Part 6

He lay motionless, sunk in a deep sleep. But the first rays of the rising sun awakened him. He stretched out his arms as if to reach for the wine that stood now always before him. He grasped only the air. He groped and groped about and at last opened his eyes. He opened them wider and wider, distending them more and more. Where was he? He looked around, to this side and to that, above and below. He saw the abyss. Slowly and gradually it dawned upon him that he lay upon the brink of a high precipice. How had he come hither? Who had brought him? Slowly and leisurely he looked over the edge. If he should fall in.... Then he understood. This was his death-sentence. He had been condemned to death and the hands of his judges were to remain clean. His blood boiled. He wished to arise at once, but he was not strong enough. He rolled his head about, thumped the earth with his fists, gnashed his teeth. Weary and utterly exhausted, he remained lying there and somewhat later began to gaze around him. Where on earth was he?

He beheld before him a large sea girded by green mountains. It looked like a huge cauldron, over which arose the queen of day, pure, youthful and flaming. From the mountain forests far and near there wafted up to her a thin blue mist. The earth was uncovering itself before the sun, receiving its beams with delight, shouting to her in radiant green. Quite near to him there sparkled dazzlingly the snow-capped peak of Mount Lebanon, mischievously reflecting with all the colours of the rainbow its lance-like rays of the sun. And the calm, deep sea received into its bosom all the light of heaven and earth and redoubled their splendour.

Johanan lay and gazed without taking into account what he saw, but he was inundated with the surrounding splendour. And suddenly his lips began to murmur, “Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, Thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.”

Thus he murmured and his spirit was not with him. He did not know what issued from his lips. He repeated it several times. Always the same passages. “Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, Thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honour and majesty....” And his heart became softer and softer.

Then he suddenly became aware of what he was saying and was startled. God’s name upon his lips! He, full of God,—of God, against whom he had spoken, against whom he had rebelled so arrogantly! He burst into tears. Ever so softly, without the slightest sound, but his heart was torn, rent asunder. He was weeping over the last few weeks, over the wretched life he had been leading, and his subdued crying was filled with deep lamentation, filled with regret and repentance, yet his eyes did not turn from the great beauty and glory around him. It seemed to him that now, for the first time, he grasped that which all his life he had not known. He who creates such a wealth of beauty and splendour cannot be merely austere and harsh. And in his dejection he was consoled by the hope that God was good, merciful and loving.

He tried to arise, return to his people and tell them what he had there discovered, but his strength abandoned him. Then he knew that his end had come. He was terrified. God! Anything but to be left lying there in the ugliness of death! But soon he composed himself. He began to murmur a prayer, opening his eyes wide in contemplation of God’s beautiful world. And when he felt that his eyes were growing heavy, he made only a single movement—and he fell like lead into the deep waters.

ZERUBBABEL

ZERUBBABEL

I

It came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus,—that Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces. In the third year of his reign he waxed wroth against Vashti his wife, because she had once refused to do his bidding, and banished her from him. And after his wrath was appeased he regretted exceedingly what he had done and his heart was filled with yearning for Vashti. And his servants said, “Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king throughout all his provinces. And let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” And the plan pleased the king and he had it executed.

A Jewish youth dwelt in the city of Shushan, and his name was Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel. He was descended from the royal house of David,—a grandchild of the last of the Jewish kings,—and royal was his mien. He was tall in build and broad-shouldered; in his deep black eyes shone the glance of a ruler, and the long black hair that flowed over his neck bore witness to his strength. Whoever saw him grew fond of him and was inspired with respect, and the Jews were proud of him. He recalled to them their independence, lost but a short time since, and awoke in them thoughts of a better, an independent future. And there was a young Jewish maiden in Shushan, and she was called Sheshana, and more than aught else Zerubbabel loved her. She was his comfort and his joy,—his solace in dark moments and his rest after hard labour. Small she was, and tender, with white face and black tresses. Her whole soul was revealed in the dark eyes under the black silken strands of her lashes; a soul that was loveliness itself. Her laughter was clear and sparkling, and caressed the ears of her hearers, like silks from Damascus. Her mouth was ever open with laughter, and through her half-parted lips there glistened wonderfully white small teeth.

And it happened that when Ahasuerus commanded to appear before him all the fair daughters of his subjects, so that he might choose a wife from among them to replace Vashti, Zerubbabel knew that Sheshana would be the chosen one. So he concealed her in a place where the king’s servants would not be able to discover her, and did not leave her side, like a lion ready to pounce upon any one who should stretch out his hand to her.

