst harbour the left hand of
+the radiant god,&mdash;the hand of justice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And be thou blessed, city of Thebes, where the heart of On-Nefer-Hophra
+did repose.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus did the goddess make the round of the entire temple, coming back to the
+altar, and more and more passionate and loud did the singing of the chorus
+become. A sacred exaltation was taking possession of the priests and those
+praying. All the parts of the body of Osiris had Isis found, save
+one,&mdash;the sacred Phallus, impregnating the maternal womb, creating new
+life eternal. Now was approaching the grandest act in the mystery of Osiris and
+Isis....
+</p> <hr /> <p>
+&ldquo;Is it thou, Eliab?&rdquo; the queen asked the youth, who had quietly
+entered the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the darkness near the couch he noiselessly sank at her feet and pressed to
+his lips the hem of her raiment. And the queen felt him weeping with rapture,
+shame, and desire. Lowering her hand upon his curly, tousled head, the queen
+uttered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tell me, Eliab, all that thou knowest of the king and this girl of the
+vineyard.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How thou dost love him, O queen!&rdquo; said Eliab with a bitter moan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak!...&rdquo; commanded Astis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What can I tell thee, queen? My heart is rent by jealousy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never yet has the king loved any as he loveth her. He doth not part from
+her for an instant. His eyes shine with happiness. He lavishes favours and
+gifts all about him. He, the Abimelech<a href="#note-5"
+name="noteref-5"><small>5</small></a> and sage,&mdash;he, like a slave, lieth
+at her feet and, like a dog, taketh not his eyes off her.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O, how thou dost torture me, queen! And she ... she is all love, all
+tenderness and caresses! She is meek and abashed, she sees and knows naught
+save her love. She arouses wrath, envy, or jealousy in none....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Speak!&rdquo; furiously moaned out the queen, and, clutching with her
+pliant fingers the black curls of Eliab, she pressed his head against her body,
+scratching his face with the silver embroidery of her diaphanous chiton.
+</p> <hr /> <p>
+And in the meanwhile, at the altar, around the image of the goddess covered
+with its black pall, the priests and priestesses were careering in a holy
+frenzy, with shouts resembling barking, to the clashing of tympani and the
+jarring strum of sistrums.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Certain ones among them were flaying themselves with many-tailed whiplashes of
+rhinoceros hide; others were inflicting long, slashing wounds upon their own
+breasts and shoulders with short knives; others still were tearing their mouths
+with their fingers, tearing at their ears, and excoriating their faces with
+their nails. In the midst of this mad round-dance, at the very feet of the
+goddess, with inconceivable rapidity the anchorite from the mountains of
+Lebanon was whirling on one spot, in snowy-white, waving raiment. The head
+priest alone remained motionless. In his hand he was holding the sacred
+sacrificial knife of Æthiopian obsidian, ready to pass it over at the ultimate,
+frightful moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Phallus! The Phallus! The Phallus!&rdquo; the maddened priests were
+crying in an ecstasy. &ldquo;Where is thy Phallus, O radiant god? Come,
+fecundate the goddess! Her bosom languishes with desire! Her womb is like a
+desert in the sultry months of summer!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now a fearful, insane, piercing scream for an instant drowned all sound of
+the chorus. The priests quickly parted, and all those in the temple beheld the
+anchorite of Lebanon, utterly nude, horrible with his tall, gaunt, yellow body.
+The high priest held out the knife to him. The temple grew unbearably still.
+And he, quickly stooping, made some motion, straightened up, and with a wail of
+pain and rapture suddenly cast at the feet of the goddess a formless, bloody
+piece of flesh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was tottering. The high priest carefully supported him, putting his arm
+around his back; led him up to the image of Isis, painstakingly covered him
+with the black pall, and left him thus for a few moments, in order that in
+secret, unseen of the others, he might imprint his kiss upon the lips of the
+impregnated goddess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately thereafter he was laid upon a stretcher and borne from the altar.
+The priest who kept the gates went outside the temple. He struck an enormous
+copper disc with a wooden mallet, proclaiming to all the universe that the
+great mystery of the fecundation of the goddess had been consummated. And the
+high, singing sound of the copper floated away over Jerusalem....
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Queen Astis, her body still quivering without cease, threw back Eliab&rsquo;s
+head. Her eyes were aflame with an intense, red fire. And she spake slowly,
+word by word:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eliab, wouldst have me make thee king over Judæa and Israel? Wouldst
+thou be sovereign over all Syria and Mesopotamia, over Phœnicia and
+Babylon?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, queen, I desire thee alone....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea, thou shalt be my lord. All my nights shall belong to thee. My every
+word, my every glance, my every breath shall be thine. Thou knowest the
+shibboleth. Thou shalt go this day into the palace and slay them. Thou shalt
+slay them both! Thou shalt slay them both!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Eliab was fain to speak. But the queen drew him to her, and her burning lips
+and tongue clung to his mouth. This lasted excruciatingly long. Then, suddenly
+tearing the youth away from her, she said curtly and imperiously:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Go!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I go,&rdquo; answered Eliab, submissively.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2HCH0012" id="h2HCH0012"></a>XII.</h2>
+
+<p style="text-indent: -.5em;">
+<span style="float:left; margin-right: .75em;">
+<img src="images/cap-A.png" width="50" height="50" alt="A" />
+</span>
+<span class="dcap">A</span>nd it was the seventh night of Solomon&rsquo;s great
+love.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Strangely quiet and deeply tender were the caresses of the king and Sulamith on
+this night. Some pensive melancholy, some cautious timidity, some distant
+premonition, seemed to have cast a slight shadow over their words, their kisses
+and embraces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gazing through the window at the sky, where night was already vanquishing the
+sinking flame of the evening, Sulamith let her eyes rest upon a bright, bluish
+star that trembled meekly and tenderly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is that star called, my beloved?&rdquo; she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That is the star Sopdit,&rdquo; answered the king. &ldquo;It is a sacred
+star. Assyrian magi tell us that the souls of all men dwell upon it after the
+death of the body.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dost thou believe it, my king?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon made no reply. His right hand was under Sulamith&rsquo;s head, and his
+left did embrace her; and she felt his aromatic breath upon her,&mdash;upon her
+hair, upon her temple.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mayhap we shall see each other there, my king, after we have
+died?&rdquo; asked Sulamith uneasily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The king again kept silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Give me some answer, beloved,&rdquo; timidly implored Sulamith.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whereupon the king said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Brief is the life of man, but time is without end, and matter hath no
+death. Man dieth and maketh the earth fertile with the corruption of his body;
+the earth nourisheth the blade; the blade bringeth forth grain; man consumeth
+bread, and feedeth his body therewith. Multitudes, and multitudes upon
+multitudes, of ages shall pass; all things in the universe repeat
+themselves,&mdash;men, beasts, stones, plants,&mdash;all repeat themselves. In
+the multiform vortex of time and matter we, too, are repeated, my beloved. It
+is just as true as that, if thou and I were to fill a large bag up to the top
+with sea gravel, and were to cast therein but one precious
+sapphire,&mdash;though we were to take pebbles out of the bag many, many times,
+we still would, sooner or later, draw out the precious stone as well. Thou and
+I will meet, Sulamith, nor shall we know each other; but our hearts, with
+rapture and yearning, will strive to meet, for thou and I have already
+met,&mdash;my meek, my fair Sulamith,&mdash;though we remember it not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nay, my king, nay! I remember. When thou didst stand beneath the window
+and didst call to me: &lsquo;My fair, come out, for my locks are filled with
+the drops of the night!&rsquo; I knew thee, I remembered thee; and fear and joy
+possessed my heart. Tell me, my king,&mdash;tell me, Solomon: if I were, say,
+to die on the morrow, wouldst thou recall thy swarthy maiden of the vineyard,
+thy Sulamith?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king, pressing her to his breast, whispered in emotion:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Never speak thus.... Speak not thus, O Sulamith! Thou art chosen of God,
+thou art the veritable one, thou art the queen of my soul.... Death shall not
+touch thee....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The strident sound of brass suddenly soared over Jerusalem. For long it
+trembled mournfully and wavered in the air, and when it had grown silent its
+quavering echoes still floated on for a long while.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;This marks the ending of the mystery in the temple of Isis,&rdquo; said
+the king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I am afraid, my comely one,&rdquo; whispered Sulamith. &ldquo;A dark
+terror has penetrated into my soul.... I do not want to die.... I have not yet
+had time to enjoy my fill of thy embraces.... Embrace me.... Press me closer to
+thee.... Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm!...&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Fear not death, Sulamith! For love is strong as death.... Drive sad
+thoughts from thee.... Wouldst have me tell thee of the wars of David, of the
+feasts and hunts of the Pharaoh Shishak? Wouldst hear one of those fairy tales
+that come from the land of Ophir?... Wouldst have me tell thee of the wonders
+of Bakramaditiah?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yea, my king. Thou dost know thyself that when I hearken to thee, my
+heart doth expand from happiness! But I would ask a boon of thee....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;O Sulamith, all that thou dost desire! Ask my life of me,&mdash;I shall
+render it up to thee with delight. I shall only regret having paid too small a
+price for thy love.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0008"></a>
+<a href="images/plate-8.jpg"><img src="images/ill-8.jpg" width="400" height="590"
+alt="" /></a>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Then Sulamith smiled in the darkness for happiness, and, entwining the king
+with her arms, whispered in his ear:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I beseech thee, when the morning cometh let us go together there ... to
+the vineyard.... There, where it is green, and the cypresses are, and the
+cedars; where, nigh the stone wall, thou didst take my soul with thy hands....
+I beseech thee to do this, my beloved.... There will I give thee my loves
+anew....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a transport of delight the king kissed the lips of his love.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Sulamith suddenly raised herself up on the couch and hearkened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What is it, my child?... What hath frightened thee?&rdquo; asked
+Solomon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Stay, my beloved.... Some one is coming hither.... Yea ... I hear
+steps.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She became silent. And the stillness was such that they marked the beating of
+their hearts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A slight rustling was heard beyond the door, and it was suddenly thrown ajar,
+quickly and without a sound.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is there?&rdquo; cried out Solomon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But Sulamith had already sprung up from the bed, and with one move dashed
+toward the dark figure of a man with a gleaming sword in his hand. And
+immediately, stricken through by a short, quick stroke, she fell down to the
+floor with a faint cry, as though of wonder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Solomon shattered with his hand the screen of carnelian that shaded the light
+of the night-lamp. He beheld Eliab, who was standing near the door, stooping a
+little over the body of the girl, swaying like one in wine. The young warrior
+raised his head under Solomon&rsquo;s gaze, and, when his eyes met the
+wrathful, awesome eyes of the king, he blanched and groaned. An expression of
+despair and terror distorted his features. And suddenly, stooping, hiding his
+face in his mantle, he began timidly, like a frightened jackal, to slink out of
+the room. But the king stayed him, saying but three words:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who compelled thee?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All a-tremble and with teeth chattering, with eyes grown white from fear, the
+young warrior let drop dully:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Queen Astis....&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Get thee hence,&rdquo; commanded Solomon. &ldquo;Tell the guard on duty
+to watch thee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soon people with lights commenced running through the innumerable rooms of the
+palace. All the chambers were illuminated. The leeches came; the friends and
+the military officers of the king gathered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chief leech said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;King, neither science nor God will now avail. She will die the instant
+we draw out the sword left in her breast.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But at this moment Sulamith came to and said with a calm smile:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I would drink.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And when she had drunk, her eyes rested with a tender, beautiful smile upon the
+king, nor did she again take them away, the while he stood upon his knees
+before her couch, all naked, even as she, without perceiving that his knees
+were laved in her blood, nor that his hands were encrimsoned with the scarlet
+of her blood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus, with difficulty, gazing upon her beloved and smiling gently, did the
+beautiful Sulamith speak:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thank thee, my king, for all things: for thy love, for thy beauty, for
+thy wisdom, to which thou didst allow me to set my lips, as to a sweet well of
+living waters. Let me to kiss thy hands; take them not away from my mouth till
+such time when the last breath shall have fled from me. Never has there been,
+nor ever shall there be, a woman happier than I. I thank thee, my king, my
+beloved, my fair. Think ever and anon upon thy slave, upon thy Sulamith,
+scorched of the sun.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king made answer to her, in a deep, slow voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As long as men and women shall love one another; as long as beauty of
+soul and body shall be the best and sweetest dream in the universe,&mdash;so
+long, I swear to thee, Sulamith, shall thy name be uttered through many ages
+with emotion and gratefulness.&rdquo;
+</p> <hr /> <p>
+Toward morning Sulamith ceased to be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then did the king rise up, command the means for laving to be brought to him,
+and, donning his most magnificent chiton of purple, broidered with golden
+scarabæ, he placed upon his head a crown of blood-red rubies. After this he did
+call Benaiah to him, and spake calmly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Benaiah, thou shalt go and put Eliab to death.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the old man covered his face with his hands and fell prostrate before the
+king.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eliab is my grandson, O King.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Didst thou hear me, Benaiah?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me, O King,&mdash;threaten me not with thy wrath; command some
+other to do this. Eliab, having come out of the palace, did run to the temple,
+and caught hold on the horns of the altar. I am old, my death is nigh; I dare
+not take upon my soul this two-fold crime.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the king retorted:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless, when I did instruct thee to put to death my brother
+Adonijah, who had likewise caught hold on the sacred horns of the altar, didst
+thou not hearken to me, Benaiah?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Forgive me! Spare me, King!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Lift up thy face,&rdquo; commanded Solomon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And when Benaiah did raise up his face, and beheld the king&rsquo;s eyes, he
+quickly rose up from the floor and obediently made his way to the exit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, turning to Ahishar, who was the seneschal, and over the household, he
+commanded:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not want to give the queen up to death; let her live as she wishes,
+and die when she wishes. But nevermore shall she behold my countenance. This
+day, Ahishar, thou shalt fit out a caravan and escort the queen to the harbour
+at Jaffa; and thence to Ægypt, to the Pharaoh Shishak. Now let all get
+hence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, left alone face to face with the body of Sulamith, he long contemplated
+her beautiful features. Her face was pale, and never had it been so fair during
+her life. The half-parted lips that Solomon had been kissing but half an hour
+ago were smiling enigmatically and beautifully; and her teeth, still humid,
+gleamed very faintly from between them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For long did the king gaze upon his dead leman; then, he softly touched with
+his fingers her brow, already losing the warmth of life, and with slow steps
+withdrew from the chamber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the doors the high priest Azariah, son of Zadok, was awaiting him.
+Approaching the king, he asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What shall we do with the body of this woman? It is now the
+Sabbath.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the king recalled how, many years ere this, his father had expired and lay
+upon the sand, already beginning to decompose rapidly. Dogs, drawn by the scent
+of carrion, were already prowling about with eyes glaring from hunger and
+greediness. And, even as now, the high priest, a decrepit old man, the father
+of Azariah, had then asked him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Here lieth thy father; the dogs may rend his corpse.... What are we to
+do? Honour the memory of the king and profane the Sabbath; or observe the
+Sabbath but leave the corpse of thy father to be devoured of dogs?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thereupon Solomon made answer:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Leave him. A living dog is better than a dead lion.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And when now, after the words of the high priest, he did recall this, his heart
+did contract from sadness and fear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having made no answer to the high priest, he went on, into the Hall of
+Judgment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As always of mornings, two of his scribes, Elihoreph and Ahiah, were already
+reclining upon mats, one on either side of the throne, holding in readiness
+their inks, reeds, and rolls of papyrus. Upon the king&rsquo;s entrance they
+arose and salaamed to the ground before him. And the king sat down upon his
+throne of ivory with ornaments of gold, leant his elbow upon the back of a
+golden lion, and, bowing his head upon his palm, commanded:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Write!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a ring upon thy hand; for love is
+strong as death; jealousy is cruel as hell: the arrows thereof are arrows of
+fire.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, having kept a silence so prolonged that the scribes held their breath in
+alarm, he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Leave me to myself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And all day, till the first shadows of evening, did the king remain alone with
+his thoughts; nor durst any enter the vast, empty Hall of Judgment.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<i>Tamam Shud</i>
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="h2H_NOTE" id="h2H_NOTE"></a>NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR</h2>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-1"></a>
+(<a href="#noteref-1">1</a>)
+The Russian version of this passage reads: &ldquo;... jealousy is cruel as the
+grave: the arrows thereof are arrows of fire.&rdquo; In this, I have been given
+to understand, it adheres more closely than does the English Bible to the
+original Hebrew.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-2"></a>
+(<a href="#noteref-2">2</a>)
+&ldquo;Which <i>is</i> the second month...&rdquo; <i>I KINGS; vi:1</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-3"></a>
+(<a href="#noteref-3">3</a>)
+&ldquo;Which <i>is</i> the eighth month...&rdquo; <i>I KINGS; vi:38</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-4"></a>
+(<a href="#noteref-4">4</a>)
+&ldquo;A word fitly spoken <i>is like</i> apples of gold in pictures of
+silver.&rdquo; <i>PROVERBS; xxv:11</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-5"></a>
+(<a href="#noteref-5">5</a>)
+Abimelech; <i>i. e.</i>, Father-King.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a href="images/flyleaf.jpg"><img src="images/ill-fly.jpg" width="250" height="360"
+alt="(flyleaf image)" /></a>
+</div>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SULAMITH: A ROMANCE OF ANTIQUITY ***</div>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #33444 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33444)
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+Project Gutenberg's Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity, by Alexandre Kuprin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity
+
+Author: Alexandre Kuprin
+
+Illustrator: Forbes-Felix
+
+Translator: B. G. Guerney
+
+Release Date: August 16, 2010 [EBook #33444]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SULAMITH: A ROMANCE OF ANTIQUITY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+_Printed in 18 point Caslon on Villon Antique Laid paper. 1500 numbered
+copies were issued for subscribers, and type distributed after printing.
+The illustrations were especially designed for this edition._
+
+
+_This is number_ [1114]
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+SULAMITH
+
+_A Romance of Antiquity_
+
+_By_ ALEXANDRE KUPRIN
+
+Author of "_Yama_" (_The Pit_), etc.
+
+_Translated from the Russian_
+
+By B. G. GUERNEY
+
+with
+
+_Eight full-page illustrations in color_
+
+_By_ FORBES-FELIX
+
+NEW YORK
+
+_Privately Printed for Subscribers_
+
+MCMXXVIII
+
+
+  Copyright by
+  NICHOLAS L. BROWN
+  _All Rights Reserved_
+
+PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+_AUTHOR'S DEDICATION:_
+
+To Ivan Alexeievich Bunin
+
+  A. Kuprin
+
+
+
+
+Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love
+_is_ strong as death; jealousy _is_ cruel as the grave: the coals
+thereof _are_ coals of fire, which _hath_ a most vehement flame.[1]
+
+_THE SONG OF SONGS_
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  Plate One       _Frontispiece_
+  Plate Two                  Page  65
+  Plate Three                Page  85
+  Plate Four                 Page 101
+  Plate Five                 Page 129
+  Plate Six                  Page 161
+  Plate Seven                Page 185
+  Plate Eight                Page 209
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE
+
+I.
+
+
+King Solomon had not yet attained middle age--forty-five; yet the fame
+of his wisdom and comeliness, of the grandeur of his life and the pomp
+of his court, had spread far beyond the limits of Palestine. In Assyria
+and Phoenicia; in Lower and Upper �gypt; from ancient Tabriz to Yemen
+and from Ismar unto Persepolis; on the coast of the Black Sea and upon
+the islands of the Mediterranean,--all uttered his name in wonder, for
+there was none among the kings like unto him in all his days.
+
+In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were
+come out of �gypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in
+the month of Zif,[2] did the king undertake the erection of the great
+temple of the Lord in Mount Moriah, and the building of his palace in
+Jerusalem. Fourscore thousand stonesquarers and threescore and ten
+thousand that bare burthens wrought without cease in the mountains, and
+in the outskirts of the city; while ten thousand hewers that cut timber,
+out of a number of eight and thirty thousand, were sent each month, by
+courses, to Lebanon, where they spent a month in labour so arduous that
+they rested for two months thereafter. Thousands of men tied the cut
+trees into flotes, and hundreds of seamen brought them by sea to Jaffa,
+where they were fashioned by Tyrians, skilled to work at turning and
+carpentry. Only at the rearing of the pyramids of Khephren, Khufu, and
+Mencheres, at Ghizeh, had such an infinite multitude of labourers been
+used.
+
+Three thousand and six hundred officers oversaw the works; while
+Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over the officers,--a cruel man and an
+active, concerning whom had sprung up a rumour that he never slept,
+devoured by the fire of an internal, incurable disease. As for the
+plans of the palace and the temple; the drawings of the columns, the
+fore-court, and the brasen sea; the designs for the windows; the
+ornaments of the walls and the thrones,--they had all been created by
+the master builder Hiram-Abiah of Sidon, the son of a worker in brass
+of the tribe of Naphtali.
+
+After seven years, in the month of Bul,[3] the temple of the Lord was
+completed; and after thirteen years, the palace of the king also. For
+cedar logs out of Lebanon, for cypress and olive boards, for almug,
+shittim, and tarshish woods, for great stones, costly stones, and hewed
+and polished stones; for purple, scarlet, and for byssin broidered in
+gold; for stuffs of blue wool; for ivory and red-dyed rams' skins; for
+iron, onyx, and the vast quantity of marble; for precious stones; for
+the chains, the wreaths, the cords, the tongs, the nets, the lavers,
+and the flowers and the lamps and the candlesticks,--all, all of gold;
+for the hinges of gold for the doors, and the nails of gold, weighing
+sixty shekels each; for the basons and platters of beaten gold; for
+ornaments,--graven and in mosaic; for the images of lions, cherubim,
+oxen, palms and pineapples, both hewn in stone and molten,--for all
+these did Solomon give Hiram, King of Tyre, who bore the same name as
+the master builder, twenty cities and hamlets in the land of Galilee,
+and Hiram found the gift insignificant. With such splendour had been
+built the temple of the Lord, and the palace of Solomon, and the little
+palace at Millo for the king's wife, the beautiful Queen Astis, daughter
+to Shishak, Pharaoh of �gypt; while the redwood which later went for the
+balustrades and stairs of the galleries, for the musical instruments and
+for the bindings of the sacred books, had been brought as a gift to
+Solomon by the Queen of Sheba, the wise and beautiful Balkis, together
+with such a quantity of aromatic incense, sweet smelling oils, and
+precious perfumes, as had never been seen before in the land of Israel.
+
+With each year did the riches of the king increase. Thrice a year
+did his ships return to harbour: the Tarshish, that sailed the
+Mediterranean, and the Hiram, that sailed the Black Sea. They brought
+out of Africa ivory and apes and peacocks and antelopes; richly adorned
+chariots out of �gypt; live tigers and lions, as well as animal pelts
+and furs, out of Mesopotamia; snow-white steeds out of Cuth; gold dust
+out of Parvaam that came to six hundred and threescore talents in one
+year; redwood, ebony and sandalwood out of the land of Ophir; gay rugs
+of Asshur and Calah, of marvelous designs,--the friendly gifts of King
+Tiglath-Pileser; artistic mosaic out of Nineveh, Nimroud, and Sargon;
+wondrous figured stuffs out of Khatuar; goblets of beaten gold out
+of Tyre; stained glass out of Sidon; and out of Punt, which is near
+Bab-el-Medebu, those rare perfumes,--nard, aloes, calamus, cinnamon,
+saffron, amber, musk, stacte, galbanum, Smyrna myrrh, and
+frankincense,--for the possession of which the �gyptian pharaohs had
+more than once embarked upon bloody wars.
+
+As for silver, it was accounted of as common stone in the days of
+Solomon, and redwood was of no more value than the common sycamores that
+grow in the low plains in abundance.
+
+Pools of stone, lined with porphyry, and marble cisterns and cool
+fountains did the king build, commanding the water to be conveyed from
+mountain springs that plunged down into the Kidron's torrent; while
+around the palace he planted gardens and groves, and cultivated a
+vineyard in Baal-hamon.
+
+And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for mules and for the horses for
+his chariots, and twelve thousand for his cavalry; barley also and straw
+for the horses were brought daily from the provinces. Thirty measures of
+fine flour, and threescore measures of other meal; an hundred baths of
+different wines; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and
+three hundred sheep, not counting harts and roebucks, and fallowdeer,
+and fatted fowl,--all this, passing through the hands of twelve officers,
+went daily for the table of Solomon, as well as for his court, his
+retinue, and his guard. Threescore warriors, out of a number of five
+hundred of the most stalwart and most valiant in all his army, held
+watch by turns in the inner chambers of the palace. Five hundred
+bucklers, covered with plates of gold, did the king command to be made
+for his bodyguards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO
+
+II.
+
+
+Whatsoever the eyes of the king might desire, he kept not from them; and
+withheld not his heart from any joy. Seven hundred wives had the king,
+and three hundred concubines, without counting slaves and dancers. And
+all of them did Solomon charm with his love, for God had endowed him
+with such an inexhaustible strength of passion as was not given to
+ordinary men.
+
+He loved the white-faced, black-eyed, red-lipped Hittites for their
+vivid but momentary beauty, that bursts into blossom just as early and
+enchantingly, and fades just as rapidly as the flower of the narcissus;
+the swarthy, tall, vehement Philistines, with wiry, curly locks, who wore
+golden, tinkling armlets upon their wrists, golden hoops upon their
+shoulders, and broad anklets, joined by a thin little chain, upon both
+ankles; gentle, diminutive, lithe Ammorites formed without a blemish,
+whose faithfulness and submissiveness in love had passed into a proverb;
+women out of Assyria, who put their eyes in painting to make them seem
+more elongated, and who ate out with acid blue stars upon their
+foreheads and cheeks; well-schooled, gay and witty daughters of Sidon,
+who knew well how to sing and dance, as well as to play upon harps,
+lutes and flutes, to the accompaniment of tabours; xanthochro�us women
+of �gypt, indefatigable in love and insane in jealousy; voluputous
+Babylonians, whose entire body underneath their raiment was as smooth
+as marble, because they eradicated the hair upon it with a special
+paste; virgins of Baktria, who stained their nails and hair a fiery-red
+colour, and wore wide, loose trowsers; silent, bashful Moabites, whose
+magnificent breasts were cool on the sultriest nights of summer;
+care-free and profligate Ammonites, with fiery hair, and flesh of such
+whiteness that it glowed in the dark; frail, blue-eyed women with flaxen
+hair, and skin of a delicate fragrance, who were brought from the north,
+through Baalbec, and whose tongue was incomprehensible to all the
+dwellers in Palestine. The king loved many daughters of Jud�a and Israel
+besides.
+
+Also shared he his couch with Balkis-M�kkedah, the Queen of Sheba, who
+had surpassed all women on earth in beauty, wisdom, riches, and her
+diversified art in passion; and with Abishag the Shunamite, who had
+warmed the old age of David,--a kindly, quiet beauty, for whose sake
+Solomon had put to death his elder brother Adonijah, at the hands of
+Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada.
+
+And also with the poor maiden of the vineyard, by the name of Sulamith,
+whom alone among all women the king had loved with all his heart.
+
+Solomon made himself a litter of the best cedar wood, with pillars of
+silver, with arm-rests of gold in the form of recumbent lions, with a
+covering of purple Tyrian stuff, while the entire inner side of the
+covering was ornamented with gold embroidery and with precious
+stones,--the love-gifts of the women and virgins of Jerusalem. And when
+well-built black slaves bore Solomon among his people on grand festal
+days, truly was the king glorious, like the lilies that are in the
+Valley of Sharon!
+
+Pale was his face; his lips like unto a vivid thread of scarlet; his
+wavy locks a bluish black, and in them--the adornment of wisdom--gleamed
+gray hairs, like to the silver threads of mountain streams, falling down
+from the dark crags of Hermon; gray hairs glistened in his dark beard
+also, curled, after the custom of the kings of Assyria, in regular,
+small rows.
+
+As for the eyes of the king, they were dark, like the darkest agate, like
+the heavens on a moonless night in summer; while his eye-lashes, that
+spread upward and downward like arrows, resembled dark rays around dark
+stars. And there was no man in all the universe who could bear the gaze
+of Solomon without casting down his eyes. And the lightnings of wrath in
+the eyes of the king would prostrate people to the earth.
+
+But there were moments of heartfelt merriment, when the king would grow
+intoxicated with love, or wine, or the delight of power, or when he
+rejoiced over words of wisdom or beauty, fitly spoken. Then his lashes
+would be softly half-lowered, casting blue shadows upon his radiant
+face, and in the king's eyes would kindle the warm flames of a kindly,
+tender laughter, just like the play of black diamonds; and whosoever
+might behold this smile was ready to yield up body and soul for it--so
+indescribably beautiful was it. The mere name of King Solomon, uttered
+aloud, stirred the hearts of women, like the fragrance of spilt myrrh
+that recalls nights of love.
+
+The king's hands were soft, white, warm and beautiful, like a woman's;
+but they held such an excess of life energy that, by the laying on
+of his palms upon the temples of the sick, the king cured headaches,
+convulsions, black melancholy, and demoniacal possession. Upon the index
+finger of his left hand the king wore a gem of blood-red asteria that
+emitted six pearl-coloured rays. Many centuries did this ring number,
+and upon the reverse side of its stone was graven an inscription, in the
+tongue of an ancient, vanished people: "All things pass away."
+
+And so great was the sway of Solomon's soul that even beasts submitted
+to it; lions and tigers crawled at the feet of the king, rubbing their
+muzzles against his knees, and licking his hands with their rough
+tongues, whenever he entered their quarters. And he, whose heart found
+joy in the dazzling play of precious stones, in the fragrance of
+sweet-smelling �gyptian resins, in the soft touch of light stuffs, in
+sweet music, in the exquisite taste of red, sparkling wine playing in
+a chased Ninuanian chalice,--he also loved to stroke the coarse manes
+of lions, the velvety backs of black panthers, and the tender paws
+of young, speckled leopards; loved to hear the roar of wild beasts, to
+see their powerful and superb movements, and to feel the hot feral odour
+of their breath.
