CHAPTER XIII
Sheik Ilderim was a man of too much importance to go about with asmall establishment. He had a reputation to keep with his tribe,such as became a prince and patriarch of the greatest following inall the Desert east of Syria; with the people of the cities he hadanother reputation, which was that of one of the richest personagesnot a king in all the East; and, being rich in fact--in money aswell as in servants, camels, horses, and flocks of all kinds--hetook pleasure in a certain state, which, besides magnifying hisdignity with strangers, contributed to his personal pride andcomfort. Wherefore the reader must not be misled by the frequentreference to his tent in the Orchard of Palms. He had there reallya respectable dowar; that is to say, he had there three largetents--one for himself, one for visitors, one for his favoritewife and her women; and six or eight lesser ones, occupied by hisservants and such tribal retainers as he had chosen to bring withhim as a body-guard--strong men of approved courage, and skillfulwith bow, spear, and horses.
To be sure, his property of whatever kind was in no danger atthe Orchard; yet as the habits of a man go with him to town notless than the country, and as it is never wise to slip the bandsof discipline, the interior of the dowar was devoted to his cows,camels, goats, and such property in general as might tempt a lionor a thief.
To do him full justice, Ilderim kept well all the customs of hispeople, abating none, not even the smallest; in consequence hislife at the Orchard was a continuation of his life in the Desert;nor that alone, it was a fair reproduction of the old patriarchalmodes--the genuine pastoral life of primitive Israel.
Recurring to the morning the caravan arrived at the Orchard--"Here,plant it here," he said, stopping his horse, and thrusting a spearinto the ground. "Door to the south; the lake before it thus; andthese, the children of the Desert, to sit under at the going-downof the sun."
At the last words he went to a group of three great palm-trees,and patted one of them as he would have patted his horse's neck,or the cheek of the child of his love.
Who but the sheik could of right say to the caravan, Halt! orof the tent, Here be it pitched? The spear was wrested fromthe ground, and over the wound it had riven in the sod thebase of the first pillar of the tent was planted, marking thecentre of the front door. Then eight others were planted--in all,three rows of pillars, three in a row. Then, at call, the womenand children came, and unfolded the canvas from its packing onthe camels. Who might do this but the women? Had they not shearedthe hair from the brown goats of the flock? and twisted it intothread? and woven the thread into cloth? and stitched the clothtogether, making the perfect roof, dark-brown in fact, though inthe distance black as the tents of Kedar? And, finally, with whatjests and laughter, and pulls altogether, the united following ofthe sheik stretched the canvas from pillar to pillar, driving thestakes and fastening the cords as they went! And when the wallsof open reed matting were put in place--the finishing-touch tothe building after the style of the Desert--with what hush ofanxiety they waited the good man's judgment! When he walked inand out, looking at the house in connection with the sun, the trees,and the lake, and said, rubbing his hands with might of heartiness,"Well done! Make the dowar now as ye well know, and to-night we willsweeten the bread with arrack, and the milk with honey, and at everyfire there shall be a kid. God with ye! Want of sweet water thereshall not be, for the lake is our well; neither shall the bearersof burden hunger, or the least of the flock, for here is greenpasture also. God with you all, my children! Go."
And, shouting, the many happy went their ways then to pitch theirown habitations. A few remained to arrange the interior for thesheik; and of these the men-servants hung a curtain to the centralrow of pillars, making two apartments; the one on the right sacredto Ilderim himself, the other sacred to his horses--his jewelsof Solomon--which they led in, and with kisses and love-tapsset at liberty. Against the middle pillar they then erectedthe arms-rack, and filled it with javelins and spears, and bows,arrows, and shields; outside of them hanging the master's sword,modelled after the new moon; and the glitter of its blade rivalledthe glitter of the jewels bedded in its grip. Upon one end ofthe rack they hung the housings of the horses, gay some of themas the livery of a king's servant, while on the other end theydisplayed the great man's wearing apparel--his robes woollen androbes linen, his tunics and trousers, and many colored kerchiefsfor the head. Nor did they give over the work until he pronouncedit well.