But first he said: “You are beautiful, Sheshana, and there is none under the sun to equal you. You are the fairest of all Judea’s daughters and in vain will they seek among other tribes for another like you. A glance from you is the sweetest of sensations, and a kiss from your lips is eternity. Your body is like the breath of a sweet flower; happy and blessed is he who may enjoy it. Can it be, Sheshana—tell me—that you wish to be taken before the king? And it will come about that when Ahasuerus beholds you, he will sink to his knees before you, as if the goddess Astaroth had appeared before him in her fairest form. And you will become the wife of the king,—reigning as queen from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces. Great and powerful will you become,—arbiter over the life and death of all the king’s subjects, and all will tremble before you. Tell me, Sheshana, and I will free you at once. I myself will open the door for you....”

But she did not allow him to finish, and lay her small white hand across his mouth. She snuggled close to him with her tender, flower-like body and rested her head upon his strong bosom; her voice became frightened and tearful.

“Why do you scare your Sheshana, you wicked Zerubbabel? Picture me death and annihilation, speak to me of slavery and heavy chains; tell me that I shall grow ugly, with the face of a leper, and you will not frighten your Sheshana so much as with your talk of the king and his kingdom. How could you have spoken so? Tell me, how have I sinned to deserve it? Do you not yet know, then, how strong is my love for you? Tell me how to give you further proof of it and I will do so. Love speaks in various languages; have I not spoken to you in all of them? Have I not cooed to you like a dove, and have I not cried with passion’s fiery tongues? Have I not laughed in your embraces with my clearest laughter, and have I not wept for ecstasy in the sweetness of my love? You wicked Zerubbabel, my only one! My love is now like a stricken dove; it has lowered its wings and cast down its weary head in deep mourning, and it is you who have wounded it!”

She pressed Zerubbabel tightly to her, and his heart shouted with delight. He did not interrupt her speech, and every word from her deep-red lips rendered his breathing more difficult. He was unable to speak; his breast heaved; he drank in her love with his glowing eyes which were like an ocean that cannot be filled.

And Sheshana threw around his neck her bare white arms and whispered to him; her voice was like the voice of a distant violin.

“You are my king, and my kingdom is your love. It is greater and wealthier than that of Ahasuerus. The sun never sets upon my kingdom, and my rulership over it is unlimited. Your powerful bosom is my firm land, and upon it I build my most glorious palaces. Your eyes are my seas; I sink into them even as the sinking sun, and like the rising sun I look out from them, and my world is bathed in splendour and in light. Your mighty arms are my armies, and I am secure beneath their protection. I desire no other kingdom, and the whole world without you would be too small and too forlorn. My beloved, my only one, my fortress and my sun, protect your Sheshana, guard well your queen!”

More tightly than ever she pressed Zerubbabel to her, and his voice quivered with agitation, and yet it spoke of his great strength.

“Zerubbabel is with you, and woe unto him that dares stretch out his arm toward you, even though it be the king himself. But speak to me, Sheshana, speak to me, my glorious maiden. Open up Paradise to me with your words, and I become the god who dwells therein. Coo to me, my little dove, and fill my heart with blessedness.”

And Sheshana laughed with her clearest laughter, whispering then, “Small is Sheshana, but great is her love, boundless as the sea. But Sheshana asks for reward, and she languishes for a kiss!”

Zerubbabel clasped her to him with fiery passion; more fiery still was his kiss. For a long time he did not remove his lips from her own, and it was as if in that kiss he lived out his entire life. Again and again they united in their kisses, and Sheshana laughed with her clearest laughter. All at once she threw back her head and raised to his eyes her enchanting glance; playful and infinitely sweet was her voice. “And what would Zerubbabel do if Sheshana were to go off to King Ahasuerus?”

Zerubbabel felt a tremor in all his limbs, and he closed his eyes. Soon he opened them and his glance had become sinister. He embraced her firmly, as if to shield her so that none might take her away; his voice was hard. “I know a huge cliff, high above a deep abyss. Upon that cliff would Zerubbabel climb, and up there would he cry out his infinite grief. And the rock would crumble to dust from his cries and would disappear into the abyss with Zerubbabel.”

Now Sheshana felt a tremor in all her limbs; her countenance blanched and her lips could scarcely move. “Forgive me, dear, for having spoken thus.” And Zerubbabel clasped her to him with all the strength of his passion; his eyes burned; he pressed his fiery kiss upon her lips. “You are mine, mine alone, for all eternity!”

II

According to the tale, King Ahasuerus selected as his wife Esther, the cousin and foster-daughter of Mordecai, the son of Jair. And Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Aggagite, became the favourite of King Ahasuerus, who set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king’s servants that were in the king’s gate bowed and reverenced Haman. Except Mordecai. This angered the son of Hammedatha, and his heart was filled with wrath. But he scorned to wreak vengeance on Mordecai alone. His rage was like a sea that overflows its shores; in this sea he desired to drown and destroy the entire Jewish people. Then he came before the king and asked of him permission to annihilate the Jews. He offered ten thousand talents of silver and spoke plain words.

