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diff --git a/16291-h/16291-h.htm b/16291-h/16291-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..861273a --- /dev/null +++ b/16291-h/16291-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1105 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of the Other Wise Man, By Henry Van Dyke</title> +<style type="text/css"> + + body { font-size:15pt; + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10% } + .head1 { text-align:center; + font-size:19pt; + color:red; + font-style:italic } + .head2 { font-size:15pt; + color:red } + .head3 { text-align:center; + font-size:15pt; + color:red } + .head4 { text-align:center; + font-size:19pt; + font-weight:bold } + .head5 { text-align:center; + font-size:19pt } + .smaller { font-size:10pt } +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Henry Van Dyke + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of the Other Wise Man + +Author: Henry Van Dyke + +Release Date: July 14, 2005 [EBook #16291] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE OTHER WISE MAN *** + + + + +Produced by Michael Gray (Lost_Gamer@comcast.net) + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h4>There are several editions of this ebook in the Project Gutenberg collection. Various characteristics of each ebook are listed to aid in selecting the preferred file.<br>Click on any of the filenumbers below to quickly view each ebook. +</h4> + + +<table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3"> + +<tr><td> + <b><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19608/19608-h/19608-h.htm"> +19608</a> </b> </td><td>(Illustrated HTML file) +</td></tr> + +<tr><td> + <b><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10679/10679-h/10679-h.htm"> +10679</a></b></td><td>(Plain html file) +</td></tr> + +<tr><td> + <b><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16291/16291-h/16291-h.htm"> +16291</a></b> </td><td>(Plain html file) +</td></tr> + +</table> + +<p class="head5"><img src="images/foundking.jpg" alt="The other wise man had found the king"></p> +<br><br> +<table align="center" border="1"><tr><td align="center"><span class="head1">THE STORY</span><br><span +class="head2">OF THE</span><br><span class="head1">OTHER WISE MAN</span><tr><td +height="15"> <tr><td align="center"><span class="head3">By</span><br><span class="head1">Henry van +Dyke</span><tr><td height="15"> <tr><td align="center"> +<img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="Harper and Brothers Logo"><tr><td height="15"> <tr> +<td class="head1">NEW YORK AND LONDON<br>HARPER & +BROTHERS<tr><td height="15"> <tr><td height="40"> <tr><td height="15"> </table> +<br><br> +<p align="center" class="smaller">Copyright 1895, 1899, by HARPER & +BROTHERS<br>——<br><i>All rights reserved</i></p> +<br><br> +<p><i>Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul,<br>May keep the path, but will not reach the +goal;<br>While he who walks in love may wander far,<br>Yet God will bring him where the blessed +are.</i></p> +<br><br> +<p class="head4">Contents</p> +<p> <a href="#1">P<span class="smaller">REFACE</span></a>……vii +<br><br> <a href="#2">T<span class="smaller">HE </span>S<span class="smaller">IGN </span>I<span class="smaller">N +THE </span>S<span class="smaller">KY</span></a>……3 +<br><br> <a href="#3">B<span class="smaller">Y THE </span>W<span class="smaller">ATERS OF +</span>B<span class="smaller">ABYLON</span></a>……25 +<br><br> <a href="#4">F<span class="smaller">OR THE </span>S<span class="smaller">AKE OF A +</span>L<span class="smaller">ITTLE </span>C<span class="smaller">HILD</span></a>……43 +<br><br> <a href="#5">I<span class="smaller">N THE </span>H<span +class="smaller">IDDEN </span>W<span class="smaller">AY OF </span>S<span +class="smaller">ORROW</span></a>……55 +<br><br> <a href="#6">A P<span class="smaller">EARL OF </span>G<span class="smaller">REAT </span>P<span +class="smaller">RICE</span></a>……65</p> +<br><br> +<p class="head4"><a name="1">Preface</a></p> +<p> I<span class="smaller">T</span> is now some years since this little story was +set afloat on the sea of books. It is not a man-of-war, nor even a high-sided merchantman; only a +small, peaceful sailing-vessel. Yet it has had rather an adventurous voyage. Twice it has fallen into +the hands of pirates. The tides have carried it to far countries. It has been passed through the +translator's port of entry into German, French, Armenian, Turkish, and perhaps some other foreign +regions. Once I caught sight of it flying the outlandish flag of a brand-new phonetic language along +the coasts of France; and once it was claimed by a dealer in antiquities as a long-lost legend of the +Orient. Best of all, it has slipped quietly into many a far-away harbor that I have never seen, and +found a kindly welcome, and brought back messages of good cheer from unknown friends.<br><br> + Now it has turned home to be new-rigged and fitted for further voyaging. Before it is +sent out again I have been asked to tell where the story came from and what it means.<br><br> + I do not know where it came from—out of the air, perhaps. One thing is certain, it +is not written in any other book, nor is it to be found among the ancient lore of the East. And yet I +have never felt as if it were my own. It was a gift. It was sent to me; and it seemed as if I knew the +Giver, though His name was not spoken.