Ben-Hur; a tale of the Christ

by Lew Wallace

  CHAPTER V

  The vivacious Greek broke forth in expressions of joy andcongratulations; after which the Egyptian said, with characteristicgravity:

  "I salute you, my brother. You have suffered much, and I rejoicein your triumph. If you are both pleased to hear me, I will nowtell you who I am, and how I came to be called. Wait for me amoment."

  He went out and tended the camels; coming back, he resumed his seat.

  "Your words, brethren, were of the Spirit," he said, in commencement;"and the Spirit gives me to understand them. You each spoke particularlyof your countries; in that there was a great object, which I will explain;but to make the interpretation complete, let me first speak of myself andmy people. I am Balthasar the Egyptian."

  The last words were spoken quietly, but with so much dignity thatboth listeners bowed to the speaker.

  "There are many distinctions I might claim for my race," he continued;"but I will content myself with one. History began with us. We were thefirst to perpetuate events by records kept. So we have no traditions;and instead of poetry, we offer you certainty. On the facades ofpalaces and temples, on obelisks, on the inner walls of tombs,we wrote the names of our kings, and what they did; and to thedelicate papyri we intrusted the wisdom of our philosophers andthe secrets of our religion--all the secrets but one, whereof Iwill presently speak. Older than the Vedas of Para-Brahm or theUp-Angas of Vyasa, O Melchior; older than the songs of Homer orthe metaphysics of Plato, O my Gaspar; older than the sacredbooks or kings of the people of China, or those of Siddartha,son of the beautiful Maya; older than the Genesis of Mosche theHebrew--oldest of human records are the writings of Menes, ourfirst king." Pausing an instant, he fixed his large eves kindlyupon the Greek, saying, "In the youth of Hellas, who, O Gaspar,were the teachers of her teachers?"

  The Greek bowed, smiling.

  "By those records," Balthasar continued, "we know that when thefathers came from the far East, from the region of the birth of thethree sacred rivers, from the centre of the earth--the Old Iran ofwhich you spoke, O Melchior--came bringing with them the historyof the world before the Flood, and of the Flood itself, as givento the Aryans by the sons of Noah, they taught God, the Creatorand the Beginning, and the Soul, deathless as God. When the dutywhich calls us now is happily done, if you choose to go with me,I will show you the sacred library of our priesthood; among others,the Book of the Dead, in which is the ritual to be observed by thesoul after Death has despatched it on its journey to judgment.The ideas--God and the Immortal Soul--were borne to Mizraim overthe desert, and by him to the banks of the Nile. They were thenin their purity, easy of understanding, as what God intends forour happiness always is; so, also, was the first worship--a songand a prayer natural to a soul joyous, hopeful, and in love withits Maker."

  Here the Greek threw up his hands, exclaiming, "Oh! the lightdeepens within me!"

  "And in me!" said the Hindoo, with equal fervor.

  The Egyptian regarded them benignantly, then went on, saying,"Religion is merely the law which binds man to his Creator:in purity it has but these elements--God, the Soul, and theirMutual Recognition; out of which, when put in practise,spring Worship, Love, and Reward. This law, like all others ofdivine origin--like that, for instance, which binds the earthto the sun--was perfected in the beginning by its Author. Such,my brothers, was the religion of the first family; such was thereligion of our father Mizraim, who could not have been blind tothe formula of creation, nowhere so discernible as in the firstfaith and the earliest worship. Perfection is God; simplicity isperfection. The curse of curses is that men will not let truthslike these alone."

  He stopped, as if considering in what manner to continue.

  "Many nations have loved the sweet waters of the Nile," he saidnext; "the Ethiopian, the Pali-Putra, the Hebrew, the Assyrian,the Persian, the Macedonian, the Roman--of whom all, except theHebrew, have at one time or another been its masters. So muchcoming and going of peoples corrupted the old Mizraimic faith.The Valley of Palms became a Valley of Gods. The Supreme One wasdivided into eight, each personating a creative principle in nature,with Ammon-Re at the head. Then Isis and Osiris, and their circle,representing water, fire, air, and other forces, were invented.Still the multiplication went on until we had another order,suggested by human qualities, such as strength, knowledge, love,and the like."

