Orakel Classics
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace, prepared as a public-domain Orakel edition with 88 chapter-aware companion links.
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BOOK FIRST
BOOK FIRST from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. This section is available as a chapter-aware Orakel companion.
Open2CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The Jebel es Zubleh is a mountain fifty miles and more in length, and so narrow that its tracery on the map gives it a likeness to a caterpillar crawling from the south to the north. Standing on its red-and-white cliffs, and looking off under the path of the rising sun, one sees only the Desert of Arabia, where the east winds, so hateful to vinegrowers of Jericho, have kept their playgrounds since the beginning. Its
Open3CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The man as now revealed was of admirable proportions, not so tall as powerful. Loosening the silken rope which held the kufiyeh on his head, he brushed the fringed folds back until his face was bare—a strong face, almost negro in color; yet the low, broad forehead, aquiline nose, the outer corners of the eyes turned slightly upward, the hair profuse, straight, harsh, of metallic lustre, and falling to the shoulder
Open4CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. To speak in the style of the period, the meeting just described took place in the year of Rome 747. The month was December, and winter reigned over all the regions east of the Mediterranean. Such as ride upon the desert in this season go not far until smitten with a keen appetite. The company under the little tent were not exceptions to the rule. They were hungry, and ate heartily; and, after the wine, they
Open5CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The Egyptian and the Hindoo looked at each other; the former waved his hand; the latter bowed, and
Open6CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The vivacious Greek broke forth in expressions of joy and congratulations; after which the Egyptian said, with characteristic
Open7CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. In an aperture of the western wall of Jerusalem hang the “oaken valves” called the Bethlehem or Joppa Gate. The area outside of them is one of the notable places of the city. Long before David coveted Zion there was a citadel there. When at last the son of Jesse ousted the Jebusite, and began to build, the site of the citadel became the northwest corner of the new wall, defended by a tower much more imposing than
Open8CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Let us take our stand by the gate, just out of the edge of the currents—one flowing in, the other out—and use our eyes and ears
Open9CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The reader is now besought to return to the court described as part of the market at the Joppa Gate. It was the third hour of the day, and many of the people had gone away; yet the press continued without apparent abatement. Of the new-comers, there was a group over by the south wall, consisting of a man, a woman, and a donkey, which requires extended
Open10CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. 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
Open11CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. A mile and a half, it may be two miles, southeast of Bethlehem, there is a plain separated from the town by an intervening swell of the mountain. Besides being well sheltered from the north winds, the vale was covered with a growth of sycamore, dwarf-oak, and pine trees, while in the glens and ravines adjoining there were thickets of olive and mulberry; all at this season of the year invaluable for the support of
Open12CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The eleventh day after the birth of the child in the cave, about mid-afternoon, the three wise men approached Jerusalem by the road from Shechem. After crossing Brook Cedron, they met many people, of whom none failed to stop and look after them
Open13CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. That evening, before sunset, some women were washing clothes on the upper step of the flight that led down into the basin of the Pool of Siloam. They knelt each before a broad bowl of earthenware. A girl at the foot of the steps kept them supplied with water, and sang while she filled the jar. The song was cheerful, and no doubt lightened their labor. Occasionally they would sit upon their heels, and look up the
Open14CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It was now the beginning of the third watch, and at Bethlehem the morning was breaking over the mountains in the east, but so feebly that it was yet night in the valley. The watchman on the roof of the old khan, shivering in the chilly air, was listening for the first distinguishable sounds with which life, awakening, greets the dawn, when a light came moving up the hill towards the house. He thought it a torch in
Open15BOOK SECOND
BOOK SECOND from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “There is a fire And motion of the soul which will not dwell In its own narrow being, but aspire Beyond the fitting medium of desire; And, but once kindled, quenchless evermore, Preys upon high adventure, nor can tire Of aught but
Open16CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It is necessary now to carry the reader forward twenty-one years, to the beginning of the administration of Valerius Gratus, the fourth imperial governor of Judea—a period which will be remembered as rent by political agitations in Jerusalem, if, indeed, it be not the precise time of the opening of the final quarrel between the Jew and the
Open17CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. With the foregoing explanation in mind, the reader is invited to look into one of the gardens of the palace on Mount Zion. The time was noonday in the middle of July, when the heat of summer was at its