+
+Thus did Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the historian of his days,
+depict King Solomon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE
+
+III.
+
+
+"Because thou hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked
+riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast
+asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold, I have done
+according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding
+heart: so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee
+shall any arise like unto thee."
+
+Thus spake God unto Solomon, and through His word did the king come to
+know the structure of the universe and the working of the elements; to
+fathom the beginning, end, and midst of all ages; to penetrate the
+mystery of the eternal, wave-like and rotating recurrence of events;
+from the astronomers of Byblos, Acre, Sargon, Borsippa and Nineveh did
+he learn to watch the yearly orbits of the stars and the changes in
+their positions. He knew also the nature of all animals and divined the
+feelings of beasts; he understood the source and direction of winds, the
+different properties of plants, and the potency of healing herbs.
+
+The designs in the heart of man are deep waters, but even them could
+the king fathom. In the words and voice, in the eyes, in the motions
+of the hands, he read the innermost mysteries of souls as plainly as
+the characters of an open book. And because of that, from all ends of
+Palestine, there came to him a vast multitude of people, imploring
+judgment, advice, help, the settlement of some dispute, as well as the
+solving of incomprehensible portents and dreams. And men would marvel
+at the profundity and finesse of Solomon's answers.
+
+Three thousand proverbs did Solomon compose, and his songs were a
+thousand and five. He dictated them to two skilled and rapid scribes:
+Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, and afterwards collated
+what both had written. Always did he clothe his thoughts in choice
+expressions, for a word fitly spoken is like an apple of gold in a bowl
+of translucent sardonyx;[4] and also for that the words of the wise are
+as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which
+are given from one Shepherd. "A word is a spark in the motion of the
+heart,"--thus saith the king. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom
+of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of the
+�gyptians. For he was above all men in wisdom; wiser than Ethan the
+Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dardra, the sons of Mahol. But he
+was already beginning to weary of the beauty of ordinary human wisdom,
+and no longer did it have its former value in his eyes. With a restless
+and searching mind did he thirst after that higher wisdom, which the
+Lord possessed in the beginning of His way, before His works of old, set
+up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was; that
+wisdom which was His great artificer when He set a compass upon the
+face of the deep. And Solomon found it not.
+
+The king mastered the teachings of the magi of Chald�a and Nineveh; the
+science of the astrologers of Abydos, Sais, and Memphis; the secrets of
+the Assyrian sorcerers, mystagogues, and epopts, and of the fatidic� of
+Baktria and Persepolis; and he had become convinced that their knowledge
+was but the knowledge of mortals.
+
+Also did he seek for wisdom in the occult rites of ancient pagan faiths,
+and for that reason visited idol-temples and offered up oblations to the
+mighty Baal-Lebanon, who was honoured under the name of Melkart,--the
+god of creation and destruction, the patron of navigation in Tyre and
+Sidon,--called Ammon in the Oasis of Sibakh, where his idol would nod his
+head to indicate the routes to festal processions; called Bel by the
+Chald�ans, and Moloch by the Canaanites. He also bowed down before his
+spouse,--the dread and passionate Astarte, who bore in other temples the
+names of Ishtar, Isaar, Baaltis, Ashera, Istar-Belet, and Atargatis.
+He libated holy oil and burnt incense before Isis and Osiris of
+�gypt,--sister and brother, joined in wedlock while still in the womb
+of their mother and there conceiving the god Horus; and before Derketo,
+the pisciform Tyrian goddess; and before Anubis of the dog's head, the
+god of embalming; and before the Babylonian Cannes; and Dagon of the
+Philistines; and the Assyrian Abdenago; and Utsabu, the Ninevehian idol;
+and the sombre Kybele; and Bel Marduk, the patron of Babylon,--the god of
+the planet Jupiter; and the Chald�an Or,--the god of eternal fire; and
+the mystic Omorca, the first mother of the gods, whom Bel had cloven in
+two parts, creating heaven and earth out of them, and out of her head,
+men; and the king bowed down also before the goddess Ana�tis, in whose
+honour the virgins of Phoenicia, Lydia, Armenia and Persia gave up
+their bodies to passers-by, as a sacred offering, at the threshold of
+temples.
+
+But the king found in the pagan rites nought save drunkenness, night
+orgies, lechery, incest, and lusts contrary to nature; and in their
+dogmas he perceived vain discourse and deception. But he forbade none
+of his subjects to offer up sacrifices to a favourite god, and he
+even built upon the Mount of Olives an idol-temple for Chemosh, the
+abomination of Moab, at the supplication of the beautiful, pensive
+Ellaan, the Moabite, the then favorite wife of the king. One thing
+only could not Solomon abide and pursued with death,--the bringing
+of children in sacrifice.
+
+And he saw in his seekings that that which befalleth the sons of men
+befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as one dieth, so
+dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no
+pre�minence above a beast. And the king understood, that in much wisdom
+is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. He
+also learned that even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end
+of mirth is heaviness. And so one morning he dictated to Elihoreph and
+Ahiah:
+
+"'All is vanity of vanities and vexation of spirits'--thus saith
+Ecclesiastes."
+
+But at that time the king did not yet know that God would soon send him
+a love so tender and ardent, so devoted and beautiful,--more precious in
+itself than riches, fame, and wisdom; more precious than life itself,
+for it values not even life, nor hath fear of death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR
+
+IV.
+
+
+The king had a vineyard at Baal-hamon, upon the southern slope of
+Bath-El-Khav, to the south of the idol-temple of Moloch; thither
+did the king love to withdraw in the hours of his great meditations.
+Pomegranate,--olive,--and wild apple-trees, interspersed with cedars and
+cypresses, bordered it on three sides upon the mountain, while on the
+fourth it was fenced off from the road by a high stone wall. And other
+vineyards, lying about, also belonged to Solomon; he let them out unto
+keepers, each one for a thousand pieces of silver.
+
+Only with the dawn came to an end in the palace the magnificent feast
+which the King of Israel was giving in honour of the emissaries of the
+King of Assyria, the good Tiglath-Pileser. Despite his fatigue, Solomon
+could not fall asleep this morn. Neither wine nor hippocras had befogged
+the stout heads of the Assyrians, nor loosened their canny tongues. But
+the penetrating mind of the wise king had already forestalled their
+plans, and was, in its turn, already weaving a fine political net,
+wherein he would enmesh these proud men with supercilious eyes and of
+flattering speech. Solomon would be able to preserve the necessary amity
+with the potentate of Assyria, yet at the same time, for the sake of
+his eternal friendship with Hiram of Tyre, would save from pillage the
+latter's kingdom, which, with its countless riches, hid in subterranean
+vaults underneath narrow streets, had for a long time drawn the covetous
+gazes of oriental sovereigns.
+
+And so at dawn Solomon had commanded himself to be borne to Mount
+Bath-El-Khav; had left the litter far down the road, and is now seated
+alone upon a simple wooden bench, above the vineyard, under the shade of
+the trees, still hiding in their branches the dewy chill of night. The
+king has on a simple white mantle, fastened at the right shoulder and
+at the left side by two �gyptian clasps of green gold, in the shape of
+curled crocodiles,--the symbol of the god Sebekh. The hands of the king
+lie motionless upon his knees, while his eyes, overshadowed by deep
+thought, unwinking, are directed toward the east, in the direction of
+the Dead Sea,--there, where from the rounded summit of Anaze the sun is
+rising in the flame of dawn.
+
+The morning wind is blowing from the east and spreads the fragrance of
+the grape in blossom,--a delicate fragrance, like that of mignonette and
+mulled wine. The dark cypresses sway their slender tops pompously and
+pour out their resinous breath. The silvery-green leaves of the olives
+hurriedly converse among themselves.
+
+But now Solomon arises and hearkens carefully. An endearing feminine
+voice, clear and pure as this dewy morn, is singing somewhere not far
+off, beyond the trees. The simple and tender motive runs on and on, of
+its own accord, like a ringing rill in the mountains, repeating the five
+or six notes, always the same. And its unpretentious, exquisite charm
+calls forth a smile in the eyes of the touched king.
+
+Nearer and nearer sounds the voice. Now it is already here, alongside,
+behind the spreading cedars, behind the dark verdure of the junipers.
+Then the king cautiously parts the branches with his hands, quietly
+makes his way between the prickly branches, and comes out upon an open
+place.
+
+Before him, beyond the low wall, rudely built of great yellow stones,
+the vineyard spreads upward. A girl, in a light garment of blue, walks
+between the rows of vines, bending down over something below, and again
+straightening up, and she is singing. Her ruddy hair flames in the sun:
+
+  The breath of the day is coolness,
+  And the shadows flee away.
+  Turn, my beloved,
+  And be thou like a roe or a young hart,
+  Within the clefts of the rocks....
+
+Thus sings she, tying up the grapevines, and slowly descends, nearer and
+nearer the stone wall behind which the king is standing. She is alone,
+none sees nor hears her; the scent of the grapes in blossom, the joyous
+freshness of the morning, and the warm blood in her heart are like
+wine unto her, and now the words of the na�ve little song are born
+spontaneously upon her lips and are carried away by the wind, to be
+forgotten forever:
+
+  Take us the foxes,
+  The little foxes
+  That spoil the vines:
+  For our vines have tender grapes.
+
+In this manner does she reach the very wall, and, without noticing the
+king, turns about and walks on, climbing the hill lightly, along the
+neighbouring row of vines. Now her song sounds less distinctly:
+
+  Make haste, my beloved,
+  And be thou like to a roe or a young hart
+  Upon the mountains of spices.
+
+But suddenly she grows silent and bends so low to the ground that she
+can not be seen behind the vines.
+
+Then Solomon utters in a voice that caresses the ear:
+
+"Maiden, show me thy face; let me hear thy voice anew."
+
+She straightens up quickly and turns her face to the king. A strong wind
+arises at this second and flutters the light garment upon her, suddenly
+making it cling tightly around her body and between her legs. And the
+king, for an instant, until she turns her back to the wind, sees all of
+her beneath the raiment, as though naked,--tall and graceful, in the
+vigorous bloom of thirteen years; sees her little, round, firm breasts
+and the elevations of her nipples, from which the cloth spreads out in
+rays; and the virginal abdomen, round as a bason; and the deep line that
+divides her legs from the bottom to the top, and there parts in two,
+toward the rounded hips.
+
+"For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance comely," says Solomon.
+
+She draws nearer and gazes upon the king with trembling and with
+rapture. Her swarthy and vivid face is inexpressibly beautiful. Her
+heavy, thick, dark-red hair, into which she has stuck two flowers of the
+scarlet poppy, covers her shoulders in countless resilient ringlets and
+spreads over her back, and, transpierced by the rays of the sun, glows
+in flame, like aureate purple. A necklace which she had made herself out
+of some red, dried berries, na�vely winds twice about her long, dark,
+slender neck.
+
+"I did not notice thee!" she says gently, and her voice sounds like the
+song of a flute. "Whence didst thou come?"
+
+"Thou sangst so well, maiden!"
+
+She bashfully casts down her eyes and turns red, but beneath her long
+lashes and in the corners of her lips trembles a secret smile.
+
+"Thou sangst of thy dear. He is as light as a roe, as a young hart upon
+the mountains. For he is very fair, thy dear,--is not that the truth,
+maiden?"
+
+Her laughter is ringing and musical, as though silver were falling upon
+a golden platter.
+
+"I have no dear. It is but a song. I have yet had no dear...."
+
+For a minute they are silent, and intently, without smiling, gaze at
+each other.... Birds loudly call one another among the trees. The
+maiden's bosom quickly rises and falls under the worn linen.
+
+"I do believe thee, beautiful one. Thou art so fair...."
+
+"Thou dost mock me. Behold, how black I am...."
+
+She lifts up her small, dark arms, and the broad sleeves lightly slide
+down towards her shoulders, baring her elbows, that have such a slender
+and rounded outline.
+
+And she says plaintively:
+
+"My brethren were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the
+vineyard,--and now behold how the sun hath scorched me."
+
+"O, nay, the sun hath made thee still more fair, thou fairest among
+women. Lo, thou hast smiled,--and thy teeth are like white twin-lambs,
+which come up from the washing, and none among them hath a blemish. Thy
+cheeks are like the halves of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy lips
+are scarlet,--yea, pleasant to gaze upon. As for thy hair ... Dost know
+what thy hair is like? Hast thou ever beheld a flock of sheep come down
+from Mount Gilead at eve? It covers all the mountain, from summit to
+foot, and from the light of the evening glow and from the dust it seems
+even as ruddy and as wavy as thy locks. Thine eyes are as deep as the
+two fishponds in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. O, how fair art
+thou! Thy neck is straight and graceful, like the tower of David!..."
+
+"Like the tower of David!" she repeats in rapture.
+
+"Yea, yea, thou fairest among women. A thousand bucklers hang upon the
+tower of David, all shields of vanquished chieftains. Lo, I hang my
+shield also upon thy tower...."
+
+"O, speak on, speak on...."
+
+"And when thou didst turn around in answer to my call, and the wind
+arose, I did see beneath thy raiment thy two nipples and methought:
+Here be two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. This
+thy stature was like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of
+grapes."
+
+The girl cries out faintly, hides her face with her palms, and her bosom
+with her elbows, and blushes so that even her ears and neck turn
+crimson.
+
+"And I saw thy hips. They are shapely, like a precious vase, the work of
+the hands of a cunning workman. Take away thy hands, therefore, maiden.
+Show me thy face."
+
+She submissively let her hands drop. A deep, golden radiance glows from
+the eyes of Solomon and casts a spell over her, makes her head dizzy,
+and in a sweet, warm tremour streams over the skin of her body.
+
+"Tell me, who art thou?" she says slowly, in perplexity. "Never have I
+seen any like to thee."
+
+"I am a shepherd, my beauty. I graze my splendid flocks of white lambs
+upon the mountains, where the green grass is pied with narcissi. Wilt
+thou not come with me, unto my pasture?"
+
+But she quietly shakes her head:
+
+"Canst thou think that I will believe this? Thy face has not grown rough
+from the wind, nor is it scorched by the sun, and thy hands are white.
+Thou hast on a costly chiton, and the buckle upon it is worth the yearly
+rental that my brothers bring for our vineyard to Adoniram, the king's
+tax-gatherer. Thou hast come from yonder, from beyond the wall. Thou
+art, surely, one of the men near to the king? Meseems I saw thee once
+upon the day of a great festival; I even remember running after thy
+chariot."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Thou hast guessed it, maiden. It is hard to be hid from thee. And
+verily, why shouldst thou be a wanderer nigh the flocks of the
+shepherds? Yea, I am one of the king's retinue. I am the chief cook of
+the king. And thou didst see me when I rode in the chariot of Ammi-nadib
+on the gala-day of Passover. But why dost thou stand distant from me?
+Draw nearer, my sister! Sit down here upon the stones of the wall and
+tell me something of thyself. Tell me thy name."
+
+"Sulamith," she says.
+
+"Then, Sulamith, why have thy brothers grown wroth with thee?"
+
+"I am ashamed to speak of it. They received moneys from the sale of their
+wine, and sent me to the city to buy bread and goat-cheese. But I ..."
+
+"And thou didst lose the money?"
+
+"Nay, still worse...."
+
+She bends her head low and whispers:
+
+"Besides bread and cheese I bought a little of attar of roses,--oh, so
+little!--from the �gyptians in the old city."
+
+"And thou didst keep this from thy brethren?"
+
+"Yea...."
+
+And she utters in a barely audible voice:
+
+"Attar of roses hath so goodly a smell!"
+
+The king caressingly strokes her little rough hand.
+
+"Surely, thou must be lonesome, all alone in thy vineyard?"
+
+"Nay, I work, I sing.... At noon food is brought me, and at evening one
+of my brothers relieves me. At times I dig for the roots of the
+mandragora, that look like little mannikins.... The Chald�an merchants
+buy them from us. It is said they make a sleeping potion out of them....
+Tell me, is it true that the berries of the mandragora help in love?"
+
+"Nay, Sulamith, only love can help in love. Tell me, hast thou a father
+or a mother?"
+
+"Only a mother. My father died two years ago. My brethren are all older
+than I,--they are from the first marriage; only my sister and I have
+sprung from the second."
+
+"Is thy sister as comely as thou?"
+
+"She is little. She is but nine."
+
+The king laughs quietly, embraces Sulamith, draws her to him, and
+whispers into her ear:
+
+"Therefore, she hath no such breast as thine? A breast as proud, as
+warm?..."
+
+She is silent, burning with shame and happiness. Her eyes glow and grow
+dim, with the mist of a happy smile over them. The king feels the
+riotous beating of her heart within his hand.
+
+"The warmth of thy garments hath a goodlier smell than myrrh, than
+nard," he is saying, avidly touching her ear with his lips. "And when
+thou breathest, the smell of thy nostrils is like that of apples unto
+me. My sister, my beloved, thou hast ravished my heart with one glance
+of thy eyes, with one chain of thy neck."
+
+"O, gaze not upon me!" implores Sulamith. "Thine eyes stir me."
+
+But of her own accord she bends backward and lays her head upon
+Solomon's breast. Her lips glow over the gleaming teeth, her eyelids
+tremble with intense desire. Solomon's lips cling greedily to her
+enticing mouth. He feels the flame of her lips and the slipperiness of
+her teeth, and the sweet moistness of her tongue; and he is all consumed
+of an unbearable desire, such as he has never yet known in his life.
+
+Thus passes one minute; then two.
+
+"What dost thou with me!" says Sulamith faintly, closing her eyes.
+
+But Solomon passionately whispers near her very mouth:
+
+"Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under
+thy tongue.... O, come away with me, speedily. Here, behind the wall, it
+is dark and cool. None shall see us. The green is soft here underneath
+the cedars."
+
+"Nay, nay, leave me. I desire it not, I can not."
+
+"Sulamith ... thou dost desire it, thou dost desire it.... Come to me,
+my sister, my beloved!"
+
+Some one's steps resound below, upon the highway, below the wall of the
+vineyard, but Solomon detains the frightened girl by her hand.
+
+"Tell me, quickly,--where dwellest thou? This night shall I come to thee,"
+he is hurriedly saying.
+
+"Nay, nay, nay ... I shall not tell thee this. Let me go. I shall not
+tell thee."
+
+"I shall not let thee go, Sulamith, till thou dost tell.... My desire is
+unto thee!"
+
+"It is well, I shall tell thee.... But first promise not to come this
+night.... Also, come thou not the following night ... nor the night
+after that ... My king! I charge thee by the roes and the hinds of the
+field, that thou stir not up thy beloved till she please!"
+
+"Yea, I pledge thee this.... Where is thy dwelling, Sulamith?"
+
+"If on the way to the city thou dost pass over the Kidron, upon the
+bridge above Siloam, thou shalt see our dwelling nigh the spring.
+There are no other dwellings there."
+
+"And which is thy window there, Sulamith?"
+
+"Why shouldst thou know this, beloved? O, gaze not thus upon me. Thy
+gaze casts a spell over me.... Do not kiss me.... Beloved, kiss me
+again...."
+
+"But which is thy window, my only one?"
+
+"The window on the south side. Ah, I must not tell thee this.... A
+small, high window with a lattice."
+
+"And doth the lattice open from within?"
+
+"Nay, it is a fixed window. But around the corner is a door. It leads
+directly into the room where I sleep with my sister. But thou hast
+promised me!... My sister sleeps lightly. O, how fair art thou, my
+beloved! Truly, hast thou not promised?"
+
+Solomon quietly smoothes her hair and cheeks.
+
+"I shall come to thee this night," he says insistently. "At midnight I
+shall come. Thus, thus shall it be. I desire it."
+
+"Beloved!"
+
+"Nay. Thou shalt await me. But have no fear, and put thy trust in me. I
+shall cause thee no grief. I shall give thee such joy compared with
+which all things upon earth are without significance. Now farewell. I
+hear them coming after me."
+
+"Farewell, my beloved ... O, nay, go not yet! Tell me thy name,--I know
+it not."
+
+For a moment, as though undecided, he lowers his lashes, but immediately
+raises them again.
+
+"The King and I have the same name. I am called Solomon. Farewell. I
+love thee."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE
+
+V.
+
+
+Radiant and joyous was Solomon upon this day, as he sat upon his throne
+in the hall of the House at Lebanon and meted out justice to the people
+who came before him.
+
+Forty columns, four in a row, supported the ceiling of the Hall of
+Judgment, and they were all faced with cedar and terminated in capitals
+in the form of lilies; the floor consisted of cypress boards, all of
+a piece; nor was the stone upon the walls to be seen anywhere for the
+cedar finish, ornamented with gold carving, shewing palms, pineapples,
+and cherubim. In the depth of the hall, with its triple-tiered windows,
+six steps led up to the elevation of the throne, and upon each step stood
+two bronze lions, one on each side. The throne itself was of ivory with
+gold incrustation and with elbow-rests of gold, in the form of recumbent
+lions. The high back of the throne was surmounted by a golden disc.
+Curtains of violet and purple stuffs hung from the ceiling down to the
+floor at the entrance to the hall, dividing off the entry, where between
+the columns thronged the plaintiffs, supplicants, and witnesses, as well
+as the accused and the criminals under a strong guard.
+
+The king had on a red chiton, while upon his head was a simple, narrow
+crown of sixty beryls, set in gold. At his right hand stood the throne
+for his mother, Bathsheba; but of late, owing to her declining years,
+she rarely showed herself in the city.
+
+The Assyrian guests, with austere, black-bearded faces, were seated
+along the walls upon benches of jasper; they had on garments of a light
+olive colour, broidered at the edges with designs of red and white.
+While still at home, in their native Assyria, they had heard so much
+of the justice of Solomon that they tried to let no single word of
+his slip by, in order to tell later of the judgment of the King of the
+Israelites. Among them sat the commanders of Solomon's armies, his
+ministers, the governors of his provinces, and his courtiers. Here was
+Benaiah, at one time executioner to the king; the slayer of Joab,
+Adonijah, and Shimei,--a short, corpulent old man, with a sparse,
+long, gray beard; his faded, bluish eyes, rimmed by red lids that seemed
+turned inside out, had a look of senile dullness; his mouth was open
+and moist, while his fleshy, red lower lip drooped down impotently, and
+was slightly trembling. Here also were Azariah, the son of Nathan,--a
+jaundiced, tall man, with a lean, sickly face and dark rings under his
+eyes; and the good-natured, absent-minded Jehoshaphat, historiographer;
+and Ahishar, who was over the court of Solomon; and Zabud, who bore the
+high title of the King's Friend; and Ben-Abinadab, which had Taphath,
+the eldest daughter of Solomon, to wife; and Ben-Geber, the officer over
+the region of Argob, which is in Bashan: to him pertained threescore
+cities, surrounded by walls, with gates of brasen bars; and Baanah, the
+son of Hushai, at one time famed for his skill in casting a spear to the
+distance of thirty parasangs; and many others. Sixty warriors, their
+helmets and shields gleaming, stood in a rank to the left of the throne
+and the right; their head officer this day was the handsome Eliab, of
+the black locks, son of Ahilud.
+
+The first to come before Solomon with his complaint was one Achior, a
+lapidary by trade. Working in Bel of Phoenicia he had found a precious
+stone, had cut and polished it, and had asked his friend Zachariah, who
+was setting out for Jerusalem, to give the stone to his--Achior's--wife.
+After some time Achior also returned home. The first thing that he asked
+about upon beholding his wife was the stone. But she was very much amazed
+at her husband's question, and repeated under oath that she had received
+no stone of any sort. Whereupon Achior set out for an explanation to his
+friend Zachariah, but he asseverated, and also to an oath, that he had,
+immediately upon arrival, given the stone over as instructed. He even
+brought witnesses, who affirmed having seen Zachariah give the stone in
+their presence to the wife of Achior.
+
+And now all four,--Achior, Zachariah, and the two witnesses,--were
+standing before the throne of the King of Israel.
+
+Solomon gazed into the eyes of each one in turn and said to the guard:
+
+"Lead each one to a separate chamber, and lock up each one apart."
+
+And when this was done, he ordered four pieces of unbaked clay to be
+brought.
+
+"Let each one of them," willed the king, "fashion out of clay that form
+which the stone had."
+
+After some time the moulds were ready. But one of the witnesses had made
+his mould in the shape of a horse's head, as precious stones were
+usually fashioned; the other, in the shape of a sheep's head; only two
+of them--Achior and Zachariah--had their moulds alike, resembling in
+form a woman's breast.
+
+And the king spake:
+
+"Now it is evident even to one blind that the witnesses are bribed by
+Zachariah. And so, let Zachariah return the stone to Achior, and together
+with it pay him thirty shekels, of this city, of law costs, and give ten
+shekels to the priests for the temple. As for the self-revealed witnesses,
+let them pay into the treasury five shekels each for bearing false
+witness."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Three brothers then drew nigh to Solomon's throne; they were at court
+about an inheritance. Their father had told them before his death: "That
+ye may not quarrel at division, I myself shall apportion ye in justice.
+When I die, go beyond the knoll that is in the midst of the grove behind
+the house, and dig therein. There shall ye find a box with three
+divisions: know, that the topmost is for the eldest brother; the middle
+one for the second; the lowest for the youngest." And when, after his
+death, they had gone, and had done as he had willed, they had found that
+the topmost division was filled to the top with golden coins, whereas in
+the middle one were lying only common bones, and in the lowest naught
+but pieces of wood. And so among the younger brothers arose envy for the
+eldest, and enmity; and in the end their life had become so unbearable
+that they decided to turn to the king for counsel and judgment. And even
+here, standing before the throne, they could not refrain from mutual
+recriminations and affronts.
+
+The king shook his head, heard them out, and spake:
+
+"Cease quarreling; a stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's
+wrath is heavier than them both. Your father was, it is plain to see, a
+wise man and a just, and he has expressed his wishes in his testament
+just as clearly as though it had been consummated before an hundred
+witnesses. Is it possible that ye have not surmised at once, ye sorry
+brawlers, that to the eldest brother he left all his moneys; to the
+second, all his cattle and all his slaves; while to the youngest,--his
+house and plow-land? Depart, therefore, in peace; and be no longer
+enemies among yourselves."
+
+And the three brothers--but recently enemies--with beaming faces bowed
+to the king's feet and walked out of the Hall of Judgment arm in arm.
+
+And the king decided also another suit at inheritance, begun three days
+ago. A certain man, dying, had said that he was leaving all his goods
+to the worthier of his two sons. But since neither one of them would
+consent to call himself the worse one, they had therefore turned to the
+king.
+
+Solomon questioned them as to their pursuits, and, having heard them
+answer that they were both hunters with the bow, he spake:
+
+"Return home. I shall order the corpse of your father to be stood up
+against a tree. We shall first see which one of you shall hit his breast
+more truly with an arrow, and then decide your suit."
+
+Now both brothers had returned in the custody of a man sent by the king
+for their surveillance. He it was whom the king questioned about the
+contest.
+
+"I have fulfilled all that thou hast commanded," said his man. "I stood
+the corpse of the old man against a tree, and gave each brother his bow
+and arrows. The elder was the first to shoot. At a distance of an
+hundred and twenty ells he hit just the place where, in a living man,
+the heart beats."
+
+"A splendid shot," said Solomon. "And the younger?"
+
+"The younger ... Forgive me, O King,--I could not insist upon thy
+command being fulfilled exactly.... The younger did make his string
+taut, but suddenly lowered the bow to his feet, turned around, and said,
+weeping: 'Nay, this I can not do.... I will not shoot at the corpse of
+my father.'"
+
+"Therefore, let the estate of his father belong to him," decided the
+king. "He has proven the worthier son. As for the elder, if he desire,
+he may join the number of my bodyguards. I have need of such strong and
+rapacious men, sure of hand and true of eye, and with a heart grown over
+with wool."
+
+Next three men came before the king. Carrying on a mutual traffic in
+merchandise, they had amassed much money. And so, when the time had
+come for them to journey to Jerusalem, they had sewn up the gold in a
+leathern belt and had set out on their way. On the road they had spent
+a night in a forest, and, for safe-keeping, had buried the belt in the
+ground. But when they awoke in the morning, they found no belt in the
+place where they had put it.
+
+They all accused one another of the secret theft, and since all three
+seemed to be men of exceeding cunning, and subtile of speech, the king
+therefore said unto them:
+
+"Ere I decide your suit, hearken unto that which I shall relate to you.
+A certain fair maiden promised her beloved, who was setting out upon a
+journey, to await his return, and to yield her virginity to none save
+him. But, having gone away, he within a short while married another
+maiden, in another city, and she came to know of this. In the absence of
+her beloved, a wealthy and kind-hearted youth in her city, a friend of
+her childhood, paid court to her. Constrained by her parents she durst
+not, for shame and fear, tell him of her pact, and took him to spouse.
+But when, at the conclusion of the marriage feast, he led her to the
+bed-chamber, and would lay down with her, she began to implore him:
+'Allow me to go to the city where my former beloved dwelleth. Let him
+relieve me of my vow; then shall I return to thee, and do all thy
+desire!' And since the youth loved her exceedingly, he did agree to her
+request, allowed her to go, and she went. On the way a robber fell upon
+her, disheveled her, and was about to ravish her. But the maiden fell
+down on her knees before him, and, in tears, implored him to spare her
+virtue, telling the robber all that had befallen her, and her reason for
+travelling to a strange city. And the robber, having heard her out, was
+so astounded by her faithfulness to her word, and so touched by the
+goodness of her bridegroom, that not only did he let the girl depart in
+peace, but also returned to her the valuables he had taken. Now I ask
+you, who of all these three did best before the countenance of God,--the
+maiden, the bridegroom, or the robber?"
+
+And one of the plaintiffs said that the maiden was the most worthy of
+praise, for her steadfastness to her oath. Another marvelled at the
+great love of her bridegroom; the third, however, found the action of
+the robber the most magnanimous one.
+
+And the king said to the last:
+
+"Therefore, it is even thou who hast stolen the belt with the common
+gold, for thou art by nature covetous, and dost desire that which is not
+thine."
+
+But this man, having given his travelling staff to one of his
+companions, spake, raising his hands aloft as though for an oath:
+
+"I witness before Jehovah that the gold is not with me, but him!"
