The First Book of Samuel - SAREJESS (chrysanthemum read aloud TXT) 📗

said the German. Samuel looked at the splinter and said nothing he had seen the Christians searching for relics and buying them from unscrupulous merchants who charged high prices for their fake products. Samuel was about to say something to this effect when he happened to look into the face of his German friend and saw the light on his face. Samuel thought that just this once it might be okay to say nothing and let the German believe what ever he wanted to.

About three months after the city of Jerusalem had fallen; Gunther decided that he would like to see the place where the Lord was born. He asked Samuel if it was possible for him to go with him to Bethlehem to find the place. Samuel agreed more out of a sense of loyalty to his new friend then any feeling of finding the place. It had been a very long time since the inn at Bethlehem had been destroyed. The Romans had taken very good care of that, Samuel remembered. So on a hot summer morning they set off before the sun rose. Gunther on his large horse and Samuel on a mule, the road was dusty at this time of year and the fields between harvests. The olive trees along the way looked greener then ever that year. In the early afternoon they arrived in the sleepy village of Bethlehem. There were already a number of Europeans in the village. Gunther asked them if they knew where the stable had stood and was shown to a small stable which Samuel knew to be no older then 20 years. Here they found various gifts people from the village selling relics of the stable and bones of saints. Samuel could never understand the obsession the Christians had with relics. After Gunther had prayed in the stable and bought a bone of a little known saint he asked Samuel if he knew of any thing in Bethlehem that might be of interest to him. Samuel thought for a moment and said I will show you an old ruin that stood here in the time of your Lord. He led Gunther to the southern end of the village to the spot where the inn had once stood and said, “Here once stood an old inn, long before your Lord was born. It was in my family. Here my ancestors were born and here Herod's solders came looking for your Lord” said the Jew. They wandered about until unknown to the German; he stood where the stable had once stood. The Jew thought “you don’t know it my friend but I have allowed you to stand on the spot on which your Lord was born I have given you a gift of great worth. But you will never know and that is the way it should be you have been a good friend to me you saved me from the mob and now I repay you.”

In the late afternoon they left the village and began climbing the Judean hills. When night fell they stopped for the night. They camped out at a wadi surrounded by palm trees. Once they had eaten their small meal of olives and bread they settled down for the night, the wind was blowing softly from the west and it cooled the air after the hot summer day. They soon fell asleep.

It was much later when Samuel woke. Coming gradually to the surface of wakefulness, he listened to the sounds of the night. The wind had stopped blowing and he could hear the sound of an owl hooting in the distance. The bright full moon was setting on the horizon. He listened and found it strange that there was no other noise around except for the owl that hooted in the distance. The animals were a little restless and Samuel wondered if Gunther was still sleeping soundly. At that moment Samuel thought he heard the sound of voices whispering softly on the night air.
Slowly he felt for his short dagger, as he was doing this he felt Gunther's hand fall on his. Samuel looked to his left and saw the German was awake and showing him to be quiet. As he drew his dagger the knight slowly climbed to his feet and moved away into the shadows of the surrounding trees followed by Samuel. Working their way slowly and carefully round in a big circle they had almost gone all the way round the wadi when they came upon the five men. The men were moving slowly towards the camp which was now empty. Gunther moved quickly up behind the last man in the group and silently dispatched him with his dagger cutting the man's throat, careful to lower the man to the ground before moving off into the bush towards the next man who was moving to the camp.

The second man was very alert and nearly gave the game away when Samuel stepped out in front of him before Gunther hit him with the hilt of his broad sword on the crown of the head. Now that the odds were almost equal Gunther and Samuel closed in on the three remaining men. With swords swinging and daggers flashing, the fight was over in a matter of moments. Gunther and Samuel fought together well. When the last man was cornered, Gunther called out for him to surrender to save his life the man replied that he had served Allah and would see paradise. He would die the death of a martyr before he would surrender. Thus saying, he flew at the German knight who dropped him with one blow from his sword, which was now covered with blood.