Open18CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. From the entrance to the Holy City, equivalent to what is now called St. Stephen’s Gate, a street extended westwardly, on a line parallel with the northern front of the Tower of Antonia, though a square from that famous castle. Keeping the course as far as the Tyropoeon Valley, which it followed a little way south, it turned and again ran west until a short distance beyond what tradition tells us was the Judgment
Open19CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The mother resumed her easy position against the cushion, while the son took place on the divan, his head in her lap. Both of them, looking out of the opening, could see a stretch of lower house-tops in the vicinity, a bank of blue-blackness over in the west which they knew to be mountains, and the sky, its shadowy depths brilliant with stars. The city was still. Only the winds
Open20CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The young Israelite proceeded then, and rehearsed his conversation with Messala, dwelling with particularity upon the latter’s speeches in contempt of the Jews, their customs, and much pent round of
Open21CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The good man, like the bad, must die; but, remembering the lesson of our faith, we say of him and the event, “No matter, he will open his eyes in heaven.” Nearest this in life is the waking from healthful sleep to a quick consciousness of happy sights and
Open22CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Next day a detachment of legionaries went to the desolated palace, and, closing the gates permanently, plastered the corners with wax, and at the sides nailed a notice in
Open23BOOK THIRD
BOOK THIRD from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “Cleopatra.... Our size of sorrow, Proportion’d to our cause, must be as great As that which makes it.— Enter, below, DIOMEDES. How now? is he
Open24CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The city of Misenum gave name to the promontory which it crowned, a few miles southwest of Naples. An account of ruins is all that remains of it now; yet in the year of our Lord 24—to which it is desirable to advance the reader—the place was one of the most important on the western coast of
Open25CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The tribune, standing upon the helmsman’s deck with the order of the duumvir open in his hand, spoke to the chief of the
Open26CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The fourth day out, and the Astroea—so the galley was named—speeding through the Ionian Sea. The sky was clear, and the wind blew as if bearing the good-will of all the
Open27CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. In the Bay of Antemona, east of Cythera the island, the hundred galleys assembled. There the tribune gave one day to inspection. He sailed then to Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades, midway the coasts of Greece and Asia, like a great stone planted in the centre of a highway, from which he could challenge everything that passed; at the same time, he would be in position to go after the pirates instantly, whether they
Open28CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Every soul aboard, even the ship, awoke. Officers went to their quarters. The marines took arms, and were led out, looking in all respects like legionaries. Sheaves of arrows and armfuls of javelins were carried on deck. By the central stairs the oil-tanks and fire-balls were set ready for use. Additional lanterns were lighted. Buckets were filled with water. The rowers in relief assembled under guard in front of
Open29CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The throes of recovery from drowning are more painful than the drowning. These Arrius passed through, and, at length, to Ben-Hur’s delight, reached the point of
Open30BOOK FOURTH
BOOK FOURTH from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Queen. Then I must wait for justice Until it come; and they are happiest far Whose consciences may calmly wait their right.” Schiller, Don Carlos (act iv., sc.
Open31CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The month to which we now come is July, the year that of our Lord 29, and the place Antioch, then Queen of the East, and next to Rome the strongest, if not the most populous, city in the
Open32CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. When the city came into view, the passengers were on deck, eager that nothing of the scene might escape them. The respectable Jew already introduced to the reader was the principal
Open33CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Next day early, to the neglect of the city, Ben-Hur sought the house of Simonides. Through an embattled gateway he passed to a continuity of wharves; thence up the river midst a busy press, to the Seleucian Bridge, under which he paused to take in the
Open34CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Scarcely was Ben-Hur gone, when Simonides seemed to wake as from sleep: his countenance flushed; the sullen light of his eyes changed to brightness; and he said,
Open35CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. When Ben-Hur sallied from the great warehouse, it was with the thought that another failure was to be added to the many he had already met in the quest for his people; and the idea was depressing exactly in proportion as the objects of his quest were dear to him; it curtained him round about with a sense of utter loneliness on earth, which, more than anything else, serves to eke from a soul cast down its remaining
Open36CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Ben-Hur entered the woods with the processions. He had not interest enough at first to ask where they were going; yet, to relieve him from absolute indifference, he had a vague impression that they were in movement to the temples, which were the central objects of the Grove, supreme in
Open37CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. In front of Ben-Hur there was a forest of cypress-trees, each a column tall and straight as a mast. Venturing into the shady precinct, he heard a trumpet gayly blown, and an instant after saw lying upon the grass close by the countryman whom he had run upon in the road going to the temples. The man arose, and came to
