Nathan

“ How do you like my Recha?
TEMPLAR.
Words cannot tell—
Gaze on her once again—I never will—
Never—no never: unless thou wilt promise
That I for ever, ever, may behold her.
NATHAN.
How should I take this?
TEMPLAR (falling suddenly upon his neck) .
Nathan—O my father!
NATHAN.
Young man!
TEMPLAR (quitting him as suddenly) .
Not son?—I pray thee, Nathan—ha!
NATHAN.
Thou dear young man!
TEMPLAR.
Not son?—I pray thee, Nathan,
Conjure thee by the strongest bonds of nature,
Prefer not those of later date, the weaker.—
Be it enough to thee to be a man!
Push me not from thee! ”

“ With these words of encouragement, Nathan, bounding along with an activity that kept him ever in advance of the mounted wanderers, led the way from the open forest into a labyrinth of brakes and bogs, through paths traced rather by wolves and bears than any nobler animals, so wild, so difficult, and sometimes, in appearance, so impracticable to be pursued, that Roland, bewildered from the first, looked every moment to find himself plunged into difficulties from which neither the zeal of Nathan nor the sagacity of the unpretending Peter could extricate his weary followers. ”

“ Nathan and Templar.
TEMPLAR.
What?
NATHAN.
Give me leave.
TEMPLAR.
Well, Jew, what wouldst thou have?
NATHAN.
The liberty of speaking to you!
TEMPLAR.
So—
Can I prevent it? Quick then, what’s your business?
NATHAN.
Patience—nor hasten quite so proudly by
A man, who has not merited contempt,
And whom, for evermore, you’ve made your debtor.
TEMPLAR.
How so? Perhaps I guess—No—Are you then—
NATHAN.
My name is Nathan, father to the maid
Your generous courage snatched from circling flames,
And hasten—
TEMPLAR.
If with thanks, keep, keep them all. ”

“ Nathan's face was turned toward the south, as though his eyes could see there the walls of the city in whose narrow streets he had played with his companions as a boy. Presently he began to speak.
"He will requite His enemies and those who scorn Him," the Israelite said. "Terrible is His wrath!"
"Is He more powerful than Zeus?" said Clearchus, seeming to comprehend what Nathan meant.
"Yea," Nathan answered solemnly. "Thy Gods are as nothing before Him. Baal He overthrew in Babylon with all his brood." ”

“ At this stirring appeal, uttered with indescribable energy and passion, though only in a whisper, Nathan's countenance changed from dark to pale, and his arm trembled in the soldier's grasp. He turned upon him also a look of extraordinary wildness, and muttered betwixt his teeth an answer that betokened as much confusion of mind as agitation of spirits: "Friend," he said, "whoever thee is, it matters nothing to thee what might happen, or has happened, in such case made and provided. I am a man, thee is another; thee has thee conscience, and I have mine. ”

“ SITTAH.
Formerly thon gav’st
A very different picture of this Nathan.
HAFI.
In case of need he’ll lend you merchandise,
But money, money, never. He’s a Jew,
There are but few such! he has understanding,
Knows life, plays chess; but is in bad notorious
Above his brethren, as he is in good.
On him rely not. To the poor indeed
He vies perhaps with Saladin in giving:
Though he distributes less, he gives as freely,
As silently, as nobly, to Jew, Christian,
Mahometan, or Parsee—’tis all one. ”

“ I don't advise thee," said Nathan, hastily: "truly, I advise to nothing but peace and amity. I only tell thee what a wicked Kentucky fighting-man would do,—a man that might think it, as many of them do, as lawful to shoot a prowling Injun as a skulking bear." ”

“ By God, ’tis something beautifully wise
To be so circumspect.
SALADIN.
Come, come, forgive
Something to age. His lingerings cannot last.
He is not going to require of thee
First to turn Jew.
TEMPLAR.
Who knows?
SALADIN.
Who? I, who know
This Nathan better.
TEMPLAR.
Yet the superstition
In which we have grown up, not therefore loses
When we detect it, all its influence on us.
Not all are free that can bemock their fetters.
SALADIN.
Maturely said—but Nathan, surely Nathan—
TEMPLAR.
The worst of superstitions is to think
One’s own most bearable. ”

