Hebrew Heroes: A Tale Founded on Jewish History
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CHAPTER XXII.
A BREATHING SPACE.
The captive was not taken back to prison-chamber which she had occupiedduring the preceding night, but to an apartment in the palace--onebelonging to the suite appropriated to Pollux. She was confined withina room so luxurious, that, save from the door being fastened to preventher exit, and there being no possibility of escaping through thelatticed window, Zarah could scarcely have realized that she was aprisoner still. The floor of the apartment was inlaid with costlymarbles; on the walls were depicted scenes taken from mythologicalsubjects; luxurious divans invited to repose; and vases, wreathed withbrilliant flowers and filled with rose-water, were surrounded by othersloaded with a profusion of fruit and a variety of dainties. The youngHebrew maiden, accustomed to the simplicity of Hadassah's humble home,gazed around in wonder.
When left alone by the guards, the first impulse of the captive was tokneel and return thanks to her heavenly Protector for the mercifulrespite granted to her. Zarah was young, and hope was strong withinher. What might not happen in the space of twenty-four hours to effectcomplete deliverance! She then laved her face, hands, and arms, andthe tresses of her long hair, in the cool, fragrant water, and foundgreat refreshment from her ablutions. It was then with a sense ofenjoyment, at which she herself was surprised, that Zarah partook ofthe fruit before her. Nature had been almost exhausted, not only bythe terrible excitement and alarm which the maiden had had to endure,but by sleeplessness and abstinence from food. Coarse bread had indeedbeen brought to her in her prison, but had remained untouched, not onlybecause the poor captive had had no appetite for eating, but becausethe bread, being leavened, was not at that season lawful food for aJewess. Zarah now carefully abstained from any part of the collationwhich she deemed might contain anything which Moses had judged unclean,and chiefly partook of the fruits, which were pure, as God Himself hadmade them, and which were, of all kinds of food, that most refreshingto her parched and burning lips.
"How good is my Lord, to spread a table for me thus in this wildernessof trial!" murmured Zarah; and she felt much as the Israelites musthave felt when they first saw the glistening bread of heaven lying onthe face of the desert. The maiden's spirit was soothed and cheered,as well as her frame refreshed; and, reclining on one of the luxuriousdivans, she was able with tolerable calmness to review the excitingevents of the day.
"How thankful I am that, with all my cowardice and weakness, I waspreserved by my Lord from doing anything very wicked!" thought Zarah."I was not suffered either to betray my friends or to deny my God; andyet my faith almost failed me. I could scarcely endure the terror: howcould I endure the pain? But will not He who supported me under theone sustain me also through the other, if I must die for my faithto-morrow before that terrible king? I will not weary myself bythinking; I will just trust all to my God. It is so sweet to rest inHis love, like a babe on her mother's bosom."
Zarah lay perfectly still for some time, letting her overstrainednerves regain their usual tone. It was such a comfort to be quitealone, with no sound to disturb save the cooing of doves from a gardenwhich separated the palace of Epiphanes from Mount Zion.
The young captive then arose, went to the lattice, and looked forth.Pleasant to the sight was the rich foliage of the juniper and acacia,the terebinth and the palm, the orange, almond, and citron, wateredfrom marble-bordered tanks by artificial irrigation, which counteractedthe effects of a season sultry and dry. Here and there fountains threwup their sparkling waters, transformed to diamonds in the sun. But theeyes of the maid of Judah wandered beyond this paradise of beauty,created for the pleasure of a tyrant, and rested on the holy Mount andthe sacred Temple on its summit. If the very stones, nay, the dust, ofJerusalem have an interest to Gentile strangers, with what feelingsmust a child of Abraham regard the spot on which the Temple was reared!As Zarah gazed on the holy pile before her, words of Scripture cameinto the mind of Hadassah's grand-daughter, which filled her with a joywhich was indeed nourished by the dew of heavenly hope, but had itsroot in earthly affection. Slowly and emphatically Zarah repeated toherself: "_Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to theLord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be hisservants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, andtaketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain,and make them joyful in My house of prayer: for Mine house shall becalled an house of prayer for all people_" (Isa. lvi. 6, 7).