  "In all which there was the old folly!" cried the Greek,impulsively. "Only the things out of reach remain as theycame to us."

  The Egyptian bowed, and proceeded:

  "Yet a little further, O my brethren, a little further, before Icome to myself. What we go to will seem all the holier of comparisonwith what is and has been. The records show that Mizraim found theNile in possession of the Ethiopians, who were spread thence throughthe African desert; a people of rich, fantastic genius, wholly givento the worship of nature. The Poetic Persian sacrificed to the sun,as the completest image of Ormuzd, his God; the devout children ofthe far East carved their deities out of wood and ivory; but theEthiopian, without writing, without books, without mechanicalfaculty of any kind, quieted his soul by the worship of animals,birds, and insects, holding the cat sacred to Re, the bull toIsis, the beetle to Pthah. A long struggle against their rudefaith ended in its adoption as the religion of the new empire.Then rose the mighty monuments that cumber the river-bank and thedesert--obelisk, labyrinth, pyramid, and tomb of king, blent withtomb of crocodile. Into such deep debasement, O brethren, the sonsof the Aryan fell!"

  Here, for the first time, the calmness of the Egyptian forsookhim: though his countenance remained impassive, his voice gaveway.

  "Do not too much despise my countrymen," he began again. "They didnot all forget God. I said awhile ago, you may remember, that topapyri we intrusted all the secrets of our religion except one;of that I will now tell you. We had as king once a certainPharaoh, who lent himself to all manner of changes and additions.To establish the new system, he strove to drive the old entirelyout of mind. The Hebrews then dwelt with us as slaves. They clungto their God; and when the persecution became intolerable, theywere delivered in a manner never to be forgotten. I speak fromthe records now. Mosche, himself a Hebrew, came to the palace,and demanded permission for the slaves, then millions in number,to leave the country. The demand was in the name of the Lord Godof Israel. Pharaoh refused. Hear what followed. First, all thewater, that in the lakes and rivers, like that in the wells andvessels, turned to blood. Yet the monarch refused. Then frogs cameup and covered all the land. Still he was firm. Then Mosche threwashes in the air, and a plague attacked the Egyptians. Next, all thecattle, except of the Hebrews, were struck dead. Locusts devouredthe green things of the valley. At noon the day was turned into adarkness so thick that lamps would not burn. Finally, in the nightall the first-born of the Egyptians died; not even Pharaoh's escaped.Then he yielded. But when the Hebrews were gone he followed themwith his army. At the last moment the sea was divided, so that thefugitives passed it dry-shod. When the pursuers drove in after them,the waves rushed back and drowned horse, foot, charioteers, and king.You spoke of revelation, my Gaspar--"

  The blue eyes of the Greek sparkled.

  "I had the story from the Jew," he cried. "You confirm it,O Balthasar!"

  "Yes, but through me Egypt speaks, not Mosche. I interpret themarbles. The priests of that time wrote in their way what theywitnessed, and the revelation has lived. So I come to the oneunrecorded secret. In my country, brethren, we have, from theday of the unfortunate Pharaoh, always had two religions--oneprivate, the other public; one of many gods, practised by thepeople; the other of one God, cherished only by the priesthood.Rejoice with me, O brothers! All the trampling by the many nations,all the harrowing by kings, all the inventions of enemies, all thechanges of time, have been in vain. Like a seed under the mountainswaiting its hour, the glorious Truth has lived; and this--this isits day!"

  The wasted frame of the Hindoo trembled with delight, and theGreek cried aloud,

  "It seems to me the very d
esert is singing."