Open38CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. As Ben-Hur descended the steps of the stand, an Arab arose upon the last one at the foot, and cried
Open39CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. As a rule, there is no surer way to the dislike of men than to behave well where they have behaved badly. In this instance, happily, Malluch was an exception to the rule. The affair he had just witnessed raised Ben-Hur in his estimation, since he could not deny him courage and address; could he now get some insight into the young man’s history, the results of the day would not be all unprofitable to good master
Open40CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Beyond the village the country was undulating and cultivated; in fact, it was the garden-land of Antioch, with not a foot lost to labor. The steep faces of the hills were terraced; even the hedges were brighter of the trailing vines which, besides the lure of shade, offered passers-by sweet promises of wine to come, and grapes in clustered purple ripeness. Over melon-patches, and through apricot and fig-tree groves,
Open41CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. What time the lower horn of a new moon touched the castellated piles on Mount Sulpius, and two thirds of the people of Antioch were out on their house-tops comforting themselves with the night breeze when it blew, and with fans when it failed, Simonides sat in the chair which had come to be a part of him, and from the terrace looked down over the river, and his ships a-swing at their moorings. The wall at his back
Open42CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The palace across the river nearly opposite Simonides’ place is said to have been completed by the famous Epiphanes, and was all such a habitation can be imagined; though he was a builder whose taste ran to the immense rather than the classical, now so called—an architectural imitator, in other words, of the Persians instead of the
Open43CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Sheik Ilderim was a man of too much importance to go about with a small establishment. He had a reputation to keep with his tribe, such as became a prince and patriarch of the greatest following in all the Desert east of Syria; with the people of the cities he had another reputation, which was that of one of the richest personages not a king in all the East; and, being rich in fact—in money as well as in servants,
Open44CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. If the reader will return now to the repast of the wise men at their meeting in the desert, he will understand the preparations for the supper in Ilderim’s tent. The differences were chiefly such as were incident to ampler means and better
Open45CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The shadows cast over the Orchard of Palms by the mountains at set of sun left no sweet margin time of violet sky and drowsing earth between the day and night. The latter came early and swift; and against its glooming in the tent this evening the servants brought four candlesticks of brass, and set them by the corners of the table. To each candlestick there were four branches, and on each branch a lighted silver
Open46CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “If I could answer you,” Balthasar said, in his simple, earnest, devout way—“oh, if I knew where he is, how quickly I would go to him! The seas should not stay me, nor the
Open47CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Up a little way from the dower there was a cluster of palms, which threw its shade half in the water, half on the land. A bulbul sang from the branches a song of invitation. Ben-Hur stopped beneath to listen. At any other time the notes of the bird would have driven thought away; but the story of the Egyptian was a burden of wonder, and he was a laborer carrying it, and, like other laborers, there was to him no
Open48BOOK FIFTH
BOOK FIFTH from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law, In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw.”
Open49CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The morning after the bacchanalia in the saloon of the palace, the divan was covered with young patricians. Maxentius might come, and the city throng to receive him; the legion might descend from Mount Sulpius in glory of arms and armor; from Nymphaeum to Omphalus there might be ceremonial splendors to shame the most notable ever before seen or heard of in the gorgeous East; yet would the many continue to sleep
Open50CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. About the time the couriers departed from Messala’s door with the despatches (it being yet the early morning hour), Ben-Hur entered Ilderim’s tent. He had taken a plunge into the lake, and breakfasted, and appeared now in an under-tunic, sleeveless, and with skirt scarcely reaching to the
Open51CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “Iras, the daughter of Balthasar, sends me with salutation and a message,” said a servant to Ben-Hur, who was taking his ease in the
Open52CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Ilderim returned to the dowar next day about the third hour. As he dismounted, a man whom he recognized as of his own tribe came to him and said, “O sheik, I was bidden give thee this package, with request that thou read it at once. If there be answer, I was to wait thy
Open53CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The sheik waited, well satisfied, until Ben-Hur drew his horses off the field for the forenoon—well satisfied, for he had seen them, after being put through all the other paces, run full speed in such manner that it did not seem there were one the slowest and another the fastest—run in other words, as if the four were
Open54CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The intercepted letter was conclusive upon a number of points of great interest to Ben-Hur. It had all the effect of a confession that the writer was a party to the putting-away of the family with murderous intent; that he had sanctioned the plan adopted for the purpose; that he had received a portion of the proceeds of the confiscation, and was yet in enjoyment of his part; that he dreaded the unexpected appearance
