CHAPTER V
THE JEWS OF LONG AGO
"May we go to Levi's, papa dear?" asked Esther, when the evening meal was over and the children were gathered with their parents on the housetop. "Mamma said she was willing, but we must ask you."
"I think it would be very pleasant for you, and I know Levi and Rebecca like to have you there. Yes, you may go."
"I knew you would say yes. And now we want to ask you something else. Will you tell us some stories of long ago, before our city was destroyed?"
"I suppose you would like best to hear about the children, Esther?"
"Of course, papa."
"They were very happy. Their parents were as wise and tender in caring for them as they are to-day.
"When they were yet quite young, they began to study the books of wisdom of our people. They went to school every day. There was one saying they heard over and over again. It was this, 'Be not forgetful to entertain strangers.'
"'Our houses are not for us alone,' their parents said, and taught them this beautiful saying, 'Let thy house be wide open, and let the poor be the children of the house.'
"There were many pilgrim feasts in those days. People came to Jerusalem to worship in the temple and to take part in the sacred festivals. Yet it is said that not one of these pilgrims ever felt the need of entertainment. The houses were open for all.
"Only think of it! It was a common thing to walk along the street and see curtains hanging in front of the doors. This was a sign that there was still room for guests. Some people went so far as to say, 'There should be four doors to every house. Then travellers could be welcomed from every direction.'"
"What kind of houses did the people live in?" asked Solomon.
"There were small cottages where the poor lived, for there were some, of course, who did not have much of this world's goods. Then there were the houses of the middle class. These were built of brick or stone. And besides these there were the elegant marble homes of the rich, built around beautiful courtyards.
"The houses had flat roofs paved with stone or brick. They were made to slant down a little, so as to let the rain-water run off through pipes into the cistern below. These cisterns were needed in the old days just as much as now, on account of the long months when no rain fell and the country became so dry.
"A railing was built around each housetop. In this way it was made into a comfortable resting-place for the family and their friends. It was cool and quiet."
"We follow the same fashion," said Esther.
"Yes, but in the old times I suppose it was used even more than now. The older people often went up there to pray. Meetings were sometimes held there. It was also a good place to watch for the enemy.
"The rich people often had wide and costly stairs built up to the roof from the street. You can imagine the boys and girls running over these stairs in a game of chase or hide-and-seek."
"How did the people of two thousand years ago furnish their houses?" asked Miriam.
"Very much as we do now. They had couches, chairs and tables, and there were often many soft cushions for the head and arms. The people used candlesticks and lamps, exactly as we do.
"But I promised to talk most about the children. They took part with their parents in family prayer every night and morning. They washed and prayed before every meal. After it, they gave thanks to God for his kindness to them. As each Sabbath came around, the children looked forward to it as though they were going to welcome a king. It was a time of rest and joy.
"When the father came home on the eve of the holy day, he found the house trimmed up as though for a feast. The Sabbath lamp was lighted. The table was spread with the richest feast the family could afford. Before doing anything else, the father blessed each child with the blessing of Israel. The little ones felt that something beautiful and holy was about to take place.
"They were quite willing to give up their play for the next day. They would have something better."
"You have taught us all these things, papa," said Esther.
"I know it, my dear. But I tell them again so that you may see we have not changed much since the old days.
"The children looked forward to the feast-days with joyful delight. It is hard to say which they liked best."
"They must have loved the Feast of the Dedication," said Miriam.
"Why, Miriam?"
"On account of the many candles. It is so pleasant to watch a great number of them burning at once."
"Yes, children always love lights and brightness. The first evening of the feast, a candle was lighted for each one in the house. The second evening, two were lighted, and so on to the eighth night."
"But the Feast of Esther brings more sport," said Solomon.
"You are just like every other boy, Solomon. You like noise and fun," said his father.
"But, think a moment, children. Must not the Feast of the Passover have been the greatest one of all?"
"It was then that the father repeated the whole history of the Children of Israel to his listening children. They loved to hear it. It seemed to them as though they were really following the Chosen People in their wanderings. They looked upon Moses receiving the commandments from Heaven. As they shut their eyes, they saw in their minds the waters of the Red Sea parting to let the Children of Israel pass across in safety. Then, again coming together, the waves closed over their enemies and destroyed them."
"Father, you tell us the stories as well as any one possibly could," said Solomon.
"I do my best, Solomon. But in the olden days the children were brought nearer to heaven by their visits to the temple.
"Think of that glorious building and its walls shining with gold! It seems as though I could see the throng of white-robed priests and hear the blasts they sounded on their silver trumpets.
"Listen! A chant from the Psalms rings through the great building. It sounds like heavenly voices." Esther's father closed his eyes and became silent. The children were filled with awe as they sat quietly beside him.
"I wish I could have lived in the long ago," thought Esther. "The temple must have seemed like a part of heaven brought to earth."
"Now we will repeat the night prayer and go to rest," said the father.
CHAPTER VI
QUEER SIGHTS
"Would you like to go shopping with me?" said Esther's mother, the next afternoon. "I must buy some things you children will need to carry with you on your visit."
Esther and Miriam jumped up from their play. They were always ready to go shopping. They liked to see the pretty things in the shops.
