CHAP. XXVI.
His was the long, steady gait of the shepherd, and he had not proceededfar into the hills before he was looking round acknowledging them, oneafter the other; they were his friends, and his sheep's friends, havinggiven them pasturage for many a year; and the oak wood's shade had beenfriendly beforetimes to himself and his sheep. And he was going to restin its shade once more. At noon he would be there, glad of some water;for though the day was still young the sun was warm, the sky told himthat before noon his tongue would be cleaving to the sides of his mouth;a fair prediction this was, for long before the oak wood came into sighthe had begun to think of the well at the end of the wood, and thequality of the water he would find in it, remembering that it used tohold good water, but the shepherds often forgot to replace the stopperand the water got fouled.
As he walked his comrades of old time kept rising up in his memory oneby one; their faces, even their hands and feet, and the stories theytold of their dogs, their fights with the wild beasts, and the lossesthey suffered from wolves and lions in the jungles along the Jordan. Inold times these topics were the substance of his life, and he wished tohear the shepherds' rough voices again, to look into their eyes, to talksheep with them, to plunge his hands once more into the greasy fleeces,yes, and to vent his knowledge, so that if he should happen to come uponnew men they would see that he, Jesus, had been at the job before.
Now the day seems like keeping up, he said; but there was a certain fearin his heart that the valleys would be close and hot in the afternoonand the hill-tops uninviting. But his humour was not for fault-finding;and with the ram in view always--not a long-legged brute with a facelike a ewe upon him, but a broad, compact animal with a fine woollyhead--he stepped out gaily, climbing hill after hill, enjoying his walkand interested in his remembrance of certain rams he had once seen nearCaesarea, and in his hope of possessing himself of one of these. Withmoney enough upon me to buy one, he kept saying to himself, I shouldn'tcome back empty-handed. But, O Lord, the the day is hot, he cried at theend of the fourth hour. But yonder is the oak wood; and he stopped tothink out the whereabouts of the well. A moment after he caught sight ofa shepherd: who is, no doubt, by the well, he said. He is, and trying tolift out the stopper; and the shepherd, catching sight of Jesus, calledhim to come to his help, saying that it would need their united strengthto get it out. We're moving it, the shepherd cried after a bit. We are,Jesus replied. How is the water? Fair enough if thy thirst be fierce,the shepherd replied. There is better about a mile from here, but I seethou'rt thirsty.
As soon as the men had quenched their thirst, the sheep came forward,each waiting his turn, as is their wont; and when the flock was wateredit sought the shade of a great oak, and the twain, sitting under theburgeoning branches, began to talk. It was agreed between them that itwould not do to advise anybody to choose shepherding as a trade atpresent, for things seemed to be going more than ever against theshepherd; the wild animals in the thickets along the Jordan hadincreased, and the robbers, though many had been crucified, werebecoming numerous again; these did not hesitate to take a ewe or wetheraway with them, paying little for it, or not paying at all. But art thoua shepherd? Jesus answered that he had been a shepherd--an erstwhileEssene, he said; one that has returned to the brethren. The Essenes aregood to the poor, the shepherd said, and glad to hear he was talking toa mate, he continued his complaint, to which Jesus gave heed, knowingwell that it would not be long before they would be speaking of thebreed of sheep best suited to the hills; the which came to pass, for,like Jesus, he lacked a good ram, and for the want of one, he said, hisflock had declined. The better the breed, he continued, the more oftenit required renewing, and his master would not pay money for new blood,so he was thinking of leaving him; and to justify his intention hepointed out the ram to Jesus that was to serve the flock that autumn,asking him how a shepherd could earn with such a one the few lambs thathe receives in payment if the flock increase under his care. He's fouryears old if he's a day, Jesus muttered. He is that, the shepherdanswered; yet master told me yesterday he must serve another season, forhe won't put his hand in his pocket, rams being so dear; but nothing,say I, is dearer than an old ram. I'm with thee in that, Jesus answered;and my plight is the same as thine. I'm searching for a ram, and have afriend who would pay a great sum of money for one if one of the style Iam looking for can be found.
Well, luck will be with thee, but I know no ram on these hills that I'dpay money for, the shepherd answered, none we see is better than yonbeast, and he is what thou seest him to be, a long-backed, long-legged,ugly ram that would be pretty tough under the tooth, and whose fleece ashepherd would find thin in winter-time.
But there were once fine sheep on these hills, Jesus answered, and Iremember a ram---- Ay, mate, thou mayest well remember one, and I thinkI know the shepherd that thou'rt thinking of, but he that owns the breedwill not sell a ram for the great sums of money that have been offeredto him, for his pride is to keep the breed to himself. We've tried tobuy, and been watching this long while for a lucky chance to drive oneaway, for a man that has more than he needs and will not sell aughtthereof calls the thief down into his house, as it were, creating thethief out of an honest man, for which he deserves to be punished. Butthe rich are never punished and this man's shepherds are wary, and hisdogs are fierce, and none has succeeded yet in getting a sample of thebreed.
