 |
||
|
||
| Asenath rejects the Egyptian Gods And, when Joseph had left the house, Pentephres also and all his kindred departed to their inheritance, and Asenath was left alone with the seven virgins, listless and weeping till the sun set ; and she neither ate bread nor drank water, but while all slept she herself alone was awake and weeping and frequently beating her breast with her hand. And after these things Asenath rose from her bed, and went quietly down the stairs from the loft, and on coming to the gateway found the porteress sleeping with her children ; and she hasted and took down from the door the leathern cover of the curtain and filled it with cinders and carried it up to the loft and laid it on the floor. And thereupon she shut the door securely and fastened it with the iron bolt from the side and groaned with great groaning together with much and very great weeping. But the virgin whom Asenath loved above all the virgins having heard her groaning hasted and came to the door after awaking the other virgins also and found it shut. And, when she had listened to the groaning and the weeping of Asenath, she said to her, standing without: "What is it, my mistress, and wherefore art thou sad ? And what is it that troubleth thee ? Open to us and let us see thee." And Asenath said to her, being shut inside: "Great and grievous pain hath attacked mine head, and I am resting in my bed, and I am not able to rise and open to you, for that I am infirm over all my limbs. Go there-fore each of you to her chamber and sleep, and let me be still." And, when the virgins had departed, each to her own chamber, Asenath rose and opened the door of her bedroom quietly, and went away into her second chamber where the chests of her adornment were, and she opened her coffer and took a black and sombre tunic which she put on and mourned when her firstborn brother died. Having taken, then, this tunic, she carried it into her chamber, and again shut the door securely, and put the bolt to from the side. Then, therefore, Asenath put off her royal robe, and put on the mourning tunic, and loosed her golden girdle and girded herself with a rope and put off the tiara, that is the mitre from her head, likewise also the diadem, and the chains from her hands and her feet were also all laid upon the floor. Then she taketh her choice robe and the golden girdle and the mitre and her diadem, and she cast them through the window that looked toward the north, to the poor. And thereupon she took all her gods that were in her chamber, the gods of gold and of silver whereof there was no number, and brake them up into fragments, and cast them through the window to poor men and beggars. And again Asenath took her royal dinner and the fatlings and the fish and heifer's flesh, and all the sacrifices of her gods, and the vessels of the wine of libation, and cast them all through the window that looked north as food for the dogs. And after these things she took the leathern cover containing the cinders and poured them upon the floor; and thereupon she took sackcloth and girded her loins ; and she loosed also the net of the hair of her head and sprinkled ashes over her head. And she strewed cinders also upon the floor, and fell upon the cinders and kept beating her breast constantly with her hands and weeping all the night with groaning until the morning. And, when Asenath arose in the morning and saw, and lo! the cinders were beneath her as clay from her tears, she again fell upon her face upon the cinders till the sun set. Thus Asenath did for seven days, not tasting aught whatever. Asenath resolves to pray to the God of the Hebrews. And on the eighth day, when the dawn came and the birds were already chirping and the dogs barking at the passers-by, Asenath lifted up her head a little from the floor and the cinders where-on she was seated, for that she was exceeding weary and had lost the power of her limbs from her great humiliation ; for Asenath had waxed weary and faint and her strength was failing, and thereupon she turned toward the wall, sitting under the window that looked east ; and her head she laid upon her bosom, twining the fingers of her hands over her right knee ; and her mouth was shut and she opened it not during the seven days or during the seven nights of her humiliation. And she said in her heart, not opening her mouth : "What shall I do, I the lowly one, or where shall I go? And with whom again shall I hereafter find refuge? or to whom shall I speak, the virgin that is an orphan and desolate and abandoned by all and hated? All now have come to hate me, and among these even my father and my mother, for that I spurned the gods with loathing and made away with them and have given them to the poor to be destroyed by men. For my father and my mother said : "Asenath is not our daughter." But all my kin also have come to hate me, and all men, for that I have given their gods to destruction. And I have hated every man and all who wooed me, and now in this mine humiliation I have been hated by all and they rejoice over my tribulation. But the Lord and God of the mighty Joseph hateth all who worship the idols, for that he is a jealous God and terrible, as I have heard, against all who worship strange gods; whence he hath hated me also, because I worshipped dead and deaf idols and blessed them. But now have I shunned their sacrifice, and my mouth hath become estranged from their table, and I have no courage to call upon the Lord God of heaven, the Most High and powerful one of the mighty Joseph, for that my mouth is polluted from the sacrifices of the idols. But I have heard many saying that the God of the Hebrews is a true God, and a living God, and a merciful God and pitiful and long-suffering and full of mercy and gentle, and one who reckoneth not the sin of a man who is humble, and especially of one who sinneth in ignorance, and convicteth not of lawlessnesses in the time of the affliction of a man that is afflicted; accordingly I also, the