José and Benjamin, tr. by J.G. Smieton
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TRANSLATED BY J. G. SMIETON, M.A. . NOV 'FR2 ^ I HODDER AND STOUGHTON 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXXXII. Bntler & Tanner, The Selwood Printlnsr Works, FromCi and London. PREFACE. The following tale was written some years ago by Dr. Delitzsch, of Leipzig, the well- known Oriental scholar. The author's pro- found acquaintance with old Hebrew literature renders his delineation of the times specially valuable, and it will, we believe, be welcome to many English readers. Dr. Delitzsch has given his sanction to the present translation, and has kindly furnished a number of cor- rections which have not as yet appeared in any German edition. The following note to the translator will be read with interest, as showing the light in which the author himself regards " Jos6 and Benjamin." "Dear Sir,— "You have translated my *Tale of Jerusalem in the Time of the Herods,' and as VI Preface. my friend, Dr. Salmond, informs me, from sympathy with its contents and with its author. I am much pleased and feel myself honoured : but I am also grateful, for you are helping to make more widely known a little book which has more individuality than anything that I have written. It is a piece of my own life, reflected in a historic mirror, but written for the glory of God and of His Christ. Let my * Jos6 and Benjamin,' then, wander through England. Here and there the story of youthful friendship will find a lyric echo in some heart. Let those who find the book too sentimental forget the two friends, and fix their attention on the archaeology. " Yours, "F. Delitzsch." INTRODUCTION. If we transport ourselves to Zion, or the Upper City of Ancient Jerusalem, and follow the course of the city wall in a westerly direction, before we reach the Zion -gate, outside of which the Church of Zion with the ccenaculum is situ- ated, we come upon a secluded enclosure. Entering, we seem to be carried back to that primeval time when, according to the wisdom of our modern days, humanity had hardly raised itself above the condition of the lower animals. The space is covered with stones, chiefly large blocks, which in places are piled on one another in layers, and serve to separate it from the world outside. A few fig-trees and an old knotted vine suggest an attempt, soon abandoned in despair, to turn this waste of stones into a garden. On the side of the city wall the obstacles in the way of free loco- Vll viii Introduction, motion have been partially removed, but what 'a spectacle is there presented ! The stones have been clumsily built up into dwellings of from six to eight feet in height, for which human speech has no name. They are not pits, for they are above ground : and they are not huts, seeing that portions of them do not stand clear from the ground, their roofing of small sticks and clay and earth being strewn over with stones, and sometimes hardly dis- tinguishable from the surrounding chaos. The impression produced on the beholder is that of a field of ruins in which, here and there, where the lower part of the building has not been completely destroyed, living beings have fitted up their haunts. These stone barracks, of which there are at present sixteen, do not, moreover, form one regular row as might be expected in a ruin, but are jumbled together in a confused heap ; and the square holes which serve as entrances are in part turned southwards towards the city wall, in part turned away from it. Introdtiction. ix Such are the abodes of the lepers. The dread of contagion haS caused the lepers to be banished to this secluded corner. Those who are better off generally succeed in escaping. It is almost exclusively the poor who are here crowded together, and they have scarcely rags enough to cover their nakedness. In many cases the decay wrought by the disease has made such progress that the sight is repulsive : and seeing that men and women, Christians and Moslems, who wander forth during the day to beg, are housed here together, the moral degradation is still greater than the outward misery, and the leper who, as sheik, has over- sight of the quarter, is thankful when no murder or theft has been committed. In the summer of 1865, a German lady. Baroness von Keflfenbrinck-Ascheraden, from Pomerania, accompanied by her husband, visited this receptacle of physical and moral wretchedness, and calling to mind the com- passionate love of our Saviour towards lepers, formed the resolve to found an asylum for these Introduction, unhappy victims, in which Christian love should minister to them without regard to confession, and with no prosyletising intent, but in the spirit of Jesus. When the plan became known, it