Zenobia | Page 4

what a charming variety--both in form and
color: pretty feet alone should press these--think you not so? But, alas!
I cannot tempt you.'
'How is it possible,' said I, 'for another to speak when thy tongue wags
so fast? Those rings I would gladly have examined, and now that thou
hast discharged that volley of hoarse sounds, I pray thee open again that
case. I thank thee for giving me an occupation.'
'Take care!' replied the voluble Jew, throwing a quick and mischievous
glance toward the Roman whom I have already mentioned--'take care
how my friend here of the new faith hears thee or sees the, an' thou

wouldst escape a rebuke. He holds my beauties here and my calling in
high contempt, and as for occupation, he thinks one never need be idle
who has himself to converse with.'
'What you have last uttered is true,' replied the person whom he
addressed: 'he need never want for employment, who possesses the
power of thought. But as to thy trade, I object not to that, nor to what
thou sellest: only to being myself a buyer.'
'Ha! thou wilt not buy? Trust Isaac for that. I keep that which shall suit
all, and enslave all. I would have made thee buy of me before, but for
the uproar of those soldiers.'
While uttering these words, he had placed the case of rings in my hands
to examine them, and was engaged himself in exploring the depths of a
large package, from which he at length triumphantly drew forth a
parchment roll.
'Now open all thine eyes, Nazarene,' cried the Jew, 'and thou shalt see
what thou shalt. Look!'
And so saying, he unfolded the first portion of the roll, upon which the
eye of the Roman had no sooner fallen, than his face suddenly glowed
as if a god shone through him, and reverently seizing the book, he
exclaimed:
'I thank thee, Jew; thou hast conquered: I am a customer too. Here is
my purse--take what thou wilt.'
'Hold, hold!' interrupted the Jew, laughing, 'I have not done with thee
yet; what thou hast bought in Greek, I would now sell thee again in
Latin. Thy half convert, the soldier Macer, would greet this as a cordial
to his famishing soul. Take both, and thou hast them cheaper.'
'Your cunning hardly deserves such a reward,' said the Christian, as I
now perceived him to be, 'but you have said well, and I not unwillingly
obey your suggestions. Pay yourself now for both, and give them to me
carefully rolled up.'

'No better sale than this shall I make to-day, and that too to a
Jew-hating Nazarene. But what matters it whom I tax for the upholding
of Jerusalem? Surely it is sweeter, when the cruel Roman or the heretic
Christian is made unconsciously to build at her walls.'
Thus muttered the Jew to himself, as he skilfully bound into a parcel
the Christian's books.
'And now, most excellent Sir,' said he, turning toward me, 'what do you
find worthy your own or your lady's finger? Here is another
case--perhaps these may strike you as rarer for their devices, or their
workmanship. But they are rather better suited to the tastes of the rich
Palmyrenes, to whom I am bearing them.'
'Ah!' I exclaimed, 'these are what I want. This seal ring, with the head
of Zenobia, for which I sought in vain in Rome, I will buy, nor care for
its cost, if thou canst assure me of its resemblance to the great Queen.
Who was the artist?'
'As I stand here, a true son of Abraham,' he replied, 'it was worked by a
Greek jeweller, who lives hard by the Temple of Fortune, and who has
engraved it after a drawing made by a brother, an inhabitant of Palmyra.
Two such artists in their way are not to be found. I myself, moreover,
bore the original drawing from Demetrius to his brother in Rome, and
that it is like the great Queen, I can well testify, for I have often seen
her. Her marvellous beauty is here well expressed, or as well as that
which partakes so much more of heaven than of earth can be. But look
at these, too! Here I have what I look to do well with. See! heads of
Odenatus! Think you not they will take well? These also are done with
the same care as the others, and by the same workmen. Nothing of the
kind has as yet been seen in Palmyra, nor indeed in Rome. Happy
Isaac!--thy fortune is made! Come, put them on thy finger, and observe
their beauty. King and Queen--how lovingly they sit there together!
'Twas just so when Odenatus was alive. They were a noble and a loving
pair.