[Trembling with fear] The messenger! The messenger!
A VOICE
He runs hitherward from the gate, and he reels like a drunken man from
weariness.
VOICES
Where is he?--Here he comes. [MESSENGER enters. The crowd surrounds him
as he tries to hasten to the palace and sinks to the ground exhausted]
Hail you who bring tidings of victory.--Hail.--Tell us your news.
THE MESSENGER
[So breathless he can hardly speak, tries to rise and make his way
forward] Room, room, let me go to the king.
VOICES
Just a word.--How did Nebuchadnezzar die?
THE MESSENGER
Are you all struck with madness? Why this jubilation in Jerusalem? To
arms! To arms! Let me pass to the king.
VOICES
What has happened?--Is Nebuchadnezzar still alive?--Pharaoh has beaten
him.--Why this call to arms?
THE MESSENGER
He draws near with all his forces. Nebuchadnezzar is close at hand.
Hardly could I outrun his riders. To arms, to arms! Sentinels to the
walls.
VOICES
What does the man say?--Who has been beaten?--Where is Pharaoh?--You
don't know what you are talking about.--Get him some water.--Nebuchadnezzar
alive?--It is impossible.--What has become of the Egyptians?
THE MESSENGER
Water! I am worn out. The Egyptians have been routed. Necho has made
peace, and must pay tribute to Ashur. Nebuchadnezzar is coming; his
riders are at my heels. I must to the king.
[Some of the crowd help the MESSENGER to the palace]
VOICES
[From the back] What did he say?--Are the Chaldeans beaten?--Why does
not the man tell us what has happened?
[Anxiety gradually spreads through the crowd, and the tumult of
rejoicing is stilled. In their stupefaction all are mute for a while,
and then terrified voices break the silence]
THE CROWD
Impossible!--It cannot be true.--The man is a liar.--He was drunk.--Nay,
he was only staggering from fatigue.--He said the horsemen were hard at
his heels.--The whole story is false.--The messenger had not the mien of
a liar.--It cannot be true.--God would never allow such a thing to
happen.
A VOICE
[Loudly] Pharaoh has betrayed us.
OTHER VOICES
[Quickly and angrily taking up the cry] Pharaoh has betrayed us.--A
curse upon Pharaoh.--Egypt has sworn a peace.--A curse upon
Mizraim.--The Egyptians are traitors.
A VOICE
I have always said that we should never form an alliance with Egypt.
VOICES
So did I.--So did I.--We all said so.--Accursed be Pharaoh.--What will
happen to us now?--Alas for Israel.--My wife.--My children.--I warned
you what would happen.--So did I.
A MAN
[Rushing in] To arms! To arms! Close the gates, Nebuchadnezzar and his
hordes are at hand. The advance guard has already reached Hebron.
VOICES
Hebron did he say?--To arms!--Nay, peace, peace! Let us march out
against him.--All is lost.--From the very first I told you what would
happen.
ONE OF THE CROWD
[Pointing to JEREMIAH who leans brokenly against a pillar, his face
hidden] Look, there is the man.
VOICES
What?--Who?--What do you mean?
THE SAME MAN
It is his doing. He summoned them. He announced the coming of the
messenger. His curse has fallen upon us.
VOICES
Who?--Jeremiah!--Who is it?--It is Jeremiah, he has cursed us.--It is
indeed his doing.--He prayed for Nebuchadnezzar's victory.--He is sold
to the enemy.--Tear him to pieces.--Touch him not; he foretold what
would happen; he is a true prophet.--He has been bribed.--See how he
stands there brooding.
THE SAME MAN
He hides his face lest we should see his laughter. But he makes merry
too soon. Zion still stands; Jerusalem shall endure for ever.
[A herald comes hastily from the palace]
VOICES
A herald.--A messenger from the king.--Silence.
