Without, there were the grunts of her men as they strapped the packs of
the elephants, the snarl of camels as they rose to their pads and
turned to bite at their loads, the shuffle of the troops as they lined
for the long night march, the quick gruff orders of the captains, the
canter of horses. Within, Sheba stood very erect in the great hall.
The poor white king writhed on his throne. Nathan stood by his side,
erect and afraid.
"And I said--" Sheba's voice was quiet--"oh, you who were as my
brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find you
without, I would kiss you, I would not be despised.
"For I thought I was set as a seal upon your arm, and that your love
was as strong as death.
"I rose and went about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I
sought you, whom I thought my soul loved, but I found you not.
"The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they
wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veils from me--
"Me, Sheba!" Her eyes flashed. Solomon quailed in his seat. The
prophet made a propitiatory gesture.
"Oh, do not fear, Nathan." Sheba smiled. "I came not to conquer, but
to find wisdom. I found it."
She paused an instant.
"Before I go, let me give you, Solomon, called the wise, some wisdom of
the heart. And you, Nathan the prophet, let me prophesy. You might
have had one woman, Solomon, to love you all your life, but the day
will come when you will seek my face among a thousand women, and never
have me. You might have a temple that would have made the pyramids
seem like outhouses, but one day your temple will be a little broken
wall. And your people might have been the conquerors of Africa, but
one day they will be helots in the Babylonian land. You have the
wisdom of the shrewd and pious, Solomon, that can never meet the
generous hand with the grateful heart."
She turned and swept out of the hall. At the gates she stopped and
bowed mockingly.
"O King, live forever!"