but the danger of losing sight of the real thing in contracting the marriage bond is very great, and is really a foundation of immorality, divorce, and unhappiness. There is enough bitterness in life without having the sweetest well in this world turned into gall. Luther is reported as saying, that if husband and wife love each other the devil cannot harm them. Whether he is author of this saying, there is much truth in it. SCENE XII. SHULAMITH recalls her brothers' words when she was a little girl and exults over the triumph of her virtue. Brothers. We have a little sister, And she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister, In the day when she shall be spoken for? If she shall be a wall, We will build upon her a crown of silver; And if she shall be a door, We will shut her in with a board of cedar. Shulamith. I am a wall, And my breast like towers. Then I was in his eyes As one finding peace. Solomon has a vineyard in Baal-Hamon; He gives the vineyard to keepers; Each one is to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. My vineyard which is mine is before me, The thousand is thine, Solomon, And two hundred for those who keep its fruit. Her At last Shulamith reaches home with her lover. brothers as well as her mother are doubtless there to greet her. These brothers who were angry at her, and birdened her with hard service in the care of the vineyards, are perhaps ready to insinuate that their sister, during her absence from home, has lost her virtue, of which they as her elder brothers consider themselves her special guardians. Her answer is introduced by a reminiscence of something which they said before she was of marriageable age and which was burned into her memory as with a hot iron: "We have a little sister [i.e. Shulamith], And she has no breasts [She is too young to be married]. What shall we do for our sister, In the day when she shall be spoken for?" The last line indicates a common custom as in the case of Rebekah, where she was spoken for by Abraham's servant, Eliezer, and disposed of by the family without having seen her future husband, or even had the chance to refuse (Gen. xxiv. 50, 51), although later, when the matter is virtually decided, she is asked whether she will go with. Abraham's steward (ver. 58). This method of procedure is still common in the Orient. At the same time the Old Testament gives instances where the wishes of the contracting parties are regarded. Shulamith's brothers, like the brothers of Dinah (Gen. xxxiv. 31), feel that they are peculiarly responsible for the protection of her virtue, which, while she was physically undeveloped, and so not subject to temptation, was to be put to the test. If when she feels the sexual instinct she proves to be a wall to keep out all invaders who would destroy her virtue, then the brothers say they will build on that wall a crown of silver, perhaps as a reward of a stainless virginity, like the chaplet of flowers which only virgins can wear at their marriage in Germany. If, on the other hand, she shall develop licentious tendencies, so that, as an open door, she is in danger of losing her virtue and becoming a prostitute, they say they will barricade that door with a board of cedar; that is, they will guard her so closely that none shall have admission to her for illicit purposes. It is this harsh speech of these cruel brothers, who perhaps even now greet her reproachfully, that she calls to mind, for it had left its scars on her heart. The little sister with no breasts now stands before them in her physical perfection the most beautiful specimen of her sex in Israel, capable of being swept with passion for her beloved; but as she proudly says: "I am a wall, And my breasts like towers. She has proved perfectly impregnable to all the assaults of Solomon and his harem, although he threatened to storm the towers of which she speaks. After suffering such a humiliating defeat, Solomon might well have become her implacable enemy, but no, she says: "Then I was in his eyes as one finding peace." Now she relates her last experience with the great king: "Solomon has a vineyard in Baal-Hamon," etc. This undoubtedly indicates a place where Shulamith was taken captive. It was a noble vineyard from which Solomon derived an income of a thousand pieces of silver, and the keepers to whom he rented it two hundred. This vineyard Solomon proposes to give Shulamith as a parting gift as some restitution for his forcible detention of her in his harem (cf. Gen. xx. 16). Shulamith repeats her proud reply: "My vineyard which is mine is before me. Let the thousand be for thee, Solomon, And two hundred for those who keep its fruit." Shulamith means to say: The only vineyard I desire is in my own virtue, which I have kept; as for the vineyard you offer me, I do not care for it: keep it yourself, Solomon, and derive your income of a thousand pieces of silver, and let the keepers receive their net gain of two hundred from the fruit. Thus Shulamith stands in her own beautiful personality, the proud possessor of herself, too rich for even the grand monarch of Israel to buy, free even from the domination of her own family, since she has already yielded her heart to her beloved. SHULAMITH'S lover asks her for a song. Oh thou who dwellest in the gardens, The companions are listening for thy voice. For the first time in reality we hear the voice of Shulamith's lover, although in fancy we have heard it many times. He addresses her as a dweller in the gardens, which was quite in harmony with her occupation as a vinedresser. The companions whom she has mentioned before are now listening to hear her sing: "Let me hear thy voice he says." SHULAMITH sings. Flee, my beloved, And be like a gazelle, Or a young hart, Upon the mountains of spices. This sounds as if she were sending him away. We may understand it as he doubtless did, by contraries, as a playful suggestion not to be very far away, for she no longer speaks of the mountains of Bether, or separation, but of the mountains of spices just at hand, by their home, whose perfume fills the air. With this reunion of a happy pair the scene closes. When we reflect upon the crimes and sorrows with which men and women have been visited because of the perversion of love, it certainly does not seem strange that there should be one book in the Old Testament which shows its true nature, teaching that all the real peace and happiness of those who submit to it, is dependent upon mutual and worthy affection. ARTICLE IV. EARLY RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. BY H. W. MAGOUN, PH.D. FIRST PART OF SECOND PAPER.1 THE Rig-Veda contains over one thousand hymns. If tradition be ignored, they may be grouped under about one hundred and twenty-five different heads. These groups, however, will differ widely from one another, and over half of them will contain but a single hymn. Of these single hymns, twenty, or about one-fourth, have to do with two or more subjects; and, of the twenty, fifteen have subjects which appear elsewhere in the collection, either singly or in other combinations. For example, there is a single hymn to 'Savitr-and-Puṣan'; but there are about a dozen to each of them separately, and the latter also occurs in other combinations. Furthermore, there are three SYMBOLS USED IN THE FOOTNOTES. Abel Bergaigne, La Religion Védique. Paris, 1878–83. Baltimore. A. Barth, The Religions of India. Authorized Translation by J. AB. AJP. CB. Chr. Bartholomae, Handbuch der Altiranischen Dialekte. Leip zig, 1883. D. EB. EH. G. J. S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa- Encyclopædia Britannica. Ninth Edition. New York. JAOS. Journal of the American Oriental Society. New Haven. F. B. Jevons, Introduction to the History of Religion. London, 1896. |