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diff --git a/10679-0.txt b/10679-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..264822f --- /dev/null +++ b/10679-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,981 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10679 *** + +THE STORY OF THE OTHER WISE MAN + +BY + +HENRY VAN DYKE + + + + + + +[Illustration: "IT IS THE SIGN" HE SAID] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +THE SIGN IN THE SKY + +BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON + +FOR THE SAKE OF A LITTLE CHILD + +IN THE HIDDEN WAY OF SORROW + +A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"'IT IS THE SIGN,' HE SAID" + +"HE CAUGHT IT UP AND READ" + +"'THERE IS NONE HERE SAVE ME"' + +"HE HEALED THE SICK" + +"THE OLD MAN FOLLOWED THE MULTITUDE" + +"THE OTHER WISE MAN HAD FOUND THE KING" + + + + + + _Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul, + May keep the path, but will not reach the goal; + While he who walks in love may wander far, + Yet God will bring him where the blessed are._ + + + +You know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they +travelled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger-cradle in +Bethlehem. But have you ever heard the story of the Other Wise Man, who +also saw the star in its rising, and set out to follow it, yet did not +arrive with his brethren in the presence of the young child Jesus? Of +the great desire of this fourth pilgrim, and how it was denied, yet +accomplished in the denial; of his many wanderings and the probations of +his soul; of the long way of his seeking, and the strange way of his +finding, the One whom he sought--I would tell the tale as I have heard +fragments of it in the Hall of Dreams, in the palace of the Heart of +Man. + + + + +THE SIGN IN THE SKY + + +In the days when Augustus Caesar was master of many kings and Herod +reigned in Jerusalem, there lived in the city of Ecbatana, among the +mountains of Persia, a certain man named Artaban, the Median. His house +stood close to the outermost of the seven walls which encircled the +royal treasury. From his roof he could look over the rising battlements +of black and white and crimson and blue and red and silver and gold, to +the hill where the summer palace of the Parthian emperors glittered like +a jewel in a sevenfold crown. + +Around the dwelling of Artaban spread a fair garden, a tangle of flowers +and fruit-trees, watered by a score of streams descending from the +slopes of Mount Orontes, and made musical by innumerable birds. But all +colour was lost in the soft and odorous darkness of the late September +night, and all sounds were hushed in the deep charm of its silence, save +the plashing of the water, like a voice half sobbing and half laughing +under the shadows. High above the trees a dim glow of light shone +through the curtained arches of the upper chamber, where the master of +the house was holding council with his friends. + +He stood by the doorway to greet his guests--a tall, dark man of about +forty years, with brilliant eyes set near together under his broad brow, +and firm lines graven around his fine, thin lips; the brow of a dreamer +and the mouth of a soldier, a man of sensitive feeling but inflexible +will--one of those who, in whatever age they may live, are born for +inward conflict and a life of quest. + +His robe was of pure white wool, thrown over a tunic of silk; and a +white, pointed cap, with long lapels at the sides, rested on his flowing +black hair. It was the dress of the ancient priesthood of the Magi, +called the fire-worshippers. + +"Welcome!" he said, in his low, pleasant voice, as one after another +entered the room--"welcome, Abdus; peace be with you, Rhodaspes and +Tigranes, and with you my father, Abgarus. You are all welcome, and this +house grows bright with the joy of your presence." + +There were nine of the men, differing widely in age, but alike in the +richness of their dress of many-coloured silks, and in the massive +golden collars around their necks, marking them as Parthian nobles, and +in the winged circles of gold resting upon their breasts, the sign of +the followers of Zoroaster. + +They took their places around a small black altar at the end of the +room, where a tiny flame was burning. Artaban, standing beside it, and +waving a barsom of thin tamarisk branches above the fire, fed it with +dry sticks of pine and fragrant oils. Then he began the ancient chant of +the Yasna, and the voices of his companions joined in the beautiful hymn +to Ahura-Mazda: + +We worship the Spirit Divine, + all wisdom and goodness possessing, +Surrounded by Holy Immortals, + the givers of bounty and blessing. +We joy in the works of His hands, + His truth and His power confessing. + +We praise all the things that are pure, + for these are His only Creation; +The thoughts that are true, and the words + and deeds that have won approbation; +These are supported by Him, + and for these we make adoration. + +Hear us, O Mazda! Thou livest + in truth and in heavenly gladness; +Cleanse us from falsehood, and keep us + from evil and bondage to badness; +Pour out the light and the joy of Thy life + on our darkness and sadness. + +Shine on our gardens and fields, + Shine on our working and weaving; +Shine on the whole race of man, + Believing and unbelieving; + Shine on us now through the night, + Shine on us now in Thy might, +The flame of our holy love + and the song of our worship receiving. + +The fire rose with the chant, throbbing as if it were made of musical +flame, until it cast a bright illumination through the whole apartment, +revealing its simplicity and splendour. + +The floor was laid with tiles of dark blue veined with white; pilasters +of twisted silver stood out against the blue walls; the clearstory of +round-arched windows above them was hung with azure silk; the vaulted +ceiling was a pavement of sapphires, like the body of heaven in its +clearness, sown with silver stars. From the four corners of the roof +hung four golden magic-wheels, called the tongues of the gods. At the +eastern end, behind the altar, there were two dark-red pillars of +porphyry; above them a lintel of the same stone, on which was carved the +figure of