Jeremiah Part 5

[BARUCH'S father] Silence. It is not for you to speak. A light yoke is the yoke of Chaldea.

VOICES

But we want no yoke at all.--The day of freedom has dawned.--Down with Ashur!--Let us form an alliance with the Egyptians.

ZEBULON

Never did good come out of Mizraim. We must feel our way cautiously, patient and ever mistrustful.

VOICES

We must renew the furniture of the temple.--No longer shall Baal enjoy our holy things.--Down with the robbers of the temple!--Now is the appointed hour.

OTHER VOICES

[From farther up the street] They are coming! They are coming!

VOICES

[From all sides] Here they are.--Make room.--Come higher up.--Come back here.--I can see them already. You can see them from here.

[The people swarm up the steps and form a lane through which the Egyptian emba.s.sy can pa.s.s to the palace. At first nothing can be seen of the newcomers but the spear points showing above the noisy throng]

VOICES

How finely they march.--Who is the leader?--Araxes is their leader.--Look at the gifts.--Look at the carrying chairs.--One of them is curtained.--That must be Pharaoh's daughter.--Hail Araxes!--Hail Egypt!--Those are heavy chests; there must be gold in them!--We shall have to pay for it with our blood!--How short their swords are.--Ours are better.--Look at their proud gait.--They must be mighty warriors.--Long live Pharaoh-Necho.--Hail Egypt!--G.o.d punish Ashur.--Hail Araxes!--Blessings on Pharaoh!--Blessings on the alliance!

[With frenzied acclamations, the people close in upon the procession of the Egyptians. These latter, richly appareled, march proudly by. They rattle their swords and make gracious acknowledgments]

BARUCH

[Speaking from the steps] May the king fulfil your wishes! May he cement the alliance!

[The Egyptians have mounted the steps to the palace, and have entered the porch of pillars. The people throng at their heels. Other sections of the crowd disappear into the streets. On the steps there now remain only isolated groups of the older men, while the soldiers and the women hasten after the Egyptians, eager to see what they are bearing, and vanis.h.i.+ng after the train in the entry to the palace]

BARUCH

[Who has been looking on in ecstasy] I must go with them.

ZEBULON

Stay where you are.

BARUCH

I want to see for myself how Israel rises against the oppressors. My soul is consumed with desire to behold great deeds, and now the hour is at hand.

ZEBULON

Stay where you are. The time is G.o.d's choice, not ours. The king will decide.

BARUCH

Listen to the shouts of joy! Let me go with them, father.

ZEBULON

You will have many other opportunities. The people always flock to hear loud talkers, and crowd ever to witness showy sights.

ANOTHER

Why do you deny him the pleasure? Is not the day come for which we have been longing? Friends have been raised up for Israel.

ZEBULON

Never was Mizraim the friend of Israel.

BARUCH

Our shame is theirs, and Israel's need is Egypt's.

ZEBULON

Naught have we in common with any other folk on earth. Our strength lies in isolation.

THE OTHER

But they will fight for us.

ZEBULON

They will fight for themselves. Each nation fights for itself alone.

BARUCH

Are we still to be slaves? Shall Zedekiah be a king of slaves, and Zion remain in bondage to Chaldea? Were but Zedekiah a true king!

ZEBULON

Silence, I command you. It befits not a boy to lay down the law for kings.

BARUCH

It is true that I am young; but who is Jerusalem, if it be not her young men? It was not the cautious elders who built Jerusalem. David, young David, established her towers, and made her great among the nations.

ZEBULON

Hold your peace. You have no right to speak in the marketplace.