The Coming of the King
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Bernie Babcock >> The Coming of the King
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"The table at which we sat was of citron wood from Mauritania, more
precious than gold. And it was covered with a plateau of massive
silver weighing five hundred pounds--five hundred pounds, mind you,
chased and carven. Dost thou marvel that I made friends with the
Romans?"
"Thou art wise, Son of Amon," Antipas answered.
"After the feast, young slave girls strewed the mosaic with sawdust
dyed saffron and vermilion, mixed with sparkling powder, and naked
virgins danced--_naked_ virgins!"
Herod Antipas rubbed his palms and smiled, showing the tips of several
sharp teeth.
"And the next day," continued the guest, "we went to the circus and
waved our ribbon-decked palms while half a score of combatants were
dragged to the spoilarium and carted through the Gate of Death. A
bloody sport, but they enjoy it, and gladiators are plenty. Gorgeous
the shows of Rome; like the waters of the Tiber doth her wine flow, and
her gold is like the stars for plenty."
"And the populace, doth it not mutter even as our own?"
"Into the feast halls comes no mention of the populace. Yet it hath
been said they stand about trembling lest they starve because of the
delay of an Alexandrian corn ship. But what of the populace? Whether
her hordes be corn fed or not corn fed, Rome careth not. What souls
have these?"
"It is the naked virgins that possess souls," and Antipas showed his
pointed teeth a little more.
"Nay, it is the naked virgins that set souls on fire," Zador Ben Amon
corrected.
"Rome hath not all the naked virgins that do dance. Antipas hath had a
dance for his wife's sake." With this remark his sharp-toothed smile
gave way to laughter.
"Which wife?" Zador asked.
"Herodias, sister of Agrippa the Great. Her Salome danced until like
fire my blood chased itself into a fever. Then did I tell her to name
her price. And the price was none other than the head of John--John
Baptist, who for defiling the name of Antipas' wife had been put in a
dungeon under the castle of Machaerus. Antipas is not cursed with
poverty. Yet are there prices too great, for since the head of the
brawler came blinking on a platter, do the people declare he were
Elias, and that he is not dead but walks the dungeon by day and whither
he will by night."
"Thou shouldst be a Sadducee and declare against a hereafter. They
eat, drink and be merry while the Pharisees speak darkly of a hereafter
of which they know nothing, and beget fear of ghosts."
"Yea, but in the hearts of the people great hope of a hereafter is ever
alive. This do the Pharisees know and teach."
"The Pharisees are hypocrites. But let us to business for it meaneth
more stores of gold to Antipas and Zador."
The Idumean leaned forward with his eyes on the Jew. "Speak on," he
said.
"There is a reason Rome ruleth the world. She knoweth how. In the
Senate are the laws made. By the sword of her vast army are they
enforced. And lest insurrection be plotted against the throne of the
Caesars, Rome hath a system of spies sufficient to hear a whisper in
the bowels of the earth. It hath not been so determined, but it is
suspected that there is some sort of a union of toilers. Such
societies would be like a worm in the heart to our profits, Antipas."
"Fear not such worms. Some wild dream is this--that those who toil
bind themselves together. Ever do cattle contend among themselves and
not unite."
"It hath been done. What hath been done by slaves and men, might be
done again. It hath not yet outlived the memory of man how the slaves
in the Laurian silver mines arose, killed their guards, took the
citadel of Sunium to sleep in, raided the armory for weapons and laid
Attica waste for a great season. Nor was it because they were not well
enslaved. Naked did their men and women toil under the lash. Yet they
became as one man and, at the word, rose as one man. And was it not in
Macedonia at the gold mines of Pangaetus that another bloody uprising
took place at vast cost to the gold industry because they rose as a
man? Suppose you, that the silversmiths, gold-gilders, pearl and ivory
and filigree workers should secretly band themselves together, hast
thou knowledge to compute the loss to my profit?"
Herod Antipas had covered his sharp teeth with his lip and was
listening intently to Zador Ben Amon.
"Would it mean naught to thee if in thine own province thy hewers of
stone and builders of ships, thy tent-makers and herdsmen and corn
growers should secretly unite and rise against thee?"
"Thy words sink deep," Antipas said, taking up his cup. Finding it
empty, he looked behind him. The stewart who had been standing there
had gone out. "More wine!" Antipas shouted. "And keep thee by the
cups," he gave order as the stewart came hastily in. Antipas and his
guest drank freely. Then the Jew spoke again.
