The Brook Kerith: A Syrian story

  CHAP. XX.

  He said to himself that they would start at dawn, and getting to thesepulchre soon after three, and finding it empty, would come running tohim, and, so that himself might open the gate to them, he ordered hiswatch (it should have ended by midnight) to continue till four o'clock.And, sitting by the sick man's side, he listened expectant for the hushthat comes at the end of night. At last it fell upon his ear. The womenare on their way to the sepulchre, he said, and in about an hour and ahalf I'll hear the bell clang. But the bell clanged sooner than hethought for; and so impatient was he to see them that he did notremember to draw his cloak about him as if he were only half dressed (anecessary thing to do if he were to deceive them) till he was in themiddle of the garden. But feigning of disordered raiment was vanity, forthe women were too troubled to notice that he had not kept them waitinglong enough to testify of any sudden rousing from his bed, and began tocry aloud as he approached: he has risen, he has risen from the dead ashe promised us. Joseph came towards them yawning, as if his sleep werenot yet dispersed sufficiently for him to comprehend them; and he letthem through the gate, inviting them into his house; but they cried:he's risen from the dead. The sepulchre is empty, Mary cried,anticipating her sister's words, and we have come to you for counsel.Are we to tell what we have seen? Seen! said Joseph. Forthwith bothbegan to babble about a young man in a white raiment. His counsel tothem was neither to spread the news nor to conceal it. Let the apostles,he began--but Martha interrupted him, saying: they are all in hiding, ingreat fear of the Pharisees, who have power over Pilate, and he willcondemn them all to the cross, so they say, if they do not escape atonce into Galilee. But since we can vouch that we found the stone rolledaway and a young man in white garments in the sepulchre, we areuncertain that they may not take courage and delay their departure, forthey can no longer doubt the second coming of the Lord in his chariot offire by the side of his Father, the Judgment Book upon his lap. Thosethat have already gone will return, Mary answered; and our testimonywill cause the wicked Pharisees to repent before it be too late. Hiswords were that his blood was the means whereby we might rise intoeverlasting life.

  Martha then broke in with much discourse, which Joseph interrupted witha question: had the young man they saw in the tomb spoken to them? Thesisters were taken aback, and stood asking each other what he said,Martha saying one thing and Mary another; and so bewildered were theythat Joseph bade them return to Bethany and relate to Lazarus, and anyothers of their company they might meet, all they had seen and heard: ifyou've heard anything, he added. Then thou believest Jesus to be risenfrom the dead, they cried through the bars as he locked the gates. Yes,I believe that Jesus lives. Will he return to us? Martha cried; andJoseph as he crossed the garden heard Mary crying through the dusk:shall we see him again? A fine story they'll relate, one which will notgrow smaller as it passes from mouth to mouth. Sooner or later it willreach Pilate, and Pilate's first thought will be: the centurion told methat Jesus died on the cross after three hours; and I believed him,though it was outside of all reason to suppose the cross could kill aman in three hours. But if the Pharisees should go to Pilate and say tohim: the rumour is about that Jesus has risen from the dead. Will you,Pilate, cause a search to be made from house to house? Pilate wouldanswer that the law had been fulfilled, and that the testimony of hiscenturion was sufficient; for he hated the Pharisees and would refuseany other answer; but Pilate might send for him, Joseph; and Joseph fellto wondering at the answers he would make to Pilate, and at theduplicity of these, for he had never suspected himself of cunning. Butcircumstances make the man, he said, and before Jesus passes out of mykeeping I shall have learnt to speak even as he did in double meanings.

  He lay down to sleep, and when he rose it was time to go to help Esorato change the bandages, and while they were busy unwinding them (it wastowards the end of the afternoon) they were interrupted suddenly intheir work by Matred's voice in the garden calling: Esora, where areyou? and, not getting an answer from Esora, she cried: Master! Master! Amoment after her voice came from a different part of the garden, andJoseph said to Esora: she'll be knocking at the door in another minute;she mustn't come hither. Go and meet her, Esora, and as soon as thegirl is safe come back to me. It shall be as thou sayest, Master; butmeanwhile hold the man forward; let him not fall back upon the pillow,for it will stick there and my work will be undone. To which Josephobeyed, himself quaking lest the Pharisees had come in search of Jesus,saying to himself: the Pharisees might be persuaded that Jesus is risenfrom the dead, but the Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection.What answer shall I give to them?

  At last he heard Esora's voice outside: fear nothing, Master, forfriends have come; one named Cleophas and another are here with a storyof a miracle, and, unable to rid myself of them without rudeness, Iasked them into the house, saying that you had business (meaning that wemust finish dressing this poor man's wounds), but as soon as yourbusiness was finished you would go to meet them. You spoke as you shouldhave spoken, Joseph answered her, and went towards the house certain andsure that they too came to tell Jesus' resurrection; and the moment heentered it and saw his guests, their faces and demeanour told him thathe guessed rightly. Leaning towards them over the table familiarly, soas to help them to narrate simply, he heard Cleophas, whom the friendelected as spokesman, say they heard Martha and Mary telling they hadfound the stone rolled away, and a young man in white raiment seatedwhere Jesus was overnight, and from him they had learnt that he whomthey sought was risen from the dead. So we said to one another: if hesent an angel to tell these women of his resurrection he will not forgetus, for we loved him; and in hopes of getting news of him in thecountry, and that we might better think of him, we agreed to walktogether to Emmaus; for when a man is sad he likes to be with anotherone who may share his sadness, and Khuza and I have always loved thesame Jesus of Nazareth.