Meantime the women drew out and set up the divan, more indispensableto him than the beard down-flowing over his breast, white as Aaron's.They put a frame together in shape of three sides of a square,the opening to the door, and covered it with cushions and basecurtains, and the cushions with a changeable spread striped brownand yellow; at the corners they placed pillows and bolsters sackedin cloth blue and crimson; then around the divan they laid a marginof carpet, and the inner space they carpeted as well; and when thecarpet was carried from the opening of the divan to the door ofthe tent, their work was done; whereupon they again waited untilthe master said it was good. Nothing remained then but to bring andfill the jars with water, and hang the skin bottles of arrack readyfor the hand--to-morrow the leben. Nor might an Arab see why Ilderimshould not be both happy and generous--in his tent by the lake ofsweet waters, under the palms of the Orchard of Palms.
Such was the tent at the door of which we left Ben-Hur.
Servants were already waiting the master's direction. One of themtook off his sandals; another unlatched Ben-Hur's Roman shoes;then the two exchanged their dusty outer garments for fresh onesof white linen.
"Enter--in God's name, enter, and take thy rest," said the host,heartily, in the dialect of the Market-place of Jerusalem;forthwith he led the way to the divan.
"I will sit here," he said next, pointing; "and there the stranger."
A woman--in the old time she would have been called a handmaid--answered,and dexterously piled the pillows and bolsters as rests for the back;after which they sat upon the side of the divan, while water wasbrought fresh from the lake, and their feet bathed and dried withnapkins.
"We have a saying in the Desert," Ilderim began, gathering his beard,and combing it with his slender fingers, "that a good appetite is thepromise of a long life. Hast thou such?"
"By that rule, good sheik, I will live a hundred years. I am ahungry wolf at thy door," Ben-Hur replied.
"Well, thou shalt not be sent away like a wolf. I will give theethe best of the flocks."
Ilderim clapped his hands.
"Seek the stranger in the guest-tent, and say I, Ilderim, send hima prayer that his peace may be as incessant as the flowing of waters."
The man in waiting bowed.
"Say, also," Ilderim continued, "that I have returned with anotherfor breaking of bread; and, if Balthasar the wise careth to sharethe loaf, three may partake of it, and the portion of the birds benone the less."
The second servant went away.
"Let us take our rest now."
Thereupon Ilderim settled himself upon the divan, as at this daymerchants sit on their rugs in the bazaars of Damascus; and whenfairly at rest, he stopped combing his beard, and said, gravely,"That thou art my guest, and hast drunk my leben, and art aboutto taste my salt, ought not to forbid a question: Who art thou?"
"Sheik Ilderim," said Ben-Hur, calmly enduring his gaze, "I praythee not to think me trifling with thy just demand; but was therenever a time in thy life when to answer such a question would havebeen a crime to thyself?"
"By the splendor of Solomon, yes!" Ilderim answered. "Betrayal ofself is at times as base as the betrayal of a tribe."
"Thanks, thanks, good sheik!" Ben-Hur exclaimed.
"Never answer became thee better. Now I know thou dost but seekassurance to justify the trust I have come to ask, and that suchassurance is of more interest to thee than the affairs of my poorlife."
The sheik in his turn bowed, and Ben-Hur hastened to pursue hisadvantage.
"So it please thee then," he said, "first, I am n
ot a Roman, as thename given thee as mine implieth."
Ilderim clasped the beard overflowing his breast, and gazed at thespeaker with eyes faintly twinkling through the shade of the heavyclose-drawn brows.
"In the next place," Ben-Hur continued, "I am an Israelite of thetribe of Judah."
The sheik raised his brows a little.
"Nor that merely. Sheik, I am a Jew with a grievance against Romecompared with which thine is not more than a child's trouble."
The old man combed his beard with nervous haste, and let fall hisbrows until even the twinkle of the eyes went out.
"Still further: I swear to thee, Sheik Ilderim--I swear by thecovenant the Lord made with my fathers--so thou but give me therevenge I seek, the money and the glory of the race shall be thine."
