ZERUBBABEL
ZERUBBABEL
Itcame to pass in the days of Ahasuerus,—that Ahasuerus who reigned from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces. In the third year of his reign he waxed wroth against Vashti his wife, because she had once refused to do his bidding, and banished her from him. And after his wrath was appeased he regretted exceedingly what he had done and his heart was filled with yearning for Vashti. And his servants said, “Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king throughout all his provinces. And let the maiden who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” And the plan pleased the king and he had it executed.
A Jewish youth dwelt in the city of Shushan,and his name was Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel. He was descended from the royal house of David,—a grandchild of the last of the Jewish kings,—and royal was his mien. He was tall in build and broad-shouldered; in his deep black eyes shone the glance of a ruler, and the long black hair that flowed over his neck bore witness to his strength. Whoever saw him grew fond of him and was inspired with respect, and the Jews were proud of him. He recalled to them their independence, lost but a short time since, and awoke in them thoughts of a better, an independent future. And there was a young Jewish maiden in Shushan, and she was called Sheshana, and more than aught else Zerubbabel loved her. She was his comfort and his joy,—his solace in dark moments and his rest after hard labour. Small she was, and tender, with white face and black tresses. Her whole soul was revealed in the dark eyes under the black silken strands of her lashes; a soul that was loveliness itself. Her laughter was clear and sparkling, and caressedthe ears of her hearers, like silks from Damascus. Her mouth was ever open with laughter, and through her half-parted lips there glistened wonderfully white small teeth.
And it happened that when Ahasuerus commanded to appear before him all the fair daughters of his subjects, so that he might choose a wife from among them to replace Vashti, Zerubbabel knew that Sheshana would be the chosen one. So he concealed her in a place where the king’s servants would not be able to discover her, and did not leave her side, like a lion ready to pounce upon any one who should stretch out his hand to her.
But first he said: “You are beautiful, Sheshana, and there is none under the sun to equal you. You are the fairest of all Judea’s daughters and in vain will they seek among other tribes for another like you. A glance from you is the sweetest of sensations, and a kiss from your lips is eternity. Your body is like the breath of a sweet flower; happy and blessed is he who may enjoy it. Can it be, Sheshana—tellme—that you wish to be taken before the king? And it will come about that when Ahasuerus beholds you, he will sink to his knees before you, as if the goddess Astaroth had appeared before him in her fairest form. And you will become the wife of the king,—reigning as queen from India even to Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces. Great and powerful will you become,—arbiter over the life and death of all the king’s subjects, and all will tremble before you. Tell me, Sheshana, and I will free you at once. I myself will open the door for you....”
But she did not allow him to finish, and lay her small white hand across his mouth. She snuggled close to him with her tender, flower-like body and rested her head upon his strong bosom; her voice became frightened and tearful.
“Why do you scare your Sheshana, you wicked Zerubbabel? Picture me death and annihilation, speak to me of slavery and heavy chains; tell me that I shall grow ugly,with the face of a leper, and you will not frighten your Sheshana so much as with your talk of the king and his kingdom. How could you have spoken so? Tell me, how have I sinned to deserve it? Do you not yet know, then, how strong is my love for you? Tell me how to give you further proof of it and I will do so. Love speaks in various languages; have I not spoken to you in all of them? Have I not cooed to you like a dove, and have I not cried with passion’s fiery tongues? Have I not laughed in your embraces with my clearest laughter, and have I not wept for ecstasy in the sweetness of my love? You wicked Zerubbabel, my only one! My love is now like a stricken dove; it has lowered its wings and cast down its weary head in deep mourning, and it is you who have wounded it!”
She pressed Zerubbabel tightly to her, and his heart shouted with delight. He did not interrupt her speech, and every word from her deep-red lips rendered his breathing more difficult. He was unable to speak; his breastheaved; he drank in her love with his glowing eyes which were like an ocean that cannot be filled.
And Sheshana threw around his neck her bare white arms and whispered to him; her voice was like the voice of a distant violin.
“You are my king, and my kingdom is your love. It is greater and wealthier than that of Ahasuerus. The sun never sets upon my kingdom, and my rulership over it is unlimited. Your powerful bosom is my firm land, and upon it I build my most glorious palaces. Your eyes are my seas; I sink into them even as the sinking sun, and like the rising sun I look out from them, and my world is bathed in splendour and in light. Your mighty arms are my armies, and I am secure beneath their protection. I desire no other kingdom, and the whole world without you would be too small and too forlorn. My beloved, my only one, my fortress and my sun, protect your Sheshana, guard well your queen!”
