The Brook Kerith: A Syrian story

  CHAP. XIII.

  Yonder is Capernaum--or it would have been more in our speech had Isaid, why, brother, yonder is Capernaum. But habit's like a fly,brother, it won't leave us alone, it comes back however often andangrily we may drive it away.

  Joseph made no reply, hoping by silence to quiet Philip's tongue whichreturned to the attack, he was fain to admit, not altogether unlike afly. He tried not to hear him, for the sight of the town at the head ofthe lake awakened recollections of himself and his nurse walkingvaliantly, their strength holding out till they reached Capernaum, butafter eating at the inn they were too weary to return to Magdala on footand Peter had had to take them back in his boat. Peter's boat was hisadventure in those days, and strangely distinct the day rose up in hismind that he and Peter had gone forth firm in the resolution that theywould ascend the Jordan as far as the waters of Merom. They succeeded indragging the boat over the shallows, but there was much wind on thedistant lake. Peter thought it would not be well to venture out upon it,and Andrew thought so too. He was now going to see those two brothersagain after a long absence and was not certain whether he was glad orsorry. It seemed to him that the lake, its towns and villages, were tooinseparably part of himself for him to wish to see them with thephysical eyes, and that it would be wiser to keep this part of Galilee,the upper reaches of the lake at least, for his meditations; yet he didnot think he would like to return to Magdala without seeing Capernaum.Perhaps because Jesus was there. That Jesus should have pitched uponCapernaum as a centre revived his interest in it, and there was acertain pathetic interest attached to the memory of a question he onceput to his father. He asked him if Capernaum was the greatest city inthe world, and for years after he was teased till Capernaum becamehateful to him; but Capernaum within the last few minutes regained itsplace in his affections. And as the town became hallowed in recollectionhe cried out to Philip that he could not go farther with him. Not go anyfarther with me, Philip answered: now why is that, brother, for Peter iswaiting to see you and will take on mightily when I tell him that youcame to the head of the lake with me and turned back. But it is Peterwhom I fear to meet, Joseph muttered, and then at the sight of the longlean street slanting down the hillside towards the lake, breaking upinto irregular hamlets, some situated at the water's edge close to thewharf where Peter's boats lay gently rocking, he repeated: it is Peterthat I fear. But unwilling to take Philip into his confidence he turnedas if to go back to Magdala without further words, but Philip restrainedhim, and at last Joseph confessed his grief--that being the son of arich man he was not eligible to the society of the poor. You will askme, he said, to give up my money to the poor, a thing I would willinglydo for the sake of Jesus, whom I believe to be God's prophet; but howcan I give that which does not belong to me--my father's money? That wasmy grief when you found me sitting on the stone by the lake's edge.

  Whereupon Philip stood looking at Joseph as one suspended, for the firsttime understanding rightly that the rich have their troubles as well asthe poor. At last words coming to him he said: money has been ourtrouble since Jesus drew us together, for we would do without money andyet we know not how this is to be done. Like you, Sir, I'm asking if I'mto sell my sails, those already out and those in the unrolled material,and if I do sell and give the money to the poor how am I to live but bybegging of those that have not given their all? But why should I worryyou with our troubles? But your troubles are mine, Joseph answered; andPhilip went away to fetch Peter, who, he said, would be able to tell himif Jesus could accept a rich man as a disciple. If a man that has alittle be permitted to remain, who is to say how much meansinterdiction? Joseph asked himself as he kept watch for Peter to appearat the corner of the street. And does he know the Master's mind enoughto answer the question of my admission or---- The sentence did notfinish in his mind, for Peter was coming up the street at that moment, agreat broad face coming into its features and expression. The samehigh-shouldered fisher as of yore, Joseph said to himself, and he soughtto read in Peter's face the story of Peter's transference from onemaster to another. It wasn't the approach of the Great Day, he said, forPeter never could see beyond his sails and the fins of a fish; and ifJesus were able to lift his thoughts beyond them he had accomplished ano less miracle than turning water into wine.

