The Prodigal Page #2

at Damascus.

The face of Astarte is veiled

so that every man may picture

beneath the veil the face

of the woman he most desires.

You, Micah,

what face are you picturing there?

Nahreeb, you said everything has its price.

Name hers.

She is not for a follower of Jehovah!

I mean to have her.

One way or another.

Asham tried to set Damascus against you,

and you let the Hebrew keep him!

We shall bring Asham to justice.

And we shall see this Hebrew again.

"As a pig for husks," he said to me.

Yes, we must make him thoroughly

and fittingly humble, this Micah.

Micah?

Micah.

Take yourself to bed. It's near daylight.

Me?

I shall be pleased when daylight comes.

Asham, I've drunk deep of every wine

from here to Petra,

and I've had my full share of women.

Yet I'm behaving like a beardless boy,

panting for the first forbidden fruit

that he sees.

A priestess who worships

a painted graven image.

But she's in my blood.

May the Lord give strength to His people.

May the Lord bless His people with peace.

Amen.

Micah?

You said grace, my son, but ate nothing.

Father...

What you are about to tell me,

I may already know.

Still, it is for you to speak

and for me to listen.

Father, I've tried to spare you and Ruth.

I cannot enter into the betrothal.

You are not the first man to balk

at the threshold of matrimony.

Nor the last.

Will it surprise you to learn that I, too,

felt panic at the thought

of my betrothal day?

This is not the same.

It is written

that every young man thinks his life

is the first new page

in the Book of Experience.

Father, you don't know.

Just what is it that I don't know?

That Micah has looked upon

the High Priestess of Astarte,

a woman who gives herself

in the worship of her pagan gods.

Is this true?

She is already on her way to Damascus.

He means to follow her.

Micah, I have allowed you

to take your own way

but not in this, I say to you...

She's the most beautiful woman

I've ever seen.

I will not let you defile yourself!

You know what I feel in my heart for you.

I would give anything if I could obey you.

I've labored hard

to put her out of my blood.

I must go to Damascus!

Give me my portion, the one-third

due to me as the younger of two sons.

Micah, I have brought you up

by the Ten Commandments,

by the teachings of Moses,

by the ways of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

You have been taught the difference

between right and wrong,

between good and evil,

between love and lust.

If you still choose to turn your back

on your sacred heritage,

then I turn my back on you!

As for your portion,

your portion is what I feel for you!

- Father!

- "Father"?

You are no longer my son!

Micah?

I have prayed for forgiveness

for striking you in anger.

- I am not worth your grieving.

- You're my son, Micah.

A son is always worthy of a parent's love.

Even when he seeks a far country.

I brought you gold enough

for half your portion.

The other half will be here

whenever you need it.

One thing more I have brought you.

My blessing.

Your blessing? Knowing my purpose.

Micah, you've chosen to go

far afield from righteousness.

Yet I invoke on you

the blessing of the Lord our God.

That thou mayest yet find in thyself

the strength to turn away from evil,

which is ever a temptress

of surpassing beauty.

Micah?

This ring, which our family

has always handed down

from eldest son to eldest son.

Let it always remind you of here.

I am late for the fields.

Micah, there is one thing

more you must do.

Ruth.

Farewell, my son. I love you.

And I love you, my father.

Farewell.

How beautiful can she be?

Then you know?

A woman always knows

more than her man thinks.

Then you must know

how I have wanted not to do this to you!

And you must know how you are well rid

of a man who would do such a thing.

You've always had many suitors, Ruth.

Many more deserving than l.

But when you return, and you will,

you'll expect to find me waiting here

with open arms.

- And you'll be wrong.

- Ruth!

Go, Micah.

The map of the great worid we live in.

And now you see why they say

all roads lead to Damascus.

And here's the road we took.

Alexandria, Joppa, Damascus.

We came by sea to here,

and that's where we met the caravan.

And here, where the land was so green

and where you ate too many figs,

and then the desert.

I am weary of lessons, lessons.

Why must I know of roads

and maps, Samarra?

I do not care where I've been,

I only care where I am.

It is true, Yasmin.

All that matters is where you are

and who you are

and who you will some day be.

When I am High Priestess of Astarte,

and you are no longer beautiful,

what will you be?

I shall still find ways

of serving my goddess.

But come. I will teach you something

that you will find a little more useful

than maps and roads.

And now I will show you

the greatest secret of all.

How to make your eyes look deep

and dark and mysterious.

- Why so solemn, Yasmin?

- I do not know.

Know what?

I wonder if I really want

to be High Priestess.

You do.

Now watch, this shadow, just a touch.

For every million women,

there is only one high priestess.

When I was your age I was frightened, too.

You were?

- It is time.

- So early?

Now, you watch while Elissa prepares me.

I've never known so useful a body slave.

The mirror, Yasmin.

A million pieces of gold, too much.

Too much for me to lend you or anyone.

Lending money is your trade.

It's made you the richest man

in Damascus.

The people know

the Governor is your puppet.

You pull the strings.

You are a tyrant, Nahreeb.

The people hate a tyrant.

If they kill you, who will repay me

my money? Who?

They'll not kill me.

Not even that new High Priestess that

I hear so much about can save you now.

It wants one of two things.

Either a war or a calamity.

A calamity or a war.

I am creating the calamity.

How so? How so?

The crops are short this year.

The crops are always short.

The people are always hungry.

That is no calamity in Damascus.

The crops will be shorter than ever, and

the desert tribes will burn and pillage.

The desert tribes are peaceful.

How do you know they'll pillage?

- I've already prepared it.

- You?

Yes.

With your gold added to mine,

I will buy up what is left of the harvest.

The people will pay whatever price I ask.

Hungry as they may be now,

they will grow hungrier.

Much, much hungrier.

Too hungry to worry about tyrants

or revolt or to do anything

except pray to Baal and Astarte

to keep them alive.

The people starving.

Oh, that's sound wisdom.

Good economics.

If you succeed, you'll be

the richest man east of Alexandria!

I will succeed in all things!

But if you fail, your life won't be worth

the tail of a locust!

And in that case,

farewell to my million pieces of gold.

It requires thought, my friend. Thought.

My one vanity lies in being a perfect host.

Therefore, I desire that you have

a perfect companion.

I searched many lands before I found

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