The Brook Kerith: A Syrian story Read online

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  THE BROOK KERITH

  A SYRIAN STORY

  BY GEORGE MOORE

  1916

  A DEDICATION

  My dear Mary Hunter. It appears that you wished to give me a book forChristmas, but were in doubt what book to give me as I seemed to havelittle taste for reading, so in your embarrassment you gave me a Bible.It lies on my table now with the date 1898 on the fly-leaf--my constantcompanion and chief literary interest for the last eighteen years.Itself a literature, it has led me into many various literatures andinto the society of scholars.

  I owe so much to your Bible that I cannot let pass the publication of"The Brook Kerith" without thanking you for it again. Yours always,George Moore.

  THE BROOK KERITH

  CHAP. I.

  It was at the end of a summer evening, long after his usual bedtime,that Joseph, sitting on his grandmother's knee, heard her tell that Kishhaving lost his asses sent Saul, his son, to seek them in the land ofthe Benjamites and the land of Shalisha, whither they might havestrayed. But they were not in these lands, Son, she continued, nor inZulp, whither Saul went afterwards, and being then tired out withlooking for them he said to the servant: we shall do well to forget theasses, lest my father should ask what has become of us. But the servant,being of a mind that Kish would not care to see them without the asses,said to young Saul: let us go up into yon city, for a great seer livesthere and he will be able to put us in the right way to come upon theasses. But we have little in our wallet to recompense him, Saulanswered, only half a loaf and a little wine at the end of the bottle.We have more than that, the servant replied, and opening his hand heshowed a quarter of a shekel of silver to Saul, who said: he will takethat in payment. Whereupon they walked into Arimathea, casting theireyes about for somebody to direct them to the seer's house. And seeingsome maidens at the well, come to draw water, they asked them if theseer had been in the city that day, and were answered that he had beenseen and would offer sacrifice that morning, as had been announced. Hemust be on his way now to the high rock, one of the maidens cried afterthem, and they pressed through the people till none was in front of thembut an old man walking alone, likewise in the direction of the rock;and overtaking him they asked if he could point out the seer's house tothem, to which he answered sharply: I am the seer, and fell at once togazing on Saul as if he saw in him the one that had been revealed tohim. For you see, Son, seers have foresight, and the seer had beenwarned overnight that the Lord would send a young man to him, so themoment he saw Saul he knew him to be the one the Lord had promised, andhe said: thou art he whom the Lord has promised to send me foranointment, but more than that I cannot tell thee, being on my way tooffer sacrifice, but afterwards we will eat together, and all that hasbeen revealed to me I will tell. You understand me, Son, the old womancrooned, the Lord had been with Samuel beforetimes and had promised tosend the King of Israel to him for anointment, and the moment he laideyes on Saul he knew him to be the king; and that was why he asked himto eat with him after sacrifice. Yes, Granny, I understand: but did theLord set the asses astray that Saul might follow them and come to Samuelto be made a King? I daresay there was something like that at the bottomof it, the old woman answered, and continued her story till her kneesached under the boy's weight.

  The child's asleep, she said, and on the instant he awoke crying: no,Granny, I wasn't asleep. I heard all you said and would like to be aprophet. A prophet, Joseph, and to anoint a king? But there are no moreprophets or kings in Israel. And now, Joseph, my little prophet, 'tisbedtime and past it. Come. I didn't say I wanted to anoint kings, heanswered, and refused to go to bed, though manifestly he could hardlykeep awake. I'll wait up for Father.

  Now what can the child want his father for at this hour? she muttered asshe went about the room, not guessing that he was angry and resentful,that her words had wounded him deeply and that he was asking himself, inhis corner, if she thought him too stupid to be a prophet.

  I'll tell thee no more stories, she said to him, but he answered that hedid not want to hear her stories, and betwixt feelings of anger andshame his head drooped, and he slept in his chair till the door openedand his father's footsteps crossed the threshold.

