Читать книгу The Book of Gratitudes - Pablo R. Andiñach - Страница 13

She prepared the basket with watery eyes, and a trembling in her stomach that she could not control. It all seemed so absurd, so terrible, but there was no longer an alternative. A child that cries reveals its presence and the punishment is death. The instructions were clear and ruthless: children are our enemies and a threat to our future; they must be cast into the river to ensure our peace and prosperity, proclaimed the decree. Anguished, in the middle of the night, she stealthily sought a place in which to leave him. There were shame and bitterness in her steps. She kissed him. She softly murmured a sweet song in his ear. She caressed the bright brown cheeks with her hand and she covered the basket so that she would no longer see him.

The hours pass, the afternoon arrives and the child cries. He is the only baby who is said to cry in the entire Bible. By crying, the child claims what he wants to say: I’m hungry; I’m cold; I want to live; I’m here. There are no tears or language yet, but the message is clear. He stirs, he moves and he waits in vain for the well-known scent and hand of his mother.

A young woman approaches and opens the basket. Her eyes moisten and her stomach trembles because she understands what is happening. She thinks in horror: He is a child of the Hebrews. She knows of the hard fate that awaits him. He is the child of slaves, of those weaklings, of the foreigners who shape the clay. She works in the palace and knows the law and her duty as an Egyptian woman. She knows of discipline, of loyalty to the king, of the punishment for traitors, of the dagger or cell that awaits those who disobey.

The child cries more loudly now and his crying has more power than the orders of the most powerful man on Earth. The young woman makes a decision: she lifts the baby into her arms, warms him against her breast and takes him to the Pharaoh’s daughter. That day he was given the name Moses.

(Exodus 2:1–10)