"How can that be, Anat? I see no one."
"It matters not, there is some one; I can hear the tinkle1 of the harness bells, it is from the desert they come."
"A caravan2 thinkest thou, little one?" said Seth, looking with an indulgent smile at the flushed face with its strange widely-opened dark eyes.
"Nay," said the girl after a pause, shaking her head decidedly; "there is but one--one on a swift dromedary."
"By Horus! thou art right, I see the man now, he is coming this way." And shaking his tinkling3 cups, the lad darted4 away to meet the traveler.
"Water! Fresh cool water, the gift of God to the thirsty!" he cried aloud. And the stranger, scorched5 by the withering6 breath of the desert, gladly dismounted and drank deep of the proffered7 cup.
"God grant thee peace, whoever thou art!" he said in a low deep voice, turning his piercing eyes upon the boy. "How doth it chance that thou art here in the desert? Surely not many come this way. Why art thou not rather plying8 thy trade in yonder city?" He felt in his wallet for a coin as he spoke9.
The boy flushed deeply and hung his head without answering.
"It is a happy chance for me that thou hadst the desert traveler in thy thought," continued the stranger with a smile of singular sweetness, "for I could no longer abide10 the brackish11 water of the march, and was pushing ahead of the caravan with all possible speed for a draught12 from a certain cool fountain that I know not far from here."
"The fountain of Kera?" said the boy, looking up.
"Even so, and it is of that I have just drunken? Ay, I thought so, though it is many moons since I have tasted it." Stroking his long beard thoughtfully, the stranger continued, "I shall wait here now till the others come up, it will not be long. Who sits yonder in the shadow of the rock?"
"My sister," replied the lad briefly14. "She is blind," he added, moved by a sudden impulse.
"Blind? Ah, the pity of it, the pity of it!" said the man, passing his hand swiftly across his eyes. "Would to God"--then he broke off suddenly and commanded his dromedary to lie down; the beast obeyed, moaning and shaking his head. "He also smells water, yet hath he drunken his fill yester eve. Be quiet, Neha! thou shalt again drink.--And the little one is blind?"
"Yes, but she hath wonderful hearing," said Seth proudly. "She heard the tinkle of thy harness bells before I saw thee."
"Yes, yes! I know, no one better, it was once so with me, but seeing is also good. Thanks be to the Wonderful, the Prophet of Israel, I know that now!"
The lad looked at the man in puzzled silence. They had now approached the great rock, in the shadow of which the blind girl was sitting.
"Greetings to thee, little one!" said the stranger, sitting down in the sand near the child and looking earnestly into her dark sightless eyes.
"Who is it that is speaking to me?"
"Do not fear, Anat, I am here," said Seth, quietly possessing himself of one of the slender brown hands.
"I am not afraid; the voice is good."
"Where dwellest thou?" continued the stranger.
"We are even as the wild goats of the desert," said the boy bitterly, "wandering among the rocks by day, and at night sleeping where the night overtakes us."
"Surely thou art not alone in the world," urged the stranger, "thy parents, where are they?"
"The Nile hath risen seven times now since they passed into the regions of the dead," said Anat, raising her drooping16 head. "Many passed with them by reason of a great sickness. I also was stricken, and afterward17 mine eyes were darkened, not suddenly, but slowly even as the evening deepens into the black night. It is always night now."
"Ah, yes!" said the stranger sighing, "a night wherein one hath strange dreams, and where fear standeth by the pillow of sleep, and walks always at the right hand in the waking hours."
"And thou alone carest for the little one?" he continued, fixing his keen eyes upon the boy.
"I alone," said the boy proudly. "We dwelt among yonder hills, and I plied13 my trade in the city below, but--" here he checked himself suddenly, and looked suspiciously at his questioner. "Wilt18 thou not break thy fast?" he said at length. "Thou art our guest."
The stranger bowed his head gravely, laying his hand upon his breast as he did so. He understood.
Then Seth made haste and fetched from a neighboring crevice19 in the rock dates and parched20 corn together with a gourd21 of water. Their guest ate of the food, the lad also and the maiden22.
"I was blind," said the stranger at length rising, "and I was healed of my blindness by the great prophet of Israel. They call him Jesus."
"Where dwells he?"
"In Jerusalem, far away beyond the wilderness23," and he pointed24 towards the desert from which he had just come.