a winged archer, with his arrow set to the string and his bow +drawn. + +The doorway between the pillars, which opened upon the terrace of the +roof, was covered with a heavy curtain of the colour of a ripe +pomegranate, embroidered with innumerable golden rays shooting upward +from the floor. In effect the room was like a quiet, starry night, all +azure and silver, flushed in the East with rosy promise of the dawn. It +was, as the house of a man should be, an expression of the character and +spirit of the master. + +He turned to his friends when the song was ended, and invited them to be +seated on the divan at the western end of the room. + +"You have come to-night," said he, looking around the circle, "at my +call, as the faithful scholars of Zoroaster, to renew your worship and +rekindle your faith in the God of Purity, even as this fire has been +rekindled on the altar. We worship not the fire, but Him of whom it is +the chosen symbol, because it is the purest of all created things. It +speaks to us of one who is Light and Truth. Is it not so, my father?" + +"It is well said, my son," answered the venerable Abgarus. "The +enlightened are never idolaters. They lift the veil of the form and go +in to the shrine of the reality, and new light and truth are coming to +them continually through the old symbols." "Hear me, then, my father +and my friends," said Artaban, very quietly, "while I tell you of the +new light and truth that have come to me through the most ancient of all +signs. We have searched the secrets of nature together, and studied the +healing virtues of water and fire and the plants. We have read also the +books of prophecy in which the future is dimly foretold in words that +are hard to understand. But the highest of all learning is the knowledge +of the stars. To trace their courses is to untangle the threads of the +mystery of life from the beginning to the end. If we could follow them +perfectly, nothing would be hidden from us. But is not our knowledge of +them still incomplete? Are there not many stars still beyond our +horizon--lights that are known only to the dwellers in the far +south-land, among the spice-trees of Punt and the gold mines of Ophir?" + +There was a murmur of assent among the listeners. + +"The stars," said Tigranes, "are the thoughts of the Eternal. They are +numberless. But the thoughts of man can be counted, like the years +of his life. The wisdom of the Magi is the greatest of all wisdoms on +earth, because it knows its own ignorance. And that is the secret of +power. We keep men always looking and waiting for a new sunrise. But we +ourselves know that the darkness is equal to the light, and that the +conflict between them will never be ended." + +"That does not satisfy me," answered Artaban, "for, if the waiting must +be endless, if there could be no fulfilment of it, then it would not be +wisdom to look and wait. We should become like those new teachers of the +Greeks, who say that there is no truth, and that the only wise men are +those who spend their lives in discovering and exposing the lies that +have been believed in the world. But the new sunrise will certainly dawn +in the appointed time. Do not our own books tell us that this will come +to pass, and that men will see the brightness of a great light?" + +"That is true," said the voice of Abgarus; "every faithful disciple of +Zoroaster knows the prophecy of the Avesta and carries the word in his +heart. 'In that day Sosiosh the Victorious shall arise out of the number +of the prophets in the east country. Around him shall shine a mighty +brightness, and he shall make life everlasting, incorruptible, and +immortal, and the dead shall rise again.'" + +"This is a dark saying," said Tigranes, "and it may be that we shall +never understand it. It is better to consider the things that are near +at hand, and to increase the influence of the Magi in their own country, +rather than to look for one who may be a stranger, and to whom we must +resign our power." + +The others seemed to approve these words. There was a silent feeling of +agreement manifest among them; their looks responded with that +indefinable expression which always follows when a speaker has uttered +the thought that has been slumbering in the hearts of his listeners. But +Artaban turned to Abgarus with a glow on his face, and said: + +"My father, I have kept this prophecy in the secret place of my soul. +Religion without a great hope would be like an altar without a living +fire. And now the flame has burned more brightly, and by the light of it +I have read other words which also have come from the fountain of Truth, +and speak yet more clearly of the rising of the Victorious One in his +brightness." + +He drew from the breast of his tunic two small rolls of fine linen, with +writing upon them, and unfolded them carefully upon his knee. + +"In the years that are lost in the past, long before our fathers came +into the land of Babylon, there were wise men in Chaldea, from whom the +first of the Magi learned the secret of the heavens. And of these Balaam +the son of Beor was one of the mightiest. Hear the words of his +prophecy: 'There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall +arise out of Israel.'" + +The lips of Tigranes drew downward with contempt, as he said: + +"Judah was a captive by the waters of Babylon, and the sons of Jacob +were in bondage to our kings. The tribes of Israel are scattered through +the mountains like lost sheep, and from the remnant that dwells in Judea +under the yoke of Rome neither star nor sceptre shall arise." + +"And yet," answered Artaban, "it was the Hebrew Daniel, the mighty +searcher of dreams, the counsellor of kings, the wise Belteshazzar, who +was most honored and beloved of our great King Cyrus. A prophet of sure +things and a reader of the thoughts of God, Daniel proved himself to our +people. And these are the words that he wrote." (Artaban read from the +second roll:) "'Know, therefore, and understand that from the going +forth of the commandment to restore Jerusalem, unto the Anointed One, +the Prince, the time shall be seven and threescore and two weeks.'" + +"But, my son," said Abgarus, doubtfully, "these are mystical numbers. +Who can interpret them, or