CHAP. XIV.
It seemed to Joseph as he hurried along the Plain of Gennesaret that thesun shone gayer than his wont, but as he approached Capernaum he beganto think that the sun had risen a little earlier than his wont. Nobodywas about! He listened in vain for some sound of life, till at last hisear caught a sound as of somebody moving along the wharves, and, goingthither, he came upon Peter storing his oars in the boathouse. Makingready, Joseph said, for fishing? You don't see, Master, that I'm puttingmy oars away, but I'd as lief take them out again and fish till evening.Here was a mysterious answer from the least mysterious of men, and Petercontinued in his work, throwing the oars into a corner like one thatcared little if he broke them, and kicking his nets aside as if he werenever going to let them down again into the lake: altogether his moodwas of an exasperation such as Joseph had never suspected to be possiblein this good-humoured, simple fellow. Had he been obliged to leave thecommunity or sell his boats? If that were so, his chance (Joseph'schance) of entering the community was a poor one indeed; and he beggedPeter to relate his trouble to him--for trouble there had been lastnight, he was sure of it.
Trouble there always is in this world, Peter answered, so long as I'veknown it, and will be till God sets up his kingdom. The sooner he doesit the better, so say I. But I don't know about the saints we heard ofyesterday, what they have to do with it. The Master's mood is strangerthan I ever can recollect it, he said, standing up straight and lookingJoseph in the eyes. It was yourself that said it yesterday, Peter,Joseph rejoined. I'm thinking it may have been the Samaritans that vexedhim. Peter lifted his heavy shoulders and muttered: the Samaritans? Wegive no heed to them: and he began to speak, at first with diffidence;Joseph had to woo him into speaking, which he did; but after the firstfew minutes Peter was glib enough, telling Joseph that last night therehad been stirs and quarrels among the disciples regarding his boats, andJohn's and James' boats too, he said, and by the jealous and envious, hemuttered, who would like to come between us and the Master. Joseph askedwho had raised the vexatious question, but Peter avoided it, and wentabout the wharf grunting that none could answer it: was it to Matthew,the publican, he was to give his boats? one, he said, who never was onthe water in his life till I took him out for a sail a week comeTuesday. A fine use they'd be to him but to drown himself. A puff ofwind, and not knowing how to take in a reef, the boat would be over in ajiffy and the nets lost. Now who would be the better for the loss of mynets? answer me that. And I'd like to be told when my boats and netswere at the bottom of the lake to whom would the Son of Man turn for acorner in which to lay his head, or for a bite or a sup of wine. Johnand James would give their boats to Judas belike, and he'd bring homeabout as much fish as would---- But I'm thinking of your father. Whatwill he be saying to all this, and his business dwindling all the while,and we beggars?--the words with which my wife roused me this morning. Ofcourse, says she, if the stone that never was cut out of the mountainwith hands is going to be slung and send the Romans toppling, I'venaught to say against sharing, but the Kingdom had better come quickly,Simon Peter, if thou'lt fish no more; and the woman is right, say I,though I hold with every word that falls from the Master's lips, onlythis way it is, he looks to my fishing for his support, and Miriam isquick to remind me of that. A good woman, one that has been alwaysyielding to my will and never had a word against our lodger, but setsthe best before him out of thankfulness for his saving of her mother'slife, though one more mouth in a house is always a drain, if the Masteris as easily fed as a sparrow. But restive she is now about the delay:as I was saying just now she wakes me up with a loud question in my ear:now, Simon Peter, answer me, art thou going into Syria to bid the blindto see, the lame to walk, and the palsied to shake no more, or art thougoing to thy trade? for in this house there be four little children,myself, their mother, and thy mother-in-law. I say nothing against thejourney if it bring thee good money, or if it bring the Kingdom, but ifit bring naught but miracles there'll be little enough in the house toeat by the time ye come back. And, says she, the feeding of his childrenis a nobler work for a married man (she speaks like that sometimes) thanbidding those to see who would belike be better without their eyes thanwith them. You wouldn't think it, but 'tis as I say: she talks up to melike that, and ofttimes I've to go to the Master and ask him to quiether, which he rarely fails to do, for she loves him for what he has donefor her mother, and is willing to wait. But last night when thebusybodies brought her news that the Master had been preaching in theforest, of the sharing of the world out among the holy saints, she gaveway to her temper and was violent, saying, by what right are the saintsof the most high coming here to ask for a share of this world, as ifthey hadn't a heaven to live in. You see, good Master, there's right onher side, that's what makes it so hard to answer her, and I'm with herin this, for by what right do the holy saints down here ask for a sharein the world, that's what keeps drumming in my head; and, as I told youa while ago, I'd as lief put out upon the lake and fish as go to Syriafor nothing, say the word---- And leave the Master to go alone? Josephinterposed. Well, I suppose we can't do that, Peter answered, and thenit seemed to Joseph wiser not to talk any more, but to allow things tofashion their own course, which they did very amiably, in about anhour's time the little band going forth, Joseph walking by Peter's side,hoping that he would not have to wait long before seeing a miracle.
