Historical Miniatures

Excerpt

THE EGYPTIAN BONDAGE

The old worker in ebony and cabinet-maker, Amram, dwelt by the river-side in a clay-hut which was covered with palm-leaves. There he lived with his wife and three children. He was yellow in complexion and wore a long beard. Skilled in his trade of carving ebony and hard wood, he attended at Pharaoh's court, and accordingly also worked in the temples. One morning in midsummer, just before sunrise, he got out of bed, placed his implements in a bag, and stepped out of his hut. He remained standing on the threshold for a moment, and, turning to the east, uttered a low prayer. Then he began to walk between fishermen's huts, following the black broken bank of the river, where herons and doves were resting after their morning meal.

His neighbour, the fisherman, Nepht, was overhauling his nets, and placing carp, grayling, and sheat-fish in the different partitions of his boat.

Amram greeted him, and wished to say some words in token of friendliness.

"Has the Nile ceased to rise?" he asked.

"It remains standing at ten yards' height. That means starvation!"

"Do you know why it cannot rise higher than fifteen yards, Nepht?"

"Because otherwise we should drown," answered the fisherman simply.

"Yes, certainly, and that we cannot. The Nile, then, has a Lord who controls the water-level; and He who has measured out the starry vault, and laid the foundations of the earth, has set up a wall for the waters, and this wall, which we cannot see, is fifteen yards high. For during the great flood in the land of our fathers, Ur of the Chaldees, the water rose fifteen yards—no more, no less. Yes, Nepht, I say 'we,' for you are of our people, though you speak another tongue, and honour strange gods. I wish you a good morning, Nepht, a very good morning."

He left the abashed fisherman, went on, and entered the outskirts of the city, where began the rows of citizens' houses built of Nile-bricks and wood. He saw the merchant and money-changer Eleazar taking down his window-shutters while his assistant sprinkled water on the ground before the shop. Amram greeted him, "A fine morning, cousin Eleazar."

"I cannot say," answered the tradesman sulkily. "The Nile has remained stationary, and begins to sink. The times are bad."

"Bad times are followed by good times, as our father Abraham knew; and when Joseph, Jacob's son, foresaw the seven lean years he counselled Pharaoh to store up corn in the granaries…."

"May be, but that is a forgotten tale now."

"Yes, and have you also forgotten the promise which the Lord gave to his friend Abraham?"

"That about the land of Canaan? We have waited four hundred years for its fulfilment, and now, instead of receiving it, Abraham's children have become bond-servants."

"Abraham believed through good and through evil days, through joy and through sorrow, and that was counted to him for righteousness."

"I don't believe at all," Eleazar broke in, "or rather, I believe that things go backwards, and that I will have to put up my shutters, if there is a failure in the crops."

Amram went on with a sad face, and came to the market, where he bought a millet loaf, a piece of an eel, and some onions....