ACT II

Zeresh! call you deathA feast!ZereshA glorious feast on which my soulAlready feeds, and Esther shall be there![Re-enter Haman and Friends.]HamanBe seated at the table.CitizensOf Shushan, patriots of Persia, friends,The servant of the king has called you hereTo tell you of his triumph and to askYour sage advice. Two days ago the princeAnd I sat down together to a feastWithin the palace walls and drank your health.The royal cup was blushing like the spumeOf autumn clouds at sunset, when a wailArose in Shushan that has sore perplexedThe people. Mordecai, the haughty Jew,Who sits beside the palace gate, refusedTo bow or do me reverence, althoughAdmonished by the king. I was bornA humble subject in the private ranksOf life; but now I wear the signet ringOf Xerxes. Friends, the law that dooms the JewsTo simultaneous slaughter can not beRevoked. Last night the queen invited meTo banquet with her lord. The necklace thatShe wore of iridescent pearls was likeA rainbow over polar snows. Ah, sheWas fair to look upon! And now my cupWas filled to overflowing—[Zeresh shows great emotion.](Zeresh, areYou ill?)—when Esther begged that I would comeAgain to-morrow to another feastHer hand would lay for Haman and the king.My wealth is multiplied beyond my ken;The sceptre is almost within my grasp.But all these things avail me naught, so longAs yonder hated Jew remains unbent.A FriendDestroy the brute at once!HamanOh, that will notSuffice. 'Tis not his death, but homage thatMust sweeten my revenge. Ah, I would seeHim groveling on the earth as Haman passed.My rank and station must be recognized.I sit beside the king; I am premierOf Persia. Yet this Jewish dog is stillUnmoved!ZereshHang him where the kites will eatHis eyes!HamanO Zeresh, you are like the rising sun—An inspiration in the hour of gloom.We'll build this gallows fifty cubits high,And then his Hebrew pride will bite the dust.Oh, I can hear him whining like a cur,My love, your wisdom is above the head.A woman's heart is like an oracleDivine. Prepare this gallows. Friends, I goAt dawn to greet the king. At night we dineAlone with Esther, and—[Zeresh faints.]Why Zeresh, areYou ill again? Send for the leech. Her bloodIs over wrought with too much happiness.[Curtain.]ACT IIScene IPlace—The palace of the king. Outer room of banquet hall. Curtain back.[Enter Meheuman, Biztha, and Smerdis.]MeheumanAhafid has become most deaf of late;Advancing age has wrought a piteous changeIn him. He can not understand our king.Smerdis'Tis not the king but age that makes him groan.I mean this age, the age in which we live.[Meheuman and Biztha exeunt on the opposite side of stage, as Ahafid enters more stooped, and singing.]Ahafid[Sings.]A country but no king,An empire but no throne,An upstart wears the signet ring,My harp has lost its tone.I can no longer sing great Persia's praise.SmerdisThe trouble isn't with the harp, the country, king, nor throne;Nor that an upstart wears the ring: Ahafid's voice is gone.AhafidWhat say you, Smerdis?SmerdisArt is marvelous.AhafidEven Ahasuerus once was king,He was a despot, it is true, but stillA prince.SmerdisIf prince, then why not still a king?AhafidEh, Smerdis?Smerdis[Aloud.]More than prince and less than king.AhafidWhy now the sceptre, aye, almost the crownAre worn by Haman, not of noble birth,But lowborn, vulgar, raised by royal willTo first place in a land renowned for blood.SmerdisTo first place in a land renowned for fools.AhafidWhat's that?SmerdisThis Haman is a cunning fox.AhafidThe exile of the virtuous Vashti wasA fatal sin.SmerdisShe should have feasted withThe king.AhafidI did not hear.Smerdis[Aloud.]Old Xerxes lostThe finest houri in his harem. Oh,The royal fool!AhafidThe Jewess Esther's butA girl, as beauteous as a lustrous star,But innocent as dawn of dew-washed day.SmerdisAs wise as snakes and innocent as doves!AhafidWhat, Smerdis, what? You catch my simile?SmerdisAh, yes, Ahafid, yes, Aurora inThe bath pool. That was fine. Your poetryLike wine