and she began to cast down her head before her husband.

Israel's hope was of longer life, but the truth dawned upon him at last.
Then, when he perceived that his wife was ashamed, a great tenderness

came over him. He had been thinking of her; that a child would bring
her solace, and meanwhile she had thought only of him,

that a child would be his pride. After that he never went abroad
but he came home with stories of women wailing at the cemetery

over the tombs of their babes, of men broken in heart for loss
of their sons, and of how they were best treated of God who were given

no children.
This served his big soul for a time to cheat it of its disappointment,

half deceiving Ruth, and deceiving himself entirely. But one day
the woman Rebecca met him again at the street-corner by his own house,

and she lifted her gaunt finger into his face, and cried,
"Israel ben Oliel, the judgment of the Lord is upon you, and will not

suffer you to raise up children to be a reproach and a curse among
your people!"

"Out upon you, woman!" cried Israel, and almost in the first delirium
of his pain he had lifted his hand to strike her. Her other predictions

had passed him by, but this one had smitten him. He went home and
shut himself in his room, and throughout that day he let no one come

near to him.
Israel knew his own heart at last. At his wife's barrenness he was now

angry with the anger of a proud man whose pride had been abased.
What was the worth of it, after all, that he had conquered the fate

that had first beaten him down? What did it come to that the world was
at his feet? Heaven was above him, and the poorest man in the Mellah

who was the father of a child might look down on him with contempt.
That night sleep forsook his eyelids, and his mouth was parched

and his spirit bitter. And sometimes he reproached himself
with a thousand offences, and sometimes he searched the Scriptures,

that he might persuade himself that he had walked blameless
before the Lord in the ordinances and commandments of God.

Meantime, Ruth, in her solitude, remembered that it was now three years
since she had been married to Israel, and that by the laws,

both of their race and their country, a woman who had been long barren
might straightway be divorced by her husband.

Next morning a message of business came from the Khaleefa,
but Israel would not answer it. Then came an order to him

from the Governor, but still he paid no heed. At length he heard
a feeble knock at the door of his room. It was Ruth, his wife,

and he opened to her and she entered.
"Send me away from you!" she cried. "Send me away!"

"Not for the place of the Kaid," he answered stoutly; "no, nor the throne
of the Sultan!"

At that she fell on his neck and kissed him, and they mingled
their tears together. But he comforted her at length, and said,

"Look up, my dearest! look up! I am a proud man among men,
but it is even as the Lord may deal with me. And which of us shall murmur

against God?"
At that word Ruth lifted her head from his bosom and her eyes were full

of a sudden thought.
"Then let us ask of the Lord," she whispered hotly, "and surely

He will hear our prayer."
"It is the voice of the Lord Himself!" cried Israel; "and this day

it shall be done!"
At the time of evening prayers Israel and Ruth went up hand in hand

together to the synagogue, in a narrow lane off the Sok el Foki.
And Ruth knelt in her place in the gallery close under the iron grating

and the candles that hung above it, and she prayed: "O Lord, have pity
on this Thy servant, and take away her reproach among women.

Give her grace in Thine eyes, O Lord, that her husband be not ashamed.
Grant her a child of Thy mercy, that his eye may smile upon her.

Yet not as she willeth, but as Thou willest, O Lord, and Thy servant
will be satisfied."

But Israel stood long on the floor with his hand on his heart
and his eyes to the ground, and he called on God as a debtor that will not

be appeased, saying: How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord?
My enemies triumph over me and foretell Thy doom upon me.

They sit in the lurking-places of the streets to deride me.
Confound my enemies, O Lord, and rebuke their counsels. Remember Ruth,

I beseech Thee, that she is patient and her heart is humbled.
Give her children of Thy servant, and her first-born shall be sanctified

unto Thee. Give her one child, and it shall be Thine--if it is a son,
to be a Rabbi in Thy synagogues. Hear me, O Lord, and give heed

to my cry, for behold, I swear it before Thee. One child, but one,
only one, son or daughter, and all my desire is before Thee.

How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord?"
The message of the Khaleefa which Israel had not answered in his trouble

was a request from the Shereef of Wazzan that he should come
without delay to that town to count his rent-charges and assess his dues.

This request the Governor had transformed into a command, for the Shereef
was a prince of Islam in his own country, and in many provinces

the believers paid him tribute. So in three days' time Israel was ready
to set out on his journey, with men and mules at his door,

and camels packed with tents. He was likely to be some months absent
from Tetuan, and it was impossible that Ruth should go with him.

They had never been separated before, and Ruth's concern was
that they should be so long parted, but Israel's was a deeper matter.

"Ruth," he said when his time came, "I am going away from you,
but my enemies remain. They see evil in all my doings,

and in this act also they will find offence. Promise me that if
they make a mock at you for your husband's sake you will not see them;

if they taunt you that you will not hear them; and if they ask anything
concerning me that you will answer them not at all."

