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[Illustration:
"_I will not come
At his command. I have a royal heart
And will not thus disgrace the Persian throne._"]
The Blood of Rachel
=A Dramatization of Esther=
AND OTHER POEMS
BY COTTON NOE
_Author of "The Loom of Life"_
[Illustration]
JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY
INCORPORATED
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
1916
COPYRIGHT 1916
BY COTTON NOE
All producing rights reserved, including photo play.
Permission to produce must be obtained from the author.
To
HONORABLE MOSES KAUFMAN
From whom I differ on some political and religious
questions, but whose warm friendship and
keen literary appreciation have been a
source of much inspiration to me,
particularly in the writing
of this drama.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
The Blood of Rachel 1
The Old Dog Irons 79
The Age Electric 82
Grandmother Days 86
Just to Dream 88
Amnemon 90
A Romance of the Cumberland 102
Morning Glories 111
Christmastide 112
Kinship 113
Precocity 114
The Secret 115
A Rhymeless Sonnet 116
Ambition 117
Opportunity 118
Holiday Thoughts 119
The Old Year and the New 120
Fellow Travelers 121
James Whitcomb Riley 122
Cale Young Rice 123
Pilate's Monologue 124
The Virile Spirit 128
Bluebird 131
An Autumn Minor 132
Slabs and Obelisk 133
On Broadway 134
An Ember Etching 137
A Tragedy in Birdland 140
PERSONS OF THE DRAMA
AHASUERUS _King of Persia_
VASHTI _Queen of Persia_
ESTHER _Second Queen of Persia_
HAMAN _Premier_
MORDECAI _A Jew, afterwards Premier_
ZERESH _Wife of Haman_
MEHEUMAN _A Chamberlain_
ABAGTHA _Another Chamberlain_
AHAFID _Court Poet_
SMERDIS _Court Fool_
SAADI _Young Court Poet_
PARSHANDATHA _Lady in Waiting to Zeresh_
ZETHAR _Lady in Waiting to Vashti_
_Chamberlains_, _Ladies and Gentlemen of the Court_,
_Heralds_, _Royal Dancers_, _Nubian Slaves_,
_Waiters_, _and others_.
The Blood of Rachel
ACT I
SCENE I
Place--Shushan, the Capital of Persia.
Time--478 B.C.
[_A hall in the palace of the king. Enter Smerdis, the
king's jester, and Ahafid, poet and minstrel to the king,
from opposite sides of the hall. Ahafid is already an old
man, with long grey beard and a little stooped with age.
He carries a golden Persian harp on which he plays and
accompanies his own song._]
_Ahafid_
[_Sings._]
Now War has doffed his mailed coat
And Peace forgot her art;
The lute but not the bugle's note
Can stir the kingly heart;
Nights of revel and carp,
And days of sensuous rust,
How can a poet's harp
Intone a song of lust?
The king is mad. His flight from Salamis
Was bad enough. But that could be excused.
For six months now what has he done but drink,
Carouse and wallow in lascivious ease,
While subjects driven to despair with tax
Have fallen on the poisoned sword and cursed
In death the son of their once goodly king?
_Smerdis_
Ahafid, you do seem to think the first
Great business of a king is war. Now pray
You, why should Xerxes waste the lusty days
Of youth in bloody strife? To furnish themes,
No doubt, for dullard bards and minstrelsy.
Ahasuerus is the wisest king
That ever sat upon a Persian throne.
You graybeard fool, stupid as poets are.
Can you not see the wisdom of our king
In substitution of the flight for death,
Of feast for fight, of wine for blood? Think you
'Tis wise to wear the plaited mail of Mars
When Venus bids you to the festival
Of love?
_Ahafid_
You call me then a graybeard fool!
Though I have dropped the purple bloom of spring
The autumn's silvery down may indicate
The ripened fruit of wisdom which your youth
Has never tasted. Smerdis, you are blind!
My beard is white, but vision clear. The king
Does daily waste the substance of his realm,
And nightly dissipates his energies
In vices of the blood. Vashti, the queen,
The idol of her people, is in grief.
_Smerdis_
In grief for what? Does she too wish the king
To take the field? I know our queen is fair
Of face and most voluptuous of form.