<br><br> The year had been full of sickness +and sorrow. Every day brought trouble. Every night was tormented with pain. They are very +long—those nights when one lies awake, and hears the laboring heart pumping wearily at its task, +and watches for the morning, not knowing whether it will ever dawn. They are not nights of fear; for +the thought of death grows strangely familiar when you have lived with it for a year. Besides, after a +time you come to feel like a soldier who has been long standing still under fire; any change would be +a relief. But they are lonely nights; they are very heavy nights. And their heaviest burden is +this:<br><br> You must face the thought that your work in the world may be almost +ended, but you know that it is not nearly finished.<br><br> You have not solved the +problems that perplexed you. You have not reached the goal that you aimed at. You have not +accomplished the great task that you set for yourself. You are still on the way; and perhaps your +journey must end now,—nowhere,—in the dark.<br><br> Well, it was in one +of these long, lonely nights that this story came to me. I had studied and loved the curious tales of +the Three Wise Men of the East as they are told in the "Golden Legend" of Jacobus de Voragine and +other mediaeval books. But of the Fourth Wise Man I had never heard until that night. Then I saw him +distinctly, moving through the shadows in a little circle of light. His countenance was as clear as +the memory of my father's face as I saw it for the last time a few months before. The narrative of his +journeyings and trials and disappointments ran without a break. Even certain sentences came to me +complete and unforgettable, clear-cut like a cameo. All that I had to do was to follow Artaban, step +by step, as the tale went on, from the beginning to the end of his pilgrimage.<br><br> + Perhaps this may explain some things in the story. I have been asked many times why I made the +Fourth Wise Man tell a lie, in the cottage at Bethlehem, to save the little child's +life.<br><br> I did not make him tell a lie.<br><br> What +Artaban said to the soldiers he said for himself, because he could not help it.<br><br> + Is a lie ever justifiable? Perhaps not. But may it not sometimes seem inevitable?<br><br> + And if it were a sin, might not a man confess it, and be pardoned for it more easily than +for the greater sin of spiritual selfishness, or indifference, or the betrayal of innocent blood? That +is what I saw Artaban do. That is what I heard him say. All through his life he was trying to do the +best that he could. It was not perfect. But there are some kinds of failure that are better than +success.<br><br> Though the story of the Fourth Wise Man came to me suddenly and +without labor, there was a great deal of study and toil to be done before it could be written down. An +idea arrives without effort; a form can only be wrought out by patient labor. If your story is worth +telling, you ought to love it enough to be willing to work over it until it is true,—true not +only to the ideal, but true also to the real. The light is a gift; but the local color can only be +seen by one who looks for it long and steadily. Artaban went with me while I toiled through a score of +volumes of ancient history and travel. I saw his figure while I journeyed on the motionless sea of the +desert and in the strange cities of the East.<br><br> And now that his story is +told, what does it mean?<br><br> How can I tell? What does life mean? If the +meaning could be put into a sentence there would be no need of telling the story.<br><br> + + H<span class="smaller">ENRY VAN </span>D<span +class="smaller">YKE.</span></p> +<br><br> +<p>Y<span class="smaller">OU</span> know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they +traveled 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.</p> +<br><br> +<p class="head5"><a name="2">THE SIGN IN THE SKY</a></p> +<br><br> +<p class="head4">The Sign in the Sky</p> +<p> I<span class="smaller">N</span> 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.<br><br> + 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 color 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.<br><br> 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 +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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> "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."<br><br> There were nine of the men, differing widely in age, but alike +in the richness of their dress of many-colored 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.<br><br> 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:</p> +<table class="smaller" border="0"><tr><td align="left">We worship the Spirit Divine,<tr><td +align="right">all wisdom and goodness possessing,<tr><td align="left">Surrounded by Holy +Immortals,<tr><td align="right">the givers of bounty and blessing,<tr><td align="left">We joy in the +works of His hands,<tr><td align="right">His truth and His power confessing.<tr><td> <tr><td +align="left">We praise all the things that are pure,<tr><td align="right">for these are His only +Creation;<tr><td align="left">The thoughts that are true,<tr><td align="right">and the words and deeds +that have won approbation;<tr><td align="left">These are supported by Him<tr><td align="right">and for +these we make adoration.