inflamed many thousand hearts in Germany and England and in the far East, even in China. So abundantly, indeed, did offerings flow in, that the new Lepers* Hospital, called Jesus-hilfe (Jesus-help) was opened in the spring of 1867. It is situated on the height westward from Jerusalem, to the right of the Jaffa-gate, and near to the pools Birket-es-Sultan and Birket-el-Mamilla. For a time it had to con- tend against much suspicion, but is now actively carrying forward its work of self-denying love towards its suffering inmates. This work of charity has engaged my live- liest sympathy, and it has not been in vain that since 1866 I have pressed its claims on the friends of Israel in " Saat auf Hoffnung " (Sow- ing in Hope). In order, however, to render it further assistance by my pen, I have since that time occupied myself with the history of lepers Introduction. xi and of hospitals. A perusal of "Der arme Heinrich," by Hartmann von der Aue — the story from the middle ages, on which is founded Longfellow's poem of " The Golden Legend " — convinced me that we have there not only important material for the study of the history of civilisation, but also a mine of attractive pictures of strange customs, of noble deeds, and of remarkable providences. The truth of the Christian religion attests itself in no other way so strikingly as by its self-denying love. Noble and touching deeds of love are told of men of every variety of race in all ages. Christianity which is founded on a deed of love, the offering of Himself by the Crucified, and which derives its life from this source, has made this love the centre and the crown of man's duty to his fellows, and has broken those fetters which the ceremonial law of Moses imposed on this law of charity. A beautiful illustration of this is furnished in the following narrative, which I have compiled from ancient sources, and which bears on the *•* The small figures in the Text refer to the notes at the end of the volume. CHAPTER I. LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP IN CONFLICT. On the day following the feast of Passover, im- mediately after the minchah-prayer, or vesper, a young man might have been seen walking with quick step toward the Upper Market-place in Jerusalem. Having arrived there, he first glanced at the sun-dial over the portal of Herod's palace, and then began to walk back- ward and forward in the space between the fountain and the palace. He frequently di- rected his eyes towards the Gennath-gate as if he was expecting some one. His whole bearing indicated that he was a person of distinction. He was dressed with evident care. On his head was a turban of white and blue linen, the ends of which fell over his dark hair down to his neck. He wore a blue Dalmatica' or upper garment, whose folds he held in his right hand, 1 B Jose and Benjamin. and underneath it was visible a tunic bordered with gold. But, apart from his bearing and from his dress, you could at once discern in him noble birth and a noble nature. His complexion and form recalled what Jeremiah in Lamentations (iv. 7) says of the nobles of Jerusalem ; his countenance was not indeed handsome, but ingenuousness and intelligence, modesty and self-control, were stamped on it, and gave it an expression which at once at- tracted and commanded respect. He had gone up and down the short distance but a few times when another young man, a little older, emerged with rapid step from the Gennath-gate, and came up to him. The new- comer was rather under the middle size, neatly but plainly dressed, and, as was evident from his turban ^ and from his sandals, belonged to a humbler grade in society. His name was Jose ; ^ that of the friend who waited for him, Ben- jamin. They were both so-called "disciples of the sages,"* and had been together in the school of Gamaliel the elder, through which the Love and Friendship in Conflict. 3 Apostle Paul, and Onkelos, the translator of the Thora, had also passed. Although they were fellow-students, Jose had come to be Benjamin's teacher, for he had a remarkable acquaintance with the written and with traditional law, and likewise with the prophetic word, at that time so neglected. Through his study of pro- phecy he had become persuaded that Jesus was the Messiah — a conviction shared with him by many in Jerusalem, who yet did not cease to observe the law nor withdrew from the national worship. Jose had felt attracted toward Ben- jamin from the time of their first meeting, and the bond was strengthened as he came to know him more closely. It was his constant en- deavour to promote his friend's growth in know- ledge ; and although Benjamin did not return this warmth of affection with equal heartiness, Jose found a sufficient recompense in