The San Francisco call., 1904-03-20
THE YOKE.
Tale From Exodus

~HE wealth q romance which lies
locked UP IN the Book or Books
has ever been a fruitful neld for
those writers who have been able ID
catch thc magnificent sa-eep Gnd splen-
dor Of the chronicles therein contained
TO the artistic mind. the iTaaginatN
inind. the rs5ic Of the Pentateuch ano
The inspired words OF the gospels carry
burden q ieroic tragedy. The ike ol
which the world has not seen. Milton
and DRYDEN drew themes tor classic
literature from the Old Testament
Tssso buiit his ocstatic s0rs upon the
promise Of the Prophets; every tongue
In Christendom has voiced some lofty
WORD Upou the Sreat text oi Coo. ~
these modern days. barren OF the
!oftier springs of literature ciasSic
tragedy and inspired poem % ;he Bible
lave yielded place 70 tie novel 10 Ben
l5ur." Darkness and Dawn, "Hypa-
tia" 'ouo Nadis" Now comes another
niece Of fiction woven about the lie
arztc chronicles, The Yoke, by
Elizabeth Miller.
The author has chosen the epic Of
the deIFer2rce from Egypt for her
theme: q more stUpendous field for
Story she could nos have found. The
booI. o. Exodus, with its drama Of the
- opnresscd thousands OF Israel delivered
from the Geshpots OF Egypt by the
hand Of The Lord. and led out into the
- wilderness by the patriarch, Moses.
contains i'm its son0r0us numbers the
impressive note Of tremendous
strength il is 0Den 20 doubt whether
1.a
adeouate conveyance enough for the
spirit Of this remarkably dramatic IN
cident in the worlds history. Bat 20
the credit OF Elizabeth ldiller be it said
. that her book catches the epic siSniti-
cance Of the hegira with as forceful
a griu as any work Of fiction could, and
that the exalted strain OF her narrative
comes well nigh up to the tragic sub
Unity demanded by the nature OF the
subject.
From the very nature Of its being
the Exodus presents 20 the author who
would handle it difficulties fTauSht with
peril 10 the success of the novel. These
lie in the facts Of the plaques sent by
God to break the viii OF the Pharaoh.
The Bible couched as il is in the meta
phorical diction Of the Oriental, pre-
sents these as actual physical phe-
nomena. the direct manifestations OF
The Most High-miracles in short. Ihe
spirit Of higher criticism has sought
TO associate these chronicled prodlgies
with possible normal actions of nature,
such as would have seemed timely in
terventions Of the Divine VIII to the
ewes Of the hosts of Israel What is
lr inc
miracle with its prodigious contradic-
ton against nature as she is normally,
or attempt to reconcile the Pentateuch
with the modern science of physics?
THE author Of The Yoke" boldly
makes the Nile turn into foaming
river OF blood and allows the first
born Of Egypt to be slain even unto
The first-born in Pnaraoh's palace.
The story centers about the love Of
Kenkenes. a young Egyptian nobleman
and a sculptor in the court of Pharaoh,
for Rachel a beautiful Israelite slave in
the quarry pits Of Masaarah. kenkenes,
with an artistic instinct far in advance
Of his times, wishes TO break away
from the grotesque ritualisic sculpture
Of Egypt and carve out his own concep-
ton OF the human form as IL really eX-
lists While doing this secretly he uses
Rachel for his model, his affection for
her growing with every beautiful line
which appears out Of the rough stone.
She. with her strong Judaic faith in
God and loathing for idolators. spurns
his affection at first, until the base op
preston OF a courtier of Pharaoh forces
her to seek the protection OF the young
Egyptian.
The scene shifts TO the regal cities Of
Thebes and Memphis. where Meneptah,
the Pharaoh, and his courtiers are be-
ginning to be disturbed by reports OF
risings among the Israclites under the
leadership of the Prince Mesu (Aioses).
Very skiilsuuy the author throws over
the whole court the nameless dread and
uncertainty caused by the terrible
warnings Of this Mesu, all the while
keeping the great lawgiver in the back
ground. Follow the plaques, each with
its terrible phenomena graphically de-
scribed. Kenkenes, his faith in the
gods Of Egypt flown. casts lis lot with
tie people OF his loved one and sees
Phsraoh's first-bOrn smitten at the first
Passover and the army Of Egypt swal-
lowed IN the Red Sea.
In its entirety THE Yoke" is a pow
erful story. Despite the fact that its
length is considerably beyond the usual
limits OF the novel Of to-day, the move
mcnt in II rarely slackens. The Incl
dents Of the various plaques. power
fully pictured, and the final passage
over Egypt Of the angel of death make
a climax OF remarkable strength. The
vivid descriptions Of palace life and
quarry pit which ill the book. though
they may not be as correct as those Of
the Egyptologist and novelist. Georg
Ebers. are nevertheless effective. The
authors picture of the water carnival
on the Nile at Memphis is as perfect
as any bit Of descriptive writing in ro-
cent fiction.
C3obbs-Merrill Company. Indianapo-
lis; price 81 50)