by Lew Wallace
CHAPTER VIII
The reader is now besought to return to the court described aspart of the market at the Joppa Gate. It was the third hour of theday, and many of the people had gone away; yet the press continuedwithout apparent abatement. Of the new-comers, there was a groupover by the south wall, consisting of a man, a woman, and a donkey,which requires extended notice.
The man stood by the animal's head, holding a leading-strap,and leaning upon a stick which seemed to have been chosen forthe double purpose of goad and staff. His dress was like that ofthe ordinary Jews around him, except that it had an appearanceof newness. The mantle dropping from his head, and the robe orfrock which clothed his person from neck to heel, were probablythe garments he was accustomed to wear to the synagogue onSabbath days. His features were exposed, and they told of fiftyyears of life, a surmise confirmed by the gray that streaked hisotherwise black beard. He looked around him with the half-curious,half-vacant stare of a stranger and provincial.
The donkey ate leisurely from an armful of green grass, of whichthere was an abundance in the market. In its sleepy content,the brute did not admit of disturbance from the bustle andclamor about; no more was it mindful of the woman sitting uponits back in a cushioned pillion. An outer robe of dull woollenstuff completely covered her person, while a white wimple veiledher head and neck. Once in a while, impelled by curiosity to seeor hear something passing, she drew the wimple aside, but soslightly that the face remained invisible.
At length the man was accosted.
"Are you not Joseph of Nazareth?"
The speaker was standing close by.
"I am so called," answered Joseph, turning gravely around; "Andyou--ah, peace be unto you! my friend, Rabbi Samuel!"
"The same give I back to you." The Rabbi paused, looking atthe woman, then added, "To you, and unto your house and allyour helpers, be peace."
With the last word, he placed one hand upon his breast, and inclinedhis head to the woman, who, to see him, had by this time withdrawnthe wimple enough to show the face of one but a short time out ofgirlhood. Thereupon the acquaintances grasped right hands, as if tocarry them to their lips; at the last moment, however, the claspwas let go, and each kissed his own hand, then put its palm uponhis forehead.
"There is so little dust upon your garments," the Rabbi said,familiarly, "that I infer you passed the night in this city ofour fathers."
"No," Joseph replied, "as we could only make Bethany before thenight came, we stayed in the khan there, and took the road againat daybreak."
"The journey before you is long, then--not to Joppa, I hope."
"Only to Bethlehem."
The countenance of the Rabbi, theretofore open and friendly,became lowering and sinister, and he cleared his throat witha growl instead of a cough.
"Yes, yes--I see," he said. "You were born in Bethlehem, and wendthither now, with your daughter, to be counted for taxation,as ordered by Caesar. The children of Jacob are as the tribes inEgypt were--only they have neither a Moses nor a Joshua. How arethe mighty fallen!"
Joseph answered, without change of posture or countenance,
"The woman is not my daughter."
But the Rabbi clung to the political idea; and he went on,without noticing the explanation, "What are the Zealots doingdown in Galilee?"
"I am a carpenter, and Nazareth is a village," said Joseph,cautiously. "The street on which my bench stands is not a roadleading to any city. Hewing wood and sawing plank leave me notime to take part in the disputes of parties."
"But you are a Jew," said the Rabbi, earnestly. "You are a Jew,and of the line of David. It is not possible you can find pleasurein the payment of any tax except the shekel given by ancient customto Jehovah."
Joseph held his peace.
"I do not complain," his friend continued, "of the amount of thetax--a denarius is a trifle. Oh no! The imposition of the tax isthe offense. And, besides, what is paying it but submission totyranny? Tell me, is it true that Judas claims to be the Messiah?You live in the midst of his followers."
"I have heard his followers say he was the Messiah," Joseph replied.
At this point the wimple was drawn aside, and for an instant thewhole face of the woman was exposed. The eyes of the Rabbi wanderedthat way, and he had time to see a countenance of rare beauty,kindled by a look of intense interest; then a blush overspreadher cheeks and brow, and the veil was returned to its place.
The politician forgot his subject.
"Your daughter is comely," he said, speaking lower.
"She is not my daughter," Joseph repeated.
The curiosity of the Rabbi was aroused; seeing which, the Nazarenehastened to say further, "She is the child of Joachim and Anna ofBethlehem, of whom you have at least heard, for they were of greatrepute--"
"Yes," remarked the Rabbi, deferentially, "I know them. They werelineally descended from David. I knew them well."