Their first stop was at Chorazin, about five miles distant, and the sickbegan to rise quickly from their beds, and Jesus had only to impose hishands for the palsied to cease quivering. The laws of nature seemedsuspended and Joseph forgot his father at Magdala and likewise Pilate'sbusiness which had brought him to Galilee. It will have to wait, hesaid, talking with himself, and now certain that he had come upon himwhom he had always been seeking; it was as lost time to look at anythingbut Jesus, or to hear any words but his, or to admire aught but themanifestations of his power; and every time a sick man rose from his bedJoseph thanked God for having allowed him to live in the days of theMessiah. He saw sight restored to the blind, hearing to the deaf,swiftness of foot to cripples, issues of blood that had endured tenyears stanched; the cleansing of the leper had become too common amiracle; he looked forward to seeing demons taking flight from thebodies of men and women, and accepted Peter's telling that the day couldnot be delayed much longer when he would see some dead man rise up inhis cere-clothes from the tomb. He found no interest but in themiraculous, and his one vexation of spirit was that Jesus forbade hisdisciples (among whom Joseph now counted himself) to tell anybody thathe was the Messiah.
In every town they were welcomed by the Gentiles as well as by the Jews,which was surprising, and set Joseph's wits to work; and these beingwell trained, he soon began to apprehend that the Jews accepted themiracles as testimony that Jesus was really the Messiah and that histeaching was true; whereas the Gentiles admired the miracles for theirown sake, failing, however, and completely, to see that because he curedthe blind, the palsied, the scrofulous and the halt, they should nolonger visit their temples and sacred groves, and admire no more Pan'shuge sexuality and hang garlands upon it, nor carve images of Diana andApollo. Such abstinence they could not comprehend, and deemed it enoughthat they were ready to proclaim him a god on the occasion of everygreat miracle, a readiness that gave great scandal and caused many Jewsto turn away from Jesus. It was not enough that he should repudiate thisgodhead; and the hardness of heart and narrowness of soul that heencountered among his own people afflicted Jesus as much as did theincontinency of the Gentiles, whom he sometimes met, bearing images inprocession, going towards some shrine--the very same who had listened tohis teaching in the evening. Joseph once dared throw himself in front ofone of these processions, and he begged the processionists to Pan tothrow aside the garlands and wreaths they had woven. This they would notdo, but out of respect to the distinguished strangers that had come totheir town they listened for some minutes to his relation that on thelast day the dead would be roused by the trumpets of angels to attendthe j
udgment and that the man Jesus before them--the Messiah announcedhundreds of years ago in many a prophetic book--would return to earth ina chariot of fire by his Father's side, the Judgment Book in his hands.May we now proceed on our way? they asked, but Joseph besought them tolisten to him for another few minutes, and thinking he had perhapsexplained the resurrection badly, and forthwith calling to mind thephilosophy of Egypt and Mathias, he asked them to apprehend that itwould not be the corruptible body that would rise from the dead but thespiritual body, whereby he only succeeded in perplexing still furtherthe minds of the worthy pagans of Caesarea Philippi, and provoking stirsand quarrels among his own people.
