the beautiful daughters of nazareth
he rode for three miles over the beautiful plain of esdrelon—the most immense and the most celebrated in palestine after that of the jordan.
in other days it was styled the paradise and the granary of syria, the plain of jezreel, the field of esdrela, the plain of mejiddo. it is mentioned in the bible under all these names. it witnessed the defeat of the midianites and the amalekites by gideon. it saw saul encamped by the fountain of jezreel to fight the philistines, who were assembled at aphek. it was in this plain that poor naboth had his vineyard near the palace of the rich ahab, and there the infamous jezebel had him stoned to death as a blasphemer in order to obtain possession of his inheritance. it was there that joram had his heart pierced by an arrow hurled by the hand of jehu. and, finally, it was almost on the same spot where the young men had breakfasted, that jezebel, by jehu's orders, was thrown from a window, and her body was devoured by dogs.
in the middle ages this plain which has seen so many sights was called the plain of sabas. to-day it is called merdjibn-amer, which means "pasturage of the sons of amer." it extends for about fifteen miles between the mountains of gilboa and those of nazareth. mount tabor rises at its extreme end, and it was toward that that the three riders were galloping without giving a thought to the celebrity of the ground which their horses were trampling with their feet.
mount tabor is accessible on all sides, and particularly so toward fouli, by way of which they were approaching.
they were obliged to climb the summit—an easy task for their arab horses—before they could look over the jordan,[pg 614] which from any lower elevation obscured their view of the jordan and the lake of tiberias.
but as they ascended, the horizon broadened around them. soon, like an immense blue cloth framed in golden-hued sand on one side and hills of tawny verdure on the other, they discovered the lake of tiberias, joined to the dead sea by the jordan, which stretches across the bare plain like a yellow ribbon sparkling in the sun. their eyes were riveted in that direction by the sight of the whole army of the pasha of damascus, which was following the eastern bank of the lake and crossing jacob's bridge. the entire advance-guard had already disappeared between the lake and the mountain of tiberias. it was evidently on its way to the village.
it was impossible for the young men to compute, even approximately, the number of this vast concourse. the cavalry alone, marching in the fantastic fashion which the orientals affect, covered miles of ground. although the young men were twelve miles away, they could catch the gleam of the weapons, and to them flashes of gold seemed to dart up through the clouds of dust from under the horses' feet.
it was about three o'clock in the afternoon. there was no time to lose. the sheik of aher and azib, by resting an hour or two near the river kishon, could reach bonaparte's camp about daybreak or a little before, and give him warning.
as for roland, he undertook to go to nazareth and put junot on his guard, intending to remain and fight with him there, where he could have more liberty of action.
the three young men descended the mountain rapidly. they separated at its foot, the two arabs striking directly across the plain of esdrelon, and roland spurring straight for nazareth, whose white houses, lying like a nest of doves amid the sombre verdure of the mountains, he had seen from the summit of mount tabor.
the traveller who has visited nazareth will remember[pg 615] what abominable roads lead to it. they are bordered with precipices, now on the right, now on the left, and the beautiful flowers which grow wherever there is earth to hold their roots, add to the attractions of the desert, but do not lessen its dangers. there are white lilies, yellow narcissi, blue crocuses, and roses whose freshness and sweetness are beyond description.
does not the hebrew word "nezer," which is the root of nazareth, mean flower?
owing to the winding road, roland caught several glimpses of nazareth before he finally arrived there. when he was within ten minutes of the place he met a detachment of the grenadiers of the nineteenth brigade and making himself known, he inquired whether the general was in nazareth or its environs.
the general was in nazareth and had visited its outposts not an hour ago. roland was obliged to let his horse walk. the noble animal had made thirty-five or forty miles without any rest other than that at breakfast; but as roland was now sure of finding the general he had no need to force him.
he found a squad of dragoons at the first house in the village, commanded by one of his friends, major desnoyers. he left his horse in charge of a soldier and inquired where he could find general junot's quarters.
it was then about half-past five in the evening. desnoyers looked at the sun, which was just about to set behind the mountains of nablos, and replied with a laugh: "this is the hour when the women of nazareth go to the springs for water. general junot is probably on his way to the spring."
roland shrugged his shoulders. evidently he thought that the general's place was elsewhere, and that he had others to review besides the beautiful daughters of nazareth. nevertheless he followed the directions given him and soon reached the other end of the village.
