THE CHOSEN: A Man Much Loved: Historical Fiction (The Chosen Trilogy Book 3)

by Shlomo Kalo

  Such things were not to the liking of the two remaining ministers and the newly appointed satraps. They invoked the memory of Belshazzar, who had not tolerated foreigners in his palace, and they regretted his untimely death, and looked with jealously at Daniel, alias Belteshazzar, whose origin was Jewish and who was nothing more than an exile brought to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, who in the opinion of many wise men had thereby made a grievous mistake, and instead of enhancing the power and the repute of his realm had achieved the opposite result. Such were the topics of conversation among the satraps and the two ministers, repeated day after day, until it became evident that all were unanimous, with only one dissenter – a young man who was a newcomer to the court. The uncle of the young man had been a confidant of King Belshazzar and had enjoyed favour and promotion in his service, attaining quasi-ministerial status, and he did not look kindly on what he considered the “misguided” views of his nephew who, in defiance of the collective wisdom, was taking the side of Belteshazzar, the King’s viceroy, and speaking out on his behalf. After consultation with his colleagues, the uncle took it upon himself to tackle this nephew of his and urge him to consider the issues, appreciate the facts as they stood and understand some essential truths, abandoning his stubborn position and returning to the fold while there was still time. And when persuasion proved fruitless, stern reprimands achieved nothing, and sweet words fell on deaf ears, the uncle suggested that his nephew remember to whom he owed his career in the palace and his appointment as one of the one hundred and twenty satraps; how dare he ignore and defy his patron and benefactor in such a brazen manner?

  And since even these stern words of reproof, uttered by a man reckoned among the outstanding intellectuals of Babylon, failed to hit the target, threats were raised: the young satrap was warned, unequivocally, that if he held to his dissenting opinion and continued to support the Jewish Daniel, neither he nor his family could expect to enjoy the hedonistic pleasures of this life, or indeed enjoy anything in life.

  As it turned out, young Abiriuch proved to be a man of exceptional stubbornness, stubbornness of almost Jewish proportions. He could not be shifted from his position by a fraction, and so there was no alternative but to accept this and treat him accordingly: one hundred and nineteen satraps and two ministers ostracised Abiriuch and no longer greeted him or called upon his services. And they were meeting daily and debating ways of finding some pretext to blacken the name of Belteshazzar before the King, so that former glories would be restored, and never again would a foreign voice, let alone a Jewish voice, be heard in their council chamber.

  So all the satraps, rated the wisest and most astute of men, and the ministers set above them were hunting for that pretext that would destroy Belteshazzar’s reputation, this man whom the King proposed to appoint his deputy, whose sway all of Babylon must acknowledge. And despite all the energy and the guile invested in the project, those enthusiastic researchers could find nothing, no indictment that could be laid against the minister Belteshazzar, alias Daniel, to incriminate him before the King. The man seemed utterly flawless, and there was no blemish on his record, great or small, and wherever he went he kept his hands clean, and never so much as said a vulgar or abusive word, or lost his temper; perhaps there really was a divine spirit in him, as the King believed, and he could not be tackled in this way.

  So among the satraps there was a degree of uncertainty and a mood of dejection, and some of them began looking more kindly at Abiriuch, the outcast and exchanging greetings with him, while others turned to superstition and sought remedies in charms and spells and incantations, but despite the doubts and misgivings, all were united in their refusal to accept defeat. They believed in the assertion, the decidedly reasonable assertion, that there was no such thing as a totally flawless man, and it was only their frailty and incompetence that had prevented them finding any stain on the cloak of that Jewish exile. With courage, persistence and patience, they could yet achieve their hearts’ desire.

  And they renewed their efforts, assiduously searching and enquiring, and still they found nothing. It seemed that for the time being the project was doomed and would simply sink into oblivion. There was nothing for it but to submit to the yoke of the Jewish minister of the Median king, whose eyes, so they averred, were blind. And Abiriuch was no longer treated as a pariah and was beginning to feel happier and more at ease, when one fine day a satrap from the southern territories – a man with bald head, projecting paunch, and a broad smile on his freckled, shapeless face – mounted the podium and called for silence. Silence fell, whereupon he demanded that all pay close attention to what he was about to say; there was a solution to the problem, and that stain on the cloak of the Jewish exile had finally been found.

  There was silence in the spacious council chamber, and all those seated there held their breath. If someone had accidentally dropped a stylus, it would have sounded like a thunderclap.

  And the portly man proceeded to address them, saying with a cunning smile, and in a smug voice:

  “According to a royal decree that was issued not long ago at my instigation, any man who within the next thirty days, shall worship any god, bow down to this god and bring before him his prayer and his petition, without first addressing his prayer and his petition to His Majesty King Darius, shall be thrown into the lions’ pit. And my faithful Libyan slave, knowing his master’s anguish and his fervent wish, called me and drew my attention to the fact that this Daniel is failing to comply with the explicit command of the King that I instigated, and he kneels in his house and three times in a day he prays with hands joined to his God, his face turned towards Jerusalem, the ruined capital of the Jews, and the windows of his house are open wide, and anyone can look inside and see him at prayer, this most senior of ministers!