  Now, he said to himself, Granny will tell Father that I said I'd like tobe a prophet. And feigning sleep he listened, determined to hear theworst that could be said of him. But they did not speak about him but ofthe barrels of salt fish that were to go to Beth-Shemish on the morrow;which was their usual talk. So he slipped from his chair and bade hisfather good-night. A resentful good-night it was; and his good-night tohis grandmother was still more resentful. But she found an excuse forhis rudeness, saying that his head was full of sleep--a remark thatannoyed him considerably and sent him upstairs wishing that women wouldnot talk about things they do not understand. I'll ask Father in themorning why Granny laughed at me for saying I'd like to be a prophet.But as morning seemed still a long way ahead he tried to find a reason,but could find no better one than that prophets were usually old men.But I shall be old in time to come and have a beard. Father has a beardand they can't tell that I won't have a beard, and a white one too, sowhy should they--

  His senses were numbing, and he must have fallen asleep soon after, forwhen he awoke it seemed to him that he had been asleep a long time,several hours at least, so many things had happened or seemed to havehappened; but as he recovered his mind all the dream happenings meltedaway, and he could remember only his mother. She had been dead fouryears, but in his dream she looked as she had always looked, and hadscolded Granny for laughing at him. He tried to remember what else shehad said but her words faded out of his mind and he fell asleep again.In this second sleep an old man rose up by his bedside and told him thathe was the prophet Samuel, who though he had been dead a thousand yearshad heard him say he would like to be a prophet. But shall I be aprophet? Joseph asked, and as Samuel did not answer he cried out asloudly as he could: shall I? shall I?

  What ails thee, Son? he heard his grandmother calling to him, and heanswered: an old man, an old man. Ye are dreaming, she mumbled betweensleeping and waking. Go to sleep like a good boy, and don't dream anymore. I will, Granny, and don't be getting up; the bed-clothes don'twant settling. I am well tucked in, he pleaded; and fell asleep prayingthat Granny had not heard him ask Samuel if he would be a prophet.

  A memory of his dream of Samuel came upon him while she dressed him, andhe hoped she had forgotten all about it; but his father mentioned atbreakfast that he had been awakened by cries. It was Joseph crying outin his dream, Dan, disturbed thee last night: such cries, "Shall I?Shall I?" And when I asked "What ails thee?" the only answer I got was"An old man."

  Dan, Joseph's father, wondered why Joseph should seem so disheartenedand why he should murmur so perfunctorily that he could not remember hisdream. But if he had forgotten it, why trouble him further? If we are toforget anything it were well that we should choose our dreams; at whichpiece of incredulity his mother shook her head, being firm in the beliefthat there was much sense in dreams and that they could be interpretedto the advantage of everybody.

  Dan said: if that be so, let him tell thee his dream. But Joseph hunghis head and pushed his plate away; and seeing him so morose they lefthim to his sulks and fell to talking of dreams that had come true.Joseph had never heard them speak of anything so interesting before, andthough he suspected that they were making fun of him he could not doelse than listen, till becoming convinced suddenly that they weretalking in good earnest without intention of fooling him he began toregret that he had said he had forgotten his dream, and rapped out: hewas the prophet Samuel. N
ow what are you saying, Joseph? his fatherasked. Joseph would not say any more, but it pleased him to observe thatneither his father nor his granny laughed at his admission, and seeinghow interested they were in his dream he said: if you want to know all,Samuel said he had heard me say that I'd like to be a prophet. That waswhy he came back from the dead. But, Father, is it true that we are hisdescendants? He said that I was.

