Rebekah sighed. “Why can’t we just say these things plainly?”

Isaac laughed. “All right, then. Eliezer, you’re the man, of course—who else could it be?”

“You are discharging me from your service?”

“Of course not. I’m finally paying for it.”

“But I bound myself to Abraham forever.”

“Stay bound to Abraham. I’m Isaac, and I declare that you and all your children are free. What I give you now will be your inheritance to pass on to your children. Even if you think you shouldn’t receive so much, remember how little it will be divided among your grandsons.”

“But if I’m not the steward of Isaac, I’m only Eliezer. Who is Eliezer?”

“All your cattle and sheep and goats will low and bleat your name. Soon everyone will know it.”

Eliezer bowed himself to the earth then, and wept, and accepted the gift that Isaac gave him.

After Eliezer left Isaac’s tent, Isaac sat heavily on the rug and said, “It wasn’t about the wells or the Philistines, you know.”

“I should hope not,” said Rebekah. “The right to water is precious and shouldn’t be so easily abandoned.”

“I thought my father should have done this before he died. I even suggested it, but Father said that I’d need all my strength and all my wealth to maintain my position. Which I suppose is true. Father never needed wealth—he could walk into a king’s palace without a single servant, without being armed himself, and still be treated with the respect due to a great lord. While I need to have a few hundred thousand sheep and cows and goats under my control before anyone will take me seriously.”

“You underestimate yourself.”

“You overestimate me,” said Isaac. “But I’m getting older and my vision is beginning to fail. It’s better if I rule over a smaller household. It’s more in line with my abilities.”

“Well, I could rule over a household twice this size,” said Rebekah.

When Isaac looked at her with dismay, she laughed and nudged him. “Isaac, you and I are both very good at ruling a household peacefully. If you were king of the whole earth, there’s not a city that wouldn’t be better governed. But I’m content with half of what your father had, or half of that, or half of that, though you should keep in mind that a vast household will be left alone by enemies the way a snake never bothers to try to swallow a sheep. But if you shrink your holdings small enough, then some ambitious desert snake or city viper will begin to think he can swallow you up and add what you have to his domain.”

“I’ll heed the warning,” said Isaac. “I have no one else to give another half of my wealth to.”

“Until you decide to divide what you have between your sons.”