“O my beloved!” she cried, “is it thou? How is it that thou hast so long fed and cared for her who, in an evil hour, cursed her own first-born son?”
“Dear to my soul!” replied Nand Kishore, “do you not know that He who said, He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me, also gave this command, Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee?”
VI.—A DANGEROUS VILLAGE.
Padre Ware, a missionary, revisited a village in which four heads of families, whose names were Nihal, Tara Chund, Chanda Lal, and Lala, had received the gospel, and been baptized. After an absence of six months Padre Ware returned to the village, hoping to find the four Christians firm in the faith, and glorifying by their holy lives the Saviour whom they had promised to serve. Alas! great was the sorrow of Padre Ware to find that Satan had sown the seeds of discord and hatred amongst the little band who should have loved one another, even as Christ had loved them. Nihal had a quarrel with Tara Chund about a bit of land; Chanda Lal’s wife had said bitter things against Lala’s. None of the four would speak with his neighbour. Even the coming of Padre Ware was a fresh cause of bitterness. Each one of the four men asked the missionary to abide in his house; the Englishman could not go to the one without offending the other three. Where Padre Ware had hoped to find love and peace and joy, he found anger, hatred, and strife.
Under the shade of a banyan-tree sat Padre Ware, with his Bible in his hand; and thither, to meet him, came Nihal, Tara Chund, Chanda Lal, and Lala,—but they sat on the ground as far apart as they could from each other. Many of the villagers stood at a little distance to see the missionary, and listen to his words; but none of these villagers wished to become Christians, for they said amongst themselves: “Padre Ware, when he was here before, told us that God is love, and Christ’s religion a religion of love; but behold these men who have been baptized, they will not so much as eat together!”
Padre Ware looked sadly upon the four converts who were thus bringing dishonour on the name of Christians. For a few moments he lifted up his heart in prayer for them, and then he spoke aloud:—
“It is the desire of my heart that all may be peace and love between you. Nihal is the oldest amongst you: let us all go to his house, and take a meal together, in token that all again are friends.”
But Tara Chund shook his head and cried, “Never will I cross the threshold of Nihal!” And Chanda Lal and Lala looked fiercely at each other, and muttered, “We never will eat together.”
Then said Padre Ware to the four: “I have been for twelve years a missionary. I have gone in and out amongst the people; I have never refused to go to the house of him who invited me, nor to eat with any who was willing to eat with me. Only once was I in a great difficulty: I went to one village where several were ready indeed to receive me, but I knew that they all were murderers.”
“All murderers!” exclaimed the astonished Christians. “That was an evil place indeed.”