9. CHAPTER IX.
THE CAVE AT BETHLEHEM.
To understand thoroughly what happened to the Nazarene at the
khan, the reader must be reminded that Eastern inns were different
from the inns of the Western world. They were called khans, from the
Persian, and, in simplest form, were fenced enclosures, without
house or shed, often without a gate or entrance. Their sites were
chosen with reference to shade, defence, or water. Such were the
inns that sheltered Jacob when he went to seek a wife in Padan-Aram.
Their like may be seen at this day in the stopping-places of the
desert. On the other hand, some of them, especially those on the roads
between great cities, like Jerusalem and Alexandria, were princely
establishments, monuments to the piety of the kings who built them. In
ordinary, however, they were no more than the house or possession of a
sheik, in which, as in headquarters, he swayed his tribe. Lodging
the traveller was the least of their uses; they were markets,
factories, forts; places of assemblage and residence for merchants and
artisans quite as much as places of shelter for belated and
wandering wayfarers. Within their walls, all the year round,
occurred the multiplied daily transactions of a town.
The singular management of these hostelries was the feature likely
to strike a Western mind with most force. There was no host or
hostess; no clerk, cook, or kitchen; a steward at the gate was all the
assertion of government or proprietorship anywhere visible.
Strangers arriving stayed at will without rendering account. A
consequence of the system was that whoever came had to bring his
food and culinary outfit with him, or buy them of dealers in the khan.
The same rule held good as to his bed and bedding, and forage, for his
beasts. Water, rest, shelter, and protection were all he looked for
from the proprietor, and they were gratuities. The peace of synagogues
was sometimes broken by brawling disputants, but that of the khans
never. The houses and all their appurtenances were sacred: a well
was not more so.
The khan at Bethlehem, before which Joseph and his wife stopped, was
a good specimen of its class, being neither very primitive nor very
princely. The building was purely Oriental; that is to say, a
quadrangular block of rough stones, one storey high, flat-roofed,
externally unbroken by a window, and with but one principal
entrance-a doorway, which was also a gateway, on the eastern side, or
front. The road ran by the door so near that the chalk dust half
covered the lintel. A fence of flat rocks, beginning at the
northeastern corner of the pile, extended many yards down the slope to
a point from whence it swept westwardly to a limestone bluff; making
what was in the highest degree essential to a respectable khan-a safe
enclosure for animals.
In a village like Bethlehem, as there was but one sheik, there could
not well be more than one khan; and, though born in the place, the
Nazarene, from long residence elsewhere, had no claim to hospitality
in the town. Moreover, the enumeration for which he was coming might
be the work of weeks or months; Roman deputies in the provinces were
proverbially slow; and to impose himself and wife for a period so
uncertain upon acquaintances or relations was out of the question. So,
before he drew nigh the great house, while he was yet climbing the
slope, in the steep places toiling to hasten the donkey, the fear that
he might not find accommodations in the khan became a painful anxiety;
for he found the road thronged with men and boys who, with great
ado, were taking their cattle, horses, and camels to and from the
valley, some to water, some to the neighbouring caves. And when he was
come close by, his alarm was not allayed by the discovery of a crowd
investing the door of the establishment, while the enclosure
adjoining, broad as it was, seemed already full.
"We cannot reach the door," Joseph said, in his slow way. "Let us
stop here, and learn, if we can, what has happened."
The wife, without answering, quietly drew the wimple aside. The look
of fatigue at first upon her face changed to one of interest. She
found herself at the edge of an assemblage that could not be other
than a matter of curiosity to her, although it was common enough at
the khans on any of the highways which the great caravans were
accustomed to traverse. There were men on foot, running hither and
thither, talking shrilly and in all the tongues of Syria; men on
horseback screaming to men on camels; men struggling doubtfully with
fractious cows and frightened sheep; men peddling bread and wine;
and among the mass a herd of boys apparently in chase of a herd of
dogs. Everybody and everything seemed to be in motion at the same
time. Possibly the fair spectator was too weary to be long attracted
by the scene; in a little while she sighed, and settled down on the
pillion, and, as if in search of peace and rest, or in expectation
of some one, looked off to the south, and up to the tall cliffs of the
Mount of Paradise, then faintly reddening under the setting sun.
