The Maccabaean

A CHSAH resembles a palm-tree as she stands motionless in the field of golden wheat. To her right is Kinneret into which the Jordan flows like an azure band; to her left the tranquil Waters of Merom, and the Plain of Jesreel, which lies outstretched between them like a wondrously wrought carpet of the Orient; before her towers Hermon, enveloped in perpetual snow, and to her rear extends the lofty range of the Mountains of Ephraim.

In her dark eyes, the eyes of a daughter of the Galuth, is told the secret of a tempestuous inner life. Her braids creep like serpents down her back. Her thin, lithe form is erect as an ancient statue beneath the folds of her blue dress, which is embroidered with stars, like the heavens on a dark night. Her abaiah, reddish-brown like the clayey earth around her, protects her back, and the right corner is thrown over her left shoulder. Her head is covered by a cap of rainbow colored silk, and about her waist is a girdle of the same stuff. On her feet are sandals.

Her skin is sunburnt. Her thin lips, pressed tightly together, are expressive of energy and determination.

She was born in a foreign land. Her parents spared mothing in educating her. And she grew up to be beautiful and brilliant. Young men clustered around her as flies around honey; but she had given her heart to one, a Jewish boy, handsome as herself, bright, and keen of intellect. But when the spirit of nationalism awoke in her soul her lover did not share her vision and held to his original aspirations. So she went to Palestine; and he went to Africa to study the life of savage peoples.

Sometimes she hoped that he would come, but the realization grew on her that they lived in different worlds and that there was no way of bridging the chasm which divided them. But her heart was torn and her face was haggard with the pain which she suffered.

Then Achsah devoted herself heart and soul to the mastery of the Hebrew language and to a scientific study of the land, and little by little she came to be known as an authority on life in her adopted country. But she found no rest for her soul. For love is merciless and the fire within her seared her heart. And she was not strong enough to overcome her emotions. There were times when she harbored the thought of self-destruction, when she longed with intense longing for the peace and tranquility which Death would bring in his wings.

“Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.” Such is the inevitable law. The earth drew her to itself with a hidden and inexplicable force. To return to the earth— this was from that time on her firm resolve, a necessity of her being, a debt which must be paid.

And then suddenly a new idea flashed through her mind. Why should she become one with the earth as a decaying substance which would be naught but food for worms, why not with the fulness of her youth, with her fresh strength, with her warm heart?

* * *

The astonishing rumor passed from mouth to mouth that Achsah had bought a piece of land with the intention of cultivating it herself. Impatiently she waited for the fall rains—and as soon as the first drops besprinkled the soil she went out to sow.

Wavelike the ground rose and fell beneath her plow, and spread like an ocean of hope and salvation before her eyes. All the thoughts and opinions and all the sentiments which she had harbored up to that time seemed like faint recollections of a remote past. She had found a bubbling spring, a living well, and drank deep draughts from it.

And Achsah went out to sow, and when she saw the seeds falling on the soft earth she felt that she was growing, was rising, and being transformed into a new creature full of confidence in her own power; her hesitancy, her timidity, her fear, her humility, her weakness of purpose vanished, and lo and behold, she was possessed of the same rights and privileges as the arrogant male who has enslaved woman for generations untold. And when Achsah had the joy of seeing the seeds sprout and the fields covered with soft; green down she felt that she too was like a growing tree which renews its life and attires itself in glorious raiment with the approach of spring. And moreover, between sunrise and sunset she made a new discovery.

* * *

She who was alone in the world is now surrounded by faithful friends who love her with a pure and disinterested love. Delilah the cow and her calf Havivah stretch out their heads to greet Achsah when she comes into the barnyard, and their limpid, bulging eyes are full of affection. Marhivah the mare neighs with joy when her mistress leads her to the trough which is piled high with oats. The black goat, Galutit, and her two kids, Yeled and Yaldah, follow her all the way to the bedroom, Their conversation is limitd to mah, mah, ma-a-aa-h, but she understands them all the same. Segulah the sheep and her two lambs Rachel and Leah provide her with soft, white wool. And the chickens, the geese, the pidgeons, the dog Mahir and the cat Hovev—they are all her friends and love her, and she loves them in return.

And in the garden every tree and bush, every flower and bud, every vegetable patch has its individuality and interests her. In all things Achsah sees welling life which teems with sweet spices, beauty and pleasantness. She is busy from morning to evening, and "sweet is the sleep of the toiler."

* * *

When Achsah goes out to water her mare she happens to catch sight of her reflection in the well, and she is dissatisfied. She hates her black eyes because most of the daughters of her people in the Diaspora have such eyes. She does not like her swarthy braids. She strives to be one with this land which she loves with all the fibres of her being and she yearns to absorb into her eyes the gold of the sky, the irridescent blue of the raven’s wings, the verdure of the waters of Kinneret. She desires a crown for her head like the gold of the grain in the fields, like the braids of the unwashed flax.

Marhivah drinks her fill and Achsah mounts and goes on her way. She is dressed in her usual costume, but in her girdle there is a revolver, and a gun is strapped to her back, for to-night it is her turn to guard the threshing-floor.

The grain is gathered into piles, ready for threshing; here there is wheat, there barley, beans, lentils, and se-