[The crowd gathers round the steps to hear the herald's announcement]
THE HERALD
A message from the king! The enemy is about to attack Jerusalem. The
Chaldeans are at the gates. Let every man able to bear arms make ready
to fight; women must fashion arrows. All that are sick and weakly must
leave the city. Let every man store what food he may in his house lest
hunger overcome us. For our walls can withstand attack; Baal can do
naught against Jehovah, nor can Ashur prevail against Zion.
THE CROWD
True, true.--We will make ready.--God is on our side.--To arms!
THE HERALD
Let none hold back; let none be faint-hearted. Who speaks of fear, him
shall ye put to the sword; who talks of flight, him shall ye chase
beyond the walls. Ye may not gather in the streets; each shall keep his
own house, ready for the fight. Up, Israel! Gather your forces, fearing
nothing, for Jerusalem endureth for ever!
THE CROWD
[Again in tumult] Jerusalem endureth for ever.--To arms.--I must fetch
my sword.--Up, against Ashur.--Let us take heart.--To the walls.--We
shall break them.--Jerusalem endureth for ever.
[The crowd disperses in confusion, so that the square is rapidly
emptied, and the noise is followed by silence. JEREMIAH slowly draws
himself up, and, still hiding his face, ascends the steps of the temple.
BARUCH follows him]
BARUCH
Whither away, master? Do not leave your faithful disciple.
JEREMIAH
I must go alone to seek light from the Lord. He made me deliver a sign
before the people. Nevertheless, Baruch, I cannot believe that the faces
in my ghastly visions are truly from God. Would that I could feel
assured they are all illusion, and not the message of God's spirit. Woe
indeed if I be chosen as revealer and if my dreams be true.
BARUCH
You are chosen, master. It has been made plain to me in this hour. The
sign came to you from God. The spirit and the power of the prophets are
upon you.
JEREMIAH
[Still mounting the steps, flees before him, repelling BARUCH with his
hands] Say not that I am chosen. Tempt me not! For Israel's sake, for
Jerusalem's sake, it is impossible that my words can be true. Far better
for me to bear the laughter and the scorn of the people, than that this
message of terror should be fulfilled. Rather let me be proved liar and
fool, than the prophet of such a truth. May I be thy victim Lord, and
not this city. Let me disappear into the darkness of oblivion, if thy
towers may still shine, O Jerusalem. May my words vanish like smoke, so
long as thou endurest, eternal city. God forget me, if he will but
remember thee. I will kneel before his altar praying him to give me the
lie; I will beseech him to prove my message false. Pray with me, Baruch,
that I be known for a liar in Jerusalem.
[JEREMIAH, humbly bending his head, goes up the last steps into the
porch of pillars of the temple. Without moving, BARUCH gazes after him
until he disappears]
THE WATCH ON THE RAMPARTS
SCENE FOUR
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: ... When I bring the
sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man from among them,
and set him for their watchman, ... if the watchman see the sword come,
and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword
come, and take any person from among them, ... his blood will I require
at the watchman's hand. EZEKIEL XXXIII, 1-6.
SCENE FOUR
On the ramparts of Jerusalem. The walls, of hewn stone, surround the
town. In the background is the starry sky, and faint in the distance the
valley with hazy outlines and lights twinkling here and there. The
masonry shines in the moonlight. On the wall two sentries march up and
down. Their faces are shadowed by their helmets; their spears gleam as
they move. Though the hour is late and midnight approaches, a few
civilians have ventured on to the wall and are looking out into the
distance.
A WOMAN
It is bedtime. You will see the wretches soon enough in the morning. Do
come home; this may be our last quiet night.
A MAN
How can one sleep when the enemy is arrayed against us? My heart has
been heavier than lead since I have been standing here; and yet I cannot
leave. It seems as if I were forced to remain in the flood which is
rising to overwhelm us. Last night and to-day the horsemen have been
streaming across the plain. Again and again we thought that all must
have come, but still there came more and yet more, as if whole countries
had been emptied like sacks of grain; while the spears were as the
stalks of the corn in number.