While she was thus looking, a man pushed his way out of the press,
and, stopping close by the donkey, faced about with an angry brow. The
Nazarene spoke to him.
"As I am what I take you to be, good friend-a son of Judah-may I
ask the cause of this multitude?"
The stranger turned fiercely; but, seeing the solemn countenance
of Joseph, so in keeping with his deep, slow voice and speech, he
raised his hand in half-salutation, and replied-
"Peace be to you, Rabbi! I am a son of Judah, and will answer you. I
dwell in Beth-Dagon, which, you know, is in what used to be the land
of the tribe of Dan."
"On the road to Joppa from Modin," said Joseph.
"Ah, you have been in Beth-Dagon," the man said, his face
softening yet more. "What wanderers we of Judah are! I have been
away from the ridge-old Ephrath, as our father Jacob called it-for
many years. When the proclamation went abroad requiring all Hebrews to
be numbered at the cities of their birth-That is my business here,
Rabbi."
Joseph's face remained stolid as a mask, while he remarked, "I
have come for that also-I and my wife."
The stranger glanced at Mary and kept silence. She was looking up at
the bald top of Gedor. The sun touched her upturned face, and filled
the violet depths of her eyes; and upon her parted lips trembled an
aspiration which could not have been to a mortal. For the moment,
all the humanity of her beauty seemed refined away: she was as we
fancy they are who sit close by the gate in the transfiguring light of
Heaven. The Beth-Dagonite saw the original of what, centuries after,
came as a vision of genius to Sanzio the divine, and left him
immortal.
"Of what was I speaking? Ah! I remember. I was about to say that
when I heard of the order to come here, I was angry. Then I thought of
the old hill, and the town, and the valley falling away into the
depths of Cedron; of the vines and orchards, and fields of grain,
unfailing since the days of Boaz and Ruth; of the familiar
mountains-Gedor here, Gibeah yonder, Mar Elias there-which, when I
was a boy, were the walls of the world to me; and I forgave the
tyrants and came-I, and Rachel, my wife, and Deborah and Michal,
our roses of Sharon."
The man paused again, looking abruptly at Mary, who was now
looking at him and listening. Then he said, "Rabbi, will not your wife
go to mine? You may see her yonder with the children, under the
leaning olive-tree at the bend of the road. I tell you"-he turned
to Joseph and spoke positively-"I tell you the khan is full. It is
useless to ask at the gate."
Joseph's will was slow, like his mind; he hesitated, but at length
replied, "The offer is kind. Whether there be room for us or not in
the house, we will go see your people. Let me speak to the
gatekeeper myself. I will return quickly."
And, putting the leading-strap in the stranger's hand, he pushed
into the stirring crowd.
The keeper sat on a great cedar block outside the gate. Against
the wall behind him leaned a javelin. A dog squatted on the block by
his side.
"The peace of Jehovah be with you," said Joseph, at last confronting
the keeper.
"What you give, may you find again; and, when found, be it many
times multiplied to you and yours," returned the watchman, gravely,
though without moving.
"I am a Bethlehemite," said Joseph, in his most deliberate way.
"Is there not room for-"
"There is not."
"You may have heard of me-Joseph of Nazareth. This is the house
of my fathers. I am of the line of David."
These words held the Nazarene's hope. If they failed him, further
appeal was idle, even that of the offer of many shekels. To be a son
of Judah was one thing-in the tribal opinion a great thing; to be
of the house of David was yet another; on the tongue of a Hebrew there
could be no higher boast. A thousand years and more had passed since
the boyish shepherd became the successor of Saul and founded a royal
family. Wars, calamities, other kings, and the countless obscuring
processes of time had, as respects fortune, lowered his descendants to
the common Jewish level; the bread they ate came to them of toil never
more humble; yet they had the benefit of history sacredly kept, of
which genealogy was the first chapter and the last; they could not
become unknown; while, wherever they went in Israel, acquaintance drew
after it a respect amounting to reverence.