his will- ing readiness to learn, his almost childlike sub- ordination, and his confiding frankness. Their mutual relations were, indeed, disturbed from time to time, but only to become more intimate, Jose and Benjamin. and to give Jose a deeper insight into the pure and noble nature of his friend. It was only in more hallowed moments that Jose spoke to him of his most precious treasure — his Christian faith. It was not his wish to compel his friend to adopt his views ; and as this was a subject which excited strong opposition on the part of Benjamin, he willingly spared himself the pain of calling forth this opposition oftener than was necessary. When Benjamin caught sight of him, he came towards him with a friendliness which lent new beauty to his countenance ; and Jose greeted him with evident delight. They had arranged to meet here, to take a long walk into the country in the direction of Bethlehem. It was seldom that Jose had the happiness of being all alone with his friend, whose family engagements occupied much of his attention ; and for several days he had been looking forward to this afternoon as to a special enjoyment. " The weather is in our favour," he exclaimed. "Yes," replied Benjamin ; "we have been Love and Friendship in Conflict. 5 fortunate. The air is pure, and the heat not too great" It was the loveliest Nisan day one could imagine. The rain of the Easter month was over, the cloudless sky was refulgent with purest sapphire, and the picture of spring in the " Song of Songs " ^ was realized in its fulness ; — only, the earth itself was the Shulamite, re- splendent in beauteous bridal attire, a thousand voices among the branches and aloft in the azure, warbling their notes of love and joyous life. The friends quickened their steps (so far as that was seemly in "disciples of the sages"), and side by side proceeded in the direction of the vallfey-gate, the present Jaffa-gate. When Jose thought they were unobserved, he took Ben- jamin's hand, and clung close to his friend ; but on meeting any one he allowed it to drop, as if no one were to be let into the secret of their intimate friendship. They spoke little till they passed through the gate, and then the conversa- tion became more animated. Jose and Benjamin, When they were fairly outside, Jose, laying his hand on the shoulder of his friend, caused him to turn round to his right, and, pointing back to the city, exclaimedj " See, what splen- dour ! " Rising from the lofty ancient walls behind Herod's palace, three towers were visible, glit- tering in the sunlight ; — Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mariamne, so named by their founder after his friend, his brother and his wife. The gigantic octagonal Psephinus stood out con- spicuous on the north-east ; and all the four ^ seemed to vie with one another in the beauty of their white limestone and of their graceful forms. ."The most beautiful, after all," said Ben- jamin, "is Phasaelus, with its double crowning of breastwork and battlement ; I can never see it without being reminded of the lighthouse on the island of Pharos, in front of Alexandria." " How old were you," returned Jose, " when your parents took you with them to visit your relatives there } " " I was only five years old," was the reply ; Love and Friendship in Conflict. 7 ' but the glory of Alexandria, that Egyptian sister of Jerusalem,^ is imperishably engraven on my memory." " And I am ever charmed afresh," Jose con- tinued, "by the smaller and less solid, but on that account all the more pleasing, Mariamne, which Herod erected in the hope of thereby silencing the condemnation which his conscience pronounced on the murder of the Asmonaean princess.'* "It is true," Benjamin broke hastily in, " that her execution was a crime ; but she never loved him as he did her. And let us not forget how much Jerusalem and our country owe to those Herods ; and that King Agrippa — whom God preserve ! — has to a great extent made amends for the sins of his ancestors." Jose observed how unpleasantly his remark had affected his friend, and made no further reply. They now commenced to descend, and soon found themselves in the upper part of the vale of Gihon. 8 Jose and Benjamin. " If it is agreeable to your lordship," said Jose, playfully ignoring their close intimacy, "let us go along the valley, although it is longer." " As you wish," Benjamin replied. " Be you the guide." Jose preferred this road to that across the valley, because he hoped to be more alone with Benjamin, and not to be disturbed by meeting people. Discoursing familiarly on learned sub- jects, or on personal matters, as it chanced, they followed the course of the valley in a southerly direction till they came to the aque- duct from the Elam springs above Solomon's pool. This watercourse was carried by means of an embankment across the valley, and then emptied itself into the pool of Gihon. The friends crossed the embankment, and reached the high-road to Bethlehem, which at this point began perceptibly to ascend. "There," exclaimed Jose, pointing to the right, " is the hill where, a hundred years ago, that villain® Pompey pitched his camp. A Love and Friendship in Conflict. 