ANOTHER
Already have they pitched their tents, so that a white forest now stands
in the valley.
A THIRD
Alas, they are settling down for the siege.
A FOURTH
They must have come with the speed of the wind. Yesterday they were
still at Bethel, and to-day they have already encircled Zion.
THE FIRST MAN
Terrible is the might of Ashur. God help us all.
THE WOMAN
Look at the glow in the north, like a pillar rising heavenward.
SECOND MAN
That is where Samaria lies.
THIRD MAN
'Tis a pillar of fire that rises heavenward. Samaria has fallen.
VOICES
Alas!--It is not possible.--Samaria is a strong fortress, within a
triple wall.--Nay, it is certainly Samaria.
A VOICE
Look there to the east, another pillar of fire. That must be Gilgal.
ANOTHER VOICE
They are ravaging the countryside like a hurricane. Fierce is the wrath
of Ashur.
ANOTHER VOICE
Never should we have entered into a struggle with such as they.
VOICES
Who began it?--Not we.--Not I.--It was the king.--It was the
priests.--We wanted to live at peace with them.
A VOICE
Egypt lured us on, and then betrayed us.
VOICES
Yes, it was Egypt.--It was Pharaoh.--A curse upon Pharaoh.--The
Egyptians have sold us to the enemy, have abandoned us to our
misery.--Where are the fifty thousand bowmen they promised? We are
alone.--All is lost.
ANOTHER VOICE
Woe, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Thou art given over to thine enemies, and
those who hate thee are showing their teeth.
FIRST SENTRY
[Fiercely interrupting] Away with you! Why are you loitering on the
walls? Home to your wives, and to bed. We stand guard for you.
A MAN
We want to see ...
FIRST SENTRY
There is nothing to see. You have been clamoring for Ashur, and now
Ashur has come. Leave it to us men-at-arms to chase them home again. For
yourselves, go sleep, or pray if you cannot sleep.
A MAN
But tell us ...
FIRST SENTRY
Naught to tell. There has been too much talking already; the time has
come for blows. Away, away!
[The two sentries roughly clear the loiterers from the wall. The crowd
disappears in the darkness down the steps leading from the wall into the
shadow. When all have gone, quiet reigns. In the white moonlight the
sentries stand like figures of brass]
FIRST SENTRY
They give way to despair at the first gleam of an enemy's spear. They
must not be allowed to talk like that.
SECOND SENTRY
One who is afraid and cannot master his fear must perforce speak. It is
of no use, and yet it gives relief.
FIRST SENTRY
Let them sleep, not chatter.
SECOND SENTRY
Sleep is not man's servant. Vainly do we summon sleep to a couch of
sorrow. To-night many hold vigil and look forth into the moonlight.
FIRST SENTRY
In any case, those alone should speak who wear a sword. We stand guard
for all.
[The two sentries are silent for a while, marching to and fro]
SECOND SENTRY
[Stands and listens] Do you hear?
FIRST SENTRY
What?
SECOND SENTRY
The sound is very faint, but the breeze bears it to us. When I was in
Joppa, for the first time I heard in the night the distant murmur of the
waves. Such a sound rises now from the plain. They are there in their
thousands, moving quietly, but the air is stirred by the rolling wheels
and the clashing arms. A whole nation must be afoot, falling upon
Israel. The noise echoes from our walls like the noise of the sea.
FIRST SENTRY
[Obdurately] I refuse to hear anything but my orders. I care not what
wheels roll, or noises stir.
SECOND SENTRY
Why does God hurl the nations against one another? There is room for all
beneath the skies. There is still plenty of land unploughed; many
forests still await the axe. Yet men turn their ploughshares into
swords, and hew living flesh with their axes. I cannot understand, I
cannot understand.
FIRST SENTRY
It has always been so.
SECOND SENTRY
But must it always be so? Why does God wish the nations to fight?