improves with age. Go on, go on,Let's have another picture of the dawn.AhafidHer beauty made her queen, but can not saveHer life.SmerdisAhasuerus will attendTo that.Ahafid[Not hearing.] Ahasuerus does not seemTo know a Persian law can not be changed.SmerdisHe knows that lawyers can be bribed.AhafidWhat's that?Smerdis[Louder.]Just thinking of the lustrous stars of dawn.AhafidBut Mordecai believes that Esther canControl the king, and yet may save the Jews.SmerdisI am more interested in fools than Jews.AhafidThe golden sceptre was extended whenShe went into his presence yesterday.Last night she banqueted with him but stillRefused to name the favor that she wished.SmerdisA bathrobe or some new stars for her crown.Ahafid[Not hearing.]The king does not suspect her origin.What will he do when he finds out the truth?SmerdisSince when has Xerxes cared for truth?AhafidWhat say?SmerdisHe'll add two extra stars to Esther's crown.AhafidBeloved Vashti lives in poverty,The victim of a lewd and brutal whim.And now it seems that Esther's fate was sealedWhen Haman wrote that every Jew must dieBecause the Hebrew Mordecai refusedObeisance to his over-bearing pride.SmerdisWatch Esther smash that seal.AhafidI did not hear.Smerdis[Louder.]Still quoting lines upon the innocenceOf lustrous stars, and dawn of dew-washed day.Ahafid[Singing.]Minstrelsy shall be no more,The poet's tongue is still;The strings that woke to deeds of yoreNo longer feel the thrill.SmerdisI'm glad no more we'll feel the thrillFor I, for one have had my fill.AhafidEh, Smerdis?Smerdis[Louder.]Bathing in that simile.[Exeunt Ahafid and Smerdis.]Scene II[The curtain rises, disclosing Ahasuerus, Esther, Haman, and attendants at the banquet table.]AhasuerusBeloved Esther, my most beauteous queen,This banquet does surpass in excellenceEven the feast of yesterday, which youPrepared for Haman and the king. Your handGrows deft with practice.EstherBut, my lord, you areA connoisseur, and can but speak these wordsIn flattery. O king, it was my heart,And not my hand that flavored every dishThat lies before you.AhasuerusEsther, now it isYour tongue that flatters. Still, it does rejoiceMe much to hear such language from the queen.A connoisseur, say you? Haman, canYou tell me, now, what bay or bight in allThe salted seas once held this shrimp?[Holding up shrimp.]Haman[Tasting it meditatively.]My lord,I think it must have been the Persian Gulf.AhasuerusHa, ha, Haman, why you do not knowA wild goose from the Bird of Paradise.This crangonoid is found nowhere exceptAlong the Red Sea beach not far from whereThe hosts of Pharaoh were engulfed and lost.Esther[With suppressed emotion.]Oh, king, your tongue is most acute. But whence,Think you, this tinct of cinnamon that makesThe savor of the dish.Ahasuerus[Tasting for a long time.]I give it up,Unless it came from Java or Ceylon.Esther[Laughing, changing rapidly to deep feeling.]My lord, it is not cinnamon at all,But spice that grew a thousand years agoIn hills beyond the Jordon. Haman, canYou tell the flavor of the grape that fillsYour goblet?Haman[Flattered.]Oh, I think it must have grownIn islands of the blue Aegean Sea.Esther[Turning to the king.]My lord, it is the selfsame cup they drankFrom sacred vessels at Belshazzar's feastThat night in Babylon.HamanWhat means the queen,This wine is not that old, and yet, 'tis notExcelled at banquets of the gods.Ahasuerus[Showing effect of wine.]Nor kings.This is a joyous night! Oh, queen, your witHas filled my cup with wine of happiness.What think you, Haman, should be done to himThe king delighteth most to honor now?HamanBring forth the robe, O king, your majestyDoes wear, and place it on the one your graceDoes most delight to honor. Xerxes, setThis man upon your royal horse, and placeYour majesty's own jeweled crown uponHis head, and let him be proclaimedThroughout the public streets.Ahasuerus[Rises. Emphatic.]So let it thenBe done to Mordecai, the Jew besideThe palace gate.HamanWhat words are these?You can not