University of Virginia Library

Scene III.

A rocky spot in the vicinity of Jesusalem. Rabbi Ben-Aaron pacing backwards and forwards, soliloquising.
Ben-Aaron.
The plot works badly. Who can trust a woman?
I toiled with genius, and my genius wrought
Well at the first; I lured the coy young maid
Who would not hear my suit at Nazareth
Up to Jerusalem—there younger lips
Pleaded my cause far better than my own.
Mary succumbed to love—well backed by gold
(Gold adds such charm to love)—a Roman won her,
Won her, forsook her,—just the usual tale:
Then I stepped in—and lo! the coy young girl
Was coy no longer; what a difference now
Twixt Mary of Nazareth and the passionate Mary
Who brought the Roman gallants to her feet!
How much can love do in a little space:
Foolish past words are those who would aspire
To win a virgin's lips—such lips are cold;
Let others, younger men, have all the toil
Of nobly training in the ways of love,
Then step you in, and reap what they have sown
—As I stepped in, and won the prize at last.
But oh Ben-Aaron, subtle wise Ben-Aaron,
Lord of the world through knowledge which is power
In heaven, on earth, beware now lest the prize
Escape; of all things slippery far the most
Softly elusive is a woman's heart.
A woman's love through phase on phase proceeds:
With passion it commences—then she is wooed—
With ardour she responds,—so for a season
Passion is mutual; then she older grows;
Pursued by man no longer, she pursues;
She, wooed not by the young, must now in turn
Pay court to youth—upon youth's fiery lips
Imprint the kiss of woman's ripening passion;—
Then this too fails her, change again succeeds;
Next comes religion's hour—the dormant force
Of sentiment that sleeps in every woman
Springs to the front—she now believes in heaven,
In God, in saints, and she must yield her heart
To some strong saintlike man who represents
God, heaven, and future joys,—so it goes on;
That, always, is the story. Now to-day
My plans are baffled by this selfsame fact:
I stole from Jesus Mary's youthful form,
Both form and heart, succeeding there superbly;
To-day he wins her back—to-day he wins
With tenfold force in that the exultant hosts
Of heaven are on his side—I none the less
Can fearless front the moment—if I fail,
Then Judas' rougher method may succeed.
But fail I shall not—nay, did ever yet
An atheist fail? Of all things strong I think
An atheist is the strongest, for he wields
The eternal weapons of the ephemeral God
In whom the credulous sons of men believe,
Plays on the faith of others like a harp,
And draws forth witching music. Even so
I, atheist, will defy this heaven-sent saint,
Win back the woman, and destroy the man,
For am I not Ben-Aaron? Soft—he comes;
I've lured him forth, pretending that a man
Lay sick and needed help.

(Enter Jesus).
Jesus.
Where is the man?

Ben-Aaron
(bowing).
The man is here, for I am sick at heart
Seeing how redemption lingers. Oh, my son,
That thou with Israel's future in thy hands
Shouldst thus slow-footed loiter by the way!
Why not proclaim thyself the true Messiah?
All foes will cower before thee, all our race
Will rally round thee, and thou shalt renew
Onec more the glorious past of Israel.
Eight years ago, in that strange desert spot
By Jordan's banks, I set before thee things
Of solemn priceless import: now again
To-day Ben-Aaron opens all his heart
To thee and craves an answer. Time is ripe;
Unnumbered followers wait for thy command
To flock to arms; Jerusalem will hear
With wild fierce ardour their strong rallying cry;
Thou shalt be lord of all our race—it may be,
Lord of the Roman world—then lord of man:
A kingdom measureless may be thine own,
And all if thou wilt do one simple thing,
Trust me, me wise Ben-Aaron—for I've gleaned
In lonely places knowledge such as thou
In thy young simple heart hast never dreamed of.
Knowledge is God; there is no God but knowledge:
Knowledge have I pursued for years on years,
Climbing sure-footed o'er the arduous way
That leadeth to the heights where knowledge dwells;
Now have I found the God, and grasped his form—
Held in embrace, though mortal, him the vast
Dim fluctuant form that from the eyes of men
Recedes for ever,—I, a man, have found
The eternal God, and now am one with him;
For I have gathered in one eager brain
All knowledge—yea, I die not, being old,
For knowledge is the everlasting life.
And now I bring to thee my priceless stores
Of knowledge, and I offer thee the whole
Because I love thee—yea, I love thee well:
I have no son—but thou shalt be my son,
My well-beloved, if thou wilt hear my words
And, using me for guide, wilt climb the hills
Of knowledge, worshipping my God with me.