9 greater disgrace has never befallen Jerusalem than that he should penetrate into the Temple and cast profane eyes on everything within its precincts, even to the Holy of Holies." "It was the weakness," said Benjamin, "of the last of the Asmonaeans which brought us at that time nigh to the brink of destruction." " And yet," Jose replied, repressing the com- parison which was on his lips between the Asmonseans and the Herodian family, "that was only the beginning of the end. * The day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall * ® is still to come ; for the murders that have taken place in Jerusalem, and one before all others, cry aloud to Heaven." " Oh, do not speak thus, Jose ! but remem- ber what David says — 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they shall prosper tjiat love thee.' " 10 Jose halted, and laid firm hold of his friend : " Look at those holes drilled in the rock. They were filled with dried wood, which, being moistened, swelled, and rent the rock asunder. lo Jose and Benjamin. Just such a wedge is for Jerusalem — the wood of the cross on which the Righteous One had to shed His blood.' " la Alexandria," said Benjamin, " that would not have happened." "True," was Jose's reply, as he embraced his friend, " it would not have happened, if in Alexandria they were all like my Benjamin." Travelling in order to see the world was not then in vogue ; and even pleasure parties into the country were not the fashion as they are nowadays. And on the Sabbath — which, in consequence of the cessation from the work of the week, afforded an opportunity for out- door exercise — the Jew was confined within the impassable Sabbath boundary, which was marked off in all directions at a distance of two thousand cubits from the city quadrate.^^ It was therefore with unwonted delight that, when they had ascended a little higher, the two friends hailed the lovely prospect into the vale of Hinnom, winding away to the east. From this point, too, the city itself, with its Love and Friendship in Conflict, 1 1 many towers and pinnacles, presented a mag- nificent picture. " Let us pause here for a little," said Jose, leading Benjamin under the shade of a tere- binth. "We are now quite alone; no human eye, only that Eye which beholds all, is ob- serving us. I wish to put a question to you, if you will allow me." " . am ready to listen to you," replied Ben- jamin, with a quiet but suspicious smile. Jose was silent for a little, collecting his thoughts, but at length began, one word after another slowly struggling from heart and mouth : — " Are you not, then — you with whose heart my own is so closely knit — any nearer to Him whom I love above all beside, as the incarnate love of the Holy One — blessed is He ! " ^^ Benjamin was silent, and looked straight before him, as if indifferent. " He has said," Jose continued, " that whoso loveth any creature more than Himself is not worthy of Him. My love to you, therefore " 12 Jose and Benjamin. (here his voice began to tremble), " I must sub- ordinate to my love to Him ; and if you were resolutely to remain at a distance from Him, although my heart is none of the most stead- fast, I should yet have to make up my mind to the Moriah sacrifice, and renounce your love." Benjamin still remained silent. Jose then took Benjamin's down-turned head in his hands, and raising it, and fixing his eyes on his friend's, exclaimed — " Oh speak, Benjamin ! Speak the word that shall make me happy, if happy only in hope ! " " You ought not," said Benjamin, " to attach a condition to your love which it is not in my power to fulfil." ** I attach no condition to it,'' Jose replied. " I will love you even if you continue to de- spise Jesus ; but how can I love you except in Him who has become the life of my life ? In Him I will love you, as He loved, faithfully unto death — ready to give up for you all I am and all I have, in the hope that you shall come Love and Friendship in Conflict, 13 to know Him who died for you as He died for me, and now in heaven, as once on the cross, is stretching out His arms towards you." " Do not urge me so," said Benjamin. " Let each go his own way, according to his convic- tion ; and be content with this, that I will not leave you." " So long as you do not leave me," was the reply, " I