"I have said that it belongs to Abu Ben Hesed, who dwells in the wilderness1 of Shur. For this journey alone was it ours. I must return it to its owner after that I have accomplished2 mine errand in yonder city."
The man looked at the boy steadily3 for a full minute; a slight smile curled the corners of his lips, but he turned his head so that the lad should not see it. "And thy business in Jerusalem, what might it be? Thou art perhaps a merchant seeking goodly pearls, or a purchaser of slaves, or perhaps a pilgrim?"
"My business is naught4 to thee; I have asked of thee a question, wilt5 thou care for the beast till I shall return? I will pay thee for it."
The man ran his eyes once more over the white dromedary, she shook herself and all the silver bells of the bridle6 rang merrily. "I will take care of her," he said, nodding his head once or twice and smiling again broadly; "and when wilt thou be pleased to return?"
"This very day at evening, if I shall find the man I would see. His name is Jesus. Canst thou tell me where to find him?"
"There be half a score of that name in the city. Dost thou mean Jesus Barabbas?" and the man laughed aloud, as if his thoughts afforded him secret pleasure.
"Is he a magician?" asked the lad eagerly.
"A magician? Dost thou mean a man whom the gods granted to be born under a lucky star?"
"Assuredly!"
"Then he is the man."
"What is thy name?" broke in a clear sweet voice.
"My name?" said the man looking startled, "Oh, 'tis thou, maiden8. My name is Gestas, my pretty one. Why dost thou ask?"
"That we may find thee when we shall return from the city. Can this Jesus Barabbas of whom thou hast spoken heal blindness?"
"Art thou blind?"
"Yes I am blind; I would be healed, and I have heard that a man named Jesus can heal blindness."
The man looked soberly for a moment at her blank eyes, he opened his lips as if to speak, then scratching his shaggy head reflectively, he again glanced at the white dromedary. "Go into the city," he said at length, "and ask for the man, some one will tell thee; I will care for the beast whilst thou art gone."
"Come, Anat, let us make haste," cried the lad joyfully9. "We must find him at once."
So the two went away towards Jerusalem, which lay not far distant, its walls and towers gleaming as whitely as though no lurid10 shadow of destruction hung from the avenging11 heavens above it.
As for the man whose name was Gestas, he laughed aloud as he seized the stately Mirah by the bridle. "Truly the gods love me," he said. "This beast will bring a goodly sum," and he struck the white dromedary across the face with his staff in order to let her know that she had a new master.
"Yonder is a venerable man," said Seth to the blind girl, when the two had entered within the gate, and he ran forward and plucked the man by the sleeve.
"Canst thou tell me where to find the man Jesus, who can heal blindness?"
The old man turned upon the lad with blazing eyes. "Beggar!" he cried, "get thee gone! How dost thou dare pollute mine ears with that name?"
Seth stared at him in amaze as he strode onward12, muttering angrily to himself, his snowy beard blowing over his shoulder in the light breeze.
"By the sacred Nile!" he exclaimed, "in what have I offended? Praise be to the gods, they have no such customs in Memphis. Well, I must even ask another."
Taking the blind girl once more by the hand, they walked a little further on. It was as yet early in the day, but the streets were alive with people hurrying to and fro. Merchants sitting comfortably at their stalls cried lustily to the passers-by to come buy of their goods; beggars whined13 out their piteous tales of woe14, and displayed their gruesome deformities to the averted15 eyes of the hurrying crowd; water-carriers clinked their brazen16 cups and bawled17 loudly of the cooling draughts18 which they carried in the goat-skins upon their backs. Once the two adventurers had to squeeze themselves back into an angle of the wall, while a platoon of Roman soldiers marched by, the sun glittering in dazzling splendor19 on their burnished20 shields.
Seth's heart had suddenly grown heavy within him, though he could scarce have told the reason. He almost feared to ask the question which hovered21 upon his lips of any of these busy, indifferent-looking people. Presently his eyes fell upon a blind man, feeling his way slowly along with a staff and whining22 out a dolorous23 cry for alms as he went. His heart sank lower still. "If there is a great magician who can heal blindness in this place," he thought, "why is not this man seeking him?"