mean the Jew!Ahasuerus[More emphatic.]The Jew I mean.Last night I could not sleep, and so I hadThe book of records read, the chronicles,Wherein I learned that this same MordecaiThe Jew had saved Ahasuerus' life,When Teresh and another chamberlainHad sought to lay the hand of violenceUpon your king. Let nothing fail of allThat you have spoken should be done to himThe king delighteth now to honor most.And Esther, tell Ahasuerus nowYour dearest wish. On yesterday I beggedTo know the favor you did most desireAnd now it shall be granted unto you,Whatever your request, even to halfMy kingdom, it shall be performed.Esther[With hands extended toward the king.]Have IFound favor in your sight, O king, then letMy life be given unto me at myPetition and my people live at myRequest! For we are sold to be destroyed—To perish and be slain.Ahasuerus[Surprised and dazed.]O where is he—Oh, who is he, that dare presume to layThe hand of violence upon my queen!EstherThere stands this adversary, O my king,The wicked Haman!AhasuerusHaman! Haman! WhatCan be the meaning of this speech? This manI have advanced to be my premier?EstherI mean this craven whom you have advancedTo put to death with your own royal sealThe queen, as well as every other JewThat breathes the Persian air, both young and oldAlike, the laughing child and gray-haired sire.AhasuerusWhat! Esther, you a Jew!Esther[Proudly.]I am a Jew.A daughter of the tribe of Benjamin—Pure Hebrew blood![A dramatic pause. Esther awaits the decision of the king, who for a time seems to waver, then extends his sceptre toward Esther. Harbonah, the king's high officer, appears. Haman throws himself at Esther's feet.]Haman[Pleading.]Oh, queen, I do beseechYou, save me from his wrath.Ahasuerus[Angrily.]Harbonah, letThis traitor, Haman, die at once.HarbonahMy lord,You know the scaffold that the premier builtFor Mordecai?AhasuerusThe premier! What's that,Harbonah? You mock your king? Let himBe hanged upon this gallows. Call the Jew!He holds the first place in my kingdom now.[Exeunt Ahasuerus, Esther, Haman, Harbonah, and attendants.]Zeresh[Who has been concealed in a corner of the hall, advancing.]At Esther's feet! An Aggagite! Ha, Ha!A hater of the Jews! You hypocrite!A lover of this queen! A paramourOf her who boasts that she can trace her bloodAn unpolluted stream a thousand yearsTo one who watched his humble flocks on bleakJudean hills. A shepherd queen that rulesThe Persian throne, and you, O Haman, youThat fed on venom for her race, are now,Though premier, a cringing, craven wretch,Begging this Jewish girl for worthless life."A rainbow over polar snows," ha, ha!No doubt her grace was fair to look upon.False-hearted queen, O royal prostitute!It was your jeweled hand that laid this feastBut Zeresh's heart that furnished all the wine![Curtain.]ACT IIIScene ISome time Later. Room in the Palace of Shushan.[Enter Ahafid and Smerdis.]Ahafid[Singing.]In the morning man may flourishIn the evening be cut down;Dawn may find a hero famous,Nightfall see him lose renown.Smerdis[Singing.]In his youth Ahafid's singingWas the pride of Persia's rule;Now that age has come upon him,Hear him braying like a mule.AhafidStill singing like a nightingale, say you?Smerdis[Aloud.]I did. [Aside] The long-eared kind that crops the grass.AhafidHaman's hanged upon the scaffold thatHe built for Mordecai. The Jew now wearsThe signet ring that sealed his nation's life.His nation's life? But how can he explainThe slaughter of the Persian hosts?SmerdisNow if he would, I think he could, and if he should,He'd thus explain: "The hosts were slain because my brainWas not insane. So I raised Cain, obtained the reignOf this campaign, and still remain, though they were slain."AhafidI think I must be growing deaf. You rhymed?SmerdisI only spoke a little joke. If I could sing, I'd say the ring,And not the king explains the thing.AhafidBut doesThe God of Abraham inspire revenge?The worshippers of Moloch would have shrunkFrom such a day of death. I marvel thatQueen Esther did not intervene. She rulesThe king. But wherefore did I say the king?SmerdisI think it must have been to rhyme with ring.AhafidDarius' son's a spineless debauchee.