Nehe; a tale of the times of Artaxerxes

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Preface

The author of Nehe gives this story to the public with the hope that its readers may find the same pleasure that she found in living over the scenes and events which took place in Persia and Judea twenty-four hundred years ago.

The life of the people, the times and the places of that far-away period, were made very real to her as she studied the pages of Herodotus, Xenophon, Fergusson, Rawlinson, and many other writers, but above all the wonderful diary of the hero of the story himself, the brave, impulsive, wise young Jewish general, Nehemiah.

Many times she found conflicting statements among writers regarded as authorities, and in such cases she chose those supported by the greater weight of evidence. So closely has she tried to follow the life as lived by these people that, although Nehe is a story 7

PREFACE.

of the imagination, after all it is almost all true, and it is sent forth with the earnest wish that it may lead others to study and enjoy the marvellous discoveries that are being constantly brought to light by investigators in those Eastern lands.

Illustrations

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‘ Bird, sing me the song of my fortune ’ ” Frontispiece 1 8 •-

“ Nehe lifted the precious vessel and held it under the

lamp” 44 ^

Nehe, advancing, knelt at his feet, holding up the golden cup, now filled with delicious wine ” . . . .105

^ My lord, my lord ! ’ ” 183 ''

‘^^You know my mother!’ she gasped. ‘My mother!

And I am of the lineage of David I ’ ” . . . 277

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NEHE.

A Tale of the Times of Artaxerxes.

Chapter 1

iHE day had been hot and sultry, but as dark

JL ness fell over the plains of Persia, a pitying breeze sprang up in the mountains of Luristan, and, gliding down their rugged sides, hidden now under a wealth of rhododendron and wild almond blossoms, it had dipped its wings in the clear, cool waters of the river Choaspes.

Then, sweeping over the Susianian plains, through orchards of peach and apple, orange and lemon trees, it caught all the fragrance of their pink and white blossoms, and, mingling them in one delicious odor, was carrying its cool sweetness to the inhabitants of Susa, — Susa, city of lilies, home and capital of the great king, Artaxerxes Longimanus.

Very fair the city looked, as it shone in the last rays of the setting sun, to a body of travellers whose

II Nehe

caravan was slowly moving through the orchards and wheat fields toward it. Its huge brick walls, towering fifty feet in the air, hid the homes of the poorer citizens; but they were broken down in many places, and the city, pouring through their sides, had spread its handsome red and pink and buff brick houses for many miles around, and now these, surrounded by lovely gardens, seemed to the approaching travellers to be only a sample of the beauty and grandeur the city contained.

As the travellers neared the entrance to Susa, more than once a cry of admiration escaped them. Early in the afternoon they had seen what seemed to be a beautiful cloud hovering over the city ; but as they came nearer, it took form and shape, until the slanting rays of the sinking sun brought out in all its magnificence the palace and treasure house, fortress and home, of the richest and most powerful ruler in the world, — ** Artaxerxes, King of Kings,” as he proudly emblazoned himself in imperishable letters on the palace gates, “ Son of Darius, Lord of Lords, Ruler of the Earth and Sea.”

How wonderfully magnificent the palace was, as it lifted itself from the flower-decked plain below into the sunset clouds two hundred feet above! It looked as if it had stolen from them their beautiful tints, and was holding them prisoned on its lofty columns, its wide porticoes, its massive walls; for crimson and gold and purple, violet, orange, and blue, — all the colors the mighty sun can paint, when he hangs his most gorgeous tapestries against the western sky, — were here on this building, the wonder of the ages, Shushan the palace.

As the caravan plodded along, one of the travellers, who was riding a handsome horse, turned to a sad-faced man who rode beside him, half supporting in his arms a clinging, childish figure.

“ It is no wonder,” said the first, addressing the second, “ that the great Darius chose this lovely spot on which to build himself a city, where he could find security and rest. Methinks had he searched the world over he would not have found a place more pleasant to the eye.”