If this were so in Jerusalem and elsewhere, certainly one of the
sacred line might reasonably rely upon it at the door of the khan of
Bethlehem. To say, as Joseph said, "This is the house of my
fathers," was to say the truth most simply and literally; for it was
the very house Ruth ruled as the wife of Boaz; the very house in which
Jesse and his ten sons, David the youngest, were born; the very
house in which Samuel came seeking a king, and found him; the very
house which David gave to the son of Barzillai, the friendly
Gileadite; the very house in which Jeremiah, by prayer, rescued the
remnant of his race flying before the Babylonians.
The appeal was not without effect. The keeper of the gate slid
down from the cedar block, and, laying his hand upon his beard,
said, respectfully, "Rabbi, I cannot tell you when this door first
opened in welcome to the traveller, but it was more than a thousand
years ago; and in all that time there is no known instance of a good
man turned away, save when there was no room to rest him in. If it has
been so with the stranger, just cause must the steward have who says
no to one of the line of David. Wherefore, I salute you again; and, if
you care to go with me, I will show you that there is not a
lodging-place left in the house; neither in the chambers, nor in the
lewens, nor in the court-not even on the roof. May I ask when you
came?"
"But now."
The keeper smiled.
"'The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be as one born among
you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.' Is not that the law, Rabbi?"
Joseph was silent.
"If it be the law, can I say to one a long time come, 'Go thy way;
another is here to take thy place'?"
Yet Joseph held his peace.
"And, if I said so, to whom would the place belong? See the many
that have been waiting, some of them since noon."
"Who are all these people?" asked Joseph, turning to the crowd. "And
why are they here at this time?"
"That which doubtless brought you, Rabbi-the decree of the Caesar"-the keeper threw an interrogative glance at the Nazarene, then
continued-"brought most of those who have lodging in the house. And
yesterday the caravan passing from Damascus to Arabia and Lower
Egypt arrived. These you see here belong to it-men and camels."
Still Joseph persisted.
"The court is large," he said.
"Yes, but it is heaped with cargoes-with bales of silk, and pockets
of spices, and goods of every kind."
Then for a moment the face of the applicant lost its stolidity;
the lustreless, staring eyes dropped. With some warmth he next said,
"I do not care for myself, but I have with me my wife, and the night
is cold-colder on these heights than in Nazareth. She cannot live
in the open air. Is there not room in the town?"
"These people"-the keeper waved his hand to the throng before the
door-"have all besought the town, and they report its
accommodations all engaged."
Again Joseph studied the ground, saying, half to himself, "She is so
young! if I make her bed on the hill, the frosts will kill her."
Then he spoke to the keeper again.
"It may be you knew her parents, Joachim and Anna, once of
Bethlehem, and, like myself, of the line of David."
"Yes, I knew them. They were good people. That was in my youth."
This time the keeper's eyes sought the ground in thought. Suddenly
he raised his head.
"If I cannot make room for you," he said, "I cannot turn you away.
Rabbi, I will do the best I can for you. How many are of your party?"
Joseph reflected, then replied, "My wife and a friend with his
family, from Beth-Dagon, a little town over by Joppa; in all, six of
us."
"Very well. You shall not lie out on the ridge. Bring your people
and hasten; for, when the sun goes down behind the mountain, you
know the night comes quickly, and it is nearly there now."
"I give you the blessing of the houseless traveller; that of the
sojourner will follow."
So saying, the Nazarene went back joyfully to Mary and the
Beth-Dagonite. In a little while the latter brought up his family, the
women mounted on donkeys. The wife was matronly, the daughters were
images of what she must have been in youth; and as they drew nigh
the door, the keeper knew them to be of the humble class.
"This is she of whom I spoke," said the Nazarene; "and these are our
friends."
