The Blue Flower [43]
a bitter, blighting chill followed the
fever of the day. Through heat and cold, the Magian moved
steadily onward.
Then I saw the gardens and orchards of Damascus, watered
by the streams of Abana and Pharpar, with their sloping swards
inlaid with bloom, and their thickets of myrrh and roses. I
saw the long, snowy ridge of Hermon, and the dark groves of
cedars, and the valley of the Jordan, and the blue waters of
the Lake of Galilee, and the fertile plain of Esdraelon, and the
hills of Ephraim, and the highlands of Judah. Through all these
I followed the figure of Artaban moving steadily onward, until he
arrived at Bethlehem. And it was the third day after the three
Wise Men had come to that place and had found Mary and Joseph,
with the young child, Jesus, and had laid their gifts of gold and
frankincense and myrrh at his feet.
Then the Other Wise Man drew near, weary, but full of
hope, bearing his ruby and his pearl to offer to the King.
"For now at last," he said, "I shall surely find him, though
I be alone, and later than my brethren. This is the place of
which the Hebrew exile told me that the prophets had spoken,
and here I shall behold the rising of the great light. But I
must inquire about the visit of my brethren, and to what house
the star directed them, and to whom they presented their
tribute."
The streets of the village seemed to be deserted, and
Artaban wondered whether the men had all gone up to the
hill-pastures to bring down their sheep. From the open door of a
cottage he heard the sound of a woman's voice singing softly. He
entered and found a young mother hushing her baby to rest. She
told him of the strangers from the far East who had appeared in
the village three days ago, and how they said that a star had
guided them to the place where Joseph of Nazareth was lodging
with his wife and her new-born child, and how they had paid
reverence to the child and given him many rich gifts.
"But the travellers disappeared again," she continued, "as
suddenly as they had come. We were afraid at the strangeness
of their visit. We could not understand it. The man of
Nazareth took the child and his mother, and fled away that
same night secretly, and it was whispered that they were going
to Egypt. Ever since, there has been a spell upon the
village; something evil hangs over it. They say that the
Roman soldiers are coming from Jerusalem to force a new tax
from us, and the men have driven the flocks and herds far back
among the hills, and hidden themselves to escape it."
Artaban listened to her gentle, timid speech, and the
child in her arms looked up in his face and smiled, stretching
out its rosy hands to grasp at the winged circle of gold on
his breast. His heart warmed to the touch. It seemed like a
greeting of love and trust to one who had journeyed long in
loneliness and perplexity, fighting with his own doubts and
fears, and following a light that was veiled in clouds.
"Why might not this child have been the promised Prince?"
he asked within himself, as he touched its soft cheek. "Kings
have been born ere now in lowlier houses than this, and the
favourite of the stars may rise even from a cottage. But it
has not seemed good to the God of wisdom to reward my search
so soon and so easily. The one whom I seek has gone before
me; and now I must follow the King to Egypt."
The young mother laid the baby in its cradle, and rose to
minister to the wants of the strange guest that fate had
brought into her house. She set food before him, the plain
fare of peasants, but willingly offered, and therefore full of
refreshment for the soul as well as for the body. Artaban
accepted it gratefully; and, as he ate, the child fell into a
happy slumber, and murmured sweetly in its dreams, and a great
peace filled the room.
But suddenly there came the noise of a wild confusion in
the streets of the village, a shrieking and wailing of women's
voices, a clangour of brazen trumpets and a clashing of
swords, and a desperate cry: "The soldiers!
fever of the day. Through heat and cold, the Magian moved
steadily onward.
Then I saw the gardens and orchards of Damascus, watered
by the streams of Abana and Pharpar, with their sloping swards
inlaid with bloom, and their thickets of myrrh and roses. I
saw the long, snowy ridge of Hermon, and the dark groves of
cedars, and the valley of the Jordan, and the blue waters of
the Lake of Galilee, and the fertile plain of Esdraelon, and the
hills of Ephraim, and the highlands of Judah. Through all these
I followed the figure of Artaban moving steadily onward, until he
arrived at Bethlehem. And it was the third day after the three
Wise Men had come to that place and had found Mary and Joseph,
with the young child, Jesus, and had laid their gifts of gold and
frankincense and myrrh at his feet.
Then the Other Wise Man drew near, weary, but full of
hope, bearing his ruby and his pearl to offer to the King.
"For now at last," he said, "I shall surely find him, though
I be alone, and later than my brethren. This is the place of
which the Hebrew exile told me that the prophets had spoken,
and here I shall behold the rising of the great light. But I
must inquire about the visit of my brethren, and to what house
the star directed them, and to whom they presented their
tribute."
The streets of the village seemed to be deserted, and
Artaban wondered whether the men had all gone up to the
hill-pastures to bring down their sheep. From the open door of a
cottage he heard the sound of a woman's voice singing softly. He
entered and found a young mother hushing her baby to rest. She
told him of the strangers from the far East who had appeared in
the village three days ago, and how they said that a star had
guided them to the place where Joseph of Nazareth was lodging
with his wife and her new-born child, and how they had paid
reverence to the child and given him many rich gifts.
"But the travellers disappeared again," she continued, "as
suddenly as they had come. We were afraid at the strangeness
of their visit. We could not understand it. The man of
Nazareth took the child and his mother, and fled away that
same night secretly, and it was whispered that they were going
to Egypt. Ever since, there has been a spell upon the
village; something evil hangs over it. They say that the
Roman soldiers are coming from Jerusalem to force a new tax
from us, and the men have driven the flocks and herds far back
among the hills, and hidden themselves to escape it."
Artaban listened to her gentle, timid speech, and the
child in her arms looked up in his face and smiled, stretching
out its rosy hands to grasp at the winged circle of gold on
his breast. His heart warmed to the touch. It seemed like a
greeting of love and trust to one who had journeyed long in
loneliness and perplexity, fighting with his own doubts and
fears, and following a light that was veiled in clouds.
"Why might not this child have been the promised Prince?"
he asked within himself, as he touched its soft cheek. "Kings
have been born ere now in lowlier houses than this, and the
favourite of the stars may rise even from a cottage. But it
has not seemed good to the God of wisdom to reward my search
so soon and so easily. The one whom I seek has gone before
me; and now I must follow the King to Egypt."
The young mother laid the baby in its cradle, and rose to
minister to the wants of the strange guest that fate had
brought into her house. She set food before him, the plain
fare of peasants, but willingly offered, and therefore full of
refreshment for the soul as well as for the body. Artaban
accepted it gratefully; and, as he ate, the child fell into a
happy slumber, and murmured sweetly in its dreams, and a great
peace filled the room.
But suddenly there came the noise of a wild confusion in
the streets of the village, a shrieking and wailing of women's
voices, a clangour of brazen trumpets and a clashing of
swords, and a desperate cry: "The soldiers!