"Thou wouldst have told a different tale not many years since." And the speaker laughed. "Poof! I am cold," he continued, stooping to stir the fire. "We might as well have gone back before the sun set; there is no fuel here."
The other man shrugged1 his shoulders indifferently, and spread his lean fingers over the scanty2 fire. But he said nothing; after a time his companion spoke3 again in a slow, meditative4 way, as if to himself:
"My lord will say this: 'A poorer than I hath need of the beasts, therefore he hath taken them. Would that he had asked me, and I would have given him freely; nevertheless if he hath need, it is in itself sufficient to excuse the deed.'"
"Verily," broke in the other with a sneer5, "and because of this senile madness the tribe waxes poorer day by day. Abu Ben Hesed is a fool! I, Ben Kish, say so. What inheritance will my sons have that is worth the having if these things continue?"
"Senile madness, dost thou call it? And what says Ben Abu, who succeeds as chief when the old man shall be gathered to his fathers?"
"I have no dealings with him," answered Ben Kish sullenly6. "He harps7 continually on the same string. 'Do this because the Nazarene commanded it. Forbear the other because the Nazarene declared that it was wrong.' What do I care for this dead Nazarene or his sayings? Moreover I do not believe the tales that they tell of him, nor do any believe in Jud?a, save them that be poor and have nothing to lose thereby8. I asked concerning the thing when I went up to Jerusalem of a great Rabbi, whom I saw in the temple. I had paid my vows9 and offered my sacrifice according to the law, and I heard the man speaking to the people concerning this new doctrine11 of the Nazarene. 'Blasphemous12,' he called it; 'a cunning device of Satan to entrap13 the foolish of heart, and above all, contrary to the law of Moses.' Moreover, them that practise these unlawful sayings in Jerusalem are shortly to be dealt with."
"Said he so indeed?" exclaimed the other man, who was called Simeon. "Then is it something more than senile madness that doth ail15 our worshipful lord; the devil himself hath a hand in it."
"Listen," said Ben Kish, leaning toward his companion, "I am minded to tell thee what he further said to me in private. Swear to me that thou wilt16 not reveal it?"
"By the temple!" cried Simeon readily.
Ben Kish looked behind him and on either side as if he feared that some one might be lurking17 near. The glimmering18 wastes of desert showed vast and empty, stretching away beneath the keen sparkle of countless19 stars; the night wind wandering in the hollow darkness cried aloud for loneliness; the crouching20 camels stared at the meagre fire and chewed their cuds in drowsy21 contentment. "I have a feeling that some one is near--and listening," he said, shivering a little, and throwing a fresh handful of fuel on the dying fire.
The other man laughed, but he also shivered. "There is always that feeling in the desert at night," he said. "It must be the stars, that look down like large eyes out of heaven; or the wind, that hath in it the sound of a woman wailing22 for her dead. But what hast thou to say to me?"
"Thou hast sworn?"
"I have sworn--and by the temple; what more wouldst thou?"
"I spoke with him concerning our chief," said Ben Kish, "of how he came up to Jerusalem and fell in with them that told him of the Nazarene, and how that since that time he doth continually exhort23 and preach to us concerning the man, calling him the Messiah, the Holy and Righteous One foretold24 by the prophets and by Moses.
"'Alas,' said the Rabbi, 'he hath been snared25 by evil counsels, and he will also lead away after him all that hear.'
"'He hath not so led me,' I said, 'for I believe not on a man who commands that if an enemy smite26 thee on one cheek, thou immediately turn to him the other that he may smite again; and if a thief take away thy camel let him have thy horse also; it is unjust!'
"'It is not only unjust; it is unlawful,' said this wise Rabbi. 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is the law--a good law and wise.'"
"Yet must we submit to the chief of our tribe," said the man who listened, "that is also the law."
"Nay27, friend," cried Ben Kish triumphantly28, "listen still further. I said something of the like to the wise Rabbi, and he made me answer thus: 'The unbeliever and the blasphemer shall be cast forth29 and his inheritance shall be given to them which are faithful, for thus is it written in the law. If, therefore, there be them amongst you which are able, rise up and overcome this man who hath spoken thus blasphemously30, and cast him forth that the inheritance be thine; so may the Lord ever prevail against false prophets and workers of iniquity31.'"
"Holy Jerusalem!" exclaimed Simeon under his breath. "Smite Ben Hesed? Cast Ben Hesed forth from his own tribe? The man wot not of whom he was speaking."
