The Garden of Eden 16

The Garden of Eden 16

XXVIII

 

FIVE GOLD MICE

 

 

The Philistines had five strong cities, and the strongest of these was

Ashdod, which means “the fort.” When they had defeated the Israelites at

Beth-shemesh, beside the great rock Ebenezer, and had taken away the Ark

of God, they made all haste to get to Ashdod. Down they came along the

valley and across the plain till they drew near the sea. And they shut

the gates of Ashdod behind them. And the Ark of God they carried to the

temple of their own god, Dagon. For many people thought in those days

that there were as many gods as there were countries, each having its

own. Thus they believed that the Lord was the god of the land of Israel,

but that Dagon was the god of the land of the Philistines. So in every

city they had a temple of Dagon. Samson had pulled down the one which

belonged to the city of Gaza, but they had built it up again.

 

They carried the Ark of God into Dagon’s temple at Ashdod, and set it

down before Dagon’s image. For to this image the Philistines said their

prayers, and cried “O Dagon, hear us!” And they thought that the image

could hear them. They left the Ark before the Idol, and shut the temple

doors that night, and went home. But the next morning, when the

Philistines came to the temple at service time to thank Dagon for giving

them victory over the Israelites, behold the image of Dagon had fallen

down and lay upon the floor. That seemed very strange. But they set the

image up again, and shut the temple doors when the sun went down, and

left the Ark and the Idol together as before. And the next morning, when

they came in, behold, the image of Dagon lay on the floor again before

the Ark, and this time his head and both his hands were broken off.

 

And not only did this strange thing happen, but the people of Ashdod

began to feel sick. The plague broke out among them. And at the same

time, the mice began to eat the wheat and the vines. The mice came,

nibbling and nibbling till they destroyed all that grew in the fields.

And wherever the mice went, the plague went with them. And the people of

Ashdod said one to another, “It is on account of the Ark of God.” And

they took the Ark and sent it to the city of Gath. And at Gath the same

thing happened. The mice came and the plague followed them, and

everybody was sick. And from this city it was taken

 

[Illustration: THEY PUT THE ARK UPON A CART, AND THE MICE BESIDE IT]

 

to another and another. And everywhere the mice and the plague appeared.

 

At last the Ark was brought to Ekron. And there it came to pass that all

the city cried out, saying, “They have brought about the Ark of the God

of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.” And that very day the mice

came, and the plague. And the men of Ekron sent and gathered together

all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the Ark of the

God of Israel, and let it go to its own place, that it slay us not and

our people.” And the lords of the Philistines sent for the priests and

the diviners, for all the wisest people of the land, and said, “What

shall we do to the Ark of the Lord? how shall we send it to its place?”

And the wise men said, “Make a new cart, and take two cows and tie them

to the cart, and bring their calves home from them. And take the Ark of

God and lay it on the cart, and in a box beside the Ark put five gold

mice, one for each of your cities. And see what the kine will do. If

they go back home to their calves, then we shall know that this is all

an accident, it just happened so; but if they go straight towards the

land of Israel, then we shall know that it is the Lord’s doing.”

 

So they made a new cart, and five gold mice, and they put the Ark upon

the cart and the mice beside it, and they tied the two cows to the cart

and took away their calves, and watched to see what they would do. And,

behold, the kine went straight towards the land of Israel, lowing as

they went, and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left. Along

the valley road they went towards Beth-shemesh, and the lords of the

Philistines followed after them. And at Beth-shemesh, men were reaping

their wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes and saw

the Ark and rejoiced to see it. And the cows came into the field of a

man named Joshua, and there stood still. And it was the field in which

the battle had been fought when the Ark had been taken. And the cart

stopped beside the great stone, Ebenezer. And the men of Beth-shemesh

took the Ark and put it on the top of the great stone, and the five gold

mice beside it. And they took the cart and split it up and made a fire

for a sacrifice, and there upon the fire they offered God the kine for a

burnt offering. And then they rejoiced and gave thanks unto the Lord.