who can find the key that shall unlock their +meaning?" + +Artaban answered: "It has been shown to me and to my three companions +among the Magi--Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. We have searched the +ancient tablets of Chaldea and computed the time. It falls in this year. +We have studied the sky, and in the spring of the year we saw two of the +greatest stars draw near together in the sign of the Fish, which is the +house of the Hebrews. We also saw a new star there, which shone for one +night and then vanished. Now again the two great planets are meeting. +This night is their conjunction. My three brothers are watching at the +ancient temple of the Seven Spheres, at Borsippa, in Babylonia, and I am +watching here. If the star shines again, they will wait ten days for me +at the temple, and then we will set out together for Jerusalem, to see +and worship the promised one who shall be born King of Israel. I believe +the sign will come. I have made ready for the journey. I have sold my +house and my possessions, and bought these three jewels--a sapphire, a +ruby, and a pearl--to carry them as tribute to the King. And I ask you +to go with me on the pilgrimage, that we may have joy together in +finding the Prince who is worthy to be served." + +While he was speaking he thrust his hand into the inmost fold of his +girdle and drew out three great gems--one blue as a fragment of the +night sky, one redder than a ray of sunrise, and one as pure as the peak +of a snow mountain at twilight--and laid them on the outspread linen +scrolls before him. + +But his friends looked on with strange and alien eyes. A veil of doubt +and mistrust came over their faces, like a fog creeping up from the +marshes to hide the hills. They glanced at each other with looks of +wonder and pity, as those who have listened to incredible sayings, the +story of a wild vision, or the proposal of an impossible enterprise. + +At last Tigranes said: "Artaban, this is a vain dream. It comes from too +much looking upon the stars and the cherishing of lofty thoughts. It +would be wiser to spend the time in gathering money for the new +fire-temple at Chala. No king will ever rise from the broken race of +Israel, and no end will ever come to the eternal strife of light and +darkness. He who looks for it is a chaser of shadows. Farewell." + +And another said: "Artaban, I have no knowledge of these things, and my +office as guardian of the royal treasure binds me here. The quest is not +for me. But if thou must follow it, fare thee well." + +And another said: "In my house there sleeps a new bride, and I cannot +leave her nor take her with me on this strange journey. This quest is +not for me. But may thy steps be prospered wherever thou goest. So, +farewell." + +And another said: "I am ill and unfit for hardship, but there is a man +among my servants whom I will send with thee when thou goest, to bring +me word how thou farest." + +But Abgarus, the oldest and the one who loved Artaban the best, lingered +after the others had gone, and said, gravely: "My son, it may be that +the light of truth is in this sign that has appeared in the skies, and +then it will surely lead to the Prince and the mighty brightness. Or +it may be that it is only a shadow of the light, as Tigranes has said, +and then he who follows it will have only a long pilgrimage and an empty +search. But it is better to follow even the shadow of the best than to +remain content with the worst. And those who would see wonderful things +must often be ready to travel alone. I am too old for this journey, but +my heart shall be a companion of the pilgrimage day and night, and I +shall know the end of thy quest. Go in peace." + +So one by one they went out of the azure chamber with its silver stars, +and Artaban was left in solitude. + +He gathered up the jewels and replaced them in his girdle. For a long +time he stood and watched the flame that flickered and sank upon the +altar. Then he crossed the hall, lifted the heavy curtain, and passed +out between the dull red pillars of porphyry to the terrace on the roof. + +The shiver that thrills through the earth ere she rouses from her +night sleep had already begun, and the cool wind that heralds the +daybreak was drawing downward from the lofty snow-traced ravines of +Mount Orontes. Birds, half awakened, crept and chirped among the +rustling leaves, and the smell of ripened grapes came in brief wafts +from the arbours. + +Far over the eastern plain a white mist stretched like a lake. But where +the distant peak of Zagros serrated the western horizon the sky was +clear. Jupiter and Saturn rolled together like drops of lambent flame +about to blend in one. + +As Artaban watched them, behold, an azure spark was born out of the +darkness beneath, rounding itself with purple splendours to a crimson +sphere, and spiring upward through rays of saffron and orange into a +point of white radiance. Tiny and infinitely remote, yet perfect in +every part, it pulsated in the enormous vault as if the three jewels in +the Magian's breast had mingled and been transformed into a living heart +of light. He bowed his head. He covered his brow with his hands. + +"It is the sign," he said. "The King is coming, and I will go to meet +him." + + + + +BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON + + +All night long Vasda, the swiftest of Artaban's horses, had been +waiting, saddled and bridled, in her stall, pawing the ground +impatiently, and shaking her bit as if she shared the eagerness of her +master's purpose, though she knew not its meaning. + +Before the birds had fully roused to their strong, high, joyful chant of +morning song, before the white mist had begun to lift lazily from the +plain, the other wise man was in the saddle, riding swiftly along the +high-road, which skirted the base of Mount Orontes, westward. + +How close, how intimate is the comradeship between a man and his +favourite horse on a long journey. It is a silent, comprehensive +friendship, an intercourse beyond the need of words. They drink at the +same way-side springs, and sleep under the same guardian stars. They are +conscious together of the subduing spell of nightfall and the quickening +joy of daybreak. The