+
+The king smiled and commanded one of his warriors:
+
+"Take this man's rod and break it in half."
+
+And when the warrior had carried out Solomon's order, gold coins poured
+out upon the floor, for they had been concealed within the hollowed-out
+stick; as for the thief, he, struck by the wisdom of the king, fell down
+before his throne and confessed his misdeed.
+
+There also came into the House of Lebanon a woman, the poor widow of a
+stone-cutter, and she spake:
+
+"I cry for justice, O King! For the last two dinarii left me I bought
+flour, put it into this large earthen bowl, and started to carry it
+home. But a strong wind suddenly arose and did scatter my flour. O wise
+king, who shall bring back this my loss? I now have naught wherewith to
+feed my children."
+
+"When was this?" asked the king.
+
+"It happened this morning, at dawn."
+
+And so Solomon commanded that there be summoned to him several
+merchants, whose ships were to set out this day with merchandise for
+Phoenicia, by way of Jaffa. And when, in alarm, they appeared in the
+Hall of Judgment, the king asked them:
+
+"Did ye pray God, or the gods, for a favourable wind for your ships?"
+
+And they answered:
+
+"Yea, O King. We did so. And our offerings were pleasing to God, for He
+did send us a propitious wind."
+
+"I rejoice on your account," said Solomon. "But the same wind has
+scattered a poor woman's flour that she was carrying in a bowl. Do ye
+not deem it just, if ye have to recompense her?"
+
+And they, made glad that the king had summoned them only for this, at
+once filled the bowl by casting into it small and large silver coin. And
+when, with tears, she began to thank the king, he smiled radiantly and
+said:
+
+"Wait, this is not yet all. This morning's wind has bestowed joy upon me
+as well, which I did not expect. And therefore, to the gifts of these
+merchants, I shall add my kingly gift also."
+
+And he commanded Adoniram, the treasurer, to put on top of the money of
+the merchants enough gold coin to cover the silver entirely out of
+sight.
+
+Solomon desired to see none unhappy on this day. He distributed more
+rewards, pensions, and gifts than he sometimes did within a whole year,
+and he pardoned Ahimaaz, the governor of the land of Naphtali, against
+whom his wrath had flamed before, because of his lawless levies; and he
+commuted the faults of many who had transgressed the law, nor did he
+overlook any of the petitions of his subjects,--save one.
+
+When the king was passing out from the House at Lebanon through the
+small southern door, one in a garment of yellow leather stood up in his
+path,--a squat, broad-shouldered man, darkly-ruddy and morose of face,
+with a black, bushy beard, with a neck like a bull's, and an austere
+gaze from underneath shaggy, black eyebrows. This was the high priest
+of Moloch's temple. He uttered but one word in a supplicating voice:
+
+"King!..."
+
+In the bronze belly of his god were seven divisions: one for meal,
+another for doves, the third for sheep, the fourth for rams, the fifth
+for calves, the sixth for beeves; but the seventh, meant for living
+infants brought by their mothers, had long stood empty at the interdict
+of the king.
+
+Solomon walked in silence past the priest, but the latter stretched out
+his hands after him and exclaimed with supplication:
+
+"King! I adjure thee by thy joy!... Show me this kindness, O king, and I
+shall reveal to thee what danger threatens thy life."
+
+Solomon made no reply; and the eyes of the priest, who had clenched his
+powerful hands into fists, followed him to the exit with a ferocious
+glare.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VI.
+
+
+At nightfall Sulamith went to that spot in the old city where, in long
+rows, stretched the shops of the moneychangers, usurers, and dealers
+in sweet-smelling condiments. There she sold to a jeweller for three
+drachmas and one dinar her only valuable,--her earrings for festal days;
+of silver, in the form of rings, each with a little golden star.
+
+Then she paid a visit to a seller of perfumes. In the deep, dark,
+stone niche, in the midst of jars with gray Arabian amber, packets of
+frankincense from Lebanon, bunches of aromatic herbs, and phials with
+oils, was sitting an �gyptian, a castrate,--old, obese, wrinkled,
+immobile, all fragrant himself; his legs tucked under him, and blinking
+his lazy eyes. He carefully counted out of a Phoenician flask into a
+little clay flagon just as many drops of myrrh as there were dinarii
+among all the moneys of Sulamith; and when he had finished this task he
+said, gathering up with the stopper the remnant of the oil around the
+neck of the bottle, and laughing slyly:
+
+"Swarthy maiden, beautiful maiden! When this day thy beloved shall kiss
+thee between thy breasts and say: 'How fragrant is thy body, O my
+beloved!'--recall me at that moment. I have poured over three extra
+drops for thee."
+
+And so, when night had come, and the moon had risen over Siloam,
+blending the blue whiteness of its houses with the black blueness of the
+shadows and the dull green of the trees, Sulamith did arise from her
+humble couch of goats'-wool and hearkened. All was quiet in the house.
+Her sister was breathing evenly upon the floor, nigh the wall. Only
+outside, in the wayside bushes, the cicadas chirped stridently and
+passionately; and the blood throbbed noisily in her ears. The shadow of
+the window-lattice, etched by the light of the moon, lay, sharp and
+oblique, upon the floor.
+
+Trembling with timidity, expectation, and happiness, Sulamith loosened
+her garments, let them down to her feet, and, stepping over them, was
+left naked in the middle of the room, facing the window, in the light of
+the moon falling through the bars of the lattice. She poured the thick,
+sweet-smelling myrrh upon her shoulders, upon her bosom, upon her
+abdomen; and, fearing to lose even one precious drop, began to rub
+the oil over her legs, under her armpits, and about her neck. And
+the smooth, slippery touch of her palms and elbows against her body
+compelled her to shiver with sweet anticipation. And, smiling and
+trembling, she gazed out of the window, where, beyond the lattice, two
+poplars showed,--dark on one side, silvered on the other,--and whispered
+to herself:
+
+"This is for thee, my love; this is for thee, my beloved. My beloved is
+the chiefest among ten thousand, his head is as the most fine gold, his
+locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His lips are most sweet; yea, he
+is all desire. This is my beloved, and this is my brother, O daughters
+of Jerusalem!..."
+
+And now, fragrant with myrrh, she lay down upon her couch. Her face is
+turned toward the window; her hands, like a child, she has squeezed
+between her knees; her heart fills the room with its loud beating. Much
+time passes. Scarce closing her eyes, she is plunged into dozing, but
+her heart keeps vigil. As in a dream, it seems to her that her dear is
+lying beside her. In a joyous fright she casts off her drowsiness; she
+seeks her beloved near her on the couch, but finds no one. The moon's
+design upon the floor has crept nearer the wall, is dwindled and more
+oblique. The cicadas are calling; the Brook of Kidron babbles on
+monotonously; the doleful chant of a night watchman is heard in the city.
+
+"What if he comes not to-day?" thinks Sulamith; "I did implore him,--and
+what if he hath suddenly obeyed me?... I charge you, O ye daughters of
+Jerusalem, by the roses and lilies of the field: awake not love till it
+come.... But now my love hath come to me. Make haste, my beloved! Thy
+bride awaits thee. Make haste like to a young hart upon the mountains of
+spices."
+
+The sand crunches in the yard under light steps. And the soul of the
+maiden deserts her. A cautious hand knocks at the window. A dark face
+shows on the other side of the lattice. The low voice of her beloved is
+heard:
+
+"Open to me, my sister, my dove, my undefiled! For my head is filled
+with dew."
+
+But a charmed numbness has suddenly taken possession of Sulamith's body.
+She wants to rise, and can not; wants to move her hand, and can not.
+And, without understanding what is taking place with her, she whispers,
+gazing through the window:
+
+"Ah, his locks are filled with the drops of the night! But I have put
+off my chiton. How shall I put it on?"
+
+"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The morn is nigh, flowers
+appear on the earth, and the vines with the tender grape give a goodly
+smell; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the
+turtle dove is heard from the mountains."
+
+"I have washed my feet," whispers Sulamith; "how shall I defile them?"
+
+The dark head disappears from the window-lattice; the resounding steps
+pass around the house and cease at the door. The beloved cautiously puts
+in his hand by the hole of the door. His fingers can be heard groping
+for the inner bolt.
+
+Then does Sulamith rise up, pressing her palms hard against her breasts,
+and whispers in affright:
+
+"My sister sleeps--I fear to awaken her."
+
+She irresolutely dons her sandals, puts a light chiton upon her naked
+body, throws a vail over it, and opens the door, leaving marks of myrrh
+upon the handles of the lock. But there is no longer anyone upon the
+road that glimmers whitely in its solitude between the dark bushes in
+the gray murk of morning. The beloved had not waited, and was gone; not
+even his steps were to be heard. The moon has dwindled and paled, and
+floats on high. In the east, above the waves of the mountains, the sky
+is putting on a chilly pink before the dawn. In the distance the walls
+and towers of Jerusalem glimmer whitely.
+
+"My beloved! King of my life!" Sulamith calls into the humid darkness.
+"I am here. I await thee.... Return!"
+
+But none responds.
+
+"I will run upon the highway; I shall, I shall overtake my beloved,"
+Sulamith says to herself. "I will go about the city in the streets and
+in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loveth. O that thou wert
+as my brother, that sucked the breast of my mother! When I should find
+thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would
+lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house. Thou wouldst instruct
+me; I would cause thee to drink of the juice of my pomegranates. I
+charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell
+him I am smitten by love."
+
+Thus does she commune with herself, and with light, docile steps runs
+upon the road toward the city. At the Dung Gates near the wall, two
+watchmen that had gone about the city at night are sitting and dozing
+in the chill of the morning. They awaken and stare with astonishment at
+the running girl. The younger arises and blocks her way with outstretched
+arms.
+
+"Stay, stay, thou fair!" exclaims he with laughter. "Whither so fast?
+Thou hast passed the night on the sly in the bed of thy dear and art yet
+warm from his embraces; whereas we have been chilled through by the
+dampness of the night. It would be but fair if thou wert to sit a while
+with us."
+
+The elder also arises and wants to embrace Sulamith. He does not laugh;
+he breathes heavily, fast, and with wheezing; he is licking his blue
+lips with his tongue. His face, made hideous by great scars of healed
+leprosy, seems frightful in the pallid murk. He speaks in a voice hoarse
+and snuffling:
+
+"Yea, of a truth. What is thy beloved more than other men, sweet maiden!
+Shut thy eyes, and thou canst not tell me apart from him. I am even
+better, for, of a certainty, I am more experienced than he."
+
+They clutch at her bosom, her shoulders, her arms and raiment. But
+Sulamith is lithe and strong, and her body, anointed with oil, is
+slippery. She tears herself away, leaving in the hands of the watchmen
+her outer vail, and runs back still faster along the same road. She has
+experienced neither offense nor fear,--she is all swallowed up in
+thoughts of Solomon. Passing by her house, she sees the door out of
+which she had just gone still left open, a gaping black quadrangle in
+the white wall. But she merely catches her breath, shrinks within
+herself, like a young cat, and runs by on her tip-toes with never a sound.
+
+She crosses the bridge of Kidron, avoids the outskirt of the village of
+Siloam, and by a stony road gradually climbs the southern slope of
+Beth-El-Khav, into her vineyard. Her brother is still sleeping among the
+vines, wrapped up in a woolen blanket all wet from the dew. Sulamith
+rouses him, but he can not awaken, enchained by the morning sleep of
+youth.
+
+As yesterday, the dawn is flaming over Anaze. A wind springs up. The
+fragrance of the grape in blossom streams through the air.
+
+"I shall come away and look upon that place of the wall where my beloved
+hath stood," Sulamith is saying. "I shall feel with my hands the stones
+that he hath touched; I shall kiss the ground beneath his feet."
+
+She glides lightly between the vines. The dew falls from them, chilling
+her feet and spattering her elbows. And now a joyous cry from Sulamith
+fills the vineyard! The king is standing beyond the wall. With a radiant
+face he stretches out his arms to meet her.
+
+More lightly than a bird Sulamith surmounts the enclosure, and, without
+words, with a moan of happiness, entwines the king.
+
+Several minutes pass thus. Finally, tearing his lips away from her
+mouth, Solomon speaks, enraptured, and his voice trembles:
+
+"Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair!"
+
+"O, how fair art thou, my beloved!"
+
+Tears of delight and gratefulness,--blessed tears,--sparkle upon
+Sulamith's pale and beautiful face. Languishing with love, she sinks to
+the ground and whispers words of madness in a barely audible voice.
+
+"Our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedars.... Kiss me with
+the kisses of thy mouth--for thy love is better than wine...."
+
+After a brief space Sulamith is lying with her head upon Solomon's
+breast. His left arm is embracing her.
+
+Bending to her very ear, the king is whispering something to her; the
+king is tenderly apologizing, and Sulamith reddens from his words and
+closes her eyes. Then, with an inexpressibly lovely smile of confusion,
+she says:
+
+"My mother's children made me the keeper of the vineyard.... But mine
+own vineyard have I not kept."
+
+But Solomon takes her little swarthy hand and presses it fervently to
+his lips.
+
+"Thou dost not regret this, Sulamith?"
+
+"O nay, my king, my beloved. I regret it not. Wert thou to arise this
+minute and go from me, and were I condemned never to see thee after, I
+would to the end of my life utter thy name with gratitude, Solomon!"
+
+"Tell me one thing else, Sulamith.... Only, I beseech thee, speak the
+truth, my undefiled.... Didst thou know who I am?"
+
+"Nay,--even now I know it not. Methought.... But I am shamed to confess
+it.... I fear thou wilt laugh at me.... They tell, that here, upon Mount
+Beth-El-Khav, pagan gods do oft wander.... Many of them, it is said, are
+beautiful.... And methought: art thou not Hor, the son of Osiris; or
+else some other god?"
+
+"Nay, I am but a king, beloved. But here, upon this spot, I kiss thy
+dear hand, scorched of the sun, and swear to thee that never
+yet--neither in the time of first love longings, nor in the days of my
+glory--has my heart flamed with such an insatiable desire as that which
+is awakened within me by thy mere smile, by the mere touch of thy
+flaming locks,--the mere curve of thy purple lips! Thou art comely as
+the tents of Kedar, as the curtains in the temple of Solomon! Thy
+caresses intoxicate me. Behold thy breasts--they are fragrant. Thy
+nipples are as wine!"
+
+"O, yea,--gaze, gaze upon me, beloved. Thy eyes arouse me! O, what
+joy!--for thy desire is unto me,--me! Thy locks are scented. As a bundle
+of myrrh thou dost lie betwixt my breasts!"
+
+Time ceases its current and closes over them in a solar cycle. Their bed
+is the green; their roof is of cedars; and their walls are of cypresses.
+And the banner over their tent is love.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN
+
+VII.
+
+
+The king had a pool in his palace,--an octagonal, fresh pool of white
+marble. Steps of dark-green malachite ran down to its bottom. A facing
+of �gyptian jasper, snowy-white, with pink, barely perceptible little
+veins, served as a frame for the pool. The best of ebony had gone for
+the ornamentation of the walls. Four lions' heads of pink sardonyx cast
+forth the water in thin jets into the pool. Eight mirrors of polished
+silver, the height of a man and of excellent Sydonian workmanship, were
+set into the walls, between the slender columns of white.
+
+Before Sulamith was to enter the pool, young maid-servants poured
+aromatic compounds into it, that made the water to turn white and blue
+and to play with all the colours of a milky opal. The female slaves
+disrobing Sulamith gazed with delight upon her body; and, when they had
+disrobed her, they led her up to a mirror. Not a single blemish was
+there upon her beautiful body, made aureate like a tawny, ripe fruit by
+the golden down of soft hair. And she, gazing upon her naked self in the
+mirror, turned red and thought:
+
+"All this is for thee, my king!"
+
+She came out of the pool fresh, cool, and fragrant, covered with
+quivering drops of water. The female slaves put upon her a short white
+tunic of the finest �gyptian linen, and a chiton of precious Sargonian
+byssin, of such a refulgent golden colour that the garment seemed woven
+out of the rays of the sun. They shod her feet in red sandals made from
+the skin of a young kid; they dried her dark, flaming locks and bound
+them with strings of large black pearls; and they adorned her arms with
+tinkling bracelets.
+
+In such array did she come before Solomon, and the king exclaimed
+joyously:
+
+"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear
+as the sun? O, Sulamith, thy beauty is more terrible than an army with
+flaunted banners! Seven hundred wives have I known and three hundred
+concubines, and virgins without number,--thou art but one, my fair! The
+queens shall behold thee and extoll thee, and all women upon earth shall
+praise thee. O, Sulamith, that day when thou wilt become my spouse and
+queen shall be the happiest my heart has known."
+
+Whereupon she walked up to the door of carved olive, and, pressing her
+cheek against it, said:
+
+"I desire to be but thy slave, Solomon. Behold, I have put my ear to the
+post of the door. I beseech thee,--in accordance with the law of Moses,
+nail down my ear in witness of my voluntary bondage before thee."
+
+Then Solomon did command to be brought out of his treasure house
+precious pendants of deep-red carbuncles, fashioned to resemble
+elongated pears. He himself put them upon the ears of Sulamith, and
+said:
+
+"I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."
+
+And, taking Sulamith by the hand, the king brought her to the banqueting
+house, where his companions and familiars were already awaiting him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VIII.
+
+
+Seven days had sped since Sulamith had stepped into the palace of the
+king. Seven days had she and the king taken joyance in love, yet could
+not be sated therewith.
+
+Solomon loved to adorn his beloved with precious things. "How beautiful
+are thy little feet in sandals!" he would exclaim in rapture, and,
+getting down on his knees before her, he would kiss each toe in turn,
+and put upon them rings with stones so splendid and rare that their like
+was not to be found even upon the ephod of a high-priest. Sulamith would
+listen, entranced, whenever he discoursed upon the inner nature of
+stones, their magic properties and secret significations.
+
+"Here is anthrax, the sacred stone from the land of Ophir," the king
+would say. "It is hot and moist. Behold, it is red, like blood, like the
+evening glow, like the blown flower of the pomegranate, like thick wine
+from the vineyards of En-gedi, like thy lips, my Sulamith, in the
+morning after a night of love. This is the stone of love, wrath, and
+blood. Upon the hand of a man languishing in a fever or made drunk by
+desire, it waxes warmer and glows with a red flame. Put it upon thy
+hand, my beloved, and thou shalt see it enkindle. If it be brayed to a
+powder and taken in water, it imparts a glow to the face, allays the
+stomach, and maketh the soul to rejoice. He that weareth it attaineth
+power over men. It is a curative for the heart, brain, and memory. But
+it ought not be worn nigh children, for it doth arouse the passions of
+love around it.
+
+"Here is a transparent stone, the colour of copper verdigris. In the
+land of the �thiopians, where it is gotten, it is called Mgnadis-Phza.
+It was given me by the father of my wife, Queen Astis,--by Shishak, the
+Pharaoh of �gypt, into whose hands it came through a captive king. Thou
+seest,--it is not beautiful; yet is its value beyond computation, for
+but four men on earth possess the stone Mgnadis-Phza. It possesses the
+unusual property of attracting silver to it, just like a covetous man
+that loveth the metal. I give it thee, my beloved, for that thou are
+not covetous.
+
+"Gaze upon these sapphires, Sulamith. Some of them resemble in colour
+corn-flowers among wheat; others, an autumn sky; others still, the sea
+in fine weather. This is the stone of virginity,--chill and pure. During
+far and difficult voyages it is placed in the mouth to allay thirst. It
+also cureth leprosy and all malignant growths. It bestoweth clarity to
+thoughts. The priests of Jupiter in Rome wear it upon the index finger.
+
+"The king of all stones is the stone Shamir. The Greeks name it
+Adamas,--which signifieth, the invincible. It is the hardest of all
+substances on earth and remains uninjured in the fiercest of fires.
+It is the light of the sun, concentrated in the ground and cooled by time.
+Admire it, Sulamith,--it playeth with all colours, but in itself
+remaineth translucent, like a drop of water. It shineth in the darkness
+of night; but loseth its radiance, even in the daytime, upon the hand of
+a murderer. The Shamir is tied to the hand of a woman tortured in heavy
+travail with child; and it is also put upon the left hand by warriors
+setting out for battle. He that weareth the Shamir findeth favour with
+kings and hath no dread of evil spirits. The Shamir driveth the mottled
+colour off the face, purifieth the breath, giveth quiet slumber to
+lunaticks, and induceth a sweat curative of near proximity to poison.
+The Shamir stones are male and female; buried deep in the ground they
+are capable of multiplying.
+
+"The moonstone, pale and mild, like the shining of the moon,--it is
+the stone of the Chald�an and Babylonian magi. Before divination it is
+placed under the tongue, and it imparts to them the gift of seeing the
+future. It hath a strange tie with the moon, for during a new moon it
+groweth chill and shineth more brightly. It is beneficial to woman
+during that year when from a child she is becoming a woman.
+
+"Wear thou this ring with a smaragd constantly, my beloved, for the
+smaragd is the favourite stone of Solomon, King of Israel. It is green,
+pure, gay, tender, like grass in the spring of the year, and when one
+gazeth at it for long the heart waxeth radiant; if thou wilt look upon
+it in the morning, all the day shall hold no hardship of thee. I shall
+hang a smaragd over thy night couch, my comely one; let it drive evil
+dreams away from thee; let it lull the beating of thy heart, and divert
+black thoughts. Serpents and scorpions come not nigh him that weareth a
+smaragd; but if a smaragd be held before the eyes of a serpent, water
+shall flow from them, and continue flowing, till it go blind. Pounded
+smaragd, together with camel's milk, is given an empoisoned man, that
+the poison may go off in transpiration; mixed with attar of roses,
+smaragd cureth the bites of venomous reptiles; while ground with saffron
+and applied to ailing eyes it eradicates night blindness. It also helps
+in dysentery and the black cough that is incurable by any human means."
+
+The king also bestowed upon his beloved Lybian amethysts, whose colour
+resembled early violets, that put forth in forests at the foot of the
+Lybian mountains,--amethysts, possessed of the wondrous property of
+curbing wind, mollifying wrath, preserving from intoxication, and
+helping at the trapping of wild beasts; turquoise of Persepolis, that
+bringeth happiness in love, endeth connubial quarrels, turneth away the
+wrath of kings, and is propitious in the breaking and selling of horses;
+and cat's-eye,--that guardeth the property, reason, and health of its
+possessor; and the pale beryllion, blue-green, like sea-water near
+shore,--a good travelling companion for pilgrims and a remedy against
+cataract and leprosy; and the vari-coloured agate: he that weareth it
+hath no dread of the evil machinations of enemies, and avoideth
+the danger of being crushed in an earthquake; and the apple-green,
+turbidly-pellucid onychion,--its master's guardian from fire and
+madness; and iaspis, that maketh beasts to tremble; and the black
+swallow-stone, that endoweth with eloquence; and the eagle-stone,
+esteemed of pregnant women,--eagles put it in their nests when the time
+comes for their young to break out of their shells; and zaberzate out
+of Ophir, shining like little suns; and yellow-aureate chrysolite,--the
+friend of merchants and thieves; and sardonyx, beloved of kings and
+queens; and the crimson ligurion: it is found, as all know, in the
+stomach of the lynx, whose sight is so keen that it can see through
+walls,--and for that reason he that weareth a ligurion is also noted
+for keen sight, and besides this it stoppeth bleeding of the nose, and
+healeth all wounds, save wounds inflicted by stone or iron.
+
+The king also put upon Sulamith's neck carcanets of great price, of
+pearls that had been dived for in the Persian Sea by his subjects; and
+the pearls put on a living lustre and a soft colour from the warmth of
+her body. And corals became redder upon her swarthy breast; and
+turquoise came to life upon her fingers; and those baubles of yellow
+amber which were brought from far northern seas, in gift to the king, by
+the doughty ship-masters of Hiram, King of Tyre, emitted crackling
+sparks in her hands.
+
+With marigolds and lilies did Sulamith deck her couch, preparing it for
+the night; and, reposing upon her breast, the king would say in the
+joyousness of his heart:
+
+"Thou are like to the king's decked, masted boat in the Land of Ophir, O
+my beloved; a light, golden boat that floats, swaying, upon the sacred
+river, among white fragrant blossoms."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thus did his first--and last--love come to Solomon, the greatest of
+kings and wisest of sages.
+
+Many ages have passed since then. There have been kingdoms and kings,
+and of them no trace has been left, as of a wind that has sped over a
+desert. There have been prolonged, merciless wars, after which the names
+of the commanders shone through the ages, like ensanguined stars; but
+time has effaced even the very memory of them.
+
+But the love of the lowly maiden of the vineyard and the great king
+shall never pass away nor be forgotten,--for love is strong as death;
+for every woman who loves is a queen; for love is beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE
+
+IX.
+
+
+Seven days had sped since Solomon,--poet, sage, and king,--had brought
+into his palace the lowly maiden he had met in the vineyard at dawn. For
+seven days did the king take joyance in her love, nor could be sated
+therewith. And a great joy irradiated his countenance, like to the
+golden light of the sun.
+
+It was the time of light, warm, moonlit nights,--sweet nights of
+love.... Upon a couch of tiger fells lay the naked Sulamith; and the
+king, sitting upon the floor at her feet, filled his emerald goblet with
+the aureate wine of Mauretus, and drank to the health of his beloved,
+rejoicing with all his heart, and narrated to her the sage, strange
+legends of eld. And Sulamith's hand rested upon his head, stroking his
+wavy black hair.
+
+"Tell me, my king," Sulamith had once asked, "is it not wonderful that I
+fell in love with thee so instantly? I now call all things to mind, and
+meseems I began belonging to thee from the very first moment, when I had
+not yet had time to behold thee, but had merely heard thy voice. My
+heart began to flutter and did open to meet thee, as a flower opens to
+the south wind on a night in summer. How hast thou taken me so, my
+beloved?"
+
+And the king, quietly bending his head toward the soft knees of
+Sulamith, smiled tenderly and answered:
+
+"Thousands of women before thee, O my comely one, have put this question
+to their beloveds, and hundreds of ages after thee will they be asking
+their beloveds about this. There be three things which are too wonderful
+for me, yea, four which I know not: the way of an eagle in the air;
+the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of
+the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. This is not my wisdom,
+Sulamith,--these are the words of Agur, son of Jakeh, heard from him
+by his disciples. But let us honour the wisdom of others also."
+
+"Yea," said Sulamith pensively, "mayhap it is even true that man
+shall never comprehend this. To-day, during the banquet, I wore a
+sweet-smelling cluster of stacte upon my breast. But thou didst leave
+the table, and my flowers ceased to give out their smell. Meseems, thou
+must be beloved, O king, of women, and men, and beasts, and even of
+flowers. I oft ponder, yet comprehend not: how can one love any other
+save thee?"
+
+"And any save thee, save thee, Sulamith! Every hour do I render thanks
+to God for that He has set thee in my path."
+
+"I remember, I was sitting upon a stone of the wall, and thou didst put
+thy hand on mine. Fire ran through my veins; my head was dizzied. I said
+within me: Behold, there is my lord, my king, my beloved!"
+
+"I remember, Sulamith, how thou didst turn around to my call. Under the
+thin raiment I saw thy body, thy beautiful body, that I love as I love
+God. I love it,--covered with its golden down, as though the sun had left
+its kiss upon it. Thou art graceful, like to a filly in the Pharaoh's
+chariot; thou art fair like the chariot of Ammi-nadib. Thy eyes are as
+two doves, sitting by the rivers of waters."
+
+"O, beloved, thy words stir me. Thy hand sears me sweetly. O, my king,
+thy legs are as pillars of marble. Thy belly is like an heap of wheat,
+set about with lilies."
+
+Surrounded, irradiated, by the silent light of the moon, they forgot
+time and place; and thus hours would pass, and they with wonder beheld
+the rosy dawn peeping through the latticed windows of the chamber.
+
+Sulamith also said once:
+
+"Thou hast known, my beloved, wives and virgins without number, and they
+were all the fairest women on earth. I become ashamed whenever I consider
+myself,--a simple, unschooled girl,--and my poor body, scorched of the
+sun."
+
+But, touching her lips with his, the king would say, with infinite love
+and gratefulness:
+
+"Thou art a queen, Sulamith! Thou wast born a true queen. Thou art brave
+and generous in love. Seven hundred wives have I, and three hundred
+concubines, and virgins without number have I known; but thou, my timid
+one, art my only one,--thou fairest among women. I have found thee like
+as a diver in the Gulf of Persia, that filleth a great number of baskets
+with barren shells and pearls of little price, ere he get from the bed
+of the sea a pearl worthy a king's crown. My child, a man may love
+thousands of times, yet he loveth but once. People without number think
+they love, yet only to two of them doth God send love. And when thou
+didst yield thyself up to me among the cypresses, under the rafters of
+cedars, upon the bed of green, I did with all my soul render thanks to
+God, so gracious to me."
+
+Sulamith also asked once:
+
+"I know that they all loved thee, for not to love thee is impossible.
+The Queen of Sheba did come to thee from her domain. They say, that she
+was the wisest and fairest of all women that had ever been on earth. As
+in a dream, I recall her caravans. I know not why, but since my earliest
+childhood I have been drawn to the chariots of the great. I was then
+perhaps seven, perhaps eight. I remember the camels in golden harness,
+covered with caparisons of purple, laden with heavy burthens; I remember
+the mules with the little bells of gold between their ears; I remember
+the droll monkeys in silvern cages; and the wondrous peacocks. There was
+a multitude of servants in garments of white and blue, marching; they
+led tame tigers and panthers upon ribbands of red. I was but eight
+then."
+
+"O child, thou wert but eight then," said Solomon with sadness.
+
+"Didst thou love her more than me, Solomon? Wilt tell me something of
+her?"
+
+And the king told her all pertaining to this amazing woman. Having heard
+much of the wisdom and beauty of the King of Israel, she had come to him
+from her domain with rich gifts, desiring to prove his wisdom and subdue
+his heart. This was a magnificent woman of forty, who was already
+beginning to fade. But through secret, magic means she contrived to make
+her body, that was growing flabby, seem graceful and supple, like a
+girl's, while her face bore an impress of an awesome, inhuman beauty.
