Moon of Israel: A Tale of the ExodusHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
History
Moon of Israel: A Tale of the Exodus
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Exodus, The -- Fiction; Jews -- History -- To 70 A.D. -- Fiction
“I do not seek it,” exclaimed Jabez. “I would that we might
have Pharaoh’s mouth and ear who soon will himself be Pharaoh upon our
side. O Prince of Egypt, be not wroth with all the children of Israel
because their wrongs have made some few of them stubborn and
hard-hearted. Begone now, and of your goodness remember my words.”
“I will remember,” said Seti, signing to the charioteer to drive on.
Yet still the Prince lingered in the town, saying that he feared nothing
and would learn all he could of this people and their ways that he
might report the better of them to Pharaoh. For my part I believed that
there was one face which he wished to see again before he left, but of
this I thought it wise to say nothing.
At length about midday we did depart, and drove eastwards on the track
of Amenmeses and our company. All the afternoon we drove thus, preceded
by the two soldiers disguised as runners and followed, as a distant
cloud of dust told me, by the captain and his chariots, whom I had
secretly commanded to keep us in sight.
Towards evening we came to the pass in the stony hills which bounded the
land of Goshen. Here Seti descended from the chariot, and we climbed,
accompanied by the two soldiers whom I signed to follow us, to the
crest of one of these hills that was strewn with huge boulders and
lined with ridges of sandstone, between which gullies had been cut by
the winds of thousands of years.
Leaning against one of these ridges we looked back upon a wondrous
sight. Far away across the fertile plain appeared the town that we had
left, and behind it the sun sank. It would seem as though some storm
had broken there, although the firmament above us was clear and blue.
At least in front of the town two huge pillars of cloud stretched from
earth to heaven like the columns of some mighty gateway. One of these
pillars was as though it were made of black marble, and the other like
to molten gold. Between them ran a road of light ending in a glory, and
in the midst of the glory the round ball of Ra, the Sun, burned like
the eye of God. The spectacle was as awesome as it was splendid.
“Have you ever seen such a sky in Egypt, Prince?” I asked.
“Never,” he answered, and although he spoke low, in that great
stillness his voice sounded loud to me.
For a while longer we watched, till suddenly the sun sank, and only the
glory about it and above remained, which took shapes like to the
palaces and temples of a city in the heavens, a far city that no mortal
could reach except in dreams.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account