DISPUTE BETWEEN TflK PEN AND THE SWORD. 421 



existence thou hast never ceased to depopulate the earth, to fill its 

 recesses with carcasses, to separate children from their fathers, and to 

 tear them from the bosom of their mothers. If by thy strength thou 

 prevailest against me, learn that it is not in my strength that my power 

 consists, but in the spirit which animates me. With what countenance 

 canst thou compare thyself with me ? I am a man of a pure and spotless 

 life, who dwelleth in tents ; thou ! thou art a vagabond who makest thy 

 dwelling in deserts ; thou hast for thy retreat precipitous mountains, 

 rocks inhabited by the chamois, a bed dug by the torrent, or the obscu- 

 rity of gloomy and antique forests. Whosoever beholdeth thee, hasten- 

 eth to flee : my aspect, on the contrary, inspires joy ; my society, full 

 confidence. Thou art regarded as a contaminated man, whose touch is 

 contagious, as a wretch proscribed and banished from civilized society. 

 Robbers, and wicked people men who have sinned from their mother's 

 womb are the only mortals who seek thy company. As for me, no 

 wicked man is received in my dwelling ; the sinner hath no share of my 

 fellowship ; he dare not even raise his eyes upon me. He who walks in 

 the path of innocence is alone worthy to serve me ; I am found only in 

 the hands of the virtuous. I receive the homage of the first of mankind; 

 monarchs have no secrets from me ; it is by my ministry that their in- 

 tentions are fulfilled ; and, when I am with the king of kings in the 

 midst of his temple, thou art not permitted to approach !" 



" Thy boastings," replied the Sword, "and the lies which thou utterest, 

 merit no answer. Ask only the ancient days which preceded thy exist- 

 ence. They will answer and teach thee, that it is by my assistance that 

 the king triumphs over those who rise against him, reduces rebels to 

 obedience, subdues his enemies, and the traitors who would cast off his 

 yoke. Fortified towers, ramparts, and citadels, are conquered only by 

 me. It is I to whom the king owes the preservation of his power ; 

 but for the terror which I excite, his grandeur could not be maintained 

 one moment. I preserve him from his oppressors, I send my terrors 

 before him, I overwhelm those who attack him, all the cohorts of his 

 enemies, and all the people with whom he wages war ; at the sight of the 

 sword, with which his hand is armed, who among them can remain firm ?" 



When the Pen heard the discourse so full of haughtiness and disdain, 

 which the Sword directed against him, he addressed to him the follow- 

 ing verses : 



4 1 am mute, but when 1 assemble my armies, I make the fiercest men 



* tremble at my words. My discourses are the ornament of the head of 



* kings; my excellent parables are the joy of hearts. It is I, whom the 



* Eternal employed to trace the Ten Commandments which he gave on 

 Mount Horeb, that they might be the inheritance of his people. When 



* the sword is raised, I unfurl my standard above its heads. On the 



* day in which it dare measure itself with me, I remain erect, and it falls 

 ' prostrate at my feet.' " 



*'When I had heard this eloquent discourse," says Herman Ezrachi, " I 

 wrote the words on the tablet of my heart ; I engraved them with a point 

 of iron. I passed many days with him ; many hours and years elapsed 

 in joy and pleasure, to the moment when time wounded me with the 

 arrow of separation, and severed me from the milk of his company." 



M.M.-No. 11. 3H 