  We walked sadly, without speech, indulging in recollections of Jesus,and were half-way on our journey when a wayfarer approached us and askedus the cause of our grief. We asked him in reply if he were the only onein Jerusalem that had not heard speak of Jesus of Nazareth, a greatprophet before God and the people. Do you not know that our priests andour rulers condemned him who we hoped would deliver Israel and to-day isthe third day since all that has befallen? Some women of our companytold us this morning that they had been to the sepulchre at daybreak andfound nobody, but had seen angels, who told them that he lived; and thenothers of our company went to the sepulchre and they found that thewomen spoke truthfully; the tomb was empty of all but the cere-cloths.So did we tell the story to the wayfarer, who then asked us whither ourway was, and we told him to Emmaus, and that our hope was our Mastermight send an angel to us with news of himself. It was with that hopethat we left the city. And your way, honoured Sir? and he answered me,to Emmaus, and perceiving him as we walked thither to be a pious man,and more learned than ourselves in the Scriptures, we begged him toremain with us. He seemed averse, as if he had business farther on, butmyself and my friend here, Khuza, persuaded him to stay and sup with us,so that we might tell our memories of him that was gone. But he seemedto know all we related to him of Jesus, interrupting us often with: aswas foretold in the Scriptures, giving us chapter and verse; andenlivened by a glass of good wine, he spoke to us of the fruit of thevine which Jesus would drink with us in the Kingdom of his Father; andhe broke bread and shared it with us, as it was meet that the head ofthe house should, and the gesture with which he broke it is one of ourmemories of Jesus. We fell to dreaming ourselves back in Galilee, andthe intonations of Jesus' voice and the faces of the apostles were allremembered by us. We don't know for how long we dreamed, but when oureyes were opened to reality again we saw that our friend, who wasanxious to continue his journey, had risen and gone away without biddingus good-bye, belike not wishing to disturb the current of ourrecollections. Did we not feel something strange while he was with us?my friend asked me, so to my friend here I put the question: did not ourhearts burn wh
ile he spoke to us on the road hither? and I citedprophecies that were testimony that the Messiah must suffer before heentered into glory. And Khuza answered: did you not recognise him,Cleophas, by the way in which he broke bread? Now you speak of it, Ireplied--

  Our eyes that had not seen saw, and we knew that Jesus had been with us,and hurried to Jerusalem to tell the apostles that we had seen him. Buttheir hearts are hard and narrow and dry, as Jesus himself well knew,and as he said would be evinced at the striking of the hour, and when wetold Peter that Martha and Mary had been to the sepulchre and found thestone rolled away he answered: I too have visited the sepulchre and sawnothing. It was open, but I saw no young man sitting in white raiment,nor did an angel greet me. John said: three days have now passed awaysince he was put on the cross, and in three days he was to have returnedin a chariot of fire by the side of his Father and made a great Kingdomof happiness and peace in this country. But he hasn't come; he hasdeceived us and put our lives in jeopardy, for if the Pharisees find ushere they'll bring us before Pilate, who is a man without mercy, andeleven more will hang on crosses.

  Salome, mother of John and James, too, got in her word and railedagainst Jesus for having brought them all from Galilee for naught. Johnand James, he promised me, were to sit on either side of him in KingdomCome. Whereupon Peter said: thou liest, woman. I was to sit on his righthand. And while these disciples disputed on Jesus' words Bartholomewpraised Judas, who had withdrawn as soon as Jesus began to talk of theangels that would surround the chariot. Thomas reproved Bartholomew,saying that Jesus never said that there would be angels; and they allbegan to wrangle, asking each other how many angels would be required tomatch a Roman legion. Nor were they sure that Jesus said he was God'sown son, and equal to God; at which many were scandalised and turnedaway their faces; nor could they say that they had not desired to find agod in him on account of the chairs. I'm not speaking of James and John.And then the ugly twain turned upon us, saying that we--myself andKhuza--were but disciples and could baptize with water, but not with theholy breath, which was reserved for the apostles; nor with fire. At hiswords the lightning flashed into the room, and John said: we are in themidst of a great miracle--the baptism by fire of the apostles. And whenthe storm ceased they were all mixed in a dispute about the impositionof hands; of this right they were the inheritors, so they said, and allwere resolved to practise it as soon as they got back to Galilee, fromwhence they had foolishly strayed, abandoning their boats and nets. Onthe morrow they would return thither and pray that the Lord, who is theonly god of Israel, would forgive them and send them a great draught offish, which they hoped your father, Sir, would pay for at more thanordinary price to recompense them for what they lost by following theMaster hither.

