The Brook Kerith: A Syrian story Read online

  CHAP. IV.

  Well, Dan, you must make up your mind whether you are going to look outfor one who will teach him better, or let him remain with Azariah, wholikes teaching him, for he is a clever but oft-times an idle boy. Idon't know that I should have said idle, she added, and sat thinking ofwhat word would describe Joseph's truancy better than idle, without,however, finding the word she needed, and her thoughts floated away intoa long consideration of her son's anger, for she could see he was angrywith Azariah. But the cause of his anger she could not discover. Itcould not be that he was annoyed with Azariah for coming to complainthat he was often kept waiting: and it was on her tongue to ask him whyhe was so gloomy, why he knitted his brows and bit his lips. But sheheld back the question, for it would not be long before Dan would letout his secret: he could not keep one. And Dan, knowing well his ownweakness and his mother's shrewdness (she would soon be guessing whatwas passing in his mind), began to animadvert on Azariah for hisresidence in Tiberias, a pagan city--his plan for leading her on a falsetrail. Others, he said, spoke more unfavourably than he did; and hecontinued in this strain until Rachel, losing patience, interrupted himsuddenly saying that Azariah did not live in Tiberias. If not inTiberias, he answered, in a suburb, and within a stone's throw of thecity walls. But what has that got to do with Joseph? Rachel asked. Whathas it got to do with Joseph! Dan growled, when to reach the scribe'shouse he has to pass through lanes infested with the off-scourings ofthe pagan world: mummers, zanies, jugglers, dancers, whores fromBabylon. Did ye not hear him, woman, describe these lanes, saying thathe had to change his course three times so that he might keep hispromise to Azariah, and are ye not mindful that he told me, and yousitting there listening on that very stool, that the showmen he met inArgob orchard put a spell upon him, and that it was the demon that hadobtained temporary lodgment in him that had bidden him to Tiberias tosee the cock-fight: Jews from Alexandria, heretics, adventurers,beggars, aliens! Look ye here, Dan, Rachel said, he is a proud boy andmay thank thee little for--There are others to teach him, Daninterrupted, and continued to walk up and down the room, for he wishedto make an end of this talk with his mother. But he hadn't crossed theroom twice when he was brought to a full stop, having rememberedsuddenly that it is always by such acts as he was now meditating thatfathers lose the affections of their sons. If he were to drag Josephaway from Azariah, from whom he was learning Hebrew and Greek, Josephmight begin to look upon him as a tyrant. His mother was a sharp-wittedwoman, and very little was needed to set her thinking. She had anirritating way of looking as it were into his mind, and if she were tosuspect him of jealousy of Azariah he would never have a moment's peaceagain.

  But what in the world may we understand from all this bear-dancing upand down the room? asked Rachel. Ye must know if you are going towithdraw the boy from his schooling.

  Dan cast an angry glance at his mother and hated her; and then his heartmisgave him, for he knew that he lacked courage to take Joseph out ofhis present schooling, and dared not divide his house against himself,or do anything that might lose him his son's love and little by littlecause himself to be looked upon as a tyrant. He knew himself to be aweak man, except in the counting-house; he knew it, and must stifle hisjealousy of Azariah, who had forgiven Joseph his truancy and was theonly one that knew of the excursion into Tiberias. But Azariah'sindulgence did not altogether please him. He began to suspect it and todoubt if he had acted wisely in not ordering Joseph away from Azariah:for Azariah was robbing him, robbing him of all that he valued in thisworld, his son! And it seemed to him a little later in the day, as heclosed his ledger, that he had come to be disregarded in his own house;and he thought he would have liked much better to stay away, to dine inthe counting-house, urging a press of business. The first thing he wouldhear would be "Azariah." The hated name was never off the boy's lips: hetalked of nothing else but Azariah and Hebrew and Greek and the learnedJews whom he met at Azariah's house.

  Dan sat looking into the dusk asking himself if his bargain were notthat his son should learn the Greek language but not Greek literature,which is full of heresy, he said to himself; and he returned homedetermined to raise the point; but Joseph told him, and he thoughtrather abruptly, that it was only through Greek literature that onecould learn Greek in Tiberias--the spoken language was a dialect.