  “So I accompanied my Libyan slave and at the appointed time I watched the house and observed the conduct of Belteshazzar, and indeed it was exactly as my slave told me. I had to check it for myself, since only the testimony of a free man is valid according to the laws of our enlightened kingdom. And now my esteemed colleagues, distinguished ministers and governors of the empire of Babylon, we have no option but to put the God of the Jews to the test, and see if he can indeed rescue his loyal disciple and dauntless servant from the maw of the lions!”

  Loud applause echoed around the high walls of the great council chamber in response to these inspirational words on the part of the satrap from the south, and there was a feeling of relief in the air. All those present turned to one another and exchanged handshakes and hugs and mutual congratulations on the success and good fortune that one of their own parochial and chauvinistic gods had granted them, as a reward for their perseverance and commitment to the sacred objective.

  And it was then that the brazen Abiriuch, a man apparently incapable of dissembling and possessed of stubbornness worthy of a Jew, leapt onto the speaker’s podium and cried:

  “And He, God, will protect him, as he protected his three friends from the flames of the furnace in the time of His Majesty King Nebuchadnezzar! ”

  The words spoken by the young man, although no one was likely to take them seriously or be influenced by them, sowed some confusion among those who were busily exchanging congratulations and handshakes and hugs, and for a moment their resolve seemed to be faltering, but this was a fleeting moment, quickly forgotten in the surge of collective euphoria.

  A delegation was formed, consisting of twenty-one men – nineteen of the most pompous of the satraps and the two ministers, nominally Belteshazzar’s deputies. And the delegation rose, left the hall and made its way to the garden in the heart of the royal palace, where Darius was usually to be found at this time of the day, feeding his favourite goldfish. And sure enough, the august delegation found the King there beside the goldfish pool, surrounded by members of his household and the royal bodyguards. And the delegation asked to be received in urgent audience, and their request was granted. The senior of the two ministers bowed at the King
’s feet and began:

  “Long live King Darius! All the ministers, deputies and satraps, councillors and governors, with one exception, a young man not yet versed in the ways of authority and the dignity of power – have consulted together and resolved to uphold the ordinance of the King and enforce the prohibition issued by the King, according to which, whosoever shall, within thirty days, address a prayer or an entreaty to any god or man other than you, Your Majesty, or without your express permission, shall be cast into the lions’ pit. And we have no doubt that you, Your Majesty, will uphold this prohibition in the letter and in the spirit, since it emanates from you and we look to you, our King, to provide an example to the many populations beneath your sway and to your loyal courtiers, by implementing the laws that you have decreed in your wisdom and the prohibitions that you have promulgated so fearlessly!” Again the speaker bowed down to the ground, almost kissing the lush grass at the King’s feet, as all the members of the royal entourage listened in silence to the words of the bizarre plaintiff.

  Rising to his feet again, the latter resumed:

  “Daniel, otherwise known as Belteshazzar, whom you propose to appoint as governor over all of the kingdom that God has given you, acting as your deputy, despite his knowledge of the commandment emanating from the King, and the strict prohibition that he imposed, forbidding any man to address a plea or offer prayer to any god or man other than the King himself – he goes to his house where the windows of his chamber are open wide, and bows down on his knees before his God, and prays to Him and praises Him as he always has and always will, without regard for the King’s ordinance. You are the one who promulgated this law, and its terms are very clear, and you it was who decreed that anyone infringing it is to be thrown into the lions’ pit. Such is the plain and literal meaning of the law and the prohibition, Your Majesty!”

  The King was grieved at heart and his spirits fell, as his thoughts turned to Daniel, or Belteshazzar, who was very dear to him, and he looked for ways to save him from the malicious conspiracy of his governors and ministers, and until the setting of the sun he was bandying words with the members of the delegation, arguing over every clause of this law and its precise interpretation, and the traditions of the Medes and the Persians. But all his efforts to save Daniel were to no avail, and the ministers and the governors were gaining the upper hand. And when they saw how great was the King’s affection for Daniel the Jew, their malice and their jealousy mounted to a higher pitch than ever, and they said to the elderly King Darius:

  “You should know our Lord the King that there is one immutable rule in the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians: no law that is inscribed by the hand of the King, nor any prohibition sealed by his hand – is ever to be revoked. And not one utterance of the King is to be idly discarded!”

  Then the King ordered that Daniel be brought before him.

  And Abiriuch ran to warn Daniel even before his colleagues had arrived in the royal garden to seek an audience with the King, and rushed into his home, and when the guardsmen on duty detained him, he insisted that he had urgent business with the minister.

  He heard the commotion, and he came out and demanded the young man be released. The guardsmen withdrew, freeing the uninvited guest, who fell on his knees and bowed to the ground at Daniel’s feet; on rising again, he proceeded to tell him:

  “Abiriuch is my name. and this name will not tell you much, perhaps nothing at all! If I may remind you of forgotten things – I am the son of that Chaldean soldier whom you cured when you were still a boy being brought to Babylon with the convoy of exiles, do you remember Sir?” – the young man asked very politely, his troubled eyes fixed on Daniel’s.

