bast, raw flax, silk fibre, weeds growing upon the water, or ship-moss. Nor shall pitch be used, nor wax, nor cotton-seed oil, oil of rejected heave-offerings, the fat from the tail of sheep, or any kind of tallow." And so on and on.1

Ah Simon, thou God-chosen priest of Cyrene! Little indeed will the problems of space and time, of far-flung matter and the parent of all time which is yclept eternity, be shone upon and illuminated by the dry, dead details of this dull thing called Law. Instead, the very heart of thee will turn ever colder, and the love of Adonai

But there cometh a knocking on the trap-door of the roof. And Parush, standing, cried out, as was the custom: "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

Lo, there entered four strange men:-Alukah, the horse-leech, little and lean and sharp of shoulder; dirty and narrow in his forehead; and with small, bright, deeply impenitent eyes: Gannab, the perpetual criminal: Na-aph, the adulterer: Keseel, the fool.

Parush sate again, and said unto Simon, "See! we have here four men, who are truly Jews and yet are of little resemblance either unto thee or unto me. Whenever I touch them I am contaminate, even as a man feeleth contaminate at the touch of a cross."

He flung the men coppers. They scrambled, and having kissed the feet of Parush, went their ways.

Then arose the Master once again, saying: "The lesson is over; for the Maiden standeth yonder about the ridge of the Hill of Evil Counsel, and all the mazzaroth declare that the night is far spent. Said Simon, "O Prince, O Master, O Father, I must pay thee yet again."

"Thou never hast paid me, The Law is free to every man. ""

" said Parush. "Thou never canst.

"But I have heretofore left upon thy house-top certain moneys. This I again do. Shouldst thou chance to find them-"

Parush's eyes glittered. "What is lost," saith he, "belongeth to the finder. But, as for this fellow, Jesus, I would say to thee once again, He is of none authority. Sit not we, the scribes and Pharisees, in Moses' seat? And when Messiah truly cometh, He will come with a shout and with a sword in His hand, and all the nations shall fall down before Him. And He will reign in Jerusalem; and the City will be greatly changed. Adamant and rubies and hyacinths

1 For thousands of other rules, see Rodkinson, "The Babylonian Talmud, English Edition," 10 vols., New York, 1901. The so-called "Babylonian" Talmud was not only more extensive, it was also more highly esteemed than the other, the "Jerusalem," Talmud.

and emeralds will cover the very streets and the housetops, and every gate will be of a single, carven pearl. The City will reach from Joppa to Damascus, and all the buildings run up nine miles into the sky. In those days, at the touch of every wind the white flour will drop from the ripened heads of wheat. From every grape a cask of wine will issue. There shall be neither sickness nor pain. And all the dispersed shall come back to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be the capital of the world, for Messiah shall be more than Cæsar." He drew himself to his full height, and turning, looked toward the Temple. "Messiah shall be more than Cæsar!" he shouted, in the voice as it were of an archangel. "Messiah shall be more than Cæsar!" Even Parush was sometimes bold.

Simon grew each day in his knowledge of the Law. And more and more he loved front seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the streets. Many there were who already began to call him "Master" and "Father." He broadened his phylacteries, and lengthened the fringes of his garments-that he might become like Parush. And when he sware, he sware by the Temple (for that was nothing) but never by the gold that was in the Temple (for that would have made him answerable). Also he sware by the altar (which was nothing) but never by the offering that was on the altar (for that would have made him accountable).

And a thousand rules like these, a thousand times ten thousand, he learned from the lips of Parush.

And behold, the giant of Cyrene well-nigh forgat both Amahnah and the children, for the yoke of the Law grew heavier and heavier.

But he gave great alms unto many, and had thought to get him a trumpet and a servant-perchance Alukah or Judas Iscariot. But that was not to be, for, on a day, as he stood without his door, the bright threads of his calling in his ears, there ran a great crowd through the Dyers Street and also the Street of the Potters, and so on down the Coppersmith Way, and (as he thought) in the way of the Tyropœon and the Temple.

