Hiram did so, for the woman was even as his own mother, though he could not understand her strange manner. She brought him to a place in a hollow enclosed by thickets, and lo there was Asu. When the embraces and the greetings were over and the explanations given, the wife of Naymin said, “Here you cannot remain. There are clothes and food and no pursuers will follow the maiden, and none will query your departure. Go this night, taking thought for nothing here, for you are young, with a lifetime of joy before you, after the pangs of parting have passed.”
Hiram said, “No gladness, no joy can ever surpass what I now feel, yet this thing increases a burden already upon me and is less simple than it appears. For this you must know, I have taken the treasures of Egypt and hidden them in a place where no man can find them. Who would suspect me if I went about my task without change, a shepherd with no thought beyond his sheep and flute? The cry may be raised even now, though I think another day will pass first. Then who could trace the passage of every man who has departed, even though pursuit is made in all directions? Why did you not tell me of your plot?”
The wife of Naymin said, “How could you be told of something which might not have been or which you might have betrayed by glance or bearing? We, too, thought you no more than a simple shepherd with no thought beyond flute-playing, except love. What now will you flee with the maiden and abandon the treasures? Or shall she flee alone, for she is committed to flight.”
Hiram said, “I cannot abandon love for treasure, but neither can I abandon this treasure for lif e or let it corrupt. Therefore, let Asu, the maiden disguise herself and together we will depart to a safe place without the treasure, none suspecting she still lives. Then in the fullness of time I will return and recover the treasure, for no man can discover its hiding place. However, I will not depart in haste but wait and bid Naymin farewell and go in the fullness of time.”
Hiram left Asu and returned with the wife of Naymin. Coming in to Naymin Hiram told him he had had a vision such as no man could disregard and must go to the land of his fathers, but would return before the coming again of the season. That night a great cry went up among the temples and in the light of the morning men came and questioned Naymin and those with him, but found them simple shepherds.
Hiram departed, taking the ass of Naymin and with him went the wife of Naymin. They were joined by Asu, cloaked as a beggar girl who earned her food by ungainly dancing, whose face was unwashed and clothes unclean. They accompanied men who hunted for the stolen treasures and their possessions were open before the eyes of all men. After seven days the wife of Naymin returned.
Hiram and Asu went onwards until they came to Bethelim near Fenis. beyond the borders of Egypt, and they dwelt there among the Kerofim. In the fullness of time Hiram returned to Egypt and recovered the treasures, bringing them inside skins hidden within other skins filled with water and oil. Now, when Hiram had left Egypt and drawn nigh to Bethelim, he saw that the dwelling he had left no longer stood and the fields about it were overgrown with burning bushes. Within the burnt out ruins he found remains and bones and knew them for those of Asu and the Kerofim with whom she dwelt. He saw that they had died by the sword. Hiram did not linger at the place of death and thought to take himself to a place of safety, but knowing the dangers of the land he sought a place where he hid the egg of the nest-burning bird and the pearls, all except two, and most of the jewels. Having secured them in safety, he went on his way.
Hiram kept going until he came upon a small wooded place nearly two days journey away. Here, while he slept, two wild swine came and swallowed three of the jewels which he had tied in a piece of hide. Later he lost one while fording a river, and one was taken from him when he sought shelter in a temple. Two pearls and two jewels were taken from him by other priests who placed them in the treasury of their god. The remaining treasures which he had with him were lost when he was waylaid, and though his life was spared he was left bleeding and near to death. As Hiram lay by the roadside he was succoured by wandering metalworkers and brought back to health by them, for they were men of his own blood.
Hiram remained with the metalworkers for some years and learned their craft. He became skilled in the making of weapons and in their use. In the fullness of time he returned to the place where he had secreted the treasures and recovered them. He then went down to a city by the sea and took ship to a far off land. No man has seen him since, but it is said he married the daughter of a king and became a prince among foreign people. This is the tale of Hiram. As written, it was a wordy tale and well preserved but without great import. It has imaginative descriptions and indulged in valueless flights of poetic fancy. Therefore, it is rendered in outline and reduced to a few paragraphs.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE ROLLS OF RECORD - 1
By the hand of Raben, son of Hoskiah who was the Bowman of God and brought the Children of Light to the Land of Mists.
Hoskiah was a mighty man whose bow shafts struck like the lightning flash, and his enemies went down like corn before the reapers. He was a Captain of Men in the War of Gods and those he slew where numbered like barley in the measure. His enemies were spread before him hke a carpet at his feet and there was no other like him.
He was a man who knew the Almight God and looked up to Him as the God of his fathers. But Hoskiah worshipped Him after the customs of his people and therefore knew Truth only in part, for having stolen Him they were unable to know Him fully.
Now the days of fighting were past and Hoskiah and those who remained alive with him slept in strange places, for they were sought by the king who had been victorious. His wives and his children and all his household dwelt at Kadesh, against the mountain, and awaited his coming there. But he came not while being sought by the king.
So it came to pass that his brother Isias, who held stewardship over all his household and his possessions, seeing that Hoskiah could not come unto this place, possessed himself of them. Isias had the ear of those in high places, and Hoskiah lost his birthright.
So all that was Hoskiah’s passed into the possession of his brother Isias. He took even the wives of Hoskiah, for such was the decree of the king.
But Athelia, the first of the wives of Hoskiah, spurned Isais and called down the wrath of Helyawi upon his head. And Isais was afraid and did not possess her. When they saw this the other wives, being jealous of her, for she was ever in high favour with Hoskiah, stirred Isais up against her. They mocked him, saying, “Are you truly the master here, or are there fruits you cannot pluck?”
So Isais sought to take Athelia by strength, but she strove against him and his manhood was hurt, so thatddid did not take her. Then Isias had her bound and her hands were tied for seven days, so that she could not of herself either eat or drink or do the things required by her body. She was humiliated and her womanhood betrayed, for an idiot man attended her wants and he mocked her modesty, and she was tormented by her needs. Then on the seventh day she was brought forth by Isias to trial, and she was stripped and lashed and her hair was burnt off. She was branded on the face and her lips and tongue were cut. She was given a robe and a pitcher of water, and dried fruits and flour. She was driven forth by Isias who said, “Go woman, and perhaps, should you even find him, Hoskiah will understand your babble.”
Athelia went out into the wilderness to die and at night she fell in pain and weariness, under an elan tree and lay there. In anguish she cried out unto her God and cast her soul from her, that she might not feel pain. And her soul found Hoskiah.