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Page 79
He paced back and forth through the wood as he talked. The rattle of the
shot-guns never ceased, and the dogs whimpered a little and lay flat on
the leaves.
'I was a Prince. Yes! Think of a little Prince who had never known
rough words in his own house handed over to shouting, bearded Rabbis,
who pulled his ears and filliped his nose, all that he might
learn--learn--learn to be King when his time came. H�! Such a little
Prince it was! One eye he kept on the stone-throwing Moorish boys, and
the other it roved about the streets looking for his Kingdom. Yes, and
he learned to cry softly when he was hunted up and down those streets.
He learned to do all things without noise. He played beneath his
father's table when the Great Candle was lit, and he listened as
children listen to the talk of his father's friends above the table.
They came across the mountains, from out of all the world, for my
Prince's father was their counsellor. They came from behind the armies
of Sala-ud-Din: from Rome: from Venice: from England. They stole down
our alley, they tapped secretly at our door, they took off their rags,
they arrayed themselves, and they talked to my father at the wine. All
over the world the heathen fought each other. They brought news of these
wars, and while he played beneath the table, my Prince heard these
meanly dressed ones decide between themselves how, and when, and for how
long King should draw sword against King, and People rise up against
People. Why not? There can be no war without gold, and we Jews know how
the earth's gold moves with the seasons, and the crops, and the winds;
circling and looping and rising and sinking away like a river--a
wonderful underground river. How should the foolish Kings know _that_
while they fight and steal and kill?'
The children's faces showed that they knew nothing at all as, with open
eyes, they trotted and turned beside the long-striding old man. He
twitched his gown over his shoulders, and a square plate of gold,
studded with jewels, gleamed for an instant through the fur, like a star
through flying snow.
'No matter,' he said. 'But, credit me, my Prince saw peace or war
decided not once, but many times, by the fall of a coin spun between a
Jew from Bury and a Jewess from Alexandria, in his father's house, when
the Great Candle was lit. Such power had we Jews among the Gentiles. Ah,
my little Prince! Do you wonder that he learned quickly? Why not?' He
muttered to himself and went on:--
'My trade was that of a physician. When I had learned it in Spain I went
to the East to find my Kingdom. Why not? A Jew is as free as a
sparrow--or a dog. He goes where he is hunted. In the East I found
libraries where men dared to think--schools of medicine where they dared
to learn. I was diligent in my business. Therefore I stood before Kings.
I have been a brother to Princes and a companion to beggars, and I have
walked between the living and the dead. There was no profit in it. I did
not find my Kingdom. So, in the tenth year of my travels, when I had
reached the Uttermost Eastern Sea, I returned to my father's house. God
had wonderfully preserved my people. None had been slain, none even
wounded, and only a few scourged. I became once more a son in my
father's house. Again the Great Candle was lit; again the meanly
apparelled ones tapped on our door after dusk; and again I heard them
weigh out peace and war, as they weighed out the gold on the table. But
I was not rich--not very rich. Therefore, when those that had power and
knowledge and wealth talked together, I sat in the shadow. Why not?
'Yet all my wanderings had shown me one sure thing, which is, that a
King without money is like a spear without a head. He cannot do much
harm. I said, therefore, to Elias of Bury, a great one among our people:
"Why do our people lend any more to the Kings that oppress us?"
"Because," said Elias, "if we refuse they stir up their people against
us, and the People are tenfold more cruel than Kings. If thou doubtest,
come with me to Bury in England and live as I live."
'I saw my mother's face across the candle flame, and I said, "I will
come with thee to Bury. Maybe my Kingdom shall be there."
'So I sailed with Elias to the darkness and the cruelty of Bury in
England, where there are no learned men. How can a man be wise if he
hate? At Bury I kept his accounts for Elias, and I saw men kill Jews
there by the tower. No--none laid hands on Elias. He lent money to the
King, and the King's favour was about him. A King will not take the life
so long as there is any gold. This King--yes, John--oppressed his people
bitterly because they would not give him money. Yet his land was a good
land. If he had only given it rest he might have cropped it as a
Christian crops his beard. But even _that_ little he did not know, for
God had deprived him of all understanding, and had multiplied
pestilence, and famine, and despair upon the people. Therefore his
people turned against us Jews, who are all people's dogs. Why not?
Lastly the Barons and the people rose together against the King because
of his cruelties. Nay--nay--the Barons did not love the people, but they
saw that if the King cut up and destroyed the common people, he would
presently destroy the Barons. They joined then, as cats and pigs will
join to slay a snake. I kept the accounts, and I watched all these
things, for I remembered the Prophecy.
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