“ To know what women they can be in love with.
SALADIN.
Well then you may send for her.
SITTAH.
May I, brother?
SALADIN.
But hurt not Nathan, he must not imagine
That we propose by violence to part them.
SITTAH.
Be without apprehension.
SALADIN.
Fare you well,
I must make out where this Al-Hafi is.
SCENE.—The Hall in Nathan’s House, as in the first scene; the things there mentioned unpacked and displayed. Daya and Nathan.
DAYA.
O how magnificent, how tasty, charming—
All such as only you could give—and where
Was this thin silver stuff with sprigs of gold
Woven? What might it cost? ”

“ But ’tis all over now—it is too late.
TEMPLAR.
How so, too late.
NATHAN.
Thanks to the patriarch.
TEMPLAR.
How
Thanks to the patriarch, and for what? Can he
Earn thanks of us. For what?
NATHAN.
That now we know
To whom she is related—to whose hands
She may with confidence be now delivered.
TEMPLAR.
He thank him who has more to thank him for.
NATHAN.
From theirs you now have to obtain her, not
From mine.
TEMPLAR.
Poor Recha—what befalls thee? Oh,
Poor Recha—what had been to other orphans
A blessing, is to thee a curse. But, Nathan,
Where are they, these new kinsmen? ”

“ He was, therefore, not a little surprised when Nathan, starting from the stirrup into which he had climbed, leaped again to the ground, staring around him from right to left with every appearance of alarm.
"Right, Peter!" he at last muttered, fixing his eye upon the further bank of the river, a dark mass of hill and forest that rose in dim relief against the clouded sky, overshadowing the whole stream, which lay like a pitchy abyss betwixt it and the travellers,—"right, Peter! thee eyes is as good as thee nose—thee is determined the poor women shall not be murdered!" ”

“ Again Nathan considered, ashen-faced, biting his nails until the blood came. Then two distraught boys, hatless, their clothing bedaubed and briar-torn, facing the most hideous dilemma thus far in their lives, knelt in the shower-washed alders. Earnestly they besought aid from the giver of every good and perfect gift.
“Oh, God,” prayed Nathan, “we have sinned—we have sinned—against heaven and against Thee. Lord, we have kissed—we have kissed—no, I have kissed—a g-g-girl—and her father, Mr. Caleb M. Gridley, who runs the tannery here in Paris—he caught us!” ”

“ She had, on his entrance, caught the pouch of corn from Roland's hands, intending to present it to the guide, with some such light expressions as should convince her kinsman of her recovered spirits; but the visage and words of Nathan struck her dumb, and she stood holding it in her hand, without speaking a word, until it caught Nathan's eye. He snatched it from her grasp, surveying it with astonishment and even alarm, and only ceased to look at it, when little Peter, who had run into the corner and among the bed of leaves, uttered a whine louder than before. ”

“ Turning to Nathan, who had been earnestly reading the struggles of his mind, as revealed in his face, he said, and with unfaltering resolution,—"You say we can rescue that man.—I was a prisoner, like him, bound too,—a helpless, hopeless captive—three Indians to guard me, and but one friend to look upon me; yet did not that friend abandon me to my fate.—God will protect my poor cousin—we must rescue him!"
"Thee is a man, every inch of thee!" said Nathan, with a look of uncommon satisfaction and fire: "thee shall have thee will in the matter of these murdering Shawnee dogs ”

“ Al-Hafi has in this to blush for Nathan?
Be that as’t may—be he the Jew or no—
Is he but rich—that is enough for us.
SALADIN.
You would not, sister, take his wealth by force.
SITTAH.
What do you mean by force—fire, sword? Oh no!
What force is necessary with the weak
But their own weakness? Come awhile with me
Into my harem: I have bought a songstress,
You have not heard her, she came yesterday:
Meanwhile I’ll think somewhat about a project
I have upon this Nathan. Follow, brother.
Scene.—The Place of Palms, close to Nathan’s House. Nathan, attired, comes out with Recha. ”

“ But the laugh with which he greeted his approach found no response from Nathan himself, who, having looked with amazement upon Edith and Telie, as if marvelling what madness had brought females at that hour into that wild desert, turned at last to the soldier, demanding, with inauspicious gravity,—
"Friend! does thee think thee is in thee own parlour with thee women at home, that thee shouts so loud and laughs so merrily? or does thee know thee is in a wild Kentucky forest, with murdering Injuns all around thee?" ”

