Volume 2

326
Life of Jesus Christ
his left arm, and he pierced her throat with a short, sharp
weapon. She had no sooner drunk the red liquid than it
produced its effect, for she was perfectly unconscious
when laid on the warrior's arm. Two of her young companions,
who also were in white and appeared to act as
bridemaids, caught the blood in a dish and poured it on
the altar. She was afterward enveloped by her companions
in a winding sheet and laid at full length on the altar, the
upper surface of which was grated. A fire was kindled
below and, when her garments were burned and the whole
looked like a blackened mass, some men raised the grate
with the corpse upon it. They rested the grate upon the
edge of an open tomb nearby, and then gently raising the
grate, let the body slide down into it. The tomb was then
closed. It was still to be seen even in Jesus' time.
The companions of Jephtias and many of the assistants
steeped their veils and handkerchiefs in her blood, while
others gathered up the ashes of the holocaust. Before
Jephtias made her appearance in her sacrificial habiliments,
her young companions had retired with her into a
tent where she bathed and was prepared for the ceremony.
It was to the north of Ranloth, over two hours' distance
in the mountains that Jephtias and her companions met
her father. They were mounted upon little asses adorned
with ribands and hung with tinkling bells. One rode in
front of Jephtias, one on either side, and the rest followed
with songs and nlusic. They sang the canticle of Moses
upon the defeat of the Egyptians. As soon as Jephte descried
his daughter, he rent his garments and becarrie inconsolable.
Jephtias herself did not give way to grief, but
learned with calnlness the fate that awaited her.
When she and her companions left her father's house
for the wilderness, taking with them such food only as was
allowed for a fast, Jephte spoke to his daughter for the
last time. This was in a certain nlanner the beginning of
the sacrifice. At the moment of parting, he laid his hand,