Part 2 (1/2)
”That when a woman will, she will, You may depend on it; And when she won't, she won't, And there's an end on it;”
said: ”Peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land.”
Then Abraham, who was a connoisseur in feminine ethics (as he naturally would be, having had such able instructors as Sarah and Hagar) and realized the utter futility of attempting to persuade, bribe or induce a woman to do anything she objected to doing, said:
”And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this mine oath.”
So the servant departed and ”went to Mesopotamia unto the city of Nahor.”
Now it seems in those days the girls of Nahor went outside the city gates every evening, according to Oriental custom, to draw water from a well, and the artful servant of Abraham tarried at the well at sunset, for he knew the girls would be along presently.
It was a lovely eventide. The wind touched caressingly the few dainty flowers drooping their heads in sleepy fragrance, the birds twittered soft words of love to their nestling mates, the departing G.o.d of day lavished in reckless abandon his wealth of colors; piled crimson mountains red as his ardent love in the western sky, and robed high heaven in golden glory that his sweetheart--the earth--reveling in and remembering the grandeur of his pa.s.sion and the splendor of his departure, might not love his silver-armored rival of the night.
About this time the maidens tripped down to the well, where the shrewd servant stood as the ”daughters of the men of the city came out to draw water,” and prayed:
”And let it come to pa.s.s that the damsel to whom I shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink;' and she shall say, 'Drink,' may be the one I am looking for;” or words to that effect.
The words had hardly pa.s.sed his lips ere Rebekah, with the color s.n.a.t.c.hed from the roses in her cheeks and the grace of untrammeled freedom in her step, skipped down to the well.
And Rebekah ”was very fair to look upon.” Of course. In relating the history of these examples who have been held up since time immemorial for us to follow, the writers of ”Holy Writ” never expatiate upon their virtue, industry, domesticity, constancy or love, but we are simply and briefly told they were ”fair to look upon,” and the natural logical inference is that we shall ”go and do likewise.”
Belonging to one of the wealthiest and most influential families of Nahor, of course Rebekah's practiced eye saw at a glance that the handsome fellow waiting at the well and looking the girls over was a person of rank and importance; for it is only a logical conclusion that coming from such a master and bound upon such an errand, he was surrounded by all the trappings and signs of wealth and luxury that the times afforded.
And the maidens of Nahor went outside the city gates partly for the same purpose, I suppose, as that for which the girls of other places go to the parks and matinees nowadays, for it seems to have been a notorious fact that had even spread to other countries, that the girls of Nahor came down to the well in the blus.h.i.+ng sunset, and that too, without chaperon or duenna. And I suppose the young men went down too, to flirt with the charming damsels, from the fact that the servant of Abraham tarried there.
And Rebekah, stooping gracefully, filled her pitcher, swung it lightly to her shoulder--and as the woman sometimes takes the initiative in an affair of this kind--smiled upon the willing and ready-looking fellow; not exactly at him, but as it were in his direction, you know; and he caught the faint glint of suns.h.i.+ne on her lips, and then--but in the witching hour when the twilight and sunlight kiss and part, after the smile and look of recognition everyone knows what happens.
And he ran to her and said with the pleasing courtesy of a man of the world:
”Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.”
Then with the tact of a finished coquette, in three little words she conveyed to him the flattering knowledge that she recognized in him an emba.s.sador of power, wealth and luxury, by saying:
”Drink, my Lord.”
After that they became acquainted in the most easy, off-hand manner, without an introduction, and yet we are told to follow the example of these pioneers of the race who were always ”fair to look upon.”
I never in my life heard priest or people condemning her for forming the acquaintance of a stranger without an introduction; she was called one of the ”mothers in Israel,” and even St. Paul, who was a regular crank about the girls, cla.s.sed her with the ”holy women of old,” which proves he didn't know anything about her history or was playing upon the ignorance of his hearers. She was a leader of the _ton_ in Israel, and if in those days they did not banish her from good society, why should we censure the same conduct when we are so much more civilized, enlightened and liberal in our views?
And in an incredibly short s.p.a.ce of time he adorned her with earrings and bracelets, and she invited him home with her, and he actually went and made it all right with her mother and big brother by making a prepossessing exhibition of piety, for you remember how he told them ”he bowed down his head and wors.h.i.+pped the Lord.”
He told them of Isaac, in whose name he sued for Rebekah's fair hand.
He didn't say that Isaac was handsome, virtuous, talented or ambitious, but he said, ”the Lord hath blessed my master and he is very great; and he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and maid servants and men servants, and camels and a.s.ses,” and unto his son Isaac ”hath he given all that he hath,” for this astute man of the world seemed to know that the surest and quickest way to win a woman was to show her a golden pathway strewn with the gems of power, luxury and ambition.
And the big brother did not pull out his watch, look at it in a business-like way and say:
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”LET ME, I PRAY THEE, DRINK A LITTLE WATER OF THY PITCHER.”]
”Rebekah, pack your trunk and be ready to take the 6:40 fast express.”