Fair to Look Upon | Page 6

persuade, bribe or
induce a woman to do anything she objected to doing, said:
"And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be
clear from this mine oath."
So the servant departed and "went to Mesopotamia unto the city of
Nahor."
Now it seems in those days the girls of Nahor went outside the city
gates every evening, according to Oriental custom, to draw water from
a well, and the artful servant of Abraham tarried at the well at sunset,
for he knew the girls would be along presently.
It was a lovely eventide. The wind touched caressingly the few dainty
flowers drooping their heads in sleepy fragrance, the birds twittered
soft words of love to their nestling mates, the departing god of day
lavished in reckless abandon his wealth of colors; piled crimson
mountains red as his ardent love in the western sky, and robed high
heaven in golden glory that his sweetheart--the earth--reveling in and
remembering the grandeur of his passion and the splendor of his
departure, might not love his silver-armored rival of the night.
About this time the maidens tripped down to the well, where the
shrewd servant stood as the "daughters of the men of the city came out
to draw water," and prayed:
"And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, 'Let down
thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink;' and she shall say, 'Drink,'
may be the one I am looking for;" or words to that effect.
The words had hardly passed his lips ere Rebekah, with the color
snatched from the roses in her cheeks and the grace of untrammeled
freedom in her step, skipped down to the well.

And Rebekah "was very fair to look upon." Of course. In relating the
history of these examples who have been held up since time
immemorial for us to follow, the writers of "Holy Writ" never expatiate
upon their virtue, industry, domesticity, constancy or love, but we are
simply and briefly told they were "fair to look upon," and the natural
logical inference is that we shall "go and do likewise."
Belonging to one of the wealthiest and most influential families of
Nahor, of course Rebekah's practiced eye saw at a glance that the
handsome fellow waiting at the well and looking the girls over was a
person of rank and importance; for it is only a logical conclusion that
coming from such a master and bound upon such an errand, he was
surrounded by all the trappings and signs of wealth and luxury that the
times afforded.
And the maidens of Nahor went outside the city gates partly for the
same purpose, I suppose, as that for which the girls of other places go
to the parks and matinées nowadays, for it seems to have been a
notorious fact that had even spread to other countries, that the girls of
Nahor came down to the well in the blushing sunset, and that too,
without chaperon or duenna. And I suppose the young men went down
too, to flirt with the charming damsels, from the fact that the servant of
Abraham tarried there.
And Rebekah, stooping gracefully, filled her pitcher, swung it lightly to
her shoulder--and as the woman sometimes takes the initiative in an
affair of this kind--smiled upon the willing and ready-looking fellow;
not exactly at him, but as it were in his direction, you know; and he
caught the faint glint of sunshine on her lips, and then--but in the
witching hour when the twilight and sunlight kiss and part, after the
smile and look of recognition everyone knows what happens.
And he ran to her and said with the pleasing courtesy of a man of the
world:
"Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher."
Then with the tact of a finished coquette, in three little words she

conveyed to him the flattering knowledge that she recognized in him an
embassador of power, wealth and luxury, by saying:
"Drink, my Lord."
After that they became acquainted in the most easy, off-hand manner,
without an introduction, and yet we are told to follow the example of
these pioneers of the race who were always "fair to look upon."
I never in my life heard priest or people condemning her for forming
the acquaintance of a stranger without an introduction; she was called
one of the "mothers in Israel," and even St. Paul, who was a regular
crank about the girls, classed her with the "holy women of old," which
proves he didn't know anything about her history or was playing upon
the ignorance of his hearers. She was a leader of the ton in Israel, and if
in those days they did not banish her