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Akiva paused and the rain hammered down even harder. He was soaked to the skin but barely noticed it and had already decided on his next desperate step for the sake of his true love.
“I can’t endure this uncertainty any longer. I’ll go right now to Kalba Savua and talk to him. What will be will be. Maybe he’ll understand after all and agree to give me Rachel’s hand in marriage and if he doesn’t, I’ll give up my life. I don’t need this world without her.”
Akiva got up and in his muddy clothes, set off decisively in the direction of Kalba Savua’s house. He wiped his tears away with his hand and went over in his mind the words he would say to Rachel’s father. The tears carried on streaming down his cheeks and he brushed them away with his palm which was plastered in clay. “Where are all these tears coming from? I haven’t cried since I was a child,” thought Akiva. “My soul must have warmed and softened since I met Rachel and everything in me that was sleeping all these years has now been awakened.”
As he approached the house, the shepherd saw the old servant locking the front door for the night. Akiva spoke to him and asked him to let him in so he could meet with Kalba Savua. Seeing the shepherd’s tatty appearance, the servant tried to find out what was going on but Akiva insisted that the servant let him into the house. Rachel, whose windows looked out onto the yard heard the two men arguing and looked out of the window to see what was happening. Rachel recognised Akiva and seeing that the elderly servant was refusing to let Akiva into the house, she dressed swiftly and went downstairs.
“What’s going on?” Rachel asked the servant.
“The shepherd, Akiva, wants to talk to your father, lady. I’ve told him that it isn’t an appropriate time and that Kalba Savua has already retired for the evening,” the servant explained anxiously.
“Go inside. I shall talk to him myself,” Rachel instructed.
Rachel walked towards Akiva who was covered in mud and trembling with cold. Water was dripping from his clothing and his eyes still ran with tears, except that now they were tears of happiness.
“Akiva,” Rachel asked anxiously, looking at his face, “What’s happened? Why do you want to see my father? Has someone insulted you?”
“No,” said Akiva humbly, dropping his head fall so that Rachel would not see that he was weeping.
“You are soaked. You’ll catch your death of cold. Wait here and I’ll bring you some warm clothes,” said Rachel.
Ignoring what she had said, Akiva asked the question that had been tormenting him, “Rachel, we haven’t seen each other for three days now. I was worried about you and thought something had happened. Why didn’t you come to the river? Have I offended you?”