Open55CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The room was the same in which he had formerly interviewed Simonides, and it had been in nowise changed, except now, close by the arm-chair, a polished brazen rod, set on a broad wooden pedestal, arose higher than a tall man, holding lamps of silver on sliding arms, half-a-dozen or more in number, and all burning. The light was clear, bringing into view the panelling on the walls, the cornice with its row of gilded
Open56CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “Esther,” he said, quietly, “the night is going fast; and, lest we become too weary for that which is before us, let the refreshments be
Open57CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Next night, about the fourth hour, Ben-Hur stood on the terrace of the great warehouse with Esther. Below them, on the landing, there was much running about, and shifting of packages and boxes, and shouting of men, whose figures, stooping, heaving, hauling, looked, in the light of the crackling torches kindled in their aid, like the laboring genii of the fantastic Eastern tales. A galley was being laden for instant
Open58CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The day before the games, in the afternoon, all Ilderim’s racing property was taken to the city, and put in quarters adjoining the Circus. Along with it the good man carried a great deal of property not of that class; so with servants, retainers mounted and armed, horses in leading, cattle driven, camels laden with baggage, his outgoing from the Orchard was not unlike a tribal migration. The people along the road
Open59CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Evening was hardly come upon Antioch, when the Omphalus, nearly in the centre of the city, became a troubled fountain from which in every direction, but chiefly down to the Nymphaeum and east and west along the Colonnade of Herod, flowed currents of people, for the time given up to Bacchus and
Open60CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The Circus at Antioch stood on the south bank of the river, nearly opposite the island, differing in no respect from the plan of such buildings in
Open61CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. About three o’clock, speaking in modern style, the program was concluded except the chariot-race. The editor, wisely considerate of the comfort of the people, chose that time for a recess. At once the vomitoria were thrown open, and all who could hastened to the portico outside where the restaurateurs had their quarters. Those who remained yawned, talked, gossiped, consulted their tablets, and, all distinctions else
Open62CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. When the dash for position began, Ben-Hur, as we have seen, was on the extreme left of the six. For a moment, like the others, he was half blinded by the light in the arena; yet he managed to catch sight of his antagonists and divine their purpose. At Messala, who was more than an antagonist to him, he gave one searching look. The air of passionless hauteur characteristic of the fine patrician face was there as of
Open63CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Ben-Hur tarried across the river with Ilderim; for at midnight, as previously determined, they would take the road which the caravan, then thirty hours out, had
Open64CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Going next day to fill his appointment with Iras, Ben-Hur turned from the Omphalus, which was in the heart of the city, into the Colonnade of Herod, and came shortly to the palace of
Open65BOOK SIXTH
BOOK SIXTH from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man’s blood with
Open66CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Our story moves forward now thirty days from the night Ben-Hur left Antioch to go out with Sheik Ilderim into the
Open67CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “A woman of Israel, entombed here with her daughter. Help us quickly, or we
Open68CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. About the hour Gesius, the keeper, made his appearance before the tribune in the Tower of Antonia, a footman was climbing the eastern face of Mount Olivet. The road was rough and dusty, and vegetation on that side burned brown, for it was the dry season in Judea. Well for the traveller that he had youth and strength, not to speak of the cool, flowing garments with which he was
Open69CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It was dark when, parting with the drover inside the gate, Ben-Hur turned into a narrow lane leading to the south. A few of the people whom he met saluted him. The bouldering of the pavement was rough. The houses on both sides were low, dark, and cheerless; the doors all closed: from the roofs, occasionally, he heard women crooning to children. The loneliness of his situation, the night, the uncertainty cloaking the
Open70CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Nowadays travellers in the Holy Land looking for the famous place with the beautiful name, the King’s Garden, descend the bed of the Cedron or the curve of Gihon and Hinnom as far as the old well En-rogel, take a drink of the sweet living water, and stop, having reached the limit of the interesting in that direction. They look at the great stones with which the well is curbed, ask its depth, smile at the primitive
Open71CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The morning of the first day of the seventh month—Tishri in the Hebrew, October in English—Ben-Hur arose from his couch in the khan ill satisfied with the whole
Open72BOOK SEVENTH
BOOK SEVENTH from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “And, waking, I beheld her there Sea-dreaming in the moted air, A siren lithe and debonair, With wristlets woven of scarlet weeds, And oblong lucent amber beads Of sea-kelp shining in her