Darting24 forward, he touched him upon the sleeve. "Canst thou tell me," he said timidly, "if there is a man called Jesus anywhere about--a man who can heal blindness?"
The beggar stopped short and turned his head. "There was such a man," he said, "but he is dead--crucified, three months since. I never found him," he added bitterly; "I came too late." Then he went on his way, and the boy heard his shrill25 voice rising and falling dismally26 adown the street. He stood still in the place where he was, staring stupidly after the man, the words "too late" still echoing in his ears.
"Curses upon thy stupid head! Why dost thou block the roadway?" And a smart blow across his cheek from the whip of a muleteer served to bring him to his senses. At the same moment he heard a cry from Anat; looking quickly around he saw her fall to the ground beneath the hoofs27 of the laden28 ass7 which the man was driving.
With a shrill cry of fear the lad sprang forward, and dragged the girl out from among the confused tangle29 of men and animals, the muleteer shrieking30 curses upon him, the other passers-by merely pausing an instant to stare curiously31 at the scene. No one offered to help him, and cold with fear he lifted the slender form in his arms.
There was a projecting arch near by, with a great doorway32 sunken deep into the wall of masonry33, in the shelter of this he laid his burden down, and looked into the beloved face in a very agony of terror.
"Anat! Anat!" he cried, bending over her. But there was no answer; the peach-like bloom of the brown cheeks had changed to a curious dusky pallor, the fringed lids had fallen over the sightless eyes, the slender hands were cold.
"Anat! Anat!" he repeated in a frenzy34. "Awake!" and he shook her by the arm, scarce knowing what he did. "My God! if she is dead!"
Just then with a harsh sound of rusty35 hinges the great door behind them swung open, and a turbaned head peered cautiously out. The lad started to his feet with sudden hope. "Kind sir!" he said beseechingly36. "My sister hath been grievously hurt; nay38, I know not if she be alive. Wilt thou give me a cup of water that I may try and bring back her soul?"
The man looked at him coldly. "This is the house of God," he said. "'Tis not meet that its threshold be defiled39 with that which is dead, 'tis an abomination in the sight of Jehovah. Get thee hence, the hour for prayer draweth nigh."
"Nay, but I beseech37 thee, by the love of Isis! Give me but a cup--a small cup of water!"
"Get thee hence!" said the man with a gesture of abhorrence41. "There is naught here for such as thou," and he made as though he would have pushed the senseless form of the blind girl into the street with his foot.
Seth's eyes blazed. "The curses of Sechet light upon thee!" he cried fiercely; "thou hast the withered42 heart of a mummy a thousand years dead!" Then he caught up his burden once more and fled away, the furious imprecations of the Jew sounding in his ears.
Hurrying blindly forward, he neither knew nor cared whither he was going, but he became conscious after a few moments that he had come into a quieter place. With a dim sense of relief he once more laid the limp figure down upon the pavement; this time, to his great joy, he heard a faint sound. She was trying to speak. He kneeled at her side and lifted her head to his knees. "Water! Water!" she moaned feebly.
He looked distractedly about him. The long narrow street was suffocatingly43 hot, on either side of it stretched blank walls of rough-hewn masonry, pierced occasionally with a deep-set door; two or three dogs skulked44 in the black shadow of an archway near by, and a flock of swallows swooped45 back and forth46 in the dazzling sunshine, crying out to each other with wild sweetness, but there was no human being in sight. He could hear the distant cries of the venders, and the shouts of the muleteers from the busy street which he had just left. It seemed to him presently, as he listened, that somewhere near by he could hear the cool tinkle47 of a fountain; he looked up, from the top of the wall above his head there fluttered a glimmer48 of green leaves. There must be--there was a garden there, and water, he was sure of it. He sprang up, and laying Anat's head carefully down, pulled impatiently at the bell which hung at the side of one of the sunken doorways49. After a long delay, every minute of which seemed a separate eternity50 to the boy, a panel in the door swung open, and the head of a man was thrust out.
"What wilt thou?" he said in a surly tone, as his eye fell upon the boy.
"Water! for the love of all the gods, water! my----"
"What dost thou mean, fellow," interrupted the man, scowling51, "by coming to the palace of the High Priest for water? The public fountains are for such as thou." And without further ado he shut the door with a decisive clap.