Mary's veil was raised.
"Blue eyes and hair of gold," muttered the steward to himself,
seeing but her. "So looked the young king when he went to sing
before Saul."
Then he took the leading-strap from Joseph and said to Mary,
"Peace to you, O daughter of David!" Then to the others, "Peace to you
all!" Then to Joseph, "Rabbi, follow me!"
The party were conducted into a wide passage paved with stone,
from which they entered the court of the khan. To a stranger the scene
would have been curious; but they noticed the lewens that yawned
darkly upon them from all sides, and the court itself, only to
remark how crowded they were. By a lane reserved in the stowage of the
cargoes, and thence by a passage similar to the one at the entrance,
they emerged into the enclosure adjoining the house, and came upon
camels, horses, and donkeys, tethered and dozing in close groups;
among them were the keepers, men of many lands; and they, too, slept
or kept silent watch. They went down the slope of the crowded yard
slowly, for the dull carriers of the women had wills of their own.
At length they turned into a path running towards the grey limestone
bluff overlooking the khan on the west.
"We are going to the cave," said Joseph, laconically.
The guide lingered till Mary came to his side.
"The cave to which we are going," he said to her, "must have been
a resort of your ancestor David. From the field below us, and from the
well down in the valley, he used to drive his flock to it for
safety; and afterwards, when he was king, he came back to the old
house here for rest and health, bringing great trains of animals.
The mangers yet remain as they were in his day. Better a bed upon
the floor where he has slept than one in the court-yard or out by
the roadside. Ah, here is the house before the cave!"
This speech must not be taken as an apology for the lodging offered.
There was no need of apology. The place was the best then at disposal.
The guests were simple folks, by habits of life easily satisfied. To
the Jew of that period, moreover, abode in caverns was a familiar
idea, made so by every-day occurrences, and by what he heard of
Sabbaths in the synagogues. How much of Jewish history, how many of
the most exciting incidents in that history, had transpired in
caves! Yet further, these people were Jews of Bethlehem, with whom the
idea was especially commonplace; for their locality abounded with
caves great and small, some of which had been dwelling-places from the
time of the Emim and Horites. No more was there offence to them in the
fact that the cavern to which they were being taken had been, or
was, a stable. They were the descendants of a race of herdsmen,
whose flocks habitually shared both their habitations and
wanderings. In keeping with a custom derived from Abraham, the tent of
the Bedawin yet shelters his horses and children alike. So they obeyed
the keeper cheerfully, and gazed at the house, feeling only a
natural curiosity. Everything associated with the history of David was
interesting to them.
The building was low and narrow, projecting but a little from the
rock to which it was joined at the rear, and wholly without a
window. In its blank front there was a door, swung on enormous hinges,
and thickly daubed with ochreous clay. While the wooden bolt of the
lock was being pushed back, the women were assisted from their
pillions. Upon the opening of the door, the keeper called out-
"Come in!"
The guests entered, and stared about them. It became apparent
immediately that the house was but a mask or covering for the mouth of
a natural cave or grotto, probably forty feet long, nine or ten
high, and twelve or fifteen in width. The light streamed through the
doorway, over an uneven floor, falling upon piles of grain and fodder,
and earthenware and household property, occupying the centre of the
chamber. Along the sides were mangers, low enough for sleep, and built
of stones laid in cement. There were no stalls or partitions of any
kind. Dust and chaff yellowed the floor, filled all the crevices and
hollows, and thickened the spider-webs, which dropped from the ceiling
like bits of dirty linen; otherwise the place was cleanly, and, to
appearance, as comfortable as any of the arched lewens of the khan
proper. In fact, a cave was the model and first suggestion of the
lewen.
"Come in!" said the guide. "These piles upon the floor are for
travellers like yourselves. Take what of them you need."
Then he spoke to Mary.
"Can you rest here?"
"The place is sanctified," she answered.
"I leave you then. Peace be with you all!"
When he was gone, they busied themselves making the cave habitable.