John the Baptist: A Play

_Pilgrims_ (_men and women_) _lie in their blankets, scattered about the steps and on the stones which fill the space on left side. Among them the First Galilean and Second Galilean. To the right of the path which leads outside the wall of the Temple, across the stage, lies Mesulemeth_. (_In a little while enter John from left._)

John. [_Looks round searchingly, and pauses before a pilgrim who is sleeping on the steps._] Pilgrim, awake!

PILGRIM

It is not yet day. Why dost thou wake me?

John. Whence comest thou? Art thou a Galilean?

PILGRIM

I come from Gaza on the south-east coast. Let me sleep.

Second Galilean. [_To first._] Didst hear? Some one there is talking of Galileans.

First Galilean. Sleep, and let them talk.

John. [_Walks on, and then pauses in front of Mesulemeth._] Thou who liest here by the way, be thou man or woman, wake up!

Mesulemeth. Why dost thou not step over me, as every one does in Jerusalem?

John. Dost thou lie here always in the road?

Mesulemeth. I lie here always. For I must be at the Temple. Day and night I must be at the Temple.

John. Art thou not greedy for alms?

Mesulemeth. [_Shaking her head._] The little I want, the pilgrims give me. But hast thou never heard of Hannah, the prophetess?

John. I have heard speak of her, when I was a child.

Mesulemeth. Well, this is her place. Here she sat and waited for the Messiah, forty years long. When she died she left the place to me ... And now I sit and wait till He comes again.

John. Comes again? Hath He then been already?

Mesulemeth. Certainly He hath.

John. [_In deep emotion._] He came? Came even to thee?

Mesulemeth. To me? No. If He had come to me, I should have been at rest long ago. But Hannah ... She saw Him when He came.

John. Woman! I implore thee ... Speak, tell me, how did He come?

Mesulemeth. Then sit down here beside me, so that I may speak low.... Once a little lad was brought to the Temple by his mother, to be circumcised. And there was one called Simeon who, when he saw this boy-babe, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and said, "Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, for his eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared for all nations." ... And Hannah heard this, and she came up to them and recognised Him?

John. How did she recognise Him?

Mesulemeth. Did I not tell thee that she was a prophetess? Otherwise she might not have recognised Him. But as it was, she praised the Lord, and laid herself down and died. So now I sit where she sat, and wait for Him to come again.

John. Verily, He must come again; and dost thou know, woman, how He will come? As the Lord of Hosts, arrayed in golden armour, with His sword drawn above His head, so He will come to save His people Israel. He will trample His enemies under His horse's hoofs, but the youth of Israel shall greet Him with hosannas and jubilation. See, woman, that is how He will come!

Mesulemeth. [_Anxiously._] Who art thou, stranger? Dost thou imagine thyself to be the prophet of anyone?

John. It matters not who I am, if thou art prepared for my message.

Mesulemeth. Thou canst take thy message further. I will not have it.

John. What! Thou wilt not have the Messiah?

Mesulemeth. Not that one. I will not have that one. For many have come in golden armour, and have drawn their sword, and then Israel hath bled after, like a sacrificial ox. _He_ shall be no king! No! When kings come, they come to kings! No one hath come, as yet to us, the poor---- Go away, stranger, lest thou snatch from me my crumb of hope. Begone, thou art a false prophet!... Go, let me lie on the road! [_She sinks back._]

John. [_To himself._] False prophet!