Perhaps her grief is due to jealousy.
Would she monopolize his love, because
Her beauty is surpassing?
_Ahafid_
Vashti does
Not know that she is beautiful. She loves
Her country and is brave as well as good.
I dread the issue of this night. The king
Has ordered that the queen be brought before
The court, a target for licentious eyes.
She will refuse to go because her heart
Is pure. Ahasuerus, flushed with wine,
Will brook no opposition to his will.
A tragedy that never Persia knew
Will see the rising of to-morrow's sun.
_Smerdis_
A tragedy no country ever knew--
A woman who is beautiful, but doesn't know it's true.
_Ahafid_
[_Sings._]
Oh, for a song to cleanse the heart
Or touch the sceptred power;
Oh, might the gods a strength impart
To meet this tragic hour.
[_Exeunt Ahafid and Smerdis._]
[_Enter Vashti and Zethar._]
_Vashti_
Oh, Zethar, do you think this night will end
The revels that dishonor Persia's king?
To-day unknown I strolled through squalid parts
Of this old city and observed the poor.
My lord, unmindful of their misery,
Has laid a heavy tax for his insane
Extravagance upon the helpless child
That begs in Shushan's streets. Not here alone,
This suffering; but Persia's peasantry,
The glory of the old empire, the heart
That once defied the world, is broken on
The wheel of tax. And all for what?
_Zethar_
O queen,
Always the world has had its poverty.
You shall forget the poor. One stoop of wine
Will bring you happiness. Vashti, drink.
_Vashti_
Forgive me, Zethar, but no wine to-night.
[_Enter Meheuman, Biztha and Abagtha._]
_Meheuman_
[_Loftily._]
Our most imperial queen, the king has laid
A banquet in the palace garden court,
The crowning act of that munificence
Toward prince and people great and small alike,
Ahasuerus now for many months
Has shown the loyal subjects of his realm.
The adornment of the court displays a rich
Magnificence of taste; the couches are
Of fretted gold and silver set upon
A pavement of mosaic inlaid stone.
The drinking is according to the law--
None can compel, each vessel is diverse,
But all of gold. Th' abundance of the wine
Shows the unstinted bounty of the king.
Our monarch's heart is merry in the cup,
And boasts that Vashti's beauty does excel
In magic power the fabled Helen's charms,
And bids us bring immediately before
The court great Persia's matchless queen!
_Vashti_
Meheuman, tell Ahasuerus I
Must thank his majesty since he can still
Remember Vashti's beauty, though his grace
Has lost all sense of modesty and shame.
You say his heart is merry now in wine
And that he glories with exceeding pride
Because my face is fair to look upon!
I do not doubt his tongue is eloquent;
The fiery phrase is his! Why, often I
Have heard him praise his horse in language that
Seemed kindled at the altar of the gods.
It may be that he holds me higher than
His hundred concubines.
_Meheuman_
Your majesty,
The king does hold his queen a goddess.
_Vashti_
Well,
Perhaps he thinks himself divine. Go tell
The king I do not wish to be enrolled
Among divinities. I am the queen--
He must respect me as the one who wears
The Persian crown.
'Tis scarce three years since he
Began to reign. He was Darius' son--
A king of whom the world was proud. He wooed
Me as a prince of noble blood, and I
Received his hand with dignity as well
As love. I was a princess, but I had
A heart. Long since I found that he had none.
A hundred eighty days continuous feast
He has oppressed the people of his rule
With drunken revels and with wanton waste.
And now to crown his sensuality
He sends his vulgar chamberlains to bring
Me to his palace garden that his lords
May gaze with unchaste eyes upon my form.
Meheuman, Biztha, will you tell the king
That Vashti bids him come to her if he
Would see the queen.
_Meheuman_
You understand
The costly hangings of the garden court
Are blue and green and white?
_Vashti_
Now pray you what
Significance has that? What if each couch
Is gold and silver and each goblet set
With stones?
_Meheuman_
The king's great love for Vashti!
_Vashti_
Then
He has prepared this banquet for his queen?
And does he think this is an evidence
Of love. It rather means the king's debauched.