More tightly than ever she pressed Zerubbabelto her, and his voice quivered with agitation, and yet it spoke of his great strength.
“Zerubbabel is with you, and woe unto him that dares stretch out his arm toward you, even though it be the king himself. But speak to me, Sheshana, speak to me, my glorious maiden. Open up Paradise to me with your words, and I become the god who dwells therein. Coo to me, my little dove, and fill my heart with blessedness.”
And Sheshana laughed with her clearest laughter, whispering then, “Small is Sheshana, but great is her love, boundless as the sea. But Sheshana asks for reward, and she languishes for a kiss!”
Zerubbabel clasped her to him with fiery passion; more fiery still was his kiss. For a long time he did not remove his lips from her own, and it was as if in that kiss he lived out his entire life. Again and again they united in their kisses, and Sheshana laughed with her clearest laughter. All at once she threw back her head and raised to his eyes her enchantingglance; playful and infinitely sweet was her voice. “And what would Zerubbabel do if Sheshana were to go off to King Ahasuerus?”
Zerubbabel felt a tremor in all his limbs, and he closed his eyes. Soon he opened them and his glance had become sinister. He embraced her firmly, as if to shield her so that none might take her away; his voice was hard. “I know a huge cliff, high above a deep abyss. Upon that cliff would Zerubbabel climb, and up there would he cry out his infinite grief. And the rock would crumble to dust from his cries and would disappear into the abyss with Zerubbabel.”
Now Sheshana felt a tremor in all her limbs; her countenance blanched and her lips could scarcely move. “Forgive me, dear, for having spoken thus.” And Zerubbabel clasped her to him with all the strength of his passion; his eyes burned; he pressed his fiery kiss upon her lips. “You are mine, mine alone, for all eternity!”
According to the tale, King Ahasuerus selected as his wife Esther, the cousin and foster-daughter of Mordecai, the son of Jair. And Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Aggagite, became the favourite of King Ahasuerus, who set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king’s servants that were in the king’s gate bowed and reverenced Haman. Except Mordecai. This angered the son of Hammedatha, and his heart was filled with wrath. But he scorned to wreak vengeance on Mordecai alone. His rage was like a sea that overflows its shores; in this sea he desired to drown and destroy the entire Jewish people. Then he came before the king and asked of him permission to annihilate the Jews. He offered ten thousand talents of silver and spoke plain words.
“There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom. And their lawsare diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.” This was poison in the king’s ears,—poison in his heart, and he even renounced the money. He took his ring from his hand and gave it to the Aggagite to do with the Jews as his heart desired. Whereupon Haman issued a decree in the name of the king, sealed with the king’s ring, to all the hundred and seven and twenty provinces of King Ahasuerus, to destroy, to kill and cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, upon the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
The Jews learned of all that had been planned and a great terror descended upon them; their fright knew no bounds. They raised a loud and bitter cry, rent the clothes upon them and put on sackcloth with ashes. They sought counsel but found it not. Who would save them from certain death? Where should they turn and whither should they go? Where could they hide and whither might theyflee? In their great terror and in their great misfortune they raised their eyes to Queen Esther. Esther must help them,—Esther, the Jewish daughter upon the royal throne. And Mordecai, her cousin, turned to her, asking that she go to the king and make supplication to him for her people. Esther could not make up her mind, because whosoever came unbidden before the king was put at once to death, and she had not been summoned to him for thirty days.
Mordecai sent sharp words to her.
“Think not that you of all the Jews will escape because you are in the king’s house. For if you altogether hold your peace, then shall help and deliverance come to the Jews from another place; but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed; and who knows but that you ascended to royal power for just such a time as this?”
Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:
“Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neithereat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and then will I go in to the king, despite the law. And if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. The Jews assembled in their meeting-house in Shushan, weeping, fasting, wailing and hoping in Esther. And when any one opened the door and came in, he was greeted with tear-stifled voices: “What says Esther? What does Esther? What news of Esther?”