  Well, young Master, he said, we're glad to have you back among usagain. There be no place like home for us Galileans. Isn't that so? Andno fishing like that on these coasts? But, Peter, Joseph interrupted, myfather tells me that thou hast laid aside thy nets--but that isn't whatI'm here to talk to thee about, he interjected suddenly, but about Jesushimself, whom I've been seeking for nearly two years, very nearly sinceI parted from you all, well nigh two years ago, isn't it? I've soughthim in the hills of Judea, in Moab, in the Arabian desert and all theway to Egypt and back again. It's about two years since you went away onyour travels, Master Joseph, and a great fine story there'll be for usto listen to when our nets are down, Peter said. I'd ask you to begin itnow, Master Joseph, weren't it that the Master is waiting for us overyonder in my house. And from what Philip tells me you would have myadvice about joining our community, Master Joseph. You've seen no doubta good deal of the Temple at Jerusalem and know everything about thegoings on there, and are with us in this--that the Lord don't want nomore fat rams and goats and bullocks, and incense is hateful in hisnostrils. So I've heard. They be Isaiah's words, aren't they, youngMaster? But there's no master here, only Jesus: he is Master, and if Icall you "Master" it is from habit of beforetimes. But no offenceintended. You always will be master for me, and I'll be servant alwaysin a sense, which won't prevent us from being brothers. The Masteryonder will understand and will explain it all to you better than I....And Peter nodded his great head covered with frizzly hair. But, Peter, Iam a rich man, and my father is too, and none but the poor is admittedinto the Community of Jesus. That's what affrights him, Peter--hismoney, Philip interjected, and I have been trying to make him understandthat Jesus won't ask him for his father's money, he not having it togive away. I'm not so sure of that, Peter said. The Master told us astory yesterday of a steward who took his master's money and gave it tothe poor, he being frightened lest the poor, whom he hadn't beenover-good to in his lifetime, might not let him into heaven when hedied. And the Master seemed to think that he did well, for he said: itis well to bank with the poor. Them were his very words. So it seems tothee, Peter, that I should take my father's money? Joseph asked. Takeyour father's money! Peter answered. We wouldn't wrong your father outof the price of two perch, and never have done, neither myself nor Johnand James. Now I won't say as much for---- We love your father, andnever do we forget that when our nets were washed away it was he thatgave us new ones. I am sure thou wouldst not wrong my father, Josephanswered, and he refrained from asking Peter to explain the relevancy ofthe story he had just told lest he should entangle him. It is better, hesaid to himself, to keep to facts, and he told Peter that even his ownmoney was not altogether his own money, for he had a partner in Jerichoand it would be hard to take his money out of the business and give itall to the poor. Giving it to the poor in Galilee, he said, woulddeprive my camel-drivers of their living. Which, Peter observed, wouldbe a cruel thing to do, for a man must be allowed to get his living,whether he be from Jericho or Galilee, fisher or camel-driver orsail-maker. Which reminds me, Philip, that thou be'st a long time overthe sail I was to have had at the end of last month. And the twain beganto wrangle so that Joseph thought they would never end, so prolix wasPhilip in his explanations. He had had to leave the sail unsewn, was allhe had to say, but he embroidered on this simple fact so largely thatJoseph lost patience and began to tell them he had come to Galilee,Pilate wishing him to add the portage of wheat from Moab to the tradealready started in figs and dates. So Pilate is in the business, Peterejaculated, for Peter did not think that a Jew should have any dealingswith Gentiles, and this opinion, abruptly expressed, threw the discourseagain into disarray. But Pilate is in Jerusalem, Joseph began. And hashe brought t
he Roman eagles with him? Peter interrupted. And seeing thatthese eagles would lead them far from the point which he was anxious tohave settled--whether the trade he was doing between Jerusalem andJericho prevented him from being a disciple--Joseph began by assuringPeter that the eagles had been sent back to Caesarea. Caesarea, Petermuttered, our Master has been there, and says it is as full as it canhold of graven images. Well, Peter, what I have come to say is, thatwere I to disappoint Pilate he might allow the robbers to infest thehills again, and all my money would be lost, and my partner's money, andthe camel-drivers would be killed; and if my convoys did not arrive inJerusalem there might be bread riots. How would you like that, Peter?

  Now what do ye say to that, Peter? and Philip looked up into Peter'sgreat broad face. Only this, Peter answered, that money will shipwreckour Community sooner or later--we're never free from it. Like a fly,Philip suggested, the more we chase it away the more it returns. The flycannot resist a sweating forehead, Philip, Peter said. Thine own is moresweaty than mine, Philip retorted, and a big blue fly is drinking hisbelly full though thou feelest him not, being as callous as a camel. TheMaster's teaching is, Peter continued, having driven off the fly, thatno man should own anything, that everyone should have the same rights,which seems true enough till we begin to put it into practice, for if Iwere to let whosoever wished take my boats and nets to go out fishing,my boats and nets would be all at the bottom of the lake before the sunwent down as like as not, for all men don't understand fishing. As wemust have fish to live I haven't parted with my boats; but every time wetake that turning down yonder to the lake's edge and I see my boatsrocking I offer up a little prayer that the Master may be looking theother way or thinking of something else. James and John, sons ofZebedee, are of the same mind as myself--that we shouldn't trouble theMaster too closely with the working out of his teaching. The teaching isthe thing. Why, they be coming towards us, as sure as my name's SimonPeter, sent perhaps by the Master to fetch us, so long have we been awaytalking.

