OLD TESTAMENT LEGENDS BEING STORIES OUT OF SOME OF THE LESS-KNOWN APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BY M. R. JAMES, LITT. D. PROVOST OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

 WITH TEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. J. FORD LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA 1913 All rights reserved

PREFACE

If you read the title-page of this book--a thing which young personsvery seldom do--you will see that it (the book) contains storiestaken "out of some of the less-known apocryphal books of the OldTestament. " You will very possibly not understand what that means;but if you will read this preface--another thing which young personsdo even seldomer than they read a title-page--you will find the bestexplanation that I can give. 

I have to begin by talking about the word apocryphal. The newspapersare fond of saying that a statement made by the Prime Minister (orthe leader of the Opposition, according to which side in politics thenewspaper takes) is apocryphal. By this, the newspaper means to saythat the statement was untrue. Or, you will read that someoneobtained money or goods by saying that he possessed large estatesabroad; and that the estates turned out to be apocryphal. By this ismeant that they did not exist. But when you read of a book beingapocryphal, something rather different is meant: either that it is"spurious, " i. E. That it pretends to be written by someone who didnot write it; or that what is in it is fabulous and untrue, like thestories of King Arthur; or both. 

Now this word apocryphal is specially used, and perhaps most oftenused, in connection with the Bible. Probably you have at least heardof something called "the Apocrypha, " even if you have not read it, and even if you have mixed it up in your mind with another word, Apocalypse, which has nothing whatever to do with it. Well, what is"the Apocrypha"? It is to be found in many Bibles, bound up betweenthe Old and the New Testaments. It is a set of books, looking justlike the other books of the Bible, with chapters and verses. Some ofit is read in church as weekday lessons in the months of October andNovember, as you may see by looking at the Table of Lessons in anyPrayer Book. Now, are all these books of "the Apocrypha" fabulous orspurious? No. Some of them are. The Second Book of Esdras (that is, Ezra) was not written by Ezra; The Book of Baruch (the companion ofthe prophet Jeremiah) was not written by Baruch; The Wisdom ofSolomon was not written by Solomon. These and some others arespurious. Also, the books of Tobit and of Judith are fabulousstories. On the other hand, the book Ecclesiasticus was reallywritten by Sirach (who is mentioned in the Preface), and The FirstBook of Maccabees is a true and valuable history. 

Then why, if apocryphal means fabulous or spurious, or both, arethese books, some of which are true and genuine, lumped all togetherand called "Apocrypha"? I am sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot gothrough the whole history. It is long, it is difficult, and though itinterests me, I am inclined to think it would not interest you unlessI spread it over a great many pages, and filled it out with stories;and for this I have no time. Let me tell you what strikes me as beingthe important thing to bear in mind. Nearly all of these books havebeen at some time or another read in church and treated as Scripture. Nearly all of them are now treated as Scripture by the Roman Church, but not by most of the Protestant, or Reformed, Churches. They are onthe borderland of the Bible. From having been so long kept togetherin a group by themselves, they have come to be thought of as beingall of one uniform kind. But they are not so; they are of verydifferent sorts and merits. 

Let us keep the old name for them and call them "the Apocrypha. " Itwill be convenient to do so, because I have now to speak of otherapocryphal books, which have never been bound up in our Bibles, butin older times, before Bibles were printed, were (some of them atleast) read in churches and thought to be sacred books. There are agreat many of these: perhaps, if they were all put together, theywould make up a volume as large as the Old Testament itself; but atpresent there is no book in which they are all printed together. Someare stories, others are visions like those in the Revelation of St. John, others are psalms and prophecies. But all of them, I think, mayfairly be called either fabulous or spurious, or both. 

I can give you an example from the Bible itself to show that therewere such books as long ago as the times of the Apostles, and thatthey were read and valued. In the 9th verse of the Epistle of Jude, you read something very curious about Satan contending with Michaelabout the body of Moses. Ancient writers whom we may trust tell usthat this is taken from a book called The Assumption of Moses (thatis, the story of Moses being taken up out of this world at the end ofhis life). 

We have pieces of this book still, but we have not got the wholestory of the dispute between Satan and Michael. However, we know thatit was represented as having taken place when Michael and the otherangels were burying the body of Moses among the mountains in a placewhich was kept secret from all men, and that Satan said that thoughthe soul of Moses might belong to God, the body belonged to him; and, moreover, that Moses was a murderer, because, long before, he hadkilled an Egyptian (as we read in Exodus ii. 12); whereupon Michaelanswered Satan in the words, "The Lord rebuke thee, " and Satan fled. That is one example. Another is in the 14th verse of the sameEpistle, where it is said that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of the coming of the Lord to judge sinners. This verse istaken out of a long book of prophecies and visions called The Book ofEnoch, which still exists, and we may read the very words in it. 

In this present book, I am only concerned with the apocryphalstories; with the prophecies and visions and psalms I have nothing todo. Now, how and why did the stories come to be written?

It is likely enough that after reading some history in the Bible youmay have wondered whether there was anything more to be known aboutthe people of whom it told you. You would have liked to find out whathappened to Adam, or Joseph, or David, besides the things which arewritten in the Bible. It was just so in ancient times --the timeswhen our Lord was on earth, and even long before that. The Jewsnaturally thought a great deal about the people who are mentioned inthe Old Testament; and just as there are a great many stories aboutthe heroes of English history--such as that of King Alfred and thecakes--which, we are told now, are not true, so stories grew up aboutthe great men of the Bible. Perhaps they were invented, some of them, in answer to questions which had been asked. Some of them werecertainly made up in order to explain parts of the Bible which weredifficult to understand. I will give an example of this. In the Bookof Genesis (iv. 23, 24) you are told how the patriarch Lamech spoketo his wives and said, "I have slain a man to my wounding, and ayoung man to my hurt. " Nothing is said in explanation of this; we arenot told whom Lamech had killed. So a story was made up--no one knowswhen--which gives this explanation: Lamech was blind, and he used toamuse himself by shooting birds and beasts with bow and arrow. Whenhe went out shooting, he used to take with him his young nephewTubal; and Tubal used to spy the game for him and guide his handsthat he might aim his arrow right. One day, when they were outtogether, Tubal saw, as he thought, a beast moving in the thicket;and he told Lamech, and made him aim at it, and Lamech's arrow smotethe beast and killed it. But when Tubal ran to see what kind of beastit was, he found that it was not a wild beast at all. It was hisancestor Gain. For after Gain had killed Abel, and God had pronounceda curse upon him, he wandered about the earth, never able to remainin one place; and a great horn grew out of his head, and his body wascovered with hair; so that Tubal, seeing him in the distance amongthe trunks of the trees and the brushwood, was deceived, and mistookhim for a beast of chase. But when Tubal saw what had happened, hewas terrified, and ran back to Lamech, crying out, "You have slainour forefather Cain!" And Lamech also was struck with horror, andraised his hands and smote them together with a mighty blow. And inso doing he struck the head of Tubal with his full strength, andTubal fell down dead. Then Lamech returned to his house, and spoke tohis wives the words that are written in the Book of Genesis. Thisstory, a very ancient one, as I said, was invented by the Jews toexplain the difficult passage in Genesis; and the early Christianwriters learnt it from the Jews, and it passed into many commentarieswhich were written in later times; so that you may still seerepresentations of it carved in stone in churches, both in Englandand elsewhere. In England it may be seen on the inside of the stoneroof of Norwich Cathedral, and on the west front of Wells Cathedral;but you have to look carefully before you can find it. 

There are other stories which pretend to explain texts that do notseem so difficult. For instance, in the 18th Psalm there is a verse, "Thou hast made room enough under me for to go. " And about this thereis a long tale of how King David went to fight the giant Ishbi-benob, and was nearly killed by him; for the giant took David and cast himto the ground, and put a heavy wine-press upon him, which would havecrushed him, but that the earth beneath him suddenly became soft andyielded room for his body, and thus room was made under him. 

Then again, there are others which are like parables. 

At this point I will put in two short stories of the parable-kind, neither of which I think you are likely to have seen. One of them iscertainly taken from an apocryphal book which is lost; and the otherI suspect to have been taken either from the same book or from onelike it. 

First I will tell the one about the source of which I am not certain. 

In the days of King Hezekiah there was in Israel a rich man who was amiser and gave nothing to the poor. But one day it happened that hetook up the book of the proverbs of King Solomon; and his eye fellupon the place where it is said, "He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord; and look what he layeth out, it shall be paidhim again. " "So, " thought he to himself, "this is a good security!"And forthwith he sold all that he had, and distributed the priceamong the poor, keeping for himself only two pieces of money. But, tohis disappointment, he did not only become poor himself by thismeans, but he remained poor. The money he had given away did not comeback, and no one else would give him any. So he was reduced todespair, and said, "I will go straight to Jerusalem, and demand ofGod why He has deceived me, and induced me to give away all mypossessions by promises that are false. " And he set forth. And on hisway, not far from Jerusalem, he saw two men fighting, and said tothem, "Brethren, what is your quarrel?" And one said, "We werejourneying together, and I saw a shining stone lying in the road, andpointed it out to this man; and because he was swifter on his feetthan I, he got to it first. And now he says he will keep it forhimself, but I say it belongs to me, for I saw it first. " Then saidthe traveller, "What is the value of the stone?" They said, "We donot know. " And he said, "Will you take these two pieces of money forit and let me have it?" And to this they consented. So when the mangot to Jerusalem, he took the stone to a jeweller and showed it tohim; and no sooner had the jeweller seen it than he fell on his faceand gave thanks to God. And then he said to the man, "Where did youfind this? For three whole years all Jerusalem has been ransackedfor this stone. Go quickly to the High Priest and give it to him, andsee what he will give you!" At the same hour there came an angel tothe High Priest, and said to him, "Within a few moments there willcome to you a man bringing the gem which three years ago was lost outof the breastplate of Aaron the priest. Receive it at his hands, andgive him for it a great sum of gold; and when you have given it, smite him lightly upon the cheek and say, 'Be not distrustful in thyheart, and slow to believe the word which says, 'He that hath pityupon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord. ' For thus saith the Lord, 'Have I not now in this present world repaid thee many times over thatwhich thou didst lend to Me? And, if thou have faith, thou shalt inthe world to come receive a recompense yet many times greater thanthis. '" And when the man came, the High Priest did and said as he hadbeen commanded; and the man's heart was moved, and he left in thetemple all that great sum which had been given him, and for the restof his life put his whole trust in the promises of God. 

The other short story is taken out of an apocryphal book under thename of the prophet Ezekiel, and is a parable of the soul and thebody of man at the day of judgment. 

There was a certain king, it says, who made a marriage feast for hiseldest son, and invited all his soldiers to his palace to share it. Now every one of his subjects was a soldier and served in his army, except only two, one of whom was blind and the other lame; and thesetwo were not invited to the feast, but remained in their huts--whichwere near to one another--very angry and disappointed. After a whilethe blind man called to the lame man, "It is a shame that we are notsitting down to the feast along with the rest! I should like to treatthe king as ill as he has treated us. " "How can we?" said the lameman. "You know his garden, " said the other; "let us go and spoil it!""All very well, " said the lame man, "but how are we to get there?I cannot walk. " "Neither can I see; but we will contrive a way. " Sothey devised a plan. The lame man plucked the grass that he couldreach, and plaited it into a string, and threw one end to the blindman, who guided himself by it to the lame man. Then he took the lameman on his back, and carried him to the king's garden, and there theydid all the mischief they could, trampling down and tearing up plantsand flowers; and they went back to their houses and remained there. When the rest of the people came out from the banquet into thegarden, they were appalled at the sight of the damage, and were muchperplexed, saying, "Were not all the soldiers of the king bidden tothe feast? and is not every man in the kingdom a soldier? Whencethen are these tracks in the garden, and who has wrought thismischief?" After a while the king bethought him of the blind and thelame man; they were brought before him, and he said to the blind man, "Have you been into my garden?" He answered, "Alas, sire! you see myinfirmity, and that I have no eyes wherewith to find my way!" Thensaid the king to the lame man, "And you, have you been into my garden?"And he answered, "Surely my lord has forgotten my infirmity; itcannot be that he desires to hurt my feelings by mocking me!" So theking was perplexed, and went apart to consider how the two could havecontrived the business--for he was sure that they were guilty. Atlast a thought came to him, and he set the lame man on the blindman's shoulders, and scourged them both together. Then indeed didthey cry out, and the lame said to the blind, "Did you not lend meyour feet to take me to the king's garden?" And the blind to thelame, "Did you not lend me your eyes to show me the way?" And in likemanner at the judgment the soul will say to the body, "I could nothave sinned if you had not given me the limbs with which I did evil. "And the body to the soul, "But it was you who thought of the evilwhich I carried out. " Thus one will try to throw the blame on theother; but is either of them free from guilt?

Others of these apocryphal books are designed to show how importantsome special virtue, or how dangerous some particular sin, may be. Thus, there is a book called The Testaments (or Last Words) of theTwelve Patriarchs, in which each of the twelve sons of Jacob, when hecomes to die, calls his children to him and tells them about his ownlife, and warns them against his own besetting sin, or shows how hehas been helped by practising some good habit: Simeon speaks aboutenvy, Issachar about simplicity, Zebulun about kindness, and so on. And many others there are which are merely, one would say, meant totell us more about the lives and deaths of the great men of the oldtimes than we can learn from the Bible. 

Perhaps I have now said enough to show of what sort the tales arethat are told in this book--some of them told for the first time inEnglish. They are not true, but they are very old; some of them, Ithink, are beautiful, and all of them seem to me interesting. In caseanyone should wish to know more about them, I will put down here thenames of the books from which I have taken them. 

The first part of the story of Adam is shortened from Mr. S. G. Malan's translation of The Book of Adam and Eve, and from Dillmann'sGerman translation of the same (Das christliche Adambuch desMorgenlandes). The second part is from the Greek Revelation of Moses(in Tischendorf's Apocalypses Apocryphae), and from the Latin Life ofAdam, edited by W. Meyer. 

The first part of the story of Abraham is from The Apocalypse ofAbraham, translated from Slavonic by Professor N. Bonwetsch; thesecond part is from The Testament of Abraham, edited by me in Textsand Studies. 

The story of Aseneth is from the Greek History of Aseneth, edited byBatiffol in Studia Patristica. 

The story of Job is taken from The Testament of Job in my ApocryphaAnecdota (ii). 

That of Solomon is from The Testament of Solomon as printed by Migneat the end of the works of Michael Psellus. 

That of Baruch from The Rest of the Words of Baruch, edited by Dr. J. Rendel Harris. 

That of Ahikar principally from the French edition by the Abbe F. Nau, with some few touches borrowed from that by Dr. J. RendelHarris. 

One last word. Not all of the stories in this book are equally old. The oldest is most likely that of Ahikar. Lately some pieces of ithave been discovered in Egypt in a very ancient copy. Next, probably, comes the second part of the story of Adam. In each of the othersthere are some parts which are derived from early Jewish tales, butthe books in which we have them now were put into their present shapeby Christians. Still, there is not one that is less than fifteenhundred years old. 

CONTENTSPAGEADAM 1THE DEATH OF ADAM AND EVE . . . 15ABRAHAM 25THE STORY OF ASENETH, JOSEPH'S WIFE . 49JOB. . . . . . . 81SOLOMON AND THE DEMONS. . 105THE STORY OF EBEDMELECH THE ETHIOPIAN, AND OF THE DEATH OF JEREMIAH . 121AHIKAR 135

ILLUSTRATIONSHow SATAN DECEIVED EVE IN THE RIVER (see p. 10) FrontispieceTHEN CAME ONE OF THE SERAPHIM AND BARE THE SOUL OF ADAM TO THE LAKE OF PURE WATER IN THE GARDEN . . . . Facing p. 22ABRAHAM AND THE BROKEN IDOLS „ 28ASENETH DOING HOMAGE TO HER GODS . „ 53"ASENETH, RISE UP" . . . . . . 63ASENETH FLIES IN HER CHARIOT FROM THE MENIN AMBUSH BY THE RIVER „ 76SATAN DEPARTS, VANQUISHED BY JOB AT LAST . „ 94JOB'S HAPPY DEATH . . . . , . 102EPHIPPAS AND THE DEMON OF THE RED SEABRING THE GREAT PLLLAR TO SOLOMON . . , , 116How AHIKAR OUTWITTED THE KING OF EGYPT . , , 152

OLD TESTAMENT LEGENDS

ADAM

When Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, they were ashelpless as little children. They knew nothing of day or night, heator cold; they could not kindle a fire to warm themselves, nor tillthe ground to grow food. They had as yet no clothes to wear and noshelter against rain or sun. As long as they were in the garden, itwas always light and warm, and their bodies were so fashioned thatthey had no need of food or sleep or of protection against theburning of the sun; but since they had eaten of the Tree ofKnowledge, they had become like us. Moreover, all the beasts andbirds were friendly with them; but now they knew that it was not so, and that they had no defence if any fierce animal chose to attackthem; and, more than all, they knew that they had a cruel enemy lyingin wait for them outside the garden, even Satan, who had hated themfrom the first, and had brought about their fall by means of theserpent. And so it was that when they came out of the gate of thegarden and saw the earth stretched out before them, covered withrocks and sand, and found themselves in a strange land where therewas no one to guide them, they fell down on their faces, and becameas dead, because of the misery and sorrow which they felt. But Godlooked upon them and sent His Word to raise them up and comfort them;and showed them a place not very far from the garden where there wasa cave; and told them that they were to live there. Now this was thecave which was afterwards called the Gave of Treasures. 

When first they entered into the cave, they did nothing but weep andlament: not only because they had lost the garden, but also becausefor the first time the sky was hidden from them by the roof of thecave; for as yet they had never been in any place where they couldnot see it. But when the sun set and there was darkness outside thecave as well as inside, they were frightened beyond measure; for theysaid, "It is because of what we have done: the light is gone out ofthe heavens, and will come back no more. " Then the Word of God spaketo them and said, "Be comforted; it is only so for a few hours, andthe light will return to you. " And they remained praying and weepingin the cave until the darkness began to grow less. After that the sunrose, and Adam went to the mouth of the cave, and it shone full uponhim, and he felt the burning heat of it on his body for the firsttime, and thought that it was God who had come to afflict and punishhim; and he beat upon his breast and prayed for mercy. But God said, "This sun is not God; it is created to give light to the world, andevery day it will rise in like manner, and travel over the heavensand set, as you have seen it. _I_ am God, who comforted you in thenight. "

Then Adam and Eve took courage, and came out of the cave, and thoughtthey would go towards the garden; and when they came near to the gateby which they had been driven out of it, they met the serpent. Nowbefore it tempted Eve and became accursed, the serpent had been themost beautiful of all the creatures. Its head was of all the coloursof the most beautiful jewels; it had eyes like emeralds, and amelodious voice; it had slender and graceful legs, and it fed onperfumed flowers and delicious fruits. Now it was loathsome to lookupon; it wriggled on its belly in the dust, and all creatures spurnedand hated it. And when it saw Eve it was enraged to think of thecurse that had come upon it through her, and it raised itself up anddarted at her, and its eyes became blood-red with anger. Then Adam, who had nothing in his hand wherewith to defend Eve, ran and caughtit by the tail, but it turned upon him and coiled about him and Evewith its body and began to crush them; and it said, "It is because ofyou that I am compelled to trail in the dust and have lost mybeauty. " And they cried out for fear. But God sent an angel whocaught hold of the serpent and loosed them, and smote the serpentwith dumbness, so that thereafter it could only hiss. And a greatwind came and took it up, and cast it away upon the seashore ofIndia. 