"Oh, blessed promise!" exclaimed Zarah. "Israel has been, like Joseph,the chosen amongst many brethren, to wear the many-coloured robeprepared by his Father, and to go first, through bondage andtribulation, to dignity and honour. But his brethren are notforgotten: he shall yet be a blessing to them all, even to them whohave hated and sold him. Through Israel shall light spread throughoutthe dark world, and with the bread of life shall the hungry nations befed."
Zarah was interrupted in her musings by the entrance of Nubian slaves,who silently replenished the vases, lighted silver lamps as the day wasclosing, placed rich garments upon the divan, and then retired from herpresence. Their coming had caused a flutter in the timid heart of thecaptive; and it was a relief when they had left her again to thatsolitude which scarcely seemed to be loneliness, so sweet were thethoughts which had been her companions. Zarah went up to the divan,and looked admiringly on the silken robes and richly-embroidered veil.
"These are meant for my wear," said the maiden; "but I will not touchthem. The Gentiles would allure me, as the serpent allured Eve ourmother, by the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Embroideredrobes are not for the prisoner, nor silver zone for the martyr. Thissimple blue garment, spun and woven by my own hands, is good enough todie in."
Zarah watched the sun as it sank beneath the western horizon, its lastbeams lingering on the pinnacles of the Temple.
"Perhaps this will be my last evening on earth," thought the prisoner."Ere the sun set again, I may have entered into eternal rest." A deepsense of holy peace stole into the maiden's heart, though theexpression of her beautiful countenance was pensive as she meditated onthe future. "I shall no more join in worship with my brethren below;but perhaps, while they gather together in secret, with perils aroundthem, my eyes shall see the King in His beauty, shall behold the landthat is very far off. And will not He for whom I die hear now myfeeble prayers for those whom I leave behind? Never have I felt that Icould plead with such child-like confidence before Him as I do now;praying not only for myself, but for those who are dearer than self.Oh, may the Lord hear, and graciously answer, the supplications of Hischild!"
Zarah knelt down, and poured out her simple Prayer. First, shebesought God for Hadassah; that He would comfort the bereaved one,grant her rest from her tribulation, and give her the desire of herheart. Tears mingled with this prayer, as Zarah thought of thedesolation to which the aged widow was left. "Let her not weep longfor me," murmured the maiden; "and oh, never let her want a loving oneto tend her in sickness and comfort her in sorrow, better than I couldhave done." The Hebrew girl then prayed for her country, and for thosewho were fighting for its freedom; especially for Judas Maccabeus, thatGod would be his shield and defender, and cover his head in the day ofbattle. Zarah forgot not her unknown father. She now pleaded for himmore fervently than she had ever pleaded before; and, by somemysterious connection in her mind, thoughts of her lost parent linkedthemselves to remembrance of the generous courtier to whoseintercession she had owed her present respite from torture and death.The young prisoner implored her Lord not to let the Syrian suffer forhis kindness to a stranger, but to requite it sevenfold into his ownbosom.
Zarah did not yet rise from her knees. Her supplications became yetmore fervent as she prayed for another, dearest of all. No fear ofdispleasing God now marred the comfort which the maiden found insupplication for a Gentile. It was not sinful, she thought, for thedying to love. Her misery might be the means which God would deign toemploy in winning Lycidas from the errors of id
olatrous worship. Shemight be permitted, as it were to beckon to her beloved from the otherside of the grave.
Zarah arose from her devotions feeling almost happy. It seemed to heras if the worst bitterness of death were already passed. She againpartook, with a thankful spirit, of needful refreshment, and afterwardslaid herself down to rest. The prisoner had had no refreshing sleepduring the preceding terrible night, and now her eyelids were heavy.Soft slumber stole over Zarah, as the Psalmist's words were on herlips, _I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for Thou, Lord, onlymakest me dwell in safety_.