No Woman So Fair Read Online Free Page B

sire.”
    â€œNo, you wouldn’t.”
    Abram had heard none of this conversation as he worshiped before the goddess Ishtar. But now as he rose and turned to leave, he saw the two priests. He smiled and rushed over to them. “Master, it’s good to see you. Do you have time to answer some questions? I have several.”
    â€œGreetings, Abram. I suppose I can spare a moment.” He nodded to Huz, who scurried off at the unspoken command. Rahaz turned to Abram and thought carefully. The family of Terah was wealthy and powerful and needed to be appeased. “Come along,” he said. “It’s good to see you in the temple again, but I must warn you, I don’t have a great deal of time.”
    Rahaz led Abram through a maze of corridors until he finally stopped and waved toward a seat in a pleasant room filled with comfortable furnishings. The room was located on one of the outer walls of the ziggurat, and an open window allowed in sunlight and air. A female slave, one of the temple prostitutes, entered the room at once and smiled brilliantly at Abram, who averted his eyes uneasily at her brazen stare. Rahaz jumped in briskly. “Bring us some wine, girl.” Lowering his heavy body into a chair, he turned to Abram as she left and asked, “Will you have something to eat?”
    â€œNo, thank you, master. But I do have some questions. I’ve been thinking about a lot of things while out tending my sheep.”
    â€œI’ll wager you have.” Rahaz’s lips curled in an indulgent smile. “What is your question?”
    â€œI’ve been wondering. When a man commits a wrong, does it matter which one of the gods he confesses it to?”
    It was a question most dwellers of Ur would never think to ask. Rahaz cleared his throat and replied, “The important thing is to bring an offering and make your confession. If you feel no assurance from confessing to one of the gods, then perhaps you’ve found the wrong god. Go to another. If necessary, come to me, and I’ll give you instruction.”
    Abram studied the face of the fat priest. The answer did not satisfy him, but he left that one and went on. “How do the gods know when a man has done wrong? The gods are here in the temple, but I’m out in the field alone. If I wrong my brother, the gods would not know it, would they?”
    Inwardly Rahaz struggled for an answer to the young man’s question. He studied him carefully, noting that he was taller than most men, with a strong, athletic figure. Abram was quite handsome, he decided, with deep-set brown eyes. He had a wide mouth that was tough yet could show tenderness. His prominent nose and high cheekbones gave him a noble look. He wore an ill-trimmed short beard, and when he spoke he often waved his hands in sweeping gestures.
    Finally Rahaz heaved himself out of his chair and said, “There is much about the gods that we cannot know, young Abram. Our job is simply to make our sacrifices and offerings so that we might hope to find favor with them. I must go now. We will have another one of these talks later.”
    Abram jumped up and followed the priest to the door. “But, master, I have not yet asked the most important question. I want to know what happens to a man when he dies—and another thing. Do any of the gods ever speak to you?”
    Rahaz turned and glared at the young man. “Speak to me? What do you mean?”
    â€œI mean you and I can speak to each other, but do Enki or Nanna ever speak to you as I am doing now?”
    â€œWhy, of course not!” Rahaz’s corpulent face twisted in a scowl at the rash question. “Why would the gods want to speak to a man? Look, my son, I must caution you. These questions are fruitless. They’re not going to profit you. Your father has come to see me more than once. He thinks you ought to marry and settle down. You must learn to live in the real world. You trouble