[Sings.]The Jew the purple robe enfoldsAnd eke the royal gown;For Mordecai the sceptre holdsAnd Esther wears the crown.[Exit Ahafid.]SmerdisAhafid said he couldn't sing Ahasuerus' praise,And that his harp had lost the tone it had in other days.But though the Jews are on the throne and Xerxes maudlin full,Ahafid once more tunes his lyre and bellows like a bull.Look out, here comes the Jew, a cloud uponHis brow, the weight of empires on his brain.What matters does he now revolve? I fearThe day of Adar troubles Mordecai.We'll stand aside and hear the premier.[Exit Smerdis.][Enter Mordecai meditatively, followed by Zeresh, who is unseen by him at first.]MordecaiThe name of Haman perish from the earth!The seed of Abraham be multipliedUntil they are as numberless as sandsUpon ocean's shore! This was my prayer,I learned it at my mother's knee. Was INot justified?Zeresh[Disguised as a Hebrew woman.]The Holy Scripture saith,"Vengeance belongs to God."MordecaiBut was I notHis instrument? Jehovah wrought through me;His will, not mine was done.ZereshAnd yet His willWas yours?MordecaiThe wicked Haman would have slainEven the queen herself and every JewThat lives within the hundred provincesOf Xerxes' weak and vacillating rule.ZereshThy action was no more than self-defense?MordecaiNot self-defense of Mordecai alone,But of my blood, of Esther and the sonsOf Jacob, exiled and defenseless else.The God of Abraham may chasten, butHe keeps his promises, nor will forsake.Rameses sat upon his haughty throneAnd knew not Joseph, for my people wereOppressed with bitter bondage and their livesMade hard in mortar and in brick; but stillThey grew in numbers and increased and waxedExceeding mighty, till the land was filledWith them. And then the king was sore afraidAnd wroth because the Jews had never bentThe knee at Egypt's shrines. He could enslaveBut not corrupt the children of the trueAnd living God. And then he calledThe Hebrew midwives and commanded themTo slay thereafter every son that mightBe born to Jacob's sacred blood. God keptHis covenant with Abraham and raisedUp Moses, the deliverer, and whenThe plagues had failed to soften Pharaoh's heart,The Lord smote every firstborn in the landOf Egypt, save where hyssop mixed with bloodWas sprinkled on the lintel of the doorAnd on the two side posts, as Moses hadDirected. Saviour of his people, sonOf Amram and of Jochebed, obscureLevites, found in an ark of bulrushesAfloat among the flags near by the spotWhere Pharaoh's daughter bathed, and yet, and yet—ZereshWas Moses not selected by the LordTo lead the Israelites into the LandOf Promise?Mordecai[As in soliloquy.]And did he not talk with GodUpon the Mount of Sinai, when smokeEnveloped all the peak, and even priestsWere not allowed upon that holy ground?Was I more lowly than was Amram's child?ZereshYet God exalted him until the throneOf Egypt was within his grasp.MordecaiThough I,Like Jesse's son, was once a shepherd's lad,To-day I rule ten million souls.Now Moses was a vessel of the LordWhen Death passed over every Hebrew home,But slew the firstborn where no blood was found.Was this revenge? Not Moses' hand, but God'sWas red.ZereshThe servant must obey his Lord.MordecaiI did not plot the Persians' death. The planOf God was in it all.ZereshElse why were youMade premier at the moment when the JewsFaced death in every province of the king?MordecaiIt was my hand that stopped the massacre,But God avenged the awful wrong!ZereshAnd Esther! How is it with her? You madeHer queen. She was a humble Hebrew girl,Unknown and friendless, but for Mordecai.MordecaiShe should be grateful for the crown I gave.ZereshBut Hatach says her cheeks are often wetWith tears.MordecaiIt may be that she weeps for himWho won her girlish heart before we cameTo Shushan or had ever seen the king.Zeresh