<tr><td> <tr><td align="left">Hear us, O Mazda! Thou livest<tr><td +align="right">in truth and in heavenly gladness;<tr><td align="left">Cleanse us from falsehood, and +keep us<tr><td align="right">from evil and bondage to badness;<tr><td align="left">Pour out the light +and the joy of Thy life<tr><td align="right">on our darkness and sadness.<tr><td> <tr><td +align="left">Shine on our gardens and fields,<tr><td align="right">Shine on our working and +weaving;<tr><td align="left">Shine on the whole race of man,<tr><td align="right">Believing and +unbelieving;<tr><td align="right">Shine on us now through the night,<tr><td align="right">Shine on us +now in Thy might,<tr><td align="left">The flame of our holy love<tr><td align="right">and the song of +our worship receiving.</table> +<p> 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 +splendor.<br><br> 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.<br><br> The +doorway between the pillars, which opened upon the terrace of the roof, was covered with a heavy +curtain of the color 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> + "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?"<br><br> "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."<br><br> "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?"<br><br> There was a murmur of assent among the listeners.<br><br> + "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."<br><br> "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?"<br><br> "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.'"<br><br> + "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."<br><br> 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:<br><br> + "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."<br><br> 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.<br><br> "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.'"<br><br> The lips of Tigranes drew downward with contempt, as +he said:<br><br> "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."<br><br> "And yet," answered Artaban, "it was the Hebrew Daniel, the mighty +searcher of dreams, the counsellor of kings, the wise Belteshazzar, who was most honoured 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.'"<br><br> "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?"<br><br> 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."<br><br> 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 out-spread linen scrolls before him.<br><br> + 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.<br><br> 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."<br><br> + 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."<br><br> 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."<br><br> 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."<br><br> 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."<br><br> So one by one they went out of the azure +chamber with its silver stars, and Artaban was left in solitude.<br><br> 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.<br><br> + 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 arbors.<br><br> 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.<br><br> As Artaban watched them, behold, an azure spark was born out +of the darkness beneath, rounding itself with purple splendors 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.<br><br> He bowed his +head. He covered his brow with his hands.<br><br> "It is the sign," he said. "The +King is coming, and I will go to meet him."</p> +<br><br> +<p class="head5"><a name="3">BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON</a></p> +<br><br> +<p class="head4">By the Waters of Babylon</p> +<p> A<span class="smaller">LL</span> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> How close, how intimate is the comradeship between a man and his +favorite horse on a long journey. It is a silent, comprehensive friendship, an intercourse beyond the +need of words.<br><br> They drink at the same wayside 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!<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> He passed along the brown slopes of Mount +Orontes, furrowed by the rocky courses of a hundred torrents.<br><br> He crossed +the level plains of the Nisasans, 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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 vapors 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> + 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.<br><br> + 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.<br><br> He turned away with a thought of pity, consigning the body to that +strange burial which the Magians deemed 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> Artaban's heart leaped to his throat, not with +fear, but with a dumb resentment at the importunity of this blind delay.<br><br> + 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.<br><br> 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?<br><br> "God of +truth and purity," he prayed, "direct me in the holy path, the way of wisdom which Thou only +knowest."<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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 colorless 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.<br><br> "Who art thou?" he said, +in the rude dialect of the country, "and why hast thou sought me here to bring back my +life?"<br><br> "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 of 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 canst find the dwellings of the Hebrews among the houses of +Babylon."