+But her wisdom was ordinary wisdom, and the petty wisdom of a woman to
+boot.
+
+Desiring to test the king with riddles, she at first sent to him fifty
+youths of tenderest age, and fifty maidens. They were all so cunningly
+dressed that the keenest eye could not have discerned their sex. "I
+shall call thee wise, O King," said Balkis, "if thou shalt tell me
+which of them is woman, and which man."
+
+But the king burst out laughing, and ordered that every he and she
+sent him be brought a separate bason of silver, and a separate ewer of
+silver, for laving. And whereas the boys bravely splashed in the water
+and cast it in handfuls at their faces, drying their skin vigorously,
+the girls acted as women always do at their ablutions. They lathered
+each hand gently and solicitously, bringing it closely to their eyes.
+
+In so easy a manner did the king solve the first riddle of
+Balkis-M�kkedah.
+
+Next she sent Solomon a large diamond, the size of a hazel nut. This
+stone had a thin, exceedingly tortuous flaw, that perforated its entire
+body with a narrow, intricate path. The task was to put a silken thread
+through the jewel. And the wise king let into the opening a silk worm,
+which, having passed through, left the finest of silken webs in its
+wake.
+
+Also, the beauteous Balkis sent King Solomon a precious goblet of carved
+sardonyx, of magnificent workmanship. "This goblet shall be thine," she
+had commanded that the king be told, "if thou fillest it with moisture
+taken neither from earth nor heaven." And Solomon, having filled the
+goblet with froth falling from the body of a fatigued steed, ordered it
+to be carried to the queen.
+
+Many such hard questions did the queen put to Solomon, but could not
+belittle his wisdom; nor with all her secret charms of love's passion
+in the night might she contrive to retain his love. And when she had
+finally palled upon the king, he had cruelly, hurtfully made mock of
+her.
+
+Everybody knew that the Savvian queen never showed her lower extremities
+to anyone, and for that reason wore a garment reaching to the ground.
+Even in the hours of love caresses did she keep her legs closely covered
+with raiment. Many strange and droll legends had sprung up on this
+account.
+
+Some averred, that the queen had legs like a goat, grown over with wool;
+others swore, that instead of human feet she had webbed feet, like a
+goose. And they even related how the mother of Balkis had once, after
+bathing, sat down upon sand where just before a certain god, temporarily
+metamorphosed into a gander, had left his seed, and that through this
+she had borne the beauteous Queen of Sheba.
+
+And so Solomon one day commanded to be built, in one of his chambers, a
+transparent floor of crystal, with an empty space beneath it, which was
+filled with water and stocked with live fish. All this was done with
+such extraordinary art that one not forewarned could never possibly
+notice the glass, and would take an oath that a pool of clear, fresh
+water lay before him.
+
+And when all was in readiness, Solomon invited his regal guest to an
+interview. Surrounded by all the pomp of her retinue, she paced through
+the chambers of the House at Lebanon, and came up to the treacherous
+pool. At the other end of it sat the king, resplendent with gold and
+precious stones, and with a welcoming look in his dark eyes. The door
+opened before the queen, and she took a step forward,--but cried out
+and....
+
+Sulamith claps her palms and laughs, and her laughter is joyous and
+child-like.
+
+"She stoops and lifts up her raiment?" asks Sulamith.
+
+"Yea, my beloved, she acted as any among women would have acted. She
+raised up the hem of her garment, and although this lasted for but a
+moment, not only I but all my court saw that the beauteous Savvian
+Queen, Balkis-M�kkedah, had ordinary human legs, but crooked and grown
+over with coarse hair. On the very next day she set off, without bidding
+me farewell, and departed with her magnificent caravan. I had not meant
+to offend her. I sent after her a trustworthy runner, whom I ordered to
+give to the queen a bundle of a rare mountain herb,--the best means for
+the extirpation of hair upon the body. But she returned to me the head
+of my emissary in a bag of costly purple."
+
+Solomon also told his beloved many things out of his life, which none
+other among men and women knew, and which Sulamith carried with her into
+the grave. He told her of the long and weary years of his wanderings,
+when, fleeing from the wrath of his brethren, he was forced to hide
+under an assumed name in foreign lands, enduring fearful poverty and
+privations. He told her how, in a far-off, unknown country, while he
+was standing in the market place, in expectation of being hired to work
+somewhere, the king's cook had approached him and said:
+
+"Stranger, help me carry this hamper of fish into the palace."
+
+Through his wit, adroitness, and skilled demeanor, Solomon so pleased
+the officers of the court, that in a short while he had made himself at
+home in the palace, and when the head cook died he had taken his place.
+Further, Solomon told of how the king's only daughter,--a beautiful,
+ardent maiden,--had fallen in love with the new cook and had confessed
+her love to him; how they fled from the palace one night, and had been
+re-taken and brought back; how Solomon had been condemned to die; and
+how, by a miracle, he succeeded in escaping from the dungeon.
+
+Avidly did Sulamith listen to him, and, when he grew silent, amidst the
+stillness of the night their lips joined, their arms entwined each
+other, and breast touched breast. And when morning drew near, and
+Sulamith's body seemed a foamy pink, and the fatigue of love encircled
+her splendid eyes with blue shadows, she would say with a tender smile:
+
+"Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick with love."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN
+
+X.
+
+
+In the temple of Isis, upon Mount Beth-El-Khav, the first part of the
+great mystery, to which the faithful of the lesser initiation were
+admitted, was just over. The priest on duty,--an ancient elder in white
+vestment, with shaven head, and neither moustache nor beard,--had turned
+from the elevation of the altar toward the people, and pronounced in a
+quiet, tired voice:
+
+"Dwell in peace, my sons and daughters. Wax perfect through deeds.
+Extoll the name of the goddess. And may her blessings be over ye for
+ever and aye."
+
+He raised his hands on high over the people, in benediction. And
+immediately all the initiates into the lesser rank of the mysteries
+prostrated themselves on the floor, and then, arising, softly and in
+silence made their way to the exit.
+
+To-day was the seventh day of the month Phamenoth, sacred to the
+mysteries of Osiris and Isis. Since evening the solemn procession had
+thrice made the circuit of the temple with lamps, palm-leaves, and
+amphor�; with the occult symbols of the gods and the sacred images of
+the Phallus. In the midst of the procession, upon the shoulders of the
+priests and the minor prophets, was reared the closed _naos_ of costly
+wood, ornamented with pearl, ivory, and gold. Therein dwelt the goddess
+herself,--She, The Invisible, The Bestower of Fecundity, The Mysterious;
+Mother, Sister, and Wife of gods.
+
+The evil Seth had enticed his brother, the divine Osiris, to a feast;
+through craftiness he made him to lie down in a magnificent sarcophagus,
+and, having clapped down the lid over him, cast the sarcophagus with the
+body of the great god into the Nile. Isis, who had just given birth to
+Horus, with yearning and tears searches all the world over for the body
+of her spouse, and for long can not find it. Finally, slaves inform her
+that the body had been borne out to sea by the waves, and that it had
+been cast up at Byblos, where an enormous tree had sprung up about
+it, enclosing within its trunk the body of the god and his floating
+dwelling. The king of that domain had commanded a mighty column to be
+made out of the enormous tree, not knowing that within it reposed the
+god Osiris himself, the great bestower of life. Isis goes to Byblos;
+she arrives there fatigued with sultriness, thirst, and the toilsome,
+stony road. She liberates the sarcophagus out of the midst of the tree,
+carries it with her, and buries it in the earth near the city wall.
+But Seth again secretly steals away the body of Osiris, cuts it up into
+fourteen parts, and strews them over all the towns and settlements of
+Upper and Lower �gpyt.
+
+And again with great grief and lamentations Isis set out in search of
+the sacred members of her spouse and brother. Her sister, the goddess
+Nephthys, and the mighty Thoth, and the son of the goddess, the radiant
+Horus,--Horus of the Horizon,--all join their plaints to her weeping.
+
+Such was the hidden meaning of the present procession in the first half
+of the sacred service. Now, upon the departure of the common believers,
+and after a short rest, the second part of the great mystery was about
+to be consummated. In the temple were left only those initiated into the
+higher degrees,--mystagogues, epopts, prophets and sacrificators.
+
+Boys in white vestments bore about, upon salvers of silver, flesh,
+bread, dried fruits, and sweet wine of Pelusium. Others poured hippocras
+out of narrow-necked Tyrian vessels,--a drink given in those days to
+condemned criminals before execution, to arouse their manhood, but which
+also possessed the great virtue of generating and sustaining in men the
+fire of a sacred madness.
+
+At a sign from the priest on duty the boys withdrew. A priest who was
+also the keeper of the gates locked all doors. Then he attentively made
+the rounds of all those who remained, scrutinizing their faces and
+testing them with secret words that constituted the pass-orders for this
+night. Two other priests drew a silvern thurible upon wheels down the
+length of the temple and around each of its columns. The temple filled
+with the blue, thick, heady, aromatic fumes of incense, and through the
+layers of smoke grew barely visible the vari-coloured flames of the
+lamp,--lamps made of translucent stones, lamps set in carved gold and
+suspended from the ceiling upon long chains of silver. In the times of
+eld this temple of Osiris and Isis was known for its small extent and
+its poverty, and was hollowed out like a cavern in the heart of the
+mountain. A narrow subterranean corridor led to it from without. But in
+the days of the reign of Solomon, who had taken under his protection
+all religions save those which permitted the offering of children in
+sacrifice, and thanks to the zeal of Queen Astis, an �gyptian born, the
+temple had expanded in depth and height, and had become adorned with
+rich offerings.
+
+The former altar still remained inviolate in its primordial, austere
+simplicity, together with a great number of small chambers surrounding
+it and serving for the keeping of treasures, sacrificial objects, and
+priestly appurtenances, as well as for special secret purposes during
+the most occult mystic orgies.
+
+But then, the outer court was truly magnificent, with its pylons in
+honour of the goddess Hathor, and with a four-sided colonnade of four
+and twenty columns. The inner, subterranean, hypostylic hall for
+worshippers was built still more magnificently. Its mosaic floor was all
+adorned with cunningly wrought images of fishes, beasts, amphibians
+and reptiles; while the ceiling was overlaid with blue lazure, and
+upon it shone a sun of gold, glowed a moon of silver, innumerable
+stars twinkled, and birds soared upon outspread wings. The floor was
+the earth, the ceiling the sky, and they were joined by round and
+many-sided columns, like mighty tree trunks; and since all the columns
+were surmounted by capitals in the form of the tender flowers of lotus
+or the slender cylinders of the papyrus, the ceiling they supported did
+in reality seem as light and �thereal as the sky.
+
+The walls to the height of a man were faced with plates of red granite,
+brought at the desire of Queen Astis out of Thebes, where the local
+master workers could impart to the granite a smoothness like that of a
+mirror, together with an amazing polish. Higher, to the very ceiling,
+the walls, as well as the columns, were gay with graven and limned
+images with the symbols of the gods of both �gypts. Here was Sebekh,
+honoured in Fayum in the form of a crocodile; and Thoth, the god of the
+moon, depicted as an ibis in the city of Khmunu; and the sun-god Horus,
+to whom a small idol-temple was consecrated in Edfu; and Bast of
+Bubastis, in the form of a cat; Shu, the god of the air, as a lion;
+Ptah,--an Apis; Hathor, the goddess of mirth,--a heifer; Anubis, the
+god of embalming, with the head of a jackal; and Menthu out of Hermon;
+and the Coptic Minu; and Neith of Sais, the goddess of the sky; and,
+finally, in the form of a ram,--the dread god whose name was never
+uttered, and who was called Khenti-Amentiu, which signifieth: The
+Dweller in the West.
+
+The half-dark altar reared above the entire temple, and the gold upon
+the walls of the sanctuary that hid the images of Isis gleamed within
+its depths. Three gates,--a large one in the middle, and two small ones
+flanking it,--opened into the sanctuary. Before the middle one stood a
+small sacrificial altar with a sacred stone knife of �thiopian obsidian.
+Steps led up to the altar, and upon them were disposed young priests and
+priestesses with tympani and sistrums, with flutes and tabours.
+
+Queen Astis was reclining within a little, secret chamber. A small
+quadrangular opening, artfully concealed by a large curtain, led
+directly to the altar, and permitted one to follow all the details
+of the sacred service without betraying one's presence. A light,
+closely-fitting dress of linen gauze, interwoven with silver, tightly
+enveloped the body of the queen, leaving the arms bare up to the
+shoulders, and the legs half-way to the calf. Her skin gleamed pinkly
+through the diaphanous material, and one could see the pure lines and
+elevations of her graceful body, which, despite the queen's age of
+thirty, still had lost none of its litheness, beauty and freshness. Her
+hair, stained a blue colour, was spread loosely over her shoulders and
+back, and was adorned with innumerable little aromatic pomanders. Her
+face was much rouged and whitened; while her eyes, finely outlined by
+kohl, seemed enormous and glowed in the darkness, like those of some
+powerful beasts of the feline species. A sacred ur�us of gold hung down
+from her neck, separating the half-bared breasts.
+
+Ever since Solomon had cooled toward Queen Astis, tired of her unbridled
+sensuality, she, with all the ardour of southern love-passion, and
+with all the jealousy of a woman scorned, had given herself up to those
+secret orgies of perverted lust that constituted the highest cult of the
+castrates' service of Isis. She always showed herself surrounded by
+priests-castrates, and, even now, as one of them fanned her head with
+measured strokes of a fan made of peacock feathers, others were seated
+upon the floor drinking in the beauty of the queen with eyes of insane
+bliss. Their nostrils were dilating and quivering from the scent of her
+body wafted to them, and they sought with trembling fingers to touch
+unperceived the hem of her light raiment, barely stirring in the breeze.
+Their excessive, never satiated sensuousness spurred on their imagination
+to its utmost limits. Their inventiveness in the pleasures of Kybele and
+Ashera surpassed all human possibilities. And being jealous of the queen
+toward one another, toward all men, women, and children--being jealous
+of her own self--they adored her even more than Isis, and, loving her,
+hated her as an inexhaustible, fiery fountain-head of delectable and
+cruel sufferings.
+
+Dark, evil, fearful, and fascinating rumours were current about Queen
+Astis in Jerusalem. The parents of beautiful boys and girls hid
+their children from her gaze; men dreaded to utter her name upon the
+conjugal couch, as an omen of defilement and disaster. But agitating,
+irresistible curiosity drew all souls to her, and gave all bodies
+up into her power. They who had but once experienced her ferocious,
+sanguinary caresses could nevermore forget her, and became her lifelong,
+pitiful, spurned slaves. Ready, for a renewed possession of her, to
+commit every sin, to endure every degradation and crime, they came to
+resemble those unfortunates who, having once tasted of the bitter drink
+of the poppy from the Land of Ophir,--the drink that bestoweth sweet
+dreams,--will never more draw away from it, bowing down before it only
+and honouring it alone, until exhaustion and madness cut short their
+life.
+
+The fan swayed slowly in the sultry air. In silent rapture the priests
+contemplated their dread sovereign. But she seemed to have forgotten
+their presence. Having moved the curtain slightly aside, she was
+ceaselessly gazing across toward that part of the altar where at one
+time, out of the dark fissures of the ancient curtains of beaten gold,
+was to be seen the beautiful, radiant countenance of the king of Israel.
+Him alone did the spurned queen, the cruel and lecherous Astis, love
+with all her flaming and depraved heart. His glance of a fleeting
+moment, a kind word of his, the touch of his hand, did she seek
+everywhere, and found not. Upon triumphal levees, court banquets, and
+upon the days of judgment, did Solomon pay his respects, due a queen and
+the daughter of a king; but his soul was not quick unto her. And the
+proud queen would often command herself to be borne at set hours past
+the House at Lebanon, to glimpse, even though afar and unnoticed, through
+the heavy stuffs of her litter, the proud, unforgettably splendid visage
+of Solomon, in the midst of the throng of courtiers. And long since her
+flaming love had grown so closely joined to searing hatred that Astis
+herself was unable to tell them apart.
+
+In former days Solomon also had visited the temple of Isis on great
+festal days, had brought the goddess offerings, and had even accepted
+the title of her hierophant,--second after that of the Pharaoh of �gypt.
+But the horrible mysteries of "The Sanguine Sacrifice of Fecundation"
+had turned his mind and heart from the service of the Mother of Gods.
+
+"He that is castrated through ignorance or by force, or through accident
+or disease, is not abased before God," the king hath said. "But woe be
+unto him that doth maim himself with his own hand."
+
+And now for a whole year his couch in the temple had remained vacant.
+And in vain did the flaming eyes of the queen now gaze feverishly at the
+unstirred hangings.
+
+In the meanwhile, the wine, hippocras, and the stupefying burnt perfumes
+were already having a perceptible effect upon those gathered within the
+temple. Cries, and laughter, and the ring of silver vessels falling upon
+the stone floor came with greater frequency. The grand, mysterious
+moment of the sanguinary sacrifice was approaching. Ecstasy was overcoming
+the faithful.
+
+With an abstracted gaze the queen surveyed the temple and the believers.
+Many honoured and illustrious men of Solomon's retinue and many of his
+generals were here: Ben-Geber, ruler over the region of Argob; and
+Ahimaaz, who had Basmath, the daughter of the king, to wife; and the
+witty Ben-Dekar; and Zabud, who bore, in accordance with eastern
+customs, the high title of the King's Friend; and the brother of Solomon
+by the first marriage of David,--Dalaiah, a debilitated, half-dead man,
+who had prematurely fallen into idiocy through excesses and drinking.
+They were all--some through faith, some through ulterior designs, others
+out of adulation, and still others for lecherous purposes,--the adorants
+of Isis.
+
+And now the eyes of the queen rested, long and attentively, intent in
+thought, on the comely, youthful face of Eliab, one of the officers of
+the king's bodyguards.
+
+The queen knew why his swarthy face was aflame with such a vivid colour,
+why his eyes were directed with such passionate yearning hitherward,
+upon the curtains, scarce stirring from the touch of the queen's
+beautiful hands. Once, almost in jest, submitting to a momentary
+caprice, she had made Eliab to pass a whole night of felicity with her.
+In the morning she had let him depart, but ever since, for many days
+running, she had beheld everywhere,--in the palace, in the temple, in
+the streets,--two enamoured, submissive, yearning eyes, that followed
+her entranced.
+
+The dark eyebrows of the queen contracted, and her green, elongated eyes
+suddenly darkened from a fearful thought. With a barely perceptible
+motion of her hand she ordered the castrate to lower the fan and said
+quietly:
+
+"Get hence, all of you. Hushai, thou shalt go and summon to me Eliab,
+the officer of the king's guard. Let him come alone."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN
+
+XI.
+
+
+Ten priests, in white vestments, maculated with red, stepped out to the
+centre of the altar. Following them came two other priests, clad in
+feminine garments. It was their duty to-day to represent Nephthys and
+Isis, bewailing Osiris. Then out of the depths of the altar came one in
+a white chiton, without a single ornament, and the eyes of all the men
+and women were eagerly drawn to him. This was the very same desert
+anchorite who had undergone a heavy trial of ten years' wrestling with
+the flesh upon the mountains of Lebanon, and was now to bring a great,
+voluntary bloody sacrifice to Isis. His face, emaciated by hunger,
+wind-beaten and scorched, was stern and pallid, the eyes austerely cast
+down; and a supernatural horror was wafted from him upon the throng.
+
+Finally, the chief priest of the temple also made his appearance,--a
+centenarian ancient, with a tiara upon his head, with a tiger skin upon
+his shoulders, in an apron of brocaded samite adorned with the tails of
+jackals.
+
+Turning to the worshippers, he uttered in a senile voice, meek and
+tremulous:
+
+"_Suton-di-botpu._" ("The king bringeth the sacrifice.")
+
+And then, turning around to the sacrificial altar, he took from the
+hands of an acolyte a white dove with little red feet, cut off the
+bird's head, took the heart out of her breast, and sprinkled the
+sacrificial altar and the consecrated knife with her blood.
+
+After a brief silence he proclaimed:
+
+"Let us weep for Osiris, the god of Atum, the Great On-Nefer-Hophra, the
+god Ona!"
+
+Two castrates in female garments,--Isis and Nephthys,--at once commenced
+the lamentation, in harmonious, high-pitched voices:
+
+"Return to thy dwelling, O beauteous youth! To behold thee is bliss.
+
+"Isis charges thee,--Isis, that was conceived in the one womb with
+thee,--Isis, thy spouse and thy sister.
+
+"Show us thy countenance anew, radiant god. Here is Nephthys, thy
+sister. She is deluged in her tears and plucks out her hair in her
+grief.
+
+"In a yearning like unto death do we seek after thy beauteous body.
+Return to thy dwelling, Osiris!"
+
+Two other priests joined their voices to those of the first two. These
+were Horus and Anubis lamenting for Osiris, and each time they concluded
+a stanza, the chorus, disposed upon the steps of the staircase, repeated
+it to a solemn and sad motif.
+
+Then with the same chant the elder priests brought out of the sanctuary
+the statue of the goddess, no longer covered with the _naos_. A black
+mantle, strewn over with golden stars, now enveloped the goddess from
+head to foot, leaving visible only her silvern feet, entwined by a
+serpent, as well as, over her head, a silvern disc, confined within the
+horns of a cow. And slowly, to the tinkling of the censers and sistra,
+with mournful weeping, the procession of the goddess Isis set out from
+the steps of the altar, down into the temple, along its walls, and in
+and out between the columns.
+
+Thus did the goddess gather up the scattered members of her spouse, that
+she might resuscitate him with the aid of Thoth and Anubis.
+
+"Glory to the city of Abydos, that preserved thy fair head, Osiris.
+
+"Glory to thee, city of Memphis, where we did find the right hand of the
+great god,--the hand of war and protection.
+
+"And to thee also, O city of Sais, that didst harbour the left hand of
+the radiant god,--the hand of justice.
+
+"And be thou blessed, city of Thebes, where the heart of On-Nefer-Hophra
+did repose."
+
+Thus did the goddess make the round of the entire temple, coming back to
+the altar, and more and more passionate and loud did the singing of the
+chorus become. A sacred exaltation was taking possession of the priests
+and those praying. All the parts of the body of Osiris had Isis found,
+save one,--the sacred Phallus, impregnating the maternal womb, creating
+new life eternal. Now was approaching the grandest act in the mystery of
+Osiris and Isis....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Is it thou, Eliab?" the queen asked the youth, who had quietly entered
+the door.
+
+In the darkness near the couch he noiselessly sank at her feet and pressed
+to his lips the hem of her raiment. And the queen felt him weeping with
+rapture, shame, and desire. Lowering her hand upon his curly, tousled
+head, the queen uttered:
+
+"Tell me, Eliab, all that thou knowest of the king and this girl of the
+vineyard."
+
+"How thou dost love him, O queen!" said Eliab with a bitter moan.
+
+"Speak!..." commanded Astis.
+
+"What can I tell thee, queen? My heart is rent by jealousy."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"Never yet has the king loved any as he loveth her. He doth not part
+from her for an instant. His eyes shine with happiness. He lavishes
+favours and gifts all about him. He, the Abimelech[5] and sage,--he,
+like a slave, lieth at her feet and, like a dog, taketh not his eyes
+off her."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"O, how thou dost torture me, queen! And she ... she is all love, all
+tenderness and caresses! She is meek and abashed, she sees and knows
+naught save her love. She arouses wrath, envy, or jealousy in none...."
+
+"Speak!" furiously moaned out the queen, and, clutching with her pliant
+fingers the black curls of Eliab, she pressed his head against her body,
+scratching his face with the silver embroidery of her diaphanous chiton.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And in the meanwhile, at the altar, around the image of the goddess
+covered with its black pall, the priests and priestesses were careering
+in a holy frenzy, with shouts resembling barking, to the clashing of
+tympani and the jarring strum of sistrums.
+
+Certain ones among them were flaying themselves with many-tailed
+whiplashes of rhinoceros hide; others were inflicting long, slashing
+wounds upon their own breasts and shoulders with short knives; others
+still were tearing their mouths with their fingers, tearing at their
+ears, and excoriating their faces with their nails. In the midst of this
+mad round-dance, at the very feet of the goddess, with inconceivable
+rapidity the anchorite from the mountains of Lebanon was whirling on one
+spot, in snowy-white, waving raiment. The head priest alone remained
+motionless. In his hand he was holding the sacred sacrificial knife of
+�thiopian obsidian, ready to pass it over at the ultimate, frightful
+moment.
+
+"The Phallus! The Phallus! The Phallus!" the maddened priests were
+crying in an ecstasy. "Where is thy Phallus, O radiant god? Come,
+fecundate the goddess! Her bosom languishes with desire! Her womb is
+like a desert in the sultry months of summer!"
+
+And now a fearful, insane, piercing scream for an instant drowned all
+sound of the chorus. The priests quickly parted, and all those in the
+temple beheld the anchorite of Lebanon, utterly nude, horrible with his
+tall, gaunt, yellow body. The high priest held out the knife to him. The
+temple grew unbearably still. And he, quickly stooping, made some motion,
+straightened up, and with a wail of pain and rapture suddenly cast at
+the feet of the goddess a formless, bloody piece of flesh.
+
+He was tottering. The high priest carefully supported him, putting his
+arm around his back; led him up to the image of Isis, painstakingly
+covered him with the black pall, and left him thus for a few moments, in
+order that in secret, unseen of the others, he might imprint his kiss
+upon the lips of the impregnated goddess.
+
+Immediately thereafter he was laid upon a stretcher and borne from the
+altar. The priest who kept the gates went outside the temple. He struck
+an enormous copper disc with a wooden mallet, proclaiming to all the
+universe that the great mystery of the fecundation of the goddess had
+been consummated. And the high, singing sound of the copper floated away
+over Jerusalem....
+
+Queen Astis, her body still quivering without cease, threw back Eliab's
+head. Her eyes were aflame with an intense, red fire. And she spake
+slowly, word by word:
+
+"Eliab, wouldst have me make thee king over Jud�a and Israel? Wouldst
+thou be sovereign over all Syria and Mesopotamia, over Phoenicia and
+Babylon?"
+
+"Nay, queen, I desire thee alone...."
+
+"Yea, thou shalt be my lord. All my nights shall belong to thee. My
+every word, my every glance, my every breath shall be thine. Thou
+knowest the shibboleth. Thou shalt go this day into the palace and slay
+them. Thou shalt slay them both! Thou shalt slay them both!"
+
+Eliab was fain to speak. But the queen drew him to her, and her burning
+lips and tongue clung to his mouth. This lasted excruciatingly long.
+Then, suddenly tearing the youth away from her, she said curtly and
+imperiously:
+
+"Go!"
+
+"I go," answered Eliab, submissively.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE
+
+XII.
+
+
+And it was the seventh night of Solomon's great love.
+
+Strangely quiet and deeply tender were the caresses of the king and
+Sulamith on this night. Some pensive melancholy, some cautious timidity,
+some distant premonition, seemed to have cast a slight shadow over their
+words, their kisses and embraces.
+
+Gazing through the window at the sky, where night was already
+vanquishing the sinking flame of the evening, Sulamith let her eyes rest
+upon a bright, bluish star that trembled meekly and tenderly.
+
+"What is that star called, my beloved?" she asked.
+
+"That is the star Sopdit," answered the king. "It is a sacred star.
+Assyrian magi tell us that the souls of all men dwell upon it after the
+death of the body."
+
+"Dost thou believe it, my king?"
+
+Solomon made no reply. His right hand was under Sulamith's head, and his
+left did embrace her; and she felt his aromatic breath upon her,--upon
+her hair, upon her temple.
+
+"Mayhap we shall see each other there, my king, after we have died?"
+asked Sulamith uneasily.
+
+The king again kept silence.
+
+"Give me some answer, beloved," timidly implored Sulamith.
+
+Whereupon the king said:
+
+"Brief is the life of man, but time is without end, and matter hath no
+death. Man dieth and maketh the earth fertile with the corruption of his
+body; the earth nourisheth the blade; the blade bringeth forth grain;
+man consumeth bread, and feedeth his body therewith. Multitudes, and
+multitudes upon multitudes, of ages shall pass; all things in the
+universe repeat themselves,--men, beasts, stones, plants,--all repeat
+themselves. In the multiform vortex of time and matter we, too, are
+repeated, my beloved. It is just as true as that, if thou and I were to
+fill a large bag up to the top with sea gravel, and were to cast therein
+but one precious sapphire,--though we were to take pebbles out of the bag
+many, many times, we still would, sooner or later, draw out the precious
+stone as well. Thou and I will meet, Sulamith, nor shall we know each
+other; but our hearts, with rapture and yearning, will strive to meet,
+for thou and I have already met,--my meek, my fair Sulamith,--though we
+remember it not."
+
+"Nay, my king, nay! I remember. When thou didst stand beneath the window
+and didst call to me: 'My fair, come out, for my locks are filled with
+the drops of the night!' I knew thee, I remembered thee; and fear and
+joy possessed my heart. Tell me, my king,--tell me, Solomon: if I were,
+say, to die on the morrow, wouldst thou recall thy swarthy maiden of the
+vineyard, thy Sulamith?"
+
+And the king, pressing her to his breast, whispered in emotion:
+
+"Never speak thus.... Speak not thus, O Sulamith! Thou art chosen of God,
+thou art the veritable one, thou art the queen of my soul.... Death
+shall not touch thee...."
+
+The strident sound of brass suddenly soared over Jerusalem. For long it
+trembled mournfully and wavered in the air, and when it had grown silent
+its quavering echoes still floated on for a long while.
+
+"This marks the ending of the mystery in the temple of Isis," said the
+king.
+
+"I am afraid, my comely one," whispered Sulamith. "A dark terror has
+penetrated into my soul.... I do not want to die.... I have not yet had
+time to enjoy my fill of thy embraces.... Embrace me.... Press me closer
+to thee.... Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm!..."
