Historical Miniatures Part 3

Jochebed went about in Pharaoh's garden watering cuc.u.mbers; she went to and fro with her watering pot between the Watergate that opened on the river and the cuc.u.mber-bed. But sometimes she went through the gate and remained for a while outside.

Miriam, her daughter, pruned the vines which grew against the garden-wall, but seemed to direct her attention more towards the broad walk which led up to the summer palace of the princesses. Her head moved like the leaf of the palm-tree when the wind blows through it, looking sometimes towards the Watergate, sometimes towards the great walk, while her hands carried on her work. As her mother delayed her return, she went from the wall down to the gate, and out to the low river sh.o.r.e where the bulrushes swayed in the gentle south wind. A stonechat of the desert sat on a rock by the river, wagged its tail, and flapped its wings, as though it wished to show something which it saw; and chattered at the sight of something strange among the bulrushes. High up in the air a hawk hovered in spiral circles, eyeing the ground below. Miriam broke off some lotus-buds and threw them at the stonechat, which flew away, but kept its beak still pointing towards the rushes. The girl girt up her dress, waded into the water, and now saw her mother standing, hidden up to her waist in a forest of papyrus-reeds, bending over a reed-basket with a baby at her breast.

"Mother," whispered Miriam, "Pharaoh's daughter is approaching; she comes to bathe in the river."

"Lord G.o.d of Israel, have mercy on my child!"

"If you have given the child enough to drink, hasten and come."

The mother bowed herself like an arch over the child; her hair hung down like an insect-net, and two tears fell from her eyes on the little one's outstretched hands. Then she rose, placed a sweet date in its mouth, softly closed the cover, murmured a blessing, and came out of the water.

A gentle breeze from the land swayed the rushes and crisped the surface of the river.

"The basket swims," she said, "but the river flows on; it is red with blood and thick as cream. Lord G.o.d of Israel, have mercy!"

"Yes, He will," answered Miriam, "as He had mercy on our father Abraham, who obtained the promise, because he obeyed and believed, 'Through thy seed shall all the families on the earth be blessed.'"

"And now Pharaoh slays all the first-born."

"But not thy son."

"Not yet."

"Pray and hope."

"What? That the monsters of the river do not swallow him, that the waves of the river do not drown him, that Pharaoh's executioners do not kill him! Is that the hope?"

"The promise is greater, and it lives: 'Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.'"

"And then Amram thy father has fled."

"To Raamses and Pithom, where our people toil in the buildings; he has gone there to warn and advise them. He has done well. Hush! Pharaoh's daughter comes."

"But she cannot bathe in the blood of our child."

"She comes, however. But she is the friend of the poor Hebrews; fear not."

"She is her father's daughter."

"The Egyptians are our cousins; they are Ham's descendants, and we are Shem's. Shem and Ham were brothers."

"But Ham was cursed by his father Noah, and Kanaan was Ham's son."

"But Noah said, 'Blessed be the Lord G.o.d of Shem, and let Kanaan be his servant.' Have you heard? Shem received the promise, and we belong to him."

"Lord of Hosts, help us; the basket drifts with the wind! It drifts towards the bathing-house,--and the vulture up there in the air."

"That is a hawk, mother!" Jochebed ran up and down the bank, like a dog whom its master has deserted; she beat her breast, and wept great tears.

Steps and voices were audible. "Here is Pharaoh's daughter!"

"But the Lord G.o.d of Israel is watching over us."

The two women hid themselves in the reeds, and Pharaoh's daughter appeared with her attendants at the watergate. She stepped on the bridge leading to the bath-house, which was a hut of coloured camel's skin, supported by pillars which stood in the bed of the river. But the basket drifted against the bridge and excited the curiosity of the princess.

She remained standing and waited. Jochebed and Miriam could not hear what she said on account of the wind, but by her quiet movements they saw that she expected some amus.e.m.e.nt from the strange gift brought by the river. Now she sent a slave to the bank. The latter ran and broke off a long reed, which she handed to her mistress, who fished for the basket and brought it within reach. Then she knelt down and opened it.

Jochebed saw two little arms outstretched. The princess laughed aloud, and turned to the women. She uttered an expression of joy, and then lifted the infant, which nestled in her maiden bosom and felt about in her white robe. Then the princess kissed it, pressed it to her breast, and turned back to the sh.o.r.e.

Miriam, who had now lost all fear, stepped forward and fell on her face.