I will not be a party to his sin.
_Meheuman_
The etiquette of court commands you to
Obey.
_Vashti_
Commands! Well, has it come to that?
But I will not obey. I am a queen!
Here! Take this purple robe and coronet,
And tell Ahasuerus to adorn
Some harlot of his harem. She will grace
The queenship of his kingdom better than
A pure and modest wife.
_Abagtha_
You do not know
The meaning of your words!
_Vashti_
Abagtha, why
Do you admonish me? Do I not know
The forfeit? Chamberlains, this message take
Licentious Xerxes from his virtuous queen:
I do not fear his wrath. I will not come
At his command. I have a royal heart
And will not thus disgrace the Persian throne.
The king that's halfway worthy of my hand
Would hate the queen that yielded to his lust.
My heart, O chamberlains, is broken, not
That Vashti's crown is lost, but oh, to see
The regal name of Persia brought so low!
I weep. The tears are for my country. Go!
[_Exeunt Vashti, Abagtha, etc._]
[_Curtain is lowered to denote the passage of six years._]
SCENE II
[_Outer hall in palace. Throne room back concealed by
curtain. Queen Esther, disguised by loose dress thrown
over royal robe and head and face below the eyes hidden by
mask, approaches the door where Mordecai, the Jew, is
standing._]
_Mordecai_
Ah, Esther! Though your queenly robe you do
Conceal, I know that regal gait. Before
I ever looked upon these palace walls,
When you were yet a little child beyond
The purple peaks, where shepherds led their flocks
In pastures green, I often dreamed that you
Would one day wear a golden coronet
And sit in majesty upon a throne.
_Esther_
[_Dejectedly._]
Four years I have been queen, which time I have
Not heard the voice of any one I love;
And though disguised, I hardly dare to speak
My heart even to you. This palace is
A gloomy prison cell. The Persian crown
Is meaningless to me. The hundred gems
That blaze upon its field of gold are dull
And heavy lead. I would exchange it all
For but a glint of sunshine on the hills
Where I was born. But why this interview?
_Mordecai_
My royal niece, I know that you are queen.
_Esther_
A queen? But what of that? Though of my blood,
You can not even look upon my face.
What would you have?
[_Wailing without._]
_Mordecai_
My daughter, do you hear
The cries of anguish that disturb the peace
Of Shushan's streets? Your people everywhere
Are clothed in sackcloth. Read the king's decree!
[_Handing her paper._]
_Esther_
[_Reads._]
"It has been written and commanded by
Ahasuerus, emperor of all
The East, and sealed in every tongue with his
Own ring--the royal seal--that governors
And princes and lieutenants, everyone
Within the Persian rule, shall make and cause
To die and perish every Jew, both young
And old, the women and the children, rich
And poor alike, and forfeit all their goods.
This is Ahasuerus' sovereign will
And shall be done and executed in
The month of Adar on the thirteenth day."
Oh, God! It is Ahasuerus' seal.
_Mordecai_
But Haman's hand.
_Esther_
Why does the premier hate
The Jews?
_Mordecai_
Because the children of the true
And living God will never bend the knee
To heathen pride. He hates the Jews because
Your uncle is a child of Abraham
And will not do obeisance to a son
Of Baal. Esther, though I made you queen,
I plead not for the life of Mordecai,
But for the sacred blood of Israel.
You alone can intervene. Go straight
Before the king and make demand that he
Reverse this law that puts the Jews to death.
_Esther_
A Persian king can not reverse his own
Decree. Besides, the queen who goes into
The presence of her lord unless by his
Express command, must sacrifice her life,
Except through some unguarded impulse he
Extends his golden sceptre that she live.
I can not go unto the king.
_Mordecai_
Your life
Is forfeited already, child; you are
A Jew.
_Esther_
You did conceal my blood nor dare
Reveal my lineage now. Your own deceit
Has brought this death upon the house of Israel,
Nor will Jehovah hold you guiltless in
The hour of doom.
_Mordecai_
Esther, if you keep
Your peace when Rachel's children wail and cry
For help, deliverance will arise
Unto the Jews but you shall be destroyed
And all your father's house.