But where may this man be found? Jesus asked, and the shepherd mentioneda village high up on the mountains over against the sea. But go notthither, for twenty miles is a long walk if the end of it be but jeersand a scoffing. A scoffing! Jesus returned. Ay, and a fine one in thineears; and a fine thirst upon thee, the shepherd continued, and turningto the oak-tree he began to cut branches to feed his goats. Twenty milesuphill in front of me, Jesus meditated, with jeers and scoffings at theend of the journey, of which I have had plenty; and he began to walkquickly and to look round the hills in search of pasture for a flock,for these hills were but faintly known to him. It isn't reasonable thata man will not part with a ram for a great sum of money, he said, andthough he may not sell the lamb to his neighbours, whom he knows forrascals, he may sell to the Essenes, whose report is good. And hecontinued his way, stopping very often to think how he might find abypath that would save him a climb; for the foot-hills running down fromwest to east, off the main range, formed a sort of gigantic ridge andfurrow broken here and there, and whenever he met a shepherd he askedhim to put him in the way of a bypath; and with a word of counsel from ashepherd and some remembrance he discovered many passes; but despitethese easy ways the journey began to seem very long, so long that itoften seemed as if he would never arrive at the village he was seeking.He told me I'd find it on the last ridge looking seaward. He said Icouldn't miss it; and shading his eyes with his hand, Jesus caught sightof some roofs that he had not seen before. Maybe the roofs, he said, ofthe village in which I shall find my ram, and maybe he who will sell methe ram sits under that sycamore. If such be my fortune he will rise tomeet me, Jesus continued, and he strove against the faintness comingover him. Is there a fountain? he asked. By that arch the fountainflows, drink thy fill, wayfarer. His sight being darkened he could notsee the arch but stumbled against it and stood there, his face white anddrawn, his hand to his side, till, unable to bear up any longer, hefell.
Somebody came to him with water, and after drinking a little he revived,and said he could walk alone, but as soon as they loosed him he fellagain, and when lifted from the ground a second time he asked for theinn, saying he had come a long way. Whereupon a man said, thou shaltrest in my house; I guess thee to be a shepherd, though thy garb isn'taltogether a shepherd's. But my house is open to him who needs food andshelter. Lean on my arm.
Let me untie thy sandals, were the next words Jesus heard, and when hisfeet were bathed and he had partaken of food and drink and was rested,the villager, whom Jesus guessed to be a shepherd, began to ask himabout the length of the journey from Jericho to Caesarea: we're threehours fro
m Caesarea, he said; thou must have been walking many hours.Many hours indeed, Jesus answered. I've come from the Brook Kerith,which is five miles from Jericho. From the Brook Kerith? the villagerrepeated. A shepherd I guessed thee to be. And a fair guess, Jesusanswered. A shepherd I am and in search of a ram of good breeding, senton hither by a shepherd. He did but make sport of thee, the villageranswered, for it is I that own the breed that all men would have. So ashepherd sent thee hither to buy a ram from me? No, Jesus replied, hesaid thou wouldst not sell. Then he was an honester shepherd than Ithought for: he would have saved thee a vain journey, and it would havebeen well hadst thou listened to his counsel, for I will not part withthe breed; and my hope is that my son will not be tempted to part withthe breed, for it is through our sheep that we have made our riches,such small riches as we possess, he added, lest he should appear toorich in the eyes of a stranger. If thou'lt not sell I must continue myjourney farther, Jesus answered. In quest of a ram? the shepherd said.But thou'lt not find any but long-backed brutes tucked up in the bellythat offend the eye and are worse by far than a hole in the pocket. Withsuch rams the hills abound. But get thee the best, though the best maybe bad, for every man must work according to his tools.
If thou asked me for anything but my breed of sheep I would have givenit, for thy face and thy speech please me, but as well ask me for mywife or my daughter as for my rams. Be it so, Jesus answered, and herose to continue his way, but his host said that having taken meat anddrink in his house he must sleep in it too, and Jesus, being tired,accepted the bed offered to him. He could not have fared farther; therewas no inn nor public guest-room, and in the morning his host might bein the humour to part with a ram for a great sum of money. But themorning found his host in the same humour regarding his breed ofsheep--determined to keep it; but in all other things willing to servehis guest. Jesus bade him good-bye, sorry he could not persuade him butliking him all the same.
