In memory of VWB E. Paul LeRoy, who so enjoyed this story...
The Basque Sheepherder And The Shepherd’s Psalm
(This was printed in the April 1973 issue of the Sacramento Scottish Rite News with no author given)
Old Fernando D’Alfonso is a Basque herder employed by one of the big Nevada sheep outfits. He is rated as one of the best sheep rangers in the state, and he should be; for back of him are at least twenty generations of Iberian shepherds.
But D’Alfonso is more than a sheepherder; he is a patriarch of this guild, the traditions and secrets of which have been handed down from generation to generation just as were those of the Damascus steel tempers and other trade guilds of the pre-medieval age. Despite a 30-year absence from his absence from his homeland he is still full of the legends, the mysteries, the religious fervor of his native hills.
I sat with him one night under the clear, starry skies, his sheep bedded down beside a pool of sparkling water. As we were preparing to curl up in our blankets, he suddenly began a dissertation in a jargon of Greek and Basque. When he had finished, I asked him what he had said. In a reply he began to quote in English the Twenty-third Psalm. There on the desert I learned the shepherd’s literal interpretation of this beautiful poem.
“David and his ancestors,” said D’Alfonso, “knew sheep and their ways and David has translated a sheep’s musing into simple words. The daily repetition of this Psalm fills the sheepherder with reverence for his calling. Our guild takes this poem as a lodestone to guide us. It is our bulwark when the days are hot or stormy; when the nights are dark, when wild animals surround our bands. Many of its lines are the statement of the simple requirements and actual duties of a Holy Land shepherd, whether he lives today or followed the same calling thousands of years ago. Phrase by phrase, it has a well-understood meaning for us.”
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
“Sheep instinctively know,” said D’Alfonso, “that where they have been folded for the night the shepherd has planned out their grazing for the morrow. It may be that he will take the sheep back over the same range; it may be that he will go to a new grazing ground. They do not worry. His guidance has been good in the past they have faith in the future because they know he has their well-being in view.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
“Sheep graze from around 3:30 in the morning until about ten. They then lie down for three or four hours and rest,” said D’Alfonso. “When they are contentedly chewing their cuds, the shepherd knows they are putting on fat. Consequently the good shepherd starts his flocks out in the early hours on the rougher herbage, moving on through the morning in the richer, sweeter grasses, and finally coming to a shady place for their forenoon rest in fine green pastures, best grazing of the day. Sheep, resting in such happy surroundings, feel contentment.”
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
“Every shepherd knows,” said the Basque, “that sheep will not drink gurgling water. There are many small springs in the hills of the Holy Land, whose waters run down the valley only to evaporate in the desert sun. Although the sheep need the water, they will not drink from these fast-flowing streams. The shepherd must find a place where rocks or erosion have made a little pool, or fashion with his hands a pocket sufficient to hold a bucketful.”
He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Holy Land sheep exceed in herding instinct in the Spanish Merino or the French Rambouillet,” went on D’Alfonso. “Each takes his place in the grazing line in the morning and keeps the same position throughout the day. Once, however, during the day each sheep leaves its place and goes to the shepherd, whereupon the shepherd stretches out his hand, as the sheep approaches with expectant eyes and mild little baas. The shepherd rubs its nose and ears and scratches its chin, whispers affectionately into its ears. The sheep, meanwhile rubs against his leg or, if the shepherd is sitting down, nibbles at his ear, and rubs its cheek against his face. After a few minutes of this communion with the master the sheep returns to its place in the feeding line.”
Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
There is an actual Valley of the Shadow of Death in Palestine, and every sheepherder from Spain to Dalmatia knows of it. It is south of the Jericho Road leading from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea and is a narrow defile through a mountain range. Climatic and grazing conditions make it necessary for the sheep to be moved through this valley for seasonal feeding each year.
“The valley is four and a half miles long. Its side walls are over 1500 feet high in places and it is only ten or twelve feet wide at the bottom. Travel through the valley is dangerous, because its floor, badly eroded by cloudbursts, has gullies seven or eight feet deep. Actual footing on solid rock is so narrow in many places that a sheep cannot turn around, and it is an unwritten law of shepherds that flocks must go up the valley in the morning hours and down toward the eventide, lest flocks meet in the defile. Mules have not been able to make the trip for centuries, but sheep and goat herders from the earliest Old Testament days have maintained a passage for their stock.
“About halfway through the valley the walk crosses from one side to the other at a place where the path is cut in two by an eight-foot gully. One section of the path is about 18 inches higher than the other, the sheep must jump across it. The shepherd stands at this break and coaxes or forces the sheep to make the leap. If a sheep slips and lands in the gully, the shepherd’s rod is brought into play. The old-style crook is encircled around a large sheep’s neck or a small sheep’s chest, and it is lifted to safety. If a more modern crook is used, the sheep is caught about the hoofs and lifted up to the walk.”
“Many wild dogs lurk in the shadows of the valley looking for prey. As the sheep go along the defiles the leader may come upon such an enemy and he baas a warning. The shepherd skillfully throws his staff at the dog and knocks the animal into the gully where he is killed. Thus the sheep have learned to fear no evil even in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, for their master is there to protect them from harm.”
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies
“David’s meaning is a simple one,” said D’Alfonso, “when conditions on the Holy Land sheep ranges are known. Poisonous plants abound which are fatal to grazing animals. Each spring the shepherd must be constantly alert. When he finds the plants he takes his mattock and goes on ahead of the flock, grubbing out every stock and root he can see. As he digs out the stocks, he lays them upon little stone pyres, some of which were built by shepherds in Old Testament days, and by the morrow they are dry enough to burn. In the meanwhile, the sheep are led into the newly prepared pasture, which is now free from poisonous plants, and in the presence of their deadly plant enemies they eat in peace.”
Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over
“At every sheepfold there is a big earthen bowl of olive oil and a large stone jar of water. As the sheep come in for the night they are led to a gate. The shepherd lays his rod across the top of the gateway just higher than the backs of the sheep. As each sheep passes in single file, he quickly examines it for briars in the ears, snags in the chest or weeping of the eyes from dust or scratches. When such conditions are found, he drops the rod across the sheep’s back and it steps out of line.”
“Each sheep’s wounds are carefully cleaned. Then the shepherd dips his hand into the olive oil and anoints the injury. A large cup is dipped into the water, kept cool by evaporation in the unglazed pottery, and is brought out – never half full but always overflowing. The sheep will sink its nose into the water clear to its eyes, if fevered, and drink until fully refreshed.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.