FIRST SENTRY
The nations want war for its own sake.
SECOND SENTRY
What are nations? Are not you one of our nation, am not I another? Are
not our wives, your wife and mine, part of this same people? Did any of
us want war? I stand here armed with a spear, not knowing against whom
it is to be turned. Down there in the darkness, unwitting, waits the man
for whom it is destined. I know him not, have never seen his face, or
the breast I must pierce with death. In the enemy's camp another
perchance warms his hands at the camp fire, the man who is to kill the
father of my children. He has never seen me, and I have never done him
harm. We are strangers, like trees in the forest. They grow quietly and
bear their blossoms. But we rage furiously one against the other with
axe and with spear, until our blood runs like resin, and therewith the
life oozes forth. What puts death between the nations? What is it which
sows hatred when there is room and to spare for life, and when there is
abundant scope for love? I cannot understand, I cannot understand!
FIRST SENTRY
These things must be God's will, for they have always happened. I
question no further.
SECOND SENTRY
This crime cannot be God's will. He has given us our lives that we may
live them. Everything that men do not understand they describe as God's
will. War does not come from God. Whence comes it then?
FIRST SENTRY
How can I tell whence it comes? I know that there is war, and that it is
useless to chatter about it. I do my duty; sharpen my spear, not my
tongue.
[For a time they are silent once more, gazing out into the white
stillness. From a great distance come the words of the challenge
"_Samson guard us_," scarcely audible at first. Then the sound grows
louder, still coming from unseen sentries. At length the words "_Samson
guard us_," loud and clear from the next post. Our two sentries take up
the challenge, and it is heard with diminishing loudness as it passes on
round the wall. Again all is still. The two sentries stand silent in the
moonlight, their faces shadowed by their helmets]
SECOND SENTRY
Know you aught of the Chaldeans?
FIRST SENTRY
I know that they are our enemies, that they are attacking our homes.
SECOND SENTRY
I am not thinking about that. Have you ever seen any of them close at
hand; do you know their customs and their country?
FIRST SENTRY
I have been told that they are cruel as wild cats and venomous as
serpents. It is said that they sacrifice their children to idols of
copper and lead. But I have never set eyes on a Chaldean.
SECOND SENTRY
Nor I. Too many mountains tower skyward between Jerusalem and Babylon;
there are rivers to cross, and more country than a man can march over in
many weeks. The very stars in the sky are different, and yet the men of
Ashur are arrayed against us and we against them. What do they covet
from us? If I were to question one of them, all he could tell me would
doubtless be that in his house as in mine are wife and children lying
upon straw. I believe if I could talk things over with such a man we
should understand one another well enough. Often I feel that I should
like to summon one of them, to hold out a friendly hand, so that we
could have a heart to heart talk.
FIRST SENTRY
You must not do that.
SECOND SENTRY
Wherefore not?
FIRST SENTRY
They are our enemies and it is our duty to hate them.
SECOND SENTRY
Why should I hate them if my heart knows no reason for hatred?
FIRST SENTRY
They began the war; they were the aggressors.
SECOND SENTRY
Yes, that is what we say in Jerusalem. In Babylon, perchance, they tell
another story. If we could talk things over with them, we might get some
light on the question.
FIRST SENTRY
You must not talk with them. Our duty is to strike them down. Such are
our orders, and we must obey.
SECOND SENTRY
My reason tells me that I must not converse with them, but in my soul I
feel that I must. Whom do we serve by compassing their death?
FIRST SENTRY
What a question, simpleton! We serve God, and the king our master.
SECOND SENTRY
But God said, and it is written: "Thou shalt not kill". Mayhap, if I
were to take my sword and cast it from me, I should serve God better
than by slaying an enemy.
FIRST SENTRY
But it is likewise written: "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth".
SECOND SENTRY
[Sighs] Many things are written. Who can understand them all?
