Classic Book Library : Historical Fiction : Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ : Chapter 74 : Page 4 of 16 The things of nature about the hill to keep her sensitive to the world's attractions were wretchedly scant; beasts and birds avoided the place as if they knew its history and present use; every green thing perished in its first season; the winds warred upon the shrubs and venturous grasses, leaving to drought such as they could not uproot. Look where she would, the view was made depressingly suggestive by tombs--tombs above her, tombs below, tombs opposite her own tomb--all now freshly whitened in warning to visiting pilgrims. In the sky--clear, fair, inviting--one would think she might have found some relief to her ache of mind; but, alas! in making the beautiful elsewhere the sun served her never so unfriendly--it did but disclose her growing hideousness. But for the sun she would not have been the horror she was to herself, nor been waked so cruelly from dreams of Tirzah as she used to be. The gift of seeing can be sometimes a dreadful curse. Does one ask why she did not make an end to her sufferings? Copyright © 2004-2005 Classic Book Library |