Zeresh! call you deathA feast!

Zeresh

A glorious feast on which my soulAlready feeds, and Esther shall be there!

[Re-enter Haman and Friends.]

Haman

Be seated at the table.CitizensOf Shushan, patriots of Persia, friends,The servant of the king has called you hereTo tell you of his triumph and to askYour sage advice. Two days ago the princeAnd I sat down together to a feastWithin the palace walls and drank your health.The royal cup was blushing like the spumeOf autumn clouds at sunset, when a wailArose in Shushan that has sore perplexedThe people. Mordecai, the haughty Jew,Who sits beside the palace gate, refusedTo bow or do me reverence, althoughAdmonished by the king. I was bornA humble subject in the private ranksOf life; but now I wear the signet ringOf Xerxes. Friends, the law that dooms the JewsTo simultaneous slaughter can not beRevoked. Last night the queen invited meTo banquet with her lord. The necklace thatShe wore of iridescent pearls was likeA rainbow over polar snows. Ah, sheWas fair to look upon! And now my cupWas filled to overflowing—

Be seated at the table.

CitizensOf Shushan, patriots of Persia, friends,The servant of the king has called you hereTo tell you of his triumph and to askYour sage advice. Two days ago the princeAnd I sat down together to a feastWithin the palace walls and drank your health.The royal cup was blushing like the spumeOf autumn clouds at sunset, when a wailArose in Shushan that has sore perplexedThe people. Mordecai, the haughty Jew,Who sits beside the palace gate, refusedTo bow or do me reverence, althoughAdmonished by the king. I was bornA humble subject in the private ranksOf life; but now I wear the signet ringOf Xerxes. Friends, the law that dooms the JewsTo simultaneous slaughter can not beRevoked. Last night the queen invited meTo banquet with her lord. The necklace thatShe wore of iridescent pearls was likeA rainbow over polar snows. Ah, sheWas fair to look upon! And now my cupWas filled to overflowing—

[Zeresh shows great emotion.]

(Zeresh, areYou ill?)—when Esther begged that I would comeAgain to-morrow to another feastHer hand would lay for Haman and the king.My wealth is multiplied beyond my ken;The sceptre is almost within my grasp.But all these things avail me naught, so longAs yonder hated Jew remains unbent.

A Friend

Destroy the brute at once!

Haman

Oh, that will notSuffice. 'Tis not his death, but homage thatMust sweeten my revenge. Ah, I would seeHim groveling on the earth as Haman passed.My rank and station must be recognized.I sit beside the king; I am premierOf Persia. Yet this Jewish dog is stillUnmoved!

Zeresh

Hang him where the kites will eatHis eyes!

Haman

O Zeresh, you are like the rising sun—An inspiration in the hour of gloom.We'll build this gallows fifty cubits high,And then his Hebrew pride will bite the dust.Oh, I can hear him whining like a cur,My love, your wisdom is above the head.A woman's heart is like an oracleDivine. Prepare this gallows. Friends, I goAt dawn to greet the king. At night we dineAlone with Esther, and—

[Zeresh faints.]

Why Zeresh, areYou ill again? Send for the leech. Her bloodIs over wrought with too much happiness.

[Curtain.]

Place—The palace of the king. Outer room of banquet hall. Curtain back.

[Enter Meheuman, Biztha, and Smerdis.]

Meheuman

Ahafid has become most deaf of late;Advancing age has wrought a piteous changeIn him. He can not understand our king.

Smerdis

'Tis not the king but age that makes him groan.I mean this age, the age in which we live.

[Meheuman and Biztha exeunt on the opposite side of stage, as Ahafid enters more stooped, and singing.]

Ahafid

[Sings.]

A country but no king,An empire but no throne,An upstart wears the signet ring,My harp has lost its tone.I can no longer sing great Persia's praise.

Smerdis

The trouble isn't with the harp, the country, king, nor throne;Nor that an upstart wears the ring: Ahafid's voice is gone.

Ahafid

What say you, Smerdis?

Smerdis

Art is marvelous.

Ahafid

Even Ahasuerus once was king,He was a despot, it is true, but stillA prince.

Smerdis

If prince, then why not still a king?

Ahafid

Eh, Smerdis?

Smerdis

[Aloud.]

More than prince and less than king.

Ahafid

Why now the sceptre, aye, almost the crownAre worn by Haman, not of noble birth,But lowborn, vulgar, raised by royal willTo first place in a land renowned for blood.

Smerdis

To first place in a land renowned for fools.

Ahafid

What's that?

Smerdis

This Haman is a cunning fox.

Ahafid

The exile of the virtuous Vashti wasA fatal sin.

Smerdis

She should have feasted withThe king.

Ahafid

I did not hear.

Smerdis

[Aloud.]

Old Xerxes lostThe finest houri in his harem. Oh,The royal fool!

Ahafid

The Jewess Esther's butA girl, as beauteous as a lustrous star,But innocent as dawn of dew-washed day.

Smerdis

As wise as snakes and innocent as doves!

Ahafid

What, Smerdis, what? You catch my simile?

Smerdis

Ah, yes, Ahafid, yes, Aurora inThe bath pool. That was fine. Your poetryLike wine improves with age. Go on, go on,Let's have another picture of the dawn.