The processionists took advantage of this diversion of opinion among theJews to pass on and dispose of their wreaths and votive offerings as itpleased them to do. But on their way back they begged Jesus to performsome more miracles, which he refused to do, and to their great amazementhe left them for the Tyrians and Sidonians. But the same difficultiesoccurred in Tyre and Sidon, the Gentiles accepting the miracles withdelight but paying little heed to the doctrine. They begged him toremain with them and offered gifts for his services as healer, but herefused these and returned to Galilee, having performed miracles of allsorts, without, however, having bidden a dead man rise from the grave,to the great disappointment of Joseph, who would have liked to witnessthis miracle (the greatest of all); seemingly it was not his lot. Peterbade him hope!--the great miracle might happen in Galilee, and as such amiracle would evince the truth of Jesus' Messiah-ship even to hisfather, Joseph remained in Capernaum, going out in the boats with Jesusand his disciples, sailing along the shores till the people gathered innumbers sufficient for an exhortation. As there were always manyPharisees and Sadducees among the crowds assembled to hear the Master,he did not land, but preached standing up in the bow, Peter vigilantwith an oar, for priests are everywhere enemies of reformation andinstigate attacks upon reformers, and those made on Jesus were often soviolent that Peter had to strike out to the right and left, but healways managed to get free, and they sailed for less hostile coasts orback to the wharf at Capernaum.
It once occurred to them to try their luck with the Gadarenes, and itwas in returning from their coasts one evening that Peter's boat wascaught in a great storm and that Joseph was met by one of his father'sservants as he jumped ashore. The man had come to tell him that if hewished to see his father alive he must hasten to Magdala, and Josephglared at him dumbfounded, for he had suspected all along that he hadlittle or no right at all to leave his father for Jesus. I did not knowI was like this, he blurted out to himself. And as much to silence hisaccusing conscience as anything else he questioned the stupid messenger,asking him if his father had seen a physician, and if the physician hadheld out any hopes of a recovery. But the thin and halting account whichwas all the messenger could give only increased Joseph's alarm, and itwas with much difficulty that he learnt from him that the master hadbrought some walnuts to the parrots, and just after giving a nut to thegreen parrot had cried out to Tobias that a great pain had come into hishead. Joseph dug his heels into his ass's side and cried to themessenger: and then? The messenger answered that the pain in the back ofhis father's head had become so great that he had begun to reel about,overthrowing one of the parrots on its perch. The parrot flew at master,thinking he had done it---- Never mind the parrot, Joseph repliedangrily, confusing the messenger, who told him that the master hadentered the house on Tobias' arm, and had sat down to supper but hadeaten nothing to speak of. None of us dared to go to bed that night, themessenger continued. We sat up, expecting every moment somebody to comedown from the room overhead to tell us that the master was dead. Thenext part of the messenger's story was like a tangled skein, and Josephhalf heard and half understood that the great physician that had comefrom Tiberias had said that he must awaken the master out of the swoonand at any cost. He kept bawling at him, the messenger said. Bawling athim, Joseph repeated after the messenger, and the messenger repeated thewords, bawling at him, and saying that the physician said the master'sswoon was like a wall and that he must get him to hear him somehow. Hesaid the effort would cost your father, Sir, a great deal, but he mustget him to hear him. The story as the servant related it seemedincredible, but he reflected that servants' stories are alwaysincredible, and Joseph learned with increasing wonder that Dan had heardthe physician and sat up in bed and spoken reasonably, but had fallenback again unconscious, and that the physician on leaving him said thatthey must get his mouth open somehow and pour a spoonful of milk intohis mouth, and call upon him as loudly as they could to swallow. Whatphysician have they sent for? Joseph asked the messenger, but he couldnot remember the name.
It was Ecanus who was sitting by Dan's bedside when Joseph arrived, andJoseph learnt by careful nursing and feeding him every ten minutes therewas just a chance of saving Dan's life.
For seven days Dan's life receded, and it was not till the eighth daythe wheel of life paused on the edge of the abyss. Dan, with his eyesturned up under the eyelids, only the white showing, lay motionless; andit was not till the morning of the ninth day that the wheel began torevolve back again; but so slow were its revolutions that Joseph was indoubt for two or three days. But on the fifth day he was sure that Danwas mending, and in about three days more the pupils of Dan's eyeslooked at his son's from under the eyelids. He spoke a few words andtook his milk more easily, without being asked to swallow. The pains inhis head returned with consciousness; he often moaned; the doctor wasobliged to give him opiates, but he continued to mend and in three weekswas speaking of going out to walk in the garden. To gain his end heoften showed a certain childish cunning, urging Joseph on one occasionto go to the verandah to see if somebody was coming up the garden, andas soon as Joseph's back was turned he slipped out of bed with theintention of getting to his clothes. He fell, without, however, hurtinghimself, and was put back to bed and kept there for three more weeksbefore he was allowed a short walk. Even then the concession seemed tobe given too soon; for he could not distinguish the different trees, norcould he see the parrots, though he could hear them, and he remained inpurblindness for some two or three weeks; but his sight returned, and hesaid to Joseph: that is a palm-tree and that is a pepper-tree. Josephanswered that he said truly and hastened across the garden to meetEcanus, for he desired to ask him privily if his father were out of alldanger; and the answer to his question was that Dan's life would passaway in a swoon like the one he had just come out of, but he might swoonmany times--two or three times, perhaps oftener--before he swooned forthe last time. More than that Ecanus could not say. A silence fellsuddenly between them, and wondering what term of life his father hadstill to traverse before he swooned into eternity, Joseph followed thephysician through the wilting alleys, seeking the shadiest parts, forthe summer was well-nigh upon them now.