  Joseph turned to greet the two young men, whom he had known always; asfar back as he could remember he had talked to them over the oars, andseen them let down the nets and draw up the nets, and they had hoistedthe sail for his pleasure, abandoning the fishing for the day, knowingwell that Joseph's father would pay them for the time they lost inpleasing his son. And now they were young men like himself, only theyknew no Greek; rough young men, of simple minds and simple life, whowere drawn to Jesus--James a lean man, whose small sullen eyes, dilatoryspeech and vacant little laugh used to annoy Joseph. James always askedhim to repeat the words though he had heard perfectly. Joseph liked Johnbetter, for his mind was sturdy and his voice grew sullen at any word ofreproof and his eyes flamed, and Joseph wondered what might be theauthority that Jesus held over him, a rough turbulent fellow, whomJoseph had always feared a little; even now in their greeting there wasa certain dread in Joseph, which soon vanished, for John's words wereoutspoken and hearty. We're glad to have you back again amongst us,Master, I've been saying since I left Capernaum this morning. But"Master" is a word, John, that I've heard isn't used among you. Truly itis not used among the brotherhood, John answered. And I came to askadmission, Joseph said. Well, that be good news, Master--brother Ishould say, for our Master will be glad to meet thee. But that, Philipbegan, is just the matter we were speaking of among ourselves before wesaw thee coming towards us. For there be a difficulty. He be as earnestas any of us, but our rule is what thou knowest it to be. Despite John'sknowledge of the rule Philip began the story, and again he was so prolixin it that Joseph, wishing John to decide on the strict matter of it,and not to be lost in details, some of which were true and some of whichwere false and all confused in Philip's telling, interrupted thenarrator, saying that he would give all the money that was strictly his,but his father's he couldn't give nor his partner's. We've many camels,he said, in common, and how are these to be divided? Nor is it right, itseems to me, that my partner should be left with the burden of all thetrade we have created together; yet it is hard that I who have soughtJesus in the deserts of Judea as far as Egypt, and found him in Galilee,at home, should be forced to range myself apart from him, with whom myheart is. Would that the Master were here to hear him speak, Philipinterjected. He was with the Master last night, and the Master was wellpleased with him. It all depends on what mood the Master be in, Johnanswered, and they all fell to asking each other what the Master's moodwas that morning. But it would seem that all read him differently, andit was with joy at the prospect of a new opinion that they viewed Judascoming towards them.

  And taking Judas into the discussion Peter said: now I've two boats, andJohn and James have four, so we aren't without money though our richesare small compared with the young Master's. Are we to sell our boats andgive the money to the poor, and if we do who then will look after theMaster's wants? They are small it is true, a bit of fish and bread everyday, and a roof over his head; but who will give him a roof if mine betaken from me? Is not this so? All seemed in agreement, and Petercontinued: I am thinking, John, that our new brother might help us tobuy the Master a new cloak, for his is falling to pieces and my wife'smother is weary with patching it. He cured her of the fever, but shethinks that a great cost is put upon me and would ask the Mastersomething for his keep. Whereupon John spoke out that the story of hismother-in-law was for ever the same; and seeing that he was offendingPeter with the words he addressed against his wife's mother, thoughindeed Peter liked her not too much himself, Joseph put his hand in hispocket and said: here are some shekels, go and buy Jesus a cloak, butsay not to him whence the money came.

  Say not to him! Judas interjected. No need to tell him that can read thethoughts in the mind. It would be better for the young Master to givehim one of his old cloaks. Jesus would question the new cloak and say itsavours of money. He sees into the heart. We have tried to keep thingsfrom him before, Judas continued turning to Joseph.... It is our duty tosave him as much as we can. Peter has done much and I've shared theexpense with Peter, though I am a poor man; we pick the stones from hispath, for he walks with his eyes fixed upon the Kingdom of God always.Yes, he sees into our hearts, Philip interrupted, and reads through allwe are thinking even before the thoughts come into our minds. It is asPhilip says, Judas muttered: our hearts are open to him always. ButJames, who had not spoken till now, put forward the opinion, and no oneseemed inclined to gainsay it, that if Jesus knew men's thoughts beforethey came into men's minds he must be warned of them by the angels. Hegoes into the solitude of the mountains to converse with the angels,James said--for what else? Moses went into the clefts of Mount Sinai,Joseph added, and he asked Peter to tell him if Jesus believed that thesoul existed apart from the body, at which question Peter was fairlyembarrassed, for the soul must be somewhere, he said, and if there be nobody to contain it---- You must ask the Master about these things, wehave not considered them. All the same we are glad that you are with usand ready to follow him into danger, for if the Sadducees and Phariseesare against him we are with him. Is that not so, sons of Zebedee?

  At the challenge the two lads came forward again and all began to talkof the Kingdom of Heaven, and the enthusiasm of the disciples catchingupon Joseph he, too, was soon talking of the Kingdom that was to come,and whether they should all go down to Jerusalem together to meet theKingdom and share it, or wait for it to appear in Galilee. Share andshare alike, Joseph said. Ay, ay, sure we shall, and enjoy it, Peterrolled out at his elbow. But we must set our hearts in patience, forthere be a rare lot to be converted yet. Every man must have his chance,and seeing Jesus coming towards him Peter waited till Jesus was by him.Haven't I thy promise, Master, he asked, laying his hand on Jesus'shoulder, that my chair in Kingdom Come will be next to thine? BeforeJesus could answer John and James asked him if their chairs would not beon his left and right. But not next to the Master's, Peter answered. I'mon the right hand of the Master, and my brother Andrew on the left. Lookinto his face and read in it that I have said well. But the discipleswer
e not minded to read the Master's face as Peter instructed them toread it, and might have come to gripping each other's throats if Jesushad not asked them if they would have the fat in the narrow chairs andthe thin in the wide, as often happens in this world. The spectacle ofPeter trying to sit on James' chair set them laughing, and as if to makean end of an unseemly disputation John asked the Master whither theywere going to cure the sick that day? To which question Jesus made noanswer, for he felt no power on him that day to cure the sick or to castout demons. You'll see him do these things on another occasion, Peterwhispered in Joseph's ear; to-day he's deep in one of his meditations,and we dare not ask him whither he be going, but must just follow him.As likely as not he'll lead us up into the hills for---- But I seeSalome coming this way. You know her sons, John and James. The womanbears me an ill will and would have my chair set far down, belike as notbetween Nathaniel and Philip, who as you have noticed do not hold theirheads very high in our company. But let us hasten a little to hear whatshe has to say. Listen, 'tis as I said, Master, Peter continued; youheard her ask him that her sons should sit on either side of him. Nowmark his answer, if he answers her; I doubt if he will, so dark is hismood.

