登陆注册
5147700000011

第11章

Then little Ali had been left alone in the world, and so Israel had taken him.

Ruth welcomed the boy, and adopted him.He had been born a Mohammedan, but secretly she brought him up as a Jew.And for some years thereafter no difference did she make between him and her own child that other eyes could see.They ate together, they walked abroad together, they played together, they slept together, and the little black head of the boy lay with the fair head of the girl on the same white pillow.

Strange and pathetic were the relations between these little exiles of humanity I One knew not whether to laugh or cry at them.

First, on Ali's part, a blank wonderment that when he cried to Naomi, "Come!" she did not hear, when he asked "Why?" she did not answer;and when he said "Look!" she did not see, though her blue eyes seemed to gaze full into his face.Then, a sort of amused bewilderment that her little nervous fingers were always touching his arms and his hands, and his neck and his throat.But long before he had come to know that Naomi was not as he was, that Nature had not given her eyes to see as he saw, and ears to hear as he heard, and a tongue to speak as he spoke, Nature herself had overstepped the barriers that divided her from him.He found that Naomi had come to understand him, whatever in his little way he did, and almost whatever in his little way he said.So he played with her as he would have played with any other playmate, laughing with her, calling to her, and going through his foolish little boyish antics before her.

Nevertheless, by some mysterious knowledge of Nature's own teaching, he seemed to realise that it was his duty to take care of her.

And when the spirit and the mischief in his little manly heart would prompt him to steal out of the house, and adventure into the streets with Naomi by his side, he would be found in the thick of the throng perhaps at the heels of the mules and asses, with Naomi's hand locked in his hand, trying to push the great creatures of the crowd from before her, and crying in his brave little treble, "Arrah!" "Ar-rah!" "Ar-r-rah!"As for Naomi, the coming of little black Ali was a wild delight to her.

Whatever Ali did, that would she do also.If he ran she would run;if he sat she would sit; and meanwhile she would laugh with a heart of glee, though she heard not what he said, and saw not what he did, and knew not what he meant.At the time of the harvest, when Ruth took them out into the fields, she would ride on Ali's back, and snatch at the ears of barley and leap in her seat and laugh, yet nothing would she see of the yellow corn, and nothing would she hear of the song of the reapers, and nothing would she know of the cries of Ali, who shouted to her while he ran, forgetting in his playing that she heard him not.And at night, when Ruth put them to bed in their little chamber, and Ali knelt with his face towards Jerusalem, Naomi would kneel beside him with a reverent air, and all her laughter would be gone.Then, as he prayed his prayer, her little lips would move as if she were praying too, and her little hands would be clasped together, and her little eyes would be upraised.

"God bless father, and mother, and Naomi, and everybody," the black boy would say.

And the little maid would touch his hands and hi throat, and pass her fingers over his face from his eyelids to his lips, and then do as he did, and in her silence seem to echo him.

Pretty and piteous sights! Who could look on them without tears?

One thing at least was clear if the soul of this child was in prison, nevertheless it was alive; and if it was in chains, nevertheless it could not die, but was immortal and unmaimed and waited only for the hour when it should be linked to other souls, soul to soul in the chains of speech.But the years went on, and Naomi grew in beauty and increased in sweetness, but no angel came down to open the darkened windows of her eyes, and draw aside the heavy curtains of her ears.

同类推荐
  • The Argonauts of North Liberty

    The Argonauts of North Liberty

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 绣鞋记

    绣鞋记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 持咒仙人飞钵仪轨

    持咒仙人飞钵仪轨

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 滇略

    滇略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 西岩了慧禅师语录

    西岩了慧禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 太上虚皇保生神咒经

    太上虚皇保生神咒经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 精灵之诺的冠军梦

    精灵之诺的冠军梦

    听到身旁那位女孩的呼唤后,小诺很快就应了声。“小诺,你的梦想是什么呀?”“唔...我啊,想成为一名宝可梦训练家。”获得联盟优胜、成为地区冠军,这些都不足以让小诺停止追梦的脚步,他的梦想,是世界冠军——因为,只有成为世界冠军,才能拥有绝对的实力,守护心爱的她。这是一个从零开始的冠军之梦、一个只为了她实现的冠军之梦,他将会在那悠长的梦想之路上,飞快地前进...如果你同样是在梦想之路上摸爬滚打的追梦者,那么,就请你翻开这本书,品一品这个故事,跟随着我,回到那年夏天,共同见证一个大梦想家的诞生。
  • 梦里不知身是客:一晌贪欢

    梦里不知身是客:一晌贪欢

    爱情对于慕晴云而言究竟是什么?<br/>她与四皇子指腹为婚,而他一而再再而三地推脱,直到慕家覆灭。<br/>她因而绝望,可是命运却让两人再次相遇。<br/>一个是青楼名妓,一个是权势涛天的恩客。<br/>理智的战争,渐渐变成情感的拉据战,谁才能求得最后的胜利。&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
  • 卓越者词典

    卓越者词典

    这是一部关于成卓越功的人生励志感悟。是超越平庸、追求卓越、不断进取的精神力量的特殊形式的词典,也是院校、家庭成功学教育必备的励志成功系列 。
  • Between Two Ends
  • 十字架上的正义

    十字架上的正义

    本书作为独角札丛系列的又一本重磅之作,能够继续增加这一套丛书的影响力和品牌效应。作者经常在《法制日报》《法国研究》《中国法学》《现代法学》《比较法研究》《环球法律评论》等报刊上发表法学随笔和学术论文,具有较为广泛的读者群,特别是在学生之间有较大的影响力。这本书对于法律爱好者、法学界、法科学子及普通读者来说,都是值得期待和阅读的一本书。
  • 石柱记笺释

    石柱记笺释

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 养宠成夫:妖王大大的小萌妻

    养宠成夫:妖王大大的小萌妻

    凤凰一族小公主及羿之年,在外捡到一只白狐狸,带回凤凰山饲养。却不料这只白狐狸竟然是一只修炼成精的。吃她的,喝她的,晚上竟然还要霸占她的床?“死小白,快给我滚回你的窝去。”斜长好看的狐狸眼微微眯起,慵懒的说道。“不不不,还是你的床比较舒服。”
  • 如果想念有声音

    如果想念有声音

    我再年轻些的时候很傻的认为身边所爱不会离开不会失去甚至可以直到白首,我有太多太多的勇气和时间可以回头。所以我用几年的青春亏欠了太多想要对我好的人,我给他们伤心给他们想要恨我一辈子的勇气。我在翻空间浏览微博看到太多曾经不计代价对我好的人,可是我知道,我赖以生存的在贫穷孤独病痛的时候支撑我继续活下去的东西,已经尽数被时间打败了。斐然望着墓碑上浅笑的面容久久没有说话,——默一,为何在我以为上天开始垂怜我的时候,我们之间却只剩下回忆在残喘。
  • K城的天空

    K城的天空

    小说通过描写村支书女儿王菊花与后来成为县长的王勇军之间的爱恨情仇,来展现面对物欲横流、世风日下、人心不古的社会环境,不同人的选择,在讲述k城形形色色的男女为生存而蹦跶的鲜活生活中,引发的啼笑皆非却发人深省的哲理。本书为第一届海峡两岸网络原创文学大赛入围作品。