master shares his evening meal with his hungry +companion, and feels the soft, moist lips caressing the palm of his hand +as they close over the morsel of bread. In the gray dawn he is roused +from his bivouac by the gentle stir of a warm, sweet breath over his +sleeping face, and looks up into the eyes of his faithful +fellow-traveller, ready and waiting for the toil of the day. Surely, +unless he is a pagan and an unbeliever, by whatever name he calls upon +his God, he will thank Him for this voiceless sympathy, this dumb +affection, and his morning prayer will embrace a double blessing--God +bless us both, and keep our feet from falling and our souls from death! + +And then, through the keen morning air, the swift hoofs beat their +spirited music along the road, keeping time to the pulsing of two hearts +that are moved with the same eager desire--to conquer space, to devour +the distance, to attain the goal of the journey. + +Artaban must indeed ride wisely and well if he would keep the appointed +hour with the other Magi; for the route was a hundred and fifty +parasangs, and fifteen was the utmost that he could travel in a day. But +he knew Vasda's strength, and pushed forward without anxiety, making the +fixed distance every day, though he must travel late into the night, and +in the morning long before sunrise. + +He passed along the brown slopes of Mt. Orontes, furrowed by the rocky +courses of a hundred torrents. + +He crossed the level plains of the Nisaeans, where the famous herds of +horses, feeding in the wide pastures, tossed their heads at Vasda's +approach, and galloped away with a thunder of many hoofs, and flocks of +wild birds rose suddenly from the swampy meadows, wheeling in great +circles with a shining flutter of innumerable wings and shrill cries of +surprise. + +He traversed the fertile fields of Concabar, where the dust from the +threshing-floors filled the air with a golden mist, half hiding the +huge temple of Astarte with its four hundred pillars. + +At Baghistan, among the rich gardens watered by fountains from the rock, +he looked up at the mountain thrusting its immense rugged brow out over +the road, and saw the figure of King Darius trampling upon his fallen +foes, and the proud list of his wars and conquests graven high upon the +face of the eternal cliff. + +Over many a cold and desolate pass, crawling painfully across the +wind-swept shoulders of the hills; down many a black mountain-gorge, +where the river roared and raced before him like a savage guide; across +many a smiling vale, with terraces of yellow limestone full of vines and +fruit-trees; through the oak-groves of Carine and the dark Gates of +Zagros, walled in by precipices; into the ancient city of Chala, where +the people of Samaria had been kept in captivity long ago; and out again +by the mighty portal, riven through the encircling hills, where he saw +the image of the High Priest of the Magi sculptured on the wall of +rock, with hand uplifted as if to bless the centuries of pilgrims; past +the entrance of the narrow defile, filled from end to end with orchards +of peaches and figs, through which the river Gyndes foamed down to meet +him; over the broad rice-fields, where the autumnal vapours spread their +deathly mists; following along the course of the river, under tremulous +shadows of poplar and tamarind, among the lower hills; and out upon the +flat plain, where the road ran straight as an arrow through the +stubble-fields and parched meadows; past the city of Ctesiphon, where +the Parthian emperors reigned, and the vast metropolis of Seleucia which +Alexander built; across the swirling floods of Tigris and the many +channels of Euphrates, flowing yellow through the corn-lands--Artaban +pressed onward until he arrived, at nightfall of the tenth day, beneath +the shattered walls of populous Babylon. + +Vasda was almost spent, and he would gladly have turned into the city to +find rest and refreshment for himself and for her. But he knew that it +was three hours' journey yet to the Temple of the Seven Spheres, and +he must reach the place by midnight if he would find his comrades +waiting. So he did not halt, but rode steadily across the +stubble-fields. + +A grove of date-palms made an island of gloom in the pale yellow sea. As +she passed into the shadow Vasda slackened her pace, and began to pick +her way more carefully. + +Near the farther end of the darkness an access of caution seemed to fall +upon her. She scented some danger or difficulty; it was not in her heart +to fly from it--only to be prepared for it, and to meet it wisely, as a +good horse should do. The grove was close and silent as the tomb; not a +leaf rustled, not a bird sang. + +She felt her steps before her delicately, carrying her head low, and +sighing now and then with apprehension. At last she gave a quick breath +of anxiety and dismay, and stood stock-still, quivering in every muscle, +before a dark object in the shadow of the last palm-tree. + +Artaban dismounted. The dim starlight revealed the form of a man lying +across the road. His humble dress and the outline of his haggard face +showed that he was probably one of the poor Hebrew exiles who still +dwelt in great numbers in the vicinity. His pallid skin, dry and yellow +as parchment, bore the mark of the deadly fever which ravaged the +marsh-lands in autumn. The chill of death was in his lean hand, and, as +Artaban released it, the arm fell back inertly upon the motionless +breast. + +He turned away with a thought of pity, consigning the body to that +strange burial which the Magians deem most fitting--the funeral of the +desert, from which the kites and vultures rise on dark wings, and the +beasts of prey slink furtively away, leaving only a heap of white bones +in the sand. + +But, as he turned, a long, faint, ghostly sigh came from the man's lips. +The brown, bony fingers closed convulsively on the hem of the Magian's +robe and held him fast. + +Artaban's heart leaped to his throat, not with fear, but with a dumb +resentment at the importunity of this blind delay. How could he stay +here in the darkness to minister to a dying stranger? What claim had +this unknown fragment of human life upon his compassion or his service? +If he lingered