  It may have been that Joseph perceived that praise of Azariah caused hisfather to writhe a little, and--curious to observe the effect--he spokemore of Azariah than he would have done otherwise, and laid an accent onhis master's learning, and related incidents in which his masterappeared to great advantage, causing his father much perplexity and painof mind, till at last, unable to bear the torture any longer, hesaid--the words slipped from him incontinently--you're no better than alittle Azariah! and, unable to contain himself, he rushed from the room,leaving Joseph and Rachel to discuss his vehemence and discover motiveswhich he hoped would not include the right one. But afraid that he hadbetrayed his jealousy of Azariah he returned, and to mislead his motherand son he began to speak of the duty of the pupil to the master,telling Joseph he must submit himself to Azariah in everything: byrepresenting Azariah as one in full authority he hoped to overcome hisinfluence and before many months had passed over a different accent wasnotable in Joseph's voice when he spoke of Azariah; but he continuedwith him for two more years. And it was then that Dan set himself todevise plans to end his son's studies in Hebrew and Greek.

  Joseph knows now all that Azariah can teach him, and it is high timethat I took him in hand and taught him his trade. But though determinedto rid himself of Azariah he felt he must proceed gently (if possible,in conjunction with his mother); he must wait for an occasion; and whilehe was watching for one it fell out that Joseph wearied of Azariah andwent to his father saying that he had learnt Hebrew and could speakGreek, so there was no use in his returning to Azariah any more. Atfirst his parents could only think that he had; quarrelled with Azariah,but it was not so, they soon discovered that he had merely become tiredof him--a change that betokened a capricious mind. A growing boy is fullof fancies, Rachel said: an explanation that Dan deemed sufficient, andhe was careful not to speak against Azariah lest he should turn hisson's thoughts back on Greek literature, or Greek philosophy, which ismore pernicious even than the literature. He did not dare to ask Josephto come down to the counting-house, afraid lest by trying to influencehim in one direction he might influence him in the opposite direction.He deemed it better to leave everything to fate, and while putting histrust in God Dan applied himself to meditate on the young man'scharacter and his tastes, which seemed to have taken a sudden turn; for,to his father's surprise, Joseph had begun to put questions to him aboutthe sale of fish, and to speak of visiting Tyre and Sidon with a view toestablishing branch houses--extensions of their business. His father,while approving of this plan, pointed out that Tyre and Sidon beingthemselves on the coast of the sea could never be as good customers asinland cities, sea fish being considered, he thought mistakenly,preferable to lake. He had been doing, it is true, a fair trade withDamascus, but whereas it was impossible to reckon on Damascus it seemedto him that their industry might be extended in many other directions.And delighted with the change that had come over his son he said that hewould have tried long ago to extend his business, if he had hadknowledge of the Greek language.

  He spoke of Heliopolis, and proposed to Joseph that he should go thereand establish a mart for salt fish as soon as he had mastered all thedetails of the trade, which would be soon: a very little application inthe counting-house would be enough for a clever fellow like Joseph.

  As he said these words his eyes met Rachel's, and as soon as Joseph leftthe room she asked him if he believed that Joseph would settle down tothe selling of salt fish: a question which was not agreeable to Dan, whowas at that moment settling himself into the conviction that Joseph hadbegun to evince an aptitude for trade that he himself did not acquiretill many years older, causing him to flame up as might be expectedagainst his mother
, telling her that her remarks were most mischievous,whether she meant them or not. He hoped Joseph was not the young manthat she saw in him. Before he could say any more Joseph returned, andlinked his arm into his father's, and the twain went away together tothe counting-house, Dan enamoured of his son but just a little afraidall the same that Joseph might weary of trade in the end, just as he hadwearied of learning. He was moved to speak his fear to Joseph, but onconsideration he resolved that no good could come of such confidences,and on the evening of the first day in the counting-house he whisperedto Rachel that Joseph had taken to trade as a duck to the water, as thesaying is.