<br><br> The Jew raised his trembling hand solemnly to +heaven.<br><br> "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."<br><br> + 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> The many-colored 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.<br><br> Artaban rode swiftly around the hill. He dismounted and +climbed to the highest terrace, looking out towards the west.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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."<br><br> Artaban sat down upon the ground and covered his head in +despair.<br><br> "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."</p> +<br><br> +<p class="head5"><a name="4">FOR THE SAKE OF A LITTLE CHILD</a></p> +<br><br> +<p class="head4">For the Sake of a Little Child</p> +<p> T<span class="smaller">HERE</span> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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 lain +their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh at his feet.<br><br> 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."<br><br> 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.<br><br> "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."<br><br> 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.<br><br> "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 favorite 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."<br><br> + 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.<br><br> 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."<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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 blood-hound pauses in his +leap. He held the soldier silently for an instant, and then said in a low voice:<br><br> + "I am all alone in this place, and I am waiting to give this jewel to the prudent captain who +will leave me in peace."<br><br> He showed the ruby, glistening in the hollow of +his hand like a great drop of blood.<br><br> The captain was amazed at the splendor +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.<br><br> "March on!" he cried +to his men, "there is no child here. The house is still."<br><br> The clamor 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:<br><br> "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?"<br><br> But the voice +of the woman, weeping for joy in the shadow behind him, said very gently:<br><br> + "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."</p> +<br><br> +<p class="head5"><a name="5">IN THE HIDDEN WAY OF SORROW</a></p> +<br><br> +<p class="head4">In the Hidden Way of Sorrow</p> +<p> T<span class="smaller">HEN</span> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> + 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 the 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?<br><br> 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.<br><br> "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 splendor, 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.<br><br> + "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."<br><br> 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.<br><br> + 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 colors 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.<br><br> 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.</p> +<br><br> +<p class="head5"><a name="6">A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE</a></p> +<br><br> +<p class="head4">A Pearl of Great Price</p> +<p> T<span class="smaller">HREE</span>-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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> "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.'"<br><br> 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?<br><br> 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."<br><br> + 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.<br><br> "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."<br><br> Artaban trembled.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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?<br><br> 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?<br><br> 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.<br><br> "This is thy ransom, daughter! It is the last of my treasures which +I kept for the King."<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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.<br><br> Then the old man's lips began to move, as if in answer, and she +heard him say in the Parthian tongue:<br><br> "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."<br><br> 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:<br><br> + "<i>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.</i>"<br><br> 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.<br><br> His journey was ended. +His treasures were accepted. The Other Wise Man had found the King.</p> +<br><br> +<p class="head5">THE END</p> +<br><br> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Henry Van Dyke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE OTHER WISE MAN *** + +***** This file should be named 16291-h.htm or 16291-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/2/9/16291/ + +Produced by Michael Gray (Lost_Gamer@comcast.net) + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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