Wise Men from the East – part 3

When we had said all there was to be said, when we had eaten all there was to eat, we regretfully said our good byes, mounted our camels and rode away. When we were out of the village. Melchior called a stop and told us that he had had a dream, in which he had been told that it was dangerous to go back to Herod, and that we should go home another way. Neither Balthazar nor I had liked Herod, so we had no objection to this. In order to avoid any of Herod’s soldiers or spies, we rode straight for the border, without stopping.

Once over the border, Melchior turned his camel’s heads towards his home in Persia but I called a halt. I had made a decision that it was time to make my way home again. It was only after much arguing over night that I said my good byes to Melchior and Balthazar, and set off in the direction of my home in India, with only one of Melchior’s servants as company.

My family didn’t recognise me when months later I arrived at the gate of the palace. Gone was the thin, lanky boy clad in fine cottons and silks and decked with precious jewels. In his place was a man with long hair and a beard, clad in heavy furs, with callouses on his feet and a scar on his face from the dagger of a robber. My mother wouldn’t believe it was me until I told her where I had hidden one of her favourite bracelets, and she sent a servant to fetch it for her. My father was very cold towards me to begin with. I had shamed him by running away, but as I talked and told him of my adventures, he began to thaw. He will never again trust me as he did before, but I believe that he respects me, for I have done what he would like to have done himself, had he the courage to leave his inheritance behind as I did.

Was it all worthwhile? I have grown and become a man. I have learnt lessons in the hard school of life. I have travelled more than many men do in a lifetime, and seen the wonders of the seas, the highest mountains and the rolling plains that stretch as far as the eye can see. I have sat at the feet of some of the best teachers in the world. I bring this all back to my fathers kingdom, and will in my time use this knowledge to rule this kingdom wisely and well, I hope. And what of the baby? There was something about him, about his parents and about his people, but I am not sure what it is. I believe we saw the birth of something great, we saw the beginning of a journey. Every traveller, every merchant that passes by, wending their way along the road from China to the Mediterranean and beyond, will be questioned about the land of the Israelites, and maybe one day I will hear more about the life of Jesus of Bethlehem, King of the Israelites.

Wise Men from the East – part 2

Wise Men from the East

I had never been to the coast before, and I had never seen the sea. It was nothing like the descriptions I had heard. It was blue and grey and white, it was flat and calm and mountainous. It cocooned and held safely and it tossed our little boat about as if it were a twig. In the months we were at sea I came to recognise and to fear its moods, but our journey was blessed by the gods and finally we landed on the coast of Persia, the homeland of Melchior.

We travelled by land to Melchior’s home, where we rested and consulted with more wise men from his community, as to the meaning of the new star. All of them had seen it, and there was much discussion as to who the new King would be, and what he would be like. In the end it was a man called Balthazar who put an end to all the speculation by standing up and announcing that he was going to make a journey to actually find out who the king was, and whether the star’s appearance fitted in with the prophecies they had been debating. I immediately offered to join him, and so did Melchior.

I would like to have left the following day, but Melchior and Balthazar had travelled this land before, and knew that they would be crossing deserts and mountains, and we would need to be prepared for many days without water, and many nights of cold. After days of preparation Melchior had found for us camels and food, water carriers and a guide who knew the way across the featureless desert and the high mountain passes.

I know now why camels are called ships of the deserts. I had hoped when we reached dry land after our long sea voyage, that I would never see another wave again, but the rolling movement of the camels was much worse than a ship in a storm, and it was many days before I stopped feeling sick, and could begin to enjoy the journey. The servants we brought with us on this journey guarded us from marauders and prepared our food and tents, but nothing could lessen the impact of the many days travelling at dawn and dusk, or even at night, while days were spent in our tents shaded from the fierce sun. In the mountains we travelled quickly as there were many places where bandits could hide, and then leap out to rob us. On occasions we joined with merchants caravans for extra protection, but always, every night we looked up to the night sky and turned our faces and our thoughts towards the king we were heading to meet.