And when Adam and Eve had a little recovered themselves from theirfear, they went on towards the garden; but at the gate of it therestood a great cherub holding a sword of fire; and when they were ableto look upon his face, they saw that he was angry and that he frownedupon them, and raised his sword as if he would smite them with it;but he said nothing. So they were in great fear, and turned from himand went back in great sorrow of heart, wandering they knew notwhither, until they found themselves standing on the top of a rock, and before their feet was a precipice. And Adam was so miserable thathe desired to live no longer; and he cast himself down from the topof the rock, and lay on the ground below without moving; and Evethought that he was dead, and said, "I will not live after him; it isthrough my fault that all these evils have come upon him. " And shealso threw herself down from the top of the rock; but though both ofthem were torn and bruised, they were not wounded to death. And aftera long time they came to themselves. 

Then they bethought them that they had done wrong in trying to put anend to their own lives before it pleased God to set them free fromthis world. Therefore Adam took stones and piled them up in the shapeof an altar, and then they gathered leaves from the trees and wipedoff the blood that had been spilt upon the face of the rock, andgathered up the dust that was mingled with their blood and laid itupon the altar, and prayed to God to forgive their trespass. And thiswas the first offering that they made to God. And God looked uponthem with pity and forgave them, and said, "As you have shed yourblood, so after five thousand and five hundred years have passed willI take your flesh upon Me and shed My blood for you and for yourchildren; and it shall have power to quench the flame of the swordwhich is in the hand of the angel, and you shall enter again into thegarden, and dwell there until the time when I shall make a new heavenand a new earth. "

But when Satan saw that God had pity upon Adam and Eve and acceptedtheir humble offering--for he was all this time keeping watch to seewhat would become of them--he was filled with dismay and hate, andbegan to contrive means by which he might lead them astray and put anend to them; for he thought, "If these creatures were destroyed, the earth would remain to me and to my hosts, and I should reign overit alone. " He called therefore for some of his host, and made themappear like angels of light. And when they were all disguised in thisfashion, they rose into the air and flew towards the cave, from whichAdam and Eve were just coming out, meaning to go once again towardsthe garden. When they caught sight of these bright ones in the air, they stopped and raised their hands towards them, thinking that theywere angels coming to them with a message. Satan called to Adam, "Adam, we are angels come from God; He has sent us to bring you tothe lake of pure water that is on the north side of Eden, that youmay wash yourselves in it and be cleansed from your sin, and returnonce more to the garden. Come therefore and follow us. " And theyturned and began flying towards the north; but Adam and Eve were gladbeyond measure, and followed the troop of angels as quickly as theycould, till they came to the mountain on the north side of Eden whichoverhung the lake. Then Satan lighted on the ground, and guided themto the top of the mountain, which was very steep. And when they wereat the summit, they stood for a while and looked down upon the watersof the lake; and while they were doing so, Satan vanished awaysilently, and all his host with him; so that when Adam and Eve lookedround, they found themselves left alone and in great peril. And theysaw that they had been brought into this danger by Satan, and that hehad deceived them once again. And they cried aloud for help. 

Then God had pity on them, and commanded the angels Sariel andSalathiel to bear them in their arms and carry them back to theircave. And when they were come there, Adam prayed to God that, if theymight not be permitted to go into the garden any more, He would atleast give them something for a remembrance of it to comfort them. SoGod commanded the archangel Michael to go as far as the Sea of India, and fetch thence some gold, and dip it in the water that flows fromunder the Tree of Life, and give it to Adam. Likewise He commandedGabriel to speak to the cherub that kept the gate of the garden, andgo in and fetch some frankincense; and Raphael to bring myrrh alsofrom the garden. And they did so. And Michael brought seventy rods ofgold, and Gabriel twelve pounds weight of frankincense, and Raphaelthree pounds of myrrh; and these were all laid up in the cave whereAdam and Eve lived: wherefore it was called the Gave of Treasures. And when the appointed time was fulfilled, and the Word took upon Himthe flesh of the sons of Adam, three kings came from the East to doHim honour, and offered to Him that same gold and frankincense andmyrrh, which had come down to them through many generations. 

After some days, Adam and Eve made a vow that they would go, one ofthem to the river Tigris and the other to the river Euphrates, andwould wade into the water up to the neck, and stand there for fortywhole days and nights, praying earnestly that they might be forgiven;for even yet they went on hoping that, if they accomplished somegreat act of repentance, they might be permitted to return into Eden. They separated, therefore, and stood in the water of the river, fasting and praying. But Satan suspected that they had made such avow, and it frightened him, for he did not feel sure that God wouldnot change His purpose and forgive them; and he said to himself, "Iwill take care that they shall not keep their vow. " Accordingly, onthe thirty-fifth day, as Eve stood praying in the water, she heard avoice as of an angel praising God, and she looked and saw one inbright raiment coming to her, and he called to her and said, "God hasforgiven Adam! All is well. I have just now brought the good tidingsto Adam, and he bade me come and tell you; and lest you should doubtof the truth, he said, 'Remind her of the sign which was given to usin the cave: how the angels brought the gold and laid it on thesouth side, and the incense on the east, and the myrrh on the west. '"Then Eve was sure that the messenger spoke true, and she rejoicedgreatly, and came, as well as she could, out of the water, andfollowed him. But when they came in sight of the river Euphrates, shesaw Adam still standing in the water praying, and she knew that shehad been deceived; and at that moment Satan vanished away, and Evefell upon the ground, for she was stiff with the cold, and weak withfasting. As for Adam, when he saw her, he cried out and smote uponhis breast, and sank down into the water, and would have perished butthat God sent His angel and drew him up out of the water. And heshowed Adam that he could not by these means gain admittance to thegarden before the time appointed was fulfilled. 

After these things God showed Adam and Eve the things that werenecessary for their life. For as yet they had eaten nothing sincethey came out of the garden; because the food which they had whenthey were there was heavenly food, and it sustained them through allthese many days. Neither had they any clothes. Therefore God toldthem to go to the seashore, and there they should find the skins ofsome sheep whose flesh had been devoured by lions, and these skinsthey should take and make them into raiment. But Satan heard thewords of God, and immediately went to the place where the skins were, with intent to throw them into the sea, or burn them with fire; only, just as he was about to seize them, God spake a word, and Satan wasbound there immovable, in his own hideous form. And when Adam and Evecame to the place, they saw him crouching beside the skins; and theywere afraid at the horrible look of him. Then the Word came to them, saying, "This is he who promised to make you as gods. What have yougained, think you, by hearkening to his words?" And Satan wascowed, and fled away in shame. 

Adam and Eve therefore took the sheep-skins, and there came an angelwho showed them how to sew them together with palm-thorns and sinews, and they made them into raiment. 

Again, God showed them a land where corn was growing, and told themhow they might use it for bread; for it was ripe, and they gatheredthe ears and made an offering of the first ears. And Satan came andburnt part of the corn; but the angels drove him away. 

Many other times also did Satan try to destroy Adam and Eve, comingto them disguised as an angel and enticing them into the wilderness;and again, when they were sleeping on the side of a mountain outsidetheir cave, he loosened a great rock above them that it might falland crush them; but the angels of God caught it and fixed it like aroof over the heads of Adam and Eve, and when they awoke they wereastonished. And once he fell upon Adam and smote him in the side witha sharp stone so that he almost slew him. Nevertheless, in all theseperils Adam and Eve put their trust in God, and He protected them andhealed them. And after a time Satan perceived that he would not beable to destroy them by injuring their bodies, and that they wouldnot listen to him when he tempted them to disobey God. So Satan's waragainst Adam was defeated. 

This is the first part of the story of Adam, as it is told in an oldbook called The Conflict of Adam and Eve. It is only part of thestory; I have left out a great deal. The second part of the story istaken from a Greek book called The Revelation of Moses, and a Latinone called The Life of Adam and Eve. It tells how Adam died and wasburied. 

THE DEATH OF ADAM AND EVE

Adam lived for 930 years; and there were born to him thirty sons andthirty daughters. And when he was 930 years old he fell sick, andsent for all his children, and for their children also, saying, "Comeand let me see you before I die. " They all gathered togethertherefore at the door of his dwelling, saving Gain, who was awanderer upon the face of the earth; but Seth was the eldest of thosethat came, and he was the most beloved son of Adam and Eve. 

And Seth said to his father, "Father, what is the matter with you?"And Adam answered, "Great pain and sickness is upon me. " And hischildren said, "What mean you by pain and sickness?" For as yet noone had died upon the earth except Abel, whom Gain slew. Then saidSeth, "Father, is it because you long after the garden and desire thefruit of it? If it be so, command me, and I will go to the gate, andcast dust upon my head, and weep and pray; and God will send Hisangel, and it may be He will suffer me to bring you some of the fruitof the garden, and you shall eat it and recover. " Eve also wept andsaid, "My lord Adam, give me the half of your disease, and let mebear it for you; because it is through my fault that this evil hascome upon you. " Then said Adam, "I will tell you what you shall do, even you and my son Seth: you shall go to the garden and pray thereas you have said, and ask the angel to give me some of the oil ofmercy that flows from the Tree of Life, and bring it to me that I mayanoint my body with it, and be eased from my pain. "

So Eve and Seth departed and went towards the garden; and as theywere going through the woods, a wild beast leaped out and attackedSeth. And Eve was terrified and cried out, "Alas! alas! what willbecome of me at the last day? Surely all that have done evil willcurse me, saying, 'Woe unto Eve, because she kept not thecommandment of God!'" And she cried out upon the wild beast, "Howwast thou not afraid to fight against the image of God? How is thymouth opened against Him? Dost thou not remember that God put theein subjection to us?" And the beast spake with a man's voice andsaid, "What have we to do with thy weeping and complaints? How wasit that thy mouth was opened to eat of the fruit? Accuse me not, lest I begin to accuse thee. " Then said Seth to the beast, "Shut thymouth: be silent: dare not to touch the image of God. " And the beastanswered, "Thee will I obey, O Seth. " And it fled and left himwounded, and went back to its den. 

So Eve and Seth went on to the garden and wept before the gate, beseeching God to send them the oil of mercy for Adam. And God sentMichael the archangel to them, who said, "Seth, thou man of God, weary not thyself with making supplication for the oil of mercy, forit cannot be given to thee now. But when the times are fulfilled, then shall come One who shall anoint thy father with that oil, and heshall rise up and return to the garden, he and all his seed; and theevil heart shall be taken from them, and a new heart shall be giventhem to understand that which is good, and God shall dwell in themidst of them, and they shall be His people. But now go back to thyfather, for his end is near, even within three days, and tell himthese words; and watch what shall come to pass when he is taken fromthee. " They returned therefore to Adam, and told him; and he groanedand said, "Alas! O Eve, what is this that thou hast done, to bringupon us the dominion of death? Now therefore call together ourchildren and our children's children, and tell them concerning oursin, from first to last. " So, when they were assembled, Eve spoke tothem, and told them the whole story of how Satan came to the serpentand taunted it for paying homage to Adam and Eve, forasmuch as theywere neither so beautiful nor so wise as itself; and he persuaded theserpent to let him speak through its mouth; and at the hour when theangels go up to the heavens to worship God, the serpent slipped overthe wall and found Eve by the Tree of Knowledge; and of what happenedafter that, until the time when they were cast out of the garden. Andwhen she ceased speaking, her children departed. 

Then she went in to Adam, and said to him, "How can I live when you are dead? and how long will it be before Ialso die? Tell me. " Adam answered, "Trouble not yourself; for youwill not tarry long after me, and I believe that the same grave willhold both of us. But now, when I die, leave me alone, and let no onetouch me until the will of God is made known concerning me. For I amsure that God will not forget me, but will visit the creature whichHis hands have made. Now therefore go and pray to Him until I give upmy spirit to Him that gave it; for we know not how we shall meet Him, whether He will yet be wroth with us, or whether He will turn andhave mercy upon us. " She went out therefore and fell upon the groundand prayed a long time. 

THE DEATH OF ADAM AND EVE

And at last the Angel of Mankind came to her and said, "Rise up, Eve;for Adam thy husband is departing out of this life, and is going tomeet Him that made him. "

Eve therefore arose and looked up into the sky; and she saw a chariotof light coming, drawn by four shining eagles, and angels on eitherside escorting the chariot. And when it came above the place whereour father Adam lay, it stayed. And the angels came bearing censers, and they stood about it and lighted their censers, and the smoke ofthe incense rose up and hid the firmament; and the angels bowed andworshipped, saying, "Holy One, have mercy, for he is Thine image andthe work of Thy hands. "

Also Eve beheld two great and fearful ones standing in the heavens, and she was afraid and called upon Seth, saying, "Rise up, O Seth, and come to me, and behold that which no eye of man hath lookedupon. " So he came to her, and she said, "Seest thou the seven heavensopen, and thy father Adam lying upon his face and the holy angelsinterceding for him?" She said, moreover, "Who are the two dark onesthat stand praying for thy father?" And Seth answered, "They are theSun and the Moon, who are entreating the Most High for my fatherAdam. " And Eve said, "Where then is their light, and why is theiraspect black?" And he said, "They cannot shine in the presence ofthe Light of all things: therefore is their light departed fromthem. "

Now as Seth was speaking to his mother, behold, the angels blew withthe trumpets, and fell on their faces, and cried with a loud voice, "Blessed be the glory of the Lord over all His works; for He hath hadcompassion upon Adam, the work of His hands. " Then came one of theSeraphim, having six wings, and caught up the soul of Adam and bareit to the lake of pure water which is on the north side of Eden, andwashed it before the face of God. And the Most High commanded him todeliver it unto Michael the archangel, that he should bear it intoParadise until the day of the visitation of all things. 

After that the holy archangel entreated the Most High concerning thebody of Adam. And God commanded all the angels to come before Him, every one in his order; and they gathered themselves together, bearing censers and trumpets and vials full of odours. And the Lordof Hosts went up, and the great winds before Him, and the Cherubimflying upon the winds, and the angels of heaven round about Him. Andthey bore up the body of Adam and carried it into the garden. And allthe trees of the garden bowed and swayed and gave forth their odours. And because of the greatness of that sight, and of the sweetness ofthe odours of Paradise, all the sons of Adam, and all that were onthe earth, were cast into a deep sleep, saving Seth only. 

Now as the body of Adam lay in Paradise, God said, "O Adam, why didstthou transgress My commandment? For if thou hadst kept it, they thatpersecute thee would not have rejoiced against thee. Nevertheless Isay unto thee, that hereafter I will turn their joy into sorrow, andthy sorrow into joy. "

Then the angels brought shrouds of silk and fine linen, and Godcommanded Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael, and they wrapped upthe body of Adam therein, and anointed it with sweet odours. And theLord said, "Bring hither also the body of Abel. " For since the daywhen Gain slew him, the body of Abel had not been buried: becauseGain often sought to hide it, but the earth would not receive it, until the dust that was first taken out of her and made into a body, that is, the body of Adam, should be restored to her. 

So the body of Abel was brought and wrapped in grave-clothes likethat of Adam; and they were both of them buried in the place fromwhich God took the dust when He formed Adam at the first, and theangels dug the grave and covered it in. 

And when this was done, God called to the body, saying, "Adam, Adam!"And the body answered, "Here am I, Lord. " And the Lord said, "Isaid unto thee, 'Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return. 'Behold now I promise thee that in the last days I will raise thee upyet again out of the dust, even thee and all thy seed with thee. " AndGod sealed the tomb that no man should touch it until six days werefulfilled, and the rib which was taken out of Adam should be givenback to him. 

After these things Eve awoke out of her sleep, and was troubledbecause she knew not what had become of the body of Adam; and sheprayed, saying, "Lord, as Thou didst make me out of the flesh ofAdam, and as I was with him in the garden, and after we were cast outI was never parted from him, so now, I beseech thee, suffer me to beburied with him, and let no man part us asunder. " And on the seventhday after the death of Adam, Eve was thus praying; and when she hadended her prayer, she looked up into heaven and smote her breast andsaid, "Lord God of all things, receive my spirit. " And so she gave upher soul to God. 

And immediately the angels came and took her body, and buried it inthe place where the bodies of Adam and Abel were laid. 

ABRAHAM

Abraham was the son of Terah, and Terah was a maker of idols which hesold to the people round about him. Now this is the story of howAbraham came to believe in the true God; and in the ancient book thestory is put into the mouth of Abraham himself, and he tells it inthis way:

I was troubled in my mind because I desired to know who was in truththe strongest of all the Gods. And one day when I was attending tothe gods of my father Terah, gods of wood and stone, gold and silver, iron and brass, I went into the temple where they stood, and foundthat one of them, the god named Marumath, who was carved out ofstone, had fallen over and was lying at the feet of the god Zucheus. When I saw that, I was alarmed, and thought that I should never beable to put him back in his place by myself, because he was so heavy;so I went and told my father, and he came, and the two of us couldhardly manage to move him; but as we were doing so, the head of thegod broke off in my hands. At that my father said, "Abraham", and Isaid, "Here am I, bring me the chisels out of the house. " Andwhen I had done so, he fashioned another Marumath out of stone, without a head, and fixed the head that had come off the firstMarumath upon it; and the rest of the old Marumath he broke inpieces. 

After that he made five more gods, and bade me take them and sellthem in the streets of the city; and I saddled the ass, and put themupon it, and went to the river to sell them; and there I foundmerchants coming from Fandana in Syria with camels, on their way toEgypt to bring papyrus from the Nile. And as I was talking with themone of their camels belched, and the donkey took fright and ran off, and the gods fell off its back, and three of them were broken, andonly two remained whole. But when the Syrians saw what had happened, they said, "Why did you not tell us that you had gods to sell? Wemight have bought them before the donkey took fright, and they wouldnot have been destroyed; at least we will take the gods that remain, and pay you the price of them all. " And they did so; and the brokengods I cast into the river Gur, and they sank and were seen no more. 

But as I returned home, I was bewildered and divided in my mind. Isaid to myself, "What an evil trade is this that my fatherpractises! Is not he in truth the god of his own gods which he makeswith his chisels and lathes and his skill? Ought they not rather toworship him than he them? Surely it is all deceit. Look at Marumath, who fell and could not get up again, and these five other gods whichcould not punish the donkey for running away with them, nor keepthemselves from being broken and thrown into the river. "

And as I was thinking of all these things, I arrived at my father'shouse. Then I gave the ass his hay and water, and went in and gavethe price of the gods to my father Terah, and he was pleased andsaid, "Blessed be thou of my gods: my labour has not been in vain. "But I said, "It is rather thou, father, that givest blessing to thegods, for thou art their god; their own blessing is vain and theirhelp is naught: if they cannot help themselves, how should they helpthee or bless me?" But he was very angry with me for speakinglightly of his gods. 

Then I went out of the house, and after a while my father called meand said, "Gather up the chips of the fig-wood wherewith I wasmaking gods before you came in, and see about preparing dinner. "

And as I was doing so, I found a little god lying among the straw andthe rubbish, and on his forehead was written: "The god Barisat. " So Ikept him, and did not tell my father; and when I had kindled the fireto cook the dinner, and was going out to fetch the food, I setBarisat down in front of the fire and said to him, "Barisat, takecare that the fire does not go out before I come back; and if itdoes, blow upon it and revive it. " Then I went out and did my errand, and when I returned I found Barisat fallen over backwards, and hisfeet were in the fire and were badly burnt; and I laughed to myselfand said, "You are in truth a good fireman and cook, Barisat. " Justthen the fire caught upon his body and burnt him all up. 

When the time was come, I brought food to my father and he ate, and Igave him wine and milk and he drank, and rejoiced and praised his godMarumath; and I said, "Father, you should not praise Marumath, butrather Barisat, for he has done more for you: he has thrown himselfinto the fire to cook your dinner. " "And where is he now?" said myfather. "He has been burnt to ashes, " I said, "in the heat of thefire, and nothing but dust is left of him. " And my father said, "Great is the strength of Barisat! I will make another one to-day, and he shall prepare my food for me to-morrow. " Now when I heard myfather say these words, I laughed in myself, and yet I was troubledand angry in my soul. And at last I answered and said, "Whichever ofthese things you honour as a god, it is folly. The god Zucheus, whois the god of my brother Nahor, is more honourable than your godMarumath, for he is adorned with gold finely wrought, and when he isold he will be fashioned over again; but if Marumath is broken orinjured he will not be renewed, for he is only of stone. And againthe god Joauv, who stands next to Zucheus, is more honourable thanBarisat, for he is covered with silver; but as for Barisat, you madehim yourself with your axe, and, look, he is fallen upon the earth, and the fashion of his likeness is destroyed, and he is burnt toashes, and you say, 'To-day I will make another, and he shallprepare my food to-morrow. '

"But I say to you, my father, the fire is mightier than all your godsof gold and silver and stone and wood, for it can devour them all. Yet I call not the fire god, for it is weaker than the water whichcan subdue it. Yet again I call not the water god, for the earthswallows it up. Neither call I the earth god, for it is subject tomen that till it, and to the sun that gives light to it. Neither callI the sun god, for it is overcome by the darkness of night. But I saythat there is one true God who hath made all these things; who hathmade the heavens blue, and the sun golden, and the moon and starswhite and shining, and hath raised up the earth from among thewaters, and breathed into thee the breath of life, and hath sought meout in the trouble of my soul; and would that He might reveal Himselfunto us!"

And as I was speaking these words to my father in the court of hishouse, there came from heaven the voice of a Mighty One speaking outof a cloud of fire, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And I said, "Behold, here am I!" And He said, "In the thought of thy heart thouseekest after the God of Gods and the Maker of all things: I am He. Depart from thy father Terah and go out of his house, lest thou beconsumed in his wickedness. " And I went out; and it came to pass, asI came to the door of the house, that there fell a noise of a greatthundering, and the fire fell and burnt up my father Terah and hishouse and all that was therein. 

This is the story of the beginning of the life of Abraham; and thatwhich is told about the end of his life is as follows:

Abraham had lived out the measure of his days. He was now a hundredand seventy-five years old, and all the days of his life he had livedin kindness and meekness and uprightness: and especially was hehospitable and courteous to strangers. He dwelt by the cross-roadsnear the oak of Mamre, and entertained all the wayfarers who camethat way, rich and poor, lame and sound, friends or strangers. But atlast to him, as to all other men, there came the bitter cup of death, which none can put away. So when the time was come, the Most Highcalled to him the archangel Michael and said to him, "Michael, princeof the host, go down to Abraham and speak to him concerning hisdeath, that he may set his house in order: for his possessions aregreat. Announce to him therefore that he is to depart speedily out ofthe earthly life, and come to his Lord in peace and happiness. "

Michael therefore went forth from the presence of the Lord and wentdown to Abraham at the oak of Mamre, and found him in the fields hardby, watching his husbandmen ploughing with their oxen. And Abrahamlifted up his eyes and saw Michael coming towards him in the dressand fashion of a soldier--for he was the captain of the Lord'shost--very beautiful to look upon. And Abraham rose and went to meethim, as was his custom with all strangers; and when they had salutedone another, Abraham asked Michael whence he came; and Michaelanswered, "I come from the Great City, and my errand is to fetch acertain friend of the Great King, whom He is inviting to come toHim. " Then said Abraham, "My lord, come with me to my house. " Andwhen Michael consented, Abraham called one of his men and bade himfetch two quiet horses that he and the stranger might ride home onthem. But Michael refused, for he knew that no earthly horse couldbear him; so he said, "Nay, but rather let us go on foot to yourhouse. "

And as they went up from the fields, they came to a cypress-treegrowing by the wayside; and as they passed by it there came from it ahuman voice, which said, "Holy is the Lord who calleth to Himselfthem that love Him. " Now this happened by the commandment of God, tobe a sign to Abraham, and he marvelled; but when he looked at hiscompanion and saw that he seemed to take no notice of it, he saidnothing, thinking that only he had heard the voice. Soon after theycame to the house, and Isaac and Sarah came to greet them, and theysat down in the courtyard of the house. But Isaac said to his motherSarah, "Mother, I am sure that the man who is sitting with my fatheris not of the race of men that live on the earth. " Just then Abrahamcalled to Isaac, "Isaac, my son, draw water from the well, and bringit to me in a basin, that we may wash the stranger's feet, for he hascome a long journey. " So Isaac ran and fetched the water to hisfather; and Abraham said to him secretly, "My child, something saysto me that this will be the last time that I shall wash the feet ofany stranger coming to this house. " And Isaac was greatly distressedand said, "What mean you, father, by these words?" Abraham saidnothing, but stooped down and began to wash the feet of Michael; andIsaac wept. Abraham too shed tears, and Michael seeing it, was movedwith pity, and wept also; and his tears fell into the basin of waterand became precious pearls. When Abraham saw that, he marvelled; buthe gathered up the pearls secretly and said nothing. 

After that he told Isaac to go and prepare the banqueting-room, spread two couches, light the lamps, burn sweet odours, and fetchfragrant herbs and flowers from the garden. "For, " said he, "thisman who is come to us is worthy of all the honour we can do him. " SoIsaac went to make ready the room, and Sarah also set about preparinga feast. Then, while they were all busying themselves withpreparation, the sun began to set, and the hour came at which all theangels appear before God and worship Him; and Michael also flew upinto the heavens in the twinkling of an eye, and stood before theLord. And when all the angels had done their worship and gone forthagain, Michael remained and said to the Lord, "Lord, I cannot speakto Abraham about his death; for I have never seen his like upon theearth, kind, courteous, hospitable, fearing God, and keeping himselfpure from all evil. I cannot grieve his heart by telling him that heis to die. " And the Lord said, "Go down again to my friend Abraham, and whatsoever he would have thee do, do it; and I will put thethought of his death into the mind of his son Isaac in a dream. ThenIsaac shall tell the dream, and thou shalt interpret it, and soAbraham shall be certified of his death. "

So Michael returned to Abraham's house, and sat at meat with him, andIsaac waited on them; and after supper, Abraham offered up prayer ashe was wont, and the archangel prayed with him, and they went totheir beds. Isaac also asked his father if he might sleep with them, for he desired exceedingly to be near the wonderful stranger and tohear his words; but Abraham said, "Nay, my son, lest we be burdensometo the stranger. " Therefore Isaac bowed down and received hisfather's blessing, and went to his own chamber. 

And about the third hour of the night Isaac dreamed a dream, and itfrightened him, so that he leapt out of bed and ran hastily to theroom where Abraham and Michael were sleeping, and beat upon the doorand said, "Father, open to me quickly! let me kiss you once againbefore they take you away from me. " Then Abraham opened the door, andIsaac ran in and hung upon his neck, weeping loudly. And Sarah wasawakened by the noise of the weeping, and came quickly to them; andshe also wept and said, "What is the matter? Has our brother who iscome to us brought you evil tidings of Lot, your nephew?" But Michaelsaid, "No, lady, it is not so; but, as I think, your son Isaac hasdreamed a dream which has troubled him, so he came to us weeping, andwe were moved at the sight of his tears, and wept with him. "

Now Sarah, when she heard the sound of the voice of Michael, becamesure in her own mind that it was an angel of God who was speaking. She beckoned therefore to Abraham to come to her at the door of thehouse, and took him aside and said to him, "Do you know who this manis?" and he said, "No. " "Do you remember, " said she, "the three menwho came to us once at the oak of Mamre; and how you killed a calfand prepared a feast for them; and how when the calf was eaten, itsuddenly became whole again and sprang up and ran and suckled itsmother? I am sure that this is one of those three men. " Abrahamanswered, "Sarah, you have hit the truth; praised be God for Hiswonders. Now I tell you that last night when I was washing the feetof this man, I said to myself, 'Surely these are the feet that Iwashed long ago under the oak-tree?' And furthermore, he shed tears, and they fell into the water and became these pearls. " And he drewthe pearls out of his bosom and showed them to her, and she bowed herhead and praised God and said, "Be sure, Abraham, that he is come toreveal some matter to us, whether for evil or for good. "

Then Abraham left Sarah and went in and said to Isaac, "Come here, mychild, and tell me what you saw, and what caused you to come to us insuch haste?" And Isaac said, "It was this, father. I saw in a dreamthis night the sun and the moon upon my head, and the rays of the sunwere all about me and enlightened me, and I rejoiced in them; then Isaw the heavens opening, and a shining man, brighter than seven suns, came down; and he approached me and took the sun from off my headand carried it up into heaven; and again after a little while, as Iwas sorrowing over it, he came and took the moon from me. Then I wasgreatly distressed, and I besought him, saying, 'Nay, my lord, donot take all my glory from me; have pity upon me; if thou must needstake the sun, yet leave me the moon. ' But he said, 'Suffer them tobe taken up to the King above, for He desires them to be with Him. 'So he took them away, saying, 'They are removed from toil unto rest, and from darkness unto light. ' But their glory he left upon me. ThenI awoke. " And Isaac ceased speaking. 

Then Michael said, "Hear me, righteous Abraham. The sun which Isaacsaw is you, his father; the moon likewise is Sarah, his mother; andthe shining one who came down out of heaven and took them away ismyself. And now be it known to you that the time is come for you toleave this earthly life and go to God. " But Abraham said, "Why, hereis a marvel indeed! And are you the one appointed to take my soulfrom me?" He answered, "I am Michael, the captain of the host ofGod, and I am sent to speak to you concerning your death. " Then saidAbraham, "I know that you are an angel of God, and that you are sentto take away my soul. But I shall not follow you!"

When Michael heard that word he vanished away from them and went upto the heavens and stood before the Lord, and told Him what Abrahamhad said; and the Lord answered, "Return to Abraham My friend andspeak yet again to him, Thus saith the Lord: 'I brought thee out ofthy father's house into the land of promise: I have blessed thee andincreased thee more than the sands of the seashore and more than thestars of heaven. Why dost thou resist My decree? Knowest thou notthat Adam and Eve died, and all their offspring; none of theforefathers escaped death; they are all of them gone unto the placeof spirits, all of them have been gathered by the sickle of death. And I have not suffered the angel of death to approach thee: I havenot permitted any evil disease to come upon thee, but instead I havesent mine own prince Michael to speak peaceably unto thee, that thoumayest set thine house in order and bless thy son Isaac and depart inpeace; and now thou sayest, "I will in nowise follow him. " Knowestthou not that if I send Death unto thee, thou must needs come whetherthou wilt or no?'" So Michael returned to Abraham, and found himweeping, and told him all these words; and Abraham besought him, saying, "Speak yet once again to my Lord and say to Him, 'Thus saithAbraham Thy servant: Lord, Thou hast been gracious to me all my lifelong, and now, behold, I do not resist Thy word, for I know that I ama mortal man; but this one thing I ask of Thee, that while I am yetin my body Thou wouldst suffer me to see Thy world and all thecreatures that Thou hast made. Then shall I depart out of this lifewithout any trouble of mind. '" And Michael returned and spake allthese words before the Lord, and the Lord said, "Take a cloud oflight and angels that have power over the chariots, and bear Abrahamin the chariot of the cherubim into the air of heaven and let him seeall the world before he dies. "

And it was done; and Michael showed Abraham all the regions of theworld. He saw men ploughing and carting, keeping flocks, dancing, sporting, and playing the harp, wrestling, going to law, weeping, dying, and being carried out to burial: even all the things that aredone in the earth, both good and evil. And in one place they saw menwith swords in their hands, and Abraham asked Michael, "Who are these?"And Michael said, "These are thieves who are going out to stealand to kill and to destroy. " Then Abraham said, "O that God wouldhear me and send evil beasts out of the forest to devour them!" Andin that moment wild beasts rushed out upon them and tore them topieces. Then in another place he saw men and women feasting anddrinking before their idols, and he said, "O that the earth mightopen and swallow them up!" And immediately it happened as he hadsaid. And in yet another place he saw me breaking through the wall ofa house to enter it and rob it; and he prayed again, and fire fellfrom heaven and burnt them up. Then there came a voice which said, "Michael, prince of My host, turn the chariot and bring Abraham back, lest, if he sees any more of the sinners upon earth, he destroy thewhole race of men. For he is a righteous man, and has no compassionupon sinners. But I created the world, and I would not have anyperish. Bring Abraham therefore to the entering in of the gate ofheaven, that he may see the judgment and the recompensing of men, andmay have pity upon the souls whom he has blotted out. "

Michael therefore turned the chariot and brought Abraham across thegreat river of Ocean to the entering in of the gate of heaven, andshowed him the judgments. And Abraham saw the narrow gate of life andthe broad gate of destruction, and between the gates he saw ourfather Adam sitting upon a throne, and clad in a glorious robe ofmany colours; and he saw how Adam lamented when the souls went inthrough the broad gate, and how he rejoiced when they attained to thenarrow gate, and how his weeping exceeded his rejoicing. Moreover, Michael showed him how the souls of men are examined concerning theirworks and how their acts are re-corded and weighed. But when he sawhow hard it is to enter in at the strait gate, it repented him thathe had prayed for the punishment of the sinners, and he said toMichael, "O prince of the host, let us entreat the Lord that Hewould have mercy upon the souls of the men whom I cursed in my anger;for now I know that I sinned before God when I prayed against them. "Then they both prayed earnestly to God; and after a long time therecame a voice saying, "Abraham, I have heard thy prayer, and I havegiven back life to the men whom thou didst destroy. "

Moreover, the voice bade Michael take Abraham back to his house. Andwhen he was come thither, he went up to the great chamber, and satupon the couch; and Sarah and Isaac came and fell on his neck, andall his servants gathered about him, rejoicing at his return. AndMichael said, "Hearken, Abraham: here is Sarah your wife and Isaacyour son, and here are all your manservants and maidservants aboutyou. Now therefore set in order your house and bless them, and makeready to depart with me, for your hour is come. " Abraham answered, "Did the Lord command you to say this, or do you say it of yourself?"Michael said, "The Lord commanded me, and I give the message to you. "Yet for all that Abraham answered, "I will not follow you. " SoMichael went forth and stood before the Most High again and told himthe words of Abraham; and he said besides, "I cannot lay hands uponhim, for there is not his like upon the earth, no, not even therighteous Job. Tell me therefore, Lord, what I must do. "

And God said, "Call Death, and bid him come hither. " Michael went andfound Death, and said to him, "Come, for the Lord of all things, theImmortal King, calleth for thee. " And Death trembled and fearedexceedingly when he heard that; but he followed Michael and came andstood before the Lord, quivering and shaking with fear, awaiting thecommands of his Master. And God said to him, "Hide thy hideousappearance, cover up thy corruption, put away from thee all thyterror, and put on a glorious and beautiful aspect, and go down toAbraham My friend and take him and bring him to Me: only see thatthou make him not afraid, but bring him peaceably, for he is Myfriend. " So Death went forth from the presence of God, and madehimself like an angel of light, beautiful to look upon, and departedto seek Abraham. Now Abraham had come down from his chamber and wassitting under the trees of Mamre, leaning his head upon his hand, expecting the return of Michael the archangel. And suddenly he wasaware of a sweet perfume, and of a light shining near him; and heturned round and saw Death coming towards him in a form of greatglory and beauty, and rose to meet him, supposing him to be an angelof God. And they greeted one another, and Abraham said, "Whence comeyou to me, and who are you?" Death answered, "Abraham, I tell you thetruth: I am the bitter cup of death. " Abraham said, "Rather you arethe beauty of the world; a fairer than you I have never seen, and howsay you, 'I am the bitter cup of death'?" He answered, "I have toldyou the truth; the name by which God named me is that which I havespoken. " Abraham said, "And why have you come to this place?" Deathanswered, "I am come to take your soul, O righteous one. " Abrahamsaid, "I hear what you say, but I shall not come with you. " ButDeath was silent and answered him not a word. 

Then Abraham rose up and went towards his house: and Death followedhim. And he went up into his chamber: and Death went with him; and helaid himself on his bed: and Death came and sat by his feet. AndAbraham said, "Go, depart from me: I wish to rest here on my couch. "Death answered, "I shall not depart till I have taken thy soul fromthy body. " Abraham said, "I adjure thee by the living God: art thouin very truth Death?" He said, "I am. " Then said Abraham, "Comestthou to all men in such a beautiful shape as this?" He said, "Nay, my lord Abraham; it is thy righteousness and thy good deeds whichmake as it were a crown of glory upon my head; it is only to such asthou art that I come thus peaceably, but to sinners I show myselfmuch otherwise. " "Show me then, " said Abraham, "in what form thoucomest to them: let me see all thy fierceness and bitterness. ""No, " said Death, "for thou couldst not bear to look upon it. ""Verily, I am able to bear it, " he said, "for the strength of theGod of heaven is with me. "

Then Death let fall from him all his beauty, and Abraham saw him ashe was. And where there had been a shining angel, he saw a cloud ofdarkness, and in it the shapes of horrible wild beasts and allunclean creatures; and he saw the heads of fiery dragons, and flamesof consuming fire darting out; and he seemed to see a dreadfulprecipice before him, and then a rushing river, and flashes oflightning, and crackling of thunder, and thereafter a tempestuousraging sea; and again weapons brandished, and venomous basilisks andserpents, and bowls of poison; and there came a horrible odour, sothat all the servants of Abraham that were in the chamber fainted anddied, and Abraham himself swooned and his senses left him. 

When he came to himself, Death had hidden his terrible aspect and puton his beautiful form again. And Abraham saw his servants lying dead, and said to Death, "How is it that thou hast slain these?" And Deathsaid, "They died at the sight of my countenance, and in truth it is amarvel that thou also didst not die with them. " "Yea, " said Abraham, "now I know how it was that I came by this faintness of spirit thatis upon me; but I pray thee, Death, inasmuch as these have been cutoff before their time, let us entreat God that he would raise them upagain. " So Abraham and Death prayed together; and the spirit of lifereturned into the servants that had been killed, and they rose upagain. After that Abraham conversed with Death. 

Then Sarah and Isaac came in and talked with Abraham as he lay on hisbed. And Abraham said to Death, "I beseech thee, depart from me for alittle, for since I looked upon thee weakness is come upon me, and mybreath labours and my heart is troubled. " Then said Death, "Kiss myright hand and thy strength will return to thee, and thou wilt befilled with joy. " So Abraham kissed the hand of Death, and the soulof Abraham clave to the hand of Death and left his body; andstraightway Michael was there and a multitude of angels with him, andthey accompanied the holy soul of Abraham and brought it into theheavens into the presence of the Most High, there to abideeverlastingly in gladness and brightness in the place from which allsorrow and sighing are fled away. 

