MIRIAM
I am afraid. Seest thou not those gliding shadows? Their feet scarce touch the stones, and their flesh is like the shadow of the night-wind.
HADIDJA
Fool that thou art! Thou art afraid of thy companions in misery and suffering. The same need as thine brings them hither; the same hope leads them on to the heights.
MIRIAM
Do they also wish to go to him?
HADIDJA
Every one wishes to go to him. Is there a light in Israel which doth not irradiate from his hand? Is there water for the thirsty which doth not flow from him? Streams of sweet water gush forth from these dead stones, and his voice is born out of silence.
MIRIAM
But I am afraid of him. Why dwelleth he among the terrors of the desert? Why flieth he from the paths of the joyous, and shunneth the suffering?