PresentlyawildArabinchargeofacameltrainrecognizedanoldfriendinFerguson,andtheyranandfelluponeachother\'snecksandkissedeachother\'sgrimy,beardedfacesuponbothcheeks。ItexplainedinstantlyasomethingwhichhadalwaysseemedtomeonlyafarfetchedOrientalfigureofspeech。IrefertothecircumstanceofChrist\'srebukingaPharisee,orsomesuchcharacter,andremindinghimthatfromhimhehadreceivedno\"kissofwelcome。\"Itdidnotseemreasonabletomethatmenshouldkisseachother,butIamaware,now,thattheydid。Therewasreasoninit,too。Thecustomwasnaturalandproper;becausepeoplemustkiss,andamanwouldnotbelikelytokissoneofthewomenofthiscountryofhisownfreewillandaccord。Onemusttravel,tolearn。Everyday,now,oldScripturalphrasesthatneverpossessedanysignificanceformebefore,taketothemselvesameaning。
Wejourneyedaroundthebaseofthemountain——\"LittleHermon,\"——
pasttheoldCrusaders\'castleofElFuleh,andarrivedatShunem。ThiswasanotherMagdala,toafraction,frescoesandall。Here,traditionsays,theprophetSamuelwasborn,andheretheShunamitewomanbuiltalittlehouseuponthecitywallfortheaccommodationoftheprophetElisha。Elishaaskedherwhatsheexpectedinreturn。Itwasaperfectlynaturalquestion,forthesepeopleareandwereinthehabitofprofferingfavorsandservicesandthenexpectingandbeggingforpay。Elishaknewthemwell。Hecouldnotcomprehendthatanybodyshouldbuildforhimthathumblelittlechamberforthemeresakeofoldfriendship,andwithnoselfishmotivewhatever。
Itusedtoseemaveryimpolite,nottosayarude,question,forElishatoaskthewoman,butitdoesnotseemsotomenow。ThewomansaidsheexpectednothingThenforhergoodnessandherunselfishness,herejoicedherheartwiththenewsthatsheshouldbearason。Itwasahighreward——butshewouldnothavethankedhimforadaughter——daughtershavealwaysbeenunpopularhere。Thesonwasborn,grew,waxedstrong,died。
ElisharestoredhimtolifeinShunem。
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