  Joseph would have asked him if Nathaniel and Thomas and Bartholomewdenied Jesus as well as Peter and James and John: if there was not oneamong the eleven that had faith that he might return. But prudencerestrained him from putting needless questions, for Cleophas wasloquacious, and he had only to listen to hear that Peter and James andJohn were eager that it should be known that they no longer believedJesus to be the true Messiah that the Jews were waiting for. It is said,Khuza interrupted, becoming suddenly talkative in his turn, it is saidthat they are afraid lest the agents of the Pharisees should discoverthem. Many left for Galilee on the Friday evening, and in three days thefishers he brought hither will be letting down their nets again and thepublican Matthew will start on his round asking for the taxes. All willbe--

  But, said Joseph, whose thoughts had gone back to the great draught offish which Peter and John hoped his father would pay for above the usualprice so that they might be recompensed for their journey to Jerusalem,you did not come to me to pray me to write to my father that he maypunish the apostles for their lack of faith by refusing to buy theirfish? No, it wasn't for that we came hither, Khuza answered quickly, andCleophas looked at him, wondering if he would have the courage to putinto words the cause of their visit. We thought that because Pilate hadgiven the body of Jesus to you to lay in your sepulchre, and as you werethe last to see him, you might come into Jerusalem with us and declarethe miracle to the people. You see, Sir, Martha and Mary have testifiedto the rolling back of the stone, and no more is needed than your wordfor all to believe. Joseph looked in their faces for some moments,unable to reply to them; and then, collecting his thoughts as he spoke,he impressed upon Cleophas and Khuza that for him to go down toJerusalem and proclaim his belief in the resurrection would only angerthe Pharisees and give rise to further persecutions. It will be better,he said, to let the truth leak out and convince men naturally, withoutsuspicion that we are attempting to deceive them with testimony whichtheir hearts are already hardened against. This answer, which showed aknowledge of men that Joseph did not know he possessed, satisfied bothCleophas and Khuza, and perceiving that they were detaining Joseph theyrose to go. On the way to the gate Joseph's words lighted up in theirminds: he said it would be not well for him to go down to Jerusalem andproclaim his belief in the resurrection; therefore he believed in theresurrection, and, unable to restrain his curiosity, Khuza besought himto answer if Jesus ever said that it would be his corruptible body or aspiritual body (a sort of spirit of sense) that would ascend. It couldnot be the fleshy body which eats and drinks and passes soil and water,for unless there be in heaven corners where one can loosen one's beltthe body would be gravely incommoded; and he began to argue, placing hisfoot so that Joseph could not close the gate, saying that if thecorruptible body had not ascended into heaven it must be upon earth. Butwhere--

  Joseph's cheek paled, and Cleophas, noticing the pallor and interpretingit to mean Joseph's anger against his friend for his insistence inputting questions which Joseph could not answer--for had he not rolledup the stone of the sepulchre and sealed it and gone his way?--took hisfriend by the arm and said: we must leave Joseph of Arimathea some timeto attend to his business. We are detaining him. Come, Khuza, we aretrespassing on his time. Joseph smiled in acquiescence; but Khuza, whowas still anxious to learn how many Roman soldiers equalled one angel,hung on until Joseph's patience ran dry. At last Cleophas got him away,and no sooner were their backs turned than Joseph forgot them completelyas if they had never been: for Esora had said that she hoped to be ableto get Jesus to swallow a little soup, and he hastened his steps,anxious to know if she had succeeded.

  I got him to swallow two or three spoonfuls, she said, and they seem tohave done him good. Dost think he seems to be resting easier? Yes; butthe fever hasn't left him. His brain is still clouded and feeble. Thisis but the third day, she replied. Truthfully I can say that I've neverseen any man scourged like this one. It is more than the customaryscourging; the executioners must have gotten an extra fee. As she hadseen men crucified in Tiberias and Caesarea, he asked her if it werecommon for the crucified to live after being lifted from the cross.Those that haven't been on the cross more than two days are brought backfrequently, but the third day ends them, so great are the pains in thehead and heart. But I knew one--and she began to relate the almostmiraculous recovery of a man who had been on the cross for nearly threedays, and had been brought back by strong remedies to live to a good oldage. But none die on the first day? Joseph said, and Esora answered thatshe never heard of anyone that died so quickly; without, however, askingJoseph if the man before them had been lifted down from the cross thefirst, second or third day.

  He expected her to ask him if Cleophas had come to warn him thatinquiries were on foot regarding the disappearance of the body of one ofthe crucified, but she asked no questions, and he knew not whether sherefrained from discretion or because her interest in things was dying.Not dying but dead, he said to himself as he scanned the years that herface and figure manifested, and judged them to be eighty.

  Now Esora, I'll go and lie down for a little while, and lest I shouldoversleep myself I'll tell the girl to call me. But how shall Irecompense thee for this care, Esora? I am too old, Master, to hope foranything but your pleasure, she a
nswered, and when he returned she toldhim that Jesus was fallen into another swoon, and they began talking ofthe sick man. His mind wanders up and down Galilee, she said. And nowI'll leave you to him. I've that girl on my mind. And while Jesus slept,Joseph pondered on the extraordinary adventure that he found himself on,giving thanks to God for having chosen him as the humble instrument ofhis will.