When it became obvious to our guide that we were heading towards the land of the Israelites, he began to lead us on roads that would take us to the capital city, Jerusalem where their king should be found. Mostly we were going in the right direction, but I could see that Melchior and Balthazar were worried on nights when we did not appear to be exactly following the course the star had set for us. Eventually we arrived in Jerusalem and rode up to the palace of the King, whose name we were told was Herod. We explained our journey to a servant, who must have passed our messages on, for we found ourselves being led into the presence of Herod himself. He questioned us about the star, when it had appeared and what it meant. He looked more than angry to be told that it foretold the birth of a powerful new King. He had his wise men summoned, and they, looking in their scriptures told Herod that such a king had been foretold to be born in Bethlehem of Judea, just half a days ride from Jerusalem. We were sent on our way, fed and watered, and with a request to come back when we had met this new King so that Herod could go and visit him as well.

We turned our camels towards the star, and as the Israelites scriptures had foretold, the star was resting over Bethlehem in Judea; not over a palace, but over a cave where animals were kept stalled at night. In among the animals, wrapped in swaddling cloths was a new born baby. It was not what we had expected to see, but the star lit our path so clearly that even in the depths of the night we could not have missed the place.

I had not thought about what we should do when we arrived. I had just been so excited about the journey. On arrival Melchior took from his camel a jar covered in precious jewels filled with myrrh from trees growing near his home in Persia, and laid it before the baby. Balthazar presented him with a carved wooden box filled with Frankincense from trees growing in his home country of Arabia. I had left my home with nothing but what I had stood up in. The only thing I had to give was the golden torc I always wear around my neck, which had belonged to my ancestors, and was given to me by my father when I came of age. I took it off and laid it at the feet of a tiny newborn baby.

His parents did not seem at all surprised to see us. When we had finished presenting our gifts and admiring the baby, his parents invited us to join them in some simple food. Over the food we learnt that their names were Mary and Joseph and their baby was Jesus. When we told them how and why we had come, Mary told us that the baby we had presented our gifts to was the son of God, and that his birth had been heralded by an angel, and greeted by an angel choir in the skies above Bethlehem, which had been witnessed by some shepherds. It gave us much to think about.

Wise Men from the East – part 1

Wise Men from the East

My earliest memory is of sitting with my father, his arm around me, my head resting on the silk of his shirt, as he raised his arm to point out and name the stars in the heavens above our home. He was a very cultured man who would much have preferred to have stayed all day reading his books and talking to the merchants and itinerant travellers who came to the gates of our palace. Instead he had to lead his soldiers to keep peace in the kingdom, and along its borders. He went at the call of the people to kill the tigers that were killing villagers, and he hunted wild boar with his companions to bring meat to our table. He sat in judgement on those who erred and collected taxes and tributes from those who were subject to him. As I grew older I sat with him as he read and questioned passing travellers. I learnt something of their languages, and questioned them about their beliefs. I conversed with merchants from China, Syria and Armenia. I met men from the land of Arabia, and travellers from the Mediterranean Sea, from Rome and the land of the Greeks.

The travellers I enjoyed talking to most were a group of followers of the prophet Zarathustra, who had left their own land of Persia to find out more about the stars from others who studied them. They had followed the silk merchants road from Persia to China, and were returning to their own country when they came to the gates of my father’s palace. These men not only knew about the heavens and could name the stars and planets, but could interpret the meaning of their movements across the heavens. I could have spent all night every night listening to them, but I had to join my father in the business of the kingdom during the day, and even I, with youth on my side needed to sleep sometime.

It was while we were watching the stars one night that the leader, Melchior suddenly sat up from the silken pillows where he was lounging, and pointed to a small, but very bright star which had appeared in the western sky. All of us were astonished, for my teachers had told us that no new stars had appeared in the skies in many generations. Each night after that, for many weeks, we waited for dark to come, and for the star to appear. Each day, as I was assisting my father, Melchior and the others would consult the papers they were carrying with them, and recount the stories they had heard about the meaning of new stars in the heavens. After many weeks of watching they came to the conclusion that the star must mean that a new and important king must have appeared where the star was lying in the heavens. Melchior decided that this was a sign that it was time to leave my fathers kingdom and to travel towards the new star. I was so taken up with their enthusiasm for their journey that I begged my father to allow me to go, but he would not, saying that he could not spare me. I was heartbroken when Melchior and the others left, and I was forced to watch them ride away on horses provided by my father, as they headed towards the coast to find a boat that would take them back to their own lands. I could not bear the thought of missing the adventure, so that night I slipped out of the palace and rode to join them. Melchior was furious with me, and tried to send me back, but I refused. My father sent men to find me, but I hid while they searched the horses and questioned Melchior and his companions, but they did not give me away.