“ It is very beautiful, my Lord Asshur,” the traveller answered. “ Know you if King Artaxerxes is there now } ”

“Yes; I questioned the guards at the mountain pass as we came through, and they told me the king, with his court, had taken up his residence there for the remainder of the year, and to-morrow he will receive tribute in yon palace, Have you brought aught with you ? ”

NEHE.

“ I have this ass I am leading,” the traveller answered. “ It is snow-white, without spot or blemish, such as our own kings once rode upon. I have trained it myself, and know it is gentle, and yet speedy enough for the use of a courier of the king.”

“ It is a fitting present,” Asshur said, turning to look at the animal, which was pacing along beside the camel the traveller was riding. “ The king himself may ride it, on some hunting expedition.” And he gazed again approvingly at the ass.

Asshur was a tall, dark man, dressed in the Persian fashion, and the traveller recognized in him the familiar figure of a tribute-gatherer of the king. He had a kindly face, and as he glanced at the man riding beside him, tenderly holding the child, his look softened, and he said : —

“You have come a long distance, have you not, my friend ? I remember your camel joined my caravan at the head of the desert. Have you friends in Susa.? Know you where you will rest to-night.? The child seems very weary.”

“ He is weary,” the traveller replied, “ and we are strangers in Susa. It is to make petition of the king I have come hither.”

“ Then you shall go with us,” a young man cried.

who was riding beside the tribute-gatherer. “ Come, Asshur, there is plenty of room in the palace for the boy and his father. Ever since I joined you at the mountain pass, the little lad has been laying siege to my heart with his gentle words and laughing eyes.”

“Your heart is never very hard to take, is it, Adna, whether maid or child lay siege to it ” Asshur laughed. “ But if thy master Nehe does not complain, I shall not, and the travellers can enter the palace with my escort.”

“That settles it, then,” Adna cried, his handsome face glowing with pleasure. “ You can remain in the garden when we have entered the city, until I make provision for you within the palace walls. But have no fear; there is room and to spare, even when the fortress holds its thousands and tens of thousands, as it will to-night.”

“ Is there so great a company, then ” Asshur asked, turning to the young man.

“ Indeed there is,” he answered. “ Not only will the king receive tribute to-morrow, but he will also receive ambassadors from Greece, who have come to arrange a peace for Egypt. But I shall make room for you and the child,” he added, again turning to the stranger, “in my own chamber.”

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NEHE.

“ I thank you many times,” the traveller responded. “ Surely we shall be well provided for.”

And he looked gratefully at the graceful young rider, whose rich coat of burnished mail showed he belonged to the king’s own household ; and the shadow lifted from his saddened face as they rode on. Just as the sun dropped out of sight he passed, with the caravan, over the moat and through the gate of the outer wall that encircled the palace. Here, instructed by Adna, he dismounted, and awaited a summons into the palace itself.

As the night fell, another inmate of the palace had come down into the stillness and sweetness of the garden. He was a young man, and as he passed down the staircase whose gentle descent gleamed like a river of polished silver in the light of the many torches that the torch-bearers were already holding, the scarlet-kilted soldiers standing guard had lowered their long spears respectfully, and forbore to challenge him, for they recognized, even in that light, that he was no less a personage than Nehe, the cup-bearer and favorite of the king.

At first he had strolled idly among the lily-beds, stopping sometimes to break off a tall, white flower, or to glance up at the palace that towered above him in the moonlight. Snatches of a sweet, plaintive song came from the harem garden, that nestled against the palace walls, and Nehe stopped occasionally to listen, as the notes floated out on the night air, and he smiled, recognizing the clear, girlish voice as that of Lydia, his mother’s own handmaiden.

