He could not understand Leah’s obsession. She never stopped planning how she could get more children. “Sleep with Zilpah again,” she urged Jacob. “Let’s see if my luck has truly taken a turn for the better.”
Jacob found Zilpah a pleasant change from Leah. She was young and eager to please. Most of all she was quiet and never came with some hidden motive. So it was easy for him to let Zilpah take Leah’s turn. To his surprise once again she became pregnant. Leah was overjoyed. She named the child Asher, meaning “happy.” “What amazing luck is mine,” she said. “How the other women will envy me. I am truly happy.”
Now there was constant tension intensified by Rachel’s decision to make their courtyard more attractive. “I want it to be both pleasant and restful,” she said.
For a whole month she worked planting herbs and flowers in the narrow plot against the far wall. She brought in servants to chop up the hard-packed earth and dig pits for a grapevine and finally a fig tree. Last of all she bought reed cages for pigeons and small songbirds. It took time and a great deal of work, but it totally transformed the humble courtyard.
It was not to last long. Leah’s rowdy sons tumbled and tussled, roughly breaking off the tender twigs of the fig tree to swat at each other, then wrestled in the flower plot totally crushing the small plants. Finally, they climbed up and opened the cages just to see the birds fly out.
Rachel was at first crushed and then furious. “If Bilhah and I can manage our boys, surely you can do as well,” she chided Leah.
“They meant no harm,” Leah said. “There are just so many of them.” She seemed almost proud that her sons were so boisterous and unruly.
Relief finally came when it was decided that the older sons of Leah could help with the wheat harvest. They were young, but many tasks could be easily done by the boys. Jacob was proud to have sons who could help him in the field. They could not wield the heavy flint sickle, but they could follow the reapers and gather the stray stalks.
The boys had watched with interest as Jacob had taken an old sickle loaned to him by Laban and repaired it. He had found some of the matched pieces of flint missing around the edge and had carefully reshaped new bits of flint to take their place. He then had melted the pitch and glued them in place. When he was finished he had a sickle that was better than the new ones that he had seen in the market.
Every part of the harvest was of interest to the boys. They had energy enough not only to glean every stray stalk of wheat but also to explore and make discoveries that were quite unrelated to the harvest. They found old bird nests, strangely shaped stones, hedgehogs, and small mice to collect and take home.
It was Leah’s oldest son, Reuben, who made the choicest discovery. He was running after one of his brothers when suddenly, right at his feet, he saw a strange plant with ovate green leaves and whitish flowers. He stopped abruptly and bent down to look at it more closely. He was sure it was the plant his mother prized above all others. He took a stick and dug around the base until he had totally loosened it. Then, with a tug, the plant came free in his hand. He saw the strange human shape and knew it was indeed a mandrake.
He didn’t stop to tell anyone where he was going but ran as fast as he could back to the house. He sprang into the courtyard with a bound and came face-to-face with Rachel. “What have you there?” she said.
“I think it’s one of those plants my mother treasures. They give a woman the children she wants.”
Rachel looked at it more closely and saw that it was a mandrake and immediately wanted it. “Where are you going with it?” she asked.
“I’m taking it to my mother.” He held it behind his back and edged toward the door to his mother’s room.
Rachel followed him. “Your son has found these mandrakes,” she announced to Leah. “Of course you have no need of them.”
Leah quickly snatched the mandrakes from her son and turned to Rachel. “So,” she said, “it’s not enough that you have stolen my husband, but now you are about to steal my son’s mandrakes.”
“No, no,” Rachel said. “I am ready to bargain. Give me the mandrakes and you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”
Leah hesitated only a moment, and then she thrust the mandrakes into Rachel’s hands. “I accept the bargain. I get Jacob tonight and you get the mandrakes.”
* * *
Leah wasted no time. As soon as the door was shut, she hurried to change her clothes, twine gold threads through her hair, and outline her eyes with dark kohl. She snatched up a head covering and was soon hurrying across the courtyard and out the gate. She wanted to meet Jacob and make sure he knew that he was to spend the night with her.