At the end of one of these, out of the sun's rays, the old man laypropped up among cushions, dreaming, or perhaps only conscious, of therefreshing breeze that came and went away again. But he awoke at thesound of their steps on the sanded paths, and raised his stick as a signto them to come to him, and, seeing that he wished to speak, Josephleaned over his chair, putting his ear close to his father's face, forDan's speech was still thick and often inarticulate. Thou wast nearlygoing down in the storm, he said, and Joseph could hardly believe thathe heard rightly, for what could his father know of the storm on thelake, he being in a deep swoon at the time beyond the reach of words. Heasked his father who had told him of the storm, but Dan could say nomore than that a voice had told him that there was a great storm uponthe lake and that Joseph was in it. Miracle upon miracle! Joseph cried,and he related his escape from shipwreck; how when coming in Peter'sboat from the opposite shores the wind had risen, carrying the lake inshowers over the boat till all were wetted to their skins. But,unmindful of these showers, Jesus had continued his teaching, even aftera great wave wrenched away a plank or part of one. Master, if the boatbe not staunched we perish, Peter said, for which Jesus rebuked Pete
rand called them all to come forward and kneel closer about him. Kneel,he said, your faces towards me, and forget the plank and remember yoursins. We could not do else but as we were bidden, and we all knelt abouthim, our thoughts fixed as well as we were able to fix them on our sins,but the water was coming into the boat all the while, and in the midstof our prayers we said: in another moment we perish if he stay not thewind and waves. We thought that he would stand up in the bow andcommand, but he remained seated, and continued to teach us, but the windlulled all the same, and when we looked round the boat was staunchagain, and we made the wharf at Capernaum easily.
Ecanus, who was a man of little faith, asked Joseph if he had seenanybody put his hand to the plank and restore it to its place, andJoseph answered that all were grouped round the Master praying, and thatnone had fallen away from the group. But there were some in the boatthat saw a little angel speeding over the waves. Philip saw both wingsand the angel's feet, but I had only a glimpse. If you would only let mebring him to you---- But, reading his father's face, Joseph continued:if you haven't faith, Father, he couldn't do anything for thee. Father,let me bring him. This shows no distrust in your power, he interjectedsuddenly, turning to Ecanus. Each man has powers given to him; some arephysical and some spiritual; some are powerful in one element and somein another. But no magician that I have met has power over fire andwater. Only those into whom God has descended can command both fire andwater alike. And he related that when they passed through Chorazin and awoman ran out of her house crying that her little boy had fallen intothe fire, Jesus had asked her if she had applied any remedy, and on hersaying she had not, he had said: then I will cure him. With his breathhe restored him, and five minutes after the child was playing with hislittle comrades in the street. If, however, she had poured oil on thewounds he couldn't have cured them, Joseph explained, for his affinitywith fire would have been interrupted. In the village of Opeira a childwhile carrying a kettle of boiling water from the fire tipped it over,burning a good deal of the flesh of one foot, which, however, healedunder Jesus' breath almost as soon as he had breathed upon it. And yetanother child was healed of the croup, but this time it was John whoimposed his hands: Jesus had transmitted some of his power over the illsof the flesh to the disciples. On Dan asking if Joseph had seen Jesuscast out devils, Joseph replied that he had, but it would take some timeto tell the exordium. Whereupon Ecanus remembered that other patientswaited for his attendance and took his leave, warning Joseph beforeleaving against the danger of tiring his father, a thing that Josephpromised not to do; but as soon as the door closed after the physicianDan began to beg so earnestly for stories that Joseph could not do elsethan tell him of the miracle he had witnessed. Better to submit, hethought, than to agitate his father by refusal; and he began thisnarrative; the morning of the storm, which they would not have succeededin weathering had it not been for the intervention of the angel. Jesusand some of the disciples, including Joseph, had set their sail for theGadarene coasts; and finding a landing-place by a shore seemingdesolate, they proceeded into the country; and while seeking asufficient number to exhort and to teach, their