humble one, will be bold and will turn to him and seek refuge with him and confess all my sins to him and pour out my petition before him, and he will have mercy on my misery. For who knoweth if he will see this mine humiliation and the desolation of my soul and pity me, and will see also the orphanhood of my wretchedness and virginity and defend me? for that, as I hear, he is himself a father of orphans and a consolation of the afflicted and a helper of the persecuted. But in any case I also the humble one will be bold and will cry to him."Then Asenath rose up from the wall where she was sitting, ajjd raised herself upon her knees toward the east and directed her eyes toward heaven and opened her mouth and said to God : The prayer and confession of Ascnath : "Lord God of the righteous, who createdst the ages and givcst Hfe to all things, who gavest the breath of life to all thy creation, who broughtest the invisible things out into the light, who madest all things and madest manifest things that did not appear, who liftedst up the heaven and foundedst the earth upon the waters, who fixedst the great stones upon the abyss of the water, which shall not be submerged but are unto the end doing thy will, for that thou. Lord, saidst the word and all things came into being, and thy word, Lord, is the life of all thy creatures, to thee I flee for refuge, Lord my God, from henceforth, to thee will I cry, Lord, and to thee will I confess my sins, to thee will I pour out my petition, Master, and to thee will I reveal my lawlessnesses. Spare me, Lord, spare, for that I committed many sins against thee, I did lawlessness and ungodliness, I have spoken things not to be uttered, and wicked in thy sight ; my mouth. Lord, hath been polluted from the sacrifices of the idols of the Egyptians, and from the table of their gods : I sinned, Lord, I sinned in thy sight, both in knowledge and in ignorance I did ungodliness in that I worshipped dead and deaf idols, and I am not worthy to open my mouth unto thee, Lord, I the miserable Asenath daughter of Pentephres the priest, the virgin and queen, who was once proud and haughty and one that prospered in my father's riches above all men, but now an orphan and desolate and abandoned of all men. To thee I flee, Lord, and to thee I offer my petition, and unto thee will I cry. Deliver me from them that pursue me. Master, before I be taken by them ; for, as an infant in fear of some one fleeth to his father and mother, and his father stretcheth out his hands and catcheth him up against his breast, so aIso do thou. Lord, stretchout thine undefiled and terrible. Visit, Lord, mine humiliation and have mercy on mine orphanhood and pity me, the afflicted. For lo! I, Master, fled from all and sought refuge with thee the only friend of men. Lo! I left all the good things of the earth and sought refuge with thee. Lord, in sackcloth and ashes, naked and solitary. Lo! now I put off my royal robe of fine linen and of crimson stuff interwoven with gold and have put on a black tunic of mourning. Lo! I have loosed my golden girdle and cast it from me and girded myself with rope and sack-cloth. Lo! my diadem and my mitre I have cast from mine head and I have sprinkled myself with cinders, Lo! the floor of my chamber that was paved with many-coloured and purple stones, which was formerly moistened with ointments and was dried with bright linen cloths, is now moistened with my tears and hath been dishonoured in that it is strewn with ashes. Lo!, my Lord, from the cinders and my tears much clay hath been formed in my chamber as on a broad road. Lo!, my Lord, my royal dinner and the meats I have given to the dogs. Lo! I have also, Master, been fasting seven days and seven nights and neither ate bread nor drank water, and my mouth is dry as a wheel and my tongue as horn and my lips as a potsherd, and my face hath shrunk, and mine eyes have failed from shedding tears. But thou, Lord my God, deliver me from my many ignorances, and forgive me for that, being a virgin and unknowing, I have gone astray. Lo! now all the gods whom I worshipped I have now known to have been deaf and dead idols, and I brake them in pieces and gave them to be trampled on by all men, and the thieves spoiled them, who were gold and silver, and with thee I sought refuge. Lord God, the only compassionate one and friend of men. Forgive me, Lord, for that I committed many sins against thee in ignorance and have spoken blasphemous words against my lord Joseph, and knew not, I the miserable, that he is thy son. Lord, since the wicked men urged by envy said to me: Joseph is son of a shepherd from the land of Canaan,' and I the miserable one have believed them and gone astray, and I set him at naught and have spoken wicked things about him, not knowing that he is thy son. For who among men begat or will ever beget such beauty? or who else is such as he, wise and mighty as the all-beauteous Joseph? But to thee. Lord, I commit him, because for my part I love him more than my soul. Keep him safe in the wisdom of thy grace, and commit me to him for an handmaid and a bondwoman, that I may wash his feet and make his bed and minister to him and serve him, and I will be a bondwoman to him for the times of my life." The Archangel Michael visits Asenath. And, when Asenath had ceased making confession to the Lord, lo! the morning-star also arose out of the heaven in the east and Asenath saw it and rejoiced and said : "Hath the Lord God then heard my prayer? for that this star is a messenger and herald of the height of the great day." And lo! hard by the morning-star the heaven was rent and a great and ineffable light appeared. And when she saw it Asenath fell upon her face upon the cinders, and straightway there came to her a man from heaven, sending forth rays of light, and stood above her head. And, as she lay on her face, the divine angel said to her, "Asenath, stand up." And she said : "Who is he that called me for that the door of my chamber is shut and