But Zerubbabel, when he learned of Haman’s decree, neither rent his garments nor covered his head with ashes. His locks spread even more spiritedly over his neck and his eyes blazed with a wild wrath. His hands rolled up into iron fists and he fluttered them in the air like the wings of an eagle. He raised his voice, and it was like the voice of thunder.
“Oh, they shall regret it! The Jewishpeople is to them a shattered heap, easy to destroy and to annihilate, a mob without rights, to whom each may do as he pleases. But they will learn that it is not as they have imagined. They will pay too dearly for every Jewish life, and our defeat will be their greatest disaster. They shall regret it! They shall regret it!”
And as he spoke with head raised proudly erect, waving fists that had hardened to steel and iron, there arrived a messenger, bringing him report of the conversation between Mordecai and Esther and calling him to the meeting-house, where all Jews were beginning to assemble, to fast for Esther three days and three nights. Zerubbabel’s eyes lighted up with fury and he said to the messenger, “Go tell him who sent you that the fate of a people cannot depend upon a woman and the extent to which she pleases her husband. Go tell him that now is no time for fasting and weeping. With weapons in their hands will they destroy the Jews; with weapons in their hands must the Jews make their stand.” And to thosenear him he turned, saying, “You have heard what I said. Go and spread it among the people, that thus spoke Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel the son of Jehoiachim, King of Jerusalem: ‘Let them gather in the meeting-house if they will; not to fast or weep, however, but to consider means of defence.’”
But those about him did not obey him willingly, and one of them said, “Let us wait and see what Esther can do.” Zerubbabel grew red with anger and cried to the speaker, “One can see that you are the son of a servant and your soul is the soul of a born slave. Out of my sight and let me never see you again!” And his messengers departed from him to spread his words among the people, doing so, however, with shrugging of the shoulders and hidden laughter. And Zerubbabel arose and himself went to the meeting-house, to summon the Jews to battle and self-defence. On the way thither he visited many houses, finding in the majority of them only women and children or aged and infirm persons who could not move their limbs.For all the men, young and old, who possessed any strength in their loins, were gathered in the meeting-place. And everywhere he went he found tears and despair,—sackcloth upon their bodies and ashes upon the heads. And everywhere he went he was greeted with the same wailing, stammered question: What was Esther doing? Did he not have news of her? Or hadn’t the king summoned Esther to him? And when he began to speak of battle and self-defence he was looked upon as if he spoke an unknown language.
One very old man said to him, with lips that scarcely could move and in a voice barely audible, “You speak of resistance and self-defence. Young man, I knew your grandfather Jehoiachim and your granduncle Zedekiah. They, too, gave battle and raised their heads against Nebuchadnezzar, and the result was our exile. No, my young man, summon not to battle and self-defence. We must fast, only fast, and Queen Esther will come to our rescue.” And Zerubbabel realised that as the old man spoke,so spoke all his people, and he departed for the meeting-house, with lowered head and lagging step.
Zerubbabel stopped upon the threshold of the meeting-house and surveyed the great assembly. And when he saw the men with tear-stained eyes and with their hands upon their heads, his eyes flashed and his lips turned white with scorn and ire. He was surrounded by the crowd, the old men pressing close to him and the young men in the rear.
“What have you brought us, Zerubbabel?” the old men asked. “Open your lips and tell us what news of Esther and what do you know of her?”
The questions were to his anger like oil upon flames, and he opened his mouth to speak harsh words. “Why do you ask me of Esther? What do you wish, you greybeards, of that woman? And what shall I tell you of her?—Am I, then, her sweetheart, and shall I tell youof her beauty,—the sweetness of her body and the charm of her love?”
The assembly gaped at him in stupefaction, and the elders spoke again to him: “What has come over you, Zerubbabel, and what have you on your heart? You are wroth and speak harsh words to us. Or can it be that you do not know what has happened? That a great disaster impends over the Jews,—complete annihilation? And who can help us if not Queen Esther? Or do you know another aid? Speak, and we will hear.”
Zerubbabel rose to his full height; his eyes lighted up, and his voice was as hard as steel and iron. “Yes, I know another aid, and I have come to tell it to you. It lieswithin you,—in your courage and in your arms!”