the spring was situated some ten minutes' walk beyond the last house. the avenue leading to it was lined on either[pg 616] side with immense cactus-trees which formed a wall. roland espied the general a short distance from the spring, where he with his two aides-de-camp followed with his eyes the women who were going and coming.
junot recognized him at once as general bonaparte's ordnance officer. the commander-in-chief's partiality for roland was well-known, and would in itself have sufficed to win him smiles from every one; but his courteous familiarity, and daring courage, which were proverbial in the army, would have won him friends, even though he had possessed a much smaller share of the general's favor.
junot came to meet him with outstretched hand. roland, a strict adherent of the proprieties, saluted him as his superior officer; for he dreaded above all that they should think that he attributed the commander-in-chief's kindness to him to his own merit.
"do you bring us good news, my dear roland?" asked junot.
"yes, general; since i come to announce to you the presence of the enemy," replied roland.
"faith!" said junot, "next to the sight of these beautiful girls, who carry their jugs as if they were each a veritable princess nausica, i know of nothing that would be more agreeable to me than a glimpse of the enemy. look, roland; see what a haughty air the wenches have. would you not say they were so many antique goddesses? and when shall we look for the enemy?"
"as soon as you please, general, since they are not more than fifteen or eighteen miles from here."
"do you know what they answer when you tell them that they are beautiful? 'the virgin mary wills it so.' this is really the first time since we came to syria that i have seen really beautiful women. have you seen them—the enemy, i mean?"
"with my own eyes, general."
"where were they coming from? where are they going? what do they want of us?"
[pg 617]
"they are coming from damascus, and i presume they want to defeat us. they are going to saint-jean-d'acre, if i am not mistaken, to raise the siege."
"only that? oh, we will cut them off! are you going to stay with us, or return to bonaparte?"
"i shall stay with you, general. i have a great longing to try a turn with the rascals. we are dying of boredom at the siege. except for the two or three sorties which djezzar has had the stupidity to make we have had nothing to vary the monotony."
"well," said junot, "i can promise you that you will find some variety by to-morrow. by the way, i forgot to ask you how many there were?"
"ah, general, i will reply to you as an arab would. as well try to count the sands of the sea! there must be at least twenty-five or thirty thousand of them."
junot scratched his head.
"the devil!" he said, "there is not much to be done with the few men i have with me."
"how many have you?" asked roland.
"just a hundred men more than the three hundred spartans. but we can do what they did, and that will not be so bad. however, to-morrow morning will be time enough to think of all that. would you like to see the curiosities of the town, or would you like some supper?"
"well," said roland, "it is true that we are in nazareth, and that interesting relics should not be scarce; but i will not conceal from you, general, that my stomach is just at present more impatient than my eyes. i breakfasted this morning near the kishon off some hardtack and some dates; and i confess that i am both hungry and thirsty."
"if you will give me the pleasure of supping with me we will try to appease your appetite. as for your thirst, you will never find a better opportunity to quench it." then, addressing a young girl, he said in arabic: "water! thy brother is thirsty." and he pointed to roland.
she drew near, tall and stern, her tunic with its long[pg 618] flowing sleeves leaving her arms bare. she tipped the jug which she was carrying on her right shoulder until it was on a level with her left hand. then with a most graceful motion she offered the water to roland.
roland drank deeply, not because the girl was beautiful but because the water was fresh.
"has my brother drank sufficiently?" asked the girl.
"yes," replied roland in the same language, "and thy brother thanks thee."
the young girl bowed, replaced her jug on her right shoulder, and continued on her way to the village.
"do you know that you speak arabic very fluently?" asked junot, laughing.
"was i not wounded and a prisoner for a month with those rogues," asked roland, "at the time of the insurrection of cairo? i had to learn a little arabic in spite of myself. and since the commander-in-chief has found out that i can chatter a little in the language of the prophet, he is determined to use me as his interpreter on all occasions."
"upon my word," said junot, "if i thought i could learn arabic as well as you have in a month, i would pay the same price, and get myself wounded and taken prisoner to-morrow."
"well, general," said roland, with that harsh, nervous laugh peculiar to him, "if i might offer my advice to you it would be to learn some other language and in a different manner. let us go to supper, general."
and roland started for the village without another glance at the beautiful nazarenes whom junot and his aides paused again and again to look upon.