THE STORY OF ASENETH, JOSEPH'S WIFE

I

There was once a great man named Potipherah, who was high priest ofthe city of On in Egypt; and he and his wife had no children. One dayhe went into the temple to offer sacrifice, as was his custom. Hewent alone, and when he entered the great courtyard of the temple, inthe middle of which stood the altar, he was astonished to see alittle child lying upon the altar. Without waiting to offer hissacrifice, he hurried back to his wife. "What is the matter, " saidshe, "that you come back so hastily?" "I have seen a wonderfulthing, " he said; "the gods have given us a child. The gates of thetemple were locked, so that no one could get into the court; yetthere is a child there, lying on the altar!" "What say you?" said hiswife; "what can be the meaning of it?" So they both hastened to thetemple, and when Potipherah opened the door of the courtyard, theysaw, partly at least, how the wonder had happened; for now there wasan eagle perched upon the altar with its wings spread out over thechild--it was a little girl, quite newly born--to protect it. Theyguessed that it was the eagle that had brought the child, but, ofcourse, they could not tell whose it was. It was wrapped inswaddling-clothes, and these Potipherah's wife kept carefully by her;for she thought the time might come when they might be recognised by theparents of the little child; and indeed, years afterwards, this provedto be the case. 

In the meantime Potipherah and his wife kept the child and broughther up, and treated her as their daughter; and they called herAseneth. 

She grew up to be very beautiful; she was quite unlike an Egyptiangirl, and might have been taken for a Hebrew maiden: tall as Sarahand lovely as Rebekah or Rachel; so beautiful, in fact, that all thesons of the princes and nobles of Egypt were in love with her, andeven the son of King Pharaoh himself said to his father, "Give meAseneth, the daughter of Potipherah, to wife. " But Pharaoh said, "Nay, my son, she is not of your rank; you must marry a queen;remember, the daughter of the King of Moab is affianced to you. "

But besides being very beautiful, Aseneth was exceedingly proud. There was not a man of all the young nobles whom she would hear of, much less look at. Indeed, hardly any man in Egypt except her ownfather had ever seen her face; for she lived apart with the maidenswho waited on her, in a lofty tower which her father had builtspecially for her. It was really a noble palace, with ten greatrooms, one over the other. The first room was paved with porphyry andlined with slabs of coloured marbles, and the roof was of gold: andit was a kind of chapel for Aseneth. It had golden and silver imagesof all the gods of Egypt, and Aseneth worshipped them and burntincense to them every day. The second chamber was Aseneth's own. Init were all her jewels and rich robes and fine linen. In the thirdwere stored the provisions of the house and every delicious fruit orsweetmeat that could be got from any part of the world. The otherseven chambers belonged to the seven maidens who lived with Asenethand tended her. They were all of one age, and as fair as the stars ofheaven, and Aseneth loved them dearly. 

But to come back to Aseneth's own chamber, which was the mostsplendid of all. It had three windows, one looking out upon thegarden of the tower towards the east, and another towards the south, and the third towards the high-road. Opposite the eastern windowstood a golden bed, with a coverlet woven of gold and purple and finelinen. 

And no one but Aseneth herself had ever even sat upon that bed, somagnificent and so sacred was it. 

Besides all this, the tower had all around it a garden with a highwall of squared blocks of stone. The gates (there were four of them)were of iron, and each was guarded by eighteen stalwart men inarmour. The garden itself was full of shady trees, bearing splendidfruit; and there was a springing fountain at one side of it, whosewater ran first into a marble trough, and then out of that into astream which watered all the garden and kept it fresh and green. 

Here Aseneth lived until she was eighteen years old, beautiful andproud and caring for no one except her father and mother and herseven maidens. Now the year in which she became eighteen was thefirst of the seven years of plenty, of which King Pharaoh had dreamtin the dream of the seven cows and the seven ears of corn, which iswritten in the Bible. And Joseph was now travelling over all the landof Egypt to gather together corn to store up against the seven yearsof famine which were to follow the seven of plenty. And upon acertain day in harvest-time, Potipherah and his wife, who had beenaway at an estate which they possessed in the country, returned tothe city of On; and no sooner had they done so than they received amessage from Joseph, saying, "Let me come and rest at your houseduring the heat of the day. " Whereupon Potipherah was greatlyrejoiced, and thanked the gods for the honour which Joseph did him byvisiting him, and ordered a great banquet to be prepared. 

Just at this time, Aseneth, who had heard that her father and motherwere returned, came to meet them. She had put on her most beautifulrobe, of linen woven with gold, and a golden girdle, and necklace andbracelets of precious stones upon which were engraved the names ofthe gods of Egypt. And she had a golden diadem on her head, and overit a delicate veil. She hastened to meet her father and mother, andthey rejoiced at her wonderful beauty, and made her sit by them, andshowed her the gifts they had brought to her from the country--grapesand figs, pomegranates and fresh dates, and young doves and quailsfor her to tame, to her great delight. Then her father said to her, "My child, sit here with us: I want to speak to you. " So she sat downbetween her father and mother, and her father took her hand andkissed her, and said, "My darling child, do you know that Joseph, thelord of all this land, the man who is going to save the country fromthe famine that is coming the man whom Pharaoh trusts and honoursabove all others, is coming to this house to-day? What would you sayif I were to offer to give you in marriage to him, to live happilywith him for the rest of your life?"

Then Aseneth was very angry; she blushed as red as fire, and dartedan ugly glance at her father sideways, and said, "How can you talk tome so, father? Would you give me to a creature like that, the son ofa Ganaanitish labourer, who has been in prison--yes, and sold as aslave--and only got out of prison because he contrived to explain adream of Pharaoh's, for all the world like the old women? Certainlynot! If I marry any one it will be Pharaoh's eldest son. " SoPotipherah, disappointed as he was, said no more; and Asenethhurried away to her own chamber. But she looked out of the window. 

As she went out, there ran in a young man, one of Potipherah'sservants, and said, "My lord, Joseph is just stopping before ourgates. " So Potipherah and his wife and all their retinue rose andwent forth to meet Joseph; and the gates of the court towards theeast were thrown open, and the chariot drove in, drawn by fourmilk-white horses with harness of gold; and in the chariot stoodJoseph, clad in a tunic of white linen and a blood-red mantle shotwith gold. On his head was a crown with twelve great gems, and aboveeach gem was a ray of gold; in his hand was an olive branch withleaves and fruit. But fairer than all his equipment was his face, forhe was more beautiful than any of the sons of men. And just as allthe young nobles of Egypt were mad about Aseneth, so all the ladiesof Egypt were in love with Joseph; but he had not a word to say toany of them, for they were all worshippers of idols, and Josephworshipped the true God--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

So the chariot entered the courtyard of Poti-pherah's palace, and thegates were shut. Now Aseneth stood at her window, and when she sawJoseph and the beauty of his countenance, she was smitten to theheart, her knees trembled, and she almost swooned. A great fear cameupon her, and she heaved a deep sigh and said, "Alas, alas, what haveI said? what have I done? Pity me, O God of Joseph, for it was inignorance that I spoke against him. Did I not call him a Canaanitishlabourer's son? and lo, now he has come into our house like the sunout of heaven. Fool that I was to rail against him as I did! If onlymy father would give me to him as his slave and drudge, I would servehim till I dropped dead at his feet. "

Meanwhile Joseph, who had caught sight of Aseneth standing at herwindow, had come into the house, and they had washed his feet and seta table for him by himself (for Joseph would not eat with theEgyptians). And he said to Potipherah, "Who was the woman whom I sawlooking out of the window when I came in? Some stranger? If so, shemust leave this house. " "Nay, my lord, " said Potipherah, "she is ourdaughter. " And he went on to tell how Aseneth disliked the company ofmen, and indeed had hardly seen a strange man before that day; andJoseph was glad to hear that she hated strange men, and said, "If shebe your daughter, I will love her from this day forth as a sister. "

Accordingly, Aseneth's mother went and fetched Aseneth, and shegreeted Joseph, and he her. Then said Potipherah, "Come near, mychild, and kiss your brother. " But when she drew near, Joseph put outhis hand and thrust her away, and spoke thus: "It is not right forone who worships the living God, and eats the bread of life anddrinks the cup of immortality, to kiss one that praises with her lipsdead idols, and eats the bread of death from their tables and drinksthe cup of deceit. " At these harsh words Aseneth was bitterly grieved:she shrank back and looked piteously at Joseph, and her eyes filledwith tears; and when he saw how hurt she was, Joseph, who was full ofkindness raised his hand over her head and blessed her, praying thatGod, who gives life to all and brings us out of darkness into light, might give life and light to her soul, and number her among Hischosen people, and bring her into the everlasting rest which He haspromised to them. So Aseneth went back to her chamber, full ofmingled joy and sorrow; and she cast herself down on her bed andwept. And that same evening Joseph left the house of Potipherah andset forth on his journey again. "But, " said he, "I will come back toyou in eight days' time. " Potipherah also and his wife and theirservants went back to their country house; and Aseneth and her sevenmaidens were left alone. And the sun went down and all was quiet. 

II

When everyone else in the tower was asleep, Aseneth, who had remainedweeping on her bed, rose up stealthily and crept downstairs to thegate of the tower, where the woman who kept the door was asleep withher children; and as quietly as she could she unhooked the heavyleather curtain that hung in the doorway, and spreading it out on thefloor, heaped up upon it all the cinders and ashes out of the hearth, folded the corners together, dragged it upstairs and threw it down onthe floor. Then she barred the door of her room securely, and burstinto bitter weeping. It so happened that the maiden whom Asenethloved the best of all her seven companions was awake, and heard thesounds of crying. She was alarmed, and flew to wake up the otherattendants, and all of them came to the door of Aseneth's chamber, which was locked and barred. They called to her, "What is the matter, dear mistress? Open to us and let us come in and comfort you. " ButAseneth answered from within, "It is nothing but a violent headache. I am in bed, and too tired and ill to get up and open the door. Goback all of you to your beds. I shall be well to-morrow. " So theydispersed to their rooms. 

And when they were safely gone, Aseneth got up and opened the door ofthe room in which she kept her dresses and jewels, taking care tomake no noise; and from among all her robes she chose out a blackone which she had worn, years before, when the only son of Potipherahhad died. And she cast off her royal robe and her diadem and veil andgirdle, and put on the black robe and girded it with a rope. Next shewent to the shrine wherein stood all the golden and silver images ofher gods, and took them and threw them out of the window for thewayfarers to pick up; and she took the supper that had been laid outfor her of all manner of delicate meats, and threw that into thehighway for the dogs to eat. And she emptied the ashes out of theleather curtain upon the floor; she let down her hair and cast someof the ashes upon her head; she smote her breast and wept; and thusshe sat in silence and misery till seven days and nights wereaccomplished. 

And on the morning of the eighth day, when it was just dawning, andthe birds had begun to twitter in the trees of the garden, and thedogs to bark at the passers-by, Aseneth raised herself a little fromher crouching posture among the ashes and turned herself to thewindow that looked towards the east. She was faint and ill and wearyfrom her long fasting and watching; her tongue was dry as horn, hereyes were glazed, and her fair face was haggard. She bent her headdown and clasped her hands together, and crouched down again amongthe ashes, and said to herself, "It is all over. I have no one toturn to now. My father and mother will cast me off, for I havedishonoured their gods; they will say, 'Aseneth is no daughter ofours. ' My kindred will hate me, and all the youths whom I havedespised and rejected will rejoice at my humiliation; and Josephwill have nothing to say to me because I am a foul worshipper ofidols. Yet, " she went on to say, "I have heard that the God of theHebrews is a merciful God, long-suffering and compassionate, not hardupon those that have sinned ignorantly, if they are sorry for whatthey have done. Why should I not turn to Him? Who knows if He willnot have pity upon my loneliness and protect me? For they say He isthe Father of the fatherless, and cares for those who are introuble. " So she rose and knelt upon her knees, with her face turnedtowards the east, and looked up into heaven and prayed. "Save me, "she said, "from those who are pursuing me, before I am caught by them;as a little child when it is frightened runs to its father, and thefather stretches out his arms and catches it to his breast, so I fleeto Thee. I know that Satan, the Old Lion, is hunting me; for he isthe father of the gods of Egypt, and I have insulted them anddestroyed their images. I have no hope but in Thee. See, I have castoff all my beautiful robes and ornaments; I sit here in sackcloth andashes; I have fasted and wept these seven days, because I know thatI have done wrong in worshipping dumb idols, and in speakingscornfully against Joseph. But, Lord, I did it in ignorance; save me, and above all watch over Joseph, whom I love more than my own life. Keep him, Lord, in safety, and let me be his handmaid and his slave, if Thou wilt, so that I may minister to him all the days I have tolive. "

Much more did Aseneth say in her prayer, but it is not written downhere. When she had ended, the morning star was just coming up in theeast, and Aseneth rejoiced when she saw it and said, "Can it be thatGod has heard my prayer, and that this star is the herald of thelight of the great day?" Then, in that part of the sky where the starwas shining, there opened a little cleft in the heavens, and a brightlight shone out of it: so dazzling that she fell on her face upon theashes. And in the next instant there stood over her a man who was allflashing with light; and he called to her, "Aseneth, rise up. " "Whocan this be who calls me?" she said; "my door is barred and the toweris high. No one can have come into my chamber. " So she did not lookup; but the man called to her again, "Aseneth, Aseneth!" And at lastshe answered, "Here am I, lord: tell me, who art thou?" Heanswered, "I am the Prince of all the army of heaven; rise up andstand on your feet, and hear my words. " Then for the first time shelooked at him, and saw that he was in all things like Joseph, withroyal robe, and crown and sceptre; but his face, and hair, and handsand feet were bright like the sun, and his eyes pierced likelightning; and again she was afraid, and fell on her face. But hesaid, "Do not be afraid; hear what I am come to say to you. "Thereupon she rose and stood up, weak as she was; and he bade her gointo her inner chamber and put off her black robe, and the sackclothand ashes, and bathe herself in clear water, and array herself in thenoblest of her robes, and come back to him. 

Now when this was done, and she had returned to him, fresh andbeautiful as formerly, he spoke kindly to her, and blessed her andsaid, "God has heard your prayer: He has looked upon your sorrow andtears, and has forgiven your sin. Be of good cheer, for your name iswritten in the Book of Life, and shall no more be blotted out. Fromthis day forth you shall eat the bread of life and drink the cup ofimmortality, and be anointed with the oil of joy. And a new nameshall be given you, even the name of the City of Refuge; for as youhave come to God for refuge, many shall in like manner come to Himthrough your example by repentance. And now, behold, this day I shallgo to Joseph, and tell him that which has befallen you, and he shallcome to you this very day and make you his bride. Make readytherefore and array yourself in the bridal robe that is laid up inyour chamber, and put upon you all your elect ornaments, and prepareyourself to meet him. "

When Aseneth heard this joyful news, she fell on her face at the feetof the messenger and gave thanks to God; and, said she, "My lord, stay yet a little while, I pray you, and sit upon this couch, and Iwill set a table before you, and bread, and you shall eat; and I willbring you wine old and fragrant, and you shall drink, and so go onyour way. " For she did not know that it was an angel who had come toher. And he said, "I will do so: hasten therefore and make ready. "

So first she set before him a table; and as she was going to fetchthe bread he said to her, "Bring a honeycomb also. " But at this shestopped, and was troubled in her mind, for she knew that there was nohoneycomb in her store-room. "Why do you stop?" said the angel. "Sir, " she answered, "let me send a boy to the farm which is near by, and he shall fetch you a honeycomb in a moment. " "No, " said he, "youneed only go into your store-room, and you will find one upon thetable; bring that to me. " "Sir, " she answered, "I know that there isnone there. " But he said, "Go and you will find it. " She wenttherefore and found the honeycomb, as he had said; it was large, andas white as snow, and full of honey, and the smell of it was as thebreath of life. She wondered greatly, but she would not delay, andshe brought it out and put it on the table before the angel. Then hecalled her to him, and as she moved towards him he stretched out hisright hand over her head, and again she was afraid, for she sawsparks and flashes of fire coming from it, as if it were of heatediron; so that she gazed upon him earnestly in astonishment. But hesmiled and said, "You are blessed, Aseneth, for you have seen some ofthe secret things of God; it is of this honeycomb that the angels eatin Paradise, and the bees of Paradise have made it of the dew of theroses of life in the garden of God; and whosoever tastes it shall notdie for ever. " Then he put forth his right hand and took a piece ofthe honeycomb, and tasted it, and gave a portion to Aseneth, and sheate it; and he said, "Now you have received the food of life, andyour youth shall know no old age, and your beauty shall never fade. "And again he stretched forth his right hand and drew his fingeracross the honeycomb from the east side of it to the west, and fromthe north side to the south, and where his finger touched it therewas left a track of the colour of blood. And immediately there cameout of the honeycomb a multitude of bees. They were white like snow, and their wings were purple and scarlet, and they swarmed aboutAseneth and made honey upon her lips. Among them there were some thatmade as though they would have stung her, but these the angelrebuked, and they fell to the ground dead. But after a while theangel said to the bees, "Go to your place, " and at that they rose upin a swarm and flew out of the window and up into the sky. Then hetouched with his rod the dead bees upon the floor, and said to them, "Go ye also to your place, " and they came to life and flew out of thewindow, and settled upon the trees in the garden of Aseneth. And forthe third time he stretched out his hand and touched the honeycombupon the table, and straightway there burst forth a flame, andconsumed the honeycomb--but upon the table it left no mark--and thesweet smell of the burning filled all the chamber. 

Then said Aseneth, "Sir, I have seven companions, maidens who havebeen brought up with me, and I love them as sisters: may I not callthem, and you shall bless them as you have blessed me?" So she calledthem in, and made them stand before the angel, and he blessed them;and thereafter he said to Aseneth, "Take away the table. " And as sheturned aside to lift it, he was gone. But through the window she sawin the sky a chariot and four horses shining like fire, going intothe heavens towards the east, and the angel standing in the chariot. Then she said, "Ah, foolish that I am! I knew not that it was anangel out of heaven that came into my chamber, and now, behold, he isgoing back into heaven to his own place. Pardon me, my lord, andspare thy handmaid, for it was in ignorance that I spoke so boldlybefore thee!"

While she was still wondering, there came in a messenger and said, "Joseph, the mighty one of God, is on his way hither. " Andimmediately Aseneth sent for the steward of the palace and bade himprepare a great banquet, and make all things ready; but she herself, remembering the words of the angel, went into her inner chamber andadorned herself as a bride, in shining robes, and upon her head sheput a crown of gold which had in the midst, over her forehead, agreat jacinth stone and six other precious stones round it; and shecovered her head with a veil of wonderful beauty. Then she called toone of her maidens, who brought her a basin of pure water, and whenshe saw the reflection of her face in the water she was astonished atthe beauty and freshness and brightness of it. Just then the stewardof the palace came in to say that all was ready, and he too wasstruck with amazement at the sight of her, and said, "Lady, what isthe cause of this wonderful beauty? Can it be that the God of heavenhas chosen you to be the bride of Joseph, His elect?" And while hewas yet speaking, the sound of Joseph's chariot-wheels was heardwithout. 

Then Aseneth hastened and went down to meet Joseph, and her sevenmaidens followed her, and they all stood in the porch of the palace. And when Joseph saw Aseneth he also marvelled, and said, "Who artthou, maiden?" And she answered, "Thy handmaid Aseneth; and I havecast away all my idols and they are gone. " And she went on and toldhim of the coming of the angel to her. And he rejoiced. Then theycame near and embraced one another, and she led him into her father'shouse and made him sit on her father's throne; and Joseph said, "Letone of the maidens come and wash my feet. " But Aseneth said, "No;from henceforth I am your handmaid: your hands are my hands, yourfeet are my feet, and your soul is my soul: none other shall washyour feet but I. " So she compelled him, and washed his feet. Andafter that he kissed her again, and made her sit down beside him, onhis right hand. 