Ahafid

Her beauty made her queen, but can not saveHer life.

Smerdis

Ahasuerus will attendTo that.

Ahafid

[Not hearing.] Ahasuerus does not seemTo know a Persian law can not be changed.

Smerdis

He knows that lawyers can be bribed.

Ahafid

What's that?

Smerdis

[Louder.]

Just thinking of the lustrous stars of dawn.

Ahafid

But Mordecai believes that Esther canControl the king, and yet may save the Jews.

Smerdis

I am more interested in fools than Jews.

Ahafid

The golden sceptre was extended whenShe went into his presence yesterday.Last night she banqueted with him but stillRefused to name the favor that she wished.

Smerdis

A bathrobe or some new stars for her crown.

Ahafid

[Not hearing.]

The king does not suspect her origin.What will he do when he finds out the truth?

Smerdis

Since when has Xerxes cared for truth?

Ahafid

What say?

Smerdis

He'll add two extra stars to Esther's crown.

Ahafid

Beloved Vashti lives in poverty,The victim of a lewd and brutal whim.And now it seems that Esther's fate was sealedWhen Haman wrote that every Jew must dieBecause the Hebrew Mordecai refusedObeisance to his over-bearing pride.

Smerdis

Watch Esther smash that seal.

Ahafid

I did not hear.

Smerdis

[Louder.]

Still quoting lines upon the innocenceOf lustrous stars, and dawn of dew-washed day.

Ahafid

[Singing.]

Minstrelsy shall be no more,The poet's tongue is still;The strings that woke to deeds of yoreNo longer feel the thrill.

Smerdis

I'm glad no more we'll feel the thrillFor I, for one have had my fill.

Ahafid

Eh, Smerdis?

Smerdis

[Louder.]

Bathing in that simile.

[Exeunt Ahafid and Smerdis.]

[The curtain rises, disclosing Ahasuerus, Esther, Haman, and attendants at the banquet table.]

Ahasuerus

Beloved Esther, my most beauteous queen,This banquet does surpass in excellenceEven the feast of yesterday, which youPrepared for Haman and the king. Your handGrows deft with practice.

Esther

But, my lord, you areA connoisseur, and can but speak these wordsIn flattery. O king, it was my heart,And not my hand that flavored every dishThat lies before you.

Ahasuerus

Esther, now it isYour tongue that flatters. Still, it does rejoiceMe much to hear such language from the queen.A connoisseur, say you? Haman, canYou tell me, now, what bay or bight in allThe salted seas once held this shrimp?

[Holding up shrimp.]

Haman

[Tasting it meditatively.]

My lord,I think it must have been the Persian Gulf.

Ahasuerus

Ha, ha, Haman, why you do not knowA wild goose from the Bird of Paradise.This crangonoid is found nowhere exceptAlong the Red Sea beach not far from whereThe hosts of Pharaoh were engulfed and lost.

Esther

[With suppressed emotion.]

Oh, king, your tongue is most acute. But whence,Think you, this tinct of cinnamon that makesThe savor of the dish.

Ahasuerus

[Tasting for a long time.]

I give it up,Unless it came from Java or Ceylon.

Esther

[Laughing, changing rapidly to deep feeling.]

My lord, it is not cinnamon at all,But spice that grew a thousand years agoIn hills beyond the Jordon. Haman, canYou tell the flavor of the grape that fillsYour goblet?

Haman

[Flattered.]

Oh, I think it must have grownIn islands of the blue Aegean Sea.

Esther

[Turning to the king.]

My lord, it is the selfsame cup they drankFrom sacred vessels at Belshazzar's feastThat night in Babylon.

Haman

What means the queen,This wine is not that old, and yet, 'tis notExcelled at banquets of the gods.

Ahasuerus

[Showing effect of wine.]

Nor kings.This is a joyous night! Oh, queen, your witHas filled my cup with wine of happiness.What think you, Haman, should be done to himThe king delighteth most to honor now?

Haman

Bring forth the robe, O king, your majestyDoes wear, and place it on the one your graceDoes most delight to honor. Xerxes, setThis man upon your royal horse, and placeYour majesty's own jeweled crown uponHis head, and let him be proclaimedThroughout the public streets.

Ahasuerus

[Rises. Emphatic.]