but for an hour he could hardly reach Borsippa at the +appointed time. His companions would think he had given up the journey. +They would go without him. He would lose his quest. + +But if he went on now, the man would surely die. If he stayed, life +might be restored. His spirit throbbed and fluttered with the urgency of +the crisis. Should he risk the great reward of his divine faith for the +sake of a single deed of human love? Should he turn aside, if only for a +moment, from the following of the star, to give a cup of cold water to a +poor, perishing Hebrew? + +"God of truth and purity," he prayed, "direct me in the holy path, the +way of wisdom which Thou only knowest." + +Then he turned back to the sick man. Loosening the grasp of his hand, he +carried him to a little mound at the foot of the palm-tree. He unbound +the thick folds of the turban and opened the garment above the sunken +breast. He brought water from one of the small canals near by, and +moistened the sufferer's brow and mouth. He mingled a draught of one of +those simple but potent remedies which he carried always in his +girdle--for the Magians were physicians as well as astrologers--and +poured it slowly between the colourless lips. Hour after hour he labored +as only a skilful healer of disease can do; and, at last, the man's +strength returned; he sat up and looked about him. + +"Who art thou?" he said, in the rude dialect of the country, "and why +hast thou sought me here to bring back my life?" + +"I am Artaban the Magian, of the city of Ecbatana, and I am going to +Jerusalem in search of one who is to be born King of the Jews, a great +Prince and Deliverer for all men. I dare not delay any longer upon my +journey, for the caravan that has waited for me may depart without me. +But see, here is all that I have left of bread and wine, and here is a +potion of healing herbs. When thy strength is restored thou can'st +find the dwellings of the Hebrews among the houses of Babylon." + +The Jew raised his trembling hands solemnly to heaven. + +"Now may the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob bless and prosper the +journey of the merciful, and bring him in peace to his desired haven. +But stay; I have nothing to give thee in return--only this: that I can +tell thee where the Messiah must be sought. For our prophets have said +that he should be born not in Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem of Judah. May +the Lord bring thee in safety to that place, because thou hast had pity +upon the sick." + +It was already long past midnight. Artaban rode in haste, and Vasda, +restored by the brief rest, ran eagerly through the silent plain and +swam the channels of the river. She put forth the remnant of her +strength, and fled over the ground like a gazelle. + +[Illustration: "HE CAUGHT IT UP AND READ"] + +But the first beam of the sun sent her shadow before her as she entered +upon the final stadium of the journey, and the eyes of Artaban +anxiously scanning the great mound of Nimrod and the Temple of the Seven +Spheres, could discern no trace of his friends. + +The many-coloured terraces of black and orange and red and yellow and +green and blue and white, shattered by the convulsions of nature, and +crumbling under the repeated blows of human violence, still glittered +like a ruined rainbow in the morning light. + +Artaban rode swiftly around the hill. He dismounted and climbed to the +highest terrace, looking out towards the west. + +The huge desolation of the marshes stretched away to the horizon and the +border of the desert. Bitterns stood by the stagnant pools and jackals +skulked through the low bushes; but there was no sign of the caravan of +the wise men, far or near. + +At the edge of the terrace he saw a little cairn of broken bricks, and +under them a piece of parchment. He caught it up and read: "We have +waited past the midnight, and can delay no longer. We go to find the +King. Follow us across the desert." Artaban sat down upon the ground +and covered his head in despair. + +"How can I cross the desert," said he, "with no food and with a spent +horse? I must return to Babylon, sell my sapphire, and buy a train of +camels, and provision for the journey. I may never overtake my friends. +Only God the merciful knows whether I shall not lose the sight of the +King because I tarried to show mercy." + + + + +FOR THE SAKE OF A LITTLE CHILD + + +There was a silence in the Hall of Dreams, where I was +listening to the story of the other wise man. And through this silence I +saw, but very dimly, his figure passing over the dreary undulations of +the desert, high upon the back of his camel, rocking steadily onward +like a ship over the waves. + +The land of death spread its cruel net around him. The stony wastes bore +no fruit but briers and thorns. The dark ledges of rock thrust +themselves above the surface here and there, like the bones of perished +monsters. Arid and inhospitable mountain ranges rose before him, +furrowed with dry channels of ancient torrents, white and ghastly as +scars on the face of nature. Shifting hills of treacherous sand were +heaped like tombs along the horizon. By day, the fierce heat pressed +its intolerable burden on the quivering air; and no living creature +moved, on the dumb, swooning earth, but tiny jerboas scuttling through +the parched bushes, or lizards vanishing in the clefts of the rock. By +night the jackals prowled and barked in the distance, and the lion made +the black ravines echo with his hollow roaring, while a bitter, +blighting chill followed the fever of the day. Through heat and cold, +the Magian moved steadily onward. + +Then I saw the gardens and orchards of Damascus, watered by the streams +of Abana and Pharpar, with their sloping swards inlaid with bloom, and +their thickets of myrrh and roses. I saw also the long, snowy ridge of +Hermon, and the dark groves of cedars, and the valley of the Jordan, and +the blue waters of the Lake of Galilee, and the fertile plain of +Esdraelon, and the hills of Ephraim, and the highlands of Judah. Through +all these I followed the figure of Artaban moving steadily onward, until +he arrived at Bethlehem. And it was the third day after the three wise +men had come to that place