Ilderim's brows relaxed; his head arose; his face began to beam;and it was almost possible to see the satisfaction taking possessionof him.
"Enough!" he said. "If at the roots of thy tongue there is a liein coil, Solomon himself had not been safe against thee. That thouart not a Roman--that as a Jew thou hast a grievance against Rome,and revenge to compass, I believe; and on that score enough. But asto thy skill. What experience hast thou in racing with chariots?And the horses--canst thou make them creatures of thy will?--toknow thee? to come at call? to go, if thou sayest it, to the lastextreme of breath and strength? and then, in the perishing moment,out of the depths of thy life thrill them to one exertion themightiest of all? The gift, my son, is not to every one. Ah,by the splendor of God! I knew a king who governed millionsof men, their perfect master, but could not win the respect ofa horse. Mark! I speak not of the dull brutes whose round it isto slave for slaves--the debased in blood and image--the deadin spirit; but of such as mine here--the kings of their kind;of a lineage reaching back to the broods of the first Pharaoh;my comrades and friends, dwellers in tents, whom long associationwith me has brought up to my plane; who to their instincts haveadded our wits and to their senses joined our souls, until theyfeel all we know of ambition, love, hate, and contempt; in war,heroes; in trust, faithful as women. Ho, there!"
A servant came forward.
"Let my Arabs come!"
The man drew aside part of the division curtain of the tent,exposing to view a group of horses, who lingered a moment wherethey were as if to make certain of the invitation.
"Come!" Ilderim said to them. "Why stand ye there? What have Ithat is not yours? Come, I say!"
They stalked slowly in.
"Son of Israel," the master said, "thy Moses was a mighty man,but--ha, ha ha!--I must laugh when I think of his allowingthy fathers the plodding ox and the dull, slow-natured ass,and forbidding them property in horses. Ha, ha, ha! Thinkestthou he would have done so had he seen that one--and that--andthis?" At the word he laid his hand upon the face of the firstto reach him, and patted it with infinite pride and tenderness.
"It is a misjudgment, sheik, a misjudgment," Ben-Hur said, warmly."Moses was a warrior as well as a lawgiver beloved by God; and tofollow war--ah, what is it but to love all its creatures--theseamong the rest?"
A head of exquisite turn--with large eyes, soft as a deer's, and halfhidden by the dense forelock, and small ears, sharp-pointed and slopedwell forward--approached then quite to his breast, the nostrils open,and the upper lip in motion. "Who are you?" it asked, plainly asever man spoke. Ben-Hur recognized one of the four racers he hadseen on the course, and gave his open hand to the beautiful brute.
"They will tell you, the blasphemers!--may their days shorten asthey grow fewer!"--the sheik spoke with the feeling of a manrepelling a personal defamation--"they will tell you, I say,that our horses of the best blood are derived from the Nesaeanpastures of Persia. God gave the first Arab a measureless wasteof sand, with some treeless mountains, and here and there a wellof bitter waters; and said to him, 'Behold thy country!' And whenthe poor man complained, the Mighty One pitied him, and said again,'Be of cheer! for I will twice bless thee above other men.' The Arabheard, and gave thanks, and with faith set out to find the blessings.He travelled all the boundaries first, and failed; then he made a pathinto the desert, and went on and on--and in the heart of the wastethere was an island of green very beautiful to see; and in the heartof the island, lo! a herd of camels, and another of horses! He tookthem joyfully and kept them with care for what they were--best giftsof God. And from that green isle went forth all the horses of theearth; even to the pastures of Nesaea they went; and northward tothe dreadful vales perpetually threshed by blasts from the Seaof Chill Winds. Doubt not the story; or if thou dost, may neveramulet have charm for an Arab again. Nay, I will give thee proof."
He clapped his hands.
"Bring me the records of the tribe," he said to the servant whoresponded.
While waiting, the sheik played with the horses, patting theircheeks, combing their forelocks with his fingers, giving each onea token of remembrance. Presently six men appeared with chests ofcedar reinforced by bands of brass, and hinged and bolted with brass.
