Page:Edmund Dulac's picture-book for the French Red cross.djvu/184

JUSEF AND ASENATH Asenath advanced to Jusef, saying, 'Hail, lord, great and blessed of the Most High!' And Jusef replied, 'Hail to thee, maiden! May the Lord God, who giveth all grace and beauty, so continue to bless thee.'

But when Asenath timidly advanced still further to fulfil her father's command, and showed a sweet intent to kiss her new-found brother, Jusef saw the love-light in her eyes, though she, poor child, knew naught of it but that her heart had left her bosom and flown to his. He rose quickly from his seat, and, raising his right arm, said, 'It is not fitting that a man whose lips extol the living God should kiss a strange woman whose mouth prayeth to blocks of wood and stone, and eateth the bread of strangling, and drinketh the cup of treachery.'

When Asenath heard these words her knees trembled. Her heart returned to her own bosom and sank within it She groaned aloud, and, as she gazed sorrowfully at Jusef, her eyes brimmed with tears. Seeing this, Jusef felt pity for her, for he was gentle and merciful. Placing his hand upon her head, he spoke: 'God of my fathers, who hast given life and light to all things, do Thou bless this maiden, and count her as one of Thy people chosen from the foundations of the world; and may she come to Thine eternal peace, pure and holy in Thy sight.'

Then the tears withdrew from Asenath's eyes as the blessing of Jusef shone upon her face. She thanked him joyfully, and, having saluted him, returned to her tower, where she threw herself upon her couch by the window, weak and trembling with joy and grief and fear and remorse.

Alas! how she had spoken of Jusef! How she had besmirched his name—called him a runaway, a guilty man who should still be in prison for his sin, a mere interpreter of dreams. Alas! and he had spurned her as a worshipper of idols and then had forgiven and blessed her, the last on earth to deserve it.

For a time she wept with a great and bitter weeping; then she rose with teeth clenched and dry eyes aflame. Rushing to the wall 130