_Esther_
Depart. [_Sound of trumpets within._]
The king
Is on his throne. I go, and if I die,
I can but perish. Peace to Israel.
[_Exit Mordecai._]
[_The curtain back rises and discloses Ahasuerus on his
throne surrounded by court. Esther approaches to center
of hall before the king, and extends her hands as
though supplicating. The king seems dazed for a moment
and then deeply moved; slowly he lifts the golden
sceptre and extends it toward the queen who approaches
and touches it._]
_Ahasuerus_
Why did you, Esther, O most beauteous queen,
Thus dare to come unbidden to the king?
'Twas jealous Death unbarred the royal door
That he might claim you for his paramour?
Your innocence and charms have saved your life!
_Esther_
[_Innocently._]
My lord, how now was I in danger? Ah,
You know I am your loyal wife? I would
Not be your queen alone. The crown is naught
Compared to pleasures of companionship.
O Xerxes, may not Esther share your joys
Of wine and song? Too long you have denied
That which I covet most--to be beside
My king.
_Ahasuerus_
There is no favor, Esther, I
Would longer hold from you; even to half
My kingdom, tell me what you most desire,
And I will give it you.
_Esther_
My lord, I have
Already spoke my heart, but you will not
Believe. To test Ahasuerus' love,
I have a favor I would ask of you;
But first that my most gracious lord may know
His queen has taste and skill as well as charms,
I will prepare a banquet for the king
With my own hands. You are a judge of wine,
And every dish that graces banquet halls.
To-morrow, let Ahasuerus come,
And bring his premier Haman, who no doubt
Can tell a heron from a hawk, and if
My lord shall praise my art, and I
Find favor in his sight, I will make known
My dearest wish.
_Ahasuerus_
Oh, Esther, you have pleased
Your king already far beyond what he
Had ever hoped. To-morrow night at six!
[_Music and revels. Esther retires._]
[_The king and retinue retire in opposite direction.
Haman and followers pass out front where Mordecai sits
by the gate, together with others. All except Mordecai
salaam, but the Jew remains stiff, looking Haman
defiantly in the face._]
[_Curtain._]
SCENE III
Home of Haman--two days later.
[_Enter Haman, Zeresh, and Parshandatha._]
_Haman_
My star grows brighter with each setting sun;
The lowly child of old Hammedetha
Is first among the servants of the king.
Ah, Mordecai, you did not know I am
An Agagite, who fed upon the breast
Of unrelenting hate toward every child
Of Israel, who will not bend the knee
Save to the God of Abraham. Oh, do
[_Wailing in Street._]
You, Zeresh, hear that wail of anguish? Love,
I know that you are proud to be the wife
Of him who can direct such music.
_Zeresh_
I
Am proud of Haman's power.
_Haman_
Go call our friends.
_Zeresh_
Before the rising sun had touched with gold
The treetops on the peaks of Zagros, Tesh,
The son of Zalphon, was abroad
In Shushan on the errand of my lord.
_Haman_
Not only in this city, but, my spouse,
In every province of the king, the Jews
In sackcloth mourn because of Haman's might.
But would you know the secret of my strength?
This ring! The seal of Xerxes. It is death
To every drop of Jacob's blood within
The Domain of Ahasuerus' rule.
_Zeresh_
The guests are coming.
_Haman_
Oh, the messages
Of enmity are swift as shafts of love.
Now, Zeresh, call the servants of the house
And set a sumptuous feast, for Haman would
Take counsel of his friends.
_Zeresh_
My gracious lord,
The table is already set. Go greet
The guests and bring them in.
[_Exit Haman._]
[_Zeresh continues._]
Parshandatha,
What do you think of Haman? Did you note
My lord?
_Parshandatha_
I did, madam. His happiness
Is most complete. His rapid rise to power
Has all but ravished him with joy. And yet,
Methought that something still he lacked. Perhaps
The queen's consent has not yet been obtained
To this decree that puts the Jews to death.
_Zeresh_
What do you mean? The queen's consent? My Lord
Has naught to do with Xerxes' wife, and why
Should he be troubled for a woman's whim?
Besides, who knows but Esther does approve
This slaughter of the Jews?
_Parshandatha_
Approve, madam?