cannot but strive to win your soul. But if it should come to that, that you do leave me — well, I shall not force myself upon you, but shall commit you to Him who came to seek the lost ; who loves you with a purer and deeper love than I can with my poor, impetuous, restless heart." This was said in a slow, broken voice, which was succeeded by a burst of tears ; and hand in hand the two friends pursued their way in silence. The rays of the sun fell obliquely on their faces, as they wandered along the bekdah (plateau) which stretched before them. Jose wiped the perspiration from his face along with 14 Jose and Benjamin. the remaining tears, which had not escaped the eye of his friend : and after a prolonged pause, the latter broke the silence, and put questions to Jose about several things in the "school" which were not clear to him, and which Jose answered to the best of his ability. Love was the inspiration which enabled him to leave none of the many varied and difficult questions unanswered. The sun was nearing its setting, and had contracted itself to a ball of an ever-deepening red, as the friends now ascended again a short distance. The road then became once more level, and they rested at a well to refresh them- selves with a draught of cooling water. The well is still there by the wayside, not far from the monastery of Mar Elias. To the left of this part of the road lay the rise which was to terminate their rambles. There Jerusalem and Bethlehem could both be seen. The prospect presented to their view on every side was magnificent. Their eyes turned with especial pleasure towards the south. Before them, to the Love and Friendship in Conflict. 15 left of Gilo/^ lay the tomb of Rachel, in the evening sunlight. They were quite alone. "See," exclaimed Jose, "how near the tomb of Rachel seems down there before us ! " "And," continued Benjamin, "behind Beth- lehem, on the left, the magnificent Herodium,^* where King Herod is laid. How the sun is gilding the towers! How distinct the steep marble stairs ! How charming a feature in the landscape the clustering houses at the foot of the proud hill ! " " Yes," said Jose, " the view is beautiful. But when I think of its grand associations, the simple monument of your ancestress is more beautiful still." "Are you then determined to make me a Benjamite ? " said Benjamin, smiling. " If I could, I would make you, if not of the same stock, at least of the same mind as Saul of Tarsus, for whom, because he has become a Christian, Rabban Gamaliel mourns as for one dead." "This people of Palestine is, and will re- 1 6 Jose and Benjamin. main," returned Benjamin, " a narrow, intolerant race." In the midst of this friendly talk, when he thought the fitting moment had arrived, Jose asked, " Might we not here kneel down in prayer together ? ". " Gladly," answered Benjamin. "Then, for this once," continued Jose, "I will pray as if I were in your place ; and God grant that I may succeed in giving expression to your feelings." He drew Benjamin with him down on his knees, and after they had knelt for a little in silence, Jose began : — " O God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, who on yonder spot didst take from our ancestor his dearly-loved partner, — thou art a God of the living, and not of the dead ; they live with Thee, and Thou hast performed what Thou didst promise to them. And Thou revealest Thy face still, as in the days of old to our fathers. Oh, grant tis to know whether Jesus of Nazareth, who was born there in Bethlehem, be the promised Seed of Love and Friendship in Conflict. 17 Abraham. If it be He whom His own nation has betrayed and delivered to the Gentiles, as Joseph, the son of Rachel, was sold by his own brothers, grant that He may make Himself known to us in love, as Joseph made himself known to his brethren, and especially to Ben- jamin, the dearest of them all." In words like these Jose prayed ; and at the close fell into the liturgical strains so familiar to them both : "Blessed be Thou, who causest a horn of sal- vation to arise ! Blessed be Thou, who hearest prayer J " When they rose he fell upon Benjamin's neck : the latter allowed him to do so, as if bereft of will ; he was pale, and cold, and silent. Nor did Jose say anything ; he was still too much under the influence of the prayer to allow of his doing so. They therefore descended in silence, and took once more the road across the plateau by which they had come. The sun disappeared beneath the horizon, and Benjamin observed, ** It will be late before C 1 8 Jose and Benjamin. we get back." Beyond that, however, he left the speaking to Jose, and when forced to reply, was sparing of his words, recalling his thoughts with difficulty, and falling back again into