"Dost thou return thither25?"
"Not many days hence, when I shall have sold my goods and loaded my camels. I shall not forget thy hospitality; when I again pass this way fetch me water, my son, and hear what I shall say to thee. Maiden, I salute26 thee! Farewell." And he sprang upon his beast and was gone in a swift cloud of dust toward the slow-moving caravan, which crawled like a snake over the yellow wastes of the desert.
Seth did not run with his water-bottles and his tinkling cups to meet them, as was his wont27. He sat silent in the shadow of the great rock, thinking.
Anat also was silent for a time, then she said timidly: "I would that I too might see the man of blessing28, he who dwells beyond the wilderness and hath power to restore sight to the blind. There is no one in the land of Egypt who can do the like."
"We have no treasure to give him; would he not say to us, 'Where then is thy gold, or thy precious stones, or thy beasts of burden, before I shall do this thing for thee?' Thou knowest not the ways of magicians; I know, for I have heard, yet is there no magician in all Egypt who can cure blindness."
Anat sighed. "I have my mother's necklace," she said at length, laying her hand upon the string of coins about her neck. "Some of them are of gold and very heavy." Then she caught her breath with a half sob29. "The men--yesterday--they would have sold us. I--yes, I would be a slave if only I might see!"
"I will be a slave, and thou shalt have thine eyes together with thy freedom," cried Seth, starting to his feet. "I will say to the man, give thou sight to these eyes and I am thy bondman from henceforth and forever. I will serve thee with my heart's blood."
"I also will serve him, for I will not leave thee, my brother; but how shall we pass the wilderness?"
"There are many caravans30 passing through," said the lad, looking with troubled eyes into the distance, "but the way is long and we have no beast."
"The stranger who ate of our bread, will he not take us to that far country?"
"It may be----" began Seth, then he stopped suddenly--Anat had grasped his arm convulsively, her face pallid31 to the lips.
"The voices!" she gasped32. "I hear them, they will sell us into bondage33! Let us hide, quick!"
Without a word the lad hurried her into a narrow cleft34 in the rocks not far distant. Here, tugging35 with all his strength at a broad stone which was half buried in the drifting sand, he at length succeeded in pulling it aside. The opening disclosed a flight of steps cut in the solid rock, winding36 down into impenetrable darkness. From the depths there ascended37 a stifling38 odor of resin39 and spices.
The girl drew back gasping40, "Not here!" she said faintly. "I am afraid; I cannot go further, it is the breath of the dead."
The lad hesitated an instant; he too heard the sound of voices and the tinkling of harness bells. "Listen," he whispered, "I know not the voices, but thou knowest."
"Yes, yes! it is the voice; I will go anywhere to escape."
The tinkling sound and the slow steps of the beasts of burden became momently louder, together with the harsh tones of a human voice.
"'Tis a fool's errand, Besa; thou hast lost what little wit the gods gave thee in thy tumble of yesterday. By Sechet! I have not yet done laughing to think of the way the little hell-witch served thee!"
"Who could know that the beggar understood Greek!"
"Pooh! that is nothing; no one better than the beggars, they whine41 for every man's gold in his own tongue. Ha, ha! 'Thou shouldst have perfumed garlands,' saidst thou with tongue as smooth as Sesame oil; then I saw only a flying bundle of red cloth. Besa was gone. Ha, ha!"
"Why didst thou not seize her, fool?" snarled42 the other, grinding his teeth. "I will find her should I look a lifetime, if only to twist that little singing throat of hers."
"That shalt thou not do, friend; that singing throat is gold and it is mine. Come, we will go back; they are not here."
"What is this?" said Besa triumphantly43, dismounting from his ass15 and holding up a brilliant bit of striped drapery; "this, or one like it, was on the girl's neck yesterday."
Amu, for so was the other man called, made no reply: he was looking fixedly44 into a narrow cleft of the rocks. Presently he too dismounted. "Some one has been here," he said, pointing to the fresh footmarks in the sand which had drifted deep into the opening.
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1
tinkle
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| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
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2
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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5
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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9
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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10
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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brackish
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| adj.混有盐的；咸的 | |
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12
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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13
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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19
crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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gourd
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| n.葫芦 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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26
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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27
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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29
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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30
caravans
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| （可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队） | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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35
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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36
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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37
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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39
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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40
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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41
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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42
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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43
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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44
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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