"Thy other ancestors were shepherds, bandits,
conductors of caravans, a horde of slaves offered as tribute to King
David! My forefathers were the conquerors of thine! The first of the
Maccabees drove thy people out of Hebron; Hyrcanus forced them to be
circumcised!" Then, with all the contempt of the patrician for the
plebeian, the hatred of Jacob for Esau, she reproached him for his
indifference towards palpable outrages to his dignity, his weakness
regarding the Phoenicians, who had been false to him, and his cowardly
attitude towards the people who detested and insulted herself.
"But thou art like them!" she cried; "Dost regret the loss of the Arab
girl who danced upon these very pavements? Take her back! Go and live
with her--in her tent! Eat her bread, baked in the ashes! Drink curdled
sheep's-milk! Kiss her dark cheeks--and forget me!"
The tetrarch had already forgotten her presence, it appeared. He paid no
further heed to her anger, but looked intently at a young girl who had
just stepped out upon the balcony of a house not far away. At her side
stood an elderly female slave, who held over the girl's head a kind of
parasol with a handle made of long, slender reeds. In the middle of
the rug spread upon the floor of the balcony stood a large open
travelling-hamper or basket, and girdles, veils, head-dresses, and gold
and silver ornaments were scattered about in confusion. At intervals
the young girl took one object or another in her hands, and held it up
admiringly.
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