  But dark though it was he answered her with a seeming cheerfulness thatin the coming world there is neither weariness of spirit nor of body,and therefore chairs are not set in heaven. A fine answer that, andPeter chuckled; too wise for thee. Go home and ponder on it. We shalllie on couches when we are not flying, he added, and being in doubt heasked Joseph if the heavenly host was always on the wing. A questionthat seemed somewhat silly to Joseph, though he could not have given hisreason for thinking it silly. Peter called on Jesus to hasten for thedisciples were half way up the principal street at a turning whithertheir way led through the town by olive garths and orchards, and findinga path through these they came upon green corn sown in patches justbeginning to show above ground, and the fringe of the wood higher up thehillside--some grey bushes with young oaks starting through them, stillbare of leaves, ferns beginning to mark green lanes into the heart ofthe woods, and certain dark wet places where the insects had alreadybegun to hum. But when the wood opened out the birds were talking to oneanother, blackbird to blackbird, thrush to thrush, robin to robin, kinunderstanding kin, and every bird uttering vain jargon to them that didnot wear the same beak and feathers, just like ourselves, Joseph said tohimself and he stood stark before a hollow into which he rememberedhaving once been forbidden to stray lest a wolf should pounce upon himsuddenly. Now he was a man, he was among men, and all had staves intheir hands, and the thoughts of wolves departed at the sight of a wildfruit tree before which Jesus stopped, and calling John and James tohim, as if he had forgotten Peter, he said: you see that tree coveredwith beautiful blossoms, but the harsh wind which is now blowing alongthe hillside will bear many of the blossoms away before the fruit beginsto gather. And the birds will come and destroy many a berry before theplucker comes to pick the few that remain for the table. How many of youthat are gathered about me now---- He stopped suddenly, and his eyesfalling on John he addressed his question directly to him as if hedoubted that Peter would apprehend the significance of the parable. ButJoseph, whom it touched to the quick, was moved to cry out, Master, Iunderstand; restraining himself, however, or his natural diffidencerestraining him, he could only ask Peter to ask Jesus for anotherparable. Peter reproved Joseph, saying that it were not well to askanything from the Master at present, but that his mood might improveduring the course of the afternoon. Thomas, who did not know the Masteras well as Peter, could not keep back the question that rose to hislips. Our trade, he said, is in apricots, but is it the same with men aswith the apricots, or shall we live to see the fruit that thou hastpromised us come to table? Whereupon James and John began to ask whichwere the blossoms among them that would be eaten by the birds andinsects and which would wither in the branches. Shall I feed theinsects, Master? Matthew asked, or shall I be eaten by the birds? Aquestion that seemed to everyone so stupid that none was surprised thatJesus did not answer it, but turning to Philip he asked him: canst thounot, Philip, divine my meaning? But Philip, though pleased to come underthe Master's notice, was frightened, and could think of no better answerthan that the apricots they would eat in Paradise would be better. Forthere are no harsh winds in Paradise, isn't that so, Master? Thyquestion is no better than Salome's, Jesus answered, who sees Paradiseranged with chairs. Then everyone wondered if there were no chairs norapricots in Paradise of what good would Paradise be to them; and weredissatisfied with the answer that Jesus gave to them, that the soul issatisfied in the love of God as the flower in the sun. But with thisanswer they had to content themselves, for so dark was his face thatnone dared to ask another question till Matthew said: Master, we wouldunderstand thee fairly. If there be no chairs nor apricots in Paradisethere cannot be a temple wherein to worship God. To which Jesusanswered: God hath no need of temples in Paradise, nor has he need ofany temple except the human heart wherein he dwells. It is not withincense nor the blood of sheep and rams that God is worshipped, but inthe heart and with silent prayers unknown to all but God himself, whoknows all things. And the day is coming, I say unto you, when the Son ofMan shall return with his Father to remake this world afresh, but beforethat time comes you would do well to learn to love God in your hearts,else all my teaching is vainer than any of the things in this world thatye are accustomed to look upon as vain. Upon this he took them to amountain-side where the rock was crumbling, and he said: you see thiscrumbling rock? Once it held together, now it is falling into sand, butit shall be built up into rock again, and again it shall crumble intosand. At which they drew together silent with wonder, each fearing toask the other if the Master were mad, for though they could see that therock might drift into sand, they could not see how sand might be builtup again into rock.

