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diff --git a/old/74802-0.txt b/old/74802-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d489902..0000000 --- a/old/74802-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,388 +0,0 @@ - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74802 *** - - - - THE SWEET MIRACLE - - - -First Edition, September 1904 -Second Edition, December 1904 - - - - - THE SWEET - MIRACLE - - - - - BY EÇA DE QUEIROZ - - - DONE INTO ENGLISH BY - EDGAR PRESTAGE - OF THE LISBON ROYAL - ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - TRANSLATOR OF “THE - LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE - NUN” - - - - - - LONDON -- DAVID NUTT - AT THE SIGN OF THE PHŒNIX 1904 - - - - - TO MY MOTHER - - - - - Et circuibat Jesus omnes civitates et castella, docens in synagogis - eorum et praedicans evangelium regn et curans cranem languorera et - omnem infirmitatem. - - Evangelium secundum Mattbaeum, caput IX. - - - - -PREFATORY NOTE - - -_EÇA DE QUEIROZ (born 1846, died 1900) was probably Portugal’s greatest -prose-writer of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He is -known to us mainly by that splendid romance, cousin basil, which has -appeared In English under the title of “Dragon’s Teeth,”_[1] _but the_ -CORRESPONDENCE OF FRADIQUE MENDES _reveals a versatility of talent in -this satyrist, observer, and critic of life which even the foremost -novelists have lacked, and_ THE CITY AND THE MOUNTAINS _contains pages -of landscape-painting which are already classical. The prose-poem here -translated shows that his journey through Palestine had penetrated the -Master of Realism with the spirit of the East and calls to mind scenes -in another book of his,_ THE RELIC, _which sounds like an echo of -Flaubert. The frontispiece is a copy of a striking water-colour sketch -by the King of Portugal offered to the Count of Arnoso on the occasion -of the fifteenth representation of the tatter’s charming dramatised -version of “The Sweet Miracle.” His Majesty has graciously approved and -the Count has very kindly permitted its reproduction here._ - -_Other short stories of Eça de Queiroz will follow if the present one -continues to meet with a favourable reception._ - - -FOOTNOTE: - - -[Footnote 1: _Boston, U.S.A., 1889._] - - - - -THE SWEET MIRACLE - - -IN those days Jesus had not yet departed from Galilee and the fair -luminous margins of the Lake of Tiberias; but the news of his miracles -had already penetrated as far as Enganim, a rich city of strong -battlements set among vineyards and olive-groves in the Country of -Issachar. - -One afternoon there passed down the fresh valley a man of burning, -dazzled eyes, who announced that a new Prophet, a handsome Rabbi, was -traversing, the plains and villages of Galilee, foretelling the coming -of the Kingdom of God, and curing all human ills. And while he sat -and rested beside the Fountain of the Orchards, he went on to tell how -this Rabbi had healed the slave of a Roman Decurion of leprosy on the -Magdala Road, merely by spreading over him the shadow of his hands; -and how, another morning, he had crossed by boat to the Country of the -Gerasenes where the balsam-harvest was commencing, and had raised to -life the daughter of Jairus, a man of consideration and learning who -expounded the Sacred Books in the Synagogue. And when the husbandmen -and shepherds round about, and the dark women with water-pots on their -shoulders, inquired of him in their wonderment if this was in truth -the Messias of Judah, and whether the sword of fire shone before him, -and if the shadows of Gog and Magog, like the shadows of twin towers, -walked on either side of him--the man, without even a draught of -that thrice-cold water of which Joshua had drunk, took up his staff, -shook his hair, and made his way pensively beneath the aqueduct, and -straightway disappeared from sight in the mass of flowering almond -trees. But a hope, delightful as the dew in the month when the -grasshopper sings, refreshed these simple souls, and now, through all -the Plain that stretches its verdure to Ascalon, the plough seemed -easier to bury in the soil, and the stone of the winepress lighter -to move; the children, even while they plucked bunches of anemones, -watched, as they went, for a light to rise past the turn of the wall, -or under the sycamore, while the aged from their stone seats at the -city gate ran their fingers through the threads of their beards, and no -longer unfolded the old sayings with such wise certainty as of yore. - -Now there lived then in Enganim an old man, named Obed, of a priestly -family of Samaria, who had offered sacrifices on the altars of Mount -Ebal, and was possessed of well-nourished flocks and richly bearing -vineyards, and a heart as full of pride as his cellar was full of -wheat. But a dry burnt wind, that wind of desolation, which, at the -Lord’s command, blows from the savage lands of Assur, had slain the -fattest beasts of his flocks, and, on the slopes where his vines twined -round the elms and stretched themselves on the graceful frames, it -had left nought round the bare trees and pillars save broken twigs, -shrunken stalks, and leaves eaten by curly blight. And