Esther's mother had made herself ready for her walk by fastening a bright red shawl over her head. She never wore a hat or a bonnet, as do her American sisters.
"We will go to the market first," she told the children. "I wish to buy some fruit."
It was quite a long walk, but there was so much to see on the way, Esther and Miriam did not think of that.
"Do see that drove of donkeys," exclaimed their mother, after they had entered one of the principal streets. "They are laden with goatskins filled with water, I suppose. Listen, children! Their Arab driver is calling to them."
"O-ar! o-ar! derak! derak!" sounded the driver's voice.
A small boy running down a byway mimicked the Arab.
"O-ar! o-ar! derak! derak!"
"See that solemn old camel," said Esther. "He is laden with stones. They must be very heavy. Poor old fellow! I don't blame him for growling at his master for trying to hurry him up."
"His growl rattles so, it seems to come from his inmost stomach," said the mother, laughingly.
"Baksheesh! baksheesh!" yelled a beggar sitting cross-legged against the wall of a house. The man was ragged and dirty. He held a tin pail before him. Kind-hearted people had dropped money, fruit, and vegetables into it as they passed by.
"There are many poor people of our own faith here in the city," said Esther's mother, as they went on their way. "They really suffer for lack of food. That man is a Turk. It may be that he is really as poor as he looks, and needs all the help he can get. But it is quite possible he has a comfortable home, and only begs because it is an easy way of getting a living."
"Look, mamma, at that woman of Bethlehem," said Miriam. "I know her by the dress."
Miriam pointed to the dark blue robe. Stripes of bright red, mixed with gold, reached down the sides. The sleeves were large and long, and trimmed in the same way. The woman's white veil hung down from a tall cap.
"How heavy her cap must be," said Esther. "It is like a crown."
"All the coins she owns are sewed on her cap," answered the mother. "It tells every one just how rich she is."
"I don't see how she does her work if she wears that robe all the time," said Miriam. "The sleeves are so large, I should think they must be in the way."
"She probably ties them together behind her. I have been told that is the way. She can use them as pockets."
"I don't see how men ever get used to carrying such big loads," said Esther.
She pointed to two porters who were bent nearly double. Their loads were strapped upon cushions fastened on their backs, and held in place by straps around their heads.
"Each of those men must have almost as much of a load as a camel carries," said Esther's mother. "It seems almost impossible, but it is true. It is a hard life, a very hard life."
While she was speaking they entered the market. The eyes of the little girls were kept busy looking at the many different things of interest.
There were Arabs in charge of camels laden with melons, grapes and figs. There were women selling vegetables, and at the same time taking care of their babies. There were patient donkeys longing to be freed from their loads of goods which their masters were trying to sell.
"Mamma, mamma!" whispered Esther. "There is a baby gazelle in the basket on that woman's head. It is even smaller than the one I saw at Rebecca's. I suppose she is trying to sell the little thing."
"Look at the woman beside her," said Miriam. "She looks very tired. I suppose she has walked several miles from her own village with her baskets of fruit. Her baby boy sits on her shoulders, crowing and laughing at every one who passes by."
"Come, children. We will go now to some shops where I must buy things not sold here," said Esther's mother.
She led the way out of the market and they entered a crowded street. There were Turks in their flowing robes, Arabs, Armenians, Syrians, and Jews. Almost all were gaily dressed, and many of them were handsome. The Arabs were either barefooted, or else they wore red or yellow slippers.
"They lift their feet as though they were passing over a desert," said Esther to Miriam, as they went by some Arabs.
"I should think they would suffer from the heat," answered her sister. "Their heads look so big, I'm sure they have two or three caps under their turbans."
"Perhaps they think the more clothing they wear, the better the heat will be kept out," said their mother, who heard what they were talking about.
"Here is the shop I was looking for. We will go in."
She led the way into a sort of cave cut into the soft rock. It was a dark, dingy little place. There were shelves around the sides of it. In the middle was a sort of counter, where the storekeeper sat with his goods around him.
As Esther's mother entered, he slowly took his pipe from his mouth and stopped his gossiping with a friend who sat outside on the pavement. He was in no hurry, however. He acted more like a king on his throne than a trader who had to sell cloth for a living.
"Yellow plush, is it?" he asked. "Ah! I have some beautiful, beautiful. It is the very thing."
But his customer was not easily satisfied, and after she had finally picked out the piece she wished, there was a long talk about the price. Both were satisfied at last. The plush was cut off and wrapped up, and the storekeeper was left to his own pleasure.
Esther's mother still had some errands to do, so they visited several other stores. They were not all in caves, however, but most of them were small and dark.
At last, everything needed was purchased and the lady and children started homeward.
"Look at the sky," said Esther. "Isn't it beautiful to-night?"
The sun was almost setting. The clouds were turning a rosy red. They were so bright that the city itself seemed to share in their glory.
"Jerusalem the Blessed!" said Miriam, in a low voice.
"There is papa. We are late about getting home and so is he," said Esther. "Now we can have his company."
Her father had already seen his wife and the girls, and was smiling at them.
It was a warm evening, yet he wore his fur-trimmed, round velvet hat over the tight-fitting cap that never left his head in the daytime. A long lock of hair hung down on each side of his face, as it always did after he was dressed for the day.