  Master, how shall we know thee when thou returnest to us? Wilt thou bechanged as the rock changes? Wilt thou be sand or rock? It was Andrewthat had spoken; and Philip answered him that the Master will return ina chariot of fire, for he was angry that a fellow of Andrew's stupidityshould put questions to Jesus whether they were wise or foolish; butcould they be aught else than foolish coming from him? Andrew,persisting, replied: but we may not be within sight of the Master whenhe steps out of his chariot of fire, and we are only asking for a tokenwhereby we may know him from his Father. My Father and thy Father,Andrew, Jesus answered, the Father of all that has lived, that lives,and that shall live in the world; and the law over the rock thatcrumbles into sand and the sand that is built up into rock again, was inthat rock before Abraham was, and will abide in it and in the flowerthat grows under the rock till time everlasting. But, Master, wilt thoutell us if the rock we are looking upon was sand or rock in the time ofAbraham? Philip asked, and Jesus answered him: my words are not thenplain, that before that rock was and before the sand out of which therock was built, was God's love--that which binds and unbinds enduringalways though the rock pass into sand and the sand into rock a thousandtimes.

  And it was then that a disciple poked himiself up to Jesus to ask him ifthey were not to believe the Scriptures. He answered him that theScriptures were no more than the love of God. This answer did not quellthe dissidents, but caused them to murmur more loudly against him, andJesus, though he must have seen that he was about to lose somedisciples, would retract nothing. The Scriptures are, he repeated, butthe love of God. He that came to betray him said: and the Gentiles thathaven't the Scriptures? Jesus answered that all men that have the loveof God in their hearts are beloved by God. Is it then of no value tocome of the stock of Abraham? the man asked, and Jesus replied: none,but a loss if ye do not love God, for God asks more from those whoseminds he has opened than from those whose minds he has suffered toremain shut. At which Peter cried: though there be not a pint of wine inall heaven we will follow thee, and though there be no fish in heavenbut the scaleless that the Gentiles eat---- He stopped suddenly andlooked at Jesus, saying: there are no Gentiles in heaven
. Heaven is opento all men that love God, Jesus said, and after these words he continuedto look at Peter, but like one that sees things that are not before him;and the residue followed him over the hills, saying to themselves: he isthinking about this journey to Jerusalem, and then a little later onesaid to the others: he is in commune with the spirits that lead him,asking them to spare him this journey, for he knows that the Phariseeswill rise up against him, and will stone him if he preach against theTemple. What else should he preach against? asked another disciple; andthey continued to watch Jesus, trying to gather from his face what histhoughts might be, thinking that his distant eyes might be seeking aprediction of the coming kingdom in the sky. We might ask him if he seesthe kingdom coming this way, an apostle whispered in the ear ofanother, and was forthwith silenced, for it was deemed important thatthe Master should never be disturbed in his meditations, whatever theymight be.

  He stood at gaze, his apostles and his disciples watching from a littledistance, recalling the day his dog Coran refused to follow him, andseeing that the dog had something on his mind, he left his flock incharge of the other dogs and followed Coran to the hills above the BrookKerith, down a little crumbling path to Elijah's cave. He found John theBaptist, and recognising in him Elijah's inheritor--at that moment aflutter of wings in the branches awoke him from his reverie, and seeinghis disciples about him, he asked them whose inheritor he was. Some saidElijah, some said Jeremiah, some said Moses. As if dissatisfied withthese answers, he looked into their faces, as if he would read theirsouls, and asked them to look up through the tree tops and tell him whatthey could see in a certain space of sky. In fear of his mood, and lesthe might call them feeble of sight or purblind, his disciples, or manyamong them, fell to disputing among themselves as to what might bediscerned by human eyes in the cloud; till John, thinking to raisehimself in the Master's sight, so it seemed to Joseph (who dared notraise his eyes to the sky, but bent them on the earth), said that hecould see a chariot drawn by seven beasts, each having on its foreheadseven horns; the jaws of these beasts, he averred, were like those ofmonkeys, and in their paws, he said, were fourteen golden candlesticks.Andrew, being misled by the colour of the cloud which was yellow, saidthat the seven beasts were like leopards; whereas Philip deemed thatthe beasts were not leopards, for him they were bears; and they began todispute one with the other, some discerning the Father Almighty in achariot, describing him to be a man garmented in white; his hair is likewool, they said. And seated beside him Matthew saw the Son of Man withan open book on his knees. But these visions, to their great trouble,did not seem to interest Jesus; or not sufficiently for their intention;and to the mortification of Peter and Andrew, James and John, he turnedto Thaddeus and Aristion and asked them what they saw in the clouds, andpartly because they were loath to say they could see naught, and alsothinking to please him, they began to see a vision, and their vision wasan angel whom they could hear crying: at thy bidding, O Lord; on whichhe emptied his vial into the Euphrates, and forthwith the river wasturned to blood. The second angel crying likewise, at thy bidding, OLord, emptied his vial; and when the third angel had emptied his, threeanimals of the shape of frogs crawled out of the river; and then fromover the mountains came a great serpent to devour the frog-shapenbeasts, and after devouring them he vomited forth a great flood, and thewoman that had been seated on it was borne away. It was Thaddeus thatspoke the last words, and he would have continued if Jesus' eyes had notwarned him that the Master was thinking of other things, perhaps seeingand hearing other things. It is known to you all, he said, that Jeremiahkneels at the steps of my Father's throne praying for the salvation ofIsrael? Therefore tell me what is your understanding of the words"praying for the salvation of Israel"? Was the prophet praying thatIsrael might be redeemed from the taxes the Romans had imposed uponthem? Being without precise knowledge of how much remission Jeremiahmight obtain for them, it seemed to them that it would be well to saythat Jeremiah was praying to God to delay no longer, but send theMessiah he had promised. At which Jesus smiled and asked them if theMessiah would remit the taxes; and the disciples answered craftily thatthe Messiah would set up the Kingdom of God on earth: in which kingdomno taxes are levied, Jesus replied. Come, he said, let us sit upon theserocks and talk of the great prophecies, for I would hear from you howyou think the promised kingdom will come to pass. And the disciplesanswered, one here, one there, and then in twos and threes. But, Master,thou knowest all these things, since it is to thee our Father has giventhe task of establishing his Kingdom upon earth; tell us, plague us nolonger with dark questions. We are not alone, Thaddeus cried, a richman's son is amongst us. If he have come amongst us God has sent him,Jesus said, and we should have no fear of riches, since we desire themnot. This kindness heartened Joseph, who dared to ask Jesus how he mightdisburden himself of the wealth that would come to him at his father'sdeath.