Seth stood for a moment as if stunned52, then he threw himself down upon the hot stones with a smothered53 cry of despair, and bowed his head upon his knees. After what seemed a long time a touch upon his shoulder aroused him, he looked up dully, his eyes red with weeping.
"What aileth thee, lad?"
He stared at the face of his questioner without answering. It was like no other face he had ever seen, and yet, strangely enough, something in the dark eyes brought back to him the dim memory of his mother. The young man--for it was a young man who had spoken--repeated his question, and this time the lad answered.
"My sister hath been trampled54 upon by a beast of burden. She is dying for water, no one will help me, my bottle is empty, and I know not where to find a fountain."
But the stranger did not wait to hear all, he was already sprinkling the face of the girl, who had again lapsed55 into unconsciousness.
"She is not much hurt," he said at length. "See, she is reviving already." And indeed under his skilful56 ministrations the color had begun to return to the cheeks and lips of the injured girl.
"But she is blind," said Seth, looking up wistfully into the face of the young man, "and we have come from Egypt, seeking for the man Jesus who can heal such. A beggar told me that he was dead, but it is not true?"
The face of the stranger glowed with a smile so angelic that the lad involuntarily cried out with wonder.
"Nay," he cried, "he is not dead, he liveth forever more at the right hand of God."
Then he fixed57 his eyes upon the lad. "Tell me," he said gravely, "all that hath befallen thee, and how it is that ye seek Jesus in this far country."
So the lad told him all. How that their parents had passed into the regions of the dead, leaving them alone; and how for many years he had cared for his blind sister; of the man who would have sold them into bondage58, and how fleeing from before his face they had first heard of the man who could heal blindness; of their awful journey in the wilderness; of their deliverance from the vultures, and their escape from the hand of Pagiel. When he ceased from speaking, the young man was silent for a space.
"Of a surety," he said at length, "the Lord hath led thee." Then raising his head he looked up into the dazzling blue of the sky.
"Thou who hast said, 'Lo, I am with thee alway even unto the end of the world,' look now upon this child who hath sought thee for healing, through weariness, and thirst, and pain, lo, these many days; and heal her, I beseech thee, by the hand of thy servant, according to her great faith."
Then stooping, while the lad held his breath with awe40, he laid his hand lightly, tenderly, upon the sightless eyes of Anat. "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth," he murmured, "receive thy sight."
And into the dark eyes of the maiden, erstwhile as irresponsive as soulless jewels, there flashed a look of intelligence. She gazed steadfastly59 into the eyes of the stranger.
"Art thou the man Jesus?" she whispered softly.
"Nay, my child," he answered, "I am but his servant Stephen."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
naught
|
|
| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
wilt
|
|
| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
bridle
|
|
| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
ass
|
|
| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
joyfully
|
|
| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
lurid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
avenging
|
|
| adj.报仇的，复仇的v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 )；为…报复 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
onward
|
|
| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
whined
|
|
| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
woe
|
|
| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
averted
|
|
| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
brazen
|
|
| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
bawled
|
|
| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
draughts
|
|
| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
splendor
|
|
| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
burnished
|
|
| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
hovered
|
|
| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
whining
|
|
| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
dolorous
|
|
| adj.悲伤的；忧愁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
darting
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
shrill
|
|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
dismally
|
|
| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
hoofs
|
|
| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
laden
|
|
| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
tangle
|
|
| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
shrieking
|
|
| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
masonry
|
|
| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
frenzy
|
|
| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
rusty
|
|
| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
beseechingly
|
|
| adv. 恳求地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
beseech
|
|
| v.祈求，恳求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
defiled
|
|
| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
abhorrence
|
|
| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
withered
|
|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
suffocatingly
|
|
| 令人窒息地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
skulked
|
|
| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
swooped
|
|
| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
tinkle
|
|
| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
glimmer
|
|
| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
doorways
|
|
| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
eternity
|
|
| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
scowling
|
|
| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
stunned
|
|
| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
smothered
|
|
| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
trampled
|
|
| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
lapsed
|
|
| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
skilful
|
|
| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
bondage
|
|
| n.奴役，束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
steadfastly
|
|
| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |