(28-15-28)
One day,
Moses, who was living outside the city in royal palaces, was passing through
the city; it was the time when the residents of the city closed work due to
excessive heat and reclined in their houses. He saw two men fighting vigorously with each
other; one was an Israeli and the other an Egyptian. Moses was well aware of the segregation and
discrimination between the two nations. He took it for granted that the Israeli
was innocent and tried to help him by separating the two fighting persons. In order to do that he struck the Egyptian
with his fist, but it hit him at a delicate place and he died on the spot.
Moses
was full of remorse for helping an Israeli without probing into the matter. He prayed to God for forgiveness; since it
was an accident and not a cold blooded murder, God forgave him. Moses took an oath not to help any cruel oppressors
in his life. He was fully aware of the
consequences of his action. The dominant
Egyptians could not tolerate the death of an Egyptian. Moses
knew they would not investigate the event to find out the truth; it was enough
for them to condemn him unheard because he had showed the courage to stand
against an Egyptian.
The next day, Moses left the palace in fear
and came to the city to find out how the incident of an Egyptian death was
viewed by the common folks. As he
entered the city, he saw the same Israeli fighting with another Egyptian. When the Israeli saw Moses he called for his
help. Moses said, “Are you always
picking rows with people? Indeed you are
a very quarrelsome person.” However,
this time the Israeli was right and the Egyptian was wrong, so he raised his
hand to separate them. However, the
Egyptian cried out loudly, “Do you want to kill me as you killed
yesterday. I think you are doing this to
establish your superiority over the Egyptians.
Moreover, you are unable to do any correct thing.”
Suddenly
Moses saw a highly placed Egyptian who had been working on the council of the pharaoh. This Egyptian was a great admirer of Moses
and his sense of justice. Moses
explained to him that he was not helping an Israeli because he belonged to his
nation; he was helping a poor miserable person who had done no wrong. The highly placed person listened patiently
and then advised Moses to run away because a royal council had decreed his
death. The royal council did not care to
probe into the matter; for them it was enough that an Egyptian man was killed
while fighting an Israeli. “Where shall
I go so that the pharaoh cannot punish me,” thought Moses. The only suitable place was Midian. Although
he was afraid of the pharaoh‘s men following him, still he traveled to it.
Moses’ first stop was a well where
shepherds came to water their flocks. He
saw two girls there who were stopping their sheep from drinking water. “Why
are you stopping your sheep from drinking water?” he asked. One girl said, “We are stopping our sheep
because these shepherds are strong men and we are girls who have no one to help
us; therefore, we have to wait until their sheep finish drinking. Our father is very old and he cannot help
us.” Moses quietly left his place and drew water for their sheep. The shepherds saw the strong physique of
Moses and offered no resistance.
When the
girls reached home early, their father said, “Why have you returned home so
early today?”
“Father,
there was a man at the well who helped us draw water for our sheep,” they
replied.
“Do I know
the man you are talking about?” asked the father.
“I don’t
think so. He looked like a stranger in
this place,” said one of the girls.
“If he is a
stranger and no one knows him, then run and invite him to our house. Tell him that I want to reward him for his
good deed.” Moses was sitting under a
tree near the well. He was thinking that
wherever he went the same story of oppressors and oppressed was repeated. Was there no safe place in this wide world
for weak creatures? No one has created
water. It is a free gift from God, but
still the thirsty sheep of the girls were not allowed to drink water along with
the sheep which belonged to powerful chiefs.
He was so
absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the shy girl walking towards him. “Come with me to my house because
my father wants to see you and reward you for the good you have done,” she said,
trying hard to control her bashfulness.
Moses quietly followed the girl, and told his story to her father. According to some historians the old man
was the prophet Shuaib. Moses and Shuaib
were busy talking when the girl said to her father, “Why don’t you hire this
man; he is strong and honest.”
The father
said to Moses, “Young man, I want to make a bargain with you. If you stay with me as an employee for eight
years and look after my flocks, I will marry you to one of my daughters. After completing the agreed time you can
leave with your family. However, if you
would like to work for ten years, it will be considered a good gesture on your
part, but I will not insist on it. Moses
and Shuaib made a contract and Almighty God was declared as their sole witness.