She is a queen, but still a woman!
_Zeresh_
So
Am I, though not a queen! A woman, yes
But with no stomach for that hated race!
_Parshandatha_
'Tis whispered in the court that Esther is
Herself a Jew.
_Zeresh_
The Persian queen a Jew!
Then let her perish with her blood.
_Parshandatha_
But would
My lord consent to Esther's death?
_Zeresh_
Consent
Again! Parshandatha, why do you harp
Upon consent? Now listen to my words.
But should you e'er disclose one breath
Of what I say, you are yourself a Jew,
Nor is there any power in Persia's king
To save your life. My lord pretends to hate
The Jews. His hate is only wounded pride.
The deference of Mordecai is all
That Haman wants. He does not know the queen
Is Hebrew blood. This fact must still be kept
Concealed--concealed, that is, until the day
Of death. Oh, he shall know who Esther is--
This Israelite that banquets with my lord!
You think his rise is due to Esther's power?
_Parshandatha_
Madam, I do not know.
_Zeresh_
Not know! not know!
But what think you, Parshandatha? Of course
You do not know.
_Parshandatha_
Madam, he often dines
With Esther and the king. The king no doubt
Is very fond of your most gracious lord.
_Zeresh_
The king!
_Parshandatha_
Mayhap the queen also. Your lord
Is young and handsome still. The king is far
Beyond the queen in years.
_Zeresh_
I can
Not catch your drift.
_Parshandatha_
Madam, your husband has
A ready wit. The queen enjoys life.
_Zeresh_
Enjoys life!
And so do I, and likewise death. Now hold
Your blasted tongue. My husband sups again
To-morrow with the Jewish queen. They say
When Haman dines her majesty prepares
The banquet with her own most dainty hand!
Parshandatha, whose hand, think you, has laid
The feast of Adar?
_Parshandatha_
Zeresh! call you death
A feast!
_Zeresh_
A glorious feast on which my soul
Already feeds, and Esther shall be there!
[_Re-enter Haman and Friends._]
_Haman_
Be seated at the table.
Citizens
Of Shushan, patriots of Persia, friends,
The servant of the king has called you here
To tell you of his triumph and to ask
Your sage advice. Two days ago the prince
And I sat down together to a feast
Within the palace walls and drank your health.
The royal cup was blushing like the spume
Of autumn clouds at sunset, when a wail
Arose in Shushan that has sore perplexed
The people. Mordecai, the haughty Jew,
Who sits beside the palace gate, refused
To bow or do me reverence, although
Admonished by the king. I was born
A humble subject in the private ranks
Of life; but now I wear the signet ring
Of Xerxes. Friends, the law that dooms the Jews
To simultaneous slaughter can not be
Revoked. Last night the queen invited me
To banquet with her lord. The necklace that
She wore of iridescent pearls was like
A rainbow over polar snows. Ah, she
Was fair to look upon! And now my cup
Was filled to overflowing--
[_Zeresh shows great emotion._]
(Zeresh, are
You ill?)--when Esther begged that I would come
Again to-morrow to another feast
Her 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 long
As yonder hated Jew remains unbent.
_A Friend_
Destroy the brute at once!
_Haman_
Oh, that will not
Suffice. 'Tis not his death, but homage that
Must sweeten my revenge. Ah, I would see
Him groveling on the earth as Haman passed.
My rank and station must be recognized.
I sit beside the king; I am premier
Of Persia. Yet this Jewish dog is still
Unmoved!
_Zeresh_
Hang him where the kites will eat
His 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 oracle
Divine. Prepare this gallows. Friends, I go
At dawn to greet the king. At night we dine
Alone with Esther, and--
[_Zeresh faints._]
Why Zeresh, are
You ill again? Send for the leech. Her blood
Is over wrought with too much happiness.
[_Curtain._]
ACT II
SCENE I
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 change
In 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 still
A 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 crown
Are worn by Haman, not of noble birth,
But lowborn, vulgar, raised by royal will
To 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 was
A fatal sin.
_Smerdis_
She should have feasted with
The king.
_Ahafid_
I did not hear.
_Smerdis_
[_Aloud._]
Old Xerxes lost
The finest houri in his harem. Oh,
The royal fool!
_Ahafid_
The Jewess Esther's but
A 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 in
The bath pool. That was fine. Your poetry
Like 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 save
Her life.
_Smerdis_
Ahasuerus will attend
To that.
_Ahafid_
[_Not hearing._] Ahasuerus does not seem
To 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 can
Control the king, and yet may save the Jews.
_Smerdis_
I am more interested in fools than Jews.
_Ahafid_
The golden sceptre was extended when
She went into his presence yesterday.
Last night she banqueted with him but still
Refused 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 sealed
When Haman wrote that every Jew must die
Because the Hebrew Mordecai refused
Obeisance to his over-bearing pride.
_Smerdis_
Watch Esther smash that seal.
_Ahafid_
I did not hear.
_Smerdis_
[_Louder._]
Still quoting lines upon the innocence
Of 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 yore
No longer feel the thrill.
_Smerdis_
I'm glad no more we'll feel the thrill
For I, for one have had my fill.
_Ahafid_
Eh, 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._]
_Ahasuerus_
Beloved Esther, my most beauteous queen,
This banquet does surpass in excellence
Even the feast of yesterday, which you
Prepared for Haman and the king. Your hand
Grows deft with practice.
_Esther_
But, my lord, you are
A connoisseur, and can but speak these words
In flattery. O king, it was my heart,
And not my hand that flavored every dish
That lies before you.
_Ahasuerus_
Esther, now it is
Your tongue that flatters. Still, it does rejoice
Me much to hear such language from the queen.
A connoisseur, say you? Haman, can
You tell me, now, what bay or bight in all
The 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 know
A wild goose from the Bird of Paradise.
This crangonoid is found nowhere except
Along the Red Sea beach not far from where
The 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 makes
The 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 ago
In hills beyond the Jordon. Haman, can
You tell the flavor of the grape that fills
Your goblet?
_Haman_
[_Flattered._]
Oh, I think it must have grown
In islands of the blue Aegean Sea.
_Esther_
[_Turning to the king._]
My lord, it is the selfsame cup they drank
From sacred vessels at Belshazzar's feast
That night in Babylon.
_Haman_
What means the queen,
This wine is not that old, and yet, 'tis not
Excelled at banquets of the gods.
_Ahasuerus_
[_Showing effect of wine._]
Nor kings.
This is a joyous night! Oh, queen, your wit
Has filled my cup with wine of happiness.
What think you, Haman, should be done to him
The king delighteth most to honor now?
_Haman_
Bring forth the robe, O king, your majesty
Does wear, and place it on the one your grace
Does most delight to honor. Xerxes, set
This man upon your royal horse, and place
Your majesty's own jeweled crown upon
His head, and let him be proclaimed
Throughout the public streets.
_Ahasuerus_
[_Rises. Emphatic._]
So let it then
Be done to Mordecai, the Jew beside
The 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 had
The book of records read, the chronicles,
Wherein I learned that this same Mordecai
The Jew had saved Ahasuerus' life,
When Teresh and another chamberlain
Had sought to lay the hand of violence
Upon your king. Let nothing fail of all
That you have spoken should be done to him
The king delighteth now to honor most.
And Esther, tell Ahasuerus now
Your dearest wish. On yesterday I begged
To know the favor you did most desire
And now it shall be granted unto you,
Whatever your request, even to half
My kingdom, it shall be performed.
_Esther_
[_With hands extended toward the king._]
Have I
Found favor in your sight, O king, then let
My life be given unto me at my
Petition and my people live at my
Request! 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 lay
The hand of violence upon my queen!
_Esther_
There stands this adversary, O my king,
The wicked Haman!
_Ahasuerus_
Haman! Haman! What
Can be the meaning of this speech? This man
I have advanced to be my premier?
_Esther_
I mean this craven whom you have advanced
To put to death with your own royal seal
The queen, as well as every other Jew
That breathes the Persian air, both young and old
Alike, 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 beseech
You, save me from his wrath.
_Ahasuerus_
[_Angrily._]
Harbonah, let
This traitor, Haman, die at once.
_Harbonah_
My lord,
You know the scaffold that the premier built
For Mordecai?
