diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/7dlit10.txt | 6985 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/7dlit10.zip | bin | 0 -> 172947 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/8dlit10.txt | 6985 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/8dlit10.zip | bin | 0 -> 173040 bytes |
4 files changed, 13970 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/7dlit10.txt b/old/7dlit10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef53bef --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7dlit10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6985 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Book of Delight and Other Papers, by Israel Abrahams +#2 in our series by Israel Abrahams + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Book of Delight and Other Papers + +Author: Israel Abrahams + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9886] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 28, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF DELIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE BOOK OF DELIGHT + +AND + +OTHER PAPERS + + +BY + +ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, M.A. + +Author of "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," "Chapters on Jewish +Literature," etc. + +1912 + + + + +PREFACE + + +The chapters of this volume were almost all spoken addresses. The author +has not now changed their character as such, for it seemed to him that to +convert them into formal essays would be to rob them of any little +attraction they may possess. + +One of the addresses--that on "Medieval Wayfaring"--was originally spoken +in Hebrew, in Jerusalem. It was published, in part, in English in the +London _Jewish Chronicle_, and the author is indebted to the conductors of +that periodical for permission to include this, and other material, in the +present collection. + +Some others of the chapters have been printed before, but a considerable +proportion of the volume is quite new, and even those addresses that are +reprinted are now given in a fuller and much revised text. + +As several of the papers were intended for popular audiences, the author is +persuaded that it would ill accord with his original design to overload the +book with notes and references. These have been supplied only where +absolutely necessary, and a few additional notes are appended at the end of +the volume. + +The author realizes that the book can have little permanent value. But as +these addresses seemed to give pleasure to those who heard them, he thought +it possible that they might provide passing entertainment also to those who +are good enough to read them. + +ISRAEL ABRAHAMS + +CAMBRIDGE, ENG., September, 1911 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. "THE BOOK OF DELIGHT" + +II. A VISIT TO HEBRON + +III. THE SOLACE OF BOOKS + +IV. MEDIEVAL WAYFARING + +V. THE FOX'S HEART + +VI. "MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN" + +VII. HEBREW LOVE SONGS + +VIII. A HANDFUL OF CURIOSITIES + + i. George Eliot and Solomon Maimon + ii. How Milton Pronounced Hebrew + iii. The Cambridge Platonists + iv. The Anglo-Jewish Yiddish Literary Society + v. The Mystics and Saints of India + vi. Lost Purim Joys + vii. Jews and Letters + viii. The Shape of Matzoth + +NOTES + +INDEX + +[Transcriber's Note: Index not included in this e-text edition.] + + + + +"THE BOOK OF DELIGHT" + + +Joseph Zabara has only in recent times received the consideration justly +due to him. Yet his "Book of Delight," finished about the year 1200, is +more than a poetical romance. It is a golden link between folk-literature +and imaginative poetry. The style is original, and the framework of the +story is an altogether fresh adaptation of a famous legend. The anecdotes +and epigrams introduced incidentally also partake of this twofold quality. +The author has made them his own, yet they are mostly adapted rather than +invented. Hence, the poem is as valuable to the folklorist as to the +literary critic. For, though Zabara's compilation is similar to such +well-known models as the "Book of Sindbad," the _Kalilah ve-Dimnah_, and +others of the same class, yet its appearance in Europe is half a century +earlier than the translations by which these other products of the East +became part of the popular literature of the Western world. At the least, +then, the "Book of Delight" is an important addition to the scanty store of +the folk-lore records of the early part of the thirteenth century. The +folk-lore interest of the book is, indeed, greater than was known formerly, +for it is now recognized as a variant of the Solomon-Marcolf legend. On +this more will be said below, + +As a poet and as a writer of Hebrew, Joseph Zabara's place is equally +significant. He was one of the first to write extended narratives in Hebrew +rhymed prose with interspersed snatches of verse, the form invented by +Arabian poets, and much esteemed as the medium for story-telling and for +writing social satire. The best and best-known specimens of this form of +poetry in Hebrew are Charizi's _Tachkemoni_, and his translation of Hariri. +Zabara has less art than Charizi, and far less technical skill, yet in him +all the qualities are in the bud that Charizi's poems present in the +fullblown flower. The reader of Zabara feels that other poets will develop +his style and surpass him; the reader of Charizi knows of a surety that in +him the style has reached its climax. + +Of Joseph Zabara little is known beyond what may be gleaned from a +discriminating study of the "Book of Delight." That this romance is largely +autobiographical in fact, as it is in form, there can be no reasonable +doubt. The poet writes with so much indignant warmth of the dwellers in +certain cities, of their manner of life, their morals, and their culture, +that one can only infer that he is relating his personal experiences. +Zabara, like the hero of his romance, travelled much during the latter +portion of the twelfth century, as is known from the researches of Geiger. +He was born in Barcelona, and returned there to die. In the interval, we +find him an apt pupil of Joseph Kimchi, in Narbonne. Joseph Kimchi, the +founder of the famous Kimchi family, carried the culture of Spain to +Provence; and Joseph Zabara may have acquired from Kimchi his mastery over +Hebrew, which he writes with purity and simplicity. The difficulties +presented in some passages of the "Book of Delight" are entirely due to the +corrupt state of the text. Joseph Kimchi, who flourished in Provence from +1150 to 1170, quotes Joseph Zabara twice, with approval, in explaining +verses in Proverbs. It would thus seem that Zabara, even in his student +days, was devoted to the proverb-lore on which he draws so lavishly in his +maturer work. + +Dr. Steinschneider, to whom belongs the credit of rediscovering Zabara in +modern times, infers that the poet was a physician. There is more than +probability in the case; there is certainty. The romance is built by a +doctor; there is more talk of medicine in it than of any other topic of +discussion. Moreover, the author, who denies that he is much of a +Talmudist, accepts the compliment paid to him by his visitor, Enan, that he +is "skilled and well-informed in the science of medicine." There is, too, a +professional tone about many of the quips and gibes in which Zabara +indulges concerning doctors. Here, for instance, is an early form of a +witticism that has been attributed to many recent humorists. "A +philosopher," says Zabara, "was sick unto death, and his doctor gave him +up; yet the patient recovered. The convalescent was walking in the street +when the doctor met him. 'You come,' said he, 'from the other world.' +'Yes,' rejoined the patient, 'I come from there, and I saw there the awful +retribution that falls on doctors; for they kill their patients. Yet, do +not feel alarmed. You will not suffer. I told them on my oath that you are +no doctor.'" + +Again, in one of the poetical interludes (found only in the Constantinople +edition) occurs this very professional sneer, "A doctor and the Angel of +Death both kill, but the former charges a fee." Who but a doctor would +enter into a scathing denunciation of the current system of diagnosis, as +Zabara does in a sarcastic passage, which Erter may have imitated +unconsciously? And if further proof be needed that Zabara was a man of +science, the evidence is forthcoming; for Zabara appeals several times to +experiment in proof of his assertions. And to make assurance doubly sure, +the author informs his readers in so many words of his extensive medical +practice in his native place. + +If Zabara be the author of the other, shorter poems that accompany the +"Book of Delight" in the Constantinople edition, though they are not +incorporated into the main work, we have a further indication that Zabara +was a medical man. There is a satirical introduction against the doctors +that slay a man before his time. The author, with mock timidity, explains +that he withholds his name, lest the medical profession turn its attention +to him with fatal results. "Never send for a doctor," says the satirist, +"for one cannot expect a miracle to happen." It is important, for our +understanding of another feature in Zabara's work, to observe that his +invective, directed against the practitioners rather than the science of +medicine, is not more curious as coming from a medical man, than are the +attacks on women perpetrated by some Jewish poets (Zabara among them), who +themselves amply experienced, in their own and their community's life, the +tender and beautiful relations that subsist between Jewish mother and son, +Jewish wife and husband. + +The life of Joseph ben Meir Zabara was not happy. He left Barcelona in +search of learning and comfort. He found the former, but the latter eluded +him. It is hard to say from the "Book of Delight" whether he was a +woman-hater, or not. On the one hand, he says many pretty things about +women. The moral of the first section of the romance is: Put your trust in +women; and the moral of the second section of the poem is: A good woman is +the best part of man. But, though this is so, Zabara does undoubtedly quote +a large number of stories full of point and sting, stories that tell of +women's wickedness and infidelity, of their weakness of intellect and +fickleness of will. His philogynist tags hardly compensate for his +misogynist satires. He runs with the hare, but hunts energetically with the +hounds. + +It is this characteristic of Zabara's method that makes it open to doubt, +whether the additional stories referred to as printed with the +Constantinople edition did really emanate from our author's pen. These +additions are sharply misogynist; the poet does not even attempt to blunt +their point. They include "The Widow's Vow" (the widow, protesting undying +constancy to her first love, eagerly weds another) and "Woman's +Contentions." In the latter, a wicked woman is denounced with the wildest +invective. She has demoniac traits; her touch is fatal. A condemned +criminal is offered his life if he will wed a wicked woman. "O King," he +cried, "slay me; for rather would I die once, than suffer many deaths every +day." Again, once a wicked woman pursued a heroic man. He met some devils. +"What are you running from?" asked they. "From a wicked woman," he +answered. The devils turned and ran away with him. + +One rather longer story may be summarized thus: Satan, disguised in human +shape, met a fugitive husband, who had left his wicked wife. Satan told him +that he was in similar case, and proposed a compact. Satan would enter into +the bodies of men, and the other, pretending to be a skilful physician, +would exorcise Satan. They would share the profits. Satan begins on the +king, and the queen engages the confederate to cure the king within three +days, for a large fee, but in case of failure the doctor is to die. Satan +refuses to come out: his real plan is to get the doctor killed in this way. +The doctor obtains a respite, and collects a large body of musicians, who +make a tremendous din. Satan trembles. "What is that noise?" he asks. "Your +wife is coming," says the doctor. Out sprang Satan and fled to the end of +the earth. + +These tales and quips, it is true, are directed against "wicked" women, but +if Zabara really wrote them, it would be difficult to acquit him of +woman-hatred, unless the stories have been misplaced, and should appear, as +part of the "Book of Delight," within the Leopard section, which rounds off +a series of unfriendly tales with a moral friendly to woman. In general, +Oriental satire directed against women must not be taken too seriously. As +Guedemann has shown, the very Jews that wrote most bitterly of women were +loud in praise of their own wives--the women whom alone they knew +intimately. Woman was the standing butt for men to hurl their darts at, and +one cannot help feeling that a good deal of the fun got its point from the +knowledge that the charges were exaggerated or untrue. You find the Jewish +satirists exhausting all their stores of drollery on the subject of +rollicking drunkenness. They roar till their sides creak over the humor of +the wine-bibber. They laugh at him and with him. They turn again and again +to the subject, which shares the empire with women in the Jewish poets. Yet +we know well enough that the writers of these Hebrew Anacreontic lyrics +were sober men, who rarely indulged in overmuch strong drink. In short, the +medieval Jewish satirists were gifted with much of what a little time ago +was foolishly styled "the new humor." Joseph Zabara was a "new" humorist. +He has the quaint subtlety of the author of the "Ingoldsby Legends," and +revelled in the exaggeration of trifles that is the stock-in-trade of the +modern funny man. Woman plays the part with the former that the +mother-in-law played a generation ago with the latter. In Zabara, again, +there is a good deal of mere rudeness, which the author seems to mistake +for cutting repartee. This, I take it, is another characteristic of the +so-called new humor. + +The probable explanation of the marked divergence between Zabara's stories +and the moral he draws from them lies, however, a little deeper. The +stories themselves are probably Indian in origin; hence they are marked by +the tone hostile to woman so characteristic of Indian folk-lore. On the +other hand, if Zabara himself was a friendly critic of woman, his own +moralizings in her favor are explained. This theory is not entirely upset +by the presence even of the additional stories, for these, too, are +translations, and Zabara cannot be held responsible for their contents. The +selection of good anecdotes was restricted in his day within very narrow +limits. + +Yet Zabara's reading must have been extensive. He knew something of +astronomy, philosophy, the science of physiognomy, music, mathematics, and +physics, and a good deal of medicine. He was familiar with Arabian +collections of proverbs and tales, for he informs his readers several times +that he is drawing on Arabic sources. He knew the "Choice of Pearls," the +Midrashic "Stories of King Solomon," the "Maxims of the Philosophers," the +"Proverbs of the Wise"; but not "Sendabar" in its Hebrew form. His +acquaintance with the language of the Bible was thorough; but he makes one +or two blunders in quoting the substance of Scriptural passages. Though he +disclaimed the title of a Talmudic scholar, he was not ignorant of the +Rabbinic literature. Everyone quotes it: the fox, the woman, Enan, and the +author. He was sufficiently at home in this literature to pun therein. He +also knew the story of Tobit, but, as he introduces it as "a most +marvellous tale," it is clear that this book of the Apocrypha was not +widely current in his day. The story, as Zabara tells it, differs +considerably from the Apocryphal version of it. The incidents are +misplaced, the story of the betrothal is disconnected from that of the +recovery of the money by Tobit, and the detail of the gallows occurs in no +other known text of the story. In one point, Zabara's version strikingly +agrees with the Hebrew and Chaldee texts of Tobit as against the Greek; +Tobit's son is not accompanied by a dog on his journey to recover his +father's long-lost treasure. + +One of the tales told by Zabara seems to imply a phenomenon of the +existence of which there is no other evidence. There seems to have been in +Spain a small class of Jews that were secret converts to Christianity. They +passed openly for Jews, but were in truth Christians. The motive for the +concealment is unexplained, and the whole passage may be merely satirical. + +It remains for me to describe the texts now extant of the "Book of +Delight." In 1865 the "Book of Delight" appeared, from a fifteenth century +manuscript in Paris, in the second volume of a Hebrew periodical called the +_Lebanon_. In the following year the late Senior Sachs wrote an +introduction to it and to two other publications, which were afterwards +issued together under the title _Yen Lebanon_ (Paris, 1866). The editor was +aware of the existence of another text, but, strange to tell, he did not +perceive the need of examining it. Had he done this, his edition would have +been greatly improved. For the Bodleian Library possesses a copy of another +edition of the "Book of Delight," undated, and without place of issue, but +printed in Constantinople, in 1577. One or two other copies of this edition +are extant elsewhere. The editor was Isaac Akrish, as we gather from a +marginal note to the version of Tobit given by Joseph Zabara. This Isaac +Akrish was a travelling bookseller, who printed interesting little books, +and hawked them about. Dr. Steinschneider points out that the date of Isaac +Akrish's edition can be approximately fixed by the type. The type is that +of the Jaabez Press, established in Constantinople and Salonica in 1560. +This Constantinople edition is not only longer than the Paris edition, it +is, on the whole, more accurate. The verbal variations between the two +editions are extremely numerous, but the greater accuracy of the +Constantinople edition shows itself in many ways. The rhymes are much +better preserved, though the Paris edition is occasionally superior in this +respect. But many passages that are quite unintelligible in the Paris +edition are clear enough in the Constantinople edition. + +The gigantic visitor of Joseph, the narrator, the latter undoubtedly the +author himself, is a strange being. Like the guide of Gil Bias on his +adventures, he is called a demon, and he glares and emits smoke and fire. +But he proves amenable to argument, and quotes the story of the +washerwoman, to show how it was that he became a reformed character. This +devil quotes the Rabbis, and is easily convinced that it is unwise for him +to wed an ignorant bride. It would seem as though Zabara were, on the one +hand, hurling a covert attack against some one who had advised him to leave +Barcelona to his own hurt, while, on the other hand, he is satirizing the +current beliefs of Jews and Christians in evil spirits. More than one +passage is decidedly anti-Christian, and it would not be surprising to find +that the framework of the romance had been adopted with polemic intention. + +The character of the framework becomes more interesting when it is realized +that Zabara derived it from some version of the legends of which King +Solomon is the hero. The king had various adventures with a being more or +less demoniac in character, who bears several names: Asmodeus, Saturn, +Marcolf, or Morolf. That the model for Zabara's visitor was Solomon's +interlocutor, is not open to doubt. The Solomon legend occurs in many +forms, but in all Marcolf (or whatever other name he bears) is a keen +contester with the king in a battle of wits. No doubt, at first Marcolf +filled a serious, respectable role; in course of time, his character +degenerated into that of a clown or buffoon. It is difficult to summarize +the legend, it varies so considerably in the versions. Marcolf in the +best-known forms, which are certainly older than Zabara, is "right rude and +great of body, of visage greatly misshapen and foul." Sometimes he is a +dwarf, sometimes a giant; he is never normal. He appears with his +counterpart, a sluttish wife, before Solomon, who, recognizing him as +famous for his wit and wisdom, challenges him to a trial of wisdom, +promising great rewards as the prize of victory. The two exchange a series +of questions and answers, which may be compared in spirit, though not in +actual content, with the questions and answers to be found in Zabara. +Marcolf succeeds in thoroughly tiring out the king, and though the +courtiers are for driving Marcolf off with scant courtesy, the king +interposes, fulfils his promise, and dismisses his adversary with gifts. +Marcolf leaves the court, according to one version, with the noble remark, +_Ubi non est lex, ibi non est rex_. + +This does not exhaust the story, however. In another part of the legend, to +which, again, Zabara offers parallels, Solomon, being out hunting, comes +suddenly on Marcolf's hut, and, calling upon him, receives a number of +riddling answers, which completely foil him, and tor the solution of which +he is compelled to have recourse to the proposer. He departs, however, in +good humor, desiring Marcolf to come to court the next day and bring a pail +of fresh milk and curds from the cow. Marcolf fails, and the king condemns +him to sit up all night in his company, threatening him with death in the +morning, should he fall asleep. This, of course, Marcolf does immediately, +and he snores aloud. Solomon asks, "Sleepest thou?"--And Marcolf replies, +"No, I think."--"What thinkest thou?"--"That there are as many vertebrae in +the hare's tail as in his backbone."--The king, assured that he has now +entrapped his adversary, replies: "If thou provest not this, thou diest in +the morning!" Over and over again Marcolf snores, and is awakened by +Solomon, but he is always _thinking_. He gives various answers during the +night: There are as many white feathers as black in the magpie.--There is +nothing whiter than daylight, daylight is whiter than milk.--Nothing can be +safely entrusted to a woman.--Nature is stronger than education. + +Next day Marcolf proves all his statements. Thus, he places a pan of milk +in a dark closet, and suddenly calls the king. Solomon steps into the milk, +splashes himself, and nearly falls. "Son of perdition! what does this +mean?" roars the monarch. "May it please Your Majesty," says Marcolf, +"merely to show you that milk is not whiter than daylight." That nature is +stronger than education, Marcolf proves by throwing three mice, one after +the other, before a cat trained to hold a lighted candle in its paws during +the king's supper; the cat drops the taper, and chases the mice. Marcolf +further enters into a bitter abuse of womankind, and ends by inducing +Solomon himself to join in the diatribe. When the king perceives the trick, +he turns Marcolf out of court, and eventually orders him to be hanged. One +favor is granted to him: he may select his own tree. Marcolf and his guards +traverse the valley of Jehoshaphat, pass to Jericho over Jordan, through +Arabia and the Red Sea, but "never more could Marcolf find a tree that he +would choose to hang on." By this device, Marcolf escapes from Solomon's +hands, returns home, and passes the rest of his days in peace. + +The legend, no doubt Oriental in origin, enjoyed popularity in the Middle +Ages largely because it became the frame into which could be placed +collections of proverbial lore. Hence, as happened also with the legend of +the Queen of Sheba and her riddles, the versions vary considerably as to +the actual content of the questions and answers bandied between Solomon and +Marcolf. In the German and English versions, the proverbs and wisdom are +largely Teutonic; in Zabara they are Oriental, and, in particular, Arabic. +Again, Marcolf in the French version of Mauclerc is much more completely +the reviler of woman. Mauclerc wrote almost contemporaneously with Zabara +(about 1216-1220, according to Kemble). But, on the other hand, Mauclerc +has no story, and his Marcolf is a punning clown rather than a cunning +sage. Marcolf, who is Solomon's brother in a German version, has no trust +in a woman even when dead. So, in another version, Marcolf is at once +supernaturally cunning, and extremely skeptical as to the morality and +constancy of woman. But it is unnecessary to enter into the problem more +closely. Suffice it to have established that in Zabara's "Book of Delight" +we have a hitherto unsuspected adaptation of the Solomon-Marcolf legend. +Zabara handles the legend with rare originality, and even ventures to cast +himself for the title role in place of the wisest of kings. + +In the summary of the book which follows, the rhymed prose of the original +Hebrew is reproduced only in one case. This form of poetry is unsuited to +the English language. What may have a strikingly pleasing effect in +Oriental speech, becomes, in English, indistinguishable from doggerel. I +have not translated at full length, but I have endeavored to render Zabara +accurately, without introducing thoughts foreign to him. + +I have not thought it necessary to give elaborate parallels to Zabara's +stories, nor to compare minutely the various details of the Marcolf legend +with Zabara's poem. On the whole, it may be said that the parallel is +general rather than specific. I am greatly mistaken, however, if the +collection of stories that follows does not prove of considerable interest +to those engaged in the tracking of fables to their native lairs. Here, in +Zabara, we have an earlier instance than was previously known in Europe, of +an intertwined series of fables and witticisms, partly Indian, partly +Greek, partly Semitic, in origin, welded together by the Hebrew poet by +means of a framework. The use of the framework by a writer in Europe in the +year 1200 is itself noteworthy. And when it is remembered what the +framework is, it becomes obvious that the "Book of Delight" occupies a +unique position in medieval literature. + + +THE GIANT GUEST + + Once on a night, I, Joseph, lay upon my bed; sleep was sweet upon me, my + one return for all my toil. Things there are which weary the soul and + rest the body, others that weary the body and rest the soul, but sleep + brings calm to the body and the soul at once.... While I slept, I dreamt; + and a gigantic but manlike figure appeared before me, rousing me from my + slumber. "Arise, thou sleeper, rouse thyself and see the wine while it is + red; come, sit thee down and eat of what I provide." It was dawn when I + hastily rose, and I saw before me wine, bread, and viands; and in the + man's hand was a lighted lamp, which cast a glare into every corner. I + said, "What are these, my master?" "My wine, my bread, my viands; come, + eat and drink with me, for I love thee as one of my mother's sons." And I + thanked him, but protested: "I cannot eat or drink till I have prayed to + the Orderer of all my ways; for Moses, the choice of the prophets, and + the head of those called, hath ordained, 'Eat not with the blood'; + therefore no son of Israel will eat until he prays for his soul, for the + blood is the soul...." + + Then said he, "Pray, if such be thy wish"; and I bathed my hands and + face, and prayed. Then I ate of all that was before me, for my soul loved + him.... Wine I would not drink, though he pressed me sore. "Wine," I + said, "blindeth the eyes, robbeth the old of wisdom and the body of + strength, it revealeth the secrets of friends, and raiseth dissension + between brothers." The man's anger was roused. "Why blasphemest thou + against wine, and bearest false witness against it? Wine bringeth joy; + sorrow and sighing fly before it. It strengtheneth the body, maketh the + heart generous, prolongeth pleasure, and deferreth age; faces it maketh + shine, and the senses it maketh bright." + + "Agreed, but let thy servant take the water first, as the ancient + physicians advise; later I will take the wine, a little, without water." + + When I had eaten and drunk with him, I asked for his name and his + purpose. "I come," said he, "from a distant land, from pleasant and + fruitful hills, my wisdom is as thine, my laws as thine, my name Enan + Hanatash, the son of Arnan ha-Desh." I was amazed at the name, unlike any + I had ever heard. "Come with me from this land, and I will tell thee all + my secret lore; leave this spot, for they know not here thy worth and thy + wisdom. I will take thee to another place, pleasant as a garden, peopled + by loving men, wise above all others." But I answered: "My lord, I cannot + go. Here are many wise and friendly; while I live, they bear me on the + wing of their love; when I die, they will make my death sweet.... I fear + thee for thy long limbs, and in thy face I see, clear-cut, the marks of + unworthiness; I fear thee, and I will not be thy companion, lest there + befall me what befell the leopard with the fox." And I told him the + story. + +In this manner, illustrative tales are introduced throughout the poem. +Zabara displays rare ingenuity in fitting the illustrations into his +framework. He proceeds: + + +THE FOX AND THE LEOPARD + + A leopard once lived in content and plenty; ever he found easy sustenance + for his wife and children. Hard by there dwelt his neighbor and friend, + the fox. The fox felt in his heart that his life was safe only so long as + the leopard could catch other prey, and he planned out a method for + ridding himself of this dangerous friendship. Before the evil cometh, say + the wise, counsel is good. "Let me move him hence," thought the fox; "I + will lead him to the paths of death; for the sages say, 'If one come to + slay thee, be beforehand with him, and slay him instead.'" Next day the + fox went to the leopard, and told him of a spot he had seen, a spot of + gardens and lilies, where fawns and does disported themselves, and + everything was fair. The leopard went with him to behold this paradise, + and rejoiced with exceeding joy. "Ah," thought the fox, "many a smile + ends in a tear." But the leopard was charmed, and wished to move to this + delightful abode; "but, first," said he, "I will go to consult my wife, + my lifelong comrade, the bride of my youth." The fox was sadly + disconcerted. Full well he knew the wisdom and the craft of the leopard's + wife. "Nay," said he, "trust not thy wife. A woman's counsel is evil and + foolish, her heart hard like marble; she is a plague in a house. Yes, ask + her advice, and do the opposite.".... The leopard told his wife that he + was resolved to go. "Beware of the fox," she exclaimed; "two small + animals there are, the craftiest they, by far--the serpent and the fox. + Hast thou not heard how the fox bound the lion and slew him with + cunning?" "How did the fox dare," asked the leopard, "to come near enough + to the lion to do it?" + +The wife than takes up the parable, and cites the incident of + + +THE FOX AND THE LION + + Then said the leopard's wife: The lion loved the fox, but the fox had no + faith in him, and plotted his death. One day the fox went to the lion + whining that a pain had seized him in the head. "I have heard," said the + fox, "that physicians prescribe for a headache, that the patient shall be + tied up hand and foot." The lion assented, and bound up the fox with a + cord. "Ah," blithely said the fox, "my pain is gone." Then the lion + loosed him. Time passed, and the lion's turn came to suffer in his head. + In sore distress he went to the fox, fast as a bird to the snare, and + exclaimed, "Bind me up, brother, that I, too, may be healed, as happened + with thee." The fox took fresh withes, and bound the lion up. Then he + went to fetch great stones, which he cast on the lion's head, and thus + crushed him. "Therefore, my dear leopard," concluded his wife, "trust not + the fox, for I fear him and his wiles. If the place he tells of be so + fair, why does not the fox take it for himself?" "Nay," said the leopard, + "thou art a silly prattler. I have often proved my friend, and there is + no dross in the silver of his love." + + +The leopard would not hearken to his wife's advice, yet he was somewhat +moved by her warning, and he told the fox of his misgiving, adding, that +his wife refused to accompany him. "Ah," replied the fox, "I fear your fate +will be like the silversmith's; let me tell you his story, and you will +know how silly it is to listen to a wife's counsel." + + +THE SILVERSMITH WHO FOLLOWED HIS WIFE'S COUNSEL + + A silversmith of Babylon, skilful in his craft, was one day at work. + "Listen to me," said his wife, "and I will make thee rich and honored. + Our lord, the king, has an only daughter, and he loves her as his life. + Fashion for her a silver image of herself, and I will bear it to her as a + gift." The statue was soon made, and the princess rejoiced at seeing it. + She gave a cloak and earrings to the artist's wife, and she showed them + to her husband in triumph. "But where is the wealth and the honor?" he + asked. "The statue was worth much more than thou hast brought." Next day + the king saw the statue in his daughter's hand, and his anger was + kindled. "Is it not ordered," he cried, "that none should make an image? + Cut off his right hand." The king's command was carried out, and daily + the smith wept, and exclaimed, "Take warning from me, ye husbands, and + obey not the voice of your wives." + + +The leopard shuddered when he heard this tale; but the fox went on: + + +THE WOODCUTTER AND THE WOMAN + + A hewer of wood in Damascus was cutting logs, and his wife sat spinning + by his side. "My departed father," she said, "was a better workman than + thou. He could chop with both hands: when the right hand was tired, he + used the left." "Nay," said he, "no woodcutter does that, he uses his + right hand, unless he be a left-handed man." "Ah, my dear," she + entreated, "try and do it as my father did." The witless wight raised his + left hand to hew the wood, but struck his right-hand thumb instead. + Without a word he took the axe and smote her on the head, and she died. + His deed was noised about; the woodcutter was seized and stoned for his + crime. Therefore, continued the fox, I say unto thee, all women are + deceivers and trappers of souls. And let me tell you more of these wily + stratagems. + + +The fox reinforces his argument by relating an episode in which a contrast +is drawn between + + +MAN'S LOVE AND WOMAN'S + + A king of the Arabs, wise and well-advised, was one day seated with his + counsellors, who were loud in the praise of women, lauding their virtues + and their wisdom. "Cut short these words," said the king. "Never since + the world began has there been a good woman. They love for their own + ends." "But," pleaded his sages, "O King, thou art hasty. Women there + are, wise and faithful and spotless, who love their husbands and tend + their children." "Then," said the king, "here is my city before you: + search it through, and find one of the good women of whom you speak." + They sought, and they found a woman, chaste and wise, fair as the moon + and bright as the sun, the wife of a wealthy trader; and the counsellors + reported about her to the king. He sent for her husband, and received him + with favor. "I have something for thy ear," said the king. "I have a good + and desirable daughter: she is my only child; I will not give her to a + king or a prince: let me find a simple, faithful man, who will love her + and hold her in esteem. Thou art such a one; thou shalt have her. But + thou art married: slay thy wife to-night, and to-morrow thou shalt wed my + daughter." "I am unworthy," pleaded the man, "to be the shepherd of thy + flock, much less the husband of thy daughter." But the king would take no + denial. "But how shall I kill my wife? For fifteen years she has eaten of + my bread and drunk of my cup. She is the joy of my heart; her love and + esteem grow day by day." "Slay her," said the king, "and be king + hereafter." He went forth from the presence, downcast and sad, thinking + over, and a little shaken by, the king's temptation. At home he saw his + wife and his two babes. "Better," he cried, "is my wife than a kingdom. + Cursed be all kings who tempt men to sip sorrow, calling it joy." The + king waited his coming in vain; and then he sent messengers to the man's + shop. When he found that the man's love had conquered his lust, he said, + with a sneer, "Thou art no man: thy heart is a woman's." + + In the evening the king summoned the woman secretly. She came, and the + king praised her beauty and her wisdom. His heart, he said, was burning + with love for her, but he could not wed another man's wife. "Slay thy + husband to-night, and tomorrow be my queen." With a smile, the woman + consented; and the king gave her a sword made of tin, for he knew the + weak mind of woman. "Strike once," he said to her; "the sword is sharp; + you need not essay a second blow." She gave her husband a choice repast, + and wine to make him drunken. As he lay asleep, she grasped the sword and + struck him on the head; and the tin bent, and he awoke. With some ado she + quieted him, and he fell asleep again. Next morning the king summoned + her, and asked whether she had obeyed his orders. "Yes," said she, "but + thou didst frustrate thine own counsel." Then the king assembled his + sages, and bade her tell all that she had attempted; and the husband, + too, was fetched, to tell his story. "Did I not tell you to cease your + praises of women?" asked the king, triumphantly. + + +IN DISPRAISE OF WOMAN + +The fox follows up these effective narratives with a lengthy string of +well-worn quotations against women, of which the following are a few: +Socrates, the wise and saintly, hated and despised them. His wife was thin +and short. They asked him, "How could a man like you choose such a woman +for your wrife?" "I chose," said Socrates, "of the evil the least possible +amount." "Why, then, do you look on beautiful women?" "Neither," said +Socrates, "from love nor from desire, but to admire the handiwork of God in +their outward form. It is within that they are foul." Once he was walking +by the way, and he saw a woman hanging from a fig-tree. "Would," said +Socrates, "that all the fruit were like this."--A nobleman built a new +house, and wrote over the door, "Let nothing evil pass this way." "Then how +does his wife go in?" asked Diogenes.--"Your enemy is dead," said one to +another. "I would rather hear that he had got married," was the reply. + +"So much," said the fox to the leopard, "I have told thee that thou mayest +know how little women are to be trusted. They deceive men in life, and +betray them in death." "But," queried the leopard, "what could my wife do +to harm me after I am dead?" "Listen," rejoined the fox, "and I will tell +thee of a deed viler than any I have narrated hitherto." + + +THE WIDOW AND HER HUSBAND'S CORPSE + + The kings of Rome, when they hanged a man, denied him burial until the + tenth day. That the friends and relatives of the victim might not steal + the body, an officer of high rank was set to watch the tree by night. If + the body was stolen, the officer was hung up in its place. A knight of + high degree once rebelled against the king, and he was hanged on a tree. + The officer on guard was startled at midnight to hear a piercing shriek + of anguish from a little distance; he mounted his horse, and rode towards + the voice, to discover the meaning. He came to an open grave, where the + common people were buried, and saw a weeping woman loud in laments for + her departed spouse. He sent her home with words of comfort, accompanying + her to the city gate. He then returned to his post. Next night the same + scene was repeated, and as the officer spoke his gentle soothings to her, + a love for him was born in her heart, and her dead husband was forgotten. + And as they spoke words of love, they neared the tree, and lo! the body + that the officer was set to watch was gone. "Begone," he said, "and I + will fly, or my life must pay the penalty of my dalliance." "Fear not, my + lord," she said, "we can raise my husband from his grave and hang him + instead of the stolen corpse." "But I fear the Prince of Death. I cannot + drag a man from his grave." "I alone will do it then," said the woman; "I + will dig him out; it is lawful to cast a dead man from the grave, to keep + a live man from being thrown in." "Alas!" cried the officer, when she had + done the fearsome deed, "the corpse I watched was bald, your husband has + thick hair; the change will be detected." "Nay," said the woman, "I will + make him bald," and she tore his hair out, with execrations, and they + hung him on the tree. But a few days passed and the pair were married. + + +And now the leopard interlude nears it close. Zabara narrates the +_denouement_ in these terms: + + +THE LEOPARD'S FATE + + The leopard's bones rattled while he listened to this tale. Angrily he + addressed his wife, "Come, get up and follow me, or I will slay thee." + Together they went with their young ones, and the fox was their guide, + and they reached the promised place, and encamped by the waters. The fox + bade them farewell, his head laughing at his tail. Seven days were gone, + when the rains descended, and in the deep of the night the river rose and + engulfed the leopard family in their beds. "Woe is me," sighed the + leopard, "that I did not listen to my wife." And he died before his time. + + +THE JOURNEY BEGUN BY JOSEPH AND ENAN + +The author has now finished his protest against his visitor's design, to +make him join him on a roving expedition. Enan glares, and asks, "Am I a +fox, and thou a leopard, that I should fear thee?" Then his note changes, +and his tone becomes coaxing and bland. Joseph cannot resist his +fascination. Together they start, riding on their asses. Then says Enan +unto Joseph, "Carry thou me, or I will carry thee." "But," continues the +narrator, Joseph, "we were both riding on our asses. 'What dost thou mean? +Our asses carry us both. Explain thy words.'--'It is the story of the +peasant with the king's officer.'" + + +THE CLEVER GIRL AND THE KING'S DREAM + + A king with many wives dreamt that he saw a monkey among them; his face + fell, and his spirit was troubled. "This is none other," said he, "than a + foreign king, who will invade my realm, and take my harem for his spoil." + One of his officers told the king of a clever interpreter of dreams, and + the king despatched him to find out the meaning of his ominous vision. He + set forth on his mule, and met a countryman riding. "Carry me," said the + officer, "or I will carry thee." The peasant was amazed. "But our asses + carry us both," he said. "Thou tiller of the earth," said the officer, + "thou art earth, and eatest earth. There is snow on the hill," continued + the officer, and as the month was Tammuz, the peasant laughed. They + passed a road with wheat growing on each side. "A horse blind in one eye + has passed here," said the officer, "loaded with oil on one side, and + with vinegar on the other." They saw a field richly covered with + abounding corn, and the peasant praised it. "Yes," said the officer, "if + the corn is not already eaten." They went on a little further and saw a + lofty tower. "Well fortified," remarked the peasant. "Fortified without, + if not ruined within," replied the officer. A funeral passed them. "As to + this old man whom they are burying," said the officer, "I cannot tell + whether he is alive or dead." And the peasant thought his companion mad + to make such unintelligible remarks. They neared a village where the + peasant lived, and he invited the officer to stay with him overnight. + + The peasant, in the dead of the night, told his wife and daughters of the + foolish things the officer had said, though he looked quite wise. "Nay," + said the peasant's youngest daughter, a maiden of fifteen years, "the man + is no fool; thou didst not comprehend the depth of his meaning. The + tiller of the earth eats food grown from the earth. By the 'snow on the + hill' is meant thy white beard (on thy head); thou shouldst have + answered, 'Time caused it.' The horse blind in one eye he knew had + passed, because he saw that the wheat was eaten on one side of the way, + and not on the other; and as for its burden, he saw that the vinegar had + parched the dust, while the oil had not. His saying, 'Carry me, or I will + carry thee,' signifies that he who beguiles the way with stories and + proverbs and riddles, carries his companion, relieving him from the + tedium of the journey. The corn of the field you passed," continued the + girl, "was already eaten if the owner was poor, and had sold it before it + was reaped. The lofty and stately tower was in ruins within, if it was + without necessary stores. About the funeral, too, his remark was true. If + the old man left a son, he was still alive; if he was childless, he was, + indeed, dead." + + In the morning, the girl asked her father to give the officer the food + she would prepare. She gave him thirty eggs, a dish full of milk, and a + whole loaf. "Tell me," said she, "how many days old the month is; is the + moon new, and the sun at its zenith?" Her father ate two eggs, a little + of the loaf, and sipped some of the milk, and gave the rest to the + officer. "Tell thy daughter," he said, "the sun is not full, neither is + the moon, for the month is two days old." "Ah," laughed the peasant, as + he told his daughter the answers of the officer, "ah, my girl, I told you + he was a fool, for we are now in the middle of the month." "Did you eat + anything of what I gave you?" asked the girl of her father. And he told + her of the two eggs, the morsel of bread, and the sip of milk that he had + taken. "Now I know," said the girl, "of a surety that the man is very + wise." And the officer, too, felt that she was wise, and so he told her + the king's dream. She went back with him to the king, for she told the + officer that she could interpret the vision, but would do so only to the + king in person, not through a deputy. "Search thy harem," said the girl, + "and thou wilt find among thy women a man disguised in female garb." He + searched, and found that her words were true. The man was slain, and the + women, too, and the peasant's daughter became the king's sole queen, for + he never took another wife besides her. + + +THE NIGHT'S REST + +Thus Joseph and the giant Enan journey on, and they stay overnight in a +village inn. Then commences a series of semi-medical wrangles, which fill +up a large portion of the book. Joseph demands food and wine, and Enan +gives him a little of the former and none of the latter. "Be still," says +Enan, "too much food is injurious to a traveller weary from the way. But +you cannot be so very hungry, or you would fall to on the dry bread. But +wine with its exciting qualities is bad for one heated by a long day's +ride." Even their asses are starved, and Joseph remarks sarcastically, +"Tomorrow it will be, indeed, a case of carry-thou-me-or-I-thee, for our +asses will not be able to bear us." They sleep on the ground, without couch +or cover. At dawn Enan rouses him, and when he sees that his ass is still +alive, he exclaims, "Man and beast thou savest, O Lord!" The ass, by the +way, is a lineal descendant of Balaam's animal. + +They proceed, and the asses nod and bow as though they knew how to pray. +Enan weeps as they near a town. "Here," says he, "my dear friend died, a +man of wisdom and judgment. I will tell thee a little of his cleverness." + + +THE DISHONEST SINGER AND THE WEDDING ROBES + + A man once came to him crying in distress. His only daughter was + betrothed to a youth, and the bridegroom and his father came to the + bride's house on the eve of the wedding, to view her ornaments and + beautiful clothes. When the bride's parents rose next day, everything had + vanished, jewels and trousseau together. They were in despair, for they + had lavished all their possessions on their daughter. My friend + [continued Enan] went back with the man to examine the scene of the + robbery. The walls of the house were too high to scale. He found but one + place where entry was possible, a crevice in a wall in which an orange + tree grew, and its edge was covered with thorns and prickles. Next door + lived a musician, Paltiel ben Agan [or Adan] by name, and my late friend, + the judge, interviewed him, and made him strip. His body was covered with + cuts and scratches; his guilt was discovered, and the dowry returned to + the last shoe-latchet. "My son," said he, "beware of singers, for they + are mostly thieves; trust no word of theirs, for they are liars; they + dally with women, and long after other people's money. They fancy they + are clever, but they know not their left hand from their right; they + raise their hands all day and call, but know not to whom. A singer stands + at his post, raised above all other men, and he thinks he is as lofty as + his place. He constantly emits sounds, which mount to his brain, and dry + it up; hence he is so witless." + +Then Enan tells Joseph another story of his friend the judge's sagacity: + + +THE NOBLEMAN AND THE NECKLACE + + A man lived in Cordova, Jacob by name, the broker; he was a man of tried + honesty. Once a jewelled necklet was entrusted to him for sale by the + judge, the owner demanding five hundred pieces of gold as its price. + Jacob had the chain in his hand when he met a nobleman, one of the king's + intimate friends. The nobleman offered four hundred pieces for the + necklet, which Jacob refused. "Come with me to my house, and I will + consider the price," said the would-be purchaser. The Jew accompanied him + home, and the nobleman went within. Jacob waited outside the gate till + the evening, but no one came out. He passed a sleepless night with his + wife and children, and next morning returned to the nobleman. "Buy the + necklace," said he, "or return it." The nobleman denied all knowledge of + the jewels, so Jacob went to the judge. He sent for the nobles, to + address them as was his wont, and as soon as they had arrived, he said to + the thief's servant, "Take your master's shoe and go to his wife. Show + the shoe and say, Your lord bids me ask you for the necklace he bought + yesterday, as he wishes to exhibit its beauty to his friends." The wife + gave the servant the ornament, the theft was made manifest, and it was + restored to its rightful owner. + + +And Enan goes on: + +THE SON AND THE SLAVE + + A merchant of measureless wealth had an only son, who, when he grew up, + said, "Father, send me on a voyage, that I may trade and see foreign + lands, and talk with men of wisdom, to learn from their words." The + father purchased a ship, and sent him on a voyage, with much wealth and + many friends. The father was left at home with his slave, in whom he put + his trust, and who filled his son's place in position and affection. + Suddenly a pain seized him in the heart, and he died without directing + how his property was to be divided. The slave took possession of + everything; no one in the town knew whether he was the man's slave or his + son. Ten years passed, and the real son returned, with his ship laden + with wealth. As they approached the harbor, the ship was wrecked. They + had cast everything overboard, in a vain effort to save it; finally, the + crew and the passengers were all thrown into the sea. The son reached the + shore destitute, and returned to his father's house; but the slave drove + him away, denying his identity. They went before the judge. "Find the + loathly merchant's grave," he said to the slave, "and bring me the dead + man's bones. I shall burn them for his neglect to leave a will, thus + rousing strife as to his property." The slave started to obey, but the + son stayed him. "Keep all," said he, "but disturb not my father's bones." + "Thou art the son," said the judge; "take this other as thy lifelong + slave." + + +Joseph and Enan pass to the city of Tobiah. At the gate they are accosted +by an old and venerable man, to whom they explain that they have been on +the way for seven days. He invites them to his home, treats them +hospitably, and after supper tells them sweet and pleasant tales, "among +his words an incident wonderful to the highest degree." This wonderful +story is none other than a distorted version of the Book of Tobit. I have +translated this in full, and in rhymed prose, as a specimen of the +original. + + +THE STORY OF TOBIT + + Here, in the days of the saints of old, in the concourse of elders of age + untold, there lived a man upright and true, in all his doings good + fortune he knew. Rich was he and great, his eyes looked ever straight: + Tobiah, the son of Ahiah, a man of Dan, helped the poor, to each gave of + his store; whene'er one friendless died, the shroud he supplied, bore the + corpse to the grave, nor thought his money to save. The men of the place, + a sin-ruled race, slandering, cried, "O King, these Jewish knaves open + our graves! Our bones they burn, into charms to turn, health to earn." + The king angrily spoke: "I will weighten their yoke, and their villainy + repay; all the Jews who, from to-day, die in this town, to the pit take + down, to the pit hurry all, without burial. Who buries a Jew, the hour + shall rue; bitter his pang, on the gallows shall he hang." Soon a + sojourner did die, and no friends were by; but good Tobiah the corpse did + lave, and dress it for the grave. Some sinners saw the deed, to the judge + the word they gave, who Tobiah's death decreed. Forth the saint they + draw, to hang him as by law. But now they near the tree, lo! no man can + see, a blindness falls on all, and Tobiah flies their thrall. Many + friends his loss do weep, but homewards he doth creep, God's mercies to + narrate, and his own surprising fate, "Praise ye the Lord, dear friends, + for His mercy never ends, and to His servants good intends." Fear the + king distressed, his heart beat at his breast, new decrees his fear + expressed. "Whoe'er a Jew shall harm," the king cried in alarm, "touching + his person or personalty, touches the apple of my eye; let no man do this + wrong, or I'll hang him 'mid the throng, high though his rank, and his + lineage long." And well he kept his word, he punished those who erred; + but on the Jews his mercies shone, the while he rilled the throne. + + Once lay the saint at rest, and glanced upon the nest of a bird within + his room. Ah! cruel was his doom! Into his eye there went the sparrow's + excrement. Tobiah's sight was gone! He had an only son, whom thus he now + addressed: "When business ventures pressed, I passed from clime to clime. + Well I recall the time, when long I dwelt in Ind, of wealth full stores + to find. But perilous was the road, and entrusted I my load with one of + honest fame, Peer Hazeman his name. And now list, beloved son, go out and + hire thee one, thy steps forthwith to guide unto my old friend's side. I + know his love's full stream, his trust he will redeem; when heareth he my + plight, when seeth he thy sight, then will he do the right." The youth + found whom he sought, a man by travel taught, the ways of Ind he knew; he + knew them through and through, he knew them up and down, as a townsman + knows his town. He brought him to his sire, who straightway did inquire, + "Knowest thou an Indian spot, a city named Tobot?"--"Full well I know the + place, I spent a two years' space in various enterprise; its people all + are wise, and honest men and true."--"What must I give to you," asked + Tobiah of his guest," to take my son in quest?"--"Of pieces pure of + gold, full fifty must be told."--"I'll pay you that with joy; start forth + now with my boy." A script the son did write, which Tobiah did indite, + and on his son bestow a sign his friend would know. The father kissed his + son, "In peace," said he, "get gone; may God my life maintain till thou + art come again." The youth and guide to Tobot hied, and reached anon Peer + Hazeman. "Why askest thou my name?" Straight the answer came, "Tobiah is + my sire, and he doth inquire of thy health and thy household's." Then the + letter he unfolds. The contents Peer espies, every doubt flies, he + regards the token with no word spoken. "'Tis the son of my friend, who + greeting thus doth send. Is it well with him? Say."--"Well, well with him + alway."--"Then dwell thou here a while, and hours sweet beguile with the + tales which thou wilt tell of him I loved so well."--"Nay, I must + forthwith part to soothe my father's heart. I am his only trust, return + at once I must." Peer Hazeman agrees the lad to release; gives him all + his father's loan, and gifts adds of his own, raiment and two slaves. To + music's pleasant staves, the son doth homeward wend. By the shore of the + sea went the lad full of glee, and the wind blew a blast, and a fish was + upward cast. Then hastened the guide to ope the fish's side, took the + liver and the gall, for cure of evil's thrall: liver to give demons + flight, gall to restore men's sight. The youth begged his friend these + specifics to lend, then went he on his way to where his sick sire lay. + Then spake the youth to his father all the truth. "Send not away the + guide without pay." The son sought the man, through the city he ran, but + the man had disappeared. Said Tobiah, "Be not afeared, 'twas Elijah the + seer, whom God sent here to stand by our side, our needs to provide." He + bathed both his eyes with the gall of the prize, and his sight was + restored by the grace of the Lord. + + Then said he to his son, "Now God His grace has shown, dost thou not + yearn to do a deed in turn? My niece forthwith wed."--"But her husbands + three are dead, each gave up his life as each made her his wife; to her + shame and to her sorrow, they survived not to the morrow."--"Nay, a demon + is the doer of this harm to every wooer. My son, obey my wish, take the + liver of the fish, and burn it in full fume, at the door of her + room,'twill give the demon his doom." At his father's command, with his + life in his hand, the youth sought the maid, and wedded her unafraid. For + long timid hours his prayer Tobiah pours; but the incense was alight, the + demon took to flight, and safe was all the night. Long and happily wed, + their lives sweetly sped. + +Their entertainer tells Joseph and Enan another story of piety connected +with the burial of the dead: + + +THE PARALYTICS TOUCHSTONE OF VIRTUE + + Once upon a time there lived a saintly man, whose abode was on the way to + the graveyard. Every funeral passed his door, and he would ever rise and + join in the procession, and assist those engaged in the burial. In his + old age his feet were paralyzed, and he could not leave his bed; the dead + passed his doors, and he sighed that he could not rise to display his + wonted respect. Then prayed he to the Lord: "O Lord, who givest eyes to + the blind and feet to the lame, hear me from the corner of my sorrowful + bed. Grant that when a pious man is borne to his grave, I may be able to + rise to my feet." An angel's voice in a vision answered him, "Lo, thy + prayer is heard." And so, whenever a pious man was buried, he rose and + prayed for his soul. On a day, there died one who had grown old in the + world's repute, a man of excellent piety, yet the lame man could not rise + as his funeral passed. Next day died a quarrelsome fellow of ill fame for + his notorious sins, and when his body was carried past the lame man's + door, the paralytic was able to stand. Every one was amazed, for hitherto + the lame man's rising or resting had been a gauge of the departed's + virtue. Two sage men resolved to get to the bottom of the mystery. They + interviewed the wife of the fellow who had died second. The wife + confirmed the worst account of him, but added: "He had an old father, + aged one hundred years, and he honored and served him. Every day he + kissed his hand, gave him drink, stripped and dressed him when, from old + age, he could not turn himself on his couch; daily he brought ox and lamb + bones, from which he drew the marrow, and made dainty foods of it." And + the people knew that honoring his father had atoned for his + transgressions. Then the two inquisitors went to the house of the pious + man, before whom the paralytic had been unable to rise. His widow gave + him an excellent character; he was gentle and pious; prayed three times a + day, and at midnight rose and went to a special chamber to say his + prayers. No one had ever seen the room but himself, as he ever kept the + key in his bosom. The two inquisitors opened the door of this chamber, + and found a small box hidden in the window-sill; they opened the box, and + found in it a golden figure bearing a crucifix. Thus the man had been one + of those who do the deeds of Zimri, and expect the reward of Phineas. + + +TABLE TALK + +Joseph and Enan then retire to rest, and their sleep is sweet and long. By +strange and devious ways they continue their journey on the morrow, +starting at dawn. Again they pass the night at the house of one of Enan's +friends, Rabbi Judah, a ripe old sage and hospitable, who welcomes them +cordially, feeds them bountifully, gives them spiced dishes, wine of the +grape and the pomegranate, and then tells stories and proverbs "from the +books of the Arabs." + + A man said to a sage, "Thou braggest of thy wisdom, but it came from me." + "Yes," replied the sage, "and it forgot its way back."--Who is the worst + of men? He who is good in his own esteem.--Said a king to a sage, "Sweet + would be a king's reign if it lasted forever." "Had such been your + predecessor's lot," replied the wise man, "how would you have reached the + throne?"--A man laid a complaint before the king; the latter drove the + suppliant out with violence. "I entered with one complaint," sighed the + man, "I leave with two."--What is style? Be brief and do not repeat + yourself.--The king once visited a nobleman's house, and asked the + latter's son, "Whose house is better, your father's or mine?" "My + father's," said the boy, "while the king is in it."--A king put on a new + robe, which did not become him. "It is not good to wear," said a + courtier, "but it is good to put on." The king put the robe on him.--A + bore visited a sick man. "What ails thee?" he asked. "Thy presence," said + the sufferer.--A man of high lineage abused a wise man of lowly birth. + "My lineage is a blot on me," retorted a sage, "thou art a blot on thy + lineage."--To another who reviled him for his lack of noble ancestry, he + retorted, "Thy noble line ends with thee, with me mine begins."--Diogenes + and Dives were attacked by robbers. "Woe is me," said Dives, "if they + recognize me." "Woe is me," said Diogenes, "if they do not recognize + me."--A philosopher sat by the target at which the archers were shooting. + "'Tis the safest spot," said he.--An Arab's brother died. "Why did he + die?" one asked. "Because he lived," was the answer.--"What hast thou + laid up for the cold weather?" they asked a poor fellow. "Shivering," he + answered.--Death is the dread of the rich and the hope of the + poor.--Which is the best of the beasts? Woman.--Hide thy virtues as thou + hidest thy faults.--A dwarf brought a complaint to his king. "No one," + said the king, "would hurt such a pigmy." "But," retorted the dwarf, "my + injurer is smaller than I am."--A dolt sat on a stone. "Lo, a blockhead + on a block," said the passers-by.--"What prayer make you by night?" they + asked a sage. "Fear God by day, and by night you will sleep, not + pray."--Rather a wise enemy than a foolish friend.--Not everyone who + flees escapes, not everyone who begs has need.--A sage had weak eyes. + "Heal them," said they. "To see what?" he rejoined.--A fool quarrelled + with a sage. Said the former, "For every word of abuse I hear from thee, + I will retort ten." "Nay," replied the other, "for every ten words of + abuse I hear from thee, I will not retort one."--An honest man cannot + catch a thief.--All things grow with time except grief.--The character of + the sent tells the character of the sender.--What is man's best means of + concealment? Speech.--"Why walkest thou so slowly?" asked the lad of the + greybeard. "My years are a chain to my feet: and thy years are preparing + thy chain."--Do not swallow poison because you know an antidote.--The + king heard a woman at prayer. "O God," she said, "remove this king from + us." "And put a better in his stead," added the eavesdropping + monarch.--Take measure for this life as though thou wilt live forever; + prepare for the next world as though thou diest to-morrow.--"He will + die," said the doctor, but the patient recovered. "You have returned from + the other world," said the doctor when he met the man. "Yes," said the + latter, "and the doctors have a bad time there. But fear not. Thou art no + doctor."--Three things weary: a lamp that will not burn, a messenger that + dawdles, a table spread and waiting. + +Then follows a string of sayings about _threes_: + + Reason rules the body, wisdom is the pilot, law is its light. Might is + the lion's, burdens are the ox's, wisdom is man's; spinning the spider's, + building the bee's, making stores the ant's. In three cases lying is + permissible: in war, in reconciling man to man, in appeasing one's wife. + +Their host concludes his lengthy list of sententious remarks thus: + + A king had a signet ring, on which were engraved the words, "Thou hast + bored me: rise!" and when a guest stayed too long, he showed the visitor + the ring.-The heir of a wealthy man squandered his money, and a sage saw + him eating bread and salted olives. "Hadst thou thought that this would + be thy food, this would not be thy food."-Marry no widow. She will lament + her first husband's death. + + +THE CITY OF ENAN + +This was the signal for the party to retire to rest. + +Next day the wayfarers reach Enan's own city, the place he had all along +desired Joseph to see. He shows Joseph his house; but the latter replies, +"I crave food, not sight-seeing." "Surely," says Enan, "the more hurry the +less speed." At last the table is spread; the cloth is ragged, the dishes +contain unleavened bread, such as there is no pleasure in eating, and there +is a dish of herbs and vinegar. Then ensues a long wrangle, displaying much +medical knowledge, on the physiology of herbs and vegetables, on the eating +of flesh, much and fast. Enan makes sarcastic remarks on Joseph's rapacious +appetite. He tells Joseph, he must not eat this or that. A joint of lamb is +brought on the table, Enan says the head is bad, and the feet, and the +flesh, and the fat; so that Joseph has no alternative but to eat it all. "I +fear that what happened to the king, will befall thee," said Enan. "Let me +feed first," said Joseph; "then you can tell me what happened to the king." + + +THE PRINCESS AND THE ROSE + + A gardener came to his garden in the winter. It was the month of Tebet, + and he found some roses in flower. He rejoiced at seeing them; and he + plucked them, and put them on a precious dish, carried them to the king, + and placed them before him. The king was surprised, and the flowers were + goodly in his sight; and he gave the gardener one hundred pieces of gold. + Then said the king in his heart, "To-day we will make merry, and have a + feast." All his servants and faithful ministers were invited to rejoice + over the joy of the roses. And he sent for his only daughter, then with + child; and she stretched forth her hand to take a rose, and a serpent + that lay in the dish leapt at her and startled her, and she died before + night. + + +QUESTION AND ANSWER + +But Joseph's appetite was not to be stayed by such tales as this. So Enan +tells him of the "Lean Fox and the Hole"; but in vain. "Open not thy mouth +to Satan," says Joseph. "I fear for my appetite, that it become smaller"; +and goes on eating. + +Now Enan tries another tack: he will question him, and put him through his +paces. But Joseph yawns and protests that he has eaten too much to keep his +eyes open. + + "How canst thou sleep," said Enan, "when thou hast eaten everything, + fresh and stale? As I live, thou shalt not seek thy bed until I test thy + wisdom-until I prove whether all this provender has entered the stomach + of a wise man or a fool." + +Then follows an extraordinary string of anatomical, medical, scientific, +and Talmudic questions about the optic nerves; the teeth; why a man lowers +his head when thinking over things he has never known, but raises his head +when thinking over what he once knew but has forgotten; the physiology of +the digestive organs, the physiology of laughter; why a boy eats more than +a man; why it is harder to ascend a hill than to go down; why snow is +white; why babies have no teeth; why children's first set of teeth fall +out; why saddest tears are saltest; why sea water is heavier than fresh; +why hail descends in summer; why the sages said that bastards are mostly +clever. To these questions, which Enan pours out in a stream, Joseph +readily gives answers. But now Enan is hoist with his own petard. + + "I looked at him," continues the poet, "and sleep entrapped his eyes, and + his eyelids kissed the irides. Ah! I laughed in my heart. Now I will talk + to him, and puzzle him as he has been puzzling me. He shall not sleep, as + he would not let me sleep. 'My lord,' said I, 'let me now question thee.' + 'I am sleepy,' said he, 'but ask on.' 'What subject shall I choose?' I + said. 'Any subject,' he replied; 'of all knowledge I know the half.'" + Joseph asks him astronomical, musical, logical, arithmetical questions; + to all of which Enan replies, "I do not know." "But," protests Joseph, + "how couldst thou assert that thou knewest half of every subject, when it + is clear thou knowest nothing?" "Exactly," says Enan, "for Aristotle + says, 'He who says, I do not know, has already attained the half of + knowledge.'" + +But he says he knows medicine; so Joseph proceeds to question him. Soon he +discovers that Enan is again deceiving him; and he abuses Enan roundly for +his duplicity. + +Enan at length is moved to retort. + + "I wonder at thy learning," says Enan, "but more at thy appetite." Then + the lamp goes out, the servant falls asleep, and they are left in + darkness till the morning. Then Joseph demands his breakfast, and goes + out to see his ass. The ass attempts to bite Joseph, who strikes it, and + the ass speaks. "I am one of the family of Balaam's ass," says the + animal. "But I am not Balaam," says Joseph, "to divine that thou hast + eaten nothing all night." The servant asserts that he fed the ass, but + the animal had gobbled up everything, his appetite being equal to his + owner's. But Joseph will not believe this, and Enan is deeply hurt. + "Peace!" he shouts, and his eyes shoot flames, and his nostrils distil + smoke. "Peace, cease thy folly, or, as I live, and my ancestor Asmodeus, + I will seize thee with my little finger, and will show thee the city of + David." + + In timid tones Joseph asks him, "Who is this Asmodeus, thy kinsman?" + + +ENAN REVEALS HIMSELF + + "Asmodeus," said Enan, "the great prince who, on his wing, bore Solomon + from his kingdom to a distant strand." "Woe is me," I moaned, "I thought + thee a friend; now thou art a fiend. Why didst thou hide thy nature? Why + didst thou conceal thy descent? Why hast thou taken me from my home in + guile?" "Nay," said Enan, "where was thy understanding? I gave thee my + name, thou shouldst have inverted it" [i.e., transpose _Desh_ to _Shed_. + Enan at the beginning of the tale had announced himself as _ha-Desh_, he + now explains that meant _ha-Shed_ = the demon]. Then Enan gives his + pedigree: "I am Enan, the Satan, son of Arnan the Demon, son of the Place + of Death, son of Rage, son of Death's Shadow, son of Terror, son of + Trembling, son of Destruction, son of Extinction, son of Evil-name, son + of Mocking, son of Plague, son of Deceit, son of Injury, son of + Asmodeus." + +Nevertheless Enan quiets Joseph's fears, and promises that no harm shall +befall him. He goes through Enan's city, sees wizards and sorcerers, and +sinners and fools, all giants. + + +ENAN'S FRIEND AND HIS DAUGHTER + + Then Enan introduces his own especial friend. "He is good and wise," said + Enan, "despite his tall stature. He shows his goodness in hating the wise + and loving fools; he is generous, for he will give a beggar a crust of + dry bread, and make him pay for it; he knows medicine, for he can tell + that if a man is buried, he either has been sick, or has had an accident; + he knows astronomy, for he can tell that it is day when the sun shines, + and night when the stars appear; he knows arithmetic, for he can tell + that one and one make two; he knows mensuration, for he can tell how many + handbreadths his belly measures; he knows music, for he can tell the + difference between the barking of a dog and the braying of an ass." "But, + said I," continues Joseph, "how canst thou be the friend of such a one? + Accursed is he, accursed his master." "Nay," answered Enan, "I love him + not; I know his vile nature: 'tis his daughter that binds me to him, for + she, with her raven locks and dove's eyes and lily cheeks, is fair beyond + my power to praise." Yet I warned him against marrying the daughter of an + uneducated man, an Am ha-Arez. Then follows a compilation of passages + directed against ignorance. "Ah!" cries Enan, "your warning moves me. My + love for her is fled. Thou fearest God and lovest me, my friend. What is + a friend? One heart in two bodies. Then find me another wife, one who is + beautiful and good. Worse than a plague is a bad woman. Listen to what + once befell me with such a one." + +Thereupon Enan introduces the last of the stories incorporated into the +book: + + +THE WASHERWOMAN WHO DID THE DEVIL'S WORK + + Once upon a time, in my wanderings to and fro upon the earth, I came to a + city whose inhabitants dwelt together, happy, prosperous, and secure. I + made myself well acquainted with the place and the people, but, despite + all my efforts, I was unable to entrap a single one. "This is no place + for me," I said, "I had better return to my own country." I left the + city, and, journeying on, came across a river, at the brink of which I + seated myself. Scarcely had I done so, when a woman appeared bearing her + garments to be washed in the river. She looked at me, and asked, "Art + thou of the children of men or of demons?" "Well," said I, "I have grown + up among men, but I was born among demons." "But what art thou after + here?" "Ah," I replied, "I have spent a whole month in yonder city. And + what have I found? A city full of friends, enjoying every happiness in + common. In vain have I tried to put a little of wickedness among them." + Then the woman, with a supercilious air: "If I am to take thee for a + specimen, I must have a very poor opinion of the whole tribe of demons. + You seem mighty enough, but you haven't the strength of women. Stop here + and keep an eye on the wash; but mind, play me no tricks. I will go back + to the city and kindle therein fire and fury, and pour over it a spirit + of mischief, and thou shalt see how I can manage things." "Agreed!" said + I, "I will stay here and await thy coming, and watch how affairs turn out + in thy hands." + + The washerwoman departed, went into the city, called upon one of the + great families there residing, and requested to see the lady of the + house. She asked for a washing order, which she promised to execute to + the most perfect satisfaction. While the housemaid was collecting the + linen, the washerwoman lifted her eyes to the beautiful face of the + mistress, and exclaimed: "Yes, they are a dreadful lot, the men; they are + all alike, a malediction on them! The best of them is not to be trusted. + They love all women but their own wives." "What dost thou mean?" asked + the lady. "Merely this," she answered. "Coming hither from my house, whom + should I meet but thy husband making love to another woman, and such a + hideous creature, too! How he could forsake beauty so rare and exquisite + as thine for such disgusting ugliness, passes my understanding. But do + not weep, dear lady, don't distress thyself and give way. I know a means + by which I shall bring that husband of thine to his senses, so that thou + shalt suffer no reproach, and he shall never love any other woman than + thee. This is what thou must do. When thy husband comes home, speak + softly and sweetly to him; let him suspect nothing; and when he has + fallen asleep, take a sharp razor and cut off three hairs from his beard; + black or white hairs, it matters not. These thou must afterwards give to + me, and with them I will compound such a remedy that his eyes shall be + darkened in their sockets, so that he will look no more upon other lovely + women, but cling to thee alone in mighty and manifest and enduring love." + All this the lady promised, and gifts besides for the washerwoman, should + her plan prosper. + + Carrying the garments with her, the woman now sought out the lady's + husband. With every sign of distress in her voice and manner, she told + him that she had a frightful secret to divulge to him. She knew not if + she would have the strength to do so. She would rather die first The + husband was all the more eager to know, and would not be refused. "Well, + then," she said, "I have just been to thy house, where my lady, thy wife, + gave me these garments to wash; and, while I was yet standing there, a + youth, of handsome mien and nobly attired, arrived, and the two withdrew + into an adjoining room: so I inclined mine ear to listen to their speech, + and this is what I overheard: The young man said to thy wife, 'Kill thy + husband, and I will marry thee,' She, however, declared that she was + afraid to do such a dreadful deed. 'O,' answered he, 'with a little + courage it is quite easy. When thy husband is asleep, take a sharp razor + and cut his throat.'" In fierce rage, but suppressing all outward + indication of it, the husband returned home. Pretending to fall asleep, + he watched his wife closely, saw her take a razor to sever the three + hairs for the washerwoman's spell, darted up suddenly, wrested the razor + from her hands, and with it slew his wife on the spot. + + The news spread; the relations of the wife united to avenge her death, + and kill the husband. In their turn his relatives resolved to avenge him; + both houses were embroiled, and before the feud was at an end, two + hundred and thirty lives were sacrificed. The city resounded with a great + cry, the like of which had never been heard. "From that day," concluded + Enan, "I decided to injure no man more. Yet for this very reason I fear + to wed an evil woman." "Fear not," returned Joseph, "the girl I recommend + is beautiful and good." And Enan married her, and loved her. + +Thus Enan is metamorphosed from a public demon into something of a domestic +saint. Zabara gives us an inverted Faust. + + +JOSEPH RETURNS HOME TO BARCELONA + +"After a while," concludes Joseph, "I said to him, 'I have sojourned long +enough in this city, the ways of which please me not. Ignorance prevails, +and poetry is unknown; the law is despised; the young are set over the old; +they slander and are impudent. Let me go home after my many years of +wandering in a strange land. Fain would I seek the place where dwells the +great prince, Rabbi Sheshet Benveniste, of whom Wisdom says, Thou art my +teacher, and Faith, Thou art my friend.' 'What qualitie,' asked Enan, +'brought him to this lofty place of righteousness and power?' 'His +simplicity and humility, his uprightness and saintliness.'" + +And with this eulogy of the aged Rabbi of Barcelona, the poem somewhat +inconsequently ends. It may be that the author left the work without +putting in the finishing touches. This would account for the extra stories, +which, as was seen above, may belong to the book, though not incorporated +into it. + +It will be thought, from the summary mode in which I have rendered these +stories, that I take Zabara to be rather a literary curiosity than a poet. +But Zabara's poetical merits are considerable. If I have refrained from +attempting a literal rendering, it is mainly because the rhymed-prose +_genre_ is so characteristically Oriental that its charm is incommunicable +in a Western language. Hence, to those who do not read Zabara in the +original, he is more easily appreciated as a _conteur_ than as an +imaginative writer. To the Hebraist, too, something of the same remark +applies. Rhymed prose is not much more consistent with the genius of Hebrew +than it is with the genius of English. Arabic and Persian seem the only +languages in which rhymed prose assumes a natural and melodious shape. In +the new-Hebrew, rhymed prose has always been an exotic, never quite a +native flower. The most skilful gardeners failed to acclimatize it +thoroughly in European soil. Yet Zabara's humor, his fluent simplicity, his +easy mastery over Hebrew, his invention, his occasional gleams of fancy, +his gift of satire, his unfailing charm, combine to give his poem some +right to the title by which he called it--"The Book of Delight." + + + + +A VISIT TO HEBRON + + +Of a land where every stone has its story, it can hardly be asserted that +any one place has a fuller tale to tell than another. But Hebron has a +peculiar old-world charm as the home of the founder of the Hebrew race. +Moreover, one's youthful imagination associates Hebron with the giants, the +sons of Anak, sons, that is, of the long neck; men of Arba, with broad, +square shoulders. A sight of the place itself revives this memory. Ancient +Hebron stood higher than the present city, but as things now are, though +the hills of Judea reach their greatest elevation in the neighborhood, +Hebron itself rests in a valley. Most towns in Palestine are built on +hills, but Hebron lies low. Yet the surrounding hills are thirty-two +hundred feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and five hundred feet +higher than Mount Olivet. For this reason Hebron is ideally placed for +conveying an impression of the mountainous character of Judea. In Jerusalem +you are twenty-six hundred feet above the sea, but, being high up, you +scarcely realize that you are in a mountain city. The hills about Hebron +tower loftily above you, and seem a fitting abode for the giants whom +Joshua and Caleb overthrew. + +Hebron, from yet another point of view, recalls its old-world associations. +Not only is Hebron one of the oldest cities in the world still inhabited, +but it has been far less changed by Western influences than other famous +places. Hebron is almost entirely unaffected by Christian influence. In the +East, Christian influence more or less means European influence, but Hebron +is still completely Oriental. It is a pity that modern travellers no longer +follow the ancient route which passed from Egypt along the coast to Gaza, +and then struck eastwards to Hebron. By this route, the traveller would +come upon Judea in its least modernized aspect. He would find in Hebron a +city without a hotel, and unblessed by an office of the Monarch of the +East, Mr. Cook. There are no modern schools in Hebron; the only institution +of the kind, the Mildmay Mission School, had scarcely any pupils at the +time of my visit. This is but another indication of the slight effect that +European forces are producing; the most useful, so far, has been the +medical mission of the United Free Church of Scotland. But Hebron has been +little receptive of the educational and sanitary boons that are the chief +good--and it is a great good--derived from the European missions in the +East. I am almost reluctant to tell the truth, as I must, of Hebron, and +point out the pitiful plight of our brethren there, lest, perchance, some +philanthropists set about mending the evil, to the loss of the +primitiveness in which Hebron at present revels. This is the pity of it. +When you employ a modern broom to sweep away the dirt of an ancient city, +your are apt to remove something else as well as the dirt. + +Besides its low situation and its primitiveness, Hebron has a third +peculiarity. Go where one may in Judea, the ancient places, even when still +inhabited, wear a ruined look. Zion itself is scarcely an exception. +Despite its fifty thousand inhabitants, Jerusalem has a decayed appearance, +for the newest buildings often look like ruins. The cause of this is that +many structures are planned on a bigger scale than can be executed, and +thus are left permanently unfinished, or like the windmill of Sir Moses are +disused from their very birth. Hebron, in this respect again, is unlike the +other cities of Judea. It had few big buildings, hence it has few big +ruins. There are some houses of two stories in which the upper part has +never been completed, but the houses are mostly of one story, with +partially flat and partially domed roofs. The domes are the result both of +necessity and design; of necessity, because of the scarcity of large beams +for rafters; of design, because the dome enables the rain to collect in a +groove, or channel, whence it sinks into a reservoir. + +Hebron, then, produces a favorable impression on the whole. It is green and +living, its hills are clad with vines, with plantations of olives, +pomegranates, figs, quinces, and apricots. Nowhere in Judea, except in the +Jordan valley, is there such an abundance of water. In the neighborhood of +Hebron, there are twenty-five springs, ten large perennial wells, and +several splendid pools. Still, as when the huge cluster was borne on two +men's shoulders from Eshkol, the best vines of Palestine grow in and around +Hebron. The only large structure in the city, the mosque which surmounts +the Cave of Machpelah, is in excellent repair, especially since 1894-5, +when the Jewish lads from the _Alliance_ school of Jerusalem renewed the +iron gates within, and supplied fresh rails to the so-called sarcophagi of +the Patriarchs. The ancient masonry built round the cave by King Herod, the +stones of which exactly resemble the masonry of the Wailing Place in +Jerusalem, still stands in its massive strength. + +I have said that Hebron ought to be approached from the South or West. The +modern traveller, however, reaches it from the North. You leave Jerusalem +by the Jaffa gate, called by the Mohammedans Bab el-Khalil, _i.e._ Hebron +gate. The Mohammedans call Hebron el-Khalil, City of the Friend of God, a +title applied to Abraham both in Jewish and Mohammedan tradition. Some, +indeed, derive the name Hebron from Chaber, comrade or friend; but Hebron +may mean "confederation of cities," just as its other name, Kiriath-arba, +may possibly mean Tetrapolis. The distance from Jerusalem to Hebron depends +upon the views of the traveller. You can easily get to Hebron in four hours +and a half by the new carriage road, but the distance, though less than +twenty miles, took me fourteen hours, from five in the morning till seven +at night. Most travellers turn aside to the left to see the Pools of +Solomon, and the grave of Rachel lies on the right of the highroad itself. +It is a modern building with a dome, and the most affecting thing is the +rough-hewn block of stone worn smooth by the lips of weeping women. On the +opposite side of the road is Tekoah, the birthplace of Amos; before you +reach it, five miles more to the north, you get a fine glimpse also of +Bethlehem, the White City, cleanest of Judean settlements. Travellers tell +you that the rest of the road is uninteresting. I did not find it so. For +the motive of my journey was just to see those "uninteresting" sites, +Beth-zur, where Judas Maccabeus won such a victory that he was able to +rededicate the Temple, and Beth-zacharias, through whose broad valley-roads +the Syrian elephants wound their heavy way, to drive Judas back on his +precarious base at the capital. + +It is somewhat curious that this indifference to the Maccabean sites is not +restricted to Christian tourists. For, though several Jewish travellers +passed from Jerusalem to Hebron in the Middle Ages, none of them mentions +the Maccabean sites, none of them spares a tear or a cheer for Judas +Maccabeus. They were probably absorbed in the memory of the Patriarchs and +of King David, the other and older names identified with this district. +Medieval fancy, besides, was too busy with peopling Hebron with myths to +waste itself on sober facts. Hebron, according to a very old notion, was +the place where Adam and Eve lived after their expulsion from Eden; it was +from Hebron's red earth that the first man was made. The _Pirke di Rabbi +Eliezer_ relate, that when the three angels visited Abraham, and he went to +get a lamb for their meal, the animal fled into a cave. Abraham followed +it, and saw Adam and Eve lying asleep, with lamps burning by their tombs, +and a sweet savor, as of incense, emanating from the dead father and mother +of human-kind. Abraham conceived a love for the Cave, and hence desired it +for Sarah's resting-place. + +I suppose that some will hold, that we are not on surer historical ground +when we come to the Biblical statement that connects Abraham with Hebron. +Before arguing whether Abraham lived in Hebron, and was buried in +Machpelah, one ought to prove that Abraham ever lived at all, to be buried +anywhere. But I shall venture to take Abraham's real existence for granted, +as I am not one of those who think that a statement must be false because +it is made in the Book of Genesis. That there was a very ancient shrine in +Hebron, that the great Tree of Mamre was the abode of a local deity, may be +conceded, but to my mind there is no more real figure in history than +Abraham. Especially when one compares the modern legends with the Biblical +story does the substantial truth of the narrative in Genesis manifest +itself. The narrative may contain elements of folk poetry, but the hero +Abraham is a genuine personality. + +As I have mentioned the tree, it may be as well to add at once that +Abraham's Oak is still shown at Hebron, and one can well imagine how it was +thought that this magnificent terebinth dated from Bible times. A few years +ago it was a fresh, vigorous giant, but now it is quite decayed. The ruin +began in 1853, when a large branch was broken off by the weight of the +snow. Twelve years ago the Russian Archimandrite of Jerusalem purchased the +land on which the tree stands, and naturally he took much care of the +relic. In fact, he took too much care, for some people think that the low +wall which the Russians erected as a safeguard round the Oak, has been the +cause of the rapid decay that has since set in. Year by year the branches +have dropped off, the snow and the lightning have had their victims. It is +said that only two or three years ago one branch towards the East was still +living, but when I saw it, the trunk was bare and bark-less, full of little +worm-holes, and quite without a spark of vitality. The last remaining +fragment has since fallen, and now the site of the tree is only marked by +the row of young cypresses which have been planted in a circle round the +base of the Oak of Mamre. But who shall prophesy that, a century hence, a +tree will not have acquired sufficient size and antiquity to be foisted +upon uncritical pilgrims as the veritable tree under which Father Abraham +dwelt! + +The Jewish tradition does not quite agree with the view that identified +this old tree with Mamre. According to Jewish tradition, the Tree is at the +ruins of Ramet el-Khalil, the High Place of the Friend, _i.e._ of Abraham, +about two miles nearer Jerusalem. Mr. Shaw Caldecott has propounded the +theory that this site is Samuel's Ramah, and that the vast ruins of a +stone-walled enclosure here represent the enclosure within which Samuel's +altar stood. The Talmud has it that Abraham erected a guest-house for the +entertainment of strangers near the Grove of Mamre. There were doors on +every side, so that the traveller found a welcome from whichever direction +he came. There our father made the name of God proclaimed at the mouth of +all wayfarers. How? After they had eaten and refreshed themselves, they +rose to thank him. Abraham answered, "Was the food mine? It is the bounty +of the Creator of the Universe." Then they praised, glorified, and blessed +Him who spake and the world was. + +We are on the road now near Hebron, but, before entering, let us recall a +few incidents in its history. After the Patriarchal age, Hebron was noted +as the possession of Caleb. It also figures as a priestly city and as one +of the cities of refuge. David passed much of his life here, and, after +Saul's death, Hebron was the seat of David's rule over Judea. Abner was +slain here by Joab, and was buried here--they still show Abner's tomb in +the garden of a large house within the city. By the pool at Hebron were +slain the murderers of Ishbosheth, and here Absalom assumed the throne. +After his time we hear less of Hebron. Jerusalem overshadowed it in +importance, yet we have one or two mentions. Rehoboam strengthened the +town, and from a stray reference in Nehemiah, we gather that the place long +continued to be called by its older name of Kiriath Arba. For a long period +after the return from the Exile Hebron belonged to the Idumeans. It was the +scene of warfare in the Maccabean period, and also during the rebellion +against Rome. In the market-place at Hebron, Hadrian sold numbers of Jewish +slaves after the fall of Bar-Cochba, in 135 C.E. In the twelfth century +Hebron was in the hands of the Christian Crusaders. The fief of Hebron, or, +as it was called, of Saint Abraham, extended southwards to Beer-sheba. A +bishopric was founded there in 1169, but was abandoned twenty years later. + +We hear of many pilgrims in the Middle Ages. The Christians used to eat +some of the red earth of Hebron, the earth from which Adam was made. On +Sunday the seventeenth of October, 1165, Maimonides was in Hebron, passing +the city on his way from Jerusalem to Cairo. Obadiah of Bertinoro, in 1488, +took Hebron on the reverse route. He went from Egypt across the desert to +Gaza, and, though he travelled all day, did not reach Hebron from Gaza till +the second morning. If the text is correct, David Reubeni was four days in +traversing the same road, a distance of about thirty-three miles. To revert +to an earlier time, Nachmanides very probably visited Hebron. Indeed, his +grave is shown to the visitor. But this report is inaccurate. He wrote to +his son, in 1267, from Jerusalem, "Now I intend to go to Hebron, to the +sepulchre of our ancestors, to prostrate myself, and there to dig my +grave." But he must have altered his mind in the last-named particular, for +his tomb is most probably in Acre. + +I need not go through the list of distinguished visitors to Hebron. Suffice +it to say that in the fourteenth century there was a large and flourishing +community of Jews in the town; they were weavers and dyers of cotton stuffs +and glass-makers, and the Rabbi was often himself a shepherd in the literal +sense, teaching the Torah while at work in the fields. He must have felt +embarrassed sometimes between his devotion to his metaphorical and to his +literal flock. When I was at Moza, I was talking over some Biblical texts +with Mr. David Yellin, who was with me. The colonists endured this for a +while, but at last they broke into open complaint. One of the colonists +said to me: "It is true that the Mishnah forbids you to turn aside from the +Torah to admire a tree, but you have come all the way from Europe to admire +my trees. Leave the Torah alone for the present." I felt that he was right, +and wondered how the Shepherd Rabbis of Hebron managed in similar +circumstances. + +In the century of which I am speaking, the Hebron community consisted +entirely of Sefardim, and it was not till the sixteenth century that +Ashkenazim settled there in large numbers. I have already mentioned the +visit of David Reubeni. He was in Hebron in 1523, when he entered the Cave +of Machpelah on March tenth, at noon. It is of interest to note that his +account of the Cave agrees fully with that of Conder. It is now quite +certain that he was really there in person, and his narrative was not made +up at second hand. The visit of Reubeni, as well as Sabbatai Zebi's, gave +new vogue to the place. When Sabbatai was there, a little before the year +1666, the Jews were awake and up all night, so as not to lose an instant of +the sacred intercourse with the Messiah. But the journey to Hebron was not +popular till our own days. It was too dangerous, the Hebron natives +enjoying a fine reputation for ferocity and brigandage. An anonymous Hebrew +writer writes from Jerusalem in 1495, that a few days before a Jew from +Hebron had been waylaid and robbed. But he adds: "I hear that on Passover +some Jews are coming here from Egypt and Damascus, with the intention of +also visiting Hebron. I shall go with them, if I am still alive." + +In Baedeker, Hebron is still given a bad character, the Muslims of the +place being called fanatical and violent. I cannot confirm this verdict. +The children throw stones at you, but they take good care not to hit. As I +have already pointed out, Hebron is completely non-Christian, just as +Bethlehem is completely non-Mohammedan. The Crescent is very disinclined to +admit the Cross into Hebron, the abode of Abraham, a name far more honored +by Jews and Mohammedans than by Christians. + +It is not quite just to call the Hebronites fanatical and sullen; they +really only desire to hold Hebron as their own. "Hebron for the Hebronites" +is their cry. The road, at all events, is quite safe. One of the surprises +of Palestine is the huge traffic along the main roads. Orientals not only +make a great bustle about what they do, but they really are very busy +people. Along the roads you meet masses of passengers, people on foot, on +mules and horses, on camels, in wheeled vehicles. You come across groups of +pilgrims, with one mule to the party, carrying the party's goods, the +children always barefooted and bareheaded--the latter fact making you +realize how the little boy in the Bible story falling sick in the field +exclaimed "My head, my head!" Besides the pilgrims, there are the bearers +of goods and produce. You see donkeys carrying large stones for building, +one stone over each saddle. If you are as lucky as I was, you may see a +runaway camel along the Hebron road, scouring alone at break-neck speed, +with laughter-producing gait. + +Of Hebron itself I saw little as I entered, because I arrived towards +sunset, and only had time to notice that everyone in the streets carried a +lantern. In Jerusalem only the women carry lights, but in Hebron men had +them as well. I wondered where I was to pass the night. Three friends had +accompanied me from Jerusalem, and they told me not to worry, as we could +stay at the Jewish doctor's. It seemed to me a cool piece of impudence to +billet a party on a man whose name had been previously unknown to me, but +the result proved that they were right. The doctor welcomed us right +heartily; he said that it was a joy to entertain us. Now it was that one +saw the advantages of the Oriental architecture. The chief room in an +Eastern house is surrounded on three sides by a wide stone or wooden divan, +which, in wealthy houses, is richly upholstered. The Hebron doctor was not +rich, but there was the same divan covered with a bit of chintz. On it one +made one's bed, hard, it is true, but yet a bed. You always take your rugs +with you for covering at night, you put your portmanteau under your head as +a pillow, and there you are! You may rely upon one thing. People who, on +their return from Palestine, tell you that they had a comfortable trip, +have seen nothing of the real life of the country. To do that you must +rough it, as I did both at Modin and at Hebron. To return to the latter. +The rooms have stone floors and vaulted roofs, the children walk about with +wooden shoes, and the pitter-patter makes a pleasant music. They throw off +the shoes as they enter the room. My host had been in Hebron for six years, +and he told me overnight what I observed for myself next day, that, +considering the fearful conditions under which the children live, there is +comparatively little sickness. As for providing meals, a genuine communism +prevails. You produce your food, your host adds his store, and you