In two hours he was near the cultivated lands of Caesarea, and it seemedto him that his best chance of getting news of a ram would be to turnwestward, and finding bed and board in every village, he travelled farand wide in search of the fine rams that he had once caught sight of inthose parts. But the rams of yore seemed to have disappeared altogetherfrom the country: thou mayest journey to Caesarea and back again, butthou'lt not find anything better than that I offer thee one man said toJesus, whereupon Jesus turned his back upon Caesarea and began the returnjourney sad and humble, but with hope still a-flutter in his heart, forhe continued to inquire after rams all the way till he came one brightmorning to the village in which lived the owner of the great breed ofsheep that he coveted, honourably coveted, he muttered to himself, butcoveted heartily.
The sun was well up at the time, and Jesus had come by the road leadingup from the coast. He had passed over the first ridge, and had begun tothink that he must be near the village in which the man lived who ownedthe great breed of sheep when his thoughts were interrupted by a lambbleating piteously, and, looking round, he saw one running hither andthither, seeking his dam. Now the lamb seeming to him a fine one, he wasmoved to turn back to the village to tell the man he had lodged withthat a lamb of his breed had lost the ewe. Thou sayest well, the mananswered, and that lamb will seek vainly, for the ewe hurt her hoof, andwe kept her in the house so that she might be safer than with myshepherd out on the hills, and the luck we have had is that a pantherbroke into our garden last night. We thought he had killed the lamb aswell, but he only took the ewe, and the lamb thou bringest me tidingsof will be dead before evening. My thanks to thee, shepherd, for thypains. But, said Jesus, thou'lt sell me the lamb that runs bleatingafter ewe, on the chance that I shall rear him? Whereat the villagersmiled and said: it seems hard to take thy money for naught, for thouhast a pleasant face; but who knows what luck may be with thee. For ashekel thou shalt have the lamb. Jesus paid the shekel, and his eyesfalling upon a bush in whose stems he knew he should find plenty of sap,he cut some six or seven inches off, and, having forced out the sap,showed it to the villager, and asked him for a rag to tie round the endof it. I hardly know yet what purpose thou'lt put this stem to, theshepherd said, but he gave Jesus the rag he asked for, and Jesusanswered: I've a good supply of ewe's milk drawn from the udder scarcean hour ago. Thou hast ewe's milk in thy bottle! the villager said. Thenit may be I shall lose my breed through thoughtlessness. And it was witha grave face that he watched Jesus tie a rag around the hollow stem.
He put the stem into the lamb's jaws and poured milk down it, feedingthe lamb as well as the ewe could have done. It may be I shall get himhome alive, Jesus muttered to himself. Thou'lt do it, if luck be withthee, and if thou canst rear him my breed has passed from me. Thou'lt berewarded for taking my shekel, Jesus answered. A fine lamb for a month,the villager remarked. One that will soon begin to weigh heavy in mybosom, Jesus answered; a true prophecy, for after a few miles Jesus wasglad to let him run by his side; and knowing now no other mother butJesus, he trotted after him as he might after the ewe: divining perhaps,Jesus said to himself, the leathern bottle at my girdle.
But very soon Jesus had to carry him again, and, despite his weight,they were at noon by the well at the end of the oak wood. Lamb, we'llsleep awhile together in a pleasant hollow at the edge of the wood. Laythyself down and doze. The lamb was obedient, but before long he awokeJesus with his bleating. He wants some milk, he said, and undid theleather girdle and placed the feeding-pipe into the lamb's mouth. Butbefore giving him milk he was moved to taste it: for if the milk besour---- The milk has soured, he said, and the poor bleating thing willdie in the wood, his bleatings growing fainter and fainter. He'll lookinto my face, wondering why I do not give him the bottle from which hetook such a good feed only a few hours ago; and while Jesus was thinkingthese things the lamb began to bleat for his milk, and as Jesus did notgive it to him he began to run round in search of the ewe, and Jesus lethim run, hoping that a wild beast would seize and carry him away andwith his fangs end the lamb's sufferings quicker than hunger could.
But no wolf or panther was in the thicket, and the lamb returned to him:brought back, he said, by a memory of the bottle. But, my poor wee lamb,there is no sweet milk in my bottle, only sour, which would pain thee.Think no more of life, but lie down and die: we shall all do the samesome day.... Thy life has been shorter than mine, and perhaps better forthat. No, I've no milk for thee and cannot bear to look in thy face: runaway again in search of the ewe and find instead the panther that tookher. Poor little lamb, dying for milk in this wild place. So thou hastreturned to me, having found neither ewe nor panther. Go, and seek awolf, he will be a better friend to thee than I.
He had seen many lambs die and did not understand why he should feelmore pain at this lamb's death than another's. But it was so; and nowall his hopes and fears centred in this one thing that Fate hadconfided to his bosom. A little milk would save it, but he had no milk.He might pick him up and run, calling to the shepherds, but none wouldhear. I cannot listen to his bleating any longer, he said, and tried toescape from the lamb, but he was followed round the trees, and just ashe was about to climb into one out of the lamb's sight his nostrilscaught the scent of fleeces coming up the hillside. A shepherd isleading his flock to the well-head, he said, so, wee lamb, thou wilt notdie to-day, and, addressing himself to the shepherd, he said: I've got alamb of the right breed, but have no milk to give him. Canst thou payfor it? the shepherd asked; and Jesus said, I can, and the shepherdcalled a ewe and the lamb was fed.