  From a gurglet of water near-by the Egyptian took a draught,and proceeded:

  "I was born at Alexandria, a prince and a priest, and had theeducation usual to my class. But very early I became discontented.Part of the faith imposed was that after death upon the destructionof the body, the soul at once began its former progression fromthe lowest up to humanity, the highest and last existence; and thatwithout reference to conduct in the mortal life. When I heard of thePersian's Realm of Light, his Paradise across the bridge Chinevat,where only the good go, the thought haunted me; insomuch that inthe day, as in the night, I brooded over the comparative ideasEternal Transmigration and Eternal Life in Heaven. If, as myteacher taught, God was just, why was there no distinctionbetween the good and the bad? At length it became clear tome, a certainty, a corollary of the law to which I reducedpure religion, that death was only the point of separation atwhich the wicked are left or lost, and the faithful rise to ahigher life; not the nirvana of Buddha, or the negative rest ofBrahma, O Melchior; nor the better condition in hell, which is allof Heaven allowed by the Olympic faith, O Gaspar; but life--lifeactive, joyous, everlasting--LIFE WITH GOD! The discovery led toanother inquiry. Why should the Truth be longer kept a secret forthe selfish solace of the priesthood? The reason for the suppressionwas gone. Philosophy had at least brought us toleration. In Egypt wehad Rome instead of Rameses. One day, in the Brucheium, the mostsplendid and crowded quarter of Alexandria, I arose and preached.The East and West contributed to my audience. Students going tothe Library, priests from the Serapeion, idlers from the Museum,patrons of the race-course, countrymen from the Rhacotis--amultitude--stopped to hear me. I preached God, the Soul, Right andWrong, and Heaven, the reward of a virtuous life. You, O Melchior,were stoned; my auditors first wondered, then laughed. I triedagain; they pelted me with epigrams, covered my God with ridicule,and darkened my Heaven with mockery. Not to linger needlessly,I fell before them."

  The Hindoo here drew a long sigh, as he said, "The enemy of manis man, my brother."

  Balthasar lapsed into silence.

  "I gave much thought to finding the cause of my failure, and atlast succeeded," he said, upon beginning again. "Up the river,a day's journey from the city, there is a village of herdsmen andgardeners. I took a boat and went there. In the evening I calledthe people together, men and women, the poorest of the poor.I preached to them exactly as I had preached in the Brucheium.They did not laugh. Next evening I spoke again, and they believedand rejoiced, and carried the news abroad. At the third meetinga society was formed for prayer. I returned to the city then.Drifting down the river, under the stars, which never seemed sobright and so near, I evolved this lesson: To begin a reform,go not into the places of the great and rich; go rather to thosewhose cups of happiness are empty--to the poor and humble. And thenI laid a plan and devoted my life. As a first step, I secured myvast property, so that the income would be certain, and always atcall for the relief of the suffering. From that day, O brethren,I travelled up and down the Nile, in the villages, and to all thetribes, preaching One God, a righteous life, and reward in Heaven.I have done good--it does not become me to say how much. I alsoknow that part of the world to be ripe for the reception of Himwe go to find."

  A flush suffused the swarthy cheek of the speaker; but he overcamethe feeling, and continued:

  "The years so given, O my brothers, were troubled by one thought--WhenI was gone, what would become of the cause I had started? Was it toend with me? I had dreamed many times of organization as a fittingcrown for my work. To hide nothing from you, I had tried to effectit, and failed. Brethren, the world is now in the condition that,to restore the old Mizraimic faith, the reformer must have a morethan human sanction; he must not merely come in God's name, he musthave the proofs subject to his word; he must demonstrate all he says,even God. So preoccupied is the mind with myths and systems; so muchdo false deities crowd every place--earth, air, sky; so have theybecome of everything a part, that return to the first religion canonly be along bloody paths, through fields of persecution; that isto say, the converts must be willing to die rather than recant.And who in this age can carry the faith of men to such a pointbut God himself? To redeem the race--I do not mean to destroyit--to REDEEM the race, he must make himself once more manifest;HE MUST COME IN PERSON."

  Intense emotion seized the three.

  "Are we not going to find him?" exclaimed the Greek.