“There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom. And their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.” This was poison in the king’s ears,—poison in his heart, and he even renounced the money. He took his ring from his hand and gave it to the Aggagite to do with the Jews as his heart desired. Whereupon Haman issued a decree in the name of the king, sealed with the king’s ring, to all the hundred and seven and twenty provinces of King Ahasuerus, to destroy, to kill and cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, upon the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.

The Jews learned of all that had been planned and a great terror descended upon them; their fright knew no bounds. They raised a loud and bitter cry, rent the clothes upon them and put on sackcloth with ashes. They sought counsel but found it not. Who would save them from certain death? Where should they turn and whither should they go? Where could they hide and whither might they flee? In their great terror and in their great misfortune they raised their eyes to Queen Esther. Esther must help them,—Esther, the Jewish daughter upon the royal throne. And Mordecai, her cousin, turned to her, asking that she go to the king and make supplication to him for her people. Esther could not make up her mind, because whosoever came unbidden before the king was put at once to death, and she had not been summoned to him for thirty days.

Mordecai sent sharp words to her.

“Think not that you of all the Jews will escape because you are in the king’s house. For if you altogether hold your peace, then shall help and deliverance come to the Jews from another place; but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed; and who knows but that you ascended to royal power for just such a time as this?”

Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:

“Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and then will I go in to the king, despite the law. And if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. The Jews assembled in their meeting-house in Shushan, weeping, fasting, wailing and hoping in Esther. And when any one opened the door and came in, he was greeted with tear-stifled voices: “What says Esther? What does Esther? What news of Esther?”

III

But Zerubbabel, when he learned of Haman’s decree, neither rent his garments nor covered his head with ashes. His locks spread even more spiritedly over his neck and his eyes blazed with a wild wrath. His hands rolled up into iron fists and he fluttered them in the air like the wings of an eagle. He raised his voice, and it was like the voice of thunder.

“Oh, they shall regret it! The Jewish people is to them a shattered heap, easy to destroy and to annihilate, a mob without rights, to whom each may do as he pleases. But they will learn that it is not as they have imagined. They will pay too dearly for every Jewish life, and our defeat will be their greatest disaster. They shall regret it! They shall regret it!”

And as he spoke with head raised proudly erect, waving fists that had hardened to steel and iron, there arrived a messenger, bringing him report of the conversation between Mordecai and Esther and calling him to the meeting-house, where all Jews were beginning to assemble, to fast for Esther three days and three nights. Zerubbabel’s eyes lighted up with fury and he said to the messenger, “Go tell him who sent you that the fate of a people cannot depend upon a woman and the extent to which she pleases her husband. Go tell him that now is no time for fasting and weeping. With weapons in their hands will they destroy the Jews; with weapons in their hands must the Jews make their stand.” And to those near him he turned, saying, “You have heard what I said. Go and spread it among the people, that thus spoke Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel the son of Jehoiachim, King of Jerusalem: ‘Let them gather in the meeting-house if they will; not to fast or weep, however, but to consider means of defence.’”

But those about him did not obey him willingly, and one of them said, “Let us wait and see what Esther can do.” Zerubbabel grew red with anger and cried to the speaker, “One can see that you are the son of a servant and your soul is the soul of a born slave. Out of my sight and let me never see you again!” And his messengers departed from him to spread his words among the people, doing so, however, with shrugging of the shoulders and hidden laughter. And Zerubbabel arose and himself went to the meeting-house, to summon the Jews to battle and self-defence. On the way thither he visited many houses, finding in the majority of them only women and children or aged and infirm persons who could not move their limbs. For all the men, young and old, who possessed any strength in their loins, were gathered in the meeting-place. And everywhere he went he found tears and despair,—sackcloth upon their bodies and ashes upon the heads. And everywhere he went he was greeted with the same wailing, stammered question: What was Esther doing? Did he not have news of her? Or hadn’t the king summoned Esther to him? And when he began to speak of battle and self-defence he was looked upon as if he spoke an unknown language.

One very old man said to him, with lips that scarcely could move and in a voice barely audible, “You speak of resistance and self-defence. Young man, I knew your grandfather Jehoiachim and your granduncle Zedekiah. They, too, gave battle and raised their heads against Nebuchadnezzar, and the result was our exile. No, my young man, summon not to battle and self-defence. We must fast, only fast, and Queen Esther will come to our rescue.” And Zerubbabel realised that as the old man spoke, so spoke all his people, and he departed for the meeting-house, with lowered head and lagging step.