"Nay," said Ilderim, when they were all set down by the divan,"I meant not all of them; only the records of the horses--thatone. Open it and take back the others."
The chest was opened, disclosing a mass of ivory tablets strungon rings of silver wire; and as the tablets were scarcely thickerthan wafers, each ring held several hundreds of them.
"I know," said Ilderim, taking some of the rings in his hand--"Iknow with what care and zeal, my son, the scribes of the Temple inthe Holy City keep the names of the newly born, that every son ofIsrael may trace his line of ancestry to its beginning, though itantedate the patriarchs. My fathers--may the recollection of them begreen forever!--did not think it sinful to borrow the idea, and applyit to their dumb servants. See these tablets!"
Ben-Hur took the rings, and separating the tablets saw they borerude hieroglyphs in Arabic, burned on the smooth surface by asharp point of heated metal.
"Canst thou read them, O son of Israel?"
"No. Thou must tell me their meaning."
"Know thou, then, each tablet records the name of a foal of thepure blood born to my fathers through the hundreds of years passed;and also the names of sire and dam. Take them, and note their age,that thou mayst the more readily believe."
Some of the tablets were nearly worn away. All were yellow withage.
"In the chest there, I can tell thee now, I have the perfect history;perfect because certified as history seldom is--showing of what stockall these are sprung--this one, and that now supplicating thy noticeand caress; and as they come to us here, their sires, even thefurthest removed in time, came to my sires, under a tent-roof likethis of mine, to eat their measure of barley from the open hand,and be talked to as children; and as children kiss the thanks theyhave not speech to express. And now, O son of Israel, thou maystbelieve my declaration--if I am a lord of the Desert, behold myministers! Take them from me, and I become as a sick man leftby the caravan to die. Thanks to them, age hath not diminishedthe terror of me on the highways between cities; and it will notwhile I have strength to go with them. Ha, ha, ha! I could tellthee marvels done by their ancestors. In a favoring time I maydo so; for the present, enough that they were never overtakenin retreat; nor, by the sword of Solomon, did they ever fail inpursuit! That, mark you, on the sands and under saddle; but now--Ido not know--I am afraid, for they are under yoke the first time,and the conditions of success are so many. They have the pride andthe speed and the endurance. If I find them a master, they will win.Son of Israel! so thou art the man, I swear it shall be a happy daythat brought thee thither. Of thyself now speak."
"I know now," said Ben-Hur, "why it is that in the love of an Arabhis horse is next to his children; and I know, also, why the Arabhorses are the best in the world; but, good sheik, I would not haveyou judge me by words alone; for, as you know, all promises of mensometimes fail. Give me the trial first on some plain hereabout,and put the four in my hand to-morrow."
Ilderim's face beamed again, and he would have sp
oken.
"A moment, good sheik, a moment!" said Ben-Hur. "Let me say further.From the masters in Rome I learned many lessons, little thinking theywould serve me in a time like this. I tell thee these thy sons ofthe Desert, though they have separately the speed of eagles andthe endurance of lions, will fail if they are not trained to runtogether under the yoke. For bethink thee, sheik, in every fourthere is one the slowest and one the swiftest; and while the raceis always to the slowest, the trouble is always with the swiftest.It was so to-day; the driver could not reduce the best to harmoniousaction with the poorest. My trial may have no better result; but ifso, I will tell thee of it: that I swear. Wherefore, in the samespirit I say, can I get them to run together, moved by my will,the four as one, thou shalt have the sestertii and the crown,and I my revenge. What sayest thou?"
Ilderim listened, combing his beard the while. At the end he said,with a laugh, "I think better of thee, son of Israel. We havea saying in the Desert, 'If you will cook the meal with words,I will promise an ocean of butter.' thou shalt have the horsesin the morning."
At that moment there was a stir at the rear entrance to the tent.
"The supper--it is here! and yonder my friend Balthasar, whom thoushalt know. He hath a story to tell which an Israelite should nevertire of hearing."
And to the servants he added,
"Take the records away, and return my jewels to their apartment."
And they did as he ordered.