"Well, they are dead now," the Nazarene proceeded. "They died inNazareth. Joachim was not rich, yet he left a house and gardento be divided between his daughters Marian and Mary. This is oneof them; and to save her portion of the property, the law requiredher to marry her next of kin. She is now my wife."
"And you were--"
"Her uncle."
"Yes, yes! And as you were both born in Bethlehem, the Roman compelsyou to take her there with you to be also counted."
The Rabbi clasped his hands, and looked indignantly to heaven,exclaiming, "The God of Israel still lives! The vengeance is his!"
With that he turned and abruptly departed. A stranger near by,observing Joseph's amazement, said, quietly, "Rabbi Samuel isa zealot. Judas himself is not more fierce."
Joseph, not wishing to talk with the man, appeared not to hear,and busied himself gathering in a little heap the grass whichthe donkey had tossed abroad; after which he leaned upon hisstaff again, and waited.
In another hour the party passed out the gate, and, turning to theleft, took the road into Bethlehem. The descent into the valley ofHinnom was quite broken, garnished here and there with stragglingwild olive-trees. Carefully, tenderly, the Nazarene walked by thewoman's side, leading-strap in hand. On their left, reaching tothe south and east round Mount Zion, rose the city wall, and ontheir right the steep prominences which form the western boundaryof the valley.
Slowly they passed the Lower Pool of Gihon, out of which thesun was fast driving the lessening shadow of the royal hill;slowly they proceeded, keeping parallel with the aqueduct fromthe Pools of Solomon, until near the site of the country-house onwhat is now called the Hill of Evil Counsel; there they began toascend to the plain of Rephaim. The sun streamed garishly over thestony face of the famous locality, and under its influence Mary,the daughter of Joachim, dropped the wimple entirely, and baredher head. Joseph told the story of the Philistines surprised intheir camp there by David. He was tedious in the narrative,speaking with the solemn countenance and lifeless manner ofa dull man. She did not always hear him.
Wherever on the land men go, and on the sea ships, the face andfigure of the Jew are familiar. The physical type of the race hasalways been the same; yet there have been some individual variations."Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodlyto look to." Such was the son of Jesse when brought before Samuel.The fancies of men have been ever since ruled by the description.Poetic license has extended the peculiarities of the ancestor tohis notable descendants. So all our ideal Solomons have fair faces,and hair and beard chestnut in the shade, and of the tint of gold inthe sun. Such, we are also made believe, were the locks of Absalomthe beloved. And, in the absence of authentic history, tradition hasdealt no less lovingly by her whom we are now following down to thenative city of the ruddy king.
She was not more than fifteen. Her form, voice, and manner belongedto the period of transition from girlhood. Her face was perfectlyoval, her complexion more pale than fair. The nose was faultless;the lips, slightly parted, were full and ripe, giving to the linesof the mouth warmth, t
enderness, and trust; the eyes were blue andlarge, and shaded by drooping lids and long lashes; and, in harmonywith all, a flood of golden hair, in the style permitted to Jewishbrides, fell unconfined down her back to the pillion on whichshe sat. The throat and neck had the downy softness sometimesseen which leaves the artist in doubt whether it is an effectof contour or color. To these charms of feature and person wereadded others more indefinable--an air of purity which only thesoul can impart, and of abstraction natural to such as think muchof things impalpable. Often, with trembling lips, she raised hereyes to heaven, itself not more deeply blue; often she crossedher hands upon her breast, as in adoration and prayer; often sheraised her head like one listening eagerly for a calling voice.Now and then, midst his slow utterances, Joseph turned to lookat her, and, catching the expression kindling her face as withlight, forgot his theme, and with bowed head, wondering, plodded on.
So they skirted the great plain, and at length reached the elevationMar Elias; from which, across a valley, they beheld Bethlehem,the old, old House of Bread, its white walls crowning a ridge,and shining above the brown scumbling of leafless orchards.They paused there, and rested, while Joseph pointed out theplaces of sacred renown; then they went down into the valley tothe well which was the scene of one of the marvellous exploits ofDavid's strong men. The narrow space was crowded with people andanimals. A fear came upon Joseph--a fear lest, if the town wereso thronged, there might not be house-room for the gentle Mary.Without delay, he hurried on, past the pillar of stone marking thetomb of Rachel, up the gardened slope, saluting none of the manypersons he met on the way, until he stopped before the portal ofthe khan that then stood outside the village gates, near a junctionof roads.