  Day after day he watched his son's progress in administration, sayingnothing, waiting for the head clerk to endorse his opinion that therewere the makings of a first-rate man in Joseph. He was careful not toask any leading questions, but he could not refrain from letting theconversation drop, so that the clerk might have an opportunity ofexpressing his opinion of Master Joseph's business capacities. But theclerk made no remark: it might as well have been that Joseph was not inthe counting-house; Dan had begun to hate his clerk, who had been withhim for thirty years. He had brought him from Arimathea and couldn'tdismiss him; he could only look into his eyes appealingly. At last theclerk spoke, and his words were like manna in the desert; and,overjoyed, Dan wondered how it was that he could have refrained so long.It was concerning a certain falling off in an order: if Master Josephwere to go on a circuit through the Greek cities--Dan could have thrownhis arms about his clerk for these words, but it were better todissimulate. You think then that Joseph understands the businesssufficiently? The clerk acquiesced, and it was a great day, of course,the day Joseph went forth; and in a few weeks Dan had proof that hisconfidence in his son's business aptitudes was not misplaced. Josephshowed himself to be suited to the enterprise by his engaging manner aswell as by his knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, the two languagesprocuring him an admission into the confidences of Jew and Gentilealike.

  The length of these excursions was from three to four weeks, and whenJoseph returned home for an interval his parents disputed as to whetherhe should spend his holiday in the counting-house or the dwelling-house.So to avoid giving offence to either, and for his own pleasure Josephoften spent these days on the boats with the fishers, learning theircraft from them, losing himself often in meditations how the draught offishes might be increased by a superior kind of net: interested in histrade far too much, Rachel said. His mind seemed bent on it always;whereas she would have liked to have heard him tell of all the countrieshe had been to and of all the people he had seen, but it was alwaysabout salt fish that he was talking: how many barrels had gone to thistown, and how many barrels to another, and the new opening he haddiscovered for salt fish in a village the name of which he had neverheard before.

  Rachel's patience with Joseph was long but at last she lost patience andsaid she would be glad when the last barrel of salt fish came out of thelake, for it would not be till then that they would have time to livetheir lives in peace and comfort. She gathered up her knitting and wasgoing to bed, but Joseph would not suffer her to go. He said he hadstories to tell her, and he fell to telling of the several preachers hehad heard in the synagogues, and his voice beguiled the evening away sopleasantly that Rachel let her knitting drop into her lap and satlooking at her grandson, stupefied and transported with love.

  Dan's love for his son was more tender in these days than it had everbeen before, but Rachel looked back, thinking the old days were better,when Joseph used to come from Azariah's talking about his studies. Itmay be that Dan, forgetful of his jealousy, looked back to those daysgone over with a certain wistfulness. A boy is, if not more interesting,at least more unexpected, than a young man. In the old days Dan did notknow what sort of son God had given him, but now he knew that God hadgiven him the son he always desired, and that Azariah's tending of theboy's character had been kind, wise and salutary, as the flower andfruit showed. But in the deepest peace there is disquiet, and in therelation of his adventures Joseph had begun to display interest invarious interpretations of Scripture which he had heard in thesynagogues--true that he laughed at these, but he had met learnedheretics from Alexandria in Azariah's house. Dan often wondered if thesehad not tried to impregnate his mind with their religious theories anddoctrines, for being without religious interests, Dan was strictlyorthodox.