IV

Zerubbabel stopped upon the threshold of the meeting-house and surveyed the great assembly. And when he saw the men with tear-stained eyes and with their hands upon their heads, his eyes flashed and his lips turned white with scorn and ire. He was surrounded by the crowd, the old men pressing close to him and the young men in the rear.

“What have you brought us, Zerubbabel?” the old men asked. “Open your lips and tell us what news of Esther and what do you know of her?”

The questions were to his anger like oil upon flames, and he opened his mouth to speak harsh words. “Why do you ask me of Esther? What do you wish, you greybeards, of that woman? And what shall I tell you of her?—Am I, then, her sweetheart, and shall I tell you of her beauty,—the sweetness of her body and the charm of her love?”

The assembly gaped at him in stupefaction, and the elders spoke again to him: “What has come over you, Zerubbabel, and what have you on your heart? You are wroth and speak harsh words to us. Or can it be that you do not know what has happened? That a great disaster impends over the Jews,—complete annihilation? And who can help us if not Queen Esther? Or do you know another aid? Speak, and we will hear.”

Zerubbabel rose to his full height; his eyes lighted up, and his voice was as hard as steel and iron. “Yes, I know another aid, and I have come to tell it to you. It lies _within you_,—in your courage and in your arms!”

His hearers received his words, mouths agape with surprise and astonishment; Zerubbabel spoke further and his voice throbbed with warmth. “Why do you eye me so? Or can you have misunderstood me? Your salvation lies in you alone,—in your courage and in your arms. Why have you so yielded to despair? And why have you covered yourselves with ashes; wherefore your fasting? Are you weakening your bodies so as to make the work of your enemies all the more easy? I tell you, rather arm yourselves. Gird your loins and strengthen your muscles. Instead of wringing your hands over your heads and despairing, learn how to brandish a sword; instead of blinding your eyes with tears, teach them to aim an arrow. Be not like sheep who are easily led to the slaughter, but like lions that stand forth against their pursuers. It is only a game for one to seize a sheep and kill it, but the heart of the lion-hunter trembles, and only one out of a thousand can hunt lions. You sit and weep and fast and torture yourselves, and our enemies will mock and laugh. ‘We need not whet our swords,’ they will say. ‘With our dog-whips we’ll be able to strike dead the starved and terrified Jews.’ And they will praise Haman for the permission he secured from the king and must even now be rejoicing beforehand over the Jewish property that will so easily be surrendered to them. But if they learn that you propose to make a bold, heroic stand against them,—that your hands are skilled in wielding the sword and your eyes trained to direct the dart, they will look upon you with respect and admiration. They will no longer laugh or mock, but will consider the matter well. And they will say, ‘We have permission from Haman, but who will provide for our widows and orphans in case we fall at the hands of the Jews?’”

When he had spoken thus and more, the elders shook their heads and the youths looked at the ground in embarrassment. At last the old men could restrain themselves no longer and broke in upon his speech. And they said, “You are young in years, Zerubbabel, and speak according to your years.”

Zerubbabel, however, interrupted them and his voice echoed with scorn. “I am young in years! How could I have failed to foresee that such would be your answer! I am young in years! But of what avail are your grey hairs, when you, too, are at a loss for counsel and place your hopes upon a woman’s undergarment? I am young in years! But young in years and even younger than I was my grandfather David, yet he delivered the Jewish people from Goliath. Just as you here, now, so then, too, your men were in despair. They were frightened and trembling and knew not whither to turn for help. Then came young David and brought them salvation. Young in years, but he knew that a little stone, well aimed and well delivered, was more effective than fasting, more powerful than tears. Therefore I say to you, why do you reckon my years for me? See, I bring you deliverance. Be not like women,—‘cry babies’ who begin to weep at whatever happens to them. Be men, who feel the strength of their arms and the power of their loins. Come, let us cry out a manifesto in the streets: ‘Haman has purchased the Jewish people and given it over to annihilation, but the Jewish people is not an object to be bought and sold, nor will it accept its destruction idly. The Jews have armed themselves and they are being trained for battle. And when their enemies fall upon them to kill and wipe them out, they will defend themselves even as the lioness defends her cubs, and for every Jew that perishes ten of his opponents will forfeit their lives. Come, let us make public this manifesto and you will see how much longer the countenances of our opponents become and how downcast they will look. Cast off your sackcloth, I tell you; wipe off your ashes and straighten out your shoulders. Gird your loins and take double-edged swords in your hands. And you will see that aid will come to you, and your blessing will fall upon Zerubbabel.”

His countenance blazed like a torch and he looked upon the assembly with the eyes of a leader. But all eyes were turned away from him and the elders shook their heads. At this moment the door opened and Mordecai entered. All rushed toward the newcomer, surrounding him and showering him with their questions.

“What says Esther?”

“What does Esther?”

“What news of Esther?”

V