PHARISEES.
The Sabbath day.  This man is not of God,
Because he keepeth not the Sabbath day!

A JEW.
How can a man that is a sinner do
Such miracles?

PHARISEES.
            What dost thou say of him
That hath restored thy sight?

THE BEGGAR.
                      He is a Prophet.

A JEW.
This is a wonderful story, but not true,
A beggar's fiction.  He was not born blind,
And never has been blind!

OTHERS.
                Here are his parents.
Ask them.

PHARISEES.
          Is this your son?

THE PARENTS.
                        Rabboni, yea;
We know this is our son.

PHARISEES.
                  Was he born blind?

THE PARENTS.
He was born blind.

PHARISEES.
          Then how doth he now see?

THE PARENTS, aside.
What answer shall we make?  If we confess
It was the Christ, we shall be driven forth
Out of the Synagogue!
                  We know, Rabboni,
This is our son, and that he was born blind;
But by what means he seeth, we know not,
Or who his eyes hath opened, we know not.
He is of age; ask him; we cannot say;
He shall speak for himself.

PHARISEES.
                   Give God the praise!
We know the man that healed thee is a sinner!

THE BEGGAR.
Whether He be a sinner, I know not;
One thing I know; that whereas I was blind,
I now do see.

PHARISEES.
            How opened he thine eyes?
What did he do?

THE BEGGAR.
               I have already told you.
Ye did not hear: why would ye hear again?
Will ye be his disciples?

PHARISEES.
                         God of Moses!
Are we demoniacs, are we halt or blind,
Or palsy-stricken, or lepers, or the like,
That we should join the Synagogue of Satan,
And follow jugglers?  Thou art his disciple,
But we are disciples of Moses; and we know
That God spake unto Moses; but this fellow,
We know not whence he is!

THE BEGGAR.
                       Why, herein is
A marvellous thing!  Ye know not whence he is,
Yet he hath opened mine eyes!  We know that God
Heareth not sinners; but if any man
Doeth God's will, and is his worshipper,
Him doth he hear.  Oh, since the world began
It was not heard that any man hath opened
The eyes of one that was born blind.  If He
Were not of God, surely he could do nothing!

PHARISEES.
Thou, who wast altogether born in sins
And in iniquities, dost thou teach us?
Away with thee out of the holy places,
Thou reprobate, thou beggar, thou blasphemer!

THE BEGGAR is cast out.

XI

SIMON MAGUS AND HELEN OF TYRE

On the house-top at Endor.  Night.  A lighted lantern on a table.

SIMON.
Swift are the blessed Immortals to the mortal
That perseveres!  So doth it stand recorded
In the divine Chaldaean Oracles
Of Zoroaster, once Ezekiel's slave,
Who in his native East betook himself
To lonely meditation, and the writing
On the dried skins of oxen the Twelve Books
Of the Avesta and the Oracles!
Therefore I persevere; and I have brought thee
From the great city of Tyre, where men deride
The things they comprehend not, to this plain
Of Esdraelon, in the Hebrew tongue
Called Armageddon, and this town of Endor,
Where men believe; where all the air is full
Of marvellous traditions, and the Enchantress
That summoned up the ghost of Samuel
Is still remembered.  Thou hast seen the land;
Is it not fair to look on?

HELEN.
                        It is fair,
Yet not so fair as Tyre.

SIMON.
                    Is not Mount Tabor
As beautiful as Carmel by the Sea?

HELEN.
It is too silent and too solitary;
I miss the tumult of the street; the sounds
Of traffic, and the going to and fro
Of people in gay attire, with cloaks of purple,
And gold and silver jewelry!

SIMON.
                            Inventions
Of Abriman, the spirit of the dark,
The Evil Spirit!

HELEN.
                 I regret the gossip
Of friends and neighbors at the open door
On summer nights.

SIMON.
              An idle waste of time.

HELEN.
The singing and the dancing, the delight
Of music and of motion.  Woe is me,
To give up all these pleasures, and to lead
The life we lead!

SIMON.
            Thou canst not raise thyself
Up to the level of my higher thought,
And though possessing thee, I still remain
Apart from thee, and with thee, am alone
In my high dreams.

HELEN.
              Happier was I in Tyre.
Oh, I remember how the gallant ships
Came sailing in, with ivory, gold, and silver,
And apes and peacocks; and the singing sailors,
And the gay captains with their silken dresses,
Smelling of aloes, myrrh, and cinnamon!

SIMON.
But the dishonor, Helen!  Let the ships
Of Tarshish howl for that!

HELEN.
                  And what dishonor?
Remember Rahab, and how she became
The ancestress of the great Psalmist David;
And wherefore should not I, Helen of Tyre,
Attain like honor?