The silken curtains of the banqueting-rooms of the palace had been looped back, and as the lights in the large hanging lamps were lit, the buildings glowed with light and color. Afar across the plains, answering gleams shot up from the mountain height, and Nehe sighed as he saw them. He knew they came from the altars lit by the faithful Persian priests high on the mountain tops, and he wondered why this people should be so much more faithful to the worship of their god than his own had been. With a slight gesture of impatience he turned his back on the palace and mountain, and walked farther down into the garden, until he reached a clump of acacia trees that shut him from view. The darkness hid the clusters of pink blossoms that were softly swaying among the trees’ feathery foliage, but their sweetness betrayed them.

Here Nehe stopped, drawing in deep breaths and smiling up at the flowers in the shadows. He seemed a fitting inhabitant of that fair garden as he stood there. The moonlight sifting through the i8

NEHE.

acacias’ plumes showed an uplifted, beautiful, but almost boyish face, crowned with clustering black curls, and bound around with a fillet of gold, set with a single glittering stone that shone like a star in the moonlight. His dress was a white silk robe, so closely fitting about the neck and chest that it showed the splendid proportions of its wearer. A golden girdle confined it at the waist, and long, tapering, yellow shoes, buttoned with gems, completed his costume.

Suddenly a nightingale in the boughs above him burst into song, as if it, too, felt all the quiet beauty of the night, and, catching the perfume of the flowers, the plash of the fountain, the play of the breeze, it wrapped them all in notes of exquisite sweetness, and was sending forth its song, an offering to the Creator of the eve. As the song trilled out, Nehe smiled again more joyously.

“Bird,” he said aloud, and his voice, as he spoke, had cadences as sweet to the human ear as those of the feathered songster whose music was pulsing around him, “bird, sing me the song of my fortune! See,” and he lifted up his strong right hand and looked at its rosy palm, “so long as this guards the cup of my lord the king, I shall be rich and proud and happy.”

Then he turned the bracelet that encircled his wrist, and looked intently at the beautiful gem with which it was set, and smiled again as he recalled how gracious the king had been when he gave it to him that day.

“Come, my Nehe,” he had said, “here are the gems just sent me as tribute by the Egyptians. You shall have your choice. The queen mother and Damaspia have sent me word they would have choice of them, but,’’ and the monarch had smiled a haughty, good-natured smile, “lest they should choose this, we will ourself bestow it on you. I know you will prize it.’’ And, lifting the bracelet, he had handed it to Nehe, adding as he did so, “ The gem, you see, is curiously engraved, even with the countenance of an Egyptian king.”

But as Nehe stood looking at it there in the silvery moonlight, a shadow crossed his bright face and his white teeth bit into his red lips with a sigh of sudden pain, for Nehe remembered that as he had bent in thanks before the king, his eyes had fallen on the face of a nobleman standing near, whose lips were curled in a bitter, supercilious smile. The man had been a former favorite of the king, but of late had fallen under the monarch’s displeasure, and so was keeping himself as

NEHE.

much as possible out of sight; but, unfortunately for him, just then the king turned suddenly to speak to his fan -bearer, and he, too, caught the malicious gleam of the noble’s dark eyes and the scornful curl of his lips. The good-natured look left his face, and one of keen displeasure replaced it. And do you scorn the king’s cup-bearer for having won his master’s favor, Zexa ?” he said, “or is it the king himself you scorn.?” Then, turning to the attendants standing near, he said angrily, “ Away with him ! Let me see his face no more.”

The trembling man flung himself before the throne with a fearful cry.

“ Mercy, my lord, mercy ! ” he moaned. “ ’Twas but a sudden twinge of pain did distort my countenance.”

“ Your pains come too often, Zexa,” the king replied sternly; “and Persian kings alter not their words. I have said it. To the death ! ”

Two attendants seized the man and bore him rapidly from the royal presence, and as Nehe remembered the unfortunate noble’s look of agony he moved rapidly from the acacia tree, as if he would fly from the memory of the scene.

