«Who are You?»
«One Who loves you.»
«You would be the first in so many years. Where are You from?»
«From Galilee.»
«From Galilee? Oh!» The man watches Him carefully. Also the other two have come near. «From Galilee» repeats the shepherd, and he adds in a very low voice, as if speaking to himself: «He came from Galilee, too… From which town, my Lord?»
«From Nazareth.»
«Oh! Well, tell me. Has a Child ever come back to Nazareth, a Child with a woman whose name was Mary and a man called Joseph, a Child, Who was even more beautiful than His Mother, so beautiful that I have never seen a fairer flower on the slopes of Judah? A Child born in Bethlehem of Judah, at the time of the edict? A Child Who later fled, most fortunately for the world. A Child, oh! I would give my life just to hear whether He is alive… He must be a man by now.»
«Why do you say that His flight was a great fortune for the world?»
«Because He was the Saviour, the Messiah and Herod wanted Him dead. I was not there when He fled with His father and Mother. When I heard of the slaughter and I came back… — because also I had children (he sobs), my Lord, and a wife… (he sobs), and I heard they had been killed (he sobs again), but I swear by the God of Abraham, I was more afraid for Him than for my own family — I heard He had fled and I could not even enquire; I could not even take away my own slaughtered creatures… They threw stones at me, as they do with lepers and unclean people, they treated me like a murderer… and I had to hide in the woods, and live like a wolf… until I found a master. Oh! it’s no longer Anne… He is hard and cruel… If a sheep gets hurt, if a wolf preys on a lamb, he either beats me till I bleed or he takes my poor pay, and I have to work in the woods for other people, I must do something, to pay him back three times the value. But it does not matter. I have always said to the Most High: “Let me see Your Messiah, at least let me know that He is alive, and all the rest is nothing”. My Lord, I have told You how the people in Bethlehem treated me, and how my master deals with me. I could have repaid them in their own coins, I could have wronged them, stealing, so that I would not suffer under my master. But I preferred to suffer, to forgive, to be honest, because the angels said: “Glory to God in the Highest Heaven and peace on earth to men of goodwill”.»
«Is that what they said?»
«Yes, they did, my Lord, You must believe, at least You, Who are good. You must know and believe that the Messiah is born. No one would believe it any longer. But angels do not lie… and we were not drunk, as they said. This man here, was a boy then, and he was the first to see the angel. He drank but milk. Can milk make one drunk? The angels said: “Today, in the town of David the Saviour was born, He is Christ, the Lord. And here is a sign for you. You will find a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger”.»
«Did they say exactly that? Did you not misunderstand them? Are you not mistaken, after such a long time?»
«Oh! no! Isn’t it, Levi? In order not to forget, — we could not forget in any case, because they were heavenly words and were written in our hearts with a heavenly fire — every morning, every evening, when the sun rises, when the first star starts shining, we repeat them as a prayer, as a blessing, to have strength and comfort in His name and in His Mother’s.»
«Ah! You said: “Christ”?»
«No, my Lord. We say: “Glory to God in the Highest Heaven and peace on earth to men of goodwill, through Jesus Christ Who was born of Mary in a stable in Bethlehem and Who, wrapped in swaddling clothes, was in a manger, He Who is the Saviour of the world”.»