"Here is Herod Antipas," he said, holding up his left hand and marking
its first finger with the stubby forefinger of his right hand. "And
here is Pilate, Procurator of Judea, and here is the High Priest of the
House of Annas. And the three have much gold. But between them hath
Annas the greater portion. From the tax on all the world getteth
Pilate his. From Galilean tax getteth Antipas his, but from the Temple
getteth Annas his through the hands of Caiaphas. The tribute money
from all the earth, the Sanctuary half shekel and the Temple Bazaars
and money-changers bring riches untold to Annas. Did not Crassus when
he went out against the Parthians carry from the Temple gold uncounted?
Did Pompey not take one hundred million of shekels in gold beside the
beams of gold hidden in the hollow wood?"
"Yea, much fine gold," Antipas replied. "But thou art thyself a
money-changer in the Temple, and its riches cometh to thy hands also."
"Thou dost not know Annas. Bled I am of my lawful profits else another
get my place. Annas is all powerful. Yet have I a plan."
"What planneth thou?" and Antipas leaned across the table with eager
eyes on the Jew.
"Let these three mighty ones--Herod of Tiberias, Zador Ben Amon of
Jerusalem and Pilate of Rome--form a secret union for their profit and
for breaking the power of Annas. What thinkest thou of such a union?"
"Thou art the son of a fool," and Antipas straightened up stiffly.
"A fool thou sayest? And wherefore?" Zador Ben Amon asked, somewhat
confused by the sudden change in the attitude of his host.
Antipas leaned forward. His lips were securely drawn over the points
of his teeth. His eyes, somewhat watery from much drinking, looked
with anger into the steady eye of Zador. "Pilate," he began, "doth
come riding to the Passover in a gold inlaid ivory chariot and with
royal lictors, and in the Palace of Herod the Great doth he revel. Who
builded this palace? What man should be seated on its throne?" He
paused and held out his cup to the stewart who filled it afresh. "Who
was the friend of Cleopatra and Anthony? Was it not Herod the Great,
father of Antipas? Who went to Rome in a three-decked ship he builded,
was taken to the Roman Senate and made King of the Jews? Was it not
the father of Antipas? Who builded Caesarea at the fountains of
Jordan? Who builded the Temple, the arches, the monuments, the
streets, the aqueducts, the walls, the towers and the Palace of Herod
the Great, King of the Jews? Was it not Herod the Great, father of
Antipas? And when he had died and the worms eaten him who was given
command of the Tower of Antonio? Into whose hands was the Palace of
Herod the Great given? Who is this Pilate--impostor of a Roman? Is he
not the son of a heathen of Seville? Was not his father Marcus Pontius
who deserted his countrymen when Rome made conquest in his land? Was
he not rewarded for his treachery with the sharp-edged pilatus which
gave to him the new name 'Pilate'? Did not the son of this heathen dog
follow Germanicus and through him creep in among the Romans of high
estate? Did he not wed Claudia Procula, granddaughter of Augustus?
And shortly thereafter was he not made Procurator at Jerusalem? Who
should sit in state in Herod's palace in Jerusalem? Antipas, son of
the King of the Jews, who builded it, or Pilate who would grind him
beneath his clanking Roman heel? And wouldst thou have me to form
union with _this_?"
With flushed face Antipas paused to get breath. "More wine!" he
called. He drained the cup and throwing it across the table, arose and
walked the length of the room and back with heavy strides. Then he sat
down and pounded the table shouting, "Hear, oh, Zador Ben Amon! not
until the desire of Pilate be the desire of the son of Herod the Great
shall Antipas and Pilate come together! Dost thou understand? Like
fleas on a dog these secret societies thou fearest may vex Rome. That
is Rome's grievance. In Galilee know they better for the Gaulonite is
yet remembered. Yet will I comb the province clean with teeth of steel
that not one breaching insurrection may escape."
Antipas was trembling with rage. Zador Ben Amon saw that he had done
little less than insult his host by his untimely suggestion about
Pilate.
"Let not the peace of Antipas be disturbed by the power of Pilate in
Jerusalem," he said quietly, moving nearer Antipas. "Like the mist of
the morning his days pass, and what man knoweth who shall be Procurator
then?"
"What meanest thou?" and the Tetrarch leaned forward with returning
interest.
"We must be alone."
Antipas turned around to his stewart. "Begone!" he commanded. When
the door had closed behind him, Zador's host with burning eyes
whispered, "A plot? Hast thou heard in Rome of a plot against the life
of Pilate?"
"Whether plot I know not. But by evil omens is the day marked for him,
deadly as the Ides of March."
"Evil omens? From an oracle?"