And yet in spite of his cruelty, Nehe truly loved the great and terrible Artaxerxes, for he had been a kind and even indulgent master to him; and though the young courtier was just entering manhood, he was already one of the richest and most influential men of the Persian court. So great a favorite was he with his royal master that the king frequently sought and was guided by Nehe’s advice in matters of state, and he felt that a great future lay before him. Persia was at the zenith of her power. All the nations of the known world had seen her hand of steel held out to them, and none had refused to lay in it of her most priceless treasures. Egypt itself, possessor of untold wealth, was now a vassal ; and even the sturdy little nation of Greece, intrenched behind its barriers of mountain and sea, did not refuse to allow its continental cities to send tribute to the great Persian. And so, as Nehe walked there in the flower-scented garden, visions floated before him of honor and wealth and happiness that the future surely held for him. Perhaps he would become a great general and extend still farther the Persian boundaries. The great Cyrus had found new worlds to conquer ; who knew what mighty empires he might find lying far across the mountains ? Perhaps — and he involuntarily took a step forward — the old legend

NEHE.

was true, and there was a beautiful land far beyond the green waters of the great Pontus.

As he did so he inadvertently ran against a little boy who was passing, and knocked him down. Nehe stopped, picked the little fellow up, and as he set him on his feet again, he said gently : —

“ Hush you, my lad ! Where is your father ? Does he not know better than to let you run loose in the king’s garden?”

“ Here, my lord,” said a man, stepping from the shadow of a tall palm, and catching the sobbing boy in his arms. “ If we are trespassing, I beg my lord’s pardon, and we will hasten away. I have but lately come to this country, and the city is strange to me. I knew not we were on forbidden ground.”

“From whence came you?” Nehe inquired, looking closely at the travel-worn garments of the stranger. “No citizen of Susa but knows there be many safer places to walk than in the garden of the king.”

“ My lord,” answered the man, eagerly, apparently frightened at Nehe’s stern tone, “we be from Jerusalem, one- of the least of the far-away cities belonging to his Majesty, the great king, and we know not yet what is expected of the citizens of

Susa; but, my lord, from henceforth no lovely garden and green walks shall tempt us to loiter.”

“Wisely said, O stranger from Jerusalem,” answered the young man; “but tell me, if you are Jews, and from Jerusalem, how goes it in that far-off country ? ”

“ Badly enough,” answered the stranger, sadly. “ Our city, once the pride and hope of a great nation, lies now at the mercy of her enemies. Her mighty walls, that towered toward heaven and made us laugh at our foes, have been broken down, and her children, like chickens unsheltered by the brooding wings of their mother, are at the mercy of every cruel inhabitant of the land.”

“True,” said Nehe, “a city without walls is very helpless ; and have you yourself suffered, good sir ? ”

“ I ! ” exclaimed the man, bitterly ; “ I ! Alas, what have I not suffered ? When I was but a child I lived with my father and mother and little brother in one of the small towns that nestled at the foot of the great walls of Jerusalem. Once it was safe enough to live there, for the watchman ’standing above gave warning if any danger threatened. Then, although the walls were broken down, we were lulled into a false sense of security because the great king had allowed many of our people to

NEHE.

return from captivity and to begin rebuilding our temple, and we thought his protection would keep us safe from molestation ; but, alas ! one day a party of Samaritans, sent by our enemy, Sanballat, came sweeping up the valley.

“My parents saw them coming, and might have escaped, but they delayed their flight, trying to hide me, for I was ill of a fever, and they thought me dying. They knew to try to move me far meant certain death, and so with loving haste they carried me into the barn and hid me in a pile of flax. Just then the Samaritans entered. Alas! I can even now hear my mother’s shriek as the fierce, dark men seized her and my baby brother, who was clinging to her skirts, and bore them and my father, struggling, away.”

“ Did you never see them again ? ” Nehe asked, in a sympathetic tone.

“ Never,” the stranger answered. “For many weeks I lay in a stupor, but thanks to the loving care of our faithful servant Joro, I at last recovered.”

