Five days passed, and the sky
was still heavy with snow, burying the mountains and prairies
relentlessly. Khalil made three attempts to resume his journey toward
the plains, but Rachel restrained him each time, saying, "Do not
give up your life to the blind elements, brother; remain here, for the
bread that suffices two will also feed three, and the fire will still
be burning after your departure as it was before your arrival. We are
poor, brother, but like the rest of the people, we live our lives
before the face of the sun and mankind, and God gives us our daily
bread."
And Miriam was begging him with her kind
glances, and pleading with her deep sighs, for since he entered the
hut she felt the presence of a divine power in her soul sending forth
life and light into her heart and awakening new affection in the Holy
of Holies of her spirit. For the first time she experienced the
feeling which made her heart like a white rose that sips the dew drops
from the dawn and breathes its fragrance into the endless firmament.
There is no affection purer and more
soothing to the spirit than the one hidden in the heart of a maiden
who awakens suddenly and fills her own spirit with heavenly music that
makes her days like poets' dreams and her nights prophetic. There is
no secret in the mystery of life stronger and more beautiful than that
attachment which converts the silence of a virgin's spirit into a
perpetual awareness that makes a person forget the past, for it
kindles fiercely in the heart the sweet and overwhelming hope of the
coming future.
The Lebanese woman distinguishes herself
from the woman of other nations by her simplicity. The manner in which
she is trained restricts her progress educationally, and stands as a
hindrance to her future. Yet for this reason, she finds herself
inquiring of herself as to the inclination and mystery of her heart.
The Lebanese young woman is like a spring that comes out from the
heart of the earth and follows its course through the winding
depressions, but since it cannot find an outlet to the sea, it turns
into a calm lake that reflects upon its growing surface the glittering
stars and the shining moon. Khalil felt the vibration of Miriam's
heart twining steadily about his soul, and he knew that the divine
torch that illuminated his heart had also touched her heart. He
rejoiced for the first time, like a parched brook greeting the rain,
but he blamed himself for his haste, believing that this spiritual
understanding would pass like a cloud when he departed from the
village. He often spoke to himself saying, "What is this mystery
that plays so great a part in our lives? What is this Law that drives
us into a rough road and stops us just before we reach the mountain
top, smiling and glorying, then suddenly we are cast to the depths of
the valley, weeping and suffering? What is this life that embraces us
like a lover one day, and fights us like an enemy the second day? Was
I not persecuted yesterday? Did I not survive hunger and thirst and
suffering and mockery for the sake of the Truth which heaven had
awakened in my heart? Did I not tell the monks that happiness through
Truth is the will and the purpose of God in man? Then what is this
fear? And why do I close my eyes to the light that emanates from that
young woman's eyes? I am expelled and she is poor, but is it on bread
only that man can live? Are we not, between famine and plenty, like
trees between winter and summer? But what would Rachel say if she knew
that my heart and her daughter's heart came to an understanding in
silence, and approached close to each other and neared the circle of
the Supreme Light? What would she say if she discovered that the young
man whose life she saved longed to gaze upon her daughter? What would
the simple villagers say if they knew that a young man, reared in the
convent, came to their village by necessity and expulsion, and desired
to live near a beautiful maiden? Will they listen to me if I tell them
that he who leaves the convent to live amongst them is like a bird
that flies from the bruising walls of the cage to the light of
freedom? What will Sheik Abbas say if he hears my story? What will the
priest of the village do if he learns of the cause of my
expulsion?"
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