Read "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
RACHEL GREW QUIET. She stopped attending Inna and did not rise from her blanket until Leah shook her and insisted she help the rest of the women in their work. Only then would Rachel spin or weave or work the garden, but wordlessly and without a smile. Jacob could not rouse her from her sadness. Rebuffed by her unbending silence, he stopped calling her to him at night. Her sorrow became a presence so bleak, even the babies began to avoid their pretty auntie. Rachel was alone in her own black night.
Bilhah saw Rachel's despair and went to her where she huddled on her blanket. The little sister lay down beside Rachel and held her as gently as a mother. "Let me go to Jacob on your behalf," said Bilhah, in a whisper. "Let me bear a son on your knees. Let me be your womb and your breasts. Let me bleed your blood and shed your tears. Let me become your vessel until your time comes, for your time will yet arrive. Let me be your hope, Rachel. I will not disappoint you."