  As no such dilemma as Joseph's had arisen before, all waited to hearJesus, but his thoughts having seemingly wandered far, they all fell toargument and advised Joseph in so many different ways that he did notknow to whom to accede so contradictory were all their notions offairness; and, the babble becoming louder, it waked Jesus out of hismood, and catching Joseph's eyes, he asked him if he whom our Fathersent to establish his Kingdom on earth would not have to give his lifeto men for doing it. A question that Joseph could not answer; and whilehe sought for the Master's meaning the disciples began again aloud tobabble and to put questions to the Master, hurriedly asking him why hethought he must die before going up to heaven. Did not Elijah, theyasked, ascend into heaven alive in his corporeal body?--and the cloak heleft with Elisha, Aristion said, might be held to be a symbol of thefleshly body. This view was scorned, for the truth of the Scripturescould not be that the disciples inherited not the spiritual power of theprophet, but his fleshly show. Then the fate of Judas the Gauloniterising up in Peter's mind, he said: but, Master, we shall not allow theeto be slain on a cross and given as food to the birds. The disciplesraised their staves, crying, we're with thee, Master, and the forestgave back their oaths in echoes that seemed to reach the ends of theearth; and when the echoes ceased a silence came up from the forest thatshut their lips, and, panic-stricken, all would have run away if Peterhad not drawn the sword which he had brought with him in case of anattack by wolves, and swore he would strike the man down that raised hishand against the Master. To which Jesus replied that every man is bornto pursue a destiny, and that he had long known that his led toJerusalem, whereupon Peter cried out: we'll defend thee from thyself;for which words Jesus reproved him, saying that to try to save a manfrom himself were like trying to save him from the decree that he bringsinto the world with his blood. And what is mine, Master? It may be,Jesus answered, to return to thy fishing. Whereupon Peter wept, saying:Master, if we lose thee we're as sheep that have lost their shepherd, ahuddled, senseless flock on the hillside, for we have laid down our netsto follow thee, believing that the Kingdom of God would come down herein Galilee rather than in Jerusalem; pray that it may descend here, forthou'lt be safer here, Master; we have swords and staves to defendthee--so let us kneel in prayer and ask the Lord that he choose Galileerather than Judea for the setting up of his kingdom. To which Jesusanswered nothing, and his face was as if he had not heard Peter; andthen Peter's fears for Jesus' life, should he go to Jerusalem, seemed topass on from one to the other, till all were possessed by the same fear,and Peter said: let us lift up our hearts to our Father in Heaven andpray that Jesus be not taken from us. Let us kneel, he said, and theyall knelt and prayed, but to their supplication Jesus seemedindifferent. And seeing they were unable to dissuade him from Jerusalem,Peter turned to Joseph. Here is one, he said, who knows the perils ofJerusalem and will bear witness, that if thou preach that God have noneed of a Temple or a sacrifice, thou'lt surely be done to death by thepriests.

