[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.]