partake +in common of the feast to which both sides contribute. After a good long +talk, I got to sleep easily, thinking, as I dozed off, that I should pass a +pleasant night. I had become impervious to the mosquitoes, but there was +something else which I had forgotten. Was it a dream, an awful nightmare, +or had a sudden descent of Bedouins occurred? Gradually I was awakened by a +noise as of wild beasts let loose, howls of rage and calls to battle. It +was only the dogs. In Jerusalem I had never heard them, as the Jewish hotel +was then well out of the town; it has since been moved nearer in. It is +impossible to convey a sense of the terrifying effect produced by one's +first experience of the night orgies of Oriental dogs, it curdles your +blood to recall it. Seen by daytime, the dogs are harmless enough, as they +go about their scavenger work among the heaps of refuse and filth. But by +night they are howling demons, stampeding about the streets in mad groups, +barking to and at each other, whining piteously one moment, roaring +hoarsely and snapping fiercely another. + +The dogs did me one service, they made me get up early. I walked through a +bluish-gray atmosphere. Colors in Judea are bright, yet there is always an +effect as of a thin gauze veil over them. I went, then, into the streets, +and at five o'clock the sun was high, and the bustle of the place had +begun. The air was keen and fresh, and many were already abroad. I saw some +camels start for Jerusalem, laden with straw mats made in Hebron. + +Next went some asses carrying poultry for the Holy City, then a family +caravan with its inevitable harem of closely veiled women. Then I saw a man +with tools for hewing stone, camels coming into Hebron, a boy with a large +petroleum can going to fetch water,--they are abandoning the use of the +olden picturesque stone pitchers,--then I saw asses loaded with vine twigs, +one with lime, women with black dresses and long white veils, boys with +bent backs carrying iron stones. I saw, too, some Bethlehemite Christians +hurrying home to the traditional site of the nativity. You can always +distinguish these, for they are the only Christians in Palestine that wear +turbans habitually. And all over the landscape dominated the beautiful +green hills, fresh with the morning dew, a dew so thick that I had what I +had not expected, a real morning bath. I was soaked quite wet by the time I +returned from my solitary stroll. I had a capital breakfast, for which we +supplied the solids, and our host the coffee. Butter is a luxury which we +neither expected nor got. Hebron, none the less, seemed to me a Paradise, +and I applauded the legend that locates Adam and Eve in this spot. + +Alas! I had not yet seen Hebron. The doctor lived on the outskirts near the +highroad, where there are many fine and beautiful residences. I was soon to +enter the streets and receive a rude awakening, when I saw the manner in +which the fifteen hundred Jews of Hebron live. Hebron is a ghetto in a +garden; it is worse than even Jerusalem, Jerusalem being clean in +comparison. Dirty, dark, narrow, vaulted, unevenly paved, running with +liquid slime--such are the streets of Hebron. You are constantly in danger +of slipping, unless you wear the flat, heel-less Eastern shoes, and, if you +once fell, not all the perfumes of Araby could make you sweet again. + +I should say that, before starting on my round, I had to secure the +attendance of soldiers. Not that it was necessary, but they utilize +Baedeker's assertion, that the people are savage, to get fees out of +visitors--a cunning manner of turning the enemy's libels to profitable +account. I hired two soldiers, but one by one others joined my train, so +that by the time my tour was over, I had a whole regiment of guardians, all +demanding baksheesh. I would only deal with the leader, a ragged warrior +with two daggers, a sword, and a rifle. "How much?" I asked. "We usually +ask a napoleon (_i.e._ 20 francs) for an escort, but we will charge you +only ten francs." I turned to the doctor and asked him, "How much?" "Give +them a beslik between them," he said. A beslik is only five pence. I +offered it in trepidation, but the sum satisfied the whole gang, who +thanked me profusely. + +First I visited the prison, a sort of open air cage, in which about a dozen +men were smoking cigarettes. The prison was much nicer than the Mohammedan +school close by. This was a small overcrowded room, with no window in it, +the little boys sitting on the ground, swaying with a sleepy chant. The +teacher's only function was represented by his huge cane, which he plied +often and skilfully. Outside the door was a barber shaving a pilgrim's +head. The pilgrim was a Muslim, going on the Haj to Mecca. These pilgrims +are looked on with mingled feelings; their piety is admired, but also +distrusted. A local saying is, "If thy neighbor has been on the Haj, beware +of him; if he has been twice, have no dealings with him; if he has been +thrice, move into another street." After the pilgrim, I passed a number of +blind weavers, working before large wooden frames. + +But now for the Jewish quarter. This is entered by a low wooden door, at +which we had to knock and then stoop to get in. The Jews are no longer +forced to have this door, but they retain it voluntarily. Having got in, we +were in a street so dark that we could not see a foot before us, but we +kept moving, and soon came to a slightly better place, where the sun crept +through in fitful gleams. The oldest synagogue was entered first. Its +flooring was of marble squares, its roof vaulted, and its Ark looked north +towards Jerusalem. There were, as so often in the East, two Arks; when one +is too small, they do not enlarge it, but build another. The Sefardic +Talmud Torah is a small room without window or ventilation, the only light +and air enter by the door. The children were huddled together on an +elevated wooden platform. They could read Hebrew fluently, and most of them +spoke Arabic. The German children speak Yiddish; the custom of using Hebrew +as a living language has not spread here so much as in Jaffa and the +colonies. The Beth ha-Midrash for older children was a little better +equipped; it had a stone floor, but the pupils reclined on couches round +the walls. They learn very little of what we should call secular subjects. +I examined the store of manuscripts, but Professor Schechter had been +before me, and there was nothing left but modern Cabbalistic literature. +The other synagogue is small, and very bare of ornament. The Rabbi was +seated there, "learning," with great Tefillin and Tallith on--a fine, +simple, benevolent soul. To my surprise he spoke English, and turned out to +be none other than Rachmim Joseph Franco, who, as long ago as 1851, when +the earthquake devastated the Jewish quarter, had been sent from Rhodes to +collect relief funds. He was very ailing, and I could not have a long +conversation with him, but he told me that he had known my father, who was +then a boy, in London. Then I entered a typical Jewish dwelling of the +poor. It consisted of a single room, opening on to the dark street, and had +a tiny barred window at the other side. On the left was a broad bed, on the +right a rude cooking stove and a big water pitcher. There was nothing else +in the room, except a deep stagnant mud pool, which filled the centre of +the floor. + +Next door they were baking Matzoth in an oven fed by a wood fire. It was a +few days before Passover. The Matzoth were coarse, and had none of the +little holes with which we are familiar. So through streets within streets, +dirt within dirt, room over room, in hopeless intricacy. Then we were +brought to a standstill, a man was coming down the street with a bundle of +wood, and we had to wait till he had gone by, the streets being too narrow +for two persons to pass each other. Another street was impassable for a +different reason, there was quite a river of flowing mud, knee deep. I +asked for a boat, but a man standing by hoisted me on his shoulders, and +carried me across, himself wading through it with the same unconcern as the +boys and girls were wallowing in it, playing and amusing themselves. How +alike children are all the world over! + +And yet, with it all, Hebron is a healthy place. There is little of the +intermittent fever prevalent in other parts of Palestine; illness is +common, but not in a bad form. Jerusalem is far more unhealthy, because of +the lack of water. But the Jews of Hebron are miserably poor. How they live +is a mystery. They are not allowed to own land, even if they could acquire +it. There was once a little business to be done in lending money to the +Arabs, but as the Government refuses to help in the collection of debts, +this trade is not flourishing, and a good thing, too. There are, of course, +some industries. First there is the wine. I saw nothing of the vintage, as +my visit was in the spring, but I tasted the product and found it good. The +Arab vine-owners sell the grapes to Jews, who extract the juice. Still +there is room for enterprise here, and it is regrettable that few seem to +think of Hebron when planning the regeneration of Judea. True, I should +regret the loss of primitiveness here, as I said at the outset, but when +the lives of men are concerned, esthetics must go to the wall. The Jewish +quarter was enlarged in 1875, but it is still inadequate. The Society +Lemaan Zion has done a little to introduce modern education, but neither +the Alliance nor the Anglo-Jewish Association has a school here. Lack of +means prevents the necessary efforts from being made. Most deplorable is +the fact connected with the hospital. In a beautiful sunlit road above the +mosque, amid olive groves, is the Jewish hospital, ready for use, +well-built, but though the very beds were there when T saw it, no patients +could be received, as there were no funds. The Jewish doctor was doing a +wonderful work. He had exiled himself from civilized life, as we Westerns +understand it; his children had no school to which to go; he felt himself +stagnating, without intellectual intercourse with his equals, yet active, +kindly, uncomplaining--one of those everyday martyrs whom one meets so +often among the Jews of Judea, men who day by day see their ambitions +vanishing under the weight of a crushing duty. It was sad to see how he +lingered over the farewell when I left him. I said that his house had +seemed an oasis in the desert to me, that I could never forget the time +spent with him. "And what of me?" he answered. "Your visit has been an +oasis in the desert to me, but you go and the desert remains." Surely, the +saddest thing in life is this feeling that one's own uninteresting, +commonplace self should mean so much to others. I call it sad, because so +few of us realize what we may mean to others, being so absorbed in our +selfish thought of what others mean to us. + +There are two industries in Hebron besides the vintage. It supplies most of +the skin-bottles used in Judea, and a good deal of glassware, including +lamps, is manufactured there. The Hebron tannery is a picturesque place, +but no Jews are employed in it. Each bottle is made from an entire +goat-skin, from which only the head and feet are removed. The lower +extremities are sewn up, and the neck is drawn together to form the neck of +the water bottle. Some trade is also done here in wool, which the Arabs +bring in and sell at the market held every Friday. In ancient times the +sheep used in the Temple sacrifices were obtained from Hebron. Besides the +tannery, the glass factories are worth a visit. The one which I saw was in +a cavern, lit only by the glow of the central furnace. Seated round the +hearth (I am following Gautier's faithful description of the scene) and +served by two or three boys, were about ten workmen, making many-colored +bracelets and glass rings, which varied in size from small finger rings to +circlets through which you could easily put your arm. The workmen are +provided with two metal rods and a pair of small tongs, and they ply these +primitive instruments with wonderful dexterity. They work very hard, at +least fifteen hours a day, for five days a week. + +This is one of the curiosities of the East. Either the men there are +loafers, or they work with extraordinary vigor. There is nothing between +doing too much and doing nothing. The same thing strikes one at Jaffa. The +porters who carry your baggage from the landing stage to the steamer do +more work than three English dock laborers. They carry terrific weights. +When a family moves, a porter carries all the furniture on his back. Yet +side by side with these overworked men, Jaffa is crowded with idlers, who +do absolutely nothing. Such are the contrasts of the surprising Orient. + +Many of the beads and rosaries taken to Europe by pious pilgrims are made +in Hebron, just as the mother of pearl relics come chiefly from Bethlehem, +where are made also the tobacco-jars of Dead Sea stone. Hebron does a fair +trade with the Bedouins, but on the whole it is quite unprogressive. At +first sight this may seem rather an unpleasant fact for lovers of peace. +Hebron has for many centuries been absolutely free from the ravages of war, +yet it stagnates. Peace is clearly not enough for progress. As the +Rabbinical phrase well puts it, "Peace is the vessel which holds all other +good"--without peace this other good is spilt, but peace is after all the +containing vessel, not the content of happiness. + +I have left out, in the preceding narrative, the visit paid to the Haram +erected over the Cave of Machpelah. The mosque is an imposing structure, +and rises above the houses on the hill to the left as you enter from +Jerusalem. The walls of the enclosure and of the mosque are from time to +time whitewashed, so that the general appearance is somewhat dazzling. It +has already been mentioned that certain repairs were effected in 1894-5. +The work was done by the lads of the Technical School in Jerusalem; they +made an iron gate for Joseph's tomb,--the Moslems believe that Joseph is +buried in Hebron,--and they made one gate for Abraham's tomb, one gate and +three window gratings for Isaac's tomb, and one gate and two window +gratings for Rebekah's tomb. This iron work, it is satisfactory to +remember, was rendered possible by the splendid machinery sent out to the +school from London by the Anglo-Jewish Association. The ordinary Jewish +visitor is not allowed to enter the enclosure at all. I was stopped at the +steps, where the custodian audaciously demanded a tip for not letting me +in. The tombs within are not the real tombs of the Patriarchs; they are +merely late erections over the spots where the Patriarchs lie buried. + +No one has ever doubted that Machpelah is actually at this site, but the +building is, of course, not Patriarchal in age. The enclosure is as old as +the Wailing Wall at Jerusalem. It belongs to the age of Herod; we see the +same cyclopean stones, with the same surface draftings as at Jerusalem. Why +Herod built this edifice seems clear. Hebron was the centre of Idumean +influence, and Herod was an Idumean. He had a family interest in the place, +and hence sought to beautify it. No Jew or Christian can enter the +enclosure except by special irade; even Sir Moses Montefiore was refused +the privilege. Rather, one should say, the Moslem authorities wished to let +Sir Moses in, but they were prevented by the mob from carrying out their +amiable intentions. The late English King Edward VII and the present King +George V were privileged to enter the structure. Mr. Elkan Adler got in at +the time when the _Alliance_ workmen were repairing the gates, but there is +nothing to see of any interest. No one within historical times has +penetrated below the mosque, to the cavern itself. We still do not know +whether it is called Machpelah because the Cave is double vertically or +double horizontally. + +The outside is much more interesting than the inside. Half way up the steps +leading into the mosque, there is a small hole or window at which many Jews +pray, and into which, it is said, all sorts of things, including letters to +the Patriarchs, are thrown, especially by women. In the Middle Ages, they +spread at this hole a tender calf, some venison pasties, and some red +pottage, every day, in honor of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the food was +eaten by the poor. It is commonly reported, though I failed to obtain any +local confirmation of the assertion, that the Jews still write their names +and their requests on strips of paper and thrust them into this hole. The +Moslems let down a lamp through the hole, and also cast money into it, +which is afterwards picked up by little boys as it is required for the +purposes of the mosque and for repairing the numerous tombs of prophets and +saints with which Hebron abounds. If you were to believe the local +traditions, no corpses were left for other cemeteries. The truth is that +much obscurity exists as to the identity even of modern tombs, for Hebron +preserves its old custom, and none of the Jewish tombs to this day bear +epitaphs. What a mass of posthumous hypocrisy would the world be spared if +the Hebron custom were prevalent everywhere! But it is obvious that the +method lends itself to inventiveness, and as the tombs are unnamed, local +guides tell you anything they choose about them, and you do not believe +them even when they are speaking the truth. + +There is only one other fact to tell about the Cave. The Moslems have a +curious dread of Isaac and Rebekah, they regard the other Patriarchs as +kindly disposed, but Isaac is irritable, and Rebekah malicious. It is told +of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, he who "feared neither man nor devil," that when +he was let down into the Cave by a rope, he surprised Rebekah in the act of +combing her hair. She resented the intrusion, and gave him so severe a box +on the ears that he fell down in a fit, and could be rescued alive only +with much difficulty. It is with equal difficulty that one can depart, with +any reverence left, from the mass of legend and childishness with which one +is crushed in such places. One escapes with the thought of the real +Abraham, his glorious service to humanity, his lifelong devotion to the +making of souls, to the spread of the knowledge of God. One recalls the +Abraham who, in the Jewish tradition, is the type of unselfishness, of +watchfulness on behalf of his descendants, the marks of whose genuine +relationship to the Patriarch are a generous eye and a humble spirit. As +one turns from Hebron, full of such happy memories, one forms the resolve +not to rely solely on an appeal to the Patriarch's merits, but to strive to +do something oneself for the Jewish cause, and thus fulfil the poet's +lines, + + Thus shalt thou plant a garden round the tomb, + Where golden hopes may flower, and fruits immortal bloom. + + + + +THE SOLACE OF BOOKS + + +In the year 1190, Judah ibn Tibbon, a famous Provencal Jew, who had +migrated to Southern France from Granada, wrote in Hebrew as follows to his +son: + +"Avoid bad society: make thy books thy companions. Let thy bookcases and +shelves be thy gardens and pleasure grounds. Pluck the fruit that grows +therein; gather the roses, the spices, and the myrrh. If thy soul be +satiate and weary, change from garden to garden, from furrow to furrow, +from scene to scene. Then shall thy desire renew itself, and thy soul be +rich with manifold delight." + +In this beautiful comparison of a library to a garden, there is one point +missing. The perfection of enjoyment is reached when the library, or at +least a portable part of it, is actually carried into the garden. When +Lightfoot was residing at Ashley (Staffordshire), he followed this course, +as we know from a letter of his biographer. "There he built himself a small +house in the midst of a garden, containing two rooms below, viz. a study +and a withdrawing room, and a lodging chamber above; and there he studied +hard, and laid the foundations of his Rabbinic learning, and took great +delight, lodging there often, though [quaintly adds John Stype] he was then +a married man." Montaigne, whose great-grandfather, be it recalled, was a +Spanish Jew, did not possess a library built in the open air, but he had +the next best thing. He used the top story of a tower, whence, says he, "I +behold under me my garden." + +In ancient Athens, philosophers thought out their grandest ideas walking up +and down their groves. Nature sobers us. "When I behold Thy heavens, the +work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained; what +is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest +him?" But if nature sobers, she also consoles. As the Psalmist continues: +"Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels, and crownest him with +glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy +hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet." Face to face with nature, +man realizes that he is greater than she. "On earth there is nothing great +but man, in man there is nothing great but mind." So, no doubt, the +Athenian sages gained courage as well as modesty from the contact of mind +with nature. And not they only, for our own Jewish treasure, the Mishnah, +grew up, if not literally, at least metaphorically, in the open air, in the +vineyard of Jamnia. Standing in the sordid little village which to-day +occupies the site of ancient Jamnia, with the sea close at hand and the +plain of Sharon and the Judean lowlands at my feet, I could see Rabbi +Jochanan ben Zakkai and his comrades pacing to and fro, pondering those +great thoughts which live among us now, though the authors of them have +been in their graves for eighteen centuries. + +It is curious how often this habit of movement goes with thinking. +Montaigne says: "Every place of retirement requires a Walk. My thoughts +sleep if I sit still; my Fancy does not go by itself, as it goes when my +Legs move it." What Montaigne seems to mean is that we love rhythm. Body +and mind must move together in harmony. So it is with the Mohammedan over +the Koran, and the Rabbi over the Talmud. Jews sway at prayer for the same +reason. Movement of the body is not a mere mannerism; it is part of the +emotion, like the instrumental accompaniment to a song. The child cons his +lesson moving; we foolishly call it "fidgeting." The child is never +receptive unless also active. But there is another of Montaigne's feelings, +with which I have no sympathy. He loved to think when on the move, but his +walk must be solitary. "'Tis here," he says of his library, "I am in my +kingdom, and I endeavor to make myself an absolute monarch. So I sequester +this one corner from all society--conjugal, filial, civil." This is a +detestable habit. It is the acme of selfishness, to shut yourself up with +your books. To write over your study door "Let no one enter here!" is to +proclaim your work divorced from life. Montaigne gloried in the +inaccessibility of his asylum. His house was perched upon an "overpeering +hillock," so that in any part of it--still more in the round room of the +tower--he could "the better seclude myself from company, and keep +encroachers from me." Yet some may work best when there are others beside +them. From the book the reader turns to the child that prattles near, and +realizes how much more the child can ask than the book can answer. The +presence of the young living soul corrects the vanity of the dead old +pedant. Books are most solacing when the limitations of bookish wisdom are +perceived. "Literature," said Matthew Arnold, "is a criticism of life." +This is true, despite the objections of Saintsbury, but I venture to add +that "life is a criticism of literature." + +Now, I am not going to convert a paper on the Solace of Books into a paper +in dispraise of books. I shall not be so untrue to my theme. But I give +fair warning that I shall make no attempt to scale the height or sound the +depth of the intellectual phases of this great subject. I invite my reader +only to dally desultorily on the gentler slopes of sentiment. + +One of the most comforting qualities of books has been well expressed by +Richard of Bury in his famous Philobiblon, written in 1344. This is an +exquisite little volume on the Love of Books, which Mr. Israel Gollancz has +now edited in an exquisite edition, attainable for the sum of one shilling. +"How safely," says Richard, "we lay bare the poverty of human ignorance to +books, without feeling any shame." + +Then he goes on to describe books as those silent teachers who "instruct us +without rods or stripes; without taunts or anger; without gifts or money; +who are not asleep when we approach them, and do not deny us when we +question them; who do not chide us when we err, or laugh at us if we are +ignorant." + +It is Richard of Bury's last phrase that I find so solacing. No one is ever +ashamed of turning to a book, but many hesitate to admit their ignorance to +an interlocutor. Your dictionary, your encyclopedia, and your other books, +are the recipients of many a silent confession of nescience which you would +never dream of making auricular. You go to these "golden pots in which +manna is stored," and extract food exactly to your passing taste, without +needing to admit, as Esau did to Jacob, that you are hungry unto death. +This comparison of books to food is of itself solacing, for there is always +something attractive in metaphors drawn from the delights of the table. The +metaphor is very old. + +"Open thy mouth," said the Lord to Ezekiel, "and eat that which I give +thee. And when I looked, a hand was put forth unto me, and, lo, a scroll of +a book was therein.... Then I did eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey +for sweetness." + +What a quaint use does Richard of Bury make of this very passage! +Addressing the clergy, he says "Eat the book with Ezekiel, that the belly +of your memory may be sweetened within, and thus, as with the panther +refreshed, to whose breath all beasts and cattle long to approach, the +sweet savor of the spices it has eaten may shed a perfume without." + +Willing enough would I be to devote the whole of my paper to Richard of +Bury. I must, however, content myself with one other noble extract, which, +I hope, will whet my reader's appetite for more: "Moses, the gentlest of +men, teaches us to make bookcases most neatly, wherein they [books] may be +protected from any injury. Take, he says, this book of the Law and put it +in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God. O fitting +place and appropriate for a library, which was made of imperishable shittim +[i.e. acacia] wood, and was covered within and without with gold." + +Still we must not push this idea of costly bookcases too far. Judah the +Pious wrote in the twelfth century, "Books were made for use, not to be +hidden away." This reminds me that Richard of Bury is not the only medieval +book-lover with whom we might spend a pleasant evening. Judah ben Samuel +Sir Leon, surnamed the Pious, whom I have just quoted, wrote the "Book of +the Pious" in Hebrew, in 1190, and it has many excellent paragraphs about +books. Judah's subject is, however, the care of books rather than the +solace derivable from them. Still, he comes into my theme, for few people +can have enjoyed books more than he. He had no selfish love for them: he +not only possessed books, he lent them. He was a very prince of +book-lenders, for he did not object if the borrowers of his books re-lent +them in their turn. So, on dying, he advised his sons to lend his books +even to an enemy (par. 876). "If a father dies," he says elsewhere (par. +919), "and leaves a dog and a book to his sons, one shall not say to the +other, You take the dog, and I'll take the book," as though the two were +comparable in value. Poor, primitive Judah the Pious! We wiser moderns +should never dream of making the comparison between a dog and a book, but +for the opposite reason. Judah shrank from equalling a book to a dog, but +we know better than to undervalue a dog so far as to compare it with a +book. The kennel costs more than the bookcase, and love of dogs is a higher +solace than love of books. To those who think thus, what more convincing +condemnation of books could be formulated than the phrase coined by Gilbert +de Porre in praise of his library, "It is a garden of immortal fruits, +without dog or dragon." + +I meant to part with Richard of Bury, but I must ask permission to revert +to him. Some of the delight he felt in books arose from his preference of +reading to oral intercourse. "The truth in speech perishes with the sound: +it is patent to the ear only and eludes the sight: begins and perishes as +it were in a breath." Personally I share this view, and I believe firmly +that the written word brings more pleasure than the spoken word. + +Plato held the opposite view. He would have agreed with the advice given by +Chesterfield to his son, "Lay aside the best book when you can go into the +best company--depend upon it you change for the better." Plato did, indeed, +characterize books as "immortal sons deifying their sires." But, on the +opposite side, he has that memorable passage, part of which I now quote, +from the same source that has supplied several others of my quotations, Mr. +Alexander Ireland's "Book-Lover's Enchiridion." "Writing," says Plato, "has +this terrible disadvantage, which puts it on the same footing with +painting. The artist's productions stand before you, as if they were alive: +but if you ask them anything, they keep a solemn silence. Just so with +written discourse: you would fancy it full of the thoughts it speaks: but +if you ask it something that you want to know about what is said, it looks +at you always with the same one sign. And, once committed to writing, +discourse is tossed about everywhere indiscriminately, among those who +understand and those to whom it is naught, and who cannot select the fit +from the unfit." Plato further complains, adds Mr. Martineau, that "Theuth, +the inventor of letters, had ruined men's memories and living command of +their knowledge, by inducing a lazy trust in records ready to their hand: +and he limits the benefit of the _litera scripta_ to the compensation it +provides for the failing memory of old age, when reading naturally becomes +the great solace of life.... Plato's tone is invariably depreciatory of +everything committed to writing, with the exception of laws." + +This was also the early Rabbinical view, for while the Law might, nay, +must, be written, the rest of the tradition was to be orally confided. The +oral book was the specialty of the Rabbinical schools. We moderns, who are +to the ancients, in Rabbinic phrase, as asses to angels in intellect, +cannot rely upon oral teaching--our memory is too weak to bear the strain. +Even when a student attends an oral lecture, he proves my point, because he +takes notes. + +The ideal lies, as usual, in a compromise. Reading profits most when, +beside the book, you have some one with whom to talk about the book. If +that some one be the author of the book, good; if it be your teacher, +better; if it be a fellow-student, better still; if it be members of your +family circle, best of all. The teacher has only succeeded when he feels +that his students can do without him, can use their books by themselves and +for themselves. But personal intercourse in studies between equals is never +obsolete. "Provide thyself with a fellow-student," said the Rabbi. +Friendship made over a book is fast, enduring; this friendship is the great +solace. How much we Jews have lost in modern times in having given up the +old habit of reading good books together in the family circle! Religious +literature thus had a halo of home about it, and the halo never faded +throughout life. From the pages of the book in after years the father's +loving voice still spoke to his child. But when it comes to the author, I +have doubts whether it be at all good to have him near you when you read +his book. You may take an unfair advantage of him, and reject his book, +because you find the writer personally antipathetic. Or he may take an +unfair advantage of you, and control you by his personal fascination. You +remember the critic of Demosthenes, who remarked to him of a certain +oration, "When I first read your speech, I was convinced, just as the +Athenians were; but when I read it again, I saw through its fallacies." +"Yes," rejoined Demosthenes, "but the Athenians heard it only once." A book +you read more than once: for you possess only what you understand. I do not +doubt that the best readers are those who move least in literary circles, +who are unprejudiced one way or the other by their personal likes or +dislikes of literary men. How detestable are personal paragraphs about +authors--often, alas! autobiographical titbits. We expect a little more +reticence: we expect the author to say what he has to say in his book, and +not in his talks about his book and himself. We expect him to express +himself and suppress himself. "Respect the books," says Judah the Pious, +"or you show disrespect to the writer." No, not to the writer, but to the +soul whose progeny the book is, to the living intellect that bred it, in +Milton's noble phrase, to "an Immortality rather than a life." "Many a +man," he says, "lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the +precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on +purpose to a life beyond life." + +It is a sober truth that, of the books we chiefly love, we know least about +the authors. Perpetrating probably the only joke in his great Bodleian +Catalogue, Dr. Steinschneider enters the Bible under the heading _Anonyma_. +We are nowadays so concerned to know whether Moses or another wrote the +Pentateuch, that we neglect the Pentateuch as though _no one_ had ever +written it. What do we know about the personality of Shakespeare? Perhaps +we are happy in our ignorance. "Sometimes," said Jonathan Swift, "I read a +book with pleasure and detest the author." Most of us would say the same of +Jonathan Swift himself, and all of us, I think, share R.L. Stevenson's +resentment against a book with the portrait of a living author, and in a +heightened degree against an English translation of an ancient Hebrew +classic with the translator's portrait. Sometimes such a translator _is_ +the author; his rendering, at all events, is not the classic. A certain +Fidentinus once stole the work of the Roman poet Martial, and read it out +to the assembly as his own; whereupon Martial wrote this epigram, + + The book you read is, Fidentinus, mine, + Tho' read so badly, it well may pass for thine. + +But even apart from such bad taste as the aforementioned translator's, I do +not like to see portraits of living authors in their books. The author of a +good book becomes your intimate, but it is the author as you know him from +his book, not as you see him in the flesh or on a silver print. I quote +Stevenson again: "When you have read, you carry away with you a memory of +the man himself; it is as though you had touched a loyal hand, looked into +brave eyes, and made a noble friend; there is another bond on you +thenceforward, binding you to life and to the love of virtue." + +This line of thought leads me to the further remark, that some part of +the solace derived from books has changed its character since the art of +printing was invented. In former times the personality, if not of the +author, at all events of the scribe, pressed itself perforce upon the +reader. The reader had before him, not necessarily an autograph, but at +all events a manuscript. Printing has suppressed this individuality, and +the change is not all for the better. The evil consists in this, that +whereas of old a book, being handwritten, was clearly recognized as the +work of some one's hand, it now assumes, being printed, an impersonal +importance, which may be beyond its deserts. Especially is this the case +with what we may term religious authorities; we are now apt to forget +that behind the authority there stands simply--the author. It is +instructive to contrast the customary method of citing two great +codifiers of Jewish law--Maimonides and Joseph Caro. Caro lived in the +age of printing, and the _Shulchan Aruch_ was the first great Jewish +book composed after the printing-press was in operation. The result has +been, that the _Shulchan Aruch_ has become an impersonal authority, +rarely cited by the author's name, while the _Mishneh Torah_ is mostly +referred to as the Rambam, _i.e._ Maimonides. + +For all that, printing has been a gain, even from the point of view at +which I have just arrived. Not only has it demolished the barrier which the +scribe's personality interposed between author and reader, but, by +increasing the number of readers, it has added to the solace of each. For +the solace of books is never selfish--the book-miser is never the +book-lover, nor does the mere collector of rarities and preciosities +deserve that name, for the one hoards, but does not own; the other serves +Mammon, not God. The modern cheapening of books--the immediate result of +printing--not only extends culture, it intensifies culture. Your joy in a +book is truest when the book is cheapest, when you know that it is, or +might be, in the hands of thousands of others, who go with you in the +throng towards the same divine joy. + +These sentiments are clearly those of a Philistine. The fate of that last +word, by the way, is curious. The Philistines, Mr. Macalistcr discovered +when excavating Gezer, were the only artistic people in Palestine! Using +the term, however, in the sense to which Matthew Arnold gave vogue, I am a +Philistine in taste, I suppose, for I never can bring myself nowadays to +buy a second-hand book. For dusty old tomes, I go to the public library; +but my own private books must be sweet and clean. There are many who prefer +old copies, who revel in the inscribed names of former owners, and prize +their marginal annotations. If there be some special sentimental +associations connected with these factors, if the books be heirlooms, and +the annotations come from a vanished, but beloved, hand, then the old book +becomes an old love. But in most cases these things seem to me the defects +of youth, not the virtues of age; for they are usually too recent to be +venerable, though they are just old enough to disfigure. Let my books be +young, fresh, and fragrant in their virgin purity, unspotted from the +world. If my copy is to be soiled, I want to do all the soiling myself. It +is very different with a manuscript, which cannot be too old or too dowdy. +These are its graces. Dr. Neubauer once said to me, "I take no interest in +a girl who has seen more than seventeen years, nor in a manuscript that has +seen less than seven hundred." Alonzo of Aragon was wont to say in +commendation of age, that "age appeared to be best in four things: old wood +to burn; old wine to drink; old friends to trust; and old authors to read." + +This, however, is not my present point, for I have too much consideration +for my readers to attempt to embroil them in the old "battle of the books" +that raged round the silly question whether the ancients or the moderns +wrote better. I am discussing the age, not of the author, but of the copy. +As a critic, as an admirer of old printing, as an archeologist, I feel +regard for the _editio princeps_, but as a lover I prefer the cheap +reprint. Old manuscripts certainly have their charm, but they must have +been written at least before the invention of printing. Otherwise a +manuscript is an anachronism--it recalls too readily the editorial +"declined with thanks." At best, the autograph original of a modern work is +a literary curiosity, it reveals the author's mechanism, not his mind. But +old manuscripts are in a different case; their age has increased their +charm, mellowed and confirmed their graces, whether they be canonical +books, which "defile the hand" in the Rabbinical sense, or Genizah-grimed +fragments, which soil the fingers more literally. And when the dust of ages +is removed, these old-world relics renew their youth, and stand forth as +witnesses to Israel's unshakable devotion to his heritage. + +I have confessed to one Philistine habit; let me plead guilty to another. I +prefer to read a book rather than hear a lecture, because in the case of +the book I can turn to the last page first. I do like to know before I +start whether _he_ marries _her_ in the end or not. You cannot do this with +a spoken discourse, for you have to wait the lecturer's pleasure, and may +discover to your chagrin, not only that the end is very long in coming, but +that when it does come, it is of such a nature that, had you foreseen it, +you would certainly not have been present at the beginning. The real +interest of a love story is its process: though you may read the +consummation first, you are still anxious as to the course of the +courtship. But, in sober earnest, those people err who censure readers for +trying to peep at the last page first. For this much-abused habit has a +deep significance when applied to life. You will remember the ritual rule, +"It is the custom of all Israel for the reader of the Scroll of Esther to +read and spread out the Scroll like a letter, to make the miracle visible." +I remember hearing a sermon just before Purim, in Vienna, and the Jewish +preacher gave an admirable homiletic explanation of this rule. He pointed +out that in the story of Esther the fate of the Jews has very dark moments, +destruction faces them, and hope is remote. But in the end? In the end all +goes well. Now, by spreading out the Megillah in folds, displaying the end +with the beginning, "the miracle is made visible." Once Lord Salisbury, +when some timid Englishmen regarded the approach of the Russians to India +as a menace, told his countrymen to use large-scale maps, for these would +convince them that the Russians were not so near India after all. We Jews +suffer from the same nervousness. We need to use large-scale charts of +human history. We need to read history in centuries, not in years. Then we +should see things in their true perspective, with God changeless, as men +move down the ringing grooves of change. We should then be fuller of +content and confidence. We might gain a glimpse of the Divine plan, and +might perhaps get out of our habit of crying "All is lost" at every passing +persecution. As if never before had there been weeping for a night! As if +there had not always been abounding joy the morning after! Then let us, +like God Himself, try to see the end in the beginning, let us spread out +the Scroll, so that the glory of the finish may transfigure and illumine +the gloom and sadness of the intermediate course, and thus "the miracle" of +God's providential love will be "made visible" to all who have eyes to see +it. + +What strikes a real lover of books when he casts his eye over the fine +things that have been said about reading, is this: there is too much said +about profit, about advantage. "Reading," said Bacon, "maketh a full man," +and reading has been justified a thousand times on this famous plea. But, +some one else, I forget who, says, "You may as well expect to become strong +by always eating, as wise by always reading." Herbert Spencer was once +blamed by a friend for reading so little. Spencer replied, "If I read as +much as you do, I should know as little as you do." Too many of the +eulogies of books are utilitarian. A book has been termed "the home +traveller's ship or horse," and libraries, "the wardrobes of literature." +Another favorite phrase is Montaigne's, "'Tis the best viaticum for this +human journey," a phrase paralleled by the Rabbinic use of the Biblical +"provender for the way." "The aliment of youth, the comfort of old age," so +Cicero terms books. "The sick man is not to be pitied when he has his cure +in his sleeve"--that is where they used to carry their books. But I cannot +go through the long list of the beautiful, yet inadequate, similes that +abound in the works of great men, many of which can be read in the +"Book-Lover's Enchiridion," to which I have already alluded. + +One constant comparison is of books to friends. This is perhaps best worked +out in one of the Epistles of Erasmus, which the "Enchiridion" omits: "You +want to know what I am doing. I devote myself to my friends, with whom I +enjoy the most delightful intercourse. With them I shut myself in some +corner, where I avoid the gaping crowd, and either speak to them in sweet +whispers, or listen to their gentle voices, talking with them as with +myself. Can anything be more convenient than this? They never hide their +own secrets, while they keep sacred whatever is entrusted to them. They +speak when bidden, and when not bidden they hold their tongue. They talk of +what you wish, and as long as you wish; do not flatter, feign nothing, keep +back nothing, freely tell you of your faults, and take no man's character +away. What they say is either amusing or wholesome. In prosperity they +moderate, in affliction they console; they do not vary with fortune, they +follow you in all dangers, and last out to the very grave. Nothing can be +more candid than their relations with one another. I visit them from time +to time, now choosing one companion and now another, with perfect +impartiality. With these humble friends, I bury myself in seclusion. What +wealth or what sceptres would I take in exchange for this tranquil life?" + +Tranquillity is a not unworthy characteristic of the scholar, but, taking +Erasmus at his word, would he not have been even a greater man than he was, +had he been less tranquil and more strenuous? His great role in the history +of European culture would have been greater still, had he been readier to +bear the rubs which come from rough contact with the world. I will not, +however, allow myself to be led off into this alluring digression, whether +books or experience make a man wiser. Books may simply turn a man into a +"learned fool," and, on the other hand, experience may equally fail to +teach any of the lessons of wisdom. As Moore says: + + My only books + Were woman's looks, + And folly's all they taught me. + +The so-called men of the world often know little enough of the world of +men. It is a delusion to think that the business man is necessarily +business-like. Your business man is often the most un-business-like +creature imaginable. For practical ability, give me the man of letters. +Life among books often leads to insight into the book of life. At Cambridge +we speak of the reading men and the sporting men. Sir Richard Jebb, when he +went to Cambridge, was asked, "Do you mean to be a sporting man or a +reading man?" He replied, "Neither! I want to be a man who reads." Marcus +Aurelius, the scholar and philosopher, was not the least efficient of the +Emperors of Rome. James Martineau was right when he said that the student +not only becomes a better man, but he also becomes a better student, when +he concerns himself with the practical affairs of life as well as with his +books. And the idea cuts both ways. We should be better men of business if +we were also men of books. It is not necessary to recall that the ancient +Rabbis were not professional bookmen. They were smiths and ploughmen, +traders and merchants, and their businesses and their trades were idealized +and ennobled--and, may we not add, their handiwork improved?--by the +expenditure of their leisure in the schools and libraries of Jerusalem. + +And so all the foregoing comparisons between books and other objects of +utility or delight, charming though some of these comparisons are, fail to +satisfy one. One feels that the old Jewish conception is the only +completely true one: that conception which came to its climax in the +appointment of a benediction to be uttered before beginning to read a book +of the Law. + +The real solace of books comes from the sense of service, to be rendered or +received; and one must enter that holy of holies, the library, with a +grateful benediction on one's lip, and humility and reverence and joy in +one's soul. Of all the writers about books, Charles Lamb, in his playful +way, comes nearest to this old-world, yet imperishable, ideal of the Jewish +sages. He says: "I own that I am disposed to say grace upon twenty other +occasions in the course of the day besides my dinner. I want a form for +setting out on a pleasant walk, for a midnight ramble, for a friendly +meeting, for a solved problem. Why have we none for books, those spiritual +repasts--a grace before Milton,--a grace before Shakespeare,--a devotional +exercise proper to be said before reading the Fairy Queen?" The Jewish +ritual could have supplied Lamb with several of these graces. + +It will, I hope, now be seen why in speaking on the solace of books I have +said so little about consolation. It pains me to hear books praised as a +relief from worldly cares, to hear the library likened to an asylum for +broken spirits. I have never been an admirer of Boethius. His "Consolations +of Philosophy" have always been influential and popular, but I like better +the first famous English translator than the original Latin author. +Boethius wrote in the sixth century as a fallen man, as one to whom +philosophy came in lieu of the mundane glory which he had once possessed, +and had now lost. But Alfred the Great turned the "Consolations" into +English at the moment of his greatest power. He translated it in the year +886, when king on a secure throne; in his brightest days, when the Danish +clouds had cleared. Sorrow has often produced great books, great psalms, to +which the sorrowful heart turns for solace. But in the truest sense the +Shechinah rests on man only in his joy, when he has so attuned his life +that misfortune is but another name for good fortune. He must have learned +to endure before he seeks the solace of communion with the souls of the +great, with the soul of God. Very saddening it is to note how often men +have turned to books because life has no other good. The real book-lover +goes to his books when life is fullest of other joys, when his life is +richest in its manifold happiness. Then he adds the crown of joy to his +other joys, and finds the highest happiness. + +I do not like to think of the circumstances under which Sir Thomas +Bodley went to Oxford to found his famous library. Not till his +diplomatic career was a failure, not till Elizabeth's smiles had +darkened into frowns, did he set up his staff at the library door. But +Bodley rather mistook himself. As a lad the library had been his joy, +and when he was abroad, at the summit of his public fame, he turned his +diplomatic missions to account by collecting books and laying the +foundation of his future munificence. I even think that no lover of +books ever loved them so well in his adversity as in his prosperity. +Another view was held by Don Isaac Abarbanel, the famous Jewish +statesman and litterateur. Under Alfonso V, of Portugal, and other +rulers, he attained high place, but was brought low by the Inquisition, +and shared in the expulsion of his brethren. He writes in one of his +letters: "The whole time I lived in the courts and palaces of kings, +occupied in their service, I had no leisure to read or write books. My +days were spent in vain ambitions, seeking after wealth and honor. Now +that my wealth is gone, and honor has become exiled from Israel; now +that I am a vagabond and a wanderer on the earth, and I have no money: +now, I have returned to seek the book of God, as it is said, [Hebrew: +cheth-samech-vav-resh-yod mem-cheth-samech-resh-aleph vav-hey-chaf-yod +qof-tav-nun-yod], 'He is in sore need, therefore he studies.'" + +This is witty, but it is not wise. Fortunately, it is not quite true; +Abarbanel does little justice to himself in this passage, for elsewhere (in +the preface to his Commentary on Kings) he draws a very different picture +of his life in his brilliant court days. "My house," he says, "was an +assembly place for the wise ... in my abode and within my walls were wealth +and fame for the Torah and for those made great in its lore." Naturally, +the active statesman had less leisure for his books than the exiled, fallen +minister. + +So, too, with an earlier Jewish writer, Saadia. No sadder title was ever +chosen for a work than his _Sefer ha-Galui_--"Book of the Exiled." It is +beyond our province to enter into his career, full of stress and storm. +Between 933 and 937, driven from power, he retired to his library at +Bagdad, just as Cincinnatus withdrew to his farm when Rome no longer needed +him. During his retirement Saadia's best books were written. Why? Graetz +tells us that "Saadia was still under the ban of excommunication. He had, +therefore, no other sphere of action than that of an author." This is +pitiful; but, again, it is not altogether true. Saadia's whole career was +that of active authorship, when in power and out of power, as a boy, in +middle life, in age: his constant thought was the service of truth, in so +far as literature can serve it, and one may well think that he felt that +the Crown of the Law was better worth wearing in prosperity, when he chose +it out of other crowns, than in adversity, when it was the only crown +within his reach. It was thus that King Solomon chose. + +So, in speaking of the solace of books, I have ventured to employ "solace" +in an old, unusual sense. "Solace" has many meanings. It means "comfort in +sorrow," and in Scotch law it denotes a compensation for wounded feelings, +_solatium_, moral and intellectual damages in short. But in Chaucer and +Spenser, "solace" is sometimes used as a synonym for joy and sweet +exhilaration. This is an obsolete use, but let me hope that the thing is +not obsolete. For one must go to his books for solace, not in mourning +garb, but in gayest attire--to a wedding, not to a funeral. When John Clare +wrote, + + I read in books for happiness, + But books mistake the way to joy, + +he read for what he ought to have brought, and thus he failed to find his +goal. The library has been beautifully termed the "bridal chamber of the +mind." So, too, the Apocrypha puts it in the Wisdom of Solomon: + + Wisdom is radiant.... + Her I loved and sought out from my youth, + And I sought to take her for my bride, + And I became enamored of her beauty. + + * * * * * + + When I am come into my house, I shall find rest with her, + For converse with her hath no bitterness, + And to live with her hath no pain. + + * * * * * + + O God of the fathers, ... + Give me wisdom, that sitteth by Thee on Thy throne. + + + + +MEDIEVAL WAYFARING + + +Men leave their homes because they must, or because they will. The Hebrew +has experienced both motives for travelling. Irresistibly driven on by his +own destiny and by the pressure of his fellow-men, the Jew was also gifted +with a double share of that curiosity and restlessness which often send men +forth of their own free will on long and arduous journeys. He has thus +played the part of the Wandering Jew from choice and from necessity. He +loved to live in the whole world, and the whole world met him by refusing +him a single spot that he might call his very own. + + Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, + How shall ye flee away and be at rest! + The wild-dove hath her nest, the fox her cave, + Mankind their country,--Israel but the grave! + +A sad chapter of medieval history is filled with the enforced wanderings of +the sons of Israel. The lawgiver prophesied well, "There shall be no rest +for the sole of thy foot." But we are not concerned here with the victim of +expulsion and persecution. The wayfarer with whom we shall deal is the +traveller, and not the exile. He was moved by no caprice but his own. He +will excite our admiration, perhaps our sympathy, only rarely our tears. + +My subject, be it remembered, is not wayfarers, but wayfaring. Hence I am +to tell you not the story of particular travellers, but the manner of their +travelling, the conditions under which they moved. Before leaving home, a +Jewish wayfarer of the Middle Ages was bound to procure two kinds of +passport. In no country in those days was freedom of motion allowed to +anyone. The Jew was simply a little more hampered than others. In England, +the Jew paid a feudal fine before he might cross the seas. In Spain, the +system of exactions was very complete. No Jew could change his residence +without a license even within his own town. But in addition to the +inflictions of the Government, the Jews enacted voluntary laws of their +own, forcing their brethren to obtain a congregational permit before +starting. + +The reasons for this restriction were simple. In the first place, no Jew +could be allowed to depart at will, and leave the whole burden of the royal +taxes on the shoulders of those who were left behind. Hence, in many parts +of Europe and Asia, no Jew could leave without the express consent of the +congregation. Even when he received the consent, it was usually on the +understanding that he would continue, in his absence, to pay his share of +the communal dues. Sometimes even women were included in this law, as, for +instance, if the daughter of a resident Jew married and settled elsewhere, +she was forced to contribute to the taxes of her native town a sum +proportionate to her dowry, unless she emigrated to Palestine, in which +case she was free. A further cause why Jews placed restrictions on free +movement was moral and commercial. Announcements had to be made in the +synagogue informing the congregation that so-and-so was on the point of +departure, and anyone with claims against him could obtain satisfaction. No +clandestine or unauthorized departure was permissible. It must not be +thought that these communal licenses were of no service to the traveller. +On the contrary, they often assured him a welcome in the next town, and in +Persia were as good as a safe-conduct. No Mohammedan would have dared defy +the travelling order sealed by the Jewish Patriarch. + +Having obtained his two licenses, one from the Government and the other +from the Synagogue, the traveller would have to consider his costume. +"Dress shabbily" was the general Jewish maxim for the tourist. How +necessary this rule was, may be seen from what happened to Rabbi Petachiah, +who travelled from Prague to Nineveh, in 1175, or thereabouts. At Nineveh +he fell sick, and the king's physicians attended him and pronounced his +death certain. Now Petachiah had travelled in most costly attire, and in +Persia the rule was that if a Jewish traveller died, the physicians took +half his property. Petachiah saw through the real danger that threatened +him, so he escaped from the perilous ministrations of the royal doctors, +had himself carried across the Tigris on a raft, and soon recovered. +Clearly, it was imprudent of a Jewish traveller to excite the rapacity of +kings or bandits by wearing rich dresses. But it was also desirable for the +Jew, if he could, to evade recognition as such altogether. Jewish opinion +was very sensible on this head. It did not forbid a Jew's disguising +himself even as a priest of the Church, joining a caravan, and mumbling +Latin hymns. In times of danger, he might, to save his life, don the turban +and pass as a Mohammedan even in his home. Most remarkable concession of +all, the Jewess on a journey might wear the dress of a man. The law of the +land was equally open to reason. In Spain, the Jew was allowed to discard +his yellow badge while travelling; in Germany, he had the same privilege, +but he had to pay a premium for it. In some parts, the Jewish community as +a whole bought the right to travel and to discard the badge on journeys, +paying a lump sum for the general privilege, and itself exacting a communal +tax to defray the general cost. In Rome, the traveller was allowed to lodge +for ten days before resuming his hated badge. But, curiously enough, the +legal relaxation concerning the badge was not extended to the markets. The +Jew made the medieval markets, yet he was treated as an unwelcome guest, a +commodity to be taxed. This was especially so in Germany. In 1226, Bishop +Lorenz, of Breslau, ordered Jews who passed through his domain to pay the +same toll as slaves brought to market. The visiting Jew paid toll for +everything; but he got part of his money back. He received a yellow badge, +which he was forced to wear during his whole stay at the market, the +finances of which he enriched, indirectly by his trade, and directly by his +huge contributions to the local taxes. + +The Jewish traveller mostly left his wife at home. In certain circumstances +he could force her to go with him, as, for instance, if he had resolved to +settle in Palestine. On the other hand, the wife could prevent her husband +from leaving her during the first year after marriage. It also happened +that families emigrated together. Mostly, however, the Jewess remained at +home, and only rarely did she join even the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This +is a striking contrast to the Christian custom, for it was the Christian +woman that was the most ardent pilgrim; in fact, pilgrimages to the Holy +Land only became popular in Church circles because of the enthusiasm of +Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, especially when, in 326, she found +the true cross. We, however, read of an aged Jewess who made a pilgrimage +to all the cities of Europe, for the purpose of praying in the synagogues +on her route. + +We now know, from the Chronicle of Achimaaz, that Jews visited Jerusalem in +the tenth century. Aronius records a curious incident. Charles the Great, +between the years 787 and 813, ordered a Jewish merchant, who often used to +visit Palestine and bring precious and unknown commodities thence to the +West, to hoax the Archbishop of Mainz, so as to lower the self-conceit of +this vain dilettante. The Jew thereupon sold him a mouse at a high price, +persuading him that it was a rare animal, which he had brought with him +from Judea. Early in the eleventh century there was a fully organized +Jewish community with a Beth-Din at Ramleh, some four hours' drive from +Jaffa. But Jews did not visit Palestine in large numbers, until Saladin +finally regained the Holy City for Mohammedan rule, towards the end of the +twelfth century. From that time pilgrimages of Jews became more frequent; +but the real influx of Jews into Palestine dates from 1492, when many of +the Spanish exiles settled there, and formed the nucleus of the present +Sefardic population. + +On the whole, it may be said that in the Middle Ages the journey to +Palestine was fraught with so much danger that it was gallantry that +induced men to go mostly without their wives. And, generally speaking, the +Jew going abroad to earn a living for his family, could not dream of +allowing his wife to share the dangers and fatigues of the way. In Ellul, +1146, Rabbi Simeon the Pious returned from England, where he had lived many +years, and betook himself to Cologne, thence to take ship home to Trier. On +the way, near Cologne, he was slain by Crusaders, because he refused +baptism. The Jewish community of Cologne bought the body from the citizens, +and buried it in the Jewish cemetery. + +No doubt it was often a cruel necessity that separated husband and wife. +The Jewish law, even in lands where monogamy was not legally enforced, did +not allow the Jew, however, to console himself with one wife at home and +another abroad. Josephus, we know, had one wife in Tiberias and another in +Alexandria, and the same thing is told us of royal officers in the Roman +period; but the Talmudic legislation absolutely forbids such license, even +though it did not formally prohibit a man from having more than one wife at +home. We hear occasionally of the wife's growing restive in her husband's +absence and taking another husband. In 1272, Isaac of Erfurt went on a +trading journey, and though he was only gone from March 9, 1271, to July, +1272, he found, on his return, that his wife had wearied of waiting for +him. Such incidents on the side of the wife were very rare; the number of +cases in which wife-desertion occurred was larger. In her husband's +absence, the wife's lot, at best, was not happy. "Come back," wrote one +wife, "or send me a divorce." "Nay," replied the husband, "I can do +neither. I have not yet made enough provision for us, so I cannot return. +And, before Heaven, I love you, so I cannot divorce you." The Rabbi advised +that he should give her a conditional divorce, a kindly device, which +provided that, in case the husband remained away beyond a fixed date, the +wife was free to make other matrimonial arrangements. The Rabbis held that +travelling diminishes family life, property, and reputation. Move from +house to house, and you lose a shirt; go from place to place, and you lose +a life--so ran the Rabbinic proverb. This subject might be enlarged upon, +but enough has been said to show that this breaking up of the family life +was one of the worst effects of the Jewish travels of the Middle Ages, and +even more recent times. + +Whether his journey was devotional or commercial, the rites of religion +formed part of the traveller's preparations for the start. The Prayer for +Wayfarers is Talmudic in origin. It may be found in many prayer books, and +I need not quote it. But one part of it puts so well, in a few pregnant +words, the whole story of danger, that I must reproduce them. On +approaching a town, the Jew prayed, "May it be Thy will, O Lord, to bring +me safely to this town." When he had entered, he prayed, "May it be Thy +will, O Lord, to take me safely from this town." And when he actually left, +he uttered similar words, pathetic and painfully significant. + +In the first century of the Christian era, much travelling was entailed by +the conveyance of the didrachmon, sent by each Jew to the Temple from +almost every part of the known world. Philo says of the Jews beyond the +Euphrates: "Every year the sacred messengers are sent to convey large sums +of gold and silver to the Temple, which have been collected from all the +subordinate Governments. They travel over rugged and difficult and almost +impassable roads, which, however, they look upon as level and easy, +inasmuch as they serve to conduct them to piety." And the road was made +easy in other ways. + +It must often have been shortened to the imagination by the prevalent +belief that by supernatural aid the miles could be actually lessened. Rabbi +Natronai was reported to be able to convey himself a several days' journey +in a single instant. So Benjamin of Tudela tells how Alroy, who claimed to +be the Messiah in the twelfth century, not only could make himself visible +or invisible at will, but could cross rivers on his turban, and, by the aid +of the Divine Name, could travel a ten days' journey in ten hours. Another +Jewish traveller calmed the sea by naming God, another by writing the +sacred Name on a shard, and casting it into the sea. "Have no care," said +he, on another occasion, to his Arab comrade, as the shadows fell on a +Friday afternoon, and they were still far from home, "have no care, we +shall arrive before nightfall," and, exercising his wonderworking powers, +he was as good as his word. We read in Achimaaz of the exploits of a +tenth-century Jew who traversed Italy, working wonders, being received +everywhere with popular acclamations. This was Aaron of Bagdad, son of a +miller, who, finding that a lion had eaten the mill-mule, caught the lion +and made him do the grinding. His father sent him on his travels as a +penalty for his dealings with magic: after three years he might return. Fie +went on board a ship, and assured the sailors that they need fear neither +foe nor storm, for he could use the Name. He landed at Gaeta in Italy, +where he restored to human form the son of his host, whom a witch had +turned into an ass. This was the beginning of many miracles. But he did not +allow one place to monopolize him. Next we find him in Benvenuto. He goes +to the synagogue, recognizes that a lad omits the name of God from his +prayer, thus showing that he is dead! He goes to Oria, then to Bari, and so +forth. Similar marvels were told in the Midrash, of travellers like Father +Jacob, and in the lives of Christian saints. + +But the Jew had a real means of shortening the way--by profitable and +edifying conversation. "Do not travel with an Am ha-Arez," the olden Rabbis +advised. Such a one, they held, was careless of his own safety, and would +hardly be more careful of his companion's life. But, besides, an Am +ha-Arez, using the word in its later sense of ignoramus, would be too dull +for edifying conversation, and one might as well or as ill journey alone as +with a boor. But "thou shalt speak of them by the way," says Deuteronomy of +the commandments, and this (to say nothing of the danger) was one of the +reasons why solitary travelling was disapproved. A man walking alone was +more likely to turn his mind to idle thoughts, than if he had a congenial +partner to converse with, and the Mishnah is severe against him who turns +aside from his peripatetic study to admire a tree or a fallow. This does +not imply that the Jews were indifferent to the beauties of nature. Jewish +travellers often describe the scenery of the parts they visit, and +Petachiah literally revels in the beautiful gardens of Persia, which he +paints in vivid colors. Then, again, few better descriptions of a storm at +sea have been written than those composed by Jehudah Halevi on his fatal +voyage to Palestine. Similarly, Charizi, another Jewish wayfarer, who +laughed himself over half the world, wrote verses as he walked, to relieve +the tedium. He is perhaps the most entertaining of all Jewish travellers. +Nothing is more amusing than his conscious habit of judging the characters +of the men he saw by their hospitality, or the reverse, to himself. A more +serious traveller, Maimonides, must have done a good deal of thinking on +horseback, to get through his ordinary day's work and write his great +books. In fact, he himself informs us that he composed part of his +Commentary to the Mishnah while journeying by land and sea. In Europe, the +Rabbis often had several neighboring congregations under their care, and on +their journeys to and fro took their books with them, and read in them at +intervals. Maharil, on such journeys, always took note of the Jewish +customs observed in different localities. He was also a most skilful and +successful Shadchan, or marriage-broker, and his extensive travels placed +this famous Rabbi in an excellent position for match-making. Certainly, the +marriages he effected were notoriously prosperous, and in his hands the +Shadchan system did the most good and the least harm of which it is +capable. + +Another type of short-distance traveller was the Bachur, or student. Not +that his journeys were always short, but he rarely crossed the sea. In the +second century we find Jewish students in Galilee behaving as many Scotch +youths did before the days of Carnegie funds. These students would study in +Sepphoris in the winter, and work in the fields in summer. After the +impoverishment caused by the Bar-Cochba war, the students were glad to dine +at the table of the wealthy Patriarch Judah I. In the medieval period there +were also such. These Bachurim, who, young as they were, were often +married, accomplished enormous journeys on foot. They walked from the Rhine +to Vienna, and from North Germany to Italy. Their privations on the road +were indescribable. Bad weather was naturally a severe trial. "Hearken not +to the prayers of wayfarers," was the petition of those who stayed at home. +This quaint Talmudic saying refers to the selfishness of travellers, who +always clamor for fine weather, though the farmer needs rain. Apart from +the weather, the Bachurim suffered much on the road. Their ordinary food +was raw vegetables culled from the fields; they drank nothing but water. +They were often accompanied by their teachers, who underwent the same +privations. Unlike their Talmudical precursors, they travelled much by +night, because it was safer, and also because they reserved the daylight +for study. The dietary laws make Jewish travelling particularly irksome. We +do, indeed, find Jews lodging at the ordinary inns, but they could not join +the general company at the _table d'hote_. The Sabbath, too, was the cause +of some discomfort, though the traveller always exerted his utmost efforts +to reach a Jewish congregation by Friday evening, sometimes, as we have +seen, with supernatural aid. + +We must interrupt this account of the Bachur to record a much earlier +instance of the awkward situation in which a pious Jewish traveller might +find himself because of the Sabbath regulations. In the very last year of +the fourth century, Synesius, of Cyrene, writing to his brother of his +voyage from Alexandria to Constantinople, supplies us with a quaint +instance of the manner in which the Sabbath affected Jewish travellers. +Synesius uses a sarcastic tone, which must not be taken as seriously +unfriendly. "His voyage homeward," says Mr. Glover, "was adventurous." It +is a pity that space cannot be found for a full citation of Synesius's +enthralling narrative. His Jewish steersman is an entertaining character. +There were twelve members in the crew, the steersman making the thirteenth. +More than half, including the steersman, were Jews. "It was," says +Synesius, "the day which the Jews call the Preparation [Friday], and they +reckon the night to the next day, on which they are not allowed to do any +work, but they pay it especial honor, and rest on it. So the steersman let +go the helm from his hands, when he thought the sun would have set on the +land, and threw himself down, and 'What mariner should choose might trample +him!' We did not at first understand the real reason, but took it for +despair, and went to him and besought him not to give up all hope yet. For +in plain fact the big rollers still kept on, and the sea was at issue with +itself. It does this when the wind falls, and the waves it has set going do +not fall with it, but, still retaining in full force the impulse that +started them, meet the onset of the gale, and to its front oppose their +own. Well, when people are sailing in such circumstances, life hangs, as +they say, by a slender thread. But if the steersman is a Rabbi into the +bargain, what are one's feelings? When, then, we understood what he meant +in leaving the helm,--for when we begged him to save the ship from danger, +he went on reading his book,--we despaired of persuasion, and tried force. +And a gallant soldier (for we have with us a good few Arabians, who belong +to the cavalry) drew his sword, and threatened to cut his head off, if he +would not steer the ship. But in a moment he was a genuine Maccabee, and +would stick to his dogma. Yet when it was now midnight, he took his place +of his own accord, 'for now,' says he, 'the law allows me, as we are +clearly in danger of our lives.' At that the tumult begins again, moaning +of men and screaming of women. Everybody began calling on Heaven, and +wailing and remembering their dear ones. Amarantus alone was cheerful, +thinking he was on the point of ruling out his creditors." Amarantus was +the captain, who wished to die, because he was deep in debt. What with the +devil-may-care captain, the Maccabean steersman, and the critical onlooker, +who was a devoted admirer of Hypatia, rarely has wayfaring been conducted +under more delightful conditions. As is often the case in life, the humors +of the scene almost obscure the fact that the lives of the actors were in +real danger. But all ended well. "As for us," says Synesius further on, "as +soon as we reached the land we longed for, we embraced it as if it had been +a living mother. Offering, as usual, a hymn of gratitude to God, I added to +it the recent misadventure from which we had unexpectedly been saved." + +To return to our travelling Bachur of later centuries than Synesius's +Rabbi-steersman. On the road, the student was often attacked, but, as +happened with the son of the great Asheri, who was waylaid by bandits near +Toledo, the robbers did not always get the best of the fight. The Bachur +could take his own part. One Jew gained much notoriety in 801 by conducting +an elephant all the way from Haroun al-Rashid's court as a present to +Charlemagne, the king of the Franks. But the Rabbi suffered considerably +from his religion on his journeys. Dr. Schechter tells us how the Gaon +Elijah got out of his carriage to say his prayer, and, as the driver knew +that the Rabbi would not interrupt his devotions, he promptly made off, +carrying away the Gaon's property. + +But the account was not all on one side. If the Bachur suffered for his +religion, he received ample compensation. When he arrived at his +destination, he was welcomed right heartily. We read how cordially the +Sheliach Kolel was received in Algiers in the fifteenth to eighteenth +centuries. It was a great popular event, as is nowadays the visit of the +_Alliance_ inspector. This was not the case with all Jewish travellers, +some of whom received a very cold shoulder from their brethren. Why was +this? Chiefly because the Jews, as little as the rest of medieval peoples, +realized that progress and enlightenment are indissolubly bound up with the +right of free movement. They regarded the right to move here and there at +will as a selfish privilege of the few, not the just right of all. But more +than that. The Jews were forced to live in special and limited Ghettos. It +was not easy to find room for newcomers. When a crisis arrived, such as the +expulsion of the Jews from Spain, then, except here and there, the Jews +were generous to a fault in providing for the exiles. Societies all over +the Continent and round the coast of the Mediterranean spent their time and +money in ransoming the poor victims, who, driven from Spain, were enslaved +by the captains of the vessels that carried them, and were then bought back +to freedom by their Jewish brethren. + +This is a noble fact in Jewish history. But it is nevertheless true that +Jewish communities were reluctant in ordinary times to permit new +settlements. This was not so in ancient times. Among the Essenes, a +newcomer had a perfectly equal right to share everything with the old +inhabitants. These Essenes were great travellers, going from city to city, +probably with propagandist aims. In the Talmudic law there are very clear +rules on the subject of passers through a town or immigrants into it. By +that law persons staying in a place for less than thirty days were free +from all local dues except special collections for the poor. He who stayed +less than a year contributed to the ordinary poor relief, but was not taxed +for permanent objects, such as walling the town, defences, etc., nor did he +contribute to the salaries of teachers and officials, nor the building and +support of synagogues. But as his duties were small, so were his rights. +After a twelve months' stay he became a "son of the city," a full member of +the community. But in the Middle Ages, newcomers, as already said, were not +generally welcome. The question of space was one important reason, for all +newcomers had to stay in the Ghetto. Secondly, the newcomer was not +amenable to discipline. Local custom varied much in the details both of +Jewish and general law. The new settler might claim to retain his old +customs, and the regard for local custom was so strong that the claim was +often allowed, to the destruction of uniformity and the undermining of +authority. To give an instance or two: A newcomer would insist that, as he +might play cards in his native town, he ought not to be expected to obey +puritanical restrictions in the place to which he came. The result was that +the resident Jews would clamor against foreigners enjoying special +privileges, as in this way all attempts to control gambling might be +defeated. Or the newcomer would claim to shave his beard in accordance with +his home custom, but to the scandal of the town which he was visiting. The +native young men would imitate the foreigner, and then there would be +trouble. Or the settler would assert his right to wear colors and fashions +and jewelry forbidden to native Jews. Again, the marriage problem was +complicated by the arrival of insinuating strangers, who turned out to be +married men masquerading as bachelors. Then as to public worship--the +congregation was often split into fragments by the independent services +organized by foreign groups, and it would become necessary to prohibit its +own members from attending the synagogues of foreign settlers. Then as to +communal taxes: these were fixed annually on the basis of the population, +and the arrival of newcomers seriously disturbed the equilibrium, led to +fresh exactions by the Government, which it was by no means certain the new +settlers could or would pay, and which, therefore, fell on the shoulders of +the old residents. + +When we consider all these facts, we can see that the eagerness of the +medieval Jews to control the influx of foreign settlers was only in part +the result of base motives. And, of course, the exclusion was not permanent +or rigid. In Rome, the Sefardic and the Italian Jews fraternally placed +their synagogues on different floors of the same building. In some German +towns, the foreign synagogue was fixed in the same courtyard as the native. +Everywhere foreign Jews abounded, and everywhere a generous welcome awaited +the genuine traveller. + +As to the travelling beggar, he was a perpetual nuisance. Yet he was +treated with much consideration. The policy with regard to him was, "Send +the beggar further," and this suited the tramp, too. He did not wish to +settle, he wished to move on. He would be lodged for two days in the +communal inn, or if, as usually happened, he arrived on Friday evening, he +would be billeted on some hospitable member, or the Shamash would look +after him at the public expense. It is not till the thirteenth century that +we meet regular envoys sent from Palestine to collect money. + +The genuine traveller, however, was an ever-welcome guest. If he came at +fair time, his way was smoothed for him. The Jew who visited the fair was +only rarely charged local taxes by the Synagogue. He deserved a welcome, +for he not only brought wares to sell, but he came laden with new books. +The fair was the only book-market At other times the Jews were dependent on +the casual visits of travelling venders of volumes. Book-selling does not +seem to have been a settled occupation in the Middle Ages. The merchant who +came to the fair also fulfilled another function--that of Shadchan. The day +of the fair was, in fact, the crisis of the year. Naturally, the +letter-carrier was eagerly received. In the early part of the eighteenth +century the function of conveying the post was sometimes filled by +Jewesses. + +Even the ordinary traveller, who had no business to transact, would often +choose fair time for visiting new places, for he would be sure to meet +interesting people then. He, too, would mostly arrive on a Friday evening, +and would beguile the Sabbath with reports of the wonders he had seen. In +the great synagogue of Sepphoris, Jochanan was discoursing of the great +pearl, so gigantic in size that the Eastern gates of the Temple were to be +built of the single gem. "Ay, ay," assented an auditor, who had been a +notorious skeptic until he had become a shipwrecked sailor, "had not mine +own eyes beheld such a pearl in the ocean-bed, I should not have believed +it." And so the medieval traveller would tell his enthralling tales. He +would speak of a mighty Jewish kingdom in the East, existing in idyllic +peace and prosperity; he would excite his auditors with news of the latest +Messiah; he would describe the river Sambatyon, which keeps the Sabbath, +and, mingling truth with fiction, with one breath would truly relate how he +crossed a river on an inflated skin, and with the next breath romance about +Hillel's tomb, how he had been there, and how he had seen a large hollow +stone, which remains empty if a bad fellow enters, but at the approach of a +pious visitor fills up with sweet, pure water, with which he washes, +uttering a wish at the same time, sure that it will come true. It is +impossible even to hint at all the wonders of the tombs. Jews were ardent +believers in the supernatural power of sepulchres; they made pilgrimages to +them to pray and to beg favors. Jewish travellers' tales of the Middle Ages +are heavily laden with these legends. Of course, the traveller would also +bring genuine news about his brethren in distant parts, and sober +information about foreign countries, their ways, their physical +conformation, and their strange birds and beasts. These stories were in the +main true. For instance, Petachiah tells of a flying camel, which runs +fifteen times as fast as the fleetest horse. He must have seen an ostrich, +which is still called the flying camel by Arabs. But we cannot linger over +this matter. Suffice it to say that, as soon as Sabbath was over, the +traveller's narrative would be written out by the local scribe, and +treasured as one of the communal prizes. The traveller, on his part, often +kept a diary, and himself compiled a description of his adventures. In some +congregations there was kept a Communal Note-Book, in which were entered +decisions brought by visiting Rabbis from other communities. + +The most welcome of guests, even more welcome than long-distance +travellers, or globe-trotters, were the Bachurim and travelling Rabbis. The +Talmudic Rabbis were most of them travellers. Akiba's extensive journeys +were, some think, designed to rouse the Jews of Asia Minor generally to +participate in the insurrection against Hadrian. But my narrative must be +at this point confined to the medieval students. For the Bachurim, or +students, there was a special house in many communities, and they lived +together with their teachers. In the twelfth century, the great academy of +Narbonne, under Abraham ibn Daud, attracted crowds of foreign students. +These, as Benjamin of Tudela tells us, were fed and clothed at the communal +cost. At Beaucaire, the students were housed and supported at the teacher's +expense. In the seventeenth century, the students not only were paid small +bursaries, but every household entertained one or more of them at table. In +these circumstances their life was by no means dull or monotonous. A Jewish +student endures much, but he knows how to get the best out of life. This +optimism, this quickness of humor, saved the Rabbi and his pupil from many +a melancholy hour. Take Abraham ibn Ezra, for instance. If ever a man was +marked out to be a bitter reviler of fate, it was he. But he laughed at +fate. He gaily wandered from his native Spain over many lands penniless, +travelled with no baggage but his thoughts, visited Italy and France, and +even reached London, where, perhaps, he died. Fortune ill-treated him, but +he found many joys. Wherever he went, patrons held out their hand. + +Travelling students found many such generous lovers of learning, who, with +their wealth, encouraged their guests to write original works or copy out +older books, which the patrons then passed on to poor scholars in want of a +library. The legend is told, how the prophet Elijah visited Hebron, and was +not "called up" in the synagogue. Receiving no Aliyah on earth, he returned +to his elevation in Heaven. It was thus imprudent to deny honor to angels +unawares. Usually the scholar was treated as such a possible angel. When he +arrived, the whole congregation would turn out to meet him. He would be +taken in procession to the synagogue, where he would say the benediction +ha-Gomel, in thanks for his safety on the road. Perhaps he would address +the congregation, though he would do that rather in the school than in the +synagogue. Then a banquet would be spread for him. This banquet was called +one of the Seudoth Mitzvah, _i.e._ "commandment meals," to which it was a +duty of all pious men to contribute their money and their own attendance. +It would be held in the communal hall, used mostly for marriage feasts. +When a wedding party came from afar, similar steps for general enjoyment +were taken. Men mounted on horseback went forth to welcome the bride, mimic +tournaments were fought _en route_, torch-light processions were made if it +were night time, processions by boats if it were in Italy or by the Rhine, +a band of communal musicians, retained at general cost, played merry +marches, and everyone danced and joined in the choruses. These musicians +often went from town to town, and the Jewish players were hired for Gentile +parties, just as Jews employed Christian or Arab musicians to help make +merry on the Jewish Sabbaths and festivals. + +We need not wonder, then, that a traveller like Ibn Ezra was no croaker, +but a genial critic of life. He suffered, but he was light-hearted enough +to compose witty epigrams and improvise rollicking wine songs. He was an +accomplished chess player, and no doubt did something to spread the Eastern +game in Europe. Another service rendered by such travellers was the spread +of learning by their translations. Their wanderings made them great +linguists, and they were thus able to translate medical, astronomical, and +scientific works wherever they went. They were also sent by kings on +missions to collect new nautical instruments. Thus, the baculus, which +helped Columbus to discover America, was taken to Portugal by Jews, and a +French Jew was its inventor. They were much in demand as travelling +doctors, being summoned from afar to effect specific cures. But they also +carried other delights with them. Not only were they among the troubadours, +but they were also the most famous of the travelling _conteurs_. It was the +Jews, like Berechiah, Charizi, Zabara, Abraham ibn Chasdai, and other +incessant travellers, who helped to bring to Europe AEsop, Bidpai, the +Buddhist legends, who "translated them from the Indian," and were partly +responsible for this rich poetical gift to the Western world. + +Looking back on such a life, Ibn Ezra might well detect a Divine Providence +in his own pains and sorrows. So, Jew-like, he retained his hope to the +last, and after his buffetings on the troubled seas of life, remembering +the beneficent results of his travels to others, if not to himself, he +could write in this faithful strain: + + My hope God knoweth well, + My life He made full sweet; + Whene'er His servant fell, + God raised him to his feet. + Within the garment of His grace, + My faults He did enfold, + Hiding my sin, His kindly face + My God did ne'er withhold. + Requiting with fresh good, + My black ingratitude. + +There remain the great merchant travellers to be told about. They sailed +over all the world, and brought to Europe the wares, the products, the +luxuries of the East. They had their own peculiar dangers. Shipwreck was +the fate of others besides themselves, but they were peculiarly liable to +capture and sale as slaves. Foremost among their more normal hardships I +should place the bridge laws of the Middle Ages. The bridges were sometimes +practically maintained by the Jewish tolls. In England, before 1290, a Jew +paid a toll of a halfpenny on foot and a full penny on horseback--large +sums in those days. A "dead Jew" paid eightpence. Burial was for a long +time lawful only in London, and the total toll paid for bringing a dead Jew +to London over the various bridges must have been considerable. In the +Kurpfalz, for instance, the Jewish traveller had to pay the usual "white +penny" for every mile, but also a heavy general fee for the whole journey. +If he was found without his ticket of leave, he was at once arrested. But +it was when he came to a bridge that the exactions grew insufferable. The +regulations were somewhat tricky, for the Jew was specially taxed only on +Sundays and the Festivals of the Church. But every other day was some +Saint's Festival, and while, in Mannheim, even on those days the Christian +traveller paid one kreuzer if he crossed the bridge on foot, and two if on +horseback, the Jew was charged four kreuzer if on foot, twelve if on a +horse, and for every beast of burden he, unlike the Christian wayfarer, +paid a further toll of eight kreuzer. The Jewish quarter often lay near the +river, and Jews had great occasion for crossing the bridges, even for local +needs. In Venice, the Jewish quarter was naturally intersected by bridges; +in Rome there was the _pons Judeorum,_ which, no doubt, the Jews had to +maintain in repair. It must be remembered that many local Jewish +communities paid a regular bridge tax which was not exacted from +Christians, and when all this is considered, it will be seen that the +Jewish merchant needed to work hard and go far afield, if he was to get any +profit from his enterprises. + +Nevertheless, these Jews owned horses and caravans, and sailed their own +ships long before the time when great merchants, like the English Jew +Antonio Fernandes Carvajal, traded in their own vessels between London and +the Canaries. We hear of Palestinian Jews in the third century and of +Italian Jews in the fifth century with ships of their own. Jewish sailors +abounded on the Mediterranean, which tended to become a Jewish lake. The +trade routes of the Jews were chiefly two. "By one route," says Beazley, +"they sailed from the ports of France and Italy to the Isthmus of Suez, and +thence down the Red Sea to India and Farther Asia. By another course, they +transported the goods of the West to the Syrian coast; up the Orontes to +Antioch; down the Euphrates to Bassora; and so along the Persian Gulf to +Oman and the Southern Ocean." Further, there were two chief overland +routes. On the one side merchants left Spain, traversed the straits of +Gibraltar, went by caravan from Tangier along the northern fringe of the +desert, to Egypt, Syria, and Persia. This was the southern route. Then +there was the northern route, through Germany, across the country of the +Slavs to the Lower Volga; thence, descending the river, they sailed across +the Caspian. Then the traveller proceeded along the Oxus valley to Balkh, +and, turning north-east, traversed the country of the Tagazgaz Turks, and +found himself at last on the frontier of China. When one realizes the +extent of such a journey, it is not surprising to hear that the greatest +authorities are agreed that in the Middle Ages, before the rise of the +Italian trading republics, the Jews were the chief middlemen between Europe +and Asia. Their vast commercial undertakings were productive of much good. +Not only did the Jews bring to Europe new articles of food and luxury, but +they served the various States as envoys and as intelligencers. The great +Anglo-Jewish merchant Carvajal provided Cromwell with valuable information, +as other Jewish merchants had done to other rulers of whom they were loyal +servants. In the fifteenth century Henry of Portugal applied to Jews for +intelligence respecting the interior of Africa, and a little later John, +king of the same land, derived accurate information respecting India from +two Jewish travellers that had spent many years at Ormuz and Calcutta. But +it is unnecessary to add more facts of this type. The Jewish merchant +traveller was no mere tradesman. He observed the country, especially did he +note the numbers and occupations of the Jews, their synagogues, their +schools, their vices, and their virtues. + +In truth, the Jewish traveller, as he got farther from home, was more at +home than many of his contemporaries of other faiths when they were at +home. He kept alive that sense of the oneness of Judaism which could be +most strongly and completely achieved because there was no political bias +to separate it into hostile camps. + +But the interest between the traveller and his home was maintained by +another bond. A striking feature of Jewish wayfaring life was the writing +of letters home. The "Book of the Pious," composed about 1200, says: "He +that departs from the city where his father and mother live, and travels to +a place of danger, and his father and mother are anxious on account of him; +it is the bounden duty of the son to hire a messenger as soon as he can and +despatch a letter to his father and mother, telling them when he departs +from the place of danger, that their anxiety may be allayed." Twice a year +all Jews wrote family letters, at the New Year and the Passover, and they +sent special greetings on birthdays. But the traveller was the chief +letter-writer. "O my father," wrote the famous Obadiah of Bertinoro, in +1488, "my departure from thee has caused thee sorrow and suffering, and I +am inconsolable that I was forced to leave at the time when age was +creeping on thee. When I think of thy grey hairs, which I no longer see, my +eyes flow over with tears. But if the happiness of serving thee in person +is denied to me, yet I can at least serve thee as thou desirest, by writing +to thee of my journey, by pouring my soul out to thee, by a full narrative +of what I have seen and of the state and manners of the Jews in all the +places where I have dwelt." After a long and valuable narrative, he +concludes in this loving strain: "I have taken me a house in Jerusalem near +the synagogue, and my window overlooks it. In the court where my house is, +there live five women, and only one other man besides myself. He is blind, +and his wife attends to my needs. God be thanked, I have escaped the +sickness which affects nearly all travellers here. And I entreat you, weep +not at my absence, but rejoice in my joy, that I am in the Holy City. I +take God to witness that here the thought of all my sufferings vanishes, +and but one image is before my eyes, thy dear face, O my father. Let me +feel that I can picture that face to me, not clouded with tears, but lit +with joy. You have other children around you; make them your joy, and let +my letters, which I will ever and anon renew, bring solace to your age, as +your letters bring solace to me." + +Much more numerous than the epistles of sons to fathers are the letters of +fathers to their families. When these come from Palestine, there is the +same mingling of pious joy and human sorrow--joy to be in the Holy Land, +sorrow to be separated from home. Another source of grief was the +desolation of Palestine. + +One such letter-writer tells sadly how he walked through the market at +Zion, thought of the past, and only kept back his tears lest the Arab +onlookers should see and ridicule his sorrow. Yet another medieval +letter-writer, Nachmanides, reaches the summit of sentiment in these lines, +which I take from Dr. Schechter's translation: "I was exiled by force from +home, I left my sons and daughters; and with the dear and sweet ones whom I +brought up on my knees, I left my soul behind me. My heart and my eyes will +dwell with them forever. But O! the joy of a day in thy courts, O +Jerusalem! visiting the ruins of the Temple and crying over the desolate +Sanctuary; where I am permitted to caress thy stones, to fondle thy dust, +and to weep over thy ruins. I wept bitterly, but found joy in my tears." + +And with this thought in our mind we will take leave of our subject. It is +the traveller who can best discern, amid the ruins wrought by man, the hope +of a Divine rebuilding. Over the heavy hills of strife, he sees the coming +dawn of peace. The world must still pass through much tribulation before +the new Jerusalem shall arise, to enfold in its loving embrace all +countries and all men. But the traveller, more than any other, hastens the +good time. He overbridges seas, he draws nations nearer; he shows men that +there are many ways of living and of loving. He teaches them to be +tolerant; he humanizes them by presenting their brothers to them. The +traveller it is who prepares a way in the wilderness, who makes straight in +the desert a highway for the Lord. + + + + +THE FOX'S HEART + + +Pliny says that by eating the palpitating heart of a mole one acquires the +faculty of divining future events. In "Westward Ho!" the Spanish prisoners +beseech their English foe, Mr. Oxenham, not to leave them in the hands of +the Cimaroons, for the latter invariably ate the hearts of all that fell +into their hands, after roasting them alive. "Do you know," asks Mr. Alston +in the "Witch's Head," "what those Basutu devils would have done if they +had caught us? They would have skinned us, and made our hearts into _mouti_ +[medicine] and eaten them, to give them the courage of the white man." Ibn +Verga, the author of a sixteenth century account of Jewish martyrs, records +the following strange story: "I have heard that some people in Spain once +brought the accusation that they had found, in the house of a Jew, a lad +slain, and his breast rent near the heart. They asserted that the Jews had +extracted his heart to employ it at their festival. Don Solomon, the +Levite, who was a learned man and a Cabbalist, placed the Holy Name under +the lad's tongue. The lad then awoke and told who had slain him, and who +had removed his heart, with the object of accusing the poor Jews. I have +not," adds the author of the _Shebet Jehudah_, "seen this story in writing, +but I have heard it related." + +We have the authority of Dr. Ploss for the statement that among the Slavs +witches produce considerable disquiet in families, into which, folk say, +they penetrate in the disguise of hens or butterflies. They steal the +hearts of children in order to eat them. They strike the child on the left +side with a little rod; the breast opens, and the witches tear out the +heart, and devour every atom of it. Thereupon the wound closes up of +itself, without leaving a trace of what has been done. The child dies +either immediately or soon afterwards, as the witch chooses. Many +children's illnesses are attributed to this cause. If one of these witches +is caught asleep, the people seize her, and move her so as to place her +head where her feet were before. On awaking, she has lost all her power for +evil, and is transformed into a medicine-woman, who is acquainted with the +healing effects of every herb, and aids in curing children of their +diseases. In Heine's poem, "The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar," the love-lorn youth +seeks the cure of his heart's ill by placing a waxen heart on the shrine. +This is unquestionably the most exquisite use in literature of the heart as +a charm. + +Two or three of the stories that I have noted down on the gruesome subject +of heart-eating have been given above. Such ideas were abhorrent to the +Jewish conscience, and the use of the heart torn from a living animal was +regarded as characteristic of idolatry (Jerusalem Talmud, _Aboda Zara_, ii, +41b). In the Book of Tobit a fish's heart plays a part, but it is detached +from the dead animal, and is not eaten. It forms an ingredient of the smoke +which exorcises the demon that is troubling the heroine Sarah. + +I have not come across any passage in the Jewish Midrashim that ascribes to +"heart-eating," even in folk-lore, the virtue of bestowing wisdom. +Aristotle seems to lend his authority to some such notion as that I have +quoted from Pliny, when he says, "Man alone presents the phenomenon of +heart-beating, because he alone is moved by hope and by expectation of what +is coming." As George H. Lewes remarked, it is quite evident that Aristotle +could never have held a bird in his hand. The idea, however, that eating +the heart of an animal has wisdom-conferring virtue seems to underlie a +very interesting Hebrew fable published by Dr. Steinschneider, in his +_Alphabetum Siracidis_. The Angel of Death had demanded of God the power to +slay all living things. + + "The Holy One replied, 'Cast a pair of each species into the sea, and + then thou shalt have dominion over all that remain of the species.' The + Angel did so forthwith, and he cast a pair of each kind into the sea. + When the fox saw what he was about, what did he do? At once he stood and + wept. Then said the Angel of Death unto him, 'Why weepest thou?' 