Samuel and Gunther returned to the camp and saddled their beasts before leaving the site of the battle. “I knew some thing was wrong when I heard the owl calling” said Gunther, “The owl never hoots unless someone is going to die.” “Yes I was surprised by how silent the night was then I heard the voices in the night and I knew that there was someone who wished to harm us” said the Jew.

The sun rose as they climbed towards Jerusalem. Once they had climbed the last hill before reaching Jerusalem, they looked on the holy city, the towers shimmering in the early morning light. The old walls looked so welcoming. The sound of bird song reached them as they began the descent into the city. The city walls loomed up over them. As they came closer they walked the path which hundreds of thousands had passed over through the ages. It was dusty and worn with the feet of pilgrims who had gone before. Once they entered the city, the light changed. As they made their way through the winding streets towards the inn Samuel felt happy to be in the old city once more. On one corner they were challenged by a group of soldiers who Gunther quickly informed that he was Count Gunther Von Bremen and they should be about their business before they felt the flat of his sword. When they reached the inn and had roused Samuel’s wife to make them some breakfast she scowled at Samuel and wanted to know why his best robe was now spoilt with blood flecks. Samuel realized that he better change before his wife could say more. He left the room, returning a while later. “My friend you will have to excuse me later today as it is the Sabbath tonight and I have some duties to which I must attend” said Samuel.

Count Gunther Von Bremen unlike most of his contemporaries was a well-read man. This was largely due to the influence of his mother, who had taught him to read and write from an early age. Later he received his education from a monk whom had been to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage. So, it was not unusual for Gunther to ask questions of the innkeeper that the innkeeper some times found embarrassing. Samuel also noticed that his German friend was of an inquisitive nature.

When Samuel had completed his Sabbath obligations he found Gunther once more wanting to know some of the local history of the holy city. “Do you know where the garden of Gethsemane is?” Gunther asked Samuel knew and offered to show him the place on the following morning thus on a hot Sunday morning in April of the year 1125 AD, Gunther and Samuel once more left the city for the short journey to the garden. When they arrived at the garden Samuel began showing him around. Coming upon an old olive press which had been in the garden for three thousand years, Samuel explained to Gunther how the presses worked and told him of how the grove workers would tend the grove tapping the oil from the olives. Some of the trees were very old. As they wandered through the garden they came upon an old tomb which had been hewn from an outcrop of rock which had recently been opened by grave robbers. Samuel was quite shocked by this sacrilege to the old tomb but Gunther explained that he had seen this before. When Christians from the west thought there was treasure in a tomb they would break it open and desecrate it looking for the riches they thought were buried there.

Samuel replied that it was not part of Jewish custom to bury riches with the dead. Riches were gathered for your lifetime and for your children. Climbing to the apex of the hill, the two men looked over the holy city, watching the early morning light falling on the shimmering domes and flat roofs. Of the city a slight wind was blowing from the east and groups of knights and their followers made their way to and from the city. The sound of the church bells could be heard ringing out, calling the faithful to service as they made their way down the hill towards the city.

After he returned from the church service Gunther sought out the innkeeper and told him that he would be leaving in a few days for the Galilee, as he wanted to find a place to build a castle for himself and his followers who were camped out at various quarters of the city. Samuel expressed his sadness at the German’s leaving and wished him blessings and travailing mercies.

Gunther had been granted a tract of land in Galilee where he could build himself a stronghold and a place for his children to grow strong when he eventually had them. Gunther asked Samuel a number of questions on the history and custom of the district and Samuel was glad to supply the information needed. Gunther was glad to hear that the Sea of Galilee was a vast inland lake and there were many places on the shore where a stronghold could be built.

So it came about that three days later the German bid farewell to his Jewish friend as he set out to build his kingdom in the Galilee. The caravan of Gunther Von Bremen consisted of about three hundred Christians from Germany who had followed their knight from the German heartland. In the hope of finding a better life for themselves and also answering a call from the Pope to win back the Holy Land from the infidels.

It said a lot for Gunther that so many of his townsfolk had survived to reach Jerusalem as the followers usually were the first victims of plague and war on the route to the east Gunther was admired and respected by all those who followed him.

1135 Brememnm Germany the Jew-Sniffer
One of the ugliest things in this time was the forcing of the