“Joro.^” questioned Nehe, in a startled tone. “ ’Tis an odd name, and yet methinks I have heard it before.”

“ It was not his real name,” was the reply. “ My baby brother gave it to him, trying in vain to say Joram. We all took the name the baby called him, and so, though to strangers he was Joram, to me he was ever Joro.”

“I see,” said Nehe; “go on with your tale. Have you a thought where your father and mother and this baby brother may be ”

“ I have spent many hours dreaming of them,” the stranger answered sadly. “ Perhaps they were kept as slaves by the Samaritans. Perhaps they were sold to some passing caravan. They may have been sent to work in the brickyards of Egypt. They may even have been brought to this beautiful land of Persia. My father had rare skill as a gardener ; my mother, Sarai, had as great as a weaver, and she was wondrous dexterous, too, with her needle. She it was who had been chosen by Ezra to embroider the veil for the new temple.”

“Your mother’s name was Sarai .^” questioned Nehe; and the moonlight showed that his face had suddenly grown white as marble, while his eyes were glowing like coals with the intensity of some hidden feeling.

“Yes, her name was Sarai,” the stranger answered, “and my father’s name was Hachaliah. My own name is Hanani.”

NEHE.

“ Hachaliah ! Hanani ! ” breathed Nehe, bending forward. “ Go on, I pray you ! How did you live alone ? ”

‘‘Joram, the servant, brought me up, and tenderly and carefully instructed me in the religion of my fathers.

“ A hard and a sad boyhood I had, however, for our enemies were ever ready to seize our crops and stock. Many a year, just when our grain was ready to thresh, have we seen them coming riding their swift horses like vultures ; and almost before we realized they were near, they had trampled our fields and were gone, driving our cattle before them, and leaving us nothing to show for our summer’s work.”

“ And had you friends then who helped you ? ” Nehe asked.

“ Oh, yes ; all the citizens of Jerusalem were ready enough to share with one another. A common love, a common hatred, united us.”

“And what was that.? ” Nehe asked.

“The worship of the Lord God Jehovah,” the stranger answered, reverently looking up to the sky, “ and the hatred of heathen gods.”

“Are you not bold over much.?” young Nehe asked, “ to say that to me, here in the city of Susa, where a thousand gods do daily have prayer made unto them ? ”

“ I crave your pardon, my lord,” the stranger answered hastily ; “ it seemed in speaking to you as if I spoke to one of our own nation. Will you let us pass on lest other words offend you ? ”

“No, no, my friend, I was not offended; go on with your tale and let me know why you came here.”

“ I came on a sorrowful errand, my lord. Among those who most' befriended me after my father, mother, and little brother had been carried captive, was a goldsmith and perfume-maker, Hashum by name, and many and many a time, when we knew our home was in danger, have I taken refuge under his strong roof. One beautiful daughter he had, Hannah, and her, when I was grown to be a man, Hashum gave to me to be my wife. And then it was I first knew happiness. We had a little home, and for a few years most of the Arabs and other of our enemies were away in Artaxerxes’ armies ; so we tilled our fields in peace, and when two boys were born to us, Jamin, my first-born, and Bani, this my baby, life seemed very happy to me.” And he drew the little fellow he was still holding more closely to him.

NEHE.

“ I am hungry, father,” the child said, aroused by the caress from a half sleep into which he had fallen ; ‘‘ hungry, and oh, so thirsty.”

Nehe, who continued to drink in the stranger’s words with intense eagerness, had advanced step by step toward him, as if he feared to lose even a syllable; but at the child’s words his face lost a trifle of its intensity, and his eyes softened. Taking a silver whistle from his belt, he blew it. Instantly a young man, clad in yellow silk garments, came swiftly out of the shrubbery toward him, and, bowing low before Nehe, stood awaiting his orders ; and the stranger recognized, in spite of his changed costume, the youth Adna, who had brought them into the garden.