"See, Miriam," said the princess, whose name was Temma, "I have found a baby. I have received it from the Nile, and therefore it is a child of the G.o.ds. But now you must find a nurse for it."

"Where shall I find one, n.o.ble princess?"

"Search! But you must find one before evening. Do not forget, however, that it is my child, since I drew it out of the water. I have given him his name, and he shall be called Moses. And I will have him educated so that he becomes a man after our mind. Go in peace, and find me a nurse!"

Pharaoh's daughter went with her child up to the palace, and Miriam looked for her mother among the reeds, where she had waited and heard what Pharaoh's daughter had said and resolved.

"Mother, Pharaoh's daughter will bring up Amram and Jochebed's son.

Ham's children will serve Shem's. Praised be the Lord, the G.o.d of Shem!

Now you believe in the promise, mother!"

"Now I believe, and G.o.d be praised for His great mercy!"

THE HEMICYCLE OF ATHENS

After a hot day the sun began to sink, and the market-place lay already in shadow. The shadow rose and climbed up the Acropolis, on which the shield of Pallas still gleamed as the aegis of the city.

Before the vari-coloured colonnade stood a group of men who had a.s.sembled before the semi-circular marble seat called the Hemicyklion; they appeared to be awaiting someone's arrival before they sat down.

Among them were stately and handsome men, but there was also an extraordinarily ugly one, round whom, however, the others seemed to press. His face resembled that of a slave or satyr, and there were Athenians who thought they could trace in it the marks of all kinds of wickedness and crime. On hearing of such suspicions, Socrates is said to have remarked, "Think how much Socrates must have had to contend against, for he is neither wicked nor a criminal!"

This was the man known to the whole population of Athens as an eccentric character who carried on philosophical discussions in streets and market-places, in drinking-houses and brothels. He shunned no society, and was on equally intimate terms with Pericles, the head of the state, and with the licentious Alcibiades. He sat down to table with tradesmen and artisans, drank with sailors in the Piraeus, and lived himself with his family in the suburb Ceramicus. When it was asked why Socrates was always out of doors, his friends answered, "because he was not comfortable at home." And when his more intimate friends asked how he could be on intimate terms with seamen and tax-gatherers, Socrates himself answered, "They are also men!"

At the philosopher's side, and when he sat, standing behind him, was always to be seen a youth, whose broad brow attracted attention. This was his best disciple, whose real name was Aristokles, but who, on account of his forehead, had the nickname Plato.

Vying with him in an almost jealous rivalry to appear by the Master's side, stood the beautiful Alcibiades.

The third after them was the stately austere Euripides, the tragic dramatist. Turning his back to the company, absorbed in thought and tracing designs on the ground, as though he were always at work, stood Phidias, the man "who made G.o.ds for Athens." On the edge of the fountain sat a man with his legs dangling and his mouth perpetually moving, as though he were sharpening his tongue for thrust and counter-thrust; his brow was furrowed and worn as though with fruitless thought, his eyes glowered like those of a serpent watching for its prey. That was the Sophist, Protagoras, the reasoner for hire, who for a few figs or a pair of obols, could make black seem white, but was tolerated in this brilliant society, because he could carry on a dialogue. They used him to enliven their meetings, and pitted him in argument against Socrates, who, however, always entangled him in the meshes of his dialectic. At last came the one they expected. It was the head of the State, who would have been king had not the kingship been abolished. His appearance was majestic, but his entrance without a body-guard was like that of a simple citizen. He ruled also only by force of his personal qualities--wisdom, strength of will, moderation, forethought.

After exchanging greetings which showed that they had already met that day, for they had been celebrating the deliverance from Persia at the Salamis festival, the company sat down on the long semicircular marble seat, called the Hemicyklion. When all had taken their seats, which were reserved for each according to prescription, a silence followed which was unusual in this circle, for they were accustomed to a.s.semble as if for an intellectual feast at every sunset. It was a symposium of minds, at which the excesses, according to Alcibiades, were only spiritual.

Alcibiades, the second youngest, but spoilt and aggressive, was the first to break the silence. "We have been celebrating the battle of Salamis, the day of our deliverance from the barbarians and the King of Persia, and I see we are tired."

"Not too tired," answered Pericles, "to forget the birthday of our friend Euripides, for, as we all know, he first saw the daylight when the sun shone on the battle of Salamis."