'For my + companions, whom thou hast cast into the sea,' answered the fox. 'Where, + then, are thy companions?' said the Angel. The fox ran to the sea-shore + [with his wife], and the Angel of Death beheld the reflection of the fox + in the water, and he thought that he had already cast in a pair of foxes, + so, addressing the fox by his side, he cried, 'Be off with you!' The fox + at once fled and escaped. The weasel met him, and the fox related what + had happened, and what he had done; and so the weasel went and did + likewise. + + "At the end of the year, the leviathan assembled all the creatures in the + sea, and lo! the fox and the weasel were missing, for they had not come + into the sea. He sent to ask, and he was told how the fox and the weasel + had escaped through their wisdom. They taunted the leviathan, saying, + 'The fox is exceedingly cunning.' The leviathan felt uneasy and envious, + and he sent a deputation of great fishes, with the order that they were + to deceive the fox, and bring him before him. They went, and found him by + the sea-shore. When the fox saw the fishes disporting themselves near the + bank, he was surprised, and he went among them. They beheld him, and + asked, 'Who art thou?' 'I am the fox,' said he. 'Knowest thou not,' + continued the fishes, 'that a great honor is in store for thee, and that + we have come here on thy behalf?' 'What is it?' asked the fox. 'The + leviathan,' they said, 'is sick, and like to die. He has appointed thee + to reign in his stead, for he has heard that thou art wiser and more + prudent than all other animals. Come with us, for we are his messengers, + and are here to thy honor.' 'But,' objected the fox, 'how can I come into + the sea without being drowned?' 'Nay,' said the fishes; 'ride upon one of + us, and he will carry thee above the sea, so that not even a drop of + water shall touch so much as the soles of thy feet, until thou reachest + the kingdom. We will take thee down without thy knowing it. Come with us, + and reign over us, and be king, and be joyful all thy days. No more wilt + thou need to seek for food, nor will wild beasts, stronger than thou, + meet thee and devour thee.' + + "The fox heard and believed their words. He rode upon one of them, and + they went with him into the sea. Soon, however, the waves dashed over + him, and he began to perceive that he had been tricked. 'Woe is me!' + wailed the fox, 'what have I done? I have played many a trick on others, + but these fishes have played one on me worth all mine put together. Now I + have fallen into their hands, how shall I free myself? Indeed,' he said, + turning to the fishes, 'now that I am fully in your power, I shall speak + the truth. What are you going to do with me?' 'To tell thee the truth,' + replied the fishes, 'the leviathan has heard thy fame, that thou art very + wise, and he said, I will rend the fox, and will eat his heart, and thus + I shall become wise.' 'Oh!' said the fox, 'why did you not tell me the + truth at first? I should then have brought my heart with me, and I should + have given it to King Leviathan, and he would have honored me; but now ye + are in an evil plight.' 'What! thou hast not thy heart with thee?' + 'Certainly not. It is our custom to leave our heart at home while we go + about from place to place. When we need our heart, we take it; otherwise + it remains at home.' 'What must we do?' asked the bewildered fishes. 'My + house and dwelling-place,' replied the fox, 'are by the sea-shore. If you + like, carry me back to the place whence you brought me, I will fetch my + heart, and will come again with you. I will present my heart to + Leviathan, and he will reward me and you with honors. But if you take me + thus, without my heart, he will be wroth with you, and will devour you. I + have no fear for myself, for I shall say unto him: My lord, they did not + tell me at first, and when they did tell me, I begged them to return for + my heart, but they refused.' The fishes at once declared that he was + speaking well. They conveyed him back to the spot on the sea-shore whence + they had taken him. Off jumped the fox, and he danced with joy. He threw + himself on the sand, and laughed. 'Be quick,' cried the fishes, 'get thy + heart, and come.' But the fox answered, 'You fools! Begone! How could I + have come with you without my heart? Have you any animals that go about + without their hearts?' 'Thou hast tricked us,' they moaned. 'Fools! I + tricked the Angel of Death, how much more easily a parcel of silly + fishes.' + + "They returned in shame, and related to their master what had happened. + 'In truth,' he said, 'he is cunning, and ye are simple. Concerning you + was it said, The turning away of the simple shall slay them [Prov. i:32]. + Then the leviathan ate the fishes." + +Metaphorically, the Bible characterizes the fool as a man "without a +heart," and it is probably in the same sense that modern Arabs describe the +brute creation as devoid of hearts. The fox in the narrative just given +knew better. Not so, however, the lady who brought a curious question for +her Rabbi to solve. The case to which I refer may be found in the +_Responsa_ Zebi Hirsch. Hirsch's credulous questioner asserted that she had +purchased a live cock, but on killing and drawing it, she had found that it +possessed no heart. The Rabbi refused very properly to believe her. On +investigating the matter, he found that, while she was dressing the cock, +two cats had been standing near the table. The Rabbi assured his questioner +that there was no need to inquire further into the whereabouts of the +cock's heart. + +Out of the crowd of parallels to the story of the fox's heart supplied by +the labors of Benfey, I select one given in the second volume of the +learned investigator's _Pantschatantra_. A crocodile had formed a close +friendship with a monkey, who inhabited a tree close to the water side. The +monkey gave the crocodile nuts, which the latter relished heartily. One day +the crocodile took some of the nuts home to his wife. She found them +excellent, and inquired who was the donor. "If," she said, when her husband +had told her, "he feeds on such ambrosial nuts, this monkey's heart must be +ambrosia itself. Bring me his heart, that I may eat it, and so be free from +age and death." Does not this version supply a more probable motive than +that attributed in the Hebrew story to the leviathan? I strongly suspect +that the Hebrew fable has been pieced together from various sources, and +that the account given by the fishes, viz. that the leviathan was ill, was +actually the truth in the original story. The leviathan would need the +fox's heart, not to become wise, but in order to save his life. + +To return to the crocodile. He refuses to betray his friend, and his wife +accuses him of infidelity. His friend, she maintains, is not a monkey at +all, but a lady-love of her husband's. Else why should he hesitate to obey +her wishes? "If he is not your beloved, why will you not kill him? Unless +you bring me his heart, I will not taste food, but will die." Then the +crocodile gives in, and in the most friendly manner invites the monkey to +pay him and his wife a visit. The monkey consents unsuspectingly, but +discovers the truth, and escapes by adopting the same ruse as that employed +by the fox. He asserts that he has left his heart behind on his tree. + +That eating the heart of animals was not thought a means of obtaining +wisdom among the Jews, may be directly inferred from a passage in the +Talmud (_Horayoth_, 13b). Among five things there enumerated as "causing a +man to forget what he has learned," the Talmud includes "eating the hearts +of animals." Besides, in certain well-known stories in the Midrash, where a +fox eats some other animal's heart, his object is merely to enjoy a titbit. + +One such story in particular deserves attention. There are at least three +versions of it. The one is contained in the _Mishle Shualim_, or +"Fox-Stories," by Berechiah ha-Nakdan (no. 106), the second in the _Hadar +Zekenim_ (fol. 27b), and the third in the _Midrash Yalkut_, on Exodus (ed. +Venice, 56a). Let us take the three versions in the order named. + +A wild boar roams in a lion's garden. The lion orders him to quit the place +and not defile his residence. The boar promises to obey, but next morning +he is found near the forbidden precincts. The lion orders one of his ears +to be cut off. He then summons the fox, and directs that if the boar still +persists in his obnoxious visits, no mercy shall be shown to him. The boar +remains obstinate, and loses his ears (one had already gone!) and eyes, and +finally he is killed. The lion bids the fox prepare the carcass for His +Majesty's repast, but the fox himself devours the boar's heart. When the +lion discovers the loss, the fox quiets his master by asking, "If the boar +had possessed a heart, would he have been so foolish as to disobey you so +persistently?" + +The king of the beasts, runs the story in the second of the three versions, +appointed the ass as keeper of the tolls. One day King Lion, together with +the wolf and the fox, approached the city. The ass came and demanded the +toll of them. Said the fox, "You are the most audacious of animals. Don't +you see that the king is with us?" But the ass answered, "The king himself +shall pay," and he went and demanded the toll of the king. The lion rent +him to pieces, and the fox ate the heart, and excused himself as in the +former version. + +The _Yalkut_, or third version, is clearly identical with the preceding, +for, like it, the story is quoted to illustrate the Scriptural text +referring to Pharaoh's heart becoming hard. In this version, however, other +animals accompany the lion and the fox, and the scene of the story is on +board ship. The ass demands the fare, with the same _denouement_ as before. + +What induced the fox to eat the victim's heart? The ass is not remarkable +for wisdom, nor is the boar. Hence the wily Reynard can scarcely have +thought to add to his store of cunning by his surreptitious meal. + +Hearts, in folk-lore, have been eaten for revenge, as in the grim story of +the lover's heart told by Boccaccio. The jealous husband forces his wife, +whose fidelity he doubts, to make a meal of her supposed lover's heart. In +the story of the great bird's egg, again, the brother who eats the heart +becomes rich, but not wise. Various motives, no doubt, are assigned in +other _Maerchen_ for choosing the heart; but in these particular Hebrew +fables, it is merely regarded as a _bonne bouche_. Possibly the Talmudic +caution, that eating the heart of a beast brings forgetfulness, may have a +moral significance; it may mean that one who admits bestial passions into +his soul will be destitute of a mind for nobler thoughts. This suggestion I +have heard, and I give it for what it may be worth. As a rule, there is no +morality in folk-lore; stories with morals belong to the later and more +artificial stage of poet-lore. Homiletical folk-lore, of course, stands on +a different basis. + +Now, in the _Yalkut_ version of the fox and the lion fable, all that we are +told is, "The fox saw the ass's heart; he took it, and ate it." But +Berechiah leaves us in no doubt as to the fox's motive. "The fox saw that +his heart was fat, and so he took it." In the remaining version, "The fox +saw that the heart was good, so he ate it." This needs no further comment. + +Of course, it has been far from my intention to dispute that the heart was +regarded by Jews as the seat both of the intellect and the feelings, of all +mental and spiritual functions, indeed. The heart was the best part of man, +the fount of life; hence Jehudah Halevi's well-known saying, "Israel is to +the world as the heart to the body." An intimate connection was also +established, by Jews and Greeks alike, between the physical condition of +the heart and man's moral character. It was a not unnatural thought that +former ages were more pious than later times. "The heart of Rabbi Akiba was +like the door of the porch [which was twenty cubits high], the heart of +Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua was like the door of the Temple [this was only +ten cubits high], while our hearts are only as large as the eye of a +needle." But I am going beyond my subject. To collect all the things, +pretty and the reverse, that have been said in Jewish literature about the +heart, would need more leisure, and a great deal more learning, than I +possess. So I will conclude with a story, pathetic as well as poetical, +from a Jewish medieval chronicle. + +A Mohammedan king once asked a learned Rabbi why the Jews, who had in times +long past been so renowned for their bravery, had in later generations +become subdued, and even timorous. The Rabbi, to prove that captivity and +persecution were the cause of the change, proposed an experiment. He bade +the king take two lion's whelps, equally strong and big. One was tied up, +the other was allowed to roam free in the palace grounds. They were fed +alike, and after an interval both were killed. The king's officers found +that the heart of the captive lion was but one-tenth as large as that of +his free companion, thus evidencing the degenerating influence of slavery. +This is meant, no doubt, as a fable, but, at least, it is not without a +moral. The days of captivity are gone, and it may be hoped that Jewish +large-heartedness has come back with the breath of freedom. + + + + +"MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN" + + + "The Omnipresent," said a Rabbi, "is occupied in making marriages." The + levity of the saying lies in the ear of him who hears it; for by + marriages the speaker meant all the wondrous combinations of the + universe, whose issue makes our good and evil. + + _George Eliot_ + +The proverb that I have set at the head of these lines is popular in every +language of Europe. Need I add that a variant may be found in Chinese? The +Old Man of the Moon unites male and female with a silken, invisible thread, +and they cannot afterwards be separated, but are destined to become man and +wife. The remark of the Rabbi quoted in "Daniel Deronda" carries the +proverb back apparently to a Jewish origin; and it is, indeed, more than +probable that the Rabbinical literature is the earliest source to which +this piece of folk-philosophy can be traced. + +George Eliot's Rabbi was Jose bar Chalafta, and his remark was made to a +lady, possibly a Roman matron of high quality, in Sepphoris. Rabbi Jose was +evidently an adept in meeting the puzzling questions of women, for as many +as sixteen interviews between him and "matrons" are recorded in Agadic +literature. Whether because prophetic of its subsequent popularity, or for +some other reason, this particular dialogue in which Rabbi Jose bore so +conspicuous a part is repeated in the _Midrash Rabba_ alone not less than +four times, besides appearing in other Midrashim. It will be as well, then, +to reproduce the passage in a summarized form, for it may be fairly +described as the _locus classicus_ on the subject. + + "How long," she asked, "did it take God to create the world?" and Rabbi + Jose informed her that the time occupied was six days. "What has God been + doing since that time?" continued the matron. "The Holy One," answered + the Rabbi, "has been sitting in Heaven arranging marriages."--"Indeed!" + she replied, "I could do as much myself. I have thousands of slaves, and + could marry them off in couples in a single hour. It is easy enough."--"I + hope that you will find it so," said Rabbi Jose. "In Heaven it is thought + as difficult as the dividing of the Red Sea." He then took his departure, + while she assembled one thousand men-servants and as many maid-servants, + and, marking them off in pairs, ordered them all to marry. On the day + following this wholesale wedding, the poor victims came to their mistress + in a woeful plight. One had a broken leg, another a black eye, a third a + swollen nose; all were suffering from some ailment, but with one voice + they joined in the cry, "Lady, unmarry us again!" Then the matron sent + for Rabbi Jose, admitted that she had underrated the delicacy and + difficulty of match-making, and wisely resolved to leave Heaven for the + future to do its work in its own way. + +The moral conveyed by this story may seem, however, to have been idealized +by George Eliot almost out of recognition. This is hardly the case. Genius +penetrates into the heart, even from a casual glance at the face of things. +Though it is unlikely that she had ever seen the full passages in the +Midrash to which she was alluding, yet her insight was not at fault. For +the saying that God is occupied in making marriages is, in fact, associated +in some passages of the Midrash with the far wider problems of man's +destiny, with the universal effort to explain the inequalities of fortune, +and the changes with which the future is heavy. + +Rabbi Jose's proverbial explanation of connubial happiness was not merely a +_bon mot_ invented on the spur of the moment, to silence an awkward +questioner. It was a firm conviction, which finds expression in more than +one quaint utterance, but also in more than one matter-of-fact assertion. +To take the latter first: + + "Rabbi Phineas in the name of Rabbi Abbahu said, We find in the Torah, in + the Prophets, and in the Holy Writings, evidence that a man's wife is + chosen for him by the Holy One, blessed be He. Whence do we deduce it in + the Torah? From Genesis xxiv. 50: _Then Laban and Bethuel answered and + said_ [in reference to Rebekah's betrothal to Isaac], _The thing + proceedeth from the Lord._ In the Prophets it is found in Judges xiv. 4 + [where it is related how Samson wished to mate himself with a woman in + Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines], _But his father and mother + knew not that it was of the Lord._ In the Holy Writings the same may be + seen, for it is written (Proverbs xix. 14), _House and riches are the + inheritance of fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord._" + +Many years ago, a discussion was carried on in the columns of _Notes and +Queries_ concerning the origin of the saying round which my present +desultory jottings are centred. One correspondent, with unconscious +plagiarism, suggested that the maxim was derived from Proverbs xix. 14. + +Another text that might be appealed to is Tobit vi. 18. The Angel +encourages Tobit to marry Sarah, though her seven husbands, one after the +other, had died on their wedding eves. "Fear not," said Raphael, "for _she +is appointed unto thee from the beginning_." + +Here we may, for a moment, pause to consider whether any parallels to the +belief in Heaven-made marriages exist in other ancient literatures. It +appears in English as early as Shakespeare: + + God, the best maker of all marriages, + Combine your hearts in one. + + _Henry V., v. 2._ + +This, however, is too late to throw any light on its origin. With a little +ingenuity, one might, perhaps, torture some such notion out of certain +fantastic sentences of Plato. In the _Symposium_ (par. 192), however, God +is represented as putting obstacles in the way of the union of fitting +lovers, in consequence of the wickedness of mankind. When men become, by +their conduct, reconciled with God, they may find their true loves. +Astrological divinations on the subject are certainly common enough in +Eastern stories; a remarkable instance will be given later on. At the +present day, Lane tells us, the numerical value of the letters in the names +of the two parties to the contract are added for each name separately, and +one of the totals is subtracted from the other. If the remainder is uneven, +the inference drawn is favorable; but if even, the reverse. The pursuit of +Gematria is apparently not limited to Jews. Such methods, however, hardly +illustrate my present point, for the identity of the couple is not +discovered by the process. Whether the diviner's object is to make this +discovery, or the future lot of the married pair is all that he seeks to +reveal, in both cases, though he charm never so wisely, it does not fall +within the scope of this inquiry. Without stretching one's imagination too +much, some passages in the _Pantschatantra_ seem to imply a belief that +marriage-making is under the direct control of Providence. Take, for +instance, the story of the beautiful princess who was betrothed to a +serpent, Deva Serma's son. Despite the various attempts made to induce her +to break off so hideous a match, she declines steadfastly to go back from +her word, and bases her refusal on the ground that the marriage was +inevitable and destined by the gods. + +As quaint illustrations may be instanced the following: "Raba heard a +certain man praying that he might marry a certain damsel; Raba rebuked him +with the words: 'If she be destined for thee, nothing will part thee from +her; if thou art not destined for her, thou art denying Providence in +praying for her.' Afterwards Raba heard him say, 'If I am not destined to +marry her, I hope that either I or she may die,'" meaning that he could not +bear to witness her union with another. Despite Raba's protest, other +instances are on record of prayers similar to the one of which he +disapproved. Or, again, the Midrash offers a curious illustration of Psalm +lxii. 10, "Surely men of low degree are a breath, and men of high degree a +lie." The first clause of the verse alludes to those who say in the usual +way of the world, that a certain man is about to wed a certain maiden, and +the second clause to those who say that a certain maiden is about to wed a +certain man. In both cases people are in error in thinking that the various +parties are acting entirely of their own free will; as a matter of fact, +the whole affair is predestined. I am not quite certain whether the same +idea is intended by the _Yalkut Reubeni_, in which the following occurs: +"Know that all religious and pious men in this our generation are henpecked +by their wives, the reason being connected with the mystery of the Golden +Calf. The men on that occasion did not protest against the action of the +mixed multitude [at whose door the charge of making the calf is laid], +while the women were unwilling to surrender their golden ornaments for +idolatrous purposes. Therefore they rule over their husbands." One might +also quote the bearing of the mystical theory of transmigration on the +predestination of bridal pairs. In the Talmud, on the other hand, the +virtues of a man's wife are sometimes said to be in proportion to the +husband's own; or in other words, his own righteousness is the cause of his +acquiring a good wife. The obvious objection, raised by the Talmud itself, +is that a man's merits can hardly be displayed before his birth--and yet +his bride is destined for him at that early period. + +Yet more quaint (I should perhaps rather term it consistent, were not +consistency rare enough to be indistinguishable from quaintness) was the +confident belief of a maiden of whom mention is made in the _Sefer +ha-Chasidim_ (par. 384). She refused persistently to deck her person with +ornaments. People said to her, "If you go about thus unadorned, no one will +notice you nor court you." She replied with firm simplicity, "It is the +Holy One, blessed be He, that settles marriages; I need have no concern on +the point myself." Virtue was duly rewarded, for she married a learned and +pious husband. This passage in the "Book of the Pious" reminds me of the +circumstance under which the originator of the latter-day Chasidism, Israel +Baalshem, is said to have married. When he was offered the daughter of a +rich and learned man of Brody, named Abraham, he readily accepted the +alliance, because he knew that Abraham's daughter was his bride destined by +heaven. For, like Moses Mendelssohn, in some other respects the antagonist +of the Chasidim, Baalshem accepted the declaration of Rabbi Judah in the +name of Rab: "Forty days before the creation of a girl, a proclamation +[Bath-Kol] is made in Heaven, saying, 'The daughter of such a one shall +marry such and such a one.'" + +The belief in the Divine ordaining of marriages affected the medieval +Synagogue liturgy. To repeat what I have written elsewhere: When the +bridegroom, with a joyous retinue, visited the synagogue on the Sabbath +following his marriage, the congregation chanted the chapter of Genesis +(xxiv) that narrates the story of Isaac's marriage, which, as Abraham's +servant claimed, was providentially arranged. This chapter was sung, not +only in Hebrew, but in Arabic, in countries where the latter language was +the vernacular. These special readings, which were additional to the +regular Scripture lesson, seem to have fallen out of use in Europe in the +seventeenth century, but they are still retained in the East. But all over +Jewry the beautiful old belief is contained in the wording of the fourth of +the "seven benedictions" sung at the celebration of a wedding, "Blessed art +thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast made man in thine +image, after thy likeness, and hast prepared unto him out of his very self +a perpetual fabric." Here is recalled the creation of Eve, of whom God +Himself said, "I will make for man a help meet unto him." Not only the +marriage, but also the bride was Heaven-made, and the wonderful wedding +benediction enshrines this idea. + +In an Agadic story, the force of this predestination is shown to be too +strong even for royal opposition. It does not follow that the +pre-arrangement of marriages implies that the pair cannot fall in love of +their own accord. On the contrary, just the right two eventually come +together; for once freewill and destiny need present no incompatibility. +The combination, here shadowed, of a predestined and yet true-love +marriage, is effectively illustrated in what follows: + + "Solomon the king was blessed with a very beautiful daughter; she was the + fairest maiden in the whole land of Israel. Her father observed the + stars, to discover by astrology who was destined to be her mate in life + and wed her, when lo! he saw that his future son-in-law would be the + poorest man in the nation. Now, what did Solomon do? He built a high + tower by the sea, and surrounded it on all sides with inaccessible walls; + he then took his daughter and placed her in the tower under the charge of + seventy aged guardians. He supplied the castle with provisions, but he + had no door made in it, so that none could enter the fortress without the + knowledge of the guard. Then the king said, 'I will watch in what way God + will work the matter.' + + "In course of time, a poor and weary traveller was walking on his way by + night, his garments were ragged and torn, he was barefooted and ready to + faint with hunger, cold, and fatigue. He knew not where to sleep, but, + casting his eyes around him, he beheld the skeleton of an ox lying on a + field hard by. The youth crept inside the skeleton to shelter himself + from the wind, and, while he slept there, down swooped a great bird, + which lifted up the carcass and the unconscious youth in it. The bird + flew with its burden to the top of Solomon's tower, and set it down on + the roof before the very door of the imprisoned princess. She went forth + on the morrow to walk on the roof according to her daily wont, and she + descried the youth. She said to him, 'Who art thou? and who brought thee + hither?' He answered, 'I am a Jew of Acco, and a bird bore me to thee.' + The kind-hearted maiden clothed him in new garments; they bathed and + anointed him, and she saw that he was the handsomest youth in Israel. + They loved one another, and his soul was bound up in hers. One day she + said, 'Wilt thou marry me?' He replied, 'Would it might be so!' They + resolved to marry. But there was no ink with which to write the Kethubah, + or marriage certificate. Love laughs at obstacles. So, using some drops + of his own blood as ink, the marriage was secretly solemnized, and he + said, 'God is my witness to-day, and Michael and Gabriel likewise.' When + the matter leaked out, the dismayed custodians of the princess hastily + summoned Solomon. The king at once obeyed their call, and asked for the + presumptuous youth. He looked at his son-in-law, inquired of him as to + his father and mother, family and dwelling-place, and from his replies + the king recognized him for the selfsame man whom he had seen in the + stars as the destined husband of his daughter. Then Solomon rejoiced with + exceeding joy and exclaimed, Blessed is the Omnipresent who giveth a wife + to man and establisheth him in his house." + +The moral of which seems to be that, though marriages are made in Heaven, +love must be made on earth. + + + + +HEBREW LOVE SONGS + + +Palestine is still the land of song. There the peasant sings Arabic ditties +in the field when he sows and reaps, in the desert when he tends his flock, +at the oasis when the caravan rests for the night, and when camels are +remounted next morning. The maiden's fresh voice keeps droning rhythm with +her hands and feet as she carries water from the well or wood from the +scanty forest, when she milks the goats, and when she bakes the bread. + +The burden of a large portion of these songs is love. The love motive is +most prominent musically during the long week of wedding festivities, but +it is by no means limited to these occasions. The songs often contain an +element of quaint, even arch, repartee, in which the girl usually has the +better of the argument. Certainly the songs are sometimes gross, but only +in the sense that they are vividly natural. With no delicacy of expression, +they are seldom intrinsically coarse. The troubadours of Europe trilled +more daintily of love, but there was at times an illicit note in their +lays. Eastern love songs never attain the ideal purity of Dante, but they +hardly ever sink to the level of Ovid. + +But why begin an account of Hebrew love songs by citing extant Palestinian +examples in Arabic? Because there is an undeniable, if remote, relationship +between some of the latter and the Biblical Song of Songs. In that +marvellous poem, outspoken praise of earthly beauty, frank enumeration of +the physical charms of the lovers, thorough unreserve of imagery, are +conspicuous enough. Just these features, as Wetzstein showed, are +reproduced, in a debased, yet recognizable, likeness, by the modern Syrian +_wasf_--a lyric description of the bodily perfections and adornments of a +newly-wed pair. The Song of Songs, or Canticles, it is true, is hardly a +marriage ode or drama; its theme is betrothed faith rather than marital +affection. Still, if we choose to regard the Song of Songs as poetry merely +of the _wasf_ type, the Hebrew is not only far older than any extant Arabic +instance, but it transcends the _wasf_ type as a work of inspired genius +transcends conventional exercises in verse-making. There are superficial +similarities between the _wasf_ and Canticles, but there is no spiritual +kinship. The _wasf_ is to the Song as Lovelace is to Shakespeare, nay, the +distance is even greater. The difference is not only of degree, it is +essential. The one touches the surface of love, the other sounds its +depths. The Song of Songs immeasurably surpasses the _wasf_ even as poetry. +It has been well said by Dr. Harper (author of the best English edition of +Canticles), that, viewed simply as poetry, the Song of Songs belongs to the +loveliest masterpieces of art. "If, as Milton said, 'poetry should be +simple, sensuous, passionate,' then here we have poetry of singular beauty +and power. Such unaffected delight in all things fair as we find here is +rare in any literature, and is especially remarkable in ancient Hebrew +literature. The beauty of the world and of the creatures in it has been so +deeply and warmly felt, that even to-day the ancient poet's emotion of joy +in them thrills through the reader." + +It is superfluous to justify this eulogy by quotation. It is impossible +also, unless the quotation extend to the whole book. Yet one scene shall be +cited, the exquisite, lyrical dialogue of spring, beginning with the tenth +verse of the second chapter. It is a dialogue, though the whole is reported +by one speaker, the Shulammite maid. Her shepherd lover calls to her as she +stands hidden behind a lattice, in the palace in Lebanon, whither she has +been decoyed, or persuaded to go, by the "ladies of Jerusalem." + + _The shepherd lover calls_ + Rise up, my love, + My fair one, come away! + For, lo, the winter is past, + The rain is over and gone, + The flowers appear on the earth: + The birds' singing time is here, + And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. + The fig-tree ripens red her winter fruit, + And blossoming vines give forth fragrance. + Rise up, my love, + My fair one, come away! + +Shulammith makes no answer, though she feels that the shepherd is conscious +of her presence. She is, as it were, in an unapproachable steep, such as +the wild dove selects for her shy nest. So he goes on: + + O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, + In the covert of the steep! + Let me see thy face, + Let me hear thy voice, + For sweet is thy voice, and thy face comely! + +She remains tantalizingly invisible, but becomes audible. She sings a +snatch from a vineyard-watcher's song, hinting, perhaps, at the need in +which her person (her "vineyard" as she elsewhere calls it) stands of +protection against royal foxes, small and large. + + _Shulammith sings_ + Take us the foxes, + The little foxes, + That spoil the vineyards: + For our vines are in blossom! + +Then, in loving rapture, + + _Shulammith speaks in an aside_ + My beloved is mine, and I am his: + He feedeth his flock among the lilies! + +But she cannot refuse her lover one glance at herself, even though she +appear only to warn him of his danger, to urge him to leave her and return +when the day is over. + + _Shulammith entreatingly to her lover_ + Until the evening breeze blows, + And the shadows disappear (at sunset), + Turn, my beloved! + Be thou as a young hart + Upon the cleft-riven hills! + +This is but one of the many dainty love idylls of this divine poem. Or, +again, "could the curious helplessness of the dreamer in a dream and the +yearning of a maiden's affection be more exquisitely expressed than in the +lines beginning, I was asleep, but my heart waked"? But, indeed, as the +critic I am quoting continues, "the felicities of expression and the happy +imaginings of the poem are endless. The spring of nature and of love has +been caught and fixed in its many exquisite lines, as only Shakespeare +elsewhere has done it; and, understood as we think it must be understood, +it has that ethical background of sacrifice and self-forgetting which all +love must have to be thoroughly worthy." + +It is this ethical, or, as I prefer to term it, spiritual, background that +discriminates the Song of Songs on the one hand from the Idylls of +Theocritus, and, on the other, from the Syrian popular ditties. Some +moderns, notably Budde, hold that the Book of Canticles is merely a +collection of popular songs used at Syrian weddings, in which the bride +figures as queen and her mate as king, just as Budde (wrongly) conceives +them to figure in the Biblical Song. Budde suggests that there were "guilds +of professional singers at weddings, and that we have in the Song of Songs +simply the repertoire of some ancient guild-brother, who, in order to +assist his memory, wrote down at random all the songs he could remember, or +those he thought the best." + +But this theory has been generally rejected as unsatisfying. The book, +despite its obscurities, is clearly a unity. It is no haphazard collection +of love songs. There is a sustained dramatic action leading up to a noble +climax. Some passages almost defy the attempt to fit them into a coherent +plot, but most moderns detect the following story in Canticles: A beautiful +maid of Shulem (perhaps another form of Shunem), beloved by a shepherd +swain, is the only daughter of well-off but rustic parents. She is treated +harshly by her brothers, who set her to watch the vineyards, and this +exposure to the sun somewhat mars her beauty. Straying in the gardens, she +is on a day in spring surprised by Solomon and his train, who are on a +royal progress to the north. She is taken to the palace in the capital, and +later to a royal abode in Lebanon. There the "ladies of Jerusalem" seek to +win her affections for the king, who himself pays her his court. But she +resists all blandishments, and remains faithful to her country lover. +Surrendering graciously to her strenuous resistance, Solomon permits her to +return unharmed to her mountain home. Her lover meets her, and as she draws +near her native village, the maid, leaning on the shepherd's arm, breaks +forth into the glorious panegyric of love, which, even if it stood alone, +would make the poem deathless. But it does not stand alone. It is in every +sense a climax to what has gone before. And what a climax! It is a +vindication of true love, which weighs no allurements of wealth and +position against itself; a love of free inclination, yet altogether removed +from license. Nor is it an expression of that lower love which may prevail +in a polygamous state of society, when love is dissipated among many. We +have here the love of one for one, an exclusive and absorbing devotion. For +though the Bible never prohibited polygamy, the Jews had become monogamous +from the Babylonian Exile at latest. The splendid praise of the virtuous +woman at the end of the Book of Proverbs gives a picture, not only of +monogamous home-life, but of woman's influence at its highest. The virtuous +woman of Proverbs is wife and mother, deft guide of the home, open-handed +dispenser of charity, with the law of kindness on her tongue; but her +activity also extends to the world outside the home, to the mart, to the +business of life. Where, in olden literature, are woman's activities wider +or more manifold, her powers more fully developed? Now, the Song of Songs +is the lyric companion to this prose picture. The whole Song works up +towards the description of love in the last chapter--towards the +culmination of the thought and feeling of the whole series of episodes. The +Shulammite speaks: + + Set me as a seal upon thy heart, + As a seal upon thine arm: + For love is strong as death, + Jealousy is cruel as the grave: + The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, + A very flame of God! + Many waters cannot quench love, + Neither can the floods drown it: + If a man would give the substance of his house for love, + He would be utterly contemned. + +The vindication of the Hebrew song from degradation to the level of the +Syrian _wasf_ is easy enough. But some may feel that there is more +plausibility in the case that has been set up for the connection between +Canticles and another type of love song, the Idylls of Theocritus, the +Sicilian poet whose Greek compositions gave lyric distinction to the +Ptolemaic court at Alexandria, about the middle of the third century B.C.E. +It is remarkable how reluctant some writers are to admit originality in +ideas. Such writers seem to recognize no possibility other than supposing +Theocritus to have copied Canticles, or Canticles Theocritus. It does not +occur to them that both may be original, independent expressions of similar +emotions. Least original among ideas is this denial of originality in +ideas. Criticism has often stultified itself under the obsession that +everything is borrowed. On this theory there can never have been an +original note. The poet, we are told, is born, not made; but poetry, +apparently, is always made, never born. + +The truth rather is that as human nature is everywhere similar, there must +necessarily be some similarity in its literary expression. This is +emphatically the case with the expression given to the emotional side of +human nature. The love of man for maid, rising everywhere from the same +spring, must find lyric outlets that look a good deal alike. The family +resemblance between the love poems of various peoples is due to the +elemental kinship of the love. Every true lover is original, yet most true +lovers, including those who have no familiarity with poetical literature, +fall instinctively on the same terms of endearment. Differences only make +themselves felt in the spiritual attitudes of various ages and races +towards love. Theocritus has been compared to Canticles, by some on the +ground of certain Orientalisms of his thought and phrases, as in his Praise +of Ptolemy. But his love poems bear no trace of Orientalism in feeling, as +Canticles shows no trace of Hellenism in its conception of love. The +similarities are human, the differences racial. + +Direct literary imitation of love lyrics certainly does occur. Virgil +imitated Theocritus, and the freshness of the Greek Idyll became the +convention of the Roman Eclogue. When such conscious imitation takes place, +it is perfectly obvious. There is no mistaking the affectation of an urban +lyrist, whose lovers masquerade as shepherds in the court of Louis XIV. + +Theocritus seems to have had earlier Greek models, but few readers of his +Idylls can question his originality, and fewer still will agree with +Mahaffy in denying the naturalness of his goatherds and fishermen, in a +word, his genuineness. Mahaffy wavers between two statements, that the +Idylls are an affectation for Alexandria, and sincere for Sicily. The two +statements are by no means contradictory. Much the same thing is true of +Canticles, the Biblical Song of Songs. It is unreasonable for anyone who +has seen or read about a Palestinian spring, with its unique beauty of +flower and bird and blossom, to imagine that the author of Canticles needed +or used second-hand sources of inspiration, however little his drama may +have accorded with the life of Jerusalem in the Hellenistic period. And as +the natural scenic background in each case is native, so is the treatment +of the love theme; in both it is passionate, but in the one it is nothing +else, in the other it is also spiritual. In both, the whole is artistic, +but not artificial. As regards the originality of the love-interest in +Canticles, it must suffice to say that there was always a strong romantic +strain in the Jewish character. + +Canticles is perhaps (by no means certainly) post-Exilic and not far +removed in date from the age of Theocritus. Still, a post-Exilic Hebrew +poet had no more reason to go abroad for a romantic plot than Hosea, or the +author of Ruth, or the writer of the royal Epithalamium (Psalm xlv), an +almost certainly pre-Exilic composition. This Psalm has been well termed a +"prelude to the Song of Songs," for in a real sense Canticles is +anticipated and even necessitated by it. In Ruth we have a romance of the +golden corn-field, and the author chooses the unsophisticated days of the +Judges as the setting of his tale. In Canticles we have a contrasted +picture between the simplicity of shepherd-life and the urban +voluptuousness which was soon to attain its climax in the court of the +Ptolemies. So the poet chose the luxurious reign of Solomon as the +background for his exquisite "melodrama." Both Ruth and Canticles are +home-products, and ancient Greek literature has no real parallel to either. + +Yet, despite the fact that the Hebrew Bible is permeated through and +through, in its history, its psalmody, and its prophetic oratory, with +images drawn from love, especially in rustic guise, so competent a critic +as Graetz conceived that the pastoral background of the love-story of +Canticles must have been artificial. While most of those who have accepted +the theory of imitation-they cannot have reread the Idylls and the Song as +wholes to persist in such a theory-have contended that Theocritus borrowed +from Canticles, Graetz is convinced that the Hebrew poet must have known +and imitated the Greek idyllist. The hero and heroine of the Song, he +thinks, are not real shepherds; they are bucolic dilettanti, their +shepherd-role is not serious. Whence, then, this superficial pastoral +_mise-en-scene?_ This critic, be it observed, places Canticles in the +Ptolemaic age. + + "In the then Judean world," writes Graetz, "in the post-Exilic period, + pastoral life was in no way so distinguished as to serve as a poetic + foil. On the contrary, the shepherd was held in contempt. Agriculture was + so predominant that large herds were considered a detriment; they spoiled + the grain. Shepherds, too, were esteemed robbers, in that they allowed + their cattle to graze on the lands of others. In Judea itself, in the + post-Exilic period, there were few pasture-grounds for such nomads. Hence + the song transfers the goats to Gilead, where there still existed + grazing-places. In the Judean world the poet could find nothing to + suggest the idealization of the shepherd. As he, nevertheless, represents + the simple life, as opposed to courtly extravagance, through the figures + of shepherds, he must have worked from a foreign model. But Theocritus + was the first perfect pastoral poet. Through his influence shepherd songs + became a favorite _genre_. He had no lack of imitators. Theocritus had + full reason to contrast court and rustic life and idealize the latter, + for in his native Sicily there were still shepherds in primitive + simplicity. Under his influence and that of his followers, it became the + fashion to represent the simple life in pastoral guise. The poet of + Canticles--who wrote for cultured circles--was forced to make use of the + convention. But, as though to excuse himself for taking a Judean shepherd + as a representative of the higher virtues, he made his shepherd one who + feeds among the lilies. It is not the rude neat-herds of Gilead or the + Judean desert that hold such noble dialogues, but shepherds of delicate + refinement. In a word, the whole eclogic character of Canticles appears + to be copied from the Theocritan model," + +This contention would be conclusive, if it were based on demonstrable +facts. But what is the evidence for it? Graetz offers none in his brilliant +Commentary on Canticles. In proof of his startling view that, throughout +post-Exilic times, the shepherd vocation was held in low repute among +Israelites, he merely refers to an article in his _Monatsschrift_ (1870, p. +483). When one turns to that, one finds that it concerns a far later +period, the second Christian century, when the shepherd vocation had fallen +to the grade of a small and disreputable trade. The vocation was then no +longer a necessary corollary of the sacrificial needs of the Temple. While +the altar of Jerusalem required its holocausts, the breeders of the animals +would hardly have been treated as pariahs. In the century immediately +following the destruction of the Temple, the shepherd began to fall in +moral esteem, and in the next century he was included among the criminal +categories. No doubt, too, as the tender of flocks was often an Arab +raider, the shepherd had become a dishonest poacher on other men's +preserves. The attitude towards him was, further, an outcome of the +deepening antagonism between the schoolmen and the peasantry. But even then +it was by no means invariable. One of the most famous of Rabbis, Akiba, who +died a martyr in 135 C.E., was not only a shepherd, but he was also the +hero of the most romantic of Rabbinic love episodes. + +At the very time when Graetz thinks that agriculture had superseded +pastoral pursuits in general esteem, the Book of Ecclesiasticus was +written. On the one side, Sirach, the author of this Apocryphal work, does +not hesitate (ch. xxiv) to compare his beloved Wisdom to a garden, in the +same rustic images that we find in Canticles; and, on the other side, he +reveals none of that elevated appreciation of agriculture which Graetz +would have us expect. Sirach (xxxvii. 25) asks sarcastically: + + How shall he become wise that holdeth the plough, + That glorieth in the shaft of the goad: + That driveth oxen, and is occupied with their labors, + And whose talk is of bullocks? + +Here it is the farmer that is despised, not a word is hinted against the +shepherd. Sirach also has little fondness for commerce, and he denies the +possibility of wisdom to the artisan and craftsman, "in whose ear is ever +the noise of the hammer" (_ib_. v. 28). Sirach, indeed, is not attacking +these occupations; he regards them all as a necessary evil, "without these +cannot a city be inhabited" (v. 32). Our Jerusalem _savant_, as Dr. +Schechter well terms him, of the third or fourth century B.C.E.; is +merely illustrating his thesis, that + + The wisdom of the scribe cometh by opportunity of leisure; + And he that hath little business shall become wise, + +or, as he puts it otherwise, sought for in the council of the people, and +chosen to sit in the seat of the judge. This view finds its analogue in a +famous saying of the later Jewish sage Hillel, "Not everyone who increaseth +business attains wisdom" (_Aboth_, ii. 5). + +Undeniably, the shepherd lost in dignity in the periods of Jewish +prosperity and settled city life. But, as George Adam Smith points out +accurately, the prevailing character of Judea is naturally pastoral, with +husbandry only incidental. "Judea, indeed, offers as good ground as there +is in all the East for observing the grandeur of the shepherd's +character,"--his devotion, his tenderness, his opportunity of leisurely +communion with nature. + +The same characterization must have held in ancient times. And, after all, +as Graetz himself admits, the poet of Canticles locates his shepherd in +Gilead, the wild jasmine and other flowers of whose pastures (the "lilies" +of the Song) still excite the admiration of travellers. Laurence Oliphant +is lost in delight over the "anemones, cyclamens, asphodels, iris," which +burst on his view as he rode "knee-deep through the long, rich, sweet +grass, abundantly studded with noble oak and terebinth trees," and all this +in Gilead. When, then, the Hebrew poet placed his shepherd and his flocks +among the lilies, he was not trying to conciliate the courtly aristocrats +of Jerusalem, or reconcile them to his Theocritan conventions; he was +simply drawing his picture from life. + +And as to the poetical idealization of the shepherd, how could a Hebrew +poet fail to idealize him, under the ever-present charm of his traditional +lore, of Jacob the shepherd-patriarch, Moses the shepherd-lawgiver, David +the shepherd-king, and Amos the shepherd-prophet? So God becomes the +Shepherd of Israel, not only explicitly in the early twenty-third Psalm, +but implicitly also, in the late 119th. The same idealization is found +everywhere in the Rabbinic literature as well as in the New Testament. +Moses is the hero of the beautiful Midrashic parable of the straying lamb, +which he seeks in the desert, and bears in his bosom (_Exodus Rabba_, ii). +There is, on the other hand, something topsy-turvy in Graetz's suggestion, +that a Hebrew poet would go abroad for a conventional idealization of the +shepherd character, just when, on his theory, pastoral conditions were +scorned and lightly esteemed at home. + +It was unnecessary, then, and inappropriate for the author of Canticles to +go to Theocritus for the pastoral characters of his poem. But did he borrow +its form and structure from the Greek? Nothing seems less akin than the +slight dramatic interest of the idylls and the strong, if obscure, dramatic +plot of Canticles. Budde has failed altogether to convince readers of the +Song that no consistent story runs through it. It is, as has been said +above, incredible that we should have before us nothing more than the +disconnected ditties of a Syrian wedding-minstrel. Graetz knew nothing of +the repertoire theory that has been based on Wetzstein's discoveries of +modern Syrian marriage songs and dances. Graetz believed, as most still do, +that Canticles is a whole, not an aggregation of parts; yet he held that, +not only the _dramatis personae_, but the very structure of the Hebrew poem +must be traced to Theocritus. He appeals, in particular, to the second +Idyll of the Greek poet, wherein the lady casts her magic spells in the +vain hope of recovering the allegiance of her butterfly admirer. Obviously, +there is no kinship between the facile Sirnaitha of the Idyll and the +difficult Shulammith of Canticles: one the seeker, the other the sought; +between the sensuous, unrestrained passion of the former and the +self-sacrificing, continent affection of the latter. The nobler conceptions +of love derive from the Judean maiden, not from the Greek paramour. But, +argues Graetz with extraordinary ingenuity, Simaitha, recounting her +unfortunate love-affair, introduces, as Shulammith does, dialogues between +herself and her absent lover; she repeats what he said to her, and she to +him; her monologue is no more a soliloquy than are the monologues of +Shulammith, for both have an audience: here Thestylis, there the chorus of +women. Simaitha's second refrain, as she bewails her love, after casting +the ingredients into the bowl, turning the magic wheel to draw home to her +the man she loves, runs thus: + + Bethink thee, mistress Moon, whence came my love! + +Graetz compares this to Shulammith's refrain in Canticles: + + I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, + By the roes, + And by the hinds of the field, + That ye stir not up + Nor awaken love, + Until it please! + +But in meaning the refrains have an absolutely opposite sense, and, more +than that, they have an absolutely opposite function. In the Idyll the +refrain is an accompaniment, in the Song it is an intermezzo. It occurs +three times (ii. 7; iii. 5; and viii. 4), and like other repeated refrains +in the Song concludes a scene, marks a transition in the situation. In +Theocritus refrains are links, in the Song they are breaks in the chain. + +Refrains are of the essence of lyric poetry as soon as anything like +narrative enters into it. They are found throughout the lyrics of the Old +Testament, the Psalms providing several examples. They belong to the +essence of the Hebrew strophic system. And so it is with the other +structural devices to which Graetz refers: reminiscent narrative, reported +dialogues, scenes within the scene--all are common features (with certain +differences) of the native Hebraic style, and they supply no justification +for the suggestion of borrowing from non-Hebraic models. + +There have, on the other side, been many, especially among older critics, +who have contended that Theocritus owed his inspiration to Canticles. These +have not been disturbed by the consideration, that, if he borrowed at all, +he must assuredly have borrowed more than the most generous of them assert +that he did. Recently an ingenious advocate of this view has appeared in +Professor D.S. Margoliouth, all of whose critical work is rich in +originality and surprises. In the first chapter of his "Lines of Defence of +the Biblical Revelation," he turns the tables on Graetz with quite +entertaining thoroughness. Graetz was certain that no Hebrew poet could +have drawn his shepherds from life; Margoliouth is equally sure that no +Greek could have done so. + + "That this style [bucolic poetry], in which highly artificial + performances are ascribed to shepherds and cowherds, should have + originated in Greece, would be surprising; for the persons who followed + these callings were ordinarily slaves, or humble hirelings, whom the + classical writers treat with little respect. But from the time of + Theocritus their profession becomes associated with poetic art. The + shepherd's clothes are donned by Virgil, Spenser, and Milton. The + existence of the Greek translation of the Song of Solomon gives us the + explanation of this fact. The Song of Solomon is a pastoral poem, but its + pictures are true to nature. The father of the writer [Margoliouth + believes in the Solomonic authorship of Canticles], himself both a king + and a poet, had kept sheep. The combination of court life with country + life, which in Theocritus seems so unnatural, was perfectly natural in + pre-Exilic Palestine. Hence the rich descriptions of the country (ii. 12) + beside the glowing descriptions of the king's wealth (iii. 10). + Theocritus can match both (Idylls vii and xv), but it may be doubted + whether he could have found any Greek model for either." + +It is disturbing to one's confidence in the value of Biblical +criticism--both of the liberal school (Graetz) and the conservative +(Margoliouth)--to come across so complete an antithesis. But things are not +quite so bad as they look. Each critic is half right--Margoliouth in +believing the pastoral pictures of Canticles true to Judean life, Graetz in +esteeming the pastoral pictures of the Idylls true to Sicilian life. The +English critic supports his theme with some philological arguments. He +suggests that the vagaries of the Theocritan dialect are due to the fact +that the Idyllist was a foreigner, whose native language was "probably +Hebrew or Syriac." Or perhaps Theocritus used the Greek translation of the +Song, "unless Theocritus himself was the translator." All of this is a +capital _jeu d'esprit,_ but it is scarcely possible that Canticles was +translated into Greek so early as Theocritus, and, curiously enough, the +Septuagint Greek version of the Song has less linguistic likeness to the +phraseology of Theocritus than has the Greek version of the Song by a +contemporary of Akiba, the proselyte Aquila. Margoliouth points out a +transference by Theocritus of the word for daughter-in-law to the meaning +bride (Idyll, xviii. 15). This is a Hebraism, he thinks. But expansions of +meaning in words signifying relationship are common to all poets. Far more +curious is a transference of this kind that Theocritus does _not_ make. Had +he known Canticles, he would surely have seized upon the Hebrew use of +sister to mean beloved, a usage which, innocent and tender enough in the +Hebrew, would have been highly acceptable to the incestuous patron of +Theocritus, who actually married his full sister. Strange to say, the +ancient Egyptian love poetry employs the terms brother and sister as +regular denotations of a pair of lovers. + +This last allusion to an ancient Egyptian similarity to a characteristic +usage of Canticles leads to the remark, that Maspero and Spiegelberg have +both published hieroglyphic poems of the xixth-xxth Dynasties, in which may +be found other parallels to the metaphors and symbolism of the Hebrew Song. +As earlier writers exaggerated the likeness of Canticles to Theocritus, so +Maspero was at first inclined to exaggerate the affinity of Canticles to +the old Egyptian amatory verse. It is not surprising, but it is saddening, +to find that Maspero, summarizing his interesting discovery in 1883, used +almost the same language as Lessing had used in 1777 with reference to +Theocritus. Maspero, it is true, was too sane a critic to assert borrowing +on the part of Canticles. But he speaks of the "same manner of speech, the +same images, the same comparisons," as Lessing does. Now if A = B, and B = +C, then it follows that A = C. But in this case A does _not_ equal C. There +is no similarity at all between the Egyptian Songs and Theocritus. It +follows that there is no essential likeness between Canticles and either of +the other two. In his later books, Maspero has tacitly withdrawn his +assertion of close Egyptian similarity, and it would be well if an equally +frank withdrawal were made by the advocates of a close Theocritan parallel. + +Some of the suggested resemblances between the Hebrew and Greek Songs are +perhaps interesting enough to be worth examining in detail. In Idyll i. 24, +the goatherd offers this reward to Thyrsis, if he will but sing the song of +Daphnis: + + I'll give thee first + To milk, ay, thrice, a goat; she suckles twins, + Yet ne'ertheless can fill two milkpails full. + +It can hardly be put forward as a remarkable fact that the poet should +refer to so common an incident in sheep-breeding as the birth of twins. Yet +the twins have been forced into the dispute, though it is hard to conceive +anything more unlike than the previous quotation and the one that follows +from Canticles (iv. 2): + + Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes, + That are newly shorn, + Which are come up from the washing, + Whereof every one hath twins, + And none is bereaved among them. + +It is doubtful whether the Hebrew knows anything at all of the twin-bearing +ewes; the penultimate line ought rather to be rendered (as in the margin of +the Revised Version) "thy teeth ... which are all of them in pairs." But, +however rendered, the Hebrew means this. Theocritus speaks of the richness +of the goat's milk, for, after having fed her twins, she has still enough +milk to fill two pails. In Canticles, the maiden's teeth, spotlessly white, +are smooth and even, "they run accurately in pairs, the upper corresponding +to the lower, and none of them is wanting" (Harper). + +Even more amusing is the supposed indebtedness on one side or the other in +the reference made by Theocritus and Canticles to the ravages of foxes in +vineyards. Theocritus has these beautiful lines in his first Idyll (lines +44 _et seq._): + + Hard by that wave-beat sire a vineyard bends + Beneath its graceful load of burnished grapes; + A boy sits on the rude fence watching them. + Near him two foxes: down the rows of grapes + One ranging steals the ripest; one assails + With wiles the poor lad's scrip, to leave him soon + Stranded and supperless. He plaits meanwhile + With ears of corn a right fine cricket-trap, + And fits it in a rush: for vines, for scrip, + Little he cares, enamored of his toy. + +How different the scene in Canticles (ii. 14 _et seq_.) that has been +quoted above! + + Take us the foxes, + The little foxes, + That spoil the vineyards, + For our vineyards are in blossom! + +Canticles alludes to the destruction of the young shoots, Theocritus +pictures the foxes devouring the ripe grapes. (Comp. also Idyll v. 112.) +Foxes commit both forms of depredation, but the poets have seized on +different aspects of the fact. Even were the aspects identical, it would be +ridiculous to suppose that the Sicilian or Judean had been guilty of +plagiarism. To-day, as of old, in the vineyards of Palestine you may see +the little stone huts of the watchers on the lookout for the foxes, or +jackals, whose visitations begin in the late spring and continue to the +autumn. In Canticles we have a genuine fragment of native Judean folk-song; +in Theocritus an equally native item of every season's observation. + +So with most of the other parallels. It is only necessary to set out the +passages in full, to see that the similarity is insignificant in relation +to the real differences. One would have thought that any poet dealing with +rustic beauty might light on the fact that a sunburnt skin may be +attractive. Yet Margoliouth dignifies this simple piece of observation into +a _theory_! "The theory that swarthiness produced by sun-burning need not +be disfiguring to a woman" is, Margoliouth holds, taken by Theocritus from +Canticles. Graetz, as usual, reverses the relation: Canticles took it from +Theocritus. But beyond the not very recondite idea that a sunburnt maid may +still be charming, there is no parallel. Battus sings (Idyll x. 26 _et +seq_.): + + Fair Bombyca! thee do men report + Lean, dusk, a gipsy: I alone nut-brown. + Violets and pencilled hyacinths are swart, + Yet first of flowers they're chosen for a crown. + As goats pursue the clover, wolves the goat, + And cranes the ploughman, upon thee I dote! + +In Canticles the Shulammite protests (i. 5 _et seq_.): + + I am black but comely, + O ye daughters of Jerusalem! + [Black] as the tents of Kedar, + [Comely] as the curtains of Solomon. + Despise me not because I am swarthy, + Because the sun hath scorched me. + My mother's sons were incensed against me, + They made me the keeper of the vineyards, + But mine own vineyard I have not kept! + +Two exquisite lyrics these, of which it is hard to say which has been more +influential as a key-note of later poetry. But neither of them is derived; +each is too spontaneous, too fresh from the poet's soul. + +Before turning to one rather arrestive parallel, a word may be said on +Graetz's idea, that Canticles uses the expression "love's arrows." Were +this so, the symbolism could scarcely be attributed to other than a Greek +original. The line occurs in the noble panegyric of love cited before, with +which Canticles ends, and in which the whole drama culminates. There is no +room in this eulogy for Graetz's rendering, "Her arrows are fiery arrows," +nor can the Hebrew easily mean it. "The flashes thereof are flashes of +fire," is the best translation possible of the Hebrew line. There is +nothing Greek in the comparison of love to fire, for fire is used in common +Hebrew idiom to denote any powerful emotion (comp. the association of fire +with jealousy in Ezekiel xxxix. 4). + +Ewald, while refusing to connect the Idylls with Canticles, admitted that +one particular parallel is at first sight forcible. It is the comparison of +both Helen and Shulammith to a horse. Margoliouth thinks the Greek +inexplicable without the Hebrew; Graetz thinks the Hebrew inexplicable +without the Greek. In point of fact, the Hebrew and the Greek do not +explain each other in the least. In the Epithalamium (Idyll xviii. 30) +Theocritus writes, + + Or as in a chariot a mare of Thessalian breed, + So is rose-red Helen, the glory of Lacedemon. + +The exact point of comparison is far from clear, but it must be some +feature of beauty or grace. Such a comparison, says Margoliouth, is +extraordinary in a Greek poet; he must have derived it from a non-Greek +source. But it has escaped this critic and all the commentaries on +Theocritus, that just this comparison is perfectly natural for a Sicilian +poet, familiar with several series of Syracusan coins of all periods, on +which appear chariots with Nike driving horses of the most delicate beauty, +fit figures to compare to a maiden's grace of form. Theocritus, however, +does not actually compare Helen to the horse; she beautifies or sets off +Lacedemon as the horse sets off the chariot. Graetz, convinced that the +figure is Greek, pronounces the Hebrew unintelligible without it. But it is +quite appropriate to the Hebrew poet. Having identified his royal lover +with Solomon, the poet was almost driven to make some allusion to Solomon's +famed exploit in importing costly horses and chariots from Egypt (I Kings +x. 26-29). And so Canticles says (i. 9): + + I have compared thee, O my love, + To a team of horses, in Pharaoh's chariots. + Thy cheeks are comely with rows of pearls, + Thy neck with chains of gold. + +The last couplet refers to the ornaments of the horse's bridle and neck. +Now, to the Hebrew the horse was almost invariably associated with war. The +Shulammite is elsewhere (vi. 4) termed "terrible as an army with banners." +In Theocritus the comparison is primarily to Helen's beauty; in Canticles +to the Shulammite's awesomeness, + + Turn away thine eyes from me, + For they have made me afraid. + +These foregoing points of resemblance are the most significant that have +been adduced. And they are not only seen to be each unimportant and +inconclusive, but they have no cumulative effect. Taken as wholes, as was +said above, the Idylls and Canticles are the poles asunder in their moral +attitude towards love and in their general literary treatment of the theme. +Of course, poets describing the spring will always speak of the birds; +Greek and Hebrew loved flowers, Jew and Egyptian heard the turtle-dove as a +harbinger of nature's rebirth; sun and moon are everywhere types of warm +and tender feelings; love is the converter of a winter of discontent into a +glorious summer. In all love poems the wooer would fain embrace the wooed. +And if she prove coy, he will tell of the menial parts he would be ready to +perform, to continue unrebuked in her vicinity. Anacreon's lover (xx) would +be water in which the maid should bathe, and the Egyptian sighs, "Were I +but the washer of her clothes, I should breathe the scent of her." Or the +Egyptian will cry, "O were I the ring on her finger, that I might be ever +with her," just as the Shulammite bids her beloved (though in another +sense) "Place me as a seal on thine hand" (Cant. viii. 6). Love intoxicates +like wine; the maiden has a honeyed tongue; her forehead and neck are like +ivory. Nothing in all this goes beyond the identity of feeling that lies +behind all poetical expression. But even in this realm of metaphor and +image and symbolism, the North-Semitic _wasf_ and even more the Hebraic +parallels given in other parts of the Bible are closer far. Hosea xiv. 6-9 +(with its lilies, its figure of Israel growing in beauty as the olive tree, +"and his smell as Lebanon"), Proverbs (with its eulogy of faithful wedded +love, its lips dropping honeycomb, its picture of a bed perfumed with +myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon, the wife to love whom is to drink water from +one's own well, and she the pleasant roe and loving hind)--these and the +royal Epithalamium (Ps. xlv), and other Biblical passages too numerous to +quote, constitute the real parallels to the imagery and idealism of +Canticles. + +The only genuine resemblance arises from identity of environment. If +Theocritus and the poet of Canticles were contemporaries, they wrote when +there had been a somewhat sudden growth of town life both in Egypt and +Palestine. Alexander the Great and his immediate successors were the most +assiduous builders of new cities that the world has ever seen. The charms +of town life made an easy conquest of the Orient. But pastoral life would +not surrender without a struggle. It would, during this violent revolution +in habits, reassert itself from time to time. We can suppose that after a +century of experience of the delusions of urban comfort, the denizens of +towns would welcome a reminder of the delights of life under the open sky. +There would be a longing for something fresher, simpler, freer. At such a +moment Theocritus, like the poet of Canticles, had an irresistible +opportunity, and to this extent the Idylls and the Song are parallel. + +But, on the other hand, when we pass from external conditions to intrinsic +purport, nothing shows better the difference between Theocritus and +Canticles than the fact that the Hebrew poem has been so susceptible of +allegorization. Though the religious, symbolical interpretation of the Song +be far from its primary meaning, yet in the Hebrew muse the sensuous and +the mystical glide imperceptibly into one another. And this is true of +Semitic poetry in general. It is possible to give a mystical turn to the +quatrains of Omar Khayyam. But this can hardly be done with Anacreon. There +is even less trace of Semitic mysticism in Theocritus than in Anacreon. +Idylls and Canticles have some similarities. But these are only skin deep. +In their heart of hearts the Greek and Judean poets are strangers, and so +are their heroes and heroines. + +No apology is needed for the foregoing lengthy discussion of the Song of +Songs, seeing that it is incomparably the finest love poem in the Hebrew, +or any other language. And this is true whatever be one's opinion of its +primary significance. It was no doubt its sacred interpretation that +imparted to it so lasting a power over religious symbolism. But its human +import also entered into its eternal influence. The Greek peasants of +Macedonia still sing echoes from the Hebrew song. Still may be heard, in +modern Greek love chants, the sweet old phrase, "black but comely," a +favorite phrase with all swarthy races; "my sister, my bride" remains as +the most tender term of endearment. To a certain extent the service has +been repaid. Some of the finest melodies to which the Synagogue hymns, or +Piyyutim, are set, are the melodies to _Achoth Ketannah_, based on +Canticles viii. 8, and _Berach Dodi_, a frequent phrase of the Hebrew book. +The latter melody is similar to the finer melodies of the Levant; the +former strikingly recalls the contemporary melodies of the Greek +Archipelago. To turn a final glance at the other side of the indebtedness, +we need only recall that Edmund Spenser's famous Marriage Ode--the +Epithalamium--the noblest marriage ode in the English language, and +Milton's equally famous description of Paradise in the fourth book of his +Epic, owe a good deal to direct imitation of the Song of Songs. It is +scarcely an exaggeration to assert that the stock-in-trade of many an +erotic poet is simply the phraseology of the divine song which we have been +considering so inadequately. It did not start as a repertoire; it has ended +as one. + +We must now make a great stride through the ages. Between the author of the +Song of Songs and the next writer of inspired Hebrew love songs there +stretches an interval of at least fourteen centuries. It is an oft-told +story, how, with the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish desire for song +temporarily ceased. The sorrow-laden heart could not sing of love. The +disuse of a faculty leads to its loss; and so, with the cessation of the +desire for song, the gift of singing became atrophied. But the decay was +not quite complete. It is commonly assumed that post-Biblical Hebrew poetry +revived for sacred ends; first hymns were written, then secular songs. But +Dr. Brody has proved that this assumption is erroneous. In point of fact, +the first Hebrew poetry after the Bible was secular not religious. We find +in the pages of Talmud and Midrash relics and fragments of secular poetry, +snatches of bridal songs, riddles, elegies, but less evidence of a +religious poetry. True, when once the medieval burst of Hebrew melody +established itself, the Hebrew hymns surpassed the secular Hebrew poems in +originality and inspiration. But the secular verses, whether on ordinary +subjects, or as addresses to famous men, and invocations on documents, at +times far exceed the religious poems in range and number. And in many ways +the secular poetry deserves very close attention. A language is not living +when it is merely ecclesiastical. No one calls Sanskrit a living language +because some Indian sects still pray in Sanskrit. But when Jewish poets +took to using Hebrew again--if, indeed, they ever ceased to use it--as the +language of daily life, as the medium for expressing their human emotions, +then one can see that the sacred tongue was on the way to becoming once +more what it is to-day in many parts of Palestine--the living tongue of +men. + +It must not be thought that in the Middle Ages there were two classes of +Hebrew poets: those who wrote hymns and those who wrote love songs. With +the exception of Solomon ibn Gabirol--a big exception, I admit--the best +love songs were written by the best hymn writers. Even Ibn Gabirol, who, so +far as we know, wrote no love songs, composed other kinds of secular +poetry. One of the favorite poetical forms of the Middle Ages consisted of +metrical letters to friends--one may almost assert that the best Hebrew +love poetry is of this type--epistles of affection between man and man, +expressing a love passing the love of woman. Ibn Gabirol wrote such +epistles, but the fact remains that we know of no love verses from his +hand; perhaps this confirms the tradition that he was the victim of an +unrequited affection. + +Thus the new form opens not with Ibn Gabirol, but with Samuel ibn Nagrela. +He was Vizier of the Khalif, and Nagid, or Prince, of the Jews, in the +eleventh century in Spain, and, besides Synagogue hymns and Talmudic +treatises, he wrote love lyrics. The earlier hymns of Kalir have, indeed, a +strong emotional undertone, but the Spanish school may justly claim to have +created a new form. And this new form opens with Samuel the Nagid's pretty +verses on his "Stammering Love," who means to deny, but stammers out +assent. I cite the metrical German version of Dr. Egers, because I have +found it impossible to reproduce (Dr. Egers is not very precise or happy in +his attempt to reproduce) the puns of the original. The sense, however, is +clear. The stammering maid's words, being mumbled, convey an invitation, +when they were intended to repulse her loving admirer. + + Wo ist mein stammelnd Lieb? + Wo sie, die wuerz'ge, blieb? + Verdunkelt der Mond der Sterne Licht, + Ueberstrahlt den Mond ihr Angesicht! + Wie Schwalbe, wie Kranich, die + Bei ihrer Ankunft girren, + Vertraut auf ihren Gott auch sie + In ihrer Zunge Irren. + + Mir schmollend rief sie "Erzdieb," + Hervor doch haucht sie "Herzdieb"-- + Hin springe ich zum Herzlieb. + "Ehrloser!" statt zu wehren, + "Her, Loser!" laesst sie hoeren; + Nur rascher dem Begehren + Folgt' ich mit ihr zu kosen, + Die lieblich ist wie Rosen. + +This poem deserves attention, as it is one of the first, if not actually +the very first, of its kind. The Hebrew poet is forsaking the manner of the +Bible for the manner of the Arabs. One point of resemblance between the new +Hebrew and the Arabic love poetry is obscured in the translation. In the +Hebrew of Samuel the Nagid the terms of endearment, applied though they are +to a girl, are all in the masculine gender. This, as Dr. Egers observes, is +a common feature of the Arabic and Persian love poetry of ancient and +modern times. An Arab poet will praise his fair one's face as "bearded" +with garlands of lilies. Hafiz describes a girl's cheeks as roses within a +net of violets, the net referring to the beard. Jehudah Halevi uses this +selfsame image, and Moses ibn Ezra and the rest also employ manly figures +of speech in portraying beautiful women. All this goes to show how much, +besides rhyme and versification, medieval Hebrew love poetry owed to Arabic +models. Here, for instance, is an Arabic poem, whose author, Radhi Billah, +died in 940, that is, before the Spanish Jewish poets began to write of +love. To an Arabic poet Laila replaces the Lesbia of Catullus and the Chloe +of the Elizabethans. This tenth century Arabic poem runs thus: + + Laila, whene'er I gaze on thee, + My altered cheeks turn pale; + While upon thine, sweet maid, I see + A deep'ning blush prevail. + + Laila, shall I the cause impart + Why such a change takes place?-- + The crimson stream deserts my heart + To mantle on thy face. + +Here we have fully in bloom, in the tenth century, those conceits which +meet us, not only in the Hebrew poets of the next two centuries, but also +in the English poets of the later Elizabethan age. + +It is very artificial and scarcely sincere, but also undeniably attractive. +Or, again, in the lines of Zoheir, addressed by the lover to a messenger +that has just brought tidings from the beloved, + + Oh! let me look upon thine eyes again, + For they have looked upon the maid I love, + +we have, in the thirteenth century, the very airs and tricks of the +cavalier poets. In fact, it cannot be too often said that love poetry, like +love itself, is human and eternal, not of a people and an age, but of all +men and all times. Though fashions change in poetry as in other ornament, +still the language of love has a long life, and age after age the same +conceits and terms of endearment meet us. Thus Hafiz has these lines, + + I praise God who made day and night: + Day thy countenance, and thy hair the night. + +Long before him the Hebrew poet Abraham ibn Ezra had written, + + On thy cheeks and the hair of thy head + I will bless: He formeth light and maketh darkness. + +In the thirteenth century the very same witticism meets us again, in the +Hebrew _Machberoth_ of Immanuel. But obviously it would be an endless task +to trace the similarities of poetic diction between Hebrew and other poets: +suffice it to realize that such similarities exist. + +Such similarities did not, however, arise only from natural causes. They +were, in part at all events, due to artificial compulsion. It is well to +bear this in mind, for the recurrence of identical images in Hebrew love +poem after love poem impresses a Western reader as a defect. To the +Oriental reader, on the contrary, the repetition of metaphors seemed a +merit. It was one of the rules of the game. In his "Literary History of +Persia" Professor Browne makes this so clear that a citation from him will +save me many pages. Professor Browne (ii, 83) analyzes Sharafu'd-Din Rami's +rhetorical handbook entitled the "Lover's Companion." The "Companion" +legislates as to the similes and figures that may be used in describing the +features of a girl. + + "It contains nineteen chapters, treating respectively of the hair, the + forehead, the eyebrows, the eyes, the eyelashes, the face, the down on + lips and cheeks, the mole or beauty-spot, the lips, the teeth, the mouth, + the chin, the neck, the bosom, the arm, the fingers, the figure, the + waist, and the legs. In each chapter the author first gives the various + terms applied by the Arabs and Persians to the part which he is + discussing, differentiating them when any difference in meaning exists; + then the metaphors used by writers in speaking of them, and the epithets + applied to them, the whole copiously illustrated by examples from the + poets." + +No other figures of speech would be admissible. Now this "Companion" +belongs to the fourteenth century, and the earlier Arabic and Persian +poetry was less fettered. But principles of this kind clearly affected the +Hebrew poets, and hence there arises a certain monotony in the songs, +especially when they are read in translation. The monotony is not so +painfully prominent in the originals. For the translator can only render +the substance, and the substance is often more conventional than the +nuances of form, the happy turns and subtleties, which evaporate in the +process of translation, leaving only the conventional sediment behind. + +This is true even of Jehudah Halevi, though in him we hear a genuinely +original note. In his Synagogue hymns he joins hands with the past, with +the Psalmists; in his love poems he joins hands with the future, with +Heine. His love poetry is at once dainty and sincere. He draws +indiscriminately on Hebrew and Arabic models, but he is no mere imitator. I +will not quote much from him, for his best verses are too familiar. Those +examples which I must present are given in a new and hitherto unpublished +translation by Mrs. Lucas. + + +MARRIAGE SONG + + Fair is my dove, my loved one, + None can with her compare: + Yea, comely as Jerusalem, + Like unto Tirzah fair. + + Shall she in tents unstable + A wanderer abide, + While in my heart awaits her + A dwelling deep and wide? + + The magic of her beauty + Has stolen my heart away: + Not Egypt's wise enchanters + Held half such wondrous sway. + + E'en as the changing opal + In varying lustre glows, + Her face at every moment + New charms and sweetness shows. + + White lilies and red roses + There blossom on one stem: + Her lips of crimson berries + Tempt mine to gather them. + + By dusky tresses shaded + Her brow gleams fair and pale, + Like to the sun at twilight, + Behind a cloudy veil. + + Her beauty shames the day-star, + And makes the darkness light: + Day in her radiant presence + Grows seven times more bright + + This is a lonely lover! + Come, fair one, to his side, + That happy be together + The bridegroom and the bride! + + The hour of love approaches + That shall make one of twain: + Soon may be thus united + All Israel's hosts again! + + +OPHRAH + +_To her sleeping Love_ + + Awake, my fair, my love, awake, + That I may gaze on thee! + And if one fain to kiss thy lips + Thou in thy dreams dost see, + Lo, I myself then of thy dream + The interpreter will be! + + +TO OPHRAH + + Ophrah shall wash her garments white + In rivers of my tears, + And dry them in the radiance bright + That shines when she appears. + Thus will she seek no sun nor water nigh, + Her beauty and mine eyes will all her needs supply. + +These lovers' tears often meet us in the Hebrew poems. Ibn Gabirol speaks +of his tears as fertilizing his heart and preserving it from crumbling into +dust. Mostly, however, the Hebrew lover's tears, when they are not tokens +of grief at the absence of the beloved, are the involuntary confession of +the man's love. It is the men who must weep in these poems. Charizi sings +of the lover whose heart succeeds in concealing its love, whose lips +contrive to maintain silence on the subject, but his tears play traitor and +betray his affection to all the world. Dr. Sulzbach aptly quotes parallels +to this fancy from Goethe and Brentano. + +This suggestion of parallelism between a medieval Hebrew poet and Goethe +must be my excuse for an excursion into what seems to me one of the most +interesting examples of the kind. In one of his poems Jehudah Halevi has +these lines: + +SEPARATION + + So we must be divided! Sweetest, stay! + Once more mine eyes would seek thy glance's light! + At night I shall recall thee; thou, I pray, + Be mindful of the days of our delight! + Come to me in my dreams, I ask of thee, + And even in thy dreams be gentle unto me! + + If thou shouldst send me greeting in the grave, + The cold breath of the grave itself were sweet; + Oh, take my life! my life, 'tis all I have, + If I should make thee live I do entreat! + I think that I shall hear, when I am dead, + The rustle of thy gown, thy footsteps overhead. + +It is this last image that has so interesting a literary history as to +tempt me into a digression. But first a word must be said of the +translation and the translator. The late Amy Levy made this rendering, not +from the Hebrew, but from Geiger's German with obvious indebtedness to Emma +Lazarus. So excellent, however, was Geiger's German that Miss Levy got +quite close to the meaning of the original, though thirty-eight Hebrew +lines are compressed into twelve English. Literally rendered, the Hebrew of +the last lines runs: + + Would that, when I am dead, to mine ears may rise + The music of the golden bell upon thy skirts. + +This image of the bell is purely Hebraic; it is, of course, derived from +the High Priest's vestments. Jehudah Halevi often employs it to express +melodious proclamation of virtue, or the widely-borne voice of fame. Here +he uses it in another context, and though the image of the bell is not +repeated, yet some famous lines from Tennyson's "Maud" at once come into +one's mind: + + She is coming, my own, my sweet; + Were it ever so light a tread, + My heart would hear her and beat, + Were it earth in an earthy bed; + My dust would hear her and beat, + Had I lain for a century dead; + Would start and tremble under her feet, + And blossom in purple and red. + +It is thus that the lyric poetry of one age affects, or finds its echo in, +that of another, but in this particular case it is, of course, a natural +thought that true love must survive the grave. There is a mystical union +between the two souls, which death cannot end. Here, again, we meet the +close connection between love and mysticism, which lies at the root of all +deep love poetry. But we must attend to the literary history of the thought +for a moment longer. Moses ibn Ezra, though more famous for his Synagogue +hymns, had some lyric gifts of a lighter touch, and he wrote love songs on +occasion. In one of these the poet represents a dying wife as turning to +her husband with the pathetic prayer, "Remember the covenant of our youth, +and knock at the door of my grave with a hand of love." + +I will allude only to one other parallel, which carries us to a much +earlier period. Here is an Arab song of Taubah, son of Al-Humaiyir, who +lived in the seventh century. It must be remembered that it was an ancient +Arabic folk-idea that the spirits of the dead became owls. + + Ah, if but Laila would send me a greeting down + of grace, though between us lay the dust and flags of stone, + My greeting of joy should spring in answer, or there should cry + toward her an owl, ill bird that shrieks in the gloom of graves. + +C.J.L. Lyall, writing of the author of these lines, Taubah, informs us +that he was the cousin of Laila, a woman of great beauty. Taubah had loved +her when they were children in the desert together, but her father refused +to give her to him in marriage. He led a stormy life, and met his death in +a fight during the reign of Mu'awiyah. Laila long survived him, but never +forgot him or his love for her. She attained great fame as a poetess, and +died during the reign of 'Abd-al-Malik, son of Marwan, at an advanced age. +"A tale is told of her death in which these verses figure. She was making a +journey with her husband when they passed by the grave of Taubah. Laila, +who was travelling in a litter, cried, By God! I will not depart hence till +I greet Taubah. Her husband endeavored to dissuade her, but she would not +hearken; so at last he allowed her. And she had her camel driven up the +mound on which the tomb was, and said, Peace to thee, O Taubah! Then she +turned her face to the people and said, I never knew him to speak falsely +until this day. What meanest thou? said they. Was it not he, she answered, +who said + + Ah, if but Laila would send a greeting down + of grace, though between us lay the dust and flags of stone, + My greeting of joy should spring in answer, or there should cry + toward her an owl, ill bird that shrieks in the gloom of graves. + +Nay, but I have greeted him, and he has not answered as he said. Now, there +was a she-owl crouching in the gloom by the side of the grave; and when it +saw the litter and the crowd of people, it was frightened and flew in the +face of the camel. And the camel was startled and cast Laila headlong on +the ground; and she died that hour, and was buried by the side of Taubah." + +The fascination of such parallels is fatal to proportion in an essay such +as this. But I cannot honestly assert that I needed the space for other +aspects of my subject. I have elsewhere fully described the Wedding Odes +which Jehudah Halevi provided so abundantly, and which were long a regular +feature of every Jewish marriage. But, after the brilliant Spanish period, +Hebrew love songs lose their right to high literary rank. Satires on +woman's wiles replace praises of her charms. On the other hand, what of +inspiration the Hebrew poet felt in the erotic field beckoned towards +mysticism. In the paper which opens this volume, I have written +sufficiently and to spare of the woman-haters. At Barcelona, in the age of +Zabara, Abraham ibn Chasdai did the best he could with his misogynist +material, but he could get no nearer to a compliment than this, "Her face +has the shimmer of a lamp, but it burns when held too close" ("Prince and +Dervish," ch. xviii). The Hebrew attacks on women are clever, but +superficial; they show no depth of insight into woman's character, and are +far less effective than Pope's satires. + +The boldest and ablest Hebrew love poet of the satirical school is Immanuel +of Rome, a younger contemporary of Dante. He had wit, but not enough of it +to excuse his ribaldry. He tells many a light tale of his amours; a pretty +face is always apt to attract him and set his pen scribbling. As with the +English dramatists of the Restoration, virtue and beauty are to Immanuel +almost contradictory terms. For the most part, wrinkled old crones are the +only decent women in his pages. His pretty women have morals as easy as the +author professes. In the second of his _Machberoth_ he contrasts two girls, +Tamar and Beriah; on the one he showers every epithet of honor, at the +other he hurls every epithet of abuse, only because Tamar is pretty, and +Beriah the reverse. Tamar excites the love of the angels, Beriah's face +makes even the devil fly. This disagreeable pose of Immanuel was not +confined to his age; it has spoilt some of the best work of W.S. Gilbert. +The following is Dr. Chotzner's rendering of one of Immanuel's lyrics. He +entitles it + +PARADISE AND HELL + + At times in my spirit I fitfully ponder, + Where shall I pass after death from this light; + Do Heaven's bright glories await me, I wonder, + Or Lucifer's kingdom of darkness and night? + + In the one, though 'tis perhaps of ill reputation, + A crowd of gay damsels will sit by my side; + But in Heaven there's boredom and mental starvation, + To hoary old men and old crones I'll be tied. + + And so I will shun the abodes of the holy, + And fly from the sky, which is dull, so I deem: + Let hell be my dwelling; there is no melancholy, + Where love reigns for ever and ever supreme. + +Immanuel, it is only just to point out, occasionally draws a worthier +character. In his third Machbereth he tells of a lovely girl, who is +intelligent, modest, chaste, coy, and difficult, although a queen in +beauty; she is simple in taste, yet exquisite in poetical feeling and +musical gifts. The character is the nearest one gets in Hebrew to the best +heroines of the troubadours. Immanuel and she exchange verses, but the path +of flirtation runs rough. They are parted, she, woman-like, dies, and he, +man-like, sings an elegy. Even more to Immanuel's credit is his praise of +his own wife. She has every womanly grace of body and soul. On her he +showers compliments from the Song of Songs and the Book of Proverbs. If +this be the true man revealed, then his light verses of love addressed to +other women must be, as I have hinted, a mere pose. It may be that his wife +read his verses, and that his picture of her was calculated to soothe her +feelings when reading some other parts of his work. If she did read them, +she found only one perfect figure of womanliness in her husband's poems, +and that figure herself. But on the whole one is inclined to think that +Immanuel's braggartism as to his many love affairs is only another aspect +of the Renaissance habit, which is exemplified so completely in the similar +boasts of Benvenuto Cellini. + +Be this as it may, it is not surprising to find that in the _Shulchan +Aruch_ (_Orach Chayyim_, ch. 317, Section 16), the poems of Immanuel are +put upon the Sabbath Index. It is declared unlawful to read them on +Saturdays, and also on week-days, continues the Code with gathering anger. +Those who copy them, still more those who print them, are declared sinners +that make others to sin. I must confess that I am here on the side of the +Code. Immanuel's _Machberoth_ are scarcely worthy of the Hebrew genius. + +There has been, it may be added, a long struggle against Hebrew love songs. +Maimonides says ("Guide," iii. 7): "The gift of speech which God gave us to +help us learn and teach and perfect ourselves--this gift of speech must not +be employed in doing what is degrading and disgraceful. We must not imitate +the songs and tales of ignorant and lascivious people. It may be suitable +to them, but it is not fit for those who are bidden, Ye shall be a holy +nation." In 1415 Solomon Alami uses words on this subject that will lead me +to my last point. Alami says, "Avoid listening to love songs which excite +the passions. If God has graciously bestowed on you the gift of a sweet +voice, use it in praising Him. Do not set prayers to Arabic tunes, a +practice which has been promoted to suit the taste of effeminate men." + +But if this be a crime, then the worst offender was none other than the +famous Israel Najara. In the middle of the sixteenth century he added some +of its choicest lyrics to the Hebrew song-book. The most popular of the +table hymns (Zemiroth) are his. He was a mystic, filled with a sense of the +nearness of God. But he did not see why the devil should have all the +pretty tunes. So he deliberately wrote religious poems in metres to suit +Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, and Italian melodies, his avowed purpose +being to divert the young Jews of his day from profane to sacred song. But +these young Jews must have been exigent, indeed, if they failed to find in +Najara's sacred verses enough of love and passion. Not only was he, like +Jehudah Halevi, a prolific writer of Wedding Odes, but in his most +spiritual hymns he uses the language of love as no Hebrew poet before or +after him has done. Starting with the assumption that the Song of Songs was +an allegory of God's espousal with the bride Israel, Najara did not +hesitate to put the most passionate words of love for Israel into God's +mouth. He was strongly attacked, but the saintly mystic Isaac Luria +retorted that Najara's hymns were listened to with delight in Heaven--and +if ever a man had the right to speak of Heaven it was Luria. And Hebrew +poetry has no need to be ashamed of the passionate affection poured out by +these mystic poets on another beloved, the Queen Sabbath. + +This is not the place to speak of the Hebrew drama and of the form which +the love interest takes in it. Woman, at all events, is treated far more +handsomely in the dramas than in the satires. The love scenes of the Hebrew +dramatists are pure to coldness. These dramas began to flourish in the +eighteenth century; Luzzatto was by no means an unworthy imitator of +Guarini. Sometimes the syncretism of ideas in Hebrew plays is sufficiently +grotesque. Samuel Romanelli, who wrote in Italy at the era of the French +Revolution, boldly introduces Greek mythology. It may be that in the +Spanish period Hebrew poets introduced the muses under the epithet +"daughters of Song." But with Romanelli, the classical machinery is more +clearly audible. The scene of his drama is laid in Cyprus; Venus and Cupid +figure in the action. Romanelli gives a moral turn to his mythology, by +interposing Peace to stay the conflict between Love and Fame. Ephraim +Luzzatto, at the same period, tried his hand, not unsuccessfully, at Hebrew +love sonnets. + +Love songs continued to be written in Hebrew in the nineteenth century, and +often see the light in the twentieth. But I do not propose to deal with +these. Recent new-Hebrew poetry has shown itself strongest in satire and +elegy. Its note is one of anger or of pain. Shall we, however, say of the +Hebrew race that it has lost the power to sing of love? Has it grown too +old, too decrepid? + + And said I that my limbs were old, + And said I that my blood was cold, + And that my kindly fire was fled, + And my poor withered heart was dead, + And that I might not sing of love? + +Heine is the answer. But Heine did not write in Hebrew, and those who have +so far written in Hebrew are not Heines. It is, I think, vain to look to +Europe for a new outburst of Hebrew love lyrics. In the East, and most of +all in Palestine, where Hebrew is coming to its own again, and where the +spring once more smiles on the eyes of Jewish peasants and shepherds, there +may arise another inspired singer to give us a new Song of Songs in the +language of the Bible. But we have no right to expect it. Such a rare thing +of beauty cannot be repeated. It is a joy forever, and a joy once for all. + + + + +A HANDFUL OF CURIOSITIES + + +I + +GEORGE ELIOT AND SOLOMON MAIMON + +That George Eliot was well acquainted with certain aspects of Jewish +history, is fairly clear from her writings. But there is collateral +evidence of an interesting kind that proves the same fact quite +conclusively, I think. + +It will be remembered that Daniel Deronda went into a second-hand book-shop +and bought a small volume for half a crown, thereby making the acquaintance +of Ezra Cohen. Some time back I had in my hands the identical book that +George Eliot purchased which formed the basis of the incident. The book may +now be seen in Dr. Williams's Library, Gordon Square, London. The few words +in which George Eliot dismisses the book in her novel would hardly lead one +to gather how carefully and conscientiously she had read the volume, which +has since been translated into English by Dr. J. Clark Murray. She, of +course, bought and read the original German. + +The book is Solomon Maimon's Autobiography, a fascinating piece of +self-revelation and of history. (An admirable account of it may be found in +chapter x of the fifth volume of the English translation of Graetz's +"History of the Jews.") Maimon, cynic and skeptic, was a man all head and +no heart, but he was not without "character," in one sense of the word. He +forms a necessary link in the progress of modern Jews towards their newer +culture. Schiller and Goethe admired him considerably, and, as we shall +soon see, George Eliot was a careful student of his celebrated pages. Any +reader who takes the book up, will hardly lay it down until he has finished +the first part, at least. + +Several marginal and other notes in the copy of the Autobiography that +belonged to George Eliot are, I am convinced, in her own handwriting, and I +propose to print here some of her jottings, all of which are in pencil, but +carefully written. Above the Introduction, she writes: "This book might +mislead many readers not acquainted with other parts of Jewish history. But +for a worthy account (in brief) of Judaism and Rabbinism, see p. 150." This +reference takes one to the fifteenth chapter of the Autobiography. Indeed, +George Eliot was right as to the misleading tendency of a good deal in +Maimon's "wonderful piece of autobiography," as she terms the work in +"Daniel Deronda." She returns to the attack on p. 36 of her copy, where she +has jotted, "See infra, p. 150 _et seq._ for a better-informed view of +Talmudic study." + +How carefully George Eliot read! The pagination of 207 is printed wrongly +as 160; she corrects it! She corrects _Kimesi_ into "Kimchi" on p. 48, +_Rabasse_ into "R. Ashe" on p. 163. On p. 59 she writes, "According to the +Talmud no one is eternally damned." Perhaps her statement needs some slight +qualification. Again (p. 62), "Rashi, i.e. Rabbi Shelomoh ben Isaak, whom +Buxtorf mistakenly called Jarchi." It was really to Raymund Martini that +this error goes back. But George Eliot could not know it. On p. 140, Maimon +begins, "Accordingly, I sought to explain all this in the following way," +to which George Eliot appends the note, "But this is simply what the +Cabbala teaches--not his own ingenious explanation." + +It is interesting to find George Eliot occasionally defending Judaism +against Maimon. On p. 165 he talks of the "abuse of Rabbinism," in that the +Rabbis tacked on new laws to old texts. "Its origin," says George Eliot's +pencilled jotting, "was the need for freedom to modify laws"--a fine +remark. On p. 173, where Maimon again talks of the Rabbinical method of +evolving all sorts of moral truths by the oddest exegesis, she writes, "The +method has been constantly pursued in various forms by Christian Teachers." +On p. 186 Maimon makes merry at the annulment of vows previous to the Day +of Atonement. George Eliot writes, "These are religious vows--not +engagements between man and man." + +Furthermore, she makes some translations of the titles of Hebrew books +cited, and enters a correction of an apparently erroneous statement of fact +on p. 215. There Maimon writes as though the Zohar had been promulgated +after Sabbatai Zebi. George Eliot notes: "Sabbatai Zebi lived long after +the production of the Zohar. He was a contemporary of Spinoza. Moses de +Leon belonged to the fourteenth century." This remark shows that George +Eliot knew Graetz's History, for it is he who brought the names of Spinoza +and Sabbatai Zebi together in two chapter headings in his work. Besides, +Graetz's History was certainly in George Eliot's library; it was among the +Lewes books now at Dr. Williams's. Again, on p. 265, Maimon speaks of the +Jewish fast that falls in August. George Eliot jots on the margin, "July? +Fast of Ninth Ab." + +Throughout passages are pencilled, and at the end she gives an index to the +parts that seem to have interested her particularly. This is her list: + + Talmudic quotations, 36. + Polish Doctor, 49. + The Talmudist, 60. + Prince R. and the Barber, 110. + Talmudic Method, 174. + Polish Jews chiefly Gelehrte, 211. + Zohar, 215. + Rabbinical Morality, 176. + New Chasidim, 207. + Elias aus Wilna, 242. + Angels (?), 82. + Tamuz, II., 135. + +It is a pleasure, indeed, to find a fresh confirmation, that George Eliot's +favorable impression of Judaism was based on a very adequate acquaintance +with its history. Sir Walter Scott's knowledge of it was, one cannot but +feel, far less intimate than George Eliot's, but his poetic insight kept +him marvellously straight in his appreciation of Jewish life and character. + + +II + +HOW MILTON PRONOUNCED HEBREW + +English politics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries maintained a +closer association with literature than is conceivable in the present age. +England has just witnessed a contest on fundamental issues between the two +Houses of Parliament. This recalls, by contrast rather than by similarity, +another conflict that divided the Lords from the Commons in and about the +year 1645. The question at issue then was the respective literary merits of +two metrical translations of the Psalms. + +Francis Rous was a Provost of Eton, a member of the Westminster Assembly of +Divines, and representative of Truro in the Long Parliament. This "old +illiterate Jew," as Wood abusively termed him, had made a verse translation +of the Psalms, which the House of Commons cordially recommended. The House +of Lords, on the other hand, preferred Barton's translation, and many other +contemporaneous attempts were made to meet the growing demand for a good +metrical rendering--a demand which, by the way, has remained but +imperfectly filled to the present time. Would that some Jewish poet might +arise to give us the long-desired version for use, at all events, in our +private devotions! In April, 1648, Milton tried his hand at a rendering of +nine Psalms (lxxx.