The glamour that had made the quarries sufferable
had passed; all the realization of her enslavement, with the
accompanying shame, came to her, and her hope for Israel was lost in
the destruction of her personal happiness.
Still, the longing to look on Kenkenes once again made the dawns more
welcome, the days longer and the sunsets more disheartening. Vainly
she summoned pride to her aid; vainly she exhorted herself to
consistency.
"How long," she would say, "since thou didst reject the good Atsu
because he is an idolater and an Egyptian? How long since thou wast
full of wrath against the chosen people who wedded Egyptians and became
of them? And now, who is it that is full of sighs and strange conduct?
Who is it that hath forgotten the idols and the abominations and the
bondage of her people and mourneth after one of the oppressors? And
how will it be with thee when the chosen people go forth, or the
carving is complete and the Egyptian cometh no more; or how will it be
when he taketh one of the long-eyed maidens of his kind to wife?"
In the face of all this, her intuition rose up and bore witness that
the Egyptian loved her, and was no less unhappy than she.
So time came and went and weeks passed and he came not again.
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