"Golda!" he said softly.
"What, Meir?"
"Did you never wish to see and know what there is beyond that thick, high forest—what is going on in the broad world?"
The girl was silent. From her attitude—her body bent toward the young man, her wide-open eyes full of fire—it could be seen that when she could look at him she did not wish to see anything else in the broad world.
But Meir spoke further:
"I would like to borrow wings from a bird, in order to go beyond that forest—to fly far away!"
"Don't you like the beautiful house of the rich Saul? Don't you like the faces of your brothers, relatives, and friends, that you wish for the wings of a bird to fly away?" whispered the girl, with stifled grief or fright.
"I like the home of Saul, my grandfather," whispered the thoughtful youth, "and I love my brothers and all my relatives; but I would like to fly beyond that forest in order to see everything and become very wise, and then return here and tell to those who are walking in darkness and wearing chains, what they should do in order to leave the darkness and throw off the chains."
After a time of silence he spoke further.
"I should like to know how the stars are fixed and how the planets grow, and how all the nations of the world live, and what kind of a sacred book they have. I would like to read their books, and learn from them God's thought and human lot, in order that my soul might become filled with science as the sea is filled with water."