And Ruth promised him that if his enemies made a mock at her
she should be as one that was blind, if they taunted her as one that

was deaf, and if they questioned her concerning her husband as one that
was dumb. Then they parted with many tears and embraces.

Israel was half a year absent in the town and province of Wazzan, and,
having finished the work which he came to do, he was sent back to Tetuan

loaded with presents from the Shereef, and surrounded by soldiers
and attendants, who did not leave him until they had brought him

to the door of his own house.
And there, in her chamber, sat Ruth awaiting him, her eyes dim with tears

of joy, her throat throbbing like the throat of a bird, and great news
on her tongue.

"Listen," she whispered; "I have something to tell you--"
"Ah, I know it," he cried; "I know it already. I see it in your eyes."

"Only listen," she whispered again, while she toyed with the neck
of his kaftan, and coloured deeply, not daring to look into his face.

Their prayer in the synagogue had been heard, and the child
they had asked for was to come.

Israel was like a man beside himself with joy. He burst in upon
the message of his wife, and caught her to his breast again and again,

and kissed her. Long they stood together so, while he told her
of the chances which had befallen him during his absence from her,

and she told him of her solitude of six long months, unbroken save
for the poor company of Fatimah and Habeebah, wherein she had been blind

and deaf and dumb to all the world.
During the months thereafter until Ruth's time was full Israel sat

with her constantly. He could scarce suffer himself to leave her company.
He covered her chamber with fruits and flowers. There was no desire

of her heart but he fulfilled it. And they talked together lovingly
of how they would name the child when the time came to name it.

Israel concluded that if it was a son it should be called David,
and Ruth decided that if it was a daughter it should be called Naomi.

And Ruth delighted to tell of how when it was weaned she should take
it up to the synagogue and say, "O Lord: I am the woman that knelt

before Thee praying. For this child I prayed, and Thou hast heard
my prayer." And Israel told of how his son should grow up to be a Rabbi

to minister before God, and how in those days it should come to pass
that the children of his father's enemies should crouch to him

for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread. Thus they built themselves
castles in the air for the future of the child that was to come.

Ruth's time came at last, and it was also the time of the Feast
of the Passover, being in the month of Nisan. This was a cause of joy

to Israel, for he was eager to triumph over his enemies face to face,
and he could not wait eight other days for the Feast of the circumcision.

So he set a supper fit for a king: the fore-leg of a sheep
and the fore-leg of an ox, the egg roasted in ashes, the balls

of Charoseth, the three Mitzvoth, and the wine, And by the time
the supper was ready the midwife had been summoned, and it was the day

of the night of the Seder.
Then Israel sent messengers round the Mellah to summon his guests.

Only his enemies he invited, his bitterest foes, his unceasing revilers,
and among them were the three base usurers, Abraham Pigman,

Judah ben Lolo, and Reuben Maliki. "They cursed me," he thought,
"and I shall look on their confusion." His heart thirsted

to summon Rebecca Bensabbot also, but well he knew that her dainty masters
would not sit at meat with her.

And when the enemies were bidden, all of them excused themselves
and refused, saying it was the Feast of the Passover, when no man

should sit save in his own house and at his own table.
But Israel was not to be gainsaid. He went out to them himself,

and said, "Come, let bygones be bygones. It is the feast of our nation.
Let us eat and drink together." So, partly by his importunity,

but mainly in their bewilderment, yet against all rule and custom,
they suffered themselves to go with him.

And when they were come into his house and were seated about his table
in the patio, and he had washed his hands and taken the wine

and blessed it, and passed it to all, and they had drunk together,
he could not keep back his tongue from taunting them. Then when he had

washed again and dipped the celery in the vinegar, and they had drunk
of the wine once more, he taunted them afresh and laughed.

But nothing yet had they understood of his meaning, and they looked
into each other's faces and asked, "What is it?"

"Wait! Only wait!" Israel answered. "You shall see!"
At that moment Ruth sent for him to her chamber, and he went in to her.

"I am a sorrowful woman," she said. "Some evil is about to befall--
I know it, I feel it."

But he only rallied her and laughed again, and prophesied joy
on the morrow. Then, returning to the patio, where the passover cakes

had been broken, he called for the supper, and bade his guests to eat
and drink as much as their hearts desired.

They could do neither now, for the fear that possessed them at sight
of Israel's frenzy. The three old usurers, Abraham, Judah, and Reuben,

rose to go, but Israel cried, "Stay! Stay, and see what is come!"
and under the very force of his will they yielded and sat down again.

Still Israel drank and laughed and derided them. In the wild torrent
of his madness he called them by names they knew and by names

they did not know-- Harpagon, Shylock, Bildad, Elihu--and
at every new name he laughed again. And while he carried himself so

in the outer court the slave woman Fatimah came from the inner room
with word that the child was born.