search led them pastsome broken ruins, shards of an old castle, apparently tenantless. Theywere about to pass it without examination when a wailing voice from oneof the turrets brought them to a standstill. They were not at firstcertain whether the wailing sound was the voice of the wind or a humanvoice, but they had hearkened and with difficulty had separated thedoleful sound into: woe! woe! woe! unto thee Jerusalem, woe! woe! Itsounds to me, Peter said, like one that is making a mock of thee,Master. Having heard that thou foretellest woe to Chorazin---- ButJudas, seeing a cloud gathering on Peter's face, nudged Peter, and thetwain went up together and some minutes after returned with a half-nakedcreature, an outcast whom they had found crouching like a jackal in ahole among the stones, one clearly possessed by many devils. Now as allwere in wonder what his history might be, a swineherd passing by at thetime told them how the poor, naked creature would take a beating or agift of food for his singing with the same gentle grace. The words hadhardly passed the swineherd's lips than the possessed began to sing:
Woe! woe! woe! the winds are wailing. The four great sisters, the winds of the world, Call one to the other, and it is thy doom They are calling, Jerusalem. Woe! woe! woe! The North brings ruin, the South brings sorrow, The East wind grief, and the West wind tears For Jerusalem. Woe! woe! woe!
And he sung this little song several times, till the hearts of thedisciples hardened against the outcast and they were minded to beat himif he did not cease; but the swineherd warned them that a surer way tosilence him was by giving him some food; and while he stood by eating,the swineherd confided the story of the fool, or as much of it as heknew, to Jesus. The fool, he said, came from Jerusalem some two yearsago. He had been driven out of the Temple, which he frequented daily,crying about the courts the song with which he wearied you just now,till the most patient were unable to bear it any longer; and every timehe met a priest he looked into his face and sang: woe! woe! woe! untoJerusalem, and whenever he met a scribe he would cry: woe! woe! woe!unto Jerusalem, hindering them in their work about the Temple. Somestones were thrown, but enough life was left in him to crawl away, andas soon as he recovered from his wounds he was about again, singing hismelancholy ditty (he knows but one). He was told if he did not cease hewould be beaten with rods, but he could not cease it, and started hisditty again as soon as he could bear a shirt on his back; and then hemust have travelled up here afoot, picking up a bit here and a bitthere, getting a lift in an ox-cart. He is without memory of anything,who he is, where he came from, or who taught him his song. He does notknow why he chose that broken tower for a dwelling, nor do we, butfortunately it stands in a waste. We hear him singing as we go by to ourwork and pitch him scraps of food from time to time. We hear him as wereturn in the evening to our homes making his melancholy dwelling sadderwith his song. But he is a harmless, poor fool, save for the annoyanceof his song, which he cannot stanch any more than the wind in the brokenturrets. A harmless fool who will follow whosoever asked him to follow,unafraid, and taking a blow or a hunch of bread in the same humour, anddistinguishing no man from the next one.
As the swineherd said these words the fool said: Jesus, thou hast cometo my help, but woe to thee, Son of God, thou wilt suffer thy death inJerusalem; and looking up into Jesus' face more intensely: oh, Son ofMan, what aileth thee or me? And knowest thou anything of the cloud ofwoe that hangs over Jerusalem? To which Jesus made no answer, but calledupon the devils to say how many there were, and they answered: three.Then depart ye three, Jesus replied, and was about to impose his handswhen the three devils asked whither they should go, to which Jesusanswered: ye must seek another refuge, for here ye cannot remain. Seekamong the wolves and foxes. But these will flee from us, the devilsanswered; allow us to enter the hogs rooting the ground before thee. Butat this the swineherd cried out: forbid the devils to enter into myhogs, else they will run over the cliffs and drown themselves in thesea. Though you are Jews, and do not look favourably on hogs, they areas God made them. To which Jesus answered, turning to his disciples: theman speaks well, for if unclean they be, it was the will of God thatmade them so. And taking pity on the hogs that were rooting quietly,unaware of the devils eager to enter into them, he said: there arestatues of gods and goddesses in Tiberias, enter into them. Andimmediately the devils took flight, giving thanks to Jesus as theydeparted thither.