and had found Mary and Joseph, with the +young child, Jesus, and had laid their gifts of gold and frankincense +and myrrh at his feet. + +Then the other wise man drew near, weary, but full of hope, bearing his +ruby and his pearl to offer to the King. "For now at last," he said, "I +shall surely find him, though it be alone, and later than my brethren. +This is the place of which the Hebrew exile told me that the prophets +had spoken, and here I shall behold the rising of the great light. But I +must inquire about the visit of my brethren, and to what house the star +directed them, and to whom they presented their tribute." + +The streets of the village seemed to be deserted, and Artaban wondered +whether the men had all gone up to the hill-pastures to bring down their +sheep. From the open door of a low stone cottage he heard the sound of a +woman's voice singing softly. He entered and found a young mother +hushing her baby to rest. She told him of the strangers from the far +East who had appeared in the village three days ago, and how they said +that a star had guided them to the place where Joseph of Nazareth was +lodging with his wife and her new-born child, and how they had paid +reverence to the child and given him many rich gifts. + +"But the travellers disappeared again," she continued, "as suddenly as +they had come. We were afraid at the strangeness of their visit. We +could not understand it. The man of Nazareth took the babe and his +mother and fled away that same night secretly, and it was whispered that +they were going far away to Egypt. Ever since, there has been a spell +upon the village; something evil hangs over it. They say that the Roman +soldiers are coming from Jerusalem to force a new tax from us, and the +men have driven the flocks and herds far back among the hills, and +hidden themselves to escape it." + +Artaban listened to her gentle, timid speech, and the child in her arms +looked up in his face and smiled, stretching out its rosy hands to grasp +at the winged circle of gold on his breast. His heart warmed to the +touch. It seemed like a greeting of love and trust to one who had +journeyed long in loneliness and perplexity, fighting with his own +doubts and fears, and following a light that was veiled in clouds. + +"Might not this child have been the promised Prince?" he asked within +himself, as he touched its soft cheek. "Kings have been born ere now in +lowlier houses than this, and the favourite of the stars may rise even +from a cottage. But it has not seemed good to the God of wisdom to +reward my search so soon and so easily. The one whom I seek has gone +before me; and now I must follow the King to Egypt." + +The young mother laid the babe in its cradle, and rose to minister to +the wants of the strange guest that fate had brought into her house. She +set food before him, the plain fare of peasants, but willingly offered, +and therefore full of refreshment for the soul as well as for the body. +Artaban accepted it gratefully; and, as he ate, the child fell into a +happy slumber, and murmured sweetly in its dreams, and a great peace +filled the quiet room. + +But suddenly there came the noise of a wild confusion and uproar in the +streets of the village, a shrieking and wailing of women's voices, a +clangor of brazen trumpets and a clashing of swords, and a desperate +cry: "The soldiers! the soldiers of Herod! They are killing our +children." + +The young mother's face grew white with terror. She clasped her child to +her bosom, and crouched motionless in the darkest corner of the room, +covering him with the folds of her robe, lest he should wake and cry. + +But Artaban went quickly and stood in the doorway of the house. His +broad shoulders filled the portal from side to side, and the peak of his +white cap all but touched the lintel. + +[Illustration: "THERE IS NONE HERE SAVE ME"] + +The soldiers came hurrying down the street with bloody hands and +dripping swords. At the sight of the stranger in his imposing dress they +hesitated with surprise. The captain of the band approached the +threshold to thrust him aside. But Artaban did not stir. His face was as +calm as though he were watching the stars, and in his eyes there burned +that steady radiance before which even the half-tamed hunting leopard +shrinks, and the fierce bloodhound pauses in his leap. He held the +soldier silently for an instant, and then said in a low voice: + +"There is no one in this place but me, and I am waiting to give this +jewel to the prudent captain who will leave me in peace." + +He showed the ruby, glistening in the hollow of his hand like a great +drop of blood. + +The captain was amazed at the splendour of the gem. The pupils of his +eyes expanded with desire, and the hard lines of greed wrinkled around +his lips. He stretched out his hand and took the ruby. + +"March on!" he cried to his men, "there is no child here. The house is +still." + +The clamour and the clang of arms passed down the street as the headlong +fury of the chase sweeps by the secret covert where the trembling deer +is hidden. Artaban re-entered the cottage. He turned his face to the +east and prayed: + +"God of truth, forgive my sin! I have said the thing that is not, to +save the life of a child. And two of my gifts are gone. I have spent for +man that which was meant for God. Shall I ever be worthy to see the face +of the King?" + +But the voice of the woman, weeping for joy in the shadow behind him, +said very gently: + +"Because thou hast saved the life of my little one, may the Lord bless +thee and keep thee; the Lord make His face to shine upon thee and be +gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give +thee peace." + + + + +IN THE HIDDEN WAY OF SORROW + + +Then again there was a silence in the Hall of Dreams, deeper and more +mysterious than the first interval, and I understood that the years of +Artaban were flowing very swiftly under the stillness of that clinging +fog, and I caught only a glimpse, here and there, of the river of his +life shining through the shadows that concealed its course. + +I saw him moving among the throngs of men in populous Egypt, seeking +everywhere for traces of the household that had come down from +Bethlehem, and finding them under