Obed squatted -at the threshold of his gate with the end of his cloak over his face, -fingered the dust, lamented his old age, and ruminated complaints -against a cruel God. - -Now as soon as lie heard tell of the new Rabbi of Galilee, who fed -the multitudes, scared demons, and repaired all misfortunes, Obed, -who was a man of books, and had travelled in Phenicia, conceived in -his mind that Jesus must be one of those soothsayers, well-known in -Palestine, like Apollonius, or Rabbi Ben-Dossa, or Simon the Subtle. -These men, even when the nights are dark, hold converse with the -stars, whose secrets to them are ever clear and simple; with a wand -they drive the gadflies, born in the mud of Egypt, from the standing -corn, and grasping in their fingers the shadows of trees, they draw -them like kindly screens over the threshing-floors at the hour of -rest. Of a surety Jesus of Galilee, a younger man with newer charms, -would, in return for a liberal largess, bring the mortality among his -flocks to an end, and make his vineyards green once more. Thereupon -Obed commanded his servants to set forth and search through all Galilee -for the new Rabbi, and bring him, with promises of money or goods, to -Enganim, in the Country of Issachar. - -His slaves tightened their leather belts and swung out by the road of -the caravans that coasts the lake and stretches as far as Damascus. -One afternoon, over against the West, red as a fully ripe pomegranate, -they caught sight of the fine snows of Mount Hermon. Next, amid the -freshness of a soft morning, the Lake of Tiberias shone before them, -transparent, cloaked in silence, more blue than the heavens, with -its margins of flowery meadows, dense orchards, porphyry rocks, and -white terraces amid the palm groves, under the flight of the doves. A -fisherman, who was engaged in lazily untying his boat from a grassy -point shaded by oleanders, listened with a smile to the slaves. The -Rabbi of Nazareth? Oh! since the month of Ijar, the Rabbi with his -disciples had descended to the sides whither the Jordan bears its -waters. The slaves set out at a run along the margin of the stream -until they came in front of the ford where it rests, stretching out in -a great pool, and for a moment slumbers, motionless and green, beneath -the tamarinds’ shade. A man of the tribe of the Essenes, clothed from -head to foot in white linen, was slowly gathering health-giving herbs -by the water side with a white lambkin in his arms. The slaves humbly -saluted him, for the people love those men of honest, pure hearts, as -white as the vestures they wash morning by morning in the purified -tanks. And did he know of the passing of the new Rabbi of Galilee who, -like the Essenes, taught sweetness and cured men and cattle? The -Essene murmured that the Rabbi had crossed the Oasis of Engaddi, and -had passed further beyond. But where “beyond?” With a bunch of purple -flowers he had plucked, the Essene pointed to the country over Jordan, -the plain of Moab. The slaves forded the river and sought Jesus in -vain, toiling breathlessly up the rough tracks to the cliffs where the -sinister Citadel of Makaur raises its head. At Jacob’s Well they met a -great caravan at rest that was carrying into Egypt myrrh, spices, and -balm of Gilead, and the camel drivers, as they drew out the water in -their leather buckets, told the slaves of Obed how in Gadara, at the -new moon, a wonderful Rabbi, greater than David or Isaiah, had torn -seven devils from the breast of a weaver-woman, and how at his voice -a man, whose head had been cut off by the robber Barabbas, had risen -from the tomb, and gone back to his garden. The slaves, still hopeful, -straightway mounted in haste by the Pilgrim’s Way to Gadara, that city -of lofty towers, and further on still to the Springs of Amalha. But -that very morning, followed by a crowd singing and waving branches of -mimosa, Jesus had embarked on the lake in a fishing smack, and made his -way under sail towards Magdala. And the slaves of Obed, disheartened, -passed the ford again by the Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob. One day, -as they trod the country of Roman Judea, their sandals torn with the -long ways, they crossed a sombre Pharisee, mounted on a mule, who was -returning to Ephraim. With devout reverence they stopped the man of -the Law. Had he met, perchance, this new Prophet of Galilee who, like -a God walking the earth, sowed miracles as he went? The hooked face of -the Pharisee darkened in every furrow, and his wrath resounded like a -proud drum. “Oh! pagan slaves and blasphemers! Where have ye heard of -prophets or miracles out of Jerusalem? Only Jehovah in His Temple is -mighty. Ignorant men and impostors come out of Galilee!” - -And as the slaves recoiled before his raised fist wrapped round with -sacred couplets, the furious doctor leapt from his mule and with -stones from the road pelted the slaves of Obed, howling Racca! Racca! -and all the ritual curses. The slaves fled to Enganim, and great was -the sorrow of Obed because his flocks were dying and his vineyards were -scorched, and all the time, radiant like the dawn behind the mountains, -the fame of Jesus of Galilee, consoling and full of Divine