-lxxxviii.), and it is from this work that we can see how +Milton pronounced Hebrew. Strange to say, Milton's attempt, except in the +case of the eighty-fourth Psalm, has scanty poetical merit, and, as a +literal translation, it is not altogether successful. He prides himself on +the fact that his verses are such that "all, but what is in a different +character, are the very words of the Text, translated from the original." +The inserted words in italics are, nevertheless, almost as numerous as the +roman type that represents the original Hebrew. Such conventional mistakes +as Rous's _cherubims_ are, however, conspicuously absent from Milton's more +scholarly work. Milton writes _cherubs_. + +Now, in the margin of Psalms lxxx., lxxxi., lxxxii., and lxxxiii., Milton +inserts a transliteration of some of the words of the original Hebrew text. +The first point that strikes one is the extraordinary accuracy of the +transliteration. One word appears as _Jimmotu_, thus showing that Milton +appreciated the force of the dagesh. Again, _Shiphtu-dal_, _bag-nadath-el_ +show that Milton observed the presence of the Makkef. Actual mistakes are +very rare, and, as Dr. Davidson has suggested, they may be due to +misprints. This certainly accounts for _Tishphetu_ instead of _Tishpetu_ +(lxxxii. 2), but when we find _Be Sether_ appearing as two words instead of +one, the capital _S_ is rather against this explanation, while _Shifta_ (in +the last verse of Psalm lxxxii.) looks like a misreading. + +It is curious to see that Milton adopted the nasal intonation of the +_Ayin_. And he adopted it in the least defensible form. He invariably +writes _gn_ for the Hebrew _Ayin_. Now _ng_ is bad enough, but _gn_ seems a +worse barbarism. Milton read the vowels, as might have been expected from +one living after Reuchlin, who introduced the Italian pronunciation to +Christian students in Europe, in the "Portuguese" manner, even to the point +of making little, if any, distinction between the _Zere_ and the _Sheva_. +As to the consonants, he read _Tav_ as _th_, _Teth_ as _t_, _Qof_ as _k_, +and _Vav_ and _Beth_ equally as _v_. In this latter point he followed the +"German" usage. The letter _Cheth_ Milton read as _ch_, but _Kaf_ he read +as _c_, sounded hard probably, as so many English readers of Hebrew do at +the present day. I have even noted among Jewish boys an amusing affectation +of inability to pronounce the _Kaf_ in any other way. The somewhat +inaccurate but unavoidable _ts_ for _Zadde_ was already established in +Milton's time, while the letter _Yod_ appears regularly as _j_, which +Milton must have sounded as _y_. On the whole, it is quite clear that +Milton read his Hebrew with minute precision. To see how just this verdict +is, let anyone compare Milton's exactness with the erratic and slovenly +transliterations in Edmund Chidmead's English edition of Leon Modena's +_Riti Ebraici_, which was published only two years later than Milton's +paraphrase of the Psalms. + +The result, then, of an examination of the twenty-six words thus +transliterated, is to deepen the conviction that the great Puritan poet, +who derived so much inspiration from the Old Testament, drew at least some +of it from the pure well of Hebrew undefiled. + + +III + +THE CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS + +As a "Concluding Part" to "The Myths of Plato," Professor J.A. Stewart +wrote a chapter on the Cambridge Platonists of the seventeenth century, his +object being to show that the thought of Plato "has been, and still is, an +important influence in modern philosophy." + +It was a not unnatural reaction that diverted the scholars of the +Renaissance from Aristotle to Plato. The medieval Church had been +Aristotelian, and "antagonism to the Roman Church had, doubtless, much to +do with the Platonic revival, which spread from Italy to Cambridge." But, +curiously enough, the Plato whom Cambridge served was not Plato the +Athenian dialectician, but Plato the poet and allegorist. It was, in fact, +Philo, the Jew, rather than Plato, the Greek, that inspired them. + +"Philo never thought of doubting that Platonism and the Jewish Scriptures +had real affinity to each other, and hardly perhaps asked himself how the +affinity was to be accounted for." Philo, however, would have had no +difficulty in accounting for it; already in his day the quaint theory was +prevalent that Athens had borrowed its wisdom from Jerusalem. The +Cambridge Platonists went with Philo in declaring Plato to be "the Attic +Moses." Henry More (1662) maintained strongly Plato's indebtedness to +Moses; even Pythagoras was so indebted, or, rather, "it was a common fame +[report] that Pythagoras was a disciple of the Prophet Ezekiel." The +Cambridge Platonists were anxious, not only to show this dependence of +Greek upon Hebraic thought, but they went on to argue that Moses taught, +in allegory, the natural philosophy of Descartes. More calls Platonism +the soul, and Cartesianism the body, of his own philosophy, which he +applies to the explanation of the Law of Moses. "This philosophy is the +old Jewish-Pythagorean Cabbala, which teaches the motion of the Earth and +Pre-existence of the Soul." But it is awkward that Moses does not teach +the motion of the earth. More is at no loss; he boldly argues that, +though "the motion of the earth has been lost and appears not in the +remains of the Jewish Cabbala, this can be no argument against its once +having been a part thereof." He holds it as "exceedingly probable" that +the Roman Emperor "Numa was both descended from the Jews and imbued with +the Jewish religion and learning." + +Thus the Cambridge Platonists of the seventeenth century are a very +remarkable example of the recurrent influence exercised on non-Jews by +certain forms of Judaism that had but slight direct effect on the Jews +themselves. Indirectly, the Hellenic side of Jewish culture left its mark, +especially in the Cabbala. It would be well worth the while of a Jewish +theologian to make a close study of the seventeenth century alumni of +Cambridge, who were among the most fascinating devotees of ancient Jewish +wisdom. Henry More was particularly attractive, "the most interesting and +the most unreadable of the whole band." When he was a young boy, his uncle +had to threaten a flogging to cure him of precocious "forwardness in +philosophizing concerning the mysteries of necessity and freewill." In 1631 +he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, "about the time when John Milton +was leaving it," and he may almost be said to have spent the rest of his +life within the walls of the college, "except when he went to stay with his +'heroine pupil,' Anne, Viscountess Conway, at her country seat of Ragley in +Warwickshire, where his pleasure was to wander among the woods and glades." +He absolutely refused all preferment, and when "he was once persuaded to +make a journey to Whitehall, to kiss His Majesty's hands, but heard by the +way that this would be the prelude to a bishopric, he at once turned back." +Yet More was no recluse. "He had many pupils at Christ's; he loved music, +and used to play on the theorbo; he enjoyed a game at bowls, and still more +a conversation with intimate friends, who listened to him as to an oracle; +and he was so kind to the poor that it was said his very chamber-door was a +hospital for the needy." But enough has been quoted from Overton's +biography to whet curiosity about this Cambridge sage and saint. More well +illustrates what was said above (pp. 114-116)--the man of letters is truest +to his calling when he has at the same time an open ear to the call of +humanity. + + +IV + +THE ANGLO-JEWISH YIDDISH LITERARY SOCIETY + +The founder and moving spirit of this unique little Society is Miss Helena +Frank, whose sympathy with Yiddish literature has been shown in several +ways. Her article in the _Nineteenth Century_ ("The Land of Jargon," +October, 1904) was as forcible as it was dainty. Her rendering of the +stories of Perez, too, is more than a literary feat. Her knowledge of +Yiddish is not merely intellectual; though not herself a Jewess, she +evidently enters into the heart of the people who express their lives and +aspirations in Yiddish terms. Young as she is, Miss Frank is, indeed, a +remarkable linguist; Hebrew and Russian are among her accomplishments. But +it is a wonderful fact that she has set herself to acquire these other +languages only to help her to understand Yiddish, which latter she knows +through and through. + +Miss Frank not long ago founded a Society called by the title that heads +this note. The Society did not interest itself directly in the preservation +of Yiddish as a spoken language. It was rather the somewhat grotesque fear +that the role of Yiddish as a living language may cease that appealed to +Miss Frank. The idea was to collect a Yiddish library, encourage the +translation of Yiddish books into English, and provide a sufficient supply +of Yiddish books and papers for the patients in the London and other +Hospitals who are unable to read any other language. The weekly _Yiddishe +Gazetten_ (New York) was sent regularly to the London Hospital, where it +has been very welcome. + +In the Society's first report, which I was permitted to see, Miss Frank +explained why an American Yiddish paper was the first choice. In the first +place, it was a good paper, with an established reputation, and at once +conservative and free from prejudice. America is, moreover, "intensely +interesting to the Polish _Yid_. For him it is the free country _par +excellence_. Besides, he is sure to have a son, uncle, or brother there--or +to be going there himself. 'Vin shterben in vin Amerika kaen sich keener +nisht araus drehn!' ('From dying and from going to America, there is no +escape!')" Miss Frank has a keen sense of humor. How could she love Yiddish +were it not so? She cites some of the _Yiddishe Gazetten's_ answers to +correspondents. This is funny: "The woman has the right to take her clothes +and ornaments away with her when she leaves her husband. But it is a +question if she ought to leave him." Then we have the following from an +article by Dr. Goidorof. He compares the Yiddish language to persons whose +passports are not in order--the one has no grammar, the others have no +land. + + And both the Jewish language and the Jewish nation hide their faulty + passports in their wallets, and disappear from the register of nations + and languages--no land, no grammar! + + "A pretty conclusion the savants have come to!" (began the Jewish + nation). "You are nothing but a collection of words, and I am nothing but + a collection of people, and there's an end to both of us!" + + "And Jargon, besides, they said--to which of us did they refer? To me or + to you?" (asks the Jewish language, the word _jargon_ being unknown to + it). + + "To you!" (answers the Jewish nation). + + "No, to you!" (protests the Jewish language). + + "Well, then, to both of us!" (allows the Jewish nation). "It seems we are + both a kind of Jargon. Mercy on us, what shall we do without a grammar + and without a land?" + + "Unless the Zionists purchase a grammar of the Sultan!" (romances the + Jewish language). + + "Or at all events a land!" (sighs the Jewish nation). + + "You think that the easier of the two?" (asks the Jewish language, + wittily). + + And at the same moment they look at one another and laugh loudly and + merrily. + +This is genuine Heinesque humor. + + +V + +THE MYSTICS AND SAINTS OF INDIA + +A book by Professor J.C. Oman, published not long ago, contains a clear +and judicially sympathetic account of Hinduism. The sordid side of Indian +asceticism receives due attention; the excesses of self-mortification, +painful posturings, and equally painful impostures are by no means slurred +over by the writer. And yet the essential origin of these ascetic practices +is perceived by Professor Oman to be a pure philosophy and a not ignoble +idealism. And if Professor Oman's analysis be true, one understands how it +is that, though there have always been Jewish ascetics, at times of +considerable numbers and devotion, yet asceticism, as such, has no +recognized place in Judaism. Jewish moralists, especially, though not +exclusively, those of the mystical or Cabbalistic schools, pronounce +powerfully enough against over-indulgence in all sensuous pleasures; they +inculcate moderation and abstinence, and, in some cases, where the pressure +of desire is very strong, prescribe painful austerities, which may be +paralleled by what Professor Oman tells us of the Sadhus and Yogis of +India. But let us first listen to Professor Oman's analysis (p. 16): + + "Without any pretence of an exhaustive analysis of the various and + complex motives which underlie religious asceticism, I may, before + concluding this chapter, draw attention to what seem to me the more + general reasons which prompt men to ascetic practices: (1) A desire, + which is intensified by all personal or national troubles, to propitiate + the Unseen Powers. (2) A longing on the part of the intensely religious + to follow in the footsteps of their Master, almost invariably an ascetic. + (3) A wish to work out one's own future salvation, or emancipation, by + conquering the evil inherent in human nature, i.e. the flesh. (4) A + yearning to prepare oneself by purification of mind and body for entering + into present communion with the Divine Being. (5) Despair arising from + disillusionment and from defeat in the battle of life. And lastly, mere + vanity, stimulated by the admiration which the multitude bestow on the + ascetic." + +With regard to his second reason, we find nothing of the kind in Judaism +subsequent to the Essenes, until we reach the Cabbalistic heroes of the +Middle Ages. The third and the fourth have, on the other hand, had power +generally in Jewish conduct. The fifth has had its influence, but only +temporarily and temperately. Ascetic practices, based on national and +religious calamity, have, for the most part, been prescribed only for +certain dates in the calendar, but it must be confessed that an excessive +addiction to fasting prevails among many Jews. But it is when we consider +the first of Professor Oman's reasons for ascetic practices that we +perceive how entirely the genius of Judaism is foreign to Hindu and most +other forms of asceticism. To reach communion with God, the Jew goes along +the road of happiness, not of austerity. He serves with joy, not with +sadness. On this subject the reader may refer with great profit to the +remarks made by the Reverend Morris Joseph, in "Judaism as Creed and Life," +p. 247, onwards, and again the whole of chapter iv. of book iii. (p. 364). +Self-development, not self-mortification, is the true principle; man's +lower nature is not to be crushed by torture, but to be elevated by +moderation, so as to bear its part with man's higher nature in the service +of God. + +What leads some Jewish moralists to eulogize asceticism is that there is +always a danger of the happiness theory leading to a materialistic view of +life. This is what Mr. Joseph says, and says well, on the subject (p. 371): + + "And, therefore, though Judaism does not approve of the ascetic temper, + it is far from encouraging the materialist's view of life. It has no + place for monks or hermits, who think they can serve God best by + renouncing the world; but, on the other hand, it sternly rebukes the + worldliness that knows no ideal but sordid pleasures, no God but Self. It + commends to us the golden mean--the safe line of conduct that lies midway + between the rejection of earthly joys and the worship of them. If + asceticism too often spurns the commonplace duties of life, excessive + self-indulgence unfits us for them. In each case we lose some of our + moral efficiency. But in the latter case there is added an inevitable + degradation. The man who mortifies his body for his soul's sake has at + least his motive to plead for him. But the sensualist has no such + justification. He deliberately chooses the evil and rejects the good. + Forfeiting his character as a son of God, he yields himself a slave to + unworthy passions. + + "It is the same with the worldly man, who lives only for sordid ends, + such as wealth and the pleasures it buys. He, too, utterly misses his + vocation. His pursuit of riches may be moral in itself; he may be a + perfectly honest man. But his life is unmoral all the same, for it aims + at nothing higher than itself." + +Thus Professor Oman's fascinating book gives occasion for thought to many +whose religion is far removed from Hinduism. But there is in particular one +feature of Hindu asceticism that calls for attention. This is the Hindu +doctrine of Karma, or good works, which will be familiar to readers of +Rudyard Kipling's "Kim." Upon a man's actions (Karma is the Sanskrit for +action) in this life depends the condition in which his soul will be +reincarnated. + + "In a word, the present state is the result of past actions, and the + future depends upon the present. Now, the ultimate hope of the Hindu + should be so to live that his soul may be eventually freed from the + necessity of being reincarnated, and may, in the end, be reunited to the + Infinite Spirit from which it sprang. As, however, that goal is very + remote, the Hindu not uncommonly limits his desire and his efforts to the + attainment of a 'good time' now, and in his next appearance upon this + earthly stage" (p. 108). + +We need not go fully into this doctrine, which, as the writer says +elsewhere (p. 172), "certainly makes for morality," but we may rather +attend to that aspect of it which is shown in the Hindu desire to +accumulate "merits." The performance of penances gives the self-torturer +certain spiritual powers. Professor Oman quotes this passage from Sir +Monier Williams's "Indian Epic Poetry" (note to p. 4): + + "According to Hindu theory, the performance of penances was like making + deposits in the bank of Heaven. By degrees an enormous credit was + accumulated, which enabled the depositor to draw on the amount of his + savings, without fear of his drafts being refused payment. The power + gained in this way by weak mortals was so enormous that gods, as well as + men, were equally at the mercy of these all but omnipotent ascetics, and + it is remarkable that even the gods are described as engaging in penances + and austerities, in order, it may be presumed, not to be undone by human + beings." + +Now, if for penance we substitute Mitzvoth, we find in this passage almost +the caricature of the Jewish theory that meets us in the writings of German +theologians. These ill-equipped critics of Judaism put it forward seriously +that the Jew performs Mitzvoth in order to accumulate merit (Zechuth), and +some of them even go so far as to assert that the Jew thinks of his Zechuth +as irresistible. But when the matter is put frankly and squarely, as +Professor Monier Williams puts it, not even the Germans could have the +effrontery to assert that Judaism teaches or tolerates any such doctrine. +Whatever man does, he has no merit towards God: that is Jewish teaching. +Yet conduct counts, and somehow the good man and the bad man are not in the +same case. Judaism may be inconsistent, but it is certainly not base in its +teaching as to conduct and retribution. "Be not as servants who minister in +the hope of receiving reward"-this is not the highest level of Jewish +doctrine, it is the average level. Lately I have been reading a good deal +of mystical Jewish literature, and I have been struck by the repeated use +made of the famous Rabbinical saying of Antigonos of Socho just cited. One +wonders whether, after all, justice is done to the Hindus. One sees how +easily Jewish teaching can be distorted into a doctrine of calculated +Zechuth. Are the Hindus being misjudged equally? Certainly, in some cases +this must be so, for Professor Oman, with his remarkably sympathetic +insight, records experiences such as this more than once (p. 147). He is +describing one of the Jain ascetics, and remarks: + + "His personal appearance gave the impression of great suffering, and his + attendants all had the same appearance, contrasting very much indeed with + the ordinary Sadhus of other sects. And wherefore this austere rejection + of the world's goods, wherefore all this self-inflicted misery? Is it to + attain a glorious Heaven hereafter, a blessed existence after death? No! + It is, as the old monk explained to me, only to escape rebirth--for the + Jain believes in the transmigration of souls--and to attain rest." + +Other ascetics gave similar explanations. Thus (p. 100): + + "The Christian missionary entered into conversation with the Hermit (a + Bairagi from the Upper Provinces), and learned from him that he had + adopted a life of abstraction and isolation from the world, neither to + expiate any sin, nor to secure any reward. He averred that he had no + desires and no hopes, but that, being removed from the agitations of the + worldly life, he was full of tranquil joy." + + +VI + +LOST PURIM JOYS + +It is scarcely accurate to assert, as is sometimes done, that the most +characteristic of the Purim pranks of the past were children of the Ghetto, +and came to a natural end when the Ghetto walls fell. In point of fact, +most of these joys originated before the era of the Ghetto, and others were +introduced for the first time when Ghetto life was about to fade away into +history. + +Probably the oldest of Purim pranks was the bonfire and the burning of an +effigy. Now, so far from being a Ghetto custom, it did not even emanate +from Europe, the continent of Ghettos; it belongs to Babylonia and Persia. +This is what was done, according to an old Geonic account recovered by +Professor L. Ginzberg: + + "It is customary in Babylonia and Elam for boys to make an effigy + resembling Haman; this they suspend on their roofs, four or five days + before Purim. On Purim day they erect a bonfire, and cast the effigy into + its midst, while the boys stand round about it, jesting and singing. And + they have a ring suspended in the midst of the fire, which (ring) they + hold and wave from one side of the fire to the other." + +Bonfires, it may be thought, need no recondite explanation; light goes with +a light heart, and boys always love a blaze. Dr. J.G. Frazer, in his +"Golden Bough," has endeavored, nevertheless, to bring the Purim bonfire +into relation with primitive spring-tide and midsummer conflagrations, +which survived into modern carnivals, but did not originate with them. Such +bonfires belonged to what has been called sympathetic or homeopathic magic; +by raising an artificial heat, you ensured a plentiful dose of the natural +heat of the sun. So, too, the burning of an effigy was not, in the first +instance, a malicious or unfriendly act. A tree-spirit, or a figure +representing the spirit of vegetation, was consumed in fire, but the spirit +was regarded as beneficent, not hostile, and by burning a friendly deity +the succor of the sun was gained. Dr. Frazer cites some evidence for the +early prevalence of the Purim bonfire; he argues strongly and persuasively +in favor of the identification of Purim with the Babylonian feast of the +Sacaea, a wild, extravagant bacchanalian revel, which, in the old Asiatic +world, much resembled the Saturnalia of a later Italy. The theory is +plausible, though it is not quite proven by Dr. Frazer, but it seems to me +that whatever be the case with Purim generally, there is one hitherto +overlooked feature of the Purim bonfire that does clearly connect it with +the other primitive conflagrations of which mention was made above. + +This overlooked feature is the "ring." No explanation is given by the Gaon +as to its purpose in the tenth century, and it can hardly have been used to +hold the effigy. Now, in many of the primitive bonfires, the fire was +produced by aid of a revolving wheel. This wheel typifies the sun. Waving +the "ring" in the Purim bonfires has obviously the same significance, and +this apparently inexplicable feature does, I think, serve to link the +ancient Purim prank with a long series of old-world customs, which, it need +hardly be said, have nothing whatever to do with the Ghetto. + +Then, again, the most famous of Purim parodies preceded the Ghetto period. +The official Ghetto begins with the opening of the sixteenth century, +whereas the best parodies belong to a much earlier date, the fourteenth +century. Such parodies, in which sacred things are the subject of harmless +jest, are purely medieval in spirit, as well as in date. Exaggerated +praises of wine were a foil to the sobriety of the Jew, the fun consisting +in this conscious exaggeration. The medieval Jew, be it remembered, drew no +severe line between sacred and profane. All life was to him equally holy, +equally secular. So it is not strange that we find included in sacred +Hebrew hymnologies wine-songs for Purim and Chanukah and other Synagogue +feasts, and these songs are at least as old as the early part of the +twelfth century. For Purim, many Synagogue liturgies contain serious +additions for each of the eighteen benedictions of the Amidah prayer, and +equally serious paraphrases of Esther, some of them in Aramaic, abound +among the Genizah fragments in Cambridge. Besides these, however, are many +harmlessly humorous jingles and rhymes which were sung in the synagogue, +admittedly for the amusement of the children, and for the child-hearts of +adult growth. For them, too, the Midrash had played round Haman, reviling +him, poking fun at him, covering him with ridicule rather than execration. +It is true that the earliest ritual reference to the wearing of masks on +Purim dates from the year 1508, just within the Ghetto period. But this +omission of earlier reference is surely an accident, In the Babylonian +Sacaea, cited above, a feature of the revel was that men and women +disguised themselves, a slave dressed up as king, while servants personated +masters, and vice versa. All these elements of carnival exhilaration are +much earlier than the Middle Ages. Ghetto days, however, originated, +perhaps, the stamping of feet, clapping of hands, clashing of mallets, and +smashing of earthenware pots, to punctuate certain passages of the Esther +story and of the subsequent benediction. + +My strongest point concerns what, beyond all other delights, has been +regarded as the characteristic amusement of the festival, viz. the Purim +play. We not only possess absolutely no evidence that Purim plays were +performed in the Ghettos till the beginning of the eighteenth century, when +the end of the Ghettos was almost within sight, but the extant references +imply that they were then a novelty. Plays on the subject of Esther were +very common in medieval Europe during earlier centuries, but these plays +were written by Christians, not by Jews, and were performed by monks, not +by Rabbis. Strange as it may seem, it is none the less the fact that the +Purim play belongs to the most recent of the Purim amusements, and that its +life has been short and, on the whole, inglorious. + +Thus, without pressing the contention too closely, Purim festivities do not +deserve to be tarred with the Ghetto brush. Is it, then, denied that Purim +was more mirthfully observed in Ghetto days than it is at the present day? +By no means. It is unquestionable that Purim used to be a merrier +anniversary than it is now. The explanation is simple. In part, the change +has arisen through a laudable disinclination from pranks that may be +misconstrued as tokens of vindictiveness against an ancient foe or his +modern reincarnations. As a second cause may be assigned the growing and +regrettable propensity of Jews to draw a rigid line of separation between +life and religion, and wherever this occurs, religious feasts tend towards +a solemnity that cannot, and dare not, relax into amusement. This tendency +is eating at the very heart of Jewish life, and ought to be resisted by all +who truly understand the genius of Judaism. + +But the psychology of the change goes even deeper. The Jew is emotional, +but he detests making a display of his feelings to mere onlookers. The +Wailing Wall scenes at Jerusalem are not a real exception--the facts are +"Cooked," to meet the demands of clamant tourists. The Jew's sensitiveness +is the correlative of his emotionalism. While all present are joining in +the game, each Jew will play with full abandonment to the humor of the +moment. But as soon as some play the part of spectators, the Jew feels his +limbs growing too stiff for dancing, his voice too hushed for song. All +must participate, or all must leave off. Thus, a crowd of Italians or +Southern French may play at carnival to-day to amuse sight-seers in the +Riviera, but Jews have never consented, have never been able, to sport that +others might stand by and laugh at, and not with, the sportsmen. In short, +Purim has lost its character, because Jews have lost their character, their +disposition for innocent, unanimous joyousness. We are no longer so closely +united in interests or in local abodes that we could, on the one hand, +enjoy ourselves as one man, and, on the other, play merry pranks, without +incurring the criticism of indifferent, cold-eyed observers. Criticism has +attacked the authenticity of the Esther story, and proposed Marduk for +Mordecai, and Istar for Esther. But criticism of another kind has worked +far more havoc, for its "superior" airs have killed the Purim joy. Perhaps +it is not quite dead after all. + + +VII + +JEWS AND LETTERS + +The jubilee of the introduction of the Penny Post into England was not +reached till 1890. It is difficult to realize the state of affairs before +this reform became part of our everyday life. That less than three-quarters +of a century ago the scattered members of English families were, in a +multitude of cases, practically dead to one another, may incline one to +exaggerate the insignificance of the means of communication in times yet +more remote. Certainly, in ancient Judea there were fewer needs than in the +modern world. Necessity produces invention, and as the Jew of remote times +rarely felt a strong necessity to correspond with his brethren in his own +or other countries, it naturally followed that the means of communication +were equally _extempore_ in character. It may be of interest to put +together some desultory jottings on this important topic. + +The way to Judea lies through Rome. If we wish information whether the Jews +knew anything of a regular post, we must first inquire whether the Romans +possessed that institution. According to Gibbon, this was the case. +Excellent roads made their appearance wherever the Romans settled; and "the +advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence and of conveying their +orders with celerity, induced the Emperors to establish throughout their +extensive dominions the regular institution of posts. Houses were +everywhere erected at the distance only of five or six miles; each of them +was constantly provided with forty horses, and by the help of these relays +it was easy to travel a hundred miles a day along the Roman roads. The use +of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by an Imperial mandate; +but, though originally intended for the public service, it was sometimes +indulged to the business or con-veniency of private citizens." This +statement of Gibbon (towards the end of chapter ii) applies chiefly, then, +to official despatches; for we know from other sources that the Romans had +no public post as we understand the term, but used special messengers +(_tabellarius_) to convey private letters. + +Exactly the same facts meet us with reference to the Jews in the earlier +Talmudic times. There were special Jewish letter-carriers, who carried the +documents in a pocket made for the purpose, and in several towns in +Palestine there was a kind of regular postal arrangement, though many +places were devoid of the institution. It is impossible to suppose that +these postal conveniences refer only to official documents; for the Mishnah +(_Sabbath_, x, 4) is evidently speaking of Jewish postmen, who, at that +time, would hardly have been employed to carry the despatches of the +government. The Jewish name for this post was _Be-Davvar_, and apparently +was a permanent and regular institution. From a remark of Rabbi Jehudah +(_Rosh ha-Shanah_, 9b), "like a postman who goes about everywhere and +carries merchandise to the whole province," it would seem that the Jews had +established a parcels-post; but unfortunately we have no precise +information as to how these posts were managed. + +Gibbon's account of the Roman post recalls another Jewish institution, +which may have been somehow connected with the _Be-Davvar_. The official +custodian of the goat that was sent into the wilderness on the Day of +Atonement was allowed, if he should feel the necessity--a necessity which, +according to tradition, never arose--to partake of food even on the +fast-day. For this purpose huts were erected along the route, and men +provided with food were stationed at each of these huts to meet the +messenger and conduct him some distance on his way. + +That the postal system cannot have been very much developed, is clear from +the means adopted to announce the New Moon in various localities. This +official announcement certainly necessitated a complete system of +communication. At first, we are told (_Rosh ha-Shanah_, ii, 2), fires were +lighted on the tops of the mountains; but the Samaritans seem to have +ignited the beacons at the wrong time, so as to deceive the Jews. It was, +therefore, decided to communicate the news by messenger. The mountain-fires +were prepared as follows: Long staves of cedar-wood, canes, and branches of +the olive-tree were tied up with coarse threads or flax; these were lighted +as torches, and men on the hills waved the brands to and fro, upward and +downward, until the signal was repeated on the next hill, and so forth. +When messengers were substituted for these fire signals, it does not appear +that they carried letters; they brought verbal messages, which they seem to +have shouted out without necessarily dismounting from the animals they +rode. Messages were not sent every month, but only six times a year; and a +curious light is thrown on the means of communication of the time, by the +legal decision that anyone was to be believed on the subject, and that the +word of a passing merchant who said that "he had heard the New Moon +proclaimed," was to be accepted unhesitatingly. Nowadays, busy men are +sometimes put out by postal vagaries, but they hardly suffer to the extent +of having to fast two days. This calamity is recorded, however, in the +Jerusalem Talmud, as having, on a certain occasion, resulted from the delay +in the arrival of the messengers announcing the New Moon. + +Besides the proclamation of the New Moon, other official documents must +have been despatched regularly. "Bills of divorce," for instance, needed +special messengers; the whole question of the legal position of messengers +is very intimately bound up with that of conveying divorces. This, however, +seems to have been the function of private messengers, who were not in the +strict sense letter-carriers at all. It may be well, in passing, to recall +one or two other means of communication mentioned in the Midrash. Thus we +read how Joshua, with twelve thousand of his warriors, was imprisoned, by +means of witchcraft, within a sevenfold barrier of iron. He resolves to +write for aid to the chief of the tribe of Reuben, bidding him to summon +Phineas, who is to bring the "trumpets" with him. Joshua ties the message +to the wings of a dove, or pigeon, and the bird carries the letter to the +Israelites, who speedily arrive with Phineas and the trumpets, and, after +routing the enemy, effect Joshua's rescue. A similar idea may be found in +the commentary of Kimchi on Genesis. Noah, wishing for information, says +Kimchi, sent forth a raven, but it brought back no message; then he sent a +dove, which has a natural capacity for bringing back replies, when it has +been on the same way once or twice. Thus kings train these birds for the +purpose of sending them great distances, with letters tied to their wings. +So we read (_Sabbath_, 49) in the Talmud that "a dove's wings protect it," +i.e. people preserve it, and do not slay it, because they train it to act +as their messenger. Or, again, we find arrows used as a means of carrying +letters, and we are not alluding to such signals as Jonathan gave to David. +During the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Emperor had men placed +near the walls of Jerusalem, and they wrote the information they obtained +on arrows, and fired them from the wall, with the connivance, probably, of +the philo-Roman party that existed within the doomed city. + +In earlier Bible times, there was, as the Tell-el-Amarna bricks show, an +extensive official correspondence between Canaan and Egypt, but private +letter-writing seems not to have been resorted to; messages were +transmitted orally to the parties concerned. This fact is well illustrated +by the story of Joseph. He may, of course, have deliberately resolved not +to communicate with his family, but if letter-writing had been usual, his +brothers would naturally have asked him--a question that did not suggest +itself to them--why he had never written to tell his father of his +fortunes. When Saul desired to summon Israel, he sent, not a letter, but a +mutilated yoke of oxen; the earliest letter mentioned in the Bible being +that in which King David ordered Uriah to be placed in the forefront of the +army. Jezebel sends letters in Ahab's name to Naboth, Jehu to Samaria. In +all these cases letters were used for treacherous purposes, and they are +all short. Probably the authors of these plots feared to betray their real +intention orally, and so they committed their orders to writing, expecting +their correspondents to read between the lines. It is not till the time of +Isaiah that the references to writing become frequent. Intercourse between +Palestine on the one hand and Babylon and Egypt on the other had then +increased greatly, and the severance of the nation itself tended to make +correspondence through writing more necessary. When we reach the age of +Jeremiah, this fact makes itself even more strongly apparent. Letters are +often mentioned by that prophet (xxix. 25, 29), and a professional class of +Soferim, or scribes, make their appearance. Afterwards, of course, the +Sofer became of much higher importance; he was not merely a professional +writer, but a man learned in the Law, who spread the knowledge of it among +the people. Later, again, these functions were separated, and the Sofer +added to his other offices that of teacher of the young. Nowadays, he has +regained his earlier and less important position, for the modern Sofer is +simply a professional writer. In the time of Ezekiel (ix. 2) the Sofer went +abroad with the implements of his trade, including the inkhorn, at his +side. In the Talmud, the scribe is sometimes described by his Latin title +_libellarius_ (_Sabbath_,11a). The Jews of Egypt, as may be seen from the +Assouan Papyri, wrote home in cases of need in the time of Nehemiah; and in +the same age we hear also of "open letters," for Sanballat sends a missive +of that description by his servant; and apparently it was by means of a +similar letter that the festival of Purim was announced to the Jews (Esther +ix., where, unlike the other passages quoted, the exact words of the letter +of Mordecai are not given). The order to celebrate Chanukah was published +in the same way, and, indeed, the books of the Apocrypha contain many +interesting letters, and in the pages of Josephus the Jews hold frequent +intercourse in this way with many foreign countries. In the latter cases, +when the respective kings corresponded, the letters were conveyed by +special embassies. + +One might expect this epistolary activity to display itself at an even more +developed stage in the records of Rabbinical times. But this is by no means +the case, for the Rabbinical references to letters in the beginning of the +common era are few and far between. Polemic epistles make their appearance; +but they are the letters of non-Jewish missionaries like Paul. This form of +polemical writing possessed many advantages; the letters were passed on +from one reader to another; they would be read aloud, too, before +gatherings of the people to whom they were addressed. Maimonides, in later +times, frequently adopted this method of communicating with whole +communities, and many of the Geonim and other Jewish authorities followed +the same plan. But somehow the device seems not to have commended itself to +the earliest Rabbis. Though we read of many personal visits paid by the +respective authorities of Babylon and Palestine to one another, yet they +appear to have corresponded very rarely in writing. The reason lay probably +in the objection felt against committing the Halachic, or legal, decisions +of the schools to writing, and there was little else of consequence to +communicate after the failure of Bar-Cochba's revolt against the Roman +rule. + +It must not be thought, however, that this prohibition had the effect we +have described for very long. Rabbi Gamaliel, Rabbi Chananiah, and many +others had frequent correspondence with far distant places, and as soon +as the Mishnah acquired a fixed form, even though it was not immediately +committed to writing, the recourse to letters became much more common. +Pupils of the compilers of the Mishnah proceeded to Babylon to spread its +influence, and they naturally maintained a correspondence with their +chiefs in Palestine. Rab and Samuel in particular, among the Amoraim, +were regular letter-writers, and Rabbi Jochanan replied to them. Towards +the end of the third century this correspondence between Judea and +Babylon became even more active. Abitur and Abin often wrote concerning +legal decisions and the doings of the schools, and thereby the +intellectual activity of Judaism maintained its solidarity despite the +fact that the Jewish people was no longer united in one land. In the +Talmud we frequently read, "they sent from there," viz. Palestine. +Obviously these messages were sent in writing, though possibly the bearer +of the message was often himself a scholar, who conveyed his report by +word of mouth. Perhaps the growth of the Rabbi's practice of writing +responses to questions--a practice that became so markedly popular in +subsequent centuries--may be connected with the similar habit of the +Roman jurists and the Christian Church fathers, and the form of response +adopted by the eighth century Geonim is reminiscent of that of the Roman +lawyers. The substance of the letters, however, is by no means the same; +the Church father wrote on dogmatic, the Rabbi on legal, questions. +Between the middle of the fourth century and the time of the Geonim, we +find no information as to the use of letters among the Jews. From that +period onwards, however, Jews became very diligent letter-writers, and +sometimes, for instance in the case of the "Guide of the Perplexed" of +Maimonides, whole works were transmitted in the form of letters. The +scattering of Israel, too, rendered it important to Jews to obtain +information of the fortunes of their brethren in different parts of the +world. Rumors of Messianic appearances from the twelfth century onwards, +the contest with regard to the study of philosophy, the fame of +individual Rabbis, the rise of a class of travellers who made very long +and dangerous journeys, all tended to increase the facilities and +necessities of intercourse by letter. It was long, however, before +correspondence became easy or safe. Not everyone is possessed of the +postmen assigned in Midrashim to King Solomon, who pressed demons into +his service, and forced them to carry his letters wheresoever he willed. +Chasdai experienced considerable difficulty in transmitting his famous +letter to the king of the Chazars, and that despite his position of +authority in the Spanish State. In 960 a letter on some question of +Kasher was sent from the Rhine to Palestine--proof of the way in which +the most remote Jewish communities corresponded. + +The question of the materials used in writing has an important bearing on +our subject. Of course, the ritual regulations for writing the holy books, +the special preparation of the parchment, the ink, the strict rules for the +formation of the letters, hardly fall within the province of this article. +In ancient times the most diverse substances were used for writing on. +Palm-leaves (for which Palestine of old was famous) were a common object +for the purpose, being so used all over Asia. Some authorities believe that +in the time of Moses the palm leaf was the ordinary writing-material. +Olive-leaves, again, were thick and hard, while carob-leaves (St. John's +bread), besides being smooth, long, and broad, were evergreen, and thus +eminently fitted for writing. Walnut shells, pomegranate skins, leaves of +gourds, onion-leaves, lettuce-heads, even the horns of cattle, and the +human body, letters being tattooed on the hands of slaves, were all turned +to account. It is maintained by some that leather was the original +writing-material of the Hebrews; others, again, give their vote in favor of +linen, though the Talmud does not mention the latter material in connection +with writing. Some time after Alexander the Great, the Egyptian papyrus +became common in Palestine, where it probably was known earlier, as Jewish +letters on papyrus were sent to Jerusalem from the Fayyum in the fifth +century B.C.E. Even as late as Maimonides, the scrolls of the Law were +written on leather, and not on parchment, which is now the ordinary +material for the purpose. That the Torah was not to be written on a +vegetable product was an assumed first principle. The Samaritans went so +far as to insist that the animal whose hide was needed for so holy a +purpose, must be slain Kasher. Similarly with divorce documents. A Get on +paper would be held legal _post factum_, though it is not allowed to use +that material, as it is easily destroyed or mutilated, and the use of paper +for the purpose was confined to the East. Some allowed the Book of Esther +to be read from a paper copy; other authorities not only strongly objected +to this, but even forbade the reading of the Haftarah from paper. Hence one +finds in libraries so many parchment scrolls containing only the Haftarahs. +The Hebrew word for letter, Iggereth, is of unknown origin, though it is +now commonly taken to be an Assyrian loan-word. It used to be derived from +a root signifying to "hire," in reference to the "hired courier," by whom +it was despatched. Other terms for letter, such as "book," "roll," explain +themselves. Black ink was early used, though it is certain that it was +either kept in a solid state, like India ink, or that it was of the +consistency of glue, and needed the application of water before it could be +used. For pens, the iron stylus, the reed, needle, and quill (though the +last was not admitted without a struggle) were the common substitutes at +various dates. + +We must now return to the subject with which we set out, and make a few +supplementary remarks with regard to the actual conveyance of letters. In +the Talmud (_Baba Mezia,_ 83b) a proverb is quoted to this effect, "He who +can read and understand the contents of a letter, may be the deliverer +thereof." As a rule, one would prefer that the postman did not read the +correspondence he carries, and this difficulty seems to have stood in the +way of trusting letters to unknown bearers. To remove this obstacle to free +intercourse, Rabbenu Gershom issued his well-known decree, under penalty of +excommunication, against anyone who, entrusted with a letter to another, +made himself master of its contents. To the present day, in some places, +the Jewish writer writes on the outside of his letter, the abbreviation +[Hebrew: beth-cheth-daleth-resh-''-gimel], which alludes to this injunction +of Rabbenu Gershom. Again, the Sabbath was and still is a difficulty with +observant Jews. Rabbi Jose ha-Cohen is mentioned in the Talmud (_Sabbath_, +19a) as deserving of the following compliment. He never allowed a letter of +his to get into the hands of a non-Jew, for fear he might carry it on the +Sabbath, and strict laws are laid down on the subject. That Christians in +modern times entrusted their letters to Jews goes without saying, and even +in places where this is not commonly allowed, the non-Jew is employed when +the letter contains bad news. Perhaps for this reason Rabbenu Jacob Tarn +permitted divorces to be sent by post, though the controversy on the +legality of such delivery is, I believe, still undecided. + +Besides packmen, who would often be the medium by which letters were +transmitted, there was in some Jewish communities a special class that +devoted themselves to a particular branch of the profession. They made it +their business to seek out lost sons and deliver messages to them from +their anxious parents. Some later Jewish authorities, in view of the +distress that the silence of absent loved ones causes to those at home, lay +down the rule that the duty of honoring parents, the fifth commandment, +includes the task of corresponding when absent from them. These peripatetic +letter-carriers also conveyed the documents of divorce to women that would +otherwise be in the unpleasant condition of being neither married nor +single. Among the most regular and punctual of Jewish postmen may be +mentioned the bearers of begging letters and begging books. There is no +fear that _these_ will not be duly delivered. + +Our reference to letters of recommendation reminds us of an act, on the +part of a modern Rabbi, of supererogation in the path of honesty. The post +is in the hands of the Government, and, accordingly, the late Rabbi +Bamberger of Wurzburg, whenever he gave a Haskamah, or recommendation, +which would be delivered by hand, was wont to destroy a postage stamp, so +as not to defraud the Government, even in appearance. With this remarkable +instance of conscientious uprightness, we may fitly conclude this notice, +suggested as it has been by the modern improvements in the postal system, +which depend for their success so largely on the honesty of the public. + + +VIII + +THE SHAPE OF MATZOTH + +Dr. Johnson said, "It is easier to know that a cake is bad than to make a +good one." I had a tiny quantity of material which, by dint of much +rolling, I might have expanded into a broad, flat, unsubstantial whole; I +preferred, however, to make of my little piece of dough a little cake, +small and therefore less pretentious. I am afraid that even in this +concentrated form it will prove flavorless and indigestible, but the cook +must be blamed, not the material. + +I have no intention to consider the various operations connected with the +preparation of unleavened Passover cakes: the kneading, the ingredients, +the curious regulations regarding the water used, such precautions as +carefully watching the ovens. Those who are inclined to connect some of +these customs with the practices of non-Jewish peoples will find some +interesting facts on all theses topics; but what I wish to speak of now is +the shape and form of Passover cakes. + +The Christian emblems that figure in the celebration of the Eucharist, or +Lord's Supper, were probably derived from the ceremonies of the Passover +eve. The bread employed in the Eucharist is with some Christian sects +unleavened, and, indeed, leavened cakes seem to have been introduced solely +as a protest against certain so-called Judaizing tendencies. The Latin +Church still contends for the propriety of employing unleavened bread, and +from the seventh century unleavened bread was used at Rome and leavened +bread at Constantinople. From the earliest times, however, the Eucharistic +loaves were invariably round in shape, there being, indeed, a supposed +edict by Pope Zephyrinus (197-217) to that effect. It is passing strange +that Bona, an ecclesiastical writer, derived this roundness from the shape +of the coins Judas received for betraying his master. But though there is +no distinct enactment either in the Talmud or in any of the later codes as +to what the form of the Matzoth must be, these have been from time +immemorial round also. Some Minhagim are more firmly rooted than actual +laws, and this custom is one of them. In one of his cartoons, Picard has an +illustration which is apparently that of a squarish Matzah; this may, +however, be only a case of defective drawing. It is true that in Roumania +square Matzoth are used, but in the controversy raised by the introduction +of Matzah-making machines, the opponents of the change argued as though no +other than a round shape were conceivable. Kluger, for instance, never +seems to have realized that his weightiest objection to the use of the +machine would be obviated by making the Matzoth square or rectangular. When +it was first proposed to introduce Matzah machines in London, the +resistance came chiefly from the manufacturers, and not from the +ecclesiastical authorities. The bakers refused categorically to make square +Matzoth, declaring that if they did so, their stock would be unsalable. +Even to the present day no square Matzoth are baked in London; those +occasionally seen there are imported from the Continent. The ancient +Egyptians made their cakes round, and the Matzoth are regarded +Midrashically as a memorial of the food which the Egyptian masters forced +on their Israelite slaves. A round shape is apparently the simplest +symmetrical form, but beyond this I fancy that the round form of the +Passover bread is partly due to the double meaning of Uggoth Matzoth. The +word Uggoth signifies cakes baked in the sand or hot embers; but Uggah also +means a "circle." To return, however, to the Eucharistic wafers. + +A further point of identity, though only a minute detail, can be traced in +the regulation that the Eucharistic oblate from which the priest +communicated was, in the ninth century, larger than the loaves used by the +people. So the Passover cakes (Shimmurim) used by the master of the house, +and particularly the middle cake, pieces of which were distributed, were +made larger than the ordinary Matzoth. Picard (1723) curiously enough +reverses this relation, and draws the ordinary Matzoth much larger and +thicker than the Shimmurim. The ordinary Matzoth he represents as thick +oval cakes, with a single coil of large holes, which start outwards from +the centre. Picard speaks of Matzoth made in different shapes, but he gives +no details. + +In the Middle Ages, and, indeed, as early as Chrysostom (fourth century), +the Church cakes were marked with a cross, and bore various inscriptions. +In the Coptic Church, for example, the legend was "Holy! holy! holy is the +Lord of hosts." Now, in a Latin work, _Roma subterranea_, about 1650, a +statement is made which seems to imply that the Passover cakes of the Jews +were also marked with crosses. What can have led to this notion? The origin +is simple enough. The ancient Romans, as Aringhus himself writes, and as +Virgil, Horace, and Martial frequently mention, made their loaves with +cross indentations, in order to facilitate dividing them into four parts: +much as nowadays Scotch scones are baked four together, and the central +dividing lines give the fourfold scone the appearance of bearing a cross +mark. It may be that the Jews made their Passover cakes, which were thicker +than ours and harder to break, in the same way. But, besides, the small +holes and indentations that cover the surface of the modern Matzah might, +if the Matzah be held in certain positions, possibly be mistaken for a +cross. These indentations are, I should add, very ancient, being referred +to in the Talmud, and, if I may venture a suggestion, also in the Bible, I +Kings xiv. 3, and elsewhere, Nekudim being cakes punctuated with small +interstices. + +We can carry the explanation a little further. The three Matzoth Shimmurim +used in the Haggadah Service were made with especial care, and in medieval +times were denominated Priest, Levite, Israelite, in order to discriminate +among them. Picard, by an amusing blunder, speaks of a _gateau des +levites;_ he, of course, means the middle cake. From several authorities it +is clear that the three Matzoth were inscribed in some cases with these +three words, in others with the letters _Alef, Beth, Gimmel_, in order to +distinguish them. A rough _Alef_ would not look unlike a cross. Later on, +the three Matzoth were distinguished by one, two, three indentations +respectively, as in the Roman numerals; and even at the present day care is +sometimes taken, though in other ways, to prevent the Priest, Levite, and +Israelite from falling into confusion. I do not know whether the stringent +prohibition, by the _Shulchan Aruch_, of "shaped or marked cakes" for use +on Passover, may not be due to the fact that the Eucharistic cakes used by +Christians were marked with letters and symbols. Certain it is that the +prohibition of these "shaped" cakes is rather less emphatic in the Talmud +than in the later authorities, who up to a certain date are never weary of +condemning or at least discouraging the practice. The custom of using these +cakes is proved to be widespread by the very frequency of the prohibitions, +and they were certainly common in the beginning of the sixteenth century, +from which period seems to date the custom of making the Matzoth very thin, +though the thicker species has not been entirely superseded even up to the +present day. In the East the Matzoth are still made very thick and +unpalatable. They cannot be eaten as they are; they are either softened, by +being dipped in some liquid, or they are ground down to meal, and then +remade into smaller and more edible cakes. + +The Talmud mentions a "stamp" in connection with "shaped cakes," which +Buxtorf takes for _Lebkuchen_, and Levy for scalloped and fancifully-edged +cakes. The Geonim, however, explain that they were made in the forms of +birds, beasts, and fishes. I have seen Matzoth made in this way in London, +and have myself eaten many a Matzah sheep and monkey, but, unfortunately, I +cannot recollect whether it was during Passover. In Holland, these shaped +cakes are still used, but in "strict" families only before the Passover. + +Limits of space will not allow me to quote some interesting notes with +reference to Hebrew inscriptions on cakes generally, which would furnish +parallels to the Holy! holy! of the Coptic wafers. Children received such +cakes as a "specific for becoming wise." Some directions may be found in +_Sefer Raziel_ for making charm-cakes, which must have been the reverse of +charming from the unutterable names of angels written on them. One such +charm, however, published by Horwitz, I cannot refrain from mentioning, as +it is very curious and practical. It constitutes a never-failing antidote +to forgetfulness, and, for aught I know, may be quite as efficacious as +some of the quack mnemonic systems extensively advertised nowadays. + + "The following hath been tried and found reliable, and Rabbi Saadia ben + Joseph made use of it. He discovered it in the cave of Rabbi Eleazar + Kalir, and all the wise men of Israel together with their pupils applied + the remedy with excellent effect:--At the beginning of the month of Sivan + take some wheatmeal and knead it, and be sure to remain _standing._ Make + cakes and bake them, write thereon the verse, 'Memory hath He made among + His wondrous acts: gracious and merciful is the Lord.' Take an egg and + boil it hard, peel it, and write on it the names of five angels; eat such + a cake every day, for thirty days, with an egg, and thou wilt learn all + thou seest, and wilt never forget." + +The manuscript illuminated Haggadahs are replete with interest and +information. But I must avoid further observations on these manuscripts +except in so far as they illustrate my present subject. In the Haggadah the +question is asked, "Why do we eat this Matzah?" and at the words "this +Matzah" the illuminated manuscripts contain, in the great majority of +cases, representations of Matzoth. These in some instances present rather +interesting features, which may throw historical light on the archeology of +the subject. Some of these figured Matzoth are oval, one I have seen +star-shaped, but almost all are circular in form. Many, however, unlike the +modern Matzah and owing to the shape of the mould, have a broad border +distinct from the rest of the cake. The Crawford Haggadah, now in the +Ryland library, Manchester, pictures a round Matzah through which a pretty +flowered design runs. Others, again, and this I think a very ancient, as it +certainly is a very common, design, are covered with transverse lines, +which result in producing diamond-shaped spaces with a very pleasing +effect, resembling somewhat the appearance of the lattice work cakes used +in Italy and Persia, I think. The lines, unless they be mere pictorial +embellishments, are, possibly, as in the Leeds cakes, rows of indentations +resulting from the punctuation of the Matzah. In one British Museum +manuscript (Roman rite, 1482), the star and diamond shapes are combined, +the border being surrounded with small triangles, and the centre of the +cake being divided into diamond-like sections. In yet another manuscript +the Matzah has a border, divided by small lines into almost rectangular +sections, while the body of the cake is ornamented with a design in which +variously shaped figures, quadrilaterals and triangles, are irregularly +interspersed. One fanciful picture deserves special mention, as it is the +only one of the kind in all the illustrated manuscripts and printed +Haggadahs in the Oxford and British Museum libraries. This Matzah occurs in +an Italian manuscript of the fourteenth century. It is adorned with a +flowered border, and in the centre appears a human-faced quadruped of +apparently Egyptian character. + +Poetry and imagination are displayed in some of these devices, but in only +one or two cases did the artists attain high levels of picturesque +illustration. How suggestive, for instance, is the chain pattern, adopted +in a manuscript of the Michaelis Collection at Oxford. It must not be +thought that _this_ idea at least was never literally realized, for only +last year I was shown a Matzah made after a very similar design, possibly +not for use on the first two nights of Passover. The bread of affliction +recalls the Egyptian bonds, and it is an ingenious idea to bid us ourselves +turn the ancient chains to profitable use--by eating them. This expressive +design is surpassed by another, found in a beautifully-illuminated +manuscript of the fourteenth century. This Matzah bears a curious device in +the centre: it is a prison door modelled with considerable skill, but I do +not suppose that Matzoth were ever made in this fashion. + + + + +NOTES + + +"THE BOOK OF DELIGHT" + +The connection between Zabara's work and the Solomon and Marcolf legend was +first pointed out in my "Short History of Jewish Literature" (1906), p. 95. +I had long before detected the resemblance, though I was not aware of it +when I wrote an essay on Zabara in the _Jewish Quarterly Review._ To the +latter (vi, pp. 502 _et seq._) the reader is referred for bibliographical +notes, and also for details on the textual relations of the two editions of +Zabara's poem. + +A number of parallels with other folk-literatures are there indicated; +others have been added by Dr. Israel Davidson, in his edition of the "Three +Satires" (New York, 1904), which accompany the "Book of Delight" in the +Constantinople edition, and are also possibly by Zabara. + +The late Professor David Kaufmann informed me some years ago that he had a +manuscript of the poem in his possession. But, after his death, the +manuscript could not be found in his library. Should it eventually be +rediscovered, it would be desirable to have a new, carefully printed +edition of the Hebrew text of the "Book of Delight." I would gladly place +at the disposal of the editor my copy of the Constantinople edition, made +from the Oxford specimen. The Bodleian copy does not seem to be unique, as +had been supposed. + +The literature on the Solomon and Marcolf legend is extensive. The +following references may suffice. J.M. Kemble published (London, 1848) +"The Dialogue of Solomon and Saturnus," for the Aelfric Society. "Of all +the forms of the story yet preserved," says Mr. Kemble, "the Anglo-Saxon +are undoubtedly the oldest." He talks vaguely of the intermixture of +Oriental elements, but assigns a northern origin to one portion of the +story. Crimm had argued for a Hebrew souice, thinking Marcolf a name of +scorn in Hebrew. But the Hebrew Marcolis (or however one may spell it) is +simply Mercury. In the Latin version, however, Marcolf is distinctly +represented as coming from the East. William of Tyre (12th cent.) suggests +the identity of Marcolf with Abdemon, whom Josephus ("Antiquities," VIII, +v, 3) names as Hiram's Riddle-Guesser. A useful English edition is E. +Gordon Duff's "Dialogue or Communing between the Wise King Salomon and +Marcolphus" (London, 1892). Here, too, as in the Latin version, Marcolf is +a man from the Orient. Besides these books, two German works deserve +special mention. F. Vogt, in his essay entitled _Die deutschen Dichtungen +won Salomon und Markolf,_ which appeared in Halle, in 1880, also thinks +Marcolf an Eastern. Finally, as the second part of his "_Untersuchungen zur +mittelhochdeutschen Spielmannspoesie_" (Schwerin, 1894), H. Tardel +published _Zum Salman-Morolf._ Tardel is skeptical as to the Eastern +provenance of the legend. + +It has been thought that a form of this legend is referred to in the fifth +century. The _Contradictio Solomonis_, which Pope Gelasius excluded from +the sacred canon, has been identified with some version of the Marcolf +story. + + +A VISIT TO HEBRON + +The account of Hebron, given in this volume, must be read for what it was +designed to be, an impressionist sketch. The history of the site, in so far +as it has been written, must be sought in more technical books. As will be +seen from several details, my visit was paid in the month of April, just +before Passover. Things have altered in some particulars since I was there, +but there has been no essential change in the past decade. + +The Hebron Haram, or shrine over the Cave of Machpelah, is fully described +in the "Cruise of H.M.S. Bacchante, 1879-1882," ii, pp. 595-619. (Compare +"Survey of Western Palestine," iii, pp. 333-346; and the _Quarterly +Statement_ of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1882, pp. 197-214.) Colonel +Conder's account narrates the experiences of the present King of England at +the Haram in April, 1882. Dean Stanley had previously entered the Haram +with King Edward VII, in January, 1862 (see Stanley's "Sermons in the +East," 1863, pp. 141-169). A good note on the relation between these modern +narratives and David Reubeni's (dating from the early part of the sixteenth +century) was contributed by Canon Dalton to the _Quarterly Statement_, +1897, p. 53. A capital plan of the Haram is there printed. + +Mr. Adler's account of his visit to Hebron will be found in his "Jews in +Many Lands," pp. 104-111; he tells of his entry into the Haram on pp. +137-138. + +M. Lucien Gautier's work referred to is his _Souvenirs du Terre-Sainte_ +(Lausanne, 1898). The description of glass-making appears on p. 53 of that +work. + +The somewhat startling identification of the Ramet el-Khalil, near Hebron, +with the site of the altar built by Samuel in Ramah (I Sam. vii. 17) is +justified at length in Mr. Shaw Caldecott's book "The Tabernacle, its +History and Structure" (London, 1904). + + +THE SOLACE OF BOOKS (pp. 93-121) + +The opening quotation is from the Ethical Will of Judah ibn Tibbon, the +"father" of Jewish translators. The original is fully analyzed in an essay +by the present writer, in the _Jewish Quarterly Review_, iii, 453. See also +_ibidem_, p. 483. The Hebrew text was printed by Edelmann, and also by +Steinschneider; by the latter at Berlin, 1852. + +A writer much cited in this same essay, Richard of Bury, derived his name +from his birthplace, Bury St. Edmunds. "He tells us himself in his +'Philobiblon' that he used his high offices of state as a means of +collecting books. He let it be known that books were the most acceptable +presents that could be made to him" ("Dictionary of National Biography," +viii, 26). He was also a student of Hebrew, and collected grammars of that +language. Altogether his "Philobiblon" is an "admirable exhibition of the +temper of a book-lover." Written in the early part of the fourteenth +century, the "Philobiblon" was first published, at Cologne, in 1473. The +English edition cited in this essay is that published in the King's +Classics (De la More Library, ed. I. Gollancz). + +The citation from Montaigne is from his essay on the "Three Commerces" (bk. +in, ch. iii). The same passages, in Florio's rendering, will be found in +Mr. A.R. Waller's edition (Dent's Everyman's Library), in, pp. 48-50. Of +the three "Commerces" (_i.e._ societies)--Men, Women, and Books--Montaigne +proclaims that the commerce of books "is much more solid-sure and much more +ours." I have claimed Montaigne as the great-grandson of a Spanish Jew on +the authority of Mr. Waller (Introduction, p. vii). + +The paragraphs on books from the "Book of the Pious," Sec.Sec. 873-932, have been +collected (and translated into English) by the Rev. Michael Adler, in an +essay called "A Medieval Bookworm" (see _The Bookworm_, ii, 251). + +The full title of Mr. Alexander Ireland's book--so much drawn upon in this +essay--is "The Book-Lover's Enchiridion, a Treasury of Thoughts on the +Solace and Companionship of Books, Gathered from the Writings of the +Greatest Thinkers, from Cicero, Petrarch, and Montaigne, to Carlyle, +Emerson, and Ruskin" (London and New York, 1894). + +Mr. F.M. Nichols' edition of the "Letters of Erasmus" (1901) is the source +of the quotation of one of that worthy's letters. + +The final quotation comes from the Wisdom of Solomon, ch. vi. v. 12; ch. +viii. vv. 2, 16; and ch. ix. v. 4. The "radiance" of Wisdom is, in ch. vii, +26, explained in the famous words, "For she is an effulgence from +everlasting light, an unspotted mirror of the working of God, and an image +of His goodness." + + +MEDIEVAL WAYFARING + +The evidence for many of the statements in this paper will be found in +various contexts in "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," in the Hebrew travel +literature, and in such easily accessible works as Graetz's "History of the +Jews." + +Achimaaz has been much used by me. His "Book of Genealogies" (_Sefer +Yochasin_) was written in 1055. The Hebrew text was included by Dr. A. +Neubauer in his "Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles," ii, pp. 114 _et seq_. I +might have cited Achimaaz's account of an amusing incident in the synagogue +at Venosa. There had been an uproar in the Jewish quarter, and a wag added +some lines on the subject to the manuscript of the Midrash which the +travelling preacher was to read on the following Sabbath. The effect of the +reading may be imagined. + +Another source for many of my statements is a work by Julius Aronius, +_Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland,_ Berlin, 1893. It +presents many new facts on the medieval Jewries of Germany. + +The quaint story of the Jewish sailors told by Synesius is taken from T.R. +Glover's "Life and Letters in the Fourth Century" (Cambridge, 1901), p. +330. + +A careful statement on communal organization with regard to the status of +travellers and settlers was contributed by Weinberg to vol. xii of the +Breslau _Monatsschrift_. The title of the series of papers is _Die +Organisation der juedischen Gemeinden_. + +For evidence of the existence of Communal Codes, or Note-Books, see Dr. A. +Berliner's _Beitraege zur Geschichte der Raschi-Commentare_, Berlin, 1903, +p. 3. + +Benjamin of Tudela's "Itinerary" has been often edited, most recently by +the late M.N. Adler (London, 1907). Benjamin's travels occupied the years +1166 to 1171, and his narrative is at once informing and entertaining. The +motives for his extensive journeys through Europe, Asia, and Africa are +thus summed up by Mr. Adler (pp. xii, xiii): "At the time of the Crusades, +the most prosperous communities in Germany and the Jewish congregations +that lay along the route to Palestine had been exterminated or dispersed, +and even in Spain, where the Jews had enjoyed complete security for +centuries, they were being pitilessly persecuted in the Moorish kingdom of +Cordova. It is not unlikely, therefore, that Benjamin may have undertaken +his journey with the object of finding out where his expatriated brethren +might find an asylum. It will be noted that Benjamin seems to use every +effort to trace and afford particulars of independent communities of Jews, +who had chiefs of their own, and owed no allegiance to the foreigner. He +may have had trade and mercantile operations in view. He certainly dwells +on matters of commercial interest with considerable detail. Probably he was +actuated by both motives, coupled with the pious wish of making a +pilgrimage to the land of his fathers." + +For Jewish pilgrims to Palestine see Steinschneider's contribution to +Roehricht and Meisner's _Deutsche Pilgerreisen_, pp. 548-648. My statement +as to the existence of a Jewish colony at Ramleh in the eleventh century is +based on Genizah documents at Cambridge, T.S. 13 J. 1. + +For my account of the Trade Routes of the Jews in the medieval period, I am +indebted to Beazley's "Dawn of Modern Geography," p. 430. + +The Letter of Nachmanides is quoted from Dr. Schechter's "Studies in +Judaism," First Series, pp. 131 _et seq._ The text of Obadiah of +Bertinoro's letter was printed by Dr. Neubauer in the _Jahrbuch fuer die +Geschichte der Juden,_ 1863. + + +THE FOX'S HEART (pp. 159-171) + +The main story discussed in this essay is translated from the so-called +"Alphabet of Ben Sira," the edition used being Steinschneider's +(_Alphabetum Siracidis,_ Berlin, 1858). + +The original work consists of two Alphabets of Proverbs,--twenty-two in +Aramaic and twenty-two in Hebrew--and is embellished with comments and +fables. A full account of the book is given in a very able article by +Professor L. Ginzberg, "Jewish Encyclopedia," ii, p. 678. The author is not +the Ben Sira who wrote the Wisdom book in the Apocrypha, but the ascription +of it to him led to the incorporation of some legends concerning him. Dr. +Ginzberg also holds this particular Fox Fable to be a composite, and to be +derived more or less from Indian originals. + + +"MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN" + +The chief authorities to which the reader is referred are: _Midrash Rabba_, +Genesis Section 68; Leviticus Section 29; and Numbers Sections 3 and 22. +Further, _Midrash Tanchuma_, to the sections _Ki tissa, Mattoth_, and +_Vayishlach; Midrash Samuel_, ch. v; Babylonian Talmud, _Moed Katon_, 18b, +and _Sotah_, 2a. + +In Dr. W. Bacher's _Agada der Tannaiten_, ii, pp. 168-170, will be found +important notes on some of these passages. + +I have freely translated the story of Solomon's daughter from Buber's +_Tanchuma_, Introduction, p. 136. It is clearly pieced together from +several stories, too familiar to call for the citation of parallels. With +one of the incidents may be compared the device of Sindbad in his second +voyage. He binds himself to one of the feet of a rukh, _i.e._ condor, or +bearded vulture. In another adventure he attaches himself to the carcass of +a slaughtered animal, and is borne aloft by a vulture. A similar incident +may be noted in Pseudo-Ben Sira (Steinschneider, p. 5). + +Compare also Gubernatis, Zool. Myth, ii, 94. The fabulous anka was banished +as punishment for carrying off a bride. + +For the prayers based on belief in the Divine appointment of marriages, see +"Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," ch. x. + +One of the many sixteenth century Tobit dramas is _Tobie, Comedie De +Catherin Le Doux: En laquelle on void comme les marriages sont faicts au +ciel, & qu'il n'y a rien qui eschappe la providence de Dieu_ (Cassel, +1604). + + +HEBREW LOVE SONGS + +From personal observation, Dr. G.H. Dalman collected a large number of +modern Syrian songs in his _Palaestinischer Diwan_ (Leipzig, 1901). The +songs were taken down, and the melodies noted, in widely separated +districts. Judea, the Hauran, Lebanon, are all represented. Dr. Dalman +prints the Arabic text in "Latin" transliteration, and appends German +renderings. Wetzstein's earlier record of similar folk-songs appears in +Delitzsch's Commentary on Canticles--_Hohelied und Koheleth_,--1875 and +also in the _Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_, v, p. 287. Previous commentators +had sometimes held that the Song of Songs was a mere collection of detached +and independent fragments, but on the basis of Wetzstein's discoveries, +Professor Budde elaborated his theory, that the Song is a Syrian +wedding-minstrel's repertory. + +This theory will be found developed in Budde's Commentary on Canticles +(1898); it is a volume in Marti's _Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten +Testament_. An elaborate and destructive criticism of the repertory theory +may be read in Appendix ii of Mr. Andrew Harper's "Song of Solomon" (1902): +the book forms a volume in the series of the Cambridge Bible for Schools. +Harper's is a very fine work, and not the least of its merits is its +exposition of the difficulties which confront the attempt to deny unity of +plot and plan to the Biblical song. Harper also expresses a sound view as +to the connection between love-poetry and mysticism. "Sensuality and +mysticism are twin moods of the mind." The allegorical significance of the +Song of Songs goes back to the _Targum_, an English version of which has +been published by Professor H. Gollancz in his "Translations from Hebrew +and Aramaic" (1908). + +Professor J.P. Mahaffy's view on the Idylls of Theocritus may be read in +his "History of Greek Literature," ii, p. 170, and in several pages of his +"Greek Life and Thought" (see Index, _s.v._). + +The passage in which Graetz affirms the borrowing of the pastoral scheme by +the author of Canticles from Theocritus, is translated from p. 69 of +Graetz's _Schir ha-Schirim, oder das salomonische Hohelied_ (Vienna, 1871). +Though the present writer differs entirely from the opinion of Graetz on +this point, he has no hesitation in describing Graetz's Commentary as a +masterpiece of brilliant originality. + +The rival theory, that Theocritus borrowed from the Biblical Song, is +supported by Professor D.S. Margoliouth, in his "Lines of Defence of the +Biblical Revelation" (1900), pp. 2-7. He also suggests (p. 7), that +Theocritus borrowed lines 86-87 of Idyll xxiv from Isaiah xi. 6. + +The evidence from the scenery of the Song, in favor of the natural and +indigenous origin of the setting of the poem, is strikingly illustrated in +G.A. Smith's "Historical Geography of the Holy Land" (ed. 1901), pp. +310-311. The quotation from Laurence Oliphant is taken from his "Land of +Gilead" (London, 1880). + +Egyptian parallels to Canticles occur in the hieroglyphic love-poems +published by Maspero in _Etudes egyptiennes_, i, pp. 217 _et seq_., and by +Spiegelberg in _Aegyptiaca_ (contained in the Ebers _Festschrift_, pp. 177 +_et seq_.). Maspero, describing, in 1883, the affinities of Canticles to +the old Egyptian love songs, uses almost the same language as G.E. Lessing +employed in 1777, in summarizing the similarities between Canticles and +Theocritus. It will amuse the reader to see the passages side by side. + +[Transcriber's Note: In our print copy these were set in parallel columns.] + +MASPERO + + Il n'y a personne qui, en lisant la traduction de ces chants, ne soit + frappe de la ressemblance qu'ils presentent avec le Cantique des + Cantiques. Ce sont les memes facons ..., les memes images ..., les memes + comparaisons. + +LESSING + + Immo sunt qui maximam similitudinem inter Canticum Canticorum et + Theocriti Idyllia esse statuant ... quod iisdem fere videtur esse verbis, + loquendi formulis, similibus, transitu, figuris. + +If these resemblances were so very striking, then, as argued in the text of +this essay, the Idylls of Theocritus ought to resemble the Egyptian poems. +This, however, they utterly fail to do. + +For my acquaintance with the modern Greek songs I am indebted to Mr. G.F. +Abbott's "Songs of Modern Greece" (Cambridge, 1900). The Levantine +character of the melodies to Hebrew Piyyutim based on the Song of Songs is +pointed out by Mr. F.L. Cohen, in the "Jewish Encyclopedia," i, p. 294, +and iii, p. 47. + +The poem of Taubah, and the comments on it, are taken from C.J.L. Lyall's +"Translations of Ancient Arabic Poetry, chiefly prae-Islamic" (1885), P. +76. + +The Hebrew text of Moses ibn Ezra's poem--cited with reference to the +figure of love surviving the grave--may be found in Kaempf's _Zehn Makamen_ +(1858), p. 215. A German translation is given, I believe, in the same +author's _Nichtandalusische Poesie andalusischer Dichter._ + +Many Hebrew love-poems, in German renderings, are quoted in Dr. A. +Sulzbach's essay, _Die poetische Litteratur_ (second section, _Die +weltliche Poesie_), contributed to the third volume of Winter and Wunsche's +Juedische Litteratur (1876). His comments, cited in my essay, occur in that +work, p. 160. Amy Levy's renderings of some of Jehudah Halevi's love songs +are quoted by Lady Magnus in the first of her "Jewish Portraits." Dr. J. +Egers discusses Samuel ha-Nagid's "Stammering Maid" in the Graetz +_Jubelschrift_ (1877), pp. 116-126. + + +GEORGE ELIOT AND SOLOMON MAIMON + +The Autobiography of Solomon Maimon (1754-1800) was published in Berlin +(1792-3) in two parts, under the title _Salomon Maimon's Lebensgeschichte._ +Moses Mendelssohn befriended Maimon, in so far as it was possible to +befriend so wayward a personality. Maimon made real contributions to +philosophy. + +The description of Daniel Deronda's purchase of the volume is contained in +ch. xxxiii of the novel. In Holborn, Deronda came across a "second-hand +book-shop, where, on a narrow table outside, the literature of the ages was +represented in judicious mixture, from the immortal verse of Homer to the +mortal prose of the railway novel. That the mixture was judicious was +apparent from Deronda's finding in it something that he wanted--namely, +that wonderful piece of autobiography, the life of the Polish Jew, Salomon +Maimon." + +The man in temporary charge of the shop was Mordecai. This is his first +meeting with Deronda, who, after an intensely dramatic interval, "paid his +half-crown and carried off his 'Salomon Maimon's Lebensgeschichte' with a +mere 'Good Morning.'" + + +HOW MILTON PRONOUNCED HEBREW + +Milton's transliterations are printed in several editions of his poems; +the version used in this book is that given in D. Masson's "Poetical +Works of Milton," in, pp. 5-11. The notes of the late A.B. Davidson on +Milton's Hebrew knowledge are cited in the same volume by Masson (p. 483). +Landor had no high opinion of Milton as a translator. "Milton," he said, +"was never so much a regicide as when he lifted up his hand and smote +King David." But there can be no doubt of Milton's familiarity with the +original, whatever be the merit of the translations. To me, Milton's +rendering of Psalm lxxxiv seems very fine. + +The controversy between the advocates of the versions of Rous and +Barton--which led to Milton's effort--is described in Masson, ii, p. 312. + +Reuchlin's influence on the pronunciation of Hebrew in England is discussed +by Dr. S.A. Hirsch, in his "Book of Essays" (London, 1905), p. 60. Roger +Bacon, at a far earlier date, must have pronounced Hebrew in much the same +way, but he was not guilty of the monstrosity of turning the _Ayin_ into a +nasal. Bacon (as may be seen from the facsimile printed by Dr. Hirsch) left +the letter _Ayin_ unpronounced, which is by far the best course for +Westerns to adopt. + + +THE CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS + +Henry More (1614-1687) was the most important of the "Cambridge +Platonists." Several of his works deal with the Jewish Cabbala. More +recognized a "Threefold Cabbala, Literal, Philosophical, and Mystical, or +Divinely Moral." He dedicated his _Conjectura Cabbalistica_ to Cudworth, +Master of Christ's College, Cambridge, of which More was a Fellow. Cudworth +was one of those who attended the Whitehall Conference, summoned by +Cromwell in 1655 to discuss the readmission of the Jews to England. + +Platonic influence was always prevalent in mystical thought. The Cabbala +has intimate relations with neo-Platonism. + + +THE ANGLO-JEWISH YIDDISH LITERARY SOCIETY + +The question raised as to the preservation of Yiddish is not unimportant at +this juncture. It is clear that the old struggle between Hebrew and Yiddish +for predominance as the Jewish language must become more and more severe as +Hebrew advances towards general acceptance as a living language. + +Probably the struggle will end in compromise. Hebrew might become one of +the two languages spoken by Jews, irrespective of what the other language +might happen to be. + + +THE MYSTICS AND SAINTS OF INDIA + +The full title of Professor Oman's work is "The Mystics, Ascetics, and +Saints of India. A Study of Sadhuism, with an account of the Yogis, +Sanyasis, Bairagis, and other strange Hindu Sectaries" (London, 1903). + +The subject of asceticism in Judaism has of late years been more +sympathetically treated than used to be the case. The Jewish theologians of +a former generation were concerned to attack the excesses to which an +ascetic course of life may lead. This attack remains as firmly justified as +ever. But to deny a place to asceticism in the Jewish scheme, is at once to +pronounce the latter defective and do violence to fact. + +Speaking of the association of fasting with repentance, Dr. Schechter says: +"It is in conformity with this sentiment, for which there is abundant +authority both in the Scriptures and in the Talmud, that ascetic practices +tending both as a sacrifice and as a castigation of the flesh, making +relapse impossible, become a regular feature of the penitential course in +the medieval Rabbinic literature" ("Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology," +1909, PP. 339-340). + +Moreover, the fuller appreciation of the idea of saintliness, and the +higher esteem of the mystical elements in Judaism--ideas scarcely to be +divorced from asceticism--have helped to confirm the newer attitude. Here, +too, Dr. Schechter has done a real service to theology. The Second Series +of his "Studies in Judaism" contains much on this subject. What he has +written should enable future exponents of Judaism to form a more balanced +judgment on the whole matter. + +Fortunately, the newer view is not confined to any one school of Jewish +thought. The reader will find, in two addresses contained in Mr. C.G. +Montefiore's "Truth in Religion" (1906), an able attempt to weigh the value +and the danger of an ascetic view of life. It was, indeed, time that the +Jewish attitude towards so powerful a force should be reconsidered. + + +LOST PURIM JOYS + +The burning of Haman in effigy is recorded in the _Responsa_ of a Gaon +published by Professor L. Ginzberg in his "Geniza Studies" ("Geonica," ii, +pp. 1-3). He holds that the statement as to the employment of "Purim +bonfires among the Babylonian and Elamitic Jews as given in the _Aruch_ (s. +v. [Hebrew: shin-vav-vav-resh]) undoubtedly goes back to this _Responsum_." + +On Purim parodies much useful information will be found in Dr. Israel +Davidson's "Parody in Jewish Literature" (New York, 1907). See Index s.v. +Purim (p. 289). + +For a statement of the supposed connection between Purim and other spring +festivals, see Paul Haupt's "Purim" (Baltimore, 1906), and the article in +the "Encyclopaedia Biblica," cols. 3976-3983. Such theories do not account +adequately for the Book of Esther. + +Schodt _(Juedische Merkwuerdigkeiten,_ 1713, ii, p. 314) gives a sprightly +account of what seems to have been the first public performance of a Purim +play in Germany. + + +JEWS AND LETTERS + +Leopold Loew investigated the history of writing, and of the materials used +among the Jews, in his _Graphische Requisiten und Erzeugnisse bei den +Juden_ (2 vols., Leipzig, 1870-71). + +On Jewish letter-carriers in Germany, see the article of Dr. I. Kracauer in +the "Jewish Encyclopedia," viii, p. 15. The first Post-Jude is named in +1722. These Jewish letter-carriers received no salary from the Government, +but collected a fee from the recipients of the letters. + +The Talmudic _Be-Davvar_ [Hebrew: beth-yod-(maqqef)-daleth-vav-aleph-resh] +was really a Court of Justice (perhaps a Circuit Court). As, however, +_davvar_ meant a despatch-bearer, the phrase _Be-Davvar_ passed over later +into the meaning Post-Office. _Davvar_ seems connected with the root _dur,_ +"to form a circle"; the pael form _(davvar)_ would mean "to go around," +perhaps to travel with merchandise and letters. + + +THE SHAPE OF MATZOTH + +In the twentieth chapter of Proverbs v. 17, we find the maxim: + + "Bread gained by fraud is sweet to a man, + But afterwards his mouth will be filled with gravel." + +The exact point of this comparison was brought home to me when I spent a +night at Modin, the ancient home of the Maccabees. Over night I enjoyed the +hospitality of a Bedouin. In the morning I was given some native bread for +breakfast. I was very hungry, and I took a large and hasty bite at the +bread, when lo! my mouth was full of gravel. They make the bread as +follows: One person rolls the dough into a thin round cake (resembling a +Matzah), while another person places hot cinders on the ground. The cake is +put on the cinders and gravel, and an earthenware pot is spread over all, +to retain the heat. Hence the bread comes out with fragments of gravel and +cinder in it. Woe betide the hasty eater! Compare Lamentations iii. 16, "He +hath broken my teeth with gravel stones." This, then, may be the meaning of +the proverb cited at the head of this note. Bread hastily snatched, +advantages thoughtlessly or fraudulently grasped, may appear sweet in +anticipation, but eventually they fill a man's mouth with gravel. + +The quotation from Paulus Aringhus' _Roma subterranea novissima_ will be +found in vol. ii, p. 533 of the first edition (Rome, 1651). This work, +dealing mainly with the Christian sepulchres in Rome, was reprinted in +Amsterdam (1659) and Arnheim (1671), and a German translation appeared in +Arnheim in 1668. The first volume (pp. 390 _et seq._) fully describes the +Jewish tombs in Rome, and cites the Judeo-Greek inscriptions. There is much +else to interest the Jewish student in these two stately and finely +illustrated folios. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: "Betwen" was corrected to "between" in chapters III +and VII.