  Peter's sudden appeal to his knowledge of the priests of Jerusalem awokeJoseph, who was wholly absorbed in his love of Jesus, and thought onlyof rushing forwa
rd and worshipping; but he was held back and strainedforward at the same time, and seeing he was overcome, Peter did notpress him for an answer, and Joseph fell back among the crowd, ashamed,thinking that if Peter came to him again he would speak forthright. Hehad words that would bring him into the sympathy of Jesus, but insteadof speaking them he stood, held at gaze by the beauty of the brightforehead, large and arched; and so exalted were the eyes that Josephcould not think else than that Jesus was looking upon things that hisdisciples did not see. It seemed to Joseph that Jesus was meditatingwhether he should confide all he saw and heard to his disciples. Hewaited, tremulous with expectation, watching the thin scrannel throatout of which rose a voice to which the ear became attuned quickly andwas gratified as by a welcome dissonance. It rose up among the silenceof the pines, and the delight of listening to it, Joseph thought, was sonear to intoxication that he would have pressed forward if he had notremembered suddenly that he was a new-comer into the community; one whomight at any moment be driven out of it because he possessed richeswhich he could not unburden himself of. So he kept his seat in thebackground among the casual followers, by two men whose accents told himthey were Samaritans, and these now seemed within the last few minutesto have become opposed to Jesus, and Joseph wondered at the change thathad come over them and lent an ear to their discourse so that he mightdiscover a reason for it. And it was not long before he discovered thattheir objection related to the Book of Daniel, for they were of the sortthat receive no Scriptures after the five Books of the Law.

  Joseph knew the book less perhaps than any other book of the Scriptures;he had looked into it with Azariah, but for a reason which he could notnow discover he had read it with little attention; and since hisschooldays he had not looked into it again. Peter and Andrew and Johnand James were listening intently to the story of Nebuchadnezzar's dreamfor the sake of the story related and without thought of what might beJesus' purpose in relating it. But to Joseph Jesus' purpose was thechief interest of the relation; and the purpose became apparent when hebegan to tell how the great statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his dream,whose head was gold, whose arms and breast were silver, whose belly wasbrass, and whose legs and feet were iron and clay intermingled, wasoverthrown by a stone that hand had not cut out of the mountain. Thisstone became forthwith as big as a mountain and filled the whole earth,and Joseph fell to thinking if this stone were the fifth kingdom whichthe Messiah would set up when the Roman kingdom had fallen to dust, orwhether the stone were the Messiah himself. And while Joseph satthinking he heard suddenly that when Nebuchadnezzar looked into thefurnace and saw the four men whom he had ordered to be thrown into itwalking through the flames safely, he said: and the form of the fourthis like the son of God.

  The story wholly delighted the disciples; and they asked Jesus to tellthem the further adventures of Daniel, and as if wishing to humour themhe began to relate that a hand had appeared writing on the wall duringthe great feast at Babylon, a story to which Joseph could give butlittle heed, for his imagination was controlled by the words, "whoseform is like the son of God"--an inspiration on the part of theBabylonian king. If ever a man had seemed since to another like the sonof God, Jesus was that man; and Joseph asked himself how it was thatthese words had passed over the ears of the disciples--over the ears ofthose who knew Jesus' mind, if any could be said to know Jesus' mind.Jesus, though he lived near them and loved them, lived in the world ofhis own thoughts, which, so it seemed to Joseph, he could not share withanybody. Not one of the men he had gathered about him, neither Peter,nor John, nor James, had noticed the notable words: "And the form of thefourth is like the son of God." It was for these words, Joseph feltsure, that Jesus had related the story of Daniel in the furnace. But hisdisciples had not apprehended the significance; and like one whoseconfidence was unmoved by the slowness or the quickness of hislisteners, almost as if he knew that the real drift of his speech wasbeyond his hearers, Jesus began to tell that Darius' counsellors hadcombined into a plot against Daniel and succeeded in it so well thatDaniel and his companions were cast in a den of lions. But there beingnothing in the story that pointed to the setting up of the Kingdom ofGod upon earth, Joseph was puzzled to understand why Jesus was at painsto relate it at such length. Was it to amuse his disciples? he askedhimself, but no sooner had he put the question to himself than thepurpose of the relation passed into his mind. Jesus had told themarvellous stories of Daniel's escapes from death so that his disciplesmight have no fear that the priests of Jerusalem would have power todestroy him: whomsoever God sends into the world to do his work, Jesuswould have us understand, are under God's protection for ever and ever;and Joseph rejoiced greatly at having discovered Jesus' intent, and fora long time the glen, the silent forest and the men sitting listening tothe Master were all forgotten by him. He even forgot the Master'spresence, so filled was he by the abundant hope that his divination ofthe Master's intent marked him out as one to be associated with theMaster's work--more than any one of those now listening to him, morethan Peter himself.