His hearers received his words, mouths agape with surprise and astonishment; Zerubbabel spoke further and his voice throbbed with warmth. “Why do you eye me so? Or can you have misunderstood me? Your salvation lies in you alone,—in your courage and inyour arms. Why have you so yielded to despair? And why have you covered yourselves with ashes; wherefore your fasting? Are you weakening your bodies so as to make the work of your enemies all the more easy? I tell you, rather arm yourselves. Gird your loins and strengthen your muscles. Instead of wringing your hands over your heads and despairing, learn how to brandish a sword; instead of blinding your eyes with tears, teach them to aim an arrow. Be not like sheep who are easily led to the slaughter, but like lions that stand forth against their pursuers. It is only a game for one to seize a sheep and kill it, but the heart of the lion-hunter trembles, and only one out of a thousand can hunt lions. You sit and weep and fast and torture yourselves, and our enemies will mock and laugh. ‘We need not whet our swords,’ they will say. ‘With our dog-whips we’ll be able to strike dead the starved and terrified Jews.’ And they will praise Haman for the permission he secured from the king and must even now be rejoicingbeforehand over the Jewish property that will so easily be surrendered to them. But if they learn that you propose to make a bold, heroic stand against them,—that your hands are skilled in wielding the sword and your eyes trained to direct the dart, they will look upon you with respect and admiration. They will no longer laugh or mock, but will consider the matter well. And they will say, ‘We have permission from Haman, but who will provide for our widows and orphans in case we fall at the hands of the Jews?’”
When he had spoken thus and more, the elders shook their heads and the youths looked at the ground in embarrassment. At last the old men could restrain themselves no longer and broke in upon his speech. And they said, “You are young in years, Zerubbabel, and speak according to your years.”
Zerubbabel, however, interrupted them and his voice echoed with scorn. “I am young in years! How could I have failed to foresee that such would be your answer! I am youngin years! But of what avail are your grey hairs, when you, too, are at a loss for counsel and place your hopes upon a woman’s undergarment? I am young in years! But young in years and even younger than I was my grandfather David, yet he delivered the Jewish people from Goliath. Just as you here, now, so then, too, your men were in despair. They were frightened and trembling and knew not whither to turn for help. Then came young David and brought them salvation. Young in years, but he knew that a little stone, well aimed and well delivered, was more effective than fasting, more powerful than tears. Therefore I say to you, why do you reckon my years for me? See, I bring you deliverance. Be not like women,—‘cry babies’ who begin to weep at whatever happens to them. Be men, who feel the strength of their arms and the power of their loins. Come, let us cry out a manifesto in the streets: ‘Haman has purchased the Jewish people and given it over to annihilation, but the Jewish people is not an object to be boughtand sold, nor will it accept its destruction idly. The Jews have armed themselves and they are being trained for battle. And when their enemies fall upon them to kill and wipe them out, they will defend themselves even as the lioness defends her cubs, and for every Jew that perishes ten of his opponents will forfeit their lives. Come, let us make public this manifesto and you will see how much longer the countenances of our opponents become and how downcast they will look. Cast off your sackcloth, I tell you; wipe off your ashes and straighten out your shoulders. Gird your loins and take double-edged swords in your hands. And you will see that aid will come to you, and your blessing will fall upon Zerubbabel.”
His countenance blazed like a torch and he looked upon the assembly with the eyes of a leader. But all eyes were turned away from him and the elders shook their heads. At this moment the door opened and Mordecai entered. All rushed toward the newcomer, surrounding him and showering him with their questions.
“What says Esther?”
“What does Esther?”
“What news of Esther?”
And Mordecai, the son of Jair, was garbed in sackcloth and ashes. His forehead was furrowed with deep wrinkles and his eyes were careworn. It was easily to be seen that many thoughts weighed upon his mind. He opened his lips and answered the questioners. “There is no news from Esther. And what would you hear from her? Do you not know that she asked for three days, and that this is only the first?”
All the assembled hearers bowed their heads in mourning and wiped their eyes. And when Mordecai, with a deep sigh, sank upon a bench, the entire house resounded with sighs and groans from all hearts.
Zerubbabel stood alone; none looked upon him. His heart was bitter to the point of crying out, and he would gladly have struck to rightand to left with his fists; he relieved his mood with a wild outburst of laughter. All eyes were directed to him in astonishment, and Mordecai spoke. “Zerubbabel, arrayed in his finest clothes, laughs with such incisive laughter.—What ails him?”
