Once Abraham went into the temple of the idols in his father's house,
to bring sacrifices to them, and he found one of them, Marumath by
name, hewn out of stone, lying prostrate on his face before the iron
god of Nahor. The idol was too heavy for him to raise it alone, and he
called his father to help him put Marumath back in his place. While
they were handling the image, its head dropped off, and Terah took a
stone, and chiselled another Marumath, setting the head of the first
upon the new body. Then Terah continued and made five more gods, and
all these he delivered to Abraham, and bade him sell them in the
streets of the city.
Abraham saddled his mule, and went to the inn where merchants from
Fandana in Syria put up on their way to Egypt. He hoped to dispose of
his wares there. When he reached the inn, one of the camels belonging
to the merchants belched, and the sound frightened his mule so that it
ran off pell-mell and broke three of the idols. The merchants not only
bought the two sound idols from him, they also gave him the price of
the broken ones, for Abraham had told them how distressed he was to
appear before his father with less money than he had expected to
receive for his handiwork.
This incident made Abraham reflect upon the worthlessness of idols, and
he said to himself: "What are these evil things done by my father? Is
not he the god of his gods, for do they not come into being by reason
of his carving and chiselling and contriving? Were it not more seemly
that they should pay worship to him than he to them, seeing they are
the work of his hands?" Meditating thus, he reached his father's house,
and he entered and handed his father the money for the five images, and
Terah rejoiced, and said, "Blessed art thou unto my gods, because thou
didst bring me the price of the idols, and my labor was not in vain."
But Abraham made reply: "Hear, my father Terah, blessed are thy gods
through thee, for thou art their god, since thou didst fashion them,
and their blessing is destruction and their help is vanity. They that
help not themselves, how can they help thee or bless me?"
Terah grew very wrathful at Abraham, that he uttered such speech
against his gods, and Abraham, thinking upon his father's anger, left
him and went from the house. But Terah called him back, and said,
"Gather together the chips of the oak wood from which I made images
before thou didst return, and prepare my dinner for me." Abraham made
ready to do his father's bidding, and as he took up the chips he found
a little god among them, whose forehead bore the inscription "God
Barisat." He threw the chips upon the fire, and set Barisat up next to
it, saying: "Attention! Take care, Barisat, that the fire go not out
until I come back. If it burns low, blow into it, and make it flame up
again." Speaking thus, he went out. When he came in again, he found
Barisat lying prone upon his back, badly burnt. Smiling, he said to
himself, "In truth, Barisat, thou canst keep the fire alive and prepare
food," and while he spoke, the idol was consumed to ashes. Then he took
the dishes to his father, and he ate and drank and was glad and blessed
his god Marumath. But Abraham said to his father, "Bless not thy god
Marumath, but rather thy god Barisat, for he it was who, out of his
great love for thee, threw himself into the fire that thy meal might be
cooked." "Where is he now?" exclaimed Terah, and Abraham answered, "He
hath become ashes in the fierceness of the fire." Terah said, "Great is
the power of Barisat! I will make me another this day, and to-morrow he
will prepare my food for me."
These words of his father made Abraham laugh in his mind, but his soul
was grieved at his obduracy, and he proceeded to make clear his views
upon the idols, saying: "Father, no matter which of the two idols thou
blessest, thy behavior is senseless, for the images that stand in the
holy temple are more to be worshipped than thine. Zucheus, the god of
my brother Nahor, is more venerable than Marumath, because he is made
cunningly of gold, and when he grows old, he will be worked over again.
But when thy Marumath becomes dim, or is shivered in pieces, he will
not be renewed, for he is of stone. And the god Joauv, who stands above
the other gods with Zucheus, is more venerable than Barisat, made of
wood, because he is hammered out of silver, and ornamented by men, to
show his magnificence. But thy Barisat, before thou didst fashion him
into a god with thy axe, was rooted in the earth, standing there great
and wonderful, with the glory of branches and blossoms. Now he is dry,
and gone is his sap. From his height he has fallen to the earth, from
grandeur he came to pettiness, and the appearance of his face has paled
away, and he himself was burnt in the fire, and he was consumed unto
ashes, and he is no more. And thou didst then say, 'I will make me
another this day, and to-morrow he will prepare my food for me.'
Father," Abraham continued, and said, "the fire is more to be
worshipped than thy gods of gold and silver and wood and stone, because
it consumes them. But also the fire I call not god, because it is
subject to the water, which quenches it. But also the water I call not
god, because it is sucked up by the earth, and I call the earth more
venerable, because it conquers the water. But also the earth I call not
god, because it is dried out by the sun, and I call the sun more
venerable than the earth, because he illumines the whole world with his
rays. But also the sun I call not god, because his light is obscured
when darkness cometh up. Nor do I call the moon and the stars gods,
because their light, too, is extinguished when their time to shine is
past. But hearken unto this, my father Terah, which I will declare unto
thee, The God who hath created all things, He is the true God, He hath
empurpled the heavens, and gilded the sun, and given radiance to the
moon and also the stars, and He drieth out the earth in the midst of
many waters, and also thee hath He put upon the earth, and me hath He
sought out in the confusion of my thoughts."[49]