+
+"Fear not death, Sulamith! For love is strong as death.... Drive sad
+thoughts from thee.... Wouldst have me tell thee of the wars of David,
+of the feasts and hunts of the Pharaoh Shishak? Wouldst hear one of
+those fairy tales that come from the land of Ophir?... Wouldst have me
+tell thee of the wonders of Bakramaditiah?"
+
+"Yea, my king. Thou dost know thyself that when I hearken to thee, my
+heart doth expand from happiness! But I would ask a boon of thee...."
+
+"O Sulamith, all that thou dost desire! Ask my life of me,--I shall
+render it up to thee with delight. I shall only regret having paid too
+small a price for thy love."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Then Sulamith smiled in the darkness for happiness, and, entwining the
+king with her arms, whispered in his ear:
+
+"I beseech thee, when the morning cometh let us go together there ... to
+the vineyard.... There, where it is green, and the cypresses are, and
+the cedars; where, nigh the stone wall, thou didst take my soul with thy
+hands.... I beseech thee to do this, my beloved.... There will I give
+thee my loves anew...."
+
+In a transport of delight the king kissed the lips of his love.
+
+But Sulamith suddenly raised herself up on the couch and hearkened.
+
+"What is it, my child?... What hath frightened thee?" asked Solomon.
+
+"Stay, my beloved.... Some one is coming hither.... Yea ... I hear
+steps."
+
+She became silent. And the stillness was such that they marked the beating
+of their hearts.
+
+A slight rustling was heard beyond the door, and it was suddenly thrown
+ajar, quickly and without a sound.
+
+"Who is there?" cried out Solomon.
+
+But Sulamith had already sprung up from the bed, and with one move
+dashed toward the dark figure of a man with a gleaming sword in his
+hand. And immediately, stricken through by a short, quick stroke, she
+fell down to the floor with a faint cry, as though of wonder.
+
+Solomon shattered with his hand the screen of carnelian that shaded the
+light of the night-lamp. He beheld Eliab, who was standing near the
+door, stooping a little over the body of the girl, swaying like one in
+wine. The young warrior raised his head under Solomon's gaze, and, when
+his eyes met the wrathful, awesome eyes of the king, he blanched and
+groaned. An expression of despair and terror distorted his features. And
+suddenly, stooping, hiding his face in his mantle, he began timidly,
+like a frightened jackal, to slink out of the room. But the king stayed
+him, saying but three words:
+
+"Who compelled thee?"
+
+All a-tremble and with teeth chattering, with eyes grown white from
+fear, the young warrior let drop dully:
+
+"Queen Astis...."
+
+"Get thee hence," commanded Solomon. "Tell the guard on duty to watch
+thee."
+
+Soon people with lights commenced running through the innumerable rooms
+of the palace. All the chambers were illuminated. The leeches came; the
+friends and the military officers of the king gathered.
+
+The chief leech said:
+
+"King, neither science nor God will now avail. She will die the instant
+we draw out the sword left in her breast."
+
+But at this moment Sulamith came to and said with a calm smile:
+
+"I would drink."
+
+And when she had drunk, her eyes rested with a tender, beautiful smile
+upon the king, nor did she again take them away, the while he stood upon
+his knees before her couch, all naked, even as she, without perceiving
+that his knees were laved in her blood, nor that his hands were
+encrimsoned with the scarlet of her blood.
+
+Thus, with difficulty, gazing upon her beloved and smiling gently, did
+the beautiful Sulamith speak:
+
+"I thank thee, my king, for all things: for thy love, for thy beauty,
+for thy wisdom, to which thou didst allow me to set my lips, as to a
+sweet well of living waters. Let me to kiss thy hands; take them not
+away from my mouth till such time when the last breath shall have fled
+from me. Never has there been, nor ever shall there be, a woman happier
+than I. I thank thee, my king, my beloved, my fair. Think ever and anon
+upon thy slave, upon thy Sulamith, scorched of the sun."
+
+And the king made answer to her, in a deep, slow voice:
+
+"As long as men and women shall love one another; as long as beauty of
+soul and body shall be the best and sweetest dream in the universe,--so
+long, I swear to thee, Sulamith, shall thy name be uttered through many
+ages with emotion and gratefulness."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Toward morning Sulamith ceased to be.
+
+Then did the king rise up, command the means for laving to be brought to
+him, and, donning his most magnificent chiton of purple, broidered with
+golden scarab�, he placed upon his head a crown of blood-red rubies.
+After this he did call Benaiah to him, and spake calmly:
+
+"Benaiah, thou shalt go and put Eliab to death."
+
+But the old man covered his face with his hands and fell prostrate before
+the king.
+
+"Eliab is my grandson, O King."
+
+"Didst thou hear me, Benaiah?"
+
+"Forgive me, O King,--threaten me not with thy wrath; command some other
+to do this. Eliab, having come out of the palace, did run to the temple,
+and caught hold on the horns of the altar. I am old, my death is nigh; I
+dare not take upon my soul this two-fold crime."
+
+But the king retorted:
+
+"Nevertheless, when I did instruct thee to put to death my brother
+Adonijah, who had likewise caught hold on the sacred horns of the altar,
+didst thou not hearken to me, Benaiah?"
+
+"Forgive me! Spare me, King!"
+
+"Lift up thy face," commanded Solomon.
+
+And when Benaiah did raise up his face, and beheld the king's eyes, he
+quickly rose up from the floor and obediently made his way to the exit.
+
+Then, turning to Ahishar, who was the seneschal, and over the household,
+he commanded:
+
+"I do not want to give the queen up to death; let her live as she
+wishes, and die when she wishes. But nevermore shall she behold my
+countenance. This day, Ahishar, thou shalt fit out a caravan and escort
+the queen to the harbour at Jaffa; and thence to �gypt, to the Pharaoh
+Shishak. Now let all get hence."
+
+And, left alone face to face with the body of Sulamith, he long
+contemplated her beautiful features. Her face was pale, and never had it
+been so fair during her life. The half-parted lips that Solomon had been
+kissing but half an hour ago were smiling enigmatically and beautifully;
+and her teeth, still humid, gleamed very faintly from between them.
+
+For long did the king gaze upon his dead leman; then, he softly touched
+with his fingers her brow, already losing the warmth of life, and with
+slow steps withdrew from the chamber.
+
+Beyond the doors the high priest Azariah, son of Zadok, was awaiting
+him. Approaching the king, he asked:
+
+"What shall we do with the body of this woman? It is now the Sabbath."
+
+And the king recalled how, many years ere this, his father had expired
+and lay upon the sand, already beginning to decompose rapidly. Dogs,
+drawn by the scent of carrion, were already prowling about with eyes
+glaring from hunger and greediness. And, even as now, the high priest,
+a decrepit old man, the father of Azariah, had then asked him:
+
+"Here lieth thy father; the dogs may rend his corpse.... What are we to
+do? Honour the memory of the king and profane the Sabbath; or observe
+the Sabbath but leave the corpse of thy father to be devoured of dogs?"
+
+Thereupon Solomon made answer:
+
+"Leave him. A living dog is better than a dead lion."
+
+And when now, after the words of the high priest, he did recall this,
+his heart did contract from sadness and fear.
+
+Having made no answer to the high priest, he went on, into the Hall of
+Judgment.
+
+As always of mornings, two of his scribes, Elihoreph and Ahiah, were
+already reclining upon mats, one on either side of the throne, holding
+in readiness their inks, reeds, and rolls of papyrus. Upon the king's
+entrance they arose and salaamed to the ground before him. And the king
+sat down upon his throne of ivory with ornaments of gold, leant his
+elbow upon the back of a golden lion, and, bowing his head upon his
+palm, commanded:
+
+"Write!
+
+"Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a ring upon thy hand; for love is
+strong as death; jealousy is cruel as hell: the arrows thereof are arrows
+of fire."
+
+And, having kept a silence so prolonged that the scribes held their
+breath in alarm, he said:
+
+"Leave me to myself."
+
+And all day, till the first shadows of evening, did the king remain
+alone with his thoughts; nor durst any enter the vast, empty Hall of
+Judgment.
+
+
+_Tamam Shud_
+
+
+
+
+NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR
+
+
+[Footnote 1: The Russian version of this passage reads: "... jealousy is
+cruel as the grave: the arrows thereof are arrows of fire." In this, I
+have been given to understand, it adheres more closely than does the
+English Bible to the original Hebrew.]
+
+[Footnote 2: "Which _is_ the second month..." _I KINGS; vi:1_.]
+
+[Footnote 3: "Which _is_ the eighth month..." _I KINGS; vi:38_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: "A word fitly spoken _is like_ apples of gold in pictures
+of silver." _PROVERBS; xxv:11_.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Abimelech; _i. e._, Father-King.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity, by 
+Alexandre Kuprin
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SULAMITH: A ROMANCE OF ANTIQUITY ***
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+Project Gutenberg's Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity, by Alexandre Kuprin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity
+
+Author: Alexandre Kuprin
+
+Illustrator: Forbes-Felix
+
+Translator: B. G. Guerney
+
+Release Date: August 16, 2010 [EBook #33444]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SULAMITH: A ROMANCE OF ANTIQUITY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+_Printed in 18 point Caslon on Villon Antique Laid paper. 1500 numbered
+copies were issued for subscribers, and type distributed after printing.
+The illustrations were especially designed for this edition._
+
+
+_This is number_ [1114]
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+SULAMITH
+
+_A Romance of Antiquity_
+
+_By_ ALEXANDRE KUPRIN
+
+Author of "_Yama_" (_The Pit_), etc.
+
+_Translated from the Russian_
+
+By B. G. GUERNEY
+
+with
+
+_Eight full-page illustrations in color_
+
+_By_ FORBES-FELIX
+
+NEW YORK
+
+_Privately Printed for Subscribers_
+
+MCMXXVIII
+
+
+  Copyright by
+  NICHOLAS L. BROWN
+  _All Rights Reserved_
+
+PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+_AUTHOR'S DEDICATION:_
+
+To Ivan Alexeievich Bunin
+
+  A. Kuprin
+
+
+
+
+Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm: for love
+_is_ strong as death; jealousy _is_ cruel as the grave: the coals
+thereof _are_ coals of fire, which _hath_ a most vehement flame.[1]
+
+_THE SONG OF SONGS_
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  Plate One       _Frontispiece_
+  Plate Two                  Page  65
+  Plate Three                Page  85
+  Plate Four                 Page 101
+  Plate Five                 Page 129
+  Plate Six                  Page 161
+  Plate Seven                Page 185
+  Plate Eight                Page 209
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE
+
+I.
+
+
+King Solomon had not yet attained middle age--forty-five; yet the fame
+of his wisdom and comeliness, of the grandeur of his life and the pomp
+of his court, had spread far beyond the limits of Palestine. In Assyria
+and Phoenicia; in Lower and Upper AEgypt; from ancient Tabriz to Yemen
+and from Ismar unto Persepolis; on the coast of the Black Sea and upon
+the islands of the Mediterranean,--all uttered his name in wonder, for
+there was none among the kings like unto him in all his days.
+
+In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were
+come out of AEgypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in
+the month of Zif,[2] did the king undertake the erection of the great
+temple of the Lord in Mount Moriah, and the building of his palace in
+Jerusalem. Fourscore thousand stonesquarers and threescore and ten
+thousand that bare burthens wrought without cease in the mountains, and
+in the outskirts of the city; while ten thousand hewers that cut timber,
+out of a number of eight and thirty thousand, were sent each month, by
+courses, to Lebanon, where they spent a month in labour so arduous that
+they rested for two months thereafter. Thousands of men tied the cut
+trees into flotes, and hundreds of seamen brought them by sea to Jaffa,
+where they were fashioned by Tyrians, skilled to work at turning and
+carpentry. Only at the rearing of the pyramids of Khephren, Khufu, and
+Mencheres, at Ghizeh, had such an infinite multitude of labourers been
+used.
+
+Three thousand and six hundred officers oversaw the works; while
+Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over the officers,--a cruel man and an
+active, concerning whom had sprung up a rumour that he never slept,
+devoured by the fire of an internal, incurable disease. As for the
+plans of the palace and the temple; the drawings of the columns, the
+fore-court, and the brasen sea; the designs for the windows; the
+ornaments of the walls and the thrones,--they had all been created by
+the master builder Hiram-Abiah of Sidon, the son of a worker in brass
+of the tribe of Naphtali.
+
+After seven years, in the month of Bul,[3] the temple of the Lord was
+completed; and after thirteen years, the palace of the king also. For
+cedar logs out of Lebanon, for cypress and olive boards, for almug,
+shittim, and tarshish woods, for great stones, costly stones, and hewed
+and polished stones; for purple, scarlet, and for byssin broidered in
+gold; for stuffs of blue wool; for ivory and red-dyed rams' skins; for
+iron, onyx, and the vast quantity of marble; for precious stones; for
+the chains, the wreaths, the cords, the tongs, the nets, the lavers,
+and the flowers and the lamps and the candlesticks,--all, all of gold;
+for the hinges of gold for the doors, and the nails of gold, weighing
+sixty shekels each; for the basons and platters of beaten gold; for
+ornaments,--graven and in mosaic; for the images of lions, cherubim,
+oxen, palms and pineapples, both hewn in stone and molten,--for all
+these did Solomon give Hiram, King of Tyre, who bore the same name as
+the master builder, twenty cities and hamlets in the land of Galilee,
+and Hiram found the gift insignificant. With such splendour had been
+built the temple of the Lord, and the palace of Solomon, and the little
+palace at Millo for the king's wife, the beautiful Queen Astis, daughter
+to Shishak, Pharaoh of AEgypt; while the redwood which later went for the
+balustrades and stairs of the galleries, for the musical instruments and
+for the bindings of the sacred books, had been brought as a gift to
+Solomon by the Queen of Sheba, the wise and beautiful Balkis, together
+with such a quantity of aromatic incense, sweet smelling oils, and
+precious perfumes, as had never been seen before in the land of Israel.
+
+With each year did the riches of the king increase. Thrice a year
+did his ships return to harbour: the Tarshish, that sailed the
+Mediterranean, and the Hiram, that sailed the Black Sea. They brought
+out of Africa ivory and apes and peacocks and antelopes; richly adorned
+chariots out of AEgypt; live tigers and lions, as well as animal pelts
+and furs, out of Mesopotamia; snow-white steeds out of Cuth; gold dust
+out of Parvaam that came to six hundred and threescore talents in one
+year; redwood, ebony and sandalwood out of the land of Ophir; gay rugs
+of Asshur and Calah, of marvelous designs,--the friendly gifts of King
+Tiglath-Pileser; artistic mosaic out of Nineveh, Nimroud, and Sargon;
+wondrous figured stuffs out of Khatuar; goblets of beaten gold out
+of Tyre; stained glass out of Sidon; and out of Punt, which is near
+Bab-el-Medebu, those rare perfumes,--nard, aloes, calamus, cinnamon,
+saffron, amber, musk, stacte, galbanum, Smyrna myrrh, and
+frankincense,--for the possession of which the AEgyptian pharaohs had
+more than once embarked upon bloody wars.
+
+As for silver, it was accounted of as common stone in the days of
+Solomon, and redwood was of no more value than the common sycamores that
+grow in the low plains in abundance.
+
+Pools of stone, lined with porphyry, and marble cisterns and cool
+fountains did the king build, commanding the water to be conveyed from
+mountain springs that plunged down into the Kidron's torrent; while
+around the palace he planted gardens and groves, and cultivated a
+vineyard in Baal-hamon.
+
+And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for mules and for the horses for
+his chariots, and twelve thousand for his cavalry; barley also and straw
+for the horses were brought daily from the provinces. Thirty measures of
+fine flour, and threescore measures of other meal; an hundred baths of
+different wines; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and
+three hundred sheep, not counting harts and roebucks, and fallowdeer,
+and fatted fowl,--all this, passing through the hands of twelve officers,
+went daily for the table of Solomon, as well as for his court, his
+retinue, and his guard. Threescore warriors, out of a number of five
+hundred of the most stalwart and most valiant in all his army, held
+watch by turns in the inner chambers of the palace. Five hundred
+bucklers, covered with plates of gold, did the king command to be made
+for his bodyguards.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO
+
+II.
+
+
+Whatsoever the eyes of the king might desire, he kept not from them; and
+withheld not his heart from any joy. Seven hundred wives had the king,
+and three hundred concubines, without counting slaves and dancers. And
+all of them did Solomon charm with his love, for God had endowed him
+with such an inexhaustible strength of passion as was not given to
+ordinary men.
+
+He loved the white-faced, black-eyed, red-lipped Hittites for their
+vivid but momentary beauty, that bursts into blossom just as early and
+enchantingly, and fades just as rapidly as the flower of the narcissus;
+the swarthy, tall, vehement Philistines, with wiry, curly locks, who wore
+golden, tinkling armlets upon their wrists, golden hoops upon their
+shoulders, and broad anklets, joined by a thin little chain, upon both
+ankles; gentle, diminutive, lithe Ammorites formed without a blemish,
+whose faithfulness and submissiveness in love had passed into a proverb;
+women out of Assyria, who put their eyes in painting to make them seem
+more elongated, and who ate out with acid blue stars upon their
+foreheads and cheeks; well-schooled, gay and witty daughters of Sidon,
+who knew well how to sing and dance, as well as to play upon harps,
+lutes and flutes, to the accompaniment of tabours; xanthochroous women
+of AEgypt, indefatigable in love and insane in jealousy; voluputous
+Babylonians, whose entire body underneath their raiment was as smooth
+as marble, because they eradicated the hair upon it with a special
+paste; virgins of Baktria, who stained their nails and hair a fiery-red
+colour, and wore wide, loose trowsers; silent, bashful Moabites, whose
+magnificent breasts were cool on the sultriest nights of summer;
+care-free and profligate Ammonites, with fiery hair, and flesh of such
+whiteness that it glowed in the dark; frail, blue-eyed women with flaxen
+hair, and skin of a delicate fragrance, who were brought from the north,
+through Baalbec, and whose tongue was incomprehensible to all the
+dwellers in Palestine. The king loved many daughters of Judaea and Israel
+besides.
+
+Also shared he his couch with Balkis-Makkedah, the Queen of Sheba, who
+had surpassed all women on earth in beauty, wisdom, riches, and her
+diversified art in passion; and with Abishag the Shunamite, who had
+warmed the old age of David,--a kindly, quiet beauty, for whose sake
+Solomon had put to death his elder brother Adonijah, at the hands of
+Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada.
+
+And also with the poor maiden of the vineyard, by the name of Sulamith,
+whom alone among all women the king had loved with all his heart.
+
+Solomon made himself a litter of the best cedar wood, with pillars of
+silver, with arm-rests of gold in the form of recumbent lions, with a
+covering of purple Tyrian stuff, while the entire inner side of the
+covering was ornamented with gold embroidery and with precious
+stones,--the love-gifts of the women and virgins of Jerusalem. And when
+well-built black slaves bore Solomon among his people on grand festal
+days, truly was the king glorious, like the lilies that are in the
+Valley of Sharon!
+
+Pale was his face; his lips like unto a vivid thread of scarlet; his
+wavy locks a bluish black, and in them--the adornment of wisdom--gleamed
+gray hairs, like to the silver threads of mountain streams, falling down
+from the dark crags of Hermon; gray hairs glistened in his dark beard
+also, curled, after the custom of the kings of Assyria, in regular,
+small rows.
+
+As for the eyes of the king, they were dark, like the darkest agate, like
+the heavens on a moonless night in summer; while his eye-lashes, that
+spread upward and downward like arrows, resembled dark rays around dark
+stars. And there was no man in all the universe who could bear the gaze
+of Solomon without casting down his eyes. And the lightnings of wrath in
+the eyes of the king would prostrate people to the earth.
+
+But there were moments of heartfelt merriment, when the king would grow
+intoxicated with love, or wine, or the delight of power, or when he
+rejoiced over words of wisdom or beauty, fitly spoken. Then his lashes
+would be softly half-lowered, casting blue shadows upon his radiant
+face, and in the king's eyes would kindle the warm flames of a kindly,
+tender laughter, just like the play of black diamonds; and whosoever
+might behold this smile was ready to yield up body and soul for it--so
+indescribably beautiful was it. The mere name of King Solomon, uttered
+aloud, stirred the hearts of women, like the fragrance of spilt myrrh
+that recalls nights of love.
+
+The king's hands were soft, white, warm and beautiful, like a woman's;
+but they held such an excess of life energy that, by the laying on
+of his palms upon the temples of the sick, the king cured headaches,
+convulsions, black melancholy, and demoniacal possession. Upon the index
+finger of his left hand the king wore a gem of blood-red asteria that
+emitted six pearl-coloured rays. Many centuries did this ring number,
+and upon the reverse side of its stone was graven an inscription, in the
+tongue of an ancient, vanished people: "All things pass away."
+
+And so great was the sway of Solomon's soul that even beasts submitted
+to it; lions and tigers crawled at the feet of the king, rubbing their
+muzzles against his knees, and licking his hands with their rough
+tongues, whenever he entered their quarters. And he, whose heart found
+joy in the dazzling play of precious stones, in the fragrance of
+sweet-smelling AEgyptian resins, in the soft touch of light stuffs, in
+sweet music, in the exquisite taste of red, sparkling wine playing in
+a chased Ninuanian chalice,--he also loved to stroke the coarse manes
+of lions, the velvety backs of black panthers, and the tender paws
+of young, speckled leopards; loved to hear the roar of wild beasts, to
+see their powerful and superb movements, and to feel the hot feral odour
+of their breath.
+
+Thus did Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the historian of his days,
+depict King Solomon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE
+
+III.
+
+
+"Because thou hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked
+riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast
+asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold, I have done
+according to thy words; lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding
+heart: so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee
+shall any arise like unto thee."
+
+Thus spake God unto Solomon, and through His word did the king come to
+know the structure of the universe and the working of the elements; to
+fathom the beginning, end, and midst of all ages; to penetrate the
+mystery of the eternal, wave-like and rotating recurrence of events;
+from the astronomers of Byblos, Acre, Sargon, Borsippa and Nineveh did
+he learn to watch the yearly orbits of the stars and the changes in
+their positions. He knew also the nature of all animals and divined the
+feelings of beasts; he understood the source and direction of winds, the
+different properties of plants, and the potency of healing herbs.
+
+The designs in the heart of man are deep waters, but even them could
+the king fathom. In the words and voice, in the eyes, in the motions
+of the hands, he read the innermost mysteries of souls as plainly as
+the characters of an open book. And because of that, from all ends of
+Palestine, there came to him a vast multitude of people, imploring
+judgment, advice, help, the settlement of some dispute, as well as the
+solving of incomprehensible portents and dreams. And men would marvel
+at the profundity and finesse of Solomon's answers.
+
+Three thousand proverbs did Solomon compose, and his songs were a
+thousand and five. He dictated them to two skilled and rapid scribes:
+Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, and afterwards collated
+what both had written. Always did he clothe his thoughts in choice
+expressions, for a word fitly spoken is like an apple of gold in a bowl
+of translucent sardonyx;[4] and also for that the words of the wise are
+as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which
+are given from one Shepherd. "A word is a spark in the motion of the
+heart,"--thus saith the king. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom
+of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of the
+AEgyptians. For he was above all men in wisdom; wiser than Ethan the
+Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dardra, the sons of Mahol. But he
+was already beginning to weary of the beauty of ordinary human wisdom,
+and no longer did it have its former value in his eyes. With a restless
+and searching mind did he thirst after that higher wisdom, which the
+Lord possessed in the beginning of His way, before His works of old, set
+up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was; that
+wisdom which was His great artificer when He set a compass upon the
+face of the deep. And Solomon found it not.
+
+The king mastered the teachings of the magi of Chaldaea and Nineveh; the
+science of the astrologers of Abydos, Sais, and Memphis; the secrets of
+the Assyrian sorcerers, mystagogues, and epopts, and of the fatidicae of
+Baktria and Persepolis; and he had become convinced that their knowledge
+was but the knowledge of mortals.
+
+Also did he seek for wisdom in the occult rites of ancient pagan faiths,
+and for that reason visited idol-temples and offered up oblations to the
+mighty Baal-Lebanon, who was honoured under the name of Melkart,--the
+god of creation and destruction, the patron of navigation in Tyre and
+Sidon,--called Ammon in the Oasis of Sibakh, where his idol would nod his
+head to indicate the routes to festal processions; called Bel by the
+Chaldaeans, and Moloch by the Canaanites. He also bowed down before his
+spouse,--the dread and passionate Astarte, who bore in other temples the
+names of Ishtar, Isaar, Baaltis, Ashera, Istar-Belet, and Atargatis.
+He libated holy oil and burnt incense before Isis and Osiris of
+AEgypt,--sister and brother, joined in wedlock while still in the womb
+of their mother and there conceiving the god Horus; and before Derketo,
+the pisciform Tyrian goddess; and before Anubis of the dog's head, the
+god of embalming; and before the Babylonian Cannes; and Dagon of the
+Philistines; and the Assyrian Abdenago; and Utsabu, the Ninevehian idol;
+and the sombre Kybele; and Bel Marduk, the patron of Babylon,--the god of
+the planet Jupiter; and the Chaldaean Or,--the god of eternal fire; and
+the mystic Omorca, the first mother of the gods, whom Bel had cloven in
+two parts, creating heaven and earth out of them, and out of her head,
+men; and the king bowed down also before the goddess Anaitis, in whose
+honour the virgins of Phoenicia, Lydia, Armenia and Persia gave up
+their bodies to passers-by, as a sacred offering, at the threshold of
+temples.
+
+But the king found in the pagan rites nought save drunkenness, night
+orgies, lechery, incest, and lusts contrary to nature; and in their
+dogmas he perceived vain discourse and deception. But he forbade none
+of his subjects to offer up sacrifices to a favourite god, and he
+even built upon the Mount of Olives an idol-temple for Chemosh, the
+abomination of Moab, at the supplication of the beautiful, pensive
+Ellaan, the Moabite, the then favorite wife of the king. One thing
+only could not Solomon abide and pursued with death,--the bringing
+of children in sacrifice.
+
+And he saw in his seekings that that which befalleth the sons of men
+befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them: as one dieth, so
+dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no
+preeminence above a beast. And the king understood, that in much wisdom
+is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. He
+also learned that even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end
+of mirth is heaviness. And so one morning he dictated to Elihoreph and
+Ahiah:
+
+"'All is vanity of vanities and vexation of spirits'--thus saith
+Ecclesiastes."
+
+But at that time the king did not yet know that God would soon send him
+a love so tender and ardent, so devoted and beautiful,--more precious in
+itself than riches, fame, and wisdom; more precious than life itself,
+for it values not even life, nor hath fear of death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR
+
+IV.
+
+
+The king had a vineyard at Baal-hamon, upon the southern slope of
+Bath-El-Khav, to the south of the idol-temple of Moloch; thither
+did the king love to withdraw in the hours of his great meditations.
+Pomegranate,--olive,--and wild apple-trees, interspersed with cedars and
+cypresses, bordered it on three sides upon the mountain, while on the
+fourth it was fenced off from the road by a high stone wall. And other
+vineyards, lying about, also belonged to Solomon; he let them out unto
+keepers, each one for a thousand pieces of silver.
+
+Only with the dawn came to an end in the palace the magnificent feast
+which the King of Israel was giving in honour of the emissaries of the
+King of Assyria, the good Tiglath-Pileser. Despite his fatigue, Solomon
+could not fall asleep this morn. Neither wine nor hippocras had befogged
+the stout heads of the Assyrians, nor loosened their canny tongues. But
+the penetrating mind of the wise king had already forestalled their
+plans, and was, in its turn, already weaving a fine political net,
+wherein he would enmesh these proud men with supercilious eyes and of
+flattering speech. Solomon would be able to preserve the necessary amity
+with the potentate of Assyria, yet at the same time, for the sake of
+his eternal friendship with Hiram of Tyre, would save from pillage the
+latter's kingdom, which, with its countless riches, hid in subterranean
+vaults underneath narrow streets, had for a long time drawn the covetous
+gazes of oriental sovereigns.
+
+And so at dawn Solomon had commanded himself to be borne to Mount
+Bath-El-Khav; had left the litter far down the road, and is now seated
+alone upon a simple wooden bench, above the vineyard, under the shade of
+the trees, still hiding in their branches the dewy chill of night. The
+king has on a simple white mantle, fastened at the right shoulder and
+at the left side by two AEgyptian clasps of green gold, in the shape of
+curled crocodiles,--the symbol of the god Sebekh. The hands of the king
+lie motionless upon his knees, while his eyes, overshadowed by deep
+thought, unwinking, are directed toward the east, in the direction of
+the Dead Sea,--there, where from the rounded summit of Anaze the sun is
+rising in the flame of dawn.
+
+The morning wind is blowing from the east and spreads the fragrance of
+the grape in blossom,--a delicate fragrance, like that of mignonette and
+mulled wine. The dark cypresses sway their slender tops pompously and
+pour out their resinous breath. The silvery-green leaves of the olives
+hurriedly converse among themselves.
+
+But now Solomon arises and hearkens carefully. An endearing feminine
+voice, clear and pure as this dewy morn, is singing somewhere not far
+off, beyond the trees. The simple and tender motive runs on and on, of
+its own accord, like a ringing rill in the mountains, repeating the five
+or six notes, always the same. And its unpretentious, exquisite charm
+calls forth a smile in the eyes of the touched king.
+
+Nearer and nearer sounds the voice. Now it is already here, alongside,
+behind the spreading cedars, behind the dark verdure of the junipers.
+Then the king cautiously parts the branches with his hands, quietly
+makes his way between the prickly branches, and comes out upon an open
+place.
+
+Before him, beyond the low wall, rudely built of great yellow stones,
+the vineyard spreads upward. A girl, in a light garment of blue, walks
+between the rows of vines, bending down over something below, and again
+straightening up, and she is singing. Her ruddy hair flames in the sun:
+
+  The breath of the day is coolness,
+  And the shadows flee away.
+  Turn, my beloved,
+  And be thou like a roe or a young hart,
+  Within the clefts of the rocks....
