D. And yet thou canst trust thy own.
C. Whose should I trust?
D. Whom should thy friends trust? Thou requirest them to trust in thee. Why shouldst thou require them to trust in thee when thou refusest to trust in thy friends? We have not wronged thee, nor will thy friends be wronged by us.
C. Thou mayest wait. I will counsel with the senior of this castle.
When we saw what he wanted, we summoned the circle in the temple by a certain sound of the trumpet. They came. On sounding the trumpet, the hosts of the castle came also. It was a clear, still evening, and when they saw our implements of war, they formed in a circle near the walls, and demanded the object of our mission.
The Commander of the temple replied, “Be not alarmed. What thou hast is thine, and we have no need of what is thy own. We are here not to take away what thou hast, but to give thee more abundantly than thou hast reason to expect. Thou wilt soon see the object of our mission; and, when thou seest, thou wilt not consider us thy enemies, but friends. We see thy arms are defective; and, if thou wouldst fight, the weapons we bring are at thy disposal. Advance and receive, and, when thou receivest, use them as thy wisdom shall direct thee.”
Sen. Then thou surrenderest thy command to our power?
Com. We surrender what thou desirest—our weapons of hostility. Come now and receive, that thou mayest know we are not thy enemies.
S. Thou wilt keep thy own. We do not fight with friends.
C. Why shouldst thou fight with enemies?