Joseph waited a moment and tried to read his father's face. But Dan'sface remained fixed, and as if purposely, which vexed Joseph, who cried:now, Father, you may believe or disbelieve, or be it thou'rt naturallyaverse from Jesus, but thou knowest as well as I do that two days afterthe great storm a statue of the goddess Venus fell from her pedestal inthe streets of Tiberias and was broken. But, Joseph, when the statuefell I was sick and had no knowledge of the fall. But if a statue of thegoddess Venus did fall from her pedestal, I'd ask why the devils shouldchoose to des
troy false gods? Were it not more reasonable for them touphold the false gods safe and secure on their pedestals? The gods wereoverthrown for a sign that the devils had left the fool's body, Josephanswered. But why, Dan replied, didn't three statues fall?--a statue foreach devil--and whither did the devils go? That one statue should fallwas enough for a sign, Joseph said, but no more would he say, for hisfather's incredulity irritated him, and seeing that he had angered hisson, Dan stretched his hand to him and said: perhaps we are more eagerto believe when we are young than when we are old. And he asked Josephto tell him of some other miracle that he might have seen Jesus perform.
Joseph had seen Jesus perform many other miracles, but he was loath torelate them, for none, he felt sure, would impose upon his father thebelief that Jesus was the Messiah that was promised to the Jews. All thesame the miracle of the woods rose in his mind, and so plainly that hecould not keep the story back, and almost before he was aware of it hebegan the relation, telling how Jesus, James, John, Andrew, and himselfwere at table, mingling jest with earnest (Peter was not with them,being kept at home, for his wife was in child-birth at the time), whenthe women of the village were heard running up the street cryingtogether to the men to take part in the chase of the wild man of thewoods, who had come down amongst them once more questing the flesh ofwomen. But this time we'll put a stop to his leaping, they cried. Agoatherd coming from the hills has seen him enter a cave and as soon ashe has folded his goats he will lead us to it. But the villagers were inno mood for waiting; the goats could be folded by another; and thegoatherd was bidden and obliged to leave his goats and lead the way,Jesus and his disciples following with the others through the foresttill we came to a ravine. And the goatherd said: look between yon greatrocks, for it was between them he passed out of my sight. And let one ofyou creep in after him, but I must return to my goats, having noconfidence that they have been properly folded for the night. Thegoatherd would have run away if he hadn't been held fast, and therewere questions as to who would enter. The first said "no," the secondthe same, giving as reason that they were not young or strong enough,whereas the goatherd was both, and none better endowed for the struggle;and the people became of one mind that they must beat the goatherd withthe crows if he did not go down into the cave, but Jesus, arriving intime, said: it is not lawful to break into any man's dwelling withcrows, nor to kill him because his sins affront you; let us rather givehim means to cut himself free from sins. At which words the people werenear to jeering, for it seemed to them that Jesus knew little of the manthey were pursuing, and they knew not what to understand when he askedif any among them had a long, sharp knife, and there was a movement asif they were about to leave him; but one man said: thou shalt have mine,Master, and, taking it out of his girdle, he gave it to Jesus, whotested it with his thumb, and, satisfied with it, laid it on the rockbeside the cave. But the people began to mutter: he will use the knifeagainst us, Master. Not against you, Jesus answered, but againsthimself, thereby defending himself against himself. There weremutterings among the people, and some said that his words were too hardto understand, but all were silent as soon as Jesus raised his hands andstepped towards the cave, and began to breathe his spirit against thelust that possessed the man's flesh. We must return here, he said, withoil and linen cloths. At which all wondered, not knowing what meaning toput upon his words, but they believed Jesus, and came at daybreak tomeet him at the edge of the forest and followed the path as before tillthey came to the hillside. The man was no longer hidden in his cave, butsat outside by the rock on which Jesus had laid the knife, and Jesussaid: happy is he born into the world without sting, and happy is he outof whom men have taken the sting before he knew it, but happier thanthese is the man that cuts out the part that offends him, setting thespirit free as this man has done.