_Ahasuerus_
The premier! What's that,
Harbonah? You mock your king? Let him
Be 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 paramour
Of her who boasts that she can trace her blood
An unpolluted stream a thousand years
To one who watched his humble flocks on bleak
Judean hills. A shepherd queen that rules
The Persian throne, and you, O Haman, you
That 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 feast
But Zeresh's heart that furnished all the wine!
[_Curtain._]
ACT III
SCENE I
Some time Later. Room in the Palace of Shushan.
[_Enter Ahafid and Smerdis._]
_Ahafid_
[_Singing._]
In the morning man may flourish
In the evening be cut down;
Dawn may find a hero famous,
Nightfall see him lose renown.
_Smerdis_
[_Singing._]
In his youth Ahafid's singing
Was 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 that
He built for Mordecai. The Jew now wears
The signet ring that sealed his nation's life.
His nation's life? But how can he explain
The 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 brain
Was not insane. So I raised Cain, obtained the reign
Of 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 does
The God of Abraham inspire revenge?
The worshippers of Moloch would have shrunk
From such a day of death. I marvel that
Queen Esther did not intervene. She rules
The 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 enfolds
And eke the royal gown;
For Mordecai the sceptre holds
And 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 upon
His brow, the weight of empires on his brain.
What matters does he now revolve? I fear
The 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 multiplied
Until they are as numberless as sands
Upon ocean's shore! This was my prayer,
I learned it at my mother's knee. Was I
Not justified?
_Zeresh_
[_Disguised as a Hebrew woman._]
The Holy Scripture saith,
"Vengeance belongs to God."
_Mordecai_
But was I not
His instrument? Jehovah wrought through me;
His will, not mine was done.
_Zeresh_
And yet His will
Was yours?
_Mordecai_
The wicked Haman would have slain
Even the queen herself and every Jew
That lives within the hundred provinces
Of 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 sons
Of Jacob, exiled and defenseless else.
The God of Abraham may chasten, but
He keeps his promises, nor will forsake.
Rameses sat upon his haughty throne
And knew not Joseph, for my people were
Oppressed with bitter bondage and their lives
Made hard in mortar and in brick; but still
They grew in numbers and increased and waxed
Exceeding mighty, till the land was filled
With them. And then the king was sore afraid
And wroth because the Jews had never bent
The knee at Egypt's shrines. He could enslave
But not corrupt the children of the true
And living God. And then he called
The Hebrew midwives and commanded them
To slay thereafter every son that might
Be born to Jacob's sacred blood. God kept
His covenant with Abraham and raised
Up Moses, the deliverer, and when
The plagues had failed to soften Pharaoh's heart,
The Lord smote every firstborn in the land
Of Egypt, save where hyssop mixed with blood
Was sprinkled on the lintel of the door
And on the two side posts, as Moses had
Directed. Saviour of his people, son
Of Amram and of Jochebed, obscure
Levites, found in an ark of bulrushes
Afloat among the flags near by the spot
Where Pharaoh's daughter bathed, and yet, and yet--
_Zeresh_
Was Moses not selected by the Lord
To lead the Israelites into the Land
Of Promise?
_Mordecai_
[_As in soliloquy._]
And did he not talk with God
Upon the Mount of Sinai, when smoke
Enveloped all the peak, and even priests
Were not allowed upon that holy ground?
Was I more lowly than was Amram's child?
_Zeresh_
Yet God exalted him until the throne
Of 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 Lord
When Death passed over every Hebrew home,
But slew the firstborn where no blood was found.
Was this revenge? Not Moses' hand, but God's
Was red.
_Zeresh_
The servant must obey his Lord.
_Mordecai_
I did not plot the Persians' death. The plan
Of God was in it all.
_Zeresh_
Else why were you
Made premier at the moment when the Jews
Faced 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 made
Her 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 wet
With tears.
_Mordecai_
It may be that she weeps for him
Who won her girlish heart before we came
To Shushan or had ever seen the king.
_Zeresh_
And yet that can not be. The shepherd's crook
Is not the golden sceptre of a king.
I have no doubt that she has long since ceased
To think of youthful dreams. She rules the king,
And what more does a woman want?