“ And wholly to throw off the Jew, still less.
For if no Jew he might with right inquire—
Why not a Mussulman—Yes—that may serve me.
Not children only can be quieted
With stories. Ha! he comes—well, let him come.
SALADIN (returning) .
So, there, the field is clear, I’m not too quick,
Thou hast bethought thyself as much as need is,
Speak, no one hears.
NATHAN.
Might the whole world but hear us.
SALADIN.
Is Nathan of his cause so confident?
Yes, that I call the sage—to veil no truth,
For truth to hazard all things, life and goods.
NATHAN.
Aye, when ’tis necessary and when useful. ”

“ And Nathan—the colorist, the emotionalist, the mystic, the romancer—drank them in deeply and let them cleanse him from the Terror through which he had slipped. No—life could never be small and petty and landlocked and drab again. ”

“ Still, that had not shaken Nathan’s faith in human nature. A peasant army gone mad was no criterion of the entire human race! And that Nathan had not lost faith in human nature showed in his face also. It was growing into a Lincolnesque face. Self-control, self-discipline, infinite patience, the capacity for fathomless tenderness. When I looked into Nathan’s features a year later and compared him with the fellow who had bade me good-by at the Paris railroad depot that sunny morning when old Caleb missed him by an hour, frankly I was shocked. ”

“ Some time during the night the wind changed and drove a fine spray through the lattice, sprinkling the sleepers below and slapping them in the face with its raw breath. Nathan sprang to his feet with an exclamation of disgust, dragged his quilt-mattress to another and dryer part of the room and was soon dreaming again that he was a soldier with a commander who looked extremely like Isaac. ”

“ Al-Hafi,
Go to your desert quickly. Among men
I fear you’ll soon unlearn to be a man.
HAFI.
And so do I—farewell.
NATHAN.
What, so abruptly?
Stay, stay, Al-Hafi; has the desert wings?
Man, ’twill not run away, I warrant you—
Hear, hear, I want you—want to talk with you—
He’s gone. I could have liked to question him
About our templar. He will likely know him.
Nathan and Daya.
Daya (bursting in) .
O Nathan, Nathan!
NATHAN.
Well, what now?
DAYA.
He’s there.
He shows himself again.
NATHAN.
Who, Daya, who?
DAYA.
He! he!
NATHAN.
When cannot He be seen? Indeed
Your He is only one ”

“ Her association with Nathan subserved, moreover, their mutual interests; the poet won respect for the actress, who knew moreover how to make herself formidable by her spirit of intrigue and the tartness of her sallies of wit. Who did not know her mansion on the rue Pigalle? Indeed, Madame Nathan was an intimate acquaintance of Coralie, Esther la Torpille, Claudine du Bruel, Euphrasie, Aquilina, Madame Theodore Gaillard, and Marie Godeschal; entertained Emile Blondet, Andoche Finot, Etienne Lousteau, Felicien Vernou, Couture, Bixiou, Rastignac, Vignon, F. du Tillet, Nucingen, and Conti. ”

“ And Nathan, he took after his father—bigoted, stubborn, cold-blooded, hard-hearted, indifferent to those who have thanklessly tried to do their utmost to help him.”
“I have always understood my children perfectly,” contended Johnathan Forge to old Archibald Cuttner, when five years later Johnathan was having a hysterical time to keep Nathan from marrying his granddaughter. “Edith takes after her mother—fizzle-headed, irresponsible, neurotic, always thinking of herself and her troubles, inconsistent, a woman in every sense of the word. As for Nathan, God only knows who he takes after. ”

“ The race is not to be despised: but hold,
Spare me my pedigree; I’ll spare thee thine.
Not that I doubt thy genealogic tree.
O, God forbid! You may attest it all
As far as Abraham back; and backwarder
I know it to my heart—I’ll swear to it also.
NATHAN.
Knight, you grow bitter. Do I merit this?
Have I refused you ought? I’ve but forborne
To close with you at the first word—no more.
TEMPLAR.
Indeed—no more? O then forgive—
NATHAN.
’Tis well.
Do but come with me.
TEMPLAR.
Whither? To thy house?
No? there not—there not: ’tis a burning soil.
Here I await thee, go. ”

“ Thee enemies shall be pursued, and the maid thee loves shall be restored to thee arms."
"Alas," said Roland, almost fearing from the impetuosity, as well as confidence, with which Nathan now spoke, that his wits were in a state of distraction, "where shall we look for help, since there are none but ourselves in this desert, of whom to ask it?"
"From our two selves it must come, and from none others," said Nathan, briskly. "We will follow the murdering thieves that have robbed thee of thee treasure, and we will recover the maid Edith from their hands." ”