listless brooding and dreaming. His step, moreover, was hasty ; and always repeating that it was very late, he hurried Jose forward along with him. Jose's love, hoping all things, put the most favourable interpretation on this marble-like coldness ; but when they entered the gate, and, at the point where their paths diverged, Jose wished to accompany his friend as far as his house, the latter declined this in courteous language, but in a sharp tone. Jose thus went his own way alone, sad because of this abrupt parting, but yet full of a greater joy from the pleasure their united excursion had afforded him. As for Benjamin, he hurried off with rapid step, and, when out of sight of Jose, ran rather than walked. He was expected on this even- ing in the house of Menahem, the Ab-beth-din, — that is, the vice-president of the Sanhedrim. Love and Friendship in Conflict. 19 Menahem was a man of a good family, and occupied a position of influence at the court of King Agrippa. The high position of the family, as well as their wealth and refinement of manners, had a great attraction for Ben- jamin ; but still more so the daughter of the house, the beautiful and gifted as well as devout Schelamzi,^^ who to his eye was the bright centre of the whole — a diamond in a setting of gold. She regarded him, who did not seem to her inferior in rank to herself, with an interest which made him proud and happy, and by degrees set his heart on fire. This attachment, although it had not yet found expression, like a pent-up fire inflamed his whole being. The affection for Jose kept its ground, indeed, in presence of the rival passion, but was thrown by it into the shade. It was impossible that love to Jesus, the Messiah, could spring up in Benjamin's heart : that for Schelamzi excluded it In her family the Nazarene was derided as a beggar-king and a demoniac, and cursed as a traitor and an instigator to apostasy. 20 Jose and Benjamin. Benjamin was not a free man as regarded his friend. The persuasive force with which Jose urged him spent itself on a concealed barrier which, unknown to him, was forming a crust on the heart of his friend. Benjamin arrived later than he was expected ; and Schelamzi was penetrating enough to perceive that she was losing power over him in proportion as Jose, the disciple of the Nazarene, was gaining. When he excused himself on the ground that his walk with Jose had detained him longer than he had wished, she gave vent to her vexation in the hasty exclamation : " When will you wrest yourself from this serpent ? " " You may ask when," her mother broke in ; and added, more in spite than in anger, " but let our friend have his own way. If he is determined to be a m|n^® [heretic], a whole one is always better than a half." The father, however, now came forward, and said gravely, " Ladies, where are your thoughts wandering to ? You must not think that you Love and Friendship in Conflict, 21 have vinegar, the son of wine,^^ before you. A son of Boethus, in whose veins Alexandrian is mingled with Jewish blood, is not likely ever to sink to the level of a Galilean idiot. Sit down, my son," he continued ; " sit down, and tell us how you stopped the mouth of the officious Jose." " Yes, yes ! " exclaimed Schelamzi, who was getting composed again, now that she saw him before her; "tell us how you showed the fox that Benjamin is a ravening wolf.^^ But, first of all, drink this goblet of generous Lebanon wine, which has been long waiting you, and which I mixed with my own hand." As she said this, her voice resumed its clearest silver tones, and her eyes continued to rest on Benjamin, till the sense of insult offered to his friend was lost in the dominating influence of love to herself. " Well, then," said he, taking the glass, " I drink it in honour of the friendship of the family of Menahem, too sensible to give way to those foolish fears." 22 Jose and Benjamin, When he had drained the glass, Jose's image flitted reprovingly before his mind's eye, and his conscience accused him of treachery ; but all this disquietude was overborne by the rapture with which his heart beat in the presence of Schelamzi. What on his entrance had deeply offended him, appeared to him now in the light of anxious interest in his welfare, and as a pledge of affection which more than ever transformed Schelamzi in his eyes. The evening fled like a moment in an eternity, and he was sorry to be obliged to think of the hour and of going home. It was nearly midnight when he departed. The voice of conscience, stifled before, made itself heard, and he blamed himself for sacri- ficing his friend by his cowardly silence; the blissful feeling of the lover gave place to self- condemnation ; the conflict of thoughts which alternately accused and excused one another became more violent; and when he entered the house where his mother was still astir and looking for her darling, she said to him, after Love and Friendship in Conflict. 