At that Israel was like a man distraught. He leapt up from the table
and faced full upon his guests, and cried, "Now you know what it is; and

now you know why you are bidden to this supper! You are here to rejoice
with me over my enemies! Drink! drink! Confusion to all of them!"

And he lifted a winecup and drank himself.
They were abashed before him, and tried to edge out of the patio

into the street; but he put his back to the passage, and faced them again.
"You will not drink?" he said. "Then listen to me." He dashed

the winecup out of his hand, and it broke into fragments on the floor.
His laughter was gone, his face was aflame, and his voice rose

to a shrill cry. "You foretold the doom of God upon me,
you brought me low, you made me ashamed: but behold how the Lord

has lifted me up! You set your women to prophesy that God
would not suffer me to raise up children to be a reproach and

a curse among my people; but God has this day given me a son like the best
of you. More than that--more than that-- my son shall yet see--"

• ashamed [ə´ʃeimd] a.惭愧；不好意思 (初中英语单词)
• meanwhile [´mi:n´wail] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
• beaten [´bi:tn] beat 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• persuade [pə´sweid] v.(被)说服；使相信 (初中英语单词)
• governor [´gʌvənə] n.总督；州长 (初中英语单词)
• feeble [´fi:bəl] a.虚弱的，无力的 (初中英语单词)
• gallery [´gæləri] n.画廊；美术馆；长廊 (初中英语单词)
• triumph [´traiəmf] n.胜利 vi.得胜，战胜 (初中英语单词)
• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)
• tribute [´tribju:t] n.贡物；献礼；颂词 (初中英语单词)
• absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中英语单词)
• throat [θrəut] n.咽喉；嗓子；出入口 (初中英语单词)
• absence [´æbsəns] n.不在，缺席；缺乏 (初中英语单词)
• constantly [´kɔnstəntli] ad.经常地；不断地 (初中英语单词)
• scarce [skeəs, skers] a.缺乏的；稀有的 (初中英语单词)
• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
• partly [´pɑ:tli] ad.部分地；不完全地 (初中英语单词)
• mainly [´meinli] ad.主要地；大体上 (初中英语单词)
• confusion [kən´fju:ʒən] n.混乱(状态)；骚乱 (初中英语单词)
• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
• reproach [ri´prəutʃ] vt.&n.责备；指责；耻辱 (高中英语单词)
• israel [´izreiəl] n.以色列 (高中英语单词)
• solitude [´sɔlitju:d] n.孤独；寂寞；荒凉 (高中英语单词)
• straightway [´streitwei] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• rebuke [ri´bju:k] vt.&n.指责；训斥 (高中英语单词)
• beseech [bi´si:tʃ] v.恳求，哀求 (高中英语单词)
• concerning [kən´sə:niŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)
• chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
• wherein [weər´in] ad.那里面 (高中英语单词)
• thereafter [ðeə´rɑ:ftə] adv.此后，其后 (高中英语单词)
• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
• crouch [krautʃ] vi.卷缩；蹲伏 (高中英语单词)
• summon [´sʌmən] vt.召集；号召 (高中英语单词)
• dainty [´deinti] a.秀丽的 n.美味 (高中英语单词)
• madness [´mædnis] n.疯狂；狂热 (高中英语单词)
• shrill [ʃril] a.(声音)尖锐的 (高中英语单词)
• debtor [´detə] n.债务人；借方 (英语四级单词)
• daring [´deəriŋ] a.&n.勇敢(的) (英语四级单词)
• befallen [bi´fɔ:lən] befall的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
• unbroken [ʌn´brəukən] a.未破的；不间断的 (英语四级单词)
• delighted [di´laitid] a.高兴的；喜欢的 (英语四级单词)
• morsel [´mɔ:səl] n.佳肴 vt.少量地分配 (英语四级单词)
• blessed [´blesid] a.享福的；神圣的 (英语四级单词)
• celery [´seləri] n.芹菜 (英语四级单词)
• vinegar [´vinigə] n.醋 (英语四级单词)
• sorrowful [´sɔrəuful] a.悲伤的，使人伤心的 (英语四级单词)
• morrow [´mɔrəu] n.翌日 (英语四级单词)
• frenzy [´frenzi] n.&vt.(使)狂乱 (英语四级单词)
• prophesy [´prɔfisai] v.预言；预示 (英语四级单词)
• solace [´sɔləs] n.&vt.安慰(物)；缓和 (英语六级单词)
• smitten [´smitn] smite的过去分词 (英语六级单词)
• forsook [fə´suk] forsake的过去式 (英语六级单词)
• deride [di´raid] vt.嘲笑，愚弄 (英语六级单词)
• bewilderment [bi´wildəmənt] n.为难；狼狈；迷惑 (英语六级单词)
• foretold [fɔ:´təuld] foretell过去式(分词) (英语六级单词)