the spreading sycamore-trees of +Heliopolis, and beneath the walls of the Roman fortress of New Babylon +beside the Nile--traces so faint and dim that they vanished before him +continually, as footprints on the hard river-sand glisten for a +moment with moisture and then disappear. + +I saw him again at the foot of the pyramids, which lifted their sharp +points into the intense saffron glow of the sunset sky, changeless +monuments of the perishable glory and the imperishable hope of man. He +looked up into the vast countenance of the crouching Sphinx and vainly +tried to read the meaning of her calm eyes and smiling mouth. Was it, +indeed, the mockery of all effort and all aspiration, as Tigranes had +said--the cruel jest of a riddle that has no answer, a search that never +can succeed? Or was there a touch of pity and encouragement in that +inscrutable smile--a promise that even the defeated should attain a +victory, and the disappointed should discover a prize, and the ignorant +should be made wise, and the blind should see, and the wandering should +come into the haven at last? + +I saw him again in an obscure house of Alexandria, taking counsel with a +Hebrew rabbi. The venerable man, bending over the rolls of parchment +on which the prophecies of Israel were written, read aloud the pathetic +words which foretold the sufferings of the promised Messiah--the +despised and rejected of men, the man of sorrows and the acquaintance of +grief. + +"And remember, my son," said he, fixing his deep-set eyes upon the face +of Artaban, "the King whom you are seeking is not to be found in a +palace, nor among the rich and powerful. If the light of the world and +the glory of Israel had been appointed to come with the greatness of +earthly splendour, it must have appeared long ago. For no son of Abraham +will ever again rival the power which Joseph had in the palaces of +Egypt, or the magnificence of Solomon throned between the lions in +Jerusalem. But the light for which the world is waiting is a new light, +the glory that shall rise out of patient and triumphant suffering. And +the kingdom which is to be established forever is a new kingdom, the +royalty of perfect and unconquerable love. I do not know how this +shall come to pass, nor how the turbulent kings and peoples of earth +shall be brought to acknowledge the Messiah and pay homage to him. But +this I know. Those who seek Him will do well to look among the poor and +the lowly, the sorrowful and the oppressed." + +[Illustration: "HE HEALED THE SICK"] + +So I saw the other wise man again and again, travelling from place to +place, and searching among the people of the dispersion, with whom the +little family from Bethlehem might, perhaps, have found a refuge. He +passed through countries where famine lay heavy upon the land, and the +poor were crying for bread. He made his dwelling in plague-stricken +cities where the sick were languishing in the bitter companionship of +helpless misery. He visited the oppressed and the afflicted in the gloom +of subterranean prisons, and the crowded wretchedness of slave-markets, +and the weary toil of galley-ships. In all this populous and intricate +world of anguish, though he found none to worship, he found many to +help. He fed the hungry, and clothed the naked, and healed the sick, +and comforted the captive; and his years went by more swiftly than the +weaver's shuttle that flashes back and forth through the loom while the +web grows and the invisible pattern is completed. + +It seemed almost as if he had forgotten his quest. But once I saw him +for a moment as he stood alone at sunrise, waiting at the gate of a +Roman prison. He had taken from a secret resting-place in his bosom the +pearl, the last of his jewels. As he looked at it, a mellower lustre, a +soft and iridescent light, full of shifting gleams of azure and rose, +trembled upon its surface. It seemed to have absorbed some reflection of +the colours of the lost sapphire and ruby. So the profound, secret +purpose of a noble life draws into itself the memories of past joy and +past sorrow. All that has helped it, all that has hindered it, is +transfused by a subtle magic into its very essence. It becomes more +luminous and precious the longer it is carried close to the warmth of +the beating heart. Then, at last, while I was thinking of this pearl, +and of its meaning, I heard the end of the story of the other wise man. + + + + +A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE + + +Three-and-thirty years of the life of Artaban had passed away, and he +was still a pilgrim and a seeker after light. His hair, once darker than +the cliffs of Zagros, was now white as the wintry snow that covered +them. His eyes, that once flashed like flames of fire, were dull as +embers smouldering among the ashes. + +Worn and weary and ready to die, but still looking for the King, he had +come for the last time to Jerusalem. He had often visited the holy city +before, and had searched through all its lanes and crowded hovels and +black prisons without finding any trace of the family of Nazarenes who +had fled from Bethlehem long ago. But now it seemed as if he must make +one more effort, and something whispered in his heart that, at last, he +might succeed. It was the season of the Passover. The city was +thronged with strangers. The children of Israel, scattered in far lands +all over the world, had returned to the Temple for the great feast, and +there had been a confusion of tongues in the narrow streets for many +days. + +But on this day there was a singular agitation visible in the multitude. +The sky was veiled with a portentous gloom, and currents of excitement +seemed to flash through the crowd like the thrill which shakes the +forest on the eve of a storm. A secret tide was sweeping them all one +way. The clatter of sandals, and the soft, thick sound of thousands of +bare feet shuffling over the stones, flowed unceasingly along the street +that leads to the Damascus gate. + +Artaban joined company with a group of people from his own country, +Parthian Jews who had come up to keep the Passover, and inquired of them +the cause of the tumult, and where they were going. + +"We are going," they answered, "to the place called