Then came suddenly another multitude. Men cried, "King! The King! Hosannah! The King!"

Said Simon to a person that ran, "What king? What king is this thou dost shout for?"

"King Jesus, Rabbi!" answered the man, and waited to give no further salutation, but again ran.

Then Simon in his heart, remembering all that Gheburah had told him: "I must behold King Jesus. He is at least a worker of miracles."

He therefore rushed back into the house, and placed him in a fitter garment for to see a king, and having embraced Amahnah and the children, went straight forth.

Looking back, he saw his children.

And this was the last that ever he did see them till his dying day. For behold, a great change was about to pass on the face of the whole world, in especial on the fortunes of Simon-Solomon of Cyrenaica.

CHAPTER XXV

THE TWO CROSS-BEARERS

FOLLOWING the multitude, Simon of Cyrene passed out through the Temple, across Jehosaphat, and up the crowded western side of the Olivet Mount.

And all that were of the multitude brake them off branches of palm-trees (and Simon also) crying, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord!" And Ophidion was among them, and shouted with a very loud voice.

And Simon, recollecting all the mighty works of Jesus whereof he had heard, said in his heart: "Surely, at length, there is come our very Lord and King. Even Ophidion, the monster, doth follow Him. And the Nations shall fall before Him. Even as wheat before a sickle, so shall the Gentiles fall; and Jerusalem shall be glorified and exalted utterly."

They met King Jesus, riding on an ass's colt, so that Simon remembered the saying of Jehovah-Jireh. Again the multitude shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." Ophidion was among them, and shouted with a very loud voice.

Then companied they Jesus back down Olivet and into the Temple. And Jesus, having turned His eyes on Simon (but unto Ophidion He gave not notice) spake. And the heart of the giant was filled with a holy fire. He thought: "It is He! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! It is Shiloh, Adonai. At last I have seen Him in the flesh."

Then he would have gone and kissed Adonai's hand, and laid himself before Him in the dust, but he was full of a too great fear.

And the blind and the lame came before Jesus, and were healed. And all glorified God, and the Temple rang with the praise of Jesus-Jesus, the mighty; Jesus, the Son of God; Jesus, the conqueror of the heathen; Jesus, Savior of His people, even Israel.

But Jesus went over to where they were that sold and bought

in the Temple, and cast them out, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves. And said unto them, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves."

And Simon saw Parush and others of the Pharisees. And he began to murmur with them, because Jesus had cast out from the Temple one that was a friend to Parush, and also for this that there were certain men which said unto Simon: "He hath spoken against the Law, and is a blasphemer of the Law. Can this man be Christ?'

Went Parush and the other Pharisees, and took counsel, how they might entangle Jesus in His talk-for these were determined Jesus should be put an end to.

But Simon passed down to Jericho, which is on the Jordan. There an aged priest lived which owed him moneys. Said he to the priest, "I will have that thou owest me. For I have talked with Parush, greatest of the teachers of the Law, and he saith thou shalt pay me, yea, to the uttermost. For I am Pharisee and Scribe, thou merely an am-ha-aret, which is dust beneath a rabbi's feet."

Said the priest, "I will sell the little I have that I may pay thee. Abide in the city a day."

All that he had the man sold, and Simon, having taken the moneys, returned to Jerusalem.

And when he had called together many beggars, he declared with a loud voice: "I that am Simon of Cyrene, I am very holy and give alms."

Then all the moneys which the aged man had paid him, that cast he forth to the beggars.

But while he yet cast, he heard multitudes shouting: "King Jesus! King Jesus again!"

And he betook him to the Temple, and stood in the court of the Gentiles, where Jesus looked once more upon him, so that in his heart Simon was ashamed because of the moneys which he had taken from the priest. And for this, that he was ashamed, he began again to hate Jesus.

And many of the other Scribes and Pharisees were in the Temple also. Jesus spake unto the multitude and saith: "The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say and do not.

"For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

"But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

"But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

"And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

"Neither be ye called Masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

"But woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

"Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

"And, whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

"Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

"Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

"And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

"And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

"Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.