The Story of the Other Wise Man

Story of the Other Wise Man, by
Henry Van Dyke

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Title: The Story of the Other Wise Man
Author: Henry Van Dyke
Release Date: October 23, 2006 [EBook #19608]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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Produced by Michael Gray

[Illustration - "It is the Sign," he said.]
THE STORY OF THE OTHER WISE MAN
BY HENRY VAN DYKE

ILLUSTRATED
[Illustration - Harper and Brothers Logo]

NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1896

Copyright 1895, by HARPER & BROTHERS --- All rights reserved

Contents --- INTRODUCTION THE SIGN IN THE SKY BY THE
WATERS OF BABYLON FOR THE SAKE OF A LITTLE CHILD IN
THE HIDDEN WAY OF SORROW A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

ILLUSTRATIONS --- "'IT IS THE SIGN,' HE SAID" "HE CAUGHT
IT UP AND READ" "'THERE IS NONE HERE SAVE ME'" "HE
HEALED THE SICK" "THE OLD MAN FOLLOWED THE
MULTITUDE" "THE OTHER WISE MAN HAD FOUND THE
KING"

[Illustration - The Story of the Other Wise Man]

Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul, May keep the path, but
will not reach the goal; While he who walks in love may wander far,
Yet God will bring him where the blessed are.

You know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they
traveled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger-cradle in
Bethlehem. But have you ever heard the story of the Other Wise Man,
who also saw the star in its rising, and set out to follow it, yet did not

arrive with his brethren in the presence of the young child Jesus? Of the
great desire of this fourth pilgrim, and how it was denied, yet
accomplished in the denial; of his many wanderings and the probations
of his soul; of the long way of his seeking, and the strange way of his
finding, the One whom he sought--I would tell the tale as I have heard
fragments of it in the Hall of Dreams, in the palace of the Heart of Man.

THE SIGN IN THE SKY
In the days when Augustus Caesar was master of many kings and
Herod reigned in Jerusalem, there lived in the city of Ecbatana, among
the mountains of Persia, a certain man named Artaban, the Median. His
house stood close to the outermost of the seven walls which encircled
the royal treasury. From his roof he could look over the rising
battlements of black and white and crimson and blue and red and silver
and gold, to the hill where the summer palace of the Parthian emperors
glittered like a jewel in a sevenfold crown.
Around the dwelling of Artaban spread a fair garden, a tangle of
flowers and fruit trees, watered by a score of streams descending from
the slopes of Mount Orontes, and made musical by innumerable birds.
But all color was lost in the soft and odorous darkness of the late
September night, and all sounds were hushed in the deep charm of its
silence, save the plashing of the water, like a voice half sobbing and
half laughing under the shadows. High above the trees a dim glow of
light shone through the curtained arches of the upper chamber, where
the master of the house was holding council with his friends.
He stood by the doorway to greet his guests--a tall, dark man of about
forty years, with brilliant eyes set near together under his broad brow,
and firm lines graven around his fine, thin lips; the brow of a dreamer
and the mouth of soldier, a man of sensitive feeling but inflexible
will--one of those who, in whatever age they may live, are born for
inward conflict and a life of quest.
His robe was of pure white wool, thrown over a tunic of silk; and a

white, pointed cap, with long lapels at the sides, rested on his flowing
black hair. It was the dress of the ancient priesthood of the Magi, called
the fire-worshippers.
"Welcome!" he said, in his low, pleasant voice, as one after another
entered the room--"welcome, Abdus; peace be with you, Rhodaspes
and Tigranes, and with you my father, Abgarus. You are all welcome,
and this house grows bright with the joy of your presence."
There were nine of the men, differing widely in age, but alike in the