Title:  The Brook Kerith A Syrian story

Author:  George Moore

Release Date:  July 5, 2004 [EBook #12821]

Language:  English

Character set encoding:  ASCII

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THE BROOK KERITH

A SYRIAN STORY

BY GEORGE MOORE

1916

A DEDICATION

My dear Mary Hunter.  It appears that you wished to give me a book for Christmas, but were in doubt what book to give me as I seemed to have little taste for reading, so in your embarrassment you gave me a Bible.  It lies on my table now with the date 1898 on the fly-leaf—­my constant companion and chief literary interest for the last eighteen years.  Itself a literature, it has led me into many various literatures and into the society of scholars.

I owe so much to your Bible that I cannot let pass the publication of “The Brook Kerith” without thanking you for it again.  Yours always, George Moore.

THE BROOK KERITH

CHAP.  I.

It was at the end of a summer evening, long after his usual bedtime, that Joseph, sitting on his grandmother’s knee, heard her tell that Kish having lost his asses sent Saul, his son, to seek them in the land of the Benjamites and the land of Shalisha, whither they might have strayed.  But they were not in these lands, Son, she continued, nor in Zulp, whither Saul went afterwards, and being then tired out with looking for them he said to the servant:  we shall do well to forget the asses, lest my father should ask what has become of us.  But the servant, being of a mind that Kish would not care to see them without the asses, said to young Saul:  let us go up into yon city, for a great seer lives there and he will be able to put us in the right way to come upon the asses.  But we have little in our wallet to recompense him, Saul answered, only half a loaf and a little wine at the end of the bottle.  We have more than that, the servant replied, and opening his hand he showed a quarter of a shekel of silver to Saul, who said:  he will take that in payment.  Whereupon they walked into Arimathea, casting their eyes about for somebody to direct them to the seer’s house.  And seeing some maidens at the well, come to draw water, they asked them if the seer had been in the city that day, and were answered that he had been seen and would offer sacrifice that morning, as had been announced.  He must be on his way now to the high rock, one of the maidens cried after them, and they pressed through the people till none was in