The First Book of Samuel, SAREJESS [ebook voice reader TXT] 📗

heat that made men and animals lethargic and less alert for dangers was gone. Now as they rode, they were alert. The bow men alert, their bows at the ready for battle the watchmen sitting high on the backs of the lead and the last camel keeping a watchful eye for dust clouds which might be the nomads. The one danger though that Samuel had not foreseen was the sudden onset of a desert wind; which began to blow softly at first, but with increasing ferocity. Hurriedly the caravan sought shelter in the hollow next to a dune. Here the camels and men lay down and waited. There was not much chance of traveling now as visibility was non existent; to even try would be madness, for it had been known to happen that whole caravans had been swallowed up and no one survive the wind. Separated, the men of caravans had soon succumbed to thirst and hunger, their bleached bones left in the desert and occasionally uncovered by the shifting sands to act as warnings to those who came later. The men pulled their head scarves around their faces to stop the ever present dust from blinding them permanently; this had been known to happen. The wind was to blow for the next twelve hours.
When the wind began to die down the caravan began to move, again shaking the dust from their clothing and checking to see that all present had not succumbed to the pervasive power of the desert wind. Now in a hurry, the group began to move off, the camels snorting in protest at been awakened from their sleep. They traveled until just after sunrise when they once more settled down.


China 220AD
The years following the arrival of people were not easy ones on the group. At first there had been huge problems with the language then there were problems with regard to the two vastly different cultures. Samuel had found himself wondering if the long journey through the desert had been worthwhile. Financially the group was doing well; the problem seemed to be one of cultures clashing. This was not the first time that cultures had clashed but this was the first time that cultures of so vast a difference had met and there were bound to be problems. A new dynasty had arisen shortly before their arrival and with this had come uncertainty and doubt, but these doubts the local overlords had soon put to rest. This was a strong dynasty under Emperor Wu. He was a learned man who above all things, longed to enhance his empire with new learning.

He had established schools of learning in all the provinces. There were many who studied the heavens for signs and wonders. There was even a prophecy of some two thousand years that told of a group of elect men and women who would come from the west bringing a new way of life, which at first would be found strange. These people would come into the empire at a time of great change and their learning and wisdom would be incorporated into the empire. Finally, a number of great leaders in the field of learning and war would rise from among the descendants of the group.

Right now the group’s problem was one with which Samuel had done a lot of soul searching. The local overlord Chan had sent an emissary to their compound demanding that they deliver a quota of young and healthy women whom would be trained to work in the teahouse of Madam Whun. It was customary for all groups entering the precincts of China to deliver up a number of their group for service both in the teahouses and the local militia. So far nothing had been asked of this group however, one day as the overlord had been traveling through his domain. He had happened upon a few of these new inhabitants of his domain. It was unfortunate that at this time he noticed among their number a young virgin, Martha Ben David, a girl of marriageable age, not yet a full thirteen, whom the overlord found to be quite wonderful to behold. It was because of Martha that the aged man had decided that he would order a quota of the people to be fulfilled with out any great lapse of time and so hoping to capture for himself this maiden or even another whose beauty might surpass that of Martha. The overlord Chan reasoned that it would further help to integrate the group into the Chinese way of life. If they took an active part in the life of the district; the men fighting off the bandits who occasionally thought they could take over the district, while their women would serve in the tea houses. If it should so happen that these woman bore children who were half-Chinese, then all the better. Their strange origins would soon be swallowed up in the millstream that was China.

