He said, very civilly, however, that Brother Ithiel was working in the
fields, whence he would not return till supper time.
Nehushta asked where these fields were, since she desired to speak with
him at once. The man answered that if they walked towards the green
trees that lined the banks of Jordan, which he pointed out to them, they
could not fail to find Ithiel, as he was ploughing in the irrigated land
with two white oxen, the only ones they had. Accordingly they set out
again, having the Dead Sea on their right, and travelled for the half of
a league through the thorn-scrub that grows in this desert. Passing the
scrub they came to lands which were well cultivated and supplied with
water from the Jordan by means of wheels and long poles with a jar at
one end and a weight at the other, which a man could work, emptying the
contents of the jar again and again into an irrigation ditch.
In one of these fields they saw the two white oxen at their toil,
and behind them the labourer, a tall man of about fifty years of age,
bearded, and having a calm face and eyes that were very deep and quiet.
He was clad in a rough robe of camel's hair, fastened about his middle
with a leathern girdle, and wore sandals on his feet.
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