VII

A chaos of images clashed in my mind. I saw the mystic figure of the

mighty Master of the Name standing in the cemetery judging betwixt the

souls of the dead; I saw him in the upper world amid the angels; I saw

him serene in the centre of his magic circle, annihilating with his

glance the flaming hordes of demon boars; and even as the creatures

shattered themselves into nothingness against the circle, so must

these sublime visions vanish before this genial old man. And yet my

disillusion was not all empty. There were still the cheers to exalt

me, there was still my strange companion, to whose ideas I had already

vibrated, and whose face was now transfigured to my imagination,

gaining much of what the visionary figure had lost. And, amid all the

tumult of the moment, there sang in my breast the divine assurance

that here at last were the living waters, here the green pastures.

"Master," I cried frantically, as I seized his hand and kissed it.

"My son," he said tenderly. "Those murderers have evidently informed

the townspeople of my coming."

"It is well," said I, "I rejoice to witness your triumph over a town

so rabbi-ridden."

"Nay, speak not of _my_ triumph," reproved the Master. "Thank God for

the change in _them_, if change there be. It should be indifferent to

man whether he be praised or blamed, loved or hated, reputed to be the

wisest of mankind or the greatest of fools."

"They wish you to address them, Master," I cried, as the cheers

continued. He smiled.

"Doubtless--a sermon full of hair-splitting exegesis and devil's webs.

I pray you descend and see that my horse be not stolen."

I sprang down with alacrity to obey this his first wish, and,

scrambling on the animal, had again a view of the sea of faces, all

turned towards the Baal Shem. From the excited talk of the crowd, I

gathered that the Baal Shem had just performed one of his greatest

miracles. Two brothers had been journeying with their sister in the

woods, and had been attacked by robbers. They had been on the point of

death when the Baal Shem miraculously appeared, and by merely

mentioning the Name, had caused the robbers to sink into the earth

like Korah. The sister being too terrified to return with her

brothers, the Baal Shem undertook to bring her to Brody himself in his

own celestial chariot, which, to those not initiated into the higher

mysteries, appeared like an ordinary cart.

Meantime the Master had refilled his pipe. "Is that my old friend

David," he cried, addressing one with a cobbler's apron; "and how is

business?"

The cobbler, abashed by this unexpected honor, flushed and stammered:

"God is good."

"A sorry answer, David; God would be as good if he sent you a-begging.

Ha, ha!" he went on cheerily, "I see Joseph the innkeeper has waxed

more like a barrel than ever. Peace be to you, Joseph! Have you learnt

to read yet? No! Then you are still the wisest man in the town."

By this time some of the Rabbis and magnates in the forefront of the

crowd had begun to look sullen at being ignored, but even more

pointedly than he ignored these pillars of the commonweal, did the

Baal Shem ignore his public reception, continuing to exchange

greetings with humble old acquaintances, and finally begging the men

between the shafts either to give place again to his horse or to draw

him to his daughter's house, whither he had undertaken to convey the

woman they saw (who all this time had sat as one in a dream). But on

the cries for a sermon persisting, he said:

"Friends, I cannot preach to you, more than my horse yonder.

Everything preaches. Call nothing common or profane; by God's presence

all things are holy. See there are the first stars. Is it not a

glorious world? Enjoy it; only fools and Rabbis speak of the world as

vanity or emptiness. But just as a lover sees even in the jewels of

his beloved only her own beauty, so in stars and waters must we see

only God." He fell a-puffing again at his pipe, but the expectant

crowd would not yet divide for his passage. "Ye fools," he said

roughly, "you would make me as you have made the Law and the world, a

place for stopping at, when all things are but on the way to God.

There was once a King," he went on, "who built himself a glorious

palace. The King was throned in the centre of what seemed a maze of

winding corridors. In the entrance--halls was heaped much gold and

silver, and here the folk were content to stay, taking their fill of

pleasure. At last the vizier had compassion upon them and called out

to them: 'All these treasures and all these walls and corridors do not

in truth exist at all. They are magical illusions. Push forward

bravely and you shall find the King.'"

But as the crowd still raged about disappointed, pleading for a

miracle, the Baal Shem whistled, and his horse flew towards him so

suddenly that I nearly fell off, and the crowd had to separate in

haste. A paralytic cripple dropped his crutch in a flurry and fell

a-running, quite cured.

"A miracle! a miracle!" cried a hundred voices. "God be praised!"

The shout was taken up all down the street, and eager spectators

surrounded the joyous cripple, interrogating him and feeling his

limbs.

"You see, you see!" I heard them say to each other. "There is

witchcraft even in his horse!"

As the animal came towards the shafts the human drawers scattered

hastily. I hitched the wagon to and we drove through the throng that

begged the Baal Shem's blessing. But he only waved them off smilingly.

"Bless one another by your deeds," he cried from time to time. "Then

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will bless you." And so we came to the

Ring-Place, and through it, into the structure we sought--a tall

two-storied stone building.