Joseph ceased speaking suddenly and stood waiting for his father toadmire the miracle he had related, but Dan's tongue struggled withwords; and Joseph, being taken as it were with another flux of words,and like one apprehensive of the argument that none shall undo God'shandiwork, set out on the telling that the cause of man's lust of womenwas that God and the devil had a bet together--the devil saying that ifGod let him sting a man in a certain part of his hide he would get himin the end despite all that God might do to save him from hell. To whichGod, being in the humour, consented, and the sting was put into nearlyall men. A few the devil overlooked, and these have much spared to them,and those out of whom the sting is taken in childhood are fortunate, butthose who, like the wild man of the wood, cut the sting out of their ownfree will are worthy of all praise; and he cited the authority of Jesusthat man should mutilate his body till it conform perforce to his piety.But the story of man's fall is told differently in the Book of Genesis,my son. The admonition that he was laying violent hands on a sacred bookstartled Joseph out of his meditations, and in some confusion of wordsand mind he began to prevaricate, saying that he thought he had madehimself clear: the release of pious souls from the bondage of the fleshwas more important than the continuance of the impious. Moreover in thedays of Moses, Israel was not steeped in as many iniquities as she isnow, and the Day of Judgment was not so close at hand. More men meantmore sins, and sin has become so common that God can endure the tortureno longer.... Again Joseph ceased speaking suddenly and, almost agape,stood gazing into his father's face, reading therein a great perplexity,for Dan was asking himself for what good reason had God given him sostrange a son. He would have been content to let the story pass intoanother, but Joseph was waiting for him to speak, and speakingincontinently he said he had heard that in the Temple of Astoreth thePhoenician youths often castrated themselves with shards of shells orpottery and threw their testicles in the lap of the goddess crying out:art thou satisfied now, Astoreth? But he did not know of any text intheir Scriptures that counselled such a practice; and the introductionof it seemed to savour of borrowing from the heathen. Whereupon Josephaverred that whereas the wont of the Phoenician youths is withoutreason, the same could not be said of Jesus' device to save a soul. Towhich Dan rejoined that the leaving of the knife for the man to mutilatehimself with, seemed to him to be contrary to all the rumours of Jesusthat had come to his ears. I have heard that he would set the law asideand the traditions of our race, declaring the uncircumcised to beacceptable to God as the Jew; that he sits down to food with theuncircumcised and lays no store on burnt offerings. Nor did Isaiah,Joseph interrupted, and circumcision is itself a mutilation. I do notcontest its value, mark you; but if thou deny'st that Jesus was right toleave a knife whereby the sinner might free himself from sin thou mustalso deny circumcision. Circumcision is the sign of our race, Dananswered. A physical sign, an outward sign, Joseph cried, and he askedhis father to say if the Jews would ever forget priests and ritual; andhe reminded his father that the once sinner, now a holy anchorite, didnot bring an appetency into the world that could be overcome by prayer,and so had to resort to the knife that he might live in the spirit. Itseems to me, Joseph, that we should live as God made us, for better orworse. But, Father, once you admit circumcision---- A man should not beover-nice, Joseph, and though it be far from my thought to wish to seethee a fornicator or adulterer it would rejoice me exceedingly to seegrandchildren about me. There is a maiden---- Another reason, Father, ofwhich I have not yet spoken makes the marriage of the flesh seem avanity to me, and that is---- I know it well, Joseph, that the greatday is coming when the world will be remoulded afresh. But, Father, doye believe in nothing but observances? Tell me, Joseph, did thy prophetever raise anybody from the dead? Yes, and hoping to convince his fatherby another miracle he fell to telling eagerly how a young girl who wasbeing carried to the grave was called back to life.
She was, he said, coming from her wedding feast. And he told how therewere in the village two young girls, one as fair as the other, rivals inlove as well as in beauty, both having the same young man in theirhearts, and for a long time it seemed uncertain which would get him; forhe seemed to favour them alternately, till at
length Ruth, unable tobear her jealousy any longer, went to the young man, saying that she wasclose on a resolve to see him no more. Your lover? he answered, hischeek blanching, for he dearly loved her. I haven't gotten a lover, shesaid; only a share in a lover. Your words, Ruth, relieve me of muchtrouble, he replied, and took her in his arms and said: it was a goodthought that brought you hither, for if you hadn't come I might neverhave been able to decide between you, but your coming has given mestrength, and now I know which I desire. And then it was the girl'scheek that grew pale, for he hadn't answered at once which he wouldhave. Which? she asked, and he replied: you, not Rachel. If that be so,she answered, I am divided between joy and sorrow; gladness for myself,sorrow for my friend; and it behoves me to go to her and tell her of herloss. I am the chosen one, she said to Rachel, who turned away, saying:had I gone to him and asked him to choose between us he would havechosen me. He couldn't do else.
