登陆注册
15295900000010

第10章

For a time Israel tried to humour her, seeming not to see what he saw, and pretending not to hear what he heard.But every day his heart bled at sight of her, and one day he could bear up no longer, for his very soul had sickened, and he cried, "Have done, Ruth!--for mercy's sake, have done! The child is a soul in chains, and a spirit in prison.Her eyes are darkness, like the tomb's, and her ears are silence, like the grave's.Never will she smile to her mother's smile, or answer to her father's speech.

The first sound she will hear will be the last trump, and the first face she will see will be the face of God."At that, Ruth flung herself down and burst into a flood of tears.

The hope that she had cherished was dead.Israel could comfort her no longer.The fountain of his own heart was dry.He drew a long breath, and went away to his bad work at the Kasbah.

The child lived and thrived.They had called her Naomi, as they had agreed to do before she was born, though no name she knew of herself, and a mockery it seemed to name her.At four years of age she was a creature of the most delicate beauty.Notwithstanding her Jewish parentage, she was fair as the day and fresh as the dawn.

And if her eyes were darkness, there was light within her soul;and if her ears were silence, there was music within her heart.

She was brighter than the sun which she could not see, and sweeter than the songs which she could not hear.She was joyous as a bird in its narrow cage, and never did she fret at the bars which bound her.

And, like the bird that sings at midnight, her cheery soul sang in its darkness.

Only one sound seemed ever to come from her little lips, and it was the sound of laughter.With this she lay down to sleep at night, and rose again in the morning.She laughed as she combed her hair, and laughed again as she came dancing out of her chamber at dawn.

She had only one sentinel on the outpost of her spirit, and that was the sense of touch and feeling.With this she seemed to know the day from the night, and when the sun was shining and when the sky was dark.

She knew her mother, too, by the touch of her fingers, and her father by the brushing of his beard.She knew the flowers that grew in the fields outside the gate of the town, and she would gather them in her lap, as other children did, and bring them home with her in her hands.She seemed almost to know their colours also, for the flowers which she would twine in her hair were red, and the white were those which she would lay on her bosom.

And truly a flower she was of herself, whereto the wind alone could whisper, and only the sun could speak aloud.

Sweet and touching were the efforts she sometimes made to cling to them that were about her.Thus her heart was the heart of a child, and she knew no delight like to that of playing with other children.

But her father's house was under a ban; no child of any neighbour in Tetuan was allowed to cross its threshold, and, save for the children whom she met in the fields when she walked there by her mother's hand, no child did she ever meet.

Ruth saw this, and then, for the first time, she became conscious of the isolation in which she had lived since her marriage with Israel.

She herself had her husband for companion and comrade, but her little Naomi was doubly and trebly alone--first, alone as a child that is the only child of her parents; again, alone as a child whose parents are cut off from the parents of other children;and yet again, once more, alone as a child that is blind and dumb.

But Israel saw it also, and one day he brought home with him from the Kasbah a little black boy with a sweet round face and big innocent white eyes which might have been the eyes of an angel.

The boy's name was Ali, and he was four years old.His father had killed his mother for infidelity and neglect of their child, and, having no one to buy him out of prison, he had that day been executed.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 英雄联盟之降临

    英雄联盟之降临

    一部英雄联盟的同人小说小说里的游戏数据会尽量贴近真实数据没有玩过游戏的读者也可以当做一本异界小说来看不是主人公无敌流本小说和游戏一样注重团队合作..新人写作希望大家可以支持..
  • 剑道九玄

    剑道九玄

    荒凉的古城,伫立座座剑墓。这会和自己有什么关系?青年为探知身世,来到了这荒凉的古城。因此而穿越到这个名叫真灵的玄幻大陆。自己的身世将在这里知晓。命,应由自己掌握!悟,剑之九玄。成就,最强九玄剑仙!
  • 我忘了我是谁

    我忘了我是谁

    在一个奇幻的世界,一个无名氏的漂亮女孩走出那个世界。进入到钢筋混凝土的世界,在准备去买雨伞时,却发现自己已经不是人类,并且她还悲哀地发现,她完全没有来这之前的所有事情,忘了自己是谁。于是她踏上了漫漫寻亲路。
  • 泪星划过的星痕

    泪星划过的星痕

    流星雨的祝福是爱情,相遇是爱情的交界线,基础是爱情的感情线,为了你,我什么都愿意,为了你,我不知道我处在何时何地,因为不管你在哪里,我都会随着你的脚步跟着你,你停下来,我就停下来,你起步走,我也不会再停留在愿意,一切都在《泪星划过的星痕》!
  • 总裁爱上复仇女

    总裁爱上复仇女

    她长大了.踏上自己的复仇之路.却不小心被霸道总裁一见钟情.这次.不仅复了仇.还得到了自己的幸福......
  • 学妹凶猛

    学妹凶猛

    这就是一只又蠢又萌,又不蠢又不萌的脑洞学妹积极暗恋学渣男神的偶尔爆笑偶尔虐心偶尔轻松治愈的青春故事。
  • 七度空间之逆天风雷行

    七度空间之逆天风雷行

    一个生命的死去,代表着一个故事的结束。一位英雄的逝去,代表着一段传奇的落幕。这个世界充满了向往,这个世界充满激情。这个世界也充满了危险。是高高在上的异能裁决者,是毁天灭地的王族异能兽,是让人疯狂的奇珍异宝,还是令人无限期待的神秘传说。在这个异能者的庞大世界里,大家,伙伴,友情,爱恨,磨砺,生死,信念,欢呼,悲伤,疯狂,痛苦,眼泪,离别,回忆,重聚,战斗,热血。行风:“我不是最厉害的,我打不过小雷,我也打不过小婷,我打不过欧罗,我可能连大胖子也打不赢。可是,我是他们的老大,他们相信我,他们需要我,就像我需要他们一样。所以,我不能输。哪怕是死,只要他们还相信我,那我就要战斗下去”。
  • 江雨

    江雨

    正义与死神的较量,亲爸与养父的抉择,养父抢了亲爸的女儿,到底谁正谁邪?替父母报仇,仇人是老婆的亲爸;替老婆报仇,仇人却是女儿的养母;替母亲报仇,仇人却是自己的姑姑;替老爹报仇,仇人却是女儿的亲爸……爱情与仇恨的较量……
  • 中小学生最想知道的世界著名河流

    中小学生最想知道的世界著名河流

    本丛书是专为21世纪中国青少年学生量身定做的一套全方位素质教育图书。全系列精品图书涵盖青少年学生成长过程中不可或缺的文理知识,图文并茂的结构框架将引领广大的中国学生收获最权威系统的科学知识,饱览最浩瀚精彩的历史画卷,探索奥妙神秘的大干世界,收获无限精彩的智慧人生。本书主要是有关世界著名河流的内容。河流是人类文明的母亲,任何一个伟大的古老文明都与河流有着千丝万缕的联系。本书介绍了世界上对人类文明产生影响的 20条河流,以及生活在其沿岸居民的生活形态。是一本以点及面介绍人文知识的好书。
  • 道教义枢

    道教义枢

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。