"From an oracle under the wings of a raven and bat. Came the omen from
the entrails of a falcon which, when spread before the oracle, did lift
themselves one against the other. Then did they tremble without touch
of hand and did wrap themselves in a knot and struggle together until
they did burst asunder. And from that which was hidden therein came
forth the hind foot of a hare."
"The meaning thereof?" and Antipas waited.
"That which be hidden is no Roman. That which hideth it shall meet
death by strangulation. Then shall that which hath been swallowed come
forth to run a swift race."
Antipas reflected a moment. His anger was leaving him, but the tips of
his teeth were not yet showing.
Zador Ben Amon turned to his cloak and from a wallet took out three
leather cases, two of which he opened and placed on the table. The
first contained a ring, the second a frontlet. "Of so excellent a
nature hath been thy entertainment," said the Jew, "thou makest me to
forget my gifts," and taking up the frontlet he handed it to Antipas.
"This is a gift for the High Priest. Look thou at the filigree work
around the amethyst, and the hyacinth color of the ribbon."
Antipas took it and Zador noticed that his fingers seemed to stick as
he relinquished his hold.
"And this," Zador took the ring, "hath been made by workers of rare
skill. Its jaspers came from far India. This is for Herod Antipas
from his friend Zador Ben Amon," and he handed it to Herod.
The keen edge of the sharp teeth now came into view for a smile of long
duration. When the ring had been duly admired, Antipas glanced at the
third leather case. Zador opened it and drew forth an anklet which
Antipas reached for. Slipping it over the fingers of his hand he held
it up, and after examining its jewels, he shook it until it tinkled,
and enjoyed it as a child enjoys a toy. When he had played with it a
few moments he lifted his eyes to the Jew and studied him. "Thy desire
is buried well under thy itch for gain," he said. "Yet do I now
remember the eye of the money-changer when he spoke of the naked
virgins."
"Is a money-changer not as other men?"
"With his two eyes ever set on gold and his ten fingers ever counting
treasure, what eye or finger touch hath he left for woman? Is this for
the profit of thy purse or the pleasure of the flesh?"
"It is a betrothal gift."
"Thou sayest! Beware an Asmonean princess!" and Antipas smiled broadly.
"A princess of Israel she is. I saw her in the shop of a Jerusalem
silk dealer named Joel who will wed her sister. Her hair is fine as
webs spun at night. She hath arms and a bosom her veil did but half
conceal. So was I stirred into loving her. Her brother liveth at
Bethany where she too abides and there have I been. Fair she is and
not upper-minded, and I go to make her my betrothed."
"And doth this fit?" Taking the circlet from his fingers Antipas put
it on his wrist and shoved it as far up on his hair-grown arm as it
would go. He then placed his broad hand on the table and gave an
imitation of a woman walking. Both men roared with laughter as the
hairy leg skipped and danced and hobbled while the bangles tinkled
merrily.
"Thou art a keen Jew, my friend," Antipas said. "Thou tellest not the
name of the woman. If she shall scorn thy gift then canst thou give it
to another for, ever there are women whose softness can be thine for a
jeweled trinket." And with a broad showing of sharp teeth, Herod
Antipas removed the anklet from his arm and handed it back to Zador Ben
Amon.
CHAPTER III
UNDER THE FOX'S NOSE
Behind the well guarded doors of a mud plastered house not far from the
shores of Genassaret, a small company of Galilean peasants and
fishermen had gathered to meet a _kurios_[1] from a Phoenician
_thiasos_,[2] who was making a pilgrimage to gather information and
organize societies. When introduced to the little group, the _kurios_
said, "I see the table spread for the supper. Around such a table have
I sat in Greece and Asia Minor as well as in Italy. Great is its power
of breaking down the hatred between races and of making strong the
spirit of the Brotherhood. In every land, though customs are not the
same and the tongues are strange, yet do those who enter in know the
bath of acceptance; the common table; the common treasury; love of the
living; care for the dead; hope for the future; worship of a divinity
and belief that a Savior cometh. Long hath it come to the ears of the
_thiasos_ how Galilee doth suffer. By the sword hath not a whole
village of thy race been taken? Were not thy men shackled and thy
maidens ravished? And ye who remain, art thou not taxed to the death?"
The words were spoken in low tones, yet there was a strange force in
them. The speaker bent forward and the index finger he pointed at his
hearers seemed to have been thrust suddenly from between his eyes.
When the sleeve of his mantle fell back it disclosed upon his arm a
fish, having a lion's head with a circle in its mouth.
