The Fifth Mountain Page 0,8

the same branch as always, and answered the question he had asked some days before.

"I am a prophet. I saw an angel as I worked, and I cannot doubt what I am capable of doing, even if the entire world should tell me the opposite. I brought about a massacre in my country by challenging the one closest to the king's heart. I'm in the desert, as before I was in a carpentry shop, because my soul told me that a man must go through various stages before he can fulfill his destiny."

"Yes, and now you know who you are," commented the crow.

That night, when Elijah returned from the hunt, he went to drink and found that the Cherith had dried up. But he was so weary that he decided to sleep.

In his dream, his guardian angel, whom he had not seen for a long time, came to him.

"The angel of the Lord hath spoken to thy soul," said the guardian angel. "And hath ordered:

"Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

"Thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there."

"My soul has heard," said Elijah in the dream.

"Then awake, for the angel of the Lord biddeth me hence and is desirous of speaking to thee."

Elijah leapt up, startled. What had happened?

Although it was night, the place was filled with light, and the angel of the Lord appeared.

"What hath brought thee here?" asked the angel.

"You brought me here."

"No. Jezebel and her soldiers caused thee to flee. This must thou never forget, for thy mission is to avenge the Lord thy God."

"I am a prophet, because you are in my presence and I hear your voice," Elijah said. "I have changed paths several times, as do all men. But I am ready to go to Samaria and destroy Jezebel."

"Thou hast found thy way, but thou mayest not destroy until thou learnest to build anew. I order thee:

"Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee."

The next morning, Elijah looked for the crow, to bid him farewell. The bird, for the first time since he had arrived at the bank of the Cherith, did not appear.

ELIJAH JOURNEYED FOR DAYS BEFORE ARRIVING IN THE valley where lay the city of Zarephath, which its inhabitants knew as Akbar. When he was at the end of his strength, he saw a woman, dressed in black, gathering wood. The vegetation in the valley was sparse, and she had to be content with small, dry twigs.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The woman looked at the foreigner, not really understanding what he was saying.

"Bring me water to drink," Elijah said. "Bring me also a piece of bread."

The woman put aside the wood but still said nothing.

"Do not be afraid," Elijah insisted. "I am alone, hungry and thirsty, and haven't the strength to harm anyone."

"You're not from here," she said finally. "By the way you speak, you must be from the kingdom of Israel. If you knew me better, you'd be aware that I have nothing."

"You are a widow; this the Lord has told me. And I have even less than you. If you do not give me food and drink now, I will die."

The woman was taken aback; how could this foreigner know of her life?

"A man should feel shame at asking sustenance from a woman," she said, recovering.

"Do as I ask, please," Elijah insisted, knowing that his strength was beginning to fail. "When I am better, I will work for you."

The woman laughed.

"Moments ago, you told me something true; I am a widow, who lost her husband on one of my country's ships. I have never seen the ocean but I know it is like the desert: it slays those who challenge it..."

And she continued. "But now you tell me something false. As surely as Baal lives at the top of the Fifth Mountain, I have no food; there is nothing but a handful of flour in a barrel and a bit of oil in a flagon."

Elijah saw the horizon changing direction and knew he was about to faint. Gathering the last of his strength, he implored one final time, "I don't know if you believe in dreams; I don't know even if I believe in them. But the Lord told me that I would arrive here, and that I would find you. He has done things that