23 she had put some questions: "My child, you seem to me to-night so sad, so troubled ! Make haste, and get to rest. The Lord our God spread over you the pavilion of His peace." Physical Prostration. unbearable. He felt himself ill in mind and body. His sufferings drove him to God : but scarcely had he begun to compose himself to pray, when the thread of his thoughts was broken from the effects of the previous day* At length the mist of semi-consciousness settled down on the scene of this inward conflict^ and the notes of the priestly trumpets from the Temple battlements were interwoven with his delirious dreams without awaking him. Beruria, full of anxiety, was waiting for her Benjamin to come to morning prayer and to the morning meal. Seeing that he made no sign, she at length went to his room, and, approaching the bedside, exclaimed, " It is as I foreboded, — my child is sick ! O God, thou Father of the orphan and of the widow, have mercy upon us I " Hearing his mother's voice, Benjamin opened his large eyes with their long eye- lashes. The left eye, however, remained partially closed, small white spots having Physical Prostration. 27 the sleeper, and had examined the affected eye, and the hand, said, with cheerful mien, " Keep your mind easy, madam. The spots on the eyelids are small, and together are only the size of a grain of Cilician barley ; and the scurf on the hand is isolated and has no suspicious colour. Take seven grains of arsinoe wheat, roast them in an iron pan which has never been used, and with the oil which they will give out paint over the eye and the hand* of your son. I hope he will thus escape the * evil thing ' ^ and not fall into the hands of the priests, those ignorant gazers and venal turnkeys." And the wise man became so animated in the proud conscious- ness of his medical knowledge that Benjamin awoke. *' Make trial of your skill, Rab Ami : but if the Holy One — blessed is He — has ordained evil for us, we will do as His holy law requires." " But tell me, son of Boethus," exclaimed Rab Ami, "what happened to you yesterday that has made you so feverish, and has caused Physical Prostration, 29 natural that she should take every precaution to keep the illness of her son a secret. The character of the disease was still uncertain ; but rumour, with its proneness to exaggerate, would undoubtedly have anticipated the de- cision in an unfavourable sense, to the dis- credit of the family. Leprosy was regarded not only as a misfortune, but as a stigma ; indeed, the opinion was widely prevalent that it was possible to enumerate. the sins of which it was the punishment.^® Pointing back to Miriam, who was visited with leprosy because of her seditious language towards her brother Moses, ^^ evil-speaking was regarded as the special sin which was followed by this malady, whose name, indeed, was derived from it.^* How soon, therefore, would wicked tongues have been busied in stamping as a slanderer this high-minded youth, who, as matter of fact, was careful to adjust his words to the inward law of truth and love ! But to-day, and for several days to come, he was confijied to his bed, and was suffering so much Physical Prostration. 3 1 on the day of their excursion had left an uneasy impression on his mind, and he looked for his next visit with more than usual eagerness. He felt sure that Benjamin would come to him at latest on the third day. And now, as one day followed another, he was ready to question the reality and sincerity of his friend's love, and he blamed himself for the strength of his own affection, and said that he should be happier if he were able to free his heart from the en- thralment. Physical Prostration. 33 On Beruria's replying, "Yes, he is ill,"^ he begged her, while his eyes filled with tears, to permit him to see him. "That is impossible. Mar* Jose; it might do you harm." >. He then seized her hand, and covering it with mingled kisses and tears, exclaimed, — "O lady, mother of my friend, I cannot go away without seeing him ; grant me this one request Is not God with me ? " Beruria then conducted him upstairs to her son's room, where he stood a long time by her side, silent and absorbed in prayer. After a while his friend opened his eyes, when Jose took his hand and softly breathed the watch- word of their friendship, " My Benjamin." As the sufferer's face brightened and was suffused with his own beautiful smile, Jose bent over him, and placing his left hand under his head, with his right he stroked his hair and his cheeks, and kissing first his mouth and then the eye that was still whole, exclaimed, " Just as in * Mr. D Physical Prostration. 