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of Delight and Other Papers +by Israel Abrahams + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF DELIGHT *** + +This file should be named 7dlit10.txt or 7dlit10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7dlit11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7dlit10a.txt + +Produced by Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/7dlit10.zip b/old/7dlit10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..460e4a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7dlit10.zip diff --git a/old/8dlit10.txt b/old/8dlit10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e61cc21 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8dlit10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6985 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Book of Delight and Other Papers, by Israel Abrahams +#2 in our series by Israel Abrahams + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Book of Delight and Other Papers + +Author: Israel Abrahams + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9886] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 28, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF DELIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE BOOK OF DELIGHT + +AND + +OTHER PAPERS + + +BY + +ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, M.A. + +Author of "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," "Chapters on Jewish +Literature," etc. + +1912 + + + + +PREFACE + + +The chapters of this volume were almost all spoken addresses. The author +has not now changed their character as such, for it seemed to him that to +convert them into formal essays would be to rob them of any little +attraction they may possess. + +One of the addresses--that on "Medieval Wayfaring"--was originally spoken +in Hebrew, in Jerusalem. It was published, in part, in English in the +London _Jewish Chronicle_, and the author is indebted to the conductors of +that periodical for permission to include this, and other material, in the +present collection. + +Some others of the chapters have been printed before, but a considerable +proportion of the volume is quite new, and even those addresses that are +reprinted are now given in a fuller and much revised text. + +As several of the papers were intended for popular audiences, the author is +persuaded that it would ill accord with his original design to overload the +book with notes and references. These have been supplied only where +absolutely necessary, and a few additional notes are appended at the end of +the volume. + +The author realizes that the book can have little permanent value. But as +these addresses seemed to give pleasure to those who heard them, he thought +it possible that they might provide passing entertainment also to those who +are good enough to read them. + +ISRAEL ABRAHAMS + +CAMBRIDGE, ENG., September, 1911 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. "THE BOOK OF DELIGHT" + +II. A VISIT TO HEBRON + +III. THE SOLACE OF BOOKS + +IV. MEDIEVAL WAYFARING + +V. THE FOX'S HEART + +VI. "MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN" + +VII. HEBREW LOVE SONGS + +VIII. A HANDFUL OF CURIOSITIES + + i. George Eliot and Solomon Maimon + ii. How Milton Pronounced Hebrew + iii. The Cambridge Platonists + iv. The Anglo-Jewish Yiddish Literary Society + v. The Mystics and Saints of India + vi. Lost Purim Joys + vii. Jews and Letters + viii. The Shape of Matzoth + +NOTES + +INDEX + +[Transcriber's Note: Index not included in this e-text edition.] + + + + +"THE BOOK OF DELIGHT" + + +Joseph Zabara has only in recent times received the consideration justly +due to him. Yet his "Book of Delight," finished about the year 1200, is +more than a poetical romance. It is a golden link between folk-literature +and imaginative poetry. The style is original, and the framework of the +story is an altogether fresh adaptation of a famous legend. The anecdotes +and epigrams introduced incidentally also partake of this twofold quality. +The author has made them his own, yet they are mostly adapted rather than +invented. Hence, the poem is as valuable to the folklorist as to the +literary critic. For, though Zabara's compilation is similar to such +well-known models as the "Book of Sindbad," the _Kalilah ve-Dimnah_, and +others of the same class, yet its appearance in Europe is half a century +earlier than the translations by which these other products of the East +became part of the popular literature of the Western world. At the least, +then, the "Book of Delight" is an important addition to the scanty store of +the folk-lore records of the early part of the thirteenth century. The +folk-lore interest of the book is, indeed, greater than was known formerly, +for it is now recognized as a variant of the Solomon-Marcolf legend. On +this more will be said below, + +As a poet and as a writer of Hebrew, Joseph Zabara's place is equally +significant. He was one of the first to write extended narratives in Hebrew +rhymed prose with interspersed snatches of verse, the form invented by +Arabian poets, and much esteemed as the medium for story-telling and for +writing social satire. The best and best-known specimens of this form of +poetry in Hebrew are Charizi's _Tachkemoni_, and his translation of Hariri. +Zabara has less art than Charizi, and far less technical skill, yet in him +all the qualities are in the bud that Charizi's poems present in the +fullblown flower. The reader of Zabara feels that other poets will develop +his style and surpass him; the reader of Charizi knows of a surety that in +him the style has reached its climax. + +Of Joseph Zabara little is known beyond what may be gleaned from a +discriminating study of the "Book of Delight." That this romance is largely +autobiographical in fact, as it is in form, there can be no reasonable +doubt. The poet writes with so much indignant warmth of the dwellers in +certain cities, of their manner of life, their morals, and their culture, +that one can only infer that he is relating his personal experiences. +Zabara, like the hero of his romance, travelled much during the latter +portion of the twelfth century, as is known from the researches of Geiger. +He was born in Barcelona, and returned there to die. In the interval, we +find him an apt pupil of Joseph Kimchi, in Narbonne. Joseph Kimchi, the +founder of the famous Kimchi family, carried the culture of Spain to +Provence; and Joseph Zabara may have acquired from Kimchi his mastery over +Hebrew, which he writes with purity and simplicity. The difficulties +presented in some passages of the "Book of Delight" are entirely due to the +corrupt state of the text. Joseph Kimchi, who flourished in Provence from +1150 to 1170, quotes Joseph Zabara twice, with approval, in explaining +verses in Proverbs. It would thus seem that Zabara, even in his student +days, was devoted to the proverb-lore on which he draws so lavishly in his +maturer work. + +Dr. Steinschneider, to whom belongs the credit of rediscovering Zabara in +modern times, infers that the poet was a physician. There is more than +probability in the case; there is certainty. The romance is built by a +doctor; there is more talk of medicine in it than of any other topic of +discussion. Moreover, the author, who denies that he is much of a +Talmudist, accepts the compliment paid to him by his visitor, Enan, that he +is "skilled and well-informed in the science of medicine." There is, too, a +professional tone about many of the quips and gibes in which Zabara +indulges concerning doctors. Here, for instance, is an early form of a +witticism that has been attributed to many recent humorists. "A +philosopher," says Zabara, "was sick unto death, and his doctor gave him +up; yet the patient recovered. The convalescent was walking in the street +when the doctor met him. 'You come,' said he, 'from the other world.' +'Yes,' rejoined the patient, 'I come from there, and I saw there the awful +retribution that falls on doctors; for they kill their patients. Yet, do +not feel alarmed. You will not suffer. I told them on my oath that you are +no doctor.'" + +Again, in one of the poetical interludes (found only in the Constantinople +edition) occurs this very professional sneer, "A doctor and the Angel of +Death both kill, but the former charges a fee." Who but a doctor would +enter into a scathing denunciation of the current system of diagnosis, as +Zabara does in a sarcastic passage, which Erter may have imitated +unconsciously? And if further proof be needed that Zabara was a man of +science, the evidence is forthcoming; for Zabara appeals several times to +experiment in proof of his assertions. And to make assurance doubly sure, +the author informs his readers in so many words of his extensive medical +practice in his native place. + +If Zabara be the author of the other, shorter poems that accompany the +"Book of Delight" in the Constantinople edition, though they are not +incorporated into the main work, we have a further indication that Zabara +was a medical man. There is a satirical introduction against the doctors +that slay a man before his time. The author, with mock timidity, explains +that he withholds his name, lest the medical profession turn its attention +to him with fatal results. "Never send for a doctor," says the satirist, +"for one cannot expect a miracle to happen." It is important, for our +understanding of another feature in Zabara's work, to observe that his +invective, directed against the practitioners rather than the science of +medicine, is not more curious as coming from a medical man, than are the +attacks on women perpetrated by some Jewish poets (Zabara among them), who +themselves amply experienced, in their own and their community's life, the +tender and beautiful relations that subsist between Jewish mother and son, +Jewish wife and husband. + +The life of Joseph ben Meïr Zabara was not happy. He left Barcelona in +search of learning and comfort. He found the former, but the latter eluded +him. It is hard to say from the "Book of Delight" whether he was a +woman-hater, or not. On the one hand, he says many pretty things about +women. The moral of the first section of the romance is: Put your trust in +women; and the moral of the second section of the poem is: A good woman is +the best part of man. But, though this is so, Zabara does undoubtedly quote +a large number of stories full of point and sting, stories that tell of +women's wickedness and infidelity, of their weakness of intellect and +fickleness of will. His philogynist tags hardly compensate for his +misogynist satires. He runs with the hare, but hunts energetically with the +hounds. + +It is this characteristic of Zabara's method that makes it open to doubt, +whether the additional stories referred to as printed with the +Constantinople edition did really emanate from our author's pen. These +additions are sharply misogynist; the poet does not even attempt to blunt +their point. They include "The Widow's Vow" (the widow, protesting undying +constancy to her first love, eagerly weds another) and "Woman's +Contentions." In the latter, a wicked woman is denounced with the wildest +invective. She has demoniac traits; her touch is fatal. A condemned +criminal is offered his life if he will wed a wicked woman. "O King," he +cried, "slay me; for rather would I die once, than suffer many deaths every +day." Again, once a wicked woman pursued a heroic man. He met some devils. +"What are you running from?" asked they. "From a wicked woman," he +answered. The devils turned and ran away with him. + +One rather longer story may be summarized thus: Satan, disguised in human +shape, met a fugitive husband, who had left his wicked wife. Satan told him +that he was in similar case, and proposed a compact. Satan would enter into +the bodies of men, and the other, pretending to be a skilful physician, +would exorcise Satan. They would share the profits. Satan begins on the +king, and the queen engages the confederate to cure the king within three +days, for a large fee, but in case of failure the doctor is to die. Satan +refuses to come out: his real plan is to get the doctor killed in this way. +The doctor obtains a respite, and collects a large body of musicians, who +make a tremendous din. Satan trembles. "What is that noise?" he asks. "Your +wife is coming," says the doctor. Out sprang Satan and fled to the end of +the earth. + +These tales and quips, it is true, are directed against "wicked" women, but +if Zabara really wrote them, it would be difficult to acquit him of +woman-hatred, unless the stories have been misplaced, and should appear, as +part of the "Book of Delight," within the Leopard section, which rounds off +a series of unfriendly tales with a moral friendly to woman. In general, +Oriental satire directed against women must not be taken too seriously. As +Güdemann has shown, the very Jews that wrote most bitterly of women were +loud in praise of their own wives--the women whom alone they knew +intimately. Woman was the standing butt for men to hurl their darts at, and +one cannot help feeling that a good deal of the fun got its point from the +knowledge that the charges were exaggerated or untrue. You find the Jewish +satirists exhausting all their stores of drollery on the subject of +rollicking drunkenness. They roar till their sides creak over the humor of +the wine-bibber. They laugh at him and with him. They turn again and again +to the subject, which shares the empire with women in the Jewish poets. Yet +we know well enough that the writers of these Hebrew Anacreontic lyrics +were sober men, who rarely indulged in overmuch strong drink. In short, the +medieval Jewish satirists were gifted with much of what a little time ago +was foolishly styled "the new humor." Joseph Zabara was a "new" humorist. +He has the quaint subtlety of the author of the "Ingoldsby Legends," and +revelled in the exaggeration of trifles that is the stock-in-trade of the +modern funny man. Woman plays the part with the former that the +mother-in-law played a generation ago with the latter. In Zabara, again, +there is a good deal of mere rudeness, which the author seems to mistake +for cutting repartee. This, I take it, is another characteristic of the +so-called new humor. + +The probable explanation of the marked divergence between Zabara's stories +and the moral he draws from them lies, however, a little deeper. The +stories themselves are probably Indian in origin; hence they are marked by +the tone hostile to woman so characteristic of Indian folk-lore. On the +other hand, if Zabara himself was a friendly critic of woman, his own +moralizings in her favor are explained. This theory is not entirely upset +by the presence even of the additional stories, for these, too, are +translations, and Zabara cannot be held responsible for their contents. The +selection of good anecdotes was restricted in his day within very narrow +limits. + +Yet Zabara's reading must have been extensive. He knew something of +astronomy, philosophy, the science of physiognomy, music, mathematics, and +physics, and a good deal of medicine. He was familiar with Arabian +collections of proverbs and tales, for he informs his readers several times +that he is drawing on Arabic sources. He knew the "Choice of Pearls," the +Midrashic "Stories of King Solomon," the "Maxims of the Philosophers," the +"Proverbs of the Wise"; but not "Sendabar" in its Hebrew form. His +acquaintance with the language of the Bible was thorough; but he makes one +or two blunders in quoting the substance of Scriptural passages. Though he +disclaimed the title of a Talmudic scholar, he was not ignorant of the +Rabbinic literature. Everyone quotes it: the fox, the woman, Enan, and the +author. He was sufficiently at home in this literature to pun therein. He +also knew the story of Tobit, but, as he introduces it as "a most +marvellous tale," it is clear that this book of the Apocrypha was not +widely current in his day. The story, as Zabara tells it, differs +considerably from the Apocryphal version of it. The incidents are +misplaced, the story of the betrothal is disconnected from that of the +recovery of the money by Tobit, and the detail of the gallows occurs in no +other known text of the story. In one point, Zabara's version strikingly +agrees with the Hebrew and Chaldee texts of Tobit as against the Greek; +Tobit's son is not accompanied by a dog on his journey to recover his +father's long-lost treasure. + +One of the tales told by Zabara seems to imply a phenomenon of the +existence of which there is no other evidence. There seems to have been in +Spain a small class of Jews that were secret converts to Christianity. They +passed openly for Jews, but were in truth Christians. The motive for the +concealment is unexplained, and the whole passage may be merely satirical. + +It remains for me to describe the texts now extant of the "Book of +Delight." In 1865 the "Book of Delight" appeared, from a fifteenth century +manuscript in Paris, in the second volume of a Hebrew periodical called the +_Lebanon_. In the following year the late Senior Sachs wrote an +introduction to it and to two other publications, which were afterwards +issued together under the title _Yen Lebanon_ (Paris, 1866). The editor was +aware of the existence of another text, but, strange to tell, he did not +perceive the need of examining it. Had he done this, his edition would have +been greatly improved. For the Bodleian Library possesses a copy of another +edition of the "Book of Delight," undated, and without place of issue, but +printed in Constantinople, in 1577. One or two other copies of this edition +are extant elsewhere. The editor was Isaac Akrish, as we gather from a +marginal note to the version of Tobit given by Joseph Zabara. This Isaac +Akrish was a travelling bookseller, who printed interesting little books, +and hawked them about. Dr. Steinschneider points out that the date of Isaac +Akrish's edition can be approximately fixed by the type. The type is that +of the Jaabez Press, established in Constantinople and Salonica in 1560. +This Constantinople edition is not only longer than the Paris edition, it +is, on the whole, more accurate. The verbal variations between the two +editions are extremely numerous, but the greater accuracy of the +Constantinople edition shows itself in many ways. The rhymes are much +better preserved, though the Paris edition is occasionally superior in this +respect. But many passages that are quite unintelligible in the Paris +edition are clear enough in the Constantinople edition. + +The gigantic visitor of Joseph, the narrator, the latter undoubtedly the +author himself, is a strange being. Like the guide of Gil Bias on his +adventures, he is called a demon, and he glares and emits smoke and fire. +But he proves amenable to argument, and quotes the story of the +washerwoman, to show how it was that he became a reformed character. This +devil quotes the Rabbis, and is easily convinced that it is unwise for him +to wed an ignorant bride. It would seem as though Zabara were, on the one +hand, hurling a covert attack against some one who had advised him to leave +Barcelona to his own hurt, while, on the other hand, he is satirizing the +current beliefs of Jews and Christians in evil spirits. More than one +passage is decidedly anti-Christian, and it would not be surprising to find +that the framework of the romance had been adopted with polemic intention. + +The character of the framework becomes more interesting when it is realized +that Zabara derived it from some version of the legends of which King +Solomon is the hero. The king had various adventures with a being more or +less demoniac in character, who bears several names: Asmodeus, Saturn, +Marcolf, or Morolf. That the model for Zabara's visitor was Solomon's +interlocutor, is not open to doubt. The Solomon legend occurs in many +forms, but in all Marcolf (or whatever other name he bears) is a keen +contester with the king in a battle of wits. No doubt, at first Marcolf +filled a serious, respectable rôle; in course of time, his character +degenerated into that of a clown or buffoon. It is difficult to summarize +the legend, it varies so considerably in the versions. Marcolf in the +best-known forms, which are certainly older than Zabara, is "right rude and +great of body, of visage greatly misshapen and foul." Sometimes he is a +dwarf, sometimes a giant; he is never normal. He appears with his +counterpart, a sluttish wife, before Solomon, who, recognizing him as +famous for his wit and wisdom, challenges him to a trial of wisdom, +promising great rewards as the prize of victory. The two exchange a series +of questions and answers, which may be compared in spirit, though not in +actual content, with the questions and answers to be found in Zabara. +Marcolf succeeds in thoroughly tiring out the king, and though the +courtiers are for driving Marcolf off with scant courtesy, the king +interposes, fulfils his promise, and dismisses his adversary with gifts. +Marcolf leaves the court, according to one version, with the noble remark, +_Ubi non est lex, ibi non est rex_. + +This does not exhaust the story, however. In another part of the legend, to +which, again, Zabara offers parallels, Solomon, being out hunting, comes +suddenly on Marcolf's hut, and, calling upon him, receives a number of +riddling answers, which completely foil him, and tor the solution of which +he is compelled to have recourse to the proposer. He departs, however, in +good humor, desiring Marcolf to come to court the next day and bring a pail +of fresh milk and curds from the cow. Marcolf fails, and the king condemns +him to sit up all night in his company, threatening him with death in the +morning, should he fall asleep. This, of course, Marcolf does immediately, +and he snores aloud. Solomon asks, "Sleepest thou?"--And Marcolf replies, +"No, I think."--"What thinkest thou?"--"That there are as many vertebrae in +the hare's tail as in his backbone."--The king, assured that he has now +entrapped his adversary, replies: "If thou provest not this, thou diest in +the morning!" Over and over again Marcolf snores, and is awakened by +Solomon, but he is always _thinking_. He gives various answers during the +night: There are as many white feathers as black in the magpie.--There is +nothing whiter than daylight, daylight is whiter than milk.--Nothing can be +safely entrusted to a woman.--Nature is stronger than education. + +Next day Marcolf proves all his statements. Thus, he places a pan of milk +in a dark closet, and suddenly calls the king. Solomon steps into the milk, +splashes himself, and nearly falls. "Son of perdition! what does this +mean?" roars the monarch. "May it please Your Majesty," says Marcolf, +"merely to show you that milk is not whiter than daylight." That nature is +stronger than education, Marcolf proves by throwing three mice, one after +the other, before a cat trained to hold a lighted candle in its paws during +the king's supper; the cat drops the taper, and chases the mice. Marcolf +further enters into a bitter abuse of womankind, and ends by inducing +Solomon himself to join in the diatribe. When the king perceives the trick, +he turns Marcolf out of court, and eventually orders him to be hanged. One +favor is granted to him: he may select his own tree. Marcolf and his guards +traverse the valley of Jehoshaphat, pass to Jericho over Jordan, through +Arabia and the Red Sea, but "never more could Marcolf find a tree that he +would choose to hang on." By this device, Marcolf escapes from Solomon's +hands, returns home, and passes the rest of his days in peace. + +The legend, no doubt Oriental in origin, enjoyed popularity in the Middle +Ages largely because it became the frame into which could be placed +collections of proverbial lore. Hence, as happened also with the legend of +the Queen of Sheba and her riddles, the versions vary considerably as to +the actual content of the questions and answers bandied between Solomon and +Marcolf. In the German and English versions, the proverbs and wisdom are +largely Teutonic; in Zabara they are Oriental, and, in particular, Arabic. +Again, Marcolf in the French version of Mauclerc is much more completely +the reviler of woman. Mauclerc wrote almost contemporaneously with Zabara +(about 1216-1220, according to Kemble). But, on the other hand, Mauclerc +has no story, and his Marcolf is a punning clown rather than a cunning +sage. Marcolf, who is Solomon's brother in a German version, has no trust +in a woman even when dead. So, in another version, Marcolf is at once +supernaturally cunning, and extremely skeptical as to the morality and +constancy of woman. But it is unnecessary to enter into the problem more +closely. Suffice it to have established that in Zabara's "Book of Delight" +we have a hitherto unsuspected adaptation of the Solomon-Marcolf legend. +Zabara handles the legend with rare originality, and even ventures to cast +himself for the title rôle in place of the wisest of kings. + +In the summary of the book which follows, the rhymed prose of the original +Hebrew is reproduced only in one case. This form of poetry is unsuited to +the English language. What may have a strikingly pleasing effect in +Oriental speech, becomes, in English, indistinguishable from doggerel. I +have not translated at full length, but I have endeavored to render Zabara +accurately, without introducing thoughts foreign to him. + +I have not thought it necessary to give elaborate parallels to Zabara's +stories, nor to compare minutely the various details of the Marcolf legend +with Zabara's poem. On the whole, it may be said that the parallel is +general rather than specific. I am greatly mistaken, however, if the +collection of stories that follows does not prove of considerable interest +to those engaged in the tracking of fables to their native lairs. Here, in +Zabara, we have an earlier instance than was previously known in Europe, of +an intertwined series of fables and witticisms, partly Indian, partly +Greek, partly Semitic, in origin, welded together by the Hebrew poet by +means of a framework. The use of the framework by a writer in Europe in the +year 1200 is itself noteworthy. And when it is remembered what the +framework is, it becomes obvious that the "Book of Delight" occupies a +unique position in medieval literature. + + +THE GIANT GUEST + + Once on a night, I, Joseph, lay upon my bed; sleep was sweet upon me, my + one return for all my toil. Things there are which weary the soul and + rest the body, others that weary the body and rest the soul, but sleep + brings calm to the body and the soul at once.... While I slept, I dreamt; + and a gigantic but manlike figure appeared before me, rousing me from my + slumber. "Arise, thou sleeper, rouse thyself and see the wine while it is + red; come, sit thee down and eat of what I provide." It was dawn when I + hastily rose, and I saw before me wine, bread, and viands; and in the + man's hand was a lighted lamp, which cast a glare into every corner. I + said, "What are these, my master?" "My wine, my bread, my viands; come, + eat and drink with me, for I love thee as one of my mother's sons." And I + thanked him, but protested: "I cannot eat or drink till I have prayed to + the Orderer of all my ways; for Moses, the choice of the prophets, and + the head of those called, hath ordained, 'Eat not with the blood'; + therefore no son of Israel will eat until he prays for his soul, for the + blood is the soul...." + + Then said he, "Pray, if such be thy wish"; and I bathed my hands and + face, and prayed. Then I ate of all that was before me, for my soul loved + him.... Wine I would not drink, though he pressed me sore. "Wine," I + said, "blindeth the eyes, robbeth the old of wisdom and the body of + strength, it revealeth the secrets of friends, and raiseth dissension + between brothers." The man's anger was roused. "Why blasphemest thou + against wine, and bearest false witness against it? Wine bringeth joy; + sorrow and sighing fly before it. It strengtheneth the body, maketh the + heart generous, prolongeth pleasure, and deferreth age; faces it maketh + shine, and the senses it maketh bright." + + "Agreed, but let thy servant take the water first, as the ancient + physicians advise; later I will take the wine, a little, without water." + + When I had eaten and drunk with him, I asked for his name and his + purpose. "I come," said he, "from a distant land, from pleasant and + fruitful hills, my wisdom is as thine, my laws as thine, my name Enan + Hanatash, the son of Arnan ha-Desh." I was amazed at the name, unlike any + I had ever heard. "Come with me from this land, and I will tell thee all + my secret lore; leave this spot, for they know not here thy worth and thy + wisdom. I will take thee to another place, pleasant as a garden, peopled + by loving men, wise above all others." But I answered: "My lord, I cannot + go. Here are many wise and friendly; while I live, they bear me on the + wing of their love; when I die, they will make my death sweet.... I fear + thee for thy long limbs, and in thy face I see, clear-cut, the marks of + unworthiness; I fear thee, and I will not be thy companion, lest there + befall me what befell the leopard with the fox." And I told him the + story. + +In this manner, illustrative tales are introduced throughout the poem. +Zabara displays rare ingenuity in fitting the illustrations into his +framework. He proceeds: + + +THE FOX AND THE LEOPARD + + A leopard once lived in content and plenty; ever he found easy sustenance + for his wife and children. Hard by there dwelt his neighbor and friend, + the fox. The fox felt in his heart that his life was safe only so long as + the leopard could catch other prey, and he planned out a method for + ridding himself of this dangerous friendship. Before the evil cometh, say + the wise, counsel is good. "Let me move him hence," thought the fox; "I + will lead him to the paths of death; for the sages say, 'If one come to + slay thee, be beforehand with him, and slay him instead.'" Next day the + fox went to the leopard, and told him of a spot he had seen, a spot of + gardens and lilies, where fawns and does disported themselves, and + everything was fair. The leopard went with him to behold this paradise, + and rejoiced with exceeding joy. "Ah," thought the fox, "many a smile + ends in a tear." But the leopard was charmed, and wished to move to this + delightful abode; "but, first," said he, "I will go to consult my wife, + my lifelong comrade, the bride of my youth." The fox was sadly + disconcerted. Full well he knew the wisdom and the craft of the leopard's + wife. "Nay," said he, "trust not thy wife. A woman's counsel is evil and + foolish, her heart hard like marble; she is a plague in a house. Yes, ask + her advice, and do the opposite.".... The leopard told his wife that he + was resolved to go. "Beware of the fox," she exclaimed; "two small + animals there are, the craftiest they, by far--the serpent and the fox. + Hast thou not heard how the fox bound the lion and slew him with + cunning?" "How did the fox dare," asked the leopard, "to come near enough + to the lion to do it?" + +The wife than takes up the parable, and cites the incident of + + +THE FOX AND THE LION + + Then said the leopard's wife: The lion loved the fox, but the fox had no + faith in him, and plotted his death. One day the fox went to the lion + whining that a pain had seized him in the head. "I have heard," said the + fox, "that physicians prescribe for a headache, that the patient shall be + tied up hand and foot." The lion assented, and bound up the fox with a + cord. "Ah," blithely said the fox, "my pain is gone." Then the lion + loosed him. Time passed, and the lion's turn came to suffer in his head. + In sore distress he went to the fox, fast as a bird to the snare, and + exclaimed, "Bind me up, brother, that I, too, may be healed, as happened + with thee." The fox took fresh withes, and bound the lion up. Then he + went to fetch great stones, which he cast on the lion's head, and thus + crushed him. "Therefore, my dear leopard," concluded his wife, "trust not + the fox, for I fear him and his wiles. If the place he tells of be so + fair, why does not the fox take it for himself?" "Nay," said the leopard, + "thou art a silly prattler. I have often proved my friend, and there is + no dross in the silver of his love." + + +The leopard would not hearken to his wife's advice, yet he was somewhat +moved by her warning, and he told the fox of his misgiving, adding, that +his wife refused to accompany him. "Ah," replied the fox, "I fear your fate +will be like the silversmith's; let me tell you his story, and you will +know how silly it is to listen to a wife's counsel." + + +THE SILVERSMITH WHO FOLLOWED HIS WIFE'S COUNSEL + + A silversmith of Babylon, skilful in his craft, was one day at work. + "Listen to me," said his wife, "and I will make thee rich and honored. + Our lord, the king, has an only daughter, and he loves her as his life. + Fashion for her a silver image of herself, and I will bear it to her as a + gift." The statue was soon made, and the princess rejoiced at seeing it. + She gave a cloak and earrings to the artist's wife, and she showed them + to her husband in triumph. "But where is the wealth and the honor?" he + asked. "The statue was worth much more than thou hast brought." Next day + the king saw the statue in his daughter's hand, and his anger was + kindled. "Is it not ordered," he cried, "that none should make an image? + Cut off his right hand." The king's command was carried out, and daily + the smith wept, and exclaimed, "Take warning from me, ye husbands, and + obey not the voice of your wives." + + +The leopard shuddered when he heard this tale; but the fox went on: + + +THE WOODCUTTER AND THE WOMAN + + A hewer of wood in Damascus was cutting logs, and his wife sat spinning + by his side. "My departed father," she said, "was a better workman than + thou. He could chop with both hands: when the right hand was tired, he + used the left." "Nay," said he, "no woodcutter does that, he uses his + right hand, unless he be a left-handed man." "Ah, my dear," she + entreated, "try and do it as my father did." The witless wight raised his + left hand to hew the wood, but struck his right-hand thumb instead. + Without a word he took the axe and smote her on the head, and she died. + His deed was noised about; the woodcutter was seized and stoned for his + crime. Therefore, continued the fox, I say unto thee, all women are + deceivers and trappers of souls. And let me tell you more of these wily + stratagems. + + +The fox reinforces his argument by relating an episode in which a contrast +is drawn between + + +MAN'S LOVE AND WOMAN'S + + A king of the Arabs, wise and well-advised, was one day seated with his + counsellors, who were loud in the praise of women, lauding their virtues + and their wisdom. "Cut short these words," said the king. "Never since + the world began has there been a good woman. They love for their own + ends." "But," pleaded his sages, "O King, thou art hasty. Women there + are, wise and faithful and spotless, who love their husbands and tend + their children." "Then," said the king, "here is my city before you: + search it through, and find one of the good women of whom you speak." + They sought, and they found a woman, chaste and wise, fair as the moon + and bright as the sun, the wife of a wealthy trader; and the counsellors + reported about her to the king. He sent for her husband, and received him + with favor. "I have something for thy ear," said the king. "I have a good + and desirable daughter: she is my only child; I will not give her to a + king or a prince: let me find a simple, faithful man, who will love her + and hold her in esteem. Thou art such a one; thou shalt have her. But + thou art married: slay thy wife to-night, and to-morrow thou shalt wed my + daughter." "I am unworthy," pleaded the man, "to be the shepherd of thy + flock, much less the husband of thy daughter." But the king would take no + denial. "But how shall I kill my wife? For fifteen years she has eaten of + my bread and drunk of my cup. She is the joy of my heart; her love and + esteem grow day by day." "Slay her," said the king, "and be king + hereafter." He went forth from the presence, downcast and sad, thinking + over, and a little shaken by, the king's temptation. At home he saw his + wife and his two babes. "Better," he cried, "is my wife than a kingdom. + Cursed be all kings who tempt men to sip sorrow, calling it joy." The + king waited his coming in vain; and then he sent messengers to the man's + shop. When he found that the man's love had conquered his lust, he said, + with a sneer, "Thou art no man: thy heart is a woman's." + + In the evening the king summoned the woman secretly. She came, and the + king praised her beauty and her wisdom. His heart, he said, was burning + with love for her, but he could not wed another man's wife. "Slay thy + husband to-night, and tomorrow be my queen." With a smile, the woman + consented; and the king gave her a sword made of tin, for he knew the + weak mind of woman. "Strike once," he said to her; "the sword is sharp; + you need not essay a second blow." She gave her husband a choice repast, + and wine to make him drunken. As he lay asleep, she grasped the sword and + struck him on the head; and the tin bent, and he awoke. With some ado she + quieted him, and he fell asleep again. Next morning the king summoned + her, and asked whether she had obeyed his orders. "Yes," said she, "but + thou didst frustrate thine own counsel." Then the king assembled his + sages, and bade her tell all that she had attempted; and the husband, + too, was fetched, to tell his story. "Did I not tell you to cease your + praises of women?" asked the king, triumphantly. + + +IN DISPRAISE OF WOMAN + +The fox follows up these effective narratives with a lengthy string of +well-worn quotations against women, of which the following are a few: +Socrates, the wise and saintly, hated and despised them. His wife was thin +and short. They asked him, "How could a man like you choose such a woman +for your wrife?" "I chose," said Socrates, "of the evil the least possible +amount." "Why, then, do you look on beautiful women?" "Neither," said +Socrates, "from love nor from desire, but to admire the handiwork of God in +their outward form. It is within that they are foul." Once he was walking +by the way, and he saw a woman hanging from a fig-tree. "Would," said +Socrates, "that all the fruit were like this."--A nobleman built a new +house, and wrote over the door, "Let nothing evil pass this way." "Then how +does his wife go in?" asked Diogenes.--"Your enemy is dead," said one to +another. "I would rather hear that he had got married," was the reply. + +"So much," said the fox to the leopard, "I have told thee that thou mayest +know how little women are to be trusted. They deceive men in life, and +betray them in death." "But," queried the leopard, "what could my wife do +to harm me after I am dead?" "Listen," rejoined the fox, "and I will tell +thee of a deed viler than any I have narrated hitherto." + + +THE WIDOW AND HER HUSBAND'S CORPSE + + The kings of Rome, when they hanged a man, denied him burial until the + tenth day. That the friends and relatives of the victim might not steal + the body, an officer of high rank was set to watch the tree by night. If + the body was stolen, the officer was hung up in its place. A knight of + high degree once rebelled against the king, and he was hanged on a tree. + The officer on guard was startled at midnight to hear a piercing shriek + of anguish from a little distance; he mounted his horse, and rode towards + the voice, to discover the meaning. He came to an open grave, where the + common people were buried, and saw a weeping woman loud in laments for + her departed spouse. He sent her home with words of comfort, accompanying + her to the city gate. He then returned to his post. Next night the same + scene was repeated, and as the officer spoke his gentle soothings to her, + a love for him was born in her heart, and her dead husband was forgotten. + And as they spoke words of love, they neared the tree, and lo! the body + that the officer was set to watch was gone. "Begone," he said, "and I + will fly, or my life must pay the penalty of my dalliance." "Fear not, my + lord," she said, "we can raise my husband from his grave and hang him + instead of the stolen corpse." "But I fear the Prince of Death. I cannot + drag a man from his grave." "I alone will do it then," said the woman; "I + will dig him out; it is lawful to cast a dead man from the grave, to keep + a live man from being thrown in." "Alas!" cried the officer, when she had + done the fearsome deed, "the corpse I watched was bald, your husband has + thick hair; the change will be detected." "Nay," said the woman, "I will + make him bald," and she tore his hair out, with execrations, and they + hung him on the tree. But a few days passed and the pair were married. + + +And now the leopard interlude nears it close. Zabara narrates the +_dénouement_ in these terms: + + +THE LEOPARD'S FATE + + The leopard's bones rattled while he listened to this tale. Angrily he + addressed his wife, "Come, get up and follow me, or I will slay thee." + Together they went with their young ones, and the fox was their guide, + and they reached the promised place, and encamped by the waters. The fox + bade them farewell, his head laughing at his tail. Seven days were gone, + when the rains descended, and in the deep of the night the river rose and + engulfed the leopard family in their beds. "Woe is me," sighed the + leopard, "that I did not listen to my wife." And he died before his time. + + +THE JOURNEY BEGUN BY JOSEPH AND ENAN + +The author has now finished his protest against his visitor's design, to +make him join him on a roving expedition. Enan glares, and asks, "Am I a +fox, and thou a leopard, that I should fear thee?" Then his note changes, +and his tone becomes coaxing and bland. Joseph cannot resist his +fascination. Together they start, riding on their asses. Then says Enan +unto Joseph, "Carry thou me, or I will carry thee." "But," continues the +narrator, Joseph, "we were both riding on our asses. 'What dost thou mean? +Our asses carry us both. Explain thy words.'--'It is the story of the +peasant with the king's officer.'" + + +THE CLEVER GIRL AND THE KING'S DREAM + + A king with many wives dreamt that he saw a monkey among them; his face + fell, and his spirit was troubled. "This is none other," said he, "than a + foreign king, who will invade my realm, and take my harem for his spoil." + One of his officers told the king of a clever interpreter of dreams, and + the king despatched him to find out the meaning of his ominous vision. He + set forth on his mule, and met a countryman riding. "Carry me," said the + officer, "or I will carry thee." The peasant was amazed. "But our asses + carry us both," he said. "Thou tiller of the earth," said the officer, + "thou art earth, and eatest earth. There is snow on the hill," continued + the officer, and as the month was Tammuz, the peasant laughed. They + passed a road with wheat growing on each side. "A horse blind in one eye + has passed here," said the officer, "loaded with oil on one side, and + with vinegar on the other." They saw a field richly covered with + abounding corn, and the peasant praised it. "Yes," said the officer, "if + the corn is not already eaten." They went on a little further and saw a + lofty tower. "Well fortified," remarked the peasant. "Fortified without, + if not ruined within," replied the officer. A funeral passed them. "As to + this old man whom they are burying," said the officer, "I cannot tell + whether he is alive or dead." And the peasant thought his companion mad + to make such unintelligible remarks. They neared a village where the + peasant lived, and he invited the officer to stay with him overnight. + + The peasant, in the dead of the night, told his wife and daughters of the + foolish things the officer had said, though he looked quite wise. "Nay," + said the peasant's youngest daughter, a maiden of fifteen years, "the man + is no fool; thou didst not comprehend the depth of his meaning. The + tiller of the earth eats food grown from the earth. By the 'snow on the + hill' is meant thy white beard (on thy head); thou shouldst have + answered, 'Time caused it.' The horse blind in one eye he knew had + passed, because he saw that the wheat was eaten on one side of the way, + and not on the other; and as for its burden, he saw that the vinegar had + parched the dust, while the oil had not. His saying, 'Carry me, or I will + carry thee,' signifies that he who beguiles the way with stories and + proverbs and riddles, carries his companion, relieving him from the + tedium of the journey. The corn of the field you passed," continued the + girl, "was already eaten if the owner was poor, and had sold it before it + was reaped. The lofty and stately tower was in ruins within, if it was + without necessary stores. About the funeral, too, his remark was true. If + the old man left a son, he was still alive; if he was childless, he was, + indeed, dead." + + In the morning, the girl asked her father to give the officer the food + she would prepare. She gave him thirty eggs, a dish full of milk, and a + whole loaf. "Tell me," said she, "how many days old the month is; is the + moon new, and the sun at its zenith?" Her father ate two eggs, a little + of the loaf, and sipped some of the milk, and gave the rest to the + officer. "Tell thy daughter," he said, "the sun is not full, neither is + the moon, for the month is two days old." "Ah," laughed the peasant, as + he told his daughter the answers of the officer, "ah, my girl, I told you + he was a fool, for we are now in the middle of the month." "Did you eat + anything of what I gave you?" asked the girl of her father. And he told + her of the two eggs, the morsel of bread, and the sip of milk that he had + taken. "Now I know," said the girl, "of a surety that the man is very + wise." And the officer, too, felt that she was wise, and so he told her + the king's dream. She went back with him to the king, for she told the + officer that she could interpret the vision, but would do so only to the + king in person, not through a deputy. "Search thy harem," said the girl, + "and thou wilt find among thy women a man disguised in female garb." He + searched, and found that her words were true. The man was slain, and the + women, too, and the peasant's daughter became the king's sole queen, for + he never took another wife besides her. + + +THE NIGHT'S REST + +Thus Joseph and the giant Enan journey on, and they stay overnight in a +village inn. Then commences a series of semi-medical wrangles, which fill +up a large portion of the book. Joseph demands food and wine, and Enan +gives him a little of the former and none of the latter. "Be still," says +Enan, "too much food is injurious to a traveller weary from the way. But +you cannot be so very hungry, or you would fall to on the dry bread. But +wine with its exciting qualities is bad for one heated by a long day's +ride." Even their asses are starved, and Joseph remarks sarcastically, +"Tomorrow it will be, indeed, a case of carry-thou-me-or-I-thee, for our +asses will not be able to bear us." They sleep on the ground, without couch +or cover. At dawn Enan rouses him, and when he sees that his ass is still +alive, he exclaims, "Man and beast thou savest, O Lord!" The ass, by the +way, is a lineal descendant of Balaam's animal. + +They proceed, and the asses nod and bow as though they knew how to pray. +Enan weeps as they near a town. "Here," says he, "my dear friend died, a +man of wisdom and judgment. I will tell thee a little of his cleverness." + + +THE DISHONEST SINGER AND THE WEDDING ROBES + + A man once came to him crying in distress. His only daughter was + betrothed to a youth, and the bridegroom and his father came to the + bride's house on the eve of the wedding, to view her ornaments and + beautiful clothes. When the bride's parents rose next day, everything had + vanished, jewels and trousseau together. They were in despair, for they + had lavished all their possessions on their daughter. My friend + [continued Enan] went back with the man to examine the scene of the + robbery. The walls of the house were too high to scale. He found but one + place where entry was possible, a crevice in a wall in which an orange + tree grew, and its edge was covered with thorns and prickles. Next door + lived a musician, Paltiel ben Agan [or Adan] by name, and my late friend, + the judge, interviewed him, and made him strip. His body was covered with + cuts and scratches; his guilt was discovered, and the dowry returned to + the last shoe-latchet. "My son," said he, "beware of singers, for they + are mostly thieves; trust no word of theirs, for they are liars; they + dally with women, and long after other people's money. They fancy they + are clever, but they know not their left hand from their right; they + raise their hands all day and call, but know not to whom. A singer stands + at his post, raised above all other men, and he thinks he is as lofty as + his place. He constantly emits sounds, which mount to his brain, and dry + it up; hence he is so witless." + +Then Enan tells Joseph another story of his friend the judge's sagacity: + + +THE NOBLEMAN AND THE NECKLACE + + A man lived in Cordova, Jacob by name, the broker; he was a man of tried + honesty. Once a jewelled necklet was entrusted to him for sale by the + judge, the owner demanding five hundred pieces of gold as its price. + Jacob had the chain in his hand when he met a nobleman, one of the king's + intimate friends. The nobleman offered four hundred pieces for the + necklet, which Jacob refused. "Come with me to my house, and I will + consider the price," said the would-be purchaser. The Jew accompanied him + home, and the nobleman went within. Jacob waited outside the gate till + the evening, but no one came out. He passed a sleepless night with his + wife and children, and next morning returned to the nobleman. "Buy the + necklace," said he, "or return it." The nobleman denied all knowledge of + the jewels, so Jacob went to the judge. He sent for the nobles, to + address them as was his wont, and as soon as they had arrived, he said to + the thief's servant, "Take your master's shoe and go to his wife. Show + the shoe and say, Your lord bids me ask you for the necklace he bought + yesterday, as he wishes to exhibit its beauty to his friends." The wife + gave the servant the ornament, the theft was made manifest, and it was + restored to its rightful owner. + + +And Enan goes on: + +THE SON AND THE SLAVE + + A merchant of measureless wealth had an only son, who, when he grew up, + said, "Father, send me on a voyage, that I may trade and see foreign + lands, and talk with men of wisdom, to learn from their words." The + father purchased a ship, and sent him on a voyage, with much wealth and + many friends. The father was left at home with his slave, in whom he put + his trust, and who filled his son's place in position and affection. + Suddenly a pain seized him in the heart, and he died without directing + how his property was to be divided. The slave took possession of + everything; no one in the town knew whether he was the man's slave or his + son. Ten years passed, and the real son returned, with his ship laden + with wealth. As they approached the harbor, the ship was wrecked. They + had cast everything overboard, in a vain effort to save it; finally, the + crew and the passengers were all thrown into the sea. The son reached the + shore destitute, and returned to his father's house; but the slave drove + him away, denying his identity. They went before the judge. "Find the + loathly merchant's grave," he said to the slave, "and bring me the dead + man's bones. I shall burn them for his neglect to leave a will, thus + rousing strife as to his property." The slave started to obey, but the + son stayed him. "Keep all," said he, "but disturb not my father's bones." + "Thou art the son," said the judge; "take this other as thy lifelong + slave." + + +Joseph and Enan pass to the city of Tobiah. At the gate they are accosted +by an old and venerable man, to whom they explain that they have been on +the way for seven days. He invites them to his home, treats them +hospitably, and after supper tells them sweet and pleasant tales, "among +his words an incident wonderful to the highest degree." This wonderful +story is none other than a distorted version of the Book of Tobit. I have +translated this in full, and in rhymed prose, as a specimen of the +original. + + +THE STORY OF TOBIT + + Here, in the days of the saints of old, in the concourse of elders of age + untold, there lived a man upright and true, in all his doings good + fortune he knew. Rich was he and great, his eyes looked ever straight: + Tobiah, the son of Ahiah, a man of Dan, helped the poor, to each gave of + his store; whene'er one friendless died, the shroud he supplied, bore the + corpse to the grave, nor thought his money to save. The men of the place, + a sin-ruled race, slandering, cried, "O King, these Jewish knaves open + our graves! Our bones they burn, into charms to turn, health to earn." + The king angrily spoke: "I will weighten their yoke, and their villainy + repay; all the Jews who, from to-day, die in this town, to the pit take + down, to the pit hurry all, without burial. Who buries a Jew, the hour + shall rue; bitter his pang, on the gallows shall he hang." Soon a + sojourner did die, and no friends were by; but good Tobiah the corpse did + lave, and dress it for the grave. Some sinners saw the deed, to the judge + the word they gave, who Tobiah's death decreed. Forth the saint they + draw, to hang him as by law. But now they near the tree, lo! no man can + see, a blindness falls on all, and Tobiah flies their thrall. Many + friends his loss do weep, but homewards he doth creep, God's mercies to + narrate, and his own surprising fate, "Praise ye the Lord, dear friends, + for His mercy never ends, and to His servants good intends." Fear the + king distressed, his heart beat at his breast, new decrees his fear + expressed. "Whoe'er a Jew shall harm," the king cried in alarm, "touching + his person or personalty, touches the apple of my eye; let no man do this + wrong, or I'll hang him 'mid the throng, high though his rank, and his + lineage long." And well he kept his word, he punished those who erred; + but on the Jews his mercies shone, the while he rilled the throne. + + Once lay the saint at rest, and glanced upon the nest of a bird within + his room. Ah! cruel was his doom! Into his eye there went the sparrow's + excrement. Tobiah's sight was gone! He had an only son, whom thus he now + addressed: "When business ventures pressed, I passed from clime to clime. + Well I recall the time, when long I dwelt in Ind, of wealth full stores + to find. But perilous was the road, and entrusted I my load with one of + honest fame, Peër Hazeman his name. And now list, beloved son, go out and + hire thee one, thy steps forthwith to guide unto my old friend's side. I + know his love's full stream, his trust he will redeem; when heareth he my + plight, when seeth he thy sight, then will he do the right." The youth + found whom he sought, a man by travel taught, the ways of Ind he knew; he + knew them through and through, he knew them up and down, as a townsman + knows his town. He brought him to his sire, who straightway did inquire, + "Knowest thou an Indian spot, a city named Tobot?"--"Full well I know the + place, I spent a two years' space in various enterprise; its people all + are wise, and honest men and true."--"What must I give to you," asked + Tobiah of his guest," to take my son in quest?"--"Of pieces pure of + gold, full fifty must be told."--"I'll pay you that with joy; start forth + now with my boy." A script the son did write, which Tobiah did indite, + and on his son bestow a sign his friend would know. The father kissed his + son, "In peace," said he, "get gone; may God my life maintain till thou + art come again." The youth and guide to Tobot hied, and reached anon Peër + Hazeman. "Why askest thou my name?" Straight the answer came, "Tobiah is + my sire, and he doth inquire of thy health and thy household's." Then the + letter he unfolds. The contents Peër espies, every doubt flies, he + regards the token with no word spoken. "'Tis the son of my friend, who + greeting thus doth send. Is it well with him? Say."--"Well, well with him + alway."--"Then dwell thou here a while, and hours sweet beguile with the + tales which thou wilt tell of him I loved so well."--"Nay, I must + forthwith part to soothe my father's heart. I am his only trust, return + at once I must." Peër Hazeman agrees the lad to release; gives him all + his father's loan, and gifts adds of his own, raiment and two slaves. To + music's pleasant staves, the son doth homeward wend. By the shore of the + sea went the lad full of glee, and the wind blew a blast, and a fish was + upward cast. Then hastened the guide to ope the fish's side, took the + liver and the gall, for cure of evil's thrall: liver to give demons + flight, gall to restore men's sight. The youth begged his friend these + specifics to lend, then went he on his way to where his sick sire lay. + Then spake the youth to his father all the truth. "Send not away the + guide without pay." The son sought the man, through the city he ran, but + the man had disappeared. Said Tobiah, "Be not afeared, 'twas Elijah the + seer, whom God sent here to stand by our side, our needs to provide." He + bathed both his eyes with the gall of the prize, and his sight was + restored by the grace of the Lord. + + Then said he to his son, "Now God His grace has shown, dost thou not + yearn to do a deed in turn? My niece forthwith wed."--"But her husbands + three are dead, each gave up his life as each made her his wife; to her + shame and to her sorrow, they survived not to the morrow."--"Nay, a demon + is the doer of this harm to every wooer. My son, obey my wish, take the + liver of the fish, and burn it in full fume, at the door of her + room,'twill give the demon his doom." At his father's command, with his + life in his hand, the youth sought the maid, and wedded her unafraid. For + long timid hours his prayer Tobiah pours; but the incense was alight, the + demon took to flight, and safe was all the night. Long and happily wed, + their lives sweetly sped. + +Their entertainer tells Joseph and Enan another story of piety connected +with the burial of the dead: + + +THE PARALYTICS TOUCHSTONE OF VIRTUE + + Once upon a time there lived a saintly man, whose abode was on the way to + the graveyard. Every funeral passed his door, and he would ever rise and + join in the procession, and assist those engaged in the burial. In his + old age his feet were paralyzed, and he could not leave his bed; the dead + passed his doors, and he sighed that he could not rise to display his + wonted respect. Then prayed he to the Lord: "O Lord, who givest eyes to + the blind and feet to the lame, hear me from the corner of my sorrowful + bed. Grant that when a pious man is borne to his grave, I may be able to + rise to my feet." An angel's voice in a vision answered him, "Lo, thy + prayer is heard." And so, whenever a pious man was buried, he rose and + prayed for his soul. On a day, there died one who had grown old in the + world's repute, a man of excellent piety, yet the lame man could not rise + as his funeral passed. Next day died a quarrelsome fellow of ill fame for + his notorious sins, and when his body was carried past the lame man's + door, the paralytic was able to stand. Every one was amazed, for hitherto + the lame man's rising or resting had been a gauge of the departed's + virtue. Two sage men resolved to get to the bottom of the mystery. They + interviewed the wife of the fellow who had died second. The wife + confirmed the worst account of him, but added: "He had an old father, + aged one hundred years, and he honored and served him. Every day he + kissed his hand, gave him drink, stripped and dressed him when, from old + age, he could not turn himself on his couch; daily he brought ox and lamb + bones, from which he drew the marrow, and made dainty foods of it." And + the people knew that honoring his father had atoned for his + transgressions. Then the two inquisitors went to the house of the pious + man, before whom the paralytic had been unable to rise. His widow gave + him an excellent character; he was gentle and pious; prayed three times a + day, and at midnight rose and went to a special chamber to say his + prayers. No one had ever seen the room but himself, as he ever kept the + key in his bosom. The two inquisitors opened the door of this chamber, + and found a small box hidden in the window-sill; they opened the box, and + found in it a golden figure bearing a crucifix. Thus the man had been one + of those who do the deeds of Zimri, and expect the reward of Phineas. + + +TABLE TALK + +Joseph and Enan then retire to rest, and their sleep is sweet and long. By +strange and devious ways they continue their journey on the morrow, +starting at dawn. Again they pass the night at the house of one of Enan's +friends, Rabbi Judah, a ripe old sage and hospitable, who welcomes them +cordially, feeds them bountifully, gives them spiced dishes, wine of the +grape and the pomegranate, and then tells stories and proverbs "from the +books of the Arabs." + + A man said to a sage, "Thou braggest of thy wisdom, but it came from me." + "Yes," replied the sage, "and it forgot its way back."--Who is the worst + of men? He who is good in his own esteem.--Said a king to a sage, "Sweet + would be a king's reign if it lasted forever." "Had such been your + predecessor's lot," replied the wise man, "how would you have reached the + throne?"--A man laid a complaint before the king; the latter drove the + suppliant out with violence. "I entered with one complaint," sighed the + man, "I leave with two."--What is style? Be brief and do not repeat + yourself.--The king once visited a nobleman's house, and asked the + latter's son, "Whose house is better, your father's or mine?" "My + father's," said the boy, "while the king is in it."--A king put on a new + robe, which did not become him. "It is not good to wear," said a + courtier, "but it is good to put on." The king put the robe on him.--A + bore visited a sick man. "What ails thee?" he asked. "Thy presence," said + the sufferer.--A man of high lineage abused a wise man of lowly birth. + "My lineage is a blot on me," retorted a sage, "thou art a blot on thy + lineage."--To another who reviled him for his lack of noble ancestry, he + retorted, "Thy noble line ends with thee, with me mine begins."--Diogenes + and Dives were attacked by robbers. "Woe is me," said Dives, "if they + recognize me." "Woe is me," said Diogenes, "if they do not recognize + me."--A philosopher sat by the target at which the archers were shooting. + "'Tis the safest spot," said he.--An Arab's brother died. "Why did he + die?" one asked. "Because he lived," was the answer.--"What hast thou + laid up for the cold weather?" they asked a poor fellow. "Shivering," he + answered.--Death is the dread of the rich and the hope of the + poor.--Which is the best of the beasts? Woman.--Hide thy virtues as thou + hidest thy faults.--A dwarf brought a complaint to his king. "No one," + said the king, "would hurt such a pigmy." "But," retorted the dwarf, "my + injurer is smaller than I am."--A dolt sat on a stone. "Lo, a blockhead + on a block," said the passers-by.--"What prayer make you by night?" they + asked a sage. "Fear God by day, and by night you will sleep, not + pray."--Rather a wise enemy than a foolish friend.--Not everyone who + flees escapes, not everyone who begs has need.--A sage had weak eyes. + "Heal them," said they. "To see what?" he rejoined.--A fool quarrelled + with a sage. Said the former, "For every word of abuse I hear from thee, + I will retort ten." "Nay," replied the other, "for every ten words of + abuse I hear from thee, I will not retort one."--An honest man cannot + catch a thief.--All things grow with time except grief.--The character of + the sent tells the character of the sender.--What is man's best means of + concealment? Speech.--"Why walkest thou so slowly?" asked the lad of the + greybeard. "My years are a chain to my feet: and thy years are preparing + thy chain."--Do not swallow poison because you know an antidote.--The + king heard a woman at prayer. "O God," she said, "remove this king from + us." "And put a better in his stead," added the eavesdropping + monarch.--Take measure for this life as though thou wilt live forever; + prepare for the next world as though thou diest to-morrow.--"He will + die," said the doctor, but the patient recovered. "You have returned from + the other world," said the doctor when he met the man. "Yes," said the + latter, "and the doctors have a bad time there. But fear not. Thou art no + doctor."--Three things weary: a lamp that will not burn, a messenger that + dawdles, a table spread and waiting. + +Then follows a string of sayings about _threes_: + + Reason rules the body, wisdom is the pilot, law is its light. Might is + the lion's, burdens are the ox's, wisdom is man's; spinning the spider's, + building the bee's, making stores the ant's. In three cases lying is + permissible: in war, in reconciling man to man, in appeasing one's wife. + +Their host concludes his lengthy list of sententious remarks thus: + + A king had a signet ring, on which were engraved the words, "Thou hast + bored me: rise!" and when a guest stayed too long, he showed the visitor + the ring.-The heir of a wealthy man squandered his money, and a sage saw + him eating bread and salted olives. "Hadst thou thought that this would + be thy food, this would not be thy food."-Marry no widow. She will lament + her first husband's death. + + +THE CITY OF ENAN + +This was the signal for the party to retire to rest. + +Next day the wayfarers reach Enan's own city, the place he had all along +desired Joseph to see. He shows Joseph his house; but the latter replies, +"I crave food, not sight-seeing." "Surely," says Enan, "the more hurry the +less speed." At last the table is spread; the cloth is ragged, the dishes +contain unleavened bread, such as there is no pleasure in eating, and there +is a dish of herbs and vinegar. Then ensues a long wrangle, displaying much +medical knowledge, on the physiology of herbs and vegetables, on the eating +of flesh, much and fast. Enan makes sarcastic remarks on Joseph's rapacious +appetite. He tells Joseph, he must not eat this or that. A joint of lamb is +brought on the table, Enan says the head is bad, and the feet, and the +flesh, and the fat; so that Joseph has no alternative but to eat it all. "I +fear that what happened to the king, will befall thee," said Enan. "Let me +feed first," said Joseph; "then you can tell me what happened to the king." + + +THE PRINCESS AND THE ROSE + + A gardener came to his garden in the winter. It was the month of Tebet, + and he found some roses in flower. He rejoiced at seeing them; and he + plucked them, and put them on a precious dish, carried them to the king, + and placed them before him. The king was surprised, and the flowers were + goodly in his sight; and he gave the gardener one hundred pieces of gold. + Then said the king in his heart, "To-day we will make merry, and have a + feast." All his servants and faithful ministers were invited to rejoice + over the joy of the roses. And he sent for his only daughter, then with + child; and she stretched forth her hand to take a rose, and a serpent + that lay in the dish leapt at her and startled her, and she died before + night. + + +QUESTION AND ANSWER + +But Joseph's appetite was not to be stayed by such tales as this. So Enan +tells him of the "Lean Fox and the Hole"; but in vain. "Open not thy mouth +to Satan," says Joseph. "I fear for my appetite, that it become smaller"; +and goes on eating. + +Now Enan tries another tack: he will question him, and put him through his +paces. But Joseph yawns and protests that he has eaten too much to keep his +eyes open. + + "How canst thou sleep," said Enan, "when thou hast eaten everything, + fresh and stale? As I live, thou shalt not seek thy bed until I test thy + wisdom-until I prove whether all this provender has entered the stomach + of a wise man or a fool." + +Then follows an extraordinary string of anatomical, medical, scientific, +and Talmudic questions about the optic nerves; the teeth; why a man lowers +his head when thinking over things he has never known, but raises his head +when thinking over what he once knew but has forgotten; the physiology of +the digestive organs, the physiology of laughter; why a boy eats more than +a man; why it is harder to ascend a hill than to go down; why snow is +white; why babies have no teeth; why children's first set of teeth fall +out; why saddest tears are saltest; why sea water is heavier than fresh; +why hail descends in summer; why the sages said that bastards are mostly +clever. To these questions, which Enan pours out in a stream, Joseph +readily gives answers. But now Enan is hoist with his own petard. + + "I looked at him," continues the poet, "and sleep entrapped his eyes, and + his eyelids kissed the irides. Ah! I laughed in my heart. Now I will talk + to him, and puzzle him as he has been puzzling me. He shall not sleep, as + he would not let me sleep. 'My lord,' said I, 'let me now question thee.' + 'I am sleepy,' said he, 'but ask on.' 'What subject shall I choose?' I + said. 'Any subject,' he replied; 'of all knowledge I know the half.'" + Joseph asks him astronomical, musical, logical, arithmetical questions; + to all of which Enan replies, "I do not know." "But," protests Joseph, + "how couldst thou assert that thou knewest half of every subject, when it + is clear thou knowest nothing?" "Exactly," says Enan, "for Aristotle + says, 'He who says, I do not know, has already attained the half of + knowledge.'" + +But he says he knows medicine; so Joseph proceeds to question him. Soon he +discovers that Enan is again deceiving him; and he abuses Enan roundly for +his duplicity. + +Enan at length is moved to retort. + + "I wonder at thy learning," says Enan, "but more at thy appetite." Then + the lamp goes out, the servant falls asleep, and they are left in + darkness till the morning. Then Joseph demands his breakfast, and goes + out to see his ass. The ass attempts to bite Joseph, who strikes it, and + the ass speaks. "I am one of the family of Balaam's ass," says the + animal. "But I am not Balaam," says Joseph, "to divine that thou hast + eaten nothing all night." The servant asserts that he fed the ass, but + the animal had gobbled up everything, his appetite being equal to his + owner's. But Joseph will not believe this, and Enan is deeply hurt. + "Peace!" he shouts, and his eyes shoot flames, and his nostrils distil + smoke. "Peace, cease thy folly, or, as I live, and my ancestor Asmodeus, + I will seize thee with my little finger, and will show thee the city of + David." + + In timid tones Joseph asks him, "Who is this Asmodeus, thy kinsman?" + + +ENAN REVEALS HIMSELF + + "Asmodeus," said Enan, "the great prince who, on his wing, bore Solomon + from his kingdom to a distant strand." "Woe is me," I moaned, "I thought + thee a friend; now thou art a fiend. Why didst thou hide thy nature? Why + didst thou conceal thy descent? Why hast thou taken me from my home in + guile?" "Nay," said Enan, "where was thy understanding? I gave thee my + name, thou shouldst have inverted it" [i.e., transpose _Desh_ to _Shed_. + Enan at the beginning of the tale had announced himself as _ha-Desh_, he + now explains that meant _ha-Shed_ = the demon]. Then Enan gives his + pedigree: "I am Enan, the Satan, son of Arnan the Demon, son of the Place + of Death, son of Rage, son of Death's Shadow, son of Terror, son of + Trembling, son of Destruction, son of Extinction, son of Evil-name, son + of Mocking, son of Plague, son of Deceit, son of Injury, son of + Asmodeus." + +Nevertheless Enan quiets Joseph's fears, and promises that no harm shall +befall him. He goes through Enan's city, sees wizards and sorcerers, and +sinners and fools, all giants. + + +ENAN'S FRIEND AND HIS DAUGHTER + + Then Enan introduces his own especial friend. "He is good and wise," said + Enan, "despite his tall stature. He shows his goodness in hating the wise + and loving fools; he is generous, for he will give a beggar a crust of + dry bread, and make him pay for it; he knows medicine, for he can tell + that if a man is buried, he either has been sick, or has had an accident; + he knows astronomy, for he can tell that it is day when the sun shines, + and night when the stars appear; he knows arithmetic, for he can tell + that one and one make two; he knows mensuration, for he can tell how many + handbreadths his belly measures; he knows music, for he can tell the + difference between the barking of a dog and the braying of an ass." "But, + said I," continues Joseph, "how canst thou be the friend of such a one? + Accursed is he, accursed his master." "Nay," answered Enan, "I love him + not; I know his vile nature: 'tis his daughter that binds me to him, for + she, with her raven locks and dove's eyes and lily cheeks, is fair beyond + my power to praise." Yet I warned him against marrying the daughter of an + uneducated man, an Am ha-Arez. Then follows a compilation of passages + directed against ignorance. "Ah!" cries Enan, "your warning moves me. My + love for her is fled. Thou fearest God and lovest me, my friend. What is + a friend? One heart in two bodies. Then find me another wife, one who is + beautiful and good. Worse than a plague is a bad woman. Listen to what + once befell me with such a one." + +Thereupon Enan introduces the last of the stories incorporated into the +book: + + +THE WASHERWOMAN WHO DID THE DEVIL'S WORK + + Once upon a time, in my wanderings to and fro upon the earth, I came to a + city whose inhabitants dwelt together, happy, prosperous, and secure. I + made myself well acquainted with the place and the people, but, despite + all my efforts, I was unable to entrap a single one. "This is no place + for me," I said, "I had better return to my own country." I left the + city, and, journeying on, came across a river, at the brink of which I + seated myself. Scarcely had I done so, when a woman appeared bearing her + garments to be washed in the river. She looked at me, and asked, "Art + thou of the children of men or of demons?" "Well," said I, "I have grown + up among men, but I was born among demons." "But what art thou after + here?" "Ah," I replied, "I have spent a whole month in yonder city. And + what have I found? A city full of friends, enjoying every happiness in + common. In vain have I tried to put a little of wickedness among them." + Then the woman, with a supercilious air: "If I am to take thee for a + specimen, I must have a very poor opinion of the whole tribe of demons. + You seem mighty enough, but you haven't the strength of women. Stop here + and keep an eye on the wash; but mind, play me no tricks. I will go back + to the city and kindle therein fire and fury, and pour over it a spirit + of mischief, and thou shalt see how I can manage things." "Agreed!" said + I, "I will stay here and await thy coming, and watch how affairs turn out + in thy hands." + + The washerwoman departed, went into the city, called upon one of the + great families there residing, and requested to see the lady of the + house. She asked for a washing order, which she promised to execute to + the most perfect satisfaction. While the housemaid was collecting the + linen, the washerwoman lifted her eyes to the beautiful face of the + mistress, and exclaimed: "Yes, they are a dreadful lot, the men; they are + all alike, a malediction on them! The best of them is not to be trusted. + They love all women but their own wives." "What dost thou mean?" asked + the lady. "Merely this," she answered. "Coming hither from my house, whom + should I meet but thy husband making love to another woman, and such a + hideous creature, too! How he could forsake beauty so rare and exquisite + as thine for such disgusting ugliness, passes my understanding. But do + not weep, dear lady, don't distress thyself and give way. I know a means + by which I shall bring that husband of thine to his senses, so that thou + shalt suffer no reproach, and he shall never love any other woman than + thee. This is what thou must do. When thy husband comes home, speak + softly and sweetly to him; let him suspect nothing; and when he has + fallen asleep, take a sharp razor and cut off three hairs from his beard; + black or white hairs, it matters not. These thou must afterwards give to + me, and with them I will compound such a remedy that his eyes shall be + darkened in their sockets, so that he will look no more upon other lovely + women, but cling to thee alone in mighty and manifest and enduring love." + All this the lady promised, and gifts besides for the washerwoman, should + her plan prosper. + + Carrying the garments with her, the woman now sought out the lady's + husband. With every sign of distress in her voice and manner, she told + him that she had a frightful secret to divulge to him. She knew not if + she would have the strength to do so. She would rather die first The + husband was all the more eager to know, and would not be refused. "Well, + then," she said, "I have just been to thy house, where my lady, thy wife, + gave me these garments to wash; and, while I was yet standing there, a + youth, of handsome mien and nobly attired, arrived, and the two withdrew + into an adjoining room: so I inclined mine ear to listen to their speech, + and this is what I overheard: The young man said to thy wife, 'Kill thy + husband, and I will marry thee,' She, however, declared that she was + afraid to do such a dreadful deed. 'O,' answered he, 'with a little + courage it is quite easy. When thy husband is asleep, take a sharp razor + and cut his throat.'" In fierce rage, but suppressing all outward + indication of it, the husband returned home. Pretending to fall asleep, + he watched his wife closely, saw her take a razor to sever the three + hairs for the washerwoman's spell, darted up suddenly, wrested the razor + from her hands, and with it slew his wife on the spot. + + The news spread; the relations of the wife united to avenge her death, + and kill the husband. In their turn his relatives resolved to avenge him; + both houses were embroiled, and before the feud was at an end, two + hundred and thirty lives were sacrificed. The city resounded with a great + cry, the like of which had never been heard. "From that day," concluded + Enan, "I decided to injure no man more. Yet for this very reason I fear + to wed an evil woman." "Fear not," returned Joseph, "the girl I recommend + is beautiful and good." And Enan married her, and loved her. + +Thus Enan is metamorphosed from a public demon into something of a domestic +saint. Zabara gives us an inverted Faust. + + +JOSEPH RETURNS HOME TO BARCELONA + +"After a while," concludes Joseph, "I said to him, 'I have sojourned long +enough in this city, the ways of which please me not. Ignorance prevails, +and poetry is unknown; the law is despised; the young are set over the old; +they slander and are impudent. Let me go home after my many years of +wandering in a strange land. Fain would I seek the place where dwells the +great prince, Rabbi Sheshet Benveniste, of whom Wisdom says, Thou art my +teacher, and Faith, Thou art my friend.' 'What qualitie,' asked Enan, +'brought him to this lofty place of righteousness and power?' 'His +simplicity and humility, his uprightness and saintliness.'" + +And with this eulogy of the aged Rabbi of Barcelona, the poem somewhat +inconsequently ends. It may be that the author left the work without +putting in the finishing touches. This would account for the extra stories, +which, as was seen above, may belong to the book, though not incorporated +into it. + +It will be thought, from the summary mode in which I have rendered these +stories, that I take Zabara to be rather a literary curiosity than a poet. +But Zabara's poetical merits are considerable. If I have refrained from +attempting a literal rendering, it is mainly because the rhymed-prose +_genre_ is so characteristically Oriental that its charm is incommunicable +in a Western language. Hence, to those who do not read Zabara in the +original, he is more easily appreciated as a _conteur_ than as an +imaginative writer. To the Hebraist, too, something of the same remark +applies. Rhymed prose is not much more consistent with the genius of Hebrew +than it is with the genius of English. Arabic and Persian seem the only +languages in which rhymed prose assumes a natural and melodious shape. In +the new-Hebrew, rhymed prose has always been an exotic, never quite a +native flower. The most skilful gardeners failed to acclimatize it +thoroughly in European soil. Yet Zabara's humor, his fluent simplicity, his +easy mastery over Hebrew, his invention, his occasional gleams of fancy, +his gift of satire, his unfailing charm, combine to give his poem some +right to the title by which he called it--"The Book of Delight." + + + + +A VISIT TO HEBRON + + +Of a land where every stone has its story, it can hardly be asserted that +any one place has a fuller tale to tell than another. But Hebron has a +peculiar old-world charm as the home of the founder of the Hebrew race. +Moreover, one's youthful imagination associates Hebron with the giants, the +sons of Anak, sons, that is, of the long neck; men of Arba, with broad, +square shoulders. A sight of the place itself revives this memory. Ancient +Hebron stood higher than the present city, but as things now are, though +the hills of Judea reach their greatest elevation in the neighborhood, +Hebron itself rests in a valley. Most towns in Palestine are built on +hills, but Hebron lies low. Yet the surrounding hills are thirty-two +hundred feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and five hundred feet +higher than Mount Olivet. For this reason Hebron is ideally placed for +conveying an impression of the mountainous character of Judea. In Jerusalem +you are twenty-six hundred feet above the sea, but, being high up, you +scarcely realize that you are in a mountain city. The hills about Hebron +tower loftily above you, and seem a fitting abode for the giants whom +Joshua and Caleb overthrew. + +Hebron, from yet another point of view, recalls its old-world associations. +Not only is Hebron one of the oldest cities in the world still inhabited, +but it has been far less changed by Western influences than other famous +places. Hebron is almost entirely unaffected by Christian influence. In the +East, Christian influence more or less means European influence, but Hebron +is still completely Oriental. It is a pity that modern travellers no longer +follow the ancient route which passed from Egypt along the coast to Gaza, +and then struck eastwards to Hebron. By this route, the traveller would +come upon Judea in its least modernized aspect. He would find in Hebron a +city without a hotel, and unblessed by an office of the Monarch of the +East, Mr. Cook. There are no modern schools in Hebron; the only institution +of the kind, the Mildmay Mission School, had scarcely any pupils at the +time of my visit. This is but another indication of the slight effect that +European forces are producing; the most useful, so far, has been the +medical mission of the United Free Church of Scotland. But Hebron has been +little receptive of the educational and sanitary boons that are the chief +good--and it is a great good--derived from the European missions in the +East. I am almost reluctant to tell the truth, as I must, of Hebron, and +point out the pitiful plight of our brethren there, lest, perchance, some +philanthropists set about mending the evil, to the loss of the +primitiveness in which Hebron at present revels. This is the pity of it. +When you employ a modern broom to sweep away the dirt of an ancient city, +your are apt to remove something else as well as the dirt. + +Besides its low situation and its primitiveness, Hebron has a third +peculiarity. Go where one may in Judea, the ancient places, even when still +inhabited, wear a ruined look. Zion itself is scarcely an exception. +Despite its fifty thousand inhabitants, Jerusalem has a decayed appearance, +for the newest buildings often look like ruins. The cause of this is that +many structures are planned on a bigger scale than can be executed, and +thus are left permanently unfinished, or like the windmill of Sir Moses are +disused from their very birth. Hebron, in this respect again, is unlike the +other cities of Judea. It had few big buildings, hence it has few big +ruins. There are some houses of two stories in which the upper part has +never been completed, but the houses are mostly of one story, with +partially flat and partially domed roofs. The domes are the result both of +necessity and design; of necessity, because of the scarcity of large beams +for rafters; of design, because the dome enables the rain to collect in a +groove, or channel, whence it sinks into a reservoir. + +Hebron, then, produces a favorable impression on the whole. It is green and +living, its hills are clad with vines, with plantations of olives, +pomegranates, figs, quinces, and apricots. Nowhere in Judea, except in the +Jordan valley, is there such an abundance of water. In the neighborhood of +Hebron, there are twenty-five springs, ten large perennial wells, and +several splendid pools. Still, as when the huge cluster was borne on two +men's shoulders from Eshkol, the best vines of Palestine grow in and around +Hebron. The only large structure in the city, the mosque which surmounts +the Cave of Machpelah, is in excellent repair, especially since 1894-5, +when the Jewish lads from the _Alliance_ school of Jerusalem renewed the +iron gates within, and supplied fresh rails to the so-called sarcophagi of +the Patriarchs. The ancient masonry built round the cave by King Herod, the +stones of which exactly resemble the masonry of the Wailing Place in +Jerusalem, still stands in its massive strength. + +I have said that Hebron ought to be approached from the South or West. The +modern traveller, however, reaches it from the North. You leave Jerusalem +by the Jaffa gate, called by the Mohammedans Bab el-Khalil, _i.e._ Hebron +gate. The Mohammedans call Hebron el-Khalil, City of the Friend of God, a +title applied to Abraham both in Jewish and Mohammedan tradition. Some, +indeed, derive the name Hebron from Chaber, comrade or friend; but Hebron +may mean "confederation of cities," just as its other name, Kiriath-arba, +may possibly mean Tetrapolis. The distance from Jerusalem to Hebron depends +upon the views of the traveller. You can easily get to Hebron in four hours +and a half by the new carriage road, but the distance, though less than +twenty miles, took me fourteen hours, from five in the morning till seven +at night. Most travellers turn aside to the left to see the Pools of +Solomon, and the grave of Rachel lies on the right of the highroad itself. +It is a modern building with a dome, and the most affecting thing is the +rough-hewn block of stone worn smooth by the lips of weeping women. On the +opposite side of the road is Tekoah, the birthplace of Amos; before you +reach it, five miles more to the north, you get a fine glimpse also of +Bethlehem, the White City, cleanest of Judean settlements. Travellers tell +you that the rest of the road is uninteresting. I did not find it so. For +the motive of my journey was just to see those "uninteresting" sites, +Beth-zur, where Judas Maccabeus won such a victory that he was able to +rededicate the Temple, and Beth-zacharias, through whose broad valley-roads +the Syrian elephants wound their heavy way, to drive Judas back on his +precarious base at the capital. + +It is somewhat curious that this indifference to the Maccabean sites is not +restricted to Christian tourists. For, though several Jewish travellers +passed from Jerusalem to Hebron in the Middle Ages, none of them mentions +the Maccabean sites, none of them spares a tear or a cheer for Judas +Maccabeus. They were probably absorbed in the memory of the Patriarchs and +of King David, the other and older names identified with this district. +Medieval fancy, besides, was too busy with peopling Hebron with myths to +waste itself on sober facts. Hebron, according to a very old notion, was +the place where Adam and Eve lived after their expulsion from Eden; it was +from Hebron's red earth that the first man was made. The _Pirke di Rabbi +Eliezer_ relate, that when the three angels visited Abraham, and he went to +get a lamb for their meal, the animal fled into a cave. Abraham followed +it, and saw Adam and Eve lying asleep, with lamps burning by their tombs, +and a sweet savor, as of incense, emanating from the dead father and mother +of human-kind. Abraham conceived a love for the Cave, and hence desired it +for Sarah's resting-place. + +I suppose that some will hold, that we are not on surer historical ground +when we come to the Biblical statement that connects Abraham with Hebron. +Before arguing whether Abraham lived in Hebron, and was buried in +Machpelah, one ought to prove that Abraham ever lived at all, to be buried +anywhere. But I shall venture to take Abraham's real existence for granted, +as I am not one of those who think that a statement must be false because +it is made in the Book of Genesis. That there was a very ancient shrine in +Hebron, that the great Tree of Mamre was the abode of a local deity, may be +conceded, but to my mind there is no more real figure in history than +Abraham. Especially when one compares the modern legends with the Biblical +story does the substantial truth of the narrative in Genesis manifest +itself. The narrative may contain elements of folk poetry, but the hero +Abraham is a genuine personality. + +As I have mentioned the tree, it may be as well to add at once that +Abraham's Oak is still shown at Hebron, and one can well imagine how it was +thought that this magnificent terebinth dated from Bible times. A few years +ago it was a fresh, vigorous giant, but now it is quite decayed. The ruin +began in 1853, when a large branch was broken off by the weight of the +snow. Twelve years ago the Russian Archimandrite of Jerusalem purchased the +land on which the tree stands, and naturally he took much care of the +relic. In fact, he took too much care, for some people think that the low +wall which the Russians erected as a safeguard round the Oak, has been the +cause of the rapid decay that has since set in. Year by year the branches +have dropped off, the snow and the lightning have had their victims. It is +said that only two or three years ago one branch towards the East was still +living, but when I saw it, the trunk was bare and bark-less, full of little +worm-holes, and quite without a spark of vitality. The last remaining +fragment has since fallen, and now the site of the tree is only marked by +the row of young cypresses which have been planted in a circle round the +base of the Oak of Mamre. But who shall prophesy that, a century hence, a +tree will not have acquired sufficient size and antiquity to be foisted +upon uncritical pilgrims as the veritable tree under which Father Abraham +dwelt! + +The Jewish tradition does not quite agree with the view that identified +this old tree with Mamre. According to Jewish tradition, the Tree is at the +ruins of Ramet el-Khalil, the High Place of the Friend, _i.e._ of Abraham, +about two miles nearer Jerusalem. Mr. Shaw Caldecott has propounded the +theory that this site is Samuel's Ramah, and that the vast ruins of a +stone-walled enclosure here represent the enclosure within which Samuel's +altar stood. The Talmud has it that Abraham erected a guest-house for the +entertainment of strangers near the Grove of Mamre. There were doors on +every side, so that the traveller found a welcome from whichever direction +he came. There our father made the name of God proclaimed at the mouth of +all wayfarers. How? After they had eaten and refreshed themselves, they +rose to thank him. Abraham answered, "Was the food mine? It is the bounty +of the Creator of the Universe." Then they praised, glorified, and blessed +Him who spake and the world was. + +We are on the road now near Hebron, but, before entering, let us recall a +few incidents in its history. After the Patriarchal age, Hebron was noted +as the possession of Caleb. It also figures as a priestly city and as one +of the cities of refuge. David passed much of his life here, and, after +Saul's death, Hebron was the seat of David's rule over Judea. Abner was +slain here by Joab, and was buried here--they still show Abner's tomb in +the garden of a large house within the city. By the pool at Hebron were +slain the murderers of Ishbosheth, and here Absalom assumed the throne. +After his time we hear less of Hebron. Jerusalem overshadowed it in +importance, yet we have one or two mentions. Rehoboam strengthened the +town, and from a stray reference in Nehemiah, we gather that the place long +continued to be called by its older name of Kiriath Arba. For a long period +after the return from the Exile Hebron belonged to the Idumeans. It was the +scene of warfare in the Maccabean period, and also during the rebellion +against Rome. In the market-place at Hebron, Hadrian sold numbers of Jewish +slaves after the fall of Bar-Cochba, in 135 C.E. In the twelfth century +Hebron was in the hands of the Christian Crusaders. The fief of Hebron, or, +as it was called, of Saint Abraham, extended southwards to Beer-sheba. A +bishopric was founded there in 1169, but was abandoned twenty years later. + +We hear of many pilgrims in the Middle Ages. The Christians used to eat +some of the red earth of Hebron, the earth from which Adam was made. On +Sunday the seventeenth of October, 1165, Maimonides was in Hebron, passing +the city on his way from Jerusalem to Cairo. Obadiah of Bertinoro, in 1488, +took Hebron on the reverse route. He went from Egypt across the desert to +Gaza, and, though he travelled all day, did not reach Hebron from Gaza till +the second morning. If the text is correct, David Reubeni was four days in +traversing the same road, a distance of about thirty-three miles. To revert +to an earlier time, Nachmanides very probably visited Hebron. Indeed, his +grave is shown to the visitor. But this report is inaccurate. He wrote to +his son, in 1267, from Jerusalem, "Now I intend to go to Hebron, to the +sepulchre of our ancestors, to prostrate myself, and there to dig my +grave." But he must have altered his mind in the last-named particular, for +his tomb is most probably in Acre. + +I need not go through the list of distinguished visitors to Hebron. Suffice +it to say that in the fourteenth century there was a large and flourishing +community of Jews in the town; they were weavers and dyers of cotton stuffs +and glass-makers, and the Rabbi was often himself a shepherd in the literal +sense, teaching the Torah while at work in the fields. He must have felt +embarrassed sometimes between his devotion to his metaphorical and to his +literal flock. When I was at Moza, I was talking over some Biblical texts +with Mr. David Yellin, who was with me. The colonists endured this for a +while, but at last they broke into open complaint. One of the colonists +said to me: "It is true that the Mishnah forbids you to turn aside from the +Torah to admire a tree, but you have come all the way from Europe to admire +my trees. Leave the Torah alone for the present." I felt that he was right, +and wondered how the Shepherd Rabbis of Hebron managed in similar +circumstances. + +In the century of which I am speaking, the Hebron community consisted +entirely of Sefardim, and it was not till the sixteenth century that +Ashkenazim settled there in large numbers. I have already mentioned the +visit of David Reubeni. He was in Hebron in 1523, when he entered the Cave +of Machpelah on March tenth, at noon. It is of interest to note that his +account of the Cave agrees fully with that of Conder. It is now quite +certain that he was really there in person, and his narrative was not made +up at second hand. The visit of Reubeni, as well as Sabbatai Zebi's, gave +new vogue to the place. When Sabbatai was there, a little before the year +1666, the Jews were awake and up all night, so as not to lose an instant of +the sacred intercourse with the Messiah. But the journey to Hebron was not +popular till our own days. It was too dangerous, the Hebron natives +enjoying a fine reputation for ferocity and brigandage. An anonymous Hebrew +writer writes from Jerusalem in 1495, that a few days before a Jew from +Hebron had been waylaid and robbed. But he adds: "I hear that on Passover +some Jews are coming here from Egypt and Damascus, with the intention of +also visiting Hebron. I shall go with them, if I am still alive." + +In Baedeker, Hebron is still given a bad character, the Muslims of the +place being called fanatical and violent. I cannot confirm this verdict. +The children throw stones at you, but they take good care not to hit. As I +have already pointed out, Hebron is completely non-Christian, just as +Bethlehem is completely non-Mohammedan. The Crescent is very disinclined to +admit the Cross into Hebron, the abode of Abraham, a name far more honored +by Jews and Mohammedans than by Christians. + +It is not quite just to call the Hebronites fanatical and sullen; they +really only desire to hold Hebron as their own. "Hebron for the Hebronites" +is their cry. The road, at all events, is quite safe. One of the surprises +of Palestine is the huge traffic along the main roads. Orientals not only +make a great bustle about what they do, but they really are very busy +people. Along the roads you meet masses of passengers, people on foot, on +mules and horses, on camels, in wheeled vehicles. You come across groups of +pilgrims, with one mule to the party, carrying the party's goods, the +children always barefooted and bareheaded--the latter fact making you +realize how the little boy in the Bible story falling sick in the field +exclaimed "My head, my head!" Besides the pilgrims, there are the bearers +of goods and produce. You see donkeys carrying large stones for building, +one stone over each saddle. If you are as lucky as I was, you may see a +runaway camel along the Hebron road, scouring alone at break-neck speed, +with laughter-producing gait. + +Of Hebron itself I saw little as I entered, because I arrived towards +sunset, and only had time to notice that everyone in the streets carried a +lantern. In Jerusalem only the women carry lights, but in Hebron men had +them as well. I wondered where I was to pass the night. Three friends had +accompanied me from Jerusalem, and they told me not to worry, as we could +stay at the Jewish doctor's. It seemed to me a cool piece of impudence to +billet a party on a man whose name had been previously unknown to me, but +the result proved that they were right. The doctor welcomed us right +heartily; he said that it was a joy to entertain us. Now it was that one +saw the advantages of the Oriental architecture. The chief room in an +Eastern house is surrounded on three sides by a wide stone or wooden divan, +which, in wealthy houses, is richly upholstered. The Hebron doctor was not +rich, but there was the same divan covered with a bit of chintz. On it one +made one's bed, hard, it is true, but yet a bed. You always take your rugs +with you for covering at night, you put your portmanteau under your head as +a pillow, and there you are! You may rely upon one thing. People who, on +their return from Palestine, tell you that they had a comfortable trip, +have seen nothing of the real life of the country. To do that you must +rough it, as I did both at Modin and at Hebron. To return to the latter. +The rooms have stone floors and vaulted roofs, the children walk about with +wooden shoes, and the pitter-patter makes a pleasant music. They throw off +the shoes as they enter the room. My host had been in Hebron for six years, +and he told me overnight what I observed for myself next day, that, +considering the fearful conditions under which the children live, there is +comparatively little sickness. As for providing meals, a genuine communism +prevails. You produce your food, your host adds his store, and you partake +in common of the feast to which both sides contribute. After a good long +talk, I got to sleep easily, thinking, as