"To gather news of thy distress, that is not hear-say, and to learn of
thy hope, if hope thou hast, have I come. Speak on."
There was a moment of silence. Then a peasant stepped forward.
"Look thou!" and he threw back his skirt. "See thou these grievous
wounds? I was set upon at the thrashing floor by a band of ruffians
who demanded my wheat. And when I did say, 'Nay,' they did beat me,
take the wheat and cast me into the chaff to die. And it hath since
come to me that these ruffians are none other than servants of Annas,
High Priest, who go about to pillage and destroy. Is it not so?" and
turning to one side he lay hold of another man's arm. "Here is Herod's
stewart. Hear him."
"Are the doors well barred and the court guards alert?" the stewart
questioned. "Are there watchmen on the housetop? Herod hath said he
will comb Galilee with teeth of steel for such as this. Yea, one
wounded and robbed brother hath spoken truly. Nor is this the worst.
The Sicarii, those murderers that do so grievously afflict the whole
province, these too ply their bloody business at the hands of Herod and
Annas. For no sooner have the pirates been caught than they give over
to Herod and Annas their booty except a small stipend. Then are these
murderers turned loose to get yet more booty for the accursed
bloodsuckers called priests and kings. Am I not of the household of
Herod? Do I not know of these things? And of virgins despoiled do I
not know?"
"Yea, yea--thou knowest!" The answer came sharply from a young
fisherman whose head was bound in a faded red turban and who carried
one arm in a sling.
"Yea! Yea!" cried several other voices. "Let Jael speak!"
"Oh, that Jael _might_ speak!" he answered fiercely. "That Jael
_might_ find tongue to curse those thrice accursed heathen who but
three days ago stole from him the maiden Sara. Oh, that he _might_
find words to speak her fate, for rather than be polluted by the
serpent touch of Belial, took she the bitter hemlock! Oh, that Jael
could know where her body lieth that a pile of stones might cover it
from open corruption! Behold--" and from his breast he took a cord
with a bit of cloth attached, which he held up. "Behold all that Jael
the fisherman hath left of his betrothed--a little _tallith_ found upon
the floor where she had struggled! And look! Look, thou!" and he
snatched from his head the dull red cloth which had bound an angry
wound and waved it with savage swiftness before the _kurios_. "Behold
all that is left of the father of Jael, the fisherman who followed the
call of the Gaulonite to liberty from oppression, nor was the head that
once this covering clung to, allowed its right to rot in a decent tomb.
What hast thou of help to offer the oppressed?" and with a sudden twist
he wrapped the cloth about his outstretched hand and held it toward the
_kurios_.
In a well controlled voice strongly contrasting with that of Jael, the
answer came. "If thou didst know the meaning of that which once didst
bind thy father's head, then would thy question have its answer. If
thou didst know the tongue the colors speak, the eyes of thy
understanding would be open. The white of the gens families and the
priests, hath it not from the hidden past meant 'washed' and 'set
apart' from the soil of the world? And what is red the color of the
toiler since those flaming deities, Ceres and Minerva, first presided
over their destinies? Who first gave homage to the crimson of the
rising sun? Kath it not ever been he who labors? Whose strength
bringeth forth the wheat and wine that maketh the red blood of mankind?
Cometh it not of the toiler? Is it not told in ancient song that those
of white robes dwell on thrones of gold in Mount Olympus while their
vaulted dome doth rest on the shoulders of the slaves and humble, whose
red robes have grown dun and murk and brown with soil and toil? Verily
there are blood makers and devourers of that blood. Thy father, Jael
the fisherman, didst know that the way of hope is the way of
Brotherhood. So did he bind himself with others. The hand of Rome
destroyed him. Yet the way of Brotherhood liveth."
A woman had entered the room as he spoke. She hastily put some cups on
the table and then, in a voice vibrant with gladness, she repeated the
words, "The way of Brotherhood," and lifting her hands high, palms
upward, exclaimed, "My soul doth magnify the Lord!"
All eyes were turned to her. A beautiful woman she was about whose
face, which shone as if fresh from a glory bath, silvery threads shone
like a dim halo. Her fine dark eyes were lit with radiant brightness.
"James," she said addressing the master of the abode, "canst thou not
see--canst thou not hear thy brother as he read from the Word when
first he taught? Hear him; 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon _me_. He
hath anointed _me_ to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent _me_
to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to captives, to set
at liberty them that are bruised.' Hath not the Spirit of the Lord
been upon him as he doth teach the way of Brotherhood and pray that
this kingdom may come on earth? Yet he hath not spoken of a red
banner."
