[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.]

[44]

[44]

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