Hannah of Bethsaida
She Speaks of Her Father's Sister
THE SISTER OF my father had left us in her youth to dwell in a hut beside
her father's ancient vineyard.
She lived alone, and the people of the countryside sought her in their
maladies, and she healed them with green herbs, and with roots and flowers
dried in the sun.
And they deemed her a seeress; but there were those also who called her
witch and sorceress.
One day my father said to me, "Take these loeaves of wheaten bread to
my sister, and take this jug of wine and this basket of raisins."
And it was all put upon the back of a colt, and I followed the road until
I reached the vineyard, and the hut of my father's sister. And she was
gladened.
Now as we sat together in the cool of the day, a man came by upon the
road, and He greeted the sister of my father, saying, "Good-even to you,
and the blessing of the night be upon you."
Then she rose up; and she stood as in awe before Him and said, "Good-even
to you, master of all good spirits, and conqueror of all evil spirits."
The man looked at her with tender eyes, and then He passed on by.
But I laughed in my heart. Methought my father's sister was mad. But now
I know that she was not mad. It was I who did not understand.
She knew of my laughter, though it was hidden.
And she spoke, but not in anger. She said, "Listen, my daughter, and hearken
and keep my word in remembrance: the man who but now passed by, like the
shadow of a bird flying between the sun and the earth, shall prevail against
the Caesars and the empire of the Caesars. He shall wrestle with the crowned
bull of Chaldea, and the man-headed lion of Egypt, and He shall overcome
them; and He shall rule the world.
"But this land that now He walks shall come to naught; and Jerusalem,
which sits proudly upon the hill, shall drift away in smoke upon the wind
of desolation."
When she spoke thus, my laughter turned to stillness and I was quiet.
Then I said, "Who is this man, and of what country and tribe does He come?
And how shall He conquer the great kings and the empires of the great
kings?"
And she answered, "He is one born here in this land, but we have conceived
Him in our longing from the beginning of years. He is of all tribes and
yet of none. He shall conquer by the word of His mouth and by the flame
of His spirit."
Then suddenly she rose and stood up like a pinnacle of rock; and she said,
"May the angel of the Lord forgive me for pronoucing this word also: He
shall be slain, and His youth shall be shrouded, and He shall be laid
in silence beside the tongueless heart of the earth. And the maidens of
Judea shall weep for Him."
Then she lifted her hand skyward and spoke again, and she said, "But He
shall be slain only in the body.
"In the spirit He shall rise and go forth leading His host from this land
where the sun is born, to the land where the sun is slain at eventide.
"And His name shall be first among men."
She was an aged seeress when she said these things, and I was but a girl,
a field unploughed, a stone not yet in a wall.
But all that she beheld in the mirror of her mind has come to pass even
in my day.
Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead and led men and women unto the people
of the sunset. The city that yielded Him to judgment was given unto destruction;
and in the Judgment Hall where He was tried and sentenced, the owl hoots
a dirge while the night weeps the dew of her heart upon the fallen marble.
And I am an old woman, and the years bend me down. My people are no more
and my race is vanished.
I saw Him but once again after that day, and once again heard His voice.
It was upon a hill-top when He was talking to His friends and followers.
And now I am old and alone, yet still He visits my dreams.
He comes like a white angel with pinions; and with His grace He hushes
my dread of darkness. And He uplifts me to dreams yet more distant.
I am still a field unploughed, a ripe fruit that would not fall. The most
that I possess is the warmth of the sun, and the memory of that man.
I know that among my people these shall not rise again king nor prophet
nor priest, even as the sister of my father foretold.
We shall pass with the flowing of the rivers, and we shall be nameless.
But those who crossed Him in mid-stream shall be remembered for crossing
Him in mid-stream.
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