The boy was then carried back to his mother, and all who were present congratulated the father and the grandfather. Selumiel invited them to the inner court, where they partook of refreshments and remained till afternoon, when a splendid banquet was served up, consisting of every thing which one of the wealthiest citizens of Jericho could collect for such an occasion. Two oxen, twenty lambs, and twelve fatted calves were killed; for the master of the feast was thought to show his wealth and his hospitality by the unexpected abundance of every kind of food that was produced. Every guest found in the fore-court a splendid caftan, which he put on for the feast, and deposited there again on his departure. These garments were always in readiness to be worn on festive occasions, and their number and costliness was one of the surest pledges of the master’s wealth. The guests, after their feet had been washed, were anointed with costly ointment, and when they took their leave they were perfumed, especially the beard.
Sulamith and her mother did not appear to-day, but confined themselves to the chamber of Abisuab’s wife, and celebrated the festival there. Helon had seen Sulamith only once and in passing on the preceding day, but her image had remained involuntarily imprinted upon his mind. In the midst of the lively conversation which passed at the banquet, the proverbs which were quoted and the riddles which were propounded, she was always present to his thoughts, and so animated the powers of his mind, that his eloquence and ingenuity drew on him the attention of all. His _mashal_ was the most pregnant and striking; his riddle, the most ingenious; his solution the readiest and most happy. When he laid himself down on the divan beside his uncle, he could not sleep nor rest, and to calm the tumult of his breast, he arose, and passing through the courts ascended the Alijah, in which at Alexandria he had passed many a sultry night, and there, kneeling, prayed to the God of his fathers. But his prayer partook of the general state of his feelings; unable to collect his thoughts sufficiently for meditation, he could only pour out before Jehovah the fulness of a grateful heart.