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.

[46]

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