So I Reasoned Within Myself And
Said, Perhaps He May Have Gone To The Land Of His Fathers, Even
Unto
Galatia, to visit his kindred; so I determined to go there
myself, and I went, and I found our kindred,
And I made myself
known to them, and they rejoiced to see me; but when I asked them
for my father, they shook their heads and could give me no
intelligence; and they would fain have had me tarry with them, but
I would not, for the thought of my father was working strong within
me, and I could not rest. So I departed and went to another
country, even unto Russia, and I went deep into that country, even
as far as Kazan, and of all I met, whether Jew, or Russ, or Tartar,
I inquired for my father; but no one knew him, nor had heard of
him. So I turned back and here thou seest me; and I now purpose
going through all Germany and France, nay, through all the world,
until I have received intelligence of my father, for I cannot rest
until I know what is become of my father, for the thought of him
burneth in my brain like fire, even like the fire of Jehinnim."
Such was the individual whom I now saw again, after a lapse of five
years, in the streets of Gibraltar, in the dusk of the evening.
"Yes," he replied, "I am Judah, surnamed the Lib. Thou didst not
recognise me, but I knew thee at once. I should have known thee
amongst a million, and not a day has passed since I last saw thee,
but I have thought on thee." I was about to reply, but he pulled
me out of the crowd and led me into a shop where, squatted on the
floor, sat six or seven Jews cutting leather; he said something to
them which I did not understand, whereupon they bowed their heads
and followed their occupation, without taking any notice of us. A
singular figure had followed us to the door; it was a man dressed
in exceedingly shabby European garments, which exhibited
nevertheless the cut of a fashionable tailor. He seemed about
fifty; his face, which was very broad, was of a deep bronze colour;
the features were rugged, but exceedingly manly, and,
notwithstanding they were those of a Jew, exhibited no marks of
cunning, but, on the contrary, much simplicity and good nature.
His form was about the middle height, and tremendously athletic,
the arms and back were literally those of a Hercules squeezed into
a modern surtout; the lower part of his face was covered with a
bushy beard, which depended half way down his breast. This figure
remained at the door, his eyes fixed upon myself and Judah.
The first inquiry which I now addressed was "Have you heard of your
father?"
"I have," he replied. "When we parted, I proceeded through many
lands, and wherever I went I inquired of the people respecting my
father, but still they shook their heads, until I arrived at the
land of Tunis; and there I went to the head rabbi, and he told me
that he knew my father well, and that he had been there, even at
Tunis, and he named the time, and he said that from thence he
departed for the land of Fez; and he spoke much of my father and of
his learning, and he mentioned the Zohar, even that dark book which
my father loved so well; and he spoke yet more of my father's
wealth and his speculations, in all of which it seems he had
thriven.
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