Читать книгу Mother of Jesus - Ilia Grinberg - Страница 7

For the convenience of monitoring the street, Daana pulled a bench to the gate and settled on it, fanning herself with a fan that her husband presented to her by buying a merchant-Greek at a big fair in Nazareth. Summer promised to be hot this year, so before Pesach, it was really hot for lunch. When Daana was almost roasted and was about to move from the gate to the shade of the shed, she saw a neighbor approaching the house in a cart pulled by a donkey. Joachim was already in years, and it was hard for him to walk long distances. So two years ago, he decided on big expenses, having bought a half-wheel-half-trolley at the fair in Jerusalem, worked out by a Roman-style master. In front of her was a bench for two people, a carter and a passenger, and behind them was a wooden board with sides, where it was very convenient to carry any cargo, even in bags, even in bulk. Having paid for the purchased wagon, he immediately realized that he had made a blunder, not taking his donkey with him, but arriving in the city on a familiar wagon. I had to buy another, absolutely unnecessary for the farm donkey But his inconsistency came out plus. The same owner of the wagon sold him a strong animal, accustomed to the job of a carter, and showed how to harness him. The harness was also not local design. So on the one hand, Joachim was pleased then with his purchase. On the other hand, I remember how much it cost him, for a long time he almost gnashed his teeth with annoyance.

Daana opened the gate and leaned her back against the post, waiting for the neighbor to descend to the ground. She had long planned her conversation with him. She figured out what to say and what to save for later.

“Hello neighbor” she greeted with an eloquent voice.

“And you shouldn’t be ill, neighbor” Joachim replied, turning his head toward Daana and waiting for the continuation. It was clear that she met him on the street for a reason.

Without waiting for a question, she was a little upset, as the taciturn neighbor spoiled the beginning of her deliberate conversation. She sighed and asked:

“Are you hurry for lunch?

“Yes, it is necessary to eat, but there is still a lot to do today.” Joachim hardly stopped, almost talking about the evening meeting with partners in the wool trade. "And how she always acts on me," he thought with displeasure. “It seems he doesn’t do anything like that, but my tongue is starting my revenge?”

“You'll have the dinner alone”

“Why ?,” he said.

“So Anna left somewhere urgently. So hurried, so hurried. I hardly managed to ask, where is she in such a hurry?” the gossiper issued another dose of information and paused, glancing at the wool merchant who was still standing near the cart.

Realizing that if he does not accept the rules of the game proposed by the woman, he will find out what happened at his house only in the evening.

Gritting his teeth, Joachim asked:

“Have you talked to Anna?

"Still would".

“And what did my wife tell you?”

“Oh, she said that your Maria, for no reason, has a tooth ache. So much so that no strength to endure. And they went to Delilah, the healer" the gossip answered, and continued, writing as she went. “Maybe, she says, what medicine will give. Rinse there, what to do, or weed or roots chew. Although it is unlikely. How to chew if your teeth hurt? What do you think? And it will not help, so, she says, God forbid, it is necessary to pull out.”

“What, and pulled up there in the same?”

“Not, of course. You know that behind this to the Romans, to the doctors, will have to go. She herself, I suppose, and there is no such money?” she threw the bait.

“Well, thank you, neighbor, for bringing good news,” Joachim said in a frustrated voice and began to open the gate.

“So, I think, what is this tooth such that Maria herself cannot go? Why?! On a donkey they drove her, on your little one, Dahan began to roam. And, seeing that the attentive listener was leaving the hands, she walked quickly beside Joachim.

“Scarf on the head, face all closed. And this damned tooth hurts, that even the host for dinner did not wait ?!”

“I already said thank you? Thank you once again” Joachim said through clenched teeth, looking at the impossible woman from under her brows.

“Yes Yes. Said already. It's my pleasure. We are neighbors. Should help each other. Is not it? And you, friends, and Gideon, and Anna and I are friends, it’s only a pity that our sons with Gideon had grown long and married, but maybe they would have intermarried, eh?” suddenly, Daana finally realized that in spite of her neighborly relations, she was about to get a whip. “Well, I went, okay? In the evening I will come, I will find out what kind of help Anna may need. Well, in the sense, Maria” the potter's wife already finished speaking, moving back to her house.

"The Lord has awarded the neighbor" quietly muttered Joachim, closing the gate. “And as soon as Gideon lives with her?” Although a matter of habit. He once said that he practically did not hear her. The main thing, he said, is to learn how to catch when she says something on business. And this is quite rare. Well, it murmurs to itself like a trickle, and let it murmur to itself. It is possible, the neighbor said, to nod occasionally so that she would not interrupt. That's the whole simple science of communication with such a woman. Yes, what only a person does not get used to! .. What happened to my girl? I hope Anna will do everything right ... And, unfortunately, such important negotiations. It is necessary, finally, to agree on prices so as not to bring them down to each other. And then this newcomer, Ephraim from ... Where did he bring him there, from Judea from somewhere? At the last fair all the prices knocked down, the fool is young. I just didn’t sell, and Ikim needed the money, the man had to lower everything on the cheap. How many lost, hmm ...”

The anxious father's thoghts jumped like young goats. Yes, it was not surprising. Mary was in the family, to put it mildly, a late child, and, moreover, the only one, and therefore adored, secretly and openly. Joachim thoughtlessly petted and cherished his Mariam, doted in her soul, bought her everything, to which she would point with her finger at a festive fair, and was ready to allow the girl any prank. As such a father, with this upbringing, a meek, calm clever grew up, and none of those who knew Anna or Joachim closely could not understand. Therefore, when the whimsical neighbor brought down an endless stream of information on him, the loving father got really excited. Therefore, trying not to show his anxious babe to his anxiety, he gave vent to feelings only by closing the door to the house behind him.

Finally, convincing herself that Anna loves her daughter no less than him, and she communicated with healer more than he, he calmed down a bit. After eating lentil soup with bread, he decided that life was not so bad, and if the Lord had given him such a wonderful daughter almost in his old age, then nothing bad could happen to her. Otherwise, why did the Almighty need to listen to their prayers with Anna? After resting in the shade, he, without waiting for his wife and daughter, went to his partners to continue negotiations.