And as they were talking together, Potipherah and his wife and theirhousehold entered the palace, having returned from the country; andthey were amazed, and rejoiced at the sight of Joseph and Aseneth. And when they learnt all that had happened, they rejoiced yet more;and Potipherah said, "To-morrow I will call together all my kinsfolkand prepare your marriage feast. " But Joseph said, "Nay, but I willfirst go to Pharaoh and speak to him concerning Aseneth, that I maytake her to wife; for he is to me as a father. "

So on the next day Joseph departed to see Pharaoh, and forthwithPharaoh sent for Potipherah and his wife and Aseneth; and in theirpresence he blessed Aseneth, and joined her hand with the hand ofJoseph, and crowned them with golden crowns, and made a great feastfor them lasting seven days; and all the land of Egypt rejoiced. SoJoseph and Aseneth were married; and after that two sons were bornto them, even Ephraim and Manasseh, in the house of Joseph. 

III

Now when the seven years of plenty were over, the years of faminebegan, and Jacob and his sons came to dwell in Egypt in the land ofGoshen, as it is told in the Bible. Then Aseneth said to Joseph, "Letme go and see your father and greet him. " So Joseph brought her toJacob, and his brethren met him and did him obeisance at the door ofthe house, and they entered in. And when they saw Jacob, who wassitting upon his bed, Aseneth was struck with amazement at the sightof him, for he was noble to look upon. His head was white as snow, his beard was long, flowing over his bosom, his eyes were bright andflashing, and his muscles and limbs were those of a giant. AndAseneth fell on her face before him; and Israel said, "Is this thywife, my son Joseph? Blessed shall she be of the Most High God. "Then he called her to him, and she fell on his breast and he kissedher, and they rejoiced together. After that he inquired of herconcerning her parents; and Aseneth told him how an eagle hadbrought her and laid her upon the altar of the temple of On; and sheshowed him the swaddling-clothes in which she had been wrapped. AndJacob knew that they belonged to his own daughter Dinah; and thus itwas made known to him that Aseneth was of his own race, and he wasthe more glad. 

And when they departed from him, Simeon and Levi accompanied themwith the other sons of Leah and Rachel; but the sons of Bilhah andZilpah would not go with them, for they hated Joseph. And of allJoseph's brethren, Aseneth loved Levi the most, for he was a prophetand a seer, and could read the signs of the stars of heaven. 

Now it happened that as they were on their way to visit Jacob, theeldest son of Pharaoh was on the city wall, and he saw Aseneth andloved her immediately, and could think of nothing but how he mightmake away with Joseph and take Aseneth for his own wife. And after afew days he sent secretly to Simeon and Levi, and said to them, "Iknow that you are mighty men, and that with your two swords alone youdefeated the men of Shechem and overthrew their city. I have sent foryou because I wish to make you my friends, and, if you will do what Iask you, I will give you riches and lands and houses--in a word, allthat you can desire. Now what I would have you do is this. You mustknow that I have been bitterly wronged by your brother Joseph: he hasmarried Aseneth, who was betrothed to me long ago. Join with metherefore and help me to kill him, and I will take Aseneth to wife, and you shall be my brothers. If you refuse, I will slay you. " Andwith these words he drew his sword and flourished it at them. At thisSimeon, who was a man of hot temper, was enraged, and would havedrawn his own sword and cut down the prince; but Levi, who could readhis thoughts, trod upon his foot and made signs to him to be quiet, and whispered, "Why be angry with this fellow? We are God-fearingmen, and must not render evil for evil. " Then Levi said calmly andmildly to Pharaoh's son, "Why does my lord speak thus to hisservants? We can do no such wickedness against our brother andagainst our God. Let us hear no more such evil words; but, if youwill not be persuaded, know that our swords will be drawn againstyou. " With that both the brothers drew their swords, and when the sonof Pharaoh saw them he crouched upon the ground in terror, for theyflashed like flames of fire and dazzled his eyes. But Levi said, "Getup and do not be frightened: only take care that you say nothing moreof this kind against our brother Joseph. " And they went forth fromhis presence. 

But he could not restrain himself, for he was half-mad with anger andfear and with love of Aseneth. And after some days his servants saidto him, "Do you know that the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah are at enmitywith Joseph and Aseneth? They will do all that you ask of them. " Sohe sent for them, for Dan and Gad and Naphtali and Asher, and theycame to him in the first hour of the night; and after he had greetedthem he sent away his servants, and said to the brethren, "Listento me. Life and death are before you; choose which you will have:will you die like women or fight like men? I overheard your brotherJoseph saying to my father Pharaoh, 'Dan and Gad and Naphtali andAsher are no brethren of mine; they are the sons of my father'shandmaids, and I am only waiting till my father dies to make an endof them and their families. It was they who sold me to theIshmaelites, and I am going to repay it into their bosom. ' And myfather said, 'It is well spoken: you have leave to take any of mybodyguard and deal with them as you will. '" Then Dan and Gad andtheir brothers were sorely troubled, and they said, "O sir, help us, and we will be your servants for ever. " And he said, "I will. Hear menow: this night I will kill my father Pharaoh--for he is the helperof Joseph--and do you for your part slay Joseph. Then I will takeAseneth to wife, and you shall be my brethren and joint heirs with mein the kingdom. " So they said, "We will do so, and thus it shall be:we heard Joseph say to Aseneth that she should go to-morrow into thevineyard, for it is the time of vintage. We therefore will go thisnight into the bed of the river and hide among the reeds; and do youtake with you fifty archers upon horses, and go on before. Then willAseneth come and fall into our ambush, and we will kill the men thatare with her, and she will flee in her chariot and fall into yourhands, and you shall do to her as seems good to you. As for Joseph, while he is mourning for Aseneth we will kill him; but first we willslay his children before his face. " And Pharaoh's son rejoicedgreatly, and sent them forth with a great body of mighty men, andthey went and hid themselves in four companies among the reeds of theriver on either side of the road. 

Yet Naphtali and Asher murmured against their elder brothers Dan andGad, saying, "To what purpose are you conspiring again? Did you notsell Joseph for a slave before, and, lo! he is become lord over allEgypt? Now therefore, if you imagine evil against him, he will callupon God, and fire will come down out of heaven and devour you, andthe angels of God will fight against you. " But their elder brotherswere angry and said, "What then would you have? Are we to die likewomen? Not so!" And the counsel of Naphtali and Asher did notprevail with them. 

In the same night the son of Pharaoh rose up and went to his father'schamber with intent to slay him, as he had promised; but when he cameto the door the guards stopped him and said, "What is my lord'swill?" He said, "I desire to see my father, for I am going awayto-morrow to visit my vine-yard which I have newly planted. " And theysaid, "Your father is ill and has not slept until now, and he gaveus commandment that no man should come into his chamber, no, not ifit were his firstborn son. " So he went away in a rage, and took fiftyarchers with him on horses and went on before, as Dan and Gad hadsaid. 

Aseneth also arose early in the morning and said to Joseph, "Lo, Igo to the vineyard as you appointed; but my soul is troubled greatlyat being parted from you. " But Joseph said, "Be of good cheer; theLord is with you and will keep you as the apple of an eye. As for me, I go to distribute corn to the people of the land, that no man inEgypt may perish of hunger. " So Aseneth went her way; and as she cameto the place of the ambush by the river, the men that were in hidingrushed out upon her, and slew all the guard that were with her, evensix hundred soldiers and fifty runners; and Aseneth fled away uponher chariot. 

Now Levi, though he was afar off, saw in the spirit what was beingdone--for he was a seer--and told his brethren of the peril ofAseneth; and they girded every man his sword upon his thigh, and tookup their shields and their spears and ran swiftly after Aseneth. 

And as she fled on before, suddenly she saw the son of Pharaoh in theway, and the horsemen that were with him. Then was Aseneth in greatfear, and she called upon the name of her God. 

But Benjamin was in the chariot with her. Now he was a lad ofnineteen years, beautiful exceedingly, and strong as a lion's whelp. And when he saw the men, he leapt down from the chariot and caught upa round stone out of the brook and threw it at the son of Pharaoh, and smote him on the left temple, so that he fell from his horsehalf-dead. 

Then Benjamin leapt up upon a rock by the way-side, and called to thedriver of the chariot, "Give me stones out of the river bed. " And hegave them; and with fifty stones Benjamin slew the fifty archersthat were with Pharaoh's son; every stone smote a man on the temples. 

Moreover, the sons of Leah, Reuben and Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, pursued after the men that had laid wait forAseneth, and fell upon them suddenly and cut them to pieces; but thesons of Bilhah and Zilpah fled before them, saying, "We are undone;and now, behold, the son of Pharaoh is dead, and all they that werewith him. Let us at least slay Aseneth and Benjamin, and flee intothe woods. " So they pursued after Aseneth, and came upon her withtheir swords drawn and dripping with blood. And she was greatlyafraid, and said, "Lord God, who didst save me from false gods andfrom the corruption of death, and didst say, 'Thy soul shall livefor ever, ' save me now from the hands of these wicked men!" And Godheard her prayer, and straightway the swords of the men fell out oftheir hands and crumbled into dust. 

Then they were very sore afraid, saying, "The Lord fighteth againstus. " And they fell down on their faces and besought Aseneth, saying, "We have imagined evil against you, and the Lord hath brought itback upon us. But now have pity upon us, and save us from the wrathof our brethren. " And she said, "Go then and hide yourselves in thereeds until I appease them and turn away their anger. Only the Lordbe judge betwixt me and you. " Then they ran and hid among the reeds;and their brethren the sons of Leah came running like harts toovertake them. And Aseneth lighted down from her chariot and fell ontheir necks weeping and rejoicing; and they said, "Where are ourbrothers the sons of the handmaids?" that they might kill them. ButAseneth said, "I beseech you, spare them, for the Lord saved me outof their hands and broke their swords, and, behold, there they lie, like wax melted before the fire. Let it suffice you that the Lordhath fought against them on our behalf, and spare them, for they areyour brethren and the sons of your father Israel. " Then said Simeon, "Why doth our sister say so? Nay, but we will hew them in pieceswith our swords, for they have done evil against Joseph and againstour father and against thee also this day. " And Aseneth took holdupon Simeon's beard and kissed him, and said, "Do not, my brother, inanywise render evil for evil: the Lord shall judge between us; andnow, see, they are fled afar off. Forgive them, therefore, and sparetheir lives. " Then Levi came near and kissed her right hand; for heknew that his brethren were in hiding among the reeds, but he wouldnot reveal it to the others lest they should fall upon them; and heloved Aseneth because she would save them alive. 

Now the son of Pharaoh, who was fallen from his horse, began torecover himself, and sat up and spat blood out of his mouth, for theblood ran down from the wound on his temple into his mouth. AndBenjamin saw it, and ran and drew the sword of the son of Pharaoh(for as yet Benjamin bare no sword upon his thigh), and would haveslain him; but Levi hasted and caught his hand, saying, "It is notright for us that fear God to trample upon him that is fallen, or toafflict our enemy to death. Put back the sword into its place andhelp me, and we will tend his wound, and if he lives he shall be ourfriend. " Then Levi helped up the son of Pharaoh from the ground, andwashed the blood from his face and bound up his wound with a bandage, and put him upon his horse and took him to Pharaoh his father, andtold him all that had happened. And Pharaoh rose up from his throneand blessed Levi. But on the third day after, the son of Pharaoh diedof his wound. 

And Pharaoh mourned sore for his firstborn son, insomuch that he fellsick and died, being a hundred and nine years old, and left his crownto Joseph; and Joseph reigned alone in Egypt forty and eight years, and thereafter gave the kingdom to the younger son of Pharaoh, whowas a sucking child when his father died. And thenceforth Joseph wascalled the father of the king throughout all the land of Egypt. 

JOB

This is the story of the life of Job, taken out of the book calledThe Testament of Job. 

There came a day when Job felt that his end was near; and he calledtogether his seven sons and his three daughters, and said to them:

Come near to me, my children, and I will tell you the story of mylife, and all the dealings of the Lord with me. You must know, in thefirst place, that before He gave me a new name, I was called Jobab;and that I come of the family of Isaac--for I am one of the sons ofEsau, Jacob's brother. Now, long ago, I used to dwell hard by thetemple of an idol, and every day I saw people coming and bringingofferings, and burning sacrifices before it. But as time went on, Icould not believe that this idol was indeed the God who made theheavens, and the earth, and the sea, and us men. I pondered much, therefore, upon this matter, saying, "How shall I come to know thetruth of it?"

Thereafter, as I lay upon my bed, in the middle of the night, a brightlight suddenly shone in my chamber, and I heard a voice calling me, "Jobab, Jobab!" (and I answered, "Here am I"). And the voice said, "Riseup, and I will tell thee that which I have to say. Verily, this idol towhom offerings are brought, and wine poured out in libations, is not agod, but is a work of the evil power whereby he deceives the sons ofmen. " Then I bowed myself down and said, "Lord, who hast come toenlighten my soul, I beseech thee, give me leave to go and cleanse thisplace that is polluted by the enemy, so that offerings shall no more bemade to him; but, indeed, who is there that can withstand me, seeingthat I am ruler over this country?"

The voice answered me out of the light, "Thou canst indeed destroythat place; but I must forewarn thee of that which will ensue, according as I have in hand to tell thee from the Lord. " And Ianswered, "All that He commandeth thy servant will I hear and do. "And the voice said again, "If thou takest upon thee to destroy thisabode of Satan's, he will rise up and fight against thee; he willbring upon thee many plagues; he will take away all thy gods; he willslay thy children. Only he will not be able to take thy life. And, ifthou endurest to the end, thy name shall become famous among allgenerations for ever; and I will restore thee to thy former estate, and recompense thee double, and thou shalt rise up again in theresurrection of the just. Be thou therefore like a fighter who givethblows and endureth them, looking to win the crown of victory; andthen shalt thou know that the Lord is righteous, and true, andmighty, giving strength to His chosen. "

And I, my children, answered him, "I will verily endure even untodeath, and will not draw back. " Then the angel set a mark upon myforehead, and departed from me; and in the same night I arose andgathered to me fifty of my servants, and went and destroyed thetemple of the idol, laying it even with the ground. Then I returnedto my house, and commanded that the doors should be made fast. 

Hearken now, my children, and wonder; for as soon as I had come intomy house, and had commanded the doors to be shut, and had told thekeepers of the doors to say to any that came that I was not atleisure to see them, Satan came, having put on the appearance of abeggar, and said to the maid that kept the door, "Tell Job that Idesire to speak with him. " She came to me, therefore, and I told heragain, "Tell him that I have no leisure to see him. "

So Satan departed, and took on him another form, and put a wallet onhis shoulder, and returned and said to the maid, "Say to Job, 'Giveme bread from thine own hand, that I may eat. '" Then I took a loafthat was burnt black and gave it to the maid to give to him, saying, "Look to eat no more of my bread, for I am become a stranger to you. "But the maid was ashamed to give him the burnt bread, for she knewnot who he was; she took, therefore, a good loaf of her own and gaveit to him. But he was aware of what had happened, and said to her, "Go back, unfaithful servant, and fetch me the bread that was givento you to give to me!" And she wept and said, "You say well that Iam an unfaithful servant, for I have not done that which I wascommanded. " Then she brought him the burnt bread, saying, "Thus saysmy master, 'You shall eat no more of my bread, for I am estrangedfrom you. This I give you only that you may not have it to say that Irefused to give aught to my enemy when he asked of me. '" Satan tookthe bread, and sent back the maid with this message, "As this breadis burnt and blackened, so will I make thy body; in one hour I willlay thee and thy house desolate. " And I answered him, "That thoudoest, do quickly; for I am ready to bear whatsoever thou canst bringupon me. "

Then Satan went up straightway under the firmament of the heaven, andasked of the Lord authority over me and my possessions. And the Lordgranted it to him, but not at that time. 

Now I must tell you, my children, of my manner of life, and my goodsthat I had, before I was despoiled. I had 130, 000 sheep, of which7000 were set apart for the clothing of the fatherless, and widows, and poor; and a pack of 800 dogs guarded them. I had 9000 camels;3000 to traffic with the cities of the earth, which I laded with goodthings, and sent them out among the towns and villages, and had theirloads distributed to the poor. I had also 130, 000 asses; 500 of themwere set apart that their foals might be sold, and the price given tothe poor. 

Also the four gates of my house were always left open to this end, that if any poor man came to beg, and saw me sitting at one of thegates, he might not turn back abashed, but might go round to anotherof the gates, and enter in and receive what he needed. 

Within the house also I had always thirty tables ready prepared forthe entertainment of strangers, and other twelve tables appointed forthe widows. None left my house with his purse empty, and whenever anycame to ask help, he was constrained first of all to sit down anddine. I had fifty bakehouses, and of these, twelve served the tablesof the poor. 

And so it was that many strangers came to my house, and some of themdesired to follow my way of life and minister to the poor, but theywere in need of money to furnish them therefor. And to such men Ifreely lent the money, taking no security of them, but only a writtenacknowledgment. And sometimes they prospered in their merchandise andgained money to give to the poor; but sometimes they failed and cameback to me, saying, "Have patience with us. " And thereupon I woulddestroy the bill of their debt before them, and forgive them thatwhich they owed me. 

Sometimes also there would come to me a man of a kindly heart whowould say, "I have not wherewith to help the poor, but let me waitupon them to-day at your table. " And at evening, when he wasdeparting, I used to say to him, "I know that you are a labouringman, and look to your wages. " And so I paid him wages for the day andlet him go. 

I had also psalteries and a ten-stringed lute, and every day when thewidows and the poor had dined I would play to them and put them inmind of God, that they should praise Him. And if ever my handmaidensmurmured at the work they had to do, I took a psaltery and sang tothem of the recompense of the reward. And they were comforted, andceased from their murmuring. 

As for my children, they took part every day in the ministry, andafter that they gathered together in the house of their eldestbrother, and feasted there. But every morning I offered up sacrificesfor them, even thirty doves, fifty kids of the goats, and twelvesheep, and a choice bullock. All of these, after I had offered upprayer, I caused to be prepared for the poor, and gave to them, saying, "Take these over and above that which you have had, and prayfor my children, lest they perchance have said in their hearts, 'We are the children of a wealthy father, and these goods are ours. Wherefore should we wait upon the poor and waste our substance inthis manner?'" For indeed pride is an abomination unto the Lord. 

Now this was my manner of life for seven years after that the angelhad come to me. But when Satan had obtained from the Lord poweragainst me, he came down in great wrath; and first he burnt up the7000 sheep, and 3000 camels, and 500 asses, and 500 yoke of oxen; andthe rest were carried away by the men of the country to whom I hadshowed kindness, but now they turned against me and spoiled my goods. Then one came and told me, and I gave glory to God, and said not aword of complaint. 

Satan therefore, when he saw how I took the matter, devised yet moreagainst me, and took on him the likeness of the King of Persia, andcame and spake to all the worthless men of the country, saying, "Thisman Jobab, who hath consumed all the good of the land, and leftnothing, giving it away to the halt, and maimed, and blind, is thesame that destroyed the temple of the great god and laid waste theplace of offerings. It is time that he should receive the reward ofhis deeds. Come, fall upon him and spoil his house. " But they said, "He hath seven sons and three daughters; what if they escape intoother lands and accuse us of violence, and return and slay us?"Satan answered, "Trouble not yourselves for that. See, I haveconsumed part of his goods with fire; other part have I carried off. _I_ will take in hand his children. "

And he departed, and cast down the house upon my sons and daughters, and slew them all. And when the men saw that he had spoken truth, they came and plundered all that was in my house. Mine eyes sawworthless and dishonourable men on my couches and at my tables, and Icould not utter a word, for I was stricken weak, as a sick woman. Nevertheless, I remembered the recompense of the reward; and Iaccounted the loss of my goods as nothing, if I might attain to thatcity whereof the angel had spoken. 