Jesus.
Knowledge is not the everlasting life,
But love is God and everlasting life.
Thou knowest not the Father, who reveals
Not to the wise but to the humble soul
The priceless secrets of eternity:
Yea, therefore said I, “Suffer little children
To come to me—forbid them not,” for these
Have seen my Father's face, the face that hidden
In ceaseless cloud-folds still evades the wise.
Children have seen the Father: thou hast seen
Not the true features of the Father-God,
For thou hast wrecked thy soul to apprehend
Not God but merely the grand works of God,
The treasures in his palace—these are fair,
Yet barter not the undying soul for these;
The sun, the stars, the lilies of the field,
These are the works of God, but not in these
Is God supremely manifest,—he speaks
Not in the thunder, shines not in the rays
Of fiery lightning, but in humble hearts
He whispers, “I am love, and love is King.”

Ben-Aaron.
Knowledge is God: but wilt thou hear my words?
The time is ripe; lose not the golden moment
Once more I offer thee the help that surely
Will lead thee on towards unexampled ends.
For this thy miracles have paved the way:
By signs the unthinking populace is led;
Let but a star shoot glimmering o'er the sky,
The brainless herds with trembling hearts predict
Strange woes and ruin of cities—use thy skill—
Thou art, I know it, a cunning conjuror;
Thy fame is now established—turn that fame
To good account.

Jesus.
My weapons are not carnal,
And this world's clamorous warfare is not mine.
My kingdom, founded in the hearts of men,
Shall outlast earthly kingdoms.

Ben-Aaron.
Thou believest
In shadowy lives to come, but I believe
In this the golden present.

Jesus.
Heaven and earth
Shall pass away; my words shall never pass.

Ben-Aaron.
A thousand poets' tongues have said the same.
Where are they now?

Jesus.
No noble work can die.
Nay: ever it bears fruit.

Ben-Aaron.
Although the men
Who wrought the work rot slowly underground,
Preaching to worms and beetles! Give to me
The gracious present with its sunny gleams;
I leave your heaven with all its pallid ghosts
To love-sick youths and maidens.—Once again,
And for the last time, wilt thou work with me,
Delivering thus thy race?

Jesus.
To work with thee
Were wholly to destroy the race I love,
Nay more, would die to save, for thou art base
And barren is base labour. I will toil
Alone, will bear, alone, the griefs of all,
The sins of all, till all men's griefs and sins
Vanish when God from time's dim mountain-tops
Speaks and leads forth the morning.

Ben-Aaron.
Then I speak!
What is thy God to me? A stormier God
Than thine within the eternal darkness dwells:
His am I, him I serve—the God who stirs
The waves to madness, who blindfolds the stars
With his own hands lest any star should lead
One storm-tossed ship to haven; him I serve
Whose heaven is gloom, whose heart from age to age
Conceives and sends forth sorrow: though thy God
Be love he is servant to a mightier Lord,
The Lord who making man set deep in man
The changeless love of sin that brings forth fruit
Blood-red, and will for ever. Hate is God
Behind thy God and o'er him, as the dark
Follows and rules the light; thy God is weak
Beside the strength of mine, for all the world
Bears witness to the force of him who slays
Or, slaying not, slowly tortures.

Jesus.
Yet the weak
Can bring to nought the strong. The world is dark,
And shall be dark for ages—till the light
I bring shall slowly penetrate the dark
And change man's grief to gladness. I am light,
And light shall vanquish gloom.

Ben-Aaron.
Thou dreamest, thou,
That Mary loves thee, that her heart is changed.
She is mine, not thine; not to the saint who saves
A woman's soul through endless time belongs,
But to the man who wins her girlish beauty.
Take thou her soul, for I have won her lips,
And these are safe from thy most saintlike touch—
In hell I will await her. Go thy way:
Redeem the race of man—it needs redemption;
Redeem thou Mary—for she needs redemption;
Then, if thou canst, redeem and save thyself
For surely man shall slay thee—I, Ben-Aaron,
Promise thee that—for thou hast striven to steal
The one thing that for just one moment made
A dark soul see the sunshine.

(Exit Ben-Aaron).
Jesus.
Go thy way,
For all ways lead to God, though those that man
Chooses lead round through darkness. True it is
That now the Lord of darkness rules the earth;
This is his hour, the Father lets him rule;
One fleeting moment only—far beyond
The darkness shine the unsullied hosts of stars,
Though these may fade from vision orb by orb
As darkness closes round me. Yet I trust.

(Exit Jesus).