[Impetuously.]
Smerdis, charm
These serpents, if you will, your glittering words
Are meaningless to me. Carshena, let
The Jewish Esther come in Tyrian robe,
In such a gown as never Vashti wore!
Smerdis
[Aside.]
His orders have not always been obeyed.
Ahasuerus
And I would have my queen adorned with gems,
That diamond cluster from beyond the Ind,
Which, sparkling in her aureole of gold, bedims
The constellation of the Southern Cross.
Smerdis
[Aside.]
And makes the Persian peasants mourn their loss!