They were comparatively young, Aaron being twenty-eight and Rachel twenty-three, and they had been married five years. Hitherto they had lived in London, and the cause of their taking up their residence in Gosport was that Aaron had conceived the idea that he could establish himself there in a good way of business. One child had blessed their union, whom they called Benjamin. There was great rejoicing at his birth, and it would have been difficult to calculate how many macaroons and almond and butter cakes, and cups of chocolate and glasses of anise-seed, were sacrificed upon the altar of hospitality in the happy father's house for several days after the birth of his firstborn. "Aaron Cohen does it in style," said the neighbours; and as both he and Rachel were held in genuine respect by all who knew them, the encomium1 was not mere2 empty praise. Seldom even in the locality in which the Cohens then resided--the East End of London, where charity and hospitality are proverbial--had such feasting been seen at the celebration of a circumcision. "If he lived in Bayswater," said the company, "he couldn't have treated us better." And when the father lifted up his voice and said, "Blessed art Thou, the Eternal, our God, King of the universe, who hath sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to introduce our sons into the covenant3 of our father Abraham," there was more than usual sincerity4 in the response, "Even as this child has now entered this covenant, so may he be initiated5 into the covenant of the law, of marriage, and of good works." Perhaps among those assembled there were some who could not have translated into English the Hebrews' prayers they read so glibly6; but this reproach did not apply to Aaron, who was an erudite as well as an orthodox Jew, and understood every word he uttered. On this memorable7 day the feasting, commenced in the morning, was continued during the whole day. "I wish you joy, Cohen, I wish you joy;" this was the formula, a hundred and a hundred times repeated to the proud father, who really believed that a prince had been born among Israel; while the pale-faced mother, pressing her infant tenderly to her breast, and who in her maidenhood8 had never looked so beautiful as now, received in her bedroom the congratulations of her intimate female friends. The poorest people in the neighbourhood were welcomed; and if the seed of good wishes could have blossomed into flower, a rose-strewn path of life lay before the child. "He shall be the son of my right hand," said Aaron Cohen; and Rachel, as she kissed her child's mouth and tasted its sweet breath, believed that Heaven had descended9 upon earth, and that no mother had ever been blessed as she was blessed. This precious treasure was the crowning of their love, and they laid schemes for baby's youth and manhood before the child was out of long clothes--schemes destined10 not to be realised. For sixteen months Benjamin filled the hearts of his parents with ineffable11 joy, and then the Angel of Death entered their house and bore the young soul away. How they mourned for the dear one who was nevermore on earth to rejoice them with his beautiful ways need not here be related; all parents who have lost their firstborn will realise the bitterness of their grief. But not for long was this grief bitter. In the wise and reverent12 interpretation13 of Aaron Cohen, their loss became a source of consolation14 to them. "Let us not rebel," he said to his wife, "against the inevitable15 and Divine will. Give praise unto the Lord, who has ordained16 that we shall have a child in heaven waiting to receive us." Fraught17 with tenderness and wisdom were his words, and his counsel instilled18 comfort into Rachel's heart. Benjamin was waiting for them, and would meet them at the gates. Beautiful was the thought, radiant the hope it raised, never, never to fade, nay19, to grow brighter even to her dying hour. Their little child, dead and in his grave, brought them nearer to God. Heaven and earth were linked by the spirit of their beloved, who had gone before them: thus was sorrow sweetened and happiness chastened by faith. Sitting on their low stools during the days of mourning, they spoke20, when they were alone, of the peace and joy of the eternal life, and thereby21 were drawn22 spiritually closer to each other. The lesson they learned in the darkened room was more precious than jewels and gold; it is a lesson which comes to all, high and low alike, and rich indeed are they who learn it aright. For some time thereafter, when the mother opened the drawer in which her most precious possessions were kept, and kissed the little shoes her child had worn, she would murmur23 amid her tears,--
"My darling is waiting for me, my darling is waiting for me!"
God send to all sorrowing mothers a comfort so sweet!
Aaron Cohen had selected a curious spot in Gosport for his habitation. The windows of the house he had taken overlooked the quaint24, peaceful churchyard of the market town. So small and pretty was this resting-place for the dead, that one might almost have imagined it to be a burial ground for children's broken toys. The headless wooden soldiers, the battered25 dolls, the maimed contents of cheap Noah's arks, the thousand and one treasures of childhood might have been interred26 there, glad to be at rest after the ruthless mutilations they had undergone. For really, in the dawning white light of a frosty morning, when every object for miles around sharply outlined itself in the clear air and seemed to have lost its rotund proportions, it was hard to realise that, in this tiny churchyard, men and women, whose breasts once throbbed27 with the passions and sorrows of life, were crumbling28 to that dust to which we must all return. No, no; it could be nothing but the last home of plain and painted shepherds, and bald-headed pets, and lambs devoid29 of fleece, and mayhap--a higher flight which we all hope to take when the time comes for us to claim our birthright of the grave--of a dead bullfinch or canary, carried thither30 on its back, with its legs sticking heavenwards, and buried with grown-up solemnity, and very often with all the genuineness of grief for a mortal bereavement31. Have you not attended such a funeral, and has not your overcharged heart caused you to sob32 in your dreams as you lay in your cot close to mamma's bed?
But these fantastic fancies will not serve. It was a real human churchyard, and Rachel Cohen knew it to be so as she stood looking out upon it from the window of her bedroom on the first floor. It was from no feeling of unhappiness that her sight became dimmed as she gazed upon the tombstones. Shadows of children rose before her, the pattering of whose little feet was once the sweetest music that ever fell on parents' ears, the touch of whose little hands carried with it an influence as powerful as a heart-stirring prayer; children with golden curls, children with laughing eyes, children with wistful faces; but there was one, ah! there was one that shone as a star amid the shadows, and that rose up, up, till it was lost in the solemn clouds, sending therefrom a Divine message down to the mother's heart, "Mamma, mamma, I am waiting for thee!"
Quiet as was everything around her, Rachel heard the words; in the midst of the darkness a heavenly light was shining on her.
She wiped the tears from her eyes, and stole down to the room in which her husband was sitting.
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1
encomium
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| n.赞颂；颂词 | |
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2
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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3
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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5
initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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6
glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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7
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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maidenhood
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| n. 处女性, 处女时代 | |
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9
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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10
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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11
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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12
reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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13
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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14
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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15
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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16
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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17
fraught
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| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
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18
instilled
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| v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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20
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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24
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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25
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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interred
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| v.埋，葬( inter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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throbbed
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| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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29
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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30
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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31
bereavement
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| n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛 | |
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sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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