The First Book of Samuel by SAREJESS (epub read online books txt) 📕

they relived the days of their lives in strange lands on an old Germanic chieftains son and the other a Jew who had grown to adulthood in the years when the Roman eagle marched proudly over their ancestral homes. Now more then 15 centuries after, the two cursed men retold the stories of their lives, reliving interesting moments. Sometimes one would help the other remember, some thing which had happened in all the long centuries they had lived. Samuel had not been aware of the fact that during the 13th century all Jews had been expelled from England, had it not been for a chance remark that William had made he would never have known. Samuel had been in the Far East thus his knowledge of European affairs at that time was a bit hazy.

Samuel spoke of his travels in China during that period of the time he had spent at the court of the grand Khan with fondness and nostalgia. William listened and at times looked at Samuel as if he was telling him things that he had never encountered before. As evening drew near the two men began walking back to the fishing village. The sun set late in the summer so it was closer to 10 o’clock in the evening before they re- entered the village. Samuel wished his new found friend Godspeed and a good night before finding his way to the large warehouse where he slept. Tomorrow would be another hard day of fishing for him.

He awoke while it was still dark. He knew not many hours had passed since he had fallen asleep. It had been a long day and he had been tired now in the middle of the night he found himself once more awake. He rose and went to the well to draw some water to drink. The water was cold and crisp, a dog barked in the distance, he listened to the night he took in all its sounds. The mist had settled and all sounds were muted by the thick fog. Returning to his bed he lay thinking of some of the events of the previous day. He remembered the time he had spent in Egypt in the 9th century. Those had been halcyon days. He had enjoyed life then, exploring the great pyramids, visiting the temples. He had run a good inn, one of the best he had ever owned. He remembered that due to the heat in Egypt it had been difficult to get ice for the chilled wines but he had managed to buy some from a passing sea-merchant and he had stored it in the deep old cellar. Yes the inn had been a flea infested hovel but the chilled wine had been a big drawing card. Soon even the rich people of the city had visited the inn seeking out the chilled wine which he had served. This had changed though once Egypt was invaded by the armies of Islam in the 10th century. For a short period, he had continued living in Alexander but finding life under the rule of Islam too restrictive, he had once again returned to the ancient city of Jerusalem. One thing he was certain of, he had seen kingdoms rise and fall with the passing of time.

An owl called in the night. Samuel shivered and wondered what sort of significance the fisher folk of England would read into that? He slumbered and as he slept, he dreamed it was a bright sunlit day. The desert was hot and as he made his way across it on the back of a camel the faces of the camel drivers shown vividly in his dream. Somewhere a cock crowed. He thought what a strange thing for a cock to be crowing in the middle of the desert. The cock crowed again. He woke with a start. The dawn was coming, the new week was about to start. Samuel sat up and pulled on his boots to begin another day in the fishing village.

The mist was laying heavily over the village as he made his way down to where the boats were laid up on the shore. Some of the fisher folk were already there, speaking softly. Samuel noticed that these folks never spoke loudly in the morning. It was not in their nature to speak loudly even during the light of the mid-day sun


During the time Samuel was in the fishing village, he had tended to stay away from the officers of the church. This was understandable considering the recent treatment that he had received from the hand of the inquisition. However he could not help noticing the marked difference between the church in England and the church of Spain. In England some of the monasteries had already been partly dissolved.

The monastery of St John by the sea, which was adjacent to the village of St Johns, was not as large or prosperous as others but it did hold some lands. In the time that Samuel was there he struck up a friendship with some of the monks. Their nature was sweet and gentle. These were humble men who had taken the cloth and the vowed to better the lives of those who lived near them and also to devout prayer to the deity.

Samuel had met the Abbot one day as he was walking in the country. William had left the village to continue his life in London town. William was always the adventurer, seeking out new and interesting places and people soon becoming bored with the mundane life in the village of St Johns only returning occasionally to rest and restore his mind. One tended to need periods of rest from the world when one had lived so many life times.

