Chapter 16

It was the beginning of a comradeship which was to mean a great deal to both of them. The Big Fisherman’s attitude toward the trusting girl was strictly paternal and protective, though at times uncomfortably possessive. He could be as jealous as a lover.

One afternoon—it was the day before they left Cana on their eastern journey—Philip surprised Esther by asking her to call on his aged mother. The lonely old lady was confined to her room, he said, and had few visitors.

‘The trouble is,’ he explained, ‘my mother never learned to speak Aramaic with any confidence; and because she cannot talk with the neighbours, they do not come to see her. I think the sight of you would do her good, even if you find conversation difficult.’

‘What language does she speak, Philip?’ Esther had inquired as they neared the cottage.

‘We are Macedonians,’ he replied.

It appeared that Philip had promised his mother that he would try to bring Esther to see her, for her widowed daughter who opened the door for them seemed to be expecting their call. The aged woman, obviously made ready for company, was sitting up in bed. Esther took the proffered chair beside her, patted the thin hand, and was rewarded with welcoming smiles and vigorous noddings of the old grey head.

‘I…do…not…speak…your…tongue,’ laboured the frail voice.

‘Then we will talk in your tongue, Mother,’ said Esther, in fluent Greek. ‘I’m never sure of myself in Aramaic either.’

Philip’s mother took both of Esther’s hands in hers, and cried, ‘Bless you, my child! Bless you!’

His sister laughed happily and drew her chair closer. Philip, dumbfounded, sat down on the other side of the bed and stared as Esther and his ecstatic mother chatted companionably.

At the first pause in their conversation, he broke in to ask, ‘Why haven’t you told me that you know Greek?’

‘You never asked me,’ said Esther, which made them all laugh.

‘But you’re not a Greek,’ said Philip, suddenly serious. ‘How did you learn to speak it so well?’

‘It’s a long story, Philip,’ she replied. ‘Much too long to tell; and, besides, we must be going now.’

‘Tell me this, Esther,’ he said soberly. ‘Do you and the Master speak to each other in Greek? He seems to know the language.’