I dozed off, that I should pass a +pleasant night. I had become impervious to the mosquitoes, but there was +something else which I had forgotten. Was it a dream, an awful nightmare, +or had a sudden descent of Bedouins occurred? Gradually I was awakened by a +noise as of wild beasts let loose, howls of rage and calls to battle. It +was only the dogs. In Jerusalem I had never heard them, as the Jewish hotel +was then well out of the town; it has since been moved nearer in. It is +impossible to convey a sense of the terrifying effect produced by one's +first experience of the night orgies of Oriental dogs, it curdles your +blood to recall it. Seen by daytime, the dogs are harmless enough, as they +go about their scavenger work among the heaps of refuse and filth. But by +night they are howling demons, stampeding about the streets in mad groups, +barking to and at each other, whining piteously one moment, roaring +hoarsely and snapping fiercely another. + +The dogs did me one service, they made me get up early. I walked through a +bluish-gray atmosphere. Colors in Judea are bright, yet there is always an +effect as of a thin gauze veil over them. I went, then, into the streets, +and at five o'clock the sun was high, and the bustle of the place had +begun. The air was keen and fresh, and many were already abroad. I saw some +camels start for Jerusalem, laden with straw mats made in Hebron. + +Next went some asses carrying poultry for the Holy City, then a family +caravan with its inevitable harem of closely veiled women. Then I saw a man +with tools for hewing stone, camels coming into Hebron, a boy with a large +petroleum can going to fetch water,--they are abandoning the use of the +olden picturesque stone pitchers,--then I saw asses loaded with vine twigs, +one with lime, women with black dresses and long white veils, boys with +bent backs carrying iron stones. I saw, too, some Bethlehemite Christians +hurrying home to the traditional site of the nativity. You can always +distinguish these, for they are the only Christians in Palestine that wear +turbans habitually. And all over the landscape dominated the beautiful +green hills, fresh with the morning dew, a dew so thick that I had what I +had not expected, a real morning bath. I was soaked quite wet by the time I +returned from my solitary stroll. I had a capital breakfast, for which we +supplied the solids, and our host the coffee. Butter is a luxury which we +neither expected nor got. Hebron, none the less, seemed to me a Paradise, +and I applauded the legend that locates Adam and Eve in this spot. + +Alas! I had not yet seen Hebron. The doctor lived on the outskirts near the +highroad, where there are many fine and beautiful residences. I was soon to +enter the streets and receive a rude awakening, when I saw the manner in +which the fifteen hundred Jews of Hebron live. Hebron is a ghetto in a +garden; it is worse than even Jerusalem, Jerusalem being clean in +comparison. Dirty, dark, narrow, vaulted, unevenly paved, running with +liquid slime--such are the streets of Hebron. You are constantly in danger +of slipping, unless you wear the flat, heel-less Eastern shoes, and, if you +once fell, not all the perfumes of Araby could make you sweet again. + +I should say that, before starting on my round, I had to secure the +attendance of soldiers. Not that it was necessary, but they utilize +Baedeker's assertion, that the people are savage, to get fees out of +visitors--a cunning manner of turning the enemy's libels to profitable +account. I hired two soldiers, but one by one others joined my train, so +that by the time my tour was over, I had a whole regiment of guardians, all +demanding baksheesh. I would only deal with the leader, a ragged warrior +with two daggers, a sword, and a rifle. "How much?" I asked. "We usually +ask a napoleon (_i.e._ 20 francs) for an escort, but we will charge you +only ten francs." I turned to the doctor and asked him, "How much?" "Give +them a beslik between them," he said. A beslik is only five pence. I +offered it in trepidation, but the sum satisfied the whole gang, who +thanked me profusely. + +First I visited the prison, a sort of open air cage, in which about a dozen +men were smoking cigarettes. The prison was much nicer than the Mohammedan +school close by. This was a small overcrowded room, with no window in it, +the little boys sitting on the ground, swaying with a sleepy chant. The +teacher's only function was represented by his huge cane, which he plied +often and skilfully. Outside the door was a barber shaving a pilgrim's +head. The pilgrim was a Muslim, going on the Haj to Mecca. These pilgrims +are looked on with mingled feelings; their piety is admired, but also +distrusted. A local saying is, "If thy neighbor has been on the Haj, beware +of him; if he has been twice, have no dealings with him; if he has been +thrice, move into another street." After the pilgrim, I passed a number of +blind weavers, working before large wooden frames. + +But now for the Jewish quarter. This is entered by a low wooden door, at +which we had to knock and then stoop to get in. The Jews are no longer +forced to have this door, but they retain it voluntarily. Having got in, we +were in a street so dark that we could not see a foot before us, but we +kept moving, and soon came to a slightly better place, where the sun crept +through in fitful gleams. The oldest synagogue was entered first. Its +flooring was of marble squares, its roof vaulted, and its Ark looked north +towards Jerusalem. There were, as so often in the East, two Arks; when one +is too small, they do not enlarge it, but build another. The Sefardic +Talmud Torah is a small room without window or ventilation, the only light +and air enter by the door. The children were huddled together on an +elevated wooden platform. They could read Hebrew fluently, and most of them +spoke Arabic. The German children speak Yiddish; the custom of using Hebrew +as a living language has not spread here so much as in Jaffa and the +colonies. The Beth ha-Midrash for older children was a little better +equipped; it had a stone floor, but the pupils reclined on couches round +the walls. They learn very little of what we should call secular subjects. +I examined the store of manuscripts, but Professor Schechter had been +before me, and there was nothing left but modern Cabbalistic literature. +The other synagogue is small, and very bare of ornament. The Rabbi was +seated there, "learning," with great Tefillin and Tallith on--a fine, +simple, benevolent soul. To my surprise he spoke English, and turned out to +be none other than Rachmim Joseph Franco, who, as long ago as 1851, when +the earthquake devastated the Jewish quarter, had been sent from Rhodes to +collect relief funds. He was very ailing, and I could not have a long +conversation with him, but he told me that he had known my father, who was +then a boy, in London. Then I entered a typical Jewish dwelling of the +poor. It consisted of a single room, opening on to the dark street, and had +a tiny barred window at the other side. On the left was a broad bed, on the +right a rude cooking stove and a big water pitcher. There was nothing else +in the room, except a deep stagnant mud pool, which filled the centre of +the floor. + +Next door they were baking Matzoth in an oven fed by a wood fire. It was a +few days before Passover. The Matzoth were coarse, and had none of the +little holes with which we are familiar. So through streets within streets, +dirt within dirt, room over room, in hopeless intricacy. Then we were +brought to a standstill, a man was coming down the street with a bundle of +wood, and we had to wait till he had gone by, the streets being too narrow +for two persons to pass each other. Another street was impassable for a +different reason, there was quite a river of flowing mud, knee deep. I +asked for a boat, but a man standing by hoisted me on his shoulders, and +carried me across, himself wading through it with the same unconcern as the +boys and girls were wallowing in it, playing and amusing themselves. How +alike children are all the world over! + +And yet, with it all, Hebron is a healthy place. There is little of the +intermittent fever prevalent in other parts of Palestine; illness is +common, but not in a bad form. Jerusalem is far more unhealthy, because of +the lack of water. But the Jews of Hebron are miserably poor. How they live +is a mystery. They are not allowed to own land, even if they could acquire +it. There was once a little business to be done in lending money to the +Arabs, but as the Government refuses to help in the collection of debts, +this trade is not flourishing, and a good thing, too. There are, of course, +some industries. First there is the wine. I saw nothing of the vintage, as +my visit was in the spring, but I tasted the product and found it good. The +Arab vine-owners sell the grapes to Jews, who extract the juice. Still +there is room for enterprise here, and it is regrettable that few seem to +think of Hebron when planning the regeneration of Judea. True, I should +regret the loss of primitiveness here, as I said at the outset, but when +the lives of men are concerned, esthetics must go to the wall. The Jewish +quarter was enlarged in 1875, but it is still inadequate. The Society +Lemaan Zion has done a little to introduce modern education, but neither +the Alliance nor the Anglo-Jewish Association has a school here. Lack of +means prevents the necessary efforts from being made. Most deplorable is +the fact connected with the hospital. In a beautiful sunlit road above the +mosque, amid olive groves, is the Jewish hospital, ready for use, +well-built, but though the very beds were there when T saw it, no patients +could be received, as there were no funds. The Jewish doctor was doing a +wonderful work. He had exiled himself from civilized life, as we Westerns +understand it; his children had no school to which to go; he felt himself +stagnating, without intellectual intercourse with his equals, yet active, +kindly, uncomplaining--one of those everyday martyrs whom one meets so +often among the Jews of Judea, men who day by day see their ambitions +vanishing under the weight of a crushing duty. It was sad to see how he +lingered over the farewell when I left him. I said that his house had +seemed an oasis in the desert to me, that I could never forget the time +spent with him. "And what of me?" he answered. "Your visit has been an +oasis in the desert to me, but you go and the desert remains." Surely, the +saddest thing in life is this feeling that one's own uninteresting, +commonplace self should mean so much to others. I call it sad, because so +few of us realize what we may mean to others, being so absorbed in our +selfish thought of what others mean to us. + +There are two industries in Hebron besides the vintage. It supplies most of +the skin-bottles used in Judea, and a good deal of glassware, including +lamps, is manufactured there. The Hebron tannery is a picturesque place, +but no Jews are employed in it. Each bottle is made from an entire +goat-skin, from which only the head and feet are removed. The lower +extremities are sewn up, and the neck is drawn together to form the neck of +the water bottle. Some trade is also done here in wool, which the Arabs +bring in and sell at the market held every Friday. In ancient times the +sheep used in the Temple sacrifices were obtained from Hebron. Besides the +tannery, the glass factories are worth a visit. The one which I saw was in +a cavern, lit only by the glow of the central furnace. Seated round the +hearth (I am following Gautier's faithful description of the scene) and +served by two or three boys, were about ten workmen, making many-colored +bracelets and glass rings, which varied in size from small finger rings to +circlets through which you could easily put your arm. The workmen are +provided with two metal rods and a pair of small tongs, and they ply these +primitive instruments with wonderful dexterity. They work very hard, at +least fifteen hours a day, for five days a week. + +This is one of the curiosities of the East. Either the men there are +loafers, or they work with extraordinary vigor. There is nothing between +doing too much and doing nothing. The same thing strikes one at Jaffa. The +porters who carry your baggage from the landing stage to the steamer do +more work than three English dock laborers. They carry terrific weights. +When a family moves, a porter carries all the furniture on his back. Yet +side by side with these overworked men, Jaffa is crowded with idlers, who +do absolutely nothing. Such are the contrasts of the surprising Orient. + +Many of the beads and rosaries taken to Europe by pious pilgrims are made +in Hebron, just as the mother of pearl relics come chiefly from Bethlehem, +where are made also the tobacco-jars of Dead Sea stone. Hebron does a fair +trade with the Bedouins, but on the whole it is quite unprogressive. At +first sight this may seem rather an unpleasant fact for lovers of peace. +Hebron has for many centuries been absolutely free from the ravages of war, +yet it stagnates. Peace is clearly not enough for progress. As the +Rabbinical phrase well puts it, "Peace is the vessel which holds all other +good"--without peace this other good is spilt, but peace is after all the +containing vessel, not the content of happiness. + +I have left out, in the preceding narrative, the visit paid to the Haram +erected over the Cave of Machpelah. The mosque is an imposing structure, +and rises above the houses on the hill to the left as you enter from +Jerusalem. The walls of the enclosure and of the mosque are from time to +time whitewashed, so that the general appearance is somewhat dazzling. It +has already been mentioned that certain repairs were effected in 1894-5. +The work was done by the lads of the Technical School in Jerusalem; they +made an iron gate for Joseph's tomb,--the Moslems believe that Joseph is +buried in Hebron,--and they made one gate for Abraham's tomb, one gate and +three window gratings for Isaac's tomb, and one gate and two window +gratings for Rebekah's tomb. This iron work, it is satisfactory to +remember, was rendered possible by the splendid machinery sent out to the +school from London by the Anglo-Jewish Association. The ordinary Jewish +visitor is not allowed to enter the enclosure at all. I was stopped at the +steps, where the custodian audaciously demanded a tip for not letting me +in. The tombs within are not the real tombs of the Patriarchs; they are +merely late erections over the spots where the Patriarchs lie buried. + +No one has ever doubted that Machpelah is actually at this site, but the +building is, of course, not Patriarchal in age. The enclosure is as old as +the Wailing Wall at Jerusalem. It belongs to the age of Herod; we see the +same cyclopean stones, with the same surface draftings as at Jerusalem. Why +Herod built this edifice seems clear. Hebron was the centre of Idumean +influence, and Herod was an Idumean. He had a family interest in the place, +and hence sought to beautify it. No Jew or Christian can enter the +enclosure except by special iradé; even Sir Moses Montefiore was refused +the privilege. Rather, one should say, the Moslem authorities wished to let +Sir Moses in, but they were prevented by the mob from carrying out their +amiable intentions. The late English King Edward VII and the present King +George V were privileged to enter the structure. Mr. Elkan Adler got in at +the time when the _Alliance_ workmen were repairing the gates, but there is +nothing to see of any interest. No one within historical times has +penetrated below the mosque, to the cavern itself. We still do not know +whether it is called Machpelah because the Cave is double vertically or +double horizontally. + +The outside is much more interesting than the inside. Half way up the steps +leading into the mosque, there is a small hole or window at which many Jews +pray, and into which, it is said, all sorts of things, including letters to +the Patriarchs, are thrown, especially by women. In the Middle Ages, they +spread at this hole a tender calf, some venison pasties, and some red +pottage, every day, in honor of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the food was +eaten by the poor. It is commonly reported, though I failed to obtain any +local confirmation of the assertion, that the Jews still write their names +and their requests on strips of paper and thrust them into this hole. The +Moslems let down a lamp through the hole, and also cast money into it, +which is afterwards picked up by little boys as it is required for the +purposes of the mosque and for repairing the numerous tombs of prophets and +saints with which Hebron abounds. If you were to believe the local +traditions, no corpses were left for other cemeteries. The truth is that +much obscurity exists as to the identity even of modern tombs, for Hebron +preserves its old custom, and none of the Jewish tombs to this day bear +epitaphs. What a mass of posthumous hypocrisy would the world be spared if +the Hebron custom were prevalent everywhere! But it is obvious that the +method lends itself to inventiveness, and as the tombs are unnamed, local +guides tell you anything they choose about them, and you do not believe +them even when they are speaking the truth. + +There is only one other fact to tell about the Cave. The Moslems have a +curious dread of Isaac and Rebekah, they regard the other Patriarchs as +kindly disposed, but Isaac is irritable, and Rebekah malicious. It is told +of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, he who "feared neither man nor devil," that when +he was let down into the Cave by a rope, he surprised Rebekah in the act of +combing her hair. She resented the intrusion, and gave him so severe a box +on the ears that he fell down in a fit, and could be rescued alive only +with much difficulty. It is with equal difficulty that one can depart, with +any reverence left, from the mass of legend and childishness with which one +is crushed in such places. One escapes with the thought of the real +Abraham, his glorious service to humanity, his lifelong devotion to the +making of souls, to the spread of the knowledge of God. One recalls the +Abraham who, in the Jewish tradition, is the type of unselfishness, of +watchfulness on behalf of his descendants, the marks of whose genuine +relationship to the Patriarch are a generous eye and a humble spirit. As +one turns from Hebron, full of such happy memories, one forms the resolve +not to rely solely on an appeal to the Patriarch's merits, but to strive to +do something oneself for the Jewish cause, and thus fulfil the poet's +lines, + + Thus shalt thou plant a garden round the tomb, + Where golden hopes may flower, and fruits immortal bloom. + + + + +THE SOLACE OF BOOKS + + +In the year 1190, Judah ibn Tibbon, a famous Provençal Jew, who had +migrated to Southern France from Granada, wrote in Hebrew as follows to his +son: + +"Avoid bad society: make thy books thy companions. Let thy bookcases and +shelves be thy gardens and pleasure grounds. Pluck the fruit that grows +therein; gather the roses, the spices, and the myrrh. If thy soul be +satiate and weary, change from garden to garden, from furrow to furrow, +from scene to scene. Then shall thy desire renew itself, and thy soul be +rich with manifold delight." + +In this beautiful comparison of a library to a garden, there is one point +missing. The perfection of enjoyment is reached when the library, or at +least a portable part of it, is actually carried into the garden. When +Lightfoot was residing at Ashley (Staffordshire), he followed this course, +as we know from a letter of his biographer. "There he built himself a small +house in the midst of a garden, containing two rooms below, viz. a study +and a withdrawing room, and a lodging chamber above; and there he studied +hard, and laid the foundations of his Rabbinic learning, and took great +delight, lodging there often, though [quaintly adds John Stype] he was then +a married man." Montaigne, whose great-grandfather, be it recalled, was a +Spanish Jew, did not possess a library built in the open air, but he had +the next best thing. He used the top story of a tower, whence, says he, "I +behold under me my garden." + +In ancient Athens, philosophers thought out their grandest ideas walking up +and down their groves. Nature sobers us. "When I behold Thy heavens, the +work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained; what +is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest +him?" But if nature sobers, she also consoles. As the Psalmist continues: +"Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels, and crownest him with +glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy +hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet." Face to face with nature, +man realizes that he is greater than she. "On earth there is nothing great +but man, in man there is nothing great but mind." So, no doubt, the +Athenian sages gained courage as well as modesty from the contact of mind +with nature. And not they only, for our own Jewish treasure, the Mishnah, +grew up, if not literally, at least metaphorically, in the open air, in the +vineyard of Jamnia. Standing in the sordid little village which to-day +occupies the site of ancient Jamnia, with the sea close at hand and the +plain of Sharon and the Judean lowlands at my feet, I could see Rabbi +Jochanan ben Zakkai and his comrades pacing to and fro, pondering those +great thoughts which live among us now, though the authors of them have +been in their graves for eighteen centuries. + +It is curious how often this habit of movement goes with thinking. +Montaigne says: "Every place of retirement requires a Walk. My thoughts +sleep if I sit still; my Fancy does not go by itself, as it goes when my +Legs move it." What Montaigne seems to mean is that we love rhythm. Body +and mind must move together in harmony. So it is with the Mohammedan over +the Koran, and the Rabbi over the Talmud. Jews sway at prayer for the same +reason. Movement of the body is not a mere mannerism; it is part of the +emotion, like the instrumental accompaniment to a song. The child cons his +lesson moving; we foolishly call it "fidgeting." The child is never +receptive unless also active. But there is another of Montaigne's feelings, +with which I have no sympathy. He loved to think when on the move, but his +walk must be solitary. "'Tis here," he says of his library, "I am in my +kingdom, and I endeavor to make myself an absolute monarch. So I sequester +this one corner from all society--conjugal, filial, civil." This is a +detestable habit. It is the acme of selfishness, to shut yourself up with +your books. To write over your study door "Let no one enter here!" is to +proclaim your work divorced from life. Montaigne gloried in the +inaccessibility of his asylum. His house was perched upon an "overpeering +hillock," so that in any part of it--still more in the round room of the +tower--he could "the better seclude myself from company, and keep +encroachers from me." Yet some may work best when there are others beside +them. From the book the reader turns to the child that prattles near, and +realizes how much more the child can ask than the book can answer. The +presence of the young living soul corrects the vanity of the dead old +pedant. Books are most solacing when the limitations of bookish wisdom are +perceived. "Literature," said Matthew Arnold, "is a criticism of life." +This is true, despite the objections of Saintsbury, but I venture to add +that "life is a criticism of literature." + +Now, I am not going to convert a paper on the Solace of Books into a paper +in dispraise of books. I shall not be so untrue to my theme. But I give +fair warning that I shall make no attempt to scale the height or sound the +depth of the intellectual phases of this great subject. I invite my reader +only to dally desultorily on the gentler slopes of sentiment. + +One of the most comforting qualities of books has been well expressed by +Richard of Bury in his famous Philobiblon, written in 1344. This is an +exquisite little volume on the Love of Books, which Mr. Israel Gollancz has +now edited in an exquisite edition, attainable for the sum of one shilling. +"How safely," says Richard, "we lay bare the poverty of human ignorance to +books, without feeling any shame." + +Then he goes on to describe books as those silent teachers who "instruct us +without rods or stripes; without taunts or anger; without gifts or money; +who are not asleep when we approach them, and do not deny us when we +question them; who do not chide us when we err, or laugh at us if we are +ignorant." + +It is Richard of Bury's last phrase that I find so solacing. No one is ever +ashamed of turning to a book, but many hesitate to admit their ignorance to +an interlocutor. Your dictionary, your encyclopedia, and your other books, +are the recipients of many a silent confession of nescience which you would +never dream of making auricular. You go to these "golden pots in which +manna is stored," and extract food exactly to your passing taste, without +needing to admit, as Esau did to Jacob, that you are hungry unto death. +This comparison of books to food is of itself solacing, for there is always +something attractive in metaphors drawn from the delights of the table. The +metaphor is very old. + +"Open thy mouth," said the Lord to Ezekiel, "and eat that which I give +thee. And when I looked, a hand was put forth unto me, and, lo, a scroll of +a book was therein.... Then I did eat it, and it was in my mouth as honey +for sweetness." + +What a quaint use does Richard of Bury make of this very passage! +Addressing the clergy, he says "Eat the book with Ezekiel, that the belly +of your memory may be sweetened within, and thus, as with the panther +refreshed, to whose breath all beasts and cattle long to approach, the +sweet savor of the spices it has eaten may shed a perfume without." + +Willing enough would I be to devote the whole of my paper to Richard of +Bury. I must, however, content myself with one other noble extract, which, +I hope, will whet my reader's appetite for more: "Moses, the gentlest of +men, teaches us to make bookcases most neatly, wherein they [books] may be +protected from any injury. Take, he says, this book of the Law and put it +in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God. O fitting +place and appropriate for a library, which was made of imperishable shittim +[i.e. acacia] wood, and was covered within and without with gold." + +Still we must not push this idea of costly bookcases too far. Judah the +Pious wrote in the twelfth century, "Books were made for use, not to be +hidden away." This reminds me that Richard of Bury is not the only medieval +book-lover with whom we might spend a pleasant evening. Judah ben Samuel +Sir Leon, surnamed the Pious, whom I have just quoted, wrote the "Book of +the Pious" in Hebrew, in 1190, and it has many excellent paragraphs about +books. Judah's subject is, however, the care of books rather than the +solace derivable from them. Still, he comes into my theme, for few people +can have enjoyed books more than he. He had no selfish love for them: he +not only possessed books, he lent them. He was a very prince of +book-lenders, for he did not object if the borrowers of his books re-lent +them in their turn. So, on dying, he advised his sons to lend his books +even to an enemy (par. 876). "If a father dies," he says elsewhere (par. +919), "and leaves a dog and a book to his sons, one shall not say to the +other, You take the dog, and I'll take the book," as though the two were +comparable in value. Poor, primitive Judah the Pious! We wiser moderns +should never dream of making the comparison between a dog and a book, but +for the opposite reason. Judah shrank from equalling a book to a dog, but +we know better than to undervalue a dog so far as to compare it with a +book. The kennel costs more than the bookcase, and love of dogs is a higher +solace than love of books. To those who think thus, what more convincing +condemnation of books could be formulated than the phrase coined by Gilbert +de Porre in praise of his library, "It is a garden of immortal fruits, +without dog or dragon." + +I meant to part with Richard of Bury, but I must ask permission to revert +to him. Some of the delight he felt in books arose from his preference of +reading to oral intercourse. "The truth in speech perishes with the sound: +it is patent to the ear only and eludes the sight: begins and perishes as +it were in a breath." Personally I share this view, and I believe firmly +that the written word brings more pleasure than the spoken word. + +Plato held the opposite view. He would have agreed with the advice given by +Chesterfield to his son, "Lay aside the best book when you can go into the +best company--depend upon it you change for the better." Plato did, indeed, +characterize books as "immortal sons deifying their sires." But, on the +opposite side, he has that memorable passage, part of which I now quote, +from the same source that has supplied several others of my quotations, Mr. +Alexander Ireland's "Book-Lover's Enchiridion." "Writing," says Plato, "has +this terrible disadvantage, which puts it on the same footing with +painting. The artist's productions stand before you, as if they were alive: +but if you ask them anything, they keep a solemn silence. Just so with +written discourse: you would fancy it full of the thoughts it speaks: but +if you ask it something that you want to know about what is said, it looks +at you always with the same one sign. And, once committed to writing, +discourse is tossed about everywhere indiscriminately, among those who +understand and those to whom it is naught, and who cannot select the fit +from the unfit." Plato further complains, adds Mr. Martineau, that "Theuth, +the inventor of letters, had ruined men's memories and living command of +their knowledge, by inducing a lazy trust in records ready to their hand: +and he limits the benefit of the _litera scripta_ to the compensation it +provides for the failing memory of old age, when reading naturally becomes +the great solace of life.... Plato's tone is invariably depreciatory of +everything committed to writing, with the exception of laws." + +This was also the early Rabbinical view, for while the Law might, nay, +must, be written, the rest of the tradition was to be orally confided. The +oral book was the specialty of the Rabbinical schools. We moderns, who are +to the ancients, in Rabbinic phrase, as asses to angels in intellect, +cannot rely upon oral teaching--our memory is too weak to bear the strain. +Even when a student attends an oral lecture, he proves my point, because he +takes notes. + +The ideal lies, as usual, in a compromise. Reading profits most when, +beside the book, you have some one with whom to talk about the book. If +that some one be the author of the book, good; if it be your teacher, +better; if it be a fellow-student, better still; if it be members of your +family circle, best of all. The teacher has only succeeded when he feels +that his students can do without him, can use their books by themselves and +for themselves. But personal intercourse in studies between equals is never +obsolete. "Provide thyself with a fellow-student," said the Rabbi. +Friendship made over a book is fast, enduring; this friendship is the great +solace. How much we Jews have lost in modern times in having given up the +old habit of reading good books together in the family circle! Religious +literature thus had a halo of home about it, and the halo never faded +throughout life. From the pages of the book in after years the father's +loving voice still spoke to his child. But when it comes to the author, I +have doubts whether it be at all good to have him near you when you read +his book. You may take an unfair advantage of him, and reject his book, +because you find the writer personally antipathetic. Or he may take an +unfair advantage of you, and control you by his personal fascination. You +remember the critic of Demosthenes, who remarked to him of a certain +oration, "When I first read your speech, I was convinced, just as the +Athenians were; but when I read it again, I saw through its fallacies." +"Yes," rejoined Demosthenes, "but the Athenians heard it only once." A book +you read more than once: for you possess only what you understand. I do not +doubt that the best readers are those who move least in literary circles, +who are unprejudiced one way or the other by their personal likes or +dislikes of literary men. How detestable are personal paragraphs about +authors--often, alas! autobiographical titbits. We expect a little more +reticence: we expect the author to say what he has to say in his book, and +not in his talks about his book and himself. We expect him to express +himself and suppress himself. "Respect the books," says Judah the Pious, +"or you show disrespect to the writer." No, not to the writer, but to the +soul whose progeny the book is, to the living intellect that bred it, in +Milton's noble phrase, to "an Immortality rather than a life." "Many a +man," he says, "lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the +precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on +purpose to a life beyond life." + +It is a sober truth that, of the books we chiefly love, we know least about +the authors. Perpetrating probably the only joke in his great Bodleian +Catalogue, Dr. Steinschneider enters the Bible under the heading _Anonyma_. +We are nowadays so concerned to know whether Moses or another wrote the +Pentateuch, that we neglect the Pentateuch as though _no one_ had ever +written it. What do we know about the personality of Shakespeare? Perhaps +we are happy in our ignorance. "Sometimes," said Jonathan Swift, "I read a +book with pleasure and detest the author." Most of us would say the same of +Jonathan Swift himself, and all of us, I think, share R.L. Stevenson's +resentment against a book with the portrait of a living author, and in a +heightened degree against an English translation of an ancient Hebrew +classic with the translator's portrait. Sometimes such a translator _is_ +the author; his rendering, at all events, is not the classic. A certain +Fidentinus once stole the work of the Roman poet Martial, and read it out +to the assembly as his own; whereupon Martial wrote this epigram, + + The book you read is, Fidentinus, mine, + Tho' read so badly, it well may pass for thine. + +But even apart from such bad taste as the aforementioned translator's, I do +not like to see portraits of living authors in their books. The author of a +good book becomes your intimate, but it is the author as you know him from +his book, not as you see him in the flesh or on a silver print. I quote +Stevenson again: "When you have read, you carry away with you a memory of +the man himself; it is as though you had touched a loyal hand, looked into +brave eyes, and made a noble friend; there is another bond on you +thenceforward, binding you to life and to the love of virtue." + +This line of thought leads me to the further remark, that some part of +the solace derived from books has changed its character since the art of +printing was invented. In former times the personality, if not of the +author, at all events of the scribe, pressed itself perforce upon the +reader. The reader had before him, not necessarily an autograph, but at +all events a manuscript. Printing has suppressed this individuality, and +the change is not all for the better. The evil consists in this, that +whereas of old a book, being handwritten, was clearly recognized as the +work of some one's hand, it now assumes, being printed, an impersonal +importance, which may be beyond its deserts. Especially is this the case +with what we may term religious authorities; we are now apt to forget +that behind the authority there stands simply--the author. It is +instructive to contrast the customary method of citing two great +codifiers of Jewish law--Maimonides and Joseph Caro. Caro lived in the +age of printing, and the _Shulchan Aruch_ was the first great Jewish +book composed after the printing-press was in operation. The result has +been, that the _Shulchan Aruch_ has become an impersonal authority, +rarely cited by the author's name, while the _Mishneh Torah_ is mostly +referred to as the Rambam, _i.e._ Maimonides. + +For all that, printing has been a gain, even from the point of view at +which I have just arrived. Not only has it demolished the barrier which the +scribe's personality interposed between author and reader, but, by +increasing the number of readers, it has added to the solace of each. For +the solace of books is never selfish--the book-miser is never the +book-lover, nor does the mere collector of rarities and preciosities +deserve that name, for the one hoards, but does not own; the other serves +Mammon, not God. The modern cheapening of books--the immediate result of +printing--not only extends culture, it intensifies culture. Your joy in a +book is truest when the book is cheapest, when you know that it is, or +might be, in the hands of thousands of others, who go with you in the +throng towards the same divine joy. + +These sentiments are clearly those of a Philistine. The fate of that last +word, by the way, is curious. The Philistines, Mr. Macalistcr discovered +when excavating Gezer, were the only artistic people in Palestine! Using +the term, however, in the sense to which Matthew Arnold gave vogue, I am a +Philistine in taste, I suppose, for I never can bring myself nowadays to +buy a second-hand book. For dusty old tomes, I go to the public library; +but my own private books must be sweet and clean. There are many who prefer +old copies, who revel in the inscribed names of former owners, and prize +their marginal annotations. If there be some special sentimental +associations connected with these factors, if the books be heirlooms, and +the annotations come from a vanished, but beloved, hand, then the old book +becomes an old love. But in most cases these things seem to me the defects +of youth, not the virtues of age; for they are usually too recent to be +venerable, though they are just old enough to disfigure. Let my books be +young, fresh, and fragrant in their virgin purity, unspotted from the +world. If my copy is to be soiled, I want to do all the soiling myself. It +is very different with a manuscript, which cannot be too old or too dowdy. +These are its graces. Dr. Neubauer once said to me, "I take no interest in +a girl who has seen more than seventeen years, nor in a manuscript that has +seen less than seven hundred." Alonzo of Aragon was wont to say in +commendation of age, that "age appeared to be best in four things: old wood +to burn; old wine to drink; old friends to trust; and old authors to read." + +This, however, is not my present point, for I have too much consideration +for my readers to attempt to embroil them in the old "battle of the books" +that raged round the silly question whether the ancients or the moderns +wrote better. I am discussing the age, not of the author, but of the copy. +As a critic, as an admirer of old printing, as an archeologist, I feel +regard for the _editio princeps_, but as a lover I prefer the cheap +reprint. Old manuscripts certainly have their charm, but they must have +been written at least before the invention of printing. Otherwise a +manuscript is an anachronism--it recalls too readily the editorial +"declined with thanks." At best, the autograph original of a modern work is +a literary curiosity, it reveals the author's mechanism, not his mind. But +old manuscripts are in a different case; their age has increased their +charm, mellowed and confirmed their graces, whether they be canonical +books, which "defile the hand" in the Rabbinical sense, or Genizah-grimed +fragments, which soil the fingers more literally. And when the dust of ages +is removed, these old-world relics renew their youth, and stand forth as +witnesses to Israel's unshakable devotion to his heritage. + +I have confessed to one Philistine habit; let me plead guilty to another. I +prefer to read a book rather than hear a lecture, because in the case of +the book I can turn to the last page first. I do like to know before I +start whether _he_ marries _her_ in the end or not. You cannot do this with +a spoken discourse, for you have to wait the lecturer's pleasure, and may +discover to your chagrin, not only that the end is very long in coming, but +that when it does come, it is of such a nature that, had you foreseen it, +you would certainly not have been present at the beginning. The real +interest of a love story is its process: though you may read the +consummation first, you are still anxious as to the course of the +courtship. But, in sober earnest, those people err who censure readers for +trying to peep at the last page first. For this much-abused habit has a +deep significance when applied to life. You will remember the ritual rule, +"It is the custom of all Israel for the reader of the Scroll of Esther to +read and spread out the Scroll like a letter, to make the miracle visible." +I remember hearing a sermon just before Purim, in Vienna, and the Jewish +preacher gave an admirable homiletic explanation of this rule. He pointed +out that in the story of Esther the fate of the Jews has very dark moments, +destruction faces them, and hope is remote. But in the end? In the end all +goes well. Now, by spreading out the Megillah in folds, displaying the end +with the beginning, "the miracle is made visible." Once Lord Salisbury, +when some timid Englishmen regarded the approach of the Russians to India +as a menace, told his countrymen to use large-scale maps, for these would +convince them that the Russians were not so near India after all. We Jews +suffer from the same nervousness. We need to use large-scale charts of +human history. We need to read history in centuries, not in years. Then we +should see things in their true perspective, with God changeless, as men +move down the ringing grooves of change. We should then be fuller of +content and confidence. We might gain a glimpse of the Divine plan, and +might perhaps get out of our habit of crying "All is lost" at every passing +persecution. As if never before had there been weeping for a night! As if +there had not always been abounding joy the morning after! Then let us, +like God Himself, try to see the end in the beginning, let us spread out +the Scroll, so that the glory of the finish may transfigure and illumine +the gloom and sadness of the intermediate course, and thus "the miracle" of +God's providential love will be "made visible" to all who have eyes to see +it. + +What strikes a real lover of books when he casts his eye over the fine +things that have been said about reading, is this: there is too much said +about profit, about advantage. "Reading," said Bacon, "maketh a full man," +and reading has been justified a thousand times on this famous plea. But, +some one else, I forget who, says, "You may as well expect to become strong +by always eating, as wise by always reading." Herbert Spencer was once +blamed by a friend for reading so little. Spencer replied, "If I read as +much as you do, I should know as little as you do." Too many of the +eulogies of books are utilitarian. A book has been termed "the home +traveller's ship or horse," and libraries, "the wardrobes of literature." +Another favorite phrase is Montaigne's, "'Tis the best viaticum for this +human journey," a phrase paralleled by the Rabbinic use of the Biblical +"provender for the way." "The aliment of youth, the comfort of old age," so +Cicero terms books. "The sick man is not to be pitied when he has his cure +in his sleeve"--that is where they used to carry their books. But I cannot +go through the long list of the beautiful, yet inadequate, similes that +abound in the works of great men, many of which can be read in the +"Book-Lover's Enchiridion," to which I have already alluded. + +One constant comparison is of books to friends. This is perhaps best worked +out in one of the Epistles of Erasmus, which the "Enchiridion" omits: "You +want to know what I am doing. I devote myself to my friends, with whom I +enjoy the most delightful intercourse. With them I shut myself in some +corner, where I avoid the gaping crowd, and either speak to them in sweet +whispers, or listen to their gentle voices, talking with them as with +myself. Can anything be more convenient than this? They never hide their +own secrets, while they keep sacred whatever is entrusted to them. They +speak when bidden, and when not bidden they hold their tongue. They talk of +what you wish, and as long as you wish; do not flatter, feign nothing, keep +back nothing, freely tell you of your faults, and take no man's character +away. What they say is either amusing or wholesome. In prosperity they +moderate, in affliction they console; they do not vary with fortune, they +follow you in all dangers, and last out to the very grave. Nothing can be +more candid than their relations with one another. I visit them from time +to time, now choosing one companion and now another, with perfect +impartiality. With these humble friends, I bury myself in seclusion. What +wealth or what sceptres would I take in exchange for this tranquil life?" + +Tranquillity is a not unworthy characteristic of the scholar, but, taking +Erasmus at his word, would he not have been even a greater man than he was, +had he been less tranquil and more strenuous? His great rôle in the history +of European culture would have been greater still, had he been readier to +bear the rubs which come from rough contact with the world. I will not, +however, allow myself to be led off into this alluring digression, whether +books or experience make a man wiser. Books may simply turn a man into a +"learned fool," and, on the other hand, experience may equally fail to +teach any of the lessons of wisdom. As Moore says: + + My only books + Were woman's looks, + And folly's all they taught me. + +The so-called men of the world often know little enough of the world of +men. It is a delusion to think that the business man is necessarily +business-like. Your business man is often the most un-business-like +creature imaginable. For practical ability, give me the man of letters. +Life among books often leads to insight into the book of life. At Cambridge +we speak of the reading men and the sporting men. Sir Richard Jebb, when he +went to Cambridge, was asked, "Do you mean to be a sporting man or a +reading man?" He replied, "Neither! I want to be a man who reads." Marcus +Aurelius, the scholar and philosopher, was not the least efficient of the +Emperors of Rome. James Martineau was right when he said that the student +not only becomes a better man, but he also becomes a better student, when +he concerns himself with the practical affairs of life as well as with his +books. And the idea cuts both ways. We should be better men of business if +we were also men of books. It is not necessary to recall that the ancient +Rabbis were not professional bookmen. They were smiths and ploughmen, +traders and merchants, and their businesses and their trades were idealized +and ennobled--and, may we not add, their handiwork improved?--by the +expenditure of their leisure in the schools and libraries of Jerusalem. + +And so all the foregoing comparisons between books and other objects of +utility or delight, charming though some of these comparisons are, fail to +satisfy one. One feels that the old Jewish conception is the only +completely true one: that conception which came to its climax in the +appointment of a benediction to be uttered before beginning to read a book +of the Law. + +The real solace of books comes from the sense of service, to be rendered or +received; and one must enter that holy of holies, the library, with a +grateful benediction on one's lip, and humility and reverence and joy in +one's soul. Of all the writers about books, Charles Lamb, in his playful +way, comes nearest to this old-world, yet imperishable, ideal of the Jewish +sages. He says: "I own that I am disposed to say grace upon twenty other +occasions in the course of the day besides my dinner. I want a form for +setting out on a pleasant walk, for a midnight ramble, for a friendly +meeting, for a solved problem. Why have we none for books, those spiritual +repasts--a grace before Milton,--a grace before Shakespeare,--a devotional +exercise proper to be said before reading the Fairy Queen?" The Jewish +ritual could have supplied Lamb with several of these graces. + +It will, I hope, now be seen why in speaking on the solace of books I have +said so little about consolation. It pains me to hear books praised as a +relief from worldly cares, to hear the library likened to an asylum for +broken spirits. I have never been an admirer of Boëthius. His "Consolations +of Philosophy" have always been influential and popular, but I like better +the first famous English translator than the original Latin author. +Boëthius wrote in the sixth century as a fallen man, as one to whom +philosophy came in lieu of the mundane glory which he had once possessed, +and had now lost. But Alfred the Great turned the "Consolations" into +English at the moment of his greatest power. He translated it in the year +886, when king on a secure throne; in his brightest days, when the Danish +clouds had cleared. Sorrow has often produced great books, great psalms, to +which the sorrowful heart turns for solace. But in the truest sense the +Shechinah rests on man only in his joy, when he has so attuned his life +that misfortune is but another name for good fortune. He must have learned +to endure before he seeks the solace of communion with the souls of the +great, with the soul of God. Very saddening it is to note how often men +have turned to books because life has no other good. The real book-lover +goes to his books when life is fullest of other joys, when his life is +richest in its manifold happiness. Then he adds the crown of joy to his +other joys, and finds the highest happiness. + +I do not like to think of the circumstances under which Sir Thomas +Bodley went to Oxford to found his famous library. Not till his +diplomatic career was a failure, not till Elizabeth's smiles had +darkened into frowns, did he set up his staff at the library door. But +Bodley rather mistook himself. As a lad the library had been his joy, +and when he was abroad, at the summit of his public fame, he turned his +diplomatic missions to account by collecting books and laying the +foundation of his future munificence. I even think that no lover of +books ever loved them so well in his adversity as in his prosperity. +Another view was held by Don Isaac Abarbanel, the famous Jewish +statesman and litterateur. Under Alfonso V, of Portugal, and other +rulers, he attained high place, but was brought low by the Inquisition, +and shared in the expulsion of his brethren. He writes in one of his +letters: "The whole time I lived in the courts and palaces of kings, +occupied in their service, I had no leisure to read or write books. My +days were spent in vain ambitions, seeking after wealth and honor. Now +that my wealth is gone, and honor has become exiled from Israel; now +that I am a vagabond and a wanderer on the earth, and I have no money: +now, I have returned to seek the book of God, as it is said, [Hebrew: +cheth-samech-vav-resh-yod mem-cheth-samech-resh-aleph vav-hey-chaf-yod +qof-tav-nun-yod], 'He is in sore need, therefore he studies.'" + +This is witty, but it is not wise. Fortunately, it is not quite true; +Abarbanel does little justice to himself in this passage, for elsewhere (in +the preface to his Commentary on Kings) he draws a very different picture +of his life in his brilliant court days. "My house," he says, "was an +assembly place for the wise ... in my abode and within my walls were wealth +and fame for the Torah and for those made great in its lore." Naturally, +the active statesman had less leisure for his books than the exiled, fallen +minister. + +So, too, with an earlier Jewish writer, Saadia. No sadder title was ever +chosen for a work than his _Sefer ha-Galui_--"Book of the Exiled." It is +beyond our province to enter into his career, full of stress and storm. +Between 933 and 937, driven from power, he retired to his library at +Bagdad, just as Cincinnatus withdrew to his farm when Rome no longer needed +him. During his retirement Saadia's best books were written. Why? Graetz +tells us that "Saadia was still under the ban of excommunication. He had, +therefore, no other sphere of action than that of an author." This is +pitiful; but, again, it is not altogether true. Saadia's whole career was +that of active authorship, when in power and out of power, as a boy, in +middle life, in age: his constant thought was the service of truth, in so +far as literature can serve it, and one may well think that he felt that +the Crown of the Law was better worth wearing in prosperity, when he chose +it out of other crowns, than in adversity, when it was the only crown +within his reach. It was thus that King Solomon chose. + +So, in speaking of the solace of books, I have ventured to employ "solace" +in an old, unusual sense. "Solace" has many meanings. It means "comfort in +sorrow," and in Scotch law it denotes a compensation for wounded feelings, +_solatium_, moral and intellectual damages in short. But in Chaucer and +Spenser, "solace" is sometimes used as a synonym for joy and sweet +exhilaration. This is an obsolete use, but let me hope that the thing is +not obsolete. For one must go to his books for solace, not in mourning +garb, but in gayest attire--to a wedding, not to a funeral. When John Clare +wrote, + + I read in books for happiness, + But books mistake the way to joy, + +he read for what he ought to have brought, and thus he failed to find his +goal. The library has been beautifully termed the "bridal chamber of the +mind." So, too, the Apocrypha puts it in the Wisdom of Solomon: + + Wisdom is radiant.... + Her I loved and sought out from my youth, + And I sought to take her for my bride, + And I became enamored of her beauty. + + * * * * * + + When I am come into my house, I shall find rest with her, + For converse with her hath no bitterness, + And to live with her hath no pain. + + * * * * * + + O God of the fathers, ... + Give me wisdom, that sitteth by Thee on Thy throne. + + + + +MEDIEVAL WAYFARING + + +Men leave their homes because they must, or because they will. The Hebrew +has experienced both motives for travelling. Irresistibly driven on by his +own destiny and by the pressure of his fellow-men, the Jew was also gifted +with a double share of that curiosity and restlessness which often send men +forth of their own free will on long and arduous journeys. He has thus +played the part of the Wandering Jew from choice and from necessity. He +loved to live in the whole world, and the whole world met him by refusing +him a single spot that he might call his very own. + + Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, + How shall ye flee away and be at rest! + The wild-dove hath her nest, the fox her cave, + Mankind their country,--Israel but the grave! + +A sad chapter of medieval history is filled with the enforced wanderings of +the sons of Israel. The lawgiver prophesied well, "There shall be no rest +for the sole of thy foot." But we are not concerned here with the victim of +expulsion and persecution. The wayfarer with whom we shall deal is the +traveller, and not the exile. He was moved by no caprice but his own. He +will excite our admiration, perhaps our sympathy, only rarely our tears. + +My subject, be it remembered, is not wayfarers, but wayfaring. Hence I am +to tell you not the story of particular travellers, but the manner of their +travelling, the conditions under which they moved. Before leaving home, a +Jewish wayfarer of the Middle Ages was bound to procure two kinds of +passport. In no country in those days was freedom of motion allowed to +anyone. The Jew was simply a little more hampered than others. In England, +the Jew paid a feudal fine before he might cross the seas. In Spain, the +system of exactions was very complete. No Jew could change his residence +without a license even within his own town. But in addition to the +inflictions of the Government, the Jews enacted voluntary laws of their +own, forcing their brethren to obtain a congregational permit before +starting. + +The reasons for this restriction were simple. In the first place, no Jew +could be allowed to depart at will, and leave the whole burden of the royal +taxes on the shoulders of those who were left behind. Hence, in many parts +of Europe and Asia, no Jew could leave without the express consent of the +congregation. Even when he received the consent, it was usually on the +understanding that he would continue, in his absence, to pay his share of +the communal dues. Sometimes even women were included in this law, as, for +instance, if the daughter of a resident Jew married and settled elsewhere, +she was forced to contribute to the taxes of her native town a sum +proportionate to her dowry, unless she emigrated to Palestine, in which +case she was free. A further cause why Jews placed restrictions on free +movement was moral and commercial. Announcements had to be made in the +synagogue informing the congregation that so-and-so was on the point of +departure, and anyone with claims against him could obtain satisfaction. No +clandestine or unauthorized departure was permissible. It must not be +thought that these communal licenses were of no service to the traveller. +On the contrary, they often assured him a welcome in the next town, and in +Persia were as good as a safe-conduct. No Mohammedan would have dared defy +the travelling order sealed by the Jewish Patriarch. + +Having obtained his two licenses, one from the Government and the other +from the Synagogue, the traveller would have to consider his costume. +"Dress shabbily" was the general Jewish maxim for the tourist. How +necessary this rule was, may be seen from what happened to Rabbi Petachiah, +who travelled from Prague to Nineveh, in 1175, or thereabouts. At Nineveh +he fell sick, and the king's physicians attended him and pronounced his +death certain. Now Petachiah had travelled in most costly attire, and in +Persia the rule was that if a Jewish traveller died, the physicians took +half his property. Petachiah saw through the real danger that threatened +him, so he escaped from the perilous ministrations of the royal doctors, +had himself carried across the Tigris on a raft, and soon recovered. +Clearly, it was imprudent of a Jewish traveller to excite the rapacity of +kings or bandits by wearing rich dresses. But it was also desirable for the +Jew, if he could, to evade recognition as such altogether. Jewish opinion +was very sensible on this head. It did not forbid a Jew's disguising +himself even as a priest of the Church, joining a caravan, and mumbling +Latin hymns. In times of danger, he might, to save his life, don the turban +and pass as a Mohammedan even in his home. Most remarkable concession of +all, the Jewess on a journey might wear the dress of a man. The law of the +land was equally open to reason. In Spain, the Jew was allowed to discard +his yellow badge while travelling; in Germany, he had the same privilege, +but he had to pay a premium for it. In some parts, the Jewish community as +a whole bought the right to travel and to discard the badge on journeys, +paying a lump sum for the general privilege, and itself exacting a communal +tax to defray the general cost. In Rome, the traveller was allowed to lodge +for ten days before resuming his hated badge. But, curiously enough, the +legal relaxation concerning the badge was not extended to the markets. The +Jew made the medieval markets, yet he was treated as an unwelcome guest, a +commodity to be taxed. This was especially so in Germany. In 1226, Bishop +Lorenz, of Breslau, ordered Jews who passed through his domain to pay the +same toll as slaves brought to market. The visiting Jew paid toll for +everything; but he got part of his money back. He received a yellow badge, +which he was forced to wear during his whole stay at the market, the +finances of which he enriched, indirectly by his trade, and directly by his +huge contributions to the local taxes. + +The Jewish traveller mostly left his wife at home. In certain circumstances +he could force her to go with him, as, for instance, if he had resolved to +settle in Palestine. On the other hand, the wife could prevent her husband +from leaving her during the first year after marriage. It also happened +that families emigrated together. Mostly, however, the Jewess remained at +home, and only rarely did she join even the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This +is a striking contrast to the Christian custom, for it was the Christian +woman that was the most ardent pilgrim; in fact, pilgrimages to the Holy +Land only became popular in Church circles because of the enthusiasm of +Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, especially when, in 326, she found +the true cross. We, however, read of an aged Jewess who made a pilgrimage +to all the cities of Europe, for the purpose of praying in the synagogues +on her route. + +We now know, from the Chronicle of Achimaaz, that Jews visited Jerusalem in +the tenth century. Aronius records a curious incident. Charles the Great, +between the years 787 and 813, ordered a Jewish merchant, who often used to +visit Palestine and bring precious and unknown commodities thence to the +West, to hoax the Archbishop of Mainz, so as to lower the self-conceit of +this vain dilettante. The Jew thereupon sold him a mouse at a high price, +persuading him that it was a rare animal, which he had brought with him +from Judea. Early in the eleventh century there was a fully organized +Jewish community with a Beth-Din at Ramleh, some four hours' drive from +Jaffa. But Jews did not visit Palestine in large numbers, until Saladin +finally regained the Holy City for Mohammedan rule, towards the end of the +twelfth century. From that time pilgrimages of Jews became more frequent; +but the real influx of Jews into Palestine dates from 1492, when many of +the Spanish exiles settled there, and formed the nucleus of the present +Sefardic population. + +On the whole, it may be said that in the Middle Ages the journey to +Palestine was fraught with so much danger that it was gallantry that +induced men to go mostly without their wives. And, generally speaking, the +Jew going abroad to earn a living for his family, could not dream of +allowing his wife to share the dangers and fatigues of the way. In Ellul, +1146, Rabbi Simeon the Pious returned from England, where he had lived many +years, and betook himself to Cologne, thence to take ship home to Trier. On +the way, near Cologne, he was slain by Crusaders, because he refused +baptism. The Jewish community of Cologne bought the body from the citizens, +and buried it in the Jewish cemetery. + +No doubt it was often a cruel necessity that separated husband and wife. +The Jewish law, even in lands where monogamy was not legally enforced, did +not allow the Jew, however, to console himself with one wife at home and +another abroad. Josephus, we know, had one wife in Tiberias and another in +Alexandria, and the same thing is told us of royal officers in the Roman +period; but the Talmudic legislation absolutely forbids such license, even +though it did not formally prohibit a man from having more than one wife at +home. We hear occasionally of the wife's growing restive in her husband's +absence and taking another husband. In 1272, Isaac of Erfurt went on a +trading journey, and though he was only gone from March 9, 1271, to July, +1272, he found, on his return, that his wife had wearied of waiting for +him. Such incidents on the side of the wife were very rare; the number of +cases in which wife-desertion occurred was larger. In her husband's +absence, the wife's lot, at best, was not happy. "Come back," wrote one +wife, "or send me a divorce." "Nay," replied the husband, "I can do +neither. I have not yet made enough provision for us, so I cannot return. +And, before Heaven, I love you, so I cannot divorce you." The Rabbi advised +that he should give her a conditional divorce, a kindly device, which +provided that, in case the husband remained away beyond a fixed date, the +wife was free to make other matrimonial arrangements. The Rabbis held that +travelling diminishes family life, property, and reputation. Move from +house to house, and you lose a shirt; go from place to place, and you lose +a life--so ran the Rabbinic proverb. This subject might be enlarged upon, +but enough has been said to show that this breaking up of the family life +was one of the worst effects of the Jewish travels of the Middle Ages, and +even more recent times. + +Whether his journey was devotional or commercial, the rites of religion +formed part of the traveller's preparations for the start. The Prayer for +Wayfarers is Talmudic in origin. It may be found in many prayer books, and +I need not quote it. But one part of it puts so well, in a few pregnant +words, the whole story of danger, that I must reproduce them. On +approaching a town, the Jew prayed, "May it be Thy will, O Lord, to bring +me safely to this town." When he had entered, he prayed, "May it be Thy +will, O Lord, to take me safely from this town." And when he actually left, +he uttered similar words, pathetic and painfully significant. + +In the first century of the Christian era, much travelling was entailed by +the conveyance of the didrachmon, sent by each Jew to the Temple from +almost every part of the known world. Philo says of the Jews beyond the +Euphrates: "Every year the sacred messengers are sent to convey large sums +of gold and silver to the Temple, which have been collected from all the +subordinate Governments. They travel over rugged and difficult and almost +impassable roads, which, however, they look upon as level and easy, +inasmuch as they serve to conduct them to piety." And the road was made +easy in other ways. + +It must often have been shortened to the imagination by the prevalent +belief that by supernatural aid the miles could be actually lessened. Rabbi +Natronai was reported to be able to convey himself a several days' journey +in a single instant. So Benjamin of Tudela tells how Alroy, who claimed to +be the Messiah in the twelfth century, not only could make himself visible +or invisible at will, but could cross rivers on his turban, and, by the aid +of the Divine Name, could travel a ten days' journey in ten hours. Another +Jewish traveller calmed the sea by naming God, another by writing the +sacred Name on a shard, and casting it into the sea. "Have no care," said +he, on another occasion, to his Arab comrade, as the shadows fell on a +Friday afternoon, and they were still far from home, "have no care, we +shall arrive before nightfall," and, exercising his wonderworking powers, +he was as good as his word. We read in Achimaaz of the exploits of a +tenth-century Jew who traversed Italy, working wonders, being received +everywhere with popular acclamations. This was Aaron of Bagdad, son of a +miller, who, finding that a lion had eaten the mill-mule, caught the lion +and made him do the grinding. His father sent him on his travels as a +penalty for his dealings with magic: after three years he might return. Fie +went on board a ship, and assured the sailors that they need fear neither +foe nor storm, for he could use the Name. He landed at Gaeta in Italy, +where he restored to human form the son of his host, whom a witch had +turned into an ass. This was the beginning of many miracles. But he did not +allow one place to monopolize him. Next we find him in Benvenuto. He goes +to the synagogue, recognizes that a lad omits the name of God from his +prayer, thus showing that he is dead! He goes to Oria, then to Bari, and so +forth. Similar marvels were told in the Midrash, of travellers like Father +Jacob, and in the lives of Christian saints. + +But the Jew had a real means of shortening the way--by profitable and +edifying conversation. "Do not travel with an Am ha-Arez," the olden Rabbis +advised. Such a one, they held, was careless of his own safety, and would +hardly be more careful of his companion's life. But, besides, an Am +ha-Arez, using the word in its later sense of ignoramus, would be too dull +for edifying conversation, and one might as well or as ill journey alone as +with a boor. But "thou shalt speak of them by the way," says Deuteronomy of +the commandments, and this (to say nothing of the danger) was one of the +reasons why solitary travelling was disapproved. A man walking alone was +more likely to turn his mind to idle thoughts, than if he had a congenial +partner to converse with, and the Mishnah is severe against him who turns +aside from his peripatetic study to admire a tree or a fallow. This does +not imply that the Jews were indifferent to the beauties of nature. Jewish +travellers often describe the scenery of the parts they visit, and +Petachiah literally revels in the beautiful gardens of Persia, which he +paints in vivid colors. Then, again, few better descriptions of a storm at +sea have been written than those composed by Jehudah Halevi on his fatal +voyage to Palestine. Similarly, Charizi, another Jewish wayfarer, who +laughed himself over half the world, wrote verses as he walked, to relieve +the tedium. He is perhaps the most entertaining of all Jewish travellers. +Nothing is more amusing than his conscious habit of judging the characters +of the men he saw by their hospitality, or the reverse, to himself. A more +serious traveller, Maimonides, must have done a good deal of thinking on +horseback, to get through his ordinary day's work and write his great +books. In fact, he himself informs us that he composed part of his +Commentary to the Mishnah while journeying by land and sea. In Europe, the +Rabbis often had several neighboring congregations under their care, and on +their journeys to and fro took their books with them, and read in them at +intervals. Maharil, on such journeys, always took note of the Jewish +customs observed in different localities. He was also a most skilful and +successful Shadchan, or marriage-broker, and his extensive travels placed +this famous Rabbi in an excellent position for match-making. Certainly, the +marriages he effected were notoriously prosperous, and in his hands the +Shadchan system did the most good and the least harm of which it is +capable. + +Another type of short-distance traveller was the Bachur, or student. Not +that his journeys were always short, but he rarely crossed the sea. In the +second century we find Jewish students in Galilee behaving as many Scotch +youths did before the days of Carnegie funds. These students would study in +Sepphoris in the winter, and work in the fields in summer. After the +impoverishment caused by the Bar-Cochba war, the students were glad to dine +at the table of the wealthy Patriarch Judah I. In the medieval period there +were also such. These Bachurim, who, young as they were, were often +married, accomplished enormous journeys on foot. They walked from the Rhine +to Vienna, and from North Germany to Italy. Their privations on the road +were indescribable. Bad weather was naturally a severe trial. "Hearken not +to the prayers of wayfarers," was the petition of those who stayed at home. +This quaint Talmudic saying refers to the selfishness of travellers, who +always clamor for fine weather, though the farmer needs rain. Apart from +the weather, the Bachurim suffered much on the road. Their ordinary food +was raw vegetables culled from the fields; they drank nothing but water. +They were often accompanied by their teachers, who underwent the same +privations. Unlike their Talmudical precursors, they travelled much by +night, because it was safer, and also because they reserved the daylight +for study. The dietary laws make Jewish travelling particularly irksome. We +do, indeed, find Jews lodging at the ordinary inns, but they could not join +the general company at the _table d'hôte_. The Sabbath, too, was the cause +of some discomfort, though the traveller always exerted his utmost efforts +to reach a Jewish congregation by Friday evening, sometimes, as we have +seen, with supernatural aid. + +We must interrupt this account of the Bachur to record a much earlier +instance of the awkward situation in which a pious Jewish traveller might +find himself because of the Sabbath regulations. In the very last year of +the fourth century, Synesius, of Cyrene, writing to his brother of his +voyage from Alexandria to Constantinople, supplies us with a quaint +instance of the manner in which the Sabbath affected Jewish travellers. +Synesius uses a sarcastic tone, which must not be taken as seriously +unfriendly. "His voyage homeward," says Mr. Glover, "was adventurous." It +is a pity that space cannot be found for a full citation of Synesius's +enthralling narrative. His Jewish steersman is an entertaining character. +There were twelve members in the crew, the steersman making the thirteenth. +More than half, including the steersman, were Jews. "It was," says +Synesius, "the day which the Jews call the Preparation [Friday], and they +reckon the night to the next day, on which they are not allowed to do any +work, but they pay it especial honor, and rest on it. So the steersman let +go the helm from his hands, when he thought the sun would have set on the +land, and threw himself down, and 'What mariner should choose might trample +him!' We did not at first understand the real reason, but took it for +despair, and went to him and besought him not to give up all hope yet. For +in plain fact the big rollers still kept on, and the sea was at issue with +itself. It does this when the wind falls, and the waves it has set going do +not fall with it, but, still retaining in full force the impulse that +started them, meet the onset of the gale, and to its front oppose their +own. Well, when people are sailing in such circumstances, life hangs, as +they say, by a slender thread. But if the steersman is a Rabbi into the +bargain, what are one's feelings? When, then, we understood what he meant +in leaving the helm,--for when we begged him to save the ship from danger, +he went on reading his book,--we despaired of persuasion, and tried force. +And a gallant soldier (for we have with us a good few Arabians, who belong +to the cavalry) drew his sword, and threatened to cut his head off, if he +would not steer the ship. But in a moment he was a genuine Maccabee, and +would stick to his dogma. Yet when it was now midnight, he took his place +of his own accord, 'for now,' says he, 'the law allows me, as we are +clearly in danger of our lives.' At that the tumult begins again, moaning +of men and screaming of women. Everybody began calling on Heaven, and +wailing and remembering their dear ones. Amarantus alone was cheerful, +thinking he was on the point of ruling out his creditors." Amarantus was +the captain, who wished to die, because he was deep in debt. What with the +devil-may-care captain, the Maccabean steersman, and the critical onlooker, +who was a devoted admirer of Hypatia, rarely has wayfaring been conducted +under more delightful conditions. As is often the case in life, the humors +of the scene almost obscure the fact that the lives of the actors were in +real danger. But all ended well. "As for us," says Synesius further on, "as +soon as we reached the land we longed for, we embraced it as if it had been +a living mother. Offering, as usual, a hymn of gratitude to God, I added to +it the recent misadventure from which we had unexpectedly been saved." + +To return to our travelling Bachur of later centuries than Synesius's +Rabbi-steersman. On the road, the student was often attacked, but, as +happened with the son of the great Asheri, who was waylaid by bandits near +Toledo, the robbers did not always get the best of the fight. The Bachur +could take his own part. One Jew gained much notoriety in 801 by conducting +an elephant all the way from Haroun al-Rashid's court as a present to +Charlemagne, the king of the Franks. But the Rabbi suffered considerably +from his religion on his journeys. Dr. Schechter tells us how the Gaon +Elijah got out of his carriage to say his prayer, and, as the driver knew +that the Rabbi would not interrupt his devotions, he promptly made off, +carrying away the Gaon's property. + +But the account was not all on one side. If the Bachur suffered for his +religion, he received ample compensation. When he arrived at his +destination, he was welcomed right heartily. We read how cordially the +Sheliach Kolel was received in Algiers in the fifteenth to eighteenth +centuries. It was a great popular event, as is nowadays the visit of the +_Alliance_ inspector. This was not the case with all Jewish travellers, +some of whom received a very cold shoulder from their brethren. Why was +this? Chiefly because the Jews, as little as the rest of medieval peoples, +realized that progress and enlightenment are indissolubly bound up with the +right of free movement. They regarded the right to move here and there at +will as a selfish privilege of the few, not the just right of all. But more +than that. The Jews were forced to live in special and limited Ghettos. It +was not easy to find room for newcomers. When a crisis arrived, such as the +expulsion of the Jews from Spain, then, except here and there, the Jews +were generous to a fault in providing for the exiles. Societies all over +the Continent and round the coast of the Mediterranean spent their time and +money in ransoming the poor victims, who, driven from Spain, were enslaved +by the captains of the vessels that carried them, and were then bought back +to freedom by their Jewish brethren. + +This is a noble fact in Jewish history. But it is nevertheless true that +Jewish communities were reluctant in ordinary times to permit new +settlements. This was not so in ancient times. Among the Essenes, a +newcomer had a perfectly equal right to share everything with the old +inhabitants. These Essenes were great travellers, going from city to city, +probably with propagandist aims. In the Talmudic law there are very clear +rules on the subject of passers through a town or immigrants into it. By +that law persons staying in a place for less than thirty days were free +from all local dues except special collections for the poor. He who stayed +less than a year contributed to the ordinary poor relief, but was not taxed +for permanent objects, such as walling the town, defences, etc., nor did he +contribute to the salaries of teachers and officials, nor the building and +support of synagogues. But as his duties were small, so were his rights. +After a twelve months' stay he became a "son of the city," a full member of +the community. But in the Middle Ages, newcomers, as already said, were not +generally welcome. The question of space was one important reason, for all +newcomers had to stay in the Ghetto. Secondly, the newcomer was not +amenable to discipline. Local custom varied much in the details both of +Jewish and general law. The new settler might claim to retain his old +customs, and the regard for local custom was so strong that the claim was +often allowed, to the destruction of uniformity and the undermining of +authority. To give an instance or two: A newcomer would insist that, as he +might play cards in his native town, he ought not to be expected to obey +puritanical restrictions in the place to which he came. The result was that +the resident Jews would clamor against foreigners enjoying special +privileges, as in this way all attempts to control gambling might be +defeated. Or the newcomer would claim to shave his beard in accordance with +his home custom, but to the scandal of the town which he was visiting. The +native young men would imitate the foreigner, and then there would be +trouble. Or the settler would assert his right to wear colors and fashions +and jewelry forbidden to native Jews. Again, the marriage problem was +complicated by the arrival of insinuating strangers, who turned out to be +married men masquerading as bachelors. Then as to public worship--the +congregation was often split into fragments by the independent services +organized by foreign groups, and it would become necessary to prohibit its +own members from attending the synagogues of foreign settlers. Then as to +communal taxes: these were fixed annually on the basis of the population, +and the arrival of newcomers seriously disturbed the equilibrium, led to +fresh exactions by the Government, which it was by no means certain the new +settlers could or would pay, and which, therefore, fell on the shoulders of +the old residents. + +When we consider all these facts, we can see that the eagerness of the +medieval Jews to control the influx of foreign settlers was only in part +the result of base motives. And, of course, the exclusion was not permanent +or rigid. In Rome, the Sefardic and the Italian Jews fraternally placed +their synagogues on different floors of the same building. In some German +towns, the foreign synagogue was fixed in the same courtyard as the native. +Everywhere foreign Jews abounded, and everywhere a generous welcome awaited +the genuine traveller. + +As to the travelling beggar, he was a perpetual nuisance. Yet he was +treated with much consideration. The policy with regard to him was, "Send +the beggar further," and this suited the tramp, too. He did not wish to +settle, he wished to move on. He would be lodged for two days in the +communal inn, or if, as usually happened, he arrived on Friday evening, he +would be billeted on some hospitable member, or the Shamash would look +after him at the public expense. It is not till the thirteenth century that +we meet regular envoys sent from Palestine to collect money. + +The genuine traveller, however, was an ever-welcome guest. If he came at +fair time, his way was smoothed for him. The Jew who visited the fair was +only rarely charged local taxes by the Synagogue. He deserved a welcome, +for he not only brought wares to sell, but he came laden with new books. +The fair was the only book-market At other times the Jews were dependent on +the casual visits of travelling venders of volumes. Book-selling does not +seem to have been a settled occupation in the Middle Ages. The merchant who +came to the fair also fulfilled another function--that of Shadchan. The day +of the fair was, in fact, the crisis of the year. Naturally, the +letter-carrier was eagerly received. In the early part of the eighteenth +century the function of conveying the post was sometimes filled by +Jewesses. + +Even the ordinary traveller, who had no business to transact, would often +choose fair time for visiting new places, for he would be sure to meet +interesting people then. He, too, would mostly arrive on a Friday evening, +and would beguile the Sabbath with reports of the wonders he had seen. In +the great synagogue of Sepphoris, Jochanan was discoursing of the great +pearl, so gigantic in size that the Eastern gates of the Temple were to be +built of the single gem. "Ay, ay," assented an auditor, who had been a +notorious skeptic until he had become a shipwrecked sailor, "had not mine +own eyes beheld such a pearl in the ocean-bed, I should not have believed +it." And so the medieval traveller would tell his enthralling tales. He +would speak of a mighty Jewish kingdom in the East, existing in idyllic +peace and prosperity; he would excite his auditors with news of the latest +Messiah; he would describe the river Sambatyon, which keeps the Sabbath, +and, mingling truth with fiction, with one breath would truly relate how he +crossed a river on an inflated skin, and with the next breath romance about +Hillel's tomb, how he had been there, and how he had seen a large hollow +stone, which remains empty if a bad fellow enters, but at the approach of a +pious visitor fills up with sweet, pure water, with which he washes, +uttering a wish at the same time, sure that it will come true. It is +impossible even to hint at all the wonders of the tombs. Jews were ardent +believers in the supernatural power of sepulchres; they made pilgrimages to +them to pray and to beg favors. Jewish travellers' tales of the Middle Ages +are heavily laden with these legends. Of course, the traveller would also +bring genuine news about his brethren in distant parts, and sober +information about foreign countries, their ways, their physical +conformation, and their strange birds and beasts. These stories were in the +main true. For instance, Petachiah tells of a flying camel, which runs +fifteen times as fast as the fleetest horse. He must have seen an ostrich, +which is still called the flying camel by Arabs. But we cannot linger over +this matter. Suffice it to say that, as soon as Sabbath was over, the +traveller's narrative would be written out by the local scribe, and +treasured as one of the communal prizes. The traveller, on his part, often +kept a diary, and himself compiled a description of his adventures. In some +congregations there was kept a Communal Note-Book, in which were entered +decisions brought by visiting Rabbis from other communities. + +The most welcome of guests, even more welcome than long-distance +travellers, or globe-trotters, were the Bachurim and travelling Rabbis. The +Talmudic Rabbis were most of them travellers. Akiba's extensive journeys +were, some think, designed to rouse the Jews of Asia Minor generally to +participate in the insurrection against Hadrian. But my narrative must be +at this point confined to the medieval students. For the Bachurim, or +students, there was a special house in many communities, and they lived +together with their teachers. In the twelfth century, the great academy of +Narbonne, under Abraham ibn Daud, attracted crowds of foreign students. +These, as Benjamin of Tudela tells us, were fed and clothed at the communal +cost. At Beaucaire, the students were housed and supported at the teacher's +expense. In the seventeenth century, the students not only were paid small +bursaries, but every household entertained one or more of them at table. In +these circumstances their life was by no means dull or monotonous. A Jewish +student endures much, but he knows how to get the best out of life. This +optimism, this quickness of humor, saved the Rabbi and his pupil from many +a melancholy hour. Take Abraham ibn Ezra, for instance. If ever a man was +marked out to be a bitter reviler of fate, it was he. But he laughed at +fate. He gaily wandered from his native Spain over many lands penniless, +travelled with no baggage but his thoughts, visited Italy and France, and +even reached London, where, perhaps, he died. Fortune ill-treated him, but +he found many joys. Wherever he went, patrons held out their hand. + +Travelling students found many such generous lovers of learning, who, with +their wealth, encouraged their guests to write original works or copy out +older books, which the patrons then passed on to poor scholars in want of a +library. The legend is told, how the prophet Elijah visited Hebron, and was +not "called up" in the synagogue. Receiving no Aliyah on earth, he returned +to his elevation in Heaven. It was thus imprudent to deny honor to angels +unawares. Usually the scholar was treated as such a possible angel. When he +arrived, the whole congregation would turn out to meet him. He would be +taken in procession to the synagogue, where he would say the benediction +ha-Gomel, in thanks for his safety on the road. Perhaps he would address +the congregation, though he would do that rather in the school than in the +synagogue. Then a banquet would be spread for him. This banquet was called +one of the Seudoth Mitzvah, _i.e._ "commandment meals," to which it was a +duty of all pious men to contribute their money and their own attendance. +It would be held in the communal hall, used mostly for marriage feasts. +When a wedding party came from afar, similar steps for general enjoyment +were taken. Men mounted on horseback went forth to welcome the bride, mimic +tournaments were fought _en route_, torch-light processions were made if it +were night time, processions by boats if it were in Italy or by the Rhine, +a band of communal musicians, retained at general cost, played merry +marches, and everyone danced and joined in the choruses. These musicians +often went from town to town, and the Jewish players were hired for Gentile +parties, just as Jews employed Christian or Arab musicians to help make +merry on the Jewish Sabbaths and festivals. + +We need not wonder, then, that a traveller like Ibn Ezra was no croaker, +but a genial critic of life. He suffered, but he was light-hearted enough +to compose witty epigrams and improvise rollicking wine songs. He was an +accomplished chess player, and no doubt did something to spread the Eastern +game in Europe. Another service rendered by such travellers was the spread +of learning by their translations. Their wanderings made them great +linguists, and they were thus able to translate medical, astronomical, and +scientific works wherever they went. They were also sent by kings on +missions to collect new nautical instruments. Thus, the baculus, which +helped Columbus to discover America, was taken to Portugal by Jews, and a +French Jew was its inventor. They were much in demand as travelling +doctors, being summoned from afar to effect specific cures. But they also +carried other delights with them. Not only were they among the troubadours, +but they were also the most famous of the travelling _conteurs_. It was the +Jews, like Berechiah, Charizi, Zabara, Abraham ibn Chasdai, and other +incessant travellers, who helped to bring to Europe Æsop, Bidpai, the +Buddhist legends, who "translated them from the Indian," and were partly +responsible for this rich poetical gift to the Western world. + +Looking back on such a life, Ibn Ezra might well detect a Divine Providence +in his own pains and sorrows. So, Jew-like, he retained his hope to the +last, and after his buffetings on the troubled seas of life, remembering +the beneficent results of his travels to others, if not to himself, he +could write in this faithful strain: + + My hope God knoweth well, + My life He made full sweet; + Whene'er His servant fell, + God raised him to his feet. + Within the garment of His grace, + My faults He did enfold, + Hiding my sin, His kindly face + My God did ne'er withhold. + Requiting with fresh good, + My black ingratitude. + +There remain the great merchant travellers to be told about. They sailed +over all the world, and brought to Europe the wares, the products, the +luxuries of the East. They had their own peculiar dangers. Shipwreck was +the fate of others besides themselves, but they were peculiarly liable to +capture and sale as slaves. Foremost among their more normal hardships I +should place the bridge laws of the Middle Ages. The bridges were sometimes +practically maintained by the Jewish tolls. In England, before 1290, a Jew +paid a toll of a halfpenny on foot and a full penny on horseback--large +sums in those days. A "dead Jew" paid eightpence. Burial was for a long +time lawful only in London, and the total toll paid for bringing a dead Jew +to London over the various bridges must have been considerable. In the +Kurpfalz, for instance, the Jewish traveller had to pay the usual "white +penny" for every mile, but also a heavy general fee for the whole journey. +If he was found without his ticket of leave, he was at once arrested. But +it was when he came to a bridge that the exactions grew insufferable. The +regulations were somewhat tricky, for the Jew was specially taxed only on +Sundays and the Festivals of the Church. But every other day was some +Saint's Festival, and while, in Mannheim, even on those days the Christian +traveller paid one kreuzer if he crossed the bridge on foot, and two if on +horseback, the Jew was charged four kreuzer if on foot, twelve if on a +horse, and for every beast of burden he, unlike the Christian wayfarer, +paid a further toll of eight kreuzer. The Jewish quarter often lay near the +river, and Jews had great occasion for crossing the bridges, even for local +needs. In Venice, the Jewish quarter was naturally intersected by bridges; +in Rome there was the _pons Judeorum,_ which, no doubt, the Jews had to +maintain in repair. It must be remembered that many local Jewish +communities paid a regular bridge tax which was not exacted from +Christians, and when all this is considered, it will be seen that the +Jewish merchant needed to work hard and go far afield, if he was to get any +profit from his enterprises. + +Nevertheless, these Jews owned horses and caravans, and sailed their own +ships long before the time when great merchants, like the English Jew +Antonio Fernandes Carvajal, traded in their own vessels between London and +the Canaries. We hear of Palestinian Jews in the third century and of +Italian Jews in the fifth century with ships of their own. Jewish sailors +abounded on the Mediterranean, which tended to become a Jewish lake. The +trade routes of the Jews were chiefly two. "By one route," says Beazley, +"they sailed from the ports of France and Italy to the Isthmus of Suez, and +thence down the Red Sea to India and Farther Asia. By another course, they +transported the goods of the West to the Syrian coast; up the Orontes to +Antioch; down the Euphrates to Bassora; and so along the Persian Gulf to +Oman and the Southern Ocean." Further, there were two chief overland +routes. On the one side merchants left Spain, traversed the straits of +Gibraltar, went by caravan from Tangier along the northern fringe of the +desert, to Egypt, Syria, and Persia. This was the southern route. Then +there was the northern route, through Germany, across the country of the +Slavs to the Lower Volga; thence, descending the river, they sailed across +the Caspian. Then the traveller proceeded along the Oxus valley to Balkh, +and, turning north-east, traversed the country of the Tagazgaz Turks, and +found himself at last on the frontier of China. When one realizes the +extent of such a journey, it is not surprising to hear that the greatest +authorities are agreed that in the Middle Ages, before the rise of the +Italian trading republics, the Jews were the chief middlemen between Europe +and Asia. Their vast commercial undertakings were productive of much good. +Not only did the Jews bring to Europe new articles of food and luxury, but +they served the various States as envoys and as intelligencers. The great +Anglo-Jewish merchant Carvajal provided Cromwell with valuable information, +as other Jewish merchants had done to other rulers of whom they were loyal +servants. In the fifteenth century Henry of Portugal applied to Jews for +intelligence respecting the interior of Africa, and a little later John, +king of the same land, derived accurate information respecting India from +two Jewish travellers that had spent many years at Ormuz and Calcutta. But +it is unnecessary to add more facts of this type. The Jewish merchant +traveller was no mere tradesman. He observed the country, especially did he +note the numbers and occupations of the Jews, their synagogues, their +schools, their vices, and their virtues. + +In truth, the Jewish traveller, as he got farther from home, was more at +home than many of his contemporaries of other faiths when they were at +home. He kept alive that sense of the oneness of Judaism which could be +most strongly and completely achieved because there was no political bias +to separate it into hostile camps. + +But the interest between the traveller and his home was maintained by +another bond. A striking feature of Jewish wayfaring life was the writing +of letters home. The "Book of the Pious," composed about 1200, says: "He +that departs from the city where his father and mother live, and travels to +a place of danger, and his father and mother are anxious on account of him; +it is the bounden duty of the son to hire a messenger as soon as he can and +despatch a letter to his father and mother, telling them when he departs +from the place of danger, that their anxiety may be allayed." Twice a year +all Jews wrote family letters, at the New Year and the Passover, and they +sent special greetings on birthdays. But the traveller was the chief +letter-writer. "O my father," wrote the famous Obadiah of Bertinoro, in +1488, "my departure from thee has caused thee sorrow and suffering, and I +am inconsolable that I was forced to leave at the time when age was +creeping on thee. When I think of thy grey hairs, which I no longer see, my +eyes flow over with tears. But if the happiness of serving thee in person +is denied to me, yet I can at least serve thee as thou desirest, by writing +to thee of my journey, by pouring my soul out to thee, by a full narrative +of what I have seen and of the state and manners of the Jews in all the +places where I have dwelt." After a long and valuable narrative, he +concludes in this loving strain: "I have taken me a house in Jerusalem near +the synagogue, and my window overlooks it. In the court where my house is, +there live five women, and only one other man besides myself. He is blind, +and his wife attends to my needs. God be thanked, I have escaped the +sickness which affects nearly all travellers here. And I entreat you, weep +not at my absence, but rejoice in my joy, that I am in the Holy City. I +take God to witness that here the thought of all my sufferings vanishes, +and but one image is before my eyes, thy dear face, O my father. Let me +feel that I can picture that face to me, not clouded with tears, but lit +with joy. You have other children around you; make them your joy, and let +my letters, which I will ever and anon renew, bring solace to your age, as +your letters bring solace to me." + +Much more numerous than the epistles of sons to fathers are the letters of +fathers to their families. When these come from Palestine, there is the +same mingling of pious joy and human sorrow--joy to be in the Holy Land, +sorrow to be separated from home. Another source of grief was the +desolation of Palestine. + +One such letter-writer tells sadly how he walked through the market at +Zion, thought of the past, and only kept back his tears lest the Arab +onlookers should see and ridicule his sorrow. Yet another medieval +letter-writer, Nachmanides, reaches the summit of sentiment in these lines, +which I take from Dr. Schechter's translation: "I was exiled by force from +home, I left my sons and daughters; and with the dear and sweet ones whom I +brought up on my knees, I left my soul behind me. My heart and my eyes will +dwell with them forever. But O! the joy of a day in thy courts, O +Jerusalem! visiting the ruins of the Temple and crying over the desolate +Sanctuary; where I am permitted to caress thy stones, to fondle thy dust, +and to weep over thy ruins. I wept bitterly, but found joy in my tears." + +And with this thought in our mind we will take leave of our subject. It is +the traveller who can best discern, amid the ruins wrought by man, the hope +of a Divine rebuilding. Over the heavy hills of strife, he sees the coming +dawn of peace. The world must still pass through much tribulation before +the new Jerusalem shall arise, to enfold in its loving embrace all +countries and all men. But the traveller, more than any other, hastens the +good time. He overbridges seas, he draws nations nearer; he shows men that +there are many ways of living and of loving. He teaches them to be +tolerant; he humanizes them by presenting their brothers to them. The +traveller it is who prepares a way in the wilderness, who makes straight in +the desert a highway for the Lord. + + + + +THE FOX'S HEART + + +Pliny says that by eating the palpitating heart of a mole one acquires the +faculty of divining future events. In "Westward Ho!" the Spanish prisoners +beseech their English foe, Mr. Oxenham, not to leave them in the hands of +the Cimaroons, for the latter invariably ate the hearts of all that fell +into their hands, after roasting them alive. "Do you know," asks Mr. Alston +in the "Witch's Head," "what those Basutu devils would have done if they +had caught us? They would have skinned us, and made our hearts into _mouti_ +[medicine] and eaten them, to give them the courage of the white man." Ibn +Verga, the author of a sixteenth century account of Jewish martyrs, records +the following strange story: "I have heard that some people in Spain once +brought the accusation that they had found, in the house of a Jew, a lad +slain, and his breast rent near the heart. They asserted that the Jews had +extracted his heart to employ it at their festival. Don Solomon, the +Levite, who was a learned man and a Cabbalist, placed the Holy Name under +the lad's tongue. The lad then awoke and told who had slain him, and who +had removed his heart, with the object of accusing the poor Jews. I have +not," adds the author of the _Shebet Jehudah_, "seen this story in writing, +but I have heard it related." + +We have the authority of Dr. Ploss for the statement that among the Slavs +witches produce considerable disquiet in families, into which, folk say, +they penetrate in the disguise of hens or butterflies. They steal the +hearts of children in order to eat them. They strike the child on the left +side with a little rod; the breast opens, and the witches tear out the +heart, and devour every atom of it. Thereupon the wound closes up of +itself, without leaving a trace of what has been done. The child dies +either immediately or soon afterwards, as the witch chooses. Many +children's illnesses are attributed to this cause. If one of these witches +is caught asleep, the people seize her, and move her so as to place her +head where her feet were before. On awaking, she has lost all her power for +evil, and is transformed into a medicine-woman, who is acquainted with the +healing effects of every herb, and aids in curing children of their +diseases. In Heine's poem, "The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar," the love-lorn youth +seeks the cure of his heart's ill by placing a waxen heart on the shrine. +This is unquestionably the most exquisite use in literature of the heart as +a charm. + +Two or three of the stories that I have noted down on the gruesome subject +of heart-eating have been given above. Such ideas were abhorrent to the +Jewish conscience, and the use of the heart torn from a living animal was +regarded as characteristic of idolatry (Jerusalem Talmud, _Aboda Zara_, ii, +41b). In the Book of Tobit a fish's heart plays a part, but it is detached +from the dead animal, and is not eaten. It forms an ingredient of the smoke +which exorcises the demon that is troubling the heroine Sarah. + +I have not come across any passage in the Jewish Midrashim that ascribes to +"heart-eating," even in folk-lore, the virtue of bestowing wisdom. +Aristotle seems to lend his authority to some such notion as that I have +quoted from Pliny, when he says, "Man alone presents the phenomenon of +heart-beating, because he alone is moved by hope and by expectation of what +is coming." As George H. Lewes remarked, it is quite evident that Aristotle +could never have held a bird in his hand. The idea, however, that eating +the heart of an animal has wisdom-conferring virtue seems to underlie a +very interesting Hebrew fable published by Dr. Steinschneider, in his +_Alphabetum Siracidis_. The Angel of Death had demanded of God the power to +slay all living things. + + "The Holy One replied, 'Cast a pair of each species into the sea, and + then thou shalt have dominion over all that remain of the species.' The + Angel did so forthwith, and he cast a pair of each kind into the sea. + When the fox saw what he was about, what did he do? At once he stood and + wept. Then said the Angel of Death unto him, 'Why weepest thou?' 