  “I remember it well!” he replied with a smile, and a beam of light dispelled the anxiety from the young man’s eyes, replacing it with a spark of hope.

  “That is not the issue that brought me here, although I should be glad to discuss it with you at another time!”

  And the young man continued, in a more even tone:

  “My father passed away with your name on his lips, and for that reason he did not suffer; indeed, you could say he was happy to leave this world for the next. When my uncle, my mother’s brother, secured my promotion to the rank of satrap-designate, my father summoned me, on his death-bed, and told me:

  ‘Abiriuch my son, remember the words that I say to you now! In the royal palace there resides a man whose Chaldean name is Belteshazzar, and his Hebrew name Daniel, and as I have told you before, he is the one who cured my infirmity, a feat beyond the ability of human medicine, and rescued me from fearful pain, and he is a man of great spiritual strength, to whom the gods lend their grace. Any King who honours him as he should and heeds his advice, will be strengthened and advanced, his realm will prosper and his government flourish, and any ruler who spurns him and rejects his advice out of hand, will be doomed. And you, in the prestigious post that you have attained, should serve our King with loyalty and devotion, and always stand at the right hand of Belteshazzar, or Daniel, and honour him in everything and observe his commandments, even if he does not address them to you directly. Be even more faithful to him than you are to the King himself. For everything that you do out of respect for the truth and loyalty to this holy man – God will repay you sevenfold, and for everything that is not done out of respect and loyalty to him, he will punish you in the same measure!’” The young man paused and studied the expression on his face before continuing:

  “And now all the governors and the satraps and the two ministers who are supposed to be your deputies, have consulted together and they are looking for an excuse to topple you! For a long time they have been searching in vain for such an excuse, and now they have discovered that you are kneeling down and praying to your God, with the windows of your house open, for all to see, and this in contravention of the explicit command of King Darius, whereby no man may address prayer or entreaty to any god or man other than the King himself, and anyone breaking this law shall be thrown into the lions’ pit.” Again the young man peered awkwardly into the other’s face and realised, to his amazement, that his expression was quite unchanged. And he went on to say, with fervour, pretending more confidence than he really felt:

  “I have not the slightest doubt, Sir, that your God, the High and the Almighty, will save you from the jaws of the lions, as he saved your friends from the flames of the furnace. And my only reason in coming here is to make your close acquaintance, and hear your voice and to express my deep admiration, and my belief that in everything you do you will succeed, always and for ever.”

  Again the young man bowed before him and before he could be stopped, kissed his feet. Standing up, he blessed him and turned to go. And he responded to him without knowing it was he who spoke, and in his own voice:

  “My God will surely save me, and you – trust in Him!”

  For a brief moment, astonishment flashed in the young man’s dark eyes, the next moment – he was gone.

  Nejeen heard the commotion as the guardsmen chased Abiriuch, and was on her way to the porch when she heard the youth’s agitated voice, and stopped to listen. As the satrap disappeared from view, she was standing by her husband’s side, saying quietly, in her way, looking into his eyes with love undiluted:

  “I heard it all. How pitiable they are!” She wound her arms around his neck and added: “I shall always be wherever you are! And as you are an inseparable part of your God, so I am an inseparable part of you! Should I call the children?” she asked.

  “No!” he said.

  And she knew his confidence had been restored to him, and his faith was firm, and he clearly knew what she knew with the same clarity, that God was with him.

  As evening fell, the King’s envoy arrived, a tall man of imposing appearance, in gold helmet and gold breastplate and accompanied by three guardsmen, armed from head to foot. And he called on him to accompany him at the King’s command, as he stood accused of a serious offence – for which the punishment was death in
the lions’ pit.

  He received the announcement with a natural ease and composure that baffled the envoy and his escorts in equal measure.

  “Let’s be on our way!” he said, bidding farewell to no one, and still wearing his domestic attire and footwear.

  The Pit Of Lions

  …A few days after Succoth he rode with his father along the twisting shepherds’ paths on the approach to Ein-Gedi. The sun had just emerged from its sheath, and the limpid air sparkled with a lustre reflecting both tenderness and solemnity, and the light balm born aloft by the breeze filled the heart with the joy that is unique to Jerusalem and Judah, the joy of holiness.

  The horses ambled along at an easy pace, making steady progress.

  They passed by a grove of tall holm-oak trees, and far away they could hear the silky murmur of the bubbling streams of Ein-Gedi. And it was not long before they caught sight of the first houses of the village of Hephtzi-Bah, at the foot of the Jerusalem hills – white buildings winking at them through the trees.

  Early-rising farmers greeted them with blessings as they drove their bleating sheep and goats from their pens.

  They went down to the house of Eleazar Ben Berechiah, whose son served in his father’s office, and found him sitting with his three young sons, two daughters, wife and mother-in-law, at the breakfast table.

  They all rose to meet them, and the minister Naimel was quick to reassure them, saying they were on their way to the summit of Ein-Gedi, and Ephraim son of Eleazar was in good health, and if Eleazar had no objection – they would leave their horses in his stable.

  The Berechiah family welcomed the visit, and above all were relieved to hear that their son Ephraim was well, and they gladly took it on themselves to guard the horses until their return.