Well, luck is in thy way, the shepherd said, for I was on my way toanother well, and cannot tell what came into my mind and turned me fromit and brought me up here. Every life, Jesus said, is in the hands ofGod, and it was not his will to let this lamb die. Dost believe, theshepherd answered, that all is ordered so? And Jesus answered him:thou'lt fill my bottle with milk? The shepherd said: I will; but thouhast still a long way before the lamb can be fed again. Hide thy bottleunder a cool stone in yon forest and in the evening the milk will stillbe sweet a
nd thou canst feed thy lamb again and continue thy journey bystarlight. But these hills are not my hills; mine are yonder, Jesussaid, and at night all shapes are different. No matter, the way issimple from this well, the shepherd answered, and he gave Jesus suchdirections as he could follow during the night. Now mind thee, hecontinued, look round for a shepherd at daybreak. He'll give thee freshmilk for thy lamb and by to-morrow evening thou'lt be by the BrookKerith. And this advice appearing good to Jesus, he turned into theshade of the trees with his lamb, and both slept together side by sidetill the moon showed like a ghost in the branches of the trees.
It was time then to feed the lamb, and the milk being sweet in thebottle, the lamb drank it greedily; and when he had drunk enough Jesuswas tempted to drink what the lamb could not drink, for he was thirstyafter eating his bread, but he went to the well and took a little waterinstead, and lay down, telling the lamb that he might sleep but a littlewhile, for they must be ready at midnight to travel again. If we meet ashepherd thou livest, if he fail us thou diest. Jesus said, and seeing ashepherd leaving a cavern at dawn with his flock, Jesus called to himand bought milk from him and once more the twain continued theirjourney, the lamb becoming so dependent on the shepherd that Jesus tookpleasure sometimes in hiding himself behind a rock, and as soon as thelamb missed him he would run to and fro bleating in great alarm till hefound Jesus; and when he came upon him he thrust his nozzle into Jesus'hand.
It was then more than at any time he delighted in being carried. No, mygood lamb, I've carried thee far and now can barely carry myself to thebridge; and the lamb had to follow to the bridge, and they began toascend the terraces together, but the steep ascents very soon began totire him, and the lamb lay down and bleated for Jesus to take him up inhis arms, which he did, but, overcome with the weariness of a longjourney, he had to lay him down after a few paces. Yet he would notsurrender the lamb to the brethren who came and offered to carry him,saying: I have carried him so far and will carry him to the end, but yemust let me rest on your arms. Meanwhile, fetch me a little milk, forthe lamb has had all that I could buy from the shepherds on the hills,and do not ask how I became possessed of this lamb, for I am too tiredto tell the story. So did he speak, holding the lamb to his bosom; andleaning on the arm of one of the brethren while another pushed frombehind, and in this exhausted state he reached the cenoby.
Now I must feed my lamb; go to Brother Amos and ask him to bring someewe's milk at once. But the brethren were loath to go, saying: BrotherAmos is feeding his sheep far from here, but will return in the evening.But the lamb must be fed every three or four hours, Jesus answered, anddo ye go at once to Amos and tell him to bring the milk at once. He mustnot be kept waiting for his milk. Now look at him and say if any of yehave seen a finer lamb. I can speak no more, but will sleep a little assoon as I have placed him in a basket. But wake me up as soon the milkcomes, for I will trust none to feed him but myself, and he dropped offto sleep almost on these words.
The Essenes, understanding that the lamb had caused Jesus a long search,went after Amos as they were bidden, and finding him not as far as theythought for with his flock, they related to him Jesus' request that heshould bring some ewe's milk at once, which he did, and seeing Jesus indeep sleep he said: it is a pity to waken him, for I know how to feed alamb as well as he does. May I not? But the Essenes said: he'll be vexedindeed if the lamb be fed by any but him. So be it, Amos answered; andthey roused Jesus with difficulty, for his sleep was deep, and when heopened his eyes he knew not where he was for some time. At last memoryreturned to him, and, struggling from the couch, he said: I must feed mylamb. The milk is fresh from the ewe? he asked. Yes, Jesus, Amosanswered, I have just drawn it from the udder. As soon as he is oldenough to run with the flock I'll bring him, Jesus said, and thou'lt befree to return to the Scriptures.
And having asked that he might be awaked in four hours his eyes closed,which is not to be wondered at, he having slept hardly at all for fourdays. Does he put his lamb before the Scriptures? the Essenes asked eachother, and they withdrew, shaking their heads.