promises, -grew and increased. - -At that time a Roman Centurion, named Publius Septimus, had command -of the fort which dominates the valley of Cesarea as far as the city -and the sea. A rough man and a veteran of Tiberius’ campaign against -the Parthians, Publius had grown rich with prizes and plunder during -the revolt of Samaria. He owned mines in Attica, and enjoyed, as a -supreme favour of the Gods, the friendship of Flaccus, the Imperial -Legate in Syria. But a sorrow gnawed his boundless prosperity, even -as a worm gnaws a very succulent fruit. His only daughter, dearer to -him than life and fortune, was pining away with a slow subtle malady -which escaped even the wisdom of the doctors and magicians whom he -sent to consult at Tyre and Sidon. White and sad like the moon in a -cemetery, uncomplaining, with pallid smiles for her father, she grew -weaker and more frail as she sat on the high esplanade of the fort -under an awning, and stretched her sad dark eyes with longing regret -over the blue of the Tyrian Sea by which she had sailed from Italy -in a rich galley. Now and then, at her side, a legionary between -the battlements aimed an arrow carelessly aloft and pierced a great -eagle as it flew with serene wing in the rutilant sky. The daughter -of Septimus followed the bird for a moment as it turned over and over -until it crashed dead on the rocks, then with a sigh, sadder and more -pale, began once more to gaze at the sea. Now Septimus, having heard -the merchants of Chorazim tell of this wonderful Rabbi whose power -over the Spirits was such that he cured the dark troubles of the soul, -despatched three decuria of soldiers with orders to search for him -through Galilee and in all the cities of Decapolis as far as the coast -and up to Ascalon. The soldiers put up their shields in the canvas -bags, fixed boughs of the olive tree in their helmets, and hurriedly -departed, their iron-shod sandals resounding on the basalt slabs of the -Roman road which cuts the whole Tetrarchate of Herod from Cesarea to -the Lake. At night their arms shone out on the tops of the hills amid -the waving flames of the torches they bore aloft. By day they invaded -the homesteads, searched through the thickest apple orchards, and drove -the points of their lances into the haystacks, and the frightened -women, to appease them, hastened in with cakes of honey, new figs, and -bowls full of wine, which they drank at one draught as they sat in the -shade of the sycamores. In this way they traversed Lower Galilee--but -of the Rabbi all they found was his bright track in the hearts of the -people. Wearied with futile marching, and suspecting that the Jews were -concealing their wonder-worker lest the Romans should avail themselves -of his superior magic, they let loose a tumult of anger as they passed -through the pious subject-land. At the entrance to bridges they stopped -the Pilgrims, shouting the name of the Rabbi, tearing the veils from -the virgins’ faces, and, at the hour when pitchers are filled at the -cisterns, they invaded the narrow streets of towns, penetrated into -the Synagogues and beat sacrilegiously with their sword hilts on the -Thebahs--the holy Arks of cedar which enclosed the Sacred Books. In the -environs of Hebron they dragged the Hermits by the beard from their -caves to draw from them the name of the desert or palm grove where -the Rabbi was hid, and two Phœnician merchants who were coming from -Joppa with a cargo of malobatrum, and who had never heard the name of -Jesus, paid one hundred drachmas for this crime to each Decurion. And -now the peasantry, and even the wild shepherds of Idumea who bring in -the white beasts for the Temple, fled in terror to the mountains as -soon as they saw the arms of the violent band glittering at some turn -of the road; while from the edge of the terraces the old women shook -the ends of their dishevelled hair like bags, and flung ill-luck at -them, invoking the vengeance of Elias. In this tumult they wandered -as far as Ascalon, but failed to find Jesus, and returning along the -coast they buried their sandals in the burning sands. One morning near -Cesarea, as they were marching in a valley, they caught sight of a -dark green grove of laurels on a hill, among which the elegant bright -portico of a temple shone white in its retirement. An old man of long -white beard, crowned with laurel leaves, clothed in a saffron tunic and -holding a short three-stringed lyre, was gravely awaiting the rising of -the sun on the marble steps. Down below, the soldiers waved a branch -of olive and shouted to the priest. Did he know a new Prophet who had -arisen in Galilee and who was so clever in miracles that he raised the -dead to life, and changed water into wine? Quietly extending his arms, -the serene old man cried out over the dewy verdure of the valley--“Ye -Romans, believe ye that prophets appear working miracles in Galilee -or Judea? How can a barbarian alter the order established by Zeus? -Magicians and soothsayers are pedlars who murmur empty words to snatch -an alms from simple folk. Without the permission of the Immortals, not -a withered branch can fall from the tree, not a dry leaf be shaken. -There are no prophets, no miracles.... The