35 mained a long time stretched with his face to the ground, and when he rose, exclaimed, full of ecstatic joy : " The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works." In the family of the Vice-President Menahem there was also surprise that Benjamin remained away so long. Schelamzi was impatiently look- ing for him, and laid the blame on Jose : but as Benjamin's preference for her had not yet been openly declared, nor any close intimacy formed with his mother, it was not thought proper to make direct inquiries. Benjamin took ill in the night between the first and second days of the week. He had gradually become calmer, and was evidently stronger for the words spoken by Jose. The outward manifestations of the disease, however, increased instead of diminishing. He now insisted on sending for a priest to examine him and pronounce over him. The holding of a court of justice, and exam- ination by a priest, were alike forbidden on the Sabbath.^' His mother promised to bespeak a Physical Prostration. 37 The next day Chananja came. As he made a hurried examination of the young man, you could read in his face that the case was a serious one. " Shall I undress ? " Benjamin inquired, with trembling voice* "No, son of Boethus," replied Chananja. "The day is cloudy, and is not suitable for the examination. Besides, I dare not examine you here in the room ; it must take place in the open air, down in the court. It is cool rather than warm to-day, and might do you harm.^* To-morrow we may, perhaps, have a sunnier, warmer lyar day. I shall come between the eighth and ninth hour [between two and three in the afternoon], as soon as the Kodesch- Kodaschim" meal in the holy place is concluded. But tell me, my son, how did this poison steal its way into your pure blood ? You are not a backbiter : but examine yourself whether you have not been guilty of idolatry or of profaning the name of God for our sages place these sins in the forefront of those which have leprosy as 38 Jose and Benjamin. their consequence.^* Let me be frank with you ; you know we are cousins. I heard, in the house of the Ab-beth-din, that you are asso- ciating with a disciple of the Hung.^' Shake this serpent from your hand. Leprous scales are serpents' scales.^® What right have they on the unsullied body of a scion of a priestly house ? Leave them to the beggar rabble which com- poses the community of the bastard ! ^* It is, however, unnecessary to warn a son of Boethus against apostasy. Good-bye, my son. God grant that to-morrow my verdict may turn out in your favour." As he took leave of Beruria, he observed, "A wise physician commences the treatment from within." Next morning, when Beruria awoke out of the half-dozing state into which she had not fallen till long after midnight, she rose as noise- lessly as possible and ascended to the terrace of the house, fastening the door behind her. The house, which had long belonged to the family, was situated in Zion, in the present so-called Physical Prostration. 39 Arcade of St Peter. From the terrace there was an extensive view in all directions. The face of the orient sky was beaming in purest purple. Breaking through the purple, the sun, as it were an image of the divine glory, was soaring slowly, but confident of victory, above the glowing ridge of Olivet : while to the south- east, in the far distance, the discomfited mists sought a hiding-place in the bosom of the Dead Sea. The pinnacles and marble walls of the Temple stood out in dazzling splendour. The royal pond, on the other side of the Tyropoean, as if responding to the sun's greeting, swayed to and fro, stirred by the morning breezes ; and the palms, and cypresses, and sweet-pines among the houses blithely bent their heads as if to kiss each other. It was a festive, beauteous morn, but to Beruria the harbinger of a momentous day. She remained a long time leaning against the parapet, and many a tear rolled down her cheeks, to mingle with the dew-drops on the roses below. At length she moved, and made 40 Jose and Benjamin. her way to a sort of arbour, but still an en- closed room, attached to the second story, where she fell on her face and sobbed and prayed : " O Thou Father of the widow and of the orphan, let this day be a day of mercy to Thine handmaid and to the son of Thine hand- maid, and not a day of wrath — of deliverance, and not of reproach." But the divine response which awoke within her was the word : " My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways." When she rose, however, she felt strengthened by the assurance that God's thoughts toward her and her son were thoughts of peace and not of evil. 