+
+Thus sings she, tying up the grapevines, and slowly descends, nearer and
+nearer the stone wall behind which the king is standing. She is alone,
+none sees nor hears her; the scent of the grapes in blossom, the joyous
+freshness of the morning, and the warm blood in her heart are like
+wine unto her, and now the words of the naive little song are born
+spontaneously upon her lips and are carried away by the wind, to be
+forgotten forever:
+
+  Take us the foxes,
+  The little foxes
+  That spoil the vines:
+  For our vines have tender grapes.
+
+In this manner does she reach the very wall, and, without noticing the
+king, turns about and walks on, climbing the hill lightly, along the
+neighbouring row of vines. Now her song sounds less distinctly:
+
+  Make haste, my beloved,
+  And be thou like to a roe or a young hart
+  Upon the mountains of spices.
+
+But suddenly she grows silent and bends so low to the ground that she
+can not be seen behind the vines.
+
+Then Solomon utters in a voice that caresses the ear:
+
+"Maiden, show me thy face; let me hear thy voice anew."
+
+She straightens up quickly and turns her face to the king. A strong wind
+arises at this second and flutters the light garment upon her, suddenly
+making it cling tightly around her body and between her legs. And the
+king, for an instant, until she turns her back to the wind, sees all of
+her beneath the raiment, as though naked,--tall and graceful, in the
+vigorous bloom of thirteen years; sees her little, round, firm breasts
+and the elevations of her nipples, from which the cloth spreads out in
+rays; and the virginal abdomen, round as a bason; and the deep line that
+divides her legs from the bottom to the top, and there parts in two,
+toward the rounded hips.
+
+"For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance comely," says Solomon.
+
+She draws nearer and gazes upon the king with trembling and with
+rapture. Her swarthy and vivid face is inexpressibly beautiful. Her
+heavy, thick, dark-red hair, into which she has stuck two flowers of the
+scarlet poppy, covers her shoulders in countless resilient ringlets and
+spreads over her back, and, transpierced by the rays of the sun, glows
+in flame, like aureate purple. A necklace which she had made herself out
+of some red, dried berries, naively winds twice about her long, dark,
+slender neck.
+
+"I did not notice thee!" she says gently, and her voice sounds like the
+song of a flute. "Whence didst thou come?"
+
+"Thou sangst so well, maiden!"
+
+She bashfully casts down her eyes and turns red, but beneath her long
+lashes and in the corners of her lips trembles a secret smile.
+
+"Thou sangst of thy dear. He is as light as a roe, as a young hart upon
+the mountains. For he is very fair, thy dear,--is not that the truth,
+maiden?"
+
+Her laughter is ringing and musical, as though silver were falling upon
+a golden platter.
+
+"I have no dear. It is but a song. I have yet had no dear...."
+
+For a minute they are silent, and intently, without smiling, gaze at
+each other.... Birds loudly call one another among the trees. The
+maiden's bosom quickly rises and falls under the worn linen.
+
+"I do believe thee, beautiful one. Thou art so fair...."
+
+"Thou dost mock me. Behold, how black I am...."
+
+She lifts up her small, dark arms, and the broad sleeves lightly slide
+down towards her shoulders, baring her elbows, that have such a slender
+and rounded outline.
+
+And she says plaintively:
+
+"My brethren were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the
+vineyard,--and now behold how the sun hath scorched me."
+
+"O, nay, the sun hath made thee still more fair, thou fairest among
+women. Lo, thou hast smiled,--and thy teeth are like white twin-lambs,
+which come up from the washing, and none among them hath a blemish. Thy
+cheeks are like the halves of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy lips
+are scarlet,--yea, pleasant to gaze upon. As for thy hair ... Dost know
+what thy hair is like? Hast thou ever beheld a flock of sheep come down
+from Mount Gilead at eve? It covers all the mountain, from summit to
+foot, and from the light of the evening glow and from the dust it seems
+even as ruddy and as wavy as thy locks. Thine eyes are as deep as the
+two fishponds in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim. O, how fair art
+thou! Thy neck is straight and graceful, like the tower of David!..."
+
+"Like the tower of David!" she repeats in rapture.
+
+"Yea, yea, thou fairest among women. A thousand bucklers hang upon the
+tower of David, all shields of vanquished chieftains. Lo, I hang my
+shield also upon thy tower...."
+
+"O, speak on, speak on...."
+
+"And when thou didst turn around in answer to my call, and the wind
+arose, I did see beneath thy raiment thy two nipples and methought:
+Here be two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. This
+thy stature was like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of
+grapes."
+
+The girl cries out faintly, hides her face with her palms, and her bosom
+with her elbows, and blushes so that even her ears and neck turn
+crimson.
+
+"And I saw thy hips. They are shapely, like a precious vase, the work of
+the hands of a cunning workman. Take away thy hands, therefore, maiden.
+Show me thy face."
+
+She submissively let her hands drop. A deep, golden radiance glows from
+the eyes of Solomon and casts a spell over her, makes her head dizzy,
+and in a sweet, warm tremour streams over the skin of her body.
+
+"Tell me, who art thou?" she says slowly, in perplexity. "Never have I
+seen any like to thee."
+
+"I am a shepherd, my beauty. I graze my splendid flocks of white lambs
+upon the mountains, where the green grass is pied with narcissi. Wilt
+thou not come with me, unto my pasture?"
+
+But she quietly shakes her head:
+
+"Canst thou think that I will believe this? Thy face has not grown rough
+from the wind, nor is it scorched by the sun, and thy hands are white.
+Thou hast on a costly chiton, and the buckle upon it is worth the yearly
+rental that my brothers bring for our vineyard to Adoniram, the king's
+tax-gatherer. Thou hast come from yonder, from beyond the wall. Thou
+art, surely, one of the men near to the king? Meseems I saw thee once
+upon the day of a great festival; I even remember running after thy
+chariot."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Thou hast guessed it, maiden. It is hard to be hid from thee. And
+verily, why shouldst thou be a wanderer nigh the flocks of the
+shepherds? Yea, I am one of the king's retinue. I am the chief cook of
+the king. And thou didst see me when I rode in the chariot of Ammi-nadib
+on the gala-day of Passover. But why dost thou stand distant from me?
+Draw nearer, my sister! Sit down here upon the stones of the wall and
+tell me something of thyself. Tell me thy name."
+
+"Sulamith," she says.
+
+"Then, Sulamith, why have thy brothers grown wroth with thee?"
+
+"I am ashamed to speak of it. They received moneys from the sale of their
+wine, and sent me to the city to buy bread and goat-cheese. But I ..."
+
+"And thou didst lose the money?"
+
+"Nay, still worse...."
+
+She bends her head low and whispers:
+
+"Besides bread and cheese I bought a little of attar of roses,--oh, so
+little!--from the AEgyptians in the old city."
+
+"And thou didst keep this from thy brethren?"
+
+"Yea...."
+
+And she utters in a barely audible voice:
+
+"Attar of roses hath so goodly a smell!"
+
+The king caressingly strokes her little rough hand.
+
+"Surely, thou must be lonesome, all alone in thy vineyard?"
+
+"Nay, I work, I sing.... At noon food is brought me, and at evening one
+of my brothers relieves me. At times I dig for the roots of the
+mandragora, that look like little mannikins.... The Chaldaean merchants
+buy them from us. It is said they make a sleeping potion out of them....
+Tell me, is it true that the berries of the mandragora help in love?"
+
+"Nay, Sulamith, only love can help in love. Tell me, hast thou a father
+or a mother?"
+
+"Only a mother. My father died two years ago. My brethren are all older
+than I,--they are from the first marriage; only my sister and I have
+sprung from the second."
+
+"Is thy sister as comely as thou?"
+
+"She is little. She is but nine."
+
+The king laughs quietly, embraces Sulamith, draws her to him, and
+whispers into her ear:
+
+"Therefore, she hath no such breast as thine? A breast as proud, as
+warm?..."
+
+She is silent, burning with shame and happiness. Her eyes glow and grow
+dim, with the mist of a happy smile over them. The king feels the
+riotous beating of her heart within his hand.
+
+"The warmth of thy garments hath a goodlier smell than myrrh, than
+nard," he is saying, avidly touching her ear with his lips. "And when
+thou breathest, the smell of thy nostrils is like that of apples unto
+me. My sister, my beloved, thou hast ravished my heart with one glance
+of thy eyes, with one chain of thy neck."
+
+"O, gaze not upon me!" implores Sulamith. "Thine eyes stir me."
+
+But of her own accord she bends backward and lays her head upon
+Solomon's breast. Her lips glow over the gleaming teeth, her eyelids
+tremble with intense desire. Solomon's lips cling greedily to her
+enticing mouth. He feels the flame of her lips and the slipperiness of
+her teeth, and the sweet moistness of her tongue; and he is all consumed
+of an unbearable desire, such as he has never yet known in his life.
+
+Thus passes one minute; then two.
+
+"What dost thou with me!" says Sulamith faintly, closing her eyes.
+
+But Solomon passionately whispers near her very mouth:
+
+"Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under
+thy tongue.... O, come away with me, speedily. Here, behind the wall, it
+is dark and cool. None shall see us. The green is soft here underneath
+the cedars."
+
+"Nay, nay, leave me. I desire it not, I can not."
+
+"Sulamith ... thou dost desire it, thou dost desire it.... Come to me,
+my sister, my beloved!"
+
+Some one's steps resound below, upon the highway, below the wall of the
+vineyard, but Solomon detains the frightened girl by her hand.
+
+"Tell me, quickly,--where dwellest thou? This night shall I come to thee,"
+he is hurriedly saying.
+
+"Nay, nay, nay ... I shall not tell thee this. Let me go. I shall not
+tell thee."
+
+"I shall not let thee go, Sulamith, till thou dost tell.... My desire is
+unto thee!"
+
+"It is well, I shall tell thee.... But first promise not to come this
+night.... Also, come thou not the following night ... nor the night
+after that ... My king! I charge thee by the roes and the hinds of the
+field, that thou stir not up thy beloved till she please!"
+
+"Yea, I pledge thee this.... Where is thy dwelling, Sulamith?"
+
+"If on the way to the city thou dost pass over the Kidron, upon the
+bridge above Siloam, thou shalt see our dwelling nigh the spring.
+There are no other dwellings there."
+
+"And which is thy window there, Sulamith?"
+
+"Why shouldst thou know this, beloved? O, gaze not thus upon me. Thy
+gaze casts a spell over me.... Do not kiss me.... Beloved, kiss me
+again...."
+
+"But which is thy window, my only one?"
+
+"The window on the south side. Ah, I must not tell thee this.... A
+small, high window with a lattice."
+
+"And doth the lattice open from within?"
+
+"Nay, it is a fixed window. But around the corner is a door. It leads
+directly into the room where I sleep with my sister. But thou hast
+promised me!... My sister sleeps lightly. O, how fair art thou, my
+beloved! Truly, hast thou not promised?"
+
+Solomon quietly smoothes her hair and cheeks.
+
+"I shall come to thee this night," he says insistently. "At midnight I
+shall come. Thus, thus shall it be. I desire it."
+
+"Beloved!"
+
+"Nay. Thou shalt await me. But have no fear, and put thy trust in me. I
+shall cause thee no grief. I shall give thee such joy compared with
+which all things upon earth are without significance. Now farewell. I
+hear them coming after me."
+
+"Farewell, my beloved ... O, nay, go not yet! Tell me thy name,--I know
+it not."
+
+For a moment, as though undecided, he lowers his lashes, but immediately
+raises them again.
+
+"The King and I have the same name. I am called Solomon. Farewell. I
+love thee."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE
+
+V.
+
+
+Radiant and joyous was Solomon upon this day, as he sat upon his throne
+in the hall of the House at Lebanon and meted out justice to the people
+who came before him.
+
+Forty columns, four in a row, supported the ceiling of the Hall of
+Judgment, and they were all faced with cedar and terminated in capitals
+in the form of lilies; the floor consisted of cypress boards, all of
+a piece; nor was the stone upon the walls to be seen anywhere for the
+cedar finish, ornamented with gold carving, shewing palms, pineapples,
+and cherubim. In the depth of the hall, with its triple-tiered windows,
+six steps led up to the elevation of the throne, and upon each step stood
+two bronze lions, one on each side. The throne itself was of ivory with
+gold incrustation and with elbow-rests of gold, in the form of recumbent
+lions. The high back of the throne was surmounted by a golden disc.
+Curtains of violet and purple stuffs hung from the ceiling down to the
+floor at the entrance to the hall, dividing off the entry, where between
+the columns thronged the plaintiffs, supplicants, and witnesses, as well
+as the accused and the criminals under a strong guard.
+
+The king had on a red chiton, while upon his head was a simple, narrow
+crown of sixty beryls, set in gold. At his right hand stood the throne
+for his mother, Bathsheba; but of late, owing to her declining years,
+she rarely showed herself in the city.
+
+The Assyrian guests, with austere, black-bearded faces, were seated
+along the walls upon benches of jasper; they had on garments of a light
+olive colour, broidered at the edges with designs of red and white.
+While still at home, in their native Assyria, they had heard so much
+of the justice of Solomon that they tried to let no single word of
+his slip by, in order to tell later of the judgment of the King of the
+Israelites. Among them sat the commanders of Solomon's armies, his
+ministers, the governors of his provinces, and his courtiers. Here was
+Benaiah, at one time executioner to the king; the slayer of Joab,
+Adonijah, and Shimei,--a short, corpulent old man, with a sparse,
+long, gray beard; his faded, bluish eyes, rimmed by red lids that seemed
+turned inside out, had a look of senile dullness; his mouth was open
+and moist, while his fleshy, red lower lip drooped down impotently, and
+was slightly trembling. Here also were Azariah, the son of Nathan,--a
+jaundiced, tall man, with a lean, sickly face and dark rings under his
+eyes; and the good-natured, absent-minded Jehoshaphat, historiographer;
+and Ahishar, who was over the court of Solomon; and Zabud, who bore the
+high title of the King's Friend; and Ben-Abinadab, which had Taphath,
+the eldest daughter of Solomon, to wife; and Ben-Geber, the officer over
+the region of Argob, which is in Bashan: to him pertained threescore
+cities, surrounded by walls, with gates of brasen bars; and Baanah, the
+son of Hushai, at one time famed for his skill in casting a spear to the
+distance of thirty parasangs; and many others. Sixty warriors, their
+helmets and shields gleaming, stood in a rank to the left of the throne
+and the right; their head officer this day was the handsome Eliab, of
+the black locks, son of Ahilud.
+
+The first to come before Solomon with his complaint was one Achior, a
+lapidary by trade. Working in Bel of Phoenicia he had found a precious
+stone, had cut and polished it, and had asked his friend Zachariah, who
+was setting out for Jerusalem, to give the stone to his--Achior's--wife.
+After some time Achior also returned home. The first thing that he asked
+about upon beholding his wife was the stone. But she was very much amazed
+at her husband's question, and repeated under oath that she had received
+no stone of any sort. Whereupon Achior set out for an explanation to his
+friend Zachariah, but he asseverated, and also to an oath, that he had,
+immediately upon arrival, given the stone over as instructed. He even
+brought witnesses, who affirmed having seen Zachariah give the stone in
+their presence to the wife of Achior.
+
+And now all four,--Achior, Zachariah, and the two witnesses,--were
+standing before the throne of the King of Israel.
+
+Solomon gazed into the eyes of each one in turn and said to the guard:
+
+"Lead each one to a separate chamber, and lock up each one apart."
+
+And when this was done, he ordered four pieces of unbaked clay to be
+brought.
+
+"Let each one of them," willed the king, "fashion out of clay that form
+which the stone had."
+
+After some time the moulds were ready. But one of the witnesses had made
+his mould in the shape of a horse's head, as precious stones were
+usually fashioned; the other, in the shape of a sheep's head; only two
+of them--Achior and Zachariah--had their moulds alike, resembling in
+form a woman's breast.
+
+And the king spake:
+
+"Now it is evident even to one blind that the witnesses are bribed by
+Zachariah. And so, let Zachariah return the stone to Achior, and together
+with it pay him thirty shekels, of this city, of law costs, and give ten
+shekels to the priests for the temple. As for the self-revealed witnesses,
+let them pay into the treasury five shekels each for bearing false
+witness."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Three brothers then drew nigh to Solomon's throne; they were at court
+about an inheritance. Their father had told them before his death: "That
+ye may not quarrel at division, I myself shall apportion ye in justice.
+When I die, go beyond the knoll that is in the midst of the grove behind
+the house, and dig therein. There shall ye find a box with three
+divisions: know, that the topmost is for the eldest brother; the middle
+one for the second; the lowest for the youngest." And when, after his
+death, they had gone, and had done as he had willed, they had found that
+the topmost division was filled to the top with golden coins, whereas in
+the middle one were lying only common bones, and in the lowest naught
+but pieces of wood. And so among the younger brothers arose envy for the
+eldest, and enmity; and in the end their life had become so unbearable
+that they decided to turn to the king for counsel and judgment. And even
+here, standing before the throne, they could not refrain from mutual
+recriminations and affronts.
+
+The king shook his head, heard them out, and spake:
+
+"Cease quarreling; a stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's
+wrath is heavier than them both. Your father was, it is plain to see, a
+wise man and a just, and he has expressed his wishes in his testament
+just as clearly as though it had been consummated before an hundred
+witnesses. Is it possible that ye have not surmised at once, ye sorry
+brawlers, that to the eldest brother he left all his moneys; to the
+second, all his cattle and all his slaves; while to the youngest,--his
+house and plow-land? Depart, therefore, in peace; and be no longer
+enemies among yourselves."
+
+And the three brothers--but recently enemies--with beaming faces bowed
+to the king's feet and walked out of the Hall of Judgment arm in arm.
+
+And the king decided also another suit at inheritance, begun three days
+ago. A certain man, dying, had said that he was leaving all his goods
+to the worthier of his two sons. But since neither one of them would
+consent to call himself the worse one, they had therefore turned to the
+king.
+
+Solomon questioned them as to their pursuits, and, having heard them
+answer that they were both hunters with the bow, he spake:
+
+"Return home. I shall order the corpse of your father to be stood up
+against a tree. We shall first see which one of you shall hit his breast
+more truly with an arrow, and then decide your suit."
+
+Now both brothers had returned in the custody of a man sent by the king
+for their surveillance. He it was whom the king questioned about the
+contest.
+
+"I have fulfilled all that thou hast commanded," said his man. "I stood
+the corpse of the old man against a tree, and gave each brother his bow
+and arrows. The elder was the first to shoot. At a distance of an
+hundred and twenty ells he hit just the place where, in a living man,
+the heart beats."
+
+"A splendid shot," said Solomon. "And the younger?"
+
+"The younger ... Forgive me, O King,--I could not insist upon thy
+command being fulfilled exactly.... The younger did make his string
+taut, but suddenly lowered the bow to his feet, turned around, and said,
+weeping: 'Nay, this I can not do.... I will not shoot at the corpse of
+my father.'"
+
+"Therefore, let the estate of his father belong to him," decided the
+king. "He has proven the worthier son. As for the elder, if he desire,
+he may join the number of my bodyguards. I have need of such strong and
+rapacious men, sure of hand and true of eye, and with a heart grown over
+with wool."
+
+Next three men came before the king. Carrying on a mutual traffic in
+merchandise, they had amassed much money. And so, when the time had
+come for them to journey to Jerusalem, they had sewn up the gold in a
+leathern belt and had set out on their way. On the road they had spent
+a night in a forest, and, for safe-keeping, had buried the belt in the
+ground. But when they awoke in the morning, they found no belt in the
+place where they had put it.
+
+They all accused one another of the secret theft, and since all three
+seemed to be men of exceeding cunning, and subtile of speech, the king
+therefore said unto them:
+
+"Ere I decide your suit, hearken unto that which I shall relate to you.
+A certain fair maiden promised her beloved, who was setting out upon a
+journey, to await his return, and to yield her virginity to none save
+him. But, having gone away, he within a short while married another
+maiden, in another city, and she came to know of this. In the absence of
+her beloved, a wealthy and kind-hearted youth in her city, a friend of
+her childhood, paid court to her. Constrained by her parents she durst
+not, for shame and fear, tell him of her pact, and took him to spouse.
+But when, at the conclusion of the marriage feast, he led her to the
+bed-chamber, and would lay down with her, she began to implore him:
+'Allow me to go to the city where my former beloved dwelleth. Let him
+relieve me of my vow; then shall I return to thee, and do all thy
+desire!' And since the youth loved her exceedingly, he did agree to her
+request, allowed her to go, and she went. On the way a robber fell upon
+her, disheveled her, and was about to ravish her. But the maiden fell
+down on her knees before him, and, in tears, implored him to spare her
+virtue, telling the robber all that had befallen her, and her reason for
+travelling to a strange city. And the robber, having heard her out, was
+so astounded by her faithfulness to her word, and so touched by the
+goodness of her bridegroom, that not only did he let the girl depart in
+peace, but also returned to her the valuables he had taken. Now I ask
+you, who of all these three did best before the countenance of God,--the
+maiden, the bridegroom, or the robber?"
+
+And one of the plaintiffs said that the maiden was the most worthy of
+praise, for her steadfastness to her oath. Another marvelled at the
+great love of her bridegroom; the third, however, found the action of
+the robber the most magnanimous one.
+
+And the king said to the last:
+
+"Therefore, it is even thou who hast stolen the belt with the common
+gold, for thou art by nature covetous, and dost desire that which is not
+thine."
+
+But this man, having given his travelling staff to one of his
+companions, spake, raising his hands aloft as though for an oath:
+
+"I witness before Jehovah that the gold is not with me, but him!"
+
+The king smiled and commanded one of his warriors:
+
+"Take this man's rod and break it in half."
+
+And when the warrior had carried out Solomon's order, gold coins poured
+out upon the floor, for they had been concealed within the hollowed-out
+stick; as for the thief, he, struck by the wisdom of the king, fell down
+before his throne and confessed his misdeed.
+
+There also came into the House of Lebanon a woman, the poor widow of a
+stone-cutter, and she spake:
+
+"I cry for justice, O King! For the last two dinarii left me I bought
+flour, put it into this large earthen bowl, and started to carry it
+home. But a strong wind suddenly arose and did scatter my flour. O wise
+king, who shall bring back this my loss? I now have naught wherewith to
+feed my children."
+
+"When was this?" asked the king.
+
+"It happened this morning, at dawn."
+
+And so Solomon commanded that there be summoned to him several
+merchants, whose ships were to set out this day with merchandise for
+Phoenicia, by way of Jaffa. And when, in alarm, they appeared in the
+Hall of Judgment, the king asked them:
+
+"Did ye pray God, or the gods, for a favourable wind for your ships?"
+
+And they answered:
+
+"Yea, O King. We did so. And our offerings were pleasing to God, for He
+did send us a propitious wind."
+
+"I rejoice on your account," said Solomon. "But the same wind has
+scattered a poor woman's flour that she was carrying in a bowl. Do ye
+not deem it just, if ye have to recompense her?"
+
+And they, made glad that the king had summoned them only for this, at
+once filled the bowl by casting into it small and large silver coin. And
+when, with tears, she began to thank the king, he smiled radiantly and
+said:
+
+"Wait, this is not yet all. This morning's wind has bestowed joy upon me
+as well, which I did not expect. And therefore, to the gifts of these
+merchants, I shall add my kingly gift also."
+
+And he commanded Adoniram, the treasurer, to put on top of the money of
+the merchants enough gold coin to cover the silver entirely out of
+sight.
+
+Solomon desired to see none unhappy on this day. He distributed more
+rewards, pensions, and gifts than he sometimes did within a whole year,
+and he pardoned Ahimaaz, the governor of the land of Naphtali, against
+whom his wrath had flamed before, because of his lawless levies; and he
+commuted the faults of many who had transgressed the law, nor did he
+overlook any of the petitions of his subjects,--save one.
+
+When the king was passing out from the House at Lebanon through the
+small southern door, one in a garment of yellow leather stood up in his
+path,--a squat, broad-shouldered man, darkly-ruddy and morose of face,
+with a black, bushy beard, with a neck like a bull's, and an austere
+gaze from underneath shaggy, black eyebrows. This was the high priest
+of Moloch's temple. He uttered but one word in a supplicating voice:
+
+"King!..."
+
+In the bronze belly of his god were seven divisions: one for meal,
+another for doves, the third for sheep, the fourth for rams, the fifth
+for calves, the sixth for beeves; but the seventh, meant for living
+infants brought by their mothers, had long stood empty at the interdict
+of the king.
+
+Solomon walked in silence past the priest, but the latter stretched out
+his hands after him and exclaimed with supplication:
+
+"King! I adjure thee by thy joy!... Show me this kindness, O king, and I
+shall reveal to thee what danger threatens thy life."
+
+Solomon made no reply; and the eyes of the priest, who had clenched his
+powerful hands into fists, followed him to the exit with a ferocious
+glare.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VI.
+
+
+At nightfall Sulamith went to that spot in the old city where, in long
+rows, stretched the shops of the moneychangers, usurers, and dealers
+in sweet-smelling condiments. There she sold to a jeweller for three
+drachmas and one dinar her only valuable,--her earrings for festal days;
+of silver, in the form of rings, each with a little golden star.
+
+Then she paid a visit to a seller of perfumes. In the deep, dark,
+stone niche, in the midst of jars with gray Arabian amber, packets of
+frankincense from Lebanon, bunches of aromatic herbs, and phials with
+oils, was sitting an AEgyptian, a castrate,--old, obese, wrinkled,
+immobile, all fragrant himself; his legs tucked under him, and blinking
+his lazy eyes. He carefully counted out of a Phoenician flask into a
+little clay flagon just as many drops of myrrh as there were dinarii
+among all the moneys of Sulamith; and when he had finished this task he
+said, gathering up with the stopper the remnant of the oil around the
+neck of the bottle, and laughing slyly:
+
+"Swarthy maiden, beautiful maiden! When this day thy beloved shall kiss
+thee between thy breasts and say: 'How fragrant is thy body, O my
+beloved!'--recall me at that moment. I have poured over three extra
+drops for thee."
+
+And so, when night had come, and the moon had risen over Siloam,
+blending the blue whiteness of its houses with the black blueness of the
+shadows and the dull green of the trees, Sulamith did arise from her
+humble couch of goats'-wool and hearkened. All was quiet in the house.
+Her sister was breathing evenly upon the floor, nigh the wall. Only
+outside, in the wayside bushes, the cicadas chirped stridently and
+passionately; and the blood throbbed noisily in her ears. The shadow of
+the window-lattice, etched by the light of the moon, lay, sharp and
+oblique, upon the floor.
+
+Trembling with timidity, expectation, and happiness, Sulamith loosened
+her garments, let them down to her feet, and, stepping over them, was
+left naked in the middle of the room, facing the window, in the light of
+the moon falling through the bars of the lattice. She poured the thick,
+sweet-smelling myrrh upon her shoulders, upon her bosom, upon her
+abdomen; and, fearing to lose even one precious drop, began to rub
+the oil over her legs, under her armpits, and about her neck. And
+the smooth, slippery touch of her palms and elbows against her body
+compelled her to shiver with sweet anticipation. And, smiling and
+trembling, she gazed out of the window, where, beyond the lattice, two
+poplars showed,--dark on one side, silvered on the other,--and whispered
+to herself:
+
+"This is for thee, my love; this is for thee, my beloved. My beloved is
+the chiefest among ten thousand, his head is as the most fine gold, his
+locks are bushy, and black as a raven. His lips are most sweet; yea, he
+is all desire. This is my beloved, and this is my brother, O daughters
+of Jerusalem!..."
+
+And now, fragrant with myrrh, she lay down upon her couch. Her face is
+turned toward the window; her hands, like a child, she has squeezed
+between her knees; her heart fills the room with its loud beating. Much
+time passes. Scarce closing her eyes, she is plunged into dozing, but
+her heart keeps vigil. As in a dream, it seems to her that her dear is
+lying beside her. In a joyous fright she casts off her drowsiness; she
+seeks her beloved near her on the couch, but finds no one. The moon's
+design upon the floor has crept nearer the wall, is dwindled and more
+oblique. The cicadas are calling; the Brook of Kidron babbles on
+monotonously; the doleful chant of a night watchman is heard in the city.
+
+"What if he comes not to-day?" thinks Sulamith; "I did implore him,--and
+what if he hath suddenly obeyed me?... I charge you, O ye daughters of
+Jerusalem, by the roses and lilies of the field: awake not love till it
+come.... But now my love hath come to me. Make haste, my beloved! Thy
+bride awaits thee. Make haste like to a young hart upon the mountains of
+spices."
+
+The sand crunches in the yard under light steps. And the soul of the
+maiden deserts her. A cautious hand knocks at the window. A dark face
+shows on the other side of the lattice. The low voice of her beloved is
+heard:
+
+"Open to me, my sister, my dove, my undefiled! For my head is filled
+with dew."
+
+But a charmed numbness has suddenly taken possession of Sulamith's body.
+She wants to rise, and can not; wants to move her hand, and can not.
+And, without understanding what is taking place with her, she whispers,
+gazing through the window:
+
+"Ah, his locks are filled with the drops of the night! But I have put
+off my chiton. How shall I put it on?"
+
+"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. The morn is nigh, flowers
+appear on the earth, and the vines with the tender grape give a goodly
+smell; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the
+turtle dove is heard from the mountains."
+
+"I have washed my feet," whispers Sulamith; "how shall I defile them?"
+
+The dark head disappears from the window-lattice; the resounding steps
+pass around the house and cease at the door. The beloved cautiously puts
+in his hand by the hole of the door. His fingers can be heard groping
+for the inner bolt.
+
+Then does Sulamith rise up, pressing her palms hard against her breasts,
+and whispers in affright:
+
+"My sister sleeps--I fear to awaken her."
+
+She irresolutely dons her sandals, puts a light chiton upon her naked
+body, throws a vail over it, and opens the door, leaving marks of myrrh
+upon the handles of the lock. But there is no longer anyone upon the
+road that glimmers whitely in its solitude between the dark bushes in
+the gray murk of morning. The beloved had not waited, and was gone; not
+even his steps were to be heard. The moon has dwindled and paled, and
+floats on high. In the east, above the waves of the mountains, the sky
+is putting on a chilly pink before the dawn. In the distance the walls
+and towers of Jerusalem glimmer whitely.