Open73CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The meeting took place in the khan of Bethany as appointed. Thence Ben-Hur went with the Galileans into their country, where his exploits up in the old Market-place gave him fame and influence. Before the winter was gone he raised three legions, and organized them after the Roman pattern. He could have had as many more, for the martial spirit of that gallant people never slept. The proceeding, however, required
Open74CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It was Ben-Hur’s purpose to turn aside at the break of day, and find a safe place in which to rest; but the dawn overtook him while out in the Desert, and he kept on, the guide promising to bring him afterwhile to a vale shut in by great rocks, where there were a spring, some mulberry-trees, and herbage in plenty for the
Open75CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The tent was cosily pitched beneath a tree where the gurgle of the stream was constantly in ear. Overhead the broad leaves hung motionless on their stems; the delicate reed-stalks off in the pearly haze stood up arrowy-straight; occasionally a home-returning bee shot humming athwart the shade, and a partridge creeping from the sedge drank, whistled to his mate, and ran away. The restfulness of the vale, the
Open76CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The caravan, stretched out upon the Desert, was very picturesque; in motion, however, it was like a lazy serpent. By-and-by its stubborn dragging became intolerably irksome to Balthasar, patient as he was; so, at his suggestion, the party determined to go on by
Open77CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The third day of the journey the party nooned by the river Jabbok, where there were a hundred or more men, mostly of Peraea, resting themselves and their beasts. Hardly had they dismounted, before a man came to them with a pitcher of water and a bowl, and offered them drink; as they received the attention with much courtesy, he said, looking at the camel, “I am returning from the Jordan, where just now there are
Open78BOOK EIGHTH
BOOK EIGHTH from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. “Who could resist? Who in this universe? She did so breathe ambrosia, so immerse My fine existence in a golden clime. She took me like a child of suckling-time, And cradled me in roses. Thus condemn’d, The current of my former life was stemm’d, And to this arbitrary queen of sense I bow’d a tranced vassal.”—KEATS,
Open79CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. This was in the summer-house upon the roof of the old palace of the Hurs in Jerusalem. From the parapet overlooking the court-yard Esther called to a man in waiting there; at the same moment another man-servant came up the steps and saluted
Open80CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. An hour or thereabouts after the scene upon the roof, Balthasar and Simonides, the latter attended by Esther, met in the great chamber of the palace; and while they were talking, Ben-Hur and Iras came in
Open81CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The first person to go out of the city upon the opening of the Sheep’s Gate next morning was Amrah, basket on arm. No questions were asked her by the keepers, since the morning itself had not been more regular in coming than she; they knew her somebody’s faithful servant, and that was enough for
Open82CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. During the third hour the road in front of the resting-place of the lepers became gradually more and more frequented by people going in the direction of Bethphage and Bethany; now, however, about the commencement of the fourth hour, a great crowd appeared over the crest of Olivet, and as it defiled down the road thousands in number, the two watchers noticed with wonder that every one in it carried a palm-branch
Open83CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Ben-Hur pitched two tents out on the Upper Cedron east a short space of the Tombs of the Kings, and furnished them with every comfort at his command; and thither, without loss of time, he conducted his mother and sister, to remain until the examining priest could certify their perfect
Open84CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Ben-Hur alighted at the gate of the khan from which the three Wise Men more than thirty years before departed, going down to Bethlehem. There, in keeping of his Arab followers, he left the horse, and shortly after was at the wicket of his father’s house, and in a yet briefer space in the great chamber. He called for Malluch first; that worthy being out, he sent a salutation to his friends the merchant and the
Open85CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. When Ben-Hur left the guest-chamber, there was not nearly so much life in his action as when he entered it; his steps were slower, and he went along with his head quite upon his breast. Having made discovery that a man with a broken back may yet have a sound brain, he was reflecting upon the
Open86CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The streets were full of people going and coming, or grouped about the fires roasting meat, and feasting and singing, and happy. The odor of scorching flesh mixed with the odor of cedar-wood aflame and smoking loaded the air; and as this was the occasion when every son of Israel was full brother to every other son of Israel, and hospitality was without bounds, Ben-Hur was saluted at every step, while the groups by
Open87CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Next morning, about the second hour, two men rode full speed to the doors of Ben-Hur’s tents, and dismounting, asked to see him. He was not yet risen, but gave directions for their
Open88CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. When the party—Balthasar, Simonides, Ben-Hur, Esther, and the two faithful Galileans—reached the place of crucifixion, Ben-Hur was in advance leading them. How they had been able to make way through the great press of excited people, he never knew; no more did he know the road by which they came or the time it took them to come. He had walked in total unconsciousness, neither hearing nor seeing anybody or anything,
Open