However there was one problem, the group of Jews who had as their head Samuel Ben Ezra, had no wish to become Chinese or even take part in the mainstream life of the empire. Their only wish was to live apart from the rest of humanity seeking a path to their God. For more then a generation Samuel had led this group as they had traveled eastward through the great desert. They had traveled hounded by bandits and others who actively sought to do them harm; to rob them of their wealth and their women. They had fought many a hard battle driven of the Mongolian horsemen who struck terror into the hearts of other travelers the followers of Samuel Ben Ezra were a group of tough battled hardened people who sold their lives dearly. Now confronted with this new demand the elders of the group gathered round their leader seeking for advice. They had prayed and fasted and waited on the Lord for the answer to the question of the quota. Now finally they had come together to decide on what course of action to take. “I say we should leave this place and continue to travel east” said one grey beard. “No” said another “we should go back try and find a place to the west where we will be accepted." "Do you really think that they will allow us to live in peace asked another? I think not." “What do you suggest Samuel?" asked an elder who had so long remained quiet. He was a man who knew the worth of the man who had already led them so far, now he would listen and bow to Samuel’s judgment

"We know that the emperor Wu is a wise and learned man we know too that the local overlord Chan is very strict and also a man who loves his pleasures. Have we not heard that he is among those leaders who often visit the teahouses?" asked Samuel. Heads nodded in agreement with his words. "All these things are true” said one of the elders, “but what bearing do they have on the present cases when we are asked to give up our wives, daughters and sisters to whoredom asked another?"

“The case is very simple” said Samuel. “The Emperor is a learned man even though he serves idols we must pray that our case find favor with Emperor Wu”. “We must pray that the Lord enlightens his mind to our cause and grant us remission. We must offer to allow our sons to fight in his armies, but our daughters they cannot have. It is an abomination that this overlord Chan has thought up out of lust for our women. Thus I will go to the capital and lay our case before the imperial courts” said Samuel.

Thus it was agreed that Samuel would take a number of treasures which the group had built up over their travels and present these things as bribes and gifts to officials and finally to the Emperor Wu, in the hope of remission of this terrible human flesh tax. So on a day in early 221AD the whole community had gathered to give Samuel their blessings and pray to their God to grant him travailing mercies.


Thus in the year 221AD Samuel found himself traveling through the country to the capital. There was much that he observed that was strange and new to him. He looked in wonder at the way they grew their crops and was amazed to see that most crops were rice grown in two feet of mud. All these things Samuel observed while traveling to the capital. When he returned he reasoned he would have much to tell his followers. That was another thing it had been more or less by accident that Samuel had become the group leader as they traveled with their caravan through the desert. The original leader Joseph Ben Jonathan had been killed in one of the first raids by nomads and it was natural for the group to choose the one among them who had fought most bravely. Now, eleven years since that attack he had become the mainstay of the group. The chances of Samuel returning were slim and he half doubted that he would live to return to the compound.

221 AD The saffron merchants Lord Buddha and Samuel
China at this time was a land of wonder to the traveler for in each village the gay red and yellow banners, which brought good luck peace and harmony to the empire, flew. When Samuel set out for the capital which lay many weeks from the western edge of the empire he sought out a traveling caravan of Hindu merchants who had been traveling for many months to the capital of China to sell their wares. One of the most prized of these watched. He had to make sure that things were going according to plan and so he turned away from this scene of horror and went back to the city.
Possessions was the spice saffron which was believed to have great healing qualities thus the flower that bloomed in India had its succulent center plucked and dried for delivery to the Chinese who used this spice in many various ways. Samuel had joined the caravan early in the day and like most of the travelers who moved with these men from the west, he watched he had to make sure that things were going according to plan and so he turned away from this scene of horror and went back to the city.
He walked leading a donkey, which in turn pulled along a small cart, which was loaded with the few necessities for travel, but mostly with the gifts and bribes needed for the empirical court of Emperor Wu.

When the caravan had stopped late in the afternoon Samuel breathed a sigh of relief. The weather was unbearably hot at this time of the year. Sweat ran freely from his face. He slapped a fly away to the disgust of a number of fellow travelers whom followed the teachings of Lord Buddha. "Traveler do you not know that our Lord Buddha forbids the killing of any living thing” they asked of him “What is a fly but a pest" he had replied, angry at their flawed logic. What after all, was the purpose of a fly if not to live and die and to be swatted away he thought? Later at the meal time a number of the people of the caravan sat around speaking of their travels and the wonders of China. Few among the caravan had seen the imperial city. It was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world at the time. The conversation drifted from subject to subject that night as a group of travelers of mixed Asian sat beside the