 

 

 

 

XXIX

 

SAUL AND THE SEER

 

 

The asses had run away. They had found a hole in the fence and had got

out into the road, and nobody knew where they were. So Saul’s father

said, “Saul, the asses are lost. Take one of the men with you and go and

find them.” And they went in search, Saul and the hired man. And here

they looked, and there they looked, down this way and down that, in the

woods and in the fields, but they were nowhere to be found. They hunted

for them for three days, in vain.

 

At last, Saul said to the servant, “Come, let us go home. My father will

fear that we are lost, as well as the asses. He will be anxious.”

 

But the servant said, “In the next town there lives a seer. He is the

wisest man in all the land. He can see through mountains and tell what

is on the other side, and he knows what is going to happen to-morrow and

next year. Let us go to him. Perhaps he can tell us where the asses are,

and which way we ought to take to find them.”

 

“We ought not to go to the seer,” said Saul, “without a gift. We ought

to take him some sort of present for his trouble. But our hands are as

empty as our basket. What can we give him?”

 

And the servant answered, “I have a little silver money in my purse.

That will I give to the man of God to tell us our way.”

 

“Well said,” replied Saul; “come let us go.” So they went to the next

town to find the seer.

 

The city where the seer lived lay on the side of a hill, and there was a

well by the gate, and as Saul and his servant drew near they found young

maidens going out, with pitchers on their heads, to fetch water for

supper. And they said to the maidens, “Is the seer here?” And they

answered them and said, “He is: behold, he is before you. This is the

day of a feast on the top of the hill, and of a sacrifice to the Lord.

And already the people are waiting for the seer, for they will not sit

down to the table until he comes to ask the blessing. He will be coming

out of the gate directly. You are just in time to meet him.” And as they

spoke there came an old man out of the gate, tall and wrapped in a

cloak.

 

And Saul said, “Will you kindly tell me where the seer’s house is?”

 

And the old man said, “I am the seer. I am Samuel, the seer. I have been

expecting you. You must dine with me to-day, and spend the night.”

 

And when Saul said that he must go home, because his father would be

worried about him and about the asses, Samuel said, “The lost asses have

been found. And you are found also; for I perceive that you are he on

whom is the desire of all Israel.”

 

And Saul said, “Why do you speak so to me? My tribe is the least of the

tribes, and my father’s family is the least of the families of my tribe.

What do you mean?” But Samuel did not reply, and Saul followed him up to

the top of the hill, greatly wondering.

 

Now there was a house at the top of the hill, and about thirty men who

had been invited to dinner were waiting in the parlor. In came Samuel,

bringing Saul and his servant, just as they were in their dusty clothes;

and Samuel gave them the best seats at the table, Saul on his right and

Saul’s servant on his left. And Samuel called the cook and said, “Bring

me the portion of meat which I told you to set apart for me,” and the

cook brought in a leg of lamb and set it before Samuel. And Samuel said

to Saul, “I knew that you were coming, and when I sent the invitations I

had a place and a portion kept for you.” So Saul ate with Samuel, and

was more and more astonished.

 

At last the feast was over, and the guests went down from the top of the

hill to their houses in the city, and Saul and his servant went home

with Samuel. And as the sun went down, and the cool wind began to blow

in the hot streets and the stars came out, Samuel took Saul upstairs to

the flat roof, and there they sat and had a long talk together.

 

And Samuel said, “Saul, I had a dream about you yesterday afternoon. I

heard in my dream the voice of God saying, ‘To-morrow about this time I

will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint

him king over my people Israel.’ And to-day, when I came to the gate and

saw you, the Lord said in my heart, ‘There is the man of whom I spoke.’”

 

The next morning they rose as the sun was coming up over the side of the

hill. And Samuel went with Saul to show him the right road. And as they

came out of the city into the open country, Samuel said, “Bid the

servant to pass on before us, but you wait here a while that I may show

you what is the will of God.” So the servant went on ahead, and they two

were alone. And Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it on Saul’s head,

and kissed him, and

 

[Illustration: SAMUEL AND SAUL HAVE A LONG TALK TOGETHER]

 

said, “The Lord has anointed you to be the king of Israel.” Then Saul

and his servant went towards home. And two men met them who said, “Saul, the asses are found, but your father is greatly worried about you. He is sorrowing for you, and saying, ‘What shall I do for my son?’”