+
+"My beloved! King of my life!" Sulamith calls into the humid darkness.
+"I am here. I await thee.... Return!"
+
+But none responds.
+
+"I will run upon the highway; I shall, I shall overtake my beloved,"
+Sulamith says to herself. "I will go about the city in the streets and
+in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loveth. O that thou wert
+as my brother, that sucked the breast of my mother! When I should find
+thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would
+lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house. Thou wouldst instruct
+me; I would cause thee to drink of the juice of my pomegranates. I
+charge you, daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell
+him I am smitten by love."
+
+Thus does she commune with herself, and with light, docile steps runs
+upon the road toward the city. At the Dung Gates near the wall, two
+watchmen that had gone about the city at night are sitting and dozing
+in the chill of the morning. They awaken and stare with astonishment at
+the running girl. The younger arises and blocks her way with outstretched
+arms.
+
+"Stay, stay, thou fair!" exclaims he with laughter. "Whither so fast?
+Thou hast passed the night on the sly in the bed of thy dear and art yet
+warm from his embraces; whereas we have been chilled through by the
+dampness of the night. It would be but fair if thou wert to sit a while
+with us."
+
+The elder also arises and wants to embrace Sulamith. He does not laugh;
+he breathes heavily, fast, and with wheezing; he is licking his blue
+lips with his tongue. His face, made hideous by great scars of healed
+leprosy, seems frightful in the pallid murk. He speaks in a voice hoarse
+and snuffling:
+
+"Yea, of a truth. What is thy beloved more than other men, sweet maiden!
+Shut thy eyes, and thou canst not tell me apart from him. I am even
+better, for, of a certainty, I am more experienced than he."
+
+They clutch at her bosom, her shoulders, her arms and raiment. But
+Sulamith is lithe and strong, and her body, anointed with oil, is
+slippery. She tears herself away, leaving in the hands of the watchmen
+her outer vail, and runs back still faster along the same road. She has
+experienced neither offense nor fear,--she is all swallowed up in
+thoughts of Solomon. Passing by her house, she sees the door out of
+which she had just gone still left open, a gaping black quadrangle in
+the white wall. But she merely catches her breath, shrinks within
+herself, like a young cat, and runs by on her tip-toes with never a sound.
+
+She crosses the bridge of Kidron, avoids the outskirt of the village of
+Siloam, and by a stony road gradually climbs the southern slope of
+Beth-El-Khav, into her vineyard. Her brother is still sleeping among the
+vines, wrapped up in a woolen blanket all wet from the dew. Sulamith
+rouses him, but he can not awaken, enchained by the morning sleep of
+youth.
+
+As yesterday, the dawn is flaming over Anaze. A wind springs up. The
+fragrance of the grape in blossom streams through the air.
+
+"I shall come away and look upon that place of the wall where my beloved
+hath stood," Sulamith is saying. "I shall feel with my hands the stones
+that he hath touched; I shall kiss the ground beneath his feet."
+
+She glides lightly between the vines. The dew falls from them, chilling
+her feet and spattering her elbows. And now a joyous cry from Sulamith
+fills the vineyard! The king is standing beyond the wall. With a radiant
+face he stretches out his arms to meet her.
+
+More lightly than a bird Sulamith surmounts the enclosure, and, without
+words, with a moan of happiness, entwines the king.
+
+Several minutes pass thus. Finally, tearing his lips away from her
+mouth, Solomon speaks, enraptured, and his voice trembles:
+
+"Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair!"
+
+"O, how fair art thou, my beloved!"
+
+Tears of delight and gratefulness,--blessed tears,--sparkle upon
+Sulamith's pale and beautiful face. Languishing with love, she sinks to
+the ground and whispers words of madness in a barely audible voice.
+
+"Our bed is green. The beams of our house are cedars.... Kiss me with
+the kisses of thy mouth--for thy love is better than wine...."
+
+After a brief space Sulamith is lying with her head upon Solomon's
+breast. His left arm is embracing her.
+
+Bending to her very ear, the king is whispering something to her; the
+king is tenderly apologizing, and Sulamith reddens from his words and
+closes her eyes. Then, with an inexpressibly lovely smile of confusion,
+she says:
+
+"My mother's children made me the keeper of the vineyard.... But mine
+own vineyard have I not kept."
+
+But Solomon takes her little swarthy hand and presses it fervently to
+his lips.
+
+"Thou dost not regret this, Sulamith?"
+
+"O nay, my king, my beloved. I regret it not. Wert thou to arise this
+minute and go from me, and were I condemned never to see thee after, I
+would to the end of my life utter thy name with gratitude, Solomon!"
+
+"Tell me one thing else, Sulamith.... Only, I beseech thee, speak the
+truth, my undefiled.... Didst thou know who I am?"
+
+"Nay,--even now I know it not. Methought.... But I am shamed to confess
+it.... I fear thou wilt laugh at me.... They tell, that here, upon Mount
+Beth-El-Khav, pagan gods do oft wander.... Many of them, it is said, are
+beautiful.... And methought: art thou not Hor, the son of Osiris; or
+else some other god?"
+
+"Nay, I am but a king, beloved. But here, upon this spot, I kiss thy
+dear hand, scorched of the sun, and swear to thee that never
+yet--neither in the time of first love longings, nor in the days of my
+glory--has my heart flamed with such an insatiable desire as that which
+is awakened within me by thy mere smile, by the mere touch of thy
+flaming locks,--the mere curve of thy purple lips! Thou art comely as
+the tents of Kedar, as the curtains in the temple of Solomon! Thy
+caresses intoxicate me. Behold thy breasts--they are fragrant. Thy
+nipples are as wine!"
+
+"O, yea,--gaze, gaze upon me, beloved. Thy eyes arouse me! O, what
+joy!--for thy desire is unto me,--me! Thy locks are scented. As a bundle
+of myrrh thou dost lie betwixt my breasts!"
+
+Time ceases its current and closes over them in a solar cycle. Their bed
+is the green; their roof is of cedars; and their walls are of cypresses.
+And the banner over their tent is love.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN
+
+VII.
+
+
+The king had a pool in his palace,--an octagonal, fresh pool of white
+marble. Steps of dark-green malachite ran down to its bottom. A facing
+of AEgyptian jasper, snowy-white, with pink, barely perceptible little
+veins, served as a frame for the pool. The best of ebony had gone for
+the ornamentation of the walls. Four lions' heads of pink sardonyx cast
+forth the water in thin jets into the pool. Eight mirrors of polished
+silver, the height of a man and of excellent Sydonian workmanship, were
+set into the walls, between the slender columns of white.
+
+Before Sulamith was to enter the pool, young maid-servants poured
+aromatic compounds into it, that made the water to turn white and blue
+and to play with all the colours of a milky opal. The female slaves
+disrobing Sulamith gazed with delight upon her body; and, when they had
+disrobed her, they led her up to a mirror. Not a single blemish was
+there upon her beautiful body, made aureate like a tawny, ripe fruit by
+the golden down of soft hair. And she, gazing upon her naked self in the
+mirror, turned red and thought:
+
+"All this is for thee, my king!"
+
+She came out of the pool fresh, cool, and fragrant, covered with
+quivering drops of water. The female slaves put upon her a short white
+tunic of the finest AEgyptian linen, and a chiton of precious Sargonian
+byssin, of such a refulgent golden colour that the garment seemed woven
+out of the rays of the sun. They shod her feet in red sandals made from
+the skin of a young kid; they dried her dark, flaming locks and bound
+them with strings of large black pearls; and they adorned her arms with
+tinkling bracelets.
+
+In such array did she come before Solomon, and the king exclaimed
+joyously:
+
+"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear
+as the sun? O, Sulamith, thy beauty is more terrible than an army with
+flaunted banners! Seven hundred wives have I known and three hundred
+concubines, and virgins without number,--thou art but one, my fair! The
+queens shall behold thee and extoll thee, and all women upon earth shall
+praise thee. O, Sulamith, that day when thou wilt become my spouse and
+queen shall be the happiest my heart has known."
+
+Whereupon she walked up to the door of carved olive, and, pressing her
+cheek against it, said:
+
+"I desire to be but thy slave, Solomon. Behold, I have put my ear to the
+post of the door. I beseech thee,--in accordance with the law of Moses,
+nail down my ear in witness of my voluntary bondage before thee."
+
+Then Solomon did command to be brought out of his treasure house
+precious pendants of deep-red carbuncles, fashioned to resemble
+elongated pears. He himself put them upon the ears of Sulamith, and
+said:
+
+"I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."
+
+And, taking Sulamith by the hand, the king brought her to the banqueting
+house, where his companions and familiars were already awaiting him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT
+
+[Illustration]
+
+VIII.
+
+
+Seven days had sped since Sulamith had stepped into the palace of the
+king. Seven days had she and the king taken joyance in love, yet could
+not be sated therewith.
+
+Solomon loved to adorn his beloved with precious things. "How beautiful
+are thy little feet in sandals!" he would exclaim in rapture, and,
+getting down on his knees before her, he would kiss each toe in turn,
+and put upon them rings with stones so splendid and rare that their like
+was not to be found even upon the ephod of a high-priest. Sulamith would
+listen, entranced, whenever he discoursed upon the inner nature of
+stones, their magic properties and secret significations.
+
+"Here is anthrax, the sacred stone from the land of Ophir," the king
+would say. "It is hot and moist. Behold, it is red, like blood, like the
+evening glow, like the blown flower of the pomegranate, like thick wine
+from the vineyards of En-gedi, like thy lips, my Sulamith, in the
+morning after a night of love. This is the stone of love, wrath, and
+blood. Upon the hand of a man languishing in a fever or made drunk by
+desire, it waxes warmer and glows with a red flame. Put it upon thy
+hand, my beloved, and thou shalt see it enkindle. If it be brayed to a
+powder and taken in water, it imparts a glow to the face, allays the
+stomach, and maketh the soul to rejoice. He that weareth it attaineth
+power over men. It is a curative for the heart, brain, and memory. But
+it ought not be worn nigh children, for it doth arouse the passions of
+love around it.
+
+"Here is a transparent stone, the colour of copper verdigris. In the
+land of the AEthiopians, where it is gotten, it is called Mgnadis-Phza.
+It was given me by the father of my wife, Queen Astis,--by Shishak, the
+Pharaoh of AEgypt, into whose hands it came through a captive king. Thou
+seest,--it is not beautiful; yet is its value beyond computation, for
+but four men on earth possess the stone Mgnadis-Phza. It possesses the
+unusual property of attracting silver to it, just like a covetous man
+that loveth the metal. I give it thee, my beloved, for that thou are
+not covetous.
+
+"Gaze upon these sapphires, Sulamith. Some of them resemble in colour
+corn-flowers among wheat; others, an autumn sky; others still, the sea
+in fine weather. This is the stone of virginity,--chill and pure. During
+far and difficult voyages it is placed in the mouth to allay thirst. It
+also cureth leprosy and all malignant growths. It bestoweth clarity to
+thoughts. The priests of Jupiter in Rome wear it upon the index finger.
+
+"The king of all stones is the stone Shamir. The Greeks name it
+Adamas,--which signifieth, the invincible. It is the hardest of all
+substances on earth and remains uninjured in the fiercest of fires.
+It is the light of the sun, concentrated in the ground and cooled by time.
+Admire it, Sulamith,--it playeth with all colours, but in itself
+remaineth translucent, like a drop of water. It shineth in the darkness
+of night; but loseth its radiance, even in the daytime, upon the hand of
+a murderer. The Shamir is tied to the hand of a woman tortured in heavy
+travail with child; and it is also put upon the left hand by warriors
+setting out for battle. He that weareth the Shamir findeth favour with
+kings and hath no dread of evil spirits. The Shamir driveth the mottled
+colour off the face, purifieth the breath, giveth quiet slumber to
+lunaticks, and induceth a sweat curative of near proximity to poison.
+The Shamir stones are male and female; buried deep in the ground they
+are capable of multiplying.
+
+"The moonstone, pale and mild, like the shining of the moon,--it is
+the stone of the Chaldaean and Babylonian magi. Before divination it is
+placed under the tongue, and it imparts to them the gift of seeing the
+future. It hath a strange tie with the moon, for during a new moon it
+groweth chill and shineth more brightly. It is beneficial to woman
+during that year when from a child she is becoming a woman.
+
+"Wear thou this ring with a smaragd constantly, my beloved, for the
+smaragd is the favourite stone of Solomon, King of Israel. It is green,
+pure, gay, tender, like grass in the spring of the year, and when one
+gazeth at it for long the heart waxeth radiant; if thou wilt look upon
+it in the morning, all the day shall hold no hardship of thee. I shall
+hang a smaragd over thy night couch, my comely one; let it drive evil
+dreams away from thee; let it lull the beating of thy heart, and divert
+black thoughts. Serpents and scorpions come not nigh him that weareth a
+smaragd; but if a smaragd be held before the eyes of a serpent, water
+shall flow from them, and continue flowing, till it go blind. Pounded
+smaragd, together with camel's milk, is given an empoisoned man, that
+the poison may go off in transpiration; mixed with attar of roses,
+smaragd cureth the bites of venomous reptiles; while ground with saffron
+and applied to ailing eyes it eradicates night blindness. It also helps
+in dysentery and the black cough that is incurable by any human means."
+
+The king also bestowed upon his beloved Lybian amethysts, whose colour
+resembled early violets, that put forth in forests at the foot of the
+Lybian mountains,--amethysts, possessed of the wondrous property of
+curbing wind, mollifying wrath, preserving from intoxication, and
+helping at the trapping of wild beasts; turquoise of Persepolis, that
+bringeth happiness in love, endeth connubial quarrels, turneth away the
+wrath of kings, and is propitious in the breaking and selling of horses;
+and cat's-eye,--that guardeth the property, reason, and health of its
+possessor; and the pale beryllion, blue-green, like sea-water near
+shore,--a good travelling companion for pilgrims and a remedy against
+cataract and leprosy; and the vari-coloured agate: he that weareth it
+hath no dread of the evil machinations of enemies, and avoideth
+the danger of being crushed in an earthquake; and the apple-green,
+turbidly-pellucid onychion,--its master's guardian from fire and
+madness; and iaspis, that maketh beasts to tremble; and the black
+swallow-stone, that endoweth with eloquence; and the eagle-stone,
+esteemed of pregnant women,--eagles put it in their nests when the time
+comes for their young to break out of their shells; and zaberzate out
+of Ophir, shining like little suns; and yellow-aureate chrysolite,--the
+friend of merchants and thieves; and sardonyx, beloved of kings and
+queens; and the crimson ligurion: it is found, as all know, in the
+stomach of the lynx, whose sight is so keen that it can see through
+walls,--and for that reason he that weareth a ligurion is also noted
+for keen sight, and besides this it stoppeth bleeding of the nose, and
+healeth all wounds, save wounds inflicted by stone or iron.
+
+The king also put upon Sulamith's neck carcanets of great price, of
+pearls that had been dived for in the Persian Sea by his subjects; and
+the pearls put on a living lustre and a soft colour from the warmth of
+her body. And corals became redder upon her swarthy breast; and
+turquoise came to life upon her fingers; and those baubles of yellow
+amber which were brought from far northern seas, in gift to the king, by
+the doughty ship-masters of Hiram, King of Tyre, emitted crackling
+sparks in her hands.
+
+With marigolds and lilies did Sulamith deck her couch, preparing it for
+the night; and, reposing upon her breast, the king would say in the
+joyousness of his heart:
+
+"Thou are like to the king's decked, masted boat in the Land of Ophir, O
+my beloved; a light, golden boat that floats, swaying, upon the sacred
+river, among white fragrant blossoms."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thus did his first--and last--love come to Solomon, the greatest of
+kings and wisest of sages.
+
+Many ages have passed since then. There have been kingdoms and kings,
+and of them no trace has been left, as of a wind that has sped over a
+desert. There have been prolonged, merciless wars, after which the names
+of the commanders shone through the ages, like ensanguined stars; but
+time has effaced even the very memory of them.
+
+But the love of the lowly maiden of the vineyard and the great king
+shall never pass away nor be forgotten,--for love is strong as death;
+for every woman who loves is a queen; for love is beautiful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE
+
+IX.
+
+
+Seven days had sped since Solomon,--poet, sage, and king,--had brought
+into his palace the lowly maiden he had met in the vineyard at dawn. For
+seven days did the king take joyance in her love, nor could be sated
+therewith. And a great joy irradiated his countenance, like to the
+golden light of the sun.
+
+It was the time of light, warm, moonlit nights,--sweet nights of
+love.... Upon a couch of tiger fells lay the naked Sulamith; and the
+king, sitting upon the floor at her feet, filled his emerald goblet with
+the aureate wine of Mauretus, and drank to the health of his beloved,
+rejoicing with all his heart, and narrated to her the sage, strange
+legends of eld. And Sulamith's hand rested upon his head, stroking his
+wavy black hair.
+
+"Tell me, my king," Sulamith had once asked, "is it not wonderful that I
+fell in love with thee so instantly? I now call all things to mind, and
+meseems I began belonging to thee from the very first moment, when I had
+not yet had time to behold thee, but had merely heard thy voice. My
+heart began to flutter and did open to meet thee, as a flower opens to
+the south wind on a night in summer. How hast thou taken me so, my
+beloved?"
+
+And the king, quietly bending his head toward the soft knees of
+Sulamith, smiled tenderly and answered:
+
+"Thousands of women before thee, O my comely one, have put this question
+to their beloveds, and hundreds of ages after thee will they be asking
+their beloveds about this. There be three things which are too wonderful
+for me, yea, four which I know not: the way of an eagle in the air;
+the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of
+the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. This is not my wisdom,
+Sulamith,--these are the words of Agur, son of Jakeh, heard from him
+by his disciples. But let us honour the wisdom of others also."
+
+"Yea," said Sulamith pensively, "mayhap it is even true that man
+shall never comprehend this. To-day, during the banquet, I wore a
+sweet-smelling cluster of stacte upon my breast. But thou didst leave
+the table, and my flowers ceased to give out their smell. Meseems, thou
+must be beloved, O king, of women, and men, and beasts, and even of
+flowers. I oft ponder, yet comprehend not: how can one love any other
+save thee?"
+
+"And any save thee, save thee, Sulamith! Every hour do I render thanks
+to God for that He has set thee in my path."
+
+"I remember, I was sitting upon a stone of the wall, and thou didst put
+thy hand on mine. Fire ran through my veins; my head was dizzied. I said
+within me: Behold, there is my lord, my king, my beloved!"
+
+"I remember, Sulamith, how thou didst turn around to my call. Under the
+thin raiment I saw thy body, thy beautiful body, that I love as I love
+God. I love it,--covered with its golden down, as though the sun had left
+its kiss upon it. Thou art graceful, like to a filly in the Pharaoh's
+chariot; thou art fair like the chariot of Ammi-nadib. Thy eyes are as
+two doves, sitting by the rivers of waters."
+
+"O, beloved, thy words stir me. Thy hand sears me sweetly. O, my king,
+thy legs are as pillars of marble. Thy belly is like an heap of wheat,
+set about with lilies."
+
+Surrounded, irradiated, by the silent light of the moon, they forgot
+time and place; and thus hours would pass, and they with wonder beheld
+the rosy dawn peeping through the latticed windows of the chamber.
+
+Sulamith also said once:
+
+"Thou hast known, my beloved, wives and virgins without number, and they
+were all the fairest women on earth. I become ashamed whenever I consider
+myself,--a simple, unschooled girl,--and my poor body, scorched of the
+sun."
+
+But, touching her lips with his, the king would say, with infinite love
+and gratefulness:
+
+"Thou art a queen, Sulamith! Thou wast born a true queen. Thou art brave
+and generous in love. Seven hundred wives have I, and three hundred
+concubines, and virgins without number have I known; but thou, my timid
+one, art my only one,--thou fairest among women. I have found thee like
+as a diver in the Gulf of Persia, that filleth a great number of baskets
+with barren shells and pearls of little price, ere he get from the bed
+of the sea a pearl worthy a king's crown. My child, a man may love
+thousands of times, yet he loveth but once. People without number think
+they love, yet only to two of them doth God send love. And when thou
+didst yield thyself up to me among the cypresses, under the rafters of
+cedars, upon the bed of green, I did with all my soul render thanks to
+God, so gracious to me."
+
+Sulamith also asked once:
+
+"I know that they all loved thee, for not to love thee is impossible.
+The Queen of Sheba did come to thee from her domain. They say, that she
+was the wisest and fairest of all women that had ever been on earth. As
+in a dream, I recall her caravans. I know not why, but since my earliest
+childhood I have been drawn to the chariots of the great. I was then
+perhaps seven, perhaps eight. I remember the camels in golden harness,
+covered with caparisons of purple, laden with heavy burthens; I remember
+the mules with the little bells of gold between their ears; I remember
+the droll monkeys in silvern cages; and the wondrous peacocks. There was
+a multitude of servants in garments of white and blue, marching; they
+led tame tigers and panthers upon ribbands of red. I was but eight
+then."
+
+"O child, thou wert but eight then," said Solomon with sadness.
+
+"Didst thou love her more than me, Solomon? Wilt tell me something of
+her?"
+
+And the king told her all pertaining to this amazing woman. Having heard
+much of the wisdom and beauty of the King of Israel, she had come to him
+from her domain with rich gifts, desiring to prove his wisdom and subdue
+his heart. This was a magnificent woman of forty, who was already
+beginning to fade. But through secret, magic means she contrived to make
+her body, that was growing flabby, seem graceful and supple, like a
+girl's, while her face bore an impress of an awesome, inhuman beauty.
+But her wisdom was ordinary wisdom, and the petty wisdom of a woman to
+boot.
+
+Desiring to test the king with riddles, she at first sent to him fifty
+youths of tenderest age, and fifty maidens. They were all so cunningly
+dressed that the keenest eye could not have discerned their sex. "I
+shall call thee wise, O King," said Balkis, "if thou shalt tell me
+which of them is woman, and which man."
+
+But the king burst out laughing, and ordered that every he and she
+sent him be brought a separate bason of silver, and a separate ewer of
+silver, for laving. And whereas the boys bravely splashed in the water
+and cast it in handfuls at their faces, drying their skin vigorously,
+the girls acted as women always do at their ablutions. They lathered
+each hand gently and solicitously, bringing it closely to their eyes.
+
+In so easy a manner did the king solve the first riddle of
+Balkis-Makkedah.
+
+Next she sent Solomon a large diamond, the size of a hazel nut. This
+stone had a thin, exceedingly tortuous flaw, that perforated its entire
+body with a narrow, intricate path. The task was to put a silken thread
+through the jewel. And the wise king let into the opening a silk worm,
+which, having passed through, left the finest of silken webs in its
+wake.
+
+Also, the beauteous Balkis sent King Solomon a precious goblet of carved
+sardonyx, of magnificent workmanship. "This goblet shall be thine," she
+had commanded that the king be told, "if thou fillest it with moisture
+taken neither from earth nor heaven." And Solomon, having filled the
+goblet with froth falling from the body of a fatigued steed, ordered it
+to be carried to the queen.
+
+Many such hard questions did the queen put to Solomon, but could not
+belittle his wisdom; nor with all her secret charms of love's passion
+in the night might she contrive to retain his love. And when she had
+finally palled upon the king, he had cruelly, hurtfully made mock of
+her.
+
+Everybody knew that the Savvian queen never showed her lower extremities
+to anyone, and for that reason wore a garment reaching to the ground.
+Even in the hours of love caresses did she keep her legs closely covered
+with raiment. Many strange and droll legends had sprung up on this
+account.
+
+Some averred, that the queen had legs like a goat, grown over with wool;
+others swore, that instead of human feet she had webbed feet, like a
+goose. And they even related how the mother of Balkis had once, after
+bathing, sat down upon sand where just before a certain god, temporarily
+metamorphosed into a gander, had left his seed, and that through this
+she had borne the beauteous Queen of Sheba.
+
+And so Solomon one day commanded to be built, in one of his chambers, a
+transparent floor of crystal, with an empty space beneath it, which was
+filled with water and stocked with live fish. All this was done with
+such extraordinary art that one not forewarned could never possibly
+notice the glass, and would take an oath that a pool of clear, fresh
+water lay before him.
+
+And when all was in readiness, Solomon invited his regal guest to an
+interview. Surrounded by all the pomp of her retinue, she paced through
+the chambers of the House at Lebanon, and came up to the treacherous
+pool. At the other end of it sat the king, resplendent with gold and
+precious stones, and with a welcoming look in his dark eyes. The door
+opened before the queen, and she took a step forward,--but cried out
+and....
+
+Sulamith claps her palms and laughs, and her laughter is joyous and
+child-like.
+
+"She stoops and lifts up her raiment?" asks Sulamith.
+
+"Yea, my beloved, she acted as any among women would have acted. She
+raised up the hem of her garment, and although this lasted for but a
+moment, not only I but all my court saw that the beauteous Savvian
+Queen, Balkis-Makkedah, had ordinary human legs, but crooked and grown
+over with coarse hair. On the very next day she set off, without bidding
+me farewell, and departed with her magnificent caravan. I had not meant
+to offend her. I sent after her a trustworthy runner, whom I ordered to
+give to the queen a bundle of a rare mountain herb,--the best means for
+the extirpation of hair upon the body. But she returned to me the head
+of my emissary in a bag of costly purple."
+
+Solomon also told his beloved many things out of his life, which none
+other among men and women knew, and which Sulamith carried with her into
+the grave. He told her of the long and weary years of his wanderings,
+when, fleeing from the wrath of his brethren, he was forced to hide
+under an assumed name in foreign lands, enduring fearful poverty and
+privations. He told her how, in a far-off, unknown country, while he
+was standing in the market place, in expectation of being hired to work
+somewhere, the king's cook had approached him and said:
+
+"Stranger, help me carry this hamper of fish into the palace."
+
+Through his wit, adroitness, and skilled demeanor, Solomon so pleased
+the officers of the court, that in a short while he had made himself at
+home in the palace, and when the head cook died he had taken his place.
+Further, Solomon told of how the king's only daughter,--a beautiful,
+ardent maiden,--had fallen in love with the new cook and had confessed
+her love to him; how they fled from the palace one night, and had been
+re-taken and brought back; how Solomon had been condemned to die; and
+how, by a miracle, he succeeded in escaping from the dungeon.
+
+Avidly did Sulamith listen to him, and, when he grew silent, amidst the
+stillness of the night their lips joined, their arms entwined each
+other, and breast touched breast. And when morning drew near, and
+Sulamith's body seemed a foamy pink, and the fatigue of love encircled
+her splendid eyes with blue shadows, she would say with a tender smile:
+
+"Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick with love."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN
+
+X.
+
+
+In the temple of Isis, upon Mount Beth-El-Khav, the first part of the
+great mystery, to which the faithful of the lesser initiation were
+admitted, was just over. The priest on duty,--an ancient elder in white
+vestment, with shaven head, and neither moustache nor beard,--had turned
+from the elevation of the altar toward the people, and pronounced in a
+quiet, tired voice:
+
+"Dwell in peace, my sons and daughters. Wax perfect through deeds.
+Extoll the name of the goddess. And may her blessings be over ye for
+ever and aye."
+
+He raised his hands on high over the people, in benediction. And
+immediately all the initiates into the lesser rank of the mysteries
+prostrated themselves on the floor, and then, arising, softly and in
+silence made their way to the exit.
+
+To-day was the seventh day of the month Phamenoth, sacred to the
+mysteries of Osiris and Isis. Since evening the solemn procession had
+thrice made the circuit of the temple with lamps, palm-leaves, and
+amphorae; with the occult symbols of the gods and the sacred images of
+the Phallus. In the midst of the procession, upon the shoulders of the
+priests and the minor prophets, was reared the closed _naos_ of costly
+wood, ornamented with pearl, ivory, and gold. Therein dwelt the goddess
+herself,--She, The Invisible, The Bestower of Fecundity, The Mysterious;
+Mother, Sister, and Wife of gods.
+
+The evil Seth had enticed his brother, the divine Osiris, to a feast;
+through craftiness he made him to lie down in a magnificent sarcophagus,
+and, having clapped down the lid over him, cast the sarcophagus with the
+body of the great god into the Nile. Isis, who had just given birth to
+Horus, with yearning and tears searches all the world over for the body
+of her spouse, and for long can not find it. Finally, slaves inform her
+that the body had been borne out to sea by the waves, and that it had
+been cast up at Byblos, where an enormous tree had sprung up about
+it, enclosing within its trunk the body of the god and his floating
+dwelling. The king of that domain had commanded a mighty column to be
+made out of the enormous tree, not knowing that within it reposed the
+god Osiris himself, the great bestower of life. Isis goes to Byblos;
+she arrives there fatigued with sultriness, thirst, and the toilsome,
+stony road. She liberates the sarcophagus out of the midst of the tree,
+carries it with her, and buries it in the earth near the city wall.
+But Seth again secretly steals away the body of Osiris, cuts it up into
+fourteen parts, and strews them over all the towns and settlements of
+Upper and Lower AEgpyt.
+
+And again with great grief and lamentations Isis set out in search of
+the sacred members of her spouse and brother. Her sister, the goddess
+Nephthys, and the mighty Thoth, and the son of the goddess, the radiant
+Horus,--Horus of the Horizon,--all join their plaints to her weeping.
+
+Such was the hidden meaning of the present procession in the first half
+of the sacred service. Now, upon the departure of the common believers,
+and after a short rest, the second part of the great mystery was about
+to be consummated. In the temple were left only those initiated into the
+higher degrees,--mystagogues, epopts, prophets and sacrificators.
+
+Boys in white vestments bore about, upon salvers of silver, flesh,
+bread, dried fruits, and sweet wine of Pelusium. Others poured hippocras
+out of narrow-necked Tyrian vessels,--a drink given in those days to
+condemned criminals before execution, to arouse their manhood, but which
+also possessed the great virtue of generating and sustaining in men the
+fire of a sacred madness.