"One must use discretion32 with such an one," admitted Ben Kish. "I have already spoken of the matter with the father of my wife. He is a wise man, as thou knowest, and he hath moreover a bitterness against Ben Hesed because that he spake severely33 to him of his dealings with the two Egyptian brats34, whom we found half dead in the desert some years ago. The man was ready to believe the word of strangers rather than the word of his sister's son, which was unjust; Pagiel moreover hath not forgotten the matter--nor will he forget."
"If Ben Hesed be cast forth, who would then be chief?" said Simeon, drawing his beard thoughtfully through his hand and looking intently into the coals.
Ben Kish studied the face opposite him in silence for a moment before replying. "Who else should it be but Pagiel, the next of kin10?" he said at length.
"And after him?"
"After him, the husband of his daughter, since his sons are both dead." And Ben Kish drew himself up proudly and looked about him as if he were already chief.
"Ah!"
"Hast thou aught to say against it?" demanded the son of Kish sharply, half involuntarily laying his hand upon the knife in his girdle. "Dost thou then prefer a chief who sends for his enemy when he hath been despoiled35 of him, and reasons with him forsooth, and gives him a present and soft words, instead of rising up and smiting36 him, as is the fashion of men since the world began? ay, and will be, despite the driveling commands of any number of false prophets. Betray me if thou wilt. Go to Ben Hesed and say: 'The son of Kish hath devised evil against thee in his heart, therefore smite him.' Would he smite me, the doting37 greybeard? Pah, I spit in his face!" And he leaned forward and spat38 venomously into the fire.
The other man laughed silently at sight of his rage. "I will not go to Ben Hesed with this tale," he said at length; "have I not sworn--and by the temple? Say on, friend, how wilt thou bring this thing to pass?"
Ben Kish looked at him suspiciously. "I will say no more," he said sullenly. "If thou wilt side with the follower39 of the Nazarene, who is become a fit prey40 for the vultures because of his blasphemous folly41, well. But I tell thee that strange things will come to pass. Thou wilt see it."
"I have not said that I believe in the Nazarene," said his companion. "The old law is good; as for Ben Hesed, I----" he stopped short and stared fixedly42 at a certain red coal which winked43 sleepily at him from the midst of the fire, and from which he seemed presently to have gotten some further inward light, for he went on more briskly. "I also have an account to square with Ben Hesed, therefore thou mayest speak freely with me; I promise thee that I will help on the lawful14 issue in this matter, and that right diligently44."
"Dost thou swear this?"
"By the soul of my father; by the God of the Covenant45, and by the stars of heaven."
"Well then, to-morrow Ben Hesed will set forth for Jerusalem--never mind how I know, thou wilt see--he will set forth, he and certain chosen ones of his who also believe on the Nazarene; and we will remain behind in charge of the stuff--of the women, of the children, the young men, the maidens46, the tents and the furniture thereof, the herds47 and the flocks."
"But he will return."
"He will not return, he nor any that go forth with him, nor shall any know what hath befallen him."
"And how canst thou accomplish this?"
Ben Kish looked about him once more; the stars were very bright over-head now, and the lonely wind wailed48 loudly in his ear; it swept away with a moan into the empty desert, the loose sand leaping up beneath the trail of its unseen garments.
"There be many things under the sun," he said at length, his face whitening a little--"of which thou hast not heard, and of which I have heard only a moon since. This is one of them." And he drew from his breast a tiny flask49 of crystal, filled with a colorless liquid. "I have but to drop the contents of this flask into water," he whispered, leaning forward, and laying his hand upon his companion's breast, "and they that drink thereof will sleep--sleep sound and long."
"What meanest thou?" exclaimed the other, drawing back into the friendly darkness.
"They will wake no more who drink, either for war or peace; the desert shall work its will upon them who have trodden under foot the law."
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1
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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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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meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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7
harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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8
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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10
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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11
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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entrap
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| v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套 | |
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lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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ail
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| v.生病，折磨，苦恼 | |
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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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17
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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18
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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19
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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22
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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exhort
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| v.规劝，告诫 | |
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foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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snared
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| v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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27
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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30
blasphemously
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31
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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32
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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33
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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34
brats
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| n.调皮捣蛋的孩子( brat的名词复数 ) | |
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35
despoiled
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
smiting
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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37
doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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38
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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39
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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40
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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41
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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42
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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43
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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44
diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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45
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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46
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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47
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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48
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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