“ Is this you, Adna ? ” Nehe exclaimed. “ I thought that Daniel was in attendance to-night. When did you return from the mountains ? ”

“ Scarce an hour since, my lord,” replied Adna, “ and I begged to wait upon you in Daniel’s room, for I had a boon to ask.”

”I will hear your request another time,” Nehe said impatiently. “ I have other business for you now. Here, take this child to my apartments, give him honey and milk, pomegranates and grapes, and when he is refreshed, lay him in my own bed ” Then, turning to the boy, he said, “Will you go and get the honey and milk, my child? And, Adna,” he added, “ mark you, tend him well, for he is my beloved nephew.”

Then Nehe turned to the stranger and caught both his hands in his own.

“ You are Hanani,” he said. “ My brother, do you not remember little Nehemiah ? ”

NEHE.

CHAPTER II. S Adna lifted the child from the ground and

Jl\. bore him smilingly away, the boy looked over his shoulder and saw Hanani throw both arms around Nehe’s neck, but he could not hear the words of heartfelt gladness that leaped to his lips.

“Now God be praised!” he cried; “if I have suffered terrible losses, here at last is a joy I never hoped for. Oh, Nehemiah, tell me, do my mother and father yet live } ”

“Our mother is living still,” Nehe replied, “but our father sleeps not with his fathers, but with many of his brethren, who have been captive in this country. But oh, my brother, it does not seem possible you are really Hanani, and yet now that I look closely I can see how much you resemble our father. How often he lamented your death, for he never doubted you were dying when they left you hidden in the flax ! Come, let us hasten to my apartments, where you may refresh yourself, and as we walk, you can tell me how you came here and why.”

“ That is soon told,” Hanani answered. “ One day while I was away in the city a band of the Philistines, led by the cruel Sanballat, came sweeping down on my little home, just as they did on that of my father twenty years before. Hearing a rumor of the raid, I hastened home, but it was home no more, for Hannah and Jamin were gone. Bani, my baby, was with me in the city, and so escaped.”

“ And have you had no tidings of them since ? ” Nehe asked. “ My poor brother, how you have suffered ! ”

“ No, I never even heard of them again, but faithful old Joram, who lived with us, told me that as a fierce Samaritan rode off with Hannah, she raised her beautiful eyes to heaven and pointed upward, as if she were telling him where to look for help.”

“Did you make no effort to find her.?” Nehe asked impatiently. “ I would have searched desert and sea.”

“ My brother, how far do you think a single man could venture into the land of the Samaritans, no matter how well armed he might be, or how far could he go alone into the desert ? But I did spend my little all in trying to bribe Sanballat to return my wife, only to be laughed to scorn in the end. He even denied all knowledge of her cap-

NEHE.

ture. Then it was that my father-in-law, the goldsmith, urged me to come to Susa and beseech the great king, Artaxerxes, to allow us, his faithful Jewish subjects, to rebuild the walls of our city, and so protect our loved ones from the cruel hordes who roam that country; for, though the king’s great-grandfather, Cyrus, and his father, Xerxes, had allowed us to rebuild our beautiful temple, our walls are still rubbish heaps. I was ready to undertake this mission, for I could not endure the thought that my little son might some day suffer as I have done,” continued Hanani. “And in a country where for generations the Arabs have roved, what security is there for any one who lives in a city without walls ? ”

As Hanani said this, he looked up at the huge walls that rose a hundred feet high around the citadel of Susa.

“What safety, indeed.?” echoed Nehe, following his glance. “ Rich and powerful as Longimanus is, and strong as are his great armies, I would scarcely dare live in the palace itself were it not for the walls.”

“Yet I noticed that the walls of the city are broken in many places,” Hanani said.

“True,” Nehe answered; “for since this fortress was strengthened by Artaxerxes he has not kept them in repair. Who among the nations,” he continued proudly, “would venture to attack the most powerful one on earth And even if such a miracle should come to pass, there is room within the fortress gates for all the city.”