Those about Mordecai stepped back, as if to open a path for Zerubbabel, that he might approach Mordecai. Zerubbabel, however, did not stir from his place. Brimming over with scorn and bitterness he cried, “Tell him what ails me!” In a few words they repeated the tenor of Zerubbabel’s speech, saying that he summoned his people to battle and counselled them not to place their faith in Esther.
Mordecai raised his glance to Zerubbabel; both men eyed each other like two enemies measuring each other’s strength. Then Mordecai spoke, emphasising every word. “In every age there are certain persons who imagine that the easiest way to break a wall is with one’s head.”
Zerubbabel answered with aversion andmockery. “But not every age has the misfortune to possess a leader with the timidity of a weak woman, who can only raise his hands to his head and cry bitterly!”
The gathering turned its glances from Mordecai to Zerubbabel and from Zerubbabel to Mordecai. It was as if two gladiators had stepped forth into the arena to wrestle and seek victory. And the onlookers became entirely absorbed in the scene about to take place, forgetting their great misfortune. Yet they crowded more closely about Mordecai, as though expecting protection from him against Zerubbabel.
Mordecai felt that all were with him and none was with Zerubbabel, so he uttered cutting words. “Better a weak old woman as a leader than a madman who inspires to impossibilities. The weakest of women may prevent a calamity, but the most insignificant madman can bring down upon his people the most grievous of disasters. I do not desire to insult you, Zerubbabel, but what you counsel is sheer madness.”
Zerubbabel replied bitterly: “Woe unto the people to whom it is preached that self-defence is madness, and greater woe still unto the people among whom such preachment finds ready ears. Such a people is a heap of dead bones, from which all signs of life have fled.”
Mordecai interrupted him with a calm, self-confident voice. “Who says that self-defence is madness? Am I not, then, for self-defence? Do I desire, then, that we exterminate ourselves before the enemy attacks us? Do I wish, indeed, that we cease to be? Do I not yearn to rescue our people? Let our people defend itself; but the means of self-defence are various, and your way, Zerubbabel, is folly.”
Zerubbabel stood there, looking at Mordecai as if he had not understood, and he asked, in great surprise, with a quivering voice, “How long has the self-defence of a people meant the pretty face of a young woman? Is Esther’s body our self-defence?”
Again Mordecai replied calmly and confidently. “You understand by self-defenceonly the power of our arms, while I term self-defence the power of beauty and the power of money likewise. You are young, Zerubbabel, and surely you know the power of beauty. Say, is it not the surest way? The king’s heart can be purchased for us with beauty, and Esther must do it. Is not Esther my uncle’s daughter? Was she not to me even as my own child? Is she not the flesh and blood of all of us? And yet we told her to risk her life and go unbidden to the king; and should her beauty not win the king and should she as a consequence be put to death, then we will choose still another Jewish daughter,—one even more beautiful. And even if we should have to sacrifice all our Jewish daughters and sisters and wives, we will do so, despite the great grief it will cause us and the heaviness of the blow. Is not that, too, self-defence? And when our beauty has proved unsuccessful, we will defend ourselves with our money, with our possessions. Haman purchased us with ten thousand silver talents; then we can buy ourselves free for twenty,thirty, forty. From time immemorial these have been the surest means of self-defence. Was not our father Jacob freed from his brother Esau by his possessions? Did not also your great-great-grandfather, King Asa, save himself from Baasha, King of Israel, through bribing Benhadad, King of Aram? And did not Judith with her beauty rescue the Jews from Holofernes?Yourself-defence, on the contrary, is self-destruction. Small and few are we among the peoples of the hundred and seven and twenty provinces. Who will fear our weapons? Who will be impressed by our arms? And it may come to pass, moreover, that if the king learns that Jews are arming themselves, he will send against us his powerful army, trained in warfare; and there will not be a vestige left of our people. Would you have it thus, Zerubbabel?”
Zerubbabel made answer in loud and bitter tones: “Shame upon you and upon all who side with you! Shame upon the whole Jewish people which beholds its salvation in money andits self-defence in the beautiful bodies of its daughters! Now will I rend my garments and put on sackcloth and ashes! Now will I weep and wail my bitter lamentation! My people is dead! My people is a putrefying corpse. It is an abode only for worms, reptiles and insects. All living spirits have forsaken it. Where shall I find words to express my abhorrence? Where shall I find the thunder with which to boom forth my wrath? Judah, where are your warriors? Where are your heroes, Israel? Behold who your leaders are, and hear what they counsel! In their debasement they do not revolt against defiling their most sacred possessions, and the honour of their daughters is of less worth to them than the meanest life! Lion of yore, you have turned into a dog!”
