“I thought,” he said doubtfully to Naaman, “that I might stay a few days with my mother, who is growing old, and who after all does not see so much of me.” But Naaman shook his head. “My son,” he said, “you cannot have both heaven and earth. If you are so fortunate as to count angels among your friends, it is because you have no mother and no brother. Be lonely, and content; and do not turn back to this life so full of passion and injustice. Grief and joy are not for you, Jonah; they are nothing for a prophet. The desert is your home; do not go too far away from it.” “You are right, Naaman,” said Jonah, after a while; “one must not get too far away from the desert.” He rose to go, helping himself to his feet with his staff. “Good-by,” he said, “my teacher and my friend. Once again you convince me, a little against my will. As of old, I leave you, filled with a peace which is not entirely happy.” And embracing his old teacher, he set off for his mother’s house through the night. IV Prince Ahab lived in a palace of stone and fragrant cedarwood, on a hill above the village of Gath-Hepher, and almost within sight of the little cottage occupied by Jonah’s mother. The prince, whose large holdings in the North had increased in value due to the success of the war in Syria, surrounded himself with every luxury. Nevertheless, in the midst of jewels, silks, slaves, and the richest perfumes, he himself remained simple and straightforward. Of a martial, almost to say gloomy appearance, he affected the stern manners of the Assyrians, with whose thick gold fringes he decorated his cloak and his girdle. He was heavy, but he was vigorous and active; like the nobles of Assur, he took endless pleasure in hunting, for which he imported blooded falcons and swift horses from Iran. He lived in the saddle; and he complained of the degeneracy of Israel. “Effeminate people,” he exclaimed, “you do not exercise enough.” And the sleepy citizens of Bethel would be awakened by the trampling of horses and the sound of horns, as Ahab rode out at dawn to hunt boar in the forests of Baal Hazor. In the afternoon, while the king deliberated with his nobles upon affairs of state, Ahab dozed. Upon being reminded of the presence before the council of important matters, he remarked that he had been out riding. And he exclaimed with enthusiasm: “Exercise is the thing.” An old woman by the name of Sarah kept house for him in his palace of cedarwood and broadstone. She was sharp and severe, but she knew her own value. By noticing the faults of other people, she kept her self-respect. She managed the house and the slaves, and acted as nurse to Ahab’s niece, his sister’s child, Judith.