  "You understand why I failed in the attempt to organize," said theEgyptian, when the spell was past. "I had not the sanction. To knowthat my work must be lost made me intolerably wretched. I believedin prayer, and to make my appeals pure and strong, like you,my brethren, I went out of the beaten ways, I went where manhad not been, where only God was. Above the fifth cataract,above the meeting of rivers in Sennar, up the Bahr el Abiad,into the far unknown of Africa, I went. There, in the morning,a mountain blue as the sky flings a cooling shadow wide over thewestern desert, and, with its cascades of melted snow, feeds abroad lake nestling at its base on the east. The lake is themother of the great river. For a year and more the mountain gaveme a home. The fruit of the palm fed my body, prayer my spirit.One night I walked in the orchard close by the little sea. 'The worldis dying. When wilt thou come? Why may I not see the redemption,O God?' So I prayed. The glassy water was sparkling with stars.One of them seemed to leave its place, and rise to the surface,where it became a brilliancy burning to the eyes. Then it movedtowards me, and stood over my head, apparently in hand's reach.I fell down and hid my face. A voice, not of the earth, said,'Thy good works have conquered. Blessed art thou, O son of Mizraim!The redemption cometh. With two others, from the remotenesses ofthe world, thou shalt see the Saviour, and testify for him. In themorning arise, and go meet them. And when ye have all come to theholy city of Jerusalem, ask of the people, Where is he that is bornKing of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East and aresent to worship him. Put all thy trust in the Spirit which willguide thee.'

  "And the light became an inward illumination not to be doubted,and has stayed with me, a governor and a guide. It led me down theriver to Memphis, where I made ready for the desert. I bought mycamel, and came hither without rest, by way of Suez and Kufileh,and up through the lands of Moab and Ammon. God is with us, O mybrethren!"

  He paused, and thereupon, with a prompting not their own, they allarose, and looked at each other.

  "I said there was a purpose in the particularity with which wedescribed our people and their histories," so the Egyptianproceeded. "He we go to find was called 'King of the Jews;'by that name we are bidden to ask for him. But, now that wehave met, and heard from each other, we may know him to bethe Redeemer, not of the Jews alone, but of all the nationsof the earth. The patriarch who survived the Flood had with himthree sons, and their families, by whom the world was repeopled.From the old Aryana-Vaejo, the well-remembered Region of Delight inthe heart of Asia, they parted. India and the far East received thechildren of the first; the descendant of the youngest, through theNorth, streamed into Europe; those of the second overflowed thedeserts about the Red Sea, passing into Africa; and though mostof the latter are yet dwellers in shifting tents, some of thembecame builders along the Nile."

  By a simultaneous impulse the three joined hands.

  "Could anything be more divinely ordered?" Balthasar continued."When we have found the Lord, the brothers, and all the generationsthat have succeeded them, will kneel to him in homage with us. Andwhen we part to go our separate ways, the world will have learneda new lesson--that Heaven may be won, not by the sword, not byhuman wisdom, but by Faith, Love, and Good Works."

  There was silence, broken by sighs and sanctified with tears;for the joy that filled them might not be stayed. It was theunspeakable joy of souls on the shores of the River of Life,resting with the Redeemed in God's presence.

  Presently their hands fell apart, and together they went out ofthe tent. The desert was still as the sky. The sun was sinkingfast. The camels slept.

>   A little while after, the tent was struck, and, with the remains ofthe repast, restored to the cot; then the friends mounted, and setout single file, led by the Egyptian. Their course was due west,into the chilly night. The camels swung forward in steady trot,keeping the line and the intervals so exactly that those followingseemed to tread in the tracks of the leader. The riders spoke notonce.

  By-and-by the moon came up. And as the three tall white figures sped,with soundless tread, through the opalescent light, they appeared likespecters flying from hateful shadows. Suddenly, in the air beforethem, not farther up than a low hill-top flared a lambent flame;as they looked at it, the apparition contracted into a focus ofdazzling lustre. Their hearts beat fast; their souls thrilled;and they shouted as with one voice, "The Star! the Star! God iswith us!"