This Bethlehem grotto, if indeed it was ever used as a stable, has been so changed by the decorations that it is impossible to conceive it to be the place of the Nativity. It is probably a fraud, as is also the well at one side of the crypt where the water is said to have burst forth from the naked rock for the use of the Holy Family. I looked down into this well. It is said that the star, that guided the Magi fell into it, but that it is only visible to the eye of a virgin.
I tried in vain to imagine the scenes of Christ’s birth. The decorations were out of all keeping with the place, and the warring Christians prevented reverent thought. I got a better idea by going into some of the actual stables which are in use in Palestine to-day, and which are just about the same now as they were nineteen hundred years ago. I remember one such stable near Jerusalem. It was a cave with a floor of rough stone, divided into chambers or stalls, which opened into a sort of court. There were men and women sleeping on the floors of the courts, with the animals eating out of their stone boxes or mangers about them. The people had no bedclothing except their blankets, and ate their meals on the floor. It was on such a floor that Mary had to lie, because there was no room at the inn, and the manger in which the baby Christ lay was probably a hollowed-out stone box such as those in which the donkeys were eating. Within this stable I saw a Bedouin woman with a sleeping baby on her knee. She had just been feeding the child and one breast peeped out between the folds of her coarse, rough gown. Her arms were bare to the shoulders and there were bracelets upon her wrists. Her face was as sweet as that of any Madonna I have ever seen upon canvas, and her baby, still in its swaddling clothes, looked as pure and as innocent as the most famous representation of the infant Christ.
It was in such stable that the Wise Men knelt and presented their gifts. It was there that the shepherds came, and it was there that our Redeemer first saw the light of this world.
Here at Bethlehem occurred the slaughter of the innocents. King Herod had learned that the Saviour was born, and he thought that if this infant King of the Jews still lived at Bethlehem he would make sure of His death. So his soldiers killed all the children under two years of age. In a place here, which the guides tell you was used for storing the bodies, there are oil paintings horribly done depicting the killing. Bethlehem was so small that it must have been difficult to hide the infant Christ from the men sent by King Herod to search for Him, and it is no wonder that Joseph and Mary took the Holy Child and fled with Him to Egypt.
The Bethlehem of to-day has entirely recovered from the massacre of Herod. Its streets swarm with babies many of whom are not as clean as they should be. There are many older children as well, and all howl for baksheesh. The Bethlehemites are noted for their beauty, especially the girls, who are fair-skinned and bright-eyed. Their plump, well-rounded forms are clad in long gowns of white linen so beautifully embroidered in silk that one dress requires many months’ work. The main part of their costume is much like a lady’s nightgown. The gown falls to the feet, being open at the front in a narrow slit as far down as the breast. Over the gowns they wear sleeveless coats of dark red stripes and cover their heads with shawls of linen embroidered in silk. Each girl has necklaces of coins and a headdress decorated with coins of silver or gold. They do not cover their faces, and their features are usually refined. They are very intelligent, and in trading with them I find that they generally get the best of the bargain.
The Samaritans dress in white for the Feast of the Passover on their holy hill of Mt. Gerizim, where lambs are killed as in the days of Aaron. They are very poor and greatly despised by the orthodox Jews
Pulling tares from the wheat is the children’s task. If they are not removed the bread will be bitter