FIRST SENTRY
This is idle dreaming. The Chaldeans have invested our town; they wish
to burn our houses; I stand here with sword and spear, and will do my
utmost to prevent them. Too much knowledge is unwholesome. I know all I
want to know.
SECOND SENTRY
Yet I cannot but ask myself ...
FIRST SENTRY
[Stubbornly] You should not ask so many questions. A soldier's business
is to fight, not to reason why. You ponder overmuch, instead of doing
your duty unquestioningly.
SECOND SENTRY
How can a man help questioning himself? How can he be other than uneasy,
at such an hour? Do I know where I am, or how long I have still to stand
on guard? This darkness beneath the wall, where the masonry is
crumbling, will perhaps be my grave to-morrow. Maybe the wind which now
caresses my cheek will not find me here in the morning. But can I fail,
while I live, to ask the meaning of life? The flame flickers until the
torch goes out. How can life do other than question until it is quenched
by death? Maybe death is already within me; perchance the questioner is
no longer life, but death.
FIRST SENTRY
You brood and brood. You are only tormenting yourself to no purpose.
SECOND SENTRY
God has given us a heart precisely that it may torment us.
FIRST SENTRY
What is the use of talking about it? We are on guard here. That's enough
for me.
SECOND SENTRY
Talking helps to keep us awake, and only the stars hear our words.
[Both are again silent for a time]
SECOND SENTRY
Who goes there? Someone is moving in the darkness.
FIRST SENTRY
More busybodies. Why cannot they stay in bed? Send them home.
SECOND SENTRY
No! Let them talk while we stay in the shadow.
FIRST SENTRY
You are a strange fellow. I shall continue my round.
[The two sentries pass into the shadow of the tower on the wall, their
figures disappearing in the darkness. The gleam of their spears is still
seen from time to time.--JEREMIAH and BARUCH ascend out of the darkness
of the stairway and advance to the battlements, JEREMIAH hastening on in
front, while BARUCH, who does not share the prophet's excitement, lags
in the rear. The second sentry stands unnoticed in the shadow of the
tower]
BARUCH
Whither are you leading me, master?
JEREMIAH
On, on! I must look Terror in the face. [He gazes down into the valley,
standing motionless and silent]
BARUCH
What are you staring at?
JEREMIAH
[Still gazing] The king has come, the king from the north. [He seizes
BARUCH'S sleeve] Come closer, Baruch! Touch my hand that I may know
whether I wake or sleep. Are my eyes open? Is this wall builded of
stones or of tears? Does Jerusalem lie behind us unheeding in the
darkness? Are the forces of Ashur couched in the plain beneath? Tell me,
Baruch, convince me that I am dreaming. Shake me till I awake, to laugh
at my mad fancy that Zion is encircled by the Chaldeans.
BARUCH
What do you mean, master? I don't understand. How can you doubt?
JEREMIAH
Alas, it is true, then. I am not dreaming now. The horses are there and
the chariots; Ashur is arrayed against Zion; the vision is fulfilled.
All these miseries spring from my dreams, for they existed in me before
they were in the world of reality. I alone knew, before ever God's words
became deeds. In me they arose; through me they came. Yet naught can I
do to hinder their flow; nor by sword nor by shield can I stay their
progress.
BARUCH
Master, you talk at random. Speak in words that I can believe and
understand.
JEREMIAH
Words that you can believe? But Baruch will you believe the words that I
have to say to you at this hour beneath the stars? I fear you will deny
me, will laugh at me, for what I would fain say will sound like nonsense
in your ears.
BARUCH
Faith in you is my very life.
JEREMIAH
Hearken, then. [He speaks low and impressively] All that is now
happening, I have beheld in my dreams for months past. Not a star shines
in heaven which I have not seen above this wall and above God's temple.
I have looked down upon the multitude of the foe, upon their myriad
tents. Baruch, do you hear me?
BARUCH
[Shuddering] I hear, I hear.