Golgotha, outside +the city walls, where there is to be an execution. Have you not heard +what has happened? Two famous robbers are to be crucified, and with them +another, called Jesus of Nazareth, a man who has done many wonderful +works among the people, so that they love him greatly. But the priests +and elders have said that he must die, because he gave himself out to be +the Son of God. And Pilate has sent him to the cross because he said +that he was the 'King of the Jews.'" + +How strangely these familiar words fell upon the tired heart of Artaban! +They had led him for a lifetime over land and sea. And now they came to +him darkly and mysteriously like a message of despair. The King had +arisen, but he had been denied and cast out. He was about to perish. +Perhaps he was already dying. Could it be the same who had been born in +Bethlehem, thirty-three years ago, at whose birth the star had appeared +in heaven, and of whose coming the prophets had spoken? + +Artaban's heart beat unsteadily with that troubled, doubtful +apprehension which is the excitement of old age. But he said within +himself, "The ways of God are stranger than the thoughts of men, and it +may be that I shall find the King, at last, in the hands of His enemies, +and shall come in time to offer my pearl for His ransom before He dies." + +So the old man followed the multitude with slow and painful steps +towards the Damascus gate of the city. Just beyond the entrance of the +guard-house a troop of Macedonian soldiers came down the street, +dragging a young girl with torn dress and dishevelled hair. As the +Magian paused to look at her with compassion, she broke suddenly from +the hands of her tormentors, and threw herself at his feet, clasping him +around the knees. She had seen his white cap and the winged circle on +his breast. + +[Illustration: "THE OLD MAN FOLLOWED THE MULTITUDE"] + +"Have pity on me," she cried, "and save me, for the sake of the God of +Purity! I also am a daughter of the true religion which is taught by the +Magi. My father was a merchant of Parthia, but he is dead, and I am +seized for his debts to be sold as a slave. Save me from worse than death!" + +Artaban trembled. + +It was the old conflict in his soul, which had come to him in the +palm-grove of Babylon and in the cottage at Bethlehem--the conflict +between the expectation of faith and the impulse of love. Twice the gift +which he had consecrated to the worship of religion had been drawn from +his hand to the service of humanity. This was the third trial, the +ultimate probation, the final and irrevocable choice. + +Was it his great opportunity, or his last temptation? He could not tell. +One thing only was clear in the darkness of his mind--it was inevitable. +And does not the inevitable come from God? + +One thing only was sure to his divided heart--to rescue this helpless +girl would be a true deed of love. And is not love the light of the +soul? + +He took the pearl from his bosom. Never had it seemed so luminous, so +radiant, so full of tender, living lustre. He laid it in the hand of +the slave. + +"This is thy ransom, daughter! It is the last of my treasures which I +kept for the King." + +While he spoke the darkness of the sky thickened, and shuddering tremors +ran through the earth, heaving convulsively like the breast of one who +struggles with mighty grief. + +The walls of the houses rocked to and fro. Stones were loosened and +crashed into the street. Dust clouds filled the air. The soldiers fled +in terror, reeling like drunken men. But Artaban and the girl whom he +had ransomed crouched helpless beneath the wall of the Praetorium. + +What had he to fear? What had he to live for? He had given away the last +remnant of his tribute for the King. He had parted with the last hope of +finding Him. The quest was over, and it had failed. But, even in that +thought, accepted and embraced, there was peace. It was not resignation. +It was not submission. It was something more profound and searching. +He knew that all was well, because he had done the best that he could, +from day to day. He had been true to the light that had been given to +him. He had looked for more. And if he had not found it, if a failure +was all that came out of his life, doubtless that was the best that was +possible. He had not seen the revelation of "life everlasting, +incorruptible and immortal." But he knew that even if he could live his +earthly life over again, it could not be otherwise than it had been. + +One more lingering pulsation of the earthquake quivered through the +ground. A heavy tile, shaken from the roof, fell and struck the old man +on the temple. He lay breathless and pale, with his gray head resting on +the young girl's shoulder, and the blood trickling from the wound. As +she bent over him, fearing that he was dead, there came a voice through +the twilight, very small and still, like music sounding from a distance, +in which the notes are clear but the words are lost. The girl turned to +see if some one had spoken from the window above them, but she saw no +one. + +Then the old man's lips began to move, as if in answer, and she heard +him say in the Parthian tongue: + +"Not so, my Lord! For when saw I thee an hungered, and fed thee? Or +thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw I thee a stranger, and took thee +in? Or naked, and clothed thee? When saw I thee sick or in prison, and +came unto thee? Three-and-thirty years have I looked for thee; but I +have never seen thy face, nor ministered to thee, my King." + +He ceased, and the sweet voice came again. And again the maid heard it, +very faintly and far away. But now it seemed as though she understood +the words: + +"_Verily I say unto thee, inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the +least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me_." + +[Illustration: "THE OTHER WISE MAN HAD FOUND THE KING"] + +A calm radiance of wonder and joy lighted the pale face of Artaban like +the first ray of dawn on a snowy mountain-peak. One long, last breath +of relief exhaled gently from his lips. + +His journey was ended. His treasures were accepted. The other Wise Man +had found the King. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10679 *** |