  A most extraordinary dream, his father answered, for it has always beenheld in the family that we are descended from him. Do you really mean,Joseph, that the old man you saw in your dream told you he was Samueland that you were his descendant? How should I have known if he hadn'ttold me? Joseph looked from one to the other and wondered why they hadkept the secret of his ancestor from him. You laughed at me yesterday,Granny, when I said I'd like to be a prophet. Now what do you say?Answer me that. And he continued to look from one to the other for ananswer. But neither had the wit to find an answer, so amazed were theyat the news that the prophet Samuel had visited Joseph in a dream; andsatisfied at the impression he had made and a little frightened by theirsilence Joseph stole out of the room, leaving his parents to placewhatever interpretation they pleased on his dream. Nor did he carewhether they believed he had spoken the truth. He was more concernedwith himself than with them, and conscious that something of greatimportance had happened to him he ascended the stairs, pausing at everystep uncertain if he should return to ask for the whole of the story ofSaul's anointment. It seemed to him to lack courtesy to return to theroom in which he had seen the prophet, till he knew these things. But hecould not return to ask questions: later he would learn what hadhappened to Samuel and Saul, and he entered the room, henceforth to hima sacred room, and stood looking through it, having all thecircumstances of his dream well in mind: he was lying on his left sidewhen Samuel had risen up before him, and it was there, upon that spot,in that space he had seen Samuel. His ancestor had seemed to fade awayfrom the waist downwards, but his face was extraordinarily clear in thedarkness, and Joseph tried to recall it. But he could only remember itas a face that a spirit might wear, for it was not made up of flesh butof some glowing matter or stuff, such as glow-worms are made of; norcould he call it ugly or beautiful, for it was not of this world. He haddrawn the bed-clothes over his head, but--impelled he knew not why, forhe was nearly dead with fright--he had poked his head out to see if theface was still there. The lips did not move, but he had heard a voice.The tones were not like any heard before, but he had listened to themall the same, and if he had not lost his wits again in an excess of fearhe would have put questions to Samuel: he would have put questions ifhis tongue had not been tied back somewhere in the roof of his mouth.But the next time he would not be frightened and pull the bed-clothesover his head.

  And convinced of his own courage he lay night after night thinking ofall the great things he would ask the old man and of the benefit hewould derive from his teaching. But Samuel did not appear again, perhapsbecause the nights were so dark. Joseph was told the moon would becomefull again, but sleep closed his eyes when he should have been waking,and in the morning he was full of fear that perhaps Samuel had come andgone away disappointed at not finding him awake. But that could not be,for if the prophet had come he would have awakened him as he had donebefore. His ancestor had not come again: a reasonable thing to suppose,for when the dead return to the earth they do so with much pain anddifficulty; and if the living, whom they come to instruct, cannot keeptheir eyes open, the poor dead wander back and do not try to comebetween their descendants and their fate again.

  But I will keep awake, he said, and resorted to all sorts of devices,keeping up a repetition of a little phrase: he will come to-night whenthe moon is full; and lying with one leg hanging out of bed; and theseproving unavailing he strewed his bed with crumbs. But no ancestorappeared, and little by little he relinquished hope of ever being ableto summon Samuel to his bedside, and accepted as an explanation of hispersistent absence that Samuel had performed his duty by coming once tovisit him and would not come again unless some new necessity shouldarise. It was then that the conviction began to mount into his brainthat he must learn all that his grandmother could tell him about Sauland David, and learning from her that they had been a great trouble toSamuel he resolved never to allow a thought into his mind that theprophet would deem unworthy. To become worthy of his ancestor was nowhis aim, and when he heard that Samuel was the author of two sacredbooks it seemed to him that his education had been neglected: for he hadnot yet been taught to read. Another step in his advancement was thediscovery that the language his father, his granny and himself spoke wasnot the language spoken by Samuel, and every day he pressed hisgrandmother to tell him why the Jews had lost their language in Babylon,till he exhausted the old woman's knowledge and she said: well now, Son,if you want to hear any more about Babylon you must ask your father, forI have told you all I know. And Joseph waited eagerly for his father tocome home, and plagued him to tell him a story.

  But after a long day spent in the counting-house his father was oftentoo tired to take him on his knee and instruct him, for Joseph'scuriosity was unceasing and very often wearisome. Now, Joseph, hisfather said, you will learn more about these things when you are older.And why not now? he asked, and his grandmother answered that it waschange of air that he wanted and not books; and they began to speak ofthe fierce summer that had taken the health out of all of them, and ofhow necessary it was for a child of that age to be sent up to the hills.