Then there came a messenger and told me, "Thy sons and thy daughtersare dead. " And verily I was greatly troubled, and rent my clothes. Yet I said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as itpleased the Lord, so is it come to pass: blessed be the name of theLord. "

So Satan perceived that, though all that I had possessed was takenfrom me, nothing could break my spirit or make me rebel against God. He departed, therefore, and asked leave of the Lord that he mightafflict my body. And the Lord gave him power over my body to use itas he would, but over my life He gave him no power. Then Satan cameto me as I sat upon my throne mourning for the loss of my children;and he came in the form of a great whirlwind, and cast my throne downto the ground, so that I lay for three hours without moving. And hesmote me with a sore plague from head to foot, and I was filled withworms and ulcers and corruption. Therefore I arose and went out ofthe city in great misery and sorrow of heart, and sat upon adunghill, being severed from the sons of men because of my evilplague. And there I remained many days. And I had no strength to workand earn my bread, so that my wife was compelled to labour as ahandmaid in the house of a rich man, and carry water; and for thatthey gave her bread, and she brought it to me. Then was I cut to theheart, and said, "Alas for the pride of the men of this place! Howcan they endure to treat my wife as a slave?" Yet after that againI strengthened my soul and was patient. 

After some time they refused to give my wife food enough for her andmyself, but allowed her only half of what they had given her before:yet this she shared with me. Yea, she was not ashamed to go and begof the bakers in the market-place, that she might have wherewith tofeed me. 

When Satan saw her do so, he took upon him the likeness of a sellerof bread. And my wife came and begged of him, supposing him to be aman; and Satan said, "Pay the price, and take what you will. " But sheanswered, "Whence should I have money? Have you not heard of all thathas befallen us? If you will show mercy, show mercy; and if not, itis your own concern. " He said, "If you had not deserved misfortune, I suppose it would not have come upon you; but now, if you have nomoney, give me the hair of your head, and take three loaves inexchange: it may be that you can live on them for three days. " Andshe thought within herself, "What is the hair of my head to me incomparison with the hunger of my husband?" And she said to Satan, "Come, take it. " And he took a pair of shears and cut off her hair, and then gave her three loaves, in the sight of all who were in themarket-place. She took the bread and came to bring it to me, andSatan followed after her invisibly, and made her soul heavy withinher. So, as she drew near to me she lifted up her voice and criedaloud, "Job, Job, how long wilt thou sit upon the dunghill waitingand expecting thy deliverance, while I wander about from house tohouse and labour as a slave? Behold, my sons and my daughters, whomI brought up with labour and pain, are perished and gone, and thousittest under the open heaven filled with corruption, and I have towork day and night to get bread to keep thy soul in thy body. Lo, nowhave I sold the hair of my head for bread. Who would believe that Iam Sitis, the wife of Job, who was clothed in fine linen woven withgold, that washed her feet in basins of silver and gold, that laysoftly and was nurtured in plenty; but now I go barefoot, in rags, and sell my hair for bread. One thing only remains, for my bones arebroken with very weariness of spirit. Arise and eat this bread, andsatisfy thy hunger, and then speak a word against the Lord, and die;and I shall be freed from my misery and labour, and have rest. "

But I answered her, "Lo, now these many years have I been set in theplague, enduring sickness of body and grief of heart, but my soul hasnever been so heavy in me as when I heard thee say, 'Speak a wordagainst the Lord, and die. ' Shall we have borne the loss of ourpossessions, and the death of our children, and at the end lose thetrue riches? Remember all the good things which we enjoyed aforetime. Shall we receive those at the hands of the Lord, and not bear toreceive hard things likewise? But I perceive now why thou sospeakest. Come forth, thou that standest behind her to pervert herheart and make her speak as one of the foolish women. Hide thyself nolonger; come forth and withstand me to the face. " Then Satan cameforth from behind my wife, and stood before me ashamed, and evenweeping in the bitterness of his heart; and he said, "Job, thou hastprevailed: thou art flesh and I am a spirit, but I can do no moreagainst thee. " And he departed from me in confusion. And I, mychildren, thought of fighters whom I had seen: one had thrown theother on the ground and filled his mouth with sand, and bruised everylimb of his body, yet still he kept his hold; and of a sudden the onethat was uppermost could endure the grip no longer, and gave in, sothat the undermost won the crown. Thus was it with me and Satan; and, my children, I counsel you to be long-suffering in all that may comeupon you; for there is nothing that is stronger than patience. 

Now it was not until many years had passed that the tidings of myaffliction came to the ears of the kings who were of old time myfriends--for Satan caused the matter to be kept from them. But whenthey heard, they set forth from their countries and came to visit me, even Eliphaz of Teman, and Bildad, and Zophar, and Elihu; all of themwith great trains of followers. When they were come into my land theyinquired, "Where is Jobab, the ruler of Uz?" And it was told them, "He sitteth upon a dunghill without the city. " And they asked whatwas become of my wealth--for I was aforetime richer than all theprinces of the East--and they were informed of all that had befallenme. So they came where I was, and some of the men of the city withthem, who showed me to them. But they said, "This is not Jobab. " Yetthe men of the place affirmed that it was so; and after they haddisputed for some time, Eliphaz called to me, "Art thou Jobab, ourfellow-king?" And I, weeping and casting dust upon my head, bowedmyself in token that it was I. 

Then were they stricken with great astonishment and terror, and fellto the ground as it were dead; and they rent their clothes and castoff their armour, and sat down upon the ground. And Elihu lifted uphis voice and took up a lamentation over me, calling to mind all theglory of my former state, my sheep and oxen, camels and asses, mygolden beds and my jewelled throne, the lamps and perfumes of mypalace, and the beauty of my children, and saying, "Where is now theglory of thy kingdom?" And when he had ended his lamentation I said, "Hold your peace and I will tell you. "

"My throne is in the region beyond the world, and the glory andbeauty of it is at the right hand of the Father. 

"This world shall pass away and the glory of it shall perish, andthey that pay heed thereto shall be overwhelmed in the overthrow ofit; but my throne is in the land of the holy, and the glory of it inthe age that hath no change. 

"The rivers shall be dried up, and the abundance of their streamsfloweth down into the depths of the pit; but the rivers of my landfail not, and their streams water it for evermore. 

"Kings shall pass away, and rulers be no more seen: their names andtheir boasting shall be as the image in the glass; but my kingdomabideth for ever, and the glory thereof is as the glory of thechariot of the Most High. "

Then Eliphaz waxed very wroth, and said, "Come, and let us leave himto his folly. To what purpose have we journeyed hither to comforthim, if he rails against us and says, 'Your kingdom shall be broughtto nought, but mine endureth for ever'?" And he would have goneaway in a rage. But Bildad restrained him, saying, "Remember that theman is sick in body and mind; we should not deal harshly with him; itmay well be that he is mad. " And Bildad and Zophar put questions tome to discern whether I was of sound mind or not, and I answered themsoberly. And at last Zophar said, "What shall be done for thee?Behold, we have with us the most skilful physicians that are in ourkingdoms. Wilt thou that they shall tend thee? Peradventure thoumayest find relief at their hands. " But I said, "My healing and mymedicine shall be from the Lord, who is the Maker of physicians andof all their craft. "

While I was yet speaking, there came to us my wife Sitis, clothed inrags, and she had escaped by stealth out of the house of her master;for he would have kept her within, fearing that the kings would callhim to account for his ill-usage of us. So when she came to us, shethrew herself down before Eliphaz and said, "Rememberest thou, Eliphaz and thy fellows, how I looked and how I was attired in theformer days? Look now and see in what guise I go about. " And theywere cut to the heart and wept, but knew not what to say; onlyEliphaz took off his purple robe and put it about her shoulders. Andshe besought them, saying, "I pray you, command your servants to digamong the ruins of the house that fell upon our children, and seekout their bones that they may be buried and a memorial set up; fortill this day we have never been able to do so because of the cost. Consider, I beseech you, what I suffer that have lost ten children, and not one of them is given to burial. " So they prepared to dig; butI prevented them, and said, "Labour not in vain; ye will not find mychildren, for they have been taken up into the heavens by the Kingthat created them. " Again they said, "Who would not say that thou artmad? Thy children are taken up into heaven, sayest thou? Show us nowwhat thou meanest. "

I said, therefore, "Raise me up that I may stand on my feet. " Andthey took each an arm and raised me, and I stood up and madesupplication to the Father, and then said to them, "Lift up your eyesand look towards the east. " And they looked, and beheld my childrencrowned with glory in the heavens, and above them the glory of theMost High. Which when Sitis my wife saw, she fell upon her face andworshipped, and said, "Now know I that there is remembrance of mewith God. I will go now into the city and rest a little, and refreshmyself for my labours of the morrow. " So she went into the city, andentered into the stable of the kine that had been hers, and had beentaken from her by those that employed her; and she lay down by one ofthe mangers and slept, having her mind at rest, and so died. And onthe morrow her master sought her, and did not find her; and at lastentering into the stable, he saw her lying dead there, and ran outand summoned men to him; and all the city came and saw her lying inthe stable, and the beasts standing about her, lowing and makinglamentation over her. Then they carried her forth and buried herbeside the place of the house that had fallen upon her children. 

Now as for all the words which Eliphaz, and Bildad, and Zophar, andElihu spake with me, and those wherewith I answered them, are theynot written in the book for your remembrance? Also ye know how thatat the last the Lord came and answered me out of the whirlwind, andrebuked us. And we made atonement for that which we had said amiss:all but Elihu, for into him Satan had entered, and he had spoken evilwords against me; wherefore he departed, and made no atonement forhis sin. 

Also ye know how the Lord restored to me my former state, and gave methe double of all that I had possessed before; and how I married yourmother, and she bare me you: seven sons and three daughters, as itis this day. 

And now behold, my sons, I die; and as for you, forget not ye theLord, do good to the poor, pass not by the helpless, take not toyourselves wives from among the heathen. 

Moreover, Job said, "I will divide my substance among you, and eachof you shall possess his portion in peace. "

Then Job divided his substance among his seven sons, but to hisdaughters he gave none of it; and they were grieved, and said, "Father, are we not also thy children?" And he answered, "Trouble notyourselves, for I have prepared for you an inheritance better thanthat of your brethren. " And he called to him his eldest daughter, andgave her his signet-ring, saying, "Go into the treasure-chamber andbring me the three golden caskets which you will find there. " Andwhen she had brought them, he opened them, and took from them threecords, and gave one to each of his daughters. Now these cords wereexceeding beautiful, of many colours, and sending forth sparks oflight as it had been rays of the sun; and he said to his daughters, "Gird them about you, and keep them all the days of your life. "

But Keziah, the second of the daughters, said, "Father, is this thatexcellent inheritance which you promised to us? What is the use ofthese cords? Shall we be able to live by means of them?" And heanswered, "Not only so, but they will bring you even into the betterlife. Know ye not, my children, what is the worth of these cords?These are they which the Lord gave me on the day when He had mercy onme and healed me of my sickness; for He gave them to me, and said tome, 'Rise up, gird thy loins like a man, and I will inquire of theeand thou shalt answer Me. ' And I put them about me, and straightwayall my sores and plagues fell away from me, and my body wasstrengthened as if I had never been sick; and, moreover, I forgotall my pain and sorrow of heart. Now therefore, my children, so longas ye have these about you, the enemy can do nothing against you; no, not even to put into your minds evil thoughts. Arise, then, and girdyourselves with them before I die. "

Then they did so, and their hearts were changed and renewed withinthem, so that they forgot the things of this world, and began tospeak in the language of the angels, singing praises to the Lord ofthe heavens, and telling of the glory of that place and of the mightyworks of the Father. And I, Nahor, the brother of Job, who wrote thistestament, sat by and heard them; and that which I could I wrote downin a book, to be for them that come after, that they might knowsomewhat of the wonders of the Lord. 

Now after three days wherein Job kept his bed--yet without pain orsickness, for no disease had power over him since the day when he puton that heavenly girdle--after three days, I say, he was aware ofthose that were coming to bear away his soul. And he arose, and gaveto his eldest daughter a harp, and to the second a censer, and to thethird an instrument of music, that they might welcome those that wereon their way. And even as they took them into their hands they sawthe chariots of light approaching; and they uttered hymns of praiseand thanksgiving, each one in the language of them that dwell in theholy places. Then He that sat in the great chariot came near and tookthe soul of Job, embracing it in His arms in the sight of hisdaughters; but no man else saw that sight. And He took it into thechariot and departed towards the sunrising. 

And after three days we made ready the body of Job to the burial; andall the widows, and the fatherless, and the helpless came about us, crying and saying, "Woe unto us this day, woe unto us! He that wasthe strength of the weak, the light of the blind, the father of thefatherless, the home of the homeless, is taken from us. " And theywould not that his body should be hidden out of their sight. But whenwe carried him to the sepulchre, his three daughters went before, girded with the heavenly girdles, and giving glory to God in hymnsand psalms of thanksgiving. And we laid him in the tomb as it weresleeping a fair sleep; and verily he left after him a name thatshall be famous and renowned in all generations. 

SOLOMON AND THE DEMONS

In an ancient Greek book called The Testament (that is, the LastWords') of Solomon, the story is told of the way in which Solomonovercame the demons and made them serve him. The tale is put into themouth of the king himself. 

When I was engaged upon the building of the temple in Jerusalem, there was a lad, the son of the foreman of the builders, of whom Itook notice, for he was a clever workman. Indeed, so skilful was hethat I increased his wages and his allowance of food above the rest. Yet in spite of that, as I saw him by day, I noticed that he wasbecoming thin and weak and pale. So one day I called him and askedhim whether anything was the matter with him. At first he would nottell me, but when I pressed him he said, "I know not whether you willbelieve it, O king, but a strange thing has been afflicting me. Everynight when I go to my bed, something comes and sucks my right thumb, and, moreover, it steals away my food; and I feel that it is takingaway all my strength, and I believe that it is an evil spirit. " WhenI heard that, I went back to my palace, and thought earnestly, andconsulted the writings of the ancients; and I prayed that a way mightbe shown to me how I could set the lad free from the power of thedemon. And after some days there came to me an angel, and brought mea ring with a stone in it, on which was cut the figure that is calledthe Pentalpha and within it the Name that may not be spoken; and hetold me what I must do with it. On the morrow, therefore, I sent forthe lad and gave him the ring, saying, "Take this, and to-night, whenthe creature comes, you must cast the ring into its bosom, and say, \In the strength of the Name, King Solomon calleth thee. ' Then rise upand come running to me, and be not afraid for whatever the demon maysay to you. "

So that night at the accustomed hour the wicked demon Ornias came tothe lad's chamber, with intent to suck his blood and take away hisfood. But the lad remembered my words, and cast the ring upon thedemon, saying, "Come, for Solomon calleth thee, " and set off at onceto my palace. But the demon shrieked out after him, "Boy, what hastthou done? Take the ring from me, and I will give thee the hiddengold of the earth; take it off, and bring me not before Solomon!" Butthe lad took no heed; and running into the palace, he called to me, "O king, I have brought the spirit, as you told me; he is therebefore the door, screaming and entreating me and promising me thehidden treasures of the earth if I will not force him to come toyou. " Then I rose up from my throne and went out into the court ofthe palace, and saw the creature, in the form of a flame of fire, quivering and shrinking; and I stood over it, and said, "What is thyname?" And it answered, "Ornias. " And I bade Ornias reveal to me, inthe strength of the ring, how I should make him subject to me; and hetold me where his abode was, and how he afflicted men, and all that Iasked him. Then I sealed him with the seal of the ring, and appointedhim to hew stones for the building of the temple. 

Thereafter, when I had considered what I should do, I called forOrnias, and delivered the ring to him, and bade him bring before meBeelzebul, the prince of all the demons. So Ornias went to Beelzebul, and found him sitting upon his throne, and said, "Solomon calleth forthee. " And Beelzebul said scornfully, "Who is this Solomon of whomthou speakest?" And Ornias cast the ring into the bosom ofBeelzebul, and said again, "Solomon calleth for thee. " And at thatBeelzebul uttered a mighty roar, and cast forth from his mouth agreat flame of fire; but he must needs rise up from his throne andfollow Ornias, and stand before me. And when I saw him, I gave thanksto the Most High, who had given me power over the demons. And I spokeroughly to him; and he promised to bring before me all the demons, and that they should be subject to me, and do all that I commandedthem. And I appointed him to saw blocks of marble in pieces for thework of the temple; but when the other demons saw their lord andmaster labouring like a slave, they shrieked aloud and were sorelydismayed. 

After that I sent for many of the chief of the demons, one by one, and questioned them concerning their deeds, what diseases they sentupon men, and what secret things they knew, and how they were to besubdued; and when they had told me, I bound them, and set them towork upon the building of the temple. 

Now the shapes in which they appeared before me were manifold: onewas like a beautiful woman, but she had one foot like an ass's hoof;and another like a man without a head, and a flame of fire coming outof his neck; another like a great dog. These two I bound together, and the dog kept watch over the headless man, and the flame of firethat came from his neck gave light to the workmen by night. Therewere also dragons, one with three heads, and one with the head of aman. Another had a face that shone with a green light, and hair likeserpents, but the rest of his body was darkness; and yet another wasa dark man with shining eyes, and a drawn sword in his hand, who saidthat he was the spirit of one of the old giants who perished in thedays of the flood. And of some I saw no shape, but only heard avoice. But over all of them I had dominion, and I appointed themtasks. Some I made to carry water to the builders, and some maderopes; others melted the gold and silver, and others lifted thestones. So the temple was built speedily, and I, Solomon, enjoyedgreat honour and peace and tranquillity in my kingdom, and the kingsand princes of all the regions round about came to visit me, andbrought me precious gifts; and my kingdom was greatly exalted. 

Now in those days, as I was sitting on my throne in the midst of mypalace (and Ornias the demon was standing by me), there came beforeme an old man, one of my workmen, and cast himself down before me, and cried to me to do him justice against his son; for his sonill-treated him and beat him and plucked out his hair. When I heardthat, I had pity on him, for he was an old man, and weak; and I sentfor his son, and asked him why he dealt so with his father. But theson denied it, saying, "I am not so given over to wickedness that Ishould strike my father. Be it far from me, O king: I have done nosuch evil. " I sent him away, therefore, and called his father again, and bade him be reconciled with his son; but he said, "Nay, but lethim die the death. " Wherefore I was perplexed, and it was in my mindto give sentence against the young man; but it happened that Ilooked at Ornias the demon, and I saw that he was laughing. So I sentthe people away, and said to Ornias, "Accursed one, why dost thoulaugh at me?" He answered, "Forgive me, O king; it was not atthee that I laughed, but at this wretched old man: because he iscontriving an evil death for his son, and, lo! in three days his sonwill fall sick and die. " Then said I, "Is this the truth?" And hesaid, "It is. " Then I sent for the old man and his son, and said tothem, "Strive to make agreement between yourselves, and after threedays come again to me; and in the meantime I will send you your foodfrom my table. " And they did obeisance and departed. And when thethree days were past, I saw the old man come into the judgment-hall;and he was dressed in garments of mourning, and his face was sad. Isaid therefore to him, "Where is thy son?" And he answered, "Ihave no son: this day have I carried him to his burial. "

So when he was departed, I said to Ornias, "How was it that thouknewest these things?" And he answered, "It is thus, O king. We whoare spirits can fly up into the air under the firmament, and we hoverabout among the stars and overhear the decrees that go forth from theheavens against the children of men when they are appointed to die. But we cannot abide there for long, and so we become weak, and falllike the leaves from the trees; and when men see us they say, 'Look, there is a falling star. ' But they are not in truth stars that fall, since the stars have their appointed place in the heavens, like thesun and the moon; but it is we, the spirits of the air, who are inappearance like stars. " And I sent Ornias away, and marvelledgreatly. 

