Part 55 (1/2)

ACT III

TIME: _A month later: dawn_

SCENE I

_NAAMAN'S tent, on high ground among the mountains near Samaria: the city below. In the distance, a wide and splendid landscape.

SABALLIDIN and soldiers on guard below the tent. Enter RUAHMAH in hunter's dress, with a lute slung from her shoulder._

RUAHMAH: Peace and good health to you, Saballidin.

Good morrow to you all. How fares my lord?

SABALLIDIN: The curtains of his tent are folded still: They have not moved since we returned, last night, And told him what befell us in the city.

RUAHMAH: Told him! Why did you make report to him And not to me? Am I not captain here, Intrusted by the King's command with care Of Naaman until he is restored?

'Tis mine to know the first of good or ill In this adventure: mine to s.h.i.+eld his heart From every arrow of adversity.

What have you told him? Speak!

SABALLIDIN: Lady, we feared To bring our news to you. For when the King Of Israel had read our monarch's letter, He rent his clothes, and cried, ”Am I a G.o.d, To kill and make alive, that I should heal A leper? Ye have come with false pretence, Damascus seeks a quarrel with me. Go!”

But when we told our lord, he closed his tent, And there remains enfolded in his grief.

I trust he sleeps; 'twere kind to let him sleep!

For now he doth forget his misery, And all the burden of his hopeless woe Is lifted from him by the gentle hand Of slumber. Oh, to those bereft of hope Sleep is the only blessing left,--the last Asylum of the weary, the one sign Of pity from impenetrable heaven.

Waking is strife; sleep is the truce of G.o.d!

Ah, lady, wake him not. The day will be Full long for him to suffer, and for us To turn our disappointed faces home On the long road by which we must return.

RUAHMAH: Return! Who gave you that command? Not I!

The King made me the leader of this quest, And bound you all to follow me, because He knew I never would return without The thing for which he sent us. I'll go on Day after day, unto the uttermost parts Of earth, if need be, and beyond the gates Of morning, till I find that which I seek,-- New life for Naaman. Are ye ashamed To have a woman lead you? Then go back And tell the King, ”This huntress went too far For us to follow: she pursues the trail Of hope alone, refusing to forsake The quarry: we grew weary of the chase; And so we left her and retraced our steps, Like faithless hounds, to sleep beside the fire.”

Did Naaman forsake his soldiers thus When you went forth to hunt the a.s.syrian Bull?

Your manly courage is less durable Than woman's love, it seems. Go, if you will,-- Who bids me now farewell?

SOLDIERS: Not I, not I!

SABALLIDIN: Lady, lead on, we'll follow you forever!

RUAHMAH: Why, now you speak like men! Brought you no word Out of Samaria, except that cry Of impotence and fear from Israel's King?

SABALLIDIN: I do remember while he spoke with us A rustic messenger came in, and cried ”Elisha saith, bring Naaman to me At Dothan, he shall surely know there is A G.o.d in Israel.”

RUAHMAH: What said the King?

SABALLIDIN: He only shouted ”Go!” more wildly yet, And rent his clothes again, as if he were Half-maddened by a coward's fear, and thought Only of how he might be rid of us.

What comfort could there be for him, what hope For us, in the rude prophet's misty word?

RUAHMAH: It is the very word for which I prayed!

My trust was not in princes; for the crown, The sceptre, and the purple robe are not Significant of vital power. The man Who saves his brother-men is he who lives His life with Nature, takes deep hold on truth, And trusts in G.o.d. A prophet's word is more Than all the kings on earth can speak. How far Is Dothan?

SOLDIER: Lady, 'tis but three hours' ride Along the valley southward.

RUAHMAH: Near! so near?