10. Elene and Judas.
Then were they in the fear of death, of the funeral-pyre, and the end of life; and there they585 thrust forth one of exceeding wisdom in the lore of old, whose name was Judas, sprung from noble lineage; and they gave him up unto the queen, and called him a man of wondrous learning: ‘He can show forth to thee the truth, unlock the secret of the fates, expound the just law from the beginning590 even to the end, according as thou dost ask him. He is of noble race in the world, wise in speech, the son of a prophet, outspoken in council. And it is his nature to have sage answers and wisdom of soul. He shall show forth to thee before595 the multitude with his great power the gift of wisdom, even as thy heart desireth.’
Then she let each man seek his own home in peace, and took Judas alone as hostage. And she earnestly600 bade him tell the truth concerning the cross, which had been long buried in a secret place. Then Elene, the glorious queen, drew him aside by himself, and thus spake to the lonely man:—‘Two ways605 are ready for thee, either life or death, whichsoever thou shalt please to choose. Declare quickly now which one thou wilt accept.’
And Judas made answer unto her—nor could he rid himself of sorrow and turn away the wrath of his ruler, but he was in the power of the queen—:610 ‘How shall it be with him who treadeth the moor in a desert, weary, without food, and tortured with hunger, if before his eyes a loaf and a stone together seem hard and soft, and he knoweth them not apart, but taketh the stone to ward off his615 hunger, and marketh not the loaf, turneth to want and forsaketh the food, refuseth the better when he hath the choice of both?’
Then openly before the people the blessed Elene gave him answer:—‘If thou wouldst have thy life620 in the world and a home with the angels in the kingdom of heaven, the reward of victory in the sky, tell me straightway where the holy rood of the King of glory lieth under the earth, which ye625 have hid now for a while from men because of the unrighteous murder.’
Judas answered, and his heart was heavy within him; there was grief in his soul, and woe either way, whether thus he forsook the joy of the630 heavenly realm and this present kingdom beneath the skies, or disclosed the rood:—‘How can I reveal that which came to pass so long ago in the course of years? Two hundred or more in number are now vanished away—I know not the sum of635 them, and I cannot declare the event. Many of wisdom, of virtue, and of learning, who were before our time, are told among the dead. In days long after was I born, and in my childhood, and in my youth. I may not discover in my heart that which640 I know not, and which came to pass so long ago.’
Then Elene bespake him in answer:—‘Whence cometh it that ye bear in mind so many things, every wondrous deed, such as those which the Trojans645 wrought in battle? That far-famed war of old was further in the course of years than this holy event, and yet ye know that fully, how to declare at once the number of all that were slain650 there, and of the spearmen who fell in death beneath their shields. Ye set forth in writing the tombs beneath the rocky cliffs, and likewise the places and the tale of years.’
Then Judas answered—he suffered bitter grief:—‘We655 are mindful of that war from very need, my dear lady, and we set forth in writing the fierce strife and the deeds of the nations, but never have we heard this declared unto men from the mouth660 of any save here and now.’
And the noble queen gave him answer:—‘Too mightily dost thou withstand the truth and the right concerning the tree of life, insomuch as thou spakest665 verily of the rood of victory before thine own people but a little time ago, and now dost turn to falsehood.’
Judas again spake unto her, and said that he uttered those words in sorrow and exceeding doubt, that he had weened bitter hardship for himself.
Quickly the kinswoman of Cæsar answered him:—‘Lo! we have heard it declared unto men from670 the holy book that the noble Child of the King, the Son of God, was crucified on Calvary. Thou shalt reveal thy knowledge perfectly concerning the field where this place Calvary is, according to the teaching675 of the Scriptures, ere death and utter destruction snatch thee away for thy sins, that I may thereafter cleanse the cross to be a solace for men, according to the will of Christ. Thus shall the Holy God, the Lord Almighty, Glory-giver of hosts and Helper680 of souls, fulfill for me my desire and my inmost longing.’
But with stubborn heart Judas answered her:—‘I know not the place, nor aught of the field, nor know I the event.’
Then Elene spake with wrath in her heart:—‘I685 swear by the Son of the Creator, by the crucified God, that thou shalt be starved to death before the people of thine own race, save thou forsake this falsehood and fully declare unto me the truth.’690
Then she bade men take him alive, and throw him, guilty as he was, into a dried-up well—nor did her subjects hesitate. And there, joyless and famished, weighed down with chains, was he to abide in his grief for the space of seven nights. And upon the seventh day, weakened by sorrow, weary,695 and without food—his strength was broken—he began to call aloud:—‘I beseech you by the God of the heavens that ye release me from this misery,700 for I am brought low by the pangs of starvation. Joyfully will I show forth the holy tree—no longer can I hide it now by reason of my hunger. This durance is too fearful, this need too great, and this torture too bitter day by day. No longer can I705 endure to suffer, and conceal my knowledge concerning the tree of life, though before I was filled with folly, and confess the truth too late.’