JEREMIAH
Why was all this made plain to me before the day? It cannot be against
God's will that he should disclose his plans to me, should vouchsafe me
visions of the future. Nor can I rebel; nor can I be silent; though in
truth for long I refused the summons, and stopped my ears to the call.
But now, when I see in the real world what has again and again been
revealed to me in dreams, for the first time do I feel assured that God
speaks through me. I say to you, Baruch, that I am the chosen of the
Lord. Woe unto me should I conceal my forebodings from the people and
from the king. For this is no more than the beginning, and I know the
end.
BARUCH
Reveal it, chosen one. Cry your words aloud.
JEREMIAH
Baruch, do you see the camp and the tents; do you see this sleeping
ocean surging down from the north?
BARUCH
[Shuddering] I see the enemy; I see the tents.
JEREMIAH
You see the night, sleep, and the false quiet of repose. But in my ears
the trumpets blare and the arms clash as the Chaldeans arise and storm
the city. The walls whereon our feet are now planted, crumble at their
onslaught; the cries of the fugitives ring in my ears. The brazen flood
foams over us. I hear the beating of Death's wings o'er city and walls;
I see the destruction of Zion. Baruch, waking I see it, for God hath
opened an eye within the darkness of my body; my heart maketh a noise in
me; my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Why
sleep they still? Time is it they should wake, ere their sleep pass into
death. Verily the hour is come to awaken Jerusalem!
BARUCH
[Stirred by his words] Yea, yea, Jeremiah, awaken Jerusalem!
JEREMIAH
[More and more carried away]
O foolish people, afflicted town,
How, ah how, can you sleep at peace
When Death's cold winding sheet is spread
Beneath you where you lie.
O foolish people, afflicted town,
How can you rest when thunder rages?
How can you drowse,
Lost in dreams,
When Ashur's rams
Are battering the gates?
Who shall waken the fools? Who make the deaf hear?
BARUCH
[Ecstatically] You, master. Cry aloud. Awaken them. Save them from the
jaws of death.
JEREMIAH
Awaken, awaken, up and away!
The land is afire, the foe holds the town!
Flee ere his wrath wholly consume you,
Flee from the sword, flee from the flames,
Leave your possessions, abandon your homes,
Gather your households, your women and children;
Ere he can seize you take refuge in flight.
Up and away!
The land is afire, the foe holds the town!
Up and away!
SECOND SENTRY
[Coming forward from the shadows] Who shouts here? You will waken the
sleepers.
JEREMIAH
Oh that I could awaken them. Up, Jerusalem, awake! City of God, save
thyself.
SECOND SENTRY
You are drunk. Go home to sleep.
BARUCH
[Stepping between] Touch him not.
JEREMIAH
I must not sleep. No one must sleep. I am the watchman. Woe to him who
hinders me.
SECOND SENTRY
[Taking him by the shoulder] You must be moonstruck to think yourself
watchman. I am the watchman. Away with you.
BARUCH
Touch him not, the chosen of the Lord, the prophet.
SECOND SENTRY
[Loosing JEREMIAH] Are you Hananiah, the prophet of God?
BARUCH
It is Jeremiah the prophet.
SECOND SENTRY
Jeremiah, who leads the people astray? Jeremiah, who cried through the
street that Ashur would prevail? Have you come hither to gloat over the
fulfilment of your vision? Too soon, faint-heart, too soon; and yet in
an apt moment, prophet of evil, to feel the weight of my anger. I will
reveal you something.
BARUCH
[Struggling with the sentry] Hands off, touch him not.
FIRST SENTRY
[Entering hurriedly] The king is coming. Zedekiah goes the rounds. Clear
away the people.
JEREMIAH
The king! God be praised! His meaning is plain. The Lord sends him to my
hand.
FIRST SENTRY
Away chatterer, away.
SECOND SENTRY
Down with you. Away. Creep down there and keep quiet, or you shall rue
it.
FIRST SENTRY
Here comes the king.