"The kingdom he would set up," said a man of gentle voice and spiritual
countenance who had not yet spoken, "cometh not with swords and
banners, for hath he not said 'They that lift the sword shall perish by
the sword?' There is a better way of Brotherhood. It cometh by the
law that he doth teach."
"And what is the law of this, thy teacher that would bring
Brotherhood?" and there was interest in the voice of the _kurios_ as he
asked the question.
"There is but one law. On it hangeth all law and all prophecy. Verily
a new law it is so that no more forever shall an eye be given for an
eye or one sword-thrust for another, for God is love."
"Love? No longer a sword for a sword? Thou dost speak a strange
language! Shall naught be paid to robbers and murderers and despoilers
of women but _love_? Yet until the time of the great Brotherhood, vain
is the sword, for while the oppressed do rise here and there in small
revolt, swift and terrible is their cutting down. Slow grows the
Brotherhood. Yet since the mighty Solomon did weld into one whole his
stone-cutters and builders, hath those of like kind in toil and poverty
come together; fruit sellers, wool carders, perfume makers,
fortune-tellers, linen weavers, patch workers, wash women, dyers, image
makers, ivory carvers, bridge builders, poets and singers, dwarfsmiths,
sea-farers, wonder workers, hunters for the amphitheatre, brothel
keepers, all these and many others shall be gathered into one great
society and in that day--" The words of the _kurios_ were stopped
suddenly by the sound of three quick knocks on the roof over their
heads.
"The enemy is upon us!" James exclaimed. "Mary, bring the roast kid
with great haste! Let every man be gathered about the table ready for
a feast--and be merry."
A steaming kid was hurriedly brought and the men moved quickly to their
places except Jael, who stepped behind the door and drew from his
mantle, his long keen knife. When the soldiers entered shortly, with
steps as stealthy as those of a cat, he moved out where their faces
might be seen and scanned them swiftly, concealing his knife under his
skirt.
"What goeth on?" one soldier shouted, while the other walked across the
room and looked into the kitchen.
"I have a guest," James replied. "A kinsman whose father is my
father's father. With him we feast."
"Feast?" and the soldier turned his attention to the table. "They do
feast! Ha! Ha! Come hither."
The second soldier came, saying, "A banquet they give--Ho! Ho! For a
better one would I take me to the stables of Herod."
"A kid have they that shineth with grease."
"Is it a kid? Methought it a sparrow."
"By its size, its bones will but breed a quarrel."
"Let us be keepers of the peace--for this hath Herod not appointed us?"
and lifting his sword he brought it down on the roast kid severing it
in two halves. "A sharp blade cutteth clean!"
"And a stiff leg maketh a good handle." And with the words each
soldier seized with his left hand a half of the kid which he fell
greedily upon, while holding his sword aloft in his right hand. With
hungry teeth the soldiers tore the flesh from the bones, spewing such
as they did not want on to the floor, and devouring the tender, until
their cheeks shone like ruddy apples and their beards were drabbled
with gravy. Then they dropped the remains on the floor and with their
boot toes rubbed them over the mud that had dropped from their heels.
When the flesh was well covered with filth, the two halves of the
carcass were lifted by the sword point and flung back on the table with
the words, "A feast they would have!" The soldiers cast their eyes
over the angry but silent company, and broke into roars of laughter.
"A flock of sacred goats!" one said.
"Nay--by the stink of them, fish long rotten. Let us go hence! Ugh!"
and pinching their noses, the soldiers left the abode.
There was silence in the room for a moment before the _kurios_ said in
low tones, holding his hand toward the door to enjoin caution, "What
think ye, men of Galilee--needest thou a Brotherhood?"
"Yea--yea," came like a growl from the throats of the company.
"And who wilt thy leader be?"
All eyes were turned to James as his name was spoken.
"This night hast thou seen the fruit of the tree of oppression. What
sayest thou?"
With the light of indignation in his eye and the tremor of wrath in his
voice, the master of the house said, "In the words of one greater than
I, 'Let the ax be laid at the roots of the tree.' And this also do I
say, Go to, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall
come upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments
moth-eaten! Your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them
shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were
fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days! Behold!
The hire of the laborers who have reaped down thy fields, which you
kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped
have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth! Ye have lived in
pleasure on the earth and been wanton! Ye have nourished thy hearts as
in a day of slaughter! Ye have condemned and killed the just!" Then
addressing his words more closely to those about the table he said, "Be
patient, therefore, brethern, unto the coming of the Lord. Be patient,
for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh--draweth nigh."
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