So let it thenBe done to Mordecai, the Jew besideThe palace gate.

Haman

What words are these?You can not mean the Jew!

Ahasuerus

[More emphatic.]

The Jew I mean.Last night I could not sleep, and so I hadThe book of records read, the chronicles,Wherein I learned that this same MordecaiThe Jew had saved Ahasuerus' life,When Teresh and another chamberlainHad sought to lay the hand of violenceUpon your king. Let nothing fail of allThat you have spoken should be done to himThe king delighteth now to honor most.And Esther, tell Ahasuerus nowYour dearest wish. On yesterday I beggedTo know the favor you did most desireAnd now it shall be granted unto you,Whatever your request, even to halfMy kingdom, it shall be performed.

Esther

[With hands extended toward the king.]

Have IFound favor in your sight, O king, then letMy life be given unto me at myPetition and my people live at myRequest! For we are sold to be destroyed—To perish and be slain.

Ahasuerus

[Surprised and dazed.]

O where is he—Oh, who is he, that dare presume to layThe hand of violence upon my queen!

Esther

There stands this adversary, O my king,The wicked Haman!

Ahasuerus

Haman! Haman! WhatCan be the meaning of this speech? This manI have advanced to be my premier?

Esther

I mean this craven whom you have advancedTo put to death with your own royal sealThe queen, as well as every other JewThat breathes the Persian air, both young and oldAlike, the laughing child and gray-haired sire.

Ahasuerus

What! Esther, you a Jew!

Esther

[Proudly.]

I am a Jew.A daughter of the tribe of Benjamin—Pure Hebrew blood!

[A dramatic pause. Esther awaits the decision of the king, who for a time seems to waver, then extends his sceptre toward Esther. Harbonah, the king's high officer, appears. Haman throws himself at Esther's feet.]

Haman

[Pleading.]

Oh, queen, I do beseechYou, save me from his wrath.

Ahasuerus

[Angrily.]

Harbonah, letThis traitor, Haman, die at once.

Harbonah

My lord,You know the scaffold that the premier builtFor Mordecai?

Ahasuerus

The premier! What's that,Harbonah? You mock your king? Let himBe hanged upon this gallows. Call the Jew!He holds the first place in my kingdom now.

[Exeunt Ahasuerus, Esther, Haman, Harbonah, and attendants.]

Zeresh

[Who has been concealed in a corner of the hall, advancing.]

At Esther's feet! An Aggagite! Ha, Ha!A hater of the Jews! You hypocrite!A lover of this queen! A paramourOf her who boasts that she can trace her bloodAn unpolluted stream a thousand yearsTo one who watched his humble flocks on bleakJudean hills. A shepherd queen that rulesThe Persian throne, and you, O Haman, youThat fed on venom for her race, are now,Though premier, a cringing, craven wretch,Begging this Jewish girl for worthless life."A rainbow over polar snows," ha, ha!No doubt her grace was fair to look upon.False-hearted queen, O royal prostitute!It was your jeweled hand that laid this feastBut Zeresh's heart that furnished all the wine!

[Curtain.]

Some time Later. Room in the Palace of Shushan.

[Enter Ahafid and Smerdis.]

Ahafid

[Singing.]

In the morning man may flourishIn the evening be cut down;Dawn may find a hero famous,Nightfall see him lose renown.

Smerdis

[Singing.]

In his youth Ahafid's singingWas the pride of Persia's rule;Now that age has come upon him,Hear him braying like a mule.

Ahafid

Still singing like a nightingale, say you?

Smerdis

[Aloud.]

I did. [Aside] The long-eared kind that crops the grass.

Ahafid

Haman's hanged upon the scaffold thatHe built for Mordecai. The Jew now wearsThe signet ring that sealed his nation's life.His nation's life? But how can he explainThe slaughter of the Persian hosts?

Smerdis

Now if he would, I think he could, and if he should,He'd thus explain: "The hosts were slain because my brainWas not insane. So I raised Cain, obtained the reignOf this campaign, and still remain, though they were slain."

Ahafid

I think I must be growing deaf. You rhymed?

Smerdis

I only spoke a little joke. If I could sing, I'd say the ring,And not the king explains the thing.

Ahafid

But doesThe God of Abraham inspire revenge?The worshippers of Moloch would have shrunkFrom such a day of death. I marvel thatQueen Esther did not intervene. She rulesThe king. But wherefore did I say the king?