'For my + companions, whom thou hast cast into the sea,' answered the fox. 'Where, + then, are thy companions?' said the Angel. The fox ran to the sea-shore + [with his wife], and the Angel of Death beheld the reflection of the fox + in the water, and he thought that he had already cast in a pair of foxes, + so, addressing the fox by his side, he cried, 'Be off with you!' The fox + at once fled and escaped. The weasel met him, and the fox related what + had happened, and what he had done; and so the weasel went and did + likewise. + + "At the end of the year, the leviathan assembled all the creatures in the + sea, and lo! the fox and the weasel were missing, for they had not come + into the sea. He sent to ask, and he was told how the fox and the weasel + had escaped through their wisdom. They taunted the leviathan, saying, + 'The fox is exceedingly cunning.' The leviathan felt uneasy and envious, + and he sent a deputation of great fishes, with the order that they were + to deceive the fox, and bring him before him. They went, and found him by + the sea-shore. When the fox saw the fishes disporting themselves near the + bank, he was surprised, and he went among them. They beheld him, and + asked, 'Who art thou?' 'I am the fox,' said he. 'Knowest thou not,' + continued the fishes, 'that a great honor is in store for thee, and that + we have come here on thy behalf?' 'What is it?' asked the fox. 'The + leviathan,' they said, 'is sick, and like to die. He has appointed thee + to reign in his stead, for he has heard that thou art wiser and more + prudent than all other animals. Come with us, for we are his messengers, + and are here to thy honor.' 'But,' objected the fox, 'how can I come into + the sea without being drowned?' 'Nay,' said the fishes; 'ride upon one of + us, and he will carry thee above the sea, so that not even a drop of + water shall touch so much as the soles of thy feet, until thou reachest + the kingdom. We will take thee down without thy knowing it. Come with us, + and reign over us, and be king, and be joyful all thy days. No more wilt + thou need to seek for food, nor will wild beasts, stronger than thou, + meet thee and devour thee.' + + "The fox heard and believed their words. He rode upon one of them, and + they went with him into the sea. Soon, however, the waves dashed over + him, and he began to perceive that he had been tricked. 'Woe is me!' + wailed the fox, 'what have I done? I have played many a trick on others, + but these fishes have played one on me worth all mine put together. Now I + have fallen into their hands, how shall I free myself? Indeed,' he said, + turning to the fishes, 'now that I am fully in your power, I shall speak + the truth. What are you going to do with me?' 'To tell thee the truth,' + replied the fishes, 'the leviathan has heard thy fame, that thou art very + wise, and he said, I will rend the fox, and will eat his heart, and thus + I shall become wise.' 'Oh!' said the fox, 'why did you not tell me the + truth at first? I should then have brought my heart with me, and I should + have given it to King Leviathan, and he would have honored me; but now ye + are in an evil plight.' 'What! thou hast not thy heart with thee?' + 'Certainly not. It is our custom to leave our heart at home while we go + about from place to place. When we need our heart, we take it; otherwise + it remains at home.' 'What must we do?' asked the bewildered fishes. 'My + house and dwelling-place,' replied the fox, 'are by the sea-shore. If you + like, carry me back to the place whence you brought me, I will fetch my + heart, and will come again with you. I will present my heart to + Leviathan, and he will reward me and you with honors. But if you take me + thus, without my heart, he will be wroth with you, and will devour you. I + have no fear for myself, for I shall say unto him: My lord, they did not + tell me at first, and when they did tell me, I begged them to return for + my heart, but they refused.' The fishes at once declared that he was + speaking well. They conveyed him back to the spot on the sea-shore whence + they had taken him. Off jumped the fox, and he danced with joy. He threw + himself on the sand, and laughed. 'Be quick,' cried the fishes, 'get thy + heart, and come.' But the fox answered, 'You fools! Begone! How could I + have come with you without my heart? Have you any animals that go about + without their hearts?' 'Thou hast tricked us,' they moaned. 'Fools! I + tricked the Angel of Death, how much more easily a parcel of silly + fishes.' + + "They returned in shame, and related to their master what had happened. + 'In truth,' he said, 'he is cunning, and ye are simple. Concerning you + was it said, The turning away of the simple shall slay them [Prov. i:32]. + Then the leviathan ate the fishes." + +Metaphorically, the Bible characterizes the fool as a man "without a +heart," and it is probably in the same sense that modern Arabs describe the +brute creation as devoid of hearts. The fox in the narrative just given +knew better. Not so, however, the lady who brought a curious question for +her Rabbi to solve. The case to which I refer may be found in the +_Responsa_ Zebi Hirsch. Hirsch's credulous questioner asserted that she had +purchased a live cock, but on killing and drawing it, she had found that it +possessed no heart. The Rabbi refused very properly to believe her. On +investigating the matter, he found that, while she was dressing the cock, +two cats had been standing near the table. The Rabbi assured his questioner +that there was no need to inquire further into the whereabouts of the +cock's heart. + +Out of the crowd of parallels to the story of the fox's heart supplied by +the labors of Benfey, I select one given in the second volume of the +learned investigator's _Pantschatantra_. A crocodile had formed a close +friendship with a monkey, who inhabited a tree close to the water side. The +monkey gave the crocodile nuts, which the latter relished heartily. One day +the crocodile took some of the nuts home to his wife. She found them +excellent, and inquired who was the donor. "If," she said, when her husband +had told her, "he feeds on such ambrosial nuts, this monkey's heart must be +ambrosia itself. Bring me his heart, that I may eat it, and so be free from +age and death." Does not this version supply a more probable motive than +that attributed in the Hebrew story to the leviathan? I strongly suspect +that the Hebrew fable has been pieced together from various sources, and +that the account given by the fishes, viz. that the leviathan was ill, was +actually the truth in the original story. The leviathan would need the +fox's heart, not to become wise, but in order to save his life. + +To return to the crocodile. He refuses to betray his friend, and his wife +accuses him of infidelity. His friend, she maintains, is not a monkey at +all, but a lady-love of her husband's. Else why should he hesitate to obey +her wishes? "If he is not your beloved, why will you not kill him? Unless +you bring me his heart, I will not taste food, but will die." Then the +crocodile gives in, and in the most friendly manner invites the monkey to +pay him and his wife a visit. The monkey consents unsuspectingly, but +discovers the truth, and escapes by adopting the same ruse as that employed +by the fox. He asserts that he has left his heart behind on his tree. + +That eating the heart of animals was not thought a means of obtaining +wisdom among the Jews, may be directly inferred from a passage in the +Talmud (_Horayoth_, 13b). Among five things there enumerated as "causing a +man to forget what he has learned," the Talmud includes "eating the hearts +of animals." Besides, in certain well-known stories in the Midrash, where a +fox eats some other animal's heart, his object is merely to enjoy a titbit. + +One such story in particular deserves attention. There are at least three +versions of it. The one is contained in the _Mishle Shualim_, or +"Fox-Stories," by Berechiah ha-Nakdan (no. 106), the second in the _Hadar +Zekenim_ (fol. 27b), and the third in the _Midrash Yalkut_, on Exodus (ed. +Venice, 56a). Let us take the three versions in the order named. + +A wild boar roams in a lion's garden. The lion orders him to quit the place +and not defile his residence. The boar promises to obey, but next morning +he is found near the forbidden precincts. The lion orders one of his ears +to be cut off. He then summons the fox, and directs that if the boar still +persists in his obnoxious visits, no mercy shall be shown to him. The boar +remains obstinate, and loses his ears (one had already gone!) and eyes, and +finally he is killed. The lion bids the fox prepare the carcass for His +Majesty's repast, but the fox himself devours the boar's heart. When the +lion discovers the loss, the fox quiets his master by asking, "If the boar +had possessed a heart, would he have been so foolish as to disobey you so +persistently?" + +The king of the beasts, runs the story in the second of the three versions, +appointed the ass as keeper of the tolls. One day King Lion, together with +the wolf and the fox, approached the city. The ass came and demanded the +toll of them. Said the fox, "You are the most audacious of animals. Don't +you see that the king is with us?" But the ass answered, "The king himself +shall pay," and he went and demanded the toll of the king. The lion rent +him to pieces, and the fox ate the heart, and excused himself as in the +former version. + +The _Yalkut_, or third version, is clearly identical with the preceding, +for, like it, the story is quoted to illustrate the Scriptural text +referring to Pharaoh's heart becoming hard. In this version, however, other +animals accompany the lion and the fox, and the scene of the story is on +board ship. The ass demands the fare, with the same _dénouement_ as before. + +What induced the fox to eat the victim's heart? The ass is not remarkable +for wisdom, nor is the boar. Hence the wily Reynard can scarcely have +thought to add to his store of cunning by his surreptitious meal. + +Hearts, in folk-lore, have been eaten for revenge, as in the grim story of +the lover's heart told by Boccaccio. The jealous husband forces his wife, +whose fidelity he doubts, to make a meal of her supposed lover's heart. In +the story of the great bird's egg, again, the brother who eats the heart +becomes rich, but not wise. Various motives, no doubt, are assigned in +other _Märchen_ for choosing the heart; but in these particular Hebrew +fables, it is merely regarded as a _bonne bouche_. Possibly the Talmudic +caution, that eating the heart of a beast brings forgetfulness, may have a +moral significance; it may mean that one who admits bestial passions into +his soul will be destitute of a mind for nobler thoughts. This suggestion I +have heard, and I give it for what it may be worth. As a rule, there is no +morality in folk-lore; stories with morals belong to the later and more +artificial stage of poet-lore. Homiletical folk-lore, of course, stands on +a different basis. + +Now, in the _Yalkut_ version of the fox and the lion fable, all that we are +told is, "The fox saw the ass's heart; he took it, and ate it." But +Berechiah leaves us in no doubt as to the fox's motive. "The fox saw that +his heart was fat, and so he took it." In the remaining version, "The fox +saw that the heart was good, so he ate it." This needs no further comment. + +Of course, it has been far from my intention to dispute that the heart was +regarded by Jews as the seat both of the intellect and the feelings, of all +mental and spiritual functions, indeed. The heart was the best part of man, +the fount of life; hence Jehudah Halevi's well-known saying, "Israel is to +the world as the heart to the body." An intimate connection was also +established, by Jews and Greeks alike, between the physical condition of +the heart and man's moral character. It was a not unnatural thought that +former ages were more pious than later times. "The heart of Rabbi Akiba was +like the door of the porch [which was twenty cubits high], the heart of +Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua was like the door of the Temple [this was only +ten cubits high], while our hearts are only as large as the eye of a +needle." But I am going beyond my subject. To collect all the things, +pretty and the reverse, that have been said in Jewish literature about the +heart, would need more leisure, and a great deal more learning, than I +possess. So I will conclude with a story, pathetic as well as poetical, +from a Jewish medieval chronicle. + +A Mohammedan king once asked a learned Rabbi why the Jews, who had in times +long past been so renowned for their bravery, had in later generations +become subdued, and even timorous. The Rabbi, to prove that captivity and +persecution were the cause of the change, proposed an experiment. He bade +the king take two lion's whelps, equally strong and big. One was tied up, +the other was allowed to roam free in the palace grounds. They were fed +alike, and after an interval both were killed. The king's officers found +that the heart of the captive lion was but one-tenth as large as that of +his free companion, thus evidencing the degenerating influence of slavery. +This is meant, no doubt, as a fable, but, at least, it is not without a +moral. The days of captivity are gone, and it may be hoped that Jewish +large-heartedness has come back with the breath of freedom. + + + + +"MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN" + + + "The Omnipresent," said a Rabbi, "is occupied in making marriages." The + levity of the saying lies in the ear of him who hears it; for by + marriages the speaker meant all the wondrous combinations of the + universe, whose issue makes our good and evil. + + _George Eliot_ + +The proverb that I have set at the head of these lines is popular in every +language of Europe. Need I add that a variant may be found in Chinese? The +Old Man of the Moon unites male and female with a silken, invisible thread, +and they cannot afterwards be separated, but are destined to become man and +wife. The remark of the Rabbi quoted in "Daniel Deronda" carries the +proverb back apparently to a Jewish origin; and it is, indeed, more than +probable that the Rabbinical literature is the earliest source to which +this piece of folk-philosophy can be traced. + +George Eliot's Rabbi was Jose bar Chalafta, and his remark was made to a +lady, possibly a Roman matron of high quality, in Sepphoris. Rabbi Jose was +evidently an adept in meeting the puzzling questions of women, for as many +as sixteen interviews between him and "matrons" are recorded in Agadic +literature. Whether because prophetic of its subsequent popularity, or for +some other reason, this particular dialogue in which Rabbi Jose bore so +conspicuous a part is repeated in the _Midrash Rabba_ alone not less than +four times, besides appearing in other Midrashim. It will be as well, then, +to reproduce the passage in a summarized form, for it may be fairly +described as the _locus classicus_ on the subject. + + "How long," she asked, "did it take God to create the world?" and Rabbi + Jose informed her that the time occupied was six days. "What has God been + doing since that time?" continued the matron. "The Holy One," answered + the Rabbi, "has been sitting in Heaven arranging marriages."--"Indeed!" + she replied, "I could do as much myself. I have thousands of slaves, and + could marry them off in couples in a single hour. It is easy enough."--"I + hope that you will find it so," said Rabbi Jose. "In Heaven it is thought + as difficult as the dividing of the Red Sea." He then took his departure, + while she assembled one thousand men-servants and as many maid-servants, + and, marking them off in pairs, ordered them all to marry. On the day + following this wholesale wedding, the poor victims came to their mistress + in a woeful plight. One had a broken leg, another a black eye, a third a + swollen nose; all were suffering from some ailment, but with one voice + they joined in the cry, "Lady, unmarry us again!" Then the matron sent + for Rabbi Jose, admitted that she had underrated the delicacy and + difficulty of match-making, and wisely resolved to leave Heaven for the + future to do its work in its own way. + +The moral conveyed by this story may seem, however, to have been idealized +by George Eliot almost out of recognition. This is hardly the case. Genius +penetrates into the heart, even from a casual glance at the face of things. +Though it is unlikely that she had ever seen the full passages in the +Midrash to which she was alluding, yet her insight was not at fault. For +the saying that God is occupied in making marriages is, in fact, associated +in some passages of the Midrash with the far wider problems of man's +destiny, with the universal effort to explain the inequalities of fortune, +and the changes with which the future is heavy. + +Rabbi Jose's proverbial explanation of connubial happiness was not merely a +_bon mot_ invented on the spur of the moment, to silence an awkward +questioner. It was a firm conviction, which finds expression in more than +one quaint utterance, but also in more than one matter-of-fact assertion. +To take the latter first: + + "Rabbi Phineas in the name of Rabbi Abbahu said, We find in the Torah, in + the Prophets, and in the Holy Writings, evidence that a man's wife is + chosen for him by the Holy One, blessed be He. Whence do we deduce it in + the Torah? From Genesis xxiv. 50: _Then Laban and Bethuel answered and + said_ [in reference to Rebekah's betrothal to Isaac], _The thing + proceedeth from the Lord._ In the Prophets it is found in Judges xiv. 4 + [where it is related how Samson wished to mate himself with a woman in + Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines], _But his father and mother + knew not that it was of the Lord._ In the Holy Writings the same may be + seen, for it is written (Proverbs xix. 14), _House and riches are the + inheritance of fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord._" + +Many years ago, a discussion was carried on in the columns of _Notes and +Queries_ concerning the origin of the saying round which my present +desultory jottings are centred. One correspondent, with unconscious +plagiarism, suggested that the maxim was derived from Proverbs xix. 14. + +Another text that might be appealed to is Tobit vi. 18. The Angel +encourages Tobit to marry Sarah, though her seven husbands, one after the +other, had died on their wedding eves. "Fear not," said Raphael, "for _she +is appointed unto thee from the beginning_." + +Here we may, for a moment, pause to consider whether any parallels to the +belief in Heaven-made marriages exist in other ancient literatures. It +appears in English as early as Shakespeare: + + God, the best maker of all marriages, + Combine your hearts in one. + + _Henry V., v. 2._ + +This, however, is too late to throw any light on its origin. With a little +ingenuity, one might, perhaps, torture some such notion out of certain +fantastic sentences of Plato. In the _Symposium_ (par. 192), however, God +is represented as putting obstacles in the way of the union of fitting +lovers, in consequence of the wickedness of mankind. When men become, by +their conduct, reconciled with God, they may find their true loves. +Astrological divinations on the subject are certainly common enough in +Eastern stories; a remarkable instance will be given later on. At the +present day, Lane tells us, the numerical value of the letters in the names +of the two parties to the contract are added for each name separately, and +one of the totals is subtracted from the other. If the remainder is uneven, +the inference drawn is favorable; but if even, the reverse. The pursuit of +Gematria is apparently not limited to Jews. Such methods, however, hardly +illustrate my present point, for the identity of the couple is not +discovered by the process. Whether the diviner's object is to make this +discovery, or the future lot of the married pair is all that he seeks to +reveal, in both cases, though he charm never so wisely, it does not fall +within the scope of this inquiry. Without stretching one's imagination too +much, some passages in the _Pantschatantra_ seem to imply a belief that +marriage-making is under the direct control of Providence. Take, for +instance, the story of the beautiful princess who was betrothed to a +serpent, Deva Serma's son. Despite the various attempts made to induce her +to break off so hideous a match, she declines steadfastly to go back from +her word, and bases her refusal on the ground that the marriage was +inevitable and destined by the gods. + +As quaint illustrations may be instanced the following: "Raba heard a +certain man praying that he might marry a certain damsel; Raba rebuked him +with the words: 'If she be destined for thee, nothing will part thee from +her; if thou art not destined for her, thou art denying Providence in +praying for her.' Afterwards Raba heard him say, 'If I am not destined to +marry her, I hope that either I or she may die,'" meaning that he could not +bear to witness her union with another. Despite Raba's protest, other +instances are on record of prayers similar to the one of which he +disapproved. Or, again, the Midrash offers a curious illustration of Psalm +lxii. 10, "Surely men of low degree are a breath, and men of high degree a +lie." The first clause of the verse alludes to those who say in the usual +way of the world, that a certain man is about to wed a certain maiden, and +the second clause to those who say that a certain maiden is about to wed a +certain man. In both cases people are in error in thinking that the various +parties are acting entirely of their own free will; as a matter of fact, +the whole affair is predestined. I am not quite certain whether the same +idea is intended by the _Yalkut Reubeni_, in which the following occurs: +"Know that all religious and pious men in this our generation are henpecked +by their wives, the reason being connected with the mystery of the Golden +Calf. The men on that occasion did not protest against the action of the +mixed multitude [at whose door the charge of making the calf is laid], +while the women were unwilling to surrender their golden ornaments for +idolatrous purposes. Therefore they rule over their husbands." One might +also quote the bearing of the mystical theory of transmigration on the +predestination of bridal pairs. In the Talmud, on the other hand, the +virtues of a man's wife are sometimes said to be in proportion to the +husband's own; or in other words, his own righteousness is the cause of his +acquiring a good wife. The obvious objection, raised by the Talmud itself, +is that a man's merits can hardly be displayed before his birth--and yet +his bride is destined for him at that early period. + +Yet more quaint (I should perhaps rather term it consistent, were not +consistency rare enough to be indistinguishable from quaintness) was the +confident belief of a maiden of whom mention is made in the _Sefer +ha-Chasidim_ (par. 384). She refused persistently to deck her person with +ornaments. People said to her, "If you go about thus unadorned, no one will +notice you nor court you." She replied with firm simplicity, "It is the +Holy One, blessed be He, that settles marriages; I need have no concern on +the point myself." Virtue was duly rewarded, for she married a learned and +pious husband. This passage in the "Book of the Pious" reminds me of the +circumstance under which the originator of the latter-day Chasidism, Israel +Baalshem, is said to have married. When he was offered the daughter of a +rich and learned man of Brody, named Abraham, he readily accepted the +alliance, because he knew that Abraham's daughter was his bride destined by +heaven. For, like Moses Mendelssohn, in some other respects the antagonist +of the Chasidim, Baalshem accepted the declaration of Rabbi Judah in the +name of Rab: "Forty days before the creation of a girl, a proclamation +[Bath-Kol] is made in Heaven, saying, 'The daughter of such a one shall +marry such and such a one.'" + +The belief in the Divine ordaining of marriages affected the medieval +Synagogue liturgy. To repeat what I have written elsewhere: When the +bridegroom, with a joyous retinue, visited the synagogue on the Sabbath +following his marriage, the congregation chanted the chapter of Genesis +(xxiv) that narrates the story of Isaac's marriage, which, as Abraham's +servant claimed, was providentially arranged. This chapter was sung, not +only in Hebrew, but in Arabic, in countries where the latter language was +the vernacular. These special readings, which were additional to the +regular Scripture lesson, seem to have fallen out of use in Europe in the +seventeenth century, but they are still retained in the East. But all over +Jewry the beautiful old belief is contained in the wording of the fourth of +the "seven benedictions" sung at the celebration of a wedding, "Blessed art +thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast made man in thine +image, after thy likeness, and hast prepared unto him out of his very self +a perpetual fabric." Here is recalled the creation of Eve, of whom God +Himself said, "I will make for man a help meet unto him." Not only the +marriage, but also the bride was Heaven-made, and the wonderful wedding +benediction enshrines this idea. + +In an Agadic story, the force of this predestination is shown to be too +strong even for royal opposition. It does not follow that the +pre-arrangement of marriages implies that the pair cannot fall in love of +their own accord. On the contrary, just the right two eventually come +together; for once freewill and destiny need present no incompatibility. +The combination, here shadowed, of a predestined and yet true-love +marriage, is effectively illustrated in what follows: + + "Solomon the king was blessed with a very beautiful daughter; she was the + fairest maiden in the whole land of Israel. Her father observed the + stars, to discover by astrology who was destined to be her mate in life + and wed her, when lo! he saw that his future son-in-law would be the + poorest man in the nation. Now, what did Solomon do? He built a high + tower by the sea, and surrounded it on all sides with inaccessible walls; + he then took his daughter and placed her in the tower under the charge of + seventy aged guardians. He supplied the castle with provisions, but he + had no door made in it, so that none could enter the fortress without the + knowledge of the guard. Then the king said, 'I will watch in what way God + will work the matter.' + + "In course of time, a poor and weary traveller was walking on his way by + night, his garments were ragged and torn, he was barefooted and ready to + faint with hunger, cold, and fatigue. He knew not where to sleep, but, + casting his eyes around him, he beheld the skeleton of an ox lying on a + field hard by. The youth crept inside the skeleton to shelter himself + from the wind, and, while he slept there, down swooped a great bird, + which lifted up the carcass and the unconscious youth in it. The bird + flew with its burden to the top of Solomon's tower, and set it down on + the roof before the very door of the imprisoned princess. She went forth + on the morrow to walk on the roof according to her daily wont, and she + descried the youth. She said to him, 'Who art thou? and who brought thee + hither?' He answered, 'I am a Jew of Acco, and a bird bore me to thee.' + The kind-hearted maiden clothed him in new garments; they bathed and + anointed him, and she saw that he was the handsomest youth in Israel. + They loved one another, and his soul was bound up in hers. One day she + said, 'Wilt thou marry me?' He replied, 'Would it might be so!' They + resolved to marry. But there was no ink with which to write the Kethubah, + or marriage certificate. Love laughs at obstacles. So, using some drops + of his own blood as ink, the marriage was secretly solemnized, and he + said, 'God is my witness to-day, and Michael and Gabriel likewise.' When + the matter leaked out, the dismayed custodians of the princess hastily + summoned Solomon. The king at once obeyed their call, and asked for the + presumptuous youth. He looked at his son-in-law, inquired of him as to + his father and mother, family and dwelling-place, and from his replies + the king recognized him for the selfsame man whom he had seen in the + stars as the destined husband of his daughter. Then Solomon rejoiced with + exceeding joy and exclaimed, Blessed is the Omnipresent who giveth a wife + to man and establisheth him in his house." + +The moral of which seems to be that, though marriages are made in Heaven, +love must be made on earth. + + + + +HEBREW LOVE SONGS + + +Palestine is still the land of song. There the peasant sings Arabic ditties +in the field when he sows and reaps, in the desert when he tends his flock, +at the oasis when the caravan rests for the night, and when camels are +remounted next morning. The maiden's fresh voice keeps droning rhythm with +her hands and feet as she carries water from the well or wood from the +scanty forest, when she milks the goats, and when she bakes the bread. + +The burden of a large portion of these songs is love. The love motive is +most prominent musically during the long week of wedding festivities, but +it is by no means limited to these occasions. The songs often contain an +element of quaint, even arch, repartee, in which the girl usually has the +better of the argument. Certainly the songs are sometimes gross, but only +in the sense that they are vividly natural. With no delicacy of expression, +they are seldom intrinsically coarse. The troubadours of Europe trilled +more daintily of love, but there was at times an illicit note in their +lays. Eastern love songs never attain the ideal purity of Dante, but they +hardly ever sink to the level of Ovid. + +But why begin an account of Hebrew love songs by citing extant Palestinian +examples in Arabic? Because there is an undeniable, if remote, relationship +between some of the latter and the Biblical Song of Songs. In that +marvellous poem, outspoken praise of earthly beauty, frank enumeration of +the physical charms of the lovers, thorough unreserve of imagery, are +conspicuous enough. Just these features, as Wetzstein showed, are +reproduced, in a debased, yet recognizable, likeness, by the modern Syrian +_wasf_--a lyric description of the bodily perfections and adornments of a +newly-wed pair. The Song of Songs, or Canticles, it is true, is hardly a +marriage ode or drama; its theme is betrothed faith rather than marital +affection. Still, if we choose to regard the Song of Songs as poetry merely +of the _wasf_ type, the Hebrew is not only far older than any extant Arabic +instance, but it transcends the _wasf_ type as a work of inspired genius +transcends conventional exercises in verse-making. There are superficial +similarities between the _wasf_ and Canticles, but there is no spiritual +kinship. The _wasf_ is to the Song as Lovelace is to Shakespeare, nay, the +distance is even greater. The difference is not only of degree, it is +essential. The one touches the surface of love, the other sounds its +depths. The Song of Songs immeasurably surpasses the _wasf_ even as poetry. +It has been well said by Dr. Harper (author of the best English edition of +Canticles), that, viewed simply as poetry, the Song of Songs belongs to the +loveliest masterpieces of art. "If, as Milton said, 'poetry should be +simple, sensuous, passionate,' then here we have poetry of singular beauty +and power. Such unaffected delight in all things fair as we find here is +rare in any literature, and is especially remarkable in ancient Hebrew +literature. The beauty of the world and of the creatures in it has been so +deeply and warmly felt, that even to-day the ancient poet's emotion of joy +in them thrills through the reader." + +It is superfluous to justify this eulogy by quotation. It is impossible +also, unless the quotation extend to the whole book. Yet one scene shall be +cited, the exquisite, lyrical dialogue of spring, beginning with the tenth +verse of the second chapter. It is a dialogue, though the whole is reported +by one speaker, the Shulammite maid. Her shepherd lover calls to her as she +stands hidden behind a lattice, in the palace in Lebanon, whither she has +been decoyed, or persuaded to go, by the "ladies of Jerusalem." + + _The shepherd lover calls_ + Rise up, my love, + My fair one, come away! + For, lo, the winter is past, + The rain is over and gone, + The flowers appear on the earth: + The birds' singing time is here, + And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. + The fig-tree ripens red her winter fruit, + And blossoming vines give forth fragrance. + Rise up, my love, + My fair one, come away! + +Shulammith makes no answer, though she feels that the shepherd is conscious +of her presence. She is, as it were, in an unapproachable steep, such as +the wild dove selects for her shy nest. So he goes on: + + O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, + In the covert of the steep! + Let me see thy face, + Let me hear thy voice, + For sweet is thy voice, and thy face comely! + +She remains tantalizingly invisible, but becomes audible. She sings a +snatch from a vineyard-watcher's song, hinting, perhaps, at the need in +which her person (her "vineyard" as she elsewhere calls it) stands of +protection against royal foxes, small and large. + + _Shulammith sings_ + Take us the foxes, + The little foxes, + That spoil the vineyards: + For our vines are in blossom! + +Then, in loving rapture, + + _Shulammith speaks in an aside_ + My beloved is mine, and I am his: + He feedeth his flock among the lilies! + +But she cannot refuse her lover one glance at herself, even though she +appear only to warn him of his danger, to urge him to leave her and return +when the day is over. + + _Shulammith entreatingly to her lover_ + Until the evening breeze blows, + And the shadows disappear (at sunset), + Turn, my beloved! + Be thou as a young hart + Upon the cleft-riven hills! + +This is but one of the many dainty love idylls of this divine poem. Or, +again, "could the curious helplessness of the dreamer in a dream and the +yearning of a maiden's affection be more exquisitely expressed than in the +lines beginning, I was asleep, but my heart waked"? But, indeed, as the +critic I am quoting continues, "the felicities of expression and the happy +imaginings of the poem are endless. The spring of nature and of love has +been caught and fixed in its many exquisite lines, as only Shakespeare +elsewhere has done it; and, understood as we think it must be understood, +it has that ethical background of sacrifice and self-forgetting which all +love must have to be thoroughly worthy." + +It is this ethical, or, as I prefer to term it, spiritual, background that +discriminates the Song of Songs on the one hand from the Idylls of +Theocritus, and, on the other, from the Syrian popular ditties. Some +moderns, notably Budde, hold that the Book of Canticles is merely a +collection of popular songs used at Syrian weddings, in which the bride +figures as queen and her mate as king, just as Budde (wrongly) conceives +them to figure in the Biblical Song. Budde suggests that there were "guilds +of professional singers at weddings, and that we have in the Song of Songs +simply the repertoire of some ancient guild-brother, who, in order to +assist his memory, wrote down at random all the songs he could remember, or +those he thought the best." + +But this theory has been generally rejected as unsatisfying. The book, +despite its obscurities, is clearly a unity. It is no haphazard collection +of love songs. There is a sustained dramatic action leading up to a noble +climax. Some passages almost defy the attempt to fit them into a coherent +plot, but most moderns detect the following story in Canticles: A beautiful +maid of Shulem (perhaps another form of Shunem), beloved by a shepherd +swain, is the only daughter of well-off but rustic parents. She is treated +harshly by her brothers, who set her to watch the vineyards, and this +exposure to the sun somewhat mars her beauty. Straying in the gardens, she +is on a day in spring surprised by Solomon and his train, who are on a +royal progress to the north. She is taken to the palace in the capital, and +later to a royal abode in Lebanon. There the "ladies of Jerusalem" seek to +win her affections for the king, who himself pays her his court. But she +resists all blandishments, and remains faithful to her country lover. +Surrendering graciously to her strenuous resistance, Solomon permits her to +return unharmed to her mountain home. Her lover meets her, and as she draws +near her native village, the maid, leaning on the shepherd's arm, breaks +forth into the glorious panegyric of love, which, even if it stood alone, +would make the poem deathless. But it does not stand alone. It is in every +sense a climax to what has gone before. And what a climax! It is a +vindication of true love, which weighs no allurements of wealth and +position against itself; a love of free inclination, yet altogether removed +from license. Nor is it an expression of that lower love which may prevail +in a polygamous state of society, when love is dissipated among many. We +have here the love of one for one, an exclusive and absorbing devotion. For +though the Bible never prohibited polygamy, the Jews had become monogamous +from the Babylonian Exile at latest. The splendid praise of the virtuous +woman at the end of the Book of Proverbs gives a picture, not only of +monogamous home-life, but of woman's influence at its highest. The virtuous +woman of Proverbs is wife and mother, deft guide of the home, open-handed +dispenser of charity, with the law of kindness on her tongue; but her +activity also extends to the world outside the home, to the mart, to the +business of life. Where, in olden literature, are woman's activities wider +or more manifold, her powers more fully developed? Now, the Song of Songs +is the lyric companion to this prose picture. The whole Song works up +towards the description of love in the last chapter--towards the +culmination of the thought and feeling of the whole series of episodes. The +Shulammite speaks: + + Set me as a seal upon thy heart, + As a seal upon thine arm: + For love is strong as death, + Jealousy is cruel as the grave: + The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, + A very flame of God! + Many waters cannot quench love, + Neither can the floods drown it: + If a man would give the substance of his house for love, + He would be utterly contemned. + +The vindication of the Hebrew song from degradation to the level of the +Syrian _wasf_ is easy enough. But some may feel that there is more +plausibility in the case that has been set up for the connection between +Canticles and another type of love song, the Idylls of Theocritus, the +Sicilian poet whose Greek compositions gave lyric distinction to the +Ptolemaic court at Alexandria, about the middle of the third century B.C.E. +It is remarkable how reluctant some writers are to admit originality in +ideas. Such writers seem to recognize no possibility other than supposing +Theocritus to have copied Canticles, or Canticles Theocritus. It does not +occur to them that both may be original, independent expressions of similar +emotions. Least original among ideas is this denial of originality in +ideas. Criticism has often stultified itself under the obsession that +everything is borrowed. On this theory there can never have been an +original note. The poet, we are told, is born, not made; but poetry, +apparently, is always made, never born. + +The truth rather is that as human nature is everywhere similar, there must +necessarily be some similarity in its literary expression. This is +emphatically the case with the expression given to the emotional side of +human nature. The love of man for maid, rising everywhere from the same +spring, must find lyric outlets that look a good deal alike. The family +resemblance between the love poems of various peoples is due to the +elemental kinship of the love. Every true lover is original, yet most true +lovers, including those who have no familiarity with poetical literature, +fall instinctively on the same terms of endearment. Differences only make +themselves felt in the spiritual attitudes of various ages and races +towards love. Theocritus has been compared to Canticles, by some on the +ground of certain Orientalisms of his thought and phrases, as in his Praise +of Ptolemy. But his love poems bear no trace of Orientalism in feeling, as +Canticles shows no trace of Hellenism in its conception of love. The +similarities are human, the differences racial. + +Direct literary imitation of love lyrics certainly does occur. Virgil +imitated Theocritus, and the freshness of the Greek Idyll became the +convention of the Roman Eclogue. When such conscious imitation takes place, +it is perfectly obvious. There is no mistaking the affectation of an urban +lyrist, whose lovers masquerade as shepherds in the court of Louis XIV. + +Theocritus seems to have had earlier Greek models, but few readers of his +Idylls can question his originality, and fewer still will agree with +Mahaffy in denying the naturalness of his goatherds and fishermen, in a +word, his genuineness. Mahaffy wavers between two statements, that the +Idylls are an affectation for Alexandria, and sincere for Sicily. The two +statements are by no means contradictory. Much the same thing is true of +Canticles, the Biblical Song of Songs. It is unreasonable for anyone who +has seen or read about a Palestinian spring, with its unique beauty of +flower and bird and blossom, to imagine that the author of Canticles needed +or used second-hand sources of inspiration, however little his drama may +have accorded with the life of Jerusalem in the Hellenistic period. And as +the natural scenic background in each case is native, so is the treatment +of the love theme; in both it is passionate, but in the one it is nothing +else, in the other it is also spiritual. In both, the whole is artistic, +but not artificial. As regards the originality of the love-interest in +Canticles, it must suffice to say that there was always a strong romantic +strain in the Jewish character. + +Canticles is perhaps (by no means certainly) post-Exilic and not far +removed in date from the age of Theocritus. Still, a post-Exilic Hebrew +poet had no more reason to go abroad for a romantic plot than Hosea, or the +author of Ruth, or the writer of the royal Epithalamium (Psalm xlv), an +almost certainly pre-Exilic composition. This Psalm has been well termed a +"prelude to the Song of Songs," for in a real sense Canticles is +anticipated and even necessitated by it. In Ruth we have a romance of the +golden corn-field, and the author chooses the unsophisticated days of the +Judges as the setting of his tale. In Canticles we have a contrasted +picture between the simplicity of shepherd-life and the urban +voluptuousness which was soon to attain its climax in the court of the +Ptolemies. So the poet chose the luxurious reign of Solomon as the +background for his exquisite "melodrama." Both Ruth and Canticles are +home-products, and ancient Greek literature has no real parallel to either. + +Yet, despite the fact that the Hebrew Bible is permeated through and +through, in its history, its psalmody, and its prophetic oratory, with +images drawn from love, especially in rustic guise, so competent a critic +as Graetz conceived that the pastoral background of the love-story of +Canticles must have been artificial. While most of those who have accepted +the theory of imitation-they cannot have reread the Idylls and the Song as +wholes to persist in such a theory-have contended that Theocritus borrowed +from Canticles, Graetz is convinced that the Hebrew poet must have known +and imitated the Greek idyllist. The hero and heroine of the Song, he +thinks, are not real shepherds; they are bucolic dilettanti, their +shepherd-rôle is not serious. Whence, then, this superficial pastoral +_mise-en-scène?_ This critic, be it observed, places Canticles in the +Ptolemaic age. + + "In the then Judean world," writes Graetz, "in the post-Exilic period, + pastoral life was in no way so distinguished as to serve as a poetic + foil. On the contrary, the shepherd was held in contempt. Agriculture was + so predominant that large herds were considered a detriment; they spoiled + the grain. Shepherds, too, were esteemed robbers, in that they allowed + their cattle to graze on the lands of others. In Judea itself, in the + post-Exilic period, there were few pasture-grounds for such nomads. Hence + the song transfers the goats to Gilead, where there still existed + grazing-places. In the Judean world the poet could find nothing to + suggest the idealization of the shepherd. As he, nevertheless, represents + the simple life, as opposed to courtly extravagance, through the figures + of shepherds, he must have worked from a foreign model. But Theocritus + was the first perfect pastoral poet. Through his influence shepherd songs + became a favorite _genre_. He had no lack of imitators. Theocritus had + full reason to contrast court and rustic life and idealize the latter, + for in his native Sicily there were still shepherds in primitive + simplicity. Under his influence and that of his followers, it became the + fashion to represent the simple life in pastoral guise. The poet of + Canticles--who wrote for cultured circles--was forced to make use of the + convention. But, as though to excuse himself for taking a Judean shepherd + as a representative of the higher virtues, he made his shepherd one who + feeds among the lilies. It is not the rude neat-herds of Gilead or the + Judean desert that hold such noble dialogues, but shepherds of delicate + refinement. In a word, the whole eclogic character of Canticles appears + to be copied from the Theocritan model," + +This contention would be conclusive, if it were based on demonstrable +facts. But what is the evidence for it? Graetz offers none in his brilliant +Commentary on Canticles. In proof of his startling view that, throughout +post-Exilic times, the shepherd vocation was held in low repute among +Israelites, he merely refers to an article in his _Monatsschrift_ (1870, p. +483). When one turns to that, one finds that it concerns a far later +period, the second Christian century, when the shepherd vocation had fallen +to the grade of a small and disreputable trade. The vocation was then no +longer a necessary corollary of the sacrificial needs of the Temple. While +the altar of Jerusalem required its holocausts, the breeders of the animals +would hardly have been treated as pariahs. In the century immediately +following the destruction of the Temple, the shepherd began to fall in +moral esteem, and in the next century he was included among the criminal +categories. No doubt, too, as the tender of flocks was often an Arab +raider, the shepherd had become a dishonest poacher on other men's +preserves. The attitude towards him was, further, an outcome of the +deepening antagonism between the schoolmen and the peasantry. But even then +it was by no means invariable. One of the most famous of Rabbis, Akiba, who +died a martyr in 135 C.E., was not only a shepherd, but he was also the +hero of the most romantic of Rabbinic love episodes. + +At the very time when Graetz thinks that agriculture had superseded +pastoral pursuits in general esteem, the Book of Ecclesiasticus was +written. On the one side, Sirach, the author of this Apocryphal work, does +not hesitate (ch. xxiv) to compare his beloved Wisdom to a garden, in the +same rustic images that we find in Canticles; and, on the other side, he +reveals none of that elevated appreciation of agriculture which Graetz +would have us expect. Sirach (xxxvii. 25) asks sarcastically: + + How shall he become wise that holdeth the plough, + That glorieth in the shaft of the goad: + That driveth oxen, and is occupied with their labors, + And whose talk is of bullocks? + +Here it is the farmer that is despised, not a word is hinted against the +shepherd. Sirach also has little fondness for commerce, and he denies the +possibility of wisdom to the artisan and craftsman, "in whose ear is ever +the noise of the hammer" (_ib_. v. 28). Sirach, indeed, is not attacking +these occupations; he regards them all as a necessary evil, "without these +cannot a city be inhabited" (v. 32). Our Jerusalem _savant_, as Dr. +Schechter well terms him, of the third or fourth century B.C.E.; is +merely illustrating his thesis, that + + The wisdom of the scribe cometh by opportunity of leisure; + And he that hath little business shall become wise, + +or, as he puts it otherwise, sought for in the council of the people, and +chosen to sit in the seat of the judge. This view finds its analogue in a +famous saying of the later Jewish sage Hillel, "Not everyone who increaseth +business attains wisdom" (_Aboth_, ii. 5). + +Undeniably, the shepherd lost in dignity in the periods of Jewish +prosperity and settled city life. But, as George Adam Smith points out +accurately, the prevailing character of Judea is naturally pastoral, with +husbandry only incidental. "Judea, indeed, offers as good ground as there +is in all the East for observing the grandeur of the shepherd's +character,"--his devotion, his tenderness, his opportunity of leisurely +communion with nature. + +The same characterization must have held in ancient times. And, after all, +as Graetz himself admits, the poet of Canticles locates his shepherd in +Gilead, the wild jasmine and other flowers of whose pastures (the "lilies" +of the Song) still excite the admiration of travellers. Laurence Oliphant +is lost in delight over the "anemones, cyclamens, asphodels, iris," which +burst on his view as he rode "knee-deep through the long, rich, sweet +grass, abundantly studded with noble oak and terebinth trees," and all this +in Gilead. When, then, the Hebrew poet placed his shepherd and his flocks +among the lilies, he was not trying to conciliate the courtly aristocrats +of Jerusalem, or reconcile them to his Theocritan conventions; he was +simply drawing his picture from life. + +And as to the poetical idealization of the shepherd, how could a Hebrew +poet fail to idealize him, under the ever-present charm of his traditional +lore, of Jacob the shepherd-patriarch, Moses the shepherd-lawgiver, David +the shepherd-king, and Amos the shepherd-prophet? So God becomes the +Shepherd of Israel, not only explicitly in the early twenty-third Psalm, +but implicitly also, in the late 119th. The same idealization is found +everywhere in the Rabbinic literature as well as in the New Testament. +Moses is the hero of the beautiful Midrashic parable of the straying lamb, +which he seeks in the desert, and bears in his bosom (_Exodus Rabba_, ii). +There is, on the other hand, something topsy-turvy in Graetz's suggestion, +that a Hebrew poet would go abroad for a conventional idealization of the +shepherd character, just when, on his theory, pastoral conditions were +scorned and lightly esteemed at home. + +It was unnecessary, then, and inappropriate for the author of Canticles to +go to Theocritus for the pastoral characters of his poem. But did he borrow +its form and structure from the Greek? Nothing seems less akin than the +slight dramatic interest of the idylls and the strong, if obscure, dramatic +plot of Canticles. Budde has failed altogether to convince readers of the +Song that no consistent story runs through it. It is, as has been said +above, incredible that we should have before us nothing more than the +disconnected ditties of a Syrian wedding-minstrel. Graetz knew nothing of +the repertoire theory that has been based on Wetzstein's discoveries of +modern Syrian marriage songs and dances. Graetz believed, as most still do, +that Canticles is a whole, not an aggregation of parts; yet he held that, +not only the _dramatis personae_, but the very structure of the Hebrew poem +must be traced to Theocritus. He appeals, in particular, to the second +Idyll of the Greek poet, wherein the lady casts her magic spells in the +vain hope of recovering the allegiance of her butterfly admirer. Obviously, +there is no kinship between the facile Sirnaitha of the Idyll and the +difficult Shulammith of Canticles: one the seeker, the other the sought; +between the sensuous, unrestrained passion of the former and the +self-sacrificing, continent affection of the latter. The nobler conceptions +of love derive from the Judean maiden, not from the Greek paramour. But, +argues Graetz with extraordinary ingenuity, Simaitha, recounting her +unfortunate love-affair, introduces, as Shulammith does, dialogues between +herself and her absent lover; she repeats what he said to her, and she to +him; her monologue is no more a soliloquy than are the monologues of +Shulammith, for both have an audience: here Thestylis, there the chorus of +women. Simaitha's second refrain, as she bewails her love, after casting +the ingredients into the bowl, turning the magic wheel to draw home to her +the man she loves, runs thus: + + Bethink thee, mistress Moon, whence came my love! + +Graetz compares this to Shulammith's refrain in Canticles: + + I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, + By the roes, + And by the hinds of the field, + That ye stir not up + Nor awaken love, + Until it please! + +But in meaning the refrains have an absolutely opposite sense, and, more +than that, they have an absolutely opposite function. In the Idyll the +refrain is an accompaniment, in the Song it is an intermezzo. It occurs +three times (ii. 7; iii. 5; and viii. 4), and like other repeated refrains +in the Song concludes a scene, marks a transition in the situation. In +Theocritus refrains are links, in the Song they are breaks in the chain. + +Refrains are of the essence of lyric poetry as soon as anything like +narrative enters into it. They are found throughout the lyrics of the Old +Testament, the Psalms providing several examples. They belong to the +essence of the Hebrew strophic system. And so it is with the other +structural devices to which Graetz refers: reminiscent narrative, reported +dialogues, scenes within the scene--all are common features (with certain +differences) of the native Hebraic style, and they supply no justification +for the suggestion of borrowing from non-Hebraic models. + +There have, on the other side, been many, especially among older critics, +who have contended that Theocritus owed his inspiration to Canticles. These +have not been disturbed by the consideration, that, if he borrowed at all, +he must assuredly have borrowed more than the most generous of them assert +that he did. Recently an ingenious advocate of this view has appeared in +Professor D.S. Margoliouth, all of whose critical work is rich in +originality and surprises. In the first chapter of his "Lines of Defence of +the Biblical Revelation," he turns the tables on Graetz with quite +entertaining thoroughness. Graetz was certain that no Hebrew poet could +have drawn his shepherds from life; Margoliouth is equally sure that no +Greek could have done so. + + "That this style [bucolic poetry], in which highly artificial + performances are ascribed to shepherds and cowherds, should have + originated in Greece, would be surprising; for the persons who followed + these callings were ordinarily slaves, or humble hirelings, whom the + classical writers treat with little respect. But from the time of + Theocritus their profession becomes associated with poetic art. The + shepherd's clothes are donned by Virgil, Spenser, and Milton. The + existence of the Greek translation of the Song of Solomon gives us the + explanation of this fact. The Song of Solomon is a pastoral poem, but its + pictures are true to nature. The father of the writer [Margoliouth + believes in the Solomonic authorship of Canticles], himself both a king + and a poet, had kept sheep. The combination of court life with country + life, which in Theocritus seems so unnatural, was perfectly natural in + pre-Exilic Palestine. Hence the rich descriptions of the country (ii. 12) + beside the glowing descriptions of the king's wealth (iii. 10). + Theocritus can match both (Idylls vii and xv), but it may be doubted + whether he could have found any Greek model for either." + +It is disturbing to one's confidence in the value of Biblical +criticism--both of the liberal school (Graetz) and the conservative +(Margoliouth)--to come across so complete an antithesis. But things are not +quite so bad as they look. Each critic is half right--Margoliouth in +believing the pastoral pictures of Canticles true to Judean life, Graetz in +esteeming the pastoral pictures of the Idylls true to Sicilian life. The +English critic supports his theme with some philological arguments. He +suggests that the vagaries of the Theocritan dialect are due to the fact +that the Idyllist was a foreigner, whose native language was "probably +Hebrew or Syriac." Or perhaps Theocritus used the Greek translation of the +Song, "unless Theocritus himself was the translator." All of this is a +capital _jeu d'esprit,_ but it is scarcely possible that Canticles was +translated into Greek so early as Theocritus, and, curiously enough, the +Septuagint Greek version of the Song has less linguistic likeness to the +phraseology of Theocritus than has the Greek version of the Song by a +contemporary of Akiba, the proselyte Aquila. Margoliouth points out a +transference by Theocritus of the word for daughter-in-law to the meaning +bride (Idyll, xviii. 15). This is a Hebraism, he thinks. But expansions of +meaning in words signifying relationship are common to all poets. Far more +curious is a transference of this kind that Theocritus does _not_ make. Had +he known Canticles, he would surely have seized upon the Hebrew use of +sister to mean beloved, a usage which, innocent and tender enough in the +Hebrew, would have been highly acceptable to the incestuous patron of +Theocritus, who actually married his full sister. Strange to say, the +ancient Egyptian love poetry employs the terms brother and sister as +regular denotations of a pair of lovers. + +This last allusion to an ancient Egyptian similarity to a characteristic +usage of Canticles leads to the remark, that Maspero and Spiegelberg have +both published hieroglyphic poems of the xixth-xxth Dynasties, in which may +be found other parallels to the metaphors and symbolism of the Hebrew Song. +As earlier writers exaggerated the likeness of Canticles to Theocritus, so +Maspero was at first inclined to exaggerate the affinity of Canticles to +the old Egyptian amatory verse. It is not surprising, but it is saddening, +to find that Maspero, summarizing his interesting discovery in 1883, used +almost the same language as Lessing had used in 1777 with reference to +Theocritus. Maspero, it is true, was too sane a critic to assert borrowing +on the part of Canticles. But he speaks of the "same manner of speech, the +same images, the same comparisons," as Lessing does. Now if A = B, and B = +C, then it follows that A = C. But in this case A does _not_ equal C. There +is no similarity at all between the Egyptian Songs and Theocritus. It +follows that there is no essential likeness between Canticles and either of +the other two. In his later books, Maspero has tacitly withdrawn his +assertion of close Egyptian similarity, and it would be well if an equally +frank withdrawal were made by the advocates of a close Theocritan parallel. + +Some of the suggested resemblances between the Hebrew and Greek Songs are +perhaps interesting enough to be worth examining in detail. In Idyll i. 24, +the goatherd offers this reward to Thyrsis, if he will but sing the song of +Daphnis: + + I'll give thee first + To milk, ay, thrice, a goat; she suckles twins, + Yet ne'ertheless can fill two milkpails full. + +It can hardly be put forward as a remarkable fact that the poet should +refer to so common an incident in sheep-breeding as the birth of twins. Yet +the twins have been forced into the dispute, though it is hard to conceive +anything more unlike than the previous quotation and the one that follows +from Canticles (iv. 2): + + Thy teeth are like a flock of ewes, + That are newly shorn, + Which are come up from the washing, + Whereof every one hath twins, + And none is bereaved among them. + +It is doubtful whether the Hebrew knows anything at all of the twin-bearing +ewes; the penultimate line ought rather to be rendered (as in the margin of +the Revised Version) "thy teeth ... which are all of them in pairs." But, +however rendered, the Hebrew means this. Theocritus speaks of the richness +of the goat's milk, for, after having fed her twins, she has still enough +milk to fill two pails. In Canticles, the maiden's teeth, spotlessly white, +are smooth and even, "they run accurately in pairs, the upper corresponding +to the lower, and none of them is wanting" (Harper). + +Even more amusing is the supposed indebtedness on one side or the other in +the reference made by Theocritus and Canticles to the ravages of foxes in +vineyards. Theocritus has these beautiful lines in his first Idyll (lines +44 _et seq._): + + Hard by that wave-beat sire a vineyard bends + Beneath its graceful load of burnished grapes; + A boy sits on the rude fence watching them. + Near him two foxes: down the rows of grapes + One ranging steals the ripest; one assails + With wiles the poor lad's scrip, to leave him soon + Stranded and supperless. He plaits meanwhile + With ears of corn a right fine cricket-trap, + And fits it in a rush: for vines, for scrip, + Little he cares, enamored of his toy. + +How different the scene in Canticles (ii. 14 _et seq_.) that has been +quoted above! + + Take us the foxes, + The little foxes, + That spoil the vineyards, + For our vineyards are in blossom! + +Canticles alludes to the destruction of the young shoots, Theocritus +pictures the foxes devouring the ripe grapes. (Comp. also Idyll v. 112.) +Foxes commit both forms of depredation, but the poets have seized on +different aspects of the fact. Even were the aspects identical, it would be +ridiculous to suppose that the Sicilian or Judean had been guilty of +plagiarism. To-day, as of old, in the vineyards of Palestine you may see +the little stone huts of the watchers on the lookout for the foxes, or +jackals, whose visitations begin in the late spring and continue to the +autumn. In Canticles we have a genuine fragment of native Judean folk-song; +in Theocritus an equally native item of every season's observation. + +So with most of the other parallels. It is only necessary to set out the +passages in full, to see that the similarity is insignificant in relation +to the real differences. One would have thought that any poet dealing with +rustic beauty might light on the fact that a sunburnt skin may be +attractive. Yet Margoliouth dignifies this simple piece of observation into +a _theory_! "The theory that swarthiness produced by sun-burning need not +be disfiguring to a woman" is, Margoliouth holds, taken by Theocritus from +Canticles. Graetz, as usual, reverses the relation: Canticles took it from +Theocritus. But beyond the not very recondite idea that a sunburnt maid may +still be charming, there is no parallel. Battus sings (Idyll x. 26 _et +seq_.): + + Fair Bombyca! thee do men report + Lean, dusk, a gipsy: I alone nut-brown. + Violets and pencilled hyacinths are swart, + Yet first of flowers they're chosen for a crown. + As goats pursue the clover, wolves the goat, + And cranes the ploughman, upon thee I dote! + +In Canticles the Shulammite protests (i. 5 _et seq_.): + + I am black but comely, + O ye daughters of Jerusalem! + [Black] as the tents of Kedar, + [Comely] as the curtains of Solomon. + Despise me not because I am swarthy, + Because the sun hath scorched me. + My mother's sons were incensed against me, + They made me the keeper of the vineyards, + But mine own vineyard I have not kept! + +Two exquisite lyrics these, of which it is hard to say which has been more +influential as a key-note of later poetry. But neither of them is derived; +each is too spontaneous, too fresh from the poet's soul. + +Before turning to one rather arrestive parallel, a word may be said on +Graetz's idea, that Canticles uses the expression "love's arrows." Were +this so, the symbolism could scarcely be attributed to other than a Greek +original. The line occurs in the noble panegyric of love cited before, with +which Canticles ends, and in which the whole drama culminates. There is no +room in this eulogy for Graetz's rendering, "Her arrows are fiery arrows," +nor can the Hebrew easily mean it. "The flashes thereof are flashes of +fire," is the best translation possible of the Hebrew line. There is +nothing Greek in the comparison of love to fire, for fire is used in common +Hebrew idiom to denote any powerful emotion (comp. the association of fire +with jealousy in Ezekiel xxxix. 4). + +Ewald, while refusing to connect the Idylls with Canticles, admitted that +one particular parallel is at first sight forcible. It is the comparison of +both Helen and Shulammith to a horse. Margoliouth thinks the Greek +inexplicable without the Hebrew; Graetz thinks the Hebrew inexplicable +without the Greek. In point of fact, the Hebrew and the Greek do not +explain each other in the least. In the Epithalamium (Idyll xviii. 30) +Theocritus writes, + + Or as in a chariot a mare of Thessalian breed, + So is rose-red Helen, the glory of Lacedemon. + +The exact point of comparison is far from clear, but it must be some +feature of beauty or grace. Such a comparison, says Margoliouth, is +extraordinary in a Greek poet; he must have derived it from a non-Greek +source. But it has escaped this critic and all the commentaries on +Theocritus, that just this comparison is perfectly natural for a Sicilian +poet, familiar with several series of Syracusan coins of all periods, on +which appear chariots with Nike driving horses of the most delicate beauty, +fit figures to compare to a maiden's grace of form. Theocritus, however, +does not actually compare Helen to the horse; she beautifies or sets off +Lacedemon as the horse sets off the chariot. Graetz, convinced that the +figure is Greek, pronounces the Hebrew unintelligible without it. But it is +quite appropriate to the Hebrew poet. Having identified his royal lover +with Solomon, the poet was almost driven to make some allusion to Solomon's +famed exploit in importing costly horses and chariots from Egypt (I Kings +x. 26-29). And so Canticles says (i. 9): + + I have compared thee, O my love, + To a team of horses, in Pharaoh's chariots. + Thy cheeks are comely with rows of pearls, + Thy neck with chains of gold. + +The last couplet refers to the ornaments of the horse's bridle and neck. +Now, to the Hebrew the horse was almost invariably associated with war. The +Shulammite is elsewhere (vi. 4) termed "terrible as an army with banners." +In Theocritus the comparison is primarily to Helen's beauty; in Canticles +to the Shulammite's awesomeness, + + Turn away thine eyes from me, + For they have made me afraid. + +These foregoing points of resemblance are the most significant that have +been adduced. And they are not only seen to be each unimportant and +inconclusive, but they have no cumulative effect. Taken as wholes, as was +said above, the Idylls and Canticles are the poles asunder in their moral +attitude towards love and in their general literary treatment of the theme. +Of course, poets describing the spring will always speak of the birds; +Greek and Hebrew loved flowers, Jew and Egyptian heard the turtle-dove as a +harbinger of nature's rebirth; sun and moon are everywhere types of warm +and tender feelings; love is the converter of a winter of discontent into a +glorious summer. In all love poems the wooer would fain embrace the wooed. +And if she prove coy, he will tell of the menial parts he would be ready to +perform, to continue unrebuked in her vicinity. Anacreon's lover (xx) would +be water in which the maid should bathe, and the Egyptian sighs, "Were I +but the washer of her clothes, I should breathe the scent of her." Or the +Egyptian will cry, "O were I the ring on her finger, that I might be ever +with her," just as the Shulammite bids her beloved (though in another +sense) "Place me as a seal on thine hand" (Cant. viii. 6). Love intoxicates +like wine; the maiden has a honeyed tongue; her forehead and neck are like +ivory. Nothing in all this goes beyond the identity of feeling that lies +behind all poetical expression. But even in this realm of metaphor and +image and symbolism, the North-Semitic _wasf_ and even more the Hebraic +parallels given in other parts of the Bible are closer far. Hosea xiv. 6-9 +(with its lilies, its figure of Israel growing in beauty as the olive tree, +"and his smell as Lebanon"), Proverbs (with its eulogy of faithful wedded +love, its lips dropping honeycomb, its picture of a bed perfumed with +myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon, the wife to love whom is to drink water from +one's own well, and she the pleasant roe and loving hind)--these and the +royal Epithalamium (Ps. xlv), and other Biblical passages too numerous to +quote, constitute the real parallels to the imagery and idealism of +Canticles. + +The only genuine resemblance arises from identity of environment. If +Theocritus and the poet of Canticles were contemporaries, they wrote when +there had been a somewhat sudden growth of town life both in Egypt and +Palestine. Alexander the Great and his immediate successors were the most +assiduous builders of new cities that the world has ever seen. The charms +of town life made an easy conquest of the Orient. But pastoral life would +not surrender without a struggle. It would, during this violent revolution +in habits, reassert itself from time to time. We can suppose that after a +century of experience of the delusions of urban comfort, the denizens of +towns would welcome a reminder of the delights of life under the open sky. +There would be a longing for something fresher, simpler, freer. At such a +moment Theocritus, like the poet of Canticles, had an irresistible +opportunity, and to this extent the Idylls and the Song are parallel. + +But, on the other hand, when we pass from external conditions to intrinsic +purport, nothing shows better the difference between Theocritus and +Canticles than the fact that the Hebrew poem has been so susceptible of +allegorization. Though the religious, symbolical interpretation of the Song +be far from its primary meaning, yet in the Hebrew muse the sensuous and +the mystical glide imperceptibly into one another. And this is true of +Semitic poetry in general. It is possible to give a mystical turn to the +quatrains of Omar Khayyam. But this can hardly be done with Anacreon. There +is even less trace of Semitic mysticism in Theocritus than in Anacreon. +Idylls and Canticles have some similarities. But these are only skin deep. +In their heart of hearts the Greek and Judean poets are strangers, and so +are their heroes and heroines. + +No apology is needed for the foregoing lengthy discussion of the Song of +Songs, seeing that it is incomparably the finest love poem in the Hebrew, +or any other language. And this is true whatever be one's opinion of its +primary significance. It was no doubt its sacred interpretation that +imparted to it so lasting a power over religious symbolism. But its human +import also entered into its eternal influence. The Greek peasants of +Macedonia still sing echoes from the Hebrew song. Still may be heard, in +modern Greek love chants, the sweet old phrase, "black but comely," a +favorite phrase with all swarthy races; "my sister, my bride" remains as +the most tender term of endearment. To a certain extent the service has +been repaid. Some of the finest melodies to which the Synagogue hymns, or +Piyyutim, are set, are the melodies to _Achoth Ketannah_, based on +Canticles viii. 8, and _Berach Dodi_, a frequent phrase of the Hebrew book. +The latter melody is similar to the finer melodies of the Levant; the +former strikingly recalls the contemporary melodies of the Greek +Archipelago. To turn a final glance at the other side of the indebtedness, +we need only recall that Edmund Spenser's famous Marriage Ode--the +Epithalamium--the noblest marriage ode in the English language, and +Milton's equally famous description of Paradise in the fourth book of his +Epic, owe a good deal to direct imitation of the Song of Songs. It is +scarcely an exaggeration to assert that the stock-in-trade of many an +erotic poet is simply the phraseology of the divine song which we have been +considering so inadequately. It did not start as a repertoire; it has ended +as one. + +We must now make a great stride through the ages. Between the author of the +Song of Songs and the next writer of inspired Hebrew love songs there +stretches an interval of at least fourteen centuries. It is an oft-told +story, how, with the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish desire for song +temporarily ceased. The sorrow-laden heart could not sing of love. The +disuse of a faculty leads to its loss; and so, with the cessation of the +desire for song, the gift of singing became atrophied. But the decay was +not quite complete. It is commonly assumed that post-Biblical Hebrew poetry +revived for sacred ends; first hymns were written, then secular songs. But +Dr. Brody has proved that this assumption is erroneous. In point of fact, +the first Hebrew poetry after the Bible was secular not religious. We find +in the pages of Talmud and Midrash relics and fragments of secular poetry, +snatches of bridal songs, riddles, elegies, but less evidence of a +religious poetry. True, when once the medieval burst of Hebrew melody +established itself, the Hebrew hymns surpassed the secular Hebrew poems in +originality and inspiration. But the secular verses, whether on ordinary +subjects, or as addresses to famous men, and invocations on documents, at +times far exceed the religious poems in range and number. And in many ways +the secular poetry deserves very close attention. A language is not living +when it is merely ecclesiastical. No one calls Sanskrit a living language +because some Indian sects still pray in Sanskrit. But when Jewish poets +took to using Hebrew again--if, indeed, they ever ceased to use it--as the +language of daily life, as the medium for expressing their human emotions, +then one can see that the sacred tongue was on the way to becoming once +more what it is to-day in many parts of Palestine--the living tongue of +men. + +It must not be thought that in the Middle Ages there were two classes of +Hebrew poets: those who wrote hymns and those who wrote love songs. With +the exception of Solomon ibn Gabirol--a big exception, I admit--the best +love songs were written by the best hymn writers. Even Ibn Gabirol, who, so +far as we know, wrote no love songs, composed other kinds of secular +poetry. One of the favorite poetical forms of the Middle Ages consisted of +metrical letters to friends--one may almost assert that the best Hebrew +love poetry is of this type--epistles of affection between man and man, +expressing a love passing the love of woman. Ibn Gabirol wrote such +epistles, but the fact remains that we know of no love verses from his +hand; perhaps this confirms the tradition that he was the victim of an +unrequited affection. + +Thus the new form opens not with Ibn Gabirol, but with Samuel ibn Nagrela. +He was Vizier of the Khalif, and Nagid, or Prince, of the Jews, in the +eleventh century in Spain, and, besides Synagogue hymns and Talmudic +treatises, he wrote love lyrics. The earlier hymns of Kalir have, indeed, a +strong emotional undertone, but the Spanish school may justly claim to have +created a new form. And this new form opens with Samuel the Nagid's pretty +verses on his "Stammering Love," who means to deny, but stammers out +assent. I cite the metrical German version of Dr. Egers, because I have +found it impossible to reproduce (Dr. Egers is not very precise or happy in +his attempt to reproduce) the puns of the original. The sense, however, is +clear. The stammering maid's words, being mumbled, convey an invitation, +when they were intended to repulse her loving admirer. + + Wo ist mein stammelnd Lieb? + Wo sie, die würz'ge, blieb? + Verdunkelt der Mond der Sterne Licht, + Ueberstrahlt den Mond ihr Angesicht! + Wie Schwalbe, wie Kranich, die + Bei ihrer Ankunft girren, + Vertraut auf ihren Gott auch sie + In ihrer Zunge Irren. + + Mir schmollend rief sie "Erzdieb," + Hervor doch haucht sie "Herzdieb"-- + Hin springe ich zum Herzlieb. + "Ehrloser!" statt zu wehren, + "Her, Loser!" lässt sie hören; + Nur rascher dem Begehren + Folgt' ich mit ihr zu kosen, + Die lieblich ist wie Rosen. + +This poem deserves attention, as it is one of the first, if not actually +the very first, of its kind. The Hebrew poet is forsaking the manner of the +Bible for the manner of the Arabs. One point of resemblance between the new +Hebrew and the Arabic love poetry is obscured in the translation. In the +Hebrew of Samuel the Nagid the terms of endearment, applied though they are +to a girl, are all in the masculine gender. This, as Dr. Egers observes, is +a common feature of the Arabic and Persian love poetry of ancient and +modern times. An Arab poet will praise his fair one's face as "bearded" +with garlands of lilies. Hafiz describes a girl's cheeks as roses within a +net of violets, the net referring to the beard. Jehudah Halevi uses this +selfsame image, and Moses ibn Ezra and the rest also employ manly figures +of speech in portraying beautiful women. All this goes to show how much, +besides rhyme and versification, medieval Hebrew love poetry owed to Arabic +models. Here, for instance, is an Arabic poem, whose author, Radhi Billah, +died in 940, that is, before the Spanish Jewish poets began to write of +love. To an Arabic poet Laila replaces the Lesbia of Catullus and the Chloe +of the Elizabethans. This tenth century Arabic poem runs thus: + + Laila, whene'er I gaze on thee, + My altered cheeks turn pale; + While upon thine, sweet maid, I see + A deep'ning blush prevail. + + Laila, shall I the cause impart + Why such a change takes place?-- + The crimson stream deserts my heart + To mantle on thy face. + +Here we have fully in bloom, in the tenth century, those conceits which +meet us, not only in the Hebrew poets of the next two centuries, but also +in the English poets of the later Elizabethan age. + +It is very artificial and scarcely sincere, but also undeniably attractive. +Or, again, in the lines of Zoheir, addressed by the lover to a messenger +that has just brought tidings from the beloved, + + Oh! let me look upon thine eyes again, + For they have looked upon the maid I love, + +we have, in the thirteenth century, the very airs and tricks of the +cavalier poets. In fact, it cannot be too often said that love poetry, like +love itself, is human and eternal, not of a people and an age, but of all +men and all times. Though fashions change in poetry as in other ornament, +still the language of love has a long life, and age after age the same +conceits and terms of endearment meet us. Thus Hafiz has these lines, + + I praise God who made day and night: + Day thy countenance, and thy hair the night. + +Long before him the Hebrew poet Abraham ibn Ezra had written, + + On thy cheeks and the hair of thy head + I will bless: He formeth light and maketh darkness. + +In the thirteenth century the very same witticism meets us again, in the +Hebrew _Machberoth_ of Immanuel. But obviously it would be an endless task +to trace the similarities of poetic diction between Hebrew and other poets: +suffice it to realize that such similarities exist. + +Such similarities did not, however, arise only from natural causes. They +were, in part at all events, due to artificial compulsion. It is well to +bear this in mind, for the recurrence of identical images in Hebrew love +poem after love poem impresses a Western reader as a defect. To the +Oriental reader, on the contrary, the repetition of metaphors seemed a +merit. It was one of the rules of the game. In his "Literary History of +Persia" Professor Browne makes this so clear that a citation from him will +save me many pages. Professor Browne (ii, 83) analyzes Sharafu'd-Din Rami's +rhetorical handbook entitled the "Lover's Companion." The "Companion" +legislates as to the similes and figures that may be used in describing the +features of a girl. + + "It contains nineteen chapters, treating respectively of the hair, the + forehead, the eyebrows, the eyes, the eyelashes, the face, the down on + lips and cheeks, the mole or beauty-spot, the lips, the teeth, the mouth, + the chin, the neck, the bosom, the arm, the fingers, the figure, the + waist, and the legs. In each chapter the author first gives the various + terms applied by the Arabs and Persians to the part which he is + discussing, differentiating them when any difference in meaning exists; + then the metaphors used by writers in speaking of them, and the epithets + applied to them, the whole copiously illustrated by examples from the + poets." + +No other figures of speech would be admissible. Now this "Companion" +belongs to the fourteenth century, and the earlier Arabic and Persian +poetry was less fettered. But principles of this kind clearly affected the +Hebrew poets, and hence there arises a certain monotony in the songs, +especially when they are read in translation. The monotony is not so +painfully prominent in the originals. For the translator can only render +the substance, and the substance is often more conventional than the +nuances of form, the happy turns and subtleties, which evaporate in the +process of translation, leaving only the conventional sediment behind. + +This is true even of Jehudah Halevi, though in him we hear a genuinely +original note. In his Synagogue hymns he joins hands with the past, with +the Psalmists; in his love poems he joins hands with the future, with +Heine. His love poetry is at once dainty and sincere. He draws +indiscriminately on Hebrew and Arabic models, but he is no mere imitator. I +will not quote much from him, for his best verses are too familiar. Those +examples which I must present are given in a new and hitherto unpublished +translation by Mrs. Lucas. + + +MARRIAGE SONG + + Fair is my dove, my loved one, + None can with her compare: + Yea, comely as Jerusalem, + Like unto Tirzah fair. + + Shall she in tents unstable + A wanderer abide, + While in my heart awaits her + A dwelling deep and wide? + + The magic of her beauty + Has stolen my heart away: + Not Egypt's wise enchanters + Held half such wondrous sway. + + E'en as the changing opal + In varying lustre glows, + Her face at every moment + New charms and sweetness shows. + + White lilies and red roses + There blossom on one stem: + Her lips of crimson berries + Tempt mine to gather them. + + By dusky tresses shaded + Her brow gleams fair and pale, + Like to the sun at twilight, + Behind a cloudy veil. + + Her beauty shames the day-star, + And makes the darkness light: + Day in her radiant presence + Grows seven times more bright + + This is a lonely lover! + Come, fair one, to his side, + That happy be together + The bridegroom and the bride! + + The hour of love approaches + That shall make one of twain: + Soon may be thus united + All Israel's hosts again! + + +OPHRAH + +_To her sleeping Love_ + + Awake, my fair, my love, awake, + That I may gaze on thee! + And if one fain to kiss thy lips + Thou in thy dreams dost see, + Lo, I myself then of thy dream + The interpreter will be! + + +TO OPHRAH + + Ophrah shall wash her garments white + In rivers of my tears, + And dry them in the radiance bright + That shines when she appears. + Thus will she seek no sun nor water nigh, + Her beauty and mine eyes will all her needs supply. + +These lovers' tears often meet us in the Hebrew poems. Ibn Gabirol speaks +of his tears as fertilizing his heart and preserving it from crumbling into +dust. Mostly, however, the Hebrew lover's tears, when they are not tokens +of grief at the absence of the beloved, are the involuntary confession of +the man's love. It is the men who must weep in these poems. Charizi sings +of the lover whose heart succeeds in concealing its love, whose lips +contrive to maintain silence on the subject, but his tears play traitor and +betray his affection to all the world. Dr. Sulzbach aptly quotes parallels +to this fancy from Goethe and Brentano. + +This suggestion of parallelism between a medieval Hebrew poet and Goethe +must be my excuse for an excursion into what seems to me one of the most +interesting examples of the kind. In one of his poems Jehudah Halevi has +these lines: + +SEPARATION + + So we must be divided! Sweetest, stay! + Once more mine eyes would seek thy glance's light! + At night I shall recall thee; thou, I pray, + Be mindful of the days of our delight! + Come to me in my dreams, I ask of thee, + And even in thy dreams be gentle unto me! + + If thou shouldst send me greeting in the grave, + The cold breath of the grave itself were sweet; + Oh, take my life! my life, 'tis all I have, + If I should make thee live I do entreat! + I think that I shall hear, when I am dead, + The rustle of thy gown, thy footsteps overhead. + +It is this last image that has so interesting a literary history as to +tempt me into a digression. But first a word must be said of the +translation and the translator. The late Amy Levy made this rendering, not +from the Hebrew, but from Geiger's German with obvious indebtedness to Emma +Lazarus. So excellent, however, was Geiger's German that Miss Levy got +quite close to the meaning of the original, though thirty-eight Hebrew +lines are compressed into twelve English. Literally rendered, the Hebrew of +the last lines runs: + + Would that, when I am dead, to mine ears may rise + The music of the golden bell upon thy skirts. + +This image of the bell is purely Hebraic; it is, of course, derived from +the High Priest's vestments. Jehudah Halevi often employs it to express +melodious proclamation of virtue, or the widely-borne voice of fame. Here +he uses it in another context, and though the image of the bell is not +repeated, yet some famous lines from Tennyson's "Maud" at once come into +one's mind: + + She is coming, my own, my sweet; + Were it ever so light a tread, + My heart would hear her and beat, + Were it earth in an earthy bed; + My dust would hear her and beat, + Had I lain for a century dead; + Would start and tremble under her feet, + And blossom in purple and red. + +It is thus that the lyric poetry of one age affects, or finds its echo in, +that of another, but in this particular case it is, of course, a natural +thought that true love must survive the grave. There is a mystical union +between the two souls, which death cannot end. Here, again, we meet the +close connection between love and mysticism, which lies at the root of all +deep love poetry. But we must attend to the literary history of the thought +for a moment longer. Moses ibn Ezra, though more famous for his Synagogue +hymns, had some lyric gifts of a lighter touch, and he wrote love songs on +occasion. In one of these the poet represents a dying wife as turning to +her husband with the pathetic prayer, "Remember the covenant of our youth, +and knock at the door of my grave with a hand of love." + +I will allude only to one other parallel, which carries us to a much +earlier period. Here is an Arab song of Taubah, son of Al-Humaiyir, who +lived in the seventh century. It must be remembered that it was an ancient +Arabic folk-idea that the spirits of the dead became owls. + + Ah, if but Laila would send me a greeting down + of grace, though between us lay the dust and flags of stone, + My greeting of joy should spring in answer, or there should cry + toward her an owl, ill bird that shrieks in the gloom of graves. + +C.J.L. Lyall, writing of the author of these lines, Taubah, informs us +that he was the cousin of Laila, a woman of great beauty. Taubah had loved +her when they were children in the desert together, but her father refused +to give her to him in marriage. He led a stormy life, and met his death in +a fight during the reign of Mu'awiyah. Laila long survived him, but never +forgot him or his love for her. She attained great fame as a poetess, and +died during the reign of 'Abd-al-Malik, son of Marwan, at an advanced age. +"A tale is told of her death in which these verses figure. She was making a +journey with her husband when they passed by the grave of Taubah. Laila, +who was travelling in a litter, cried, By God! I will not depart hence till +I greet Taubah. Her husband endeavored to dissuade her, but she would not +hearken; so at last he allowed her. And she had her camel driven up the +mound on which the tomb was, and said, Peace to thee, O Taubah! Then she +turned her face to the people and said, I never knew him to speak falsely +until this day. What meanest thou? said they. Was it not he, she answered, +who said + + Ah, if but Laila would send a greeting down + of grace, though between us lay the dust and flags of stone, + My greeting of joy should spring in answer, or there should cry + toward her an owl, ill bird that shrieks in the gloom of graves. + +Nay, but I have greeted him, and he has not answered as he said. Now, there +was a she-owl crouching in the gloom by the side of the grave; and when it +saw the litter and the crowd of people, it was frightened and flew in the +face of the camel. And the camel was startled and cast Laila headlong on +the ground; and she died that hour, and was buried by the side of Taubah." + +The fascination of such parallels is fatal to proportion in an essay such +as this. But I cannot honestly assert that I needed the space for other +aspects of my subject. I have elsewhere fully described the Wedding Odes +which Jehudah Halevi provided so abundantly, and which were long a regular +feature of every Jewish marriage. But, after the brilliant Spanish period, +Hebrew love songs lose their right to high literary rank. Satires on +woman's wiles replace praises of her charms. On the other hand, what of +inspiration the Hebrew poet felt in the erotic field beckoned towards +mysticism. In the paper which opens this volume, I have written +sufficiently and to spare of the woman-haters. At Barcelona, in the age of +Zabara, Abraham ibn Chasdai did the best he could with his misogynist +material, but he could get no nearer to a compliment than this, "Her face +has the shimmer of a lamp, but it burns when held too close" ("Prince and +Dervish," ch. xviii). The Hebrew attacks on women are clever, but +superficial; they show no depth of insight into woman's character, and are +far less effective than Pope's satires. + +The boldest and ablest Hebrew love poet of the satirical school is Immanuel +of Rome, a younger contemporary of Dante. He had wit, but not enough of it +to excuse his ribaldry. He tells many a light tale of his amours; a pretty +face is always apt to attract him and set his pen scribbling. As with the +English dramatists of the Restoration, virtue and beauty are to Immanuel +almost contradictory terms. For the most part, wrinkled old crones are the +only decent women in his pages. His pretty women have morals as easy as the +author professes. In the second of his _Machberoth_ he contrasts two girls, +Tamar and Beriah; on the one he showers every epithet of honor, at the +other he hurls every epithet of abuse, only because Tamar is pretty, and +Beriah the reverse. Tamar excites the love of the angels, Beriah's face +makes even the devil fly. This disagreeable pose of Immanuel was not +confined to his age; it has spoilt some of the best work of W.S. Gilbert. +The following is Dr. Chotzner's rendering of one of Immanuel's lyrics. He +entitles it + +PARADISE AND HELL + + At times in my spirit I fitfully ponder, + Where shall I pass after death from this light; + Do Heaven's bright glories await me, I wonder, + Or Lucifer's kingdom of darkness and night? + + In the one, though 'tis perhaps of ill reputation, + A crowd of gay damsels will sit by my side; + But in Heaven there's boredom and mental starvation, + To hoary old men and old crones I'll be tied. + + And so I will shun the abodes of the holy, + And fly from the sky, which is dull, so I deem: + Let hell be my dwelling; there is no melancholy, + Where love reigns for ever and ever supreme. + +Immanuel, it is only just to point out, occasionally draws a worthier +character. In his third Machbereth he tells of a lovely girl, who is +intelligent, modest, chaste, coy, and difficult, although a queen in +beauty; she is simple in taste, yet exquisite in poetical feeling and +musical gifts. The character is the nearest one gets in Hebrew to the best +heroines of the troubadours. Immanuel and she exchange verses, but the path +of flirtation runs rough. They are parted, she, woman-like, dies, and he, +man-like, sings an elegy. Even more to Immanuel's credit is his praise of +his own wife. She has every womanly grace of body and soul. On her he +showers compliments from the Song of Songs and the Book of Proverbs. If +this be the true man revealed, then his light verses of love addressed to +other women must be, as I have hinted, a mere pose. It may be that his wife +read his verses, and that his picture of her was calculated to soothe her +feelings when reading some other parts of his work. If she did read them, +she found only one perfect figure of womanliness in her husband's poems, +and that figure herself. But on the whole one is inclined to think that +Immanuel's braggartism as to his many love affairs is only another aspect +of the Renaissance habit, which is exemplified so completely in the similar +boasts of Benvenuto Cellini. + +Be this as it may, it is not surprising to find that in the _Shulchan +Aruch_ (_Orach Chayyim_, ch. 317, Section 16), the poems of Immanuel are +put upon the Sabbath Index. It is declared unlawful to read them on +Saturdays, and also on week-days, continues the Code with gathering anger. +Those who copy them, still more those who print them, are declared sinners +that make others to sin. I must confess that I am here on the side of the +Code. Immanuel's _Machberoth_ are scarcely worthy of the Hebrew genius. + +There has been, it may be added, a long struggle against Hebrew love songs. +Maimonides says ("Guide," iii. 7): "The gift of speech which God gave us to +help us learn and teach and perfect ourselves--this gift of speech must not +be employed in doing what is degrading and disgraceful. We must not imitate +the songs and tales of ignorant and lascivious people. It may be suitable +to them, but it is not fit for those who are bidden, Ye shall be a holy +nation." In 1415 Solomon Alami uses words on this subject that will lead me +to my last point. Alami says, "Avoid listening to love songs which excite +the passions. If God has graciously bestowed on you the gift of a sweet +voice, use it in praising Him. Do not set prayers to Arabic tunes, a +practice which has been promoted to suit the taste of effeminate men." + +But if this be a crime, then the worst offender was none other than the +famous Israel Najara. In the middle of the sixteenth century he added some +of its choicest lyrics to the Hebrew song-book. The most popular of the +table hymns (Zemiroth) are his. He was a mystic, filled with a sense of the +nearness of God. But he did not see why the devil should have all the +pretty tunes. So he deliberately wrote religious poems in metres to suit +Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, and Italian melodies, his avowed purpose +being to divert the young Jews of his day from profane to sacred song. But +these young Jews must have been exigent, indeed, if they failed to find in +Najara's sacred verses enough of love and passion. Not only was he, like +Jehudah Halevi, a prolific writer of Wedding Odes, but in his most +spiritual hymns he uses the language of love as no Hebrew poet before or +after him has done. Starting with the assumption that the Song of Songs was +an allegory of God's espousal with the bride Israel, Najara did not +hesitate to put the most passionate words of love for Israel into God's +mouth. He was strongly attacked, but the saintly mystic Isaac Luria +retorted that Najara's hymns were listened to with delight in Heaven--and +if ever a man had the right to speak of Heaven it was Luria. And Hebrew +poetry has no need to be ashamed of the passionate affection poured out by +these mystic poets on another beloved, the Queen Sabbath. + +This is not the place to speak of the Hebrew drama and of the form which +the love interest takes in it. Woman, at all events, is treated far more +handsomely in the dramas than in the satires. The love scenes of the Hebrew +dramatists are pure to coldness. These dramas began to flourish in the +eighteenth century; Luzzatto was by no means an unworthy imitator of +Guarini. Sometimes the syncretism of ideas in Hebrew plays is sufficiently +grotesque. Samuel Romanelli, who wrote in Italy at the era of the French +Revolution, boldly introduces Greek mythology. It may be that in the +Spanish period Hebrew poets introduced the muses under the epithet +"daughters of Song." But with Romanelli, the classical machinery is more +clearly audible. The scene of his drama is laid in Cyprus; Venus and Cupid +figure in the action. Romanelli gives a moral turn to his mythology, by +interposing Peace to stay the conflict between Love and Fame. Ephraim +Luzzatto, at the same period, tried his hand, not unsuccessfully, at Hebrew +love sonnets. + +Love songs continued to be written in Hebrew in the nineteenth century, and +often see the light in the twentieth. But I do not propose to deal with +these. Recent new-Hebrew poetry has shown itself strongest in satire and +elegy. Its note is one of anger or of pain. Shall we, however, say of the +Hebrew race that it has lost the power to sing of love? Has it grown too +old, too decrepid? + + And said I that my limbs were old, + And said I that my blood was cold, + And that my kindly fire was fled, + And my poor withered heart was dead, + And that I might not sing of love? + +Heine is the answer. But Heine did not write in Hebrew, and those who have +so far written in Hebrew are not Heines. It is, I think, vain to look to +Europe for a new outburst of Hebrew love lyrics. In the East, and most of +all in Palestine, where Hebrew is coming to its own again, and where the +spring once more smiles on the eyes of Jewish peasants and shepherds, there +may arise another inspired singer to give us a new Song of Songs in the +language of the Bible. But we have no right to expect it. Such a rare thing +of beauty cannot be repeated. It is a joy forever, and a joy once for all. + + + + +A HANDFUL OF CURIOSITIES + + +I + +GEORGE ELIOT AND SOLOMON MAIMON + +That George Eliot was well acquainted with certain aspects of Jewish +history, is fairly clear from her writings. But there is collateral +evidence of an interesting kind that proves the same fact quite +conclusively, I think. + +It will be remembered that Daniel Deronda went into a second-hand book-shop +and bought a small volume for half a crown, thereby making the acquaintance +of Ezra Cohen. Some time back I had in my hands the identical book that +George Eliot purchased which formed the basis of the incident. The book may +now be seen in Dr. Williams's Library, Gordon Square, London. The few words +in which George Eliot dismisses the book in her novel would hardly lead one +to gather how carefully and conscientiously she had read the volume, which +has since been translated into English by Dr. J. Clark Murray. She, of +course, bought and read the original German. + +The book is Solomon Maimon's Autobiography, a fascinating piece of +self-revelation and of history. (An admirable account of it may be found in +chapter x of the fifth volume of the English translation of Graetz's +"History of the Jews.") Maimon, cynic and skeptic, was a man all head and +no heart, but he was not without "character," in one sense of the word. He +forms a necessary link in the progress of modern Jews towards their newer +culture. Schiller and Goethe admired him considerably, and, as we shall +soon see, George Eliot was a careful student of his celebrated pages. Any +reader who takes the book up, will hardly lay it down until he has finished +the first part, at least. + +Several marginal and other notes in the copy of the Autobiography that +belonged to George Eliot are, I am convinced, in her own handwriting, and I +propose to print here some of her jottings, all of which are in pencil, but +carefully written. Above the Introduction, she writes: "This book might +mislead many readers not acquainted with other parts of Jewish history. But +for a worthy account (in brief) of Judaism and Rabbinism, see p. 150." This +reference takes one to the fifteenth chapter of the Autobiography. Indeed, +George Eliot was right as to the misleading tendency of a good deal in +Maimon's "wonderful piece of autobiography," as she terms the work in +"Daniel Deronda." She returns to the attack on p. 36 of her copy, where she +has jotted, "See infra, p. 150 _et seq._ for a better-informed view of +Talmudic study." + +How carefully George Eliot read! The pagination of 207 is printed wrongly +as 160; she corrects it! She corrects _Kimesi_ into "Kimchi" on p. 48, +_Rabasse_ into "R. Ashe" on p. 163. On p. 59 she writes, "According to the +Talmud no one is eternally damned." Perhaps her statement needs some slight +qualification. Again (p. 62), "Rashi, i.e. Rabbi Shelomoh ben Isaak, whom +Buxtorf mistakenly called Jarchi." It was really to Raymund Martini that +this error goes back. But George Eliot could not know it. On p. 140, Maimon +begins, "Accordingly, I sought to explain all this in the following way," +to which George Eliot appends the note, "But this is simply what the +Cabbala teaches--not his own ingenious explanation." + +It is interesting to find George Eliot occasionally defending Judaism +against Maimon. On p. 165 he talks of the "abuse of Rabbinism," in that the +Rabbis tacked on new laws to old texts. "Its origin," says George Eliot's +pencilled jotting, "was the need for freedom to modify laws"--a fine +remark. On p. 173, where Maimon again talks of the Rabbinical method of +evolving all sorts of moral truths by the oddest exegesis, she writes, "The +method has been constantly pursued in various forms by Christian Teachers." +On p. 186 Maimon makes merry at the annulment of vows previous to the Day +of Atonement. George Eliot writes, "These are religious vows--not +engagements between man and man." + +Furthermore, she makes some translations of the titles of Hebrew books +cited, and enters a correction of an apparently erroneous statement of fact +on p. 215. There Maimon writes as though the Zohar had been promulgated +after Sabbatai Zebi. George Eliot notes: "Sabbatai Zebi lived long after +the production of the Zohar. He was a contemporary of Spinoza. Moses de +Leon belonged to the fourteenth century." This remark shows that George +Eliot knew Graetz's History, for it is he who brought the names of Spinoza +and Sabbatai Zebi together in two chapter headings in his work. Besides, +Graetz's History was certainly in George Eliot's library; it was among the +Lewes books now at Dr. Williams's. Again, on p. 265, Maimon speaks of the +Jewish fast that falls in August. George Eliot jots on the margin, "July? +Fast of Ninth Ab." + +Throughout passages are pencilled, and at the end she gives an index to the +parts that seem to have interested her particularly. This is her list: + + Talmudic quotations, 36. + Polish Doctor, 49. + The Talmudist, 60. + Prince R. and the Barber, 110. + Talmudic Method, 174. + Polish Jews chiefly Gelehrte, 211. + Zohar, 215. + Rabbinical Morality, 176. + New Chasidim, 207. + Elias aus Wilna, 242. + Angels (?), 82. + Tamuz, II., 135. + +It is a pleasure, indeed, to find a fresh confirmation, that George Eliot's +favorable impression of Judaism was based on a very adequate acquaintance +with its history. Sir Walter Scott's knowledge of it was, one cannot but +feel, far less intimate than George Eliot's, but his poetic insight kept +him marvellously straight in his appreciation of Jewish life and character. + + +II + +HOW MILTON PRONOUNCED HEBREW + +English politics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries maintained a +closer association with literature than is conceivable in the present age. +England has just witnessed a contest on fundamental issues between the two +Houses of Parliament. This recalls, by contrast rather than by similarity, +another conflict that divided the Lords from the Commons in and about the +year 1645. The question at issue then was the respective literary merits of +two metrical translations of the Psalms. + +Francis Rous was a Provost of Eton, a member of the Westminster Assembly of +Divines, and representative of Truro in the Long Parliament. This "old +illiterate Jew," as Wood abusively termed him, had made a verse translation +of the Psalms, which the House of Commons cordially recommended. The House +of Lords, on the other hand, preferred Barton's translation, and many other +contemporaneous attempts were made to meet the growing demand for a good +metrical rendering--a demand which, by the way, has remained but +imperfectly filled to the present time. Would that some Jewish poet might +arise to give us the long-desired version for use, at all events, in our +private devotions! In April, 1648, Milton tried his hand at a rendering of +nine Psalms (lxxx.