She began to brood and to speak of a spell laid upon the young man, andher visits to a sorceress came to be spoken about so openly that it wasagainst the bridegroom's wish that Rachel was asked to the weddingfeast; but Ruth pleaded, saying that it would be no feast for her ifRachel did not present herself at the table. The twain sat opposite eachother at table, Rachel seemingly the happier, eating, drinking,laughing, foretelling that Mondis would fill Ruth's life with happinessfrom end to end. Thou wilt never see the face of an evil hour, she said,and Ruth in her great joy answered: Rachel, I know not why he didn'tchoose thee; thou'rt so beautiful; and the young Mondis wooed her at thetable, to Ruth's pleasure, for she knew of his thankfulness to Rachelfor allowing the wedding to pass in concord, without a jarring note.
She seemed to listen to him as a sister might to a beloved brother, andas the wedding feast drew to a close she said: Ruth shall drink winewith me, and the cups were passed across the table, and laughter andjest flowed on for a while. But soon after drinking from Rachel's cupRuth turned pale and, leaning back into the arms of her bridegroom, shesaid: I know not what ails me.... And then a little later on she washeard to say: I am going, and with a little sigh she went out of herlife, lying on her bridegroom's arm white and still like a cut flower.The word "poison" swelled up louder and louder, and all eyes weredirected against Rachel, who to prove her innocence drank the wine thatwas left in Ruth's glass; but it was said afterwards that she had notdrunk out of the cup that she had handed to Ruth. Be this as it may, ahouse of joy was turned into a house of tears. Bridegroom, parents andfriends fell into procession, and we who were coming down the streetmet the bier, and after hearing the story of the girl's death Jesussaid: let me speak to her, and, leaning over her, he whispered in herear, and soon after we thought it was the wind that stirred the folds ofher garments, but her limbs were astir in them; the colour came back toher cheeks; she raised herself on her bier, and with his bride in hisarms the bridegroom worshipped Jesus as a god; but Jesus reproved him,saying: it was by the power of God working through me that she wasraised from the dead: give thanks to him who alone merits our thanks.But Rachel, who had been following the bier in great grief, hanging onthe bridegroom's arm could not contain herself at the sight of Ruthraised from the dead, and it wrenching her reason out of her controlcompelled her to call upon the people to cast out the Nazarene, whoworked cures with the help of the demons with whom he was in league,which proved to everybody that her friendly words to Ruth at the feastwere make-believe, and that she had been plotting all the while how shemight ruin her.
At the sight of Ruth beautiful and living naught mattered to Rachel butrevenge, and she crossed the street as if with the intention of strikingher with a dagger, but as she approached Jesus the flame of fury diedout of her face, and like one overwhelmed with a great love she castherself at his feet, and could not be removed. Why do you turn the womanfrom me? he asked. Whatever her sins may have been they are forgiven,for she loves me. But she loved the other man five seconds before, Dansubmitted, and Joseph replying to him said: she only knew that passionof the flesh which we share with the beasts of the fields, the fowls ofthe air and the fish in the sea. But now she loves Jesus as we lovehim--with the spirit. And next day she brought all her wealth to him;the golden comb she was wont to wear in her hair she would place in his;and the silks and linen in which she was wont to clothe herself she laidat his service; but he told her to sell all these things and give themoney to the poor. Give to the poor! That is what I hear always, criedDan; but if we gave all to the poor we would be as poor as the verypoorest; and where, then, would the money come from with which we nowhelp the poor?
Give to the poor that thou mayest become worthy of a place in the worldto come. This world is but a shadow--an illusion, Joseph answereddefiantly. Thou hast that answer for everything, Joseph; and another daywhen I'm stronger I'll argue that out with thee. I have tired thee,Father; but if I've told you many stories it was because---- Because,Dan retorted, thou wouldst have Jesus cast his spells over me. But I'veno use for them; thou art enough.
And while Joseph debated how he might convince his father that the girlwas really dead, Dan asked for news of Rachel, and Joseph answered thatshe was with them every day, that their company had been increased byseveral devoted women. Thou hast talked enough, Father, and more thanenough; if Ecanus were to return he would accuse me of planning to talkyou to death.