Delphic Apollo alone knoweth -the secret of things!” - -Slowly then, with heads cast down as after a defeat, the soldiers -returned to the fortress of Cesarea, and great was the despair of -Septimus because his daughter was dying, and no complaint did she -utter, but gazed as she lay there at the Tyrian Sea, and all the while -the fame of Jesus, the healer of lingering maladies, grew ever fresher -and more consoling, like the afternoon breeze that blows from Hermon -and revives and lifts the drooping lilies in the gardens. - -Now between Enganim and Cesarea, in a wretched hut sunk in the cleft -of a hillock, there lived at this time a widow, the most miserable of -all the women in Israel. Her only son, a little boy crippled in every -part, had passed from the lean breasts at which she had suckled him -to the rags of a rotting mattress, where he had lain starving and -groaning now seven years. And her, too, sickness had shrivelled within -her never-changed rags until she was darker and more contorted than -an uprooted vine. And, over the twain, misery had grown thick as the -mould over broken potsherds lost in a desert. Even the oil in their -red clay lamp had long since dried up, and neither seed nor crust was -left in the painted chest. In the summer, their goat had died for lack -of pasture; next, the fig-tree in the garden ceased to bear. So far -were they from an inhabited place that no alms of bread or honey ever -entered their door. Herbs plucked in the fissures of the rocks and -cooked without salt were all that nourished those creatures of God in -the Chosen Land where even birds of ill omen had enough and to spare! - -One day a beggar entered the hut and shared his wallet with the -sorrowing mother, and as he sat for a moment at the hearthstone and -scratched the wounds in his legs, he told of the great hope of the -afflicted, this Rabbi who had appeared in Galilee and of one loaf in -a basket made seven, and how he loved all little children and dried -all tears, and promised the poor a great and luminous kingdom of more -abundance than the Court of Solomon. The woman listened with famished -eyes. And this sweet Rabbi, this hope of the sorrowful, where was he to -be found? The beggar sighed. Ah, this sweet Rabbi! How many had longed -for him and been disappointed! His fame was going over all Judea like -the sun that leaves not even a stretch of old wall without its blessed -rays, yet only those fortunate ones chosen of his will could gain a -sight of his fair countenance. - -Obed, the rich, had sent his slaves throughout all Galilee to search -for Jesus and bring him with promises to Enganim: Septimus, the -powerful, had despatched his soldiers as far as the sea coast to find -Jesus and conduct him by his orders to Cesarea. As he wandered and -begged his bread on many a road, he had met the slaves of Obed and then -the legionaries of Septimus. And all had returned like beaten men, -their sandals torn, without having discovered the wood or city, hovel -or palace, where Jesus lay hid. - -The evening was falling. The beggar took up his staff and descended -by the hard track between the heather and the rocks, while the mother -returned to her corner more cast down and desolate than before. And -then in a murmur, weaker than the brush of a wing, her little son -begged his mother to bring him this Rabbi who loved even the poorest -little children and healed even the longest sicknesses. The mother -clasped his tangled head and said: - -“Oh, my son! How canst thou ask me to leave thee and set out on the -road in search of the Rabbi of Galilee? Obed is rich and hath slaves, -and in vain they sought Jesus over hills, and through sandy plains -from Chorazim to the Country of Moab. Septimus is mighty and hath -soldiers, yet in vain they hunted for Jesus from Hebron to the sea! -How canst thou ask me to leave thee? Jesus is afar off, and our grief -abideth with us within these walls and imprisons us between them. And -were I to meet with him, how should I persuade this longed-for Rabbi, -for whom the rich and mighty sigh, to come down from city to city as -far as this solitude in order to cure such a poor little impotent on -such a ragged mattress!” - -But the child, with two long tears on its thin little face, murmured: -“Mother, Jesus loveth all the little ones. And I am still so small -and have such a heavy sickness and should so like to be cured!” To -which the mother sobbing: “child of mine how can I leave thee? The -roads of Galilee are long, and the pity of men is short. So ragged, so -limping, so sorrowful am I, that even the dogs would bark at me from -the homestead doors. None would give ear to my message, none would show -me the dwelling-place of the sweet Rabbi. And, my child! perhaps Jesus -is dead, for not even the rich or the mighty meet with him. Heaven -sent him. Heaven hath taken him away. And with him the hopes of the -sorrowful have died for ever.” The child raised his trembling little -hands from out of his dark rags and murmured: “Mother, I want to see -Jesus.” - -And immediately, opening the door slowly and smiling, Jesus said to the -Child: “I am here.” - - - - -BALLANTYNE PRESS - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74802 *** |