Zerubbabel struggled for air and words failed him. He rent his garments and tore his hair, crying aloud and bitterly. He wrung his hands high above his head and kept repeating, “Shame upon them! Shame! Shame!” He left themeeting-house, his legs wavering like those of a drunkard.
The men, gathered in the meeting-house, followed him with frightened, astonished looks, and not a mouth opened to speak a word. Only Mordecai smiled and quoted the popular saying, “Is that not correct? It is better to be a live dog than a dead lion.”
The assembly, however, became as if something had defiled it and rendered it unclean. Yet none found in him the courage to follow Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel went in search of Sheshana, to pour out his heart to her and cry out his anger. He walked with rapid strides, looking neither to right nor to left, and groaned heavily: “What a grievous shame! What a deep disgrace!”
Impetuously he opened the door to Sheshana’s house, and he felt that he would throw himself upon her bosom and wail out his immensesorrow. He would bemoan his people, which he had lost,—his veneration of it, his belief in it, which had gone never to return. But when he beheld Sheshana he was rooted to the spot and his mouth could utter no sound. She was dressed in sackcloth; she was pale, her eyes red with much weeping, and her small form seemed even smaller and drawn. When she saw Zerubbabel she burst into loud crying as if she had long repressed it. Then, as she swallowed her tears, she spoke.
“You have come at last! At last you are here!—I thought that something had befallen you and I sent after you, but my messengers could not find you. They brought me the news, however, that you were safe and sound and that you were running about among the people, summoning them to armed resistance. I could not believe them and told them that they brought me lies. But one after another came to me with the same report and I was forced to believe it. The world became dark and dreary to me. Naughty Zerubbabel, how could youforget me at such a terrible time? How could you leave me alone in an hour of peril? Don’t you know that your Sheshana is a timorous maiden,—that her courage vanishes at the slightest danger? Oh, I am frightened to death! I am frightened to death!”
Zerubbabel stood as one transfixed; his eyes shone like glowing coals, his glance was stern and angry, and his voice was piercing. “You know what I have been doing, and yet you can speak to me in this manner? Zerubbabel went forth to rouse the Jewish people to self-defence, to armed resistance, and his Sheshana dressed herself in sackcloth and ashes and succumbed to fright! Can you be Sheshana? Can you be my sweetheart? Was not your heart flooded with courage, and did it not shout with jubilation because Zerubbabel was not among the cowards and the despairers?”
Sheshana continued to weep and kept repeating, “Oh, I am frightened to death! I am frightened to death!”
Zerubbabel shook his head and smiled cynically.“I thought I should find a solace in you,—a balm for my grieving heart. Sheshana will understand me and will side with me, I thought, and she will give me strength. But woe to my wretchedness that is so great! Sheshana greets me with tears, with petty fears and harsh words. And she has no ears for me,—no heart....”
Sheshana, however, raised her head, pursing her lips with a surly grimace. “I can have neither ears for you nor a heart. For that which you desire is folly, and you are the butt of all men’s mockery. ‘Zerubbabel is a visionary,’ they say,—a dreamer. He demands the impossible and utters dangerous things. He wishes to incite the scant Jewish people against the numberless enemy, and calls that self-defence. Why does he not preach, rather, that great and small, men and women,—all the Jewish people—shall cast itself into the rivers and streams that flow through the hundred and seven and twenty provinces? That is what they are all saying, shaking their heads at mentionof you. And are they not right, and do they not speak with justice? Then how could I feel delight, and whence should joy have come to me? Because you forgot me, left me all alone and went in pursuit of dangerous dreams?”
Zerubbabel raised his voice and uttered sharp words. “If you had flayed my body with thorns and stung it with scorpions, you would not hurt me so much as your words have done. When all the mockers ridiculed me, my bosom was filled with anger and scorn, and I felt strong in my opposition. But when you joined the mockery and added your voice to the laughter, then I became the most unhappy, the most wretched man under heaven. You have become a stranger to me, Sheshana; with your words you have dug an abyss between us, and when Zerubbabel has lost Sheshana, he has lost his life.”