+
+At a sign from the priest on duty the boys withdrew. A priest who was
+also the keeper of the gates locked all doors. Then he attentively made
+the rounds of all those who remained, scrutinizing their faces and
+testing them with secret words that constituted the pass-orders for this
+night. Two other priests drew a silvern thurible upon wheels down the
+length of the temple and around each of its columns. The temple filled
+with the blue, thick, heady, aromatic fumes of incense, and through the
+layers of smoke grew barely visible the vari-coloured flames of the
+lamp,--lamps made of translucent stones, lamps set in carved gold and
+suspended from the ceiling upon long chains of silver. In the times of
+eld this temple of Osiris and Isis was known for its small extent and
+its poverty, and was hollowed out like a cavern in the heart of the
+mountain. A narrow subterranean corridor led to it from without. But in
+the days of the reign of Solomon, who had taken under his protection
+all religions save those which permitted the offering of children in
+sacrifice, and thanks to the zeal of Queen Astis, an AEgyptian born, the
+temple had expanded in depth and height, and had become adorned with
+rich offerings.
+
+The former altar still remained inviolate in its primordial, austere
+simplicity, together with a great number of small chambers surrounding
+it and serving for the keeping of treasures, sacrificial objects, and
+priestly appurtenances, as well as for special secret purposes during
+the most occult mystic orgies.
+
+But then, the outer court was truly magnificent, with its pylons in
+honour of the goddess Hathor, and with a four-sided colonnade of four
+and twenty columns. The inner, subterranean, hypostylic hall for
+worshippers was built still more magnificently. Its mosaic floor was all
+adorned with cunningly wrought images of fishes, beasts, amphibians
+and reptiles; while the ceiling was overlaid with blue lazure, and
+upon it shone a sun of gold, glowed a moon of silver, innumerable
+stars twinkled, and birds soared upon outspread wings. The floor was
+the earth, the ceiling the sky, and they were joined by round and
+many-sided columns, like mighty tree trunks; and since all the columns
+were surmounted by capitals in the form of the tender flowers of lotus
+or the slender cylinders of the papyrus, the ceiling they supported did
+in reality seem as light and aethereal as the sky.
+
+The walls to the height of a man were faced with plates of red granite,
+brought at the desire of Queen Astis out of Thebes, where the local
+master workers could impart to the granite a smoothness like that of a
+mirror, together with an amazing polish. Higher, to the very ceiling,
+the walls, as well as the columns, were gay with graven and limned
+images with the symbols of the gods of both AEgypts. Here was Sebekh,
+honoured in Fayum in the form of a crocodile; and Thoth, the god of the
+moon, depicted as an ibis in the city of Khmunu; and the sun-god Horus,
+to whom a small idol-temple was consecrated in Edfu; and Bast of
+Bubastis, in the form of a cat; Shu, the god of the air, as a lion;
+Ptah,--an Apis; Hathor, the goddess of mirth,--a heifer; Anubis, the
+god of embalming, with the head of a jackal; and Menthu out of Hermon;
+and the Coptic Minu; and Neith of Sais, the goddess of the sky; and,
+finally, in the form of a ram,--the dread god whose name was never
+uttered, and who was called Khenti-Amentiu, which signifieth: The
+Dweller in the West.
+
+The half-dark altar reared above the entire temple, and the gold upon
+the walls of the sanctuary that hid the images of Isis gleamed within
+its depths. Three gates,--a large one in the middle, and two small ones
+flanking it,--opened into the sanctuary. Before the middle one stood a
+small sacrificial altar with a sacred stone knife of AEthiopian obsidian.
+Steps led up to the altar, and upon them were disposed young priests and
+priestesses with tympani and sistrums, with flutes and tabours.
+
+Queen Astis was reclining within a little, secret chamber. A small
+quadrangular opening, artfully concealed by a large curtain, led
+directly to the altar, and permitted one to follow all the details
+of the sacred service without betraying one's presence. A light,
+closely-fitting dress of linen gauze, interwoven with silver, tightly
+enveloped the body of the queen, leaving the arms bare up to the
+shoulders, and the legs half-way to the calf. Her skin gleamed pinkly
+through the diaphanous material, and one could see the pure lines and
+elevations of her graceful body, which, despite the queen's age of
+thirty, still had lost none of its litheness, beauty and freshness. Her
+hair, stained a blue colour, was spread loosely over her shoulders and
+back, and was adorned with innumerable little aromatic pomanders. Her
+face was much rouged and whitened; while her eyes, finely outlined by
+kohl, seemed enormous and glowed in the darkness, like those of some
+powerful beasts of the feline species. A sacred uraeus of gold hung down
+from her neck, separating the half-bared breasts.
+
+Ever since Solomon had cooled toward Queen Astis, tired of her unbridled
+sensuality, she, with all the ardour of southern love-passion, and
+with all the jealousy of a woman scorned, had given herself up to those
+secret orgies of perverted lust that constituted the highest cult of the
+castrates' service of Isis. She always showed herself surrounded by
+priests-castrates, and, even now, as one of them fanned her head with
+measured strokes of a fan made of peacock feathers, others were seated
+upon the floor drinking in the beauty of the queen with eyes of insane
+bliss. Their nostrils were dilating and quivering from the scent of her
+body wafted to them, and they sought with trembling fingers to touch
+unperceived the hem of her light raiment, barely stirring in the breeze.
+Their excessive, never satiated sensuousness spurred on their imagination
+to its utmost limits. Their inventiveness in the pleasures of Kybele and
+Ashera surpassed all human possibilities. And being jealous of the queen
+toward one another, toward all men, women, and children--being jealous
+of her own self--they adored her even more than Isis, and, loving her,
+hated her as an inexhaustible, fiery fountain-head of delectable and
+cruel sufferings.
+
+Dark, evil, fearful, and fascinating rumours were current about Queen
+Astis in Jerusalem. The parents of beautiful boys and girls hid
+their children from her gaze; men dreaded to utter her name upon the
+conjugal couch, as an omen of defilement and disaster. But agitating,
+irresistible curiosity drew all souls to her, and gave all bodies
+up into her power. They who had but once experienced her ferocious,
+sanguinary caresses could nevermore forget her, and became her lifelong,
+pitiful, spurned slaves. Ready, for a renewed possession of her, to
+commit every sin, to endure every degradation and crime, they came to
+resemble those unfortunates who, having once tasted of the bitter drink
+of the poppy from the Land of Ophir,--the drink that bestoweth sweet
+dreams,--will never more draw away from it, bowing down before it only
+and honouring it alone, until exhaustion and madness cut short their
+life.
+
+The fan swayed slowly in the sultry air. In silent rapture the priests
+contemplated their dread sovereign. But she seemed to have forgotten
+their presence. Having moved the curtain slightly aside, she was
+ceaselessly gazing across toward that part of the altar where at one
+time, out of the dark fissures of the ancient curtains of beaten gold,
+was to be seen the beautiful, radiant countenance of the king of Israel.
+Him alone did the spurned queen, the cruel and lecherous Astis, love
+with all her flaming and depraved heart. His glance of a fleeting
+moment, a kind word of his, the touch of his hand, did she seek
+everywhere, and found not. Upon triumphal levees, court banquets, and
+upon the days of judgment, did Solomon pay his respects, due a queen and
+the daughter of a king; but his soul was not quick unto her. And the
+proud queen would often command herself to be borne at set hours past
+the House at Lebanon, to glimpse, even though afar and unnoticed, through
+the heavy stuffs of her litter, the proud, unforgettably splendid visage
+of Solomon, in the midst of the throng of courtiers. And long since her
+flaming love had grown so closely joined to searing hatred that Astis
+herself was unable to tell them apart.
+
+In former days Solomon also had visited the temple of Isis on great
+festal days, had brought the goddess offerings, and had even accepted
+the title of her hierophant,--second after that of the Pharaoh of AEgypt.
+But the horrible mysteries of "The Sanguine Sacrifice of Fecundation"
+had turned his mind and heart from the service of the Mother of Gods.
+
+"He that is castrated through ignorance or by force, or through accident
+or disease, is not abased before God," the king hath said. "But woe be
+unto him that doth maim himself with his own hand."
+
+And now for a whole year his couch in the temple had remained vacant.
+And in vain did the flaming eyes of the queen now gaze feverishly at the
+unstirred hangings.
+
+In the meanwhile, the wine, hippocras, and the stupefying burnt perfumes
+were already having a perceptible effect upon those gathered within the
+temple. Cries, and laughter, and the ring of silver vessels falling upon
+the stone floor came with greater frequency. The grand, mysterious
+moment of the sanguinary sacrifice was approaching. Ecstasy was overcoming
+the faithful.
+
+With an abstracted gaze the queen surveyed the temple and the believers.
+Many honoured and illustrious men of Solomon's retinue and many of his
+generals were here: Ben-Geber, ruler over the region of Argob; and
+Ahimaaz, who had Basmath, the daughter of the king, to wife; and the
+witty Ben-Dekar; and Zabud, who bore, in accordance with eastern
+customs, the high title of the King's Friend; and the brother of Solomon
+by the first marriage of David,--Dalaiah, a debilitated, half-dead man,
+who had prematurely fallen into idiocy through excesses and drinking.
+They were all--some through faith, some through ulterior designs, others
+out of adulation, and still others for lecherous purposes,--the adorants
+of Isis.
+
+And now the eyes of the queen rested, long and attentively, intent in
+thought, on the comely, youthful face of Eliab, one of the officers of
+the king's bodyguards.
+
+The queen knew why his swarthy face was aflame with such a vivid colour,
+why his eyes were directed with such passionate yearning hitherward,
+upon the curtains, scarce stirring from the touch of the queen's
+beautiful hands. Once, almost in jest, submitting to a momentary
+caprice, she had made Eliab to pass a whole night of felicity with her.
+In the morning she had let him depart, but ever since, for many days
+running, she had beheld everywhere,--in the palace, in the temple, in
+the streets,--two enamoured, submissive, yearning eyes, that followed
+her entranced.
+
+The dark eyebrows of the queen contracted, and her green, elongated eyes
+suddenly darkened from a fearful thought. With a barely perceptible
+motion of her hand she ordered the castrate to lower the fan and said
+quietly:
+
+"Get hence, all of you. Hushai, thou shalt go and summon to me Eliab,
+the officer of the king's guard. Let him come alone."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN
+
+XI.
+
+
+Ten priests, in white vestments, maculated with red, stepped out to the
+centre of the altar. Following them came two other priests, clad in
+feminine garments. It was their duty to-day to represent Nephthys and
+Isis, bewailing Osiris. Then out of the depths of the altar came one in
+a white chiton, without a single ornament, and the eyes of all the men
+and women were eagerly drawn to him. This was the very same desert
+anchorite who had undergone a heavy trial of ten years' wrestling with
+the flesh upon the mountains of Lebanon, and was now to bring a great,
+voluntary bloody sacrifice to Isis. His face, emaciated by hunger,
+wind-beaten and scorched, was stern and pallid, the eyes austerely cast
+down; and a supernatural horror was wafted from him upon the throng.
+
+Finally, the chief priest of the temple also made his appearance,--a
+centenarian ancient, with a tiara upon his head, with a tiger skin upon
+his shoulders, in an apron of brocaded samite adorned with the tails of
+jackals.
+
+Turning to the worshippers, he uttered in a senile voice, meek and
+tremulous:
+
+"_Suton-di-botpu._" ("The king bringeth the sacrifice.")
+
+And then, turning around to the sacrificial altar, he took from the
+hands of an acolyte a white dove with little red feet, cut off the
+bird's head, took the heart out of her breast, and sprinkled the
+sacrificial altar and the consecrated knife with her blood.
+
+After a brief silence he proclaimed:
+
+"Let us weep for Osiris, the god of Atum, the Great On-Nefer-Hophra, the
+god Ona!"
+
+Two castrates in female garments,--Isis and Nephthys,--at once commenced
+the lamentation, in harmonious, high-pitched voices:
+
+"Return to thy dwelling, O beauteous youth! To behold thee is bliss.
+
+"Isis charges thee,--Isis, that was conceived in the one womb with
+thee,--Isis, thy spouse and thy sister.
+
+"Show us thy countenance anew, radiant god. Here is Nephthys, thy
+sister. She is deluged in her tears and plucks out her hair in her
+grief.
+
+"In a yearning like unto death do we seek after thy beauteous body.
+Return to thy dwelling, Osiris!"
+
+Two other priests joined their voices to those of the first two. These
+were Horus and Anubis lamenting for Osiris, and each time they concluded
+a stanza, the chorus, disposed upon the steps of the staircase, repeated
+it to a solemn and sad motif.
+
+Then with the same chant the elder priests brought out of the sanctuary
+the statue of the goddess, no longer covered with the _naos_. A black
+mantle, strewn over with golden stars, now enveloped the goddess from
+head to foot, leaving visible only her silvern feet, entwined by a
+serpent, as well as, over her head, a silvern disc, confined within the
+horns of a cow. And slowly, to the tinkling of the censers and sistra,
+with mournful weeping, the procession of the goddess Isis set out from
+the steps of the altar, down into the temple, along its walls, and in
+and out between the columns.
+
+Thus did the goddess gather up the scattered members of her spouse, that
+she might resuscitate him with the aid of Thoth and Anubis.
+
+"Glory to the city of Abydos, that preserved thy fair head, Osiris.
+
+"Glory to thee, city of Memphis, where we did find the right hand of the
+great god,--the hand of war and protection.
+
+"And to thee also, O city of Sais, that didst harbour the left hand of
+the radiant god,--the hand of justice.
+
+"And be thou blessed, city of Thebes, where the heart of On-Nefer-Hophra
+did repose."
+
+Thus did the goddess make the round of the entire temple, coming back to
+the altar, and more and more passionate and loud did the singing of the
+chorus become. A sacred exaltation was taking possession of the priests
+and those praying. All the parts of the body of Osiris had Isis found,
+save one,--the sacred Phallus, impregnating the maternal womb, creating
+new life eternal. Now was approaching the grandest act in the mystery of
+Osiris and Isis....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Is it thou, Eliab?" the queen asked the youth, who had quietly entered
+the door.
+
+In the darkness near the couch he noiselessly sank at her feet and pressed
+to his lips the hem of her raiment. And the queen felt him weeping with
+rapture, shame, and desire. Lowering her hand upon his curly, tousled
+head, the queen uttered:
+
+"Tell me, Eliab, all that thou knowest of the king and this girl of the
+vineyard."
+
+"How thou dost love him, O queen!" said Eliab with a bitter moan.
+
+"Speak!..." commanded Astis.
+
+"What can I tell thee, queen? My heart is rent by jealousy."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"Never yet has the king loved any as he loveth her. He doth not part
+from her for an instant. His eyes shine with happiness. He lavishes
+favours and gifts all about him. He, the Abimelech[5] and sage,--he,
+like a slave, lieth at her feet and, like a dog, taketh not his eyes
+off her."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"O, how thou dost torture me, queen! And she ... she is all love, all
+tenderness and caresses! She is meek and abashed, she sees and knows
+naught save her love. She arouses wrath, envy, or jealousy in none...."
+
+"Speak!" furiously moaned out the queen, and, clutching with her pliant
+fingers the black curls of Eliab, she pressed his head against her body,
+scratching his face with the silver embroidery of her diaphanous chiton.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And in the meanwhile, at the altar, around the image of the goddess
+covered with its black pall, the priests and priestesses were careering
+in a holy frenzy, with shouts resembling barking, to the clashing of
+tympani and the jarring strum of sistrums.
+
+Certain ones among them were flaying themselves with many-tailed
+whiplashes of rhinoceros hide; others were inflicting long, slashing
+wounds upon their own breasts and shoulders with short knives; others
+still were tearing their mouths with their fingers, tearing at their
+ears, and excoriating their faces with their nails. In the midst of this
+mad round-dance, at the very feet of the goddess, with inconceivable
+rapidity the anchorite from the mountains of Lebanon was whirling on one
+spot, in snowy-white, waving raiment. The head priest alone remained
+motionless. In his hand he was holding the sacred sacrificial knife of
+AEthiopian obsidian, ready to pass it over at the ultimate, frightful
+moment.
+
+"The Phallus! The Phallus! The Phallus!" the maddened priests were
+crying in an ecstasy. "Where is thy Phallus, O radiant god? Come,
+fecundate the goddess! Her bosom languishes with desire! Her womb is
+like a desert in the sultry months of summer!"
+
+And now a fearful, insane, piercing scream for an instant drowned all
+sound of the chorus. The priests quickly parted, and all those in the
+temple beheld the anchorite of Lebanon, utterly nude, horrible with his
+tall, gaunt, yellow body. The high priest held out the knife to him. The
+temple grew unbearably still. And he, quickly stooping, made some motion,
+straightened up, and with a wail of pain and rapture suddenly cast at
+the feet of the goddess a formless, bloody piece of flesh.
+
+He was tottering. The high priest carefully supported him, putting his
+arm around his back; led him up to the image of Isis, painstakingly
+covered him with the black pall, and left him thus for a few moments, in
+order that in secret, unseen of the others, he might imprint his kiss
+upon the lips of the impregnated goddess.
+
+Immediately thereafter he was laid upon a stretcher and borne from the
+altar. The priest who kept the gates went outside the temple. He struck
+an enormous copper disc with a wooden mallet, proclaiming to all the
+universe that the great mystery of the fecundation of the goddess had
+been consummated. And the high, singing sound of the copper floated away
+over Jerusalem....
+
+Queen Astis, her body still quivering without cease, threw back Eliab's
+head. Her eyes were aflame with an intense, red fire. And she spake
+slowly, word by word:
+
+"Eliab, wouldst have me make thee king over Judaea and Israel? Wouldst
+thou be sovereign over all Syria and Mesopotamia, over Phoenicia and
+Babylon?"
+
+"Nay, queen, I desire thee alone...."
+
+"Yea, thou shalt be my lord. All my nights shall belong to thee. My
+every word, my every glance, my every breath shall be thine. Thou
+knowest the shibboleth. Thou shalt go this day into the palace and slay
+them. Thou shalt slay them both! Thou shalt slay them both!"
+
+Eliab was fain to speak. But the queen drew him to her, and her burning
+lips and tongue clung to his mouth. This lasted excruciatingly long.
+Then, suddenly tearing the youth away from her, she said curtly and
+imperiously:
+
+"Go!"
+
+"I go," answered Eliab, submissively.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE
+
+XII.
+
+
+And it was the seventh night of Solomon's great love.
+
+Strangely quiet and deeply tender were the caresses of the king and
+Sulamith on this night. Some pensive melancholy, some cautious timidity,
+some distant premonition, seemed to have cast a slight shadow over their
+words, their kisses and embraces.
+
+Gazing through the window at the sky, where night was already
+vanquishing the sinking flame of the evening, Sulamith let her eyes rest
+upon a bright, bluish star that trembled meekly and tenderly.
+
+"What is that star called, my beloved?" she asked.
+
+"That is the star Sopdit," answered the king. "It is a sacred star.
+Assyrian magi tell us that the souls of all men dwell upon it after the
+death of the body."
+
+"Dost thou believe it, my king?"
+
+Solomon made no reply. His right hand was under Sulamith's head, and his
+left did embrace her; and she felt his aromatic breath upon her,--upon
+her hair, upon her temple.
+
+"Mayhap we shall see each other there, my king, after we have died?"
+asked Sulamith uneasily.
+
+The king again kept silence.
+
+"Give me some answer, beloved," timidly implored Sulamith.
+
+Whereupon the king said:
+
+"Brief is the life of man, but time is without end, and matter hath no
+death. Man dieth and maketh the earth fertile with the corruption of his
+body; the earth nourisheth the blade; the blade bringeth forth grain;
+man consumeth bread, and feedeth his body therewith. Multitudes, and
+multitudes upon multitudes, of ages shall pass; all things in the
+universe repeat themselves,--men, beasts, stones, plants,--all repeat
+themselves. In the multiform vortex of time and matter we, too, are
+repeated, my beloved. It is just as true as that, if thou and I were to
+fill a large bag up to the top with sea gravel, and were to cast therein
+but one precious sapphire,--though we were to take pebbles out of the bag
+many, many times, we still would, sooner or later, draw out the precious
+stone as well. Thou and I will meet, Sulamith, nor shall we know each
+other; but our hearts, with rapture and yearning, will strive to meet,
+for thou and I have already met,--my meek, my fair Sulamith,--though we
+remember it not."
+
+"Nay, my king, nay! I remember. When thou didst stand beneath the window
+and didst call to me: 'My fair, come out, for my locks are filled with
+the drops of the night!' I knew thee, I remembered thee; and fear and
+joy possessed my heart. Tell me, my king,--tell me, Solomon: if I were,
+say, to die on the morrow, wouldst thou recall thy swarthy maiden of the
+vineyard, thy Sulamith?"
+
+And the king, pressing her to his breast, whispered in emotion:
+
+"Never speak thus.... Speak not thus, O Sulamith! Thou art chosen of God,
+thou art the veritable one, thou art the queen of my soul.... Death
+shall not touch thee...."
+
+The strident sound of brass suddenly soared over Jerusalem. For long it
+trembled mournfully and wavered in the air, and when it had grown silent
+its quavering echoes still floated on for a long while.
+
+"This marks the ending of the mystery in the temple of Isis," said the
+king.
+
+"I am afraid, my comely one," whispered Sulamith. "A dark terror has
+penetrated into my soul.... I do not want to die.... I have not yet had
+time to enjoy my fill of thy embraces.... Embrace me.... Press me closer
+to thee.... Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm!..."
+
+"Fear not death, Sulamith! For love is strong as death.... Drive sad
+thoughts from thee.... Wouldst have me tell thee of the wars of David,
+of the feasts and hunts of the Pharaoh Shishak? Wouldst hear one of
+those fairy tales that come from the land of Ophir?... Wouldst have me
+tell thee of the wonders of Bakramaditiah?"
+
+"Yea, my king. Thou dost know thyself that when I hearken to thee, my
+heart doth expand from happiness! But I would ask a boon of thee...."
+
+"O Sulamith, all that thou dost desire! Ask my life of me,--I shall
+render it up to thee with delight. I shall only regret having paid too
+small a price for thy love."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Then Sulamith smiled in the darkness for happiness, and, entwining the
+king with her arms, whispered in his ear:
+
+"I beseech thee, when the morning cometh let us go together there ... to
+the vineyard.... There, where it is green, and the cypresses are, and
+the cedars; where, nigh the stone wall, thou didst take my soul with thy
+hands.... I beseech thee to do this, my beloved.... There will I give
+thee my loves anew...."
+
+In a transport of delight the king kissed the lips of his love.
+
+But Sulamith suddenly raised herself up on the couch and hearkened.
+
+"What is it, my child?... What hath frightened thee?" asked Solomon.
+
+"Stay, my beloved.... Some one is coming hither.... Yea ... I hear
+steps."
+
+She became silent. And the stillness was such that they marked the beating
+of their hearts.
+
+A slight rustling was heard beyond the door, and it was suddenly thrown
+ajar, quickly and without a sound.
+
+"Who is there?" cried out Solomon.
+
+But Sulamith had already sprung up from the bed, and with one move
+dashed toward the dark figure of a man with a gleaming sword in his
+hand. And immediately, stricken through by a short, quick stroke, she
+fell down to the floor with a faint cry, as though of wonder.
+
+Solomon shattered with his hand the screen of carnelian that shaded the
+light of the night-lamp. He beheld Eliab, who was standing near the
+door, stooping a little over the body of the girl, swaying like one in
+wine. The young warrior raised his head under Solomon's gaze, and, when
+his eyes met the wrathful, awesome eyes of the king, he blanched and
+groaned. An expression of despair and terror distorted his features. And
+suddenly, stooping, hiding his face in his mantle, he began timidly,
+like a frightened jackal, to slink out of the room. But the king stayed
+him, saying but three words:
+
+"Who compelled thee?"
+
+All a-tremble and with teeth chattering, with eyes grown white from
+fear, the young warrior let drop dully:
+
+"Queen Astis...."
+
+"Get thee hence," commanded Solomon. "Tell the guard on duty to watch
+thee."
+
+Soon people with lights commenced running through the innumerable rooms
+of the palace. All the chambers were illuminated. The leeches came; the
+friends and the military officers of the king gathered.
+
+The chief leech said:
+
+"King, neither science nor God will now avail. She will die the instant
+we draw out the sword left in her breast."
+
+But at this moment Sulamith came to and said with a calm smile:
+
+"I would drink."
+
+And when she had drunk, her eyes rested with a tender, beautiful smile
+upon the king, nor did she again take them away, the while he stood upon
+his knees before her couch, all naked, even as she, without perceiving
+that his knees were laved in her blood, nor that his hands were
+encrimsoned with the scarlet of her blood.
+
+Thus, with difficulty, gazing upon her beloved and smiling gently, did
+the beautiful Sulamith speak:
+
+"I thank thee, my king, for all things: for thy love, for thy beauty,
+for thy wisdom, to which thou didst allow me to set my lips, as to a
+sweet well of living waters. Let me to kiss thy hands; take them not
+away from my mouth till such time when the last breath shall have fled
+from me. Never has there been, nor ever shall there be, a woman happier
+than I. I thank thee, my king, my beloved, my fair. Think ever and anon
+upon thy slave, upon thy Sulamith, scorched of the sun."
+
+And the king made answer to her, in a deep, slow voice:
+
+"As long as men and women shall love one another; as long as beauty of
+soul and body shall be the best and sweetest dream in the universe,--so
+long, I swear to thee, Sulamith, shall thy name be uttered through many
+ages with emotion and gratefulness."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Toward morning Sulamith ceased to be.
+
+Then did the king rise up, command the means for laving to be brought to
+him, and, donning his most magnificent chiton of purple, broidered with
+golden scarabae, he placed upon his head a crown of blood-red rubies.
+After this he did call Benaiah to him, and spake calmly:
+
+"Benaiah, thou shalt go and put Eliab to death."
+
+But the old man covered his face with his hands and fell prostrate before
+the king.
+
+"Eliab is my grandson, O King."
+
+"Didst thou hear me, Benaiah?"
+
+"Forgive me, O King,--threaten me not with thy wrath; command some other
+to do this. Eliab, having come out of the palace, did run to the temple,
+and caught hold on the horns of the altar. I am old, my death is nigh; I
+dare not take upon my soul this two-fold crime."
+
+But the king retorted:
+
+"Nevertheless, when I did instruct thee to put to death my brother
+Adonijah, who had likewise caught hold on the sacred horns of the altar,
+didst thou not hearken to me, Benaiah?"
+
+"Forgive me! Spare me, King!"
+
+"Lift up thy face," commanded Solomon.
+
+And when Benaiah did raise up his face, and beheld the king's eyes, he
+quickly rose up from the floor and obediently made his way to the exit.
+
+Then, turning to Ahishar, who was the seneschal, and over the household,
+he commanded:
+
+"I do not want to give the queen up to death; let her live as she
+wishes, and die when she wishes. But nevermore shall she behold my
+countenance. This day, Ahishar, thou shalt fit out a caravan and escort
+the queen to the harbour at Jaffa; and thence to AEgypt, to the Pharaoh
+Shishak. Now let all get hence."
+
+And, left alone face to face with the body of Sulamith, he long
+contemplated her beautiful features. Her face was pale, and never had it
+been so fair during her life. The half-parted lips that Solomon had been
+kissing but half an hour ago were smiling enigmatically and beautifully;
+and her teeth, still humid, gleamed very faintly from between them.
+
+For long did the king gaze upon his dead leman; then, he softly touched
+with his fingers her brow, already losing the warmth of life, and with
+slow steps withdrew from the chamber.
+
+Beyond the doors the high priest Azariah, son of Zadok, was awaiting
+him. Approaching the king, he asked:
+
+"What shall we do with the body of this woman? It is now the Sabbath."
+
+And the king recalled how, many years ere this, his father had expired
+and lay upon the sand, already beginning to decompose rapidly. Dogs,
+drawn by the scent of carrion, were already prowling about with eyes
+glaring from hunger and greediness. And, even as now, the high priest,
+a decrepit old man, the father of Azariah, had then asked him:
+
+"Here lieth thy father; the dogs may rend his corpse.... What are we to
+do? Honour the memory of the king and profane the Sabbath; or observe
+the Sabbath but leave the corpse of thy father to be devoured of dogs?"
+
+Thereupon Solomon made answer:
+
+"Leave him. A living dog is better than a dead lion."
+
+And when now, after the words of the high priest, he did recall this,
+his heart did contract from sadness and fear.
+
+Having made no answer to the high priest, he went on, into the Hall of
+Judgment.
+
+As always of mornings, two of his scribes, Elihoreph and Ahiah, were
+already reclining upon mats, one on either side of the throne, holding
+in readiness their inks, reeds, and rolls of papyrus. Upon the king's
+entrance they arose and salaamed to the ground before him. And the king
+sat down upon his throne of ivory with ornaments of gold, leant his
+elbow upon the back of a golden lion, and, bowing his head upon his
+palm, commanded:
+
+"Write!
+
+"Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a ring upon thy hand; for love is
+strong as death; jealousy is cruel as hell: the arrows thereof are arrows
+of fire."
+
+And, having kept a silence so prolonged that the scribes held their
+breath in alarm, he said:
+
+"Leave me to myself."
+
+And all day, till the first shadows of evening, did the king remain
+alone with his thoughts; nor durst any enter the vast, empty Hall of
+Judgment.
+
+
+_Tamam Shud_
+
+
+
+
+NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR
+
+
+[Footnote 1: The Russian version of this passage reads: "... jealousy is
+cruel as the grave: the arrows thereof are arrows of fire." In this, I
+have been given to understand, it adheres more closely than does the
+English Bible to the original Hebrew.]
+
+[Footnote 2: "Which _is_ the second month..." _I KINGS; vi:1_.]
+
+[Footnote 3: "Which _is_ the eighth month..." _I KINGS; vi:38_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: "A word fitly spoken _is like_ apples of gold in pictures
+of silver." _PROVERBS; xxv:11_.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Abimelech; _i. e._, Father-King.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity, by
+Alexandre Kuprin
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