-lxxxviii.), and it is from this work that we can see how +Milton pronounced Hebrew. Strange to say, Milton's attempt, except in the +case of the eighty-fourth Psalm, has scanty poetical merit, and, as a +literal translation, it is not altogether successful. He prides himself on +the fact that his verses are such that "all, but what is in a different +character, are the very words of the Text, translated from the original." +The inserted words in italics are, nevertheless, almost as numerous as the +roman type that represents the original Hebrew. Such conventional mistakes +as Rous's _cherubims_ are, however, conspicuously absent from Milton's more +scholarly work. Milton writes _cherubs_. + +Now, in the margin of Psalms lxxx., lxxxi., lxxxii., and lxxxiii., Milton +inserts a transliteration of some of the words of the original Hebrew text. +The first point that strikes one is the extraordinary accuracy of the +transliteration. One word appears as _Jimmotu_, thus showing that Milton +appreciated the force of the dagesh. Again, _Shiphtu-dal_, _bag-nadath-el_ +show that Milton observed the presence of the Makkef. Actual mistakes are +very rare, and, as Dr. Davidson has suggested, they may be due to +misprints. This certainly accounts for _Tishphetu_ instead of _Tishpetu_ +(lxxxii. 2), but when we find _Be Sether_ appearing as two words instead of +one, the capital _S_ is rather against this explanation, while _Shifta_ (in +the last verse of Psalm lxxxii.) looks like a misreading. + +It is curious to see that Milton adopted the nasal intonation of the +_Ayin_. And he adopted it in the least defensible form. He invariably +writes _gn_ for the Hebrew _Ayin_. Now _ng_ is bad enough, but _gn_ seems a +worse barbarism. Milton read the vowels, as might have been expected from +one living after Reuchlin, who introduced the Italian pronunciation to +Christian students in Europe, in the "Portuguese" manner, even to the point +of making little, if any, distinction between the _Zere_ and the _Sheva_. +As to the consonants, he read _Tav_ as _th_, _Teth_ as _t_, _Qof_ as _k_, +and _Vav_ and _Beth_ equally as _v_. In this latter point he followed the +"German" usage. The letter _Cheth_ Milton read as _ch_, but _Kaf_ he read +as _c_, sounded hard probably, as so many English readers of Hebrew do at +the present day. I have even noted among Jewish boys an amusing affectation +of inability to pronounce the _Kaf_ in any other way. The somewhat +inaccurate but unavoidable _ts_ for _Zadde_ was already established in +Milton's time, while the letter _Yod_ appears regularly as _j_, which +Milton must have sounded as _y_. On the whole, it is quite clear that +Milton read his Hebrew with minute precision. To see how just this verdict +is, let anyone compare Milton's exactness with the erratic and slovenly +transliterations in Edmund Chidmead's English edition of Leon Modena's +_Riti Ebraici_, which was published only two years later than Milton's +paraphrase of the Psalms. + +The result, then, of an examination of the twenty-six words thus +transliterated, is to deepen the conviction that the great Puritan poet, +who derived so much inspiration from the Old Testament, drew at least some +of it from the pure well of Hebrew undefiled. + + +III + +THE CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS + +As a "Concluding Part" to "The Myths of Plato," Professor J.A. Stewart +wrote a chapter on the Cambridge Platonists of the seventeenth century, his +object being to show that the thought of Plato "has been, and still is, an +important influence in modern philosophy." + +It was a not unnatural reaction that diverted the scholars of the +Renaissance from Aristotle to Plato. The medieval Church had been +Aristotelian, and "antagonism to the Roman Church had, doubtless, much to +do with the Platonic revival, which spread from Italy to Cambridge." But, +curiously enough, the Plato whom Cambridge served was not Plato the +Athenian dialectician, but Plato the poet and allegorist. It was, in fact, +Philo, the Jew, rather than Plato, the Greek, that inspired them. + +"Philo never thought of doubting that Platonism and the Jewish Scriptures +had real affinity to each other, and hardly perhaps asked himself how the +affinity was to be accounted for." Philo, however, would have had no +difficulty in accounting for it; already in his day the quaint theory was +prevalent that Athens had borrowed its wisdom from Jerusalem. The +Cambridge Platonists went with Philo in declaring Plato to be "the Attic +Moses." Henry More (1662) maintained strongly Plato's indebtedness to +Moses; even Pythagoras was so indebted, or, rather, "it was a common fame +[report] that Pythagoras was a disciple of the Prophet Ezekiel." The +Cambridge Platonists were anxious, not only to show this dependence of +Greek upon Hebraic thought, but they went on to argue that Moses taught, +in allegory, the natural philosophy of Descartes. More calls Platonism +the soul, and Cartesianism the body, of his own philosophy, which he +applies to the explanation of the Law of Moses. "This philosophy is the +old Jewish-Pythagorean Cabbala, which teaches the motion of the Earth and +Pre-existence of the Soul." But it is awkward that Moses does not teach +the motion of the earth. More is at no loss; he boldly argues that, +though "the motion of the earth has been lost and appears not in the +remains of the Jewish Cabbala, this can be no argument against its once +having been a part thereof." He holds it as "exceedingly probable" that +the Roman Emperor "Numa was both descended from the Jews and imbued with +the Jewish religion and learning." + +Thus the Cambridge Platonists of the seventeenth century are a very +remarkable example of the recurrent influence exercised on non-Jews by +certain forms of Judaism that had but slight direct effect on the Jews +themselves. Indirectly, the Hellenic side of Jewish culture left its mark, +especially in the Cabbala. It would be well worth the while of a Jewish +theologian to make a close study of the seventeenth century alumni of +Cambridge, who were among the most fascinating devotees of ancient Jewish +wisdom. Henry More was particularly attractive, "the most interesting and +the most unreadable of the whole band." When he was a young boy, his uncle +had to threaten a flogging to cure him of precocious "forwardness in +philosophizing concerning the mysteries of necessity and freewill." In 1631 +he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, "about the time when John Milton +was leaving it," and he may almost be said to have spent the rest of his +life within the walls of the college, "except when he went to stay with his +'heroine pupil,' Anne, Viscountess Conway, at her country seat of Ragley in +Warwickshire, where his pleasure was to wander among the woods and glades." +He absolutely refused all preferment, and when "he was once persuaded to +make a journey to Whitehall, to kiss His Majesty's hands, but heard by the +way that this would be the prelude to a bishopric, he at once turned back." +Yet More was no recluse. "He had many pupils at Christ's; he loved music, +and used to play on the theorbo; he enjoyed a game at bowls, and still more +a conversation with intimate friends, who listened to him as to an oracle; +and he was so kind to the poor that it was said his very chamber-door was a +hospital for the needy." But enough has been quoted from Overton's +biography to whet curiosity about this Cambridge sage and saint. More well +illustrates what was said above (pp. 114-116)--the man of letters is truest +to his calling when he has at the same time an open ear to the call of +humanity. + + +IV + +THE ANGLO-JEWISH YIDDISH LITERARY SOCIETY + +The founder and moving spirit of this unique little Society is Miss Helena +Frank, whose sympathy with Yiddish literature has been shown in several +ways. Her article in the _Nineteenth Century_ ("The Land of Jargon," +October, 1904) was as forcible as it was dainty. Her rendering of the +stories of Perez, too, is more than a literary feat. Her knowledge of +Yiddish is not merely intellectual; though not herself a Jewess, she +evidently enters into the heart of the people who express their lives and +aspirations in Yiddish terms. Young as she is, Miss Frank is, indeed, a +remarkable linguist; Hebrew and Russian are among her accomplishments. But +it is a wonderful fact that she has set herself to acquire these other +languages only to help her to understand Yiddish, which latter she knows +through and through. + +Miss Frank not long ago founded a Society called by the title that heads +this note. The Society did not interest itself directly in the preservation +of Yiddish as a spoken language. It was rather the somewhat grotesque fear +that the rôle of Yiddish as a living language may cease that appealed to +Miss Frank. The idea was to collect a Yiddish library, encourage the +translation of Yiddish books into English, and provide a sufficient supply +of Yiddish books and papers for the patients in the London and other +Hospitals who are unable to read any other language. The weekly _Yiddishe +Gazetten_ (New York) was sent regularly to the London Hospital, where it +has been very welcome. + +In the Society's first report, which I was permitted to see, Miss Frank +explained why an American Yiddish paper was the first choice. In the first +place, it was a good paper, with an established reputation, and at once +conservative and free from prejudice. America is, moreover, "intensely +interesting to the Polish _Yid_. For him it is the free country _par +excellence_. Besides, he is sure to have a son, uncle, or brother there--or +to be going there himself. 'Vin shterben in vin Amerika kän sich keener +nisht araus drehn!' ('From dying and from going to America, there is no +escape!')" Miss Frank has a keen sense of humor. How could she love Yiddish +were it not so? She cites some of the _Yiddishe Gazetten's_ answers to +correspondents. This is funny: "The woman has the right to take her clothes +and ornaments away with her when she leaves her husband. But it is a +question if she ought to leave him." Then we have the following from an +article by Dr. Goidorof. He compares the Yiddish language to persons whose +passports are not in order--the one has no grammar, the others have no +land. + + And both the Jewish language and the Jewish nation hide their faulty + passports in their wallets, and disappear from the register of nations + and languages--no land, no grammar! + + "A pretty conclusion the savants have come to!" (began the Jewish + nation). "You are nothing but a collection of words, and I am nothing but + a collection of people, and there's an end to both of us!" + + "And Jargon, besides, they said--to which of us did they refer? To me or + to you?" (asks the Jewish language, the word _jargon_ being unknown to + it). + + "To you!" (answers the Jewish nation). + + "No, to you!" (protests the Jewish language). + + "Well, then, to both of us!" (allows the Jewish nation). "It seems we are + both a kind of Jargon. Mercy on us, what shall we do without a grammar + and without a land?" + + "Unless the Zionists purchase a grammar of the Sultan!" (romances the + Jewish language). + + "Or at all events a land!" (sighs the Jewish nation). + + "You think that the easier of the two?" (asks the Jewish language, + wittily). + + And at the same moment they look at one another and laugh loudly and + merrily. + +This is genuine Heinesque humor. + + +V + +THE MYSTICS AND SAINTS OF INDIA + +A book by Professor J.C. Oman, published not long ago, contains a clear +and judicially sympathetic account of Hinduism. The sordid side of Indian +asceticism receives due attention; the excesses of self-mortification, +painful posturings, and equally painful impostures are by no means slurred +over by the writer. And yet the essential origin of these ascetic practices +is perceived by Professor Oman to be a pure philosophy and a not ignoble +idealism. And if Professor Oman's analysis be true, one understands how it +is that, though there have always been Jewish ascetics, at times of +considerable numbers and devotion, yet asceticism, as such, has no +recognized place in Judaism. Jewish moralists, especially, though not +exclusively, those of the mystical or Cabbalistic schools, pronounce +powerfully enough against over-indulgence in all sensuous pleasures; they +inculcate moderation and abstinence, and, in some cases, where the pressure +of desire is very strong, prescribe painful austerities, which may be +paralleled by what Professor Oman tells us of the Sadhus and Yogis of +India. But let us first listen to Professor Oman's analysis (p. 16): + + "Without any pretence of an exhaustive analysis of the various and + complex motives which underlie religious asceticism, I may, before + concluding this chapter, draw attention to what seem to me the more + general reasons which prompt men to ascetic practices: (1) A desire, + which is intensified by all personal or national troubles, to propitiate + the Unseen Powers. (2) A longing on the part of the intensely religious + to follow in the footsteps of their Master, almost invariably an ascetic. + (3) A wish to work out one's own future salvation, or emancipation, by + conquering the evil inherent in human nature, i.e. the flesh. (4) A + yearning to prepare oneself by purification of mind and body for entering + into present communion with the Divine Being. (5) Despair arising from + disillusionment and from defeat in the battle of life. And lastly, mere + vanity, stimulated by the admiration which the multitude bestow on the + ascetic." + +With regard to his second reason, we find nothing of the kind in Judaism +subsequent to the Essenes, until we reach the Cabbalistic heroes of the +Middle Ages. The third and the fourth have, on the other hand, had power +generally in Jewish conduct. The fifth has had its influence, but only +temporarily and temperately. Ascetic practices, based on national and +religious calamity, have, for the most part, been prescribed only for +certain dates in the calendar, but it must be confessed that an excessive +addiction to fasting prevails among many Jews. But it is when we consider +the first of Professor Oman's reasons for ascetic practices that we +perceive how entirely the genius of Judaism is foreign to Hindu and most +other forms of asceticism. To reach communion with God, the Jew goes along +the road of happiness, not of austerity. He serves with joy, not with +sadness. On this subject the reader may refer with great profit to the +remarks made by the Reverend Morris Joseph, in "Judaism as Creed and Life," +p. 247, onwards, and again the whole of chapter iv. of book iii. (p. 364). +Self-development, not self-mortification, is the true principle; man's +lower nature is not to be crushed by torture, but to be elevated by +moderation, so as to bear its part with man's higher nature in the service +of God. + +What leads some Jewish moralists to eulogize asceticism is that there is +always a danger of the happiness theory leading to a materialistic view of +life. This is what Mr. Joseph says, and says well, on the subject (p. 371): + + "And, therefore, though Judaism does not approve of the ascetic temper, + it is far from encouraging the materialist's view of life. It has no + place for monks or hermits, who think they can serve God best by + renouncing the world; but, on the other hand, it sternly rebukes the + worldliness that knows no ideal but sordid pleasures, no God but Self. It + commends to us the golden mean--the safe line of conduct that lies midway + between the rejection of earthly joys and the worship of them. If + asceticism too often spurns the commonplace duties of life, excessive + self-indulgence unfits us for them. In each case we lose some of our + moral efficiency. But in the latter case there is added an inevitable + degradation. The man who mortifies his body for his soul's sake has at + least his motive to plead for him. But the sensualist has no such + justification. He deliberately chooses the evil and rejects the good. + Forfeiting his character as a son of God, he yields himself a slave to + unworthy passions. + + "It is the same with the worldly man, who lives only for sordid ends, + such as wealth and the pleasures it buys. He, too, utterly misses his + vocation. His pursuit of riches may be moral in itself; he may be a + perfectly honest man. But his life is unmoral all the same, for it aims + at nothing higher than itself." + +Thus Professor Oman's fascinating book gives occasion for thought to many +whose religion is far removed from Hinduism. But there is in particular one +feature of Hindu asceticism that calls for attention. This is the Hindu +doctrine of Karma, or good works, which will be familiar to readers of +Rudyard Kipling's "Kim." Upon a man's actions (Karma is the Sanskrit for +action) in this life depends the condition in which his soul will be +reincarnated. + + "In a word, the present state is the result of past actions, and the + future depends upon the present. Now, the ultimate hope of the Hindu + should be so to live that his soul may be eventually freed from the + necessity of being reincarnated, and may, in the end, be reunited to the + Infinite Spirit from which it sprang. As, however, that goal is very + remote, the Hindu not uncommonly limits his desire and his efforts to the + attainment of a 'good time' now, and in his next appearance upon this + earthly stage" (p. 108). + +We need not go fully into this doctrine, which, as the writer says +elsewhere (p. 172), "certainly makes for morality," but we may rather +attend to that aspect of it which is shown in the Hindu desire to +accumulate "merits." The performance of penances gives the self-torturer +certain spiritual powers. Professor Oman quotes this passage from Sir +Monier Williams's "Indian Epic Poetry" (note to p. 4): + + "According to Hindu theory, the performance of penances was like making + deposits in the bank of Heaven. By degrees an enormous credit was + accumulated, which enabled the depositor to draw on the amount of his + savings, without fear of his drafts being refused payment. The power + gained in this way by weak mortals was so enormous that gods, as well as + men, were equally at the mercy of these all but omnipotent ascetics, and + it is remarkable that even the gods are described as engaging in penances + and austerities, in order, it may be presumed, not to be undone by human + beings." + +Now, if for penance we substitute Mitzvoth, we find in this passage almost +the caricature of the Jewish theory that meets us in the writings of German +theologians. These ill-equipped critics of Judaism put it forward seriously +that the Jew performs Mitzvoth in order to accumulate merit (Zechuth), and +some of them even go so far as to assert that the Jew thinks of his Zechuth +as irresistible. But when the matter is put frankly and squarely, as +Professor Monier Williams puts it, not even the Germans could have the +effrontery to assert that Judaism teaches or tolerates any such doctrine. +Whatever man does, he has no merit towards God: that is Jewish teaching. +Yet conduct counts, and somehow the good man and the bad man are not in the +same case. Judaism may be inconsistent, but it is certainly not base in its +teaching as to conduct and retribution. "Be not as servants who minister in +the hope of receiving reward"-this is not the highest level of Jewish +doctrine, it is the average level. Lately I have been reading a good deal +of mystical Jewish literature, and I have been struck by the repeated use +made of the famous Rabbinical saying of Antigonos of Socho just cited. One +wonders whether, after all, justice is done to the Hindus. One sees how +easily Jewish teaching can be distorted into a doctrine of calculated +Zechuth. Are the Hindus being misjudged equally? Certainly, in some cases +this must be so, for Professor Oman, with his remarkably sympathetic +insight, records experiences such as this more than once (p. 147). He is +describing one of the Jain ascetics, and remarks: + + "His personal appearance gave the impression of great suffering, and his + attendants all had the same appearance, contrasting very much indeed with + the ordinary Sadhus of other sects. And wherefore this austere rejection + of the world's goods, wherefore all this self-inflicted misery? Is it to + attain a glorious Heaven hereafter, a blessed existence after death? No! + It is, as the old monk explained to me, only to escape rebirth--for the + Jain believes in the transmigration of souls--and to attain rest." + +Other ascetics gave similar explanations. Thus (p. 100): + + "The Christian missionary entered into conversation with the Hermit (a + Bairagi from the Upper Provinces), and learned from him that he had + adopted a life of abstraction and isolation from the world, neither to + expiate any sin, nor to secure any reward. He averred that he had no + desires and no hopes, but that, being removed from the agitations of the + worldly life, he was full of tranquil joy." + + +VI + +LOST PURIM JOYS + +It is scarcely accurate to assert, as is sometimes done, that the most +characteristic of the Purim pranks of the past were children of the Ghetto, +and came to a natural end when the Ghetto walls fell. In point of fact, +most of these joys originated before the era of the Ghetto, and others were +introduced for the first time when Ghetto life was about to fade away into +history. + +Probably the oldest of Purim pranks was the bonfire and the burning of an +effigy. Now, so far from being a Ghetto custom, it did not even emanate +from Europe, the continent of Ghettos; it belongs to Babylonia and Persia. +This is what was done, according to an old Geonic account recovered by +Professor L. Ginzberg: + + "It is customary in Babylonia and Elam for boys to make an effigy + resembling Haman; this they suspend on their roofs, four or five days + before Purim. On Purim day they erect a bonfire, and cast the effigy into + its midst, while the boys stand round about it, jesting and singing. And + they have a ring suspended in the midst of the fire, which (ring) they + hold and wave from one side of the fire to the other." + +Bonfires, it may be thought, need no recondite explanation; light goes with +a light heart, and boys always love a blaze. Dr. J.G. Frazer, in his +"Golden Bough," has endeavored, nevertheless, to bring the Purim bonfire +into relation with primitive spring-tide and midsummer conflagrations, +which survived into modern carnivals, but did not originate with them. Such +bonfires belonged to what has been called sympathetic or homeopathic magic; +by raising an artificial heat, you ensured a plentiful dose of the natural +heat of the sun. So, too, the burning of an effigy was not, in the first +instance, a malicious or unfriendly act. A tree-spirit, or a figure +representing the spirit of vegetation, was consumed in fire, but the spirit +was regarded as beneficent, not hostile, and by burning a friendly deity +the succor of the sun was gained. Dr. Frazer cites some evidence for the +early prevalence of the Purim bonfire; he argues strongly and persuasively +in favor of the identification of Purim with the Babylonian feast of the +Sacaea, a wild, extravagant bacchanalian revel, which, in the old Asiatic +world, much resembled the Saturnalia of a later Italy. The theory is +plausible, though it is not quite proven by Dr. Frazer, but it seems to me +that whatever be the case with Purim generally, there is one hitherto +overlooked feature of the Purim bonfire that does clearly connect it with +the other primitive conflagrations of which mention was made above. + +This overlooked feature is the "ring." No explanation is given by the Gaon +as to its purpose in the tenth century, and it can hardly have been used to +hold the effigy. Now, in many of the primitive bonfires, the fire was +produced by aid of a revolving wheel. This wheel typifies the sun. Waving +the "ring" in the Purim bonfires has obviously the same significance, and +this apparently inexplicable feature does, I think, serve to link the +ancient Purim prank with a long series of old-world customs, which, it need +hardly be said, have nothing whatever to do with the Ghetto. + +Then, again, the most famous of Purim parodies preceded the Ghetto period. +The official Ghetto begins with the opening of the sixteenth century, +whereas the best parodies belong to a much earlier date, the fourteenth +century. Such parodies, in which sacred things are the subject of harmless +jest, are purely medieval in spirit, as well as in date. Exaggerated +praises of wine were a foil to the sobriety of the Jew, the fun consisting +in this conscious exaggeration. The medieval Jew, be it remembered, drew no +severe line between sacred and profane. All life was to him equally holy, +equally secular. So it is not strange that we find included in sacred +Hebrew hymnologies wine-songs for Purim and Chanukah and other Synagogue +feasts, and these songs are at least as old as the early part of the +twelfth century. For Purim, many Synagogue liturgies contain serious +additions for each of the eighteen benedictions of the Amidah prayer, and +equally serious paraphrases of Esther, some of them in Aramaic, abound +among the Genizah fragments in Cambridge. Besides these, however, are many +harmlessly humorous jingles and rhymes which were sung in the synagogue, +admittedly for the amusement of the children, and for the child-hearts of +adult growth. For them, too, the Midrash had played round Haman, reviling +him, poking fun at him, covering him with ridicule rather than execration. +It is true that the earliest ritual reference to the wearing of masks on +Purim dates from the year 1508, just within the Ghetto period. But this +omission of earlier reference is surely an accident, In the Babylonian +Sacaea, cited above, a feature of the revel was that men and women +disguised themselves, a slave dressed up as king, while servants personated +masters, and vice versa. All these elements of carnival exhilaration are +much earlier than the Middle Ages. Ghetto days, however, originated, +perhaps, the stamping of feet, clapping of hands, clashing of mallets, and +smashing of earthenware pots, to punctuate certain passages of the Esther +story and of the subsequent benediction. + +My strongest point concerns what, beyond all other delights, has been +regarded as the characteristic amusement of the festival, viz. the Purim +play. We not only possess absolutely no evidence that Purim plays were +performed in the Ghettos till the beginning of the eighteenth century, when +the end of the Ghettos was almost within sight, but the extant references +imply that they were then a novelty. Plays on the subject of Esther were +very common in medieval Europe during earlier centuries, but these plays +were written by Christians, not by Jews, and were performed by monks, not +by Rabbis. Strange as it may seem, it is none the less the fact that the +Purim play belongs to the most recent of the Purim amusements, and that its +life has been short and, on the whole, inglorious. + +Thus, without pressing the contention too closely, Purim festivities do not +deserve to be tarred with the Ghetto brush. Is it, then, denied that Purim +was more mirthfully observed in Ghetto days than it is at the present day? +By no means. It is unquestionable that Purim used to be a merrier +anniversary than it is now. The explanation is simple. In part, the change +has arisen through a laudable disinclination from pranks that may be +misconstrued as tokens of vindictiveness against an ancient foe or his +modern reincarnations. As a second cause may be assigned the growing and +regrettable propensity of Jews to draw a rigid line of separation between +life and religion, and wherever this occurs, religious feasts tend towards +a solemnity that cannot, and dare not, relax into amusement. This tendency +is eating at the very heart of Jewish life, and ought to be resisted by all +who truly understand the genius of Judaism. + +But the psychology of the change goes even deeper. The Jew is emotional, +but he detests making a display of his feelings to mere onlookers. The +Wailing Wall scenes at Jerusalem are not a real exception--the facts are +"Cooked," to meet the demands of clamant tourists. The Jew's sensitiveness +is the correlative of his emotionalism. While all present are joining in +the game, each Jew will play with full abandonment to the humor of the +moment. But as soon as some play the part of spectators, the Jew feels his +limbs growing too stiff for dancing, his voice too hushed for song. All +must participate, or all must leave off. Thus, a crowd of Italians or +Southern French may play at carnival to-day to amuse sight-seers in the +Riviera, but Jews have never consented, have never been able, to sport that +others might stand by and laugh at, and not with, the sportsmen. In short, +Purim has lost its character, because Jews have lost their character, their +disposition for innocent, unanimous joyousness. We are no longer so closely +united in interests or in local abodes that we could, on the one hand, +enjoy ourselves as one man, and, on the other, play merry pranks, without +incurring the criticism of indifferent, cold-eyed observers. Criticism has +attacked the authenticity of the Esther story, and proposed Marduk for +Mordecai, and Istar for Esther. But criticism of another kind has worked +far more havoc, for its "superior" airs have killed the Purim joy. Perhaps +it is not quite dead after all. + + +VII + +JEWS AND LETTERS + +The jubilee of the introduction of the Penny Post into England was not +reached till 1890. It is difficult to realize the state of affairs before +this reform became part of our everyday life. That less than three-quarters +of a century ago the scattered members of English families were, in a +multitude of cases, practically dead to one another, may incline one to +exaggerate the insignificance of the means of communication in times yet +more remote. Certainly, in ancient Judea there were fewer needs than in the +modern world. Necessity produces invention, and as the Jew of remote times +rarely felt a strong necessity to correspond with his brethren in his own +or other countries, it naturally followed that the means of communication +were equally _extempore_ in character. It may be of interest to put +together some desultory jottings on this important topic. + +The way to Judea lies through Rome. If we wish information whether the Jews +knew anything of a regular post, we must first inquire whether the Romans +possessed that institution. According to Gibbon, this was the case. +Excellent roads made their appearance wherever the Romans settled; and "the +advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence and of conveying their +orders with celerity, induced the Emperors to establish throughout their +extensive dominions the regular institution of posts. Houses were +everywhere erected at the distance only of five or six miles; each of them +was constantly provided with forty horses, and by the help of these relays +it was easy to travel a hundred miles a day along the Roman roads. The use +of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by an Imperial mandate; +but, though originally intended for the public service, it was sometimes +indulged to the business or con-veniency of private citizens." This +statement of Gibbon (towards the end of chapter ii) applies chiefly, then, +to official despatches; for we know from other sources that the Romans had +no public post as we understand the term, but used special messengers +(_tabellarius_) to convey private letters. + +Exactly the same facts meet us with reference to the Jews in the earlier +Talmudic times. There were special Jewish letter-carriers, who carried the +documents in a pocket made for the purpose, and in several towns in +Palestine there was a kind of regular postal arrangement, though many +places were devoid of the institution. It is impossible to suppose that +these postal conveniences refer only to official documents; for the Mishnah +(_Sabbath_, x, 4) is evidently speaking of Jewish postmen, who, at that +time, would hardly have been employed to carry the despatches of the +government. The Jewish name for this post was _Bê-Davvar_, and apparently +was a permanent and regular institution. From a remark of Rabbi Jehudah +(_Rosh ha-Shanah_, 9b), "like a postman who goes about everywhere and +carries merchandise to the whole province," it would seem that the Jews had +established a parcels-post; but unfortunately we have no precise +information as to how these posts were managed. + +Gibbon's account of the Roman post recalls another Jewish institution, +which may have been somehow connected with the _Bê-Davvar_. The official +custodian of the goat that was sent into the wilderness on the Day of +Atonement was allowed, if he should feel the necessity--a necessity which, +according to tradition, never arose--to partake of food even on the +fast-day. For this purpose huts were erected along the route, and men +provided with food were stationed at each of these huts to meet the +messenger and conduct him some distance on his way. + +That the postal system cannot have been very much developed, is clear from +the means adopted to announce the New Moon in various localities. This +official announcement certainly necessitated a complete system of +communication. At first, we are told (_Rosh ha-Shanah_, ii, 2), fires were +lighted on the tops of the mountains; but the Samaritans seem to have +ignited the beacons at the wrong time, so as to deceive the Jews. It was, +therefore, decided to communicate the news by messenger. The mountain-fires +were prepared as follows: Long staves of cedar-wood, canes, and branches of +the olive-tree were tied up with coarse threads or flax; these were lighted +as torches, and men on the hills waved the brands to and fro, upward and +downward, until the signal was repeated on the next hill, and so forth. +When messengers were substituted for these fire signals, it does not appear +that they carried letters; they brought verbal messages, which they seem to +have shouted out without necessarily dismounting from the animals they +rode. Messages were not sent every month, but only six times a year; and a +curious light is thrown on the means of communication of the time, by the +legal decision that anyone was to be believed on the subject, and that the +word of a passing merchant who said that "he had heard the New Moon +proclaimed," was to be accepted unhesitatingly. Nowadays, busy men are +sometimes put out by postal vagaries, but they hardly suffer to the extent +of having to fast two days. This calamity is recorded, however, in the +Jerusalem Talmud, as having, on a certain occasion, resulted from the delay +in the arrival of the messengers announcing the New Moon. + +Besides the proclamation of the New Moon, other official documents must +have been despatched regularly. "Bills of divorce," for instance, needed +special messengers; the whole question of the legal position of messengers +is very intimately bound up with that of conveying divorces. This, however, +seems to have been the function of private messengers, who were not in the +strict sense letter-carriers at all. It may be well, in passing, to recall +one or two other means of communication mentioned in the Midrash. Thus we +read how Joshua, with twelve thousand of his warriors, was imprisoned, by +means of witchcraft, within a sevenfold barrier of iron. He resolves to +write for aid to the chief of the tribe of Reuben, bidding him to summon +Phineas, who is to bring the "trumpets" with him. Joshua ties the message +to the wings of a dove, or pigeon, and the bird carries the letter to the +Israelites, who speedily arrive with Phineas and the trumpets, and, after +routing the enemy, effect Joshua's rescue. A similar idea may be found in +the commentary of Kimchi on Genesis. Noah, wishing for information, says +Kimchi, sent forth a raven, but it brought back no message; then he sent a +dove, which has a natural capacity for bringing back replies, when it has +been on the same way once or twice. Thus kings train these birds for the +purpose of sending them great distances, with letters tied to their wings. +So we read (_Sabbath_, 49) in the Talmud that "a dove's wings protect it," +i.e. people preserve it, and do not slay it, because they train it to act +as their messenger. Or, again, we find arrows used as a means of carrying +letters, and we are not alluding to such signals as Jonathan gave to David. +During the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Emperor had men placed +near the walls of Jerusalem, and they wrote the information they obtained +on arrows, and fired them from the wall, with the connivance, probably, of +the philo-Roman party that existed within the doomed city. + +In earlier Bible times, there was, as the Tell-el-Amarna bricks show, an +extensive official correspondence between Canaan and Egypt, but private +letter-writing seems not to have been resorted to; messages were +transmitted orally to the parties concerned. This fact is well illustrated +by the story of Joseph. He may, of course, have deliberately resolved not +to communicate with his family, but if letter-writing had been usual, his +brothers would naturally have asked him--a question that did not suggest +itself to them--why he had never written to tell his father of his +fortunes. When Saul desired to summon Israel, he sent, not a letter, but a +mutilated yoke of oxen; the earliest letter mentioned in the Bible being +that in which King David ordered Uriah to be placed in the forefront of the +army. Jezebel sends letters in Ahab's name to Naboth, Jehu to Samaria. In +all these cases letters were used for treacherous purposes, and they are +all short. Probably the authors of these plots feared to betray their real +intention orally, and so they committed their orders to writing, expecting +their correspondents to read between the lines. It is not till the time of +Isaiah that the references to writing become frequent. Intercourse between +Palestine on the one hand and Babylon and Egypt on the other had then +increased greatly, and the severance of the nation itself tended to make +correspondence through writing more necessary. When we reach the age of +Jeremiah, this fact makes itself even more strongly apparent. Letters are +often mentioned by that prophet (xxix. 25, 29), and a professional class of +Soferim, or scribes, make their appearance. Afterwards, of course, the +Sofer became of much higher importance; he was not merely a professional +writer, but a man learned in the Law, who spread the knowledge of it among +the people. Later, again, these functions were separated, and the Sofer +added to his other offices that of teacher of the young. Nowadays, he has +regained his earlier and less important position, for the modern Sofer is +simply a professional writer. In the time of Ezekiel (ix. 2) the Sofer went +abroad with the implements of his trade, including the inkhorn, at his +side. In the Talmud, the scribe is sometimes described by his Latin title +_libellarius_ (_Sabbath_,11a). The Jews of Egypt, as may be seen from the +Assouan Papyri, wrote home in cases of need in the time of Nehemiah; and in +the same age we hear also of "open letters," for Sanballat sends a missive +of that description by his servant; and apparently it was by means of a +similar letter that the festival of Purim was announced to the Jews (Esther +ix., where, unlike the other passages quoted, the exact words of the letter +of Mordecai are not given). The order to celebrate Chanukah was published +in the same way, and, indeed, the books of the Apocrypha contain many +interesting letters, and in the pages of Josephus the Jews hold frequent +intercourse in this way with many foreign countries. In the latter cases, +when the respective kings corresponded, the letters were conveyed by +special embassies. + +One might expect this epistolary activity to display itself at an even more +developed stage in the records of Rabbinical times. But this is by no means +the case, for the Rabbinical references to letters in the beginning of the +common era are few and far between. Polemic epistles make their appearance; +but they are the letters of non-Jewish missionaries like Paul. This form of +polemical writing possessed many advantages; the letters were passed on +from one reader to another; they would be read aloud, too, before +gatherings of the people to whom they were addressed. Maimonides, in later +times, frequently adopted this method of communicating with whole +communities, and many of the Geonim and other Jewish authorities followed +the same plan. But somehow the device seems not to have commended itself to +the earliest Rabbis. Though we read of many personal visits paid by the +respective authorities of Babylon and Palestine to one another, yet they +appear to have corresponded very rarely in writing. The reason lay probably +in the objection felt against committing the Halachic, or legal, decisions +of the schools to writing, and there was little else of consequence to +communicate after the failure of Bar-Cochba's revolt against the Roman +rule. + +It must not be thought, however, that this prohibition had the effect we +have described for very long. Rabbi Gamaliel, Rabbi Chananiah, and many +others had frequent correspondence with far distant places, and as soon +as the Mishnah acquired a fixed form, even though it was not immediately +committed to writing, the recourse to letters became much more common. +Pupils of the compilers of the Mishnah proceeded to Babylon to spread its +influence, and they naturally maintained a correspondence with their +chiefs in Palestine. Rab and Samuel in particular, among the Amoraim, +were regular letter-writers, and Rabbi Jochanan replied to them. Towards +the end of the third century this correspondence between Judea and +Babylon became even more active. Abitur and Abin often wrote concerning +legal decisions and the doings of the schools, and thereby the +intellectual activity of Judaism maintained its solidarity despite the +fact that the Jewish people was no longer united in one land. In the +Talmud we frequently read, "they sent from there," viz. Palestine. +Obviously these messages were sent in writing, though possibly the bearer +of the message was often himself a scholar, who conveyed his report by +word of mouth. Perhaps the growth of the Rabbi's practice of writing +responses to questions--a practice that became so markedly popular in +subsequent centuries--may be connected with the similar habit of the +Roman jurists and the Christian Church fathers, and the form of response +adopted by the eighth century Geonim is reminiscent of that of the Roman +lawyers. The substance of the letters, however, is by no means the same; +the Church father wrote on dogmatic, the Rabbi on legal, questions. +Between the middle of the fourth century and the time of the Geonim, we +find no information as to the use of letters among the Jews. From that +period onwards, however, Jews became very diligent letter-writers, and +sometimes, for instance in the case of the "Guide of the Perplexed" of +Maimonides, whole works were transmitted in the form of letters. The +scattering of Israel, too, rendered it important to Jews to obtain +information of the fortunes of their brethren in different parts of the +world. Rumors of Messianic appearances from the twelfth century onwards, +the contest with regard to the study of philosophy, the fame of +individual Rabbis, the rise of a class of travellers who made very long +and dangerous journeys, all tended to increase the facilities and +necessities of intercourse by letter. It was long, however, before +correspondence became easy or safe. Not everyone is possessed of the +postmen assigned in Midrashim to King Solomon, who pressed demons into +his service, and forced them to carry his letters wheresoever he willed. +Chasdai experienced considerable difficulty in transmitting his famous +letter to the king of the Chazars, and that despite his position of +authority in the Spanish State. In 960 a letter on some question of +Kasher was sent from the Rhine to Palestine--proof of the way in which +the most remote Jewish communities corresponded. + +The question of the materials used in writing has an important bearing on +our subject. Of course, the ritual regulations for writing the holy books, +the special preparation of the parchment, the ink, the strict rules for the +formation of the letters, hardly fall within the province of this article. +In ancient times the most diverse substances were used for writing on. +Palm-leaves (for which Palestine of old was famous) were a common object +for the purpose, being so used all over Asia. Some authorities believe that +in the time of Moses the palm leaf was the ordinary writing-material. +Olive-leaves, again, were thick and hard, while carob-leaves (St. John's +bread), besides being smooth, long, and broad, were evergreen, and thus +eminently fitted for writing. Walnut shells, pomegranate skins, leaves of +gourds, onion-leaves, lettuce-heads, even the horns of cattle, and the +human body, letters being tattooed on the hands of slaves, were all turned +to account. It is maintained by some that leather was the original +writing-material of the Hebrews; others, again, give their vote in favor of +linen, though the Talmud does not mention the latter material in connection +with writing. Some time after Alexander the Great, the Egyptian papyrus +became common in Palestine, where it probably was known earlier, as Jewish +letters on papyrus were sent to Jerusalem from the Fayyum in the fifth +century B.C.E. Even as late as Maimonides, the scrolls of the Law were +written on leather, and not on parchment, which is now the ordinary +material for the purpose. That the Torah was not to be written on a +vegetable product was an assumed first principle. The Samaritans went so +far as to insist that the animal whose hide was needed for so holy a +purpose, must be slain Kasher. Similarly with divorce documents. A Get on +paper would be held legal _post factum_, though it is not allowed to use +that material, as it is easily destroyed or mutilated, and the use of paper +for the purpose was confined to the East. Some allowed the Book of Esther +to be read from a paper copy; other authorities not only strongly objected +to this, but even forbade the reading of the Haftarah from paper. Hence one +finds in libraries so many parchment scrolls containing only the Haftarahs. +The Hebrew word for letter, Iggereth, is of unknown origin, though it is +now commonly taken to be an Assyrian loan-word. It used to be derived from +a root signifying to "hire," in reference to the "hired courier," by whom +it was despatched. Other terms for letter, such as "book," "roll," explain +themselves. Black ink was early used, though it is certain that it was +either kept in a solid state, like India ink, or that it was of the +consistency of glue, and needed the application of water before it could be +used. For pens, the iron stylus, the reed, needle, and quill (though the +last was not admitted without a struggle) were the common substitutes at +various dates. + +We must now return to the subject with which we set out, and make a few +supplementary remarks with regard to the actual conveyance of letters. In +the Talmud (_Baba Mezia,_ 83b) a proverb is quoted to this effect, "He who +can read and understand the contents of a letter, may be the deliverer +thereof." As a rule, one would prefer that the postman did not read the +correspondence he carries, and this difficulty seems to have stood in the +way of trusting letters to unknown bearers. To remove this obstacle to free +intercourse, Rabbenu Gershom issued his well-known decree, under penalty of +excommunication, against anyone who, entrusted with a letter to another, +made himself master of its contents. To the present day, in some places, +the Jewish writer writes on the outside of his letter, the abbreviation +[Hebrew: beth-cheth-daleth-resh-''-gimel], which alludes to this injunction +of Rabbenu Gershom. Again, the Sabbath was and still is a difficulty with +observant Jews. Rabbi Jose ha-Cohen is mentioned in the Talmud (_Sabbath_, +19a) as deserving of the following compliment. He never allowed a letter of +his to get into the hands of a non-Jew, for fear he might carry it on the +Sabbath, and strict laws are laid down on the subject. That Christians in +modern times entrusted their letters to Jews goes without saying, and even +in places where this is not commonly allowed, the non-Jew is employed when +the letter contains bad news. Perhaps for this reason Rabbenu Jacob Tarn +permitted divorces to be sent by post, though the controversy on the +legality of such delivery is, I believe, still undecided. + +Besides packmen, who would often be the medium by which letters were +transmitted, there was in some Jewish communities a special class that +devoted themselves to a particular branch of the profession. They made it +their business to seek out lost sons and deliver messages to them from +their anxious parents. Some later Jewish authorities, in view of the +distress that the silence of absent loved ones causes to those at home, lay +down the rule that the duty of honoring parents, the fifth commandment, +includes the task of corresponding when absent from them. These peripatetic +letter-carriers also conveyed the documents of divorce to women that would +otherwise be in the unpleasant condition of being neither married nor +single. Among the most regular and punctual of Jewish postmen may be +mentioned the bearers of begging letters and begging books. There is no +fear that _these_ will not be duly delivered. + +Our reference to letters of recommendation reminds us of an act, on the +part of a modern Rabbi, of supererogation in the path of honesty. The post +is in the hands of the Government, and, accordingly, the late Rabbi +Bamberger of Wurzburg, whenever he gave a Haskamah, or recommendation, +which would be delivered by hand, was wont to destroy a postage stamp, so +as not to defraud the Government, even in appearance. With this remarkable +instance of conscientious uprightness, we may fitly conclude this notice, +suggested as it has been by the modern improvements in the postal system, +which depend for their success so largely on the honesty of the public. + + +VIII + +THE SHAPE OF MATZOTH + +Dr. Johnson said, "It is easier to know that a cake is bad than to make a +good one." I had a tiny quantity of material which, by dint of much +rolling, I might have expanded into a broad, flat, unsubstantial whole; I +preferred, however, to make of my little piece of dough a little cake, +small and therefore less pretentious. I am afraid that even in this +concentrated form it will prove flavorless and indigestible, but the cook +must be blamed, not the material. + +I have no intention to consider the various operations connected with the +preparation of unleavened Passover cakes: the kneading, the ingredients, +the curious regulations regarding the water used, such precautions as +carefully watching the ovens. Those who are inclined to connect some of +these customs with the practices of non-Jewish peoples will find some +interesting facts on all theses topics; but what I wish to speak of now is +the shape and form of Passover cakes. + +The Christian emblems that figure in the celebration of the Eucharist, or +Lord's Supper, were probably derived from the ceremonies of the Passover +eve. The bread employed in the Eucharist is with some Christian sects +unleavened, and, indeed, leavened cakes seem to have been introduced solely +as a protest against certain so-called Judaizing tendencies. The Latin +Church still contends for the propriety of employing unleavened bread, and +from the seventh century unleavened bread was used at Rome and leavened +bread at Constantinople. From the earliest times, however, the Eucharistic +loaves were invariably round in shape, there being, indeed, a supposed +edict by Pope Zephyrinus (197-217) to that effect. It is passing strange +that Bona, an ecclesiastical writer, derived this roundness from the shape +of the coins Judas received for betraying his master. But though there is +no distinct enactment either in the Talmud or in any of the later codes as +to what the form of the Matzoth must be, these have been from time +immemorial round also. Some Minhagim are more firmly rooted than actual +laws, and this custom is one of them. In one of his cartoons, Picard has an +illustration which is apparently that of a squarish Matzah; this may, +however, be only a case of defective drawing. It is true that in Roumania +square Matzoth are used, but in the controversy raised by the introduction +of Matzah-making machines, the opponents of the change argued as though no +other than a round shape were conceivable. Kluger, for instance, never +seems to have realized that his weightiest objection to the use of the +machine would be obviated by making the Matzoth square or rectangular. When +it was first proposed to introduce Matzah machines in London, the +resistance came chiefly from the manufacturers, and not from the +ecclesiastical authorities. The bakers refused categorically to make square +Matzoth, declaring that if they did so, their stock would be unsalable. +Even to the present day no square Matzoth are baked in London; those +occasionally seen there are imported from the Continent. The ancient +Egyptians made their cakes round, and the Matzoth are regarded +Midrashically as a memorial of the food which the Egyptian masters forced +on their Israelite slaves. A round shape is apparently the simplest +symmetrical form, but beyond this I fancy that the round form of the +Passover bread is partly due to the double meaning of Uggoth Matzoth. The +word Uggoth signifies cakes baked in the sand or hot embers; but Uggah also +means a "circle." To return, however, to the Eucharistic wafers. + +A further point of identity, though only a minute detail, can be traced in +the regulation that the Eucharistic oblate from which the priest +communicated was, in the ninth century, larger than the loaves used by the +people. So the Passover cakes (Shimmurim) used by the master of the house, +and particularly the middle cake, pieces of which were distributed, were +made larger than the ordinary Matzoth. Picard (1723) curiously enough +reverses this relation, and draws the ordinary Matzoth much larger and +thicker than the Shimmurim. The ordinary Matzoth he represents as thick +oval cakes, with a single coil of large holes, which start outwards from +the centre. Picard speaks of Matzoth made in different shapes, but he gives +no details. + +In the Middle Ages, and, indeed, as early as Chrysostom (fourth century), +the Church cakes were marked with a cross, and bore various inscriptions. +In the Coptic Church, for example, the legend was "Holy! holy! holy is the +Lord of hosts." Now, in a Latin work, _Roma subterranea_, about 1650, a +statement is made which seems to imply that the Passover cakes of the Jews +were also marked with crosses. What can have led to this notion? The origin +is simple enough. The ancient Romans, as Aringhus himself writes, and as +Virgil, Horace, and Martial frequently mention, made their loaves with +cross indentations, in order to facilitate dividing them into four parts: +much as nowadays Scotch scones are baked four together, and the central +dividing lines give the fourfold scone the appearance of bearing a cross +mark. It may be that the Jews made their Passover cakes, which were thicker +than ours and harder to break, in the same way. But, besides, the small +holes and indentations that cover the surface of the modern Matzah might, +if the Matzah be held in certain positions, possibly be mistaken for a +cross. These indentations are, I should add, very ancient, being referred +to in the Talmud, and, if I may venture a suggestion, also in the Bible, I +Kings xiv. 3, and elsewhere, Nekudim being cakes punctuated with small +interstices. + +We can carry the explanation a little further. The three Matzoth Shimmurim +used in the Haggadah Service were made with especial care, and in medieval +times were denominated Priest, Levite, Israelite, in order to discriminate +among them. Picard, by an amusing blunder, speaks of a _gateau des +lévites;_ he, of course, means the middle cake. From several authorities it +is clear that the three Matzoth were inscribed in some cases with these +three words, in others with the letters _Alef, Beth, Gimmel_, in order to +distinguish them. A rough _Alef_ would not look unlike a cross. Later on, +the three Matzoth were distinguished by one, two, three indentations +respectively, as in the Roman numerals; and even at the present day care is +sometimes taken, though in other ways, to prevent the Priest, Levite, and +Israelite from falling into confusion. I do not know whether the stringent +prohibition, by the _Shulchan Aruch_, of "shaped or marked cakes" for use +on Passover, may not be due to the fact that the Eucharistic cakes used by +Christians were marked with letters and symbols. Certain it is that the +prohibition of these "shaped" cakes is rather less emphatic in the Talmud +than in the later authorities, who up to a certain date are never weary of +condemning or at least discouraging the practice. The custom of using these +cakes is proved to be widespread by the very frequency of the prohibitions, +and they were certainly common in the beginning of the sixteenth century, +from which period seems to date the custom of making the Matzoth very thin, +though the thicker species has not been entirely superseded even up to the +present day. In the East the Matzoth are still made very thick and +unpalatable. They cannot be eaten as they are; they are either softened, by +being dipped in some liquid, or they are ground down to meal, and then +remade into smaller and more edible cakes. + +The Talmud mentions a "stamp" in connection with "shaped cakes," which +Buxtorf takes for _Lebkuchen_, and Levy for scalloped and fancifully-edged +cakes. The Geonim, however, explain that they were made in the forms of +birds, beasts, and fishes. I have seen Matzoth made in this way in London, +and have myself eaten many a Matzah sheep and monkey, but, unfortunately, I +cannot recollect whether it was during Passover. In Holland, these shaped +cakes are still used, but in "strict" families only before the Passover. + +Limits of space will not allow me to quote some interesting notes with +reference to Hebrew inscriptions on cakes generally, which would furnish +parallels to the Holy! holy! of the Coptic wafers. Children received such +cakes as a "specific for becoming wise." Some directions may be found in +_Sefer Raziel_ for making charm-cakes, which must have been the reverse of +charming from the unutterable names of angels written on them. One such +charm, however, published by Horwitz, I cannot refrain from mentioning, as +it is very curious and practical. It constitutes a never-failing antidote +to forgetfulness, and, for aught I know, may be quite as efficacious as +some of the quack mnemonic systems extensively advertised nowadays. + + "The following hath been tried and found reliable, and Rabbi Saadia ben + Joseph made use of it. He discovered it in the cave of Rabbi Eleazar + Kalir, and all the wise men of Israel together with their pupils applied + the remedy with excellent effect:--At the beginning of the month of Sivan + take some wheatmeal and knead it, and be sure to remain _standing._ Make + cakes and bake them, write thereon the verse, 'Memory hath He made among + His wondrous acts: gracious and merciful is the Lord.' Take an egg and + boil it hard, peel it, and write on it the names of five angels; eat such + a cake every day, for thirty days, with an egg, and thou wilt learn all + thou seest, and wilt never forget." + +The manuscript illuminated Haggadahs are replete with interest and +information. But I must avoid further observations on these manuscripts +except in so far as they illustrate my present subject. In the Haggadah the +question is asked, "Why do we eat this Matzah?" and at the words "this +Matzah" the illuminated manuscripts contain, in the great majority of +cases, representations of Matzoth. These in some instances present rather +interesting features, which may throw historical light on the archeology of +the subject. Some of these figured Matzoth are oval, one I have seen +star-shaped, but almost all are circular in form. Many, however, unlike the +modern Matzah and owing to the shape of the mould, have a broad border +distinct from the rest of the cake. The Crawford Haggadah, now in the +Ryland library, Manchester, pictures a round Matzah through which a pretty +flowered design runs. Others, again, and this I think a very ancient, as it +certainly is a very common, design, are covered with transverse lines, +which result in producing diamond-shaped spaces with a very pleasing +effect, resembling somewhat the appearance of the lattice work cakes used +in Italy and Persia, I think. The lines, unless they be mere pictorial +embellishments, are, possibly, as in the Leeds cakes, rows of indentations +resulting from the punctuation of the Matzah. In one British Museum +manuscript (Roman rite, 1482), the star and diamond shapes are combined, +the border being surrounded with small triangles, and the centre of the +cake being divided into diamond-like sections. In yet another manuscript +the Matzah has a border, divided by small lines into almost rectangular +sections, while the body of the cake is ornamented with a design in which +variously shaped figures, quadrilaterals and triangles, are irregularly +interspersed. One fanciful picture deserves special mention, as it is the +only one of the kind in all the illustrated manuscripts and printed +Haggadahs in the Oxford and British Museum libraries. This Matzah occurs in +an Italian manuscript of the fourteenth century. It is adorned with a +flowered border, and in the centre appears a human-faced quadruped of +apparently Egyptian character. + +Poetry and imagination are displayed in some of these devices, but in only +one or two cases did the artists attain high levels of picturesque +illustration. How suggestive, for instance, is the chain pattern, adopted +in a manuscript of the Michaelis Collection at Oxford. It must not be +thought that _this_ idea at least was never literally realized, for only +last year I was shown a Matzah made after a very similar design, possibly +not for use on the first two nights of Passover. The bread of affliction +recalls the Egyptian bonds, and it is an ingenious idea to bid us ourselves +turn the ancient chains to profitable use--by eating them. This expressive +design is surpassed by another, found in a beautifully-illuminated +manuscript of the fourteenth century. This Matzah bears a curious device in +the centre: it is a prison door modelled with considerable skill, but I do +not suppose that Matzoth were ever made in this fashion. + + + + +NOTES + + +"THE BOOK OF DELIGHT" + +The connection between Zabara's work and the Solomon and Marcolf legend was +first pointed out in my "Short History of Jewish Literature" (1906), p. 95. +I had long before detected the resemblance, though I was not aware of it +when I wrote an essay on Zabara in the _Jewish Quarterly Review._ To the +latter (vi, pp. 502 _et seq._) the reader is referred for bibliographical +notes, and also for details on the textual relations of the two editions of +Zabara's poem. + +A number of parallels with other folk-literatures are there indicated; +others have been added by Dr. Israel Davidson, in his edition of the "Three +Satires" (New York, 1904), which accompany the "Book of Delight" in the +Constantinople edition, and are also possibly by Zabara. + +The late Professor David Kaufmann informed me some years ago that he had a +manuscript of the poem in his possession. But, after his death, the +manuscript could not be found in his library. Should it eventually be +rediscovered, it would be desirable to have a new, carefully printed +edition of the Hebrew text of the "Book of Delight." I would gladly place +at the disposal of the editor my copy of the Constantinople edition, made +from the Oxford specimen. The Bodleian copy does not seem to be unique, as +had been supposed. + +The literature on the Solomon and Marcolf legend is extensive. The +following references may suffice. J.M. Kemble published (London, 1848) +"The Dialogue of Solomon and Saturnus," for the Aelfric Society. "Of all +the forms of the story yet preserved," says Mr. Kemble, "the Anglo-Saxon +are undoubtedly the oldest." He talks vaguely of the intermixture of +Oriental elements, but assigns a northern origin to one portion of the +story. Crimm had argued for a Hebrew souice, thinking Marcolf a name of +scorn in Hebrew. But the Hebrew Marcolis (or however one may spell it) is +simply Mercury. In the Latin version, however, Marcolf is distinctly +represented as coming from the East. William of Tyre (12th cent.) suggests +the identity of Marcolf with Abdemon, whom Josephus ("Antiquities," VIII, +v, 3) names as Hiram's Riddle-Guesser. A useful English edition is E. +Gordon Duff's "Dialogue or Communing between the Wise King Salomon and +Marcolphus" (London, 1892). Here, too, as in the Latin version, Marcolf is +a man from the Orient. Besides these books, two German works deserve +special mention. F. Vogt, in his essay entitled _Die deutschen Dichtungen +won Salomon und Markolf,_ which appeared in Halle, in 1880, also thinks +Marcolf an Eastern. Finally, as the second part of his "_Untersuchungen zur +mittelhochdeutschen Spielmannspoesie_" (Schwerin, 1894), H. Tardel +published _Zum Salman-Morolf._ Tardel is skeptical as to the Eastern +provenance of the legend. + +It has been thought that a form of this legend is referred to in the fifth +century. The _Contradictio Solomonis_, which Pope Gelasius excluded from +the sacred canon, has been identified with some version of the Marcolf +story. + + +A VISIT TO HEBRON + +The account of Hebron, given in this volume, must be read for what it was +designed to be, an impressionist sketch. The history of the site, in so far +as it has been written, must be sought in more technical books. As will be +seen from several details, my visit was paid in the month of April, just +before Passover. Things have altered in some particulars since I was there, +but there has been no essential change in the past decade. + +The Hebron Haram, or shrine over the Cave of Machpelah, is fully described +in the "Cruise of H.M.S. Bacchante, 1879-1882," ii, pp. 595-619. (Compare +"Survey of Western Palestine," iii, pp. 333-346; and the _Quarterly +Statement_ of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1882, pp. 197-214.) Colonel +Conder's account narrates the experiences of the present King of England at +the Haram in April, 1882. Dean Stanley had previously entered the Haram +with King Edward VII, in January, 1862 (see Stanley's "Sermons in the +East," 1863, pp. 141-169). A good note on the relation between these modern +narratives and David Reubeni's (dating from the early part of the sixteenth +century) was contributed by Canon Dalton to the _Quarterly Statement_, +1897, p. 53. A capital plan of the Haram is there printed. + +Mr. Adler's account of his visit to Hebron will be found in his "Jews in +Many Lands," pp. 104-111; he tells of his entry into the Haram on pp. +137-138. + +M. Lucien Gautier's work referred to is his _Souvenirs du Terre-Sainte_ +(Lausanne, 1898). The description of glass-making appears on p. 53 of that +work. + +The somewhat startling identification of the Ramet el-Khalil, near Hebron, +with the site of the altar built by Samuel in Ramah (I Sam. vii. 17) is +justified at length in Mr. Shaw Caldecott's book "The Tabernacle, its +History and Structure" (London, 1904). + + +THE SOLACE OF BOOKS (pp. 93-121) + +The opening quotation is from the Ethical Will of Judah ibn Tibbon, the +"father" of Jewish translators. The original is fully analyzed in an essay +by the present writer, in the _Jewish Quarterly Review_, iii, 453. See also +_ibidem_, p. 483. The Hebrew text was printed by Edelmann, and also by +Steinschneider; by the latter at Berlin, 1852. + +A writer much cited in this same essay, Richard of Bury, derived his name +from his birthplace, Bury St. Edmunds. "He tells us himself in his +'Philobiblon' that he used his high offices of state as a means of +collecting books. He let it be known that books were the most acceptable +presents that could be made to him" ("Dictionary of National Biography," +viii, 26). He was also a student of Hebrew, and collected grammars of that +language. Altogether his "Philobiblon" is an "admirable exhibition of the +temper of a book-lover." Written in the early part of the fourteenth +century, the "Philobiblon" was first published, at Cologne, in 1473. The +English edition cited in this essay is that published in the King's +Classics (De la More Library, ed. I. Gollancz). + +The citation from Montaigne is from his essay on the "Three Commerces" (bk. +in, ch. iii). The same passages, in Florio's rendering, will be found in +Mr. A.R. Waller's edition (Dent's Everyman's Library), in, pp. 48-50. Of +the three "Commerces" (_i.e._ societies)--Men, Women, and Books--Montaigne +proclaims that the commerce of books "is much more solid-sure and much more +ours." I have claimed Montaigne as the great-grandson of a Spanish Jew on +the authority of Mr. Waller (Introduction, p. vii). + +The paragraphs on books from the "Book of the Pious," §§ 873-932, have been +collected (and translated into English) by the Rev. Michael Adler, in an +essay called "A Medieval Bookworm" (see _The Bookworm_, ii, 251). + +The full title of Mr. Alexander Ireland's book--so much drawn upon in this +essay--is "The Book-Lover's Enchiridion, a Treasury of Thoughts on the +Solace and Companionship of Books, Gathered from the Writings of the +Greatest Thinkers, from Cicero, Petrarch, and Montaigne, to Carlyle, +Emerson, and Ruskin" (London and New York, 1894). + +Mr. F.M. Nichols' edition of the "Letters of Erasmus" (1901) is the source +of the quotation of one of that worthy's letters. + +The final quotation comes from the Wisdom of Solomon, ch. vi. v. 12; ch. +viii. vv. 2, 16; and ch. ix. v. 4. The "radiance" of Wisdom is, in ch. vii, +26, explained in the famous words, "For she is an effulgence from +everlasting light, an unspotted mirror of the working of God, and an image +of His goodness." + + +MEDIEVAL WAYFARING + +The evidence for many of the statements in this paper will be found in +various contexts in "Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," in the Hebrew travel +literature, and in such easily accessible works as Graetz's "History of the +Jews." + +Achimaaz has been much used by me. His "Book of Genealogies" (_Sefer +Yochasin_) was written in 1055. The Hebrew text was included by Dr. A. +Neubauer in his "Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles," ii, pp. 114 _et seq_. I +might have cited Achimaaz's account of an amusing incident in the synagogue +at Venosa. There had been an uproar in the Jewish quarter, and a wag added +some lines on the subject to the manuscript of the Midrash which the +travelling preacher was to read on the following Sabbath. The effect of the +reading may be imagined. + +Another source for many of my statements is a work by Julius Aronius, +_Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland,_ Berlin, 1893. It +presents many new facts on the medieval Jewries of Germany. + +The quaint story of the Jewish sailors told by Synesius is taken from T.R. +Glover's "Life and Letters in the Fourth Century" (Cambridge, 1901), p. +330. + +A careful statement on communal organization with regard to the status of +travellers and settlers was contributed by Weinberg to vol. xii of the +Breslau _Monatsschrift_. The title of the series of papers is _Die +Organisation der jüdischen Gemeinden_. + +For evidence of the existence of Communal Codes, or Note-Books, see Dr. A. +Berliner's _Beiträge zur Geschichte der Raschi-Commentare_, Berlin, 1903, +p. 3. + +Benjamin of Tudela's "Itinerary" has been often edited, most recently by +the late M.N. Adler (London, 1907). Benjamin's travels occupied the years +1166 to 1171, and his narrative is at once informing and entertaining. The +motives for his extensive journeys through Europe, Asia, and Africa are +thus summed up by Mr. Adler (pp. xii, xiii): "At the time of the Crusades, +the most prosperous communities in Germany and the Jewish congregations +that lay along the route to Palestine had been exterminated or dispersed, +and even in Spain, where the Jews had enjoyed complete security for +centuries, they were being pitilessly persecuted in the Moorish kingdom of +Cordova. It is not unlikely, therefore, that Benjamin may have undertaken +his journey with the object of finding out where his expatriated brethren +might find an asylum. It will be noted that Benjamin seems to use every +effort to trace and afford particulars of independent communities of Jews, +who had chiefs of their own, and owed no allegiance to the foreigner. He +may have had trade and mercantile operations in view. He certainly dwells +on matters of commercial interest with considerable detail. Probably he was +actuated by both motives, coupled with the pious wish of making a +pilgrimage to the land of his fathers." + +For Jewish pilgrims to Palestine see Steinschneider's contribution to +Röhricht and Meisner's _Deutsche Pilgerreisen_, pp. 548-648. My statement +as to the existence of a Jewish colony at Ramleh in the eleventh century is +based on Genizah documents at Cambridge, T.S. 13 J. 1. + +For my account of the Trade Routes of the Jews in the medieval period, I am +indebted to Beazley's "Dawn of Modern Geography," p. 430. + +The Letter of Nachmanides is quoted from Dr. Schechter's "Studies in +Judaism," First Series, pp. 131 _et seq._ The text of Obadiah of +Bertinoro's letter was printed by Dr. Neubauer in the _Jahrbuch für die +Geschichte der Juden,_ 1863. + + +THE FOX'S HEART (pp. 159-171) + +The main story discussed in this essay is translated from the so-called +"Alphabet of Ben Sira," the edition used being Steinschneider's +(_Alphabetum Siracidis,_ Berlin, 1858). + +The original work consists of two Alphabets of Proverbs,--twenty-two in +Aramaic and twenty-two in Hebrew--and is embellished with comments and +fables. A full account of the book is given in a very able article by +Professor L. Ginzberg, "Jewish Encyclopedia," ii, p. 678. The author is not +the Ben Sira who wrote the Wisdom book in the Apocrypha, but the ascription +of it to him led to the incorporation of some legends concerning him. Dr. +Ginzberg also holds this particular Fox Fable to be a composite, and to be +derived more or less from Indian originals. + + +"MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN" + +The chief authorities to which the reader is referred are: _Midrash Rabba_, +Genesis Section 68; Leviticus Section 29; and Numbers Sections 3 and 22. +Further, _Midrash Tanchuma_, to the sections _Ki tissa, Mattoth_, and +_Vayishlach; Midrash Samuel_, ch. v; Babylonian Talmud, _Moed Katon_, 18b, +and _Sotah_, 2a. + +In Dr. W. Bacher's _Agada der Tannaiten_, ii, pp. 168-170, will be found +important notes on some of these passages. + +I have freely translated the story of Solomon's daughter from Buber's +_Tanchuma_, Introduction, p. 136. It is clearly pieced together from +several stories, too familiar to call for the citation of parallels. With +one of the incidents may be compared the device of Sindbad in his second +voyage. He binds himself to one of the feet of a rukh, _i.e._ condor, or +bearded vulture. In another adventure he attaches himself to the carcass of +a slaughtered animal, and is borne aloft by a vulture. A similar incident +may be noted in Pseudo-Ben Sira (Steinschneider, p. 5). + +Compare also Gubernatis, Zool. Myth, ii, 94. The fabulous anka was banished +as punishment for carrying off a bride. + +For the prayers based on belief in the Divine appointment of marriages, see +"Jewish Life in the Middle Ages," ch. x. + +One of the many sixteenth century Tobit dramas is _Tobie, Comedie De +Catherin Le Doux: En laquelle on void comme les marriages sont faicts au +ciel, & qu'il n'y a rien qui eschappe la providence de Dieu_ (Cassel, +1604). + + +HEBREW LOVE SONGS + +From personal observation, Dr. G.H. Dalman collected a large number of +modern Syrian songs in his _Palästinischer Diwan_ (Leipzig, 1901). The +songs were taken down, and the melodies noted, in widely separated +districts. Judea, the Hauran, Lebanon, are all represented. Dr. Dalman +prints the Arabic text in "Latin" transliteration, and appends German +renderings. Wetzstein's earlier record of similar folk-songs appears in +Delitzsch's Commentary on Canticles--_Hohelied und Koheleth_,--1875 and +also in the _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, v, p. 287. Previous commentators +had sometimes held that the Song of Songs was a mere collection of detached +and independent fragments, but on the basis of Wetzstein's discoveries, +Professor Budde elaborated his theory, that the Song is a Syrian +wedding-minstrel's repertory. + +This theory will be found developed in Budde's Commentary on Canticles +(1898); it is a volume in Marti's _Kurzer Hand-Commentar zum Alten +Testament_. An elaborate and destructive criticism of the repertory theory +may be read in Appendix ii of Mr. Andrew Harper's "Song of Solomon" (1902): +the book forms a volume in the series of the Cambridge Bible for Schools. +Harper's is a very fine work, and not the least of its merits is its +exposition of the difficulties which confront the attempt to deny unity of +plot and plan to the Biblical song. Harper also expresses a sound view as +to the connection between love-poetry and mysticism. "Sensuality and +mysticism are twin moods of the mind." The allegorical significance of the +Song of Songs goes back to the _Targum_, an English version of which has +been published by Professor H. Gollancz in his "Translations from Hebrew +and Aramaic" (1908). + +Professor J.P. Mahaffy's view on the Idylls of Theocritus may be read in +his "History of Greek Literature," ii, p. 170, and in several pages of his +"Greek Life and Thought" (see Index, _s.v._). + +The passage in which Graetz affirms the borrowing of the pastoral scheme by +the author of Canticles from Theocritus, is translated from p. 69 of +Graetz's _Schir ha-Schirim, oder das salomonische Hohelied_ (Vienna, 1871). +Though the present writer differs entirely from the opinion of Graetz on +this point, he has no hesitation in describing Graetz's Commentary as a +masterpiece of brilliant originality. + +The rival theory, that Theocritus borrowed from the Biblical Song, is +supported by Professor D.S. Margoliouth, in his "Lines of Defence of the +Biblical Revelation" (1900), pp. 2-7. He also suggests (p. 7), that +Theocritus borrowed lines 86-87 of Idyll xxiv from Isaiah xi. 6. + +The evidence from the scenery of the Song, in favor of the natural and +indigenous origin of the setting of the poem, is strikingly illustrated in +G.A. Smith's "Historical Geography of the Holy Land" (ed. 1901), pp. +310-311. The quotation from Laurence Oliphant is taken from his "Land of +Gilead" (London, 1880). + +Egyptian parallels to Canticles occur in the hieroglyphic love-poems +published by Maspero in _Études égyptiennes_, i, pp. 217 _et seq_., and by +Spiegelberg in _Aegyptiaca_ (contained in the Ebers _Festschrift_, pp. 177 +_et seq_.). Maspero, describing, in 1883, the affinities of Canticles to +the old Egyptian love songs, uses almost the same language as G.E. Lessing +employed in 1777, in summarizing the similarities between Canticles and +Theocritus. It will amuse the reader to see the passages side by side. + +[Transcriber's Note: In our print copy these were set in parallel columns.] + +MASPERO + + Il n'y a personne qui, en lisant la traduction de ces chants, ne soit + frappé de la ressemblance qu'ils présentent avec le Cantique des + Cantiques. Ce sont les mêmes façons ..., les mêmes images ..., les mêmes + comparaisons. + +LESSING + + Immo sunt qui maximam similitudinem inter Canticum Canticorum et + Theocriti Idyllia esse statuant ... quod iisdem fere videtur esse verbis, + loquendi formulis, similibus, transitu, figuris. + +If these resemblances were so very striking, then, as argued in the text of +this essay, the Idylls of Theocritus ought to resemble the Egyptian poems. +This, however, they utterly fail to do. + +For my acquaintance with the modern Greek songs I am indebted to Mr. G.F. +Abbott's "Songs of Modern Greece" (Cambridge, 1900). The Levantine +character of the melodies to Hebrew Piyyutim based on the Song of Songs is +pointed out by Mr. F.L. Cohen, in the "Jewish Encyclopedia," i, p. 294, +and iii, p. 47. + +The poem of Taubah, and the comments on it, are taken from C.J.L. Lyall's +"Translations of Ancient Arabic Poetry, chiefly prae-Islamic" (1885), P. +76. + +The Hebrew text of Moses ibn Ezra's poem--cited with reference to the +figure of love surviving the grave--may be found in Kaempf's _Zehn Makamen_ +(1858), p. 215. A German translation is given, I believe, in the same +author's _Nichtandalusische Poesie andalusischer Dichter._ + +Many Hebrew love-poems, in German renderings, are quoted in Dr. A. +Sulzbach's essay, _Die poetische Litteratur_ (second section, _Die +weltliche Poesie_), contributed to the third volume of Winter and Wunsche's +Jüdische Litteratur (1876). His comments, cited in my essay, occur in that +work, p. 160. Amy Levy's renderings of some of Jehudah Halevi's love songs +are quoted by Lady Magnus in the first of her "Jewish Portraits." Dr. J. +Egers discusses Samuel ha-Nagid's "Stammering Maid" in the Graetz +_Jubelschrift_ (1877), pp. 116-126. + + +GEORGE ELIOT AND SOLOMON MAIMON + +The Autobiography of Solomon Maimon (1754-1800) was published in Berlin +(1792-3) in two parts, under the title _Salomon Maimon's Lebensgeschichte._ +Moses Mendelssohn befriended Maimon, in so far as it was possible to +befriend so wayward a personality. Maimon made real contributions to +philosophy. + +The description of Daniel Deronda's purchase of the volume is contained in +ch. xxxiii of the novel. In Holborn, Deronda came across a "second-hand +book-shop, where, on a narrow table outside, the literature of the ages was +represented in judicious mixture, from the immortal verse of Homer to the +mortal prose of the railway novel. That the mixture was judicious was +apparent from Deronda's finding in it something that he wanted--namely, +that wonderful piece of autobiography, the life of the Polish Jew, Salomon +Maimon." + +The man in temporary charge of the shop was Mordecai. This is his first +meeting with Deronda, who, after an intensely dramatic interval, "paid his +half-crown and carried off his 'Salomon Maimon's Lebensgeschichte' with a +mere 'Good Morning.'" + + +HOW MILTON PRONOUNCED HEBREW + +Milton's transliterations are printed in several editions of his poems; +the version used in this book is that given in D. Masson's "Poetical +Works of Milton," in, pp. 5-11. The notes of the late A.B. Davidson on +Milton's Hebrew knowledge are cited in the same volume by Masson (p. 483). +Landor had no high opinion of Milton as a translator. "Milton," he said, +"was never so much a regicide as when he lifted up his hand and smote +King David." But there can be no doubt of Milton's familiarity with the +original, whatever be the merit of the translations. To me, Milton's +rendering of Psalm lxxxiv seems very fine. + +The controversy between the advocates of the versions of Rous and +Barton--which led to Milton's effort--is described in Masson, ii, p. 312. + +Reuchlin's influence on the pronunciation of Hebrew in England is discussed +by Dr. S.A. Hirsch, in his "Book of Essays" (London, 1905), p. 60. Roger +Bacon, at a far earlier date, must have pronounced Hebrew in much the same +way, but he was not guilty of the monstrosity of turning the _Ayin_ into a +nasal. Bacon (as may be seen from the facsimile printed by Dr. Hirsch) left +the letter _Ayin_ unpronounced, which is by far the best course for +Westerns to adopt. + + +THE CAMBRIDGE PLATONISTS + +Henry More (1614-1687) was the most important of the "Cambridge +Platonists." Several of his works deal with the Jewish Cabbala. More +recognized a "Threefold Cabbala, Literal, Philosophical, and Mystical, or +Divinely Moral." He dedicated his _Conjectura Cabbalistica_ to Cudworth, +Master of Christ's College, Cambridge, of which More was a Fellow. Cudworth +was one of those who attended the Whitehall Conference, summoned by +Cromwell in 1655 to discuss the readmission of the Jews to England. + +Platonic influence was always prevalent in mystical thought. The Cabbala +has intimate relations with neo-Platonism. + + +THE ANGLO-JEWISH YIDDISH LITERARY SOCIETY + +The question raised as to the preservation of Yiddish is not unimportant at +this juncture. It is clear that the old struggle between Hebrew and Yiddish +for predominance as the Jewish language must become more and more severe as +Hebrew advances towards general acceptance as a living language. + +Probably the struggle will end in compromise. Hebrew might become one of +the two languages spoken by Jews, irrespective of what the other language +might happen to be. + + +THE MYSTICS AND SAINTS OF INDIA + +The full title of Professor Oman's work is "The Mystics, Ascetics, and +Saints of India. A Study of Sadhuism, with an account of the Yogis, +Sanyasis, Bairagis, and other strange Hindu Sectaries" (London, 1903). + +The subject of asceticism in Judaism has of late years been more +sympathetically treated than used to be the case. The Jewish theologians of +a former generation were concerned to attack the excesses to which an +ascetic course of life may lead. This attack remains as firmly justified as +ever. But to deny a place to asceticism in the Jewish scheme, is at once to +pronounce the latter defective and do violence to fact. + +Speaking of the association of fasting with repentance, Dr. Schechter says: +"It is in conformity with this sentiment, for which there is abundant +authority both in the Scriptures and in the Talmud, that ascetic practices +tending both as a sacrifice and as a castigation of the flesh, making +relapse impossible, become a regular feature of the penitential course in +the medieval Rabbinic literature" ("Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology," +1909, PP. 339-340). + +Moreover, the fuller appreciation of the idea of saintliness, and the +higher esteem of the mystical elements in Judaism--ideas scarcely to be +divorced from asceticism--have helped to confirm the newer attitude. Here, +too, Dr. Schechter has done a real service to theology. The Second Series +of his "Studies in Judaism" contains much on this subject. What he has +written should enable future exponents of Judaism to form a more balanced +judgment on the whole matter. + +Fortunately, the newer view is not confined to any one school of Jewish +thought. The reader will find, in two addresses contained in Mr. C.G. +Montefiore's "Truth in Religion" (1906), an able attempt to weigh the value +and the danger of an ascetic view of life. It was, indeed, time that the +Jewish attitude towards so powerful a force should be reconsidered. + + +LOST PURIM JOYS + +The burning of Haman in effigy is recorded in the _Responsa_ of a Gaon +published by Professor L. Ginzberg in his "Geniza Studies" ("Geonica," ii, +pp. 1-3). He holds that the statement as to the employment of "Purim +bonfires among the Babylonian and Elamitic Jews as given in the _Aruch_ (s. +v. [Hebrew: shin-vav-vav-resh]) undoubtedly goes back to this _Responsum_." + +On Purim parodies much useful information will be found in Dr. Israel +Davidson's "Parody in Jewish Literature" (New York, 1907). See Index s.v. +Purim (p. 289). + +For a statement of the supposed connection between Purim and other spring +festivals, see Paul Haupt's "Purim" (Baltimore, 1906), and the article in +the "Encyclopaedia Biblica," cols. 3976-3983. Such theories do not account +adequately for the Book of Esther. + +Schodt _(Jüdische Merkwürdigkeiten,_ 1713, ii, p. 314) gives a sprightly +account of what seems to have been the first public performance of a Purim +play in Germany. + + +JEWS AND LETTERS + +Leopold Löw investigated the history of writing, and of the materials used +among the Jews, in his _Graphische Requisiten und Erzeugnisse bei den +Juden_ (2 vols., Leipzig, 1870-71). + +On Jewish letter-carriers in Germany, see the article of Dr. I. Kracauer in +the "Jewish Encyclopedia," viii, p. 15. The first Post-Jude is named in +1722. These Jewish letter-carriers received no salary from the Government, +but collected a fee from the recipients of the letters. + +The Talmudic _Bê-Davvar_ [Hebrew: beth-yod-(maqqef)-daleth-vav-aleph-resh] +was really a Court of Justice (perhaps a Circuit Court). As, however, +_davvar_ meant a despatch-bearer, the phrase _Bê-Davvar_ passed over later +into the meaning Post-Office. _Davvar_ seems connected with the root _dur,_ +"to form a circle"; the pael form _(davvar)_ would mean "to go around," +perhaps to travel with merchandise and letters. + + +THE SHAPE OF MATZOTH + +In the twentieth chapter of Proverbs v. 17, we find the maxim: + + "Bread gained by fraud is sweet to a man, + But afterwards his mouth will be filled with gravel." + +The exact point of this comparison was brought home to me when I spent a +night at Modin, the ancient home of the Maccabees. Over night I enjoyed the +hospitality of a Bedouin. In the morning I was given some native bread for +breakfast. I was very hungry, and I took a large and hasty bite at the +bread, when lo! my mouth was full of gravel. They make the bread as +follows: One person rolls the dough into a thin round cake (resembling a +Matzah), while another person places hot cinders on the ground. The cake is +put on the cinders and gravel, and an earthenware pot is spread over all, +to retain the heat. Hence the bread comes out with fragments of gravel and +cinder in it. Woe betide the hasty eater! Compare Lamentations iii. 16, "He +hath broken my teeth with gravel stones." This, then, may be the meaning of +the proverb cited at the head of this note. Bread hastily snatched, +advantages thoughtlessly or fraudulently grasped, may appear sweet in +anticipation, but eventually they fill a man's mouth with gravel. + +The quotation from Paulus Aringhus' _Roma subterranea novissima_ will be +found in vol. ii, p. 533 of the first edition (Rome, 1651). This work, +dealing mainly with the Christian sepulchres in Rome, was reprinted in +Amsterdam (1659) and Arnheim (1671), and a German translation appeared in +Arnheim in 1668. The first volume (pp. 390 _et seq._) fully describes the +Jewish tombs in Rome, and cites the Judeo-Greek inscriptions. There is much +else to interest the Jewish student in these two stately and finely +illustrated folios. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: "Betwen" was corrected to "between" in chapters III +and VII.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of Delight and Other Papers +by Israel Abrahams + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF DELIGHT *** + +This file should be named 8dlit10.txt or 8dlit10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8dlit11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8dlit10a.txt + +Produced by Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8dlit10.zip b/old/8dlit10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c09f534 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8dlit10.zip |