METHUSELAH

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Suddenly all sounds ceased, and, raising his eyes to discover the cause of the sudden stillness, Methuselah saw a radiant Presence, which he instinctively felt was a messenger of the Lord.

"What willst Thou with me?" he cried.

"The Lord hath commanded that thou shalt build a house for thee and thine," replied the Angel. "Let it be strong to withstand the tooth of time, and firm to resist the elements, and beautiful to be a joy to future generations."

"A house! I to build a house! Will not the Lord first grant me to know how much longer I shall live?"

"Still five hundred years shalt thou dwell in peace and happiness with thy kindred."

"But five hundred years! And Death then claims me! Of what avail, pray, to build a house for others to enjoy when I shall have so little use of it?"

The Angel spake no word, but disappeared as silently as he had appeared. Long into the night Methuselah sat and pondered, and ever he repeated, “Only five hundred years more! What can a man do. in such a short time? 'Tis but a breathing space."

The Angel never again appeared. The five hundred years passed, Methuselah was gathered to his fathers, and still the house remained unbuilt. Instead of leaving behind him a token of his thought for others, he left only the memory of a long life lived selfishly.

'Tis but a legend, but the moral is there like the meat in a nut. Well have the poets praised agèd men who plant orchards, the fruit of which they can never hope to eat, but which their children will enjoy. Were we never to do any work but such of which we alone might reap the benefit, the world would, indeed, be a dreary place. We dare not live for ourselves alone. Only he who forgets himself and works for the good of others is truly happy.

ANONYMOUS

7

THE SONG OF LAMECH

Hearken to me, ye mothers of my tent!
Ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech!
Adah, let Jubal hither lead his goats;
And Tubal-cain, O Zillah, hush his forge;
Naamah her wheel shall ply beside, and thou,
My Jubal, touch, before I speak, the string;
Yea, Jubal, touch, before I speak, the string;
Hear ye my voice, belovèd of my tent;
Dear ones of Lamech, listen to my speech.

For Eve made answer, "Cain, my son, my own,
Oh, if I cursed thee, O my child, I sinned,
And He that heard me, heard and said me nay;
My first, my only one, thou shalt not go!"
And Adam answered also, "Cain, my son,
He that is gone forgiveth-we forgive:
Rob not thy mother of two sons at once;
My child, abide with us and comfort us.'

THE SONG OF LAMECH

Hear ye my voice, Adah and Zillah, hear;
Ye wives of Lamech, listen to my speech.

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For Cain replied not. But an hour more sat
Where the night through he sat; his knit brows

seen,

Scarce seen amid the foldings of his limbs.
But when the sun was bright upon the field,
To Adam still and Eve still waiting by,
And, weeping, lifted up his voice and spake.

Cain said, "The sun is risen upon the earth;
The day demands my going, and I go.
As you from Paradise, so I from you;
As you to exile, into exile I;

My father and my mother, I depart.
As betwixt you and Paradise of old,
So betwixt me, my parents, now, and you,
Cherubim I discern, and in their hand
A flaming sword that turneth every way
To keep the way of my one tree of life.
Yet not, O Adam, and O Eve, fear not;
For He that asked me, 'Where is Abel?' He

Who called me cursèd from the earth, and said,

'A fugitive and vagabond thou art,'

He also said, when fear had slain my soul,

'There shall not touch thee man nor beast. Fear

not.'

Lo, I have spoke with God, and He hath said, 'Fear not '- -so let me go as He hath said.” Cain also said (O Jubal, touch thy string), "Moreover, in the darkness of my mind,

When the night's night of misery was most black,
A little star came twinkling up within,

And in myself I had a guide that led,
And in myself had knowledge of a soul.
Fear not, O Adam and O Eve; I go."

Children of Lamech, listen to my speech.
For when the years were multiplied, and Cain,
Eastward of Eden, in this land of Nod,

Had sons, and sons of sons, and sons of them,
Enoch and Murad and Mehujael

(My father and my children's grandsire, he),
It came to pass that Cain, who dwelt alone,
Met Adam, at the nightfall, in the field;
Who fell upon his neck and wept, and said,
"My son, has not God spoken to thee, Cain?"
And Cain replied, when weeping loosed his voice,
"My dreams are double, O my father-good
And evil. Terror to my soul by night,

And agony by day, when Abel stands

A dead, black shade, and speaks not, neither looks,
Nor makes me any answer when I cry;
Curse me, but let me know thou art alive.
But comfort also, like a whisper comes,
In visions of a deeper sleep, when he,
Abel, as him we knew, yours once, and mine,
Comes with a free forgiveness in his face,
Seeming to speak, solicitous for words,
And wearing, ere he go, the old first look
Of unsuspecting, unforeboding love.
Three nights ago I saw him thus, my sire."

THE SONG OF LAMECH

Dear ones of Lamech, listen to my speech:
For Adam said, "Three nights ago to me
Came Abel in my sleep, as thou hast said,
And spake, and bade, 'Arise, my father, go
Where in the land of exile dwells thy son;
Say to my brother, Abel bids thee come;
Abel would have thee; and lay thou thy hand,
My father, on his head, that he may come;
Am I not weary, father, for this hour?""
Hear ye my voice, Adah and Zillah, hear;
Children of Lamech, listen to my speech;
And, son of Zillah, sound the solemn string.

For Adam laid upon the head of Cain

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His hand, and Cain bowed down, and slept and died.
And a deep sleep on Adam also fell,

And in his slumber's deepest, he beheld,
Standing before the gate of Paradise,
With Abel, hand in hand, our father, Cain.
Hear ye my voice, Adah and Zillah, hear;
Ye wives of Lamech, listen to my speech.

Though to his wounding he did slay a man,
Yea, and a young man to his hurt he slew,
Fear not, ye wives, nor sons of Lamech, fear;
If unto Cain was safety given, and rest,
Shall Lamech surely, and his people, die?

ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH