Lilah

Read Lilah for Free Online Page A

Book: Read Lilah for Free Online
Authors: Marek Halter
and she wanted to marry him. But how could she do that now? How, after all she had heard, could she say, ‘I, too, have news. Antinoes has returned from the wars to marry me. I spent thenight with him. I love him. I can still feel his caresses on my hips. He wants to make me a great lady, one of those who enter the Citadel and bow down before the King of Kings’?
    Suddenly Master Baruch’s voice rose, drawing her from her thoughts. ‘Ezra has the anger of youth, and that’s good,’ he said, with a half-wicked, half-serious smile. ‘All I have is the remorse of age. I was not much older than the two of you when Nehemiah left Susa for Jerusalem with the consent of his King of Kings. At the time I was living in Babylon, among the exiles. I spent my days studying the teachings of Moses. A man named Azaryah came to me. “Baruch,” he said, “Nehemiah is forming a caravan for Jerusalem. He’s going to rebuild the walls and the Temple. He needs hands and minds he can trust. He thought of you because it’s said you know a great deal about the Law that Moses received on Mount Sinai.” I gazed at this Azaryah with the look your brother sometimes has. Blazing dark eyes . . . although mine have always been light blue.’
    Master Baruch stopped. His throat quivered with a grating laugh – whatever the gravity of a situation, he could always find amusement in men’s trials and tribulations, especially his own.
    â€˜I thought about it for a while, then answered seriously, “I’m studying, and can’t interrupt my studies.”
    â€˜â€œCome on,” he insisted, “you can study in Jerusalem. Is there a better place to study?”
    â€˜I refused again. “Going to Jerusalem will mean interrupting my studies, and I can’t do it.” He lost his temper. He was breathing like an ox, this Azaryah, he was as red as a beetroot. “Is that your answer to Nehemiah, Baruch ben Neriah?” he asked. “That you’d rather study than rebuild the Temple of Yahweh?” “Yes, that’s exactly what you’re going to tell him,” I replied, very proud of myself. “Baruch ben Neriah obeys a higher will. When you’re studying the Law of Yahweh, you don’t interrupt it, even to rebuild the walls and Temple of Jerusalem.”’
    Master Baruch was laughing, but the tears that welled in his eyes were not tears of joy. ‘Oh, Nehemiah, poor Nehemiah! May the Everlasting bless him for all time!’ he exclaimed, beating his chest with his fists.
    Lilah risked a glance at Ezra, who was listening impassively, head tilted. She waited a moment, then got up with a determined air. ‘I’m going to make herb tea with honey,’ she said to Master Baruch. ‘I’ve brought some fresh herbs. And I’ll bake some biscuits that you can dip in a little milk. It’ll do you good and calm your stomach.’
    She went out before Master Baruch could protest. But his laughter pursued her. She had to admit,however reluctantly, that Ezra was a good pupil and had learned a lot from Master Baruch – all except one thing. He had not learned how to laugh and joke. That was a true gift, especially when your eyes burned with the tears you were holding back.
    The kitchen was only six feet wide and twelve feet long, but it was simply and efficiently laid out. A long flat stone, worn smooth by daily use, protruded from the far wall, with a furrow cut into it to drain away the water through gaps in the bricks. Sogdiam was cleaning onion shoots and turnip roots. He had already put away the sacks of vegetables and dried fruits in big cane baskets with lids, which were lined up on the side. Under a board of palm-tree wood, which was used as a table for kneading, cutting or crushing, there were other baskets, without lids, containing a few cucumbers and two small, white-veined melons.
    Bunches of mint, sage, peppers,

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