  He did not suspect Azariah, whom he knew to be withal orthodox, as muchas Azariah's friend, Apollonius, the Alexandrian Jew. But though he kepthis ears open for the slightest word he could not discover any trace ofhis influence. If his discourse had had any effect, it was to makeJoseph more than ever a Pharisee. He was sometimes even inclined tothink that Joseph was a little too particular, laying too much stressupon the practice of minute observances, and he began to apprehend thatthere was something of the Scribe in Joseph after all. The significanceof his mother's words becoming suddenly clear to Dan, he asked himselfif it were not yet within the width of a finger that Joseph would tireof trade and retire to Jerusalem and expound the law and the traditionsin the Temple. His vocation, Dan was of opinion, could not yet bepredicted with any certainty: he might go either way--to trade or toreligious learning--and in the midst of these meditations on his son'scharacter Dan remembered that some friends had come to see Joseph at thecounting-house yesterday. Joseph had taken them out into the yard andthey had talked together, but it was not of the export of salt fish theyhad spoken, but of the observances of the Sabbath. Dan had listened, penin hand, his thoughts suspended, and had heard them devote many minutesto the question whether a man should dip himself in the nearest brook ifhe had accidentally touched a pig. He had heard them discuss at lengththe grace that should be used before eating fruit from a tree, andwhether it were necessary to say three graces after eating three kindsof fruit at one meal. He had heard one ask if a sheep that had beenkilled with a Greek knife could be eaten, and he had heard Joseph askhim if he knew the sheep had been killed with a Greek knife and the manconfess that he had not made inquiry. If he had known--

  Dan did not hear the end of the sentence, but imagined that it ended ina gesture of abhorrence. In his day religion was limited to the law ofMoses, a skein well combed out, but the Scribes in Jerusalem had knottedand twisted the skein. He had heard Joseph maintain, and stiffly too,that an egg laid on the day after the Sabbath could not be eaten,because it had been prepared by the hen on the Sabbath. But one can'talways be watching hens, he said to himself, and the discussion of suchpoints seeming to him unmanly, he drew back the window-curtain and fellinto admiration of his son's slim loins and great shoulders. Joseph waslaughing with his companions at that moment and his teeth glistened,every one white and shapely. Why do such discussions interest him? Danasked, for his eyes are soft as flowers; and he envied the woman thatJoseph would resort unto in the night. But very often men like Josephdid not marry, and a new disquietude arose in his mind: he wantedchildren, grandchildren. In a few years Joseph should begin to lookround.... Meanwhile it might be well to tell him that men like Hillelhad always held that it is after the spirit rather than the letter weshould strive, and that in running after the latter we are apt to losethe former, and he accepted the first opportunity to admonish Joseph,who listened in amazement, wondering what had befallen his father, whomhe had never heard speak like this before. All the same he hearkened tothese warnings and laid them in his memory, and fell to considering hisfather as one who had just jogged along the road that he and hisancestors had come by, without much question. But if his father had sethimself to consider religions, and with that seriousness they deserved,he would not keep back any longer the matter on which he had longdesired to speak to him.

  The young men to whom he had just bidden good-bye were all going toJerusalem, whither Dan was accustomed to go every year for the Feast ofthe Passover, but last year the journey thither had fatigued him unduly,and it seemed to Joseph that this year he should go to Jerusalem in hisfather's place; and when he broached the subject, Dan, who ha
d beenthinking for some time that he was not feeling strong enough for thisjourney, welcomed Joseph's proposal--a most proper presence Joseph'swould be at the Feast. Joseph had come to the age when he should visitJerusalem, but he did not readily understand this sudden enthusiasm. Ifhe wanted to go to Jerusalem to the Feast of the Passover, why had henot said so before? And Dan, whose thoughts reached back to thediscussion overheard in the yard, was compelled to ask Joseph if it werefor the purpose of discussing the value of certain minute points of lawthat he wished to go to Jerusalem. At which Joseph was astonished thathis father should have asked him such a thing.... Yet why not? Forawhile back he was discussing such very points with some young gossips.His tongue wagged as was its wont on all occasions, though his mind wasaway and he suddenly stopped speaking; and when the stirring of hisfather's feet on the floor awakened him, he saw his father sitting penin hand watching him and no doubt asking himself of what great andwonderful thing his son was thinking.

  Once again actuality disappeared. He stood engulfed in memories ofthings heard in Azariah's house: or things only half heard, for he hadnever thought of them since. The words of the Jews he met there hadfallen dead at the time, but now he remembered things that had passedover his mind. The heresies of the Jews in Alexandria awoke in him, anda marvellous longing awoke to see the world. First of all he must beginwith Jerusalem, and he bade his father good-bye with an eagerness nottoo pleasant to the old man.