ures with his left hand, and you can guess the
inn-keeper's reply. Already he has put the proffered money into the
wallet he carries at his belt, and listens attentively to the orders
given him. He may privately wonder at his guest's singular kindness to
a stranger, but with him business is business, and his place is to
carry out his guest's wishes.

You see how the hostler's boy magnifies his office, swaggering with
legs wide apart. Even the feather in his cap bristles with importance.
This bit of comedy contrasts with the almost tragic expression of the
wounded man. The stolid fellow who lifts him seems to hurt him very
much, and he clasps his hands in an agony of pain. He seems to be
telling the gentleman at the window of his recent misfortune.

To study the picture more critically, it will be interesting to notice
how the important figures are massed together in the centre, and how
the composition is built into a pyramid. Draw a line from the
inn-keeper's head down the stairway at the left, and follow the
outline of the Good Samaritan's right shoulder along the body of the
wounded traveler, and you have the figure. This pyramidal form is
emphasized again by the wainscot of the stairway at the left, and the
well-sweep at the right.

To appreciate fully the character of the etching, one must examine
attentively all the different kinds of lines which produce the varying
effects of light and shadow. Below the picture Rembrandt wrote his
name and the date 1633, with two Latin words meaning that he designed
and etched the plate himself. This would seem to show that he was well
pleased with his work, and it is interesting to learn that the great
German poet, Goethe, admired the composition extravagantly.

VII

THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE

The story which the picture of the Presentation illustrates is a story
of the infancy of Jesus Christ. According to the custom of the Jews at
that time, every male child was "presented," or dedicated, to the Lord
when about a month old. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, a small
town about four miles from the city of Jerusalem, the Jewish capital,
where the temple was. When he was about a month old, his mother Mary
and her husband Joseph, who were devout Jews, brought him to the great
city for the ceremony of the presentation in the temple. Now the
temple was a great place of worship where many religious ceremonies
were taking place all the time.

Ordinarily, a par