Again, in those days there came to me a letter from Adares the kingof the Arabians, saying, "To King Solomon, greeting! We have heard ofthe wisdom that has been given to thee, and that thou art acompassionate man, and that thou hast power over all spirits that arein the air, or on the earth, or under the earth. Now be it known tothee that there is a destroying spirit in this land; for every day atdawn there arises a wind which blows for three hours, and it is sovenomous that every one on whom it blows dies, and it kills thecattle also. Now therefore we entreat thee in thy wisdom to devisesome means, and if it may be, send us a man who can capture thespirit; and if thou canst do so, then I and my people will betributary unto thee, and Arabia shall keep peace with thee. And, webeseech thee, make not light of our petition, for we are in a greatstrait. And so farewell. "

When I had read this letter, I folded it up again and gave it to mychief counsellor, saying, "Bring it again to my remembrance afterseven days. " Then I thought upon the matter; and after the seven daysI called one of my servants and said to him, "Make ready a camel, and get an empty wine-skin. " And he did so. Now the wine-skin wasmade of a whole hide of a beast, so that it had the upper parts ofthe four legs remaining upon it, the legs being sewn up, and the neckopen. I said to him further, "Take this ring and go into Arabia, tothe place where the venomous wind blows, and take the skin and holdthe ring in front of the mouth of the skin towards the wind, so thatthe wind shall blow through the ring; and when the skin is blown up, you will know that the demon is inside it. Then hasten and tie up theneck of the skin, and seal it with the ring, and put it upon thecamel, and bring it to me. But if on the way the demon promise yougold and silver and treasures to let him go, see that you do not obeyhim; but rather make him reveal to you where the treasures are hid, and mark the places, and come on to me. Now go, and good success bewith you. " So my servant set out and came to Arabia; and the men ofthe country doubted much whether he could capture the spirit. Butwhen the day was dawning, even the first day after his coming, herose up and set the skin with its mouth towards the wind, and laidthe ring in the mouth of it; and the wind blew through the ring andentered into the skin and puffed it up. And the man caught the neckof the skin and closed it, and sealed it with the ring in the name ofthe Most High. Then he abode yet three days in the place to maketrial of his success; but the poisonous wind blew no more, so thatall the Arabians were assured that the demon was safely shut up. Andthey rejoiced greatly, and gave him many precious gifts, and did himgreat honour; and when he set forth to come back to me, theyaccompanied him to their borders. So he brought the skin back toJerusalem, and put it in the midst of the temple. 

Now at this time I, Solomon, was somewhat in the place to make trialof his success; but the poisonous wind blew no more, so that all theArabians were assured that the demon was safely shut up. And theyrejoiced greatly, and gave him many precious gifts, and did him greathonour; and when he set forth to come back to me, they accompaniedhim to their borders. So he brought the skin back to Jerusalem, andput it in the midst of the temple. 

Now at this time I, Solomon, was somewhat troubled, because I had agreat stone made ready to be placed upon the corner of the temple, andnone of my workmen and none of the demons were able to lift it and setit in its appointed place; but I was exceedingly desirous to put itthere, because it was of such beauty and excellence. And on the morningafter my servant was come back out of Arabia, I went down to the temple, thinking by what means I could lift the stone. And as I entered thetemple I saw the skin; and it rose up and hopped seven paces, and fellon its face and did obeisance to me; and I marvelled, and bade it standup; and it stood on its feet, puffed up with wind. Then I asked, "Whoare you?" And a voice answered me from within the skin, "I am Ephippaswho dwell in Arabia. " And I said, "What can you do. " And it answered, "Ican overturn kings' palaces, and wither the green trees of the wood, andI can move mountains. " Then I said, "Are you able to move this stone, and lift it up and set it upon the corner of the temple?" And it said, "Not only can I do so, O king, but if I have the demon that is in theRed Sea to help me, I can bring up the great Pillar that is there, andset it in whatever place you command. " So I said, "Lift up thecorner-stone. " And the skin first of all became flattened, as if thewind was gone out of it, and slipped itself under the stone; and then itblew itself out again so that the stone was lifted up upon its back, andit walked upon its stumps, bearing the stone, to the ladder, and climbedup and set the stone safely in its place upon the corner of the temple;and I was greatly rejoiced, and all Jerusalem with me. 

After that I sent Ephippas to fetch to me the demon that is in theRed Sea, and commanded them to bring with them the great Pillar; andafter a while I saw the Pillar being borne through the air, and wasastonished at the strength of the two demons. And when I consideredwith myself how mighty they were, and how they could shake the wholeworld in a moment of time, I feared to let them go; I made thereforea circle about them in the air with my ring, and said, "Stay there!"And the demons stayed, holding the Pillar sloping between heaven andearth; and there they are to this day. And if any one looks, he cansee the Pillar sloping in the heavens, but the demons he cannot see. But when they let fall the Pillar, then will be the end of theworld. 1

1 I believe that the Pillar is the Milky Way: it is certainly meantto be one of the constellations. 

Then I questioned the demon of the Red Sea and he told me how in oldtimes he resisted Moses in Egypt, and helped Jannes and Jambres, thetwo wizards who fought against Moses; and how when Pharaoh followedafter the children of Israel he went with him; and when the seareturned back and drowned the Egyptians, he was overtaken by it andshut up in the depths, and he remained there until Ephippas came andbrought him to me. 

Thus I, Solomon, had power over the spirits of the earth, and of theair, and of the water, and made them serve me; and my kingdom wasexalted, and there was peace in my days. But when I became mighty myheart was lifted up, and I committed foolishness; for I saw thedaughter of a certain Jebusite, and loved her exceedingly, and askedfor her in marriage. But her kinsfolk said, "You shall not take herto be your wife except you worship our gods, even the great godsRemphan and Moloch. " Then I said, "I cannot worship strange gods; whywould you that I should do this?" They said, "Because they are thegods of our fathers. " And I refused. Then I went to the maiden andentreated her; and she also said, "I will not hearken to you, exceptyou worship my gods. " So I departed from her. But after a little, shesent me five locusts by the hand of a messenger, saying, "Take thesefive locusts and crush them in the name of the god Moloch, and I willbe your wife. " And I did so. And forthwith my glory departed from me, and I forgot my wisdom, and became weak and foolish in my mind; andthe heathen woman compelled me to build temples to the false gods, toBaal, and Remphan, and Moloch; and my spirit was darkened within me, and I became a byword among men and demons. 

Therefore have I written this testament, that men might remember me, and think of their latter end as well as of their beginning. 

THE STORY OF EBEDMELECH THEETHIOPIAN, AND OF THE DEATHOF JEREMIAH

When the time was come when it was ordained that Jerusalem should belaid waste by the king of the Chaldeans, God spake to Jeremiah theprophet, saying, "Depart out of this city, for I am about to destroyit for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. " But Jeremiahanswered, "Suffer me, I beseech thee, Lord, to speak a word. " And Hesaid, "Say on. " And Jeremiah said, "Wilt Thou indeed deliver Thychosen city into the hand of the Chaldeans, that their king may boasthimself against it and say, 'I have prevailed against the Holy Cityof God'? Not so, Lord; but if it be Thy will to destroy it, overthrowit rather with Thine own hand. " And He said, "Neither the king norhis power shall prevail to destroy it, unless I first open the gatesthereof to him. Come therefore at the sixth hour of the night to thecity wall, thou and Baruch the scribe, and I will show you what Iwill do. " Jeremiah therefore rent his clothes and put ashes upon hishead, and went and found Baruch in the temple; and when Baruch sawhim he was dismayed, and cried out, "What is the matter?" And whenJeremiah had told him that which was proposed concerning the city, healso rent his clothes; and they remained both of them in the holyplace all that day weeping. 

But at the sixth hour of the night they went out and walked upon thecity wall. And suddenly they heard the sound of a trumpet in heaven, and there came down angels bearing torches of fire in their hands, and alighted upon the four corners of the wall of the city. ThenJeremiah and Baruch perceived that the desolation of Jerusalem wasindeed at hand; and Jeremiah cried out to the angels, "I beseech you, destroy not the city until I have spoken a word to the Most High. " Sothe angels stayed their hand; and Jeremiah said, "Lord, now we knowof a truth that the city will be delivered into the hands of theChaldeans; tell us, therefore, what wilt Thou that we shall do withthe holy vessels of the temple?" And he answered, "Commit them to theearth, and say unto it, 'Hear, O earth, the voice of Him thatseparated thee from among the waters, and sealed thee with sevenseals unto seven ages, even until the time wherein thou shalt berenewed in beauty: keep these vessels of the sanctuary until thecoming of the Beloved. '" And Jeremiah continued and said, "I beseechThee, show me what I shall do for Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, becausehe showed me great kindness and delivered me out of the pit whereinZedekiah cast me; and I would not have him see the desolation of thecity, for it would grieve him to the heart. " The Lord said, "Send himto the vineyard of Agrippa which is on the other side of the hill, and I will shelter him until I bring back the people to the city. Andas for thee, go thou with thy people to Babylon, and remain there tocomfort them until they return hither. And let Baruch abide hereuntil I send him word. "

Then he commanded the angels, and they brake down the corners of thewall and loosened the foundations, and made weak the fastenings ofthe gates; and after that a great voice sounded out of the temple, saying, "Enter, ye enemies, and come in, ye adversaries; for He thatkept the house hath departed from it. " And the angels went up againinto heaven. But Jeremiah and Baruch went into the temple, and tookthe vessels of the sanctuary and delivered them to the earth, as theywere commanded; and forthwith the earth opened her mouth andswallowed them up. And for the rest of that night they wept andlamented; and in the morning Jeremiah called for Ebedmelech and saidto him, "Take a basket and go to the vineyard of Agrippa, and fetchme some figs, that I may give them to the sick and needy among thepeople; and the blessing of God go with thee. " And Ebedmelech setforth. 

On that same morning the host of the Chaldeans surrounded the city, and a trumpet sounded in heaven, and they came against the city; andthe gates gave way before them, and the wall fell, and they enteredthe city and laid it desolate, and took the people captive. ButJeremiah took the keys of the temple, and went outside the city andthrew them up towards the sun, saying, "O sun, I say unto thee, takethese keys and keep them until God shall require them of thee; for weare not found worthy to keep them any longer. " And they vanished outof his sight. Then he returned, and the Chaldeans took him prisonerand carried him away to Babylon. But Baruch fled, and took refuge ina tomb, and there he remained in great sorrow of heart. 

Now Ebedmelech had gathered the figs, and filled his basket; and bythe time he had finished, the day had become burning hot. So he sathim down under a tree to rest a little, and then laid his head on thebasket of figs and fell into a slumber. And he slept for sixty-sixyears without waking. 

And when the sixty-six years were over, and the time of deliveranceof the children of Israel was near, Ebedmelech woke up, and said tohimself, "I should have been glad to sleep a little longer, for myhead is still heavy; I have not slept my sleep out. " And he uncoveredhis basket and looked at the figs, and saw that they were oozing withjuice; and said again, "Well, I should like to sleep yet a little, but I am afraid I may oversleep myself; and if I do, father Jeremiahwill be disappointed; for if he had not been in haste for the figs, he would not have sent me out so early. " So he rose and picked up hisbasket of figs and put it on his shoulder, and went back toJerusalem. When he came near the city he could not recognise it, andwhen he had entered the gate he could not either find his own houseor see any of his acquaintance. He said therefore within himself, "Some strange delusion has come upon me; I have missed my way incoming over the hills: it must be that I was not fully awake. Thiswill be a wonderful thing to tell Jeremiah when I meet with him. " Andhe went out of the city. But when he looked back upon it, he couldsee that it was indeed Jerusalem; and he said, "It is surely thecity, yet there is something wrong. " He went into the city the secondtime, but he could find none that knew him. And he said, "Godpreserve me! Verily a delusion has fallen upon me, " and went outsidethe city and sat down with the basket of figs, saying, "Here will Isit until my eyes are opened, and I can discern the truth. " Aftersome time he saw an old man coming from the fields, and said to him, "Old man, what is this city, I pray you?" The old man said, "It isJerusalem. " Ebedmelech said, "Where are Jeremiah the prophet andBaruch the scribe?" The old man answered, "You are certainly not ofthis city, that you inquire concerning these men. Jeremiah is inBabylon with the people that were carried away captive byNebuchadnezzar the king. " Then Ebedmelech marvelled and said, "Ifyou were not an aged man, whom it is not lawful to mock, I shouldhave said you were mad. How many hours is it, think you, sinceJeremiah sent me to the garden of Agrippa for some figs for the sickpeople, and I went and gathered them and slumbered for a little undera tree, and have just now brought them back; and here they are withthe juice oozing from them, just as when I picked them; and you saythe people and Jeremiah are gone to Babylon!" And he opened thebasket and showed the figs. And when the old man saw them he said, "Verily, my son, God has had mercy on you. He has spared you fromseeing the desolation of the city. Behold, to-day it is sixty-and-sixyears since the people were carried away. And, if you believe not me, look upon the trees and see that it is not the time of figs. " ThenEbedmelech asked, "What then is this month, and what is the day?"And he answered, "It is the twelfth day of Nisan. " And Ebedmelechbelieved, and gave thanks to God; and after that he gave the old mansome of the figs, and bade him farewell, saying, "May God guide theeto the Jerusalem which is above. " And he went to find Baruch. 

And after a while he found him dwelling in a tomb; and they greetedone another, and rejoiced, and Ebedmelech told Baruch all that hadhappened to him, and Baruch marvelled and praised God. Then theyconsulted how they might send word to Jeremiah at Babylon; for theyperceived that the time of the return of Israel was at hand. And itwas revealed to them that on the morrow at dawn there should come amessenger whom they might send. 

On the morrow, therefore, Baruch rose early and went out of the tomb, and saw an eagle sitting upon a rock hard by; and he called to itand it came, and spoke with a man's voice, saying, "I am sent hitherto bear a message for thee. " Baruch said, "Canst thou carry a letterto Babylon, to Jeremiah the prophet?" And the eagle said, "To thatend am I sent. " So they wrote a letter, and took fifteen of the figsfrom the basket and hung them on the eagle's neck; and Baruch blessedit, saying, "I say unto thee, O king of the birds, go in peace, andbring back an answer to me. Be not like the raven, which Noah sentout, and it returned no more to the ark; but be like the dove, whichreturned the third day with an answer of peace. And if the birds ofthe air come against thee, fight with them, and the power of God bewith thee. Turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, but gostraight as an arrow in the strength of the Most High. "

Then the eagle flew and rested not till it came to Babylon; and thereit perched upon a tree in a desert place outside the city, and waiteduntil Jeremiah and some of the people passed by, carrying a dead manto burial. And it rose up and lighted upon the bier of the dead man, and he revived. And the eagle said to Jeremiah, "Gather the peopletogether, and take the letter which is upon my neck, and read it intheir ears. " And he did so; and the people rejoiced, because the timeof their deliverance was at hand. Then Jeremiah wrote a letter toBaruch, and put it upon the eagle's neck. And he blessed the eagle, and sent it away; but the figs he gave to the sick among the people. And the eagle returned to Jerusalem, and gave the letter to Baruch;and when he read it he wept, because Jeremiah had written in it allthe afflictions which the people suffered at the hands of theChaldeans. 

Now when the time was fulfilled, the people were set free fromBabylon, and returned to Jerusalem. And when they came back, theyrejoiced and gave thanks for their deliverance for nine days. And onthe tenth day Jeremiah stood up before all of them and sang a hymn ofpraise; and when he had ended it, he fell on the ground and became asone dead. When they saw that, Baruch and Ebed-melech lifted up theirvoices and wept, saying, "Our father Jeremiah, the priest of God, isdeparted from us!" And all the people ran together and saw Jeremiahlying as dead; and they rent their clothes and bewailed him, and thenmade ready to bury him. But there came a voice, saying, "Bury not theliving. " And at that they left off preparing a sepulchre for him, andwaited, keeping watch about his body, till he should revive again. 

And after three days the spirit of Jeremiah returned to him again, and he rose up and prophesied; and in his prophecy he said, "Thereshall be a Tree set up, which shall make the barren trees fruitful, and the proud and fruitful trees barren; and the snow shall be turnedto blackness, and the sweet waters become bitter, and the scarletshall be white as wool. Moreover, He shall bless the isles that theyshall bear fruit by the word of His mouth; and He shall satisfy thehungry souls. " And thereafter he began to speak to them of the comingof the Beloved into the world. 

Now when the people heard it they were very angry and said, "Heblasphemeth. These are the words that Isaiah spake, and they sawedhim asunder with a saw of wood. Let us slay Jeremiah also, but him wewill stone with stones. " And Baruch and Ebedmelech cried out againstthem, "Do not this great wickedness!" But Jeremiah said, "Be silent, for they shall not kill me before I have delivered to you all that Ihave seen and heard. Fetch me a great stone. " And when it wasbrought, Jeremiah prayed and said, "O Light of the Ages, cause thisstone to appear in my likeness. " And immediately the stone took uponit the likeness of Jeremiah, and the people began to stone it, believing that it was Jeremiah. And in the meantime he went onspeaking to Baruch and Ebedmelech until he had committed to them allthe mysteries which he had heard while he lay in a trance. 

Then he arose and stood forth in the midst of the people, and thestone cried out with a loud voice, "O foolish people, why stone yeme, thinking that I am Jeremiah; and behold, he is in the midst ofyou!" And their eyes were opened, and they ran upon him and stonedhim; and his ministry was accomplished. 

But Baruch and Ebedmelech buried his body; and they took the stoneand set it up over his grave, and wrote upon it, "This is the helperof Jeremiah. "

AHIKAR

In the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha you will find mention inseveral places of a man called Achiacharus, who was a relation ofTobit, In the first chapter (verses 21, 22) you read that he was agreat officer at the court of king Esarhaddon; and at the end of thebook (xiv. 10) you may learn something about his story; for Tobitsays to his son Tobias, "Remember, my son, how Aman handledAchiacharus that brought him up, how out of light he brought him intodarkness, and how he rewarded him again; yet Achiacharus was saved, but the other had his reward, for he went down into darkness, " Thenit goes on, "Manasses gave alms, and escaped the snare that was setfor him, but Aman fell into the snare and perished. "

Now of late years the book has come to light which tells the wholehistory of Achiacharus (or Ahikar, as we shall call him), and youwill see as you go on that in the Book of Tobit some mistakes havebeen made in the names, and that instead of Aman we shall have toread Nadan, and instead of Manasses, Achiacharus. 

This is the story of Ahikar. He is made to tell it himself, and hesays:

When I was a young man I was steward to the great king Esarhaddon, the king of Nineveh. I was rich, and had great estates and beautifulpalaces; I had everything that my heart desired, except one thing:and that was, a son. I had no child to comfort me and to inherit mygreat possessions after me. 

Many times did I go to the temples of the gods of Nineveh and offerthem sacrifices and gifts and burn incense before them; and I said, "O gods, give me a son, that I may enjoy his company while I live, and when I die he may close my eyes and bury me. And verily I am sorich that if every day from the day of my death until he died he wereto take a bushel of my money and cast it away, he would not come tothe end of it before his death. " But the gods of Nineveh made me noanswer. 