  And so sweet was his reverie to him that he regretted the passing of itas a misfortune, but finding he was in spirit as well as in body amongrealities, he lent his ear to the story of the four winds that hadstriven upon the great sea and driven up four great beasts. These beastsJoseph readily understood to be but another figuration of the four greatempires; the Babylonian, the Persian, and the Grecian had been blownaway like dust, and as soon as the fourth, the Roman Empire, was brokeninto pieces the kingdom of the whole world would be given to the peopleof the saints of the Most High. It was Philip the nearly hunchback thatasked Jesus for an explanation of this vision--saying, and obtaining theapproval of several for the question, would he, Jesus, acquiesce in thissharing of the earth among the angels who had not seen him, nor heardhim, nor served him upon earth. If the earth is to be shared among theangels we follow thee in vain, he muttered; and Joseph felt that hecould never speak freely again with Philip for having dared to interruptthe Master and weary him with questions that a child could answer. Towhom Philip said: but you, young Master, that have received goodinstruction in Hebrew and Greek from the scribe Azariah, and havetravelled far, do you answer my question. If the earth is to be sharedamong angels---- He was not allowed to repeat more of his question, fora clamour of explanation began among the disciples that the earth wouldnot be shared among the angels of God--God would find his peoplerepentant when he arrived with his son. At last the assembly settledthemselves to listen to the story of the vision in which a ram pushedwestward and northward and southward, till a he-goat came from thewest--one with a notable horn between the eyes, and butted the ram tillhe had broken his two horns. Joseph had forgotten these visions, and helearnt for the first time, so it seemed to him, that the goat meant theSyrian king, Antiochus, who had conquered Jerusalem, polluted thesanctuary and set up heathen gods. But how are all these visionsconcerned with the setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth? and Jesus'purpose did not appear to him till Daniel heard a voice between thebanks of the Ula crying: make this man understand. Joseph understoodforthwith that Jesus' purpose was still the same, to make it plain tothe disciples that Daniel was protected and guided by God, and, thatbeing so, Jesus could go to Jerusalem fearing nothing, he being greaterthan Daniel. So he sat immersed in belief, hearing but faintly the manymarvellous things that Daniel heard and saw, nor did he awake from hisreverie till Jesus announced that Gabriel flew about Daniel at the hourof the evening oblation, telling him that seventy weeks was the measureof time allowed by God to make reconciliation for iniquity and bringeverlasting righteousness, and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah; andthat after three score and two weeks the Messiah should be cut off butnot for himself.

  The words "cut off but not for himself" troubled Joseph, and he ponderedthem, while the disciples marvelled at hearing Jesus speak of thesethings (he seemed to know the Scriptures by rote), and his voice wentupward into the silence of the firs, and they heard as if in a dreamthat the king of the south should come into
his kingdom and return tohis own land. But his sons shall be stirred up and shall revolt againsthim, Jesus said, and the disciples marvelled greatly, for Jesus madeclear the meaning that lay under these dark sayings, and they heard andunderstood how the robbers of the people should exalt themselves andestablish a vision; but these shall fall and the king of the north shallcome and cast up mounds and take the fortified cities. And they heard ofdestructions and leagues and armies and sanctuaries that were polluted,and of peoples who did not know their God, but who nevertheless becamestrong; and they heard of Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon, butat the end of all these troubles the Tabernacle was placed between theseas of the glorious holy mountain. And that day the fishers from thelake of Galilee and others heard that Michael had told the people ofIsrael that those that were dead should rise out of the earth and comeinto everlasting life. But can the dead be raised up and come to life intheir corruptible bodies? asked the Samaritans that sat by Joseph, andtheir mutterings grew louder, and they denied that the prophet Danielhad spoken truth in this and many other things, and as he had not spokentruth he was a false prophet; whereupon so great a clamour arose thatthe wild beasts in the ravine began to growl, being awaked in theirlairs. The disciples, foreseeing that it would soon be dark night in theforest, fell to seeking the way back to Capernaum, the Galileans in onegroup with Jesus among them, the Samaritans speeding away together andstopping at times for fresh discussion with the Galileans, asking amongmany other things how the corruptible body might be raised up to heavenand live indulging in the many imperfections inherent in our bodies. Itwas vain to ask them what justice there would be if the men that haddied before the coming of the Kingdom of God were not raised up intoheaven. If this were true the dead had led virtuous lives in vain; theymight for all it had profited them have lived like the heathen.

  It was at Capernaum that the truth became manifest that not only wasDaniel denied, but Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, all the prophets sinceMoses, at which the disciples were greatly incensed and raised theirstaves against the Samaritans, but Jesus dissuaded his followers, andthe dissidents were suffered to depart unhurt. Let them go, Jesus said,for they are in the hands of God, like ourselves, and he bade them allgood-night, and there seemed to Joseph to be a great sadness in Jesus'voice, as if he felt that in this world there was little else butleave-taking.

  Joseph too resented this parting, though it was for but a few hours; hewould unite himself to Jesus, become one, as the mother and the unbornbabe are one--he would be of the same mind and flesh; all divisionseemed to him loss, till, frightened at his own great love of Jesus, hestopped in the Plain of Gennesaret, star-gazing. But the stars told himnothing, and he walked on again. And it was about a half-hour's walkfrom Magdala that he overtook the Samaritans, who sought to draw himinto argument. But he was in no humour for further discussion, anddismissed them, saying: what matter if all the prophets were false sincethe promised Messiah is among us. He has come, he has come! he repeatedall the way home: and at every flight of the high stairs he tried tocollect his thoughts. But his brain was whirling, and he could onlyrepeat: he has come, he has come!