THE BOYHOOD OF JESUS.
His outward life was the life of all those of his age and station, and place of birth. He lived as lived the other children of peasant parents in that quiet town, and in a great measure as they live now. He who has seen the children of Nazareth in their red caftans and bright tunics of silk or cloth, girded with a many-colored sash, and sometimes covered with a loose outer jacket of white or blue—he who, has watched their games, and heard their ringing laughter as they wander about the hills of their little, native vale, or play in bands on the hillside, beside their sweet and abundant fountain,—may perhaps form some conception of how Jesus looked and played when he, too, was a child.
And the traveler who has followed any of those children—as I have done—to their simple homes, and seen the scanty furniture, the plain, but sweet and wholesome food, the uneventful, happy, patriarchal life, may form a vivid conception of the manner in which Jesus lived. Nothing can be plainer than those houses, with the doves sunning themselves on the white roofs, and the vines wreathing about them. The mats, or carpets, are laid loose along the walls; shoes and sandals are taken off at the threshold; from the center hangs a lamp, which forms the only ornament of the room; in some recess in the wall is placed the wooden chest, painted with bright colors, which contains the books or other possessions of the family; on a ledge that runs around the wall, within easy reach, are neatly rolled up the gay-colored quilts which serve as beds, and on the same ledge are ranged the earthen vessels for daily use; near the door stand the large common water jars of red clay, with a few twigs and green leaves—often of aromatic shrub—thrust into their orifices to keep the water cool.
At mealtime a painted, wooden stool is placed in the center of the apartment, a large tray is put upon it, and in the middle of the tray stands the dish of rice or meat, or libban, or stewed fruits, from which all help themselves in common. Both before and after the meal, the servant, or the youngest member of the family, pours water over the hands from a brazen ewer into a brazen bowl. So quiet, so simple, so humble, so uneventful, was the outward life of the family of Nazareth.—
Farrar's Life of Christ.