_Mordecai_
I did
Not hope to make her understand at once.
My reasons were too subtle for her heart.
And so I kept my counsel, for I knew
No girl would ever sacrifice her love
To save the remnant of a nation's life.
_Zeresh_
[_Justifying._]
And why might even Esther not forget
When once she felt the spell of royal power--
The tinsel show and glamour of the court?
No woman lives that would not be a queen.
_Mordecai_
I knew Ahasuerus was a brute,
But what of that? Through Esther I have saved
A half a million souls.
_Zeresh_
[_Aside._]
Through Esther you
Have slain a million souls.
_Mordecai_
When Jepthah vowed
A vow unto the Lord he kept his pledge
And slew the only daughter of his flesh
For a burnt offering unto God, because
The Ammonites, his enemy, had been
Delivered to the hands of Israel.
Now Esther was my only child.
_Zeresh_
[_A little sarcastically._]
You have
Not sacrificed, but elevated her.
Although she does not understand your heart,
She can but bless her uncle Mordecai.
_Mordecai_
But why should Esther weep? She risked her life
At my behest, but did she not obtain
Great favor with the king?
_Zeresh_
And Esther's life
Was forfeit then through Haman's wicked hate.
_Mordecai_
I wear the royal robe of blue and white.
_Zeresh_
Does Esther think because her vanity
Is flattered by the jewels of a queen
That Mordecai is moved by pomp and show?
_Mordecai_
'Tis not the kingly trappings but the seal--
Not sceptre merely but the signet ring,
Not rank, but rule that Mordecai would have.
I can not understand her tears no more
Than she knows why I wear the crown. But I
Am justified. Jehovah wrought through me.
[_Exit Mordecai._]
_Zeresh_
[_Bursting into fury._]
Jehovah wrought through him! Hell wrought through him!
I marvel that his tongue is not consumed
By blasted lies. Wait till he feels the flame
That rages in my heart. Hell may not burn
A Jew, but even he can not withstand
The simoon of a fiery dragon's breath!
_Parshandatha_
But Zeresh, was the Jew not justified?
_Zeresh_
Justified! gratified! satisfied! Parshandatha,
Justified in Jepthah; gratified
That he is like the meek and lowly son
Of Amram; satisfied that now the crown
Of Persia presses only Hebrew brows.
_Parshandatha_
[_Sarcastically._]
You do forget my lord, Darius' son.
You can not think the blood of Jacob flows
Through Xerxes' veins? Does he not wear the crown?
_Zeresh_
[_With contempt._]
Ahasuerus wears a pigeon's heart.
The Persian robe's a Jewish gabardine;
The crown, a Hebrew priest's phylactery.
But did you say forget? Have you been so
Long with me, dear, and doubt my memory?
Forget Ahasuerus, did you say?
That minion of a Jewish girl, who sealed
The death of Haman and his sons? His face
Is seared upon my heart, his image burnt
Into my brain. I tell you Xerxes is
No longer king.
_Parshandatha_
But is not Esther queen?
_Zeresh_
Parshandatha, why do you taunt me thus?
Have I not proved your friend? Do I deserve
Your mockery?
_Parshandatha_
I do but speak to sting
You to revenge.
_Zeresh_
Let fly your venom then.
The Persian empire is in arms. To-night
The king does hold a great carouse. The Jew
Will sit in state beside the profligate.
This blade I have prepared against that hour.
The queen, I understand, will be a blaze
Of gems. Ahasuerus boasts this night
Would all but wreck a petty kingdom.
_Parshandatha_
He
Should never live to see the rising sun.
_Zeresh_
The rising sun! My dear, he shall not see
The Pleiades again, and they are up
At nine. When cornet and the trumpet bruit
The entry of the queen, a hundred blades
Like this [_disclosing dagger_] shall be unsheathed.
Parshandatha,
You know whose blood my blade shall drink!
My hour has come! Ah, Esther, you shall sup
Once more with Haman and your drunken lord,
While Zeresh keeps her lonely watch
Beneath the silent, glittering stars. Come on!
[_Exeunt Zeresh and Parshandatha._]
[_Curtain._]