# A Tale of Jerusalem explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Edgar Allan Poe.

## What happens

Three Jewish sub-collectors of the offering, Abel-Phittim, Buzi-Ben-Levi, and Simeon the Pharisee, hurry to the ramparts of Jerusalem to receive lambs from the besieging Roman army in exchange for silver shekels. After lowering a basket of coins, they pull up what they believe to be a sacrificial animal, only to discover it is a pig, a creature abhorrent to their faith.

## Themes in this chapter

### Isolation and Alienation

The Gizbarim are physically isolated on the high ramparts, and culturally alienated from the Roman besiegers, whom they view as idolatrous heathens.

### The Supernatural and the Gothic

The story's darkly comic twist—a pig delivered instead of a lamb—evokes a grotesque, almost supernatural betrayal of sacred expectations.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator recounts the story of the Gizbarim at the walls of Jerusalem.

## Key lines

> Let us hurry to the walls... for it is the last hour of the fourth watch, being sunrise; and the idolaters, in fulfilment of the promise of Pompey, should be awaiting us with the lambs for the sacrifices.

The collectors rush to the city walls at dawn because the Roman soldiers, as promised by Pompey, are supposed to deliver lambs for their religious offerings.

_Establishes the urgency and the transactional nature of the encounter._

> Lower away the basket with the accursed coin which it has broken the jaw of a noble Roman to pronounce!

A Roman soldier shouts for them to lower the basket of silver coins, complaining that the Hebrew language is difficult for Romans to speak.

_Highlights the cultural and linguistic divide between the Romans and Jews._

> Now El Emanu!... it is the unutterable flesh!

The collectors cry out in horror when they realize the animal they pulled up is a pig, which is forbidden by their dietary laws.

_The climax reveals the cruel joke played by the Romans, subverting the sacred transaction._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/chapters/a-tale-of-jerusalem
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_14_se/chapters