When we arrived at his daughter's house we found that she rented only

an apartment, so that none of us but the woman could be lodged, though

we were entertained with food and wine. After supper, when the iron

shutters were closed, the Baal Shem's daughter--a beautiful black-eyed

girl--danced with such fire and fervor that her crimson head-cloth

nearly dropped off, and I, being now in a cheerful mood, fell to

envying her husband, who for his part conversed blithely with the

rescued woman. In the middle of the gaiety the Baal Sham retired to a

corner, observing he wished to say his _Mincha_ prayer, and bidding us

continue our merriment and not regard him.

"_Mincha!_" I ejaculated unthinkingly, "why, it is too late."

"Would you give a child regulations when he may speak to his Father?"

rebuked the Baal Shem.

So I went on talking with his daughter, but of a sudden a smile curved

my lips at the thought of how the foolish makers of legends had

feigned his praying to be so fraught with occult operations that he

who looked at him might die. I turned and stole a glance at him.

Then to my amaze, as I caught sight of his face, I realized for the

first time that he was, indeed, as men called him, the Master of

Divine Secrets. There were on his brow great spots of perspiration,

and, as if from agony, tears trickled down his cheeks, but his eyes

were upturned and glazed, and his face was as that of a dead man

without soul, only it seemed to me that the nimbus of which men spoke

was verily round his head. His form, too, which was grown rigid,

appeared strangely taller. One hand grasped the corner of the dresser.

I turned away my eyes quickly, fearing lest they should be smitten

with blindness. I know not how many minutes passed before I heard a

great sigh, and, turning, saw the Baal Shem's figure stirring and

quivering, and in another moment he was facing me with a beaming

smile. "Well, my son, do you feel inclined for bed?"

His question recalled to me how much I had gone through that day, and

though I was in no hurry to leave this pleasant circle, yet I replied

his wish was law to me. Whereupon he said, to my content, that he

would tarry yet another quarter of an hour. When we set out for the

inn of Joseph where our horse and cart had preceded us, it was ten

o'clock, but there was still a crowd outside the house, many of the

great iron doors adown the street were still open, and men and women

pressed forward to kiss the hem of the Master's garment.

On our walk I begged him to tell me what he had seen during his

prayers.

"I made a soul-ascension," said he simply, "and saw more wonderful

things than I have seen since I came to divine knowledge. Praise to

the Unity!"

"Can _I_ see such things?" said I breathlessly, as all I had learnt of

Cabalah and all my futile attempts to work miracles came rushing back

to me.

"No--not you."

I felt chilled, but he went on: "Not you--the _you_ must be

obliterated. You must be reabsorbed in the Unity."

"But how?"

"Concentrate your thought on God. Forget yourself."

"I will try, dear Master," said I. "But tell me what you saw."

"What I saw and learnt up there it is impossible to communicate by

word of mouth."

But I entreated him sore, and ere we had parted for the night he

delivered himself as follows, speaking of these divine things in

Hebrew:--

"I may only relate what I witnessed when I descended to the lower

Paradise. I saw there ever so many souls both of living and of dead

people, known and unknown to me, without measure and number, coming

and going from one world to the other, by means of the Pillar which is

known to those who know Grace. Great was the joy which the bodily

breath can neither narrate nor the bodily ear hear. Many very wicked

people came back in repentance, and all their sins were forgiven

them, because this was a season of great Grace in Heaven. I wondered

indeed that so many were received. They all begged and entreated me to

come up with them to the higher regions, and on account of the great

rejoicing I saw amongst them I consented. Then I asked for my heavenly

teacher to go with me because the danger of ascending such upper

worlds is great, where I have never been since I exist. I thus

ascended from grade to grade till I came into the Temple of the

Messiah, in which the Messiah teaches Torah with all the Tanaim and

the Zaddikim and the Seven Shepherds; and there I saw a great

rejoicing. I did not know what this rejoicing meant. I thought at

first that this rejoicing might perhaps be on account of my speedy

death. But they made known to me that I shall not die yet, because

there is great rejoicing in Heaven when I make celestial unions below

by their holy teaching. But what the rejoicing meant, I still did not

know. I asked, 'When will the Master come?' I was answered: 'When thy

teaching shall be known and revealed to the world, and thy springs

shall spread abroad that which I have taught thee, and that which thou

hast received here, and when all men will be able to make unions and

ascensions like thee. Then all the husks of worldly evil will

disappear, and it will be a time of Grace and Salvation.' I wondered

very much, and I felt great sorrow because the time was to be so long

delayed. Because when can this be? But in this my last ascent three

words that be mighty charms and three heavenly names I learnt. They

are easy to learn and to explain. This cooled my mind. I believe that

through them people of my genius will reach soon my degree, but I have

no permission to reveal them. I have been praying at least for

permission to teach them to you, but I must keep to my oath. But this

I make known to you, and God will help you. Let your ways be directed

towards God, let them not turn away from Him. When you pray and study,

in every word and utterance of your lips direct your mind to

unification, because in every letter there are worlds and souls and

Deity. The letters unify and become a word, and afterwards unify in

the Deity, wherefore try to have your soul absorbed in them, so that

all universes become unified, which causes an infinite joy and

exaltation. If you understand the joy of bride and bridegroom a little

and in a material way, how much more ecstatic is the unification of

this celestial sort! O the wondrous day when Evil shall at last be

worked out of the universe, and God be at one with His creation. May

He be your help!"