  Dan looked into his son's face, and Rachel seemed to be right. A thin,wan little face, that the air of the hills will brighten, he said; andhe began at once to make arrangements for Joseph's departure for a hillvillage, saying that the pastoral life of the hills would take his mindoff Samuel, Hebrew and Babylon. Rachel was doubtful if the shepherdswould absorb Joseph's mind as completely as his father thought. Shehoped, however, that they would. As soon as he hears the sound of thepipe, his father answered. A prophecy this was, for while Joseph wasresting after the fatigue of the journey, he was awakened suddenly by asound he had never heard before, and one that interested him strangely.His nurse told him that the sound he was hearing was a shepherd's pipe.The shepherd plays and the flock follows, she said. And when may I seethe flock coming home with the shepherd? he asked. To-morrow evening,she answered, and the time seemed to him to loiter, so eager was he tosee the flocks returning and to watch the she-goat milked.

  And in the spring as his strength came back he followed the shepherdsand heard from them many stories of wolves and dogs, and from a shepherdlad, whom he had chosen as a companion, he acquired knowledge of theplumage and the cries and the habits of birds, and whither he was toseek their nests: it had become his ambition to possess all the wildbirds' eggs, one that was easily satisfied till he came to the egg ofthe cuckoo, which he sought in vain, hearing of it often, now here, nowthere, till at last he and the shepherd lad ventured into a dangerouscountry in search of it and remained there till news of their absencereached Magdala and Dan set out in great alarm with an armed escort torecover his son. He was very angry when he came upon him, but thetrouble he had been put to and the ransom he had had to pay were verysoon forgotten, so great was his pleasure at the strong healthy boy hebrought back with him, and whose first question to Rachel was: are therecuckoos in Magdala?--Father doesn't know. His grandmother could not tellhim, but she was willing to make inquiries, but before any news of theegg had been gotten the hope to possess it seemed to have drifted out ofJoseph's mind and to seem even a little foolish when he looked into hisbox, for many of his egg shells had been broken on the journey. See,Granny, he said, but on second thoughts he refused to show his chippedpossessions. But thou wast once as eager to learn Hebrew, hisgrandmother said, and the chance words, spoken as she left the room,awakened his suspended interests. As soon as she returned she was besetby questions, and the same evening his father had to promise that thebest scribe in Galilee should be engaged to teach him: a discussionbegan between Dan and Rachel as to the most
notable and trustworthy, andit was followed by Joseph so eagerly that they could not help laughing;the questions he put to them regarding the different accomplishments ofthe scribes were very minute, and the phrase--But this one is a Greekscholar, stirred his curiosity. Why should he be denied me because heknows Greek? he asked, and his father could only answer that no one canlearn two languages at the same time. But if he knows two languages,Joseph insisted. I cannot tell thee more, his father answered, than thatthe scribe I've chosen is a great Hebrew scholar.

  He was no doubt a great scholar, but he was not the man that Josephwished for: thin and tall and of gentle appearance and demeanour, he didnot stir up a flame for work in Joseph, who, as soon as the novelty oflearning Hebrew had worn off, began to hide himself in the garden. Hisfather caught him one day sitting in a convenient bough, looking downupon his preceptor fairly asleep on a bench; and after this adventure hebegan to make a mocking stock of his preceptor, inventing all kinds ofcruelties, and his truancy became so constant that his father was forcedto choose another. This time a younger man was chosen, but he succeededwith Joseph not very much better than the first. After the second therecame a third, and when Joseph began to complain of his ignorance hisfather said:

  Well, Joseph, you said you wanted to learn Hebrew, and you have shown noapplication, and three of the most learned scribes in Galilee have beencalled in to teach you.

  Joseph felt the reproof bitterly, but he did not know how to answer hisfather and he was grateful to his grandmother for her answer. Josephisn't an idle boy, Dan, but his nature is such that he cannot learn froma man he doesn't like. Why don't ye give him Azariah as an instructor?Has he been speaking to thee about Azariah? Dan asked. Maybe, she said,and Dan's face clouded.

  CHAP. II.