With terror in her eyes the maiden cried, “Oh, how can you speak like that?”
As she looked at him with her horror-strickencountenance and her flaming cheeks, Zerubbabel’s heart was softened, and with a passionate impulse he rushed to her, clasping her to him with all his fire and tenderness. “My only one, my love,” he whispered, “do not desert Zerubbabel. Do not mock me. Believe in me. Believe that I havenotbecome demented and that I amnota mere dreamer. Believe that I have been born to great deeds, and I will accomplish them. I will declare war against the scoffers and misleaders of the people and will root them out. I will teach my people to be proud, and will lead it to victory. Be you the spring from which I shall drink strength for my bones and power for my veins. Pour courage into me and cheer my weary soul. Tell me that I am right and they who scoff at me are stricken with blindness. Tell me that you were mistaken and that for only a moment were you alienated from your Zerubbabel.”
But Sheshana wept, hiding her face in her hands, and murmured, “I cannot! I cannot!”
With passion more intense than ever Zerubbabelspoke to her. “See, they wish to buy themselves free of danger with the body of Esther. They send her to risk her life, and themselves they try to save with fasting. And if Esther’s body avail not, they will have recourse to money, or the body of some other beautiful woman, or both these things together. Say, Sheshana, is this not despicable? Is it not base and cowardly? Everything within me cries out in revolt against it; does nothing cry out in you? Men—to send a woman’s body before them! Sheshana, I have no words to express how contemptible that is! Do you feel it, Sheshana? Do you not feel as if you had been soiled, debased, spat upon? Sheshana, see how my muscles stiffen,—do you see my strength? I feel that my arms are giant wings ready to bear my people across every abyss and peril. Why do they fear to take up arms? Victory or Death, but no purchasing our security! Men who hide behind a woman have no sense of honour, and shall my whole people consist of such men? Shall Zerubbabel’s peoplelack a sense of honour? Does not your soul revolt against it all, Sheshana?”
But Sheshana lay quietly in his arms, speaking not a word. He clasped her still, looking passionately into her eyes and asking as before, “Tell me, Sheshana, tell me.”
At last Sheshana whispered her reply: “You remain with me, and let them do as they deem best.”
“To the shame and dishonour of the whole Jewish people!” exclaimed Zerubbabel, and a deep sadness suddenly came over him.
Then Sheshana spoke her tactless words: “They are in the majority, and they know what is for the best.”
Zerubbabel recoiled as if a snake had bitten him. He was at first impelled to cry with bitter lamentations, but he felt a great anger surging within. He placed his hand on his heart and beat his breast, then all at once turned to the door. He remained before it, leaning heavily against it as he said, with ahoarse voice, “You will never see me again, Sheshana!”
A tremor passed through her every limb; filled with fright and despair she cried out, “But, Zerubbabel!”
Again he murmured, “You will never see me again, Sheshana!”
Terrified, again she shrieked, “But, Zerubbabel!” She brought her white, shuddering hands to her cheeks and her glance was that of a frightened, stupefied dove.
Zerubbabel spoke with a quivering voice: “I love you, and my love is as strong as death. At night upon my couch I will call your name and my heart will languish with yearning. I will gash my body with the nails of my fingers and my eyes will burn under hot tears. But notyoucan be Zerubbabel’s wife,—notyouthe mother of his children. You will never see me again, Sheshana!”
Sheshana’s bosom heaved convulsively; her rapid breathing was choked with tears, and her shriek was heart-rending. “Zerubbabel!”
But he had already opened the door, and standing upon the threshold he turned his face to the maiden and said, in firm accents, “Go and learn to be Zerubbabel’s wife!” Then he closed the door behind him.
She screamed; it was the cry of a wounded deer. She rushed to the door, but her legs gave way beneath her. She stretched her hands out against the closed door, groaning and bemoaning her great misfortune. She could not speak. Her throat was as if clamped, and her tongue could not move. Only later was she able to whisper the name scarce audibly: “Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel!” Only his name could she murmur, and nothing more. Then she threw herself upon the bed, her hands pressed to her face, and her body in a heap, and it seemed to her as if some one had slapped her.
And Zerubbabel strode on through the night and the gloom, far beyond the city, into deep solitude, to the place where a huge cliff rose high above a deep abyss.