Then I bethought me of the God of Israel, of whom I had learned whenI was a child (for I came out of the land of the Hebrews), and Iturned to Him and besought Him in like manner that He would grant mea son. And a voice came to me saying, "Forasmuch as thou hast putthy trust in false gods and sacrificed to them, thou shalt have noson. Yet this do: take thy sister's son Nadan, who is a young child, and bring him up as thine own son. "

So I took Nadan and gave him to eight nurses to bring him up. He wasfed on all manner of dainties, he was clothed in purple and scarlet, and slept on the softest beds. He grew up like a fair youngcedar-tree; and I instructed him in all my wisdom, until I was sixtyyears old. 

One day the king Esarhaddon returned from journeying through hiskingdom, and sent for me and said, "Ahikar, my friend, my faithfuland wise counsellor, you are becoming an old man. If you die, whoshall succeed you and serve me in your place?" I answered, "O king, live for ever. There is with me the son of my sister, whom I havebrought up as my own son, and have instructed him in all the ways ofwisdom. " The king said, "Go, bring him before me, and if I takepleasure in him, he shall serve me in your stead, and you can haverest from your labours, and joy and honour in your old age. " So Ibrought Nadan to the king; and when the king saw him, he delighted inhim and said, "The gods preserve you, my son!" And to me he said, "As you have served me and my father Sennacherib, so shall this youthserve me, and I will honour him and promote him for your sake. " And Igave thanks to the king, and we went out, I and Nadan, from hispresence. And I took Nadan home and spoke to him in private, tellinghim how he should conduct himself, and of what men he ought tobeware, and whom he should trust. All these precepts are written inthe book of Ahikar, but they are not put down here. 

Now I hoped that Nadan would pay heed to my words of instruction; butwhen the king had exalted him, and taken him to live at the palacewith him, I was grieved to see that Nadan began to become wastefuland unruly, and that, if I had suffered him, he would have squanderedmy money and ill-treated my servants. I admonished him, therefore, but it was in vain. He said, "My uncle Ahikar is getting old andtimorous: his wisdom is failing him: one need not pay much heed towhat he says. " And by degrees I saw that the king began to believeNadan, and that he no longer received me with such honour as in theold days: and this was a grief to me. 

Now as I no longer had Nadan to live with me, I considered, and tookhis younger brother Nabu-zardan into my house. But when Nadan heardof this, he was very angry, for he thought, "Is this old man going toleave all his possessions to my younger brother, and turn me out?"So he began to think and plot how he might put me out of the way, andhimself gain favour with the king. 

And at last he sat down and wrote certain letters. In the first hedeceitfully imitated my handwriting, and sealed it with my seal. Itwas written in my name to the king of Persia, saying, "From Ahikar, scribe and treasurer to Esar-haddon, king of Assyria, greeting! Assoon as thou hast received this letter, set forth with thine host, and come to the plain of the south, on the 25th day of this month, and I will guide thee to Nineveh, and thou shalt take the city andpossess the kingdom without any strife or battle. " This letter heleft lying in my chamber in the palace. 

The other was written to me in the king's name, and sealed with hisseal, "To Ahikar from Esarhaddon, greeting! As soon as thou receivestthis letter, assemble the army, and go to the plain of the south, onthe 25th day of this month; and when thou shalt see me, range thetroops as if for battle, and come quickly towards me: for I have theambassadors of the king of Egypt with me, and I desire that theyshould see the might of my army. " This letter Nadan sent to me, and Ibegan to make preparations as it commanded me. Thereafter Nadan tookthe first letter, feigning to have found it in my chamber, andbrought it to king Esarhaddon. And when the king had read it, he wasvery angry and said, "O ye gods! what have I done to Ahikar that heshould seek to betray me thus?" Nadan said, "Perhaps, my lord, it isa forgery; be not too soon disturbed; let us wait till the dayappointed, and then go to the plain of the south; if Ahikar is notthere, we shall know that the letter is not his; but if he is there, and armed men with him, I fear that he must indeed be conspiringagainst thee. " And the king consented. 

On the twenty-fifth day of the month, therefore, the king and Nadanset forth and rode out to the plain of the south. And I, as I hadbeen commanded, was there with the great army which I had gathered;and so soon as I saw the king and his train approaching, I drew upthe soldiers in battle array and marched quickly towards him, and thesoldiers waved their weapons and shouted, and there was a greatnoise. Then the king was very sorely troubled, for he was sure that Ihad rebelled against him. But Nadan said, "Go back, my lord king, tothe palace; I will capture that evil old man and bring him beforeyou. " And the king departed with his servants. 

But Nadan rode up to me and said, "All that you have done is right, and well performed; the king is greatly pleased with you, and desiresthat you will send away the soldiers to their homes and come beforehim alone to receive your reward. " So we rode into the city, and hebrought me into the palace, where the king was seated on his throne, and all his servants about him; and I perceived that the king was indispleasure, but I knew not why. Then he put into my hand the letterwhich was written in my name to the king of Persia, and said, "Readthat letter. " And when I had read it, my knees knocked against eachother, and I was speechless; I sought for a word of wisdom, but Ifound none. Nadan cried aloud, "O wicked and foolish old man, comeforth from the presence of the king; stretch out thy hands for thecords and thy feet for the fetters!" And they bound me. 

Then the king Esarhaddon turned away his face from me and spoke toNabushemak, the chief of the executioners, who had been my friend, and said, "Take Ahikar, smite off his head, and remove it a hundredells from his body. " And I fell on my face and said, "O king, livefor ever! It is thy will to slay me, yet I know that I have notsinned against thee. Now, my lord, I beseech thee, command that I maybe slain before the door of my own house, and that my body may begiven to my wife to be buried. " And the king gave commandmentaccordingly. 

Now as they were taking me to my house, I sent a messenger before meto my wife Ashfagni, who was a very wise woman. And she, when sheheard what had happened, did not waste time in making lamentation, but hastened and prepared refreshment for Nabushemak and for theslaves that were his helpers. She came forth to meet them, andaccompanied them into the house, and set food and wine before them;and the slaves drank of the wine till they were drunken and fell intoa deep sleep, every one in his place. 

Then I said to Nabushemak, "Do you remember how, when the father ofthe king delivered you to me to be put to death, I spared you becauseI knew that you had not done that for which you were condemned; andhow, when the king learned that you were guiltless, he took you intofavour again, and rewarded me? Now I swear to you that I likewisehave not conspired against king Esarhaddon, but I have been falselyaccused. Save me therefore; but lest the rumour should be spreadabroad that I have not been put to death, do this. I have a prisonerin my house who is condemned justly to death. Take my clothes and putthem upon him, and smite off his head; behold, your servants aredrunken and will perceive nothing, and I will be in hiding until theday when the truth is made known. "

And Nabushemak was glad--for he was my friend--and agreed; and it wasdone as I advised. The slaves took the prisoner and smote off hishead, perceiving nothing, and gave his body to be buried instead ofme; and it was published throughout all Nineveh and Assyria thatAhikar was dead. 

Then Nabushemak and my wife Ashfagni made a hiding-place in theground; it was four cubits long and three broad and five in height, and it was covered with a stone. There they hid me, and gave me breadand water to eat, secretly, and there I abode many days. ButEsarhaddon was grieved in spirit, and said to Nadan, "Go to thehouse of Ahikar and celebrate his funeral, for he was thy uncle, andserved me and my father faithfully for a long time. " So Nadan came tomy house; but he did not celebrate my funeral. He gathered togetherstrange men and women, and feasted with them, and sang, and drank, and was drunken. He mocked at my wife Ashfagni, and as for myservants, who loved me and had been long in my house, he strippedthem and beat them and ill-treated them until I heard the voice oftheir weeping and crying in my hiding-place, and I prayed the MostHigh to deliver us and to reward Nadan according to his works. 

II

Now when Pharaoh, king of Egypt, heard that I, Ahikar, was dead, hewas very glad; for he had always stood in awe of my wisdom. And hewrote a letter to Esarhaddon in these words: "Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, greeting! I desire to build a castlebetween heaven and earth. Send me therefore a wise man to whom I maycommit the business. If he accomplishes all that I require andanswers all my questions, I will send you by his hands the wholerevenue of Egypt for three years. But if you cannot send me such aman, then you must send to me, by my messenger, the whole revenue ofAssyria for three years. And if not, I shall come against you and layyour land desolate. And so farewell. "

When the letter was read before Esarhaddon, he called together hisprinces and counsellors and wise men, and said to them, "Which of youwill go to Egypt and answer the questions of Pharaoh?" They said, "Lord and king, in the time of your father it was Ahikar the scribewho answered all hard questions and solved all difficulties; andbehold, now you have with you his sister's son Nadan, who has beeninstructed in his wisdom and can do all that you require. " So theking turned to Nadan and said, "Will you go to Egypt and answerPharaoh?" But Nadan said, "It is folly! The gods themselves couldnot build a castle between heaven and earth; how then should thechildren of men accomplish such a thing?" When the king heard that, he arose and came down from his throne, and threw himself on theground lamenting and saying, "Alas, alas, I am undone. I have slainmy servant Ahikar at the word of a foolish boy, and there is nonelike him left! Who can give him back to me?"

Then Nabushemak spoke and said, "O king, live for ever. He thatdisobeys the commandments of his master is worthy of death. Saytherefore the word, and let them hang me on a tree; for Ahikar, whomyou bade me slay, is not dead, but living!" The king said, "ONabushemak, if it be as you say, and if you can show me Ahikar alive, I will give you ten thousand talents of gold and a hundred robes ofpurple. Say on, therefore. " Nabushemak said, "One thing I ask of mylord: that he will not keep this my trespass in mind, nor store upwrath against me. " And the king sware to him. 

Nabushemak went forth immediately and mounted his chariot, and droveswiftly to my house. He uncovered the hiding-place and brought meforth, and took me up into his chariot and led me into the presenceof the king. And when the king saw me, he wept; for I was in evilplight. My hair was grown over my shoulders, and my beard reacheddown to my girdle; my body was foul with dirt, and my nails were aslong as eagles' claws; my eyes were dim from the darkness, and mylimbs were stiff so that I could scarcely walk. And the king said, "O Ahikar, it is not I that have brought this misery upon you, but hewhom you have brought up as your own son. " I answered, "O king, since mine eyes have looked upon you I have no more sorrow or pain. "The king said, "Go to your house, bathe your body, and cut yourhair; refresh yourself and take your rest for forty days; then comeback to me. " And I did so. But after twenty days I had recovered mystrength, and I went back to the king. Then he showed me the letterof the king of Egypt, saying, "Behold, Ahikar, the burden which theywould lay upon me and upon my kingdom. " And I answered, "O king, live for ever. Trouble not yourself, nor be disquieted about thismatter. I will go to Egypt and answer the hard questions; and I willbring back to you the revenues of Egypt for three years. " So the kingwas comforted; he rejoiced greatly, and made a feast, and gave merich presents. 

Immediately after this, I began to make ready for my journey; andfirst I ordered my huntsmen to catch two young eagles alive. I alsochose from among my servants two young boys whose names were Nabuchaland Tabshalom, and taught them to ride upon the backs of the eagles;and after a while the eagles became accustomed to bear them up in theair. I also taught them certain words which they should say at theappointed time, and practised them until they knew perfectly whatthey had to do. 

And when all was prepared, I set forth with a great company and wentto Egypt. It was told Pharaoh that an embassy was come from Nineveh, and he sent for me, and when I appeared before him he asked who Iwas. And I answered, "I am Abikam, one of the least of the servantsof Esar-haddon. " Pharaoh was displeased, and said, "Am I then so muchdespised by your master that he sends me the least of his servants?"I said, "My lord Esarhaddon is so far exalted above his servants thatin his sight the great and the small are all alike. " He said, "Departfrom my presence, and to-morrow come again to me. "

Then Pharaoh, who desired foolishly to make himself appear great inour eyes, arrayed himself in purple, and made his nobles put onscarlet and stand about him; and when I came into his presence heasked me to what I compared him. I said, "My lord, you are like thegod Bel, and your nobles are like his priests. " And in like manner onthe following days he dressed himself in various colours, and eachday asked me what I should liken him to. And I said, "To the sun" onone day, and "To the moon" on the next, and on the third day, "To thespring and the flowers of it. " And he was greatly pleased, and said, "Abikam, you have compared me to the god Bel, and to the sun and themoon and the spring; now tell me, to what do you liken your masterEsarhaddon?" I said, "I cannot tell you, O king, until you haverisen from your throne. " So Pharaoh stood up, and I said, "My lordEsarhaddon is like the great God of Heaven in respect of you: He hasdominion over the god Bel, He can forbid the sun to shine and themoon to rise, and He can lay waste the spring and all the flowersthereof. " Then Pharaoh was displeased and said, "I adjure you by thelife of your lord Esarhaddon, tell me, what is your name, in verydeed?" I answered, "I am Ahikar the scribe, and the seal ofEsarhaddon is in my keeping. "

Pharaoh was troubled when he learned that I was yet alive, and hesent me away, saying, "Tomorrow come to me and tell me a thing whichneither I nor my nobles have ever heard. " So I took thought, andwrote in the name of Pharaoh a bond in which it was said that he owedto my lord Esarhaddon nine hundred talents of gold. And next day Ibrought it before Pharaoh; but before I had opened it the noblescried out, saying, "We know it of old, we know it well!" Then said I, "I thank you for acknowledging the debt. " And I gave the paper tothe king, and he looked on it and said to them, "What! Do youacknowledge that I owe nine hundred talents of gold to Esarhaddon?"And they were confounded, and cried out again, "No! no! we have neverheard of any such thing. " So I said, "If it be so, I have done whatyou required. "

But Pharaoh said, "It is enough: I have sent for you to build me acastle between the earth and the heavens; even a thousand cubits abovethe earth. Come forth into the plain to-morrow and accomplish this. " AndI said, "Well, O king; and do you for your part bring masons and thatwhich is necessary for building. " So on the morrow a great multitudeassembled to see how the matter would go. But I had my eagles and myboys in readiness; and when Pharaoh gave the word, I sent them up, theboys riding on the eagles; and when they were high up in the air, theboys called out, as I had taught them, "Bring us mortar, lime, andstones: we are ready to begin the building!" And the masons and all thepeople were amazed, gaping at the boys. And I fell upon the masons andbeat them, saying, "Why delay you? Make haste, give them what they askfor, " and such-like words, till they fled before me. And I said toPharaoh, "If your people refuse to do their part, how can I do mine?"And Pharaoh and his nobles murmured, but they could not think of anyanswer. So Pharaoh said, "It is enough; leave the matter of the castle;I have other questions to ask you. "

On the morrow he called for me, and said, "I saw a great pillar builtof 8763 bricks, and about it are planted twelve cedars, and each hasthirty branches, and on each branch are a black and a white mousewhich gnaw it. " I laughed and made answer, "O king, there is not achild in the land of Assyria who could not interpret this riddle. Thepillar is the year, the bricks are the hours, the cedars the months, their branches the days, and the black and white mice are the nightand the day. "

Pharaoh's face fell, and he said, "Well. But now I command you toplait me a rope out of the sand. " I answered, "Let them bring me apattern out of your store-house, O king, that I may have it to copy. "He said, "You trifle with me; and unless you plait me such a rope Iwill not pay you the revenues of Egypt. " I went aside therefore andconsidered; and knowing that the Egyptians were foolish, I thoughtupon a plan. I got a mass of sand and put it in a chest, and made itrun out through two pipes so that when the sun shone upon it, itappeared like the strands of a rope; and I called to the king, "Letyour servants plait together the two strands of the rope which I havemade, and when they have done so I will make more. " And again theywere dismayed, and could say nothing. 

Lastly, Pharaoh showed me a millstone which was broken in two pieces, and said, "Come, Ahikar, sew this together for me. " But I took asmall piece of a like stone, and said, "O king, I have not my toolswith me; but command your shoemaker to cut me a thread out of thispiece of stone, and I will sew the millstone together forthwith. "Then Pharaoh laughed, and said, "Well, Ahikar, it was on a good dayfor your lord that you were born. Come, I will make you a feast, andafter that you shall return to your own land. "

So after certain days I departed, taking with me the revenues ofEgypt for three years, and also the nine hundred talents which I hadmade Pharaoh acknowledge that he owed to my lord. And Esar-haddoncame forth to meet me; and when he heard what I had done, he made mesit down on his right hand, and said, "Ahikar, ask what thou wilt andI will give it thee. " Then I said, "O king, live for ever! Twothings only will I require of thee: one, that thou wouldst do goodunto Nabushemak, for it is by his means that I was saved alive; andthe other, that thou wouldst give me power over my sister's sonNadan, and not require his life at my hand. " And the king granted myrequest, and exalted Nabushemak to the first rank in his kingdom;but Nadan he delivered into my hand. 

I took Nadan to the hall of my house, and set him with his feet inthe stocks, and a collar of iron about his neck, and iron bands uponhis hands; I fed him with bread and water, and chastised him withrods. And when I came in or out of my house I stood and reproachedhim, speaking in parables and proverbs. 

Now these are some of the parables which I spake to Nadan:

"My son, thou art like one that shot an arrow into the heaven to slayGod: the arrow fell back upon him and pierced him. "

"Thou art like one that saw his neighbour shivering with cold, andtook a vessel of cold water and poured it over him. "

"Thou didst think to take my place after my death; but know that evenif the tail of the pig grew seven cubits long, no man would mistakethe pig for a horse. "

"Thou art like the trap that was set on a dunghill. The sparrow sawit and said, 'Brother, what dost thou here?' The trap answered, 'Iam fasting and praying. ' The sparrow said, 'And what is that pieceof wood by thee?' The trap said, 'My staff upon which I lean when Ipray. ' 'And what is that in thy mouth?' 'It is a little food forhungry wayfarers. ' Then said the sparrow, 'I am hungry and awayfarer. ' 'Come hither then, ' said the trap, 'and fear nothing. 'But when the sparrow came, the trap caught it by the head; and thesparrow said, 'If these be thy fastings and prayers, God will notaccept thy fasting nor hearken to thy prayer. '"

"Thou art like the pig that went to the bath along with the nobles;and when it had bathed and come forth, it saw a pool of mud, and wentand rolled therein. "

"Hearken: a serpent was sleeping on a thorn-bush, and a flood cameand swept them both away. And a wolf saw them floating on the water, and said, 'There goes one evil upon another evil, and a third evilcarrying them off. ' The serpent said, 'And dost thou bring back thekids and lambs to their mothers?' 'Nay, ' said the wolf. The serpentsaid, 'I know not whether there is much to choose betwixt us. '"

"Thou art like the mole that came up out of the ground to curse Godbecause He had not given to it sharpness of sight; and the eagle sawit, and carried it off. "

"When men say to the wolf, 'Get away from the flock, ' he saith, 'Nay, but the dust thereof is healing to mine eyes. ' When they tookhim to the school, the teacher said, 'Say A. ' The wolf said, 'Lamb. ' 'Say B. ' He answered, 'Kid. ' Surely he spake of that whichwas in his thoughts. "

At last, after many days, Nadan besought me, saying, "Have mercy onme, spare my life, and I will feed thy swine and keep thine asses, and be thy slave for ever. "

And I said, "Thou art like the palm-tree which bare no dates, and theowner came to cut it down; and it said, 'Leave me this one year, andnext year I will bear melons. ' But he said, 'Thou that hast notborne thine own fruit, how wilt thou bear one that is not thine?'Now, behold, I will say no more to thee, O Nadan; but let God, whopreserved me alive, judge between thee and me. "

And forthwith judgment went forth against Nadan, and his body swelledup and burst, and he died. For it is written, "He that diggeth a pitfor another shall fall into the midst of it himself. "

THE END

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