Smerdis

I think it must have been to rhyme with ring.

Ahafid

Darius' son's a spineless debauchee.

[Sings.]

The Jew the purple robe enfoldsAnd eke the royal gown;For Mordecai the sceptre holdsAnd Esther wears the crown.

[Exit Ahafid.]

Smerdis

Ahafid said he couldn't sing Ahasuerus' praise,And that his harp had lost the tone it had in other days.But though the Jews are on the throne and Xerxes maudlin full,Ahafid once more tunes his lyre and bellows like a bull.Look out, here comes the Jew, a cloud uponHis brow, the weight of empires on his brain.What matters does he now revolve? I fearThe day of Adar troubles Mordecai.We'll stand aside and hear the premier.

Look out, here comes the Jew, a cloud uponHis brow, the weight of empires on his brain.What matters does he now revolve? I fearThe day of Adar troubles Mordecai.We'll stand aside and hear the premier.

[Exit Smerdis.]

[Enter Mordecai meditatively, followed by Zeresh, who is unseen by him at first.]

Mordecai

The name of Haman perish from the earth!The seed of Abraham be multipliedUntil they are as numberless as sandsUpon ocean's shore! This was my prayer,I learned it at my mother's knee. Was INot justified?

Zeresh

[Disguised as a Hebrew woman.]

The Holy Scripture saith,"Vengeance belongs to God."

Mordecai

But was I notHis instrument? Jehovah wrought through me;His will, not mine was done.

Zeresh

And yet His willWas yours?

Mordecai

The wicked Haman would have slainEven the queen herself and every JewThat lives within the hundred provincesOf Xerxes' weak and vacillating rule.

Zeresh

Thy action was no more than self-defense?

Mordecai

Not self-defense of Mordecai alone,But of my blood, of Esther and the sonsOf Jacob, exiled and defenseless else.The God of Abraham may chasten, butHe keeps his promises, nor will forsake.Rameses sat upon his haughty throneAnd knew not Joseph, for my people wereOppressed with bitter bondage and their livesMade hard in mortar and in brick; but stillThey grew in numbers and increased and waxedExceeding mighty, till the land was filledWith them. And then the king was sore afraidAnd wroth because the Jews had never bentThe knee at Egypt's shrines. He could enslaveBut not corrupt the children of the trueAnd living God. And then he calledThe Hebrew midwives and commanded themTo slay thereafter every son that mightBe born to Jacob's sacred blood. God keptHis covenant with Abraham and raisedUp Moses, the deliverer, and whenThe plagues had failed to soften Pharaoh's heart,The Lord smote every firstborn in the landOf Egypt, save where hyssop mixed with bloodWas sprinkled on the lintel of the doorAnd on the two side posts, as Moses hadDirected. Saviour of his people, sonOf Amram and of Jochebed, obscureLevites, found in an ark of bulrushesAfloat among the flags near by the spotWhere Pharaoh's daughter bathed, and yet, and yet—

Zeresh

Was Moses not selected by the LordTo lead the Israelites into the LandOf Promise?

Mordecai

[As in soliloquy.]

And did he not talk with GodUpon the Mount of Sinai, when smokeEnveloped all the peak, and even priestsWere not allowed upon that holy ground?Was I more lowly than was Amram's child?

Zeresh

Yet God exalted him until the throneOf Egypt was within his grasp.

Mordecai

Though I,Like Jesse's son, was once a shepherd's lad,To-day I rule ten million souls.Now Moses was a vessel of the LordWhen Death passed over every Hebrew home,But slew the firstborn where no blood was found.Was this revenge? Not Moses' hand, but God'sWas red.

Zeresh

The servant must obey his Lord.

Mordecai

I did not plot the Persians' death. The planOf God was in it all.

Zeresh

Else why were youMade premier at the moment when the JewsFaced death in every province of the king?

Mordecai

It was my hand that stopped the massacre,But God avenged the awful wrong!

Zeresh

And Esther! How is it with her? You madeHer queen. She was a humble Hebrew girl,Unknown and friendless, but for Mordecai.

Mordecai

She should be grateful for the crown I gave.

Zeresh

But Hatach says her cheeks are often wetWith tears.

Mordecai

It may be that she weeps for himWho won her girlish heart before we cameTo Shushan or had ever seen the king.

Zeresh

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