The Abbott of St John by the Sea was one Father Alfred, who loved to walk in the country. He loved checking on the lands which the monks tended. One day Samuel happened to run into the Abbott as he was inspecting a fruit tree orchard. At first Samuel had been hesitant to engage the monk but as they spoke of the trees and of nature of which the good father was a keen student, Samuel warmed to him. Soon they were discussing crops and other matters quite freely. Samuel had gained some insight on the subject in his long life. What impressed Samuel about this humble man of the church was his nature, his gentle spirit. Father Alfred always put the interests of the village and his fellow monks before his own.

Over a period they grew to know each other quite well. On one occasion during a Sunday afternoon stroll, Samuel had brought up the question of the desolation of the monasteries. Father Alfred started talking on the matter. “Yes” he said there had been some organs of holy church which were corrupt and yes the King had a right to investigate. However it was the method that concerned Father Alfred. Another thing which worried the monk was the fact that most of the current problems in the English church were a result of the break with Rome. Which the King “God bless him” had instituted to divorce good queen Catharine, but now the king was married to Lady Anne Boleyn. It was a worry for the Abbott knew it would only be a matter of time before the hungry eyes of the local nobility would turn to the lands of St Johns by the Sea. It also worried the Abbott what would become of his flock of monks and the villages. Sir Peter Seymour was not known for his kindness. There had previously been trouble at the market when goods grown on the monasteries’ lands had been sold to the villages at a cheaper price then those set by Sir Peter Stewart. From that time Sir Peter had turned an envious eye on the church lands which were well run, strict in economy and a delight to the eye.

It was about the month of November when the boats were pulled up for winter refitting that Samuel first noticed that an unusual number of men at arms were beginning to come to the manor of Sir Peter Seymour. Samuel watched with growing concern as the number grew. There was no other reason for the large number of men at arms to be congregating at the manor house then the possible dissolution of St John by the Sea. The country was not at war and it was a bad time of year to be traveling. The snow lay thick on the ground. Fearing for his friend, Samuel one day in late November decided to go and see the Abbott and make known to the Abbott his fears lest he be found shirking in his responsibilities to a friend.

Rising early Samuel left the village and walked the short distance to the monastery. Knocking on the great wooden door, he waited. From within he could hear the chant of early morning plain song. “How beautiful” he thought. Once he had been admitted he was shown to the Abbott’s cell, a plain room, and small, with nothing more then a bed, a chair, a table and a crucifix against the wall. He did not have long to wait before the monk entered. Samuel noticed that the man was looking old and worried. By Samuel’s reckoning the Abbott was about in his fiftieth year of life. “Godspeed, Samuel. What brings you here on such a cold morning asked the Abbott?” “Good father I have concerns for you and your monks” said Samuel. “Sir Peter gathers more and more men at arms at the manor daily. We see men arriving from the capital. There can be only one reason for this” continued Samuel. “Ah good friend I know. We have received word of these comings, but what can we do? Nothing I fear, but wait and see” said the Abbott. “Surely there must be some thing that can be done, some plan must suggest itself to you on a way to avoid what is coming” said Samuel. “I am afraid there is nothing that I know of but we will continue to pray” said the Abbott grasping his rosary with a weak smile.

“It is the middle of winter, surely Sir Peter must know if he does this thing now, your monks will have no where to go, no one to take them in and they will die of starvation, illness or turn to robbery” said Samuel.

“Samuel there is nothing that will befall us lest it be by the hand of God” said Father Alfred.

It was late in the afternoon. Samuel and a few of the men from the village had been fixing nets, and doing repairs to the boats, when a young boy came running, out of breath and in a horse voice began to tell them that Sir Peter and a body of men at arms were on their way to the monastery. The men left what they were doing and made their way up the path from the beach. They all knew what was about to happen. They had heard of it before now it was happening to them in the distance they could hear a bell tolling.

When they reached the flat land on top of the cliff they saw smoke rising in the distance. The men, now fearful, quickened their pace. The weather was cold. The snow and ice felt hard under their feet. As they walked no one talked. The sound of their boots on the ice crackled loudly in the air. In the distance they could hear voices.

When they reached the road leading to the village they saw a group of horsemen led by Sir Peter. At