the tower is high, and how then hath he come into my chamber." And he called her again a second time, saying, "Asenath, Asenath." And she said, "Here am I, lord, tell me who thou art." And he said : "I am the chief captain of the Lord God and commander of all the host of the Most High: stand up and stand upon thy feet, that I may speak to thee my words." And she lifted up her face and saw, and lo! a man in all things like unto Joseph, in robe and wreath and royal staff, save that his face was as lightning, and his eyes as the light of the sun, and the hairs of his head as the flame of fire of a burning torch, and his hands and his feet like iron shining from fire, for as it were sparks proceeded both from his hands and from his feet. Seeing these things Asenath feared and fell on her face, unable even to stand upon her feet, for she became greatly afraid and all her limbs trembled. And the man said to her: "Be of good cheer, Asenath, and fear not; but stand up and stand upon thy feet, that I may speak to thee my words." Then Asenath stood up and stood upon her feet, and the angel said to her: "Go without impediment into thy second chamber and lay aside the black tunic wherein thou art clad, and cast off the sackcloth from thy loins, and shake out the cinders from thine head, and wash thy face and thine hands with pure water and put on a white untouched robe and gird thy loins with the bright girdle of virginity, the double one, and come again to me, and I will speak to thee the words that are sent to thee from the Lord." Then Asenath hasted and went into her second chamber, wherein were the chests of her adorning, and opened her coffer and took a white fine, untouched robe and put it on, having first put off the black robe, and ungirded also the robe and the sackcloth from her loins and girded herself in a bright, double girle of her virginity, one girdle about her loins and another girdle about her breast. And she shook out also the cinders from her head and washed her hands and face with pure water, and she took a mantle most beautiful and fine and veiled her head. Michael tells Asenath that she shall be Joseph's Wife. And thereupon she came to the divine chief captain and stood before him, and the angel of the Lord saith to her: "Take now the mantle from thine head, for that thou art to-day a pure virgin, and thine head is as of a young man." And Asenath took it from her head. And again the divine angel saith to her: "Be of good cheer, Asenath, the virgin and pure, for lo! the Lord God heard all the words of thy confession and thy prayer, and he hath seen also the humiliation and affliction of the seven days of thine abstinence, for that from thy tears much clay hath been formed before thy face upon these cinders. Accordingly, be of good cheer, Asenath, the virgin and pure, for lo! thy name hath been written in the book of life and shall not be blotted out for ever; but from this day thou shalt be renewed and refashioned and re-quickened, and thou shalt eat the blessed bread of life and drink a cup filled with immortality and be anointed with the blessed unction of incorruption. Be of good cheer, Asenath, the virgin and pure, lo! the Lord God hath given thee to-day to Joseph for a bride, and he himself shall be thy bridegroom for ever. And no more henceforth shalt thou be called Asenath, but thy name shall be City of Refuge, for that in thee many nations shall seek refuge and they shall lodge under thy wings, and many nations shall find shelter by thy means, and upon thy walls they who cleave unto God Most High through penitence shall be kept secure; for that Penitence is daughter of the Most High, and she herself entreateth God Most High for thee every hour and for all that repent, since he is father of Penitence, and she herself is the completion and overseer of all virgins, loving you exceedingly and beseeching the Most High for you every hour, and for all who repent she will provide a place of rest in the heavens, and she reneweth everyone who hath repented. And Penitence is exceeding fair, a virgin pure and gentle and mild ; and therefore God Most High loveth her, and all the angels revere her, and I love her exceedingly, for that she herself also is my sister, and as she loveth you virgins I also love you. And lo! for my part I go to Joseph and will speak to him all these words concerning thee, and he will come to thee to-day and see thee and rejoice over thee and love thee and be thy bridegroom, and thou shalt be his beloved bride forever. Accordingly hear me, Asenath, and put on a wedding robe, the ancient and first robe that is yet laid up in thy chamber from of old, and put all thy choice adorning also about thee, and adorn thyself as a good bride and make thyself ready to meet him ; for lo! he himself cometh to thee to-day and will see thee and rejoice." And, when the angel of the Lord in the shape of a man had finished speaking these words to Asenath, she rejoiced with great joy over all the things that were spoken by him, and fell upon her face upon the earth, and made obeisance before his feet and said to him : "Blessed is the Lord thy God who sent thee to deliver me from the darkness and to bring me from the foundations of the abyss itself into the light, and blessed is thy name for ever. If therein I have found grace, my lord, in thy sight and shall know that thou wilt perform all the words which thou hast said to me so that they be accomplished, let thine handmaid speak to thee." And the angel saith 'to her, " Say on." And she said : "I pray thee, lord, sit down a little time upon this bed, because this bed is pure and undefiled, for that another man or other woman never sat upon it, and I will set before thee a table and bread, and thou shalt eat, and I will bring thee also wine old and good, the odour whereof shall reach unto heaven, and thou shalt drink thereof and thereafter shalt depart upon thy way." And he saith to her : "Haste and bring it quickly." | ||
| Previous Page Next Page | ||
